#you can add those elements in to make your story more interesting lol

[palajae]

hi hi !! uh im here for a little help 🤭 i wanted to write a situationship type au but idrk how and i was wondering if you had any advice on how to do it

yeah ofc!

hmm I’d say first since it’s a situationship- there’s going to be flirting (subtle or obvious it’s up to you) but the important part is the reaction to said flirting- ofc since it’s not an official relationship, I’d make the reaction awkward/shy OR you can actually make them flirt back ;)

i’d just keep in mind that the relationship is teetering on the border of friendship and dating, so you can get away with elements of both (like casually hanging out but then somehow holding hands) but never commit fully to one side!

i wrote some short situationship fics so here’s one if you want some ideas/inspiration <3

#i hope that helps? ☺️ #oh and i forgot to mention #DENIAL and DELUSION #you can add those elements in to make your story more interesting lol #palajae. #asks. #jaenon.

[melrosing]

As your not a big fan of fantasy books in general. What drew you into loving asoiaf? What got you hooked?

now that I'm invested in asoiaf I do genuinely like the fantasy elements of the story, but the stuff that really pulled me in was the human drama and political intrigue etc. I love the character work, almost all of the POVs feel fully realised and subvert typical tropes in really interesting ways (imo). I like the inter-generational drama (the reasons I like succession are v similar to the reasons I like the Lannisters), like if I want to understand Jaime and Cersei and Tyrion I can look to Tywin, and if I want to understand Tywin I can look to Tytos, and if I was to understand Tytos I can look to Gerold, like it's a russian doll of intergenerational trauma what more could a girl want.

and on that note I really like the scope! GRRM obviously feels this need to account for all details minor and major, so that even with everything that's already on the page there's room to extrapolate so much more. i mean here I am writing who knows how many words about a fake 20-episode long robert's rebellion tv series lol like this all happened before the series even starts and yet I hardly need to make anything up bc there is so much to draw on just based on all the random little details we've got here and there from characters reflecting on the same events from different angles, and trying to piece together portraits of the people who died based on the recollections of those on the page who remember them..... it is so fun)

and yeah usually I prefer to read about that kind of thing on a smaller scale but the drama that plays out in AGOT is so engaging that upon initiation I didn't find it so much of a chore to keep track of all the various houses and lands etc in order to understand the full implications of each thing that happened - it felt like it was worth the effort. generally it's the 'keeping track' of it all that I find grating about fantasy bc I really want to just get on with the story rather than keep on top of a hundred magic systems and sub-species of pixie.

and obvs asoiaf is low fantasy rather than high fantasy, i.e. there aren't intricate systems to the magic and or complicated genus for each of the creatures, so that made it feel a lot more accessible for me as someone who just isn't very interested in those kinds of details. Dany's magic is made up as she goes along, it's never explained, and that's the same for pretty much all the fantastical elements - it's very show don't tell. and even though when you count it all up there are quite a lot of fantastical features and subplots, taken together with the rest of the story it's more like.... seasonings I wouldn't usually choose but ended up liking just fine in this overall dish lol

and finally asoiaf just really appealed to me from a fannish perspective! I really hate when you're trying to dig deeper with a work and you quickly start to realise that the writer(s) just weren't thinking that hard. it feels like striking concrete with a spade, like it's a one-sided conversation rather than something both the writer and the reader are participating in. I think some fans are perfectly fine with that and good for them - who cares if the author built the work to sustain your analysis if you're just having fun doing it - but for me it's a complete killjoy, I end up v frustrated and like the work isn't worth my time

so here's GRRM who is so fixated on the finer details that he's churned out a history book like 700 pages long and a bunch of short stories and also another history book just to add a bit more texture to the main story. and I don't have to worry about network input or co-writers or actors' intentions or whatever other external conflict or influence cos for better or worse it's all his story. and that just suits me better lol, it's one guy and his shitty computer, and me reading the shit he wrote with it. pure and simple living in the moment no phones in sight

also jaime and brienne are everything to me xo

#ask #like do i ever want him to finish the story but even still im like. god i love this shit

[daz4i]

yknow what i have nothing to do and need to distract myself from *gestures vaguely* and i mentioned it a few times in the last few days so i may as well talk abt that one theory i like

first of all let me say. it's not my own original theory lol i can't remember where i saw it first but it's p common so it'd be a bit hard to trace who was the first to bring it up

second. i know it contradicts some themes or at least some messages bsd is going for. which is why i don't think it's too likely (on the other hand some elements in the story can def allow a plot point of that sort to happen without being contradictory asdfhg matter of perspective ig)

ANYWAY the actual theory:

dazai knows he's in a story and aware that he is a character

backup for that theory:

honestly not much. a minor fourth wall break for laughs (the "wow~" scene. you know the one) isn't really proof, but if it was true it'd add some depth to that scene i think!

the main thing i think is cool abt this theory is how it recontextualizes a lot of things about him;

the thing that made me think abt making this post is that collection of dazai saying "you can't kill me" at various points of the story. most of them have context for each scene (atsushi can't kill him bc nlh will nullify the tiger, fyodor can't kill him bc he has the power of friendship, etc), but the fact the same line repeats multiple times makes it stand out to me

so consider this: dazai is confident that he won't die because he knows he can't die before the story is over, bc that's what the narrative decided. that's why none of his suicide attempts ever work (tho you already know my opinion on why that is, in the context of the story itself). he keeps trying tho bc man. it's tiring to be aware

that being said! well. we know he's been suicidal from a very young age. he sees no meaning in the act of living. and, being a character in a story, knowing that your life is all fake, can certainly make one's life feel meaningless, huh.

and ofc, alienation from those around him, since he seems to be the only one aware of the story. he is quite literally separate from the human experience bc of this

also some more angst :) i do firmly believe dazai feels a lot of guilt, more for meta reasons than him really showing it. guilt is a very big repeating element in no longer human and its protag yozo, whom i think dazai is obviously very inspired by. soooooo now consider this :) guilt over odasaku's death. in the context of the story, there is no reason for him to feel that, more or less. maybe nothing beyond "if only i called ango out earlier" "if only i got there in time and got him help", he didn't actually cause oda's death, not more than mori did for example, and he did the best he could too.

buuuuuuut what if he's a character in a story. he doesn't know if the story is about him yet, but given how other people around him don't seem to notice they're characters, it must be, right? the narrative depends on him. and, in that narrative, odasaku ends up dying. if he didn't exist, odasaku could live (really interesting to think abt that in the context of beast, too)

actually since i brought it up. beastzai definitely seems to know he's a character. he knows his existence doesn't mean much, i mean his whole universe is just an offshoot of the main one, literally an au of canon. that's even more meaninglessness on top of canonzai's meaninglessness, and he experienced both of them at once. no wonder he ended up killing himself damn 😩 (sorry this is a joke. ik he killed himself for some noble reason. but also i bet this made it easier)

an awareness of this level can explain some things like how dazai knows things are gonna play out in certain ways - he knows he's in a story, so he knows the narrative has to end in some satisfying way. the main characters have to win, so the doa have to lose. fyodor can't kill him. and we're back to the start

problem with this theory:

that thing i mentioned abt themes and messages in bsd. a lot of the story seems to tell us dazai is HUMAN. having him aware of everything on a meta level, imo, may cheapen that message, bc that quite literally makes him More than others in the universe.

then again the story (and asagiri in interviews lol) also seems to show again and again that he is exceptional and knows best so eh. like i said, matter of perspective

how i think it might work:

no longer human lmao

yknow how it was said The Book was created by an ability (and that's probably why it caused a singularity when beastzai touched it). well. what if the whole narrative we're following, in a way, in the universe of bsd, can count as an ability too. like a combination of The Book and poe's ability, kinda. (i've seen some theories in the past abt how asagiri is gonna be the final boss of bsd lol and that he would indeed have an ability that's just. *gestures at everything* this)

sooooo while nlh can't take him out of the story physically, it nullifies his ignorance to the situation. in a way, he's out of the story because he sort of watches it from an angle others can't

ok i officially ran out of brain power. i might add more in a reblog at some other point but for now these are the only thoughts i have. if you subscribe to that theory as well, or even just thing it's cool, i would love to hear some of your ideas - what other parts of dazai and his story do you think this changes? what does it mean about his relationships with other characters? please share if you have any thoughts on the matter!!! :)

#also as usual if you disagree that's fine just be nice about it hehe #dan rambles #maybe in that future addition i will brainstorm what that means abt his relationships etc. #but feel free to do it for me :P i'm too sleepy to think now

[beevean]

Ah man i really dislike fandom's general behaviour regarding canon vs not-canon (shoutout to the ff7 fandom for not being normal abt the compilation :) ) There is this belief that canon means good or is some sort of prestige, and that's why some ppl insist so much on placing their favorite spin offs or side stories at canon level, or try to "downgrade" some canon story bc they didnt like it. And in the end canon in terms of quality means nothing! I acknowledge that, for example, metroid other m is technically more canon than the metroid prime trilogy (including how it went out of its way to make the mp games explicitly not compatible w the main canon 🙄), yet i also will say that mom sucks horribly and will ignore its mistake of an existence while the mp trilogy is Peak. Heck i personally like the lore introduced in AM2R despite it being a fan game (aka def not canon). Or for a diff example, the CoD manga could be said to be less canon than PtR, but both are beautifully written and introduce plenty of interesting elements and themes to the main CoD story (plus Hector look at Hector the he hes so- ).

Canon doesnt equals quality, but rather it means what was an actual event in a series, and is mostly relevant in terms of analisis, putting together what happened, and trying to predict what events will be mentioned again in the franchise and their influence (and also retcons exist, for good and evil). If you like canon, good! If you like an spin off, good! If you like the fanon/headcanons, good! You can try to mix up elements from both into your own version or interpretation, to do fanfics or fanart, etc. Something being canon or not is an objective (if debatable in certain cases) fact, but that doesnt means you need to like it or not

Thank you for putting it better than what I've been trying to say fdhsjhfdskhfks

Ohh boy the OM example. I would rather. Not touch that :) I am aware of the backlash after Dread dared to include an image of that game's events... (but speaking of AM2R, I really believe it shouldn't be mentioned in this conversation lol. I suppose you can say that we can accepts its ideas like headcanons!)

The CoD mangas are an interesting example. PtR was written by Ayami Kojima, who had a hand in creating at least Hector and Isaac, so it's technically a more "official" product than the MF manga which was written by a hired writer; but Kojima herself considers the MF manga more canon, likely because it's more detailed:

Although there are some restrictions on representation when accompanying a game, there is a comic in Japan that can be freely established as a story and can be thoroughly enjoyed, by Kou Sasakura ("Castlevania: Curse of Darkness'', published by Media Factory). It was written by hand, so I apologize for the inconvenience, but please read it as well. This is how I ended up with it this time, and it may be confusing for those who worry about the story. Each person's setting, interpretation, and representation are different, but I'll leave it to you as the true story... Hector is also cool and handsome! ... How should I say it? It's like the child I gave birth to as a surrogate mother (wow!) is now doing even better with their foster parents, and I'm crying tears of gratitude behind the telephone pole.

(this quote is so wholesome I wanted to share, even if badly translated <3)

So who is right? And speaking about that, how much can prequel mangas be "canon" in a videogame series? I never mentioned the Sonic promotional material, now that I think of it lol. (admittedly that's another issue, the one of accessibility for newcomers, which oh man oh man do the CoD mangas suffer from :'D)

Anyway, I have nothing smarter to add, so let me emphasize this:

Canon doesnt equals quality, but rather it means what was an actual event in a series, and is mostly relevant in terms of analisis, putting together what happened, and trying to predict what events will be mentioned again in the franchise and their influence

#canon #for reference

[genshrineimpact]

Brainrot number two, let's go

Reader who is traveling teyvat a few months before traveler, but instead of fighting monsters, they are a pacifist. Like in Undertale slightly, they just dodge attacks and talk it out with the enemies (or if they are of lower intelligence, they pet them or give them snacks or anything to avoid a fight). And it works on boss enemies, like they ventured into azhdahas lair and just talked with him, or petted abyss mages, slightly chaotic but well meaning reader. They then start to accompany the traveler and leave them astonished at how good we are at avoiding a fight and making friends

Like during first encounter with ei, as thoma and traveler were escaping, we stayed behind and just offered rather baffled ei some sweets lol

ohhhh interesting!!

you who know about hilichurlian language (a penpal of ella musk from mondstadt, perhaps?), who befriended the traveler on their journey and decided to tag along with them in exploring teyvat. you who smacked the traveler across their head when they see a hilichurl camp and an unclaimed treasure and reflexively pulled out their sword, scolding them and telling them it’s not nice to rob people.

traveler and paimon who watches with concern and awe, when you saunter up to one of the humanoid monsters that’s guarding the post, speaking fluent hilichurlian and showing them some sort of charm on your necklace... and suddenly they find themselves sitting on a bonfire surrounded by dancing hilichurls, roasted meat in hand, watching you trade tips about controlling your elemental energy with an abyss mage. oh, and they ended up giving him the materials he needed to upgrade their weapons, along with some artifacts they found, too.

well, now the traveler feels like the scum of teyvat for killing all those hilichurls.

they continue to see weirder and weirder things as you continue tagging along with them. although you weren’t able to make them avoid fighting all of the enemies throwing themselves at your friend, having you around certainly does make it easier for them.

“hi bud, yeah, it’s me again, listen- remember my friend kazuha? yeaaah, he needs more marionette cores… can we trouble you to hand over a few more of those? how many? oh, you know, like... twenty of them… haha, i know i know, but look, we found these really nice strings that you could use! the ones you have now looks pretty worn, after all! hehe, thanks, we really owe you one!”

yep, traveler loves having you in their party.

(i imagine if you were a character in-game, you would be always available to pull in the standard banner, but your probability of coming home decreases with the more enemies you kill lol you would be a nightmare for us programmers to code and writers, because of all the branching you add into the story sldkfjlsdf)

© genshrineimpact / shourin | 2022 ◆ no repost. reblogs much appreciated. feel free to reach out to submit suggestions, feedback, comments, or if you just want to talk!

#genshin impact #aether #lumine #rin answers #rin writes

[emmalovesfitzloved]

So, after your question on my blog I now need to know your favorite book-tropes! Or are you even a trope-person in general?

Thank you for asking this @lueurichor ! Cuz I love this topic :))

Starting with importance- my favourite trope is just in general long novels/series.

Like I mean, the more brick the better. The longer the series the better. I love the immersive experiences that are full blown, which is actually always been the main motive why I love fantasy. Because of how immersive and how it feels like we live in prolonged ever evolving 'dream' states. And this is reflective in why my favourite fandoms are- Shadowhunters, Realm of the Elderlings, the Cosmere and such.

Second favourite trope which seems to be a big rarity, is- IMPERFECT protagonists. I am not personally interested in characters that are similar to me that I can self insert. The more imperfect the better (hello? My favourite characters of all time are Fitz the Bastard and the Fool and the dumfuckery they literally do has caused most ROTE haters to DNF the series). Bc irl, we do such dumb stuff! And not dumb stuff that's coded in something altruistic or long term sacrificial.

Finally, let's make this relationships/friendships wise, my favourite trope is always friends to lovers and golden retriever meets black cat. It sounds oddly specific but I love the contrast and how each of the other side uncomplicated their 'complicated'. Someone a bit deadass and emo loving the sunshine the fun person brings, and the sunshine being brought down to earth and safespaced by the black cat is just so awesome. Hence why my favourite ships in the SHC fandom are in fact Thomastair and KitTy. Friendship to lovers is the best because it's the most idyllic and the most natural to me personally. I despise bully romances or enemies to lovers because idk, the dramatics of it all make me cringe ig haha. And that's me talking as an Aries lol. Friendship to lovers doesn't mean it has to be vanilla and boring but it just adds that element of already having so much mutual interests and hobbies that would lend to why they would fall in love in the first place. Hence why I love Jemma.

So yeah! Those are three tropes that I adore in my stories :)) Please please @lueurichor let me know what ur favourite book tropes are as well :)).

#ask #Tropes #rote #fitzloved #realm of the elderlings #tsc #cassandra clare #Jemma #KitTy #thomastair

[adversary-to-inamorato]

I LOOVE your IGBP AU tbh! :) your story was super cool, I'm so excited for the next chapter, and i love also the way your write it! I'm so into it, i was shocked when SMG4 came back in the loop!!!

Some questions :

--> will SMG4 get out of this loop?

-->How will you portray SMG34, I'm curious abt this haha, since it can be interesting to see how it is put

-->Will each "loop" be the same or be different?

-->To the Previous question, does SMG4 will somehow loose memory, or a character? Temporary or permanently?

-->How many chapters do you think this story will have? (you can skip this question I'm just curious lmao)

-->Does any characters will know abt the loop?

-->Tv hardware? Will be shown, interact with the others? Hmmm

I'm SOOO sorry for all these questions, I'm sooo curious abt your AU, LIKE İ LOVE IT, I LOVE YOUR STORY❤️

Omg omg you're my first ask hgsngsnhn I cannot keep this cool and mysterious persona (that I already heavily failed) anymore RAGHHH iM SO GLAD YOU THINK SO HERES A LIST OF RESPONSES

- Yes he will, this will be angst with a happy ending! I will add more tags and tw and cw the more I add on (I'm not evil I swear)

- How I portray them is based on their current canon personality from what I have observed so far from MAR10 Day till latest episode. BUT with a dash of psychological elements that they (unwillingly) have to face during the whole shenanigans.

(help me these two are stuck in my brain matter it's almost parasitism- but it's actually comensalism)

- the loop will be the same, but it's up to the characters to change or alter how they go through it. E.g: Same place where it all starts, but different endings when they change their actions such as SMG4 didn't make any of those Toad Legs models, the whole meme reaction thing. This is because he is aware of the mistakes he had done and trying to fix it while he still can.

- It's more of a brain-fog kind of thing. (Temporary) Memory loss is quite common with people with depression/developing depression. There will be serious topics in this fic that might be triggering so I would have to warn y'all beforehand because working on this actually made my friends worry about my mental state AHAHAHA

- I'm glad you asked! IM WORKING ON THE INBETWEEN(s) RIGHT NOW AND ALREADY HAD THE MIDDLE AND ENDING DONE. I already posted the introduction. So far 6 chapters and there may or may not be more. I've been working on this since November and it's driving me as crazy as the guy.

Oh, did I ever mention that? Hehe, forget it.

- Unfortunately, no. Mario would probably have a glimpse of what's going on but not entirely. It is about his recolours after all-- I mean guardians.

- n̵̨̛͉͚͎̯̘̮̭͓͇̪͎̘̥̖̱͖͆̽̓̇͜o̴̧̧̡̫͙̥͔̞̼̝̪̝̜͇̜͓͈͍̎̌̇̔̊͂̃̆͑̑̀͑̐́͝ͅ ̴͚̜̹̪̊̉̌̑̎͋̌̕c̷̞̘̬̟̓͂̀̚o̴̡̰̜̜̮̮̘̺̲̰̅̌͂͐́̋̋̕͝m̴̨̡̧͓̱̼̫̝̞̝͎̮̘̜̬̣͙̼͉̣͛̉̈́m̵̡̛̰͎͙̟͙̮̲̪̗͓̰̹̰̪̦͍͕͑̈́̃͂̀̈́̇̾̚ȩ̶̢̡͎̟̻̙̭̰̞̰͎̤̬͔̣͖̗̜̽͋́̆͒͂̑͗̌͛͆͂̽͘͝ͅn̷̩͇̙̳̫̬͓̓̃̾̆͂͋̃͌͆̚̚͜͝t̴͍͙͍̪̩̥̫̥͍̳͒̏̽̑̽̑̀̋̔̈̎̈́̎͊̾̆̑͆̂͂

That wraps it up! AND NO PROBLEM I HAD SO MUCH FUN ANSWERING THEM! and it helps me reflect on what other kinds of stories I should do with these two goobers ( or three! I really love Mario 💓) I hope I can get the next chapter up as soon as possible, if my work doesn't give me overtime again- ugh. I'm glad you love my work! It means that the ungodly time I spent drawing (still unpublished) and writing (also unpublished) wasn't a dud!

Thank you so much for expressing your interest and curiosity, anon! You made my morning a bit less bitter and a bit more better. (Incorrect grammar but this is nsrs). I hope I could deliver up to your expectations!

I hope.

(Might do a fan-fanfiction take on the BR AU a certain artist made though, I do like the concept. But I need permission probably lol so I'll work on that.)

Thank you so much! You really made me feel worth something :DDD

#smg4 #supermarioglitchy4 #smg4 mario #smg4 smg3 #smg34 #smg34 fanfic #time loop au #I Can't Ever Be Perfect #did i ever mention how these two managed to fill up my entire photo gallery in under few months #im so ill for them its driving me insane as the guy im writing about in this #i am considering of dropping more art but guh i am insanely insecure about it

[what-if-nct]

(you can reply to this one separately to the last post)

also omg i love your outfits! i’m also trying to grow my cute/kawaii and cosplay clothes to wear when going out, mostly so i could stand out in a crowd in cupsleeve events. i don’t usually wear those things!

one thing i really wanna try and pull off is the aliyahcore outfits. definitely one thing i’d do after surgery is to wear crop tops but i really love how the outfits makes you look kinda like a y2k video game character (idk if this is cringe to say or not lol) such as imvu or second life. i especially love the hello kitty outfits- (totally obsessed with sanrio stuff)

(oup here’s me rambling about sanrio)

my favourite character has to be my melody and cinnamoroll. my favourite cinna sibling has to definitely be no other than mocha. that is so damn obvious- i’m pretty sure every black/dark skinned sanrio obsessed person one they get to know about mocha would probably add her to their pfps because that’s the closest we may get to a official black sanrio character. she’s not really black, and i obviously understand why they picked mocha to be the way she is, but i just love her design to be dark skinned and has pink flowers instead of orange just because it “suits the complexion.” like- she describes me so well- and her birthday is 12 days after mine omgggggggggg

anywho- as you can see i REALLY love sanrio stuff- i even got my sister to go to artbox (a shop in london that sells sanrio, bt21 and other iconic kawaii toys such as pusheen) to buy me my christmas present and she got me a my melody blanket and a hello kitty calendar. i purposely didn’t tell her which character to give me as i wanted her to see the shop for herself. they literally have items in sections that it was so aesthetically pleasing, but i guess i didn’t think it through because it was almost empty (it was dec 24th) in which she had to ask someone who worked there for help, but she got it in the end. is it just me or learning about the story of how they purchased your presents are much more interesting than the item itself? like if you don’t tell me that you had to run into the store at 6am, push other customers, shove them to a nearby clothes rack, fought another customer over the last item, slamming them on the ground, paid to the cashier before realising you went over budget, paid the rest with the only cash you had, nearly ran over somebody because they tried to break into your car, just to be able to give me my present, i would most likely struggle to seem appreciative even though i am, but not sure how to express that. is it just me?

also, because i don’t gatekeep, here’s the address for artbox so you can go whenever you come to london!

44-46 shelton street, wc2h 9hz

nearest bus/train stations: convent gardens station (piccadilly line) holborn station (central line, piccadilly line) holborn station (stop n and p): 1, 59, 68, 91, 188, 243 kingsway/holborn station (stop m): 1, 59, 68, 91, 188, 243

for those who chooses to go the holborn route, if you see a boots store, that’s where you need to cross over and take the first turning on the right. if you see a cafe, go straight ahead, take a left then straight down again. it should be on your left. it should be on the maps, not sure why i’m telling the directions- i just wanna be a show off lol (also ignore the bus numbers with N in them. those ones run during the night and the shop closes at 7pm usually. also, idk what that X bus is doing there either. maybe that’s elon musk’s bus.)

Aww, Thank you. I love aliyahcore it's like 2000s fashion with rave elements. It's so cute. And over the top I love over the top fashion. My goal with styling is to have who I am inside shown through with how I look on the outside. Like what you see is exactly what you get. Like when I dressed "sexier" it didn't feel like me I looked cute but it felt like a costume. So definitely go for it when you're ready to. That is so true I love mocha she's so cute and when I first saw her I was like "me!!!" I'm such a Sanrio girly and so is my best friend us giving each other gifts is just us giving each other sanrio merchandise. I have so much sanrio stuff mainly my melody and a few little twin stars things. if little twin stars was easy to find id have more. Those are my fave Sanrio characters. But that's such a cute story for how your sister got your Christmas gift and I think it just adds more excitement and adventure to the gift. But I love "It reminded me of you" or "I thought of you" gifts like you were thinking about little ol me?! it makes me so happy. It could literally be a pink piece glass for 50 cents and I would cherish it forever cause it reminded someone of me. And that sounds like such a cute shop, thank you for address and directions. If Im ever in London I'll would make sure to stop buy.

[blinddogfanfic]

Tsundoku Analysis Essay - Written by JFlicker and EC

[Sorry this took me so long, but you invited me to gush and…Well, I raved to my friend about it being so long it might end up as an essay, and she said something that (for her) translates to “do it, you coward”. Then she got dragged into co-writing it with me so who’s the loser now?! >8D SO HERE IS AN ESSAY! >8DDD Warning, it definitely references Iktsuarpok a lot lol.]

  Someone in the fandoms once said that “plot holes are the pockets the canon keeps fanfiction in”. For us, a major draw of fanfiction is worldbuilding/expanding on canon. And we absolutely loved the logistical shinobi ranking system you drew out. The canonical shinobi ranking system has always been vague, especially for a military organization that’s been in and out of major wars throughout the last 50 to 60 years. It’s open enough that the dozens of ways people have tried to flesh it out are all viable. Your system is especially well done and makes TOO MUCH SENSE. It establishes a more legitimate step-wise approach for being promoted within and across ranks (something we know has to be there) as well as expanding on and standardizing specialties (ex: combat specialist for Asuka). Having different levels of Chunin and Jonin also adds an entire (realistic) dimension to the shinobi world that we have deeply appreciated. This is really driven home by the way you described Gai. His reputation among the ‘lower ranks’ as being scary strong and not knowing his own strength is an interesting perspective and highlights the practical power difference. Not just between chunin and jonin, but also between the five jonin levels that you described. As the type of people that REALLY APPRECIATE ESTABLISHING LOGISTICS, you would not believe how much time we spent crowing in reader-victory and gushing in reader-fulfillment about this. And this isn’t even going into the practical implications of being in a military state, which is a bit more present here in this story. From the weight of confidentiality in a military state (on everybody and everything they do) to the matter of rank having actual authoritative weight to the court-martialing being a very present threat, it makes it so that the rank isn’t just a matter of achievement and level. It carries weight because those of higher rank isn't just stronger than you, they are your military superior. Court martialing for insubordination is a very present threat.

  Secondly, we both have trained or still train in the Germanic and Italian styles of longsword as well as kenjutsu. You can imagine how delighted we were with reading about a sword fighter as well as, with elements like Sakura being taken on as an apprentice, a concentration on an actual, legitimate sword art that comes with its own legacy. After all, martial arts is a collaboration of many people over many decades carefully learning, adding, teaching, and passing down this one particular school/style. The portrayal of Asuka’s tactical thinking, her logging her own resources, and calculating how much she can still do all work together successfully to create the impression that she’s working for her victories while creating a stark contrast to how smoothly and efficiently her fights are. It’s wonderful writing-wise, but also accurate in what we’ve seen with our teachers and senior students in terms of how sword fights are heavily strategic in many aspects. For example, one of the things we’re taught is the concept of “conscious competence”, which includes actively reading our opponent’s body language and then using that knowledge by choosing positions, attacks, and defenses that would manipulate their body movements as well as influence their choices. Our main teacher, the owner of the school, can set up his attacks two to four steps beforehand.

  Additionally, the two of us also did taekwondo for a couple of years, and so the early scene where Asuka started the genin off by practicing stances was a combination of nostalgia and delight. Asuka being dismayed at Naruto’s stance was something we felt on a visceral level because it’s so important in taekwondo to have a solid grasp on a balanced, ready stance and sensible footwork. That she was able to analyze each of them, pick these issues apart, and verbalize the problems was also a great wall to illustrate how Asuka’s experienced and a legit veteran as the story was starting. She also served as a great and sensible foil for Kakashi through this. Canon simultaneously shows how Kakashi being a once-in-a-lifetime genius causes him a lot of social issues but doesn’t really overtly go into the more subtle issues Kakashi would have had dealing with people (children) on a completely different level than he and his generation had been. There should be a hiccup somewhere there, but most of it is brushed off as comedy. You did illustrate it, and you did it very well. Specifically, Asuka interjected and helped in a manner where it’s obvious she’s at a lot higher level than the genin but much lower than Kakashi. That she isn’t an overwhelming genius helps her not just pinpoint and verbalize the issues, but know how to verbalize advice and instructions. Basically, thanks to having worked hard and gone through a more regular development, she has a bit more of an idea of where they would get stuck or what they wouldn’t just know (though even she’s taken aback by the Academy’s dropped standards lol). It’s such a small thing to just explain a concept, demonstrate, and then supervise, but then you realize that Kakashi’s first time really doing so in canon was in the Wave Arc for tree climbing. 

  Next, we loved the relaxed, easygoing relationship dynamics. It really made for such a relaxing read, weirdly enough. In your writing, you managed to capture Asuka’s satisfaction in just being with Kakashi. He’s so worried about misstepping as they advance their relationship to the point he’s a little flail-y and the emotional constipation REALLY shows (it’s hilarious). Go realistic, in-character reaction portrayal! Meanwhile, Asuka is laughingly relaxed in comparison and it’s wonderful how genuinely okay, satisfied, and happy she is at each step of the relationship. There’s no agenda, no demands, and her going along at Kakashi’s pace isn’t a compromise. There is a very upfront feeling that, if this relationship never advanced or even went back to being more platonic, she would have been perfectly happy with that too. It is so rare to have that platonic build-up without romantic pressure or severe overthinking from one or both of the characters, which makes their gradual relationship even more satisfying. This kind of simple comfort and meshing and advancement from mutual understanding is just…absolutely lovely. That this gradual progression is part of them developing a found family makes it even better! And it’s so relaxing in knowing that, even if their relationship settles back into platonic, this family they made would be fine, and their non-romantic relationship would remain deeply satisfying and comforting for all involved. This kind of security has been wonderful for Sasuke and we actually get to see him work through his grief and learn to open up again. Both Sakura and Naruto are also learning to do so to a lesser degree, but this slow progression and development that’s drawing all of them together really help Sasuke with his own traumas. His multi-faceted trauma involves looking for approval from, being overlooked by and for, being abandoned by, and being hurt by family. That he’s finding something completely different (but more along the lines of what he wants and needs) with his genin team is heartwarming. And this route where it’s is all very slow, very subtle development with all of them in the process of learning as he is makes it believable that Sasuke could accept this.

  Okay, and this needs to be said. We. Absolutely. LOVE. The Nagisa! XD

  A lot of people have been expanding on the experiences of the bijuu, who are major parts of the story while also having the least screen time outside of Tenten. What you did with the Nagisa and subsequently the bijuu is another beautiful expansion of the canon. While many have definitely expanded on Kurama, many then based the other bijuus’ experiences on what they thought happened with him. Your version has it so that the bijuu are all more individuals, with their individual experiences and histories (absolutely lovely mythological narrative, by the way). In many aspects, Isobu’s tragic story is a foil (or at least the other side of the spectrum) to Kurama’s tragic story.

  The whole idea of a family line, community, or country being tied to or descended from a god, deity, mystical creature, spirit, etcetera, and then how that shapes the very fabric of their culture is something you see throughout the world. Isobu created the Nagisa and shaped them into who they became in more ways than he probably realized. After all, up until recently, he played and raised and taught and accompanied and protected his Nagisa. From the few Nagisa we got to read about, they were a very practical, down-to-earth (lol) people who understood and were at peace with the cycle of life (“the sea gives and the sea takes away”). Though I can’t help but think that the fact that, no matter who they lose, the surviving Nagisa would always have family in their “Isobu-nii-san” may have played into their cultural mindset of acceptance in the face of loss. This constant presence in the face of rough times seems similar to the way religions comfort people, but more tangible. The story read as the Nagisa loving and dedicating little parts of themselves to him all their lives in the same way you would your family, resulting in the feeling that the assertion that the Nagisa were his people read as being pretty mutual.

. 

At some point, the Nagisa moved their entire culture out onto the water (from a fishing village to sea nomads?) and evolved it to suit in order to be closer to Isobu. Whatever else they ended up doing (raiding, pillaging, etc.),  it doesn’t change that they’re an entire culture started from and based on genuine love. Love of the sea and freedom and their Isobu-nii-san, who they try to spend as much time with as possible before they pass away and leave him alone. Expanding on that, the idea of there being a dedicated nautical force for the Uzushio is another element that’s simultaneously too simple and makes too much sense. It takes into consideration that, unlike Konoha, it is not just a shinobi village on an island, but groups of people who lived on islands and coasts who came together to form a shinobi village. And that means there has to have been an island culture. And that kind of development has to have shaped many integral societal/structural facets, including their military. The reaction Karin’s mom had when she heard “Nagisa” was something we ended up discussing at length. Talk about cultural consciousness. The absolute faith in the Nagisa that must have been built up over the generations is clearly evident at that moment. A name carrying cultural weight, legacy, and associations is such a little thing, but it makes Uzushio so much more real.

  Incidentally, another thing we liked was the delving into the fates of the Uzushio refugees. Generally, the obliteration of anything (much less something like a military city), is messy. People get away, people weren’t there, there are refugees, etc. Canon kind of oversimplified this part of the Uzumaki background. We have Karin, and you going into her parentage and the mentions of kidnapping gangs (and Kumo’s history) also made us wonder about people like Karui (the redhead woman who marries Chouji). 

  Another thing to note: people have been adding flavors of realism to Hashirama’s character and how specifically the “God of Shinobi” isn’t necessarily/probably isn’t a hero. Especially when you look at similar figures in history. There have been other fics about how he’s wiped-out entire groups before; something that more than likely canonically happened. But this succeeded in being PERSONAL. Your fic has succeeded in demonstrating what we’ve seen “great men” and rulers do throughout history when they pursue their goals to fulfill their visions. Hashirama’s apathy to what sounds like a genocide-massacre and betrayal-sabotage on his own allies was too real. It sounds like…a lot of dead civilians and noncombatants along with children in that. And he’s just stone-faced or that self-absorbed to have no reaction in the face of Isobu telling his Nagisa to run and Akane desperately trying to rescue him. At this point, people are more familiar with the concept of “transgenerational trauma”. He destroyed an entire culture without a second thought and, what’s even more horrifying to realize, was that this was a culture of transgenerational love—passed down from generation to generation—that he casually destroyed and he didn’t even care. You picture that great procession of ships and parade of happy, free, rough, seabound people that Tobirama describes and you can’t help but grieve because it’s all gone. They’re nearly all gone and the culture is permanently warped into something the few survivors have to make into something new from the remaining pieces. And it was for an equalizing system they were never even asked to be part of. The shattering of Gin’s sword is a perfect symbol of this and I haven’t felt so breathlessly grieved for a sword in such a short time since Ice got melted in the 1st season of Game of Thrones! This story was a real face-on address and then overturning of the propaganda surrounding Hashirama. That it was a story told to Tsunade (Hashirama’s granddaughter and the Senju) and Kurama (Isobu’s eldest sibling and the bijuu) made a long exposition work. The two are fascinating foils of each other with both of them having their worldviews shattered but in opposite directions. The hero was the villain in many aspects. Humans are not only villains, and the divide between bijuu and humans wasn’t as great as initially perceived. This mini-story within your fic just hits multiple emotional points. 

  The portrayal of Isobu himself was also interesting. You managed to portray how distinctly inhuman and immortal he is with how simultaneously emotional and childishly simple yet distant he is. Too young and too old at the same time. As a result, his moments of happiness, delight, comfort, love, protectiveness, grief, fear, and horror hit harder. Even his crueler acts are simple and childish, as shown with his casual extermination of the Hamaguchi. Ironically, his attitude about that mirrors how Hashirama went about wiping out the Nagisa to get to him. Though Hashirama’s act manages to be worse with its traces of betrayal and he doesn’t have the excuse of being distinct “not human”. Also, my friend spent a solid two minutes ranting about how Hashirama canonically not giving the Uzumaki a bijuu was just generally a dick move. Historical allies, our collective asses. 

  Kurama similarly ends up being a tragic figure in that he specifically seems to have inherited and absorbed all human hatred and negativity. In your fic, he’s specifically the bijuu foil to Isobu, starting from their legendary reputations. The Kyuubi is canonically seen as a natural disaster while your Sanbi is considered an auspicious sight omen of good tidings. Kurama’s greatest nemesis, his personal monster, is Madara. Madara, who lost himself to hatred and obsession, and so enslaved the fox to use as an attack dog to fight Hashirama. From then on, Kurama is passed from prison and warden to be used as a weapon and even blamed for his warden’s suffering. Meanwhile, Isobu has a much more positive introduction to humans when he finally became truly involved. Up until the fall of the Nagisa, his interactions with humans generally leaned more on the friendlier side, if only because negative actions were so inconsequential that he didn’t care. He became more involved, invested, and knowledgeable about humans and the world through his Nagisa. And in many ways, they were his support system when his siblings were more or less gone. So the only times he got proactively involved was because of his Nagisa. TLDR; the Hamaguchi thing was hilarious.

  “It had been a long time since he’d had anyone call him nii-san, and he wouldn’t let pesky cannibals take that away from him.”

  “Umiko’s mind could take her into dangerous territory if she weren’t careful. And he wasn’t quite sure if he’d eaten all the Hamaguchi yet.”

  “She liked to dance on the shore with baby turtles as well, safe in the cradle of Isobu’s tails. He was pretty sure he’d eaten all the Hamaguchi a few years passed, but better safe than sorry, really.”

  “It would be dangerous, a lively girl like her on the water, wielding a sword and the curiosity of youth. Best to nip any lingering worries about the potentially remaining Hamaguchi in the bud.”

  Even the Uzumaki trying to buy him from the Nagisa was more like an amusing moment he shared with his family of the time with them. When Isobu did fight for humans, he did so willingly and with at least a bit of pride and satisfaction. He protected his Nagisa and the island and had a genuinely good relationship with these humans who loved and respected him. The Nagisa in turn inherited their love for their guardian turtle from generation to generation and were devotedly consistent. His tragedy was that the whole of the Nagisa sided with him when the God of Shinobi came for him. They all ran away with him because he was family and more important than pride or strength. This to led to Isobu watching Hashirama wipe out most of his Nagisa in front of him while being helpless to stop it, being imprisoned to be used as a weapon, and given to an establishment that tries to use him to wipe out the land he formerly protected where any of his surviving Nagisa would have been. And there is rage for his wardens destroying the island that he willingly devoted time to protect, and grief because that would have been where any of his surviving Nagisa would have been. One last crushing of his hopes.

  Unlike Kurama who suffered from his own and others’ hatred stemming from humanity as a whole, Isobu suffered because humans died for the love of him. He has felt the difference between people literally dying to possess him and people dying for him. His looking at Hashirama and thinking monster and being afraid and you ruined my life hits hard. Most specifically in that, unlike Kurama, Isobu knows what it’s like to have had and lost. As summarized by Tsunade’s reflection, “[Jiraiya] hadn’t grown up in a Clan, and despite the tragedy of growing up without a family at all��he didn’t know what it felt like to have one, and then lose it.” This is a parallel between Gin, Tsunade, Sasuke, Haku, Asuka, and Kakashi versus those like Naruto, Kurama, Sakura, and Tenzo. Overall, I’m just very excited to see where things go with Isobu. He’s made so interesting here, and he is singularly significant in that he may be the last one alive who still has personal experiences with and exact memories of Nagisa tradition, events, culture, etc. We can’t wait for the reunion! With the Mist Revolution happenings, the possibility that Asuka and Isobu there is exciting! 

  On a side note, if I was Isobu with everything he’s suffered, I’d take Asuka and run. Fuck staying on this side of the world. While “I” will always love the Sage, we’re going through the Divide and never coming back. That was just so much love that disappeared. Another thing that’s hilarious to consider is that Isobu probably has the most childcare experience among the bijuu. The whole growing up in the protection of his tails, Nagisa children to teach, and exploring his back to see what kind of sea life he picked up is so cute. And now we have the image of a giant turtle mother hen whose worries and advice are specifically skewed towards sea-faring issues. (Ex. “Finish your citrus fruits, you’ll get scurvy” because having enough Vitamin C is a genuine seafaring concern.)

  Your endeavor into the nature of chakra itself is also intensively interesting. Chakra interactions aren’t a truly new thing in the fandom, but the way you do it is definitely going more in-depth. We especially liked how humans themselves have basically adapted/evolved to have chakra natures reflecting their environments or place of origin. Additionally, the way you managed to tie everything in, including connecting the logistics of rank to chakra, the breakdown and use of Positive and Negative Chakra (and their difference but tie to Killing Intent), and even how it affects the use of Summoning is so cohesive! The additional layer of chakra interaction (and never manners) as a form of communication is another element that really adds to the Naruto world. That there are even unique, distinct ways of chakra interacting with each other makes this new story element more of a very real thing in itself. On a logistical level, this includes things like how exactly the Curse Mark leeches off the individual, how the Positive Intent interacts with the Curse Mark, and the way Tsunade was able to identify Asuka and Tenzo (the imagery of it as a musical resonance was fun). On a cultural level, which includes elements like the “smelling” as well as Kakashi and Asuka’s chakra communication and resonance, it’s even more fascinating as you managed to encompass manners, societal standards, and boundaries with it. It also does a great job of emphasizing just how thoroughly how different clan shinobi and clan shinobi cultures are from the wider breadth of general shinobi. The small details of how it is harder to form a second chakra nature when a shinobi is older, or how shinobi can gain ‘sympathetic’ chakra signatures after interacting with teammates for an extended period sounds so logical and yet seems unique to your fic. It also successfully help ties it in as something that leans towards it being a biological function. Having Kakashi being so fascinated with Asuka’s water nature is also very cute since Kakashi’s intellectual side isn’t often triggered. 

  There are many in-village elements we also really loved! For one, the practicalities of all the Uchiha disappearing are addressed more directly here, specifically in how a lot of people in the older generation would have the experience working with Uchiha. There’s definitely more of that feeling of their absence being unspoken of, but not forgotten. Secondly, the Uchiha culture being expanded upon is also appreciated, including the Uchiha-unique taijutsu styles created to be easily adapted as the Sharingan develops, the strict disciplinary measures, and the “Chosen” element that's a feature of the actual eyes. Similar to the aforementioned Nagisa, this builds up carefully to the growing sense of loss for the Uchiha as a whole culture. Ironically, it’s also Asuka helping to pass on the Uchiha heritage to Sasuke on top of passing Nagisa teachings onto Sakura and non-big-clan shinobi culture/going-on to Kakashi. Even the problems she runs into work to teach them something if only through quiet observation that something’s wrong or off. Like how Sakura learned there are big differences between civilian and shinobi culture through how civilians gossiped about Asuka (leading to Sakura’s later questions), Sasuke gains perspective because he remembers old clan gossip surrounding her and her twins. It’s all still experience.

  Also, you did great in illustrating just how messy the ROOT situation is. It definitely succeeds in the feeling that Danzo’s reach is all-encompassing and creates mounting tension as the sheer breadth of the organization is fleshed out. You can practically feel Tsunade’s anxiety and how legitimately and thoroughly comprised the whole system is. Frankly speaking, forget Naruto accompanying Jiraiya around for two years, take all five members of Team 7, and get the hell out of dodge for those two years instead. XD 

  Additionally, in terms of logistics, Asuka having to budget things was fantastic. It’s a great aspect of worldbuilding that she has to worry about food and weapons and we regularly see her grocery shopping and pondering what she is getting. It’s not addressed much in other fics how shinobi are running missions as a source of income, but it is completely true that their mission rank and length determines their pay, and that should be considered more. Her worrying about buying ‘expensive’ food and thinking about how Kakashi could pay for food WAY easier is extremely realistic. It was also satisfyingly complex to see her thinking about if she could afford new armor and how that would dip into her budget. Shinobi rely on armor and weapons to save their lives, and yet it really makes sense that shinobi might have trouble resupplying and that it could impact future missions. Little details about how she needs to renew seals for them to remain functional help retain the feeling that this is her life.  I’m glad upkeep is a thing here! (“The Seals were updated every year around the same time, making sure to keep the entire structure safe from the pressure.”). Having Asuka repair her armor was a smart way of not only adding tension (constant vigilance, no auto-regeneration of anything) and making it feel like she works for every victory, but it also is a chance to demonstrate Jiraiya’s more academic competence. Her armor and the seal-use for it are so starkly practical that it’s easy to overlook that it’s actually pretty unique. That she needs to and can pull in multiple shinobi with different specialties for both upkeep and creation also works to highlight the advantage of a village and specifically Konoha’s wealth of resources.

  All that aside, Tsundoku is hilarious and adorable with a strong female role model who remains feminine. Asuka is a well-written female character who could eat cute panda-shaped snacks and love petting dogs, while still being a competent combat specialist. She could tie little things into her hair and dress nicely and it didn’t affect her job as a kunoichi. It was simply part of who she was and made her a well-rounded character with the capacity to have unique traits. The Zabuza/Iruka rarepair appearance along with the Kakashi/Asuka/Iruka and Kakashi/Asuka/Zabuza hinted at are deeply appreciated. (Though we also curse you for that. Where else are we going to find fics to feed us?) Kakashi kind of absentmindedly and casually adding people to his collection is hilarious and great. Once the floodgates were opened, the river rushed and Hatake instincts for the win. XD Also, if no one else has said it yet, your version’s Naruto and Kurama is a bit similar to Lilo and Stitch. XD 

  We look forward to any and everything about Tsundoku. There are still so many things we’re curious about! Is that underwater coral structure they built based on the Coral Castle of Tori-gumi still around if it’s a canonical thing? (Lol, did it grow?) Asuka has said something about a Sanctum Key? Will we see more of a revival of the Nagisa, starting with Sakura? After all, Asuka seems to have various friends outside the village like Juli and Maki (medics and merchants). Not to mention, Asuka’s interactions with Itachi and Shisui are a whole barrel of drama on their own while not even mentioning the twins’ eyes and her not knowing she seems to have a storage seal on her back! We’re excited for the epic backstory to be unearthed there! 

[Thank you for coming to our TedTalk lol.]

#Asuka #Tsundoku #Blind Dog #headcanon #team seven #hatake kakashi #uzumaki naruto #haruno sakura #uchiha sasuke #submission

[cchapsticck]

Hi! So, I don’t have a prompt for you, but if you’re in the mood for a question I’d love to know more about your writing process. Do you do a lot of plotting work before you start writing, or do you get an idea and just run? Do you use any particular software or apps? Any tips you’d like to share? Thank you! 😊

Thank you for asking! Happy to answer a question! I will surely will write a TED Talk no one asked for.

Easy quick part first; I’m not fancy when it comes to my tech set up. It's just me and the google doc. Music is kind of the necessary element for me, I make playlists for everything.

As far as planning and structure goes: I am what I will generously refer to as a Narrative Structural Anarchist when it comes to my writing lol. I genuinely really struggle to write things with linear narratives or things that are tremendously plot heavy - some of that might be because I’m impatient and I’m just a little unwilling to do the necessary work to mark out story beats and build tension or conflict in ways that are satisfying to me personally, but definitely I find my interests really lie in character analysis/study and, I guess, the nebulous concept of “themes”. What makes people tick and why people do what they do has always been interesting to me in the scope of fiction. But I really do just get an idea about a character, or find some granular detail about them compelling and run and it goes where it goes. It's all very stream of consciousness.

So for example, the fandom has had a lot of great and interesting discussion about Eddie’s queer coding so UNTITLED was kind of born of me wanting acknowledge that while also unpacking what all that could mean and look like in the late 80s, in the American Midwest, in that particular music scene because those things feel very vital in the way he’s to be understood in canon and it’s something I grew up very close to. And I, apparently, ended up having a lot to say about that as thoughts I had about it all would sort of unfold out from each other and I would add more chapters and I didn’t really have an “end goal” in mind when I started writing it out.

METALHEAD is definitely emblematic of all of the above, the vignette structure of it allowed me to forgo the “connective tissue” of Point A to Point B narrative and just kind of imply the between stuff while being able to get into these smaller things about what’s interesting to me about the character. Like, I only had to write “the good parts”, for me, and let the point of view character make a point to emphasize or deemphasize those implied events as another element of characterization.

To that end, if I had to give a piece of advice, I think it would really be; give yourself permission to change your mind. No idea is precious, sometimes you have to kill your darlings. You can always revert back to an old draft you can always try again. Like you may have a huge word count sunk into one concept and if you feel like you’re forcing your way forward, just try something else. Just to try. It might knock something loose about the old concept or maybe the new idea has more momentum. But like, don’t make your concept An Obligation. I think anyone who makes art likes to complain about making art at least a little bit but it shouldn’t feel like a punishment. Y’know?

I hope any of that is what you’re looking for? Thank you for asking!

#asks #dreamwatch

[arasokanbina]

New Jeans comforts my 90s heart. So nostalgic, magical and haunting.

I'm still not sure what to make off the MV reveal. I feel like I am attaching myself to it a lot here but it feels like when you're a teen and you dream and imagine what it'd be like to be happy in school because in reality you're alone and only have your dreams. It's sad but it's comforting my lonely teen memories.

More thoughts below

After watching the B side version I have more thoughts but these are more on a potential story of the MVs and more personal thoughts (for the most part).

Heesoo is the main character along with the boy classmate who she has a crush on. Whilst he is also interested in her, his is mostly more of concern from how she is acting.

In both MVs a deer is shown, a young deer at that. Showing the eyes, I think it's lighting telling the story that Heesoo got into a car accident as with the expression 'Deer in the Headlights'. It's a dual form of her being in a trance from her crush and by a car accident as we see her with a cast. The deer also being a Doe can also be meaning 'Jane Doe' representing missing or unknown human females (her friends) and the deer being a young Doe portraying youth.

The camera footage is also not just nostalgically damaged but potentially by the car crash. Her dropping it from the roof for me was her finishing off her memories after she wakes up coming to the reality. This could be a reality of her being a sole survior of an accident or of my personal take of her being lonely. This could also be mix of the two fro her actions after being in an accident imaging friends in her headlight state. It could also be less dark and her trance is with her crush of the student but I think it is the former because at the end you see her looking through those memories on tape going through the loop again.

However a positive is that the male student is seen walking her home in the rain. I think that shows that there are people that care about you even if it's not the same way as you do or you'd like them too and also showing people can look out for others who are not acting right. A simple thought of 'Oh they're being weird', might be more deep then that and taking a few moments to help the deer get out the road saves them from a worser fate and also you.

Another visual idea is of the cat. Cats having '9 lives' can be a representation of a life loop, the cat is also black known for being 'bad luck' whislt being ironically lucky.

(Note I don't believe black cat are bad luck or evil, they are all cute babies.)

Notes: As usual I might add more later and there is probably some spelling and grammar mistakes. I also wanted say that this is of course my personal take and I might be missing some media or art references that might add more context to scenes of final thoughts. However as usual these are my initial thoughts and opinions.

On a less metaphorical long winded take, Heesoo is struggling with the loss of her friends who are haunting her with memories, whilst she passes between reality of having a heart crush to her heart being crushed.

Finally it could also be that Heesoo is the ghost and the students are noticing her ghost before she moves on. Or even more out there is that its a school of ghosts and Heesoo is a new student transferring to it after she passed away. A new type of grieving her human life with her new after life. We as humans have memories of ghosts but ghosts having memories of humans is an interesting and beautifully emotional idea.

The MVs are thought provoking, emotional and of course nostalgic. I like the story element and that is is emotional because that is nostalgic and New Jeans is my comfort, even though I don't want to be sad haha. But it did show relief from her crush noticing her struggle and that is comforting. However I'd rather no more sad stories please lol.

#my comment #Fav songs #Fav mv #new jeans ditto #Youtube #Long post

[writingonesdreams]

Hello, hello, and happy wbw to you, Dreams ^^ I hope you're having a lovely one.

I know world building isn't your favorite part of the writing process, and I know you don't go into Tolkien levels of detail with it, so I was curious as to how you decided to go about fleshing out the world for Sky of Shards/Tears of Iron? What did you start with and how did you decide what needed to be known, what could be left up to the imagination, and what was touched on but not delved into particularly deeply? Did anything come up that you hadn't planned on building out? Or did you end up not needing to build out apart of the world that you had thought you would have to build? Do you think you'll have more world building to add in the future or do you feel like the setting itself is mostly complete?

I always flash out the parts of the world I'm interesting in and that play a role in the story itself. If I flash out things that aren't relevant, I tend to push myself into a corner and feel trapped and frustrated with the whole thing. Better not to develop and write out rules that I don't need and that feel limiting about that aspect, when I do end up needing it.

Aspects I focused on in Tears of Iron world:

Magic system

Culture around the magic system (something that's dying out, limited to the lucky and wealthy ones who can afford to pursue it even though it's such a common phenomenon among people)

The connection between magic and emotional state or more commonly the magical block that's usually connected to emotional/mental block

The consciousness and backstory of the Flying Islands

Dragons, their culture and emphasis on telepathy

Certain important settings like the Academy, Sea of Stars, The Moving Mountains etc

The scifi tech only to the degree to have available technology to grow plants and food independently of contact with earth underneath (my biggest unreasonable fear about worldbuilding is where do they get their food and how do I make it so they can do it on their own without spending too much time and effort doing it XD)

The animal and plant spirits, specters and fairies on the Islands (though I still need to flesh those out in that ask from you...but then again I don't really want to make out rules before I get to writing them and see what I need for the story)

Then again I'm also discovering more and more my appreciation for slice of life stories that don't bother with PLOT or WORLD at all (and that most writing guides and books I read don't teach you the kind of stories I want to read, but they actually do exist!) and how amazing and deeply satisfying for me it is. And that I need to train myself to write those scenes I crave more (but also talking about those cravings helped me realize what I want and that I can probably just...look for that actively irl too lol. I'm trying to fill a well with fantasy water, when the river is right around the corner, I just need to grit my teeth against the cold unknown stream).

I think at this point the fantasy is there only for the metaphorical meanings (what mind magic, Art, aural magic and all the culture stuff around it is for, the Islands), and for some of the cool stuff/imagineries like the Sea of Stars, planes, fairies. I could add more for the scifi feel I guess, the futurism and the comfort it promises fascinates me. And I think I take solace from fantasy and what differences it offers to real life, cause I still don't dare/feel uncomfortable writing about modern urban settings for unknown reasons. The magical element gives it the distance and the dissonance I need, so it doesn't get too personal but also let's me write directly from real life inspired emotions.

I also think fantasy settings give the author the opportunity to create all the context and backround cultural feelings and meanings that are otherwise set by the modern world and the backround of the reader. The suspension of disbelief in fantasy world allows for more openness for the reader and more freedom for the author to built it on their own terms. What do you think?

I would like to make the mundane things interesting, to show them in their full dramatic importance, to make it all about relationships and emotional responses. I think this actually requires more skill than writing the big dramatically deaths and world saving fight scenes and gory bloody killings and monster fights and whatnot. And I can't do it to satisfactory level for myself yet. XD I rely on the over dramatic and deadly stakes too much still, it comes easier, why only does it come easier?

So yeah I don't expect to be needing more worldbuilding. XD I just wish I could write realistic stories without the fear of someone I respect telling me it's not realistic and only shows how young and inexperienced I am. XD Which hits me more now, since I'm more aware of all the cultural webs and social relationships around me cause of my studies.

Anyway, thanks for the question Ren :D I really appreciate the effort you put into making them interesting for me. <3

#writeblr #worldbuilding wednesday #on writing #wip meta #wip: tears of iron #ask

[onewingedsparrow]

8, 10, 12, 17, and 19 for the ask game!

(They’re all amazing; it was hard to narrow it down. 😂)

Thanks for the ask, Nova! <3 Lol yeah I loved all the questions too :D

From this ask game!

8. Which tf character has the most different personality from you? Uhhhhh that’s a good question. Maybe RiD’15 Drift? He’s very rigid and not likely to have fun for the sake of having fun. Also most iterations of Shockwave are far more logical than I like to be. Sure, logic is important, but Shockwave seems to go overboard in my book. 10. Which tf character do you think you’d get along with really badly? Probably Starscream, any continuity. He's such a backstabber and I value loyalty; he's super narcissistic and people like that are quite annoying to me. Plus he's generally not very fond of humans and talks down to them, and I'm very feisty so our interactions would probably go much like Miko's and his in TFP. Many insults, mutual disgust. I can appreciate his character in a show but I know I could not stand him in real life haha. 12. List a piece of art not from transformers that you think fits a tf character! Hmm this took me a bit of digging...there wasn't one that came to mind instantly, but it was interesting to consider! Reposting is BAD kids(TM) so here's direct links to artists’ works instead! ;)

First off: this beautiful ocean art by Kazami is really inspiring to me. Most people probably don’t think of the ocean when they think Transformers, but...put simply, it reminds me of the ’Waves ;) I have AU versions of Shockwave and Soundwave occupying my mind, their designs inspired by the sea. And the depth in this particular piece is absolutely gorgeous. The brighter colors are reminiscent of neon, which also makes me think Wavebros, and the darker colors add to the ominous, frightening feel of the deep ocean, ever fitting for those two Decepticons.  Oh! You’d probably like this as well! There’s a Fire Emblem character whose design I am absolutely in love with. He’s so spooky!!! His name is Líf and I haven’t reached his chapter in the story yet, but I’m so looking forward to that day because his design alone intrigues me. 💜 What does this have to do with Transformers? Well, he reminds me of Soundwave the most, but his “lightning antennae,” lol, remind me of both Soundwave and Optimus, which is a very interesting combination. Líf’s design gets me thinking about the uncanny ways Soundwave and Optimus are similar, something I hadn’t really considered in depth before. It’s quite fun. Here are some cool Líf fanarts so you can see his vibe! - By Lynarc (my absolute favorite that I’ve found so far) - By Bhai Kun - By Kalkkopf - Screenshots from a trailer (?)

- Bonus: Official art from the wiki because they’re all just so cool

I really like this dude in case it wasn’t obvious by how many of these I’m sharing 17. Which piece of music from a tf media is your favorite? I'm so glad you asked this question!!! I was hoping someone would 😊 This would have to be, hands down, "Did You Forget Who I Am" from The Last Knight. The Bayverse is full of terrible, terrible elements, but Steve Jablonsky’s score is not one of those. All the soundtracks are incredible. And this scene from TLK is so iconic that, every time I listen to the music, I can hear Optimus' voice fill in that beat of silence with the mighty, chilling line that Peter Cullen delivered so well. 💙 It also has a special place in my heart because...I can’t help but see a connection to my faith :) This scene and therefore this song are good reminders for me when I’m having a bad day. Side note: The fact that this song surpassed the TFP theme to become my favorite Transformers piece of music really says a lot about its impact. 19. Which depiction of cybertron in a tf media do you most want to live in? Does the answer vary depending on if you’re human or cybertronian? Lol okay so gut reaction would say "G1 Cybertron" because 1) humans can apparently breathe up there without issue (and not be harmed by acid rain, so that's a huge plus), and 2) while the Autobots and Decepticons were bickering on earth I could just go hang out with Shockwave, who's all alone just chilling 😂 But if oxygen wasn't an issue? Definitely post-Predacons-Rising Cybertron. I would love to rebuild the planet along with Team Prime and listen to their stories as they began to heal emotionally from the long conflict. I would also love to see what elements of the planet they repaired true to the original design, and which elements they rebuilt completely to start off on a blank slate, and the implications of each decision. It would be cool to live in a revitalized Cybertron and watch refugees return and new sparks be forged gradually over time until the planet was bustling again. And if I could show up a bit earlier and be present for Bumblebee's Warrior knighting ceremony that would be pretty cool too. 💛

#robotzzz transformers ask game #asks answered #transformers #maccadam #nova tag

[antirepurp]

When you're making the "rough draft" of your fics, do you usually do most of it all in one go, or do you chip away at it?

kind of both? like when i write the rough flow of things down i usually do it in one or two sittings, something like that, but actually figuring out the flow and sorting it out in my head is more of a chip job if you will aksjdads. most of the time tho i start by making a note on my phone that i keep slapping things i'd like to write about in the given context, or events that could happen in the story, or problems that would arise with me introducing specific elements, and then just. think about them aggressively a whole bunch? i like musing about things and headworlds and shit in the evenings and that's where a lot of that construction happens. and if needed i'll later write the notes again on the computer to order them chronologically and point where they fit in the midst of the (possible) canon narrative im working with, and add other notes in between to remind myself to check the source material for xyz reasons or that hey you mentioned a thing in a previous chapter and this would be the time to bring it up again. i didn't do the latter step with stranger in morioh/his world tho since they were mostly about the in-between bits and i had the part4/3 narratives fresh-enough in mind anyway (or i just looked up the order of things from the wiki lol)

i put some notes i made for his world under the cut bc i thought those maybe show what i mean better and also i went through the trouble of getting them on the compuper anyway so i might as well share them akjshdas

^ iirc most of these may have been written before i watched the anime again or maybe when i was in the earlier episodes? and most of them didn't end up making it in at least in these forms, but i did work off of them

^ you can probably point out which ones of these i wrote while watching the anime lol. some of them i also picked from the shit i scattered around in stranger in morioh that also just didn't end up addressed bc there wasn't enough to work with, like the vending machine shit. and some were less a "write a chapter about this" and more "this could be a recurring theme" kind of deals

^ the first ones aren't of course chronological and i probably didn't intend them as such anyway. dio's world actually had its own note entirely but that was also me outlining the OVA more or less and picking up interesting things about it/writing down things to put into it than anything? and then things i could've included in the epilogue, half of which went unused bc they weren't enough to work with or wouldn't have worked in the final version of the timeline anyway

in the end i mostly just picked what i saw fitting for each chapter that i didn't have a predetermined purpose for, and also i think i might've done a thing where i copypasted the shit i did use into a separate paragraph in the order i used them to keep track of what i had already included in a chapter? also idk if any of this really answers the question i might be on a tangent again adshjkas

#uh tl;dr it depends and i also don't really write a lot of things down in a constructive way #example: i did write down ermes' sticker notes for my part6 stuff #but they're like ''gang's at [location] and then thunder mcqueen happens'' #and im now trying to figure HOW mcqueen happens but i not writing any of it down probably #until im writing the chapter that is akjsdhakjsd

[chicagolive]

Holiday pal here! One Last Stop seems interesting! I’m not usually one for romance books buuut it has some sci-fi mixed in there that’s drawing me in for sure! I really like the idea of it and want to know how the whole thing is handled so I’m excited to check it out!

I’ve read a few books this year, mostly sci-fi, horror/thriller and fantasy like books since those tend to be my favorite genres! I also like deep/real stories? I’m not sure how else to explain it. I’m reading Fellowship of The Ring right now and I’m loving it so I’ll recommend that! A book I’m quite excited to read is Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

Music that I enjoyed a lot this year was from some smaller artists you could say? Definitely not mainstream, at least I don’t think so. Weyes Blood’s album Titanic Rising was so lovely. I just adore her voice. Djo’s album Decide was so fun and he makes my favorite kind of sound as well as loving the persona he sorta creates for his music. Lastly I’ll recommend Left At London, her last ep was amazing to me and different! The opening song has a fake like stand up bit intertwined in it and I’m just obsessed with a lot of her music. Do you have any recommendations or artists you love that you think deserve more attention?

I forgot to mention yesterday, I love your theme! Fits so well with the season. Now, I saw you collect vinyl and so do I! It’s one of my favorite things to do when I’ve got the cash to do so. I tend to collect color vinyls more than plain black because they just mesmerize me. Plus I just love physical media, there’s something so special about it.

If you can pick, do you have a prized vinyl in your collection? What artist do you have the most vinyl for if you know! A few more little questions: what’s your fav color and why? Do you have any comfort movies? And a fun fact about you if you’re comfy with sharing of course! I’ll share a fun fact about me: my favorite kind of dogs are pitbulls!

I’m sorry if this is too long, just let me know and I’ll cut back! I just get excited and can talk a lot. And sorry to send this a bit late! I hope it isn’t too late! I’m not sure what timezone you’re in so here’s to hoping this reaches you on December 2nd! I hope you’ve had a great day/night! ❤️

-🎉❄️

Hiii, hun!! ✨ thank you!! I had the same theme since about 2020, so I thought I’d change it up for the season!!

Exactly!! The book has this mystery element to it, in the sense that both characters try to find out how to save the one who is stuck on the train and while doing so, they grow closer together!! They go through so much together that you can only root for them!! It’s a whole roller coaster of emotions, at least for me lol.

I guess it’s time to add more books to the to-be-read!! I’ve seen Project Hail Mary floating around, especially on booktok. But lately, a lot of booktok recommendations are not really doing it for me. I tried reading Red, White and Royal Blue but just couldn’t get into it. I made it halfway through before I stopped 😬. But I’d definitely would have to give your recs. a look!!

I’ll have to give those people a listen, even though I’m terribly bad at listening to new music.. but I’ll give them the chance, just for you!! In terms of who I would want to give more attention to, I went to a music festival back in September and that’s where I found a lot of smaller artists that I actually really liked!! Alexander 23 is one of them!! My college roommate is a big fan, so we went so see a little bit of their set!! They sound terrific live!! I’d also say Indigo de Souza!! I was listening to a bit of their music the day before the actual festival, and fell in love!! Their lead singer has a voice I can only describe as rogue, if that made any sense lol. I highly recommend their stuff!! I know rina sawayama is a pretty big artist, but I’d say them as well!!

Oooooo another person who loves vinyl!! I only just started collecting around the end of 2020!! Guess it was one of these hobbies that I wanted to pick up due to staying indoors cause of COVID. My prized record(s) would probably be a tie between folie à deux by fall out boy (mostly because it took forever to find in any pressing!!) and the human condition by Jon Bellion (it’s a clear pressing and it brings back a lot of good memories from college); right behind all of these would be my one direction vinyl collection!! I’m trying to collect all their band/solo artist records and so far I have all but one (Mind of Mine by ZAYN). I have a lot of doubles for certain artist, but I don’t have more than three of the same record (though that would be cool!!). I could ask the same to you!! Fav. record(s) you have??? Doubles?? Triples??

Speed round questions!! Fav. color? Tie between purple and yellow, but pink is starting to grow on me lately!! Comfort movie? Since it’s the season, Jim Carrey’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Me and my brother can recite that movie by memory!! Fun fact? I really like art!! Especially sculptures/installations!! I’m trying to get back into creating art again, but it’s been pretty difficult lately. Trying to see if I can break out of this artist block that’s had a hold on me for awhile 😬.

Honestly, this answers pretty long, but I thoroughly enjoyed it!! Sometimes, I feel like I ramble on and on about nothing and think it makes sense in the end!! 😅 keep the long asks coming!! I honestly don’t mind the time your asks get here!! I’m in North America on the east side so I tend to receive them in the evening, thus far, which is perfect!! Lol. Hope you have a wonderful start/end of your day!! 🎄✨

#holiday pals 🎄✨ #asks

[twistedtummies2]

No it doesn't count, sorry.

(snorts with laughter) Well, fair enough, Anon. Your quickness made me laugh, so I'll try to give you more of an answer. XD For those who don't know, this is in response to an Ask that...well...asked if there was a way I could think of to fix the, and I quote, "incomprehensible" lore of two hyped-up horror games: FNAF and Bendy and the Ink Machine. In the case of FNAF, I feel the problem with that franchise is it got too big for itself, so to speak. It started off as a relatively simple concept with some lore that contained a lot of intrigue and ambiguity. Then it had a couple of sequels that built on that lore in some interesting ways...and then it just spun out of control, constantly adding and retconning and changing things up in an insane sort of way. It's actually the problem a lot of old classic video game franchises have, like the original Castlevania series: once you start developing the lore, it can become a downward spiral. I think what FNAF needed was to know when to quit, to be honest. Because the more you add and change and put in, the more convoluted your story becomes, and the harder it is to follow. Of course, if that was the case, we'd have no franchise, so...I don't really know. There's a way to keep going and keep the rules simple - Mario, for instance, has never really lost its basic simplicity, even though it's a very different type of franchise - but I don't know the exact answer. Bendy has a somewhat different problem, in my end. Bendy is both confused and just plain confusing. It's not so much a matter of it being convoluted so much as it is just difficult to tell what is actually going on in this story. It seems to be going one direction, but by the end of the adventure, it's hard to say what you've actually been through or why. I think the reason for this is that Bendy is, itself, a game that doesn't quite know what it's trying to be. There are horror games that have that kind of confused weirdness to them, such as "Alice: Madness Returns" or the Silent Hill games, but in both those cases, those are games that - for all their gory moments - are also very psychologically driven, trying to DELIBERATELY bewilder the player to make them try and figure out just what's going on and what it all means. Bendy, however, can't seem to decide if it's psychological horror, survival horror, action/adventure horror, or something else entirely. Each chapter introduces new elements and new mechanics, which makes the game feel scattershot, and I think this impacts the story as well as the gameplay. I think Bendy would have worked better, in general, if it had just known what it was trying to be from the beginning and stuck to that.

I should add immediately that, while I'm not a fan of FNAF (sorry, Anon, it's just not my thing), I actually AM a fan of Bendy and the Ink Machine. I think it's a very stylish and interesting game, with a lot of potential and ambition...just perhaps a bit TOO ambitious for its own good at times. LOL

#ask #answer #q&a #video games #horror #bendy and the ink machine #fnaf #five nights at freddy's #bendy