Weird Isn't Bad

There’s a million things wrong with this article on LOTR, but let’s take just one glaring error, that “the heroes are always good.” Recall that Frodo, the story’s protagonist, FAILS in the end to destroy the Ring. When the moment comes, he decides to keep it. It’s only because Gollum attacks him and bites off his finger does the ring fall, together with Gollum and Frodo’s finger, into the fires of Mount Doom. This was the hidden role that Gollum had to play in what Tolkien called the eucatastrophe—the unforeseen appearance of divine grace and intervention at a moment when all is lost. In Tolkien’s legendarium, morality is black and white—just like it is in our world. But his characters are not black and white, they’re fallen and complicated, just like real people are.

Liberal sex positive feminism and right-wing sex negative feminism are different sides of the same fascist coin Moralizing sex as “good” or “bad” is a failure and the type of mythologizing that is essential to fascism

So many classic novels break this. There really are no rules

“don’t be afraid to show off your gem!” and her unbuttoning her shirt…. actually insane gf energy

Writers: try to avoid ANY flashbacks, info-dumps, context-building, or stage setting in at least the first chapter, but preferably the first two or three. There are good reasons for this: