Subject: Thanks; though, it's dialogues by different speakers
Author:
Posted on: 2024-12-28 02:23:43 UTC
All plural.
Subject: Thanks; though, it's dialogues by different speakers
Author:
Posted on: 2024-12-28 02:23:43 UTC
All plural.
Now that the yukinbo has learned of all of the four's fears, they have a surprise waiting for them on their five-man mission into the Onmyōji continuum. Warning for disturbing sexual content in-fic, though the mission cuts off before explicit portion.
That opening paragraph is beautiful! You have some wonderful descriptions in this story, including when the canon character and Suvian get trapped in the “snowman suits!”
It’s honestly kind of cool that you gave Arare a full “villain moment” here. I had an inkling, after the last story, that he was going to do something under-handed to the four agents, but I assumed they were going to thwart him in the end. But things went the complete opposite direction! I love how Arare interpreted all their fears and condensed them into a single theme he was able to exploit. And seeing him take on a full human form (that picture is cool, no pun intended!) and proceed to return to HQ with greater power, is a real fun twist! I’m looking forward to seeing what Arare plans in the future.
—doctorlit, readying for a busy morning tomorrow
This is the beginning to a new Arare-centric mini-spin-off, which will only last for 3 entries or so and not contain any missions. This entry contains:
Some worldbuilding attempt (new HQ location)
Inspiration taken from this board RP by Thoth
Two dudebros doing mutual Talk no Jutsu and spouting silly philosophies like in a shōnen fighting manga. In fact, the mini-spin-off is greatly inspired by shōnen fighting manga.
Snow White allusion laid on reaaal thick.
Heh. A Horror Fridge running off of “fridge horror.” That’s cute! It has a similar vibe to the electricity generated by the authors “turning over in their graves.” And I like that you incorporated the golems from the one RP as well, giving it some narrative standing beyond the event itself.
I enjoyed the conversation about beauty as well. I like the conflict between Kaguya’s view of beauty as something to work towards to make the world a more enjoyable place to live in, and Arare’s view that beauty should have a useful benefit over others. It was a nice read, and I’m curious to see what the two remaining parts will be like!
—doctorlit doesn’t place much value on beauty; he just likes getting things done
As in, do your agents tend to prioritize aesthetics or functionality in the things they use, etc.?
Charlie actively does not think, in general, but especially for something like this, so I think they’d end up cake just due to not putting in much effort into aesthetics (usually). I vaguely remember describing even their mandola, possibly the object most important to them, as ‘ratty,’ so there’s definitely a function over form touch to them. That's not to say they won't dress up for performances or big events, though.
Jiwon is an interesting case, since I think he’s a flowers person, but a combination of low budget and irrational anxiety keep him acting upon it often. This doesn’t mean he won’t complain about it inwardly, though. Does meticulously keeping one's fur clean and sleek count as practical or simply aesthetic?
And since I might as well mix things up a bit, here’s two more that aren’t my usual answers:
Ocotillo actively squashes down any desire for aesthetics due to wanting to be a good guard and believing indulgences would get in the way of that. In that sense she’s similar to Jiwon, but unlike him, her wants aren’t so much material as they are things like validation and self-worth. When it comes to actual objects she’s very much practicality-focused.
The Curator hasn’t been expanded on a whole lot yet, but I think everything about her involves aesthetics when she can get away with it. For example, her museum looks not particularly flashy, but that's out of intentional choice rather than because it gets the job done adequately. Even her appearance isn’t very practical, always wearing a heavy white sweater regardless of the weather or temperature. I feel like HQ especially, due to its Generic material makeup in most parts, might just be an unnoticeable room temperature.
Mina likes it when things are pretty. She'll tape stickers onto CADs, and decorate things to fit her own sense of style. Definitely flowers.
--Ls
As most of you probably know from my writings, I have aestheticist leanings, so of course I already have at least one "flowers-type" character in my roster, as seen in that short piece up there. As for the others, Helena is definitely a flowers-type too, largely due to her job. Ones that are definitely on the cakes end of the scale would be Urato and Fáelán. Sheen is neither; he prioritizes following rules so he doesn't get kicked out over personal preferences for either aesthetics or practicality.
Let's see....
Sergio definitely leans towards practicality, as could expected by someone who "always ends up in the worst messes the multiverse has to offer", in his own words. So practical clothing (jackets and pants with multiple pockets being his favourites), without much regards to style. That extends to his belongings as well: despite being a Gary Stu in his early days, his most blatant Suvian artifact, the car he build himself, is... a somewhat boxy sedan. With over 900 hundred horsepower and racing suspensions, so ridicolously (and supernaturally) fast, but ne didn't give much thought to the car's styling. Oh, and it's a sedan and not a sportier coupé because it seats and carries more that way - I even considered having him build it as a estate for that very reason! So, yes, definitely a "cake" kind of person - he's the kind of guy who set up an hammock in his RC because it was quicker to set up than a bed, only switching to proper beds when he got partners.
Nikki is an interesting case. Compared to Sergio, she definitely looks at aestetics more, but only if the situation allows her to. One big example is her choice of clothing: while she was a PPC Agent she wore jeans on the daily, but it is much rarer for her to do so afterwards - between the fact she can summon her Barrier Jacket at moment's notice for dealing with anything that requires more robust clothing, and the fact she's living a more "normal" life she then began to shift more of her attention to her outfits' looks.
They're both fully aware of where they stand: for things like interior decorations Sergio defers to Nikki's choice because he admits that she has better tastes.
Corolla... is an interesting case. If you ask her yourself, she will say "Both!" and that is true - Corolla is a "have her cake and eat it too" kind of person, who wants the best of both worlds. Her abilities as a Unison Device do help, since she can summon any of her possessions from her pocket dimension at moments' notice - she can wear a sewatsuit for working on her contraptions, and then right after summon a nice dress for hanging out with friends. So, of anything she's likely to possess both the practical and the whimsical, and using whatever she feels like at the moment.
Keiko definitely leans more towards her father. While she will enjoy looking at things she considers cute, she's also a tomboy who rarely wears something different from jeans, T-shirts and hoodies - in fact, she hates skirts, for reasons... I have never decided, and to be fair she might be hating them for no reason at all. This does, however, fit with her backstory: Keiko is someone who never settles on anything, and in a way her plain outfits and purely practical choices of belongings are also her giving the bare minimum of thought to choosing.
So my characters also tend to skew that way. ^_^; It might also be a function of the kind of person who would do well as a PPC agent, too; the lifestyle doesn't leave much space for non-essentials like what kind of bed you collapse into between BEEPs, or what scent of shampoo you use to sluice the Sue-blood out of your hair.
Not that my characters don't have their own personal styles and preferences, but my sense is that most agents would mercilessly mock anyone who whined much about not getting exactly what they want.
Nume might be the most "flowers" of my agents. He's definitely sensitive to affronts to his aesthetics and sense of propriety, but he's also the guy who made bitching and moaning into his entire personality, so it's hard to tell his real feelings. This is a feature, not a bug. He does get mocked, but he returns it in spades and keeps on doing his thing.
I think the others have an aesthetic that more or less follows from what they spend their time doing. Jenni, as a Nurse, has a bit more time and energy to cultivate a well-ordered and nurturing presentation according to her taste for the natural and organic. It's mostly intended for the benefit of others, though.
Derik and Gall are Action agents who value durability and have learned to like blue denim. Derik collects musical instruments rescued from fics. Gall is something of an entrepreneur who will acquire anything she thinks she can trade to other agents. They also have a small child and a miniaturized dragon, though, so anything too dangerous or fragile is stuffed into storage. Derik might like better-appointed housing, but he doesn't have time for that and Gall couldn't be bothered if she did.
If Ilraen had everything his own way, he'd be a minimalist, preferring to make his space seem as big and empty as possible, keeping only what mission gear he needs and a few sentimental items. His species is claustrophobic by nature, and only the fact that he came from badfic and has spent most of his life in HQ keeps that from being a problem. I never thought about this before, but I believe he would hang a plain square of some unobtrusive color on his wall and happily contemplate it for hours, haha. He'll have adopted a tablet or e-reader over a pile of books the first chance he got. Weirdo. {= )
~Neshomeh would like a personal aesthetic, but only if it's functional and affordable.
Nice mission. That fic was painful to read, and Kaguya, Urato and Momya were a pleasure to read about as always. Interesting development in Arare's case, though.
One typo:
"I don't know this canon, but this fic's use of language is painful. Has this fic ever heard of paragraphs? Dialogues by different speakers need to be on different paragraphs!"
Should be "dialogue".
--Ls
All plural.
The edit could be, "Lines of Ddialogue by different speakers need to be on in different paragraphs!"
(Note also the change to the preposition; this is more usual.)
If you do change it to "Dialogue," be sure to also change the corresponding verb, need --> needs.
~Neshomeh
"Dialogue" is uncountable when referring to a conversation in fiction. It's the same thing as "rock" being both a pluralizable count noun and an uncountable substance.
--Ls