Spinward Fringe and a New Tattoo.

I bit the bullet. I was so taken with the kodama tattoo idea that I went ahead and did it. Here's the result:

I'm really happy with it and think it's very very cute. This one hurt a lot more than my previous one. There were points when I was very glad I was lying down. The after care is a bit more awkward with this one as well. I had some funny incidents today at work when I was sat with my trouser leg rolled up and various people walked into the office. I can't say that the placement of the little guy was my idea. It came from an image I saw on Google so all credit goes to whoever put that up. Yay!

I wanted to write a little bit today about a series of books that I've been reading for about a year. They're called Spinward Fringe (there's a blogspot here) and are written by an author going by the name of Randolph Lalonde. If that's his actual name then I am seriously impressed. The books are all available for a very low price on most e-readers and some of them are available in print but cost a lot more. The first three books are free as the collection "Origins". The series then goes on as Broadcasts 1,2,3... up to 6. The books are in sub-trilogies as well. I'm currently (very eagerly) waiting on Broadcast 7 which wraps up the Rogue Element Trilogy. The interesting thing about this series is that they have been pretty much only published off the author's own back. And they have been consistently on the sci-fi top-sellers list on Amazon.

As books they are seriously addictive. I gobbled them up as quickly as I could when I first read them. The plot whisks you along quickly from book to book and before you know it you're at the end waiting for the next book. Like I've been for the last year. The characters are engaging and well written, with a strong leader in Jonas Valent and enough love interests and character interaction to keep everyone happy. The baddies are bad and the goodies are ultimately good but not without a few moral wobbles along the way. The sci-fi aspect is pretty standard with bits and pieces inspired from various other movies, TV series etc etc. But in a good way, they're not copied, they're just made use of in the background to enhance the action.

I think the thing I really enjoy about this series is the normality of parts of it. There are some lovely stretches of the books where the crew is training or building up a new ship. These are the bits that get glossed over in series or films. But because they're books, we get to see all the day to day stuff; where the characters sleep, how they work together, how they relax together. I miss these scenes in TV series and films. It's almost as if these bits are fanfic of the main story. We get to see couples yelling at each other, making mistakes and living. The characters aren't perfect heroes and they don't always behave how the stereotypical characters in some shows or films do. They feel very real to me and I love them for that. I love Ayan's intelligence, I relish all the fights between Stephanie and Frost and the build up of Laura and Jason's relationship. There are some HUGE twists as well. You are always kept guessing.

This series proves what can be done when someone is truly talented but maybe hasn't quite been found by the big publishers yet. The rise of e-readers has something to do with it. The internet a lot to do with it. But it's wonderful none the less. Some of the production value is lost yes, but the fact that the author can keep writing these books is fantastic. It would take a lot for me to stop reading them, even the occasional spelling and formatting error haven't put me off.

The books are easy to read and follow. There are a few big issues raised but they don't quite hit you in the face like in some other sci-fi series. They're there if you go looking; corporate greed, what counts as human and the question of artificial intelligences, but you don't need to think about them if all you're looking for is a good story. And a good story it is.

The Dreaded Fanfic Rewrite...

The time has come for me to stop avoiding the task of rewriting my first fanfic. Granted I've only written 3 so far and first stories are never meant to be good, but I got to the point where I couldn't bear to have it against my name (or pseudonym). So I removed it from fanfic.net (shameless plug, sorry) and decided that I wouldn't repost it until I was happy with it. This has turned out to be an epic feat of procrastination - I was a student just last year - and it seems I haven't lost any of my skill in its practice. I've been through the story and marked the bits that need work which is the easy part. It ranges from odd words here and there to huge great swathes of prose and plot points that are disastrous. I wrote it with a vague idea of where I wanted the plot to go and from there wrote chapters at a time. This led to some 'interesting' situations with massive errors that I made in one chapter and having to rectify them desperately in the next chapter. It wasn't pleasant and meant that I have always researched EVERYTHING that I use in a story since. Thankfully the person who had noticed a massive mistake I'd made in the background to the story was kind enough to PM me about it rather than writing it on the reviews page, for once my embarrassment was avoided in public.

My idea is to work round these points and work some things into the story in a slightly different way. There are also some character points that need work. It's an interesting aspect of fanfic writing - do you write it all beforehand and post periodically or do you wait to see people's reactions and ideas in order to continue the story? For me, I wasn't sure people were even going to read my story and to be honest I really didn't know where it was really headed. I knew what I wanted to achieve with it but getting there was a whole other ball game.

I was watching the first show of Sword and Laser on the Geek and Sundry channel on YouTube this afternoon (really fun and light-hearted show about sci-fi and fantasy books) and the author Scott Siegler they were interviewing was discussing his new book. He'd originally released it as a chaptered podcast and written it week to week. He said he really enjoyed going back and working all of story into a novel as it allowed him to write in a load more foreshadowing and to play with the plot. I immediately thought of my rewrite and how it would let me tweak until I was really happy with it. If, I can move my ass into gear to DO it! The trouble is I'm not quite sure just yet how to tweak it. I'm still really happy with the length and the general feel of it (vague points I know but there has to be something positive right?) but the characterisation and background just isn't quite there and I think I'm waiting around for inspiration to strike. Which might not ever happen. Guh. But then I'm waiting to do this to get my juices flowing to write my next fic as the muse (as they say) is being particularly churlish and uncooperative at the moment. It's a vicious circle.

So I think I've said about as much as I can for this procrastination effort. I'm going to write now. Honest. Right now. This minute.




Oh look something shiny...



Frak.

Robocop!

Haha, that title makes it sound like a musical. "Robocop!" coming soon to a theatre near you...

I went to an Edinburgh Science Festival event last night which was a screening of the '80s classic "Robocop". There was a short Q&A session before with a science fiction writer called Justina Robson. I personally had never seen this film before so I was quite curious.

The atmosphere was great when we walked into the cinema, the Filmhouse in Edinburgh is great for stuff like this, the old-style screens are wonderful. Plus the fact that you can take alcohol in is always a plus.

It was so much fun. It wasn't what I was expecting at all. I mean, up until about 2 hours before we went I was sure that it was Arnie who was in it. The blood and guts was great with so much sugar syrup. I was also really impressed with the make-up - even with the resolution of a modern projection system the make up for Murphy still held up to scrutiny. The moment when the baddy had his arm blown off didn't though. There was some serious arm pumping = arterial fountain of blood. Still we were all laughing so much by this point it didn't matter. Another interesting thing to see was some stop motion animation. The robot that tries to take down Robocop was animated this way and it was a little jarring but surprisingly, looked kind of wonderful. There were lots of intricate bits that were working in unison on the model. The stop motion used at the end for a certain character's death however did not look good, and earned a huge cheer and clapping from the audience.

My friends and I were a little baffled by how they were going to have a discussion about the human/cyborg issue as the plot isn't the most complex (neither are the characters) but I guess it does deal with some interesting issues in terms of (and my English lit teacher will be so proud of me for this) man's inhumanity to man. The baddies are completely ruthless and there are a lot of times when people die and other, supposedly, normal people really aren't that fussed. Is this the future we're heading for? But we do see a nice turnaround when the police start standing up for Robocop when he's being attacked by the hit squad. That scene is interesting for me too in that as soon as we get a glimpse of Murphy's eye under the vizor of his helmet, we immediately start feeling sympathy for him and scared for him. Before that point he is just a cyborg, we struggle to see the humanity or something we recognise about ourselves in him. As Justina Robson pointed out before the film started, there is a fantastic scene where Murphy takes off the vizor to reveal what's underneath and Lewis (his female partner) doesn't flinch or shy away as his face is revealed. She just sees him and the humanity that his face represents.

Speaking of Lewis, she is one kick ass female character! And we all know how I feel about strong female leads! She is defeminised a lot in this film, made to seem like one of the boys in the precinct but she is wonderfully strong and funny. Most of the female characters in the film are either whores, winos, horrendously vacuous or working for the baddies - something else that Justina pointed out. At the beginning of the film she is the hard, slightly cynical one out of herself and Murphy (who's optimistic and cares for his family hugely) but by the end he is the one devoid of emotion and she is the one who cares for him and looks out for him. For me, that character development is wonderful.

So I think I've prattled on long enough. It really was a lot of fun to watch, it would be great to watch more films like this in a cinema with an audience, it really adds a lot to the experience, I would recommend it to anyone if they get the chance. My friend and I were saying it would be fantastic to watch "Alien" in a setting like that. Watch this space...

Hunger Games and New Tattoos

I finally got to see the Hunger Games last week which was as good if not better than I was expecting. I would even go as far as to say I thought it was better than the book. Shall I explain why?

For me, the book came across as typical teen-fic/angst fare. Let me be clear, this is not a bad thing. But sometimes it feels a little bit like fanfic where two characters are kind of forced together. In the book, there is a huge emphasis placed on how Katniss feels about Peeta (and Gale). This is understandable after the author decided to go with the first person present perspective. What the film allows for is room for the themes and societal injustices to come through. For me, in the book, their relationship was cloying, it was too much and overshadowed everything else that Katniss should have been feeling going into the Games. Jennifer Lawrence, in the film, allows the other fears Katniss has to come to the fore; will Gale be able to look after Prim, what will happen when she enters the Games, etc etc. The particular scene that has stuck with me since seeing the film is when she sees Cinna for the last time before entering the arena. You could see her physically shaking and there was no other indication of her fear but that action struck me as being more powerful than anything she could have said.

The themes raised by the books are valid ones, of course they are. BUT, the teen angst present in the books swamps these themes, making them seem trivial in comparison to the romantic feelings that Katniss is struggling with. Using the medium of film, the audience can see the backdrop more prominently to the Games. The massive social inequality, the ridiculous lives of the people of the Capital and the true ruthlessness of the President.

I thought the acting in general was fantastic. Jennifer Lawrence was the epitome of Katniss. She was stronger if anything, she didn't seem to have the self-doubt that troubles Katniss through the book but I think that's probably because we don't get the inner monologue present in the book.

There was one bit that had me lol-ing though (and I wasn't the only one in the cinema); when Katniss decides to find Peeta, she finds him "camou-ed" up and hiding in the stream, which should be quite a touching reunion, except the make-up is hilarious. I audibly snorted in the cinema earning myself some rather unhappy looks from the nearest fangirls. No disrespect to my own kind of course. Further to this incident I refer you to this meme.

Leaving The Hunger Games on a light note...

I've been starting to think about getting another tattoo. I got my first one a few months ago and it's very small:

But I'm really happy with it. I got the symbol for infinity as a reminder to myself of infinite possibilities and that I can do anything I put my mind to. Also it's nice and geeky although I'm starting to get sick of all the people who ask me what the number 8 means to me...

Anyway, I've been thinking for a while about another tattoo on my other wrist. As I may have mentioned before, one of my favourite books is "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. After finishing the book, I couldn't get the image of Easter's tattoo out of my head. She has a tattoo bracelet of forget-me-nots on her wrist and I love this idea. Of course in the book it's ironic, because she's the god that is almost forgotten, overshadowed by the Jesus fest that goes on in Spring. I was looking into the roots of the word 'easter' and found out that it comes from the Germanic god of fertility and spring. She was worshipped as she brought new life and vitality in the springtime. i.e. eggs and baby cute things. It's really funny that it should have been smushed together with the religious symbolism. Easter really is the most mixed up holiday there is. Anyway, after looking into this a bit more, it really cemented my thoughts on getting this tattoo as I know it will remind me of this kind of symbolism (fertility, rebirth and life NOT the religious zombie stuff) as well as the wonderfulnous that is the Gaiman. So without further ado I give you the rough design I drew a couple of weeks ago:

I would prefer the blue to be more like this but I didn't have a pen that was the right colour. I'm not sure when I'll have the nerve to do it. Or the money for that matter, but I'm hoping it will be soon. It's going to be very visible which is my main issue, I need to get over the fact that my parents/grandparents/possible employers will be able to see it.

On top of this idea, I was watching Princess Mononoke today (go and see it NOW, it's wonderful and beautiful and great in general) and I got the idea that the little 'kodama' spirits would make a very cute tattoo too.

So that might happen too. This tattoo thing is horribly addictive.

That's it for now I think. I might try and post on a more regular basis but my travel planning is stepping up so I might not have the time. I hope people enjoy these rambles. I do.