https://www.dmcblue.com//rss.xml dmcblue is personal site with music, stories, poetry, coding projects, art and much more. Enjoy. https://www.dmcblue.com/ https://www.dmcblue.com/images/opengraph.png https://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification en Sun, 19 Apr 2026 08:59:32 EST https://www.dmcblue.com/notifications/5 https://www.dmcblue.com/notifications/5 Thu, 24 Jan 2019 19:00:00 EST OpenTask https://www.dmcblue.com/notifications/2 https://www.dmcblue.com/notifications/2 Tue, 01 Jan 2019 19:00:00 EST New open source project https://www.dmcblue.com/notifications/3 https://www.dmcblue.com/notifications/3 Mon, 10 Dec 2018 19:00:00 EST Blog Post: Mass Effect 3 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/15 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/15 Mon, 10 Dec 2018 19:00:00 EST No, I’m not trolling you with that title. Nor is it click-bait. In fact, I’ve been wanting to discuss ME3 since it came out and The Greatest Story Ever Told is the perfect platform for it. https://www.dmcblue.com/notifications/4 https://www.dmcblue.com/notifications/4 Fri, 23 Nov 2018 19:00:00 EST Blog: Giant Monsters, Tiny People https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/14 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/14 Fri, 23 Nov 2018 19:00:00 EST The presence of giants has long been a staple of speculative fiction. Dragons, trolls, literal giants, etc. have all provided an engaging sense of discovery, danger and awe throughout human history. A whole genre has been created by distilling this idea down to its bare essentials, in the form of the kaiju. These monsters and enemies can represent diverse ideas from something as simple as one more obstacle in the protagonist’s journey to a complex meditation on the dangers of progress and technology, like we see in Godzilla. https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/13 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/13 Sun, 30 Sep 2018 19:00:00 EST Stories are inevitably a reflection of their creators, of humanity. Humanity is never roundly good nor bad. Most humans are a mixture of various characteristics and there is often a traceable line of logic (though often only logical to the subject) from their experiences and beliefs to their actions. Thus, we see very early in the history of storytelling antagonists who are not plain evil. https://www.dmcblue.com/notifications/1 https://www.dmcblue.com/notifications/1 Wed, 26 Sep 2018 19:00:00 EST New Website! https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/12 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/12 Sun, 09 Sep 2018 19:00:00 EST Humanity has created some amazing works of art, particularly in the domain of storytelling. Homer, Grimm’s fairy tales and Journey to the West are all sterling examples of how stories can stand the test of time, both in their own longevity and in their ability to affect and ingrain themselves in our cultures. https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/11 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/11 Thu, 30 Aug 2018 19:00:00 EST I will be highlighting some other wonderful resources on the internet (and beyond) under the category 'Outside the Blog.' First up, Ellen Brock. https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/10 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/10 Sun, 26 Aug 2018 19:00:00 EST In this first installment of TGSET, we’re looking at The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs. Normally in TGSET articles, I won’t be claiming the covered story is literally the greatest story ever told, but just a great works of storytelling. Except in this case. https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/9 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/9 Thu, 09 Aug 2018 19:00:00 EST While most of my articles contain very specific examples from a variety of media, none have really gone in depth on a particular piece of storytelling. These examples have been useful for discussing a specific idea but stories are complex objects, where the interactions of various ideas can affect the whole in very interesting and powerful ways. To that end, I’d like to introduce a new series of articles on this blog called ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’. https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/8 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/8 Thu, 02 Aug 2018 19:00:00 EST Like most people, I enjoy a wide variety of story genres. But science fiction and fantasy have always held a particular charm for me. Our society often views these genres as separate from or less valuable than other forms of storytelling such as drama. There is a lower expectation for story quality, for storytelling technique and for overall depth. Few works in these genres are considered ‘classics’ the way traditional dramas might be. https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/7 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/7 Fri, 27 Jul 2018 19:00:00 EST The main issue with stories of all kinds when it comes to female characters is failure. Just everywhere. Stories, modern or not, fail women with such fervor that it’s almost impressive. https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/6 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/6 Thu, 26 Jul 2018 19:00:00 EST Some links about depictions of women in speculative fiction. https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/5 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/5 Thu, 12 Jul 2018 19:00:00 EST Science fiction and fantasy are particularly ‘premise’ based genres. What if magic? Then Harry Potter. What if space magic? Then Star Wars. What if humanity got its act together? Then Star Trek. As these premises are the setting where we start our story, these genres depict stories that occur in very different settings than in other genres. Generally in storytelling, the most satisfying and memorable stories are those that galvanize all elements of the story (characters, events, etc) towards the telling of that story, including setting. https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/4 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/4 Tue, 03 Jul 2018 19:00:00 EST In its most basic form, story structure seems like a simple thing. Beginning, middle, end, maybe a few detours along the way. But many of our modern stories seem unable to reach a proper ending. https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/3 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/3 Sat, 23 Jun 2018 19:00:00 EST Fantasy and science fiction are particularly fictitious genres. Their plots are not only fabricated, but their settings are far outside the norms of our past and present. This extra fictionality has made them, I believe, more vulnerable to various storytelling anti-patterns which damage believability and relatability. Nowhere is this more apparent than in depictions of antagonists, particularly in our presentation of evil. https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/2 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/2 Wed, 13 Jun 2018 19:00:00 EST Many modern stories include a foray into the ruins of a lost civilization, a society whose technology or knowledge becomes an integral part of the plot and to the audiences experience. For this post, I’ll be concentrating on dead or disappeared civilizations rather than those who are re-awoken in the course of the journey. Why do we use this idea so often? What are we trying to communicate with it? What does it say about us? https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/1 https://www.dmcblue.com/blog/1 Tue, 05 Jun 2018 19:00:00 EST What is this blog about? Stories are some of the most potent reflections of ourselves and our cultures that exist. Understanding how a story succeeds or fails, or whether these terms can even be applied, is an enlightening and unending journey.