#*ise: worldbuilding

[sockatoothewafflebird]

y'all it'd be so funny if i started postung about little worldbuilding projects or story ideas i ised to make

cause ive been looking through my old sketchbooks and note files and like??? some of this shit was good???? what??? and i was like twelve when i made them!!!

like there's a few pages dedicated to this idea i had for called "the ouija club" where a bunch of dumb emo teens study the supernatural occult forces of their world and try out those creepy sleepover games like bloody mary and sand man and all of that stuff. that's COOL man!!! twelve year old me was a genius and they didn't even know it istg

[justthehopeleft]

Happy WBW! Do you have a world that you really haven't gotten the chance to talk about? Ramble on!

ramble, you say? my favorite! (this got long. it’s, uh, worldbuilding. history 😌)

Astoria, once regarded as a minor world settled by Tarraen explorers, came to the forefront of galactic politics with the establishment of the Astorian Empire. While not as prominent as Falirn or Astateis-B, several key members of the Imperial government have become major players in inter-world affairs.

The rising prominence of Astoria has led to new interest in Astorian history, and due to profound effort in recording in many majors Houses of Astoria, much of the world’s timeline has been able to be studied, including its most prominent wars.

anyway. welcome in. i’m yapping about the war of the sisters

Half of historians (more or less) count the War of the Sisters as the worst war in Astorian history. The rest believe it was the Thousand Year’s War, but that has faded in prominence over time. Much of the War of the Sisters and the Three Kingdoms Era is still key in cultural memory, and the devastation that occured still impacts the world.

have you ever wondered what would’ve happened if ‘king lear’ went wrong? me too let’s go

Old king (his name was Ciren but we don’t give a fuck) dies without naming his heir. He’s got three daughters, they all want the throne for various reasons. The council agrees to split the kingdom to keep the peace.

Galia moves to Ierrosan, a city in the east, and takes that as her capital. The eastern third of the kingdom becomes hers. Historians call it the Kingdom of the Night (because Galia was a goth baddie and that’s what she called it). She styled herself as the Night Queen and chose a star-studded black sky as her banner.

Imryll moves to Riamh, up north by northwest, and takes that third of her kingdom. Hers gets called the True Kingdom, which pisses a lot of people off, and so it gets renamed the Kingdom of the Sun. Imryll uses no title, but her followers call her the Gentle Queen. Her banners were as gold as the sunrise, and Riamh’s walls were built high and strong against threats.

The last sister was Dirue. She remained in Atouelle and kept it as her capital, and her kingdom was called the New Astoria. Dirue was the White Queen to her followers, but history had other epithets for her. The New Astoria rose strong and mighty, pure white banners elegant in the wind, and a tense peace settled over the three kingdoms.

Fifteen years passed, and the kingdoms grew and spread. Imryll kept her people safe in the ancient parts of the land, Galia reigned in extravagance, and Dirue built. The people prospered, prayed, and lived.

As her sword, Dirue took a man named Ise. He served as her right-hand man and her closest advisor, and though history may forget, he was utterly devoted and loyal to his queen.

(Ise is also a wife guy he loves his wife so so so much that’s very important. he loves his wife and his lil daughter so much :))) but ofc he is a Job Guy who does his Job. and his Job is do whatever Dirue says.)

okay it’s been fifteen years, we’ve met Mr Wife Guy Doing His Job. yeah. okay. what now

One quiet morning in the Kingdom of the Night, an army marched through the land, banners waving white and clean. Within a month, the kingdom was burnt, its people imprisoned or executed or sent to live in the New Astoria. The banners still hung proudly white and unblemished, but the armies of the White Queen were not so clean and guiltless. The kingdom had fallen, and as punishment for her attempts to fight back against Dirue, Galia was executed.

The Kingdom of the Night had struck against the New Astoria, and for that crime, the New Astoria had destroyed it. Ierrosan stood no more, its people sent under careful guard to join those of the White Queen. History records many contemporary attempts at justifying the attacks, but most modern studies agree that the White Queen attacked for her own gain.

Dirue, the White Queen, sought nothing more than control, and had no greater desire than to take all Astoria for herself. The Kingdom of the Night became hers, and the New Astoria grew.

In those ancient parts of the land where the Holy Truth rests beneath Riamh and the First Cathedral still stands at Epriket, Imryll and the Kingdom of the Sun built up their walls ever stronger. Their guards stood watch, keeping against both the threat of Dirue and threats from the unconquered reaches to the north. Peace remained there in those ancient places, but every moment might have been the last. Tension simmered, an ever-present string pulled too tightly, and no one could bear to breathe.

Dirue, the White Queen, with Ise at her side, marched against her sister within the month. Records do not capture much of their exact movement, but many sources indicate that Imryll gathered her people within Riamh’s great walls, hoping to protect them from the scourge of Dirue’s armies over the land.

On a solemn, silent night, when the priests of Tores burned their Streosen Prayers and all the world waited with bated breath for the peace promised by the gods on such a holy night, the White Queen visited that holiest of places, the First Cathedral of Epriket. Dirue, with Ise following behind, prayed at the cathedral, the priests unable to keep her out. Ise’s own records indicate that the Prayer was burned for them that night in the Holiest Of Places.

Before the dawn, Riamh had been razed to the ground.

The siege of Riamh, although not technically a siege, was led largely by Ise while the White Queen watched from afar. Its grand walls were burnt, its queen trapped in her humble palace, and its people were slaughtered. The blood spilled that sacred night poured like rivers through that holy land, and the White Queen ruled unquestioned.

The New Astoria was established. The White Queen—white as ash, white as bone, white as death—forged her crown from the shattered remnants of her sisters’ crowns. Imryll was assassinated in her prison of a palace the next night, and it would not be discovered until weeks later that Ise had been responsible, following the orders of his Queen.

The personal record kept by Ise notes that he gained heavy injuries when he killed Imryll, which are known to have left him with permanent damage in both arms, for which he later required prosthetics. For three weeks after the fall of Riamh, he recovered in Atouelle, and here his records change in tone. No longer could he support Dirue, not after Riamh. Not after the slaughters that horrible night.

The people of Atouelle, it should be noted, felt the same. The white palace was ensieged, and the people rose up against the Queen. Accounts of the day state that Dirue, hearing the riots, went to the grand throne room to receive the populace—and, as was her nature, have them killed. Those still loyal to her were about to begin their bloodshed when one final sword was unsheathed, and one trembling arm cut more surely than it ever had before.

For the first and only time, the pristine white robes of the White Queen were stained with blood. It was not the blood of the countless thousands she had killed, but her own blood.

On that Day of Glory, the White Queen’s reign of terror was cut short by her former commander, Ise. He was nominated to be the next King, but refused the office, instead aiding in the establishment of a republic for Astoria. Imryll and Galia were buried in state in the center of Atouelle, and Dirue was set between them, the center of a grand and most solemn monument. Each wall was carved with the name of a person killed in the terrible war, carefully etched into stone to be remembered for eternity.

If one visits Astoria now, that monument can still be seen, and one can trace over countless names in unyielding marble. One name sits heavier than the rest, though—Dirue, the Terrible Queen.

anyway. yeah. war of the sisters! it’s a pretty somber piece of astorian history but it definitely has a really major impact on the world. have i gotten to talk about it much? no but i do have a four-part story from ise’s pov about the fall of the white queen. good shit right there i should share it sometime tbh

[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!

[mayoinomori]

mayoinomori meta dump and directory from the og blog

Appearance and Shapeshifting

Appearance and Shapeshifting Meta

On Shapeshifting - I Wanted to Try to Explain

On Shapeshifting Part 2

Strange Things - Robin's Shifter Cells

Trauma and Mental Health

Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

On Survivor's Guilt - TW

Thinking About the Pain of Being Chosen

On the Cost of Awakening

Worldbuilding

Lore Building Prompts - Always Accepting

On Haruki's Abilities and Why

On Prophecy, Inner Blood Boiling, and Father

The Kobayashi Curse

On the Passage of Time

On the Lost Woods - Touched by Heaven

On the Lost Woods - Continued

Further Musings on Kami

On the Time of Yokai

On Sun Village and Ise Shrine

On the Dark One

The Passing of Seasons and How They Affect

On Companions - Leo

Brothers of Sun Kami

Kagemori and Rebirth

Inventory

Weapons Robin is Proficient In

Important Items in Robin's Inventory

More Important Items in Robin's Inventory

Another Inventory Post

Robin Cannot Walk in Heels

Character Beliefs

All About Culture and Beliefs

Mercury for Planet HC Meme

Study

Companions

On Companions - Leo

Special Mother's Day Meta

On Sun Village and Ise Shrine

Tossing Around the Idea of Robin's Ancestor

Alternate Universes

AU-Centric Meta - Vault and Survivor Beast

AU-Centric Meta - Mando AU

Another AU-Centric Meta

[cepheusgalaxy]

*spits my coffee* (/jk) OK, so, this one's hard so I had to think for a while, but for (high) fantasy anime with no romance or harem we have a few options:

Dungeon Meshi - you may have seen it in your dash, because Tumblr absolutely LOVES it. Comedy fantasy about an adventure party exploring a dungeon who lost a member of their group to a dragon and want to rescue them. They have no funds to go, though, so they start cooking and eating monsters in the way. Ppl like saying some of the mcs are coded as autistic and tbh I don't disagree. 10/10 beautiful artstyle, amazing worldbuilding, and top tier animation, same studio of Kill La Kill and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, if you know it.

Hunter X Hunter - i had actually forgot thid one as I raided my mind for anime that fit your description—which is funny because this one is A Classic and one of my forever favorites. It's about a boy whose father left him when he was a baby to become a sort of adventurer; what in this seting we call a Hunter. When he turns 12, he decided to go on a journey to find out what about being a hunter is so great that made his father leave him...by, of course, becoming a Hunter too. 11/10, amazing soundtrack and colors, the voice actors totally kill it (Maryia Ise, who acted Ray in The Promised Neverland is there two and her voice is just *mua*) and the story in general is beautiful. Quite the Battle Shounen too, if you may. It is also divided in two anime, the 1999 version and the 2011 version, which is longer and adapted more of the manga, and is also the most famous one. The first episode of HxH 1999 also has some lore exposition we don't get in the other version, so if you don't mind seeing the Ep 1 twice, I 100% recommend it. Also a banger bc of the platonic relationships.

Magi: The labyrinth of magic - literally nobody (hyperbole thats too close to reality) knows this anime but it's also one I really like. It is sorta inspired in the A Thousand And One Nights tales and is about a very very poor dude who one day finds this boy—this weird boy, who appears to have the powers of a top-tier magician; what in this setting we call a Magi. With his help, the guy decided to raid a 'dungeon' and gain the power of a Genie to conquer his dreams. 9/10, it's not that much of A Master Piece but it's a very good anime. It def loses points bc of some intersexist moments but if you can enjoy it despiste that its totally worth a shot. For me an element that truly shines on Magic is also its worldbuilding and especially the magic system. It's the most Hard magic system I've ever seen I think??? And it's just chef kiss.

The anime has about 2 seasons of good size, and I found it pretty enjoyable, but it doesn't adapt a huge part of the manga which is very frustrating, so I'd advise you to read the manga too, if you like manga or want to try.

There IS also some side plot romance between two of the supporting characters that starts about near the middle but it's not very Big but it may not 100% fit your order bc of that.

Magi: Sinbad no Bouken - The Diary of Sinbad is the spin-off of the main Magi series, and in my opinion it might be even better sometimes. The anime is way shorter than Magi (with what, 12 episodes?) so for this one i much more recommend the manga than the anime, BUT the anime is also good.

It tells the story of the son of a desceased fisherman named Simbad, who is recruited by the military service for a mission of cleaning a misterious building magicians have decided to call 'the dungeon'. Sinbad hates his homecountry's military, but when he finds out that who cleans it will have imensurable power and gold, he decides to go to heal his sick mother. Over the course of the story, Sinbad goes on a lot of adventures to make his goals a reality and its SUPER good.

Sinbad takes place 14 years before Magi and focuses more on the setting itself, not telling us much about the magic system and not focusing on it much like the main series does. This one got no romance from what I remember, and the cast is very endearing.

One Piece - another ABSOLUTE classic. This anime is famous because A. It started in 1997 (ish) and its still being released to this day. It's got like a thousand episodes (LITERALLY) by now? For reference about twice of Naruto Shippuden. And B. IT IS INSANELY EPIC. I haven't watched it myself but I know it's good and I also know there's no romo bc the author said in an interview i think that they don't want any characters to be involved romantically in any way. It's basically a pirate adventure story with insane character proportions (in the bad way when it comes to girl charactets though) and it's pretty celebrated as one of the best anime of our time.

*sacks them up neatly with your name as I risk the order from the restaurant notepad or smth like that* enjoy your meals!

Do you guys want any anime recs please know I am the anime guy so if you want an anime no worries

[borrelia]

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

what fic? :0

[BASS BOOSTED] ZIMPREG

[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.

[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.)

[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.

[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!

[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

[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

[infinitestagearchive]

POSTED 30.10.2023

❝ … and that's when things get even crazier. ❞

❝ if you haven't heard by now — how? what rock do you live under? — the former CEOs of Infinite Stage Entertainment are being sued by their ex-employees for abuse, mistreatment, and even sexual misconduct. in this video, we are delving into the dark history of ISE and its CEOs, the details of the lawsuit, and what this might mean for the future of ISE and the industry as a whole. ❞

❝ so, let's start by talking about ISE. the company was founded in 2006 by husband-and-wife duo Cho Hosung and Han Sooyin. Sooyin is a former idol, who was a part of girl group Liberty Girls in 1992. the group only lasted two years before disbanding, but this is when Sooyin met Hosung, who back then was working as the assistant to the manager of Liberty Girls. the two became flirtatious quickly, and only two years later they got engaged. Hosung had always been a hard worker, and by the time that he and Sooyin got married he'd worked his way up to becoming chief financial officer of the company. he was a big deal! more than that, though, he seemed like a total wife-guy. the public adored their relationship, and when Hosung announced he would be starting his own entertainment company in his wife's honor, they loved him even more! but clearly, behind the scenes, the relationship wasn't all that lovely. ❞

❝ it wasn't easy for the couple. despite their fame and the publicity surrounding their relationship and the start of the company, for some reason they never managed to produce idols that attracted big enough audiences. look, if you have nothing else going on today, go listen to some old ISE songs! they're kind of bangers. personally, I think we all owe it to Sang Minji to listen to her debut album, it's literally so good … but that's neither here nor there. the company only really began finding success in 2016 with the debut of girl group Sugar, which, honestly, is probably where all of the problems started. ❞

❝ now that we have some backstory, it's time to get into the lawsuit. all of this really started with the infamous twitter thread back in 2020, when a user compiled a bunch of 'evidence' to claim that ISE was abusing its idols. a lot of fans back then thought it was just speculation and coincidence, but some people took it seriously enough to keep the rumors alive. even years before that fans had been worried over the idols of ISE, with both Sugar and S-Division taking extended breaks after supposed health concerns, and of course following the infamous Atlas meltdown of 2020. for those of you who are blissfully unaware; when S-Division had their goodbye stage for their EP 'The Loneliest' Atlas started crying midway through the performance, which eventually devolved into a complete breakdown after which he had to be ushered off the stage by his fellow members as well as some staff. really, fans had more than enough material to suspect that something wasn't quite right with the idols at ISE. though, nothing would really happen until the late summer of 2023. ❞

❝ on august 15 of 2023 it was announced that activities at ISE would be put on hold effective immediately, following the announcement that an internal investigation would take place. this investigation looked into the legitimacy of anonymous claims made from internal sources about unsafe working environments and a supposed abuse of power from high-ranking employees. basically, some workers had enough and started sending anonymous complaints to the board of directors … who are like, the big, big, bosses. almost a full month later, on september fifth, the company releases another official statement to say that Hosung and Sooyin were 'stepping down' — so, you know, they were given the boot — and that they would be replaced by new CEO Sun Jihoon, who also brought in a bunch of new staff, including COO Nam Eunwoo. now, Eunwoo seemed immediately really close with Sugar's leader Hyejin, but aside from sparking a few dating rumors, fans seemed mostly happy that the new leadership seemed to get along with the idols, and that everyone would get a chance to heal and move on. ❞

❝ … and that's when things get even crazier. ❞

❝ just this week a harassment and misconduct suit was filed against former ISE CEO Cho Hosung, in which several current and former idols of the company accuse Hosung of not only knowing but perpetuating a whole bunch of things. all of this is alleged, of course, but it's honestly too crazy to not be true and — look, the document detailing all of the claims is public access and it's bonkers, but I'll summarize it for you guys. basically, there was an unsafe atmosphere at the company, which Hosung was the main perpetrator of. one part of the suit details the fact that — as we suspected! — trainees were often physically reprimanded, deprived of food, and pitted against each other to further the hostile atmosphere. even when they debuted, idols were kept on strict diets and overworked to the point of sometimes fainting. the suit calls out Sooyin as well, claiming that she personally caused idols and trainees to be pitted against each other, with one anonymous source even detailing the time they were told directly by Sooyin that, quote, everyone will compare you to [this other idol], and you're never going to live up to those expectations if you keep being lazy … girl what?! all of that is horrible, but it somehow gets so much worse. huge trigger warning for like, sexual harassment and abuse and Hosung being a fuckhead. ❞

" Hyejin — who by the way is one of the few plaintiffs who is actually named in the suit, like the girlboss she is — has also come out with allegations of sexual misconduct. she stated that Hosung coerced her into a sexual relationship at the end of 2011, when Hyejin was only nineteen years old and had been a trainee at ISE for close to five years. she claimed that originally he only asked her to come by his office during her breaks under the guise of ‘catching up’, but soon he began initiating physical contact and Hyejin says that when she tried to say no Hosung implied that she would not have a future as an idol if she did not reciprocate his advances. this went on until december of 2015, after which Hyejin claims that she continued to feel unsafe at the company, which eventually led to her worsening mental state and the hiatus of Sugar in 2021. ❞

❝ so, what now? ❞

❝ some other people named in the suit include Honey from Limitless, who claims that she was forced into uncomfortable positions during her bullying scandal to the point where she felt extremely dehumanized, Max from S-Division who alleges a long-standing culture of physical abuse that he personally witnessed, and ex-Nightvision member and producer Connor Seong, who claims that ISE has a history of employing and protecting known abusers. ❞

❝ this entire lawsuit is absolutely just the beginning, and I totally think more people are going to come forward now that these big names have. I also hope Hosung — and Sooyin! — go to jail for forever and never get near the idol industry again. but that’s just like … my personal opinion. what do you guys think? let me know in the comments below, and I’ll talk to you later! ❞