In DAI, was it ever explained how Cory got the orb back after the conclave exploded? Did he had a backup warden to possess nearby to pick it up or did it fall to the fade and the Nightmare went "this looks like it belongs to my boss tee hee"?
As far as I understand it, though I could be wrong, the Inquisitor touched the Orb and so had its power stitched into their hand but did not necessarily keep it on their person. It is very possible that during the explosion the orb was....well...
out somewhere into the wilderness, and Corypheus or someone in his employ could retrieve it.
But no, as far as canon goes we get no explanation of how that occured.
Not magic like wizards and spells. Stage magic. Misdirection, sleight of hand and such.
In the most basic sense, plotlines are curating audience expectations for the purpose maximising the effect of your pay-off scenes.
Ready to learn more? Follow me...
Genre
There's two ways to look at genre and you must look at it both ways to truly thrive. The first way is the general labelling system that groups stories by similar elements and surface details. It's about detectives? Crime drama. It has elves and magic? Fantasy. It has elves and magic in the modern day? Urban fantasy.
Growing up, we would call this window dressing. It's the little decorations you put up that signal to people the types of things they're to expect in your story. People have certain ideas and expectations when they watch a period drama romance, a superhero movie, a cold war-era spy thriller, etc. And most come with associated story conventions -- aka. the second way to look at genre.
The second way to look at genre involves first understanding not what is being used, but how it's being used. By cracking open conventions and understanding what's going on underneath, we can better use these elements for any genre of story and really make things that stand out.
Feelings
Ultimately, this is the pay-off for all the major moments in your story. A feeling. Horror, fear, anxiety, angst, joy, wonder, enlightenment, hope, etc. Every big moment in your story is trying to get a reaction from your audience, and everything leading up to your big moments is cultivated using genre-savvy, misdirection and accepted tropes to make that scene have a big impact!
The Tools
We have some strong tools in our hands in the form of genre conventions. Some genres suggest surface details that more immediately understood: the fantasy genre evokes visions of medieval Europe, castles, dragons, magic, Kings, prophecies, adventure and war, etc.
Other genres suggest more story beat elements that we expect to play out in the story: the mystery genre often involves a murder (or more), red herrings, suspects, lies and deceit.
But we can mix the elements of both to create a whole new beast. Now, I'm not gonna go over plot frameworks like I originally planned to... because the truth is that I don't really know what kind of frameworks fit for me. It could be a situation where it's different for everyone, so I'll just keep it loose here but if things like Save the Cat, Plotto or any other master plots framework book help you, use them. Pacing is something absolutely individual to a person. I found 3-act structure to open-ended and things like Save the Cat far, far too restricting. I use a 5-act structure~
Now, let's crack open the Fantasy Genre and see how we can use the elements within to create something new...
Castles.
What are they and how are they used? They're often secure headquarters for other characters or groups, either friendly or enemy. If friendly, they may have to be defended. If enemy, they may have to be attacked or perhaps the characters might have to sneak into them.
Dragons.
What they are is highly dependent on how they're used.
Is the hero supposed to slay the dragon? If so, the dragon is may be used as an impressive, near-unkillable foe that must be overcome. Or it may be an entity of great wisdom viewed by it's more bestial traits. Or it could be something ancient compared to everything around that is poorly judged, persecuted or deeply vengeful.
Is the hero supposed to encounter and be afraid of the dragon?
Is the hero supposed to steal from the dragon?
Is the hero supposed to raise the dragon?
There are ways to break every element down to its core component and use it in any scenario.
You could make an entire heist story set in a fantasy realm with the dragon being a stand-in for bank/vault the characters have to break into. Not unlike The Hobbit but more leaning into the conventions and roles of a typical heist: seeking out particular misfits to deal with specific aspects of breaking into a dragon's lair.
You could make a murder mystery follow the basic conventions of a prophecy story element, only instead of a divine prophecy with vague nuance ripe for multiple ways to interpret it... you have a veiled threat in the form of a calling card, promising death or retribution and many of the characters start to suspect themselves or each other of being the "chosen one".
By taking the plot elements (things that happen) of one genre, and dressing them up in the standard conventions of another genre (window dressing), you can really create something unique.
And it doesn't all have to be light-hearted and played for laughs either. You can take a typical slash story framework, with horror lurking around every corner, and set it on... say... a spaceship?
You could take a buddy-cop story framework and put the characters in a zombie apocalypse fighting with each other and against the world to get on the last train leaving the area before it's too late. You could take the framework from any story you enjoyed or any type of story you enjoy and fine tune it to suit your needs by giving it more impact and oomph in the pay-off scenes, and suit your taste by dressing it up in the genre flavours you like.
You're right and you should say it! We need more Tenya! Real talk I wanna know how him and his brother are getting along. Uraraka still gets a good chunk of screen time because she the "love interest" I guess? But we need more good square boi!
square boi is best boi, i wanna see how he’s dealing with his brother injures, a pain like that doesn’t just go away? there’s a process, he was willing to kill a person for fucks sake!!! also how is his brother doing, is he adapting to his new life style? I get it, iida is not the main focus, but a little insight about how he’s dealing with everything would be fine, again, does the fact that he was planning on murder someone haunts him? is he revaulating himself? so many questions...
also, i want uraraka to shine, to show she’s a badass, how’s her training doing? since she wants to help his family to take it easy she must take his hero career so seriously, but we aren’t shown any of that, i want them back and caring about each other
So, as we all know by now, I like to write OCs. I like to pair them with canon pairings. And while I tend to mostly write in fandoms that are dead, I still have people who come to read what I write in said dead fandoms.
Now, I’ve done love triangle plots before, and I’ve done them where the canon pairing won out and where the canon/OC pairing won out. However, with the story I plan to write (and as I’ve matured over the years) I’m not quite sure how to write the canon/OC pairing without making it seem like I’m bashing on the other canon character to make the canon/OC work.
In other words, how do you write a realistic love triangle without having to make anyone seem like a jerk to have it work out?
