#crayfishechoesoftheforestssss

[lifecrayfish]

If I wanted my characters not to be all soldiers but other professions, what would they be ?

Warning : this is kind of long. Proceed with caution

Like it was cool at first but because I don't want my story to lose its whimsy I don't think them being apart of the jsdf(japanese self defense force) is any good low-key.

honestly, I've been thinking it for a while

For y'all a bit of background :(stars based on their current importance in the story )

⟡⟡⟡Araya :29, staff Sargeant, tech expert (software), grey hair, stoic because he's shy and scared because he's special

⟡⟡Kaijun : 30, Sargeant (got demoted) ,tech expert(hardware?, i imagine him being dirty and dorky) , always smiling, shill and happy, friends with araya

⟡⟡⟡Arashi : 36, Sargeant first class, weapons expert, scar on his right cheek (eh, maybe sharpnel), always mad, divorced, girl dad, the shortest, broadest

(cus I didn't know how to write him) ⟡Azuka : 31, Staff sargeant , medic (and analyst, i just be doing anything) , notebook on him(maybe glasses ? Nahh) , kind-i guess- , very gentle but very pushing when concerned or and looking for answers , the tallest.

( same as azuka, it's worse cus he's the main narrator) ⟡Kazuke :34, Sargeant major, right hand man, cool watch(cus he's ponctual) , most average, boring , by the book guy, he likes knitting cus his mom is his favorite

⟡⟡⟡Tadashi :38, first lieutenant, the leader of the team, his hat alwyss looks like its hiding his very sharp eyes cus he sees everything ~~~, despite being the most important, i can't think of any characteristics for him that makes him more of a character and less of a plot device. He's fatherly, he's tired.

--- in the original plot ----

They are a team assembled by the colonel of the base to investigate weird phenomenon happening in the forest, suddenly one day their leader is now a dad to a 15 year old hareta who may or may not be connected to the mystery. Oooo, mystery

Here's the issue: colonel made a team, it's serious, but it's supposed to be unknown and new, and usually when things are new it gets put under the rug, but when the government is the one holding the broom, stuff gets real bro, in order for it to work in tadashi and haretas favor, not only does the colonel and his gang need to be on it, but probably very important people. Like the president. This is stuff i do not want to enter into. I need whimsy with a little bit of horror brothers.

------ new plot --------

They are a bunch of normal fellas who got united over this intresting thing happening in their town who this new but unique kid is definitely a part of.

This means for me that it gets high but not high enough that I'd have to speak about stakes i do not want to get into

But now, for the true meat, what would their jobs be ?

Araya and kaijun : i want them roommates, i want them to live close by, so i am thinking , one a computer nerd (araya). , and the other a mechanic(kaijun)

Arashi : maybe past military(ptsd, and divorce) , and living here with his father (it raises small stakes , good for narration) , but what Job would he even work ?

Kazuke: idk, an office worker. But the town is kinda small, wouldn't he want to be aiming higher ( maybe past military too? Who's now here staying to take care of his old sick mother ? )

tadashi: definitely a police officer.

Azuka : probably a doctor in a small clinic.

but now what could happen that would get a *let me check* : a 29 year old, 31 year old, 30 year old, a 38 year old, a 34 and 36 year old together ????!

what do u guys think ?

[lifecrayfish]

Hello! Can you tell me about your characters? I'd love to hear about them!

I am so glad ! Oh I have so many I don't know where to start. (I don't want to spoil the story in case I find the motivation to write it again)

Reblogs are off (I like disappearing off the face of the internet with a tap of a button) but comments and questions are greatly appreciated.

So let's start with the main characters :

The six members of the special military team that is apart of the Japanese ground self defense force. Their ranks were so confusing since they are different compared to the military in my country or the US .

I chose their names based on kanji that describes things about them -like their personalities or role in the story- (there's also one theme that appears in some of their names and I did it specifically for a tiny little secret)

First lieutenant Seto Tadashi , the team leader and the oldest (38) . He's part of the mystery and mystique. Certified boy dad to Hareta(another character)

Then there's Master Sargeant Suzuki Kazuke , he's 34 . He's the right hand man and the main narrator but I fear that rubbed on him cus he's boring . But i am trying to make it part of his personality . For now i settled on him being an only child who's been pushed by his father to follow his lead in being a soldier with a high rank and for the sake of his parents' relationship (his mom wanted her son to follow his own path and that caused a lot of clashing. Yea, she's the favorite parent for sure) .But now that his dad is dead and he feels like he's in a good position, he feels like his life is boring, that he is also boring, and that he's in his 30s and already done for, but he's too comfy to try to change it ? . . Then the main story starts , idk how to raise conflict tho, maybe make him be the observer as every other member starts tweaking and as he tries to calm things down ?(But that's kinda boring. Idk how to write characters who aren't in on the inside joke lowky)

There's also my most well written character here (but his growth is in the story so no spoilers) , Sargeant first class Kawase Arashi : he's 36, he's the shortest, he's divorced, and has a 5 yr old daughter (Hina) who is his main motivation in investigating what is happening in the story . He's the angry growling type, and he gets mad quite easily but he'll lean. Mechani

Then we have my second most well written character here , and the third stoic guy (tadashi and kazuke. Bruh i need more variation) , Staff Sargeant Izumi Araya , 29, the youngest but early gray hair has hit hard, the quiet guy. the guy who'll get hit with the horrors . The software guy

Then we get to the best buddy of Araya, Sargeant Kobayashi Kaijun , the cheerful guy, the laid back one , might have gotten demoted before, doesn't know how he got into the special operations team somehow. 30yrs of age. Good at fixing stuff and relationships ( not Arashi's marriage, that was already doomed) . More laidback about the horrors. Thinking of making him a great sniper, what is more scarier than a sniper with a smile .

Then the least written fella after our guy suzuki, our medic, the one that asks too many questions !!! Staff Sargeant Okamoto Azuka. Despite the name, he is a guy (the site said it was a gender neutral name in my defense) , he's 31 , the tallest (180 but people said it's still short, low-key i am 160 and anyone who can see the top of my head is considered tall in my eyes) , he's a gentle guy with his own spark, keeps getting cut off by kawase , would rather spend the night analysing the weird stuff than actually sleeping. He probably wears glasses but I wasn't too sure

Then of course, the main character, the whump victim , the boy, the legend, Hareta

the shortest technically, but he's not part of the team, 15 year old boy, somehow makes ocean green eyes look just as eery as blue ones. Half japanese half scottish , has scared the military staff one too many times . Also terrible at math.

But we can't talk about hareta without Mér, his pet cat

Orange, large , mainecoone with green eyes. The ankle bandit, the anti-rat police, the biggest cat those men have ever seen. They have a bite tally in the break room, and arashi is often at the top (Tadashi is second place but they don't know that. ) . If the cat is here, the boy is over there, very ready to apologize for the teeth wounds u finna have

There is so many though , Probably 30+ . I am a great world builder , but story builder, very terrible.

Whenever i try to raise stakes in my story, my OCD makes me live the character. Like I can't even do bad decisions in fictions. Need tips for curbing that btw.

[lifecrayfish]

⟡⟡my story characters' names, cut into categories I won't name.

⟡"Hareta", Ryuu, Kaito, Kaname, Hina, "tubs", Hikaru, mér.

⟡Miyuki, Arran, Hisae, Honoka, Callum, Michihiro, Masaki, Takeshi, Ren, Takumi.

⟡Iyumi, Ginta, Mesume, Masaru, hinako, The old man farmer.

⟡Tadashi, Kaijun, Arashi, Araya, Azuka.

⟡Tori, Doru.

[lifecrayfish]

-⟡ who left, who he left ⟡-

Always remembered that family,

Lost to reasons many don't know.

A wife and child, and then the husband too,

Sorrow pushed him to follow their flow.

Torn between finding them and his worry,

Able to only deal one blow.

In the heat of the moment then,

Ran he did, the first born left to find their glow.

- ⟡ -

[lifecrayfish]

- ⟡ -

Under the guise of the moonlight;

Where the trees are bonded to soil.

There's someone who lacks knowledge,

Asks for help about his choice.

Under the green of the leaves,

Sits a quite peculiar tree.

Where three people and their loved ones,

Wander around it to be free.

A fiery red and gorgeous dark,

Wait for the white to come along.

Their lookout and their shield,

Protect the blade used to heal and guide.

There in the depths of the forest,

echoes of knowledge ran on about.

Of people,places,things and phases,

words of truth that are hard to spout.

There in the depths of the forest,

run those who ask for help.

There in the depths of the forest ,

the gullible and rude get escorted out.

- ⟡ -