Regarding my last post, I should point out that not only does Islana get Journey lyrics to properly express the angst in her soul, but so does Cleran. He also gets Def Leppard!

Look, their love is so magical and tragic it can only be expressed via 80s hairband lyrics, okay?

So tonight, wemblee made the fatal mistake of asking me what this whole Saga business is about, anyway. I do not think she expected me to spend the next hour and a half throwing insane amounts of text at her while (I assume) she stared in horror until her eyes glazed over. However, typing up the basic gist of the whole damn thing reminded me of several things worth noting:

1) I love this story very, very much;
2) This story is incredibly ridiculous;
3) I really have become much, much better at plotting/writing/world building/etc. I mean... of course I am, I've got a lot more practice at it now, but wow. It's been a few years since I've needed a deus ex machina so badly that I LITERALLY had God show up and fix things.

For those who are curious, below the cut is the whole "basic gist" thing. It includes (gasp!) spoilers for the story, but I assume no one is going to read it now (and would not, exactly, encourage people to do so...though I'd be thrilled if people did). I left in a few of the actually IMs between me and wemblee, when they amused me.

Here is what my first real SRS BZNSS attempt at writing looked like: ( I can remember thinking, with nary a trace of irony, "It'll be just like Romeo and Juliet, but fantasy!" )

Curious? Baffled? Want to MST it (oh god, I would laugh so hard)? This nonsense is still online, and did I mention, it was styled as "original anime"?

So I've been slowly rereading the Saga over the last few days, and mostly enjoying the heck out of it. I mean, doing a lot of wincing and giggling, because it is so very, very awkward, but that's to be expected (seeing as how most of it is over six years old. Whaaaat? When did this happen?).

But perhaps the most amusing -- now, I have never been and accept that I never will be much of an artist. That's why I'm very glad that, even back in the day, I realized Journey lyrics were by far the best way to express a character's pain.

*giggle*

Look, you know I love it when you go into story mode. You know I'm thrilled whenever I can get into the swing of the Saga; it's a tricky bitch to write for the last couple of years and I'm so close to done it hurts. And yes, I was stuck on plot points in the next chapter. I'm super glad you decided to work on it for me, and to suddenly hurl an entire chapter out of my subconscious into my actual conscious.

But could you maybe have done it at a more convenient time? Like, not between 1:30 AM and 5 AM? Because sleep would have been really nice, too. It would mean that there's a shot I'd transcribe some of those thoughts tonight, rather than sit on the couch and stare blankly at the wall, too tired to move. It also would have allowed me to be on time to work today, and not feel sick to my stomach from lack of sleep. That would be nice.

So not that I'm not grateful and all, but for real. We've got to work on this timing problem of ours.

Love,
Becky

The more I reread season two of the Saga, think about Kalin's backstory, and work on Kalin100 (hopefully the next piece will be done before I leave on my trip) the more I realize that, were I reading this instead of writing it, I would totally and completely slash Kalin and Erra. Heh.

I just discovered bodyandsoul100 and was instantly enchanted. Probably against my better judgement, I signed up. My character? Kalin.

Oooooh yeah. *so excited*

( Prompt table )


I'll also put the table on the Saga website, and I'll be posting responses here, not friendslocked (because hey, I already lost my first publishing rights for the Saga). Most of these will probably be pretty short, but eee! Kalin! (And yeah... the Saga will be updated for my birthday. Tomorrow. Or late tonight.)

You know, every picture I ever drew of Cleran had some kind of lyrics with it. Mostly 80s lyrics, too. How odd.

I just reread the whole Saga, both seasons. Well. Minus the first four chapters of season one; those were just a bit too painfully bad. But they were also written in 11th grade, which is long enough ago that they're bad enough I won't read them, but not so long ago that my attempts at writing were endearing. So really, they're just bad. Anyway.

( Musings on the Saga, both good and bad )

The Saga is not my best writing, and it's really pretty mediocre as far as planning goes. But it really, really is my baby. It was such a learning process for me, and it does deserve to be finished. *proud posture* I think I'll try and update within the next few days. We shall see.

From lynstraine: List your top ten (or five, if you don't have that many) favorite characters that you have ever created, including a brief description of each. Post the results in your journal or blog so that others can comment on your creations and do the meme themselves. :) Have fun!

I'm actually doing seven, but as I need to sleep, only four (Saga/Temira universe) tonight; the Underground will be tomorrow. Or... whenever I get around to it.

( Kalin Malistar, Serissa Aleann, Cleran, Daevan Bladedancer )

I'm undecided. A few days ago, an entire plot for a third season of the Saga dropped into my head, more or less uninvited. There are details I need to work out, but basically, yeah. But it's not related to any of the characters who are the focus of seasons one and two; it's really only tangentally related to the Saga at all.

Which is why I kind of don't want to put it online. With a few name changes, I don't think it would necessarily be a Saga project; it could easily stand on its own. With no first publishing rights violation, well... Why take a perfectly publishable idea and make it unpublishable?

On the other hand, I am relatively close to the end of season two, and I think finishing it would make me cry. The Saga has been a huge part of my development as a writer, and a lot of that is because its something I've had online. It's been the corner stone of my website for as long as I've had a website. Part of me wants to keep it going forever and ever, just because of how much I love having it as that kind of project. It's not my main focus anymore, but I really do love it.

So I'm all conflicted and just don't know what I want to do. Grumble.

Okay, so I was very bored and ran a whole bunch of characters through the original fiction Mary Sue test, including a few I'd already done to double check for accuracy. The final scores...

Saga
Islana: 57
Cleran: 46
Kalin: 66
Serissa: 40*

Underground
Katie: 31
Abraham: 47
Franklin: 32
Harriet: 24
Ida: 16

( Saga analysis [some spoilers for middle season 2] )

( Underground analysis )

( Conclusion-y ramble )

I finished the rough draft of the next Saga chapter, finally! And already sent it off to be edited, so it can't be killed again; I don't know how long she'll take, so we'll see when it actually goes up, but with any luck, soon. Sooooon.

Speaking of the Saga, I really enjoyed wring the Ilyan drabble a couple of weeks (monthish?) ago. If those of you who've read it are interested in giving a situation, I'd do more Saga drabbles/ficlets. (I was thinking "defining moments" type things, but really can't decide what they are for most characters. Ilyan's, obviously, was his death. Heh. Anyway, suggetions are welcome.)

So it turns out there's a litmus test for original characters. I couldn't help myself, out of curiosity, I ran Islana through it. Here are the things she scored for:

( Questions she failed )
Total: 74
71 points or more: Irredeemable-Sue. You're going to have to start over, my friend. I know you want to keep writing, but no. Just no.


Yes, I will take their advice and never write again, because clearly I have no talent and... ( Oh. Wait. )

I'm not saying the Saga is perfect, or even particularly good. And Islana is not even close to the best character in it--in fact, she and Cleran are probably the worst. Jereh and Tiernan are much better. But I don't think she's a Mary Sue, and I don't think that tests can accurately measure Mary Sue-ness in original stories.

WHY must the Saga be SO FUCKING HARD to write? It didn't used to be. But now, halfway through a chapter, it's more painful than pulling teeth and it's bad. It just is. The writing is terrible. And I'll end up posting it anyway, just to get THROUGH it, but that does not a happy camper make.

;jasdfl;kjadsl;kasdfl;adsll;kjasdfl;kj stupid characters.

Yay flist spam!

( #1 For Margot (still not canon) )

( #2 for Margot (very canon) )

( #3 for Margot )

( For Leah )

Again, keep 'em coming.

You know, I really wish I'd made Jereh a bit younger and Tiernan a bit older. (Also, I wish Jereh wasn't Cossette; but that's a different sort of 'I'm so dumb' wish entirely.) But at this point, really, Tiernan and Jereh's story arch is about my favorite part of the story. It's kind of the only one that makes sense, has a definite resolution, and is vaguely good. Oh, I am so filled with self esteem!

(I've been working on the Saga in class for a couple of days, so it's been on my mind.)

( On strong female characters; minor spoilers with major spoilers cut out )

I suppose the real ponderance should be on why we worry more about female characters' strength than male characters', but that's a different question entirely.

ETA: I finally decided what to do about friendslocking. It's only been six months... All writing is friendslocked; nothing else is. If you aren't on the friendslist and would like to be in order to see any of the writing entries, please comment. I also went through and categorized just about every entry in the memories, which is only interesting to me, personally. But it killed time, and that's the important thing.)

OMG Kalin/Serissa OTP!!!

Speaking of which, I finished the next chapter of the Saga; it just needs some editing. Woo!

And yeah, giant post of doom still forthcoming, when I have the time and don't feel like I'm about to collapse from exhaustion.

This... Is awesome.

I want to write the Saga. I want to. I can feel the characters; I know the next scene; I have everything in my head. It's flowing. It's like a dam broke and it's pouring out like water: the characters, the situation, the plot (finally).

I've been trying to get myself back into a Saga headspace for two years. Two entire years, and it just... broke.

I am writing instead of napping.

I love it.

Coming tomorrow. I have been rereading the Saga and have lots to say, but have to go to bed, since I have a final in 7 hours and 15 minutes. Lovely, that.

(Notes to self: Unfortunate dialogue syndrome, seemed like a good idea at the time syndrome, why I'm glad I learned to outline, and ahahahahaha, are Kalin and Erra dating???)

A short, Saga-related piece. Ilyan's POV, somewhere during the current mess of chapters where Islana doesn't actually appear. She's busy recovering and, you know, sulking, on Kalatsu while the story is elsewhere.

( watching )

x-posted to 500_aday, a community of super-spiffiness.