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Jul 2024
20 days later

I'm interested in a lot of things, one of which is chemistry.

In case you didn't notice, a lot of the naming conventions I used in my story are based on chemical terms/concepts. Examples from the first chapter:

  • The MC's surname, Rubrene, is a type of organic compound mostly made up of aromatic rings. It has a distinct red colour, and I plan to tie his character arc into the concept of rubedo, which in alchemy refers to the final stage of their work.
  • The island he's stationed at, Diamane, is a 2D form of diamond.
  • The sea surrounding the island, Valent Sea, is derived from valency, i.e. the capacity of an atom to bond with another atom, particularly hydrogen.
  • The bay he left from is called Lepton, which is a group of elementary particles that electrons are a part of.

Yooo. I love fairy tales, folklores, and mythology as well. Not sure how much I'd be featuring those elements in my current work, but I did name a dragon after a figure from Celtic mythology, Lugh.

I understand 2% of chemistry, but it seems like you're on a similar wave length to my little brother

yes fantasy lovers unite!

Haha. I enjoy collecting bits and pieces of trivia about almost anything, actually. But I'm currently working at a chemical department of a STEM institute, so I found out a lot of fascinating things about the subject from there, including the history (another thing I really like learning about :grin:) of the field, and how alchemy developed into chemistry.

My MC has elemental powers, but his abilities are based more on chemical elements and alchemical processes than the typical classic elements of fire, water, wind, earth.

The processes he used in the 2nd chapter battle was:
1. Coloration/tincturation: The changing of a substance's colour using a dye or tincture. In this case, it's nigredo (black). In alchemy, nigredo is the death/putrefaction stage, so it will induce a faster colour change if the object contains more impurities.
2. Inhumation: The process of burying an active substance in a dark, earthy material.

Not sure how clear his powers are in-story without explanation though, haha. :sweat_smile:

Hmm… have I? Ooh wait- I’ve always liked the idea of living by myself and cooking whatever I like, which Mev gets to do every day. As for Ian, he can play a Lyre (I’ve always wished I could play an instrument well). Kind of… he’s trying to learn but lacks the motivation often :cry_02: just like me with the piano. But unlike me, he actually manages to learn a handful of songs. All I can play is how to save a life and half of Viva La Vida :sob: We don’t actually see him play until page 90, but he does play the Lyre at least twice in the story.

I'd love to play an instrument, but I don't own any instruments rn. they're too expensive

Ukulele is pretty cheap. Just bought one a few weeks ago.

ATM, I can only play like 5 chords though, since I only practice once in a blue moon, and rarely play more than 15 minutes when I do.

yeah, but i need all my cash for necessities rn. May consider a uke tho

Oh, well, that's unfortunate. Hopefully you can eventually find an instrument you'll enjoy playing though.

I've always loved music (I'm part of my church's choir) and few things makes me happier than discovering a new and interesting instruments.

I used a lot of musical terms in my naming conventions as well.

  • The first town the MC went to is called Allegro (fast-paced & cheery music). Fittingly, the people he encountered there is someone who has speed-based powers, and some overly excitable newbie
  • The 5 locations of the training bases: Kora (a 21-stringed instrument from West Africa), Andante (musical term, meaning slow-paced), Addaggio (derived from Adagio, also means slow tempo), Tsiftel (derived from Cifteli, an Albanian 2-stringed instrumetn), and Pirri (derived from Piri, a Korean flute)

I'm planning to give the female lead a music/sound-based power as well. That, or art/visual-based stuff.

(This current novel seems to be basically an excuse for me to geek out about things I fancy)

15 days later

I play recorders as occasional hobby, and in my comic there's a dog flutist who also plays recorders (but it's 6+1 holes and different keys).

I agree 100% and that´s what I would recommend too.
Ukes are the best instruments to get when you don´t want or can´t spend too much
money. They don´t take much space and they are easier to learn that i.e. blues harmonica
or acoustic guitar which are 2 typical instruments that people start with

12 days later

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Not exactly an interest/hobby :laughing: but I have a habit of touching my face a lot, or fingering my hair/clothes constantly. I thought it would be interesting to project that onto Ian since I don’t share much in common with him.

I feel like there was a thread for oc mannerisms at some point… idk- if I had seen it I would’ve put this there instead.

Oftentimes our own habits just make it into the characters, so this is definitely and interesting thing to include. i tend to fiddle with my hair a lot when i'm bored, but as of yet, none of my ocs do that