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@calidris

I also think that part of the issue is that main characters tend to be really boring and unlikable.  I think in some cases, people do gravitate towards morally gray or even straight up villainous characters just because they’re dark, but I also think that these characters are just generally really interesting!  I think that there’s kind of this expectation sometimes that an MC has to be a good role model, and so sometimes authors don’t give them opportunities to really mess up and show an uglier side.  Again, it’s something that Haikyuu did so well – the main characters were incredibly flawed, but they were interesting, and you knew that they would grow from their mistakes instead of just ignoring them.  Also, I think when people idolize a character, they might be less likely to admit they’ve done something wrong because they’ve actually attached a part of their own identity to that character (You can see this in real life too with politics and celebrity culture.)

That’s an excellent point, I actually never thought of that! But it makes sense seeing as most of the heroes and heroines written in fiction nowadays are bland and have no personality lol. And you’re right about the idolizing, there are people who will literally start fights when someone insults their favourite character :/

Also btw is the anime any good?  I need something new to watch XD

It is good ya, I never realised I needed a Viking anime until now. The characters are really well-written and plus its a fascinating time-period. It is quite violent, but that’s because it’s whole story is about realising how pointless revenge is and that violence is not the way to become a true warrior. If violence isn’t your thing, then maybe skip it. Also I will mention that I am quite disappointed in its portrayal of Christianity. There’s a lot of scenes that really made me want to smack my head against the wall, like there’s a priest who turns to heresy and another character decides to rebel against God. He’s all like yeah sometimes I think about God up there in paradise, with literally no problems, and you know what, I HATE IT!!! Down with God!

Umm okay.

That being said I do think its probably historically accurate for the time period. A lot of people would have had a very simplistic view of God like if you don’t pray you go straight to hell sort of thing. And it was a violet time too, so I can understand why people’s understanding of faith would get skewed.

You hit the nail on the head!  I think in my case, I used to glorify violence perpetrated by the protagonists in my earlier writing, and I think that’s probably a huge reason why I now avoid writing it.

I will say, after writing my recent post, I’ve realized that there actually more potential instances of violence in my story than I remembered.  Right now, my protagonists are pretty peaceful, but an issue of self-defense might come up at some point.  For now, I know I’m sticking to non-lethal violence (at the bare minimum,) and I’ll have to pray about the rest 🙂

I totally get that, its good that you decided that 🙂

Honestly, I could say the same for you and Lorcan – I’m so glad you’re tackling the subject of war and tyranny in your writing!  I feel like in Christian fantasy, there’s kind of this tendency to have the “good” side and the “bad” side, and they both always act accordingly.  Whatever violence the good side uses is justified, because they’re fighting pure evil.  I’m not saying that all stories with this format are bad (in fact, I think that they can be really great allegories, like the Chronicles of Narnia,) but imo governments in real life always hold some degree of corruption because they’re lead by sinful people.  Obviously some forms of government are way worse than others, but there is never a true “good” side when dealing with humans, and I’d love to see more Christian fiction tackle that!

I absolutely agree it should be shown more. There is definitely room for the stories with good sides and bad sides, but portraying the realities of war from the human perspective is also so important. There is actually also an ultimate battle between good and evil at the heart of TLC, which is what is driving the war and hatred in that world. So ya there will be that too 🙂

By the way, have you seen 1917 by any chance?  I just watched it with my family (as of finishing up this response XD,) and I think you’d really like it!  I have to preface this by saying that there were some graphic scenes, a lot of swearing (including f-bombs and using the Lord’s name in vain) as well as an inappropriate joke I never actually picked up on (the movie is rated R.)  That being said, it’s a phenomenal movie, and a very powerful portrayal of the realities of war (my dad mentioned that they actually probably toned it down – which I agree with.)  It was brutal and heart-wrenching, but it was also (imo) tastefully done.  It’s not a movie I could recommend to everyone (because of the content issues,) but I know that you like darker/realistic portrayals of war, and I figured you might be interested!  I think it might be the most powerful movie I’ve ever seen.  It deeply affected me – not in a bad way, but certainly not in a warm-fuzzy way either.

I did watch it and I really like it! I love how it was shot to make it look like it was all done in one take and I particularly loved the ending, I thought it was so moving. Very powerful especially when it makes you realise that this was exactly what the boys and men went through, on both sides. I also like Fury, have you seen it? I think its very poignant, it does a good job of humanising Allied and German soldiers. There’s a scene in it that hit hard – where one character is forced to kill a German soldier and its framed in a very horrible way that makes you realise most of the Germans were just ordinary people. I had relatives fighting on both sides of the war – both world wars actually – so I really connected with that film. I think my family being involved back then is probably another reason why I’m so drawn to portraying the complicated realities of war.

I LOVE THIS!  This is such a fantastic arc for him, and it makes so much sense for his character.  I actually never knew that he despises his profession, but again, it makes a lot of sense.  He’s built up this cold and arrogant wall to shield him from the horrible reality of what he’s actually doing 🙁  I especially love that part about Lorcan deciding to achieve peace the righteous way!  It’s just such a touching end for his arc, plus it’s also a kind of scary reminder of just how easily people can be led to justify evil if their goal is “good…”

Thanks! 🙂 I just hope I manage to do it without suddenly making him really bland – that would be the worst! I probably won’t hopefully, because he has a pretty difficult future ahead of him, which I can’t wait to write about. That reminder is definitely what I’m going for with his character, its gonna be quite an emotional arc and I can’t wait for people to read it XD