On a serious note - I was actually glad for the (apparent) ebbing of doom. Having something that keeps going down and down and down can get rather wearying to read if the people don't get enough of a break now and then.
(I actually had to stop reading a webcomic a short while back because the characters kept having *everything* turn against them, with their few victories too minor to really grant a meaningful reprieve.)
An emotion curve that's little more than a slightly bumpy downward slide can be depressing. As someone who struggles with clinical depression myself, that's the last thing I need. Occasional victories are good for the soul - in the readers, I think, as well as the characters.
You've hit the nail on the head, my dear fellow. This is also what the very notion of comedic relief is about; too much tragedy is too strong to swallow, so a little comedy clears the pallet before the doom resumes. It all allows for heightened catharsis when the resolution comes about.
Here in lies a bit of trouble for our zi ri narrator; zie is capable of quite a lot of comedic relief, and therefore quite a bit more doom.
Yup. Sythyry's going to win this one, over the next week. Not a perfect win of course -- sort of like in the fight against the pirates -- but a win anyhow.
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Date: 2010-06-05 01:34 pm (UTC)(I actually had to stop reading a webcomic a short while back because the characters kept having *everything* turn against them, with their few victories too minor to really grant a meaningful reprieve.)
An emotion curve that's little more than a slightly bumpy downward slide can be depressing. As someone who struggles with clinical depression myself, that's the last thing I need. Occasional victories are good for the soul - in the readers, I think, as well as the characters.
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Date: 2010-06-05 04:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-05 04:49 pm (UTC)Here in lies a bit of trouble for our zi ri narrator; zie is capable of quite a lot of comedic relief, and therefore quite a bit more doom.
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Date: 2010-06-05 05:49 pm (UTC)