Van's Allure 2

For some reason (I am a strange cookie in many other ways, too), I don't prefer to work on the entirety of my story alone, then surprise everybody. I like to muse on something for a while, bounce ideas off a buddy, come back and do more revisions, then post. Adding a perspective has only worked out in my experience for the better.

Chocolatelova's been busy and it seems bad to bother her with my story when she doesn't have time to do her own, but perhaps I'll try catching her online D: My principal conflict is still ill-formed and so blah. blah blah blah.


Well, on to the non-whiny part of the post.

As I have mentioned before, Van's greatest attraction is the juxtaposition of his seriousness and his boyish self. To me, the boyish self is actually his natural self--selfish and a little spoiled, but with eagerness and full emotions--the self that comes out in front of Folken when they were young, in front of his mother, in front of Balgus, in front of Hitomi. The seriousness is his attempt to be a man, to be a king.

At the end of Esca, we are frustrated not only because V+H never really gets together, but also because we are left with a glimpse of an emerging Van, close on a path to balance between his two halves.

(I always thought of Van as the main character, actually.)

So one of the items I am exploring for DS is completion of this duality. A lot of fanfics on ff portray Van despising his burdensome responsibilities, but I don't think Van ever thought about it as a choice. He was born to be a king. His public and private lives are so enmeshed in him that they have instead become two intertwining parts of his personality. Duty is his life. But he is also just a man.

(I hope I will be able to do it. I really like writing Van.)

(Sometimes I feel like I write better essays than prose ; ; I write very pretentiously, I suppose.)


I forgot from where I grabbed this . It looks like a scan or a rough filter, but still a perfect Van.

Sources

Hello, hello!

My thoughts today jumped from the emerging central political conflict to the Tyrrhenia legacy. It had been in my mind for quite a while, bubbling and fermenting, but today's development was glorious.

We shall have our own version of Elysian Fields: "down the dank moldering paths and past the Ocean's streams they went, and past the White Rock and the Sun's Western Gates, and past the Land of Dreams, and soon they reached the fields where pale liliaceous asphodel and poplars grew." It will be a place to press into climax; a place for rest, cleansing, and comtemplation; and a place for graceful lamentation.

I am in debt to past books. LOTR, Chinese martial arts novels, the classics, Jane Austen--these all form the knowledge I draw from. No idea is ever original. Everything is simply an arrangement of a story we all already know.


Oh, I did write something this past week, so let's have it. I think I might have posted the previous version of this section, in Leal's POV. Van's is working out much better, and today you get a whole paragraph!

Leal had insisted that a wise king used the illusion of power as well as the practice of authority, though to Van's mind there was no real need. Even in the most remote countryside, his people have no trouble recognizing the crest on his sword and his mailed, trailing entourage. Leal and the rest overlook the importance inherent in the common shirt. His rule over Fanelia only benefited from his royal informalities: loyalty that could never be commanded by a "Sire" or even a "King Fanel", only only by a "Van-sama".

And now that I've written--my previous fears are unfounded, thank god. Nothing is ever so important in life as to keep going forward.


The asphodel:

Progress Update 16

I'm further into planning. Still building up the central conflict (it would be boring pretty quickly if it was just a V+H love story). The characters are expanding nicely, especially the supporting roles to bring the conflict into the forefront. It's so frustrating not to slip by any particulars here, since it's so exciting and complicated at the same time, and I wish somebody would hold my hand. Adhering to the pretense of literary fiction is pretty hard--though looking back through my notes history, the results are worth every furious head scratch in cluelessness.

I'm also in the beginnings of delineating countries with their culture, fashion, key players, agendas, etc in anticipation of the upcoming Palas meeting. My lack of dialogue in DS is really because I suck at it. Hopefully with preparation, I will be able to create real drama.

And with all these steps, another side of me feels like there's never an end to planning, so I should just go ahead and try out the next chs. 7 months of planning have already gone by with no prose. Perhaps I'm delaying the act of writing because I'm again afraid of not being as good as before, again afraid of disappointment, again afraid of writing.

Or maybe this doubt is just a game I play with myself. There's no reason to lose sight of my original goal--to make fanfiction into literary fiction. Readers pick DS out of many, many other stories they could have curled up with for the night, and I must remember not to flag. I have to remember my goals and the readers, and still settle for prose, characterization, story, meaning, and sense of completion above the rest.

Very Own Van

On a side note:
Now you can have your very own Van.

Hero

A big conflict for me is simplicity vs. details. There are, of course, elegant solutions to satisfy both--so perhaps I should try harder, but my brain capability is often limited, as my brother would readily tell you.

It's obvious (the simplicity conflict, not my IQ) from ff reader comments on DS. I would leave little details, but from readers' confusion, I am making too many assumptions. But then, it's so patronizing to spell out everything. I could blame the readers--but I am the author, the one who designed the plot and the particular way of words, so everything is really my own fault.

As I plan more and more of DS's plot (which should have been done a year ago when I first wrote ch1), the conflict between simplicity and details becomes clearer. I want to make the story conclusion satisfying. This would be most readily achieved with a Traditional Hero. In a way, in Esca the characters most impacted by the events were Van and Folken. Hitomi's journey wasn't nearly as complete as theirs, with their conflicts, falling away, dilemmas, eagerness, and redemption. Traditional Heroes provide a clear moral compass, completion of story, and emotional identification by readers.

But the way to use them require planning and skill. It could easily become a device and a resentment. Not using them, on the other hand, could also easily make DS into the Modern Literary Work with No Heros, Just a Lot of Suffering and Is Hella Boring category.

sigh.

Most likely I will go the Hero route with modifications. Elegant solutions, where are you?

Progress Update 15

One of my favorite development techniques is freewriting. Writing down thoughts to add to and put together puzzles seem to lead to new ideas. Plus it's one of my remaining few things to do on long commutes.

So now I am revising my plot. Again.

This time, though, there's actually integration between my previous two disjunct ideas. There's even more backstory and intrigue. And I'd like to finish hashing out the entire plotline this time around. As time goes on I keep finding oversights and mistakes in previous chs, but since I already released them on ff, it's unfair to modify them, even if they're just little details here and there that no one would probably care about, like the location of the Fanelian shrine, Van's description of plants, etc. But if I had thought of these details earlier, the chs would have been richer, more character-driven, and I'd be able to insert hints in layering complexity instead of mishmashing scraps together from the first 5 chs.

Well, I learned.

Another of my problems to solve is characters. There are 20 I'm re-employing and ~40 I'm making up for DS. Although, maybe it isn't really such a problem. Esca had a long list. LOTR is another prime example. I could make it work, if every one is distinct in his place and personality.

The third of the long list is Escaflowne battle scenes. I love sword scenes with and without mecha. I love love LOVE Escaflowne in dragon form. And so I keep having to create better and better plotline so I can have Van in battle, because many ideas are just so awkward that this contrivance would be against my vow to make DS realistic, not to mention it would make the story plain awful.

We'll see.

Fight from ep26.
/swoon

DS to do

1. revisit Atlantis legends and Plato
2. music lyrics for ideas
3. country profiles
4. character profiles
5. double-check dialogue, addresses/honorifics
6. re-establish plot structure into linearity (the most dreaded of all)
7. draw hierarchy chart for structure (esp. B, F, T, and D)
8. double-check story timeline/time progression
9. do "applied characterization" exercises for DS
10. decide on "destinations" for characters
11. reorganize notes and details

Bedtime arrives so soon: I really need to find a solution for DS. When I was writing (back in far away November!), I typically wrote in 4 hour blocks. And I edit too much to make handwriting at all possible (not to mention I think the last time I wrote in longhand was in high school for the English AP exam).

Bah. Humbug.


Picture of Atlantis (as described by Plato) on Wiki:

Hiatus

A note that's long overdue:
Ch6 will be out at the end of June.

Sorry ._, New job, long commute, and GRE prep are all eating into my spare time. I haven't stopped thinking about scenes, but any possible time to write and refine will have to come early June.

Soon, soon!

Selling

I really need to change to a different car, so here are some beloved books I've accumulated over the years from Japanese stores and websites that I'm selling. Click on thumbnails for bigger image. Please let me know if you would like more scans.


Manga:

Yakitate! Japan, books 1-20, $80

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, books 1-6, $40



Artbooks:

Escaflowne filmbooks, books 1-4, $20
Storybooks on eps 1-15 from shots. Esoteric series and design information on the bottom of every page, as well as art from design notebooks at the end.


Kenshin anime series artbook "best collection", $10


Kenshin KADEN, $18
Ultimate collection of Kenshin information. Notes from beginning to series to end of jinchu arc that manga volumes 1-28. Also pages on character, sword styles, etc.



Doujinshi:

Escaflowne, "Vision" published by Link Out (comedy), $6
Compilation of comedy pages.


Escaflowne, "Van Fanel Remodeling Project" by Minato Tajima (comedy, slightly adult), $10
A funny, lighthearted story by one of the best adult Escaflowne doujinshi artists.


Kenshin, "Saikai" by Shinji Yamaguchi (adult), $12
Popular adult Keshin doujinshi artist.


All are in excellent condition. The prices are ~50% of original cost and includes shipping, but are open to negotiation. Email in comment box for contact.

Esca Music 2

Uploaded mp3s:
OST1, OST2, OST3, Lovers Only, movie.

Feel free to contribute to my speculation on ep placement. (Track list is from Yoko Kanno Project. James also has the first few seconds of each track on the site.) These are from memory, until I set aside some time to match them with the series. In particular I have more trouble with music in fight sequences.

OST1
01. Yakusoku wa Iranai (Promises not Necessary)
TV edit (Lovers 01) as series intro.
02. Flying Dragon
battle on the river at the borders of Asturia and Freid, with Van, Allen, and the Dragonslayers, ep9.
Gem: Van, Hitomi, and Allen's escape from Zaibach, ep18.
03. Dance of Curse
the music during scene selection on DVD. Also Van's first fight inside Esca, ep2.
Gem: Van and Allen's last fight, ep26.
04. Murder
Balgus's death.
05. Escaflowne
?
06. Angel
Varie at the lake.
Gem: Van comes to get Hitomi, ep24.
07. Cubic
(fight sequence?)
08. Romance
Dryden & Millerna's wedding, ep20.
Gem: Millerna's declaration at Crusade's departure: "Allen, I will never give up", ep8.
09. NE ZU MI
Crusade crew storms Vione for Van's rescue mission, ep5.
10. Wings
Hitomi makes the 5 meter leap, ep5.
11. Gloria
Second part of track is recap on Romance.
12. Eyes
Van discovers Hitomi and Allen on the Meifia Bridge, ep20.
13. Empty the Pocket
Gem: Hitomi and Yukari on their way home, ep1.
14. White Dove
Van and Hitomi arrives in Asturia for the first time, ep6.
15. Mystic Eyes
TV edit (Lovers 19) as series ending credits.
16. Deja Blue
Marlene's music box that conceals her diary, ep13.

OST2
01. The Vision of Escaflowne
Van fighting Naria and Eriya at the Gate of Atlantis, ep17.
02. Fanelia
?
03. Ask the Owl
Van and Allen's first fight in guymelefs, ep3.
04. Charm
Van's moment with Escaflowne so it would become him, ep13.
05. Country Man
?
06. A Mole Man
Merle sizing up Hitomi in their sick bed, ep4.
07. Cradle Song
(Allen?)
08. Machine Soldier
(Dilandau and Dragonslayers?)
09. Shadow of Doubt
Folken's asylum with Asturia, ep23.
10. A Far Cry
Folken returns to Fanelia and waits for Van, ep22.
11. Market Place
?
12. Medicine Eater
?
13. Godds Drunk
?
14. Cat's Delicacy
Merle steals Hitomi's pendant, ep2.
15. Love
16. Hitomi's Theme
Span shot of Hitomi in her room against the Asturia night?
Gem: Van and Hitomi's conversation about their family, ep8.
17. If You
?

OST3
01. Short Notice
ep preview music
02. Arcadia
Hitomi enters Atlantis, ep17.
Gem: Folken and Van's reunion in Fanelia, ep22.
03. Epistle
(fight scene)
Gem: Van defeats Dragonslayers after healing from Escaflowne's repairs, ep14.
04. Farewell
Gem: Dryden explains secrets of Esca and calls upon the Ispanos, ep14.
05. Aoi Hitomi
Hitomi walks away from a fight with Allen, ep23.
06. Perfect World
Leon second meeting with Hitomi's grandma at Asgard and his thoughts for Encia, ep17.
07. I Recommend Instincts
Gem: Track team scene, ep1.
08. Scrappy
Naria and Eriya's nyan nyan kempo, ep20.
09. Shrilly
Fortona Temple in Freid, ep13.
10. Revenge
?
11. Illusion
?
12. Blaze
Escape while Freid's capital Godashim burns, ep13.
13. Fatal
Folken's whistle, ep5 and ep25.
14. Hikari No Naka E (Into the Light)
The second time Hitomi and Yukari talk about Amano leaving Japan, ep24.
15. Again
Gem: Hitomi tells the story of Escaflowne to Amano in school clinic, ep24.

Lovers Only
01. Yakusoku wa Iranai (Promises Not Necessary, TV edit)
Intro.
02. The Vision of Escaflowne (Take 2)
?
03. Memory of Fanelia
Gem: King Aston celebrates the magnificence of Escaflowne at the dinner table, ep7.
04. Dance of Curse
(see OST1 03)
05. Zaibach
Zaibach forces surround Freid, ep13?
06. Flying Dragon
(see OST1 02)
07. Cradle Song
(see OST2 07)
08. Tomodachi (Friends)
The CD that Hitomi picks up at the Asturian bazaar, ep6.
09. Bird Cage
Van, Allen, Hitomi as Dornkirk's prisoners in Zaibach, ep18.
10. Chain
Van's fight at Rampant Port, ep23?
Gem: Hitomi and Allen's kiss, ep19.
11. Epistle
(see OSt3 03)
12. Perfect World
(see OST 06)
13. Blaze (Take 2)
14. Hitomi Theme
(see OST2 16)
15. Angel
(see OST1 06)
16. Neko no Kimochi (Cat's Feelings)
(not in series?)
17. Arcadia
(see OST3 02)
18. Kaze ga Fuku Hi (The Days the Wind Blows)
(not in series?)
19. Mystic Eyes (TV Edit)
ending theme
20. The Story of Escaflowne ~ End Title
end of series

Edited 03/20: Added Gem's comments.