Blog survey for writers: 1. Your favourite project

I found this survey when this inspiring person posted a video about it. I got exited, so I guess this blog will be all about too much information about my writing for a while. :D I don't feel like trying to answer briefly, so today I only take the first question:

1. Tell us about your favorite writing project/universe that you've worked with and why.

Oh my. The hard questions first I guess.

Okay, if I absolutely had to choose, like if I was allowed to write in only one universe for the rest of my life... It would be a comic called ”Four Colours”. Or rather, what started as a comic that I drew with one of my oldest friends from the end of elementary school until high school. Since then the story has actually developed multiple universes in my head and I have my friend's permission to recreate it in book from. Currently it's not an active project but it's in my mind a lot.

Obviously, the comic isn't very good, at least from the perspective of someone who is serious about writing. I mean we started it when we were 12, had no script, and exchanged a few pages of our stream-of-consciousness doodling at a time (though the ”few pages” turned into a few dozen pages in a couple of years, especially for me). The other always continued where the other stopped, without any hint about how we had thought the story would develop, so it has taken many, many, weird, unexpected turns of events which makes the overall plot convoluted at best. It's heavily influenced by the Italian comic called W.i.t.c.h., both the story and the drawing style, for both of us. For my friend I guess Digimon was the other series her art was most influenced by. And from my part there's borderline plagiarism (picture-wise) from certain shoujo mangas I had just found as my inspiration and sometimes wanted to use for reference to get certain poses anatomically right.

Even so, this was the story that inspired me the most through my teenage years and it was by far the longest of my stories at the time. (Over 500 comic pages when it went on hiatus in 2010.) It was while drawing this comic that I first experienced I was in perfect flow with the story, like there was no pen and paper between my inner world and its expression. The first time I stayed up an entire night drawing, was with this comic too. (40 pages in 14 hours or so.) It was also the first time I got to experience someone really loving what I came up with, and excitedly waiting for me to draw more. All of these are feelings that nothing can compare to.

Also, I don't think I can do anything like this ever again. I mean, I'm interested in writing with a partner but I don't think there's any chance I could do it like this anymore. I take my characters far too seriously for it: I couldn't create a story by taking turns anymore. I would have to know that we agree about everything regarding the characters and the plot. This of course, takes away the surprise element, which I loved when I drew this comic with my friend, but nowadays I just take writing too seriously to do it the way we did. (The exception would be if we decided to continue with my friend for fun. We've already spent so many years drawing these characters that I think we both have a clear enough sense of who they are.)

Ahem, what is this comic really about then? As you might have guessed, (if you know anything about W.i.t.c.h) it's about a group of girls with magical powers. It's mostly set in our modern world.

Meet the Four Colours:

Their names mean their signature colours (with slight variation, in Finnish) with a fail. We thought there was a colour called ”jasmine red” at the time. Turns out there isn't. Oh well. (This mistake inspired a short story were the colour ”jasmine red” is created but unfortunately I never finished it.) Originally, Sini and Keller were my designs, and Viola and Jasmin were my friend's, but for a long time it has felt like they're all equally from both's pen.

The girls have pretty nonsensical colour related powers and outfits. They also have their signature symbols. They yell a lot of nonsense when they use their magical abilities. None of it was planned to function effectively, it's basically all there to support the image we wanted to(?) create for them as characters.

The colours we chose for them didn't go the most stereotypical way, though. Blue is often associated with wisdom, understanding and some kind of otherworldliness. Our Miss Blue is rather head-strong, somewhat simple-minded, and really down to earth. Purple is usually somewhat mysterious, borderline dark, maybe even poisonous, but our ”Viola” is the jester of the group, the most energetic, wild and ”innocent” by nature. I think that's usually what yellow represents, but our yellow character, Keller, is the gentle and sort of motherly empath of the cast. Red is often the colour of power and leadership, and though there isn't clearly anyone with the most dominant personality, if I had to choose, it still probably wouldn't be Jasmin. She's a pretty sensitive and introverted character, who generally avoids conflict, even if she's inflexible at times.

The premise of the story was that these four girls got a mission from a supernatural being, to save a small village by a mountain, tormented by a magical illness. The girls were to fight their way to the mountain, guarded by evil forces, and reach the top of it, where they would unite their magical powers and clear the village from the illness.

(Yes, this is actually what twelve-year-old kids think is a great plot!) No, it is never explained why there's an illness in the village. No, it's never explained why only the power of these girls can save it. The girls don't even wonder about it. Nor do they give any second thought to whether they should do something like this or not, of course they're all in for putting their lives in danger! (I think this might have something to do with the W.i.t.c.h. influences. It is shown over and over again in W.i.t.c.h. that the chosen ones just can't escape their fate, so maybe we just accepted it so we didn't need to raise the question, haha.)

This, and brief character profiles, were all the planning we did. Then we just started drawing. And oh boy, didn't it get out of hand. Kind of in a good way, from the eyes of someone who loves the story despite its shortcomings.

I think the most endearing thing about this comic is how reluctant both, me and my friend, were to actually move the plot forward and focus on the whole ”fighting evil on a mountain” part of the story. We were clearly more interested in exploring the characters' everyday lives and relationships. The comic is full of magicless everyday side plots, regarding everything from shopping to romance, school concerts to hobbies, parties to family drama. Sure, it's enough that the characters go to the mountain when they feel like ”it's the right time”. It isn't very often, it seems.

Eventually, they do manage to clear the village from the illness. Their next mission is brought on by one of them, Keller, who has turned out to be an angel born on earth, among six other angels she knew in the alternate universe where the angels of this story live. So, Four Colours are up to find those other six, to save them from the fury of a really mysteeeerious guy named Deimos, who's a foster parent to Keller's childhood friend Ater who happens to have a neat amulet which can help find the remaining angels. (Yes.) It sounds really bad like this, but later it is revealed that Deimos is actually one of the seven angels and the explanation why he thinks the other angels have betrayed him and why Ater has this convenient amulet sounds pretty convincing for a 15-year-old me.

After Deimos is redeemed, no new mission is introduced, and the story focuses on the characters everyday lives, before it goes on hiatus.

That's it in a nutshell. I'm not really a fan of nutshell, and I think I'm pretty bad at writing it too, so what I want to do now, is to focus on more detailed aspects of the comic and put parts of it on display.

BEHOLD,

Four Colours: The Weird, Silly and Reoccuring Stuff

• amazing anatomy
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• it's always raining for no reason
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• ripping off shoujo manga
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• the ”evil” takes many half-assed and unexplained forms
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• it's totally normal for an elementary school to host a singing contest with an actual recording contract as the prize
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• This pet hawk is never mentioned or seen again after its first appearance
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• they actually had a hot tub inside a bus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• generic villains are generic
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• angels have elf ears
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• infodump
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• a mandatory Digimon haired boy
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• children are the most perceptive creatures
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• oh hello Sauron
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• confessions are always interrupted
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• characters just can't do without symbols
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• when you travel by magic... the landing always sucks
  
  
  
  
  
   
• when the stakes are highest, everyone meets in a void
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• It's okay for the villain to explain their plan... if the characters point the cliché out first
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• no perspective whatsoever
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• the running gag of a character who takes everything literally
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• romantic moments get faded into a joke (my personal sin)
  
  
  
  
  
• the conscience
  
  
  
  
  

Okay, now that I've mocked our precious child enough, let's have some

Moments I Honestly Like:

• The girls don't lose faith when they think one of them is dead
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Keller was assigned Viola's guardian angel before being born on earth (only a few months after Viola)
  
  
  
  
  
• Viola meets the human Keller the first time as a kid and thinks her voice sounds familiar
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Deimos can't ignore frozen roses, because they remind him of his beloved Radja
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Radja is determined to save Deimos and his villain role cracks
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The angels are reunited (and off to save Deimos and Radja)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Viola remembers Keller's voice (I know that's completely unrealistic since she was like max four months old but hey magic)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Keller and Viola are left by their band mates and they form a new one that includes all Four Colours
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We drew some pages taking turns every panel and it worked surprisingly well
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Ater, Deimos, Radja and her little sister Zenja move in together
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Sini and Keller regain trust in a dream world
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Josh can put it simply enough for Deimos to regain some sanity
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Viola wakes up characteristically ungracefully after thinking she just vanished from existence
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Keller and Ater bond on the balcony
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Alex breaks up with Jasmin undramatically and realistically
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Ater and Josh forget for a moment that they aren't on good terms
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Viola confesses her love to Alex who shares her feelings
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Ater and Alex bond
  
  
  
  
  

Um, why exactly is this my favourite project then?

I admit that some of it has to do with nostalgia. But even more has to do with the characters. I think the characters are great, and that's why they take up a significant portion of space in my head. I wasn't a great writer when I drew this comic, so the story sucks in many ways, but my idea of it doesn't suck. How it should actually go inspires me. How the characters actually are, everything that isn't in the comic already but is a significant part of who I think the characters are, inspires me. How everything will unfold, if I give them a different starting point somewhere else, inspires me. There are themes and concepts in their life that intrigue me. Some of it is (implied) in the story in someways, but not nearly as deep as there would be to tell about it.

I want to see where those themes will take these characters. They are so close to me, they're like thought patterns. And if I let my thoughts on their path, it just doesn't end. They're endless. I could write anything about them and never lose interest. They've been with me constantly longer than any other of my characters. It doesn't matter what kind of story it is, if it's theirs, I'm at home. I guess that's why I would choose them.

Your Characters, You, and Other People

I know this is an old topic but I thought I'd give my two cents, since I don't think this is ever really going to be outdated. The more I write, the more I get asked if a character is based on someone, usually if they're based on myself. Or if I would base a character on someone, or if there's a character who represents me. I think this is familiar to most writers and it seems like the general assumption is that writers do base their characters on real people.

It's a little funny to me. I doubt that the same people would assume that any of the standard soap opera characters they see every day on TV, would be based on real people. So, I don't think the reason for that assumption is that they can't imagine a fictional character could come from anywhere else than a real life model. I think that for some reason literature is just viewed differently. I still can't put my finger on exactly why, but I think it's mostly people who haven't really read since the required 3-4 books in high school or middle school. In that case I guess it could have something to do with literature's (especially with a capital L) supposed ”serious” nature. After all, what is more serious that real life?

But, they're not the only ones. Some avid readers assume, or at least ask those things all the time. And from authors whose worlds are clearly imaginary. Even J.K. Rowling has been asked if someone in her books was based on her. I think most people thought it was Harry, because they share a birthday.

So, here's another thought. Maybe some readers think that a character must be based an a real person because they find them so relatable? After all, that's the reading style I most often see in people. They like to read about something and someone they relate to. If they're not writers themselves, it doesn't seem weird to assume that a character who seems so realistic to them personally, would be based on a particular person.

That could be one reason, but actually it still doesn't explain my case, or probably that of most writers. After all, the people who usually ask it, or assume that my characters are based on me or someone else, have never read my stories. Like one friend from university. He heard that I write and his next questions was: ”Oh, are your characters all, like, different versions of yourself?” Sometime later he told me that if he wrote, he would write about his own Gary Stu version saving the world and getting the girl of his dreams and stuff.

Actually, I think this might be it for most people. Most people aren't writers. Of course that doesn't mean they're not empathetic enough to imagine what the world would be like through someone elses eyes, that's not what I mean. I just mean that when something is foreign to you the easiest way to get to know it is through something you already know. So when they think about writing a character, it's natural to think of the person they already know the best: themselves. The next would be the people you know intimately, those would probably be your supporting characters. And then your side characters would be the people you don't really know but remember for some quirk or personality trait. And it doesn't seem unreasonable to think that others would do the same.

Not to say that all writers start like that, not at all. I certainly didn't. The first character I wrote a ”book” about was Santa Claus. I think that at least a great portion of writers are naturally interested in looking at the world from many different eyes. That's why they're writers.

None of the people with the assumptions (or possible reasons for them) mentioned so far bother me. But there is a group of people who definitely do. The ones who insist that my character must be based on me, no matter what. And usually for reasons as dumb as a matching birthday.

These people already seem to look through particular lenses: that if they find ANY similarities between me and my character, the character is basically me. This is so dumb it makes me speechless. Are you seriously suggesting that a character is not me only if they share absolutely nothing with me? They have to be my opposites in every possible way? How many people like that do you come accross on an average day?

What I'm saying is that purposely making a character different from you in every way just to avoid people assuming that your character is you, is just as dumb as making all your characters just like you.

What's funny is, that the characters who get accused of being ”me” are not usually the ones in the whole cast who actually share the most qualities with me. (I guess it just shows how superficially those people know me...) The assumption is based on dumb triggers like, the characters name starts with an ”E”, or they're blond, or they like to draw. Their personality is actually given very little thought. Even if it's obviously different from me, I guess it's just easy to say that they're my Mary Sue, and what I'd actually like to be. Huh. Everything gets so weird when someone just loves their theory too much to look at anything objectively.

Here's why these people's logic is frustrating:

1. The point is that I know about drawing, and art. It wouldn't make any sense to purposely write about a topic I know nothing about or have no interest for. So if a character of mine is into these things it's not to make them like me. It's so that I can write about a subject I know and care about! It's because the subject itself is interesting to me. Obviously I need a character who is interested in art to write about art. Most of the time my artistic characters are not even artistic in the same ways that I am. They may like to paint ladscapes, portraits, or abstract art. I don't generally like to do any of those.

Even if a character seems to like what I like on the surface, they're not necessarily like me. Actually, a character who does something different from me, but does it in a similar way to how I do my stuff, would resemble me a lot more than a character who does ”what I do” but has a completely different approach. A character might even be a mage, or something I could never actually be, and they could still be a lot more like me than the artist who paints landscapes, if their way of magic was analogous to my way of art.

2. I have pretty vast interests. Most of them are also pretty common. In every one of my hobbies, I personally know at least one person who is also interested in it. And usually many. It's really unreasonable to expect that every character who likes something that I like is like me, if real people aren't.

And it would be really dumb from me to avoid writing characters who like music, dancing, writing, reading, or a dozen other things that many people like. I think in an average school class you would find more than one person in each of those fields. I certainly was never the only person in my class to do any of those.

3. People are coincidentally similar. If I set out to it, I would probably be able to find a lot of similarities (as well as differences) from me and all of my characters. That's because I could do the same with every person I met on the street! I would expect it to be fairly easy to find at least one thing we could bond with.

Also, some genes have a habit of appearing with a similar set of genes. I mean, for example, it's more common for blonds to have blue than brown eyes. (At least where I live.) The same goes for personality traits. Certain traits like to appear together. Writers, for example, are often pretty introspective people. That doesn't mean everyone is like that. It just means that not every single character can be the exception.

In short: When you think a character is ”like me”, because they are, let's say blond AND blue-eyed AND fair skinned, or artistic AND sensitive AND introverted, it's probably because in their circumstances, all those traits makes sense, they're simply more realistic than some others, and there's no reason to purposely deviate from that.

The circumstances also make them different from me. And there are countless shades of blond, as well as there are countless ways to be introverted.

If anyone looked closely enough, I think they would see that the amount of similarities and differences between my characters and me, seems completely random. Because it is completely random. In a way, at least. In the same way that it is between real people.

I think you can really think the process of creating a character to be analogous to the way real humans are. We all are a pretty random selection of genes from a vast pool. Characters come from the writers imagination where all kinds of stored human traits are just swimming around, as well as the patterns about how those traits form together. And at some point a selection of them always comes together and forms a character.

At least that's how it works for me, my characters are a synthesis of the general knowledge I have about humans. That's why none of them is exactly like some real person, not me, and not anyone I know. In that sense they are as unique as any human being.

Now that I've ranted about this, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the characters who have been accused of ”being me” the most! And most of all, how much they actually resemble me...

I'm going to include MBTI and Enneagram here, but if you're not familiar with it, you can just ignore it, but if you know about it, I think it adds something to this comparison. So, I'm an MBTI INFJ and Enneagram 9.

Keller

(I know, a weird first name. I had a lot of those when I was a kid.)

This one might actually be the fairest accusation. Heh. She's from an exchange comic I drew with my friend when we were 12-16.

It's a story about a group of four girls with magical powers, and really weird unexplained missions, though that part of the story is frequently overshadowed by their personal life. It's more of a friendship/romance/family drama, really.

The reason: She kind of looks like me, likes ballet, is kind and always seems to know what to say.

Similarities:

• INFJ
• Blond hair and blue eyes
• Likes singing and dances ballet.
• Frequently ends up as the ”couselor” in her friend group.
• Sometimes writes songs.
• Sensitive in good and bad ways.

Differences:

• Enneagram 2
• Super religious: I'm not an atheist, but I'm nowhere near her end of the spectrum.
• Way more outgoing than me:
  • She likes to voice her opinions even when she knows it's going to put people off, which is something I still struggle with.
  • She butts in with everyone's business easily and is the first to give advise, while I'm generally the type to wait for others to ask my help.

• Rythmic gymnastics is her one true love (which I've never even been into) and ballet which is my thing is just extra for her.
• She's straight, I'm ace.

I have to agree that we share some significant similarities, even though I don't agree that she's essentially a self insert. I drew this to my friend, so we kind of communicated our issues through the comic sometimes, but not systematically. Like we were briefly using the characters for our benefit but then they continued their separate lives again.

One example: Keller confesses in one chapter that she's never been in love, but that is never mentioned again and she doesn't seem to have any trouble falling in love romantically later in the story and it's never reflected back to this earlier statement. I think it's pretty clear that I was figuring out my own asexual, aromantic identity and that's why it got in the comic but then again it didn't really stick as part of Keller.

The good thing is, that the comments about Keller resembling me are the only ones without a hint of condesension. They're honestly based on impartial observation that we share some qualities.

Ekijo

(I know her name looks impossible to pronounce but, in the Finnish way it's not, actually. And yes, noticeable pseudo-Asian influences.)

She's an elf girl from a fantasy story I wrote when I was 14. It was really clichéd which is no wonder since it started as a school assingment and we were supposed to include TEN common fantasy elements (=clichés) in it. What a dumb exercise! I'm surprised my ten didn't include an evil overlord.

Ekijo is an orphan and an elf and neither of these facts play any part in the story. She's tomboy-ish, wants to be a hunter, but has to settle with carrying messages between villages, because she's a girl. She goes on a journey to carry messages with her best friend Hajai, who is a half elf (also no effect on the story) and together they discover a hidden kingdom that was created to protect magical creatures. Surprise, Ekijo is actually an heir to that kingdom, and to be married to Hajai because their mothers were friends! Yay!

The reason: She's a girl and every fantasy writer writes about themselves.

Similarities:

• Blond hair, blue eyes
• Born on the countryside and likes to be near forests and water.
• People do say I look like an elf sometimes... (My ears aren't that pointy though, only slightly.)
• Likes to climb trees.
• Creative

Differences:

• ENFP Enneagram 2
• Hyperactive:
  • Always running around or riding a horse for no apparent reason. (I'm more of a nice peaceful walks kind of person.)
  • Reckless and frequently gets into trouble when excited. (I'm almost overly careful.)
  • Always wants to see more of the world. (I'm pretty content, where ever I am.)
  • Always wants to try new things. (I've been stuck with the same obsessions since kindergarten. It's rare for anything new to really stick.)

• Agressive:
  • Most likely the one to start a fight. (I'll be the one calmly trying to solve it.)
  • Snaps the second she hears anything that might be read as misogynism, often when the person doesn't even mean it that way. (Like, if Hajai thinks Ekijo needs someone to look after her because she's so reckless, she immediately thinks it's only because she's a girl.)
  • In general doesn't let any insult pass. (I'll most likely only intervene if someone else is being mistreated.)

• Knows how to fight, with or without weapons. (I did kendo for a year but like that even counts...)
• Doesn't have any artistic, or musical talent.
• Expressive, quick to state her every opinion without much thinking. (I have trouble with both.)
• Pretty thick in some ways (which I'm not):
  • Wouldn't realize if someone had a crush on her.
  • Isn't generally aware of what people think of her.
  • Might not notice if she has offended someone.
  • Not aware of relationship dynamics or the emotional atmosphere to much detail.
  • Usually has a simplified view of people's personalities.

• Straight, and romantically interested in a guy in the story.
• Arranged to be married to her best friend.
• Has a job as a messenger between villages.

Yeah well, we aren't that similar at all. I think most of the comments were actually based on that. After all fantasy often gets accused of Mary Sues. Why wouldn't I want to write myself as an extroverted adventurer type? Doesn't everyone?

Well, as far as Mary Sues go, Ekijo is far from perfect. She doesn't hit many of the common Sue traits. I don't think she's labeled even pretty, let alone stunningly beautiful, even once in the story, she has many people who don't like her because she's honestly annoying, I can't say she's the destiny's favourite in anyway, and even though she's an orphan, she has a loving foster mother who doesn't die.

Ekijo gets her fair share of trouble because she causes it. She's an heir to a really small hidden magical kingdom which is no pleasure to rule and way behind the kingdom she grew up in, in pretty much every way. Most of her problems are personal and she doesn't go through any ”glorious” battles which would make the world worship her or something, like is common for fantasy Sues. Ekijo doesn't even get to marry the guy she's in love with.

Yeah, that's totally everyone's fantasy.

Joki

 (Her name means river in Finnish. And no, neither the spelling or the meaning was a reference to anything.)

I'm not even sure she has enough substance to really be reviewed. She's from a 10 page humour comic I did in art class in high school.

Basically the story is about how Joki tries to make her interests seem cooler than she believes they are and fails.

The reason: She's a girl. Like maybe I want to live with a guy best friend to not be like other girls. (Um what.)

Similarities:

• We like cosplay? (I wouldn't mention it in my interests though.)

Differences:

• Dark hair
• Very extroverted
• Obsessed with superheroes.
• Likes video games.
• Embarassed about her nerdiness.
• Lies easily.
• Lives with a guy.

That's about everything the reader can observe about her personality and I really find myself in none of that. Um, I guess it's clear enough how biased you have to be to think this is my self insert.

Leonardo

He's an artist, and a suspect, from a mystery play I wrote in high school and put together with my drama group.

The story: Hannibal Casanova has died in more than weird circumstances, so his children summon two quirky detectives to solve the case. The suspects are quickly narrowed down to the lazy son Leonardo, headstrong daughter Melody, and the scared neighbour boy Pablo. One of the detectives seems to be more interested in competition than the murder and the other one doesn't seem to be doing anything, except talking to her cat.

The reason: He's an artist. "The writer always writes their self into the story."

Similarities:

• Enneagram 9

• He can paint.
• Introverted

Differences:

• ISFJ
• Paints abstract art and landscapes. (I don't like either.)
• Has glasses, brown hair, and likes to wear a ponytail.
• Has an alcohol problem. (The drinks I have in a year can be counted with one hand.)
• Rich
• Gay, and has a boyfriend.
• Extremely unaware of what's going on around him.
• Very slow speech, repeats himself a lot.
• Usually incredibly slow to react.
• Unambitious, cares about very few things.

Someone started it and then people kept saying he was my self insert because he's an artist. (I'm not even a real artist!) The irony is, there was actually a character a lot more like me, yet she's never been accused of being even similar to me. Interesting.

These comments were from the less condesending side, but not completely free from it because people kept insisting that I was ”never free” from the fact that I'd always write a character who represented me, no matter what I did. Eeh. How many of those people actually knew anything about writing, I'll let you guess.

And no, he's not an artist because I have artistic inclinations. He's an artist because he needed a job his father would dissaprove of, something he's passionate about but sounds like what a rich, status conscious and old-fashioned farther wouldn't stereotypically want his son to be. An artist, specifically, was a style choice, it suited the tone of the play the best. It was merely a plot device. This is not a story about art in anyway.

Mimosa

Another comic I made in high school, for an art history class.

It's about a girl who is fed up with everything at school, except art. She goes to the art class to paint every break, neglecting her friends, and at home she draws and sleeps, neglecting her homework and little sister. One day she finds a weird medallion in her bag and when she opens it she's taken on a journey through art history and she learns a thing or two about herself, and her art, on the way.

The reason: She's an artistic high school girl.

Similarities:

• Enneagram 9
• Artistic

Differences:

• INFP
• Really long hair, I've never had that long hair. Also her hair is light brown.
• I've never worn anything as short as her pants.
• I was never that stereotypical art student who went to paint every break.
• I've never fallen into a slump like hers with school work.
• She can't dance.
• I've never been part of a clique of ”the cool kids” like she is in the beginning.
• I don't think I could ever be as careless about consequences as she is.

It's the ART, again! And no, this time she isn't artistic because I am, either. It's because the subject of the story was art history. I didn't want to write about a character who knows absolutely nothing about it, because I wanted to fit character developement into a 40 page comic. It was better to use the character's strenghts to overcome her weaknesses rather than put her into a completely random journey into something she has no interest in.

In the end, I guess I should be happy that only the unbiased comments have had any truth to them. Well, that sounds pretty probable, anyway.

I guess what I wish is that people would actually think about what they are claiming and where they're coming from when they say stuff like this.

Self-irony?

What do you think about self-irony? I think it can be totally great! But what about when people say or post these kinds of things and label it as self-irony:

”What can you do when you're as dumb as me?”

”Don't blame me, blame my genes.”

”You can't expect me to do math with this gabbage as my brain.”

I don't think this is self-irony. It's self-pity. These are just excuses not to try your best, because they imply that you are not responsible of your shortcomings. It's the world that is to blame, you're just a victim. If you're powerless to begin with, then obviously it's everyone elses' mistake to expect anything from you.

I don't think this is self-irony either:

”Life is so much more interesting when you're as crazy as me.”

”If I didn't do stupid things, I would never have any fun.”

”I'm not insane, you just don't understand my genius.”

I guess, in the right context, these could mean a healthy notion that your flaws and strengths are connected. But usually those things are phrased differently, they aren't overly simplified like these. In fact, these usually imply that the negative side of a trait doesn't exist, that it's all positive and other people just don't see it. It's an ego thing; when you can't admit a flaw, you make it an ”identity”.

I think self-irony is something that shows you don't take yourself very seriously. And all of these phrases do the exact opposite.

Real self-irony would look something like this:

”Haha, I wonder who left the fridge door open again?”

”If my room was any messier, I wouldn't find my bed.”

”I'd deserve a medal for my efforts at being late.”

Self-irony implies that you actually admit your flaws but don't think they're too serious to laugh at. It's supposed to make others find them funny as well, not pity you because the world doesn't excuse your flaws, or envy you because your flaws are somehow better than theirs. It's supposed to say something along the lines: ”I know I messed up, and I'll try to do better, but at least we've got something to laugh at.”

Um, random morning thought. This may sound like it had a specific trigger, but I don't think it did.

I always end posts so well. (Even though that's not irony but sarcasm...)

Good day!

(Yes, those are Hetalia characters.)