Casey Anthony is Guilty

So I know this is a little different from what I usually talk about but how exactly was she not guilty? I haven't followed the whole trial but I know enough (because anyone who actually turns on a radio or TV or reads, hmm pretty much anyone who has conscious thought knows about this trial), I know she is guilty.  I'm very ashamed at our judicial system. Not giving her the death penalty would have been fine but she should have gotten life in prison at best. I just wonder who exactly they could find her not guilty of child abuse. This is wrong.

Trends?

I wonder what George Orwell and Aldous Huxley would think about the extremely vast sea of dystopian novels/movies/tvshows/whatever that around today. In YA alone you have Divergent, Matched, and The Hunger Games. Those are just the first three series that come to mind. I don't know about Matched, but the other two are already having movie deals being made, the funny thing about that is Divergent has only been out for a few months. Seems like the new trend, I guess everyone (except me, check out a few posts ago) got tired of vampires. I wonder what the next trend will be... 

My guess is aliens. Or maybe aliens is a constant presence and everything else is only a trend. I mean you've got ID4, Race to Witch Mountain, Starman, Fire in the Sky, both versions of V, ET, everything to do with Superman, even the Transformers were aliens. They always seem to have been around. Well, hopefully not too close to your house, unless you enjoy that kind of thing. Now that I think about it, I wonder how my father would react if he saw a UFO, probably kind of how I would react if I was a unicorn. It would be a freak-out of enjoyment worthy of a million views on Youtube.

What Makes a Character Great

Yesterday I saw X-Men: First Class and I thought it was amazing. The X-Men movies have always been my favorite superhero movies and that doesn't look like it will change anytime soon. I could not help but notice that Charles Xavier and BBC's version of Merlin have a lot in common. As a matter of fact, some of the dialog in the movie could have been in the TV show. Both Merlin and Professor X fight for people who would have them killed. In BBC's Merlin, magic is outlawed but Merlin continues to use it for good and has saved the life of King Uther who would have him killed. Professor X fights for the humans, some of them would side with the mutants, others are afraid and would have them killed. In both the TV show and the movie, there are conversations where a mutant/sorcerer who try to get the hero to join their side, telling them they betrayed their kind, that humans will never except them and view them as a freak. However, both Professor X and Merlin fight against those people. Personally, I find this trait in a character amazing. Three seasons into the show and the character of Merlin has done nothing, not even once to irritate me. There is a very slim number of characters who can claim they have never done anything to bother me and none of those characters have been around for three seasons. Not every time does this type of behavior work though. One of the very few times Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer annoyed me was in the episode titled "Pangs." Most of the time I love Willow but not this time. She kept talking about how the Native American who was attacking Sunnydale was wronged by the white settlers and wondered if it was right to kill the Native American. Though I agree with most of what she said (the Native Americans were horribly treated and I do appreciate how the show did not simply overlook that) I did not agree with her obstinence to kill the Native American. The cursed Native American had already brutally killed a number of people and had infected her best friend Xander with every disease the white people had given the Native Americans which would guarantee his death. Despite this, she wanted the cursed man to live. It was not until the group was being shot at by multiple beings that Willow finally gave in. So how come when Merlin and Professor X fight for those who would kill them, like the cursed Native American, it works but for Willow it did not? How come one trait given to a character can be found endearing and another annoying? If I could just unlock the secret then I would already have a novel published. I guess for now I will have to ponder on why Wesley Wyndam-Pryce's betrayal caused my heart to break for him and vault him to my favorite character in Angel while Morgana's betrayal on BBC's Merlin caused me to dislike her? Maybe that's how the writers wished for it to be interpreted by the audience. Still I'd like to know why Luke from Percy Jackson can make my heart melt when he keeps showing signs of belonging to both sides of the war but when Anakin Skywalker keeps changing his mind it gets irritating.

Long Time No Post

Give me a few minutes and I'm sure I can come up with a really good reason why it's been so long since I've posted... nothing really comes to mind. Well, it IS summer and my sister got Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel complete series DVD collections so who can really blame me for being lazy.
I just started The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova and I did this before I saw how many pages long it was (909!). It's not that I don't think I could get through it, I just thought it was going to be a quick read. Who knows, maybe I will love it and finish it very quickly. Has anyone on here read it before?
It seems to me that vampires (or their slayers) have taken over my life-that is the reason I haven't posted in awhile. See, I did find an excuse.

Character Facebook Pages

I saw on Maggie Stiefvater's Twitter (she is the author of The Wolves of Mercy Falls which include Shiver and Linger so far) that she made facebook pages for the main characters in her books. I am not sure if this will help with character development or be a giant waste of time. On the surface, facebook looks like a place to act as a giant advertisement (on the info page at least). Does it really matter what is a character's favorite bands or movies? Sure things like who they are in a relationship with or their religious/political views are important but that usually comes through in a story. However, I think there may be some advantages to making facebook pages for characters.
I think this may work in two stages of character development: newer characters and the stand-alone novel that begins to demand a sequel or even more. For new ones I think the reasoning is obvious. Sure, it's only a list of TV shows they watch, but what if they watch none, they don't have time, they could watch soap-operas, all the geeky TV shows (like me :D), etc... all of these things would help develop a character. Do they play video games? Do they read classics or romances? Though it looks basic and trivial on the surface it could help give characters more depth or more rounded personalities. Also, I have already finished a novel. I am not going to make facebooks for those characters. However, sequel ideas keep coming up. If I were to write another book, I would expand the universe, introduce new characters, and bring some minor characters to more important roles. If that were the case I would make them facebooks.
One other possible benefit. Say this is dream world and the book is published. How cool would it be to promote the book through those characters. They could add fans as friends (given the book does not reach the level of success Twilight or Harry Potter has). More over, fans could find more information about those characters that are not said in the books because they are small trivial things such as bands one likes. I know that there are characters in many movies/TV shows/novels who I would add as friends to interact with them (I am sounding more lame by the minute lol) and learn all those small things such as their favorite sports teams.
If this ends up helping I'll talk about is more. Lets hope this helps.

Zombie Invasion!

The world has been overrun with zombies (vampires are so last week and Dean and Sam have taken care of the rest)! These are no ordinary zombies but master minds who are a hair's breath away from world domination. Forming a team of fictional characters to destroy this foe is imperative.

Sam and Dean from Supernatural: This brother duo is a necessity to this team. They are experts in killing monsters of every shape and size having defeated adversaries physically stronger and faster than them and zombies. Since killing monsters is a part of their everyday lives this would be just another day at work. Also, they know every way possible to kill zombies, and to make sure they cannot come back.

Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sure, she is small, blond, and does not look nearly as tough as those Winchester brothers but the monsters run when they see her coming. Though she may be labeled as a "vampire slayer" she is quite adapt at killing every kind of monster. She has already survived a zombie invasion so why wouldn't she survive another one and do it in style.

Jace Wayland from The Mortal Instruments: Jace has more monster kills than any shadow hunter has at his age. Unlike those mentioned above, Jace actually enjoys fighting, the idea of killing zombies en mass would sound like fun to him as long as his family and Clary were safe of course. Being a shadow hunter Jace would only need a rune to heal from any injuries, gather more stamina, etc . . . Thanks to an extra dose of angel blood he is faster and stronger than any shadow hunter, and they are stronger than humans.

Rose Hathaway from Vampire Academy: Being half-vampire and half-human gives Rose many advantages that vampires have (such as extra strength) with none of the defects (such as burning in the sun and desire to drink blood). She has spent her entire life ready to fight and defend the good vampires (Moroi) from the evil ones with no soul (Strigoi). By the age of 18 she had killed more Strigoi than any of her peers. She's been trained her whole life for this. I know I'd want her on my team.

Josh Gates from Destination Truth: Alright, so I said I was assembling a team of fictional characters and Josh Gates is not fictional but he is just that cool. He is a real life Benjamin Gates/Indiana Jones. While Dean and Sam have a lot of working knowledge of zombies do they know every legend about them? I'm guessing that is not the case. However, Josh Gates would. Though he would stay away from the front lines he would be the information center.

Ike and the Greil Mercenaries from Fire Emblem 9 & 10: The characters of Fire Emblem are always tough but Ike and his group are the, (nearly) undisputed, most unstoppable edifice in Fire Emblem history. If Ike was at his full potential he could probably take the entire group of zombies by himself. His group brings an array of different fighters including strong magic users, healers, boulders, quick and effective strikers, archers with aim that would make Robin Hood jealous, and strong mounted units. Also, with this group comes the leader, Ike.

Jason Bourne from The Bourne Series: The best way to describe Jason Bourne is killing machine. He would be the one assigned to steal the zombies' plans and hack their software. Unlike most characters that are adapt at navigating their way around technology and political intrigue, Bourne never needs rescuing and can handle himself better than some non-human characters who are stronger than him. He would probably be too busy to be on the front lines but would be an necessity for the team.

This team would ensure victory. However the pivotal moment of the battle would arrive when BBC's Merlin's title character showed up. Sure, he may not look like much but has an unlimited amount of magic and seemingly unlimited power. In some cases he does not even have to know the spell to set one in action, it is his instinct like jerking a hand off a hot surface.

With this team, there is no way the world would be overrun.

School

I think the title says it all. I've been so busy I can't even find time to think of an interesting blog post unless anyone reading this honestly cares about my favorite TV show list (does not mean I will not resort to this in the future lol). Anyways I am swamped with homework and work. Next semester looks even more stressful as I am planning on taking 5 classes, work as a TA, and work in the school's Writing Center. Yep. I wonder if I am secretly trying to kill myself through work. On the bright side, I think I will have time tonight to edit my query letter which I will submit to a contest and then to agents. Trust me, if an agent so much as gives me a personalized rejection I will blog about it. I don't brag much but if I get a book deal I will make sure the whole world knows.

See you next week (whoever "you" is).