Starting Strong Scenes In Your Writing

What happened in Portugal in 1974 needs to happen in Russia.

Today, April 25th, is the 48th anniversary of the 1974 Portuguese Revolution. A group of junior and middle ranking officers in the Portuguese military overthrew a fascist dictatorship which had been in power over 40 years.

The Estado Novo régime came to power in the same era as Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco. However it had been less heavy handed than those other dictatorships; its first and longest lasting leader, António Salazar, was a fervent Catholic who was turned off by the “paganism” of his fellow pre-war dictators and ruled accordingly. Still there were secret police, limits on free speech and the press, and no genuinely fair elections.

By the mid 1970s, Portugal was the last European country to have a colonial empire. A non-stop series of wars in the colonies had taken a large toll on the country. Younger and more clear-thinking officers decided that a change in the country was long overdue.

BBC History Extra describes what happened.

In March 1974, General António de Spínola was dismissed from his position as deputy minister of the armed forces.

He had written a book in which he suggested that the Portuguese colonial wars should come to an end. He was critical of the current Portuguese regime, something that was regarded as heretical by Portugal’s right-wing establishment.

The Armed Forces Movement (MFA) was soon formed by dissident and low- ranking officers who supported Spínola. Captains within the armed forces were also unhappy with a law which would grant privileges to conscripted officers, to the resentment of professionally trained officers. The armed forces’ support for the government was rapidly deteriorating.

Just before midnight on 24 April, Portugal’s entry for the Eurovision Song Contest – ‘E Depois do Adeus’ (And After The Farewell) – was played by the radio station Emissores Associados de Lisboa, as had been arranged by the rebels. This was the first of two secret signals that the army was waiting for.

Tanks entered the centre of Lisbon in the early hours of 25 April and soon the airport, television and radio centres were taken over, as well as the Salazar Bridge over the river Tagus. Prime Minister Marcello Caetano, along with other ministers, had taken refuge in the Carmo barracks, which housed the National Republican Guard, and these were stormed by troops, armed with machine guns. With little resistance, Caetano surrendered to Spínola.

[ … ]

Radio appeals by the revolutionaries asked people to stay inside, but many flooded the streets and joined in, supporting the troops. By the time the sun had risen on 26 April, the MFA was in charge and promised to hold democratic elections for a national assembly as soon as they could.

In 2014 for the 40th anniversary, NBC News did a piece on it.

Portugal Honors April 25 Revolution, the World’s Coolest Coup

They took less than 24 hours to bring down Europe’s longest-lived dictatorship and signal the end of the last colonial empire in Africa.

“It was a coup like no other,” recalled Swiss journalist Werner Herzog, who reported on the revolution.

“The atmosphere was more like a party,” he joked at a conference on Wednesday. “None of us had ever heard of an army intervening to bring democracy, surely it’s normally the other way round.”

It certainly did turn out to be cool. By June of 1976 Portugal had drafted a constitution, elected a parliament, and installed a president – all peacefully and democratically. In just 26 months, Portugal had gone from a fascist dictatorship to a fully functioning Western liberal democracy. And it’s still doing fine today.

Portugal is one of the most stable and resilient truly democratic countries on the planet. It’s amazing what a success story it has been. It is proof that a difficult history doesn’t have to be a drag on a country’s present and future.

As for Russia, we can only hope that there are middle ranking officers currently plotting to remove their own fascist régime. They do have a much more difficult job than their Portuguese counterparts in 1974. The Estado Novo régime was fascism lite while Putin is a lot more like the hardcore Nazis of the late 1930s in Germany.

Anyway, the BBC excerpt above alluded to “the first of two secret signals” which were played on Lisbon radio stations to give the go-ahead for the revolution. The second was more important and is now a revered patriotic song in Portugal. Grândola, Vila Morena had been banned on radio by the government. So when it was played just after midnight on Rádio Renascença on April 25th, everyone involved knew there was no turning back.

Love how tumblr has its own folk stories. Yeah the God of Arepo we’ve all heard the story and we all still cry about it. Yeah that one about the woman locked up for centuries finally getting free. That one about the witch who would marry anyone who could get her house key from her cat and it’s revealed she IS the cat after the narrator befriends the cat.

Being a writer your brain is either

A) STUFFED TO BURSTING with ideas you have no clue what to do with or how to make them make sense

or

B) It's a black hole that devours every inkling of creativity in your cells and you are just hoping it'll consume you too

THERE IS NO IN BETWEEN

Body language cues for a few emotions

Happiness:

Smiling genuinely, with crinkles around the eyes.

Open body posture, with relaxed arms and shoulders.

Leaning forward slightly towards the person or object of interest.

Making eye contact with a warm and engaged expression.

Anger:

Tightened jaw and clenched fists.

Furrowed brows and narrowed eyes.

Standing or sitting with a rigid and tense posture.

Pointing fingers or aggressive gestures.

Raised voice or speaking through gritted teeth.

Sadness:

Downcast eyes and a drooping posture.

Slumped shoulders and shallow breathing.

Avoiding eye contact and withdrawing from social interaction.

Sighing or a subdued tone of voice.

Tearfulness, with watery or red eyes.

Fear:

Widened eyes with dilated pupils.

Raised eyebrows and a tense facial expression.

Frozen or rigid body posture.

Backing away or seeking physical distance from the perceived threat.

Trembling or shaking, especially in the hands or legs.

Surprise:

Raised eyebrows and widened eyes.

Mouth slightly agape or forming an "O" shape.

Leaning forward or recoiling backward in response to the surprise.

Quick inhalation or gasp of breath.

Rapid blinking or blinking more than usual.

Disgust:

Curling the upper lip or wrinkling the nose.

Narrowing the eyes and raising the upper eyelids.

Turning the head away or physically distancing oneself from the source of disgust.

Covering the mouth or nose with the hand or a tissue.

Expressing verbal disgust through phrases like "ew" or "yuck."

These are just some examples, and individuals may display variations in their body language based on their personality, cultural background, and the specific context of the situation.

May you find warmth and welcome

in the brighter days yet to dawn!

Merry may your holy halls become

filled with feast and friends’ song!

do you ever just … picture a whole scene, a whole fanfiction in your head, you know how to place every single word of the english dictionary that you need (or your language dictionary), you know how to structure your sentences, you know just what your characters are going to say to each other and then… and then you just open microsoft word.

Nervous Quirks for your Characters

Here's a short list of nervous quirks/habits for you to give to characters in your stories! Feel free to add on with more!

Lip biting (may result in scabbed lips)

Leg bouncing

Nail biting/picking

Skin picking

Nose scrunching

Adjusting clothing

Tapping feet/hands

Rubbing hands together

Rubbing feet together

Pacing

Stuttering/stammering

Losing track of time

Forgetting what they were talking about

Laughing

Nausea

Going silent/refusing to talk

Picking at face/skin

Constantly readjusting clothes

Rambling

Itching

Sweating/feeling hot

Distracting themselves

I think one of the most profound forms of love is "I'll try that, for you. I may not like it, but I'll try it."

It's a confused middle-aged man in a pottery class, whose daughter is helping him with his clay's plasticity. It's a kid scrunching up their brow while listening to their mom's favorite music, trying to figure out why she likes it. It's a girlfriend who says "Yes, I'll go with you" and her girlfriend cheering and buying a second ticket for a con. It's a friend half dragging another friend through an aquarium, the one being dragged laughing and calling out "Wait, wait, I know we're here for the exhibit, but I haven't been here! Slow down!"

It's being willing to spend some of your time trying something new because it makes someone you love happy.

Two Trees Collapsed my House so Everythings on Haitus (yes really)

PROFILE:

Ayo, I’m Ghost. 

31/PNW/Actual Cryptid

AO3: GhostHost 

Twitter: @Hauntedslightly 

Hi key obsessed with Gareth, low key obsessed with Starcourt. 

I do a lot of prompts/thoughts, everyone is more than welcome to take them and run (I wanna see the results thou  👀 ) I have the same policy with fanfic: it’s fanfic, lemme see them inspired works 👀 👀

Fanfics 

Steddie

Small Town Rumors (Pseudo Dad Wayne Munson takes in a beat to shit Steve Harrington after Starcourt as an owed favor to Hopper.) 

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four 

A03 

Lifelines (Gareth and Steve as Secret Cousins AU)

Part One / Part Two / Part Three 

Door Prize/Sugar, Spice (and Everything Dicey)–Complete (Alt S4 where Dustin invites Steve to help out Hellfire during the annual Hawkins High School Holiday Bazaar. He shows up with baked goods in a Hellfire shirt, Eddie catastrophizes.) 

Part One / Part Two / Part Three/ Ao3

Bonus 

Keep reading

Celtiberian Roots

I thought for my first personal post, going back my ancient historical roots would be apropriate, so hereby I present you:

Celtiberian deities

The Celtiberian were one of the many barbarian people and cultures that lived in the Iberian peninsula (aka. Spain and Portugal today) before the Romans conquered them.

As the name may suggest, they were a mix between the Celts that inhabited the North-West and the Iberians, on the Eastern part of the peninsula. They lived in the middle area, and had their own settlements, culture, societies and religion.

Today I did a little bit of research on their known deities, since, being from that area, I thought it would interesting to explore the ancient gods of my land, get to know them and… who knows? Maybe bring them back to memory from the depths of Roman erasure, and give them live again.

Here are the more detailed ones:

• Ariconā - goddess of tribal protection and dogs

• Banda (Bandis) - goddess of the entrance to the Otherworld, water protection

• Besenclā (Besenclae) - a community and house protector

• Cernunnos - horned God or God of fertility, life, animals, wealth and the underworld

• Corvā - war and defense goddess

• Dēvās Nemucelaecās - celestial goddesses

• Epona - godess of horses and passing/ride through the afterlife

• Erbina - a goddess of wild animals, hunting, and domestic security

• Harācos - agricultural and prosperity god

• Icconā - healing and medicine goddess

• Laneana (Laneanis) - a goddess of springs and floods

• Lidā - land and fertility goddess

• Limia - goddess of the Lima river

• Matres Termegiste - a triad of mother goddesses

• Moricilos - a god of winds, sky, and battle

• Nabia (Navia) - versatile goddess

• Neton - a war god

• Nimedos - a military protection god

• Reva (Reua) - personification of water flows

• Senaecos - a primordial god

• Sūliās - goddesses associated with medicine and springs

• Tarbucelis - war god

• Togotis - a god of community protection, war, and oaths

• Turculā - a boar goddess

• Vaelicos - a god of wolves and wild animals

Here I leave some useful links to some websites (some in English, some in Spanish) with the little information that is available about Celts, Celtiberians and their cultures and deities

https://www.timelessmyths.com/celtic/iberian.html

http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/la-religin-cltica-en-la-pennsula-ibrica-0/html/001186c0-82b2-11df-acc7-002185ce6064_2.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Celtic_deities

https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celta

https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celt%C3%ADberos

~ Enthrelle 🧙🏻‍♀️