Aside from the fact the water mains to our house burst recently, and my favourite tree had to be removed for it to be fixed. Worse still, it came with the house so, I don’t even know what type of tree it was so it’s going to be very hard find a replacement. It’s a little upsetting, it was a very good tree for ikebana.
That’s all I’m afraid, I’ve had some horrible luck these past couple of weeks, so there is very little I want to talk about.
Today I saw Into the Woods, it’s a pretty good movie, though it would have been much better if they’d ended it at about halfway. The first half was excellent, but the second half not only had a tone that conflicted badly the first, it also dragged horribly, and every song sounded the same. Still, not a bad movie though, I particularly liked this song.
That’s all this week, sorry for the short post.
I have a mixed relationship with motivational sayings. It alternates between abject distaste, vague tolerance, and actually finding them useful. Consequently, I’ve come across quite a few writing-related slogans that I’ve kept because they’ve actually struck me as kind of handy, rather than regrettably cheesy. Here are some of the highlights:
I have a yes/no relationship with this one. If you’re writing something that you want to publish, then it does make sense to have a recipient in mind. However, it can also be very distracting to write with only one person at the forefront of your brain. Personally, I prefer to use this strategy when editing, not writing from scratch.
100% agree. Even if it comes out like mangled laundry, at least something’s come out and you can call it an exercise, if not a polished product. Sitting stuck for ideas is the least productive thing you can do. Just write around in circles about any aimless thing until something strikes you as useful or interesting, then move on from there. Or go and get another coffee.
I disagree. One of the best tests of your writing is determining whether or not it sounds good out loud, especially if it’s poetry. When you read, does it flow? Does it jar appropriately? Does it sound interesting, or unintentionally repetitive? As you read, you’ll also notice where details are missing or superfluous. Don’t underestimate how important the sound of reading your work is when you’re in the editing or shaping processes.
What we idly write or quickly jot down can reveal a lot about how we immediately think or judge things. When editing, it’s important to go back with this in mind and decide whether or not it’s appropriate for what you originally had in mind. After all, if you’re writing over a long period of time, it’s very likely that your thoughts and stances will shift.
This is what got me into writing fanfiction. I knew exactly what I wanted to read, but no one had written it yet. I find this statement particularly helpful as well because it reminds me that if I can’t read my own work and enjoy it, then it’s pretty unlikely that anyone else will either. If it’s too dull, then it needs fixed!
Another one I have a mixed relationship with, based mostly on its abstraction. I think that creativity in writing can definitely be trained, but not always summoned at will. I do believe that not everyone has the same levels or directions of creativity, but that this isn’t necessarily an issue. I do believe in one of the centre comments here though: don’t demand perfection for creativity. Give it time and be prepared to accept the weird things that your brain offers up.
This week, as my life still revolves around Kingdom Hearts, and after a conversation with marsy, in which we determined that there are very few characters originating from Kingdom Hearts, that are not in some way, shape, or form, arguably another character in the series, due to how connected they are, be it through possession or otherwise, I’ll be trying my best to explain, simply, the connections between these characters. Please be aware this will contain spoilers, and also before I begin, as far as I can determine, throughout the seven games in the series, there are only five named characters who are not in anyway connected, through convolution, to another character.
Characters connected to Sora:
Sora
Roxas
Xion
Ventus
Vanitus
Naminé
Roxas is Sora’s Nobody, and Xion is his clone. Ventus’ heart is inside Sora, which is why Roxas looks like him, it is also very implied that Roxas has Ventus’ heart. Vanitus is the darkness from Ventus’ heart made manifest, and he looks like Sora due to an earlier connection between Ventus and Sora’s hearts. Naminé is also arguably Sora, as she was created by Kairi’s heart leaving Sora’s body.
Characters connected to Xehanort:
Master Xehanort
Young Xehanort
Xehanort (Ansem the Wise’s Apprentice)
Ansem, Seeker of Darkness
Xemnas
Xigbar
Saïx
Terra
Riku
Master Xehanort is the original Xehanort, who possesses Terra, they then lose their memories and become the apprentice Xehanort. Upon regaining his memories as Master Xehanort, he split himself into a Heartless, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, and Nobody, Xemnas. Ansem, SoD, then travels back in time and grants the power of time-travel to a younger version of Master Xehanort, who becomes known Young Xehanort. Ansem, SoD, also later possesses Riku, and while he is subdued, it meant that Riku temporarily took the form of Ansem, SoD, after using the powers of darkness. Xigbar and Saïx are both members of the true Organisation XIII, meaning that are vessels for Xehanort, and possess a fragment of his heart.
Nobodies and their Somebodies:
Xemnas/Ansem (SoD)
Xigbar/Braig
Xaldin/Dilan
Vexen/Even
Lexaeus/Aeleus
Zexion/Ienzo
Saïx/Isa
Axel/Lea
Demyx/???
Luxord/???
Marluxia/???
Larxene/???
Roxas/Sora
Kairi/Naminé
Aside from those with other connections, mentioned previously, these are fairly simple, as they are just alternative versions of each other, depending on whether they have their heart or not, though some have differing personalities. Those with ??? are characters whose somebody is not known at this point in time, and while it is unknown whether they will be introduced or not I am hesitant to declare them as having no connections.
Other connections of note:
Riku Replica: Riku’s clone, only present in Chain of Memories.
Ansem the Wise: Has his identity stolen by Xehanort, assumes the identity DiZ, later returns to being Ansem.
Xion: Looks like Kairi as she was Sora’s strongest memory.
Characters without Connections:
Aqua
Eraqus
Hayner
Pence
Olette
Thanks for reading, this turned out longer than expected, Kingdom Hearts is even more convoluted than I assumed, and I fear it’s only going to get more so, since time travel has become a thing, though I’m still looking forward to Kingdom Hearts III, hopefully it will get a release date soon. Anyway thanks once again for reading, and I hope this made some sense.
I’m meant to be editing a paper for an academic journal. For no good reason, I’ve been putting off starting the edits (even though they’re actually pretty easy ones). So far my list of procrastination tactics have included:
1. Building large imaginary shopping carts of stuff I’ll buy online once the US dollar drops again.
2. Redecorating my wardrobe, complete with Ikea trip.
3. Cleaning most of the house in a fit of unprecedented attention to vacuuming.
4. Cleaning the car. (Seriously, it’s that bad)
5. Levelling up a thief character in Skyrim. Looting people’s houses and then parading out while wearing all their stuff that you’ve just nicked is so satisfying.
6. Writing Pokémon fanfiction.
7. Writing and rewriting this blog post.
8. Consuming more Nespresso coffee than is probably safe.
I’m officially a bad person. My sincerest apologies, poor little neglected translation theory paper. I’ll get to you soon!
I hate summer, I really really do. The heat chases me out of my room during the day, and makes it difficult for me to sleep at night, it’s most annoying.
So as a result, and also due to the fact that my PS3 is still downstairs from when I was watching Lord of the Rings, my life now revolves around Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMIX, which is not a bad thing. I’ve played my way through most of II, and I’m now left with the decision of whether to fight the final boss, and move on to Birth by Sleep, my favourite Kingdom Hearts game, or to level up my drive forms and explore the Cavern of Remembrance, to gain access to all the new optional boss fights. It’s a tough decision, though nothing is stopping from doing both, except for the fact if I start Birth by Sleep, I won’t go back to II for a long time.
And I’m afraid that’s all I’ve got this week, truth be told I forgot it was a Thursday, and now I’m running out of Thursday, sorry for two short posts in a row. Thanks for reading.
To celebrate watching “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” for the second time, I thought I’d do a small post on some of the featured horses in The Hobbit. They’re some interesting characters…
First up is Gandalf’s horse in The Hobbit:
Draysill, also known as “Big Nick”, is an 18hh Clydesdale gelding whose claims to fame include being excessively hairy and carting around a series of stuntriders (and also doing a few stationary green-screen close-ups with Sir Ian McKellan sitting on his back). At only 10 years old, he shows the placid and patient nature that the breed is famed for, as well as great willingness to charge over large grassy plains.
Sadly he is no longer available for sale, otherwise I’d be seriously considering my options. His advert got over 21,000 hits when it was put up. Somewhere out there is the world’s most accurate Gandalf cosplayer right now.
Secondly, Bilbo’s “pony” in The Hobbit, also demonstrating the “I’m not sure I want to do this as a hobby” face:
Bilbo’s pony, along with the dwarves’ ponies in this scene, is not actually a pony. All of the ponies here are in fact horses wearing fluffy jackets. I kid you not. If you look closely, you can see where Bilbo’s pony’s suit stops at the neck/jowl area. The dwarven pony behind Bilbo’s mount also has more of a Quarter Horse look to his face as well. There was no way to make full-sized actors look like they were dwarves without giving the horses a bit of a makeover, so director Peter Jackson had fluffy body suits made for each horse so that from a distance (and more or less in close-up shots as well) the horses would look more pony-like.
I hope you have all had a good one, aside from that I’ve not got much else to say, though I would like to apologise for not posting last week. The first half of Christmas day was too busy, and unfortunately for me, the second half was spent evicting everything I had eaten that day, not the best Christmas, but certainly not the worst either. I was well enough to see the Battle of Five Armies the next day, and that was all that really mattered.
I’ve also managed to finally see all of extended editions of the Lord of the Rings movies. I’m annoyed it took me so long, but if by some chance you haven’t managed to see them by now, I’d definitely recommend it, Return of the King is a much better movie with all the additional scenes, and it was an excellent movie beforehand.
I’m afraid that is all, thanks for reading, and I wish you all the best for 2015.
Gastro is not my friend. Not even slightly.
24 hours of feeling ridiculously sick and sore is not how I’d recommend spending time. Feeling slightly recovered now and was able to play Cards Against Humanity this evening, as well as successfully maintain control of my stomach. Progress is small but much appreciated.
Longer post next week when I’m feeling less dead. Hope you all had good holidays (with substantially fewer digestive complaints than me!)
On the first day of Christmas my poor life choices gave to me… one knackered spine!
On the second day of Christmas my poor life choices gave to me… two published papers!
On the third day of Christmas my poor life choices gave to me… three poetry collections!
On the fourth day of Christmas my poor life choices gave to me… four poetry readings!
On the fifth day of Christmas my poor life choices gave to me… five book reviews due!
On the sixth day of Christmas my poor life choices gave to me… six thesis chapters!
On the seventh day of Christmas my poor life choices gave to me… seven scumbag characters!
On the eighth day of Christmas my poor life choices gave to me… eight freaking rewrites!
On the ninth day of Christmas my poor life choices gave to me… nine weird plot twists!
On the tenth day of Christmas my poor life choices gave to me… ten calloused fingers!
On the eleventh day of Christmas my poor life choices gave to me… eleven alternative career paths!
On the twelfth day of Christmas my poor life choices gave to me… twelve months of frenzied typing!
Happy holidays everyone! 😀
6 Angry Alpha Nerds 