To start, in honor of "Miraculous Ladybug" season 2 coming out in the US, I did indeed post the first chapter of "Peeping Tomcat"! You can find it at one of these three locations:
The story hasn't even been up for a week yet, and the stats have already been pretty cool. It may be far from a massively popular story, but it certainly is one of MY most popular stories, and at the fastest rate as well. It pays to write for an actively popular fandom.
Anyway, as of this posting, the stats for the story are:
So, yay!FFN: 457 views, 28 faves, 52 followers, and 7 reviews
AO3: 420 views, 33 kudos, 7 bookmarks (followers), and 2 reviews
DA: 13 views, 1 fave, but no comments
Total Results: 890 views, 62 faves, 59 followers, and 9 reviews
The comments have all said the same variation of these top three sentiments:
1. This is really good.
2. How will this develop? / I can't wait to find out more.
3. You have the characterization spot on / Adrien's insight is awesome
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| Hacker Girl Facebook sticker by Birdman, Inc. |
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| Hacker Girl Facebook sticker by Birdman, Inc. |
Now, for whatever reason, season 2 has been focusing on Adrien's daily piano practices. Out of the twelve episodes, we see Adrien at home in four, and in all four episodes, either Gabriel or Nathalie reminds and/or orders Adrien to go practice his piano. On top of that, in the twelfth episode, Adrien is performing in front of his father to show his progress. That's when we get this interaction:
I just fangirl squealed so much while watching that scene, because it just made my story even MORE perfectly in character. One of the initiating conflicts for "Peeping Tomcat" is Gabriel grounding Adrien. Gabriel notes that Adrien's latest photo shoot seems sub-par, and his piano skills aren't as advanced as they should be if he were practicing properly. Gabriel blames these "shortcomings" on Adrien's focus on his friends, and grounds his son until Adrien learns to properly prioritize for his future.Gabriel: I suggest you rehearse your piece some more. You'll play it for me again later today.
Adrien: But, Father, you promised I could attend my friends' concert.
Gabriel: Not after THAT performance you've just given. Which was probably due to THEIR influence. You need to refocus, Adrien.
Kinda close, huh? I just added more sticks to the fire for mine. Not too shabby, considering I wrote the scene months ago! So cool! I guess I was on the same wave-length as the show's creators.
Oh, and speaking of the most recent episode, I love the character of Luka! He was teased a year or two ago, but finally showed up in the "Captain Hardrock" episode.
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| Check her out at: twitter.com/daferisae instagram.com/ferisae |
But that might also mean that Luka will pop up more if there is going to be more romantic conflict for Mari. Hmmm. Maybe I'll indulge with some Lukanette fanfiction in the future....
Lukanette? Maybe Earring Babies? I don't know what the coupling will be called, but a lot of people have been calling Adrien/Kagami the "Ring Couple" because they wear similar rings on their right hands, and Luka has gauges that resemble Marinette's earrings. So....
Okay, yeah, back on topic.
To quick recap: I posted "Peeping Tomcat" finally, got a good response for it, and have been itching to post the second chapter. Which is appropriate, considering the second chapter is called "itch" and talks about the same call for instant gratification. I also commented on how cool the latest episode is, and how I fangirled about the "accuracy" of my story thanks to a scene in the latest episode.
But "Peeping Tomcat" isn't the only story I posted this week. I had that Willow story going on as well, the one I was going to post either way last week to make sure I had one new posting each month.
"Don't Mess (an X-Future Snippet)"
Now, this little snippet hasn't been getting much love, but I get it again. It's not quite fanfiction. It's also not quite original. It lands in that awkward chasm of All-OC fanfiction. Not the most wanted genre, especially when the snippets are too short to include any canon characters that might pull people in.
Either way, I'm proud I wrote it and posted it. I like the subtle way I showcased both Penumbra's and Willow's powers. I didn't state exactly what was going on, or that they were using their powers. I hope it is as easy to comprehend not knowing the characters as it is for me, who does know. Well, as always, feel free to constructively criticize any of my works.
Since I briefly talked about Willow, how about we talk about another character with white and blue hair:
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| Parzival addressing the whole of OASIS in "Ready Player One" |
Well, along with the awesomeness of the second season of "Miraculous" finally coming to Netflix, and finally posting my story, this weekend kicked butt because Ron and I finally had a chance to go see "Ready Player One." Hubby and Cyhyr came with, after dealing with stupidly excited spouses for over a year. It was a lovely double date. The movie was awesome, but, even though the author Ernest Cline wrote the screenplay, the co-authorship of Zak Penn, and probably the influence of the studio, really changed a lot of the plot. The movie had the same basic FEEL of the book, and the generic over-arcing plot and subplot are still there, and the movie was still an incredibly enjoyable action-packed romp. But it took surprisingly more liberties than I would have expected, given the author penned the screenplay as well.
Then again, Orson Scott Card helped write the screenplay for "Ender's Game" and that turned into a bit of a disaster. I guess even when the author is involved, you can only do SO much to adapt a book to screen, which makes movies like "Harry Potter" and the BBC mini-series version of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" all the more rare gems. On the plus side, I also think it means it is a LOT harder for the author to be upset about the theatrical direction the story went. They probably sucked it up and went "yeah, the main theme/feel of my story is still there. I'll let you change it" as opposed to authors who simply sell the rights and then don't have any voice on how their little darlings are altered.
Well, regardless, I still highly suggest giving "Ready Player One" a watch, and I'm definitely getting it once it comes out on DVD.
Another bit of awesomeness aside from the TV show update, my story getting love, seeing a movie I have been waiting to watch for years, and an awesome night out with Ron and Cy? While bringing up "Miraculous Ladybug" on Netflix, I noticed that "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" has ITS second season up as well. Both "Unfortunate Events" AND "Miraculous" updated with their second seasons on the same day!? Yes, please!
I've already gone through both shows' second seasons over the course of the weekend....
I was at that awkward age when the books came out where I was much older than the target demographic, but I was also still young enough to care what others thought of me reading a children's book series. I enjoyed the movie, though, and absolutely LOVE the series, as evidenced by the binge watching. So, I'll have to track down the series and add it to my "must read" list.
At this point, my "must read" list is very much like my Netflix and anime "must watch" lists. For every one I take off the list, I add about five more.
I need to start picking up the pace to try to get through books faster at least.
It's a good thing that I'm starting to do that already. It kept me until yesterday, so two days more than two books in one month, but I finished off Ali Luke's Lycopolis trilogy.
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| My apologies to Ali Luke. I had her third book "Dominion" mistitled on my challenge sheet, and I didn't even notice until she pointed it out last month. I will go back and correct my earlier posts this year. |
As for my thoughts on "Dominion"? Well.... honestly, I didn't really connect with it. Objectively, when I reflect back on the story, a LOT went on, and each individual scene was intense. However, as I reflect back on my feelings of the story, it seemed slow, and I was disconnected. I did struggle a lot with it being an e-book that I had to read off my laptop; not the best way to read something via the Kindle app.
So I'm going to hold my official judgement until I get my hands on a paperback copy. I'll see if a re-read using my preferred medium changes my views. I will say, though, that "Oblivion" is definitely my favorite out of the three thus far.
I also still want to write screenplay adaptations of the books. See first hand why changes and liberties need to be made. See if maybe I could keep a script closer to the source material than even Ernest Cline or Orson Scott Card could. Then again, I won't have any Hollywood influence or pressure, so perhaps those two gentlemen originally had the screenplays VERY close to the source material.
The real trick is going to be the screenplay for "Dominion". Mostly because a lot of the story deals with an abstract supernatural surrealism that plays well via prose, but it is hard to really create imagery for it. Probably one of the reasons why I felt disconnected from this third installment. I have a very hard time comprehending and connecting with something I can't mentally picture.
On the plus side, though, in my attempt to understand the abstract concepts Ali presents, I've sort of pictured how it could be portrayed on screen. The next challenge will be to write out my thoughts on how it is shown visually without going overboard. It is not the screenwriter's job to fully dictate to the actors and/or director how things should look. I need that happy balance between giving the director a concept, a direction, to work with, while still leaving individual interpretation possibilities. Let the director use their own imagination to potentially come up with a better visual even I could think of. They are the professional and know better than I what could work, and what possibilities are available.
Perhaps a series of projects for next year, after I've completed the WIPs I already have going. It will give the trilogy time to settle in my head. See what parts really stick with me when I do my re-reads.
I'm now free to move on to my re-read of "Ready Player One" to truly remind myself how the story went, and see how much was actually changed, versus what I THINK changed, based on my failing memory. I like the idea of the re-read happening so shortly after watching the movie, too, before the movie version fades from my mind.
One more bit of awesomeness to finish off my weekend.
This past Sunday was Easter, and so I got to spend some time with my in-laws, as well as my sister-in-law's in-laws. Normally, since I see that side so infrequently, I don't really connect with them. I was more involved in conversations this go, which was nice, but the big thing is the time spent with my niece and nephew. Particularly my nephew, who actually clung to me for a little bit. Loved it!
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| Hacker Girl Facebook sticker by Birdman, Inc. |
Another one we'll have to visit is celestialTyrant, who is hitting the big 3-0 this week! Such an amazing week!
It's been a good weekend, and it's already shaping up into a good week. I just need to fight the urge to post the second chapter of "Peeping Tomcat" early....
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