#Like watching stuff from an author's perspective ruins the experience because I know a character will die but I love that character so they-

[obnoxiousbloodstain]

Being intelligently aware of plot narrative but also not being able to handle major/canon character death is so funny because I was all nonchalant and not caring going "yeah, he's gonna die" but when he ACTUALLY dies like he was supposed to, I'm sobbing on the floor.

[wolfreader]

september 2024 wrap-up - young adult fiction

this month i read five (5) young adult novels.

we are okay by nina lacour 📖🔁 🌟🌟🌟🌟

this is actually a reread - i read this for the first time when it intially came out in 2017, when i was in middle school, and i definitely enjoyed it a whole lot more as an adult. we are okay takes place at a university, and there's discussion about the isolation and loneliness you can find yourself in during your first year at college; that's something i can related to far more now that i've gone through my own first year at college where i struggled (and still am struggling) to make new friends and connections versus when i was in my final year of middle school, without a care in the world and surrounded by close friends.

watch over me by nina lacour 📖 🌟🌟

in contrast watch over me, by the same author as we are okay, sucked ass. it's incredibly tedious in a way that i don't think was intentional, at least not to the level i felt it and it had very sloppily implemented magical realism elements. and the entire novel i was just off-put and frustrated by the fact that neither the characters nor the narrative itself ever acknowledged that the group home the main character ends up in was essentially the exact same as the abusive home she was in before with her mother's cult-leader-esque boyfriend, except somehow even more culty.

cursed by marissa meyer 📚 🌟🌟🌟

i bought the first book in this duology for myself, but while i wanted to see what happened next i wasn't quite invested enough to buy the second book, so i picked it up a the library. and i'm glad i did, because while i still enjoyed it, i don't think it's as good as the first book.

it suffered from too many twists, in my opinion. if just a couple of the smaller twists or one of the big ones was taken out, this would have been a much more enjoyable reading experience.

the crimson fortress by akshaya raman 📚 🌟🌟🌟

another young adult duology that i finished, and similar to the gilded / cursed contrast i think the crimson fortress is a downgrade from the ivory key, which is suprising because normally its the other way around with debut novels. the sibling dynamics, which i found so appealing in the ivory key, were less present in this second book and without the other characters to bounce of off there were one or two point of view characters that i found really grating.

however, i really liked the ending. without major spoilers, one of the four main characters ends up leaving the country for an indeterminate amount of time after telling his sister (another main character, the ruler of their country, and on some level complicit in some bad stuff that happened to her brother) that while he loves her, he can't forgive her right then and doesn't know if he'll ever be able to. and i really liked that message!

a curse for true love by stephanie garber 📖 🌟🌟

my disappointment is immeasureable and my day is ruined.

once upon a broken heart is very popular on booktok, and young adult fantasy romance that gets really popular on booktok tends to not be very good, but i actually liked this one well enough! definitely overhyped, but has enough to like about it. then, however, the ballad of never after was enjoyable up until quite literally the last chapter when it pulled one of my least favorite twists: revealing that one leg of a love triangle was evil all along (despite his previous actions saying otherwise) as a way to push the main character toward the other love interest without her actually having to make a choice.

and now this final installment is just dogshit. for starters, i was hoping the entire time i was reading that the twist from the end of the second book would untwist, but it never did. it just got worse. but even beyond that it was just so. weird? multiple major side characters who featured in both the first and second books are just completely absent from this one. there are suddenly multiple perspectives when there haven't been at all before in the series. and i cannot stress enough that the two main characters have absolutely nothing to do with the defeat of the main antagonist. they don't do anything to thwart him, he just dies. he just dies in front of them as a result of something he did which he had been planning to do since the middle of the book, completely divorced from the actions of the main characters.

when i finished this book i was genuinely in shock for a couple of minutes that it ended that badly.

[verytiredblob]

My reviews on Manhwas

Alright so, recently I've began to fall into the great Manhwa hell, as if I didn't have enough fandoms.

But I neither have friends to chat about this with, nor a Discord chat where I can fanby about it, so I just decided to throw it in here.

These are both Manhwas I recommend and my opinions on them. If there are any spoilers, They will be striked through and in blue for anyone that wishes to avoid them (if anyone even reads this lol).

1. The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass (악녀는 모래시계를 되돌린다)

Premise: Aria was a terrible person and was sentenced to dead by being beheaded. In her final moments, she discovers her step sister, Mielle, actually manipulated her during her entire life just so she could get Aria killed. She then is beheaded, and wakes up in the past, in her child body. So now, she must work to both survive and get her revenge on her sister.

Lovely story, and my first Manhwa. The art is simply stunning, and all the characters are very flashed out and developed. Aria (MC) is the pettiest person alive and I'm here for that.

Also, I noticed a trend where, even though the manhwa has "Villainess" in the title, the MC is usually a total angel. Well, not here. Aria is egotistical and a total Diva, she has her goals and one of them is her revenge and by all that is sacred she'll get it.

Mielle is a great villain, she has grown a lot in her own pettiness and tactics since she was a child, and I really like that. Also, watching her suffer for being a terrible person is delightful.

The Male Lead (Asher) is also really cool, I like how he's both witty and friendly, and how much he truly admires Aria and her achievements.

The side characters are also pretty good, and they get a lot of focus because of their interactions with the main cast.

Again, The art is S T U N N I N G. Look at this:

Literally all panels are drawn like this or better, I'm in love.

All in all, an awesome read, 10/10, I love this a lot.

2. The Monster Duchess And Contract Princess (괴물 공작가의 계약 공녀)

Premise: Leslie's life was terrible, and always centered on her big sister, Eli. After a failed attempt of her family to grant Eli her sister's skills and knowledge, Leslie searches for the feared "Monster Duchess" in an attempt to survive.

Another one with incredible art AND incredible characters. Leslie is an absolute angel, and seeing her grow as a person is awesome.

The gender envy I feel with the Duchess is unbearable, she's utterly perfect. And the entire family is so dotting and loving and sweet, my little grinch heart can't take it.

She's perfection, really.

The plot keeps getting more and more mysterious, and I'm here for it!

I love each of the main characters a lot, and even the villains are well done and fuel your hatred.

Also, Eli Sperado and her Dad can choke on those black flames for all eternity.

Another 10/10, although I must warn anyone that wishes to read this that the translations sometimes are very spotty and messy, so it can be a bit annoying.

3. I'll be the Matriarch in this Life (이번 생은 가주가 되겠습니)

Premise: Firentia was a girl that died in Korea in her past life, and was reborn into an influential family as the illegitimate daughter of the third son. Her life was pretty terrible, with in the end, her family ending up in poverty and disgrace because of her uncles and cousins, while she was exiled from the family. After another accident, she wakes up in her past, now with a goal: Become the Lombardi matriarch and stop the other family heirs from bringing it to ruin.

Awesome art and Awesome plot number 3! This is so good, genuinely. Firentia is such an awesome plotter, and her goals and actions are very well developed.

The Male Lead is my baby and I shall protect him, and the side characters? Utterly stunning.

The twins are the cutest fucking shit, seriously. Like, look at these two?? I'm dead. Although, all the children are very, veeery cute.

I like how Firentia subtly manipulates things around her to get what she wants. It's similar to Aria, but she's much more mature and knowledgeable, and has a much less petty goal.

Guess what? 10/10. Yeah, I know, I'm terrible at grading, sue me.

4. The Twins Siblings' New Life (쌍둥이 남매의 뉴라이프)

Premise: Arien and Arjen were a pair of twins that died in Korea, and were reborn again as twins and as the Emperor's illegitimate children. Now, with only each other to trust, they must do their best to survive.

My current obsession. I really like this one. The art is not on the same level of pure Awesome like the ones before, but it's pretty good nonetheless.

The plot is pretty nice, but I must warn you: DO NOT expect them to act like adults. Honestly, just forget they're meant to be reborn in this world. They're just normal children and that's it. They act like children, and they think like children. Honestly, I think the author just wanted to make this story about them as children and their producer went and said to make them reincarnates because that Isekai shit is popular nowadays (And to justify they having memories of their newborn days). Seriously, just ignore it, the experience reading will be much better.

Other than that, the story develops nicely. The characters are all very good and the plot is very mysterious. I am holding myself back to not spoil anything, aaaaa.

There is also only one another thing that disappoints me: Arien is very clearly the MC. The story is told by her eyes and we only know what Arjen thinks or feels when he says it 9 or by subtext). I really wish it was more balanced, because they're both different people and have different perspectives, and also I really like Arjen.

I have absolutely no idea where this plot is gonna go, and honestly? I like it. It's very rare when I don't know how things are gonna develop because of other stories, so it feels very fresh.

The brothers are freaking awesome. I was so scared they were going to hate the twins and be petty, because of other manhwas that are like that, but they're so loving and sweet?? All hail these idiots. Also, Daddy is the biggest dumbass of all, this poor clueless man.

An 8/10, because of the complaints above. Still a good read, and I really like it, even with it's defects.

4. I'm A Stepmother, But My Daughter Is Just Too Cute! (계모인데 딸이 너무 귀여워)

Premise: A seamstress dies of overwork in Korea, and wakes up in the body of Abigail, the vain Queen, and the evil stepmother to the princess Blanche. Yes, It's like she stepped into the world of Snow White, and she must now do her best to live and.. Dote on Blanche with toys and dresses as much as possible?

Again with the awesome art and nice plot. Why are there so many manga with awesome art?? I'm so envious.

May all hail this crispy, delicious art.

Abigail is a whole mood, and I enjoy how she is inserted into the life of someone who had already lived and had a reputation. Her actions baffle a lot of the characters, as do her motivations, and I'm here for it.

The King has also an amazing backstory that's very tragic and yikes. I enjoy it, really. Not something you see in men's backstories that much.

Also, I'm kinda saddened by the fact the MC and the king are bound to become an actual couple. They would be such good platonic friends stuck in a political marriage. I was robbed, y'all.

Abigail greatest ambition is to get to design a dress for Blanche and have her wear it, and you know what? Good for her! Sometimes, it's good to have an MC that is not plotting against world at large.

Also, her mirror? Verite is simply perfect, I love this guy. I non-jokingly ship him with Abigail more than her with the King.

Blanche is a sweetheart, she deserves to be in my "adopted children" wall.

For now it's more of a Slice of Life than anything? But I also don't know what happens in the novels, so I'm just going to wait.

For the current lack of a grater plot, this gets a 7/10. Still pretty good and entertaining, especially for when you just don't feel like trying to understand deep plots with lots of elements.

5. Beware of the Brothers! (그 오빠들을 조심해!)

Premise: Another one of those "I lived my life and then wake up in the past." Hari was adopted by this family after the death of their only daughter, and although her parents love her, her 3 older siblings very much don't. She lives a miserable life in their hands, and when it's the night before she is to get married and finally escape her brothers, she wakes up in the past, and has to deal with them all over again.

Another nice art one, and the background characters are very nice, as is the MC.

But for me, it has a big problem. And that problem is the main ship. It's Hari with her eldest brother, Eugene. Even though they are not related and yadda yadda yadda, they were raised as such, and thus it bothers me. Also, Eugene is as plain as white bread and just as generic when seen as the Male Lead.

I ship Hari with Johan, even though I know it's not gonna happen, Ugh, the pain..

For me, the main point in this is Hari's relationship with her other siblings and the other background characters. I'm here for that wholesome sibling interaction. Her relationship with Erich, specially, is awesome. I love these two so much

It also kinda lacks a plot? Other than the relationship development and their story as a family, but again, I have no idea how they will develop this.

Also, pet peeve? Why do they keep using Oppa instead of translating it properly as brother? I get honorifics and stuff, but it's so annoying.

I give it a 6/10. Good characters and good relationships outside of the bloody incest thing, and it's a good enough way to pass the time.

There are two more that I've read, buut it's like 4am and I'm sleepy as all hell, so I'll just add it in a reblog or attached post later, and I plan on doing this for other future manhwas as well.

Do you have any recommendations or comments or just wanna talk about any of these manhwas? Hit me up!

[rainbowsky]

More on the Fan Fic issue

I have a few more asks about the issue raised the other day, some of which are long and go into detail on the 'wars' that have been happening on Twitter and AO3.

Sorry for grouping these but I wanted to put it all under a cut because these are long, and also in case people don't want to dig into these issues (which would be understandable).

Anonymous 1 asked:

"I am very strongly of the opinion that the BJYX term is still a fandom umbrella term" I agree. Mainly because Bjyx is the most popular. Many antis always say bjyx, and have no idea the others. So sometimes it's easier just to say bjyx instead of explaining all three. I myself more like "who cares as long as they happy." So I enjoy Yizhan in all contexts. Many bxgs I know also like that, mostly ibxgs. I think deep down all bxgs (no matter which position they prefer) just want Yizhan to be happy

Not sure we can be so certain about that last part, Anon (I think for a lot of people GG and DD are just characters in a smutty story they have in their heads), but I agree about the term being popular regardless of the type of fans people are.

From what I can see the BJYX term seems to be used 80-90% umbrella, 10-20% dynamic in both international and c-social media (for every 10 times you see the term used, only one or two of those usages - probably less - are referring to a dynamic). This is my totally unscientific estimation, but I think even 10-20% dynamic is being generous. The number of people who are fixated on a sexual dynamic aren't nearly as large as they'd like to believe.

Anonymous 2 asked:

about the promptfests - i’ve been on twitter since early 2020 and what i’ve noticed is that this influx bjyx-only promptfests started gaining speed once lots of rational voices started leaving the fandom recently either because a) new interests have caught their attention or b) the toxicity of the popular bxg circles on twitter have become too much to handle.

gdgdbaby was usually the organizer of dynamic-inclusive events, and she’s received lots, and lots, and lots of backlash by bxg, sometimes even by accounts with thousands followers, for using bjyx as a catch-all term. and as her interest in yizhan has since waned—hopefully for reasons unrelated to fandom toxicity—many of the people who were attracted to the welcoming environment she created distanced themselves as well.

zsww/lsfy fans have become an outnumbered circle who try their best to create exclusive events to avoid the “is bjyx a catch-all term” discourse, but never seem to gain as much traction as gdgdbaby (who has a sizeable following) or those who host bjyx-only events (who also have sizeable followings).

meanwhile the dynamic war has only become more and more hostile and bjyx is clearly the more populated group… ao3 is simply a battlegrounds, if i may dramatize the situation a little for the sake of humor, and the promptfests are a reaction to this irritating t/b discourse that has made bxg twitter completely inhospitable for me…and lots of other fans too.

(i’ve also noticed a huge reinforcement as of recently where ppl will call gg laopo, a milf, an omega, etc even outside of rpf (i.e. posting pictures of him at events and saying he looks pregnant or he’s going into heat) and it’s just… uncomfortable.)

(also please note i have a biased account of all of this drama bc many of my friends were harassed over it, and anyone who disagrees with my take may feel free to interject.)

I took the liberty of adding paragraph breaks because they are pretty important for some readers, particularly ND readers like me.

It's sad to hear how fucked up everything has become, but I'm not even remotely surprised. Toxicity leads to toxicity, and the whole idea of dividing up a RP fandom by sex position was misguided from the outset - no matter why it was done or how good the intentions might have been.

And yes, like I said, these people aren't just framing things this way for fan fic. This is how they talk about IRL GGDD.

I had written a lengthy essay here about homophobia in the fandom but deleted it all. Perhaps I'll post it separately at some later point. Suffice it to say that this stuff creates a climate that's often hostile for queer people. So much of it is deeply homophobic, whether people are aware of it or not.

It's really sad to hear about gdgdbaby being mistreated in any way. Anyone who steps up and sticks their neck out to help organize and coordinate activities that benefit a broader group of people should be celebrated and supported, not run out of town by an angry mob.

I've read some of her stories and even have one or two on my rec list. And here's someone who is not only writing good works, but also supporting others to write more good works. Such a shame.

Anonymous 3 asked:

Hello Mr. RBS! I think I can chime in a bit about the fanfic topic as I’ve watched this all unravel on twitter (where a majority of authors/readers are). I apologize if this gets long but it’s been something that’s also been on my mind.

I want to preface this by saying that I’m not a fan of the distinctions of dynamics as, like you said, the supposed line between real life and fanfic is long gone, so I’m not trying to be biased against one group over another.

Short answer to the question of, “is this retaliation?” : I do believe it is. (From here onwards I’ll be using bjyx as the dynamic term just for the ease of simplicity.) To understand why, I’ll have to explain with a bit of background info. On twitter, I’d say that there’s a quite large divide between bjyx and zsww/lsfy. That itself isn’t really a problem because people are free to like what they like and associate with whoever.

However there is a big problem where bjyx people are not just bjyx but also anti-zsww/lsfy. To the point where I’ve seen people say that they feel physically ill when they accidentally read zsww. I don’t think this type of behavior should exist in any dynamic bc in the end GGDD are real people with a real relationship behind this content and it’s just a gross fetishization at that point.

With all this happening, zsww/lsfy people have gotten more outspoken on how GG is often portrayed in those types of scenarios, mainly the over-feminization of him, bc it’s not just done in the context of fanfic but regular discussion of GGDD at this point. This tension between the dynamics kind of boiled over when the pregnant xz fest was announced, as you can take a guess at how that went over with zsww/lsfy people. lol.

But around that same time, another zsww/lsfy event was announced (I’m not sure if it’s the one anon was talking about) but the creator of the event suddenly got a ton of backlash for excluding bjyx, with the reasoning that bjyx is technically a part of lsfy. But the event was done to highlight zsww/lsfy (as all specific events are) bc the community and content for these dynamics are much less than bjyx.

Which is how we come back to the starting point of, is all this recent bjyx stuff retaliatory. I believe so bc the events (preg fest, dark event) are very specific prompts that target exactly what zsww/lsfy people have been outspoken against.

As to the point anon made about trying to drown out the tags, keep in mind that zsww/lsfy content is very minimal compared to bjyx and has only just recently started to gain more traction. I think most people would love to just peacefully exist in their own circles but I don’t see this problem between dynamics disappearing anytime soon.

Like I said with the above Anon, I've added paragraph breaks for ND readers.

What a mess.

I have absolutely nothing useful to say here about the fandom on AO3 and how it's managed by community members, but I do think it's unfortunate that people choose to be war-like rather than make space for diverse voices, and I think it's a real shame that some people have been essentially run out of the fandom because of this garbage.

Thanks for giving some context for how/why the major shift in tone of fan fic lately. I had no idea any of this was going on.

I urge people to work hard to give space for all voices and perspectives, and not just the ones they favor. I'd also urge people to reflect on how their thoughts, behavior and actions in the fandom might affect queer people in the fandom.

As always, we have no control over what other people do, say or think. All we have any control over is how we respond to what other people do, say or think. Hopefully we'll chose the path of peace and try to avoid fan wars or fights that only ruin the experience for everyone.

I guess one thing I'd ask any of the Anons who have written me about this issue - or anyone who has thoughts about it - is, what can we as readers/fans who care about diversity of voices and perspectives do to support that here and on AO3, without getting involved in any kind of war?

[bookshelfdreams]

Ahhhh, your self bound books just look really beautiful? All the color choices and the layout just look soooo good together. And that's such a beautiful gift? I have not read primium non nocere, as I haven't watched Charité but if it is worthy of such a tribute I am definitely giving it a shot anyway. I'd also be really interested of your creative process and choices with the binding, if you're willing to talk about that

hi omg! thank you so much <3<3 Primum Non Nocere is a very good story, and I'd say even if you haven't seen the show, give it a shot anyway, if you're interested? I mean, by all means, try the show as well, season 2 is on Netflix w english subs afaik and it's also really, really good (not perfect, but leagues better than the stuff this country usually makes abt the nazi regime). It's a retelling of canon events from a character's perspective who isn't a focal character in the show - there's probably one or two points at which it skips canon events or may seem a little jumpy, but overall, it's more of a companion piece to canon than a classic fanfic. It's very well researched and detailed; it expands on canon in beautiful ways and honestly, fits with it seamlessly; it might as well be an official novelization (although its focuses are a little different than the og)

as for the bookbinding, I'm really flattered you're interested in my process! I'm still very much a beginner, but I'm slowly figuring out something that works for me.

Also, I don't really know what information you're looking for, so I'm just gonna share some things that come to mind. This isn't really a step-by-step how-to but if you're interested in that, I can try to take some pictures next time I make a book and make a better reference post.

Typesetting

I typeset in OpenOffice because that's my office suite of choice & I'm old; I have never used google docs and I don't plan on starting. I download the fic in html, and then just copy/paste the text chapter by chapter; that's easiest for me. As for fonts, I wanted it to look vintage but I definitely didn't want it to have Nazi aesthetics. I went with Baskerville for the main text (which is such a beautiful font, it might become my go-to) (Garamond is what is most commonly used in books I think, but it almost looks too professional for me. I love that Baskerville has this very distinct, vintage feel to it.) and an Art Deco font for the title and chapter headings. Overall I think it looks more 1920's which, considering that the Nazis really hated the Weimar republic, seems fitting. I'm happy with how it turned out and I hope the author is, too :) As for the rest, it's set in 16pt, 120% line spacing and the margins could be a little larger, tbh, but it works and I'm a little stingy with the paper XD

OpenOffice also lets you draw simple graphics directly onto the document which is what I did for the title page and the little ornaments at the beginning of the chapters.

To make signatures, I use Quantum Elephant Bookbinder. It does what it's supposed to, the only thing that doesn't quite work is the flyleaf option, but I can just add that in the og pdf.

Book construction

I print on copying paper, 80gsqm. It's recycling, 55CIE which is really quite grey; I like it, because white is uncomfortable for me to look at. As for grain, I cut my sheets from A3. The grain is also wrong there, so I ended up wasting half the paper. Whatever; I think it's worth it. Having the grain in the right direction (parallel to the spine) makes it feel so much more like an actual book and not just a stack of copying paper stapled together. I honestly believe it's more important than having fancy paper.

After folding, I do not use a model and an ale for punching holes; instead I put all the signatures together in my makeshift press (2 old cutting boards and 2 bar clamps), I draw some guidelines and then I use a fine saw to cut them all at once.

I sew the signatures on tapes for stability; it makes keeping consistent tension easier. I use linen bookbinder's thread (worth it) and cotton tapes from the craft store (they do their job, and linen sewing tapes are hard to source & expensive). I do not have a sewing frame; but what I do is, I tape the tapes to the underside of my cutting mat, place the signature on top (fold aligned with the edge of the mat) and use a weight to keep it in place. It works okay.

After sewing, I round the spine with this method, which works surprisingly well. I do not trim the edges (I know myself well enough to know that it would not end well) & instead tap the short sides & spine to the table to align the signatures as perfectly as possible.

The rest is done as in pretty much any other tutorial. No backing, because I don't have equipment for that. I like to sand down the edges of the cover boards a little, so they're a bit rounded; I think it makes for nicer haptics.

Decorations

I like to make as much of the book myself as possible. There's several reasons for that; first of all, fancy handmarbled or printed paper, headbands, bookmarks etc are expensive. Second, I have a crafting addiction & what's the point of projects like this when you buy everything you could make yourself, right? But thirdly (most importantly) it's simply that my book blocks look pretty shitty (that's, untrimmed and uneven). But that's okay; you gotta embrace the "amateurishly handmade" look & just have to amateurishly handmake everything. Adding just one or two perfect, machine-produced details looks kinda jarring.

Paper decoration - mix water soluble paint and wallpaper paste and go wild (videos are in German, sorry, idk if this is a thing that's really done in the anglophone world? But I think they're pretty easy to follow even if you don't understand the instructions). I like to use this for covers, mainly, I'm also experimenting with decorating endpapers this way. The paste makes the paper really rough and horrible to the touch; as the very last step, I wax the cover (with a beeswax-based furniture polish. Floor wax works as well, it just doesn't smell very nice). Be careful not to get any on the bookcloth, it will cause stains & ruin everything at the last second.

Headbands - I found this tutorial very helpful.

Bookmarks - this gave me so much trouble. Most amateur bookbinders seem to use cotton, polyester or satin ribbons, which is fine, I guess. I don't particularly like either option. At first I thought I could weave my own; that didn't work out, because weaving tiny bands is harder than it looks (& also the resulting ribbon was much too stiff). But! Bookmarks in professionally made books aren't woven at all; they're braided. Seven-stranded braids work pretty well (tutorial is for 5 strands, but 7 strands work the same). As for the headbands, embroidery floss is best imho (silk would, of course, be traditional but come on). Mercerised cotton crochet thread works as well but isn't quite as nice.

this turned out way too long lol. Sorry. Hopefully the answer you were looking for is in there somewhere. Again, thank you and have a lovely evening!

[itsclydebitches]

Does the way a story is told lead to greater divisions in a fandom? With RWBY its fun to play the fairytale allusion guessing game and to look for foreshadowing. but the story is told so loosely every viewer is basically invited to make up their own explanation for events/motivations. So there are near-continual fandom wars as people pit their head canons against each other. From a seller's perspective, does that ruin RWBYs accessibility for fans? Or drive fans away? Is it a good author tactic?

I’d theorize that it can indeed feed the division, but isn’t a requirement for it. Meaning, I’ve been in fandoms whose canon is far more straightforward, consistent, less ambiguity, all that jazz... and you can still get plenty of drama lol. But I don’t think the sort of writing RWBY produces helps matters. As you say, the story is told so loosely that everyone comes away with radically different interpretations, rather than the more traditional theorizing/analysis attached to an ongoing series. It’s less, “I wonder what happened to Summer... Oh yeah, that theory makes sense with what we’ve learned about her so far! We have good reason to expect we’ll find out the truth in the next two seasons, so we’ll see” and more “We have nothing substantial to go on because her daughters love her but apparently don’t talk about her? No one has said what they know about her death? Or acknowledged that it’s a mystery? We were encouraged to believe that Ozpin knew the truth, only to be told he doesn’t, only to be told in the same conversation that he might??”

Another easy example continues to be Blake/Yang. Because RT didn’t plan their relationship from the start and build it into the early volumes, because they didn’t likewise explain how they went from just friends to presumed girlfriends (even though that kind of change can be “realistic” - friendship can morph into different kinds of love over time - a lot of fans are confused by the shift without a clearer arc in what we know is a constructed story), and because we’re now straddling this line between clearly flirty but not saying anything overt... the audience gets to come to whatever conclusion the please. One fan says they’re absolutely dating now. Another says they like each other but haven’t admitted it yet. Another says that coding isn’t enough to prove romantic interest. Another says it’s just queer baiting and it will never be confirmed, etc. So when people write about the subject of “Blake and Yang” in RWBY everyone might as well have watched a different show for all RWBY confirms what we’re meant to take away from each scene/volume. 

Now apply that to a huge chunk of the writing. How are we supposed to approach Ironwood when he so quickly moves from hero to antagonist? How are we supposed to read Summer who went from “Super Mom” to no longer mentioned by Yang? Should we just ignore skills that disappear? Should we expect characters like Cinder to eventually get a backstory? Are we meant to invest in lines like Tyrian’s to Jaune? If the show drops stuff like Penny’s framing, or Oscar’s disappearance, how do we know what we should be putting emotional energy towards? Then what do we do with a seven year, ongoing story that frequently forgets what it has introduced in the past? The fan who remembers that lore dump from four years ago is going to read a scene very differently from the fan who forgot all about it. That second fan will think the scene in question was fantastic, whereas the first fan thinks it’s a retcon. The problem is not the individual fans’ ability to keep track of information, but rather RWBY’s inability to keep track and re-introduce that info when necessary. 

If the show doesn’t know what it wants to say, how can we know how to respond to it? That’s the problem and no, I don’t think it’s a good tactic. Not if you’re looking to write a compelling story that draws people to the community more out of genuine interest than that fandom drama. If they don’t know what they’re doing with Summer, or Salem, with aura, semblances, if things are just introduced willy-nilly with no thought to how they’ll impact the current story - let alone the story years done the line - then the audience is poised to get a messy, inconsistent experience that then translates into combative fandom interactions. The well-written story that says, “This is what happened. This is how it fits into what else you’ve seen. This is the point. This is the takeaway” provides a foundation for the fandom to unify around and expand on (“This is clearly A takeaway that the authors were going for, but I also think we can read the scene like this instead.”) The badly-written story that says, “You saw this happen but it’s unclear why. This doesn’t fit with what you’ve seen before. We don’t know what point we’re trying to make, or the takeaway contradicts what we said in the past...” sets its fandom up for a whole lot of arguments. 

[broadway-book-badger]

Let’s talk about books

Back in the day, about three years ago, I went through a phase of posting monthly write-ups of what I’d been reading on here. In these trying times there seems to be a little bit more time for reading, plus escapism and procrastination are always fun, so I though I’d share a few recommendations. There’s a few different genres (amazingly, hardly any YA fantasy), and I’ve mostly read these in the last year or so. I’ve kept my thoughts as spoiler free as I can. Read them under the cut.

1. The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Everyone and their mother has read The Hunger Games. I have read The Hunger Games before. But, a couple of weeks ago, I reread the trilogy for the first time since my first reading, which was around Christmas 2011. And to be perfectly honest, these books hold up! I think maybe it’s because I read so many not so good dystopian YA novels after I first read the Hunger Games that I thought less of this trilogy, but I don’t know. This is a solid series. If you’ve never revisited it (or if you’ve never read it at all), now could be the time! I love the fast paced writing - once things kick off, they do not stop and I burned through the whole trilogy in about three days. The world building is decent, and it doesn’t back away from some pretty heavy stuff. I remember certain scenes being much more gory, but that’s probably just because I’ve read much worse in the past 9 years. Also being older, I appreciate Katniss as a character a lot more. I remember 13-year old me getting annoyed, but now I kind of like that she is allowed to be confused about her feelings and struggle with what she’s been through and generally be a pawn rather than a flawless 16-year old rebel commander as seen elsewhere. The love triangle also isn’t as bad as I remember, although I was reminded of my own love for Peeta. Some people complain that he’s boring, but I think he’s a lovely boy.

2. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

I’ve been wanting to read this since I saw someone on the internet pitch this as something along the lines of “The queer dragon fantasy epic you’ve been waiting for.” I did a lot of waiting for it to come out in paperback, because it is an absolute behemoth over 800 pages, and while incredibly pretty, the hardback was just too big. It was, however, well worth the wait. I haven’t read a ton of adult fantasy, because a lot of it is so big, but this was a good place to start, because the writing style is pretty easy to read and also its a standalone, so the story is told by the end, it’s not the first of like 6 800 page bricks. While the plot and the characters and the love story between a queen and her handmaiden who’s a badass sorceress in disguise are all enjoyable, the thing I loved the most was the worldbuilding. I love the time and effort that was spent developing the religions and mythologies of all the different kingdoms and how they clash in ways such as different takes on the legend of St George and the dragon, and the contrast Western dragons as monsters to be slain by knights vs benevolent Eastern dragons that kind of echoes real world mythology. I saw one review of this describing ‘Priory’ as ‘a feminist successor to Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.’ While I think you could definitely say that that is the case, I would say that equally being more feminist than either of those titles is not a particularly high bar, given that there are only about 5 named women in the whole of Middle Earth, and most of the women in Game of Thrones are assaulted and brutalized for no good reason. 

3. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

This book made me so happy, you have no idea. An enemies to friends to lovers story about the son of the first female American president and the Prince of England, that reads kind of like fanfiction but in the best possible way is exactly what the world needs right now. Everything about this book is delightful, from the characters to their relationships to the pseudo-alternate history that its set in. I think the thing that increased my enjoyment of this is the fact that the main characters are in their early twenties. It seems to me that most protagonists, regardless of genre are either 16 or pushing 30, and while I still enjoy their stories, there was just something infinitely more relatable about a character the same age as me. If anyone knows of any more books with characters in this age range, please let me know, because they seem few and far between. Back to this, however, I think I was grinning like an idiot through most of this book. I laughed, I may have shed a little happy tear, I fully recommend.

4. The Broken Earth Trilogy by N K Jemisin

Another foray into adult fantasy, this is such a good series. The books aren’t too long and the writing style is easy to digest, but it is DARK. It’s set in a world which experiences apocalyptic natural disasters every couple of centuries. There are people with powers that can help control this, but they’re super oppressed and treated as evil, rather than potential saviours. The story follows a woman searching for her missing daughter in the wake of an apocalypse, a young girl coming into her powers and others, and it is so well done. It’s such a unique and diverse world, and there are some great reveals as to why the story is being told the way that it is, as well as interesting takes on things like living vs surviving and systems of oppression.

5. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

An aging and reclusive Hollywood star decides that the time has come to share her life story to an unknown journalist and it’s amazing. This is so well done that its easy to forget while reading that Evelyn Hugo is not a real person and you cannot go and watch her films. I first heard about this book and thought it sounded interesting, as I have a love of Old Hollywood musicals. I then promptly forgot all about it, until I heard other people on the internet talking about how it had a bisexual protagonist, which both reminded me about it and made me want to read it more and here we are. Evelyn Hugo had a hell of a life, with seven husbands and another great love story, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about it. This book does a great job at showcasing both the glamour and less glamorous underside of the era, as well as the lengths people are willing to go. It also had me sobbing at 1am because I couldn’t put it down, and if that isn’t the mark of a quality book, I don’t know what is!

6. Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy

A coming-of-age story following two childhood friends as they move from their small town to Dublin for University in the 1950s. Quite a chunky book, but a lovely story and I found it read pretty quickly. As I was saying about Red, White and Royal Blue, it’s rare to find books about characters of this sort of age range. Equally rare I think are books with a university setting - the only others I can think of are Fangirl, the Magicians and the Secret History - any recommendations, let me know! I enjoyed the characters growing and finding their confidence and independence, as well as the period setting. I also greatly appreciated the ending, in terms of the main character’s love interest, as it’s something that you don’t often see in this type of book. I may have to read more by this author.

7. Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton

This is one of those books that I just happened to read at the perfect time in my life, and for that reason it means a lot to me. I read it at the very end of 2018, when I was feeling really down and not myself, and something in there just spoke to me and maybe gave a little perspective. I don’t read much non-fiction and this is just the memoirs of someone as she navigates her teens and twenties. I can see why someone might not like it, but I really did. There’s some relatable content in here. As the book went on and I read all these parts about bad dates and third-wheeling friends, I kept waiting for the part where she said, ‘but then I met so-and-so and it all changed’ but that NEVER happened. By the end of this book, this woman is still single and praising all the types of non-romantic love in her life, and that I think is a bit of a revelation. It is so rare for a woman to stay single at the end of a book (see every YA love triangle ever, even when both boys are terrible), and so this resonated deeply with me. I laughed, I cried, I go back and reread bits every so often, and I wholeheartedly recommend.

8. Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

There are those who say that Cassandra Clare needs to stop, but I wholeheartedly disagree. As long as she wants to keep writing Shadowhunter books, I will keep reading them, because they are a hell of a lot of fun. I’ll admit, bits of the OG Mortal Instruments series aren’t the best thing I’ve ever read, but the historical series are in another league altogether. I adore the Infernal Devices trilogy, which features one of the few good love triangles in YA, and Chain of Gold is a promising start to a new series about the children of the Infernal Devices characters. I think there’s something about the historical setting that just works so much better than the modern series, it could be the angst that comes from things like marriages of convenience and ruined reputations, but I digress. I really enjoyed getting to know this new cast of characters, while also getting some appearances from old favourites. The plot was solid too, and I liked the new expansions to the mythology, while wondering what they mean for what’s coming in the rest of this trilogy. I think the fact that I read this in less than 48 hours, mostly sitting in the same spot tells you everything you need to know.

[landofsomethingsomething]

Super agree with you regarding epilogues ruining engagement. I was personally able to just completely boot the epilogues out of my brain, and hs still means a ton to me. But now I can't browse most content since it's epilogue stuff, and most people I followed who hated them too have completely divorced hs as a whole. Which I get, but yeah. It's just depressing. I'm not ready to give hs up, but I feel l'll have to since the epilogues eclipsed everything and there's just nothing left now.

Just realized my previous ask may imply guilting content creators for not making things I want, and I want to apologize for that. Not what I intended. I really just wanted to say that even from the perspective of someone who is still as passionate as I always was for hs, I'm feeling the strain the epilogues caused. It feels like the epilogues murdered the fandom rather than let it die a natural peaceful death.

Initially, honestly, that was my exact plan too - Just go on as though they hadn’t happened. But I ran into the same thing you and others have: No matter how mealy mouthed people get about “dubious canonicity” and the murk they are purportedly attempting to create between pure fanwork and pure canon... the epilogues are right there on the main page with the rest of the story. This isn’t like That One Ubiquitous Fanon Detail We Hate But Is Everywhere that we all surely have (more than one, for most of us really) because it comes explicitly from a place of authority over the work. The stuff that comes from other fans is so much easier to work with because we are all on equal ground from an authenticity standpoint. The epilogues are not on equal ground. They are authoritative and no matter how stubbornly we insist we will disregard them in their entirety, of course new canon (and that is what it is, again, no matter how mealy mouthed people are about it) is going to seep into the greater fandom consciousness. Like of course it is. Just like Act 7 quashed exploration of the characters’ individual goals because the body of the work authentically stated it had been to play along with paradox space’s rules and just make a new frogverse the whole time. Just like the Credits quashed exploration of alternate new universes and Earth Cs and what godhood looks like and how the kids grew from their experiences and what that growth led them to become. 

Of course I don’t think either of those were malicious the way the epilogues were, that’s just how it is. New canon will always change a fandom’s working parameters fundamentally unless literally no one reads it, I guess. Schroedinger’s canon. 

I think that I was honestly just naively, optimistically banking on more people disregarding it entirely. I thought to myself that it was so bad and so insulting and so objectively fucking awful, of course the collective community would just ignore it. But that was just me being an idiot - of course it’s messier than that, no community is a hivemind. People are picking and choosing details to keep and details to ignore and details to expand on and details to minimize and the end result, really, is just that the epilogues are fucking everywhere in a bunch of scintillating fractured different forms, infecting everything and making it all totally unpalatable to people like me, who genuinely wanted to just forget it ever happened while somehow still remaining plugged in. I’m not sure why I was so confident it would be possible at the time, looking back it was really pretty stupid of me lol.

The truth is that the story I liked does not exist anymore, because subsequent parts of a story by necessity recontextualize the rest. I’ve argued for years that Homestuck Is Actually Good based on a lot of things that came from a place of empathy for creators who meant well but were burnt out and wanted to move on. Well, ok. My bad, again. I can’t go back and not have the knowledge I do now, and all the joy I used to feel at the potential of those unfinished arcs and unanswered questions and dangling plot threads, the fire it all lit in me to write things and showcase possibilities through that writing to show other people why I thought Homestuck was So Good - that’s gone - and nothing will ever convince me that wasn’t half the point of it, that getting us out of the playground wasn’t part of the intent.

That’s the difference between how much I disliked the Ending and how much I disliked the Epilogues. The Ending was ridiculous, but in a way that left the stuff I did like intact while creating an open field of possibility to fill in. The Epilogues purposely took that field and filled it up with as much garbage as possible with the specific intent of driving the people who had been enjoying that space out of it, and ensuring the people left behind were, well, playing with garbage. I feel like I’m watching a social experiment where the creators behind an old megafandom are trying to answer the question of how much literal shit do you have to give people before they stop touching it? It’s honestly disconcerting, I don’t know how to describe it, and I realize people are going to find that condescending but I truly do not know how else to describe my feelings while also somehow making clear that my intent is not to wail at everyone “doing fandom wrong,” or whatever. There’s no wrong way to do fandom, the entire point of fandom is to do exactly what people are doing, to take bits and pieces of a thing and play with them. I am the one with the problem here, not everyone else. 

The intention here, really, is sort of just to mourn, because the fandom pivoted at a critical point in a direction I didn’t expect or want and as a result people including me have been alienated from continuing to engage with it. The same thing would have happened to a different subset of people had things gone the way I thought they would, too, for the record. There was no way to “win” this, no “right” way to deal with it, it just is what it is and this is what it looks like from my perspective.

[mugen-monogatari]

Kabukimonogatari - Shinobu Silence; Humanizing a Monster

This post is the second part of my Kabukimonogatari posts. In the first post, I talked about Hachikuji and her key scene, while in this post, I’ll be talking about Shinobu and her important scene. To me personally, this climax of the arc was probably one of the best scenes in Monogatari as a whole. This entire exchange, was so satisfyingly, unsatisfying. It left me feeling empty, and almost disappointed (which sounds like a bad thing), but that��s what makes it so great. The crushingly painful realism. This entire arc was a commentary on how even our smallest actions and decisions can affect the greater world around us. It shows how we take even the smallest things for granted, with some pretty insightful commentary on depression and being in a dark place.

So with that brief introduction out of the way. Lets talk about shinobu and her climactic scene in Kabukimonogatari. For this analysis, I’ll be potentially spoiling all the way up to episode 10 of the Monogatari second Season. Keep that in mind if you haven’t yet seen up to that point. Also, this is all just my interpretation, none of this should be taken as fact.

Ironically, this arc was the first which made Shinobu, a vampire, an aberration, feel the most human in the entire series. She demonstrates, while seeming like a transcendent being, she’s very much so susceptible to the same problems everyone faces. Jealousy, pride, depression. They affect her just as much as they would anyone else. Which was top-notch characterization for this point in the story. Up to then, Shinobu was almost an enigma, being incredibly cute and wise, but having very little going for her in terms of emotional depth (that is unless you watched or read Kizumonogatari before this).

This entire humanization is what leads to the apocalyptic events of Kabuki. Shinobu’s jealousy. Her envy for the people around Koyomi, her pride and child-like stubbornness. Most of you probably didn’t remember until it was mentioned, Shinobu was missing at one point in the story, only returning upon seeing Koyomi’s efforts to find her. She saw this as an act of mutual affection. Him searching for her demonstrated his need or care for her, so she returned the kindness by helping him with the Hanekawa situation. However in this reality, Hachikuji had never incentivized Koyomi to go search for Shinobu, prompting her to destroy the world in her solitude and envy.

And that was one of the really heart-wrenching things about this arc- It shows even that little ounce of effort is enough to save someone, or to change things, even fix things. In our case, Koyomi actively put that effort in, going out of his way instead of settling for the easy route of just waiting for her to return. Shinobu while having lived for hundreds of years, still has the mind of a spoiled brat. She felt as if it was Koyomi’s job to come searching for her. She refused to be the one that put the effort in. She acknowledges this herself- “If I had only made one tiny compromise.” She realizes that you can’t expect things to happen for you, if you’re not willing to put some effort in yourself. She comes to terms with the unreasonable nature of her actions, having created this entire situation and forcing Koyomi to search for her, to see things from her perspective. But in this alternate reality- He never did.

I feel that's a painfully accurate depiction of human emotions. A lot of the time, we expect things from people that aren’t entirely fair. We can’t always admit we’re wrong, and we’re often too stubborn to just apologize. We instead run away and blame it on everyone else. “It was his fault for not chasing me-” That’s the sort of mentality she had. And that’s a mentality a lot of people have. But this entire arc shows you have to compromise. You can’t rely on one party in a relationship to fix everything. You both must actively work towards whatever happiness you seek.

“If I’d only opened up my heart to this boy a little more, Believing and entrusting…”

It also shows a slightly nihilistic view of our actions. Running away, destroying the world was completely pointless, she accomplished nothing in doing so. The void in her heart was not filled, she was just left feeling even more empty and depressed. Had she just waited slightly longer, or better yet, compromised, she would’ve had the happiness she sought after. Which is a good message told in a depressing way. Patience is key. Don’t run away from the problem and expect everyone else to fix it. If you’re not happy with the way someone acts or a situation you’re in, you can work on improving that, even when it’s hard, time and effort will help you ultimately achieve happiness.

This was a very rough scene for me personally. Your actions aren’t permanent, but your mistakes are. Running away isn’t the end of it. Had she just returned everything would have been okay, while never returning led to the end of our world as we knew it. Her world too. She was left with nothing but regrets. “My running away from home caused me to lose you… Making me feel like I had lost a wing, A half of myself.” A quote that just goes to demonstrate her pain. Her misery at making one, small, stupid, stubborn choice, which led to everything she knew ending. Leaving her with nothing but a destroyed world and a void in her heart.

Which leads me onto my second part of this scene. Depression. I know it’s a little cliche to talk about it, but I think this is a fairly accurate depiction of it. It’s not a switch or something that happens overnight. In the case of Shinobu and most people, it’s a downwards spiral, one bad day leading to another, before they pile up. In her case, she was stubborn. Taking her anger out on the world, before realizing in feeling alone, she truly became alone. She destroyed her own life, with her own hands. As DJ Khaled once said; “Congratulations, you played yourself.”(Had to get one meme in there to lighten the mood plsdontkillme).

Shinobu feels truly alone. She struggles with the fact that Koyomi is surrounded by all these girls, forcing him to divide his attention between them all, making her feel unneeded and desperate. So she flees. She runs away with the hope that he’ll chase her, and when he doesn’t- She kills everyone. In doing so, she realizes that she truly has become alone and is prompted to take her own life.

But then upon seeing her alternate self, it becomes all so painfully clear the futility of her actions. This could have all been avoided if- you guessed it- she compromised. There most definitely was a reality where she was happy. There was a certain almost guaranteed chance that everything would be okay, had she just waited or tried to put effort in herself. It’s a very touching moment actually, when she has the tragic realization that everything she did was pointless. She had ruined everything for no reason. That there was a reality where both her and Koyomi could happily snuggle together.

While that may sound bleak, I think the real hidden message is that things get better. Life will improve, and even when it’s difficult or hard or stressful or lonely, it’s not the end. There’s a lot of people out there who suffer from very serious, very real problems, and many see no way out of it. It can be draining and scary. But it does truly get better, with some time and effort, you can make a life for yourself. It’s unfair, yes, but if you just work at things, one day you’ll be able to look back on you life and wonder why you ever even worried. I think this arc was kind of like a really really depressing way of saying- “Hey. It’ll be alright. Just stick with it. It’ll pay off, your hard work and effort will be rewarded,” which is both sweet and touching. If this was truly the author’s intentions, I have to give him kudos, since I think that’s a good message to give people.

To relate this to my own life, me and my own Girlfriend argue sometimes. Occasionally the topic of breaking up will come up, but we never do. She always puts it best saying; “I won’t break up with you because that’s a permanent decision. This argument isn’t, we’ll move on and forget about it at some point.” And I think that applies perfectly with this entire arc.

Kabukimonogatari was another fanatastic arc in an amazing series, and I’m just glad I got to experience it and share it with you guys. If you take anything away from this arc, just remember, no matter where you are in life, one day it’ll get better.

Thank you so much for reading this, if you made it this far, maybe consider sharing this with someone. Next up I’ll be doing some stuff for the Fate franchise, as well as more Monogatari character stuff, don’t forget more Bleach posts too, So keep your eyes peeled.

Take Care of Eachother, Saki~

[self-loving-vampire]

Politics in Fiction

Often, I see various arguments about politics in fiction (this most often happens specifically around video games for some reason). These arguments are rarely satisfying to me because I feel like I both agree and disagree with both sides at once.

One side says that some fiction has always been political, which is true but also not really what the other side is complaining about.

The other side is also prone to making many claims I do not agree with, like that including minority characters is always political pandering.

So there are actually many points I want to address on this topic and I hope I can separate them into readable chunks properly.

It is fine for fiction to be political

I do not dispute that many fictional works have political messages and themes. I also don’t think that this is inherently a bad thing.

The better Fallout games are political, for example. They often focus on the affairs of various societies and how they are (or should be) managed or governed, and their world is richer and more interesting for it. 

The central choice in Fallout New Vegas is basically about which faction should control the city and its nearby dam, which results in various different policies and consequences.

Political fiction can be good, it can help develop a setting or provide meaningful and memorable decisions.

However, as with all fiction, it has to be smart and nuanced about it. I will explain more below.

Sometimes things are not actually that political

One claim I have heard is that Star Wars is about “resisting fascism”. I don’t entirely see that in the movies as I remember them (though it might be more apparent in expanded universe stuff).

The bad guys in Star Wars are an authoritarian empire, yes, but at least in the movies themselves there doesn’t seem to be anything uniquely fascist about them, and not much is said about their ideology or policies in the movies either. They feel like a generic evil empire.

I know it has been long since I watched the movies, but I never really understood what the emperor’s motivations were beyond just personal power. Why did he want personal power? I don’t know. He barely feels like a real character.

And on top of that, Star Wars does not actually discuss or criticize fascism or even authoritarianism as an idea all that much. It’s just bad guys to fight in a way that feels superficial to me.

While on this topic, not all deep themes are political in nature. I know some people believe the personal is political, I don’t (for reasons I may explain in a different post). Sometimes I see works that deal with personal issues but that are treated as dealing with political ones, they are not the same thing to me.

I feel like people on both sides do this, too.

For example, there was a recent controversy about how Bloodlines 2 will let players choose their pronouns and how this was "too political” or “pandering to SJWs”.

Some people seem to just treat the very existence of LGBT characters in fiction as a political move, but to me they are just characters. 

Everyone in my Dungeons and Dragons settings (except the player characters, if they wish) is either bisexual or asexual, not because I am trying to make any kind of statement but because those are the states that are easiest for me to imagine and work with.

Sometimes the politics are not what you think they are

Because everyone has different views and experiences, people can look at the same story from a different perspective and take an entirely different message from it.

It is fine if your interpretation is uncommon, it is even fine if your interpretation is different from what the author intended.

But you should keep in mind that your reading is not the only valid one.

I most often see people on the left do this. They will claim that a piece of media is leftist, and often there may be some valid argument for why it may be, but then treat their interpretation as fact and try to shame and attack others for thinking differently without ever considering why they might have read the story differently.

For example, during the backlash to the backlash surrounding Bloodlines 2, I saw people asserting as fact that vampires are an allegory for the upper classes being parasites and therefore the people complaining are not welcome.

That did not seem right to me. All kinds of people write vampire stories and intend different meanings for them, there isn’t a universal to work with (not even when it comes to the physical powers and traits the vampires have).

Sometimes vampires are meant to represent corrupting yet irresistible sexual predators.

Sometimes they are meant to represent disease.

Sometimes they are just hot but troubled supernatural boyfriends.

Bram Stoker himself was a monarchist, and the vampires in the VTM setting are not all wealthy either. Some of them even live in the sewers and look too monstrous to be around humans. Not everyone is a Ventrue and not all Ventrue are bad, especially by the standards of the setting.

It is possible to do politics so badly that it ruins everything

I think there may be another reason why certain people may not notice that their favorite media deals with social issues and politics: That sort of thing is much more noticeable when it is done very poorly, which further convinces those people that adding politics to media is bad.

At some point social issues can stop being interesting worldbuilding or philosophical dilemmas and just become a ham-fisted allegory for a current real world issue that just hits one side on the face with an opinion they may not agree with.

For example, remember when Deus Ex: Mankind Divided pissed absolutely everyone off with that “Augs Live Matters” sign?

This has been said before, but good political stuff is vague and timeless: It deals with general principles that can be applied in multiple contexts. For example, 1984 was about extreme authoritarianism but not any one authoritarian group.

When fiction follows current issues/movements/political labels too closely, it risks being reduced to being about that specific issue instead of the things that lie underneath it.

On top of this, a lot of fiction that is deliberately aimed at being political is just badly written in that it tries to tell you how to think instead of letting you think. It is like those political cartoons that label everything and that have messages that can be summarized as “my side is correct and my enemies are dumb and evil” but do not actually tell you why that is.

I don’t like political cartoons even when I agree with them. They do not inspire deep consideration or persuade people, they just give the groups that already agreed with the message some short-term pleasure at how much better than their opponents they are.

People want interesting fiction that allows them to explore issues and come to their own conclusions. They don’t want propaganda that treats them with contempt and won’t change their minds.

If you want to see what extremely bad political fiction looks like, just check out that dying TERF webcomic known as Sinfest. In the webcomic, transgender people are portrayed as literal misogyny zombies and children are sent to “gender camps” to be forced to take hormones and re-educated.

The social metaphors in Sinfest are detached from reality yet so heavy-handed that they probably need cranes to lift their hands high enough to masturbate, and masturbate is all the author does in the comic.

If your primary aim is to make propaganda rather than to make interesting, thoughtful, and heartfelt stories then you will most likely make very bad fiction. We can see that happening here.

In my opinion, the best stories are personal or deal with timeless questions or core principles rather than just repeating current talking points or moralizing.

[stopforamoment]

Part Two: The Way I Are (Series 8, Part 2 of 8)

Series Eight: Good Guys Do Exist (Eight Parts)

Part Two: The Way I Are (Series 8, Part 2 of 8)

Masterlist

Book: The Royal Romance (After Book Three—or Four?)

Pairing: Bastien Lykel x OFC Rinda Parks

Word Count: 1,494

Rating: M for Language

Author’s Note: Obligatory disclaimer that Pixelberry Studios owns the TRR characters and my pocketbook with those darn diamond scenes. OFC with all of her quirks is all mine. My apologies if Tumblr or I do something stupid when I try to post this. The keep reading link shows up on my laptop but not my phone. Ugh.

Series Summary: It’s the fourth week of school, going into October, and it’s Bastien’s last week as security officer at the school. He’s just helping Drake with the transition, and then he’s back to the palace as Head of Security for the Royal Guard. This series starts to transition Drake into the school and sets him up as a “good guy,” (our marshmallow!) just like Bastien. 

Summary: In part two Rinda is thinking of another fun way to help Drake fit in at the school. The videos for inspiration are

“Insane Football Freestyle Skills on Got Talent! | Got Talent Globalamazing.” 

Timbaland’s “The Way I Are”

Backstreet Boys “Everybody” 

Monday after School, Week Four

Rinda wasn’t athletic and she was a horrible football player, but she was a decent dancer and dancing while balancing a prop was nothing new to her. But it took practice, and she had been practicing for weeks before she wanted to show Julian and Laura her idea. But after hearing Drake talk to Bastien, she figured this would be a good time to roll it out—no pun intended.

Drake and Bastien were about to head out for the day, but Rinda came running up with a couple European footballs. “Drake, do you have 15 minutes before you have to leave?” He nodded and followed Rinda into the gym. Bastien trailed behind, interested to see what Rinda was up to. “Okay, hear me out. I can’t play football, but I’m okay with dancing. So I’m taking the perspective of doing football drills to music.” She handed one of the balls to Drake and used her phone to play “The Way I Are” by Timbaland, casually singing the lyrics between talking to Drake.

“I love this song, so work with me on it. It has a good beat, and the video actually has a little bit of football stuff in it, so that’s what gave me the idea.” Drake raised an eyebrow but said nothing. “Okay, so start dribbling the ball, but do it to the beat of the music.” Rinda started dribbling and singing.

I ain't got no money

I ain't got no car to take you on a date

I can't even buy you flowers

But together we can be the perfect soul mates

Talk to me girl

Drake rolled his eyes but followed Rinda’s lead. It was obviously easy for Drake, so she added a windmill to the dribble, quickly whipping her leg around the ball between dribbles. It had taken her weeks to accomplish this, but she was able to make it look easy. Drake grinned and was easily able to do the same.

Oh, baby, it's alright now, you ain't gotta flaunt for me

If we go and touch, you can still touch my love, it's free

We can work without the perks just you and me

Thug it out 'til we get it right

“Okay Drake. That’s the extent of my dribbling skills. Keep going with that and do other stuff to impress me. But do it to the beat of the music, okay? And I’m going to use my hands, so deal.” This was the part Rinda had really been practicing, and she still didn’t have it down. She used her head to bounce the ball to the floor like a basketball, and she leaned forward to catch it on her back. It helped that she had some junk in the trunk, so the ball rolled precariously down her back, but she was able to roll it forward and stand upright so she could circle it to her front and quickly bend back so she could very briefly balance it on her chest. But that was all. She had to grab it in her hands, laughing when she saw Drake and Bastien watching her. “Trust me, I’ve been practicing that a lot. And why did you stop, Drake? What other mad skills do you have?” Then she practiced rolling the football along her neck and shoulder a couple times, stopping again to grab the football before it fell. She held her arms in a circle in front of her, in a ballet second position, and wiggled her arms so the ball gained momentum, like a basketball circling the rim.

I ain't got no Visa

I ain't got no Red American Express

We can't go nowhere exotic

It don't matter 'cause I'm the one that loves you best

Talk to me girl

Meanwhile Drake was bouncing the ball on his head, doing his own balancing and circling, and Rinda saw Bastien watching her so she yelled to him. “Hey, Tiger!” She rolled the football along one arm, behind her neck, and down the other arm, giving it a flick to toss it in his direction. She missed horribly and laughed. “Yeah, that’s all I got. Your turn!” Bastien shook his head, laughing at how badly she missed him. But he ran after the ball and quickly joined Drake, doing his own impressive tricks. Rinda just kept dancing and singing the song, watching Drake and Bastien laughing and showing off to each other.

Baby if you strip, you can get a tip

'Cause I like you just the way you are

(I'm about to strip and I'm well equipped

Can you handle me the way I are?)

I don't need the G's or the car keys

Boy I like you just the way you are

Let me see you strip, you can get a tip

'Cause I like you just the way you are

Henry was looking for his mom, and he straggled into the gym with Laura and Julian. At first they all watched and cheered Drake and Bastien on, but when the song ended Rinda started “Everybody” by the Backstreet Boys.

Drake gave Rinda an exasperated look. “Parks, no.”

“Sorry Drake. You’re in the world of primary school music now, and Backstreet Boys made a comeback. No pity for you. They were popular when I was younger, so do you know how old this makes me feel?”

Bastien grinned. “You were a Backstreet Boys fan? Who was your favorite?”

Rinda smirked. “Nope. I’m old, remember? New Kids on the Block were big when I was in high school and no, I did not follow them. The boy band dancing is pretty amazing, but I was a metal head and hair band kind of girl. Jon Bon Jovi . . .” She gave a playful growl and laughed when she saw Bastien’s shocked reaction.

While they were talking Laura and Julian had grabbed footballs and joined in. Rinda and Henry kept shouting encouragement while everyone else began passing footballs to each other, balancing them, dribbling them, bouncing them on their heads. It was amazing. Laura also had dance experience, so she was adding footwork while she dribbled and Rinda noticed how Drake would try to imitate her and one up her. Henry knew the song and started dancing the video’s choreography, and Rinda joined him. Bastien stopped for awhile to watch them dancing and goofing off, and Drake used that moment to hit Bastien in the head. Unfortunately for Bastien, Rinda and Henry saw it and they doubled over laughing at him.

When the music ended Rinda clapped her hands and threw back her head to laugh—a sure sign she was extra excited about something. “So, do we have the potential for a Friday Jam in the gym? Drake? Are you cool with being in on it, even if it’s Backstreet Boys music?” He grinned and nodded. “Do we want to do it this Friday, and Bastien can be a part of it?” She gave Bastien a wicked grin. “Otherwise we could save it for the King and Queen’s visit? Bastien, I don’t know if you could still join us for it or not because you’re working, but it would be pretty amazing.”

Bastien nodded. “I could figure something out with Mara just for the Friday Jam part, but if there are last-minute security concerns I can’t.” Rinda nodded understandingly.

“Okay, let me talk to the principal and see if we can do something for the King and Queen’s visit. Bastien—I guess I’d also talk to you and Mara, right?” He nodded.

Rinda was still thinking. “Maybe we can use the choreography from the beginning of the video, like a regular Friday Jam, and then you guys can do all this amazing improv stuff. With Drake and Bastien joining, it will be extra amazing. Oh, and it will be getting close to Halloween and the video has a Halloween theme. Maybe costumes . . . Rinda trailed off, her mind racing with ideas. Suddenly her head snapped up. “And Henry, DO NOT tell anyone. This has to be a surprise. It would be a real dick move if you ruined it for everyone else.”

Bastien saw Henry grin so he quickly ran over to him. “If you tell, I will torture you with tickles!!!!” He grabbed Henry up and begin tickling him until Henry was gasping for breath, promising not to tell. Rinda bit her lip as she watched them. They got along together so well. She felt Drake watching her, and she gave him a small smile and shrugged. He knew Rinda’s concerns about dating anyone before Henry was ready, and he also knew Rinda was in limbo until she knew for sure if they were staying in Cordonia at least until summer. But it was also no secret that there was something between her and Bastien, whether Rinda was ready to acknowledge it yet or not.

And now it was time for Rinda to deflect. “Hey Laura, did you and Drake get a chance to figure out Wednesday’s practice?”

tags @asherella-is-a-dork-3  @liam-rhys

[11peachbunny11]

Review of Song of Achilles

Overall rating: 8/10

Quick Take: Did it make me cry? Yes. Did I sob? No. I got over it pretty quickly and was able to sleep soundly. Did I like it? Yes! Do I think it's overhyped? Also yes. 

Suggestion to Other Readers: 1. You don’t have to know the myth to enjoy this book, no previous knowledge is needed. 2. I used this book to get out of my reading slump, and it worked! This book is super easy to read and I think one could definitely get a good experience out of it either reading it all in one sitting (which is what I did, took me ~6 hours total) or reading it in chunks. 

Overall vibe: It was cute! But this book is coated in YA vibes. Some people like that, some don’t. It usually doesn’t bother me a whole lot, so I still had a very good time. 

Hot Take: This book is a beautiful retelling and I think the author really accomplished what she set out to do. However, was this the deepest and most heart wrenching thing I’ve ever read? No. Her writing is very nice, but I didn’t get the same magic out of it as so many others seemed to have (blaming Erin Morgenstern on that one, she has ruined me). I often hear people talk about how deep and quotable this book is, but I really didn’t see it. Like, there’s the one “he’s the other half of my soul” line and… that’s about it? I think this book was incredibly well written and Madeline Miller does have a very distinct writing style, but after everything that I’d heard, when I started reading the actual book I was honestly really shocked. The writing was not what I had been led to believe. Which is fine! It was still very good, but… not what I was expecting. 

What I noticed of her writing was that it was quick, to the point, and there is hardly any dialogue in this book. We watch from Patroclus’ perspective only and he explains his feelings more so then feels them. Some people like that, some people don’t. I honestly have no qualms on it, but he did a lot of ‘immediately placing names to the feelings’ so if you have issue with that, you’ve been warned.

Moving along to the actual story and characters, I really loved the two main leads. I think it’s kinda hard not to enjoy them and their love story was cute. However, the book didn’t quite get into the depth with which I wanted it too. I attribute this to just how much she had to get through. The actual myth is so long, and in order to not write a 700 page book she really had to speed through some stuff. So I understand why, but it doesn’t make me happy. Within this book, there was never a point in which I felt we really sat with the characters. There would be a small moment, but then we were moving on to the next part. Once again, I believe this is because there was just so much that we had to get through, but still. We run through this book, and at no point for me did it feel like we slowed down and really felt with these characters. A lot of the feelings are surface level. 

Now, what those feelings are were still very complex--jealousy and envy and love are nuanced things, especially when put together, but I felt like we never deep dived into those feelings. There was just no time. But still, despite all this, her characters felt very human, and that’s always preferable to any alternative. 

The romance was… very cute, do not get me wrong. But that really isn’t what hit me in the end. Because I knew how the story would end, I was braced for it, so when it happened, I wasn’t very saddened. The myth is fairly well known, and even if you don’t know what’s to go down the foreshadowing is intense. The book essentially tells you from the beginning that this is a tragedy. No, the romance was fine, but what got to me was the ending scene between Patroclus and Achilles’ Mother. That hit hard, and if you’ve read the book or plan to read the book, you’ll know what I mean. That had depth to it. That was meaningful. Grief is a complex beast and I feel like that scene really encompassed what it can look like when two people grieve together despite previous hatred. I feel like the most complex and deep relationship in this book is that between Patroclus and Achilles' mother. That had a lot to it, and I found myself excited for and enjoying more the scenes between them than the scenes between the two lovers. That could just be the angst lover in me, but I felt like those scenes had more emotions behind them then any others in this book. 

Overall, this book was enjoyable and it got me out of my reading slump. I would definitely suggest it to anyone looking for a historical Greek story or an LGBT read.

[awed-frog]

Hey, I was just wondering do you have any thoughts on Barthes, death of the author? And I guess in extension the return of the author? Also slightly related, have you ever read any of Chris Krause's work? I read I love dick and I'm rather conflicted, I don't like the character but then I identify with her? Anyhow all the best x

Okay, so - as a disclaimer, I never had tons of classes in any of this stuff, so I’m hoping what follows makes some sense? If it doesn’t, it’s 100% my fault.

Anyway: the tl;dr is, I hate it with a vengeance and I never use it. On the contrary, it is very central to my life, and as close a certainty as I have on anything, that whatever we consume we should always ask ourselves: who is saying this? And why? And most of all, cui bono?

Oh, and a second disclaimer is that what I’ll allow *waves a generous hand* is that, like many other extreme, rebellious or wacky theories of the 1960s, it was probably Good and About Bloody Time that someone pushed back against the status quo, because some things back then needed to be broken down - but that doesn’t make those movements rational or right in themselves, you know what I mean? What matters is not the wrecking ball, but the new thing you’re planning to build on the ruins.  

So - imo there are two big problems with the concept of ‘death of the author’ - one is the theory itself, and the other is how this theory is understood on tumblr and fandoms (from what I see on my dash, that is).

First of all, Barthes basically says that to understand a text, we shouldn’t go and explore its author (their life and other works, the historical context, what they’ve read and talked about with friends and stuff like that) because the author is born with the text, and the text already contains all that it’s necessary to its full understanding; also, the reader will supply the rest, because, in a way, the reader creates the text - and gives it meaning - just as much as the author.

To be perfectly honest, to me that’s downright bullshit. Knowing who the author was and what was happening around them is paramount to understanding what the hell the text is trying to say, you know? For instance, knowing Orwell took part in the Spanish Civil War makes Homage to Catalonia much more poignant, and the fact Burgess went through the exact same ordeal he describes in A Clockwork Orange (his wife was attacked and brutalized by a group of American soldiers in 1944) will change the way you read the book, as it bloody should, and the same is true of literally everything else, in my opinion. For instance, last week we went to see The Greatest Showman, a biopic of P. T. Barnum that’s horribly inaccurate and almost a parody of itself; but knowing full well what the polical climate is like today means I actually sort of liked the movie despite its many faults, because I recognized it as what it wanted to be: a ‘hymn to freakishness’, an exploration of what it means to be different, and that’s exactly what we’re in dire need of.

Now - what is true is that we’ll never be able to pin down exactly ‘what the author intended’, because authors may not know themselves and that’s just the world we live in and the kind of creatures we are. I met writers who’re extremely smart, attentive people completely dedicated to their craft, and all of them said there’s always this moment when some reader goes, I liked how that detail with the dead bird was a direct reference to Clara’s illness or something and it’s a light-bulb moment for them, and I mean - they wrote the damn thing, but still didn’t notice that detail was there and why it was important. It probably just sounded right, because that’s what happens when you’re good at something and do it daily: sometimes things just click and work and you don’t even stop to consider the whys and wherefores. But the fact that we don’t have a complete insight into our own minds doesn’t mean we should give up completely on interpreting art and literature, right? What would be the point of that? Because I always perceived Barthes’ theory as a kind of giving up, myself, a kind of Fuck, Le Grand Robert lists 100K words and I’ll never be able to learn all of them, I might as well stop my French classes, you know? And, like, no? You can speak and understand a language with 500 words - and whatever, your glimpse into that world won’t be perfect (and there’s no such thing as perfect, btw), but still better than nothing, right? So, anyway, I don’t much like this theory in itself. 

As to its application to fandom life, well, here is where things get even worse. From what I see on tumblr, people generally think that ‘death of the author’ means their interpretation of what they see is always valid, and also that there is no right or wrong way to understand a story. And this bothers me a lot, because I see it as a direct consequence of a) capitalism doing its best to tailor its products to everyone by leaving out as many details as possible so that, Sure, Luke Skywalker can totally be gay, why not, and here is your Funko pop toy and your stickers and thanks for shopping with us and b) the age-old myth that science, now, that’s a hard and unforgiving discipline where there’s truths and untruths, but in the liberal arts, everyone’s opinion just counts the same (because you don’t need a degree to watch a movie and also the author is dead, so there). But, well - as the people who actually produce the content we enjoy know perfectly well, the author is not dead. There is a message in stories, and there is a right and a wrong way of reading them - if not on all the details, then on the main point of them; and, frankly, it’s weird how on the one hand we celebrate the triumph of this ‘everyone’s opinion is valid’ society we’re building (thus not simply killing the author, but bludgeoning the dead body with a blunt axe) and then on the other we loudly demand a world where artists are ‘unproblematic’ in their private lives (one example: the recent furore over Balthus’ painting in the Met). It looks like truly, this may be the era of the Schrödinger’s Author.

(And let me be clear: of course you’re allowed to like or dislike whatever you want based on your personal experiences and bias, but that’s your opinion, not any kind of truth. Like, a thing I found quite interesting in my personal life was a discussion I had with a woman from New Zealand about Thor: Ragnarok, a movie I mostly hated. One of the reasons for my disappointment in it was how Valkyrie had been represented: to me, her laddish drunkenness represented yet another attempt to insert women in a story while making them behave like men, a trend I profoundly despise. But, as that woman was kind enough to explain to me, from her perspective (and probably Waititi’s, since he’s from New Zealand and has explored the same subject in other movies) Valkyrie’s loss of focus and alcohol problems were there to evoke the plight of the Māori people, who, like other aboriginal communities, were forced into alcoholism and excised from their traditions when the ‘civilizing’ might of the the White Man showed up on their shores. This to say that I still don’t like the movie, but since Waititi was talking to a different audience, and they got the message, I’m wrong and he’s right, because I’m free to have an opinion on anything, but at the end of the day, he’s the goddamn author, alive and kicking.)

As for Chris Kraus, I don’t know her at all. I heard good things about the TV adapation of I love Dick? And as for what you say - fiction often reveals deeper truths about ourselves. I’d say that if you feel close to a character you don’t like, well, that’s a good starting point to understand (and change, or maybe learn to love) what it is that you don’t like about yourself? Anyway - sorry for the novel - I wish you a good afternoon/evening/whatever it is where you are! 

[aion-rsa]

Is It Better to Reinvent Fantasy Tropes or Pay Homage to Them?

https://ift.tt/3oItn9x

In August, we brought you the first part of this roundtable conversation between three of speculative fiction’s most exciting up-and-coming authors: Emily Tesh (Silver in the Wood and its sequel Drowned Country), A.K. Larkwood (The Unspoken Name), and Everina Maxwell. In honor of today’s publication of Maxwell’s queer space opera Winter’s Orbit, we’re publishing the second part of their conversation. In it, the writers and IRL friends have a funny and insightful conversation about elves and the value of a homage, the difficulties of writing sequels, and how to name a book.

Q: EVERINA MAXWELL: Fantasy as a genre is constantly reinventing elements it’s had since forever. Both The Unspoken Name and Drowned Country contain elves, for example, or at least something that looks like elves if you squint at them sideways. What inspires you to take a familiar concept and put a new spin on it?

EMILY TESH: Oh thank you, you know I love to talk about elves. For me part of the joy of creating genre fiction is working with the constraints and expectations of that genre, whether you’re running with them or pushing against them–borrowing from what Kass said earlier about reusing characters, it’s helpful to have a paintbox rather than mixing your paint from scratch! I especially love having a starting point for what your readers think is going on; in many ways writing a book is an exercise in mind control–what is your reader imagining right now? What have they guessed? What do they know that the characters don’t? What elements of the story are holding their attention? Sometimes one feels a bit of pressure to subvert, to do an original take that no one has done before. But I don’t think that’s always necessary or even interesting. A boring subversion (you thought… X! But actually… the opposite of that!) can’t carry a story by itself, while the familiar tracks of reader expectation can lead you to interesting places. It’s also the case that having your expectations fulfilled can be a satisfying experience as a reader; personally I love to guess the murderer, to solve the lore mystery, to watch characters who are clearly perfect for each other realise they’re in love. 

Anyway my point is: I find it impossible to talk elves in the fantastic without finding myself in conversation with Tolkien, who just wrote so much elf bullshit. I say this from a place of deep love, as a person who has read all of it multiple times including the obscure stuff that didn’t even make it into the Silmarillion. And while “this isn’t like Tolkien!” is something I’ve heard often as a shorthand for “this fantasy is new and fun and subverts those old familiar tropes you know!,” I knew when I started writing Drowned Country that I wanted to do the opposite of that: I wanted to lean right into Tolkienesque elves–immortals who have outlived their own apocalypse, remnants of a civilization unimaginably older than the human world, and also the cool thing where as they get older and older they start to turn invisible. I think there’s a lot to be said for the homage, the anti-subversion. What is a genre without the echoes and reimaginings, the game of expectations, the mutual understanding between author and reader that what we are reading now is built–for better or worse–on what we’ve read before?

Also elves are cool and great and that’s just facts.

A.K. LARKWOOD: I can’t believe everyone spotted the elves in my book, I thought I hid them so well. Anyway my excuse is because I just think it’s cute to give people pointy ears.

TESH: This is also valid.

Q: TESH: Speaking of sources for fantasy tropes: can someone just like… explain Dungeons and Dragons to me? From a writing perspective, I mean. I know that for some people roleplay can be a hugely productive story-generating engine and I am curious about how that goes because it has never worked for me!

LARKWOOD: D&D as I have played it is good for telling exactly one story, which is “some people who are good at fighting explore a mysterious location.” At its best this is really all you need! God knows I have got multiple huge chunks of book out of this very mechanism! But I don’t think it’s good for generating plot so much as it encourages you to think about character. The role of DM and player are not the same as the roles of author and reader, the axis of authority over what happens to this fictional person is very different, so it gives you a different perspective on… what is it that endears you to a character so much that you get very sad when they are eaten by bugs in a random encounter? What makes it fun to spend time in a certain persona, until they are eaten by bugs in a random encounter? Why do some character deaths feel important and meaningful and others feel frustrating and pointless, such as, when you are eaten by bugs in a random encounter? (This was in 2014. I will neither forgive nor forget.)

Fun fact: many years ago I DMed a game which featured some of the locations in The Unspoken Name as playable dungeons. In this game my future wife played a professional wrestler named Roxanne, which honestly makes me think the whole book would have been better if she’d been at the wheel throughout.

Q: MAXWELL: Both The Unspoken Name and Silver in the Wood have sequels. How did you find the process of writing the second book? How does your approach to character and plot change when you know the reader has probably already met them?

TESH: It’s both great fun and the absolute worst! Fun because you already have a world to play in and some character dynamics to play with, and you don’t have to do nearly as much work establishing things either for the readers or for yourself. The worst for almost exactly the same reasons. Writing Silver in the Wood took me a long time for how short it is, because I was figuring out the mysteries along with the characters. Drowned Country, conversely, was written fairly quickly, but it was much harder. This despite knowing up front almost everything I needed to know (beach episode, goffic ruins, sad vampire, mysterious young lady, elves!)–having to tell a story within an established character framework threw me, because it limited my options for what those characters would plausibly do and feel. The two-year timeskip that I ended up building into the book is mostly there to give me breathing room and shake up the character dynamics a bit–my original concept for it followed hard on the heels of the first book’s plot, and I wrote about six thousand words of that before realizing it was hurtling towards being a sad story about a couple having a bad breakup, which I didn’t want to write! I think it was Kass who suggested “just set it two years later” and it worked like a charm.

LARKWOOD: I had heard all about The Difficult Second Novel and had blithely been like “but I would simply have no problems with this,” and I was extremely wrong! I wrote The Unspoken Name over several years with infinite latitude to rethink and rewrite, and no expectation that anyone was ever going to read it. “Do the same thing again, but different and better, in approximately a quarter of the time, with more people watching” is always a bit of a daunting prospect. My top tip is: don’t be in your final year of law school, or if you must, try to ensure that a global health crisis doesn’t also happen at the same time. That said, I think it was a productive struggle, and knowing that some people are already invested in the characters does mean you can skip straight to being very nasty to them.

Read more

Books

How Winter’s Orbit Went From AO3 to Published Space Opera

By Kayti Burt

Books

Cover Reveal: Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

By Kayti Burt

Q: TESH: How do you come up with a good title for a book? (Yes this question is here to torment you.)

MAXWELL: YOU HAVE TO ANSWER THIS AS WELL

LARKWOOD: HA HA HA. The Unspoken Name was my working title! I made a list of about 30 alternative options and thought very hard about it for several weeks and – of course – reverted to the original. (but the title of the sequel I got right away – you win some you lose some)

MAXWELL: You title your first draft five minutes before you post it on the internet, then you discover the title you picked has been used by several other books, then you go through dozens and dozens of titles until words no longer have any meaning, then someone else (hi, Ali!) suggests something thoughtful based on some imagery and you’re like yes! That one! Please never make me title a book again.

TESH: Since I HAVE to answer–I don’t see what the problem is, guys! You just say literally what the book is about: e.g. Silver in the Wood is about a guy named Silver who goes into a wood, and Drowned Country is about some country which is underwater. Simple!

MAXWELL: Petition to retitle both Emily’s books Some Trees And A Sad Man.

TESH: Some Trees And A Sad Man and its sequel Same Trees, Different Sad Man.

LARKWOOD: I can’t believe we’ve solved the title problem for all time! Really looking forward to Ev’s upcoming masterwork, Two Boys In Space (Who Kiss), and mine, Too Many God Damn Things Happen In This Book.

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TESH: I think our publicists will shout at us if we do not end with: that’s Drowned Country by Emily Tesh for gay disaster folklore and gothic seasides, out August 2020; Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell for space princes stuck in an arranged marriage, coming February 2021, and The Unspoken Name + 2021’s upcoming highly mysterious sequel by A.K. Larkwood for haunted snake goddesses and orcs with dating problems. If you have enjoyed our conversation, you may also enjoy our books!

Winter’s Orbit, Drowned Country, and The Unspoken Name are available wherever books are sold. The paperback edition of The Unspoken Name is also now out!

The post Is It Better to Reinvent Fantasy Tropes or Pay Homage to Them? appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3tkYMT2

[metteivieharrison]

Letter to My Unpublished Self

Dear Unpublished Me,

I want to warn you that it takes a lot longer to get published than you think it will. When you are getting all those nice rejections, asking you to send something else, that it’s “really close,” you’re still only about halfway there. And that’s OK, because fifteen years after your first book comes out, you will still be really proud of it. You won’t have any regrets about the books that you put away and moved on to something else that was better. You will never wish that you had spent more time working on one of those ideas that turned out to be unpublishable.

You tell people now that it’s not about having the right connections, that it’s about writing a book that is so good, editors can’t turn it down, and that’s such a good attitude. It may be naive, but it has a certain charm and it works. It keeps you going, keeps you learning and trying crazy stuff, and you really do end up writing incredible books because of that. Connections are actually great things to have, but not necessarily in the way that people think. They don’t get you published, but they can be excellent help in understanding how publishing works, which is useful, but not absolutely necessary.

You think right now that writing is going to save you from financial ruin, though, and I have to tell you, that just doesn’t happen. You need to figure out how to deal with your financial crap the old-fashioned way, by making sacrifices and not spending money on stupid stuff you don’t really care about anyway. I’m telling you now, you will eventually get this figured out, but there’s no reason not to start a little earlier.

I know you are desperate to move from being an unpublished “wannabe” to being a “real” author, but I have to tell you, it doesn’t work like that. You don’t wake up one day with a contract and suddenly feel confident in yourself. That will be a process of many years. And that’s OK. There’s really no way to jump start this. You grow into this slowly, and you end up not being a jerk, which is better than you’ll say of other people.

Also, you should know that once you get your first book published, it isn’t all easy after that. Your second book is nearly as hard to sell as your first one, and there are a bunch of close calls in there, books that you still wonder if maybe one day you will sell. The third book is the same thing all over again. And while four, five, six, seven, and eight seem easy and like you have it all figured out, it’s a mirage. Book nine is harder than giving birth, and you have plenty of experience with that.

You are imagining right now that all the people who dismissed you as unimportant through your life will suddenly see how great you are as a writer. High school friends and enemies, grad school people, teachers, colleagues, and so on. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the truth is, none of them care about you being published in the least. And that is one of the best things in your life, in a way. It gives you a freedom that you really need to value. Those people have no investment in your career, and that means that you don’t have to spend time thinking about if what you are working on next will keep on impressing them. It won’t.

Life is complicated. People are, too. There will be times when you are tempted to dump people who seem to be sabotaging your career. I have to tell you that these people have their own issues. They are human beings with flaws, and they hurt you, but they also show you the real world. You can choose to move on without them or you can choose to try to work things out. It is entirely up to you, but from my perspective, I will say that some compassion and understanding isn’t out of place. And it doesn’t hurt for you to see what you’re doing in these relationships, either.

The big things that you think are coming for you may or may not materialize, and I know you have a lot of fun now imagining how it will all feel. Big reviews, NYT Best seller status, the big contracts, hobnobbing with other big name authors—some of that really can be fun. But a lot of it is bunk. That is, a lot of the best things about being a writer are small moments. Getting the book absolutely right, writing a book that no one else could even conceive of, the turn of a sentence, readers asking when you are going to write a sequel to a book because the characters are so alive for them—these are the things that really matter to you.

You say no to a lot of events because you are shy in the first few years after you are published. You are never going to be an extrovert, and I know you are focused on your daily word count a bit obsessively. But if you’re willing to listen to a little advice—get over yourself. Go out and meet people. Let yourself experience the real world. Real readers sometimes aren’t knowledgeable about books or theory. They just like to read, and even if they haven’t read your books, they may teach you something.

There are a lot of mistakes I wish I could save you from making, but I don’t really see how. You have a good heart, and you want to believe the best of people. It’s true more often than it’s not, and it probably helps you more than it hinders you. But there are people to watch out for. There are times when believing the best ends up making you twist yourself into an uncomfortable and untenable shape. But you will survive. You are a survivor, and that is really something that I’m proud of in you. You never gave up. You kept throwing yourself out there. You kept taking risks on doing things that no one else would have dared to do. And you made it.

You will make it. Good luck!

Signed,

Me

[diaryofanobsessivefangirl]

in your opinion, how can a villain x heroine relationship be feminist? Can you give me an example of a feminist villain x heroine ship?

I see most villain x heroine like super feminist? The ones I ship, and the way I ship it at least.

My answer to this post is the way I see villain x heroine

If we talk about creating female empowering dynamics in fiction, we will also talk about the following:

Motive

The motivation for an author or for the public demand for such dynamics is misguided if their aim is to change people’s perception of reality through fiction. Fiction is more a reflex of reality than the other way around; more like a signal boost than the heart of toxic culture. The same way videogames didn’t increased violence, a unquestionable feminist narrative, or dozen of them, won’t decrease sexism. If such a thing as a unquestionable feminist narrativeeven exist - I’ll come back to that latter.

Art is business. If it doesn’t sale, is because people didn’t identified with it. By identifying I don’t mean they necessarily see the story and characters as a perfect copy of them and people they knew, but that they found something relevant about it, that impacts on them, like a questioning they have reflected on or emotional struggles they recognize. If they don’t, the art doesn’t spread and it’s forgotten through history, as if she never existed. That’s because the audience picks the author, not the other way around. A single book never changed the world; a dozen of similar ones only reverberated because the world was ready for them. Everyone remembers Gandhi and Martin Luther King, but no one remembers their hundred supporters that never meet the guys personally but believed in a idea they represented. The followers choose their heroes just like a fan chooses his favorites stories, whether he is motivated by a generalized cultural wave or intimate reasons.

There are shared experiences among individuals of the same generation that prepare a fertile social space for certain themes to thrive. Social struggles such as feminism and anti-racism have been widely discussed by our own. Whether you love it or hate it, fiction will reflect that. Not all of it, just as we can’t homogenize society as a force with a single direction just because we are generalizing to understand the historical mentality of a period. There will be movies, for instance, not engaging into things like representativity, but other aspects from our time, such as futuristic dystopias (Hunger Games, Maze, Divergent) or even a conservative reaction to antagonize the change.

Despite the social reinforcement directed to a certain way of thinking, the individual is exposed to unique experiences, which shaped his personality and perception of things as well. Which brings me to another problem:

No universal concept of feminism and female empowerment

The only way a villain x heroine can be “anti-feminist”, in my POV, is if the heroine joins him without a decent redemption arc.

I put a lot a quotation marks because many people think becoming mistress of evil is a way a girl becomes empowered by ignoring social rules of right and wrong imposed to her and ruling, and being sexually confident as most villains are, but my take is that she just becomes a tyrant. If a representation of female defeat by a male is anti-feminism, then this is what it is to me.

I do think her growing ruthlessness in her ways is a welcome development of the villain’s influence over her (IRL we have to become a little insensible in order to fight our battles), but what defines a heroine is her principles. If she loses them to surrender to darkness for the love of a man, she is renouncing her identity for the reason women have been taught to do.

To be with him and be against his actions is incomprehensible. Could you date someone you’re constantly trying to stop from killing people?

That is why redemption arcs exist, if you’re talking about them being end game. Here is a list of good ones (x)

The thing is, they don’t have to be. Most of my ships don’t end up together and are just as good as the ones that do. Either they both die or he does. She may feel things for him, may even recognize too much of herself on his heart, but she. Never. Loses. Her. Identity. Even if it means killing herself afterwards, she will reject him. I true hero will do what it’s right, even if it means the end of him.

I could say all my ships are examples of pro feminist ships, but that is just how I perceptive them. You can easily find people on this platform looking at the same ship and indicating aspects of it that, from a certain light, can be sexists. Many others could argue with me about not wanting heroines to become villains as a way to imprison her to the “good girl” stereotype.

If all we’ve got in the end is the subject understanding of narrative elements, maybe we should try to label things less and re-think about fiction repercussions in real-life more, if it’s really making girls submissive or reflecting personal perceptions previously build by deeper influences in our life.

It’s not important to me if my ships are feminist to other people. But to know I think this kind of dynamic is empowering tells me a lot about myself. For example, it shows I see my values as a greater part of my identity then my emotions and personal desires, and believe in self-sacrifice to stay faithful to them. You can see more psychological reasons to ship villain x heroine here, at least the ones I recognized in myself. You can notice I was able to identify the origin of some of them in my personal history. The reason why I need a sympathetic villain and a heroine who, nonetheless, will reject him, for instance.

If my life had been different, the stories these ships come from would not appeal to me, and I’d forget them. The power they have over my behavior is the power I give them. The reader picks the story, not the other way around.

I’m not saying a narrative can’t be convincing and show you possibilities and other POVs, but they can’t make you do anything from the moment you reach the age you start to realize the difference between fiction and reality. Maturity shows that the last works by rules more unpredictable than the former. If the author says a character is bad, that is period, but real people are complex and, unless you read minds like you read a book, not easily understood. Being a good guy won’t save you from a fire shot. If you make a misjudgment, you may not have the chance to make amends. Fiction is a territory you can explore without consequences, and that is why it’s so rich in human emotions and desires. We don’t need to repress them here.

Stories maybe seem to influence in our behavior because we identify with them. The ones we love show our questions and conflicts to our face. They become our own, a little piece of ourselves on the screens we can revisit anytime. If you take action after watching one, it’s because you realized you don’t like the image in the mirror or that you like so much you’d rather be more similar to it. You might think the story lead you to it, but a mirror is not responsible for your plastic surgery.

I’ll give you a personal example: I’ve been reconnecting with my father after 7 years of silence and thinking about redemption arcs such as Beauty and the Beast made me feel comfortable about our unstable resumption of ties. My dad is a difficult man to love, but he was trying his best for me. Nonetheless I still had to tolerate and forgive many things, to the point I was accepting all of them. I was subjugating myself to hear stuff thinking if I said something we would fight. Our arguments were INTENSE - many unresolved grievances. Almost came back to not talking to each other one out of the two times. Still I was being such a positive influence on his treatment towards my brothers and on his perspective of life and people. I thought my silence was a sacrifice willing to make. As long as I didn’t believe in what he was saying, it didn’t matter he said it. I eventually came to realize through therapy we had to be able to talk about things that bothered me in order to have honesty between us, and that standing up for myself didn’t have to be rude or cruel, but could be the beginning of a mutual understanding and respect,. Nevertheless, by that time I was afraid it would ruin an already fragile tie, and Beauty and the Beast came into my mind as a romantic possibility we would grow out of that and he would be a different man by the end.

Now you’d think a girl that has been consuming for 4 years stories about woman not engaging into a toxic relationship to try to change a man would act differently, if fiction and the way we see it really influenced us that much. The thing is that my desire to finally have a dad was greater at that time then the need to stand up for myself, so I picked the stories that suited that desire and made me feel comfortable with a choice I’ve already made. Beauty and the Beast didn’t made me lower my head, just like Phantom of the Opera and Labyrinth, which I’ve adored way more, didn’t help me made a stand. My fear did it. I just used it as a cover up.

Would I’ve been forced to face my fears if there was no redemption arcs out there? No, I’d probably relate to the closest thing to one. I did adapt my perception of existing stories to my need at the moment, just like it’s not uncommon to see Villain x Heroine shippers engaging into redemption AUs of ships that would never find each other in canon.

Either way, I wouldn’t wish there was no more redemption arcs out there. If fiction is a reflex of human experience, they are a beautiful, small piece of it. They show people can (not necessarily will) change through affection and example. Imagine if we banish that because someone might misunderstand it? The heroes would be condemned at their first mistakes, and the villains wouldn’t do anything slightly sympathetic or grey. Every character would have to be either perfectly good, either completely evil, and that is something audience won’t buy. Even the most fundamentalist portion of tumblr turns a blind eye or justifies the flaws of their faves in order to like them without being accused of supporting toxic people or having to restrict their entertainment to The Care Bears.

Storytelling is suppose to be credible, if not in events, at least in human experience. You can create a world of goblins and fairies, but your characters still have to deal with personal dilemmas and be different from one another for people to believe in them. In order to achieve that sort of realism, you can’t restrict yourself to write only one type of personality or dynamic, and this is where I get to my last point.

Restricting creative writing

As a Brazilian growing up with the same old plots of telenovelas, I know first hand the easiest way to kill creativity and likelihood on stories is to 1) write by formulas and solid rules; 2) be didactic and demagogic.

You wanna entertainment in which no harm it’s done to a certain social group, or when it does the author makes it explicit that is wrong? You have modern Brazilian TV. Finding myself without internet or cable, I have checked them out and, oh boy, if you did too, you’d know what I’m talking about. Just to give you an example, in the final chapter of one that had a gay couple, we had a forced dialogue between one of the lesbians and a boy which basically flows like this:

“You’re married to a woman, right? That makes you her husband?”“No, I’m also a wife. Me and your aunt are both woman. We’re a gay couple.”“One of my friends told me you were lesbians and that I was weird to have two aunties instead of one.”“That is just homophobic. Your aunt and I love each other very much and there is nothing weird about that, just like there is nothing weird about you”“That means I won’t have cousins?”“Not necessarily, sweetie. We can adopt”

I’m not watching a scene; I’m reading a receipt: How to prepare your children for the 21th century.

There is a line between bringing relevant social questions to discussion and telling us the right way to act step-by-step as if we were 8 years old. Trying to write a story that can only be interpreted as 100% made of positive messages always crosses that line.

By aiming at one, you’ll find yourself in a counter-intuitive writing where you want your audience to see conflict and realism, but can’t because someone might perceive that as female subjugation. Make her fallible (Ana, from Frozen), and you’re representing women as weak; make her believe in gender behavior (Catelyn Stark) and you’re trying to say this is how women should be like; dress her in tiny shorts and you’ll start a war of people discussion if she is sexually empowered or objectified; turn her into the villain and you’re saying women are treacherous and evil. The only acceptable scenario will be an Coffe Shop AU.

Think this kind of narrative is heaven? Try to watch it everyday. Sure, you may be able to pass your time, but the stories that tingle you, that really stick to you like a dose of coke to your heart and make every neuron of your head tremble are those that don’t tell you right away what to think of it, as you should be able to form your own opinion.

The audience should be able to tell right and wrong by questioning it, not by passively absorbing “the right value”. We’re indulging too much into lazy thinking and it’s making us easy to manipulate and extremists.

Conclusion

Screw writing a universal feminist story; try to write a good story. Always be honest, talk about the world the way you see it. Express through your narrative the dichotomy you find on people, try not to be too simple. Remember, human experience is full of nuance and there are many POVs of the same thing. All sides have arguments that are good and valid to them, everyone has their reasons.

Bring that to your female characters. Make them multidimensional and different from each other. I don’t want a literature where all girls are as they are suppose to be. If they are perfect role models, God, which woman won’t feel even more unacknowledged in her imperfections?

If you believe in gender equality, the rest will come with it. If it doesn’t or it’s not central, that is also fine. A story doesn’t have to be socially engaged to be good.