O is for Out of this World

So, one thing we hear a lot as writers is to work on our characters. Write characters people can love. Not quite as much attention is paid to the placement of those characters, but sometimes their location is a character in and of itself. A location drastically changes the elements of a story, it pushes it in different directions. What would the Harry Potter books be without whole wizarding world he ends up inhabiting? What would the movie Avatar have been like if Pandora had been boring? A location can provide impetus, can push the character into new encounters with new people, or can serve as a familiar, safe haven when the character’s world is falling apart. No matter where your protagonist lives, whether it’s New York city or on a different planet entirely, the world they inhabit needs to be just as alive as they are.

And with that being said, here are some of my favorite worlds beyond this one. Which one do you like the most? 

The Wizarding World--I’ve always known I’m a huge Harry Potter nerd, but I never realized quite how much of one until I started working on the A-Z challenge and at least half my post feature Harry Potter in one capacity or another. That being said, when talking about worlds, JK Rowling wrote one of the most richly imagined worlds to ever exist. In my opinion, there is no way to even talk about amazing settings without including the world of Harry Potter.

Pandora--James Cameron brought this planet to life, making it an even more integral part of the storyline than the characters themselves. The details, from the plant life, to the variety of animals, to the blue people were all spectacularly imagined and Pandora will always be a world I'd love to visit. 

Middle Earth. I don't even know what to say about the setting of the Lord of the Rings trilogy that hasn't been said many times before. I want to live in the shire and visit Mirkwood and speak elvish. But then, who doesn't? Middle Earth has been, and will always be, one of my favorite places to dream of living.

A galaxy far far away--Funny that George Lucas never named the galaxy. Despite that, the creatures and battles of this particular galaxy have been fan favorites for years. I looked it up our of curiosity and there are something like seventy different locations that are named in the world of Star Wars,  from the Death Star to the Ewok Village to the droid control factory, the Jedi Temple, the cantina and on and on. It's a huge world, one of amazing structure and variety. 

Narnia. When I was ten years old I once stood in my room for an hour, staring at a picture on my wall that reminded me of Narnia and begging Aslan to come get me. I really thought that if I just believed enough he'd hear me and I could go have my own adventures. Hey! Don't judge. I was an imaginative kid.  Sadly, it was a failed experiment. But I'd still love to visit Cair Paravel. The Dancing Lawn. Beaversdam. Underworld and Aslan's country, the seas and mountains and the entire, beautiful, diverse amazing land that is on the other side of the wardrobe. 

It is currently 4:30 am (don't ask...) so I know I missed a ton. Even sitting here, I have a few more amazing worlds floating around my mind. But I still think I hit some great ones here. So what do you guys think? Which one is your favorite? Or would you pick somewhere else entirely? 

Wizarding World

Pandora

Middle Earth

A Galaxy Far Far Away

Narnia

N is for Necessary Evil

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about villains and how they interact with the hero. There are a few protagonists who wouldn’t be who they turned out to be without the antagonist. Can mediocre become courageous, or ordinary become extraordinary without evil? The short list below is of characters who I think became greater than they were because of the evil they faced.

 

The Following: Good—Ryan Hardy / Evil: Joe Carroll

Are you guys watching this show? It’s fan-freakin-tastic! I had to stop watching Criminal Minds because it just got too creepy, but for some reason, I love The Following. Ryan Hardy, the washed up FBI agent is brought back into the game to re-capture serial killer Joe Carroll who has an obsession with Edgar Allan Poe. As the season progressed, I realized that as dedicated and steadfast as Ryan Hardy is, he wouldn’t be who he is right now without the psychopath Joe Carroll. Ryan’s good, would not exist without Joe’s evil. Would Ryan still help old ladies across the street? Sure. But he was a barely functioning alcoholic before he was called back to recapture Joe. In a very sick way, they need each other.

 

The Terminator: Good—Sarah Connor / Evil: Terminator.

Sarah Connor is just minding her business, waiting tables. She has no idea a cyborg is on its way from the future to snuff out her family line before she can even conceive. This is a perfect example of evil bringing good out of a person. Who knows what Sarah Connor’s life would’ve been had it not been for the leather-clad Terminator who just kept coming. Would she have stayed a waitress? Maybe taken a correspondence course and became a paralegal? Who knows? But because of the necessary evil, she went on to be the woman who gave birth to the man who lead the resistance. She, herself, became a force to be reckoned with. She went from reactive to proactive. Awesome!

 

Harry Potter (The entire series): Good—Harry Potter / Evil: Lord Voldemort.

This is another brilliant example of something better coming from the appearance of something horrible. Do you think Harry Potter would’ve been anywhere near as great as he turned out to be had it not been for the evil that was Lord Voldemort? No. Aside from his horrid upbringing at the Dursley’s, Harry was an average student, an outstanding Seeker, and just a kind of nerdy kid. Had it not been for Voldemort, Harry probably would’ve made it on to a professional Quidditch team. But Voldemort did happened and forced Harry to become a hell of a lot more than he was.

 

Interview with a Vampire: Good—Louis de Pointe du Lac / Evil—Lestat de Lioncourt

Truly, I’m not sure that Lestat is all together “evil”. He just is what he is and doesn’t bother fighting his true nature. All poor Louis wanted to do was stop feeling the loss of his family…and maybe live forever. Louis didn’t really think it through—no duh. But had it not been for Lestat’s malevolent presence Louis was on the fast train to tavern suicide. Still, with his undead cravings and urges, Louis fought it as long as he could. The good in him managed to keep Lestat’s influence at bay so he be became a different kind of vampire. One that cries. L

The Matix: Good—Neo / Evil—The Architect

Neo was just a bored computer tech by day, hacker by night, but he knew something was wrong with the world. Then Morpheus shows up and tells Neo, ‘here take this pill and I’ll show you what the world really looks like!’ Neo takes the news so well he pukes. I’m right there with you, Neo. Although the Architect doesn’t appear until the last film, he is the one who built the Matrix. Neo was probably on the road to becoming a hermit/hoarder at best and in prison for hacking into the wrong system at worst. With his eyes open to the real world he literally became The One to put an end to the war.

 

I’m not saying bravery, courage and strength had nothing to do with all of these characters becoming who they eventually became, but without that evil force pushing them, it seems obvious their lives would’ve been a lot different. From this list, who do you think became much more than he or she was because of the evil faced? As always tell me who I missed. I’m dog tired now so I’m sure I missed a bunch!

M is for Magic

Sometimes life is just...boring. Who doesn't want a little magic in their day? But, when I walk through my closet what do I find? A personable faun named Sir Tumnus? NO! I get boxes of musty clothes and bags full of moth-eaten stuffed animals that can't be thrown out to "die." I'd even be happy if the stuffed animals came out of their bags. That would be awesome magic. As long as it was like Toy Story of course. With my luck it would be more like Chucky. :(

Alas, nothing magic ever happens to me, no matter how much I do believe in fairies. (I do...I do...) So, I'm forced to depend on movies to get my fix. Below are some of my favorite movies with magic. I am skipping anything animated, since that would've crowded the field too much!

Okay. Obviously my number one choice has to be the Harry Potter series. I want to live in the Burrow! And I wouldn't even mind flushing myself down a toilet to get to work, if that's what it took...

Next--another very obvious choice, but one that I can't pass over. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I would like it to be known that I would totally adopt Gollum, but only if I could housebreak him. And Legolas. Even if I couldn't housebreak him...hehe

Okay, now with those out of the way, some choices that are mildly less obvious. (though not much) Clearly, I have to name Peter Pan, because I LOVE Peter Pan. For anyone who hasn't seen the live version with Jeremy Sumpter, you have to check it out! He played the role SO perfectly. Plus, as I mentioned, I do believe in fairies...

Next--Practical Magic! I love this movie!! I've seen it so many times, but it never stops being fun. I LOVE the sisterly love. Not often you see a movie with that as the main focus. Makes me want to move into a  big old house with my sisters and practice witchcraft...

Jumanji! Not because I would ever want to actually play the game. Haha. But I love this movie. The front looks like it's a comedy, but it's actually a little dark. And there are so many unexpected surprises in this movie. Altogether, just a crazy cool concept.

Seventeen Again. First of all, I'd like to say that Zac Efron was 22 when he was in that movie. Legally old enough for me to appreciate his finer aspects. You know, like his good acting skills. (Get your minds out of the gutter!) That aside, I needed at least one movie about people switching bodies. And this one has peacocking. Enough said.

The Neverending Story. NO way I could skip this one. First off, I already somehow missed poor Falkor in the favorite pets poll--which Mere Joyce caught and corrected because Falkor is awesome. :) Secondly, no matter how old it gets,Neverending Story will always be a classic! Rumor has it that this movie is being remade it 2014. Anyone know if that's true?

And, lastly, Stardust. Neil Gaiman is awesome and the movie has parts that were definitely unexpected. I want to cross the border into a magical land to retrieve a fallen star. Especially if that land is like Stormhold.

And for anyone wondering about some obvious magical choices I missed, (both Oz and Narnia come to mind) don't kill me for saying so but, for me, personally, the Narnia books were WAY better than the movies. And Oz? It's been too long since I've seen it to even remember. Although, I did recently see Oz the Great and Terrible in Theaters. It was cute but, to me, didn't have that element that would make it a movie I can watch again and again. What do you guys think? Would these have made your list?

To recap, the choices are:

                                       Harry Potter Series (so unfair to pick all of them, but there was no way to choose my favorite!)

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Peter Pan

Practical Magic

Jumanji

Seventeen Again

The Neverending Story

Stardust

K is for Kick-Ass Kids

I feel that I'v done guys and girls, but this category just wouldn't be complete without this last group. There are a lot of kick-ass kids out there. In fact, I recently realized that four of my favorite book series all feature kids between the ages of twelve-fourteen. It's a poignant age to watch or read because kids that age are generally young enough to be fearless. To me, watching them move towards caution and eventual adulthood makes for one of the most emotional journeys in books or movies.

For this poll, I thought I'd mix it up with books, T.V. shows and movies, in hopes of having someone everyone knows.

We'll start with three kids everyone has at least heard of. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. These three definitely qualify as kick-ass in my book, given their loyalty to each other and their refusal to give up on bringing down the most evil wizard of all time.

Then there's Carl, from Walking Dead. For some reason, Carl seems to be universally hated on the internet, a fact I can't understand. People are saying he's psycho, or too cold, but how is he supposed to be, given that he's growing up in the middle of the zombie apocalypse? Geez, people. Give the kid a break!

Next I have Arya from Game of Thrones. There are too many reasons to list why this little girl is one of my all time favorite characters. Arya has the perfect combination of courage, fearlessness and her own brand of honor.

 And now, two of my favorites from books. Lyra and Will from His Dark Materials. I find them to be two of the most well-written characters I've ever read. They both read like kids, not little adults, yet--by the end of the series--they've grown up so much that you understand they're no longer really kids at all. Their story is heartbreaking and powerful and perfect all at the same time.

Sticking to books, I also love Jake from The Dark Tower series. Because, seriously, what's not to love about a twelve-year old that leaves behind the "real world" to fulfill his destiny as a Gunslinger? Especially when you take into consideration his love for his pet billy-bumbler, Oy.

Last book, then I promise to give you another movie. I can't resist adding Todd and Viola from His Chaos Walking. Watching as they fight their way through a dangerous world, navigating the numerous people who want to tear them apart, you can't help but root for them to make it.

And, lastly, how could I not name Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass? Her character is literally defined in the movie title.

So, to recap the choices, we have:

Harry, Ron and Hermione from the Harry Potter series

Carl from Walking Dead

Arya from Game of Thrones

Lyra and Will from His Dark Materials

Jake from The Dark Tower series

Todd and Viola from the Chaos Walking Trilogy

Hit-Girl from Kick Ass

As always, feel free to share your own choices in the comments!

C is for Creepy Characters

Okay. So Karen and I are having fun doing polls for the A-Z Challenge, but the Blogger Poll sucks. haha. So, from now on, the choices will be listed directly in the blog post and you can leave your vote in the comments.  And with that out of the way, onto today's poll...

LETTER C: Creepiest Characters in Literature

Pennywise from, “IT”

Voldemort from the Harry Potter

Annie Wilkes from “Misery”

Alex from “A Clockwork Orange”

The White Witch from Narnia

President Snow from The Hunger Games 

Marisa Coulter from His Dark Materials

Big Brother 1984

So, which one of these gives you the most nightmares? Upon first glance, some of those listed may seem more innocent than others. Certainly Marissa Coulter wasn't as bad as Alex from Clockwork Orange. *** HIS DARK MATERIAL SPOILER ALERT*** Or, hang on. Wasn't she the one cutting out children's soul's for the "Oblation board?  Doesn't she turn her own daughter over to the board? **ALERT ENDED**

But maybe the White Witch doesn't belong in the poll. After all, she was from a children's book. Still....didn't she enslave an entire world, not only keeping it winter forever (and never Christmas) but turning anyone who dared defy her into stone? 

So... what about Big Brother in 1984? The evil there was more subtle, but did that render it any less real? I could go on, but I shall spare you. Just remember that not all evil is obvious and cast your vote wisely!! Or should I say cast your vote Pennywisely....bwahahaha....

WELCOME!! And Happy A-Z Beginning!!

Hi Everyone!!

We're starting the new blog off with a bang because it's the first day of the A-Z Challenge YAY! Huge thanks to Arlee Bird for providing us all with such a great way to connect!! 

 Our theme for the letter A is ANIMALS in books. Since that's a wide theme and you guys have lots of blogs to visit, we figured we'd keep it short and sweet and run this as a:

                                POLL on the UPPER LEFT SIDE OF OUR BLOG entitled, "FAVORITE PETS IN LITERATURE." Please VOTE!! 

 We tried to put in lots of choices, in hopes that you could spot at least one or two you loved.After all, who would our favorite heroes/heroines be without their loyal companions?

So, tell us, who is your favorite pet in literature?

 Tell us why you picked them in the comments! Or tell us about your own pet/pets. Or about whether or not you wrote a pet into your book. Or...really, just talk about anything you want to comment on. haha. Happy A-Z challenge day one!!