This weekend I had the rather unique opportunity to work with a type of villain I'd never had the chance to experiment with: someone with nothing to lose.
Every other villain I've worked with so far has had some reason to at the very least keep the protagonist alive and relatively healthy (he accidentally tied his power to her health. He was one of my relatively stupider villains). However, in my current project I have a pair of villains, mad scientists, who are sadly stuck in backs story (so far). These men had absolutely nothing to lose, and so had absolutely no reason not to be as cruel and heartless as they wanted.
It was both exciting and terrifying. Really. They were scaring me.
It was just a strange experience, channeling a character with so little restraint. Though that might admittedly have had something to do with the fact that I felt an irrational anger towards stupid clients (seriously, how hard is it to sign a blasted paper?!). In any case, I think if my characters ever actually turn out to be real and come to haunt me, I'll be dead. These guys are ruthless.
Fare thee well, friend!
Mira
Monday, March 31, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Amulek
Oh badness, I am sooooooo sorry, many many many apologies for leaving it like that, these last couple weeks have been a complete nightmare. But, I'm back! Again, so sorry.
*ahem* Shall we continue?
A few years after Alma took the judgement seat, he started to notice that the members of the church were beginning to turn wicked. In an effort to stop this, he decided to give up the judgement seat entirely and gave it to a man named Nephihah, then started traveling around the Nephite country to preach to the church members. Everything was going really well, until he came to a city called Ammonihah. Nearly all the people there had completely rejected the church, so when he came to preach, they threw him out. He was on his way to the city Manti, feeling like a failure, when one of my favorite scripture encounters EVER happened.
An angel appeared to Alma. Again. As a matter of fact, it was the exact same angel that had chewed him out all those years ago.
I can only imagine the panic he felt then, since last time he saw an angel he was immobile for three days. However, this particular visit was a bit more on the positive side. The angel told Alma he was doing great, that God was pleased with him. Then he told him to go back to Ammonihah, because there was still work he needed to do there.
Alma obeyed, but he had to sneak in, since they had, you know, thrown him out and all that. While he was walking, he ran into some "random" guy in the streets and asked if he would be willing to feed a hungry prophet (I think hospitality rules must have been much friendlier in this culture than in ours). The man, Amulek, was genuinely eager to help Alma, and told him he had a vision where an angel showed him Alma and told him that if he would house him, his household would prosper. Alma spent several days with Amulek, but soon the both of them went out to preach to the people of Ammonihah.
They had no idea what was coming.
Fare thee well, friend!
Mira
*ahem* Shall we continue?
A few years after Alma took the judgement seat, he started to notice that the members of the church were beginning to turn wicked. In an effort to stop this, he decided to give up the judgement seat entirely and gave it to a man named Nephihah, then started traveling around the Nephite country to preach to the church members. Everything was going really well, until he came to a city called Ammonihah. Nearly all the people there had completely rejected the church, so when he came to preach, they threw him out. He was on his way to the city Manti, feeling like a failure, when one of my favorite scripture encounters EVER happened.
An angel appeared to Alma. Again. As a matter of fact, it was the exact same angel that had chewed him out all those years ago.
I can only imagine the panic he felt then, since last time he saw an angel he was immobile for three days. However, this particular visit was a bit more on the positive side. The angel told Alma he was doing great, that God was pleased with him. Then he told him to go back to Ammonihah, because there was still work he needed to do there.
Alma obeyed, but he had to sneak in, since they had, you know, thrown him out and all that. While he was walking, he ran into some "random" guy in the streets and asked if he would be willing to feed a hungry prophet (I think hospitality rules must have been much friendlier in this culture than in ours). The man, Amulek, was genuinely eager to help Alma, and told him he had a vision where an angel showed him Alma and told him that if he would house him, his household would prosper. Alma spent several days with Amulek, but soon the both of them went out to preach to the people of Ammonihah.
They had no idea what was coming.
Fare thee well, friend!
Mira
Friday, March 7, 2014
An Anniversary
I didn't actually realize until my sister mentioned visiting the grave, but today is the one-year anniversary of my friend Tyler's suicide. I still remember the shock it was getting that text, the hollow feeling, the disbelief and the unbelievable grief. I remember Mia begging me not to drive home from campus, having Kay pick me up. I remember putting my sunglasses on even though it was cloudy so no one would ask me why I was crying. I remember watching the way my brother's face changed when he found out what had happened, that one of his best friends was gone.
I remember the funeral, everyone there who had come to remember him. I remember his mother wailing at the graveside. I remember not letting myself cry then, because I was the driver and I had to keep my eyes clear for the road. I remember months afterward of it constantly waiting in the back of my mind, the hurt and the loss and the fear that somehow I was responsible. I remember just briefly catching the detail that he'd died wearing his fencing shirt, and the overwhelming sense of relief when I realized that he died in his fencing shirt. That no matter what had happened in his life to lead him to such a choice, at least those of us at the fencing center were a bright spot.
I remember the first time I went to his grave alone, when my world was crumbling around me and I had nowhere else to turn. And I remember keeping him in the back of my mind when I finally decided to see a therapist about my depression.
Suicide affects everyone. Remember not to judge.
Fare thee well, my dear, dear friend.
Mira
I remember the funeral, everyone there who had come to remember him. I remember his mother wailing at the graveside. I remember not letting myself cry then, because I was the driver and I had to keep my eyes clear for the road. I remember months afterward of it constantly waiting in the back of my mind, the hurt and the loss and the fear that somehow I was responsible. I remember just briefly catching the detail that he'd died wearing his fencing shirt, and the overwhelming sense of relief when I realized that he died in his fencing shirt. That no matter what had happened in his life to lead him to such a choice, at least those of us at the fencing center were a bright spot.
I remember the first time I went to his grave alone, when my world was crumbling around me and I had nowhere else to turn. And I remember keeping him in the back of my mind when I finally decided to see a therapist about my depression.
Suicide affects everyone. Remember not to judge.
Fare thee well, my dear, dear friend.
Mira
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Changing Hands
This is where things really start to change in the Book of Mormon. Up to this point, the Nephites had been ruled by kings, but that was about to be thrown out the window. You see, after his sons repented, King Mosiah asked his people which of his sons they wanted to be king (just as a reference, their names were Ammon, Aaron, Omni, and Himner), and the people chose Aaron. See, the thing is, Aaron didn't want to be a king. In fact, none of them wanted to be king. They all felt so awful about what they had been doing they decided to go on a mission... to the Lamanites.
Mosiah was obviously terrified for his sons' lives. These were the people that had been trying to eradicate the Nephites since they got off Nephi's boat! So he prayed, and God promised him that, so long as he was faithful, his sons would not be harmed. With this in mind, Mosiah went to the people and explained what his sons had decided. When they wanted him to make one of his sons be king, he set down a few truths: 1) Being a king is freakin' hard! You have to be responsible for everyone in your kingdom, and if someone doesn't want that responsibility, the people have no right to force it on them. 2) As a king is responsible for everyone in his kingdom, it places an unfair amount of blame on him if the people turn wicked, because 3) 9 times out of ten, if the people are wicked, it's because the king has been giving a poor example. Mosiah proposed that he could remain king until he died, but when he did, the people should start electing their rulers. That way it was their fault if they elected someone wicked, and no one who didn't want to rule would be forced into that position. The Nephites loved the idea, and Mosiah became one of their most celebrated historical figures.
And so the Book of Mosiah ends, with Alma II becoming the first ever high judge (leader of the country) after Mosiah's death, and the four Nephite princes disappearing into the lands of the Lamanites.
Fare thee well, friend!
Mira
Mosiah was obviously terrified for his sons' lives. These were the people that had been trying to eradicate the Nephites since they got off Nephi's boat! So he prayed, and God promised him that, so long as he was faithful, his sons would not be harmed. With this in mind, Mosiah went to the people and explained what his sons had decided. When they wanted him to make one of his sons be king, he set down a few truths: 1) Being a king is freakin' hard! You have to be responsible for everyone in your kingdom, and if someone doesn't want that responsibility, the people have no right to force it on them. 2) As a king is responsible for everyone in his kingdom, it places an unfair amount of blame on him if the people turn wicked, because 3) 9 times out of ten, if the people are wicked, it's because the king has been giving a poor example. Mosiah proposed that he could remain king until he died, but when he did, the people should start electing their rulers. That way it was their fault if they elected someone wicked, and no one who didn't want to rule would be forced into that position. The Nephites loved the idea, and Mosiah became one of their most celebrated historical figures.
And so the Book of Mosiah ends, with Alma II becoming the first ever high judge (leader of the country) after Mosiah's death, and the four Nephite princes disappearing into the lands of the Lamanites.
Fare thee well, friend!
Mira
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)