A) One character bushing another person's hair. They end up in a pillow fight.
B) The narrator dealing with the LI having a meltdown over the narrator only giving them compliments on their looks.
C) LI gives the narrator permission to call them by a personal nickname.
I often find in close intimate conversations one character will find they no longer have words to say what they want. So I end up using ellipses. I also use ellipses to show how characters start saying something and then editing what they want to say. "you should... we should.
If you mean sex, it's just another action scene. There may also be intimate portions of the scene.
We drank the tea in silence and when done, Kao picked up a hairbrush from the small bed stand. Seating herself on the edge of a futon, she started brushing her hair with long strokes. She started at the bottom and carefully brushed out every tangle before moving a few inches higher. The combination of her long shiny hair and slender, be-ringed fingers enchanted me. I missed the long nails she used to have. She had trimmed them so as not to hurt me, but they were still painted black and had a decal on the thumb, a Hello Kitty decal. That made me smile. My girlfriend was such an odd mixture of dark and cute. — “Girlfriend,” my breath still caught when I thought about it.
I watched in fascination for a few minutes, then asked, “May I brush it?”
“If you can control yourself and don’t play any pranks.” She spoke without pausing in her brushing. I couldn’t see her eyes, but I bet they were sparkling with mischief.
“Pranks, me?”
“Yes, you. You are the most devious perv I have ever known. You’re not the innocent you and everyone else think you are. I totally misjudged you at first.” As she spoke, she switched sides and started at the tips there.
“I wouldn’t play pranks with your hair. It’s lovely.” I watched as she finished brushing out the lavender tips and started on the black hair and I realized just how much I wanted to touch it.
“You weren’t very gentle with it earlier today. I thought you were going to tear it out by the roots.” She continued but didn’t sound upset and passed me the brush. Turning her back to me, she flipped her hair over her shoulder where I could reach it.
I tentatively started bushing it. The faint smell of hair rose to my nostrils. It was so faint, but it made me want to bury my face in it. I heard the soft crackle of the brush passing through her hair. “You’re not upset, are you? It seemed the right thing to do.” I asked.
“As long as you enjoyed yourself, I’m fine, but I would prefer you didn’t make a habit of it. You might also think about how you treat my neck. I don’t mind people seeing me like this, but you’re going to be embarrassed when they figure out you did it.”
So she had noticed. Hair, lip, neck; I had left a mark on her this time.
The brush kept passing through her hair with a soft hiss, while my other hand held and smoothed her hair. It was soft and silky. She took good care of it. It was relaxing to touch, and I felt reassured that she trusted me with it, especially given the subject we had been talking about.
I use many metaphors. I often carefully rephrased JP metaphors so people who are unfamiliar with them will understand and people familiar with them catch the cultural reference.
I like the metaphor of the frog in the well only knowing the world it sees. I have used speaking into one's nose to indicate snottyness. The most recent one I used was referring to the house where my characters live as a "mouse house."
Even monkeys fall out of trees is one l like
I had a story where characters engaged in a verbal game of upping each other with feline metaphors.
When I run into new metaphors I note them and wait till I can use them.
2/2 a partial list of Japanese metaphors I have used.
A frog in a well does not know the great sea
Even monkeys fall from trees
Like gold coins to a cat
Even want to borrow a cat’s paw
Cat’s tongue
A cat’s forehead
If you don’t enter the tiger’s cave, you can’t catch its cub
All my LI's are creative people. Some write poems. Kao wants to be an author and Ume is an author. In terms of creative material that appears in my novels Kao and Shiro are tied with several Hiaku appearing in the text. Plot wise Ume is the most creative. Konbini Idol is her telling the story of Fukitsu, Tomo, Kan-chan, and herself.
Currently, Ume is busy writing three ongoing stories, "Konbini Idol," "The Handmaiden's Tears," and ghostwriting "My Undersea Harem."
#WritersCoffeeClub WWriting 24-06-03:
Should books include a content warning.
Cont.
That doesn't mean I am in favor of mandatory trigger lists.
A) They become vehicles of censorship.
B) They target minorities and enforce majority conformity.
C) they are arbatary. Why must you CW spiders but not lizards? I am sure there are people with lizard phobias.
D) They become outdated, witness the words you must not say.
I CW for Bullying, and homophobia because they can be triggering.
I CW smoking and swearing because I don't want to deal with purity folks getting on my ass.
I don't CW that I write queer fiction. I'm not going to cater to prejudice and besides, isn't obvious from my title and blurb?
Probably the wrong question. I write sapphic novels. Yuri. I have a few bit characters that are str8. Mikito-sensei is the only one with much screen time and he could easily be ace. Let's see #lesbian, #bisexual, #asexual, #transgender (#transfem, & #tranmasc)
A flush not quite a straight missing gay and non-binary.
The most recent Kase-san and Yamada (Vol. 3) is more of Kase-san being jealous. I wish Hiromi Taskhima would find a different plot device. They have worn this plot threadbare. Character arch - Yamada some, Kase-san Zero zip. The story has stopped being about Kase-san and Yamada being in love and is about their incessant insecurity.
Time for either the author to move on or for me to move on.
#WordWeavers 6/1: Introduce your cast as if they were a famous music band coming to your town.
Welcome to the debut of "Konbini Idol." This is the reboot of the punk rockabilly duo"Ume to Tomo" who will be joined by Fukitsu formerly of "Tamoto Suzume."
Advance ticket holders will receive a limited-release CD-R featuring the haunting voice of Mikawa.
We'll be waiting to meet you! #KonbiniIdol (For Love of a Konbini Idol)
Saeki: I didn't have any obsessions I can think of until I got to high school. I was pretty obsessed with Tolko. during that time. It didn't work out for me though. Probably just as well since I never would have met Arisu. What were you obsessed with Arisu?
Arisu: You. Don't ask me how. It's just one of those things I seem to know. I was obsessed with you. Couldn't you tell when we finally met?
Ume: Girl's stuff. Kimono's, dolls, that kind of thing. Now that you mention it I think that's what my mother got so upset about that time. Some kimono silk I had supposedly "stolen."
I got good at hiding my interest though. I had a little fort amid some old sakura trees where I could play house and pretend I was a princess.
#PennedPossibilities#Writing 331
Has your MC ever desired the feeling of a fresh start, or a better understanding of themselves and/or the world around them?
Per narrative character:
Saeki: "After my failed confession I wanted one. Not that I did anything about it. I can thank Arisu for the changes in my life." #Arisu (Arisu the Girl Who Saw Ghosts )
Shiro: "I didn't know I needed one until Kao came alone. Even then it took a while. I'm glad it happened though. When I think how dreary my life would have been if I had continued along the path I was going. #MyGirlfriend (My Girlfriend Almost Got Me Killed)
Ume: "Been there done that. And big time. The one I think you should ask is Shishi."
Shiomi: "They can read about it when you publish my life story."
Ume: "Working on it." #KonbiniIdol (For Love of a Konbini Idol)