Est. Read Time: 28min
This Month's Font: Josefin Sans
Well then. I started this blog update on the 17th with so so SO much hope that I would get it done before the end of the month this time. I managed it! Win! But it still kept me 11 days to actually have this written up (and an extra day to edit).
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What happened to my weekly updates where I wrote up the post within the 6hrs or so that Hubby was at work???? Are my updates really THAT much longer now? Am I getting interrupted that much? Is my brain now too scattered to focus on something long enough to complete it within one sitting anymore? What's even going on???
Anyway, you might have noticed that I've switched up the font again this month. Going back to Josefin Sans so see how I feel about it. I dunno. I just can't find one that makes me think "That's it! That's my new font!" I may have to full-on go back to the drawing board. Maybe search for some new font options. See if I can find one that better fits what I'm looking for. I'm just nervous about finding one, only for it to be moot since most of my readers won't have access to that font on their devices.
Is that's what's been going on this whole time anyway???? Is that why no one has commented on their font preference for the past 16 months???? Does the font just change to some default like Ariel or Times New Roman or Calibri or something when you bring up my updates? Am I toiling over something that most of you can't even see???
If so... that tracks. I've been WAY over-analyzing lately, apparently.
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Oh... quick side note, since I'm talking about features readers may not even see. I spent a LOT of time last update putting in alt-text descriptions for all of my images. When I published, however, the little "alt text" clickable link that shows up on images elsewhere - such as Twitter or Tumblr - didn't show up at all. I clicked on the images and.... nothing! Does the alt-text code not work? Is it only for screen readers, and there is no other way to access the alt text???? Do I have no way of double checking on the code without using a screen reader myself?
So disappointing....
I've tried, but if the alt-text code isn't working I just don't have the energy to fruitlessly describe every image I put on this blog. If you use a screen reader or otherwise need that accessibility feature - and if you either were able to get the alt texts last post or know of an alternative way for me to include them - please let me know. I want to make sure I'm accessible to my readers, but I'm not going to make the process of writing each update needlessly longer by writing up descriptions no one can see anyway. So, in the meantime, I think I'm going back to not describing the images. Sorry....
Getting back to where I was originally going with that "over-analyzing" thought process, though. I managed to finish the smut fic that I talked about last update!
To be fair, although I do describe the full sex act between the characters, I focus more on them kissing on each other and their hands roaming each other's arms and backs and the like. I also zoom in on their thoughts and motivations as the night progresses. So, it IS technically explicit, "smutty" material, but it's not really "pornographic." So... it's like... 25% smut?
Anyway, I'm just so proud of myself. As I mentioned last update, between the two published stories I had in 2023 (totaling 1870 words) and whatever prose writing I might have done for Seduce with Caution in the past year or so, I've barely written 3k words since December 2022. Want to know how long that smut story turned out? OVER 7200 WORDS LONG!!! That is more than what I've written since June 2022!
HOW!?!
It's amazing! I feel amazing! I am GLOWING with pride and excitement over this story. Between edits and just genuine enjoyment, I must have reread this beast about a dozen times since I've completed writing it two weeks ago.
But, then comes in the over-analyzing....
I was excited about this story. I told you all last update that this story had a chokehold on me and I was writing with a renewed vigor. It kept three days of chipping away at it - March 24th, April 9th, and April 11th - but I had it done and edited on the 12th. Once completed, I was itching to publish it online.
Then I remembered that Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story is an adaptation of a webnovel. Basically, webnovels are what gets hosted by sites like FictionPress or Wattpad: typically amateur original writing published online for free consumption. Point being, it already was a novel, and yet I'm here "novelizing" the webcomic.
The whole thing felt very The Producers (2005): a movie musical adaptation of a Broadway musical adaptation of the original Mel Brooks movie from 1967 (about a fictitious Broadway musical...).
Was there even a point in publishing this story now? Was what I was craving - filling in the gap of the mental state and emotional shift within the main characters during their first night together - already available for me via the original author's novel?
It kept a little bit for me to track down, especially since I was looking under the wrong title, but I found a copy of the English translation of the original webnovel. I'm not sure how the webcomic landed on the title Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story, but the webnovel used a more literal translation of the Korean: I Thought It Was A Common Transmigration.
There's two different uploads that I found, each with their own slight translation interpretations and errors, but you can still get the basic idea of the original novel and what author Lemon Frog wanted to say.
On Moonlight Novel
On Guava Read
There were quite a few translation/localization changes between the English webnovel and the English manhwa that I found amusing. For one, Rigelhof (as it is spelled in the webcomic) was spelled Riegelhoff in the Guava Read version of the webnovel translation. For two, the butler Rhynon (webcomic) had his name spelled Renan in the webnovel translations. Then, we had the two biggest changes. The Duke's family name in the webcomic is Rudwick. In both English translations of the webnovel? Ludwig.... Finally, while the Duke's ward is Rhyse (pronounced 'Reese') in the webcomic, in the webnovel her name was apparently Lizé.
So, I guess that's one reason to go ahead with publishing my story. Like a novelization of a movie adaptation of a novel, there's going to be changes to the adaptation from the original novel. Therefore, even if the original author Lemon Frog did write up more about Edith and Killian's mental states during their first night together - if not straight up write out the sex scene - it still could have been different than how it would have played out in the webcomic version. And so, I would still be filling in that blank spot for us Webtoon fans.
Regardless, I was still curious about how Lemon Frog handled that main plot point. Yes, my story was based off of the webcomic, which was a bit different from the webnovel. However, I didn't want to publish something that majorly contradicted the webnovel (specifically, character motivations and/or mental states). At least, I didn't want to publish it without a disclaimer that it was novel non-compliant.
I flipped through the chapters real quick, and found the seduction scene in the webnovel. Turns out that Lemon Frog did the same thing as the webcomic. Killian was successful in seducing Edith. They start making out. He starts lifting the skirt of her nightgown up her legs. Hard-cut to Edith waking up in Killian's bed the next morning, still beaming about the night she had with her husband.
I even had a chuckle when I saw the comments section of the Guava Read upload that included comments like "i can never forgive the author for not giving us the full details about the night, IM CRYINHGG[sic]" and "author, think there is a big chunk of this chapter missing please fix the error asap" and "Author-nim, there is so much lacking in this novel. The details of their first night! Why?!"
Seems I'm not the only one who was like, "NOOOO! The censoring!!!!"
The comments were also either from late last year or as recent as this past February. The webnovel - at least, the English translation of it - is still relatively new! So, there were potentially others who read the webnovel translation who were still hungry for that "missing" content. Not to mention the webcomic fans, such as myself.
Lemon Frog didn't already canonically describe what I had just written out, AND there was potentially an audience for my story still! It was DEFINITELY worth posting (as opposed to just keeping it to myself).
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Added bonus? The inner monologue that I said last time was implied but not expressly stated? The focus on Killian's motivation and thoughts on losing his virginity? Edith's confusion about Killian's seduction? All of that unsaid stuff that I included in my story? It was almost all accurate, apparently!
For instance, based on how the comic artist A-jin drew Killian when he first caught Edith in his room, he didn't give off "I just got woken up" vibes.
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Story by Lemon Frog Art by A-jin |
So, I had Edith silently panicking that Killian had only been pretending to be asleep when she kissed him. Lo and behold, if you go to the novel, you have the kiss played out from Killian's point-of-view because he 100% was pretending to be asleep, just to see what Edith would do.
Again, just from studying Killian's character and the catalysts leading to him seducing Edith, I had him becoming lustful because he doesn't have to fight for Edith's affection; she'd give it freely if allowed. Plus, he felt guilty about Edith fainting and sliding into a coma for two days, which is why he didn't go to see her when he heard that she had woken up earlier that day.
Jump over to the novel, and guess what Killian's motivation for both seducing Edith and not going to see her when she woke up earlier that day were?
Quite frankly, the only thing that truly differs in my story compared to the webnovel is the amount of time they had sex together. Minor spoilers here, but, the webnovel concluded the seduction scene with, "After that, Killian couldn’t control himself. It was just the beginning of a night dominated by passion, instinct, hot body temperature, and slippery sweat." Despite going on for 7200+ words, my story definitely didn't have them go through "a night dominated by passion", etc. I did manage to work in the passion, instinct, elevated body temps, and sweat on my own. Just... not a full night's worth....
Regardless, I'm stoked that I was able to pick up on the crumbs that the adapter and illustrator left us readers, and used them to lead me to the exact character motivations and growth that Lemon Frog had for Edith and Killian.
I'm actually SUPER proud about that.
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OK! That over-think was out of the way. I was definitely publishing this story. I would then have to hope it does well within the fandom. Now, time to sort out a title for it. I couldn't just leave the file name as the title: Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story Smut....
Juuuuust.... needed an actual title...
AAAAAANY sort of title...
Once I have the title I could post the story....
Title...
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I was stumped. Nothing came to mind. There wasn't really a THEME for me to build a title off of, like Rolling Thunder or Cataclysm the Doubt. I couldn't think of a fun summary title/play on words like Peeping Tomcat or Woven Heartstrings or Prescription for Love or For Whom the Bells Toll or my last smut story Sparks for the Moment. The story wasn't based off of a song like I Don't Care or RE: Your Brains. Although, I did try finding songs that matched the vibe of the story and maybe title it off of those.
The ones that fit the best, for me, were the Dua Lipa songs "Fever" and "Pretty Please" as well as the song "Obsessed" by EMDI featuring Veronica Bravo. All of which had song titles that just felt too generic for a story title.... Although, given that Suna was isekai'd into the story Don't Obsess Over Me, Brother, perhaps calling the story "Obessed" wouldn't be too terrible....
Anyway!
Maybe the tried and true "use a line or bit of dialogue from the story to title it" method would work better?
I had three potential candidates. All were lines from Killian's canonical dialogue. All had pluses and minuses.
First potential was Killian's first line in that webtoon episode/webnovel chapter. The one showcased in the above panels: "You pretended not to care this whole time."
Edith had just kissed Killian while she believed he was asleep. She then expected him to wake up, just like he did in the novel, and throw her out of his room in disgust. Instead, he catches hold of her arm, smirks at her, and comments, "You pretended not to care this whole time," before teasing her about her lust being too great to pretend any longer, and how he's fine to let her have her way with him.
Which leads me to my second potential dialogue-turned-title: "Seduce me like the Rigelhofs taught you."
When Edith still resists Killian, he takes her hand and runs it up and down his bare chest while continuing to basically tell her to do whatever physical depravity she wants with him. He then asks her my third potential title: "...Are you happy now?"
Now, the main pro of that first option was that it felt very on-theme for the story. Both Edith and Killian pretended to not care about the other. Even to themselves. Edith pretended to not care about Killian, or about Killian's affection for Rhyse, or what Killian and his family thought about her (Edith), or that her life was fated to be tragic, rough, and end by her husband executing her. Killian pretended to not care that his father favored his older brother (for obvious birth-order inheritance reasons), or that he'd soon inherit land that was going to be removed from his family's dukedom and he would have to move out of his childhood home, or that Rhyse seemed to also prefer Cliff, or that he (Killian) was potentially the cause for Edith fainting and falling into a coma. He pretended to not care about Edith at all, let alone what his family negatively thought of her. Killian also pretended to not care about the rumors that Edith is having an affair with butler Rhynon. There is just so much pretending to not care throughout the canonical story. Alternatively, in my fic, those façades come down and they finally admit - even if briefly - that they DO care.
Another pro? That line kicks off the whole seduction scene, so fans should be able to know exactly where this fic takes place within canon. Simply based off of the title.
The con of this title? It felt a bit "angsty" for an otherwise "fluffy" little sex scene where two people finally see each other, come together, and just let go. If people saw the title "You Pretended Not to Care This Whole Time" (or, the shorter alternative "You Pretended Not to Care"), would they think "ooo, that's a fluffy smut fic"?
The pros of the second option? Well, for one, just like the first option, it would be a dead giveaway for fans as to when my fic takes place. Maybe even a more obvious "hint" on when the story takes place.
A second - and the main - pro? I mean, it straight up includes the word "seduce" within the title, so it would DEFINITELY give off the right vibes: "this is a smut fic, folks!" Killian asking Edith to "Seduce me like the Rigelhofs taught you" also gives off the vibes of the sex scene itself: sensual but also a bit clunky and goofy. On top of that, while the line is Killian addressing Edith, I thought it was equally appropriate the other way around. The irony of KILLIAN being the one to seduce EDITH the way that he believes the Rigelhofs had taught her. All-in-all, this was one of my favorite title options.
The cons though? For one, "Seduce Me Like The Rigelhofs Taught You" felt too long of a title. Despite liking isekais, with their notoriously long titles, I have always preferred short titles that are easy to remember, quick to say, and quick to type. However, simply shortening this option to "Seduce Me" then felt like I fell into the same "too generic" title category as "Fever" or "Pretty Please" or "Obsessed". Also, "Seduce me like the Rigelhofs taught you" felt very "Draw me like one of your French girls." Yeah, I mean, that's kind of the vibe, but it also feels a bit extra goofy???? I dunno. Secret third con? Well, I've been working on Seduce with Caution for damn near four years now. Only to then post a DIFFERENT smut story with "Seduce" in the title? It just felt like, if/when I finally publish SWC it would then read like I can only come up with smut stories with the word "seduce" somewhere in the title (Sparks for the Moment not withstanding). It was a weird block, but one I faced nonetheless. I just couldn't lock "Seduce Me Like the Rigelhofs Taught You" in as the title of my fic because of those cons.
The final option? Well, the pro is that both Edith and Killian do wonder "Are you happy now?" at the end of the story. They are metaphorically asking that question both of each other as well as of themselves. Plus, it's the shortest option out of the ones I was toying with.
The cons? The title again felt kind of generic. As well as potentially sarcastic and/or angsty. It also didn't quite catch the vibes of the story the same way the other two options did.
As I was pondering those three options, I did think of a fourth: "Forget About Rhyse."
It wasn't really a line from the story, but I did have that sentiment a couple of different times throughout the narrative. Edith wonders if Killian could possibly forget about his feelings for Rhyse, or if he'd regret sleeping with Edith. Meanwhile, Killian is already pushing his feelings for Rhyse to the side and needed Edith to be the one who forgot about Rhyse. Forget about how her husband was in love with Rhyse. Forget about her friendship to Rhyse and whether or not sleeping with her own husband is somehow a betrayal of Rhyse.
There was a lot of focus on "we need to forget Rhyse exists right now" for a portion of my story. And them following through with sleeping together seemed to confirm that they did indeed forget about Rhyse, even briefly.
Plus... short title. Win!
My problem with this title, though, was that it felt like it incorrectly signaled to the potential readers that the narrative would be focusing on Rhyse in some form. She wasn't even in the story outside of Edith and Killian briefly talking about her and Edith having a throw-away line about wondering if Killian was picturing her as Rhyse. Also, "Forget About Rhyse" again falls into the "does this title make it feel like an angsty story" conundrum.
I just couldn't decide on what to title this story, and so I ended up not publishing it on the 12th after completing it. Maybe if I slept on it a good title would pop in my head.
No such luck. So, I spent the rest of the weekend pondering. Reading, rereading, and re-rereading my story to try to see if the right title vibe would show itself to me. I asked two different people if they had any ideas on which of my titles seemed best, or if they had any alternative suggestions.
One of them teased that I was definitely reading too much into my potential titles, and that my readers wouldn't be putting nearly as much weight into what the title alone could mean for the story. Yeah. I was over-analyzing again.
Still. I feel like if I was doing this, there MUST be others who would as well. Titles are important, after all.
In the end, I had to make the decision myself.
It kept me until after 6:30pm on Sunday, April 14th, but I finally locked in my story title.
Despite the "potentially angsty vibe" downside, I landed on my first title option:
You Pretended Not to Care
Summary:
When Suna Choi reincarnated as Edith Rigelhof, the villainess of the novel Suna read the night before she died, she knew she had to do everything possible to avoid Edith's cruel execution at the hands of her own husband. Seemed easy enough to avoid the pitfalls that led to Edith's demise. She attempted to befriend the novel's protagonist Rhyse Sinclair. She refused to be her despicable father's spy. Most importantly, she wouldn't fall in love with her husband Killian Rudwick. His heart already belonged to Rhyse, and his arranged marriage to Edith wasn't going to change that.
Despite her best efforts, Edith is still being forced down the same path as the original novel's plot. At least, that's what it seems like. But when Edith finally waves the white flag and decides to just follow the plot after all, the novel again has other plans. Edith steels herself for the next main plot point: a failed attempt to seduce her husband... except... this time it isn't going to fail....
- Rating: Explicit; due to a descriptive sex scene
- Word Count: 7,228
- Est. Reading Time: 36min
- Status: Completed one-shot
• On ArchiveOfOurOwn • On Tumblr • On DeviantArt
I was shaking as I posted it to AO3, DA, and Tumblr (due to site restrictions, I can't post my smut on FFN). Don't get me wrong. I get a little nervous each time I publish a story; of course I do. I worry that people won't like it. People won't even SEE it. That I'm just screaming out into the void.
I mean, sure, "write for yourself" and all that, but what's the point of then publicly sharing said story if not to attract an audience for it?
When I share my smut, however? Hooooooboy! That is another level of nerves. Will people think poorly of me for even writing smut? Let alone sharing it? Does my sex scene read as authentic? Does it read as goofy and cliché? Does it read as bland and generic? Does it read as juvenile? Will people like it? Will they find it cringe? Will I be thought of as a weird pervert? Will people use how I wrote out the sex scene as proof of my own kinks or what my own sex life looks like?
I anxiously awaited my 24 hour stats.
24 Hour Stats
AO3: 13 hits, 2 kudos, no bookmarks or comments
DA: 13 views, but no interaction
Total Results: 26 views, 2 kudos, no bookmarks, and no reviews
Tumblr Notes: 2 likes
Not the greatest stats in the world.... But, considering I didn't know how big this fandom was, there were no other smut options for this fandom on AO3 for me to gauge off of, I didn't promote the new story on my socials (aside from Tumblr, obviously), and it IS smut... getting any kudos/Tumblr likes at all was an accomplishment! There were people on AO3 willing to read my smut - or, at least, open the tab....
I'll take it!
Then, roughly an hour after I grabbed my 24hr stats, I got my first review! The exact type of review I was hoping for:
THANK YOU!!!!
I've been waiting for someone to fill in these blanks that were left in the original story. Your contribution is greatly appreciated 💜
- Megra
That review managed to rejuvenate my faith in myself, my writing, and the fact that I had an audience. Emboldened, I tweeted out about my new story, as well as posted about it on FB. I have no clue if those "promos" really did anything for my readership, but the readers started rolling in regardless!
Current (at time of publishing) Stats
AO3: 197 hits, 22 kudos, 2 bookmarks, and 4 comments
DA: 118 views, but still no interaction (probably never will get any, if I'm honest)
Total Results: 315 views, 22 kudos, 2 bookmarks, and 4 reviews
Tumblr Notes: 2 likes and 1 reblog
Reviews:
- THANK YOU!!!! I've been waiting for someone to fill in these blanks that were left in the original story. Your contribution is greatly appreciated 💜 - Megra
- This is good. Extra kudos. - Elf_Kid
- This is absolutely what this fandom has been needing. While I hope this won't be the last fic written to fill in this particular blank, you can rest assured that you have set the bar for it really frickin high
edit: oops it is now 3 am goodbye sleep schedule
- EvenstarFalling- This was SO GOOD!! 💖
I love how you wrote their actions and the alternating POV was really nice; it's great to be able to contrast Edith and Killian's thoughts and feelings through the story. - ZenPudding
I know it feels so weirdly small of a number to be happy about, but roughly 11% of people who read my story on AO3 left a kudos! And nearly 18% of those who left a kudos also left me a comment! Those are insane stats, actually!
Comparatively, let's look at my other smut story Sparks for the Moment. Only about 4% of that story's readers left a kudos. And only about 7% of people who left a kudos also left a comment.
What about my most popular single-chapter, non-smut, big-fandom story Could Your Paradise Also Be Your Hell? Only 6% of those readers left kudos, and, again, only about 7% of those who left a kudos also left a comment.
Granted, the data will be skewed by how long the story has been published. For instance, a person who rereads any of my stories will add hits but can't give me more kudos. Which then throws the kudos-to-hits ratio off, but it's not for lack of love for my story. You know?
That said, for now, I'm basking in the glow of a surprisingly well-received piece of my work.
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Oh! Fun side note? That smut story is also the 50th story I've published on AO3. That's... a neat milestone...
Now to just write another smut story for Edith and Killian's second night together. Then to jump over to Leveling Up My Husband to the Max and write up smut for Amber and Carlyx's first night together.... And then another one for their night together after Carlyx saved Amber... and then again for their last night together before Carlyx went off to war... and then their reunion over a year later....
Goodness! I really AM reading the manhwa equivalents of classic Harlequin romances, aren't I? Well... I guess I AM within that target demographic now, huh?
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On the non-smut side of things, I toyed around with my mental build of NoPixel character Anna-Marie Wolffe (maybe I could manifest her if I do this often enough?).
The more I thought about how I would love to play her as a sort of Mama Wolf (hence the last name), I realized there's no way I could play her as someone in her 20s. I mean, I KNOW there's 20-something "Mom Friends". I used to be one of them. But it just isn't the right VIBE for her. I want her to be Protective MamaTM because she has that experience under her belt. Therefore, I'd probably keep her about my age.
That's one thing sorted out.
I then wondered why Anna-Marie would be moving to Los Santos.
Most people move due to housing reasons: improved housing, being able to own instead of rent, cheaper housing options, improved neighborhood/less crime, better school district, was forced to move (eviction/foreclosure), etc. Quite frankly, due to NoPixel characters starting in a tiny studio apartment within a Los Angeles-like city - one that has MORE crime due to it being a GTA game - me thinks that "moving for basic housing reasons" doesn't really apply for Anna-Marie.
MAAAAYBE the foreclosure/eviction reason? But... then why go out to Los Santos to try to start anew if your finances are that poor? I mean, it WOULD explain the starting character account of only $500 dollars.... MAAAAAYBE this could be an option then? She lost her family home, heard that people were starting over in Los Santos and that the renewed economy meant that anyone could make it big on just $500, so she decided to try her luck???? Eh. It's in the running, I guess. What do you folks think?
The next biggest reason people move is for family: again, better school districts, change in marital status, wanting to establish one's own household, living closer to/further from family members, taking care of ailing family, assisting family in other ways (such as helping raise children), etc. Because I don't personally know any of the other NoPixel players there is no way to establish any of them as Anna-Marie's family that she moved to Los Santos to be with. Unless Hubby joins me with his own character on NoPixel, I can't say that Anna-Marie moved there with her family for x-reason. I could maybe establish that 40-something Anna-Marie moved to Los Santos to give her kids a better life, but.... then where are her kids? Did she go ahead of them in order to set up a home before they move in? If that's so, and I manage to play throughout the many years that 4.0 is live, why hasn't her family moved to join her in the months or YEARS that Anna-Marie is in Los Santos? Seems weird to create lore that she has kids but then never introduce them or be forced to come up with lore as to why they never joined her in LS. And, given the motherly demeaner I would love for her to have, it doesn't make sense to make her a neglectful mother of her own kids.
The only "for family" option that I could think of that might work here is either 1) trying to get away from existing family; poor family home life, or 2) change in marital status. Given that I'm pulling a little from X-Men's Rogue as inspiration for Anna-Marie (see: her name), I can see her having a need to get away from her family. I cannot see her getting a divorce. Maybe she's a young widow? Or her and her beau didn't marry before he broke her heart. I think that's my frontrunner: she was devastated by an ex and she moved to Los Santos to get as far from him as possible; starting anew.
The third reason given by people who have moved is employment: new job or job transfer, having an easier commute, retirement, or better opportunity to find a new job.
Obviously Anna-Marie wouldn't have a job right out the gate. That's part of the fun of the game: finding ways to earn money. I could maybe come up with some BS job within the city and then say that it fell through once she moved. A new job that fell through? A transfer that ended up getting cut?
Maybe, since Los Santos is supposed to be like LA, and there IS a movie studio within Los Santos, Anna-Marie moved for the same reason a LOT of people move to LA: to get a foot into the film industry. Maybe I could have her be an actor or writer or even a film editor? It would be so fun to use Anna-Marie as an excuse to get back into editing so she would have a resume reel. However, I've been out of the game for so long. I am INCREDIBLY rusty. So, unless I get back into editing before this dream-inclusion on the NoPixel server, maybe I just leave it to skills I know I'm better at right now: acting and writing.
The final main reasons for moving, according to the census, are: relationship with unmarried partner (i.e. moving to be closer to them), attending/leaving college, health reasons (e.g. - my uncle's ex-wife got crippling migraines in the Northeast humidity, but they all-but-vanished when she moved to the desert), change of climate (i.e. Northerners moving south to avoid snow... or my uncle's ex-wife again), or avoiding/escaping natural disasters.
That first reason is again nixed. I would be going in without knowing anyone personally, and therefore I couldn't roleplay that Anna-Marie moved to be closer to any of them. Having her move to be closer to an unnamed/unseen relative or partner MIIIIIGHT work... Treat them like an unseen sitcom character, such as Niles' first wife Maris from Frasier, Howard's mother from The Big Bang Theory, Lieutenant Columbo's wife from Columbo, or Karen Walker's rich husband Stan from Will & Grace. Again, if I were to actually make it onto NoPixel, it's a high probability that Hubby would as well. In which case, coming up with an unseen partner would be out. Maybe a cousin, aunt/uncle, or grandparent???
There is a college campus in Los Santos. So Anna-Marie moving to LS to attend college as an adult student wouldn't be too far fetched. However, it would be hard to roleplay since the college is little more than a set-piece. I could maybe use that as an excuse as to why my character is unavailable during the times that I'm not playing. However, they already have the logged-off mechanic worked in: "Asleep". If someone isn't currently logged into NoPixel you say that character is currently "asleep" and that they "wake up" once the character is logged in. If someone goes a long time without playing, you say they are "traveling outside of the city" and that they have "returned to the city" once they log back in. You can also complain about how long of a wait the queue to log in is by grumbling about your "train ticket" causing delays. All that said, me saying "I was at my night classes" doesn't fit the already established vernacular. So I can probably nix that as an option.
I could maybe play around with those final three options: moving for health reasons, for a change of climate, or to avoid/escape a natural disaster. Despite Los Santos being a GTA version of LA, it doesn't really experience earthquakes. Although, you might be able to joke that all of the noclipping glitches are due to earthquakes.... Also, to have an immersive in-universe reason for the servers kicking everyone out of the game a couple of times per day for updates, the players refer to the system resets as "tsunamis" or "storms" that flood Los Santos and washes everyone out of the island-based city for a few minutes. These are usually timed "storms" so people can make sure to go for cover (aka - save your progress) in time. So, they're manageable disasters. However, still feels a bit much for someone to deal with if they've moved to LS to AVOID natural disasters. So, I think that option's out.
I have nothing either for or against the other options of "health reasons" or "change of climate". They can remain in the running, I guess.
So, to recap, here's some options for why Anna-Marie moved:
- Down on her luck. Just got evicted from her home (figure out reason later). She heard that the island city of Los Santos is trying to revitalize its economy and has government funding that allows every citizen to receive free housing, and there are a plethora of job opportunities in order to make a fortune. It required Anna-Marie to sell all of her belongings to do so, but she was able to fund her travel across country (starting on the east coast somewhere) and got a small studio apartment in Los Santos with $500 remaining to her name.
- Similar to - and possibly building off of - option 1: Anna-Marie finally raises enough money to get out of a toxic or abusive home. Whether that home was with her parent(s) or a lover TBD. She runs across country to try to get as far away as possible from that toxic/abusive environment. Once she is done running, she has but $500 to her name, but is able to get a small studio apartment for free thanks to the government assistance in Los Santos.
- A new job opportunity - be it a new career/company, a new position, and/or a job transfer - opens up in Los Santos. When Anna-Marie gets to the city she discovers that the job fell through. She has "secretly" been in the city for a couple of weeks (so, she was in LS for weeks prior to me officially playing as her; "secretly" explains why none of the player characters have bumped into her). She struggled to find other employment within x-industry (figure out later) over those few weeks, and eventually failed to secure anything. Now, with only $500 left in her account, Anna-Marie downgrades to the government-funded studio apartments and starts looking for work in more labor-intensive jobs, such as towing, package delivery, secure money transfers, or fast-food work.
- Similar to option 3: Anna-Marie got laid off from her old job, considered it A SignTM, and decided it was the perfect chance to move to Los Santos and attempt to get a foot into the film industry as a writer/actor. Sadly, as all know fairly well, the job offers won't come right away, so she's living in her government-funded studio while working odd jobs until she gets her big break.
- Generic "She moved to a new climate". I have no details for this option yet.
- Generic "She moved for health reasons". I have no details for this option yet.
- Anna-Marie's relative (TBD) lives in Paleto Bay, north of Los Santos but on the same island. The relative would always be an unseen character that I reference, but no one ever meets (unless it's handwaved that they met "off screen" like when players have their characters sleeping with each other... it's never ACTUALLY played out; it's just spoken into canon). This one would be tricky since there are already some player characters who have homes in Paleto, and they actually have a couple of gang HQs in that area. So I would have to find an address that isn't available to purchase. If it opens up for PC purchases, I could say that the relative died or needed to move, which is why the house was now on the market. Hopefully, by that time, Anna-Marie would be established enough within the city that it would make sense that she didn't move away with the relative no longer in Paleto.
Not a bad option, but a touch more complicated. Especially since I'd have to come up with a second character while finishing my build of Anna-Marie. - Vague "She just needed a new start". This one could be a bit fun. I thought it would be neat to have the other players kind of build up Anna-Marie's history for me. I would have Anna-Marie be vague and mysterious about why she moved to Los Santos or any past experiences she has. If anyone decides to fill in the gaps with their own theories or rumors, I would then vet them to see which ones I think work for the character, and then confirm those. Deny the ones that definitely won't work for the character. Refuse to either confirm or deny any I'm on the fence about.
This is a great way to "Yes and..." my way into a character build. It's also a neat way to kind of form Anna-Marie's backstory organically. Finally, it would be able to take into consideration how my character presents to other players. Trish is fun and all, but I can't play her as intimidating as I wanted her to be. Lia ended up more meek than I had planned. Jolene got too attached to the adventuring party too quickly for her backstory. One of my old Vampire: The Masquerade characters had her whole backstory fleshed out just from how I fidgeted in the local park while waiting for a meeting to end. So, realistically, this might be my best option for Anna-Marie. It's still fun to come up with a complete character ahead of time though, especially since I'm daydreaming here. Which brings me to.... - Building off of option 2, my favorite option is probably that Anna-Marie was living with a boyfriend who broke her heart and devastated her. Considering the crime in NoPixel, I'll probably avoid her being mad at him simply for being a criminal. I think I'm leaning towards "she found out that not only was he cheating on her, but Anna-Marie was actually the secret 'kept' woman of a married man with kids!" Yeah. I think I like that. Being cheated on is one thing. Discovering that YOU are unintentionally and unwillingly the Other Woman makes it so much worse. THEN discovering that you're helping him betray his wife and abandon his kids!? When Anna-Marie herself wants kids (and he probably keeps shooting her down precisely because he's already a neglectful father)!? Ooof. Yeah. I like the spice of this one. I could see her feeling guilty enough to want to run as far away from him and his family as possible to no longer interfere, and not really having any personal possessions if it was his secret second home. Would a cheating husband be the one to pay for a secret second home???? Would he be mooching off of her home???? I dunno. Thoughts in the comments, please. I'd love to see what everyone thinks of this option.
Actually, I've love to hear thoughts on ANY of the above options. Were there any that resonated more with you than others? Do you have an idea for the "for health reasons" or "climate change" options? Do you have a different prompt for me to try to build off of? Should I lean more into the X-Men's Rogue lore? Should I try pulling in things from the D&D rogue class somehow???
In the meantime, it's been a fun thought experiment to keep going back to and poke at now and again as Hubby and I continue watching NoPixel.
I wonder what his character would be like if Hubby were to join....
Anyway, that is a thought experiment for another day. In the meantime...
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