#some kind of character question that'll make me go 'YES that's a character arc i can sink my teeth into!!!'

[attila-werther]

there's no article out there that'll suddenly make antony compelling for me but maybe. maybe there's a sentence somewhere that'll unlock some thought that'll make him interesting enough I can give him a fucking character arc. like. do I need to compare and contrast him to clodius. sulla. pompey even. not caesar, because antony and caesar are eating each other.

[skullduggeryandfilibuster]

Casual Writing Advice: How to take a Writing Idea and turn it into a Written Idea.

I've seen a lot of advice on how to write an outline, and how to write your first draft. But how do you even come up with the concept for your story? To some that's the easy part, for me, it's kinda tricky. But I wrote down some advice to help out. If this works for you, great. If it doesn't, also great, I hope you found it interesting!

1. Start With One Thing

C.S. Lewis said the idea for his most well known series came from a very specific image that popped into his head: a fawn standing next to a lamppost in a snowy forest. And from there he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia. Indeed, many writers have spoken of the use of a single image being used as a starting place for their story, and I'm here to say it doesn't even have to be an image! Start with a character, a bit of worldbuilding, an object, a monster, a conflict, a scene, a dynamic, a setting, or yes, an image. Anything, so long as you're drawn to it. Just one thing; just one cool thing.

2. Ask Questions

Then ask questions, specifically one: "What would be a cool/interesting thing to add?" And keep asking that question.

Go hog wild.

Based on your starting place, write down every cool idea you have; every idea that interests you. Don't bother making it cohesive, that'll come later.

But write down LITERALLY EVERYTHING--the name of the thing and a brief blurb of what that thing is. Stuff like characters, arcs, villains, events, lore, big dragons, cities, love interests, fight scenes, spicy scenes, dialogue, literally anything and everything.

3. Ask More Questions

This time instead of asking what, you're gonna be asking why.

You've got your neat list of cool ideas, now it's time to connect them. It's time to ask yourself, "Why are these things related?"

Why are the protagonist and antagonist at odds? Why would the characters go to this location? What is the relationship between these two characters? Why does this artifact exist? Why would this event happen; why would this character be there?

This sounds like the boring "got to have justifications for the cool stuff," portion of the process, but it's not. It's the "making these cool things even cooler," portion of the process.

You know what's cooler than two cool characters in a vacuum? Two cool characters that have a direct connection to each other. Even cooler, having those characters have a some kind of conflict.

And because of that conflict they'll probably have to go to a certain location... why not that cool setting you had on your list? That's probably where they'll have that conversation, and fight that monster, and find that object.

Woah! Did you see what you just did?

You just wrote a list of characters with specific relationships and conflicts, going to locations to do things.

That's a story! You've written the first notes of a story!

And now that you got words on a page, you can refine that. You can refine it into an outline, and build off it. You can't improve a blank page. The sculptor can't chisel away at empty air.

So that's my advice's, and it's just mine. If you have your own for this kind of thing, let me know, I'd love to hear about it.

[muffinrecord]

I have a question about Arc 2 and Infinite Iroha (I can’t bring myself to read the story myself because the concept of someone being erased from existence like that makes me too sad). Is there anything that could have been done in-universe so that Iroha didn’t have to become Infinite Iroha and be erased?

It's hard to answer this since all I have are the chapter summaries to go off of and not an actual translation that I can read line-by-line. Also tbh I still don't 100% understand the final chapter in all its nitty gritty details-- I have a good idea of what happened, but I don't want to dig in too deeply into it because I feel like that'll spoil it slightly for me when it actually gets a translation I can watch.

That being said, I think I still might be able to answer this...? But it's two separate answers:

Answer One: No.

Iroha realizes in this final chapter a very sad truth-- in every timeline except for this one, she dies. This is the only one where she lives. And fate has come to balance its checkbook.

Before anything else, I want to quickly point out that Iroha being Kimochi-fied isn't actually what erases her-- she was able to be a Kimochi ver when she helps Rabi not destroy everything after all:

This form of hers is just Iroha, Ui, and Little Kyubey all combined into one being.

The reason she's erased is... uh.... actually I can't really give a solid answer to this, beyond that she's put a lot of burden on her soul-- she took in the Mirrors Witch out of compassion to show the witch (which is the amalgamation of many magical girls and their pain) a miracle. She then rewound time so that the fight never happened, erasing the witches' minions. Then she had to undo the uwasa-ification of all the magical girls which is apparently a mega burden on her soul, and I think it's implied she's doing other things behind the scenes.

In a way, it's very Madokami of her, but to a lesser scale. After all, Madokami was forgotten by everyone except for Homura, and Iroha is "only" forgotten by non-magical girls. Everyone else still remembers her, even if they can't see or interact with her anymore.

(It's also kind of implied she might be coming back, but it would be far off in the future...? I'm not really sure.)

In a way, this is the kindest kind of "death" Iroha could have been offered, and when you compare it to Madoka, Iroha had a much gentler version of being erased. Her friends still remember her and Iroha isn't alone-- she still has Ui, Little Kyubey, Sakurako, Touka, and Nemu by her side. Her friends still visit her by Sakurako's tree, and even if they can't communicate, they can be alongside one another.

It's interesting when you think about it. Iroha, the girl who could only live in one timeline, became Infinite. In some ways she was erased, in some ways she was stamped into time permanently, so that she can never be truly gone.

So in one sense, I think that Iroha can't have been saved. It was her fate, something like this was going to happen to her all along. She's stubborn about wanting to help everyone, and she has her own version of a happy ending, even if bitter sweet.

...

However...

Answer Two: Yes

See, there's another thing here. Magia Record, at it's core, is not a story about how one special fated girl is able to save the world. The series' themes are baked right into its gameplay-- connects are a big feature, teambuilding is important, and synergy is important.

This story is always stressing that connection, friendship, companionship, and understanding are what saves lives, not solo acts of greatness. When a girl tries to abandon it all and forsake the world, her friends come to pull her back. When a character feels like her destiny is too much and she can't possibly do it, her burden is carried by those around her. And these characters repeatedly learn that lending out a hand to someone else also in turn saves them.

Arc 2 has a lot of darkness, but a lot of light. Characters die, but characters are also saved-- morally gray characters are redeemed to the point of frequent fan frustration in fact. However, I think this is a deliberate choice of the writers-- it's very clumsily done in some ways so don't get me wrong, but I don't think it's a matter of the writers being too scared or cowardly to make a character actually evil or to let a character be irredeemable by the text (to be clear, you might disagree with the text and the actions of its characters but I'm talking about what the text states itself).

Arc 2 says that suffering causes suffering and that understanding and connection is what will save its characters. It says that everyone deserves a chance at redemption. It says that no one should be left alone.

...

Which makes the whole Iroha thing kinda weird, doesn't it?

Every faction leader has to learn something in arc 2. Every faction leader has to change in some way, to amend their thinking. Each faction leader needs to be saved by their own faction in many respects, and the connections and friendships they built are what make them saved.

So the question is: how has Iroha changed?

I think Iroha starts and ends arc 2 in a similar way-- she wants to save everyone. She starts off not wanting anyone to suffer and she ends it the same way. She retains her stubborn nature. In the end, she makes the decision to take on all the pain and suffering and deal with it on her own.

Ui, Little Kyubey, Touka, Nemu, and Sakurako are there. But this isn't Iroha getting saved from her fate like how Himena was saved by Sasha. This is Iroha falling in lockstep with it.

I think the answer to your question would be that Infinite Iroha shouldn't be Alone Iroha, but saved by those around her. An Iroha who let herself be saved instead of trying to save everyone else.

If Arc 3 does actually happen, then I think it might be something along these lines-- a story about how you don't need to take all the burdens in on yourself. Everyone else was able to change, and Iroha could too.

-

Anyways that's my long-winded answer. Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I can't sleep and it's hard to articulate.

[faejilly]

i hate how everyone felt the need to dictate what alec should or shouldn’t do to save his bf like if izzy didn't jump in front of simon risking her life to save him&jace didn’t risk everyone and everything for clary, same w clary yet when alec thinks of becoming a vampire as a way to save his fiancé that'll still keep him "alive" they flip out like hypocrites

basically what im saying is they all get to do whatever tf they want without getting alec’s thoughts on the matter and when alec does they don’t care (and the narrative glorifies them and gives them moral high grounds like always) but when it comes to alec and magnus suddenly there has to be a whole meeting for everyone to feel comfortable

Hmm. 

Well nonny. I both agree & disagree with what you’re saying here? Like, it’s a consistent problem in the show that everyone does stupid shit all the fucking time (because it’s a melodrama and also they’re mostly all 19 and I’m sorry to my younger readers but everyone is an idiot at 19, we just are, I’m including myself in this, there is no getting around it; we may all be idiots in different ways but it’s still there!) but Alec is both older & the only one who has a story/character-arc about reconciling one’s mistakes, so he’s the only one who ever has to deal with consequences and that is super shitty. It makes everyone else look like assholes even when they’re not supposed to, and it makes his storyline heavier and sadder in comparison to potential hero-moments that other people get. (He never gets to be right, not really, and that’s exhausting.)

Like, I don’t think anyone’s disagreeing that that’s a thing the show does and also that it’s crap. Alec gets judged and everyone else (mostly) gets away with shit. (Every time Clary charges out of the Institute to Do Things™ in season 1? Alec’s legitimate tactical concerns being framed as jealousy over Jace? Izzy & everything remotely related to her sub-plot in 2a? Every time Jace refused to tell anyone anything about what was wrong in 3a? SUMMONING LILITH IN 3B ANYONE? Dear lords. *sighs forever*)

The counter to this is that Alec gets AGENCY, he gets to make decisions about his life and act on them; even when they’re shitty decisions they’re his, and everyone else is mostly just sitting around and reacting to things all the time. (Especially Magnus in 3b OH GODS I WILL NEVER BE OVER THAT, but sorry, different post.)

um

I will say, there’s a meeting about Magnus/Heavenly Fire/Edom because Lilith is going to try and destroy the world and so it’s not just about Alec needing to rescue his fiance. It’s not that everyone got together just to judge Alec for making emotional decisions when he’s, you know, legit emotional about things, they do have other issues to discuss.

I also think there’s a difference between most of the crew’s tendency to impulsive & stupid decisions in the field, and Alec’s ability to think tactically and make a decision and throw himself at it in .5 seconds while everyone else is still standing around going wtf? Like, it’s one of my favorite Alec traits, but it’s a little concerning to watch if you love him and don’t know he’s fiction and thus it will all work out in the end.

Like, you can see Alec, in his head, in the same amount of time it takes everyone else to think: oh shit, can we even get to Edom? What now? going: 

I can’t go to Edom as a Nephilim. 

De-Runing won’t work, still have angel blood, how to get rid of Angel blood? 

Some sort of blood curse would be dangerous and would probably take too long and I don’t even know if it would work, have to be a Downworlder. 

There’s no known way to turn into a Seelie or a Warlock, Werewolf change isn’t guaranteed and won’t go into effect until the next full moon, so that’ll REALLY take too long. Vampire will have to kill me and also might not work but the odds are better than curses or Werewolf and I’ll be ready to go tomorrow… any other way? No? 

“Simon Make me a Vampire”

THAT’S NOT NORMAL. 

It’s delightful and I love him, but that’s not how most people’s brains work, so I don’t begrudge the fact that everyone else around him went: what, NO. 

I went oh no, baby, don’t do that and I was totally with him on the thought process. (He will die and he might stay dead and not get up again. Also what’s he gonna eat in Edom? What happens if he loses control and bites Magnus? What’s he going to do in a hell dimension for FOREVER while Lilith tries to kill Magnus? That’s only the start of a plan, where’s the rest of it? And of course he has to kill himself as part of the process! That’s different on a visceral level than the rest of his family’s ability to throw themselves between someone and a sword in the heat of battle.)

Now, to Alec’s credit, I think he’s completely aware of all those follow-up questions, it’s not that he doesn’t know he only has half a plan… he just doesn’t care. His longevity is never a factor when he’s making tactical decisions. 

Which is traumatic for the people who love him, and gets them being all judgey at him when he does it. (Which may not be the best way to express concern but hey, sometimes people are really dumb even when they mean well.)

So yes, I hate that Alec is consistently held up to higher standards than the rest of the cast, I hate that they let him bear the consequences of everything that happens to everyone ever, that the show mostly framed this as reasonable because it was always busy shoving Clary & Jace into the Next Disaster™ and that no one except Magnus ever even seemed to notice that Alec carried everyone else. 

That said… I don’t think everyone being upset at Alec’s “TURN ME INTO A VAMPIRE” plan was really a case of them being hypocritical so much as it was a case of them being in denial about how bad the situation they were in actually was: No, that can’t actually be the only way to do this, there’s got to be a better option, right? 

/shameless self-promotion: for further thoughts on Alec as Vampire, pls see my insomnia-fueled not!fic.

Now, part of their disbelief can be attributed to the fact that none of them (except Simon being raped & murdered by Camille, and Isabelle and her yin fen arc) have ever actually faced the consequences of their terrible decisions before, and in both those cases they kind of… never addressed the consequences again later? But I’ve always taken that as a failure in the story-telling  rather than a character trait, iykwim.

The show never deals with consequences and emotional aftermaths, it’s not that sort of show. Can you blame the characters for that, or do you assume it happens off screen and we just never got to see it, because the story never told us that part for anything? (Except notably Magnus’ flashbacks after the agony rune, and there’s a reason that arc is one of a lot of people’s favorites, and it’s mostly HSjr’s amazing performance but it’s also that it is one of the few moments of proper emotional catharsis & follow-through in the whole series.)

It is really just personal preference, I mean, you have to base the characters on what the show gives us, but sometimes, idk. You can disagree with canon. Sometimes canon is wrong, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with basing your enjoyment of media on that premise.

For me it’s important to acknowledge the limits of the media, the style of the show and the pressures of production and scenes where it seems clear that what they’re trying to say and what ended up on screen may not be the same thing, to take character inconsistencies and wonder which ones are part of the character, (because people are inconsistent) and which ones are a side-effect of production errors. *shrugs* ymmv and all that though