I'm finally all caught up on Looking Glass, which means I can discuss it without sounding like an idiot who doesn't know what she's on about. I can also give a more thorough, comprehensive rundown of the fic and my opinion on it. *Throws confetti*
(Don't click on the spoiler if you don't want another one of my long-ass rants about things)
To put it shortly - I'm still just floating around somewhere in the "intrigued" category.
To put it longly - Feynite really is a pretty polished writer, and that's all the more important given that she's a fanfiction writer. There's nothing devastatingly bad about the fic, and I have to echo my sentiments from Dread Wolf's Heart - technique's good, she could get published with a decent editor, so on, so forth. While it might not be entirely fair to say this, given that I never finished DWH, I think Looking Glass is better. The plot is stronger. The characters are more interesting. She's paying a bit more respect to canon and I think her prose has improved a bit, too. It hasn't really pulled me in yet, but it hasn't lost my interest either, and there's still time for that extra push.
I, um... *Ahem* I've aired my criticisms of the protagonist before, but they've been mollified a bit with recent chapters. I still get a bit pissy whenever she praises Pride for agreeing with her, and I can't help but notice the lack of sneering she did at the dwarves and their opulence (Despite comparing it to Arlathan once or twice) but at least I've mostly shaken off the feeling that it's The "Everyone Stands Around and Watches Lavellan Be Awesome" Hour (Which really ought to get a snappier name) She's gotten better at acknowledging her flaws and deferring to others and, oh my God, Pride is actually doing things and being competent at stuff and I'm not sitting here wondering how he ever managed to get anything done since without Lavellan to lead him by the nose and clean up whatever mess he inevitably made.
Although that does bring me into the fact that LG pegs him as being responsible for the Blight, and into a wider discussion on LG's take on the lore and on Solas. First of all - can't say I'm happy with that addition. There's only so much failure you can pile on a character until the audience stops feeling sympathetic and starts feeling frustrated. (Granted, I'd argue it's a problem even canon struggles with. Jowan's infamous for failing at everything he does, Cory's derided for being such a failure that no one can take him seriously as a villain, and there's that joke about Solas and how his plans never work (Although that conveniently forgets that his plan in Trespasser went off without a hitch. And he seems to have managed an entire slave rebellion.)) DWH, for instance, made him such a screw-up that it was hard to have any faith in him at all - LG's not that bad, at least. It's interesting to see where Feynite's taken the lore - her take on elven and dwarven society in particular - but with the Blight, at least, seems like it puts too much on Solas, and too much on time magic. (Although I suspect she'll eventually use it to bring back Lavellan's world, and possibly Solas along with it, which will be fascinating to see, at least) It also has a few holes in it (Why didn't Solas just go back the second time Mythal died? He said he wouldn't dare, but why? What'd he have to lose? How'd he even discover time magic to begin with? And how did no one discover it before him, if it's always been possible? If a few human mages figured it out within months of the Breach opening?) The addition of the Keepers, the elves starting out with clans, and the Creators predating the Evanuris all sound like unnecessary complications for me. I know they'll probably become important sooner or later but, eh. At the moment it just seems pointless. Maybe I'll be proven wrong there.
On Pride himself - he's... I mean, he's nice. Cute, I guess. But he's not Solas. I think that's the issue I really have with getting into his character. I get that's he supposed to be younger, that it's before everything really started going to **** for him, and there are brief flashes where it's just - it's Solas, that's Solas, or someone who could conceivably become him, given enough time and tragedy. But most of the time, he's lacking Solas' composure. Solas' wisdom. Solas' cunning - Solas' fine-ass flirting. And God, his poetry is so corny and stiff. Go paint a mural, kid, it's what you're good at. Will be good at. Whatever.
So yeah, there's that. I like him. But I don't think I like him as much.
(Although it'll be interesting to see what happens when the truth inevitably comes out, given that he seems to have hated his early behavior as a spirit and likely loathes the idea that, as Pride, he can only be dangerous and destructive.)
On the OCs - They're alright. I forget that Curiosity's there a lot, although I can't deny that she has personality. Haninan's interesting. I don't love him as much as others seem to, but he's interesting. (I still tentatively stand by the theory that he's the original Fen'Harel, because why would it be in the story if it's not important, and who else - that we've seen thus far - would make a viable candidate for the role? Chapter twelve chipped away at it a bit, but on the other hand, Fortune was pestering Lavellan so it's apparent murder could've been an act of defense. *Shrug* I guess we'll see.) Haven't seen enough of Hildur to really have an opinion. And on the subject of more minor characters - well, I've aired my grievances there, too.
And to be honest... I'm not all that interested in Pride and Lavellan's romance. It just seems... I dunno. Lacking. It's hard to describe. Maybe it's because Pride isn't Solas-y enough for me to really get invested, or maybe it's because Lavellan doesn't seem to be getting much out of the relationship. Like, she keep dropping this wisdom and comfort on Pride, but there hasn't been much in return and, thus, it's hard to parse out why she's drawn, specifically, to him. What he's giving her that she can't get anywhere else, from anyone else. Flirtation and romantic interest? But that's not the best basis for writing a powerful romance. Simple respect for her as a person? But she gets that from Curiosity and Haninan, and besides, she could probably find it elsewhere, too. His determination, or earnestness? Maybe, but she only brings these things up when comparing him to Solas. I just think it's missing that vital component of why Lavellan needs him. To me, at least, that's the keystone of every good romance.
So anyway... yeah. There's m'thoughts.... yep...
This also means that I should probably actually get back to work. I'm supposed to being do art things, but I don't feel like doing art things, so I was procrastinating with other things. And now I've run out of things to procrastinate with. *Sadly throws confetti*
Ah screw this I'm making some tortellini.
Retour en haut
Oh well.
