Traveling Bards - Tumblr Posts

OC in 15 (or Less)

Thanks to @mysticstarlightduck for the tag! I'll be using one I've almost never used - Claire from Traveling Bards!

Rules: Give up to 15 quotes from your OC that best describe their personality!

"If I'm gonna be anything, it might as well be an eldritch horror."

"Felix, listen to me. Listen to the words coming out of my mouth. You're gay."

"Oh my God, we fucking isekai'd."

"Sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of PEOPLE DYING."

"HERE THERE BE DRAGONS!"

"You little shit."

"How much do you think bog witches get paid?"

"Please be a frog, please be a frog, please be a- YES!"

"I told you we should've killed him. Now look at us. We're poor."

“Wait. No… I never saw the end. Oh my God, I never saw the end! I’ll never see Yukio and Makoto kiss!"

"Ha. Idiot."

"Do they have indoor plumbing?! Do they have internet?!"

"To the library!"

"Look at him. He's fucking gorgeous. Disgusting."

"That's where you're wrong! I don't have friends!"

Bonus:

"Get in the box, bitch! You're being adopted!"

Gently tagging: @justnerdy15, @rivenantiqnerd, @bunnymermaidwrites, @da-na-hae

@owlsandwich, @card-queen, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @amaiguri

Writing Progress Log 1

Seeing if maybe documenting my progress will help me keep writing/editing more consistently, even though no one will read this. Won't even try to pretend this is going to be daily or even weekly, LMAO. I've never found journaling appealing. But it's been suggested that I give it a shot.

So, into log 1:

Currently focusing on one particular WIP, which I'm calling "Traveling Bards" (official name TBD). Currently in the first revision round of the third chapter. My goal is to complete a general rough draft by the end of summer (because I will NOT be able to write as much while in school). Bit ambitious, but considering I'm not intending for this to be some massive saga (more like a light novel/novella tbh), I think it's doable.

It certainly won't be great, but it'll be done, which is when I can start focusing on REALLY editing it out. I generally re-read and edit the chapters after I write the first rough draft, but my main aim on those edits are centered more around the actual story; plot points, scene placements, etc. Things that I genuinely can't move forward from without fixing.

It'll likely need more plot revisions after that anyway, but it's easier to edit a story once it's already, y'know, written, than when you've got little more than a single paragraph and a string of concept notes. I've done that for years, it's yet to get me anywhere, so I'll be trying this method instead. I'll adjust accordingly as time goes.

For now, I can low-key feel writer's block already on the horizon; confused already about how to get from point A to point B (or I guess point C?) and I just know I'll be tearing my hair out about that soon. But for now, I'll focus on revising chapter 3 (and 2, because of a detail I added in 3). I can only hope an idea will come to me by then.

The next logs will probably not be nearly this long, lol.

OC in 3

Thanks for the tag, @rivenantiqnerd!!! I'll be using the three sisters from my WIP Traveling Bards.

Luna:

Iris:

Claire:

Gently tagging: @mysticstarlightduck, @vellatra, @da-na-hae, @justnerdy15

@pandoras-comment-box, @kaylinalexanderbooks, @writernopal, and anyone else who wants in!

OC Interview Tag 2

Thanks for the tag, @pandoras-comment-box! I'll be using Luna from Traveling Bards.

What are you most protective of?

Luna: "Dinner."

Can you be trusted with a pet? A house plant?

Luna: "Both, I'd say!"

Iris (from another room): "No the fuck you can't!"

Luna: "What?! Yes I can! I had loads of plants in our old world! The only reason I didn't have a pet was 'cause my apartment had a crazy high pet fee!"

Iris: "Yeah, but all your plants were dead! Mom had to take them from you because you kept forgetting to water them!"

Luna: "Shut up! I was just busy! My work hours sucked!"

Iris (now in the doorway): "Luna can't be trusted with anything that can't audibly communicate. Or punch her in the face."

Luna: *offended gasp*

Do you like sports? Which ones?

Luna: "Sports are alright, but I mean, I've never really been an athlete? I guess martial arts, if that counts. I also working out. Especially now that there's literal magic benefits involved!"

I hope I did this right!

Questions for you:

If you were to wake up in another universe, what's the one thing you would take with you?

What kind of person pisses you off the most?

How often do you dream? Are they usually dream-dreams, or nightmares?

Gently tagging: @mysticstarlightduck, @tailsbeth, @wingedcatastrophe

Writing Log 2

Figured out 2 problems with the story, which is both a good and a bad thing. Good that I figured it out, bad because #2 is one hell of an issue.

Problem 1 - the flow of chapters 2 and 3. Chapter 3 was feeling like a bit of a slog, and also like there were too many things that I introduced were both too abrupt and too late. I realized it's because they made more sense being put in with the events of 2, so that's where they went.

Problem 2 - kind of tied to problem 1. Chapter 3 is a slog; many of the events feel meaningless/uninteresting. Also, I struggled with what the next few chapters will cover. I realized it's because I barely have a plot. I have a premise, and some beats I want to include. But a milestone-to-milestone plot? Nonexistent. Which is fine in a news comic, but not a fantasy adventure novella. Plots are kinda important there. I'll still be writing, mostly as a way to explore the story. But workshopping the actual events of the first arc will be main priority.

Out of Context Line Tag

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck! Going with Traveling Bards for this one.

Rule: Post a line from your WIP without context.

"Did- did I die from food poisoning?! That whore!"

I can't think of anyone to tag, so I'll leave it open!!

Writing Log 3

I've set aside chapter 3 to focus on actually building the storyline of arc 1. It's not complete, but so far it's the furthest I've gotten in any story. I don't actually expect to stick to this outline 1 to 1. It's just helpful to have some sense of direction. Unlike discovery writers, I'm unable to just come up with scenes or ideas if I don't have a solid goal in mind, so this was a crucial step for me.

I think one of the struggles I've been having with this story - aside from the typical writing struggles- was that this was the first time I've had to juggle multiple central protagonists. None of the sisters are supposed to be more important than the others, which is a big departure from everything else I've written.

Outlining three different "sides" to arc 1 with a focus on a different sister was incredibly helpful. Rather than thinking of 3 moving parts at once, narrowing in on 1 each time and then combining the outlines is seriously helping me keep a balance. So I guess that's a writing tip?

Writing Log 4

In an unexpected (or perhaps extremely expected) turn of events, I've decided to overhaul most of my current progress.

I won't exactly be starting from scratch, but I've decided to move what would've been arc 1 to arc 2 or 3, for character development/pace-setting purposes. Which means I'll be keeping the pieces I've already created, but I'll have to edit them and make new opening chapters. Fantastic.

I'm mostly trying to remain positive. After an hours-long breakdown, I've decided this was the best course of action. It's the only way I can think of to achieve what I'm aiming for, and while I didn't like the idea at first, I'm beginning to accept it as inevitable. Spent the last few hours idea dumping and outlining. I've created a rough new outline, and will work on actually writing the new "chapter 1" tomorrow. Or tonight at 3 am when I inevitably can't sleep because I keep thinking about it.

Wish me luck.

Writing Log 5

Been a while. I ran out of posts in my queue, too. I finally finished the first draft of my new first chapter. It's much shorter than my first one (by about 4 pages), but it covers all of what I wanted it to cover. I've resolved to leave it as-is until I either change my mind about the plot again or manage to finish the entire story.

I don't think it's amazing, but I'm feeling a lot better about having to start over, and I'm cautiously optimistic about the next few chapters.

Writing Log 6

Been gone for a while, again. I'm halfway-to-almost-done with the second chapter. I was thinking I'd try to finish it before adding another log, but I was losing steam after IRL events and I realized the logs were actually helping to keep me motivated. So here I am.

I'm not actually sure if I'm halfway or almost done; there are a few bullet points I want to reach in this chapter, but I'm not sure how many scenes/pages it would take for me to reach all of them. There's only a few left, which usually means I've only got about one or two scenes, but that depends on how well I can tackle it. This is more of a "laying the groundwork" chapter so the issue is mostly trying to develop it in a way that doesn't come off too obviously as an exposition dump or too awkward.

Hopefully I can manage something passable enough that I can move onto the next chapter without losing sleep over it.

Writing Log 7

It is with great joy and exhaustion that I can say that I've finally finished chapter 2. While I didn't really manage to get every detail that I'd outlined, I think it's better this way. I couldn't exactly fit all of it in a way that didn't feel repetitive or ham-fisted, so I figure it's best not to force it. It's not much of a surprise, anyway. I almost never manage to put every single little thing into each scene or chapter, since it's just a loose guide.

For now, I'm just going to pat myself on the back for actually managing to do the damn thing. Tomorrow will be the start of chapter 3. But for now, I'm gonna go play on my Switch and read a good fanfic.

OC Inspiration Tag

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck! I'll be using Traveling Bards. Honestly, I don't think I really have any characters that are directly inspired by other characters? So these are the most similar I know of.

Rule: "Show what characters (from shows, movies, books, music, etc. just any media or concepts) inspired your OC! If your OC wasn’t inspired by a character, show characters that you believe are similar to your OC! (Make sure to credit the source material!🖤)"

DISCLAIMER: Some of these stories I actually don't like, lol. They're just what I thought of! Also, you will likely not recognize any of these if you're not into anime or webtoons since my WIP started as an anime parody.

Luna:

Melissa Podebrat (Beware the Villainess), Yang Xiao Long (RWBY)

Honestly, I'd rather not remember RWBY... but Yang is the closest character I could think of whose personality/vibes matched Luna without being too extreme. Inosuke from Demon Slayer is a little TOO aggressive and socially inept. And we do NOT discuss My Hero Academia in this house. So these two are the closest approximations.

Iris:

Kocho Shinobu (Demon Slayer), Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice)

For those who don't know, Shinobu is a doctor whose usual bright smile hides homicidal rage. She's not smiling here because I couldn't find a decent picture.

Elizabeth is kind of a stretch, honestly. But she's the closest to a "bookworm" character I have on-hand that's not from a novel or obscure franchise, other than perhaps Jo March... but she's not as snarky as Elizabeth imo.

Claire:

Toph Bei Fong (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Mao Mao (Apothecary Diaries)

We DO NOT discuss My Hero Academia here... but I can't find a better embodiment of that Ben Affleck smoking meme than Aizawa at this point. So he gets a dishonorable mention.

Mao Mao being an apothecary would usually make her a better fit for Iris, but she's too much of a gremlin too often to work. It's the INTENSITY of her fixation that fits Claire, not the subject of it (Claire likes dragons).

Felix:

Honey from Ouran High School Host Club, Nie Huaisang from Founder of Diabolism

As he gets older, Felix will shed the Honey vibes and come across more like Howl from Howl's Moving Castle, but he spends a good chunk of the story like this.

Will be going back to tag people later. For now, OPEN TAG (let me know if you want to be added!)

Bold What Applies to Your OC

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck! I'll go with Claire and Felix from Traveling Bards, and a bonus round with Adrasteia from Crown of Blood!

CLAIRE:

Killed Someone Under Orders | Had Someone Killed On Their Orders | Killed Someone In Self Defense | Spared Someone’s Life | Invented Something | Been Hungover | Kissed Someone | Slow-Danced | Been In A Long-Term Relationship | Had Sex | Had Sex And Regretted It | Had A One-Night Stand | Had A Threesome | Experimented With Their Sexuality | Had A Kid | Adopted A Kid | Wanted To Have A Family With Someone | Done Something On Impulse They Regretted | Gone Traveling | Had A Bounty Put On Them | Eaten An Insect | Been Groped/SA'd | Been Dumped | Dumped Someone | Smoked | Gotten High | Put Someone In A Headlock | Won A Bet | Lost A Bet | Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them | Indulged In Petty Revenge | Hallucinated | Gotten A Noticeable Scar | Kneed/Hit Someone In The Groin | Had An Unattainable Crush | Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears | Been Kidnapped | Been Brainwashed/Hypnotized | Had A Recurring Nightmare | Been Bullied  | Bullied Someone | Experienced Survivor’s Guilt | Been Tied/Chained Up | Given Someone A Massage | Received A Massage | Been Backed Up Against A Wall | Shot Someone | Stabbed Someone | Saved Someone’s Life | Cheated On Someone | Been Cheated On | Been In An Open Relationship | Had A Friendship With Benefits | Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship | Had A Stalker | Been Betrayed | Been A Traitor | Been Possessed | Been In A Bar Fight | Been Thrown Out Of A Bar | Been Arrested | Broken Out Of Jail | Been To A Funeral | Been To A Brothel | Had Surgery | Broken Someone’s Trust | Broken Someone’s Heart | Had Their Heart Broken | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite | Gotten A Piercing | Gotten A Tattoo | Used A Fake Name | Been Beaten Up | Been Tortured | Tortured Others | Been Abused | Been Blackmailed | Gotten Away With A Crime | Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed | Shared A Bed Platonically | Been In Love |  Suffered From Sleep Paralysis | Been Forced To Flee Their Home | Learned A New Language | Joined A Rebellion | Fought On The Losing Side Of A War | Fought On The Winning Side Of A War | Become A Godparent | Become An Aunt/Uncle

FELIX:

Killed Someone Under Orders | Had Someone Killed On Their Orders | Killed Someone In Self Defense | Spared Someone’s Life | Invented Something | Been Hungover | Kissed Someone | Slow-Danced | Been In A Long-Term Relationship | Had Sex | Had Sex And Regretted It | Had A One-Night Stand | Had A Threesome | Experimented With Their Sexuality | Had A Kid | Adopted A Kid | Wanted To Have A Family With Someone | Done Something On Impulse They Regretted | Gone Traveling | Had A Bounty Put On Them | Eaten An Insect | Been Groped/SA'd | Been Dumped | Dumped Someone | Smoked | Gotten High | Put Someone In A Headlock | Won A Bet | Lost A Bet | Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them | Indulged In Petty Revenge | Hallucinated | Gotten A Noticeable Scar | Kneed/Hit Someone In The Groin | Had An Unattainable Crush | Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears | Been Kidnapped | Been Brainwashed/Hypnotized | Had A Recurring Nightmare | Been Bullied  | Bullied Someone | Experienced Survivor’s Guilt | Been Tied/Chained Up | Given Someone A Massage | Received A Massage | Been Backed Up Against A Wall | Shot Someone | Stabbed Someone | Saved Someone’s Life | Cheated On Someone | Been Cheated On | Been In An Open Relationship | Had A Friendship With Benefits | Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship | Had A Stalker | Been Betrayed | Been A Traitor | Been Possessed | Been In A Bar Fight | Been Thrown Out Of A Bar | Been Arrested | Broken Out Of Jail | Been To A Funeral | Been To A Brothel | Had Surgery | Broken Someone’s Trust | Broken Someone’s Heart | Had Their Heart Broken | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite | Gotten A Piercing | Gotten A Tattoo | Used A Fake Name | Been Beaten Up | Been Tortured | Tortured Others | Been Abused | Been Blackmailed | Gotten Away With A Crime | Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed | Shared A Bed Platonically | Been In Love |  Suffered From Sleep Paralysis | Been Forced To Flee Their Home | Learned A New Language | Joined A Rebellion | Fought On The Losing Side Of A War | Fought On The Winning Side Of A War | Become A Godparent | Become An Aunt/Uncle

ADRASTEIA:

Killed Someone Under Orders | Had Someone Killed On Their Orders | Killed Someone In Self Defense | Spared Someone’s Life | Invented Something | Been Hungover | Kissed Someone | Slow-Danced | Been In A Long-Term Relationship | Had Sex | Had Sex And Regretted It | Had A One-Night Stand | Had A Threesome | Experimented With Their Sexuality | Had A Kid | Adopted A Kid | Wanted To Have A Family With Someone | Done Something On Impulse They Regretted | Gone Traveling | Had A Bounty Put On Them | Eaten An Insect | Been Groped/SA'd | Been Dumped | Dumped Someone | Smoked | Gotten High | Put Someone In A Headlock | Won A Bet | Lost A Bet | Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them | Indulged In Petty Revenge | Hallucinated | Gotten A Noticeable Scar | Kneed/Hit Someone In The Groin | Had An Unattainable Crush | Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears | Been Kidnapped | Been Brainwashed/Hypnotized | Had A Recurring Nightmare | Been Bullied  | Bullied Someone (kind of? It's complicated.) | Experienced Survivor’s Guilt | Been Tied/Chained Up | Given Someone A Massage | Received A Massage | Been Backed Up Against A Wall | Shot Someone | Stabbed Someone | Saved Someone’s Life | Cheated On Someone | Been Cheated On | Been In An Open Relationship | Had A Friendship With Benefits | Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship | Had A Stalker | Been Betrayed | Been A Traitor | Been Possessed | Been In A Bar Fight | Been Thrown Out Of A Bar | Been Arrested | Broken Out Of Jail | Been To A Funeral | Been To A Brothel | Had Surgery | Broken Someone’s Trust | Broken Someone’s Heart | Had Their Heart Broken | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite | Gotten A Piercing | Gotten A Tattoo | Used A Fake Name | Been Beaten Up | Been Tortured | Tortured Others | Been Abused | Been Blackmailed | Gotten Away With A Crime | Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed | Shared A Bed Platonically | Been In Love | Suffered From Sleep Paralysis | Been Forced To Flee Their Home | Learned A New Language | Joined A Rebellion | Fought On The Losing Side Of A War | Fought On The Winning Side Of A War | Become A Godparent | Become An Aunt/Uncle

Never realized until now just how many things Adrasteia has done, lol! They've all gotten down to stuff, but it's still interesting!

Might come back and tag some people later, I just don't know who to tag lately lol. Let me know if you want to be added though <3 For now it's just an OPEN TAG!

OC Headcanons Tag 2

Thanks for the tag, @pandoras-comment-box! I probably could've smashed this together with the other one I got, but I enjoyed it so much I decided to do it again, lol. I'll be using Iris from my WIP Traveling Bards.

Rule: Use this headcanon generator to make headcanons for an OC, then rate their accuracy!

"Iris believes in ghosts and insists on trying to summon one at every sleepover."

Honestly? This feels more like a Claire thing, but Iris has her ✨quirky✨ moments, which she deserves. As a treat. 9/10.

"Iris had an emo phase."

10/10. This is just canon.

"Iris has an intense fear of people."

Maybe not INTENSELY afraid. More like a genuine distaste for them? 7/10.

"Iris nearly drowned in a river as a child."

0/10. She's actually a really good swimmer canonically, lol. LOVES the water. In fact, it would make more sense for Claire, as she canonically can't swim.

"Iris sings in the shower."

7/10. Not a bad idea. More of a Luna thing, but Iris has probably sung along to her playlist in the shower.

"Iris has fallen asleep at their desk while working in the middle of the night."

10/10. Canon. She's a med student.

"Iris has a very low alcohol tolerance."

5/10. I actually kind of imagine her to have a really high one? But it's not like it matters to the plot, so it's fine.

"Iris is very willing to eat inedible things."

10/10. Despite being a med student, I can imagine her having surprisingly low standards for herself- in true doctor's fashion!

"Iris is in your house."

Um... I don't know how to respond to this??? LMAO. I mean, her rough outline is based off of a family member, so... canon? 10/10 lol.

"If the source media was a musical, Iris would be the one character that asks why everyone is singing."

Hm. Maybe? Honestly, it's a toss-up. She loves musicals, so she's more likely to join in enthusiastically. Or get upset that no one gave her the memo for the rehearsals. 6/10.

This was fun!!! Not sure who to tag, I feel like there's so many tag games and not enough active users, lol. So I'll just go with gently tagging: @mysticstarlightduck, @amaiguri, @aalinaaaaaa

WIP Questionnaire Tag

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck! I'll use Traveling Bards for this, as is the current trend for me.

1. What’s the first part of your WIP that you created?

The outline? That's usually how I start. If you mean of the actual story, then chapter 1. If you mean the concept itself, the characters.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

Best I can find is Passerine by The Oh Hellos (the artists who made Solider, Poet, King). I'd love to find a more comedic/energetic song, though.

3. What are your favorite characters that you made? Why?

Within this story? The MCs, lol. Especially Felix, my beloved son! I'm not gonna lie, the sisters are inspired by some IRL people that I love very much. But even without that, they're just so fun! This is my first "simple"/comedy story, so there's less of a focus on prose or "depth" and more on me just dicking around with these guys, so I'm really having a blast with them. Their characters are the most unhinged I've written so far, though I hope to change that soon.

Felix isn't inspired by an IRL person, but he's kind of shameless wish-fulfillment. Traveling Bards initially began as a parody of a very specific genre of anime, so he's essentially what I wish would happen/what I love to see for characters with his archetype.

For the favorites of all time? Can't choose, honestly. Love all of them!

4. What other pieces of media do you think your fanbase would share?

Memes. Or, I'd hope so. If it ever got adapted, I'd love a compilation video or funny edits. Regardless? Endless shitposts, sprinkled with random and unwarranted brainrot thesis-long thinkpieces on elements of my characters and world-building that I never even considered when writing it that ultimately change the way even I view my characters. I'd love a good Tumblr essay from someone being Totally Normal about one of my funky little guys.

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP?

Actually writing it! Lmao. For the 3 people that have seen my writing logs, you'd know I had to recently overhaul the entire initial arc as well as the 3 chapters I already wrote! Though I guess plot points would also be part of that struggle.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

All kinds! Anything from normal animals to classic fantasy ones to ones I personally made up! My favorite out of all of them are the dragons. Because dragons are fucking awesome. My second favorite are the ones I made myself.

One of the first ones I introduce is the "crystal frog" which is this really cute frog that's quite literally translucent- kind of like the glass frog, but even more translucent! And light refracts off of it like a crystal!

7. How do your characters travel/get around?

Carriage/horse most often at first, then eventually via ship, then flying (with magic or on a magic creature). So. Basically anything but a plane or car.

8. What part of your WIP are you working on right now?

Actually writing it! I'm currently only a few chapters in on my first rough draft. My goal is to create the entire rough draft with as few edits as possible and then to go back and revise the whole thing, since that'll be easier for me than trying to make each chapter "perfect" before I move on.

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) You think will draw your audience in?

I guess for those that are more familiar with this genre, it'll be that. Isekais/reincarnation/transmigration/portal fantasy/whatever you want to call it. It's also got found family and friendship (kinda spoiler-y, but there's a sibling adoption involved!). Lots of "be gay, do crime" instances too.

It's also primarily an adventure-comedy, with a kinda parody-angle to it. They're intentionally gunning for these classic Hero Adventure experiences, in a bucket-list kind of way. Also, they're bards (for lack of a more accurate and snappy term) in a fantasy setting. So if you like a heavy emphasis on a sibling bond and ridiculous people getting into ridiculous situations of their own making, I'm hoping this will be appealing!

10. What are your hopes for your WIP?

That it gets finished, LMAO. My goal is to complete the rough draft by the end of summer, so that I can spend fall and winter revising, rewriting, editing, etc. I eventually hope (like most writers) to one day publish it. But let's not get ahead of ourselves! I can't get there if I don't even finish it.

Not sure who to tag, so I'll come back to it later.

Last Line Tag

Thanks for the tag, @rivenantiqnerd! This is from Traveling Bards. It's technically 2 lines, but they're both short dialogue lines and the last one just doesn't make sense on its own, so. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Rule: Post the last line that you've written for your WIP.

"You know how to write?!"

"You don't?!"

Perhaps underwhelming! But not every line in a book is a banger, unfortunately.

No clue who to tag anymore, so no pressure: @mysticstarlightduck, @anoelleart, @theunboundwriter

OC Headcanons Tag

Thanks, @mysticstarlightduck! I'll go with Luna from Traveling Bards!

Rules: use the headcanon generator to generate some headcanons for your OCs, and rate their accuracy!

"Luna always has a knife on them."

LMAO honestly??? Accurate. This goes for all three sisters, tbh. Though Luna's more likely deck you than stab you. 10/10.

"Luna could easily survive The Hunger Games."

8/10. This works only if there are no adorable children younger than her in the games. But on ability alone? Yeah. She'd mow the competition down with surprising skill and strategy.

"Luna does intricate and expensive cosplays."

Meh. Not really? She loves a good excuse to do some dress-up from time to time, though. The fancier the better! I just don't think she'd find the appeal in dressing as another person. 6/10.

"Luna likes being alone."

0/10 This girl gets LONELY!!! Absolute female golden retriever tbh. Loves people. Loves company. Do NOT leave this girl alone unattended, for her well-being and everyone else's!!! She cannot go unsupervised for more than 10 minutes!!!

"Luna knows fnaf lore."

5/10. Out of personal study? No. Unwillingly and forcibly via her sisters? Yes.

"Luna does not know what sleep is."

0/10. This is an Iris thing. Luna LOVES her sleep, more than she loves company.

"Luna is not allowed to drink energy drinks."

10/10. I can see this. She's got too much energy as is.

"Luna is the gay cousin."

HA! 0/10. She's actually the straightest one out of the sisters! The gayness intensifies in birth order. Honestly, as an asexual, I'd say to just assume everyone I write is ace by default until I say otherwise, just because it's never even in my headspace. But Luna specifically is straight, or maybe uninterested? Less in an "I've discovered I'm aromantic" way and more in a "wouldn't know her own feelings if they slapped her in the face" way.

"Luna likes board games, but no one else wants to play with them."

6/10. Her sisters would ABSOLUTELY play with her, if she personally had the patience to play at all... I could see her enjoying a round or two. But she'd be the first to tap out of Monopoly.

"Luna sleeps in until noon."

10/10. This is just canon.

This was fun! I like infodumping and rambling about my OCs <3 Not sure who to tag, so I'm leaving it open!

OC Questionnaire Tag

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck! I'll go with Iris and Felix from Traveling Bards!

Rule: Answer the questions as your OCs!

Iris:

How good is your sleep schedule? Abysmal ❤️

Do you have any siblings? If so, how good is your relationship Two sisters, unfortunately. I love them, I do! But I also want to strangle them to death just as much. I know I wouldn't be able to do this without them, though. Just do NOT tell them I said that. We also adopted a brother recently. Honestly, he's more like my son. He's an angel. God's gift to mankind. If anything happens to him, I'll kill everyone in this room and then myself.

What was the toughest time you had to endure while growing up? Middle school. I was kind of a doormat growing up. I got over it eventually, but the less said about that time the better. Mostly because I barely remember it to begin with.

Felix:

How good is your sleep schedule? Decent, I think? I've never really struggled to fall asleep. I sleep when I'm tired, and I wake up when I'm not!

Do you have any siblings? If so, how good is your relationship? ....I have an older brother. And three older sisters! They're very lovely. They can be a bit rowdy sometimes, but they're kind, too. They took me in when I needed support. We quarrel sometimes, but we've never had a serious fight before. They really like patting my head for some reason?

What was the toughest time you had to endure while growing up? ... I don't feel comfortable answering this. I'd like to skip, please.

Thanks again for the tag! Not sure who I'd tag for this, so just let me know if you want to be added (we don't have to be mutuals!), and for now this is an OPEN TAG!

OC Questionnaire

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck! I'll be using Antheia and Felix!

Antheia:

Do you know how to dance? If so what kinds? Yeah! I know some traditional elven dances. I'm not that good at them, but my favorite is kinda similar to human step-dances, 'cause it's one of the fastest ones. It's all in the footwork.

What's the season you hate the most? What's your favorite season? I HATE winter. My favorite's gotta be spring! Most fae-types kinda wilt without sun, y'know? Think seasonal depression, but WAY worse.

Do you have any unusual fears? Escalators. Not elevators, escalators.

Felix:

Do you know how to dance? If so what kinds? As a prince, it was part of my standard royal education to learn traditional ballroom dances. I excelled, actually! So I was also taught some classic foreign dances for diplomatic reasons. But my favorites are the ones my sisters taught me! Like "free-styling", or "the dougie". It's very wild! The commoners have some dances too, and they're very invigorating! But I haven't learned any of the names. I should do that.

What's the season you hate the most? What's your favorite season? I don't know. It used to be summer, when I was a lot younger. Then winter. But I've gained an appreciation for cold nights by a fire with my sisters. There's lots of things to like about each season!

Do you have any unusual fears? Um... maybe? I don't know. I think all of my fears are valid and come from direct sources that I'm able to identify.

Aaand that's it! Once again, not sure who to tag these days, so let me know if you want to be added and I'll edit the post (we don't need to be mutuals!), and for now it's an OPEN TAG!

OC Origins Tag

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck! This is really cool! I'd love to do another. I'll be covering some of my MCs from various stories because I'm TOTALLY normal about this <333

Rule: "talk about the origins of the names and personalities (and maybe even the design?) of a couple of your OCs!"

Itazaki Katsuko (Katsuko no Monogatari):

This name came with a level of investment that was disproportionate and frankly unnecessary for a short story that I initially wrote for a class, lmao.

Itazaki was part of the alternative name of Hangaku Gozen, one of the onna-musha (female warriors) in Heian Japan. She's not as popular as the legendary Tomoe Gozen, probably because she was on the opposing side of the war; but not only is Tomoe kinda too stereotypical for me, but she didn't technically have a last/secondary name, from what I gathered? I mean Itazaki wasn't Hangaku Gozen's last name, but it was part of her title and sounded like a better last name for Katsuko than Jo.

But a more important reason is that she's one of the few onna-musha with a fairly clearly documented and relatively HAPPY ending for a warrior on the losing side of a war (she was a member of the Taira clan, who lost the power struggle against Minamoto clan in the Genpei War). Which is quite an achievement considering not even Tomoe Gozen got a clear ending, let alone a good one (there are various accounts about how she lived her life after the war, NONE of which are happy, unfortunately).

While I knew it didn't really matter, I'm kind of incapable of naming characters without deep diving into the meaning of the names and the history of it. So I went with Itazaki for Katsuko's surname.

As for her first name, Katsuko, this one's more simple. "Katsu" literally means "victory/to win" in Japanese. "Ko" means "child". Putting them together essentially means "winner", "victorious child", etc. Which, while kinda on the nose, I also chose because it's a fairly gender neutral name (if you drop the "ko", anyway. "ko" is almost always used for girl names) and is seen as kind of a tomboyish (?) name. I would've gone with "Katsu", but that's my great-grandmother's name. She was the inspiration for the name, but I didn't want to actually give Katsuko the EXACT same name because of emotional distancing reasons, lol (my great grandmother was very much alive until recently, and I'd feel weird to do that when I knew her personally).

Appearance-wise, Katsuko is a fairly standard looking Japanese woman. Her hair's decently long, as was the standard, and she mostly wears armor, since she's not only a guard, but there's also combat scenes. She uses a naginata, since that was the standard weapon for onna-musha and onna-bugeisha (female guards).

Megumi Wilson (Asteria Heights):

I intentionally chose the name Megumi because it was Japanese, but could also be shortened into a Western-sounding name (Meg). This is because, in my personal experience, most Japanese-American/half-Japanese families would give their kids names that are either foreign but simple enough to say in Japanese, or have alternative or similar versions in both languages (assuming these are families that still have connections to Japan/Japanese culture; many Japanese families chose to entirely assimilate, especially if they're not first-gen immigrants).

While I would've loved to do the latter (which I'd say is more common), there aren't really that many of those, and with how picky I am, none of them felt like they fit (plus I have multiple half-Japanese characters who already took other names). Also, to be honest, many of them were a little TOO similar to mine and my siblings' names, lol. And I obviously didn't want that.

I could've given her a Japanese name that couldn't be Westernized, but me and my sisters always had beef with how people would butcher our names growing up (even though mine isn't even just Japanese!!! My legal name is also Western!!!) and I didn't want to do that to my girl Meg, even if she isn't real, lmao.

Luna, Iris, Claire (Traveling Bards):

Okay, these are fairly boring in name, but that was intentional! I won't say why SPECIFICALLY these names, but I was looking for simple names in general because I wanted names that were easier to pronounce for Japanese people because I'm a bit willfully ✨delusional✨ and I want to at least get a translation of the story one day, if not an animated adaption (yes!! I know!! Unrealistic!! Let me DREAM!!!!)

Their personalities, as I've mentioned in a previous post, are based off of some people I love very much in my life. They're not 1 to 1 the same, but their cores are. This story actually initially started off as a what-if scenario when we were watching an Isekai (reincarnation) anime together and kept getting frustrated at some dumb characters and situations, and then got into talking about what we'd do in a situation like that. And then I was like "this shit slaps ngl" and after some revisions to their persons, here we are!!!

This was so fun! <333 I'll end it here because I can honestly go one for DAYS about them. I'd have covered some more but this is too long already, so please feel free to tag me in this again!!!

Leaving it as an OPEN TAG for whoever wants it. Might come and retroactively add people later.

Gently Tagging: @amaiguri, @paintedbutton, @pandoras-comment-box, and anyone else who wants in!!!