Continuation Revised

I just realized that perhaps part of the struggle about my ideas for the main conflict in DS is its lack of continuation from the story in Escaflowne beyond the characters and V+H's relationship. Even though I've written a lot about the cultural and political history of Gaea, there must be remaining tensions and unsolved issues that need to be brought forward and resolved.

Summary of the end:
1. Rebuilding of destroyed Fanelia. Asturia with ruins within Palas, and a destroyed Rampant Port and border post Castelo. Freid with collapsed capitol Godashim and Fortona temple.
2. Armies contend for dominance against each other (unclear of factions--other countries include Cesario, Basram, Daedalus, and Egzardia--have to watch end ep again).
3. Collapse of Zaibach empire. What happened to its people?
4. Atlantis entry sealed.
5. Death of thousands. Energist bomb effects on the battlefield (where exactly is it?).

On the personal aspects:
1. Allen is reunited with Celena. Allen is still unattached, and no resolution about his status within the Heavenly Knights.
2. Dryden off on his quest to return as a better man.
3. V+H part, obviously.

Is there anything I'm missing?


My new stat counter tells me most of the traffic is from Google image search. I'm not sure if I should be happy about that or not. (At least, I'm not savvy enough to IP filter its hits, so it'll stay for now.)

Backstories

My brilliant idea today was to write more backstories for DS, so off I went on wikipedia for details I've missed and new articles.
1. Read about steampunk and identified Esca elements: airships, guymelefs, crystal power, fate alteration machine, energist bomb
2. Read again about Edgar Cayce
3. Read again about Ignatius Donnelly
4. Read about Immanuel Velikovsky
5. Read about Freidich Schiller
6. Read about the sinking of Helike in Greece in 373 BC
7. Read the article on Numenor

Still need more backstories, and though it's likely I wouldn't fit them all into DS (and really shouldn't), they'll help build the culture and interactions between groups.

I'm more and more into the idea that Hitomi could turn out to be a significant political figure that exceeds her role in Esca. Having Hitomi in a powerful role is so appealing. My only hesitation right now is how it will turn out for her. I don't want Hitomi to be a ruler of a separate country like Princess of La Vallex, but there must still be numerous roles for her in the future of Gaea--I just can't think of any right now.


Can't quite remember where this is from, though it must be from an official illustration:

On Writing 2

I still haven't jumped back into prose and paragraphs and sentences and particular words, but this time for real, I think I'm getting closer in preparation. In my previous post on writing, the focus was on editing, but these past couple of weeks have been of a different sort of experience.

Listening to Escaflowne music again while visualizing scenes and pretending characters have helped set me back into Gaea. A little notebook and a good pen force me to think about DS at every idle moment. Some alone time in coffee shops and wait for public transportation are surprisingly productive. And changing my desktop to my DS drawings definitely bring in the mood.

My composition is still awkward, but writing everyday helps, even if it's just this blog or recent anime reviews or emails. I'm sure if I persist in my focus on DS, even if progress is slow, It will eventually find me.

Yesterday I detailed the second to last ch (unless my plan for scenes change dramatically). I get tremendously excited when I get a good idea, and it's tempting and slightly depressing that I can't reveal it here--indeed not until the second to last ch. I hope you will forgive me, even though it's awful of me to wave a cookie but not share. Well, perhaps a chocolate chip: Van and Sousuke will meet.

Considerations tossing around in head right now:
1. Other main characters' developments are too two-dimensional (Allen, Millerna, etc.). What growths or regressions have they had since we saw them last in Esca? How are they impacted and grow by the events and by interactions with V+H in DS?
2. Erected political structures are weak and superficial. Needs more backstories to countries and better representations of the rulers.
3. How are Gaea in general affected by the conflict and then the outcome of the conflict? Do people just go on with their lives without a real knowledge of what has happened like in Esca?
4. Related to 2 and 3, have more important minor characters who we can identify with and see how their lives change. (Esca examples: Voris, Jajuka, Zongi, Miguel)
5. I want to toss my original idea of including the song "Into the Light" into one of the ch, because it's such a common device in fanfiction and basically I did no work except think it illustrates V+H's relationship really well--and then when I wrote down that I've decided to toss it, I feel really sad and lost.


This is the back cover of doujinshi "Euphoria of the Meadow" by Gypsy Queen:

Protector of the Heavens

It's been a while since I've seen the series and I don't have the filmbooks with me--was there a phrase to describe Escaflowne as "protector of the heavens"? It seems too together for me to make it up, but then memory is sometimes a tricky thing. I've searched lyrics and Escaflowne Compendium already; if I can't find it in the filmbooks this weekend, I'll have to delegate it to the pile of facts I made up.

I think instead of focusing on my failure of coming up with anything plausible for ch6, I should resign myself to wandering thoughts on end-story. At least, it's coming along.

Ah, my other thought recently was on age. During Esca, V+H were 15, and their dreams and beliefs in themselves and each other supported their intentions throughout the story and ultimately outwilled the Fate Alternation Machine. For DS, V+H are 25--and are the defining characteristics courage and desire for truth?

Stuck Stuck Stuck

Actually, the stupidest thing about being stuck is that DS is a romance story. It's not like people are going to pay that much attention to non-kissing scenes, yet these are the very ones I'm stuck on. Irony. All the romance scenes are decided. I've changed things here and there, minor things like what Hitomi and Van say to each other--but I can see each scene so clearly. At least, they are worth looking forward to.


This morning while thinking of more ideas for ch6, I thought of a strange question: If Escaflowne had not been sealed within the Fanelia temple after Goau's death, would it be possible for someone other than Folken and Van to make a blood pact with it?

Normal melefs and guymelefs are controlled by any pilot. But for Escaflowne, even though it requires a blood pact, if both brothers failed, or if someone got an energist first--would it be possible for Escaflowne to be commanded by someone completely unrelated?

I think it would be. There isn't data to suggest the Espano made Escaflowne exclusively for Fanelia (making possible my little insert in ch4 for Escaflowne to be a dowry from Tyrrhenia), and the Ispanos seem like moneygrubbers (I mean seriously how many gidaru did they charge) that I can't imagine them making anything exclusive enough to deny their own profits.

I hope I'll be able to include the Ispanos as planned. The little buggers are so funny. And DS is lacking in the funny right now.

Old Posts

In preparation for a day of writing, I went through some old blog posts to look where I left off--in some ways posting is better than a private journal is some decrease in "omg drool" moments and I'm forced to patch my thoughts together into some coherency, but I definitely go too far into my "BSing scholar" moments. Some of my posts are just wtf was I thinking....

Like my previous declaration that I think of Van as the main character. That's seriously off mark. Hitomi is the catalyst of Gaea's war and Van's development. If he didn't have the dreams of Fanelia, and Hitomi and Merle to protect, would Van still turn out the same way? Without Hitomi, the only character to interject defiance and kind thoughts, would Van still progress to that smile at the end of ep26?

The dumbest thing about being stuck is that I planned my story mid- and endpoints, and backstories and little details, but I have no idea what I want Cim to say in ch6.

Hi There

I've been thinking, thinking, thinking--and then I realized there's no point in thinking if there's no doing. (Yes, I am really that dumb...)

I always have excuses. Perhaps the largest is how much time I'll need to finish. (I'm still at an rough ch6 and the story hasn't yet kicked off. If there are 20-25 chs as I had outlined, and writing each ch so far has taken me 1-2 months each, it would take me at the minimum a year. Damn rationality.) But really: I like DS and I like writing and I like writing Van--why shouldn't I spend more time on it?


I was surprised to find a modern, European version of Van:

Van's PPF (continued)

Sometimes I wonder if my writing motivation is conceit. Perhaps. I mean, I did start the DS project because "hey I can do better than 90% of people on here" and "dude I'll show them how an Escaflowne fanfic can be written as real fiction". I don't know which is more disconcerting--the fact that DS is based on these egotistical thoughts or that I'm revealing it in this post. (My only comfort is my scarce but treasured blog readers, who will most definitely forgive me.)

Writing is an oxymoron that allows the writer to take an identity and also reveal himself. Perhaps there is no escape from my self.


Well, let's jump back before I wander off to the next philosophical discussion: Yesterday we were on the subject of "Van's PPF" (past present future), and I've also hastily put in my deadline for ch6, lest I escape again. (My other confession today? My last written work on DS was in April ; ;) With 3 weeks left and a whole ch ahead, let us rush headlong into it, then.

I had previously considered the possibility of cutting Van's dialogue with Basram's diplomat, on the pretense of sparing the readers the political boredom (and me a public hazing), but now I see it would be necessary to not only keep the section, but to excel at its execution.

Esca ff authors and readers alike assume that Hitomi's decision to stay is the keystone to an Esca continuation. But to me, Van is the main character in Escaflowne, and it is Van again who must be the essence of the story. We cannot jump from Van 10 years ago to Van's actions in the rest of DS, without first seeing how Van is a king in Fanelia.

We've already missed Van as king in ep2--after his coronation he is immediately downgraded into nothing more than a refugee with a royal title. All through the series we see little of Van the king. But it is precisely his lineage and rule that define who he is and what kind of person Hitomi must become in order to match Van.

The tricky thing is execution of the idea, of course. Will I have enough skill to portray Van as who he is now and what he will become?

At least, the goal for ch6 is clear. The best time to start is always tomorrow ;3a


I can't remember if I've posted this, so you get the pleasure of getting it again:


Edit: From my previous blog posts it looks like I've written in July, but both the DS working file and my backup are from April. WHERE IS MY FILE.

Van's PPF

In a previous post, I've mentioned I'd like to resolve the juxtaposition of Van's gravity and boyishness. But a deeper portrayal and my challenge in ch6 is Van's PPF--how he has changed these 10 years and how he will be at the end of DS. And I think in order to do this, V's meeting with Basram's diplomat will be a definite landmark.

...
There is supposed to be a meaning to this post. I apologize. It's late, and my brain is like mush and I must fall into bed. Will try again tomorrow.

Oh, before I duck out of this: I will publish ch6 before Christmas.

Back Again

The other day a ff email told me I got another reader on the story alert list. It made me happy--and a little guilty--I had no idea people are still reading Deeper than the Sky. (Curiously, ch5 has 40 more hits than ch4. Are the readers skipping ahead to the most recent ch, hoping for more closure, or do they reread ch5 again for Van?)

Perhaps there is no need to write an apology--only ch6 will compensate my year absence.

Hello again. m(_ _)m


Ch6 still remains elusive. My original plan was to have Van's meeting with Basram for its first half, and Van+Hitomi's meeting second. But I'm having such trouble with the political meeting, its dialogue and its innuendos, what Van should be as a ruler now and his maturity later, how much of Basram and its complications I should present. Would it be so bad to cut it out, and filter the meeting through Hitomi's experience? Or would this instead be even more confusing because it would be a second-hand of a second-hand?

Most likely, the only way to find out is to write it.


A drawing from a long time ago: