Story Shots: Endearing Ineptitude with Vaurien Scapegrace
Author Abigail Morrison dissects how inept characters can be endearing, using a character from the Skulduggery Pleasant series as an example.
Story Shots
Story Shots: The ideal idealist with Vash the Stampede
Hi All, I’m back with another Story Shot, this time featuring Vash the Stampede from the recent Trigun remake, Trigun Stampede. Please note that the new one is very different than the original, so be warned if you haven’t seen it yet. As always, major spoilers ahead. What is it? Trigun Stampede is a sci-fi …
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Story Shots: Competent leadership with Menion Leah
My dad and I have a shorthand phrase we use when we see incompetent leadership in stories. Whenever it happens, one of us always jokingly says, “Classic Star Trek chain of command.” It’s the trope of idiots presiding over supremely competent middle management and the canon fodder beneath them. It’s so common in sci-fi and …
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Story Shots: Hope through Tragedy with Hadestown
Author Abigail Morrison discusses how tragedy can be an opportunity to highlight hope in a story, using the musical Hadestown as an example.
Story Shots: Good guy antagonists with The Fugitive
Author Abigail Morrison explains how morally good antagonists can add depth and complexity to action stories.
Story Shots: Monkey D. Luffy, ronin at large
Author Abigail Morrison discusses how Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates fill the ronin story function and how it can be used effectively in other stories.
Story Shots: Setups and payoffs with Bullet Train
Author Abigail Morrison discusses how setups and payoffs are used to create tension, humor, and catharsis in the movie Bullet Train.
Story Shots: Solving the Shonen problem with Juzo Inui
Author Abigail Morrison discusses how restraining overpowered characters via relationships, worldbuilding, and plot can lead to more effective stories.
Story Shots: Su-Won as the complex antagonist
Author Abigail Morrison examines the character Su-Won from the popular manga/anime Yona of the Dawn as an example of a complex antagonist and provides examples of how a complex antagonist can add relational, thematic, and plot depth to a story.