I'm Not a Villainess!! Just Because I Can Control Darkness, Doesn't Mean I'm a Villain
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the last book i read was Sharpe, if any reason im transported to that world, im pretty much fucked.
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ah, I now realize the different between Shounen and Shoujo. In shounen, the rival/enemy have a higher chance to become friend/companion with the MC, while in shoujo the rival/enemy almost always end up killed/exiled/jailed etc... woman are scary...
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@kwendy - most isekais I've read didn't have confusing extra details. Maybe it's because I'm too clever to get confused by the author giving the setting a little bit of personal touch.
No, a work of fantasy does not magically become better if the MC is a local. Only snobs who hate isekai for no reason think it does.
I have to agree Japanese authors have trouble finishing their works, and tend to write them until they've ran out of mana, but this applies far beyond just isekai fantasy.
No, a work of fantasy does not magically become better if the MC is a local. Only snobs who hate isekai for no reason think it does.
I have to agree Japanese authors have trouble finishing their works, and tend to write them until they've ran out of mana, but this applies far beyond just isekai fantasy.
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@flannan you don't need to be confused for details to be confusing. Speaking of wich, it's also funny when authors plug plotholes with all this "crappy otome" setting yet trying to add some kind of realistic concept, destroying alredy shaking suspension of disbelief.
Should I explain every minute thing? Changing isekai to high fantasy does not do magic, it just helps avoid common genre problems. Suspension of disbelief is one of them, by the way. Other then that, it helps avoid lazy writing where instead of developing world and characters everuthing presented as game mechanics wich is marginally less interesting. It also helps correcting "secondary" nature of written work, when reader supposed to know every setting of isekai to be into the series. Authors should at least try to improve their expesition skills instead of adding "required reading" to supposedely standalone work. And my personal dislike among this all is - and that what I have suggested in the first place - isekai setting often isn't needed. People don't need to write things that are useless, add nothing to the story, have no value for the work in general and frankly can possibly damage the storytelling if give in to temptation of lazy writing. If you writing isekai - at least make it useful for something. Other then black hair and eyes empowerment, of course.
And no, while a lot of works undergo seasonal rot, in isekai in particular it comes the moment driving point of the story is getting stale or being negated. For precise reason of isekai saturation. With isekai differentiating with one or two peculiarities, the moment this peculiarity gets boring so is whole story.
Also: ha, nice joke! Speaking of snobs while calling yourself too clever in the previous statement is a good one.
Should I explain every minute thing? Changing isekai to high fantasy does not do magic, it just helps avoid common genre problems. Suspension of disbelief is one of them, by the way. Other then that, it helps avoid lazy writing where instead of developing world and characters everuthing presented as game mechanics wich is marginally less interesting. It also helps correcting "secondary" nature of written work, when reader supposed to know every setting of isekai to be into the series. Authors should at least try to improve their expesition skills instead of adding "required reading" to supposedely standalone work. And my personal dislike among this all is - and that what I have suggested in the first place - isekai setting often isn't needed. People don't need to write things that are useless, add nothing to the story, have no value for the work in general and frankly can possibly damage the storytelling if give in to temptation of lazy writing. If you writing isekai - at least make it useful for something. Other then black hair and eyes empowerment, of course.
And no, while a lot of works undergo seasonal rot, in isekai in particular it comes the moment driving point of the story is getting stale or being negated. For precise reason of isekai saturation. With isekai differentiating with one or two peculiarities, the moment this peculiarity gets boring so is whole story.
Also: ha, nice joke! Speaking of snobs while calling yourself too clever in the previous statement is a good one.
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@kwendy - I think if you can suspend your disbelief enough to accept "became a character in an otome game" concept, accepting that this setting is only similar to the otome game on the surface doesn't require extra disbelief. Maybe it's because I had to suffer through such works as "The Last Ringbearer" that I am used to such subversions related to the author getting his hands on another author's work, but not sharing his morality and beliefs.
Avoiding isekai only allows one to avoid problems if the writer's skill is high enough. Most people who write these works on Sousetsuka don't have experience or confidence in their skills. Often they don't even have a plan. And if their works turn out to be interesting anyway (and interesting enough to be translated), that means they are good for some other reason, related to the real reason we read fantasy.
Exposition skills? Save me from the exposition skills. Tolkien had godly exposition skills, and when he wrote a chapter "On Hobbits" they were in full display. I don't want this again. Keep it brief, especially if there is nothing worth knowing.
Also: I have a good opinion of myself, and enjoy clever works like Maoyuu or Occultic;Nine, but I don't deny myself sillier and less fashionable kinds of entertainment like ecchi comedies.
Avoiding isekai only allows one to avoid problems if the writer's skill is high enough. Most people who write these works on Sousetsuka don't have experience or confidence in their skills. Often they don't even have a plan. And if their works turn out to be interesting anyway (and interesting enough to be translated), that means they are good for some other reason, related to the real reason we read fantasy.
Exposition skills? Save me from the exposition skills. Tolkien had godly exposition skills, and when he wrote a chapter "On Hobbits" they were in full display. I don't want this again. Keep it brief, especially if there is nothing worth knowing.
Also: I have a good opinion of myself, and enjoy clever works like Maoyuu or Occultic;Nine, but I don't deny myself sillier and less fashionable kinds of entertainment like ecchi comedies.
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A few of these stories would be refreshing--an interesting conceit, a bit of almost fourth wall breaking, having a little fun with the culture shock or bringing in real-world innovations. That can be interesting a few times. But it's a very narrow sub-genre. And the way it's done in manga/LN generally makes it an even narrower one; there are lots of things that might be done with the basic schtick which are not done; instead they stick to one or two basic narratives. With the huge numbers of them, they end up reaching for ever more baroque and/or trivial variations on it, many of which are only remotely interesting if you've already read a ton of these things so you're deeply acclimatized to whichever stale cliche the story is putting the twist on.
It's very artificial. What would be perfectly reasonable as a minor sub-genre becomes totally stupid when a risk-averse-publisher fashion pile-on turns it into the main event and leaves everyone scrambling for variations within the very narrow allowable frame.
I might read this though. Someone was saying it's pretty old . . . it's often interesting to see the things that made the cliches; even if it's the same cliches you don't think much of when imitators of imitators of imitators are doing it, there's a freshness about them when it's an early example before they got bludgeoned to death.
It's very artificial. What would be perfectly reasonable as a minor sub-genre becomes totally stupid when a risk-averse-publisher fashion pile-on turns it into the main event and leaves everyone scrambling for variations within the very narrow allowable frame.
I might read this though. Someone was saying it's pretty old . . . it's often interesting to see the things that made the cliches; even if it's the same cliches you don't think much of when imitators of imitators of imitators are doing it, there's a freshness about them when it's an early example before they got bludgeoned to death.
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@flannan I would never criticize someone for what they read and enjoy. That's entirely subjective, and opinions are just that. However, I will ABSOLUTELY criticize authors that think, "My series is the exact same as the 50 I'm copying, but THIS time the lead guy is bitter about life," is good writing. Or even writing. They're doing the literary equivalent of starting a new character in an RPG and claiming it's a brand new game.
Special shoutouts to the series that go so far as to have grindable numerical stats that mean the lead guy never has to think critically, he just has to grind more. It's like reading about someone's Runescape skill leveling adventures. I followed Re:Monster like a moron for about 30 chapters before I realized that the comic spent literally over a year of serialization on the main character leveling up and making no real plot advancements. The closest he got to changing the status quo was enslaving some elf women.
I should clarify that based on just the first chapter, I don't actually think this specific comic is doing this, it just so happened to be the chapter I read when I finally had to say something. That might change with chapter 2, I don't know. Most LNs have trash tier writing and I don't bother, although I'm not sure if it's because the author is bad or because the translators refuse to sub in occasional synonyms on the few I tried.
Special shoutouts to the series that go so far as to have grindable numerical stats that mean the lead guy never has to think critically, he just has to grind more. It's like reading about someone's Runescape skill leveling adventures. I followed Re:Monster like a moron for about 30 chapters before I realized that the comic spent literally over a year of serialization on the main character leveling up and making no real plot advancements. The closest he got to changing the status quo was enslaving some elf women.
I should clarify that based on just the first chapter, I don't actually think this specific comic is doing this, it just so happened to be the chapter I read when I finally had to say something. That might change with chapter 2, I don't know. Most LNs have trash tier writing and I don't bother, although I'm not sure if it's because the author is bad or because the translators refuse to sub in occasional synonyms on the few I tried.
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Well, the first chapter was not bad, and it seems like it will be a good story.
She's a nice girl, who is haunted by a malicious spirit who want to spread chaos ?
Anyways, the novel is short, so we should be able to see the entire story with the manga, thanks god it will not be a AD for the novel.
She's a nice girl, who is haunted by a malicious spirit who want to spread chaos ?
Anyways, the novel is short, so we should be able to see the entire story with the manga, thanks god it will not be a AD for the novel.
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@flannan Suspension of disbelief is generally supported by internal logic, and if author can't decide if he should explain plothole or leave it as "design choice", that can break internal logic and disturb said suspension.
-> only half true. To strain your imagination would help improve end result more then to not strain and go with easier path of even just go with trends for the sake of going with trends.
-> who said you ought to be wordy? In the first place, showing off your descriptiveness and having ability to explain stuff needed to explain are not entirely synonimus. One can help another, but you can be laconic as long as you can relay reader what he needs no know. That is useful skill regardless of the stage of production work is on.
Also: not the point, but whatever.
-> only half true. To strain your imagination would help improve end result more then to not strain and go with easier path of even just go with trends for the sake of going with trends.
-> who said you ought to be wordy? In the first place, showing off your descriptiveness and having ability to explain stuff needed to explain are not entirely synonimus. One can help another, but you can be laconic as long as you can relay reader what he needs no know. That is useful skill regardless of the stage of production work is on.
Also: not the point, but whatever.
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I love this novel! I'm so happy it got a manga adaptation! 
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@Zeonll
Nope. this one is more 'angsty' instead of lighthearted romcom gag. I didn't read that far ahead though since there arent that many translated chapters.
____
On an unrelated note, I got this notification that sends me to nowhere... whats with that?
Nope. this one is more 'angsty' instead of lighthearted romcom gag. I didn't read that far ahead though since there arent that many translated chapters.
____
On an unrelated note, I got this notification that sends me to nowhere... whats with that?
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@ShdoopDoop - on the other hand, I do think that writing a story with the same setting but a different protagonist is a creative endeavor. If changing the protagonist changes nothing, he/she wasn't really a protagonist. There is a famous example in Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.
And just because you can level up your stats, doesn't mean you don't have to think. After all, your opponents can have impressive stats too, even if they don't have a growth cheat.
@kwendy - due to excessive participation in SAO-related discussions, I tend to assume anybody who uses the term "plot hole" doesn't know what he's talking about.
Strain? Easier path? You do understand these people write as a hobby, right? Hobbies should be enjoyable, and it's important not to bite off more than you can chew. There are enough works where the author doesn't have the skill to make his plans work as it is.
If you aren't planning to be wordy, might as well be honest and say that those "Altmer" in your setting are just your run-of-the-mill High Elves. Assuming your audience hasn't seen elves a thousand times already is only reasonable in children's literature nowadays.
And just because you can level up your stats, doesn't mean you don't have to think. After all, your opponents can have impressive stats too, even if they don't have a growth cheat.
@kwendy - due to excessive participation in SAO-related discussions, I tend to assume anybody who uses the term "plot hole" doesn't know what he's talking about.
Strain? Easier path? You do understand these people write as a hobby, right? Hobbies should be enjoyable, and it's important not to bite off more than you can chew. There are enough works where the author doesn't have the skill to make his plans work as it is.
If you aren't planning to be wordy, might as well be honest and say that those "Altmer" in your setting are just your run-of-the-mill High Elves. Assuming your audience hasn't seen elves a thousand times already is only reasonable in children's literature nowadays.
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@flannan Do bad thing stop being bad because they were done by amateurs?
Elves aside, if you write something that requires some extra reading - you might as well publish it as a fanfiction. You still need to explain your "elves" anyway, because there is no real golden standart of, well, any fantasy element, really.
Elves aside, if you write something that requires some extra reading - you might as well publish it as a fanfiction. You still need to explain your "elves" anyway, because there is no real golden standart of, well, any fantasy element, really.
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@kwendy - the things you're talking about aren't bad. You are just pushing your unrealistic expectations of technical perfection onto the author.
If you don't want to read amateurish writing, don't read it. Nobody is forcing you to do so. Personally, I like reading such things, because I feel they are more personal.
If you don't want to read amateurish writing, don't read it. Nobody is forcing you to do so. Personally, I like reading such things, because I feel they are more personal.
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