So, there were several series things I wanted to talk about, so I guess I'll just do them all now.
There are several reviews on this blog, which is supposed to be for writing, but it is all relevant! We're analyzing plot, characters, ex. All very important for writing.
First of all Rurouni Kenshin, because I just found something about it.
There's a live-action Rurouni Kenshin movie coming out. Maybe it came out already, actually. I gotta check. And then Crystal told me that the author of Rurouni Kenshin, Nobuhiro Watsuki, was starting up the series again. I was a bit dubious at first, because things can get really lame when they're dragged out. I would be happy if Watsuki made it good, though.
And then Crystal said that Watsuki was practically re-writing Rurouni Kenshin and giving it a different plot and everything, which just sounds bad (that was why I didn't like the new Star Trek movie - It destroyed everything that happened in all of the other movies).
Today I was looking for an image from the manga, and I ran into a series called Rurouni Kenshin Kinema Ban. I thought it was one of those pilot chapters, so I clicked on it. It's actually the first chapter of that new thing, apparently written in honor of the live-action movie. I suppose that if the manga is based off the movie, it's forgivable. But it was really weird to read. Because I know all the characters already... but they were doing different stuff.
Yeah, still a bit dubious. Since Keshin's my favorite character from any series, I'm concerned for his image. (He said "oro" but he didn't make his oro face at all!) I like his scarf though. I already don't like the Kenshin from the anime as much (though I still haven't made it past episode 25). So , just keep him amazing in this series, please! Watsuki should be able to, since he created Kenshin in the first place.
I noticed that the art is quite a bit like Buso Renkin (which I think was his last series Watsuki wrote?). The Gatling gun guy (who's not important enough for me to remember his name) seems to behave a bit like Papillon too. (Maan, I can never take the word "papillon" seriously anymore...)
I dunno. I'll read it, but I'm still a bit concerned. I kinda hope it's not too long, unless he surprises me and ends up doing an amazing job. Which would be great, of course. I suppose whatever happens, it will be like the difference between the two FMA anime. I do like both of them, but FMA Brotherhood is sooo much better!
OK, spent a long tome on that.
On to Legend of Korra.
Apparently a lot of people were disappointed in the season finale. I'm one of them. I'm sure that the creators got used to having plenty of episodes to work with, because they didn't seem to be able to fit in everything they needed in to 12 episodes. The ending was rushed (spoiler alert for the next couple paragraphs). Korra learning airbending, Korra meeting Aang, Korra losing her bending, regaining it, and then helping everyone else recover, and meeting the identity behind Amon all happened right near the end.
I'm kinda annoyed that we never heard of Noatak until the season finale. This may just be personal preference, but I wanted to know who he was before we were told. I guess because I wanted to guess who he was. (Or maybe I'm just annoyed because I was so certain that Tarlock was Amon). They never explained why Noatak ended up hating benders so much either. Or how blood-bending can take bending away.
I think there was too much blood-bending. Although maybe the sound-effect for it just bugs me.
I didn't really get attached to any of the characters either. I like Naga and Pabu of course. Though Pabu doesn't seem to be as much of a character as a cute thing that chews ropes for them. There were a couple characters I almost chose as my favorite, but it never got finalized (Bolin and Asami). I like Tenzin and Lin though. I thought it was hilarious when Tenzin did those random things like cheer for Korra during pro-bending.
I wanted more of Iroh! (Feel him weird calling him that because I keep thinking of Uncle Iroh. I keep wanting to call him Zuko). In that episode, I was depressed that Lin lost her bending, and then promptly after we meet Iroh for the first time. And I go "ZUKOOO!" Sorry, Lin. My sympathy dissipated temporarily.
Let's see. So, one of the first manga Nicole told me to read was Petshop of Horrors. I recently discovered it at my library, so I've read all but the last book. I like it. At first it seemed like all the animals would just end up killing people, but it's not like that. Count D actually cares about his animals and does his best to send them to good homes (being an animal lover, that concerned me at first). And most of them end up happy. I like the parts with Chris too. And there are some cool creatures.
Leon and Count D have a funny relationship. It's amusing. Leon wants to arrest Count D, and yet he's always trying to save the guy (and never really being much help since D can pretty much take care of himself).
And there's 4 episodes of the anime. I guess that's all there will ever be. I watched those a few days ago. They kinda picked out all the episodes where the people die. And D is creepy. D from the manga is better cause he's funny sometimes. So, not crazy about the anime.
Speaking of amusing relationships. Recently finished watching the XXX Holic Anime. They did a much better job of it than they did for Tsubasa Chronicles. Man, that anime bugged me so much. But I enjoyed the XXXHolic anime.
So, the relationship. Watanuki and Doumeki. Most of the time Watanuki is just loud and obnoxious in his insistence that Doumeki bugs the hell out of him. But what would he do without Doumeki's help? And he knows it too. Doumeki's always saving Watanuki's ungrateful (not really ungrateful) hide. The only way Watanuki can show his gratitude is through food. Heheh. That'd be funny if Doumeki only hung around for the food.
There were a couple moments that I liked a lot. Like when Watanuki was standing out in the rain and Doumeki called him an idiot, but gave him his umbrella anyway. And then there was one scene were Watanuki finally said thanks to Doumeki, and Doumeki stares at him, trying to see what sort of face Watanuki makes as he says it. (Ok, I did a sucky job trying to explain those scenes, but they really are good!)
Watched Ghost in the Shell too. Just finished the last episode about a week ago. It's interesting.
Oh, Inuyasha. I wrote about this, but I have one more thing to add. So, yeah. I like the beginning of Inuyasha. Up to volume 16 or so, in the manga. I read through the whole thing (but will not watch beyond the good part). I decided to watch the last episode of the anime, just because. In the manga, the end really bugged me. Though possibly it was because I was in a bad mood since the final battle was so not epic. Because I really enjoyed the last episode of the anime.
I'm also glad they had something with Koga. One of the things that really bugged me about the anime was that once Koga lost his shards, he never showed up again. It was like the only thing he was good for was holding the shards. In the anime, at least they told us what became of him (and apparently gave him a girlfriend, which I am now curious about).
Currently reading Natusme Yuujinchou. I like it. It's just like the anime.
Probably about to start watching more Rurouni Kenshin, just because I feel I owe it to Kenshin. Heheh.
I wasn't going to, but I guess I'll say a few things about Brave too.
I can't make my mind up about it. I'll have to see it again to know for sure. There was some things I really like about it. Like the animation, especially the landscapes. And I liked the will-o-the-wisps. And the horse! The horse is awesome!
But there were some things that bugged me too. I'm used to Pixar movies being so creative, like Up, Wall-E, and Finding Nemo. But Brave was so predictable. (Spoilers for the rest of the section).
It's kinda funny. One of the stories (one of the better stories) from my fiction class last semester was about a girl getting this magic apple tart thing, and she gave it to her sister, and the tart turned her into a werewolf thing. Maybe that's why it felt so obvious to me.
The beginning kinda felt like the Little Mermaid. Parent doesn't understand kid, parent destroys something important to kid, kid goes to witch to get her problems fixed.
The triplets didn't really seem like characters to me. They seemed more like things. Things that caused trouble and got a key for Marida.
And Marida was kinda annoying for one part (which is fine. Characters are allowed to be annoying, as long as they're supposed to appear that way). She kept going, "it's not my fault you turned into a bear!" Yeah right. Use your brain and then tell me again what you think.
And then at the end, everyone suddenly seemed to believe that the bear was the mom, even though they'd been denying it up until that point. Why'd they believe her so suddenly? Because 3 little bears showed up? How does that prove anything?
But one of the main things that bugged me (and made the triplets seem even more like things than people). At the end, Marida's there, crying because she turned her mom into a bear forever. Dude! What about her brothers? Aren't they gonna be stuck like that too? And they're just kids!
I'm also surprised that the witch didn't come back. Seemed like she would.
Fact of the Day:
Some people (me included) get these funny goosebump things on their upper arms. Here's an article about what they are and how to get rid of them.
~*~
Friday, June 29, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Martin Luther King
An article Crystal showed me a long time ago. I guess I'll link to it, because it brings up very interesting ideas.
Reading about this stuff always makes me sad. TT^TT
Fact of the day:
All tortoise shell cats are female
Reading about this stuff always makes me sad. TT^TT
Fact of the day:
All tortoise shell cats are female
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Space Pictures
Okay, Finally got pictures up. The first two are of the eclipse. The first one is the reflection of the sun through the binoculars.
And this one is the weird crescent shapes cast by the eclipse.
And here's the more recent event, when Venus went in front of the sun. That little black speck is Venus.
And this one is the weird crescent shapes cast by the eclipse.
And here's the more recent event, when Venus went in front of the sun. That little black speck is Venus.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Romance
Been wanting to write this for a few days, because I just watched little Mermaid, legend of Korra, and the new Muppet movie.
And I just realized that it ties in with Ellen's post about character development.
So, here's a topic I don't spend too much time on.
Romance.
Romance is pretty much impossible to avoid. It's in almost every movie/book/show I can think of. Not that there's necessarily anything bad about that. But I've never really sought out anything that was a designated "romance."
Some romances turn out better than others. Obviously.
So, for fun, I'll pick some of them apart. Beware possible spoilers.
I'd better start with some of my views on shipping. If you don't know, "shipping" is when someone pairs up different characters from a show/movie, whether or not they're ever involved.
Since everyone here knows Avatar: the Last Airbender, I'll use that as an example. People that like to pair up Katara and Aang use the phrase Kataang. Katara and Zuko is called Zutara.
Which would I choose? Kataang (man, I feel stupid using those phrases). Why? Because that's clearly what Katara and Aang want, once they make their choice. Nowhere in the series do Zuko and Katara show any interest in each other. Katara threatens to kill Zuko!
I don't like shipping. Never have. Stop messing with the characters! Let them choose who they want! Zuko and Mai are happy together (though it can be hard to tell), Aang and Katara are happy together.
Last year at Fanime, when I dressed up as Yellow, someone asked me who I liked to pair Yellow with. And I said that I wanted her to choose what made her happy. That girl stared at me like I was crazy in the head.
Okay. Now that fan-made pairings are out of the way. Let's go to ones that actually occur during the train of events.
Let's start with Disney, because they're notorious for, uh, very simple romances.
Since I just watched Little Mermaid, let's begin there. Ariel sees handsome prince on a boat. First time she's gotten close to humans. Immediately, she's madly in love with him. And whaddya know? Once Eric's free from Ursula's spell, he immediately says that he loves her too! The only things keeping them apart? The evil octopus lady.
(Don't get me wrong. I love most of the Disney movies. Even if they do seem kinda phony sometimes. I like every movie I'm going to discuss here).
Hmm. What next?
Beauy and the Beast. Well, at least it took time for them to realize that they loved each other. But wasn't it only a few days? I can never tell. Because the weather seems to change dramatically. But on the other hand, I don't think it would have taken Belle's father too long to get lost before Belle went to rescue him.
Lion King and Bambi. Childhood friends who they didn't see for a long time. They grow up, meet again, and magically fall in love with each other pretty darn quickly (especially for Bambi).
Hercules falls in love with Meg pretty quickly. Though she at least takes a while to sort out her feelings (I love the song she sings about it).
Ohhhhhh. Of course. How could I forget? Snow White. They met for about 1 minute, with a window and about 30 feet between them. Yet that seems to qualify as "true love." Once Upon a Time has a much cooler relationship between Snow and the prince (I'll take this opportunity to recommend this show yet again).
Before I bore you all to tears by mentioning every single Disney Romance, because I think all of them have romance even if it's a small background romance, I will leave Disney behind and look at a couple other things.
Oh, must start with FMA. Only at the verrrry end does Ed finally ask Winry (which is pretty adorable in the anime).
Legend of Korra. Since we're in the middle of it, I obviously don't know how things will play out, though they've been setting up Mako and Korra since the beginning, pretty much. Where does that leave Asami? And then there was a whole episode where everyone was trying to figure out how they all felt about each other. I totally buy that. Teenagers sometimes need to sort out their feelings like that (though maybe they just wanted to appeal to the scary fangirls).
And then because I just watched the new Muppet movie. Kermit and Miss Piggie. Very... unlikely. But hey, that's okay. Unlikely relationships can work if they're done well. Besides, this is the Muppets. They're never quite normal. I forgot how amusing it was to hear Miss Piggy go "Kermiiiiiieeeee!"
Oh, and I like this one, because the same actor did both of these characters - Hiccup from "How to Train Your Dragon," and Dave from "Sorcerer's Apprentice." Both movies start with a somewhat nerdy boy (Nerdfighters!) who likes a girl that some would consider "beyond his reach" (which is a concept I don't buy). Fortunately, both Hiccup and Dave have something that designates them as "awesome." Hiccup has Toothless. Dave is a sorcerer. Dave, at least, was getting to know Becky before he told her that he was the heir to Merlin's power. Astrid pretty much hated Hiccup until he takes her for a Magic Carpet Ride. At which point, her attitude towards him changes abruptly. Although, to be fair, if someone took me for a ride on an (adorable) dragon, I would probably go "whoa, you're awesome!" (though not necessarily in a romantic way).
And then something else that bugs me. Since I finished reading Buso Renkin recently, I'll use that as an example. Kazuki and Tokiko. Yeah, they'd been through a lot together. And I'm sure they were very close. But at the beginning of the series, they made it very clear that Tokiko was like a "big sister" figure to Kazuki. And then all of a sudden, they love each other (a quick clarification before I continue. I totally get that Buso Renkin was canceled, so the author had to wrap everything up very quickly. I'm sure that given the time, he would have developed it better).
Wait a second. Just because a guy and a girl are close doesn't mean they have to love each other romantically!
That's something that's bugged me pretty much forever. Pretty much everything you read or watch wants you to believe that because a guy and girl are close, they must be in love with each other.
Dude, what the hell? Can't people of the opposite gender be friends without everyone asking if they're boyfriend/girlfriend?
I could go into my "types of love" thing again, but I'll limit that to a small reminder - love family, love friends, love animals, and romantic love.
Just because your two main characters are different genders doesn't mean that they have to fall in love. Guys and girls don't really fall in love with everyone they get to know.
And something else I just thought of, also about Once Upon a Time. This is a little bit spoiler-y, considering I don't think any of you have watched it. I'll be as vague as possible. So, there's the thing where "true love is the greatest magic," and "true love's kiss can break any curse."
Blah-di-blah, right?
Not necessarily!
Not when a curse is broken because a mother loves her son! See, even "true love's kiss" doesn't have to be romantic!
Whoa, that post was a lot longer than I thought it'd be. It was kinda fun to write though.
Oh, oh! I forgot!
Fact of the day:
Chicken eggs. If you never wash them after gathering them from the chickens, you don't need to refrigerate them. Washing them removes a sort of protective coating from the shell. (You probably don't want to leave them lying around for a really long time though).
And I just realized that it ties in with Ellen's post about character development.
So, here's a topic I don't spend too much time on.
Romance.
Romance is pretty much impossible to avoid. It's in almost every movie/book/show I can think of. Not that there's necessarily anything bad about that. But I've never really sought out anything that was a designated "romance."
Some romances turn out better than others. Obviously.
So, for fun, I'll pick some of them apart. Beware possible spoilers.
I'd better start with some of my views on shipping. If you don't know, "shipping" is when someone pairs up different characters from a show/movie, whether or not they're ever involved.
Since everyone here knows Avatar: the Last Airbender, I'll use that as an example. People that like to pair up Katara and Aang use the phrase Kataang. Katara and Zuko is called Zutara.
Which would I choose? Kataang (man, I feel stupid using those phrases). Why? Because that's clearly what Katara and Aang want, once they make their choice. Nowhere in the series do Zuko and Katara show any interest in each other. Katara threatens to kill Zuko!
I don't like shipping. Never have. Stop messing with the characters! Let them choose who they want! Zuko and Mai are happy together (though it can be hard to tell), Aang and Katara are happy together.
Last year at Fanime, when I dressed up as Yellow, someone asked me who I liked to pair Yellow with. And I said that I wanted her to choose what made her happy. That girl stared at me like I was crazy in the head.
Okay. Now that fan-made pairings are out of the way. Let's go to ones that actually occur during the train of events.
Let's start with Disney, because they're notorious for, uh, very simple romances.
Since I just watched Little Mermaid, let's begin there. Ariel sees handsome prince on a boat. First time she's gotten close to humans. Immediately, she's madly in love with him. And whaddya know? Once Eric's free from Ursula's spell, he immediately says that he loves her too! The only things keeping them apart? The evil octopus lady.
(Don't get me wrong. I love most of the Disney movies. Even if they do seem kinda phony sometimes. I like every movie I'm going to discuss here).
Hmm. What next?
Beauy and the Beast. Well, at least it took time for them to realize that they loved each other. But wasn't it only a few days? I can never tell. Because the weather seems to change dramatically. But on the other hand, I don't think it would have taken Belle's father too long to get lost before Belle went to rescue him.
Lion King and Bambi. Childhood friends who they didn't see for a long time. They grow up, meet again, and magically fall in love with each other pretty darn quickly (especially for Bambi).
Hercules falls in love with Meg pretty quickly. Though she at least takes a while to sort out her feelings (I love the song she sings about it).
Ohhhhhh. Of course. How could I forget? Snow White. They met for about 1 minute, with a window and about 30 feet between them. Yet that seems to qualify as "true love." Once Upon a Time has a much cooler relationship between Snow and the prince (I'll take this opportunity to recommend this show yet again).
Before I bore you all to tears by mentioning every single Disney Romance, because I think all of them have romance even if it's a small background romance, I will leave Disney behind and look at a couple other things.
Oh, must start with FMA. Only at the verrrry end does Ed finally ask Winry (which is pretty adorable in the anime).
Legend of Korra. Since we're in the middle of it, I obviously don't know how things will play out, though they've been setting up Mako and Korra since the beginning, pretty much. Where does that leave Asami? And then there was a whole episode where everyone was trying to figure out how they all felt about each other. I totally buy that. Teenagers sometimes need to sort out their feelings like that (though maybe they just wanted to appeal to the scary fangirls).
And then because I just watched the new Muppet movie. Kermit and Miss Piggie. Very... unlikely. But hey, that's okay. Unlikely relationships can work if they're done well. Besides, this is the Muppets. They're never quite normal. I forgot how amusing it was to hear Miss Piggy go "Kermiiiiiieeeee!"
Oh, and I like this one, because the same actor did both of these characters - Hiccup from "How to Train Your Dragon," and Dave from "Sorcerer's Apprentice." Both movies start with a somewhat nerdy boy (Nerdfighters!) who likes a girl that some would consider "beyond his reach" (which is a concept I don't buy). Fortunately, both Hiccup and Dave have something that designates them as "awesome." Hiccup has Toothless. Dave is a sorcerer. Dave, at least, was getting to know Becky before he told her that he was the heir to Merlin's power. Astrid pretty much hated Hiccup until he takes her for a Magic Carpet Ride. At which point, her attitude towards him changes abruptly. Although, to be fair, if someone took me for a ride on an (adorable) dragon, I would probably go "whoa, you're awesome!" (though not necessarily in a romantic way).
And then something else that bugs me. Since I finished reading Buso Renkin recently, I'll use that as an example. Kazuki and Tokiko. Yeah, they'd been through a lot together. And I'm sure they were very close. But at the beginning of the series, they made it very clear that Tokiko was like a "big sister" figure to Kazuki. And then all of a sudden, they love each other (a quick clarification before I continue. I totally get that Buso Renkin was canceled, so the author had to wrap everything up very quickly. I'm sure that given the time, he would have developed it better).
Wait a second. Just because a guy and a girl are close doesn't mean they have to love each other romantically!
That's something that's bugged me pretty much forever. Pretty much everything you read or watch wants you to believe that because a guy and girl are close, they must be in love with each other.
Dude, what the hell? Can't people of the opposite gender be friends without everyone asking if they're boyfriend/girlfriend?
I could go into my "types of love" thing again, but I'll limit that to a small reminder - love family, love friends, love animals, and romantic love.
Just because your two main characters are different genders doesn't mean that they have to fall in love. Guys and girls don't really fall in love with everyone they get to know.
And something else I just thought of, also about Once Upon a Time. This is a little bit spoiler-y, considering I don't think any of you have watched it. I'll be as vague as possible. So, there's the thing where "true love is the greatest magic," and "true love's kiss can break any curse."
Blah-di-blah, right?
Not necessarily!
Not when a curse is broken because a mother loves her son! See, even "true love's kiss" doesn't have to be romantic!
Whoa, that post was a lot longer than I thought it'd be. It was kinda fun to write though.
Oh, oh! I forgot!
Fact of the day:
Chicken eggs. If you never wash them after gathering them from the chickens, you don't need to refrigerate them. Washing them removes a sort of protective coating from the shell. (You probably don't want to leave them lying around for a really long time though).
Flaws, Virtues, and the Cereal bowl theory (not necessarily in that order)
It's been a while since I've posted, so here's a little something...or a lot of somethings.
We all have flaws. It's a fact. We're human, we make mistakes.
That there exist a infinite amount of possibilities for a situation, and that for each of the infinite outcomes there exists an infinite amount of worlds because the result is different. For example, I tripped going up the stairs today, but I didn't fall. But in another universe (let's call it), I did fall. In another, I stubbed my toe. And in yet another I didn't even trip. There are infinite variations in each depending on the type of injury or which step I tripped on, why I tripped, etc. And while the differences might be so minuscule that it doesn't really matter on the specifics of how I tripped, it might make for a different story, so therefore there exists a different timeline.
Now say for example that my life is a story (it'd be a boring one, but whatever), it's up to the author to even bother including that I tripped. So if all the timelines are threads, and there are a group bunched together with the event of me tripping in them, and the author deems it important, the author will look only at those threads. They have the option to then pick among the threads as to which works best. Perhaps the one where I twist my ankle, or where I crash headlong into another person, or fall down the stairs. Or the author could just completely ignore the fact that I tripped (because it's not all that interesting or important usually), so they'd look at the threads where I tripped and nothing of significance happened: where I trip, laugh at how I fail, then continue up the stairs.
It's all rather confusing, but to me it makes sense.
I don't start off with a fully fleshed out plot, or fully fleshed out characters. I select them, searching for the right thread where the plot and the characters do what I need and want them to do.
But sometimes it's impossible. That once I start putting in restrictions because of what I have chosen, it becomes very difficult to find that right thread. Whether it exists or not is neither here nor there. What does matter is authorial power.
With my power as an author I can figuratively cut two strings and tie them together when I need them to. If they reach each other in terms of plausibility, then I have the necessary information (or slack in the thread) to connect them.
But in the end I'm still left with a knot and the ends of the thread sticking out. This is something that I find undesirable. So you must find the two strings that will make the smallest knot possible while keeping the string taut. Even better would be to find the actual string (or events/characters etc.) that make the story plausible. But alas we're only human so it's difficult.
Then again sometimes (and I'm most definitely guilty of this myself), I try to tie two strings together that just won't reach. I'm not a good enough writer or thinker to use a third string to connect the two because it's difficult and then you end up with two inconsistencies instead of just one. So what do I do when the two ideas don't connect? I pretend that they do and hope nobody notices that they don't.
I'm such a terrible person...
Everybody does this, because tying two threads (worlds) together is a very difficult thing to do. There are the greats who are able to sort through all of the possibilities and find the perfect (or near perfect) thread that leads to their masterpiece.
I'm not one of those people. I'm working on it.
But this is why I'm able to find worlds/situations in which characters can be changed, as well as plot to yield the same result.
Punish them for their flaws. Is your character prone to anger? Well that's easy, make him say or do something he'll regret almost instantly with serious repercussions (mental, physical, emotional). They can even be irreversible.
A character who is very friendly, may be too friendly. She might be on really good terms with her best friend's boyfriend. While she's only acting as she normally does, this won't stop her friend from being jealous. The main character can't just stop being friendly all of a sudden, and it's not who she is. The best friend does value their friendship, but she should also value her boyfriend; which she prioritizes is another issue that adds to this. Then you've got arguments, passive aggressive behavior, insults, peaceful confrontation, or a discussion. And if your main character simply cannot help being too friendly, no more friendship.
Being too friendly is very difficult to see as a flaw. It's all based on the situation in this case. In a way, it's masquerading as a potential flaw.
A true flaw should be something that is always a flaw (whether they can change or not is a different matter that I'm not going to go into). Something that grounds your character into doing things that are wrong. The reader knows it's wrong, the people of the story world knows it's wrong, and even your character might know it's wrong, but they do it anyway.
They know they shouldn't enjoy fighting, but they have an unquenchable thirst for killing. This doesn't have to mean that they're a bad person, or depicted as a crazed serial killer psychopath. Perhaps they enjoy the thrill of the fight, the power that they feel as they cut down their opponent. But afterwards they realize the looks of horror and shock of the people around them and they feel bad. Or maybe they don't. Maybe they do enjoy killing, but they also enjoy baking and giving food out to the poor and homeless. Maybe this character tries not to kill, but can't help enjoying the act. So he only kills when his life is threatened. He still enjoys it, but he's not about to go on a killing spree. He's well liked in the community, has a family, but whenever raiders come around or the village is threatened, he doesn't hesitate to kill the other people with ruthless vengeance because he enjoys it.
Not a very good example, but an example of how a flawed person doesn't mean that they have to necessarily be a bad person. And in reverse having a good person doesn't mean that they don't have flaws.
There are so many examples in history of people that we idolize and turn into saint-like figures who can do no wrong. That's just silly. If they are perfect they can't be human. You can find them for yourselves. You're smart, I believe in you.
We all have flaws. It's a fact. We're human, we make mistakes.
So why should written characters be any different?
First off, let's define a flaw, courtesy of dictionary.com
verb (used without object)
5.
to contract a flaw; become cracked or defective.
Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English flaw ( e ), flage, perhaps < Old Norseflaga sliver, flake
1275–1325; Middle English flaw ( e ), flage, perhaps < Old Norseflaga sliver, flake
People need flaws. Else we'd just be perfect, and that'd just be creepy, not to mention it'd make for a rather boring story.
But keep in mind that if you make a character too flawed, you'll have some problems making the plot progress in the way you want.
To me picking a character and then remolding them into something else that makes a plot and/or fits a plot is fairly easy. Possibly too easy. But to me, an author is not a creator of a story, merely an observer.
Now say for example that my life is a story (it'd be a boring one, but whatever), it's up to the author to even bother including that I tripped. So if all the timelines are threads, and there are a group bunched together with the event of me tripping in them, and the author deems it important, the author will look only at those threads. They have the option to then pick among the threads as to which works best. Perhaps the one where I twist my ankle, or where I crash headlong into another person, or fall down the stairs. Or the author could just completely ignore the fact that I tripped (because it's not all that interesting or important usually), so they'd look at the threads where I tripped and nothing of significance happened: where I trip, laugh at how I fail, then continue up the stairs.
It's all rather confusing, but to me it makes sense.
I don't start off with a fully fleshed out plot, or fully fleshed out characters. I select them, searching for the right thread where the plot and the characters do what I need and want them to do.
But sometimes it's impossible. That once I start putting in restrictions because of what I have chosen, it becomes very difficult to find that right thread. Whether it exists or not is neither here nor there. What does matter is authorial power.
With my power as an author I can figuratively cut two strings and tie them together when I need them to. If they reach each other in terms of plausibility, then I have the necessary information (or slack in the thread) to connect them.
But in the end I'm still left with a knot and the ends of the thread sticking out. This is something that I find undesirable. So you must find the two strings that will make the smallest knot possible while keeping the string taut. Even better would be to find the actual string (or events/characters etc.) that make the story plausible. But alas we're only human so it's difficult.
Then again sometimes (and I'm most definitely guilty of this myself), I try to tie two strings together that just won't reach. I'm not a good enough writer or thinker to use a third string to connect the two because it's difficult and then you end up with two inconsistencies instead of just one. So what do I do when the two ideas don't connect? I pretend that they do and hope nobody notices that they don't.
I'm such a terrible person...
Everybody does this, because tying two threads (worlds) together is a very difficult thing to do. There are the greats who are able to sort through all of the possibilities and find the perfect (or near perfect) thread that leads to their masterpiece.
I'm not one of those people. I'm working on it.
But this is why I'm able to find worlds/situations in which characters can be changed, as well as plot to yield the same result.
Again this is only my perception of stories and how I work. If this works for you great. If you have another method that's even better. And if you thought of something like this, then we're on the same page and I just wasted your time with my digression. (Sorry!)
Anyway back to flawed characters now that my rant is done.
Find/make/give birth to (whatever) the characters that will be interesting, real, human, and flawed that make your story work.
A character who is very friendly, may be too friendly. She might be on really good terms with her best friend's boyfriend. While she's only acting as she normally does, this won't stop her friend from being jealous. The main character can't just stop being friendly all of a sudden, and it's not who she is. The best friend does value their friendship, but she should also value her boyfriend; which she prioritizes is another issue that adds to this. Then you've got arguments, passive aggressive behavior, insults, peaceful confrontation, or a discussion. And if your main character simply cannot help being too friendly, no more friendship.
Being too friendly is very difficult to see as a flaw. It's all based on the situation in this case. In a way, it's masquerading as a potential flaw.
A true flaw should be something that is always a flaw (whether they can change or not is a different matter that I'm not going to go into). Something that grounds your character into doing things that are wrong. The reader knows it's wrong, the people of the story world knows it's wrong, and even your character might know it's wrong, but they do it anyway.
They know they shouldn't enjoy fighting, but they have an unquenchable thirst for killing. This doesn't have to mean that they're a bad person, or depicted as a crazed serial killer psychopath. Perhaps they enjoy the thrill of the fight, the power that they feel as they cut down their opponent. But afterwards they realize the looks of horror and shock of the people around them and they feel bad. Or maybe they don't. Maybe they do enjoy killing, but they also enjoy baking and giving food out to the poor and homeless. Maybe this character tries not to kill, but can't help enjoying the act. So he only kills when his life is threatened. He still enjoys it, but he's not about to go on a killing spree. He's well liked in the community, has a family, but whenever raiders come around or the village is threatened, he doesn't hesitate to kill the other people with ruthless vengeance because he enjoys it.
Not a very good example, but an example of how a flawed person doesn't mean that they have to necessarily be a bad person. And in reverse having a good person doesn't mean that they don't have flaws.
There are so many examples in history of people that we idolize and turn into saint-like figures who can do no wrong. That's just silly. If they are perfect they can't be human. You can find them for yourselves. You're smart, I believe in you.
But don't forget to reward your flawed characters. Rewarding (I feel) is just as important as punishing them. If you constantly get punished for doing something, you're going to want to change it. The reason that some people don't change is because they don't perceive it as a big enough flaw to do something about it.
For example, let's say you have a boyfriend. And he's a jerk. But every time you think, "Wow he really is a poo head," he does something really sweet that reminds you why you picked him in the first place. It's a lot harder to leave someone who isn't a poo head all the time. If he was it'd be easy, but people are more complex than that, so it's harder to change him or the situation.
Another reason it's good to reward flaws is so that it doesn't set your reader's expectations for your character to always fail whenever they get impulsive or angry or scared or what have you.
Virtues are the exact same as flaws, just the 180 degree opposite. Punish and reward the character respectively. It's easy to reward, but punishing is a little trickier. But punishment make for interesting conflicts.
Is she too honorable? Punish her like a certain main character in a wonderfully amazing series that I cannot name for fear of spoiling it for those of you who haven't read it. It's like the politicians who hide scary truths from the people so that mass panic doesn't ensue. They are lying, but it's for the best. Like how most people want to hear a lie when asked if a dress makes them look fat. (Personally I'd like to know, but hey maybe I'm just weird)
I think that's about it...
Friday, June 8, 2012
Adoption center
This is actually something Crystal mentioned ages ago, and I've been thinking about it ever since, and expanding on it as well.
There are a lot of people who get really good ideas for characters and stories and such, but never do anything with them. And sometimes people who write regularly have trouble finding just the right plot or character to fit their needs.
What we need is an adoption center!
A website where people offer their well-loved and cared for characters and ideas up where they can find a new home.
People can draw pictures of their characters and write out what their character is like, and any other details about that person.
They can explain small ideas, or entire plots.
People can look at these characters and plots and rate them depending on how original, creative, and awesome they are. And the better ones can stay and get shown off until someone adopts them. The less interesting ones wouldn't stay as long.
The person who wants to use the idea could tell the creator what they plan on doing, and maybe even send the creator the finished story/manga/whatever. That way the person who made the character or idea can see how it's executed. Maybe the creator can choose whichever person they think will take the best care of their ideas.
Maybe some things can be adopted more than once, since it's unlikely they'd be officially published. This would be great for fanfictions and stories that people write for fun. But hey, if one got published, awesome! Hahah!
And maybe some things could be half adopted. Like characters. They tend to grow and head off in their own direction. It also depends on the world they grow up in. It's unlikely they'd keep all of their original traits.
It sounds like it'd be fun to do some day. But I sure wouldn't know how to make a website that did all this.
Fact of the day:
White cats with blue eyes are likely to be completely deaf.
There are a lot of people who get really good ideas for characters and stories and such, but never do anything with them. And sometimes people who write regularly have trouble finding just the right plot or character to fit their needs.
What we need is an adoption center!
A website where people offer their well-loved and cared for characters and ideas up where they can find a new home.
People can draw pictures of their characters and write out what their character is like, and any other details about that person.
They can explain small ideas, or entire plots.
People can look at these characters and plots and rate them depending on how original, creative, and awesome they are. And the better ones can stay and get shown off until someone adopts them. The less interesting ones wouldn't stay as long.
The person who wants to use the idea could tell the creator what they plan on doing, and maybe even send the creator the finished story/manga/whatever. That way the person who made the character or idea can see how it's executed. Maybe the creator can choose whichever person they think will take the best care of their ideas.
Maybe some things can be adopted more than once, since it's unlikely they'd be officially published. This would be great for fanfictions and stories that people write for fun. But hey, if one got published, awesome! Hahah!
And maybe some things could be half adopted. Like characters. They tend to grow and head off in their own direction. It also depends on the world they grow up in. It's unlikely they'd keep all of their original traits.
It sounds like it'd be fun to do some day. But I sure wouldn't know how to make a website that did all this.
Fact of the day:
White cats with blue eyes are likely to be completely deaf.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Skydiving Mythbusters and the Fact of the Day
Gasp. I've been posting so much recently!
Mainly because of all these posts I've been putting off.
This one's from last week.
A couple days after we went skydiving, we saw an episode of Mythbusters about skydiving. I really should have written this right after I saw it, because I forget some of the stuff I was going to write. But since Ellen asked for a lot of detail about skydiving, (plus it could relate to my stories of flying people and dragons and stuff) I'll write some of it down.
You fall at about 120 miles per hour. The wind is so loud, that you would not be able to hear someone shouting in your face. Which is why they told me not to try to say anything as we were in free fall.
But if you put your arms to your sides and your legs together to streamline yourself, you can double your falling speed.
So, you know, if you ever fall out of a plane and don't have a parachute, chase after someone who does have one.
So, this sort of goes along with something I've been planning for a long time. I don't even know how long. It's just kinda been running around for a while, so I will finally go ahead and to it!
I call it "the fact of the day." Though if you want to be more accurate, you can call it "the fact of whatever day that I happen to remember." Some might be very short, some might be longer.
So, our very first fact of the day!
Did you know that if you don't get enough sunlight, it can actually make you more depressed? I've heard that you should get about 20 minutes of sun a day, and you should not have sunscreen on during that time, because sunscreen blocks all that good stuff you get from the sun. If you have scary pale skin (like Nicole, or me-at least on my legs) you might want to get that sunlight in smaller doses instead of all at once.
Mainly because of all these posts I've been putting off.
This one's from last week.
A couple days after we went skydiving, we saw an episode of Mythbusters about skydiving. I really should have written this right after I saw it, because I forget some of the stuff I was going to write. But since Ellen asked for a lot of detail about skydiving, (plus it could relate to my stories of flying people and dragons and stuff) I'll write some of it down.
You fall at about 120 miles per hour. The wind is so loud, that you would not be able to hear someone shouting in your face. Which is why they told me not to try to say anything as we were in free fall.
But if you put your arms to your sides and your legs together to streamline yourself, you can double your falling speed.
So, you know, if you ever fall out of a plane and don't have a parachute, chase after someone who does have one.
So, this sort of goes along with something I've been planning for a long time. I don't even know how long. It's just kinda been running around for a while, so I will finally go ahead and to it!
I call it "the fact of the day." Though if you want to be more accurate, you can call it "the fact of whatever day that I happen to remember." Some might be very short, some might be longer.
So, our very first fact of the day!
Did you know that if you don't get enough sunlight, it can actually make you more depressed? I've heard that you should get about 20 minutes of sun a day, and you should not have sunscreen on during that time, because sunscreen blocks all that good stuff you get from the sun. If you have scary pale skin (like Nicole, or me-at least on my legs) you might want to get that sunlight in smaller doses instead of all at once.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Pacing
I think I"m getting desensitized to some types of books. I've reading a lot of books like Hunger Games, Maximum Ride, and Keys to the Kingdom, which are all very fast-paced. So now when I get to a book that's of a much slower pace, I'm really slow in reading it.
There's this one series called Bloody Jack (weird name, I know). Mom's read all the books so far, I think. I've read the first two so far. Mom said that the books felt really fast-paced to her. Which surprised me because they feel really slow to me.
And I'm in the middle of The Three Musketeers right now. Although it's good, it's very wordy. Lots and lots of words. So I've only made a small dent in it. I started reading the 4th Twelve Kingdoms book, so I can alternate between the two. They're both pretty long, but Twelve Kingdoms is definitely going faster.
A lot of books today go a lot more towards action than the slower, more thoughtful things. Not saying that fast things can't be thoughtful too, but I'm not sure of a better way to say it.
Then again, I'm not very good at speed-reading. Even if I start to speed-read, I usually lapse back into slowness again. But I like reading slower. It lets me get sucked into the story better.
Finally went through the stack of stuff on my desk. It's been sitting there for a while, so was getting pretty big. Nice to have most of it filed away. Still a bunch of stuff from it I need to read, along with a few fat books from different colleges. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the master's thing. I've been putting off examining the programs from different colleges, since it seems like a complicated research project.
Ironically, apparently UC Santa Cruz has a program that might fit me perfectly. So if I do end up doing that program, I'll be starting it after Ellen leaves.
Sigh.
There's this one series called Bloody Jack (weird name, I know). Mom's read all the books so far, I think. I've read the first two so far. Mom said that the books felt really fast-paced to her. Which surprised me because they feel really slow to me.
And I'm in the middle of The Three Musketeers right now. Although it's good, it's very wordy. Lots and lots of words. So I've only made a small dent in it. I started reading the 4th Twelve Kingdoms book, so I can alternate between the two. They're both pretty long, but Twelve Kingdoms is definitely going faster.
A lot of books today go a lot more towards action than the slower, more thoughtful things. Not saying that fast things can't be thoughtful too, but I'm not sure of a better way to say it.
Then again, I'm not very good at speed-reading. Even if I start to speed-read, I usually lapse back into slowness again. But I like reading slower. It lets me get sucked into the story better.
Finally went through the stack of stuff on my desk. It's been sitting there for a while, so was getting pretty big. Nice to have most of it filed away. Still a bunch of stuff from it I need to read, along with a few fat books from different colleges. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the master's thing. I've been putting off examining the programs from different colleges, since it seems like a complicated research project.
Ironically, apparently UC Santa Cruz has a program that might fit me perfectly. So if I do end up doing that program, I'll be starting it after Ellen leaves.
Sigh.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Fanfictions
Since I'm about to work on another very late fanfiction chapter, I thought I'd write the post that I've been meaning to do for a while.
Recently I've been noticing a very different attitude that goes along with writing fanfictions (for me, at least). While I always do my best on my fanfics, they're a lot less intensive to write. I don't need to go in depth with them, which makes them in a way sort of more relaxing.
I do one chapter at a time and once I get a chapter up, I don't really need to worry about it. I always edit a chapter before I put it up. And I'll go back to a chapter to fix typos or add something I've forgotten. But it doesn't involve re-writing the entire thing over and over again.
Although I suppose some of it has to do with the world being mostly developed too. Heheh. And some of the characters as well. Although I hadn't actually thought of that until just now.
Oh, got my computer back. All fixed! Quite a relief.
Recently I've been noticing a very different attitude that goes along with writing fanfictions (for me, at least). While I always do my best on my fanfics, they're a lot less intensive to write. I don't need to go in depth with them, which makes them in a way sort of more relaxing.
I do one chapter at a time and once I get a chapter up, I don't really need to worry about it. I always edit a chapter before I put it up. And I'll go back to a chapter to fix typos or add something I've forgotten. But it doesn't involve re-writing the entire thing over and over again.
Although I suppose some of it has to do with the world being mostly developed too. Heheh. And some of the characters as well. Although I hadn't actually thought of that until just now.
Oh, got my computer back. All fixed! Quite a relief.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Editing Katani Finally
So, waiting around for Dad to get off the phone so we can go run errands (he owes me money, so I'm gonna make him buy me a book).
Nearly finished applying for both the summer programs. I sent the first one off on Friday. I just have to edit a couple pages for the second one. And then I think I need to write a statement too.
I feel like I've been writing it kinda slowly. But it feels good to have finally started editing Katani. Just about done revising the first chapter.
Actually, I think for a couple days last week I was fighting a sort of block, because it took several days before I finally got myself to start editing Katani. ALthough that was probably because I was in a very bad mood for a while. Glad to have gotten over that (both the block and the bad mood).
It's crazy. There's so much to balance. I want the hook to be catching. And I want to include enough detail to give the reader a strong footing. But I don't want to overload them with detail all at once. I also want to make sure that my POV shifts are done well. And I'm still curious about prologues. Apparently they're not always the best tool, but I think prologues that are done well are good.
It's good though. I'm finally getting re-energized about Katani's story. The only story things I've gotten to work on all semester are my short stories for my class, and my fanfic. Which I have been neglecting again. Crud. My characters are all annoyed at being neglected for so long. I still love you guys! I promise!
And I had to send my stupid computer in again this morning.
And now I have everything else backed up. So the only things left need to recover are my internet bookmarks and my photos (photos = more important than bookmarks). Everything was supposed to be fixed when he returned it a few days ago. But my computer is old and the updates weren't designed for the older models. Stupid computer companies. Theoretically everything should be fixed this time. So cross your fingers.
Nearly finished applying for both the summer programs. I sent the first one off on Friday. I just have to edit a couple pages for the second one. And then I think I need to write a statement too.
I feel like I've been writing it kinda slowly. But it feels good to have finally started editing Katani. Just about done revising the first chapter.
Actually, I think for a couple days last week I was fighting a sort of block, because it took several days before I finally got myself to start editing Katani. ALthough that was probably because I was in a very bad mood for a while. Glad to have gotten over that (both the block and the bad mood).
It's crazy. There's so much to balance. I want the hook to be catching. And I want to include enough detail to give the reader a strong footing. But I don't want to overload them with detail all at once. I also want to make sure that my POV shifts are done well. And I'm still curious about prologues. Apparently they're not always the best tool, but I think prologues that are done well are good.
It's good though. I'm finally getting re-energized about Katani's story. The only story things I've gotten to work on all semester are my short stories for my class, and my fanfic. Which I have been neglecting again. Crud. My characters are all annoyed at being neglected for so long. I still love you guys! I promise!
And I had to send my stupid computer in again this morning.
And now I have everything else backed up. So the only things left need to recover are my internet bookmarks and my photos (photos = more important than bookmarks). Everything was supposed to be fixed when he returned it a few days ago. But my computer is old and the updates weren't designed for the older models. Stupid computer companies. Theoretically everything should be fixed this time. So cross your fingers.
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