#but while i think the THH plot was a little more coherent i think the SDR2 plot had some better foreshadowing

[violexides]

last night i finished my "rewatch" of SDR2 and i do have a lot of thoughts specifically when comparing the different strengths and weaknesses of THH and SDR2 however for the sake of time (i have to leave for class soon) one thing i will say is that getting older and a hiatus did not, in fact, make me any less in love with komaeda nagito's character.

[detectivenyx]

One idea for fangan advice is writing AFTER chapter 1. Like general tips on structuring cases and how you could build off of a previous chapters also tips for incorporating the main lore into your story.

For me personally, my imagination for planning fangans peak at the chapter 1 murder where I am mostly proud of what I came up with and how the case is structured but then when I think about what happens in Chapter 2 and my brain goes to mush. I have vague ideas about what the murder would be like and who the culprit/victim are but I get stuck around there. I usually end up scrapping the entire fangan altogether and moving on to something else and the same thing happens again. Maybe that's just a me-thing or I'm putting too much pressure to make something better than chapter 1. I also have little experience with writing which is also a factor.

thing is, i don't think i'd be the best for this advice. i did manage to get to the end of my fangan, but getting from chapter 1 to chapter 2 was pretty easy. like, all i can say is plot out your chapters ahead of time before you actually put finger to keyboard and type.

chapters 2-4 in a DR game tend to be more 'flyover cases' - they're cases in the middle that while it's disappointing when they're filler, aren't complete dealbreakers if they are. they don't have to do one key action that first cases do; set up audience expectations.

usually, the chapter 1 murder will be the first time your cast sees a body. the first time they go to trial, the first time they encounter an execution. in that, it's vital that chapter 1 set your game's expectations. in THH and v3, the first case addresses the conventions of the death game. in 2010, characters like sayaka usually survived and were the main heroine, and about as fleshed out as a skeleton with a calcium deficiency. the game responds to that by going 'sayaka is complicated from her job as an idol, which isn't very glamorous under the surface, and also she's dead now'. v3 was the same, but addressing its own conventions; the ??? student and the protagonist always survive? well fuck you, they're both dying this chapter".

do not worry about making chapter 2 better than chapter 1; focus on making chapter 2 coherent first and foremost. i can't give any better advice than that except that if it's not coming naturally to the point where you're scrapping it, your outline might not be well realised

[asoue-sideblog]

Off the cuff rough skeleton of how I would adapt the full ASOUE series to a film franchise:

First movie: TBB through TWW.

I actually liked the way the movie had the kids taken away from Count Olaf for a stupid reason and sent back at the end, since The Marvelous Marriage is a strong climax. Probably worth removing the “this man is Count Olaf!” reveals at the end of TRR and TWW? IDK

Second movie: TAA through TVV, skip TMM

I like TMM and prefer it to TWW but I think it works way better for the Baudelaires to have at least one more actual home home before Mr Poe starts resorting to institutions and it’s not necessary to keep both of them

Deal with the Duncan and Isadora subplot and drop heavy VFD hints, possibly beef up Jacques’ role a little (like he hides a message for the Baudelaires in the cell or add a scene where the Baudelaires sneak to the prison and talk to him through a window or something, not make him a fucking deuteragonist, Netflix)

Maybe do THH here, too?

Third movie: THH through TGG, skip TCC

Keep THH over TCC because it's scarier, has a more cinematic Baudelaire moral ambiguity subplot because it’s more externalized and movies can’t really do internal monologues, Klaus and Sunny having to rescue Violet for the first time (because fuck the original movie ending), etc etc. Sunny can get kidnapped at a different part of the story. Skipping THH and keeping TCC could also work, maybe.

If cut TCC, possibly make a composite character with elements of Madame Lulu (e.g. give the white-faced ladies a more complex redemption arc with elements of Madame Lulu’s behavior)

Heavily break up the books and extensively rewrite, mainly to smooth over transitions so it’s a more coherent plot instead of moving between three different setpieces. e.g., plot elements of TSS and TGG could happen without needing to shuttle all the characters to the mountains and then get them in the water for the rest of the movie. Quigley’s role probably needs more rewrites than Fiona’s. Hate to say it, but could see him on the cutting room floor if there’s not a good way to get more thematic relevance out of him. Sorry bud.

Not sure about Carmelita, but my instinct is to keep her - she can take screentime cuts and de-emphasis while still communicating the “point” of her character.

Finale movie. TPP, some plot elements or character arcs from TSS and TGG moved here, maybe The End?

Possibly move Fiona’s betrayal to this movie? Split TGG between the third and fourth ones?

This is the single biggest issue because I have no idea how to possibly adapt The End for film. I struggle to see how The End could possibly work when contained in the same storytelling unit as any of the preceding books. It really needs to be its own thing, but it really, really would not work as its own full movie. That would leave people walking out of the theater going “...wtf?” in a bad way

Anyway take all this hot air with a big ol grain of salt because I know nothing about scriptwriting. What I feel most confident about saying is that after the kids stop being placed with guardians, I think a movie franchise would desperately need to break away from the “moving from location to location” pattern - that works great for books, works great for the TV show, do not think it would work at all for a movie.