11 Super Common Villain Tropes as Pokemon Moves! | Should book villains use these?

Welcome, everyone, to the fabulous NEFARIOUS TALES, a villain event organised by Mishma! You're in the right place if you love villains and morally ambiguous characters in general. Today I'm covering 11 common villain tropes ... as Pokemon moves.

Wait, what? Alyssa, how are villain tropes and Pokemon moves related?

First, what are villain tropes?

Tropes are easily recognisable story elements, such as heroes, damsels in distress, and so on. Villain tropes are the tropes that, well, relate to villains, such as the chessmaster, the villain with good intentions, and so on.

(If you love villains, you might also like my previous post on the 7 types of villain deaths.)

For those with no childhood, Pokemon are a very, very, very large group of fictional wildlife that fight each other. Pokemon moves are the specific kinds of attacks that these wildlife use.

This post operates on the assumption that villain = antagonist = generally unsavoury. Some of these, of course, apply equally well to anti-villains or even anti-heroes.

11 super common villain tropes + examples:

1. Evil Cackle

This is one of the most "I'm the Villain" signs. In almost every story, there's a point when the villain has (nearly) succeeded. It's time to celebrate with tea and takeout and terrifying laughter!

Often, this cackle precedes a beatdown by the protagonists:

20. Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly. (Evil Overlord List)

Type: Psychic.
Effect: May be humiliating to more self-conscious protagonists. More often exasperates protagonists (and readers!) because of how clichéd it is. I kinda dislike it in everything except the most classic video games. Like, I don't know, Pokemon? *shrugs*

2. Acid Monologue

It often goes with the evil cackle. The villain has succeeded! They've taken over the world! All the takeout is theirs! Mwahahaha!

Now is clearly the perfect time to lord it over the helpless protagonists and/or explain the entire evil plan. After the monologue, failure of said evil plan is almost inevitable.

Type: Poison
Effect: May make you feel good for 0.4 seconds and paralyse the protagonists for 0.25 seconds. May also give them the information needed to utterly destroy you.

However, I do enjoy it when these monologues start off gloat-y and end up revealing the villain's less evil motivations. Morally complex villains FTW!

3. Random Wrath

This villain is a loose cannon. He's just evil for the sake of it! They will for no apparent reason steal children's cake, kick random kittens down wells, and shoot their trusted lieutenant for something that is not his fault and/or plot convenience. They have a terrible reputation and their allies tremble in fear.

Type: Dark
Effect: Strikes fear into the hearts of your enemies. May also give them the resolve to fight and defeat you. I like my villains clever, not just ruthless.

4. Minion Attack

Said some wise literature person, "Everyone likes to root for the underdog." (I'm actually legit, but I cannot find my notes for that lit class, so take my word for it, okay? OKAY.)

Therefore, while the protagonists may only be the hero and his plucky sidekicks, the villain often has armies at his disposal. Many villains will deploy these minions to vastly outnumber the protagonists ... because "we have resources".

The consequences are either (a) their troops turning on them or (b) the protagonists succeeding despite all odds.

Type: Fighting
Effect: Unfortunately, minions never seem to leave a real scratch on the protagonists. (Although they may provide some comic relief to the novel.) Minions are seriously ineffective. The only way to make it worse would be to send out your minions and then say "Leave him to ME!"

5. Shadow Sneer

Unlike the evil cackle, this is when villains appear all simpering in front of the protagonists, hiding their world domination plans with good manners and hot chocolate. Bonus points if the villain-in-hiding steeples their fingers.

I actually adore it when villains in disguise act the hero's allies. But I'm less on board with it when the book then shows me their SECRET smile and tell me, "this guy is SECRETLY evil."

Type: Ghost
Effect: May confuse your opponent and cause them to hurt themselves. Recoil damage is also caused to the Fourth Wall.

6. Royal Disdain

Off with their head! Let them eat cake!

As explained above, we tend to root for the underdogs. So powerful royal figures are the domain of many villains instead. Some monarchs may slip into Random Wrath as explained above. Others might simply not care about the peasants they trample on.

Type: Dragon
Effect: Makes for dramatic entrances. That said, that's all it really does. Most attempts to destroy the protagonist via a casual royal command don't work. (When it succeeds, though, you can bet I'll be on board for that.)

Chances are, said villain will lose their royal authority fairly soon ... unless you happen to be reading somewhat accurate historical fiction, where there's a decent chance the "villains" make it out.

7. Kiss n' Kill

There are two sides to this. First, evil overlords tend to keep around a harem (or at least a very attractive consort). Unfortunately, villains are also paranoid, so they also tend to kill off their consorts, if they're secondary/tertiary characters, quite liberally. Look, they're evil!

That said, I genuinely don't like treating love interests as disposable plot objects.

But you know what is cool? When villains try this on less savvy protagonists and distract them to carry out their schemes. And maybe even fall for the protagonist for real.

You know what is even cooler? Savvy heroes trying it on villains.

Type: Psychic
Effect: Causes confusion to the opponent, as well as to the reader. Also muddles up feelings and murder and basically flailing all around.

8. Backstab

Yeah, that image really says it all. But y'know, villains might not be able to do everything alone. And their allies often don't have moral compunctions. So a great deal of stabbing happens within the enemy camp.

I adore this trope and it's one of my favourite ways for a villain to go out as well.

Type: Steel
Effect: Creates a NEW villain for the protagonists to fight. *happydance* Unfortunately, it does very little actual harm to the protagonists.

9. Crimson Wash

While I hold the best entrance is having a signature villain song (Imperial March for the win!), books don't play music. While we wait for this momentary oversight to be corrected, giving villains a signature colour is the next best bet.

So when the villain enters and/or takes over, a shift in colour can instantly signify that victory. Red may not always be the villain colour of choice, although ... *looks around blog* Hmmm

Type: Psychic
Effect: Creates fabulous tension + atmosphere—colours are one of my favourite literary elements. However, not very effective for anti-villains or disguised villains, for obvious reasons.

10. Evil Scar

While protagonists may have the occasional scar to show their bravery on the battlefield or somesuch, many villains like the Joker or Scar (like, obviously) have evil-looking scars. Sometimes it's even serious enough that the villain is down an arm or half a face or an eye.

Type: Normal
Effect: Handy label for a villainous appearance. But personally, I feel this trope could be very problematic in propagating ideals of beauty and/or ableist ideas, so I'm a little dubious unless it's well justified.

11. Thousand Stories

I've talked about villains and the potential problem about their troubled backstories, but villains with complex motivations are still fantastic. Here's why it might just be my favourite trope here:

• heartbreak all around
• characters being vulnerable
• moral ambiguity
• just emotions, okay? I might not be able to handle them in real life, but emotions in fiction = the most important

Type: Ground
Effect: Earth-shattering destruction on everything you thought you knew.

Oh, and don't forget to check out everyone else on the Nefarious Tales trail (ahaha, I rhymed):
Sophia @ Bookwyrming Thoughts - Awesome Villain Powers
Nova @ Out of Time - The Darkling Formula

Which of these tropes do you like/dislike? Who's a villain you really love? And comment with a Pokemon move-version of a trope yourself! I will feature the best ones :D

ETA: While the Nefarious Tales giveaway is over, never fear! I'm running another INTERNATIONAL giveaway for a truly fabulous book, perfect for readers who love morally ambiguous stories!

How should you monetise your book blog? Redbubble vs Society6 + 6 case studies + Infographic (CIVIL WAR!)

More and more book bloggers are monetising their book blog, which is THE COOLEST. One of the more popular options are print-on-demand design shops like Redbubble and Society6. Today, we have 6 fantastic designers here for the CIVIL WAR between the two!

So why are design shops so popular? First off, print-on-demand design shops like Redbubble and Society6 are super easy. In my opinion, they also align better with blog readers, aka other book lovers, more than most ads.

And last of all ... many bloggers have picked up design to make a pretty blog! So it only makes sense to transfer the skills. I think it's super important for book bloggers to be invested in art OTHER than books. It's productive procrastination and helps us keep blogs running!

Looking to promote to book lovers? My giveaways are promoted to 1000+ subscribers and have gotten up to 18K impressions on Twitter. Email me to sponsor one now!

Team Divergent:

Shannelle @ Art of Escapism

1. Thoughts on Society6? 

I think that Society6 is awesome because it runs promotions with free worldwide shipping. As a customer, it's really hard to beat that. But I really, really hate how I have to size a different file for each item. I can't just crop a file like I do in Redbubble.

2. Thoughts on Redbubble? 

I love how much more user-friendly Redbubble is when it comes to uploading, they have a cool range of products, and their support is really quick too. I love how you can set whatever price you want, for every single product, and their option to download an image that you uploaded yourself is awesome too!

Redbubble only offers discounts, though, but no free shipping. And while sometimes that's manageable, like a journal to China with a shipping fee of $5, which I can actually live with (and no, I have not been staring at my cart with my All the Mysteries of the Universe journal and crying inside a lot). But the fact remains that it's still expensive.

3. Biggest difference between the two?

I see Redbubble more of as truly for the artist. As a whole, it provides proper protection of art, it's easier to upload things on it, and they have a really cool range of products (if you see someone using a Fire-Breathing Bitch-Queen journal in the wild, tell me so I can smother the person with my love), not to mention their very flexible pricing.

Society6's biggest selling point to me, as someone not in the US, is their free shipping for other international buyers. But I personally think that their system is not nice to artists. Unlike Redbubble, I can't put an artist's note, and as someone who puts a lot of thought into each design, I would like to put something and hope people appreciate that. Links to the artist's website are also hidden, so while it does put a spotlight on the art, the artist deserves appreciation too.

ALYSSA RECOMMENDS: Shannelle's VICIOUS throw pillow as pictured to the right! I mean, did you expect anything else from the diehard Schwab fan? And don't forget to visit Shannelle's Redbubble and Society6 stores!

Cait @ Paper Fury

As our glorious queen, Cait is of course different from the other lovely divergent contributors to this post. Instead of being on Redbubble and Society6, she's on Etsy and Society6.

1. Why did you choose to sell on Etsy? And after that, why did you also join Society6?

I basically picked Etsy because before that I'd been selling via facebook and it is abominable for trying to promote products and not pay for ads. Etsy was the only other internet creature I knew of to trot my origami over to so -- voila! I did!

I've been on Etsy for nearly 2 years now, but I only just signed up for Society6. Firstly, because I've wanted to for a while. So why not try it?! And secondly (most important) I honestly don't think there's ever enough merchandise out there to proclaim the gloriousness of dragons. I am here to fill the need.

2. What are the best features of Etsy and Society6 respectively?

Etsy: You only pay about 3% of your profits to Etsy, so that's marvellous. You basically have a lot of control over your store and if you're a mild control-buzzard like me, then that's glorious.

Society6: Your job is so easy. After you upload the design: BOOM, you are done. You could sell 1 thing or 100 things and you don't have to do a thing. Also no risk of mixing up orders, running out of something, or accidentally crying over your products in rush-season.

3. What are the limitations of these two platforms?

Etsy: People who buy handmade tend to be very picky. And if a customer has a problem, they can leave a nasty review before you even have a chance to fix the problem.

Society6: It definitely boils down to: you don't make very much profit. You definitely have to sell a lot, which can be daunting. Also purchasing the correct licenses for graphics and fonts can be mildly overwhelming.

ALYSSA RECOMMENDS: On Cait's Etsy, definitely her new bookhook bookmarks! And from her Society6, it shall be her "drinking the tears of my readers" travel mug. I think I'd kill for one of those.

So far an infographic to sum up Society6 vs Redbubble, but keep reading the case studies for details!

Oh yes, blookunity, you should pin that for reference. Just roll your cursor over the infographic!

Team Redbubble:

Eve @ Twist in the Taile

1. Why did you choose Redbubble?

I chose Redbubble because I preferred it as a customer. I’d previously had good experiences buying from it. The pricing and shipping of Society6 seemed quite geared towards the US, and I feel as though it sells more art and illustration. I wanted to sell designs on actual items rather than just art prints!

2. What is the best feature of Redbubble?

It’s extremely easy to set up. You only have to upload designs and set prices! And it’s easy to find your stats too. For someone like me who has very small knowledge of businesses, it’s excellent.

3. What limits you most on Redbubble?

I haven’t yet encountered any major limits (although I haven’t been selling on it all that long). But I think the search system doesn’t work particularly well, and often seems quite random. It can miss out items for a specific combination of search terms even if the keywords are in there.

ALYSSA RECOMMENDS: Eve's Les Mis vive la revolution notebook and her writing warrior stickers are so cool! Check out her store!

Meleika @ Endless Pages

1. Why did you choose Redbubble?

Redbubble is super easy to use and uploading pictures is super easy. I also chose to open a small shop there because it had no verification fee.

2. What is the best feature of Redbubble?

The best features on Redbubble is the layout of the website. I prefer it way more than Society6. It's also easier to upload your work as you can resize it (zoom in and out and also multiply it) on the website. I can also bulk upload my designs and fanarts!

3. What limits you most on Redbubble?

Redbubble hardly ever has 'free shipping' or specials. This is why I also ended up opening a Society6 store but most of my customers are on Redbubble. They go crazy for the shadow hunter stuff and my tumblr chats.

ALYSSA RECOMMENDS: Her 'the pen is mightier than the sword' and 'I wish I was reading' notebooks are super snazzy! Check out her store!

Team Society6:

Yani

1. Why did you choose Society6?

There are countless reasons I can think of right now so let's just break them down:

I am in an overwhelming feeling of admiration whenever I visit stores of some great artists in Society6 which resulted to daydreaming of my store & that someday, I would be one of these artists, that people would look up to my works (THAT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE RIGHT NOW BC I'M LAZY AS THAT CAT BESIDE YOU).

Society6 serves their artists in a satisfactory manner. Take this: You are a long boarder and went to a skate park with lots of skate boarders but these skate boarders invited you to join them because you are a boarder. Long and skate boards just differ in sizes but when you use it, it's still skating. No difference, eh? The artists in Society6 have different kinds of works but they are still the same.

Society6 is like the legit site I know for now. There are lots that are booming but I don't know them, yet. And I even don't know how to manage my time with blogging, school and my store, how much more if I open another store? I would go demented!

2. What is the best feature of Society6?

Their profit on art prints! You can name your price. ($$$HINING IN MY EYES). I'm genuinely thankful to Society6 for these profits, it's staggeringly helpful + I don't have to do the work on producing whatever I sell on the store, I only just upload my art and tadahhh! (EXCUSE MY DESIGNS RIGHT NOW FOR THEY ARE A PRODUCT OF HEAVY SCHOOL SCHEDULES). *Hollers.*

3. What limits you most on Society6?

They should have a template for phone cases because I have a problem whenever I upload some typography designs. And, some of my designs are not available in another product even though I already uploaded a design for that particular product.

ALSO! Take note on this, if you haven't noticed: Whenever you upload your designs or view some artists store on S6 using Google Chrome, some of the products are not shown or not "there" when you expect it to be there.

ALYSSA RECOMMENDS: Her 'mischief managed' art print and her 'home is where my books at' tote bag look FAB. Check out her store!

Bhavya

1. Why did you choose Society6? It seemed easier and nicer to deal with than Redbubble.

2. What is the best feature of Society6? I think the best feature of society6 is that you can pick your profit for the prints. Also, they seem to have sales all the time.

3. What limits you most on Society6? It's a bit annoying to resize images for the different products. A few of the products to have templates but it would be nice to have one for all of them. That way it's easier to figure where to place things so print doesn't look odd/end up where you don't want it to be.

ALYSSA RECOMMENDS: This iPhone case is so unique. Check out her store!

For those skimmers, here's the infographic towards the right again for your reference.

Personally, while I'm all for monetising book blogs, I feel that the design store market is a little oversaturated, and book bloggers are now gearing up for other ventures like subscription boxes.

There are also some designers who don't really have quality work, but just slap haphazard fonts on random backgrounds. And that's okay — everyone has a learning curve.

But take the time to make quality designs and artwork, and then? Upload everything and "they will come"?

Not quite. Build your reputation in the blookunity (read my super intense detailed guide how), learn how to market your work, and let's rock whatever design store you choose.


Are you Team Redbubble or Team Society6? Do you sell your designs online? Who sells your favourite book merch?

Looking to promote to book lovers? My giveaways are promoted to 1000+ subscribers and have gotten up to 18K impressions on Twitter. Email me to sponsor one now!

I challenge ALL book readers to stop making these 11 mistakes [#bookwormproblems GAME!]

Okay, unpopular opinion here: BOOK READERS ARE STUPID. *dodges the hurricane of urchins*

I say that as a proud, card-carrying, TBR-ignoring reader. And so I'd like to challenge myself and everyone from the blookunity to STOP. We are so often blinded by our love for books. Let us STOP making these 11 most heinous mistakes.

(In case you haven't picked this up, this is Not a Serious Post. Until the end.)

Play this game (and be honest!) to find out whether you're a hardcore book lover:

(I didn't embed it 'cos it ends up really long, so click here to play it. There's a plot twist.)

The 11 mistakes that all book readers make:

1. We actively seek out heartbreak.

This conversation practically happens to me EVERY DAY:

Friend: You talk about this book a lot. Is it good?
Me: IT RIPPED MY HEART OUT AND SMASHED MY DREAMS
Me: read it
Friend: okay, that sounds fake but okay

Still! Most of the time, the difference between a good book and an AWESOME book is whether I was emotionally traumatised and screamed at the book enough times. After all, we read to vicariously experience adventures, and what better than an adventure of the heart?

If a book is particularly awesome, we might even — gasp — STOP READING for a while. Because nothing can hurt you like the way that last fantastic book hurt you. If you're suffering from these book hangovers, Anissa has a few cures for you!

PS: I strongly believe this is a vicious cycle because if readers later decide to write a book, said book probably aims to break hearts.

2. We feel guilty when our hearts are not torn apart.

Even for fluffy contemporaries (read: Simon Vs), we have FEELS. And even if it's not as dramatic as allllll the characters dying (read: Hamlet), these FEELS can hurt our fangirl heart, especially if they lead to headcanons and fan edits and just skjldfjs—

But sometimes, books DON'T break our hearts and wreck our feels.

One of these books would be The Winner's Crime. I actually loved the ending of The Winner's Curse so much I didn't want to pick Crime up, but everyone was raving and The Winner's Kiss was coming out. But then I DID and I felt so incredibly underwhelmed.

So disappointment + guilt = sad bookworm.

3. We get excited about books with sequels that come out YEARS later.

Vicious by V.E. Schwab (who else, really) has somehow secured the impossible spot of being my favourite book. It was a standalone, which I was on board for, but then APPARENTLY TOR IS PUBLISHING A SEQUEL. Cue fangirling.

And there isn't even a publication date listed on Goodreads. How will I live?

ETA: Vengeful was published in 2018, so good things come to those who wait! Remember, teacups, the best way to get a sequel for a book you love is to actively support a book.

Or — even worse — there is NO SEQUEL YET. Again, I am perfectly on board for standalones, but some books are clearly first books in a series but somehow the series doesn't exist? *pterodactyl screech*

Personal pet peeve: first books that aren't also standalones. Please make it somewhat possible for the story to just end there. Otherwise, I'll just be annoyed all the way through the second book. Or not read it.

4. Our TBR keeps growing but we decide to reread.

The threat of the TBR has always been a common topic in the blookunity:

Bookworms! Dying by TBR is a team sport. It's true bc
1) pretty graphic
2) @PaperFury would wear it on a T-shirt. pic.twitter.com/f5iUvh9fwe

— Alyssa Carlier (@AlyssaC_HK) February 5, 2016

We've all faced that decision. We have a nice, tall (maybe not so nice) TBR waiting for us to dive into. They all look wonderful, and it's going to be agonisingly hard to pick one, but it's also going to be fantastic to know you have a stack of super intriguing books waiting for you.

So, we apply supreme book reader logic, and reread an old favourite.

And it is so tempting! After all, we're guaranteed to love an old favourite, probably love it even more. Whereas that TBR, tempting as the premise may be ... there is zero guarantee that it will rip out our hearts. And who wants to be a disappointed bookworm instead of an unproductive one?

5. Or we decide to do other bookish things, and our TBR grows in retaliation.

Maybe we FINALLY tackle one book in the TBR, and heavens save us, that book is every bit as wonderful as you'd hoped. You are a broken, shambling reader (as stated in no. 1). No point stopping the illogical decisions!

Instead of slaying the book hangover with a new book from the TBR, let us become obsessed with this new amazing book! Write 2000-long keyboard-smashy reviews on Goodreads and all the retail sites. Seek out all the fanart and headcanons. Heck, make some of those fanworks.

Let's pretend this didn't take me years to edit.

6. Sometimes we forget to eat and instead spend hours on Twitter/Tumblr/Pinterest.

Oh man, social media. On one hand, it lets us ramble about our love for books in (5). On the other, it is a huge time suck. I'm sure I spend hours every week on social media to chat with other book readers.

A Typical Day In Alyssa's House:
Me: spends one hour on Twitter
Me: I need to stop procrastinating.
Me: closes tab
Me: ...
Me: opens new Twitter tab

7. Sometimes we speak with non-bookish humans who ask DIFFICULT questions.

Let's be honest, non-book lovers can be very eccentric. Sure, us in the blookunity might sniff books and cry over fictional characters or take out our ENTIRE BOOKSHELF for one bookstagram.

But non-book lovers have the gall to ask questions like:

• "What is your favourite book?"
• "Why do you spend so much time reading?"
• "Why can't you just let go of [insert dead fictional character]?"
• "Why are you eating all the takeout?"

The last one isn't book-related, but clearly no book reader would ask such a strange question.

For MORE things we're tired of hearing, here are things that Pyjama Queen Blogger Cait @ Paper Fury has dictated bookworms (book dragons?) should NEVER have to hear.

8. We read books recommended by our most evil book friends.

Yep, that's me!

9. Sometimes those books keep us awake past 2AM accidentally.

Everyone knows that "I'll just read one chapter before bed" NEVER works. I'll go back to The Winner's Curse again. At the time, I went to bed at 10 PM every schoolday, but that day I brought TWC into bed with me.

I must have said "Just one more chapter" at least a dozen times before I gave up and speed-read the entire book. I finally slept at 1 AM. I had a few bones to pick with it, but let's face it, any book this compelling was an auto 5-star.

(I also just realised that all my bookstagrams in this post are books by Victoria Schwab ... but I've never read her books past midnight. Possibly because I just abandon all daytime activities to read them the moment they appear.)

10. New book with pretty cover eeeeek.

What is better than book mail, I ask you? BOOK MAIL WITH GORGEOUS COVERS. Let's not deny it, we do judge books by their covers. In fact, if it's a particularly pretty book, we'll probably stroke it, sniff it, bury our face in it, or even *gasp* go outside to take 300 bookstagrams of it.

Or maybe — and I won't ask you to confess, but I know it's true for some of you — you've bought books JUST because of the pretty covers.

(I'm sure it'll be the bane of any book buying ban I try to start.)

11. We run out of kidnapped souls to trade for books.

Wait, what? Um, no, that never happens. Nope. Not ever.

(By the way, thinking of writing a new post about evil bookish recipes ... tell me in the comments if you'd like that?)

Now go and do the quiz if you haven't ... because now I'm going to analyse the answers.

To keep anyone from peeking, here's a BONUS MISTAKE: Not joining a book giveaway! Lucky for you, I'm running one here for a truly fabulous book:

(This is an evergreen section, which means it updates automatically with my latest giveaway. Even if you're reading this months later, it's still going!)

All right, spoiler. There's only one result: You love books. Done.

Being a bookworm is not a competition, okay?

The blookunity has its fair share of drama. Over celebrity bloggers, blogging for ARCs, blogging for followers, blogging for stats, blogging for $$$. I've talked about so many #bookwormproblems today but none of them are REAL problems. They're just slightly fanatic things we do as fans. (hahaha, pun.)

The real mistake I'd like to challenge the blookunity to stop is this: Stop competing with each other. Let's start loving books together.

How did you do?!? What is your biggest bookworm problem? Oh, and do you want a list of evil bookish recipes?? Let me know!

Can there be TOO MUCH diversity in one book? (I say ... maybe.) Also, not the point.

Okay, okay, don't throw pineapples at me yet. If you know me, I am a huge diversity advocate, but let me discuss for a moment. More than a moment, because this post is super detailed. BUT I want to hear your thoughts afterwards!

ETA August 2018 -- this post was written quite some time ago and my views have evolved since then. I hope to elaborate more on this topic someday, but please view it critically in the time being.

Also, you should join my giveaway for a diverse book. Go ahead and tap "LATEST GIVEAWAY" at the top of your page -- it's my treat! 

The other day, I was planning rewrites for my witchy WIP (read some of this Mulan + Swan Lake retelling here.) This is one of my more experimental novels, with structural and narrative techniques and just. everything.

And of course it was diverse! I wanted to include ALL the representation. To plan my rewrites, I went online and started researching. (This is one of my two approaches to writing diversity.)

Then I had a complete mental breakdown because of all the opinions and issues that had to be addressed, and so I asked the question:

Can there be TOO MUCH diversity in a novel? (Pin this so your Pinterest friends can discuss too!)

Was I being an overly ambitious barnacle? Did I try to stuff too much diversity into my takeout??These are some of the answers I came up with when pondering the issue of too much diversity:

1. There is always space for more diversity.

Yes, everyone and their cousin and their delivery guy is talking about #WeNeedDiverseBooks. And I cannot articulate how much fandom has changed these years. Back in 2010, I wasn't in the blookunity, but I lurked in the Harry Potter fandom. Fast forward to 2016, and now I can see how wonderfully diverse everyone's fanfictions, fanart, fancasts, and even the canon adaptations are!

And gosh, most of the books I read then were white male cis narratives, and now? THE OPTIONS SEEM TO BE ENDLESS. So I don't want to ignore the steps that the industry has taken!

But the fact remains that diversity is growing fastest in contemporary, and there's still a lack of it in many other genres like fantasy, or dystopian, or thrillers. And even then ... a lot of the diversity doesn't seem to be enough.

(For more super insightful discussions on diversity, I highly recommend reading Mishma's guest post series on #DiverseReads2016.)

Diverse characters need to be in more central plotlines and in more plotlines in general.

So it didn't make any sense to me initially why I'd want to take away the diverse plotlines. Because (1) I liked them. A LOT. (2) they are necessary to change the narratives available to readers.

Let's be honest, so many of my childhood favourites are books about white people, and even though I enjoyed them perfectly well, I never saw myself in them. It's only in recent years that I've begun to see a more diverse range of books, and guess what? I enjoy diverse books so much more.

Because we read to vicariously live in worlds of dragons and talking bagels and magic takeout — and experiencing something out of the mainstream is part of that. For me, reading books has always been about experiencing more. To quote my favourite pirate, Delilah Bard:

I'd rather die on an adventure than live standing still. — A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab (read my review of the sequel)

Considering that I am too frightened of the outside world to leave for more than mini quests to the supermarket, I'm going to live prancing around with a book instead. I joined the blookunity just as #WeNeedDiverseBooks was gaining traction, and this is the most wonderful adventure I've ever taken in my life.

So it seems absolutely ridiculous to actually reduce the amount of diversity in any novel.

2. Intersectional stories are so very important.

When we refer to "lots" of diversity, it's not only a great number of diverse characters — this also includes when one character has multiple diverse experiences. Also called, from Tumblr knowledge, intersectionality.

Let's put it this way: a white deaf person would face certain difficulties from their disability. But a black deaf person would face difficulties from their disability + prejudice because of their race.

Intersectionality is my favourite thing to read and write! Don't get me wrong, it's GREAT if a character is Jewish or trans or suffers from a chronic illness, but it makes me three times more excited if they are all these things at once. Because their story is about 3000 times more interesting and I hear it 3000 times less.

On that note, intersectional narratives are even rarer in YA than diverse narratives, and therefore they are needed for the same reason.

3. Said intersectional stories are realistic.

Most of us don't have only one diverse experience. Our lives are basically many experiences intertwined together, and for many of us, more than of these are diverse. We're not a blank mainstream character + one diverse experience = a diverse character! Yay!

The point of diversity is to be realistic. #WeNeedDiverseBooks is a movement to stop catering only to the privileged, but to everyone in the real world. And intersectional stories exist in the real world, and there is absolutely zero reason to avoid them.

Intersectional narratives are basically diverse narratives taken to the next level. The values towards supporting intersectional narratives — representation, realism, so on — are the same as diverse narratives, and they need to be validated. Too much diversity seems to be a fallacy. 

Roll your cursor over the image to tweet or pin it, blookunity!

But does fiction have to be realistic? Is there a point to which realism means poor storytelling, and even the best of intentions to portray diversity mean portraying it poorly? 

To what extent does diversity limit creative license? I considered:

4. The subplots for diversity take time away from the main plot.

I'm referring to books where the main plot is not about the diverse experience, aka most non-contemporary diverse books. Which are also genres where diversity is lacking.

Solution 1: Racing through the main plot

Which just makes for a less stellar story in general. And let's be honest, we won't pick up books JUST because they include diverse narratives — there are so many fantastic books with diverse narratives that diversity cannot (and should not be) a selling point.

Diverse stories need to be good stories first, or they won't resonate with the reader and undercuts the effect of diverse representation.

Solution 2: Racing through the diverse subplots 

So if the main plot needs to be addressed, the other option is to just kind of mention all the diverse subplots. Look, an asexual person in their natural habitat at the end of page 83! And over there, a wild Pokemon appears! Wait, wrong fandom.

If the diverse subplots are only there for the sake of it ... I'm not convinced. It's totally cool to have diverse tertiary characters, but it's diverse representation, not diverse mention. Diversity needs the centre stage sometimes, and if the programme overruns, that makes it less valuable as representation.

5. The subplots for diversity take time away from each other.

Sure, so we'll take time to explore the diversity ... but diverse characters need character arcs, and if there are multiple diverse experiences, then probably there are multiple character arcs to be developed.

Even if the main plot is not compromised, overstuffing a book with diversity means that the diverse subplots will take time away from each other. And that's going to be unfair to one or both or all of those narratives.

Another interesting thing is that many diversity discussions indicate that a single instance of diversity often doesn't satisfy readers. For example, many people ask diverse writing help Tumblrs what if my villain is agender? what if my f/f romance ends in tragedy? The answer, 99% of the time, is: better include another diverse character/relationship.

While I absolutely think it's feasible to include several diverse narratives in a book — I also think if a book has so many narratives that none of them are properly explored, then as the blookunity so often calls it, the diversity becomes "checking boxes off a list" even if it didn't start off that way.

You'll notice that both of my points are about diverse subplots needing time and attention. Because I believe that diverse representation is important — but plain representation is not enough.

Roll your cursor over the image to tweet or pin it, blookunity!

Why I think there CAN be too much diversity in one book: good diverse representation needs time and space to be developed. (Click to share this discussion to Pinterest!)

A narrative where we say, "Oh, and by the way, there's a black character who experiences racism over there, and a genderqueer character who faces family pressure, and a character who is living with disabilities down the street, and also—" means that we rob these diverse narratives of the time and attention they deserve.

To be clear: I don't think there is enough diversity in the fiction industry. I think there can be a line where so much diversity is in one single book, whatever the author's intentions, it becomes token diversity.

And that's not okay, because diversity in a book isn't just about avoiding stereotypes, but exploring them.

The takeaway from this post? Is not that we need less diversity.

My main point here is that we should stop talking about the "quantity" of diversity. Does it matter if a book includes ALLLLL the diverse experiences? Let's start talking about well-explored diversity instead.

Blookunity! Do you think books can have TOO MUCH diversity? Have you read books with token diversity where you wish more time had been taken to explore said diversity? And oh! Recommend me your favourite diverse book!

Tweet out the takeout!

• Can there be TOO MUCH diversity in one book? @AlyssaC_HK discusses both sides. (Click to Tweet)
• #WeNeedDiverseBooks, but can books ever be TOO diverse? Let's discuss! (Click to Tweet)

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The Step-by-Step Guide to Awesome Bookstagram (with a phone) + VSCO Walkthrough Infographic!

Guys, I'm doing it again. This is an intense, 2000-word post to walk you through the entire process of taking a book photography, including why and how to use VSCO, plus five insanely easy bookstagram template styles to get you started right away.

ETA: I'd love to be friends with you on Instagram! I'm at hkalyssa, and I follow back bookish/author accounts.

Let's be honest, every book blogger and their dragon has tried book photography these days. Whether your bookstagrams get 200+ likes every day, or you just tweet a photo of an ARC you're excited to read, book photography is the easiest way to spared the book love.

If you feel like you are terrible at anything artsy, or have no idea how to bookstagram, or want to streamline your bookstagram process ... this post is for you.

Get started with five easy bookstagram templates!

This post is going to walk you through the four steps to take any book photo. Yay!

1. Plan your book photo.

The single most important key to book photography is intention. Sure, you can take a thousand photos and hope one turned out well, but intention will take that success rate WAY higher. Some questions to ask yourself:

(a) Where are you using this photo?

This is important to dimensions! If you're posting it to Instagram, then your photo should be square. On Tumblr, square to tall images work best, and you can even use a set of photos. On Pinterest, images should be tall.

All these factor into how you arrange your book photo.

(b) Why are you taking the photo?

Do you want to show off your shelf? Flaunt some gorgeous swag? Spotlight a single book? These will all affect how you set up the photo to emphasise certain elements.

(c) What themes can you include?

Is the book about parallel universes? Perhaps you could take the picture upside down. Or is it about time travel? Include a pretty pocket watch there!

(d) Choose your aesthetic wisely!

Your book photos are the visual representation of yourself as a book blogger. The bookstagrams that get the most attention aren't just "awesome". They're "airy", "bold", "dreamy" ... all these specific aesthetics help so much.

If you aren't sure what your aesthetic is, you might want to start from developing your book blogger trademark, which is how you appear online 99% of the time.

2. Set up your book photo.

Here are the most important things you need for a book photo:

(a) BOOKS: Obviously!

If you're featuring a single book, then that is of course in the photo. But will you need other books to act as props? Or maybe a shelf to be a background? Will the books be stacked up, spread on the ground, murdering zombies for you? THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS.

(b) Props: Like I said, books can already be props. There's no need to be too fancy here — there are so many props that you can find in your own house. Stamps, stickers, stationery, bath salts, cosmetics. Or book swag! You can even make your own props — fold some origami, or use the trick I'll discuss in the next section.

Oh, and check out this list of 50+ props over at Nellie and Co.!

(c) Blu tag: BOOKSTAGRAM LIFESAVER.

Okay, so repeat after me: what they can't see doesn't matter. Blu tag is simply the best for affixing any set-ups that aren't super secure, especially when you're including props and whatnot. Paperbacks also have the nasty habit of the pages curling up, so a little blu tag along the sides will put that right.

You can even be creative with this and shape some models out of blu tag to act as props. You can reshape them when you're done! (I'd show you examples, but my artistic skills = 0.)

(d) Background: Here are four of my favourite backgrounds to use!

1. White — paper or cardboard doesn't always look natural, which is why I prefer using a blanket or a towel
2. A quilt — same concept as a white blanket or towel, but with colour or patterns. Do make sure it doesn't clash with your books.
3. The floor — tiles or wooden planks are already a fantastic texture, so go ahead and put the precious books on the floor!
4. A shelfie — what could possibly make a photo of a book better? AN ENTIRE SHELF OF BOOKS.

A good background is essential to a flatlay! Here's a photo where I used wrapping paper from Christmas as a background:

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A post shared by Alyssa Carlier // YA fantasy (@hkalyssa) on Jan 5, 2019 at 4:16am PST

(e) Lighting

Natural light is actually not always best! Yes, everything looks much brighter, but I've taken perfectly lovely bookstagrams with artificial light.

I do prefer natural light, but let's be honest, we have books to read and blog posts to write and takeout to eat so we can't always time it right. Natural lighting works only in early morning or late afternoons, or on a cloudy day. And in any event, it works best when you're taking the photo outdoors.

Types of natural light that don't really work:

• direct light. just, no.
• light coming from behind your set up
• light coming from one side (e.g. a window)

The best thing about artificial light is that you can control it. I've used my desk lamp to supplement natural light by eliminating shadows.

But don't worry that much about lighting — most of the time it can be fixed with a little editing. More on that below!

3. Take your book photo.

This is the step where there are a lot of guides out there, so I'll keep it brief! But I really recommend Nova @ Out of Time's post because she discusses a lot about angles and such.

Oh, and I use a phone for all my book photography. It's absolutely doable — there will be limitations, but most book photography don't require a super pro camera if you don't want to!

My tips for this step:

• Set up your book photo as planned and take multiple shots.
• Don't forget to focus on the right part. Change around your focal point as well to try out the effect.
• Take your photos with a little extra space around the edge, just so you have more to work with when cropping.
• Change your angle. Vantage shots, side shots, shots while you're lying on your side with one leg up in the air ... unique angles immediately set a photo apart.
• Change around little things in your book photo.
• Check the photos halfway through your mini photoshoot. Do any of them work? Are there things niggling at you?
• If you're feeling unsure, take the photo through a VSCO filter or other editing app.
• Change around big things in your book photo. Be open to changes.
• When you're done, share your photo to your computer! I do this via Pushbullet for single photos or Google Drive/Dropbox for batches of photos.

Woah, feeling a little overwhelmed? This all seems a little abstract? Not to worry, I distilled it down into five basic concepts you can easily start with:

Please email me five easy bookstagram templates!

4. Edit your book photo.

This is where the magic lies, blookunity.

In my opinion, the VSCO editing app is a lifesaver, although I know some people use Snapseed. I love mobile editing apps instead of Photoshop or the like because I can edit my photos right on my phone and think over whether I need a new shot, without transferring back and forth.

By the way, I get zero profit or anything from recommending VSCO. I just happen to really like the app.

VSCO has some fantastic free filters that I take advantage of when I'm in a hurry, but if you want to give your photos a unique edge, you should definitely toggle the settings one by one. Not sure what I mean? Fear not, here's the infographic:

Blookunity! Don't forget to pin this image for future reference — just roll your cursor over the infographic and buttons will appear in the center.

However, if you want some complex edits to really set yourself apart, some more complex tools might be needed. GIMP is my go-to tool because it is nearly as versatile as Photoshop, but completely free!

My favourite complex edits are to play with black-and-white or to stitch photos together. Take a look:

Do not forget to watermark your image!

Not that people will steal the image, but oftentimes it gets pinned somewhere or shared to Facebook without your original link. Plus, a watermark opens up even more options for unique editing.

2-minute watermarking for Macbook users:

1. For your first time, go to GIMP or other editing software and create your desired watermark as a PNG file with a transparent background. Save it as "WATERMARK".
2. Open your book photo and watermark png in Preview.
3. Go to your watermark png window, press command + A, then press command + c.
4. Go to your book photo window, then press command + v. Your watermark will appear!
5. To move it around, simply use your mouse to drag the selection around.
6. Bonus tip: rotate the image by keeping one finger on the trackpad, and moving a second finger in the desired direction. Yay!
7. Super bonus: click and hold on a corner of your watermark, then give your finger a spin to flip the watermark.

5. Share your book photo. Eat takeout. Yay!

Excited to start? Get your bookstagram templates!

Any extra book photography tips? Which step do you find most difficult? Recommend me your favourite bookstagrammer!

Don't forget: I'd love to be friends with you on Instagram! I'm at hkalyssa, and I follow back bookish/author accounts.

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A post shared by Alyssa Carlier // YA fantasy (@hkalyssa) on Mar 25, 2016 at 6:03pm PDT

What Makes a FANTASTIC Sequel? | A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Surprise, surprise! I love yet another of Victoria Schwab's books! You are all shocked!

But I intend to be reasonable, because here is another review + discussion mashed into one! (I will try my very very best to avoid spoilers for both AGOS and ADSOM, but if you prefer to go in with zero ideas of what happened, then proceed to the GR page for ADSOM.)

We've all experienced the dreaded sequel-itis ... we love a book. Then, rejoice! A new book is announced! But in addition to overwhelming joy and frantic preorders, there's that feeling of, what if it's not as good as the first one?

Even worse, what if nothing happens in this middle book?

Why A Gathering of Shadows is all I wanted in a sequel:

1. Not a copy of the first book

You know that feeling when you love something, and you're instantly given an identical thing? Logically, you should be overjoyed!

But the bookworm life is not logical, and let's be honest, it's very hard to love a series that's basically the same formula done again, and again, and again.

In AGOS, we're introduced to the Element Games, a competition between Red London's best magicians, and oh my goodness were the duels fantastic. The duels in ADSOM were based on Antari/blood magic, but this was elemental magic taken to its finest and much less life-or-death. The entire plot structure was different but equally fabulous.

I also liked that AGOS was more character-based than plot-based. We see Lila adapting to life in Red London without compromising her own personality, we see Kell navigating his relationship with his foster parents and Rhy, and we see Rhy attempting to live up to his status as the royal heir despite not having magic.

And so many relationships were explored more fully:

• Kell & Rhy: oh my goodness, they are the cutest.
• Kell & Lila: I admit it, I didn't ship them at all before AGOS ... but Kell makes miracles happen and I am convinced they have some chemistry
• Kell & the king and queen: oh, never mind that sound, it was just my heart breaking
• Rhy & former lovers: Rhy is the universally shippable sinnamon roll but he is a PRECIOUS cinnamon roll and no one hurt him
• Lila & other pirates: Lila looks like she could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll. *heart eyes*

The characters grew so much in A Gathering of Shadows and were my favourite part of this book. Well, minus the quips. I can't resist a good quip.

Also: lips sealed on character deaths (no spoilers, no spoilers), but in case you're in a mood for spoilery deaths:

Download the stats of villain deaths in popular books

2. Not ignoring the first book

You know that feeling when you love something, and then you get a thing that's supposed to be a follow-up to that but is mostly irrelevant? Nope, me neither.

A sequel isn't just another book set in the same world with the same characters. A sequel is literally a continuation of an already existing story. Dropping all the characters' emotional arcs and baggage and making them walk the same steps kind of ignores what we loved in the first place.

Plus as perfectly kind-hearted bookworms, we love to see characters suffer the consequences of their decisions. While this normally happens within a book, the same applies to a series — even if the ending seemed happy, a sequel is the perfect time to turn it bittersweet.

A Gathering of Shadows picks up four months after ADSOM, but it's not just another story in the four Londons. Neither Lila nor Kell have forgotten their ADSOM adventures or, indeed, each other. The characters are all affected by the events of ADSOM — and I love that no one gets to escape the consequences of their choices, and that so many of their decisions are rooted in what we last saw happen.

And there were so many call backs to book 1! Lila's masquerade costume, the magic enthusiast Ned in Grey London, mentions of the Dane twins, the three London pubs ... you can bet I was grinning every time those came up.

PSA to The Force Awakens: this is how you write a sequel that's not a carbon copy of a successful original while still giving fans a nostalgia kick.

3. Expanding the world

This is especially true for speculative fiction, but a sequel is an opportunity to expand the worldbuilding beyond the basics. I mean, just look at all the Tumblr headcanons — we LOVE to know more details about their fandom.

So it really exasperates

And oh my goodness, A Gathering of Shadows makes me want to go to Red London SO MUCH. The Element Games provided the perfect opportunities for other Red London cities. Other non-Antari magicians. Other members of the royal family and the court. And more magic, of course.

This book's focus was really on Red London, though. Grey London had some new incidents but mostly felt like set-up for book 3. I did love the direction taken with White London — we saw touches here and there, but only what was necessary to drive the plot forward.

And that glimpse of Black London (!!!!)

(I hadn't realised how hard writing a non-spoiler review is.) But I love that the previous balance of the four Londons isn't taken for granted and that the world is as dynamic as the characters or the plot.

4. Developing the main characters

Just as characters shouldn't forget their arcs from the last book, they need NEW arcs in a sequel. Relationships can take on other dimensions (and no, I don't mean romance, there are so many ways to do this — rivalries, guilt, passive aggressiveness ...). Characters who never got to meet last time can meet again.

What impressed me most with AGOS was that not only were the characters confronted by their experiences in the first book, they also confronted their past experiences.

Let's talk about the AGOS characters. I mean:

• Lila is SO BADASS. I know, I know, she already was fabulous in ADSOM. But she takes it to the next level. Even though she's new to Red London magic, she has the most creative ideas about it. And she has the best quips. Basically Lila is queen.
• I'm actually wondering whether Lila should be referred to as they out-of-universe since Word of God is that Lila is genderfluid? Thoughts, people?
• Kell omg. He shows more of his vulnerable side in this book and his brotherly relationship with Rhy actually made me give up my Kell/Rhy ship.
• Rhy, my royal sinnamon roll :') He tries his best to change for the better but also wants to stay in his comfortable pre-ADSOM life and basically needs hugs. Please send him hugs.
• And after everything, Rhy totally still sees Kell as a brother and not just a messenger, which melted my fangirling heart. *fans self*

Related post: check out my discussion on which type of villain death is the BESTEST.

If the third book cover isn't black or grey, I will cry.

Two ways this sequel didn't live quite up to my expectations:

I get it. It's a middle book. There needs to be a third book (and you can bet I am ready to read it ANYTIME, excuse me.) And the character development and worldbuilding was phenomenal ... but the plot was practically non-existent until we got to the halfway point.

I definitely still felt compelled to read on because of the lovely writing and the characters. But most of the book felt like set-up and not much of it was paid off towards the end. In particular, Ojka, a new character from White London, was so underused in my opinion. I'm eager to see these plot points in book 3, but AGOS did suffer from mild Middle Book Syndrome. (VERY mild. I'm just nitpicky, okay?)

And two: that ending. I said no spoilers and I'll stick to it, but it didn't have the grand finale of A Darker Shade of Magic. I saw the pages winding down and just couldn't believe it ended so quickly ... it's not necessary a terrible thing, but it left me underwhelmed. (Then I started screaming for book 3. So ... maybe a necessary evil.)

In conclusion, A Gathering of Shadows wrecked my heart into a million pieces and I loved it and you must read it. That's all.

Overall rating for A Gathering of Shadows: ☆☆☆☆☆ I couldn't hate this if I tried

Thank you to my mother for the birthday gift, even though I abandoned homework for it! A GATHERING OF SHADOWS debuted on the NYT bestselling list — and it ABSOLUTELY deserves it.

Four months have passed since the shadow stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Rhy was wounded and the Dane twins fell, and the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift, and into Black London.

In many ways, things have almost returned to normal, though Rhy is more sober, and Kell is now plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks like she always meant to do. As Red London finalises preparations for the Element Games—an extravagant international competition of magic, meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighbouring countries—a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

But while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life, and those who were thought to be forever gone have returned. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning, and so it seems Black London has risen again—meaning that another London must fall.

Goodreads // Publisher // The Book Depository

Have you read A Darker Shade of Magic and/or A Gathering of Shadows? What's the best middle book you've read? AND! What do you think makes a fantastic sequel?

Twitter-sized takeout:

• What makes a FANTASTIC sequel? @AlyssaC_HK suggests 4 points. (Click to Tweet)
• A GATHERING OF SHADOWS is the best sequel since red velvet cake, says @AlyssaC_HK. (Click to Tweet)

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