Mistakes TO AVOID when writing

00:33:05
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odZaSNtqizg

Summary

TLDRThe video explores various storytelling pet peeves across multiple media formats, including video games, books, comics, and music. The creator discusses how storytelling techniques may not work universally across different media. Among the key pet peeves are overly explanatory narration, poorly executed concepts despite good ideas (especially in LitRPGs), character derailment, power levels that kill story tension, and unconvincing romantic plots. The creator also criticizes overpowered protagonists with bland personalities, uses of characters as ideological mouthpieces, and when stories pause to overly explain their own mechanics. Each pet peeve is illustrated with examples from Pokémon, Jujutsu Kaisen, Solo Leveling, and more, essentially reflecting on how storytelling can be improved by respecting audience intelligence and allowing for more natural character and plot development.

Takeaways

  • 📚 Storytelling techniques aren't one-size-fits-all across different media.
  • 🤔 Over-explanation can be condescending to the audience.
  • 📝 Great concepts need solid execution to avoid disappointment.
  • 👥 Characters should not just be mouthpieces for the author's views.
  • 💪 Overpowered characters often lack depth without real challenges.
  • 🔢 Over-reliance on power levels can ruin narrative tension.
  • 💔 Romance in stories requires genuine chemistry between characters.
  • 🎩 Complex systems should not derail storytelling with explanations.
  • 🧠 'Idiot ball' - when smart characters done dumb things to advance plot.
  • 🎭 Characters should evolve naturally, avoiding jarring derailments.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The speaker discusses the concept of storytelling across various media, including video games, books, comics, and music, and highlights their pet peeves related to this. A major issue is the 'allow me to explain' trope, where creators unnecessarily explain what the audience has already seen or heard, assuming they won't understand it otherwise. The speaker finds this condescending and unnecessary, although admits that explanation is sometimes needed for complex systems.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The speaker criticizes the 'fantastic concept, terrible execution' trope, especially in literature RPGs, where complex game mechanics are poorly integrated into the narrative, leading to stories focused on an overpowered protagonist at the expense of other elements. They also mention 'mouthpiece characters' used by writers to express personal views, often at the expense of storytelling, creating a disconnect with the audience.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Further, the speaker discusses the importance of avoiding excessive exposition in storytelling, as it can disrupt the narrative flow, referencing shows that derail to provide unnecessary details about the world or mechanics. They also touch on the problem with power levels in stories like Dragon Ball, where numerical power indicators can undermine narrative tension and storytelling quality.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    They express disdain for stories that become self-referential, losing narrative focus by leaning heavily on past popular elements or inside jokes. The speaker is also critical of 'dick guide' characters, whose main function is to highlight the protagonist's qualities rather than having a meaningful contribution, often weakening the story's richness and depth.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    The issue of overpowered protagonists lacking depth is addressed with examples from isekai and RPG genres, where main characters often possess immense power but little personality. The speaker criticizes simplistic moral outlooks and relationships within these narratives, which fail to challenge the protagonist or explore meaningful development.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:33:05

    Finally, the speaker discusses unrealistic or forced romantic plots, where character relationships lack chemistry and depth, reducing them to mere narrative conveniences. They also critique the trope where female characters lose their individuality upon entering a relationship, and the 'idiot ball' trope where intelligent characters suddenly act foolishly to force plot developments, ultimately disrupting character consistency.

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Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What is the purpose of the video?

    To discuss personal storytelling pet peeves.

  • What example does the video give for a trope that should be left in a rough draft?

    The 'allow me to explain what you just saw' trope.

  • Which genre suffers from fantastic concept but terrible execution?

    LitRPGs (Literature RPGs).

  • What example is given for character assassination?

    Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

  • What is the pet peeve related to overpowered main protagonists?

    They often have boring personalities and face no true challenges.

  • What does the creator dislike about power levels in storytelling?

    They often remove narrative tension and can lead to inconsistencies.

  • What is the issue with romance in storytelling according to the video?

    Lack of chemistry or reasons for characters to be together.

  • What's an example of a story derailing due to explaining how things work?

    Stories that spend too much time explaining their power systems.

  • What does the term 'idiot ball' mean?

    Characters becoming inexplicably incompetent to drive the plot.

  • What pet peeve relates to characters used as author's mouthpieces?

    Characters whose sole purpose is to express writer's beliefs.

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  • 00:00:00
    storytelling is the term I use to
  • 00:00:02
    describe everything from video games
  • 00:00:04
    books comics and even music it's a very
  • 00:00:07
    broad topic but one which has a few
  • 00:00:09
    commonalities across all the mediums
  • 00:00:12
    sometimes what is good in one medium can
  • 00:00:14
    be completely terrible in another
  • 00:00:16
    regardless of the mediums we find
  • 00:00:17
    ourselves experiencing a story through
  • 00:00:20
    however I have some personal pet peeves
  • 00:00:23
    which rustle my jimmies anytime I see
  • 00:00:25
    them my goal with this video is not
  • 00:00:27
    necessarily to tell other people how a
  • 00:00:30
    story should be told but more so
  • 00:00:32
    describe my own personal gripes and
  • 00:00:34
    annoyances and perhaps provide an
  • 00:00:36
    alternative which I think is better so
  • 00:00:39
    sit down grab a drink a blanket hit the
  • 00:00:41
    Subscribe button and if you're so
  • 00:00:43
    inclined become a member to my channel
  • 00:00:45
    to view videos early as well as some
  • 00:00:47
    other perks listed on screen right now
  • 00:00:49
    these are my storytelling Pet Peeves in
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    no particular
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    order the first thing on my list and
  • 00:00:59
    some something I think should often be
  • 00:01:01
    left in a rough draft of a story is the
  • 00:01:04
    allow me to explain what you just saw
  • 00:01:06
    Trope which I don't really have a better
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    name for this and in this video you will
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    likely see that I do not have a lot of
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    good names for any of these things but I
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    think you guys understand what I mean
  • 00:01:18
    now this pet peeve in particular does
  • 00:01:20
    not say anything about Exposition in
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    fact in some of my other videos I advise
  • 00:01:25
    you as writers to utilize telling the
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    audience as just another tool to save
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    time and pick your battles as a writer
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    however if I were to add something to
  • 00:01:36
    that advice I would say that you should
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    not tell and show for the same thing
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    this is where my pet peeve comes from
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    it's the moment in a story where you
  • 00:01:45
    have been shown or told something
  • 00:01:47
    already and the writer for some ungodly
  • 00:01:50
    reason doesn't think you understand what
  • 00:01:52
    you've just seen or heard so they do
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    both to make you really understand I
  • 00:01:57
    find it to be fairly condescending as as
  • 00:02:00
    a viewer and often times it comes off as
  • 00:02:02
    the writer being insecure about how much
  • 00:02:05
    Their audience can understand their
  • 00:02:07
    thoughts and their world one example of
  • 00:02:09
    this is in the old Pokémon anime which
  • 00:02:12
    did this quite often a Pokémon would
  • 00:02:14
    launch something like a flamethrower
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    attack at another Pokémon the other
  • 00:02:18
    Pokemon would get burned and winse in
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    pain to show that it had been burned and
  • 00:02:23
    then the show would cut over to Brock
  • 00:02:26
    and Misty and Misty would ask Brock what
  • 00:02:29
    was that
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    and Brock would proudly declare to the
  • 00:02:32
    audience that was flamethrower it's a
  • 00:02:35
    powerful fire type move that can burn
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    Pokemon sometimes like yeah Brock we
  • 00:02:41
    [ __ ] know we just [ __ ] saw that
  • 00:02:43
    commentary like this is often completely
  • 00:02:45
    useless and the only utility it seems to
  • 00:02:48
    serve is patting out run times it's kind
  • 00:02:51
    of like when I loot back and make the
  • 00:02:53
    exact same point twice in a row for a
  • 00:02:55
    video I mean a completely understandable
  • 00:02:57
    mistake that anyone could make and
  • 00:03:00
    it's not actually that bad guys I mean
  • 00:03:02
    come on I also acknowledge that
  • 00:03:04
    sometimes it is necessary to both show
  • 00:03:07
    and tell when the thing which is being
  • 00:03:09
    shown is supremely complicated or when
  • 00:03:12
    the audience could not be expected to
  • 00:03:14
    fully understand what is happening based
  • 00:03:16
    on their current level of knowledge
  • 00:03:17
    jiujitsu kaisen and their power system
  • 00:03:19
    comes to mind immediately sometimes [ __ ]
  • 00:03:22
    happens and the narrator really does
  • 00:03:24
    need to pull us aside and say Here's
  • 00:03:26
    what you just saw but in that same show
  • 00:03:29
    I also think gay the writer ends up
  • 00:03:31
    [ __ ] his own story with that very
  • 00:03:34
    same style of writing if you as the
  • 00:03:36
    writer are always questioning whether or
  • 00:03:39
    not people will understand your complex
  • 00:03:41
    magic system then maybe it's time to
  • 00:03:43
    simplify the magic system and make it
  • 00:03:45
    more consumable for people instead of
  • 00:03:47
    just padding [ __ ] out for the sake of
  • 00:03:49
    runtime or overe explaining everything
  • 00:03:51
    like it's a video essay trying to get
  • 00:03:53
    more views from a longer video run time
  • 00:03:56
    on YouTube and yes I did repeat the same
  • 00:03:58
    joke and I'm still doing the joke I'm
  • 00:04:01
    explaining myself to show you how
  • 00:04:03
    annoying it is glad you understand now
  • 00:04:05
    because you definitely wouldn't had I
  • 00:04:07
    not repeatedly said the same thing in a
  • 00:04:09
    different way anyways where was I what
  • 00:04:11
    was I saying ah whatever moving on
  • 00:04:13
    another pet peeve I have in storytelling
  • 00:04:16
    is what I would like to call Fantastic
  • 00:04:18
    concept terrible execution literature
  • 00:04:21
    RPGs or lit RPGs are a genre of fiction
  • 00:04:25
    which suffer from this concept greatly
  • 00:04:28
    and if you don't know what a literature
  • 00:04:29
    RPG is it's basically when a power
  • 00:04:32
    system of a story is built upon
  • 00:04:34
    role-playing game mechanics think shows
  • 00:04:37
    like Don Machi solo leveling or even
  • 00:04:40
    something like the Pokemon Adventure
  • 00:04:41
    manga often times in this genre we will
  • 00:04:44
    have a really wellth out and interesting
  • 00:04:47
    game mechanic system for leveling up the
  • 00:04:49
    stats of our main character only for the
  • 00:04:51
    story to pretty much [ __ ] the bed by
  • 00:04:54
    ensuring that our main character is
  • 00:04:56
    pretty much the only person in their
  • 00:04:58
    story who ends up mattering the only lit
  • 00:05:01
    RPG I can think of off the top of my
  • 00:05:03
    head which has not [ __ ] the bed in this
  • 00:05:05
    way is the aformentioned Pokémon
  • 00:05:07
    Adventures Manga which I highly suggest
  • 00:05:10
    anyone read if they want to learn how to
  • 00:05:12
    actually write game mechanics into a
  • 00:05:14
    narrative which makes sense while
  • 00:05:17
    simultaneously developing and building
  • 00:05:19
    great characters with an intriguing
  • 00:05:21
    story for children and adults alike
  • 00:05:23
    digressions aside the reason this is a
  • 00:05:25
    pet peeve of mine is usually because I
  • 00:05:28
    cannot help but think about how good the
  • 00:05:30
    story I'm consuming could be when it is
  • 00:05:34
    instead held back by the writer's
  • 00:05:36
    incessant need to fulfill a power
  • 00:05:39
    fantasy for themselves and for the
  • 00:05:41
    readers utilizing game mechanics are
  • 00:05:44
    cool Concepts just to tell the most
  • 00:05:46
    boring bog standard story imaginable
  • 00:05:48
    where all the villains are basically the
  • 00:05:50
    same person who will start [ __ ] with our
  • 00:05:52
    Godlike main protagonist only to get
  • 00:05:54
    folded like origami less than a second
  • 00:05:56
    after talking their [ __ ] but this pet
  • 00:05:58
    peeve of mine applies to more than just
  • 00:06:01
    literature RPGs darling in the Franks is
  • 00:06:04
    another great example of a story which
  • 00:06:05
    had a fantastic concept but an
  • 00:06:08
    absolutely terrible execution or rather
  • 00:06:10
    it had a really good execution up until
  • 00:06:13
    about 16 episodes in before absolutely
  • 00:06:15
    [ __ ] the bed what sucks most about
  • 00:06:17
    this pet peeve is the feeling of wasted
  • 00:06:19
    potential and the inability to see what
  • 00:06:22
    could have been still I don't find this
  • 00:06:25
    nearly as annoying as my next pet peeve
  • 00:06:27
    mouthpiece characters ironically enough
  • 00:06:30
    the only characters who should keep
  • 00:06:32
    their mouth shut happen to be the same
  • 00:06:34
    characters who most constantly ruin any
  • 00:06:36
    sort of good storytelling so that the
  • 00:06:38
    author can vent to Their audience about
  • 00:06:41
    something through a character that
  • 00:06:42
    they've made mouthpiece characters are
  • 00:06:44
    often suffering from a ly of other bad
  • 00:06:46
    writing tropes but often times they fall
  • 00:06:48
    into similar pitfalls it's basically a
  • 00:06:51
    character who espouses the writer's
  • 00:06:53
    belief and whom no one aside from a
  • 00:06:55
    straw man ever seems to oppose the
  • 00:06:58
    mouthpiece character much like the Mary
  • 00:07:00
    Sue will force the story and world to
  • 00:07:02
    come to a grinding halt around them so
  • 00:07:04
    that the writer can create an allegory
  • 00:07:06
    for whatever rant they want to make at
  • 00:07:08
    the time it sucks to read and especially
  • 00:07:12
    when it happens in the middle of a story
  • 00:07:13
    that I'm already enjoying like honestly
  • 00:07:16
    just do what I do and make a video essay
  • 00:07:18
    on YouTube jeez somewhat related to this
  • 00:07:22
    pet peeve is my pet peeve for whenever
  • 00:07:24
    the author addresses the audience with a
  • 00:07:26
    thinly veiled allegory or caricature of
  • 00:07:29
    their critics when I think of this pet
  • 00:07:32
    peeve I think of a a series of episodes
  • 00:07:35
    from Teen Titans Go where freak Show
  • 00:07:37
    tells the Titans about how shitty their
  • 00:07:39
    current show is and how cool the
  • 00:07:41
    original show used to be the writers of
  • 00:07:44
    the show unapologetically put themselves
  • 00:07:46
    in a position of victimhood and Their
  • 00:07:48
    audience members in a position of being
  • 00:07:51
    unsavory people and even when I don't
  • 00:07:53
    personally feel called out by the straw
  • 00:07:55
    man they prop up it's still not a good
  • 00:07:57
    story to tell like who cares what people
  • 00:07:59
    are saying about your show just make the
  • 00:08:02
    show and ignore the audience who are
  • 00:08:04
    hate Watchers if it's not clear by now I
  • 00:08:06
    tend to hate any storytelling things
  • 00:08:08
    which bring the narrative to a grinding
  • 00:08:10
    halt just so the author can pull the
  • 00:08:12
    audience aside and explain things to us
  • 00:08:14
    like we're children this brings me to my
  • 00:08:16
    next pet peeve which I call no I don't
  • 00:08:19
    [ __ ] care about how this thing works
  • 00:08:21
    please just continue the story a good
  • 00:08:24
    example of this is any story for which
  • 00:08:26
    part of the appeal is the mystery
  • 00:08:27
    surrounding their power system world or
  • 00:08:30
    lore only for the writer to decide we
  • 00:08:33
    must know the truth of those things and
  • 00:08:35
    derail any sort of competent
  • 00:08:37
    storytelling to give us a quick lecture
  • 00:08:40
    on how everything works it's the same
  • 00:08:42
    exact Vibe as someone watching a movie
  • 00:08:44
    with us and Them chiming in like um
  • 00:08:48
    actually did you know that in real life
  • 00:08:51
    if someone were to scream in space you
  • 00:08:53
    wouldn't hear anything because there's
  • 00:08:55
    no air in space and the sound is caused
  • 00:08:58
    by air vibrating our eardrums like cool
  • 00:09:02
    dude neat fact uh this does not help me
  • 00:09:05
    enjoy the story more and now I've missed
  • 00:09:09
    what the characters were saying so you
  • 00:09:10
    could tell me how space Works my next
  • 00:09:13
    pet peeve has to do with power levels oh
  • 00:09:15
    boy power levels I have a bit of a
  • 00:09:19
    LoveHate relationship with power levels
  • 00:09:22
    airat Toyama God Rest his soul
  • 00:09:24
    introduced the concept of power levels
  • 00:09:26
    as a joke and everyone took it seriously
  • 00:09:29
    don't get me wrong sometimes I think
  • 00:09:31
    having a numerical measure of power is
  • 00:09:34
    actually a cool way to gauge how strong
  • 00:09:36
    a character is in comparison to other
  • 00:09:39
    characters however the irony of power
  • 00:09:41
    levels in Dragon Ball is that it was
  • 00:09:43
    initially a writing device for Toriyama
  • 00:09:46
    to show how meaningless they were in the
  • 00:09:48
    first place and how power levels can be
  • 00:09:50
    changed midf fight depending on the
  • 00:09:52
    techniques that are being used I hate
  • 00:09:55
    power levels in stories for several
  • 00:09:57
    reasons one reason is because the
  • 00:10:00
    community which talks about power
  • 00:10:02
    scaling and power levels is completely
  • 00:10:04
    insufferable and often ignores the
  • 00:10:07
    merits of good storytelling to
  • 00:10:09
    cherry-pick examples and do some sort of
  • 00:10:11
    pseudo maath to determine and scale
  • 00:10:13
    fictional characters the other reason I
  • 00:10:16
    dislike power levels is what it often
  • 00:10:18
    does to a story if a writer introduces a
  • 00:10:21
    reliable power level system then we
  • 00:10:23
    should know that someone with a higher
  • 00:10:25
    power level will almost always beat
  • 00:10:27
    someone with a lower power level level
  • 00:10:29
    but that also removes any sort of
  • 00:10:31
    narrative tension from the story so
  • 00:10:33
    instead most power level systems end up
  • 00:10:36
    destroying themselves in favor of
  • 00:10:38
    telling a good story only to piss off
  • 00:10:40
    the power scaling Community when someone
  • 00:10:42
    like Goku gets injured by a bullet after
  • 00:10:45
    not training for a few months who then
  • 00:10:47
    proceeds to take a planet cracking punch
  • 00:10:49
    to the jaw a few episodes later after
  • 00:10:52
    having done at least a thousand push-ups
  • 00:10:55
    power levels often don't have caps
  • 00:10:57
    either and if they ever do introduce
  • 00:11:00
    power ceilings to the story it can be
  • 00:11:02
    very tempting for the writer to just
  • 00:11:03
    find a way to break that ceiling anyway
  • 00:11:06
    and have the debris crashed back down on
  • 00:11:08
    the rest of the story in the process you
  • 00:11:11
    know what's way better just don't
  • 00:11:13
    introduce power levels in your story
  • 00:11:15
    another pet peeve in storytelling that I
  • 00:11:18
    have is when I see a story reference
  • 00:11:20
    itself and while I can handle this Trope
  • 00:11:23
    in moderation it quickly becomes
  • 00:11:25
    annoying when the story seems to have
  • 00:11:27
    lost the plot in of retreading old jokes
  • 00:11:31
    or situations we've already seen The
  • 00:11:33
    Simpsons is an excellent example of this
  • 00:11:36
    there are countless moments in the
  • 00:11:38
    modern Simpsons shows which rely solely
  • 00:11:40
    on random [ __ ] humor for shock
  • 00:11:42
    laughs or which reference the memes and
  • 00:11:45
    inside jokes of their own series only
  • 00:11:48
    for those references to make absolutely
  • 00:11:50
    no [ __ ] sense in the context of the
  • 00:11:52
    character referencing them Homer sending
  • 00:11:55
    a gift of himself retreating into the
  • 00:11:57
    bushes to Lisa as a way to avoid coming
  • 00:12:01
    to her concert comes to mind a lot of
  • 00:12:03
    the times to me this comes off as the
  • 00:12:06
    writer saying remember when we were
  • 00:12:08
    actually good guys and yeah it sucks to
  • 00:12:11
    be reminded about how good something
  • 00:12:13
    used to be all the while seeing how a
  • 00:12:15
    story cannot seem to ever escape its own
  • 00:12:18
    [ __ ] Shadow speaking of never
  • 00:12:20
    escaping someone else's Shadow I got to
  • 00:12:22
    say that I am also not a huge fan of
  • 00:12:25
    characters whose sole purpose in the
  • 00:12:27
    narrative is to dick guide other
  • 00:12:29
    characters whether it's a villain of the
  • 00:12:31
    show or one of the main character's
  • 00:12:33
    friends I don't think anyone loves
  • 00:12:35
    seeing a professional Glazer at work
  • 00:12:37
    usually this type of character is a
  • 00:12:39
    crutch that the author leans on so that
  • 00:12:42
    they can build up another character and
  • 00:12:44
    tell the audience about how cool that
  • 00:12:46
    other character is because for some
  • 00:12:48
    reason the author can't just show us how
  • 00:12:51
    cool the other character is these meat
  • 00:12:53
    writer characters uh also tend to be
  • 00:12:56
    just rather pathetic and annoying
  • 00:12:58
    characters too the most glaring example
  • 00:13:00
    that comes right off the top of my head
  • 00:13:02
    is eugin ho and if you have watched or
  • 00:13:04
    read solo leveling but do not remember
  • 00:13:07
    who Yu jinho is he's the pathetic trust
  • 00:13:10
    fund baby who cannot stop throating s
  • 00:13:13
    Jin Wu's [ __ ] for more than 5 Seconds
  • 00:13:15
    anytime he's on screen a character like
  • 00:13:17
    jinho is someone who serves no purpose
  • 00:13:20
    to the story they often tag along to the
  • 00:13:22
    main character to show how much more
  • 00:13:24
    powerful and cool the main character is
  • 00:13:26
    by comparison to the pathetic dick
  • 00:13:29
    sucker following them around it's kind
  • 00:13:31
    of like mogging or whatever the kids
  • 00:13:33
    call it these days and funnily enough uh
  • 00:13:36
    solo leveling ends up turning pretty
  • 00:13:38
    much every single character in the
  • 00:13:40
    series into a professional Glazer or a
  • 00:13:44
    professional hater eventually so it's
  • 00:13:46
    kind of just another reason why that
  • 00:13:48
    story in particular [ __ ] sucks in my
  • 00:13:50
    eyes but that's another video entirely
  • 00:13:53
    speaking of turning decent characters
  • 00:13:55
    into insufferable pieces of [ __ ] let's
  • 00:13:57
    talk about character assassination next
  • 00:14:00
    character assassination or character
  • 00:14:02
    derailment is when you've got a
  • 00:14:04
    perfectly good and likable character
  • 00:14:06
    only to then switch their personality
  • 00:14:08
    with the intention of making the
  • 00:14:10
    audience despise them character
  • 00:14:12
    assassination often happens when the
  • 00:14:13
    writers of the show or story switch
  • 00:14:15
    hands and either through ignorance or
  • 00:14:17
    malicious intent a certain character is
  • 00:14:20
    mishandled in the story often times this
  • 00:14:22
    character does things which are far
  • 00:14:24
    outside of their pre-established
  • 00:14:26
    personalities and makes no sense aside
  • 00:14:29
    from contriving some sort of conflict in
  • 00:14:31
    the plot when character derailment
  • 00:14:33
    happens it is often because the writer
  • 00:14:35
    desires to use that character as a
  • 00:14:37
    sacrificial lamb to slaughter in the
  • 00:14:39
    hopes of creating what they would view
  • 00:14:42
    as a more interesting story this is
  • 00:14:44
    often not a matter of organic growth or
  • 00:14:47
    development on the character's part but
  • 00:14:49
    rather a complete and utter
  • 00:14:51
    misunderstanding and mishandling of the
  • 00:14:53
    character itself either the writer
  • 00:14:56
    actually dislikes this character or they
  • 00:14:58
    have enough hum ous to think that they
  • 00:15:00
    can write it better some examples of
  • 00:15:02
    this include certain iterations of
  • 00:15:05
    Spider-Man the entirety of Zack
  • 00:15:07
    Schneider's DC Cinematic Universe Luke
  • 00:15:10
    from the sequel Trilogy of Star Wars and
  • 00:15:12
    Master Chief from the liveaction Halo TV
  • 00:15:15
    show and speaking of characters getting
  • 00:15:18
    absolutely [ __ ] murdered on screen
  • 00:15:20
    let's talk about one of my least
  • 00:15:22
    favorite things to see in any battle
  • 00:15:24
    shown in you know him you love him it's
  • 00:15:27
    potential man the character of the show
  • 00:15:30
    who is really strong guys we swear sure
  • 00:15:34
    I mean this character always gets
  • 00:15:36
    [ __ ] bodied by everyone they ever
  • 00:15:39
    fight and only ever seems to get a w
  • 00:15:42
    over faceless mukes to remind us how
  • 00:15:44
    strong they are but it's not important
  • 00:15:47
    right now we need this character to be
  • 00:15:49
    our sacrificial lamb to establish how
  • 00:15:52
    great other characters are by beating
  • 00:15:54
    the [ __ ] out of this character non-stop
  • 00:15:57
    when I think of this pet peeve my mind
  • 00:15:59
    immediately jumps to Joo from jjk I
  • 00:16:02
    think it's pretty self-explanatory if
  • 00:16:04
    you've ever watched the show the only
  • 00:16:07
    fights we ever see Joo in are fights
  • 00:16:10
    with two of the canonically most
  • 00:16:12
    powerful characters in history time and
  • 00:16:15
    time again the narrator of jjk must
  • 00:16:18
    assure us that Joo is actually strong
  • 00:16:21
    heck heck even sakuna right after
  • 00:16:24
    slapping the [ __ ] out of Joo for 30
  • 00:16:27
    minutes straight and not getting hit
  • 00:16:29
    once tells Joo to and the Audience by
  • 00:16:32
    proxy that he was in fact strong and
  • 00:16:36
    should be proud of himself and the only
  • 00:16:38
    W Joo ever gets is killing one random
  • 00:16:42
    old man who was never introduced before
  • 00:16:45
    this burning nanami and making Maki go
  • 00:16:48
    through her toi Arc so in essence Joo
  • 00:16:52
    only killed one beline character
  • 00:16:54
    throughout the entire series and lost
  • 00:16:57
    every single other fight he's ever been
  • 00:16:59
    a part of the thing I hate most about
  • 00:17:01
    these types of characters is how the
  • 00:17:02
    author almost seems allergic to giving
  • 00:17:05
    them a w their only purpose in whatever
  • 00:17:07
    story they find themselves in seems to
  • 00:17:10
    be as a gatekeeper for who is strong in
  • 00:17:13
    the series and who isn't it's especially
  • 00:17:15
    frustrating when I actually like their
  • 00:17:18
    character but they're just held back by
  • 00:17:20
    the author's need to use them and glaze
  • 00:17:23
    the [ __ ] out of a different character
  • 00:17:24
    that I don't like the Pokémon games are
  • 00:17:27
    notorious for this we need look no
  • 00:17:29
    further than the rivals Pokemon puts in
  • 00:17:32
    front of the protagonist of every
  • 00:17:33
    Mainline game they've almost never got
  • 00:17:36
    strong Pokemon teams the game resets and
  • 00:17:38
    allows you to rechallenge them if you
  • 00:17:40
    lose and right down to their
  • 00:17:42
    personalities they are just complete
  • 00:17:44
    pushovers I long for the good old days
  • 00:17:47
    when Pokemon was not afraid to write
  • 00:17:49
    [ __ ] Rivals for us to beat and I long
  • 00:17:52
    for the Rival character who is capable
  • 00:17:54
    of holding their own and getting W's
  • 00:17:56
    outside of having their entire
  • 00:17:59
    personality revolve around the main
  • 00:18:01
    character the Rival of the Gen 1 games
  • 00:18:03
    was compelling not because they were an
  • 00:18:05
    [ __ ] to be beaten at every turn but
  • 00:18:07
    because they were an [ __ ] who managed
  • 00:18:09
    to become a champion of the Pokemon
  • 00:18:12
    League before us and were our first and
  • 00:18:14
    final obstacle for achieving our goals
  • 00:18:18
    it was poetic in a way and I miss that
  • 00:18:21
    [ __ ] genuinely and if we're talking
  • 00:18:23
    about an easy way to fix a character
  • 00:18:25
    like this I would tell every writer to
  • 00:18:27
    do one thing recognize this character
  • 00:18:30
    does not show True strength whenever
  • 00:18:32
    they fight and give them a [ __ ] power
  • 00:18:35
    up until they start to actually get a
  • 00:18:37
    ton of W's and threaten the main
  • 00:18:39
    characters or better yet if they are
  • 00:18:42
    strong and they have to lose a fight
  • 00:18:45
    make sure the fight is at least close to
  • 00:18:47
    where we can still respect the [ __ ]
  • 00:18:50
    loser and this brings me to my next pet
  • 00:18:51
    peeve which is the overpowered main
  • 00:18:54
    protagonist with a personality more
  • 00:18:56
    boring than a wet napkin oh my [ __ ]
  • 00:18:58
    god do I hate characters like this pick
  • 00:19:00
    any isekai you see airing and you will
  • 00:19:03
    find this character at the Helm of the
  • 00:19:04
    ship nine times out of 10 often times
  • 00:19:07
    these characters are gifted incredibly
  • 00:19:09
    powerful abilities by some sort of God
  • 00:19:11
    or Divinity only to be the most boring
  • 00:19:14
    little goody Tes with those abilities
  • 00:19:16
    I'm thinking of protagonists who cannot
  • 00:19:18
    hold hands with a female character until
  • 00:19:20
    they've gotten married that type of [ __ ]
  • 00:19:23
    the type of protagonist that will
  • 00:19:24
    proudly Proclaim that they are against
  • 00:19:27
    slavery as if that's some sort of high
  • 00:19:29
    bar or praiseworthy achievement to be
  • 00:19:32
    against slavery Bell from Don Mai
  • 00:19:35
    suffers greatly from this type of bad
  • 00:19:37
    writing We Begin The Story of Don Mai
  • 00:19:40
    characterizing Bel crannell as a coward
  • 00:19:43
    too weak to defeat most monsters or even
  • 00:19:46
    talk to women only to later on gain an
  • 00:19:49
    ability which allows him to level up way
  • 00:19:51
    faster than anyone else ever has in
  • 00:19:54
    history so long as he is emotional
  • 00:19:56
    enough and if that wasn't bad enough Bel
  • 00:19:59
    cranel also seems to be the only person
  • 00:20:02
    in the entire world with a semi
  • 00:20:04
    functioning brain and basic level of
  • 00:20:06
    human decency often times having to save
  • 00:20:09
    poor defenseless women from getting
  • 00:20:11
    harassed by proudly shouting it's wrong
  • 00:20:14
    to harass women the worst part about
  • 00:20:16
    this type of character is how completely
  • 00:20:18
    [ __ ] non-controversial they are their
  • 00:20:21
    opinions and virtues are almost always
  • 00:20:24
    going to boil down to common human
  • 00:20:26
    decency within a world where everyone's
  • 00:20:28
    seems to be a dumb idiot that has never
  • 00:20:30
    thought about their actions having
  • 00:20:32
    consequences simplifying complex issues
  • 00:20:35
    and problems into bog standard
  • 00:20:38
    misinterpretations of true morality what
  • 00:20:41
    there's a slave trade hey guys owning
  • 00:20:44
    other people is wrong wh what I never
  • 00:20:47
    thought about it like that you know what
  • 00:20:49
    you're right I'm freeing all of my
  • 00:20:52
    slaves uh Hey protagonist I I actually
  • 00:20:55
    kind of like being a slave do do you
  • 00:20:58
    mind if I consent to being your slave
  • 00:21:01
    what well if you want to be my slave I
  • 00:21:05
    guess you can consent is important after
  • 00:21:08
    all that type of [ __ ] just makes me
  • 00:21:11
    [ __ ] vomit anytime I see it happen in
  • 00:21:13
    a story this overpowered protagonist is
  • 00:21:16
    truly never challenged on their views
  • 00:21:18
    and they rarely ever really build
  • 00:21:21
    relationships with other characters
  • 00:21:23
    relationships just tend to happen for
  • 00:21:26
    these characters speaking of Rel
  • 00:21:28
    relationships which just tend to happen
  • 00:21:31
    let's talk about romance for a bit what
  • 00:21:33
    do we think romance needs chemistry
  • 00:21:36
    shared interests and effort from both
  • 00:21:39
    parties to make the relationship work
  • 00:21:41
    well for my next pet peeve we actually
  • 00:21:43
    need none of these things have you ever
  • 00:21:46
    watched a show or read a story where you
  • 00:21:48
    think to yourself why are these two
  • 00:21:50
    characters together well I have plenty
  • 00:21:53
    of [ __ ] times whether it's from a
  • 00:21:55
    normal show where the romance is not a
  • 00:21:57
    focus to God [ __ ] forbid an actual
  • 00:22:00
    romance story where the soulle focus is
  • 00:22:03
    the romance I absolutely cannot stand
  • 00:22:07
    when two characters lack any sort of
  • 00:22:09
    good reasons or chemistry to be
  • 00:22:12
    romantically involved with one another
  • 00:22:14
    in fact when this happens it's often
  • 00:22:16
    because the author has a male main
  • 00:22:18
    protagonist and they've introduced a
  • 00:22:19
    random female protagonist to their story
  • 00:22:22
    now what is the function of this random
  • 00:22:24
    female protagonist you might be asking
  • 00:22:26
    it's basically just to check a box for
  • 00:22:28
    the male protagonist to have a love
  • 00:22:30
    interest and a happy ending these
  • 00:22:32
    characters are not actually characters
  • 00:22:33
    because they often function solely as
  • 00:22:35
    robots for the protagonist to marry and
  • 00:22:38
    Love by the end of the story I can often
  • 00:22:40
    spot this in a story when I look at two
  • 00:22:43
    characters in a relationship and I go
  • 00:22:45
    hey wait a minute what do these two
  • 00:22:47
    actually like about one another only to
  • 00:22:49
    have surface level answers such as this
  • 00:22:52
    character likes the way the other
  • 00:22:54
    character smells or this character was
  • 00:22:57
    saved by the other character once and
  • 00:23:01
    now they have never gotten over it when
  • 00:23:04
    there are so many good ways to make
  • 00:23:06
    romance interesting in a story these
  • 00:23:08
    relationships defiantly say no and
  • 00:23:11
    instead expect us to all agree that the
  • 00:23:14
    characters they've chosen to be together
  • 00:23:16
    Mak sense this romance is often
  • 00:23:20
    accompanied by the author telling us
  • 00:23:21
    something to the effect of it was love
  • 00:23:24
    at first sight or it's love which cannot
  • 00:23:27
    be explained which is just a way of
  • 00:23:29
    saying yeah they love each other for no
  • 00:23:31
    reason I realize I've been rather vague
  • 00:23:34
    for the past few paragraphs of this
  • 00:23:36
    script so I'll give a few examples of
  • 00:23:38
    this happening in fiction Romeo and
  • 00:23:41
    Juliet any pairing in ncoy any pairing
  • 00:23:45
    from Infinite Stratos any pairing from
  • 00:23:47
    rent a girlfriend any pairing from
  • 00:23:50
    insert romcom anime here s Jin Wu and
  • 00:23:54
    chaii in Goku and Chi-Chi and any female
  • 00:23:58
    parent in to the main character of an
  • 00:24:00
    Adam Sandler movie also Terry mcginness
  • 00:24:02
    and his girlfriend from Batman Beyond
  • 00:24:05
    because literally every single other
  • 00:24:07
    romance option is better in pretty much
  • 00:24:10
    all of these romances there is a
  • 00:24:12
    distinct lack of any actual romance sure
  • 00:24:15
    some of them may provide the innocuous I
  • 00:24:18
    like him because he's kind argument but
  • 00:24:21
    that's hardly romantic chemistry
  • 00:24:24
    especially when being kind is something
  • 00:24:26
    almost anyone can be and it is very
  • 00:24:29
    rarely ever fully recognized or rewarded
  • 00:24:31
    in real life at least in that way I
  • 00:24:34
    would rather my romances be filled with
  • 00:24:36
    a mix of shallow and deep reasons for
  • 00:24:39
    these characters being together I would
  • 00:24:41
    like to see the cute interactions
  • 00:24:42
    between characters that show how much
  • 00:24:44
    they actually like each other's company
  • 00:24:47
    and how much these characters care about
  • 00:24:49
    one another some human [ __ ]
  • 00:24:51
    connection is what I want to see I hate
  • 00:24:53
    the concept that two characters must be
  • 00:24:56
    together because one is a guy and the
  • 00:24:58
    other is a girl all the while not
  • 00:25:00
    providing the audience with anything to
  • 00:25:02
    point to or Justify the relationship in
  • 00:25:05
    the first place just that the
  • 00:25:06
    relationship happens because it's
  • 00:25:08
    heterosexual as if it's just meant to be
  • 00:25:12
    relationships take effort and
  • 00:25:14
    unconditional love is boring as [ __ ]
  • 00:25:17
    speaking of which a pet peeve related to
  • 00:25:19
    this is whenever I see an interesting
  • 00:25:21
    female character on the screen only for
  • 00:25:24
    them to become the most boring Trad wife
  • 00:25:26
    imaginable after getting married married
  • 00:25:28
    or becoming the main character's
  • 00:25:30
    girlfriend this also applies to stories
  • 00:25:32
    where the first kiss is basically the
  • 00:25:35
    end of the story or getting together is
  • 00:25:37
    the ultimate goal often times Romance
  • 00:25:40
    Writers especially in Japan don't seem
  • 00:25:42
    to know what to [ __ ] do with
  • 00:25:44
    themselves after their two main love
  • 00:25:46
    interests have finally tied the knot
  • 00:25:48
    they were too busy dangling the concept
  • 00:25:51
    of a relationship over everyone's face
  • 00:25:53
    and writing about the chase to recognize
  • 00:25:56
    that relationships and the conflicts
  • 00:25:59
    therein do not stop when the bouquet is
  • 00:26:02
    tossed I could also call this Trope
  • 00:26:04
    taming the Tomboy and relate it closely
  • 00:26:07
    to character assassination in fact I
  • 00:26:09
    think this is one of the more common
  • 00:26:11
    ways female characters personalities are
  • 00:26:13
    assassinated in favor of someone more
  • 00:26:16
    tame and boring darling in the Franks
  • 00:26:18
    immediately comes to mind in this regard
  • 00:26:20
    02 is probably one of the most
  • 00:26:22
    interesting female characters in fiction
  • 00:26:25
    there's a Mystique to her actions and
  • 00:26:27
    the rebellious Untamed Spirit exudes an
  • 00:26:30
    unspoken Riz upon everyone who watches
  • 00:26:33
    her at least until she gets together
  • 00:26:36
    with hero and turns into the most boring
  • 00:26:38
    tread wife possible the moment and I
  • 00:26:40
    mean the literal moment 02 gets in a
  • 00:26:43
    relationship with hero all of her
  • 00:26:44
    underlying flaws and interesting
  • 00:26:46
    character traits and as well as engaging
  • 00:26:49
    dialogue goes completely out of the
  • 00:26:51
    window in favor of our boring main
  • 00:26:54
    protagonist and whatever the [ __ ] he
  • 00:26:56
    thinks about anything that's going going
  • 00:26:58
    on all the while having 02 sit in
  • 00:27:00
    silence and behave like a good
  • 00:27:02
    girlfriend to me it often sends the
  • 00:27:04
    message that the author thinks
  • 00:27:06
    everything is resolved once characters
  • 00:27:08
    get together and no one cares to
  • 00:27:10
    actually contribute or put effort into a
  • 00:27:12
    relationship when they know they no
  • 00:27:14
    longer need to chase their lover around
  • 00:27:16
    it's a rather Bleak and frankly
  • 00:27:18
    disgusting outlook on human
  • 00:27:19
    relationships that I'm afraid far too
  • 00:27:21
    many people unironically believe in but
  • 00:27:24
    sometimes I also think that this can
  • 00:27:25
    fall in the opposite direction which
  • 00:27:27
    brings me to my next pet peeve when two
  • 00:27:29
    characters in a romance are having a
  • 00:27:31
    stupid fight for no apparent reason
  • 00:27:33
    other than to contrive Conflict for a
  • 00:27:35
    story often times this will happen
  • 00:27:38
    between someone like Mary Jane and Peter
  • 00:27:40
    Parker in Spider-Man comics where the
  • 00:27:42
    two will have some sort of strange
  • 00:27:45
    falling out with one another that makes
  • 00:27:47
    no sense for either of their characters
  • 00:27:49
    but I think a much more popular example
  • 00:27:51
    of this pet peeve would be from
  • 00:27:53
    Invincible between Mark and Amber during
  • 00:27:56
    the first season of invincible when we
  • 00:27:58
    see Mark getting chewed out by Amber for
  • 00:28:00
    keeping his superhero identity a secret
  • 00:28:03
    I think everyone on the internet had a
  • 00:28:05
    collective aneurism over it and for good
  • 00:28:07
    reason to feel offended that someone is
  • 00:28:09
    keeping a secret from you is one thing
  • 00:28:11
    but refusing to understand that Mark did
  • 00:28:13
    not want to endanger his family or you
  • 00:28:16
    by revealing his identity is a
  • 00:28:18
    completely different story the conflict
  • 00:28:20
    seemingly only exists to contrive a
  • 00:28:22
    reason for Mark and Amber to be fighting
  • 00:28:25
    as some sort of melodrama in their
  • 00:28:26
    relationship it also just ends up making
  • 00:28:28
    us despise Amber as a character for
  • 00:28:31
    being so completely batshit insane about
  • 00:28:33
    it instead of just being reasonable and
  • 00:28:35
    understanding instead it's meaningless
  • 00:28:38
    conflict which comes off like the writer
  • 00:28:40
    saying see this is what real
  • 00:28:42
    relationships look like people fighting
  • 00:28:45
    over stupid [ __ ] and that's just so
  • 00:28:48
    unbelievably cynical and oversimplified
  • 00:28:50
    that it tends to boil my blood whenever
  • 00:28:52
    I see it but if that boils my blood then
  • 00:28:54
    I would say that this next Trope app
  • 00:28:57
    appup
  • 00:28:58
    really but if that boils my blood then I
  • 00:29:00
    would say that this next Trope
  • 00:29:02
    absolutely vaporizes my blood into a
  • 00:29:05
    fine Mist because holy [ __ ] do I hate
  • 00:29:09
    when characters start playing idiot ball
  • 00:29:11
    idiot ball for those who don't know is
  • 00:29:13
    when seemingly competent characters or
  • 00:29:16
    pre-established competent characters
  • 00:29:18
    suddenly inexplicably become incompetent
  • 00:29:22
    and that incompetency fuels the plot for
  • 00:29:25
    the rest of the story this goes hand in
  • 00:29:28
    hand with character derailment and
  • 00:29:29
    assassination but with one distinct
  • 00:29:32
    difference I am constantly made to
  • 00:29:34
    wonder why these [ __ ] idiots are
  • 00:29:37
    doing anything in the story when they
  • 00:29:39
    could just stop being idiots for two
  • 00:29:41
    [ __ ] seconds and fix everything and
  • 00:29:44
    this is not a criticism of idiot plots
  • 00:29:46
    either I actually really love stories
  • 00:29:48
    like konosuba for example nor is this a
  • 00:29:50
    critique of plots which rely on a
  • 00:29:53
    character's stupidity to happen no this
  • 00:29:55
    is specifically when a previously
  • 00:29:58
    competent and intelligent or clever
  • 00:30:00
    character causes tons of problems for no
  • 00:30:03
    reason and retracts any character growth
  • 00:30:07
    they might have had in favor of being a
  • 00:30:09
    dumbass Fairly Odd Parents was a show
  • 00:30:12
    that often did this in the later Seasons
  • 00:30:14
    long after Timmy Turner learned the
  • 00:30:16
    values of being selfless and caring
  • 00:30:18
    about other people it always seems like
  • 00:30:21
    he tends to forget those lessons just so
  • 00:30:23
    that the plot can happen instead of
  • 00:30:25
    being a story about growing up and
  • 00:30:28
    maturing under the love and care of
  • 00:30:30
    adoptive parental figures Fairly Odd
  • 00:30:32
    Parents turned Timmy Turner from a dumb
  • 00:30:34
    kid who needed to learn a few lessons to
  • 00:30:36
    a maliciously selfish idiot who refuses
  • 00:30:39
    to change or grow at all this also
  • 00:30:42
    happens during a few episodes in
  • 00:30:44
    Adventure Time namely The Saga of
  • 00:30:46
    episodes where Marceline has to slay a
  • 00:30:49
    bunch of vampires from her past Finn and
  • 00:30:51
    Jake often the heroes of the story and
  • 00:30:54
    of the realm are instead complete
  • 00:30:57
    bumbling [ __ ] idiots which Marceline
  • 00:30:59
    cannot rely on during numerous points in
  • 00:31:02
    these episodes Finn and Jake will often
  • 00:31:04
    fumble garlic bombs and hit themselves
  • 00:31:07
    with it letting vampires get away or
  • 00:31:09
    misunderstanding a situation and making
  • 00:31:12
    it worse or just becoming useless
  • 00:31:14
    captives who make Marceline's job way
  • 00:31:16
    harder than it needs to be it just never
  • 00:31:19
    made sense to me and I always kind of
  • 00:31:21
    hated those episodes for the way they
  • 00:31:23
    treated Finn and Jake another example of
  • 00:31:25
    this is Luke Skywalker wherein the
  • 00:31:27
    entirety of the sequel trilogy's plot is
  • 00:31:29
    pretty much due to his own incompetence
  • 00:31:32
    and jaded attitude for some reason he
  • 00:31:34
    allowed all of the new Jedi to be
  • 00:31:36
    slaughtered by one person and instead of
  • 00:31:38
    bringing Ben solo to Justice he runs
  • 00:31:41
    away to live as a Hermit for years where
  • 00:31:43
    no one can find him only to not really
  • 00:31:46
    teach Rey anything about the force while
  • 00:31:48
    Rey kind of just bodies him during every
  • 00:31:51
    interaction they have then he has one
  • 00:31:54
    moment of competence only to reveal that
  • 00:31:57
    he forced ghosted himself into becoming
  • 00:31:59
    an actual ghost instead of I don't know
  • 00:32:02
    staying alive and helping in any other
  • 00:32:04
    meaningful [ __ ]
  • 00:32:06
    [Music]
  • 00:32:09
    way the more I write about this topic
  • 00:32:11
    the more I realize that I can pretty
  • 00:32:13
    much complain forever about things which
  • 00:32:15
    annoy me in fiction it's an Unholy Hydra
  • 00:32:19
    of petty hatred I list off one pet peeve
  • 00:32:22
    and then two more appear in other words
  • 00:32:25
    stay tuned for another video on this
  • 00:32:27
    topic because this one is already too
  • 00:32:29
    long hit the Subscribe button if you
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    want to be notified when I post that and
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    if you have a little bit of extra money
  • 00:32:34
    lying around please do feel free to
  • 00:32:37
    support me with the join button below
  • 00:32:39
    thanks so much for watching and thanks
  • 00:32:41
    for listening to me Yap for the last
  • 00:32:43
    probably 30 40 minutes see you
  • 00:32:48
    [Music]
Tags
  • storytelling
  • pet peeves
  • narrative
  • LitRPGs
  • character derailment
  • power levels
  • romance
  • tropes
  • exposition
  • media criticism