This Is What It’s Like To Have Dyslexia. Web Developer Victor Widell Is Hoping To Shine A Light On

Shattered Bonds

Fandom: Samurai Love Ballad Party

Character: Inuchiyo

Summary:  His heartache came from the fact that he didn't ask for this upcoming war to happen; and yet, just because two of his most important persons decided one cannot live with another under the same sky, he found himself forced to choose sides and fight against his former friend.

Slightly based ON REAL HISTORY. How this young lord must have felt when he found HIMSELF on the other side of war against his close friend. One-shot (possibly out of many).

Also posted on my AO3.

Little pieces of white fell down from the blackened skies as the overcast clouds suppressed the dignified fortress atop a mountain. The wind blew its coldest as anxious servants within the stronghold struggle to make fire, soldiers rummaging through the stocks for extra blankets, and scouts braving the intense cold to look for signs of enemy ambush, or infiltration beyond its walls.

Or signs of invasion from their former allies.

At least, this is what the young lord of the castle (who is inside the war council room alone at the moment) wanted to think with regards to their "enemy"—a belief that is shared by the majority of his people. The lord may be young, but if there is any indication, the dark circles around his eyes suggest he had aged a lot from all the stress. A jar of sake was placed on the table, beside it were two cups: one for the man himself, the other was for the special somebody the man had all but lost thanks to this conflict. Filling the second cup was his usual habit whenever he and his friend would meet up for drinks in the past, and now, as an homage for his absent friend. It was meant to calm him, help him relax a little; obviously, it didn't work.

His heartache came from the fact that he didn't ask for this upcoming war to happen; and yet, just because two of his most important persons decided one cannot live with another under the same sky, he found himself forced to choose sides and fight against his former friend. If it were up to him, he would have stormed towards his dear partner on that fateful day, and beat the crap out of him for his crazy plan of following THEIR LATE LORD'S dream—and hope it will be just that. But no... his friend had coldly shrugged him off, as if his words are nothing and proceeded to leave without saying anything to him, he didn't even look at him in the eye! That usual smugness of his had always made the young lord's blood boil, but that day, he feared he had crossed the line, a point of no return.

So, now that the conflict has escalated, the young lord remembered that he had volunteered to lead the front and fight the good fight, hoping the prodigal himself will somehow turn back after a few defeats. Unfortunately, he got stonewalled by his superiors, given his ties to their supposed "traitor". There were no words just how angry he had been, angry at the people he and his departed friend were supposed to protect. Angry at his friend for not trusting HIM enough. Angry at himself for not knowing just how bad things had gone after their lord died on that tragic fire. Angry that he was forced to station at the rear by those scheming bastards who may or may not have designs for him and his clan. The bad memories only made the lord bit his lip and clench his sake cup hard until whites from his knuckles had formed.

It wasn't easy for the young lord to handle things at the rear, even though they were far from the actual fighting. A while ago, he had a fight with a vassal, whom he secretly knew as a spy from the old guards who had stonewalled him. Logistics had said that their supplies are barely enough to last for a month, a grave matter. The vassal in question had strongly suggested to scour nearby villages for food, water and heat by pillaging them. This was, of course, met with gasps and indignation from the young lord's loyalists but couldn't openly complain due to the vassal's backing.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how one sees this incident), the young lord refused the vassal's advice and even reprimanded him without regard of the political ramifications. To say things became chaotic is an utter understatement and the lord was at wits end during the ordeal. In the end, the vassal and his army left, leaving the castle almost defenseless and short of manpower at the present.

Frustration and a lingering sense of fear loom over this lord's heart as he sat inside the room, alone, waiting for someone from the shadows. There are a lot of things in this man's mind, questioning his own capacity as a leader. Was he wrong to refuse that vassal? Was he right to separate his own army from his? Hard questions poured into his mind as lines between right and wrong blur in every passing moment.

And the fact that all the tension from the upcoming battle and worsening weather got him at this breaking point...it is terrifying how much more burden he could take, before everything else snaps; before he himself become a cold heartless monster, all because of this wretched war.

He gulped down his sake and closed his eyes to find himself some semblance of peace, some form of control over the looming rage within his heart. The hearthfire failed to ease his foul mood and the silence only serves as a reminder of how poor morale is at the moment.

The castle lord stood up, his family sigil evident from his blue-black silk kimono. He made his way to the armory, passing through the wintery cold of the outdoors, checking on his soldiers, pages and servants along the way.

Once alone in the armory, he made his way towards his ornate spear, gently touching as if trying to recall a happier memory in order to keep himself sane. Lost in his own thoughts, he recalled his past as a young boy learning to wield his weapon. The time when he was still naive from the hard truths of war.

One sunny day, he had once held a practice spear in the middle of a match. Cheers of encouragement and jeers by the audience had filled the air. Old war veterans on the sidelines had looked thoughtfully at him and his opponent, assessing their strengths.

Across him had been another boy whose hair was a soft brown. His eyes were like clear brown sugar candies. His height couldn't match his own and his practice katana had been too small, but despite the obvious disadvantage, his opponent had given him a familiar lopsided grin; as if he knew how to turn things into his favor.

A time when both boys began as rivals, before they became best of friends, who still (ironically) fight here and there due to some simple crazy differences.

Before they became great vassals of their lord and achieved great things in their own right...

Before they inevitably became enemies after their lord had died…

Once upon a time, before he became the head of his clan and lord of this fortress, he was a rebellious boy of a prestigious samurai clan named Inuchiyo, and his enemy was his former friend, a clever peasant boy named Tokichiro.

When Lords make a face...

Beat Takeshi stars as Hideyoshi in “Kubi” 首, a movie where he’s also involved in the scriptwriting, and also is the director! 

To think that this showed up not long after I shared that old Toyota advertisement! However, unlike the more positive Hideyoshi image in the Toyota ad, the PR of this movie says that the plot follows the “Hideyoshi is the mastermind behind Honnouji” conspiracy. So we can expect a scheming, or even a somewhat sinister Hideyoshi in this production. 

加瀬亮 Kase Ryou will play as Nobunaga, 西島秀俊 Nishijima Hidetoshi as Mitsuhide, and 浅野忠信 Asano Tadanobu in double role as both Kuroda Kanbei and Hideyoshi’s brother Hidenaga. 

It’s always a little strange to me, to see a ridiculously old Hideyoshi when the actor cast as Nobunaga is much younger, but it’s a thing that’s very commonly done in Japanese live action productions and illustrated artwork.

Nobunaga: “Bring back those who have strayed from my side.”

By popular request, Tumblr reblogs now count alongside Twitter retweets, Instagram likes, and Facebook shares! Show this image some love and earn great prizes! (More details in the app.)

*Users who haven’t logged in since 4/29 are counted as returning users.

Thug Life: Nobunaga

My blood is boiling in anger how these men regard women in battle….poor MC! 😖😖

I wish I could sew their mouths shut.

I am starting to dislike this MC...

Heyy thanks for the tag :)

Ieyasu (7) is INDEED nasty in namecalling MC but he had some good (if not complicated) side of him. TBH not what I expect for the one who waits, but he did try to wore out MC's patience (and failed). Still, their backtaking episode was GOOD.

Hide (6) is Kind and Charming as usual, but I kind of know how he works; sometimes come off as manipulative off-screen. But for someone who made the cuckoo sing, his actions are understandable. And the best monent was how he responded to Inichiyo when he discovered who wrote that letter.

Nobu (5) is NOT easy if I were in MCs shoes, imagine being forced to marry just like that...and all because he wanted a cook? Haha. Nope. But it would have been better if MC made some a little bit more resistance to him (and see how Nobu goes about rhat in full measure). Anyways, knowing his character, the story did paint Nobu as such a very forceful "you will be my wife whether you like it or not" suitor.

SLBP Cuckoo Event Review

MC as the cuckoo in that famous samurai cuckoo saying… I definitely liked the premise of the event. And here’s what I thought of the contents, in increasing order of happiness!

Ieyasu’s story starts out on a bizarre note: when MC visits his temporary shop because of his random love letter, his goons capture her and Yahiko (poor Y gets rope burns…!), he proposes marriage sweetly, MC calls him out on his fake bullshit, and he reverts to his pissy, insulting self. The guy spends the next few weeks visiting MC’s restaurant, not eating anything, and calling MC stupid. And because MC’s a masochist and highly susceptible to reverse psychology, she works way harder to impress his picky palate than I personally would’ve… Eventually Ieyasu asks MC to move back with him, gets pissy when she doesn’t immediately accept, and disappears for months so that MC can wallow in angst, before coming back and sweeping her away.

…Ugh. WTF did I just read? Why did Ieyasu even like MC in the first place?! He claims he saw her working and instantly fell in love, but that’s BS and his motivations are unclear. And why did MC want to impress this rude idiot anyway? In this story Ieyasu deserves a punch to the face, not delicious food and true love. I hated it. Ieyasu fans may disagree, but I personally can’t stand his stupid “poison smile” right now. ^_^

Personal enjoyment: 1/10

In this story it’s clear that Hideyoshi’s been harboring a crush on MC for a while because she’s “cute and hardworking.” Giving Inichiyo an aneurysm with his flirty tactics is simply a plus for this charmer. MC’s shy, but he spends his days allowing himself to be friend zoned and being nice to her and helping with groceries and such. And making MC jealous with his perfumes handkerchieves and fixing women’s sandals, but hey, we always knew this guy was a rogue, lol. In the end, right before he gives up on MC forever, he realizes that MC’s jealousy stems from mutual feelings, and the story ends on a hopeful note (“Perhaps this doesn’t have to be the end of things just yet?”).

I thought H was pretty likeable in this event personally, but as with Ieyasu, I found his romantic motivations to be unclear. How was it possible he had a crush on MC if he’d never talked to her before? What made her so special, besides plot reasons?! In any case, I don’t love jealousy plots and the story itself was pretty simplistic imho, but H was sweet and I thought it wasn’t too bad overall.

Personal enjoyment: 5.5/10

Nobunaga’s ES starts out in a classically Nobunaga-ish fashion, with the guy demanding marriage from MC out of nowhere. And MC’s having none of it! He eventually reveals he actually wanted MC for her one-of-a-kind cooking skills, lmfao. Of course. This makes total sense 😂. Anyway, Nobunaga drags MC to hang out several times during his stay in Kyoto, and the pair eventually do grow genuine feeelings for each other over sugar-fueled dates. The guy comes back from a battle to rescue MC at a critical moment, confesses his final reason for wanting MC (“because I couldn’t think of dying and leaving you behind”), and everyone lives happily ever after.

Nobunaga is an absolute treat when he’s not hurting anyone with his ridiculous antics, and he was definitely in fine form in this story! He gives off strong YA novel love interest vibes with his stupid imperiousness (that MC doesn’t take seriously thank goodness), and I am A-ok with that, lol. I also liked how his motivations were clear throughout the entire story! Overall, I thought this ES was delightful to read and it was definitely my favorite of the lot.

Personal enjoyment: 9/10

All in all, I wouldn’t say this was my favorite event, but I came in with no expectations so from that perspective it could’ve been worse.

If you want another (more thirsty, lol) perspective you should check out @aedysa’s recap! I have no idea how to link on mobile though ^_^

Anyway, what did you all think of this event? :)

Reblog for future reference

Actually

The question I get the most is how I write characters that feel like real people. 

Generally when I’m designing a human being, I deconstruct them into 7 major categories:

1. Primary Drive 2. Fear: Major and Secondary 3. Physical Desires 4. Style of self expression 5. How they express affection 6. What controls them (what they are weak for) 7. What part of them will change.

1. Primary Drive: This is generally related to the plot. What are their plot related goals? How are they pulling the plot forward? how do they make decisions? What do they think they’re doing and how do they justify doing it. 2. Fear: First, what is their deep fear? Abandonment? being consumed by power? etc. Second: tiny fears. Spiders. someone licking their neck. Small things that bother them. At least 4. 3. Physical desires. How they feel about touch. What is their perceived sexual/romantic orientation. Do their physical desires match up with their psychological desires.

4. Style of self expression: How they talk. Are they shy? Do they like to joke around and if so, how? Are they anxious or confident internally and how do they express that externally. What do words mean to them? More or less than actions? Does their socioeconomic background affect the way they present themselves socially?  5. How they express affection: Do they express affection through actions or words. Is expressing affection easy for them or not. How quickly do they open up to someone they like. Does their affection match up with their physical desires. how does the way they show their friends that they love them differ from how they show a potential love interest that they love them. is affection something they struggle with?

6. What controls them (what they are weak for): what are they almost entirely helpless against. What is something that influences them regardless of their own moral code. What– if driven to the end of the wire— would they reject sacrificing. What/who would they cut off their own finger for.  What would they kill for, if pushed. What makes them want to curl up and never go outside again from pain. What makes them sink to their knees from weakness or relief. What would make them weep tears of joy regardless where they were and who they were in front of. 

7. WHAT PART OF THEM WILL CHANGE: people develop over time. At least two of the above six categories will be altered by the storyline–either to an extreme or whittled down to nothing. When a person experiences trauma, their primary fear may change, or how they express affection may change, etc. By the time your book is over, they should have developed. And its important to decide which parts of them will be the ones that slowly get altered so you can work on monitoring it as you write. making it congruent with the plot instead of just a reaction to the plot. 

That’s it.

But most of all, you have to treat this like you’re developing a human being. Not a “character” a living breathing person. When you talk, you use their voice. If you want them to say something and it doesn’t seem like (based on the seven characteristics above) that they would say it, what would they say instead?

If they must do something that’s forced by the plot, that they wouldn’t do based on their seven options, they can still do the thing, but how would they feel internally about doing it?

How do their seven characteristics meet/ meld with someone else’s seven and how will they change each other?

Once you can come up with all the answers to all of these questions, you begin to know your character like you’d know one of your friends. When you can place them in any AU and know how they would react.

They start to breathe.

I spent millions of credits on these.

Brings back memories :)