Est. Read Time: 25 min
This Month's Font: Lumanosimo
Well, peeps, I seem to have missed my deadline by just a touch. Probably not the brightest move that I didn't start working on this update until April 29th. Lately, I've been averaging about a week to write up, format, and edit a blog update. And yet, like the mad-lad that I am, apparently, I didn't sit down to work on this update until my day off the day before I wanted it to go live.
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Actually, I lied. I didn't do this intentionally. Clearly. This is the first month this year that I didn't publish my monthly update within the month it was for.... Streak smashed.
[Insert Pacman Dying Sounds]
My brain just stalled out this month. I could not focus enough to work on this update any earlier than the 29th, when the self-imposed deadline and my publishing streak would both loom overhead the most.
You see, the first half of April was instead focused on reading and working on my LycoRogue's Reading Corner update and Easter was in there too and it was finally getting nice enough to sit outside again. Oh yeah, and the USA political landscape right now is... a lot.... Heck, even while working on this update on the 29th, there was a major car accident up the street from my home, so trying to figure out details of what happened took up roughly an hour of my would-be writing time! Lots of distractions, in other words. Writing wasn't really in my forethought this month, despite how well I had been doing previously.
Also... insomnia is a thing....
I get that classic 3pm/4pm afternoon crash, but, for obvious reasons (*cough*I'mAtWork*cough*), I can't exactly go to sleep then. I drink some tea or whatever to get a kick of caffeine (but not too much because I am a caffeine lightweight) and that carries me to about 8pm. Hubby's been working until 10pm lately, so I can't straight up call it a night when I want to. Best I can do is a quick nap... but then I will be too awake to go to bed later....
Plus, I have such little "Me Time" these days where I'm not spending it driving people or doing errands outside the home, like grocery shopping or laundry. I then have to decide how I use those precious few hours: catch up on shows/movies that Hubby isn't particularly interested in, play video games that I keep itching to get (back) into, write, work on a crafting project, enjoy the nice weather finally returning by being outside, be an adult and do household chores/organize financing paperwork?
Somehow, the answer always seems to land on: "Sit on social media in a veiled attempt at socializing and engaging with a broader community."
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Along those lines, I did come across a Tumblr post that really hit home for me the other day.
teddywesworl Dec 11, 2024i do write for attention, actually, because that's a normal reason to create artteddywesworl Dec 11, 2024did you hear about that actor performing a play in front of a crowd? clearly only doing it for attentionteddywesworl Dec 11, 2024im trying to say something and im not gonna say it in an empty roomtags by yuanzhous:#I wish people understood that when writers/artists bring this up they're not complaining about a lack of NOTES/STATS #they're complaining about a lack of COMMUNICATION and COMMUNITY #this is what all the pieces of fanworks you see mean. the people who make them are trying to have a conversation with you!! #they say 'this is what I think' or 'wouldnt it be cool if' or 'hey everyone look at the neat guy we all like' #and you're not obligated to be a part of that conversation if you don't want to! #but if you do want to hear more of what they have to say? you can't ask them to monologue about it #it REQUIRES your participation
Which is kinda precisely what I have been complaining about with regards to "I need interaction". This is where my imposter syndrome comes from: lack of engagement.
Are people finding my stories? Are they reading them? Do they like them? Does it stick with them? Does it inspire them? Does it make them feel? Am I shouting into a void? Are people simply reading my stories out of obligation because they personally know me? How many of those hits on my story are someone coming back to reread? How many are people simply opening the tab but never actually getting around to reading? How many are bots? Can I trust any of the numbers?
For instance, late last year, I started getting DMs on FanFiction.net again. Messages that made me think that people were actually reading and engaging in my stories!
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They have all been art-commission cold-call bots. The ones who say things like "Your story inspired me. I think I could improve it with some art. Reach out to me for pricing." Alternatively, they'll offer to convert my story into a comic for a small fee, or design cover art for it. So on and so forth.
I've actually been compiling all of these bot messages into a Tumblr thread.
Feels good when the only engagement you have for your stories is bots - who "themselves" admit to sometimes not even reading the stories....
"I recently found your book and, while I haven't read it yet, I'd love to create a cover design for you."
Really makes a girl feel special...
Soooooooo, yeah. I crave engagement and social interaction, which I've been lacking a lot lately due to my husband's weird work hours, since working around his schedule means that I only have a few hours here and there to work with. The minimal socializing paired with limited Me Time paired with stress over current events paired with lack of engagement with my writing.... Well, it doesn't add up to the best mental health or a lot of writing inspiration, I'll tell you that much.
So, as you've probably guessed, based on how long this update is compared to my latest LRRC, I've been taking in a lot more media than I've been creating myself.
Remember what I said about having insomnia? Since I can't crash at 8pm or 9pm like I'd wish, I end up catching my second wind. Hubby needs a few hours post-work to decompress, and I tend to stay up with him. We hang out until 1am most days, but I still want to get my daily reading in. The series I read on WEBTOON don't update until 9pm my time. Which means there's nothing new to read while waiting for Hubby to get home. Therefore, reading gets reserved for bed time. I curl up in bed - usually next to Hubby and hiding under the covers so the light from my tablet doesn't keep him awake - and I read my daily updates before officially turning in for the night.
Most nights, I have two weekly-updated series, two daily-unlock series, and my "read as much as I want while catching up" series; five stories total. It takes me about an hour to read it all, I'd wager, depending on how long each update is. Then there's Wednesdays and Saturdays, which only have one weekly-release series plus the other three daily reads. But there's also Sundays with three weekly-updated series, and Tuesdays with FOUR! That's a hefty amount of reading those days.
So, depending on what day of the week it is, my evening reading takes me anywhere from 40 to 90 minutes to get through. When one starts reading at 1am, one tends to not go to sleep until nearly 2am... unless one neglects some of the series updates....
Which one has. I haven't read my daily unlock of The Girl Downstairs (Doona!) in over a week, or my daily unlock of The Makeup Remover in about three days. Just so I can attempt to get SOME sleep at night. I still unlock them daily, though. That way I can binge them once I have free time again, and I don't fall behind my original schedule. Especially for Doona since Hubby wants to watch the K-Drama adaptation of it.
Even with me cutting out some of the nightly reading, I want to be careful to not drop the habit completely. I'm proud that I've gotten back into reading and I have this nightly routine. I don't want to mess with that. Hubby and I have had discussions about it. We're going to try to do better so that I, at least, make it to the bedroom to read no later than midnight. It's just hard when that limits the time I have with my husband to only an hour or two per night (plus the half-hour that I visit him for his lunch breaks).
There's also the elephant in the room, which is the fact that I'm going to attempt to work the novel Dracula into my reading rotation one more time.
That's right, friends! Saturday marks the start of Dracula Daily yet again! Fourth time's the charm, yeah????
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My attempt to read in the morning while I have breakfast - either catching up on the series I neglected the night before in favor of sleep, or more episodes of Mythic Item Obtained as I try to catch up - has been kind of tanking. With the struggle to go to bed before 2am most nights, I obviously have just as hard of a time getting up in the morning. Which means I almost never eat breakfast at home. I eat at my desk at work. Most mornings are slow enough that this isn't an issue and I have plenty of downtime. Enough, in fact, to lead me to believe that I could start this habit of reading while I eat in the morning. I mean, I used to sit on my socials for an easy 30min before. Why not use that time to read instead?
Problem being, suddenly everyone wants to talk to me in the morning, now. Not even about work stuff, per se. Just... socializing. Which, as I noted above, I am craving, so I, of course, wish to engage. But that means no reading time for Dracula after all. Maybe at lunch??? If not, then it's at the end of the day, which I wanted to avoid. For one, everyone who is going to post about Dracula on Tumblr would have already done so, and I'll be a day behind on the collective commentary (which is part of the point of participating). For two, as I mentioned, I already have a lengthy evening reading list that keeps me up too late....
Maybe I could read Dracula in that awkward hour of Me Time between getting back from Hubby's lunch break and my Webtoon stories updating? That means less time for the other things though. Ya know: watching media, playing games, Adulting, writing, etc....
Eh, I'll figure it out. Who's with me on the journey this year? Anyone?
In the meantime, I have plenty of other content I'm consuming, as I've mentioned.
One of the newer series I've started up is Writers Legacy. I talked about it a bit in my April update of LRRC, but in doing so I also mentioned the new TV series To Be Hero X and how the two are similar in how the superpowers work in their respective worlds. Simply, both rely on the power of the people. If they are popular and the populous engages with them their power-set grows.
In Writers Legacy, special authors can be approved to have their works published via magical printing presses. Once their work is printed on one of those magic presses, the story is linked to them. The more popular that book becomes - the more times it is read - the more powerful the author becomes in turn. They will gain preternatural strength and speed and other such powers. Eventually, they may gain the ability to manifest parts of their beloved story. An example from the series is Lewis Carroll manifesting the Queen of Hearts's soldiers. If an author dies while their work is still popular, the powers that would otherwise be bestowed onto the author would instead pass onto the author's children and other future descendants. Basically what happens to author royalties IRL. These legacy Writers (capital W means they have these supernatural powers) started to cause chaos throughout the world. In response, the Holy Order was formed to regulate these Writers, and better control whose works are published via the magical printing presses. In order to qualify as an author whose works may eventually be printed on the magical presses, you must swear loyalty to the Holy Order and promise to never use your powers to attack anyone else (and other such vows). If you refuse to take this oath (or, if your ancestor did), you are branded a Heretic and the Holy Order sends out executioners to hunt you and your whole bloodline down to make sure your power isn't passed onto someone else.
This is the situation in which the protag of Writers Legacy unknowingly finds himself. He doesn't realize that the Holy Order has branded him a Heretic due to him being an illegitimate heir to the legacy of Victor Hugo.
I haven't gotten far enough into the series to really know much more than that, but I may have more to say come my May update of LRRC. So, check in for that.
As for To Be Hero X, superheroes are born from the faith of the people around them. For example, a firefighter became an indestructible superhero when the girl he was trying to save had faith that he'd protect her from the falling rubble of the burning building they were both trapped in. She trusted that he'd stand firm and be strong enough to hold up the debris, and so he was.
The more people believed in you, the more powerful of a superhero you become. In order to broaden your platform - so you can garner more trust and therefore gain more power - superheroes essentially turn themselves into a brand and find corporate backing. The flipside of this world's way of creating superheroes is that it gives nearly full control of any superhero's life to these corporations and/or the public's opinion. This was first demonstrated by the character Moon. Despite not having any romantic interest in the superhero Nice, the public as a whole shipped the two heroes together. They wanted her to be with Nice above all else. She had developed the power to teleport, but, because the populous wished for her to be with Nice, she could only ever teleport to him. To be by his side. To be with him, literally. In a similar vein, the latest episode that was released had the main character called out by a villain. He wanted to confront the villain and rescue the villain's hostage. His fans, however, feared the aftermath of such a battle. They tried to persuade him against the fight via chanting, eventually getting enough people to collectively wish for the MC to stay put that he literally couldn't move. He became paralyzed by the populous chanting for him to stay put; don't go.
It's kind of a messed up series, and apparently the third installment in the To Be Hero franchise. To have your powers gifted, removed, and manipulated to the point that you lose your own agency or even control over your own body!? All at the whim of the population at large? That's a little insane! But such a cool premise. I'm addicted already.
Also, the series uses multiple art styles throughout - including Arcane-like 3D models, traditional 2D anime/donghua, and a more comic book/manga/manhua paper-craft style - all while seamlessly transitioning between them. A great example of this is showcased in the series opening.
It's gorgeous and so fun to watch! Hubby and I are watching it on Crunchyroll. If you can access this series, I do highly recommend it just for the visuals alone.
Another series we started up is an Actual Play D&D campaign. For those unfamiliar, Actual Plays are exactly what they say on the tin. They aren't scripted. It's just actual players playing an actual gaming session for the entertainment of the internet. The most popular of this style of media is Critical Role. The individual sessions are so long, however, and the campaigns have been going on for A DECADE NOW! There's an insane amount of content, and it's a bit daunting to get into. So, Hubby and I haven't gotten into Critical Role ourselves, but we know it's the OG.
The Actual Play we started with was Oxventure. Much more manageable session chunks to get through, and they have fewer episodes over-all. They also have shorter campaigns, so it's easier to just binge/catch up on their stories.
Just recently, however, Hubby finally signed up for the streaming service Dropout. We mostly did so to watch episodes of the improv game show Game Changer. However, we have heard great things about their D&D Actual Play Dimension 20, and we really enjoy Brennan Lee Mulligan, who DMs/hosts most of the Dimension 20 sessions.
Naturally, we had to start with both Dimension 20's first and most popular campaign: Fantasy High
I won't get too much into Fantasy High right now. Mostly because Webtoon JUST (as in, March 31st) released a comic adaptation of the campaign. After Hubby got me hooked on the first session I knew I had to get into the comic, so I'll be talking about that in May's LRRC.
I will say though, that Gorgug the half-orc is a precious bean and my beloved son and I will protect him with my life. I mean, look at his widdle face!
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Poor guy is a half-orc adopted by gnomes, so he breaks things - like his bed - a LOT as he's crammed into too small of a home. Despite his parents being loving, caring, and very attentive, they still can't fully relate to him. So he's desperate to discover who his birth parents are. Also, despite being one of the most gentle, meek, shy, and awkward guys, he struggles with some serious anger issues (he's a barbarian; he rages).
You know the story of Ferdinand the Bull, who was thought to be a ferocious beast when someone saw him rage from a bee sting, but he never wanted to fight in the bull ring? Yeah, that's kinda Gorgug.
Anyhoo...
Circling back to the insomnia, there's kind of a key starting point to the unfortunate new habit of staying up until 1am in the first place. Part of that is the fact that Hubby was covering for people rushing to use the last of their vacation time before they expire at the end of the fiscal year: the reason he was at work until 10pm most nights. The other reason is Hubby's new addiction to K-dramas. As he was looking for a new one to binge he discovered Vincenzo.
The series summary is simply: During a visit to his motherland, a Korean-Italian Mafia lawyer gives an unrivaled conglomerate a taste of its own medicine with a side of justice.
Hubby was expecting a Godfather-esque style Mafia action series. I was expecting the same. I also don't get into the K-dramas as much as Hubby does. With a few exceptions that he's suckered me into, for the most part, he can watch them and I'll be able to do my own thing without getting distracted: write, read, play games, fold laundry, etc. I was actually happily reading Webtoon as Hubby started up the series. I missed the opening 30min or so of the titular lead Vincenzo being his badass mafia consigliere self.
Then, Vincenzo heads to South Korea in order to smuggle gold hidden within a shopping district, and chaos ensues. As the series switched from serious mafia action to Shakespearean comedy I got hooked.
The broad-strokes of the plot of the series is:
- The head of the mafia dies, and the new head Paolo is attempting to kill Vincenzo (I won't get into why, if you want to know, go watch)
- Vincenzo flees to his motherland of South Korea. While there, he decides to recover roughly $110 million worth of gold and other priceless items hidden in a secret vault buried under the Geumga Plaza shopping center
- The plaza is a dying shopping center with only a handful of businesses still open in it. However, the tenants also live at the Plaza in adjoining apartments, and they refuse to leave the building. Unfortunately, the only way for Vincenzo to get into the vault is to blow up the building (again, if you want details, go watch the show)
- Another complication crops up when super-conglomerate Babel Group illegally takes possession of Geumga Plaza. Now Vincenzo has to side with the tenants against Babel to prevent the conglomerate from destroying the building and stumbling upon the gold
- Meanwhile, Babel and its shady lawyers at Wusang Law Firm battle against Geumga Plaza lawyer Hong Yoo-chan, both over the possession of the plaza as well as allegations of Babel knowingly killing medical test subjects and trying to push through a dangerously addictive and potentially lethal drug.
- The series then becomes a weird but entertaining maelstrom of Vincenzo trying to get the tenants to move while also helping defend them against Babel's claim to the building, all while Vincenzo tries to find alternative ways to smuggle out the gold without destroying the building, as well as Vincenzo seeking revenge against both Babel and Wusang (I won't say why; spoilers) and so he breaks out both his lawyering and mafia skills to expose Babel's knowledge of the dangerous drug (as well as other shady dealings)
The series is part mafia action, part cat-and-mouse procedural, part delightful slow-burn romance, part Shakespearean comedy, part goofy heist planning, part vigilante justice, and part espionage thriller (with a touch of "cheesy crouching moron hidden badass kung fu", as my husband put it). It's a weird mishmash of genres, but done so well that it drags you into the chaos, and leaves you itching for the next episode.
Therein lies the problem: Each episode is about 80min long!!! When we started up the series and sat through two episodes back-to-back, we had no clue how it got so late so quick. We also commented on how much happened in each episode. Only to discover that's because each episode was basically a 90's-era movie! Sheesh!
Starting up an episode of Vincenzo after Hubby got home from work each night was largely why we were up so late to begin with. There's also 20 episodes available on Netflix. Which meant more-or-less 20 days in a row of watching this series. That's... that's how you form a habit, isn't it? And now that we've completed Vincenzo? Well, we filled that 80min slot with those episodes of Fantasy High....
Not... the... greatest habit we've formed.
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| NuaNia
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To recap: I've been reading a lot more on Webtoon, I've been watching new shows, and I've gotten into another D&D Actual Play. I've also gotten into the horrible habit of staying up until 1am BEFORE starting my hour-long reading before bed... only to be up by 7:30 the next morning.
Considering I slept through my alarm and was 15min late for work earlier this week, I'd say maybe my body requires a touch more than 5.5hrs of sleep per night.....
As I said, not the greatest environment for creative function.
I have come up with yet another isekai-genre plot bunny, though. Not as strong as the one I came up with in March with the transmigrated author trying to stop her own story plot points, but it was still a fun mental exercise. The only bit of creativity I did this month. I'll take it.
I will preface by saying this idea probably already exists and I just haven't come across it myself. Feel free to let me know in the comments if you know of any stories that fit. Also, I know that there are western movies that have similar vibes, such as Free Guy and The Lego Movie. I'll get more into that in a moment.
Anyways, as is (new) tradition with isekai stories, the title pretty much gives away the whole premise. By the way, this is done on purpose. Apparently publishers/marketing/whomever realized that virtually no one bothered to read simple story summaries anymore, and not enough titles alone caught attention. So publishers/writers started turning their titles into the story's premise/summary. Along those lines, the title of my little isekai plot bunny would probably be something like "My Mediocre Life Had Me Become An NPC Who Then Derailed The Whole Campaign" (colloquially called "NPC Who Derailed The Campaign" or something).
Being an action fantasy series this go, the protagonist would probably be male. Most protags of this genre seem to be male. I could see them being female, though. We'll have to see if this little seed blossoms further and which gender my protag grows into if/when it does. For the purposes of this blog update, however, we'll just stick with a male protag.
The story would probably start in medias res, with the protag walking around a standard high-fantasy style market place. He's ignored by most people, not out of spite, just because people largely mind their own business. He then comments on the adventuring party that just came to town. This leads him to reveal that the setting is actually within the world of a video game, that the player usually controls the leader of the adventuring party, and that the protag isn't just an NPC - Non-Player Character - but he's also just a simple background character so insignificant he doesn't even have a name!
He goes on to lament his character's lack of personality or development. It's not just that his house is more-or-less bare and that it's hard to have any semblance of a social life, it's very much the fact that he doesn't have a personal identity! And that's insane, right? Especially when he wasn't "born like this."
It's then revealed that he used to be an average office worker in his late-30s/early-40s. And when I say "average" I MEAN it.
He lived a completely mundane and mediocre life. He was neither poor nor rich. Instead, he had a comfortable life style where he didn't have to worry about having money for bills, he had a small nest-egg saved up in case of emergencies, and he could indulge in a minor (under $300) splurge now and again, but he still had to think hard over expenses $300 or greater, and never went away for vacations (he preferred staycations anyway). He owned the average of every item. No big-name brands (read: status symbol brands), but also nothing of "Walmart quality" either. It's decent stuff made to last, but not Name Brand™.
He had a middle-management job; no real power at work, but also not an introductory grunt. The company he worked for wasn't widely known, but it was a large enough organization to not be considered a "small business".
He was also healthy, but not particularly athletic/gym rat/health-nut/ripped. He liked to play games, but was never particularly good at them (but not comically bad at them either). People liked him well enough, but he also wasn't particularly popular. He could easily find a date whenever he was so inclined (so it's not like he was "shunned by romance" like some protags, or completely overrun by a harem of potential partners like others), but he hadn't been in a committed relationship (by choice) since high school or maybe college.
He didn't have any distinct physical features that would make people find him either particularly ugly or attractive. He's kind to his neighbors and strangers, but wasn't an activist, per se. He was neither particularly talkative nor quiet. He wasn't off-putting, but he also wasn't especially charismatic.
He was simply "Default Mediocre Person".
The only "remarkable" thing about him was the tragic way he died. (Probably by the classic Truck-kun trope, just to add a bit of meta mediocrity)
The Deity of Life or Reincarnation or Whatever-Feels-Appropriate saw his death and decided, "Well, if they are OK with being Mediocre Person #1, have I got a life for them!"
The protag was then transmigrated into a fantasy realm. Probably based off of an RPG he had played while alive or something. Problem is - as the audience was already informed - he's just a nameless NPC that was programmed into the game simply to fill out the population and make the world feel more alive. As the protag awoke in his new life, he realized that he knew nothing about this character. He didn't get a "character recap" mentally downloaded into his brain like normally happens in isekais. In fact, he didn't even realize that he was transmigrated into [insert game name here] until he went out into the market to try to get his bearings and figure out what was going on. He was still a grown man, and had retained his memories of his life in the modern world, but he didn't recognize his reflection. In fact, he had no recollection of his new body or new home or growing up in this new world. He was freaking out and looking for answers when he realized he recognized different parts of the town, and various named NPCs that you would interact with as the player character.
It was a bit of a shock to realize he was essentially possessing a game character, and that the gaming world was now a real one. He still didn't recognize the character he was possessing, though, and couldn't remember anything about the character's life, including his name. Now hyperaware of anyone else calling out to him - in pursuit of figuring out what his new name was - he realizes that NONE OF THE OTHER PEOPLE there actually refered to him by a name. It was always "Hey, Neighbor" or "You there!" or "This one right here...", etc.
Is he LITERALLY a NAMELESS NPC!?! That can't be right! He must have SOME identity!
And that brings us back to the in medias res opening. In his pursuit to establish some semblance of an identity (starting with actually coming up with a name that feels natural for that world's naming mechanic, but still close enough to his former name because he actually liked that name), he somehow manages to warp the game's narrative.
Before he knows it, he's roped into joining the main adventuring party and (as the isekai name suggests) derails the whole campaign. Because he just wanted an identity! He didn't want to be a HERO, though! How does he get out of this mess of helping the actual heroes!? Every attempt to break away from the adventuring party keeps sending them all on side-quests and derailing the whole plot.
So, yeah, he would be very Guy from Free Guy, except, instead of a self-aware NPC, this protag is someone who originally had an identity and is now going "Hold up!"
Likewise, that mundane, mediocre, repetitive, Average Dude lifestyle my protag has - and the subsequent "roped into the Grand Adventure despite not having any applicable skills" - gives off a lot of Emmet from The Lego Movie vibes.
Basically, he's a little of both. He's a bit like Guy in how the protag starts off more-or-less as a blank slate without so much as a name (both "Guy" and "Buddy" were likely intended to be vague ways of addressing the NPC; not their actual names. Guy and Buddy just decided to adopt them as their names.) Much like both Guy and Emmet, he would have a basic routine to follow (maybe he has this compulsive sense of "I should go here/do this" as part of the original NPC's "programming"?). My protag would then be more Emmet leaning in how he's just roped into the Main Plot despite seemingly having no skills that will actually help with the quest, and having no desire to actually be included: "I already died once, maybe let the actual Heroes handle this alone..."
I want to stress that I don't want my protag to have ANY secret/hidden skills that would magically make him crucial to the quest or otherwise secretly overpowered (OP) for the battles the party will face. So many of the isekai stories Hubby watches has that premise. This seemingly weak character, due to their memories from their life on Earth, ends up being the exact OP hero the world needs.
They know how to modernize the fantasy world, kicking it into an industrial revolution. They were a civic servant in their past life, and use that knowledge to improve the economy/infrastructure of this new world. They were a recluse in their past life who spent every waking moment playing the game they are now teleported into, so they know all of the hacks/speedruns/best stat builds to essentially break the balance of the game and become OP. They're a damn vending machine, but know how to manipulate supply-and-demand/their inventory to become a main negotiator. Their naïveté means they accidentally befriend a dragon or demon lord that any other person would instantly try to slay. Said dragon/demon lord/etc gifts their new friend with godly powers. Their plucky disposition in their past life won over the gods who all favor this reincarnated person, making them OP via divine blessings.
So on and so forth. People with qualities that were a hindrance to their life on Earth are now magically the reason they are god-like in this new world. A way to say, "It's not the qualities that's the problem, it's the environment the person is in."
I don't want that. I want this poor shmuck to remain delightfully average/mediocre. Just your basic, standard, everyday little dude who is fully aware of how over his head he is by going with the adventurers and desperately just wants out. Even his knowledge from Earth doesn't give him much of an edge. Not to say this guy can't have wins, but everything in balance.
For instance, since he played this game in his former life, perhaps he knows that this particular monster the party is battling has one specific weak spot, but as a player he never could get the timing or aim quite right to hit the spot, and as the NPC he is just as bad at actually executing the attack. So, he has the knowledge, but isn't OP because he doesn't have the skills to back up that knowledge. Or, he could try to help by telling the adventuring party, but they act like "Yeah, everyone knows that trick." And the NPC protag remembers, "right, that's explained in this portion of the game, which these guys would have already gone through at this point..."
I dunno, something like that. He'd still have to somehow endear himself to the party, which is why he's dragged along and why the party follows him instead of the main plot whenever he tries to break away. I'd just have to sort out what that endearment point is....
Aurora Morgen suggested that my protag could just be incredibly wholesome. Which, fair. That's one of the reasons I fell for the otherwise wonderfully pathetic Gorgug in Fantasy High.
Actually, the more I think about my premise, the more it sounds a bit like Baelin's Route by Viva la Dirt League. I haven't actually gotten around to watching more than the trailer for it, so I don't know how close my idea is to theirs. I guess that's yet another piece of media to bump to the top of my To Read/Watch/Play pile. I'll try to remember to touch base again about the similarities between Baelin's Route and my NPC isekai idea in my May writing update.
Anyway, much like the Lovers-Unknowingly-Isekai'd-Together plot bunny I had in February, this isekai'd NPC idea is just broad strokes. I definitely feel like I have more of a grasp of the concept with regards to my "Author Transmigrated Into Her Own Story" plunny.
The "Average Dude Derails the Quest" concept just kind of briefly popped into my head one day.
Still, it's the only bit of creative writing I've done all month, so I'll gladly take it. Better than nothing at all.
What are everyone's feelings about my isekai ideas? Any seem more intriguing than others? Do any of you wish for me to develop any of these further? Which one? That comment section is always available right at the bottom of these updates. I have to approve of the comment (to help weed out bots here too... *la sigh* ), but they are otherwise always welcome!
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Moving onto my final segment of this update, I'm gonna be honest, it was a struggle to think of a blessing for April. Clearly there wasn't much going on in the writing department. Sleep has been on the decline. Mental health as a whole has been a bit beaten up. It kept me a WHILE to think of anything I could be grateful for within April specifically.
Then I remembered my niece's birthday. She's of that age where she's really interested in fashion design. For Christmas, Hubby and I got her a few drawing/portfolio books for her fashion designs. She showed a few of them off to me. She really loves that beach/coastal aesthetic.
Well, for her birthday, we got her one of those doll fashion sewing kits. It comes with six little dress mannequins. The right size to display clothes that would also fit on a Barbie. The kit also came with some fabrics, buttons and other embellishments, needles and thread, bobbins, fabric scissors, a pin cushion, disappearing ink pens, some simple patterns, and basic instructions on how to use patterns/construct clothing. There's even accessory pieces like necklaces that you can include with your outfit.
It was awesome to see her so excited to get the kit, taking each item out to look at it. The wheels already turning in her head as to the first outfit she wanted to make. Not even 3 days later, she sent me a picture of her first design.
I personally love the tulle drape off of the hip.
I don't know if my niece will stick with fashion design. I had grand plans of being a fashion designer myself when I was about her age. I'm actually getting her a lot of the same stuff my parents once got me. I then realized that I don't really have the talent to put together unique fashion looks, I struggle drawing even stick figures, and my ability to sew is functional, at best. That was more-or-less when I pivoted towards communications (originally print media, which again changed to visual media in college).
For all I know, my niece will likewise change her mind. This fashion design thing will have been a typical preteen fad.
Until she tells me otherwise, though, I'm going to act like fashion design is end-game for her. A calling. She's also a Miraculous Ladybug fan, and maybe she's our Marinette Dupain-Cheng.
Regardless if this is a passing fad or a life-long goal, it was so awesome to see her be so excited to craft and express herself through art. I truly hope she continues finding ways to create, even if it isn't always through fashion.
Likewise, I hope I can find a way to create (preferably via writing) by the time I give everyone my next update at the end of the month. Hopefully within the intended month again....
In the meantime, I'll catch you in about two weeks for May's LycoRogue's Reading Corner.
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