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thought I'd re-introduce myself

Avara

Dreamer
I've been a member here for a long time but have been inactive for a while. I'm trying to get more into writing now and thought it would be a good time to get back into the discussions here and thought I'd re-introduce myself as a result. My username is Avara, I'm also known as Mars and I have been interested in writing fantasy since the 7th grade when my English teacher had us do a project where we wrote our own children's book.

I was inevitable that I would get into fantasy as my genre of choice since I grew up on Power Rangers, DragonBall Z, Digimon, Legend of Zelda, Banjo Kazooie, and Ronin Warriors. My favorite fantasy stories are character focused ones that take place in other worlds with interesting mythologies to explore and just seeing how people live. I'm not much on "chosen ones" or urban fantasy.

I've recently started up my own blog where I publish articles talking about diverse fantasy books and post articles and rants about other things in the fantasy genre. I'm also working on building my own super hero universe to tell stories in that I hope to start posting up soon.

Well if you have any questions for me feel free to ask. I'm also happy to just chat and I look forward to seeing you all around the forums.
 

Legendary Sidekick

The HAM'ster
Moderator
While I enjoyed reading GRRM's books, I liked your Game of Thrones article and appreciate your want for optimism in fantasy.

It was especially interesting for me to read this today, as during an afternoon bike ride, I contemplated my current WIP—a comic. I considered how much of my writing contains things like the F-word and nudity, and should I just not ever go there in the comic?

It seems there are lines you cross, and once you cross those lines, you're expected to cross them all the time. I want to be able to work on pages even if my daughters walk in on me. (I'd rather they not see the occasional bloody death, but I'm not cutting everything.)

I think the grimdark influence makes a lot of writers think, "It's not a story if I don't have [insert checklist of most abhorrent things people can do to other people]." My heroines are not grey characters, so hopefully I can have a demon-infested setting and not give readers that feeling of hopelessness.

I would love to get you started on Hunger Games, but if you'd rather not, I'll end my post on a more uplifting note: Welcome Back!
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
Hail and well re-met Avara
I'm not of a fan of the Superhero, but rather people that do superhuman things. For me it is all about seeing what you can do and seeing what you can achieve.
But I do like it when the "chosen one" has no idea what to do and everyone stares at them for the answer... You've got the big sword [other symbols of chosenness are available], You go and fix it...
Good to have you back.
Enjoy!
 

Avara

Dreamer
While I enjoyed reading GRRM's books, I liked your Game of Thrones article and appreciate your want for optimism in fantasy.
Thanks. I will say, and I forget if I mentioned this in the article, that a lot of my personal preference for optimism does come from the fact that I have depression and look to fantasy as a form of escapism. So when something in a story brings me down and is meant to invoke an atmosphere of despair it brings me down hard and it can be very difficult for me to pull myself out.
It was especially interesting for me to read this today, as during an afternoon bike ride, I contemplated my current WIP–a comic. I considered how much of my writing contains things like the F-word and nudity, and should I just not ever go there in the comic?
I actually don't have a problem with those things being present if there is a point and purpose behind it that fits the story, place, and theme one is going for. It is certainly possible to have those things present and still maintain an atmosphere of hope, however small that hope may be. GRRM's problems go way beyond swearing and nudity, imho

It seems there are lines you cross, and once you cross those lines, you're expected to cross them all the time. I want to be able to work on pages even if my daughters walk in on me. (I'd rather they not see the occasional bloody death, but I'm not cutting everything.)

I kinda get the sense that's what happened with Game of Thrones. GRRM started in such a dark place at the beginning that he had to keep "upping the ante". It got to the point where I became numb to the suffering of the characters and then just stopped caring, because there was just so much and it never really let up. I basically felt like, what was the point of me caring about these characters when they seem to only exist to suffer

I think the grimdark influence makes a lot of writers think, "It's not a story if I don't have [insert checklist of most abhorrent things people can do to other people]."
and that's my primary issue with it in truth. The hopeless air is depressing for me personally and not what I care for, but that would be fine if it only meant I needed to avoid grimdark fantasy. The thing is these elements seem to infect almost every fantasy book I come across because people have this notion that if it's not dark then it's not mature and can't be taken seriously which is just BS in my mind.

My heroines are not grey characters, so hopefully I can have a demon-infested setting and not give readers that feeling of hopelessness.
Oh I definitely think that is possible. I also don't have a problem with morally grey characters so long as they are relateable. I need to be able to understand their motivations and where they're coming from and if they are the protagonist there has to be something there that makes me care about their struggle and want them to succeed even if I disagree with their methods. When it comes to avoiding hopelessness I think that comes from making sure you inject moments of humor and light heartedness. You can have a story that takes place only in the trenches of war still have a since of hope just through dialogue between characters, talking about going home or the loved one's they have, or things that remind us of what they are fighting for. small victories, that sort of thing. A lot of it is also in the attitude of the characters themselves. They need moments of laughter and happiness in even the darkest of times. Game of Thrones rarely has such moments and when they do happen they are quickly squashed

I would love to get you started on Hunger Games,
heheh, that would involve a lot of yelling and screaming and probably a few broken keyboards as I furiously type out my rage. Though a friend of mine actually gave me the idea of doing a video overview. I'll either go that route or have an article series where I talk about it. I'm sure I could get into a debate about but I'm to tired to start that now. My feelings in brief basically have to do with the fact that I was ready to name it my favorite series of all time and the first book was the most I had enjoyed a novel in a long while. Then I read the third book and all of my love for the series was crushed, slashed, and burned.

but if you'd rather not, I'll end my post on a more uplifting note: Welcome Back!

d'awe thanks, that was sweet:)
 

Avara

Dreamer
Hail and well re-met Avara
I'm not of a fan of the Superhero, but rather people that do superhuman things. For me it is all about seeing what you can do and seeing what you can achieve.
But I do like it when the "chosen one" has no idea what to do and everyone stares at them for the answer... You've got the big sword [other symbols of chosenness are available], You go and fix it...
Good to have you back.
Enjoy!

Thanks

I can definitley understand the preference for superhuman things. I actually don't read superhero comics a whole lot as most of them are too dark and have continuities that are too convoluted for my tastes, but I love the idea of superheroes and what they can do, hence why I'm creating my own series.

As for the chosen one thing I actually have a fantasy series I'm working on where the MC is believed to be a reincarnation of some great hero and leader by her people and as a result she gets pushed down this path by pressure from them and a strong sense of duty. But the truth is, she's just a person. She's no chosen one or reincarnation and she spends most of the series trying to find a way to break away from that concept and be herself while still being able to help her people in the upcoming wars. Basically my own more "realistic" take on the chosen one idea, cause I love taking old tropes and cliches and turning them on their heads.
 

Legendary Sidekick

The HAM'ster
Moderator
I actually don't have a problem with those things being present if there is a point and purpose behind it that fits the story, place, and theme one is going for. It is certainly possible to have those things present and still maintain an atmosphere of hope, however small that hope may be. GRRM's problems go way beyond swearing and nudity, imho
Yeah… I wouldn't go beyond swearing and nudity. There are waaaaay too many comics out there written by guys, starring red-haired lesbians, that scream "Dude, this is me if I was a chick!" You saw my diversity sticky, so that lesbian reader saying she wished she could be like my character—that actually happened. She also appreciated that I wasn't treating the lesbian character differently than I would a straight character. That is, if I'm writing an adventure, not a romance, I don't need (or even want) to include sex—it's about a hero who kills monsters. Addison (crazy girl with axe in my avatar) is treated no differently.

I don't think I'd debate you on Hunger Games. I posted my impression of the first film last month. The only thing I could add to that is: I didn't like Peeta, so him surviving didn't really do much for me. Him marrying the MC does even less for me, so I didn't bother with the books or the other films. If you ever post your impression of the series, in whatever form, I'm interested to read it. (…or watch it!)
 

Avara

Dreamer
Yeah… I wouldn't go beyond swearing and nudity. There are waaaaay too many comics out there written by guys, starring red-haired lesbians, that scream "Dude, this is me if I was a chick!" You saw my diversity sticky, so that lesbian reader saying she wished she could be like my character—that actually happened. She also appreciated that I wasn't treating the lesbian character differently than I would a straight character. That is, if I'm writing an adventure, not a romance, I don't need (or even want) to include sex—it's about a hero who kills monsters. Addison (crazy girl with axe in my avatar) is treated no differently.
that is awesome and as it should be

I don't think I'd debate you on Hunger Games. I posted my impression of the first film last month. The only thing I could add to that is: I didn't like Peeta, so him surviving didn't really do much for me. Him marrying the MC does even less for me, so I didn't bother with the books or the other films. If you ever post your impression of the series, in whatever form, I'm interested to read it. (…or watch it!)

Interesting points, it never even occurred to me to see Katniss as a convenient hero but now that you mention it it makes a great deal of sense. All the difficult choices were taken out of her hands, so she didn't really face any true moral conflict.
 
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