this blog is a wip!

Nothing is sexier than the DUNE books asking you to understand crazy sci-fi jargon in the first paragraph, like bene gesserit, muad'dib, mentat, arakkis, melange, and quizat haderach and then after reading all of that shit that makes no fucking sense, you meet our main character: Paul.

WINE DARK SEA! WINE DARK SEA!!!

“maybe the curtains are blue because the author just liked the color blue” set human critical thinking skills decades back

i would rather die than think critically about some bullshit "metaphor" just say what you fucking mean don't be a little pussy who has to hide their words

I think everything needs less plot and more kitchen/laundromat/etc scenes

do you ever see a character arc carried out so beautifully and with so much care that you just know it will be with you forever. where the author(s) that wrote it put so much heart and soul into their work that it’s clear in every facet of the character’s being. it’s so rare for an arc to truly do a character justice that when one does—in whatever form that takes, be it a happy ending or otherwise—it hits deep and takes hold. i like to think that i’ll remember the moments of clarity and love those arcs have given me for a very long while.

this. this

#AGREED#tropes are just vague patterns that exist in the literary world#fuck dude!! adolin kholin from stormlight archive#and prince rhy from a darker shade of magic fall into similar tropes#but are they the same character??? NO!!#anyways tropes take the barest of bones and give them a name#but what we see is the skin and muscle and mind of the work#so dont worry about the skeleton @magic-is-something-we-create

I’m sorry, but what is the point of this list? Is it to point out tropes in fantasy? If so, congratulations, you’ve done it. But if it’s to make a point tropes you have problems with, specifically, (as seems to be implied by your title), then I need to make some points.  I will agree that some of these cliches are genuinely problematic, such as r*pe for the sake of drama, or real writing issues, such as infodumps. However, some of these are ridiculous. For example, #74 on this list is “wizards”. That’s it. Just wizards. Are you talking about Gandalf? Rincewind? Ged? Septimus Heap? What, exactly, is the issue here? Is the word wizard? Why? Is it people having magic at all? Again– why? And given the fact that kingdoms (#36), rebellious princesses (#73), and hero uses a sword (#58) are also on this list, and are all staples of the genre….it really just sounds like fantasy is not your thing. And that’s fine! But frankly, I find it kind of silly to complain about fantasy having…you know, fantastical elements. That’s like being surprised your book has words in it. Secondly, many of these are not specific to epic fantasy at all. “Women as set pieces”  (#2) is a sexist trope that exists in every genre. So are “love triangles with obvious outcomes” (#66). These are widespread issues that all writers should work to fix. Third, common does not equal inherently bad!Things can be good and still be cliche. Tropes exist for a reason. They are neutral by nature. This post reads like– and I don’t know your intent, so I’ll just assume you didn’t mean for it to come across this way, but this is how I interpreted it– anyone who dares to have PROPHECY AND DESTINY (#1) in their epic fantasy is doing something wrong. As someone writing a fantasy novel featuring a prophecy myself, I respectfully disagree. Having dragon riders (#97) does not inherently make your writing bad. Having teenage heroes (#80) does not inherently make your writing bad. Making a trilogy (#14– seriously, wtf?) does not inherently make your writing bad! The only thing that would make these things bad is 1) if they were racist/sexist/homophobic/etc. or 2) poorly written, which is a problem with the writer’s skill level, not the trope itself. tldr; some of these are legitimate issues but if you don’t like kingdoms, magic, wizards, or dragons in your books, maybe you should read something other than fantasy. also, tropes aren’t bad.