#TNV Universe

[thelittledekuwhocould]

Ephemera 1: Mana

Summary: It’s been a hard few years for TNV. The heroes of Technically Not Villains contemplate the changing world in an Era of Plague and global political turmoil. 

---

She was crouched on a roof under a convenient roof top angel’s outstretched wings, her ears filled with the relentless drumming of the rain. Her night goggles cut the glare from the street and car lamps’ reflection off the water even as cars rushed by beneath her. Nighttime was her time, hers and other heroes like her who came out under cover of night, away from the daylit scrutiny of the populous below, and whatever those who frequented the day may think, not even for the rain would the city’s filthy underbelly cease its writhing.

Across from her and ten stories down, an electronic billboard switched from an advertisement about an idol concert to a truncated news broadcast about how the arrest of some criminal of no real importance was another step forward in the national falling crime rates, “more tonight at eight on Nippon TV Musutafu!” the billboard’s speakers blared, bright and tinny.

What a joke.

Crime didn’t cease its slow crawl through the city even in the worst of the plague years, what made anyone think the arrest of some petty burglar would be any kind of stepping stone to stop it? Half the city was worse off than it had started, even more indebted to organized crime than when the plague began its dubious creep into the public light, and half of whomever survived with any financial stability was on the edge of poverty, fresh bait for the insatiable appetite for new bodies in the ravenous underworld.

A light truck rumbled around a corner, its canvas covering rippling and shedding water. 

The comm in her ear crackled to life with Lantis’s voice, and Mana leaned forward, muscles bunching in preparation, heedless of the water that dripped from her stone shelter down into her braided and coiled hair and down her neck into her collar. She pulled the mask from around her neck up over her nose, then jumped. The air rippled as her booted feet hit a Barricade, launching her up and out into the street and onto the top of the truck where she hunkered down, hanging onto the ratchet straps, riding the truck and its illicit cargo, waiting patiently for the chance to check her suspicions.

There was a separate ping in her comm and Tatsumaki, the Archive AI, built by !@#$%&, the Archivist before Yui, droned cheerfully about a departing hero. Mana snarled. Yui usually suppressed the Bot’s announcements, leaving memos about new or departing heroes in the internal drop boxes. But ever since Yui’s stroke and subsequent coma, none of the remaining archivists seemed to know how to navigate her systems, so Tatsumaki was left to interrupt and distract people on comms with inane announcements. Mana sometimes wished she could go back in time to strangle !@#$%& for having given Tatsumaki the ability to enter the comms. The intent back then had been so Heros would have access to the information in the Archives through Tatsumaki without needing to return to the Office. But !@#$%& had died in an altercation, leaving Tatsumaki unfinished with an evolving code that was nearly impossible to isolate and alter, and the ability to hack into the comms, no matter how many encryptions the Quartermasters and Intelligence wrote into the network.

The truck trundled to a stop at a red light, allowing Mana time to scuttle forward toward the front of the bed and peek under the canvas. A round, bright yellow crest stamped onto the crate glared up at her. Nananko Company. A front company for Hiranoya-Ikka. 

To ride the truck to its destination or no?

Best not.

TNV was short staffed of late, and they had been hemorrhaging heroes since before the plague began. She wouldn’t have the backup they’d had five years ago if something went amiss.

She used Barricade to pry open one of the crates, and under two layers of prepackaged noodles was a layer of what appeared to be packaged rice flour. Mana pulled a bag out of one of her pockets and plunked one of the noodles and one of the alleged rice flour packets in, then tucked it into one of her larger holding pouches, replaced the lid of the crate, then as the truck trundled into a tunnel, dropped off the side and into one of the service doors to call for a car. 

Twenty minutes later, a TNV car pulled into the tunnel.

---

TBC

[shyalia]

The Neon Void

I wanted to show appreciation for @sugarpasteltmnt's entertaining little Rise of the TMNT AU, The Neon Void! It is such a fun read, and one I'll definitely be reading again. I can't get over the creativity of his newfound powers, the thrilling action scenes, and the emotions are so palpable. It's just so good, guys. ;-;

Pose credit: https://ca.pinterest.com/pin/5770305768003624/

Non-glitchy version below.

[bebewrites]

[sugarpasteltmnt]

Okay silliness aside… I love to think of the raw ANGST of TNV-Leo meeting @intotheelliwoods ‘s Poptart and Sprout.

Have a few little headcanons below but they’re a little Spoopy so proceed with caution

(cw for blood, self-harm, a little bit of body horror and Leo being a smug jerk)

For a darker take on TNV-Leo’s reaction to meeting the 2AL Leo and Future Leo… I’d imagine TNV-Leo would be very, very, very envious.

He’d be absolutely sick with jealousy. All he’d be able to think about was the fact that they got out. They succeeded when he couldn’t. Even Sprout, even though he came from the bad future, he was a leader everyone relied on. He was responsible. Strong. Unlike TNV-Leo.

And if Poptart and Sprout had a violent/terrified reaction to his Krang parasite, TNV-Leo would get great satisfaction out of it. A petty sense of revenge. Much like a sibling getting back at another for something silly. (At least, that’s how TNV Leo would feel about it— he wasn’t totally malicious, but he also doesn’t grasp the scope of just how scary this reveal was.)

And with TNV-Leo’s messed-up-noodle, it would be hard for him to register that they were real. That they were their own selves from another universe rather than a hallucination like he thought they were—

Perhaps it was out of sense of spite. Perhaps it was out of a sense of wanting what they had. Or simply wanting to feel like he belonged too—

But I could see him making a spectacle of cutting off his arm (like in that one chapter). Slicing it off with his Krang tail, cheekily commenting that now they all ‘matched’ 🩵

[rindomness]

Ok ( sends you an ask) I guess why nightvelle? What are you thoughts on the place it’s self? (jackdaw)

(send me night vale topics to write an improvised essay about)

NIGHT VALE THE PLACE ITSELF. oh boy. this got long i added a readmore

The fun thing about Night Vale the place is that, at least for the first... five to seven or so years, it's sort of Schrödinger's Town. It exists! Obviously, it exists. But it also really, really doesn't exist. And that's kinda the key to understanding why Night Vale is like that.

I'm not fully sure what the details are on where Night Vale came from, but Night Vale - our Night Vale that we follow in the podcast, which I'm going to be calling the True Night Vale (TNV), kind of... doesn't have a full universe to fit back into? And like obviously spoilers ahead on this one under the cut

But TNV's universe is, uh, gone. Dead. Destroyed truly and utterly. You see, TNV comes from a universe in which the Cold War blew open into a Not-So-Cold Nuclear Armageddon. The world literally ended. And TNV should have ended with it!

Except, well, there was Huntokar.

In Night Vale's universe, there are beings which are referred to as gods that are treated as such but also, like, kinda just exist. They're around. The Glow Cloud (all hail), for example. And Huntokar. And oh boy Huntokar. How many feelings I have about Huntokar.

TNV is a version of Night Vale that was on the brink of ending due to nuclear armageddon. It was also the domain of a goddess who loved it dearly. (or deerly. get it, because huntokar is a deer- i'll leave) And what she did is she, basically at the last possible second, tore TNV out of existence.

So now this specific version of Night Vale is stuck floating in a space of simultaneous existence and nonexistence and when Huntokar did what she did, she pulled every other version of Night Vale along for the ride, so now there's like. a million Night Vales just kinda floating in the same place in time and space?

And it's fine! for a while. for a while that holds up. and it holds up kind of... entirely on the back of cecil's reporting. because every version of night vale has a cecil. and he's the Voice, you see, and this is a title. Like, names have power, etc etc etc, and Cecil's reports and Cecil's steadiness and Cecil's unchangingness is what keeps Night Vale, every Night Vale, from crumbling in on itself.

So, Night Vale is this fucked up little town that both exists and does not exist, and its tenuous grip on reality is held together entirely by the unchanging nature of its Voice. And it all happened this way because a god loved a place and a person so much she ripped reality apart to save it.

IT'S MESSY! and very very fragile!

so it's hard to get in and out of night vale, because technically, night vale exists outside of reality, and time doesn't work there because of all the time travel and the complete disconnect from the rest of the world. In this little town that simultaneously does and does not exist, perception is reality takes on a whole other meaning, and Cecil's reports of events take up a whole new weight. Night Vale needs Cecil to report on events.

And then Carlos comes to Night Vale, and Cecil starts to change directly in response to him, and this weird little tightrope Night Vale has been balancing on to keep realities separate and persisting begins to strain.

The fun thing is that in the current day of the podcast, Night Vale (TNV specifically) does actually exist in some version of the real world? Like. Obviously it is still a fictional reflection, because it is a fictional podcast, but Night Vale is presented as a real place with real world consequences for its existence, rather than a sort of floating point of a town in the space between existence and non-existence. (fucking Listener Questions and Listeners, dude. I screamed IRL when I heard fucking Ross and Carey start talking!) I'm very excited to see how that gets handled going forward, because despite being real, it is still a deeply weird and out-of-step place. It might not be balancing on a tightrope of existence on a technicality anymore but it's still, like... it's still real and not-real simultaneously. It's fun!

Also i am not entirely convinced Night Vale isn't sentient in some weird fucked up real-but-not-real town way as a result of the attention and focus Huntokar sent its way, nor am I convinced entirely that Cecil can't subtly alter events as they are happening simply by discussing them, rather than just through (a frankly enormous amount of) soft social power. I am, at the end of the day, also a fucked up living places enjoyer, so im obviously going to be biased.

Also i could talk so much about how night vale attached itself to carlos, too, but this is already REALLY LONG? oops. maybe another post I could probably write a whole essay just about that. There'd be overlap obviously because of how intertwined Cecil and Night Vale are, but. Yeah. Yeah!

but yeah. night vale as a place is Fucking Weird in some Really Tragic Ways if you think too hard about it!

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

cecil shouldnt even be part of the sexyman polls he's too cool sure people drew him sexy back in 2012 but there was no cringe(affectionate) factor, thats vital for it to be called a sexyman

THATS WHAT IM SAYING!! I spent a good two and a half years on podcast tumblr and w/tnv was the one podcast that felt universally well liked. There is no cringe in liking w/tnv because its a very very good show that people still hold up as one of the best podcasts out there and is a must-listen. I have never heard of it having an intense fandom like undertale or DR had to the point that it gained "cringe" status on tumblr. And so because of that there is no cringe in cecil!

I knew something about Cecil being there felt off but you put it into words!

[sugarpasteltmnt]

it took me a really long time to answer this because. Just.

“TNV has inspired a lot of the old me to come back and i low key missed her”

that is just so very special to me. being a part of your creative resurgence in animation and digital art is such a huge compliment I’ll always think about. I wanna thank YOU for taking the time to tell me all your thoughts and feelings because it totally made my week—

writing TNV has been such a huge delight and probably the longest personal project I’ve ever done. And when you say “woah. a person out there just wrote this. they just sat down one day and committed. i wanna do that” that’s how i feel about all of you wonderful artists— seriously you guys blow me away and i think you’re the coolest people in the universe.

AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK!!!!! THANK U FOR THE ANIMATION I LOVE IT AHHHH!! its so fun and i love the song and WAAAAA THANK YOU 💖💕💞💕💖💗💕💖💞💖💕💗

and omg don’t worry 80% of TNV was written at my last terrible job so please always create while on the clock LOOOL

animation for THE NEON VOIDD BABYYYY

this post is for @sugarpasteltmnt

‼️‼️MEGA YAPPING AHEAD PLEASE BEWARE‼️‼️

this might end up being really long and rambly and sappy but maybe not who knows.( it was) (and also featuring numerous spelling errors i am way too tired to fix and i am not re reading what i just wrote) SO. yknow how when chap idek..25(?) came out and i was all like “yeah so i made this animation for TNV and ill drop it when the fic ends” in your ask box? so. I FINISHED IT RAHHH. technically it has been finished since i sent that ask but ohhh my goodness did it need polishing. i haven’t animated in 4 years before that and omg it felt so good getting back into it but IDFK SOMETHING IS STILL NOT UP TO MY STANDARDS. i feel like i could have done so much more with it and i deffo wanted to but as soon as i told myself “oh yeah this is basically done” art block literally sucker punched me in the gut out of NOWHERE. I COULD NOT PICK UP MY I PAD. I COULD NOT DRAW. I WOULD STARE AT THE WIP ANIMATION AND BE UPSET BC I DDINT WANNA WORK ON IT AHH. that goes with saying. i kept having this thought in the back of my head “you need to finish it. you have a wip sitting. finish it. go do it. what are you doing are you STARTING ANOTHER PROJECT??? anddd yeah i got super distracted with other stuff and other projects and then i started spending my free time rewatching 2012 turtles and omg this summer has been a mess. i have all the free time in the world and i choose to be the least productive as possible with it even though i have a job that lets me literally sit on my phone and do whatever i want if no one is there. (i’ve brought my switch to work numerous times ☠️) what i was trying to get at is the fact that TNV has inspired a lot of the old me to come back and i lowk missed her. i really missed the point in all those words up there but im here now so whatever. BUT. TNV made me make a tumblr account, i got back in to animation AND digital art in general, got back into longfics that are ongoing, AND it also helped kickstart ideas for writing. i’ve got so many stories now!! you are such an inspirational person pastels i just- every time i read a new chapter of yours it made me wanna go get up and do something. i wanted to create something. because at the end of each chapter, i would think- “woah. a person out there just wrote this. they just sat down one day and committed. i wanna do that” so i did that. just huge thank you and shoutout to you pastel. like damn. idk no words from me here. just a bunch of platonic hugs and kisses and thankyouthankyouthsnkuou for this lovely heart wrenching but also sweet story. i love this fandom (tmnt) so SO much and i think it’s so awesome how interactive you are with your own personal NV fans. crazy how we’re all here because of a bunch of turtles. 

STUFF ABOUT THE ANIMATION:

okay i really like to talk and if you let me, i will run my mouth. this is the internet so im gonna do just that. so more words for you to read 😁. AHEM. so like i stated before in the genuinely scary mess of words up there, i haven’t touched animation in a while, like, 4 years a while. yes i’ve done digital art here and there along the years, i haven’t been doing it nearly as much as i need to to use some programs to their full potential. layers are still confusing, and don’t even get me started on multiply and all that jazz. shading never comes out right on digital for me, i gotta work that one out. so, for this animation, i decided to go with a very rough style. nothing needed to be perfect, i just wanted to live my little life of trying to experiment with a bunch of different things all at once in one short animatic. I wanted to do that little ball bounce thing all animation artists start with (i kinda included that with the key). i also wanted to have a go at lip sync (no hate it was my first time) and also timing the animation with the music. i wanted to see how smoothly i could move a figure in and out of and out of the screen as well, which honestly, i think that part might be my favorite. i think i did a good job, and thats what matters. the animation itself lost a bunch of quality on importing it- no clue how it happened but now the ending is grainy af. ignore that pls lol- but it was sitting in my flipaclip for god, i dont even know, 3 months now? i kept going back and forth on if i wanted to share it or not, so im throwing it to the wolves and i guess whatrver happrns happens and im good with that. yay. im actually rrwlly tired now sooo *leaves this absolute pile of words with a video attached at your feet and stumbles away quickly*

also i’ve genuinely never posted anything so i’m learning how to use tumblr too ☠️

[thelittledekuwhocould]

A little bit NSFW but: Has anyone's quirk ever been used inappropriately in the name of sexual health? I'm talking about the tentacles guy.

OMG. I know what you’re looking for you perv, there will be no tentacle f*cking using my friend’s quirk! But yes, Quint has been called in to assist in childbirth occasionally. His tentacles are very good for unwrapping umbilical cords from around the fetus’s neck, untwisting said umbilical cord, and turning the fetus when it lies in the wrong way.

As for if Quint’s ever used his tentacles in the sexy way.... That’s for Quint to answer if he ever does.

[theyhaunt]

canon from the latest w//tnv episode: nfts exist in the night vale universe, and cecil knows what they are well enough to either joke about them or consider making one. that’s for him to know and you to wonder about. 

[thelittledekuwhocould]

Nekomata ducked behind a pillar as bullets ricocheted off the concrete.

“Lightglare! I could really use some back up right now!”

“I can’t help you right now, Neko!” Lightglare called, “I’m rather busy trying to not get stabbed!”

“Lightglare, They are shooting at me. With quirk erasing bullets. From from automatic weapons. And there are a lot of them.”

“Call Quint!”

“Are you kidding me?! Quint’s with the twins! At school!”

“Then call Mana.”

“She’s your wife!”

“Look. If this is gonna happen then you need to do it. I can’t risk getting stabbed again. I just can’t.”

“Wait, AGAIN?”

“Yes! My wives get tetchy when I get hurt! Its part of being married!”

“WE’RE HEROES!!! GETTING HURT IS IN THE JOB DESCRIPTION!!!”

“THEN YOU’VE CLEARLY NEVER BEEN MARRIED!!!”

#683

“Look. If this is gonna happen then you need to do it. I can’t risk getting stabbed again. I just can’t.”

“Wait, AGAIN?”

[bebewrites]

Happy WBW!

What's the hardest part about creating your universe?

the worldbuilding for TNV came pretty naturally while planning out the story, just because i started out knowing there would be four kingdoms of man and four types of magicborne. and that they do not interact with each other (at the time the story starts). there are still things i definitely need to flesh out some more, though! i think what’s harder for me sometimes is knowing if i’m over-developing? like at some point i just need to sit down and write, you know? 😂 i do spend a lot of time on names, too. if a place, person, thing doesn’t have the right name, i get hung up on it until it has the right name. 🙈

[miongplus]

3rd Cebu Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) Program by Ford Philippines

Ford Philippines’ Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) is now on its third year in Cebu, with an aim to educate more drivers to become safer and more responsible while on the road, will be held on Friday, October 25, 2019 at the Cebu Trade Hall, 3rd Level, SM City Cebu with three (3) training sessions at 10:00am, 11:30am, and 2:00pm. Interested participants can send a text message Tuason Racing School via 0956-5644385 to reserve a slot for free.

Started in 2017, Ford brought its safe driving training program in Cebu and since then, the DSFL has trained close to 600 private and public utility drivers, student drivers, and traffic and road management personnel. The participants learned more about the benefits of smart, safe, and fuel-efficient driving as well as the necessary driving skills to help minimize road accidents, altercations, and traffic congestion.

Ford is looking to partner with taxi, bus and transport network vehicle services (TNVS) companies as well as with traffic management bureaus and colleges and universities within Cebu to reach more drivers and instill to them the importance of road safety – either as a driver or as part of the commuting public.

Ford is also reaching out to various BPOs to enjoin its employees as DSFL participants and train them to be road safety advocates. Ford is also tapping its customers in its dealerships and Ford car clubs in Cebu to make them part of the training audience.

Participants can expect to learn more about the dangers of distracted driving and drunk driving, as well as tips and techniques in driving under special conditions and vehicle handling in this year’s sessions. They will also be refreshed with road statistics and relevant regulations such as the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act.

Flagship corporate social responsibility program

The DSFL program is one of Ford’s biggest corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs globally, bringing to life its long-standing advocacy on road safety. A United Nations-recognized training program, the DSFL is now on its 12th year in the Philippines and has successfully trained over 23,000 Filipino drivers since 2008. Over the years, the program has made itself relevant with the changing road conditions, policies, and government regulations.

The DSFL program is a combination of classroom training that includes modules on vehicle handling, driving in special conditions, anti-distracted driving, and fuel-efficient driving, as well as a hands-on driving simulation that allows participating drivers to apply their learnings from the classroom sessions. The DSFL program is offered to participating drivers for free.

Ford Philippines AVP of Communications EJ Francisco said one of Fords commitments is to help promote and improve road safety in the country. Their aim every year is to increase driver safety awareness with the DSFL, practicing the proper skills required of anybody who gets behind the wheel and ensuring that drivers and their passengers get to their destinations safely all the time. 

The DSFL has been a consistent recipient of awards in the country. Early this year, it bagged a Gold Award in the road safety category of the 3rd Driven to Serve Awards of the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists (SPMJ).

Driving Skills for Life was established in the United States in 2003 by Ford Motor Company Fund, the U.S. Governors Highway Safety Association, and a panel of safety experts, to teach newly licensed drivers the necessary skills for safe driving beyond what is learned in standard driver education programs.

For more information on Ford Driving Skills for Life, interested parties can visit Ford Philippines’ Facebook page or send an e-mail to fgpcomms@ford.com.

[thelittledekuwhocould]

“DEKU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’M GOING TO FUCKING MURDER YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Kaminari blinked at the elevator from which Bakugou stalked, seething with fury. Beside him, Mina carried on painting her nails like nothing had happened.

“Buddy,” Kirishima said, “You realize that Midoriya hasn’t been in the dorm for the better part of two weeks?”

“The fuck are you talking about?” Bakugou snarled, “I saw the stupid fucking nerd just last night!”

“No way you could have,” Jiro said, flipping a page of her magazine, “I know for a fact he’s with All Might on the other side of the country. It’s all over his Insta.”

“The fuck?”

“Of course he wouldn’t know,” Todoroki deadpanned, “He’s either spent the entire month of our internship hanging off the side of the building with Swallowtail, trying to kill Nekomata in the vents, or grounded from all outside media by Lantis.”

“Grounded from all media?” Uraraka asked, looking up from her book.

“That’s what happens when you piss off the person controlling the communication network,” Todoroki said dryly.

Writing Prompt #689: That’s What She Said

Use this line of dialogue somewhere in your story:

“That’s what happens when you don’t have reliable Wi-Fi.”

[thedentistisout]

Ford Philippines Brings Back Safe Driving Program In Cebu

CEBU CITY, Philippines, 24 October 2019 – Ford Philippines is bringing back its Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) program in Cebu City with an aim to educate more drivers to become safer and more responsible while on the road.

The DSFL, now on its third year in Cebu, will be held on Friday, October 25, 2019 at the Cebu Trade Hall, 3rd Level, SM City Cebu with three (3) training sessions at 10:00am, 11:30am, and 2:00pm. Interested participants can send a text message Tuason Racing School via 0956-5644385 to reserve a slot for free.

The automotive company first brought its safe driving training program in Cebu in 2017, and since then, the DSFL has trained close to 600 private and public utility drivers, student drivers, and traffic and road management personnel. The participants learned more about the benefits of smart, safe, and fuel-efficient driving as well as the necessary driving skills to help minimize road accidents, altercations, and traffic congestion.

This year, Ford is looking to partner with taxi, bus and transport network vehicle services (TNVS) companies as well as with traffic management bureaus and colleges and universities within Cebu to reach more drivers and instill to them the importance of road safety – either as a driver or as part of the commuting public.

Ford is also reaching out to various call center companies to enjoin its employees as DSFL participants and train them to be road safety advocates. Ford is also tapping its customers in its dealerships and Ford car clubs in Cebu to make them part of the training audience.

DSFL participants can expect to learn more about the dangers of distracted driving and drunk driving, as well as tips and techniques in driving under special conditions and vehicle handling in this year’s sessions. They will also be refreshed with road statistics and relevant regulations such as the Child Safety in Motor Vehicles Act.

Flagship corporate social responsibility program:

The DSFL program is one of Ford’s biggest corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs globally, bringing to life its long-standing advocacy on road safety. A United Nations-recognized training program, the DSFL is now on its 12th year in the Philippines and has successfully trained over 23,000 Filipino drivers since 2008. Over the years, the program has made itself relevant with the changing road conditions, policies, and government regulations.

The DSFL program is a combination of classroom training that includes modules on vehicle handling, driving in special conditions, anti-distracted driving, and fuel-efficient driving, as well as a hands-on driving simulation that allows participating drivers to apply their learnings from the classroom sessions. The DSFL program is offered to participating drivers for free.

“One of our commitments at Ford is to help promote and improve road safety in the country. Our aim every year is to increase driver safety awareness with the DSFL, practicing the proper skills required of anybody who gets behind the wheel and ensuring that drivers and their passengers get to their destinations safely all the time,” shares EJ Francisco, AVP, Communications, Ford Philippines.

The DSFL has been a consistent recipient of awards in the country. Early this year, it bagged a Gold Award in the road safety category of the 3rd Driven to Serve Awards of the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists (SPMJ).

Driving Skills for Life was established in the United States in 2003 by Ford Motor Company Fund, the U.S. Governors Highway Safety Association, and a panel of safety experts, to teach newly licensed drivers the necessary skills for safe driving beyond what is learned in standard driver education programs.

For more information on Ford Driving Skills for Life, interested parties can visit Ford Philippines’ Facebook page or send an e-mail to fgpcomms@ford.com.

[trackstarzradio]

TNV Releases His New Album "Crooked Crown" | @trackstarz

TNV Releases His New Album “Crooked Crown” | @trackstarz

http://trackstarz.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Sky-Cracks-Remix.mp3

The Album Crooked Crown speaks about how we always strive for perfection. In real life we will never reach perfection, we have been given the ability to create, manifest our reality. We have dominion in this earthly realm, so even if we practice Kingship(control) its a standard that never reaches perfection. In all honesty we…

[teamwynn]

The Night Voice Retrospective, Conclusion

[Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 11.5 | Part 12]

No, but really. I am so tired.

Well, that’s it for my retrospective. According to Microsoft Word, that was 12K words total. That’s about 24 single-spaced pages. That’s… a lot. And I don’t know if that includes all those strings of question marks. But, after having a full year to stew on it, I’ve said my peace about the Noble Dead Saga’s conclusion. Clearly, it wasn’t favorable.

Which is not to say that I’m necessarily resentful of the series itself or the authors for how things turned out. I’ve caught some (most?) of the things the Hendees have publicly said about the publishing end of things with this book, and I’ve been following the series long enough to see where things clearly went askew, even if I don’t have the details on how. In a lot of ways, this series was set up to fail, anyway, or at least the conclusion was. Writing an epic fantasy in digestable, paperback-friendly chunks in a genre where 800-page-long books are considered acceptable--or at least tolerable--meant that they were trying to form a story that most other epic fantasy series could tell in half as many books. Wheel of Time was also 14 books long (not counting the prequel), but even the shortest book in that series was at least 100 pages longer than the longest Noble Dead book (which is The Dog in the Dark, for the record). When other series have sometimes twice as many pages per book to let their story play out, of course Noble Dead was going to fuck itself over eventually. Otherwise, it would have taken 28 books for it to tell a story of WoT’s complexity (I’m pretending that WoT didn’t waste 75% of each of its books on pointless, rambling descriptions for the sake of argument). That simply isn’t done. No publisher would ever let them drag on for 28 books. Only Xanth has ever pulled that kind of shit, and Xanth isn’t epic fantasy, it’s cornball fantasy. I guess you could argue that Mercedes Lackey has gotten away with letting her epic fantasies sprawl like this, but even then, it’s not a linear saga. Although Noble Dead was divided into sub-series, they’re still taken together to tell a single linear story, not several loosely-connected stories in the same universe. Anyway, my point is, it was an uphill battle for Noble Dead from the start, if there was ever honestly any hope in being able to tell a complete saga in 14 books only 400 pages at a time. And this is all after you consider that the saga took a huge risk with Series 2 splintering the story between two main teams. While that risk paid off massively for Series 2, it left Series 3 the difficult task of filling in the blanks and bringing everyone back together on top of bringing the saga to a close.

There were still some… obviously questionable choices made even with the above taken into consideration, which I think went along with a very definite unenthusiastic feeling of the book. But I can understand that, too. While I don’t know exactly what went down with the decision to end the saga at book 14, the information I do have from what the authors have said seems to suggest that a fair amount of frustration went into TNV. Whether it was because the publisher screwed them over in some way, they were tired of writing ND, or some other thing, I’m not sure, but the spirit of that frustration bled pretty visibly into the book itself. And as a writer, I can appreciate that writing a book that--for whatever reason--you don’t enjoy writing can lead to some glaring issues of craft. It’s very easy to focus on trying to force specific reader reactions over the story itself in times like that, and I think ultimately that was the core issue that TNV had. It was so dead-set on manipulating specific emotions in the reader that it came at the expense of any real storytelling (all the contrivances that allowed the 30 Years Under the Mountain scenario comes to mind as a glaring example, but it was really just across the board), and with several plotlines obviously getting written into corners even before TNV, it’s not really any surprise why this happened. If you can’t get the plot to make any sense, it’s tempting to take shortcuts by trying to force the feelings you wanted the story to evoke, because then at least something works out the way you wanted it to. But readers never really swallow that, because who likes having their emotions manipulated by superficial heartstring-pulling tropes slapped together without any real cohesion? If I wanted that, I would watch trailers for that dog reincarnation movie or UNICEF ads.

So, the whole ordeal was just disappointing. Even with the impossible task of wrapping up the series by the end of book 14, I think TNV could have done a lot better. Like, a lot better. It was never going to be perfect, of course, but after FaLS, I felt that my standards for the end were actually lowered pretty significantly, and yet. All that wasting time on superfluous plot seeds that never sprouted, all that recap, the dragging final battle, the ableism against Wynn, all those characters that the book clearly had no idea what to do with… I don’t know. It went beyond sloppy in parts, even beyond apathetic. It seemed almost spiteful at times.

But it’s what we got, and I guess there’s no changing that. Except with fanfic.