Music Worth Commending

There are probably few things I like more than music (aside from the obvious, of course). A lot of the music I like reminds me of my writing, but even if it doesn't there's still a chance of me liking it. Some of my favorite bands include TobyMac, Owl City, Britt Nicole, and Needtobreathe. But there is one artist that I wish to commend above all the others, and his name is Howard Shore.

We'll see why in a moment. 

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of instrumental music while I do schoolwork. Since tracks from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey make up quite a few of my instrumental tracks, I've been listening to those quite a bit. And I've also come to formulate a theory hypothesis: Music cannot convey emotions nearly as well as words and images can. 

Why? Well, to start with, words. Words are probably a lot more "real" than music is, because in this day and age we are surrounded by the written word every day. On this webpage alone are thousands of written words. Any literate person can read this words and formulate their own mental meaning/image/argument/etc. to go along with them. So words are more "real" than music. 

Next up, images. Images are even more "real" than words, probably because most human beings input and process images constantly, day after day. Images can be taken in in a fraction of a second and understood in the next fraction of a second. Images generally have no problem conveying what they want to convey. So images are very "real". 

And that brings us to music. 

Music is abstract. We hear it in a fraction of second, yet what we hear does not immediately convey a message the way words do. This is especially true of orchestral/instrumental pieces. And so it can be a lot harder to use an orchestra to convey emotion. 

Which brings me to a final point. 

The only song that has ever truly, primally, scared me is an orchestral, instrumental piece by Howard Shore. It's called The Hill of Sorcery.

Now, it should be noted that I don't listen to a lot of "scary" music, so maybe that doesn't count. But this piece of music is also the only song out of the 208 songs that I like that evokes any sort of true emotion for me. The runner-up is probably Vanilla Twilight by Owl City. But that has lyrics, and works in conjunction with images from a movie-that-shall-not-be-named to make me sad. So it's not a very close runner up. The Hill of Sorcery has no lyrics and, though it is from a movie, is just as scary on its own as in the scene it goes with. 

And that is why I want to commend Howard Shore. 

(A note: If you just want to hear the scary part of The Hill of Sorcery, skip to 1:41 and listen carefully. To see the scene that goes with it in the movie, go here.)

TeenPact: A Lesson In Government

This past Friday (5-3-2013), I was over in downtown Anchorage for a class, specifically called TeenPact. TeenPact is a class/workshop that's designed to teach teenagers about government, legislature, and how  it all works.

Since the class is for teenagers, and I happen to not be a teenager, I had to attend the one-day version of the class rather than the four-day version. But that was probably for the best, because the one-day version sort of eased me into it, if you know what I mean. But, anyway, on with my description of the day.

Unfortunately, the class was scheduled to take place on my father's birthday. Fortunately, he agreed to go with me, so it was sort of our little thing for the day.

Anyway, we had to stop to pick up a sack lunch for the class, so we were five or ten minutes late. We arrived during the introduction, which I didn't mind, and ended up sitting in the back of the room, which I sort of minded later on.

At the end of the introduction, we were introduced to Michael Wagner, who would be doing most the speaking during the class. He, in turn, introduced all of us to the other... erm... I really don't know what to call them. 'Teachers' doesn't sound right because they were only about nineteen or twenty years old. But they definitely weren't students... if you know the term, don't hesitate to tell me.

Anyway, moving on, after that we prayed and had a short worship time (which was also fun, but I won't go into that here). After a short explanation of the three kinds of elections, we were divided into three parties to hold our own primaries.

Each party had to elect one governor and two senators. We didn't really bother with nominations--if you wanted to run for governor or senator, you were allowed to run.

Once we had our nominees for governor, each nominee was asked questions by the... uh... helper assigned to our party. Then we voted, using the good ol' fashioned method of covering our eyes and raising our hand when we wanted to vote for the person whose name had been called.

Once that was done, we went back out into the main room with the other 'parties'. The senatorial nominees were called up and had to answer a list of questions. One of the points that was stressed was that name recognition is important. This is important because if people don't know you name, they won't vote for you. So each nominee was supposed to start and end their answer by stating their name.

Next, the gubernatorial nominees were called up. (Gubernatorial is a term used to reference nominees for governor.) They, too, had to answer questions. Then the ballots were passed out, and we voted by marking down the name of our preferred candidate. All of the ballots were turned in, and then it was time for our field trip to the governor's office!

We all collected into one large line/mass, left the building, and started walking. The governor's office was about four, five, or maybe six blocks away--not far, in any case, but a bit uncomfortable when you're not used to wearing a skirt. I'm sure we looked a bit out-of-place: thirty-plus kids in nice clothes just strolling through the city.

Out-of-place or not, we reached the correct building quickly and then rode up to the seventeenth floor in groups, since the elevators obviously weren't large enough to accommodate the whole group. Once all of us were on the right floor, we went in.

First we got to see the governor's conference room. Surprisingly, it wasn't all that much fancier than any other conference room I've seen (though the dark wood paneling on the doors did look like chocolate... yum). We also got to take free copies of the Constitution. Then we were allowed into the governor's real office.

Unfortunately, the governor wasn't there. But the office was big, big enough to accommodate thirty-plus kids without (too much) crowding. The view was amazing, though. The cars looked like matchbox cars, the view of the mountains was breathtaking. Several kids took turns sitting in the governor's chair. I didn't. After a certain amount of time for sight-seeing, each of us gathered into groups and prayed for the governor. Then we left, rode the elevators down, left the building, and walked back to our original building. And then it was time for... lunch.

Lunch ended at 1:05 p.m. Once that was over, Michael Wagner got back up to talk. It was time to learn about the legislative process--in other words, how laws are made. And fortunately for us, Mr. Wagner just happened to have a 50-minute lecture on the subject.

Fun.

So we got out note-taking materials and prepared ourselves for the boring part... only to find out that we were actually going to watch a skit put on by the helpers.

The skit was long, but that was okay because there was plenty of humor, it effectively taught us about the legislative process, and we got candy. :-D When the skit was finally over, we got to try out the process ourselves, using the bills we had written as part of our 'homework' before the class.

First off was a read-through of the bills. We all formed into one long line, and began reading our bills aloud one at a time. Usually we got about as far as the first section before Mr. Wagner banged the gavel and assigned the bill to a committee.

This wouldn't have been as fun if it weren't for some of those committee names. Our TeenPact legislature seemed to have a committee for every subject. For example:

A bill protecting innocent insects from being killed by humans? Assigned to the Bug's Life Committee.

A bill stating that all children should be kept from eating broccoli? Assigned to the Amen Committee.

A bill allowing children ages 10-17 to vote? The Little Big Guys Committee.

A bill giving cyclists their own bypass so they wouldn't take up a lane in traffic? The Get Off the Road! Committee.

And those were only some of the more memorable ones.

Once that over with, we were divided up into a few small committees to discuss the bills. This was fun. The helper assigned to our committee, Shelby, would read a bill, then ask if the author was present. If the author was present (and they usually were), they would get up to talk briefly about their bill, then open it up for questions. We could ask questions, but we couldn't state anything unless we were in the speaker's area (called the well). We could move to vote on the bill unless the well was empty.

We went through a few bills this way, then voted once of the rest of the stack so that we could go back out to join the other two committees. There, we did much the same thing. The bill in question would be read in its entirety by the clerk. The author of the bill would come up to talk about their bill, questions would be asked, and (in some cases), amendments would be suggested, passed, and/or rejected. In many cases, an amendment would be suggested, and then a student would move to vote. There would be an objection from some other student(s), and that would lead to us voting on whether or not we should vote! It was fun and engaging, and I even managed to get an amendment passed on a bill allowing children to vote.

Unfortunately, we only got to go through maybe five or six bills. At 4:00 p.m., one of the helpers moved to adjourn the meeting permanently until the next year's class. And, surprisingly or unsurprisingly, there was a majority vote not to adjourn. Unfortunately for us, we were out voted by the director of the class. So our committee adjourned, and that was end of the 2013 TeenPact class.

So, as I learned, government skills are not hard to learn. In fact, though it may seem daunting, the legislative process is actually simple at its core.

What are your thoughts on government?

The Many Faces of Evil

Before I start in on this, please just note that this post probably isn't going to be as dark as the title may imply. Just bear with me for a moment and you'll find out why I called it this.

To start, has anyone heard of Jim Weiss? Anyone? (Rhetorical question.) Well, in case you haven't, Jim Weiss is a narrator, among other things (I think). He narrated The Story of the World and has a number of re-told stories on audio. During an IDEA curriculum fair here in Alaska, we had the privilege of getting to hear him speak on a topic that I was very excited about: villains, both in real life and in stories.

One of the things I liked about the talk was that Mr. Weiss made several references to Lord of the Rings. This having been said, he started off with what may be the most well-known type of villain: the Dark Lord uber-evil over-arching totally bad supervillain. And of course, he used a well-known example: Lord Sauron from LotR.

Sauron is obviously the over-arching villain of the trilogy. He created the One Ring, and the whole problem is that he now wants it back, for the purpose of destroying/enslaving/taking over the world.
[Insert totally off-topic rant about how Isildur is a complete jerk/idiot for not destroying the Ring when he had the chance here]. So we have Sauron, the supervillain.

But there is something interesting about Sauron that you will notice (at least once it's pointed out to you). J. R. R. Tolkien never actually shows us Sauron. We see Sauron's minions all the time, and we see what they're doing to Middle-Earth. We even know what Sauron looks like. So we know he's real, very real, and yet we never actually see him. 

Now the movies may have ruined this effect by physically showing us Sauron more than once. But in the books, this is very well-preserved.

The Warriors equivalent to this type of villain would be Tigerstar. In the Wingfeather Saga, it's Gnag the Nameless (to a very similar extent, in fact). In Harry Potter, the main villain is obviously Voldemort. And then there's Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine of Star Wars. The point is, most stories have a general over-arching villain.

Then there is the next type of villain. The suave, smooth-talking villain that promises he'll give you whatever you want... if you'll just do x for him. The way Mr. Weiss actually illustrated this is by using the example of Satan.

Satan, Satan himself, would fall into the category of the over-arching supervillain. We all pretty much know this. But what about Satan's alter ego Lucifer?

Lucifer, to answer my own rhetorical question, would qualify as the smooth-talking villain described above. He doesn't appear blatantly threatening--far from it, in fact. But he very insidious and very dangerous.

The character Sol from Warriors definitely qualifies as this type of villain. He is very smooth-talking and is frequently forgiven by characters that he wrongs. Yet he is a villain. Actually, this deceptive tactic of his is quite frustrating. The characters frequently see him as non-threatening, when most of the time he's behaving in a way that makes you want to drop-kick him right out of the story.

Another example I can think of is Grima Wormtongue from LotR. It's obvious--especially in the movie--that Grima is a lying creep, but the only person who tries to address this is banished, and no one else tries to resolve the matter until Gandalf shows up.

Another example is Semiramis from the series Dragons in Our Midst. Semiramis is the mother of a one of the villains, and she is a villain... I think. Seriously, half the reason I hate her so much is because it's been literally impossible for me to figure out which side Semiramis is on. First, she's helping  her son take over the world... but then he's brutally mutilated by the other bad guy, so she goes over to the good side and helps save a young girl's life. She even tells the good guys how to get around the bad guys' scheme... but wait, her 'solution' was really just part of the plan all along! Hah! She's a bad guy! Wait, hang on, no, she still hates the real bad guy, she's just trying to get what she can out of it too. No, she's a bad guy, she's trying to kidnap Bonnie. Oh wait, no, she's only helping her son, and now she's helping out the protagonist... Wait! She just kidnapped someone! Oh, wait, no... ARGH. See what I mean?

I'm sure there are many other villains who fall into this category, but I can't currently think of any, so I'll leave it at that and move on to the next category.

This third type of villain is perhaps the worst of them all. Mostly due to the fact that he is rarely recognized as a true villain. This is the villain who is evil, unfalteringly evil, and yet he looks just like one of us. He could be one of us. He was one of us. But he chose to be evil.

This type of villain is very insidious, because they are so easy to pass up. They look normal, and usually act normal. There's nothing to suspect.

Or is there?

In other cases, this villain was originally a good guy/on the good guys' side/neutral. But he became a villain, and now he's in prime position to betray the good guys as soon as their backs are turned...

Do you now see why I occasionally yell at my books?

I'll use Lord of the Rings as an example for this one. Take Boromir. He begins lusting after the One Ring early on, and we see this when he suggests that the Ring be used for good (which is completely impossible, btw). From that point on, we slowly begin seeing Boromir's lust as it grows, up until the point where he threatens Frodo in an attempt to get the Ring. My point here, however, is that originally, Boromir's excuse for wanting the Ring was more or less "I'm going to use the Ring for good. I'm going to use it to save my people." The same with Denethor, in fact. But neither of these characters lived to see the end of the war.

Coincidence? I think NOT!

Ahem...
A fourth category of villain, which seems to be  fairly new, is demonstrated in the popular series The Hunger Games. What is this type of villain, you ask?

The system.

In Hunger Games, the system is the spider that sits at the center of the web. The system is what's brought about everything: Panem, the Districts, the Hunger Games, and the vicious cycle everyone lives in. To triumph, the rebels have to defeat the system and start from scratch. It's the same (at least I think it is) in 1984 (I say I think so because I've never actually read it).

As Mr. Weiss pointed out in his talk, this new villain known as 'the system' may stem from the growing amount of conspiracy theories today, which it turn may come from our desire to know why things happen. Why was President Kennedy assassinated? Who did it? Was it just one person, or were there more?

We may never know the answers...

In conclusion, there is more than one type of villain to be seen--both in stories and in life. There is more than one road to evil... which is why it pays to read stories. :-D

So what are your thoughts on villains in stories? What about villains in real life? Please tell me!

...And Then I Was Attacked By a Pine Tree

Ack! Help! Call the Riders of Rohan,
I'm being attacked by an Ent!

I love sledding. So do my sister and brother. Fortunately for us, we live in Alaska, and there's a small hill in our front yard where we can sled when it snows (which is often). The way we sled, though, you'd think we were getting bored. We have come up with many variations on sledding. For example...

• There's 'surfing', where we sled down the hill while standing up on the sled. (This is popular with my brother, who now calls it 'snowboarding'.)
• There's 'skiing' where we sled down, while standing up, with two sleds, one for each foot. (Fortunately, this has only actually been attempted once.)
• There's hold-my-hand, as we call it, where two people sled down side-by-side, while holding hands. (This is a particular favorite.)
• There's 'hold-my-hand-while-standing-up'. This consists of the normal hold-my-hand procedure. One difference: a third person is standing behind the two sledders, with one foot on each sled. (This is a rarer variety.)
• Lastly, there's three-person sledding (three people to one sled) and the extremely rare four-person sledding (four people to one sled; this has only been attempted once, since there are only three children in my family).

So, yeah. Now that I think about it, it's pretty much a miracle that none of us has gotten seriously hurt while sledding.
But wait--someone has gotten hurt while sledding. Wait for a moment, and you'll see what I mean...

It all started innocently enough. Mom had scheduled a playdate with some close friends of ours. Our friends were going to introduce us to one of their absolute favorite sledding hills. Us being the junior sled fanatics that we were, we decided to go. What could go wrong, right? If only we had known...
One twenty- or thirty-minute drive later, we arrived at the hill... and found that it was way bigger than we'd thought.

Mom? I'm starting to have second
thoughts about this...

Well, there was no going back now. Out of the car we went. My sister and I grabbed a sled and started toward the hill.
The walk to the top of the hill should've clued us in on the danger. We were constantly on edge, as the hill was very steep and very slippery. But we pressed on, and eventually reached the top...
...where my sister immediately decided that no, we needed to get to the top of that hill... that hill over there... because it was required that we get the maximum thrill available. So, grudgingly, I agreed, and we started up a narrow, icy path to the top of a higher hill just next to us.
Well, after a short walk, we reached the top of the new hill. We got on the sled, at which point I began having second thoughts. However, my sister wouldn't let me back out. So we pushed... and pulled... and
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
That was our general reaction to the drop we experienced. But really, all was going well. We whipped past a couple patches of reeds on the hill, and then sort-of realized that we were close to the bottom.
Then it happened.
Somehow, the front of the sled caught in a rut on the side of the hill. One minute we were speeding along like normal, and the next, BAM! We went flying head-over-heels and landed in a heap at the bottom of the hill.
My sister popped up, completely fine. In fact, she wanted to do it again. Me? Not so much.
I had landed on top of my sister and face-planted into the back of her leg. One side of my face was numb, and I was bordering on a puffy lip. My legs had also gotten twisted around during the landing and now felt very weak. Amazingly, however, I had no serious injuries.
I tried sledding the hill a few more times, but eventually decided to sit it out. I just couldn't handle the fear of the hill.
Well, that sort of ruined me for big hills. But I'm still completely fine with sledding on the little hill in our front yard. Which leads me to the topic that inspired my title...

One fine, snowy day, my siblings and I were out sledding in our yard. We had started playing this new game: as we sledded down the hill, we would call out the name of a favorite book/movie character.
Of course, characters from LOTR and The Hobbit were immediately up for grabs. But I, being the Warriors nerd that I am, decided to do Warriors characters as well. I was about to leap down the hill while shouting the name of a favorite character (Bluestar ftw!) when I walked straight into a pine tree branch.


Yeah, this isn't exactly the best view when
you're trying to sled.

Well, I was completely fine. But it sort of ended me calling our Warriors characters.

What's really funny is the conversation my sister and I had about it later:

Me: ...AND THEN I WAS ATTACKED BY A PINE TREE.
Crista: You were not attacked by a palm tree.
Me: I said pine. AND YES I WAS.
Crista: No you weren't.
Me: It whacked me right in the face! Knocked my glasses right off.
Crista: It did not, you attacked it, so it acted in self-defense.
Me: I did not attack that poor innocent pine tree! It attacked me.
Crista: Well, obviously, it thought you were attacking it, and it acted in self-defense.
Yeah, we're quirky like that.

Of course, ask me tell either of these stories now, and I'll deny that they ever happened. This is my current version of the sledding accident story...

Alright, so I was with my sister sledding on a nice, sizable sledding hill. We were alternating between the highest hill and the second highest hill.
Well, eventually we decided to try going together. We climbed up to the crest of the highest hill, got on the sled, and leapt down.
Things were going well. We were near the bottom of the hill when it happened, thought. Were passing through a patch of grass when BAM! A group of karpoi [grain spirits from Greek mythology] attacked us and overturned the sled! Crista got away, but the karpoi picked me up and transported me far, far away--all the way to the Clans' lake territories! There the karpoi left me. Of course, a ShadowClan patrol came along right them. They attacked me, naturally, and I was forced to defend myself. They gave me enough scratches for me to feel, but not enough to seriously injure me. I leapt up, hitched a ride on Blackjack the pegasus, and flew back to the hill. There I kept right on sledding until we had to go home.

So, yeah. There's my version of the story. So... what are your thought on sledding, accidents, and pine trees?

What-If Scenarios

I know what you're thinking.

Oh no, you think. I bet this is just another boring blog about something that authors do.

Well, fortunately for you, that's not what this is about. This is about what-if scenarios in stories that can never and will never happened. But they're still fun... for us at least. *Evil grin*
For example...

Last night, my sister Crista and I were playing the most fun game ever. It goes like this:

1. We each randomly select a character. Neither of us knows the other person's choice.
2. We reveal our choices to each other.
3. One of us randomly selects a quest/task this pair of character must complete.

We did it four or five times last night, and a couple of times this morning. Here are our top favorites:

• Gaea (Percy Jackson & the Olympians) and Pippin (Lord of the Rings) must learn to drive a car together.
• Drew (PJatO) and Legolas (LOTR) must cross the Misty Mountains together.
• Flynn Rider (Tangled) and Tom Bombadil (LOTR) must build a car... together.
• Merry (LOTR) and Cluny the Scourge (Redwall) must stay in a cage together for three days without harming each other.

So, yes. We also do 'What would happen if...' a lot, though I must say most of them are totally unrealistic. Crista and I really like the movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (and you can see my review of it here)... so a lot of our what-if scenarios end up like that. We seem to have a strange obsession with disco balls and Irish jigs... so take any scene in The Hobbit and add a disco ball/Irish jig. That's what we like to talk about after bed. Once we turned the final battle at the end of The Hobbit into a party with a disco ball (of course), a waitress, fireworks... and a bunch of cats from warriors.

Just picture Warriors and The Hobbit combined with this.

But, on the more serious side, sometimes we also talk about what we'd like to see in the two upcoming Hobbit movies. Here's a scene I'd like to see:

• So Thorin has just been captured by woodland elves and dragged into the throne room of their king, Thranduil (who happens to be Legolas's father). In the course of his interrogation, Thorin insults Thranduil. Legolas takes offense at this and challenges Thorin. Thorin takes Legolas up on this challenge, and Tauriel is forced to break up a potential fight.

Fascinating, eh?
So what 'What would happen if...' scenarios do you think about? Do you wonder what's going to happen in upcoming movies? I love hearing from you!

The Continuing Story of the Life of Anakin Skywalker (Season II, Part I)

You've got the right to remain right here with me,

I'm on your tail in a hot pursuit,

Love is a high speed chase racin' down the street,

Woo woo woo,

I'm comin' after you.

 

And that up there is the song I cannot get out of my head! Thanks a lot Owl City!

 

Okay, we all know I didn't really mean that. But as you may or may not have gathered, I have finally listened to Owl City's new album. And it wasn't all that bad, despite my expectations. My favorite song is I'm Coming After You, which I just typed the chorus to. It's great... I highly recommend it. (That link will take you to a lyrics video on YouTube).

 

But anyway, today I intend to write a synopsis to Season II of the Continuing Story. Now, keep in mind that I remember the least about this season. Season I episodes were recorded in one of my notebooks because we had, and still have, hopes of filming them. Season III happened far more recently, so I can remember most of those episodes. Season II, however, is the least well known, so there may be later updates to this post. But I'll do my best to remember most of it now.

 

BTW, here's a link to the first season synopsis in case you haven't seen it yet.
 

*****************************************************************

So, episode eleven... well, I'll just start with the first 'Season II' episode, or rather, group of episodes, that I can remember.

Episodes eleven through thirteen were a three-part story entitled 'Anakin Meets Anakin'. Apparently, Anakin from The Phantom Menace had time-travelled into the Clone Wars. The results were... well, interesting.

I honestly can't remember much about this series, but one bit I can remember was a scene where young Anakin decides to take a joyride in one of the starships. Several high-speed antics ensue, and Anakin barely makes it back to the station in one piece. At this point, Clone Wars Anakin discovers what the young version of himself has done and gives, well, himself a thorough chewing out.

This is one of the most well-remembered lines in the entire three seasons of the Continuing Story:

(Clone Wars) Anakin: WHAT IN THE NAME OF JANGO FETT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?!?!?!?

Younger Anakin apologizes and promptly vomits. You see, in the Continuing Story, young Anakin gets motion sickness. Or at least, he used to. I'm not sure if he still gets it.

Anyway, we sort of copied Back to the Future, despite never having seen it, by having the Anakins narrowly avoid changing the Clone Wars forever. But eventually everything got straightened out, and Young Anakin went back to his own time period.

A Note: At this point, our naïveté had somewhat gone down, because I had attempted to write a Star Wars novel and thus learned a lot about the faraway galaxy.

Though honestly that novel was nearly as bad as Season I in terms of naïveté.

Well, anyway, episodes fourteen through sixteen were, guess what, another series. Are you seeing a pattern here?

The premise was that one day in the Jedi Temple, Anakin is tinkering around with the security system. Perfectly safe, right? But then the alarm goes off, and guess who everyone blames? Anakin. Anakin then tries to convince them of his innocence by igniting his blue lightsaber (because everyone uses your lightsaber color to determine which side you're on), but then--GASP! His lightsaber is red of all colors!

Anakin is thrown in jail to await his trial before the Council.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Now the Council gives trials? When did this happen? And why? Did the Jedi decide that the Republic wasn't good enough? Or are Mace Windu and Yoda just being control freaks like usual?

Resent that, I do.

Be quiet, Yoda. Or is that Midnight? I really can't tell...

Well, anyway, apparently the Council does give trials, because Ahsoka is chosen to be Anakin's lawyer. Why the Council let an eleven-year-old Padawan do it, I have no idea, but Ahsoka loyally does her best to defend her Master, but the entire Council seems to be against Anakin--even, I might add, Obi-Wan.

Ha! I knew it! It just proves the theory that Obi-Wan never liked Anakin! It was a conspiracy the whole time!

Ahem... so the Council decides that Anakin really is a Sith and decide to... throw him in the lava pit.

Whoa whoa whoa, wait just a parsec. First of all, doesn't this go against the Jedi rule of don't kill unless you absolutely have to? Secondly, where the sprink did the Jedi get a lava pit? Thirdly, why isn't Emperor Chancellor Palpatine sticking up for his potential next apprentice? Fourth, why isn't someone else protesting, like Padme? I know Anakin is an introvert, but doesn't he have any friends at all?

Apparently he does have one friend left, because Ahsoka decides to attempt to save her Master. She steals borrows rents a speeder and, right as Anakin is about to fall into the lava, heroically rescues him. They escape to a faraway planet, planning to lie low until things quiet down again.

And scene.

Next I'll introduce the Continuing Story Prequel, which was set in the time period just before the Phantom Menace. It chronicled the adventures of young Anakin Skywalker, and was just as ridiculous as the original.

S1: E1 starts with an idyllic day on Tattooine. Young Anakin is sitting at his lemonade stand, watching the sand erode.

I'm not even going to point out how implausible Anakin's having a lemonade stand is.

And then VRRRM! A podracer flies by. As we find out shortly, three kids are practicing for a larger podrace: Random Kid #1, Random Kid #2, and The Genius Kid Who Always Wins (often simply shortened to The Genius Kid). We never find out the kids' actual names. Also, I should note here that it has been suggested that Random Kids #1 & 2 grow up to be the guys who try (and succeed) to kidnap Anakin in Season I.

So, the Random Kids have two junky, thrown-together podracers, and The Genius Kid has a motorcycle. Every time we got a better Lego set, The Genius Kid got an update in technology. He currently has a cross between at ATV and monster truck. It has an inbuilt Wii, Xbox-360, Playstation 3, limitless game options, iPod Touch function, high-def speakers, limitless music options, Blu-ray player, limitless movie options, inbuilt Kindle with read-aloud function, limitless book options, Angry Birds Live function, auto-pilot, and a voice-activated computer. That voice-activated computer actually caused a lot of trouble in the most recent episode of Season III... but that's a different story.

So anyway, as one of the Random Kids passes Anakin's lemonade stand, he makes a, er, rude noise (henceforth referred to as a 'raspberry'). This distracts him, and he crashes into a rock that looks a whole awful lot like a plastic container.

Crashing through the snow! On a pair of broken skis! O'er the hills we go! Crashing into trees! Ow ow ow--

Shut up, me. It's not even Christmas.

So the kid bangs on the side of the apparently hollow rock, knocking it over. The next Random Kid drives straight into the container-like rock. Then the 'lid' slides shut and voila--two kids in a jar. Anakin (henceforth referred to as Ani) has the nerve to laugh, but the kids yell at him and he upshuts.

In the newer extended edition of this episode, Ani goes to fetch Watto and his mother to get the kids out of the jar, but it should be noted that this scene was not originally included in the episode.

Next, the kids all line up to buy lemonade from the stand. Apparently there's a rule of 'losers buy for the winner', and therefore the Random Kids are very grumpy. While fetching the lemonade, Ani accidentally steps on a lemonade squirt gun he's been tinkering with and squirts lemonade all over the Random Kids. They promptly beat him up, and then run to tell Watto.

And scene.

The next episode I can remember is Christmas Special I, so we'll go with that. It wasn't actually Christmas when we did the special--it was the middle of the year, but we didn't care. I refer to it as Christmas Special I because we recently did another Christmas Special, sometime around the Christmas of 2012. But enough going on.

It starts on Tattooine, in the Continuing Story Prequel era. Somehow, battle droids get transferred onto the planet and a republic army shows up. A huge battle ensues, and somehow Ani, the Random Kids, and The Genius Kid are involved.

We have the perfect song picked out for this scene: Christmas Sarajevo 12/24. It's basically a mixture of Carol of the Bells and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen--played on electric guitar. Oh yes. (The link will take you to a video of the song on YouTube.)

But then, just as the battle reaches its climax, guess who shows up?

Santa Claus.

His sled lands and he dismounts.

Line:

Santa: Where's the snow?

And scene.

Christmas Special I, Part II opens right where Part I left off. Santa has landed on Tattooine, in the middle of a big Republic vs. Separatist battle.

Ani and the Random Kids run up to Santa, asking him to give them presents. And thus begins a story-hopping adventure as Santa tries to fulfill the wishes of three kids. All I can remember was that the story hopping involved the Wingfeather Saga, and that it all descended into chaos after a while. But eventually, our heroes made it away unscathed.

And scene.

Next up, episodes 20-22 were yet another series. In this one, Ani had to make some sort of delivery to Mos Espa. And for whatever reason, he wasn't living in Mos Espa at the time.

So he loads up with lemonade and wiia (a type of bread we made up) and heads off for Mos Espa. When he finally reaches the town it's dark. Unable to find the house he's delivering to, (A house? Come on! This is Star Wars!) young Anakin slumps against a house and falls asleep.

And scene.

When Ani wakes up in Ep. 21, two guys are apparently robbing him of his lemonade and wiia. Terrified, Anakin complies with the guys' demands--until the strangest thing happens. Out of nowhere, a random girl flies down, windmill-kicks the guys in the face, grabs Ani, and swings back up onto a rooftop.

Line:

Mysterious Girl: Come on, Luke!

So then... wait wait wait, hold on a minute. Did she just call him Luke? FORESHADOWING! Hey, cool. It strikethroughes it whenever I type foreshadowing. Hey, did it again. Foreshadowing. Okay, I'll stop.

Anyway...

Mystery Girl brings Ani up to a house built on the rooftops. She promptly finds out that he isn't Luke, and then introduces herself as Fern. She then introduces her five siblings: Maraly (Wingfeather Saga reference!), Ben, Luke, Han, and Leia.

MORE FORESHADOWING!

Fern invites Ani to stay with her family. Ani excepts.

Thus begins a new, more pleasant adventure for Ani. Maraly is an excellent cook, and she teaches Ani her secret wiia recipe. Luke, who Fern originally mistook Anakin for, frequently wanders around Mos Espa, and he shows Ani around. Han and Leia... well, they're the five-year-old twins. Who always fight.

EVEN MORE FORESHADOWING!

And Ben is the kid who always gets stuck baby-sitting his younger siblings.

EGADS! EVEN MORE FORESHADOWING!

Now, here I'd like to point out an interesting fact. In the most recent episode of Season III, young Anakin got trapped on The Genius Kid's podracer with the voice-activated computer. Several characters from Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit kept magically appearing in the podracer. Every time this happened, Ani would yell 'Stranger danger!' and the computer would do something weird (like banging the new arrivals with a frying pan).

Now where, I ask you, was Ani's obsessive sense of stranger danger when he met Fern? Why was he perfectly okay with strangers when Fern invited him over, but was freaking out later on the series... FOR NO PARTICULAR REASON?!?!?!?!

Please forgive my Caps Lock rage. It's just that stuff like this really bothers me.

Anyway, eventually Ani left Fern's house, got in some minor trouble in Mos Espa, and then stowed away on some spice smugglers' ship for a reason I can't remember.

In the newer extended edition of this episode, the smugglers are chased by Republic troopers (not to be confused with clone troopers). Anakin gets motion sickness and starts... well, vomiting. The... well, vomit flies back and hits the troopers' windshield, effectively keeping them from following the smugglers.

Random Smuggler #1: Somehow, I have the strange feeling that someone in our hold is vomiting right now.

Random Smuggler #2: You really are going crazy!

Well, the smugglers finally land, and for whatever reason, they've landed on Hoth. *Facepalm* Why Hoth? Why not some other planet? I mean, of all the places, they pick a deserted planet that's stuck in endless winter? Just what is wrong with these guys?

Well, anyway, they overhaul the ship to get their secret load of spice out. Why did they have to do this, you ask? Well, really it was only because we only had one ship at the time: a boxy-looking freighter that I built from scratch while writing my Star Wars novel. It did have a smuggling compartment on the bottom, but the only way to get anything in or out of that compartment was by overhauling the ship and pulling the bottom off.

So the smugglers flip the ship over... somehow... and then start arguing for some arbitrary reason (Is anybody else thinking story convenience?), giving Ani a chance to escape.

But keep in mind that this is a kid from Tattooine, a desert planet, going to Hoth, an ice planet. HUGE climate shock. So Ani stumbles around, feeling cold, until he stumbles into a door. He opens it and stumbles into a small shelter.

I just used 'stumbled' three times in two sentences. Lady Redundant Woman strikes again! (Word Girl reference!)

So Ani sits down on some random chair. But now come some continuity problems. You see, presumably the lights are out, because Ani doesn't see two Jedi sneaking up on him. How a Force-sensitive kid doesn't notice two guys sneaking up on him is totally out there--unless the lights are out, in which case it's perfectly logical because he wasn't expecting them in the least. But then--

Qui-Gon Jinn: I don't think you're supposed to be here.

Anakin: {Gasps}

Qui-Gon: Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. What's your name?

Anakin: A-Ani.

Now, the only record we have of someone turning on the lights is Obi-Wan Forcing a lamp on. So how, I ask you, did two Jedi manage to surprise Ani with the lights on? And if the lights were actually off, why on Earth Hoth didn't they turn them on afterwards? Argh!

Well, whatever the case, Ani and Qui-Gon have a short conversation. Ani mentions that he got there by stowing away on a smuggling ship. At this, Qui-Gon tells Anakin to stay there, and then leaves with Obi-Wan to investigate. Of course, Ani just can't leave well enough alone and secretly follows them.

So the two smugglers are still arguing near their still-overturned ship (STORY CONVENIENCE!). Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan sneak up on the smugglers, then confront them about the smuggling. The smugglers deny everything, and since they haven't yet unloaded anything from their ship, the Jedi can't prove anything.

But during this argument, Ani crawls under the wing of the ship. Now, there's a gun mounted on the wing. When Ani crawls under the wing, the gun locates him and tries to shoot him. Ani escapes just in time, and the ship blows itself up.

Line:

Smuggler #1: I have no idea what you're talking about--

Ship: {Explodes}

Spice: {Rains down through the air}

Qui-Gon: Then what do you call this? {Catches spice}

And scene... I think. In fact, I'm pretty sure there was more, but I have no idea what actually happened, so I'll just cut it off here.

 

At this point, I'd like to point out something in the title. That's right, the title of this blog. Look at it. It says, (Season II, Part I), doesn't it? Well, you know what that means. It means I'll have to continue this later, because Season II was way longer than I thought it would be, and I'll have to continue it later. So, hasta la vista!

 

To Be Continued...

The Continuing Story of the Life of Anakin Skywalker (Season I)

AAAAAAAAAAARGH!
Curse you cliffhangers! And while I'm at it, curse you continuity snarls!

Yep, it's that time of week again! Saturday! When I blog about something no one else cares about and use an unearthly amount of exclamation points and strikethroughs!

Actually, research has shown that I do that all the time anyway, but who cares? It's Saturday!

Yeah, I think Saturday also effects my ability to blog coherently. But at least I'm being productive, unlike SOMEONE I KNOW!

COUGH IVYPOOL COUGH

So, you're wondering about what I wrote at the top of the... post... aw dang, did I strikethrough that? Goshdarnit, I did! Oh well, everyone knows you can still read it when it's strikethroughed (is that even a word?). So, you're wondering why I wrote that? Well, first of all, let me just say that when you're reading a book, it really, really stinks when that book is only thirty pages long and cuts off in the middle of some really promising dialogue.

Oh, right, left out the bit about the continuity snarls, didn't I? Well, reading reviews will do that to you, because Warriors has so. Frinkin'. Many. CONTINUITY ERRORS!

AND my CAPs LoCk bUtton JUST brokE.

All I'm saying is, you get fed up with it after a while.

**************************************************************

Aaaaaand all of that up there was just a long, completely pointless introduction to a blog about The Continuing Story!

Yep, no one has the slightest idea what I'm talking about. Moving on.

I'd probably better explain.

You, see, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away after we watched the first Star Wars movie, my siblings and I were hooked. We started playing this thing called The Continuing Story of the Life of Anakin Skywalker.
Or the Continuing Story for short.
I actually didn't participate in the first episode. That episode was really just poor Anakin getting chased around the galaxy by a bunch of Littlest Pet Shops that wanted to abduct him.
Or something like that, I don't really know.

Well, I eventually got pulled into it, and found it was actually fun. So we made a pact that all three of us absolutely had to be present in order to play the Continuing Story. The next episode came out shortly.
A couple notes--first of all, we were only playing these episodes, not filming them. Secondly, at the time, all we had was an Anakin Lego minifigure from a set my little brother had gotten. We threw together some makeshift minifigs for Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, and R2-D2, and that was our cast.

So, episode two was... a repeat of Anakin getting chased by the Littlest Pet Shops. Only these LPSes were Anakin's friends. They were only trying to invite him to a party, but after the chaos of episode one, Anakin was unduly paranoid and didn't want anything to do with them. But as it turned out, it was a good thing Anakin didn't trust his friends, because the 'party' was just a ruse to get him back on Tattooine, his notorious home planet. From there, these two guys were planning to kidnap and re-enslave Anakin.

Are you laughing/crying/flinging you computer across the room at our Star-Wars naïveté yet? No? Good, because there's a whole lot more.

So, after the LPSes failed to convince Anakin, the two guys from Tattooine took matters into their own hands and went after him. Conveniently, the 'Jedi base' our characters were stationed at was on, (drumroll please) Tattooine. The guys somehow got into the base, scared the wits out of Anakin, and then a chase scene ensued. Anakin ends up on a rocky/forested moon. He sees a tree/rock in the shape of some guys and gets the wits scared out of him again. Then the guys show up, scare the wits of Anakin yet again, and capture him, because somehow, (and very conveniently, I might add), Anakin left his lightsaber at the Jedi base.
And scene.

When episode three rolled around, Anakin was being kept prisoner by the guys. Apparently the scheme had worked, because Anakin was now working for the guys, who, rather than fleeing the scene of the crime had--get this--stayed right where they were on Tattooine.
And if that's not enough to make you laugh/cry/fling you computer across the room, here's more: Anakin, rather than trying to escape the guys' collapsible house (FORESHADOWING!), was keeping a diary of his captivity.

Oh the naïveté. It burns.

So, back on the 'Jedi base', Ahsoka and Obi-Wan figure out that Anakin is missing and search every planet in the sector but Tattooine for him. *Facepalm* I would like to also note here that, coincidentally, while Anakin had a sleek one-person speeder, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan were riding around in a tiny, pieced-together two-seater with a hand-held radio. This was because we only had one Lego Star Wars set at the time (the speeder) and had to piece together everything else, but still.

Anyway, on Day 7 of Anakin's captivity, the doorbell of the house rings. A doorbell? Come on! This is Star Wars! Anakin opens the door and promptly has a blaster shoved in his face. The Separatists have invaded Tattooine.

But wait! Why are the Separatists attacking a tiny house in the middle of nowhere? Why aren't they targeting the 'Jedi base', where they might actually be able to do some damage?

Like capturing R2-D2... again.

Well, anyway, the Separatists attack. The guys, being cowards, dive into their house, apparently not realizing that some well-aimed blaster fire is all it'll take to bring that house down on their heads. Or maybe they did realize it, but figured the battle droids were too bad of an aim to hit any critical supports. Whatever the case, the guys hide, and Anakin, being handcuffed to one of them, is dragged in with them. But then a battle droid discovers the lever that collapses the house, and... well, you can guess what happens next.

Long story short, the guys and Anakin are captured--and apparently, Anakin is too dirty to be recognized by the droids, and it taken for an ordinary prisoner.
And scene.

Episode four opens with Anakin being kept prisoner in (surprise surprise) a Separatist base. Things look bleak...

But wait! Ahsoka and Obi-Wan have conveniently gotten wind of this base and are on their way to attack it and rescue the prisoners!

So the two Jedi arrive, fight their way in in a fairly decent scene, and head off to rescue the prisoners. Naïveté Time: Apparently, the two guys from Tattooine have joined up with the Separatists and are now on their side! *Facepalm*
So only Anakin is rescued by the two other Jedi. Then they have a joyful reunion, right?

Nope.
Anakin has not had a bath/shower since being captured, and it still so dirty that no one can recognize him. The Jedi take him for an ordinary guy.
That on its own would be bad enough, but then Obi-Wan figures out that Anakin is 'Force-sensitive' and--get this--decides to train him as a Jedi!
*Headdesk*

Another thing. Where, you may ask, was the Jedi High Council in all of this?
Floating in the black abyss of DOOM!
I have no earthly idea where they were. They were probably floating in a black hole of some kind, which kinda-sorta makes sense, considering that we didn't know they existed when we played this episode.

Go ahead. Laugh/cry/fling your computer across the room. I'll wait.

Anyways, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka bring Anakin back to their base. Obi-Wan goes off to take care of some 'important business' (vague, much?) and leaves Ahsoka to train Anakin.

Well, that got all of three inches off of the ground before it flopped. As I remember, it went something like this:
Ahsoka: So, this is a lightsaber.
Anakin: Listen, Snips. I--
Ahsoka: Don't you dare call me that! Only Anakin calls me that!
Anakin: *Facepalm*

Yeah.

Well, eventually, Anakin got a bath, and lo and behold! It really was him all the time!
And scene.

Episode five wasn't actually too bad in terms of our naïveté. It was a stand-alone episode, with a pretty simple plot: During a space battle, Ahsoka crash-lands and is stranded on Alderaan. (Which, by the way, was one of three planets we knew about at the time. The other two were Tattooine and Dantooine.) Ahsoka is almost captured by the Separatists before Anakin and Obi-Wan rescue her.

I have two main problems with this episode. The first is that, as far as I know, Alderaan is a Republic planet. You could say it was being invaded at the time, but that doesn't explain the free movement of the Separatist army on the planet.
The second problem (and this one is just atrocious) is this: Due to our lack of battle droid minifigures, we made up a different Separatist army. And that army was called... the army of pants.
*Headdesk*

Go ahead. Laugh/cry/fling your computer across the room. I'll wait.

Anyway... all the army of pants really was was a bunch of Lego pants formed into an army. That was the army of pants' first and only appearance in the Continuing Story. Strangely, they never showed up after that.

****************************************************************

Around this time, We went to visit my uncle, who lives in California. While we were there, we went on a trip to LEGOLAND. And, as it turned out... there was a Star Wars exhibit there.

We learned so much from that exhibit. For one thing, we learned that there were planets called Naboo, Geonosis, Mustafar, Hoth, Endor, and Christophsis (Clone Wars reference!). So, when we got back to my uncle's house, we immediately began another episode of the Continuing Story. This time, our heroes were bound for... Naboo.

Dun dun dun!

You see, we knew next to nothing about these new planets. So in our version... Naboo was under the control of the Separatists.

Are you laughing/crying/flinging your computer across the room yet? No? Wow. Well, keep reading. You'll get there eventually.

So anyway, Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan go to Naboo. Once there, they commence Operation Codenames. To this day, the characters have never shaken off their ridiculous codenames.

Anakin is Skyguy. Terrible, I know, and heaven only knows how the Separatists haven't caught on yet. But I digress...

Ahsoka is Snips. A little less obvious, maybe, but that coupled with her Mandalorian helmet disguise (Clone Wars reference!)? Just... no.

Obi-Wan is Jedi Gerbil. This is something of an inside joke for my sister and me, because a while back we read this book about a gerbil named after Obi-Wan. So naturally, we had to nickname him after that. Actually, Obi-Wan originally had a different codename, but we forgot it and anyway this was much better.

R2-D2 is Artooie. *Facepalm* This is probably the worst of the lot. I think we were originally codenaming the characters after Ahsoka's nicknames, so this was R2's. But again, heaven only knows how the Separatists haven't caught on.

Those were the original four. But one of the more recent episodes took the codenaming to a whole new level, so I'll include those codenames as well.

Padme is Lovebird. Any Star Wars fan will know exactly why we called her this. Heaven only knows how the Jedi Council hasn't caught on yet...

Yoda is Muppet. He was named after his origins. Enough said.

Aayla Secura (Clone Wars reference!) is French Girl. She was named this because of her accent, which is sort of French.

Nahdar Vebb (Clone Wars reference!) is Vebb Nahdar. *Facepalm* Good grief, that's even worse than Skyguy. Heaven only knows how the Separatists haven't caught on yet...

Those are the codenames as they are right now.

So, then, where was I? Oh yes, Operation Codenames on Naboo. Well, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka go down into a Naboo town, leaving R2 alone on the hill where they landed.

Is anyone else thinking epic fail?

Well, in the town, they meet... a cute girl. No, I'm serious. Keep in mind that this was before we knew of the Anakin x Padme pairing (and I'd have preferred it if it stayed that way--I've never liked that pairing). But then again, this was basically a re-telling of that story, except that the girl wasn't a queen/senator and Anakin wasn't forbidden to have attachments (this was before we knew about that). Oh, and the girl was blond.

Anyway, the Jedi, with their new friend in tow, head down to the center of town for some arbitrary reason. Along the way, and the girl deduces that they are Jedi and shares her findings out loud. This freaks the Jedi out and they run for it...

...and run straight into a battle droid patrol.
I have no idea how it happened, but somehow the Jedi escape the droids and make it to their ship...

...and then their ship short-circuits for no reason and they end up crash-landing on Geonosis.

Well, at least we got one thing right. In the Continuing Story, Geonosis is indeed a Separatist planet. But this is offset by the fact that we had no idea what Geonosians looked like. Therefore, we decided that in the Continuing Story, all Geonosians... wear crazy hats.

What? You're still not laughing/crying/flinging your computer across the room? Wow, you're tough.

So of course, they continue with Operation Codenames while on Geonosis. This time, though, only Anakin and Obi-Wan go into town, leaving Ahsoka to watch R2.

Finally they're realizing that you might not want to leave a droid with important secrets unattended on, oh, a SEPARATIST PLANET!

But then Ahsoka, while communicating over radio, blows their cover by forgetting to use the codenames. Everyone except for R2 is captured.
And scene.

We pick up again in episode seven with Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan sitting in a Separatist jail cell. To add humor, apparently the Separatists serve nasty food to their prisoners. Ahsoka and Anakin spend a good part of the episode complaining about this, while Obi-Wan berates them for being so petty.

Obi-Wan: Oh, you say the food is nasty? Well SUCK IT UP, you two! If this were the actual Clone Wars you'd be facing a lot worse than nasty food!

Anyways, after a few more antics from the young'uns, Obi-Wan Forces the door open and they escape. Obi-Wan warns them to be careful, as there will be droids and Geonosians around, but Anakin actually mans up and tells Obi-Wan not to worry. After all, he is a master of the Force...

...and then he walks right into a low-hanging beam and knocks himself out. Ahsoka, of course, takes the opportunity to make a snarky comment.

Eventually, the Jedi escape from the dungeon, only to be confronted be Ventress. Obi-Wan and Ahsoka are duly frightened, but Anakin is strangely disaffected.

Anakin: Really, guys. It's just a dangerous Sith apprentice and bunch of battle droids that could kill us in half a second. Why are you so worried?

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka battle the droids and Geonosians, while Anakin takes on Ventress. The fight seems to be a stalemate, but then the clones conveniently show up and rescue the Jedi, making the first appearance they've made all season.
And scene.

Episodes eight through ten are a special. Apparently Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan have nothing to do, so they're watching a movie: Disney's Tangled. Why Anakin and Obi-Wan agreed to watch such a girly movie is beyond me, but I digress. Come to think of it, how do they know about Disney? This is Star Wars!

Well, anyway, unbeknownst to the other two Jedi, Anakin has been tinkering with their DVD player, and this causes them to be sucked into the movie.

Somehow, they are all separated while being sucked through a wormhole. Ahsoka ends up with Rapunzel, Anakin ends up with Flynn Rider, and Obi-Wan ends up with the guards.

In short: Ahsoka gets whacked with a frying pan before teaming up with Rapunzel, Anakin almost gets hanged before Obi-Wan bails him out, and Obi-Wan, well, doesn't do much other than bailing Anakin out.

***************************************************************

This has been The Continuing Story of the Life of Anakin Skywalker: Season I

 

I may or may not post synopses for Seasons II and III. It depends on the feedback I get for this one. So, if you would like to see Seasons II and III, please post a comment telling me that!

Top Ten Story Components

For a while I've been pondering the idea of a Top Ten blog. I tried to do weapons but didn't have enough material; I thought of horses, but I doubt my readers like them as much as I do; herbs are kind of boring.

No they're not--

Flametail, kindly keep your mouth shut.

As I was saying, I couldn't decide what topic to do. So I decided to do a free-for-all Top Ten blog. These are my Top Ten Favorite Animals/Herbs/Weapons/Planets/Characters/Character Traits/Rocks/Minerals/Colors.

10. Yarrow
Ah, yarrow. That wonderful vomit-inducing herb.
Yes, I'm kidding.
Yarrow, according to my trusty herbal remedies book, can be used for hemorrhages and/or bleeding from the lungs. (Please don't take my word for it; look up uses for yarrow before you attempt to use it yourself.) In the Warriors books, the cats use it to induce vomiting. It is often used when a cat has ingested poison of some type.
I promise you, I am going to use this as a name for a character. Someday.
Related Topics:
N/A

9. Foxes
Fascinating animals, really. Known to be sly and cunning, these red-furred woodland-dwelling animals are, unsurprisingly, related to dogs. However, they generally do not live in packs.
In the Redwall series, foxes are mostly portrayed as bad guys--sometimes the BBT (Big Boss Troublemaker--I got that term from Kristen Lamb), sometimes a secondary villain, and, occasionally, (though they're generally too sly for this) a minion. Some evil foxes in Redwall include (but are not limited to) Slagar the Cruel, the Marlfox family, and Bane.
Related Topics:
Foxface /The Hunger Games/
Foxes in Redwall /Redwall/

8. Battle-axes
Wonderful weapons, these. I personally find them very interesting. Heavier than swords, with wider heads than spears, they can be single-, double-, or even triple-bladed.
These are fairly good weapons for a fantasy novel, so I'm using them as the weapons of choice for a few minor characters. Since I like to mess with weapons layout, I'm thinking of designing an axe with a blade at each side of the shaft, or a reverse-handled axe.
Related Topics:
Gimli /The Lord of the Rings/
Nimbalo the Slayer /Redwall/
Vibro-axes /Star Wars/

7. Cloves
The first thing I think of when I hear about these: Wassail. I love the stuff.
The second thing I think of: Clove.
You Hunger Games fans know who I'm talking about.
For those who don't: Clove is the female tribute from District 2. She has a somewhat sadistic nature and severely dislikes hates Katniss.
Related Topics:
Clove (duh) /The Hunger Games/
Clove (cat) /The Nine Lives series/

6. Tiger's Eyes
These little-known stones are generally a dark amber color with streaks of lighter amber. I don't know why they're called tiger's eyes, but I'd guess it's because of their likeness to a cat's eye. They're beautiful, and I like them mainly because of their mention in the Owl City song Dreams Don't Turn to Dust.
Related Topics:
Owl City
Tiger Lilies
Tigerstar /Warriors/

5. Villains
Before you start bashing me in the comments section, let me say this: Villains do have a few things going for them.
First of all, without the villain, there is no story. Consider. If there was no Sauron and no Ring, Frodo probably wouldn't have left the Shire. If there was no Emperor and no Darth Vader, Luke wouldn't exist would have lived out a long, happy, boring life on Tatooine.
Secondly, oftentimes, villains are some of the most interesting characters. Tigerstar, the uber-mega-super villain of the Warriors series, is quite a fascinating character. For one thing, he has four children: Brambleclaw, Hawkfrost, Tawnypelt, and Mothwing. It's quite fascinating to see how that family interacts, because
Brambleclaw has worked his whole life to prove he's a good guy, unlike his father.
Hawkfrost has embraced the villain-ness in his blood and followed in his father's pawsteps.
Tawnypelt, despite her initial choices, has actively refused her father's offers of power.
Mothwing is a pacifist (and atheistic) medicine cat.
Few villains have as large families as Tigerstar's, but they can still be interesting.
The exception is Sauron, the main villain of Lord of the Rings. It's hard for a giant disembodied eye to be interesting, even when it's made of fire. Also, the villains in the Redwall books are generally fairly two-dimensional.
Related Topics:
Tigerstar /Warriors/
Sauron /The Lord of the Rings/
Emperor Palpatine /Star Wars/
President Snow /The Hunger Games/
Cluny the Scourge /Redwall/

4. Action Scenes
I've actually done a different post on this that goes into more detail, so if you'd like to read more on this, it's here. But suffice it to say, if done correctly, action scenes are great. I personally like them a lot. Movies can be even better than books.
Related Topics:
The Lord of the Rings
Warriors
The Hunger Games
Star Wars

3. Cats
You may blame this on the Warriors series. If you do, you're probably right. But that likely won't change my opinion.
Probably my favorite thing about cats are their looks. In fact, I'm planning (and beginning to write) a sci-fi book that involves cat/human hybrids. The planning page is here.
Anyway, first off: fur colors. Cats can be:

White

Black

Gray

Brown

Silver

Blue-gray



Tortoiseshell

 

Tortoiseshell-and-white (also known as calico)

Gray (or silver) with black patterning

Black-and-white

Gray-and-white

Brown-and-white

Speckled

Mottled in any color

Cream

Dark cream

Rose cream

Tabby

Tabby in any other color

Ginger

White with black paws

White with brown paws

Gray with darker paws

and more that I've probably forgotten.

Cats' eyes can be green, blue, yellow, amber, brown, dark blue, regular blue, light blue, or orange.
So a cat could be a combination of any of those pelt colors and any of those eyes colors.
Related Topics:
Warriors
Squire Julian Gingivere /Redwall/
Tsarmina Greeneyes /Redwall/
Muffin /The Kane Chronicles/
Buttercup /The Hunger Games/

 

2. Green

Yes, I do mean the color green. The color of grass, leaves, certain types of coneflowers...

 

This also one of the afore-mentioned eye colors for cats, and the rarest eye color for humans. Which may be why I admire it so much...

Related Topics:

The Color Green /by Rich Mullins/

The Hatchling /Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Book 7/

 

1. Characters

This took 1st Place because at the end of the day, characters are the heart and soul of a story. And they can be so complex! There are a thousand--no, a million--no, fifteen hundred million different ways a character can be. They can look different, act different, and feel different than any other character on the face of the earth. Depending on what genre you're writing/reading, they can even be non-human.

Both antagonists (villains) and protagonists ('good guys') drive a story. We sympathize with them. Sometimes we even cry when they die/live happily ever after/sail away across the sea and leave their best friend behind to live in the Shire.

No, I am not talking about Lord of the Rings. And no, I did not cry when Feathertail/Ferncloud/Hollyleaf/Mousefur/Spottedleaf/Firestar died!

Okay, I'll stop. But characters are, hands down, the #1 best story component EVER.

Related Topics:

Katniss /The Hunger Games/

Soren /Guardians of Ga'Hoole/

Firestar /Warriors/

Brambleclaw /Warriors: The New Prophecy/

Jayfeather /Warriors: Power of Three & Omen of the Stars/

Matthias /Redwall/

Billy /Dragons in Our Midst/

Janner /The Wingfeather Saga/

Henry /The 100 Cupboards/

 

 

The End