#storytelling structure

[tammyisobsessedwith]

How I would’ve structured Season 4

I’m not even talking major revamping like changing character designs, motivations and so on (that would be another major post), just some structural changes within the overall plot of the season.

We get to watch the first coupling up as it happens

Make Kelly and Bruno OG Islanders, they’re coupled up when we get in

MC gets in as soon as the first coupling up happens as the eleventh Islander OR MC takes out all the boys on a (sit down, have drinks and talk) date during that first night

MC has 24 hours to pick a boy to couple up and everyone knows it

Girl left single due to MC picking her partner stays in the Villa, no one else recouples during that

Give us the option to be in a friendship couple if we’re not vibing romantically with anyone so far. They could go out on a daytime date the next day and establish that or develop further romantically

On day 3, Youcef and Oliver drop in - they both need time to develop worthwhile stories with MC (Youcef is too closed off/scared to open up at the beginning, he just stays behind this whole “I’m so sexy and smoldering” armour; and if Oliver’s whole thing is being friends first then let’s give him the time for that). They drop in during a party and there’s some group activity like truth or dare

On day 4, they each get to pick two girls to go on (separate) dates in the hideaway terrace/at the garden outside the Villa driveway that night (both choose MC as at least one of the dates, of course)

On day 5, Some cheeky kissing challenge happens (like rate the best kisser) and people start showing signs of wanting to switch couples, maybe some minor drama happens

First full girls’ choice recoupling on day 6, girl left single by MC gets to pick first, single boy is dumped. If MC coupled up with a girl (Najuma/Kelly), then Islanders have to vote to dump one of the single boys

MAJOR GRAFTING AS EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING. Just get MC to circle around and chat to people throughout the Villa, that’s what they’re there for. The bestie moments are nice, but I want to interact with everyone, even the people I may not like as otherwise how am I gonna get to know them?

On day 7, they get a silly challenge, like one of those gross out food ones or body paint/slime/dive into water

On day 8, Juliet and Valentina hit the Villa while the girls are out having brunch/having a spa day and start stirring shit up (that’s why they’re there). Give MC the opportunity to befriend them as the previous girl bombshell and strategize together

On day 9, they take boys out on those dinner dates (one boy prepares starter, another the main, the third the dessert) while the OG girls need to stay inside and fret (or not)

On day 10 they have a cheeky challenge where they have to kiss person whose secret is about and a party

On day 11, it’s a boys’ choice recoupling. The girl not picked is dumped. If MC had been with a girl before, they’re actually forced to separate but they can remain “together” while in official (friendship) couples with the boys. They can choose to sleep outside on the daybeds, for instance

On day 12, new cheeky challenge, like those silly obstacle course ones where they get wet and need to make out at the end. It’s possible to pick someone other than their couple and possibility for drama ensues

Day 13 is a chill day, something silly like playing around in the pool or games like Never Have I Ever

Day 14 there’s dates all around. DIFFERENT DATES FOR DIFFERENT LIs - like Oliver would be something to do with nature, Youcef would be a sit down dinner date, Bruno is something fun like paddle boarding and so on

Day 15: CASA AMOR! Give us six new hot guys to interact with. Bonus: Dylan could be a CA boy (minus all the red flags) while Tiffany is a CA girl

Day 16: Villa vs Villa challenge then cocktail party

Day 17: the video with suggestive clips from original boys drops in first thing in the morning, then they have brunch and Stick or Switch recoupling in the evening. Single Islanders remain in the Villa for now

Day 18: potentially awkward drinks date if a CA girl (could be Tiffany) stole your original partner (if we were with a girl and just in a friendship couple with one of the boys it’s a great drinks date with possibility for flirting as well) and integration party to get to know new Casa people

Day 19: dumping of least voted Islanders (possibility of breaking up couples if one is liked and the other isn’t). If MC was left single during Stick or Switch, usual deal where MC picks one Islander up for dumping. Final numbers are six couples, so depending on how many couples were formed during Casa Amor a lot of people could be going home then

Day 20: Tom and Cora invite people out on dates before even hitting the Villa. There’s a cocktail party in the evening to welcome them

Day 21: silly couple’s challenge or something like Most Likely To hosted by Tom and Cora

Day 22: chill day with some game like volleyball or a barbacue or something like Talent Show for integration

Day 23: Boys’ choice recoupling, but Tom and Cora pick first - MC of course gets stolen by one of them

Day 24: Brunch date in the morning, heart racing challenge in the evening

Day 25: They go out to a beach party where Returning Islanders (boy dumped in day 6 and girl dumped on 11) rejoin the group. Least favorite couples are revealed at the party (Tom/Cora and respective partners are immune from voting). Islanders need to choose to dump one couple.

Day 26: Mean Tweets/Movie Night - let’s stir shit up and ramp up the drama with unseen bits and shocking developments coming to light. This is where Dylan’s true nature could come out if we chose to recouple with him after Casa Amor (I’d still rather he be the perfect guy until we win the game and he chooses the money)

Day 27: The girls choose who they want to go out on dates with and we have final girls’ choice recoupling. If we’re with a girl, two of the boys couple up as well (either as friends or romantically, there’s possibility for that with some of the boys)

Day 28: Baby challenge then dumping of 2 least favorite couples (we get to influence who stays)

Day 29: Meet the Parents and Final Dates (gimme something glamorous that I’d never get the chance to do again in my life!!) then final dumping down to four couples (we choose who stays)

Day 30: Prom prep (shopping, dance lessons, speech writing) and Prom

Day 31: The Final

This is very basic, I’d still need to go into details of what happens each day exactly, group dynamics, couples drama thrown in the mix and so on, but this pacing would be so much more to my liking. There’s possibility for getting to know people before actual recouplings and we can actually choose to be with people outside of our official couples (as it happens in the show).

[izzyhandsyouaglassofwine]

seen a couple people running to that "is it bad writing or do you not understand genre" post in regards to the ofmd upset. and let me remind people that this show was marketed as a romantic comedy, ESPECIALLY this season!

In that regard, I found an article/blog post that directly addresses the question "can you have character death in a romantic comedy?" And it really hits the nail on the head.

Even if you were to make the argument "well it's a dark comedy!" or "its a pirate show!" there's still a balance that needs to be met if you don't want to alienate your audience.

People are going to argue that the death was earned because they spent the entire season building up his character and "completing his arc". Well, I'll argue that they DIDN'T complete his arc. In fact they took about twelve steps back in his death scene by seemingly ret conning his progress and having him center Ed's feelings on his literal deathbed. So it really feels a lot like fridging, because that's exactly what it was. Izzy's death was for Ed's arc, not his own. And they spent so much time focusing on Izzy all season, focusing on his growth and giving him such a specific arc about queerness and recovery, that yeah, his death feels like a slap to the face and not a tragic story beat that makes the story all the richer.

[rightwriter]

Indigenous Storytelling

A lot of the stuff I've posted so far is pretty white western-centric views of telling stories. The whole article is very informative! An excerpt: "Many of the main characters in Plains Indian mythology never end. Not only are they immortal and indestructible—where they may be killed in one story and are right back at it in another—they also age with the listener. Coyote stories for children have childlike morals; for teens Coyote is a much rougher character; and, for elders only, grandpa Coyote is smart, and his stories are deep and filled with complicated plots and plans."

[plotandelegy]

Crafting Future From Ruins: A Writer's Guide to Designing Post-Apocalyptic Technology

Photo: Standard License- Adobe Stock

Crafting post-apocalyptic tech involves blending creativity and realism. This is a guide to help you invent tech for your post-apocalyptic world:

Tinker, Tailor, Writer, Spy: Start with modern tech. Take it apart (conceptually or literally if you're feeling adventurous). Using the basics, think of how your character might put it back together with limited tools and resources.

Master the Fundamentals: Understand the basic principles underlying the tech you're working with. Physics, chemistry, and biology can be your best friends. This understanding can guide your character's resourceful innovations.

Embrace the Scrapyard: The world around you has potential tech components. Appliances, vehicles, infrastructure - how could these be deconstructed and repurposed? Your characters will need to use what's at hand.

Cherishing Old Wisdom: Pre-apocalypse books and manuals are the new internet. A character with access to this knowledge could become a vital asset in tech-building.

Indigo Everly

[its-your-mind]

HEY. HEY.

HEY @re-dracula WHAT GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO HAVE JONATHAN ACTUALLY READING THAT PASSAGE OUT LOUD BEHIND SEWARD DESCRIBING THE SCENE, HUH? WITH THE TEARS IN HIS VOICE AND THE PAUSING AND THE SHORT LITTLE INHALES AND THE VOICE CRACKS? WAS IT TRULY NECESSARY??? I WAS ALREADY CRYING. I DIDN'T NEED THIS TOO. WHAT THE FUCK.

[centaurianthropology]

Why C3E51 worked so well (a DM’s perspective)

I have seen a lot of absolutely bananas critiques of C3E51 (thankfully not nearly as many around here, far more on Reddit, which I should not have visited).   And the ongoing theme of those critiques is that Matt should not have imperiled former PCs, and if he brought them in should have either done lengthy side-bars with those characters or let them win the fight against Ludinis and have a chance to take him out themselves, since they’re ‘god tier’ or ‘high level’ and that makes ‘logical sense’.  What these critiques really boil down to, IMO, are people who were really invested in the former campaigns upset that their faves didn’t get to do cool things, treating it more like a TV show than a game.  But even as a TV show, that would have been disappointing from a narrative perspective.  Because even in a TV show, this is a sequel spin-off show, starring new characters.  The story is about THEM.  And more importantly, the game is about the players and about telling their story.

So let’s break this down from a DM perspective.  How do you build a Kobiashi Maru situation for your characters?  For those of you who aren’t familiar, the Kobiashi Maru is a Star Trek term for a scenario designed from the jump to be unwinnable (Kirk beat it by creativity, but later admitted that he missed the point of it).  In Star Trek this was done to test what a future officer would do if faced with certain failure.  In a D&D game it’s a little more complicated.  Part of it is to set up the BBEG, put their plan in motion, and set the stage for the next leg of the game.  But it’s also to give your players, who are clearly into it, a darkest-hour scenario.  Not every player group is going to be into facing down the Kobiashi Maru, and it’s clear from the aforementioned critiques that a lot of them are on Reddit.  Power-gamers who always want to win are not going to enjoy this sort of storytelling, but players who are really into RP and working through difficult times and failures will eat this stuff up.  And this is absolutely the sort of table playing on Critical Role.  There is a level of trust there that can only be built after years of working together, and this was finally the moment when Matt could pay off years of planning and campaign-spanning set-up.

Matt carefully plotted the structure of this episode out to give maximum agency and impact to a party of dramatically under-leveled characters.  And they knew going in they were under-leveled.  This wasn’t a surprise, but a potential suicide run by people who knew they weren’t the heroes they needed to be, but were the only heroes in the right place at the right time to try anything.  So they came up with as good a plan as they could, and executed it fairly well, all things considered.  

They knew they couldn’t take on Ludinus directly (and this was a great way to demonstrate exactly how much he had planned and how long, to bring in elements from C2, hints we’ve had for years about Ludinis, only to reveal it went deeper than any of the characters could have imagined), so Matt gave them some winnable objectives.  This is a great way to keep the characters invested in an unwinnable scenario: the ultimate outcome may be beyond the characters, barring some insane genius or incredible rolls, but they can still help.  They can do something that will have a tangible impact on events and hinder the baddies enough to give them another chance at a rematch and a way to stop the apocalypse when they’re higher level.  So Matt gave them the batteries: take out as many as you can.  While this would not stop the ritual, I suspect that the more they took out the more Ludinis would have to drain his own power to make the key work, and the longer the process would take.  Knocking out the feywild key, as well as multiple power sources turned what would have been an instantaneous event if they had done nothing into a more drawn-out affair which, I suspect, could be stopped or even reversed.  It gave them a window to come back and demand a rematch.

Then we have the high-level PC allies, and how to play with those sorts of characters without pulling focus from the PCs.  Matt handled this very well, by having the players roll for their former PCs, taking the specifics of their actions out of his hands and letting the dice of the former players decide.  He also revealed that Keyleth’s involvement, and baiting Vax with Otohan’s permadeath poison, was key to Ludinis’ ritual, which was why she couldn’t just dive in and clean everything up.  But again, because of this story, it ties less back to Keyleth and more back to Orym.  That was the point of the attack on Zephrah, to get her attention by getting her to look into who did it and then coming to get some payback, but the little guy on the ground has always been caught in the middle.  Orym has been Ludinis’ unwitting pawn from the off, his family’s deaths merely a means to an end, and that is vicious and amazing set-up for character growth for him.  

Beau and Caleb had to be there by the logic of the story.  It didn’t make sense that Caleb would sit out a world-ending event orchestrated by a Cerberus Assembly member after spending years trying to take them down.  Beau would obviously go with him.  It also made sense that they would be the only two there, because they were scouting when Ryn got taken down, and after that were trying to keep a low profile.  Shit accelerated too fast for them to call in reinforcements.

Which is the in-story reason for them to be there, but isolated and vulnerable, making them useful allies and wildcards (who likely could have been more useful if ultimately failing as well, but failed early thanks to Liam and Marisha’s rolls).  But they were still outmatched.  I have no idea what the challenge rating of Otohan, Leliana, and Ludinis are, but we know Otohan was considered ‘beatable’ back in Bassuras.  That indicates she’s the lowest CR, particularly with the glowing weak-spot on her back.  But she can still wreck a level-20 PC if she gets the jump on her, which she did.  And that meant that she remained a massive threat.  Caleb and Beau were playing it smart, keeping to the shadows, but still got caught by Leliana.  Between dice rolls, careful planning, and some great enemy design, Matt really set up a team that could take on high-level players and win.  And he made it clear that Ludinis did not leave this to chance.  He has the best people he could muster after 1000 years of planning.  Nothing short of a miracle could have truly stopped them.

Which is why we cut back to Bells Hells.  Because ultimately this particular story isn’t about Keyleth or Vax or Caleb or Beau or any other former PCs.  This is about the current party being caught up in events much larger than them and having to rise to the occasion.  This is the story of the schmucks sent in to take out the batteries, but who have personal beef with the big bads.  Ludinis orchestrated the plan to attack Zephrah to bait Keyleth and draw out Vax, and Otohan carried it out.  And he used Orym as a pawn throughout all of it.  This makes taking them down, but especially taking Otohan down, the cornerstone of Orym’s personal quest.  Letting an NPC take her down would be taking away a critical part of his motivation and goals, which is an absolute no-no for a DM.  NEVER bring in a god-tier NPC and take away player agency or story beats.  Especially never have them resolve important player goals and backstory events!  Every NPC, even the powerful ones, are there to support the story the players are telling.  So of course Keyleth wasn’t going to take out Otohan.  Of course she wasn’t going to stop the ritual.  Beau and Caleb might have been able to do something more if Liam and Marisha hadn’t rolled so badly for them, but ultimately, they had to get caught or fail in another way.  

For the sake of gameplay, Bell’s Hells had to be the only functional team.  They had to be the ants that were beneath Ludinis’ notice long enough to really accomplish something.  And as much as it feels like they failed, they had minor victories: Laudna and Ashton took out more batteries, making Ludinis drain his own power to kick off the apocalypse.  They only failed to take out Otohan’s backpack by 2 HP, which showed them that she was an achievable goal in the future.  If they had rolled a little better, they probably could have taken her out entirely, which would have felt like a big accomplishment for them.  Imogen made her mother pause in her assault before doubling down.  This leaves open very interesting future beats for their interactions.  Can she ultimately redeem her mother or would she have to take her out?  Every step that Matt set up in this episode, from the reveals about Ludinis’ plans and Orym’s past, to Imogen’s interactions with her mother, to Chetney and likely Ashton finding themselves staring down their own backstories after the party split, was focused on this party, on getting them ready to step out of low-level play and advance.

And that’s the point of E51.  It’s not a climax of the story, but the ultimate set-up.  It’s putting all the pieces onto the board in a way that all the characters can now recognize.  Yes, unless the players came up with something genius, the apocalypse was going to kick off, but their actions slowed everything down to a place where it could be combatted.  Yes, the god-tier former PCs were always going to get neutered, because this is Bells Hells’ story, and you cannot have NPCs fix PC problems.  They might have been able to do a little more before this happened, but the dice rolled.

And it’s honestly good for the PCs how things turned out.  They have a clear objective, but are split up.  This gives them great incentive to level up, explore character backstory, deal with their personal shit, get stronger, and then come back to kick the asses of all three of these villains (or possibly redeem one, we’ll see).  Their powerful allies are now temporarily side-lined.  Keyleth is badly hurt and will need time to recover.  Caleb is collared and will need time to get that removed.  Beau is likely up and moving now, but will need to safeguard Caleb for a while.

The Bells Hells are on their own.  The Darkest Hour has come, and it’s time for them to rise up and go from nobodies to heroes.  This is their true call to adventure.  And as a DM, it was so cool seeing how Matt set up all the pieces over the campaign, only to pay them out in such a satisfying and motivating way in this episode.

[theprinceandthewitch]

I will actually die on the "Huntlow is forced" hill because it makes absolutely no sense for either of them to get together.

Especially Hunter, who is attached to the Caleb/Evelyn and Philip drama... and last time I checked, Willow isn't the witch from another world who turned Hunter's world upside down lmao.

[lesbianfakir]

I'm a fan of both adaptations but I am an agent of chaos if nothing else

[kicktwine]

the problem is I’m such a staunch believer in the slow buildup, the earnest enjoyment of meandering through terrible story decisions and weird nothing subplots to build up into a conclusion that explodes out from all that as fantastic storytelling and intrigue based on all that buildup, such that it makes it necessary to get through all that or you’re missing something essential, that I’m also a terrible person to talk to about what makes a story good. I can tell you plenty of what actually makes something tight and well-written and all that technical speak but how could anyone take my advice when I so so so love excruciatingly long unnecessarily complex fumbling and weird nonsense that spirals into, inexplicably, weird nonsense that makes you cry your lungs sore

[usslakevee]

i noticed something in both Psych and House that I find interesting. Overall I enjoyed the later seasons of both shows less than the earlier seasons. And if I had to pinpoint why it's the loss of structure as the shows go on.

Both House and Psych start of with an extremely similar episodic format. There is a case they need to solve, and in between case related scenes we get character development. This character development occurs in small doses, and builds over time.

We learn bits of backstory about characters, see flashes of their lives and relationships, but it's all background to the case. But as the seasons go on the focus begins to shift instead of 10% of the episode being about the characters personal drama it's 20% and then 40% until the case isn't really important anymore and our main characters barely interact with it. Too busy with their interpersonal situationships.

And it's strange to me, that as much as I thrive on the bits and pieces we learn in the earlier seasons, I grow bored when the structure begins to breakdown. I love seeing House and Wilson's relationship in snapshots, and bits, but it was never meant to be the main plot. Same for Psych.

[tammyisobsessedwith]

I came to the conclusion that this season was written by someone who has never seen Love Island and they only had someone doing a very poor job of explaining what it’s supposed to be.

Producer: So it’s called Love Island, right? A bunch of sexy singles live together in a Villa wearing bathing suits all the time. They need to couple up and stay together if they want to get to the end.

Writer *taking notes*: Right, singles, Villa, bathing suits…

Producer: Then we keep putting in more people with the original group and we have recouplings. That’s when the drama starts. We love recouplings. We live for recouplings.

Writer: Sure, more people, recoupling *writing down LOTS OF RECOUPLINGS and underlining it three times*

Producer: And we give them lots of challenges to do together, they’re always a favourite. People love the food challenge ones!

Writer *slightly confused*: Sure, who doesn’t love cooking and eating? *writing down FOOD CHALLENGES? WTF?*

Producer: But there need to be twists! Think excitement! People stealing each other’s partners! They need to be tempted to leave their partners for someone new.

Writer: Yeah, obviously *writing down ADD RICH TYPE AND HANDSOME DOUCHEBAG*

Producer: But we also need happy endings. People love happy endings. Think power of friendship, people changing for the better, there’s a couple of life lessons there along the way and some enlightening our younger audiences for dangers out there in the world, y’know?

Writer: Sure… *adding notes that say BULLYING, NEGGING* The usual topics being discussed every now and then.

Producer: You got it! Don’t forget the steamy sex scenes and we’re golden. *getting up to leave the meeting*

Writer *nervously rising from seat as well*: Wait, I need more info. How many people? How many days are they supposed to be at the Villa? What’s the MC personality supposed to be like?

Producer *dismissively waving a hand*: Oh about twenty people or so and think a few weeks in the summer. Oh! One important detail: the MC needs to be a bombshell and come in after the initial coupling up to steal one of the lads. You got this. Good luck! I expect a detailed outline by the end of this week.

Writer *panicked*: ?!

[fictionadventurer]

In my continuing quest to learn more about Laura Ingalls Wilder as a writer beyond the Little House books, one of the most surprising things I've learned is that apparently she wrote a small collection of cutesy poems about nature fairies.

They were originally published in a children's column in the San Francisco Bulletin in 1915, and are apparently about a couple of fairy characters who paint flowers and bring dewdrops and bring about other natural phenomena. This post goes into more detail about the poems, and the interesting blend of practicality and whimsy that goes into her presentation of fairies.

It also provides one of the poems.

And this quote about the importance of giving children fairy tales that's almost Chestertonian.

Wilder explained why she preferred such magical images of natural processes in a column for the Missouri Ruralist called “Look for Fairies Now.” She argued that children needed tales of fairies to help them see beyond the surface and to use their imaginations. In the olden days, she explained, farmers left some of their harvest for the Little People who “worked hard in the ground to help the farmer grow his crops.” Perhaps this idea was just superstition, she continued, “but I leave it to you if it has not been proved true that where the ‘Little People’ of the soil are not fed the crops are poor. We call them different names now, nitrogen and humus and all the rest of it, but I always have preferred to think of them as fairy folk who must be treated right.

On the one hand, this feels like just another example of how it was apparently a requirement for female authors of a certain era to write cute nature fairy poems. But with the context of the quote, it's also surprisingly fitting for who she is as an author.

[mumblesplash]

hello miners and crafters i have questions about the deep dark

see i can admit i don’t know everything

(if anyone has theories or more questions send em i have ancient city brainrot again and this is all i can think about)

1. why does the sculk inflict darkness

the doylist answer here is definitely ‘game design’, but in terms of the sculk’s biology in-universe—it doesn’t have eyes. it would have no reason to understand the concept of vision, so how does it block ours?

2. why don’t catalysts make more catalysts

when catalysts spread sculk they make sensors and shriekers, albeit rarely, but they never spawn new catalysts. the only way to create a new catalyst is to kill a warden, which means past a certain point the sculk depends on players to spread itself. again, might just be a gameplay decision, but if this is an intentional part of sculk lore it then raises the question of how the hell all the naturally generated catalysts got where they are

3. why would the pillagers bother to build with wool

now ok for context afaik no official source has confirmed for sure that the pillagers were ever there, but they obviously were, and for a while. because some parts of the cities will contain structures like these:

which are designed in the distinct style of pillager outposts and don’t match the rest of the city at all. there’s also the piles of cyan, blue, and light blue wool referred to as ‘camps’ that match the wool piles found in woodland mansions, and the implication here is that the pillagers used this wool to reconstruct parts of the wool walkways.

the problem is, the pillagers’ apparent reconstruction efforts consistently prioritize practicality over the original builders’ stylistic choices, and they would have no practical reason to use wool if only vibrations made by players can activate shriekers. so why bother? why not use wood planks or cobblestone like they do everywhere else?

[sanjerina]

The thing I love about fannish creativity is how all of the stories kind of curl up next to the original version and pad it out, but in this variegated way where the padding around the original* story can create so many different answers to things like: what happened next? — what happened in the other character’s point of view? — why are there bees in the trees in the autumn? — what if the bees were surveillance cameras?

(This is, by the way, the collaborative storytelling we have been designed to do for, like, a couple-few hundred thousand years? * Yeah.)

Anyway. The example I have today (though I have others!) is from Victoria Goddard’s Greenwing and Dart series, which focuses on two young men named, as might imagine, Mr. Greenwing and Mr. Dart.

There were so many many stories where the buddy-sleuth (they’re not cops, Jemis Greenwing says ACAB) vibe they have going, their emotional intensity, their various in-jokes… I would have read as homoerotic subtext, like we’ve all been doing since Holmes and Watson.

And fanfic has always been such a reliable place for this. Like. Please and thank God for that. I keep talking about the Good Boys because I want them to experience every possibility of love and support and sarcasm they can possibly attain. And bring their friends. In wild permutation.

But for various reasons, halfway through its run I don’t think the text is “going there” (in terms of a G+D sexual relationship) — there’s plenty of gayness within the text, so it’s not Goddard pretending to ignore something (as if she would).

But it’s also not a sexually charged relationship**, and I’ll be astounded if that is how it actually ends for them. G+D hits beat by beat of a traditional romance in so many ways, but instead of “falling short” of true love like a 70s buddy comedy, it falls otherwise. Mr. Greenwing and Mr. Dart are each the most important person in the others’ lives. That will not change. Their mutual loyalty is so precious to me that I fear to mention it lest I endanger it.

So — though I will read alllllllll of the Greenwing/Dart fanfic y’all want to write! — I would sort of be let down if they did get together sexually “for real” (i.e., in canon). The beauty and vulnerability of their friendship is gorgeous just as it is, and my demi/gray-ace heart finds that so fulfilling. I trust the storyteller here and have no doubt she can get me “there” if that’s where she’s going, but I love their dynamic and the way it shows another model of love. And since that’s often a theme in Goddard’s writing, I think she’s doing it on purpose.

So if she did “go there”, great, nothing I like better of an evening than reading a satisfying romance about two people (who are fictional and nothing at all like me) finding true love and also orgasms. But if she sticks the queerplatonic landing as I am currently expecting, I will be deeply satisfied.

Either way, fanfic will fill in and give us the story that’s not there. And that’s what I love about stories that accumulate other storytellers.*

Anyway, to my POINT, which is that I love fanfic for its profusion of color, AND I also love the original* canon everyone more or less agrees on and either (1) elaborates within that framework or (2) turns it on its head.

And please go read these books. The love, the loyalty, the yearning… the FANFIC just trust me. I want 500K of G+D fic on my desk next Monday and I’m hardly going to do it all myself 😂

- notes -

* I think in the end every story is one story, but also that that’s why every retelling of that story is singular and cannot be duplicated. Along with also having a theory about social storytelling and music being the ways we managed our mental health long enough to develop agriculture (and then fuck that cultural system up.)

But anyway. I’m also a tiny bit high right now, so this may not be as deep as I think it is. :)

** Look, in canon, which is from Jemis’s perspective, you know I’m right. And yes, it’s equally well established that Jemis is an otherwise very smart young man who is utterly oblivious about his own sex appeal. So it’s like a Schrödinger’s cat of they will kiss/they will not kiss, and I eat that up with a spoon.

[filmcourage]

7 Point Story Structure Found In Every Great Movie - Paul Chitlik

Watch the video interview on Youtube here.

[goldensunset]

man ‘understandable’ is not the same as ‘justified’