I question why Mokou would listen to a word Kaguya says at this point. Hell, I question why she would listen to her ever. It's like my dad telling me about his childhood; her experiences are so far removed from Mokou's that there's really no application. As far as Mokou should know, Kaguya has no relevant experiences simply because she's lived (or whatever you call it) with a different mindset. Also, she's a massive bitch and I want to smack her.
I question why Mokou would listen to a word Kaguya says at this point. Hell, I question why she would listen to her ever. It's like my dad telling me about his childhood; her experiences are so far removed from Mokou's that there's really no application. As far as Mokou should know, Kaguya has no relevant experiences simply because she's lived (or whatever you call it) with a different mindset. Also, she's a massive bitch and I want to smack her.
That's because in Touhou, just turning into a monster is meaningless, so to create a villain (and therefore, the justification for why the dramatic stakes of a plot can be resolved with violence) you need to have the villain give a speech that makes them irredeemable, allowing the hero(ine) to declare that it's impossible to reason with the villain, and that they are using violence only as a last resort. (Because using violence as a first resort would make them less heroic. You're only allowed to kill the villain if they shoot first.)
That's because in Touhou, just turning into a monster is meaningless, so to create a villain (and therefore, the justification for why the dramatic stakes of a plot can be resolved with violence) you need to have the villain give a speech that makes them irredeemable, allowing the hero(ine) to declare that it's impossible to reason with the villain, and that they are using violence only as a last resort. (Because using violence as a first resort would make them less heroic. You're only allowed to kill the villain if they shoot first.)
You know, sometimes I worry that my own writing is too tropey, but reading that, I feel a bit better about myself.
You know, sometimes I worry that my own writing is too tropey, but reading that, I feel a bit better about myself.
In this case, though, it's purely tropes that explains it.
I mean, most love stories end at the point when the two protagonists get together because the "will they or won't they" is the dramatic stakes around which the story bases all its dramatic tension. If the story is to continue after that (I.E. have a Night Sparrow Love TWO), either you need to introduce conflict between the two romantic characters that threatens the relationship from within (which is highly realistic, but also requires dealing with character flaws and generally just more domestic kinds of problems than most writers feel comfortable dealing with or feel they are capable of writing without making the story boring), or you introduce a villain that wants to kidnap the princess to wait for her knight in shining armor.
You know, sometimes I worry that my own writing is too tropey, but reading that, I feel a bit better about myself.
I think tropes are like the danbooru tags. They are a great tool to for any writer to get an idea on the components they want to add or avoid. That said, tropes are kind of like spoilers. Once you recognize the formula it becomes a lot harder to enjoy stories unless you are surprised. Its like not laughing any more at knock-knock jokes, and instead getting kicks from dead baby or crass jokes.
Well, I don't think it's possible to write without invoking any tropes. Besides, there are bigger flaws in my writing than overuse of tropes. (Maybe the fact that dialogue typically falls between B-movie and sitcom quality...) I'm just somewhat proud that I'm not using tropes in such a predictable way. This kind of subject matter is similar to what I write about, which is why I even brought it up.
