Channelknight Fadran

"AH!"

@Enter a username

Is Emi the nicest person on the Shard?

You don't know how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? I know how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. A woodchuck could chuck a truck of wood if a woodchuck could chuck would. Would a woodchuck chuck a truck of wood if a woodchuck could chuck cood? If a woodchuck had a truck of wood to chuck, then I'm pretty sure it would.

You're an amazing person.

"I dunno. I can never tell. Probably nothing to be worried about. Say, how are you at storming impenetrable fortresses? Because that's the current game plan."

"I vaguely remember Emi. Now that I think about it, I kind of remember you, too."

We could make a PM, if you want. You can be involved however much you want to be involved. I can play a teensy-tiny bit of Hamilton.

“Hi, Velles. I’m Fadran. If you don’t mind my asking... where the heck did you come from?”

"Holy heck, another one--" Fadran raised his voice. "Hold on! I got you!" He Forged a Spirit Bond to the water, pulling the man towards him with a wave of magically-controlled water.

Notting! Wasing the want of spook. That isn't two questions. That is four questions. Question 1: Yes, this exists. I think. Question 2: I DON'T KNOW. SOMEONE HELP ME, I'M SO CONFUSED HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? Question 3: Kandra, probably. If they can will their acne to not exist, then they're good enough for me. Question 4: Oops. Uh... sorry. I'm pretty dang absent-minded, and I tend to forget about things that I promise to do. You can certainly help with my fanfic, and I'll do my best to help with yours. My apologies for being a dirty procrastinator. ZELDA MUSIC (I.E. not Parachute).

That's the basic formula for almost every character arc there is. Pulling off a failure arc is really hard to do, so doing the 'ol character change is generally the best option. Oh, absolutely. I don't think I ever said that all characters needed an arc, but just to make sure, no, not all characters need an arc. This ^ ^ ^ so much. A lot of stories fail by putting in too much of one or the other. This is why I was so blown away when I was watching Captain America: Civil War last night: pacing and theme aside, their balance of plot, character, and epic action scenes were perfect.

I was half-stalling then to try and figure out a way to explain the necessity of character arcs. Fortunately, it worked, because I have an explanation! In a book, you need characters. With characters, you need arcs. These are the things that I, as an aspiring author, just kind of understand inately. It's not exactly something I can explain. If it seems like I'm just directly contradicting your argument with no evidence, then you would be correct: I have presented no evidence yet. Or have I? *Devious Fadran noises* See, if we assume that characters need arcs, then by claiming that arcs are really just flavor for a book, then you are by extension claiming that characters are just flavor for a book. I can't actually use your example of Batman to explain this, though, because... I don't watch the Batman movies (I've seen that hilariously terrible one from 1966 and the lego one). However, I can use your example as Dalinar, because--get this--I've read the Stormlight Archives. I know. Shocker. Jumpscare of the century (it is spooky season). I'll be referring to Dalinar's arc in Oathbringer as a primary example for my explanation here. I agree with what you said on how his arc was really entertaining the first time, but not so much the second time; this much is true for everything. Whenever you read/watch something for the first time, there's that surprise factor that makes things so much more amazing. That surprise factor isn't there when you go back and reread/watch it. That isn't to say that it can't be enjoyed, however. I imagine that when most people hear the words "character arc," they assume "character change." I.E. a character becomes better because of what they learned. This, fortunately, is false. A character arc doesn't have to end in change. Take Gollum, for example, from Lord of the Rings. His entire arc was him trying to take the Ring back from Frodo. If Tolkien had wanted to incorporate change into Gollum, then he would've made it so that Gollum eventually lets go of his attachment to the Ring, choosing something else over its lure. Heck, even Frodo didn't manage to change in the end; the only reason the Ring was destroyed at all was because Frodo and Gollum were fighting over it and Gollum just happened to trip and fall into a lava pit. If we were to have a similar arc for Dalinar, then he would've become Odium's champion. He wouldn't have fought off the Thrill, and he would've chosen to keep his pain (did I just write that independent clause? @DramaQueen). If he had fallen and become Odium's champion, then that would've also been pretty dang cool. There wasn't any change involved here: only a failure to make the right choice. The key word there is choice. Character arcs are just characters making choices. That's all there is to it. Whether those choices be good or bad--right or wrong--they're still choices, and, by extension, arcs. Dear gosh, this turned out to be way longer than I expected it do. Welp... I guess don't die. ~Fadran.

No, Matrim, I have not.

@Negative_Null @A Windrunner @Condensation

You can say that whoever I was supposed to roast won, because I'm not willing to spoil Alcatraz for myself. My apologies.