3 May 2023 Notes

POINT stands for Pluses, Opportunities, Issues, and New Thinking. Came from a Great Courses I got on creative thinking.

Some notes, real quick. 

Next Hanako scene is the ruin of Tsurui and the jorogumo encounter. Does NOT end in violence; jorogumo will either be a recurring villain or a token-evil teammate. Or both. Not sure yet.

Other story idea–Someone from our world winds up in a fantasy one somehow, and because our world has no magic, he/she is impervious to it. Probably been done to death, but I had fun imagining a handful of scenes and figuring out how to make it work. Don’t know that I’ll do anything with it, though.

Also–Theoptosi–Greek style Ragnarok? Or just throwing Zeus out of power? Somewhere in between? Do I start it before 2020 and have Covid be a part of it? …Seems a bit much. I know MC doesn’t want to replace Zeus… What forces him into action?

For Majesty:

What is Roland doing out of fear? Ideas I had yesterday:

A wall that collapses?

A death-machine that goes out of control?

Rather than denying getting a king, what if he brings one in? Shifts main antagonist for the book to that king, instead of him, but still…

Why would Moira oppose this? Is it the idea, or just Roland’s specific choice of king/queen? Is it the current ruler of Moira’s homeland?

P–Tie-in to existing characters; more backstory.

O–Backstory; deep trauma between Moira and current queen; multiple possible resolutions.

I–Not tied to Charles (minor); Why would we need Ferghus?; What kind of threat does our “Cleopatra” pose? How do fear and courage tie into this?

NT–Does the “allied” country actively attack/invade? What if Roland became a turncoat out of fear–either of Cleopatra and/or Dark Conqueror–doesn’t just have to be DC.

I–How effective is Ferghus at truly eliminating the threat if he dies right after? WOuldn’t that just invite them to come back?

What if Roland, trying to make his machine/prepare his defenses, set off a volcano?

P: Closer to original idea; easy, big thing for Ferghus to stop by sacrificing himself.

O: Delve into options for magic or tech; easier than Cleopatra route to give Roland a redemption arc.

I: HOW!? What would they be doing that could set it off?

NT: Mining (Balrog-style); something that shakes the earth for miles… Like what? Testing explosives? Wrong feel to it…

29 April 2023 Notes

No main story for this date; I only brainstormed.

I am wiped. I did get the major assignment for my marketing class finished, though.

So where do I go today, then? It’s late and I want to keep this short… What else do I know or can I see about the Goddess of Battle story?

As I thought about it more, the idea of a modern fantasy take on the world when Kyra wakes up might not be so bad. Fit the aesthetic I first pictured her as… but I’m not sure.

jDon’t really have time to consider how the world evolved during her timeskip, though. Do I want to write about beating the demon lord in the first place? What did happen? Did they manage to knock him unconscious? Did they kill him, but his death wasn’t supposed to be permanent for some reason? …I like that. Did Kyra steal that ability from him somehow?

Who else was in the party? Kyra was a fighter/melee type; Fera was the cleric/healer priestess type; was there a prince? …Not likely. Probably a rogue–might even be Fera’s love interest–and a tank. Big knight/paladin type…

Decided I’m going to count my brainstorming today as my writing. So I’ll keep at it a little bit longer. Kyra was definitely not the leader; that was probably Fera, or maybe her and the paladin both. I’m thinking the paladin is surprisingly easy going, and soft-spoken. The sturdy, supportive type.

The rogue, though… What kind of rogue is he? Explicitly Robin Hood-y, or does he (try to) play everything off as for his own benefit? Considering the risks involved with facing this demon king, if he were truly selfish I don’t think he’d be there, but I don’t want him to just be a standard rogue, either. Hmm… Is he actually a cop with a roguish skill set? I’ll have to ponder that idea more…

What bits about the past, of Kyra’s mortal life pre-sealing, are actually relevant to the story? Defeating the demon king, of course, and losing her family. Does her dynamic with the other party members affect the present timeline at all? Or Kyra’s choices here? I’ll have to think on that…

28 April 2023 Notes

Been a rough week; I may split up notes and main entries into two separate days for a while. Also, it’s interesting how much has already shifted from the thoughts I present here below. A lot can happen in a week, I suppose…

I’d like to consolidate things for this story, so I’d like to figure out a beginning. Random thought before I do; could Roland’s foolish action be trying to force Ferghus somehow? Or do something to him? How would that interact with Charles’ goals and accomplishments? More on that later, perhaps….

What I have so far:

Attack on Elliot’s homeland; death of his parents alluded to. Charles’ mother, as a guard, may leave some final words with him, too.

How do they know their parents are dead? I want to make it clear to the readers, at least. And I lack Hoid’s tongue-in-cheek meta mention, like he uses in Tress of the Emerald Sea. Do they hide for a day or two and say their bodies on display on the way out? Kinda dark, especially compared to the rest of Book 1…

Anyway, got on a ship fleeing. Are they disguised as civilians? Journey with 1-2 other ships; cornered by Jasper. Other ship, trying to get away, cripples the ship Elliott and Charles are on; in retaliation, Jasper focuses fire on the, destroys the ship.

What if, instead of moving to Moira’s ship, Jasper gives her the refugee ship? It’d have a bunch of displaced people w/ nowhere to go, and could be the beginnings of a pirate crew. If so, why are they spending so long in Bethany’s homeland? There’s a disconnect, there.

What if Moira came specifically to speak w/ Ferghus, and it’s the bureaucratic red tape–represented by Roland–that gets in the way? There’s a thought. Why, though? And what happens as a result?

Also, what if crew gets mad at the way Moira treats Elliott, and one attacks her, and she reveals herself as a dragon by blocking w/ her wings? Also, what if dragons can’t wear armor for some reason? …No, don’t like that. But items above a certain density might not “morph”... Kinda like Animorphs, once they started being able to morph with clothes.

I’ll want to plan out the intro better, so for now, the naval battle (rough outline) and Jasper handing the ship off to Moira. Or the crew. Or something.

27 April 2023 Notes

Alright, so I was typing in Hanako stuff today. (See here for what I was typing in at the time.) Where do I go from here? What happens to connect the father bit to Chiaki?

Keep the father bit short. (What is his name? This’d be a good place for him to naturally introduce himself…) The point is info on yokai–what would he know?

- -Mostly oni

-2 massive, bestial ushi-oni

I don’t need to showcase everything with this company; it’s a small splinter off the main army, after all. Who’s their commander, though? Would the father know/recognize them? How early into the attack did he and his daughter get out? Probably pretty early, since they made it that far before they got caught.

Are there ranks for oni? They have variance; how does that play into their battle formations? The twin sets fight in pairs; bigger/stronger ones might order whole gangs. They thrive on chaos… Hmm.

Does the father comment on everyone else? ANything I can think of for him to say on the subject sounds forced or unnatural, especially since he’s only just arrived, and they’re giving him a place to live and food to eat. …That’s it! He doesn’t but it does push him to more directly express his gratitude, since that’s all he can do for her.

…Why didn’t she quiz him about the yokai army back in the oni scouts scene? …He was obviously still scared of her then, and if she thought she could find out more clues in the area–or had already agreed to check in with Keiko–that would be enough.

26 April 2023 Notes

It… hasn’t been my best week so far. Still, pushing through!

So I have a couple options. I think I’ll try out my latest story idea first, though; if I have extra time later, I can have another writing session. I hope I do… [Spoiler: I did not.]

The idea is to keep/maintain the seal on the demon king, someone has to go in with him. Instead of the priestess person who stereotypically would, it’s a fighter-type woman. (Or maybe a battle mage? I dunno.) When the seal is undone a century or more later, it isn’t the demon king, but the warrior woman who steps out.

What is she like? What tech do we have to work with? What does she find when she steps out?

In my initial imaginings yesterday, she used guns. Twin pistols, even. Why? Did they lose that tech in the intervening years? I don’t really like that idea.

Is the new world post-apocalyptic? If so, what happened? Since the demon king’s dead and all…

I don’t really want to go from high fantasy/medieval to modern day, either. Hmm…

Let’s have Kyra be a swordswoman/barbarian. Twin blades? Ooh, no, let’s go twin axes, w/ some brawler mixed in. She’s actually the older sister of… No, just good friends with the priestess. She does have personal beef with the demon lord; he killed someone important to her (husband and child, I’m thinking). Don’t know how personal his involvement in their deaths was…

She gets some demon lord powers for spending so long trapped with him.

Connected Entry

21 April 2023 Notes

Had the idea that the yokai army has already destroyed a town between new Chizu and Nanmoku, and that’s where the father-daughter pair comes from. Also, that’s who the oni were chasing, not Chizu.

How does that change things? Makes initial convo w/ Keiko more urgent. K probably asks H to visit Chiaki, rather than it happening on H’s initiative. Is that an issue? …Should be fine.

What might the father say to H?Will he trust her? Do the other people in the area yet?

Daiki and Fumito–What are they like? How would they react to the ruined village? Are there any yokai lingering? Stragglers, or perhaps scavengers unaffiliated w/the army?

Potential yokai around ruined village:

Jorogumo–Could be really fun

Okuri inu–”Sounding off dog”--ferocious. Pounces on and eats those who trip/stumble. Focused on travlers.

Not here, but if disease comes up a Korōri encounter could be interesting.

Tsuchigumo–More spidery, more ambitious [than Jorogumo]. Uses all manner of illusions.

Kotengu–More of a pack/flock yokai

Where are the father and his daughter? Are they in the medical area, getting checked over? They’d be close to Chiaki, if so. Are the by the mess tent? That’d give more opportunities for us to see how the rest of the town reacts to her.

Connected Entry

12 April 2023

I’d just watched Tolkien again, about his life, and it struck me that for as iconic a creature as the balrog was in Lord of the Rings, it never really shows up anywhere else. Probably because it has too much in common with the aesthetic of the traditional demons in Christian lore? regardless of the reason, I kind of wanted to do something with it.

That said, I’m pretty dissatisfied with this attempt. It doesn’t feel true to what they were, and is all sorts of weird. It was worth exploring, but I won’t be doing anything with these ideas directly, at least.

It is said that the first balrog formed the moment man first tamed fire. For before that the flames held no malevolence; they were but a force of nature, destructive as they were. But no, under man’s control, it was only a matter of time before someone used them with ill intent.

In our world, they remained largely unseen, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t there. There beside the first man who committed arson; every “witch” burned at the stake. The many, often literal, flames of war, up to and including the nuclear bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

But here, in the world of [Lordran], they were not content to keep to the shadows, to whisper into the ears of men. No, here, they stalked the realm in physical form., giant horned beings of ash and flame. Few knew they’d ever had a master, and none but them knew if they served another after his death, or if they worked towards their own inscrutable ends.

There was no killing one, either; at least, not permanently. The great heroes had struck even the mightiest of them down at various points throughout history, earning a century or two’s reprieve from the beasts’ tyranny, but they lacked the divine power required to slay them for good.

29 December 2022

I was dead tired, and had no idea what I should write. So I decided to brainstorm, because I wanted a clearer image of who the guy in Elsenaia’s story is. A lot of it was based on me, but not everything, and I want him to be clearly distinct from me. Hence the brainstorming below.

I also decided that along with Majesty, this story will be one of the two I focus on this month, like Hanako and the Orphan of Hamelin last month. We’ll see if this system works or not…

What do I know about the POV character in Elsenaia’s story? (I consider Elsenaia the protagonist, hence the distinction.) Unlike me, he’s outdoorsy, since he was out hiking in the woods with his friends when they ran across the elvish scouting party. He also actually has friends… Who are they? Probably one couple, maybe two, and a few other guys.

We are similar in that both he and I are authors, and for the sake of my own sanity we will even be working on the same stories. Karthos/Death has already shown up… I could have appearances from Maleficent, Hanako, and some of my other recurring characters, as well.

What’s his name, this guy? Kevin? Nick? Nicholas? I’m thinking something that results in “Nick”.

What are his goals? Getting published, sure. Is he already an established author? What would that mean if he was? If he is, what led him out in these woods? Is he looking for specific inspiration? Doing research for a different story he’s working on I don’t have yet, maybe about witches? Just a vacation after a hard-earned success? Both the latter options sound fun. 

I could also have him be with siblings or other family scouting out some backwoodsy area to prepare to build a house. Homesteading, that kind of thing. It does still happen. Maybe Missouri, Arkansas, or Illinois? Does kind of detract from some of my future plans for him and Elsie, though.

21 October 2022

After my short hiatus, where I struggled with motivations, I started trying to plan out my big battles with the shogun’s army for this mini-arc. It occurred to me, though, that their status as “monster hunters” is kind of an informed attribute at this point. They don’t feel like a real threat; Hanako curb-stomps them way too easily. That… is still the case, actually, but I at least wanted to come up with strategies and things the army would use to handle creatures with superhuman abilities so they don’t feel so completely incompetent. And this was my way of doing that.

I’d initially wanted it to be more of a “life in the day of a trainee”, but it turned into more of an info dump. I did learn a lot about different kinds of yokai (youkai?) researching for this, though.

Here I am! A soldier in the shogun’s great army, to protect my family against the terrifying yokai horde!

Okay, so maybe it’s all a bit scary, but I’m proud to be here. Shou has already had to knock me out of my reverie a few times; there are so many amazing officers and heroes here!

Ah, time to pay attention. They’re going to teach us how to fight all the different kinds of yokai.

First up, oni. Apparently they’re not all massive; some can be as short as 1.5 meters tall, though the big ones can get up to 3. They have one or two horns on their forehead, but their most distinctive feature is their supernatural strength. They wield massive iron clubs called kanabo.

Known weaknesses include their love of alcohol, and how quick they are to anger. If you know their are oni in an area, you could poison or drug a barrel or two of wine and march it near them. Soporifics tend to be the most effective, as they are resistant to most lethal poisons.

Their anger makes them easy to manipulate, even if they also get stronger the angrier they are. Particularly dim oni have been known to run all around the battlefield, never landing a strike, simply because the army baited them different directions with their attacks.

Their high defense, though, makes it hard to do meaningful damage even in advantageous circumstances. It’s recommended to use strong piercing weapons, like warpicks, rather than swords. Also, do not try to fight one alone; always take a minimum of two to three to fight an oni. More clever or experienced oni may require twenty to thirty.

Next are the ushi-oni. They have an ox head on what could be a six-legged spider’s body. They are ferocious monsters that spit poison. Not many of them exist in the yokai army, but they are incredibly dangerous; it’s best to attack from range to avoid their poison.

Jorogumo, while not usually part of the yokai army, are still a major threat that need to be eradicated. Normally giant spiders, they can turn into beautiful women to lure in prey. When a jorogumo lair is identified, light the interior on fire and stop or blockade the entrance.

Tengu are often the commanders of the yokai army. They are exceedingly proud. As avians, they often fly above the battlefield; it’s recommended archers focus fire on them first when they fly within range.

26 September 2022

This one is pretty self explanatory; rather that write prose, I took the hour to brainstorm what Elsenaia’s past might have been like. Most of the time I do this sort of thing in the 10-15minute prep time before I write, but this seemed big and complicated enough I went ahead and took the whole block, and used it for my writing for the day.

This is pretty much just backstory ramblings, so quality and coherency may not be super high.

Elsenaia was a lot happier as a child. She and Tairsi were thick as thieves, and Tairsi would drag the princess all over the place for little “adventures”. Nothing too serious; they never left the palace, and they never caused any real trouble. That would be rude to the servants.

However, it was considered unseemly for Elsenaia to express her emotions so strongly, and to be running around like that in general. So they were separated. The king found a prestigious promotion for Tairsi’s parents out near the borders of the kingdom, and it would be years before they saw each other again. By that point, both had changed.

What made it worse was the last day before they parted. Tairsi ad been heavily scolded by her parents, and so when she went to say goodbye, she told Elsenaia, “I guess we can’t be friends anymore.”

“What!? Why?” Little Elsenaia had tears in her eyes.

Tairsi wouldn’t meet her gaze. “Princesses aren’t supposed to have friends.”

For a long time, Elsenaia didn’t move. Then her tears overflowed, and she ran. Even she’s not sure if she’s ever truly smiled after that.

Tairsi, for her part, was literally parroting what her parents told her word for word. By the time she realized how much that must have hurt the princess several years later, it was too late. The damage had been done, and she had no way to apologize.

There is now an awkward dichotomy, where the only thing Tairsi could think of to do was serve Elsenaia whole-heartedly to make up for her mistake. However, on the contrary, every bow, every term of respect, every servile action only drove it home to Elsenaia that Tairsi is not her friend; she is her servant. And Elsenaia felt more and more isolated.

After Tairsi was sent away, Elsenaia was forced to spend all her time studying. The angry guard from before was actually one of her tutors; swordplay, specifically. She didn’t particularly enjoy or pursue it, but she’s passable with a blade, which is more than can be said of me.

Her truest passion was magic. I think it was a form of escapism; leave behind all her duties and responsibilities to focus on breaking the very rules of the universe.

As for as her family, her parents are both alive, and they see each other often enough, but there’s also a certain distance between them as well. Like the king (or whatever his title actually is) must keep that royal persona on at all times, even with family. I suspect her mother just follows along with whatever her husband says; someone with little to no will of their own to exert, even if they wanted to.

As for siblings… Elsenaia is certainly the eldest. She has at least one younger brother, I think? How much of this is patterned after the Schnee family? …Nah. Anyway, the next eldest is a brother, who is jealous of Elsenaia’s status, and the youngest are a pair of twin sisters. I’m still deciding if they’re malicious pranksters or something else at the moment.

Each has a day of the week they are assigned to “listen to the voice of the people”, though each of the twins’ days are cut to noon, and they always have one of their parents around to supervise due to their age. Elsenaia finds it very boring; she is, unfortunately, very good at it, and tends to draw bigger crowds than even the king. No telling how he feels about that; could provide an escape opportunity for Elsenaia if he turns out to be jealous.

Unless… I her brother’s actually older than her, and Elsenaia’s the one that “never measures up” in their parents’ eyes, always choking at the last minute, that could be an interesting dynamic, as well. I’ll have to think about that.

Yeah, I like that image; where she was the baby of the bunch, and the twins would always tease or prank her, perhaps because they were jealous of how happy she was roaming around with Tairsi. Then the incident with Tairsi leaving happened, and Elsenaia became way too serious, and the twins were filled with guilt.

When it comes to stories… The sheer shock she had in the last scene doesn’t make sense, I don’t think. Elves have stories, whether real, fictional, or legendary; it’s just a question of which ones Elsenaia was exposed to. And given the general attitude her parents/father had about Tairsi, I think it’s safe to say that her media intake was heavily censored. If it didn’t teach her something (and that something was both specific and approved by the king), it didn’t get anywhere near her.

Which does leave the question, wouldn’t some of the petitions on her public day be about requests to read or watch some of their artwork?

It also makes me curious what she does, exactly, the other six days of the week. I’m sure she’s kept busy, but doing what? Diplomatic meetings? I’m sure that’s part of it bu certainly not all of it. Flower garden tea parties? I’m sure she hates those. Leah Aragaki from Out of Touch might be decent inspiration for her personality; it would explain why she can’t trust anyone without reading their mind.

Does she paint? That might be the one “personal” thing she’s been allowed. Of course, it would still be heavily regimented; what kind of princess gets paint in her hair, for example? This would change on earth, though.

Yeah, I kinda hate her father the more this goes on. That kind of makes it fun, though. Does Elsie get banished, and that’s what lets her cut loose? Or is he an ever-present threat, always looming in the back of her and the MC’s minds, wondering when the other shoe is going to drop?

How big is her country? Initially I thought it would have to be quite small, but if it takes place on a whole different world, it could be quite the empire. Which would explain all of the diplomatic meetings. What kind of communication technology/magics do they have there? Whatever it is, what I’ve seen makes me think the king would make heavy use of propaganda. 

Ooh, what if his kingdom is small and failing, and that’s given him a chip on his shoulder? All his people know it, but he has that royal pride, and so has refused to let his children see it. The others have likely figured it out to one degree or another, but not Elsenaia. It’s a fun idea, but it doesn’t quite fit.

Also, what sparked their invasion? Did the portal reawaken suddenly, and they sent a party through to head off any potential threat? I like that idea. The question, then, is what is Elsenaia doing on this trip? There are two main possibilities, which are very much NOT mutually exclusive. Either she finagled herself onto the trip so she could actually see the world, or else her older brother arranged it in hopes of eliminating her.

<-Elsenaia First

<-Elsenaia Previous

Elsenaia Next->