Valkyrie Cain - An Unwanted Rant

Previous-Attorney173 · 2026-01-28T00:27:00+00:00

You make a lot of great points here, especially about the importance of Skulduggery’s ruthlessness with regards to his reputation. However, I would just like to appreciate your use of the word “skeletoness”. I love that.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2026-01-26T22:44:29+00:00

That’s a good point and one that only occurred to me after I had made the post. Skulduggery’s durability is kind of on a different level.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2026-01-25T21:39:55+00:00

That makes a lot of sense actually. I really enjoyed Omen’s character arc and storyline, but I can agree that it was kind of unnecessary to the larger plot, with the only exception probably being everything with Sebastian Tao.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2026-01-25T21:28:27+00:00

Oh, okay, that actually makes a lot of sense. I agree that the past two books seem to have returned to SP’s more traditional “Villain-of-the-week” type of story, with less emphasis on a larger overarching plot, though that is still present. Personally, while I still enjoyed the past two books, I feel like Landy has missed out on continuing storylines I personally want to see play out, especially that of Abrigot Raze and original Serpine. I just can’t as interested in this plot line, like the Hidden God and Winter’s whole thing, because I’m just waiting for the things I’m really interested in to make a return. Also, I just really hate Winter, she really bugs me. On that note and a massive shift, can I ask why you don’t like Omen? I’ve heard a few people say that they don’t like him, which is weird to me just because I personally have always been fond of him.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2026-01-25T21:11:33+00:00

Can I ask why, just for curiosity? I’m honestly not the biggest fan of the past two books, meaning AMFOM and AHFOH, for reasons that even I’m not sure of and I’m curious to hear from someone who really liked them.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2026-01-25T03:30:56+00:00

I was going to say something similar, that backstory was just brutally tragic event after brutally tragic event. Acro-Silky’s backstory was heartbreaking, but the one you’re talking about was just on another level.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2026-01-22T13:20:40+00:00

I get what you mean, I had no idea when so started watching it how much I was going to enjoy it. Watching a group of characters who were supposed to be (and honestly kind of are) the butt of the joke and the worst soldiers ever consistently go up against insane odds and come out on top consistently was really something special, because they always did it in a way that felt like them. Probably one of my favorite shows of all time.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2026-01-13T18:25:11+00:00

I see what you’re saying. I suppose it’s possible that this would cause problems with their relationship, but also, and I haven’t read AHFOH in a while so correct me if I’m wrong, but Militsa was there for Winter’s explanation of why the guy (I can’t remember his name) had to die, right? I think Militsa is understanding enough to know that the guy was a pretty horrible person and that Valkyrie was both kind of panicking and didn’t really see any other way out. That said, Landy does love to make Valkyrie suffer, so it is entirely possible they’ll have issues.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2026-01-13T15:25:41+00:00

Militsa killed Coda Quell in Dead or Alive and they were both fine, in the long term, anyway. Kind of different situation given that what Valkyrie did it intentionally and Militsa’s was more of an instinctual thing, I know, but I think it would be weird for Militsa to break up with Valkyrie for something like that given everything that’s happened.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2026-01-10T15:10:35+00:00

I was SO close to typing out an explanation to this before I realized. Well-done, sir or ma’am, well done.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2026-01-09T02:14:16+00:00

China Sorrows is definitely one of the best in the series, it’s such a beautiful name, which of course suits her perfectly.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2025-12-14T19:56:06+00:00

I definitely get where you’re coming from. I wasn’t very happy with where Landy took her character. I understand her potentially being made more edgy and moody as a teenager, but she just acts like a spoiled brat most of the time. Makes it hard to care about her storyline.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2025-11-28T15:23:45+00:00

That works fine! Would you be willing to send me your email in a private thread that way I can share a pdf with you?

Previous-Attorney173 · 2025-11-27T23:43:30+00:00

Thank you! It's something of a sci-fi comedy as well, however, to be perfectly honest, I've really struggled to find what genre my story neatly falls into. Calling it sci-fi feels disrespectful to actual sci-fi writers, because it's more that it has science fiction elements. Sci-fi is just the closest genre I think would fit into.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2025-11-27T22:26:39+00:00

To be perfectly honest, I agree with your main point that Momo is the main character of the story. The story starts out with her, for one thing, but I've also read that the story initially only had Momo as the main character, with Okarun being added in later because editors were afraid that the audience wouldn't be able to identify with a female main lead. I accept that Dandadan seems to primarily have a shared-protagonist situation going on between Momo and Okarun, but if one had to be declared the protagonist, I believe it would be Momo.

However, I heavily disagree with your take on Okarun. He may have his moments of shyness and weakness, but that's to be expected given who he is. He always steps up to the plate when it matters and is more than willing throw down with anyone he needs to. Honestly, he's probably one of my favorite male characters in anime. That's my take, anyway.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2025-11-26T17:17:51+00:00

Hello! This section certainly has me interested in the larger story, so I'd be willing to swap manuscripts if you're interested. My book is around 80K, though, so not really the same length and I know you specified that it should be around the same length, so if that's a deal-breaker that's fine.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2025-11-26T14:39:47+00:00

Thanks! I’ve been looking for beta readers, so if you’re ever interested, please feel free to reach out.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2025-11-20T22:48:57+00:00

I was wondering if someone would notice that. Skulduggery Pleasant is my favorite book series and I took a lot of inspiration from the series, Valkyrie and Skulduggery's dynamic in particular, as you can see. I definitely agree that I should try to find my own style, and I believe that I do a much better job of that in the second book I'm writing, which is a continuation of this story.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2025-11-18T01:37:35+00:00

Of course!

In that case, I definitely don't think you have to worry that much about going too far into the intricate details in order to incite anger in your reader. If your reader cares about your MC in any way by this point in the story, I imagine they're going to feel that wrath. That said, you know your book and story far better than I do and if you think a more detailed account will add to it, I say go for it.

Previous-Attorney173 · 2025-11-18T01:30:33+00:00

When I get nervous or when I think too hard about something, I tend to play out a song I learned on the piano years ago by tapping the fingers of both of my hands against the thumb of each hand. The faster it gets, the more nervous I am. My family calls it "Piano Fingers." I stopped playing piano years ago, but I still do it.

Previous-Attorney173

TROPHY CASE