• HOME
  • JOURNAL
  • CONTACT

kilcher04.net | journal

Category Archives: Fiction

A Song of Fire and Ice

15 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by kilcher in Books, Fiction, Geekdom

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

a game of thrones, a song of fire and ice, Books, george r. r. martin

So, I’ve finally finished Confessor (11th book of The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind), right? And I’ve finally found my reading groove again. It’s been too long since I last spent my time reading massive novel series like SoT and I’ve probably just read quite a score of YA novels the past two years. Now, now, YA novels are awesome in their own right and I think they really should be enjoyed as well. But I’ve missed those times during college — oh how long ago those times were — when I’d rather read Stone of Tears instead of revising for my Probability Long Exam. I really loved fantasy novel series back then. I can’t even … ugh.

Anyway, so there’s this new HBO series — well, it was new 9 weeks ago — based off the “A Song of Fire and Ice” novel series by George R. R. Martin that had Sean Bean (Boromir from The Fellowship of the Rings to those who don’t recognize him) at the lead. My friends were all going going gaga over it so I thought, what the heck, might as well join in the fun, too.

The series was awesome, despite holding back on some parts of the production because of budgeting shite and stuff like that. The cast is phenomenal and the plot is just so good, even if GRRM seems like a sort of sadistic maniac for killing off his characters just like that. Lena Headey is great as power-hungry Queen Cersei Lannister, Bean brings his understated and yet very good portrayal of honorable Eddard Stark, and oh gosh, Maisie Williams is just perfect as the headstrong Arya Stark. Peter Dinklage is also another one of the draws with his brilliant acting as The Imp Tyrion Lannister.

Anyway, so the TV show is awesome but some of my friends said that there are a lot of things missing from the series still, even if they really made quite a great adaptation of it. And so that’s why I’ve finally found myself picking up this book:

I’m actually enjoying the prose and the voice GRRM uses here. After reading Confessor and finding the narrative (and the endless sick-cyle-carousel type dialogues) somewhat lacking, I’ve latched unto AGoT like Robert Arryn to his mom. (This disturbed me to no ends when I watched this scene and again when I finally came to that in the book). It’s been an awesome, awesome read so far and I’m loving the characters as the story — more like stories — progresses.

30 Days of Literature — Part I

30 Monday May 2011

Posted by kilcher in Books, Fiction, Geekdom, Meme

≈ Leave a Comment

Permission to do this in two parts! Haha. I’m pretty sure I won’t finish this if I had to go through the questions daily.

* * *

DAY 001: How many books have you read so far this year?
This year? Uhm. Lemme see if I can remember all of them. So far I’ve finished Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, Ash, Huntress, Confessor, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Hours, Game On! (by Jayda Evans). Currently I’m reading Fragile Things, Bird at the Buzzer, Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection, Game of Thrones, and other stuff.

DAY 002: Your favorite book of the last 365 days.
A toss between Mockingjay and Huntress. And probably when I finish the first book — Game of Thrones.

DAY 003: Your favorite book of all time.
Oh Lordy. Uhm. Let’s see. THG Series, LoTR Series, Silmarillion, Huntress, Harry Potter Series, and a host of other books that I’ll just keep to myself.

DAY 004: A book you love that everyone else hates (or at least that no one else seems to like!)
Hmm. Can’t think of anything. Anita Blake? But that’s only because no one else seems to know this series.

DAY 005: A book you hate that everyone else loves/is overhyped.
Hahahaha. Oh I dunno. I used to love the Bob Ong books but after so many releases I kinda got tired of him. Also, anything by Coelho. He’s too optimistic for me.

DAY 006: Do you prefer series or singular novels? Why? What is your favorite series?
Series. The longer the story the better for me. I don’t ever want a story to end. If there could be an epilogue to the epilogue to the epilogue, the better.

DAY 007: A literary cliche you hate.
Love Triangles. Goodness. Or if we actually had to have a love triangle, don’t make it equilateral. Make it an obtuse triangle — one character is actually closer to one, and the other so far but angsting LIKE A BOSS.

DAY 008: A genre you love!
I’ve always loved fantasy. I’ve been addicted to Goodkind’s characters — not so much his prose, now that I’ve started to read George R. R. Martin — and I absolutely adore Lord of the Rings and practically everything that had to do with Middle Earth. Guy Gavriel Kay and the Fionavar Tapestries too.

Aside from that, I also enjoyed reading about Mafia stuff books. Puzo for the mother-frakking win.

And lastly — Y.A. There’s only too much angst you can take from fantasy and mafia books. We all need the right dose of young love and *kilig* sometimes.

Y.A. + Fantasy, tho, is what I really love. No wonder I love Huntress so much.

DAY OO9: Your favorite quote.
“There are so many fragile things, after all. People break so easily, and so do dreams and hearts.” ~ Gaiman

DAY 010: A character you wish had not died.
Rue. And Dobby. And OMG Prim. And Dumbledore. And Hedwig the Owl. And — wait I can’t remember all the characters that died in the Sword of Truth Series.

DAY 011: Two characters you wish had ended up together.
Nicci with someone (SoT); Harry and Luna; Peeta Mellark with someone who deserves him; Kaede and Taisin, et cetera.

DAY 012: If you could take any character from one novel and set them into the world of another, what would you choose?
Hahaha. I saw an answer to this meme earlier that made me laugh out loud — PUT BELLA IN PANEM. That would be hilarious. She’d probably just stick to the Cornocupia and get killed the moment the Games started. Or put her in either the Imperial Order Camp or D’Hara circa Wizard’s First Rule. Or maybe throw her into a Mord’Sith Temple. That should probably teach her to become a strong female character.

DAY 013: The most agonizing cliffhanger is…
Katniss … there is no district 12. && Goodkind’s Phantom:
Richard is a captive in the Imperial Order’s main camp, without his sword or his gift; Kahlan is a captive of Jagang with a Rada’han; the Boxes of Orden are in play by Sister Ulicia; there is a problem with Chainfire and with magic; that the Imperial Order is slowly making their way into the central stronghold of the D’Haran forces: the People’s Palace, but also the D’Haran forces appear able to cut off the Imperial Order supply lines just as winter starts.

DAY 014: A book that never fails to make you actually laugh out loud.
Harry Potter. I can’t think of another book right now.

DAY 015: A book that never fails to make you cry.
Mockingjay. Harry Potter. Mocking-frakking-jay.

* * *

Part 2 tomorrow. My eyes already hurt huhu.

 

Live-Blogging Confessor

26 Thursday May 2011

Posted by kilcher in Books, Fiction, Geekdom

≈ Leave a Comment

After years (3++) of reading Terry Goodkind’s 11th book in the Sword of Truth series, I’m finally moving along. Yay, improvement. But anyway, since I waited this long and because I’ve read countless other works (yeah right), I’m not sure I’m enjoying reading this book anymore. Compared to others, Goodkind’s prose seem a bit, I dunno, not that pretty.

But anyway, since I apparently won’t be able to move on with my life if I don’t finish this and also I really really want Kahlan to kick Jagang’s ass or something, I guess I’ll just soldier on through this thing. After that I’ll decide if I’ll still read The Law of Nines and Omen Machine.

I have a lot of thoughts (and apparently, feelings too) when reading this book so I guess I’ll sort of do a live-blog thing while I’m at it. So, yeah, here goes:

# At Chapter ~11 — Why the fuck are all these people trying to push Nicci to Richard anyway? Don’t you guys fucking discount Kahlan!

# At Chapter 4 or 5 — How on earth did Zedd become the First Wizard if he cannot grip whatever Nicci was trying to tell him about the Ordenic Theory?

# Argh, Goodkind why are your explanations so long-winded?

# OMG, I thought I’d never say this because I kinda hated her when she captured Richard and made him stay with her in Altur’Rang but I sorta kinda like Nicci now. And her unwillingness to accept everyone’s urging for her to go get Richard for her own only increases my respect for her.

# O hai there Jennsen Rahl!

# After making me get annoyed at Prelate Ann Aldurren in Chapter 20, Goodkind had to make the Sisters of the Dark kill her?! What the hell!

# Oh God. Nicci’s captured.

# By the way, Book!Richard is way > TV!Richard. Probably the only reason why my sister doesn’t want to watch Legend of the Seeker ever.

# Still trying to decide whether I like Book!Kahlan over TV!Kahlan more. I have to say Bridget Regan is kinda close to that image I had of Kahlan in my mind tho.

# TV!Cara > Book!Cara. No doubt about it.

# I haven’t been so tired of long-winded conversations since Pillars of Creation, maybe even since Blood of the Fold. Discussions about Order, prophecies, and the teachings of the Order make my head hurt.

# Chapter ~25 — This opened my eyes to potential Nicci/Kahlan or maybe even Nicci and Kahlan as BFFs. So much admiration for the woman that Richard, whom you yourself had feelings for, wouldn’t give up on, Nicci.

“You have a beautiful voice, Kahlan Amnell,” Nicci whispered as she stared at Kahlan. “You really do.”

“Thank you, but it doesn’t seem beautiful to me. Sometimes I think I sound like a frog.”

Nicci smiled. “Hardly.”

Also, as much as Richard is the main protagonist in this story, I’m heartened to say that the series wouldn’t be without its strong female characters — Kahlan, Nicci, Cara, Prelate, Confessors, Sisters of the Light, Sisters of the Dark, Mord’Sith, Shota, Adie, Jennsen, Jillian, Rachel, Six, and countless others.

# Mistress Berdine.

Scott Pilgrim Overload

20 Sunday Feb 2011

Posted by kilcher in Books, Fiction, Geekdom, TV/Movies

≈ Leave a Comment

So I really liked Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, right? I even looped through its OST for about a month before I felt the urge to kick myself and change the effin’ playlist or whatever. I thought that was the end of it.

But no, I actually started reading the comic. Hahahaha. I’m back to the Pilgrim obsession. I even changed the wallpaper on my little netbook (it’s a nifty little thing, perfect if I just wanted to read some monstrous novels and/or scan through scanlations of manga and/or comic).

デスクタップ


It’s gonna be a long time again before I completely get this out of my system.

Fall

21 Sunday Nov 2010

Posted by kilcher in Fiction, Photo Blog

≈ Leave a Comment

Just There

It was the start of November and autumn looked like it was in full swing. Everywhere I looked I was attacked with this unexplainable melancholy that I wasn’t really sure I should be feeling. It wasn’t depressing melancholy though  EI wouldn’t dishonor all the proper emos in this world to pretend I was sad when in reality I wasn’t. I guessed it was probably just the feelings evoked in me by the crunchy dried up leaves and the smell of the woods as they prepared themselves for their yearly death,  yearly death meaning winter. I had a lot to say about winter, too, but I shoved that to the back of my mind for the meantime. It was the middle of autumn, for Chrissakes, and I was going to savor every waking hour of that season before I let myself feel the dread for winter.

– Excerpt from my notes of extraordinary emo~ness

Team Katniss

09 Thursday Sep 2010

Posted by kilcher in Books, Fiction, TV/Movies

≈ 3 Comments

I’ve just recently started reading The Hunger Games — 1st book of The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins and I think Katniss Everdeen might make it into my most favorite empowered female fictional characters list below (in no particular order):

☁EKahlan Amnell (Sword of Truth Series)
☁E

Vday 2010

14 Sunday Feb 2010

Posted by kilcher in Fiction, Life Oh Life, Photo Blog

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

flickr, vday

vday 2010

Ewww.

Okay so whatever, I’m still a Scrooge but what the heck, just let it go. It’s allowed to be sappy once in a while, okay?

****

Wow, 2 entries in a span of 2 days. That’s more than what I’ve coughed up the whole of January. Hah.

****

I’m currently filing this under the Fiction category haha. Go figure.

Why Why Why

27 Tuesday Jan 2009

Posted by kilcher in Fiction, Life Oh Life, Muzzak

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

morrissey, Munchhausen’s Trilemma

Why do you think I let you get away
With all the things you say to me?
Could it be I like you
It’s so shameful of me, I like you

—————–

Yesterday, me and two of my friends were chatting up a storm while on board the train home. We had just finished gobbling up some food at Kingdom of Teppan in Machida.

I forgot how the convo got to this but anyway, we suddenly found ourselves asking whether there should be a reason why you like (or love) somebody (I didn’t start it, I swear!) or not. A flurry of answers came in the discussion that ensued. And of course, I came up with mine.

“You don’t need to actually have a certain reason,” I shrugged. “You just do, I mean, you just like a person. That’s it.”

“But there’s got to be something,” chimed one of the girls.

“…like maybe he’s got a sense of humor or whatever,” J popped in.

“But what if something drastic happens to the person,” I asked. “And then he gets depressed et cetera, then he loses the reason why you like him in the first place.” I raised a brow and continued to chase through the flurry of thoughts running inside my head. “But then again, there are levels to the like state, ya know. And those levels are connected to certain reasons, i.e. you like a good basketball player because he/she has a killer jumpshot. But then, that *like* is sort of shallow, like when you like this actor or this singer or whatever. Ugh, but then again, who am I to judge which is shallow or not?”

“I dunno, but can’t you accept the fact that some people do like other people because they look good, because they smell good?” added another voice in the group. I think it was P.

“Or heaven forbid, because they have great hair?” I laughed. “Nah, I’m not generalizing. And I probably don’t cover the whole spectrum of the question anyway.” A pause reigned over us. “And it’s probably not fair to say that you don’t need no reason to like anyone but …” I paused again. “…I guess there comes a time when, yes, there are really reasons, but you can’t just pinpoint exactly what those are.”

“So, you cannot identify the thing that made you like the person so you just say, no, there’s no reason, you just do?”

“Maybe,” I shrugged again. It is a mannerism ya know. “Or maybe there’s just too many reasons and you cannot pick one reason above all the others.” I continued. “Or maybe I’m too lazy to actually think about it and pick a reason.”

“We’re leaning on the last option, if you must know.”

“Beeyotch,” I laughed. “Yeah, I know, I know, too lazy, sue me. Whatever.”

“Maybe you just like the person as a whole,” suggested P.

“Or maybe I just like the notion of liking someone and not knowing what on earth the reason is,” I grinned. “Makes the story more exciting eh? Aah, the stuff of rom-coms.” And then a thought pops into my mind, “or maybe, it’s just one of the things in Munchhausen’s Trilemma, ya know, you like someone because you like someone…”

“Eeeww, nerd alert!”

“Shut up,” I whacked P and blurted out laughing. We laughed for quite awhile and then totally forgot what we were arguing about.

“Okay, here’s a thought-provoking question for you, P,” I asked with my poker face on.

“Shoot.”

“It’s bloody cold outside,” I feigned exhasperation. “Are we taking a cab or walking?!”

—————–

You’re not right in the head and nor am I
And this why
This is why I like you, I like you, I like you

—————–

Half of this is true, half of this is fiction, and half is pure B.S. Now if you know Venn’s Diagram, you can visualize what I just said (and no, it ain’t 3/2 people). It’s just a matter of perspective and point of view most of the time.

Song is I Like You by Morrissey

Cats && Half-Court Shots

06 Wednesday Aug 2008

Posted by kilcher in Fiction, Life Oh Life

≈ 7 Comments

“So I think I need to get a cat.”

You were shooting for about half an hour already (mostly bricks but what the hell anyway) and the first thing you ever said to her was that you need to get a cat.

“What the –”

She stopped shooting and placed her basketball on the concrete. Her eyebrows met and her forehead creased; she walked over to where you were lazily dribbling your ball.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “You don’t even like cats.” She paused and wrinkled her nose for a while before, “Matter of fact, you hate cats, why on earth do you think you need to get one?”

Thump-thump-thump went your ball bouncing on the solid ground. You took two steps before taking off for a nice lay-in. Basketball is a nice activity, no scratch that, it’s a great activity. For some unfathomable reason, it helps you think and focus.

“Whaaa–hyyyy?!”

“Oh, you know,” you ran after the errant ball that bounced off the rim when she tried to shoot from downtown. “Just because.”

“Ain’t gonna accept that answer, missy.”

“Am I off the hook if I say it’s just for fun?”

“Whatever, dude,” she said before shooting from the corner pocket. Swish the ball went in. Since when did she have such a nice jumper? It was fundamentally beautiful to watch. You wished you had that nice form when shooting, too.

“I think I’m gonna be alone for the rest of my life,” you said before trying that annoying reverse lay-up. You’ve been trying that for ages but you didn’t have enough arm power or force or whatever to actually execute that move. The ball bounced away and it didn’t even touch the rim. “So I think I need to get a cat.”

“Oh for Chrissakes –”

“I know, I know, shit about being alone is just, well, shit.”

“Why a cat?” she rolled her eyes in a manner that looked like what you said was just the most preposterous thing ever said on the planet. “You’ve been way too bothered with that whole Schrodinger thing. Stop it with the nerdiness already. Pause. “Get a dog instead, dogs are way much cooler. Get that chow-chow you’ve always wanted.”

“Why do you always have to contradict whatever I wanna do?”

“Just because.” She set her feet well on the court, bent her knees, and did a nifty jumper. Nice. “Don’t get a cat.”

“It’s where I’m going anyway, I mean, that point,” you just shrugged, all wind seemed to have been taken out of you. “Bitter. And alone. Bitter and alone. With that darn stupid cat.”

“No, you don’t know that,” she tsk-ed and you know you are not going to win this argument. “You, of all people, should know that you don’t know that. You ain’t got a way to predict the future.”

You shook your head and thought of a biting retort or at least some decent answer to that. To no avail. Guess you were stumped huh? So, instead, you ran to the area beyond the three-point arc and threw up a prayer.

It swooshed in.

“Look, you’re not someone who expects that much really,” she said as she plunked down on the nearby bench. “I say you throw a shot from half-court and just let it be. If it goes in, halleluiah! If not, well, move on, get it over and done with, life is short, there are many fishes in the sea blah-blah-blah-blah-blah.” She picked up her bottled water and startled guzzling in while she watched you dribble around and shoot. “We don’t know, maybe for once, you set your feet right, bend your knees right, and throw a perfect projectile to the net, maybe, maybe the shot’ll go in. Hooray!”

You looked at her and raised your eyebrow as you normally would. ‘Hmmm,” you said to yourself. ‘Why not?”

You ran way behind the half-court line and squared your shoulders. This might go in, right? 50-50%, right? You gripped the ball with both hands and expelled a huge volume of air from your lungs. ‘Ready or not, here we go …”

You were jogging towards the half-court line to heave out the long shot when you heard her from the sidelines, “I wasn’t speaking literally, you idiot!”

You released the ball and just as you imagined, that blasted round orange thing actually followed the perfect path towards that coveted basket. It actually looked like it was gonna …

Swoosh!

“I know,” you told her as the smile slowly grew on your face. “I just needed to see if I could do that.” You laughed a little at how preposterous your thinking was. “Man, that was awesome, wasn’t it? Shit like that don’t happen much.”

“Got it on video, you ninny,” she grinned back as well, waving her celphone at your face. “Now, no more talk of cats or any other animals you might wanna adopt soon.”

“But …”

“3 seconds left, you’re down 2, you get the ball way beyond half-court, you either throw that prayer or wait for someone from the opposing team to foul you, if they’re even on penalty, Eshe shrugged. “Tell me which is the more sensible choice. Of course the half-court shot.”

“You didn’t even let me answer!”

“Oh, shush you, you know I’m right with what I’m telling you to do,” she stood up and got her ball. “Take a risk, hotshot, at least once in your life, take a risk. It might be worth it.”

“Hmmm,” is all you answered. “Hmmmm.”

That seemed like a plausible action. Hmmmm. Maybe you’d try that eh? Maybe a half-court shot would be the way to go.

“What?” she urged on. “Try it. It won’t kill you.”

“Hahaha,” you laughed dryly. “I dunno.” A shrug, a raised eyebrow, and a smirk later, you said, “maybe.”

“So getting a cat would be out of the question eh?” she beamed a smile at you, thankful that her motivational skills came through. “And besides, way to go enforce the stereotype. I mean, come on, single old lady with a cat? Tsss. Typical.”

“I already said maybe, stop it already.”

“Right, right,” she nodded. “So … how about a game?”

“Alright, whatever, bring it on!”

“Confidence, hah,” she threw her ball to the side and smirked at you. “It looks good on ya.”

“I knooooow,” you smirked back. “Now shut up and play ball.”

You threw the ball to her for a hold, got it back, and you two started the game on. Not a few minutes passed and you already forgot about getting a cat. And being alone. And getting said cat to ease the feeling of being alone.

And besides, why would you even think of getting a cat? Like she said, cats creep the hell out of you anyway.

—

The above crapola is a conversation between me and myself. It’s a perfect example of my personality being split into its two contradicting states. It’s always interesting (and a little disturbing) how I manage to talk with my super-ego (or is it my id, I’m not sure).

—

To those who understand what I’m talking about:

What do you think would be the best and/or creative way to make alog the box to see if the cat is alive or not  Eif there is even a cat there in the first place?

Answers, people, I need answers.

—

Somehow I don’t feel that much bad anymore.

Writing is therapeutic. But then again, so is punching the wall.

Hee.

Social Network

Recent Comments

  • kilcher on t minus 2 weeks
  • meema on t minus 2 weeks
  • kilcher on Maybe Either, Maybe Neither, We Just Don’t Know
  • maytoio on Maybe Either, Maybe Neither, We Just Don’t Know
  • Andi on Desktop as of 2011.06.30

Calendar

May 2025
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Feb    

Proudly powered by WordPress Theme: Chateau by Ignacio Ricci.