#genre expectations

[kyliafanfiction]

I sometimes feel like a lot of the people who fail to see the fantasical elements of the storytelling of Star Wars, the way it runs on a different kind of logic, would have seen those elements better if Star Wars was just straight (not in the orientation way, to be clear) fantasy rather than the space fantasy pseudo-sci fi it is.

That is to say -

There's a lot of people, who I think... expect sci-fi to be more... grounded, in a way? Sci-Fi and Fantasy are paired together as genres for a very good reason, but there are still differences in how they're both perceived.

And maybe this is just me, I know I've read stuff that indicates it, but I can't cite anything and my memory may just be wrong, but -

I get the impression that a lot of people see science fiction as more realistic and grounded. Or at least, that it's supposed to be. Characters are expected to behave in ways that seem more... normal. The narrativium, as it were, is supposed to be more... subtle, I guess?

By contrast, I feel like, while yes there is more grounded fantasy, tons of it (and I tend to enjoy such fantasy a lot, to an extent) there is more... permission for fantasy epics, high fantasy and things of that nature to... bend logic a little? To have characters react in... over the top ways? Unrealistic ways that are more... big and grand and even absurd but oh so narratively appropriate?

I feel fantasy stories are allowed a different kind of logic, by a lot of people. People come to high or epic fantasy stories with a different set of expectations around realism. Around character behavior.

Especially around romance.

And because Star Wars has all the visual and aesthetic trappings of science fiction, all too many people miss that it is fantasy. Space fantasy, yes, but it's fantasy, at least in the OT and the PT. The stories run on a much more fantastical set of logics.

When you look at the story that way, it all makes much more sense.

And I always did look at the story that way, so it always made sense.

I started writing this post because I re-read this post I reblogged a few months back, about how people say the Anidala Romance makes no sense because yada yada and people just keep assuming Padme is this normal, well-adjusted person who would react like any normal, well-adjusted person would to the situations she finds herself in vis-a-vis Anakin.

But as that meta points out, Padme isn't normal. She isn't well-adjusted. The post is more playing this all for humor, but Padme is deeply abnormal. I don't mean that in a bad way, but holy shit, Padme is abnormal. On every level.

And part of that's just her character, but like - she's a character in a fantastical epic where all the characters, or at least the core ones, are over the top. They're all Big Feelings and Big Deeds. Larger than Life.

A long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.

It's a myth. Myths and legends don't function like other stories.

Star Wars is many things. But one of them, at least in the core six movies, the the story of Anakin Skywalker, is a fantasy. A fairy tale.

It's not meant to be understood as a story of realistic people behaving realistically.

And I sometimes wonder, if in a different timeline, where The Force really is just Magic, and the Death Star is a giant magically created Dragon or some horrific evil artifact in a dark fortress somewhere or something, and Tattooine is just a desert region in one part of the world and the Republic is just a big country and it's all axes and crossbows and the lightsabers are actually magical flaming weapons or something, and the droids are golems...

Would people have the same misunderstandings about the 'unrealistic' character behavior?

I don't think they would. Not as many. Not as much.

[mysticdragon3md3]

[kermit-coded]

there's something about the fact that charles said he never finished reading the myth of orpheus and eurydice. he references it and yet he never finished it. he looked back, not out of fear but because edwin needed to be seen. he got edwin back. they made it out of hell. he never finished the story. he is not orpheus and edwin is not eurydice.

[rozmorris]

Your first pages - 4 more book openings critiqued at @Litopia by literary agent @agentpete author @anniesummerlee and me!

I’ve just guested again at Litopia, the online writers’ colony and community. Each week they have a YouTube show, Pop-Up Submissions, where four manuscripts are read and critiqued live on air by literary agent Peter Cox @agentpete and a guest, or sometimes two. This time the other guest was longtime Litopian Annie Summerlee @anniesummerlee , who has published short stories in a range of online…

[whimseysthrone]

Circles of Belief, Quick Thoughts

I first heard the phrase “circle of belief” as a young teen, and have found it to be a useful mental model ever since. I thought I’d written about it here before, and was wrong. While looking for other sourcing for this post I found a lot of Slayer lyrics and not much else, so… here goes. Someone’s circle of belief governs what they see as plausible, something they can follow along with, versus…

[sodrippy]

one of my fave parts about monkey man is the twist it takes on the classic training montage trope, because in this film the hero isnt shaping up all on his lonesome, only his traumatic past and thirst for revenge as company, hes in a community. hes being supported and encouraged and literally healed by them, he takes strength from that community, and its so meaningful both to the character and to the audience, as a part of the film and its messaging. idk it was very refreshing to see, and very beautifully represented the specific cultural/contextual importance of community as well as just the universal human need for it especially in our current climate

[zivazivc]

Meta & Flint, the freaks who named their daughter Oblivion.

Don't let their looks fool you, they are actually good parents. (Maybe "okay" parents, they did let Liv run away with her boyfriend they never met and his band at 15. (But she was responsible and called them to explain her decision and that she already talked with the school and will be taking special exams at the end of every semester, so it's all good lmao.))

In my AU the Techno/Rock Trolls are the largest population of mixed trolls. They live concentrated along the shore between the Rock and Techno Kingdoms and also extending north into the no-man's-land on the map. This whole area is simply referred to as "the Shallows". They have their own communities and villages there which are located partially on land or exposed reefs/rocks and partially in the water.

Liv grew up in one of those villages. Her parents own a small apartment carved into a cliff side above the ocean. Personally they prefer walking over floating/swimming, and they can't stay in the sun for too long either (they all inherited sun sensitive skin from their Techno sides) so this way they're mostly on land and also aren't in direct sunlight after noon.

It's a modest home but I imagine they must have the prettiest sunrises.

Despite the Shallows having their own communities they still belong under the Rock Kingdom which doesn't really care about them or their different needs much, so a lot of the trolls living there are very anti authority.

[ghostdrinkssoup]

something I find really interesting about hannibal’s character is how he uses people’s expectations and ingrained assumptions to hide himself. no one suspects he’s a serial killer because he doesn’t present as one. he’s elegant and refined and isn’t cruel to animals. he’s highly sophisticated, a polyglot and has a deep admiration for beauty and life. he appreciates saving lives just as much as he appreciates ending them. in fact, this particular aspect of his character is partly why it takes will the entirety of s1 to accept hannibal’s true nature. will saw hannibal save abigail and accompany her to the hospital in apéritif and he also saw hannibal save a man’s life by performing emergency surgery and taking over the operation at the end of sorbet.

this moment in particular is interesting because of how it’s framed to make hannibal look almost godly from will’s point of view:

1) hannibal is positioned immediately higher than will due to being in the ambulance, meaning will is looking up at hannibal, while hannibal is looking down on him

2) hannibal is standing under a bright light as he works to save this guy’s life, while will is standing in almost complete darkness

3) the usual orchestral, classical music is playing in the background, emphasising the apparent “holiness” of the act and framing hannibal as some sort of saviour

the impact of this scene is even more potent when considering the context of the rest of the episode, since will has already stated that the ripper is not the type to save people or enact mercy on anyone. his style of murders doesn’t suggest this characteristic whatsoever, and although will’s assessment is correct, hannibal’s personality and overall demeanour doesn’t match what we’d imagine a person like that might look like. I think will is confronted by this as well, because even if hannibal’s surgical skill means he matches the ripper’s profile (which makes him a valid suspect) his actions contradict will’s image of the ripper, while simultaneously affirming it:

it’s difficult to reconcile these facets of hannibal’s character. it’s inherently contradictory and defies our cultural expectations. nonetheless, hannibal’s inclination to save people is sometimes more insidious than his murders. he doesn’t save people out of altruism, he does it because he thinks he’s superior and enjoys deciding outcomes. he doesn’t view himself as insane, he views himself as god. this is most aptly explored in takiawase, through the acupuncturist/beekeeper killer. here we see a murderer who confesses that she killed a man to quiet his mind, and tells jack that it’s beautiful that she managed to protect him and her other patients. this is one side of hannibal’s character, the one who’s a doctor and therapist and sees death as a cure from disease, even if the ‘disease’ itself is literally just discourtesy. it’s ultimately an act of power.

and yet in this same episode he flips a coin and saves bella on a whim. this of course is framed to others as an act of mercy, however the reality is he took bella’s power away in an act disguised as kindness. once again, he hides in plain sight. this is the other side of his character, and it’s just as deadly.

it’s still about power.

but we don’t associate acts of mercy with monstrosity. when hannibal comforts abigail in trou normand we question whether he’s as bad as we think, because what negative connotations are tied to paternal tenderness? we miss that hannibal is fostering dependency, that he literally looks dead in the eyes as he holds her, and that he blatantly just told us that he’s using abigail to manipulate will:

hannibal often does this actually. he either directly says what he’s doing or suggests that he’s the culprit (often through cannibal puns, as we know) but no one ever interprets him correctly because doing so would contradict the image he’s carefully constructed for himself. it would cause too much dissonance.

and what’s fascinating is that on a subtextual level this is largely what the show is about. the story is an exploration of societal roles and the struggle to fit into stiff categorisation and expectations. will parallels hannibal in this regard because he’s desperately trying to repress his identity by taking on certain roles. and the audience is lured by this persona the same way the characters are lured by hannibal because will defies our understanding of certain tropes. on a genre level, will assumes the detective archetype, meaning we are primed to think he’s inherently good. when we see him say he wants to save people we believe him, even though he often only does so to prove to himself that he’s a good person. will is indeed righteous, a characteristic we often view positively, however he’s violent, wrathful and actively enjoys murder due to how powerful it makes him feel. he’s not dissimilar to hannibal, we just don’t see this straight away because doing so would disrupt our understanding of good and evil.

will hides the same way hannibal does, except will hides from us as well

[r-aindr0p]

Uhhh Elias stuff, twisted from no one, he's just a guy !! Since I draw my twst ocs once every century each I'll link his introduction here

Basically an ignihyde student w/ a prosthetic arm (upgraded by idia) and a nature based unique magic + something something "I'm the better hunter here !!" (he is miserably failing at it) Trying to step out of my comfort zone in art context wise and mere text makes my whole being cringe and retract on itself like grafield's face after unsweetened lemonade... So I left it in French, ough

[camelotluteguild]

Something i really like about Merlin is how they didn’t make love a redemptive force. Uther loves both his children very much -- doesn’t make him a good man or even necessarily a good father. Merlin and Arthur love each other so much, but it doesn’t save either of them, nor does it always makes them better --  oftentimes, it makes them worse. It makes the love no less compelling or meaningful -- in my opinion, it only makes it more so, and it’s a more realistic approach to love. Thoughts and feelings!

[wasty28]

Reading Trash of the count's family and Debut or die at the same time is so funny sometimes.

In one book the MC curses, kidnap, rob, scam, beat up the bad guys at any given occasion but in the other he's like "these fucking bast-...,no let's calm down", I need to keep being level-headed.

[jarvesque]

I think you can clearly tell which fantasy high fans have never actually played a session of any TTRPG from the reaction to the Junior Year final battle alone

[lazycranberrydoodles]

oooooh you want to read my huaxuan hookup fic sooooo bad

bonus :P

[moodlesmain]

Hi. Look at this.

I just spent two days straight making a digital conspiracy board trying to piece together my favourite genre that isn't really a genre and more just a very particular niche which doesn't really have a name.

If you want to look I reccomend downloading and zooming in on the image to read everything LMAO, I want to try and convert it to a page on my neocities at some point so its easier to view but for now you guys just get a big ol' jpeg. You're welcome :)

[dduane]

I got curious to see how completely unlike itself I could get this book to look. Say, if I packaged it as a romance.

So I f'd around and found out. :)

Meanwhile, if you like, you can buy its ebook version right here* and see how all those tropes play out.

*With its old cover. Unless y'all start demanding this one... 😏

(ETA: the full size non-3D version of the cover is over here for anyone who might want a closer look.)

(ETA 2: How the hell did I miss “Equally annoyingly gender-linked soul-based spiritual power”? [Or, apparently per John Watson, “Some kind of magic holy brain fire or some damn shit.”] …Oh well, it was late.)

[daisywords]

anyway my stance on "reading the classics" basically boils down to the fact that what is or is not defined as "a classic" is somewhat arbitrary, and therefore it makes no sense to treat "the classics" as some sort of uniform genre that you either like or dislike. Whether you liked Great Expectations has no bearing on whether you'll like 1984 or Rebecca or Pride and Prejudice or East of Eden or Frankenstein or Crime and Punishment. Because those are all vastly different books. "I don't want to read Classics; they're all boring and probably sexist or something." <<free yourself from the arbitrary category of "classic." It just means a lot of people liked the book. You might not. but you might. Treat it as an individual title.