I just want to put this out there. It needs to be said.
I discovered TTSBC when it had about 70-80 works, and have reread the entire series multiple times. I just think it needs to be put into words some of the amazing things about this world. So, Iām gonna put up a list and explain some things Iāve noticed when reading.
Getting culture into a world is incredibly difficult, and something I give props to you for placing it in so flawlessly. The Overcity is very similar to the real world in culture, but itās the Undercityās culture that peaked my interest. One big example is courting rituals. When Grian is suffering from Scarās love, the reader learns about avianās courting rituals as Grian experiences it and why some are more important.
Another one though, and my favorite, is the word pretty. Pretty is not a good word in the Undercity (specifically the depths). Jimmy and Grian hate how pretty they are, because being pretty makes you a target. You made a complimentary word a bad thing Amethyst. Something that people say all the time in kindness, into something that feels like a curse. THATāS KINDA COOL.
Not to mention all the tinier things mentioned throughout. Such as music (mentioned in Snickerdoodle from Grian). Itās all so calmly explained and mentioned. Itās treated like itās normal because it is. Courting rituals are just as normal as giving someone flowers.
I absolutely adore foreshadowing. The feeling of when you notice something so small was actually so big is CRAZY. And I absolutely love (intentional or not) some subtle foreshadowing done for Sabbie and āNet (which is mostly what Iāll be talking about.)
In the context of āNet and Grian (as I never really found any connections to Pearl), there were so many subtle ones. Like, so many. It is heavily implied that Grian is amazing with glamour. From the START. Pearl and Jimmy constantly say that Grian is good enough at his glamour to even do the Cuteguy shenanigans he does. And they are not.
I also constantly think of Fwhip and Pixās first interaction and its relation to the events of āSliver of Chanceā. When Pix chases Fwhip, he recognizes Fwhip going invisible. Pix also makes a note to say how impressive that is. ā¦ EH!? This person who was born and raised in the undercity finds being invisible impressive. However, for Grian, itās easy. He flew off and went invisible, and later in āSnickerdoodlesā, when he get a chance to see his panic, he doesnāt care. He removes the glamour, and then stops thinking about it. He isnāt tired from flying with double stacked glamour (as Iām pretty sure he removed the invisibility and THEN the CG stuff, but I could be wrong there). Finally, he kills creepers in one hit. Consistently. While we never see anyone from the undercity actually kill any monsters, we do have Dogwarts. Do they use glamour? Nah, they use big āolā knives.
Who else is really really good at glamour and can kill in one shot?
And thatās JUST between Grian and his relations to āNet. Thatās not including when the allays had first attacked their home and sent the birds out. (Also āNet saying he was hit by a roof was incredibly clear proof from a readerās perspective, but means absolutely nothing to anyone else. Love that!!)
The structure of TTSBC (and TT) is perfect. For the purposes of including every main character, making it friendly to new readers, and a balance of crazy vs fun, itās perfect. The fact that everything is put into its own little box makes it incredibly malleable for any use.
For you, you can do challenges (as you have) that both are fun to make and add to the story. You can go at any speed and donāt have the restrictions of chapters (such as word count goals per chapter which many authors do). You can also write at any point and move it wherever it needs to go without a lot of stress for spoiling.
Itās also incredibly welcoming to new players. Thereās often a sort of small description of past events, which means that new readers donāt need to go through the 100+ (congrats on that btw, still an incredible achievement) works to find the ones they want. However, they can then go through them and keep reading the characters that they want.
That leads me to the next thingāreaders can read what or who they want when they want. Nobody is forced or pressured into reading any POV except ones they want to (other than, yk, the main characters lol). I personally avoided the ones containing Iskall and the empires crew because the guy got cancelled and I didnāt know them respectfully. I would have been able to go the entire story without really worrying about them. However, when I did read them, omg did I love it. I loved the hint of how the Director lived, and honestly the empires fam was just great to read. But they arenāt needed. That is what makes this so amazing, this series can give quite literally everyone what they wanted in some shape or form (except nature wives /j/j).
I say this with my entire heart, TTSBC and TT are constants that I will reread over and over again. Your writing is absolutely beautiful. Always have fun writing, never ever feel pressured, and never feel the need to apologize for making us wait for a chapter. We have plenty to reread and go āOHHHH THAT MEANT SOMETHING ELSE!!ā
But also, you helped me personally. I had started creating covers to grow as an artist in the variables I sucked at (aka humans and backgrounds lol). Before, I could hardly draw a human I was proud of. Now? Now Iām drawing dresses and braids. BRAIDS!! Now my humans look less chibi, now the colors look less drab. Now, I have a folder in my Porcreate app full of artworks centered around this beautiful world, and showing just how much Iāve grown personally.
So, with all that said, thank you Amethyst. Never ever stop doing what you love.
Oh wow, this is so incredibly kind! Thank you so much! I'm really proud of how I've set up both TTSBC and TT, it was years worth of experimenting with my writing style and how I worked best before I landed on it. I tried my best to put as much thought as I could into the culture, the characters, the set up...I never necessarily planned for it to get as huge as it did, but as it continued to grow I did my best to make it feel approachable and like a whole world that could be played in! And I'm so happy it's helped you too!!! I'm always the most honored and pleased to hear when people are inspired to create my something I created, it's the absolute best feedback loop in the world!
I've said this before in other places, but I absolutely cannot draw, so I find the way that TTSBC and TT have inspired art from others to be so magical and amazing!! So thank you thank you for sharing the covers you do for the series, they're so cool!
I'm gonna do my best to keep it up! ^-^ You keep creating what makes you happy too!!!
