Be warned: This Episode contains spoilers for both Sarah J, Maas' A Court of Thorns and Roses series (especially A Court of Frost and Starlight). If you don't wish to be spoilified, it may be best to skip this one.
The dragons have discussed the spec fic romantic subplot before. And the shipping of two characters. Let's face it we all want our ships to sail, don't we? But what if two characters getting together romantically is the absolute worst thing that could happen to a series? Narratives are driven by conflict. If you hope to write a six book series but the two MCs get together in book three, that conflict needs to come from somewhere else - and it had better have been set up in book two as a subplot! This week Jules and Madeleine look at favourite sff 'power couples' and where it worked for them to get together as opposed to where it spelled 'death' for the franchise. (There is some overly salty language from Jules here on the latest S.J. Maas novella so gird your loins.) Drawing from their own experience as writers, the dragons discuss how you can eat your cake and have it when it comes to resolving a romantic subplot, as well as the importance of retiring tier one characters to second or third tier in a series when it's time.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 141: Spirits of the Deep and Dark - A Dissecting Dragons Hallowe'en Special
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 140: Parody, Farce and Exaggeration - Satire in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 139: That is Illogical - Murderous, Wacky and Wise-cracking AI in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 138: Streetwalkers, Courtesans and Companions - The World's Oldest Profession in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 137: This Year's God - The Human Need for Archetypes
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 136: Remus Werewolf McWerewolf Lupin - The Importance of Character Names in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Ep 135: Grimalkin, Mogget and Mr Kindly - Cats in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 134: Love Ladies Lost! Revisiting Arthurian Legend
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 133: Every Hero Needs a Sam - The Unlikely Best Friend in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 132: Stranger than Fiction - the Weird and Wonderful World of Writing
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 131: Hobbit Holes, Burrows and Secret Lairs - the Concept of Home in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 130: Masked Marauders - Double Lives and Secret Identities in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 129: Marrying in Haste - Young Love in YA Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 128: Neat Little Monsters - The Animal Companion in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 127: Crime & Culpability - Should Characters get what they Really Deserve
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 126: The Slow Death of Literature - What Readers Really Want
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 125: From a Certain Point of View - Multiple POVs, Dual Timelines and Reader Sympathies in Speculative Fiction.
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 124: Visitations and Forebodings - How Nightmares are used in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 123: From the Deep - Mystery, Suspense and Sea Monsters in Historical Fantasy
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 122: Baby Doom - The Stork Visits in Speculative Fiction
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