Name: Wouldn't you like to know.

Age: 25 (Gettin old, haha)

State of Residence: TN

Gamer Tags: Playstation: Man_of_WrathTX Steam: Man of Wrath Switch Code: SW-2710-2131-2645 (Feel free to add me!)

MBTI: ISTP

Alignment: Chaotic Good

AO3: I've decided I'm gonna keep my more X-rated material over there. I'll keep my FF account clean (or at least, cleanish. Some of my work will still be at worst R-rated.) The name on AO3 is Man_of_Wrath

A Little About Me:

I'm a man who enjoys a good story. I've been a fan of this site since I was in the 7th grade, crazy huh. The first story I ever read was 'Gohan's Dilemma' by 'WingedFreedom622'. Most of my stories will be anime related, and in the X-over variety. I like to write balanced stories, meaning, I write stories where the two crossed series are on the same playing field power-wise; so in my DBZ stories, for example, you can expect characters that are O.P in that franchise, to take a punch from a powerful character in another franchise.

If that thought doesn't sit well with you, then my stories probably won't appeal to you.

NOTE: I'm a busy man. My updates can be a long time coming. Please don't rush me. I promise I'll get around to updating when I can.

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Story Status:

Devil of the League - (Chapter 18: 30% Completed)

Mirai Shinobi vol. 2 - (Chapter 11 Completed!) (Revising Current Outline!)

Warriors From An Unknown Land - (Chapter 8: In Progress! 45% Completed)

BlackWatch Operation: Codename Apollo (Currently Under Revisions!)

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Tropes You Can Expect From My Fics:

Darker and Edgier tones (There may be funny scenes tossed in here and there, but the overall tones of my stories will be serious, gritty, and generally cynical)

Bittersweet Ending (If the good guys win, trust me its at the cost of something. Stories won't always have a neat little bow tying things off)

Downer Ending (Sometimes things don't turn out the way we hope. Sometimes you just don't get a happy ending...)

Karma Houdini (Sometimes the bad guys get away with what they do. That's life.)

The Bad Guys Win (Speaks for itself. An arc may end this way, or a story may end this way.)

Gorn (I love writing violence. If characters get hurt, they will bleed. Depending on the injury, a lot... and you'll know the details)

Fight Scenes (Almost every chapter to my stories, I find a way to squeeze in some sort of fight/action scene)

Lemons (With (Realistic) Sex Scenes (as in, most characters won't be talking like they're actors in a porno, or climaxing at the same time, or receiving anal sex at the drop of a hat, etc etc))

Canon Character Personalities (as in, no "Dark" Naruto's or Gohan's. Unless the plot develops them into such.)

True Companions (My favorite shows tend to have this dynamic between characters. I will reflect this in my stories.)

Xenafication (Generally a trope for female characters, but in my regards it means taking non-action, overlooked, or background characters and making them badasses)

Character death (Don't expect any character's to be "safe" in any of my stories. Anyone can die.)

Shout-Outs (References to other games/shows/anime/stories within' a fic)

Porn without plot (If I feel like practicing lemons, then I'll drop a one-shot story like this. They're fun to write, haha!)

OC (Original Characters. There may be red shirt OC's or OC's that serve as important plot figures. Don't worry, I know people don't read fanfics for OC's, so generally, I'll make sure they don't steal the spotlight from the main established characters.)

Dark Fic (Falls under 'darker and edgier'. I have more fun with a darker toned story. Fics will tend to have scenes and themes of torture, brutal murder, and sometimes even rape. Though I do try to stay within' grounded territory. Grim dark fics tend to not be so fun.)

Alternate Universe Fic (Allows me to bring some originality and freedom to the works I'm dealing with.)

Anti Heros (I LOVE working with Anti-heroes. It allows me to be pretty dynamic with how I handle their actions. Protagonists can fall all along the scale, whether I'm working with a Type 1 (classical) Antihero, to a type 3 (Pragmatic) Anti-Hero, to a Type 5 (Hero in Name Only).

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Future Stories (Story Ideas):

A War That Needs Me (Devil May Cry/Akame ga Kill)(COMING SOON!)

Nero's been approached by a general from the Imperial Army, the Empire seeking his help in quashing a rebellion. Now, after working as a mercenary for the Capital, and witnessing the atrocities they commit, he has a meaningful run in with Nightraid. Honestly, this war shouldn't mean a damn thing to the quarter-demon. He was just completing a job, hoping to catch up on rent and buy the woman he loves a necklace she'd been eyeing. But now... he might just be siding with the rebellion. (Takes place months after DMC4) NeroxKyrie

Sons of Anarchy X Marvel X DC (Working Title/Summary)

Basic premise, Jax Teller gets the spirit of vengeance, becoming the Ghost Rider. Set in the DC universe. Villain Protagonist/Dark Anti-hero Main Character.

Into the Red Zone (Prototype Short story) (Working Summary)

We've already seen what beings like Alex Mercer and James Heller go through in the Red Zone of NYZ... it's their playground. But what about a group of powerless civilians? This is the story of an unlikely group of survivors banning together to survive the pure hell that is the Red Zone.

Lavender Justice (DBZ X My hero academia)

Trunks thought his world was safe. He went to the past, found the Androids self-destruct device, and took care of the twins when he returned to his own timeline. But, he never imagined something else would try to get the drop on him to steal his time machine. To keep the creature from going back to the past, Trunks blasts his time capsule to end Cell's goal. This act has unforeseen consequences as a rift is torn open, sending Trunks and the creature into a world where superpowers called 'Quirks' are the norm. The half-saiyan must now hunt down and kill Cell before he can absorb too many superpowered folk, thus turning this new world into the same hell he himself grew up in.

Star Wars: The Mercenary (Star Wars X Fallout) (Working Title/Summary)

Boba Fett could be called many things. Most of those things, not very pleasant; ruthless, cold, brutal. For the right price, he'd kill for you, no questions asked. But despite all of the evil's he's committed; for the Empire, Crime-Lords, etc; it was always in the name of money. When a job gone wrong leaves him stranded on a Nuclear torn backwoods planet on the outskirts of the galaxy, he winds up being forced to adjust to this world's rules of survival... that wouldn't be so hard. He'd just be killing for bottle caps, instead of Credits.

Hellsing X Marvel fic (Working Title/Summary)

I won't give too much detail about this story. It's basically Alucard kills the Marvel Universe. Expect a fuckton of cruelty towards fan favorite heroes. Call this the Dark and Edgy anti-thesis to Devil of the League.

Untitled Bardock x Kaguya Fic (Working Title/Summary)

This is a solid romance story. It'll take place before the start of the Naruto series. All the detail I'll give.

A Tale Of Vampires, Demons, and Witches

Alucard, the vampire killing trump card of the Hellsing Organization; Dante Sparda, the half-demon devil slaying mercenary; Bayonetta, the Angel butchering Umbra witch. These three nigh-invincible gunslingers are summoned from their respective worlds by a mysterious entity... why? To save a world that needs them. (Hellsing, Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, and Berserk crossover)

Metal Gear Titan

The scout regiment uncovers something beneath the rubble of Trost. A man... a man made of metal. Raiden, coming to the aid of humanity against the Titan's, must also uncover the conspiracy that sent him to this brutal and horrific world.

No More Monkeys

(Inspired by LOGAN) Bardock knew Frieza would destroy Planet Vegeta. When the saiyan received visions of the tragedy, he was faced with two options; face the Tyrant and die with his planet, or flee with the knowledge that his youngest son would hopefully avenge their race. He took the second option... As the decades went by, the saiyan would never hear of the tyrant's defeat. Soon, he would hear of the last known saiyans spotted in the galaxy being killed by the tyrant himself. Now; old, bitter, and performing under-the-radar assignments for pay, the old saiyan comes across a boy with a monkey tail and spiky hair, who is the target of a Galaxy-wide search ordered by Frieza. Does Bardock protect this saiyan child who, apparently, is kin to him; or does he abandon the boy to the forces that brought their race to near-extinction? (Alternate-Universe fic)

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FAVORITES!!!!

Fanfics (Only counting completed stories): Gohan's Dilemma by WingedFreedom622, Point of No Return by niteryde, Reprogrammed by moviefan-92, Promise on the Festival Night by lord of the land of fire, Future That Almost Was by HeroR, The New Face of Justice by Comorep677, Resident Evil: Western Outbreak by DrkMgcn, Two Ugly Men by Darth Grievi, New Vegas: Sheason's Story by Sheason

Video Games: God of War, Metal Gear Solid, Assassins Creed, inFAMOUS, Prototype, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Red Dead Redemption, The Last of Us, Resident Evil 4, Fallout: New Vegas, Far Cry 3, Devil May Cry, Batman (Arkham Series), Bully, Grand Theft Auto IV, Jak and Dexter

Bands: Linkin Park, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Disturbed, Slipknot, 30 Seconds to Mars, Asking Alexandria, A Day to Remember, Rise Against, Paramore, Five Finger Death Punch, Ill Niño

Rappers: Eminem, Kanye West, Tupac Shakure, XXXTentacion, T.I, Busta Rhymes, RUN DMC, Yelawolf, N.W.A, Hopsin, Machine Gun Kelly, Young Jeezy, Ski Mask The Slump God

Anime/Manga: DBZ (I actually prefer Kai... Crucify me if you wish...), Naruto, Elfen Lied, Samurai Champloo, Attack on Titan, Death Note, Deadman Wonderland, Highschool of the Dead, RosarioVampire (guilty pleasure!), Hellsing (Ultimate), Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood), Parasyte: The Maxim, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Afro Samurai, Akame Ga Kill, DevilMan: Crybaby, Berserk

TV shows: The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Supernatural, Sons of Anarchy, Dexter, Daredevil, The Punisher, OZ, Everybody Hates Chris, The Shield, South Park, The Boys

Movies: Terminator 2, Inglorious Basterds, The Dark Knight, Jurassic Park, The Matrix, Logan, E.T, Spider-Man 2, Transformers, Lion King, Iron Man, Dawn of the Dead, Zombieland, Django Unchained, Fury, Incredibles, Watchmen, Man of Steel, King Kong, Lord of the Rings, Gran Torino, Stand By Me, Chronicle, Warrior, Aliens, Predator, No Country For Old Men, The Big Lebowski, Fight Club

Favorite Anime/Manga Characters

Future Trunks

Alucard (Hellsing)

Kakashi Hatake

Levi Ackerman

L (Death Note)

Esdeath

Mugen (Samurai Champloo)

Dio Brando

Lucy (Elfen Lied)

Guts (Berserk)

Favorite Comic Characters

The Punisher

Wolverine

Rorschach

The Darkness

Ghost Rider

Spawn

Red Hood

Negan (From the Walking Dead comics)

Favorite Video Game Characters

Dante (Devil May Cry)

Leon Scott Kennedy (Resident Evil)

Alex Mercer (PROTOTYPE)

Delsin Rowe (infamous: Second Son)

Raiden (Metal Gear)

Solid Snake (Metal Gear)

Niko Bellic (Grand Theft Auto IV)

Kratos (God of War)

Jimmy Hopkins (Bully)

Ulysses (Fallout: New Vegas)

Favorite TV/Cartoon Characters

Jax Teller (Sons of Anarchy)

Walter White (Breaking Bad)

Daryl Dixon (The Walking Dead)

Huey Freeman (The Boondocks)

Kenny McCormick (South Park)

Stewie Griffin (Family Guy)

Dean Winchester (Supernatural)

Raphael (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Favorite Pairings/Ships

Future Trunks x Android 18

Future Trunks x Mai

Vegeta x Bulma

Gohan x Videl

Gohan X Sakura

Kakashi x Anko

Kakashi x Shizune

Jiraiya X Tsunade

Dante Sparda x Lady

Dante Sparda x Bayonetta

Alucard (Hellsing) x Bayonetta

Red Hood x Artemis

Superman x Wonder Woman

DeadPool X Harley Quinn

Batman X Wonder Woman

Batman x Catwoman

Spiderman x Black Cat

Naruto Uzumaki x Hinata Hyuga

Naruto Uzumaki x Fu

Guts x Casca

Leon S. Kennedy x Claire Redfield (Fuck Ada!)

Chris Redfield x Jill Valentine

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My OC'S:

Darren R. Maverick- (Blackwatch Operation: CODENAME APOLLO)

Bio: 17 year old high school student, turned vengeful mutant badass. Darren was once an anti-social kid with few friends. Although not a bad kid, he had... a bit of a temper. In school he was something of a fight starter. It was safe to say he was more a man of action, less of words. He wasn't the most approachable person, but he was an undeniably good boy. When the Blacklight outbreak hit, his parents were on honeymoon in Japan, leaving him trapped home alone watching over his two sisters. As the virus spread out of control, forcing the siblings to flee their home in the chaos, Darren had a run in with Alex Mercer; an encounter that resulted in him getting infected, and his sisters devoured. Now a half-human half-Blacklight Virus hybrid, with a dangerous set of Blacklight gifted abilities, Darren set out to kill the one who made him what he is... Alex Mercer.

(Character Design)- I based his physical appearance on Levi's (Attack on Titan). Same eye's, same haircut, same facial features. Though his personality (namely, his temperament) is more in line with Eren Yeagers.

(Clothing)- New York (flashbacks): Black Tank-top, camo cargo pants, black sneakers. Kamakura: Black leather vest layered over a black tank top, Dark Blue Jeans, and Black sneakers.

(Voice)- Voiced by Jensen Ackles

(Powers and Abilities)- Claws (can vary; either compact finger talons to clinging to surfaces; or foot long blades at the end of each finger), Whip-fist, Sword, Musclemass (doubles his strength). Super Speed (can dead sprint at about 80 mph), Gliding, Super Strength (can lift about a little over a ton), Regeneration (He can die if he takes too much damage without enough time to heal).

(Personality)- Before the outbreak, Darren was already a bit standoffish. Being anti-social by nature, he was very much blunt, sarcastic, cynical, and cold. He had a violent temper, which would cause him more issues (at home and school) than he'd wanted. Though despite these flaws, he was a good person. But, after the death of his sisters and infection, his negative traits only increased. After the many kills he'd been forced to pull off during the outbreak, he'd found the act to be nothing short of easy... and truth be told, he kind of started to like it. Although it's hard to see at first glance, Darren has a strong sense of morality. One of his defining characteristics is the value he places on innocent human life. Having been a human, he avoids killing the innocent whenever possible. But, if the virus in him gets hungry...

Tavi Shinhan- (Mirai Shinobi) (Brainchild of SparkinClark)

Bio: Trunks childhood friend, the unexpected daughter of Tien Shinhan and Launch. After the death of her father, courtesy of Androids #17 and #18, Tavi spent her early life with her mother. With Launch suffering from depression due to the death of her lover, she became an abusive alcoholic. Unable to put up with her mother's abuse, Tavi moved in with Roshi. This didn't last long... as she soon set off on her own. During her travels, she stumbled across an abandoned Red Ribbon cave. This cave, was where she met her guardian...

(Character Design)- She's a younger, shorter version of her mother, Launch. She inherited her mother's sneeze curse...

(Clothing)- Green tank top, yellow shorts, red sneakers, green finger-less gloves. Her mothers red ribbon is tied in her hair.

(Voice)- Ashley Johnson (voice of Gwen Tennyson (Ben 10) and Ellie (The Last of us))

(Powers)- Kaioken, Kamehameha, Dodon Ray, Destructo Disk, the potential to use Tri-Beam.

(Personality)- Having grown up during the Androids reign, Tavi, like Trunks, is cautious, pragmatic, and serious. Though she can be quite fierce and snarky at times (most of the time), Tavi is kind and caring toward others, and has a very strong sense of justice. Her blonde side, on the other hand, is a violent sociopath who will attack, maim, and blast anyone at the slightest provocation.

Hattori Shimura-(Mirai Shinobi) (Brainchild of SparkinClark)

Bio: The granddaughter of Danzo Shimura. Hattori was raised by Danzo since she was a toddler, her parent's being victims of the Nine-Tails assault on the village. Having been raised by Danzo, she was raised as a Leaf shinobi under Danzo's ROOT division. She never had much of a childhood. As a shinobi in ROOT, she had been forced to partake in many atrocities for the sake of her village. Having been forced to commit these acts, she'd developed a sense of resentment for her grandfather. But, Danzo being the only family she had left, she would follow any and every order he assigned her...

(Character Design)- I based her look on Revy's from Black Lagoon.

(Clothing)- Standard Anbu attire

(Jutsu)- Outside of the standard Leaf nin abilities, such as substitution and clone jutsu, Hattori has an affinity for Fire, and knows numerous Fire-based jutsu. But, what makes Hattori special, is her Kekkei Genkai... which is Smoke. Her Smoke Kekkei Genkai allows her the ability to dematerialize into... well... smoke. The form makes her invulnerable to damage, and allows her the ability to rematerialize a part of herself at will. This means, if she dematerialized as smoke and allowed an enemy to inhale her, she can reform her hand inside her enemy's lungs...

(Voice)- Maryke Hendrikse (voice of Revy (Black lagoon) whom her character design was based on)

(Personality)- Hattori is an extremely cynical young woman, a trait she gained due to her line of work. As a result she is very mean-spirited, aggressive, spiteful, and sarcastic. She's also a bit of a fight starter. Inside, she's depressed at having a lack of parents and childhood (due to being raised by Danzo). Though she hates the man, Danzo's the only family she knows so she'll try her best to impress him. Due to Danzo's brainwashing and emotional manipulation, she is easily convinced to follow whatever order he pushes on her, no matter how vile. Though despite all of these negative's, she's not pure evil, or truly evil at all for that matter. She has a conscience. She just knows how to ignore it when carrying out her tasks...

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How Cell and 21's Absorption Will Work

So, as explained in series, absorption in DragonBall tends to be the equivalent to getting EATEN ALIVE. I think we can all agree, this is one of the most horrifying ways a living being can go out. Both Cell and 21, will be doing this a lot to people in their appearances throughout my stories. Since their need to feed will be a major part of their characterizations, I feel inclined to give a detailed explanation on how their absorption process actually works (Can thank Saberian Dream for his help in this!)

Cell's absorption - Cell has two methods to how he feeds.

The first method, involves him piercing his victims with his stinger. Once he's invaded the victims body, his stinger will "drink" up the victims bodily fluids. When the fluids are drained, Cell's tail moves on to the more solid parts of the victim, namely, their organs, bones, and flesh. To do this, the stinger injects the victim with a highly corrosive enzyme that dissolves them from the inside out. Muscle is dissolved and drank first, then bone matter, then flesh, until all that remains of the victim is their clothes...

The second method, involves him swallowing his victim whole... this is arguably worse. Once his victim is sucked up into his tail (which, alone feels unimaginably tight and constricting, smothering you inside of it. The tail is so hot that you can hardly breathe in it. You'll be slowly vaccumed through a boiling tunnel with hot flesh tightly squeezing you the further up you go, like a snake swallowing its prey) hot, corrosive liquids (basically stomach acids) completely wash over the victims body as they're pulled deeper inside the canal. These acids contain billions of microscopic biomechanical cells in the enzymes that invade the victim's body and attach themselves to the victims individual cells, literally melting them alive as they're brought to Cell's stomach.

21's absorption - Like Cell, she has two methods to feeding as well...

The first method, the candy beam. Like Majin Buu, she can transform her victim into candy and other sugary treats (or anything really, she just prefers food). The transformed victim, actually keeps their sense of sentience. They can see, hear, and feel everything that happens around them... so, this means the victim is forced to endure 21 picking them up, placing them into her mouth, and crushing them between her teeth, where they are chewed up into pulp and swallowed, where their pulped form is led through the burning canals of her insides and brought to her stomach... where the enzymes in the acid do the rest of the work...

The second method, "goo-ification". Also like Majin Buu, 21 can engulf her victim through her biomass, and absorb them that way. This can either be done through a severed body part that does the job and then reattaches to her afterward, or it can be done directly from 21's form (through hentai-like tentacles ensnaring her prey and dragging them into her body). The difference between Buu and 21, is that after Buu engulfed his victims, he would simply shrink his victims and store them in a tiny pod in his head. Despite being a genetic clone of Buu, 21 is different... and more horrifying. 21's biomass, when in the process of absorbing, acts almost like a liquid stomach. After the victim is engulfed by 21's biomass, the victim is trapped in a hot, suffocating, slimy, rubber-like substance. Like Cell's tail, the biomass secrets corrosive enzymes that essentially dissolve the victim alive, adding their liquefied form to her own biomass...

What happens next, during and after digestion, applies to both Androids...

These enzymes, now carrying the liquefied goo that made up the absorbed victim, rejoin Cell or 21's structure at the cellular level once they enter the Android's stomach. When the goo enters the stomach, the goo is merged with Cell or 21's body (the stomach is simply the processing center for the liquid goo, now with the former organism thoroughly erased and fused with it to spread to the rest of the Androids bio-matrix.) Do keep in mind, the victims are fully awake and aware of the entire hellish process. Everything they were; mind, body, and soul, is completely destroyed and ceases to be, becoming one with the Android themselves...

This is basically the same concept of "Cessation of Existence" from TV Tropes. The victim simply doesn't exist anymore...

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The Reasons People Write Fanfiction:

People disagree with the Author about what should be done with his creations.

People think they can write the Authors story better than the author can.

People try to guess, "What will come next,"

People who want to play with might have been's, or should have been's.

People think that things that have been left unexplored should be explored.

People find plot crossroads, places where the story could have gone one of a few different ways, and decide that the way the author went wasn't the right way.

People love the characters so much they want to make them their own.

People like the concept of a character, but think the author has failed to bring it out to its fullest potential.

People like to guess, "But what if this had happened instead of that?"

People want to feel important, and so try to place themselves in their favorite universe.

People feel unwanted, or outcast and they want to be where they can't be judged based on who they are but on what they've done.

People want to improve the quality of their writing.

People like the characters but find flaws in the plot.

People like the plot but find flaws with the characters.

People get bored. People want a reaction.

People want to understand the mind of the author.

People want to know what would happen if that one thing, that one debilitating weakness that all great characters have were taken away.

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The Ten Commandments of Reviewing - created by FictionReader98 and Zoneshifter D, post them if you agree and use them yourself

1) Thou shalt point out the parts you enjoy
2) Thou shalt point out the parts you disliked, if any.
3) Thou shalt point out the parts you utterly hated and explain why
4) Thou shalt write with good grammar!
5) Thou shalt not give anonymous reviews, for the authors might want to reply to thine criticism!
6) Thou shalt not flame
7) Thou shalt write a four sentence paragraph minimum!
8) Thou shalt use constructive criticism!
9) Thou shalt review as much as possible, not merely once!
10) Thou shalt voice thine expectations

(If you break these rules, I have the right to delete your review at my own discretion!)

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Ways to un-stick a stuck story

Do an outline. Whatever works best. Get yourself out of the word soup and know where the story is headed.

Conflicts and obstacles. Hurt the protagonist, put things in their way, this keeps the story interesting. An easy journey makes the story boring and boring is hard to write.

Change the POV. Sometimes all it takes to untangle a knotted story is to look at it through different eyes, be it through the sidekick, the antagonist, a minor character, whatever.

Know the characters. You can’t write a story if the characters are strangers to you. Know their likes, dislikes, fears, and most importantly, their motivation. This makes the path clearer.

Fill in holes. Writing doesn’t have to be linear; you can always go back and fill in plotholes, and add content and context.

Have flashbacks, hallucinations, dream sequences or foreshadowing events. These stir the story up, deviations from the expected course add a feeling of urgency and uncertainty to the narrative.

Introduce a new mystery. If there’s something that just doesn’t add up, a big question mark, the story becomes more compelling. Beware: this can also cause you to sink further into the mire.

Take something from your protagonist. A weapon, asset, ally or loved one. Force him to operate without it, it can reinvigorate a stale story.

Twists and betrayal. Maybe someone isn’t who they say they are or the protagonist is betrayed by someone he thought he could trust. This can shake the story up and get it rolling again.

Secrets. If someone has a deep, dark secret that they’re forced to lie about, it’s a good way to stir up some fresh conflict. New lies to cover up the old ones, the secret being revealed, and all the resulting chaos.

Kill someone. Make a character death that is productive to the plot, but not “just because”. If done well, it affects all the characters, stirs up the story and gets it moving.

Ill-advised character actions. Tension is created when a character we love does something we hate. Identify the thing the readers don’t want to happen, then engineer it so it happens worse than they imagined.

Create cliff-hangers. Keep the readers’ attention by putting the characters into new problems and make them wait for you to write your way out of it. This challenge can really bring out your creativity.

Raise the stakes. Make the consequences of failure worse, make the journey harder. Suddenly the protagonist’s goal is more than he expected, or he has to make an important choice.

Make the hero active. You can’t always wait for external influences on the characters, sometimes you have to make the hero take actions himself. Not necessarily to be successful, but active and complicit in the narrative.

Different threat levels. Make the conflicts on a physical level (“I’m about to be killed by a demon”), an emotional level (“But that demon was my true love”) and a philosophical level (“If I’m forced to kill my true love before they kill me, how can love ever succeed in the face of evil?”).

Figure out an ending. If you know where the story is going to end, it helps get the ball rolling towards that end, even if it’s not the same ending that you actually end up writing.

What if? What if the hero kills the antagonist now, gets captured, or goes insane? When you write down different questions like these, the answer to how to continue the story will present itself.

Start fresh or skip ahead. Delete the last five thousand words and try again. It’s terrifying at first, but frees you up for a fresh start to find a proper path. Or you can skip the part that’s putting you on edge – forget about that fidgety crap, you can do it later – and write the next scene. Whatever was in-between will come with time.