Samuel Peterson > Recent Status Updates

All these questions that focus on in-universe music and songs remind me of the songs written in the Redwall books. Some of them are toe-tappers, some of them are work songs, and some are dirges. Some are funny, and others are a bit more violent to the peaceful listener or funny to the violent one.

Oftentimes, in very serious genre fiction, things like favorite foods, drinks, treats, music, games, and hobbies are what introduce us to the characters. Luke plays with models, hangs out with friends, and flies in a skyhopper in his off-time in ANH. Frodo eats and drinks with friends, reads out in the fields of the Shire, and plays make-believe. These things are needed to be dropped for the hero to go on their quest

"A commonality of the universe that often gets overlooked, particularly in very serious genre fiction, is that no matter how bleak people's circumanstances, they still have ways of finding joy. Games, music, food and drink, inside jokes, little hobbies...Your character probably has something that amuses them in their off-hours. And being able to confidently point to these activities helps humanize your character."

Awww, some father-daughter time of changing costumes and trying out different looks. And May has a good eye for bringing the old red-and-blue.

Again? Where's his Spidey-Sense? He's had that since the beginning.

Ehhhh, Exar Kun reference! I'm trying to remember which came first in terms of design: Exar Kun's lightsaber from the Tales of the Jedi comics, or Darth Maul's when Episode I was in development.

"How can you tell if a Neimoidian is lying? His mouth is open." Lol! I love how there are Star Wars versions of colloquialisms!

An "antistress capsule"? Nute Gunray is such a stressful and anxiety-ridden alien that he needs anxiety medication! Lol

I've been enjoying the Maul: Shadow Lord series on Disney+ so far. So I thought I would walk down memory lane and read the Darth Maul books that took place when Darth Maul was in his prime before the events of the films.

"What Their Home Reveals
"Your home is so much more than a place where you rest your head. It's an extension of your personality, in ways both conscious and subconscious. It is a statement you send out to visitors, neighbors, and passersby. If you want to get to know your character, just look around their home, and how it's decorated."
"In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit."

"Packing for Travel...
"Consider what they pack and what they leave behind. What kind of clothes do they bring? Do they have medicines, toiletries, or comforts they bring along? Do they need weapons or protection? What kinds do they pack? How much do they pack?..." And this is why Tolkien just had Gandalf give Bilbo "a little nudge out of the door" in The Hobbit book; to not bother with these sorts of questions.

"The contents of a character's wallet (or purse, or coin pouch, or billfold, or big burlap sack with a dollar sign on it, or just what they've got jammed into their pockets) tells you so much more about them than what you might expect.
It tells you how much money they keep on hand,...their economic standing, national allegiance, comfort among strangers...photos and keepsakes speak to their anxieties, their fears..."

So, MJ doesn't know?! What were those looks then? Those words before?

Again, Spidey-Sense. Although in this situation, it's more like "Daddy-Sense." I just love her little face.

Where's your Spidey-Sense? Idiot. Lol

Now the discussion of vehicles and what characters ride as being an extension of themselves remind me of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Those fandoms and the genres they are in put those sorts of concepts into prominence, and therefore, we are drawn to the vehicles and the characters who use them.

These questions of weapons and how they are treated by the characters, their connections to the weapon or weapons, and how it says about them, reminds me of the Sequel Trilogy and how they treated Anakin's/Luke's lightsaber. How those moments are written is also an extension of how the writer and director treats those weapons.

"There is a moment in every gladiator story where they bring out the big wheel of weapons, and dramatically say to the gladiators, 'Choose your weapon.' There's a reason that moment works so well. Every weapon on that rack tells a story. In that moment, fighters navigate the specific kinds of offense and defense offered by each weapon, and how they might counter one another. What they're doing...is signaling intent"

"As the saying goes, 'The clothes make the person.' But that's only part of the story. What you wear, what you ride, what you spend your money on—every one of these reveals so much about you. What you own signals who you want to project into the world. Whether that version of yourself is real or fabricated...either way, it's incredibly telling." There's also the phrase from Kingsman: "Manners maketh Man."

"If the life you had stolen from you twenty years ago was suddenly given back to you, are you obligated to try and relive some version of it? Because if you did feel like you had to relive that life, wouldn't you just be twenty years behind the curve for...forever or something like that? I mean, I'm a smart guy, but I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now." Usually it's Uncle Ben telling him. Who's it this time?

Some things never change, no matter which universe. Like Peter taking photos of himself as Spider-Man and selling it to the Bugle, even if JJJ isn't there.

"What Would Make Them Happy?: One Perfect Day."
Or, in the case of the Joker, one bad day.

"How equipped is your character to fulfill their purpose or destiny?" When it comes to these modern writers who write $#!++ characters as leads, they are equipped with everything handed to them on a silver platter. No need to train, to be better, to work hard, they already have what they need, and it's enough to succeed! /s As long as you are born a particular color or sex, as long as you aren't emotional, you're gr8

Considering that I don't play poker enough to learn tells, I don't think these questions and prompts would be all that helpful unless they're telegraphed very prominently.

Face-planting, missing deadlines, conned, losing money, losing a quest, and other mistakes? Nah, those are not considered by writers of these toxic female leads.

"You can't win 'em all. It's inevitable. Sooner or later, you're going to fall flat on your face. Everyone does it, and they learn to live with it to varying degrees. For some, it's a blessing and a learning opportunity. For others, it's ruination and blight as far as eye can see. Which leads to a central question: what does failure represent for your character?" Clearly writers of toxic female leads didn't know this

"Define what's worth fighting for. Put yourself in your character's shoes. What's their motivating force?"
In Mulan, it's "a girl worth fighting for!"

The third wrestling reference in this book. Of course it's the section on fighting style.

Of course you would freeze when it comes to a bee. That's how you stop it from stinging you! You wouldn't get aggressive and you wouldn't run either.

"There are three basic ways someone reacts in a desperate situation: fight (the physical need for immediate action), flight (the overwhelming need to escape, and escape now), or freeze (locking up and failing to do anything). The following questions are designed to explore when your character experiences each of these reactions, and how these responses manifest in your character." I'm reminded of HP with the troll.