The only reason I watch Adult Swim anymore is to keep up with Bleach... within the year, even that part of my routine will be gone.
College was the first time I gave that block of animation on Cartoon Network a chance. I discovered Inuyasha along with FullMetal Alchemist (both series), Kekkaishi and Bleach...
good times...
Every now and then when I watch on Saturday night, they'll show clips of the various shows featured on the block. Whenever I see any image of Inuyasha, something inside me always reacts.
I still very much adore him and hope to find the strength and decisiveness to revamp my fanfiction turned original work inspired by him into something I can publish.
Sadly, that's a time that just seems too far away. Like Jonas, never seeing the light of day beyond my laptop. It's a combination of not having the will power and the brain power to keep going. Finding the pieces I need to fix to make it one more marketable and the other more my own creation.
When it comes to my sources of inspiration over the years, I tend to fall in love pretty easily. Within a few episodes, chapters or whatever, I know I'm in for the long haul.
Inuyasha took a little while longer. Of course, I enjoyed the storyline, that good old conflict between good and evil, the colorful cast and enchantment of the world.
But I didn't get that gut feeling until some time later. I'm not sure which episode set it off... usually I can pinpoint these things more precisely.
More or less, I found him particularly fascinating/interesting because he's not your typical leading man. Heck, he's more an anti-hero than a hero... earlier in the series, he could be seen a bad guy, but not the most devious by any means.
Up until that point, my male protagonists have been straight-forward or they have an air of mystery to them.
Inuyasha has that air of mystery too, but unlike the other guys, you had to get to know him before finding he was good deep down. I guess you could call that the "tough-guy archetype," acting tough to cover up emotional insecurities. Not an entirely new concept by any means, but the first time I fell for that archetype in a romantic sense.
Not that I see myself getting in that position in real life :-P
Somehow, it's just important to me that I explore that fully in my work in some capacity.
Romance, to me, is self-sacrifice, putting another's happiness and well-being over your own. Being there for another person through the good and bad. Helping them find themselves whether or not they know they're lost. Bringing out the best in them.
Jonas's story had quite a bit of the self-sacrifice in it as well. Nina wanted to do it for Jonas and Jonas wanted to do it because he wanted his world to be rid of evil... because as the reincarnation of an angel, it's in his makeup.
My Inuyasha fanfiction gave me the chance to do the same thing... but with my character who sacrifices herself for his happiness, since his existence saved her life.
And to top it all off, his safeguards came down in her passing. Their own relationship was kinda about that too. He saw her as an equal. She tested his patience on a number of occasions and he realized things about himself he never knew.
Well, that last part is always in my work... love allows the characters who'd otherwise been alone to flourish, to see themselves as more than how they'd been and love leads to them becoming better people.
At least all those things USED to be in my work... but for my peace of mind, I'll have these notes down for safe keeping when I feel I'm ready to return.
It's funny... I have this distinct idea of what I feel romance is... yet I've never been truly in love.
Showing posts with label animé inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animé inspiration. Show all posts
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Animé Inspiration: Sailor Moon
I'm not sure what it is about this series, why I feel so protective of it, hate to hear it be made of fun and no matter what, determined to be faithful to it...
although my faithfulness goes as far as the third season of the original series with the original animation and voice acting cast.
Before it went over to Cartoon Network, changed all that and kinda turned into a joke. Whether it was because an American company wanted to change it and make it more solid or whatever else...
But if I'm going to be legit about this, I'll discard the third season right away in saying it was my least favorite.
As if they found an excuse to keep Serena and Darien from ending up together...
supposedly he'd been having nightmares, this voice telling him to stay away from Serena or something bad will happen to her.
On top of all that, his affection for her had been "displaced" in Rini... this obvious little girl with pink hair who supposedly came from the future to enlist the help of Sailor Moon in order to save her mom, neo-Queen Serenity, from some sort of illness or something otherwise caused by the villains.
Sure, Rini is technically Serena and Darien's future daughter and all that, and her attitude is 100% Serena, so there's karma there.
I honestly don't know what I took harder, having to deal with HER or having to deal with the break-up of Serena and Darien.
As if my entire life's happiness depended on them staying together.
It's just one of those things I guess. I know people are meant to be together so I get pissed when something comes in the way of that.
Sure, I get bent out of shape about it on "All my Children," but eventually I do make peace with some couples and other "destined" couples eventually do come back together.
So forget that part of Sailor Moon.
The first season was about coming to terms of destiny. Serena finding out she was Sailor Moon and the reincarnation of Princess Serena of the Moon Kingdom. As well as her meeting up with her fellow Sailor Scout friends, character development more or less.
The second season was mainly about Serena and Darien getting back together. The only difference is that Serena knows they're destined, but conventionally, he has to spend another season with amnesia.
The first season went a little into how he never really knew who he was, learning the extent of that, becoming Queen Beryl's slave, and losing his memory all over again after the Sailor Scouts triumphed over evil. To be fair, though, everyone lost their memories after that altercation.
Yet they all get those memories back about each other, their identities, etc. within 2 shows of the 2nd season. Why does Darien get the short end of the stick AGAIN?
Nostalgia Critic was right, that WAS a bigger tease than Jim & Pam from "The Office"... but I didn't really feel like it was a tease because I came into that show a few seasons in. So I didn't have to "suffer" through like that everyone else.
Nostalgia Critic went into how predictable and formulaic Sailor Moon was and also asked why it was so popular.
As a HUGE devotee, I really can't put my finger on it myself.
I know there are huge problems with the series, don't get me wrong. But yet, I freaking adore it.
It actually got me started with my writing. The memories of the things I loved about the show were still very strong and livid in my mind.
My favorite angle, as it seems in a lot of Japanese animation... is reincarnation. The idea of people in our time having a destiny from a previous life and coming face to face with it.
I drag that out quite a bit with Jonas... heck, it seems like everyone else (well, Nina, his horses and iguanas) know it before he does...
But regardless, I just love that.. as well as the destiny he has to find the courage to fulfill.
Sometimes I wonder if Nina should have had a place in his previous life... what happens later with her character, way later, would make a lot more sense.
The biggest critique that Sailor Moon gets is... pretty close between the recycled animation that they show every single time and the fact Serena is unreliable and unable to get herself out of trouble.
Why I find her endearing, I'm not quite sure. But I do know that I get annoyed when people undervalue her or are downright mean to her. Darien's kind of a jerk early on so it's hard to imagine them being together... at least until I found out the full extent of his character so I take that with a grain of salt because there is EVENTUALLY a pay-off.
The main perp is Raye aka Sailor Mars. Her attitude is horrible, always putting down Serena, never taking her seriously. I suppose there has to be a character like that in the Sailor Scouts, but does it have to be the one with dark hair and dark eyes like me?
I have a little more in common with Lita, but I think she has green eyes.
Mina/Sailor Venus, I don't really know all that well, but what I have seen of her, I like her a lot.
Amy/Sailor Mercury, we're both brainacs, but her IQ is off the charts, unlike mine :-P
Raye is the reason why I have the antagonist Rayven in "Jonas"... at least I gave her a little more original character than Mai, who was pretty much Mai Valentine in different surrounding and minus the Duel Monsters cards
So yeah, my love for it comes from the reincarnation angle, reliving destinies, true-destined love...
I'm a sucker for a couple that's meant to be together. I just wish there wasn't so much drama about it.
As far the so-called "fanservice" angle, the fact that all the girls are 14-15-16 and overly sexualized with the sexy Japanese schoolgirl uniforms...
I don't read into it quite as much as everyone else has. I don't care that that's there... I suppose that is there because "sex sells" as the classic saying goes.
But I take it the same way as I do with "Suckerpunch"... I swear, I thought that was going to be a hit because of how it looked... Yeah, I hate when people read into stuff so deep so to ruin it people like me trying to enjoy ourselves.
I just enjoy that kind of stuff. That's how I roll :sigh:
although my faithfulness goes as far as the third season of the original series with the original animation and voice acting cast.
Before it went over to Cartoon Network, changed all that and kinda turned into a joke. Whether it was because an American company wanted to change it and make it more solid or whatever else...
But if I'm going to be legit about this, I'll discard the third season right away in saying it was my least favorite.
As if they found an excuse to keep Serena and Darien from ending up together...
supposedly he'd been having nightmares, this voice telling him to stay away from Serena or something bad will happen to her.
On top of all that, his affection for her had been "displaced" in Rini... this obvious little girl with pink hair who supposedly came from the future to enlist the help of Sailor Moon in order to save her mom, neo-Queen Serenity, from some sort of illness or something otherwise caused by the villains.
Sure, Rini is technically Serena and Darien's future daughter and all that, and her attitude is 100% Serena, so there's karma there.
I honestly don't know what I took harder, having to deal with HER or having to deal with the break-up of Serena and Darien.
As if my entire life's happiness depended on them staying together.
It's just one of those things I guess. I know people are meant to be together so I get pissed when something comes in the way of that.
Sure, I get bent out of shape about it on "All my Children," but eventually I do make peace with some couples and other "destined" couples eventually do come back together.
So forget that part of Sailor Moon.
The first season was about coming to terms of destiny. Serena finding out she was Sailor Moon and the reincarnation of Princess Serena of the Moon Kingdom. As well as her meeting up with her fellow Sailor Scout friends, character development more or less.
The second season was mainly about Serena and Darien getting back together. The only difference is that Serena knows they're destined, but conventionally, he has to spend another season with amnesia.
The first season went a little into how he never really knew who he was, learning the extent of that, becoming Queen Beryl's slave, and losing his memory all over again after the Sailor Scouts triumphed over evil. To be fair, though, everyone lost their memories after that altercation.
Yet they all get those memories back about each other, their identities, etc. within 2 shows of the 2nd season. Why does Darien get the short end of the stick AGAIN?
Nostalgia Critic was right, that WAS a bigger tease than Jim & Pam from "The Office"... but I didn't really feel like it was a tease because I came into that show a few seasons in. So I didn't have to "suffer" through like that everyone else.
Nostalgia Critic went into how predictable and formulaic Sailor Moon was and also asked why it was so popular.
As a HUGE devotee, I really can't put my finger on it myself.
I know there are huge problems with the series, don't get me wrong. But yet, I freaking adore it.
It actually got me started with my writing. The memories of the things I loved about the show were still very strong and livid in my mind.
My favorite angle, as it seems in a lot of Japanese animation... is reincarnation. The idea of people in our time having a destiny from a previous life and coming face to face with it.
I drag that out quite a bit with Jonas... heck, it seems like everyone else (well, Nina, his horses and iguanas) know it before he does...
But regardless, I just love that.. as well as the destiny he has to find the courage to fulfill.
Sometimes I wonder if Nina should have had a place in his previous life... what happens later with her character, way later, would make a lot more sense.
The biggest critique that Sailor Moon gets is... pretty close between the recycled animation that they show every single time and the fact Serena is unreliable and unable to get herself out of trouble.
Why I find her endearing, I'm not quite sure. But I do know that I get annoyed when people undervalue her or are downright mean to her. Darien's kind of a jerk early on so it's hard to imagine them being together... at least until I found out the full extent of his character so I take that with a grain of salt because there is EVENTUALLY a pay-off.
The main perp is Raye aka Sailor Mars. Her attitude is horrible, always putting down Serena, never taking her seriously. I suppose there has to be a character like that in the Sailor Scouts, but does it have to be the one with dark hair and dark eyes like me?
I have a little more in common with Lita, but I think she has green eyes.
Mina/Sailor Venus, I don't really know all that well, but what I have seen of her, I like her a lot.
Amy/Sailor Mercury, we're both brainacs, but her IQ is off the charts, unlike mine :-P
Raye is the reason why I have the antagonist Rayven in "Jonas"... at least I gave her a little more original character than Mai, who was pretty much Mai Valentine in different surrounding and minus the Duel Monsters cards
So yeah, my love for it comes from the reincarnation angle, reliving destinies, true-destined love...
I'm a sucker for a couple that's meant to be together. I just wish there wasn't so much drama about it.
As far the so-called "fanservice" angle, the fact that all the girls are 14-15-16 and overly sexualized with the sexy Japanese schoolgirl uniforms...
I don't read into it quite as much as everyone else has. I don't care that that's there... I suppose that is there because "sex sells" as the classic saying goes.
But I take it the same way as I do with "Suckerpunch"... I swear, I thought that was going to be a hit because of how it looked... Yeah, I hate when people read into stuff so deep so to ruin it people like me trying to enjoy ourselves.
I just enjoy that kind of stuff. That's how I roll :sigh:
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Animé Inspiration: InuYasha
One thing that's been a constant throughout my "writing" years... which is, at this point, half of my life... cuz I started when I was 13...
When I find a new source of interest, something I can totally leap into and get lost in, chances are extremely good (like, 90% if not 100 of the time) that it'll find its way into my writing at some point...
All of it blurs together eventually... where it's all that 4Kids animation making its way into my Pokémon fanfiction... or my new favorite movies being referenced in my novels ("Phantom of the Opera" into my sequel to Jonas's story... which is so weak in its overall storyline that I highly doubt anyone will be reading it)...
I have seen very little of that lately. The last huge inspiration I had was Mr. Downey, after whom I'd written a few accounts with his characters in mind... Larry Paul from "Ally McBeal" and Julian Wells from "Less than Zero"... characters pretty hard to let go of while watching their perspective source material.
Only difference is that I doubt I can stomach "Less than Zero" in its entirety ever again.
Other than that, all my writing has been blogging... whether it's mentioning my latest favorite movies and books and actors and musicians... or discussing ideas I'm considering writing about.
I've found it very hard to commit to any sort of long-term project because I don't know where to begin. Plus all the stuff I'd learn either in my creative writing class or online from my writer's digest newsletters puts a lot of extra pressure on me, things that I have to keep in mind, and honestly, it's a major hassle trying to get everything just right...
Supposing I develop that degree of OCD in my writing and I'd never get anything done...
Nothing really new to report on Cassandra (which I haven't looked at in MONTHS) or Te Busque (I'm golden as long as I don't tire of my 30+ song playlists)...
What I'm eventually gonna discuss happened during Bleach the other night...
the series is finally starting to pick back up again. Not just being back to the main story arc, but we're finally back to the main characters... Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime, Chad and Reji... which I haven't seen any of in what feels like FOREVER... certainly not in this story arc...
They showed a commercial that was a mish-mash of all the different animé on Toonami/Adult Swim... seeing the few clips they showed of InuYasha had me heart swell like it hadn't in a long time... not that it's been FOREVER since the last time I watched any of my DVD's (I think I blew close to $200 on those DVD's, money I had saved up on the side, within 3-5 month period, lol... but I have them, therefore I am grateful I'm able to look back).
For a number of reasons, I'd used the likeness of Sesshomaru as my avatar for a number of blogs I've operated over recent years. Around that time, I was starting to find a great deal of interest in him, and he kinda represented the next direction I was going in (blogging about the elusive musician Prince), having that same type of personality.
Anyways, I was basking in the glow of all those clips I hadn't seen in a long time and I brought out my iPod to listen to some animé themes I found online...
after putting the entirety of my fav animé soundtracks on my iPod, I had since removed all but three because, let's face it, I wasn't listening to them and they were taking up space for other music.
Luckily I left behind "Come"... I believe it's the 2nd to last ending theme used in InuYasha... it's one of those nighttime anthems I like to listen to before bed because the visual is rooted in darkness, night time imagery... very soothing and relaxing...
then right behind it was "Life" by Yui... one of the ending themes for Bleach... my god, the first time I heard it, I absolutely fell in love with it... they started using it during the latter part of the story arc where Ichigo is rescuing Rukia from execution in the Soul Society... when he actually starts to get around to achieving that objective
so anyway, between those two, I was feeling pretty good...
then any possibility of falling asleep was interrupted by the ice forming in my veins...
I double-checked online last night as well as this morning to make sure my complaint to Amazon held...
last September, I did an entry about someone who stole "White Tiger" and presented it as their own work... someone let me know about this, I made the complaint to Amazon and they had since removed the listing from their site (and I believe the rest of her works as well). I checked all through the Internet to submit the allegations if they weren't alleged already...
someone already got to her GoodReads account, posting on all of her "stories" that they were stolen
and for your viewing pleasure, I'll include someone's mention of the June Ashley scandal... she was either the person who clued me in or a friend of hers that was a victim
http://raicodoll.tumblr.com/post/32485276156
be sure to spread the word
I'd say that "thankfully" I took care of this before too much could be screwed up...
but it would seem none of the stuff she stole was good enough to receive any acclaim...
I don't think I saw a single one with more than a 2 star-review...
my story when it was on Amazon had maybe 3 positive reviews and the rest were very negative...
that has me seething on the inside in a "rolling in my grave" sort of way... I felt bad about the things they said about my story, that they didn't like it and, worse, it sounded like it was written by a kid...
my ego took a hit, but perhaps it was for the best
I hadn't thought about this in quite a few months, but my peace of mind was immediately arrested... and I'm having trouble making bail... all proverbially, of course
One of these days, I do hope to make good on this story... but there's an overwhelming wealth of edits I still need to do...
as I'm sure I'd posted a couple of times, I want to avoid any sort of scandal, someone telling me that my material infringes on InuYasha and I shouldn't take complete credit for that...
I have a strong enough character (in her overall make-up, not so much as a person) that I can totally make good for her sake.
I thought this over last night when I was having trouble falling asleep.
How much of my original material, my fanfiction, could I change and/or would need to change for me to escape comparison?
One of the latest best sellers was "50 shades of grey"... which I have yet to read (and don't have any immediate plans to do so... but I wouldn't rule it out)... but originally started out as a fanfiction of "Twilight"... and nobody draws the comparisons anymore...
lol...
I'd say "If E.L. James can do it, I can do it too"... except I don't plan on turning my story into an X-rated S&M sex romp
The principle is the same though... if she can make a departure from a fanfiction and make it a success story, I can do the same...
My storyline is solid... for the most part...
if anything, I was thinking of changing a few character back stories and completely removing one villain from the equation...
so technically, some version of Sesshomaru will still be in the mix... but I'll have to make him less of what he is... he's a character where you can't be completely sure of how evil and bad he is because he has that duality, that grey area... he'll be more ruthless... and to eliminate Naraku from the equation, I might decide for my Sesshomaru character to have a partner or assistant who is versed in sorcery... he or she will make his/her way into the mix for one specific scene where Chihiro is possessed and under this possession or spell, rather, she'll fight Lucas (my Inuyasha character) to the death... or until love breaks the spell...
which leaves the matter of whether I need the Koga character in the story at all.. it's a little too much like the InuYasha story arc if I have all of his enemies in it in some form...
Koga was a great match for Chihiro in the fanfiction cuz they could stay toe-to-toe with one another in a fight and eventually they forge an alliance with one another...
which kinda goes bust at the end of things because Chihiro loses her life for Lucas
hmm... for that matter, do I need Anna (my version of Kagome) in there at all either?
all I really need from the InuYasha universe is him, (at minimum) one of his comrades in some form (Miroku was the most logic choice because he's good with healing too, something necessary for this story to work), and a villain (Sesshomaru is the best candidate, of course)
there's also the biological connotations... that's probably the biggest giveaway aside from Lucas's personality... Chihiro is shunned because she's a white tiger, something I conjured up as the result of her heritage... which is half-human...
same thing with Lucas because, like Inuyasha, he's half-human
I'd like to keep this as close to the source of inspiration as I can... in a "closest to the retail price without going over" sort of way...
I could easily take humans out of the equation and write that they were outcasts simply because they have white hair... I can blame it on albinism... or some genetic mutation... cuz albinism is white with red eyes and they have to have blue eyes
Either way, Chihiro's father has to be someone who exists outside her clan, her family... I penned that her father was a samurai that lacked in self-confidence and her mother helped train him after he saved her life...
no, I don't think I have enough brain power to conjure up something more plausible than the idea I already have in place...
if I keep Anna in the story at all, the change I'd make is her about Bastian (my version of Miroku) being brother and sister... but I'm starting to think that it might be a good idea to take her out of the story to dispel similarities...
meaning that I have Lucas's companion down to being like Miroku or Sango... but it's kinda hard to bring Sango back into the mix when I have things pretty solid with Miroku's likeness
in fact one things that Anna brought to the story was complication... and one that was kinda hard for me to wriggle out of...
Chihiro doesn't confess her feelings for Lucas until the end of the story... on her death bed... because she didn't want to get in the way of his relationship with Anna... and Anna (and for that matter, Kagome in my fanfiction) was so easy going with this the entire time... the impossible wriggle-room is that she's okay with Chihiro's developing relationship with Lucas rather than jealous or possessive... nobody is that perfect
I could work up a storyline bearing little similiarity to the original source material...
One of Inuyasha's deepest flaws that is a continued nuisance throughout the series is his love of Kikyo... whether in life or death, he's unable to get over her... when, meanwhile, he's in a relationship with Kagome, her reincarnation...
I took Kikyo out of the equation for my doctored-up fanfiction because it was one too many love interests...
I could pen up that Kagome was the one who died...
and it could work with the brother-sister idea I have with Anna & Bastian were brother and sister... although it could make for an uneasy alliance between him and Lucas... especially if it was Sesshomaru that killed her... ultimately she would have been targeted because of her relationship with him...
the alliance could be made because Bastian wants to get revenge for Anna's death... it's a common goal for the two of them, but there's more than just this determining
Ultimately, it'll boil down to what I feel is right... making all these changes just to avoid myself getting pegged for plagiarizing... there's gotta be a little give and take if I'm really serious about trying to publish this thing...
and as of right now, I still have a long way to go. I started editing it, changing from 3rd POV to 1st... from Chihiro's POV... that included an ample backstory...
I can think of at least one character I can remove from the equation that I'd feel guilt-free about... InuYasha had the priestess Kaede, Kikyo's younger sister, whom Kagome met when she crossed over to the Feudal Era and learned a bit about Inuyasha and the type of world they live in with demons and about the sacred jewel...
she only appeared in a couple scenes in my story under a different name... she told Chihiro about Lucas's past, what he was like and they exchanged a few bits of dialogue
she also sees her later on, after the story flashes forward, and updates her on how Lucas has been since the fateful night they all came into each other's company...
She's merely there to give some extra background information that the protagonist doesn't know and obviously can't divine clairvoyently...
I mean, what's more romantic... potentially... than coming in contact with a handsome stranger, on the brink of death... the only wrench in this is that Chihiro's young when she meets Lucas... Although I suppose a 5 year age difference wouldn't be a huge deal...
It'd be interesting to revisit that part, if only to write that part again...
It'd be hard to let go of Kagome/Anna... but to make things smoother, it might be necessary...
Chihiro giving her life for Lucas is the ultimate sacrifice and this complicated relationship (beset by the relationship between Lucas and Anna) is the reason she has no regrets about it. Because she only wished for his happiness and her being there would only get in the way of them.
hmm... come to think of it, that would be asking for too much... the only other time Lucas falling in love, the girl dies, and Chihiro dying would make it 2 for 2... talk about depressing...
why can't she be the one to melt his cold heart, who never saw any reason to put trust in anyone before meeting her?
...
right now, I'm picturing an interesting scene... the day after Chihiro meets Lucas, heals his wounds and such, he wakes up to find himself alone but his close to fatal wounds being close to fully healed... then he's having a conversation with Bastian, musing about the interesting circumstance allowed... of course this can only be something I write on the side. It's Chihiro's story so it's not like this discussion can be in the same place as her narrative.
I still have a lot to figure out with this story, but I'm just saying it'd be nice if I can get things off the ground, there's more of me in there than my source of inspiration... a great, but tragic, love story
and her tragic flaw is that she lacked such self-confidence that she was afraid to love because she was afraid she'd never receive love in return.
..something like that...
When I find a new source of interest, something I can totally leap into and get lost in, chances are extremely good (like, 90% if not 100 of the time) that it'll find its way into my writing at some point...
All of it blurs together eventually... where it's all that 4Kids animation making its way into my Pokémon fanfiction... or my new favorite movies being referenced in my novels ("Phantom of the Opera" into my sequel to Jonas's story... which is so weak in its overall storyline that I highly doubt anyone will be reading it)...
I have seen very little of that lately. The last huge inspiration I had was Mr. Downey, after whom I'd written a few accounts with his characters in mind... Larry Paul from "Ally McBeal" and Julian Wells from "Less than Zero"... characters pretty hard to let go of while watching their perspective source material.
Only difference is that I doubt I can stomach "Less than Zero" in its entirety ever again.
Other than that, all my writing has been blogging... whether it's mentioning my latest favorite movies and books and actors and musicians... or discussing ideas I'm considering writing about.
I've found it very hard to commit to any sort of long-term project because I don't know where to begin. Plus all the stuff I'd learn either in my creative writing class or online from my writer's digest newsletters puts a lot of extra pressure on me, things that I have to keep in mind, and honestly, it's a major hassle trying to get everything just right...
Supposing I develop that degree of OCD in my writing and I'd never get anything done...
Nothing really new to report on Cassandra (which I haven't looked at in MONTHS) or Te Busque (I'm golden as long as I don't tire of my 30+ song playlists)...
What I'm eventually gonna discuss happened during Bleach the other night...
the series is finally starting to pick back up again. Not just being back to the main story arc, but we're finally back to the main characters... Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime, Chad and Reji... which I haven't seen any of in what feels like FOREVER... certainly not in this story arc...
They showed a commercial that was a mish-mash of all the different animé on Toonami/Adult Swim... seeing the few clips they showed of InuYasha had me heart swell like it hadn't in a long time... not that it's been FOREVER since the last time I watched any of my DVD's (I think I blew close to $200 on those DVD's, money I had saved up on the side, within 3-5 month period, lol... but I have them, therefore I am grateful I'm able to look back).
For a number of reasons, I'd used the likeness of Sesshomaru as my avatar for a number of blogs I've operated over recent years. Around that time, I was starting to find a great deal of interest in him, and he kinda represented the next direction I was going in (blogging about the elusive musician Prince), having that same type of personality.
Anyways, I was basking in the glow of all those clips I hadn't seen in a long time and I brought out my iPod to listen to some animé themes I found online...
after putting the entirety of my fav animé soundtracks on my iPod, I had since removed all but three because, let's face it, I wasn't listening to them and they were taking up space for other music.
Luckily I left behind "Come"... I believe it's the 2nd to last ending theme used in InuYasha... it's one of those nighttime anthems I like to listen to before bed because the visual is rooted in darkness, night time imagery... very soothing and relaxing...
then right behind it was "Life" by Yui... one of the ending themes for Bleach... my god, the first time I heard it, I absolutely fell in love with it... they started using it during the latter part of the story arc where Ichigo is rescuing Rukia from execution in the Soul Society... when he actually starts to get around to achieving that objective
so anyway, between those two, I was feeling pretty good...
then any possibility of falling asleep was interrupted by the ice forming in my veins...
I double-checked online last night as well as this morning to make sure my complaint to Amazon held...
last September, I did an entry about someone who stole "White Tiger" and presented it as their own work... someone let me know about this, I made the complaint to Amazon and they had since removed the listing from their site (and I believe the rest of her works as well). I checked all through the Internet to submit the allegations if they weren't alleged already...
someone already got to her GoodReads account, posting on all of her "stories" that they were stolen
and for your viewing pleasure, I'll include someone's mention of the June Ashley scandal... she was either the person who clued me in or a friend of hers that was a victim
http://raicodoll.tumblr.com/post/32485276156
be sure to spread the word
I'd say that "thankfully" I took care of this before too much could be screwed up...
but it would seem none of the stuff she stole was good enough to receive any acclaim...
I don't think I saw a single one with more than a 2 star-review...
my story when it was on Amazon had maybe 3 positive reviews and the rest were very negative...
that has me seething on the inside in a "rolling in my grave" sort of way... I felt bad about the things they said about my story, that they didn't like it and, worse, it sounded like it was written by a kid...
my ego took a hit, but perhaps it was for the best
I hadn't thought about this in quite a few months, but my peace of mind was immediately arrested... and I'm having trouble making bail... all proverbially, of course
One of these days, I do hope to make good on this story... but there's an overwhelming wealth of edits I still need to do...
as I'm sure I'd posted a couple of times, I want to avoid any sort of scandal, someone telling me that my material infringes on InuYasha and I shouldn't take complete credit for that...
I have a strong enough character (in her overall make-up, not so much as a person) that I can totally make good for her sake.
I thought this over last night when I was having trouble falling asleep.
How much of my original material, my fanfiction, could I change and/or would need to change for me to escape comparison?
One of the latest best sellers was "50 shades of grey"... which I have yet to read (and don't have any immediate plans to do so... but I wouldn't rule it out)... but originally started out as a fanfiction of "Twilight"... and nobody draws the comparisons anymore...
lol...
I'd say "If E.L. James can do it, I can do it too"... except I don't plan on turning my story into an X-rated S&M sex romp
The principle is the same though... if she can make a departure from a fanfiction and make it a success story, I can do the same...
My storyline is solid... for the most part...
if anything, I was thinking of changing a few character back stories and completely removing one villain from the equation...
so technically, some version of Sesshomaru will still be in the mix... but I'll have to make him less of what he is... he's a character where you can't be completely sure of how evil and bad he is because he has that duality, that grey area... he'll be more ruthless... and to eliminate Naraku from the equation, I might decide for my Sesshomaru character to have a partner or assistant who is versed in sorcery... he or she will make his/her way into the mix for one specific scene where Chihiro is possessed and under this possession or spell, rather, she'll fight Lucas (my Inuyasha character) to the death... or until love breaks the spell...
which leaves the matter of whether I need the Koga character in the story at all.. it's a little too much like the InuYasha story arc if I have all of his enemies in it in some form...
Koga was a great match for Chihiro in the fanfiction cuz they could stay toe-to-toe with one another in a fight and eventually they forge an alliance with one another...
which kinda goes bust at the end of things because Chihiro loses her life for Lucas
hmm... for that matter, do I need Anna (my version of Kagome) in there at all either?
all I really need from the InuYasha universe is him, (at minimum) one of his comrades in some form (Miroku was the most logic choice because he's good with healing too, something necessary for this story to work), and a villain (Sesshomaru is the best candidate, of course)
there's also the biological connotations... that's probably the biggest giveaway aside from Lucas's personality... Chihiro is shunned because she's a white tiger, something I conjured up as the result of her heritage... which is half-human...
same thing with Lucas because, like Inuyasha, he's half-human
I'd like to keep this as close to the source of inspiration as I can... in a "closest to the retail price without going over" sort of way...
I could easily take humans out of the equation and write that they were outcasts simply because they have white hair... I can blame it on albinism... or some genetic mutation... cuz albinism is white with red eyes and they have to have blue eyes
Either way, Chihiro's father has to be someone who exists outside her clan, her family... I penned that her father was a samurai that lacked in self-confidence and her mother helped train him after he saved her life...
no, I don't think I have enough brain power to conjure up something more plausible than the idea I already have in place...
if I keep Anna in the story at all, the change I'd make is her about Bastian (my version of Miroku) being brother and sister... but I'm starting to think that it might be a good idea to take her out of the story to dispel similarities...
meaning that I have Lucas's companion down to being like Miroku or Sango... but it's kinda hard to bring Sango back into the mix when I have things pretty solid with Miroku's likeness
in fact one things that Anna brought to the story was complication... and one that was kinda hard for me to wriggle out of...
Chihiro doesn't confess her feelings for Lucas until the end of the story... on her death bed... because she didn't want to get in the way of his relationship with Anna... and Anna (and for that matter, Kagome in my fanfiction) was so easy going with this the entire time... the impossible wriggle-room is that she's okay with Chihiro's developing relationship with Lucas rather than jealous or possessive... nobody is that perfect
I could work up a storyline bearing little similiarity to the original source material...
One of Inuyasha's deepest flaws that is a continued nuisance throughout the series is his love of Kikyo... whether in life or death, he's unable to get over her... when, meanwhile, he's in a relationship with Kagome, her reincarnation...
I took Kikyo out of the equation for my doctored-up fanfiction because it was one too many love interests...
I could pen up that Kagome was the one who died...
and it could work with the brother-sister idea I have with Anna & Bastian were brother and sister... although it could make for an uneasy alliance between him and Lucas... especially if it was Sesshomaru that killed her... ultimately she would have been targeted because of her relationship with him...
the alliance could be made because Bastian wants to get revenge for Anna's death... it's a common goal for the two of them, but there's more than just this determining
Ultimately, it'll boil down to what I feel is right... making all these changes just to avoid myself getting pegged for plagiarizing... there's gotta be a little give and take if I'm really serious about trying to publish this thing...
and as of right now, I still have a long way to go. I started editing it, changing from 3rd POV to 1st... from Chihiro's POV... that included an ample backstory...
I can think of at least one character I can remove from the equation that I'd feel guilt-free about... InuYasha had the priestess Kaede, Kikyo's younger sister, whom Kagome met when she crossed over to the Feudal Era and learned a bit about Inuyasha and the type of world they live in with demons and about the sacred jewel...
she only appeared in a couple scenes in my story under a different name... she told Chihiro about Lucas's past, what he was like and they exchanged a few bits of dialogue
she also sees her later on, after the story flashes forward, and updates her on how Lucas has been since the fateful night they all came into each other's company...
She's merely there to give some extra background information that the protagonist doesn't know and obviously can't divine clairvoyently...
I mean, what's more romantic... potentially... than coming in contact with a handsome stranger, on the brink of death... the only wrench in this is that Chihiro's young when she meets Lucas... Although I suppose a 5 year age difference wouldn't be a huge deal...
It'd be interesting to revisit that part, if only to write that part again...
It'd be hard to let go of Kagome/Anna... but to make things smoother, it might be necessary...
Chihiro giving her life for Lucas is the ultimate sacrifice and this complicated relationship (beset by the relationship between Lucas and Anna) is the reason she has no regrets about it. Because she only wished for his happiness and her being there would only get in the way of them.
hmm... come to think of it, that would be asking for too much... the only other time Lucas falling in love, the girl dies, and Chihiro dying would make it 2 for 2... talk about depressing...
why can't she be the one to melt his cold heart, who never saw any reason to put trust in anyone before meeting her?
...
right now, I'm picturing an interesting scene... the day after Chihiro meets Lucas, heals his wounds and such, he wakes up to find himself alone but his close to fatal wounds being close to fully healed... then he's having a conversation with Bastian, musing about the interesting circumstance allowed... of course this can only be something I write on the side. It's Chihiro's story so it's not like this discussion can be in the same place as her narrative.
I still have a lot to figure out with this story, but I'm just saying it'd be nice if I can get things off the ground, there's more of me in there than my source of inspiration... a great, but tragic, love story
and her tragic flaw is that she lacked such self-confidence that she was afraid to love because she was afraid she'd never receive love in return.
..something like that...
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Animé Inspirations/Influences
Since the very beginning of my writing "career," if you wanna call it that... I wouldn't define it as such until I've either secured an agent that will stick with my work no matter or I've published something on Amazon... both of which are currently in progress
When I was 13 and recouping from back surgery, writing helped me get away from things. By this point, there wasn't pain to speak of, by December, I was over most of it. But I had a dream, filled in the blanks and started a series of Pokémon fanfiction as my own way of wish-fulfillment.
If something was on my mind, good or bad, I put it in there and dealt with it. Of course I was living in my own little fantasy world, so there weren't a lot of real-life implications. It did help me blow off some steam... I'll leave it like that.
A lot of things I've written came from the genre or developed from it or otherwise influenced.
Sailor Moon worked its way into my early work with its talk of reincarnation and spell-casting.
Miyazaki's "Spirited Away," as I must have said a million times on this blog already... was the final puzzle piece that turned into Jonas's story. Part of me will always secretly know that it was something of a fanfiction of the movie that had a lot of different sources mixed together. Fanfiction in that Nina was a newcomer, like the beginning of the movie before the spirit world comes into place, I derived from that for my starting point. And the rest was answering the question: if Chihiro and Haku met again in her new life, how would it go down?
Of course Jonas blossomed into his own character that was the combination of a dozen things. Haku was one. There was a little of myself there, maybe a lot more than most characters I wrote about early on. A little Harry Potter, I guess, with the backstory that Jonas grew up without his parents... who died under mysterious circumstances. Although I still don't entirely buy that. And there was a little of Darien from Sailor Moon... when I tried to come up with a sketch of what he would look like, we have that. Jonas has more going for him than just being a prince that came from Earth, paired with Princess Serena of the Moon Kingdom.
One story I recently took back from someone who tried to make profit off it on Amazon... started as an InuYasha fanfiction, but I liked my character too much to let her stay in that capacity.
Ironic that I wanted her to move into her own element, her own world so I didn't completely lose her... but at the same time, she dies at the end of the story.
Bleach, I love... and still do, even though it has gotten so convoluted and side-tracked by different story arcs and such... you get the feeling that it's never going to end. Luckily, word is that it has ended in Japan somewhere around 340+ ep's. I think in America, we're up to 270+... so still have a ways to go yet.
I really do hope that the series ends with Aizen getting defeated once and for all. I am so sick of this guy sending all his minions to do his dirty work for him (not quite as bad as Naraku from InuYasha, mind you... I'm really hoping that the animé gets picked up again and the rest of the manga can be translated for us fans to see)... but Aizen has aspirations of universal domination. Not just world domination, universal... like the Earth and the Soul Society realm and beyond
The most recent side-tracking arc... soul reapers' swords are called Zanpakto and they work together in this symbiotic unit. Each Zanpakto has a spirit living in it with its own name and set of powers.
A character Muramasa emerged and cast a spell to free all Zanpakto spirits from their swords and brainwash them to act out against their soul reapers. I started into it, wishing it was a really quick thing that came and went... it lasted for at least 5-6 MONTHS... geesh, I was thinking we'd never get back to the main story arc... and we're still kinda there... hopefully we'll stick it out until Aizen is defeated... then the rest can be filler for all I care :-P
It got a little easier to take on when the Zanpakto were waking up and once again allied with their soul reaper partners... then I really started to like a bunch of the characters...
it was the same with a bunch of the soul reapers. When you first meet them, you kinda see them as enemies because they're trying to keep Ichigo and his friends from achieving their objective... saving Rukia from her execution... after they started to kinda accept Ichigo and the others as allies, I felt freer to get to know them a bit more.
So taking all these Zanpakto into account.. the main ones as well as the ones that defected and became evil spirits (as their soul reapers were killed in action)...
the total cast of characters for Bleach has to be around 110-120.
That's a lot of characters to keep track of.
Thanks to anyone still with me at this point... not that I usually write these with an audience in mind...
I've been thinking about influences from Bleach in particular... that might work their way into my "Warrior's Tale"... the unofficial name... Cassandra has a few more dimensions than that, but she does have the heart and soul of a warrior. Make no mistake.
I've been playing around with a few influences... characters in animé I want to channel into my work, between how they look to one aspect of their personality that I love...
For my I.F... invincible foe, there are a few things I'd been putting together as far as his desire goes, his goal... why is he so bad, how did he get that way... etc, etc.
I had this vision of Rasputian in the historically inaccurate Don Bluth version of Anastasia. At one time, one of my favorite movies.
In the beginning of the film, the Romonov family is having a celebration of some kind. Rasputian arrives in midst of the action and curses the entire family. Don't remember exactly why... I think it was because he was banished or something like that... there's more to it than Maleficient in "Sleeping Beauty"... she was pissed because she didn't get invited to this big royal ball... I'm sure there's more to her character than simply that motivation.
After looking it up, he was banished for treason and sold his soul to the devil to get revenge.
It's a few more little, but I think for the moment, I.F. will be given the code-name "Rasputian"... not entirely sure if that's the name I'm going to sign off on, but here's the scenario I have in mind.
Cassandra is enlisted as part of the princess's royal guard. While she's learning about what life is like at the palace, getting to know the princess on a personal life... they develop something of a special bond... there are a number of years where "Rasputian" makes "house-calls"... he shows up at the palace... either asking for something that can't be granted or he's vowing revenge.
Not sure over what just yet... I'm thinking it's because her family trumped his, which used to be in power and now he could be the only member left of his bloodline... he only becomes into power when he goes into black magic or some sort of magic with which he only brings ruin.
The scenario I have in mind, or rather just came into it... the princess is run out of the kingdom by his magic and Cassandra comes with her as her primary source of protection
Something happens along the way that's connected to Cassandra's childhood friend Ren... the princess is kidnapped and/or presumed dead. Cassandra nearly dies avowing her revenge on "Rasputian"
Because I don't see a lot happening with Cassandra now being put into a long-term herbally induced coma... each time I think about waking her up some undetermined amount of time later... she's the way she was in the first part I wrote after the prologue... fuming with anger and hatred, two things that are counterproductive to her healing process... hence the long-term coma...
I was talking to a friend about how they use flashbacks in some movies to tell stories. Like Slumdog Millionaire was a good example of this...
you have the main storyline with our hero getting interrogated by the people running the game show because "You're poor, you can't possibly know all these answers so you must be cheating"... he tells his life's story through flashbacks, each of which references a question he knew the answer to.
It was a very good 50/50 exchange...
In the past, I've worked with reincarnation and lengthy prologues. Both don't go off quite that well.
This time, I might do something a little different. My plan with Cassandra is, while she's in this coma, the next couple scenes are flashbacks from what her duty was serving the princess, helping to give exposition to the overall plot... but I want to make it so neither part becomes more interesting than the other... so that one is plain boring and you forget all about it, or you want to leave one to experience the other
That's where a lot of movies find fault, telling stories via flashbacks... you forget all about the present or better yet, one aspect bores you to death where you can't wait to get away from it
When I was starting this entry, I had another idea, but I'm not entirely sure if I want to follow through with it.
Of course the princess is gorgeous... she's a true lady, delicate, beautiful, very pleasant and gentle, but she does know when to be serious... not that she's a complete flake either.
Back to Bleach, there are a bunch of characters I'm thinking of bringing into it in whatever capacity that needs to be filled.
Rukia's Zanpakto, Sode No Shirayuki, is said to be the most beautiful of the Zanpakto. She's something of an ice goddess.
Also not to be underestimated... although I still find myself questioning Rukia's strength as a Soul Reaper.
It always seems like she's matched up against difficult foes that she is unable to overcome on her own.
I had this idea that a) the princess, despite popular belief, isn't dead and b) she has a lot of power and could handle herself just fine... so a lot of what Cassandra has done seems to be all for a rouse...
that, plus the fact she's been feigning her death this whole time... that's something unforgivable to Cassandra
The bond between them, I'm deriving a little bit from a series of flashbacks on Bleach.
In the story arc with the rescue mission for Rukia, there's a battle between Captain of squad 2, and leader of the stealth force (they have the speed and capabilities of ninjas), Soi Fon and Yoruichi
From what I gathered from the flashbacks, Yoruichi held the position Soi Fon does now. Soi Fon was her personal guard. She was all serious and Yoruichi told her not to take things so seriously. At one point, Yoruichi disappeared and never came back... she went somewhere and Soi Fon was angry because she couldn't come along.
Based on what else has transpired throughout the series, I might have an idea as to why Yoruichi left. Had something to with Keisuke Urahara (a former captain) getting banished from the Soul Society and defected to Earth...
another long story...
oh wow... I guess I kinda forget the fact Yoruichi was a princess of one of the royal families, but she chose another route aside from just the royal succession.
Soi Fon became a bodyguard as well as an apprentice.
It'd be a really wicked twist, wouldn't it? The princess being alive and as able-bodied as Yoruichi and Sode No Shirayuki
I definitely see the elegence of Sode No Shirayuki, with the purity of her white kimono. But something of a kindness in Yoruichi.
As for Cassandra, here are the sources I'll be deriving from to inspire me:
While I was doing my search, I knew there was someone else I had to add to the list. I had mentioned in passing that there was a character from the Avatar series, whose appearance came to mind when I was conceptualizing Cassandra. They're not going to be exactly the same. I don't know enough about Mai (for some odd reason its pronounced "May" in the series... when it's "My" in every other animé I know) to go beyond appearances. I just know that she and Zuko were an item until he left town without telling her. Not the best way to break up with someone, lol... especially when she can kick this much butt while any "bending"
Soi Fon
She takes her position extremely seriously, very disciplined. Doesn't have a lot of patience for things that get in her way (one of these things happens to be her lieutenant, who can somtimes be a bit of a coward).
Cassandra has her drive, for sure, but I don't think she's nearly as hardcore about what she does. And that's saying a lot. There's a lot to be said about how strongly you want to play/write certain characters. How far is too far in any given direction?
It's really tricky, but I'm sure I'll figure out a balance at some point.
Rukia
The majority of the influence here is going to be focused on her relationship with childhood friend, Ren.
She has a similiar no-BS attitude, but not nearly as hardcore as Soi Fon.
I'm sure I'll channel a little of both characters, taking the best out of both for this particular storyline.
and just for a little fun and because I'm kinda on a role. Although I won't be making any connections from a physical standpoint (rather his relationship with Rukia), I'll add a picture of Renji, whose personality will serve to bring further inspiration to the character of Ren... hence, the similiar names
I see Ren being on the other side of the coin opposed to Cassandra. He is about not taking things quite so seriously all the time, but when the chips are down, he knows when it isn't a good time for being laid back.
That's all I have to go on at the moment, really... a few key relationships... but I need to figure out my backstory, the relationship between Cassandra and the princess... I need a name for her, if only in theory...like "Rasputian" for my villian
When I was 13 and recouping from back surgery, writing helped me get away from things. By this point, there wasn't pain to speak of, by December, I was over most of it. But I had a dream, filled in the blanks and started a series of Pokémon fanfiction as my own way of wish-fulfillment.
If something was on my mind, good or bad, I put it in there and dealt with it. Of course I was living in my own little fantasy world, so there weren't a lot of real-life implications. It did help me blow off some steam... I'll leave it like that.
A lot of things I've written came from the genre or developed from it or otherwise influenced.
Sailor Moon worked its way into my early work with its talk of reincarnation and spell-casting.
Miyazaki's "Spirited Away," as I must have said a million times on this blog already... was the final puzzle piece that turned into Jonas's story. Part of me will always secretly know that it was something of a fanfiction of the movie that had a lot of different sources mixed together. Fanfiction in that Nina was a newcomer, like the beginning of the movie before the spirit world comes into place, I derived from that for my starting point. And the rest was answering the question: if Chihiro and Haku met again in her new life, how would it go down?
Of course Jonas blossomed into his own character that was the combination of a dozen things. Haku was one. There was a little of myself there, maybe a lot more than most characters I wrote about early on. A little Harry Potter, I guess, with the backstory that Jonas grew up without his parents... who died under mysterious circumstances. Although I still don't entirely buy that. And there was a little of Darien from Sailor Moon... when I tried to come up with a sketch of what he would look like, we have that. Jonas has more going for him than just being a prince that came from Earth, paired with Princess Serena of the Moon Kingdom.
One story I recently took back from someone who tried to make profit off it on Amazon... started as an InuYasha fanfiction, but I liked my character too much to let her stay in that capacity.
Ironic that I wanted her to move into her own element, her own world so I didn't completely lose her... but at the same time, she dies at the end of the story.
Bleach, I love... and still do, even though it has gotten so convoluted and side-tracked by different story arcs and such... you get the feeling that it's never going to end. Luckily, word is that it has ended in Japan somewhere around 340+ ep's. I think in America, we're up to 270+... so still have a ways to go yet.
I really do hope that the series ends with Aizen getting defeated once and for all. I am so sick of this guy sending all his minions to do his dirty work for him (not quite as bad as Naraku from InuYasha, mind you... I'm really hoping that the animé gets picked up again and the rest of the manga can be translated for us fans to see)... but Aizen has aspirations of universal domination. Not just world domination, universal... like the Earth and the Soul Society realm and beyond
The most recent side-tracking arc... soul reapers' swords are called Zanpakto and they work together in this symbiotic unit. Each Zanpakto has a spirit living in it with its own name and set of powers.
A character Muramasa emerged and cast a spell to free all Zanpakto spirits from their swords and brainwash them to act out against their soul reapers. I started into it, wishing it was a really quick thing that came and went... it lasted for at least 5-6 MONTHS... geesh, I was thinking we'd never get back to the main story arc... and we're still kinda there... hopefully we'll stick it out until Aizen is defeated... then the rest can be filler for all I care :-P
It got a little easier to take on when the Zanpakto were waking up and once again allied with their soul reaper partners... then I really started to like a bunch of the characters...
it was the same with a bunch of the soul reapers. When you first meet them, you kinda see them as enemies because they're trying to keep Ichigo and his friends from achieving their objective... saving Rukia from her execution... after they started to kinda accept Ichigo and the others as allies, I felt freer to get to know them a bit more.
So taking all these Zanpakto into account.. the main ones as well as the ones that defected and became evil spirits (as their soul reapers were killed in action)...
the total cast of characters for Bleach has to be around 110-120.
That's a lot of characters to keep track of.
Thanks to anyone still with me at this point... not that I usually write these with an audience in mind...
I've been thinking about influences from Bleach in particular... that might work their way into my "Warrior's Tale"... the unofficial name... Cassandra has a few more dimensions than that, but she does have the heart and soul of a warrior. Make no mistake.
I've been playing around with a few influences... characters in animé I want to channel into my work, between how they look to one aspect of their personality that I love...
For my I.F... invincible foe, there are a few things I'd been putting together as far as his desire goes, his goal... why is he so bad, how did he get that way... etc, etc.
I had this vision of Rasputian in the historically inaccurate Don Bluth version of Anastasia. At one time, one of my favorite movies.
In the beginning of the film, the Romonov family is having a celebration of some kind. Rasputian arrives in midst of the action and curses the entire family. Don't remember exactly why... I think it was because he was banished or something like that... there's more to it than Maleficient in "Sleeping Beauty"... she was pissed because she didn't get invited to this big royal ball... I'm sure there's more to her character than simply that motivation.
After looking it up, he was banished for treason and sold his soul to the devil to get revenge.
It's a few more little, but I think for the moment, I.F. will be given the code-name "Rasputian"... not entirely sure if that's the name I'm going to sign off on, but here's the scenario I have in mind.
Cassandra is enlisted as part of the princess's royal guard. While she's learning about what life is like at the palace, getting to know the princess on a personal life... they develop something of a special bond... there are a number of years where "Rasputian" makes "house-calls"... he shows up at the palace... either asking for something that can't be granted or he's vowing revenge.
Not sure over what just yet... I'm thinking it's because her family trumped his, which used to be in power and now he could be the only member left of his bloodline... he only becomes into power when he goes into black magic or some sort of magic with which he only brings ruin.
The scenario I have in mind, or rather just came into it... the princess is run out of the kingdom by his magic and Cassandra comes with her as her primary source of protection
Something happens along the way that's connected to Cassandra's childhood friend Ren... the princess is kidnapped and/or presumed dead. Cassandra nearly dies avowing her revenge on "Rasputian"
Because I don't see a lot happening with Cassandra now being put into a long-term herbally induced coma... each time I think about waking her up some undetermined amount of time later... she's the way she was in the first part I wrote after the prologue... fuming with anger and hatred, two things that are counterproductive to her healing process... hence the long-term coma...
I was talking to a friend about how they use flashbacks in some movies to tell stories. Like Slumdog Millionaire was a good example of this...
you have the main storyline with our hero getting interrogated by the people running the game show because "You're poor, you can't possibly know all these answers so you must be cheating"... he tells his life's story through flashbacks, each of which references a question he knew the answer to.
It was a very good 50/50 exchange...
In the past, I've worked with reincarnation and lengthy prologues. Both don't go off quite that well.
This time, I might do something a little different. My plan with Cassandra is, while she's in this coma, the next couple scenes are flashbacks from what her duty was serving the princess, helping to give exposition to the overall plot... but I want to make it so neither part becomes more interesting than the other... so that one is plain boring and you forget all about it, or you want to leave one to experience the other
That's where a lot of movies find fault, telling stories via flashbacks... you forget all about the present or better yet, one aspect bores you to death where you can't wait to get away from it
When I was starting this entry, I had another idea, but I'm not entirely sure if I want to follow through with it.
Of course the princess is gorgeous... she's a true lady, delicate, beautiful, very pleasant and gentle, but she does know when to be serious... not that she's a complete flake either.
Back to Bleach, there are a bunch of characters I'm thinking of bringing into it in whatever capacity that needs to be filled.
Rukia's Zanpakto, Sode No Shirayuki, is said to be the most beautiful of the Zanpakto. She's something of an ice goddess.
Also not to be underestimated... although I still find myself questioning Rukia's strength as a Soul Reaper.
It always seems like she's matched up against difficult foes that she is unable to overcome on her own.
I had this idea that a) the princess, despite popular belief, isn't dead and b) she has a lot of power and could handle herself just fine... so a lot of what Cassandra has done seems to be all for a rouse...
that, plus the fact she's been feigning her death this whole time... that's something unforgivable to Cassandra
The bond between them, I'm deriving a little bit from a series of flashbacks on Bleach.
In the story arc with the rescue mission for Rukia, there's a battle between Captain of squad 2, and leader of the stealth force (they have the speed and capabilities of ninjas), Soi Fon and Yoruichi
From what I gathered from the flashbacks, Yoruichi held the position Soi Fon does now. Soi Fon was her personal guard. She was all serious and Yoruichi told her not to take things so seriously. At one point, Yoruichi disappeared and never came back... she went somewhere and Soi Fon was angry because she couldn't come along.
Based on what else has transpired throughout the series, I might have an idea as to why Yoruichi left. Had something to with Keisuke Urahara (a former captain) getting banished from the Soul Society and defected to Earth...
another long story...
oh wow... I guess I kinda forget the fact Yoruichi was a princess of one of the royal families, but she chose another route aside from just the royal succession.
Soi Fon became a bodyguard as well as an apprentice.
It'd be a really wicked twist, wouldn't it? The princess being alive and as able-bodied as Yoruichi and Sode No Shirayuki
I definitely see the elegence of Sode No Shirayuki, with the purity of her white kimono. But something of a kindness in Yoruichi.
As for Cassandra, here are the sources I'll be deriving from to inspire me:
While I was doing my search, I knew there was someone else I had to add to the list. I had mentioned in passing that there was a character from the Avatar series, whose appearance came to mind when I was conceptualizing Cassandra. They're not going to be exactly the same. I don't know enough about Mai (for some odd reason its pronounced "May" in the series... when it's "My" in every other animé I know) to go beyond appearances. I just know that she and Zuko were an item until he left town without telling her. Not the best way to break up with someone, lol... especially when she can kick this much butt while any "bending"
Soi Fon
She takes her position extremely seriously, very disciplined. Doesn't have a lot of patience for things that get in her way (one of these things happens to be her lieutenant, who can somtimes be a bit of a coward).
Cassandra has her drive, for sure, but I don't think she's nearly as hardcore about what she does. And that's saying a lot. There's a lot to be said about how strongly you want to play/write certain characters. How far is too far in any given direction?
It's really tricky, but I'm sure I'll figure out a balance at some point.
Rukia
The majority of the influence here is going to be focused on her relationship with childhood friend, Ren.
She has a similiar no-BS attitude, but not nearly as hardcore as Soi Fon.
I'm sure I'll channel a little of both characters, taking the best out of both for this particular storyline.
and just for a little fun and because I'm kinda on a role. Although I won't be making any connections from a physical standpoint (rather his relationship with Rukia), I'll add a picture of Renji, whose personality will serve to bring further inspiration to the character of Ren... hence, the similiar names
I see Ren being on the other side of the coin opposed to Cassandra. He is about not taking things quite so seriously all the time, but when the chips are down, he knows when it isn't a good time for being laid back.
That's all I have to go on at the moment, really... a few key relationships... but I need to figure out my backstory, the relationship between Cassandra and the princess... I need a name for her, if only in theory...like "Rasputian" for my villian
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