#the plot twists are exciting without feeling too predictable or too random. This world just really has a life to it.

[reminiscentrainclouds]

The Dragon Prince season 6 spoilers below! Just a bunch of my thoughts because boy do I have a lot of them!

I still can't believe the way that whole switcheroo trick with the pearl backfired on Callum. It was so painful to watch because I knewwww it was going to happen the minute he decided to carry the fake down there by himself. Rayla was literally offering to go down there with him!! It would have been so easy for both of them to go down there just in case! I mean, the fake and the pearl both looked exactly the same; it would be easy to make a simple mistake and confuse them, so you'd want to make extra sure you were taking the right one with you!! Callum's confidence is very admirable, but considering he was so worried about it, he really should have been more cautious!

I just really like the way that part of the plot played out. This whole season had soooo much irony in it, but especially with this whole thing. The second it was revealed to be the fake pearl, I was like, "Yippee I was right!!" But also, "They're doomed." Because!! It's left completely unattended!!

And then Sol Regem started attacking Katolis and I was like NOOO IT'S ALL COMING TOGETHER. Although at first I was thinking it was gonna get like, smashed or something in the rubble and that would release Aaravos but man. MAN. There was so much more in store, that was a wild ride... Don't even get me started on Viren's sacrifice. I hate him and I think he got what he deserved, both in terms of what he lost and the crushing guilt he felt, but man. I was really sympathizing with him ever since he got revived, and that last scene with him hurt.

But it was a satisfying and fitting conclusion for him. He had intended on swearing off dark magic and attempting to right his wrongs, but instead, after a lifetime of sacrificing other lives for magic, he ends things by sacrificing his own life, which was already stolen after being revived anyway, to help save the people of Katolis. Sucks that he ultimately was convinced to use dark magic again, as if it was something he could never really escape, as if he never really learned anything, but the big difference was that he was sacrificing no other life than his own here. And he did help people. I'm probably massively misinterpreting everything because my interpretations are always kind of off...but he's just a really interesting character.... He made a lot of bad decisions but I understand his motivations, and I feel like he was really quite Doomed By The Narrative, pushed into a corner and faced with two equally bad decisions in many cases. He's the kind of bad guy who I really wish could have had the opportunity of not being a bad guy, y'know?

Aaravos is much worse and much less redeemable to me, but I feel a similar way about him. Like I Get It. Can't relate to what appears to be his thirst for revenge but I can understand. Learning about what happened to his daughter makes me angry on his behalf! The fact that all this had to happen in the first place hurts a lot! All this could really be blamed on that council of Startouch Elves, for what seemed like an extremely unnecessary punishment for his daughter. Although I'm curious about what more information we might get on the whole cosmic order and everything, I don't know. Taking Aaravos's child like that was unnecessarily cruel though; regardless of how serious of a crime or whatever giving humans magic was, there's no way she had bad intentions, and it's not like killing her would reverse what happened. AUGH anyway. What a season.

[coffeebeanwriting]

What Bores a Reader The Most?

I asked my followers to answer the question “what bores you the most when reading a book?” 

Please keep in mind that these are all opinions and you’ll find yourself agreeing and disagreeing with some. Personally, I think this is amazing insight into the minds of unique readers all around the globe! I decided to keep reoccurring answers instead of merging them, just so people could see the repeating themes.

“Predictable conflicts or character actions. I want to be surprised.”

“When there’s no clear plot. When it looks like the book is leading nowhere.”

“Endless description. Nothing makes me more prone to skipping ahead.”

“When it feels like what you’re reading lacks purpose and there is no meaningful contribution to the plot.”

“Characters with less personality than a wet paper towel. Main characters with zero personality.”

“When I can’t picture anything in my head or what I understood changes randomly.”

“When a conversation is happening and I can’t follow which character is saying what.”

“Daily routines in a story. Like, I do not care.”

“When the world doesn’t move if the main character doesn’t interact with it. This applies to t.v shows, too.”

“Something that does not have a build up like a sudden relationship out of the blue.”

“When I’m so confused it doesn’t make sense anymore.”

“When there’s a 3 page description of some random object.”

“Wayyyy too much detail.”

“When the big plot twist is revealed and I guessed it ages ago.”

“Too slow or too long.”

“When the author unnecessarily drags the story and takes ages to advance to the climax.”

“Fan service that doesn’t contribute to the plot.”

“Useless descriptions and/or actions.”

“Over description of a landscape (cough old literature cough).”

“No action, no violence. I don’t like when characters talk for too long.”

“Long descriptions.”

“Too much descriptions when you are in a exciting moment. It breaks immersion.”

“Lack of imagery.”

“Constant usage of archaic vocabulary.”

“When the main character is extremely passive and doesn’t act or react.”

“Excessive description that doesn’t further the plot or meaningfully add to characterization.”

“Overly predictable plot, overly crude language for the sake of it, cringe/pompous scenes.”

“Long and boring exposition dumps.”

“Characters that never loose 😴.”

“When the world building starts out great and is really immersive until later on when things don’t add up.”

“When a character has too much internal dialogue.”

“Explaining “the science” behind magic systems in unnecessary detail.”

“Over description. I will skim and skip a lot of it.”

“Too much background info at the beginning.”

“When there’s small talk about a topic I don’t understand. It get’s sooo boring.”

“Too much inner monologue.”

“Slow plot.”

“When it’s just dragging on and on with the backstory.”

“Having to reread a sentence/paragraph a billion times because my brain got distracted.”

“When there’s no action, suspense or something similar for the whole chapter.”

“Things that aren’t relevant to the story.”

“Too much dialogue.”

“A lil too much fantasies.”

“Over drawn setting descriptions.”

“Overly long chapters, repetitive scenes, lots of complicated worldbuilding.”

“When it’s too simple or too detailed.”

“Long, long expositions.”

“Repeating phrases, plots ,etc.”

“Infodumps, especially in the beginning.”

“Too much history.”

“Overly descriptive settings.”

“Slow plot. I need drama!”

“Long chapters.”

“Slow pacing.”

“No major plot twist.”

“Miscommunication trope.”

“Massively long descriptive paragraphs.”

“Too much exposition in the beginning.”

“Long and confusing story building.”

“Repeating plot points. For example: the hero learning to trust his friends a million times without any real progression.”

“Training scenes that show nothing special. Especially sword fighting or head to hand combat.”

“Generic plot developments unless it’s written well.”

“Overuse of complicated words and sentences.”

“Long paragraphs.”

“I’m so over the bubble sunshine and extra grumpy trope.”

“When a character is overthinking.”

“Romanic subplots bore me. Having too many love interests.”

“When it switches between characters/subplots and one of them is awfully boring.”

“When too much information on a character is given one at a time.”

“Clichés.”

“When it takes a long time before the story gets interesting.”

“Long, long, long descriptions particularly of places that aren’t all that important.”

“Descriptions of unnecessary things.”

“Too much side character’s story. They’re a side for a reason.”

“I love beautiful writing so there must be some lovely descriptions... but don’t drone on.”

“Flat characters.”

“Scenes in which my favorite characters do not appear.”

“When the characters have no clear goal or the goal is too weak.”

“If most or all of the characters are unlikable. Then I don’t care what happens to them in the story. Being an evil/mean character is different from being unlikable.”

“When the plot does not move forward.”

“Writing unnecessary, irrelevant things that don’t have an effect on the story.”

“No real plot. The protagonist has no fire to them.”

“When the protagonist needs to figure out a love triangle and which person they like the most.”

“When the interesting parts happen right at the end.”

“When there’s too much info dumping with no easy transitions.”

“No progression after chapters and chapters. Characters not having development.”

“Too much description and a slow start to the story.”

“When characters are too oblivious to something.”

“Oblivious main characters, lazy plots, stereotypical encounters, main character is a god trope.”

“Unnecessarily long amounts of monologue or dialogue.”

“The second chance trope bores me.”

“Slow beginnings... like, get to the action in 3 chapters of less please.”

“Chapters being too long with small writing.”

“If the characters go through the same conflict over and over again.”

“Classic books... I don’t understand a thing, haha.”

“Being bombarded with unnecessary detail.”

“Bad boy meets good girl trope bores me.”

“Too much landscape descriptions like Tolkien or Stephen King.”

“Bad dialogue, too much excessive background details and too many character tags.”

“When the book moves too slowly.”

“Over described scenes or characters.”

“Descriptions without inputs of what a characters is thinking about. I need a lens of character POV to make descriptions interesting to read.”

“A badly written romance subplot where the characters involved don’t have any chemistry whatsoever.”

“I get a bit lost when there’s too much details about an environment.”

“When the story doesn’t go anywhere for a really long time.”

Instagram: coffeebeanwriting  

[s-mething-mbti]

Hiya! I just discovered your blog and was wondering if you could help try to type me (sorry this is pretty long)

1. I’m currently pretty torn between the intuitive introverts. I was able to narrow it down to INTJ, INFJ or INTP. I’m about 97.2% sure I use Ni. The only thing that’s giving me a bit of doubt is I find myself occasionally learning for the sake of learning which I’ve found is a traditionally Ne trait. Despite this I’m still pretty sure I use Ni as when I go down a rabbit hole and start learning for the sake of learning its always about a topic that interests me or is entertaining. I won’t waste my time learning about something I find mundane or drab. I resonate a lot with Ni’s “aha” moments where the correct answer simply pops into my head or a vision suddenly seems clear or a plot holes solution suddenly seems painstakingly obvious. I also resonate with starting out with a broader range of information/ possibilities and narrowing it down to one or two things. Another intuitive thing I highly relate to is living in the future. If almost never living in the present, and a constantly fixate on the future. I have a distinct, clear, and well thought out plan for the next 20 years (give or take).

Where I run into a bit of trouble is when I try to figure out which judging functions I predominantly use. It honestly feels like I use them all (though I know you’re only supposed to be able to use two well). For example I plan out everything, and set deadlines for myself. My desk often seems really messy to others especially when I’m doing art. This isn’t because I don’t value cleanliness, but because it simply makes more sense to keep all my art supplies out rather than having to spend at least fifteen minutes taking them out and then putting them away only to take them right back out the next day. I set goals based off of easily measurable, external things such as time, or grades. I make daily to do lists that outline everything I’ll need to do in the day, and some stuff to focus on if I have extra time. With my to do list I also plan out the approximate time each thing should take. When coming up with a scientific theory, I take others opinions/theories and test them against each other, and current scientific laws in order to formulate the most probable theory. External opinions (in a scientific/ logical manner) mean a lot to me (I don’t really care about how people that aren’t my friends think of me). To me these things seem very Te. But then I’m always smiling and am a fairly warm person. I want my friends to be happy, and I want to help others. I despise emotionally driven conflict(though I love debates), and while I’m not afraid to disrupt it if it threatens my morals/ is promoting something blatantly wrong (factually or morally) I do really harmony. These seem like pretty Fe things to me. As for Fi, I rarely share my negative emotions, preferring to deal with them predominantly alone. While I may not talk about them much I also have EXTREMELY strong morals. If something is crossing them I’m not going to simply ignore it for the sake of harmony. While I tend to be private I do try to be as authentic as possible. My morals are derived by information I’ve collected and decisions I’ve made myself, rather than being derived by ‘the groups’ collective morals if that makes sense. To me these things appear to be very Fi. As for Ti, sometimes I enjoy learning simply for the sake of learning. The knowledge may have no practical use to me but if I find it interesting or want to learn about it I can devote hours to it. I try and come to the most logical/accurate conclusion possible, and when I’m offering advice I may offer additional advice that takes different variables into account. The truth is really important to me as well.

2. Reading. I absolutely ADORE reading(specifically fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian books or research/scientific articles about topics that interest me). For reference there was a period of time when I had some free time and I was reading 2 or 3 books a day? Read maybe 50 books in the span of 20 days? But yeah I absolutely love reading. Just he way the book sucks you in and deposits you and a completely new world full of wonder and disaster and ugh it’s just magnificent. And don’t even get me started on impeccable character development and eeee. The way rereading a book feels like you’re reconnecting with an old best friend or going back to your childhood home and *sobs*. I also LOVE trying to predict plot twists and character deaths. Most of the time I can predict things correctly and idk it’s really fun to just try and figure out what’s going to happen before the big reveal. And the rush of satisfaction you get when you’ve guessed something right- it also helps me brace for character deaths (sorta. For example I knew *the* death in the final empire [by Brandon Sanderson] was coming since nearly the very beginning [I had my suspicions since the moment vin was introduced] but I still sobbed when the character died. [a tad off topic but what caused me to cry wasn’t the death itself but another characters reaction to it. This is often the case I find. A death of a character I love leaves me feeling empty but what typically gets me to cry is the others reactions- for thus reason funerals usually make me cry. I should also add that I only cry when I’m alone. I’ve cried around people (that aren’t my parents) a grand total of 1 time.]

Uh and daydreaming. I’m almost always daydreaming. Ie. if my brain was a search engine or whatever one tab would be reality and I would consecutively have at lest 20 other tabs open. Some of then playing videos (daydreams) others supplying music(if I’m not actively listening to real music my brain cycles through songs I have memorized. Occasionally does this with book scenes too if I’m bored [yes, I memorize some of my favourite scenes, word for word, so I can play them like a movie in my head when I, bored) others containing random info (just me thinking random stuff) etc.

3. I guess how to solve some problems? Wether it’s a math or science problem, or an argument between friends, figuring out how to solve things has always been something I’m decently good at. Math and science just. Make sense. And then with issues between people I’m good at looking at different perspectives (even ones that I don’t agree with) and playing out different scenarios/ possible outcomes of different approaches. This lets me come up with a solution that will successfully solve the problem with the least amount of negative ramifications involved

4. Hmm maybe being present? I honestly feel like life is passing me by and I’m just immobilized on the sidelines. Im so far into the future that I kinda forget to actually *live* every once in a while.

5. Honesty? Truth? Morals? These topics are all really interesting as they can be kinda subjective. The line between honesty and cruelty is so small. What is truth? Cause while yes, we have some set truths (such as the earth is orbiting the sun) so many ‘truths’ are simply subjective and completely depend on ones perspective. And morals my goodness. The stormlight archive is a really fun series that plays around with things like what is justice? And honour? I won’t get into it now but it brings up so many really interesting questions regarding morals.

6. Perspective . I think perspective is such a fascinating thing. Just. Different opinions. Seeing the world through completely different lenses. Interpreting the same thing in utterly different ways. When toying around with an idea I find it really fun to try and imagine opposing perspectives. While I can find different perspectives really interesting, they can also well... get on my nerves to say the least. Sometimes someone perspective is just? So blatantly wrong? And has absolutely no factual evidence backing it up? And part of me wants to just just scream and it would be so much easier if everyone just. Assessed the facts in front of them instead of making wild accusations or whatever without anything to support them. But yeah overall I think perspectives are really cool and they’re part of what helps to make the world diverse and life so much less interesting without different perspectives.

The future. I’ve found a bunch of my friends find thinking about the future stressful but if I’m being honest I find solace in thinking about the future. Having things planned out and knowing what I intend to do/ where I want to go takes off so much stress. I lowkey live in the future and I honestly cannot wait till it comes, and I achieve my goals. While I might be a bit scared the future excites me so much more than it’ll ever scare me.

7. Maybe add some more stuff about the judging functions and feelings and thinking etc . I absolutely adore science and math. I literally do math for fun. I’m currently aiming to get my PhD in astrophysics.

Not sure if this is relevant at all but my biggest (harmless) pet peeves are my grandmother’s door stopper (it always gets stuck in the door and then u can’t get it out and the door won’t close properly- I have an unhealthy amount of hatred for that thing AHAHJSEJKSMDJDJDJJ) and when people say some variant of “you did good”. Like nO NO YOU DID NOT DO gOoD. YOU DID W E L L (Anyways theres my little mini rant).

I’m my friend groups therapist (sorta). While I’m really not good with words and recycle the same three responses I always let everyone know that I’m here for them and they can talk to me without judgement etc. While I really don’t know what to say or do I try my best because I care about my friends and want to help them. I love them and so I want them to be able to be happy. Im always smiling (though this is more so because people don’t ask me how I’m doing when I look happy than because I’m genuinely happy. Most of the time I’m he farthest thing from that). I’m a pretty warm person who’s always happy to help, however I’m very introverted. I haven’t had a single conversation with the majority of people in my class (I’ve had a convo with maybe 5. Talk to 2 regularly. There are 26 people in my class). I never express negative emotions (with the exception of stress- I panic intensely in the 5 minutes immediately before taking a test as this helps me to completely turn off my nerves while I’m writing the exam. I may also make a joke or two about my negative emotions with close friends). I should also add that when making decisions I value logic more and think thinks through thoroughly, examining the pros and cons etc. While I take feelings and emotions into consideration when making decisions they’re more like an additional variable to consider rather than the main driving force that determines my decision. If I’m feeling really emotional and I need to make a decision I will postpone deciding until I feel more levelheaded. I’m really not impulsive in the slightest.

Thank you so much!!

INTJ

Living in the future rather than the present and your comfort in that sapce, your ability for and enjoyment of making predictions, your ability to really understand and try on different perspectives you don’t necessarily agree with, your focus on “ramifications” (aka future implications) while problem solving - this all points to high Ni.

You also show a Te preference - goals based on external metrics, to-do lists for daily tasks, logic based on the outer world (external opinion). When you said “While I take feelings and emotions into consideration when making decisions they’re more like an additional variable to consider rather than the main driving force that determines my decision” - that is a clear cut definition of Te over Fe preference.

Your tertiary Fi shows through here as well - willing to disrupt harmony if it upsets your morals, your morals being personally derived, needing to understand your emotions while alone. And lastly, your statement about “forgetting to live” from being in the future is pretty textbook inferior Se. 

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Other Kinds of Writing than “Pantsing” improvisation or “plotting” Outlining

So, usually people set up a false binary, because why not Europe the world and make everything a binary... so I’ll give other options of how Writers write. (From my vast reading of author notes and interviews and pros and cons of each...) ‘cause whatever you are doing might not be working the best for you, so why not try other ways?

How the Story is written

Improvisation

This means just start somewhere and let your subconscious take over the plot. The downside is if the readers figure this out (which there are markers for it), then they can guess ahead of you by figuring out the best gut punch for the time. The markers for it--though people don’t believe me... are excessive set up at the beginning of scenes, larger plot holes and repetition of plot points which were not caught during editing. I can tell you wrote the story this way when you keep trying to remind yourself of previous plot points in the text. Slash those when you edit. Look specifically for plot holes because your subconscious is likely to change their mind about certain things and you need to track them separately. Famously, Jack Kerouac was known to do everything on impulse and thought it was the highest form of writing. He didn’t want a single word edited. Advantages: Being impulsive can lead to some crazy ideas which can feel new. This is particularly good for character impulsive decisions. Or characters who go by their gut. The characters also tend to be a lot more willful, but it also means you need to keep them occupied with interesting events. Suspense and Thriller tend to benefit for such writing. Writing is fast, editing is slow.

Disadvantages: OMG, the editing is a nightmare. You have to write down every plot point on a separate piece of paper and then make sure you didn’t screw it up. It’s terrible for High Concept plots and where things have to come together neatly in a certain order to make sense. (Which is why Agatha Christie didn’t use it for And There Was None and it tortured her for a year since she was used to improvising everything. She explicitly said she’d write it like everyone did it and then drop the final clues to make it click at the end, which is a sign of an improviser or at most a milestone type.)

(Strict) Outlining (Separate sheet of paper)

Means you write down the plot points one by one. Sometimes writers use a spreadsheet so they can visually see what is happening at the same time. She whose name shall not be spoken, does it this way.

Sometimes it’s just a list of bullet points. The markers for it: It tends to be much neater in plotting. Things interlock neatly. If you have a large complex plot, this is one of the ways to do it. The markers for this are more spotting the way the plot comes together and also often unfortunately marked by flat characters because the event chain was thought of without the characters.

Tolkien from everything I’ve read of the man, mostly outlined his stories. I have a flagging suspicion on one story--which is my favorite, which is a bit more impulse-written because it’s much more introspective and philosophical--two things that don’t do well with outlining. Most epics, for this reason in the modern sense are done with outlines. Some, but not all mysteries are outlined.

Advantages: Having a large interlocking plot suddenly come together can be satisfying. All those desperate parts seem like it’s great. The events come back together. Less editing is always good.

Disadvantages: Flat token characters who don’t have to be there and have cursory agency merely to move the plot along. For Newbies, the plot twists aren’t that interesting and don’t interweave properly with the character’s set ups or choices. The events, then, feel like what the writer wanted to happen, rather than what would have naturally happened. (You can fix this, though, by thinking through the character and how they change and be willing to rework your outline every time the character makes a different choice than expected--don’t fall in love with the event chain--fall in love with the character agency to make change.)

Also, if you screw up one event because of lack of research, it can send your entire book into a tailspin since the point of outlining is to neatly get everything to come together.

Don’t forget to put in some “God events” on purpose. You can throw people off and make them guess it wasn’t heavily plotted by putting a few seemingly random events at the beginning that click or are red herrings which lead to dead ends.

Versioning

NK Jemisin did this... It combines a bit of the outlining with improvisation, but it tries different versions of the same events. I have a suspicion that Patrick Rothfuss also does a bit of this with his claim he also outlines... but I’m not 100% sure on that. This might explain why the books take so long to write. (Versioning and outlining don’t marry too well for speed. If you’re backing up, and then having to rework the outline based on backing up, that’s a total slow down every time.) Markers: There are very few markers. Sometimes people may spot dead end plots, but if you did a good job editing, you took those out.

Advantages: If you edit well, then no one will notice the difference. And you are 100% sure this is the best sequence of events for this character. Also helps when the character is extra bit willful for reasons you can’t crack.

Disadvantages: Time--it takes so much more time to edit the draft. Plus there are versions you have to, by nature of the project throw out no one will get to see. (Wasted paper and energy). Plus it’s super hard to edit because you have to choose which of the many paths you will take and justify it to yourself before making final drafts. How do you know you’re not doing it because you’re enamored of the idea, but it’s not the best version after all? Bad for indecision.

One sentence at a time

Chuck Palahniuk does this. One sentence, perfects it, then moves to the next.

Advantages: You are sure that sentence is perfect and therefore, the whole book doesn’t need editing by the end of it.

Disadvantages: The amount of time it takes to write the book is slow. The wording might also feel pretentious or overworked.

Milestones

I used to play this game called “Mille Bornes” which means milestone. A milestone in a person’s like are things like they were born, married, died, had children, etc. So the idea of this is that you set out things that the character has to hit in order to get to the next set of events. In order for cause A, they need to hit this event first. Because the outline is looser, it still allows them to act within the framework with agency. Also because it’s not a huge outline one has to rework every time, it allows the writer to bounce around more because they already know what their character is going to do to react to said event.

Mercedes Lackey, Andre Norton, Anne McCaffrey all said they used this method. Markers: The plot doesn’t always have that neat clicking sound feel to it. But the character seems to hit important events in regular well-paced order despite that. You can trick the reader by spacing the events and word count for those events differently. Usually these people pick out the ending ahead of time to make sure it doesn’t wander too much. But the ending can also feel a bit flat if one isn’t careful. If you don’t trim your events, side plots can overtake your story where there is no meaning to the overarching plot. Slash those. Newbies who use this method often end up deviating hard from the main point and that’s how one catches them.

Advantages: Takes the advantages of outlining and makes it looser. Takes the advantages of Improvising and gives it structure. Disadvantages: Editing still is a chore. Pacing might also be harder if you aren’t able to predict word count well. People can get too married to their event structure without regard to how the character has changed. They can box the character in. For the reader it feels half directed, and half not. It’s a bit harder to predict, but if you run out of event chains, and the reader guesses your tastes, they will be able to plot the entire book ahead of you and then you’re dead in the water. So plot against your preferences and towards your preferences too. Flat characters for this method are your worst enemy. The events you don’t find exciting, you might skimp out on. Make sure to rework the “boring” events. And cut as many side plots as you possibly can.

Order the story is written:

Linear Forwards- Plot from beginning, start there until you get to the end. Most writers tend to rely on this method and can’t think otherwise. Mercedes Lackey in her notes, beyond making notes about scenes she’d like to include, Anne McCaffrey, Agatha Christie (from how she said she writes), Sir Conan Doyle (Who, BTW, outlined a fair bit, though not completely--you can feel a bit of his impulsiveness peak through), Jane Austen (from reports of her manuscripts etc) and the bulk to writers stick to this method.

Linear Backwards- Know the ending you need and figure out the events that led there--mysteries do this a fair bit. Also some Japanese authors play with this quite a bit.

Skip around- Usually better for thematic or tone plotting. Or High concept. When you want a certain feel for the book, sometimes it’s better to choose on themes and events, write them quickly, then edit. Editing is a pain when done this way because places and seasons can shift by accident. Watch for plot holes. Diana Gabaldon skips around by using a bit of research and then making a scene out of it, and then stringing it together later.

Mixed- Bounce around between the methods... super messy. Lots of editing. And also sometimes lots of skimping on the “boring” bits, which isn’t a good idea.

Try ALL of them in different types and orders. Find which one suits you best and which one you struggle the most with. Get good at the one you like, then try to defeat them all and find out how people react to the story being written that way and what you need to delete and edit per way you wrote it. If there are more ways people write books... then try those methods too.

[aforgottenballad]

Feelings on Sally Face Episode 5

Under a read more for obvious reasons, includes heavy spoilers and potentially triggering subjects. 

Disclaimer: I might miss-remember some parts of the story or have missed a piece of lore that would settle minor complaints. I am however disappointed in the ending as a whole and in some of the very harmful tropes included in it. But I’m also just some dude online with an opinion, and you can stop reading at any time. 

Rant under cut. 

Alright ya’ll. I’ve had a couple days to digest the ending to Sally Face.  While playing, I genuinely enjoyed some elements of the game. The chapter started on a dark but nearly hopeful note. Neil and Ash were still working to bring the cult down. It seemed likely Sal would be resurrected. Todd had apparently escaped the hospital, and that had potential to be either a very very good or very very bad thing. Maple was possessed by whatever fucked up the souls of the other apartment tenants, but hey! At least her and Neil weren’t in on the cult like so many fans predicted. Unfortunately, this series has a way of getting darker and darker as it progresses.  First thing that bugged me was the lore drop about how the cult was founded.  A Native American tribe. Right. Because why wouldn’t Indigenous peoples be in a story without being part of some mystical occult backstory, portrayed as mysterious historical props who worshiped something dark and evil instead of being portrayed as human beings. 

But I continued. I really enjoyed playing as Ashley and getting some insight into her character. I enjoyed the task of planting the C4 in the temple... catacomb... thing. We get to see Travis again! I was excited that a lot of us were right about him being indoctrinated but also working to fight the cult from the inside. We knew he had some good in him after all. 

When Ash tries to resurrect Sal, we get even more insight into her character, and unfortunately a lot of it is “Grieving, distraught, and full of self-blame”. I want to hug her.  Sal’s spirit is apparently revived by those pyramids, and he can dimension warp. We meet Jim, or what’s left of him, and he doesn’t give a fuck about anything anymore but agrees to help Sal anyway. This is, narratively speaking, weird as hell. His entire character arc for four episodes was “Loved his family so much he sacrificed himself to save them”, and suddenly he’s just some glowy dude attached to Magic Spirit Tubes who doesn’t give half a shit. I guess it makes sense as a way to wrap up why he’s been able to drift between worlds but... if he doesn’t care about any of that anymore why help Sal? And what about Rosenberg? Is she like Jim, or do we just have to assume she’s magical because her family helped found the cult? (Explained in an easter egg later on, because this game doesn’t just drop its lore. Not even the CRUCIAL lore. You have to achievement hunt for it.) Sal can enter various doors in the House In The Void to step into alternate realities, and this was my favorite aspect of the game. Each door has a different art style, and I really liked seeing these alternate realities. Steve probably worked the hardest and longest on drawing out and coding these scenes. I genuinely applaud the man for the work put into this endeavor I’m assuming all by himself. 

Meanwhile, Ash tries to unbind Larry’s soul from the tree house he died in, which doesn’t work. Did we ever find out why his body was never found? No? Ok that seems important.

After each puzzle, Sal’s body is restored a little bit at a time, but even after turning on all the pyramids and solving the mysteries behind all three doors, he can’t make it back to the “real” world. So Ashley kills herself. Or tries to. Because apparently that’s the only way to complete the ritual, and also because she feels really bad about not unbinding Larry’s soul and about not fixing Sal. Again, I want to hug her, but I have to watch her hurt herself instead, cause Steve doesn’t let us have nice things.

Okay, so this is a gorey game. We know. But one of the BIGGEST no-nos suicide prevention networks will tell you when consulting them about mental illness and suicide in media is NOT to show a graphic suicide in progress. Steve is aware a lot of his fans are A) Young teens to young adults B) Struggling with mental illness. 

His main character suffers from depression and anxiety and this fact has resonated with hundreds of fans. It’s irresponsible to purposefully include a graphic suicide attempt, but he did it last chapter, showing a gunshot suicide’s aftermath, then he did it again with Ashley. Call me a wiener if you like, point out the graphic scenes from earlier in the game and call me a hypocrite for not being upset by that, but you have to admit the Spongebob-close-up-shot look to those scenes have a totally different feel. Speaking as someone who actually has a pretty thick skin, but is concerned about the fans who might be in a worse place or who could be as young as 12, that was fucked up. 

Anyway, Ash’s attempt doesn’t take, because she’s struck by magic lightning, which infuses Sal’s soul into her. Now her arm is one of those stretchy sticky hands, but with bio luminescence and the ability to kick cultist ass. I actually thought this part was really cool, and was super ready to go on a cultist smacking spree. But again, we can’t have nice things and before we get to do anything badass we have to look at gruesome imagery again. 

You get to see Void Larry, who is now old and a wizard or something, but first...

Surprise! Maple and Neil are dead! Not just dead, but hung up from hooks covered in blood! And naked! 

Hey?? Hey Steve????? You know how they’re both POC?? And that lynching imagery is EXTREMELY NOT GOOD?!!????

“Two white people are hung up with them” YEAH? WELL WE’VE NEVER SEEN THOSE CHARACTERS BEFORE. THEY’RE JUST RANDOM PEOPLE.

I’ve seen people arguing “The white characters go through terrible things too” but it’s still really fucked up that by the end of the game, every. Single. Person of color. In the game. Has died. Gruesomely. It’s a gorey, dark, bleak game, and white characters die as well, gruesomely; but not all of them. None of them that are named are shown strung up, naked. That’s fucked up. That isn’t okay. 

There are also a total of three gay characters in this game. One is Todd, who goes through the standard “bad bad stuff” the game is used to, is the white one, and he survives. One is Neil, one of the aforementioned people of color who died horribly and who only really existed to be Todd’s boyfriend and therefore a source of angst for Todd when he dies. The third is Travis, another man of color, and an abuse victim, who dies to fulfill his character arc as an abuse victim, which is also really shitty to see over and over again as an abuse survivor. 

Look, I know Steve pulled a lot of inspiration from old TV shows and horror series that probably weren’t all “politically correct”. I know it’s always been kind of an edgy and dark game. I know Steve probably didn’t think about the repercussions of all his narrative choices. But I also know he actively ignored some people offering to educate him on issues he has no experience with. I know he worked hard on this game, by himself, but we as fans have paid him and waited for years and it isn’t selfish or ungrateful to be hurt and disappointed. He knows his audience is diverse, he knows a lot of us were attracted to the game because of a gender nonconforming main character, a main character who struggles with mental illness, a cast that isn’t 100% white and conventionally attractive. Of course he didn’t need to change the plot for us! It’s his game, his vision, but the least he could have done is research how to not actively hurt and alienate a good portion of us.  I don’t think anyone is bad or racist for still finding solace in the characters and in what the story was before this, I’m not attacking you personally, whoever is reading this. I, personally, still have loads of Sally Face art in my queue, I still have active role plays going on, my Sal wig is sitting like 8 feet away waiting for the next time my friends want to take cosplay pictures. I still enjoyed playing the game for the most part. Without this game I wouldn’t even know most of my current friends. It’s just really shitty how it ended like this, and a lot of people I talk to daily either feel too sick to even talk about the game anymore after seeing people like them treated like trash by the narrative or try to focus on the good things they got out of just being part of the fandom but don’t feel comfortable supporting the developer anymore. 

Even if there wasn’t all these hurtful tropes packed into the game, and yes, even after unlocking the epilogue, the game just feels cold. It feels rushed, probably because of how much time went into the alternate dimension gimmick. I wish Steve had at least consulted people over the script. It felt like not only did he pour all his work into experimenting with the mixed media, he also just took whatever expectations the fans had and went somewhere completely different just to have his story be “unpredictable”. That isn’t always a good thing. Plot twists, downer endings, dark and scary imagery, all of these things can be done beautifully, but in this case it felt like he just wanted the series to end. The game didn’t subvert expectations, it fed into the harmful stereotypes and tropes all the fans were so hopeful it wouldn’t. 

...On top of not making any sense unless you’re able to 100% all the puzzles. And even when you do, it feels like all the bad stuff happened for no reason. The ending doesn’t conclude anything. Even when you unlock the epilogue, all it tells you is that a third of the world has died and that the main cast haven’t accomplished much besides “Trying to help”. Sal and Todd have powers now, but that isn’t elaborated on much. Larry’s spirit is missing, if he even exists in any plane at all anymore. It doesn’t even mention what’s going on with Ash.  It just feels like nothing mattered. 

[danyreads]

TITLE: This Story is a Lie AUTHOR: Tom Pollock RELEASE DATE: August 7th, 2018 READ DATE: July 13th, 2018 PUBLISHING HOUSE: Soho Teen RATING: ★★★★☆

ARC provided from the publisher via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review (thank you Soho Teen and Random House!!)

before picking this one up, keep in mind that the title of this book isn’t a lie, in spite of it being called This Story is a Lie. this book is unprovable. proving it true also proves it false. so it must be true, right? is it true that this story is a lie? is proving that this story is a lie true, also proving it false, since the lie is true, even when a lie is false by the very nature of its meaning?

hmm. yup. if anything is true, is that this book is an anxiety attack waiting to happen. in a good way, though!!

“I’m a world-champion paranoiac.”

This Story is a Lie follows Peter Blankman, a teen who suffers from a very extreme anxiety disorder and relies heavily on his prodigious mathematical abilities to get by on a daily basis. during an award ceremony held in his mom’s honor, since she’s a very influential scientist, Peter suddenly is surrounded by bewilderment, deceit and muddled truths after his mom is the victim of an assassination attempt and his sister goes missing. on the run and hunted by a strange group of people he’s never met before but who claim to work with his mother, Peter has no choice but to try to figure out what’s happening while facing his worst enemy: his own anxiety and fear.

there is no way for me to say too much about this book and its plot without absolutely spoiling everything, but just know that this book unwinds to be so much more than its premise at first glance. it is a mathematician’s fever dream and a philosopher’s wet dream packed into a 336 page mystery/thriller YA book. you are teased not only by the most unreliable narrator there’s ever been, but also by a series of twists that just keep on coming at every turn of the page. there are points in the book where you think you have it all figured out, and then Tom Pollock hits you with another twist out of nowhere. there’s also a very strange element to this book that just doesn’t allow you to discern between truth and lie. there comes a point in the story where Peter’s memories jumble with his anxiety and fear and generally his ethical and moral traits and everything becomes this very organized chaos, which, i don’t know about everybody else, but i just found it enthralling. the way this book unravels into every little crevice and detail that’s been given to you from the very first page is just brilliant.

math is also a huge part of this book but i don’t think it was tedious at all. you’re never lost. on the contrary, i think it made this book and its reading experience that much richer, because the way Peter uses math to roam meticulously through his every day life is something that i’ve never encountered in any YA book i’ve read before, much less when it’s paired up with Peter’s anxiety and panic attacks in the way that it is in this book. it’s such a different and strange approach to mental illness, but as an own-voices book, i really like that Tom Pollock chose to meander into it this way. it also makes me wonder if Tom is just a math genius himself, and if he’s not, how much research went into the book and into Peter’s character. either way, it just makes this book that much better.

it also doesn’t hurt that This Story is a Lie was HILARIOUS. despite Peter’s anxiety ridden life, he’s also still a genius. he’s snarky and witty and sarcastic and i just kept highlighting different quotes as i read because everything that comes out of his mouth is either mind-blowingly intelligent or just plain hysterical. i loved Peter, i really did !!

this book is not what you think it is. it’s also everything that you might expect it to be, but in an entirely different way you might predict. i don’t really know how else to say it, but it’s definitely a book that feels much more exciting than it seems at first glance.

GOODREADS LINK

[sonic-nyoom]

My Definitive Opinion on Sonic Boom

I noticed that most of my Sonic Boom opinions were spread out amongst multiple posts, so I thought it would be best to have one big post to direct everyone to for all my thoughts. I’ve had plenty of time for all of them to sink in and, while they’re mostly negative (precautionary warning there), it’s not likely to change anytime soon. If you disagree, that’s fine, but this is just how I feel.

To keep things nice and organized, I’ve separated everything into very broad categories so I can go into each one without getting sidetracked and lingering on multiple topics forever.

Starting with...

The Plots

An obvious place to start, the plots in Sonic Boom are very basic. That’s not a bad thing, but it becomes a problem when the show goes on for, say, more than one season, because it means either sticking to very cliche plots, or trying to be creative and failing due to having to force it.

Even sadder is when the plots are predictable. In all the times I’ve talked about Sonic Boom episodes that I haven’t liked or have downright hated, the word ‘’predictable’’ came up a lot, because it’s a killer of storytelling for me unless I’m excitedly anticipating that thing happening, which was very rare in this show.

As an example for killing any and all expectations I had for an episode, Designated Heroes. The very second that Sonic laughs at his friends (whether he has a reason to or not), I could anticipate the entire rest of the episode. Obviously Eggman isn’t going to show up, obviously Sonic is going to fall asleep, and obviously the rest of the disloyal crew are going to come by and rub it in his face despite the fact that they were so sure they could beat Eggman before too. Even if I had believed with 100% certainty that Sonic deserved punishment for what he did, that is ruined when such an obvious plot point is thrown my way. To make a simpler comparison, I go on rollercoasters for the excitement of the twists and turns, not to ride for eleven minutes in a straight line because the person who made it got lazy and decided that it was passable enough to be called a rollercoaster. Sure, it functions, but it’s not stimulating in any way.

On another note, while I would like to say that the best plots to come out of Sonic Boom were the interesting ones, honestly, it was almost completely random which ones I found fun. I even tried to calculate if it was the writers or maybe the characters used by the writers, but it really just came down to the episode itself. The only consistent thing I noticed was that episodes that tried to inject some heart (The Sidekick and New Year’s Retribution) while still being funny had the best chance of sticking with me. Unfortunately, Sonic Boom has very few of these. Most episodes center around the comedy alone, and while that’s enough for some people, it’s not enough for me because it just leaves the show as very one note. The only episodes I can think of that I find very memorable while still being one note are Battle of the Boy Bands, The Meteor, and Eggheads, but all of those did fairly crazy things and had a fun time with it.

And if you just want to talk about canon? Look, I get that the show shouldn’t have to explain everything. I understand that. But, when I see Sticks suddenly having a crossbow or Sonic riding in his fancy new vehicle with no introduction and no explanation, I just have to roll my eyes. If the writers don’t care about what they introduce into their world and if it makes sense or not, then why should I?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Sonic Boom is not meant for someone like me. While I do indeed watch comedies, I prefer to have at least some substance there, and doing anything less than that makes me turn away because it means that the show is doing the bare minimum. Essentially, I’m saying that Sonic Boom only does what it has to, sometimes goes the extra mile, but mostly just sticks to the one thing. And, if that one thing fails in my eyes, then there’s no reason for me to keep watching the episode because I know there won’t be anything else to look forward to. To give an example, even if The Sidekick had failed completely at making me laugh, I would at least still watch it for the dynamic between Sonic and Tails. There’s something else there even if one element failed.

The Comedy

Probably the most divisive thing I’ve noticed being talked about when referring to specific episodes, the comedy in Sonic Boom is extremely hit-or-miss for me, and part of the reason is that most of the characters cover a very short range of comedic angles. Because most of them are widely stereotypes with few new things, it often means that they only cover one type of joke. That’s not always bad, but after a while, it can start feeling boring.

The characters who avert the trope of being one note for me are Sonic, Eggman, and Amy. Though, on the flip side of only covering one kind of joke, I think Amy covers too many, and it becomes cluttered.

Eggman is a mixed bag, either making me laugh a lot or not making me laugh at all. I’ll talk more on it later, but sometimes, he was just too much and it ruined the jokes for me.

Sonic is the only one in the show who could make me laugh consistently, and it only partly has to do with how much I enjoy his character. He just covers a range of comedy without being too much (typically the straight man, pun boy, and general fun guy) while also playing off the other characters in varying ways depending on the situation.

The Characters

What you see is what you get. The characters in Sonic Boom are basically all stereotypes, barring a few exceptions.

The characters I enjoy watching in Sonic Boom out of the main cast are Sonic, Eggman (sometimes), Orbot, and Cubot. Orbot and Cubot mix up their personalities enough to keep me invested in their characters. They occasionally seem to care about Eggman, but aren’t against making fun of him, which makes sense because he orders them around like they’re nothing. And, when he’s doing that, I can’t really get invested in his character. The moments where he’s relatable/awkward are more my thing.

I’d talk about the rest of Sonic’s crew here individually, but there’s really no point, because they all cater to one stereotype, as opposed to Amy who caters to multiple (doesn’t help, by the way, in my opinion).

Let me make it clear; there were moments where I liked these characters. There were times where I laughed at one of their jokes or gave them some slack for something they did. On a few occasions, they actually stepped out of their boundaries and did something slightly different.

The problem, however, is that these characters are still stereotypes. They exist to follow their small range of humor and fit into exactly what you expect them to. It is not to pleasant degrees.

To delve into just one of them, I’ll pick Knuckles, because he’s my least favorite out of the entire bunch.

I have no problem with Knuckles being stupid. It was a sensible leap from the original character. My problem is when he’s forgetful, because that is not stupidity. Even stupid people can remember things that are important to them. If Knuckles was commonly forgetful - as in, that was one of his character traits - I wouldn’t complain, but it makes him very irritating. Why should I care when he’s trying to be good friends with Sonic if I know that he could turn at any time and forget Sonic’s name or even who Sonic is?

No matter how the characters change - no matter how they try to be developed - it will not carry over into other episodes unless the episode is a sequel to the episode where the development took place. Now, that’s not entirely a bad thing, but only if the characters are interesting from the get-go. Unfortunately, these four are not.

Now for the big question: what makes Sonic so different from the other characters that I actually like him?

Firstly, keep in mind that while, yes, I’ve typically favored Sonic in the past, there have also been Sonic that I don’t like. Satam!Sonic and Adventures!Sonic have both been Sonic I haven’t enjoyed watching.

And, there have been things with Boom!Sonic that I haven’t been 100% okay with. However, I could only count these moments on one hand and I don’t expect Sonic to be perfect.

One reason I enjoy Boom!Sonic is that he doesn’t completely follow a stereotype. The closest stereotype for him is the ego stereotype, but he mixes it up with his love of puns, his straight man routine, and his rare silly antics. Also, he’s not a jerk, as most ego characters are. He’s usually a pretty good guy.

Now, what about the times where he isn’t, however rare they are? Well, that brings me into my next reason.

Depending on how a character is treated by the other characters, I tend to give them slack on things they do. If Sonic is being treated poorly by everyone around him, I’ll naturally be more understanding if he’s acting in a way that isn’t perfect, because he’s not being treated fairly anyway. Or, if the writing is being unfair to him or shifting things against his favor, I’ll be more forgiving if he does anything ‘’wrong’’. Using Late Fees this time as my example, I don’t care that Sonic is procrastinating on getting Amy’s book back to the library because one, obstacles are put in his way before he’s even done anything wrong, and two, Amy has forced this task upon him without warning instead of returning the book herself like she should.

And, I also can excuse Sonic because he clearly isn’t used to friendship. He’s been a loner and not open to having friends; of course he’s not going to have social interaction with them correctly. He also doesn’t know the cores of friendship (though he has many good traits of being a great friend), so if he’s being treated wrongly, he doesn’t really know that he is and, during the few times he does something wrong, he might not even know that it’s wrong in the first place (I’m sure sometimes he does, but on occasion, he’ll give a look or response that seems to suggest that he doesn’t understand), because he was alone before. He hasn’t had any experience and obviously can’t improve if no one tells him what he’s doing wrong.

Which brings me to my final point...

The Treatment

Throughout most of my time watching Sonic Boom, regardless of how much of a fan I could say I was, there was a lingering feeling that started at around Episode 15 (Aim Low) and then continued as I kept watching the series.

A feeling of unpleasantness.

Looking at it purely from Sonic’s perspective, this is not a group of friends that I want to have. This is not a friendship that I want. They change sides on him without warning, simply to follow the narrative. He deserves better.

I’d like to shrug my shoulders and just pass episodes off when they do such things, but I can’t. I can’t settle with the knowledge that Sonic could have a good relationship with his ‘’friends’’ in one episode, but have it change with no warning in another.

Characters should not have to work around the story. The story should have to work around the characters. If that can’t be accomplished, then the story means nothing and is only a fruitless attempt to make a plot with characters who don’t fit.

And I know that there are episodes that are not meant to be taken seriously. Technically speaking, none of the episodes are meant to be taken seriously.

What does that really mean? From that standpoint, all of the characters mean nothing. They’re there only to serve the comedy, and I’m sorry, but I think that’s a really lousy way to treat characters. It’s also a huge factor on why I tend to laugh less than the average person does at this show. If I’m not attached to a character, I’m a lot less likely to find them funny, and most of the characters in this show change whims in the blink of an eye.

See, I can’t let go of these episodes because they are canon. Unless stated otherwise, every episode is canon to the character’s personality and story.

Take ‘’Alone Again, Unnaturally’’ as an example. In this episode, Sonic’s crew are trying to help him go faster and come up with crazy schemes that Sonic is understandably unsure about. They don’t put his safety first, opting for their own and blatantly ignoring him when he tells them to wait.

Now, obviously, this was done for comedy. You’re supposed to laugh at Sonic’s screaming and pain.

I don’t, so let’s take that into consideration. What changes in this story if I did find it funny?

Nothing. Whether I laughed or not, the plot remains the same. What the characters do to each other remains the same. These pieces of the story are incapable of magically disappearing. They happened, no matter how much you laughed or didn’t laugh and regardless of if it was intended for comedy or not.

And moments like that impact my view of the characters as a whole. Even if they acted like saints in a future episode, that doesn’t change the fact that they did what they did and weren’t even sorry.

When they made Sonic feel so bad that he went to Eggman for help? Not sorry.

When he nearly drowned because they forced him to go into the water? Not one apology.

When he finally got so upset at everyone’s lack of respect for him that he quit, only returning because of a twisted strategy concocted by someone who was supposed to be his friend, meaning they knew he’d be too nice to not help? Not. One. Bit.

Of course it bothers me when the villagers are rude and saying bad things towards Sonic when he does nothing wrong, but I can usually pass it off because the villagers are supposed to be a mob. They’re meant to be wild cards, capable of doing whatever the writer needs at that moment.

The actual main characters should not be that. They should never be that, at least for me.

Whenever there’s a hint of sympathy between the characters, it can all be thrown to the wayside immediately for another scene or another piece of dialogue that really makes it seem like no one cares what happens to Sonic. Any potential with these characters that I would legitimately love to see get developed is left and forgotten just to revel in how stupid one is or how crazy another is, or even to have a subjectively tasteless Sonamy joke that honestly means nothing and only exists to pander to fans and bring in more viewers. The double standard that one character can do something without judgment but Sonic cannot do the same without someone judging him will never go away. Nothing matters.

The villagers, and even Sonic’s crew, don’t want him because they like his personality or enjoy having him around. It’s because he’s useful, and anything that he does that goes against that is either irrelevant or annoying to them.

There is a way to give a character an ego and not make it seem like everyone constantly wants to strangle them. In fact, the Archie comic series already did it.

But the stuff going on in Boom? It won’t change. It’ll never change. It’s honestly not even limited to just Sonic, but he is the prime example. If anything ever happens down the line that changes that, I will gladly take my words back, but I just don’t see it happening.

Unless you’re not supposed to feel anything for the characters (as in, they’re all meant to be complete jerks with no redeeming value), I don’t think any show should ever have to stoop to singling a character out and neglecting them when they don’t deserve it. In my opinion, doing so is a disservice to both the characters and the world created around them.

And that is how I feel about Sonic Boom.

[her-culture]

19 Years, 19 Films

Works That Were Influential To Me As a Person and a Filmmaker

1997) Hercules (Wonder)

I remember wondering if there really were a bunch of colorful Gods and Goddesses above us after watching “Hercules.” At the time, I was not aware of Greek Mythology at all - and did not really become acquainted with it until high school. It made me more curious about the rest of the world, both on the ground and above it. Some of the most memorable films will always stick with us because they awaken a sense of wonder. Audiences tend to want or even need a fantasy to escape into. This amazement may in turn give them a more positive outlook on reality, or become a way to pique their interest in things they had never thought of before.

 1998) Antz (Personification)

“Antz” took me a few years to really grasp in its entirety because though it was presented as a fictional interpretation of how ants lived, it was replicating how our human society functions - maybe to suggest that people and insects share commonalities in terms of survival, or even to highlight how injustice can be wrong even in cartoon form. Even though the oppressed subjects were not human, that thought really rested in the back burner of my mind throughout the film. I saw the characters as relatable since they behaved and communicated like people actually do, which even involved causing pain to others. “Antz” really made me see how life can be unfair to many, but that it offers many opportunities for you to take control of your own destiny.

 1999) 10 Things I Hate About You (Emotion)

I was relatively young when I first saw “10 Things I Hate About You” so I didn’t necessarily understand all the mature content that accompanied some of the scenes, but I was able to understand the feelings of the characters very well - and not just in the basic sense like when they were happy, sad or mad, but in the more complicated sense when they were feeling vulnerable, hurt, joy, etc. From this film, I gathered that trusting people can be one of the hardest things for a person to do. Like Kat, I considered myself very antisocial, but because of a lack of faith in people, not just for the point of being rebellious. Like most viewers, that simple scene where Kat is reading the poem aloud made me tear up. The language was simple but it was what was going on behind the words that really struck me. This film definitely demonstrated how vast the spectrum of emotions really is. Sometimes we can’t always find ways to explain feelings, but people may understand what we’re talking about just by the way we show them.

 2000) Bring It On (Image)

Most would probably consider this film inappropriate for a ten year old to watch, but I was more than capable of handling its content. At first, I thought that “Bring It On” was just a comedy about cheerleading. Then it became clear that there were parts where the movie was mocking the celebration of arrogance, which made the film seem pretty deep. I had no idea during my first watch that what Gabrielle Union’s character was saying about the way the other team steals from her team had to do with how white people have historically taken things originally presented by people of color as their own. This image of women of darker shades being powerful, fierce and strong without any incorporation of stereotypes in their characters was nice to see. Winning the tournament wasn’t just about bragging rights, but also about making an example of those who steal other people’s moves and cultures as their own.

 2001) Training Day (Characterization)

Denzel Washington is a very influential actor in general, but I learned a lot in particular from his character Alonzo Harris in Training Day. Throughout the course of the film, Alonzo is training his protege Jake on how to handle unsavory characters of the world, only to later reveal that he is one of them. It’s not the easiest thing to create a character which manipulates the audience as much as the protagonist and that is what I admire most about this film. Many characters are shown as archetypes and are meant to have one distinct purpose to convey in the film, but the more impressionable characters are ones that play for two or more sides, since people cannot always be categorized as good and bad - most are in that grey area between the two. There is nothing wrong with making a likable antagonist.

 2002) Frida (Experiment)

Films based on real people in general can be a very challenging field to play on. In the case of the film “Frida,” I think it was a genius decision to use her background as an artist to help tell the story. Some would say that every film in a sense is experimental. I found this film to be such a wonderful blend of abstract and concrete scenes of Frida’s life. When dealing with the story of an actual person, keeping it factual is very important, but it would also benefit the story if you twist some of the events into something that is widely interpretable. It seems easier to do this when your subject is a very complex artist but I believe this can also apply to people who seem very straightforward. Play around with the fragments of details you are using to create a bigger picture. It is alright if not all things you include are clear right away or even at all. Human beings are messy, therefore their lives shouldn’t be painted so clean.

 2003) The Haunted Mansion (Representation)

Horror films of the recent past seemed to fall into a predictable mold for me, even the light scream ‘horror’ works produced by Disney. Though I never really liked movies based around frightening situations, I always felt that I would watch more of them if they featured characters that looked like me or anything different than the typical “supernatural disturbance in white suburbia” display. I watched “The Haunted Mansion” with my father many years ago. I wasn’t brave enough watch anything supposedly scary without my father’s presence nearby. Watching black people on screen without being too enhanced or stereotyped, facing situations they aren’t normally found in was very refreshing. Films starring black individuals don’t need to always revolve around the color of their skin, or the dangers of being black in a prejudiced environment. I loved that I could easily picture myself and even my family in this movie.

 2004) Mean Girls (Message)

During my first watch of “Mean Girls” many years ago, I can honestly admit that the deeper meaning behind this comedy wasn’t all that clear. Many films do have very deep messages hidden below the surface level, even those that were purposely meant not to be taken so seriously. After watching this film the second and even third time around throughout the years, I realized that this was such a creative social commentary. As a writer in various mediums, I am always tempted to wrap a serious topic in something a bit silly, not necessarily because I’m afraid to directly talk about an issue, but because sometimes it just makes the information more obtainable to people. I’ve noticed that a lot of screenwriters hesitate to write straightforward dramas because it may be overwhelming for an audience and they may not want the viewers to be completely sad or upset after watching the film. A comedy can be just as effective when it comes to bringing awareness and attention to many on a specific controversial issue - the bonus is just that people will laugh more while taking it in.

 2005) The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (Imagination)

I remember being super excited to watch this movie because it mirrored my desire to explore my dream world while I was awake. I even created and kept a dream journal after I saw this film so I could try to see if any of my random dreams had any common themes, traits or recurrences. Imagination is where most stories come from, even the ones that are true. This movie taught me that I have more power over what goes on while I sleep than I thought. There have been many occasions where the cure for my writer’s block was found within my dreams. Imagination is usually associated with kids, but it benefits us even as we get older. Your imagination is an unlimited world waiting to be visualized physically. Using mine to help create better stories has benefited me tremendously, especially with filmmaking.

 2006) Dreamgirls (Music)

One of the most influential films for me growing up was “Dreamgirls.” It inspired me to put deeper meaning into simple words the way people do when they sing them in a song. Music was a huge part of this plot, but even when music isn’t the main focus, it enhances everything about a particular scene or moment, especially when a character is in direct contact with a song or melody. Musicals make the audience very hyper aware of emotion. The moment you hear a song, you start making connections between it and everything that you see. Music is a character that plays a supporting role, and it wants to help the audience piece together these visuals and understand why that specific moment is significant. Overuse of music can take away from its impact in the film, so it is best to only have music come in when the moment calls for it. Is the silence creating a barrier between the audience and the scene? That’s when some music can form a connection between the real world and the one within a particular film.

 2007) Juno (Language)

I’m often overly aware of the language I use in my stories, because I worry that the audience might be thrown off if I go by exactly what feels natural, or what feels very abstract, but is done so for the purpose of creating emphasis on a subject. What I loved the most about “Juno” is that the language (passive aggressive yet bubbly) causes the audience at times to have to translate the dialogue in order to reveal what the character is actually feeling. When you don’t want or even don’t know how to visually show a certain feeling or thought, it’s best to have the character(s) come to it with words. Not only does this approach make the film more interesting to watch - it also adds a layer of aesthetic that will make the film stand out. Many classic films are unique because they have a trait that separates them from other movies, such as the way in which they manipulate language.

 2008) Slumdog Millionaire (Journey)

There is a common expression about the journey being more important than language and I find this very true, especially in the world of films. Once a destination is reached, not much else seems to stem from this except maybe that your character(s) might not exactly have found what they are looking for. Journeys are meant to be a period of tests and figuring out things that can’t be learned unless you have explored. In “Slumdog Millionaire” it’s shown from the beginning where he is, so the question becomes, how did he get there? Many people dislike the use of flashbacks in films but I feel that flashbacks are most effective when they increase a build up, or reveal something about the character you didn’t quite expect. When retracing the steps a character took, it is essential that you highlight only the moments that fill in large gaps and are hard to introduce into the plot any other way. Over time, the audience shouldn’t be able to see the character or characters, the same way they saw them in the beginning.

 2009) Precious (Raw)

“Precious” is the movie I’ve watched the most times in my life, more than any other. What keeps drawing me back is how it creates so much beauty out of so many ugly things that surround this character. We root for Precious not only because she is a dreamer, but because she survives her reality by reimagining it. I’ve learned so much from this film and I always discover something different during each watch, but one of the most valuable things I’ve learned is that rawness can be portrayed by more than just pain or extreme pressure. A raw depiction comes in the form of a strongly accurate feeling rather than a strongly accurate action. Precious is filled with a lot of hard moments as the audience grows to love her fighting spirit, but it is the moments where her spirit breaks that you find yourself forced to grapple with the same reality that she’s been trying to ignore. Occasionally you will have to let go of the safety net in a story. It keeps the character from falling and if we don’t seen the character at their worst, or most vulnerable, we cannot root for them to get back up or break free in some way. There are going to be times you need your character to have no control over themselves, have them be swept by the moment without trying to modify it in a way that makes it less unpleasant for both the character and the audience. Allow the rawness take over once in awhile.

 2010) Kick-Ass (Adrenaline)

Many viewers want to feel like they are moving even though they’ll most likely be sitting down the whole time. Excitement in the form of a mental adrenaline rush often happens in action movies where the audience is following characters in extremely and quickly escalating situations. People should not only feel like they are on the edge of their seats while they are watching, but also feel like they have joined in on the action. “Kick Ass” was a movie that made me feel as though I was being pulled into action with the characters. It is funny enough without being fake and serious enough without seeming too grounded in reality. Like many superhero films, these characters give us something to aspire to in terms of what could happen if we had super abilities. The characters are also relying on their own strength and that of other people without external powers. Not all movies with this content need to have lots of special effects in order to be effective at portraying very exciting fight scenes or other moments. Imagine that all you can use to help get your character out of a dangerous situation is what is on and around them - this will encourage them to use creative combat that can make an audience of average people think they would be able to overcome that obstacle as well. The viewers should stay energized even when the action simmers down for a moment. Leave the people watching anticipating the next chance they get to mentally join the battle.

 2011) The Help (Adaptation)

I hope to one day adapt a book or play into a film. My biggest concern with that has always been, how exactly do I write and show a piece that has already been published and do it justice cinematically? With the film “The Help,” I saw that one thing that makes this problem more manageable is to find the story within the story. Break apart the original source in a way that keeps the overall vision intact but adds an interesting perspective and/or twist to it. I appreciated that in this film, the main focus was on the events leading up to the making of the novel. When it comes to adapting any story that has already been fleshed out, I feel that it is up to you to retell it from a different angle, so it feels new even to the people who know the story well.

 2012) Beasts of the Southern Wild (Performance)

I remember watching “Beasts of the Southern Wild” for the first time and being so incredibly proud of Quvenzhané Wallis. Her performance as Hushpuppy was exhilarating to watch, especially knowing that this was her first major film. She is certainly a natural performer when it comes to portraying a child who has very little to hold onto except her imagination, which becomes our bridge into her vast world. Many directors may find that working with young children can come with many issues, but I would say that it is worth dealing with in the end when a child can so effortlessly show how to be imaginative in even the most dreary of circumstances. If you are patient enough with a child actor, especially one who has never acted in anything before, they may surprise you with a brilliant performance that not even you could’ve imagined.

 2013) Short Term 12 (Ensemble)

In my experience as a film watcher, most films have a clear star that either steals the show, or carries the whole film in a way that’s most engaging. It is not often where I find a film that has a group of actors which not only enhance the intrigue of the film but also equally carry its weight throughout the story. In “Short Term 12,” there is no doubt that Brie Larson delivers a strong lead, but without the assistance of the other characters (both supporting and minor), her characterization wouldn’t really keep us fixated on her for long. The film dives into the various relationships that caretakers share with the kids who enter the home and among themselves. There are clear moments where each character given a background story shines and where they share the spotlight. People tend to knowingly and unknowingly pick favorite characters in movies, especially when they see one they can relate to. For me, I adored some characters more than others, such as Marcus, a teen who was aging out and would soon be in the world on his own, but I couldn’t really bring myself to favor one over the other. It was like being given a package deal. Having a strong ensemble (with a wide range of different types of characters) is one of the many ways a film could make a longer lasting impression on audiences, especially those that are very diverse.

 2014) The Grand Budapest Hotel (Complexity)

I’ve recently started looking into more of Wes Anderson’s films after I saw “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” I was really shocked with how much I actually enjoyed this film. So much going on, especially within each scene, the whole film can be a lot to take in or enjoy. I’ve noticed that the key to pulling this off, at least in the case of this film, is having some sort of structure align all the commotion. It’s basically like having controlled chaos. The main actions in the scene are pulled into focus by smaller (but still relevant) actions which help build to a climax without looking abrupt or random. In this hotel, so much is going on (as a typical hotel) but as the main characters trickle in and out the frame, our attention goes from the seemingly mundane to something quite hectic. The quirkiness of all the characters becomes normalized almost instantly in comparison to the situation they find themselves in. The important thing in a situation like this if you want to go crazy with the set design and other elements, go all out, but do it in a way that cleverly serves as a guide into each scene that way the audience isn’t too overwhelmed with so much occurring at one time.

 2015) Room (Simplicity)

Most people like myself, have a hard time watching anything that takes place in one particular area for a while with no dramatic interruptions. It doesn't just have to do with attention span but also with expectation. Once we think we have figured out the next move in a plot, we gradually lose interest in seeing the reveal. With “Room” they are in a shed for a majority, or at least half the film. I believe that this stays interesting for that long because we are mostly looking at it from the perspective of Jack, a little boy stuck in there with his mom. To him, the shed takes on a whole universe so to us as the audience, we are looking at this universe in so many ways, trying to imagine what Jack sees. A lesson from this film is that capturing reality isn’t always focusing on what’s real and accurate, it can also be about how the characters within the world interpret the same place differently from others. The contrast and similarities between the perspectives can spark further intrigued while watching the film. So much is possible even with a simple setup.

 2016) Moonlight (Story)

Traditional Hollywood movies for the most part, have very clear messages. If a character doesn’t directly mention it in some way, we are shown what it is through a climax or resolving action before the end of the film. What stressed many people out about “Moonlight” was that throughout the film, we have watched this metaphoric water boil as Chiron’s life escalates with each given persona he takes on, but then we are left with no over flooding, or even a simmered result. His life when we last see him has gotten more closure, but it very unclear what the result of his newfound comfort would be, unless the audience were to interpret it themselves. I actually love this about the film. Sometimes a story isn’t meaningful because it gives us clarity, but because it gives us obscurity. “Moonlight” is a story that reflects human nature. Most of the questions you may ask yourself about the film probably have existential answers. Instead of dwelling so much on films having a specific purpose for being made, it is probably better to appreciate them for providing another way to interpret our own reality.

 2017) Get Out (Plot)

I have never been the biggest fan of movies in the horror genre. It’s usually the overuse of jump scares and gore that turns me away, along with the lack of POC playing important parts in the film. However, I’ve recently discovered that psychological thrillers might be a rising guilty pleasure of mine, since I saw “Get Out.” It’s a narrative that goes along with audience expectation, but also breaks it. This film incorporates the issue of race as a plot device. Blackness in itself becomes a character that we are following along with Chris. We assume only the worst automatically and are right to think so, but what I appreciated most about the role of blackness in this film was that it achieved a dynamic arch, meaning that it changed throughout the course of the film due to growth and newfound strength. The plot encouraged not only Chris, but his blackness to fight back. Even the other black characters who were taken captive were actively given opportunities to resist white supremacy from very subtle to extreme ways.

[mishamoonberry]

Metathesiophobia

ERASING IMPOSSIBILITY CH. 18 - FFN

You asked for shorter chapters, here comes shorter chapter. Bc it's shorter, it may not seem like anything is going on in the fic, but things are happening, if not then there wouldn't be anything for me to write, geez. There is always plot development in each chapter. The last chapter's focus is Kishimoto, okay. I'm tired of writing long chapters with perfectly placed climax in each chapter so bear with it okay? Also I'm curious as to why you keep on saying Oro-tan-san… when it's Oro-chan-san lmao.

Anyway, here. Enough about me being salty as fuck.

Here, a new chapter.

Warnings: Oro-chan-san feels, a possible start of slash pairing

It takes me quite awhile to manage to find time and guts to face Orochimaru again. With more and more D-ranks and training and sparring sessions piling upon one another especially with the impending C-rank that shall befall upon us (soon, Minato-sensei said. It is after all, better to experience C-rank at least once before trying out the Chuunin Exams, no matter if it’s an isolated one because of the war), it’s hard to find a leisure time with people other than my teammates and their immediate family or close relatives.

And such, to find a perfect time (and courage) to face the ever so evasive Orochimaru is a bit of a challenge.

Plus, I keep on getting new things to learn from Kishimoto-sensei—he insists I need to learn to make chakra scalpels on my body than only using my hands for combat purposes—and I’ve started on basic sealing with Kushina.

Sealing is fun to learn, even though the calligraphy sometimes hurt my eyes and my brain, but perhaps because Kushina is such an energetic but gentle person—really, she doesn’t babble like Naruto unless she gets too excited—I find it immensely enjoyable to learn from her.

The Uzumaki has promised me to teach me more about stasis seals, which would be immensely useful to keep either corpses or important body parts or even fresh blood for transfusion. That, and also many other stuff. She does tell me I need to be creative; because that’s the bane of fuuinjutsu. Other than the obvious calligraphy and knowledge of sealing as well as its properties, of course.

Minato-sensei has taken to teaching fuuinjutsu to Kakashi, now that Kushina has ‘claimed’ me as hers to teach. He doesn’t seem to dare taking me under his wings for fear of Kushina’s possessive streak that is very sexy, in my humble opinion. Kakashi does lend me the books Minato gave him after he’s done with it though. I am forever baffled on how quick Kakashi can learn about something. Sealing is complicated for me, way more than genjutsu, so to see Kakashi going through books after books is a bit dazzling.

(Perhaps I’m a bit jealous on how he progresses so easily, but then again, he is a genius, isn’t he?)

(I just smile at him; because jealousy is unbecoming and largely unnecessary).

Obito, although curious, ends up not learning fuuinjutsu sans the very basics like storage and exploding seals. Not that he can’t learn it; he just seems to not have the interest for it. However, he does have lessons with Mikoto-sensei who is probably bored beyond belief now that she is no longer in active duty. Despite his dead last moniker, Mikoto-sensei’s gentle but sometimes passive aggressive way of teaching seems to work on him quite well, considering he has managed to produce some more variants of Katon jutsu.

Let it be known that he is no longer allowed to be near the Yamanaka’s flower garden ever again.

(He still pouts over that, the cutie).

(It’s not his fault that he accidentally set almost half of the garden on fire during a spar, he said).

Right now though, I am not with Obito, or Kakashi, or Minato-sensei or even anyone else. I am in front of Orochimaru’s lab, eyes glancing hesitantly to the glass window on the door, which shows me that the lights inside are on, which indicates that Orochimaru is inside.

He doesn’t come outside nor does he invite me to come inside, however.

(“What are you doing, standing there all day,” Orochimaru says, staring down at me as I give him a sheepish grin.

“I haven’t been here all day, Oro-chan-san!” I say, because I just have to counter him on that one, like the suicidal fool that I am. The man does love his dramatics sometimes, and it includes hyperboles, it seems. “It’s probably been three minutes. How do you know I’m outside?”

“There’s something called chakra sensing, child, perhaps you should look it up,” he drawls, looking impatient. I grin at him, a bit awkward now that I realized I should keep on practicing on my stupid chakra sensing skills. “Now what do you want?”

“Oh, well,” I pause, “I heard it’s your birthday!” I say then, breaking out into a smile. I take out a bracelet the shape of a small green-grey colored snake from my back pocket, presenting it to him with both of my palms. “It can work as a small blade too!” It’s hard to get hold of it, in all honesty. I had to ask Mikoto-sensei for pointers of where people sell nice blades—because I couldn’t think of anything else Orochimaru might appreciate; he’ll probably complain if I try to give him books, books that he probably already has read or worse, has zero interest in—and she, quite predictably, sent me to an Uchiha blacksmith near the corner of the clan grounds.

I had to request a specific design that is largely inspired by something I found on the internet Back Then, and it kinda cost me more than it would’ve if I just had given him a pack of kunai, but the result is really good and I’d like to think Orochimaru will appreciate it somehow.

When I look at him, his face is unreadable. Totally blank, and for a moment, I fear for the worst.

“Oro-chan-san?”

His hand reaches out to touch the bracelet, taking it out of my grasp. He looks over the thing for a little while, before his eyes soften a little bit. If I haven’t been looking for it, I wouldn’t have seen it. But I do, and I allow myself to relax.

“Do you like it?” I say quite eagerly, seeing a flash of reluctant amusement in his yellow eyes as he scoffs, turning around to enter the lab without much word, obviously not wanting to answer my question.

The door is left ajar, however.

I grin. It’s an invitation to get inside as much as any.)

My fingers twitch beside me, and I find myself licking my own lips in anticipation. Last time, it took Orochimaru three minutes to get out of the room and inquire me about my presence. I don’t know how long I’ve been standing here, but surely it must’ve been longer than three minutes somehow.

Is he ignoring me? I feel something heavy sink in my stomach, and I have to bite the bottom of my lip to prevent a frustrated sigh to go out.

I… Kishimoto-sensei did warn me to stay away from Orochimaru. But he had been the normal hissing older man I’ve grown accustomed to the last time I met him and—and—

And I’m just a little bit attached. A little bit. It’s perhaps a huge mistake on my part, to let myself be attached to the grumpy (lonely and hurting and lost) Snake Sannin, but now, when threatened by a possibility of losing him to his insanity and power hungry tendencies, I finally find it very hard to imagine a world where I don’t annoy Orochimaru at least once a week.

I… really have to make sure, to really see it for myself, to determine and to judge. Rinny will be there to help me to be as objective as I can, and if Kishimoto-sensei is really only influenced by the rumors (but why now? Why now, when the rumors must have been circulating around for years?) and not because he finds something odd with Orochimaru, then I can be relieved.

Steeling my resolve, I nod decisively to myself and firmly knocks on the door before twisting the knob open, peeking inside.

“Oro-chan-san?”

Orochimaru is there, his body facing away from me while his head is turned toward me. For a moment, I think that his posture looks a little bit defensive, and when I look at his face, I very nearly falter.

His expression is near flat, eyes guarded and mouth pressed into a thin line. No other expression like the usual exasperation or reluctant amusement that he usually shows around me; just a pure, blank canvas.

It’s a face he shows when he’s facing scared, gossiping civilians.

My eyebrows furrow, and ignoring the hurt at his sudden change in attitude towards me, I step forward. “Oro-chan-san, are you busy?”

He is silent for a moment.

“I am,” he says, then, voice a bit raspy.

My shoulders sag, “Oh.”

Silence.

Is he really avoiding me? I peer up at him, a little bit hesitant, and he looks back steadily, not saying anything, not showing anything.

…Perhaps he’s waiting for something? But what is he waiting for? For me to walk out? To talk to him about something? To start singing a random song?

I do not know what to say, in all honesty, but I have never been one with much filter anyways, not with the people I care about at the very least. Therefore, when I open my mouth next, what comes out from me is pure, blatant truth.

“You know, Kishimoto-sensei told me to stay away from you.”

His expression doesn’t change. “I see.”

“But I won’t!” I add hastily, “Really.” I bit my lip, perhaps having unconsciously stepped closer to the man while I was too focused in my anxiety. “Did you have a fight with Kishimoto-sensei, Oro-chan-san?”

He looks at me, and perhaps I’m imagining it, but his gaze looks kinder.

Rinny, somehow, through all this, doesn’t say a thing.

“Your sensei told me to stay away from me, and you’re going to keep on meeting me, anyway?”

My eyebrows furrow, and I say, “Who I interact with outside of training hours is none of his business, actually.” Seeing surprise flash in his eyes, I continue on talking, “and he’s just my teacher for iryo-ninjutsu; my official sensei is Minato-sensei, you know? And Minato-sensei never seems to mind when I say that I hang out with you sometimes, Oro-chan-san, and you’re my friend!” I tack on in the end, “Friends hang out with each other, right? So”.

I look up at Orochimaru, hopeful, and to my immense relief, the man finally sighs after a few moments of silence, a twitch of his lips and the usual reluctant amusement (relief, Rinny says to me, he’s relieved, too) apparent in his eyes.

“What an annoying, stubborn brat,” he mutters.

I take the kind insult as it is. That doesn’t stop me from pouting though. “Oro-chan-san, that’s mean!”

He rolls his eyes, giving me a gentle tap on top of my head. “What do you want,” he seems to still have the ability to ask a question while sounding like he’s making a statement instead of a question. He and Kakashi are both similar in that way.

I brighten, though, at the thought of Orochimaru indulging me and my whims once again. “Can we eat dinner together?” I ask, making sure to put my best puppy eyes ever.

Orochimaru’s eyebrow twitch in irritation at that pathetic attempt to suck him up, looks at the clock, pulls a face at the 6.30 pm that stares back at him, and finally sighs in defeat.

“Fine.”

“Yay!”

XXX

“Rin?” Kakashi’s voice manages to make me jolt in surprise as I walk side by side with Orochimaru, who is standing to my left, the both of us walking in the food district to find an appealing place for us to eat in. I have been too focused on telling Orochimaru about the D-rank missions I have gone through (he seems to be particularly amused by the Cat Catching Mission) that I failed to register Kakashi’s and Sakumo’s presence a few meters away from the both of us.

Kakashi looks surprised himself, though perhaps by seeing Orochimaru’s presence near me than anything. Sakumo looks a bit surprised (though I myself am surprised; Sakumo has been going outside for a few minutes once a day now to familiarize himself once again with something other than the Hatake Compound walls, but this district is far from the compound. Has he gotten comfortable enough with himself?) But he looks more weary and tired and guilty more than anything.

I can’t help but narrow my eyes at that. Did something happen?

“What’s up, Kakashi?” I say, waving, before literally gets in front of Sakumo to chirp, “and hi, Sakumo-san!”

Sakumo chuckles good naturedly, some of his weariness seeping off of him, “Hello, Rin-chan,” he ruffles my hair, his grey eyes finding Orochimaru’s and he inclines his head. “Orochimaru.”

“Hatake,” Orochimaru replies evenly. “It is good to see you out of the Compound.”

“Ah…. Yes,” Sakumo trails off, looking a bit hesitant thanks to the unsubtle jab Orochimaru just threw at him. I am tempted to stomp on Orochimaru’s feet a little bit, because that was rude, Oro-chan-san! “I’m afraid we’ve run out of groceries, so Kakashi and I thought of eating take outs, you see.”

“Oh!” I exclaim, smiling, “Same! Oro-chan-san and I,” Sakumo raises an eyebrow at the nickname, flicking an amused glance toward Orochimaru who looks a little bit longsuffering, “are gonna eat in a restaurant too! How about if we go eat together?”

Kakashi mumbles something.

“Huh?”

He huffs, letting out a bitter, “We can’t. Nobody allows dad to eat inside.”

Silence. Sakumo looks to the side, avoiding my startled gaze.

(Behind me, Orochimaru stares at Sakumo, at his hunched shoulders, the darkness in his eyes, the downward pull of his lips and thinks—

Ah.

He knows how this feels, doesn’t he?)

I feel a surge of rage inside of me, and looking at Kakashi’s eyes, I’m sure he must have the same opinion as I.

Those fucking, self absorbed, gossiping bastards.

I hate them.

Forcefully calming myself down, because blowing up here won’t do anyone any good other than embarrassing myself, I settle with sighing. “Well, we’re going to the Akimichi’s BBQ place,” I say, staring at Sakumo’s eyes. “I’m sure they’re not that stupid to turn you away, Sakumo-san.”

Sakumo’s smile seems a bit strained. “It’s okay, Rin-chan, we can just—“

“Sure,” Kakashi cuts him off, hands in his pockets. He blinks at Sakumo’s startled look, cocking his head. “…What? I want some BBQ. And… It doesn’t hurt to try.”

Sakumo hesitates. “I… guess.”

“C’mon,” I grab Kakashi’s hand, leading him forward. I cackle, ignoring his startled shout. “The last one there pays for all of us!”

“No way in hell.”

XXX

“Hatake,” Orochimaru calls again, inclining his head. Beside him, Sakumo tears his amused gaze away from the bickering children and inclines his head in return.

“Orochimaru. I did not know you’re that close to Rin-chan.”

Orochimaru hums. He won’t say that they’re particularly close. Despite meeting rather frequently than most—than even his old teammates and his own teacher—they don’t really know each other inside out like how he knows (knew) his teammates.

But Rin is kind, fierce and loyal, determinedly so, if how she stubbornly decides that Orochimaru is still worth hanging out with is any indication.

Orochimaru won’t say it, but he’s relieved, perhaps, that this bright young girl who tackles him and calls him with a cutesy nickname not fit with his reputation thinks he’s worth hanging out with, that he’s worth spending time with, with no strings attached, with no other ulterior motives behind it.

That Rin, who reminds him of Tsunade and Jiraiya in equal measures (don’t compare her to them, his mind hisses, if she’s the same as them, she’ll leave. She’s not the same as them, she’s not she’s not she’snotshesnot—), who cares and cares and cares is still bright and there, smiling up at him and trusting him and—

Even after Kishimoto, after him telling her to stay away—

(“I see a monster,” he said, and it rings inside of his head for days and days to come. Sometimes it will be Kishimoto, and civilians, and fellow shinobi.)

(Other times, he thinks he hears her).

(“Monster,” he’ll hear her say. “Monster, monster, monstermonstermonster—“)

She chooses to stay.

She chooses him.

(“You’re my friend”).

Orochimaru’s gaze softens, his hand reaching toward his left wrist decorated with a snake-shaped bracelet. “She’s more like a nuisance than anything, honestly,” he says, expertly ignoring how Sakumo’s lips curves into a knowing smile, walking alongside the former legend as they watch the children, in which Kakashi has somehow find it necessary to smack Rin’s head, the latter letting out an exaggerated whine. “You don’t seem to mind her, yourself.”

“Ah?” Sakumo blinks, “Well, she is my son’s best friend.”

“I see.”

Orochimaru glances at him, the person who is almost as popular as Orochimaru when it comes to nasty gossips, with whispers and talks about how he’s a traitor, a shameful man, a failure of a shinobi and so on and so forth. With one failure, they easily forgets the White Fang’s contribution to the village, forgets his sacrifices and his many triumphs, his many successful missions that brought forth many good things for the village.

Just one failure, and now he’s nothing but a village trash.

Perhaps he can say that it will get better, only that it’s a lie and it’s not like he cares about it, really.

(Perhaps he should feel guilty for the satisfaction rushing in his veins at the thought of someone else bearing the same treatment as him. Perhaps he should feel guilty for feeling glad that he’s not the only one in this god damned village to bear that sort of hate and scrutiny.

Perhaps.

But Orochimaru isn’t really one for guilt, is he?)

“She saved me,” Sakumo’s voice brings him back to reality, and Orochimaru blinks slowly. The White Fang murmurs, “I thought I would have no one left. My own son turned against me and it was only thanks to her that he forgave me for my mistakes.” He shifts his gaze toward the Snake Sannin, his eyes knowing, “She’s a very special girl, isn’t she?”

Orochimaru thinks of her eyes. Her knowing and patient eyes, how she assesses him and perhaps finding something in him that allows her to smile at him, her eyes that sometimes look too kind, too understanding, too old, too old for her age—

“An old soul,” he says. And then, as if in an attempt to amend for something, continues with a mutter, “Still a huge brat”.

Sakumo stares at him for a moment longer, slightly wide eyes blinking a few times before a chuckle breaks out from his lips, his eyes crinkling and  dimples appearing as he smiles wide and—

Oh.

Oh.

That smile reminds him of Rin, too.

(Did she learn it from him?)

“I’d say Rin-chan is very talented and smart for her own age,” Sakumo chuckles, “but an old soul works too.”

Orochimaru rolls his eyes.

“I think Rin-chan said once that you’re apparently very dramatic,” the tone is teasing, and Orochimaru wonders for a moment since when has the man beside him decide he’s good enough to be this familiar with him.

(But Rin did this too, didn’t she?)

(This overly familiar approach, this easy smiles and teases).

(Isn’t that why he likes her?)

“Watch your mouth, Hatake,” Orochimaru drawls out, “I will not hesitate to show you just how dramatic I can be.”

The Hatake raises his arms, “I apologize,” he smiles softly, and Orochimaru once again wonders how many gestures the girl has unconsciously learned from her best friend’s father. “I did not mean to offend you.”

Orochimaru doesn’t grace him with a reply, and at that moment Rin chooses to shout.

“Oro-chan-saaaaaaaan! Sakumo-san! Hurry! I’m hungry!”

He exhales sharply, striding forward to flick the girl sharply with his finger.

“Ow! What was that for, Oro-chan-san?!”

“For yelling in the middle of the street.”

“But—“ He steps into the restaurant, ignoring her.

The sound of Sakumo’s snickers and Rin’s whines are like bells to his ears.

XXX

So.

The Orochimaru angst fest is done. Sort of. He has found an established foundation in Rin’s circle of friends now—he mostlikely won’t doubt her loyalty to him until much later on when things get messy (coughspoilerscough)—and his trust in her is immense. He knows she won’t betray him unless he gives her a reason to. (In which, I’m sure we all know what the reason could be).

Also, I’m thinking of doing SakuOro, but it’s still a plan; it might end up as this close friendship between two shunned legendary shinobi, or it might end up with kisses, idk. Tell me what you think about it.

Also, did you notice Rin internally calls Obito cute a lot of times nowadays? ;)

If you don’t, it’s okay because she doesn’t notice it either.

Next chapter, we’re going to have more genin children bickering and having fun with each other!

We’re getting closer to their first C-rank, so wait for it!

[cerastes]

Ey, I want to ask how do you write so bombastic and confident like? I have absolutely no writing skills so I kinda want to emulate your writing style. Sorry if this question bothers you.

The question doesn’t bother me, and thank you very much! I appreciate the praise.

Now, first things first: My writing style is far from perfect. I make mistakes, and whenever I look at something I wrote, I think “damn it, I missed the perfect opportunity for this or that in this paragraph and it could’ve been GREAT and much better”. That doesn’t stop me from writing or enjoying writing. What am I trying to say with this? To write all “bombastic and confident like”, as you put it, it’s necessary to own up to your writing. 

If you confess to the person you like, do you tell them your bad aspects? Do you go “Please date me, I am unreliable, uninteresting, and plain, but I hope you’ll say yes”? That’s precisely how you don’t get dates. You present your good points, and you show how you fully believe in those good points. Writing is the same. Don’t be coy or shy, don’t be like “oh man this is not good aaaa please be kind guys”, no, you write something, you go with that to the ends of hell. You present it as something entertaining. It all starts with you: You need to believe every second of your narrative or it doesn’t work. I mean, if the author doesn’t believe it is interesting, why the hell would I bother reading it? The whole time you are writing, you KNOW and BELIEVE it is something good, and that you are doing your readers as big a favor as they are doing to you by reading it by letting them read it. You hit post, and then you say “you are welcome”.

That’s the single most important thing you need to know, regardless of whatever style of writing you decide to take or emulate. Artists need confidence, especially writers, or you straight up start with a hole in your foot and a smoking gun.

Now, about my particular style:

I preface this by saying that I’ve never taken a single creative writing class in my life, and my style is 100% self taught, with its major inspirations found in Robert Fisher and Ambrose Bierce. You can try to emulate it, but in the end, it should only be for the sake of developing one that will work for you.

I lean more towards skit-like dialogue and plot-focused dialogue more than actual realistic conversations in my narratives, BUT I urge people to master realistic small talk and realistic conversations, because that helps you so much behind the scenes. It lets you understand your characters in ways you had not considered before, and it allows you to write much richer reactions and behavior in your story proper. I also like to focus on the space occupied by the characters and how they move. No one stands still while talking or doing most things, so play with the environment surrounding the character, how their spacial context affects their actions, how they idly fiddle with their cuffs while they talk, etc. You’ll inevitably be like “hmmm how do I make this scene seem in character…”, and when I find myself in that situation, I imagine or write a small, brief conversation about a random topic I take from a randomizer in Google between the characters. Taking about anything unveils a lot about people and characters alike. Does Character A click their tongue when they are irritated? Does Character B tend to repeat one verb/noun a lot in their discourse? Does Character C have a limited language? All that kinda stuff.

Behind closed doors, do a SHITLOAD of purple prose. Utilize your vocabulary. Rip apart your own veins writing posh garbage. It’s a great way to expand your vocabulary and to realize what is ok to write, and what isn’t. Just like overly garnished plates of food, overly verbose literature is bad. Complexity =/= Good. 

So what does equal good? Entertainment, I believe. Whenever you are writing something comedic by nature, you are going for a punchline. You already know the punchline you are going for, and that usually does make us complacent. We end up railroading the whole thing towards this ONE thing, and that’s a pitfall. Have multiple happenings, throw multiple, smaller jokes, 

Now, from that idea, the same goes for anything outside of comedy, too: You want more than one thing going on at all times, and you ideally want a supporting cast to help you with that. Where most amateur literature fails, I believe, is that a lot of authors try to make their whole cast “main characters”, and that’s not a good way to go about it. Instead, I believe you have to make a designated main cast, and a designated support cast. From there, you write, and whenever it comes naturally, you give more narrative depth to someone from the support cast, less to someone in the main cast, and all around end up doing what feels natural. That way, you don’t spread yourself thin writing equally for 23 characters, and instead focus on the ones you love writing the most, or that your audience wants to see more of, or the ones that it just feels right for you, personally or plot-wise, to promote more or demote within the narrative.

The golden rule of writing, to me, is that your reader never thinks “I don’t care about what happens to these people”. Your reader MUST care about the happenings, and remain interested, at all times. Don’t cheapen your own narrative. Don’t make it predictable. Or make it predictable, and then betray those expectations, then make it predictable again, and this time, deliver it just as is, but throw in a twist, TRAIN your reader to not trust you. The less the reader trusts you, the wider the range of stuff you can try. Expectation is to be betrayed at all points, interest HAS to be active throughout the whole thing. This also implies resting points, where the narrative slows down a bit, but keep it fire, tense, at all times.

I believe in Show, Don’t Tell. Your readers are not idiots. Show things, and the readers will catch them. Catching foreshadowing that is written in between lines only to see it confirmed later is the greatest feeling in the world. Give your readers the greatest feeling in the world. I love it when I read authors that fool me, so I try to fool my readers.

Lastly, write things in a way that keeps the public engaged. Don’t just write “straight lines”, spice them up with engaging writing, say common things in uncommon ways that are just out there enough that they raise an eyebrow, but still topical and comprehensive enough that your reader says “haha, yeah!” and keeps reading. As for characters per se, I find giving each character their own speech quirks is both fun to write and to read. For example, from something I write currently:

Whenever I am going to write a scene with new characters, I make a small list of characteristics I want to convey with each character, how I envision them, and how my readers hopefully receive them.

Cultist: Inexperienced language, more or less machine guns words, she has an entertainer’s tongue and a curious demeanor, loves to add spectacle to even the simplest things, and intentionally annoys others or pushes their buttons for reactions. Not clueless, she knows exactly what she’s doing.

Mjyn: Prefers short lines, goes to the point, she plays the Cultist’s straight man. Focused on the task at hand, and doesn’t care for tomfoolery, but will allow herself to go along with it for just long enough before her patience grows thin.

Cultist: “Hmhmhm! You should know that, right here, in front of your very eyes, a professional flavorologist stands tall!”Lantern Salesman: “…? A what?”Cultist: “A flavorol–”Mjyn: “Chef.”Cultist: “Chef! Don’t be fooled by her chrome finish and the cannon arm, this girl right here knows how to cook a whole friggin’ feast! Were it not for her, I’d be an exciting corpse over yonder by that tundra, but she was making supper out of walrus fat! Walrus fat! Who the hell can make a full course meal with walrus fat you may ask? THIS. GIRL. She’s also known as the Fingers Of The Blue Sky, giver of the most delightful massages! Mmm, what would I do without my precious Mjyn!”Salesman: “That’s… Nice, I guess? Good for you? But why are you telling me all of this?”Mjyn: “We need the illegally obtained police sirens you currently hold in your left hand. So, my friend here was doing a sales pitch in order to negotiate with you”Salesman: “Ah, this? Well, I am not parting with it for a meal or a massage from an android. So, if you’ll excuse me…”Cultist: “Wait, wait, one second, geez, man, you on a hurry? Got the dame to please? The kids to feed? Haha, that’s a jape, I know, I know, you are unmarried. I can tell just by looking at your face. Anyways, here’s what I was trying to show you: Aside from having the skills that would make her a mainstay at any depraved home, my nice friend here has…”Cultist: *Lightly knocks Mjyn on the back of the head*Mjyn: *opens her right “eye” to reveal a gun barrel*Cultist: “This a hold up, bi–”Mjyn: “Oi.”Cultist: “…Sir! A no-obscenities hold up! Drop the fiddlesticking siren!”Salesman: “W-woah! Hey, now!”Mjyn:Cultist:Mjyn:Cultist: “…Bitch!”*Mjyn stomps on the Cultist’s foot*Cultist: “Fuck! O-oh, whoo–”*STOMP*Cultist: “Fudge! Ok, sorry! Habit!”Mjyn: “I really ought to have a word with whoever let your tongue be this loose. In any case, sir, this is indeed a hold up, now please pony up that siren or you’ll have to bear with the terrible, terrible sin of making a tired girl spend a very expensive eye round on someone whose funeral will probably be cheaper than said round. We are in quite a pickle without it, see?”Cultist: “…Gosh, M, you can’t just threaten people like that. Where’s the flair? You truly are an amateur, aren’t you? Foolish girl, yet so lucky, for I am willing to put up with you, eh? Sorry, sir, let us start from the beginning, we’ll do this right this time, ok~? Ahem… Hmhmhm! Right before you, yes, it’s her, the one you’ve been hearing about in isolated whispers! The famous flavorologiOUCH STOP STOP OK SORRY STOP HITTING ME SIR THE SIREN PLEASE SHE’S PISSED OFF”

I guess, to close this, is that I do think you gotta go over what you write and do a second writing, because you are bound to end up with weak segments in whatever it is you write. Transitional or exposition segments, mostly. Go over them and spice them up or summarize them even further. The less time you spend world building by telling the reader and the more time you spend doing that showing the world instead, the better. No one likes an info dump. Info dumps go on supplementary material.

[momtaku]

SnK Chapter 91 Poll Results

The chapter 91 poll closed with 473 entries.

“Utter Garbage” or “I trust Isayama”?

We’ll start with the scale questions. The range was 1-5, from “utter garbage” to “I trust Isayama”. I realize that isn’t an accurate scale, but “I trust Isayama” is the comment I hear most when discussing Isayama’s more questionable decisions.

RATE THE CHAPTER (451 responses)

The reaction to the chapter as a whole was pretty positive. Only 23% of people ranked it towards the “utter garbage” side of the scale. A majority were  optimistic and almost 23% of respondents were downright confident Isayama is going to pull it off.

This chapter has really grown on the more times I read it.

[It] seems so naturally easy for a group of teens to gain success, while  the character we learned to appreciate experienced nothing but death. it feels unfair [...] but if Isayama is doing this, there must be a reason.

While there were definitely aspects that deserve creation (for instance we all know the amnesia thing was lazy writing) but overall I don't think the chapter was bad. I think the kids' unrealistic attitudes in battle was purposeful juxtaposition to the way our main cast has experienced war--it shows the extent of the brainwashing ...

Although there are a lot of cool elements, it's all just handled so badly and doesn't flow well at all. I hate just about all of the new characters. Everything about it feels lazy, rushed, and badly developed. Though the war stuff and new tech is cool and refreshing to see.

I always enjoy seeing what outsiders think of Paradis and the main characters. I appreciate how Isayama handles themes such as government propaganda and the way each side in a war can see their cause as righteous and just.

I thought this chapter was actually pretty cool. I've fallen hopelessly in love with Gabi! Fingers crossed that Annie gets the f*** outta that crystal soon though!

Seeing the extent of Marleyan brainwashing was exceedingly well done.

The random amnesia thing was really lazy and half-assed.

  HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE TIME SKIP?  (452 responses)

 I’ve never seen a scale so evenly divided. Opinions about the time skip are all over the place. A slim majority picked the safety of the middle option.

The time skip is perfect and Gabi is the best.

The time skip was needed for story progression but a lot of important questions and interactions were skipped in terms of character development. I just hope we get some of them in flashbacks and not have them completely disregarded

Timeskips should be illegal

After reading the full chapter and talking to someone else about it, I feel better about the timeskip. This chapter made me feel for RBA more, because they must've started out like Gabi and the rest.

Timeskips are cheap ?? Theres so much plot you could throw in there but noooooo

I believe there is no time skip but the chapter takes place during chapter 1-90 of the manga. So its showing a different perspective on the manga

Time skip means we will see older version of the main characters and that's both exciting and terrifying af

    HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE DIRECTION THE STORY HAS TAKEN?(452 responses)

Feeling about the direction of the story are almost a mirror image of the "Rate this Chapter” question. Despite disagreement over the time skip, confidence is still relatively high.

Love the story right now so much. The mix of ww1, fucked up war morals, fantasy is a personal favorite.

I will like this chapter, but only if Isayama concludes this story with a good twist, that is. If not, chapter 91 will in my opinion be the beginning of the end (end in a bad way).

Isayama fell asleep at the wheel

It's definitely not how I thought it would go, and it seems like it may only pay off if we exceed the previous 110 prediction for chapters. I've seen a couple of theories about the new characters and parallels between the Trost days for our characters. I will be extremely disappointed if we get no answer on what happened during the lost year of chapter 90. Or the lost 3 years between that and 91.

i think the story has potential still, and im interested to see how it will work out. im also just hoping this flash to the marley side isnt gonna be too long. 

I think this is going to be really interesting and we get to see the other side of the fight and their perspective.

  WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE CHAPTER (451 responses)

The reveal of the Jaw Titan was completely overshadowed by the brief glimpse of Reiner and insight into Marley. 57% of the vote focused on those two things.

Imagine how the poor kid that inherited "Cartman" felt like upon learning that that thing was their award for winning the marleyan hunger games.

I thought this was a pretty good world building chapter (despite the jarring time skip), especially since we've been waiting many chapters to see this place.  I don't ADORE these new characters, I'm more intrigued, which is better then hating them.  This is also a good set up chapter.  I'm interested to see if Reiner will interact with these new characters.  Since they look so similar to the 104th (design and personality), will he constantly be reminded of his past relationships with them?  Plus, will he see some of himself in them (specifically Gabi) and through them reminding of himself we'll see his backstory?  And is he going to just except his fate and get eaten, or be like "Screw this, nope, not dealing with it."

  WHICH NEW CHARACTER DO YOU LIKE BEST? (447 responses)

Support for Gabi is simply overwhelming. Gabi (38%) and Jerwin (25%) were our favorite new cast members. 

Gabi is such a badass, omg, do you see it Eren? This is how you getting out of horrible situations!

Dammit you Gabi! Fresh Face, Fresh Outlook in Life and Cute! I want to cosplay as her!

i feel like i'm the only one who doesn't  like the new characters

I'm so confused but Gabi is fantabulous

Gabi is such a ray of sunshine

my orphanage is full i already have too many kids to adopt in this series

  WHO DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO INHERIT REINER'S TITAN FORM? (434 responses)

Another close poll, Reiner keeping his titan form narrowly edges out Gabi as the armor recipient.

  WHO DO YOU THINK IS GOING TO INHERIT ZEKE'S TITAN FORM? (440 responses)

If respondents have their way, Zeke’s short term future is very secure. 

I also believe that Zeke will keep the Beast Titan (at least for a while), but ultimately Colt will be the one to inherit it. Zeke story is far from being over.

If Levi is taking down the beast titan and he finds out that not only is Zeke already dead, but his replacement is a weak-brows version of Erwin, I really hope it gives him pause.  That could be such a heartbreaking, earth shattering moment for him and I hope Yams handles it right.

  Attack on Clones

New character, same face. Most of these are self explanatory, but clearly I asked the wrong question with Falco since the majority picked “Other”. Grisha’s friend and fellow revolutionary Grice should have been an option.

Strong resemblance confirmed! I was especially please that the majority agree that Colt most closely resembles Erwin. Since I passionately hate the name “Colt”, I see this as permission to call him Erwin, Jr, or “Jerwin”. 

Zophia is clearly the traumatized medic who inventoried dead!Marco)

I don't really see a strong resemblance between the new cast and the old.

When I saw the new characters I thought: would the children of our main cast look like them?

Part of me wants to say that some key characteristics about Gabi not only resemble Eren or a younger version of him, but may also express some of the characteristics Isayama originally wanted to use for Eren when he considered making him female

Colt=Commander Handsome 2.0

Colt looks like Kenny tbh

WHICH OF LEAPINGTITAN'S REACTIONS BEST DESCRIBE YOUR REACTIONS TO THE CHAPTER? (404 responses)

Ya’ll know these questions are unscientific and purely for my amusement with questions like this. I thought Nick’s live chapter reaction (soundboard) summed things up perfectly. At least one respondent disagreed.

theleapingtitan's reaction wasn't that funny, and for a SNK Chapter poll, seeing stupid stuff like this just takes away the authenticity of the poll

who tf is nick (jk lol praise the walls)

"WHAT" was legitimately the keyword for this chapter but I trust Isayama with the story and with our heroes+ I hope we'll get to see the Jaegers reunion before anything bad happens to Zeke tho

  ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE DIRECTION THE STORY IS TAKING? (448 responses)

This question is nearly identical to the scale question at the top of the poll, but it’s nice to see the information presented in a different way. It’s obvious to me that while the majority still have faith in Isayama, people are hesitant to fully embrace his storytelling.

I was waiting for the story to explain what's going on the other side of the ocean. But not from these "copy and pasted" brats. Reiner is seen in just one panel and Zeke is barely mentioned. That's a shame.

I'm interested to see where this goes but a good 75% of my thoughts are concentrated on what the main characters possibly look like after the time skip.

I honestly dislike how Isayama uses these new characters to show us what Marley and being a warrior is like, instead of showing us RBA and Zeke's past :(

Really enjoyed the way the characters were presented. It gives the reader the chance to see Marley's side of things without being forced to have a story-generated opinion on them (aka screaming at us to hate them) because quite frankly, I was rooting for those Warrior kids to succeed with their plan!

Very unexpected change of character view from our beloved heroes to their"enemy"'s point of view. But I also think it's come at a good time in the overall SnK storyline.

It's disappointing. There's so much potential in the series but I feel like Isayama just wants to get the series over with.

DO YOU THINK YMIR IS DEAD? (445 responses)

Clearly, we’re keeping the faith until we see a corpse.

In reference to Ymir, I don't believe she'd dead because unlike the Zeke and Reiner, no warriors are competing to claim her power, so unless they already dealt with the one to claim her I think they've kept her alive for now.

WHICH CHARACTERS DO YOU GENERALLY ENJOY THE MOST? (450 responses)

I’ve asked this question with each poll and in the past “The Vets” have had the edge. That changes now. I suspect many of Erwin’s fans are no longer interested in the series and certainly not interested enough to take a poll. This number may continue to decline since “The Vets” now consists of only Levi and Hange. Fans of the “The Warriors” remain consistent in their dedication.

Final thoughts

There were more chapter thoughts in this post. Fandom hope for ponytail Levi is strong!  “Where’s Levi”, “Where’s Ymir” and “Bring back Annie” continue to be high on everyone’s mind.

Compiling this takes forever but I love getting a glimpse into what what others are thinking. If I didn’t publish your comment, please know that I read it. Thank you again for the support.