Okay, nobody asked for this, but I decided to post it here, anyway.
Here's a little group of links to excerpts for the songs that have been used in the story so far. Each excerpt is just about 1 minute in length, but it should still give you an accurate idea of the feeling of each piece.
Chapter 37 - "Agonies and Thrills" - has Rise singing up to Yousuke and Chie. The song is "Free and Easy" by Hamasaki Ayumi, copyright 2002, and is used here without permission. Listen to the excerpt here! (This particular excerpt is the exact part of the song that is described. I listened and studied this song for hours before I finally got the translation right and was able to create the proper feel for the piece within the story.)
Chapter 42 - "Farewell, My Youth" - has Rise singing a song onstage, while the rest of the team listens around the Tanabata Matsuri festival set-up. The song is "Endless Sorrow" by Hamasaki Ayumi, copyright 2002; it's used here without permission. Listen to the excerpt here!
Chapter 43 - "Dandelion Wishes", which covers the Tanabata festival that was referenced back in Chapter 30, "Star Princess" - actually has a couple of songs:
Rise's song onstage is "Voyage" by Hamasaki Ayumi, copyright 2003; used without permission. Listen to the excerpt here!
Nanako and Kimiyo's song onstage is "Wo Qui Non Coin" by Yoko Kanno, copyright 1999; used without permission. Listen to the excerpt here!
Yousuke's song to Chie is "Tanpopo" by Tsuji Ayano, copyright 2006; used without permission. Listen to the excerpt here! (This particular excerpt is the final chorus, where Yousuke joins Rise in singing.)
* * * * *
Some readers do not like song-fics, or stories that have songs placed into them. I don't often like them, myself, since it can feel like the author is taking a short-cut, and using the song to convey emotion and description that the author should really be doing with their own words (as opposed to someone else's). And, honestly, I dislike it when an author just plops in a huge block of lyric text and doesn't enhance it for the sake of the plot or characterization. I've tried not to do that with this story, but I suppose each reader has to decide for him or herself about that.
12 March 2010
03 March 2010
Getting Back on the Horse
I had a rough time a couple of weeks ago with the writing. Things were just not flowing properly, for some reason. I actually had to scrap one whole chapter (50), and rewrite it again, this time splitting it into 2 separate chapters. I do much prefer the newer chapters as they are, but it definitely took the wind out of my sails, so much that I didn't even update last week at all!
Today sees Chapter 52, "Thrall", posted, one week in advance of the 52-week mark (because my first post on March 11, 2009, was with Chapters 1 and 2, and I updated Chapter 9 before it was due). I think that's still something to be proud of, even if I did miss a week of updating.
I'm hoping that the new chapter will regenerate interest in the story, as I seem to lose readers fairly regularly. I suppose that happens with every story (and mine is a monster in terms of length), but I do often wonder what happened to some of the readers who showed such interest in the early days and then just dropped off the radar. I kind of wish that I could know what made them stop reading/giving feedback...and I kind of don't.
Well, the story's at least in its last arc, with one more fight coming up, and then a whole lot of romance/relationship denouement. (It is a romance/friendship story, after all.) And I've already got a basic outline set up for "Breaking Point," which is the potential sequel story focusing on Yousuke and Kanji, of all people. O.O (It makes sense, trust me.)
I just want to be excited and in love with writing again. I guess that should not depend on things like hit statistics and review numbers, though it certainly helps. I'm getting there, but it's been difficult to pick myself up and dust myself off after the debacle that was Chapter 50.
Ah, well. We live and learn.
Today sees Chapter 52, "Thrall", posted, one week in advance of the 52-week mark (because my first post on March 11, 2009, was with Chapters 1 and 2, and I updated Chapter 9 before it was due). I think that's still something to be proud of, even if I did miss a week of updating.
I'm hoping that the new chapter will regenerate interest in the story, as I seem to lose readers fairly regularly. I suppose that happens with every story (and mine is a monster in terms of length), but I do often wonder what happened to some of the readers who showed such interest in the early days and then just dropped off the radar. I kind of wish that I could know what made them stop reading/giving feedback...and I kind of don't.
Well, the story's at least in its last arc, with one more fight coming up, and then a whole lot of romance/relationship denouement. (It is a romance/friendship story, after all.) And I've already got a basic outline set up for "Breaking Point," which is the potential sequel story focusing on Yousuke and Kanji, of all people. O.O (It makes sense, trust me.)
I just want to be excited and in love with writing again. I guess that should not depend on things like hit statistics and review numbers, though it certainly helps. I'm getting there, but it's been difficult to pick myself up and dust myself off after the debacle that was Chapter 50.
Ah, well. We live and learn.
12 February 2010
POV / Valentine's Day / (not really)
I was going to try and finish "Fireflies and Snow" in time for Valentine's Day (and because the story mostly takes place at that time, in 2012), but it looks like "1 More Chance!" will need the time before the regular Wednesday update (now working on Chapter 51! As Strong Bad would say, "Ah, holy crap!").
I'm starting to think more and more that the sequel to "1 More Chance!" should be told from Yousuke's point of view, since it's been a long time since I've done a male character's perspective. I was also fooling around with an idea that I was calling "1 More Chance! Reprise" that would have been some of the scenes from the main story - and some scenes to which Chie is not privy - told from his point of view...but then I thought that maybe that would just be rehashing old territory. (Some examples: Yukiko's party at the inn; the Wing Chun event; the first kiss; the first sexual overture; the duel acceptance; and so on.) The interesting part of that idea is that the reader would get to see what was going through Yousuke's head during those scenes...but the reader already knows the outcome, so I wonder if it would be nothing more than an exercise for my own ego. The more I consider the issues - and how many scenes I'd want to do - I think I'd much rather move forward with the timeline as originally proposed, after the conclusion of "1 More Chance!"
...And I can't believe that I'm already plotting the sequel to a story that's currently running upwards of 450,000 words...!
I really need to get back to work and just stop thinking about this stuff.
I'm starting to think more and more that the sequel to "1 More Chance!" should be told from Yousuke's point of view, since it's been a long time since I've done a male character's perspective. I was also fooling around with an idea that I was calling "1 More Chance! Reprise" that would have been some of the scenes from the main story - and some scenes to which Chie is not privy - told from his point of view...but then I thought that maybe that would just be rehashing old territory. (Some examples: Yukiko's party at the inn; the Wing Chun event; the first kiss; the first sexual overture; the duel acceptance; and so on.) The interesting part of that idea is that the reader would get to see what was going through Yousuke's head during those scenes...but the reader already knows the outcome, so I wonder if it would be nothing more than an exercise for my own ego. The more I consider the issues - and how many scenes I'd want to do - I think I'd much rather move forward with the timeline as originally proposed, after the conclusion of "1 More Chance!"
...And I can't believe that I'm already plotting the sequel to a story that's currently running upwards of 450,000 words...!
I really need to get back to work and just stop thinking about this stuff.
06 February 2010
The Failure of Chapter 50
I was never pleased with the original Chapter 50 of this story.
I wrote it in something of a rush, over the course of about two days, after being sick and having some deadlines at work. So, I should not have been surprised when I felt that it just wasn't ready. But it got across the points that I "needed" to have made in the story so far. And, after getting a prod about how long the story had left to go and doing some calculations, I was feeling some pressure to get the story completed in an acceptable time frame. (Although, really, what is "acceptable" in fan fiction? These are stories written for ourselves, after all.)
After less than 48 hours, and losing a little bit of sanity over fears about how much the chapter, well, sucked, I decided to take it down. (I had something of the same issue with Chapter 32, "Listening Skills," though I didn't feel bad about that one...just the readers didn't like it.)
This is the first time that I've "missed" a weekly update since I first started posting the story back in March of 2009, and while I feel like I've failed in that part of my mission, I want the story to be able to stand on its own merits. I don't want to have a chapter up that I just plain don't like...and that is causing me problems.
I did want to thank the three folks who bothered to read and review Chapter 50 early, and I let them know the reasons for why I was doing what I did. I also took into account their feedback and a couple of questions that they posed when I started the rewrites (it pays to give thoughtful reviews!).
Hopefully, I'll have Chapter 50 (and maybe even 51) ready to go by this coming Wednesday. Definitely 50, though. The faithful deserve that much.
So, there was a failure this week. But I think there was also something learned. And that's really what this process is about.
I wrote it in something of a rush, over the course of about two days, after being sick and having some deadlines at work. So, I should not have been surprised when I felt that it just wasn't ready. But it got across the points that I "needed" to have made in the story so far. And, after getting a prod about how long the story had left to go and doing some calculations, I was feeling some pressure to get the story completed in an acceptable time frame. (Although, really, what is "acceptable" in fan fiction? These are stories written for ourselves, after all.)
After less than 48 hours, and losing a little bit of sanity over fears about how much the chapter, well, sucked, I decided to take it down. (I had something of the same issue with Chapter 32, "Listening Skills," though I didn't feel bad about that one...just the readers didn't like it.)
This is the first time that I've "missed" a weekly update since I first started posting the story back in March of 2009, and while I feel like I've failed in that part of my mission, I want the story to be able to stand on its own merits. I don't want to have a chapter up that I just plain don't like...and that is causing me problems.
I did want to thank the three folks who bothered to read and review Chapter 50 early, and I let them know the reasons for why I was doing what I did. I also took into account their feedback and a couple of questions that they posed when I started the rewrites (it pays to give thoughtful reviews!).
Hopefully, I'll have Chapter 50 (and maybe even 51) ready to go by this coming Wednesday. Definitely 50, though. The faithful deserve that much.
So, there was a failure this week. But I think there was also something learned. And that's really what this process is about.
23 January 2010
How it all started....
No question again this week, but I thought it might interest readers to know what first prompted me to start plotting this story. So, here's the image and blog post that started this whole story running in my head....
Readers of the story will semi-recognize a variation of this moment from Chapter 6 ("Kung Fu Queen"); it was what originally got me thinking of what a relationship story between Chie and Yousuke might look like. And that surprised and speechless expression on Chie's face - much like the artist's comments - summed up pretty much perfectly the way that I thought (even an older) Chie might react to Yousuke being so compassionate.
Chapter 48 just went up this week, and I'm fixing up Chapter 49 right now, for posting on January 27, 2010. Not many more chapters left, and the characters have come a long way...but this moment still sticks with me as being at the heart of the story.
Readers of the story will semi-recognize a variation of this moment from Chapter 6 ("Kung Fu Queen"); it was what originally got me thinking of what a relationship story between Chie and Yousuke might look like. And that surprised and speechless expression on Chie's face - much like the artist's comments - summed up pretty much perfectly the way that I thought (even an older) Chie might react to Yousuke being so compassionate.
Chapter 48 just went up this week, and I'm fixing up Chapter 49 right now, for posting on January 27, 2010. Not many more chapters left, and the characters have come a long way...but this moment still sticks with me as being at the heart of the story.
08 January 2010
Giving up the fight
Okay, I get it. I'm a wordy writer; that's just my style. Unfortunately, it makes writing battles tedious or, as one kind reviewer put it, "dull."
Chapter 46, "Bushi no Kokoro" (The Warrior's Heart), has a crapload of fights in it. To add to the confusion, Personas are in this fight. Since I wanted to stay close to the essence of gameplay, I kept the whole you-gotta-smash-your-card-and-say-something-witty technique used in the game. I wonder if that's what's so tedious about them....
Anyway, after the initial reviews, I took out some of the brief fight descriptions, and after the latest review I got, I took out a chunk (about 300 words' worth) of one fight scene in particular. Unfortunately, there need to be enough fight scenes for it to be relatively realistic that the team would feel the brunt of having a mediocre healer, and for the healer in question to feel wasted by the time they got to the eighth floor of the dungeon...and all of the fight scenes need to sort of build off of each other. For example, there's a very brief fight where Kanji uses a new trick and once he has an easy win, he's got this over-confident grin on his face...and then he gets ambushed from behind, and suddenly everybody's hurting. It's meant to be dramatic (well, that's what I was going for, anyway), and I couldn't really leave the first little Kanji fight out before having the Killing Hands come in to fuck everybody up in HP and SP.
It's always a little bit disheartening to see portions of the story that I enjoy get clipped out (or saved for another day), when I really enjoyed writing those sequences in the first place. On the other hand, it's also good to take the criticism and try to figure out where the story can work better for people who read it. (I mean, I lose readers like crazy already...I don't want them to drop the entire story because my fight scenes are mediocre.)
I already knew that fight scenes aren't my forte, and I guess this just sort of proves it. :/
On a high note, though, there's only one (big) fight in the coming chapter (47, which should be up next week on January 13,2010), and then I'm back into a whole crapload of dialogue/emoting, which is something that I do think I do well. "Maturity" (as they call it) also comes back into play shortly, which I'll be glad for...it's been a while since my protagonist had a little bit of downtime.
Chapter 46, "Bushi no Kokoro" (The Warrior's Heart), has a crapload of fights in it. To add to the confusion, Personas are in this fight. Since I wanted to stay close to the essence of gameplay, I kept the whole you-gotta-smash-your-card-and-say-something-witty technique used in the game. I wonder if that's what's so tedious about them....
Anyway, after the initial reviews, I took out some of the brief fight descriptions, and after the latest review I got, I took out a chunk (about 300 words' worth) of one fight scene in particular. Unfortunately, there need to be enough fight scenes for it to be relatively realistic that the team would feel the brunt of having a mediocre healer, and for the healer in question to feel wasted by the time they got to the eighth floor of the dungeon...and all of the fight scenes need to sort of build off of each other. For example, there's a very brief fight where Kanji uses a new trick and once he has an easy win, he's got this over-confident grin on his face...and then he gets ambushed from behind, and suddenly everybody's hurting. It's meant to be dramatic (well, that's what I was going for, anyway), and I couldn't really leave the first little Kanji fight out before having the Killing Hands come in to fuck everybody up in HP and SP.
It's always a little bit disheartening to see portions of the story that I enjoy get clipped out (or saved for another day), when I really enjoyed writing those sequences in the first place. On the other hand, it's also good to take the criticism and try to figure out where the story can work better for people who read it. (I mean, I lose readers like crazy already...I don't want them to drop the entire story because my fight scenes are mediocre.)
I already knew that fight scenes aren't my forte, and I guess this just sort of proves it. :/
On a high note, though, there's only one (big) fight in the coming chapter (47, which should be up next week on January 13,2010), and then I'm back into a whole crapload of dialogue/emoting, which is something that I do think I do well. "Maturity" (as they call it) also comes back into play shortly, which I'll be glad for...it's been a while since my protagonist had a little bit of downtime.
03 January 2010
Q: Is Souji a stranger?
Q: Is Souji a stranger?
Reviewer co426e asks: "You seem to write Souji as some kind of stranger to everyone. He seems the most distant and when they contacted Naoto first instead of their old leader, it made me think. Was this on purpose or not?"
A: Yes.
At least, the answer to the question asked is yes - it was on purpose that Souji is written the way that he is, and that the characters make the decisions that they do.
Seta Souji, the last player in the story, has always been something of an enigma to Chie and the others. He's pretty much unreadable, and he's full of so many mysteries - some small, others not - that no one can ever really tell what's going on in his head at any given moment. With the revelations that start to come in Chapter 46, this should become a little more clear to the reader.
Some of the reason why Souji is so enigmatic as both character and leader is that he's a tabula rasa: in the game, the player can make Souji anything s/he wants: sentimental wuss, womanizing bastard, and anything and all in between. But since no one is ever privy to another's true thoughts, no matter how much is said or expressed between them, I chose to make Souji the pinnacle of that kind of person mystery.
There are all kinds of minor and major conflicts going on with Souji. Some of them he's created for himself, and others are placed upon him by others. Some of these signify that the characters have grown beyond depending him, and others signify that there are still hidden jealousies and mistrusts involved. No one is ever one hundred percent good or one hundred percent malicious; even Shadows have echoes of the truth to them.
Readers who have been paying attention know that Chie is not completely convinced by anything Souji does or says, because she's still more concerned with how he relates to Yukiko and Yousuke (and now Kuma) to give her an unadulterated or unbiased view of what he's actually saying and trying to tell them. Even Naoto - who's usually the first to grasp the answers to these kinds of questions - still doesn't have enough information. But take comfort that the writing of Souji and those around him is no accident. He's meant to be portrayed as an outsider. At least for now.
Reviewer co426e asks: "You seem to write Souji as some kind of stranger to everyone. He seems the most distant and when they contacted Naoto first instead of their old leader, it made me think. Was this on purpose or not?"
A: Yes.
At least, the answer to the question asked is yes - it was on purpose that Souji is written the way that he is, and that the characters make the decisions that they do.
Seta Souji, the last player in the story, has always been something of an enigma to Chie and the others. He's pretty much unreadable, and he's full of so many mysteries - some small, others not - that no one can ever really tell what's going on in his head at any given moment. With the revelations that start to come in Chapter 46, this should become a little more clear to the reader.
Some of the reason why Souji is so enigmatic as both character and leader is that he's a tabula rasa: in the game, the player can make Souji anything s/he wants: sentimental wuss, womanizing bastard, and anything and all in between. But since no one is ever privy to another's true thoughts, no matter how much is said or expressed between them, I chose to make Souji the pinnacle of that kind of person mystery.
There are all kinds of minor and major conflicts going on with Souji. Some of them he's created for himself, and others are placed upon him by others. Some of these signify that the characters have grown beyond depending him, and others signify that there are still hidden jealousies and mistrusts involved. No one is ever one hundred percent good or one hundred percent malicious; even Shadows have echoes of the truth to them.
Readers who have been paying attention know that Chie is not completely convinced by anything Souji does or says, because she's still more concerned with how he relates to Yukiko and Yousuke (and now Kuma) to give her an unadulterated or unbiased view of what he's actually saying and trying to tell them. Even Naoto - who's usually the first to grasp the answers to these kinds of questions - still doesn't have enough information. But take comfort that the writing of Souji and those around him is no accident. He's meant to be portrayed as an outsider. At least for now.
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