I have written myself into a corner

[Premier]

How have you got to the end of the novel without the characters ever talking?

Karayoke is just talking with some signing inbetween

 

[MintiLime]

Is there any alcohol involved? Usually makes things more boisterous.

When you have that many people all at once, those who are closer tend to separate into groups. For example, since I’m more introverted in such settings I usually gravitate towards a one or two person conversation. The perceived social leaders of the group might have more people around them, but it’s not like every person talks at the same time.

Conversation gets broken up by singing. Personality is portrayed in how they sing the song. Maybe the lovelorn character sings a love song and it’s misinterpreted as being for the wrong person. Maybe the hip kid sings a modern catchy tune. You can use the lyrics of the songs to push the story forward.

For example, the MC and the Good Potential character can be forced into a duet together, with them singing out of tune since they don’t really “click”

 

[Deleted member 1244]

I need normal banter

Go to a restaurant, have lunch or dinner on your own.

Listen to people convos.

Write that shit down.

Profit.

tldr
Food, work, fun,
Divided into
gossip, complains, Strange experiences

That's 70% of conversations.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

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I want to thank everyone for their help, but shortly after posting, a friend's brother wound up in the hospital and it's been a rough 36 hours. Looks like he's going to keep his leg, but we're not sure how well he'll be walking. They had to completely rebuild his ankle. I'll skip the grizzly details. I've bookmarked this and will come back to it later.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Why skip over your experience with a lot of odd people? Use that. Everyone has weirdness inside.

The goal is to make it normal. There is a point to the goal as it has to do with the overall message. The strangeness is the fact that the gender morality is flipped. To make it even stranger beyond that defeats the purpose. The goal is to compare and contrast. This isn't a "Male goes to reverse gender world and gets laid all the time." This is "Man goes to reverse world and tries to deal with the guilt of replacing someone's dead son by taking over their body so he is trying to live up to his new family's expectations"

I'm highlighting the hypocrisy of our world by taking real-world situations and just changing the genders via an isekai plotline. In the comments of more than a few chapters I needed to remind people, "If it was reversed, nobody would care." So, avoiding Strange/Wierd is the point, because I don't want to make it MORE strange than it already is, or the point will get lost. I'm already having problems with the integration of the supernatural element, I don't want to push it too far.

My advice: go people watching if you want "normal".

Great advice. I'm 51 years old and work 50-70 hours a week with a wife who had LAM, a terminal illness that combines the worst aspects of Autoimmune disease and Cancer with the goal of turning your lungs into scar tissue. Free time to "socialize" or "People Watch" is about twelve levels below Sleeping on my To-Do list.

People are weird, so don't be afraid of writing weird.

Dude... I know weird.
I find stranger things than you could imagine in my breakfast cereal.
Ever heard of the Rocky Horror Picture Show? Spent three years on a weekly production of that. I was a back-up in case anyone called in. I have played every part except for Frank. Yes. That includes all the FEMALE parts.

Back in the day, I looked rather fetching in Fishnet Stockings.

I never took drugs, but I have been drugged. A GF thought it would be funny to spike my food. The next day, EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE CAST SAID I WAS NEVER ALLOWED TO TAKE DRUGS AGAIN. Why? I don't know. Nobody will talk about it, but they all said that I'm better off not knowing because then I could not be forced to testify and everyone regrets what happened. Oh, and I had to do a paternity test at some point, but fortunately, it wasn't mine.

I know it involves trying to take pictures of people's noses. And the one clear memory I have is wrapping myself up in a futon mattress and screaming at a police officer, "I Am The Burrito King. I come with many Flavorful Sauces! EAT ME!" That's all I remember.

But just... going to a party and hanging out? I never did that. I had two settings, shy and withdrawn, or cracked out of my mind and a total lunatic. Let's just say most of my friends were on Lithium... or SHOULD have been on lithium. I hung out with people called, "Karma" and "Reverend Moonie"

No. That is NOT a joke. I went to college with them. And he was an ACTUAL Reverend. I paid him 50 bucks and a bottle of Whiskey to be the priest at my friend's wedding.

Maybe have them do a game to pick the order of who sings?
Maybe also a game to pick which song gets chosen?
Have people ask what drinks people are having?
Have someone mention if there's snacks available?
Have someone maybe comment on someone else's outfit looking nice? (if they're not wearing usual clothes)
Maybe have a couple in the group acting flirty/intimate with one another?
Maybe have someone film the people singing on their phone?
Maybe have a group of them choose to sing together cos they're hyped/energised?

This is very helpful. Thank you.

Have a budget of $100
...
But yours in the kareoke scene, that I have no experience.

Actually, this is useful as well.

The reason for the Karaoke is that it is part of an ongoing theme and it helps to bring a whole bunch of elements together at the end. I'll spare you the pretentious details. I think it works.

Who likes what kind of music?

The MC's alter ego, whose life he took over, was a J-pop star. A career that he quit, so nobody knows he was that. So him going to the Karaoke bar is going to expose him to someone who really liked his Alter Ego's music and was a big fan, thus adding more drama to the mix as she goes from hating him to going, "OMG! He's Honey Whitefox??? I'd recognize that voice anywhere!" It's needed to set up the dramatic conclusion of Book 3.

How have you got to the end of the novel without the characters ever talking?
Karayoke is just talking with some signing inbetween

I have a specific song picked out that will apply to three different plotlines as they converge. That part is easy. It's the normal things people do that's difficult. Since the MC is strange, it's easy to write him. But the rest of the group is normal and they will act normal... well... as normal as High Schoolers can be.

I got the shit beat out of me for a decade when going through school. HS was particularly a nightmare. So, I really DON'T want to have my bitter and cynical experiences bleed through, ya know?

Is there any alcohol involved? Usually makes things more boisterous.

There is not supposed to be, but someone is going to be a jerk and bring some.

Maybe the lovelorn character sings a love song and it’s misinterpreted as being for the wrong person. ... You can use the lyrics of the songs to push the story forward.

Yeah, it's a trope, but I like tropes. Was already gonna use this one.

For example, the MC and the Good Potential character can be forced into a duet together, with them singing out of tune since they don’t really “click”

heh... Actually, I have a very interesting twist on this. But I don't want to spoil it in case anyone is actually reading the story.

Go to a restaurant, have lunch or dinner on your own.
Listen to people convos.
Write that shit down.
Profit.

Again... TIME.

I'm the kinda guy who deals best with high-pressure situations. I've had clients off their meds take my co-workers hostage and had to talk them down. Why they take the hostage? Well, the sniper on the AXA building had ordered him to do so, or he'd be shot. The nylon hair growing out of his tongue was tickling the Sniper's brain and they wanted someone to come over to the rooftop and shave it off. (Shave off the tongue. Leave the Nylon hair alone.) Also, He had just remembered he was God and worked for the Salvation Army who were aliens invading earth.

No. I'm not making this up. That was twenty minutes of stalling a madman who had been off his meds for a week. Ironically, I still managed to talk him down before the cops showed up.

And yet, that is a walk in the park compared to socializing with Normies. About two minutes into a conversation with most normal people, I want to stab my own eardrums with a pen because of how stupid people can be. I just have no tolerance for idiots and the uninformed nonsense I hear normal people talk about drives me up a wall.

So because I don't have time to do the research, and I can't stand stupid people, I figured I'd ask you guys and fake it.


EDIT: About my friend's brother, looks like his leg will be fine, but he's having some sort of... brain damage. He keeps zoning out and forgetting things. Getting words mixed up. Word substitution and whatnot. He wasn't the brightest tool in the shed to begin with, and if his mental state doesn't improve, they might need to see about getting him in a rest home or something, The dude isn't much older than me, but mentally, he's acting like he's got full-blown dementia. Helping my friend get his brother's affairs in order hasn't been fun, so sorry about the delay in responding.

 

[Nahrenne]

This is very helpful. Thank you.

Glad I managed to help you in some way.

EDIT: About my friend's brother, looks like his leg will be fine, but he's having some sort of... brain damage. He keeps zoning out and forgetting things. Getting words mixed up. Word substitution and whatnot. He wasn't the brightest tool in the shed to begin with, and if his mental state doesn't improve, they might need to see about getting him in a rest home or something, The dude isn't much older than me, but mentally, he's acting like he's got full-blown dementia. Helping my friend get his brother's affairs in order hasn't been fun, so sorry about the delay in responding.

I really wish your friend's brother a swift recovery.
If he doesn't fully recover...then I hope his life continues as positively and happily as it can.
The same for you and his family.

*huggles*

And there's no need to apologise for giving a delayed response.
Real life should always come first.

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