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I Have a Small Confession. [05 May 2008|01:15pm]
I had so many plans for the weekend. So many things on my list that I wanted to finish. Finish some drawings, do some more translation...Oh and that website that I was trying to get finished? Haha, didn't happen.

All because I got my package from Amazon jp which held the 13th volume of Saiunkoku Monogatari (among other things)...and I spent most of my time reading or skimming it. I'm more on the "really reading it now" stage and am almost done with chapter one. Which is pretty good considering that my Japanese comprehension is a little bit into intermediate and I skip a lot of kanji. B-b-but, the book is so good! And I can't resist it.

But my skimming led me to an interesting idea that the whole plot for the throne arc is being implemented by prodding the weaks points through the Eight Clans of Colour. One phrase in particular struck me was when it turned from "Ran Shuuei first then Li Kouyuu" to "Ran clan then Kou clan" (all paraphrased from memory) and the new problem is regarding the Heki clan. Well, I thought that the order of the clans was strangely familiar and went to check the Prologue of the first book which, lo and behold lists the first three clans in this order. Coincidence? Not sure, the whole Sa province thing throws it off, but still it's an interesting pattern, in my view. The other problem is that most of my canon information comes from just reading summaries and I've skipped the other novels, not that the summaries are bad far from it, it's just there only so much one can do in a summary. But I have read bits and bobs of the other novels that I have, as I slowly amass the actual volumes.

But from what I skimmed, I really want to know what happens to the Kou clan after Reishin's dismissal. Is Reishin going to actually help and make things smoother by forcing the Kou clan to change its ways or is this going to be best friends battle? Yuushun, why you got to be so mysterious? You're ruining my image of you. XD And then there's the Heki clan...but I've got to actually read that part to figure out whether it may come out as a plot point in the near future (my initial guess was that it would), but reading the end from the exchange between Yuushun and Reishin, Yuushun and Ryuuki, to Reishin and Yuri, I really want to know what'll happen, because if Yuushun decides to go hard after the Kou surnamed officials, this is going to affect Shuurei. And now Yuri is going to stay in the capitol. Haha, I wonder if she and Houju will end up meeting. XD

But I never really appreciated how funny Saiunkoku can be until I started reading this volume. I've started the first one and have gotten through half of the first chapter of it but it's slow because I'm translating rather than reading. And the translation with the getting each nuance of the story is much more difficult than simply reading and getting what mostly happens. The grammar when trying to turn it to English kills me, but strangly, understanding it without trying to change into something else is a lot easier. And not being so far in the volume it hasn't yet really given me a sense of anything yet. But seriously, in volume 13, Ensei and the "Onigiri" bit was pretty hilarious. Men in the kitchen and you end up with normal foods turned weird and real names turn to puns. What were those two thinking when they decided that making onigiri and filling it with everything known to man was a good idea?

Ah well, more thoughts (and fangirling) probably as I read onwards in the story.



Oh, but I did do a lot of writing this weekend....
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Because I like this Meme [29 Apr 2008|11:30am]
These are the 106 books most marked "unread" by Librarything users.

Bold for read, Italic for partially read.

Cut for length )
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The List of Doom [28 Apr 2008|08:24am]
Just taking things one step at a time, I suppose. A revision to the big list...that, uh, promises to be mostly undone.

Before the Beginning of May

1. Have the new and redone website up (possibly with the subsite). (0% done)
2. Draw out the pages of a small comic of pie! (Script 100% thumbnails 10% Pages 1)
3. Draw and colour a birthday pic for http://cheeko-001.deviantart.com (80% Done)
4. Finish drawing and inking "Mystery Picture"
5. Finish colouring the now not-to-be used web graphic.
6. Finish a first draft of the script of Chapter 2 for my comic (15% Done)
7. Edit Prologue, Chapters 1-2 of Comic
8. Finish the outline of "historical" events (50% Done)
9. Finish the "illustrated" version of my cosmogony.
10. Finish colouring "Boys will be Boys"
11. Bother people for their reviews of what they read....
12. Send out finished drafts of Chapters 1 and 2 for peer review.
13. Finish Kierja Palace picture.
14. Begin drawing pages for the Comic.
15. Begin colouring several old pictures that are floating around in pencil form on dA
16. Finish the first half of Naru's story.
17. Start and continue the first draft of a story concerning my character Jehan's youth. (Prologue 100% first draft; Part one chapter one Planning)

I think I'm going to hold off until the weekend for most of the rest of Cheeko's picture...since I think I'm going to break out the water colours for the rest (except the last bits of the border). Which probably means more writing to get done. And if I have enough discipline web graphics that were intended to be done this weekend.
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Saiunkoku Monogatari Book 1 Prologue [21 Apr 2008|03:34pm]
So I started up the unofficial translation project again. This is the second time I've translated this, but now with the complete pages. I've also used [info]kagedreams's translation here for correction. I cannot vouch for my own accuracy and some parts are just down right awkward, but I tried. Please correct any and all mistakes you find. And with no further ado:


Herein is the Story of Saiunkoku.

In the distant past, in the era when the demons of the rivers and mountains ran rampant through the country, in the midst of that endless chaos a single youth went out upon a journey.

Driving away the rampant demons, and with the public’s peace and welfare hidden in his breast, he continued his endless journey.

Presently, eight sages gathered, deeply touched by those feelings. Ransen (Indigo), Kousen (Crimson), Hekisen (Green), Kousen (Yellow), Hakusen (White), Kokusen (Black), Sasen (Brown), Shisen (Purple) – Named of colour, they were eventually called the “Eight Many-Coloured Sages” and commanding a mysterious power they saved the youth.

That youth’s name was Sougen. He borrowed the Eight Sages sagacity, built the foundation of the country, and opened the dawn of the people’s age and became the Founding King of Saiunkoku.

After Sougen’s death, the Eight Sages disappeared to a place unknown. But, even now, in a corner of the castle, there is the Sages’ dwelling called the Sentoukyuu (the Sages’ Cave Shrine), an elegant shrine that Sougen built for the Eight Sages.

Story of Saiunkoku –Author Unknown–

Prologue

In the dead of the night – deep in the interior of the king’s palace, a clandestine midnight conference of senior statesmen was gathered.

“…what a dilemma.”

“Indeed, there’s none larger.”

“His Majesty has ascended the throne now half a year.”

“And not a single thing has come from it….”

“I had thought something would happen, but….”

“And we, the old men, can’t follow along the recent trends….”

“Idiot! Do you really want to follow that?!” shouted the angry voice of an elder advisor who, despite his age, retained his youthful vigour. When he was young, he was a military commander who earned his name by activity on the frontline of wars, and though sixty years had passed, his effervescent character had changed little.

“But at this rate….”

“Yes, at this rate, it is when and how crafty courtiers, the sort of villainous retainer will appear or be confined.”

“On the contrary, possibly only those insolent enough to aim for the throne will appear.”

“The most important matter is…”

One with a voice that spoke more coolly than the others, grumbled with a wry face, “we need to do something about the talk that is spreading around the palace.”

A sudden silence fell upon the room. Yes, firstly, the “talk” that he mentioned was the very problem.

“D-definitely.”

Another person, wiping sweat from his face, cleared his throat. “Before we worry over corrupt officials who may or may not appear, we should first consider the sentiments of the populace.”

“B-b-b-but we’ve tried every means!”

“What more can we do?”

In that secret meeting, which could not find a good idea that would then come to completion, a man who had hitherto remained silent opened his mouth.

“– I have a plan.”

The circumference of voices silenced abruptly, for the owner of that voice was the most senior advisor of the country. Everyone looked at him intently in anticipation.

“Isn’t there a common saying…” the shape of the old official’s mouth seemed to slacken within the abundant white beard suggestively. “That a wife was even Confucius’ greatest rival?”
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I wonder if this is what they call Synesthaesia.... [21 Mar 2008|10:47am]
As I was going home during my ride on the bus and as I walked home from the bus stop, I was thinking about things and realised something.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not actually a very visual reader.

Which, all things considered, is pretty ironic since I create things in the visual arts medium, instead I’ve found that I have a tendency to see texts in colours and emotions that produce those colours rather than the images the books are intending to impart. For instance, in The Dark is Rising Sequence I tend to feel white-blue, white-gold when I read the stories concerning the Drews, and if really hard pressed I’ll say their scenes evoke an image of bright sunlight on the ocean that washes the colours to a dazzling lightness or the sun on the yellowed grass of High Summer in Northern California, punctuated by the dark brown and green of oak trees. When I’m reading the story where Will Stanton is the main character I tend to feel dark and sombre colours, browns, blacks, muddy greens with an occasional clearness of white snow when a particular description of winter hits me to where I see an image. If pressed to give an overall image of what those colours evoke in me, I’d say an expanse of dark colours, browns, blacks, greys where there is a warm candle light glow reflecting off the darkness, an image of what a cathedral might look like in candlelight, if you will. When reading The Grey King I get muddy browns, greys and greens, all the things that remind me of the wild and moody thickets of growth and trees that line the towpath of the River Wear, tamed but with a fey nature lingering despite the urbanisation. I contrast this with A Ring of Endless Light where I get a more golden feeling, just like the sunlight in spring in the kitchen late in the afternoon where everything is bathed in reddening rays of the sun. When I read the The Twelve Kingdoms I get alternating muddy colours and clear blues and greens, depending on whether the characters are in the dirt of the streets or in the more tranquil places like Houzan or the Palaces above the Cloud Sea. Lord of the Rings cold grey with contrasting dark brown and green, stark colours. His Dark Materials a kaleidoscope of golds, oranges, browns. Narnia verdant colours, cerulean, and gold. When I read Harry Potter I tend to feel predominantly white, a colour I abhor and so have a marked tendency to turn from the books, except for the Prisoner of Azkaban, which I feel as brown and which is also the book of the series I like best.

I tend to think this colours my reading of text, in that I will consistently chose and prefer texts written in prose that bring the colours and the emotions behind the colours. I have never, except in short spurts, actually envisioned a story in a cinematic fashion. In fact if you ask me how I visualise a character, and I’ll have to confess that I don’t. I can tell you what the book tells me on how they look, but in my mind there is no concrete face, only the colours evoked by the text. Also, I don’t have a tendency to do this with comics, possibly because the images are dominant. This is probably why you will also never see me drawing fanart for books. Any fan art I do is for artists, because my mind absolutely blocks my ability to visualise and create another person’s character unless there is concrete evidence on how the author sees them. Strange but true.

Even odder, when I write I tend to write with colours that strings of words evoke in my mind rather than visuals, it takes more effort to visualise something and since I prefer to see colours with emotions, I think I subconsciously reflect that in writing. As in when I write Jehan, I feel cerulean, white-washed blue, gold and white-gold even when the environment I’m writing him in feels dark green and sepia. Bright and rather blinding colours. When I write Naru or Shouran I tend to feel dark green, grey-brown, and brown. When I write Lukyan, Cailaeg, and Anavárin my feelings shift from grey, blue, and brown-gold, to green gold, azure, grey-gold, and forty shades of green, to green-gold, bright green, grey, and brown. When I write Maaru, in the short moments I have written her I feel crimson. This is probably why I’ve gotten complaints of not being able to visualise what I write, because I’m visualising and attempting to evoke the feeling of a colour rather than a strict image.

Which is something I really need to keep aware of....


In other news, I've got a lot of things to do this weekend...and my throat is very sore. Why fates do you conspire against me so?

But if the stars align themselves properly, you may get the first comic page of a short silly little story I thought of thanks to Unofficial (or Official) Pie Week in Britain.

And in other other news, I think I'm going to try out a new J-blogging site for kicks.
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Questions, Questions, Questions [12 Mar 2008|01:33pm]
[ mood | Pretty darn neutral. ]

Well, first things first. I do apologise for my angst-fest there. It was cathartic, but still, I feel bad for subjecting people to it. But I hope those of your who read enjoyed my little spiel on Sea of Wind.

Onwards to important things!

First off, I've been thinking about redesigning my website found on www.foxprints.com , I originally had one idea going of which line art can be found in my gallery but have since dispensed with that idea in favour of toying with another. I want to go for a celtic knotwork image that sort of morphes itself into semi-realism.

Here is what I'm thinking:



On the right is the knotwork design, and the left is the general page layout for the front page and the back pages. What do you guys think of the design?

Secondly, since I can't keep from making huge posts. I was thinking on my story (well, one of them) and the now finished Sea of Wind and came to the conclusion that a lot of the themes (and the traits of the kirin) behind it are a response to the ones brought up in the 12 Kingdoms, although there are a lot of my own ideas and it fits within the world's mythos. There are a lot of individual things that I think could be explored where the world system is not one so dependent on the strict literalism of Confucian/Daoist philosophy and religion. One of the things I found so lacking is that the Kirin (because of their "duty") are in essence a messenger or the worldly extension of Heaven and live for their King. Well, what if that "duty" was an option and what if the entire system was blatantly artificial and the poor fools living under it were not truly dependent upon that system even if they believe they were? And even more so, what if a Kirin raised to believe it were human was completely different from one who is not? It always troubled me that the Kirin was, well, a Kirin despite obvious differences, making them truly more a beast than a "person". Well, I think that idea underpins the Comic story as one of the threads. On the other hand, I think it will be a surprise what my Kirin are versus the ones that are similar to the 12K version. Or at the very least sufficiently different.

But thinking on this also leads me to the uncomfortable thought about my main protagonist, Jehan. I've come to the uncomfortable conclusion that possibly a lot of people won't like him and that I'm not very comfortable with a lot of things he says or does to the point where I wonder about him. Am I listening too much to what I want, or is this character really someone I am legitimately ambivalent about. The latter being of itself a good thing in a sense. But I ask you, gentle readers (since I know quite a few of you write stories or make comics) do you have a character main or not so main, that you feel like you wonder if you're making them incharacter or if that in-character-ness is what may in fact be bothering you? Is there a character protagonist who bothers in a way that you personally find rather repugnant?
Better still, do you doubt your character?

I look forward to hearing what you guys have got to say.

And last, I leave you know with a mega list of things to do by the beginning of May (this way there may be a chance they'll be done):

Before the end of March

1. Draw out the pages of a small comic of pie!
2. Draw and colour a birthday pic for Miss Cheeko under [info]dragonaquarium
3. Finish drawing and inking "Mystery Picture"
4. Finish colouring the now not-to-be used web graphic.
5 Finish a first draft of the script of Chapter 2 for my comic
6. Edit Prologue, Chapters 1-2 of Comic
7. Finish that outline of "historical" events that I keep meaning to send :cheeko-001:
8. Draw some of :wazaga: 's Foundlings for kicks.
9. Draw something from [info]merofi 's Reman Mythology for kicks.
10. Bother people for their reviews of what they read....
11. Send out finished drafts of Chapters 1 and 2 for peer review.

Before the beginning of May

1. Have the new and redone website up (possibly with the subsite)
2. Begin drawing pages for the Comic.
3. Finish the "illustrated" version of my cosmogony.
4. Finish colouring "Boys will be Boys"
5. Begin colouring several old pictures that are floating around in pencil form on dA
6. Finish the first half of Iridescent Rain of Midnight, Thread of Madder-Red
7. Start and continue the first draft of a story concerning my character Jehan's youth.

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Sea of Wind [11 Mar 2008|02:31pm]
Actually, this journal entry is going to start out as a whine-fest.

Most of this is because my weekend, for the lack of a better and less crude term, was shite. Mind you, it wasn't all that bad, but the majority of it was filled with the bad and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth just thinking about it. It all started Saturday evening when we were discussing a subject that inevitably leads to a fight, thanks to different views and different high running emotions. This subject is also about a ghost (not a literal one), that "ghost" being my father. The thing is, discussion the subject wouldn't be so bad if it were not for the fact that rather than moving forward on the subject, it ends up being a cyclical conversation about his actions, his personality, why and how of everything. If it actually were helpful (as in trying to help my brother sort his feelins, which was the origin of the discussion) then it would be fine, but in evitably it leads straight back to psycho-analysing someone who by all respects shouldn't be analysed. He's a person who isn't normal, and by default normal people can't understand him or his problems. And that's something I don't want to go over ad nauseum, because to me it's counter-productive and serves only to pick at wounds that are supposed to be healing. But then if I voice this, I become a cold person. And that upsets me more then the subject.

So that was the way my Saturday evening was spoilt. But as if that were not enough, well, it seems that the ghost wasn't content with hanging around in a verbal sense but decided to intrude upon our lives. The day after we had a lovely and particularly nasty argument about the man. So on Sunday I receive a call from the man himself, which of course prompts a whole other bout of debate in which there's another spat, so I spend the rest of the afternoon just doing what I can (and thankfully called an old friend, just to talk about things not having to do with my father). Then yesterday, my mom calls both my second cousin and my father, speaking to both of them, to which I listened (partly because I was obligated for the sake of my brother, good thing I did because my mom was thinking of giving out my brother's phone numbers).

So yes, I'm not sure what to think on it, on the one hand I'm pretty calm, but the more I think on it, I'm really quite angry and annoyed. I really didn't want this person in my life, yet I'm now confronted by it. Oh, and as proof of my father's inherent childishness, apparently he was upset that I was "cold" because I was being polite and didn't sound over-joyed at hearing his voice. I'm sorry but did you forget how you abandoned my family? Oh, wait, you can't even comprehend that. See, I feel pity for this person, but I don't want him in my life because I don't want it ruined by him. But just the amount of anger and pain that we give ourselves in our daily lives about him makes everything ten times worse.....

It's more annoying because it tends to affect everything else I do and think. I get more annoyed thinking about stupid little things that by all means shouldn't bother me (dredging up old arguments over lit crit about an author? Actually I think I chased someone away because of this and I doubt that I should be feeling like that), I feel hyper-sensitive about how people aren't responding to when I send them emails (spoilt I know, but this was an off and on thing that happens especially when I get depressed). Irritating. And saddening, I really have many more things to do than wallowing.

But enough of that! My weekend wasn't all that bad, there were some spots of good, like I went shopping for books and bought a lot of things I wanted including some surprise finds that I can send as gifts to some friends I met while in University of Durham UK who live far away. But I think the book purchase I really like is the translation of the 12 Kingdoms, Sea of Wind, Shore of the Maze which Tokyopop retitled with the first half. My liking this book (as well as others is proof that I'm doomed to forever be out of the mainstream).

The funny thing is I'm really charmed by Taiki and Gyousou. Particularly Taiki, which is odd, because by all rights he should be a character that I would most likely to be tired of. He has all the qualities of a character that could be (and I bet some people argue that he would be) a Gary Stu. He's a rare colour of his kind, he's shown later to be uber-powerful (he subdues a demon that is thought not to be capable of pacification), and of course everyone loves him. But really, it's hard not to love him as he struggles his way into understanding the role of being a kirin and he inevitably gets it wrong because of the difference in culture. And despite myself, I really feel for the kid when he feels depressed because he feels that he doesn't measure up. I had originally read a fan-translation of this book and I've found that the TP translation clarifies something that I wasn't too clear on in the translation (although I wish that I had the original as well, it would be fun to compare).

My one complaint about the translation (which is the same about their translation of the first book) and that is their naming. I don't mind so much the direct translations of the palace names, but the King's title strikes me as hard to handle. For instance Tai-ou (some translate this as the Royal Tai) is Peace-King, which doesn't really make sense and doesn't allow for the connection between Tai the Country, the Tai kirin (in this case Taiki), and the King, Tai-ou. It's not a problem that they did this, although it's annoying for someone used to it another way, but I wish that they would make notes in the back of the book or something about this. The other (minor) issue I have is their Romanisation, and that they don't use the Hepburn but rather the Kunrei-shiki, which is confusing. An example of this is Houzan which is romanised Hohzan, but the one that jarred me was Shashin-boku that was romanised (unless it were actually translated or the person whose tranlations I read romanised it incorrectly) as Sati-tree. Sati and Shashin are completely different, so what gives? But they don't really interfere with the enjoyment of the story, since I doubt a lot of people would notice.

But yes I suggest that people read this series. =)

And lastly yesterday I bought the ultimate comfort reading which is Madeleine L'Engle's A Ring of Endless light, which sadly is out of print, but still if you can find a copy used, buy it! I think this is more proof as to why I'm doomed being outside of mainstream. And this damnation also leads me to realise why I don't like Harry Potter (personally, not technically). I object to the morals being portrayed in the books, in much the same way a lot of people object to the ones in His Dark Materials. Although to be honest, I only accept His Dark Materials on the grounds that I don't believe that Pullman's actually killing god.
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Because this entry warrants St. Cuthbert (the Mace of God) [06 Mar 2008|11:25am]
[ mood | Don't they have twitchy? ]
[ music | There was opera on at one point in the office.... ]

I want to post art and so I will.

Actually I want to whine about it too, but I'll try not to whine too much.

I'm sure some of you have seen some of these things in my dA account (those of you who go there) but I'll be linking there anyway because I've not had the time to load things up to Foxprints.com. Actually I lie, I have one thing uploaded there and it's this:



The image I coloured of a fan-art that someone else drew, before I played with the contrast. So yeah, the one recent thing on the foxprints server is one I coloured but did not draw. I'm pretty impressive. XD But on the plus side, I know I can colour in the computer.

For art that I actually drew, see here )

I have a query: I'm re-doing my website (finally) and I've run into a problem with the original graphic I was going to use. See under cut and last image link for this. I don't think that it's a good idea to use the image, in addition to the fact that I don't like how I've drawn it, anatomically there's a load of issues I don't want to deal with, but more importantly I want to change the idea of what I'm going to do. What I want to put in its place is a more stylised design, like perhaps either a "runic" figure or celtic interlace. My idea is this: the designed image will be on the left hand side and flowing downwards and across the bottom morphing into a semi-realism image. What do you think? Would it work, or not? Or do you want me to draw a rough image to show you exactly how it would be coming out?

BUT in other news: I am very happy that I finally found a plot structure that works for Chapter Two, so very very glad I got over that bump this morning. It has been bothering me for several weeks now, since I've started writed that part. And the best part of it is that what the character does there comes back to bite him hard in the bum. Ahhh, that is so satisfying...ah, to be able to torture me character. So satisfying to be able to work in unexpected results of childish expectations. Granted, there are still some things I need to work out in order to make it believable, but still it promises to be a better and more reasonable way into showing how what happens later happens. Plus character development is always good. Change is lord and God in story-telling.

Not that this make my life wholly easier since I've still more work ahead of me in re-structuring everything else...as well as finishing "final" editing the Prologue and editing the first Chapter for peer review. XD But still one less frustration is better.

I am also planning on going to an old friend's wedding at the end of the month, which promises to be awesome because I get to visit my home town. The only problem is I'm so disorganised that I haven't even bought my plane ticket, my gifts or anything. (Hehe, yes Bethy, I've so many things I need to discuss. I weep and I do hope I don't put you through any trouble...)

What's really funny is that another friend of mine, whom I also have been bad about sending things to, is also getting married...that same day. It must be an auspicious day or something. =)

Work is still work, but I'm thinking of things to do for my future career. I'm mulling over the realistic possibility of getting a Ph.D, or if I should just like to shoot for a career in either publishing or university setting (haha). Either way, I've come to the conclusion that as long as I have access to a huge resource of books that I could use for research, I'd be happy. That being said, I think I'll have to make plans this weekend for making it visit UCLA for research day...for story purposes.

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Goal! [29 Nov 2007|02:45pm]
Last night I reached the finish-line for NaNoWriMo at 50,336 words and what I came up with was the story Iridescent Rain of Midnight, Thread of Madder-Red Part 1 complete and Part 2 with chapter 1 almost completed at 87 pages. So, um, only four more parts and two more chapters to go? XD I haven't even gotten to the meat of the story yet. Oh well, I think the pacing will make more impact this way when the actual "interesting" portions of the story begins. Or that's the hope.

It concerns the childhood of Hikaru/Naru, a character who has been running around my gallery quite a bit (I really need to get character sheets up here, the amount of names some characters sport based on culture is, um, confusing at best), who is a relatively important character in the over-arching main story, Halcyone Blue, which some of you may remember me mentioning and some of you may have been wondering if I was abandoning it. But no! Everything points to it as a goal.

SO, basic story synopsis of IRoM: Hikaru, a Shounaru marked as "Child of Asráel", loses his mother due to mysterious circumstances at the age of six and is sent, labelled an orphan, to one of twenty-eight Temples of the Yellow Sea, a territory at the centre of his country of Harushien in the autonomous territory of Bai Hu, Seanachan. Hitherto unaware of the darkness inherent within his own Clan, the Shounaru of the Black Sea, which is added to a nebulous-at-best understanding of the Clan and Nobility, whilst in the Yellow Sea he is forced to realise that everything about his life is not all that is seems on the surface.

Heh, I did not realise how stereotypically fantasy that sounded until I wrote this.....Oh well, hopefully the contents aren't so stereotypical.

Anyhow, what I've come to learn from NaNoWriMo is that it's a brilliant way to get people to write rather than think about writing and since the idea isn't to worry about plot and plot holes but the get words down on a page, it's a good way to force one to write. That said, I'm not sure how much I really like stressing myself over a quota, it really makes the story feel forced on some days to have to write 2000 words per week day. Although 2,000 words a day isn't actually that difficult, especially considering my training in writing research papers, but it's also not exactly quality writing. So while I understand the point of the exercise and appreciate it, I think I'll be glad to be able to write things out in a leisurely manner rather than as quickly as possible. Although, I may still continue to give myself quotas so I can have an actual rough draft in the near future, but with less constrictions so I have the freedom to work on other projects that are pestering me currently. Like, oh, that story of Jehan and that comic, and the art....As for would I do it again? Sure. But maybe I'll wait till next year.

Surprisingly, I do get quite a bit of other things done too, in addition to writing the needed 2000 a day. Like yesterday, for example, I managed to outline a whole chapter of my comic story, interesting things happen, and am getting a better idea of where I'm going to go to get to the next vague and distant plot point.

It's pretty funny how for some things they fall in pretty organised ways. This comic story, which is currently titled A Frog in a Well made itself fall into three "books" in neatly compartmentalised parts. This does not usually happen, usually they're vague and messy, like the story listed above and like the other comic idea that I have (I'm putting that one on hold since it's not very far along and frankly I like Jehan better). It even breaks itself down into chapters. I am sort of frightened by this level of organisation.

And I am also getting a little bit of a clearer picture on how the whole picture is going to be, although I think I'll need to work on getting that crystal clear especially with the characters I have running around and its position within the larger schema. Another thing I discovered, I often hate discoveries about characters, is that Jehan, one of or the main character(s), depending I suppose on your point of view, is going to be one pain-in-the-arse character to write. He's a difficult one: partly his fault, partly not....but it will be interesting to try to balance his qualities as a character, especially in the light of some new revelations about what he is. Right now, he's teetering between a completely useless individual and a saint, neither of which I want nor does Jehan, himself.

BUT I'm hoping to at least start writing a script sometime next month, which will be an achievement. I am also hoping to get the foxprints website redone. And perhaps I will be able to get some painting and finish a few pictures lying about before tackling the ever present problem of composition! And character references! Cannot forget those!
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Frustrations [26 Nov 2007|03:53pm]
I always have this tendency to get into these ruts of frustration and generally depression after a long period of quiescence, usually this period of quietude is filled with creative productivity. At the very least, it's extremely annoying, sort of like a mosquito humming in your ear and evading the smack that it so justly deserves. At most, it can be pretty debilitating for a few days, while I try and comtemplate destroying vast swaths of work.

Generally what triggers these episodes are minimal, such as this time, where I came across some controversy concerning reception of an author's work as being slash. Yeah, I know. What does slash have to do with me? Nothing, although the work cited called Carnival is a work by a published Sci-fi writer whose work I read about through a link to Amazon.com, in particular this started with the review of the book she co-authored called A Companion to Wolves which of course is touted as subversive, edgy, etc all the adjectives referring to a work of fiction that says something regardless of whether the message is agreed to or not. Add to this, they take a common trope of SFF, namely the telepathic animal companion and give it an unromantic twist. Well, this makes me depressed, since I sort of feel like my work is treading the lines of fan-fiction level right now. Which is pretty absurd in many ways.

What I'm writing is only a rough draft (also a poor excuse) which I can go back through and weed out the bad bits, add better bits and generally figure out what I'm trying to say or what I want to explore. Actually, I know what I wish to explore, but I'm fast realising that I'm not goign through with it and well, my writing right now sounds pretty infantile because of it. I feel like I'm writing at the level of Harry Potter, which of course any writer with ambition wants to seek to top. Obviously, this is because I'm writing it plot point by plot point so it feels disjointed and fragmented. Bad way to write.

Being in one of these slumps really makes it difficult to continue and resist the temptation to go back and fix what I really have, which would just cripple the process because I can endlessly fix what I have now and never move on. But this sort of snowballs into other ideas I have which also, when comparing myself to a published writer, particularly when I see that they're pursuing ideas, where I see myself as failing to do so. Which, quite possibly could be solved by picking the one idea (comic idea, that is) and working on it until I'm satisfied with it, especially since I'm further along in one comic idea than the other. Which all sounds opaque as mud since I'm not being specific.

Eventually, as it did today, this ventures into the art portion. Poking around at other deviants' art makes me realise that my art is really boring. I've always been pretty poor at composition and especially background, which I've recently been trying to work on. But then there's the figures themselves. Which, as I've said before are boring. But it's really one of my long-standing frustrations, that I don't draw things that are more active or appear to have action. Pictures like this: http://www.felaxx.com/nucleus.htm always make me envious. This is something my mother has pointed out, when she has been bothered to look at my stuff and not be snide. This is also something she notes everytime she sees above picture. This is something that I know to be true, and of course which can be remedied by actually making it a focus, rather than attempting to ignore it.

Sigh, it's really irksome, because I know the answers and I also know that they are difficult to attain. As is anything worth attaining, but still i really hate these slumps.

Also, I lied about colouring that picture. Didn't colour it one bit, but I did draw two pictures that I'll upload tomorrow.
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Milestone! [19 Nov 2007|04:28pm]
I think.

As some of you may know, actually, I think most of you don't know, I've been doing the NaNoWriMo, that I somehow found myself unofficially doing starting November 6th. Well, yesterday, I reached the 30,000 word mark in the NaNoWriMo race, and finished the first part of the story. Under 50,000 words. Go me! Although when I revise this may change (probably).

It's kind of weird, I really learned some things physically that I knew intuitively about writing, it goes where it wants to whether you like it or not, and sometimes people show up who suddenly become very important. Which I actually find kind of fun, actually. Surprising, but in a good way. Exciting even.

I think, though, that when I finish this at the 50,000 mark, I may switch to writing two stories at once. . . this one, which is one of Naru's story and one of Jehan's. I have found that I have a tendency to think of Naru and Jehan as foils and things about their respective stories generally come out in pairs. It's kind of weird because I never really intended them to be foils but I guess some things are inevitable?

Also, I have been writing two outlines for comic ideas and one script as well as drawing things. I've been designing pretty ladies. Or one rather. But I also really need to finish the drawings for the "coffee meme", I have three or four more characters draw...
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Coffee Meme! [09 Nov 2007|10:18am]
So [info]dhio made up a meme at her journal in which she drew her characters preferences for coffee here. Alas, only one character of mine knows and appreciates coffee. ;) But here is the line work for three of the characters. I meant to color it, so I'll probably put up the next batch and the colored version here as an edit.



Naru: I get this distinct impression that he's being ironic.

Jehan: There is a story behind Jehan and the tea. It involves the eccentric man with the lop-sided tea pot next to him. Jehan can do many things, but can't for the life of him make a decent cup of tea. Although, I think after his lesson, he really doesn't want to know anymore. ;) I just really like his expression, I think it's my favorite. He looks so put upon.

Ardence: I've never actually written dialogue and wanted to kill myself for having me as the medium through which it came, until now. Ardence, you are very cute, but you are apparently also very annoying. At least he grows out of this, I think.

So how would your characters prefer their coffee?


I am/will be updating the DeviantArt Gallery as well.
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Why I'm tiring of "wise beyond their years" characters [10 Oct 2007|03:05pm]
So I’ve been watching this little rather well known show (by now through decidedly illegal means, seeing as cable is tantalizingly outside of my financial reach, but hey I'm sworn to buying the DVDs when they come out in their large collection) called Avatar that airs on Nick. Nick has had some good stuff, I remember back in the golden days (okay so it was the late eighties) when it used to air the Mysterious Cities of Gold. But I digress. Now aforementioned show is rather cute, it attempts to be epic in a sort of juvenile way, but I can handle that. Mostly. This last and most recent episode really left a bad taste in my mouth, sort of bordering on outrage.

When people describe their or a character to be “wise beyond their years” and “mature” why don’t they actually show this to be true?

What I’m referring to is the “Painted Lady” where the character Katara, who apparently is wise (this may be a fan-sided only idea, although really I wouldn’t put it past any writer, the character is so tempting), but is consistently shown as good-hearted and optimistic, naïve and idealistic, and down-to-earth, all very good traits for a protagonist on the side of “good” but none of which are remotely close to wisdom, but hey you can also color me cynical. To top this all off, she makes a tactical blunder in a war.* Yeah, I know their teenagers, but come on guys, why do they have a serious plan to take down the big guys why are you still acting so stupid, didn't you have the past two seasons for that? By tactical blunder, by the bye, I mean the point where she gets uppity on the realistic if ridiculously posed situation that Sokka mentions when he points out the necessity of toppling the over arching tyrant rather than helping the little folks on the way. She prefers to stay and now, this gesture is really sweet but is it just me or is it that they are not seriously aware that they’re on a rigid time schedule? Are they not aware of the gravity of their situation, even after talking about how much they don't want to screw up this time? It seems almost as if the characters want their cake and eat it too. Which, I can tell you does not a sign of wisdom make.

A sign of wisdom is to know when to act and to know when not to and in this case, considering they have to make getting to the Fire Lord by a certain date, this is not wise on any account. Especially since they are in enemy territory and do not know what might be coming at them. They’re too complacent, too naïve. However, it does assuage the personal guilt quite nicely and I can understand and applaud that under normal circs. The target demographic is under the age of 14 and that the protagonists are about that age too but don’t you think that they should think a little more seriously about what the situation is?** I’d like to say that this is a case of those who are living a peaceful life who then have the privilege of depicting war in such a complacent light, because hey it doesn’t exist for the majority of us. That and really, it’s just a kid’s show. So then why does it bother me?

Well, it would have to be this oft fan-mentioned “wisdom” thing. Just because the kid spouts some sensible things from time to time does not make them wise (a lot of us do this and sometimes we're 14 when we do it, it also does not make us wise either) and in this particular moment in the this episode, all the wisdom points go to Sokka, who is then mocked and called callous for being realistic. I’m sorry, but Azula and Mai*** are callous (I’m still out on Ty Lee but let’s face it, they’re some pretty disturbing kids there), they’ve shown some pretty nasty disregard for human life, that we know our heroes™ would never do (even Sokka), so why do the writers feel the need to shove their gooey goody two shoes nature down our throat?

In a real war where timing is everything and, as was so flippantly pointed out, everything is at stake so well intentioned side steps probably should be avoided. Unless, of course said good deed does something to turn the tide in their favour, which hey they might pull out of their sleeves. Although from the way that the tyrant overlord is being portrayed, his populace are really too cowed to act opposite, and if you wanted to survive, you would too. Of course, being a kid's show that would be too heavy for them to handle, but does it really have to be cut so cleanly, especially when they have a villain who fits the complicated bill quite nicely (by this I mean Iroh). Isn't it possible for the kiddos to realize their method while well intentioned has the potential to make their entire goal crash down their ears. Can't they know what they may be sacrificing when they help every joe on their way? Co they really have to be so persistently naïve?

It would not make them cruel, we have enough cruel characters to make this clear. Azula, par exemple, is a callous little bitch and no mistake about it, but damn, is she thorough. This, of course, inevitably goes back to the rule that the heroes must be well intentioned but extremely and, not to mention, persistently stupid. Because if they did anything that people would question them on it would sully their purity. But how about this, if some explored the consequences of acting persistently stupid by not understanding the gravity of a given situation? I would dearly love to see the Solar Eclipse move fail with devastating consequences if only to futilely knock some sense into our teenage heroes. (Please writers, do that, it would bring the last episodes to the level they were at the end of the first season).

Of course, this being an animation and wishfulfillment makes all of it a dream. That’s why it’s a kid’s show, to show people (or kids really) that good things happen to good people, even though they really don’t always, and perhaps I’m being too cynical to appreciate it. Hey, I feel I’ve been plenty good about the didactic environmental messages that try to permeate the series (not that I necessarily disagree with them but I like to be fair.....), and incidentally most didactic and blantant message is in this one. I didn’t even mention that once. Well, until now that is.

So please, just stop with the characters being described as wiser than their years, unless they really are that. Because oftimes the more this “wisdom” is played up, usually by the teenagers who don't know any better or first time writers, the harder it falls flat on its face.


_________________________________

*Yeah, I'm well aware that they're teenagers. Still, no excuse. I even felt that making a footnote was well worth the effort of emphasizing this.

**I have to hand it to them though, they truly are teenagers, and only teenagers would think and act in this manner. Oh would that the world were so simple that good people could act like this and not have it all crashing down on them.

***Is it just me or is the Zuko/Mai pairing they have going on recently really creepy?
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Yanked from the Quirkybird! [09 Oct 2007|08:49am]
Apparently, I can't resist this one either...I'll be doing it the same way Dylan did, she's pretty inspirational ;) Bold for read books, italics for ones I've dropped.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Checked out of the library, it's in my closet. Honest.)
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude (I've always meant to read it.)
Wuthering Heights (I prefer this to Jane Eyre, because apparently I like depressing?)
The Silmarillion (I'm with Dylan on this one)
Life of Pi : a novel (One of those that was a trudge in the beginning, got better at the end.)
The Name of the Rose (Had this recommended multiple times)
Don Quixote (on list)
Moby Dick (My 9th grade English teacher while a great man, stopped me from reading this, and I've never picked it up since because I'm lazy.)
Ulysses (On list)
Madame Bovary (on list)
The Odyssey (how can you not?)
Pride and Prejudice (This is the only Jane Austen I can bear. I am so sorry.)
Jane Eyre (Read first in 6th grade!)
A Tale of Two Cities (Soppy, but that's Dickens for you.)
The Brothers Karamazov (I fangirl this book)
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies
War and Peace (This took two years of my life, worth it mostly because Napolean was there though...)
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Iliad (It's really all about the brains splashing on the backs of helmet casements, really.)
Emma (I tried once, I really should try again, just to say I've read it.)
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway (This was interesting, at least it wasn't Gertrude Stein.)
Great Expectations (The title is sort of a misnomer, maybe not for the contents of the book but for the readers.)
American Gods (I've heard varying reviews on this.)
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha (I'm boycotting this book.)
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West (I've heard good things, but can't be assed. Lazy.)
The Canterbury Tales (Medieval literature, my heart!)
The Historian : a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (The only epiphany I felt was sincere was when he described the girl on the beach.)
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World (Always think I should.)
The Fountainhead
Foucault's Pendulum
Middlemarch (I don't see how one can't like this book.)
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula (Read in middle school and I thought, is he really serious? Decidedly unimpressed.)
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King (Up and down in my feelings towards the writing but worth it, yes.)
The Grapes of Wrath (I found the end a bit disturbing.)
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel (I read her other works and quickly became disillusioned, it I were more open minded I'd read it.)
1984 (I tried then stopped and felt guilty.)
Angels & Demons
The Inferno (NERD ALERT. I couldn't have said it better.)
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility (Could I bear it?)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (On list)
Mansfield Park (Ditto the other JA novel.)
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
To the Lighthouse (On list)
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Read and hated twice. But you know Jude the Obscure is worse, three times worse.)
Oliver Twist (Passable, probably because I read it when I was a child first.)
Gulliver's Travels (It was rather slow.)
Les Misérables (The abridged version counts right?)
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Dune (Should really read this one.)
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury ( My second love, after the Brothers Karamazov)
Angela's Ashes : a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People's History of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners (On the list)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved (Shocking for me but good.)
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter (Who hasn't read this?)
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion ( I honestly wanted to kill myself while reading this.)
Northanger Abbey (Tried and failed, too dull for me! Ms. Austen just doesn't float me boat.)
The Catcher in the Rye (This pretty much sums up American adolescence, which is probably wahy every one liked it when I was a teenager.)
On the Road (Shouldn't American have already read this? Does this make me a bad American?)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Because I didn't want to watch the Disney movie and be corrupted by the mouse. Sorry fans.)
Freakonomics : a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an Inquiry into Values
The Aeneid (I think everyone thinks that this ones a downer, especially after the Iliad.)
Watership Down
Gravity's Rainbow
The Hobbit (Sixth Grade! Although I really didn't like wizards and elves, still don't really, this ones special)
In Cold Blood : A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island (On the list)
David Copperfield (Yeah, I had a Victorian Lit Module.)
The Three Musketeers (I read the Man in the Iron Mask....but the story isn't actually about him.)
Bastard out of Carolina


Wow I read quite a lot of these. Who knew? But I've also not heard a lot of these....
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So I return... [02 Aug 2007|10:59am]
...only to do what I do best, which is cause trouble. These past two days have got me thinking and so I will put down my thoughts, which actually were put down earlier at: lennan.deviantart.com.


To read a rant or not to.... )

Cut to cut back on the wall of text.

Also of note, my computer is currently not working and I have no idea why, so I can't scan anything or learn how to computer color, which is truly a shame.
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Penguin Triskele [15 Jun 2007|09:08am]
Woohoo! I got something in before a deadline. Yippee. This is for a contest on Deviantart for a celtic Knotters group and it was for making different animal knots. Mine was the penguin. And they are all different species done on A6 size hot press watercolour paper. Link here since I'm at work and I'm revamping my website:

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/57618043/
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Items for Sale - Feedback Page [16 Apr 2007|12:10pm]
This is my Feedback Page.
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I've discovered that this: [26 Oct 2006|11:30am]
[ music | Office noise ]

Is Awesome.

http://wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/sixwords.html

But I'm too lazy to do one myself, however [info]quirkybird and [info]ursulav both did one or some.

On a different note, I haven't had a chance to upload new art on the foxprints server, but I do have something up at DeviantART linked here. Enjoy. =)

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[05 Oct 2006|05:05am]
[ mood | frantic. sort of. ]
[ music | PBS - Bill Moyers talking about Delay and Abramov ]

Oh, the airline woes. Well, I had bought my ticket several times and gotten it cancelled on me, so when I bought the ticket this last time and had it cancelled on me without my consent, I was needless to say, a bit irked. Well, finally I ended up having to buy a ticket through another company which cost me about 300 dollars more than it would have if I had bought it two weeks before. Very irritating. The ticket was through Air France and had one stop in Paris, Charles de Gaulle airport. I also lost more money on a train ticket which was scheduled for the flight that got cancelled. So yay. I had to buy a ticket that left Durham at 2:26 in the morning and stopped at Leeds. Very fun indeed. Now the train ride there wasn’t so bad, in fact the problem didn’t happen until we tried to leave the station from Doncaster, and the there was a malfunctioned freight train and engineering delays. Meaning that we spent 45 minutes just waiting for the train to move, thus cutting down my time to get to the airport by 45 minutes. I finally got to the airport with about 20 minutes to spare at check-in. So I had to run to security, which thankfully didn’t take much time, except that because my bag was about 2 kilos over the weight limit I had to quickly take out some of my luggage. Of course, being the brilliant person that I am, I took out the bag containing my watercolour and gouache and put it into my carry on. Nice. I got to through out some pretty expensive paint, so now I’m less paint. C’est la vie. After security, I run through the airport looking for my get and get there with several minutes to spare while we wait for 15 minutes for final security check. So here, one would think is the beginning of a relatively calm flight home. Haha. No. The Parisian airport has a lot of construction going so when we get there, we have to take a bus to get to the other terminal in order to find our connecting flights. Only to find that we have to take another bus in order to get to said connecting flight…which to me is entertaining as a fine example of inefficiency. But oh well. Even funnier was the impatient Americans with whom I was on the bus, who became even more impatient when we had to go through security again. Yeah, well, um we’re all in the same boat, we’re all running late for our flight because we all had to go from one end of the airport to the other. There’s nothing one can do about that. But then again, I’m a pretty mean person like that.

So finally I get home, late, which is fine enough because it’s on time for my brother to pick me up without having to call him. And I unpack and then have dinner and sleep to make me up and ready Tuesday to start the old job-hunting. Which I do in the evening on my brother’s computer because I didn’t have internet. In fact, I haven’t had my own internet connection until today. But I’ve sporadically been checking my email, like oh thrice in the past week…and trying slowly to catch up to people, mostly via facebook because I can’t be bothered to write each and every person a page and a half email. I would seriously do that, too. Each one personalized with love. So I have a job now, as an Appointment Scheduler for a firm that sends out inspectors to homes to find constuction defects. It's pretty interesting, basically I call homeowners to schedule inspectors to come out to their houses, so far it's been really fast paced. It pays 30K which is decent, not brilliant, but hopefully it can pay back the debts quickly, enough. . I still have lots to do to get everything completely organized. And don't believe the clock's time, my computer still thinks it's in Britain. ;P

(Hopefully I've gotten all the typos out of that...it's odd that I wrote most of that story in present tense without realizing it. It's on of those moments when people get into their memories and are practically reliving it, unfortunately it's the worst for creative writers because it causes grammatical issues. Oops)

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On the Demotion of Pluto. [28 Aug 2006|01:25pm]
[ mood | Mixed ]
[ music | John Denver - Rocky Mountain High ]

Because it is a wonderful break from trying to put together this dissertation with a flagging concentration.*

I'm so easily entertained....

SF Gate

NY Times

Awesome LJ post by Ursula Vernon

Blog Entry posted by an UrsulaV LJ watcher. Charon/Pluto = OTP.

Dylan Meconis' verse eulogy on Le Pluton.


Have Fun.








__________________________________________
*Oh look, a cute rhyme.

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