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SLBP “Consummate Moonlight: Passion Ascending” Pt 2 Review

Yeah, yeah, I know this event ended like a week ago, lol. I’ve been swamped with real life stuff. Nearly everything that could possibly change in my life is changing - but in the best possible way! So I’m going on semi-hiatus for a bit - aka the only otome I’m likely to consume for the foreseeable future are SLBP events and IkeRev stories with CG’s. Sorry, MidCin Giles anon! ^_^

But enough about me! Here are my highly belated thoughts on the 2nd batch of ninja pre-sex events, from least to most favorite. :)

Kyoichiro is, for lack of a better description, a little bitch in his ES. When MC is headhunted (alongside the Mitsuba) by Shingen, Kyo comes along for the journey. Which seems cute on the surface, except he’s really only there to guilt MC into hurting the potential deal by going back to Oda territory with him, and all because he’s being headhunted himself by Hideyoshi (“Will you go with me, or onward to Kai?”). Upon their return, Kyo gets arrested by Nobunaga on suspicion of being Goemon, and it’s up to MC and Hideyoshi to rob a samurai in his absence to save his sorry ass. And of course, Kyo’s upset that MC puts herself in danger, and doesn’t even apologize (he has much to learn from Sasuke…). In the end, Kyo’s grateful to MC and I guess it’s kind of cute, but I was too upset to really appreciate the scene tbh. ^_^

This ES had the makings of a great story, but too much went wrong imho. I would’ve liked it better if MC had made the decision of returning with Kyo herself, without him explicitly asking her to (cos that’s awfully selfish of him). I would’ve liked it even better if she’d at least met with Shingen for her clan’s sake! Also, I wanted to read the actual scene where MC and H became thieves. And don’t even get me started with that omg-you-put-yourself-in-danger bullshit that he pulled (without apologizing!!). All in all, I think Kyoichiro does have his good sides, but they definitely weren’t on display in this story.

Personal enjoyment: 3/10

In Genya’s ES the poor guy is faced with one doozy of an order from Iga: kill Masamune. Holy shit! Adding to the pressure is the fact that Sakuya (aka Genya’s evil bro) has found MC, and is more than ready to kill her if he doesn’t follow orders. Yikes. Gen handles the situation with as much grace as one can reasonably expect, which is to say it feels like he’s on a verge of a breakdown for half the story, but can you really blame the guy?! Gen’s eventual “confrontation” with a sleeping Masamune is devastatingly touching (“Aren’t you going to kill me?”), but fortunately, he, MC, and the Date clan are able to work together and come up with a solution out of this whole mess (but not before MC tries to leave to protect Gen and he saves her from Saku 💔). One Ashina assassination and a victorious battle later, and things fortunately go back to normal for the absolute sweetest gang in SLBP.

I loved this route (although it was super stressful to read!). Gen’s struggle to reconcile everything felt super realistic (or as realistic as one can get in a universe with magic ninjas), and he came off as such a great boyfriend to MC. Gotta admit though: every time I read a Genya story, I just end up hating Sakuya that much more. Good thing Gen more than compensates for his bro’s villainy! Best quote: “You can take everything I have, but not her! Never her!”

Personal enjoyment: 10/10

Hanzo is a bona fide semi-villain in his route, simultaneously manipulating Ieyasu into pursuing Divine Rule while, well, not really trusting that he can really pull it off. But when the hotheaded Ieyasu insists on facing the mighty Takeda army head on, Hanzo can’t even help because a) Ieyasu doesn’t want him there (“We don’t need you to come. You’ll just be a burden anyway”), and b) Hanzo’s injured and traditional medicine doesn’t work on him! In the end, Ieyasu’s poison-filled salves end up doing the trick, and our snakey ninja is able to rush off into battle, save Ieyasu’s sorry ass, and return to Ieyasu’s castle, alive and more-or-less in one piece. Aww. I could swear I’ve read very similar setups in slash fanfics before… ;)

Okay but in all seriousness, this is supposed to be a story between Hanzo and MC, and I personally thought that that aspect of the ES was utterly fantastic! Literally everything Hanzo does with MC is super appealing (and super hot!!) - from playing with her early in the story, to calling her little mouse (I died, ngl), to coming home to MC after the battle, kissing her hair!!, and asking her to help him with Ieyasu’s salve. What a character! The shockingly functional relationship Hanzo was able to sustain with MC in this story almost makes me believe his MS’s happy ending could work. Almost. ^_^

Best quote: “Sing to your heart’s content..let your voice reach the greatest heights” - Hanzo auditioning for Phantom of the Opera

Best platonic scene: Hanzo and Sakai bonding over plants. Again. :)

Personal enjoyment: 10/10 (also that epilogue… 💕)

So those were my thoughts. What did y’all think? I’m curious to know! :)

Plot Question Tag Game

From my other sideblog @sageandwizard

I would like to thank @practising-writer for tagging.

Rules: Summarize your WIP in one (possibly teaser-y) question

Arashi (嵐):

Would you chose your duty over everything else or your bonds despite anything else?

Tagging @pseudofaux @frywen-babbles @dear-mrs-otome @reinasescape to take part!

Writing vs Storytelling Skills: Improving Storytelling

Though “writing skill” is often used to refer to all aspects of story crafting, it can be divided into ‘storytelling concepts’ and the ‘actual writing’. Addressed in the previous post: Writing vs Storytelling Skills (link embedded), now I’m here to tell you how to work on that specific storytelling skill.

1. Read a variety of books. Various authors, various genres, the more you expand your examples the better. Variation of reading means you’ll be exposed to more ideas, more ways of thought, more storytelling patterns, more everything that you can critique and help make decisions on how your own stories will unfold. Even take up books you may not like. Give them a chance, and if you still don’t like them then at least be able to explain why.

2. Learn genre expectations (and that tropes aren’t bad). Genres exist to classify stories into familiar concepts. Sometimes, novice writers try to throw out genre ideas because they’re all “cliche” or they want “something different”, yet they fail to grasp why those patterns exist in the first place. Familiar storytelling concepts (tropes) can be cliches, yes, but more often they fulfill one or more of these requirements:

A way to fast-track info to the reader without having to explain every ounce of meaning (Color-coded symbolism, character archetypes, etc.)

To create a familiar base, allowing for further growth of the concept with less time than it would have taken to set up something new. 

Promises to fulfill a certain type of story (You can’t say you want to write a romance, but with no romance)

Those things only become cliche when executed poorly or if they cause predictability when the story is trying to rely on unpredictability. A story full of tropes is not automatically a bad story. Writing in a way that subverts expectations well requires having a strong understanding of the genre you’re trying to twist. A genre is a promise of a specific type of narrative– you can’t just throw it out the window and expect readers to be satisfied. It’s fine to write cross-genre or mess with tropes, but be wary of it coming from a place of “it’s all the same so I’m going to do it completely different!”.

By learning genre expectations, you can gain that knowledge that lets you subvert better, or the knowledge to play into it better. You can figure out where the true heart of the stories are and why readers care. You can figure out how to write in a genre that works with your personal goals and desires for the story. 

3. Learn best practices for different storytelling mediums. “I saw this awesome scene on TV and I want to write it in my story, so I imagined how it’s going to play out and it’ll be perfect!” No, it won’t, because what works in visual media isn’t the same for books and what works in your head isn’t a clear idea of how it would work on paper. (link embedded)

TV, and other forms of visual media, are presented very differently than the written word. They can rely on music, camera angles, subtle background events– and endless list of things that writing cannot replicate and isn’t made to. Becoming a better storyteller means learning the strengths and weaknesses of different media so you can tailor stories to best fit how they’ll be told. The imagination is similar to visual media, but better and worse. Better, because you can learn over time how to tailor your imagination for the written word. Worse, because it can create unrealistic expectations and is harder to look past.

It’s natural to want to mimic what you see in other forms of storytelling, but one of the most important things a writer can learn is to get over the fact that they can’t translate ideas in every situation. It’s fine to be inspired by other forms of storytelling and what your imagination creates, but don’t become a slave to the unrealistic expectations. Learn to work with the paper, not against it.

4. Stress test plot ideas to catch issues before they become a problem. While this isn’t going to always work and there will still be times that you have to adjust in the middle of things, stress testing your ideas can help teach you where you keep going wrong so you can work on fixing it. There are two main things to keep in mind when doing this:

The plot structure (link embedded): Overarching plot concepts should fit into a specific structure. The structure can have small variations, but there should be an average line of best fit that naturally overlays against the story. The higher your skill, the more you can mess with the lines and have it not blow up in your face.

Plot is essentially cause-and-effect (link embedded): The events of a plot should be a relatively smooth slide from start to finish. Not “smooth” as in “no conflict or tension”, “smooth” as in “logically glides from one point to another”. Make sure you can connect the dots.

If you catch and fix enough of your own mistakes then you can start teaching yourself not to make them. 

5. Critique the storytelling of others. What did you like? What didn’t you like? What choices did the writer make and what were the consequences of those choices? I’m going to repeat that last one again because it’s one of the most important things a writer can learn: Every story is made from a set of choices and those choices have consequences. Not all bad, not all good; it’s a neutral term that just refers to outcomes. One of the biggest separators of storytelling skill is how well a writer can work with the natural consequences of their choices. 

When you critique others, you look at those consequences and weigh them against what you consider to be a “good story”. While a writer can only critique at a close level to their skill, the more they critique, the higher skill climbs, and the better they get. To become a better storyteller, you should get used to tearing other’s, and your own, work apart. It can help to keep a journal or some kind of record of critiques, since writing thoughts down helps bridge the gap between the mind’s assumptions and reality (just like the bridge between an imagined scene and actually writing it down).

6. Brush up on literary concepts. They’re not just for English class! While some are more technical in nature, there are plenty of storytelling-inclined literary techniques that gaining a better understanding of can improve your own work. Also, literary concepts are just tropes that happen to apply to “work of literary merit”. They’re not fancy or pretentious to include– just study and practice them well so they work with your story rather than against it. (Study tropes too!)

All that said, there’s no such thing as a “perfect storyteller”. Brushing up on storytelling skills isn’t about being perfect, it’s about getting better relative to where you were before (and potentially helping close the gap between writing and storytelling skills). 

Keep writing, keep practicing– keep storytelling.

Thinking of asking a question? Please read the Rules and Considerations to make sure I’m the right resource, and check the Tag List to see if your question has already been asked. Also taking donations via Venmo Username: JustAWritingAid

Test

Yep, I see your ask. DOES that mean I PASSED the test? 😂😂

Ask me anytime, I am open to questions.

Round-up: A Lot of CSI-Style Forensics Have Turned Out to be Bogus

Basically a lot of it is pseudoscience that was never rigorously tested in controlled situations to see if it actually worked.

This is because it was not developed by scientists, but by police, and mainly with an interest in putting people in prison rather than uncovering the truth.

At least two dozen people have been falsely convicted due to “Bite Mark Analysis”. 

“Burn pattern analysis” put an innocent man to death in Texas

“Blood Spatter analysis” such as that shown on the TV show Dexter is actually completely unreliable even according to the US Department of Justice

Forensic hair comparison is also widely believed to be junk science and the FBI is currently reviewing convictions based on hair analysis due to the unreliability of their results

Handwriting analysis has an unreasonably high error rate, by some accounts as high as 43%

Lie detector tests, or polygraphs, are notoriously unreliable and based on bad science. Even though everybody knows this, they are still constantly being used in criminal investigations among other places.

Toxicology labs can be poorly supervised and badly run, producing false and even fraudulent results

Due to sloppy procedure at many labs and lack of regulation even DNA testing is often unreliable

Even when correct results are produced, genetic profiles may be less useful than we have been lead to believe

Fingerprinting analysis is not foolproof and actually has not been thoroughly tested, as this Frontline special discusses

Here are a few more articles on how unreliable modern forensics are.

Unfortunately due to TV shows that stress forensic investigation, juries are demanding this kind of evidence at trial, and have little idea of how untested and unreliable it really is.

Lessons to learn from the SLBP Lords:

Nobunaga: Never give up, no matter the odds or what others think, they don't know you.

Mitsuhide: Stop trying to do everything for everyone, worry about yourself and your own needs too, they will understand.

Inuchiyo: Stop blaming and punishing yourself for things you can't change. It wasn't even your fault in the first place.

Hideyoshi: No matter how low you are to the ground, you can always rise to greatness.

Mitsunari: You deserve love, you are more than worthy of being loved.

Ieyasu: Don't be afraid to trust others, not everyone is out to get you.

Kenshin: Don't let the scars of the past stop you from living in the now.

Shingen: Letting someone help take care of you doesn't make you weak.

Yukimura: Life is precious, don't be so willing to sacrifice your own.

Saizo: it's okay to forgive yourself, move on, and find your own happiness.

Masamune: Always try to find it in your heart to forgive those who have hurt you.

Kojuro: Don't focus so much on the future that you can't see what's going on in the now.

Shigezane: Don't feel like you are less than someone else, you are the only person like you that this world will ever have.

My favorite scene. Got me glued till the end.

For just a moment there, I thought maybe.

Reblogging because people think differently here.