5 Ways To Increase/decrease Suspense In Your Writing

The Honorable Death: Samurai and Suicide in Feudal Japan (part 1)

By: Martini Fisher

Source: https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/honorable-death-samurai-and-suicide-feudal-japan-005822

Guys there was just a magnitude 6.1 earthquake in the Philippines

The epicenter was around 60 km from where Iive, in Castillejos, Zambales. It occured around 05:11 PM and lasted for 30 seconds. Initially it was reported at 5.7, but it was raised to 6.1 in later reports. Various international reports list it as 6.3 or even higher.

Thankfully, it happened on land, far away from the sea, so there are no impending tsunamis. However, as of writing several aftershocks have been recorded and fatalities have already occured.

I was still at work when it happened and I almost got stuck since I couldn’t use the stairs to go all the way down from the 36th floor of my office building due to a disability. Thankfully no strong aftershocks occured after so a service elevator was able to rescue me after I went down to the 26th floor. I am now at home and am safe, though still shaken.

Please be careful, Philippine peeps around Northern/Central Luzon!

This, when Mitsunari joins the fray...

“Don’t poke my cheeks. The seeds will spill.”

Giant Lord Squeak Ieyasu is not amused 😆

(tried manga style)

How did Tadakatsu, Kageie, Yasumasa, and Tadatsugu die?

There is a legend that Tadakatsu died after injuring his hand from carving. If this story is true, he might have fallen ill from the infected wound. If not true, then presumably he died of age. 

It was said that Kageie was executed by Kenshin. The story has it that he had sold a horse to Nobunaga, and Kenshin suspected treason. ETA: This was apparently considered a legend, and the official account of his death is due to disease. 

Yasumasa seems to have contracted a disease and died of it. Tadatsugu died normally from age. 

Slbp Wallpapers (fanmade)

Thank you for all the support guys!!

Three Great Unifiers

Please reblog only. Enjoy!

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 will not be modest. Humble, as much as you like, but not modest. Modesty is the virtue of the lukewarm.”

— Jean-Paul Sartre, The Devil and the Good Lord

This is what it’s like to have dyslexia. Web developer Victor Widell is hoping to shine a light on the learning disorder with this creative coding simulation.

Some of Kageie’s background story was revealed in the latest Tenka event before his MS will come out…

I’d like to put here my summary.

–

After his father and mother’s deaths. His uncle took hold of the head of the family and drove him off the castle together with his younger brother (Norikage) who was suffered from heart’s illness and needed medicine for living.

He found himself an underground job which later his skill was impressed and hired by a samurai then he slowly made his recognition as a good fighter.

Fate shifted when his younger brother was killed by those who served the same samurai. After that he lived his life with no strings attached, never had any home, never trust or be in deep relationship with anyone.

Returned himself to his underground job. One day…surrounded by too many opponents. He fled to a woman who he was recently with but obviously…was rejected.

Severely wounded with noone and no place to return to. Rolling like a garbage…he started to lose all hope in everything even a string of his own life.

Then emerged before his bloody blurry eyes…

A strangely beautiful figure in beautiful hagama…

「Will you come with me?」

Words that had brought an unexpected road. He stared up to that eyes…eyes that full of melancholy as much as his then a finger pointed to his chest had opened the path that light could shine through…

That’s how Kageie has come to Lord Kenshin.