Thursday, 31 October 2013

NaNoWriMo.... go!

It's the first of November! Which means NaNoWriMo has begun!

National Novel Writing Month is a challenge where you plan a story and aim to write 50, 000 words within the month of November.

The last time I did this, I didn't actually do the challenge - in 2010 Guild, AreivZ and myself missed the start so formed our own "New Years Novel Writing" challenge, where we gave ourselves 50 days to write 50, 000 words (a significantly easier task).

I finished in 35 days last time (here is my breakdown below, give or take some words):


Given that 30 days is a far narrower timeslot, I'll have to write an average of 1.6k words a day. The key to finishing NaNo is not skipping any days - as long as I push through and write a few hundred words even if I'm writer's blocked, I think I should be fine.

I've planned out my story in the EPIC GREEN PLANNING BOOK Guild bought me a while back! Because I enjoy shamelessly plugging my own writing I'll keep a record of how far along in the challenge I am (percentage wise) on the side bar.

And now, because I am procrastinating from actually starting writing (great, Roz, off to a great start) here is some info on my NaNo project for this year:

  • It is written in response to Guild asking me to write her a "brotherly fantasy story"
  • It is set in the same world as a fantasy story I had previously planned, but six years earlier (sort of a prequel). This particular world is a continent on a globe I share with Guild and AreivZ - we each have our own continent and will eventually crossover our characters when they travel across the vast oceans! bwahaha
  • Said fantasy story I had previously planned is mostly centred around a country called Westverness and its surrounding regions; this story is set on the other side of the continent, in Ascetir
  • My main character has an amputated right arm, a big tattoo covering his torso and arms that I ripped off from Prison Break, and is undergoing a prolonged existential crisis
  • There are no pirates in this story because I have too many pirate characters already
  • Most of the story is set on an island that is removed from what is going on in other parts of the world
  • There may or may not be far too many belonging themes in this story (I thought I had escaped forever..... nooooo!)
  • The plot itself is reasonably simple; I'm hoping to drive the story through character-centric issues (every character has their own issues/subplot they need to work out)
  • The more I think about it the more I realise how horrifically cliched my whole idea is. AH WELL
  • A lot of things we did in history regarding the leadup to World War I are becoming increasingly relevant.
  • Crystallised magic makes a triumphant return.

...I should probably start actually writing this now. As such, I am off to procrastinate further by bubbleshooting to Imagine Dragons and the Pacific Rim soundtrack, and then washing my hair (as you can see I am being thoroughly productive in the aftermath of my HSC).

THEN I shall write. Hopefully. If I don't start today I'm doomed to fail this thing though (as I said, to have any chance of finishing NNWM you need to write every day even if it's just a few words).

This weekend I'll put up a post about Downton Abbey!

Ta all~

EDIT: 2 hours later and I still haven't started! OTL


Tuesday, 22 October 2013

Writing Resources!

(3U maths tomorrow... once this is over, I'm free for life! *dances*)

Since NaNoWriMo is coming up in just over a week, here are some useful resources for all your authory needs.

Baby Names List - this particular baby names site is the one I use the most, because it's sorted alphabetically in a way that's very easy to navigate, it comes with clear meanings, pronunciations and variations on each name, and it has an insane amount of cultural diversity.

Polyvore - what your characters wear can be important in developing their personality, tastes and interests. Polyvore is a site that allows you to create collages and images of various outfits and accessories. It's especially useful if you often draw your characters or are thinking of doing a graphic novel. Generally more useful for female characters since most of the clothes are womenswear.

Room Floor Plan - a quick and easy tutorial on how to draw a room. Very useful if settings are important to your story, or you're doing a comic.

Writing Memes/Questionairres - a masterlist of writing memes/character questionairres. I have used these many, many times in the past and they're a brilliant way to develop characters. Stupid little things like favourite colours, foods, hobbies and quirks add so much to a character's personality and growth, even if they're never mentioned in-story.

100 most important questions - speaking of questionairres - a list of details you should know about your protag.

Seventh Sanctum generators - Seventh Sanctum is considered the go-to as a fantasy or sci-fi name/place generator. I personally am not a huge fan of the names that it comes up with, but often it's a good basis point for you to then edit/customise from.

Common archetypes and symbols in literature - the title is fairly self explanatory; this is a pretty basic list but still useful in gaining a general understanding. Of course, the real fun is in twisting these tropes to create something new and exciting.

 10 Types of Emotional Manipulator 
 Sociopathic tendencies
For your villains and anti-heros. Or even just your heros - that could be interesting.

Mythical creatures - a detailed list. Dragons are starting to become overdone. Try looking into the mythology of other cultures. In early drafts of my major work I started to find Danish/Scandinavian mythology quite interesting.

Yay! I'll add more if I find anything particularly interesting, although most other things are a mere google search away.

Wednesday, 16 October 2013

I waste my life writing fanfic

Sometimes I look back at this year and last year and think that I haven't been very productive in terms of writing (unlike 2010-2011 when I was working on three original stories, and finished two of them).

Apart from the Major Work and the town story, I only started a couple of other projects and didn't get very far in any of them.

But just then I counted up the total words in all of the drabbles (fanfiction) that I've been filling in on the h/c bingo for my own amusement over the last year or so.

84, 819 words.

That's almost 300 pages of random crackfic. For no one's eyes but my own because most of it is terrible.

On the one hand, I'm thinking, yay, I've been vaguely productive after all, and at least I've been getting in some good practice with action/dialogue (and attempting different writing styles and perspectives in some of them).

On the other hand... that's 84k words I could have spent on an original work!

Much as I enjoy fanfiction and think it's a great way to prompt people, especially teenagers, into reading and writing more... when it comes down to it it's really good for nothing but your own amusement and occasionally that of others you share it with.

After the HSC I'm going to do NaNoWriMo for the first time in three years. Hopefully this will get me back into writing my own original stuff.

(On another note, everyone claims that you only improve your writing by writing something every day, so hopefully this has been subconsciously helping me....?)


Monday, 14 October 2013

Once Upon A Time is an epically amazing show everyone watch it

Okay I normally hate posting twice in one day BUT CAN I JUST MENTION THAT THE MOST RECENT EPISODE OF ONCE UPON A TIME WAS ACTUALLY PERFECT


  • Tinkerbell has a New Zealand accent I am dYING also she was perfect
  • Second episode in a row to nearly make me cry because I am so invested in these characters and also Lana Parilla's acting is amazing (I used to be an evil regal)
  • "You just think it's the best plan because your boyfriend came up with it" dyING
  • Flashback plotline that was sympathetic towards both Tink and Regina
  • Acknowledgement that Regina is one of Henry's mothers and that she loves him
  • CAPTAIN CHARMING they are moving towards an epic bromance I can feel it
  • Motherly moment between Snow and Emma
  • Super cute snowing moment only made cuter than the fact that GINNIFER AND JOSH ARE ENGAGED NOW
  • Robin Hood's son was ADORABLE (although I am worried because poopy Neal's poopy plan could potentially put him in a lot of danger)
  • NEAL IS IN NEVERLAND NOW
  • Mulan and Aurora <3
  • Peter Pan's manipulation of Henry was so amazingly written that I can't express how amazing it was. Everything he said sounded completely natural, but subtle character hints planted throughout the first two seasons just set Henry up so completely to start to reluctantly believe what Peter's saying. Everything Peter says makes complete sense - except the viewer knows, from seeing Regina and Rumple's backstories, that bringing magic back is a terrible thing. magic causes nothing but trouble.
  • Can I just say I hate the blue fairy - if she had the remotest bit of sense she would realise that helping Regina is the best possible thing to do for the world - do you want a second Cora? No? Then maybe you should try to make sure she doesn't become like her!
  • Robin and Regina are canon everyone was shipping them already this is AMAZING
  • Hook and Emma sitting extremely close to each other by the campfire
  • Hook and Emma sitting extremely close to each other by the campfire
  • HOOK AND EMMA SITTING EXTREMELY CLOSE TO EACH OTHER BY THE CAMPFIRE
Everyone should watch this show. It's amazing. The characters are amazing. It starts off slow, it seems really girly, but this is literally one of the best shows I have ever watched. The plots come together seamlessly and the characters have an incredible amount of depth.

There are also no 'silly moments' as my dad likes to call them, because they're unnecessary. The show is strong enough to never need any faff or filler.

Next episode is apparently Neal and Rumple heavy, but 3x05 (the week my exams finish!) is KILLIAN BACKSTORY EPISODE 


EVERYONE WATCH ONCE UPON A TIME

edit- are you happy now Guild, I fixed the grammar

Television with a Capital T

First HSC exam down! Six more to go!


The Area of Study paper was pretty good - I was hoping there wouldn't be any 'belonging to place', and there wasn't! Not 100% happy with the essay I churned out - but nothing I can do about that now.

I'm studying for Module A at the moment and some of the quotes I'm memorising resonate quite interestingly with something I was thinking about the other day.

Fay Weldon's Letters to Alice introduces the concept of 'Literature with a Capital L' - books that she believes constitute great literature, ie her own personal canon.

As every Module A student who does LTA undoubtedly knows, we take Aunt Fay's views with a pinch of salt. I'm not a Fay Weldon fan, I think her arrogant, condescending and find the way she describes Australia and Australians offensive, but I do agree with some of her points about the purpose of books:

  • “The books... do not threaten the reader in any way; they do not suggest that he or she should reflect, let alone change. But then, of course, being so safe, they defeat themselves, they can never enlighten. And because they don't enlighten, they are unimportant.”
  • The good builders, the really good builders, carry a vision out of the real world and transpose it into the City of Invention, and refresh and enlighten the reader, so that on his, or her, return to reality, that reality itself is changed, however minutely.”

There's nothing wrong with reading for entertainment but I do think that ultimately, every novel needs to have some sort of message. Even if that message is resoundingly simple. Otherwise, what's the point?

What I was thinking the other day was - this idea applies to other forms of media as well. Specifically, television. Leaving aside all those bogan reality shows for the moment - if something is to be considered a Good TV Show it needs to have an underlying message that teaches or improves viewers in some way. Right? I think we can all agree with that.

My question is: What does BBC Sherlock teach us?

If Guild is reading this I know that she is groaning. Thinking that my hatred of Steven Moffat is overpowering my view of what I previously considered to be one of the best shows on television.

I'm not denying that BBC Sherlock is very entertaining. The cinematography is amazing. The acting is terrific. The dialogue is sharp and funny.

But seriously - what are we meant to be learning from this show?

Leaving aside the racist, misogynistic and homophobic undertones I can honestly say that I have learned nothing of value from watching Sherlock. If anything some of its messages are hypocritical and problematic.

BBC Sherlock teaches us not to be judgemental of others! It does this through the humanisation of Sherlock and John's acceptance of him. Poor Sherlock, everyone calls him a freak - but look! He does have feelings! He just needs someone like John to understand him. So don't judge people like Sherlock okay?



How can this be the message of the show when Sherlock himself is seen as constantly and consistently judgemental towards others?

I can see the counterargument forming right now - "But John is teaching him not to be!"

No he is not! Sure, every now and then John will throw in a "Bit not good!" but for the most part, Sherlock's derogatory attitude and outbursts towards others are framed in a way to get the audience to agree with him and laugh along at the victims of these comments.

And sure, it's funny to see Sherlock verbally disembowel the people who bullied him when he was in uni and continue to act condescendingly towards him. That's fine. But when that is put on the same level as his humiliating and slut-shaming a woman of colour at her place of work, or continuously making ableist comments to someone who is quite literally just doing the job they're paid to do - that's a problem.

I know, I know, here come the PC police - my point is that these comments are framed as okay, Sherlock is never taken to account for them and the audience is positioned to find them perfectly acceptable.

So if 'don't be judgemental' is meant to be the message of BBC Sherlock, then they failed miserably and X-Men did a much better job of it already.

Seriously - what's BBC Sherlock teaching us? The value of justice? It's hard to root for a hero who drugs his best friend - who happens to be a war vet with previously established PTSD - and makes him hallucinate. All without his consent. And who tortures people for information without the slightest hesitation. (there's nothing wrong with an anti-hero but more on this in later posts).

I literally cannot think of a single thing I have learned from this show.

And it shouldn't be hard! I can literally state right now the, incredibly basic, values and attitudes I've gathered from other programs.

The Walking Dead  - in anarchy and disaster, while it's important to do what you need to to survive and protect your family, you need to preserve your moral integrity.

Breaking Bad - engaging in an immoral activity, even for all seemingly justifiable reasons, will end up corrupting you and harming innocent people. You need to take the blame for your actions.

Once Upon A Time - family, love and faith are important. Fight for what you believe in. Everyone deserves a second chance. Your past actions should not dictate what you do in the future. That's four right there and counting for a show considered far less 'wholesome' than BBC Sherlock.

Heck, let's take a look at Elementary - another modern appropriation of Sherlock Holmes.

- With support and friendship a man can overcome past bad habits and addictions (unlike BBC!Sherlock, Elementary!Sherlock is not a world-class jerk... and on occasions where he acts like one, he is swiftly taken to account for it).

- Mistakes that have bad consequences will have ongoing effects on you - but you can overcome these and continue to do good in the world.

One of the absolute most basic messages of Elementary (and Once Upon A Time, and what should be a basic underlying message of every TV show in this day and age) -  women and men are equal! I'm not going to break out the feminism here and now but Sherlock's treatment of women is ridiculous. Also, I can't think of a single episode that passes the Bechdel test, except perhaps ASIB, but that doesn't count because can you say most horrific depiction of a classic female character in the history of modern adaptation.


SO BASICALLY WHAT I AM SAYING IS:

If Literature with a Capital L exists, so does Television with a Capital T.

As far as I'm concerned BBC Sherlock, for all its sparkling cinematic brilliance, is not Television with a Capital T.

I'm not afraid of admitting I'm wrong, so if anyone reading this can deliver me one message that BBC Sherlock offers - one thing from this show that enhanced them as a viewer - I might just change my mind.


(...come at me module english exam... come at me... *raises fists weakly*)

Wednesday, 9 October 2013

Assassin's Creed IV: New DLC

So! I just found out that Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag will have an additional DLC exploring the backstory of Adewale, the first mate on Edward Kenway's crew.

I wasn't super excited for ACIV for two reasons:

1) After ACII the games seemed to go downhill. Brotherhood was fine but I really, really did not enjoy Revelations. I started III but it didn't pull me in, and I intend to finish it after the HSC. What I did play of it wasn't particularly gripping. I think the main problem was that Ezio's story dragged on far too long.

2) Edward's outfit was hella boring. I'm sorry, just... you're doing pirates. The opportunity that gives you to design the most epic, badass assassin outfit. And they wasted it. They wasted it so badly that it makes me clench my fists just thinking about it.

People are saying this is the best game in the series yet - which means it has to be pretty good to beat ACII (which as far as I know is generally considered the favourite). To me it seemed like nothing special.

But then today I found out about Adewale! Who previously I hadn't even known existed (I wasn't keeping up with trailers/gameplay updates).

But heavens above does he look epic!



This is the character, guys. This is the character I wanted. This is the character Black Flag should have been about!

I know nothing about Edward yet. As I said, I haven't finished ACIII (didn't even get up to Connor's bit) so I don't know how he links to the other two Kenway characters. But from what I've seen he's just another hunky white male, possibly filled with manpain... IDK, he doesn't grip me.

But Adewale! The tiny glimpse I got of him in the ACIV cinematic trailer + the preview for Freedom Cry... aso;dignasdlgs I cannot even express how excited I am!

And look! He even has an epic outfit with a fresh design!  A:LGNSDGK:GLADFNL:SDJG




Now that we have that out of the way - Assassin's Creed is generally pretty good with racial diversity. I mean, we've got the whole first game set in the Middle East, and then AC:R went back to Turkey. And Connor Kenway who-I-have-yet-to-properly-meet is half Native American, from what I understand. It was really the modern-day Desmond side of things that was glaringly full of skinny white boys. But that's all being changed up in AC:IV, so I'll be interested to see what they do with that.

In any case, that was part of my disappointment with Edward Kenway's character. The shaggy blonde haircut isn't doing anything for me either. What I really wanted was a female lead because the only playable one we've got so far - if I recall correctly - is Aveline from Liberations (epic WOC ahoy!) and that was solely for the PlayStation Vita - which I don't have! Ugh.

So anyway - I'm  stoked for Black Flag. I can't wait to meet Adewale (here's hoping he's the Malik to Edward's Altair, the Leo to his Ezio) and draw all the fanart, write all the fic, etc.

And I absolutely cannot wait for Freedom Cry.


Here's the Freedom Cry trailer.

I'll do another post when I have time about my raging disappointment at the casting of Michael Fassbender as Altair in the upcoming Assassin's Creed movie. Don't get me wrong, I love Fassbender, but that's just blatant whitewashing.

(EDIT: it has come to my attention that Fassbender isn't playing Altair - they're creating a new assassin for the movie set in a completely different time period. Let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief.)

Thursday, 3 October 2013

Romeo and Juliet - Sydney Theatre Company 2013

Hi all! (first post yay :3)

Last week my friends and I saw Sydney Theatre Company's Romeo and Juliet at the Opera House. RnJ was the first Shakespeare play I read and one I'd been hoping to see on stage for a while, so I was super excited - and this production met all my expectations! Which is always fab.


The staging of the play was fantastic- a revolving floor with a building constructed on top was used to full effect for both street and indoor scenes. I was also impressed by the use of music - something Sport for Jove's productions of Hamlet and Othello were rather lacking in.

The producer mentioned that he intended to focus on the generation gap, especially within the Capulet family, rather than the Capulet-Montague feud, and this came across effectively. The world created through costume/staging/music/character was gritty and urban and a little surreal at times. I especially liked the party scene with all the male characters in rabbit masks - there was a hysterical moment when the actor of Capulet got his foot tangled in the string of a helium balloon when escorting Tybalt out the door of the constructed building set (he recovered very smoothly though xD)!


The actress of Juliet was phenomenal - in the same way Othello centres more around Iago than Oth, RnJ is in a lot of ways more about Juliet than Romeo - something I was aware of but didn't comprehend fully until I saw it, rather than read it (I never watched the Baz Luhrmann movie past act 3.1). This Juliet was smart and dreamy and headstrong and a little socially awkward and basically completely adorable and everything I could ever have wanted. She would have made a fantastic Desdemona. (I might have fangirled a little w/e I'm not ashamed).

I was a bit disappointed that every single actor was a skinny white boy white, it would have been really nice to see some racial diversity in there. Especially since headcanon!Mercutio is African. And considering this was a modern adaptation - by an Australian theatre company - I find it very hard to believe that they couldn't have found a single POC actor.

(On the plus side the gorgeous Condola Rashad is playing Juliet to Orlando Bloom's Romeo this year, so that should at least partially offset the glaringly white Fellowes RnJ movie coming out soon as well.)

As it was, Mercutio was appropriately wild and a little campy (and he had great chemistry with Benvolio and Romeo which was fantastic in every way). I was really impressed by the actress of Lady Capulet though. She injected someone I had previous held zero interest in with depth and poignancy and subtle but vastly different relationships with every single character she was onstage with.


Apart from the glaring white-ness I only really have two complaints about this production.

1. The second half got rid of the rotating building and had different lighting/staging/music. And this was.... what's the stage/theatre equivalent of cinematography? In any case, it still looked super cool and it pressed all the right emotional-viewer buttons but it seemed a little slow compared to the first half.

This is a minor quibble though. Being a geek I bought the program and actually read the essays inside, and I completely get what the producer was trying to do considering the mood-shift and darker tone of the second half of the play. But it just seemed a little slow to me.

This is more to do with RnJ itself than production choices. My favourite play, Othello, is notoriously fast-paced, whereas RnJ has a lot more waffling speculation and long tragic speeches and exposition. And they more than made up for it with a fantastic eerie 'tomb' scene with all these white-sheeted double beds in neat and completely creepy rows.

2. Act 3 Scene 1 is my favourite scene in the play (where Mercutio and Tybalt fight and a lot of people die violently).

They completely botched it.

It was basically all LETS FIGHT and then Tybalt stabbed Mercutio and Romeo stabbed Tybalt and BANG. Over in less than a minute. They didn't even fight! Just WHAM. STABBED. DEAD.

Total letdown. I've seen a couple other versions of this scene on youtube and all of them drew it out for full dramatic and comedic effect. Ah well. What's done is done.



Anyway! The last thing I want to talk about is the end of the play, which I loved.

The cast had already been cut down so that there was no prince and no Montague parents (they were mentioned but no one had been cast for them) so naturally the final scene with the Prince and the parents finding the bodies had to be changed up a bit. And by golly did they make the exact right choice here.

As much as people make fun of Romeo and Juliet for falling in love so quickly and often blame them for the chain of events that leaves half the characters dead.... it's the Montague-Capulet feud that killed everyone. And it's R and J's love that ends the feud.

In the final scene of the play the Prince gives a long exposition on how this terrible, longwinded, pointless conflict has resulted in so much death and tragedy. And then the families make up.

Since there was no prince - and no Montagues - instead the Capulets run in and discover Juliet right before she kills herself. Still alive and brandishing the gun she then leaps off the bed - and then she delivers the final speech, reaming out her father for the feud. It's particularly effective given the way he threatened and pressured her into marrying Paris just a few scenes earlier.

I'm not explaining it well here at all. But it was absolutely fantastic - as an iconic female character Juliet is already amazing (and strong and sassy and by far the smarter of the two title chars) but giving her this speech was just totally empowering. Both for an often underrated character, as well as the female viewer. Juliet was in control of that scene and Juliet owned it.

I have to admit, at the end of the play when the stage blacked out without Juliet still brandishing the gun, I was a tiny bit peeved. I had expected it to end with her shooting herself as one final act of defiance, or at least hear the gunshot sound in the darkness so we don't know if she shot herself or her father.

Also, it seemed like a bit of a cop-out to end a tragedy without all the characters who are meant to be dead, actually being dead.

But now, a week later, I'm actually totally cool with that ending. That Juliet didn't need to shoot herself to prove a point - she'd already made her point. In fact I think it's stronger that she didn't end up doing it.



So! A fantastic and thoroughly satisfying production. While I do rank it below Othello and Hamlet on my enjoyment scale, that was more to do with a personal preference for the storyline and characters of the other two plays rather than any faults in the production of this one.

I have tickets to Waiting for Godot, also by Sydney Theatre Company, in a few months time! Looking forward to that :) (but not quite on Shakespeare level haha).




I rate it 4 puddings! (out of a possible 5 obvs. also i'll do a personally-drawn pudding rating cartoon when i can be bothered getting my tablet out haha)