Thoughts on books and plotlines and movies and music.

Things the Rothcar/Radrezaria universe is not allowed to do:
1) Swallow up any other peripheral universes and plotlines (That means you, film-noir-7th-Hour-future-with-strippers-fic);
2) Produce extraneous family members for any characters that already have pre-existing family structures (No, Silverlock, you cannot have a sister. What is this, bad fanfic? "This is the story of Melody Stardust, one of the Executive Chancellor's harem slaves..." Besides, let's be honest- all you'd do is sleep with her);
3) Indulge in any more religious and philosophical wankery than it already does (Seriously, guys, cut that shit out. We're really not that deep).

I've been reading Stephen King's On Writing lately (lots of free time in Glee Club, you see)- I seriously enjoy King's style, so I'm enjoying the book even if the advice isn't anything I haven't heard before. It has got me thinking a little more about plot and such things; most of my stories are character driven, which is why they have no point. Boffo is the exception to this- it's a situational story, founded on a series of "what if" propositions. This may be why I was actually able to finish it (sort of)- it had a definite resolution.

Stella Matin and Foxbird are currently at the forefront of my creative brain- Foxbird is more character driven than Stella, but both are largely just worldbuilding exercises. And Foxbird, lack of title notwithstanding, is just better constructed than Stella. Things have rules, things follow these rules, and the rest is just anthropology. I'm still not entirely clear on the rules for magicrafting or any of the shit Theron does, and the whole thing has the most implausible and self indulgent non-ending ever, even by my standards.

Anyway. Foxbird may actually have a real plot, one involving riots, cranky watchmen, and possibly a cast of more than six characters. I mean, the missing assassins thing worked as a plot, but it was a shallow one at best. What the story really needs is a conspiracy; it's a shame I have no head for intrigue and political scheming.

Feh. Why is it always so difficult to come up with motivations for a villain? "He's batshit crazy" only flies so far, after all.

I also just finished (finally!) The Etched City by KJ Bishop. The whole thing reminded me strongly of Invisible Cities, which I loved as a collection of essays and vignettes, but I really don't think it works as a novel. I'm a fan of that pretentious, artsy, stream-of-conscious style of writing- but only in small amounts.

Most of the major plot revelations occur when the main character is on drugs or under the influence of mind altering otherworldly influences, and that gets really annoying by the time you reach the epilogue. All the bits that weren't trying to be artsy and deep were entertaining, though. The main character is a mercenary working as a bodyguard in one of your standard corrupt and seedy Steampunk cities. He kills people and occasionally makes snarky comments, and every Tuesday he hangs out with a drunken priest and debates the existence of god. Then he starts hanging out with a woman who may or may not be a sphinx and weird shit starts happening.

I suppose I enjoyed it, even if I didn't so much approve of the ending- as I said, the parts that weren't narrated in a drug induced haze were entertaining and gripping. I prefer my steampunk with a little more narrative coherence, but I'm not seriously invested in the genre.

I need to read more. *sigh*

Saw Mirrormask last night; much as I generally disapprove of Neil Gaiman, it was about seven thousand different kinds of awesome. It's done in the tradition of Labyrinth and Legend (which in turn follow after Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz), but that storyline never gets old, no matter how many times it's done and overdone.

Dave McKean's art is downright disturbing at times, and Neil Gaiman is a master of the creepifying, so when you put them together you get tasty, tasty crack with masks and hungry cat things. It's all very predictable and very pretty, and occasionally Helena or Valentine will toss off one liners that make me squee, and I bought the soundtrack as soon as the movie ended. ...yesterday was actually a day filled with impulse buying, but we won't talk about that. But yes, good movie. I approve.

I've been listening to "Improper Dancing" by Electric Six on repeat for the last three days, because it makes me wildly, wildly happy. It's the most perfect Ikkaku song in the history of ever, and it just makes me want to get up and...dance, improperly. In the middle of the street, even. I'm also still listening to KT Tunstall on a loop, because her voice is still teh sex. Otherwise, my playlist continues to grow more and more bizarre by the day- FST rocks my socks.

I don't want to go to class. I mean, I really, truly don't want to go to class. Seriously. Passionately. But, alas, I skipped two weeks ago, and it only meets once a week anyway. Augh.

(I keep waiting for a rapid, violent change, but no metamorphosis ever occurs that quickly. *le sigh* I could make some flowery metaphor about butterflies and shit, but that would be entirely out of character at the moment. Some other time, perhaps.)