#that one is really cool it's structured like an encyclopedia so you can easily find stuff

[sandinthepipes]

Friendly reminder that this thing where you're supposed to know how to do stuff simply by virtue of livin is wrong and is fairly recent.

There were manuals before.

I was going through some old books left by my grandma and I found a, literally translated, "home cookbook" from 1911, which isn't a cookbook at all, it's a manual that explains to you in details how to do literally anything, from how to make the bed, to how to do the laundry and dry and store them, how to make the laundry soap, to how to tell what the weather is going to be, to how to make glue and ink for a tag on a jar.

I haven't read it all, I just skimmed really quickly, so I don't know if it contains even social skills, but in other booklet I found the instructions of how to be a host, how you should invite people over, how to prepare, what to do when they're there.

And sure you could argue they're all outdated good housewife skills, but I have a newsflash for you, you are now your own housewife. You need to do all those things and bring the money home all on your own. Sure, maybe your house won't be neat when you have people coming over and the table won't be set for kings, but you still need to to the dishes

[runicmagitek]

Hi! Question: Do you have any tips on world building? Or on organizing world building for oneself? Also, do you still write original stuff while writing fanfiction?

Apologies if I didn’t respond to this right away. Like any process in writing, worldbuilding can be a personal and individual aspect. Just because someone does something a certain way doesn’t mean that’s how it has to be. Finding out what works for you takes time and effort to figure out and thus a lot of trial and error. But that’s the case for writing drafts and editing and coming up with characters. And if you’re willing to do the work, then I promise it will come more easily to you.

That said, I also had to put thought into this, because… well, I don’t really put much thought into worldbuilding these days – it just kind of happens. But I think I’ve organized my chaotic thoughts enough to maybe share something useful. Hopefully it makes sense and I hope this helps you!

The most important part of worldbuilding has nothing to do with worldbuilding: focus on your story first. I find it far easier to establish what story it is you want to tell and some base characters in said story. Only then can you figure out what world it is you want to place them in. I know some people who do it the other way around, but that method doesn’t work for me; you can always tweak your world to better fit your story and while maybe you can make an argument that the same can be said about your story and characters for the sake of the world, it’s more effort than it should be, at least in my experience. So let your characters and story be solid first. Know what it is you wish to convey and then make that world for them to play in so that it can better highlight the plot and the characters’ motives.

And then comes the worldbuilding… but what is worldbuilding? I’m sure hundreds of people have their own specific definitions, but for me? Worldbuilding is what makes up the day-to-day life of the characters and helps highlight their strengths, weaknesses, and motives within the plot. Worldbuilding is the clothes they wear, the food they eat, the jobs they have, the transportation they take, the communities they interact with, and so much more. And what’s important to you and your story might vary for another person or hell, it might even change for you with each story you write.

Maybe you’re thinking, “Ok, cool, but like how?” Best example is to think of yourself. Stop and look at your room. What does that tell about you? What aspects would you include in a story to help the reader better understand your situation and thus the overall story? Is it the signed band poster of the first concert you went to? Is it the ugly, outdated rug you’ve been stuck with your whole life and never bothered to replace? Is it the stack of dirty plates on your desk you need to bring to the kitchen to wash? Is it the collection of stuffed animals you’ve kept because each one reminds you of the person who gave it to you? Is it that everything matches and fits the color scheme of your favorite colors? Find those things that resonate with you, both the positive and the negative. That’s your worldbuilding.

What isn’t worldbuilding is needing to explain every damn thing that happens and exists. First and foremost, are your characters actual walking encyclopedias? Just like actual people, they don’t know everything. Some people remember particular things because maybe it’s more important to them or it was drilled in their head during school or they used to work for a particular company or area and thus know the odd bit of information. Unless you’re writing hard science fiction or hard fantasy, there is literally no need to explain everything. If it’s not progressing the plot or developing a character further, it doesn’t need to be in there.

For example, I live in a small town where there is a massive, abandoned textile mill. Like I’m talking several miles. It was super productive during WWII and provided things like parachutes for the war. The workers were also provided housing close by and those duplexes still exist. But since the 80s, it’s been out of business. It’s partially overgrown now and multiple people have gone in to try and knock it down to build something new and two of said people went bankrupt a quarter into said project. There have been talks of it being restored as housing unit or even a shopping area, though the ground has some sort of toxic stuff (lead? I can’t remember) and needs to be cleaned before that ever happens. I know this because I had to write a “high school level” research paper on it in 5th grade twenty years ago. I drive by this thing every day to work and the only thing that matters to me is that it kills my satellite radio signal when I drive by. Yes, I know random information about it. Does it remotely pertain to my personal story? Dear lord no.

That’s kind of the basic idea behind worldbuilding or at least how I approach it. There are plenty of resources online as to what you can think about specifically and questions to ask yourself (ie – magic systems, governments, town/city structures, etc. and if you don’t know where to look for those, feel free to shoot me another ask and I’ll compile a list for you!), but sometimes I feel less is more. Unless you’re writing a history textbook, there’s no reason all of that is going to pop up. As for organizing this? I make a separate folder in my Scrivener file titled Worldbuilding and shove in notes that pop up in my head so I can have them on hand in case I need to refer to them again in the future. It doesn’t need to be one big file; organize it in a fashion that works for you. I separate by categories and bullet point things.

To wrap up this worldbuilding discussion, I remember my many years spent doing stage productions. Us actors spent weeks, if not months memorizing our lines and perfecting interactions with the other characters. We focused on the story first and foremost. Yes, the stage manager and whoever they could rally together worked on the set and props, but they still referenced the same script we were using and they built their vision of the world on the stage to fit that. We only had five days to practice on stage, maybe even a handful of actual full run-throughs with the set and tech, and definitely no more than two weeks. It’s because the story itself mattered more than the world and thus the world only helped tell that story further instead of hindering it. Never forget that when you’re telling your own stories.

AND LASTLY! I do have ideas for original work. Before I dove back into fanfiction, I was working on an original novel, but some life events made me put it aside. Writing fics has been very comforting for me on multiple levels and I keep at it because of that (and because I love having interactions with other fans and with asks like this! So thank you!). I don’t know if I’ll return to that particular original work I was chipping away at; I’d probably need to rewrite it from the ground up at this point. I do have a few ideas in my head, one of which started as an AU for a rarepair in a small/old/sorta dead fandom I’m in (this sounds like my life) and I realized I was putting way too much effort into it as a fanfic and opted to maybe one day explore it as an original piece. I have a lot of notes on it, from characters to backstory to also worldbuilding! And for the two years, I’ve been adding onto this thing, the worldbuilding has changed the most, because I need to find that balance of it complimenting the story and characters ;) I’m sure I’ll write it one day. For now, I’m really happy writing fics.

[shewasanamericangirl]

i just played the NDRV3 demo again (didn’t remember you can get a bonus from playing it...that is, playing it on the same system you’re getting the full game for) and i want to post my impressions of and predictions for the setting and characters and so on. it will both help satisfy my hype and distract me from this horrible cold i have. there’ll be a couple spoilers here from the previous games/anime, but the info about NDRV3 is all from the demo and official website.

the school, if you can call it that: okay, i’ve seen it called a prison and i’ve seen it called a school. fact is, it’s a ruin. the overgrown foliage gets me right in the aesthetic, damn. an aboveground ruin doesn’t seem like a great place to imprison anyone, though--you’d think it’s not that structurally sound. (opportunity for an unexpected death, maybe?) could it have been reinforced from the outside? i’m sure monokuma wouldn’t let all this take place somewhere the walls could be easily shattered by a few carefully aimed steel tennis balls from ryoma.

...oh my god. ryoma’s got balls of steel. i just realized that now.

the goddamn intro video: okay...so in the intro everyone has the same eerie fuchsia eyes as class 77-B in the OP for the later episodes of DR3 despair arc. on one hand, this series is too smart to do something like that coincidentally. on the other, this series is also too smart to recycle the same twist. it has to mean something, right? at this point the best i can say is “well, that’s probably gonna turn out to mean something” and move on.

kaede akamatsu: very cute. i like her musical hair clips. apparently she was made fun of for playing the piano from a young age, but why? it’s the most normal hobby ever. pretty cool if you’re good at it, too. (i...sadly...was not.) poor kaede just wants a peaceful and happy high school life with her friends, but i’ve played enough dongobongo to know that’s not where this is going.

K1-B0: excellent pun name which i really hope gets explained in the english version. my adorably awkward robot son. when i saw the first few character designs i thought he’d be the protagonist because, you know, the hair. i don’t want K1-B0 to die, though if he does, i’d prefer an execution over a murder just because i’d love to see the “robotic cinnamon roll” cliche averted more often. buuuuuut until proven otherwise, he probably is a cinnamon roll. his recording ability should come in very, very handy for providing evidence!

supreme dictator kokichi “i’m brother, LOL” oma: reminds me of todomatsu, because he manages to be both undeniably cute on the outside and utterly rotten on the inside. lay off my robot son, you little creep! in japanese he refers to kaede as “akamatsu-chan”; not sure if he’s acting cutesy or being inappropriately familiar. he’s a guaranteed red herring for as long as he’s still alive. i think he’s gonna get murdered. i’m going to enjoy this character despite him being a piece of shit. possibly homosexual; must remember to investigate further.

detective...wait...saihara? yeah, saihara: i want him to take his hat off already so we can see what his hair is like. what if *gasp* he has an ahoge, and it turns out he was the shadow protagonist all along??? anyway...his aptitude should be a big help in trials, and he’ll probably survive...for most of the game. i hope we don’t have to hear about his inferiority complex too often.

gonta “everybody’s bug encyclopedia” gokuhara: my other new son! he aspires to be a true gentleman, but he never wears any shoes! he’s the big strong one in this game’s cast, so odds are against him surviving chapter 4...they're not going to have a third character in this role die a heroic death, are they? i want to hear him talk excitedly about bugs, and i want to learn more about his wolf family too. love my boy gonta.

ryoma “i’ve got balls of steel” hoshi: okay, so...he was on death row...but then he was sent to this school instead? what? how does that happen?? he seems interesting! it’ll be hard to take him seriously when he’s got the same voice as gundam, though. i wonder if the fact that he’s killed before will ever make him a red herring, though there’s already three more likely red herrings from what i’ve seen.

??? rantaro amami: this guy’s capacity to stay cool under pressure and negotiate have got to be related to his SHSL talent. diplomat? politician? lawyer? hostage negotiator? he’s kinda cute...i have no idea what’s gonna happen with him. a murderer, perhaps?

gimp boy: *tabs back to official site* korekiyo shinguji. okay. that unfortunate mask is the first thing we all noticed about him and most likely the memento we’ll keep long after he’s dead. his questionable sense of morality makes him an obvious red herring, but it also gives me the sense he’s no murderer--i think he’d prefer to hang back and observe the chaos rather than actually kill someone himself, unless of course he has a burning desire to observe the beauty of a struggling, dying murder victim firsthand. very, very interesting guy. as morally ambiguous as komaeda, but sadly, not as good looking. probably gonna get murdered himself, and will find the experience ultimately beautiful. alternately, the most likely student to use the “feel free to eat anything you like” rule as an excuse to experiment with cannibalism.

himeno...himiko yumeno: *yawns* kinda gimmicky. i think her magic is in fact real, which would make it way funnier that she can only do magic tricks. probably gonna murder someone, because wouldn’t a magic show-themed execution be the best? perhaps she’d be able to pull out some genuine magic on the verge of death...only to get killed anyway.

tenko chisomething: damn i really thought she was gonna be cute up until she started being a dick to naegi in the demo. she surely has her reasons for being a sexist twat (to be revealed in free time #5) buuuuut i don’t think anything can make me like her. a possible red herring if a male student is murdered. will probably get murdered herself. i dare you, game: make me like her.

tsumugi: oh my gosh, she is cute. how i’d love to wear one of her creations! i love how kaede gets all bubbly over her. i’m expecting her to deliver on those promised anime/manga/video game references! no predictions yet for her...

tojo the ultimate maid-san: way too freaking cool. she got offered a job to take down a country? why couldn’t there be a maid this cool in fire emblem fates?? she’s so composed all the time, so i’d love to see what can genuinely ruffle her feathers. i’m guessing she’s a murderer. she probably has a katana concealed inside a broom like plum kitaki.

aja...augie...angie yonaga: clearly not the ultimate phlebotomist for a reason. just how much blood does she sacrifice on a regular basis? just where does it all go? okay, she’s gimmicky but cute. will probably live long enough to get on my nerves, but in the meantime, it’ll be fun hearing atua weigh in on things.

kaito: comes off as really smart in a really dumb way. i don’t know why he had to pass the astronaut exam before graduating high school so badly, but you gotta give him credit for succeeding. my instincts tell me he’s either a survivor or a murderer...but then, he probably wouldn’t be a murderer seeing as we’ve already had two executions involving rockets.

mako...maki: very, very cute. the first detailed character design we saw. up until meeting her in the demo, i was certain her talent would be something more action hero-y than child care. well, we know the core of her tragic backstory already. i hope she survives.

miu iruma: okay, she’s lewd. i can appreciate wanting to increase productivity when you’re sleeping. frankly, i’d love an invention that helps you breathe while asleep...though, actually, those already exist. maybe i’d go for the reading invention, then! i’d love to see her talent potentially come in handy. unfortunately i fear her dirty comments are going to achieve fukawa levels of annoyingness by the time she dies.

monokubs: oh look, merchandise opportunity! all they need is a purple one. i can get behind monokid’s fondness for going “hell yeah!” the demo lead me to believe monodam never talks, but he does in one of the trailers. so...who the hell built these things? not that i was all that satisfied by monokuma’s origins (aside from the fact that he is, in fact, made out of palm trees). i don’t think i’m ever going to give a crap about the monokubs...

i’d love to see if anyone else is making a post like this with their thoughts about NDRV3′s setting and characters! anyone who knows the story already, i hope you had a good laugh at how wrong i am.

[chaos-in-pandoras-box]

oo can u please tell us a hit more about jakosian races and how many there are? Cx they seem so cool~

I’d be happy to! Actually there are a couple links in our forum that cover all the Jakosian races. We don’t have information on the Radiants yet as the opportunity to work with them only opened up a few months ago, but you can find all the information on the races via our website encyclopedia or the listings themselves. ^-^

I’m going to post the forum thread below. Here’s the link to the Jakos Sublime page, which is separate from the forum post.

~

I think it's about time that I talk a little more about the Architects--who they are, what they do, and how they fit into the world of Jakos in the first place.There are six total Architects that are worshiped on Jakos. (There are actually seven Architects, but one is sort of their equivalent of Satan. But I'll get to that.) The Great Architect is the Immortal who gave life to the world to start, and created countless mega structures and cities across its surface. His name is Jakosrayovec--the same name that he gave to the planet. It also means "luminescence." Most everyone simply calls him Jakos. He is a galactic demonic force, and from my experience he has quite a large ego. If naming his own planet after himself wasn't enough of a clue, Jakos was the starter of most physical trends. He created the Jakos Demons, who are all reflections of himself.The second Architect who joined Jakos to assist in his creation was Vestrayn, or "darkness." Vestrayn is a being rarely spoken about. As Jakosians thrive off sound and light, they shun Vestrayn, who is a bringer of silence and shadows. He is related to Jakos and is necessary in order to have balance. Some say that he is also a Great Architect.The third Architect is known as Skul, whose name means "manifest." She is a lover of all things high class, and the beings that she created are known as the Neon Nobles. They're a race of reserved Jakosians fixated on social status, eletism, and order. Most of them have the mentality that in order to survive, you must be on top. Skul is no different in personality. She is aloof and collected, and has her own large following because of her "cool" aura and fancy tastes.The fourth Architect is Thorandorek, which translates to "self-creation." She is the Immortal who reigns over Ego, which plays a huge role in Jakosian lives. She did not contribute to the creation of a race of Jakosian, but helps in both balance and seperation of the types. She's contradiction and perfect blending at the same time, because she is both male and female. Thorandorek is a hermaphrodite, and allowed hermaphroditism to be possible on Jakos. The reason that she presides over Ego, however, is because she's devoted to giving Jakosians the will and drive to be whoever they want.The fifth Architect is known as Anhasi, which means quite literally in the Jakosian language "abhorrant." He is unique because he contributed to the creation of Jakosians by adding the race of the Demented. They are rough and unnerving Jakosians who enjoy pain, self-mutilation, and pretty much anything that would cause serious aversion. Anhasi is necessary, as he believes that perfection doesn't exist, and instead Jakosians are to achieve their own perfection by practicing forms of art, no matter what kind of art that is. Gender-bending is not only an art on Jakos, but a very common trend, and Anhasi is actually said to be female. He is always refered to as male, however, and holds the appearance of an androgyne.The sixth Architect is named Bladio, which translates to "ferine" or "wild." He was the creator of the Furfolk, who are a race of Jakosians who physically possess animalistic characteristics. Furfolk is an umbrella term that also includes avians, amphibians, aquatics, and reptillians. He is known for being extremely high in social status, and owns not only his own fashion line, but also is the creator of the largest online virtual communities on Jakos. He's well respected and liked, but sometimes seems a little desperate in personality.Lastly, called quite literally "the nicest Architect of them all," is Asyx, which means "rejuvenation." He did not contribute to creating a race of Jakosian, but he has the biggest band of devotees besides Jakos himself, and most of them took to calling themselves the Asyki, or in an English equivalent "the Angels." They normally possess white hair or light-colored eyes, and are the only group of Jakosians who don't normally decorate themselves in modifications like bioluminescence, tattoos, or surgical implants. They believe in keeping themselves "pure," because Asyx does not mod himself. He's known for being the most popular Architect besides Jakos and Bladio, and is also known for having a soft demeanor and very kind personality.Each Architect symbolizes a story, of sorts. Jakos is Inspiration, Skul is Manifestation, Thorandorek is Conceit, Anhasi is Mania, Bladio is Desperation, and then Asyx is Return. Basically the story goes that an individual has an idea, so he manifests it and molds it to make it his. In his success, he becomes conceited, which leads to mania when he gains so much power. Discovering the loss of everything else in his life, the individual gets desperate and starts searching for a way to come back down, so finally he drops what he created in the first place in order to obtain that feeling of mortality again. It's a very old story on Jakos, and a fable to never let too much power go to one's head. They believe that even their Great Architect has his limits.So I've outlined a bit about the Jakos Architects, but I wanted to go into more depth about the Jakosians themselves.For those of you familiar with the Jakos Demons, I won't talk about them extensively here, but I felt the need to include them anyway because they are, after all, a huge part of Jakosrayovec. The Architect Jakos created the Demons, who look extraordinarily similar to him. Know that dark-skinned, green-haired Demon wearing the eye piece and ring decor in my album? That's Jakos. At least... how he appeared to me on the day that he introduced himself as a god of the world. His Demons often possess horns, tails, hooves, pointed ears, or tan to dark skin. They decorate themselves in bioluminescent injections and fancy tattoos, which are very similar to Jakos's, except Jakos himself can create luminescence on his own. The Jakos Demons thrive on simple pleasures. Smoking, drinking, partying, hallucinogens and stimulants, good food, sex, etc. They are the dark, carnal beings of the night who lose themselves in music and dance. The Jakos Demons were originally the first Jakosians to be created, and were simply considered "Jakosians" and not "Demons" of any sort, but they later gained their name as their appearances matched the more carnal, feral looks that many demons possessed. Also, as Jakos began recruiting other Architects, the idea of other Jakosians grew to fruition, and the Demons needed a name and image to hold to consider themselves unique to Jakos himself.Although there is really no say as to which Architect created the next set of beings, the next ones I want to talk about are the Neon Nobles. Originally created by Skul, the Architect of social class and manifestation, the Nobles are beings of order, secrecy, creation, business, and social success. They're often times rich and/or famous, and they love to drown themselves in luxury. They're not liked all that much, because they're often regarded as snooty or pretentious, but this isn't often the case. The Nobles aren't always born into richness, but have a naturally charismatic charm to them that can get them on top of society swiftly. Skul, who took after Jakos quite a bit, created the Neon Nobles to easily retain luminous injections. Their skin is sensitive and actually translucent, and although lumi fades after a month ortwo, Neon Nobles can keep their colors for much longer than any other being. They are frequently decorated in lumi--often times more than even the Jakos Demons, and will wear outfits that glow, radiate color, or possess high contrast. This, of course, is how they gained their name. Instead of enjoying self pleasures like the Jakos Demons, the Neon Nobles enjoy conversation and fancy get-togethers over almost anything else. They will talk your ear off if you let them, especially about philosophical discussions or the quality of music tastes and fashionable dress. They're classy, refined, charismatic, and they easily make friends with like-minded individuals.Next on the list are the most feared and avoided beings on Jakos. Created by the infamous Anhasi, Architect of abhorrence and, ironically, art... the Jakos Demented are the crazies of society. Anhasi wished to contribute to the creation of mortals by giving the world little portions of himself. The Demented encompass Anhasi's complex thinking and dangerous mind. The Demented are trouble makers. They are often the beings found in prison for doing wild, crazy stunts. They're renowned on Jakos for self-mutilation and artistic scarification. They tempt people to think outside the box, and to face their fears with wild abandon. They are often difficult to look at, as they take pleasure in the grotesque sides of mortality and aren't afraid to mar up their faces or bodies for their own enjoyment. They enjoy pain--both giving and receiving--and are often not perfectly stable mentally. They are into tattoos and lumi, as well as sugically modifying themselves. What is unique about the Demented is that all other Jakosians can fall into their category. It depends on how far skewed the Jakosians' thoughts have gone, whether they have gone crazy, or are simply into the more perverted realms and taboo ideas of society. The only major worry about the Demented is that they are the wild cards of Jakos. They can be dangerous. And for that reason, any Demented binding done in our shop will be screened and done by Anhasi himself, as he has agreed.The Jakos Furfolk are a race of people who physically possess animal-like characteristics. They were created by Bladio, who holds the appearance of a Fur himself. They are likeable beings who are some of the easiest to get along with. They are social and love to band together to share similar tastes. You could easily relate them to the "furries" of Earth. They're normally very playful and youthful, and enjoy online communities or invite-only parties. They're not very big fans of Neon Nobles, as they typically dislike politics or any thought of rising high in social status. There are several branches of Furfolk, which is actually an umbrella term to cover several animal-type beings. There are the Mammilians, Avians, Reptilians, Aquatics, Amphibians, and Insectoids. Each type has its own unique characteristics, but some are rarer to see than others. The Amphibian and Aquatic beings normally live in select few cities where entire waterway systems have been built for them to travel around from place to place. They frequently keep to themselves instead of mingling with the other types. Despite the Furfolk being labeled by fur, it's actually the Reptilian race that has the biggest appearance on Jakos out of the bunch.Architect Asyx's Jakos Angels are actually not Angels at all. In fact... Asyx didn't even create them. The Angels are Asyx's devotees, and are actually called the "Asyki" on Jakos, which basically means "Asyx's loyal followers." The reason they are compared to Angels, however, is because of their do-gooder personalities. They're frequently devoted to bettering the community around them. They get along with all the other races, but often are friends to the Demons and Furfolk. Contrary to any premade judgments, the Angels actually get along best with the Demons, because they are quite opposite in personality. The only beings they have trouble hanging around are ofthen the Demented, since the Demented are so difficult to understand. The Angels prefer not to be in the spotlight, but it doesn't stop them from joining in on parties and music if it's available. They're the most laid back of all Jakosians, and prefer to stay lowkey and reserved if at all possible. They enjoy quiet evenings just as much as the high energy ones, but definitely prefer general comforts over much else. Slow, easy music, warm drinks, and lounging around to watch television or casually gaming are their favorite things to do. Since they are Asyx's devotees, they frequently take on a similar appearance to him. Asyx has white hair and pale eyes, and so his Asyki have that as well. They don't generally decorate themselves in modifications or lumi, because Asyx does not. They're known as being the "pure" Jakosians, which only adds more to their Angel nickname and the idea that they are the compatible opposites of the Jakos Demons.There are occasions when two different races can mix, like with the case of the Demented and the others. I've been witness to an Angel getting modded to be a Demon, or a Noble dropping their status and joining Asyx's devotees to be an Angel. But it isn't common. In their blood they still carry the genes of their Architect's faction. The only exception to that are the Demented, who are immediately taken under the wing of Anhasi if a Jakosian loses their mind. If two Jakosians of different races decide to procreate, their children are often one or the other, and their genes do not frequently mix. A Fur and a Demon will create either another Fur or another Demon, rather than a Demonic Fur. Same goes with a Noble who decides to get with one of those two. Although the Angels and the Demented can mix and match, the other three races cannot. The Angels can actually be any of the races. I've seen some with animal characteristics or translucent skin like the Nobles. There is no "blank slate" Jakosian, as each one fits into one of the five races. As stated in a previous blog, the Architects Thorandorek and Vestrayn never contributed to the creation of the Jakosians, but they do play a huge part in their lives. Anhasi was inspired by Thorandorek to gender-bend, and many of the Demented are inspired by Vestrayn to find comfort in darkness.

[x-sapphire-flames-x-blog]

WordPress - A Truly Amazing Tool

WordPress - A Truly Amazing Tool

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Ata Rehman

[terpomo11]

Interview with a TV Tropes contributor

This is a cleaned-up transcript, with spelling and punctuation polished and irrelevant side discussion edited out, of my interview with Miranda Garfinkle, an acquaintance of mine. I interviewed her through mushoku.tk, a website for text-based chatting.

My interviewee, as I interviewed her

My interviewee, as she appears in real life

Q: How did you first become aware of TV Tropes? How did you first become interested?

A: Oh man. I'm not sure I remember how I first became AWARE of it. I think what probably happened was I was looking up a show I'd finished, and the TVTropes link popped up front and center

Q: So, just sort of incidentally by random chance? By something unrelated, I mean?

A: I thiiiiiink so? Pretty sure nobody directed me to it or anything. After that it was pretty much a textbook rabbit hole. I really liked reading the example listings and finding new shows or comics that used tropes I liked by searching the examples on those trope pages. I also just really liked reading the trope descriptions and being like "Oh hey, I've seen this one! I know this one!" So that's what got me hooked, I guess.

Q: So what got you interested in contributing/editing?

A: It was pretty shallow - there were some tropes I recognized in shows I'd watched that didn't have the show listed in the example pages, so I made an account to add in the examples that were missing. It was fun recapping scenes I'd found awesome or compelling and getting across how cool they were, or how good of a trope execution it was.

Q: And in your experience, what sort of person is drawn to TV Tropes?

Hm... hard to say. I think there are a few groups. They're almost all fans of stuff, but that doesn't really narrow the demographic at all... You get some people who are hardcore fans of a handful of shows - the people who excitedly talk about plot twists and reveals with people who've never even heard of the shows before, because they just love discussing what made the show great. Those people show up to fill the example pages. Usually they give lurid descriptions, feature quotes from the example, etcetera. They're just there to have fun, pretty much. And I also think you get writers or aspiring writers, who tend to do more meta-analysis of the tropes and discuss variants and what exactly makes the tropes work or not work. They usually build up the trope description and debate what qualifies as a trope deserving of a page and somewhere in the middle you get people who just kinda go through and say "oh yeah <story> did this" and move on. But there's also a significant population who just reads tvtropes without adding to it. It's rather famously a huge timesink and it's weirdly easy to get lost in it for days at a time. I'm pretty sure a lot of people also jump in to add their favorite example/beef up the page for that story and squee about their fave part...yeah, I'm sure there's a large casual editor population.

Q: So would you say TV Tropes has changed how you look at fiction and media? For better or worse?

A: Hm. Well it definitely changed it, and I THINK it's for the better, but I do miss being surprised by simple plot twists. TV Tropes makes you really good at recognizing tropes in action but as a result you start developing an eye for troped-up plot twists and while it can be fun to be like "whoa yeah this part of the story WAS cool AND it's a trope with a million other examples that do the cool thing too!" after a while it turns into "oh hey they're doing this, neat." But at the same time I think it helped me figure out what parts of stories I actually liked, since I could specify like "I really like THIS SPECIFIC KIND OF TWIST ON THIS KIND OF CHARACTER." If anything I think the major thing TV Tropes helped me realize/internalize is that tropes and cliches really AREN'T inherently bad. It's really really easy to have a knee-jerk reaction to a trope showing up and just kind of dismiss the story for laziness but it's a lot more complicated than just "a cliche in your writing makes you a bad writer". As long as it makes sense and works and doesn't feel jarring a trope can be just as effective as an original twist, and in the process of striving for originality a lot of writers contort themselves in uncomfortable or unworkable directions just trying to play floor-is-lava with established literary devices. Anyway, yeah, TV Tropes definitely changed how I view stories and realizing that I didn't need an immediate scornful dismissiveness towards tropes was a big one for me at least.

Q: Do you find the specialized vocabulary of TV Tropes useful, even outside of TV Tropes?

Sometimes, yeah. I personally like using "Heel Face Turn" and "Face Heel Turn" to succinctly describe morality flips, and beyond that five man band, The Lancer, The Heart, Jerk with a Heart of Gold, etc - the specific character descriptors are very useful because otherwise they'd be kinda hard to succinctly encapsulate. And I personally really like "Planet of Hats" specifically because it sounds SO MENTAL but it's such a simple and yet hard-to-describe concept. But yes, the vocabulary of TV Tropes makes certain writing or analytical conversations a lot easier.

Q: Do you find it frustrating to communicate about storytelling to people who aren't familiar with the terminology?

Mm… occasionally, I guess, but I find generally we're discussing stuff that's either too specific or generally outside the scope of most trope names, or if I'm ranting about something I like I'll be going into a lot of detail anyway rather than aiming for efficiency, but sometimes it can be a bit annoying, like if I'm trying to say "this character is a Lancer" I don't wanna have to try and encapsulate that in more complicated terms.

Q: In your experience, does a lot of active discourse go on on the wiki, about how to build it, or is it mostly individual contributors working on their own and communicating when there's a conflict or a problem?

A:It seemed more like the latter to me, but that's mostly because I hardly ever participated in the discourse. Some pages have a lot of conversation behind the scenes, and apparently choice of example photo is hotly debated, but there's not much structure from what I saw.

Q: But there's communication/discourse going on?

Some, yeah.

Q: What things would you say are the biggest discourse magnets/generators?

I honestly don't know much about them. Like I said, I didn't participate, and they're fairly behind-the-scenes - some pages have attached "discussion" pages, but you never have to interact with them. The one time I went to one, it was because I noticed a picture I'd added had been changed back, and there was something of a "WHAT IDIOT PUT IN THE NEW PHOTO" shitstorm happening behind the scenes. Rather discouraged me from engaging, really.

Q: ­Okay, now if you had to sum up in one sentence the essence of what TV Tropes is about, or the essence of its mission, or fundamental conceptual basis, what would you say? Or not necessarily in one sentence, but in a nutshell, based on your experience.

A: Uh, hm. "An encyclopedia of notable storytelling tricks and trends."

Q: Would you say there's a fundamental premise or assumption that TV Tropes starts from or is based on?

A: Probably nothing more complex than "tropes exist."

Q: Nothing about what a trope is? Their definition of the word seems a tad specialized, given that the normal meaning as I understand it is something like "a figure of speech."

A: "Some story building-blocks show up a lot, let's talk about 'em"?

Q: So would you say "story building-blocks" is what they understand by "tropes"?

A: Well I think that's how they're defining it, in its simplest terms.

Q: And, fundamentally, why do you think people like TV Tropes? Or perhaps is there no single common motivation?

A: I think it's just… fun, in a very strange and hard-to-pin-down way. It lets you reminisce about the cool parts of stuff you liked, and it lets you break down what exactly was cool about those cool parts, and excitedly scream into the void about how cool those cool parts were… It's kind of like watching a "greatest hits" compilation of only shows you like.

Q: And as to why people get trapped for hours on end, any idea? Or is that just regular wikiwalkery? It seems like some wikis do that a lot more easily.

A: I think there's a lot less mental effort in a TV Tropes wikiwalk than in, say, a Wikipedia wikiwalk, since in the latter case you're potentially diving into really heavy, weird or just kind of arcane stuff. TV Tropes stays comfortable since it's all stuff we can recognize and kind of go "Oh yeah, this thing."

Addendum: An illustrative image, showing just .23 percent of the tropes, and giving an idea of just how interconnected they are. From this article.

From the same article, a map of TV Tropes as a whole, with colored regions being groups that are more densely interconnected with each other