I mean, everyone who likes epic, dark, steampunk-y fantasy should watch the anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. But for a deeper understanding of writing better, white, Western writers in particular should watch it. Why? Because we often try to write characters from other cultures from a place of privilege, and many…
One of the things that limits me as a writer is how much I enjoy stasis as an audience member. Because many stories in the genres I read and write and watch thrive on epic-scale plots driven by set-piece actions, skilled writers in those genres have to be able to…
I really liked the Steven Universe mobile game, Attack the Light. It reminded me of a watered-down Super Mario RPG with bite-sized levels and touch controls appropriate for a smartphone. Naturally, I was pretty excited for its sequel, Steven Universe: Save the Light, a full console title available for Xbox…
*ding ding ding* Ladies and gents and other esteemed persons, do we have a show for you tonight! In this corner, the reigning champion, protagonist of the fastest-selling book in history, Harry F***ing Pot-teeeeeer and his world of wizards, magic, and blood purity wars. Our challenger: young, scrappy, one of…
I was dubious about the new seasons of The X Files at the start. I still am dubious now that I’m watching them. But I’m glad they’re airing, because they’ve helped me put my finger on something that was nagging at my brain during my rewatch. Something I couldn’t quite…
I love good twist endings. You know, the ones that reveal a whole new layer to the story, that make you care about the characters even more and marvel at the solution to the puzzle you’ve been wrestling with all this while. Heck, I’ll even settle for bad twist endings,…
For a lot of my life, I was fortunate enough to be one of those kids who got praised for ability. I sailed through academics from kindergarten to high school, and it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t get into any university I applied to. Even through undergrad, I…
If there’s one scene that encapsulates why I love Elementary despite its flaws, it’s from 5×08 “How the Sausage Is Made”: in which Joan and Sherlock discuss why Sherlock isn’t attending his support group meetings.
As a Steven Universe fan, I hear lots about other great Cartoon Network shows. Including, of course, the one that boosted Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar’s fan cred: Pendleton Ward’s Adventure Time.* So many of my nerdy friends/random people on the Internet love this show, so I thought I’d give…
Isn’t it nice to find yourself somewhere different, whoa-oh (Steven Universe, “Island Adventure”) A relatively large number of people I know say they aren’t able to get into Steven Universe because the plot feels too simplistic, which is fair: the series starts slowly and carefully, and it takes almost a…