#the longer a plotline the harder it is to manage the pacing

[virtualcarrot]

I miss 70 hours campaign games

[sharpth1ng]

how do you manage to write ~5k word chapters, currently attempting to write a fic myself and damn is it hard

Honestly and truly I think it gets easier the more you flesh out the world it exists in, and this just takes time. When I was first writing Debaser it was a lot harder to write at the volume I do now because I just didn't know what more belonged in a given chapter or scene. When I wrote chapter 7 it felt crazy long at something like 7K and now I have several 18-20k words under my belt.

Mostly this happens in chapters that have a lot of meaty events to sink your teeth into. If you have multiple running plot lines, like one main plotline and then several smaller side plots running alongside you have a lot that you can use to fill things out.

You just keep checking in with those side plots as you go, I often do this after bigger events in the main plotline because it gives a little bit of breathing room before the next big event. Side plots like that are also a good opportunity to set things up for your main plot in advance, which makes for a satisfying narrative. For the reader its like dominos falling into place (this is something I really like as a reader).

The other thing that makes a chapter long is when you need to work in an emotional arc. This happens to me a lot with Billy, who is a character that takes a lot of convincing to get to a state where he's likely to do the thing you want him to. I had to put Stu in a coma to get Billy to say he loved him, yk? So sometimes it's just a process of needing to figure out exactly what needs to happen to put a character in a particular mental state that can make for a long ass chapter.

But I would also say it's ok to have shorter chapters sometimes (or all the time). Not all of them need to be the same length and it's more important to make sure that the chapter does everything you need it to. Don't force yourself to make it longer if the pacing already feels good and the important events are there. There's value in concision too!

As a writer I'm also fighting the urge to make everything long to match the crazy ass 20k chapters. I just don't think that would actually serve the story, so I try to monitor my writing for unnecessary bloat as well. I want the details to matter, I don't want you to feel like glossing over them because you know it doesn't have any bearing on the plot or characters.

[thrandilf]

Episodic, Serialized, Mixing the Two, and "Filler"

Been dwelling on what I personally find effective in media and what's been grinding my gears about when things flatline for me and I'd rather sit down and write about it than continue to pace while doing the Italian finger pinch thing

First off, filler is technically about when an anime goes beyond what a manga has completed and because they got ahead, they started to just screw around while waiting for more manga, so while I acknowledge that origin of the phrase, the way people often use filler now is for episodes disconnected from the main plot

And a lot of people miss "filler"/what they mean is more chill or self contained episodes, and while the concept of them doesn't usually appeal to me for pacing reasons, there's a way to do it well that I wish more shows did

So, my bias/preference is fully serialized shows which is usually harder to find in western animation, The Dragon Prince being one of the few I've ever found that's never had a full episode of Nothing because there's always an overarching plot and tension to be found. There are "filler" moments where characters on their journey have some downtime which is used for bonding and/or world-building, but they don't dedicate whole episodes to it to break the pacing, which I appreciate. However, most shows don't do this

On the other far end of the spectrum you have something fully episodic and formulaic like Phineas and Ferb where every episode is its own thing with occasional callbacks to other episodes, but it is a sort of watch in any order whenever show and I find that this actually works for me as well- when it's the expectation from the start

Some shows go for a mix of the two, and usually that's where I get tripped up.

They're shows that I like/think are Good beyond a doubt, but to give examples, Gravity Falls and RotTMNT both start off with an episode that gives you a concept of an overarching plot, a mystery to solve or otherwise a big bad, respectively. Now, I understand that a lot of shows are still under the parameters of needing to be able to be viewed in any order by people tuning in on tv (although with streaming I think this is falling by the wayside/writing this way no longer makes sense to me) but it does make sitting down to watch them a tad infuriating, because then you're waiting for a continuation of this main plot you're hooked on, but a lot of the episodes you watch right afterwards don't fundamentally matter.

Sometimes they matter- a standalone episode with character development or a new piece of information is nice, but sometimes even that isn't there, and why it gets to me while PnF doesn't is just the initial expectation set that we're going somewhere and then totally dropping the plotline or a sense of progress for awhile. In GF we get hints as time goes on/other people have numbered books, but you have to dial back your expectations/adjust to just enjoying the day to day adventures (which are enjoyable!) and shelve the main plot. PnF never led me to suspect there was a bigger picture plot to worry about, so it doesn't hang over me/leave me unsatisfied. It does what it set out to do

However, a mix of the two can work

AtLA is good at the episodic bits still mattering, but beyond that I'd argue Lego Monkie Kid is the best at it. Although the show is almost exclusively episodic in season 1, more mixed in season 2, and then gets to be pretty much all serialized in 3 and 4, season 1 managed to be episodic while still holding my attention.

No LMK episode is a "skip" from me due to even the self contained monster of the week episodes still revealing new information such as more of MK's powers so there's a sense of progress, giving character info, introducing new characters, and/or new lore.

Most importantly, the lore and character details we get matter- 1x03 is the only time we see Mei's parents, but her relationship with her family is an ongoing thread through the rest of the show. 1x05 was a goldmine of characterization and how people in MK's life don't act, with the concept of a "perfect world" being something we touch on in the s3 climax. 1x06 introduced the peaches of immortality. 1x07 hits on a character flaw MK doesn't get over in just one episode, 1x09 is arguably the most important episode in all of S1 due to introducing Macaque and giving us a lot more information about the depth's of Wukong's past, which raises questions the show then delivers on later.

It all establishes something relevant to enhance later episodes

And all in the background, right from 1x01, we get hints of other intrigue developing as the Demon Bull Family finds LBD's prison and plans to spring her

Season 2 is especially effective with still coming off as rather episodic but the heroes spend the entire season unknowingly losing while LBD and SQ gather materials, and we also have whatever Wukong is up to piquing our interest. The tension only grows even if almost every S2 episode is self contained. 2x04 doesn't involve the main villains, but it does set up Pigsy and MK's relationship more as well as how important Pigsy's sense of family and tradition is, which again comes back later in S4

A lot of effective, seemingly off topic "filler" winds up not being filler at all, but was working to build something later. Sometimes, a show is better on a rewatch for reasons like that,

but when it feels like the ball is dropped and relationships weren't enhanced or we didn't learn anything from it, or characters acted like there may be consequences for something and then nothing happened nor was it acknowledged and now we're moving on forever, it's like well, what was the point of that then?

This is all to say that episodic storytelling can really work, and I get frustrated when we don't tap back into a main plot even for a few seconds or there wasn't anything new. The fun beach episode can still give me character development or even pan back to the villains at the end to give me the sense that something's coming to keep tension up (I'm not far in it, but Amphibia seems to have a good sense of this too where I have a lot of questions and I gradually get answers/hints that answers are coming as well as character flaws/developments being established)

TLDR:

The questions an audience are meant to be asking should be answered at some point, and even though they should be paced out and given time, when it feels like a show forgot about them entirely before making a sharp swerve back (or worse, never addressing the threads it introduced), it can make people feel like there was no point in paying attention.

Episodic shows that want to tie into a larger plot can still work by keeping a background sense of tension and building in new information, which I wish was done more often instead of being majorly episodic Or serialized, where only a few episodes in a show fully tie together which makes the shift from episode 1 plot, nothing, and then OH GOD FINALE PLOT really jarring to me

I also bring this up because as a writer, it's what I try to keep in the back of my mind for my own writing, and seeing what does and doesn't work for me and why is helpful

Also yes, this is a Monkie Kid endorsement ty for coming

[eunkimmie]

i have always loved you

anonymous: How about about Sal and fem!Y/N raising a baby together? The two were FWBs, but then a slip-up resulted in Y/N becoming pregnant so they ended the sexual relationship and opted to co-parent. Thankfully, they were graduating from uni soon at the time of their slip-up. As the years roll by, Sal and Y/N grow closer and slowly fall in love. They get together after realizing their feelings for each other are genuine and eventually have another baby.

(had to reupload)

warnings: she/her pronouns, pregnancy, FWB, nsfw, non-canonical Sally Face plotline word count: 3.6k Sal was a sentimental guy. He had a lot of feelings swirling around in his heart. Big feelings for a small guy. As true as that was, Sal was never one to see sex as anything sacred or sentimental. He didn't believe in "saving himself" for anyone—it just wasn't something that was for him personally. To him, sex was just something that came to those that experienced sexual attraction. Arousal wasn't a foreign feeling to Sal, he had been a teenager once, too. Sal was attracted to her. This girl—Sal barely even knew her name, god—was just hot to him. His type, for sure. You were Niel's friend and greeted the group with a smile. Sal was twenty-one now. Twenty-one years old, never had a girlfriend, and a virgin. Sal supposed that his teenage years weren't exactly spent pining over girls or having sex. To Sal, virginity wasn't anything more than a social construct. So why was it that he was suddenly so aware of his own virginity as this girl—(Name)—laid below him with her brows furrowed in pleasure. It was dark, pitch-black almost, to the point where you couldn't make out the scarred features on Sal's face. Very much intentional. He was sure he looked like a fool, anyway. His eyes rolled back in ecstasy, lips parted as grunts and breathy moans came from his lips.

Sal's shaky hands came down to grab the sides of your hips, angling his own hips to thrust into you and pull your body back down on his dick. It was hot in every way, Sal felt like his entire body had been set on fire. His hair that had been messily pulled up into a bun was barely tied up anymore, blue strands stringing down from his ears. You screamed as Sal moved his hands up to your back, pulling your entire body up to manage a new position. You rode him as Sal's hips snapped back up in sharp rhythm to meet a steady pace, moaning loudly, shamelessly, as his cock buried deeper inside you with each thrust.

"F—uck. Fuck!" you screamed, arms wrapping around Sal's neck as his teeth bit every so gently down into the curve of your neck. Your nails ran down his back, no doubt leaving scratches behind, which made Sal groan. Maybe he was a bit of a masochist.

"Fuck. Fuck, fuck fuck—" Sal pushed you down to lay on your back, pulling out quickly and pumping the tip of his cock hastily before finishing on your stomach. The two of you breathed in quick rhythm, Sal eventually collapsing down on the mattress of his bed. He felt his face burn hot, realizing the rash decision he had made. He hadn't even asked. "S-Sorry," he gasped between breaths. You didn't seem to mind, giving him an honest "it's alright" before wiping your stomach off with a few tissues. You dismissed yourself to go take a shower after putting your clothes back on, the two of you suddenly hyper-aware of Sal's roommates.

Sal pulled his boxers back on as well as his prosthetic and laid out on his bed feeling embarrassed. He hadn't exactly...made you finish. Fuck, you probably thought he was some kind of loser. His first time and he finished in probably five minutes. All Sal could do was groan in mortification and get dressed, shamefully, of course.

He had already settled back into his bed with a video game by the time he heard a knock on his door. You made your way in after his go-ahead, hair wet and chipper.

"Hey," you said plainly. You pointed to a spot on his bed, and after his approval, you sat down comfortably. Sal felt embarrassed all over again. "Um...sorry. About that. I don't really—I mean, I've never—"

Your laugh cut him off. It seemed harmless, and Sal felt his shoulders relax a bit as you waved a dismissive hand. "Hey, don't worry about that. Seriously. I'm not going to judge you over sex." He gulped, staring at you beneath his prosthetic. You seemed awfully understanding, but your reassurance did make him feel better. A beat of silence passed before you spoke up again. "Maybe...we could keep doing that? If you'd want to? Sorry if that sounds intrusive."

"Like..." Sal paused, setting his game down and watching as your body language showed signs of bashfulness. He felt a bit surprised at your own timid nature. Hadn't you realized how bad he was at the sex stuff? Really, he only copied what he had seen in porn. Copied it poorly, that is. "Like some kind of friends with benefits thing? Even though I suck?" That made you laugh, and it was such a beautiful sight to behold. The bed shook as you turned to face him properly, legs crossed on his mattress. "I don't think you suck. Fuck, I sound like some kind of pervert...But, still. You don't have to say yes, of course...I just thought, well. I thought I would at least ask."

Sal would've been an idiot to say no.

The two of you continued like that for a while, probably for longer than you should've as just two friends. You were close friends, friends that fucked every once in a while. It seemed to satisfy the both of you, but you two were by no means careful. Usually, the two of you had sex on a whim—he could recall the riskiest time was when the entire group was out shopping and the two of you got one out in a bathroom. Still, Sal just...never really considered the risks. Besides, the two of you had been doing it for this long, and nothing had happened, so the chances must be low, right?

...One morning you showed up at Sal's little shared house.

"...Hey. Are you the only one home right now?" Sal opened the door to let you in, eyes widening just a bit as he shrugged. Perhaps your relationship had gotten too casual, but he just hadn't ever stopped to even ponder the situation. Sure, he had a little crush on you when Niel introduced you to the group, but that turned into a sexual relationship. Maybe Sal had feelings for you. Maybe they were buried so deeply that Sal never even realized. But he knew that, even outside of your sexual relationship, that he cared for you regardless.

"Yeah. It's a little early, isn't it?" You breezed past him, sitting down at the dining table and sliding a wrapped breakfast sandwich across the table, a gesture for him to sit. He watched as you bit into your own, curious. "Did you just want to talk?" You offered him a smile, one that signaled that you were here not to have sex, but instead to just be a friend.

Sometimes Sal couldn't help but wonder. He'd get lost in his thoughts, listening to ambient music in his room, what would life be like if you two had just stayed friends? Maybe that could've lead to a real relationship. Maybe. And the two of you weren't in a situation where it was awkward, or where they would have to sneak out of the other's room after a night of sex. They could cuddle and wake up next to each other, have some breakfast, and carry on. Sal always felt butterflies when he woke up and you were sleeping next to him. In some ways, he felt wrong for feeling that way. He didn't know what to feel. Perhaps a part of him figured that this was the closest he would ever be able to get to have a real romance with you. Sal didn't know. It hurt his head if he thought about it for too long, so really, why even bother pondering the possibilities?

But when you sat across from him, so mundane, eating a breakfast sandwich and looking sleepy, how could he not feel these things?

"Is that bad? If I just talk?" you looked up at him, hoping you hadn't caught him in the middle of anything important. It wasn't bad. It was never bad. Sal always had time for you. "No, I was just laying around. Todd and Niel went off to the supermarket, and I think Larry is out in the shed."

"Right, well..." you paused, biting your lip. "Okay, so you know how we always promised to be open with one another? Like transparency?" Sal quirked an eyebrow, nodding and gesturing for you to go ahead. "Yeah, so like. Fuck, man, I'm just gonna come out and say it. I missed my fucking period." At this, he saw your hands clench a bit harder down on the sandwich you were holding. Your eyes gathered tears in the bottom lid, and you sucked in a sharp breath. "A-And I don't know if that means anything, like shit. It couldn't, and I would be here just freaking you the fuck out, but I dunno man. I'm just...Shit, I don't fucking know what the hell I would do if I were..." Sal stayed silent, the cogs turning slowly in his head.

"A-And I don't know, like, I'm twenty-two. I know a lot of people have kids by now, but I just—I don't know, and it's not like I'm asking you to be super involved it's just—"

"What? I would want to be involved." Sal's lips seemed to move on their own, but it was just so painfully obvious to him. Obviously. Obviously, he wanted to be involved. It wasn't a question, really. The two of you had known each other for about a year now, and even though nothing was truly going on...Truth to be told, Sal couldn't help but think about you even after you were gone.

After about five positive pregnancy tests, the two of you agreed to stop your situation. There were a lot of tears, more so from you with Sal rubbing circles on your back. You would cry to him about how you weren't ready, or how you were going to fuck up, and all Sal could do was be there for you. Sal didn't see him as much as a father type. In fact, the two of you hadn't even ever worked out what the situation was. He wasn't even sure there was a situation.

It was strange. Sal wasn't a father. He didn't look like a father. He didn't know how a father was supposed to behave. Sal spent his weekends playing video games and learning Pokemon themes on his guitar, that wasn't what a father was supposed to do. At the very least, Sal had already moved his bed and belongings to the basement of the house and made a makeshift nursery in his bedroom.

A baby girl, chubby and crying had come after months of going back and forth on what to do. It was strange. Sal never saw himself as an adult. He'd grown in height and gained some tone in his body, yet still he couldn't differentiate the person in the mirror from the kid who used to wear pigtails every day and get pushed around in school.

What was probably worse is that Sal didn't feel a connection with his child. The child was his, undoubtedly, but he didn't feel much. He had read and heard about parents being so enamored and parents who just immediately felt love for their child, but Sal didn't. He stared back at the baby girl, her features taking after yours for the most part, yet hair as blue as the sky, and furrowed his brow. You, on the other hand, held the child close to you, foreheads touched together as the baby cried and you let out shaky breaths. Parents didn't always have that immediate connection with their children, but, even still...Sal could open his heart up just this time for a child. For you. Even though he had seen the worst of what the world had to offer, he would try.

Try he did. Sal couldn't see any other reason to do anything but for his child. Diane. That was her name. There wasn't any other option, and you had almost instantly agreed. Henry cried, the recollection of his late wife and his memory as a father had come forward as he sobbed when Sal's baby had touched his face for the first time, tugging at his beard. Sal's dad hadn't been there for him when he needed it most, coming around in an attempt to make things right when it was almost too late, but Sal refused to make that mistake. He did everything for his daughter. He was taking online college courses to get a degree in graphics. He did so much, too much, maybe, as in the wake of his determination the two of you hadn't even discussed your own relationship. In fact, it never even came to mind until Larry had asked. The two were sitting outside after having met up at the lake. Larry, moved out by now and living in a shared apartment closer to his community college, and Sal, still living with you, Todd, and Neil, sat in the grass drinking sodas.

"So...I don't know, man."

"Huh?" Sal had looked over at him. The sun had just barely dipped down beyond the horizon, the sky a pale purple. Larry shrugged, pursing his lips together in thought. "You know, a lot of people who have a kid and live together are at least dating. In most situations." Sal continued to stare, the realization of his words sinking in. Larry was right. Sal knew he was right. Perhaps Sal had forgotten. And that was truthful, too. It was so easy to forget when the two of you were living together, raising a child, and maybe just every once in a while waking up next to each other like you used to.

"And don't get me wrong, I'm not judging. In fact, I couldn't be happier for you. Ash too. You haven't really been this happy, this grounded, since you got here. To Nockfell. It's just...I dunno. Haven't you ever thought of, like, marriage?"

Marriage. Yeah, Sal had thought of marriage. The first time he saw his child he thought of it. The first time he held her, the first time he had taken off his prosthetic and his little girl just stared up at him in the same way before her little hands reached up and grabbed at his nose, he thought of marriage. Even before that. When your stomach was swollen, seven months pregnant, and Sal had caught you staring down at your stomach with a swirling mix of emotions behind your eyes, he thought of marriage. The two of you slept in the same bed. Every time he'd wake up next to you, he thought of marriage.

Sal Fisher was so undeniably in love with you. He had been so undeniably in love with you, maybe even from the first time he laid eyes on you. It hadn't ever been about sex. It had been about you. About how you smiled at him, and how your arms would wrap around his shoulders as you kissed him deeply. It had always been about you. Sal had been so blinded, he truly thought sex was the only way to keep you around. But now...Well, shit, what now?

"...I have," Sal finally responded. "I love her."

Larry stared at his friend, Sal's eyes roaming over the moon's reflection in the water.

"Isn't that answer enough?"

. . .

Little Diane was two, now. Sal finished his basic courses and graduated from the two-year school. The two of you were busy packing up your daughter's belongings into boxes, a moving truck waiting outside.

"Are you sure we cant convince you to stay?" Niel joked, hand intertwined in Todd's. Todd nudged his husband, laughing a bit with a furrowed brow. "Yeah, it's not like they have a kid or anything." You laughed, smiling brightly at the two. It had been a long journey of memories in this little house. It wouldn't ever be a place you nor Sal would forget. But it was time to move on. Sal had gotten accepted into a college to finish out his degree, and you had managed to get a job with a lot of flexibility in the same area.

"Yeah, but...California. It's just so far. And so different from Nockfell."

"True, but I think that's a good thing, honestly. This town is so strange...I could never figure out why, but it just gave me this feeling...And I don't want Diane spending her childhood years here." Todd exchanged a knowing look with Sal, the two remaining silent about the shared knowledge. Todd cleared his throat, ridding his head of the foul memories. "I suppose you're right. We'll have to come and visit sometime."

Larry and Ash had come over to the house as well, all helping you and Sal move and disassemble furniture. Gizmo was purring happily on the couch, content to watch the rest of you do all the heavy lifting until it was time to go. Henry and Lisa had even come over, Diane resting in her grandfather's arms. With all of the helping hands, you and Sal were about ready to get moving in just a few hours,

The two of you stood outside the house, your daughter asleep in her car seat in the back of the moving truck. It was strange. Sal had spent years in this town. He was just a kid. A kid that played guitar and a kid that loved video games. A kid that would search for an hour with his best friend Larry for quarters hiding around Addison Apartments just to buy a bag of chips from the lousy vending machines downstairs. A kid that had gotten mixed up with the supernatural that he would be sure to protect his daughter from. A kid that simply met a friend of a friend and fell in love with her smile. Sal couldn't help but wonder how different his life would be if not for you.

You and Sal exchanged your goodbyes tearfully with your friends and family, promising to keep in touch. And finally, with a turn of a key, you were off to a new life. It was a long drive in which Sal reflected on his life. He could've been a nobody. He could've been that weird kid with some weird mask and from a weird town. Just another picture in a yearbook. Maybe in another life, he had been a murder. He chuckled...how unlikely. He couldn't have ever imagined his life like this. Sal Fisher, the family man. He wasn't too sure that his face would fit in at a PTA meeting.

After hours on the road and multiple stops, the two of you arrived at a neighborhood with a row of brick townhomes lining the road. They weren't the best or the most luxurious, but they were within walking distance of schools and a good driving distance from Sal's university and your job. Maybe it was a bit cliche, and in sincerity, all too normal for Sal's life. He was the guy who had talked to ghosts, and yet he was about to move into a cookie-cutter neighborhood with a kid.

The two of you stepped into the house, the smell of dust being the most prominent. It would need cleaning and hard work, but it was yours. Sal didn't think he was exactly cut out for the whole "white picket fence" family, but a family nonetheless.

A family. A husband, a wife, and a daughter. Except, that wasn't his situation. He had a friend and a daughter.

Sal stared at his life. Twenty-five. Years had gone by, probably in the most unexpected way that Sal could ever imagine for himself, yet he still felt as if he hadn't moved very far with you. But you were here. In a house that you two had bought together, with eyes he had stared into for four years. His daughter with his mother's name and his hair was in your arms, giggling and squirming around, eager to crawl around the new environment. He looked over at you, eyes shining bright with hope of a new adventure and lips upturned in a smile.

"Can you believe it? Sal, our own place. This is insane. Can you believe it?" your head turned to meet his gaze, tears gathering in your eyelids. Sal stared at you, eyebrows furrowed. "Sal?"

"Marry me."

The words came out fast, but the same nonetheless. The weight of them wasn't something Sal was aware of. He had been thinking of this for years. Never the right time, never the right place. But everything seemed right. Standing here, seeing you smile the same way as you did at that first meeting years ago. It was different now. He couldn't imagine a life without you in it. Sal wanted to see you smile as he slid a wedding band on your ring finger. He fantasized about his little girl walking down and throwing petals. It was silly, but it was what he wanted. He was sure of it.

"W-What?"

"Marry me. I love you."

You stared at him, mouth agape as the breath was taken from you. This was Sal. The father of your child. It was Sal, the one who had refused to leave your side when you were pregnant. Who stayed calm when you couldn't. Who had played with your daughter and refused to stop smiling for her. Even before that, it was the same Sal who had kissed you like there was nothing else in the world to do. Sal Fisher was full of love to give and wanted nothing but the best for everyone around him despite the world throwing so many challenges his way. What other response was there to give?

Sal took your hand after lowering his prosthetic, eyes staring seriously. "Will you marry me?"

"...Yes."

[michelles-garden-of-evil]

Ian Martin’s Strange Paradise, Part I: The Top 5 Best Things

SPOILERS FOR LATE MALJARDIN AND BOTH DESMOND HALL ARCS

Hello and welcome again to my Garden of Evil, where this week I’m doing something a little different. Episode 44 having marked the departure of co-creator and original headwriter Ian Martin, we have officially reached the end of an era of Strange Paradise history. No longer will discussions and speculation on Martin’s authorial intent be relevant to the happenings on this show (although I will continue to give my thoughts on the Lost Episode summaries), now that Bob Costello is running the show with a different authorial intent.

Ian Martin’s episodes contrast with the second half of Maljardin in many ways. The pace is slower, the structure and characterizations more like those of a standard soap, and the tone at times borders on comedy. He also appears to have put more thought into the characters’ backstories than any of the other writers, much of which he never got the chance to show on screen. Moreover, of all the show’s writers, he seems to have put the most of his own heart and soul into it, if the death of his first wife six years earlier and his reuse of elements from the series in his later works are any indication.

That brings me to my plans for this week in my Garden of Evil. Before moving on to review Episode 45, I will post my final thoughts on his episodes, first listing what I consider the top five best things about his period headwriting the show. Next, I will make another of the top five worst things about the first 8.8 weeks of Maljardin (because no creative work is perfect). So without further ado, here are (in my not-so-humble opinion) the top five best things about Ian Martin’s Strange Paradise:

5. Clever, memorable dialogue and (sometimes) clever wordplay 

I say “sometimes,” because (as we all know) Jacques loves his puns and Devil jokes, which tend to be as cornball as they come. The (intentional) humor in Ian Martin’s dialogue tends to be hit or miss, but when it hits, it hits harder than the chandelier hit the séance table. Even when the jokes miss, it’s clear that he tried hard to make the show both funny and scary, and some of the worse ones still amuse me in a dad-joke sort of way.

Some jokes from SP that I find genuinely funny:

Jacques: “‘Prisoners’ is such a harsh word, Alison. Now, actually, I prefer the [terminology] ‘detained guests.’“ (Episode 14)

Alison: “I find you and everything you’ve done distasteful and revolting." Jacques: "Methinks the lady doth detest too much." (same)

"I wish my mother was on canvas instead of always on my back.” (Holly, Episode 18)

Dan: "Knowing how much you loved Erica, I can appreciate your display of courage." Jacques: "It was either that or letting myself go to the Devil!" (same)

Jacques: “Such a delightful bedside manner. Why not let her operate?” (Episode 21)

Jacques: “If your room is a prison cell and you are a prisoner, well, I invite you to your last hearty meal.” (same)

Holly: "Would you like to see my scars?" Jacques: "Well, lead us not into temptation...now, that isn't from Shakespeare, is it?" (Episode 25)

Elizabeth: “It seems to be your opportunity to entertain, Reverend. May I suggest Song of Solomon?” (Episode 40)

Also, some things that aren’t jokes per se, but still clever wordplay:

Matt’s name, a reference to the Tarot card The Fool, or Le Mat in French.

Jacques: "Well, Dan, are you going to join me in some kippers this morning, or haven't you finished fishing for the day?" Dan: "Just lowering the line, and I'm afraid you're going to get hooked." (Episode 26)

The whole kippers thing from the same episode.

The scene transition lines.

Two things that Curt pointed out to me a while back: the recurring “little bird” motif and the fact that Jacques, who was “shackled to the Temple” for three centuries was also shackled through the temples with the silver pin. (Thanks!)

Of the later writers, Cornelius Crane (who will write the last two weeks of Maljardin and most of Desmond Hall Arc I) will be the only other to consistently use humor in his SP scripts. His will be a different style of humor, lighter on wordplay and heavier on wit, satire, and snark between characters, in many ways reminiscent of my favorite Dark Shadows writer Violet Welles. While the style of humor in Crane’s episodes has generally aged better, I can’t deny the cleverness and charm in the lines quoted above.

4. A more complex story than later arcs

Compared to all other arcs of the show, early Maljardin has, by far, the most subplots. You have (1) the main plot that revolves around Jean Paul’s attempts to preserve and resurrect Erica, which leads to his desperate attempts to protect the cryonics capsule, Jacques’ freedom and repeated possessions, and Raxl and Quito’s search for the conjure doll and silver pin. Directly connected to this are (2) Jacques’ murder of Dr. Menkin, (3) Alison and Dan’s search for the true cause of Erica’s death and for Dr. Menkin’s missing notes, and (4) the love triangle/square between Dan, Alison, and Jean Paul/Jacques. Then you have the four interconnected plots directly involving Holly, including (5) her romantic pursuit by Matt, Tim, Jacques, and Quito; (6) her conflicts with Elizabeth including direct competition over Jean Paul/Jacques; (7) her torment by Erica’s spirit; and (8) Tim’s subplot about the damned Holly portrait. Then there are (9) the saga of the missing cyanide and (10) the guests’ resistance to Jean Paul’s imprisonment of them on the island. In addition to these, we have (11) the history of Jacques, which may have included innumerable subplots of its own had Ian Martin been allowed to explore it thoroughly. We know that Jacques’ pursuit of Alison and Elizabeth would have connected to this, given their previous incarnations as Rahua and Tarasca, and that Martin originally planned for Tarasca to have her own storyline. If we include the aborted arc about Elizabeth’s possession by Tarasca, that would have made a whopping twelve subplots(!), unless I’m forgetting about something.

For comparison, here are the major subplots from Desmond Hall, during the period when Cornelius Crane did most of the writing: (1) Jean Paul’s possession by the Mark of Death; (2) the coven’s schemes to undermine the Desmond family, which led to the disappearance of Philip Desmond; (3) the Evil Serpent plotline; (4) the Hamlet subplot involving Cort’s conflicts with his mother and dear stepfather; (5) the love triangle of Cort, Holly, and Philip’s ghost; (6) the second love triangle of Ada, Laslo, and Irene; (7) all of Jean Paul’s romantic entanglements; and (8) the attempted possession of his fiancée Helena by Erica. That’s still a lot of intersecting plots, but not quite as many as in early Maljardin.

I know I’ve complained in the past about the recap that makes up about half the dialogue in early Maljardin, but the sheer number of plots may have required it to ensure that returning viewers remembered everything and new viewers weren’t completely lost. I don’t have to like the constant recap, but I must admit that it was probably necessary even for the fans who managed to catch every episode during its original run.

3. Stronger characterizations than under the writers of late Maljardin

Like a traditional soap opera, the first half of the Maljardin arc is character-driven. Most important plot points occur on Mondays and Fridays, leaving the mid-week episodes for (mostly) minor plot points, subplots, and character development. We see Alison’s relationship with Jean Paul evolve from friendly in-laws to potential lovers, only for her to tire of his constant mood changes and withdraw from him. We see Reverend Matt Dawson’s crisis of faith, from his stalking Holly out of an allegedly spiritual love to his questioning his disbelief in demons while trapped on Maljardin. We see Dan lose all respect for Jean Paul as he becomes convinced that his employer murdered Erica and Dr. Menkin. We also see Jean Paul grow increasingly volatile even when Jacques isn’t possessing him, making his prisoners try harder to escape and creating a vicious cycle of repression and paranoia on the island.

After Robert Costello becomes producer, the arc shifts to a more plot-driven narrative. In a span of just four weeks, Erica will be resurrected and proceed to murder most of the characters. Character development will lose its importance in late Maljardin, and the characters of Elizabeth and Holly (and later Jean Paul) will become almost unrecognizable. Although Cornelius Crane was a competent writer who gave strong characterizations to the characters he created, he makes it clear that he didn’t care much for Martin’s creations through how quickly he kills off most of them and alters the personalities of two of the ones left.

2. Actual research

This one is most noticeable in two areas: the scientific subjects discussed and the way that Martin uses the Tarot. Before writing for SP, he worked on The Doctors and The Nurses, both early medical dramas with soap opera elements. Little survives from either The Nurses or the 1960s era of The Doctors[1], but one can imagine that he got into the habit of researching medical topics then--perhaps not including subjects as far-out as cryonics, but maybe some of the others discussed on SP like cellular reconstruction, organ transplants, and eclampsia. Here on SP, he’s referenced specific scientific studies, including Miroslava Pavlović’s study of brain transplants in quail embryos, Kenneth B. Wolfe’s “Effects of Hypothermia on Cerebral Damage Resulting from Cardiac Arrest,” and--most fascinating of all--W. Grey Walter’s robotics article “An Imitation of Life,” whose potential significance to Erica’s backstory I discussed in the final part of my Shadow Over Seventh Heaven review series.

His penchant for research becomes even more obvious when we explore his use of the Tarot and compare it to the way the cards were used on the show’s inspiration Dark Shadows. Despite also having done research on various occult matters--the most obscure being the use of I Ching wands for time travel[2]--DS’s writers were notably lazy in their use of Tarot symbolism, sticking mostly to the Major Arcana, often interpreting their names literally, and using the Tower of Destruction so often that one would think that copies of the Tower comprised half the deck. Not so on SP. Although he did have tarot reader Vangie Abbott use Death literally in Episode 7, and he does portray the Nine of Swords as “the card of death” when it typically means nightmares, suffering because of loss, and inner torment, his use of the Tarot typically shows careful research into the meanings of mostly cards from the Minor Arcana (the suits of wands, cups, swords, and pentacles). He uses it both as a means of giving character profiles and for foreshadowing, although the cards often foreshadow planned events that never took place because of script rewrites.

He did, however, take some artistic liberties with other subjects that he must have researched while writing the serial. I mean to write a detailed analysis someday comparing and contrasting the show’s portrayal of vodou with the reality, but I’m not satisfied with the scanty amount of research that I’ve done so far. I have already written about the Great Serpent and how Raxl appears to syncretize the loa Damballah with the Aztec feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl, but there are other related subjects I want to discuss someday in other posts. The short version: the “voodoo” portrayed on the show is a mixture of elements of genuine Afro-Caribbean religions (worship of a Serpent God, belief in zombies, use of drums in rituals, the titles “Conjure Man” and “Conjure Woman”) and traditional Mesoamerican religious practices (Quetzalcoatl, Aztec human sacrifice, Raxl’s mention of curanderos). The evidence suggests that he picked and chose elements from these traditions for Maljardin’s “Conjure Faith” in a way reminiscent of the real-life phenomenon of religious syncretism. While somewhat problematic, the obscurity of some of the things he picked and chose shows that he must have conducted some research even on these subjects.

1. The best Jacques

Jean Paul Desmond may be the protagonist, but, in the first seven weeks of the show, it’s his devilish ancestor Jacques who truly steals the show. From his evil laugh to his snarky commentary on the happenings on Maljardin to the hilarious and adorable expressions he makes as he plays with his detained guests, there’s no denying that Jacques is the star of Martin’s SP. When he’s absent, the whole show suffers from a lack of his mischief, not to mention that smile that stirs up desires in me that can never be righteously fulfilled. If there’s a Devil, I bet he resembles THE DEVIL JACQUES ELOI DES MONDES in looks, voice, and demeanor--the better to seduce you with (and by you, I mean me). Horns and a pointy tail, after all, don’t tempt half as well as a beautiful black cape and Bissits Face™.

The Jacques of late Maljardin will be a far flatter character, more outwardly evil but less charming and consequently less entertaining. In Desmond Hall, his role will be reduced significantly and he will have very little dialogue, mostly just the same clip of his laughter repeated. He will have a few fun scenes in the second Desmond Hall arc, but the post-Martin Jacques is no devil, just an ordinary man with a slightly different personality, led over to the dark side. This is understandable--the thought of the supernatural embodiment of evil remaining imprisoned for three centuries is quite far-fetched, and Desmond Hall Arc II writer Harding Lemay wasn’t fond of all-evil characters[3]--but I still find the original Jacquet the most fun by far.

That concludes this post on my favorite things about Ian Martin’s Strange Paradise. Stay tuned for my list of some things about his writing that needed improvement.

{ Next: The Top 5 Worst Things -> }

Notes

[1] The Thousand Oaks Library in Thousand Oaks, California has ten of Martin’s scripts from The Doctors from shortly after the series switched from its original experimental anthology format to a traditional continuing soap.

[2] The portrayal of the I Ching as a means of time travel on Dark Shadows almost certainly came from William Seabrook’s book Witchcraft: Its Power in the World Today, where he describes the 49th ko hexagram’s use in a form of past-life regression in New York magick circles in the early 20th century. See Seabrook, “Werewolf in Washington Square,” Witchcraft (New York: Ishi Press, 2015), pp. 164-175.

[3] Harding Lemay, Eight Years in Another World, chap. 3, Kindle edition. In this chapter, Lemay discusses his conflicts with Irna Phillips, the creator of Another World, over how to portray soap opera characters. According to him, Phillips believed that characters should be depicted as either “Saints” or “Sinners,” the only permitted nuance being that female Sinners had to love their children if they had any. Lemay disagreed with such black-and-white characterizations, finding them unrealistic, and made the serial’s characters more morally gray.

[mahou-furbies]

Closing Thoughts on Star Twinkle Precure

Surprisingly I managed to marathon half of this show in a few weeks and am now ready for Healin' Good.

I really enjoyed this season, and I'd put it as the second best Precure I've seen so far (under GoPri). Mostly super likable characters, good character development, and the space topic makes it memorable.

A major thing where the show kind of stumbles is with the theme. It feels like a total waste to constantly talk about imagination and make the transformation item a pen, but not have any of the main characters be an artist or otherwise in a position where having a lot of imagination is vital. Alternatively I could accept that "Imagination" is a loan word means something else in Japanese, but in that case the show doesn't convey what it's actually supposed to mean very well. Now to me it just feels like generic enthusiasm or passion or other positive fee-fees.

The other theme that's repeated in the transformation song, "I'll draw the me that I aspire to be", works better, because the late season powerups are based on self-actualisation and finding your place and being accepted by others for what you are. However Uni's arc of learning to let go of her anger and forgive had nothing to do with that, and neither do most of the bad guys' stories particularly mirror it either. The difficulty of communicating with people from different countries or planets was also brought up sometimes. And then in the end the final confrontation is suddenly about countering the bad guy's "people's different 'imaginations' cause chaos so the universe must be destroyed" with "differences are good and fun". All this makes it harder for me to see what the show is really trying to say and how it stands out in the sea of other girl shows that are also about self-growth and friendship.

However while it was kind of a bummer that Star Twinkle wasn't as thematically cohesive as I'd hoped, at least the space motifs were great. Similar to KiraKira Precure which had a vague message but the clear focus on sweets still made it stand out, all the space stuff in Star Twinkle was definitely a major and memorable part of the experience (compare something like Fresh where the girls are named after fruits and the villains after directions and neither theme has any relevance for anything). I really liked how most importantly the Cures met aliens, went to space and the magical items were about constellations, but also there were minor elements like visiting an observatory, sci-fi movies, Armstrong quotes and such sprinkled through even the more mundane episodes.

Speaking of going to space, thank heavens the Cures left the Earth with their rocket as often they did, and sometimes for longer than one episode at a time. Precure is so formulaic that getting out of the goddamn generic townscape for once felt like the most refreshing thing I've seen the franchise do in hundreds of episodes. Unfortunately I predict that now with the upcoming season we're stuck there again, but one can hope.

Then the characters. Lala may dethrone Hime from my Best Precure spot, I love how she was more serious, responsible and practical but it wasn't presented as a flaw she had to overcome, or as some over-exaggerated character trait so that she was super serious all the time. She also had a decent character arc and the fact that she was already an adult in her society was a new and fun angle. Also she's so cute and anything resembling a green Cure is always welcome, as well as pants in a Precure form.

I also really liked Uni, even though the way her introduction was paced was just unforgivable. How about set up the space idol and phantom thief for a few episodes before the Cures meet either of them and also learn that they're the same person? But ignoring that I very much enjoyed how competent and charismatic she was as Blue Cat, and it was great that the writers had the guts to keep her pretty cynical even after she joined the other girls and most importantly kept her out of school. It's so boring when everyone has to go to the same school, but I guess that since we already did that plot point with Lala, Uni was allowed to remain independent. I do kind of question how her arc was about apologising to the person who essentially committed genocide on her home, but at least her character development of growing past her rage was good.

As for the other characters, Elena was about as good as I expected with her cheerful and confident personality, and I ended up liking Madoka a lot more than I thought because I predicted her to be a more generic polite rich lady. But unsurprisingly Hikaru ended up being the weakest link to me, but even she wasn't as unbearable as many other pink heroines because she wasn't so overbearing, the character spotlight was divided more evenly rather than the show being focused on worshipping her, and the positive impact she had on other characters was handled well. Also she was helped with Fuwa being such a hate sink next to her, my reaction to Fuwa's big sacrifice was just "I doubt this is enough to get rid of her"... But in the end Hikaru is still yet another character in the long line of "this specific personality has to be the star (pun not intended) of a magical girl show"

I also have to mention the villain mooks, it was good that they got some character development towards the end of the show and got a chance to redeem themselves. As questionable as Uni apologising to Aiwarn was, I really liked how the plotline related to their relationship spanned so many episodes, and as nice as it was how the other mooks were paired with a specific Cure, it would have been nice if that had also been set up earlier like Uni and Aiwarn's relationship.

Lastly, the Star Princesses. They suck. They all have the same personality and all they do is spew exposition in the few moments we got to see them. What a waste. Would have loved to see them be a bigger part on the story somehow and having some actual meaningful interaction with the Cures and taking a part in their character development.

But yeah, in the end this was quite a good Precure season and up there with GoPri as "if you're going to watch only one Precure season, pick one of these!" suggestions.

[neverlearnedtoread]

Let’s Talk About Love

⭐⭐; aces in fiction: i,,cant,,,,,feel,,,,,,,, the,,need,,,,,,,,to s,,e,x,,,

aces in real life: this vine on repeat

Oh?? 👌😉😏

if you want to read something much longer than a leaflet about the ‘Asexual Experience’, and you honestly cannot comprehend the idea of living a life without wanting sex, read this book instead of bothering an asexual. it’s basically Aces for Dummies

clearly defines lots of the vocabulary related to the ace-spectrum - saves you a google search!

No.. ❌🤢🤮

i never want to put too much pressure on a single book to encompass everything about [insert some aspect of identity here], because that’s unrealistic, but alice was a caricature of a person. it was like watching an alien trying to lie, very badly, and it wasnt even funny

all the characters making soapbox speeches all the time. like why don’t we stop pretending and add in the *record scratch*, really lean into it?

pacing was nonexistent because there was no plot beyond spending every waking moment with the love interest and waiting for him to magically understand how she wants him to act

the pacing issue was made even more annoying because alice had stuff to deal with outside of her love life! and yet the friend and family related tension was treated like an afterthought, something annoying that kept her from being able to focus on how the love interest was the most “”””annoyingly gorgeous””” man in the world

the east asian rep (takumi the love interest is japanese) sucked. there was a point when takumi brought home-made mapo tofu (because he’s asian, get it?? at least it wasn’t sushi) for alice totally unprompted and i had the sudden compulsion to throw my ipad on the floor. the bakugo in me jumped out

Some spoilers under the cut - be warned, I did not like this book!

Summary: Alice is a super cute asexual babe who is struggling to navigate the hypersexualized world of the college dating pool. Amidst all these dramatic angsty thoughts about her not being cut out for romance or feeling like she’s “”missing out”” just because she will never feel the compulsion to get it on with anyone arrives the startlingly (impossibly) attractive Takumi, a new co-worker at her part-time job in the library. After disagreeing with her friends and family over important things for a while and then avoiding those important things in favour of hanging out with Takumi while he continues to act mind-bogglingly perfect, Alice realises that sexual and romantic attraction are not mutually tied together, with no particular effort on....anyone’s part, really.

Concept: 💭💭💭

Reading more diverse books is something I’m always striving towards, and asexuality in particular is something I’m eager to see in fiction - especially romance fiction! So to hear that this book had a black biromantic ace as the main character who falls in love and has to struggle with all that entails was exciting. I was interested to see if the experiences detailed in this narrative would resonate with my own experience.

Execution: 💥💥

It’s much harder for me to rate books lowly than highly - when I don’t like something, I always try to give it the benefit of the doubt - maybe it just wasn’t for me! But I genuinely think this book could have been done so much better. So much of the story speaks directly to the reader, instead of trying to tell a story. You can never get away from the sensation that you’re watching a bunch of puppets being jerked around in a heavy-handed PSA about Asexuality Being Valid. That’s not a bad message, but it loses its punch in uninteresting, cardboard cut-out characters and a hopelessly unfocused plot.

Personal Enjoyment: ❤

I can say with full confidence that this book just...wasn’t written for me. I don’t need a watered-down cheat sheet on ‘how to interact with asexuals’. It was nice to be validated, of course, and I think I probably would have connected more with the plotline back when I was still feeling very Asexual With a Question Mark, but the book had no sense of subtlety. I could draw parallels with this book and my own experiences but the story was overly simplified. The kinda-boring story of how I realized I was ace would have been way more interesting than whatever this was.

Favourite Moment: I enjoyed the frank portrayal of therapy - though I’m not sure about the accuracy, I did like that stuff about the cost of sessions and having to keep an eye on the time so you can cram everything you want to discuss into the allotted time.

Favourite Character: Ryan - I thought he was a nice friend, even if he was massively underdeveloped just like the rest - everyone else was just too cardboard cutout for their role but Ryan had a bare minimum place in the story and managed to meet his criteria. Supportive, but not cookie-cutter perfect to the point he no longer felt like a real human being.