forum Things You Want LESS Of In Books

Started January 21, 2019 by @evastardust groupRRAAAARRL

tune

Pretty much every utopia could be written into a dystopia but not every dystopia can be written as a utopia.

Imo the best utopia dystopia would be the Brave New World.

That's on my to-read list lmao
Said list is never getting done because I haven't picked up a book in over a year aside from required reading for school, but don't worry about it.

I loved it. I tried to write a poem after I finished it. The climax had me super tense.

Two dimensional characters that are there solely for comic relief

U right.

Vampires who don't sleep?? I get that you don't grow and you're not alive, but there's like. Other stuff that happens while you sleep. How are you moving stuff from your short term memory to your long term memory?? Did your brain just stop producing melatonin and if so, what other hormones did it stop producing?? Clearly not adrenaline so where do you draw the line?? Is it an adaptation thing? Because you'd still need sleep for memory stuff and emotional processing, so why would your brain not just produce melatonin during the day so you sleep during the day and hunt at night?? And come to think of it, if you don't sleep, I guess your body doesn't need to heal itself because that happens during sleep, so the little tears that happen when you build up muscle are not happening, which means you can't get stronger, which really sucks, and I feel like then you'd be stuck with the strength you had as a human, and even if you weren't, it would probably be proportional to said previous strength, and definitely hard to improve at fighting cause you know, gaining strength and muscle is kind of a big part of improving, so if you came across another vampire who hated you and happened to go to the gym regularly you're really just screwed
anyways the only reason to not have your vampires sleep is for you to be weird about their dark circles (which they also should not have because nothing should be happening to their blood vessels if they don't fucking have blood) and talk about how they learned to play the piano and do the yiffy with their adopted sibling all night because they can't do anything else and it's stupid and I don't want to see it ever

👆 very valid point

Magic being persecuted/magic is dwindling.

Vampires who don't sleep?? I get that you don't grow and you're not alive, but there's like. Other stuff that happens while you sleep. How are you moving stuff from your short term memory to your long term memory?? Did your brain just stop producing melatonin and if so, what other hormones did it stop producing?? Clearly not adrenaline so where do you draw the line?? Is it an adaptation thing? Because you'd still need sleep for memory stuff and emotional processing, so why would your brain not just produce melatonin during the day so you sleep during the day and hunt at night?? And come to think of it, if you don't sleep, I guess your body doesn't need to heal itself because that happens during sleep, so the little tears that happen when you build up muscle are not happening, which means you can't get stronger, which really sucks, and I feel like then you'd be stuck with the strength you had as a human, and even if you weren't, it would probably be proportional to said previous strength, and definitely hard to improve at fighting cause you know, gaining strength and muscle is kind of a big part of improving, so if you came across another vampire who hated you and happened to go to the gym regularly you're really just screwed
anyways the only reason to not have your vampires sleep is for you to be weird about their dark circles (which they also should not have because nothing should be happening to their blood vessels if they don't fucking have blood) and talk about how they learned to play the piano and do the yiffy with their adopted sibling all night because they can't do anything else and it's stupid and I don't want to see it ever

I barely remember writing this

Vampires who don't sleep?? I get that you don't grow and you're not alive, but there's like. Other stuff that happens while you sleep. How are you moving stuff from your short term memory to your long term memory?? Did your brain just stop producing melatonin and if so, what other hormones did it stop producing?? Clearly not adrenaline so where do you draw the line?? Is it an adaptation thing? Because you'd still need sleep for memory stuff and emotional processing, so why would your brain not just produce melatonin during the day so you sleep during the day and hunt at night?? And come to think of it, if you don't sleep, I guess your body doesn't need to heal itself because that happens during sleep, so the little tears that happen when you build up muscle are not happening, which means you can't get stronger, which really sucks, and I feel like then you'd be stuck with the strength you had as a human, and even if you weren't, it would probably be proportional to said previous strength, and definitely hard to improve at fighting cause you know, gaining strength and muscle is kind of a big part of improving, so if you came across another vampire who hated you and happened to go to the gym regularly you're really just screwed
anyways the only reason to not have your vampires sleep is for you to be weird about their dark circles (which they also should not have because nothing should be happening to their blood vessels if they don't fucking have blood) and talk about how they learned to play the piano and do the yiffy with their adopted sibling all night because they can't do anything else and it's stupid and I don't want to see it ever

I barely remember writing this

oh how time passes by, fufu
ngl, you kinda sounded like one of those Tumblr users who write some really good stuff at an ungodly hour then doesnt remember in the morning and is stunned to see it blew up :"D

Magic being persecuted/magic is dwindling.

ah, dude… fuck… that one ;-;
i dunno why but i feel really disgusting about that one. Okay i can understand the persecution one, people fear what they dont understand, and several rogue mages can push people to demonize magic, but like, it dying out?? That one leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth. Somehow it makes magic as being something artificially introduced into the world, not a part of it.
Onward kinda hit a nerve for me there, given Ian was basically the last one with magic there. I can get the improvement of life quality for all species, but magic is so much cooler come on man. Why trade magic with the basic real world living style? Just. Nah from me dawg

Magic being persecuted/magic is dwindling.

ah, dude… fuck… that one ;-;
i dunno why but i feel really disgusting about that one. Okay i can understand the persecution one, people fear what they dont understand, and several rogue mages can push people to demonize magic, but like, it dying out?? That one leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth. Somehow it makes magic as being something artificially introduced into the world, not a part of it.
Onward kinda hit a nerve for me there, given Ian was basically the last one with magic there. I can get the improvement of life quality for all species, but magic is so much cooler come on man. Why trade magic with the basic real world living style? Just. Nah from me dawg

I actually think onward was a pretty good example of what happens to old practices when technology comes along and makes things more accessible. It was realistic, It wasn't that Magic disappeared people just stopped practicing it, not everyone had the gift for it in the first place. Magic wasn't accessible enough for real progress to happen in the general public. It's still there, it's just not used.

It depends. Like honestly I think the Witcher does it well because it's kind of "witch hunt," "burned at the stake" persrcution, not so far from real life witch hunts.

Magic being persecuted/magic is dwindling.

ah, dude… fuck… that one ;-;
i dunno why but i feel really disgusting about that one. Okay i can understand the persecution one, people fear what they dont understand, and several rogue mages can push people to demonize magic, but like, it dying out?? That one leaves a very bitter taste in my mouth. Somehow it makes magic as being something artificially introduced into the world, not a part of it.
Onward kinda hit a nerve for me there, given Ian was basically the last one with magic there. I can get the improvement of life quality for all species, but magic is so much cooler come on man. Why trade magic with the basic real world living style? Just. Nah from me dawg

I actually think onward was a pretty good example of what happens to old practices when technology comes along and makes things more accessible. It was realistic, It wasn't that Magic disappeared people just stopped practicing it, not everyone had the gift for it in the first place. Magic wasn't accessible enough for real progress to happen in the general public. It's still there, it's just not used.

oh no, dont get me wrong, Onward was beautiful and the way they did away with the magic was well done, it is indeed a good example of old practices dying out, very realistic yes. Its just that the idea of magic not being practiced anymore is whats bothering me - it brings some kind of sadness you know? Especially in worlds where magic is more widespread. I don't necessarily hate it to the core, it just make me sad

Magic being persecuted I get. Magic being almost gone- ehh. I'm tired of both though

I only like magic being almost gone if there's a good reason for it as opposed to it being an excuse for the main character to be extra special because they have magic and no one else does. I feel like you could do some cool stuff with a fading-magic world, especially if by a certain point it really does go away and leaves your characters magicless (especially if that happens, like, for an entire book and/or some important battles) even if it does ultimately return. You could probably explore some cool plotlines about how the magic went away too, like maybe its source was destroyed or it's become so thinly spread that it might as well not be there at all.

It would make a great sad plot for sure. Dying art always gets me.

The "I can change him" trope. Girl, if you can change him he would have been changed years ago. He needs a psychiatrist. And you need lessons on what red flags are.

Merfolk that aren't pretty girls/guys with taped on fish tails and seashell bras, give me those cool fins and spines and not-so-human features. I read a thing about how mermaids could have hair in the form of a type of thin spine found on some fish, or how a creature living underwater would have other features like sensory fins or echolocation cause eyesight doesn't mix well with underwater. I can appreciate The Little Mermaid, but there's so much other awesome merfolk stuff out there!

You should read The Deep by Rivers Solomon, it has some really interesting takes on mermaids!

Spider body, but where there should be a head there's a human from the waist up. I think I have a drawing somewhere

I know this is old but like the Stalk from Saga? My arachnophobia was not happy with her lol

Spider body, but where there should be a head there's a human from the waist up. I think I have a drawing somewhere

I know this is old but like the Stalk from Saga? My arachnophobia was not happy with her lol

I think this was my comment, maybe? The answer would be yes, but their limbs don't look like long arms with extra joints, their Spider half is a tarantula actually if I remember correctly, either that or a Wolf spider, I dunno one of the fuzzy ones.

Merfolk that aren't pretty girls/guys with taped on fish tails and seashell bras, give me those cool fins and spines and not-so-human features. I read a thing about how mermaids could have hair in the form of a type of thin spine found on some fish, or how a creature living underwater would have other features like sensory fins or echolocation cause eyesight doesn't mix well with underwater. I can appreciate The Little Mermaid, but there's so much other awesome merfolk stuff out there!

You should read The Deep by Rivers Solomon, it has some really interesting takes on mermaids!

Cool.

I only like magic being almost gone if there's a good reason for it as opposed to it being an excuse for the main character to be extra special because they have magic and no one else does. I feel like you could do some cool stuff with a fading-magic world, especially if by a certain point it really does go away and leaves your characters magicless (especially if that happens, like, for an entire book and/or some important battles) even if it does ultimately return. You could probably explore some cool plotlines about how the magic went away too, like maybe its source was destroyed or it's become so thinly spread that it might as well not be there at all.

What about a world where magic is just starting?

That's kind of a fresh take tbh

It was a random thought too!

Yeah I put that on More in books. It'd be fascinating to think about.

I have that hapening in my prequel of Althalos.

I've seen that Idea in two places I think, according to my very sleep deprived brains recollection. One of them I haven't actually seen but the other I thoroughly enjoyed. I can't remember titles though and neither of them are books.

Cliches definitely… no more cliques! no more dumb blondes! etc…