I want Fragmented Blade to be a story of people, people who are just trying to live their lives in the best way they can. It is often an intimidating prospect to navigate life, especially for those who have to do it alone. Are we really in control of our own lives? Or is there some invisible power leading us by the nose to an unknown destination?

That’s what Noel’s curse represents to me. It’s greatly exaggerated in the story, but I’ve had those days where everything seems to go wrong. I was once driving to pick up my brother from school when I found that the road was blocked by a huge accident. I thought it would be faster to turn around and take the other route to the school. Except that there was major construction which shut down two lanes. The traffic was backed up like crazy. It was so insane that it seemed like a comedy. Was God trying to stop me from picking up my brother for some reason?

Conversely, I once walked ten blocks without being stopped by a light or traffic. I just kept going and going. All the crosswalk lights seemed to change in my favor or stayed at walk for just long enough for me to cross. I didn’t even have to run.

It’s moments like these that make me stop and think if there is a higher power, how much are they involved in our daily lives? I believe that people have free agency, but some events go beyond any choice. Nobody chose to change the traffic lights at the exact moment I was passing. And nobody chose to have an accident at the same time as construction to block off access to a school. Sure, a choice went into whether that driver went onto that road, and maybe a choice went into the cause of the accident. But nobody has the level of insight into blocking the two paths to my brother’s school. To me, it’s one of life’s great mysteries.

Oh yeah, I was writing about Fragmented Blade. Sorry, I went on a bit of a tangent. But these notes are long enough. I guess I’ll talk about the magical girl inspiration some other time.