What's most ironic to me about these books is how much it reminds me of Catcher in the Rye. Catcher also had a character thinking about their feelings all the time and judging people. The irony however is that for all the judging and calling people fake he does, he is the most fake character in the entire book. Modern teen novels glorify these traits that Catcher in the Rye condemned. It's really hilariously ironic that Catcher, a book written decades before this genre existed, has retroactively become a deconstruction of the teen angst genre.
DonutJulio *_OMG YES!!!_* We just read Catcher in the Rye in English, *_AND I HATED IT!!_* Holden's just a whiny-ass little bitch who can't make up his mind about whether or not he wants to grow up, and by the second chapter, *_I WANTED TO SSSSKIIINNN HIIIIMMM (cue Moriarty laughter)_*
Unpopular opinion.. I like Catcher In The Rye .. yes the character is whiny jackass but I have read worse characters .. believe me much worst.. he wouldn’t even come at my top 20 list.. and yes I can relate to him .. not because I want to be him but I know that feeling of things feeling wrong or fake.. and yeah that’s a part of life..
I love your dry sense of humor and laughed so many times..and you were so spot on about the authors sanitizing the story/characters..vampires, zombies, fallen angels used to terrorize, now they are emos searching for love...hahahaha...and loved your comment... now.."it's basically like "Trigger Warnings", the genre!"...hahaha.....keep speaking your truth!
I really liked the Hunger Games - and I was proven right when "Divergent" became popular, because that is an even bigger rip-off, starring one of the biggest annoying Mary Sues ever created: Beatrice "Tris" Prior
Ever since college I've never been able to read a book for enjoyment. I have to torture myself by acquiring knowledge. Reading fiction becomes tedious because I have such a compulsion to be analytical. It's even worse with movies. I have to point out every flaw or contradiction. That's one reason my ex girlfriend left me, she got tired of me ruining every movie for her.
The key to avoiding this, at least in my experience, is not just to pick out what is bad, but appreciate what is good. When a plot twist both entertains you and is a surprise? Make a note of it. Basically, any time you see something bad being avoided? Note that down. Your mind will only catch things that stand out to you, that matter to you. Analysis doesn't have to just be seeing the flaws, if you don't see what is good about a work, you can't enjoy it. We see Hollywood often miss what makes a movie a good film when they go to imitate a success. (not that imitating success is a brilliant idea in creative endeavors.) If they had set down to see what is done right, that could be avoided. The more you know about a subject, the easier it is to find flaws in something. Which makes it more important to appreciate when something is done right. Even some of the worst works can have one or two good bits to them, or original ideas that simply ended up being unexplored or done poorly. It's the only thing I know to help keep appreciating media when you understand it's structure and can't take off your (proverbial) analysis hat.
This can also be very entertaining. I once went on holiday with my family and my brother read a book of his economics professor for fun and marked every mistake in the book. I read an online forum about books & reading and there they have an entertaining topic "mistakes we found in books", both logical mistakes as well as grammatical and spelling mistakes that mess with the meaning. They have another topic "mistranslations" which is hilarious because sometimes sentences are translated without giving a thought to the rest of the plot so that some sentences make no sense. My favorite in John Saul, "Second child": A 13 yo says she hardly spends her allowance and if so, only on "handkerchiefs". At least in the German version: "Ich kaufe mir höchstens mal ein Taschentuch." Hm... Reading the English version some years later it turned out "All I ever buy are pocket BOOKS." So, the translater must have recorded her translations and transcribed it later which turned a pocket book - ein TaschenBuch" into a handkerchief - ein TaschenTuch.
The main character in a story like that is called a "Mary Sue" or "Gary Stu." They are perfect and have no flaws and if they make one up, nine times out of ten, it's shallow.
ThyNameIsSkepticism Mary Sues are my beserk button, I as a writer even though I make self insert stories, try to avoid the 'perfect main character' and give them some flaws even in my own OCs even when they are powerful as all hell, there's still something human and flawed about them, be it they don't know how to respond to affection, arrogant, or they just do needlessly risky things just because they are bored.
Firemoon Alice31 i myself trying to be a writer and i am trying to create a female characters with some flaws becuse i dont want a mary sue. One of my characters is overall a good person. She is kind, selfless, trustworth and usually she is pretty optimistic. But she is also a little naive (not plain stupid but she dont fully understand how the setting of my world works) she is also a little bit to truthful which makes her a little easy to manipulate (becuse of it some of the other characters are calling her a "lamb") and when it come to physical strength she dont have much of it, she is not too weak but she is not a very good fighter, she cant even harm a fly. Is she sound a little bit mary sue or something like that? (and i am still working on her so sorry if she sounds a little shallow)
I found an actually effective use of an emotionally driven character is The Dresden Files. even though the main character has the skills to pull of his emotional decisions they still have consequences that force him to grow and change.
You realise girls can be stoic and snappy right? I agree that switching between personalities is very annoying like chose a personality and stay with it.
So happy you're doing this topic! Will def. be here for more! Now I have someone who has similar line of ideas. Also, love the shirt ;) Some thoughts of my own: I also do not typically like first POV as I prefer third, but I can excuse it when, 1) The style of writing flows without much purple prose, and is intelligent without being pretentious; and 2)Isn't all the things you named. I'm 24 now, and while some of these books came out well before my age now, I do run into the idea that it possibly just that I'm too old. However, I want to be a writer and realized that having an opinion on a book doesn't necessarily mean I'm wrong due to age. I would want my books to be criticized too. I also prefer really dark books, like those by Marquis de Sade. I'm a bit weird, since I like something that isn't afraid to go there, and that is what I aspire to write like...less rape though, that's a trope that is over used even in fanfic. I mean I don't care if it's there, so long as the development is also there. For it to just be there as shock value, actually desensitizes the audience more than make them feel. I guess that is coming from someone who is more hard to things like that given my background and growing up, but I believe it is the same for most (except Tumblr). AND YES!! I loved, 'I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream.' Have you read, 'The Eye,' by George Bataille? I actually tried to read P.C cast, but I couldn't get into the story as it appeared to try too hard. The characters were as you said, and very campy. They also appeared like labels rather than actual people who happened to be this or that. Currently, I am trying to get through, 'Throne of Glass.' It is in third person, and written quite well, but as you read it, you begin to see that the author can't go five seconds without complimenting her OC in some way. Someone asked me to read the novellas to understand said OC better, and oh my misery, was it worse than before. The OC is a child (16), and while I can see this as an addition to character flaw, said flaw only means something if the OC is actually fault for anything. You can't just say there's a flaw but then have no development or setbacks regarding it. You basically get a Mary-Sue. Which, I'd actually like to know what you think on the subject of Mary-Sues, other tropes you hate, and diversity in books? :) Now, I am mixed with possibly a percent Irish white, while all others are Native, black, and Hispanic. I do want diversity in media and books, but I can see enforcing it tends to make these books more PC and SJW-centric when it gets that far. In this aspect it has become Mary-sue-esque as well especially in comics (looking at you Marvel). I was on tumblr for a bit and had met people who also wanted to be writers (it's I found out about Throne of Glass and the like). Often times they would write fanfics, much like myself. Whenever it was presented to them that their characters were Mary-Sues, the rebuttal would be: "I don't believe in Mary-Sues as it's a sexist way to depower women. Batman could be considered Mary-Sue, but no one says so!" Actually, I do, as well as Superman and a few others... I feel like writing has become this feeding ground for hipster, pretentious, bs. "We need to write more WOC, we need more gay characters, we need more purple prose!" (I mean have you seen that buzzfeed video where two people are speaking poetically, but it sounds like they ate an entire thesaurus before presenting it. Or, they read several John Green novels beforehand. I think it was called: "I don't get Tumblr") I was almost in fear of writing my book because while it is supernatural (I know, so clitche!), it's still solely based on character hardships in a Being Human kind of way, rather than: "Hey, here's a dragon. Yeah we're not gonna do much with it, it's just here to look cool, just cuz!" And with this huge demographic that relies on pro/regressive drivel, I rewrote it several times to insinuate that regardless of the premise it's not what one on the SJW side would think. I had to break for a while because it was slowly becoming a bit too political. I am from Texas and not PC in anyway as most from there aren't. That's why we get so much shit for being racist and sexist. I get websites like, 'Writing with Color' are trying to help, but their bias misconstrues a lot, especially since some like you and I who are, for lack of a better word, POC's and don't enforce that someone be diverse. Yes, I make fun of John Green's pretentious way of writing, and basic white-character format, but I'm not going to down him for his white characters--just the way he writes; because it is hard to get through a novel so self-adsorbed. He breaths philosophy in all the wrong ways. I mean, I know philosophy can be pretentious, but this guy in particular is a bit much. But have you ever read John Green? And what do you think? So sorry for the many words, I get excited when one of my favs talks books that don't sound like Tumblr. Same happened with Appabend...
+Tea Cup haha don't worry about the length of words, I actually enjoyed reading this a lot. I'll have a look at The End, thanks for the recommendation! Hope your writing goes well!
On point 2, the phenomena you're describing was denoted by Ayn Rand as "hatred of the good, for being the good." Which, by the way: since you enjoy reading above your age group AND enjoy reading dystopic novels: I cannot recommend highly enough that you pick up "The Fountainhead", "Atlas Shrugged" and "We the Living". Those novels embody everything you stipulated you enjoy. Complete with first and third person perspectives of quite nearly all characters. Even the perspectives of characters about other characters. You not only see how person B appears to person A, but also how person A appears to person B. They will take a while to read, but they're well worth it. The stories are engaging, the characters are complex and individuated with their own motivations, personalities, outward personae and goals. The settings and ambiance is also incredibly rich. If you comment back that you want to read them: I will provide you the amazon links to those 3 novels and pay their cost to your patreon so you can buy them. Hard copy or kindle, your choice. That's how good those books are, and how much I enjoy your content.
That bit about "I have no mouth and I must scream" made me laugh my ass off! Thats the kind of tale that makes you want to grab some whiskey after reading it and the thought of an SJW reading it blew my mind
I'm a slow reader so the concept of just picking up multiple young adult novels would take a lot out of me. :P When I was still in Public school I could go on reading binges on the weekend, but man by the time of Uni it felt like I never had the time to go on reading binges like that unless it was for procrastinationg purposes of reading for fun to put off work...
I sympathise about reading above your age. Let me type on about my early reading experiences. I did not read heavily as a child, but that changed when I was about 11, when I "borrowed" a novel off my elder brother. It was titled "Dream Thief" and was a sci-fi story about a scientist studying sleep and dreams while living on a space station. The writer, one, Steven Lawhead, had a tendency to put in subtle religious themes. I also read a a duology called "Empyrion" also by Lawhead. After that, I spotted a book on sale in a news agency that had a pretty cover, and because I did know the addage "Don't judge a book by it's cover", the blurb on the back was interesting as well. I pestered Mum to buy it. That was "The Diamond Throne" by David Eddings. That started me off collecting that series, and when I moved to a state school in grade 9, I got his previous series the Belgariad and Mallorean. I also raided through the town library, bought books when I could afford them, raided the school libraries, read like crazy. When I moved to Brisbane around the age of 20, I started raiding the local library system which, given that it was more than a single library, I had access to far more. The thing is, I never went looking for YA in particular, and my favourite section in bookstores was always the sci-fi and fantasy section - not the YA section (I'm not even sure how much of a thing YA was back in the 90s), the adult sci-fi and fantasy section. I don't think Lawhead was YA, and Eddings was not, even if he was shy about sexual themes in his writing. I must admit though, I don't read much in the way of actual books anymore. That doesn't mean I don't read, it means I do almost all my reading online, in fanfiction.
Meanwhile, I suddenly had - while listening to you talk about dystopia - a thought about "How would someone see the Nightlands as dystopic?". To explain, the Nightlands is an idea of mine of a fantasy world concept where there is a huge section of the world (not Earth) that is bound in permanent night. It's a highly magical region, whereas the rest of the world has no magic. Now I have difficulty seeing how it could be seen as dystopian, but that's because I see it from the perspective of the characters for whom the Nightlands is a protective haven. Maybe for someone who is not basically royalty, is stuck in a low-rung life, maybe is even a failed Daylander (someone who comes from the non-magical lands) adventurer, they see things like living in a cave-city, having to avoid the chaos-causing "Greater Moon" (which is an analogue for the sun), finds permanent night depressing, the dangers of the wilds, the underlying impression that everything is controlled by immortal elves, and there's a looming war with the southern empires - that would seem dystopic.
Yeah, this was informative and I have to say that I'm still going to eventually read the hunger games trilogy despite what your opinion on it is. I'm going to give it a shot because I know what I'm getting into and I'm aware that bread and circuses in dystopian futures are really old .
"To be honest, he's kind of a bitch." Lost my shit once again. Also, might I be so bold as to recommend a Steve Shives mocumentary next (though his would actually show a genuine turn from fighter to the people he once fought). I remember that in his "An Atheist Reads..." series, he showed his audience that they didn't need to be pastors or hold theology degrees to challenge the views and so-called facts of Christian apologists. He would go through their books and rhetoric chapter by chapter, point by point and dissect, dismantle, and ultimately decimate their arguments. Fast forward a few years later, and he's become the Christian apologist of social justice. Some of the same people who watched his old series now go through his arguments and "facts" point by point and dismantle and decimate. However, he calls them uneducated internet trolls not worthy of his time and unworthy of a platform from which to speak, as though his detractors now all of a sudden DO need a gender studies degree or have read every piece of feminist literature. He's become intellectually far worse than the Christian apologists who he challenged and thus made a name for himself. Now his views, subs, likes, everything are in the shitter, and his videos now showcase a butt hurt bitch who's jealous of those he disagrees with being exponentially more popular and well-liked. Just a thought. I think you'd do his internet tale quite well.
I'm late to this video, but for a really good more drama based vampire tv show where a vampire wants to be human is a tv show called Forever Knight about a vampire named Nick Knight who is a cop and tries to help keep people safe. It's pretty damn dark and lots of main characters die. Also the guy who turned Nick was turned by his 9 year old creepy daughter who wants to have sex with him. It can be campy at times, but hey 90's tv.
As a side note, some of these, particularly the first person perspective, can hardly be called SJW-specific. The listed example alone existed long before the use of the term SJW. EDIT- I realize you were making a specific example with characters getting upset because other characters don't read their minds, but as a person who has not had exposure to this type of character, I can only go on what I know as a consumer and as a fiction writer myself.
Likes dystopian literature, shits on SJW stuff, wears a Ninja Sex Party shirt and has a soothing voice. Alright, that's enough. Marry me please! Also, why did you stop with the creepypasta readings? Those were excellent.
Yo, Skep. If you've not read it, I highly recommend Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Heartbreaking, horrifying dystopia where love means holding a gun to your child's head when the baddies come because you'd rather him have his brains blown out than live with knowing what they'd do to him. And in a (sadly) more realistic fashion, the women aren't stoic pragmatists but chained at the feet and used for two things. Sex and harvesting the baby inside her for food. It's the last lingering thread of society at its worst, which I've never seen more bleakly done in any work of literature, but it's also one of the most beautifully-written novels I've ever read.
Good god everything you are saying is what I've been thinking for years. I do have to say that the thing with Maze Runner, even though I don't really like it, that I do respect of it is that it does kind of break some of the tropes you're mentioning like the protagonist being always right (news flash, he's kind of an asshole) and the happy ending, cause good god he really fucks it up.
The first-person perspective SHOULD only used for novels written like a letter or a diary. And another thing, when was the last time we see a fictional female character that is genderswapped to a man for the adaptation. Genderbending (and raceswapping) should be a two-way street.
Yes, Harlan Ellison is a great writer. I read I have no mouth and I must Scream when I was 13 and it was haunting. Seek out his audio books where he is the reader. It adds another dimension to his words.
I love this video. I agree with much of what you said In terms of House Of Night, the character development does happen, but it is in the later books. An example is when Zoey sleeps with the poet laureate and the whole fallout from that. I agree, that the character is shallow, but she does become more strong, accepts she needs help and admits she ain't the shit all the time. Admittedly it does take 4 books for it to happen..... Maybe I'm just biased because it was my shit when I was 13. I guess I wouldn't feel the same way about it if I read them now What is your favourite dystopian series? I would recommend the BlackCoat Rebellion trilogy if you haven't read it.
Oh and the Delerium series. I say this because, especially the second and third books, are fucking savage. It's like having your emotions spat on and having dirt rubbed it.
Great video. I don't really read much YA fiction (at least not since I was about 15) but from what I've seen and from what you've said, it seems like there's even more bullshit to wade through to find the good stuff these days. Also, if you enjoy books like the Dexter series and works of that type, check out the author Ryu Murakami. He doesn't do books in a series, but his stuff is full of insights into the disturbing aspects of human nature mixed in with more traditional themes like romance and personal development. I can happily recommend 'Audition' and 'Coin Locker Babies', though I recommend getting the more recent editions as older ones sometimes have broken English and it makes them insufferable to read.
The only YA that Im personally okay with is anything by Ellen Hopkins and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. P.S You've got an awesome taste in music.
Do we really think animals have no feelings? I saw a whale once grieving for her baby. Feelings. A Brave New World. The Book World War Z. Oh try this YA called The Ghost Files. About a foster child. I'll look up the author if you haven't read it. Sorry. I get all excited about books. Good ones. I will read one or 2 just so I know, of the kind you talked about.
I honestly did not expect Dio. You are pretty rad. I noticed that whole "mind reading" that any story narrative has. Don't know why. Big question. What did you think of Dexter, the show?
I think you'll love these, horror/supernatural. a drop of night, dust and decay, sick, monstromologist, morpheus road. not sure about some spelling tho. hope you enjoy!
I'm very interested to know what that piece of gear is that's sitting on the table to your left. I'm thinking maybe drum machine, or something else cool.
Of all the things Life is Strange does wrong the worst for me is how they try to make Chloe this important character you're supposed to love even though she's an awful person. *Spoilers for those of you who even care* When you go back in time and change the future I cranked that IV so hard! Not because I felt sorry for her, specially with how manipulative that whole section is, I just wanted to know I had killed her! I knew time would be changed again, come on there's no way they'd actually let that happen, so I wanted to know I had killed her! Yeah... it got pretty dark and I'm pretty sure that was not intentional at all and that's just sad. They teased outta me the wrong emotions.
i'm so happy you mentioned house of night lol i thought it was the best series ever when i was like 14 but i recently tried to reread it and wooooow. SO bad. SO, SO bad, i'm surprised it's even published, honestly
I'm doing my creative writing bachelor's right now and my teacher made us review NK Jemisin's book The Fifth Season and boy oh boy it was SJW as fuck. Looked her up online to find an interview where she proclaimed society to be 'racist' and 'sexist.' NOT one character was even slightly good in the book the main character slaughtered an entire town because a few people killed her son. It was horribly misanthropic which gave me an insight into the SJW mindset. Which is fitting as the villain in my novel is an extremist SJW lol
I like to read fanfiction and something that really bothers me is a chapter added that has nothing to do with the rest of the story. By this I mean a chapter that is pretty much filler to show how tolerant the writer is of gays, interracial relationships, etc. It really doesn't add to the otherwise good story and rarely makes the story interesting.
"As you can see, I read *a lot*". As we can see...where? Maybe in your other videos, for those who've seen them. But this was the first one I've seen. And nowhere that "I've seen" (ie in this video, prior to & around that statement)...bears out your claim. Not saying you don't. Just saying there was no "as we could see". Am I pedantic? Oh yes. (sigh) ...hitting play to see remaining 98.5% of video now...
Have you ever seen Terry Gilliam's Brazil? It's a good take on Orwell's 1984, but it lacks a Big Brother character and also comes across as a bit buffoonish and weird.
ThyNameIsSkepticism it's a simple shift to evaluating character development through character depth and journey taken. a lot of similarities between written and oral story telling :) let's give it a try!
If you want a good book series, do Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. Is a mixture of both amazingly written fantasy, while dealing with very dark subjects. Read it.
Good video, those book series are terrible. If you want something to cleanse your brainmeats with, stories you can really sink your mind into, may I recommend The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and the Repairman Jack novels by F. Paul Wilson. No relation to each other, I don't think. Hope the good books recommendations comes soon, I can always stand to add to my library.
+william timonen the way sjws act, feminist stories have all these things and these things are promoted as good types of writing in feminists circles (I've known some people who do that) eg. A lot of the stuff on Tumblr about Life Is Strange is like this
I don't really understand the divide between "SJW" and non-SJW... whatever you guys are called. You spew insults at each other, but why not try to reach a medium? For example, yes, you can have a strong female character without it either being "feminist propaganda" or "basically a guy in disguise". (That's also what I've been trying to accomplish with my character Shandra, giving her a fighting spirit and femininity at the same time, all while not shoving in faces that "heheh yeah girls can do this shit too deal with it" And so here is why I like not leaning toward any side and just going with what's realistic. Ahh, apoliticality.
SJWs don't compromise, if you don't agree with them you're a Nazi, and everything you say is hate speech, therefore you should be punched. And the problem is with women in the same action roles as men is, women physically cannot do it, therefore any action role with a lead female in an SJW guided story often ends up like the equivalent of a Chuck Norris movie for men; it looks ridiculous. For example; Salt, where stick girl: Angelina Jolie beats up guys 10 times here size. Films that are good are ones that treat a woman like woman, such as Alien. Of course you can say it's just a film, doesn't need to be real and list countless Chuck Norris like films, but in a good film we expect so amount of reality so we can relate; Chuck Norris films are not good. So, acknowledging the female lead is physically weaker with a physical obstacle, which she overcomes using wits, is something far more relatable and believable. This goes for anything, like, if your story included people with dwarfism, you don't just ignore it, you acknowledge it.
Now, I'm just an edgelord who likes grimdark and gritty horribleness for its own sake, but regardless shit like Hunger Games and so on just dropped the ball on world generation. Like hear me out, you wanna make a glorified tradition of human sacrifice to prove your superiority to your vassal states? Fuck giving the child warriors shitty swords and bows, and fuck just having some kind of killer wasp or mutant dogs. Give those pairs of children a sidearm and a random melee weapon (From spears to Chainsaws) and then pit them against shit like genetically engineered snakes with blades for tails, killer robots, and man-eating trees. Why don't shitty teen protags ever have to go up against cthulian horrors, or nightmarish gangs of ex-convicts outfitted with frikken laser beams? No much more entertaining to have the lame as children sacrifices run around with mideval weaponry alone and have nothing really sci-fi to spice it up.
TheyNameIsScepticism you are wering a wearing ninja sex party skirt and made a Jontron reference. It easy to see your a big fan of them. :) P.S Personally do I prefer animale farm over 1984
What's most ironic to me about these books is how much it reminds me of Catcher in the Rye. Catcher also had a character thinking about their feelings all the time and judging people. The irony however is that for all the judging and calling people fake he does, he is the most fake character in the entire book. Modern teen novels glorify these traits that Catcher in the Rye condemned. It's really hilariously ironic that Catcher, a book written decades before this genre existed, has retroactively become a deconstruction of the teen angst genre.
DonutJulio *_OMG YES!!!_* We just read Catcher in the Rye in English, *_AND I HATED IT!!_* Holden's just a whiny-ass little bitch who can't make up his mind about whether or not he wants to grow up, and by the second chapter, *_I WANTED TO SSSSKIIINNN HIIIIMMM (cue Moriarty laughter)_*
-Catcher in the Rye- White Boy Problems
Unpopular opinion.. I like Catcher In The Rye .. yes the character is whiny jackass but I have read worse characters .. believe me much worst.. he wouldn’t even come at my top 20 list.. and yes I can relate to him .. not because I want to be him but I know that feeling of things feeling wrong or fake.. and yeah that’s a part of life..
I love your dry sense of humor and laughed so many times..and you were so spot on about the authors sanitizing the story/characters..vampires, zombies, fallen angels used to terrorize, now they are emos searching for love...hahahaha...and loved your comment...
now.."it's basically like "Trigger Warnings", the genre!"...hahaha.....keep speaking your truth!
"TBH, he's a bit of a bitch" XD
+Charmingman93 lol
YA fiction is also filled with Mary Sues.
I really liked the Hunger Games - and I was proven right when "Divergent" became popular, because that is an even bigger rip-off, starring one of the biggest annoying Mary Sues ever created: Beatrice "Tris" Prior
Ever since college I've never been able to read a book for enjoyment. I have to torture myself by acquiring knowledge. Reading fiction becomes tedious because I have such a compulsion to be analytical. It's even worse with movies. I have to point out every flaw or contradiction. That's one reason my ex girlfriend left me, she got tired of me ruining every movie for her.
Re-skinned humans. Re-skinned humans fucking everywhere.
+Thrice Orphaned Dumpster Baby hahaha
Drunken Mongoose I know how ya feel.
The key to avoiding this, at least in my experience, is not just to pick out what is bad, but appreciate what is good. When a plot twist both entertains you and is a surprise? Make a note of it. Basically, any time you see something bad being avoided? Note that down. Your mind will only catch things that stand out to you, that matter to you.
Analysis doesn't have to just be seeing the flaws, if you don't see what is good about a work, you can't enjoy it. We see Hollywood often miss what makes a movie a good film when they go to imitate a success. (not that imitating success is a brilliant idea in creative endeavors.) If they had set down to see what is done right, that could be avoided.
The more you know about a subject, the easier it is to find flaws in something. Which makes it more important to appreciate when something is done right. Even some of the worst works can have one or two good bits to them, or original ideas that simply ended up being unexplored or done poorly. It's the only thing I know to help keep appreciating media when you understand it's structure and can't take off your (proverbial) analysis hat.
This can also be very entertaining. I once went on holiday with my family and my brother read a book of his economics professor for fun and marked every mistake in the book. I read an online forum about books & reading and there they have an entertaining topic "mistakes we found in books", both logical mistakes as well as grammatical and spelling mistakes that mess with the meaning. They have another topic "mistranslations" which is hilarious because sometimes sentences are translated without giving a thought to the rest of the plot so that some sentences make no sense.
My favorite in John Saul, "Second child": A 13 yo says she hardly spends her allowance and if so, only on "handkerchiefs". At least in the German version: "Ich kaufe mir höchstens mal ein Taschentuch." Hm...
Reading the English version some years later it turned out "All I ever buy are pocket BOOKS." So, the translater must have recorded her translations and transcribed it later which turned a pocket book - ein TaschenBuch" into a handkerchief - ein TaschenTuch.
You are beautiful. you are amazing. you need to make more mockumentaries. please give me a place to put my money.
The main character in a story like that is called a "Mary Sue" or "Gary Stu." They are perfect and have no flaws and if they make one up, nine times out of ten, it's shallow.
That's not true, their flaw is that they're just. too. nice. and/or clumsy.
+Jaer Nihiltheus they're just annoying to me no matter what they're called I guess haha
ThyNameIsSkepticism Mary Sues are my beserk button, I as a writer even though I make self insert stories, try to avoid the 'perfect main character' and give them some flaws even in my own OCs even when they are powerful as all hell, there's still something human and flawed about them, be it they don't know how to respond to affection, arrogant, or they just do needlessly risky things just because they are bored.
Gary Stu's are so rare, that although I'm aware of the term I almost never hear it or see examples of Gary Stu's in media.
Firemoon Alice31 i myself trying to be a writer and i am trying to create a female characters with some flaws becuse i dont want a mary sue. One of my characters is overall a good person. She is kind, selfless, trustworth and usually she is pretty optimistic. But she is also a little naive (not plain stupid but she dont fully understand how the setting of my world works) she is also a little bit to truthful which makes her a little easy to manipulate (becuse of it some of the other characters are calling her a "lamb") and when it come to physical strength she dont have much of it, she is not too weak but she is not a very good fighter, she cant even harm a fly. Is she sound a little bit mary sue or something like that? (and i am still working on her so sorry if she sounds a little shallow)
Also Ninja Sex Party is awesome!
+Mariguana yay!
danny sexbang and ninja brian
Your irl friends are really bloody lucky to have such an amazingly deep and intelligent friend.
+Nym OneFourSix aww thanks
ThyNameIsSkepticism You're most welcome :-)
I found an actually effective use of an emotionally driven character is The Dresden Files. even though the main character has the skills to pull of his emotional decisions they still have consequences that force him to grow and change.
Ugh....the MC of these Novels is one of the worst examples of an Savior Complex Hyporcrite Bastard i have ever read.
The gentle voice mixed with the hard words and message is just excellent
You realise girls can be stoic and snappy right? I agree that switching between personalities is very annoying like chose a personality and stay with it.
The Bubsy 3D joke was the best XD
You could narrate a phonebook and I would listen to it.
+Shadow Kitsune haha maybe I will
No offense to running man, but if you enjoyed Hunger Games you should read Battle Royale. Its grittiness sounds like it would be up your alley
+Lloyd No I know of it but I haven't read it. I'll find some time to!
So happy you're doing this topic! Will def. be here for more! Now I have someone who has similar line of ideas. Also, love the shirt ;) Some thoughts of my own:
I also do not typically like first POV as I prefer third, but I can excuse it when, 1) The style of writing flows without much purple prose, and is intelligent without being pretentious; and 2)Isn't all the things you named. I'm 24 now, and while some of these books came out well before my age now, I do run into the idea that it possibly just that I'm too old. However, I want to be a writer and realized that having an opinion on a book doesn't necessarily mean I'm wrong due to age. I would want my books to be criticized too.
I also prefer really dark books, like those by Marquis de Sade. I'm a bit weird, since I like something that isn't afraid to go there, and that is what I aspire to write like...less rape though, that's a trope that is over used even in fanfic. I mean I don't care if it's there, so long as the development is also there. For it to just be there as shock value, actually desensitizes the audience more than make them feel. I guess that is coming from someone who is more hard to things like that given my background and growing up, but I believe it is the same for most (except Tumblr). AND YES!! I loved, 'I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream.' Have you read, 'The Eye,' by George Bataille?
I actually tried to read P.C cast, but I couldn't get into the story as it appeared to try too hard. The characters were as you said, and very campy. They also appeared like labels rather than actual people who happened to be this or that. Currently, I am trying to get through, 'Throne of Glass.' It is in third person, and written quite well, but as you read it, you begin to see that the author can't go five seconds without complimenting her OC in some way. Someone asked me to read the novellas to understand said OC better, and oh my misery, was it worse than before. The OC is a child (16), and while I can see this as an addition to character flaw, said flaw only means something if the OC is actually fault for anything. You can't just say there's a flaw but then have no development or setbacks regarding it. You basically get a Mary-Sue.
Which, I'd actually like to know what you think on the subject of Mary-Sues, other tropes you hate, and diversity in books? :)
Now, I am mixed with possibly a percent Irish white, while all others are Native, black, and Hispanic. I do want diversity in media and books, but I can see enforcing it tends to make these books more PC and SJW-centric when it gets that far. In this aspect it has become Mary-sue-esque as well especially in comics (looking at you Marvel).
I was on tumblr for a bit and had met people who also wanted to be writers (it's I found out about Throne of Glass and the like). Often times they would write fanfics, much like myself. Whenever it was presented to them that their characters were Mary-Sues, the rebuttal would be: "I don't believe in Mary-Sues as it's a sexist way to depower women. Batman could be considered Mary-Sue, but no one says so!" Actually, I do, as well as Superman and a few others...
I feel like writing has become this feeding ground for hipster, pretentious, bs. "We need to write more WOC, we need more gay characters, we need more purple prose!"
(I mean have you seen that buzzfeed video where two people are speaking poetically, but it sounds like they ate an entire thesaurus before presenting it. Or, they read several John Green novels beforehand. I think it was called: "I don't get Tumblr")
I was almost in fear of writing my book because while it is supernatural (I know, so clitche!), it's still solely based on character hardships in a Being Human kind of way, rather than: "Hey, here's a dragon. Yeah we're not gonna do much with it, it's just here to look cool, just cuz!"
And with this huge demographic that relies on pro/regressive drivel, I rewrote it several times to insinuate that regardless of the premise it's not what one on the SJW side would think. I had to break for a while because it was slowly becoming a bit too political. I am from Texas and not PC in anyway as most from there aren't. That's why we get so much shit for being racist and sexist. I get websites like, 'Writing with Color' are trying to help, but their bias misconstrues a lot, especially since some like you and I who are, for lack of a better word, POC's and don't enforce that someone be diverse. Yes, I make fun of John Green's pretentious way of writing, and basic white-character format, but I'm not going to down him for his white characters--just the way he writes; because it is hard to get through a novel so self-adsorbed. He breaths philosophy in all the wrong ways. I mean, I know philosophy can be pretentious, but this guy in particular is a bit much.
But have you ever read John Green? And what do you think?
So sorry for the many words, I get excited when one of my favs talks books that don't sound like Tumblr. Same happened with Appabend...
+Tea Cup haha don't worry about the length of words, I actually enjoyed reading this a lot. I'll have a look at The End, thanks for the recommendation! Hope your writing goes well!
On point 2, the phenomena you're describing was denoted by Ayn Rand as "hatred of the good, for being the good." Which, by the way: since you enjoy reading above your age group AND enjoy reading dystopic novels: I cannot recommend highly enough that you pick up "The Fountainhead", "Atlas Shrugged" and "We the Living".
Those novels embody everything you stipulated you enjoy. Complete with first and third person perspectives of quite nearly all characters. Even the perspectives of characters about other characters. You not only see how person B appears to person A, but also how person A appears to person B.
They will take a while to read, but they're well worth it. The stories are engaging, the characters are complex and individuated with their own motivations, personalities, outward personae and goals. The settings and ambiance is also incredibly rich.
If you comment back that you want to read them: I will provide you the amazon links to those 3 novels and pay their cost to your patreon so you can buy them. Hard copy or kindle, your choice. That's how good those books are, and how much I enjoy your content.
That bit about "I have no mouth and I must scream" made me laugh my ass off!
Thats the kind of tale that makes you want to grab some whiskey after reading it and the thought of an SJW reading it blew my mind
"I't basiclly trigger warning- the genre."
PREACH GIRL, PREACH! 😂💗
Bubsy 3d was made by a machine programmed to randomly hit keys, the type that open doors.
I'm a slow reader so the concept of just picking up multiple young adult novels would take a lot out of me. :P When I was still in Public school I could go on reading binges on the weekend, but man by the time of Uni it felt like I never had the time to go on reading binges like that unless it was for procrastinationg purposes of reading for fun to put off work...
I will never let my eyes suffer from Twishite.
Moist.
+Omegon dry
Don't lie to yourself. You're totes moist.
The drawing is strikingly accurate to the real thing.
I believe the book “the catcher in the rye” started the whole thing and made it well known.
I sympathise about reading above your age. Let me type on about my early reading experiences.
I did not read heavily as a child, but that changed when I was about 11, when I "borrowed" a novel off my elder brother. It was titled "Dream Thief" and was a sci-fi story about a scientist studying sleep and dreams while living on a space station. The writer, one, Steven Lawhead, had a tendency to put in subtle religious themes. I also read a a duology called "Empyrion" also by Lawhead.
After that, I spotted a book on sale in a news agency that had a pretty cover, and because I did know the addage "Don't judge a book by it's cover", the blurb on the back was interesting as well. I pestered Mum to buy it. That was "The Diamond Throne" by David Eddings. That started me off collecting that series, and when I moved to a state school in grade 9, I got his previous series the Belgariad and Mallorean. I also raided through the town library, bought books when I could afford them, raided the school libraries, read like crazy.
When I moved to Brisbane around the age of 20, I started raiding the local library system which, given that it was more than a single library, I had access to far more.
The thing is, I never went looking for YA in particular, and my favourite section in bookstores was always the sci-fi and fantasy section - not the YA section (I'm not even sure how much of a thing YA was back in the 90s), the adult sci-fi and fantasy section. I don't think Lawhead was YA, and Eddings was not, even if he was shy about sexual themes in his writing.
I must admit though, I don't read much in the way of actual books anymore. That doesn't mean I don't read, it means I do almost all my reading online, in fanfiction.
Meanwhile, I suddenly had - while listening to you talk about dystopia - a thought about "How would someone see the Nightlands as dystopic?".
To explain, the Nightlands is an idea of mine of a fantasy world concept where there is a huge section of the world (not Earth) that is bound in permanent night. It's a highly magical region, whereas the rest of the world has no magic.
Now I have difficulty seeing how it could be seen as dystopian, but that's because I see it from the perspective of the characters for whom the Nightlands is a protective haven. Maybe for someone who is not basically royalty, is stuck in a low-rung life, maybe is even a failed Daylander (someone who comes from the non-magical lands) adventurer, they see things like living in a cave-city, having to avoid the chaos-causing "Greater Moon" (which is an analogue for the sun), finds permanent night depressing, the dangers of the wilds, the underlying impression that everything is controlled by immortal elves, and there's a looming war with the southern empires - that would seem dystopic.
+Mimi Sardinia hmm interesting
You should check out "The Savage Peak", the Morgalla prequel. It doesn't fall under any of the tropes you mentioned and it stars a kick ass lady hero.
I'm gonna go burn the copies of Twilight and The Host that we own for no reason. Just douse them in gasoline, light a match, run like hell.
I recommned you to watch "terrible writing advice", it's quite funny and honest
So glad my ya novel will have none of those annoying sjw tropes.
Yeah, this was informative and I have to say that I'm still going to eventually read the hunger games trilogy despite what your opinion on it is. I'm going to give it a shot because I know what I'm getting into and I'm aware that bread and circuses in dystopian futures are really old .
"To be honest, he's kind of a bitch." Lost my shit once again. Also, might I be so bold as to recommend a Steve Shives mocumentary next (though his would actually show a genuine turn from fighter to the people he once fought). I remember that in his "An Atheist Reads..." series, he showed his audience that they didn't need to be pastors or hold theology degrees to challenge the views and so-called facts of Christian apologists. He would go through their books and rhetoric chapter by chapter, point by point and dissect, dismantle, and ultimately decimate their arguments. Fast forward a few years later, and he's become the Christian apologist of social justice. Some of the same people who watched his old series now go through his arguments and "facts" point by point and dismantle and decimate. However, he calls them uneducated internet trolls not worthy of his time and unworthy of a platform from which to speak, as though his detractors now all of a sudden DO need a gender studies degree or have read every piece of feminist literature. He's become intellectually far worse than the Christian apologists who he challenged and thus made a name for himself. Now his views, subs, likes, everything are in the shitter, and his videos now showcase a butt hurt bitch who's jealous of those he disagrees with being exponentially more popular and well-liked. Just a thought. I think you'd do his internet tale quite well.
+Brandos Ghost hmm I think I do need to do a Steve doco...
You made the video of my dreams. I knew I wasn't the only one who noticed it. Case in point: Panic.
I'm late to this video, but for a really good more drama based vampire tv show where a vampire wants to be human is a tv show called Forever Knight about a vampire named Nick Knight who is a cop and tries to help keep people safe. It's pretty damn dark and lots of main characters die. Also the guy who turned Nick was turned by his 9 year old creepy daughter who wants to have sex with him. It can be campy at times, but hey 90's tv.
As a side note, some of these, particularly the first person perspective, can hardly be called SJW-specific. The listed example alone existed long before the use of the term SJW. EDIT- I realize you were making a specific example with characters getting upset because other characters don't read their minds, but as a person who has not had exposure to this type of character, I can only go on what I know as a consumer and as a fiction writer myself.
I didn't even know there was a Dexter novelization series till I listened to your video. I might check it out.
Have you read any Clive Barker?
Likes dystopian literature, shits on SJW stuff, wears a Ninja Sex Party shirt and has a soothing voice. Alright, that's enough. Marry me please!
Also, why did you stop with the creepypasta readings? Those were excellent.
+Victor H.Moreira my channel just kinda fucked up I guess
Yo, Skep. If you've not read it, I highly recommend Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Heartbreaking, horrifying dystopia where love means holding a gun to your child's head when the baddies come because you'd rather him have his brains blown out than live with knowing what they'd do to him. And in a (sadly) more realistic fashion, the women aren't stoic pragmatists but chained at the feet and used for two things. Sex and harvesting the baby inside her for food. It's the last lingering thread of society at its worst, which I've never seen more bleakly done in any work of literature, but it's also one of the most beautifully-written novels I've ever read.
+Brandos Ghost wow I'll check it out!
Radiohead - No Surprises background music? Also sweet NSP shirt, also also great video!
Good god everything you are saying is what I've been thinking for years. I do have to say that the thing with Maze Runner, even though I don't really like it, that I do respect of it is that it does kind of break some of the tropes you're mentioning like the protagonist being always right (news flash, he's kind of an asshole) and the happy ending, cause good god he really fucks it up.
everyone knows that the second person writing is the best
The first-person perspective SHOULD only used for novels written like a letter or a diary.
And another thing, when was the last time we see a fictional female character that is genderswapped to a man for the adaptation. Genderbending (and raceswapping) should be a two-way street.
Yes, Harlan Ellison is a great writer.
I read I have no mouth and I must Scream when I was 13 and it was haunting.
Seek out his audio books where he is the reader.
It adds another dimension to his words.
+Marshall McClueless wow cool, I'll look up his other stuff
I love this video. I agree with much of what you said
In terms of House Of Night, the character development does happen, but it is in the later books. An example is when Zoey sleeps with the poet laureate and the whole fallout from that. I agree, that the character is shallow, but she does become more strong, accepts she needs help and admits she ain't the shit all the time. Admittedly it does take 4 books for it to happen..... Maybe I'm just biased because it was my shit when I was 13. I guess I wouldn't feel the same way about it if I read them now
What is your favourite dystopian series? I would recommend the BlackCoat Rebellion trilogy if you haven't read it.
Oh and the Delerium series. I say this because, especially the second and third books, are fucking savage. It's like having your emotions spat on and having dirt rubbed it.
+Ayesha Ahmed I'll check those out! Yeah I didn't get that far into the series so I might be a bit biased lol...
Ayesha Ahmed Haha, I have all of those books but I'm stuck in book 8 because I just can't... Ugh..
The Bubsy 3D line killed me
WHEN THAT HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD STARTED PLAYING OMG
+A Female Orange YEAH!
Great video. I don't really read much YA fiction (at least not since I was about 15) but from what I've seen and from what you've said, it seems like there's even more bullshit to wade through to find the good stuff these days.
Also, if you enjoy books like the Dexter series and works of that type, check out the author Ryu Murakami. He doesn't do books in a series, but his stuff is full of insights into the disturbing aspects of human nature mixed in with more traditional themes like romance and personal development. I can happily recommend 'Audition' and 'Coin Locker Babies', though I recommend getting the more recent editions as older ones sometimes have broken English and it makes them insufferable to read.
+Engel1916 ooh sounds nice
I'd love to hear some of your reading recommendations. Alternatives to the YA garbage, if you will. Thanks!
+joannajean cool!
The only YA that Im personally okay with is anything by Ellen Hopkins and The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.
P.S You've got an awesome taste in music.
This is painfully true with ya books. I especially hate how the protagonist always has to be right.
3:08 which Bubsy 3d? The crap one or the masterpiece unity game? Cause that either means you lack self awareness or are totally aware of yourself
Do we really think animals have no feelings? I saw a whale once grieving for her baby. Feelings. A Brave New World. The Book World War Z. Oh try this YA called The Ghost Files. About a foster child. I'll look up the author if you haven't read it. Sorry. I get all excited about books. Good ones. I will read one or 2 just so I know, of the kind you talked about.
I honestly did not expect Dio. You are pretty rad. I noticed that whole "mind reading" that any story narrative has. Don't know why. Big question. What did you think of Dexter, the show?
+Grey, The Mad King hmm it's OK, but the last seasons were not so good
I think you'll love these, horror/supernatural. a drop of night, dust and decay, sick, monstromologist, morpheus road. not sure about some spelling tho. hope you enjoy!
+Jane Frost thanks!
I'm very interested to know what that piece of gear is that's sitting on the table to your left. I'm thinking maybe drum machine, or something else cool.
Of all the things Life is Strange does wrong the worst for me is how they try to make Chloe this important character you're supposed to love even though she's an awful person.
*Spoilers for those of you who even care*
When you go back in time and change the future I cranked that IV so hard! Not because I felt sorry for her, specially with how manipulative that whole section is, I just wanted to know I had killed her! I knew time would be changed again, come on there's no way they'd actually let that happen, so I wanted to know I had killed her! Yeah... it got pretty dark and I'm pretty sure that was not intentional at all and that's just sad. They teased outta me the wrong emotions.
+eiphreim and the mechanics for the time travel were all fucked up, it didn't make any sense. Not a lot of love for that game from me...
i'm so happy you mentioned house of night lol i thought it was the best series ever when i was like 14 but i recently tried to reread it and wooooow. SO bad. SO, SO bad, i'm surprised it's even published, honestly
+Ariel Parker haha yeah especially with all the spelling mistakes
did you have no surprises by Radiohead playing the background?
+pussycrusher6669 yeah!
The only two YA series I love, Percy Jackson and Mortal Instruments (That being YA is debatable though)
First Person is horrible and so risky, especially for an author, since the mc MUST be relatable.
I'm doing my creative writing bachelor's right now and my teacher made us review NK Jemisin's book The Fifth Season and boy oh boy it was SJW as fuck. Looked her up online to find an interview where she proclaimed society to be 'racist' and 'sexist.' NOT one character was even slightly good in the book the main character slaughtered an entire town because a few people killed her son. It was horribly misanthropic which gave me an insight into the SJW mindset. Which is fitting as the villain in my novel is an extremist SJW lol
+Ben Agar oh Jesus I have to check that out lol
I like to read fanfiction and something that really bothers me is a chapter added that has nothing to do with the rest of the story. By this I mean a chapter that is pretty much filler to show how tolerant the writer is of gays, interracial relationships, etc. It really doesn't add to the otherwise good story and rarely makes the story interesting.
+Haley Thomas I see that on Wattpad all the time omg
"As you can see, I read *a lot*". As we can see...where? Maybe in your other videos, for those who've seen them. But this was the first one I've seen. And nowhere that "I've seen" (ie in this video, prior to & around that statement)...bears out your claim.
Not saying you don't. Just saying there was no "as we could see".
Am I pedantic? Oh yes. (sigh)
...hitting play to see remaining 98.5% of video now...
Have you ever seen Terry Gilliam's Brazil? It's a good take on Orwell's 1984, but it lacks a Big Brother character and also comes across as a bit buffoonish and weird.
+Dos Caffeine hmm I'll have a look
If you like the whole monsters and magic in a real(ish) world setting then you might check out the Sandman Slim series or The Dresden Files.
+Sean Connery hmm I'll add that to my list
You should read Under the Skin. I'm not sure if you'd like it (I'm not sure if I do), but it's got some very interesting gender dynamics.
+Nicole Lyn hmm I'll look it up!
absolutely love distopian SciFi, you have great taste. we should do book/movie reviews together.
+CrayZee Taco Lady I don't think I'd be good at movie reviews lol
ThyNameIsSkepticism it's a simple shift to evaluating character development through character depth and journey taken. a lot of similarities between written and oral story telling :) let's give it a try!
Lmaoooo Bullet at the start killed me 👌👌
Have you ever played the game I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream? It's old but pretty good imo
What do you think of the dystopian book The Road?
+nomnommoo I haven't played the game but I have seen a let's play. I haven't read The Road but I'll look into it!
Have you read Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson?
Toadies, Weezer and Marilyn Manson. A woman after my own heart 😍😍
+Tim H haha :)
I love your channel! Just found you and I'm binging.
+Roger Tully thank you!
Trigger Warning: The Genre
+Zinith haha
I hate a lot of these hyper feminist tropes in fiction, pandering to girls with the "stoopid bois" shit.
Best ASMR of my life
If you want a good book series, do Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. Is a mixture of both amazingly written fantasy, while dealing with very dark subjects. Read it.
+Thomas Wayward I'll add that to my reading list!
What could possibly go wrong?
YOU CAN DO EET B0SS!
Charmingman93 Yeah
you deserve more views and subscribers, great content, thanks 😁
Appropriate background music choice, cause reading shit like these YA propaganda books makes we want to drown.
Ever read the Song of Ice and Fire series? 10/10 in my opinion
+zogfotpik hmm I don't remember I'll have a look
Most people know it as Game of Thrones
Good editing and presentation. Great video!
+Joshua Faure thanks!
You ever thought about doing asmr??
Everything is a Disney film
Good video, those book series are terrible. If you want something to cleanse your brainmeats with, stories you can really sink your mind into, may I recommend The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and the Repairman Jack novels by F. Paul Wilson. No relation to each other, I don't think. Hope the good books recommendations comes soon, I can always stand to add to my library.
+kevlarandchrome thanks for the recommendation!
You are quite welcome. Thanks for the entertaining videos.
Do you like wizard of Oz?
+FinalFantasyDeviants yes!
You made a lot of good points. Also, sweet NSP shirt!
How do you link any of those things with SJW? Im honestly curious.
For fucks sake, the Host was written before SJW was a term.
+william timonen the way sjws act, feminist stories have all these things and these things are promoted as good types of writing in feminists circles (I've known some people who do that) eg. A lot of the stuff on Tumblr about Life Is Strange is like this
oh yes 1984/i graduated in 1983/that novel meant alot to me/the author was right and wrong in the same breath
holy shit, you like NSP too?! awesome.
Wait so what age are you?
+Mariguana 18
ThyNameIsSkepticism Nice! I am too.
Um
Do you watch anime
Yeah I'll leave now
+Blaine Browning lol I kinda do but not really
+ThyNameIsSkepticism watch Konosuba it's hilarious and done in only one point of view, our protagonist Kazuma
I don't really understand the divide between "SJW" and non-SJW... whatever you guys are called. You spew insults at each other, but why not try to reach a medium? For example, yes, you can have a strong female character without it either being "feminist propaganda" or "basically a guy in disguise". (That's also what I've been trying to accomplish with my character Shandra, giving her a fighting spirit and femininity at the same time, all while not shoving in faces that "heheh yeah girls can do this shit too deal with it"
And so here is why I like not leaning toward any side and just going with what's realistic. Ahh, apoliticality.
SJWs don't compromise, if you don't agree with them you're a Nazi, and everything you say is hate speech, therefore you should be punched.
And the problem is with women in the same action roles as men is, women physically cannot do it, therefore any action role with a lead female in an SJW guided story often ends up like the equivalent of a Chuck Norris movie for men; it looks ridiculous. For example; Salt, where stick girl: Angelina Jolie beats up guys 10 times here size.
Films that are good are ones that treat a woman like woman, such as Alien. Of course you can say it's just a film, doesn't need to be real and list countless Chuck Norris like films, but in a good film we expect so amount of reality so we can relate; Chuck Norris films are not good.
So, acknowledging the female lead is physically weaker with a physical obstacle, which she overcomes using wits, is something far more relatable and believable.
This goes for anything, like, if your story included people with dwarfism, you don't just ignore it, you acknowledge it.
Do you like video games? if yes then you should play metro 2033.
+Martin Kont I've heard of that game. Yeah I love games
Excellent. Thank you.
*is wearing NSP shirt* if only I could like the video twice
+Angry Kitten haha yay for nsp
ohh shit ...your black?O_o i didnt expect that....dos that make me sexist o-o
Now, I'm just an edgelord who likes grimdark and gritty horribleness for its own sake, but regardless shit like Hunger Games and so on just dropped the ball on world generation. Like hear me out, you wanna make a glorified tradition of human sacrifice to prove your superiority to your vassal states? Fuck giving the child warriors shitty swords and bows, and fuck just having some kind of killer wasp or mutant dogs. Give those pairs of children a sidearm and a random melee weapon (From spears to Chainsaws) and then pit them against shit like genetically engineered snakes with blades for tails, killer robots, and man-eating trees. Why don't shitty teen protags ever have to go up against cthulian horrors, or nightmarish gangs of ex-convicts outfitted with frikken laser beams? No much more entertaining to have the lame as children sacrifices run around with mideval weaponry alone and have nothing really sci-fi to spice it up.
+Kyle Vidauri I hear ya haha
Your a Game Grump fan, cool! :-)
+Tord Markus Birkeland Jakobsen I love game grumps and oneyplays :)
TheyNameIsScepticism you are wering a wearing ninja sex party skirt and made a Jontron reference. It easy to see your a big fan of them. :)
P.S
Personally do I prefer animale farm over 1984
you need a better mic, darling.
+rafael6485 I do lol