#like you don’t have to focus on world building so you can focus on characterization
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It’s really funny to me that everyone is talking about fanfiction in an almost mainstream way.
When I was in college (c. 2016/17) I wrote an essay on how it was an underrated form of media that had a lot of benefits for both the creators and the consumers, and discussed that basically authors had been writing fanfiction of other works for hundreds of years.
Flash forward to 2024 and I could not tell you the last time I read or wrote fanfic. The desire is just. Gone.
#part of that is I only ever really read/wrote fanfics for one ip that I no longer care about#beth takes on adulting#I’ve also never been a fan of fics about actual people#and I think that’s also having a moment rn#but there’s no media anymore that I’m invested enough in to read/write about anymore#maybe it’s depression maybe it’s growth maybe it’s being obsessed with the characters I make in my brain#BUT! I think fanfic can be a vital tool to grow as an author and play with learning skills you struggle with#like you don’t have to focus on world building so you can focus on characterization#or making dialogue sound realistic#or focus on pacing or how to accurately track characters through a space/scene#it’s just wild to see so many people talking about fanfiction on insta and tiktok#bc when I was a fanfic girlie the only home for people like me was on tumblr
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Billford Fic Recs: Part 1
Everything on this list is rated either Gen or Teen, so it’s accessible for the sex-repulsed billford fans out there. Part 2 will be all the fics that don’t fit within those ratings! Everything on this list (aside from the still-updating one) is a completed fic that was written year/s before Book of Bill came out. Most of these are under 5k words, and while most of them are pre-betrayal and canon compliant, there’s a few that cover different eras in the timeline and AUs. These are some of my all-time favorite billford fics, plus some bill-centric fics at the end of the list.
A Change of Scenery, by Nelja https://archiveofourown.org/works/10914882 Pre-betrayal, Ford’s perspective, 4k words
This fic really nails the devotion-to-the-point-of-obsession that Ford had for Bill. It’s one of the very first fics I think of when someone asks for recommendations. Really really top tier stuff. I wish there were more fics that had this same tone and a central focus on Ford’s obsessive worship of Bill. I can’t do this fic justice, you just have to experience the writing for yourself.
The Writing of Destiny, by Nelja https://archiveofourown.org/works/6256570 Pre-betrayal, Ford’s perspective, 1k words
This fic says so much with so few words. It goes over Ford’s feelings for Bill, as well as some moments in Ford’s life that led up to becoming the kind of person who would fall for Bill.
Devote, by orphan_account https://archiveofourown.org/works/8783656 Pre-betrayal, Ford’s perspective, 600 words
Ford gets a tattoo. This one is also chock full of the obsessive devotion Ford had for Bill. It’s a delicious little peek into how potent his feelings for Bill were.
Loose from the Lever, by clockheartedcrocodile https://archiveofourown.org/works/32120011/chapters/79575955 Pre-betrayal, mostly Fiddleford’s outside perspective, 9k words
The imagery and voice in this one is fucking impeccable. Best I’ve ever read on ao3. It’s also an absolutely chilling read. Fiddleford can sort of piece together the fact that Ford is working with… someone. And meanwhile, Ford’s relationship with Bill in this one is gut-wrenching to see. Bill is cold and calculating in ways that are arguably disproven by the book of bill, but it’s still such a believable read on their relationship.
Now You See, by MaryPSue https://archiveofourown.org/works/8134141 Mostly pre-betrayal, AU where Bill comes through the portal in the 80’s, 4k words
Only billford if you squint. This one’s about Ford undergoing a slow body horror transformation while building the portal. Bill stops him from enlisting Fiddleford’s help, and his uneasiness and isolation is so palpable. This fic is good at building atmosphere.
The Ol’ Three Legged Waltz, by equilateralromance https://archiveofourown.org/works/35691013 Pre-betrayal, AU where Bill is upfront about a lot more things from the start, 3.5k
This one has such a unique writing style, it feels very romantic in the classic sense of the word, like it was written in an era gone by. Their relationship is very soft and tender in this one, a win for fluff fans everywhere. It’s about the first time Bill possesses Ford, and is a very sweet what-if for a world where Bill is better at letting Ford in, emotionally speaking.
Stars in my black and blue sky, by idrilhadhafang https://archiveofourown.org/works/41989533 Ford reminisces on how much he used to love Bill. 1k words
Solid characterization in this one. It’s short and to-the-point and feels true to canon.
Weirdpocalypse, by completetheory https://archiveofourown.org/works/20798036 Post-canon, Bill visits Ford’s dreams, 1k words
This one’s a really interesting take on why Weirdmageddon failed. Very bittersweet.
One Stage of Grief, by Fooeyburr https://archiveofourown.org/works/13969392 Post-betrayal, Ford in the multiverse grappling with how he feels about Bill, 8k words
This one is all about Ford obsessing over what he had with Bill while refusing to come to terms with the fact that he cared about Bill! Which is all set up/framed by some fun multiverse worldbuilding, too. - Bonus round: Bill-centric fics -
Wasting Away Again in the Goldilocks Zone, by ckret2 https://archiveofourown.org/works/57714430/chapters/147167545 Post-canon, Bill dragged kicking and screaming down a very long road towards redemption, updates weekly and will end up being hundreds of thousands of words at minimum.
This is the fic for Bill growing and changing as a person in post-canon. Every single doubt and hesitation you might have about whether Bill is even capable of change? It’s absolutely taken into account in this one. Seriously, its characterization of Bill is so scarily good that it accidentally predicted a mountain of things that got revealed in the Book of Bill. If you invest your time in one super long fic in your life, make it this one.
A Romance of Many Dimensions, by Haley3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/20796845/chapters/49427522 Covers the span of Bill’s entire life in detail. Finished work. 250k words
A breathtakingly ambitious fic that consistently knocks it out of the park. There are so many things I could say about this fic that I don’t even know where to start. I feel a lot of things about this fic. If you’ve ever wanted a fic that delves into Bill’s psyche and is tragic in its (pre-tbob) canon compliance, and has an opening set in flatland that approaches things from a really creative angle, and has my favorite interpretation of the axolotl, and rewires your whole brain, then this is the fic for you. Feels a bit reductive when it covers Bill’s time interacting with Native Americans on earth, but otherwise one of The Fics of All Time.
#billford#fic rec list#i felt like it would be tacky to list one of my own fics here but if youre interested i have the same username on ao3
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Reading some of the recent-ish asks on your blog got me thinking about 1st person fic. I personally am not fond of it, but I think it’s largely a matter of characterization? It’s already difficult for a lot of writers to get character voice across in dialogue, so sustaining it in personal narration over an entire fic can be even more of a challenge.
And if a writer is able to keep a consistent character voice, it then runs into the problem of whether my idea of that character’s internal narration matches this particular fic writer’s. Most of the time, it does not, with the only common exception I’ve seen being fics where the canon includes either some mind reading or first-person narration from the character in question.
The end result is that I am very quick to back out of a fic written in first-person, not because I think it’s a bad style but because I don’t have confidence in the character voice fitting what I want from that fandom.
On the other hand, I am completely open to professional and original fic written in first person, mostly because I am being introduced to a new character with the perspective already established. I am also more open to reading a first-person fic from a side character or OC point of view than from a main character or one I’m strongly attached to, though those run into the same issues as all OC fic do (personal preference being minimal OC focus, but I have greatly enjoyed “outsider perspective” fics in this style in the past).
First person just feels like a very specific tool, and I’ve definitely read fic where it was used poorly, but mostly I’ve decided I’m not really up for taking the gamble when I have other options to explore. A lot of the worst first-person fic I’ve read have definitely felt like the perspective was an excuse to “tell not show”, often with alternating perspectives so you could be sure both sides of the ship thought the other was really hot! I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not something I personally find satisfying or seek out for my own enjoyment.
To me, first person is most effective to build intimacy and character depth with the perspective character and their interactions with the world around them. When it’s done well, it’s spectacular for strong character identity.
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I think people underestimate how much third needs to show characterization in narration to be good, but yeah, first is more in your face when it sucks.
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is it bad that as much as i like your ocs (theyre amazing, i love them!), i really miss seeing you write for the canon characters
You know, that’s valid. The proportion of Canon and OC content here lately has been way off. It’s sort of the elephant in the room I ignore every time I think about Obey Me and my inspiration automatically focuses on the world building or OC potential instead.
There’s a few reasons why I’ve been less interested in writing canon lately.
1. Disappointment with Nightbringer. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure why this game exists (except to overhaul the franchise’s monetization structure). The premise and lore payoff hasn’t been that great for me personally - it feels more like an AU rather than a canon addition/continuation of the OG game. It feels like we still end up with more loose ends and questions that we don’t have (and may never get) answers for. I’m still waiting for Raphael and Mephisto to be dateable, by the way. As a result, my focus when writing OM content has been using the OG story/characterization using the odd piece from NB that makes sense, and that leads into…
2. My favourite parts of Obey Me are under-developed in canon. I enjoy most of the canon cast, I really do. But I want more Celestial Realm lore, I want more Michael (and not NB HM Lesson 20 Michael), I want more angels in general. They’ve mentioned Uriel a couple times now, give me that angel please and thank you! (No longer relevant, I wrote a version of him myself.)
The world feels so empty at times but there’s so much potential. Parts of the Devildom are more fleshed out with NB adding to it, but what about the other realms? What’s going on with the Sorcerer’s Society and the reapers? I never know if the interesting hints of lore we get are truly relevant or if it’s just something the game decided was convenient for a plot point and never gets mentioned again. NB has been great for Solomon fans since it’s practically a Solomon x MC fanfic written with a forced roommates trope, and that might be the best thing about it from a lore perspective.
My OCs were originally meant to explore gaps in the world and give the canon characters room to grow beyond the one or two defining traits the game keeps repeating over and over. I like writing Mammon when I can have him interact with Karasu, I like imagining the types of angels other exchange students might meet in the Celestial Realm, I like giving a name and personality to the mysterious owner of The Fall where so many events and Devilgram stories take place. Admittedly, it was refreshing to see that other people enjoyed reading about them or imagining them paired with their own MCs/OCs too. I call them the OC Fan Club with genuine affection.
3. It’s not something I talk about often but before I began writing fanfiction, I was mostly focused on concepts or outlines for original stories. Writing supernatural and horror themes always been my interest as a writer so anything with demons/angels/other monstrous races automatically catches my eye.
It’s a little mean to say, but half-baked worlds like the Devildom are a lot of fun to use as a foundation for expanding my own ideas. The OC story I’ve been working on is one way for me to write longer and more complex pieces which is the type I like most. Granted, it includes nearly the entire game cast and it explores the Devildom and Celestial Realm in ways that tie together some of my favourite personal headcanons and characterization. It focuses on angel characters and the history/culture of the Celestial Realm which are two of my main interests for this game. It’s a huge project - the outline is nearly 20k words on its own, it’s practically a novel divided into four sections with 30+ chapters and an epilogue. I can’t even express how excited I am when I get to work on this.
That being said, I do like writing canon content and I’ve been missing it more lately. I got burnt out when it felt like I was losing interest in NB and was pushing myself to keep writing anyway which isn’t great.
Today someone left a nice comment on something I wrote a while back, an angst piece for the demon brothers. I haven’t read it in a while and after going back and re-reading it, I was like, “Huh, I don’t remember liking this as much as I do.” And then I remembered something in my drafts that’s been rotting away, half-edited and ignored, and realized that I wanted to finish it. So, I’ve been slowly tinkering with things while I work on my angels’ story. Some of my plans are ambitious and real life distractions (mostly health related, like my recent bout of COVID) haven’t helped.
If I learned anything about my writing since starting this blog, it’s that:
writing what you’re passionate about is more fulfilling than writing what seems trendy or popular
giving and receiving feedback and fostering friendships/supporting each other keeps the community thriving
self care self care self care
Anyway. My goal has always been to write about the things I love about the game world and the things I create that are inspired by it. It’s a delicate balancing act that I’m still working on.
#jes.replies#hilariously bad takes abound#somewhat personal?#also I’ve been working on an oc side blog to try and organize things better#this may or may not get deleted if delayed embarrassment kicks in tomorrow
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Alternative Hades and Persephone retelling idea (a comedy):
- After asking Zeus for advice, Hades kidnaps Kore like in the myth: black horses, magic and not consensual;
- he kinda regrets it for the moment because he thinks the lovely Kore would reject him terrified after what he did, but Kore turns out to be a bad bitch. She’s like ‘Okay, where the actual fuck did you bring me?! For a king, you’d say you’d have better cOuRTiNg strategies… At least greet me properly, you pathetic motherfucker! You just take me like that? Like I’m some kind of prize? Do you think I haven’t got better things to do than ruling your silly little realm?’ And Hades is just… baffled. And head over heels.
- we get tiny glimses of their interactions, but the main focus is Demeter, being devastated by the sudden loss of her daughter and going onto a detective-like quest in the mortal realm to find her. Hecate helps Demeter interrogate gods and humans to slowly make their way to the truth. It culminates, in like seventh out of eight episodes, with the meeting with Helios. After that, they return to Olympus in order to demand justice from the god of justice himself.
- meanwhile, Kore isn’t that sassy anymore because she can feel how she’s slowly breaking into pieces because of the separation between her and her world. Her mother and everything she’s loves. And I don’t really know how to characterize Hades in this scenario so I’ll leave it up to you.
- at the end, Demeter wins a fight with Zeus and manages to obtain the compromise we all know about. Persephone slowly starts her journey to finds herself again and balance her new life. The end.
Bonuses: Demeter and Hecate are a power couple of badass women;
Persephone builds her garden in the realm of Hades to comunicate with Demeter when they’re away from each other;
Hermes is an awkard fluffball when he has to transport Persephone because he once tried to court her and… let’s say it didn’t go really well (for him)…
Let me know what you think of this idea and what I can improve! 💜
@0lympian-c0uncil @incorrectgreekgods
#you can use my idea WITH CREDIT!!!#cati’s ancient ramblings#greek mythology#greek gods#hades#hades and persephone#persephone#kore#hades and persephone retelling#greek mythology retelling#modern retelling#idea
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Hey! I recently found this and just got done with the free demo, and while I look forward to play the full thing I just had to come here and sign my praises for the pacing with Milo.
As someone who in real life is a real quick judge of emotional connection, it’s the first time I’ve read an IF where the slight interest happens at the same time as I realise I want to romance them. While I know one can argue the chapter 2 kiss is questionable at best (for as many times as I read it I still feel bad picking it as a canon choice, even though I love it oh so dearly.), for me the fact that the moment I read ‘Pleasure District’ I thought “Oh, I hope we get a flirt option about that, I already want MC to kiss him so bad, please let MC make a flirty joke about it.” and then there was, in fact, a whole kiss.
So just, having Milo, MC, and I all go “Yeah, that was a bit intense, but not complaining.” was just, I don’t even have words for the delight. In fact I sat with it for a few minutes and reminded myself there would most likely not be another kiss until at least the last third, if even in the first book at all.
And then chapter 3 came with its ���c’mere”, dancing in the streets, and a second (or first) kiss, so utterly soft and tender? I know I am blabbering, but I am not exaggerating when I say that is by far my favourite romance (Interactive or otherwise) that I’ve ever read. You know there’s something or probably many somethings weighing on his shoulders, there is so much to Milo one doesn’t know and that he may never wish to share, but there is also so much innate trust and joy—It’s so well written. I wish I had the eloquent words to say this properly and professionally, but all I can say is it makes me so fond, and so patiently curious for the day I learn what troubles him.
I’ll shush now, though, as this is already way too long. I just felt you deserved to know, even if it’s incoherent, that you’re a wonderful writer of romance and friendship and worldbuilding and character—and I am very much looking forward to getting my little grabbers on the full book and learning what the night market has in store.
Thank you! I am so happy to hear that you've enjoyed what you read so far. And I do try to really focus on character development and world building. That is incredibly important to me.
With only having read the demo, I can say that you are in for a very wild ride on your Milo romance. But, there is a lot of depth and layers to that romance and a lot of really kind moments as well as heartbreak. Going into book 2 I'm trying to keep the same momentum with that level of characterization.
Thank you again for all your kind words. I love reading the long rants that come in. It makes me feel like I'm on the right path. :)
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3 Less-Discussed Flaws in The Last Jedi
Though I usually write posts on my independent blog about Superman and other superheroes, I recently decided to try my hand on writing some of my (mostly very negative) thoughts on the most divisive Star Wars film, The Last Jedi. Go to the independent blog by clicking below, or just keep reading here on Tumblr if you prefer.
Unfortunately, I hate The Last Jedi. I haven’t made any super-negative posts on this blog yet, so I feel a little awkward saying this. But the truth is, I found it an awful watch despite its technical competence. I don’t feel like I can “pull my punches” without belying my actual opinion.
I’m glad some people are able to find enjoyment in it, but I find it terrible for many reasons, including its poor plot and characterization that mismatch horribly with the other Star Wars movies. But in this blog post, I don’t want to talk about that, or about everything wrong with the film in general, since that would be very lengthy and would feel redundant in light of how well-discussed this movie’s issues are. (For a great example of this discussion, check out this Jedi Council forum thread, which also contains posts from people who actually like or love it.) It’s possible I might someday make an exhaustive review of The Last Jedi, but I’m not super eager to do so when it’s probably one of the most talked about movies ever.
Instead, I’m going to focus on 3 complaints that are more rare for people to talk about or are generally referenced as minor side notes. Along the way, I will reference the movie’s other flaws, but they won’t be the main focus.
Chekhov’s Gun? What’s That?
This is certainly not one of my biggest complaints about the movie, but it’s still really annoying. I have so many serious complaints about this film that even the relatively small ones are significant.
Stories oftentimes have surprises and twists, but those surprises and twists should still build on things that are already established. A good surprise isn’t something that no one could ever even imagine happening. In fact, with a good twist, you can look back at what happened before and see that it actually makes sense, that there were indications this was a possibility.
In sci-fi and fantasy settings, many things are possible that aren’t in the real world, but good writing makes establishing what is possible a priority. Introducing a major new fantastical aspect suddenly to make a dramatic plot change, with no prior indications anything like that was possible, is usually a bad idea, unless done carefully. And the farther you are into a setting, the worse it is, since people will naturally feel like they understand “the rules” of your world and will be annoyed if you suddenly change them.
Unfortunately, in The Last Jedi, Force powers we’ve never seen before in any of the many movies prior to this are suddenly introduced to make dramatic moments happen. If these force powers existing was so essential, the movie’s creators should’ve had the common courtesy to make them Chekhov’s guns – to let us know of their existence in a fairly minor way before using them for huge plot points. But that doesn’t happen, leaving me extremely annoyed. How are we supposed to have tension in this setting if the Force can just let characters do whatever the writer feels like?
The first major example of this happening is the scene of Leia flying through the vacuum of space using the Force and surviving. Not only is the Force letting you survive the vacuum of space a new invention of this movie that was not set up prior to this dramatic moment, but we also haven’t even been told about Leia learning how to use the Force. We know she’s Force-sensitive, but she hasn’t been shown actively doing things with the Force. But now, she can suddenly use the Force in a major way that we haven’t even been shown is a possibility for Force users to do! As a result, the drama, emotion and intensity of this scene are nullified and replaced by annoyance and amusement.
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The other instance of this problem is the climax of the movie. Luke fights Kylo Ren, but it turns out it was just a Force-powered hologram. This was not established to be something a Force user could do in this film or any previous. Annoyingly enough, Rian Johnson (the movie’s writer and director) has apparently justified this by pointing out this ability being mentioned in a minor book that was already declared non-canon with the rest of the old Expanded Universe material. It’s frankly insulting to imply that obscure, non-canon supplementary material that the vast majority of your audience won’t even know about is adequate as setup!
There’s a lot of subjectivity in terms of how much setup is or is not needed for concepts in fantastical settings. But the Star Wars movies have given us so much exposure to Force users and their powers over the decades that radically different powers suddenly being introduced feels obtrusive. They’re not like superheroes who can have a wide range of different powers or traditional wizards that can learn all sorts of spells. Millions of people have a pretty solid idea in their head of what Jedi are capable of, so adding onto that is something that requires a lot more care than The Last Jedi took.
Tone and Humor
Unlike the above, I actually would consider this one of my biggest problems with The Last Jedi. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a piece of media with as much of a tone issue as The Last Jedi. The movie as a whole feels depressing and hopeless, but it thinks nothing of interjecting childish, obtrusive humor at seemingly random times. It doesn’t help that this movie’s sense of humor doesn’t amuse me (despite me having a pretty immature sense of humor) or fit the Star Wars series. The humor doesn’t provide genuine levity or enhance the characters. It’s just there, sticking out like a sore thumb, providing nothing but annoyance. If anything, it makes the movie’s dour atmosphere feel more artificial and meaningless.
Humor can certainly work against a dark and sad backdrop, especially considering humor is often a coping mechanism that references the negative aspects of life. But here, I see no congruency between the sad atmosphere and the jokes. It’s not as though the tragedy of situations leads into the jokes in any way. We’re just feeling morose and then – bam! – (terrible) joke. Several times, these jokes happen right after cutting away from a different scene, and it’s not as though they’re referencing the scene that was cut away from. We just are thrown into a joke randomly.
There are further issues with the tone, but these overlap with the other big problem I’m going to discuss in this article, which is the film’s issue with theme.
Theme
Part 1: Hope and Bleakness
Ironically, though this is one of The Last Jedi’s greatest flaws to me, it’s also kind of one of its only good aspects. Because this movie touched on some intriguing themes that have a lot of potential in the context of Star Wars, but the exploration and development of these themes fails for me. There are multiple interesting themes The Last Jedi brings up but does not adequately resolve, but let’s start with the one that I already lead into with the previous section.
Just as The Last Jedi attempted to marry humor with its overall dark and dour atmosphere, it also sought to ultimately promote a theme of hope, particularly at the very end of the movie. In theory, this could be great – what’s better than encouraging people to find hope in the darkness? But the movie went so far with making the hero’s situation bleak (the Rebellion/Resistance is left with a dozen people and almost no resources!) that it honestly didn’t work for me. In order to promote a message of hope in such a context without it feeling artificial, it would have to honestly admit that the situation is, for all practical intents and purposes, hopeless, and that choosing to have hope is mostly for your own mental health as you simply try to survive.
To be clear, while it may be bleak, I think this is a fine thematic conclusion to have in a story. It feels horribly, grossly unfitting for Star Wars, but I might be able to appreciate it if it was well-executed. But that’s not what this movie did. After basically spending the whole movie assaulting the audience with negativity and hopelessness, it turned around and tried to make things straightforwardly hopeful at the very end. It was clearly trying to go for a “deconstruction and reconstruction” type of thing, but there was way too little of the “re” for it to work.
With most of its themes, it’s hard to tell what exactly The Last Jedi was trying to say, and they don’t dive deep enough into the themes for this to be OK. But I think I understand the hope theme…to some extent. Based on the hopelessness of the situation and the movie in general and the fact that the hope is caused by the formerly-failing Luke creating a hologram (but in a heroic fashion that is helpful and costs him his life), the movie is essentially trying to show heroism and therefore hope being fake and real at the same time. Luke has generally been a failure of a hero, but at the end he became a hero by projecting the illusion of heroism. I guess it’s trying to say that false hope can be genuinely helpful.
I think this is true to some extent, and maybe even a bit profound. False hope can become real hope because hope in general can inspire actions, and these actions can inspire further hope. But I don’t think the narrative supports the theme well enough, because to me, the situation still feels very hopeless. They try to show a random kid is Force-sensitive and inspired by Luke, which is nice, but is it really enough to turn this situation around? I guess the implication is that a lot of people around the galaxy will be inspired, but I don’t know if I buy that this will be enough to turn things around when it wasn’t long ago that the whole galaxy showed no interest in helping the Resistance. In short, I just don’t really believe that the hope generated by Luke’s action is going to be enough.
In the end, it almost makes everything feel bleaker, even though the movie is clearly trying to generate a genuinely hopeful feeling. Because the big “triumph of hope” is actually pretty lame. While thinking about it right now, I can appreciate there might be a deep idea here, but watching or thinking about the actual story undercuts it heavily.
Part 2: Other Themes
Some of the other themes in this film are developed and substantiated even more poorly than this. Because with the hope idea, the film is not that far from the theme working; if the hope actually made a big difference, it would work. Many of the other themes are a lot farther from actually saying anything.
In theory, one of the most interesting themes in this movie is Luke’s disillusionment with the Jedi, but the movie does a poor job portraying his exact perspective on the Jedi and what parts of his rejection are right or wrong. I loved the line where he said that the Force doesn’t belong to the Jedi and is beyond them; that actually felt profound, to point out that the spiritual exists on its own as its own thing rather than its existence being owed to or controlled by the practitioners of spirituality. I felt moved by that. But it’s just one line, and we don’t go into detail about it, or about the other concerns Luke has about the Jedi. Heck, I’m not even sure if Luke has a serious problem with the Jedi as an institution or if it’s just excuses for his self-pity.
There are other attempts at messages throughout the film, and I don’t want to go over every single one. But I’ll just point out a couple of others that annoyed me. The subplot with Admiral Holdo and Poe Dameron is deservedly infamous and seems to have a message about trusting or submitting to authority, which is not only ironic, but is also poorly justified, as the movie doesn’t do a good job demonstrating Holdo to be a leader worth following. This is not exactly a niche complaint, so I won’t belabor it.
This movie also seems to have some sort of theme about protecting good things being better than destroying bad things, which is most blatantly demonstrated when Rose tells Finn, “That’s how we’re gonna win. Not fighting what we hate. Saving what we love.” Frankly, I find this message…rather confusing and annoying. Surely saving what you love frequently requires fighting what you hate? Especially in a literal war? I’m not sure what they’re really trying to say here.
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Conclusion
The Last Jedi is a fascinating movie to discuss and think about. It tries a lot of genuinely interesting things. And the fact that it failed pretty horribly in so many categories makes it all the more fascinating to me, honestly. It seems to me that two people can passionately hate The Last Jedi for entirely different reasons. I kind of love that. It’s a bad movie that has a lot of depth to its badness. I have a certain genuine appreciation for it taking such big swings, making such outlandish decisions, and trying to use some genuinely promising ideas, even if the end result is a film that’s extremely off-putting to me and many others.
Criticizing The Last Jedi is often stereotypically associated with being a “fanboy” or even being racist or sexist, but in my experience, this is often not the case. Sometimes dissecting why a movie didn’t work for you or many others can actually be a surprising enriching experience. Looking into and discussing a movie in-depth can be rewarding even if, well, you hate the movie.
That’s how I feel about The Last Jedi, at any rate. I don’t criticize it out of anger, but because it’s an interesting enough movie that it deserves to be dived into…even if it may feel like a dumpster dive in some ways.
#star wars#the last jedi#sequel trilogy#my posts#my writing#luke skywalker#leia organa#too lazy to add more tags#Youtube
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This is more bishop related than Narinder specific but I’m so close to losing it on someone bc I said I was tired of the bishops and naris family drama bullshit and want more updates that focused more on the npcs ( and general world building )
They were like “ what other npcs outside of Chemach , Clauneck, Kudaai and maybe Helob are more interesting than the bishops that haven’t gotten their “ happy ending “ yet “ “
Idk man I think there’s a lot you can do with the npcs ( even ones like Plimbo and Berith ) and maybe if we got to know them more they’d be interesting to the fandom at large
Ugh sorry for the rant but I’m genuinely really really tired of the Bishop/Nari focus and that could be bias bc I don’t rlly like/care abt abt of them ( I think the bishops are well written but I also cannot bring myself to like them bc of what they did )
I agree that I think the bishops are all finished with their narrative arcs at this point. I’d still like to hope that Narinder’s characterization will improve but him and his siblings are probably all wrung out of fresh narrative juice. (Beyond maybe seeing them settle into new lives as mortals, which would be fun!)
It’s irritating that this person seemed to draw a (seemingly unnecessary) line around Chemach, Clauneck, Kudaai, etc because- while their stories probably wouldn’t have a traditional rise and fall there’s still a lot of ground to cover with them?? They could make excellent quest makers in the future and dole out little pieces of information to the new god(s) like Lamb. Their role in this world could be subject to some serious changes now that the bishops have been kicked from godhood!
It’s also strange that, even if all the other NPCs that you mentioned just have no interest to people, they would just assume that there couldn’t be more characters added to the game?
I don’t think we need new characters, personally, they all have their own intrigue already. But I mean it’s not impossible.
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Dude you have no idea how envious I am of your ability to not only come up with a solid idea/plot for a series, but then manage multiple main characters and their dynamics and make it a cohesive, good story. What is your secret. How do you do it. I want to start a series with multiple main characters, but I don’t know where to start. All of your world building is just brilliant and how you manage to create multiple different series all in varying fictional settings, with unique plots and characters, tell me your secrets. Please. And also how you include whump in your work without always making that the focus- >>>. You’re an amazingly talented writer and artist like holy shit.
😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️🥺❤️❤️❤️❤️🥺🥺🥺❤️❤️ THANK YOU SO MUCH❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I don't know how qualified I am to give writing advice, but I feel like it's important to say I definitely didn't used to be good at ensemble casts
I've written a l o t of ensemble-type stories, mostly because I used to base most of my characters on friends, and wanted to include everyone. And honestly, that can be a good place to start. The styles, traits, hobbies, etc of people you know, or even yourself, can serve as inspiration for characters. And since you've seen these hobbies and habits in action, it can give another layer of life to it :)
Something else that helps, that I actually do a lot, is using the "Five Man Band" trope as a template. The FMB consists of five characters, each with their own archetype, usually working together towards a common goal.
You have your leader (self-explanatory, the one who calls the shots); lancer (a foil to the leader, the one who questions them the most); big guy (either the most physically powerful, or the one who solves problems with fists); smart guy (the one who falls back on intelligence, usually stereotyped as a nerd); and heart (emotional center of the team, usually the most sensitive and/or best at de-escalation).
While only using the listed/expected traits can lead to flat characters, it's a pretty good foundation to start with, that can help you determine how each character fits within the story, as well as how they'd react to each situation. When creating T$$ characters, I started with this and kept building.
Some other things that I think helps when trying to characterize a big cast:
- Have a "cheat sheet" for your main characters that lists things like what phrases they tend to use, how descriptive they are, whether they use big words, what they tend to notice when they're somewhere new, etc.
- If you swap POVs, have them reference hobbies, personal history, family, etc, even if it's somewhat subtle. For example, Character A might compare a new acquaintance to a wizard in their favorite fantasy novel, and Character B might use a lot of bird-themed descriptions and metaphors because their mother was an ornithologist
- Okay, this one is slightly more out there, but playing DnD or other TTRPGs helps a lot. Creating a character and pretending to be them, especially when there are other people around who might spring scenarios on you that you don't expect, is great practice for getting into characters' heads for your writing
- Putting new characters through "what would you do" type scenarios. Not even necessarily writing a whole scene out (though that can help you solidify a voice), but just mentally Putting the Guy in Situations and figuring out how they'd react.
Really hope this was helpful, and thank you again!!
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wait i figured out my conflicting feelings about arcane s2. as its own separate thing, it’s a fun, well-animated show with interesting characters and a plot. it’s never boring and always flashy and keeps your eyes glued to the screen from start to finish. you walk away thinking wow that was really cool and interesting and well done. you’ll probably reblog fanart and read/write fanfiction and it’s good! it’s perfect for that.
but when you compare s2 to s1 there’s like. no contest. the themes & characterization & slow build of s1 are almost laughably better. the characters we get in s1 and the ones we get in s2 are, a lot of the time, not the same characters even if they share the same name. there seems to be an attempt at through lines between s1 and s2 but those threads are shaky & tenuous at best, and they don’t hold up under any amount of scrutiny. the pacing in s2 compared to s1 took a complete nose-dive.
the character dynamics that existed in s1 that made the show feel so alive and human are pretty much sidelined for what amounts to development for the main ships. characters who are introduced as being close in s1 suddenly don’t care much — or aren’t shown to care much — about each other anymore. characters will actually straight up die and we don’t even get one shot of the characters they were close to caring at all. not even one!
instead of developing existing characters and relationships we get shown a bunch of side characters with 2 speaking lines who exist just to die, lacking the attentiveness to that the writers gave side characters in season 1. the difference in writing and characterization between grayson, milo & claggor, for example is not even in the same league as maddie, steb and the other guy whose name i forgot. even our main characters — for example, ekko — are sidelined for most of the story altogether and then all of a sudden he’s a huge important piece of the story and he saves the world? it felt more like the writers realized the story they were working towards had to have ekko as a main player—almost the protagonist!!—but didn’t want to take the time and care to actually treat him as a main character until the final act. it felt disrespectful to his character and his motivations and what he’s been doing in zaun more than anything. i’m not even going to get into vi because that is a whole thing.
the story itself loses its main focus in so many respects. a story of sisters and how jinx became a villain? hm, yeah, felt more like a b or even c plot when compared to what jayce and viktor and ekko ended up doing. a story about zaun & piltover and specifically how piltover oppresses zaun in some of the most carefully nuanced ways? lol actually the Real Villain was magic all along, don’t you see? so zaunites go fight and die for your oppressors we promise we’ll pay you back by giving one (1) woman who’s never showed interest in leading or politics a seat on the council. the entire zaun/piltover plot was just… dropped.
so yeah. basically if i isolate s1 and s2 from each other i can enjoy both. but i can’t accept most of s2 as a canon continuation of s1 bc it just doesn’t work well that way imo
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if you had to introduce someone to k project with the intention of getting them into the series, where would you tell them to start from? im honestly torn between LSW, the side:red novel or MOR
Honestly? The first season of the anime. It’s uneven but it does a good job introducing the world and the main cast, and it’s a good jumping off point to get into the other side materials based on which characters a person is most drawn to. The issue that I think comes up when you start with the side materials is they don’t all do as much to explain the larger ‘world’ of the series because it’s assumed the reader already knows about the basic Slate and Kings thing, most of that is just given a quick ‘as you well know’ nod. Season one can definitely be confusing (I think it holds up much better on second watch when you know what to look for and can see some of the more subtle stuff they’re doing) but it does at least make most of the worldbuilding stuff pretty clear. LSW I think is probably the weakest of the ones you mentioned on this point, it pretty much assumes anyone reading knows what kind of setting this is and mostly just nods at the parts that are relevant for the story, which could be troublesome for a new person going in blind.
MOR has a better sense of worldbuilding but I think still has a general ‘feeling’ of assumed knowledge, to me that one feels very much like a companion series that won’t hold up as well on its own (it also spoils the whole thing with Totsuka’s death in the final chapters, I feel like it works better reading this one after you’ve seen season one so the end scene of episode one with Colorless hits better). I also think MOR doesn’t work as well as a jumping in point because the early chapters are focused almost entirely on minor characters who barely have any lines in the series proper, I think starting with that one would give someone an incorrect idea of what/who the series is about — even DOB would technically be better here because its focus is a bit more narrowed, Awashima gets a chapter early on and Fushimi remains a consistent focus throughout and he’s at least more of a main character than the alphabet squad are. I also feel like the emotional heft of the last couple chapters doesn’t work as well if you aren’t already attached to these characters, I think it’s just stronger when there’s already a base to work from.
Side Red I think would actually be a good entry point outside of the anime though, the main drawback probably being that as a novel it might be seen as less accessible than the anime. Actually if we were going for ‘best entry point besides the anime’ my pick would probably be read Side Red and then watch the Seven Stories Side Blue. Side Red I think works really well as a prologue to the series, it brings in the worldbuilding elements and hints at future developments without outright spoiling them and gives good characterization to the Homra top three as well as Anna, Yata and Fushimi, all of whom are main characters, and it brings in things like the state of Mikoto’s Sword and the previous S4. Side Blue then makes a good prologue of the ‘other side,’ though I think the anime actually manages to do better than the novel on this one. Side Blue was written very early in the game and I think it shows, I feel like Munakata is written more manipulative and antagonistic than he is in the rest of the series and the novel has the same issue as MOR where it spends a lot of time with Hidaka and co., who then go on to not really matter all that much in the anime proper. The Seven Stories adaptation narrows that focus more around Munakata, smooths out some of the characterization issues without completely softening them, adds some flashbacks for additional world building and hints at the wider picture with the Greens at the end. If we’re not starting with the anime I would probably say start with Side Red and Blue and then go into season one, and then from there choose where to go next based on which characters caught the viewer’s eye the most.
#k project#Talking K#I think about this too much XD#S1 is hard to get into on first watch but I think it does a good enough job setting up the world and characters#Side Red and Side Blue were I believe somewhat intended as prologues so those can work#but I think MOR and LSW expect you know what the show is about#and I think they set up expectations of what and who the series is about that aren't quite right#those are better 'second things' for people who watched S1 and liked Homra or Sarumi best
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i'm curious.. what are some movies that you think are good adaptations of their books (like dracula, hill house, etc)? or movies that aren't the best adaptations but you would still recommend
HI ANON I LOVE THIS QUESTION!! Film adaptation of books is a topic that interests me deeply because I think there’s so many factors that go into whether or not an adaptation is successful, including things that are very subjective and situational… I’m definitely of the mind that an adaptation needn’t be super exact or faithful to be good, in fact some of my favorite adaptations take a lot of liberties with the source material to tell a better story via it’s given medium (film or tv), and intentionally use things specific to film like cinematography/sound/visual/design to translate the book onto screen
An example of an adaptation I loved, and that I think is an interesting case study of the subject at hand is crash (1996). I once uploaded a video of cronenberg’s press conference with the original author, JG Ballard, who personally loves the movie says during it that he think it’s best movie adaptation of a book ever lol Despite all the differences!!! Cronenberg dropped whole plot lines from the book (such as the Elizabeth Taylor one), went very minimalist on the script to focus on capturing the experience of the book.
The book itself is of course crazy non-stop bash of violent and erotic prose about car crashes, so I think it’s effective that Cronenberg spends so much time obsessively lingering over the sex and violence. It’s an approach slower and more clinical than the book BUT. I remember him saying that the point of the movie is that by the end, your sense of eroticism and it’s scope should have slowly shifted to accommodate the world of the movie. It’s the same effect the book has!! Which is why it works as an adaptation for me
You mention hill house, it’s really unfortunate that I don’t think it’s ever gotten a proper adaptation that I like though I’ve seen all of them :( I’ve said before on here that I really disliked Mike Flanagan’s approach, again, not because I dislike changes to a story! But bc I think the changes he made flattened the characters and relationships. I also think his style of directing isn’t capable of translating the gothic world of Shirley Jackson stories…he has too incessant of a need to overexplain his themes and none of the strange whimsy. I’ve actually said I think stoker 2013 is waaaaay more successful at emulating Shirley Jackson, and setting the tone for character like India/Merricat because of the directing. The strange and purposeful cinematography does so much to characterize India, in the same way that Jackson’s prose introduces us to Merricat’s rituals and magic…
SORRY THIS GOT REALLY LONG. In general I am very forgiving of adaptations if I personally think they are beautiful or fun (dracula 1992 and Roger Corman adapting Edgar Allen Poe, respectively). There are also some times where I actually enjoy the movie better than the book! (the talented mr. ripely or re-animator 1985). Like Stuart Gordon and his lovecraft adaptations, sometimes it really becomes a thing of its own, almost entirely separate from the books and I can still respect that too! Films can build up their own lore and canon, and i think it can be fun :)
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So, guess who just finished reading won’t you lend me your faith, the shoujo manga fic for Rin. It’s me. I have much to say. I said I was gonna wait till the morning but I’m impatient and want you to know I absolutely loved and adored this fic.
I. Am. In love. With the reader. She’s literally so cute and I don’t know if it’s cause you wrote it in Rin’s pov but I fell in love with her?? She’s so endearing and I love her and I’d give the world for her oh my god. Her personality is so dorky and loud and loving and kind yet she’s so mature and caring for others and so incredibly sincere I would marry her if I had the chance.
I will say reader made me cry I fucking love her so much. The birthday scene where she set it up and she had on the silly party hat and she just had her hands up presenting what she set up? That’s what made me cry, oh my god it was just so sweet I couldn’t handle it anymore. The entire build up of Rin’s birthday up to that moment just made me feel all soft and warm and mushy, reader is so sweet for making Rin’s birthday special and treating him on it.
I do not know how to succinctly tell you that you wrote an incredible reader who took my heart and I literally fell in love with her and she made me cry and throughout the whole read I put down my phone multiple times to roll around in my bed and smile over her. She’s literally the love of my life I’d do anything for her and marry her if I had the chance.
OH. The scene where Rin realized he was in love? So still the birthday scene, I just think that was written incredibly well and the buildup of all of Rin’s emotions to that point throughout the whole fic was really well paced out and presented, BUT. When he was like “if she confesses I can’t lie to her?” His whole spiel? I was losing my mind.
I think they are the epitome of “fell first and fell harder”. Cause Rin once he realizes he not only likes her, but loves her and says he’s been grappling with it for only a little bit but it’s ripping him at the seams? And him causing that scene at school cause he’s irritated that he doesn’t see his girlfriend enough at school and can’t take it anymore? Yeah. yeah.
I’m so sorry, I’m hung up on the reader. I genuinely can not put into words how much I love her. Her sniffling and crying because she’s worried about the fact that she’s not going to see Rin? It’s so human and she’s so worried and I want to comfort her, I adore her beyond words. She is just so full of love and she’s so verbal with it and she communicates and it’s refreshing and Rin needs someone like that for sure but god I LOVE her.
I understand why in the writing process you kept saying you loved this reader. I get it, she’s so well written I adore her. Genuinely this is one of, if not the only, x reader I’ve read where the reader has such a refreshing, unique personality where it just made me love her so quickly. Like, I’m genuinely infatuated with her, I can’t describe it.
Okay, gonna try and focus on Rin now, sorry, I just love her so much. BUT RIN. I think you characterized him so well, incredibly so. Like, the build up, all of it, the fact it took nearly a year for Rin to be comfortable enough and secure enough to recognize that he liked her and was in love with her, that feels correct for Rin, you know? I think the detail of him just kinda seeing her as an amorphous blob also makes sense? He really is not the type to care for looks. He’s so demisexual coded to me, but anyways. But I also think you got how awkward and somewhat uncomfortable he gets in social situations too, I feel like you nailed it. Like how he doesn’t like socializing with classmates so reader was the shield, how awkward he was feeling when talking to reader’s older brother, how irritated he was at those classmates at the end.
But also his complicated emotions towards Sae; how he’s pretty sure his brother loves him now, but how he’s still not over or hasn’t fully come to terms or processed what Sae did to him in the past. I liked how you went over his morning routine where he legitimately thinks about his past with Sae, but I like how you detailed it as part of his meditation. Part of unraveling his heart and examining it. Wondering if it’ll always be this melancholic blue. Then followed by reader birthday breakfast, yippee. But double also, how the first time at the park where he was talking about how he feels towards Sae to her and how she says she wants to hug him and he lets her. That was sooooo. He needed that for real, I’m glad he indulged in that and hugged her back.
I love small details. I love that they played resident evil and how acutely aware Rin was of her presence before she started playing with his hair (I melted at that by the way, peak affection), how they talked about Ciguatera and how she poked at him for being such a boy and how he really is just a boy, reading a raunchy comic that’s still ultimately about romance, about how Rin was glad he went with her to get stationary because he had to glare at too many creeps, at how annoyed Rin was at the fact she regularly kept contact with his mom. OH, when Rin noticed that she wears a heart necklace under her uniform when they were cleaning the classroom. How all he could say was that she wasn’t in uniform and it’s all he was thinking when he took her to the mall to get stationary. I loved the fact that she would stomp her feet sometimes, like when Rin’s parents found them sleeping together and snapped a picture, how she kicked her feet. You always give the people you’re writing about very human traits or things they do and it just makes the read so easy and real, idk how to word it.
It’s all of these little scenes, these little details that just make your fic feel so alive and so tangible and just so perfectly here. I don’t know how to describe it, but everything adds up to be a beautifully written and executed shoujo manga type beat fic that I was so excited for and finally had the time to read.
But thank you for the food, incredible as usually, the buildup was perfect and I thought I was only going to tear up over the reader but her sincerity and genuine love made me actually cry at the birthday scene. I am a sap and a sucker for cute romance first. This is a long ass ask I’m so sorry ahdjsgdj
I feel like I said a lot of nothing, but TLDR: I’m so glad I read this, I love (LOVE) the reader, I loved watching Rin fall in love it was so wholesome, I love shoujo manga and the epilogue is cute (he’s so silly being petty).
sorry . it has been at least 3 days since ive recieved this ask and i simply wanted to give it the proper time and care when answering because it really made me blush and scream and cry so i apologize for the delay. i have a little time now so i hope this response is adequate enough to express my gratitude.
the main gist of this ask that im like. so absolutely delighted by is indeed your love for reader because (and i said this while writing as well) but reader is my absolute favorite character in the entire fic. i know it's supposed to be rin, and i do enjoy writing rin - but i think reader was the best part of writing this for me. i was honestly very nervous that people might find her too quirky and try-hard rather than endearing and uplifiting and lovely but i simply fell for her very hard in the process.
i have a tendency to write readers who are a little more callous along the edges so it as very refreshing and i think that kind of character is like. SO perfect for rin. you are absolutely right about "fell first but he fell harder" trope being them!! that was really the point of it all for me. she is so loving and so human and so kind.
and rin as a character is someone who has an almost monstorous view of himself. his self loathing just runs so deep and so hard that it was almost painfully sad writing some parts. IM REALLY GLAD MY DEMISEXUAL CODING OF HIM WAS PRESENT SDJKSSDKJ. like im genuinely glad it was picked up on bc it was so super intentional. esp w the part where he finds reader attractive but cant understand it.
WAAAAHHH HEARING YOU PICK UP ON ALL THESE LITTLE DETAILS MAKES ME WANT TO SOB AND SCREAM AND CRY. IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY. idk how to explain it but knowing that my words have reached u enough to rmb them like that just makes me so emotional. idk how to explain it....like its!! you know!! you know of me!!!! you know the things i wrote!! and memorized and enjoyed them even!!!! it makes me so indescribably happy that these little details like. resonated with you.
for rin in particular - i do not think he thinks very highly of very showy, very passionate love like he sees in movies. up until he meets reader he considers a lot of that bullshit because its so fake. but his lover for reader is truly just an amalgam of these little tiny moments where reader looked at him and saw him for exactly who and what he is. whether that be about sae or rins hatred for socializing. ultimately reader is a character who loves him wholly and unconditionally.
but rin doesn't learn that through her words, but her actions. she is kind and gentle and silly and honest and he needs her more than anything. i really have such a deep love for them, writing their story made me so emotional and i am so so so glad other people felt similiarly. im so glad the story resonated but this one esp bc i LOVE these two and would love to write more in their universe sometime.
ANYWAYS, thank u for this ask. thank u for the length. i weeped so much the day i read it and have thought about it every day since. im so exceedingly grateful. i cannot express it enough. THANK U SO KINDLY
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Genuine question about the Legendborn series do you know how many books are set to be in the series ? Or is that it just those two that have come out ? Also if someone wanted to get into the series how would you persuade them to read it?
The Appeal of the Legendborn Cycle Series
According to Deon’s website, it was planned as a trilogy…the wording makes me hold out hope for more books, especially since it was announced in February that we’re getting a TV series
Onto how I’d persuade them to read it: whew boy do I have THOUGHTS
Tl; dr:
1. Magic system is enhanced by being grounded in reality; the book itself stays grounded by being easy to read while maintaining mystique and intrigue
2. Complex character interactions that arise naturally from strong characterizations and a dynamic plot allow for compelling love interests/a believable love triangle.
3. Themes of grief, identity, heritage, and agency are elevated by the unique perspective of a teenage black girl in the American south.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
• It’s a YA book, young adult. IDK how old you are or the people you wanna persuade. Most people stop reading before finishing high school and aren’t likely to pick up books that a) require a lot of background/genre knowledge to understand b) dense syntax and complicated plots. The Legendborn Cycle (TLC) being YA counters both of these issues. It’s audiobook is an excellent way to consume it, since ~500 pages is a big ask for people who aren’t readers all. Emotive with distinctive character voices.
• TLC subverts and/or reimagines major writing tropes in a way that is satisfying and compelling, not just as a “gotcha” to shock the audience. Getting into HOW exactly is major spoiler territory, but in general you could mention secret magical societies, lines of succession, love triangles, magic systems…you can’t build a story without tropes, but using them in interesting ways is how you circumvent it being cookie cutter.
• Very solid worldbuilding. It’s Urban Fantasy without forgetting the “Urban” part. While the plot doesn’t focus much on Onceborns, the fact that TLC touches on how a magical institution would last for centuries as a secret keeps things grounded without getting bogged down with worldbuilding details that don’t come into play later. Getting into Bloodmarked is spoiler territory…but you could mention how TLC has draws analogies between the consolidation, conservation, and enforcement of power within the Legendborn world and within real life society. That’s the focus in the first book. The second book sets up main characters to have even more dynamic character arcs as their worldview expands alongside the reader.
• Thus far, nothing feels like fluff or filler. All the worldbuilding, character dynamics/interactions, and plot threads are followed through, or set up for something later on. Callbacks and echos galore. Lots of rereading value.
• Bree, Nick, and Sel’s relationships are interesting BECAUSE of the plot, not the other way around. Their feelings for each other are informed by revelations in what they do *outside* of pining for each other. The “insta first love golden retriever” Nick and “secretly dedicated argumentative black cat” Sel have more depth than those tropes would imply. The same traits that manifest as romance to Bree, but look different to side characters—and especially to each other—while still being consistent overall. The fact that the two HAVE so much history with each other is entirely because of plot reasons, which means it will always carry weight in how they interact with each other and with Bree. You can argue that one romance is more compelling than the other (I am an unabashed Brelwyn/BreeSel endgame shipper) but you can’t argue that there is an actual dilemma for the main character, Bree—which is all that matters for a compelling love story, triangular or otherwise. AND it doesn’t subsume the whole plot—it’s adventure first and a romance second with plenty of room to fill in details yourself.
Okay I think that’s a good enough answer to your question without straight up ranting about how much I love this damn book series lol. Hope that was helpful!
#legendborn#the legendborn cycle#bloodmarked#askme#omg can you tell this is my first one#shiii got me blushin and everything you want MY opinion?#be careful what you ask for cuz I won’t shut up about this#book review
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Sixth Doctor - Project: Blue Box
TV Stories
◆ The Twin Dilemma
◆ Attack of the Cybermen
◆ Vengeance on Varos
◆ The Mark of the Rani
◆ The Two Doctors
◆ Timelash
◆ Revelation of the Daleks
◆ The Mysterious Planet
◆ Mindwarp
◆ Terror of the Vervoids
◆ The Ultimate Foe
Audio Stories
- 6th Doctor Adventures
◆ The Ratings War
◆ The Maltese Penguin
◆ Real Time
◆ Her Final Flight
◆ Cryptobiosis
◆ Return of the Krotons
◆ Voyage to Venus
◆ Voyage to the New World
◆ Trial of the Valeyard
◆ The End of the Line
◆ The Red House
◆ Stage Fright
◆ The Brink of Death
◆ The Headless Ones
◆ Like
◆ The Vanity Trap
◆ Conflict Theory
◆ One for All
◆ The Murder of Oliver Akkron
◆ Elevation
◆ The Rotting Deep
◆ The Tides of the Moon
◆ Maelstrom
◆ The Mindless Ones
◆ Reverse Engineering
◆ Chronomancer
◆ Broadway Belongs to Mel
◆ Purification
◆ Time-Burst
◆ Girl in a Bubble
◆ The Corruptions
◆ The Wrong Side of History
- Main Range
◆ Davros
◆ Year of the Pig
◆ Whispers of Terror
◆ … ish
◆ The Reaping
◆ Memories of a Tyrant
◆ Emissary of the Daleks
◆ Harry Houdini’s War
◆ Plight of the Pimpernel
◆ Recorded Time and Other Stories
◆ 1963: The Space Race
◆ Breaking Bubbles and Other Stories
◆ Blood on Santa’s Claw and Other Stories
◆ The Wormery
◆ I.D./Urgent Calls
◆ Vampire of the Mind
◆ The Acheron Pulse
◆ The Lure of the Nomad
◆ Iron Bright
◆ Hour of the Cybermen
◆ The Hunting Ground
◆ The Marian Conspiracy - ★★★★★
If anyone is unsuse about how good pure historicals can be, check this out. This is a fun adventure but also charged with this sorrow and melancholy of knowing there is no changing the past; a concept a bit weird for a time travel series but still it’s in these situations that Doctor Who leaves me the most breathless. Add that to the impecable chemistry of the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn Smithe and you have one of the best companion introductions ever.
Complete review: here.
◆ The Spectre of Lanyon Moor - ★★☆☆☆
The first time I listened to this release, I left with a bitter taste in my mouth. It was not the worst thing ever, but extremely average. I had a lot more fun in Lanyon Moor this time around, but I am sad to say my opinion didn’t change all that much. There are good things here - the main characters have stellar chemistry, I love the setting and the premise. But it’s a story that don’t leave much of an impression and, even if not bad, is quite forgetful.
Complete review: here.
◆ The Apocalypse Element - ★★★☆☆
I can acknowledge the good things about The Apocalypse Element as a war epic in a huge scale (Daleks vs Time Lords) but it’s not the kind of story I like, specially because I started Doctor Who in 2020. I feel it would be dishonest to call this a tradicional Dalek story, but if we ignore this is the first time this specific conflict was done - it’s still a tale of a bunch of Daleks trying to invade a planet and destroy the whole universe. What gets to me the most is that I’m not necessarily a hater of traditional stories - I love how Lucie Miller/To the Death builds beautifully upon that with a huge character focus on part one and Masters of Earth is an action epic that is delightful to hear -, but this one I just don’t get. The best thing in my opinion is by far the regulars (the Doctor, Evelyn and Romana), which are great and very well characterized. I think average is too harsh, so consider this one of the good stories I like the least.
Complete review: here.
◆ Bloodtide - ★★★★★
An energetic adventure and full of powerful images. Bloodtide is one of the best Silurians stories and a triumph as a historical. Bringing Darwin and them together is a really clever choice that opens a lot of opportunities to work around biology concepts and ideas within the interspecies relationships. This is also a narrative full of wonder - for Galapagos, for its characters, for all this background it wants to tell. And I go head on in wonder with it, it’s a tale that fascinates me. All of that plus one of the best performances for Six and Evelyn and you have one of my favorite releases of the Sixth Doctor.
Complete review: here.
◆ Project: Twilight
◆ The Sandman
◆ Jubilee
◆ Doctor Who and the Pirates
◆ Medicinal Purposes
◆ Pier Pressure
◆ 100
◆ Assassin in the Limelight
◆ Project: Lazarus
◆ Arrangements for War
◆ The Nowhere Place
◆ The Crimes of Thomas Brewster
◆ The Feast of Axos
◆ Industrial Evolution
◆ Thicker Than Water
◆ The Wrong Doctors
◆ The Holy Terror
◆ Last of the Cybermen
◆ The Condemned
◆ The Doomwood Curse
◆ Brotherhood of the Daleks
◆ The Raincloud Man
◆ Patient Zero
◆ Paper Cuts
◆ Blue Forgotten Planet
◆ City of Spires
◆ The Wreck of the Titan
◆ Legend of the Cybermen
◆ The Curse of Davros
◆ The Fourth Wall
◆ Wirnn Isle
◆ Vortex Ice/Cortex Fire
◆ Antidote to Oblivion
◆ The Brood of Erys
◆ Scavenger
◆ The Widow’s Assassin
◆ Masters of Earth
◆ The Rani Elite
◆ Criss-Cross
◆ Planet of the Rani
◆ Shield of the Jotunn
◆ Order of the Daleks
◆ Colony of Fear
◆ Absolute Power
◆ Quicksilver
◆ The Behemoth
◆ The Middle
◆ Static
◆ Cry of the Vultriss
◆ Scorched Earth
◆ The Lovecraft Invasion
◆ The End of the Beginning
◆ The One Doctor
◆ The Juggernauts
◆ Catch-1782
◆ The Wishing Beast/The Vanity Box
◆ Spaceport Fear
◆ The Seeds of War
- Classic Doctors, New Monsters
◆ Judoon in Chains
◆ The Carrionite Curse
◆ Together in Electric Dreams
- The Companion Chronicles & Peladon & Stageplays
◆ Peri and the Piscon Paradox
◆ A Town Called Fortune - ★★★☆☆
◆ Night’s Black Agents
◆ The Ultimate Adventure
◆ Beyond the Ultimate Adventure
◆ The Death of Peladon
- The Lost Stories
◆ The Nightmare Fair
◆ Mission to Magnus
◆ Leviathan
◆ The Hollows of Time
◆ Paradise 5
◆ Point of Entry
◆ The Song of Megaptera
◆ The Macra
◆ The Guardians of Prophecy
◆ Power Play
◆ The First Sontarans
◆ The Ultimate Evil
◆ Mind of the Hodiac
- Short Trips
◆ Not Forgotten
◆ The Shadow of Serenity
◆ Primer Winner
◆ Murmurs of Earth
◆ The Authentic Experience
◆ Under ODIN’s Eye
◆ To Cut a Blade of Glass
◆ The Doctor’s Coat
◆ Mission Improbable
◆ These Stolen Hours
◆ The Darkened Earth
◆ The Wings of a Butterfly
◆ Intuition
◆ Mel-evolent
◆ Loud and Proud
Books
◆ State of Change
◆ Time of Your Life
◆ Millenial Rites
◆ Killing Groung
◆ Burning Heart
◆ Business Unusual
◆ Mission: Improbable
◆ Players
◆ Grave Matter
◆ The Quantum Archangel
◆ The Shadow in the Glass
◆ Instruments of Darkness
◆ Place of the Red Sun
◆ Blue Box
◆ Synthespians TM
◆ Spiral Scratch
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do you ever have any issues with perfectionism keeping you from writing? and maybe any advice on how to overcome it?
You know, to my own surprise, I’m inclined to say perfection isn’t my big demon. I think I deal with it some, but paranoia is probably what I’d characterize as my biggest problem.
To clarify: I make art to satisfy whatever deranged impulse bubbles up from the unfathomable depths of my broken brain, right? So as long as I do that, I’m happy. But for me, it’s in the act of posting that trouble arises. Everyone else’s standards are totally alien to me, and it seems that often, they’re way higher. So I have a sort of paranoia that there’s something in my art—which is good enough for me—that everyone sees but I don’t. And it isn’t something endearing, or likeable. I’m not aware something everyone else is, and it’s a real problem.
So, I think the end result is the same, but the root cause is probably different.
To me, perfectionism is an inability to meet your own standards. But since I write for emotional satisfaction/catharsis, my own standards aren’t so much a factor.
Perfectionism strikes me as a kind of impatience, at the end of the day. You want your art to be a masterpiece, right now, first try. And you’ll put yourself through hell when it isn’t.
But the thing about writing is that you kind of have as many tries as you feel like giving it. It’s not like you’re carving it into a stone tablet—you can hit the undo button. (Which can be its own form of infuriating, I know.)
In terms of advice:
I think patience is the way forward. Trust, too. Trust in yourself to make it a little better in the next pass-through. That whatever it is now, it isn’t final, if you don’t want it to be.
It’s not even necessarily giving yourself permission to suck—but permission for your writing to just be whatever it is right now.
I think this is where advice about using fonts like comic sans for your first draft is helpful. It was for me. It kind of lowers the stakes, in a way.
I think my focus on making sure writing fulfills a very personal emotional need has been beneficial for combatting perfectionism. Words don’t have to be pretty, or groundbreaking, or even noticeable, so long as they all come together to serve the emotional purpose of a scene.
I think another thing that’s helped combat perfectionism in my writing process is the way I write—it’s probably like sculpting. I get all the basic forms down first, then refine and polish with many pass-overs after. My first draft doesn’t really have much detail. It’s mostly the major building blocks. So I think having a foundation like that helps me keep my focus on what I’m doing and why. And as I refine, if something isn’t working well, I can erase it and still have my end goal in mind. Having that (broad) end goal helps keep your focus on your piece, rather than how it is or isn’t meeting your standards.
But really, I do think patience has been my best ally. If I can’t see a way out, I change tabs lol. I think being able to keep things on the back burner helps. Having the patience to step back and change gears means you can recharge and come back with fresh eyes. It also means that you can take the progress you have made and take that into the real world for a bit.
There’s a line in SWRD where Magdalene is in the background, stretching her back in a moment between enemies. I got that from real life.
In my personal work, I’ve had a story running for ten years. Literally. And over the last four years, I’d spend a few months making huge refinements and restructures in the draft, and then let it sit for anywhere from a few months to a year. And that gave me a lot of clarity in terms of what I was trying to say and why.
TL;DR:
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Hope this helps, anon. Good luck with your writing! Stick with it. In my experience, it all turns out in the end. You’ll get there just fine 🖤
#I hope this is helpful I’m kind of a dumbass#Don’t trust my advice further than you can throw it#But for whatever this advice is worth I do hope it helps#Also sorry for the late answer. I was beset with a stress related health condition. it was harmless but it scared the shit out of me#writing#hare answers#hare posts
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