#kind of a short one but the plot developments are pretty big
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The Fraggle Rock Story Chapter 6
Chapter 6: Bringing Up Beastie
Wembley had looked for Boober all the rest of the morning. He wasnât at his house, or at Mokeyâs. He didnât seem to be anywhere. Wembley began to head home for lunch when he heard Boober screaming and hollering inside a house he didnât recognize. âHELP! SOMEBODY! ANYBODY! FIRE DEPARTMENT! THIS BEASTâS GOT A HOLD ON MEEEE--â
âFire department?â thought Wembley. âWhy, thatâs me! Iâm a fire departmentman.â So he ran into the house. âDonât worry, Boober, I will save you!â
âHim of all firemen!â thought Boober. âThis could result in the ruination of our entire lives! Why, he might have to fireman-carry me. Thatâs what firemen do, isnât it? And if he fireman-carries me, thatâll be a little too close for comfort.â âActually, never mind Wembley. I think I can save myself now-OW! OW!â
Wembley rushed in. âBoober! A beastâs got a hold on you!â
âI know, WembleyâOW! Thatâs what I said!â The Beast had him in her massive paw, and was banging his head intermittently against the wall. âOW! OW! OW!â
âNice Beastie, gentle BeastieâŠâ Wembley whispered as he approached Toshâs giant pet. âLet go of my friend, nice and easy nowâŠâ
âRRRRRRGH.â Wembley tried to pet the Beast. She snapped at him, but dropped Boober while doing so.
âQuick, Wembley, make for open ground!â yelled Boober. They ran out the door and into the Great Hall, but the beast ran after them. They were finally able to climb up into a small alcove within the wall, and held each other in fear as the Beast lept at them and snapped. Icy Joe walked by and regarded them with an air of indifference.
âWhat the dickens are you twinks up to now?â
âIcy Joe! You have to save us from the Beast!â said Wembley.
âOh for heavenâs sake, itâs only a little Beast. Does I have to do everything around here?â
âWell, we really would appreciate it if you did this,â said Boober.
âDonât you all know that domesticipated beasts like that never chew, they just gum you a little?â yelled Icy Joe. âIn my reckless youth I was gummed by ten feral ones at oncet, and there was still room for two or three moreân that besides. Nowadays everybodyâs all soft and weak-like and canât handle being gummed by a mudbunny. And anyway,â she said, âNo way am I breaking up this happy little scene.â
âHappy little scene?â Boober yelled as she trudged away. âBut weâre miserable!â He turned back to Wembley. âItâs no use,â he said, âweâll be here until we starve.â
âCouldnât Tosh always come get the Beast and save us?â
âNot for another few hours, I donât think,â said Boober. âShe is, I believe, preoccupied. Thatâs why I had to take care of the creature in the first place. Huh, thatâs funnyâŠâ
Wembley started laughing hysterically, then suddenly stopped. âWait, whatâs funny?â
âDoesnât it seem like itâs gotten brighter all of a sudden?â
âOh, thatâs just your baloobius.â
If , at that moment, a one-way portal suddenly opened up to the ninth circle of Hell, Boober would have walked through it. Of all the things to happen ten feet up in the air over a growling, thrashing beast, his baloobius glowing was surely the most embarrassing. Boober did not like being ten feet up in the air. Boober did not like growling, thrashing beasts. The only explanation was that he really liked clinging tightly to Wembley. In a panic, he let go of Wembley and leapt to the ground. âThanks for all your help, Wembley!â he called as he and the Beast ran off into the distance. Wembley was, of course, deeply confused.
âDoesnât that tail business mean heâs happy?â he thought. âWell, I missed my chance to confess, but at least I got to see it light up. Thatâs always nice⊠He looks so handsomeâŠâ He drifted off into a daydream.
Boober, meanwhile, was rounding the corner of the Great Hall at lightning speed and heading back for Toshâs house. The Beast followed, gumming at his heels. At last he returned to Toshâs house and found her standing inside her door. âOh, there you are!â she said. âOut for a nice run, I guess?â
âYe-es Toshie, very nice,â said Boober. The Beast ran over to Tosh in a state of elation.
âWell,â said Tosh, âWe can all go back in and you can finish courting me, if you must.â
âOh, could I sing you just one more song before I go? A less awkward one.â
âYes, of course.â They sat down, and Boober readied himself with the mandolin and a fresh set of sheet music. He began to sing, his muttering indicated in parenthesis:
If you were the only girl in the world
and I were the only boy (Darn tricky chord, that)
Nothing else would matter in the world today
We could go on loving in the same old way
A garden of Eden just made for two
With nothing to mar our joy (Thatâs weird, gardens are dangerous)
I would say such wonderful things to you
There would be such wonderful things to do
If you were the only girl in the world (I never could get that note right)
and I were the only boy.
âWell, Boober,â said Tosh, âThat was very nice.â
âWhy, thank you!â said Boober. âThat ought to sum up my feelings nicely, Iâm afraid.â
âBoober,â said Tosh, âAre you really in love with me?â
âI think so,â said Boober. âI think youâre more beautiful than the moon, or the sea, or the stars, or, uhâŠâ
âLaundry?â
âOh, uh, probably. Yes! Well, goodbye,â he said, and he walked out the door.
âWell,â thought Tosh. âThat was very odd. I really ought to nip this thing in the bud. But I wouldnât want to hurt his feelings, why should I hurt his feelings? Heâs a nice boy, just confused.â She walked out after him. âBoober, wait!â she said. âI almost forgot something.â
He turned around and walked back. âWhat is it?â
âWould you like me to kiss you?â
âUh, yeah, sure. Why not? Itâs all between friendsâlovers! Lovers.â
She kissed him, quickly and fleetingly.
âGee,â said Boober, âthat was nice, I guess. Thanks a lot! See you later.â He ran home with a thousand thoughts running through his head. âWhat am I doing?â he thought. âAnd why canât I stop thinking about Wembley?â
About two minutes before this, Wembley, who had come to the part of the daydream where he fireman-carried Boober and gently kissing his forehead as he strolled nobly out of a burning building, suddenly noticed that, across the Great Hall Tosh and Boober had come out of the house. âOoh!â he thought. âThere he is now!â Right after that, Tosh appeared to kiss Boober on the cheak. Boober ran off in apparent delight. âWell, isnât that nice,â thought Wembley. âTosh just kissed Boober. TOSH JUST KISSED BOOBER?â He began, in spite of himself, to sob. âSo thatâs why he was wearing that nice suitâŠâ he thought. âHe was courting her...â
âWembley?â asked a voice from below. âWhatâs going on? Why are you crying?â
âL...Lou?â
âYeah. Why are you crying, do you need any help?
âIâm sorry, Lou. Could you leave me alone for a little while?â
âOf course. Just remember that Iâm always here for you.â
âThanksâŠâ Wembley said. âYou know,â he thought, âLouâs awfully nice. She does seem to like me. Maybe Mokey was right. Maybe I do love her. Now that Booberâs⊠with Tosh, maybe itâs time to get to know Lou a little better. Court her, maybe. No, thatâs maybe a little too much. But then, itâs not a crime for me to show a little interest in someone. But then, it would mean having to give up any hope of Boober liking me back. But then, all hope of that is lost now⊠and maybe Iâd learn to love her, even more than Boober.â All this wembling produced, sadly, the worst possible decision. In the closet, back in Goboâs house, a suit from Traveling Mattâs youth was gathering dust. It was red-and-white striped.
#kind of a short one but the plot developments are pretty big#the fraggle rock story#fraggle rock#woober#redkey#gobo#icy joe#tosh#icy joe is using the word twinks like my lesbian friends do#lou fraggle#f
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what are some common misconceptions about pathologic characters that ur sick of seeing in fandom spaces
anon thank you for blessing me with this wonderful ask this fine day
i'm gonna keep it pretty short for daniil because i don't want this to become a defense post about him and i think i've already said all there is to say but literally can we stop mischaracterizing him to this degree? it's very obvious that daniil does care about the town and the people around him given that he keeps trying to help in any way he can even when he has nothing to personally gain by doing so. and unless you're going for all the 'i'm an asshole' options in his dialogue he's actually polite and even endearing at certain points? especially that considering that during his own route he's pretty much thugging it out on his own, if anything helping the other two playable characters instead of the other way round, but in the haruspex and chageling route he's the one you turn to for help when stuff gets tough. here's a post that includes some of his lines that illustrate this point. also the implication that he's some clueless asshole that doesn't know what he's doing while artemy is The Good Doctor That Saves Everyone TM is a horrible misreading of the story and the framing of the plot. the bachelor's route is specifically a story about a person who finds themselves in such a hostile setting that, despite their best efforts, is unable to find their footing and ultimately fails at everything they try to accomplish. by interpreting this aspect of the game as daniil himself being incompetent you have missed out one of the most major points this game is trying to make.
as for artemy, i partly blame this on the developers themselves and how they handled his p2 characterisation but i dont like how the grittier aspects of his character are ignored in favor of a loving father persona. artemy can be a huge dick in classic, as can all three playable characters and a big part of why i like his and daniils relationship so much is because they're both these cold, reserved, introverted guys but allow themselves to enjoy an easier dynamic between them. i think that aspect of their relationship doesn't really work if you hc artemy as someone who is kind and cheerful from the get go.
in a similar vein i also don't like how perceptions of clara often boil down to silly teenage girl who makes meta jokes when her character is so much more than that. people completely ignore the unflattering aspects of her character, like how self-righteous she really is. i mean she's literally making it up as she goes and yet she feels so confident in herself and her methods that she finds it acceptable to trick the only two doctors into a rivalry (and then sell them out to each other for supplies despite fully believing that they intend to kill each other). also, most of the time she is not as silly and impish as people make her out to be- that's mostly the changeling. in the moments when she is herself, clara is pretty depressed.
i also dont like anna angel slander because, is she a child murderer? yeah. was she also abducted as a child herself and found herself in an extremely difficult position at a very early age? also yeah. iirc correctly shes 18 in the game and the ace of diamonds events happened years prior so basically she was a child herself. not that its wrong to criticize child murder because obviously but the way some people speak about her is insane.
also this is completely hc based and of lesser importance than everything else but i have difficulty getting behind anything remotely kinky when it comes to burakhosky because to me they will always be the kind of couple that read in silence next to each other before falling asleep at the late hour of 10:30 pm.
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Outside of the very very iconic sweet and sour dipplins, do you have any other fics your a big fan of?
I have a lot of fanfics that I enjoyed a lot and still do.
I'll only cover Dipplinshipping tho, so if you want to know more, feel free to ask again. <3
Blossoming Into Tomorrow by @furretd0ll
Itâs an adorable time skip story about Kieran & Juliana getting married and facing the challenge of parenthood.
The story gives those fluffy family vibe feels, a troop I enjoy a lot!
I have already created fan art, because I absolutely love this story. <3
Playing Pretend by @esp3onsol
For a certain reason, Kieran & Juliana make a deal to pretend that they're dating each other for a while.
Theyâre practically obvious idiots in love, which results into a lot of awkward moments.
Itâs hilarious and cute at the same time, I love it <3
Part 1 & 2 of the ogreâs savaltion and the tides that set them free by lillisandme
Like the title tells, itâs a two part story - first party plays immediately after the Terapagos fight. Kieran & Juliana have a heart to heart talk which results in Kieran reflecting his feelings.
The second part takes place several years later, Kieran visits Juliana in Paldea to spend some time with her.
Itâs quite long but also very well written - I really like how the characters are fleshed out in there.
Woodworking AU by MissTreason
Itâs a story splitted into 4 one shorts - Instead of pursiuing a battle carrier, Kieran decides to step into the footsteps of his grandfather and starts to learn to crave masks.
The plot starts at Blueberry and ends up several years into the future. Itâs mainly from Kieran point of view and how his feelings change over time.
Itâs fantastic written and you just want to know what happens next.
Although I have to give a warning about the fourth part - itâsâŠ.very spicyâŠ.
So if youâre an minor or doesnât stomach this kind of things, better ignore this entry completelyÂ
If you in fact doesnât mind at all, enjoy that kind of stuff even, then congratulation, youâre a pervertâŠjust like me 8D
Teal Mayhem by MurayamaTsuru
Itâs more or less an AU or a âWhat Ifâ where Carmine and Kieran switch places in the first part of the DLC.
So instead of Carmine and Juliana meeting Ogerpon for the first time, its Kieran & Juliana instead.Â
Itâs an interesting concept and I love how itâs being fleshed out so far. (Iâm quite excited how the story will go from there :> )
Dipplinshipping Week 2024 - Day 2 AU by Kaylen_Go_Vee
This oneâs so random but also so cute lol
Itâs an oneshot about Juliana, a florist and Kieran, a tattoo artist who one day storms into her little shop to demand a bouquet of flowers.Â
It sounds pretty boring and ordinary, but believe me its not LOLÂ
I sometimes catch myself rereading this story several times because itâs just so cute and hilarious, I just canât oke xD I even debated whenever I should make fan art or notâŠprobably will in the foreseeable future lol
Azure Dive by UndeadWitch
Like S&SD it takes place between the second part of the DLC.
Kieran got possessed by Dokupon (itâs more or less Peachy, but very different) and Juliana tries to help him, while facingâŠwellâŠschool life lol
Itâs that kind of slow burn where you scream into your cushion out of frustration pffÂ
Although I have to say, I like this approach a lot. The story has time build itself and the characters go through some well deserved development as well.
Just bring some patience and you will love this piece of fantastic art quite a lot <3
Thatâs about it (for the moment lol)
I recommend all of this stories if you enjoy Dipplinshipping like I do <3
Thank you so much for your ask! :D
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Comparing the Text of the "TANGLED: Before the Ever After SERIES BIBLE" and the "Tangled The Series: Series BIBLE"
I wanted to compare the text from the two Tangled bibles from the Disney leaks since there seemed to be a lot of overlap in the language and I was interested to see what had changed between the initial BEA bible(2015) and the TTS series bible(2018).
I'm in the asoiaf fandom and we do this with old George RR Martian drafts and manuscripts all the time, a sort of literary archeology. I took the plain text of both documents and ran a comparison to see what had changed between the two bibles. ((My dumbass put the 2018 TTS document as the original and the 2015 BEA doc as the "modified" one. So the Struck through text is actually the older/original/BEA.))
So obviously, the TTS bible was far longer since it was created and modified far later into development and even after wrap. It encompasses waaay more material. So naturally, all the S2 material outside if a brief synopsis was not in the BEA.
S1 Characters that do not appear in the 2015 BEA bible, but do in the 2018 TTS bible include: Angry, Red, Sugarby, Monty(even though his episode was), WRECK MARAUDER (Same as Monty), Fidella, and surprisingly: Stan and Pete.
And most surprising of all: the Captain didn't have a character profile in that initial document even though I could swear he has more episodes than characters like Lance, Varian, Quirin, and Xavier who all do have profiles in the 2015 BEA one.
I wonder if this indicates the order in which the characters were developed, or if they had different initial plans to use certain characters with more frequency and that didn't work out.
And as I sort of mentioned, in the BEA document, there were only summaries of six episodes after the special; "Challenge of the Brave," "Rapunzel's Enemy," "Cassandra Vs. Eugene," "In Like Flynn," "Under Wraps," and ""Fitzherbert PI."
It's fascinating to me how most of these are Cass and Eugene focused eps, with only one truly Raps focused one.
Anyway...
First big difference in the text:
By far the most common and consistent change between versions was Cassandra's job.
In 2015 in the Before Ever After pitch, she was consistently referred to as a "handmaiden" and then as of the 2018 TTS series bible this was changed everywhere to "lady in waiting".
I always wondered about this shift. At first I wondered if the change was to distance the show from the wildly successful, but thematically dark/adult "Handmaid's Tale" which came out within like a month of TTS, but now I'm wondering if it was more to align her thematically with her later characterization of "the Lady in waiting who is sick of waiting." It's probably that latter option. But I did kind of prefer the handmaiden angle since a lady in waiting is still comparatively powerful nobility. And imo a "maid" taking on a Kingdom is way more sympathetic than a lady doing so. It could have just added that extra layer of class conflict, but oh well.
No matter the reason, "Handmaiden" is out, "Lady in waiting" is in!
Attila got a little fleshing out between versions! Though this never seemed to materialize. I almost wonder if someone needed to hit a word-limit or something. I would have liked to see an ep showing Attila more and more integrated into Coronan society. See his progress from S1 to S3.
It seems the decision to have the full entourage outside of the main three on the mission might have been a later addition. (Alternatively the 2015 bible might have just had need to be more short and concise with the S2 details.)
It did seem(unfortunately) like the spare 5 didn't contribute much to the overarching plot, so I wouldn't be surprised if that were true. (And I'm including the Hookfoot filler episodes with that.) It would have looked pretty different, but might have been more character focused if they had gone in that direction.
Seems the Lorb episode was originally REALLY different...
The idea of them being mythical leaf people was a later addition, as well as the island aspect of the setting.
And it looked like the human "distinct tribe of people" were originally going to be worshiping Rapunzel and not Pascal. I can certainly see why they changed this so much.
It would be hard for Raps to beat the Demigoddess allegations and maintain the everyman vibe, plus the God Guise/Cargo Cult tropes are awkward as hell in that context.
"The Brotherhood of the Stone" ?
"The Brotherhood of the Stone" ?
"The Brotherhood of the Stone" ?????
..... Brotherhood fans btfo, its so over, we will literally never recover from this. *passes away*
No but really, no distinct mention of Adira or someone in her role. I wonder if the idea of discord/disagreement among the Brotherhood members didn't come about until later.
This is pretty cool! I didn't know that "Plus Est En Vous" seemed to be the initial name for the special! Then it got changed and used for the finale.
It also looks like "Cassandra vs. Eugene" was a pretty different episode initially as well.
It looks like originally, the scavenger hunt was not intended to lock them in the dungeons, and the Stabbingtons weren't involved.
I'm kind of of two minds on this one since on the one hand I like when decisions are deliberate and not just a matter of coincidence gives the characters agency. Plus I like the Stabbington's as villains and was glad to see them. But on the other hand, Rapunzel locking people in a cell when being locked away against her will is so central to her character and no one ever calling her out for it was so off-putting to me. Plus it made the Stabbingtons much less threatening.
I almost want to see that original version of that ep. I wonder if it would have been more character-focused.
And the last little changes I noticed were to "In Like Flynn" where they changed the word "crime" to "scheme" in the description and dropped the "King" for just "Frederic" probably just to convey the lighter tone of the episode better.
Oh, and one more!
The "Moonstone" didn't seem to be named as of BEA and there was some intentional(?) ambiguity about Edmond and his title and origin.
Overall not a lot of big differences. But it was a bit surprising what elements and characters where emphasized compared to what ended up manifesting in the show.
#tangled the series#rapunzel's tangled adventure#disney leaks#tts#rapunzel#tts eugene#tts cassandra#tts brotherhood
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big fan of your romance novel complaint posts (love to see a fellow hater living it up) but iâm also curious if there are any you would recommend? not looking for anything in particular, just would love to hear your thoughts as someone else with nitpicky reading habits and a taste for trash
ok hello. i left you hanging for a FULL week and for that i am sorry but i wanted to be able to have some time to sit down and type out a real answer to which the short version is YES of course there are several that i have enjoyed!! my disclaimer is that i almost solely read gay romance so if you are looking for lesbian or even straight reccs i don't have much for you (although i will put a couple at the end anyway). hopefully something in this list is interesting to you or at least interesting to someone else! links are mostly to goodreads. break bc i'm gonna write too much
-kj charles is one of my fave authors in this genre bc they're all pretty reliable and there's a ton of them. they're all historical fiction and usually there's at least one murder- she's good at keeping a plot going while developing a romance. often supernatural or magical elements. sometimes cults! i've read almost all of the books she's written and have enjoyed them all
-charlie adhara wrote a really incredible werewolf series that i loved, the first of which is the wolf at the door. this is one of the only series i've read which keeps the emotional stakes up through the whole thing & kept me interested in a relationship after it was established bc sooo many series get boring the second the leads get together. i actually read the first book of the spin-off series (a pack of lies) first which is technically possible but i don't recommend bc i was like "wow they're really throwing me in here. i love it" and then i read the first series and i was like "oh i was supposed to know all this stuff." but i actually liked the dynamic between that couple better and i'm suffering every day because the next one still doesn't come out til 2025 and i read it in 2022. also worth noting that this (the original series) is cops-ajacent (~federal special agents~) and one of the characters is really prejudiced at the beginning & imo doesn't have enough character growth before it's waved away but if you can ignore that it's really good. mysteries! werewolves!
-speaking of werewolves (i could suggest several but i'll keep it to two) tj klune's wolfsong ends up at the top of a lot of gay werewolf novel lists (i'm keeping tabs) and there's a good reason. i enjoyed it a lot. made me kind of sad which is always a good sign to me. the writing voice was very fresh and novel at first but i did find it a little grating by the end so i've put off starting the second book in the series (it's also about a different couple which was disappointing) but i will get around to it. i enjoy tj klune in general although his recent stuff has a very different vibe than this and lightning struck heart is very 2015 in a bad way imo
-bone rider by j fally is a standalone that really delighted me. the russian mob? aliens? vaguely western? possession? throuple? it's got it all. very fun
-ok speaking of westerns there's this other series called magic & steam (yes it's steampunk. sorry. it's very silly) that starts with the engineer. a federal agent is sent to a town to apprehend a ~madman engineer~ except he runs into an infamous outlaw in the process. and the outlaw is really sexy. and probably why i enjoyed the series so much. the series also keeps them apart a lot in a way that i enjoy- i love when things take a long time. it's ongoing so this is another one that i keep checking for updates on
-i've read a lot of stuff by nr walker and they tend to be VERY hit or miss for me but one of my faves is evolved which is almost pure smut. it's about a sex robot that gains sentience. what more do i need to say. she also wrote a three-book series about an amnesiac that made me cry cry cry. and her cowboy (australian rancher) series is pretty ok. i could go through a list and tell you which novels of hers aren't worth it and which ones are good; i've read most of them
-salt magic skin magic by lee welch was a big surprise to me. cool magic, good folklore, fairies in there too. historical. big kj charles vibes which makes sense bc she edited it. welch also wrote a book called seducing the sorcerer which i had more mixed feelings about but had magic in it that i think about OFTEN (the horses)- that one's about an imposing sorcerer and a rundown groom cum handyman. and they're in their FORTIES!!! đ„łđ„łđ„ł (i love when books are not about 23 year olds)
-another one with a magic system i enjoyed was magician by kl noone. this was the first book i read by this author and i liked it but generally i find their books are too "nice" for me. i'm in the middle of one right now that i started months and months ago that i keep trying to go back to and it's sooo rough for me. but this one and the twelfth enchantment are pretty ok
-emily tesh wrote a duology of silver in the wood and drowned country that i loved because i am suuuuch a sucker for a wild man/green man story. really good. haunting! evocative! kj charles has a green man story too which was actually the first thing i read of hers (spectred isle)
-i complained about the monsterfucker book i was reading a while back but despite that i will also recommend the series it's from: lily mayne's monstrous, which starts with soul eater. are they messy? yes. are they repetitive? yes. are the monsters usually disappointingly humanoid? yes. are a lot of them about the military? also yes. so we're starting off on a bad foot. but the world building is interesting and there's LOTS of kinds of monsters and most of them were pretty fun. the one i just read (#7) was the worst one of the bunch though imo. and i have problems with #6. but 1 2 and 5 were good
-ok i should do a quickfire round. honeytrap: about two enemy agents during the cold war. put it off for a long time bc i didn't love that but it takes place over a VERY long period of time which is always interesting to me. zero at the bone: about a hitman who needs to protect a witness to a mob hit. really strong start but fell off a bit in the middle to the end imo.
-you'll notice a lot of these have subgenres of like fantasy historical supernatural etc but here's some regular contemporaries. a lot of these are about sad guys bc those are my favorite. best laid plans: hardware store owner helps a guy fix his house. in the middle of somewhere: same author actually. guy moves to small town to work at a college. mr jingle bells: this is a christmas one. bad title. fake dating. part of the reason i think i liked it so much is because i expected it to be awful but it was actually pretty good. good emotional stakes. published 2021 but feels very 2014. ignore that part. work for it: i rated this five stars but actually don't remember much what it was like. i think they were both really sad which i love. give me big emotions and i eat them right up with a spoon. i should read it again
-OK now i've got some straight & lesbian options. talia hibbert's brown sisters series is good and cute. she also wrote work for it, above. the unhoneymooners is the first real Romance Novel that i read and it really surprised me because i had fun! previously i had kind of written off romance novels as not for me but this kicked off a reading habit that is still going strong (primarily reading romance novels). i read this in 2020 so it might not be as good as i remember. as for lesbian options olivia waite has a series that i enjoyed that's also historical, and a friend of mine really enjoyed delilah green doesn't care (but i haven't read that one myself). and while not really romances i will always be a sarah waters fan: you may recognize her as the author of fingersmith, which is the novel park chan-wook's movie the handmaiden is based on. if you haven't seen the movie or read the book i recommend both. her books are very dramatic lesbian historical fiction; they don't always have happy endings but they're all very good
ok i think that's the end! regular disclaimer that romance is generally not a genre notable for Good Writing so a lot of these are just things i had fun with or just stuck out in my memory for having fun conceits etc. i can't guarantee that any of these are actually good, especially because this is a list solely based on my own taste and bad memory. would love to hear anybody's thoughts and/or if anybody has recommendations for ME!!! this post took me over three hours to write! crazy!
#asks#dogda#ummm how should i tag this if i need to find it again#book reccs#book list#i have given a few of these to some of you as recommendations before! i love to talk about my stupid little romance novels#before you click on the readmore know that this is long
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my genuine thoughts on the amazing digital circus episode two because someone has to hear all these thoughts and it sure aint gonna be my friends anytime soon:
the pacing felt off - not sure why, but if i had to guess i think it would be due to how much info and exposition was crammed into the first episode, with very little in the second episode made it feel weird. i literally got halfway through and went 'how am i halfway when nothing has happened?'
like the whole scene when they were arriving at the candy kingdom (i dont remember what it was called currently) felt a bit too long, like they dragged it out a little to fill time (or to show of the animation and design, and if so, valid)
i think the pilot also had more visual comedy aspects to do with 3D animation which i really appreciated. they did keep some in the second episode but less so
Jax definitely came off a whole lot meaner this time, but after revisiting the pilot he's basically the same level of mean just without the comedy or charm. im assuming that they're doing this to keep it in the audience's mind that Jax is an asshole so when he does some cruel shit later on it doesn't seem like such a 180
on that note, this episode also just felt a lot less funny. it might be that it purely wasn't my kind of humour, but i thought the pilot had a fair few good bits and the second episodes comedy just didnt really hit with me
i think also there are specific moments that felt they were building suspense/tension for either comedic or dramatic reasons just for nothing to happen, which felt disappointing. best example would be Kinger throwing the lifesaver (what did he throw?) the second time, going to check on the rope, for nothing to happen. felt like a set-up with no pay-off
and a similar point, and it could just be an emphasis on how old and immortal these characters are so they're used to this shit, but none of them react strongly! to anything! Jax is thrown over the side of the truck with no reaction, the knifes everywhere don't illicit a strong response, Ragatha watches herself get IMPALED IN THE CHEST? and they fall from a cliff and dont even scream. no reaction to anything. it just felt weird.
HOWEVER, it is not all bad. Caine and Bubble are still great (i think a large part of why i did not find this episode as funny is likely coz these two had very limited screen time)
i loved the little gators designs, and the plot line of existential crisis followed by acceptance and then just being smite by god
character development on Pomni felt sweet, great symbolism in one short little moment
i'm real interested to see more of Zooble, and a bit more into Jax's development (i saw his expressions at the end, dont think i didnt)
i think the characters mostly stayed the same (besides Jax and Pomni of course) so im excited for exploring them more in the future!
the possibility of the gators returning is very interesting
the designs of the locations were all very pretty
i did still like this episode, although i enjoyed the pilot i lot more. i'm excited to see where this series goes! and massive kudos to doing this independently, regardless of how this series ends up ill always have respect to the creators for not going to a big boss company to produce it
also dont get me wrong i definitely love this series and i love jax i can criticise and love things simultaneously
#the amazing digital circus#digital circus#pomni#tadc#tadc pomni#jax#tadc jax#tadc ragatha#tadc zooble#gangle#kinger#ragatha#caine#gooseworx#tadc caine#zooble#tadc gangle#bubble#tadc bubble#tadc kinger#gummigoo#tadc spoilers#tadc gummigoo#gummy gators
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Out of all the animes youâve watch what ones are your favorites
...you know what, you get the serious answer. I used to track my anime watching, so out of the 450+ completed ones on my list, here are some of my top recommendations! (In terms of quality, more so than what I've spent the most time dwelling on.)
. . .
One Piece â I haven't technically watched all of this one, but after falling back into the fandom after an 8-ish year break, I really can't understate the quality. One Piece's story is amazing, and I'm consistently impressed by the author's characters/worldbuilding.
Dominion Tank Police (1988) â I have FEELINGS about the villain in this one... Overall, 80s sci-fi vibes mix with themes of ethical responsibility and societal peacekeeping, and the "don't you just want to go apeshit? :)" protagonist (who's also extremely aromantic-coded) is a hilarious, yet wonderfully earnest little menace!
Kyousougiga â I've been rewatching this one recently, and the sheer detail in every scene is STUNNING. I keep having to pause to mentally scream about the symbolism, and tbh, knowing the plot from my original watch is only improving the experience.
Tekkon Kinkreet â This one's a movie, not a series, but SKLJKHS IT HAUNTS ME. Absolutely chilling, by the time the big plot twists roll around... Beyond that, the overall aesthetic/vibe is impeccable, and the exaggerated, messy art style only adds to that.
Kemonozume â Monster/human forbidden romance with stunning art and a great soundtrack. The plot started out a bit confusing, but all of the scattered story elements came together nicely in the end!
The Tatami Galaxy â The "get your shit together and start enjoying your life" anime. It's plenty good as just a story, but I got some excellent life lessons out of it too. Solid mix of comedy, drama, and charismatic-yet-extremely-bizarre characters interacting.
Monster â Excellent slow-paced, psychological horror packed with ethical dilemmas, traumatic backstories, and so many Extremely Depressed Men. In other words, there's a very good reason why Johan Liebert used to end up on so many "best anime villains" lists.
Paranoia Agent â I have nothing but praise for Satoshi Kon's work, in general, and Paranoia Agent has been my favorite of the ones I've seen so far. Compared to his movies, it really benefits from the extra space for plot development, and the big emotional twist hits hard.
Revolutionary Girl Utena â A true classic. <3 There are enough tumblr essays about this tragic yuri masterpiece that I won't go into detail myself, but yes, it's every bit as good as you've heard.
Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail â The entire Black Lagoon series is excellent, but Roberta is my special girl. Unfortunately, the OAV adaption compresses the manga's version of her arc pretty heavily (and the altered ending is kind of dumb), but I still have to recommend it. Babygirl's breakdown is a REAL mess kjshghs
Claymore â Excellent pseudo-medieval fantasy with badass female characters, lots of body horror, and top-tier monster design. The manga is MUCH better than the anime after a certain point, however.
Kuuchuu Buranko â An episodic series about an eccentric psychiatrist interacting with his troubled patients. The mixed-media animation style and bizarre characters are what sold it for me, along with the exploration of mental health through storytelling tropes.
Cannon Fodder â An artistic short movie that's twenty minutes of aesthetic experience and fascinating worldbuilding implications. I love the vibe, and the "one, long horizontal frame" style is neat.
Flowers of Evil â The art style. The VIBES. The whole thing is incredibly eerie and off-putting, with a plot that's pretty much: "congrats! two shitty teenagers are tearing each other's lives apart!".
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Who is your favorite human character from Rescue Bots?
(yet another example of a seemingly short post turning long)
My favorite human character in Rescue Bots has been tied between Kade and Dani. Dani is just a really fun character and I feel myself relating to her and her daredevilness. She in all is a pretty popular character as well.
Now I know that people don't generally like Kade
But I have my reasons.
I love asshole characters, especially ones that could be considered loveable assholes. I considered Kade to be one of the characters, even if the show didn't handle the trope well. Kade is honestly a character that needs to grow on you. Sometimes it's quick, sometimes it takes all four seasons. For me, it was the second episode.
That episode was honestly the peak of being an older sibling. How I know? I'm an older sibling.
In that episode we see our general Kade characteristics. He is egotistical, a jerk to Heatwave, and a jerk to members of his family. I honestly believe these are valid reasons to not like him, especially if your favorites are Heatwave or Cody. (Yes I am calling y'all out) However, he still cares about all of them, especially for the bots after that episode.
Kade literally older sibling freaked out when it was revealed Cody was in danger. He (mostly) kept his calm cause he is a first responder, that is in the job description to keep a level head, but he was still scared about Cody's safety. His first priority was getting there first to stop the lava, and when Heatwave revealed he was also scared for the younger Burns child, that is what started Kade's respect for him.
Now I will admit, how he got with Hayley was not a good example for a kids show. No one owes you a date just cause you save their life. However, if Hayley truly was not interested later on after that, she wouldn't continue going on dates with him. Their relationship from what we see in the show isn't the healthiest, but it's nothing bad to be purely honest. Hayley has boundaries she clearly sets, as seen in the episode where Kade gets cloned 5 times over. She speaks her mind to him, and pushes him to not be a complete jerk. And Kade respects her wishes! The show, if it did focus more on their relationship, could have pushed for Kade to have more character growth as their relationship grew. However, the show was not built to work with that kind of story plot.
As for how Kade acts with his family, you can see he instantly backtracks when he realizes his words have hurt his family. I truly believe he doesn't think before he speaks. A character flaw, yes, but it does not represent his true morals and ethics. He wouldn't be on a rescue team if he was a truly terrible person. In the episode where the bots are struck with a sickness from the meteor, he tries to rationalize the situation in his own way of coping. But as soon as he realizes that the way of coping he was using wasn't helping Cody, he changes his tune to support Cody's way of coping. In the Squilsh episode, we see him try to argue that he should be the last to leave the area, he didn't want to leave Graham behind and alone. It was Chief having to push him to Blade's ladder to make him leave and get to safety.
And it isn't like we don't see him being anything but an egotistical asshole, we see him genuinely scared. The gremlins episode is a perfect example of this. Kade had a big phobia of them, he barely got any sleep cause of nightmares dealing with them, and he didn't want to enter the power plant cause of it being overrun by them. However, it isn't like he didn't do anything to overcome it. He went to Doc Greene to find a solution, and when it did backfire, Kade didn't back down. Heatwave also showed some great character development in this episode, he didn't make fun of Kade too much for his fear, and even encouraged him to get into the powerplant. Kade was then able to overcome the fear, showing growth in his character.
And on the topic of Heatwave and Kade's relationship. They remind me so much of my own relationship with one of my best friends. We make fun of each other, we are assholes to each other, he makes fun of my autism, I make fun of him being a twink. But we are still best friends. We know the limits and boundaries of our jokes, and it isn't just us being assholes to each other 24/7. We have genuine hearts to hearts, we give each other advice, and we help each other out through difficulties in our life. This is exactly what Heatwave and Kade's relationship is, though not a direct parallel to my relationship.
Heatwave isn't innocent in the beginning with how he treats Kade, just as Kade is not innocent. They are both unfiltered, unreasonable assholes to each other. Heatwave is mad that Optimus Prime won't let him join the Prime Team, and he takes that out on being a pessimistic jerk to the situation they are in. He does not want to be on Griffin Rock, and that is evident. Kade, doesn't reasonably want to work and be inside of an alien. ANY REASONABLE PERSON WOULD BE LIKE THAT. However, it does not excuse his treatment of Heatwave, who is another sentient being. Heatwave is a genuine jerk throughout the first season. It is evident he only cares about his team and Cody. The flobster's episode is a good example of this, he won't care until it is his job. Now, he does grow out of this, which is good cause character development, we love that here.
As the season goes on we see their relationship develop into this friendly "I hate your guts but I will kill for you" situation. (Obviously they do not actually hate each other's guts, but they still act like it) This kind of character development is my favorite! The show does a good job at showing this as well. If you compare the first few episodes of season 1, with the episodes of season 3 and 4, you can see how their relationship has changed. Neither of them are scared to speak their mind, and there is obviously respect in the relationship. Kade and Heatwave have grown to understand and respect each other, while still being jerks to each other. Heatwave is not afraid to make fun of Kade and vice versa, which honestly I believe is a clear sign of a good and healthy relationship. You can point out flaws in each other, and no one is going to instantly get butthurt. Boundaries just have to be established and maintained.
I wish the show could have further explored more of these character developments, not just in Kade but in everyone. However, it is a kids show meant for preschoolers, they just want to watch cool transforming robots save the day.
Another thing with Kade is that it is so fun in the fandom sphere to add headcanons and backstory. I love a character who you can do that with.
#rescue bots#transformers rescue bots#tf rescue bots#tfrb#mystic chaos#mysticfox rambles#ask response#ask answered#anon ask#tfrb kade#kade burns#character analysis#important
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Iâm going to be writing my first novel (original fiction) and Iâm already stressing myself out about creating good prose and character dynamics. I have so many ships that I admire and I can tell so much thought went into their dialogue and backgrounds but how are writers writing thousands of words a day with that type of thoughtful writing?? AHHHHH. I think I could only write like 200 words a day to create stuff with the depth of character that I love and want for my own writing
I think your fanfic is good so thatâs why Iâm asking đââïž
Thatâs really exciting!! Good luck!
Writing is very much a cumulative skill in my experience, the more you write the easier it will be to balance the various elements of plot, prose, character, etc. Youâll also just get a better handle on the patterns of these things. Itâll be easier to quickly formulate plots, to make interesting character choices without having to think about it as hard. So definitely, donât get discouraged if youâre struggling with the balancing act now! The more you work on it, the more naturally it will come to you.
That being said, a big part of writing efficiently is having a good method. The saying that you canât edit a blank page is very true. Stressing over getting everything perfect on the first try is just going to needlessly slow you down. Just get it done, and then you can fix it later!
For original projects, I personally like to outline heavily before the drafting process. And then I use that as a roadmap during drafting. Once I have a draft, I go over it several times with a particular focus for each pass (subplots, nailing character arcs, worldbuilding details, etc)
I think itâs just really important to work with purpose. Otherwise you can get lost in the weeds.
Re: character dynamics and dialogue, I think dialogue tends to come organically from character. And then character itself should go hand in hand with plot/premise.
Itâs a bit of a chicken or the egg scenario, but I think itâs important to nail down what kind of story youâre trying to tell and what characters can best carry that. I do think that theme is really *really* important, and thatâs how you get a cohesive, compelling story as opposed to ten tropes in a trenchcoat.
But yeah like basic questions, who are your characters, what are their arcs? Can you sketch out a basic starting point and end point for them and meaningfully talk about how theyâre meant to change? Are these changes cohesive?
Good ships are good because they have interesting premises, conflicts, and interactions. You need to make sure everything is solid on a conceptual level. So much of writing advice rn is like âthrow in a dagger to the throat scene, thatâs sexyâ but like shfhff what does it fucking mean! There needs to be a point to sexy scenes. And vulnerable moments need to be earned. A relationship needs to develop from somewhere.
Itâs way more important to flesh out what about the characters are appealing or disruptive to each other, where they align and clash, and to make sure it makes sense, than to write perfect dialogue.
Iâm very much a proponent of getting the foundation right and then fixing the aesthetic dressings later. My first drafts, my dialogue is usually in short hand, just to get the gist of it down, and my prose is pretty dry. Thereâs always room to fix that stuff later.
But yeah my personal tips:
Outline as much as you can! itâs easier to rewrite an outline than an entire book. And youâll have to rewrite the book multiple times anyway, so might as well make it a bit easier for yourself. I like to personally have a shorter birds eye view outline, and then one that goes into scene level detail. But also I am insane. So, use whatever level of detail works for you.
Be aware of why you make every choice in your story. Could be because of a theme, because you want to set up a later plotline, or because itâs cool. Whatever the reason just make sure you know! That makes it easier to weigh any potential changes against each other, and to figure out your priorities. But also to tell if any elements end up becoming superfluous over your editing process. if you introduced scene A to set up scene B and you end up cutting B, then A doesnât need to exist anymore.
Each scene should have an arc! You donât need to outline scenes if you donât want to (⊠I like to) but make sure thereâs movement in them. My personal rule of thumb is that a scene needs to accomplish at least three things to justify its existence. Those things can be developing character, particular relationships, a subplot, the main plot, or just showcasing a fun setting, but I just like to make sure that multiple things are happening to be efficient.
Start out with high concepts and recognizable tropes (if you want!) but once you get into the details, then you need to aim for specificity. Specificity is so important, thatâs where things get interesting. Similarly, characters are most endearing for their flaws and vulnerability. A character written to be generically likeable is less interesting and memorable than a specific character.
Also, be aware of each characterâs perspective, both over the course of the story, but also in every scene. What are their goals? How much do they know, what are their impression of events, and how do they want to present themselves to others? Particularly for side characters, is there anything they need to react to that you might not have considered?
This might all sound unrelated to writing quickly, but in my experience the better understanding you have of your story and your characters, the easier it is to draft. That way, youâve done all the thinking beforehand, so you donât need to pause and figure everything out as you write!
#writing#writing tips#writeblr#writers on tumblr#i ramble sometimes#all the bendy punctuations#a mysterious stranger has appeared#long post
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I just found this page and I love it!
I was wondering for a headcannon: How would the cast of Class of the Titans react to you being some kind of God, like a God of Gossip, but willingly working with Cronus?
Aww, thank you so much for saying that! Itâs very sweet of you and definitely made me smile đ Iâm more than happy to write this for you, though it ended up being a little short and maybe not so much what you were hoping for. Thank you for requesting it though, it was really exciting to see a request for an underloved fandom on here, and I hope youâll enjoy the headcanons regardless!
So, very obviously, the reactions from those around this person would wildly differ based on one really important thing. How well do the heroes actually know this person? Because their reactions to them just discovering that Cronus has a God on his side, without ever really having met that God before in their lives, and simply being introduced to them as an adversary right from the start, is going to be completely and drastically different from a situation where the heroes have gotten to know this person, who has been pretending to be on their side all along, who has developed friendships or some sort of acquaintanceship, maybe even a relationship, with the sole purpose of getting information to feed back to Cronus and who they learn, in a moment, has betrayed them all.
The two reactions arenât even going to be in the same ballpark. Theyâre going to be almost diametrically opposed to each other because, while both situations will kind of suck, thereâs really no comparing being faced with a tough opponent to beat to learning that someone who you liked and who you thought had your back has decided to stab you in said back.
Going with the example provided, where the person in question is indeed Pheme, Greek God of both fame and renown and rumor and gossip, they likely have kind of valid reasons for working with Cronus. Depending on which Greek myths we want to go with, Pheme was the child of Gaia, making Cronus at least their half-brother. With all that time stretched out behind them, thereâs no doubt in my mind that thereâs probably all kinds of family history. There could very well be blackmail. Pheme could feel like they have to fight on Cronusâ side because, ya know, familyâŠor Gaia could have a hand in it, pushing Pheme to get involved.
Of course, Pheme could also just be in it for the kicks and giggles, depending on what you want.
Either way, if theyâre simply introduced as a new big bad, I do see the heroes reactions being pretty much the same reaction as they have towards any other bad guy. Theyâre pretty sick and tired of there always having to be something new to fight. It doesnât help that Pheme is honestly quite powerful and clever, and their plans keep getting screwed up because of them.
They keep trying to find ways to either defeat Pheme or convince Pheme to leave Cronusâ side and come to the side of good. Like, really, spending that much time around Cronus canât be fun, right? Right? Plus, as Neil assures them, spending all that time dealing with Cronusâs plots and plans has left them no time for self-care and their skin is starting to show itâŠand letâs not even mention the hair.
Jay, especially, makes it clear to Pheme that they always have to choice to do what is right, but if they insist on sticking by Cronusâ side until the very end, the heroes can and will defeat Pheme.
Now, of course, in the situation where Pheme had been undercover, pretending to help the heroes and forming those bonds with them, the reaction is going to much more drastic. After all, this is someone the heroes had trusted, someone they thought they knew, and theyâve just learned that everything was a lie, that Pheme has betrayed them all on a grand scale, has put them in danger multiple times, and might even have caused some injuries to the heroes during occasions when theyâd fought Cronus.
The immediate reaction from every single one of the heroes is going to be anger. Thereâs not a single one of the characters, save for Cronus, who is gleefully, maniacally happy and who is rubbing it in the heroes faces, who is not going to be completely and utterly pissed off.
I think, though, that Jay and Archie are the ones who remain the angriest about it. Both of them blame themselves, in some way, for not having been more vigilant, for not having seen the betrayal coming.
Odie and Theresa, once their anger has cooled down some, are the heroes that are more likely to try to find excuses for Phemeâs betrayal. Theyâre the ones searching for reasons for why they did what they did and theyâre the ones who would be most likely to buy completely into a sob story or the ones most willing to help Pheme out, should they honestly want to defect from Cronusâ side, and are the ones most open to trusting Pheme again.
Archie and Neil are the ones who will most hotly debate ever helping Pheme out. For both boys, they just donât think they can ever trust Pheme again. Theyâll give ever single reason why none of the heroes should trust Pheme, will be the ones almost begging the others to see logic, and the ones most opposed to helping this being that has betrayed them.
Atlanta and Herry waver in between being pissed and being worried for someone they once counted as a friend. They want to help Pheme, should it come out that theyâre being forced into what theyâre doing, they want to believe the best about Pheme, but at the same time, they are still really angry about what happened and theyâre not quite at the stage where they can easily forgive what happened.
Jay? Heâs just trying to do his best to function and keep his team together in the face of such betrayal. Heâs questioning everything, to the point heâs a little paranoid. Who else could betray them? Why didnât he see it? Is he even worthy of leading this team if heâs so blind to what, as he can now see in hindsight, should have been obvious clues that things werenât on the level?
It really shakes them, each one of them, to their core.
Meanwhile, as mentioned, Cronus does everything he can to gloat about his minor victory over the teens and he finds every excuse he can to dispatch Pheme to fight the heroes, or to have them show up everywhere he can, just to rub the heroes faces in what happened, just to try to break their spirits even more.
#replies#class of the titans#cott#headcanons#cronus cott#jay cott#archie cott#theresa cott#atlanta cott#odie cott#herry cott#neil cott
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discworld looks like such a fun book series!!! but the large amount of novels and of different suggested reading orders have put me off actually starting the series. do you have any suggestions?
Yes!!!
Here's a little secret for you: most of the Discworld novels are actually fairly short, especially the early ones. I first read almost all of the Discworld books in one summer between 8th and 9th grade (there was roughly about 35 of them published at that time). So while the number of books can look intimidating, most of them are a much quicker read than the doorstoppers people tend to imagine when thinking about classic long-running fantasy series.
Regarding the reading order: yeah, there's a ton of different suggested reading orders out there. This is for two reasons. The first reason is that quite simply, the earliest books in the series... don't measure up to the standards of his later works. They're not bad, per se. But when compared to his later books, they're not as polished and the pacing isn't great. Early Discworld books also don't have nearly as much pointed social commentary; they're largely parodies of the standard sword-and-sorcery fantasy tropes that were popular in 80s pulp fiction. They're still decently funny if you're familiar with fantasy genre cliches from 40 years ago, but even then they may not be compelling enough to make you want to read thirty more of them. That's why most Discworld fans try to get people to start by reading later works.
Which brings us to our second reason for all the different reading orders: unlike many series where reading the books out of order wouldn't make any sense from a plot or character development perspective, each novel in the Discworld series could technically be a stand-alone book. While most of the books do follow each other chronologically in the same order they were published, they don't need to be read in that order to be understood. My personal reading order for Discworld was literally "whichever book is currently available at the library within biking distance" and I still was able to enjoy all of them.
Within the broader series, there are a few "sub-series" - series which follow the same character and/or set of characters over time. These sub-series are usually the easiest way to get people into Discworld, because once they become invested in a particular character they're likely to want to keep reading about that character.
The main sub-series people tend to recommend is the City Watch sub-series (starting with "Guards! Guards!"). This is for a number of undeniably valid reasons. The main character is very flawed but very likable, the books usually have a whodunnit plot that can attract people who might not normally read fantasy genre, and they're pretty influential in regards to the overall development of the Discworld's world building.
The second favorites for recommended sub-series are usually either the Death books (starting with "Mort", follows the actual physical Grim Reaper and his mostly human family either having or solving various existential crises) or the Moist von Lipwig books (starting with "Going Postal", a later but important entry in the series following conman Moist von Lipwig as he establishes various governmental institutions such as the post office or the mint (this series literally helped me better understand our real-life contemporary fiscal system)).
But what might draw you in to Discworld in general really can depend on what kind of interests you have. For example, if you're a big fan of Shakespeare and are really familiar with his works, Wyrd Sisters will probably draw you in with all the Shakespeare references. But if you're not as familiar with Shakespeare, then that particular book may not be the most interesting starting point.
My first Discworld novel was "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents" (my friend at the time wanted me to read it because she had pet rats and was scouring the library for books where rats were heroes instead of villains). It's technically a young adult novel, but the storytelling and writing style was intriguing enough to get me looking for more.
I think my single favorite Discworld novel is "Small Gods", which is a standalone novel (not part of any sub-series) about what religion means. Part of it is that I happened to read it at just the right time in my life, but also it's just a great book that discusses some truly meaningful issues around belief and religion and it influenced how I see the world. Plus, on a conceptional level? The plot is hilarious. "All powerful god of a monotheistic religion accidentally gets stuck in the form of a tortoise and only one single person can speak with him so now they have to work together to prove to everyone in their pseudo-Catholic community that God is currently a literal tortoise."
I guess. If you've managed to read this far. If you have any further questions. Feel free to ask as you can probably see that I'd be more than happy to answer them.
P.S. This is one of the better "get started reading Discworld" guides I've seen
#that is an entire wall of text oops oh well#oh wait damn this is a WALL wall of text. you've activated one of the special interest trap cards.#discworld#ask#in which i say things
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Avatar the Last Expositionbender: Thoughts on the new Netflix adaptation from a near 20-year-long fan of ATLA (first three episodes)
Disclaimer: Iâve been a huge fan of ATLA since literally the day it dropped on February 21st, 2005. Iâve probably seen the original show at least 200 times all the way through. That said, I absolutely am trying to go into this Netflix show with an open mind. I donât want to denigrate it just because itâs not exactly the same as the original.
I can't draw any final conclusions because I've only watched through episode 3, but my impressions are... not good. Iâm going to try and leave some of the nitpickier stuff to my live tweeting thread and just focus on the big things here.
My biggest takeaway thus far is that the show has decent to great special effects, set design, and cinematography, and it is just ALL completely let down by an atrocious script and bizarre changes to both the plot and characters. I donât think any one decision is the decision thatâs breaking this show for me. I think itâs a death-of-a-thousand-cuts kind of breaking the show for me.
(A lot) more below the cut
Letâs start with the structure. The original ATLA is a serialized show (there is one overarching plot), but each episode is smaller scale with short plotlines that are resolved within the runtime of one or two episodes (leans more episodic). The Netflix adaptation seems to drop this format and centers the main plot in pretty much every episode. Many of the little stories still technically happen, but theyâre reframed to be in service to the greater plot. E.g. They no longer visit Kyoshi because Aang just wanted to have a fun little adventure and ride some giant fish, he does so because he needs to learn more about the Avatar from Kyoshi.
This is not an inherently negative change, but it is a negative change in this case and Iâll tell you why: it completely destroys the character building that the original series was known so well for. Let me explain.
I can point to any episode in the series and immediately tell you if it's a Katara-centric episode, a Sokka-centric episode, a Zuko-centric episode, etc. I can tell you exactly what the characters did, what the themes were, and how the characters have grown from beginning to end. I can tell you the threads that were woven in which ultimately serve the larger plot, from huge shifts to tiny threads you wouldnât even notice.
Iâll take episode 2 from the Netflix series and compare it to the three episodes I believe itâs based on: The Warriors of Kyoshi and The Winter Solstice (parts 1 and 2).
In the original series all three of these episodes are largely Aang-centric, with significant moments developing Sokka as well. Kyoshi is the point at which Aangâs lackadaisical attitude toward being the Avatar is significantly challenged for the first time. He spends significant time in Kyoshi being fawned over and messing around despite realistically having done nothing to earn that praise. Itâs the damage to his friendship with Katara + Zuko coming in which ultimately humbles him. The Winter Solstice episodes are where Aangâs determination and goal is solidified and a sense of urgency is developed.
On Sokkaâs end, Kyoshi is a significant moment for him as a character. He has some of his core beliefs challenged and not only does it humble him, he apologizes and works to better himself. In The Winter Solstice episodes (particularly part 2) we see, for the first time, glimmers of his ingenuity and his role as the idea/plan guy with how he develops a plan to open the door so Aang can speak to Roku.
In terms of the plot, The Warriors of Kyoshi ultimately doesnât have much to say at this moment, but it is setup for later payoffs in seasons 2 and 3 (the Kyoshi Warrior ruse Azula pulls in Ba Sing Se, Sukiâs presence in The Boiling Rock and subsequently joining the Gaang, etc.) so itâs not wasted. The Winter Solstice is where Aang gets crucial information about the world and solidifies his goal (stop the Fire Nation before the arrival of the comet).
Ultimately we discover something important about Sokka, and Aang has a significant moment of character development where he decides to put aside his own ego, stop messing around, and focus on saving the world.
What do we see in Episode 2 of the Netflix series?
Sokka has a kind of awkward relationship with Suki where she largely just kind of complains about being stuck on Kyoshi and acts like a massive bitch toward him for seemingly no reason (since they completely removed his sexism and thus his entire arc in that episode) but then they kiss anyway.
Aang gets shit on by the people of Kyoshi and then blasted by Kyoshi herself for not being determined enough in his quest and not understanding what it means to be the Avatar (even though in this version of events Aang never ran away from the Southern Air Temple he was just out for a lil fly to cool his head and got yeeted by the storm, and the entire reason he came to Kyoshi in the first place is so he could learn more about being the Avatar).
Katara is, uh, there and plays around with the waterbending scroll Gran Gran apparently had the entire time (so I guess weâre not covering The Waterbending Scroll in this show, aka one of Kataraâs early defining character episodes).
None of them develop because they werenât given any flaws to begin with. Thereâs nothing for them to overcome. The problems they overcame in the original episodes were taken out from the very start, which means they have nowhere to actually go.
And that might be fine if this wasnât an Avatar the Last Airbender adaptation. You know, the show that is so well known for its character development that itâs often cited as one of the best examples of a redemption arc in fiction? That Avatar the Last Airbender show? YeahâŠ
Another problem, and I really canât overlook this, is the atrocious script this show has. It feels like the characters spend 90% of their talking time either delivering bland exposition that was usually just shown to us in the original show, or monologuing about something. It feels like the writers had no confidence in their audience to actually follow what was happening or understand the themes, which is⊠embarrassing. This show is clearly not made for children at all based on the levels of violence depicted, and itâs not a great sign when the show made for ten year olds has more faith in its audience's intelligence than this one.
And really, I get that youâre probably going to have to combine episodes and cut out some things to fit a 20 episode season into an 8 episode season, but some of the choices for episodes they combined is just bizarre. Who on earth decided it would be a good idea to combine Jet, The King of Omashu, and The Northern Air Temple into one episode?
The original Jet is largely a Sokka-centric episode, dealing with his own insecurity as well as the groupâs lack of confidence in him and his abilities. Yet Katara is almost exclusively the one interacting with the Jet plotline in the Netflix adaptation, and all of Sokkaâs best moments from that episode are lost. Instead he spends most of this episode hanging out with Teoâs dad and establishing his interest in engineering (and weirdly shitting on Hakoda for some reason in the process?) which could have been established in an episode which shares a less Sokka-important plotline.
The Northern Air Temple is about Aang reconciling his conflicted feelings about refugees moving into a place that once belonged to his people, changing things, and adopting/adapting some of the Air nomadâs culture (such as the gliders). He ultimately comes to the conclusion that the Air Nomads are gone, but heâs happy new people have come along and carry their spirit. Because this episode takes place in Omashu in the Netflix adaptation, there is absolutely none of that conflict or growth over others using the space which used to belong to his people.
The King of Omashu is just a sweet, Aang-centric episode where he realizes he still has friends in the world, and establishes Omashu and Bumi for the world/later seasons. Bumi isnât even in episode 3 of the Netflix adaptation physically until the end, and when heâs mentioned he basically gets shit on, treated as completely incompetent, and almost murdered by Jet. Though from what I gather based on the episode blurbs the substance of The King of Omashu is probably contained more in Episode 4, so weâll see if my opinion changes after episode 4.
The act of combining episodes is not the problem. Itâs the episodes theyâve chosen to combine. What theyâve done so far does not in any way take advantage of what the original show gave them to work with.
For example, Why not instead combine the Southern Air Temple, The Storm, and The Northern Air temple? All three episodes connect with the theme of Aang dealing with his loss. Just move Teo and his father to the Southern Air Temple instead of the northern one and keep their plotline the same. In the process Aang can walk the run down buildings and learn more about what happened, and at some point he can find Gyatsoâs body and there can be flashbacks to him leaving the Southern Temple and he can talk about how guilty he feels.
(While Iâm at it I think they could have more smoothly combined Jet with The Waterbending Scroll. Katara can steal the scroll and as theyâre escaping they can run into the merry band of freedom fighters who hide them. Katara practices with the scroll while Jet encourages her which is part of why she takes such a liking to him, and Sokka has his arc with Jet. Maybe Jet could even dangle the prospect of getting rid of the pirates chasing them along with the town to try and bait Sokka to his side/convince him by exploiting his protective instinct, but Sokka still refuses.)
Basically, I wish theyâd combined the episodes more on the basis of their interconnected themes rather than⊠whatever it is they were trying to do here.
Anyway I think thatâs the big thrust of my criticisms of the show. Now Iâm just going to do random miscellaneous complaining about character changes.
First, Aang is such a bland pile of nothing, and despite the writers claiming heâs more determined and a go-getter he has never, not ONCE stopped getting pushed around in the plot.
He doesnât intentionally leave the Air Nomads of his own volition, he just happened to be out for a little fly to clear his head when a storm oopsied him into the plot. He gets bullied by Kyoshi for like four minutes straight into doing the thing he was already doing (going to the Northern Water Tribe) because she psychically knows that the Fire Nation is going to attack them later, not because he actually⊠yâknow⊠wants to learn waterbending/wants to find Katara a teacher.
2) Sokka gives sociopathy with the delivery of some of these lines. The jokes are REALLY hit or miss and the acting is more miss than hit in this show (goes for everyone tbh, not even just the kids). I already complained about them removing his sexism and I can confirm the sexism is indeed gone. He does at least maintain his role in the comic relief department, but I canât say Iâm that thrilled they kept the literal least interesting part of his personality.
3) Katara is genuinely one of my favorite characters in media ever. Seriously I could probably make a whole other post about how much I love her, and I am so disappointed by what a bland ball of nothing she is so far. She has none of her edge.
Youâll notice that theyâve so far covered The Boy in the Iceberg, The Avatar Returns, The Southern Air Temple, The Warriors of Kyoshi, The King of Omashu, The Winter Solstice (1 and 2), Jet, The Northern Air Temple, and if I am being EXTREMELY generous The Waterbending Scroll (as in, there is technically a waterbending scroll and Katara does now have possession of it).
None of which are what I would consider Katara-centric character development episodes, and the moments she does have in those episodes appear to be mostly cut out or overlaid with bizarre PTSD flashback nightmare fuel. Iâm not trying to imply that the show wonât get better about her, but Iâm not a huge fan of having a lot of her moments stripped out and her characterization reduced to âyeah sheâs traumatizedâ. Honestly depending on how the rest of this season goes you might have to deal with a big long ramble just like this on just Katara. Katara Alone, if you will.
4) I have no idea whatâs even going on with Zuko. They covered Aangâs half of The Storm in pretty gruesome detail but completely neglected Zukoâs entire half of that episode. Thus far he feels like heâs getting pushed around by the plot just as much as Aang. And he has to share villain screentime with Ozai and Azula for whatever reason. Also, they wussed out on that scar.
Iroh is in a similar boat to Zuko. It just feels like the Netflix adaptation doesnât have nearly as much interest in developing Zuko and Iroh as the original show did. Which is really disappointing. One of the things that made Zukoâs redemption so good was because he and Iroh were such a presence in the show from the very beginning. They very frequently, even if theyâre not directly interacting with the Gaang, dominate the episode B-plot. His redemption simply does not work if you donât have that.
5) Zhao is such a dweeb. A dork. A weenie. I donât even understand why they made this change to him. In the original show heâs ruthlessly effective and ambitious to a fault. Heâs an antagonist not just to Aang, but to Zuko as well. Aang is his meal ticket to even greater acclaim and Zuko is a banished princeling who has nothing of value to offer him. He has it made in the Fire Nation and heâs not afraid to flex his power or show it. He is also hot headed and rash, which gets him into trouble on more than one occasion and ultimately probably leads to his downfall. He is not some weenie hut junior loser who slides into the Fire Lordâs DMs while trying to play nice and team up with his banished prince son after failing his Commander Examsâą three times.
6) Iâm sensing an Ozai woobie arc with that âdonât pretend to know anything about lossâ line he said to those guys trying to assassinate him and I swear to god if they try to give him an uwu sad backstory and/or try to pretend like he gives a shit about his wife or either of his kids I am not only not watching the rest of this trainwreck, Iâm never paying Netflix money for anything ever again. Donât even start with me on that shit.
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Hi and sorry in advance for using this as an excuse to rant a bit about Good omens 2! I feel the same, I binged it with my girlfriend and at the end we just sat in silence for a minute and then went "...what the fuck was that." It was so incredibly poorly written and plotted in many aspects, though I understand that if one doesn't love dissecting stories piece by piece to analyse it from all possible angles it could be hard to understand why some people are saying it's bad. I feel like it's comparable to a house that looks pretty but is build on really shitty foundations and has a lot of structural issues. Most people can't see anything wrong with it and find it good, but the people who know how those things are built can immediately see all the glaring issues under the surface.
In short, in my opinion a lot of this season's short comings hinge on it's complete lack of thematic coherence and structure, completely ignoring or even discarding what was at the heart of the original story. This season was a disjointed jumble of scenes and concepts that only superficially lead to other scenes that within the bigger picture had no weight at all, plot or thematic-wise. Once you start thinking back to some of the plot threads the show established to move the story forward it's almost ridiculous how little they actually meant for the conclusion. And I don't mean stuff that 'might be resolved in the third season'! Creating a miracle to keep Gabriel hidden from everyone? He could've hid in a closet and it would've had the same effect for the plot. Muriel being set to keep an eye on Aziraphale and Crowley? Nothing, no consequences, in fact Aziraphale fucks off on his investigation right after, which, by the way, served no purpose than to give us some exposition that in the end got re-iterated to us during Gabriel's flashbacks. He doesn't actually figure anything out in a way that impacts the story lol. Even the whole "we have to make these two women fall in love so that Heaven believes us!" is kind of just forgotten by the end of the story, and nobody holds them accountable to their claim. The character of Jim is completely non-existent for half of the season and has no emotional arc or impact as a character on Aziraphale and Crowley - he could've been a magical cardboard cutout that spouts funny lines every now and then. There were so many set-ups within this season itself that had completely lackluster or non-existing pay-offs it's actually kind of ridiculous.
So many of the things people list or write about when talking about this season are there in concept, but they're not acted upon in the writing. A prime example of this is the Aziraphale/Crowley and Nina/Maggie parallels that people are pointing out - but within the season's current day scenes there isn't any romantic or emotional development between Aziraphale and Crowley, and the story doesn't center itself around that parallel or development. The only scene I could think of that even remotely does something with that is the Jane Austen dancing scene - except where Nina and Maggie have a conversation about what is going on right in that moment and how they're feeling, Aziraphale and Crowley are as good as emotionally dead and then the scene already ends.
If you start breaking down the plot elements it could've been made so, so SO much more tight-knit and coherent by focusing on what was important - ergo the character's relationships now and the bigger plot beats. As much as I loved the flashbacks in season 1, in this season they merely serve to tell us what we already know about Aziraphale's and Crowley's relationship and to add some superficial and pointless context to the different locations Aziraphale visits. Another thing I think is a big difference between this season and the original story is that every character, every concept had a Point to it, usually a joke or some sort of funny commentary (whether it was good/actually funny is another thing entirely). That's what made it feel interesting and sharp, whereas the new characters in this season just kind of... are. If you break down the concepts to their bare essence, coffeeshop owner in a toxic relationship and record shop owner who has anxiety are pretty bland as character concepts go. Shax as a character is also just so... pointless lmfao. It's almost badly caricaturing the concept of Gomens demons, which are already caricatures, so the effect is somewhat reminicent of beating a dead horse long after it has died. Anyway, so sorry to clutter your inbox like this but I just needed to get this off my chest. It's so weird seeing the dissonance between what is textually there in the show and how people are reacting to it!
hi! i hope you don't mind but i'm posting this publicly because tbh you really hit the nail on the head with every single one of these points. the whole season felt like this:
over and over again a potentially interesting plotline would get introduced, and then the writers would kind of just. forget why it was there? best example is, as you say, the nina/maggie thing - originally it began as a cover story to explain away the Forbidden Miracle, but that quickly ceased to be relevant, and the "we need to make them fall in love to get heaven off our backs" became a half-hearted running gag that was returned to every now and again with increasing half-heartedness. no sense of forward planning, no callbacks or consequences, just the constant sense of frantic improvisation without an end in sight.
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I've Actually Been Sticking to a Writing Task! (Or, the Half-Year Shouta Saturday Retrospective)
So I know this is really not a big deal for most people, but as someone who has a ton of unfinished fics, three or four original novels that are 85% completed or more, and even a few incomplete nonfiction projects, having consistently put something out, even if it was short or even if it was rushed, every Saturday for 26 weeks is actually something I'm kind of proud of.
Readership is not the only thing that keeps me writing--to my eternal shame (because I'm letting people down), some of my unfinished fics have had a lot of support and people who still ask me if I will finish them--but it certainly helps, so I first want to express my appreciation to every single person who has read any of these.
Thanks also to Horikoshi and all the awesome Aizawa fan writers and artists out there for helping me discover my muse, hahaha.
So, what are the most popular Shouta Saturday fics? Which ones are my personal favorites? Which ones didn't please and sparkle quite as much as the rest? Find out below the cut!
The Top 5 Shouta Saturday Fics (by # of notes):
Aizawa gives Reader her first real orgasm
Vigorous sex with Aizawa
Aizawa ties Reader to the bedpost
Betten Court-inspired AU I
Vigilante AU I
I think the Vox Populi has pretty good taste and discernment: these are definitely some of the best mixes of smut, heart, and a (tiny) dash of plot that I have produced since starting this.
The Bottom 5 Shouta Saturday Fics (by # of notes): (fics must be at least a month old)
5. Sensual Light Bondage 4. Aizawa indulgently comforting Reader 3. Short Older Aizawa x Older Reader 2. Courtly Love AU I 1. Hero Patrol Soft Yandere I
Again, I think the Vox Populi are pretty fair here. #5-3 were all honestly pieces I wrote under the gun because I was having writer's block or because I was in a very specific mood (#4) and they don't have the development of the more popular entries in the series. Courtly Love AU I is all set up and I haven't posted any updates to it because I'm not going to post more of the story until it is ALL done. Hero Patrol Soft Yandere I is one I actually quite like though... đđđ Speaking of that...
Crepe's Favorite Shouta Saturday Fics (aka, the list where I tell on my kinks/preferences)
Yandere Aizawa x Stockholm Syndrome Reader
Sensual Bathing with Aizawa
Hero Patrol Soft Yandere II
Betten Court-inspired AU I
Undercover AU II
Crepe's Favorite Specific Shouta Saturday Moments (not in any particular order)
Aizawa insouciantly batting away the sex toy because he's here now and so Reader doesn't need it any longer, from Betten Court-inspired AU II
Reader shivering on the rooftop as she is tightly bound in Aizawa's scarf on the rooftop, from Hero Patrol Soft Yandere I
Aizawa putting on Reader's collar and then softly running his hands down her back, from Yandere Aizawa x Stockholm Syndrome Reader
Aizawa fondling Reader's wet body in the natural bathing pool, from Aizawa takes Reader to the Beach
Aizawa pinning Reader to the wall, from Vigilante AU I
All 26 Shouta Saturday Fics so far (by # of notes as of mid-July '23) (a * indicates the fic is less than a month old as of this post)
Aizawa gives Reader her first real orgasm
Vigorous sex with Aizawa
Aizawa ties Reader to the bedpost
Betten Court-inspired AU I
Vigilante AU I
Dom Daddyzawa with (slightly) bratty Sub Reader
The First One
Hero Patrol Soft Yandere II
Very Shy Shouta
Sensual Bathing with Aizawa
Reader takes care of exhausted Aizawa
Yandere Aizawa x Stockholm Syndrome Reader
Vigilante AU II
Undercover AU I
The Really Short One
Undercover AU II
Aizawa takes care (wink wink) of Reader
Betten Court-inspired AU II *
Sensual Light Bondage
Aizawa indulgently comforting Reader
Aizawa takes Reader to the Beach *
Short Older Aizawa x Older Reader
Courtly Love AU I
Hero Patrol Soft Yandere I
Reader's HS crush on Aizawa *
Domestic Aizawa *
Again, thank you all!
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WIP Questionnaire
Thanks for the tag, @transthadymacdermot!!
Whatâs the first part of your WIP that you created?
The characters. They existed as deviantart ocs that I used to roleplay with in chatrooms before any semblance of a story existed. This was back in high school.
If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?
I'll give a few examples here because there's a lot of songs I think fit the vibe of the story (I have a 4-hour long playlist of "soundtrack" songs)! All of these are based on pure vibes, not necessarily lyrics. For a TV show, I think a folk revival type song like "Over Again" by Stick in the Wheel or "Cannily Cannily" by Maddy Prior and Tim Hart would be sick. If it was a short instrumental intro song, an eerie tune like "More Bones to Sort" from the OTGW soundtrack or this song would work well. To get more general Rasputina is an artist whose overall sound is something that would work great for the story. If you don't know them they're a band that makes rock music with cellos and is very weird and goth about it.
What are your favorite characters that you made? Why?
I love them all, but right now I have to admit my favorite is Tristan. It's definitely partially because he's the most developed right now, but also because he's the reason I revived the story after dropping it almost 10 years ago. I remembered him and thought he had potential and fell in love with him all over again. Coming up with ideas for his arc and his backstory got me excited for the overarching story again, and I changed him from a side character to a main character. I have a lot of fun with his personality and I relate to him a lot on a personal level.
What other pieces of media do you think your fanbase would share?
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, Over the Garden Wall, Labyrinth, possibly Interview with the Vampire? and people who grew up with things like Hocus Pocus and A Series of Unfortunate Events. Maybe fans of Neil Gaiman? It's kind of hard to say though; I have no idea how the story would be marketed because it's..pretty weird lol.
What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP?
Not sure what the biggest of them all is, but my big three I guess would be plotting, research, and actually writing. I feel like I'm hitting my head on a wall when I try to outline story beats or whatever, so I think I'll just have to fly by the seat of my pants and plot as I go. Research also feels like a hurdle I need to get past because I want to base the story itself on actual mythology and folklore, and root the "real-world" parts of the story in the real historic regency period. Right now I know enough to share fun facts in a conversation, but in reality I don't know shit. I have a lot of work to do in that regard. Actually writing has been a challenge due to a combination of annoying factors including having very little free time in my life, executive dysfunction, and being? scared? of writing? because what if it comes out bad? Which I know is silly but it blocks me from writing a lot of the time nevertheless.
Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!
Right now I'm thinking Crispin has a pet bat named Sparrow. Crispin named the bat Sparrow because he literally thought it was a sparrow, that being the only flying creature he knew of at the time. Now he knows better, but Sparrow is still Sparrow. I haven't thought much about it, but I think Crispin's keeping of a pet is one of the things that indicates he's different from his family/species, i.e. he experiences empathy and longs for companionship. The demon Tristan summons can shapeshift, and takes the form of many different creatures throughout the story.
How do your characters travel/get around?
Considering the time period, the options are limited. There's a lot of walking in this story, but also getting from place to place by carriage or cart. There's likely to be some horseback riding as well. In terms of the supernatural, Crispin can "teleport" himself from point A to point B using magic--but not very far. I still need to figure out the specifics of that though. Tristan is greatly aided in getting around by the demon he summoned, who transforms into a flying black steed Tristan can ride on.
What part of your WIP are you working on right now?
Right now I'm bouncing around and writing snippets of scenes that come to mind/interest me most. I'm considering everything experimental at the moment, and not committing to anything actually being in the final novel. This is helping me get over my fear of writing, and I like it because sometimes I end up liking what I write more than I thought I would. I also *might* write the story in novella form first, try out some things with that, learn from it, and then expand and/or rewrite it as a full novel. Other than that I'm researching and brainstorming and drawing (which is part of my process)!
What aspects (tropes, maybe?) will you think draw your audience in?
Hmmm I think the fact it's a dark fantasy/horror story and the fact it's set in the regency period will attract people. The regency period and fantasy are both really popular right now (as far as I can tell). Also the fact that it has found family, which seems to be a popular trope. The fact it has queer characters might be appealing too. Other draws might be the Halloween aspect, and the deal with the devil trope. And if anyone likes enemies to friends and twist villains. There's also heavy use of gothic tropes and subverting them/combining them with folk horror tropes. Regency media (cough cough Jane Austen) tropes will also go under the knife of subversion.
What are your hopes for your WIP?
I hope to make it a published novel! Ideally traditionally published, but who knows if that'll happen lol. I also want the book to be illustrated, and to illustrate it myself. Besides that, I'd love to do some comics featuring the characters and maybe even short animations. (She said as if she had endless free time...)
Tagging: @ceph-the-ghost-writer, @finchmomentwrites, and @kaylinalexanderbooks !
#well twist villain might not be completely the right term but..#tag game#writing#writeblr#tristan#crispin#sorry if anyone already did this!
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This review of Final Fantasy XV: Dawn of the Future by Jun Eishima sort of by design contains spoilers for FFXV and all of its tie-in materials.
Final Fantasy XV is a kind of fascinating game. It's a mainline Final Fantasy game that's been in a weird state of incompletion literally throughout its entire lifetime. It was announced in 2006 as Final Fantasy Vs. XIII, then was in development hell for literally a decade after its announcement, when it finally released as Final Fantasy XV in 2016, alongside a movie that filled in a pretty big chunk of its lore, an animated OVA that filled out some of the characters' backstories, and several crappy side-games. It released alongside a season pass that promised three single-player campaigns and one multiplayer campaign that all filled in missing pieces of the story that otherwise felt excised from the game's story as it was at launch.
In FFXV, Gladio leaves the party for a time and returns with a facial scar, refusing to tell the group why. Ignis is separated from the party during a battle and in the aftermath is revealed to have been blinded in the altercation, with no explanation as to how. Prompto is kidnapped and when the group rescues him, he mentions offhand some pretty mind-boggling backstory he has discovered, with no time to explain what that even means. Near the end of the game, there's a ten-year time skip, the interim of which is barely explored. Each of these missing pieces was slowly filled in over the course of 2017, and only for those who had the money to shell out for the extra content and the time to play the kind of tediously long Comrades DLC.
But even after these holes were filled in, many fans were unhappy with the final game. FFXV's entire back half feels incomplete, like it was rushed despite its at least ten-year development cycle. Its final dungeon is pretty short, and its ending isâŠdivisiveâŠwhich is a nice way to say that it's a downer and most gamers especially circa 2016 couldn't handle a game having a downer of an ending. Throughout 2017 and 2018, the developers kept patching in more story beats, more quality-of-life tweaks, and more side content, in an effort to both make the game feel more complete and cater to fans upset about the less-than-rosy story elements.
This culminated in the release of FFXV: Royal Edition in March of 2018, which packaged in all the previous patches and DLCs and completely reworked the final dungeon to be much larger, more detailed, and to present closure on several plot threads originally left ambiguous. Royal also promised the release of four more story DLCs, based on the results of a fan survey, which would combine to give the game an entire alternate happy ending. But in October of 2018, three of the four DLCs were canceled and director Hajime Tabata left the company. The first of these DLCs, Episode Ardyn, released in March of 2019, a full year after Royal Edition's release. The Episode Ardyn DLC honestly kind of makes the original ending (as in, the only ending we'd gotten) worse by making the villain, Ardyn, aware from the beginning exactly how the game's story would play out and ascribing the entire thing to a fate that no one escapes. It even presents a newer, bigger villain who never gets his comeuppance.
In July of 2020, we got this book, Final Fantasy XV: The Dawn of the Future, a novelization of the story the canceled DLCs would have told, had Tabata been allowed to cook. A friend gifted the book to me the month of its release, and I immediately started graduate school and had too much work to get to it. Four years later, I dug through all my still-packed boxes of books to find it and finally get some closure on the game that dominated three years of my life so long ago.
Dawn of the Future isn't great as a book. It's written well enough, but the pacing of a video game story is pretty different from the pacing of a novel, since so much of the pacing and so many story beats are presented through the language of combat, the primary means of interacting with a video game world. Plus, as an alternate ending to a preexisting story that exists across a game, a demo, a movie, two OVAs, four DLCs, two years of updates, and several weird side projects, the novel assumes the reader is familiar with its world and characters. I was, so it worked for me, but I can't imagine how confusing it would be to try to read this book as someone who had never played FFXV before, or even as someone who had played FFXV but hadn't seen Kingsglaive or maybe hadn't played the Royal Edition of the game. FFXV exists across too many parts for any one story to stand alone, and that's especially glaringly obvious when I'm reading a novel - a medium I usually engage with as self-contained.
Dawn of the Future is interesting, though, as an attempt at recreating a clear plan that was shut down early. It seems to take very few creative liberties with the events as they would have unfolded in the DLCs. Part of why the pacing is so weird is that it details every boss fight and tries to make each of those fights take up as much space as the fight would have taken time in the DLC itself. It takes time to describe what clearly would have been the gameplay loop of each DLC. It's trying to convey to the reader what the playing of this story would have felt like. For that reason, this attempt to bring closure to fans is also, at least for me, a reopening of the wound it's trying to heal. I would have loved to drive a motorcycle across the wastes of the Gralean Empire as Luna and Sol, setting up campsites along the darkened road. Aranea's sci-fi dragoon combat style sounds fun as hell, and chasing Diamond Weapon across the burning city of Gralea would have been up there with the fall of Altissia for spectacle. I'd love to play a boss fight against Bahamut using two different characters in two separate planes of existence - that sounds rad. I'm reading a game I don't get to play, and games generally are more satisfying to play than to read.
I'm also of two minds on the story from the perspective of a fan. Much of what it adds are either things the original game definitely needed more of or fun riffs on previously established gameplay loops. Aranea, Sol, and Luna all being important playable characters would have helped to fix the lack of female characters in the original game, for instance. That's sorely needed. Going on a Mad Max-style motorcycle ride through the post-apocalypse was an inspired twist on the low-stakes road trip that made up the first half of the main game. That's creative and much appreciated. But the ending itself is, in my opinion, weaker than the ending we got. It's a much more traditionally Final Fantasy ending, in that the characters all survive and defeat a cosmic enemy that would otherwise destroy the world, so I'm sure there are fans who see it as a much-needed alternate ending, or even maybe "the ending we should have had if the devs had made the game right the first time." But it loses so much of the ambiguity and ambivalence that the original ending holds.
Noct and his friends dying to wipe out the royal family and cleanse the world because the notion of royalty was a trap that existed only to set right a great evil his ancestors perpetrated was darkly ironic. Instead, Noct and his friends and his fiance all survive while the ancestor apologizes to those he hurt, resulting in the continuation of the royal family. That's thematically inconsistent from what the game tried to do up to that point and is alsoâŠjustâŠlimp. But I say that knowing full well that if this ending had released with the original game, I'd have no issue with it. I wouldn't have finished the game and said "well, it was all ruined at the end when all the characters didn't die." It's through the act of papering over what was messy and thematically interesting about the original that the inadequacies of this ending are made apparent.
This is a strange book that left me feeling two ways about the game it's based on; FFXV is both lesser and greater for the loss of these DLCs. But that's always been true ever since the game's initial release. FFXV has always been in a state of flux, reliant on tie-in media and promised future updates to bring it to the state where it will be what was promised. Now, with those promises broken and its director pushed out, it's a game that's been refinished just about every month for three years and will forever be unfinished despite it all. The Dawn of the Future is a reminder of a future that never will be, a testament to the ugliness of AAA game development, and a fascinating look at the refinements and setbacks that would have come from chasing fan expectations.
I enjoyed reading it. I would have enjoyed playing it more. It is not the ending we should have gotten, either in form or in contents.
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