#*ise: worldbuilding

[infinitestagearchive]

POSTED 29.02.24

following increased online discussion on the behavior of BOYFRIENDZ member Miles, Infinite Stage Entertainment released an official statement on february 29th declaring that Kim Minho, known by stage name Miles, would be departing from the boy group. the label stated, “Miles will withdraw from the company,” though also promising that BOYFRIENDZ will not continue as a four-member group, and is instead working towards debuting a new member.

as previously reported, Miles denied all allegations of abuse towards his peers, even stating that the video leaked to twitter had been falsified and taken out of context. the video shows the idol allegedly drunk and getting into a fight with S-DIVISION member Atlas during the promotional party of the group’s most recent album, Outlaws. 

Infinite Stage Entertainment’s release further clarified that Miles will no longer be signed with the label, as well as the fact that the company fully stands behind the safety and comfort of their idols.

what are your thoughts?

[ +190 / -35 ] ultimately the company has to do right by their idols, and judging from that video it’s clear that he was creating an unsafe environment [ +150 / -28 ] sorry if he was ur bias but obviously he had a negative impact on the boys as a group so honestly. we should all root for them to thrive after this. also let’s NOT send hate to the new member when they announce him! he’s by far the least to blame in all of this [ +82 / -6 ] so… is jackson off the hook now? bfz dont have scandals challenge difficulty impossible [ +54 / -11 ] how is ise this quick to fire miles but not honey when she was a fucking bully to all the lml girls?? make it make sense like fr [ +56 / -18 ] literally when will atlas stop suffering

[nabooro]

Not sure if you're still actively working on this, but I am so enamoured with all of it! I wanted to ask - do you have any ideas about sign languages on Naboo?

Oh, thank you so much! I haven't been super actively working on this recently, but I'm always interested in thinking of new aspects of it!

I can't say I've developed any solid ideas on the sign languages of Naboo, but I have some thoughts on what they may be based in.

To start off on a slight tangent, I have some complicated thoughts re: disability in the GFFA, which gets a pretty weird treatment through the series in part because we have so many people with limbs chopped off lol. Obviously a galaxy with species with vast differences in mobility would need to have mobility and communication aids. So first I guess, is there technology that could act as a substitute for non-verbal forms of communication by 'interpreting'? Star Wars has all kinds of weird technology.

On the flip side: should there be? Both in terms of worldbuilding and in-universe.

That little tangent out of the way - I would say there is probably a primary school of sign language that has been developed intentionally over time and is fairly well-established, though I do wonder about its use and the politics of that - but I don't know enough about sign language myself to speak to its details.

Instead, what I can do you for: a couple of parallel developments in sign language (or equivalent) on Naboo!

One of the major resources in the south-west of Naboo, esp. in the swamps of the Danank region, involves a lot of mining that it is pretty dangerous to do things like "inhale" around. I imagine that mining communities there + people who just live in the vicinity of the swamps have developed their own sign languages.

The same I think may be true for the highly industrial sectors in Halân. Halân I think is one of the areas in Naboo which has a fairly distinct language (dialect, maybe) because of its relative remoteness, so this may reflect in its sign system as well.

And also in the more remote spaces of Arind, particularly in the forests that were known for their shrines and Shiraya followers who were on oaths of silence (either temporary or permanent), I think they would have developed fairly elaborate communication systems involving their fans and staffs (which form a significant part of the material aspect of their faith), which probably survives in somewhat relic-ised form in religious performance and so on.

Hope this was kind of what you were looking for, and thank you for the interesting question!

[rieindiegames]

FAQs for IseKai

As we're gaining more traction and exciting times draw closer, I've decided to make a super post that's accessible for IseKai fans old and new! I'll try to keep this updated for ease of access.

What is Ise & Kai: Chosen Throne?

Ise & Kai: Chosen Throne is an interesting take on the isekai genre, where you forge the destiny of the realm, and play as the protagonist, Seina Kaimana, who's fighting to escape her predestined fate. The twist being she's isekaied back into her own world to face the problems she'd fled from.

Best Shorthand Name for this Game?

Either IseKai or ICT work best!

What platforms will the game release on?

The game will be released for PC on both Windows and Mac. On Steam and Itch.io

Who can I romance?

Officially there are two canon romantic love interests to pursue in IseKai. Ceres Awle, the protagonist's loyal knight, and the other is Ise, esteemed demon king of the other side of the realm. Yes, Kai's name remains in the title, and I promise that's important.

Who's in the Main Cast?

I consider the main cast of IseKai to be Seina, Ceres, Ise, Kai, and Lucius. Everyone else, regardless of their part is a side character.

MBTI and Other Fun Details of the Main Cast?

Seina: MBTI - INFP, Birthday - November 9th, Height - 173cm

Ceres: MBTI - ISFJ, Birthday - July 20th, Height - 190cm

Ise: MBTI - ENFP, Birthday - April 2nd, Height - 185cm

Kai: MBTI - ISTJ, Birthday - December 27th, Height - 175cm

Lucius: MBTI - ENTJ, Birthday - November 5th, Height - 178cm

Is This Game SFW or NSFW?

IseKai is a mature game with NSFW content. Stay safe out there when you play the final product. Content Warning List: (Coming Soon)

I Missed the Kickstarter So Now What?

Your support is appreciated! Following the dev process and showing support in any capacity, monetary or not is appreciated!

Where Else Can I Follow This and Its Development?

Twitter - But it's a hellscape out there these days. I prefer Tumblr's specific brand of mad house.

Itch.io - The very place you'll be able to play most of our games other than our website!

Patreon - Tumblr has our Tumblr brand of special content but Patreon is where we post all the uncensored male-presenting nipple goodies ;)

Ko-fi - The lovely space where you can throw a few bucks, and treat me to ramen like we're two friends hanging out IRL.

Instagram - Purely aesthetic space. Not entirely active atm, but better to diversify.

Twitch - Breathe over my shoulder in real time when I stream! Be that dev-work or chilling with a game or two!

TikTok - One day there will be a video on there, for now it's just MySpace Tom Aesthetic.

Carrd- Virtual Business Card!

Tumblr Tags

#Ask - Any questions sent in relating to the content of my works or about them.

#Answer - Any questions sent in relating to me, something I perceive as personal, or a general response to an asker. Usually I'll leave comments in the tags on these posts.

#Lore - Worldbuilding post.

#Guide - Any time I answer something other players may find useful as a walkthrough of sorts, I'll use this tag.

#Character Card - Quick references and teaser cards to various characters.

#Short Story - Any snippets of the short stories I've written for my works.

#Isekaichosenthrone/IseKai - Anything related to Ise & Kai: Chosen Throne. Note if the name of the game is already written somewhere on the post, I may not tag it, as it'll still be searchable.

#Isekai out of Context - Out of context screenshot[s] of isekai.

#Ict Screenie - Any screenshots from ICT will have this label.

#ICT ??? - Any content with the hidden title screen character, Question Question Question, from IseKai.

#Ceres Awle/Ceres - Any content containing the love interest Ceres Awle from IseKai.

#Ise - Any content containing the love interest Ise from IseKai.

#Kai - Any content containing Kai from IseKai.

#Lucius/Lucius Kaimana - Any content containing Lucius Kaimana from IseKai.

#Seina - Any content containing Seina Kaimana from IseKai.

#Demonic Court - Any content containing members of Ise's demon court from IseKai.

#Kaimana family - Any content containing broader members of Seina's family from IseKai.

[holdmecloser-gandydancer]

🎀, 🎈, 🤲, and 💌 please :O?? -ise

🎀give yourself a compliment about your own writing

oh again ahhh okay i think i'm quite good at just committing to a bit and letting a story go where it needs to!

🎈describe your style as a writer; is it fixed? does it change?

hm this one is tough because like, i think that i'm sometimes just a half-crazed writer and other times it is like pulling teeth because if it isn't perfect then what is the point??? so i suppose i'm a fairly not-fixed writer !

🤲what do YOU get out of writing?

it's so nice to see just the sheer breadth of work that i'm able to create sometimes. and like, sometimes when i feel bad about myself and think i can't do anything, i can look back at my writing tag for proof of existence and creation which is pretty cool

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

ooooh okay so i have a few projects i'm fiddling with in various stages. I'm very excited to get into the worldbuilding of the roadtrip resurrection piece that I'm continuing, I just have big ideas for this Kravitz as a phone psychic thing, but I'm actively working on my little two parter community theatre au that I'll share a lil snippet of !

It’s silly, he has no earthly reason to be nervous; it’s community theatre, for Chrissake. But it’s community theatre in a new town and he’s not sure if they’re a -re group or an -er group and that’s a lot to try and casually seek an answer for. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter but all the people in his undergraduate program were ungodly pretentious about it even though they were just a step above programs that would make their way into a YouTube compilation with the title “Theatre moments that make me want to say Macbeth at the Wintergarden Theatre” or some shit like that. Hypothetically, of course  Kravitz absolutely never made a compilation like that in a pettier moment when he was nineteen. You can’t connect that YouTube account to him anyway, you narc.

[sgrumby]

🌈, 💞, and 🎙️, please :O?? -ise

🌈 - is there a fic you worked *really fucking hard on* that no one would ever know? Maybe a scene/theme you struggled with?

I really struggled with the ending of my alien AU! And, honestly, fucking hated what I came up with at the time, but was so desperate to get it published that I just did, and now I don't hate it nearly as much.

💞 - what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff, the language?

I think readability? 95% of the edits I make to a fic after I write it are to make it flow better or for word choice, I never change stuff for character or plot. Pretty much the first draft is what you get!

🎙️ - which one of your fics would you like someone to make a pod-fic of?

Well, I hate to brag, but someone already did make a pod-fic of one of my works ;) but for a longer fic? I'd LOVE to hear someone's take on the robot au. Or dawn of the dad!

[jerreeeeeee]

6, 16, and 30 for the ao3 asks, please :O? -ise

6. Favorite title you used

i think i’ll have to go with lonesome dreams! ik it’s a little trite to use a song as a title (it was actually intended to be named after the album rather than the song, but both works lol) but deciding to use that really informed the fic itself and made it a lot better :)

16. What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?

“alternate universe” and “worldbuilding,” both unsurprising lmao

30. Biggest surprise while writing this year?

tbh there were lots, because i only just started writing a few months ago (well… at least posting what i wrote). the response from people was really surprising and amazing, and i was also pretty surprised that i actually ended up finishing the things i started, but i think the biggest surprise is that i kept on writing and found i really enjoyed it! offworld was kind of just something i started for fun and i never imagined i’d keep writing after it was over, but here we are a few fics and a few months later and i’m still at it!

[borrelia]

goth-bunny replied to your post: i literally draw fanart for this fic every gotdamn...

what fic? :0

[BASS BOOSTED] ZIMPREG

[historieofbeafts]

If I wanted to, theoretically, do a D&D campaign in a quasi-medieval setting with monsters inspired by beafts, which would you suggest as potential enemies for the heroes to encounter?

What a fun question! An actual answer would vary depending on where the campaign falls on the nonsense-to-serious gameplay spectrum, but here are 5 Potential Creatures to Encounter on a Historical Fantasy Adventure (+ 1 Sea Knight)

1. A Selection of Strange Snakes

[The Morgan Library & Museum, MS. M.81, fol. 85v]

Pictured are the scitalis, a snake covered in markings so beautiful anyone who sees it falls into a trance, and the amphisbaena, a two-headed snake with glowing eyes and the ability to move both backwards and forwards (which is admittedly more impressive when it’s drawn as an actual snake). But there are so many superpowered medieval snakes that you could populate an entire world with them, if that’s what your heart desires.  My personal favourites are the chersydros,  a snake which leaves a trail of smoke on the ground but can only move in straight lines because of the horrible noise it makes whenever it turns, the jaculus, a flying snake which springs from trees onto unsuspecting victims, and the salpuga, a snake which is invisible.

2. Whale

[Merton College, MS 249, fol. 8]

No one will be surprised to hear I’m a big advocate of whales in every adventure. They can be transportation, environmental obstacles or just background flavour instead of enemies, but I do think it’s a waste not to include at least one. Not near a large body of water? There’s always teleportation, dream sequences, hallucinations, dirt whales, turning your players into whales... The possibilities are endless. Whale abilities are also almost endless, but the important ones in a medieval setting are Island Imitation, Sweet Breath (For Attracting Fish), Weaponized Waterspouts & Paws.

3. Salamander

[Det Kongelige Bibliotek, GKS 1633 4º, fol. 55v]

Salamanders: the most deadly creatures an adventurer could ever be unlucky enough to encounter.  I’ll let Bartholomaeus Anglicus take this one:

“[L]ike to the Ewt in shape, & never seene but in great raine, & fayleth in faire wether, and his song is crieng: and he quencheth the fire that hee toucheth, as Ise doth, & water frore: and out of his mouth commeth white matter, & if that matter touch a mans body, the haire shall fall, & what it toucheth, is corrupt and infected, and tourneth into foule coulour. Also Salamandra is a manner kind of an Ewt or of a Lisard, and is a pestilent beast, most venimous. For as Plinius sayeth, libro. 29. cap. 4. Salamandra infecteth fruit of Trees, and corrupteth water, so that he that eateth or drinketh thereof, is slayne anone. And if his spittle touch the foot, it infecteth and corrupteth all the mans body.”

Also, a fun worldbuilding note is that the French bestiary writer Pierre de Beauvais claims that salamanders produce a substance that is not wool, silk, or linen, but is used to create clothing for the most important and fashionable people. This clothing is cleaned by throwing it in a fire.

4. Ostrich

[BnF, Latin 11207, fol. 21v]

This is by far the most ridiculous item on the list! But medieval ostriches were infamous for eating metal & I think it would be fun for a low-level party to be hired by a local blacksmith to track down missing supplies and instead have to wrangle an extremely large bird.  And I do mean extremely large, because according to Pliny the Elder ostriches are both taller and faster than a man on horseback.  They also use their feet to throw rocks at pursuers and “have the marvelous property of being able to digest every substance without distinction, but their stupidity is no less remarkable; for although the rest of their body is so large, they imagine, when they have thrust their head and neck into a bush, that the whole of the body is concealed.”  Perfect setup for screwball comedy.

5. Hyena

[BnF, Français 14970, fol. 14]

Despite the fact the picture I’ve chosen resembles a goth rabbit, medieval hyenas are genuinely spooky. Hobbies include hanging out in tombs, lurking outside people’s homes in the middle of the night calling their names in a perfect imitation of a human voice, cursing any animal they walk around 3 times with total immobility, magically silencing creatures who touch their shadow, and just generally being incredibly powerful eldritch abominations. Fortunately they come with a built in weakness, since their spines are fused, making it impossible for them to turn their head without also turning their whole body. They also come with a built in loot drop, since every hyena contains a hyena stone, which allows a person to see the future when held in the mouth, like a psychic gobstopper.

+ 1. Sea Knight

I was today years old when I learned most people are more familiar with sea knights as a type of helicopter, but this is a monster from the Ortus Sanitatis with a great design and an even better set of worldbuilding options. Here are some potential explanations for its existence:

underwater metallurgy?

cultural exchange between merpeople and landfolk? (follow up question: why armour of all things?)

an extremely whismical artificer?

really the only limit is your imagination

[hummingbird-games]

Dev Blog # 18

Happy December good folks! Trying to learn (this time) from my past mistakes and slow the HECK down because last month was...a month. Plans this month were 1) an updated demo 2) chaos trailer and 3) finished base game so I can pinpoint release date. 

In honor of respecting my limits...you will get at most 2 out of 3 from me. 

What have been up to since I’ve been gone? Not much. Is this me advocating for mental health while blatantly ignoring my own???

I got some more editing done. I’m on Lydia’s path for line/transition edits and I’m glad to know that I still love this game with every fiber of my being. I’m just struggling a bit now…but ain’t we all??? 😂 for context, I’m 3/6 paths done with this particular editing pass. I’m also debating another round of beta testing 🤫 but for bugs and feedback. But in early 2022 because I cannot cram anything else in this year. 

I received all of my sprites! There’s a [redacted] scene that calls for [redacted] so we’ll revisit this in early 2022 with my sprite artist when I’ve saved up game funds and can reveal super cool awesome amazing stuff

As of drafting this dev-log...the updated demo is done. Like, just-slap-that-bad-boy-up-on-itch.io done. So. I will set some time aside this weekend to reacquaint myself with Butler LOL. (Tumblr heard it first, but look out for a release on this coming Sunday or Monday)

Chaotic trailer is....almost done. My perfectionism is getting in my way (and so is the self induced stress that is myself). But if it doesn’t get done until January, then that’s fine. I will live. Mostly. 

Some small milestones:

Happy one year to working on this game/ starting Hummingbird Games officially

Happy almost end to 2021 🤣

HAPPY 500+ DOWNLOADS ON ITCH.IO!

Some random news:

Remember the gaming laptop saga guys? Guess what there’s been an update and it involves Black Friday and getting a MUCH better deal on a more powerful device 😂 I decided to dedicate it only to games so I’ll continue to code on my current device.

GAMES/DEMOS I’VE BEEN PLAYING

Raptor Boyfriend: A High School Romance - I want to INHALE THIS GAME but alas life keeps getting in the way. I’m still on my first run (this is on me for WAITING SO LONG TO BUY IT), and ALL 3 love interests are divine, MC is super fun and awkward and funny, and this feels so much like an animated 90s show that I just wanna cry happy tears. Also it’s the high school genre??? We love to see it. 

Ise & Kai: Chosen Throne - Just wanna praise the @rieindiegames​  team because the lore and worldbuilding they’ve created is absolutely amazing. I finally got to sit down and play through the demo and it was nothing like I expected in the best way possible. (TBH it felt more like the full game than a “demo” and I’m still picking my jaw off the ground aha.)

Nevergrove - Don’t remember how I found this one but it’s a point and click visual novel and it’s SUPER fun!! There’s a mystery surrounding a missing (dead??) girl and while you’re in your aunt’s town there’s people to befriend and date 👀

Belle Automata - There’s 26ish hours left to support this Kickstarter so if you haven’t had a chance, please check out the demo and then support however you can! Ratings and reviews are pretty darn cool too. 

Sims 4 - There’s that new scenarios update thingy and right now I'm trying the holidays one where it’s a 2 person household/enemies to lovers, and not gonna lie, it’s super hard. I want my sims “to kith” but they’re too busy shouting forbidden words at each other and refusing to sleep in the same bed (because maybe I purposefully have one bed, so what.)

...

Okie doke guys, as always thank you for reading/skimming! For reaching the bottom of this devlog, you’ve won a special prize!! Florence screen incoming!!

- Gemini 💛

[dontjudgemeimawriter]

For the Changed-Themed Ask Game! How's about: 👥 | 🎭 | ⛰

(Hope those emojis worked. 😅 If not let me know and I'll resend! ^_^)

👥 Describe your initial concept of a character, and what they’re like now.

Me, beginner writer: okay I gotta write at least a page for this chapter

Me now: uh oh I gotta replan where the chapter will break, this is going to be way longer than 15 pages

I basically ised to write a scene for each chapter, and even then scenes were short because there was mostly action and dialogue and not much else and it moved really fast. I forced myself to slow down, to write at least 3 pages per scene-- and in a certain story structured it so there was 3 scenes per chapter, so each chapter was 10 pages. Somewhere along the line I got better at writing more more more... and Syndicate has 15 page chapters that actually have decent, maybe on the long side, lengthed scenes. And yes, I have to replan whrn things end up taking more than I expected.

🎭 Are there any characters that play a bigger role in the story than initially planned? If so, why?

For Syndicate: yes, Jodi does, but I kinda expected her too. Jodi is first mentioned early on where I picked a random name and used it as a placeholder, saying "Ill change this if I need to later, or use it if I can." From there used Jodi's dissappearance as a slight plot device until I needed to figure out exactly what was going on, when then of course it became a more major part of the plot. But, Im not really surprised shes goin gto be more important, because she was created simply for me to figure out a use for later.

For Second Chance: Korin. Korin was created in the end of the first draft basically as a body and obstacle. When writing Crossed Lines, book 2, he needed an actual character. From there he's become interesting to me, and I'm considering him playing a major role in the future.

⛰ What is a writing skill you used to struggle with a lot more? (Do you come up with endings more easily? Do your descriptions have a better flow?)

I think I'm better at description now yes, I'm also better at knowing if a story has potential, like if it has more than the first inciting incident and can develop into a full thing. And Ive erupted into being good at character development, I'm now obsessed with it and base my entire process around it. Worldbuilding I'm also a bit better at.

[circumference-pie]

Yuletide 2021 Letter

Chihayafuru, Qihun, Elana Series, Nirvana in Fire

Hi Mystery Writer! Thank you for writing for me, you are amazing! I am sure I’ll like whatever you create. But in case you wanted more inspiration, here are some words:

AO3 name: circumference

General likes: angst, fluff, character introspection, worldbuilding, identity shenanigans, canon or canon divergence universe, in-world artifacts (e.g. a historical document, a news article, the script of a TV advertisement, an in-universe movie review, etc).

General DNWs: coffeeshop/high school/roommate AU, crossovers, pregnancy, porn without plot, non-canon dubcon.

Chihayafuru

Characters requested: Any (Ayase Chihaya, Harada Hideo, Komano Tsutomu, Mashima Taichi, Ooe Kanade, Suou Hisashi, Wakamiya Shinobu, Wataya Arata, Wataya Hajime)

Fandom-specific likes: character exploration and introspection, gen fics and fics focused on deep platonic relationships. My favorite characters are Shinobu and Arata. Romantic ships I like include Sudou (I know he's not in the tagset, *cry*)/Anybody, Chihaya/Arata/Taichi, Arata/Taichi, Shinobu/Happiness, and Taichi/Self-Actualization.

Fandom-specific DNWs: I'd rather not have any Chihaya/Taichi without underlying Chihaya/Taichi/Arata. (Sorry, it’s a ship I used to like, but fandom discourse rubbed me the wrong way.) Standalone Chihaya/Arata is fine, but please no Taichi-bashing.

I am up-to-date on the manga.

Optional prompts/ideas

The manga keeps reiterating that Shinobu is lonely -- but she does have people who care about her! Chihaya, Arata, Suou, her mother, Ise-san (in his own way -- I personally think he regrets isolating her). I want them to roll her up in a blanket and hug her (metaphorically, but literally is okay too).

I would also be interested for her to meet Kana. I think they might have things to talk about.

Again, I know Sudou's not in the tagset, but I'd love to see a day in his life. Other characters can come too.

I think Sudou interacting with Kana would be particularly fun; she’s unwilling to take bullshit, but can be flustered. Which buttons will Sadistic Sudou hit? (As a sidenote to this prompt and the previous one, I am pretty neutral towards Kana/Tsutomu and would be fine with Kana paired with other characters.)

We know playing Wataya Hajime affected Harada-sensei for the rest of his life, but what about Wataya-sensei? Harada has inspired a lot of people; did he leave a lasting impression on the Eternal Meijin? I don't necessarily mean this as a shippy prompt, although if that's how you're inspired, go for it.

Arata/Taichi, maybe with underlying OT3. I would be happy with any story featuring this pair, but I think a lot about the implicit pressure Taichi’s under to just not be gay, to marry a woman and be a respectable doctor and have perfect offspring, just -- ugh. I want Taichi to be able to go buckwild. Preferably for Arata.

Crack: The T-shirts in this canon are top-notch. Where does the cast get their shirts from? Is there a specific shop that sells clothing with pithy and absurd English on them? What is their process for deciding what gets printed on what? IS NIKUMAN’S SISTER INVOLVED???

More crack: I would love to know more about the Snowmaru and Daddy Bear franchises.

Qihun (Hikaru no Go)

Characters requested: Chu Ying

Fandom-specific likes: all the character interactions on this show are adorable. As for shipping, I’m partial to canon-typical Shi Guang/Yu Liang.

Optional prompts/ideas

There must be so much mischief you can get up to with an invisible friend, besides learning Go and cheating on tests. You can impress and confound your friends with your "mind reading" skills and apparent eyes in the back of your head. You could "pay attention" to two movies at once. You'd be invincible at hide-and-seek (at least once, before your invisble friend refuses to help you cheat again). Maybe Mom praises you for noticing things that you didn't notice before, thanks to Friend pointing them out. I'm curious about ways Shi Guang and Chu Ying could have leveraged their situation to do some interesting things. Bonus: Yu Liang watching from the sidelines, growing increasingly bamboozled.

It frustrates me SO MUCH that Chu Ying just disappeared. Was he able to go back home and live out his life? Did he become starstuff? What happennnnnnnned.

Any missing scenes between Shi Guang and Yu Liang. If you choose this prompt, Chu Ying doesn’t have to be in it. (But it’d also be funny if he showed up to tease Shi Guang about it!)

Chu Ying meets Yu Liang. I don't know how it happens, but it does.

Elana Series

Characters requested: any (Elana, Kari, Randil, Evrek)

Fandom-specific likes: worldbuilding, backstory

Optional prompts/ideas

I've always been dissatisfied with the way Kari needs to stay ignorant and on her planet. What if she pursued this case to the ends of the earth? What if she found traces of the universe beyond? What if she was also able to take to the stars?

Elana, in her waning years, takes a self-indulgent visit to Andreica to observe what became of it.

I want to know Evrek's take on the events of Enchantress.

What does the Federation file on our planet look like?

If you’re wondering what this somewhat obscure series is, it’s two short novels; The first, Enchantress from the Stars, is a YA book that asks the question, “what if we had knights and dragons and sorceresses, but the magic is just technology, and the sorceress is from a far-advanced civilization?” -- and tells it from the advanced civilization’s point of view. It’s great fun. 

The second book, The Far Side of Evil, features the same main character all grown up, and is considerably more adult, and grapples with themes of morality and human nature. It is very much a product of the author wrestling with the existential questions of the Cold War. For what it’s worth, I actually like this one more.

Both are available as e-books.

Nirvana in Fire

I’ve been crying over this show since 2018

Characters requested: any (Consort Jing, Fei Liu, Gong Yu, Grand Princess Liyang, Lin Chen, Lin Shu | Mei Changsu | Su Zhe, Meng Zhi, Mu Nihuang, Mu Qing, Princess Xuanji, Qin Banruo, Xia Dong , Xiao Jinghuan, Xiao Jingrui, Xiao Jingyan, Yan Que, Yan Yujin)

Fandom-specific likes: I really like explorations of character and identity in this fandom. I adore the Jiangzuo crew and their interactions with MCS. I am ALSO weak for the tension between Jingyan and Mei Changsu (his best friend! In more ways than one!). Prefer gen, but really could roll with any ship.

Optional prompts/ideas

The invasions of Ep 54 don’t happen, but MCS is still dying. Without the springboard of the invasions to let him reassume Lin Shu’s identity, how does he cope? Does he reconcile with Jingyan instead of keeping himself apart? Does he tell Nihuang the truth? Does he just run away to the jianghu after all? Does he stay in the capital and angst? How does he deal with the question of Fei Liu? Does he con the Bingxu pill out of Lin Chen in the end? You can surprise-save him at the end if you like, but I would like to see him resolve his self-deceptions and hurt he’s caused other people without the crutch of knowing he’s going to live after all. Also posted to NiF plotbunny farm here: https://nirvana-in-fire.dreamwidth.org/12917.html?thread=79989#cmt79989

It’s been six years since Lin Chen and his father rescued that foolish ingrate Mei Changsu, who also happens to be Lin Chen’s best friend. And the way Changsu is going, he won’t see another six years. Lin Chen devises a plan to stop Changsu from working away his depleted health: “That person you keep talking about? The emperor’s seventh son? Write to him.” Can be canon-compliant or canon-divergent. Also prompted in the Nirvana in Fire Exchange 2019.

I know he's not part of the tagset, but I find Gao Zhan fascinating. What was the Chiyan massacre through his eyes? How did he feel about MCS's plotting? How much did he know at various points? What tipped him off that there was scheming going on in Prince Jing's name?

Lin Shu, oh Lin Shu. The shadow he casts is so interesting. Anything about who Lin Shu was before Meiling. What aspects of Mei Changsu’s current brattiness/trollishness were present in his past life, what aspects of it came from... later influences (*cough* Lin Chen *cough*)? How much are Jingyan and Nihuang editorializing when they characterize Lin Shu as the best and brightest and most loyal and...?

I’d also like to see the problematic sides of Lin Shu (and by extension, possibly Lin Xie and Prince Qi too). I think the present hero-worship is very much a product of don’t-speak-ill-of-the-dead, but they must have had faults. The Hua genocide was too easily swept under the rug, for instance.

I would love character introspection/missing moments/more backstory for one of the more minor characters: Yan Que, Gong Yu, Banruo, Mu Qing, Liyang.

(Am I participating in the NiF Exchange this year? Yes. Do I want even more NiF fic? Also yes.)

[infinitestagearchive]

POSTED 04.03.2024

it has only been five days since member Kim Minho was removed from Infinite Stage Entertainment’s boy group BOYFRIENDZ, and the company has already announced the idol that will be replacing him. Lee Haru, who had been a trainee at ISE for the past two years, is mostly known to the public for his appearance earlier in february in the LIMIT/LESS mv for ‘Cupid’, their valentines day release. netizens fell in love with the then-trainee for his ‘perfect’ visuals and demanded that ISE soon debut him, but now it seems that they might turn on him.

Kim Minho was removed from BOYFRIENDZ on february 29 following his alleged abuse of other idols. many netizens speculated that he was fired for other reasons, however, as Minho was spotted in a seemingly compromising position with another male idol. ISE has since been under fire for alleged homophobia, with mainly western fans calling for a boycott. 

still, Haru seems undeterred by the online reaction, posting for the first time on the BOYFRIENDZ instagram earlier today, thanking the fans for their warm welcome and promising that he will work hard for them.

what are your thoughts?

[ +102 / -2 ] he’s handsome he fits the concept and he’s really talented already! until we get proof that he doesn’t fit with the boys in some way i’m going to be a fan bc he shouldn’t be hated for this! [ +57 / -8 ] ise set him up for failure with this because who wants to stan an idol that gets popular bc of the misfortune of other people? sorry but I couldnt [ +40 / -8 ] hes so pretty he doesnt deserve all this mess honestly [ +29 / -8 ] literally good for him??? slay [ +25 / -5 ] atp throw the whole group away sdsdsds

[sshannonauthor]

I've become fascinated in Eastern mythology because of Priory! Were there any particular legends or folktales that inspired your worldbuilding of Seikii and The Empire of 12 Lakes, and the dragons of the East?

Yes. It was very important to me that Priory re-imagined both the Western(ised) legend of Saint George and a legend from one of the countries that influenced the East. 

The main story that I wove into Priory was the Japanese story of Hohodemi (or Hoori), which I mention in the acknowledgements. It’s sometimes been called The Happy Hunter and the Skilful Fisher or The Lost Fishhook, and it features in two ancient texts called Nihongi (日本紀, "Japanese Chronicles") and Kojiki (古事記, "Records of Ancient Matters").

Here’s a free English translation by Yei Theodora Ozaki: [x] 

As you’ll see if you read it, this tale was the most important influence behind the celestial jewels, and Tané’s scar being shaped like a fishhook is a reference to it. I tried to re-approach the tale from a feminist angle, as I did with the Saint George legend, by having the jewels shared by two ‘sisters’ (Tané and Ead both being mages), rather than one of a pair of brothers. As in the story, the jewels resolve a conflict between the siblings – although Ead and Tané use them in unison, rather than one of them overpowering the other, as Hohodemi overpowers Umisachi.  

The tale of Tamatori-hime, which involves a princess taking back a stolen pearl from the Dragon King and cutting open her own side to escape, was also a major influence on the story of the Little Shadow-girl. 

[love-takes-work]

Below, I’m sharing a long outline of what was discussed in this wonderful interview, for those who can’t or prefer not to listen but want to know the content. It is very long and I don’t feel like finding pictures so you’ll have to just enjoy it like it is. It’s not a transcript but it is, in my own words for the most part, a recitation of everything Susana and Rebecca talked about: musicals, the upcoming movie, animation influences, and quite a few things you did not already know.

Susana introduces the interview by saying that tons of attention is paid to the diversity and the characters and all this great stuff in the show, but she wants to talk about the science fiction aspects and the society and worldbuilding Rebecca and her team have put in. She begins by talking about how the show seems so planned considering aspects of the show's beginning feed so well into the end, and she asks Rebecca to talk about that.

Rebecca opens by saying it was conceived as a coming-of-age story, so a ton of stuff that the adults know, Steven doesn't know, allowing it to be a story about things that happened to adults but remain child-friendly. Rebecca brings up a college class on the sublime that she took, about what's going on and implied to be going on just outside the frame of the art, so she was really taken with that concept.

Rebecca claims that her planning is pretty dry, and it's just a bunch of charts. She had stuff like Fusion names and weapons from the beginning, and of course she couldn't use them in her pitch because it didn't make sense without knowing the characters. Susana mentions that CN wanted the show to be aired in no particular order, and Rebecca mentions how it was hard to work with because she DID want continuity. Planting seeds in episodes and giving puzzle pieces that'd come together later worked for a long time, while still making each episode work as a whole and be satisfying. Later, when CN came to them wanting like eight related episodes, there they had the barn arc to give them--they had already planned to make this story related. She felt it aired in a "bizarre" way, but they comforted themselves on the Crew knowing someday people would watch it how it was meant to be watched. As a lead-up to the movie, CN IS going to air "every Steven ever," so people will actually get to see it in marathon format.

Batman: The Animated Series comes up and they discuss how censorship limited what they could do on that show because of problems with glass breaking. Susana says she actually really appreciates it when stories can still be told well despite the constraints put on them, and asks Rebecca if that applies to SU. Rebecca agrees that it does, and also that she loves stuff like video games that managed to function with ridiculously small space requirements. Developers still offered up such creativity, she says. So because of the beauty that arises from those constraints, she thought she should have constraints in her show on purpose, even if it isn't applied from outside. The most obvious one for this show was that we're trapped into only knowing and seeing what Steven knows and sees. "The Test" is a good example of Steven actually seeing something he isn't supposed to see: the Gems having a private conversation about him. According to her, plenty of stuff is written about what the Gems are up to outside of what Steven knows about them, and they can only kind of hint at it.

Coming from Adventure Time, there were some similar aspects. Rebecca got to work with some of her heroes from independent comics, and she got a lot of inspiration from them. On Adventure Time, it's our world but far in the future, and Rebecca would have loved to do something similar with Steven because she loved that aspect. Quite a few of the Adventure Time crew had come over from Flapjack and they thought it would be funny if the Adventure Time characters found a tape of Flapjack. As much as it would have been cool to take that idea for her show, that was theirs, so Steven's is more like it's our Earth but in an alternate timeline where Gems invaded 6,000 years ago. She rattles off some known similarities and differences of our two worlds, and elaborates on how Hollywood is in Kansas because in that world Disney never left where they started. Laugh-O-Gram Studio took off like it didn't in our timeline. She has a ton of other info like that but it won't matter to reveal it until or unless it matters to Steven. (She also throws in that Harman-Ising could be Ising-Harman in her world if they never figured out how cute it would be to have it the other way.)

When Susana asks about how she took so many details and managed to make a pilot with enough of them that she could get a show with it, Rebecca takes a turn into discussing working on Hotel Transylvania (for just a month!) with Genndy Tartakovsky. She had been planning to have a month off, but then Genndy asked, so she of course couldn't say no and felt she learned a ton. (She wrote the Steven Universe theme song in the car during that commute, by the way, given that she had a lot of time to sing and be alone.) When she hit Genndy with some of her ideas, he advised her to slim the details down and just boil it into its essence--who are the people and what is their relationship to each other? She still uses that advice, trying to condense things from macro to micro. She has succeeded since in figuring out how to keep the complexity and still assert the simplicity. Ultimately, you can keep those details but you don't have to emphasize them if they're not feeding into the main point. They'll drag the piece down. They discuss Genndy's role as the Animation Director on her pilot, which happened when she was asking if he knew anyone and he ended up saying he'd do it himself. She was so shocked that he agreed to direct her pilot that she was dazed and ran into a pole in the parking lot. The whistling of the wind through the resulting dent always made her giddy because she was thinking she would be working with Genndy.

Susana then turns to discussing Rebecca's influences and brings up Revolutionary Girl Utena. Rebecca mentions that she initially saw Utena because a person named Connie lent it to her in high school, so that's where SU's Connie's name comes from. Rebecca points out how hilarious Utena is in addition to being beautiful. She felt it was formative because Utena was "gender expansive and bisexual." Rebecca saw the movie first (which she doesn't recommend doing), then saw the series and then the movie again. She wanted to understand why the characters were turning into cars. (Chronicler's note: I was equally baffled by the Utena movie's car chase and car transformation stuff in the early 2000s. I did not know what to make of it.)

Rebecca elaborates on Utena and art influences, saying she loves to trace artists' influences to see where their pieces were coming from. She saw that Utena is very influenced by Princess Knight, and she was thrilled to visit places in Japan that influenced Osamu Tezuka. The Takurazuka Theatre is in Tezuka's town, and Rebecca describes how every show there is performed only by women. She felt that having this theater there influencing Tezuka certainly inspired him to include gender expansiveness in his work. The influences are so obvious when you look at the sources, and now all of this that came through Tezuka's work then through Utena then to Rebecca is so incredible.

When Susana brings up trends and how magical girl stuff influenced today's creators, Rebecca says she prefers not to think of it as a trend really because some of what's roaring out in popularity now was always around but was actively prevented from being made in the past. She talks about watching Tenchi Universe (the "Universe" part of SU came from Tenchi!) and Sailor Moon on CN, knowing it wasn't American, but she didn't really realize it "didn't belong" on the network, and felt that her access to influences was really unusually open--especially since her dad was an animation nerd and had a bunch of unusual stuff that influenced her, especially stuff that gave her a peek into how animation actually worked and knowledge that she could be one of the people making it. If she could call anything a trend now, it's that that sort of access is now available to more people because of the interconnectedness of the Internet and how we're so much more capable of influencing each other now.

They then discuss some anime stuff they had been exposed to and how Rebecca helped with an intro to Whisper of the Heart which is her favorite movie. She discusses how that movie (and Kiki's Delivery Service) are good representations of creative processes and sometimes what happens if an artist is blocked. She thinks the actual craft and work associated with the process is more important (and more interesting) than talent. Rebecca adores artists who take notes and figure out how to make their stuff good versus a specific moment of inspiration or an artist just "bleeding" their talent on everything. Art is a craft! You can study it! This is front and center in Whisper of the Heart. Rebecca discusses the Russian movie Film Film Film (which influenced the Zircons' design), and it has a writer character who is afraid that his process will destroy something inspired by a muse. She thinks it's a really interesting look at process.

Next they discuss a science fiction story in another format: the book The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin. Kat Morris lent Rebecca the book while they were roommates at the very beginning of when the show was starting. She loved seeing how the world worked in the book through the way they treated the main character. They also discuss the artist Jules Feiffer, who Rebecca had a relationship with because she carpooled with his nephews. They gave her a book of his called A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears. She loved it so much, especially how it deconstructed fairy tale tropes. One story was about a prince whose special ability made people close to him laugh themselves senseless, so he really couldn't have a relationship with anyone. She considers this an influence on Pink Diamond as a character. The SU character Sadie was named after this book's character Plain Sadie.

Next, Susana asks about musical influences for the show. Rebecca names Patti LuPone first. She saw Patti as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd and remembers seeing her playing the tuba in this weird arrangement where the cast was also the orchestra. She was so impressed. When she later wrote to Patti asking her to be Yellow Diamond, she referenced learning from her that a person could be so dramatic that it's funny and vice versa. She also has a "chills" moment from a different show, during "Everything's Coming Up Roses," where the character she's playing is imagining an audience going wild but the actual audience IS going wild.

As they discuss how the upcoming movie is a musical, Rebecca talks about going home with Ian after work and putting on musicals or movies based on TV shows so they can "study" for what they're doing. She'd take notes about what works and what doesn't and why. She loves these old movies that dissolve into total weirdness by the third act. She references Ziegfeld Girl and Busby Berkeley movies, which were an influence on Homeworld's style. She subscribes to a philosophy attributed to Bob Fosse that characters have to be feeling something strongly if they're compelled to sing. She makes a reference to A Goofy Movie as a movie that moved from a TV show to a movie. She wished that movie had more songs.

Susana and Rebecca discuss the movie, some intense moments, the history of Goofy and how different some of the old versions of him are, and how a description of Goofy by Art Babbitt was influential on her. She loves that cartoons can be so many things, and she adores studying moments from them and incorporating them. There are some really horrifying discoveries you can make, but you can also reinterpret some of the beautiful moments and stir them together to get new brilliance.

Susana says many songs in Steven Universe become the centerpiece of an episode, but in "Mr. Greg" it's more like a typical musical even though it's an episode of a cartoon show. Rebecca agrees that it was great practice for the movie. She was more moved by that episode coming back than any other so far by that point. She also felt that "For Just One Day Let's Only Think About (Love)," the song, was a great practice musical song--especially since there's all that chatting in between singing. That song was really influenced by A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum's song "Comedy Tonight." She finds those kinds of musicals so much fun. She was influenced in "Mr. Greg" by Victor/Victoria--specifically the song "Crazy World" when the camera is panning around the protagonist (who's wearing a suit). They're of course dated, but they contain beautiful moments. She took home some of the Pearl drawings from "It's Over, Isn't It" when she went to the studio in Korea. (Yes, Steven Universe is animated on paper, though the color is digital.) Elaborating on "Mr. Greg," she says the episode became much simpler and sweeter--originally there was some intense stuff in there, like Pearl picking up cars and throwing them at Greg.

Back to the movie, Susana points out that Rebecca's been studying how to make a conversion to a cinematic story versus a really long TV episode. What makes something feel like a movie? Rebecca struggles to figure out how to talk about it without saying too much. She figures you have to dig into the fundamentals of the show--make a movie about something new, but something basic. She loved the Dexter movie and it was so smart. Rebecca has a weird connection to the Beavis and Butt-Head movie too (some of her crew worked on the movie!), but she thinks even that movie is smart because they're all about watching TV and in the movie their TV is taken.

Susana then asks about the movie length format and how it felt from going from a very short TV format to a movie. Rebecca's word to describe it is "terrifying." The episode "Change Your Mind" was 44 minutes and that was a ridiculously long format for them--but it carried the extra baggage of tying up so much of what they'd dumped into the show. Rebecca said they couldn't really even "feel good" about finishing it because the immediate next step was something that was so much more of everything hard about "Change Your Mind." Rebecca elaborates on the elements that were ramped up for the movie and concludes "What I'm trying to say is I'm really tired." She's really, really excited for us to see it. It's so different than a bunch of episodes tied together, even if it was eight "Mr. Greg" episodes. All the pieces have to be awesome and then tied together have all the pieces inform each other. She remembers being impressed by anime as a kid because it usually told interconnected stories, and she thought that would be really hard; turns out self-contained episodes are even harder, and she has to kind of do both on her show. She thinks of her songs like that too--they must be good on their own, but they enhance each other by all being part of the same work and building something better together.

Finally, Susana asks what comes next after Steven Universe--one day, when the show does end, what does Rebecca want to do? Well, take time off, write some guitar songs, write poetry no one will ever see, and so on. Rebecca says that her head is really in SU now though, and there's so much more to do--yes, there is more to tell that comes after the movie, and she wants us to know there are also stories that belong in that two-year gap between the end of "Change Your Mind" and the beginning of the movie, but she feels this is a good place to stop talking. She's so excited about everything we have yet to see.

[holdmecloser-gandydancer]

5 and 15 for the writers wrapped :O? -ise

15 What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

oh it's rhapaw we all know this! but also I wanna actually get cranking on the community theatre stuff, I'm working on some pieces with Hali, working on something with Larissa, and i might actually try to tackle the resurrection road trip piece if I can actually do some worldbuilding !!

5 What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

oh god both Live Like This and it's my party and I'll mope if I want to because like, I loved those personally but I wasn't sure if anyone else would agree!!

like especially it's my party because I wasn't sure that my thinly veiled projection of birthday weirdness on taako would be everyone's cup of tea but the reception was so sweet

[mala-sadas]

10, 6, 21, and 45 for the fanfic author ask!

10. Have you ever written for a fandom without reading other fanfic for it?

Absolutely! My earliest fanfics were for Warriors and Harry Potter, and they were written before I even knew that fanfic was a common thing on the Internet. Same goes for my earliest (unposted) Pokéspe fics. By the time I started posting my fics, I had read a couple Pokéspe fanfics, but they were all focused on the earlier Dexholders. I hadn’t seen any focusing on the B2W2, XY, or SM kids, so that’s why so much of my earlier stuff is about them.

6. Is there any fic that makes you super embarrassed to reread and remember you wrote that?

Most of my unposted fics, yes, and that’s why they remain unposted (lol). Of the posted stuff, How Rachel Got His Name makes me cringe a little because it’s a crack fic that’s based on a dumb inside joke that had already mostly died out by the time I posted it. I don’t know how many people in the fandom even know the actual origin of Rachel anymore.

21. If someone starts kudosing and commenting your fics in a spree and has a few works of their own, would you go look through theirs?

If that ever happened - and that’s a big if, because I’ve never had anyone go on a kudos spree through my fics besides guest readers - I’d definitely at least check theirs out! (please go on a kudos/comment spree through my fics I would love you forever)

45. If you had to call yourself an author of a single genre (besides fanfic) what label would you give yourself?

UH. I don’t know. My fics range all over the place, focusing on wildly different regions, different characters, different events. Most of my fics tend towards the fluffy side, but there are some angsty ones as well. It’s really impossible to categorize all my fics into a single genre besides fanfic. I guess the best genre I can come up with is “realistic fiction with fantastical elements” - 90% of my fics are focused on putting the characters in as realistic of a scenario as possible while still preserving canon worldbuilding (i.e. the fact that Pokémon exist). The only exceptions to that rule are Stone Heart (which just adds soulmate timers to the existing universe) and Prom-ises (which is pure realistic fiction).

Send me fanfic author asks!