First of all, I pity whoever decides to skip the entire story and look through this part. It is chock-full of spoilers everywhere. Also, this is very long, so read this when you have time.
[half of this was written with a hyperactive kitten sitting on my shoulder and trying to eat my hair while his big brother attempted to climb up my damn leg with claws out like I'm a tree trunk, so if I sound especially saltybitter for some reason, there's your reason]
[whoever said having many cats is all cute and giggles and Instaworthy pics is a fcken liar]
[I mean I love them but it would be nice not to bleed somewhere every day]
All right, here is part 2 of INK STAINED's Q & A! Thank you to everybody who asked questions, and don't be afraid to keep on asking them! I love talking to you guys and hearing what you have to say, it's amazing! I sometimes see people complaining about something with Wattpad, and usually I'm that silent one in the corner, sipping my tea/coffee and thinking, 'what other popular platform allows writers to post their original content, get feedback on said stories, and actively talk to the people reading said stories?'.
*crickets*
I bet someone's going to prove me wrong, but meh, that's my opinion from personal experience.
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First up is my friend A_C_Douglas. Thank you so much for your lovely words, your spa –QUESTIONS –mean a lot! :D
--What do you plan on doing once you finish IS? Are there any other stories (either related or unrelated to IS) you've got planned?
I'm always writing stories, so yes, definitely there are other stories I have planned. Once I finish INK STAINED I plan to continue with its sequel, aptly named BLOOD STAINED [yes. Yes I already have a title for it and I refuse to change it no matter how dramatic it sounds]. But, between the two, I'll take a break to finish up a fanfic I have posted on AO3 (Archive of Our Own) called "we thought we knew (we know nothing)". It's a Klance VLD fic –basically, when I feel like I need to take a break with INK STAINED's world, I have a whole document full of ideas I've gotten for fics, and that one (it's actually 2 fics part of one series) has gotten pretty fantastic feedback on AO3. If you're interested in that, I write under the penname xeah on there, and the link to my profile is, uh, on my profile on here. Actually, I'll just link it at the end of this chapter.
So yeah. I'm never going to stop writing. It's what keeps me sane. My home life is pretty...shitty, to say the least, and I struggle with a couple of mental health issues related to my very toxic relationship with my mother, so writing is what has kept me going and kept me happy. It physically pains me to think of not writing, and even my mother knows not to try interfering with it. She's tried before, to tell me what to write –it didn't end well.
WAIT I JUST REMEMBERED –ok, INK STAINED is book one, then book two will be BLOOD STAINED, but I am also planning on writing a third book that, following the whole 'stained' theme, will be titled COLOUR STAINED. It won't be plot heavy like the first two books, but I can't say anything more beyond that [there will be a plot tho]. COLOUT STAINED is going to be a bit non-linear in story-telling, and will feature snippets of the past reincarnations of the cast of INK STAINED –that is, Shin, Pai, Shiori, Kouta, Midori, Rikuto, etc. I might also include an arc about the Kitsune's attack on the Tengu ten years ago because I love Shinigami. There'll probably be gag reels too because no way in hell there would not be XD If you want, you can put in requests for like, stories you'd like to see about things from the past and I'll make a list of them and one day write them :)
--WILL HARU REMAIN SINGLE? MY HEART NEEDS TO KNOW! <333 :3
LIKE HELL WILL HE REMAIN SINGLE. OVER MY DEAD BODY. I know you love him Amber, buuuutttt, his heart is spoken for. I've actually kind of hinted in previous chapters who it is he'll be with. It's not obvious, but it's there. BUT YOU'LL ALWAYS BE SPECIAL <333
--Pai and Shin (Team INK STAINED) vs Saitama and Genos (Team One Punch Man). Which team emerges victorious?
First reaction to question:...wait what
Second reaction: this is an unexpectedly difficult question to answer what is this H A L P
Ok. So. Damn this is tough. But I'd...have to say...WTF I DON'T KNOW HOLY CRAP. I can't honestly answer this question without spoiling things, but what I can say is that it's a very, veerrryyy close call and the win can swing either way tbh.
Pai: I bet –
Shin: *very quickly draws her in to a tight hug and basically mutes her*
Me: Shin what are you doing.
Shin: I thought you don't want to spoil the rest of the story?
Me: how do you know she'll spoil it?
Shin: I know her.
Me:...fair point.
Pai: *not entirely opposed to her current position*
--Haru and Me (Team ILOVEYOUHARU) vs Pai, Hirst (*insert troll face*) and Shiori (Team WhyTheF*ckIsThisGuyEvenOnOurTeamWhenHeDoesn'tEvenBelongInOurStory?). Which team emerges victorious?
No one wins. Pai's too busy trying to murder Hirst, Hirst is too busy taunting her and not fcken realize he's about to be obliterated out of existence, Haru is too busy flirting with you to pay attention to winning, you're too busy blushing like a sweet maiden, and Shiori's honestly just trying to make it out alive and with all her limbs intact. You're all a damn mess smh.
Pai: BUT WHY THE HELL IS HE HERE
Shiori: PAI-CHAN PUT THE CHAIR DOWN PLEASE
Pai: LET ME AT THE DAMN DWARF SHII-CHAN I SWEAR TO THE GODS –
Shiori: *screeching at this point* THAT IS OBAASAN'S CHAIR IF YOU BREAK IT THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY AND EVEN YOU WON'T BE IMMUNE
Me:...honestly, if I lived in Ayashi House, I wouldn't make it out alive.
--Serious question now. Do you have any helpful tips/advice for overcoming writer's block? Tell us your secrets! :D
Writer's block is that one member of the Writer's Family that nobody likes and nobody ever wants to invite for family gatherings/functions for fear of infection of cooties. A close second is Procrastination.
[Fun fact: I just checked, cooties is a legit word, not just some random universal term every 2nd grader knows, and it literally means "a parasitic louse that infests the body of human beings". I did not know this. Jesus.]
Anyways, tips/advice. Hm. Now, this is a funny thing for me. Pre-INK STAINED, I used to get writer's block after I'd written either 30 chapters of a story (chapters of varying lengths) or a hundred or so pages of a story. Then whabam, writer's block comes outta nowhere and smacks me upside the head and I remain unconscious for months about the story. I have an entire folder sitting on my laptop full of stories like this that I swear I will one day finish. This was a curse I couldn't break for some reason, and trust me, I tried freaking hard to get past it. But, for some reason, when I started INK STAINED I just never got a proper writer's block [if that's even a thing tho]. It's like, every time I reached a point where it was likely writer's block would appear, instead of getting stuck with having no idea how to continue because of having no ideas, I'd get momentarily stuck with having too many ideas. But, I know this isn't the case for a lot of writers out there.
So my advice is to give it a break. If you've got a block on a story you're working on, take a break from it, maybe dabble a little on another story, or just chill for a bit. Don't force yourself to write what's not coming, otherwise you just won't be happy with what you do get, and that can make the block even bigger, if that makes sense?
I actually did get a legitimate writer's block i.e., lack of ideas in the middle of writing Season 3 of INK STAINED, around the time Pai was out with Shiori, Kouta, Shin, Aoi, Natsume, and Shuusei (so many names and people smh), right around when Natsume sort of confronted Pai about her relationship with Shin [which had not happened yet because they're oblivious af]. I just sat back and gave it a break for two whole months. In the meantime, I'd written some chapters for GLASSLANDS (for those who know of that story of mine before I took it down), continuing on in that story from when I'd left it nearly three years ago after getting a block for it. Then I started getting ideas for INK STAINED and when I came back, it was like I'd never left. So, yeah, that's my advice for writer's block. It's different for every writer, but this is how I've overcome it.
One more piece of advice: don't work on several stories at once. Do not. I'm speaking from recent personal experience.
OH YEAH, AND MUSIC. MUSIC IS A GODDAMN BLESSING FOR ME. MUSIC REPELS WRITER'S BLOCK.
Thank you Amber for your questions! :D
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It's Inoush15's turn! Thank you for the lovely compliment! I'm so happy you think so!
--Will there be any MxM relationship in the future (like it's written in the introduction of this book)?
DEFINITELY YES HOLY FUCK YESYESYESYESYESSSS. I know the majority of this book has featured only hetero relationships (Pai and Shin, Kouta and Shiori, Aoi and Shuusei, the hinted-now-almost-mostly-revealed Kagetora and Touka), but trust me, there will be a MxM relationship. It's mostly going to be heavily hinted at in Season 4, and I've actually already dropped a teensy-weensy bit of a hint about who it'll be, but the real headway in the relationship will be made/come in book 2, BLOOD STAINED. In fact, yes Pai and Shin will still be a huge part of book 2, but the main focus of the story of book 2 will feature the POVs of the MxM duo. So far as I can tell, you guys like these two, so I think you'll like what's coming in book 2.
*thinks about the 100+ episodes it took to get Pai and Shin together*
What can I say. If there's anything I'm good at, it's slow burn. I'm not saying the MxM will be as oblivious as Pai and Shin were or that it will take three millennia for anything to happen at all, but yeah. Slow burn. Slooowwww buuuurrrnnn.
--So :D Hard question. Which book you've written do you like more? IS or Ravendown?
Dear god that is a hard question. Both hold such a special place in my heart, Ravendown because it's the first novel I ever completed that also allowed me to do deeper research into my ancestral heritage, and IS because...well, it's my passion, and allows me to take my definite obsession with Japan to new heights.
There is actually a third story sitting in my folders, called Remembering, that is the second story I've ever completed in my life, and that one is especially dear to me because that's the story that got me into writing. I started writing a story when I was eleven years old with absolutely no clue wtf I was doing except trying to mimic Rick Riordan's writing style [advice: don't try imitating someone else's writing style. Find your own, because copying never works, nor does it feel good]. Five years, 140k words, and eight re-writes later, I finished the story, and I'm actually pretty proud of it [quite a lot of that pride has to do with me putting a Wendigo in the story, and after watching the Supernatural episode with a Wendigo in it, that was one monster I was/am fucking terrified of. It was/is a big deal for me to have incorporated one in my world]. I'm planning to post it up here...someday...once I get to editing it. I finished the story, but editing is a whole other thing.
But if I had to pick one, I'd have to say INK STAINED, simply based on the sheer amount of love and dedication I have for it, which is surprising considering how laid-back I am about basically everything else in my life XD. I just...I just really love INK STAINED.
--How many chapters are gonna be in Ink Stained in total? And :D will there be a sequel?
Based on the plan I have, I'm estimating 150 episodes of INK STAINED in total –so yeah, Season 4 is probably going to be the shortest of all seasons. BUT DON'T HOLD ME TO THIS! I MAKE NO PROMISES! IT MIGHT END UP BEING A COUPLE EPISODES MORE OR LESS! I WON'T KNOW FOR SURE UNTIL I GET THERE >.<
And yes, there definitely will be a sequel, I talked about it in A_C_Douglas' question.
--Where do you live (I mean country)?
I live in Kenya –NO, NOT AFRICA. KENYA. It is a country in the continent of Africa. I swear, the number of times people have said 'oh she lives in Africa' and I just stare at them and think 'bitch the fuck, name the country goddamn'
...I get very sweary about this topic. Sorrs :P
June 2019 update: by the end of September, I'm going to be living in Japan as an undergrad student -- I'm literally going to be in Sapporo, Hokkaido, where basically the entirety of this story takes place. Hard work does actually pay off. Patience too :D
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Next up is meme_qod (for some reason your username is just so memorable and I don't even understand why I specifically remember it). And thank you so, so much for reading my book! :D Your question was,
--Have you planned out the ending of this entire book when you first started it??
I started this story in October 2015, then stopped for a while after reaching the part where the onihitokuchi kidnapped Pai, then picked it up again in February 2016 and continued on from there. I only figured out how I wanted the story in this book to end when I was halfway through writing out the planning/outline of what each chapter will have (this is another thing I do to avoid writer's block btw A_C_Douglas). This was right around the time when Pai visited Daichi's family in Kyoto –up until that point, I'd been winging it with a very vague idea of where I wanted the story to go.
And then as I was writing the general plot outline for book 2, I figured out how I want the entire series to end. I think I've mentioned this before, but I always have a notebook I carry everywhere with me. Whenever I have an idea or something a character says, I whip out the notebook and write it down. So I've actually already written literally the last paragraph of the entire series [minus COLOUR STAINED].
Am I going to tease y'all with it? Hah, no.
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Next up is Dresdenforever!
--I want to know more about where you live and how you ended up making this whole story. If I remember correctly, you said you don't live in the East but your heritage...So, how did you decide on all this? What brought about this story? Did you suddenly decide or did this creep up on you?
*cracks knuckles* I don't know what being 'short' or 'concise' is, so prepare for a long answer to this. I'm sorry.
I live in Kenya, which is pretty damn far from Japan and just the East in general. However, I'm mixed –I identify most as biracial, because I'm half-Russian half-Kenyan, but through my Russian side I'm also Mongolian [hence why everyone in my entire life, for my entire life, have always asked me why do I have kinda Chinese eyes when neither of my parents is Chinese because obviously Chinese are the only East-Asians who can have slanted eyes duh =_=]. People ask me who do I identify more with, white or black, and I just can't answer because I don't know what it is to be either without being the other, too.
None of this, as you can see, has anything to do with Japan –my love for the culture and the country actually started from me reading a book in the Junior School library about Japanese mythology. At that time [I think I was around eight or nine?] I was ridiculously obsessed with reading mythologies. Greek, Egyptian, Roman, Celtic –if the book was in the library, I read it, and then I re-read it. Then comes a new stock of books, and one of them includes Japanese myths, and I devoured it, and sometimes I would do rudimentary Google searches about random things about Japan [remember, I was a kid. Google was this unknown thing I could barely work with on a good day]. So since then, I've always had this odd fascination with Japan, and not only that but I kind of feel like, a pull towards it, like a very strong desire to be there. Idk. One of my friends who believes in reincarnation thinks I might have lived there in a past life, so maybe that's it.
My interest in Japan took a backseat to studies for years after that. Right now I'm in an online school and have more time, but before that I attended a normal, physical school –and it was fucking hell. I hated it so much. There was literally nothing in my life except stress, work, stress, more work, more stress, writing as much as I can to relieve the stress, reading whenever I could [mostly on the bus and between classes. I'm an introvert], rinse and repeat. Not to mention there were no books in the Senior School library about Japan beyond World War II, which I am still fucking bitter about because the fuck ??
Anyways. I left my old school, and between then and enrolling in an online school, I watched all the TV shows I had, all the movies, read all the books I physically owned and downloaded as well...and then I got so bored. Like, reading those novels started to feel like a chore because it was always kind of the same thing? Idk how to explain it. So then I remembered how I sometimes used to Google pictures of anime guys to fit the characters in my other stories –at the time I swear to god I did not know what anime was. So when I realized that anime is a predominantly Japanese thing, I looked around for an interesting story in the genre I wanted to explore –and down the bloody rabbit hole I went and could not stop watching anime after that, then reading manga. The second anime I watched was Kamisama Hajimemashita, or Kamisama Kiss. I can definitely say that Kamisama Hajimemashita is what inspired INK STAINED. Another manga that influenced the creation of my Daitengu was Black Bird [this is a guilty pleasure manga of mine but if anyone judges me for that, I got my six cats with sharp claws ready for you]. Yet another anime that inspired the story is Darker than Black.
Pai's first name, Pai? Taken from Hei's sister (not sure if the sister's name is Pai or Bai) in the anime Darker than Black. Pai's last name? Momozono? Same name as the MC of Kamisama Kiss, Nanami Momozono. Shin? Somewhat inspired by Tomoe and Kurama is Kamisama Kiss. Jirou, my Daitengu? Shares a name with the Tengu sort-of rival with Kurama. Kouta having long hair? You can thank Tomoe for that. In fact, it was almost the Kitsune who were like the 'main Hengen' of the story instead of Tengu, simply because I freaking love Tomoe –but I didn't go there because Kitsune are sly AF, and at the time I was nowhere near confident in my writing enough to think I could write Kitsune.
Ten chapters later, Kagetora happened.
INK STAINED is a story that crept up on me very slyly and with absolutely no warning. Now, when I get into something new, I can see the warning signs a mile away, like me getting into fanfiction. I knew it was happening when I kept reading literally hundreds of Klance fanfics and imagining this one scene in my head that took me fucking 135k+ words to actually get to...and I did nothing to stop it :P. But back then it was my first time getting into a new medium of storytelling –anime –so I didn't even realize I was contemplating a story based in Japan with heavy themes and adapting lots of Japanese folklore until I was writing the first chapter and didn't stop until I got that temp writer's block after the Oni kidnapped Pai. And then I started getting ideas, and because I have a truly shitty memory, I started writing them down everywhere until I finally bought a (very nice and rather fancy) notebook/journal and wrote everything down there, then downloaded this very cool program called CherryTree that's great for planning and keeping things organized.
When I realized that this was a story I was determined to stick with to the end, I also realized that I really wanted to make the characters as realistic and believable as possible. All my other characters [save one or two] were kind of...not exactly bland, but they fit a 'type' too easily, and they didn't feel real enough, they felt kind of one-dimensional. SO I'D REALLY LIKE TO SAY NOW THAT MANGA HELPED ME A LOT IN THIS REGARD. Mangakas, in my opinion, are the freaking best at storytelling, and I say this as a person who has read so, so many novels, watched so many TV shows and movies, and has watched lots of anime and read lots of manga. I saw how these mangakas were making their characters so relatable at times, putting in these notes at the end of chapters about them, so on so forth. I started noting down character traits and random things the characters of INK STAINED would say or do or what things they keep in their fridge so that I'd know them inside out in an effort to get to know my characters as well as I could see mangakas knew theirs –and I like to think that it works?
[Idk if I can call this a 'secret', since I'll just go ahead and do so since it's something I've never explicitly said, out loud or to anyone, ever –my 'secret' for writing my characters is to believe they're real people and I'm just an observer watching them without being a creepy stalker :P]
...this wasn't supposed to be so long. But like I said. I don't know what 'short' and 'concise' is.
P.s., lol thank you so much, it makes not just my day but my entire damn week to know you enjoy reading my story! Seriously, to all of you, I can't stress enough how much it means to me that you actually take the time to read, and comment, and even come here and ask questions about the story/me! I call myself a writer yet I can't even find the words to express how grateful I am for you guys reading this story.
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Now it's 2111MindReader's turn!
--At what point in this book was one piece of foreshadowing that went over most people's heads (in your opinion)?
Hehe~
Okay I can't say all the foreshadowings I want to yet, because they haven't been revealed, but here's the ones I can say:
↭that Pai is somehow Kitsune – I did this by showing how she can be sly with her words and the way she talks to people [literally in the first two chapters, Shiori commented on how silver-tongued Pai can be]. That entire conversation on the roof of the school after Pai got Shin's Mask back on him was a red herring about how manipulative she can be at times with the way she words things. Shin actually bloody asks her 'are you sure you're not Kitsune?' It's him teasing her, but also me teasing all of you through him. :) Then, much later on, when we're finally introduced to Rikuto in present times, he calls her Лисёнок [lisyonak], which is Russian for 'little' or 'baby fox'. Fire and lightning are powers attributed to Kitsune –remember how she attacked Midori? How that ball of darkness was shot through with bolts of lightning?
↭that Midori betrayed Pai – I did this through Kuniumi's hatred for Midori, and the bad feeling Pai always got whenever she thought of her sister. Also, back when they were all in Kyoto and Pai saw Midori in the street, it's a pretty big indicator that Midori didn't run toward her missing-for-three-years little sister, but ran away from her.
↭That Pai is not entirely human – remember Konohana? When she stopped time she flat-out said, "Only those born without the limitations of humanity can speak and move normally. For now, that still includes you." Then there's the fact that Pai has always been able to sense Ayakashi at a stronger level than Shiori ever could. Then there's how Pai attacked Shin when she was sleeping –I ask you, what human can do that.
↭That Shin's true name/the name of his Makashi is Shinigami – I didn't expressly say the name 'shinigami', but I did make sure to allude to it by pointing out how Pai noted the weird feeling she got when looking at the kanji of Shin's name when texting Shiori. There are a few different kanji for Shin's name, but my Shin's kanji is 死ん. 死 (shi) is the kanji for 'death', and 'shinigami' in Japanese literally means 'death god'.
↭ that Pai and Rikuto are twins – honestly this was the most blatant one, I repeatedly had characters in Pai's memories comment on her and Rikuto's similarities, and even oblivious Pai noticed they have the same eye colour. Maybe it's not sooo obvious they're twins (it is), but at least familial related to each other.
↭that Kamigami are just Hengen who are merged with their Makashi – the eyes. It's all in the eyes, and the way they talk. Have you noticed that Kamigami and Ayakashi talk in the same double-tones, and they have the same red eyes that no other supernatural has? Kamigami and Ayakashi talk like this, Yori Chiisai and Shimo Oni talk like this, and whatever the hell Kuniumi is talks like this.
↭That the Mizushima's that Pai killed are/were Yukiji's family – this was also another obvious one. I did mention that Yukiji was worried about her sister, who hadn't been in contact for two years –fits the timeline of Pai's disappearance. Kouta mentioned the sister's name, Kichi, and the husband, Nishio, both of whom were also included in the file Pai read on the rooftop before she did the deed. Yukiji's name and relationship to Kichi and Nishio were in that file. I could not be more obvious about this.
↭That Akira did what he did –ok, so this might not be so very obvious to people who don't know about it or have no experience with it or experience with people who've gone through this, but I did drop hints about it. Like Pai's aversion to physical contact, and a small part of Pai's forgetting everything has to do with her absolutely repressing the memory of what happened.
↭That even though they're twins, Pai and Rikuto were separated at a very young age – I showed this through Rikuto's first language/the language he's most comfortable with being Russian, while obviously Pai's is Japanese. More will be revealed on that, but you can know that Rikuto did not grow up in Japan after he and Pai were separated.
↭I hinted pretty heavily that Kiku is the one who got Pai out of So Fu.
↭A cat was mentioned in Season 1, in the warehouse that the onihitokuchi took Pai to. The cat had two tails, Bakeneko. Guess who it was? SATO. He was honestly just loitering around watching shit happen.
↭It's not very very obvious, but if you connect the dots, you can figure out who So Fu is/who runs it. When I say 'who' I don't mean a singular person, I mean the group of people behind it.So Fu's goal is in their name.
↭That Pai was going to die –I want to ask all of you something. I didn't even foreshadow this, I flat-out made it clear that she was going to die. Shinigami told her so, Kuniumi told her so, Aihara told her so, Kanou more or less saw her condition deteriorating. But when I told my friend this, she didn't think I'd actually do it until she saw it happen, she thought something would happen that would change Pai's fate. Did you think Pai wouldn't actually die, despite everything pointing in that direction?
Oh, I love foreshadowing. It's so amusing, especially when you're on the writer's end.
And just because I feel like it [translation: I'm editing and feel like telling you guys] –have you noticed how, whenever Kuniumi appears physically before Pai through some reflective surface, what she wears changes? She disguises herself in Midori's skin, but remember, the first time we see her the sleeves of her furisode are wound around her body, keeping her tightly immobile. Then next time we see her, the furisode sleeves are a little looser. And when Pai finally tells Shin about Kuniumi, Kuniumi is no longer bound by the sleeves. This is symbolism –it signifies Pai's control over Kuniumi, or rather, how much distance there is between the two. The freer Kuniumi becomes, to closer Pai gets to the line that separates them.
I wonder what'll happen if Pai crosses over?
God, there's so many things I want to reveal but I won't. Spoilers are so fun.
--What character did you find most challenging to write?
Hm. I wonder, do you think it's Kagetora? My first thought would be Kagetora too, except it's actually not so hard to write him. All I do is imbue my pettiness and saltiness and imaginary sass and angst in him with a dash of having the innate ability to sound like he's insulting everyone in sight without explicitly doing so. The answer to this question is actually: no one. To be perfectly honest, it's not hard for me to write anyone.
--Out of all the scenes, which one are you least satisfied with and which are you most satisfied with?
Least satisfied:...let me tell you something. I'm not trying to sound like I'm bragging, but the truth is, there's no scene I'm unhappy with. If there was, you wouldn't know it, because I didn't include it in the story and scrapped it. The reason for this is because, while irl I can be a slob and not give a shit about anything and half-ass my way through everything, when it comes to writing, I am a perfectionist. I cannot 'be done' with a chapter or a scene until I feel like it is the best I can possibly make it, and even after I'm done with it I keep going back to it and adding or removing things until I'm happy with it. How I write is, I write the basic bare-bone skeleton of the chapter, and it looks like a freaking eleven-year-old wrote it. Then I go back to the top and flesh it out until you get what I put up.
*three days later* Wait.
There is a scene I'm not happy with. More like a segment. Remember when Shin's Mask was stolen by an Oni called an Amanojaku? Yes, I'm not happy with that, in that I feel like I didn't show it well? You can thank @BelitAm for unwittingly giving me the idea that led to the whole Mask/Shinigami arc, but getting there...I don't feel like I handled it well. I don't like those stories where big shit happens behind the scenes and readers don't know it until it's mentioned, and I feel like that's what I unintentionally did with Shin losing his Mask. Idk.
Most satisfied with:...again another tough one. Hm. There's quite a few scenes I'm happy with. There's Teke Teke and Shiharu's death (to this day I still cannot enter a bathroom without all the lights on), there's that time when Shiori and Pai were visiting Shiharu's grave and Pai went off on her own and punched the mirror because Kuniumi thinks toying with her mind is fun, there's Pai's sleepwalking outside Ayashi House and attacking Shin, there's Shinigami's entire existence (I love him), there's that memory scene in which Kagetora talked directly to Kuniumi through Pai, there's Pai treating Shin's wound after the first training session with Kagetora, there's –
Basically a lot. But if I have to say one I'm most happy with, it would be...the scene right after Pai punched the mirror and Shin found her and was asking her about the wound on her knuckles. I don't know, I just find it to be a really tender moment between the two. We'd seen Shin with this incredibly violent, wild, and dangerous side, we'd seen Pai just watch a classmate commit suicide right in front of her and been unable to stop it, and then here there's Shin quietly expressing his concern for her, Pai just being her usual oblivious self and trying to hide her pain, and just...this scene sticks with me.
[this question has made me realize just how many freaking scenes there are in ink stained gohd]
--The world is ending, you must choose between chocolate and vanilla as the flavor that survives the apocalypse
Idfc, I'm going to choose vanilla every single time. Y'all chocolate lovers can lynch mob me and I will never change my mind.
--This is a big project, it's well written and put together, interesting and beautiful tbh, what is most worth it about writing this and what advice would you give an author looking to undergo something like this.
INK STAINED is literally home to me. It's a messy and chaotic world where people die, there's terrifying creatures (*cough* *cough* Teke Teke *cough* *cough*) that hunt humans, there's secretes around every corner, the supposed gods are fucking assholes, there's a quiet genocide going on...but the thing is, I know all of it. I don't see myself as a control freak at all, but it feels good to have this one thing I can control, and nobody can tell me what to do with it or how to do it. It's all completely up to me. It feels good to see everything laid out before me and to see how it's all connected, how everyone is connected, and even just coming up with ideas feels great. It's kind of like I'm building a tower. I absolutely love the process of finding the right materials to build it, I love looking at the bricks and fitting them together, seeing where they fit and don't fit, and I love seeing how it all gets bigger until you've got this whole picture/tower in front of you and I can see how it all began and how it all ends.
Now, advice to others looking to work on a big project. First, and most important piece of advice I can give: dedication. If you're not completely 100% invested in your world, don't even try. You'll start, but you'll probably not finish it, or be happy with what you get. It takes dedication and a genuine desire to see it through to the end to work on a big project.
And also: CHILDREN, BE ORGANIZED. If you're not, then you're going to suffer more than enjoy it. It especially helps, at least for me, to keep an outline of what's going to happen in the book, and even better to write out the general outline of what happens in every chapter. Here's an example of what I do and where I keep all my shit:
[To those who actually read what's in the screenshot -I refer to myself in third person in my notes a lot.]
I never realized how large the cast of INK STAINED is until I listed everyone out.
I am learning Japanese, so the translation for the above is:
Hiragana: はにょうのあやかしとはにょうのにんげん
Romaji: hanyou no ayakashi [I used the kanji for yokai in the Japanese tho] to hanyou no ningen
English: half 'monster' half human
[the term 'monster' as a translation for yokai or Ayakashi is relative, because the kanji is 'beautiful' and unknown, so basically something that is unknown yet alluring. Which describes yokai/Ayakashi pretty well]
[I don't think I've ever exactly said what the Territories are, like what areas of Japan they encompass? So here is it. As you can see, the Tengu, Kitsune, Ookami, and Nue are the more powerful from the fact that they have two separate territories to themselves.]
I cannot stress enough how helpful it is to have a single place to keep everything in levels and shit so that it's all organized. I used to scoff at people who needed to plan things when it came to their stories (don't ask me why, I was a stupid fourteen-year-old), and you know what happened?
All the documents in a circle are stories which I started –and I have this kind-of rule where if I go through the effort of either making a cover or getting one made for a story then I'm serious about it –but never finished. I plan to, but hell, I got writer's block on them because I didn't plan for them.
Also, see your characters as real people. Like, yes, they're not real, I know, but don't think of your characters as characters –think of them as real-life people, with all the complexities irl people have, and note down everything you can about them. Even take inspiration for your characters from people in your lives, or from yourselves. Like, for example (tbh I only realized this as I started editing the entire story from the top after I finished Season 3), I've put a bit of myself in Pai in that we're the same height, same weight, she has a problem with putting too much guilt on herself which is inversed from me, I hate guilt and I hate blame (due to experiences in my childhood), she doesn't know how to see that people care about her, I have the same problem that is damn hard to get past. Shin has a lot of the characteristics of a boy I think might have been my first love which I bloody hate, but he also has characteristics of my best friend (who's a girl btw). Kagetora's tails are silver and not gold like some Kitsune in folklore usually are because for reasons I don't understand, I do not like gold, I much prefer silver. And etcetera and etcetera.
Finally –go check out Jenna Moreci's YouTube channel. She's a fantastic author [rn I'm obsessing over The Savior's Champion, which is so great. My only issue with it is the spelling of 'Savior' because where the fuck is the 'u'???] who has some super useful tips for writers about a huge variety of things, including worldbuilding.
--Llamas or Alpacas (choose wisely)
Llamas. Gimme all the llamas. If I could be one, I'd be a llama because then I get to spit at people I don't like and it's a complete social norm. Also, I used to be obsessed with Dora the Explorer and there was this one episode with her cousin (of course I don't remember his name. Might have been Carlos or Alejandro) that heavily featured llamas. And that is one episode I rewatched. A lot.
n̶o̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶s̶t̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶I̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶o̶b̶s̶e̶s̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶d̶o̶r̶a̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶l̶o̶r̶e̶r̶
--And what's the strangest comment you ever got?
This isn't exactly 'strange', but it's one comment that I remember so perfectly, and I even wrote it down in my notebook, along with my internal response to it.
roseveir about Kagetora: He is slightly dramatic
Me: *snorts* He is quite possibly the most flamboyant existence in any creation I have ever attempted in my years of permanently occupying the dreamworld
And special kudos goes to you, 2111MindReader , because all your comments usually had me laughing.
--Also can I please have Haru
Me:...
Me: Haru what kinda voodoo you been doing that has people falling at your feet
Haru: it's not voodoo, it's my irresistible charm and these guns *flexes arms*
Me: if you promise to never do that again, you might make it out of this story alive.
Haru: but I thought –
Me: boi don't you test me.
Haru: why does Shin get to show off all the time?!
Shin: please don't bring me into this.
Me: Haru, your time will come, chill.
Haru: but I want my time now!
Me:...you whiney man-child
Haru: *pouts*
Me: Obaasa –
Haru: *flies the fuck away*
...thank you for your questions!
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Next [holy crap I was not expecting so many people to ask questions, this is great!] is weirdherelol! And don't worry, any question is good :)
--So I'm just going to ask if you ever think you're going to publish it? Or do you want to? Or maybe you can make it like a movie or series
I think it's every writer's dream to have their work published, and I'm honestly no exception. I would love for INK STAINED to be published and to like, hold a physical copy in my hands. Tbh I'd probably just stare at it thinking 'I wrote this. I wrote this? I wrote this. HOLY FCK I WROTE THIS' and be in this rotating carousel of denial, happiness, confusion, and back to denial. When I'm actually completely done with the story I'll probably try getting it published, but trust me when I say, the publishing industry is tough business, and everyone's looking for money. Self-publishing is another option, but...hell I don't have money for that, that shit ain't cheap.
And if I had the choice to make it a movie/series, honestly I'd go for making it an anime than anything else. With live-action it's way too easy to mess everything up. Anime is hard work because of the animation process, and voice acting, but at least it's harder to screw with the story. Plus –Shin is pretty. I want to see that prettiness in anime/manga form. He's not that feminine bishounen either, but Ayakashi are beautiful for a reason. And put Pai in there too because I made Pai x Shin canon for a reason XD
Tbh the biggest reason I wouldn't want INK STAINED to be a live-action movie/series is because of what happened to Percy Jackson. I freaking love the books, I grew up on them, I met my bestest friend CHERIE160597 because of the books...and then the movie...I mean, I liked the second movie, but only when I didn't compare it to the book. But the first movie? A total mauling of the story to the point that it's just no.]
Thank you for your very interesting questions!
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*inhales*
GabrielNightlord MA BLUSHY FREN IT IS YOUR TURN!!!
-Will Sato chan make appearance in the upcoming chapters? Because I love the KageSato banters
Child me too, holy lord. Honestly I'm not entirely sure how I write those two, sometimes it genuinely feels like I'm watching someone and just recording their interactions and writing them down. Or I get really deep into this zone where their banter is funny but borders on homicidal.
...sometimes I just don't know how I write, idk
ANYWAYS, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, HELL YES we're definitely going to see Sato-kun again. He may seem like a minor character now, but he plays a slightly bigger role than you think. He's a lot more connected to the as-yet hidden events of the past and the game Kagetora's playing with everyone than I've so far let on. Sato's a pretty interesting Bakeneko in that most of his kind a very solitary, they pretty much hate being around other people/Ayakashi...and then there's Sato. Just hangin' with the King of the Kitsune, no big deal.
Also, Sato's definitely still going to turn up for this simple reason: a few months after I wrote Sato's character, my mom brought home a street cat that looks exactly like Sato (I have six cats and they're all picked from the street). Then about a year later (so in real time it's been about a month now) we found a little kitten that could be Sato's son. The hyperactive kitten and big bro I was talking about at the beginning of this part? It's these two. It's like Sato come to life –no way in hell am I leaving him out.
--But why only a candle though?
Okay fine, truth is, I can draw rudimentary cartoon characters, but I'm very rusty on that right now, and the things that originally got me into drawing was candles and leaves, which I used to draw obsessively. But I'm best at candles. I can even draw reflections in the flame *strokes ego*
Thank you for your questions! (Also, thanks to Supernatural, every time I see your username I immediately think of a smirking archangel Gabriel XD)
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And that is it for now! Remember, you can always ask me questions, and I'll answer them so long as the answer isn't a spoiler :D
I now depart with a little titbit about INK STAINED that only very early and attentive readers will know: while editing, I completely erased the fact that Pai was a ballerina before her disappearance.
^^perfect example of why writers can be considered gods. :))))