OC Deep Dive Tag

OC Deep Dive Tag

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck! I'll be using Hope Blackwood for a change <3

What uncommon/common fear do they have?

Banality. (She is edgy and 13)

Do they have any pet peeves?

Ophelia's existence. But especially when she's loud and complains about or to Hope.

What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?

Books, a dagger, a magnifying glass.

What do they notice first in a person?

Their gaze.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how high is their pain tolerance?

6, at best 7 (though she swears it's 10)

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure?

Depends? If there's a clear physical danger, it's flight. If it's a nonviolent confrontation, fight.

Do they come from a big family/are they a family person?

HUGE family. on the younger end of 10 children. Isn't so much of a "family person" as she's a "put up with them because I begrudgingly love them and my world is too small to have any other perspective" person (but she does love them).

What animal represents them best?

A grumpy but lazy cat.

What is a smell that they dislike?

Extremely heavy perfumes. For a specific scent, boiled broccoli.

Have they broken any bones?

An arm, once.

How would a stranger likely describe them?

Odd, quiet, moody.

Are they a night owl or a morning bird?

Honestly I haven't thought about it. Probably a night owl? Just because she likes being a rebel.

What is a flavor they hate and a flavor they love?

Hates oregano. Loves garlic.

Do they have any hobbies?

Reading, mostly. She used to journal, but then one of her sisters got into her diary, and she hasn't used it since. She also likes animal bones.

Boom, surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprises?

Stunned-still, then pretending to be annoyed (but secretly pleased by the attention). She otherwise hates surprises, though.

Do they like to wear jewelry?

Not particularly. It gets in the way of her usual activities. A simple necklace will do, maybe something sentimental.

Do they have neat or messy handwriting?

Neat.

What are the two emotions they feel the most?

Annoyance and boredom.

Do they have a favorite fabric?

Wool, perhaps? or cotton? IDK I'm not a fabric girly. Something suitable for the weather and breathable.

What kind of accent do they have?

I haven't decided where she lives exactly yet, so I don't have a region-specific answer, but an American accent most likely.

That's all! I really haven't spoken about this story much, which I'll have to get around to, but it's a nice change from constantly thinking about my Traveling Bards story, tbh.

For now, let's do an OPEN TAG! I'll retroactively add you if you asked (we don't have to be mutuals!!!)

Last Line Tag

Thanks for the tag, @rivenantiqnerd! This is from Traveling Bards. It's technically 2 lines, but they're both short dialogue lines and the last one just doesn't make sense on its own, so. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Rule: Post the last line that you've written for your WIP.

"You know how to write?!"

"You don't?!"

Perhaps underwhelming! But not every line in a book is a banger, unfortunately.

No clue who to tag anymore, so no pressure: @mysticstarlightduck, @anoelleart, @theunboundwriter

OC Origins Tag

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck! This is really cool! I'd love to do another. I'll be covering some of my MCs from various stories because I'm TOTALLY normal about this <333

Rule: "talk about the origins of the names and personalities (and maybe even the design?) of a couple of your OCs!"

Itazaki Katsuko (Katsuko no Monogatari):

This name came with a level of investment that was disproportionate and frankly unnecessary for a short story that I initially wrote for a class, lmao.

Itazaki was part of the alternative name of Hangaku Gozen, one of the onna-musha (female warriors) in Heian Japan. She's not as popular as the legendary Tomoe Gozen, probably because she was on the opposing side of the war; but not only is Tomoe kinda too stereotypical for me, but she didn't technically have a last/secondary name, from what I gathered? I mean Itazaki wasn't Hangaku Gozen's last name, but it was part of her title and sounded like a better last name for Katsuko than Jo.

But a more important reason is that she's one of the few onna-musha with a fairly clearly documented and relatively HAPPY ending for a warrior on the losing side of a war (she was a member of the Taira clan, who lost the power struggle against Minamoto clan in the Genpei War). Which is quite an achievement considering not even Tomoe Gozen got a clear ending, let alone a good one (there are various accounts about how she lived her life after the war, NONE of which are happy, unfortunately).

While I knew it didn't really matter, I'm kind of incapable of naming characters without deep diving into the meaning of the names and the history of it. So I went with Itazaki for Katsuko's surname.

As for her first name, Katsuko, this one's more simple. "Katsu" literally means "victory/to win" in Japanese. "Ko" means "child". Putting them together essentially means "winner", "victorious child", etc. Which, while kinda on the nose, I also chose because it's a fairly gender neutral name (if you drop the "ko", anyway. "ko" is almost always used for girl names) and is seen as kind of a tomboyish (?) name. I would've gone with "Katsu", but that's my great-grandmother's name. She was the inspiration for the name, but I didn't want to actually give Katsuko the EXACT same name because of emotional distancing reasons, lol (my great grandmother was very much alive until recently, and I'd feel weird to do that when I knew her personally).

Appearance-wise, Katsuko is a fairly standard looking Japanese woman. Her hair's decently long, as was the standard, and she mostly wears armor, since she's not only a guard, but there's also combat scenes. She uses a naginata, since that was the standard weapon for onna-musha and onna-bugeisha (female guards).

Megumi Wilson (Asteria Heights):

I intentionally chose the name Megumi because it was Japanese, but could also be shortened into a Western-sounding name (Meg). This is because, in my personal experience, most Japanese-American/half-Japanese families would give their kids names that are either foreign but simple enough to say in Japanese, or have alternative or similar versions in both languages (assuming these are families that still have connections to Japan/Japanese culture; many Japanese families chose to entirely assimilate, especially if they're not first-gen immigrants).

While I would've loved to do the latter (which I'd say is more common), there aren't really that many of those, and with how picky I am, none of them felt like they fit (plus I have multiple half-Japanese characters who already took other names). Also, to be honest, many of them were a little TOO similar to mine and my siblings' names, lol. And I obviously didn't want that.

I could've given her a Japanese name that couldn't be Westernized, but me and my sisters always had beef with how people would butcher our names growing up (even though mine isn't even just Japanese!!! My legal name is also Western!!!) and I didn't want to do that to my girl Meg, even if she isn't real, lmao.

Luna, Iris, Claire (Traveling Bards):

Okay, these are fairly boring in name, but that was intentional! I won't say why SPECIFICALLY these names, but I was looking for simple names in general because I wanted names that were easier to pronounce for Japanese people because I'm a bit willfully ✨delusional✨ and I want to at least get a translation of the story one day, if not an animated adaption (yes!! I know!! Unrealistic!! Let me DREAM!!!!)

Their personalities, as I've mentioned in a previous post, are based off of some people I love very much in my life. They're not 1 to 1 the same, but their cores are. This story actually initially started off as a what-if scenario when we were watching an Isekai (reincarnation) anime together and kept getting frustrated at some dumb characters and situations, and then got into talking about what we'd do in a situation like that. And then I was like "this shit slaps ngl" and after some revisions to their persons, here we are!!!

This was so fun! <333 I'll end it here because I can honestly go one for DAYS about them. I'd have covered some more but this is too long already, so please feel free to tag me in this again!!!

Leaving it as an OPEN TAG for whoever wants it. Might come and retroactively add people later.

Gently Tagging: @amaiguri, @paintedbutton, @pandoras-comment-box, and anyone else who wants in!!!

I haven't the SLIGHTEST clue about science-y things but I LOVE a magic system that works like/with science!!!! Go nerd mages, go!!!!

Badly Summarized Magic System

Thank you to @anyablackwood <3 <3 <3 for tagging me, even though I have been AFK for like a month. Today we're:

Rules: "Explain the magic system of your current WIP as poorly as possible -- ideally using bullet points.

But guys, gals, and NB pals, I don't bullet points because I have SCIENCE:

What if thermodynamics had a COLD particle?

And what if the COLD made spontaneous effects happen because of chaos theory?

...

That's it.

Now base all of engineering off that! Haha!

Tagging: @reaperofcrows and @galacticsand and @satohqbanana to explain their magic systems to me :DDD

Bold What Applies to Your OC

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck! I'll go with Claire and Felix from Traveling Bards, and a bonus round with Adrasteia from Crown of Blood!

CLAIRE:

Killed Someone Under Orders | Had Someone Killed On Their Orders | Killed Someone In Self Defense | Spared Someone’s Life | Invented Something | Been Hungover | Kissed Someone | Slow-Danced | Been In A Long-Term Relationship | Had Sex | Had Sex And Regretted It | Had A One-Night Stand | Had A Threesome | Experimented With Their Sexuality | Had A Kid | Adopted A Kid | Wanted To Have A Family With Someone | Done Something On Impulse They Regretted | Gone Traveling | Had A Bounty Put On Them | Eaten An Insect | Been Groped/SA'd | Been Dumped | Dumped Someone | Smoked | Gotten High | Put Someone In A Headlock | Won A Bet | Lost A Bet | Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them | Indulged In Petty Revenge | Hallucinated | Gotten A Noticeable Scar | Kneed/Hit Someone In The Groin | Had An Unattainable Crush | Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears | Been Kidnapped | Been Brainwashed/Hypnotized | Had A Recurring Nightmare | Been Bullied  | Bullied Someone | Experienced Survivor’s Guilt | Been Tied/Chained Up | Given Someone A Massage | Received A Massage | Been Backed Up Against A Wall | Shot Someone | Stabbed Someone | Saved Someone’s Life | Cheated On Someone | Been Cheated On | Been In An Open Relationship | Had A Friendship With Benefits | Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship | Had A Stalker | Been Betrayed | Been A Traitor | Been Possessed | Been In A Bar Fight | Been Thrown Out Of A Bar | Been Arrested | Broken Out Of Jail | Been To A Funeral | Been To A Brothel | Had Surgery | Broken Someone’s Trust | Broken Someone’s Heart | Had Their Heart Broken | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite | Gotten A Piercing | Gotten A Tattoo | Used A Fake Name | Been Beaten Up | Been Tortured | Tortured Others | Been Abused | Been Blackmailed | Gotten Away With A Crime | Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed | Shared A Bed Platonically | Been In Love |  Suffered From Sleep Paralysis | Been Forced To Flee Their Home | Learned A New Language | Joined A Rebellion | Fought On The Losing Side Of A War | Fought On The Winning Side Of A War | Become A Godparent | Become An Aunt/Uncle

FELIX:

Killed Someone Under Orders | Had Someone Killed On Their Orders | Killed Someone In Self Defense | Spared Someone’s Life | Invented Something | Been Hungover | Kissed Someone | Slow-Danced | Been In A Long-Term Relationship | Had Sex | Had Sex And Regretted It | Had A One-Night Stand | Had A Threesome | Experimented With Their Sexuality | Had A Kid | Adopted A Kid | Wanted To Have A Family With Someone | Done Something On Impulse They Regretted | Gone Traveling | Had A Bounty Put On Them | Eaten An Insect | Been Groped/SA'd | Been Dumped | Dumped Someone | Smoked | Gotten High | Put Someone In A Headlock | Won A Bet | Lost A Bet | Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them | Indulged In Petty Revenge | Hallucinated | Gotten A Noticeable Scar | Kneed/Hit Someone In The Groin | Had An Unattainable Crush | Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears | Been Kidnapped | Been Brainwashed/Hypnotized | Had A Recurring Nightmare | Been Bullied  | Bullied Someone | Experienced Survivor’s Guilt | Been Tied/Chained Up | Given Someone A Massage | Received A Massage | Been Backed Up Against A Wall | Shot Someone | Stabbed Someone | Saved Someone’s Life | Cheated On Someone | Been Cheated On | Been In An Open Relationship | Had A Friendship With Benefits | Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship | Had A Stalker | Been Betrayed | Been A Traitor | Been Possessed | Been In A Bar Fight | Been Thrown Out Of A Bar | Been Arrested | Broken Out Of Jail | Been To A Funeral | Been To A Brothel | Had Surgery | Broken Someone’s Trust | Broken Someone’s Heart | Had Their Heart Broken | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite | Gotten A Piercing | Gotten A Tattoo | Used A Fake Name | Been Beaten Up | Been Tortured | Tortured Others | Been Abused | Been Blackmailed | Gotten Away With A Crime | Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed | Shared A Bed Platonically | Been In Love |  Suffered From Sleep Paralysis | Been Forced To Flee Their Home | Learned A New Language | Joined A Rebellion | Fought On The Losing Side Of A War | Fought On The Winning Side Of A War | Become A Godparent | Become An Aunt/Uncle

ADRASTEIA:

Killed Someone Under Orders | Had Someone Killed On Their Orders | Killed Someone In Self Defense | Spared Someone’s Life | Invented Something | Been Hungover | Kissed Someone | Slow-Danced | Been In A Long-Term Relationship | Had Sex | Had Sex And Regretted It | Had A One-Night Stand | Had A Threesome | Experimented With Their Sexuality | Had A Kid | Adopted A Kid | Wanted To Have A Family With Someone | Done Something On Impulse They Regretted | Gone Traveling | Had A Bounty Put On Them | Eaten An Insect | Been Groped/SA'd | Been Dumped | Dumped Someone | Smoked | Gotten High | Put Someone In A Headlock | Won A Bet | Lost A Bet | Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them | Indulged In Petty Revenge | Hallucinated | Gotten A Noticeable Scar | Kneed/Hit Someone In The Groin | Had An Unattainable Crush | Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears | Been Kidnapped | Been Brainwashed/Hypnotized | Had A Recurring Nightmare | Been Bullied  | Bullied Someone (kind of? It's complicated.) | Experienced Survivor’s Guilt | Been Tied/Chained Up | Given Someone A Massage | Received A Massage | Been Backed Up Against A Wall | Shot Someone | Stabbed Someone | Saved Someone’s Life | Cheated On Someone | Been Cheated On | Been In An Open Relationship | Had A Friendship With Benefits | Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship | Had A Stalker | Been Betrayed | Been A Traitor | Been Possessed | Been In A Bar Fight | Been Thrown Out Of A Bar | Been Arrested | Broken Out Of Jail | Been To A Funeral | Been To A Brothel | Had Surgery | Broken Someone’s Trust | Broken Someone’s Heart | Had Their Heart Broken | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite | Gotten A Piercing | Gotten A Tattoo | Used A Fake Name | Been Beaten Up | Been Tortured | Tortured Others | Been Abused | Been Blackmailed | Gotten Away With A Crime | Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed | Shared A Bed Platonically | Been In Love | Suffered From Sleep Paralysis | Been Forced To Flee Their Home | Learned A New Language | Joined A Rebellion | Fought On The Losing Side Of A War | Fought On The Winning Side Of A War | Become A Godparent | Become An Aunt/Uncle

Never realized until now just how many things Adrasteia has done, lol! They've all gotten down to stuff, but it's still interesting!

Might come back and tag some people later, I just don't know who to tag lately lol. Let me know if you want to be added though <3 For now it's just an OPEN TAG!

WIP Questionnaire Tag

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck! I'll use Traveling Bards for this, as is the current trend for me.

1. What’s the first part of your WIP that you created?

The outline? That's usually how I start. If you mean of the actual story, then chapter 1. If you mean the concept itself, the characters.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

Best I can find is Passerine by The Oh Hellos (the artists who made Solider, Poet, King). I'd love to find a more comedic/energetic song, though.

3. What are your favorite characters that you made? Why?

Within this story? The MCs, lol. Especially Felix, my beloved son! I'm not gonna lie, the sisters are inspired by some IRL people that I love very much. But even without that, they're just so fun! This is my first "simple"/comedy story, so there's less of a focus on prose or "depth" and more on me just dicking around with these guys, so I'm really having a blast with them. Their characters are the most unhinged I've written so far, though I hope to change that soon.

Felix isn't inspired by an IRL person, but he's kind of shameless wish-fulfillment. Traveling Bards initially began as a parody of a very specific genre of anime, so he's essentially what I wish would happen/what I love to see for characters with his archetype.

For the favorites of all time? Can't choose, honestly. Love all of them!

4. What other pieces of media do you think your fanbase would share?

Memes. Or, I'd hope so. If it ever got adapted, I'd love a compilation video or funny edits. Regardless? Endless shitposts, sprinkled with random and unwarranted brainrot thesis-long thinkpieces on elements of my characters and world-building that I never even considered when writing it that ultimately change the way even I view my characters. I'd love a good Tumblr essay from someone being Totally Normal about one of my funky little guys.

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP?

Actually writing it! Lmao. For the 3 people that have seen my writing logs, you'd know I had to recently overhaul the entire initial arc as well as the 3 chapters I already wrote! Though I guess plot points would also be part of that struggle.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

All kinds! Anything from normal animals to classic fantasy ones to ones I personally made up! My favorite out of all of them are the dragons. Because dragons are fucking awesome. My second favorite are the ones I made myself.

One of the first ones I introduce is the "crystal frog" which is this really cute frog that's quite literally translucent- kind of like the glass frog, but even more translucent! And light refracts off of it like a crystal!

7. How do your characters travel/get around?

Carriage/horse most often at first, then eventually via ship, then flying (with magic or on a magic creature). So. Basically anything but a plane or car.

8. What part of your WIP are you working on right now?

Actually writing it! I'm currently only a few chapters in on my first rough draft. My goal is to create the entire rough draft with as few edits as possible and then to go back and revise the whole thing, since that'll be easier for me than trying to make each chapter "perfect" before I move on.

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) You think will draw your audience in?

I guess for those that are more familiar with this genre, it'll be that. Isekais/reincarnation/transmigration/portal fantasy/whatever you want to call it. It's also got found family and friendship (kinda spoiler-y, but there's a sibling adoption involved!). Lots of "be gay, do crime" instances too.

It's also primarily an adventure-comedy, with a kinda parody-angle to it. They're intentionally gunning for these classic Hero Adventure experiences, in a bucket-list kind of way. Also, they're bards (for lack of a more accurate and snappy term) in a fantasy setting. So if you like a heavy emphasis on a sibling bond and ridiculous people getting into ridiculous situations of their own making, I'm hoping this will be appealing!

10. What are your hopes for your WIP?

That it gets finished, LMAO. My goal is to complete the rough draft by the end of summer, so that I can spend fall and winter revising, rewriting, editing, etc. I eventually hope (like most writers) to one day publish it. But let's not get ahead of ourselves! I can't get there if I don't even finish it.

Not sure who to tag, so I'll come back to it later.