![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
*mopes* *flops* *sulks*
AAAAAAAAAAHHHH WRITER'S BLOCK WHY.
Crossed Wires bunnies are hibernating again and I've got all those shiny prompts to try out and nothing works. Fuck.
Naruto's Inuzuka Adventures are stalled. Curse you, Kiba's Mom. And I still don't know if I should write the Suna thing ot just jump straight for Teamwork 3. Or write the Suna thng as part of teamwork 3. Or what. Argh.
Tifa POV is bloody HARD. (anyone got some good, IC Tifa-centric fic? Preferably not concentrating on her twu wuv with Cloud... Something that gives a good feel for her personality?) At least I figured out more of the plot, but now I have too much plot and not enough get-togetherness. I'm forgetting how to write romance, it's horrible. XD;
The only thing I wrote all week was a friggin SUMMARY AND PAIRING INFO for my ff7 fic. Yay. So proud. I amused myself for two minutes. That's just great. WHERE IS THE REST OF THE FIC. -__-;;;
I managed to feel productive by tweaking-rewriting the first two chapter of Teamwork 1 -- yay. Amazing, I changed six sentences in the whole chapter! Nrgh. Some of it I just couldn't think of a way to fix, and now I feel even worse about leaving it there. Stupid suddenly-sensitive!Sasuke. (at least I kinda made the whole Anko thing better -- they still don't know WTF she was thinking, but Sasuke remarked that it was kinda strange of her. And I lessened some of the helpless!nonentity!Sakura, though by far not enough -- the plot wouldn't have worked otherwise, or needed massive rewrite I just don't feel up to. Still, where the hell is Naruto wondering if Sakura luvvles him at least a bit and perving over her? he pervs over Sasuke, for god's sake. Bad yaoi fan, very bad. ~_~ Will go back again and fix that, I haven't posted the edited chapter 3 yet anyway.)
And NaNo is coming. What do I do? T_T I luvvles my mermaid and my biologist and my space pirate, but I still can't find the energy to flesh out the world. It's just... Some of it is shiny, but. It's not grabbing me anymore.
Maybe I need to add supernatural stuff to it. I mean ... Okay a mermaid's already pretty weird. But in the series, she's "just" coming from genetic engineering. No fantasy anywhere in the fic. Apart from that, everyone is a mundane. Maybe I need to add telepathy (and/or telekinesis and stuff, but not for a main character) in the 'verse ...
At first I was thinking "not for Liadan", because she's the mermaid, she's already special enough, but one of the boys, maybe -- space pirate more probably. And it wouldn't be that much of an advantage, because he'd be used to kinda hearing/being aware of other minds and people who don't have the gift are blank to him and that's DISTURBING, like they're not fully real since they don't appear to one of his senses.
... but it would make more sense for the merpeople to develop it/ for the mermaids' ancestors to have spliced it in, because underwater = needs other means of communication. And if I make her a telepath, then I'd probably make space pirate!Blue some kind of telekinetic, and then Arun, who is the normal guy, would be at even more of a disadvantage and I don't like him to be that outclassed. But I don't want to have both Blue and Liadan be telepaths, because then they'd feel more comfortable with each other and Arun would be cast out. Precognition is kinda godmoddy, unless I make Blue just have "hunches" -- but even then it's iffy because nothing bad could truly surprise Blue... Ideas for psy gifts to give Blue that wouldn't leave Arun completely in the dust? Not TK because he's already dangerous enough.
... Or maybe mermaid-empathy/telepathy is only the emitting type, and Blue's is only the recieving type. So she could be all "they're so blank D:" and he could be all "okay I LIKE having advance warning when someone is a liar or planning to stab me in the back, but THIS is why I'm antisocial and live in goddamn SPACE now get your mind noises away from me >:|" ... Arun would be a blank wall to both of them... how would that affect the dynamics, I wonder. Guhh, Liadan might feel uneasy around him, she's not supposed to ;__; How to fix that? Maybe her empathy is low-grade enough that she wouldn't be surprised to feel nothing from people who aren't from her pod. Like it's inappropriate?
But Blue... heheh. He would actually be relieved to be around Arun once he's done being disturbed, because Arun doesn't give off permanent static -- but he'd hate the lack of insight into Arun's mind and actions, and so Arun could surprise him, and later he'd also hate feeling good to be around some guy he doesn't know and doesn't like. That might make their RARRGH-ness at each other even worse. Bwee~
Yeah, I think having them both telepaths, just not the same kind, might work. Maybe mermaids are send-type only. Liadan would be less powerful than Blue but have no permanent barriers (though she knows how to dismiss unwanted thought/feelings), so in the end while she wouldn't be feeling Arun and Blue and that would be weiiiird, she still would know they're here with physical contact and not be too freaked out (she's kinda gregarious, I don't think she could ever fully connect to people who her sixth sense tells them don't exist, but she also shuns all kinds of physical contact with strangers, so that would take a little while to resolve anyway), and Blue would be more powerful, but also entirely receive-type; he'd be all HSS at people in general because he's got good days and bad days, but nothing under a certain threshold would get through his badly-constructed perma-block so he'd be alright around Arun. Arun would be a big fat zero on the psi scale.
Or maybe Liadan's type is more empathic and gets stronger with physical contact, while Blue's is more purely mental and is the same regardless... argh, I don't know. Complicated.
(Of course, some other background characters would also have the same low-level psy gifts, so it doesn't feel like Blue and Liadan are SPESHUL. And all merpeople would have the gift Liadan has, equal or stronger than hers -- she'd be ordinary for a mermaid, not "homg most powerful telepath who can touch anyone on the planet!!" and the mermaids wouldn't be a race of psy masters either.)
But then wouldn't it feel like the characters and plots aren't as important as the shiny gimmicks?
... But then maybe I'd find them funnier to play with, and isn't it more important for me to go GLEEE than for the literary critics to go "zomg masking plot-building inadequacies!!" I mean, if I want to publish it, I'll have to rewrite it a half-dozen times anyway, maybe more. And i'm not even sure I want to.
Also maybe I'll be more interested in building the antagonists if they've got something speshul, because spies and government assassins really never got my attention, however badass they might be. I've just never been into mundane "conspiracy theories, men in suits and shades coming after you with guns, runrunrun!!" books. But a government assassin who kills people by, you know, CRUSHING THEIR HEARTS WITH HIS MIND is kinda hot. *_*
Or maybe the whole psy gift thing would be total overkill.
Amongst other problems, there is still the fact that I have those "genetic throwbacks to humankind" in the mermaidverse, and I still haven't imagined any specific characters belonging to that particular group. I can't help but feel that it's because they'd all be more or less crippled, deformed, NOT PRETTY, and their culture encourages cooperation and harmony, which is just boring. XD;;; What interest is there in throwing my mermaid and my normal guys at them if the culture clash isn't going to be epic? It's the theme of the whole 'verse, damnit, that culture clash. Maybe I should just rethink the two-tails' culture from the beginning... *sigh*
no subject
I am completely in love with mermaid verse and it's characters, and I hope that one day you will feel comfortable getting it published. It would be so great to follow a fic author into a professional career ^^
...Now I'm going to have to go draw fanart XD
no subject
Freewrites? If by that you mean aimless babbling, yeah. XD It helps me put words and structure to my feelings/impressions. 'course the main problem is that I don't type as fast as I think and some of my ideas don't want to be spelled out...
Oooh ethics and psychology. What kind of things do you learn there, exactly?
... You said fanart? o___o
no subject
My school is full of awesome.
Anyway, we learned about personality types using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Turns out I'm a INTP, which stands for Introversion, Intuition, Thinking, and Perceiving. We were given questions whose answers would provide us with our character's personality. Then we had to apply the MBTI to our character, and then in turn determine how that character would react in response to meeting other types.
I ended up with four pages ^^;;
But the whole process has led me to an even greater appreciation for good characters, and good writing in general (and trust me, it was already high in my esteem). So of course I have to make fanart now. Your work demands it. XD Seriously, though, keep up the great work. I don't know what I'd do if teh Asuka wasn't creating verses and writing such pretty fic. 8_8
no subject
I ended up with four pages ^^;;
LMAO. It means you're learning to know them. It's good. ^__^
#.________.# ♥♥♥
no subject
It should prove to be very useful
and time consumingno subject
a good reason to procrastinate, yay!Thank you, dear ^^no subject
no subject
Besides, the whole "okay I LIKE having advance warning when someone is a liar or planning to stab me in the back, but THIS is why I'm antisocial and live in goddamn SPACE now get your mind noises away from me >:|" line is too great for words. :-P
Blue would be more powerful, but also entirely receive-type; he'd be all HSS at people in general because he's got good days and bad days, but nothing under a certain threshold would get through his badly-constructed perma-block so he'd be alright around Arun.
Bad brain. BAD brain. That 'badly-constructed perma-block' is making it go "oooh... what would happen if said badly-constructed perma-block fell apart?" and "what sort of things would make it come apart?"
But if you want other ideas...
clairaudience: ability to hear what you shouldn't be able to hear
clairvoyance: same ability, only with vision (although sometimes they throw clairaudience into the package as a two-for-one deal)
technological affinity (don't think there's a shiny word for this): a knack for machines/computers that goes a little bit beyond skill. Maybe an intuitive knowledge of just what you can do with a machine. Give him a little while with unfamiliar technology, and he can make it work. If pirates are after stealing tech, that would be a pretty handy talent to have on your ship...
no subject
I'm going with the idea that the psi thing occurs naturally in humans, but it's extremely rare and very weak ... But Liadan's and Blue's worlds, amongst about 20 others, were part of a now-fallen "reign" that had no problem at all with genetic tweaking. So on most of those worlds, it's really not that rare to have strange things pop up. Say, one in ten or thereabouts has some useable talent? I'd have to decide, but something between not-the-majority and not-that-rare. On Liadan's world, all the mer would have been created with that gene combo added in -- some would be throwbacks, so they wouldn't have it, but they would be considered less desirable "mates" so they'd be in the process of breeding it out.
(I think there are other totally-created people like the mermaids left, but none were in total isolation, so they would have either bred into the general population or never reproduced. They wouldn't be all that common.)
bwee~ Add to that the fact that Blue wouldn't advertise his psi ability and Liadan think it's totally natural to have them, unless you're a cripple but in that case people should be polite and not mention it, and neither of them would even think to point it out to Arun... And in his corner of the universe, it's not common at all... He'd have no clue. XD MMM tensions.
what would happen if said badly-constructed perma-block fell apart?
... Ouchies. Lots of them. And receiving too much too fast, he'd get quite fucked up. *_* Probably not the fall-down kind of pain, but migraines, yeah, and he'd get distracted from what's going on, which could be quite dangerous.
what sort of things would make it come apart?
Umm, that's the question. He grew up in an area where he did NOT want to get what people thought (think ghetto, rapes and gang fights semi-regularly, fighting families, too many kids in too small a space...) He's been in fights, he's hurt people deliberately, and they didn't crack (he probably had a headache afterwards, but.) His blocks are usually solid. Well, he can't do them well, so there's always some stuff randomly filtering in, but it would take a lot to take them down. Probably a deliberate psi attack, and how convenient! I wanted villains with psi powers too. >_> oh look, a plotbunny was born. :3
I think I'll steal the tech affinity for their hacker/conman/communications guy. *^^*
Now I have to make sure that the psi thing is doing things in the plot that the plot wouldn't have done on its own, or else it will really just be useless window dressing. But it's window dressing that makes me happy, and besides it changes the character interaction, which changes the actions they take, so! It probably won't be that hard. I hope. It helps that I don't have much of the finer details hashed out. >__>
no subject
no subject
And I STILL don't want to write that fic with Heero as a repressed empath during the war, either. è.é go away, you.
no subject
And, if there starts to seem like a power imbalance problem, what with Lia and Blue being psychic and that making them MOAR SPESHUL, then consider this: Arun is the only one of the lot with a real education, a real job, a real (properly working and maintained) starship, or a real legal identity.
Like, if Liadan calls the cops and says 'Ahh! Evil government agents are hunting me!' then they'll blink and go 'Okay, no more acid for me!', right? And if Blue does it then they'll go, 'Yeah, sure, buddy, tell it to the judge.' But Arun is a respectable professor type, at least when he's wearing his game face - him, they take seriously.
Re: Two tails culture: perhaps the NOT PRETTY aspect feeds into their feeling like 'We shouldn't be this way, we're being punished because we're wicked and sinful, so we need to be REALLY REALLY STRICT to keep from adding any sin and becoming totally irredeemable,' which could lead to things like you get with the Mayans and the crazier Christian flagellant cults.
no subject
Well yeah, but almost the whole adventure happens on the water-world as they run from bad guys with guns, and Arun's not really qualified for that either. He does know how to survive off the land, and swim and I'm not sure Blue does. ... hell, why would Blue have even learned how to swim? He might know enough not to drown right away, but that's it. I don't mind giving Arun some of a disadvantage, because he's really the normal guy thrust in the middle of a mess he wasn't prepared for. I just don't want to say goodbye to my Arun/Blue head-butting scenes; Arun isn't suicidal enough to bitch out some guy who can kill him with his brain. XD
HMMMMM that might give them an interestingly creepy aspect, but then I might feel like I'm making them evil just because they're ugly... XDDDD Still, nice starting point, I shall ponder ^__^
no subject
*coughs and pretends she didn't do that deliberately* :-P
As for what the psi thing is doing... well, the simple fact that it's part of the characters and affects character interaction is justification enough in my book. :-P Then again, I like having a supernatural element around. But it also indicates some history to the universe, having worlds with a history of genetic manipulation and the like.
Plus... hmmm. You are implying that although there was massive genetic manipulation on a large scale on some worlds, it's not being practiced anymore. In which case... no, wait, you said that there wasn't anything left of the original colony on Liadan's world. So that idea wouldn't fly... I was going to suggest that whoever manipulated the mermaids would probably have had to do some major tinkering with psychic genetics to ensure that they all had a minimum level. And anyone who employs Spies Who Can Kill You With Their BRAINS would be very interested in that sort of research/technology...
Query: if psi is rare-but-not-that-rare, how would it affect society? Wouldn't there be laws and such? Would there be people out there who deliberately recruit psychics?
Just as an aside: having read some of the other comments... don't underestimate the fact that Arun actually has a legal identity. It could easily come into play, if only along the "people know I'm here, if I disappear they will ask questions" scale. (And I think the idea of Blue not knowing how to swim would be fun. After all, when would he have had a chance to learn?)
no subject
First: if Liadan is a largely projective empath, would Arun pick up something she projected? Or would it be more along the lines of *project* (goes in one ear and out the other, figuratively) ...'Denser than I thought.'?
And as a corollary... how aware is Liadan of her psionic ability? Is it something she consciously recognizes, or is it just sort of there? What about Blue? And while we're on the subject, what would be Arun's reaction if he did find out about it? Mildly creeped out? You poor victims of mad scientists? Ooh shiny, how does a high average psionic level affect a society?
Second: Can Blue use his reception consciously? And are there any circumstances where he'd be willing to do so? How much of a sense of people gets through his blocks, and what's his range?
Third: how is the psi going to work into communications? Empathy would be wordless, I assume, but what level of thought does Blue pick up? (Example: if he generally picks up 'what this person is thinking,' it would be a mess of images and emotions and words, and if he doesn't speak the language than the words might still make no sense. Although it would be funny if he actually had a knack for learning languages from native speakers, and it comes from having that little cheat sheet... :-P)
no subject
Now I'm desperate for Teamwork and "Mermaids IN SPACE"
(*snickerfit*). Thank you. I appreciate it. *>.<*No, really...it's...I don't know if epic or awesome is the right word, but something similar to it. *^.^* The Writer's Block needs to go the hell away and leave all room and resources available to The Muses. :)
Also: *LOVE FOR YOU ALL OVER YUS*
*^__________________________________^*
no subject
(Anonymous) 2007-09-14 05:02 am (UTC)(link)The Way to Babylon (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2076611/1/The_Way_To_Babylon), by Thorne (http://thorne-scratch.livejournal.com/), who writes really well.
Words (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2982203/1/Words), by Firefly99 (http://firefly99.livejournal.com/), who also wrote a pretty good rant on Tifa's and Aeris' characterizations. Unfortunately it's all meant to be in-game, which means Tifa comes off as emotionally fragile.
Bofoddity (http://bofoddity.livejournal.com/) is another person I wish would write more. The funny thing is, she used to hate Tifa.
Three Incidents In Which Cloud Isn't The Hero (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3409693/1/Three_Incidents_In_Which_Cloud_Isnt_The_Hero), Mo(u)rning Will Come (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3480475/1/Mourning_Will_Come) and The Most Beautiful (http://bofoddity.livejournal.com/8856.html) are T/A
Sometimes I Hear My Voice (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3658488/1/Sometimes_I_Hear_My_Voice) and Hatching (http://community.livejournal.com/fanfic100/2446545.html) are reconstruction pieces
And, of course, everything here (http://sister-coyote.livejournal.com/tag/tifa) is worth reading.
Hope you enjoy!
--Francis
no subject
(Anonymous) 2007-09-14 05:04 am (UTC)(link)no subject
no subject
I was going to suggest that whoever manipulated the mermaids would probably have had to do some major tinkering with psychic genetics to ensure that they all had a minimum level. And anyone who employs Spies Who Can Kill You With Their BRAINS would be very interested in that sort of research/technology...
... Yeah, that's also possible, though actually I started talking about government spies when i should have been saying corporates. Those villains want to be given the right to mine the planet but they won't if there are indigenous people on it. Maybe for the next book? That would be too many villains at once otherwise. XD
if psi is rare-but-not-that-rare, how would it affect society? Wouldn't there be laws and such? Would there be people out there who deliberately recruit psychics?
HMMM I haven't thought about it much just yet. On Blue's world there are no real laws about psi people, mostly because their society is failing. It's very capitalistic and there's a huge difference between rich people and other people, and I guess if you can employ a psi, it's better for you that there aren't laws about it. Wouldn't stop people from feeling uneasy around 'paths though, but I don't think there really are telepaths who get straight, full thoughts, it's more like notions/impressions/feelings. I think highly trained spies could get full sentences, but most normal people, not so much. Still, other people would be a little wary and avoidant, but more often than not on Blue's planet it's as much of a disadvantage as it is a bonus for the guy who has it.
don't underestimate the fact that Arun actually has a legal identity. It could easily come into play, if only along the "people know I'm here, if I disappear they will ask questions" scale.
Well, yeah, but that's something he gets on virtue of being alive, not on virtue of being himself and DOING things. It's a rather passive bonus. It's like the fact that Liadan being a girl makes her a lot less likely to be violently killed by a bunch of mermen, because they would only consider other males threat enough to bother. I want to make sure Arun can pull his weight and not feel useless around Blue (who already has his weapons and can fight well) and Liadan (who can stay underwater for hours, is strong, learns languages hella fast, and knows the land). Sure, Arun's in good shape and he's not stupid, but none of them are. I don't want him to be totally outclassed.
no subject
if Liadan is a largely projective empath, would Arun pick up something she projected?
She'd have to be touching him and being very emotive at the time
and probably having sex. A total zero wouldn't even notice even if a powerful projecting empath was trying to yell in his mind. For an empath it's like zero-rated people are just not there. XD (... oh hey. that means he'd be immune to psi bad guys!! Well, to the empath part. if they're TK too... well, ow. But yay!! he can be useful!! *^O^*how aware is Liadan of her psionic ability? Is it something she consciously recognizes, or is it just sort of there?
For her, it's another sense like sight or hearing. She's aware of it the same way you're aware of touching things or tasting them. It's not anything different in her opinion.
What about Blue?
He's aware it's uncommon and some people would be keeping their distances if they knew. He know what it is. For him it's less of a sense than a pain in the ass, though he grudgingly agrees that there are benefits. He doesn't really talk about it, though if someone guesses, he won't hide it. It's not like he reacts visibly to other people's feelings all that often; people just think he's perceptive as to what people are really like and who's really an asshole under their smile. That or they think he's a judgmental bastard who just decides he doesn't like some people for no reason. XD
what would be Arun's reaction if he did find out about it? Mildly creeped out? You poor victims of mad scientists? Ooh shiny, how does a high average psionic level affect a society?
On principle he disapproves of big genetic tweaking, but in Liadan's society he would be fascinated to explore the new dimension. He's not really a sociologist, but he would still be all "OOOH." About Blue, though, he'd be very >_>. He knows it happens, it just doesn't happen much on his planet. (though he'll be relieved when blue says he can't read him, and then just forget to ponder much about it re:Blue. Except maybe to be all "rarrr damn it you should be able to tell where that asshole is, so just do it before he snipes us all!! >(" XD;;;
Blue picks up general intent and notions, though it's not always coherent in a way that makes sense for him. For verbal-thinking people, he might sometimes be aware of snatches of inner dialogue, a couple of words here and there if the person is thinking on them hard. For visual-thinking people, he has an easier time of understanding what's going on, but even then, not one person thinks like everyone else, so it's always easier to understand emotions. He doesn't overhear full sentences.
no subject
*grins* Yep! Figure... psionics give you extra abilities, but also extra weaknesses. For example, Blue would probably be more vulnerable to a telepathic attack than the average, just because his mind is more 'open.' And if Liadan projects as a matter of course, then it would be really easy for bad guys to track her mentally - not to mention, she'd be an open sieve of information, as long as you kept her upset.
Things for Arun to do... well, if you want to go with the idea that Blue can't swim, that would make Arun the only effectively amphibious member of the group; Liadan isn't effective out of the water, Blue isn't effective in it. Other than that... Arun's big thing is that he's more educated, correct? Perhaps he's better with computers/programming? (Might be a moot point, since you already have someone like that on the pirate crew.) And if they do end up needing to make their way around the sunken cities, Arun would probably be the one to say, "Okay, this place was probably this, which means that the place we want is probably there..."
*blinks* And actually... you know, given that Blue has spent his life as either a slum kid or a spacer, he probably wouldn't know clover from poison ivy. While Arun probably has a fair bit of background in that - know your specimens' environment and such. Plus, maybe his world had something like Boy Scouts - it would be a typical Upper-Middle Class activity for him to have done as a kid. Which means that Arun would be the one who would know how to set up a wilderness camp, how to forage for any kinds of foods that the ocean can't supply, etc.
...plus, Arun would be the one who knows how to sneak in the woods. And how to hide his tracks - back to that whole 'don't disturb the wildlife' thing. And he'd be good at surveillance - something that Blue may well have left to his crewmates.
Speaking of which - what is Blue's range? Does he have to be concentrating on an individual to get something, or does he have a 'radar' that gives him an awareness of 'there's someone nearby'?
And by the by... you say that Arun disapproves of gene-tweaking, but didn't one of your drabbles mention that Arun has tweaked hair? Or at least imply it?
no subject
I'm still not sure whether computerguy will survive or not. I think about half of Blue's crew will kick the bucket -- the only one who survives for sure (at least at first) is Lujayn, the weapons specialist, because she has a plot point a little later.
Hee! I'm not sure there are actual woods on this planet, but yes! amphibious. ^O^
I haven't defined a range yet, but he's not good at concentrating on a specific person - he has to know them well, or they have to be feeling something powerful. Otherwise it's more like a spiderweb with him in the middle and he catches whatever tugs at it. And sometimes his shields are solid enough that he won't notice if there's someone around. When he's sneaking around and on high alert, he's more likely to notice people close by, but not always.
I did. XD; I think his own hair... It's something topical, that either he decided to do, or his parent wanted prettier, shinier hair -- it's really just a more vivid shade of something that occurs naturally. And I think that, if he decided on his own, the only cells that are changed are the melanocytes up there; the rest of his DNA wasn't touched, he could have children without damaging them. (...yeah, that seems more coherent with his approach. So he decided to do it on his own. Decided.) Totally remodeling someone, in the womb, and by extension his children, and his children's children, is something he'd get very >:O about.
no subject
no subject
Personally I tend to pretend they both are, just in different ways. Come on, with what heero was routinely doing, how can he be normal. XDD
no subject
(I know the right word~ it's SHINY~ *dances off in a rainbow cloud of painkillers*)
no subject
no subject
Nope, officially there's no newtypes or modified humans in the AC timeline, but there were a few obscure hints, that, well, okay, might even have been fans reading a lot into it. XD But yeah, Quatre as an empath is a favorite. I wrote him that way a couple of times too... .__.
(heero is freaking inhuman though. setting his own leg and it doesn't even seem to take that long to heal was only the first moment of a long list. XD)
no subject
(Heero is actually a clone, he really died all those times and the scientists just keep bringing out a new one. =P)