Reading Powerless part 5 ~ Cinder Block Tango

Welcome back to Red Flag City, now in a forest! Can city girl Paeyden manage to survive the woods? Will she and Broody Boi (TM) be able to face all their enemies? Will they....be able to dance and banter more than they fight? I think we all know the answer.
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[@VoidStone]

I don't understand how these writers obsessed with enemies to lovers have no idea how to make characters fall in love.😭

[@kandibug5303]

Pay-den forgetting to ask about the Hunger Trials Purging Games is representative of how the author forgot to ask those questions or is poorly trying to surprise the reader by having Pay-den not ask those questions which unintentionally characterizes Pay-den as incurious and/or not the brightest bulb in the box.

[@kandibug5303]

Little Duck Book Club made a great observation in that is seems that the readers of these kinds of books want to only read the same trope with the same Shadow Boo archetype, but for some reason they don't want to just read about that archetype with those tropes in a fanfic setting or getting it for free on Wattpad.

[@JulianGreystoke]

right? Back in my day if we liked something we just read the fanfic!

[@user-vw9lj1yn1b]

I hate to generalize but there is definitely a consumerist element to this. People want like physical copies so they can have a nice cover and page designs and feature it on their shelf

[@ribbonquest]

Maybe this forest is a roguelike with randomly generated loot spawning all over the place. Girl found Wooden Bow, Arrow (infinity), and Cloth (torso symbol). She started with no torso equipment, the nightie was just the "nothing equipped but nudity isn't allowed" default.

[@DarwinRoger893]

18:51 the games being rigged would actually make it more interesting. Hes the prince, the enforcer. The king ordered him to be the winner so it makes sense why Kai would be so damn lucky. He has the advantage over everyone. He should be told the game strategy and how to win every level perfectly. He should know how and why the games are different this time. Also this book shouldn't be a death tournament. That makes no sense for the king to put his own son or the relatives of the crown. This should be like that sovereign's tournament from Jenna Moreci's book where people fought for glory. Maybe the trials are a way to find the strongest of the nation and the winner gets to be part of an elite army force. Maybe Kai needs to be the winner to be the enforcer, thats how you become the enforcer. And the tradition was to fight in the trials but the king is bulldozing his way through nepotism to ensure HIS son is in control. This way he can eradicate the powerless people. So everyone who entered the tournament WANTS to be here to be one of the elite army. And maybe Paedyn chose to enter it for her father's sake (a good nod to the Prim-Katniss scene) because he wanted to dismantle the system from inside. Have a resistance member in the army and boom, you have a spy.

[@RiaJaize]

It's not very believable that Kai could help Paedyn deal with Sadie's death. I mean, even if he saw a point in reacting to it, he wouldn't know how to make space and process it. He doesn't even do that for himself, much less for someone who is not himself!

[@JulianGreystoke]

right? I feel like he'd look at her freaking out and be like "what the heck is your problem? It's just a dead person!"

[@kandibug5303]

Fun Fact: this book is categorized as Teen/YA officially to my surprise (I legit thought this was like 4th Wing in that it was a New Adult Book) so it is technically marketed towards a younger audience who may not have the experience to parse this out some of its less than good aspects like the Active Oppressor X Oppressed romance and the whole it's fine if he treats other people like trash because he treats me well which means I can "fix" him. God Damn I miss Xaden somehow, bland as he was.

[@JulianGreystoke]

right? Xadan was only a pretend evil person. Everyone just thought he was a jerk because he was all dark and broody.

[@NatNatey]

For some reason my first thought was "second post-bean episode!!!"

[@JulianGreystoke]

😂😂😂

[@jlynnewebster]

No idea why, but 'typical prince behavior' in the intro sent me.

[@kandibug5303]

On your bingo card you should have Plot Convenient Mentor/Parent who is there to always give the protagonist the "right" answer or skills to all their problems either in spirit or being physically in the space. They do nothing much else and the relationship between the protag and Mentor/Parent left unexplored since they are only there to provide Plot Convenience.

[@NatNatey]

A fun piece of characterisation i would love to see here is Paeyden (**do they actually spell it like this oh my god????**) being witty and sarcastic towards inanimate objects. me and my mom both verbalize our thoughts sometimes or give personalities to inanimate objects when we complain abt them, and i think it would be... i mean, with the character work here, i dont think itd save Paeyden, but it would humanize her a little bit more to me. like, a scene where she's climbing a tree and a twig snaps under her foot. she doesnt fall, but scratches an arm or a leg, and tells the branch "fuck you then" or "what did i ever do to you?"

[@twilightoverhiser8666]

That's funny. It would certainly make her relatable. I always apologize to the furniture when I hit my toe or elbow on it or if I drop something like my phone or something I ask if it's okay...

[@NatNatey]

Oh same! And even though my mum talks to tree stumps, she bullies me fir caring about the furniture's feelings....

[@frostrider3704]

The father thing made me laugh because I'm watching a manga called Dungeon People at the minute and that does this trope so well. The main protag is the daughter of a very competent dungeon crawler and he's taught her everything she knows and she's frankly terrifying. But her dad is terrifying as well, at least her memories of him training her are. Making her do things over and over again while having zero chill makes it believable that she is the way she is and why she thinks it's just normal. But we've also just got to an episode where she is an absolutely awful cook, doesn't even know you're supposed to take the skins off onions level of bad cooking, and it's because her dad told her that cooking was dangerous and difficult and should only be practised by professionals. Learning that cooking can be easy is her first step in questioning if her dad was right and maybe a little over-focused in what he was teaching her. So the "My dad taught me everything and made me a super badass" can be good if the protag also has a lot of missed knowledge because of it. But Payden not being scared in a forest when she's a city kid, suddenly having all the skills with weapons she's never seen before and knows all the healing herbs in a forest she's never been in is definitely Wicker Basket territory.

[@ribbonquest]

I love how you get distracted by Adam, then resume complaining about how Girl got distracted by Guy's hotness. 😂

[@JulianGreystoke]

I need some reprieve from the madness LOL

[@palinurus]

The thumbnails for this series are the best! Can't wait to find out why there's a random cinder block

[@andyenglish4303]

i am consistently amazed by how this book glosses over what a monster Kayden is. like he's not just dark, he's not just in a violent profession like a mercenary, he's actively involved in literal atrocities. And the MC just doesn't seem to care about anyone else, just her own feelings for him. It's like the author accidentally made the MC a sociopath.

[@joseantoniogomezrodriguez1724]

The dance was a missopportunity to setup the fight with Sadie. I mean, Kai could've explained that he could sense when another player enters the range of his ability, giving them time to relax. And the chapter could end the same but instead of being ambushed Kai says someone is near. And start the next chapter as if they have been ambushed, but is all a trap peyden did to lure Sadie, and they had clones of Kai hidden and ready to attack. Something could have gone wrong like understimated how many clones sadie can produce and none of the ones they capture were the real one. Kai can start the fight distracting the clones and Peyden realizing the real one must be hidden away and search for her. You can explain that the clones don't realize because the clones scatter her focus. Something like that that shows how they work as a team and the supposed ways Peyden is intelligent.

[@joseantoniogomezrodriguez1724]

Sorry bad english, it's not my first lenguage

[@kandibug5303]

Genocider Bean Boy Kai treating Pay-den like a human being, but everyone else as expandable is like dating someone who treats service workers like personal slaves, but it's okay because he treats his date like a queen.

[@araoren]

Good grief, I find it so freaking hilarious that Paedyn has all this anxiety over Kit who’s only sin (for now) is LOOKING like the king. Meanwhile, Prince Red Flag is blatantly upholding the values of his father, but Paedyn is literally 🙈🙉

[@JulianGreystoke]

right? It's because Kit isn't also broody. Everyone knows that being broody means you get to be forgiven for everything!

[@jasminv8653]

Tropification of novels isnt bad because it includes tropes, it's bad because it no longer includes anything but the NAMES of the tropes. "Who did this to you" trope could span chapters or an entire novel as long as the shocked protectiveness is what is there. A character just saying the literal line with no emotional pull is not the trope!!! It's just the name of the trope! Im so TIRED OF THESE BOOKS, and you're a hero for having the energy to slog through.

[@ms-abominable]

LMAO that is such a great point!!! they're just putting in the name of the trope and not any of the stuff that makes us love the trope

[@kandibug5303]

You know it's bad when I'm beginning to think Lightlark (and the other books) are a very original 1.5 draft of a story.

[@jasminv8653]

You killed it with the dramatic intro summary 😂❤

[@kandibug5303]

These speedrun romance in these books make me feel like I take too long trying to build romantic chemistry, understanding, and trust between characters falling in love with each other. Then again I don't categorize my stories as Fantasy Romance but Fantasy Drama so it's like a Soap Opera, but like wrestling there's more violence.

[@crazyth1ngs600]

Hearing you talk of stupid pills makes me think the author gave the characters the choice to take the "increase luck by 2938457849323%" pill before the games that unfortunately also comes with a -100 IQ debuff ... (Maybe someone should write that dystopian novel. "Comply with my stupid storyline by being dumb or be smart but unlucky and potentially dead.)

[@kandibug5303]

My original scenario of how the first Hunger Trials Purging Games should've went: (The scene begins is a forest full of pine trees I assume, I don't know, I think it's pine trees, I've never seen trees. Is that a good sign? Anyways, Kai wakes up fully armored and well-clothed in this supposed pine tree forest.) Kai: (Getting up.) Not again. I need to collect the chickpeas in my garden. (Then we hear static coming from... ummm... I don't where, but we apparently have speakers and microphones in this world now and it's the terrible voice of the king.) King: (From the "magic" speakers.) Helloooo boy Kai. I see you woke up now. It's time for... Kai: Deadly Free-for-All Capture the Flag... King: (From the "magic" speakers) Deadly Free-for-All Capture the Flag!! I also selected 11 other very special champions to play this game! I hope you don't disappointment me boy Kai! I have a lot of money riding on you! Let the games begin!! Kai: (Immediately begins to take off his clothing.) I can't think in these heavy clothing and armor. (Kai is now only wearing skin tight black jogger pants and no shirt.) Kai: Perfect. (Kai then hears screaming in the distance.) Kai: What's that? Danger? I'm in! (Kai runs joyfully towards the screaming. What he finds is a scene of a boy and girl dressed in Halloween looking ninja outfits with a pizza emblem on their forehead hiding in tree while a very spider-like Pay-den, in that her limbs are extended out like a spider but don't think about it too much, sits at the bottom looking up at them.) Girl: What are you?! WHY AM I HERE? Oh, I should have taken another job! Boy: (Holding one of those thermal pizza bags) I was just trying to make pizza delivery! Pay-den: (With red glowing eyes and rows of fangs in her mouth) Give me the pizza, boy, or your life is forfeit. Boy: Never! On my honor as a pizza delivery ninja, the most sacred duty of the kingdom, this pizza will be given to the rightful person who ordered it! (Pay-den attempts jump towards the boy and girl, but both leaps towards another tree.) Pay-den: GIVE ME THE PIZZA! I HAVE NOT EATEN LUNCH YET! (Kai steps in to grab Pay-den.) Kai: Pay-den! It's you! I didn't think I find you so fast! Pay-den: Oh sweet Kai... I'm so hungry... Why must life be so hard... Kai: (Holding the very spider-like Pay-den.) It's okay Pay-den. I'll make some beans casserole for you once someone grabs that damnable flag. (He looks at the girl and boy.) Hey you two! It's safe now! (The boy and girl climb down their tree.) Girl: Hi, I'm Sadie. This is my first week as a Margherita pizza delivery ninja. And as everyone can see it's going GREAT!! Boy: Greeting Shirtless Hero, I'm Ace. Pizza delivery ninja of the Margherita Clan. Sadie and I was ordered by the Margherita Ninja Master to give these delicious pizzas to the palace to one named First Prince Kit of the Rancid Vibes. (A familiar voice calls out.) Kit: That would be me! (Kit and Blair appear, both half dressed, but it's noticeable Blair is wearing some kind of black leather gear with lots of chains and belts. Kit goes to give Ace the money in exchange of the pizza.) Ace: Thank you kind sir. I'll keep these pizzas in this thermal bag until we reach a more suitable locations for pizza eating. Kit: I expected no less from a pizza delivery ninja from the Margherita Clan. Blair: (Takes out a the sparkling unicorn flag) Look I already found the flag. Kai: Blair just captured of the guards and demanded he tell her who might know of the flag's location and so she found it first. Blair: That's because most of the "champions" just get lost in the woods then the game takes like a week and we don't have time for that and I'm not dressed for the woods as you all can tell. Sadie: Yay! Lets go home! I don't want to die! Kai: Oh man. I was looking forward in showing people off my body. Ace: Is that a black leather you are wearing and... oh is that a red silk rope? (Kit is blushing. Blair is able to keep her calm.) Blair: (Smiling devilishly.) I was practicing... tying knots with Kit. Isn't that right Kit? Kit: (Red like a tomato.) Y-y...yes...that's it... Pay-den: Can I have a pizza slice right now? Kit: (Still very red.) Ace please give Pay-den a pizza. (Ace gives Pay-den a pizza and she devours it in one bit with a second set of jaws in her throat like a moral eel.) Ace: Looks like I'm going to have a story to tell to the Ninja Master. I don't know what I've just experienced right now... Sadie: It's a good thing being a pizza delivery ninja pays well otherwise I might've resigned tomorrow Ace. King: (From the "magic" speakers.) BORING! NO ONE DIED! AND KAI HOW COULD YOU LOSE ME MONEY!

[@CrisM779]

Lol, the box of salve makes me think of game mechanics "oh, look, there's some random loot here with exactly what I need after the boss fight or whatever" 😆 If there's no "who did this to you?" what are we even doing here?!? I'm only surprised that it didn't happen earlier

[@mercycunningham2813]

Were I'm from I's more likely the a human attacks a wolf than the other way around. I'm sure the wolves have storys of big bad humans they tell to their cups. Every time you asked how or why is something that way in the book I sung Huuungeeer Gaaaameeees in my head. If it doesn't make sense it's because Katniss did it. Healing, hunting blah? Katniss could do it - because she had the background. But who needs character or world building when they are in truth just writing fanfiction?

[@xRaiofSunshine]

cups hehehe 😂

[@jojobookish9529]

I just listened to some good banter in Soulless (book 1 of The Parasol Protectorate). It's really obvious from jump that these characters are into each other, but their bantering has purpose to the scene. And Alexia's actions show and support her intelligence. I recommend it, if anyone is looking for a fun paranormal detective-y romance with low-med spice and an alt- Victorian London. Man With Tortured Past is genuinely one of my favorite tropes, but this is not doing it any semblance of justice. City of Brass does it best with Dara, imo. He did a genuinely terrible thing that he is rightfully hated for, and then when you find out the context it adds the tragedy and lets you feel sympathy for him without forgiving him. Because he made more terrible choices after that and the story (and MC) grieve over him but do not absolve him. It is 👌🏼.

[@kandibug5303]

Man, why are these writers speedrunning the romance so much for these multi-books stories and with characters that are so generic and bland too. It's like fanfic but worse because fanfics can at least be connected to an original work that did the character work already I assume, but this is like a fanfic of a series I have never take a part of.

[@jasminv8653]

Given the wolves' aggressive and senseless behaviour, I think rabies is pretty likely. Also seeing as there are two large predator species (wolves and coyotes) with overlapping territories, but very little big game to be mentioned (deer, caribou, elk/moose... even bigger fowl like grouse, geese and such...) the animals might be desperate enough to attack trespassing humans. But none of this is actually in the text and I doubt the author paid it any mind.

[@sunnyshieldsvo588]

WE'RE SO BACK

[@erictaylor8416]

a lot of these new romantasy books seem to lack any sort of restraint, they just spend thousands of words on repetitive 'romantic' scenes without any sort of build up or tension before during or after

[@SharkaOfSea]

In Dungeon Crawler Carl (yes, I'm gonna mention it until I find something else to obsess about) the main character is sometimes given good stuff, but it's always clear it's either because it fits into the agenda of the people giving it to him, or because the dungeon AI has a fetish for his feet. Well, if you had beans for lunch instead of fries, it would fit into this book's theme... The talk about the "I don't want to be king" causes my brain to turn into mush and leak through my ears. And also makes me a bit afraid. See, I have this character, who was bullied by the system and in order to survive in it, they done some really terrible things. They're now a second in command to the main villain and they keep doing it, because this is the only place where they feel valued and needed. (valid emotions, but you're a shit) AND I want them to find love. And the main struggle I have is, how will they become a person, that someone can love? Because the love interest will be horrified ("You helped him cover a slave trade? WTF is wrong with you?") and won't want to be with them. (obviously) There will have to be some progression from "This is what I have to do to feel like I matter" through "I don't want to do this, it's horrible, but if I don't do it I'll die" to "I have to stop this". I really don't want to end like this book, it's terrifying. Yes, yes, yes, thank you! You just gave me an idea - if they didn't have to work for the villain and if it was allowed, they would go to the university to study magical theory (despite not being able to learn magic). And it would be something they have in common with the love interest! (this scene will happen before the revelation of the bad things) OK, I guess I'm turning this comment into a public brainstorming about my story, but whatever... the "my soldiers are expendable" is the exact mentality of the villain! It's another thing that the "redeption arc character" and their love interes have in common - they know the moment they will stop being useful, they will probably die. Well, tribute for the algorithm.

[@katendress6142]

Maybe romantasy heroines are like orange cats; they all share one braincell. If Isla does something smart on page 103 of her book, then Violet, Paedyn, etc can't do anything smart on page 103 of their books.

[@JulianGreystoke]

I like this theory! The braincell, when it is around, can do amazing things. Things they, by rights, shouldn't be able to to. But then without it it's like an old Windows screen saver up there. LOL

[@xRaiofSunshine]

😭😭😭😭😭

[@hedgehogdilemma588]

Bless you I am about to get so many chores done.

[@hedgehogdilemma588]

But where are your beans?!?!

[@cinthiagoch]

I hate the trope where the ML is terrible to everyone, except to the main character, and that is what makes her feel special. Wouldn't it be more meaningful if he was nice or at least respectful to everyone - even if this was just his mask, mind you - and still picked her among all the people he knows to be his favorite person and treated her even better than usual - or more genuinely, at least, if it's a mask? I kind of have this in my book, where the main character actually is the nastier one. The ML is truly kind and respectful, while the MC is nice and polite on the outside whilst being actually bored or annoyed by people. You know she's just wearing a mask all the time because her thoughts rarely match her actions, and sometimes she thinks why she's wearing specific social masks. The ML catches her attention because of his strong character, and she learns to see the value in other people because of his example. He doesn't ever try to changer her, exactly because he sees the value in people despite their flaws, and she learns this lesson simply because she comes to admire him over time. At the same time, through her example, he learns to be a little more "selfish" and put himself first when thinking only of other people starts wearing him down. He learns a good "self care practice" from one of her flaws.

[@kita-ysabell1681]

I've fallen far enough down the rabbit hole of snake KZbin that all the mentions of snakes in this stand out to me as exceptionally odd. What are these snakes doing!? Why do they keep attacking the main character? Has she just gone around poking her fingers into every single hole and crevice she comes across? And are we supposed to believe they're all venomous? There's two scenarios where the snakes would actually make sense: a) the snakes are a magically-altered hazard placed there as part of the games (hunger games ripoff, but at least it explains them) or b) these are all harmless garter snakes getting away from Paeyden and as a city girl, she just assumes otherwise. I very much doubt either of these is the case. Between the wolves and the snakes, it's always the stereotypically "scary" animals that are treated as a threat in books like this. Would be great to see a character walk up to a deer, make all the wrong decisions, and wind up with a hoof to the face for once.

[@JulianGreystoke]

I would give anything to see Paeyen gored by a stag!

[@xChikyx]

i call "little thing" to the girl i like sometimes 💀

[@JulianGreystoke]

and? Does she actually like it? LOL

[@xChikyx]

@@JulianGreystoke she hasnt complained lol in spanish, "cosita" is actually pretty cute, but in english it lacks something hahaha

[@nothingmorethanageminiboar4929]

If the main girl was trained to be a master at the fighting/survival stuff, doesn’t that just make her a child soldier…? (I don’t know how old she is in the current timeline)

[@JulianGreystoke]

I think she's like 19...

[@76kilosofshade81]

Who was it who pointed out that Kai's name is essentially German for 'emperor'? Not to try and support your N*zi theory. Thank you for suffering for us.

[@JulianGreystoke]

Luckily the book fully supports my theory on its own haha

[@76kilosofshade81]

@@JulianGreystoke the author supports your theory, for sure