Dear Authors: Other Worlds

dear authors is a series where readers chat with readers about what we like to see in books the the conception of this the point of these videos is i post a community tab asking about a specific type of storytelling trope character character archetype something in books that we often see and then other readers will comment give their thoughts that sort of thing and then we all come together and chat about it together what we like what we don't like my goal for this is just to bring the community a little bit closer i guess my goal for this is to be more interactive with my videos be able to highlight certain comments have a discussion with y'all there's a whole playlist for these for this video series i'll have it linked in places but this specific one is portal worlds or doorway worlds um moving from the established place probably earth to a new world this will be a pretty short one because this is such a very specific subject that there's not a whole lot of exploring that we have to do but it is one of my favorite tropes i love doorway fiction doorway fantasy is what i call it portal worlds there's a lot of different terms for it i love it all the concept of being on earth but somewhere beneath the surface somewhere just at your fingertips if you look just right there's access to something magical something brand new to explore there's just so much wonder in doorway fantasy to me in my opinion and there's so many different fun ways to do it i know that one really really i know that portal worlds is very saturated in the webcomic sphere and in the manga sphere i think they call it isaki is that right or is it kai i'm not positive that i'm pronouncing it correctly but i've seen tons of people recommend it to me since i love portal world so much but since i'm new to manga i haven't read any of these yet though i will so i'm gonna be focusing on you know the type of things that i have read and can comment on so i read through i think all the comments if not then almost all the comments on this community tab and it was really funny to see how opposing the opinions are i usually try to pick out the comments that are the most reoccurring the most common um but for this one there were so many comments saying there has to be set up there have to be hints that there is another world somewhere before you introduce introduce the other world or the opposite no hints whatsoever it should be normal daily life earth as we know it and then you stumble into something unknown or i'm so tired of it being played out this way versus this is my favorite way that it can be played out so it was really funny to see basically people just saying this is my preference and the next person's saying the exact opposite so i have accumulated some of the common thoughts but it was really funny to read through the comments on this one my favorite part about portal fantasy is how someone from our world reacts to a new world's culture technologies magic system do their values change in a different society well they become killers and how does this affect them does their perspective change the mindsets of the people in the new world can they use knowledge such as science to improve a situation or defeat an enemy can they gain access to magic themselves and how capable can they become will they look for a way home or choose to stay in a new magical if dangerous life creating new cultures beliefs norms religions slang all these things are so important to making the world feel really immersive and unique it's kind of frustrating to get into a portal world that kind of just feels like our world but like with slight differences then it's kind of like what was the point of this but being able to step into something where the climate is different where people's basic normal practices and thought processes the religions everything has changed here is so exciting and fun it actually makes it feel like another world and not something that's crafted from what we're already in and having our main character step into something that they never knew existed and that is completely different from a basic functional standpoint is something that should rock their world so i recently read a a portal book where the main character really wasn't affected by the new world hardly at all very rarely was he rocked by this world to the point where there was a scene where he stood before a goddess and told her i'm an atheist i don't believe in you and it was played for laughs it was all supposed to be funny but that was his that was his posture throughout the entire book almost there were very few scenes where he was actually affected by the stuff he learned normally he would just play it all off as like okay roll with it and it was an intentional choice by the author but for me i just i felt like you're not affected by the world so why should i be i think that it's so much more interesting to see a character be completely shaken by the fact that not only is what they thought was real completely challenged it was not the only reality but the the things that they thought were definable truths the the way the world should run the way structures should be the way insert blank here the way that they thought was correct it can be done in a completely new way which should make them also question a lot of other things in their lives i think there's so many things in our world that make us feel like an insignificant blip on the map and being removed from that world and realizing that your world isn't the center of the universe it's like it should affect it should affect characters i think portals and other worlds invoke such a sense of wonder and curiosity for both of for both us and the main character but with that they would also cause tremendous fear and uncertainty even if there aren't actual monsters the entire world is unknown anything could happen it isn't just exploring a new place which is scary on its own the very rules of the universe and time could be different i love when this gets explored and when we're actually feeling afraid with the characters it's still wanting them to push the limits and keep exploring excellently put the next thing that came up a lot is how important worldbuilding is this was probably the most commonly repeated uh sentiment that making the world very immersive is essential to making the story exciting for us for readers world building is key in any portal fantasy or sci-fi trip to an alternate dimension the main fascination for the reader or viewer is to explore what is different whether it's the environment culture politics or anything else if the world building is good enough i will read a story of this type even if i'm not overly fussed about the plot or characters oh my goodness this could not be more true for me too in fact i read the uh wayward children series it's a series that i i mean i don't really rate books but if i did i would probably give almost every book in that series that i've read three stars there have been a few standouts but it's just it's not it's not a book that i feel so connected to however every other book in the series they're little novellas they're very short every other book in the series we get to go through a doorway we get to visit a new world and i live just to see those worlds books like narnia that stay relevant as the essential doorway fantasy now years and years and years later there's a reason it works so well and that's because when the kids step through that doorway when they step through that wardrobe we do too a whole new world with completely new systems with talking animals different climate structures different hierarchies everything is new is described in such a vivid detail to the point that i'm there too and one of the reasons why this is one of my favorite tropes is because there's something just so exciting about feeling like this kind of thing is accessible to me i'm in the normal everyday world but if i just step through the right doorway if i just stumble through the right patch of trees if i if i fall asleep under the right tree if i encounter the right person then a whole new world is accessible to me too stories like narnia alice in wonderland percy jackson harry potter neverwhere how's moving castle nevermore wow i like a lot of stories like this it's it's it's it's at the at your fingertips it's they're they're in their normal setting one moment and then the right thing happens and then they're somewhere brand new portal worlds are effective because they hold a sense of mystery the desire to step into the unknown and be enchanted and mystified by a completely new world they appear to our wonder our curious minds our childlike nature and naivete it works really well when the world is different from the previous one new geographical settings new cultures different looking species different ways of living another interesting way is if there's stakes to entering the world to maybe you can't return or time will have passed substantially or there's a price to pay in instances like these the portal world becomes a character of its own and the little treats and surprises that it holds enhance that to a whole other level another common sentiment that came up was that of parallel worlds and this is another thing where it wasn't universal a lot of people disagreed but as far as i could tell it seemed like some people were saying that there's no need to have parallels within the different worlds and then other people were saying i love parallels within the different worlds so as far as i can understand it it seems like this isn't a necessary thing but a lot of people appreciate it so as long as it's not super crazy in your face it seems like anybody would be comfortable with it so let's talk about parallel worlds a little bit i love portal fantasy that has seamlessly intertwined with the real world in significant ways whether it be by appearance though altered like the upside down or something or in themes the two worlds are so different yet have the same flaws this increases the opportunity for discussion of our own normal world as it's compared to the magical one so there are really distinctly parallel worlds like um a darker shade of magic which i read like three years ago so i don't super remember this way it was set up but i think there was like a red london and a gray london is that right the point is they were parallel they were very parallel they were two distinctly similar setups but also very different things were happening within the two different londons and i think that's a really interesting concept i really like that set up but it seems like the more common way of doing it is to have parallels within themes which not everybody is a fan of i personally love so i want to talk about it a little bit i really enjoy when the reason you stumbled onto the new world onto this into this other world is something like you happen to be a wizard and you didn't know it or you happened to be a demigod and you didn't realize until just now i like that setup obviously a lot however i do think there's something really really special about you just stumbled here and it's completely unique it's totally different there's something completely new about or the entire world is completely new to discover but there's distinct correlations between one world and the other like that even though there's magic in the world even though the hierarchy is different even though the systems of power are different even though there's talking animals here and certain things maybe maybe technology hasn't been introduced to this world very strongly and magic is the tech is the way they do technology here whatever it is whatever is completely different about this world humans are still humans and so even though we might remove some of the struggles or some of the obstacles of the old world humans are still humans so some of the same struggles are still there some of the same problems are still manifesting here and there and that gives an awesome opportunity to have a subtle conversation within the story about the flaws of humanity or whatever the author wants to dick into in in the in their story i don't know i i just really like that i just happen to be a really themes heavy reader so if the author is not in your face not really heavy-handedly discussing themes with the the portal world i don't know i really like it when an otherworld story is good to me it's when the character and the world they explore complement each other's presence the character grows over the course of the story and the world is changed in some way by their being there whether good or bad it just needs to happen in coraline she travels into another world and learns what she needs and then the entire world is destroyed in her act to save herself and her parents in stardust the main character is so charmed by the magical world that he can't go back to the mundane and continues to live and explore the other world it's definitely not everyone's jam for the two worlds to be directly connected either in a very obvious way or in a very subtle way and that they're reflecting each other and there's a discussion there to be had but i do love it all right the last comment i will read is this one i think other worlds are so vast and diverse that it's impossible to give a single general reason why they may or may not be appealing an other world can align to the tone and themes of your story reflect them contrast them break off on a side branch it can be a compliment to the real world an escape an unrelated pocket dimension or it can be the main focus of the story so much so that the real world feels like the other world the possibilities are endless i would say other worlds are good when they enhance the story in some way contrasting subverting adding branching escaping being the main focus etc without removing immersion that is without breaking the underlying rules of what makes sense in the context of your story there are tons of ways to do this other world sort of thing i like it almost every time i see it but the thing that seems to keep coming up or that seemed to keep coming up in my comment section was immersion and i completely agreed that this is key for me enjoying a story what makes other worlds so exciting is the idea that i too could step through a portal and be in another world even though i know i can't i like to pretend and so having it so immersive that i feel like i'm also stepping through another world is just i just don't get tired of it a really big common theme for things that make other worlds not work is that it just if it feels like earth 2.0 we seem to all agree that that doesn't work out so well but there's so many ways to do it there's realizing that you always belonged in this other world like with wayward children harry potter uh percy jackson there's i just stumbled in here like narnia alice in wonderland howl's moving castle there's it's always been there like uh the girl who fell beneath the sea neverwhere it's just there's so many exciting ways to do this sort of thing i even cite uh one piece as a low-key doorway fantasy even though it's totally not but every new island that we visit has a new culture climate belief system system of how it works and each island is completely unique to to its own it's it's completely different from what we last visited and to me stepping into a new island is one of the most exciting things about this series though there are many many exciting things that i could say then there's also the really intense complex ones like the cosmere world hopping like the warrens in uh malazan there's ways i just it just it's just the possibilities are endless and i just like it so much anyway i don't know it's just a trope that i really really like it's a very specific niche thing to discuss i guess but i wanted to discuss it i hope that you enjoyed discussing it as well please feel free to continue to talk about it in the comments stuff that i didn't mention and don't worry i'm going to start exploring this in manga as well eventually it's on the list there's so many there's so many things to read but please do continue the conversation in the comments i'd love to hear what you think i post videos every monday wednesday and friday here tuesdays and thursdays on the other channel i'll see you again soon bye [Music] so [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Merphy Napier | Manga

Views: 38,727

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Id: BW6wL4cTnJY

Length: 17min 22sec (1042 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 20 2022