Twenty-XXth Century Problems

The problem with the computerization of knowledge is that your access to it is only as good as your search engine. And search engines are notoriously difficult to program, meaning they’re often of doubtful quality. The wrong words, wrong word order, or wrong abbreviation can throw your results wildly off – if, in fact, if brings up any results at all.

An Experiment in Isekai POV

I don’t expect the story to write exactly like this, but… here’s a bit that came to me of Jason panicking about a problem in his situation. Bear in mind I’m using the rule of thumb, “start your idea for what the character thinks of with what you know out of your own head, then research to find out if it’s actually a good idea.”

On Characters: Writing a Red Baron

It’s always neat to read or see a story in which characters have… interesting nicknames. The Red Baron. The Lone Ranger. The Wolf of Mibu. Hitokiri Battousai. These may be names of the Dreaded, or simply Names To Run Away From Really Fast.

A Few Plotbunny Bits

Hectic day, so have a few random bits from toothy isekai plot-monsters.

Worldbuilding: Virtual Samurai

If we ever get actual Sword Art Online style VR up and running, I expect three things: First, a massive jump in the proportion of people who take historical martial arts very seriously indeed. Second, someone’s going to try to recreate the Battle of Sekigahara. Third, there will finally be a Pennsic War in which the archers have their day. Mwah-ha-hah….

Worldbuilding: Help Vaunted

Vampires, disease, chi, breath, and blood; it’s all connected. Western vampires drain the life from people with their blood, while eastern jiangshi steal qi from their victims’ breath. (So if you hold your breath, they can’t find you. As was well-illustrated in sometimes wacky detail in the 1985 Hong Kong jiangshi film, Mr. Vampire.)

On Writing: The Faces of Other Nations

Writing an isekai (or portal fantasy) based on an alternate version of history means digging into not just past events, but past beliefs. Otherwise the reactions of setting-native characters to your isekai’d guy just won’t ring right. It also means digging into your own culture, so you can accurately depict what happens when modern attitudes clash with something distinctly not.

A Long Road Chapter 16 Ficbit – Well Warned

“MindHealer Crathach, and yes,” Wei Wuxian agreed. “I know, no one wants to involve strangers in sect matters. But the Heralds are already involved with your sect. They may not know cultivation, but they know enough about how their Gifts work to draw some obvious conclusions.

Current Events: In Which We Have a Distinct Lack of Guys in Trees

I have come to the (somewhat) sober conclusion that a lot of our problems could be solved if we had more guys hanging out in trees to sleep, ready to kick the butts of those who disturb them.

Worldbuilding: Light the Match

Okay, something you may not know is that the Joseon Dynasty in the 1600s used matchlocks, despite the existence of generally more reliable flintlocks (originally a European idea) that could be acquired from China or Japan.