ARIN I ASOLDE

On possession, mind control, and hypnosis. This is a broad general topic, admittedly, but each one by itself would probably be too narrow for a rant. Thus, we’re doing it this way. (. Interesting, but not when they’re used as an escape clause.

LIMYAAEL - PROFILE

PSA: This journal is no longer updated, due to my distrust of LiveJournal's arbitrary and self-contradictory postures towards user content.I've moved over to InsaneJournal and GreatestJournal under the same name. If you would like to continue to read the fantasy rants and book reviews without getting a journal there, you can add the syndication feed for the journal at limyaael_ij. PSA: THE LIST OF RANTS: LIMYAAEL If you want to find all the fantasy rants I've done, you can look in my memories or at Coyotecult's Handydandy Reference Index . If you want smaller numbers of rants at a time, I've also tagged them. (I'll be linking this post in my profile). By Posting Date fantasy rants:

winter 2003 fantasy

TURNING IDEALISTIC CHARACTERS GRAY: LIMYAAEL In fact, that might be one of the very best ways to turn someone grayer. 3) Give your idealistic protagonists people to fight for and with. Show me a fantasy character who’s willing to die for a cause, and I will show you someone who, 99% of the time, is a loner. WRITING A PSYCHOTIC VIEWPOINT CHARACTER: LIMYAAEL Highly biased and personal, as always. I'm using "psychotic" here under the definition of 'a break from reality,' usually accompanied by symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, distorted perceptions or reactions to perfectly normal stimuli, and so on. That means that this is not advice geared ON ASSASSIN CHARACTERS: LIMYAAEL A bit late, but as promised, here’s the assassin rant. 1) Your character is not special or important just because she’s an assassin. This ties back to the special abilities rant, the characterization rants, and a lot of others on the protagonists. Fantasy authors seem to have the persistent idea RANT ON D&D STEREOTYPES: LIMYAAEL Rant on D&D stereotypes. As long promised and taking a long time to deliver: D&D stereotypes! Once again, as with Tolkien, it’s not really the fault of the people who created the games (though it might be the fault of the people who wrote novels that tie in with the games and adopt their rules unthinkingly). It comes of a lot of authors MAKING CONLANGS: MORE BASIC CONSIDERATIONS AND THE GRAMMAR Making conlangs: More basic considerations and the grammar of verbs. Second part of the conlang rant; this deals mostly with grammar. And this will definitely have to be four parts, now, in order to fit everything in that I want to. 1) What kind of language is your

language?

MORE THINGS LIMYAAEL THINKS WOULD BE REALLY COOL: LIMYAAEL More things Limyaael thinks would be really cool. This is a follow-up, in many ways, to the rant that I wrote here. That means more happy burbling, more “oooh, shiny!” ideas, and more dreams—I regularly dream about walking into a bookstore and finding books like this. I FANTASY OF EXCESS: RANT ON JORDAN AND GOODKIND: LIMYAAEL Well, a lot of people seemed awfully enthusiastic for a rant about Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind. Never let it be said that I would pass up a chance to explain, in detail, why I don’t like these authors wouldn't give people what they want. Note: I gave up on Jordan in the eighth book of his

ARIN I ASOLDE

On possession, mind control, and hypnosis. This is a broad general topic, admittedly, but each one by itself would probably be too narrow for a rant. Thus, we’re doing it this way. (. Interesting, but not when they’re used as an escape clause.

LIMYAAEL - PROFILE

PSA: This journal is no longer updated, due to my distrust of LiveJournal's arbitrary and self-contradictory postures towards user content.I've moved over to InsaneJournal and GreatestJournal under the same name. If you would like to continue to read the fantasy rants and book reviews without getting a journal there, you can add the syndication feed for the journal at limyaael_ij. PSA: THE LIST OF RANTS: LIMYAAEL If you want to find all the fantasy rants I've done, you can look in my memories or at Coyotecult's Handydandy Reference Index . If you want smaller numbers of rants at a time, I've also tagged them. (I'll be linking this post in my profile). By Posting Date fantasy rants:

winter 2003 fantasy

TURNING IDEALISTIC CHARACTERS GRAY: LIMYAAEL In fact, that might be one of the very best ways to turn someone grayer. 3) Give your idealistic protagonists people to fight for and with. Show me a fantasy character who’s willing to die for a cause, and I will show you someone who, 99% of the time, is a loner. WRITING A PSYCHOTIC VIEWPOINT CHARACTER: LIMYAAEL Highly biased and personal, as always. I'm using "psychotic" here under the definition of 'a break from reality,' usually accompanied by symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, distorted perceptions or reactions to perfectly normal stimuli, and so on. That means that this is not advice geared ON ASSASSIN CHARACTERS: LIMYAAEL A bit late, but as promised, here’s the assassin rant. 1) Your character is not special or important just because she’s an assassin. This ties back to the special abilities rant, the characterization rants, and a lot of others on the protagonists. Fantasy authors seem to have the persistent idea RANT ON D&D STEREOTYPES: LIMYAAEL Rant on D&D stereotypes. As long promised and taking a long time to deliver: D&D stereotypes! Once again, as with Tolkien, it’s not really the fault of the people who created the games (though it might be the fault of the people who wrote novels that tie in with the games and adopt their rules unthinkingly). It comes of a lot of authors MAKING CONLANGS: MORE BASIC CONSIDERATIONS AND THE GRAMMAR Making conlangs: More basic considerations and the grammar of verbs. Second part of the conlang rant; this deals mostly with grammar. And this will definitely have to be four parts, now, in order to fit everything in that I want to. 1) What kind of language is your

language?

MORE THINGS LIMYAAEL THINKS WOULD BE REALLY COOL: LIMYAAEL More things Limyaael thinks would be really cool. This is a follow-up, in many ways, to the rant that I wrote here. That means more happy burbling, more “oooh, shiny!” ideas, and more dreams—I regularly dream about walking into a bookstore and finding books like this. I FANTASY OF EXCESS: RANT ON JORDAN AND GOODKIND: LIMYAAEL Well, a lot of people seemed awfully enthusiastic for a rant about Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind. Never let it be said that I would pass up a chance to explain, in detail, why I don’t like these authors wouldn't give people what they want. Note: I gave up on Jordan in the eighth book of his

LIMYAAEL - PROFILE

PSA: This journal is no longer updated, due to my distrust of LiveJournal's arbitrary and self-contradictory postures towards user content.I've moved over to InsaneJournal and GreatestJournal under the same name. If you would like to continue to read the fantasy rants and book reviews without getting a journal there, you can add the syndication feed for the journal at limyaael_ij. MORE THINGS LIMYAAEL THINKS WOULD BE REALLY COOL: LIMYAAEL More things Limyaael thinks would be really cool. This is a follow-up, in many ways, to the rant that I wrote here. That means more happy burbling, more “oooh, shiny!” ideas, and more dreams—I regularly dream about walking into a bookstore and finding books like this. I ON USING NON-WESTERN INFLUENCE IN FANTASY.: LIMYAAEL On using non-Western influence in fantasy. 1) RESEARCH. I don’t necessarily think people will neglect this one, but the sources of the research might be questionable. If all you’ve ever really read about South American native tribes are fictional books set in Peru before the Spanish Conquest, and you’ve only watched fictional movies, keep ON ASSASSIN CHARACTERS: LIMYAAEL A bit late, but as promised, here’s the assassin rant. 1) Your character is not special or important just because she’s an assassin. This ties back to the special abilities rant, the characterization rants, and a lot of others on the protagonists. Fantasy authors seem to have the persistent idea WRITING FANTASY ABOUT OPPRESSION: LIMYAAEL Writing fantasy about oppression. All right then. Frankly, this rant was difficult to write. Part of it is simply that I’m afraid I’ll leave something important out. The other part is that I’m white, middle-class, and American, and so I’m approaching a lot of this in theory, not in the experience of living with it. CHARACTERS WITH SYMPATHY: LIMYAAEL Note: This is not a rant on “sympathetic characters,” which tends to get parsed as “characters the reader will sympathize with.” This is about characters who have the faculty of sympathy themselves for other characters in the story, and letting them express it. 1) Remember that there are different THE HOUNDS OF SPRING, PART FOUR: LIMYAAEL The fourth, and last, part of the novelette that I'm writing for megmurry, continued from here . IV. Lightness of Ice, Heaviness of Stone Reimaran stepped into the house and let the door fall shut behind him. If other people on Rainsinger’s Way saw this, Weishoron might feel compelled to murder DESIGNATED LOVE INTEREST RANT: LIMYAAEL 2) The language rising towards purple is often a sign of the Designated Love Interest. The author may write in a pleasant style, a pedestrian one, or a laconic one. Either way, it often alters when the Designated Love Interest comes into the room, even if the author doesn’t specifically identify him or FIGHTER HERO RANT: LIMYAAEL This time, it’s on the other really frequent class of heroes. 1) “Natural talent” shouldn’t excuse training. I’ve ranted about the teenage genius who picks up the sword for the first time and can miraculously fight his twenty-five-year-old mentor to a standstill. Um, no. And these days, most WRITING SEX SCENES: LIMYAAEL This rant is personal—as in, based on those things that I’ve found to work for me, along with some other peoples’ tips on the subject that I think are useful. I don’t get into specifics like, “Write this kind of sex this way” It’s very general. And “foul” language warning. For appropriate

ARIN I ASOLDE

On possession, mind control, and hypnosis. This is a broad general topic, admittedly, but each one by itself would probably be too narrow for a rant. Thus, we’re doing it this way. (. Interesting, but not when they’re used as an escape clause. TURNING IDEALISTIC CHARACTERS GRAY: LIMYAAEL In fact, that might be one of the very best ways to turn someone grayer. 3) Give your idealistic protagonists people to fight for and with. Show me a fantasy character who’s willing to die for a cause, and I will show you someone who, 99% of the time, is a loner.

LIMYAAEL - PROFILE

PSA: This journal is no longer updated, due to my distrust of LiveJournal's arbitrary and self-contradictory postures towards user content.I've moved over to InsaneJournal and GreatestJournal under the same name. If you would like to continue to read the fantasy rants and book reviews without getting a journal there, you can add the syndication feed for the journal at limyaael_ij. PSA: THE LIST OF RANTS: LIMYAAEL If you want to find all the fantasy rants I've done, you can look in my memories or at Coyotecult's Handydandy Reference Index . If you want smaller numbers of rants at a time, I've also tagged them. (I'll be linking this post in my profile). By Posting Date fantasy rants:

winter 2003 fantasy

WRITING A PSYCHOTIC VIEWPOINT CHARACTER: LIMYAAEL Highly biased and personal, as always. I'm using "psychotic" here under the definition of 'a break from reality,' usually accompanied by symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, distorted perceptions or reactions to perfectly normal stimuli, and so on. That means that this is not advice geared WRITING FANTASY ABOUT OPPRESSION: LIMYAAEL Writing fantasy about oppression. All right then. Frankly, this rant was difficult to write. Part of it is simply that I’m afraid I’ll leave something important out. The other part is that I’m white, middle-class, and American, and so I’m approaching a lot of this in theory, not in the experience of living with it. RANT ON D&D STEREOTYPES: LIMYAAEL Rant on D&D stereotypes. As long promised and taking a long time to deliver: D&D stereotypes! Once again, as with Tolkien, it’s not really the fault of the people who created the games (though it might be the fault of the people who wrote novels that tie in with the games and adopt their rules unthinkingly). It comes of a lot of authors ON USING NON-WESTERN INFLUENCE IN FANTASY.: LIMYAAEL On using non-Western influence in fantasy. 1) RESEARCH. I don’t necessarily think people will neglect this one, but the sources of the research might be questionable. If all you’ve ever really read about South American native tribes are fictional books set in Peru before the Spanish Conquest, and you’ve only watched fictional movies, keep ON MAKING NON-HUMAN LANGUAGES.: LIMYAAEL Sorry for the update so late in the day; I was enjoying my day off. :) I've already done a specific post on language, but mostly on things like not scattering apost'rophes in random places. This focuses on language construction, and some of the things you can do to make your language more non-human RANT ON WHORES.: LIMYAAEL Rant on whores. And courtesans, harlots, streetwalkers, ladies of negotiable virtue, and other various hangers-on. 1) First, the practical necessities. I’m going to assume that, if you intend to have whores as major characters or otherwise intimately involved in the story (yes, do ignore the pun), you won’t be averse to thinking

about and

ARIN I ASOLDE

On possession, mind control, and hypnosis. This is a broad general topic, admittedly, but each one by itself would probably be too narrow for a rant. Thus, we’re doing it this way. (. Interesting, but not when they’re used as an escape clause. TURNING IDEALISTIC CHARACTERS GRAY: LIMYAAEL In fact, that might be one of the very best ways to turn someone grayer. 3) Give your idealistic protagonists people to fight for and with. Show me a fantasy character who’s willing to die for a cause, and I will show you someone who, 99% of the time, is a loner.

LIMYAAEL - PROFILE

PSA: This journal is no longer updated, due to my distrust of LiveJournal's arbitrary and self-contradictory postures towards user content.I've moved over to InsaneJournal and GreatestJournal under the same name. If you would like to continue to read the fantasy rants and book reviews without getting a journal there, you can add the syndication feed for the journal at limyaael_ij. PSA: THE LIST OF RANTS: LIMYAAEL If you want to find all the fantasy rants I've done, you can look in my memories or at Coyotecult's Handydandy Reference Index . If you want smaller numbers of rants at a time, I've also tagged them. (I'll be linking this post in my profile). By Posting Date fantasy rants:

winter 2003 fantasy

WRITING A PSYCHOTIC VIEWPOINT CHARACTER: LIMYAAEL Highly biased and personal, as always. I'm using "psychotic" here under the definition of 'a break from reality,' usually accompanied by symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, distorted perceptions or reactions to perfectly normal stimuli, and so on. That means that this is not advice geared WRITING FANTASY ABOUT OPPRESSION: LIMYAAEL Writing fantasy about oppression. All right then. Frankly, this rant was difficult to write. Part of it is simply that I’m afraid I’ll leave something important out. The other part is that I’m white, middle-class, and American, and so I’m approaching a lot of this in theory, not in the experience of living with it. RANT ON D&D STEREOTYPES: LIMYAAEL Rant on D&D stereotypes. As long promised and taking a long time to deliver: D&D stereotypes! Once again, as with Tolkien, it’s not really the fault of the people who created the games (though it might be the fault of the people who wrote novels that tie in with the games and adopt their rules unthinkingly). It comes of a lot of authors ON USING NON-WESTERN INFLUENCE IN FANTASY.: LIMYAAEL On using non-Western influence in fantasy. 1) RESEARCH. I don’t necessarily think people will neglect this one, but the sources of the research might be questionable. If all you’ve ever really read about South American native tribes are fictional books set in Peru before the Spanish Conquest, and you’ve only watched fictional movies, keep ON MAKING NON-HUMAN LANGUAGES.: LIMYAAEL Sorry for the update so late in the day; I was enjoying my day off. :) I've already done a specific post on language, but mostly on things like not scattering apost'rophes in random places. This focuses on language construction, and some of the things you can do to make your language more non-human RANT ON WHORES.: LIMYAAEL Rant on whores. And courtesans, harlots, streetwalkers, ladies of negotiable virtue, and other various hangers-on. 1) First, the practical necessities. I’m going to assume that, if you intend to have whores as major characters or otherwise intimately involved in the story (yes, do ignore the pun), you won’t be averse to thinking

about and

LIMYAAEL - PROFILE

PSA: This journal is no longer updated, due to my distrust of LiveJournal's arbitrary and self-contradictory postures towards user content.I've moved over to InsaneJournal and GreatestJournal under the same name. If you would like to continue to read the fantasy rants and book reviews without getting a journal there, you can add the syndication feed for the journal at limyaael_ij. WRITING FANTASY ABOUT OPPRESSION: LIMYAAEL Writing fantasy about oppression. All right then. Frankly, this rant was difficult to write. Part of it is simply that I’m afraid I’ll leave something important out. The other part is that I’m white, middle-class, and American, and so I’m approaching a lot of this in theory, not in the experience of living with it. KEEPING STATIC WORLDS PLAUSIBLE: LIMYAAEL 3) Shed twentieth-century and twenty-first-century notions of how fast things should go. One thing that often seems to happen in fantasies is a notion of static worlds—“Nothing changes ever”—competing with a notion of rapid and sudden changes as the only ones that matter —“Everything changes overnight.”. The first is bothersome LIMITATIONS ON MAGIC RANT: LIMYAAEL Limitations on magic prevent the author from using too little effort, and trying to pass moldy toilet paper off as a story. 1) If your magic is limited by an outside force, keep track of it. Hi. My name is Limyaael, and I’m one of those anal-retentive readers who starts keeping count the moment an author introduces a specific number of

things

FIRST TRY AT AN ORIGINAL FANTASY LITMUS TEST.: LIMYAAEL The idea's certainly been done before, but this is my version of a Mary Sue litmus test for original fantasy. I'm thinking here specifically of stories on Fictionpress , which seems to be haunted by characters of this type. But it could also be applied to original fantasy characters outside of ON MAKING NON-HUMAN LANGUAGES.: LIMYAAEL Sorry for the update so late in the day; I was enjoying my day off. :) I've already done a specific post on language, but mostly on things like not scattering apost'rophes in random places. This focuses on language construction, and some of the things you can do to make your language more non-human FEMINIST FANTASY RANT.: LIMYAAEL Feminist fantasy rant. Quote of the Day: “Feminism is the radical opinion that women are people.” –Seen on a bumper sticker; I haven’t been able to find the original. Yes, people, and not the Masters of the Universe. Bits of this will concern feminist science fiction too, since a lot of the problems afflicting the two genres are

the same.

ON THE HANDLING OF DISABLED CHARACTERS: LIMYAAEL On the handling of disabled characters. I'm probably not covering everything here. These are issues that I've found useful to keep in mind when writing disabled characters of my own. 1) Know what the disability looks like even if you don't describe it to the reader immediately. Sometimes this is a MY MOST HATED FANTASY IDEAS.: LIMYAAEL Yes, the genre wouldn't be what it is without them, but they are so easy to misuse. And I hate them. No trying to be objective about this. I'm still going to try to suggest fixes for the problems I see with these, but I wish they would go away far more than I wish that people

would just use them

RANT ON WHORES.: LIMYAAEL Rant on whores. And courtesans, harlots, streetwalkers, ladies of negotiable virtue, and other various hangers-on. 1) First, the practical necessities. I’m going to assume that, if you intend to have whores as major characters or otherwise intimately involved in the story (yes, do ignore the pun), you won’t be averse to thinking

about and

ARIN I ASOLDE

I'm not comfortable with LJ's customer service, and especially the way that they're handling their latest PR disaster. The part that bothers me most is near the end: ( Read more Collapse ) ETA: I've checked now, and only paid LJ users can add syndicated feeds of a journal.Since I don't want to give LJ any more of my money, this is a conflict of

interest for me.

LIMYAAEL - PROFILE

PSA: This journal is no longer updated, due to my distrust of LiveJournal's arbitrary and self-contradictory postures towards user content.I've moved over to InsaneJournal and GreatestJournal under the same name. If you would like to continue to read the fantasy rants and book reviews without getting a journal there, you can add the syndication feed for the journal at limyaael_ij. TURNING IDEALISTIC CHARACTERS GRAY: LIMYAAEL Before I start, I just want to make it clear that, in this case, I’m not lumping all characters who have strong beliefs into the idealistic set. This rant deals, instead, with protagonists or secondaries who have both strong ideals and a lack of information about how they apply

to the pragmatic

PSA: THE LIST OF RANTS: LIMYAAEL If you want to find all the fantasy rants I've done, you can look in my memories or at Coyotecult's Handydandy Reference Index . If you want smaller numbers of rants at a time, I've also tagged them. (I'll be linking this post in my profile). By Posting Date fantasy rants:

winter 2003 fantasy

WRITING FANTASY ABOUT OPPRESSION: LIMYAAEL All right then. Frankly, this rant was difficult to write. Part of it is simply that I’m afraid I’ll leave something important out. The other part is that I’m white, middle-class, and American, and so I’m approaching a lot of this in theory, not in the experience of living with it. Given the time ON USING NON-WESTERN INFLUENCE IN FANTASY.: LIMYAAEL 1) RESEARCH. I don’t necessarily think people will neglect this one, but the sources of the research might be questionable. If all you’ve ever really read about South American native tribes are fictional books set in Peru before the Spanish Conquest, and you’ve only watched fictional movies, keep WRITING A PSYCHOTIC VIEWPOINT CHARACTER: LIMYAAEL Highly biased and personal, as always. I'm using "psychotic" here under the definition of 'a break from reality,' usually accompanied by symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, distorted perceptions or reactions to perfectly normal stimuli, and so on. That means that this is not advice geared ON MAKING NON-HUMAN LANGUAGES.: LIMYAAEL Sorry for the update so late in the day; I was enjoying my day off. :) I've already done a specific post on language, but mostly on things like not scattering apost'rophes in random places. This focuses on language construction, and some of the things you can do to make your language more non-human RANT ON D&D STEREOTYPES: LIMYAAEL As long promised and taking a long time to deliver: D&D stereotypes! Once again, as with Tolkien, it’s not really the fault of the people who created the games (though it might be the fault of the people who wrote novels that tie in with the games and adopt their rules unthinkingly). It comes of a RANT ON WHORES.: LIMYAAEL And courtesans, harlots, streetwalkers, ladies of negotiable virtue, and other various hangers-on. 1) First, the practical necessities. I’m going to assume that, if you intend to have whores as major characters or otherwise intimately involved in the story (yes, do ignore the pun), you won’t be

ARIN I ASOLDE

I'm not comfortable with LJ's customer service, and especially the way that they're handling their latest PR disaster. The part that bothers me most is near the end: ( Read more Collapse ) ETA: I've checked now, and only paid LJ users can add syndicated feeds of a journal.Since I don't want to give LJ any more of my money, this is a conflict of

interest for me.

LIMYAAEL - PROFILE

PSA: This journal is no longer updated, due to my distrust of LiveJournal's arbitrary and self-contradictory postures towards user content.I've moved over to InsaneJournal and GreatestJournal under the same name. If you would like to continue to read the fantasy rants and book reviews without getting a journal there, you can add the syndication feed for the journal at limyaael_ij. TURNING IDEALISTIC CHARACTERS GRAY: LIMYAAEL Before I start, I just want to make it clear that, in this case, I’m not lumping all characters who have strong beliefs into the idealistic set. This rant deals, instead, with protagonists or secondaries who have both strong ideals and a lack of information about how they apply

to the pragmatic

PSA: THE LIST OF RANTS: LIMYAAEL If you want to find all the fantasy rants I've done, you can look in my memories or at Coyotecult's Handydandy Reference Index . If you want smaller numbers of rants at a time, I've also tagged them. (I'll be linking this post in my profile). By Posting Date fantasy rants:

winter 2003 fantasy

WRITING FANTASY ABOUT OPPRESSION: LIMYAAEL All right then. Frankly, this rant was difficult to write. Part of it is simply that I’m afraid I’ll leave something important out. The other part is that I’m white, middle-class, and American, and so I’m approaching a lot of this in theory, not in the experience of living with it. Given the time ON USING NON-WESTERN INFLUENCE IN FANTASY.: LIMYAAEL 1) RESEARCH. I don’t necessarily think people will neglect this one, but the sources of the research might be questionable. If all you’ve ever really read about South American native tribes are fictional books set in Peru before the Spanish Conquest, and you’ve only watched fictional movies, keep WRITING A PSYCHOTIC VIEWPOINT CHARACTER: LIMYAAEL Highly biased and personal, as always. I'm using "psychotic" here under the definition of 'a break from reality,' usually accompanied by symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, distorted perceptions or reactions to perfectly normal stimuli, and so on. That means that this is not advice geared ON MAKING NON-HUMAN LANGUAGES.: LIMYAAEL Sorry for the update so late in the day; I was enjoying my day off. :) I've already done a specific post on language, but mostly on things like not scattering apost'rophes in random places. This focuses on language construction, and some of the things you can do to make your language more non-human RANT ON D&D STEREOTYPES: LIMYAAEL As long promised and taking a long time to deliver: D&D stereotypes! Once again, as with Tolkien, it’s not really the fault of the people who created the games (though it might be the fault of the people who wrote novels that tie in with the games and adopt their rules unthinkingly). It comes of a RANT ON WHORES.: LIMYAAEL And courtesans, harlots, streetwalkers, ladies of negotiable virtue, and other various hangers-on. 1) First, the practical necessities. I’m going to assume that, if you intend to have whores as major characters or otherwise intimately involved in the story (yes, do ignore the pun), you won’t be

LIMYAAEL - PROFILE

PSA: This journal is no longer updated, due to my distrust of LiveJournal's arbitrary and self-contradictory postures towards user content.I've moved over to InsaneJournal and GreatestJournal under the same name. If you would like to continue to read the fantasy rants and book reviews without getting a journal there, you can add the syndication feed for the journal at limyaael_ij. WRITING FANTASY ABOUT OPPRESSION: LIMYAAEL All right then. Frankly, this rant was difficult to write. Part of it is simply that I’m afraid I’ll leave something important out. The other part is that I’m white, middle-class, and American, and so I’m approaching a lot of this in theory, not in the experience of living with it. Given the time FIRST TRY AT AN ORIGINAL FANTASY LITMUS TEST.: LIMYAAEL The idea's certainly been done before, but this is my version of a Mary Sue litmus test for original fantasy. I'm thinking here specifically of stories on Fictionpress , which seems to be haunted by characters of this type. But it could also be applied to original fantasy characters outside of KEEPING STATIC WORLDS PLAUSIBLE: LIMYAAEL On nonhumans living with their nonhuman attributes. Apologies that this is so late; I’ve had spotty Internet access for most of the last week and a half. LIMITATIONS ON MAGIC RANT: LIMYAAEL “If anything is possible, nothing is interesting.” I firmly believe that, and it’s the reason that I’m even bothering with this rant at all. While I don’t think every magical system needs 100 pages of breathlessly complicated rules that would make a Rosicrucian happy, I want limitations . Those are ON MAKING NON-HUMAN LANGUAGES.: LIMYAAEL Sorry for the update so late in the day; I was enjoying my day off. :) I've already done a specific post on language, but mostly on things like not scattering apost'rophes in random places. This focuses on language construction, and some of the things you can do to make your language more non-human ON THE HANDLING OF DISABLED CHARACTERS: LIMYAAEL I'm probably not covering everything here. These are issues that I've found useful to keep in mind when writing disabled characters of my own. 1) Know what the disability looks like even if you don't describe it to the reader immediately. Sometimes this is a simple matter of terminology. The author FEMINIST FANTASY RANT.: LIMYAAEL Quote of the Day: “Feminism is the radical opinion that women are people.” –Seen on a bumper sticker; I haven’t been able to find the original. Yes, people, and not the Masters of the Universe. Bits of this will concern feminist science fiction too, since a lot of the problems afflicting the two MY MOST HATED FANTASY IDEAS.: LIMYAAEL Yes, the genre wouldn't be what it is without them, but they are so easy to misuse. And I hate them. No trying to be objective about this. I'm still going to try to suggest fixes for the problems I see with these, but I wish they would go away far more than I wish that people

would just use them

RANT ON WHORES.: LIMYAAEL And courtesans, harlots, streetwalkers, ladies of negotiable virtue, and other various hangers-on. 1) First, the practical necessities. I’m going to assume that, if you intend to have whores as major characters or otherwise intimately involved in the story (yes, do ignore the pun), you won’t be

ARIN I ASOLDE

On possession, mind control, and hypnosis. This is a broad general topic, admittedly, but each one by itself would probably be too narrow for a rant. Thus, we’re doing it this way. (. Interesting, but not when they’re used as an escape clause.

LIMYAAEL - PROFILE

PSA: This journal is no longer updated, due to my distrust of LiveJournal's arbitrary and self-contradictory postures towards user content.I've moved over to InsaneJournal and GreatestJournal under the same name. If you would like to continue to read the fantasy rants and book reviews without getting a journal there, you can add the syndication feed for the journal at limyaael_ij. TURNING IDEALISTIC CHARACTERS GRAY: LIMYAAEL Before I start, I just want to make it clear that, in this case, I’m not lumping all characters who have strong beliefs into the idealistic set. This rant deals, instead, with protagonists or secondaries who have both strong ideals and a lack of information about how they apply

to the pragmatic

WRITING A PSYCHOTIC VIEWPOINT CHARACTER: LIMYAAELMOST PSYCHOTIC SONGSWHAT IS A PSYCHOTIC DISORDER Highly biased and personal, as always. I'm using "psychotic" here under the definition of 'a break from reality,' usually accompanied by symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, distorted perceptions or reactions to perfectly normal stimuli, and so on. That means that this is not advice geared ON ASSASSIN CHARACTERS: LIMYAAEL A bit late, but as promised, here’s the assassin rant. 1) Your character is not special or important just because she’s an assassin. This ties back to the special abilities rant, the characterization rants, and a lot of others on the protagonists. Fantasy authors seem to have the persistent idea PSA: THE LIST OF RANTS: LIMYAAEL If you want to find all the fantasy rants I've done, you can look in my memories or at Coyotecult's Handydandy Reference Index . If you want smaller numbers of rants at a time, I've also tagged them. (I'll be linking this post in my profile). By Posting Date fantasy rants:

winter 2003 fantasy

KEEPING STATIC WORLDS PLAUSIBLE: LIMYAAEL 3) Shed twentieth-century and twenty-first-century notions of how fast things should go. One thing that often seems to happen in fantasies is a notion of static worlds—“Nothing changes ever”—competing with a notion of rapid and sudden changes as the only ones that matter —“Everything changes overnight.”. The first is bothersome WHY ARE ELVES ALWAYS THIS WAY?: LIMYAAEL A few more lines from “Tristram of Lyonesse,” somewhat appropriate to the discussion today. She sought and drew the gold cup forth and smiled Marvelling, with such light wonder as a child That hears of glad sad life in magic lands; And bare it back to Tristram with pure

hands Holding the

RANT ON D&D STEREOTYPES: LIMYAAEL Rant on D&D stereotypes. As long promised and taking a long time to deliver: D&D stereotypes! Once again, as with Tolkien, it’s not really the fault of the people who created the games (though it might be the fault of the people who wrote novels that tie in with the games and adopt their rules unthinkingly). It comes of a lot of authors FANTASY OF EXCESS: RANT ON JORDAN AND GOODKIND: LIMYAAEL Well, a lot of people seemed awfully enthusiastic for a rant about Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind. Never let it be said that I would pass up a chance to explain, in detail, why I don’t like these authors wouldn't give people what they want. Note: I gave up on Jordan in the eighth book of his

ARIN I ASOLDE

On possession, mind control, and hypnosis. This is a broad general topic, admittedly, but each one by itself would probably be too narrow for a rant. Thus, we’re doing it this way. (. Interesting, but not when they’re used as an escape clause.

LIMYAAEL - PROFILE

PSA: This journal is no longer updated, due to my distrust of LiveJournal's arbitrary and self-contradictory postures towards user content.I've moved over to InsaneJournal and GreatestJournal under the same name. If you would like to continue to read the fantasy rants and book reviews without getting a journal there, you can add the syndication feed for the journal at limyaael_ij. TURNING IDEALISTIC CHARACTERS GRAY: LIMYAAEL Before I start, I just want to make it clear that, in this case, I’m not lumping all characters who have strong beliefs into the idealistic set. This rant deals, instead, with protagonists or secondaries who have both strong ideals and a lack of information about how they apply

to the pragmatic

WRITING A PSYCHOTIC VIEWPOINT CHARACTER: LIMYAAELMOST PSYCHOTIC SONGSWHAT IS A PSYCHOTIC DISORDER Highly biased and personal, as always. I'm using "psychotic" here under the definition of 'a break from reality,' usually accompanied by symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, distorted perceptions or reactions to perfectly normal stimuli, and so on. That means that this is not advice geared ON ASSASSIN CHARACTERS: LIMYAAEL A bit late, but as promised, here’s the assassin rant. 1) Your character is not special or important just because she’s an assassin. This ties back to the special abilities rant, the characterization rants, and a lot of others on the protagonists. Fantasy authors seem to have the persistent idea PSA: THE LIST OF RANTS: LIMYAAEL If you want to find all the fantasy rants I've done, you can look in my memories or at Coyotecult's Handydandy Reference Index . If you want smaller numbers of rants at a time, I've also tagged them. (I'll be linking this post in my profile). By Posting Date fantasy rants:

winter 2003 fantasy

KEEPING STATIC WORLDS PLAUSIBLE: LIMYAAEL 3) Shed twentieth-century and twenty-first-century notions of how fast things should go. One thing that often seems to happen in fantasies is a notion of static worlds—“Nothing changes ever”—competing with a notion of rapid and sudden changes as the only ones that matter —“Everything changes overnight.”. The first is bothersome WHY ARE ELVES ALWAYS THIS WAY?: LIMYAAEL A few more lines from “Tristram of Lyonesse,” somewhat appropriate to the discussion today. She sought and drew the gold cup forth and smiled Marvelling, with such light wonder as a child That hears of glad sad life in magic lands; And bare it back to Tristram with pure

hands Holding the

RANT ON D&D STEREOTYPES: LIMYAAEL Rant on D&D stereotypes. As long promised and taking a long time to deliver: D&D stereotypes! Once again, as with Tolkien, it’s not really the fault of the people who created the games (though it might be the fault of the people who wrote novels that tie in with the games and adopt their rules unthinkingly). It comes of a lot of authors FANTASY OF EXCESS: RANT ON JORDAN AND GOODKIND: LIMYAAEL Well, a lot of people seemed awfully enthusiastic for a rant about Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind. Never let it be said that I would pass up a chance to explain, in detail, why I don’t like these authors wouldn't give people what they want. Note: I gave up on Jordan in the eighth book of his KEEPING STATIC WORLDS PLAUSIBLE: LIMYAAEL 3) Shed twentieth-century and twenty-first-century notions of how fast things should go. One thing that often seems to happen in fantasies is a notion of static worlds—“Nothing changes ever”—competing with a notion of rapid and sudden changes as the only ones that matter —“Everything changes overnight.”. The first is bothersome WHY ARE ELVES ALWAYS THIS WAY?: LIMYAAEL A few more lines from “Tristram of Lyonesse,” somewhat appropriate to the discussion today. She sought and drew the gold cup forth and smiled Marvelling, with such light wonder as a child That hears of glad sad life in magic lands; And bare it back to Tristram with pure

hands Holding the

WRITING FANTASY ABOUT OPPRESSION: LIMYAAEL Writing fantasy about oppression. All right then. Frankly, this rant was difficult to write. Part of it is simply that I’m afraid I’ll leave something important out. The other part is that I’m white, middle-class, and American, and so I’m approaching a lot of this in theory, not in the experience of living with it. ON USING NON-WESTERN INFLUENCE IN FANTASY.: LIMYAAEL On using non-Western influence in fantasy. 1) RESEARCH. I don’t necessarily think people will neglect this one, but the sources of the research might be questionable. If all you’ve ever really read about South American native tribes are fictional books set in Peru before the Spanish Conquest, and you’ve only watched fictional movies, keep CHARACTERS WITH SYMPATHY: LIMYAAEL Note: This is not a rant on “sympathetic characters,” which tends to get parsed as “characters the reader will sympathize with.” This is about characters who have the faculty of sympathy themselves for other characters in the story, and letting them express it. 1) Remember that there are different RANT ON D&D STEREOTYPES: LIMYAAEL Rant on D&D stereotypes. As long promised and taking a long time to deliver: D&D stereotypes! Once again, as with Tolkien, it’s not really the fault of the people who created the games (though it might be the fault of the people who wrote novels that tie in with the games and adopt their rules unthinkingly). It comes of a lot of authors SEX IN FANTASY NOVELS.: LIMYAAEL Now that I have your attention Quote of the Day: "Although humans tend to view sex as mainly a fun recreational activity sometimes resulting in death, in nature it is a far more serious matter." -Dave Barry. 1) There's too much emphasis on virginity. This is usually female, as a

holdover from

ON THE HANDLING OF DISABLED CHARACTERS: LIMYAAEL On the handling of disabled characters. I'm probably not covering everything here. These are issues that I've found useful to keep in mind when writing disabled characters of my own. 1) Know what the disability looks like even if you don't describe it to the reader immediately. Sometimes this is a DESIGNATED LOVE INTEREST RANT: LIMYAAEL 2) The language rising towards purple is often a sign of the Designated Love Interest. The author may write in a pleasant style, a pedestrian one, or a laconic one. Either way, it often alters when the Designated Love Interest comes into the room, even if the author doesn’t specifically identify him or DISEASES OF THE COMMON FANFIC WRITER, V. 1.0: LIMYAAEL (crossposted to my journalfen) Arteesteflammaris: The conviction that one is not just a fanfic writer, one is An Arteest, and must be treated so. Common Symptoms: Author pulls a usual "temperamental artist" act, insisting that she will not write if certain conditions apply (such as someone asking her when the next chapter of a fanfic

will be out).

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ARIN I ASOLDE

> recent entries

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> friends

> My Mirror

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> previous 20 entries WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8TH, 2007 ------------------------- 11:49 AM - PSA: THIS JOURNAL WILL NO LONGER BE UPDATED. I'm not comfortable with LJ's customer service, and especially the way that they're handling their latest PR disaster.

The

part that bothers me most is near the end:

( READ MORE...

COLLAPSE

)

ETA: I've checked now, and only paid LJ users can add syndicated feeds of a journal. Since I don't want to give LJ any more of my money, this is a conflict of interest for me. If someone does want to set up an RSS feed of my InsaneJournal, that'd be great; tell me so I can point

others to it!

Thanks to the brilliant and lovely

TORTOISES

and

POINTYTILLY

, there is now an RSS feed of

the InsaneJournal.

LIMYAAEL_IJ

will display all future public entries, which includes all the rants. Friend it if you want the new entries to drop in on your f-list. NATURAL CHILD OF ETA: This feed displays _only_ public entries. If you would like to read friends-locked entries, please friend me on InsaneJournal; then you can read f-locked entries on the feed, as long as I add you back. If your username is not the same as your LJ one, please comment on one of the public posts to tell me who you are. THIRD CHILD OF THE SON OF ETA: Comments made to the feed will not show up in my journal. I will, though, check the feed regularly so that I

don't miss them.

GRANDSON ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE SHEETS OF ETA:

KUTSUWAMUSHI

is awesome and provides a link to familiarizing yourself with RSS feeds here. YET ANOTHER ETA, ITS FAMILY IS GETTING TIRED OF REPRODUCTION: I know some people are uncomfortable with IJ's layout, so the GreatestJournal will indeed be a backup of everything, including friends-locked posts. That won't happen until next week, but I can promise it'll happen. CURRENT MOOD: uncomfortable (129 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

THURSDAY, JULY 19TH, 2007 ------------------------- 10:51 AM - SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY HYBRIDS Once again, I want to define some terms. I’m talking here about books with the “equipment” of both fantasy and science fiction: elves and lasers, for example, or magic and anti-gravity. I wouldn’t consider it a hybrid if there were a few machines that resembled magical artifacts but were fully explainable by any scientific laws and in any case were just named after the magical artifacts to be cute, or if there’s magic that _seems_ like physics in disguise but turns out to be plain supernatural magic after all. And saying that a work can mingle the “attitudes” of fantasy and science fiction will just involve me in endless arguments, because you can always argue about what attitudes a book actually expresses. Equipment is the easiest standard to judge by, so I’m using it. ( SO WHY USE THEM AT ALL?

COLLAPSE

)

The next rant is apparently on “happy things about urban fantasy.” I’ll get to thinking of those right away. CURRENT MOOD: cheerful (72 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4TH, 2007 ------------------------- 4:49 PM - TURNING IDEALISTIC CHARACTERS GRAY Before I start, I just want to make it clear that, in this case, I’m not lumping all characters who have strong beliefs into the idealistic set. This rant deals, instead, with protagonists or secondaries who have both strong ideals and a lack of information about how they apply to the pragmatic world, or about their

consequences.

( SO THIS RANT IS ABOUT MOVING THEM TOWARDS SEEING THOSE APPLICATIONS, OR THOSE CONSEQUENCES

COLLAPSE

)

The next rant will be on fantasy-and-science-fiction hybrids. CURRENT MOOD: satisfied (50 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

SATURDAY, JUNE 30TH, 2007 ------------------------- 6:08 PM - SHOWING DIFFERENT CULTURAL VIEWPOINTS AS NOT 100% CORRECT Sorry for the very long delay. On the other hand, my written qualifying exams for my Ph.D. are done. ( SOME IDEAS ON CULTURE CLASHES

COLLAPSE

)

The next rant is slated to be on turning idealistic characters gray, and should be up in a few days. CURRENT MOOD: hopeful (72 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

TUESDAY, MAY 22ND, 2007 ------------------------- 9:12 PM - BOOK REVIEW POST FOR MAY (PART 1) So this is part one of a post logging the books I’ve read so far in May, because if I did all of them at once, this would be

_extremely_ long.

( JULIE PHILLIPS, JAMES TIPTREE JR.: THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ALICE B.

SHELDON COLLAPSE

)

( ROGER ZELAZNY, LORD OF LIGHT

COLLAPSE

)

( SUSANNA CLARKE, THE LADIES OF GRACE ADIEU AND OTHER STORIES

COLLAPSE

)

( MEREDITH ANN PIERCE, BIRTH OF THE FIREBRINGER

COLLAPSE

)

CURRENT MOOD: cheerful (42 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

SUNDAY, MAY 20TH, 2007 ------------------------- 9:46 PM - ON POSSESSION, MIND CONTROL, AND HYPNOSIS This is a broad general topic, admittedly, but each one by itself would probably be too narrow for a rant. Thus, we’re doing it this

way.

( INTERESTING, BUT NOT WHEN THEY’RE USED AS AN ESCAPE CLAUSE

COLLAPSE

)

And I suppose that, for now, that’s all I really have to say, since each point covers a lot of ground. CURRENT MOOD: cheerful (85 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

TUESDAY, MAY 15TH, 2007 ------------------------- 7:25 PM - ON NONHUMANS LIVING WITH THEIR NONHUMAN ATTRIBUTES Apologies that this is so late; I’ve had spotty Internet access for most of the last week and a half. ( SO, ON TO THE SUBJECT OF NONHUMAN ATTRIBUTES- WHETHER THOSE BE IMMORTALITY OR INFINITELY FLEXIBLE STOMACHS

COLLAPSE

)

More could be done with this, always. A story like James Tiptree Jr.’s ”Love is the Plan The Plan is Death doesn’t work for everyone and has not a human character in sight, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good story. CURRENT MOOD: cheerful (83 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

SUNDAY, MAY 6TH, 2007 ------------------------- 8:43 PM - RANT ON WHORES. And courtesans, harlots, streetwalkers, ladies of negotiable virtue, and other various hangers-on.

( HERE WE GO

COLLAPSE

)

I think fantasy could use more whore characters—_with_ their own

voices, thanks.

CURRENT MOOD: bitchy (97 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 2ND, 2007 ------------------------- 8:43 PM - CLASS/CASTE SYSTEMS So the little poll said, so shall it be.

( ABOUT BOTH KINDS

COLLAPSE

)

CURRENT MOOD: bouncy (79 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

MONDAY, APRIL 30TH, 2007 ------------------------- 2:29 PM - BOOKS I READ IN APRIL (Along with others, but these are the ones I had interesting

reactions to).

( GUY GAVRIEL KAY, YSABEL

COLLAPSE

)

( VIRGINIA WOOLF, A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN

COLLAPSE

)

( IAN MCDONALD, RIVER OF GODS

COLLAPSE

)

( URSULA K. LEGUIN, THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS

COLLAPSE

)

( CHERRÍE MORAGA AND GLORIA ANZALDÚA, THIS BRIDGE CALLED MY BACK

COLLAPSE

)

( C. S. LEWIS, THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER

COLLAPSE

)

( SUSANNA CLARKE, JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL

COLLAPSE

)

( URSULA K. LEGUIN, CHANGING PLANES

COLLAPSE

)

I have a whole pile of books and am not sure what I’ll begin with next. Maybe the biography of James Tiptree, Jr. Or Joanna Russ’s _The Female Man_. Or Roger Zelazny’s _Lord of Light_. CURRENT MOOD: cheerful (63 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

FRIDAY, APRIL 27TH, 2007 ------------------------- 8:05 PM - ATTITUDES TOWARDS KILLING AND VIOLENCE. Since this deals with _attitudes_, I won’t be addressing strategy and tactics here; it’s mostly about the social and cultural associations of battles, duels, and other methods of killing. Also, it has few separate points; most of the ideas I wanted to present are gathered together under general ones. ( YOU CAN’T SWING THAT SWORD THAT WAY

COLLAPSE

)

Class/caste systems is next, according to the poll. CURRENT MOOD: contemplative (84 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

FRIDAY, APRIL 20TH, 2007 ------------------------- 6:23 PM - ON USING NON-WESTERN INFLUENCE IN FANTASY.

( SO HERE WE ARE

COLLAPSE

)

And so far, it looks like attitudes towards killing and violence is

next.

CURRENT MOOD: cheerful (118 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

MONDAY, APRIL 16TH, 2007 -------------------------

11:03 PM - POLL

There are two questions here, but that's just because one question can only include 15 options; the rants that are most popular will come first no matter which question they're listed on. I tried to respond to people in the suggestion post itself when I didn't think I had enough knowledge to talk about a subject or when the suggestion fit a rant I've already done, so if this poll is missing your suggestion and you didn't get a reply, try checking the thread you posted in on the last entry. Thank you to everyone who made suggestions.

( POLL! COLLAPSE

)

CURRENT MOOD: sleepy (75 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

9:03 AM - SUGGESTION POST I've been trying to come up with new ideas for rants so I could do a poll, but unfortunately my brain seems to run best on prompts at the moment. If you'd like to see a particular rant, go ahead and suggest it here, and it'll probably make it into the poll. (Feel free to second/third/etc. someone else's idea that you like). I may not do rants just because I don't feel I have enough knowledge in the area. I may also not do them because I've covered the subject before. If you want to know whether it's been ranted about, here's the list of all of them.

Suggest away!

CURRENT MOOD: energetic (135 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

12:05 AM - CHARACTERIZING ANIMALS This is meant to apply as broadly as possible—to normal animals, telcoms (telepathic companions),

shapeshifters, and

author-created fantasy animals. Some of it does assume that you’re writing from the animal’s point-of-view, but it could also be useful for describing them from the outside.

( SO HERE WE GO

COLLAPSE

)

CURRENT MOOD: bouncy (84 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11TH, 2007 ------------------------- 11:05 PM - WRITING FANTASY ABOUT OPPRESSION

All right then.

Frankly, this rant was difficult to write. Part of it is simply that I’m afraid I’ll leave something important out. The other part is that I’m white, middle-class, and American, and so I’m approaching a lot of this in theory, not in the experience of living with it. Given the time period I live in, I don’t even have to deal with some things that would have been _de rigeur_ for an American white, middle-class woman a few decades ago. So, if you see something in the rant you think is biased, ill-chosen, wrongly-worded, or offensive, PLEASE CORRECT ME. The nice thing about using an LJ post as a format for this rant is that I can clearly show the correction of mistakes by

strikeouts.

( SO HERE WE GO

COLLAPSE

)

All right. After all, I am hardly immune from criticism, either. Tell me what you think.

CURRENT MOOD: happy

(175 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

TUESDAY, APRIL 10TH, 2007 ------------------------- 8:19 PM - PSA: THE LIST OF RANTS If you want to find _all_ the fantasy rants I've done, you can

look in my memories

or at Coyotecult's Handydandy Reference Index

.

If you want smaller numbers of rants at a time, I've also tagged them. (I'll be linking this post in my profile).

( RANT TAGS BELOW

COLLAPSE

)

And now, it will be a much simpler process just to tag and memory them

as I write them.

Looking through the older rants was...an experience. I would no longer state some of the things I said then in the exact same way, and some rants overlap. But, in the interests of leaving in various wordings that might aid someone more than a more recent rant, I won't be revising them. According to the memories count, there are 372 of the damn things, and if I started revising them, I'd never write a new

one.

CURRENT MOOD: phew

(40 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

SATURDAY, APRIL 7TH, 2007 ------------------------- 9:36 PM - MOMENTS WHEN THE PROTAGONIST AWES OTHER CHARACTERS, CURING THE ADDICTION TO As threatened promised hinted at. ( SURE, SOMETIMES IT’S COOL, BUT THE PROBLEM IS THE FREQUENCY

COLLAPSE

)

The next one might be on oppression, though the Invisible Pink Unicorn knows it’s a rant I’m wary of writing.

CURRENT MOOD: hyper

(121 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

SUNDAY, APRIL 1ST, 2007 ------------------------- 9:08 PM - MENTOR RANT A few people have asked for a rant on mentors, so here it is. ( HOW TO KEEP YOUR TEACHER FROM BECOMING A PALE IMITATION OF GANDALF

COLLAPSE

)

No idea what will be next, yet. CURRENT MOOD: bouncy (77 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

SATURDAY, MARCH 24TH, 2007 ------------------------- 5:10 PM - NON-VILLAIN RANT

Both DIGORACCOON

and

MARUMAE

asked for a rant like this. And, after all, there’s no reason that you need to assume a villain in order to have a story. Mainstream fiction and many “classic” novels get away quite handily with having no villain, or only one truly despicable character in a populated world where many other shades of morality exist. The only thing I _do_ assume for this rant is that your non-villain is a fairly important character, and therefore you’ll be thinking about how his or her activities matter to the story as a whole; obviously, if they appear onstage in only one scene, your concerns in developing them will be different. ( BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL

COLLAPSE

)

The next rant will probably be on ways to focus and tighten stories. CURRENT MOOD: bitchy (56 startled dragons |

Sing to the dragons

)

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