Timeline for Is there such a thing as too inconvenient?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Aug 19, 2019 at 16:28 | comment | added | Amadeus | @Kai That is true, but I don't think it "counts" toward Deus Ex. Readers expect us to focus on an MC that will be extraordinary, or experience the extraordinary. Harry Potter, 007, Houdini, Gates, Superman. But they also want fair limits on the extraordinary; the MC must work and sacrifice for the win. Deus Ex and Diabolus Ex violate their expectations. Beginning with an unlikely person, setting, event, or circumstances does not. | |
| Aug 19, 2019 at 15:21 | comment | added | Kai | @xLeitix I agree, I'm just pointing out that in many cases this "extraordinary bad luck" is necessary to set up the story. | |
| Aug 19, 2019 at 14:10 | comment | added | xLeitix | @Kai To me this is taking the argument too far. I mean, if we only accept stories where completely likely things happen to average people, all our stories would be horrendous. Something unlikely always happens to somebody extraordinary. But there is also an element of selection bias to this - we only tell stories about the extraordinary, and don't talk much about the normal case. In Hunger Games, many families get selected and their children go through the expected sequence of events (in this world - being slaughtered by careers). We only hear about Katniss because she breaks out of this mold. | |
| Aug 19, 2019 at 13:42 | comment | added | Amadeus | @xLeitix Agreed, I was taking it for granted the professions would be noted early on; and the character's abilities due to that also demonstrated. Failing to do that would indeed be Deus Ex. I wouldn't call it "foreshadowing", however, to me it is just character development. I reserve "foreshadowing" for something else; situations or events that echo a very similar future situation or event, a key event with much higher stakes. | |
| Aug 19, 2019 at 13:40 | comment | added | Michael Karas | @gmatht - I believe the family was the Everdeens, not a grove of Christmas trees. | |
| Aug 19, 2019 at 13:03 | comment | added | xLeitix | I think it also has a lot to do with foreshadowing. If the first time the parent's profession comes up is when those skills are relevant it's a Deus ex Machina. If the book shows the parents before in a natural manner telling the hero about their work it's good writing. | |
| Aug 19, 2019 at 7:29 | comment | added | gmatht | @Kai I am not convinced. It was certain that some family would "win" the lottery, and Hunger Games is the tale of that family, a family that happened to be the Evergreens. | |
| Aug 19, 2019 at 5:11 | comment | added | Kai | To further the example, it's also improbably inconvenient that Katniss's sister is the one selected to go to the Games (literally "winning" a lottery with low odds) | |
| Aug 18, 2019 at 19:50 | history | answered | Amadeus | CC BY-SA 4.0 |