#I grabbed the summary from tvtropes but I don’t actually know if it was from somewhere or if a fan wrote it up

[obstinaterixatrix]

Life is quiet for Jen Gurrera, whose only joy is catching glimpses of her crush, the stoic and mysterious Revonda Red – until she discovers that her flame is an undercover agent protecting the earth from intergalactic fugitives. Jen dives headlong into a world of aliens, deep sea bases, and dazzlingly attractive fellow agents in the hopes that, if she’s lucky, Red could feel the same way…

happy femslash february, here's a ~180 page sci-fi action rom-com that was running from 2016-2019, it's a really fun and impressive project with a fair amount of twists. it's energetic! *kinda* super sentai vibes, but the focus is more on the relationship dynamics. the main character is a gay college student who's pretty isolated and unsure, so there's a very sweet emphasis on her being surrounded by Other Gay People For The First Time (Woah!) and gaining some more confidence

[komatsunana]

Hi ! I love all your posts about NANA, especially the relationship meta ! If I may ask, do you have one about Nobu ? What do you think of him as a character ? What about his relationships with Nana, Hachi, Asami, Blast, Ren ? (sorry if I ask a lot...) Like every new year I think about NANA, I bought the first volume in january 2004, my feelings about characters and the choices they made may have changed since I grew up but, no matter what, I still love this story. Thank you for your time xox

Thanks!

Haha, it’s actually funny I was just thinking yesterday about my promise that I didn’t live up to to write some more meta (including a Nobu one) after my latest NANA re-read almost a year ago. A few deaths and other tragedies happened so I never finished my re-read... (Right at the start of my favorite arc at that!!)

But let’s see if I can’t give a quick summary of my current Nobu feelings....

My personal thoughts of him are complicated. Or maybe they aren’t? I don’t particularly dislike or like him. He’s definitely the character I understand the least.  

I’m very interested in his evolution of learning to call female characters by their actual names (Him refusing to call Hachi Nana until they broke up, him only starting to call Miu Miu instead of Myu when she hinted that it bummed her out no one ever tried to say her name properly, to him calling Asami Asami instead of Yuri the moment she told him her real name).

On the other hand, I have some misgivings on how Nobu becomes more grabby and manhandles Asami, grabbing her by her arm/wrist and stuff when it used to be a big thing with Nobu and Hachi holding hands.  I def need to finish my re-read to get a full grasp on that aspect of his character, because my memory of him doing all that is completely at odds with how I remember him being respectful of Asami being involved with sex work.

Another thing I am really interested in Nobu is like... Ok so I’m kinda a connoisseur of shojo (lol) and there’s this trope that often comes up with male love interests who are have sad backstories shutting out the female MC early on in their relationship and being like “you’ll never understand because you’ve had a happy childhood.”  And what interests me is that I feel like Nobu is that female MC in this case??? Like with Nana and Ren both kind of shutting Nobu out and telling him he should stop struggling with a music career and just take after his family business. What’s interesting about that is that I feel like it could just as easily been Takumi and Nana that shut Hachi out for the same reason... but they really don’t (even if they totally recognize that they are drawn to Hachi because of her happy home-life growing up). Idk if I’m explaining it in way that makes sense but idk I think it’s interesting.

I’m also like............. extremely interested in the fact that Nobu apparently has some ESP abilities?!?!? Like something very supernatural happened to him after Nana’s grandma’s death and then later after Ren’s death. I find that fascinating, especially in a series that is so praised for it’s realism that the most “normal” character hast this latent, unexplored ability.  I really hope we get to see more of that if the series ever continues.

His relationship with Nana is a stand-out relationship for me.  Outside of Nobu saying he used to have a crush on her, I really love that their relationship never goes romantic either.

I think Hachi once said that Nobu just kept saying all the things she wanted to hear him say right before they got together... And frankly he does the same thing for Nana.  The way he says he only wants to play guitar for Nana’s voice, when it’s all that Nana wants Ren to say to her... Gosh I am very interest in that.  

Both Yasu and Nobu take on a lot of Nana’s emotional burdens but it’s very interesting the different kinds of burdens she puts on them both? I can’t quite put my finger on the differences atm, but it’s not some simple thing.  But as Yasu said after the news about Nana’s mother broke out in the media, Nobu was the only one that Nana can completely cry and break down in front of without shame.

As for Hachi... I feel like I’ve talked at least a little bit about it but...

Hachi/Nobu was def Hachi’s most healthy relationship... And yet it wasn’t healthy.  As Hachi noticed early on in relationship, Nobu was idealizing her. 

I did note earlier that Nobu was grabby with Asami after his break up with Hachi, but I can think of at least one instance too where after their break up that Nobu grabbed Hachi by the wrist.  Idk if this was something purposeful in the narrative, but it really is something I want to look at more in the future because shojo manga really does have this bad habit of male love interests just grabbing women by the arm and that somehow completely subdues the woman and makes her unable to get away. (read about it here (Possessive Wrist Grab) and here (Standard Female Grab Area) on tvtropes for more on it) and I feel like it’s something that Nobu developed as a result of Hachi’s “betrayal.”

Idk, I really don’t have any new things to say about their relationship atm that I don’t (think) I’ve already wrote about. I think there’s quite a few meta I haven’t added to my meta masterpost. I’ll try and do that ASAP and reblog it

OK then! His relationship with Asami.... I really do need to sit down and do a proper full length meta about this relationship sometime but for now:

As I said earlier about Nobu grabbing at Asami’s wrists in a way he never did with Hachi while they were romantic.  Other than that, Nobu was pretty much always emotionally unfaithful to Asami (though I admit for a significant portion of it he was trying to get over Hachi) and all in all, a bad boyfriend to Asami.  

To my memory he was good at supporting her as a sex worker, but unfortunately I think the only reason he was able to do so was that he’d gone from the idealizing Hachi as a purity extreme to being with a woman that he was unable to separate her porn career from her a person.

Basically I think his relationship with Asami really just highlights that Nobu looks like a guy who drinks his respecting women juice... but really he kind of continues to struggle to see his love interests as women who are actual people.

(I really do promise I don’t hate Nobu!! And honestly lots of  this are just from my memory of the half of the manga I haven’t read in a number of years.)

Blast!  Simply put, Blast wouldn’t exist with Nobu.  He’s the heart and the reason for it’s creation.  

I think it’s easy to think that Nana is, but I’m pretty sure I remember that Blast was named before Nana joined - that Ren and Yasu were part of Brute before that. They didn’t say it but Nobu just isn’t the kind of guy that would be in a band named Brute.  So that name had to go for Nobu to be in it.  Lol.

Additionally, when Nana moved to Tokyo if Nobu hadn’t insisted on following then any band Nana would have formed wouldn’t have been Blast.  Blast on exists in Tokyo because Nobu went there.  Nana can have her own solo career, but Nobu won’t because he only plays for Nana’s voice but at the end of the day... Even though Nana is the singer and Yasu is the leader, Blast belongs to Nobu.

I mean, plus he writes the songs.  And he’s so passionate about music and Nana’s voice - that’s why their band succeeds.  Nana’s voice and Nobu’s desire to make music only for that voice.

And oh gosh... Ren....

Ren might have more in common with Nana, but Nobu is the one that really knows Nana better.  And I think Ren knows that - he trusts Nobu in a way he doesn’t trust his best friend Yasu.

I’ve talked about it a bunch before, that child!Ren is the result of Hachi’s current pregnancy and that Nobu is the biological father... And it just makes *so* much sense for Nobu’s bio child to have Ren’s name. I weep.

I already mentioned it but... It speaks so much volumes that of everyone that was mourning Ren’s death, it was Nobu who received that supernatural moment - the song that played with no CD in the stereo.  Ren leaving it up to Nobu to be the one to play the music for Nana’s voice, so Nana’s voice will never be silenced.  If the common theory that Ren’s gift to Nana was a song that Ren wrote for Nana to sing, then I think it’s likely the song that Nobu heard after Ren’s death was that song.

That’s all I got for now!  But I’ll write more someday... I promise!! I just can’t promise when.  But yes! I so relate - NANA was one of my very first manga too... One of the first 10 at the very least!!!!  I still remember so much, picking that first volume up at a library and wanting more just from the prologue!  I’ve loved measuring my own maturity by reading NANA and reacting differently... It’s just one of the those series!!

No problem!!!!! I always have time to talk to other NANA fans.

[mystech-master]

Ragna in the other BBTAG worlds

I asked a while ago for ideas as to where Ragna could end up post-CF as his “retirement” world, I’ve gotten like 3 suggestions; Bleach (mainly to pair him with Kukaku Shiba, but given everything else happening in that world he’ll have no chill there), Animal Crossing, and Mario Galaxy (on the Comet Observatory with Rosalina and the Lumas)

but today, I want to take a look at how he’d fare living in the worlds presented to us in BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle. Just for the hell of it:

Long post bellow

Persona: if Ragna were to end up living in the Persona world thing might be difficult at first, he grew up in the middle of nowhere and the woods and lived in a post-apocalyptic dystopian future, so there will be a bit of a culture shock. But if Akihiko can run around shirtless then this world will be fine with someone like Ragna. I think he might end up working with the Shadow Operatives, hey he was raised to fight so may as well put his supernatural power and fighting ability to use against the Shadows right? I mean the Kirijo group managed to make an identity for Aigis when she attended Gekkoukan High in P3, so they could make Ragna have an identity. Since the dude has Son Goku levels of education I ‘d find it funny if Mitsuru put his ass through some kind of education program or something. I mean it is never too late to get an education and I’m sure there are many real-life examples of people who couldn’t go to school for some reason or another. Also, I’ve said this before, Ragna might give of serious “Shinjiro” vibes to the Shadow Operatives, so they might be able to navigate his personality a bit better. Mitsuru can be the cool-headed one w/o being a bitch like Rachel, Akihiko would make a good sparring partner, he’ll treat Aigis and Labrys right since he treats the Murakumos like people, Yukari is pretty normal compared to most of them and can also get annoyed by their antics so Ragna might like her (he enjoys the company of average/normal people since they aren’t too zany for his tastes), Ken is pretty mature for his age, but Junpei might get on his nerves. But also, if Ragna enters around P4 Arena time, then if he stays there a few years he could be present for the Persona 5 story, and THAT would be a fun setting to play in with Ragna.

Under Night In-Birth: it being a modern world won’t be too much of an issue, like with Persona there’ll be some culture shock but lots of the people there are also kind of weirdoes. If he ends up with the main good guys (Hyde, Linne, Waldstein, and Vatista) we can just add another guy bumming around Hyde’s house.  Helping train Hyde, spar with Wald, cook for Linne (give her actual good food and she’ll be worshiping you I bet), and Vatista May remind him of Lambda so he’d be chill around her. But another idea could be him being a mercenary like Gordeau, like maybe the two becoming friendly rivals or something (I just liked how chill he was with Ragna in BBTAG’s story oka, sue me). Also, I could totally see Hilda trying to recruit Ragna into Amnesia because she hears about him being the SS-Class criminal trying to take down the keepers of the order of his world, much like how she is trying to do to Licht Kreis, she tries to get a little flirty with him, but Ragna declines b/c 1. When he was taking on the N.O.L. he was doing it for revenge, Hilda is just doing it for shits and giggles (10 points to whoever gets that reference), 2. Ragna can totally sense danger coming to from this chick, and 3. the dude is at least smart enough not to stick his dick in crazy. He and Merkava would have an interesting conversation, Merkava being a beast with a man within, and Ragna being a man with a beast within.

RWBY: Okay this might depend on where in the timeline he’s put (Pre-Volume 3 like in BBTAG, or Pre-Volume 6 like what I’ve been thinking of), but let’s stick with the Beacon arc-like in BBTAG. The current state of the world is: Cinder and her team are in disguise as Haven students, Roman is arrested, everyone thinks the threat is gone and that the Breach was the big plan, but the Ozluminati know better and are just trying to keep the peace. Ragna is a very aggressive person and easily angered, not a good thing when dealing with Grimm, which are attracted to negative emotions. Also, may I remind you that the Grimm have no souls, and thus are immune to Ragna's Soul Eater power drive which is partially what has allowed him to be such a dangerous threat in his world. In fact, his power is WAY more suitable for fighting people, considering the Huntsmen and Huntresses powers come from their Aura which comes from their soul. Like, he just grabs them and watches that Aura meter just drop FAST. Also, I’m not sure if he’d even be able to gain Aura and a Semblance himself with the Azure Grimoire also fucking his soul up. Ironwood might just say to kill/imprison this guy before he becomes a threat while Ozpin might try and be a bit more diplomatic if he at least hears about his nicer exploits (maybe from Ruby). And no, I do not know how his Soul Eater power could be used on the Maiden Powers or Ozpin’s reincarnating soul. MAYBE it could be used to kill Salem by consuming HER immortal soul instead of just physically killing her, but I do not know if it could be used to rip the Maiden Powers out of their hosts. He and Qrow might talk about their shitty lives but when Qrow offers him a drink Ragna declines b.c Ragna’s Azure Grimoire healing factor also works on toxins (seen in the Variable Heart manga where he shrugs of Shiori’s poison), also I think Ragna views Alchohol as a bitch’s way of dealing with problems. A fight between him and Raven would be interesting also, like them giving each other lectures about family: Ragna giving Raven shit for abandoning Yang (who I assume he might bond with), while Raven says that he has no right to talk about family considering the state of HIS.

There’s probably a lot more that could happen but I can’t think of anything else atm.

I’ll be skipping Arcana Heart since A. I barely know jack fuck about that series (the second game isn't even localized), B. the main powerset in that game seems to only go to girls, which leads to C. there are NO male characters, not even side NPCs, so Ragna would stick out WAY too much.

Senran Kagura: Much like Arcana Heart I don’t know much but I looked through character descriptions and some basic plot summaries here and there (mostly from TVTropes so please forgive me if I fuck something up, which I will) , so I at least get the BASIC gist of things going on. The only place I could think of Ragna going is him looking after or palling around with the Homura Crimson Squad. He isn’t one to join some big organization (the Good Ninja side won’t accept him after his MASSIVE body count in his world, and the Hebijo guys are way too intense), and depending on the timeline he could either help protect the Crimson Squad from the Hebijo team out to kill them for deserting, or he also likes to be independent and train/fight his own way. He could help Homura train for her next fight with her rival Asuka (plus she’ll be a fan of his meat cooking). He might try to get Yomi to add some more variety to her food instead of bean sprouts (cue fight). Hikage might freak him out since she looks like almost a female Hazama/Terumi, but she also struggles with socializing and likes to cook for her friends so after the initial awkwardness they might get along. Mirai hates being ignored so this might cause some annoyance to Ragna, but she’s also a bully victim. I could see him being annoyed by her but then later sees her getting picked on and his big-brother instinct kicks in and he helps, then they gain a sort of understanding. Haruka is the real beast here, the dominatrix sadist scientist who wants to make people her dolls, so Ragna might need to step up a bit to keep her under control (like I said I only know the bare minimum, she might not actually be that bad post-character development but I don’t know). Finally, just for the sake of it, I’m not too sure where on the power scale Ragna would fall in the SK universe. The most powerful person there is Sayuri/Jasmine, with I think Rin and Daidōji both sharing the second strongest spot. I’ll say Ragna is around Daidōji and Rin’s level because Sayuri/Jasmine would most likely be like Jubei level. Also because the power scaling in Blazblue is absurd so comparing the Shinobi (of whom only a few have unique powers) to the Blazblue cast (who have magical weapons and reality-fucking powers) is kind of unfair, plus it gives Ragna a sort of cap so he won’t be too unstoppable in this world. Finally, not too keen on shipping. I’ve been using the “half your age plus seven” rule of dating so to not make things weird, Ragna is 22 in my HC and the minimum age is 18 (lots of people say once your over 18 you can date whoever you want that’s older, but........no), but while a few girls in SK are 18 they are still in high school (the birthdays and ages don’t match up with their school years, and that angers me) so.....no, he just has a big brother instinct for the Crimson Squad.

I’ll also skip Akatsuki Blitzkampf b/c A. Like Arcana Heart above I barely know the story, and B. What little I have seen of the story isn’t.......much. Story Isn’t exactly a big factor in this series.

Lemme know what you guys think Ragna would get up to in these other worlds. I might add to this if another series is added to BBTAG.

[echoeternally]

What do you do to get motivation? I have a fic that's been going on for years now. I have the whole thing drafted, I mostly know what I want to happen, though I sometimes get stuck on side details.

Motivation works differently for everyone. I wish I had one universal answer to simplify it, but it really depends on who you are and what drives you.

To help, I can give you some tools that I use to help inspire me, and maybe from that, you can find your answer as well.

Short version for that would be the following:

Books, Media, and Other Stories

Music and Art

Unexplored Territories

Rewinds: Re-read and Remind

Audience

Friends

Research

Creating Goals

Slightly longer blurbs will go under the cut to explain things.

Ok, let me explain some inspiration sources a little more. (And because each section is longer, this now is a very long post.)

Books, Media, and Other Stories: This is usually a good place to start, since you can help engage yourself to your work by getting into other things. Books get a particular special mention because writing and reading go hand-in-hand. This can be extended to comics and manga though. Media is the umbrella term for tv shows, movies, video games, and other forms that entertainment take to portray stories of different kinds. Other stories themselves are meant for the less conventional venues to explore, like articles or history, or even other fanfics as well. Each source has their own story to tell you, and by looking into things, you can find how storytelling flows from each of them.

It doesn’t have to all be good stuff either. Maybe you hated the latest episode of your favorite cartoon or tv series. There was a book you finished last week, and it just completely fumbled the ending into a mess. Perhaps history was duller than dirt. Think you can come up with something better to tell? Great! Then fire up and get into writing how you’d do it better.

Music and Art: Another good spot to rouse creativity. Music and art tend to help bring about some life into you that stoke your creative fires well. Both are broad to describe, but they each have a lot of forms to them, so you should go with what you like to delve into. For example, art doesn’t strictly have to be fan art for fanfics; maybe there was a cool painting you remember from a museum that you wanted to recapture or explore. That can be useful. Same goes for music, as maybe there’s a song’s lyrics that you want to elaborate on, or take into a story of your own.

Personally, I prefer music that doesn’t involve lyrics. Classical music and media soundtracks (movies, video games) are usually super helpful, because they can have dramatic flares to them, and don’t always have people singing with lyrics that you end up associating with the song, which becomes a story of its own. If you can get the right tune that you can relax to, it can then help you want to create a story that goes with the atmosphere. There are all kinds of feelings that songs can stir in you, so experiment and see what you like.

Unexplored Territories: Stories are mostly not quite groundbreaking in what they tell, but rather how they tell it. Nevertheless, there are numerous less explored resources that can be immensely helpful to get into. Most people go for realistic stuff, like cultures that aren’t as primed for media representation. It’s good when you’re doing grounded things that deal with people mostly. For those more engaged in fantasy, though, you’d want to get into stuff that’s not tied for cultures, or extract it from them. Maybe you look up a list of mythological creatures and want to write about something that isn’t the woefully tiring trend of wizards/witches, vampires, werewolves, or clowns. Even changing it up in simple ways, like establishing a difference between sorcerers and witches, or having werewovles, werecats, and werebears all in one story that operate differently.

But don’t be afraid to turn to real life stuff too, especially for less explored spots. I tend to use LGBTQ+ stuff (mostly gays) to both give representation to groups that I identify with, as well as use character dynamics that mainstream media is too afraid to touch. Those two main male characters that are best friends? Make them boyfriends. That lady who seems like she’s super sexy? She’s actually asexual. I’m not telling you to specifically use this stuff, mind you, but this is an example of less explored territories that you can have a little more flexibility with. Heck, it can even simplify the story you tell with minimal changes: Beauty and the Beast’s titular characters are both female. The rest of the story plays out as follows, but it now gains brand new angles to be explored by a small change. That’s part of why I also like shipping and going for “rare pairs” for romance stories: they’re not as explored, and therefore, prime for new content that can be exciting just by existing! 

Rewinds (Re-read and Remind): A simple concept, but sometimes you can help stir some motivation by looking back over your old work. Checking back on things can help remind you of what’s going on, or can help create the desire to continue what was going to happen next. It’s basic, but sometimes just the smallest trick to help start some sparks you lost.

It doesn’t have to be a lot, either. Maybe you just wanted to write up this one scene, but you haven’t gotten there yet. Write it anyway, and then work on how you need to get there. While you’re reading over something you wrote, don’t focus on editing, but on the content. Maybe there’s this one line of dialogue that you really loved, and it’s this excellent one-liner that defines your character really well. And then that can make you want to give more to them. When you rewind and recall things you had ideas for, sometimes reviewing them can help you expand on them.

Audience: Has anyone read your stuff yet? If not, ask a few people to do so! An audience can help you immensely, because their reactions help gauge what works and what doesn’t. By giving them content to look over, and interacting with your readers as well, you can end up helping drive yourself to want to deliver more to them. It keeps things flowing nicely! (And this is why writers cry a lot about wanting feedback: it super seriously helps out in a great big way!)

Make sure to look for readers too, not just other writers. Sure, other writers can give you tips and tricks, but they’re looking at it from a similar perspective to yours: the creator’s. For readers, they’re specifically interested in consuming the content, and therefore, have different interpretations and interests for the story. They can give you opinions that other writers can’t quite so easily offer, because they can be more to the point of entertainment engagement. (Writers do typically double as readers, though, so it works out either way.)

Friends: I wanted to add a special distinction for friends as opposed to audience. Friends are nice, but are infinitely less likely to read your work. Online pals, irl friends, whichever you’re comfortable with talking to, they’re still not always the people you’ll go running to so you can grab a new reader. But that’s ok, because you have other ways they can help!

Sometimes, just telling a vague summary of things that are going on in your fic can help you get interested in telling more about it, and to others that might understand it more. Telling your friends puts you in a spot that helps you come up with ways to break down your story to its bare bones, and then what you want to do to help build it up. Another way to go about it would be to listen to stories that they have to tell you. Maybe they’re not writing, but sometimes just interacting with others can help you with developing dynamics that people can share in stories. Or events that are so out there, and you can come up with a way to create a related scenario. (No, I’m not telling you to write your friends…unless they make good characters, lol.) Even just being with friends to take your mind off of things and relax? That helps out too, more than you realize in the moment or immediately after.

Research: It kind of goes with some stuff above, because by viewing media, other stories, unexplored territories, music, and art, you’re doing a type of research. Each one presents a different medium that lets you get to know about them, and the more you look into it, the more you learn.

But the cool thing about research is that it takes you places. Websites like TVTropes and Wikipedia can take you to all kinds of weird places, but that’s what makes them great! You end up learning new topics and angles to explore, and they can help inspire new ideas by doing so, or help you restructure ideas you might think are too cliché or simply don’t work. Delving in deep can be time consuming, but also can lead to major payoffs.

Creating Goals: This one I’m not quite as sure about, because it depends on what you’re looking for out of stories. Still, it can be a helpful boost in its own way, so I’ll include it. Goal creating isn’t just something like, “Today I want to write a sentence.” That’s good to do in general, but I’m talking a little more along the competitive lines.

You’ve got a fic written up, but you’re looking to keep it rolling. Maybe you’re exploring two neglected characters from a movie and giving them a new life. But, guess what? Someone else tried something similar about two years ago. Heck. Are you going to let that stop you though? Heck no! What you do with that is see what that story nets for ratings, and plug away at trying to match them. Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to outdo them entirely, especially the top ranking stuff. You don’t have to be the best. But you want to compare as well, so see how your content measures up. If they have bookmarked readers that stack to several hundreds, and you can net half after writing about the same characters? That’s pretty great stuff on your part! Even if you don’t have something specific to go up against? Tackle the archives or stories in general! See how highly rated you can get your stuff to be, and duke it out to be visible among everyone else’s content.

This one is really dependent on your personality type, so if you’re not competitive, don’t put stock into it. But if you get fired up about a challenge? Bring it on!

…

…

There’s a bunch of different avenues that you can look into, and different ways to help bring some motivation and inspiration into your creative mind. These are some suggestions based on angles that I’ve personally attempted, so they may or may not work for you. But that’s ok, because you might be able to come up with more ideas as well.

It just depends on what you like, what you want to do, and what stories you want to tell. From there, just let loose and explore.

But, please do keep in mind to keep yourself (yes, you) in check and feeling good. Tired? Get some rest! Hungry? Go eat! Overwhelmed? Decompress and relax. Know your five senses? Engage them all! Your mood definitely matters as well, and it’s little things that can sometimes hold you back in major ways. Take breaks, and when you come back, things might flow a little easier.

No matter what though, make sure you’re having fun! That’s what really counts in the end, above all else. Do stuff that’ll make you happy, and you’ll flourish in ways you might not even realize. These may be typical lines you’ve heard in countless places before, but they’re pretty helpful.

Again, go for it, and have some fun with the writing!