A draft

The Postal Service - Nothing Better (Styrofoam Remix)

Today I came across a draft of Part Three. I had run out of pages in my chemistry notebook and was looking through some empty workbooks which were not empty after all. It's been so long since I wrote in an actual book, before typing became my norm. I read it over and decided it was not so bad. It's evocative in its own way. Here is the draft in all its roughness, pieces that came together in different ways for the story.

They brought her in about suppertime, but something was not right. Piotr ran to the door, but Remy had kicked it open with the heel of his boot.
And in his arms, Kitty Pryde dangled.
"Fainted," Remy briefly explained. Piotr would have offered his bed if Remy had not been way ahead of him. Piotr hung back, unsure of what to do.
Tabby's voice cracked though the silence like a chisel. "I knew this would happen. I told that girl to eat--she hasn't eaten well for months--I knew she was sick."

And at that moment, her eyes struggled to open, her head turned to face his.
"Lance?" Piotr took a moment to realize her confusion and decided not to take it personally.
"Kitty, it's me. It's Piotr."
"Piotr." She rolled her it strangely, as if tasting wine. "Oh, it's you. I remember you. I haven't seen you in awhile." Her voice was weak, strained almost. But she seemed glad, happy even, to see him. "I was wondering what happened to you."
...
There was another time, when Piotr had fixed lunch that she told him about men. She didn't trust them any, and that the last patron set himself on fire.
She fit into his arms very neatly. They glided and danced, her hand in his, the other at her waist, in perfect time.
She told him, over raisins, that she never felt so good in ages. And he showed her the print in the paper.
"I want you to eat. So you can go home. This place is keeping you sick. You got to go home." She stared at her own picture for awhile. "They want you back." He wanted her to live.

In your arms, I was more than a miner.
...
She laid her head on his shoulder. "You're different from them, Piotr." Her voice hummed. "You're so different, we're almost the same."

Chapter 21 Posted!

So happy to be back, folks. I had Chapter Twenty-One's rough draft completed on my computer before I went on vacation, but then got sick and just got to it today. Ugh, I want it so much to be more fulfilling. Somehow, it's lacking...something. I just haven't put my finger on it. But I figured it would have to do. That's my love-hate relationship with Jean and Scott. I can't even write them a decent story -.- But hey, I'm all about moving on, mostly so I can address the more pressing matter of Rogue and Remy at hand. 

And when did Fanfiction.Net allow us to post a picture for our stories?! Most likely while I was nursing my writer's block all summer. >D Good thing I had this latest fan art at my disposal. It was done in color, but sepia has a very 1800s feel to it and ultimately won out when editing it on my-ahem- phone.

Read Chapter 21 of Back in the Day: The Legend of Logan's Kin

Inspiration: Novel

Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

*Note: Contrary to what the picture indicates, clicking to look inside will not take you there after all. I believe you'd have to go through Amazon to do that.

My, this book has been on my reading list for years. And to think, I did not like it at first. I was begrudged to buy it ($14 was a scandalous sum for a book) for the freshman reading list for Honors English I in high school. High school. They had us reading textbooks and suddenly we were reading Jane Eyre and this novel, though it's funny, I actually liked Jane Eyre. This book, this book however revolted me. Its themes surround Native American Indians, and that was interesting, but I found the people in it immoral. A prostitute, a drunkard, a cheating husband, several suicides. Fourteen-year-olds do not have that sort of depth, I should like to think. But the more I trudged through advanced placement English (don't think I'm gussying myself up--English was my worst subject aside from gym), the more I found literature wanted to rob us of innocence. I personally think that contributes to emo teenagers, among other things.

So fast forward a few years during a spring cleaning raid, when I found this book in the back of my shelves, aging nicely in its paperbacking because nobody had really touched it. What a waste, I was thinking, taking it out, reading a few lines. And from there I was hooked. Erdrich writes with a sort of nostalgic, melancholy cadence, rounding her characters out nicely. Beyond the endless metaphors, it is a well-written piece that provokes, repels, and laments its central families' tragedies. But its purpose, I think, is quite hopeful. Her characters are relatable because their mistakes are very human.

John and Wanda's fight was inspired by this book. The first-person accounts of Todd and Lance also take root from her storytelling. So yes, I keep it handy when I'm caught in a writing funk, its prose rampant with love, lust, hatred, forgiveness, and death. Which is kind-of the Legend story too, come to think of it.

Drabbles: The JeanxScott Debaucle

dear reader:

I don't think it's much of a revelation about me when I say, first of all, that I did not like Jean Grey very much. In the original X-Men, she was too intelligent; like a female Hank McCoy, but more attractive (obviously) and without an alias. In the movie, she was older--lovely, yes, but again too intelligent, a teacher rather than student. And in the Evolution series, she was--by far--too good to be true.

I have put off writing this, mostly because I myself did not know the root cause of my dislike. I remember attaching myself to a deep dislike of Jean Grey for the obvious reasons. She is conveyed as "perfect," though, now in retrospect, the show repeatedly tried to disprove this misconception by emphasizing the limits of her powers. But how do you reign in a monster you yourself created? There she was, the epitome of nice, pretty, tall, intelligent- everything we introspective, quiet types dislike. And as I hopped on the hate-Jean bandwagon prematurely (and gleefully, I don't deny) a part of me was wondering how it had spiraled into this. What more, the Jean-Scott pairing was far overrated. Although she was with Duncan, she knew Scott liked her, and the way they worked together, even Fred would have guessed they were meant to be a couple. But what's the fun in that? There's no guessing, no what-could-have-beens? Just the same, boy-meets-girl story. Bo-ring.

The real pairing to like, of course, was Remy and Rogue. Now there's a pairing. Rogue was everything (seemingly) Jean was not. Dark, gloomy, brooding, Rogue reeked of mystery, and that made her interesting. We as writers could elaborate on her, dissect her mind, bring out her worst and best parts because the show had kept those things secret. What more, Remy had barely entered the drawing board when fanfiction just about exploded with reams of him. How would he meet Rogue? How would it all play out? The show's writers, come to think of it, had a lot on their plate by the time Remy debuted and he kinda really definitely fell short of expectations (that haircut! his eyes weren't red! His accent was not Cajun!) But that is another drabble in and of itself.

Jean, however, was out in the open (so to speak). She was like a duck which you just had to take aim and fire. And for good reason too--when you portray someone so impeccable, you leave room to make them ridiculous. And isn't that what perfect is? Just a ladder rung below looney? I am borderline Type-A myself and could just as well identify with Jean, except that that is just what I do not want to do. Nobody likes competing with overachievers--and as a closet overachiever, I can say this outright. It was so easy to write her as ridiculous; she became a metaphorical punching bag free-for-all, and I churned out Rogue's Diaries to take my jab at it. Don't get me wrong--I don't regret it. Not everyone shared my distaste for Jean, and maybe that should have confirmed that I hit home on ridiculous-Jean. But I always stuck it to myself to do her justice. Challenge accepted.

So imagine my chagrin when this whole fricking year, I was stuck--quite literally--in a JeanxScott funk. Everything I wrote I hated. I realized that I was writing about the Jean that everybody assumed they knew--pretty, well-off, a lady of ways and means. Ugh. And this was after I had read Atonement! This was after I had watched North and South. I was in the right mood, but the words weren't right. So I stopped assuming and decided to do something I had never thought to do: I scoured fanfiction for some good Jott. And what surprised me was not that the fact that there wasn't many, but those that I did find were actually pretty darn good; like, well-written, evocative, emotional pieces. I even favorited one of them. So what did they see in this "boring" couple to write something like that?

Fast forward to the present. As this Legend story develops, my one and primary goal (among my many other very-important goals) is to present most of the characters of Evolution in their most explicit of portrayals. I went for dramatic this time, and that is much harder to convey, if one should hope to do it right. So when this story took its slow turn towards a JeanxScott arc, I knew I had to put aside my preconceptions toward this couple to be able to write objectively, honestly. For once.

Some questions I asked myself: what can make me like Jean? What qualities could I admire in Scott? What about them could make my audience swoon (yes, swoon) and then break their hearts when their relationship falls apart?

Chapter Nineteen touches upon all of these. Jean is a caged, quiet girl, her family isolated by her sister's illness despite their opulent standing in New York society. She has some characteristics that I felt imperative to keep--her prettiness, humanized by her self-consciousness of having red hair, her intelligence, her devotion to the gospels of Charles Xavier. But her sister's sick, her sweetheart up and left her, and she is utterly dissatisfied with herself. Enter Scott, and the rest you'll just have to read :D The real kicker, I should admit, is based loosely on my experience: staring at an old flame's Facebook picture, his long-time girlfriend at his side; the convalescent sister respected and acknowledged by my best friend; feeling unfulfilled with a very complete life. For I have learned the only way you can truly understand is to make it personal. Now, if I could only manifest mutant powers of my own, it would come full-circle. But that, of course, remains to be seen...

Writer's Drabbles: The Teaser

A little bit about logistics. Writer's logistics (and yes, I just made that up).
There is such a thing as a teaser on the fanfiction website. That is the limited summary you find when you scroll down the list of new/updated stories. Ones that intrigue me include: romantic pairings (particularly Romy, though the archive on that alone could stand on its own--there's that many), a (decent) alternate universe, and (yes) the writing itself. Spelling and grammar counts here too, mostly because it sort of sets you up for what's to come. Therefore, if I'm too busy staring at how you wrote "rite" in the summary, chances are I won't bother with the rest. I think our brains are wired that way, or maybe I'm generalizing.
I try not to plead with readers to READ MY STORY, IT'S NOT A MARY SUE, K??!! Because, well, because I try not to plead, period. Offer, ask, yes. But not beg. First off, I did not know what a Mary Sue was until I read a reader's bio, stating that it's the usual, formulaic mish-mash. If that's the case, my story can be categorized as a Mary Sue--but with a twist. I like that, playing on a theme, making it better. But if someone denies it and writes out in caps to get my attention, it does reverse psychology on me and I don't venture forward. Caps are equivalent to yelling. Don't yell. It's the internet.
Finally, the R&R requests in summaries tend to bother me. I'm very traditional. I think that if people like your topic, like your summary, like the idea you've proposed, chances are they'll at least read it. Maybe not review (which I've come to terms with--but not 100% okay with), but there are the hits on your counter, if that offers any consolation (not for me, though). I always believed that if people find your work interesting, they might be inspired to give some love, er, feedback. But people get lazy, they get tired of staring at the screen, who knows? I'm only being so benign about it because I can be guilty of all of those things as well. That, or I just could not continue reading. But that's for another day.
I guess in reality, that summary is just a summary, and people look at it in different ways. I'm always thinking up new ways to attract people to my writing, and sometimes it starts with a decent summary. But that's my opinion.

M ood:

Okay

Anime vs. Cartoons

Postings on youtube can be quite entertaining. Besides battling it out with strangers, it can also be a thought-provoking process. Consider: I stumbled upon the anime version of Wolverine. And though you would never recognize him without those trademark claws, it did fit. Wolverine did wind up in Japan and married one of the country's own in the comics. At least, that's what I came away with from seeing that very brief, yet intriguing, trailer. But the comments below the vid heckled back and forth, about how tall Wolverine is (a mere 5'3? that can't be right), how anime is so much more than cartoons; anime has depth. And I thought, well, doesn't the X-Men have depth? And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that wasn't always true. In many ways, Evo is very formulaic. Kitty' valley girl accent, Scott's leadership, mutant harrassment. But I guess what it lacks in depth, fanfiction steps up to fill in that gap. And that's what makes writing about the X-Men so alluring and exciting; that what the show barely scratched on the surface, regular joes could hash out, evaluate, and analyze like economists reporting on the Recession (but it would be much more interesting and optimistic).
In the end, I would watch both and not think much of it. But this anime Wolverine still looks interesting, 5'3 and all.

Reading Bits

It took almost two days to finish McEwan's Atonement, and I am more than motivated to write the next part of my story. It was a very hard book to read; with not knowing the plot, the relentless imagery that made me mad with skimming--it's written very much like a Jane Eyre, but much more defiant, provocative. I was blisteringly angry with Briony and her injustice towards the lovers, but, as my sister reminded me, it is her story, so I read on patiently.
It does not end well, and that is the only spoiler I will allow myself to reveal. It is a good read, though, and really pits wartime nursing in a brighter, more inspiring light for me. Not like Scarlet, from Gone with the Wind, who wanted to get the hell out of there and abandons her duty, but Briony and her unnerving perseverance with her patients--that even writing seemed childish compared to feeling such awestruck love for these strangers and wanting nothing but to help them.
But the ending was outrageous and I felt jipped in many ways. Therefore, I plan to write in that design, but to a more acceptable ending (at least in my terms). I always love a good love story.

So Excited!!

Well folks, the Sixteenth Chapter is underway!! I just sent it off to my beta reader to do a check-a-roo, and as soon as I get it back I will update!
Personally, I was done with Appalachia. Sorry Jubilee. ;D But we'll come back to it when the time is right! I'm in the mood for a good Jott. And that's not often, let me tell you!
I have been in a good mood as of late, reading Stardust and re-watching Under the Greenwood Tree, so writing downer material was extremely hard at times. I had to tap into my Emo-alter ego, and even that was not easy.
But I stuck it through, and now it's time to write about another wedding (hopefully one that does not end up with Remy and Jean together. Wait, did I just give that away?) and New York (I've never been. Heard it's a nice place, when people aren't trying to blow it up). Check back soon for fanfiction updates VERY VERY SOON! Yes!

I am feeling dorky

In the Works...

So, here's my latest stack of library books. I keep them on the floor by my desk, having no place else to keep them and have tripped one too many times because of it. I'm meaning to skim through this batch, many being my returning favorites (like that Cajun French dictionary on top, just for Remy), and the Life in the 1800s reference which is out of print and costs way too much to own at the moment. And yes, that is a walgreens ad in which I unsuccessfully tried to weasel dental floss with a Riteaid coupon. Serves me right. It wound up with within the stack of books and remains there for some reason.

Good news is it'll be a heck of a next chapter or two. Depends. Maybe this time I can get the library books back on time and I won't suffer a dent in my wallet. A stack like that, it pays to pay attention.


I am feeling excited.