Chapter Titles for Book 1 of "Taking Sights"

[lavanya_six]

Here are the chapter titles for Book 01 of "Taking Sights"

Warning! Light spoilers for the rest of Book 1 follow the cut!

BOOK I: HINDSIGHT

01 - Born Again
02 - Recruitment Drive
03 - I Came, I Saw, I...
04 - The Butterfly Effect (01)
05 - Meet and Greet
06 - Callings
07 - Dreams (01)
08 - His and Her Circumstances
09 - Jetting Alone
10 - Asuka and the Ikaris
11 - According to Plan (formerly "Threesome!")

[the following have yet to be published so the titles are subject to change]

12 - The Great Classroom 2-A Apple Peel-Off
13 - Volcano Day
14 - Moonfall
15 - Mr. Fuyutsuki's Day
16 - Boredom, Followed by Death
17 - The Last Temptation of Gendo Rokubungi
18 - The Truth
19 - False Flag
20 - Mrs. Ikari's Day
21 - A Shadow in the Sky
22 - WEAVING A STORY
23 - The 4th Child
24 - The Butterfly Effect (02)
25 - The Nero Protocol
26 - 20/20

Comments

[blueinkedlines.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love Taking Sights, so I appreciated this sneak peek of sorts. I can't read the title for the next chapter (The Great Classroom 2-A Apple Peel-Off) with a sraight face. Am I correct in guessing that this is the much-awaited and anticipated WAFF chapter?

[lavanyasix.livejournal.com]

Yup. "Apple Peel-off" is going to be WAFF. Or at least as WAFFy as 'Taking Sights' is going to get.

[shanghairain.livejournal.com]

Huge, huge fan of Taking Sights. Gendo Ikari is hard to write, and I feel like you've done a great job making him the bastard tactician canon claims he is.

That being said, Taking Sights at times feels like it's set in the American Midwest--is this deliberate?

[lavanyasix.livejournal.com]

Er... no. It's not deliberate. It's probably more like my own regionalism leaking through by accident. If I might ask what gives you that "Midwestern" feeling in Taking Sights?

[shanghairain.livejournal.com]

For me, the single biggest was the IHOP scene--all-night diners as a hangout seem to be a peculiar to teenagers living in American suburbs, because nothing else is open in the middle of the night. In Asia, there's much more variety; more things are open (arcades, food stalls, hole-in-the-wall shops), even at 3 AM, and they are packed; the streets are crowded with pedestrians and activity. Times Square, maybe, or parts of the Las Vegas Strip, though neither of those are exactly right.

More generally, though, it doesn't feel *crowded* enough for a major Asian city. Tokyo-3 may be a modernist nightmare out of the fever dreams of Buckminster Fuller, but it's still full of people (for the time being, at least) and the scenes don't feel quite populated with enough nameless extras. The streets ought to be full of people going about their business, and the sense of crowding should be omnipresent.

Unless, of course, your Tokyo-3 is designed to be empty, in which case I take it all back. ;)

[lavanyasix.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I get the why the IHOP scene give you that vibe. I really only used IHOP because it seemed funnier than some random Western dinner in Tokyo-3. But I see your point. Also, if I wanted to get across the idea of "American chain survives End of World" it'd have been better to use McDonalds. In retrospect that would have worked better, especially with the theme of Misato eating terrible, low-quality instant food.

As for the lack of nameless extras in Tokyo-3 I do get your point as well. That's more a failure on my part than anything intentional. I tend to write scenes on a 1-1 or 1-1-1 basis with characters, usually inside offices or apartments -- away from crowded area. As far as I can recall (without cracking open a copy of Taking Sights) the only really crowded scene I've written is the one with Shinji in his hometown's civil defense shelter (ironically, a scene NOT set in Tokyo-3). Also, since the Angel attacks haven't been as bad in Taking Sights as in the OTL there should be *less* of a population decrease with the start of the Angel War. So your right, Tokyo-3 is somewhat underpopulated. I'll make a point to add more of a population to Tokyo-3's background in the next chapter.

Thanks for the comments. -L6

[shanghairain.livejournal.com]

No problem! Glad you found them useful. (To be entirely honest, the scene triggered flashbacks to my own Midwestern adolescence--it just felt too familiar to be Japanese.)

The funny thing is, McDonald's actually serves real food in the rest of the world, because it legally can't get away with serving the reconstituted frozen crap the FDA lets pass...

As for extras, you don't need to make an effort to put them in for my sake! If 1-1 or 1-1-1 feels more natural to you, do what seems right and maintains narrative flow.

I'm sure you've had plenty of offers, but if you want a pair of eyes to proofread drafts (I guess the kool kids call it "beta-ing fic" these days) I'd be more than happy to help.