One of Breaking Bad’s greatest strengths is something that has been the greatest weakness of almost every other show that has attempted such a thing: It takes place in a clockwork universe. The “clockwork universe” is a storytelling world where every single character and element is meant to contribute to the overall forward thrust of the story and its attendant themes. The characters may have rich inner lives. They may seem to have free will. But the more the workings of the story are poked at and pulled apart, the more the characters are revealed to primarily be there to play specific roles within it.

For the most part, clockwork-universe storytelling works best in works of finite length. A novel or film can turn this kind of mechanical storytelling into something utterly thrilling. Think of how many great heist stories are primarily boiled down to the role each character plays on the team, or think of how many quest narratives ultimately become about how the party assembled to complete the quest was exactly the right party because its members all filled specific roles that were necessary for the adventure undertaken. The plot of a clockwork-universe story is usually at least somewhat complex, filled with moving parts and ticking time bombs, and when things resolve at the end of one of these stories, there’s often a great sense of elation, particularly if the storyteller can offer up well-drawn characters and unexpected revelations along the way. Things snap into place. Story points that seemed unnecessary make sense. Everything becomes incredibly satisfying.

-- "How Breaking Bad Broke Free of the Clockwork Universe Problem," Todd VanDerWerff, avclub.com

Posted here because this is an easy way of explaining Death Note's structure and characterization to the unwary: every major character has their origin in a very specific plot need and is constructed to be the kind of person who would take the action that the plot requires them to take to move forward. For example, every single thing about Misa was chosen to make her the kind of person who would have the Shinigami Eyes and would be willing to use them to further Light's plans.

The article is interesting in other respects, too.

What I warn you to remember is that I am a detective. Our relationship with truth is fundamental but cracked, refracting confusingly like fragmented glass. It is the core of our careers, the endgame of every move we make, and we pursue it with strategies painstakingly constructed of lies and concealment and every variation on deception. The truth is the most desirable woman in the world, and we are the most jealous lovers, reflexively denying anyone else the slightest glimpse of her. We betray her routinely, spending hours and days stupor-deep in lies, and then turn back to her holding out the lover's ultimate Möbius strip: But I only did it because I love you so much.

- Tana French

Hey, someone just made a lost password request for this account, but it wasn't me. Whoever made the request does not own this account.

Maybe you own one with a really similar name?

If you use Gmail, do a search on "Welcome to Dreamwidth" (in quotations like that) to possibly find the notification for when you created the account you own. That should have the correct username on it, and you should then be able to get into that account.

We organize games on Plurk, and we try to accommodate everyone who wants to play in a given match. If we're aware that someone wants to play, but they aren't on Plurk, someone will be happy to try to grab them on AIM when a game is forming!

It's likely that most of this won't make complete sense until you've spectated or even played a game or two. That's normal: don't worry about it.

( slightly outdated information, but maybe still helpful? )

(Cleverly backdated! Hoping this doesn't show up on anyone's friends page.)

Bach Canon Played as a Moebius Strip

Every so often, the topic of music comes up around the DN fandom, or around people who RP as L, or etc. Suggestions are made about what various characters would like, fans agree or disagree... it's harmless speculation.

After a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that canon!L probably doesn't like music at all: we think he must because we like it, but he really doesn't seem to want to be distracted from his work. We see him sitting in silence and requesting quiet.

I've seen a few good suggestions, though, for music he might like if he did listen to it at all, and my own vote always goes in for J.S. Bach, based on elements that aren't easy to explain (the mathematical qualities of counterpoint, for example). This video is a fantastic demonstration of what I mean; also, it doesn't require a fandom connection to be fascinating.

[I have been making posts to this journal here and there, but I felt odd about cluttering up people's friends pages with them, so I've been backdating them. There's some stuff I've been meaning to post. When I do, I won't backdate it.]

This is something I want to get together for myself, because I've been having problems with it while trying to icon for quarter_english, so I will put it under the cut and work on it as I have the chance.

I already expect that I'll be changing some of the categories, because, for example, L has little use for a "flirty" icon, but frequently uses a "fake innocent" one (well, at least as I play him, he does). He needs a pile of "staring" "walking around" and "inquisitive/curious" ones, too.

( look out! there's a giant icon table under here. )

I'm actually posting this in late July, but anyway: in late June, I wrote a fic for dn_contest, and I actually won the popular vote. The theme was alternate ownership of the Death Note, and what grabbed me was what might have happened if it had gone to Soichiro rather than his son Light.

Title: Choices
Author: Eru-dition
Rating: PG-13
Pairings/Characters: Soichiro
Warnings: Allusions to sex and violent death; nothing too explicit
Word Count: 2440
Note: Thanks to everyone who encouraged me, and to darkluna who has given me feedback as this was in progress.



( You will see him, his suit and glasses and watch, and you will think, Here is a man who does the right thing. The world could use more like him. )

I'm behind the times: Sims 3 is out, but I just got Sims 2.

W/R/T making Death Note Sims, piles of custom content exist out there, some of the customizations better than the rest. I've scrolled through dn_sims and also looked at posts on other communities, as well as at least three different lists of suggestions, and I've poked the brains of a few friends, too. This post will keep track of what I find. At this writing I've made L and Misa, mainly because I found good packages for them; my next project is Light, who will be more of a challenge.

( Read more... )

A home for links to comment_fic prompts, assuming I fill any more of them.

( Read more... )

I've been meaning to post this for a while, now; it's a list of movies, television shows, books, and so on that I think will appeal to Death Note fans based on some element of the story's content. Most of the time, the recommendations I've seen in the fandom extend only as far as Monster and Code Geass.

You can bookmark this entry, or add it to your memories, and I'll update it as I think of more things to list on it.

Movies

Breach: A famous, recent espionage case presented as a suspenseful drama.
The Talented Mr. Ripley: Another murder mystery with a villain protagonist, in which the question is not who the murderer is, but whether or not he'll get away with it.
Real Genius: Super-smart teenagers, at a school modeled on Cal Tech, compete under heavy academic pressure for on-campus positions and post-collegiate jobs... until they learn that someone has been lying to them about the purpose of their lab work.


Television

Life: A charismatic and quirky LAPD detective serves a decade in prison for a triple murder he didn't commit. When he is released, he gets a huge financial settlement, and his job is restored to him. He immediately sets about investigating the case in which he was framed.
Criminal Minds: FBI profiling procedural with great characters, for everyone who can't get enough of the NPA Task Force, or all the profiling of Kira that both L and Near engage in.
Leverage: A team of con artists and criminals with various skills address the balance of power when rich people injure or take advantage of the less fortunate.

No chapter on walking could be complete without a nod to the private detective, who started to appear in the nineteenth century. He is an attractive character precisely because he is essentially an idler, as Walter Benjamin wrote in Arcades:
The truth of Benjamin's observation is embodied in that great literary loafer Sherlock Holmes, who, we conjecture, became a detective because he liked to loaf in his fictional world; to watch, to think, to walk. Like the poet, the detective does his work by walking and by sitting. He is not a victim of society; instead, he watches it, he stands outside it, he enjoys it, he smiles at its foibles.

-- Tom Hodgkinson

We want to believe that things last for ever, whether it is love, life, God, or the laws of nature. But death, as Freud continually reminds us, is what certainty looks like. Perhaps the best we can hope for is to live in uncertainty for as long as we can bear it.

-- Christopher Potter

I'm really far behind on a few things. Consider this my to-do list:

- I still haven't finished my fic for the dn_contest Secret Santa! My partner is her_victory and she wrote something stunning and amazing for me, which was posted on 12/20.

- I need to launch Colors L ASAP, as soon as I have the energy, and can work on that fic.

- I have a mix to post. I've been working on it for months, and finished it a few weeks ago, but wanted to get the other things settled before I go about posting it.

Unfortunately, about two weeks ago, I wiped out on some ice on the concrete steps of my back porch, and my back has been killing both me and my ability to concentrate. (Anyone who has been getting RP tags since then: I'm phoning them in, for the most part -- sorry about that.)

Title: Birthday
Rating: PG
Pairings/Characters: L, Beyond Birthday, cameo appearances by the rest of the NPA task force
Warnings: Does a ghost merit a warning?
Word Count: 2941
Notes: This is my first fanfic in almost 15 years. I think I owe part of the concept of ghost!B to knights_say_nih. The idea to write about B haunting L on his last birthday (the only birthday when it would have been possible) comes from some free association (Halloween, L's Birthday, Beyond Birthday, etc). Also, L'Osier is a real restaurant, considered one of the top French restaurants in Tokyo -- which makes it one of the best in the world.

Written for dn_contest Week #31 - Halloween. Cross-posted to eru_dition.

( I could have stopped your breathing in your sleep. )

I've had this journal for months without using it, but I have been intending to use it as a place for fandom works and as a hub for RP stuff. So, here we are. New layout, no icons yet.

Edited to add: I have friends-locked the apps on this journal. The reason is that reserve challenges are in vogue lately: when apping is a competition, not just to be "good enough to be accepted" but to be "the best in a pool of applicants," tipping one's hand is a bad idea.