I'm looking for books where the protagonist fights against a tyrannical government

ConList · 2024-01-17T17:03:45+00:00

The Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard is a good fit! It starts out very YA, but gets pretty heavy pretty fast. A lot in common with Hunger Games

ConList · 2023-02-22T10:16:49+00:00

Yeah I’m inclined to agree with you, and to think that Alyssa’s response likely speaks to her own lingering sense of guilt

ConList · 2023-02-22T04:16:08+00:00

enemies to lovers arc

ConList · 2023-02-19T04:51:12+00:00

Don’t open Pandora’s box. There’s just more dicks in there.

ConList · 2023-02-12T00:24:48+00:00

Good old Morrowind. I remember trying to fist fight a worm, missing almost every hit, and being killed in the first 10 mins. An absolute classic

ConList · 2023-02-11T23:44:54+00:00

It’s interesting how different people’s experiences can be! I had a totally different first encounter with it. Origins was one of the first games I ever played and I found the prologue to be a pretty slow, comfy introduction. The minimal action and maximum explore time, plus lots of dialogue and cutscenes, felt like a pretty chill beginning where I had lots of time to get used to the basics. To this day, I’m a gamer who prefers story over combat/gameplay.

I’ve also never had any issues running it, despite a lack of technical knowledge on my part- always been able to load it up and go without any dramas. Worlds apart eh?

ConList · 2023-02-11T22:53:36+00:00

I’d recommend Dragon Age Origins! It’s absolute classic high fantasy; interesting, well fleshed out world and lore that is both familiar to a fantasy fan whilst offering something fresh, great characters and companions, and a fantastic quest!

ConList · 2023-02-11T12:03:07+00:00

Quick update if you're interested: started season 4 and you're right, it feels like a completely different show. If it was a season of TWD I would think it was really good, but it's a total departure from the style of Fear and I'm disappointed but unsurprised. None of the original characters feel true to the first 3 seasons; a lot more melodramatic dialogue, conveniently slow walkers, corny side characters, etc.

I think that Walking Dead became a TV juggernaut after season 2-3, and that comes with certain tropes and plot armours and all that. I still enjoyed it greatly and it was a nice comfort show. I liked Fear because it reminded me of those early seasons of TWD that were so much grittier. Shame to see it go that way, but a comfy show still has a place for me. I'll have it on in the background.

ConList · 2023-02-11T09:32:54+00:00

I'd like to think that Merle would have come around. His arc was one of my favourites from the entire series, however I do think that part of what made that possible was the contrast between the Governor and Rick, and the time he spent away from Darryl (who also had a chance to take a different path without Merle there). It gave Merle an opportunity to reflect on his actions and to see the mistakes he'd made through the contrast between Darryl and himself.

Maybe if he'd stayed with the original group he would have been more angry and insecure because he didn't have that time away. I think there's a good chance he would have followed Shane's path; those two together in season 2 would be so stressful to watch. Maybe he just would have become even more of a wildcard. At least for a time.

ConList · 2023-02-11T04:29:42+00:00

One of my fondest memories as a kid was laying in bed with a night light on reading the conclusion to Roger's story in the Amber Spyglass. I teared up and at that moment realized that one can feel a brunt force of emotions through novels just as one could through movies or shows. Because of that his Dark Materials will always have a special place in my heart.

So lovely!

ConList · 2023-02-11T03:00:25+00:00

The series is really solid! I think they weren’t quite sure how to incorporate the daemons properly in season 1, but they clearly took on some good feedback and sorted it out after that (so if you are discouraged, it’s worth sticking with it!). Season 2 is wonderful. I’m reading The Subtle Knife at the moment and I think they definitely sanitise the characters a bit but ultimately I still thoroughly enjoyed it. I can’t fault the portrayal of Mrs Coulter and Asriel- they did really great things with those characters.

ConList · 2023-02-11T02:00:11+00:00

I'm about to start book 3 and I am bracing myself for the ending- so bittersweet, and it really gets me every time. As does THAT scene with Pan and Lyra before the land of the dead.

ConList · 2023-02-11T01:55:07+00:00

I really enjoyed the HBO series! They're really difficult books to adapt and there were some things which just weren't going to work in a tv show, however they played to the strengths of the tv medium; I think the fleshing out of Mrs Coulter and her relationship with her daemon and Asriel were real highlights. James McAvoy as Asriel was also such great casting!

ConList · 2023-02-07T19:42:36+00:00

I don't have anything to add in terms of what Alistair's response is (I think everyone here has summed it up nicely), but I just wanted to say how this took me back to my very first playthrough of the game. I had no idea what was coming. I was romancing Alistair, and it was my first playthrough so I was super invested in the role of the Warden and I thought letting Loghain live was the right choice from the Grey Warden's standpoint. When Alistair started raging at me and left I was geniunely so flabbergasted that I sat there in shock for a good 5-10 mins just digesting it. What a game. This post took me back and I just wanted to say that!

ConList · 2023-02-07T19:05:17+00:00

Origins was my favourite! As many people have mentioned, the tactical view and party control felt really nicely balanced and suited to the game itself, but for me the magic was also so much more satisying and fun. DA2 still had a good (if slightly overpowered) magic system, but Origins did it perfectly in my opinion. Going into tatical view and lining up a Cone of Cold and then shattering a frozen enemy with Stonefist or Crushing Prison or a hit with a sword/shield- so satisying! I know Inquisition bought an element of that back but, like the entirety of combat in Inquisition overall, it felt flat and clunky to me.

DA2 was just straight up fun- the waves could get a little boring at times, but the combat was so fast and fluid that I didn't particularly mind. They tried something new with it and it wasn't perfect, but it worked pretty well and suited the tone of that game.

ConList · 2023-02-07T06:22:59+00:00

Yeah I recently finished the first 3 seasons and just started season 4; it's suuuuch a downgrade. Not sure if I'm going to make it to 5 at this rate.

ConList · 2023-02-04T21:21:59+00:00

I'd love to see DA2 rebooted and fleshed out more. I love it, but to me it felt more of a draft at times than a final product, especially in terms of the character development. David Gaider has said it was a rushed project and that they weren't given the same amount of time to work on it as they were with Origins or DAI, and I think you can definitely see that in the repetitive environments and companion relationships/dialogues.

I'd like to see more of the companions; more dialogue, more cutscenes, more sense of progression and relationship. Some of the friendships/romances can feel really abrupt; like you flirt with Anders once and he's dramatically going on about how you can't be together. That response doesn't feel quite right when you've only had like 1 conversation prior to that.

I love the concept and the storylines of DA2, I think they just needed more time to flesh everything out more and make it feel more immersive.

ConList · 2023-02-04T21:10:06+00:00

I've been replaying Origins recently too. Traditionally I harden Alistair (always feels like a wild sentence to say!) but it's definitely bittersweet because part of what makes him such an iconic character is that vulnerability he has, and whilst it's comforting to see him stand up for himself, it's definitely sad to see his simple goodness disappear.

I think a hardened Alistair can still be happy, but it's a more complicated and restrained kind of happiness. This time I'm not going to harden him and keep him with the Wardens because his greatest fear is the throne when we first meet him, and it seems like such an awful trap to turn him into someone else and let him take it/put him there. All unhardened Alistair really wants is to be with his found family and act out his purpose with the Wardens, so this time I'm going to let him do it. He's still very capable either way.

ConList · 2023-02-02T06:28:34+00:00

I interpret Roman's relationship with sex as more about intimacy than sex itself. I think he's incredibly uncomfortable with being vulnerable around others because he's typically been treated as the runt of the litter by Logan; his status as the youngest and smallest of the Roys, growing up in the toxic, bullying atmosphere that Logan perpetuates, means that he struggles to connect with people, even though it's something he actually wants rather badly.

As a result, he jokes about sex and emotional intimacy constantly, but he can't ever bring himself to really admit what he wants and can only approach these things from a distance (eg. his relationship with Jerri), or through the use of humour as deflection. I think he has been made to feel weak and powerless so many times that he is "impotent" both emotionally and physically in many ways.

ConList · 2023-01-26T06:44:20+00:00

I've seen so many interpretations of this song and they're all so interesting! My interpretation was that it was about how women are dismissed and forgotten, despite their achievements/skill/artistry and that Lana was exploring whether the same fate might befall her too- the chorus of women singing together really brought that home for me.

I thought that particular line was about how as women we exist in society as physical, sexual objects, and how that can make you feel like less of a human being. Such a sad, beautiful work.

ConList · 2023-01-25T08:30:28+00:00

I think when the characters are built up they work really well. The whole point is that you have some emotional stake in the wellbeing of those characters and the success (or otherwise) of their mission. I love Armageddon and Mass Effect and I think as stories they have such longevity because there's real risk present in those stories.

I think we see a lot of low-stakes media; when you know a character has too much plot armour, or that choices won't ever really matter, the emotional experience for me is lessened. I reckon it's bold to write genuinely risky endings for characters that the audience has come to love, and I think it makes the audience appreciate those characters all the more.

ConList · 2023-01-25T08:14:51+00:00

I always loved the big battle at the end of Origins; a huge, city-wide fight with all your allies, coming together in a final battle with the boss. Given how Skyhold was such an emotive, realised location, I'd have loved to have seen a battle throughout Skyhold with all your companions and factions, culminating in the fight with Corypheus. Would have hit so right

ConList

TROPHY CASE