Monthly Archives: February 2016

My Reviews:

I already posted this on my profile, but I’d like to put it on my blog as well for those of you who glossed over it/didn’t read it.

For the most part, I leave supportive one- or two-sentence reviews. Sometimes I’ll ask a question or two, but usually I’ll just praise your effort. For my friends, though, I’ll leave extended reviews, detailing everything I like about the story, and maybe a few critiques here and there. I used to be kind of rude, correcting grammar left and right and pointing out all the flaws, rather than appreciating the effort put into each publication, but I’ve mellowed out with time, and I try to be nothing but supportive (unless I’ve been explicitly asked to critique the story, in which case all bets are off).

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Dei ex Machinis

I’ve had enough of Dei Ex Machinis. From the Brett Ratner X-Men movies, to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., to every other series that cheapens the emotional impacts of character deaths by bringing back supposedly dead characters… it’s gotten real old.

You know why producers really use that plot device? It’s not because they like the characters, nor is it because fans demand they return; it’s all about money. If a character is profitable, production companies will milk them dry, no matter what the cost to the story.

Whether it sells more merchandise, provides new, profitable material, or simply would increase the production’s audience, the producers will always choose to bring a character back for the sake of profit. If a particular action will make them money, they will do it.

It’s sad, but such is the nature of humanity. We are a society built upon the premise that great material wealth is the ultimate goal. “True Art” is a long lost concept; all too many people are more concerned about making money than producing quality content that will withstand the test of time.

And, I must admit, my goal in life is to make as much money as I can. The difference between me and many others is, I do believe some things are sacred, and I will not defile art, nor will I create bad art, no matter how much money doing so will bring me.

Author’s Notes for “A Chess Game Gone Wrong”

Short, OOC and written in ten minutes. Usually, that’s a recipe for disaster… I hope that wasn’t the case.

Robin screwed up. Big time.

My logic for making Lucina seem… manly… was that she, at least for a short time, fooled everyone around her into thinking she WAS a man. Also, she is a Marth clone in SSB4.

The only reason I paired Robin with Tharja was because I needed an excuse for her to freely perform a hex for him without asking too many questions. Their relationship isn’t overly relevant to the story.

That’s all for today!

Brendan Reed bio for FE:CSR

I just published Brendan Reed’s character biography for Fire Emblem: The Complete Saga Rewritten, but for whatever reason, it says it was published back in May (2015). You can access it easily by going to the category “Character Bios and Stats”.

For the record, of the characters I introduced in “The Mission”, I have completed bios for Brendan, Pascal and Jan. I’m in the middle of writing the others (Laurel, Uhai, Jerme, Legault, and Aesha), but they are not a priority for me.

Oh, regarding FE:CSR: Tale 9x Chapter 3 is taking longer to complete than I anticipated. HOPEFULLY I’ll finish it before my deadline (Valentine’s Day).

My First Editing Job

Recently, I was asked by FFn user GameFreakimage to beta read a chapter of his main publication, Fire Emblem Rekka no Ken: A Story Retold. As a result, I’ve decided that once he releases the chapter, I will post editor’s notes here.

Normally I wouldn’t do this, as beta reading (to my understanding) typically entails nothing more than correcting spelling and grammar. But in the case of this chapter, GameFreakimage requested that I give my opinion on the plot, and later asked me to make modifications based on my thoughts. I do not know if he will end up using them, but either way I will post information about my edits to the story here (I also plan to do this with other publications I end up reworking).

The post containing my notes will be rather long, as the chapter is going to be between eleven and fourteen thousand words, depending on which ideas of mine he uses (if any). Most of the chapters in FE:CSR are between four and eight thousand words, and if you keep up with my blog, you should know the typical length of each related post.

Fun fact, the main reason why I moved my author’s notes to my blog is because some of my readers complained about how long they were; I figured those who actually liked reading them would not have a problem with going to my blog. As for those who didn’t like them, they won’t have to see them anymore.