Aaron Radney (Commissions Open. See Pin)

16. An author writing a character who does awful things or has awful ideas isn't necessarily condoning them. We've gotten too used to some authors turning out to be awful people who left awful messages in their work we sometimes fail to realize when an author is doing things on purpose for an arc!

15. The Temeraire series is a lot of fun, an interesting alternate history exploration and a series that actually is basically a *perfect* example of books that should get animated adaptations rather than live action ones.

All the animation tools are there between the Sea Beast and HTTYD.

14. Fantasy writers *do* often in fact have a really poor sense of scale, time and distance.

As an alternate example I pointed out this situation to a friend with a shared series we like and she noted she'd missed that line in the description of an important character and it actually made the series *better* for her when it got pointed out.

Be like my friend folks.

until that point the worldbuilding wasn't exactly bad. It just didn't hold up on close inspection.

But it also probably didn't need to to provide you joy and an interesting story.

13. Good worldbuilding in books isn't necessarily defined by intricate detail or answering every possible question *imo*

It's more about how well the whole thing holds together. The worldbuilding can fall apart the second you're done with the story but if you didn't question a single bit of it...

12. Speaking of which: more books should get *animated* adaptations rather than live action ones.

Lots of fantasy books especially IMO lend themselves way better to animation. Since you'd have to CGI like 80% of the cool stuff anyway might as well go 2D Castlevannia style or something.

But I'll be honest I'm *more* likely to think you're a racist jerk if you keep doubling down after its pointed out to you a character is described explicitly as having brown skin in text and you keep insisting on a non-brown actor for the live action.

11. Too many fantasy fans are afraid to imagine the fantasy worlds they read as diverse.

Sometimes I think the idea that a character might not be white in the text gets pushed back on because people are embarrassed they didn't read closely and think that makes them racist or something.

10. More fantasy stories should feature characters wearing funny hats. History is *filled* with people wearing funny hats and the fact it's not represented more in fantasy books feels like a missed opportunity.

because as a genre it also helps teach us the value of community, doing the right thing merely because it is, not for some reward.

It can teach us about honor, self-sacrifice and empathy without cynicism. Because good fantasy can also be incredibly hopeful.

Again, teaching dragons can be slain.

as a reader and for me as someone who's trying to make stuff in the space.

It helps you understand why so many of the worst people gravitate toward it.

It also helps you understand how to take the good from it without falling to the problematic elements.

9. (Time for fantasy focused opinions). Fantasy as a genre is often very small c conservative in that it generally looks backwards. It's concerned by definition with mythic history and sweeping big picture existential questions at its core roots.

This is a reality you have to grapple with...

8. Fantasy's obsession with Tolkein held it back as a genre for a very long time. I'm glad to see more and more people realizing they don't have to be Tolkein to write good and interesting fantasy.

I felt this more than a little as someone who tends to learn better under female mentors.

7 (we're up to 7): I don't know why but I don't really like romance books that much. I love romantic sub/side plots. I love it when it's *part* of an overall narrative. I am unapologetically shipper trash. But I prefer romances in visual mediums to written ones. Don't know why.

On the flip side of this, if you're the kind of person who likes to read smut I just have two requests.

1. Own it. Don't be ashamed of it.

2. Read good smut! Your library workers probably have *someone* on staff who specializes and will point you in the right direction. You deserve good smut.

On the flipside of this, if you have stuff that's a comfort read for you and you specialize in and you just want to live in that space don't let anyone shame you for it.

Your reading tastes aren't a badge of honor or shame. They're just tastes.

It's good to try genres you may not usually read once in awhile. Just to get out of your comfort zone.

Do don't have to stick with it but sometimes, like food you may not realize you have a taste for something until you try it. And even if you don't like it at least you tried it and know now.

It's ripe for metaphor and story exploration too.

What happens when you decide a world is disposable enough to just dump everything on it?

Is it a dead world like Mars or is it a world that was killed?

Is it like Venus and stuff incinerates?

2. Self publishing does not make someone a lesser author.

3. While I personally like the act of reading a book there is nothing wrong with audiobooks. It's valid reading.

Functionally it's how we're all introduced to reading with our parents or adults reading to us.

*bait.

I have a headache folks!

1. The trend of sailor moon influenced YA fantasy is neat and makes me smile. It reminds me that the kind of girls who's fan fic I used to read in school grew up, kept writing and are getting published now.

I'll join the engagement bate. One like equals one generalized book opinion.

I'm glad I wasn't alone in feeling like the whole thing was wildly unsettling.

Especially since Luminara comes back in rebels as nothing but a trap for Ezra and Kanan.

I don't know they were all related but their thinking often comes from similar ideas and similar places.

I think the popularity of Gachiakuta sells the usefulness of a full on garbage world yeah.

1. Been working with my therapist about making sure I actually do this.

2. I get real tired of people who get antsy the minute I can't have a perfect answer for them the second I look at at thing and seem to get incensed when I tell them I need a minute to read what they're looking at.

But it *is* true that some christian sects conceptualize the mark of the beast as a barcode.

It's weird to me that this is a thing other folks weren't aware of.

Though since I don't shop at Hobby lobby I can't say for certain (but I don't think it's true because my bosses use it for Library business and have a tax exempt form I think they have to scan. I'll check on it.

There are other books I'll track down to try to get more information but I have a new respect for Red from @overlysarcastic.bsky.social and how hard they work to get good information for their miscellaneous myths videos.