I Feel Called Out 😂😭

Mitsunari and Ieyasu 😍😍

Morita Masakazu is Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach

Kaji Yuki is (of course 😁) Eren Jaeger in AoT.

Are you ready to find out what lords’ bathtime movies are coming next?

Hint: One voice actor has played a character named after a certain fruit. The other has voiced a character that battles giant humanoids.

Any ideas what samurai are coming, and who voiced them?

Sometimes progressing through your writing journey means learning to write one way very, very well so you can never write that way ever again.

Sometimes it means cutting out every adjective and extra clause and passive sentence until your prose is so active it’s lost all voice, so that when you add the voice back in your new prose is both poetic and clean.

Sometimes it means cutting down your first two stories to the bare bones of its plot so that the inconsequential and slower scenes you decide to include in your third book have the vibrancy and life you learned while creating those faster paced stories.

Sometimes it also means you do work that feels like it went nowhere. But that’s never true. However your writing journey progresses is still progress.

Take heart in the skills that you’ve built, and keep writing <3

After the honors are given to blushing lords, MC and the player whispered amongst each other...

MC: I do not mind if my Lord blush or not, what is important he knows just how much I love him and he, too, values me also?

Player: *looks at MC* But what if he lies and is only using you? What if he speaks trash and insults you? What if he gets bored, get drunk and sleeps with other women? What if he got god complex and sees women as mere decoration and forces himself on you? In the end...most of them are BOORS!

MC: *silenct pause and smiled suggestively* I see...you only said that because you like me, don't you?

Player: I care about yo--- (*sees MC blushing in their direction*) wait! No! Its not what you think!

MC: Oh..*gives player a sultry smile* but you are blushing, now.

Player: THAT IS NOT TRUE! (oh no!) I am only concerned that my handsome hubbies might hurt you!

MC: *eyes wide and shocked face* ...

Player: (My God what did I just say??) Well...sh*t!

Hahaha somehow this thought bugged my mind and can't help sharing this...

Who blushes the most in SLBP?

The latest Lord of the Draw brings up an interesting question: which lords (and ninjas) are most prone to blushing in SLBP, and which the least? It’s definitely a matter worthy of analysis!

1. Yukimura Does anyone in SLBP blush more than Yukimura? Fandom’s sweetheart is unused to the ways of love and women and his face (and Saizo’s running commentary) makes sure everyone knows it.

2. Inuchiyo A close contender, Inuchiyo blushes every time he has a dirty thought about MC, acts on a dirty thought about MC, or feels guilty for acting on a dirty thought about MC. So, you know, constantly.

3. Mitsunari The first of the tsunderes! Mitsunari is usually quite matter of fact, but when love is involved his face lights up like a tomato (…if tomatoes lit up).

4. Masamune Our shy boy doesn’t blush so much at romantic love as the thought of anyone loving him at all. Compliments are the quickest way to an embarrassed but pleased red face.

5. Kyoichiro He wouldn’t be blushing at all if you hadn’t gone and done something so stupid, baka!

6. Ieyasu I’m sure Ieyasu would be outraged to be so high on this list, but otome tsunderes need some way to convey their true feelings. If he’s gonna lie with that mouth his cheeks will have to do the truth-telling for him.

7. Hotaru Like Yukimura, Hotaru has very little experience with love or women, but unlike Yukimura, Hotaru doesn’t know enough about societal norms to be embarrassed (most of the time). Most of his blushes are guilt-induced rather than MC-induced.

8. Sakuya Sakuya’s a reasonably good actor and can keep his face impressively stony under most circumstances, but just let MC bare a little bit of flesh when he’s not expecting it and there he goes.

9. Genya He’s an easy-going guy with a lot of life experience. He’s not gonna blush at the little things (though he’ll tease you for doing so), but he’s just as susceptible as his twin to MC’s charms and not nearly as dedicated to hiding it.

10. Shigezane All of Omori loves his smile, but his blushing face is quite nice too. Like Genya, he’s both experienced with the world and open with his emotions.

11. Kojuro He strives to always look neutral, but he’s still a red-blooded man and just can’t help it sometimes.

12. Mitsuhide Ditto. Out of bias I have concluded he’d be ever so slightly better at hiding his blushes than Kojuro, plus he’s got that reputation as a “perfect” samurai to uphold.

13. Saizo Wishes he was lower on the list, but can’t help it when MC wears that ribbon dress.

14. Sasuke It takes a lot to make Sasuke blush after everything he’s done in life (and the bedroom).

15. Nobunaga What do you have to blush about when you’re the best in the world, the grand unifier, and deserving of everything?

16. Hideyoshi He’s had a thousand lovers and is amazing on the battlefield. What’s to blush about?

17. Shingen See: Hideyoshi (but older).

18. Kenshin Completely lacking in shame. Probably the only person who can make Shingen blush.

19. Hanzo If he blushes, I assume it’s through careful ninja makeup trickery and is somehow part of a plot of tease either Ieyasu or MC.

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

(spoilers!) On Kojuro Act 2

I know a lot of friends don’t like Kojuro Act 2 for several reasons such as Koju leaving MC and Hide being evil…and I do not contest that, but personally, I LOVE IT….EVEN THOUGH Kojuro isn’t my main bias.

Yes, it has a lot of downer scenes that somehow make you like him less, and there are scenes where all you want is to pound your phone with something hard because…uggh!! (Trust me, I almost did.)

But the real strength of the MS is not on the fluffy romance we expect from an otome game…but on Kojuro’s inner conflict and how his subsequent choices affect MC and Date Clan.

Yes…Kojuro Act 2 is more about DRAMA than ROMANCE.

There will be SPOILERS (but not that detailed) here, but think of the Trolley Problem. In essence, Kojuro has to make a choice, both aren’t easy. Sacrifice one he loves to save the clan or stay with his beloved and watch his enemy destroy those he swore to protect. No matter what he does, he has to pay a very huge price. And this is clearly seen on the MS, the agony he felt as he weighed his options, and its serious consequences. Yet he has to make a choice. You can guess what he did, brace yourself and watch your temper, guys. You HAVE to.

Yonezawa retainers wanted blood, and they wanted MC to “pay the price” since Kojuro “become rogue”. I really should give praise to Date Boys. Masamune and Shigezane were really supportive of MC, despite the odds stacked against them. Masa could have rebellion in his hands in the light of Kojuro’s absence but he stick to his own beliefs. It was epic, I tell you. Shigezane even helped MC convince Masa to let her leave and look for Kojuro so that Kojuro can go home, because despite Kojuro’s actions, Shigezane trusted him still.

MC also faces a similar choice: to be with Kojuro and lose her place in Date clan, or stay in Yonezawa without knowing what happens to Kojuro. To leave means to be branded as a traitor and will be killed on sight…and she isn’t even sure if she will have a home or a place to stay where Kojuro is held.

Yet she braved all odds and faced the risks. I applaud this MC. And even though Kojuro brushed her away when they met (he did it to protect her from Hide), she still cling to him even though it hurts. At this point Kojuro is really a piece of—. But we soon see that everytime Kojuro shoved MC away, it was killing him inside because all he want is to see MC safe, yet in the moment of desperation, he failed to see how his actions hurt MC. And because of that, he broke his walls to embrace her once again. Because in the end, he still chose his own heart.

Meanwhile, just as Kojuro faced a difficult obstacle, we see Hideyoshi in a rather different light: the ANTAGONIST. Perhaps one of the reasons why some players liked this MS was that people get to see a new side of him. Yet, I know others HATED Hide in this, and understandibly so…he is no longer the cheeky flirty monkey we once knew and though he smiles…it is void of joy. He is scary, because he is trully a schemer and a master manipulator in this MS, and not even Kojuro saw him coming.

I will not expound here what Hide did to make Kojuro’s life miserable, but anyway, as the chapter progresses, MC began to see that Hide, too, was also suffering from his own hard choices and how he quietly laments that his methods is slowly killing him inside, just like Kojuro. Hideyoshi sacrificed his everything to achieve Divine Rule, even though he loses his own heart. Kojuro sacrificed his own heart to save Date clan, even though he will be seen as a traitor.

For whom does these people fight for? Love or Duty? And what will be the consequence? And what will they give for the sake of their goal?

And these are the questions Kojuro Act 2 is all about. And this is why I love it. And I hope for those who plan to read Koju Act 2…will be able to find the beauty of it as I do.

I am starting to dislike this MC...

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About Animorphs

War and Aftermath of War

So I found the letter that the Animorphs author and trans ally K. A. Applegate wrote after the series ended and I’m FLOORED

I mean

Me and my other sideblogs (and secret blog).

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! :)