How The Last Airbender Has Inspired Me

Hello Reader.  Yes, it's a weird title to have.  Especially since The Last Airbender received a dismal 8% so far on Rotten Tomatoes, and a ridiculously low 20 score on Metacritic.  But M. Night Shyamalan's absolute, aberrant, atrocious movie has reignited in me a rage I thought was long since dormant.  And I think that is what has spurred on my lethargy.

This lethargy I'm referring to is the one that has plagued my novel for a long, long time. Yes, I've been working on it.  Sporadically.  But that's not good enough for someone who has high hopes, grand dreams.  I stumbled upon this article, which outlines six ways a writer can become organized.  The second hint towards an organized lifestyle is focus.  I don't have that.

This is due in part to many factors, most of which are legitimate.  The primary one is schooling.  I'm trying to get an education in a field that is distinctly NOT artistic or literary.  It's a hard task I've set myself.  So it draws my attention away from writing.  Nonetheless, I could still find time to write.  And I don't.

I don't have focus.  Plain and simple.  And everything I've tried to give me focus - from turning off Kanye West and his cohorts, to downloading Internet-killing apps - has failed utterly.  Save for my rage. Now, as you may or may not know by now, I've got another blog.  It's about Islam, which is the religion I ascribe to.  I'm a religious man, so I've done my best to educate myself.  What I know is but a drop in the ocean of thought.  Yet I believe firmly that this drop can cause ripples with great effect, forming tsunamis that can bring my beliefs and opinions in an enlightened way to others.  I fight for this, madly like a dog.  And this is because of my rage.

I have an immense amount of anger towards Muslims and the West for just plain screwing things up, ALL THE TIME.  This anger and rage is directed and funneled through my words and into, hopefully, action through the blog.  Both fuels focus me, hone me and drive me forward with unbridled passion.

I've lost a lot of that in my writing, in my depiction of Briok's life and legend.  I don't have that fire anymore, that absolute passion to publish and let my written word be read by all that care.  It's dissipated into passivity, relaxed and kneaded into submission to a fate of perpetual unpublished editing.  The Last Airbender is slowly changing that.

I am so damn angry that a beautiful show, not cartoon, could have been so utterly messed up by a man who was once great.  Now he's an arrogant prick, happy to chalk up his failures to "different accents".  I've been begging Hollywood from afar to not screw up any more of what I find just plain awesome.  But they continue to drop the ball, roll around in the mud, and expect me to pay 13 dollars for their feces.  No longer!

And this is where the whole rage part comes in.  Shyamalan has given me that focus, that passion, that fire behind my back propelling me forward.  His failure, well I want to turn it into my success.  Thus, I've begun writing an Airbender script.  I have no clue how to do it, but my focus is taut.  My anger is still burning from within, its outward spell casting a light upon whatever work I take upon.  And hopefully this light will guide me towards some semblance of quality.

Most importantly though, I think this speaks to the irascible side of me.  Which isn't necessarily a good thing.  Actually, having a temper is never a good thing.  But I am starting a concerted effort to stop lying to myself.  So, yes, I do have a temper.  And that fire that always keeps me hot, that bull I try to keep chained, has been let loose upon my fellow Muslims.  It's what keeps me focused, what keeps my eyes on the goal of helping to change my people.  This same fervor needs an outlet.  It needs a funnel through which I can release.  Finally, that funnel has been found for my writing.  Thanks Shyamalan for being such a colossal screw up.  The friendly neighborhood Afghan is coming after your legacy.  I'm going to rip it apart, and leave in place a collective effort shining with quality.  Because I know the secret to success: collaboration, you arrogant prick.

But most of all?  Thanks for giving my hot ire, that rests in my soul all hours of the day and night, another place to fan its smoldering coal.  Briok, you will be written.  Your legend will be told.  Until Next Time Then.

The Joker and the Thief

So, I used to have several more posts on this blog. But that's changed since I've actually finished the third draft of my novel. I decided to delete the other posts and re-post with new information, updated backstory, and an overall introduction into the world I'm trying to create. Up there, the title, that's actually the name of the first chapter of the novel. Hopefully someone gets the reference, because that reference is the crux of theme for most of the story. I say story, because one novel simply cannot hold all of the story that I want to tell. It's impossible for a writer like me to do it. I'm not sure exactly why, but somehow I always end up with a long piece whenever I write. The finished third draft of the novel is around 300 pages. It's either a curse or a gift, and I'm leaning towards the former.

So, let me introduce you to this story I can't stop writing about. I've had this idea for a character, this quasi-imaginary friend in my head for as long as I can remember. Literally, I have no recollection of a time when I wasn't thinking about the Magna Beast and his adventures. That's the title of the main character of this story, the Magna Beast. It's only a formal title though, sort've like Doctor, or Professor. The protagonist's name is Briok Cwartel. I developed that name from a few short stories I had to write in 4th grade. Every Wednesday, or Tuesday I'm not exactly sure, my 4th grade teacher had the class write a short story using a list of vocabulary words. I created this character called Briok, who would have various adventures, and he was a recurring character over the course of 4th grade. I guess I've developed an affection for the name. Plus, it's the name of a Saint - total coincidence.

So this character, Briok Cwartel, is the Magna Beast. Being the Magna Beast entails a whole host of duties, including leading a race of aliens called the Mags, being a Prophet as well as King to them, and murder. The last part is the driving force for the plot of the story. The Magna Beast must murder the Howlamega. This latter character is another formal title. The name of the Howlamega is Kilik Qwarren. This person performs the same essential, basic duties of the Magna Beast. He - or she - is the leader of a race of aliens called the Howlas, Prophet of these people, and is also responsible for murder. He must murder the Magna Beast. The reason why I say must is because, for both the Magna Beast and Howlamega, the murder of each other is a holy mandate, a duty placed upon them by their Gods, or who they think is God.

These Gods, Tov and Yfel, are supposed to represent true, impersonal, raw embodiments of Good and Evil. You can probably see where their names came from. Briok and Kilik are only the 26th and 25th Magna Beast and Howlamega, respectively. The first Magna Beast and Howlamega were "told" that their duty was to kill each other by Tov and Yfel. I put "told" in quotation marks because when dealing with religion, there is always ambiguity as to whether or not the Prophets were actually told anything by God. Thus, this mandate - or decision - has been carried down for 26 generations, in Briok's case, and 25, in Kilik's case.

After much exposition, the essential plot element of the story is set up. Briok must kill Kilik. But, to add to the plot, there are only 26 generations of Magna Beasts and Howlamegas. So, Briok is at an extreme disadvantage. He is the last Magna Beast, and Kilik is the second to last Howlamega. That's a problem, because even if Briok manages to kill Kilik, he will still have to kill Kilik's son, or daughter.

Crazy thing is, killing isn't easy. It's very, very hard. Save for the few people with actual biological and psychological disorders, but that's way above my level of patience to research. Therefore, an essential character element is whether or not Briok can kill at all. Whether or not he's capable. Anyways, that's the main driving force of the entire story, looking at things in the big picture. Speaking of big picture, I think a rundown of the current, working, names for each novel and volume should be put down so I can better relate my story.

Basically, every novel will fall under the umbrella of The Magna Beast Chronicles. There will be three volumes to the Chronicles. Volume 1: The Proxy Wars, Volume 2: Qasida, and Volume 3: that title isn't worked out yet. :/ Each volume will consist of a certain number of books. Volume 1 will have four books: Book 1: Dramatis Personae, Book 2: Rising Action, Book 3: Climax, and Book 4: Denouement. Volume 2 will have three books, Book 1: Nasib, Book 2: Rahil, and Book 3: Ritha. Volume 3's books still haven't been worked out yet, and honestly it seems a long ways away to give any concrete details on it.

I feel like I should end it here, it's already overly long. I'll try and update this as much as possible. Until next time then.