#another inconsistent side profile? *gasp*

[griffinappreciator]

remembered i own water colours so here ya go (might repost if i remember to take better quality pics)

[starcunning]

Gandarewa

Flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young to know how to love her …

— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Prompt #27: Fling

Sunset painted the sky in crimson and gold, shadows of deepest blue falling over the wildflowers and the lovers that languished in them. The scar upon his side was the same pale pink as her lips, not yet faded to silver; fresh bruises blossomed black and crimson against his pale skin.

She tipped her chin up to kiss one and heard him gasp, going still. Odette laughed at the way he shivered, laying her cheek against his thigh. “Vedrfolnir was not kind to you,” she said. He shook back his dark hair and smiled sorrowfully, a fingertip tracing lines of silver down her arm. The scar looked ages old, for all it had not been there yesterday. Her sister’s arts were peerless, but could not make her perfect. “I think his broodfather offered you no more clemency,” Aymeric said. “How came you to know of this place?” She turned her head, looking west. The spires of Zenith glittered in the last rays of the sun. “My adventures did not bring me here,” she admitted. “It was my Grandpere Tarresson. I would have thought, Lord-Commander, that you knew something about it.” He chuckled. “I recall, now. However, the stonemasons I sent all returned their commissions to me. It would seem they would be gladder to rebuild the Brume than teach stonework to the moogles.” “Yes, Grandpere was quite upset by his pupils’ lack of diligence, and means to take over the project himself. Colette and I gave him our surveys, but he wrote to me of his travels here, surveying the ruins ere work begins.”

Aymeric turned his face from hers, looking to the west—toward the setting sun. He watched the turning of the colossal statue atop its spire, its form like folded wings. Absently, his hand found her cheek, the pad of his thumb stroking along the shell of her ear. “What is it?” he asked. “The statue?” she wondered, shivering as the breeze flowed over her bare skin. She lifted her head from Aymeric’s lap, pushing herself up to sit beside him. “Grandpere said the moogles called it the ‘king of the land-dwellers,’ though it looks not like anyone I know,” she laughed. He turned his head to look at her, kissing the gooseflesh on her bare shoulder, and reached for his cloak to drape it about her. “I’ve no idea who built it or when.” “It would be well,” he said, “to build something that endures so long.” Odette said nothing, and looked away from his sunlit profile.

“What will you do?” Aymeric asked a moment later. “When Nidhogg is dead and Estinien returned to his rightful faculties, you mean.” “Indeed,” he said. She had no ready answer for him—none that he would care to hear. She was sure of that even without her preternatural sense for what lay unspoken in the hearts of others. Odette could feel the weight of his expectant gaze upon her, and wanted to tear his cloak from her shoulders. She did not, merely pretended to consider the question a while longer. He turned from her, plucking the blooms of wildflowers from the grass around them and laying them before her, and when he had enough he came to kneel, threading their stems into the braid of her hair. “We will see if I survive my ordeal with Nidhogg,” she told him. He touched her chin. “Do not say such things,” Aymeric murmured, leaning in to kiss the corner of her frowning lips. “I lost you once before this; I will not allow it to come to pass a second time.” “I chose to leave, Aymeric,” she said. “Not then,” he told her. “Your departure to Eorzea I could weather; it was the news of your disappearance that …” Aymeric trailed off, and Odette could not help but consider it a mercy that he did not finish the thought. “It is well that my departure from Ishgard did not kill you,” she said, “for when this war is ended, my sister and I shall go elsewhere.” “No force could compel you to stay?” Aymeric asked, hope and sorrow in his voice. “None,” Odette said. “My compatriots are still missing. The empire still marches. The beast tribes yet summon. Nothing is solved.” “I see,” he said, his fingertips brushing the slope of her shoulder as he withdrew his hands, those blue eyes directed anywhere but at her.

She felt his grief; she had no choice in that. But she did not share it, and so she simply handed him back his cloak, rose, and went to gather her discarded clothing. Odette would have no regrets about her decision, she resolved. She had been called to greater duty, and would pursue it. Her sole regret where Aymeric was concerned was that he could not see this was needful; that he had mistaken this for something more or other than the desperate fling it was. That he could not see its end.

No matter, she thought, buckling her armor on and hefting her shield to her back. She would return Estinien to him, and the pair could care for one another. Soon he would not miss her at all, would think of her only when her name appeared in his reports. That would be best.

But that future seemed distant when she turned back to see him lingering beside the tree where she’d hitched her chocobo, a bloom as pink as his scars cupped in his hands. When she drew near, he reached up to tuck it behind her ear. She could feel its dazzling astral energy and smell its sweet fragrance—they called these rare blooms Seventh Heaven, she recalled, and felt his heartache all over again.

“For luck,” he said, a roar resounding in the distance.

[thekoreanlass]

The drama said its goodbyes last month, that I know. That’s why I think it’s time to wrap up my thoughts around it too. I know its hard to bid farewell, but oh well, not all of them can be just sad. There are farewells like this that are necessary and can’t be avoided, but I guess, it’s the right time to say ‘annyeong’ with a smile to our prickly CEO, Lee Yoo Chan and our energy bunny, Kim Bora Bora, and their journey to each other.

About

Rich Man is the 2018 Korean remake of the Japanese original, titled ‘Rich Man, Poor Woman’. As I mentioned from my ‘First Impression’ post of this drama before, I didn’t watch the original and I still don’t have any plans of doing so. Nonetheless, I can say that I enjoyed this drama more than I thought I will.

Although the chaebol guy and poor girl pairing is already overused in the past, the drama has proven its effect still strong to those who watch it.

Lee Yoo Chan is the prickly CEO who is a genius and a billionaire. He, along with Min Tae Joo, setup the start up company, Next In. On the other hand, Kim Bo Ra is the simple, country bumpkin who is hopelessly looking for a job. She’s not exactly that poor, I guess, and there are no awful monster to-be in-laws to degrade her being poor, but Kim Bo Ra’s struggle is about her being able to find a suitable job for her.

Thanks to her awfully superb memorizing skills, albeit unconventionally, she gets hired as a part-timer by Lee Yoo Chan to help present his ‘Mini File’ project and then later as the story goes, the ‘Big File’ project that Lee Yoo Chan’s friend and business partner, Min Tae Joo, sabotages out of envy.

Next In experiences a breach in security in their ‘Mini File’ project, causing a leak of information on the profiles of millions of Korean citizens. This unexpected hurdle pushes Lee Yoo Chan to strive even better, but just as he was to spread his wings to save the day, Min Tae Joo took it as his role to cut them and kick him out of his own company.

Eventually, Tae Joo takes over Next In, but with his greed and awful leading skills, he experiences a lot of difficulties in running the IT company despite great support from his father’s company, Taesan.

Yoo Chan takes a slump, sells his own car, lets go of his humongous home and barely has any penny left in his bank, but then has Kim Bo Ra to pick him up. Bo Ra leaves Next In to encourage Yoo Chan he can make even better things and though it was hard to cheer up a man who didn’t want to get up and take another leap of faith, she does her best to keep him on his feet with his chin up. She ask for the aid of her sunbae, Cha Do Jin, and eventually Cha Do Jin’s office transforms to their newly established company ‘Dancing Whale’ (name courtesy to Kim Bo Ra–I must admit I cringed at that name) and Yoo Chan and Bora mostly tries to business by personally going to people to promote their new developments. Later, they gain back the Big File team and create more innovative things. This time, however, Yoo Chan doesn’t anymore feel like he was working and that he was responsible alone. He learns to have confidence with his team and that broke the wall he built to ward off others.

In a sudden turn of events, Min Tae Joo confesses his faults. He tells everyone he is the reason to the breach that happened to Next In before and that he was going to make himself responsible for this downfall. He gets locked up in prison. This worries Yoo Chan, however, and with careful consideration decides he can’t just let Next In crumble. He accepts the CEO position again to get the company back to its feet.

However, Kim Bo Ra is conflicted about her own career. She wants to be next to Lee Yoo Chan, but she also knows that can’t happen forever. She’s convinced Lee Yoo Chan doesn’t have strong feelings for her, so why hang around when it’s pretty unsure? Besides, she’s right into thinking her world can’t just revolve around one guy. She is young and there are still so many things she can do. That’s why I salute her for choosing to find her own path and be away with Lee Yoo Chan.

But though this is a silly idea, Yoo Chan only realizes how important Bo Ra is to him when he is about to lose her. I guess, he’s too dense to realize this important feeling and the moment he finds the courage to admit it, he’s about to lose his girl in a freaking airport. Cliche, yes, but the novelty of happy endings often start at the airport in Korean dramas… for some reason–not in all of them but quite often. Well, at least, after that, they all lived happily ever after.

Final Impression

The drama has impressed me quite a bit. Because despite it being only a remake, it managed to make a mark of its own. It’s packed with light drama, fluttering yet prickly romance between the in denial, stubborn CEO and the dedicated admirer, sometimes annoying second leads, very supportive friends and mystery that will make you realize the world is small enough for two unknowing people to meet and maybe that’s what you can call fate.

And though I know I am not in the right position to compare it to the Japanese version, I must say this is worth giving a shot. If you’re up for something cliche but you can relate with, I am pretty sure you can work well with Rich Man. It’s somewhat in the mid-range playing ground if you ask me. Cool but not too impressive. Heart fluttering but not something that you can call unforgettable.

There are a lot more better dramas than this, with a deeper story line and cliche-defying twist that will surely make you gasp in surprise and confusion, I must admit. The production, though, is above average–it’s dedicated and honest. For sure they didn’t slack with the funding.

Plus, using fresh faces for the actors portraying the characters with the additional large fanbase that they carry with their name, isn’t something to overlook. That thought alone will make you want to anticipate such a drama.

The acting, too, isn’t poor, which is impressive already on its own.

Suho isn’t new to the limelight, but I know that this is one of his first attempts into acting with a major role in a drama. I must have mentioned this before and I saw one of his mini series before called ‘The Universe’ Star’ and the guy definitely charmed his way to my heart. I had my fair share of doubts about him portraying the CEO role of Lee Yoo Chan, but I guess nothing could have been more perfect than him to play the role–considering Yoo Chan’s geeky, hedgehog and sometimes childish personality. I had fret for him the entire drama but inconsistency isn’t present. He truly did well and for sure he will do even better in his future roles.

Ha Yeon Soo is, as always, cute and charming. Has earnest eyes and acting that fit the role of Kim Bo Ra, who is honest, dedicated and a hard worker. Plus, I’ve just recently seen a picture of the Japanese female lead and they somehow look alike, but pretty and youthful.

cinematography, theme songs, story flow and pacing

Cinematography – the shots are actually pretty good, but sometimes I feel like they overuse the ‘bokeh’ (I use the AI camera effect in phones for better understanding) effect–it’s when they blur the background to give emphasis to the person being projected on screen–and blurring the background too much makes it feel too unreal for the setting. And certainly, that’s kind of annoying.

Theme songs – the songs are pretty catchy, the lyrics are quite amazing and they fit the scenes and sets the mood of the drama. I think this is one of those dramas that I like the theme songs so much I downloaded them and saved basically an entire album of it in my phone. My personal favorite is Nam Taehyun’s Real Love!

Story Flow – A back and forth flow of the present and past. The beginning is full of mysteries and reminiscence of the past but it isn’t hard to follow through. However, the second half of the series is a bit painful to watch since it becomes rough from there and though it’s a bonus to the drama they added a love line for Tae Ra–which is good for her–but not really something I could care less about–and for Mi So (Bo Ra’s friend)–it is unnecessary.  I just think they put it out there so everyone is happy in the end and no one is left behind.

Pacing – the love story between Kim Bo Ra and Lee Yoo Chan is painfully slow that I want to poke Tae Ra’s eyes out for having more kissing scenes with Yoo Chan than  Bo Ra has. Plus, the earlier episodes seems lacking with action and thing going on in it compared to the last two episodes which seems rather rushed and full with drama and developments. Not that I’m complaining about it, but I just wanna point out the facts.

Shortcomings

Rich Man, as a big picture, is quite good for an average drama with 16 episodes. I must say, however, if we’re going to look into the smaller picture that makes up the entire whole, besides Lee Yoo Chan, the other characters lack build up. We know about Yoo Chan’s character, habits and past, but the only thing we know about Bo Ra revolves around her memories with him.

Mi So is introduced as her friend and later someone that got knocked up by Cha Do Jin, but their story isn’t that well explored, I feel like it would be better if, as second or third leads, their story would have been better told in a different light and isn’t just highlighted when they got married during the ending scenes.

Tae Ra is given quite the character of a sophisticated and spoiled daughter of a sick rich man, however, I didn’t grow fond of her character. At some point, she actually becomes annoying especially when she asked Bo Ra to stay away from Yoo Chan and when she sided with her brother and yet couldn’t stick to her decision in the end when Tae Joo sends Yoo Chan to his greatest downfall.

Min Tae Joo would have been a great second lead if he didn’t go to the dark side–which is too cliche for too good to be true characters that are eventually nice but turns evil after being unfairly treated. His character is one example of a role which I don’t understand. I mean, there must be as irrational people as him who doesn’t think before they act, but to go so far as ruining your closest friend? Not good. But then again, maybe this is where the quote ‘your best friend can be your worst enemy’ applies. Because he knows so much about you that he can use it against you. And yes, his wrong decisions led to useless downfall that made him dig his own grave, but all is well as long as there is forgiveness and acceptance. At least, he still had his own happy ending.

Another thing that I took great notice of is the rushed ending. I feel like they packed everything in the last episode that after watching it, I asked myself ‘is that it? no next episode or anything?’. Though I am happy that everyone has their happy ending, I must admit I feel like there should have been more to it. An episode 17 may not be necessary, but it would have been greatly welcomed.

Over all

To sum it up, although there are unsatisfying moments and a relationship that finally blossomed late into the ending, I must say I enjoyed the journey with Rich Man. It didn’t make me tear up, but made my heart flutter and my lips to stretch to a smile. It’s the kind of drama I won’t get a hangover with after watching, but it’s a drama I won’t pass on.

So, I will rate it a 4.2 out of 5 as its final grade.

    Final Thoughts: Rich Man (2018) The drama said its goodbyes last month, that I know. That's why I think it's time to wrap up my thoughts around it too.

[naomi-l-tiessen-blog]

Tips on Planning out your Novel

Hellllloooooooo everybody ~

Happy Thursday Blogday!

If you’re in the same boat as me, the writing world is completely foreign territory. Every single day you are presented with a brand-new challenge, and like a puzzle, you need to figure out how to solve it. But you’ve made this far, and there is no fucking way you are backing down, right? You’re involved now, committed. You’ve joined the writing cult, and are in much too deep to back out now.

But here’s the thing: you don’t know the first thing about being a writer…or writing a story.

Hooray, me neither!

Don’t worry, from one newbie to another, I’ve got you covered. Don’t be afraid…the writing cult can smell fear….

So, you want to write a novel, but don’t know where to begin? I’ve got your back! In today’s blog, I’ll cover 5 essential points on planning your novel up to the writing phase.

So, without further ado, here are 5 tips on planning your novel and getting you started on the path to success:

1) The Brainstorming. This is generally the most exciting part of the writing experience itself, where the birth of magnificent ideas take place. They can come to you in dreams, while reading or watching TV, or randomly when you are, say, taking a bath and day dreaming about mermaids (may or may not be speaking from experience). This is, needless to say, the most vital part of the novel-writing process. Because, let’s face it, without an idea, there’d be no story, right? So, say you come up with an idea that you know, deep in your bones and heart of hearts, needs to be written by you and you alone. So, now what? Well, things to consider: 1) does the idea have substance? Can it carry the weight of an entire story, or would it be stretched thin from beginning to end with the threat of developing holes and breaking? And 2) are you going to be just as passionate about this idea in 2 months’ time? 6 months’ time? A year? Now I know that’s sort of a trick question, and unless you are a psychic, you aren’t really going to know the answer to that question. But sometimes it’s good to write down an idea, and then put it away, out of sight, out of mind. Allow the initial excitement to die down a bit, the glamour, the glare from your rose-tinted glasses. If, after a week or two, this idea is still as captivating as the day you thought it up, then you might have a story on your hands! 

Once you are able to answer these questions, the fun begins! Keep a notebook handy, and start jotting down your thought dumps. Scenes that keep playing in your head nonstop, lines of dialogue, characters and their aesthetics. Create a name bank, pay attention to street names for inspiration (that’s how I got my MC’s last name), and unless your story takes place on Earth, maybe start daydreaming up things you might want to include in your new world (ie: language, terrain, wildlife, inhabitants, main food staples, etc). Write down things you’d like to have happen in your story. It could be anything…a coffee date, playing Marco Polo quietly at a bookstore, singing horribly at karaoke (ah, just learnt that I can’t, in fact, spell karaoke without spell check saving my ass), or a romantic picnic that ends in disaster when a rogue rain cloud unleashes its inner Poseidon and drenches everything. Some of these ideas you might be able to incorporate, some of them you might not, but it’s always safe to keep of list of ideas handy to give texture to your story. By the end of this, you should have a pretty good idea of the gist of your story. Having said that, never STOP brainstorming; it’s ok to come up with ideas for the beginning of your story, even as you write the end. I mean, it’s a bit difficult, and you might need to revise the shit out of your manuscript, but hey, that’s what drafts (and drafts, and drafts) are for!  

2) The Researching. Maybe not as fun as the brainstorming part, but important. At this stage, you are diving deeper than just ideas. What sort of story are you telling? What genre is it going to fall under? If you don’t know much about that genre, learn about it. Read and watch movies that fall under the same category, and take notes (if anyone judges you for watching hours upon hours of Doctor Who, just declare it in the name of science. And if that fails, just tell them Scarlette made you). If your novel isn’t taking place on Earth, hit up tutorials on world building and stage setting. Dive into workshops about dialogue, chapter structures, and making believable characters. You know the bare bones of your story at this point. With that in mind, can you describe it in a single sentence? Can you explain it, start to finish, on a single page? These exercises help train your mind into getting the meat and potatoes of your story, the nitty-gritty. What is so important, so prioritizing, that you simply HAVE to mention it vs. what is, meh, maybe not that heavy duty, and can sit on the sidelines. It’ll help produce plot points, subplots, potential climaxes, and maybe even the mythical theme (le gasp!). Doing these sorts of exercises well help give your story shape, and point you in a solid direction.    

3) The Creating. Don’t get me wrong, you’ve been creating this entire time. But this is sort of a different level of creating. In this part of the planning, you should no longer be picking ideas out of thin air. Your ideas should be taking structure…you should have a general idea of what your characters look like, what your world looks like, and the direction your plot is going. This “creating” process is dedicated to further solidifying those features. Your characters should have names, a vivid description, and profile pages full of their likes and dislikes, fashion sense (or lack thereof), fears, goals, where they start in the story vs. where they end up, etc. This is where the internet is your friend. Find pictures that best resemble your characters, and keep them around for inspiration. But try not to be creepy about it. Trust me, a lot of weird shit comes up when you type in things like, “7-year-old girl with blond hair and green eyes,” blah blah blah. Don’t want the cops paying you a visit! 

You should be creating character profiles for your main characters (protagonists and antagonists), and at LEAST half-assed ones for your side characters. Side-note: create a cheat sheet for your character descriptions and names close by just in case. You don’t want Sir Maxwell McFeelya’s hair color to change from shoulder length, greasy dirty blond, to a crew cut with a totally-there bald spot in the middle of his more-pepper-than-salt hair. Talk about awkward. Or if your Sue-Ellen McAlister in chapter 2 suddenly becomes Virginia Davies in chapter 10. Oops. Once again, may or may not be speaking from experience here. During this stage, your new world should be really taking shape. Once again, don’t be afraid to use pictures as references and inspiration. You should know the main ins and outs of your world, such as language, professions, climate, terrain, food staples, religion, etc. There are some great templates explaining things you need to consider when creating a world from scratch...seriously, a ton. At this time, you should also be thickening up your plot, figuring out the main points, subplots, and climaxes. If you know the beginning, middle, and end, but don’t know how to piece them together, that’s ok. That’s what the next step is for.  

4) The Outlining. This is on the list?? Shocker. Ok, before you pantsers get all up in my face about this, I stand firm in my belief that this stage is freaking CRUCIAL to the planning and writing process. To begin writing without an outline, you are more than likely going to end up with plot holes, inconsistencies, and a hell of a lot of frustration. Granted, there are a lot of people that don’t outline, and that works just fine for them. I am not one of those people, and therefore outlining is on my list. Plus, I kind of sort of love outlining. This is the point of the process where we have all (or at least most) our ducks, and now we are going to get them in a row. It’s time to organize your story, getting it in order. THIS is where you need to figure out how to glue the beginning, middle, and end together. 

Think of outlining as a puzzle: you have all the pieces, and now you need to figure out where they all go. Don’t force the pieces into spots where they don’t belong, because you will end up with bent edges and something that is bumpy and doesn’t flow well. If a certain piece doesn’t fit anywhere, it might be for a different puzzle; take it out, and keep working. If you can’t find all the pieces, that’s ok too, just keep working, and when you’ve used up all your pieces, go back and focus on the holes. Maybe the piece is under the couch with the rest of your cat’s toy hoard. Or, much more likely, the piece hasn’t been discovered yet, because you haven’t thought it up. That’s totally fine. It’s also fine to push forward despite having holes in your outline (as long as they are nothing too major, of course). Often, I find that while I’m writing, solutions to those holes come to me at random. It’s sort of like your fur baby suddenly wanting cuddles the fucking second you stop pleading for their attention. Keep in mind that this part of the planning will take some time. Seriously, it can take weeks, and that is a-ok; it’s not a race. Just make sure that you don’t lose your passion during this time, because if you lose it now, then your story might be hooped. And on that happy note, we move on!

5) The Writing. Ah, yes, the stage where we actually do the thing. No more dancing around the subject, no more planning, no more outlining (yet, anyways). At last, you are ready, young Padawan. So, the first most important thing here to keep in mind is to write first, edit later. Seriously, that’s it. Don’t stress yourself silly about how shitty it sounds (newsflash, it probably does sound shitty), because if you let this fear consume you, your story will never leave your brain. Just get it all out of your noggin. Convert brain vomit into word vomit. Some people like to edit after every couple chapters, and if that works for you, then go for it. But don’t be picky, because if you get really down and dirty with the editing now when you don’t have the entire image in front of you, you might remove or change things that 1) don’t need it, or 2) are actually super freaking important. And while some don’t agree with me (HOW DARE YOU…just kidding *not really*), I highly recommend trying to write in chronological order to save yourself the misery of discovering holes and time inconsistencies and having to re-write a shit ton. Not fun.

And there you have it! Easy peasy right? Well, easy in theory, anyways. Lord knows that this is actually a shit ton of work. But with these tips in your tool kit, you are now one (or 5) steps closer to destroying the pipe dream of being an author, and actually becoming one! Hooray you!

With that said, I post new blogs every Thursday, and if there is anything you’d like me to discuss, feel free to message me on here, or tweet me  @ScarletteStone

Until next time,

Happy Writing!