Month: October 2015

The Editing of Northern Lights – Chapter 5 Frustrations

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Note: This is the Editing Blog for my FFVII fanfiction Northern Lights (which you can find at the end of that link).  I will be discussing a myriad of topics along with my frequently tangential and harried editing process.  You should be able to garner some enjoyment and insight from this without having read the story and/or without prior knowledge of the original game, but if you’re a fan of paranormal romance and/or dark fantasy, you may find it to your liking.  The story will be spoiled in this editing examination, though I will do my best to mark spoilers for any other narratives I mention.  Thanks for your interest and enjoy!

<–The Nature of Lying and the True End to Chapter 4’s Reedit     Good Gothic Poetry, Chapter 5 Successes, and Ominous Latin Chanting–>

9/25/14
Chapter 5 – Imminent Darkness
Quote: “But we carry on our back full burden time always reveals in the lonely light of morning in the wound that would not heal…” -Sarah McLachlan “Fallen”
“You cannot change what’s over, but only where you go.” -Enya “Pilgrim”
Picture: No
Picture Source: N/A
Picture Satisfaction: N/A

There’s a certain freedom found in knowing exactly what someone is.  This hearkens back to my prior post about truth vs. lies.  If you know and accept the truth, then you also know all that that truth entails.  While it may not be pretty nor be what you want, you at least have a foundation, and from there you can figure out what to do in order to reach fulfillment.

Now that I’ve drowned you in platitudes, welcome back dear readers of my editing blog.  If I’m being generous with my estimates, there’s probably around ten of you here.  I have no idea as I’m writing this prior to even putting the story up, since, well what’s an editing blog if you’re not going to write it while editing?  There may in truth be none of you, and I’m just speaking to the cold, quiet aether, hoping (and terrified) that one day it will answer back.

We have reached Chapter 5 and for this I have NOTHING.  No pic, no quote, no money have I not, and wow…I haven’t quoted Married…with Children in a really long time.  I cannot believe that show first aired when I was seven.  Heh, no wonder my mom never wanted me to watch it.

So Imminent Darkness.  This chapter, though one of the shortest ones in the story at only six pages,  is still one of the most important.  We meet a Follower of Seph who imparts the knowledge of where Lucrecia does lie, and can I just say that even though I am a grammar nut and prolific word smith, I still falter when it comes to “lay vs. lie.”  Thank goodness for smart websites.  Chapter 5 is crucial for Sephiroth as it gives him some direction…after he finishes his first task/obligation towards Aeris.  Seriously, his life is just made up of obligations.  I know I’ve already mentioned this, but when all you’re living for is others (and one is “dead” and one has been dead) when do you ever have time for yourself?  Not that Seph thinks that he deserves any time or much else at all, but for now let’s break down what happens in this part so I can start thinking of what I want for the picture and the quote.  Only six pages.  Short and powerful, kind of like Aeris 🙂

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Cursed Forever

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I kept thinking silly things to keep myself above this despair.  Mother motifs always get to me for fairly obvious reasons, and Sephiroth’s tragic story has a great deal of the Mordred mythos in it.  It would have to, else Heather Dale’s lullaby to the same would not be so eerily accurate.

Cursed Forever

If you cannot feel her pain, check your heart.

The original picture is by Deviant Artist Dark6Nika and is entitled ::I never wanted to lose you.  She is also on tumblr and actually likes my manipulations of her work!!  Very exciting and humbling.

The words are from George R R Martin’s A Dance With Dragons spoken by Gilly *spoiler* who would know a thing or two about abandoned sons 😦 *end spoiler*

Never let me weep…

Javert

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These are intended to be brief analysis of characters from some of my favorite narratives, but as you all should know by know I can be quite long-winded or rather long-worded so I cannot guarantee a short read.  They will more than likely spoil whatever story/series they come from so be wary of that if you have not read, seen, or played whatever that might be.

Name: Javert
Work: Les Misérable
Work Author/Creator: Victor Hugo
Genre: Drama
Medium: Book, Film, Musical

Javert is the main antagonist of Victor Hugo’s classic novel Les Misérable.  Born in a  prison, it is very likely this mean beginning that shapes his life’s perspective.  He becomes a police inspector and has an absolute and unshakable belief in the law.  It is firm, resolute, and cannot be bent or mocked, a rock to cling to in the turbulent sea of a chaotic world.  This is his fervor and his zeal, and it is the reason he becomes Jean Valjean’s adversary.

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The Editing of Northern Lights – The Nature of Lying and the True End to Chapter 4’s Reedit

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 2 Comments
Note: This is the Editing Blog for my FFVII fanfiction Northern Lights (which you can find at the end of that link).  I will be discussing a myriad of topics along with my frequently tangential and harried editing process.  You should be able to garner some enjoyment and insight from this without having read the story and/or without prior knowledge of the original game, but if you’re a fan of paranormal romance and/or dark fantasy, you may find it to your liking.  The story will be spoiled in this editing examination, though I will do my best to mark spoilers for any other narratives I mention.  Thanks for your interest and enjoy!

<–Interconnectivity, a Shot of Darkness, and the True Final First Edit of Chapter 4     Chapter 5 Frustrations–>

9/22/14
I try not to be a liar though that is my job as stories are just prettier lies.  The lie of which I speak is the title of my prior post.  I did not finish the reedit of Chapter 4 there, to much sadness and woe.  There was a group I was interested in a while back (when I was looking for an agent) called The Liar’s Club, and it was dedicated to writers new and established helping the former find their place.  If you’re a storyteller you’re a liar, but you’re a truth teller, too.  There’s a paradox to that designation.  While stories are not truth per se, they hold the truth of the ages.

Truth and lies are a deep foundation in the original story of FFVII.  It is this dichotomy that is the scope of the tale, what is real/what isn’t, what’s the truth/what’s a lie.  In order for a lie to be told both the following conditions must be met.  One, the speaker has to know the words passing their lips are a falsehood, and two, they must have the intention to deceive.  Therefore a speaker who was told a falsehood, but is unaware of it e.g. “My mother is Jenova” or “Ned Stark is my father,” is technically not a liar, because they believe this is the truth.  The person who gave them the information is the prevaricator not they.

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A Brief NaNoWriMo Update

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I previously made a NaNoWriMo Procedures post where I claimed I was going to go for 50k words for the month, which translates to approximately 1667 a day.  Well…I wasn’t even able to accomplish that this weekend where I am one of the lucky people who doesn’t have to work so I’m going to update and downgrade.

Like last year my goal is going to be to write every day.  Unlike last year I will have a word count goal, but it’s going to be 1k words.  I think that’s reasonable without being pushy.  I’m hoping that that will see me to the end of The Broken Rose.  Unfortunately, I’m not very good at judging how many words what I want to write translates to in my head.  I know what’s left and what still needs to be accomplished, but alas how verbose I must be alludes me.

Are you all still planning to do NaNoWriMo this year?  Are you going to keep to a stricter word count and go for 50k words in a month?  Let me know in the comments!

Through the Seams

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I haven’t made or posted a macro in a while so I figured tonight I’d do both.

Through the SeamsMade with Pixlr, which I use to craft all my macros (haven’t mentioned that before have I?).  The filter is Anne under Default.

The words are from Northern Lights .Chapter 18, and I was listening to the soundtrack from Pixar’s La Luna while making this.

That music was hugely inspirational for several parts of the story especially Chapter 7.  I can’t look at the cover picture without having the melody come to mind.

This is currently my background at work, too

This is currently my background at work, too

Pretty much for anything concerned with looking up at the sky or stars, which with a story entitled Northern Lights happens quite a lot not to mention it’s a fanfic of a game about (amongst many other things) a meteor/death from above, so there’s that, too.

The Editing of Northern Lights – Interconnectivity, a Shot of Darkness, and the True Final First Edit of Chapter 4

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 3 Comments
Note: This is the Editing Blog for my FFVII fanfiction Northern Lights (which you can find at the end of that link).  I will be discussing a myriad of topics along with my frequently tangential and harried editing process.  You should be able to garner some enjoyment and insight from this without having read the story and/or without prior knowledge of the original game, but if you’re a fan of paranormal romance and/or dark fantasy, you may find it to your liking.  The story will be spoiled in this editing examination, though I will do my best to mark spoilers for any other narratives I mention.  Thanks for your interest and enjoy!

Warning: Mentions of depression and suicide in addition to discussions about rape/sexual assault.  Descriptions of graphic violence.

<–Til the End of Chapter 4     The Nature of Lying and the True End to Chapter 4’s Reedit–>

9/21/14
Interconnectivity, my dear friends.  I was pondering this on my way home from my aerobics class.  While still rolling on endorphins, I often think of Facebook statuses I’ll probably never post, just because I tend to analyze and over-analyze everything, and I’ll usually think forward about what someone might say, and unfortunately, I have some assholes on my friend’s list.  Sigh, I don’t want this to turn into me bitching about FB, because it does many, many good things.  I mean it was how I found out about Distant Worlds, and that was worth slogging through the layers of ill-informed and opinionated bullshit, but suffice it to say that I think up a great many things I will more than likely never reveal because I torture myself with what could possibly be said.  The one that I might and am really considering is the #amediting status of “Do you believe anyone can be forgiven?  Do you believe even the fallen can be redeemed?

(Future Narcissist here.  I never did, which is quite a pity.  I can think of some of the people who would’ve given responses that would’ve opened up decent discourse.  Oh, and there’s also this quote by Mark Twain.

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NaNoWriMo Procedures

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I should’ve included these in my initial NaNoWriMo post, but I forgot.  I suppose I could’ve added them, but the more posts the merrier, n’est-ce pas?

I’m making this as much for myself as for all of you.  These are my NaNoWriMo procedures.  Contrary to what my living space  looks like, I actually relish organization and spend a great deal of time trying to do that with my notes.  I’m never satisfied.  I need to get my Blog Posts tab together on OneNote, but that’s something for another day.  Right now I want to talk about how I’m planning to do NaNoWriMo, and I’m hoping that by saying/writing it this it will come to pass.

So here are the rules for myself.  Feel free to co-opt, steal, alter, or add to for your own use!

  1. Writing must be done every day.  Seeing as I need to churn out a minimum of 1667 words to meet the monthly 50k quota (or finish, whatever comes first), missing a day means I need to write a whopping 3334 words to catch up!  1667 words is about two and a half Word pages, which is not out of the realm of possibility.
  2. Before and after pictures.  A picture of the word count before and after writing needs to be taken to ensure I’m not cheating.  This will also serve to verify the word count.
  3. Post the proof.  Finally, I need to post a brief blog post with the before and after pictures so guess what?  You’re all coming along for the daily ride with me 🙂  Now I may wind up doing this is a weekly wrap up as opposed to a daily one.  I’ll have a better idea once I start, but I figure I might as well blog about writing or meta write, why not?

Do you have any planned procedures for NaNoWriMo or are you just going to wing it?  Let me know in the comments!

The 777 Writing Challenge – The Broken Rose

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It’s been seven month since I did my last 777 writing challange, and that just seems like a perfect time to do another.  This is the story I was talking about in my NaNoWriMo post earlier, the one I was very mum about on the details.  I shall continue to be a bit mum, but since it is my WIP I thought it only fair to use it for the “challenge,” too.  Like Northern Lights before it, The Broken Rose is an FFVII fanfiction pairing Aeris and Sephiroth.  The world is similar to NL, but circumstances are a bit… different.

As with the prior 777 challenges, I’m not going to tag anyone (I know how to do that now, at least.  It’s super easy and I feel like such a dunce for my prior ignorance).  If you’d like to do it feel free!  I shall not be the one to stop you, and I’d love if you tagged me in your post so I can see 🙂

777 Writing Challenge

“You’re so strong…” she whispered, her eyes trembling up, the hollows so stark on pale skin. “So much stronger than all the others. You’ll…you’ll hurt me…” Her voice was so tiny.
“I never will Aeris,” he promised her then. “You’ll never be hurt by me or anyone again.” Sephiroth sighed. “Yes, I am very strong, but what that means is I can protect you, little one.”
“Pro…tect?”
Mako boiled within his eyes as emerald pulsed down in rue. “Yes. It means ‘to keep safe. To guard. To never allow any harm.’”
“Safe…” She repeated blinking confused. “A-Am I safe now?”
“Aeris, you are utterly safe.” He pressed her close where the beat of his heart couldn’t lie.

…I wish I could say this story wasn’t even worse than this seems.  It is extremely challenging to write; it’s even harder to edit since that’s the time I’m actually taking the words in.  I have also recorded myself reading some of the parts out loud (the above excerpt being one of them).  That’s the most difficult of all.  I…would love to try my hand (?) at voice acting, but since that’s another pipe dream, I must be content with recording myself reading either my own writing or someone else’s.  Hearing it back is even harder than saying/recording it..

Hope you enjoyed this little excerpt!

Until later.

Adieu.

NaNoWriMo 2015

/ The Shameful Narcissist / 6 Comments

It’s that time of the year again: NaNoWriMo!  Now, I myself am always writing unless I’m in a really bad place where I can’t.  So NaNoWriMo doesn’t really change much for me in that area.  Most of my novel length stories are also far longer than 50k words.  My WIP is almost at 100k, Northern Lights is around 160k.  Even if I wrote 50k words in a month, it would still probably not be a completed novel.

So what am I going to do for NaNoWriMo this year?  I’m going to attempt to finish my current project: The Broken Rose.  I haven’t talked much about this due to the subject matter, but it is another Aeriseph fanfiction (which totally counts.  Check the NaNoWriMo website so linked), because that seems to be my raison d’etre right now.  It was inspired by several other fanfictions penned by various writers along with the first scene in Chapter 10 of NL.  It is not going to be a story everyone will be able to read, but I did not write it for the shock value.  I’ve had an idea for an original story, at least novella length, that deals with the same subject.  TBR takes it to an extreme, because I reasoned if I could write it to the extent the WIP requires, I’d be able to write about one such example in the original.

Since I am already near 100k words and don’t think this current work will be longer than Northern Lights (I didn’t expect it to be this long.  I honestly believe it would be around 10k words.  Oh, it is to  laugh…), I believe NaNoWriMo will see me to the conclusion.  I really hope it does…this story has been so draining both physically and emotionally.  I think the former may be due to more to life sucking my energy dry.

I will be trying to write the 1667 required words a day until I either reach 50k or complete the story.  Last year  my goal was to just write every day where the number of words didn’t matter.   I like to challenge myself though.  It’s one of the reasons I chose the particular subject matter.  That and it needs to be said regardless of how hard it is for me.  I don’t want to say I’m one of the fortunate ones, because luck shouldn’t have anything to do with whether or not you experience what I’m writing about (yes, I’m being vague for a a reason), but I do not want to insult or diminish those who have had to go through this type of thing.  I’ve done research as again this is not a topic you can really ask anyone about.  A few people have been gracious enough to provide me some information, but the internet is more than adequate to furnish me with what I refuse to ask of them.  I just found an article on WordPress today with a extensive, comprehensive, and fantastic list, and I have other sources of information to draw from, as well.  I’m hoping in both this fanficton and the subsequent original that I do this subject the justice it deserves.

What are your NaNoWriMo plans if you have any?  Will you be starting that novel that’s been in your head/notes?  Will you be working on a current project, but not be too concerned about finishing it?  Or will you be like me in trying to push to finish a WIP?  Let me know in the comments!

Until later, adieu.

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