rage.

I can’t complain about this (enough) in 140 characters so I had to post about it.

How can anyone accuse Garth Nix (who is the one of the most original mainstream fantasy authors to emerge since I don’t know when) of plagiarism…especially about Harry Potter of all things?!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Does said reviewer not have any literary experience BESIDES HP? (in that case, he/she does not deserve to be a reviewer >( ). Reviewer probably doesn’t even understand what plagiarism is, if complaining that the “boarding school” in Sabriel mooches off HP. Did reviewer even read Sabriel properly? (to be honest, if Sabriel reminds me of anything, Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness would come to mind first – feisty female main character with MAGIC, Duke somethingsomething who is Uncle/brother to the royalty, SPOILER SPOILER betrayal of the royal family… – though they are very different books so plagiarism is totally out in this case too).

Aside from the fact that it was published first, the Abhorsen series (Sabriel is the first book) is fantastic. Though the series is much shorter compared to HP, it’s better (by miles, yards, enjoyability, whatever unit you use to measure book fantasticness). Characterisation, pacing, writing style (yes, I know JK Rowling is a good writer but her books did not grip me the way the Abhorsen books, particularly Lirael, did), cover art (lol; though I should note, not the American ones, ew)… all were superior >(. If you want to talk about creative reimaginings, Garth Nix’s necromancers are of a class I have never encountered (an original magic system is REFRESHING). And Lirael is a masterpiece on its own (yes, I keep harping on Lirael because despite being a second/middle book, it’s possibly the best of the series. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Google “middle book syndrome” or “second book syndrome” and see the hits. Actually, forget about the middle book syndrome. Lirael would be a fantastic stand alone book).

(I mean, look at his name. He’s totally meant to be a fantasy writer! XD Yes, “logic”. But I’m not the only fan who thinks that way of him)

Muddling angry rant finally done.

smiling like sheldon…

So apparently, according to one of my friends, sometimes when I smile, I smile like Sheldon. We’ve been watching a fair bit of Big Bang theory together (as well was Unforgettable, the various CSIs, the Mentalist and HIMYM) and I was going to take it as a compliment until I googled “Sheldon Cooper smiling”.

The images I found had lovely examples such as:

and

to be honest, I think Jim Parsons has a pretty good smile normally

So at the moment I’m still reserving judgement on how gratified/offended I should feel at that offhand comment.

In other news, it is the last day of Nanowrimo..and I have only written 20000 words :/ FAIL.  It is however, 10 000 more than I wrote last year. Which means if I keep this up, I’ll be able to complete a Nanowrimo in 2014 o.O.

if the world I dreamt of exists somewhere, shall we go search for it?

I guess I should be a little bit ashamed. After deciding to do my best for Nanowrimo, once again I’ve fallen short. With only 20000 words done, I’m sadly behind, and only massive effort will bring me up to the 50000 mark. I’ve reconciled myself with the fact that the story isn’t going to go where I want it to, and I simply want to be able to reach the goal without worrying too much about plot, content or even grammar.

It’s going to be a tough nine days, but I’ll work it out somehow.

Moving on, I tend not to finish shows I really like, or to be exact, I tend to drag out the last few episodes as long as I can (which is why, with Natsume Yuujinchou, I haven’t even watched the third season because I’m waiting for the 4th to be released, or I’ll be too depressed when it ends :/). I finished Spice and Wolf maybe about 2 months ago and I’m still mourning over the fact that there’s no more of it left.

Leaving you with the first opening song, my favourite from the series.

Obliviousness ~ the faceless angel

Liberal reimagination of  Oblivious ～顔のない天使～ by the delectable Gackt-sama.

Not a translation. Because even if I put my (mediocre) skills to translate, it would hardly make sense and the lyrical beauty of the original will be lost anyway. It’s probably about 50-60% accurate to the actual content that he’s singing.
Because it will be four years tomorrow.

The ghostly memories of children’s laughter mingle with the rising swarm of dancing dragonflies; both fade away into the darkness. Those left behind gather the bodies of their dead, crying out their anguish as the flowers are scattered by the storms. I’m left holding on to one who has fallen silent forever. Your face, always so dear and familiar, has already begun to fade from my mind. Though my heart screams your name over and over again, no sound escapes my lips. 

Restless souls are wandering these desolate streets, or it is just the wind whistling over the fallen leaves? Summer has ended and I have lost you, my faceless angel. Weeping, I try to cling onto your shadow, but I wake to find myself alone again. Far too suddenly, you disappeared where I cannot follow, leaving me with nothing but pain. Your name resonates endlessly in my being, but I can no longer say it out loud for there is no one to answer to it. 

Time marches on inexorably, but whenever I close my eyes, the memories of our happiness still leave me weeping. Even the thought that you are silently watching over me is scant comfort, as my heart, too full for words, cries out only for you.

Goodbye, my forever sleeping love. Even now, you are my dearest beloved. Your name is still what I call out even when I cannot speak, over and over again with no hope of any reply.

A video of a live performance. If I’m not mistaken (I didn’t watch the full concert), it’s part of a main storyline where he’s an ex-soldier turned android who still retains some very vague memories of the past. Gackt has very dead eyes when he wants to go that way ._. Gackt-sama, why must you always write songs with super beautiful and SUPER COMPLICATED lyrics that always make me want to cry when I listen to them >( .

Oh please tell me what they looked like, did they seem afraid of you?

“I had a dog once. I thought so much of him that when he died I couldn’t bear the thought of getting another in his place. He was a friend–you understand, Mistress Blythe? Matey’s only a pal. I’m fond of Matey–all the fonder on account of the spice of devilment that’s in him–like there is in all cats. But I loved my dog. I always had a sneaking sympathy for Alexander Elliott about his dog. There isn’t any devil in a good dog. That’s why they’re more lovable than cats, I reckon. But I’m darned if they’re as interesting.”  L.M. Montgomery, Anne’s House of Dreams.

I think I will somehow contrive to get all my kids to read books by L.M. Montgomery, disregarding gender (I won’t force the boys into Jane Austen). There’s just something beautiful in how she describes things that I would like them to be able to appreciate. I will have to think of a way to make them want to read it as opposed to forcing them.

And then we’ll read James Herriot together for fun, and laugh over his animal stories. I’ll throw in Pterry’s YA books and let them run with his longer ones when they get older. Garth Nix and Tamora Pierce will also definitely be staples.

It will break my heart if they don’t like reading (but I’ve also read somewhere that it’s all about exposure.. most, if not all people love a good story at least, and even if they hate it at the start, there’s ways to get them interested >) ).

My Nanowrimo progress has abruptly slowed.. I gave in to those two characters running around in my head and threw them headfirst into the story. They responded by demanding to appear multiple times in various guises. Perhaps until I tell their story fully, they’re going to continue to insist on forcing their way into everything else I write. They know the current world isn’t entirely theirs so they’re messing it up to suit them :/ .

I’m also quite interested to note that the work of an author that I am increasingly admiring is possibly being turned into a movie. Although The Shapechanger’s Wife is my least favourite of all her books I’ve ever read, admittedly, it would probably make a better movie that some of her other things that I like much better. The site is quite pretty, and I’m hoping to eventually see the actual movie. I’m actually quite happy that Aubrey’s getting a chance – he’s probably one of the least irritating “knowledge-seekers” that I’ve come across in a long time. Take Taran of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander; I just reread the series and spent quite a few moments screaming at his incompetence, over confidence and the fact he’s constantly getting knocked out for extended periods of time (without sustaining substantial brain damage. Hm.) He does win points for eventually developing into a character well worth liking. The screaming did seem to be amusing to my current houseguest though.

Day 11

I hope my love can blind you
I hope my arms can bind you
So you’ll never have to see
What we’ve grown to be

One may think we’re alright
But we need pills to sleep at night
We need lies to make it through the day
We’re not okay

pills.the perishers.

My mind is currently filled with that song, so I suspect the story will take on something of that. Currently the focus is on madness, a concept I personally find interesting. Toying with the idea of one (or both) of the main characters being slowly driven over the edge by things they can’t control. Perhaps the journey itself will be a test of their natural resilience. Or maybe I should try a happy (happier) story for once. have I ever written a happy story :/. I like to read them (if they’re well written) but I seem rather unable to produce them. Happy endings on the other hand have been within my grasp – though they generally have to earn it somehow.

Back to plodding along, I’ve fallen behind somewhat. :X

Day 5 of Nanowrimo

It turns out the male character is not as confident as he pretends to be (I think I’m slightly influenced by Howl’s character from the Castle series Diana Wynne Jones, especially since I’m currently rereading the series), the female has more confidence and conviction than she appeared to have at the beginning (but she was also quieter and more respectful, which she was disillusioned out of) and she is forced to confront and examine one of her fears – character development, YAY.

I suffer from writer envy a lot, most of the time after I emerge from being caught up in some superior story with excellent plot, detail and style. Sometimes I try to reread to analyse the amazingness, but I end up getting caught up in the story all over again, so it fails. I know I should probably do a sentence by sentence dissection (especially with the aforementioned Diana Wynne Jones, I get caught up if I read even just one paragraph), but… there are still so many more books to read and admire…  >< It feels sometimes I’m just going around Oooh-ing and Aaah-ing over everyone else’s fantastic works and there are still so many gems to be discovered out there … why is there not more time in my life?

(and my order of six books by yet another grand master of fantasy arrived yesterday. I can’t wait!)

Priorities, priorities, priorities.