The Only Power ~ November Challenge Entry

Nov 22, 2006 12:39



Written to accompany this fantastic pic by Foo~Dog

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nov 06

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alterfano December 6 2006, 17:45:42 UTC
yeah. i think we're basically in agreement. He's not agressive in going out and 'being introspective to figure himself out' (not a very male train in general! LOL) but when he's presented with 'inconsistent info' he does have to deal w/it in order to maintain his image of himself as a consistent (if not predictable) being. i think he only compartementalizes to the extent he needs to in order to maintain both actual control and the illusion of control over himself.

you're right also that what he's feining is the impression that he's affected or changed as a result. he needs more time to integrate it in order to acknowledge externally and is largely unaware of how transparent some things about himself are (which he's correct that other parts of himself are inscrutible).

all in all, a fascinating and very hard to characterize, guy!

i'm about to write 4 'big' oneshots where he plays a prominent role in two of them and a strong supporting role in the other two. they're all interconnected and his is the character i struggle with the most (other than an OC who is still coming into focus). this poem helped me alot but i think i'm at the point now where i just gotta write the damn things to finish figuring him out. one of my main goals is to get enough insight into him to write a convincing lemon for him (convincing to me). sigh. i hope i'm up to this. and - perhaps more importantly - i hope i have the time to do it justice!

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rhye December 6 2006, 17:53:47 UTC
Well, I don't know that I could ever do a lemon with him! But I do know from when I did the slice of life, sometimes analysis just didn't work with him. You almost have to put yourself in his shoes, and catch snippets of his thoughts, and follow his actions, and try to figure out the WHYs later, you know? Because the whats, the part that gets written, isn't as confusing as the whys and hows. I think that goes along with his lack of deliberate introspection. Maybe that's what you meant before by that he's instinctive. I wouldn't use that word because his actions usually seem calculated, but they're calculated from the facts, not from the emotions.

Looking forward to reading that!

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alterfano December 6 2006, 18:03:35 UTC
well, yeah. and that's probably why i'm having so much trouble with him. maybe it's cuz i'm a girl, but i alwasys figure out my characters from their emotional motivations... and there are so few with him.

Did you read 'Entangled'? In that one, i wrote mostly from his POV and found him calculating on the politics of things but largely unaware of the emotional motivations coming at him until it was too late. in 'Gisei' it was from Rin's POV and so his actions were largely just observed. he did have one monologue where he explained himself - but he didn't even want to do that. But i made him cuz the reader needed it AND - i played on the same thing i did here, which was challenged him to explain how his actions were consistent with who he thought he was. And i basically got about 2 paragraphs which wallowed on the almost-too-verbose... sigh.

but i think you're right. he's introspective in hindsight and at the time just does what needs to be done, following the most obvious path before him. in that sense, i'm wondering if he's easy to manipulate? i think after writing these two fics, i'd say 'yes' - but only by a craftier creature than he, playing on the emotions he has but is unaware of until it's too late... odd that i think about it that way. that might be helpful actually. i think inuyasha is harder to manipulate that way. he's more self-aware. not that he can't be manipulated - he CAN for sure.

i want to do a lemon w/ sesshy just to challenge myself, i think, but not til i've got a couple of these one shots under my belt so i have a better understanding of how he does react in clearly emotionally charged situations. i need to get his relationship w/ Rin more developed than i have it now... where they've basically been separated so long they don't have a pattern established for how they deal with each other yet...

listen to me blab!

what is you're 'slice of life' fic?

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rhye December 6 2006, 18:12:06 UTC
Yeah, I guess I write differently. I just write the actions I see before me, like I'm transposing a movie or episode, and then sit back and wonder why in heck he did that. It makes it awkward to have discussions with readers, because it's not unusual for a reader to have more insight into my character than I do. That's why I so often have an "I wrote that?" sensation upon reading what I wrote.

I don't think I read Entangled. Linky?

I think Sesshoumaru is easy to manipulate in that he reacts. But he's also clever so he can outthinka nd be a stop ahead, strategically, of the people manipulating him. More than once, Naraku leads Sesshoumaru into a trap, and even though I think Sesshoumaru knew it was a trap, he walked right in... because he already had an escape plan.

My slice of life? Alliance. I think it's alright, being only one of, what, three passable IY fics I've ever written or something ridiculous. People in the BBM fandom would never believe that I was in the IY fandom for years without writing anything much other than short poems.

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alterfano December 6 2006, 18:29:27 UTC
sometimes i do write like that, but usually only when i'm trying to work through a plot or character issue that i just can't get any other way. once i see what they do in that situation, i go back and either rewrite or heavily edit to work in all the emotional stuff. sometimes i don't like that about my writing and wish i could make it more sparse and action oriented... and sometimes i almost get there, but only when i really understand the emotional underpinnings so well that they just get worked into the action unconsciously.... all in all i'm the opposite of sesshy and WAY overthink stuff. and you're right, he is strategically very adept and always knows his options going into a situation. that's why the situation in the Meidou so threw him for a loop - he didn't have a clue what he was getting into. with people that are that calculated, it really forces you to knock the pins completely out from under them to give them a ah-ha! momment.

will put Alliance on 'the list'... well, you gotta be inspired to write and some situations, characters etc. are just more writerly inpsiriational. i LOVE HP but have absolutely no interest in reading or writing it's fanfic... go figure.

Entangled Warning - it's tragic! Don't go looking for a happy ending in this one (yet another reason to work myself up to a lemon.... i'm a really happy person... really!)

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rhye December 6 2006, 20:21:26 UTC
I'll put Entangled on my own list. I'm like that in IY-- I just find my mind wandering when I try to focus on the fic, even stuff I think is really good. But in other fandoms, I can't get enough fic.

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alterfano December 6 2006, 21:20:59 UTC
ha. well, there is so MUCH IY fic, it's easy to get overwhelmed..... i will say that "Entangled" is unusual and heavy so don't read it when you need something 'waffy and fun'...

;)

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