#Narrative construction

[notbecauseofvictories]

I'm re-reading the Discworld series for reasons, and honestly the most relatable part of reading these as an adult is how many of the protagonists start out being tired, used to their little routine and vaguely disgruntled by the interruption of the Plot. Sam Vimes wants to lie drunk in a gutter and absolutely doesn't want to be arresting dragons. Rincewind is yanked into every situation he's ever encountered, though he'd much rather be lying in a gutter too. (Minus the alcohol. Plus regretting everything he's ever done said witnessed or even heard about fourth-hand in his whole life.) Granny Weatherwax is deeply suspicious of foreign parts and that includes the next town over; Nanny has leaned into the armor of "nothing ever happens to jolly grannies who terrorize their daughters-in-law and make Saucy Jokes"

Only the young people don't seem to have picked up on this---and that's fortunate, because someone has to run around making things happen, if only so Vimes and Granny and Rincewind have a reason to get up (complaining bitterly the whole time) and put it all to rights. Without Carrot, Margrat, Eric, etc. these characters don't have that reason; they're likely to stay in the metaphorical gutter and keep wondering where it all went wrong or why anything has to change.

............well, that's not quite true. You get the sense that Vetinari knows how much certain people hate the Plot. And as the person sitting behind the metaphorical lighting board of Ankh-Morpork, he takes no small pleasure in forcing the Plot-haters specifically to stand up, and say some lines.

#I finished guards guards just yesterday and I forgot that vimes and wonse were set up to be mirror images #both boys from the shades of very different natures; who made good (ish) in wildly different ways #also it's interesting reading this books from an adult perspective; my mind isn't blown that these books exist #anymore; plus I've read so many good books since #and they're not perfectly constructed novels! especially these early books; #there are plenty of spots where I can feel the narrative get thin; where there's more handwaving than I remember #but each book IS better and tighter; the jokes are funnier and the irony sharpens; the footnotes are better utilized #the characters are getting more interesting and complicated as opposed to set-ups for jokes. #it's an illustration of someone getting better at their chosen field and that in itself is more impressive than I was anticipating. #discworld

[greelin]

very proud of myself for being able to drive but the second people start naming highways and roads and shit i’m out. “did you take 69 south? Come in at pissy shitty parkway?” brother i put it in maps and it took me here. You are speaking another language to me right now. one i am not even remotely fluent in.

#everyone taking this post immensely seriously: do u want one of my xanax. i think u may need it #constructing a whole narrative in your mind over one guy on the internet exaggerating for comedy. Get help

[os-eclipses-tamen-son-yuri]

A thing I really enjoy about RGU is how when producing the anime the crew was aware of the budget and limits that often come with TV shows at that time and created their own cinematographic language based on them.

The roses, the frames, the transformation sequences... Not only were they able to use them smartly but also make them reinforce the core themes of the show; that of repetition, circularity, a repeated movement, a revolution.

I personally greatly appreciate when narrative media is -meta- not in a direct way but in its semiotics. Utena creates this language based on repetition and is constantly seen subverting it, adding new "rules".

Episode 33 is cinematographicaly one of the episodes I find most interesting because they literally put the turning point of the story (I personally think of this episode as a turning point because we see Utena finally with her "prince"; except that, instead of the happy "ending" one would expect in traditional stories, it is here where everything comes into place and the grim reality is made perfectly aware. Were Utena a traditional princess story, episode 33 would mark a happy conclusion. Instead it is only the beggining of what lies inside the box and once opened it cannot be closed again) in an episode that is all about repetition. A recap.

Also, for as much as many people gloss over the Black Rose Arc I very much think it crucial to establish all of RGU's symbols. Because Utena doesn't tell us things, it wants us to learn them by noticing the patterns, by seeing the repetitions and where they are being broken, so that we ask ourselves why. The elevator sequence is one of such cases where we learn more of the characterization of these characters by seeing how they act inside of it. It's even a basic screenplay exercise: "how would your characters act trapped inside an elevator".

Mikage itself is a shadow, not just of himself but of Utena as well, an omen forever frozen in time.

Because that's another theme, shadows. And how in a way they are echoes, simplified and distorted repetitions of oneself.

And while shadows are cast in contrast, projections are cast forward. While one is a memory of something, projections are the reproduced illusion of it.

Utena works with parallels and repetitions and understanding their semantics and syntax allows us, the viewers, even subconsciously to feel their weight.

#just wanted to leave some of my thoughts out there althought these are clearly unorganized and probably on closer revision wont make sense #regarding shadows and projections we can also talk about the construction of self and how that ties to the theme of growing up and maturing #like I sair rgu has this whole narrative language that in closer inspection is just so brilliant #rgu #utena #meta #utena meta #revolutionary girl utena #analysis

[idolomantises]

I think I’m gonna discuss this once and hopefully never have to bring it up again. Originally I wanted to talk about it on Twitter but people are very disrespectful when it comes to mental health so… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Basically, I haven’t been doing so great, mentally. Nothing bad has happened to me, I’m safe and surrounded by people I care about, and it’s been like that for months. I just, I haven’t been feeling good.

For people who do follow me on accounts like Twitter and Instagram, you may have noticed I haven’t posted anything new since January. I was struggling to feel motivated to make something for my main accounts despite having countless ideas I’d love to work on. I feel better now and do plan on getting something done in March, but that sudden lack of motivation is pretty rare for me. Art is not only my job but a big hobby for me, I just love drawing. I did get some nsfw art done at least.

I don’t know what really prompted my mental health decline, I’ve been getting a few worried messages and fanart because someone insulted my art. But that didn’t hurt me at all, it actually boosted my account and patreon.

I guess I just… got sad?

I have a really bad tendency to suppress and even ignore my trauma and feelings of guilt. And I guess one day I really sat with my thoughts and I just, lost it I guess. I have so much traumatic memories and sudden and intense feelings of self loathing, something I’ve never felt in almost a decade, that it got overwhelming. I couldn’t reassure myself, I couldn’t really talk to anyone about it because how do you confront things that happened years ago? You feel almost irrational. It’s just memories that haunt you, it’s nothing physical or tangible and yet it’s a crushing feeling of anxiety, self hatred and resentment.

I was crying almost every day, and crying so much that my eyes kept hurting long after I was done, and I could barely see my own screen. I’ve had paranoid thoughts about myself and others, thoughts I can’t get into because they’re so deeply irrational. I was feeling suicidal urges and thoughts of self harm. I don’t see myself doing it, but it’s so frequent and overwhelming it’s like I’m already planning my suicide note.

I was talking to my therapist about it, that I was starting to hate being alive. That I hated living. That I could spend the next 50 years of my life with no more conflict or trauma and I’d still be in intense misery and turmoil. They’re feelings I couldn’t really bring myself to tell friends about because what could they say? How do you calm yourself down and reassure yourself. I can’t even talk about my trauma verbally without crying. And it’s funny because sometimes minor irks started to affect me negatively. I was feeling anxious about what to draw because I didn’t want to do deal with homophobic backlash.

I went to a therapist, I talked to friends, Ive been working out more and eating better, I did everything I should do to improve my mental health and all of a sudden a single night just sitting in my room destroyed everything I was slowly building up over the past 5 years.

It’s been really difficult for me. I think also, I just felt so much guilt over not being the best person I could be. I decided to lessen my online usage, not just for my mental health but because I really wanted to work on being a better person. I want to stop hating myself and letting my trauma push me down and I want to do just be better and do better as a person. A lot of people have been very forgiving and kind to me but I don’t feel like it’s enough and I want to do more and I want to feel better about myself. I want to give everything I can to people around me. I’ve been going to therapy a lot more lately and things are getting better for me, but it’s been a very slow process.

I just want to repeat that nothing serious has happened to me. Nobody attacked me in a way that negatively affected my health. A lot of people, friends and strangers have been really nice to me these past few months. I just was doing a lot of self reflecting and unintentionally forced myself to confront a lot of my trauma. I’m saying trauma a lot. I don’t want to get into depth about what I endured because it’s my business but people who do know me know how bad things were for me. I don’t want to feel like that again. I want to feel better, and I want to do better.

Sorry for the long read. That’s just how I feel.

#txt #suicide tw #self harm tw #I was very hesitant to discuss this because whenever I talk about mental health it leans into #one side. who are super well meaning but feel obligated to make sure that I’m okay. like I’m their responsibility when I’m just a stranger #online and my thoughts and feelings should never make someone feel like they have to ‘protect’ me #and another side who sees me purposefully be vague about some of the things I discuss like trauma and regret #and just construct their own narrative and get mad at me for it #at this point I’m just too tired to care about the potential backlash of the latter #if you read all this and think I’m saying I did nothing wrong and everyone is bad except for me that’s your fantasy you get to live in #I just want to be honest about my thoughts and feelings

[aromacaque]

you want to analyze a cartoon that is something children can watch? ok here's the first and most important lesson ever.

have you ever heard of "suspension of disbelief?"

ok. next step. do you know what an unreliable narrator is and can you separate the character's perspective and opinions from the writers? because i promise you that the beliefs of the main character do not always reflect the writers and the point of analyzing media is to dissect that.

#like guys sometimes the silly jokes in the cartoon are JUST silly jokes you gotta let them be silly jokes #sometimes the shenanigans are super outlandish because it's a FICTIONAL CARTOON where sentient AIs and magic exist #i promise you. I PROMISE YOU that rottmnt's mind meld was not some elaborate problematic take on eugenics of all things #<- an actual thing i read with my own eyes #like i promise you that is literally not what the episode was doing #'they kept saying they made his brothers smarter which is incredibly ableist because it implies they weren't smart before' #ahem. it was donnie's idea of smarter #you know donnie. the one who constantly puts his intelligence on a pedestal to boost his ego #it was HIS definition of smarter and that is not the narratives definition #i think the series makes that abundantly clear with how much they make fun of donnie for whatever superiority complex he's got going on #and (in the nicest way possible) if you watch the episode it's not actually that they're getting 'smarter' what is actually happening #is that they are beginning to act more and more like donnie personality wise #and that the conflict starts with donnie feeling like they don't fully understand him. #and since donnie is a flawed character his way of coping with that is by being like 'well clearly they're inferior to my intelligence!' #(which .. if you really dissect his character is not actually what he means he just doesn't know how to constructively word his feelings)

[jonasiegenthaler]

[ref]

#jack hughes #luke hughes #nico hischier #devils #he tripped over nothing #luke found him 2 hours later decided to recruit (read: bother) nico about it #or something construct your own narrative #.art

[neu-apostolisch]

i am definitely of the mind that the interview given by larian discussing the epilogues and character outcomes reflects a lot of bias and favoritism towards some arcs rather than others.

however, i think an overlooked part of this analysis is how they view some characters as independent characters with agency (let's say astarion, for example) and other characters as parts of the plot (i think gale and lae'zel fall into this quite strongly). Shadowheart is an interesting example of both--her narrative plays heavily into the plot of Act 2, but in Act 3 she moves into the more independent category.

this intertwining of character stories with the main story arc is i think what results in writer comments like "a good ending for gale is him blowing himself up." it's NOT a good ending for GALE the character, but with this detached (and dehumanizing) view of him, i see exactly why they would say something like that about the STORY. it's viewing him as a plot device, not a fully written person with ideas, goals and motives. it's a complete failure to understand characters because they're not conceptualizing of them that way.

another person mentioned that "it feels like the character who wrote gale put a lot of thought and care into him, and the other writers didn't really care." and i think that's spot on. it truly does feel like there's a strong disconnect between "gale the plot device" and "gale the beloved character" that you broadly don't see with characters who have more independent storylines. this is likely also why he gets noticeably inconsistent treatment in narrative quality throughout the game.

#gale bg3 #gale dekarios #bg3 critical #larian critical #im not really one for tons of discourse but it's been churning in my head since i read that article #i'm not defending these comments but i think this explains the complete disconnect re gale #for what it’s worth i dont think this is gale exclusive #but i think gale sees a lot of it and is representative of a lot of general criticisms you can make about larian's narrative construction #selfpost #rambled a bit here #bg3 spoilers #baldur's gate 3 spoilers #gale of waterdeep

[petruchio]

literally any time i read anything on narrative construction im like oh yeah a perfect example of this is how the hunger games does it. like a good story should answer the question of “what does the character want and why can’t they have it” like well katniss wants to save prim and she can’t have it bc the conditions of the oppressive regime make that imposible no matter how much the stakes keep getting raised and that’s the central question the entire trilogy is concerned with and it’s the driving force for every single one of her actions. easy! and perfect. it’s the first line of the book. it’s flawless.

#it’s like how any kind of analysis on mystery construction #can be mapped onto the first three harry potter novels. #like are they great fantasy? debatable. but they’re great mysteries. #the hunger games is just a master class in narrative and suspense and character like god it’s the perfect series #and like few people (outside me and the mutuals) i feel like really Get that #like people are like ‘they’re such good books!’ #and it’s like yeah but they’re THAT GOOD. like they’re not just fun kids books #they’re fucking GOD TIER. ugh im never getting over it!!!!!!!!!! #caroline speaks

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

Bringing back RTD isn't going to fix doctor who the only thing that's going to fix doctor who is halving the budget and bringing in the Big Finish writers who are the only people who can harness the necessary batshit insanity

#dw #doctor who #big finish writers: I know this show is 'family friendly' but consider we're going to make it a competition #to see how much we can make it straight up fantasy horror #I have issues with the Moffat interpretation of companions I have issues with the rtd interpretation of the doctor. #bf writers you're literally my only hope #tbh probs have fewer issues with rtd but that may be because I also dislike all the moffat companions as people also #not just as narrative constructs

[shadowshrike]

I promised myself I wouldn't get mired in the weird moral chaos that is bg3's fandom, but I have a legitimate question: for a lot of fans, is this the first time playing with Choose Your Own Adventure stories?

The writing seems to be classic CYOA in the epilogues, at least with the evil post-game companions I've experienced. If you roleplay someone happy with your choices, the game generally reflects that those choices were satisfying in the exact way you'd expect. If you roleplay someone who regrets your choices or has doubts, it usually reflects that you should regret those choices. Either way, the "reader" is given a predictable response in order to fulfill their desired narrative.

Don't believe me? Go through the epilogue and try to play a character who both likes and hates every companion or where they ended up. Some changes are subtle while others are more dramatic. A few quick examples, all from a single save: Playing a character who hates Halsin, though you romanced him, your conversation is short, civil only because Halsin is too mature to rise to your insults, and stilted. He's a distant companion that you've pushed away successfully.

Playing a character who loves Halsin and romanced him, the conversation between you is extraordinarily long and sweet, and you are written as dear to each other. It includes, potentially: sharing stories and teasing him about his more salacious ones, talking about his love of children (and them loving the bear), learning how he's settled into his new life, hearing about him finally finding happiness, being welcomed into his community, welcoming him to share in drinks, and even joyfully adopting an owlbear. This image is just the very beginning of it.

Playing a character who disapproves of Shar but encourages Shadowheart to follow Shar anyway, you get a zealot's lecture about how you're being naive, thinking that Shar's exploiting people, likely confirming your feeling that she's a lost-cause cultist now. The happiness in the conversation is one-sided (from Shadowheart).

Playing a character who is fine with Shar and encourages Shadowheart to follow Shar, you get a short, sincere thank you, and she immediately starts trying to bond with you. The tone of the conversation remains upbeat as she expresses how pleased she is with the church despite its difficulties and how she'd do everything again in a heartbeat.

Playing a character who doesn't like being an immortal consort, but ascended Astarion and agreed to it anyway, gives you an Anne Rice-like fight between bitter eternal lovers. You also get some petulant dragging of your friends.

Playing a character who loves being an immortal consort and ascended Astarion gets you the dark fantasy of all-powerful monsters in love, gleefully ruling and exploiting the world (along with your friends and probably each other) together.

These are all valid endings to the exact same story with very different implications for the future. It's easy to muddy the potential narratives if you try to hold all the unique, mutually exclusive dialog options together.

Remember, at the end of the day, this is written as a linear experience. Everyone's epilogue choices are self-contained in their own story, even if it's possible to reload and choose a different final page. Have fun fishing for unhappy endings if the drama gives the flavor you enjoy, or seek out happy endings if you want to feel fulfilled by your choices. Just know that not everyone will experience or want to experience the same ending for an otherwise identical set of choices in game. That's the cool part of getting to choose your own adventure.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #rant post #I really want to discuss how awesome the writing is for doing this #but I get a headache whenever I try to check out the fandom #i don't care what narratives someone likes #or hates #i just think the fact there are competing narratives that can almost all turn out 'happy' even if they're immoral is so cool #instead of a linear dialog 'tree' where you're supposed to click on every option before continuing and then be good to get a happy end #It's made each playthrough so unique #imo characterization discussions are best when a single playthrough's specific choices are considered parallel universes #because the game responds to what kind of story it thinks your Tav wants #and (mostly) gives you it within the construct of the story it wants to tell

[terezicaptor]

my beautiful wife cucurucho who is on maternity leave just took time to visit his baby daddy (tubbo) 🥰

#txt #qsmp #liveblogging #tubborucho #Don't mind me I'm constructing my own narrative

[transrevolutions]

as much as I can appreciate the interpretation of enjolras as being a naturally kinda quiet and calm guy, I tend to prefer the idea that he had to teach himself to be charming. he isn't necessarily cruel by nature, but he's intense. the force of his passion can scare even his closest allies as well as his enemies so he learns to file the edge of his knife sharper and smaller and sharper and smaller until he can hide it in a bouquet of flowers.

#he's the epitome of “I'll keep all my emotions right here and then one day I'll die” #and then he literally does die #which makes the whole thing even sadder #I stand by my statement #that enjolras is not only doomed by the narrative #but painfully aware of the fact that he's doomed by the narrative #he is collateral damage in a war that will last long after he's gone #but to him that's better than the alternative #which is to stand idly by while the world holds injustice #he's not naive #in fact he's kind of the least naive character in the book #by some metrics #he knows what he is setting out to do #and then he does it to the best of his ability #everyone else more or less falls prey to the whims of Society #at least at some point in their stories #whether or not they break out of those constructs eventually #but enjolras grabs Society by the collar #and shakes it like a bottle of acid #ok tag rant over #pigeon.txt #les mis #les miserables #enjolras #enjolrasposting #(forgot that was a tag for a bit)

[sir-adamus]

the funny thing about Fixing RWB/Y is that everything about it is fundamentally more broken than what's going on in the actual show

#rwb/y #could you make your spite fic - sorry 'rewrite' - actually about the protagonists please #and not the unimportant white boys #could you construct a coherent narrative and quit all the unnecessary horseshit #can you construct a coherent narrative? trick question - the fact that it has to use the original narrative as a crutch #and fails entirely #is proof they can't #can you pay the artists you've conned into working on this shit? like why the fuck do you have a patreon? #You're not doing any actual writing it's all 'and then a character will say/do something and it's the best thing you ever heard/saw' #and that money isn't going to any of the sadsacks wasting their time and effort on you

[pansy2005]

the thing to me is i dont care if frerard Happened or not. it doesnt matter. what matters is the STORY. “blah blah frerardies blah blah” dont care didnt ask plus im constructing a narrative in my mind and its tragic and epic and heartbreaking and world changing “oh but that’s WEIRD” OKAY.I DONT CARE THOUGH

#this goes doubly for petekey btw #talk about constructing a narrative

[pochapal]

so: kumasawa was meant to be suspected but she ultimately did not kill kanon because if she had it wouldn't be spelled out as a theory like this. but kanon was still killed in the boiler room and every other person on rokkenjima has an alibi, and this "impossible" thing was done in a way clearly in accordance with beatrice's plans.

#umineko liveblog #kanon's death was specifically the setup for this kind of confrontation #every suspect needs a plausible reason to be suspicious other than it boiling down to us/them paranoia on class lines #kumasawa needing a convincing narrative to be hated beyond 'that lazy old gossip who is so far beneath us'. a perfect construct #and then i think about all that oddness about kanon's death in the first place. the boy who was killed by fantasy. #what if my makeup theory..........................................................surely not. it couldn't.

[arlathvhenan]

Sometimes I forget that your average fan doesn’t suffer from writer brain and isn’t constantly fixating on writery shit like themes and motifs. What is that even like? How do you process your media??

#Seeing theories for Dreadwolf that are just so very whyyy #How would that serve the story? #What thematic elements does it reinforce? #How would that help construct a satisfying narrative?