On Characters: Building Mastery

So, your Hero has a tragic past, isolating him from others, and has achieved unheard-of pinnacles of skill that set him even more apart-!

This is actually more Truth in Television than most people realize.

A Few Stray Stabby Thoughts

The jianghu is considered a lawless place, and I have to say that makes sense. Just think about the headaches of the poor magistrate trying to decide whether or not to let any of these wandering heroes loose on society again. Anqi (hidden/concealed weapons, usually projectiles) make a lot of these guys walking hazards. Sure, they saved the town from the bandits this time, but….

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Worldbuilding: People Like Us

I was watching an episode of Unfettered Shogun, many of whose episodes can be found here on Archive.org. And it struck me how many tropes we think of as modern were here in 1700s guise. Traveling entertainers who are actually seeking information on the whereabouts of someone who “mysteriously disappeared”. Said lost at sea guys actually being the kidnapped experts who created the Secret Formula! (How to make expensive white sugar from local brown sugar.) A dogged investigator tracking down details that indicate Foul Play has occurred. There was even a case of “impersonate the chauffeur”; a ninja knocked out a boatman and took over poling so he could listen in on the Evil Plotting.

On Writing: Bits of Joy

Jason on finding out he’s back in a Little Ice Age: Everything is Not Okay, and we’re going to have to struggle to survive, and I am not looking forward to any of it.

Also Jason, on seeing Chae’s library: …I am camping here and never leaving.

Worldbuilding: Scents and Sensibility

What regular, ordinary smells immediately put your character on alert? Because we’ve all got one. Chemoreception is one of the most basic senses an organism can have; we share it with everything down to bacteria, and even some viruses.

Colors Ficbit – Isekai Snark

A/N: Have some of Jason’s snark about being caught in another world….

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We scrounged around while there was still some light; if this plague had any connection with sharks, our fellow prisoners would probably be the most dangerous at sunset.

Worldbuilding: By Your Powers Combined

Many adventure-type stories center around survival, and by default most survival books and methods you run into are created with the core idea of, “what can you do alone?”

On Writing: Escort Quests

Believe it or not, there’s a series of Chinese movies devoted to these: The Gold Convoyers.

(And no, that’s not a misspelling no matter what WP says. It’s a valid word, just not used much.)

Colors Fic Snippet: Baby Salamander

Been working on getting our heroes into the bad stuff before I fish them back out of it… Have a bit of Jason starting to realize how the deep water is. So to speak.

Nonstandard Vampires

You know, if you plumb the lore on vampires, you come up with some interesting abilities that they can have. Most of which Hollywood either ignores or never really exploits. Well, this story plans to poke a few of them.

Lee Cheong knows these wrecks are a trap. He’s taken steps….