You missed a word between 'the' and 'seems', so I'm not quite sure what you're talking about. The sword? The amusement park?
Sorry I took a while to respond to this
You missed a word between 'the' and 'seems', so I'm not quite sure what you're talking about. The sword? The amusement park?
Sorry I took a while to respond to this
I meant to say 'but the story feels full of fanfic potential'
My writing process is a bit like a shotgun. I've published two Omakes for this story and have two Omakes I've abandoned due to me being incompetent.
Me being able to think of four Fanfic ideas and being able to make plans for fifth makes this story an outlier given it's relative short lenght.
And I'm really scratching my ears as to why I can do it for fic and not for even a similar fics like Little Vice or 'More annoying job than purgatory.'
While I've been taking a break before Arc 8, in the meantime I have good news. I commissioned art of Koyomi from my sister, and it's finally ready. What do you think?
It is... younger, and less exaggeratedly bedraggled and witchlike than I had envisioned her being, but on further thought it does feel much more fitting and appropriate. I will adjust my mental image accordingly.
I've never been able to tell the ages of anime characters, it's like they come in four flavors, seven year old, twenty seven year old, forty seven year old, and the seventh wizened sage.
It is... younger, and less exaggeratedly witchlike than I had envisioned her being, but on further thought it does feel much more fitting and appropriate. I will adjust my mental image accordingly.
I admit it wasn't 100% in line with my own mental vision either (I picture her coat greener and hair browner), but as fanart I'd say the artist's own interpretation is what matters here, and I don't just say that cause we're family
I've never been able to tell the ages of anime characters, it's like they come in four flavors, seven year old, twenty seven year old, forty seven year old, and the seventh wizened sage.
That does seem to be the case, doesn't it? Perhaps five if you include teenagers.
Though my previous mental image of Koyomi was closer to your third or last category than her stated age would ever imply, as silly as that feels in hindsight.
I admit it wasn't 100% in line with my own mental vision either (I picture her coat greener and hair browner), but as fanart I'd say the artist's own interpretation is what matters here, and I don't just say that cause we're family
Koyomi having purple eyes, which I'm not sure if I specified anywhere in this Quest (think I only mention eye colour if something supernatural's going on), was my suggestion though. The artist thought the auburn hair-purple eye contrast would work really well.
About @SpoopyGhost picturing Koyomi as older, me being a big Discworld reader back when means that Granny Weatherwax could've likely been a subconscious inspiration on her character. Granted, Granny would be having way less trouble with Blue Lotus than Koyomi is
About @SpoopyGhost picturing Koyomi as older, me being a big Discworld reader back when means that Granny Weatherwax could've likely been a subconscious inspiration on her character. Granted, Granny would be having way less trouble with Blue Lotus than Koyomi is
I'd say that the bigger reason is just that she's very explicitly "tool old for this shit," "too tired for this shit," trying to dismiss nearly every plot-relevant event in her life as something that happened "a long time ago," and so on.
She's a character who is very clearly aging, and that's actually fairly rare in anime and anime-derived fictions where there's a tendency to take any character that is an adult and treat them like they're twenty-seven. It is, I gather, something of a convention to just not talk about the fact that, oh hey, they're forty and starting to slow down a bit.
Koyomi is different. She's carrying that world-weariness so very, very conspicuously, and that comes through in the reader's expectations.
EDIT:
Oh, and you might want to spoiler the image possibly if there's more than one, and there may be a problem with it/them, too... They're not loading for me. I just see an enormously tall single post with nothing in it.
Oh, and you might want to spoiler the image possibly if there's more than one, and there may be a problem with it/them, too... They're not loading for me. I just see an enormously tall single post with nothing in it.
Oh, and you might want to spoiler the image possibly if there's more than one, and there may be a problem with it/them, too... They're not loading for me. I just see an enormously tall single post with nothing in it.
There's only a single image. As for why it shows up for some but not for others, I can't say for sure, but it might be because it's a HEIC file instead of your usual JPG or PNG.
Reminds me to make an Imgur account sometime, even if I'm not sure that'll solve the HEIC problem, if it is a problem ofc
Okay, I'm now using an Imgur embed instead. You might have to refresh the page for it to load properly, or use the link below it. Hopefully this works, please let me know!
For more art, I did my own sketch of (left to right) Miyako and Koyomi. I didn't have access to any references when I drew it in a cafe, so I wouldn't say this quite matches my mental image of both of them. Still, what do you think?
Yep. I also thought to draw it as Miyako interrupting Koyomi at her writing desk, like back in Arc 3, so that it'd be an actual scene and not too static
For more art, I did my own sketch of (left to right) Miyako and Koyomi. I didn't have access to any references when I drew it in a cafe, so I wouldn't say this quite matches my mental image of both of them. Still, what do you think?
Another sketch from me. This is of the scene at the end of Arc 2, where Koyomi first transforms in decades atop the cliff, about to confront the Heart Leech:
They're a bit hard to make out, but I added some wrinkles and crow's feet to emphasise her age
[X] Emotional Intelligence - 250 XP
[X] Mind - 200 XP
[X] Technique - 50 XP
+ Heart - 100 Omake XP
[Miyako's Emotional Intelligence has reached the Rank of Baroness]
It was one of her first mornings as a forty-year-old, and Koyomi was already off to a slow start. Her eyes strained to get themselves fully open, her vision further blurred by the stinging morning sun blaring its way in. Morning sun? Wait, my bedroom curtains are far too thick to let that in, she tensed.
Her widening eyes then spied a sleek white wall on the other side of this room, which would never be permitted in her timber cottage. Her breathed grew as slow and heavy as if she'd had a ball and chain forced on her, and in a way it turned out she did. "Morning, dearie. I trust you slept well," an all too familiar voice purred in her ear.
Now wide awake, Koyomi bolted upright to see Yumemi in bed right beside her. "You! What the hell do you think you're pulling?!" Koyomi snapped. Her face remained beet red as she only now noticed, covers flung and warmth of the bed off her, that she along with Yumemi had no clothes on. "Why you… you piece of… you kidnapped me, didn't you?! So, you bastards at RUNE finally had enough of me?" she said, teeth clenched tight, both her hands covering every inch of her vagina.
Much as Koyomi was fuming, Yumemi simply sighed back. "Come now Koyomi, you're not still mad about having to sleep on the wet patch, are you?" she asked. Then she giggled with her slim hand on her mouth, "I am amused by your kidnapping idea though, a bit of roleplay might seriously spice things up." While Koyomi grew paler by the second, Yumemi suddenly stopped to think and said, "RUNE, where have I heard that name before, and not just from our trip to Scandinavia? Oh, that's right, it's the name of a faction from your manga, isn't it?"
"Don't try to play me, you're their Brigadier! And what do you mean 'manga'? You know the last time I thought to make one was all the way back in high school," Koyomi said. A crooked smile then grew across her face, "Oh, now I get it. You've trapped me in a dream with your Hanazakari powers, aren't you?"
The smirk on Yumemi's face started to drop. "A housewife like me, Brigadier? And on top of that, you suddenly claim not to be a mangaka yet accuse me of wielding powers lifted straight from your story-world," she said, then pointed to a bedside drawer. "Your own script's right in there, and didn't that Daimon woman email you last week with her art?" Her tone and gaze then softened with, "Oh Koyomi, I understand. You must still be recovering from one awful nightmare. Well, that or your smoking habit is somehow making you hallucinate," she went back to grumbling.
Hearing all that, Koyomi had gone from feeling exposed to utterly confused, though was still as deeply humiliated. More so by the bedside drawer being stuck shut, with Yumemi tossing her the key after she'd just realised it needed one.
Article:
Sure enough, there was an extensive bound manuscript already in there, several issues in, titled:
Flipping through, Koyomi's eyes felt like they could fall out of their sockets at what she read. It had everything she remembered about the Frost Fair invasion, about life as a Hanazakari, all described like it was pure fiction.
"Easily your magnum opus," Yumemi smiled at her, "and much needed course correction after that Ladder to Heaven idea of yours. Good thing I convinced you to drop that dreadful dirge, I can't see it having reached anywhere near as wide an audience. /Shame you won't allow an anime adaptation. I know, you've made your thoughts on studio working conditions quite clear, but that Daimon could sure use the royalties," she muttered, voice lowering, "Not to mention you and I, this Minato apartment won't pay its own rent."
As if Koyomi's mind hadn't melted enough, the slightest mention of a Tokyo district made her rush to the window, since it didn't sound like Yumemi was talking about any old harbour. Being greeted with the sight of Tokyo Tower just a few blocks away, it took all her strength to not lose consciousness right there. Well, that and the reminder to close the curtains, as all these revelations had made her forget to get dressed yet.
"…I need a shower," she groaned, rubbing her temples. That alone wouldn't likely mend her mind after it had been smashed to smithereens, but it'd be a start. And before Yumemi got any ideas, she told her, "Alone. If you don't mind."
Well, not that part of Koyomi wasn't tempted to have Yumemi join her though, as she couldn't help noticing that Yumemi's skin had stayed silky smooth with age, while hers sagged in several places. When was the last time I even saw Yumemi like this? Would've been decades ago…
But alone she went, into a cramped little bathroom that was just as white and featureless as the apartment overall. She couldn't tell whether that was due to the landlord being a jerk or Yumemi's own spartan preferences, or both.
It took some time to get the shower to a reasonable temperature. But once she was in, she started to think, Okay, I can rule out asking Yumemi what the hell's happening. If she's behind this, no way will she tell me any truth that isn't infested with omissions. In the rare case she's innocent, then I doubt she'd know any more than I do anyway.
Can't be Blue Lotus or Kamizono behind this either, at least not directly. Nothing like… whatever the hell's going on is in their powersets. True, both certainly have their contacts, but I can't see either having the humility to arrange a world where the Frost Fair and Hanazakari don't exist.
Also, Yumemi calling herself a housewife has to be a joke, her ambition would never allow that, Koyomi also thought, but then considered, though she has a real authoritarian streak, and their kind balks at the very notion of women being anywhere but the home.
Skipping the shampoo, it and her hair had never gotten along, Koyomi got to drying herself when, in the thankful privacy of the bathroom, she figured she could test something. Well, if Yumemi didn't have a secret peephole or hearing funnel around.
"Henshin," Koyomi said, adding "Blossom, Black Rose," for good measure. As always, a swarm of spirit vines from within her heart spread out and surrounded her, her standing once again in a regal flowing cloak pinned by a rose the shade of midnight. Alright, at least something's the same. Though how can I still even transform if, apparently, I just made the Hanazakari up? Even if it gave her a set of clothes free, she transformed back anyway, not trusting Yumemi or at least this version of her with the Hanazakari bombshell. She then found a cupboard to get dressed the normal way, but had to stop and ask, "Yumemi, where's my old coat?"
"What, that thing?" Yumemi said back, arms folded. "I threw it out, like I'd told you to do for ages. I picked out a more modern wardrobe for you, now aren't you lucky to have me to steer you clear of any fashion blunders?" she had to smile saying that.
Scowling at that, Koyomi deliberately chose the most mismatched outfit from what was available. The best she come up with though was a checkered scarf over a bluish-grey coat with beige trousers, a bucket hat and thick gloves to top it off. Oh, and socks with sandals, that'd get her. Only now though was she reminded that she hadn't even checked what today's forecast was, but like she'd ever cared much for heat or cold.
Also only then did Koyomi notice a little vase atop a steel-rimmed table, holding a dark rose and… white egret. "Beautiful, aren't they? Your research on the language of flowers for your manga inspired me," Yumemi said. "The black rose, or the closest thing there is to one, has a multitude of meanings, but the white egret orchid is much more to the point. 'I'll follow you into your dreams', a beautiful sentiment is it not?"
Not when you're on the receiving end of said following, Koyomi thought. Wait, Yumemi picking our chosen flowers can't be a coincidence, so she must be at least subconsciously aware. Though if I'm to find out what madness this is, I'm gonna need a bigger sample size than her.
Article:
She'd prioritise tracking down:
[ ] Emi Daimon, who she was apparently still in contact with. She'd be free of that Cultivar, but not the manga industry.
[ ] Hibiki Izumi. Was there a chance she was alive and not utterly scarred from Shin Sekigahara in this world?
[ ] Mariya Kamizono. The lack of Hanazakari was highly unlikely to mean no more cults, but no need for a Resurrection should mean no need for the Earthly Purified.
[ ] Maimi Tobi. Let's see fate stick in her swan form in this reality.
[ ] Hirasaka Namie. Would… would she be alive?
[ ] Asahi Higashi. A world without Hanazakari, without her being overshadowed and needing rescue. She'd be the living the dream.
[ ] The Kai family. No Frost fair would mean Kazuya's, and in turn Ryoichi's, lives would've turned out completely differently.
[ ] Miyako Nozawa. She couldn't imagine any non-Hanazakari's life being more changed by the lack of them than hers.
[ ] Nobody in particular, she'd just go about her day and figure things out as they came.
[X] A library. How detailed is this imaginary world? Does its fabricated history hint at the possible motives - or even personality - of whoever created it? (GardenerBriareus write-in)
[ ] Write-in
