deviantART: by:poetoffire

Gallery cleanout -- need opinions

~poetoffire — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:32:25 PDT

I'm going to clean out some of the works in my gallery, but of course, they're up on the web not only to get feedback but for others to enjoy, so I'm asking:

Which piece of literature and which photomanipulation do you most want to stay in my gallery?

I'm particularly interested in literature.

Excluding Catapedamania, what poem/story do you want to keep up there? I'll base what I delete on this, so I'd love it if my watchers respond.

Our Twilight Movie Review/Parody

~poetoffire — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:18:42 PDT

So I finally saw it. Yesterday my best friend rented the new Twilight DVD and we watched it.

So, for any of you blissfully unaware, Twilight is a bestselling piece of crap, and the movie stars Robert Pattinson's eyebrows as Edward and Kirsten Stewart's upper lip as Bella. Everyone's obsessed with staring/glaring in it, as this is how conflict/romantic attachment is established.

Okay, it was better than I thought. Other than the nagging fact that Bella and Edward had no chemistry, the story was pretty good...but the dialogue was stilted and the acting was sometimes just plain funny.

So this morning, we texted each other about Twilight. So here's our opinions, hers randomly mixed with mine, about just what happened in the Twilight movie...

*Edward makes a cryptic, personality-devoid remark

*Bella gives Edward a braindead, open-mouth stare

*Edward defies all known laws of physics, then says something terribly stupid

*Rosalie acts like a

*Emmett glomps truck

*Carlisle says something kind, but you're not paying attention due to his uber-fake pale complexion/silly name

*Esme does nothing in particular in a matronly way

*Laurent and Jacob continue to be the only characters with personality

*James tries to imitate an owl

*Jasper looks so high he's permanently taken up residence in the Rockies

*Unassuming dude is vaguely, cheesily mauled

*Werewolf glares menacingly at vampire

That's the entire damn movie.

CAUTION! SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION AHEAD!

Hate Twilight as much as I do, book or movie? In particular, hate Edward?

Me and the previously mentioned non-online friend have created an anti-Edward website called National Make Fun of Edward Cullen Day (which is June 20th, so mark your calendars!).

Here's the link:
[link]

Come on over and bash!

Contests and Inspiration

~poetoffire — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:28:09 PST

My subscription expired about a month ago. If any of my lovely watchers know some writing, preferably poetry but I'm up for anything, contests offering subscriptions as prizes, I would be eternally grateful to know about them.

Also, I've hit slight writer's block. So I'm taking requests. Well, more like inspiration. I need prompts and genres and...well, just about anything. I might not be able to fulfill suggestions, but I'll certainly take them into mind and should I write one, will credit whoever told me it on the deviation.

Thanks, guys!

Crunching Seriously Awesome Numbers

~poetoffire — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 06:28:48 PST

Number of comment-- related entries in my inbox: 329 (Damn!)
Number of favorites Catapedamania has: 229
Number of comments Catapedamania has without including mine: 64
Number of people who watched me in the past 24 hours: 26
Number of times the word 'wow' was used in the comments: 9
Number of times the word 'breathtaking' was used in the comments: 6
Number of times the word 'beautiful' was used in the comments: 10
Number of times 'heartbreaking' was referenced in the comments: 3
Number of times the word 'speechless' was used in the comments: 4
Number of comments saying the user has catapedamania: 7
Number of comments saying I gave the user catapedamania: 3
Number of times the author can thank you: Never enough!

Quotes:
"For a really silly disorder, that was awesome."
"I love you."
"So powerful and gripping. You explored the topic with such startling empathy, I thought you were serious."
"At first I just thought "Oh great! Another effing nut job with a fricken' complaint about the world and his little suicide rants for attention!" But you ain't like that at all friend. You've got talent! Keep at it!"
"This is so beautiful, it is heartbreaking. And never has my heart broken so wonderfully. I dream of that leap, of high places and their irresistable lure. You are fantastic."
"I was so close to the screen when I read that, and then I pulled away and it made me feel like I was falling, wow. Just wow."
"i find this both disturbing and beautiful, is that possible?"

So now that I have finished over-analyzing, I need to start slogging through my 329 messages and thanking each person individually, responding to most of the comments...this is going to take all freaking day...

Not that I mind. I'm so glad everyone liked it! The DD was such an honor, the comments are so nice, I can't find the words. Every comment made my day even more.

I got a...I got a...I...got...a....

~poetoffire — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:43:48 PST

...Daily Deviation. How the heck is that possible?

And just at the right time, too. I was at a seriously low point (I'd like crying if it didn't make you look like crap...and at school, too, so awkward...) and I go to DA. "58 messages?" my jaw dropped. "Someone's been seriously journaling."

The thought of a DD never crossed my mind. But I got it and all my troubles just melted away. [link] recieved a Daily Deviation. And such a nice feature, too. My eternal thanks to ~fm-vorassi for suggesting and ^lovetodeviate for featuring!

Seriously, this made my day.

So I am officially holding a Holy-Crap-I-Got-A-DD party in my chatroom, [link] . Join me. NOW. I need to spazz all over the Internet.

DD...I still can't freaking believe it...

So it's near the New Year...

~poetoffire — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 06:32:36 PST

...and I kinda need to get this whole thing out.

So much has changed since 2007. Before, I didn't even have a DA account. Now I know all of you, and it's great to have friends in strange places. Before 2008, I'd barely thought of my novel. Now it's completed and I've almost finished editing the first part out of five.

But it's, unfortunately, not going to be a happy new year for me.

For one thing (okay this isn't really horrible, more petty, but we'll get to the large stuff later) my subscription expires in less than a week. I've been so caught up in everything that happened this past couple months I forgot to enter in contests. So for a little while, I won't have a subscription. Or at least until I can win something.

More petty stuff! I've been trying to get an Adam/Mel video up on Youtube. Counting Crows doesn't like that I'm using Accidentally in Love and Youtube won't let me upload it. I wonder how all the other Accidentally in Love stuff got on it! I've tried everything, changing the name, adding credits...alright this isn't so dramatic or heart rendering but it's annoying.

The whole "crappy new year" stuff doesn't have anything to do with school. My school life is fine. I've got straight As, some great friends, and a generally happy atmosphere at my school. I breezed by my midterms and got the highest in my school for reading in standardized testing.

It's my home life.

(Warning: here it's all going to hit the fan. If you don't enjoy the angst of a messed-up, ungrateful teenager, please skip.)

My mother and father love each other very much. They're not getting a divorce anytime soon. In that aspect, at least, I guess I'm luckier than a lot of my friends.

But out of my family of four (mom, dad, brother, me) one of my close family has severe mental depression and one is having seizures. I don't prefer naming relationships, but the mental depression is tearing my family apart and the seizures are scaring the crap out of me because I keep worrying I'll lose another person. It already feels like I've lost one to the depression.

This year was the only year since I can remember when we couldn't go to Memphis, Tennessee to visit with the relatives. I'm stuck at home. I'm bored and I'm terrified. I want all of this to be over, damnit. I don't think I can stand another month of barely keeping up a facade at school while so much is wrong at home. People shouldn't be forced to go through this so young. I want to tell my friends, but the only people that know are you guys.

Isn't it funny how EVERYONE can read the web but under the mask of no one knowing who you are you can be more open here?

A New CSS

~poetoffire — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 03:58:51 PST

For a new layout. This one's much calmer and fits with my ID.

Feature time! Please read and comment on at least one and make somebody's day.

A beautiful extended metaphor of plagarizing and love
A great shape poem!
Eerily haunting.
A haunting undiscovered prose poem
Makes the breath catch up in your throat.
The last line will stick with you.
Another prose poem.
One of my favorite poems on the whole of DA.

Daily Deviation

~poetoffire — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:59:04 PST

...no, I don't have one. Yet.
But on September 22nd, I sent a note to ^StJoan suggesting a prose poem I really loved. The text of the note read:

According to thefreedictionary.com, gesalt is a German word meaning
"A physical, biological, psychological, or symbolic configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that its properties cannot be derived from a simple summation of its parts."

The feeling of something so whole it cannot be broken down is accented by the deep sense of loss in ~synapticattack's Gesalt , an open poem that reads like a curtain composed of what's behind it, truly a gesalt of hidden meaning. At once a love story and comment on how mediocre and repetitive our society has become, this gem of a prose poem caught my eye as an unappreciated, powerful lament filled with rich imagery that makes it whole in its brokenness.

Thank you very much for considering this excellent poem for a Daily Deviation.

In case you didn't know, today Gestalt got a DD, with my exact words used in the feature! GO ME!

Seth & Adam's Crazy Baby: A New AMV

~poetoffire — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 09:41:31 PST

Hey, I made another Di-Gata Defenders AMV!

Name: Seth and Adam's Crazy Baby
Anime: Di-Gata Defenders (a Canadian cartoon)
Pairing: Seth/Mel and Adam/Mel, or Seth/Adam/Mel
AMV maker: Poetoffire
Song: Crazy Baby (Radio Edit)
Artist: Fantasy Project
Description: A silly, cute take on Di-Gata's most prominent love triangle. No angst or gravity to be found. And not a scrap of plot or driving force. Just a lot of romance and fun. If you see multicolored fuzz, that's not your monitor acting up, that's an effect I use in the AMV.

AMV LINK: [link]

Also, what would you like to see next? Please reply.

Seth/Mel/Adam: Surrender by Billy Talent
Adam/Mel: Pins & Needles by Billy Talent
Beginning-of-the-series Adam/Mel: Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows
Seth/Mel: All Over You by the Spill Canvas
Adam/Mel: Always by Saliva
Frustrated break-up Adam/Mel: Poison IV by A Kiss Could Be Deadly
Fun Seth/Mel/Adam: Shake It by Metro Station
Dark Seth/Mel/Adam: Whispers in the Dark by Skillet

So what would you like to see next?

~poetoffire — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 08:12:19 PST

I've still got a lot of catching up to do, but considering my watchers haven't gotten anything from me in about a month, what do you want me to upload? Poetry? Short stories? Photomanipulation? Other?

Specific requests are fine, even though I might not be able to honor all of them.

I have returned.

~poetoffire — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:36:40 PST

Remember that awesome author and photomanipulator called poetoffire? Y'know, the one who left DA to work on her giant, uber-complicated novel?

Guess who's back, baby?

Today Voice of Thy Thunder wrapped up at 407 pages, 180,606 words, and over a million letters and spaces.

CRAP. What the hell am I going to do with my life now?

Well, for one thing, I'm going to be on DA again. And I'll start revising Voice of Thy Thunder in a week or two.

In the meantime, I have 70 deviations and 87 messages waiting for me in my message center. THAT should take some time.

Happy I've returned? Want to know something about my book? Want to welcome be back into the DA world? I'll probably be at the Di-Gata chatroom all night, and if you want my MSN, private-message me.

Love you all! I missed you.

Big Announcement--Leaving (Please read)

~poetoffire — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:44:15 PDT

I'm leaving DA.

Before you panic and start pleading, it's not permanent. I won't be gone forever. But my novel is getting so long I have to sort out my priorities, and so I'm banning myself from the internet until I can finish it.

Which unfortunately means I won't be able to talk to or comment about you guys. Sorry. You can still send me notes and ask questions and stuff. But don't expect an answer until Voice of Thy Thunder's done. Don't worry, it won't last very long. Probably won't even take a month.

See you around. Bye!

HAH. Yes, Stephanie Meyer, I am laughing at you.

~poetoffire — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:57:14 PDT

You know what's funny, Stephanie Meyer?

Voice of Thy Thunder is now over 120,000 words, OVER the size of Twilight, and I'm still going. I've written as much as you. Think it's a tome, a bible for every preteen fangirl? WELL. Guess what?

It's nearing a close, but my novel is far from finished. I've done it without referring to the male protagonist as some synonym of "gorgeous" every time the heroine looks at him. I've done it without the purple prose.

I also have, consequently, been able to fit a plot, things called realistic characters (Don't worry if you're not familiar with them, everyone gets out of writing Mary Sues sometime...right?), and more actual, realistic romance than you can shake a wimpy, sparkly vampire at.

Yes, that is me you hear laughing my head off. Listen and learn.

PS: Anyone want to see Hana go up against Bella and the result? Useless, lovelorn "perfect" characters turned into human lightning rods for the win!

Character Interview (about Hana, Mar, and Oiver)

~poetoffire — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 16:53:11 PDT

RULES!
1. Pick one to however many oc characters you would like.
2. Answer the questions about him/her
3. Feel free to add questions, just give me credit if you use this (from ~Keyblademistress ).

I will choose:
Hana! At about the time IÂm writing her, kind of a low point for the girl. As in, before they went to their current residence, she tried to commit suicide. YEAH. That low. And Oiver and Mar, too. Oiver and Hana are really close at this point, so youÂll see a lot of hinting. But thereÂs also some conflict with MarÂ

1. What is your full name?
Hana: Hana. Nothing else. I was Hanah Miller but I donÂt have a last name now.
Oiver: IÂm Oiver, was Oliver, HanaÂs best friend who controls wind and is kind ofÂ
Hana: Shut up! They didnÂt ask for your life story.
Oiver: I know. IsnÂt Mar going to introduceÂ
Mar: No.
Hana: *sigh* Fine. HeÂs Mar. WasnÂt it Mark before? Or did you just go by Blackbird so much thatÂ
Mar: Shut it.
Oiver: *laughs*
Hana: What? Ooooh, I see, DoveÂs still a sore subject for you, isnÂt it?
Mar: *turns away* Whatever.

2. What Species are you?
Hana: Perfect Race.
Oiver: WeÂre humans with Spirits infused in our bodies. We look normal and all, but we can control certain elements depending on what type of Spirit weÂve got.

3. What color are your eyes?
Hana: Why donÂt you take this question, Oiver, since youÂve been so talkative lately.
Oiver: Well, sheÂs got these pretty hazelÂ
Hana: *mutters* icky brown-green swamp colored pools of mudÂ
Oiver: DonÂt say that, I like your eyes. Mine are light blue. And MarÂs areÂ
Mar: Dark.
Hana: Just dark?
Mar: *nods*
Hana: To me theyÂre kind of brown-black.
Mar: LetÂs move on.

4. What color is your fur/skin?
Hana: UhhhÂbeige? Like itÂs supposed to be?
Oiver: I have a healthy tan from going to California with my parents way too many times. And battling a lot. Boy do you get fresh air. Hey, Mar, are you going to respond? I guess no. HeÂs really pale.

5. Who is your greatest foe?
Hana: *shakes head* I wish I freaking knewÂ
Oiver: WouldnÂt it be the Gierre now? And that guy, the Overlorde?
Hana: Or maybe the Reclaiming, the Saunz and particularly Vierra, the Messengers, Branon and Eah, or any of the other numerous people whoÂve tried to kill us?
Oiver: DonÂt be all bitter about it. Half of them wanted to convert us to their cause too.
Hana: How the hell are you so optimistic?
Mar: *shrugs* Beats me. The Gierre.

6. Who do you trust the most?
Oiver: Everyone, basically.
Mar: None.
Hana: I wish I didnÂt trust anyone! Every time I do they end up betraying meÂ

7. If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?
Hana: I want to be normal again. I want to have my parents recognize me and hug me and treat me like a daughter and not a stranger. I want to forget about this stupid war and never be involved with all the societies again.
Oiver: Anything in the world? Hana happy. Definitely.
Hana: *glancing to the side, blushing* OiveeeeeerÂdo you always have to be so corny?
Mar: Not telling.

8. Do you have someone you love? If so, who?
Hana: Not particularly.
Oiver: Yes. Absolutely. I have someone I love very much.
Hana: *suddenly interested* Who?
Oiver: I guess IÂumÂerÂwhy donÂt you answer, Mar?
Mar: Not saying.
Hana: *nudges him* I bet there is someone.
Mar: *blushes faintly*
Hana: HA! I knew it! Dove, right?
Mar: *looking to the side and whispering under his breath* ThatÂs what you thinkÂ

9. Do you have any siblings? If so, who?
Hana: Can we skip this question?
Oiver: Oh, this is aboutÂ
Hana: *through gritted teeth* I really donÂt want to talk about the past.
Mar: Whatever. Next question.

10. Who are your parents?
Hana: SKIP IT!
Oiver: But I wanted to say some thingsÂ
Mar: HanaÂs right.
Oiver: *sigh* Okay. Next questionÂ

11. Have you seen anyone die? If so, who?
Hana: Do people youÂve killed yourself count?
Oiver: *shiver* Only you, HanaÂ
Hana: Not really. Mar and that WraithÂwith the crimson fireÂhasnÂt there been a few others?
Mar: Yes.
Hana: Anyway. IÂve killed a lot of people, although most deserved it, and twice that many Wraiths. MarÂs done in a few Wraiths. And Oiver has murdered absolutely nobody.
Oiver: You say that like itÂs a bad thing!

12. Can you turn into anything? If so, what?
Hana: How about a raging, completely out-of-control murderer when I let my anger take over? And then there...

Gallery Cleanout

~poetoffire — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 04:51:57 PDT

Just to let you guys know, I'll be taking some stuff from my gallery. Some of it will be scrapped, some will only exist in the folders. Don't be surprised if something vanishes.

230 and 101,472

~poetoffire — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:40:45 PDT

Yay for starting journal entries with big, seemingly random numbers!

In all honesty I wrote like a fiend last night, squeezing out about 13 pages the entire day. It was to finish a pretty awesome saga and meet a deadline my friends who read the book as it's written had set for me (basically, have the pages you promised by Monday or we'll kill you). And I finished it. The three sagas are about 83 pages.

AND, I reached the other number, 101,472 words, last night. That's my first more-than 100,000 word novel! Last one was about 90,000 at 215 pages.

As you can imagine, I'm extremely happy. I only have two more sagas to go, although one of them will be a long one. We're getting closer and closer to Hell...and I mean that very literally. In the past three short sagas romance has gone off the wall, from one one-sided pairing to a full love triangle.

I'm having the time of my life writing my novel. Who can blame me? I structured the thing in a series of what I refer to as "arcs", mini plots with their own climaxes and resolutions. I should have hit the "mid-novel slump" weeks ago, but I'm going so strong you wouldn't believe because every arc is a new adventure.

I'll deliver the 83 pages to my friends on Monday. They're nice people, I love it that they've read the rest of the 230 despite it not even being edited, but their demands are a little much. Not just because they've set my first writing deadline EVER. One of them is an extreme Oiver fan and will hate me if:

a. Oiver and Hana don't get together.
b. I kill off Oiver.

One of them is an extreme Mar fangirl and will hate me if:

a. Mar and Hana don't get together.
b. I kill off Mar.

Problem is, three of those four WILL happen, yes, including the deaths, although two come back to life in Voice of Thy Thunder so you never know who's REALLY dead.

Which basically means on the romance, either way I have someone angry at me.

Joy.

The New Di-Gata Forums

~poetoffire — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:02:43 PDT

As many of you Di-Gata Defender fans are aware of, Teletoon shut down the forums a few days ago, destroying all the topics, pictures, and fanfiction. So, purely to spite them (and to give Di-Gata fans the outlet that was taken away from them) ~The-Greenie-Fire, ~Lady-Selia, and I have created new forums.

Here, posting is instantaneous, rules are much looser, and mature themes in fanfiction are permitted (Yes, that means you can say "They kissed" without getting modded!) There's also a chatroom and you can have avatars and signatures!

What are you waiting for? Join

The New Di-Gata Forums!

200 BABY!

~poetoffire — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:49:51 PDT

200 pages and 30 chapters on my novel and I'm soaring on wings of words.

Well, I guess...

~poetoffire — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:47:49 PDT

...I should have expected it.

[link] isn't exactly getting lots of attention. Only about 70 pageviews so far--it did wonderfully the first day and now only about 3 people view it each day. Quite frankly, this is pretty predictable. I haven't posted Voice of Thy Thunder, it's just a bunch of useless information, not really interesting to anyone but me.

So where do I go from here?

Of course, I won't take it down (don't want all my work to go to waste). I just want to move on to a new site where I can actually help people. I've got a couple ideas, but the best sounds like a solution to something I've struggled with as a writer.

When I first decided to write romance, I looked on the web for articles--but all the romance articles were what was expected in a novel/how two write your heroine/how to write love scenes. Nothing had a step-by-step go-through of the actual romance, and so I admit it, I failed a LOT at the beginning.

So I'd like to make and launch a site called Write Romance Right, an ongoing series of articles about the genre aimed mostly for fanfics and writers wanting to incorporate a dash of romance into a mostly different story as a subplot.

Of course, I am not THE authority over romance, but I've read a ton of fanfiction and I know how to do it right and how to do it wrong. My personal romantic philosophy is to be as cliche-defying as possible on a few aspects (hair color, level of beauty, chemistry) and sometimes not even keeping your happy ending.

I'd like to extend an invitation to my dear friend Lady Selia () to contribute a few articles about how SHE writes romance. If anyone else is interested in helping, then by all means tell me, I'd love to have you!

What do you think of the idea?

My new website--VoiceofThyThunder.webs.com!

~poetoffire — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:04:47 PDT

[link]

I finally finished my new site for my book. Those who follow Novel Writing Chronicles will be VERY pleased--its pages are brimming with tons of new, unreleased information about my novel.

Want to know a little bit more about Hana (my main character)? How about some facts about her two sidekicks, starting with their names? The magic system in Voice of Thy Thunder, its energies? All the groups and their purposes and grudges? The history of the world?

Look no further.

There's also a guestbook for feedback (all my DA friends are welcome to sign it) and a nifty set of forums!

I hope you're all as excited as I am about my new website. Feel free to check it out and enjoy! Comments can be posted on this journal or the Feedback page or the Forums.

Wish us luck...

~poetoffire — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:46:51 PDT

My mom's having an operation tomorrow to remove part of her lower regions so she can hopefully avoid cancer.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed while writing a poem I'll read to her in the hospital...

Novel Writing Chronicles 4:Ever read one of these?

~poetoffire — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 05:52:27 PDT

Y'know, the story of a young, orphaned normal boy that thinks he's a nobody but SURPRISE it turns out he's really the heir to the kingdom/the chosen one/the one that can save them all/you get my idea?

Once he learns said fact, our hero embarks on a quest to redeem the world with his minimum of three useless or way too powerful members of the band (one MUST be an unattainable woman that he falls in love with and gets anyway). They face peril after peril, but nothing can shake his unfailing loyalty to the right, so much that you begin to wonder if the guy has a brain at all, he's so devoted to the "helpless" and "greater good".

Then, of course, they face the supremelyawesomeextremelypowerfulmegavillianofdoom. He's twisted and malevolent and enjoys causing the hero both physical and emotion grief. In fact, he either has no conscience/soul at all, or he's evil just to be evil. The hero, disgusted with his one-track-mind like a usual hypocrite, defeats him easily with no relevant explanation whatsoever, claims the throne/object/magic the villain has, attains said unattainable woman, and they all live clichely ever after.

That is known as EPIC FAIL. Sure, your plot line may be epic, but if the characters have those morals, you will still fail in my mind.

And here we get to the relevant discussion: themes in Voice of Thy Thunder. I was going to have to address it sometime, and I think a nice article in my journal will do the trick.

Obviously, I haven't pulled a bad LOTR-ripoff, only worse, because it's without the hobbits. My novel is actually a study of how those stories are irrelevant to the real world and people are neither good nor evil.

If you had to be broad about it the theme for Voice of Thy Thunder would be "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". It's about people (well, half of them aren't people, so beings anyway) doing bad things for good reasons. Selfish, a lot of times. Maybe wrong. But always good. No one ever sees themselves as evil. They believe what they are doing is right and justified.

There are lots of societies and people who believe what they are doing is right and justified and want the MC and her two sidekicks to come over to the side that believes what they are doing is right and justified. So, as you can imagine, it's a lot of confusion. The fact that the MC is extremely trusting to the point of being gullible doesn't help either.

In the end, she finally makes her decision and fights for that side. The reader's thinking, "Oh, okay, that resolved, all's going to be well and good--" And then I hit 'em.

Figuratively, of course. What I really do is completely turn around the situation, leaving the reader with an extremely strong message at the end of the book and no easy answer.

That's not the only issue addressed, though. There's also change and how people accept it and don't, which is linked to the MC's lightning and her parents. It also touches on parent-child relationships, specifically in the part coming up when LOADS are going to be revealed about everyone's pasts. There's a smidgen of whether murder for self-defense is right, how anger clouds your judgment, and a lot more values that are too numerous and too veiled to mention.

Of course, I don't shove these things down the reader's throat--the only one that's very obvious is the "change" theme, not even the main one. I really HATE being condescended to in a book, so I didn't second-guess those who'd read it.

Happy Birthday to me!

~poetoffire — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:10:02 PDT

Yep, today's my birthday. Asked my folks to ignore it, no presents or cake or party or anything, but they couldn't follow that simple command, could they? Noooope.

I really have nothing more to say in this journal...except that I'm working very hard on my new website.

I'll show you a freaking cripple!

~poetoffire — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:26:04 PDT

Made by:

As many of my friends are aware, I tore a muscle in my knee two days ago running down stairs. Not a full tear, nothing major, but it's put me on crutches for 4-6 weeks. Ugly tan crutches that bruise the insides of my arms, to be exact. Ugh.

Today I went back to school. For the most part, it was what you'd expect: a lot of "Omygod, what happened to you?", a lot of explaining the same story again and again. Everyone treated me with kid gloves because I walked around with crutches. And for the most part, I needed it. I couldn't carry anything or even walk to talk to the teacher.

I got out of class five minutes early, and could arrive with whoever was carrying my books any time I wanted to within reason. People seriously took one look at my crutches, shut their mouth, and did whatever I told them to.

I can walk, but very slowly and painfully. I'd opted for the crutches due to the fact that the students would bulldoze me if I looked normal, but hobbling around on them meant I was guaranteed to get where I was going faster. And I was right. The people parted like Moses splitting the red sea.

Well, most did.

When I was walking through the halls, this one guy I didn't even know turns to me, points, and laughs. "Look, cripple!"

"That's nice," I deadpanned and walked away, steaming with anger.

Let's revisit that. I'm on CRUTCHES and he POINTS AT ME and mocks me? What type of person is this?

I can't describe the utter abhorrence that rushed through my veins at that moment. And still does. The next time I see him, I'll lift my crutch, jab it at him, and say, "Look, bigoted, egotistical idiot!"

Or better yet, I'm creating a new character for my novel who happens to have no respect for disabilities. His fictional death will be long, merciless, and grisly.

I don't think anyone will miss him.

Art Trade!

~poetoffire — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:23:42 PDT

Made by:

Greenie made me this spiffy new heading-thing as part of our art trade. I lurv it.

I, on the other hand, made an ugly photomanipulation poster thing. It feels inferior.

I'm making a photomanipulation series out of it anyway, called the Emerald Saga. Expect more of that story popping up in my artwork.

I still can't get over the pretty artwork...

Di-Gata Chatroom Rules

~poetoffire — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 04:01:38 PDT

Here are the official classes and rules of the Di-Gata Defenders DA chatroom, or #DiGataDefenders, found here: [link]

CLASSES

PureStones: Creator and owner of the chatroom, a.k.a. poetoffire or me. There are no other PureStones. PureStones have the power to change titles and topics of the chatroom, as well as kick, promote, demote, and ban whoever they want whenever they please.

HengeStones: Moderators of the chatroom. You can only be promoted and demoted as a HengeStone by a PureStone. HengeStones may kick, promote, demote, and ban GuardianStone-class and lower within reason.

GuardianStones: Members of the chatroom. Either regulars or Di-Gata board members on DA. GuardianStones have no moderating power and may be moderated by HengeStones within reason.

FlatStones: Guests of the chatroom. Can by promoted to GuardianStones for more benefits, such as taking place in contests and challenges. No moderating power whatsoever. HengeStones may kick them, promote them, or demote them to banned within reason.

Banned: Those who are not allowed to post on the chatroom. HengeStones can ban people within reason.

RULES

1. No offensive language is to be used in the DGD chatroom. Please keep swearing down to 'crap', 'hell', and 'damn'. Anything past this will be considered an offense and you will be warned by one of the HengeStones. Second offense will get you kicked from the chatroom session. Third offense bans you from the DGD chatroom.

2. Kind language only. Insults toward other members, particularly in the form of cuss words directed at them, is unacceptable. First offense will get you kicked from the chatroom session. Second will get you banned from the DGD chatroom. Please note this does not apply to kind banter and is only for serious insults.

3. Respect the power of the PureStone and the HengeStones. Moderators are there to make the chatroom a friendly place and keep it running smoothly. Any offenses toward moderators will get you banned immediately.

4. Let's keep subject matter DA healthy, please. All illegal, explicit, or inappropriate conversations will be met with a warning for the first offense and then a ban for the second. This is for Di-Gata related chatting or friendly conversation, not mindless mentally scarring our members.

5. No spamming. Think you can just go and randomly post a link to your gallery, your website, or some other crazy place every chatroom? Or type a load of gibberish or insane ramblings in all caps? Not happening here. Unrequested links, spam, and just plain being a nuisance will get you gently warned by a HengeStone the first time, kicked the second, and banned the third.

6. Friendly debate is welcome here, fighting is not. If members get confrontational, HengeStones will use their powers within reason to break it up even if it goes so far as banning one or more of the brawlers.

This is not a very strict or focused chatroom. It's a place for fans of a cartoon show to hang out, discuss DGD, and enjoy themselves. Please behave appropriately and respectfully.

Thank you and have fun in the chatroom.

--Poetoffire

Di-Gata Defenders Chat Room!

~poetoffire — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:49:18 PDT

Here's the message I'm posting everywhere:

Attention all Di-Gata Defenders fans on DA! There is now an unofficial DGD chatroom on DA. #DiGataDefenders can be found here: [link]

Run by , also known as the Pure Stone in the chatroom, it's for DGD fans to discuss the show, shipping, episodes, fanart, and fanfiction. Also, it can be used to talk about anything whatsoever!

The advantage of #DiGataDefenders? Everything is instantaneous. Mods are only there to keep everything running smoothly and there's no need for them to be on so you can post. It's instantaneous communication, right here on DA.

You can post icons, emoticons, smilies, and many other things you can't do on the boards. So, what are you waiting for? Love Di-Gata Defenders, on DA, get your butt over here!

Board members will automatically be made Guardian Stones (members). And if you're a regular, you can get promoted too!

Also: mods (Henge Stones) are needed to keep #DiGataDefenders running smoothly. Talk to if you wish to be an Operator.

Send this message to all your Di-Gata loving friends on DA so they can all hear the good news and participate in the chatroom!

Novel Writing Chronicles 3: Quotes!

~poetoffire — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 06:12:49 PDT

Voice of Thy Thunder is coming along nicely. I've got some pretty awesome scenes ahead. Here's a quote from one of them:

Character 1: "I'm not going to hurt you."
Character 2: (Sarcastically) "Says the person with the dagger at my throat."
Character 1: "No, not person."
Character 2: "Right, I forgot."

And we've got some romance...the characters aren't necessarily the same, though.

Character 1: "May I have this dance?"
Character 2: "Drop dead."

And some action! Again, characters aren't the same.

Character 1: "Whoa. Scariest...cat fight...EVER."

Also, having CSS means my journal can have a forum, so I posted a topic on what you'd like to see next in Novel Writing Chronicles. Be sure to respond!

100 PAGES!

~poetoffire — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 18:04:24 PDT

And 41,882 words.

On my novel.

OMGSQUEE! I just wrote the best chapter for the 100-page mark, too. Midnight. A slide. Murder. Literally blood across the water. A mysterious connection. Mistaken identity. A knock on the door at one in the morning. Things about a cult not understood. Collapsing. Being told you can't help. Romance. Flashbacks to a death. Breaking a heart.

All in one kickass chapter. On the 100-page mark.

Am I good or what?

It was simply exhilarating to write. One of those scenes you image eons before you write it and then this...high...happens when your ideas suddenly write themselves and they're a thousand times better than in your head.

God, I love my novel.

Another CSS XD

~poetoffire — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:41:03 PDT

Well, goodness, THAT was a disaster.

The fire CSS was barely readable. Here's the text:

nd now I'd like to present Novel Writing Chronicles The Second.

The actual writing.

A lot of people on DA write novels, or at least stories, so I'm not going to walk you through the "I sit at the computer and touch my fingers to the keyboard to make it pound out words that form sentences that form..." part.

Some describe the experience as grueling, but I beg to differ. Sure, sometimes I get block, but a few days and I'm over it. I'm starting a new part (there are three) and it's CRAZYAWESOME. I'm introducing a slew of new characters and fleshing out the cult that changed the three main characters into what they are.

And I've brought in a California-like girl stereotype (she changes, don't worry) to heat the romance up.

All while they're investigating a murder and being trained to use their powers. Pretty sweet, huh?

I apologize for that; so here's a new CSS...

Lightning. Appropriate for my book. And pretteh. I like it.

For my novel, I posted the cover-thing for the second part. More updates later.

Newer CSS & Novel Writing Chronicles 2

~poetoffire — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:53:55 PDT

My new fire CSS. Simple and pretty. And now I'd like to present Novel Writing Chronicles The Second.

The actual writing.

A lot of people on DA write novels, or at least stories, so I'm not going to walk you through the "I sit at the computer and touch my fingers to the keyboard to make it pound out words that form sentences that form..." part.

Some describe the experience as grueling, but I beg to differ. Sure, sometimes I get block, but a few days and I'm over it. I'm starting a new part (there are three) and it's CRAZYAWESOME. I'm introducing a slew of new characters and fleshing out the cult that changed the three main characters into what they are.

And I've brought in a California-like girl stereotype (she changes, don't worry) to heat the romance up.

All while they're investigating a murder and being trained to use their powers. Pretty sweet, huh?

New CSS

~poetoffire — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:44:27 PDT

Okay, here's the preview for one of my designs for my journal, based on my photomanipulation All The World In Love With Night, found here: [link]

I made it with [link] and it wasn't that hard, but we'll see.

Probably, I'm going to change it for a fire-themed one I'm working on right now, but this is just a test.

CSS is hard, man. Brutal. Someone I know works as a computer coder with different languages writing software, and when I told him I was working with HTML, he shook his head and said he pitied me.

Ugh.

But I guess...my journal's my journal, and I want it to be fancy. Very fancy.

Yes, I am writing more than I should.

I'm going to shut up now.

To test, some lorem ipsum.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Duis dolor augue, blandit vehicula, pulvinar eget, posuere id, dui. Fusce in massa sit amet mauris ultrices iaculis. Morbi rhoncus, dui a blandit tristique, dui odio sagittis massa, a molestie libero nunc quis diam. Pellentesque augue lorem, condimentum ac, pulvinar vel, ultricies et, velit. Donec vitae dolor. Nulla aliquam rutrum nisi. Suspendisse a arcu sit amet pede dapibus imperdiet. Donec non nibh. Vestibulum ultrices, urna fringilla bibendum suscipit, lectus est scelerisque augue, sit amet ultrices augue urna id turpis. Aliquam lectus lectus, placerat nec, lobortis ac, scelerisque a, lectus. Praesent tempor, nibh sit amet vulputate congue, lorem tellus vulputate odio, dignissim dapibus nulla lacus ac sapien. Phasellus eu mauris sed massa porta mollis. Duis cursus bibendum lacus. Suspendisse consectetuer condimentum diam. Phasellus consequat ultricies leo. Donec interdum malesuada nibh. Morbi eget velit non ante ornare ultrices. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Duis varius vehicula nisl.

Aenean et mauris. Donec blandit risus vitae sem. Nam turpis. Aenean sollicitudin interdum eros. Quisque velit. In iaculis tincidunt dolor. Nullam molestie. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Sed consequat lorem. Sed laoreet dui vel dolor. Sed tincidunt pellentesque ante. Donec consequat faucibus tortor. Aliquam lacus. Praesent hendrerit tempus diam. Sed et turpis. Nullam ut turpis. Integer libero.

Things Are Changing...

~poetoffire — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:26:19 PDT

I have a subscription. I have a subscription. I HAVE A SUBSCRIPTION!

It all started out with [link]

A poetry contest, I thought. What the heck, I'll enter!

And then I completely forgot about it.

The deadline passed and I still didn't remember. And then I log in and suddenly there's a blue 'Subscribed' where there used to be a gray 'No Subscription'.

I won the contest. 1st place. My prize is a three-month subscription and a journal feature in two places.

I'm already enjoying the subscription--you can do SO much more with it than normal. So many pretty pictures at a time...channels...by God, I'm having a BLAST!

Which means I now need to work my butt of in contests to maintain it!

What does this subscription thing mean to you people? Well, for one, I am now stalking you with the Recent Visitors thing. For two, my journal's all spiffy with polls and things, and a shoutbox and shoutboard!

And I'm probably going to be entering a lot of contests...

Novel Writing Chronicles 1

~poetoffire — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:18:59 PDT

You may have noticed the absurd number of lightning-related artwork I've been uploading. Or how the bunch of basket cases (but in a good way, guys) I call my online friends have been chatting with me through comments about something I'm working on and they hope to see published.

In case you haven't figured it out by now, I am writing a novel.

It's my second full-length book (I wrote a novella in 4th Grade and a fanfiction novella and novelette) and the one I'm proudest of. Currently, I'm clocking in about 75 non-double-spaced 12 font pages and 31,400 words. Whew.

Blurb time!

They are the enemy.

___, ___, and ___ (I'm leaving my character names out just in case, they're normal names with one letter missing) were just normal teenagers until they were taken away by a strange cult. The ritual performed on them put Spirits into their bodies, took away a letter of their names, and erased their memory from the outside world.

Now they are running for their lives from both enemies and friends, discovering powers that lie hidden deep within them. The three teenagers are the last of the Perfect Race, a people that sought to overthrow the Spirits themselves.

The line between good and evil never seemed so thin. Friendships will be tested, hearts will be broken, and magic will be pushed to its limit as the final battle rises.

An inescapable fate awaits the three. If they are to win, they will have to embrace life and death, power and weakness, wrong and right.

And even that may not be enough.

I'll update sometime later with some more info on my book, new page and word count, etc.

I'm glad to be on DA!

~poetoffire — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:47:11 PDT

Hey, I'm poetoffire, an artist, poet, and writer who cannot draw but can photomanip! I'm an obsessive Di-Gata Defenders fan (and I'm on the boards. Guess, all you Di-Gata fans!) and anime watcher. I love fire and lightning. I'm a poet, but I won't post anything here because people might steal it.

I'm beginning with uploading a few deviations I want to share. There will be a lot very fast because I made them before I had anything to do with them, but the spamage will slow down very soon.

Bye!