haikusociety

Sorry? :-) We do know it counts as short by our standards (not this fandom's, we're pretty sure *g*), but it turned out that way. Rest assured there are only two below 3k in the whole thing (and this was already one of them), and very few below 5k.

JinJin is glad to have a break. ;-)

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silverrain184.livejournal.com

Well that was short^^

Oh Kame, you're so obsessed and you just don't want to see it but you keep thinking and thinking about this 'feckless' escort.

Just a question out of personal interest. How do you co-write? I'm co-writing as well and I'm just curious^^ (we split characters and write via skype haha)

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Short and sweet? ;-) We apologize for the inconvenience, one of our cast members had to lie in a dark room and recuperate.

Huh? Thinking about escorts? Kame? We don't know what you're talking about. Neither does Kame.

Co-writing... we'll take this one later, not on lunch break, okay? :-)

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silverrain184.livejournal.com

haha, of course Kame doesn't think about such trivial things. How could I assume...
About what?^^

Don't stress it, we don't have to discuss co-writing in comments of a ff anyway. However you like - if you like ;)

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Not stressing! SRSLY, have you ever met an author who was hesitant to talk about their writing?

For the whores, it varied from chapter to chapter, really, we had two kinds:

The ones where they are apart, one of us often does a first draft for one character and then the other gets to mess around in it, until a stage where we work on it together. We did our best to change who got which character, though, since inhabiting Kame's mind for a full 400k words would probably have driven the one to get him to the brink of suicide. (We did consider it, long enough for there to be sounds of argh argh urgh plzno Mr Crazycakes.)

It helps that we're not WORLDS apart in our writing style, and we think we were fairly successful not being too obvious about who wrote the first part of what.

The second option was to write together from the start, which originally was for the Akame-together parts, and towards the end for all the parts, because things were getting complicated and nobody wanted to be alone with the responsibility when we had to hit certain notes in the plot. This is also how we write all our other stories, which are shorter. Hee.

We use ICQ for that, and the way it works is that one person writes a 'chunk'. A chunk can be as little as one paragraph, or as much as 500 words, depending on how in the flow the current person is. Then we paste, and the other one gets to tweak, delete, rephrase, add, and/or carry on. Our best writing days, there's only a little tweaking and we leapfrog the plot; on other days, we've been known to paste the same paragraph back and forth ten times. Those words get tweaked and amended (and deleted and made longer and experimented with) and sent back and forth for a bit until we're both reasonably happy; then they get dumped into a google doc, where the alpha version of the first draft of the chapter is put together.

When it's all there, we turn it into a real word doc, and that's when the editing starts, using tracked changes and comments, discussion in chat, sulking, and occasional telephone calls. Usually, the document gets sent back and forth about 5-6 times, until there are only the points of real contention or real helplessness left, and then we talk on the phone.

And when *that's* done, the chapter gets added to the 'officially done in 1st draft' chapters, where 'officially done' means that we'll go over it again with a fine toothcomb before actually posting it, are going to consider how it works in the bigger context (we need some distance for that), and may revisit particular scenes when we suddenly have our doubts that we did the right thing, and whatever. When we still had a beta, this was the point at which it got sent off to them.

So... do you write sentence by sentence in Skype, or use the phone feature too? And what do you and your collaborator do after that? What happens then?

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silverrain184.livejournal.com

Haha, I haven't really spoken to many writers so far but I know that I love to talk about it!^^

Wow, that's pretty interesting. We write pretty differently I guess. Have to say, I'm considerably new to this, I've written one fic (that still isn't finished unfortunately) and then already tried a collaboration. Currently I'm at the second.

We both had no idea how that works best but I guess there's no 'how to' to this anyways *haha*

We have the luck that we live pretty close (sometimes in the same apartment for days ;P) so we started out plotting while talking about it.
We basically decided for the main storyline and who writes who, so I write Jin and she Kame, since we're most comfortable this way. Each choses the character features and we discuss how it fits together. Usually the plot develops around this.

Then, we decide on their social enviroment and with this on friends and 'support-cast' so I write the characters surrounding Jin and my co-writer around her character; Kame.

When we write, for example, I start the chapter with a scene and write in word until my character meets her's, I paste it in a messenger, then she writes her part, reacting to what I wrote and sends it back. My character reacts to what her character does and so on. It's almost a bit like role-playing *haha*

One collects everything in a file we send to a beta when a chapter is finished.

We usually discuss what's supposed to happen but most of the time we react according to how the own character would react and that ends with the characters taking over and things going differently than planned ;)

We had half a year where we were seperated but there we just completely did it via skype, most of the times writing and talking at the same time *haha*

I like how it stays unpredictable what the other character is doing like this but when one of us doesn't like the way it's heading to, we talk about it and change.

As for me, I think I get a bit possessive about a character when I create him/her so I don't think I'd be able to let someone else write them lol.

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That sounds like a pretty cool way of doing it, too. It probably wouldn't have worked for us because we are so obsessive about detail, but it sounds like fun. Particularly the bit about how it stays unpredictable, and characters do stuff differently than planned. That's happened to us a few times, but most of the time we had discussed the whole thing so much beforehand that there wasn't really much room for surprises. And that was good, since our plot is pretty complex. (And when the characters insist on suddenly doing something different, it's usually arrrrghhh time here.)

Still, it's fun when they surprise you like that. :-D

It's also got to be fun to be solely responsible for a character, but for this particular piece that really wouldn't have worked for us. (See comment on lack of sanity above. ;-)

We've found hanging out on sofas and plotting to be quite fun too! (Though then we scramble and go 'but how will we remember all that argh who's going to put this in a googledoc??' Sometimes chat logs are useful. *g*)

From:

natsukashi-yume.livejournal.com

Sho! Course, he's slim and trim at 40 and with 3 kids and Jun as a mistress. Haha. Kame's neurotic behavior makes a little more sense now with more hints about the scandal and his pretend straight life makes me so sad. T__T That one line where he's looking at strangers and fantasizing. Ooof. And he seems to be able to think clearly and somewhat question his own bizarre behavior when Jin isn't around clouding his mind, but duuuude, chill.

I can't wait for Koki to make his appearance. And I'm really curious to see his taste in Johnny's boys. *leers*

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T__T is about right. We don't want to say too much because we don't want to be ~biased~ when he does all these things to Jin, but we are glad he gets some sympathy there. He's had a rough couple of years and half the time he doesn't even know it.

We sometimes wonder if Kame would be better on some pot. Or, well, Jin's already recommended the yoga.

Thank you for this comment! *glomp*

Koki definitely has a type, but we'll have to see if you approve. *g*

From:

natsukashi-yume.livejournal.com

*now imagining Kame with the munchies*

I know Midori makes no appearance here, but seeing Kame rationalize this whole acting straight thing made me feel SO BAD for her. I almost wish he'd hooked up with some lesbian actress so they could be each other's beards and have their love affairs on the side. That's the thing though, he's not even allowing himself love.. just sex. God.. more T__T the more I think about it.

I love commenting! *glomps back*

Kokiii, mostly I'm waiting to see if he's gangsta and bling. Hehe.

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I almost wish he'd hooked up with some lesbian actress so they could be each other's beards and have their love affairs on the side.

Yeah, total agreement here. >.<

And you're spot on about Kame. *sigh* (Another reason for *glomp* but we don't want to be inappropriate in the face of Kame's marriage. *g*)

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ina

It was short. Sorry for stating the obvious. :D But I really liked it, since we really got some interesting stuff about Kame. The gay scandal has been hinted on before but hearing about it so clearly does explain a lot.

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Hey, it was short but it was early! Tsk tsk, customers... ;-)

Glad you feel that some things are starting to fit together, though. :D

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spot. will read later when I finally have time.

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Don't worry; as has been repeatedly brought to our notice, the chapter is short. It'll take almost no time! ;-)

Looking forward to hearing what you think, though. :D

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I noticed the length as I scrolled down to click on the comments link *with eyes closed and repeatedly chanting 'notyetnotyetnotyetnotyet.'

I will oh so graciously not make a comment about said short length. Oops.

Anyway I liked it even though it was shor--less than average length. Again, Kame's thoughts repeatedly get side tracked to Jin, and he doesn't seem to notice it at all. I found the bit about him thinking that all the other clients who have had Jin understand 'how he is' and that he 'needs to be put in his place.' I hope a scene comes up where Kame can speak with Yamatani or someone else and realise hey, why aren't they complaining about such a hapless incompetent escort?

Wanting to hear more about this 'scandal' that was mentioned. Honestly I felt a little bad when Kame looks on the possibility of having children as 'a more thorough plan.' Maybe the marriage is entirely an act? I figured there may be at least some feelings on his part. Unless I interpreted that wrong. I would like to see more of how his marriage works.

And look at that I managed to read and comment before I had to leave for class! *does not look at unfinished homework due in less than an hour* As always I cannot wait until the next chapter.

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I noticed the length as I scrolled down to click on the comments link *with eyes closed and repeatedly chanting 'notyetnotyetnotyetnotyet.'

Heeee! So cute. Thank you for coming back after the shor--- sub-average length! ;-)

I hope a scene comes up where Kame can speak with Yamatani or someone else and realise hey, why aren't they complaining about such a hapless incompetent escort?

That would be interesting, wouldn't it! :-) Though can you imagine Kame exchanging notes on escorts he's had with other people who've also slept with them?

"X does these amazing things with his tongue, you should try that out."
"Yes, and have you ever asked Y to wiggle like... so?"
"God yeah, just last week. He's really very nimble."
"And so tight. Much better than Z, he's kind of..."

>_<

Thank you for your comments on the marriage. We don't want to elaborate too much, because we fear that would be cheating -- if we can't manage to say what we mean in the text, we shouldn't be writing sticky notes about it. But your reading of it here and you wanting to see more of it pleases us. (And yeah, Kame's plans... >.< )

Thank you for this lovely feedback! We hope it went all right with the homework oh dear!!!

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That would be a rather awkward conversation, but very interesting. Don't see that happening tho haha. I just would've liked to see Kame's reaction to realising he's the only one with significant 'Jin issues.' XD

Maybe I will reread some of the earlier chapters and re-evaluate Kame's marriage. It's not a good thing for sure, both of them are just going to end up being hurt. *grumblesadisticwritersgrumble....*

HW went okay, it was Japanese so I can delude myself into believing reading this is semi-studying XD

From:

jo-lasalle.livejournal.com

It's not a good thing for sure, both of them are just going to end up being hurt. *grumblesadisticwritersgrumble....*

*whistles innocently*

HW went okay, it was Japanese so I can delude myself into believing reading this is semi-studying XD

LOL! I've done that. XD Glad it worked too!!

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Clearly we should put more Japanese into our writing.

"ごめんね, Kame said, "I was such a 変態."
"うせろ！！" Jin shouted. "放せ！"
"でも、愛してる" Kame insisted.

Then it would be truly educational. :-)

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Jin: "本当に？も愛してるよ。ずっと好きだった。"
Aw look at that, there so much nicer to each other in Japanese ne...^^

Yes yes I am totally studying here. Not a waist of time at all. Once in a while I really do learn something from fanfic; I'm sure I will from this one at some point.　:]

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they're so much nicer to each other in Japanese

Yeah, I think if we'd written it in Japanese, the story would have been a lot shorter. ;p

I think the main thing we learned from it was how much admin and organisation goes into running a whorehouse. >_>

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Whorehouses. What a thing to learn about. Though I should have known you two would do research on everything for this fic. I think it was definitely worth it though. You make it seem like an almost sophisticated establishment, despite the kind of business it really is. O.o

That makes me wonder how you came up with the idea for this fic in the first place. Making poor Jin a whore and Kame a sadistic control freak.... tsk tsk...

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Weeeeell, it tries to be a sophisticated whorehouse, for all those rich clients who don't want down and dirty sex in the alleyways behind pachinko parlours. :D

How we came up with the idea... you know, there's actually a story (and a long chat-log entry) related to this, f-locked on my LJ. I've opened it up for now, so if you are interested: http://users.livejournal.com/solo____/186410.html (but I'll lock it again in a few days, it's just too ... something to have floating around for all comers to see. ;-)

From:

ah hah!!! Such an epic fic the result of those horrible perms!! (thank goodness SOMETHING good came from that) *dies laughing*

The way both of your minds work is quite amusing I must say XD. Ugh I know how frustrating fandom fail can be... I was in this fandom for almost a year *coughlurkingcough* before I finally just said screw it and wrote something myself. (Compared to the both of you, I'm a pretty new Akame fan) Unfortunately, there is a lot of BAD fic out there in this fandom. I've seen enough girly!/constantly crying!Kame and 'omgwejustmetyouaresocuteomgiloveyoucommencehotsex' to make me puke. Thankfully there are some writers who actually think things through. *shamelessly feeds your egos*

And you worked on it for two years! I'm sure you guys had no clue that it would turn into such an epic. Keyboards do sometimes get out of control XD.

So you mentioned another story, 'soft skin boys' I think it was called. Another whorefic I'm guessing. If you can recommend it I will def check it out.^^

Ahh if only Kame and Jin were aware of how the mere choice of a hairstyle affects us. *still infinitely amused* That's fandom for you.
Akame: "Let's get perms!"
Fandom: *400k word count epic* @_@

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I'd definitely recommend Soft Skin Boys, it's a lovely story! You can find it here. (http://soundczech.livejournal.com/103821.html)

And yeah, I know exactly what you mean about the constantly crying Kame... I really don't know where people *get* that. :/ ::shudders:: The other thing that drives me up a tree is dumb!Jin. Kame is not a twelve-year-old girl. Jin is not a brainless idiot. KTHXBAI.

grrrrrrrrrrr....

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ah thank you! *goes to read*

Yes, I know, apparently some people think that if you're pretty then you must be a total wimp too, regardless of the fact that Kame has never behaved like that at all.
Yes that annoys me too. Jin can be a bit airheaded at times but he isn't a stupid guy; he learned English after all, and is studying hard at it still. And he also writes such beautiful music...

I totally just pictured a fic with Kame crying pathetically causing Jin to think too hard about the reason for said crying resulting in Kame crying even more hysterically when Jin's *tiny* brain explodes.

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That sounds totally like something that might get written in this fandom... :/

From:

lady-aenea.livejournal.com

My heart is broken in tiny little pieces... And i'm posting from my phone JUST to tell you this.

Kame your plan sucks! =(

he is such an scared boy =( (*Kame bias On full mode). This chap., more than any before made me want to hug him and maybe rock him ToT

still....i love this! <3

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Awww. :-( we know how you feel. Jin's not the only one who could do with hugs. :-(((

As we said above, he's not having the easiest time, and half the time he doesn't even know it.

We're very happy it works for you. :D

(And we like your phone. Hi, Aenea's phone! One day you'll have to send us a picture.)

From:

lady-aenea.livejournal.com

Mika (the phone) says hi too *g*

From:

secretobssesion.livejournal.com

waah i get excited each time i see this fic's update XD
gonna go read now!!

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Hee, hope you enjoy!

From:

brindhakrishnan.livejournal.com

Its a total welcome not to have akame together in this chapter. Or rather Jin. Cause usually if Jin is in it, I often end up feeling that Kame is a total creep and a monster at times. In this one, Kame seems so normal with insecurities and one with lingering thoughts towards Jin. Seriously though, Kame wasn't supposed to have that many contacts with Jin, his thought process also clearly shows that he wants things back to normal, with Ueda. But why does he always end up with Jin instead? And you've got me interested now with that gay scandal he had.. Thanks for sharing this!~

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Thank *you* for this comment; it made us really happy. :-) We're glad that Kame comes across as normal in the bits where he's by himself, because yeah, the problem is very much Jin. Not that he doesn't have other problems, but Jin just brings it all out in the worst possible way. Kame wants normal. He *misses* normal. Just, Jin... does things to his brain. ;-)

From:

diisa-pinky.livejournal.com

aaaaaw~~ short~~!
but it's okay. cos we finally knew that Kame has many insecurities with him ne?
and i don't think that Kame's plan will go as he like~ i mean, with Jin there even tho Kame planning to change Jin with Ueda again
he will have a difficulty turning his eyes from Jin XD

thanks for this update ^^

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Yes, Kame is a sad little bundle of insecurity.

What do you mean, his plan won't go as he wants? Of course it will. Kame's plans always work out. Who cares about that weird Jin guy? ;-)

Thank you for commenting!

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nightinbird.livejournal.com

I forgot to comment last thursday, but right now I'm glad about it because it gave me a great excuse to reread this chapter ;D
I'm so intrigued by Kame the more you tell us about him. I liked that you brought Sho in as an older might-be-future-Kame; because it shows how Kame, in reality, is so different from that kind of suave, composed, rich guy who took hiding his sexuality very far. When Kame had that thought about how he'd never seen himself getting that far down the line, even though his wife wants to have kids, I felt so relieved. and all his insecurities, how he thinks he needs things at JOhnny's to go back to normal so they can kind of support his life (am I the only one who thought "oh Kame. what life???"), how he has a mysterious gay scandal in the past that haunts him and kind of makes him paranoid...
muhahaha and now I'll only have to wait another night and there'll be more to read :DDD

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