Paint With Words

So I was poking around on Stephenie Meyer’s site just a while ago, and liked how she posted her playlists to each story. So I’m taking her queue and writing mine on here. I did on Facebook here, but I think I want to talk a bit too about why I picked the songs I picked.

Nemesis ~ Arch Enemy
We are with you
Countless vicious souls
Fight! - Fighting for freedom
United we stand

I picked this one because it talks about the stronger side of my character, Kim. She’s been down and out her whole life, but now she’s going to have to change things, and is going to.

Affliction ~ AFI
Oh, I will be alright…
just use me, just use me.
The future’s bright without me.
Spend some time walking the line.

Kim at her low point

Precious Jerusalem ~ Blind Guardian
this one is just more for the sound of the song, not really the lyrics. Orchestral + metal.

Dysfunctional Family ~ Cinema Bizarre
I get more and more strange
I’m going insane I’m building it up
Just to break it down
it get what you see
It’s my destiny
the product of a dysfunctional family

Kim’s family. Incestuous molester for a father, and a heroin addict for a mother.

Crimson King ~ Demons and Wizards
Once again, more for the sound of the song not so much the lyrics.

Always is in your eyes
In all ways I realize
That always is you and I
Always

Ok a big chunk of the song I know, but that’s the relationship I’ve tried to make for Kim and Jens. It’s going to hit a point where everything is bad, and Kim needs to sort herself out.

Through The Fire And The Flames ~ Dragonforce
So now we fly ever free
We’re free before the thunderstorm
On towards the wilderness our quest carries on
Far beyond the sundown, far beyond the moonlight
Deep inside our hearts and all our souls

Yeah yeah yeah, I know, Guitar Hero. But this song defines Kim at the end of the story: through it all, she still survives and continues on victoriously.

All Around Me ~ Flyleaf
Take my hand
I give it to you
Now you own me
All I am
You said you would never leave me
I believe you
I believe

Jens is the first person Kim ever fell for. But she didn’t just fall for him, she gave herself to him.

There For You ~ Flyleaf
Sometimes I’m a selfish fake
You’re always a true friend
I don’t deserve you
‘Cause I’m not there for you
Please forgive me again

Kim starts taking everything she feels out on everyone she loves, and nearly messes up her friendship with Elizabeth. Elizabeth is her only true friend.

Great Divide ~ Hanson

I find hope and it gives me rest
I find hope in a beating chest
I find hope in what eyes don’t see
I find hope in your hate for me
Have no fear when the waters rise
We can conquer this great divide

Once again, all about Kim getting over her past to make things better and have relationships with those she loves.

Angel’s Holocaust ~ Iced Earth
once again, just for the music, not the lyrics

I had to post half the song…i couldn’t just pick one part. Sorry it’s so much to read But That’s Kim and Jens’ first kiss (one of my many Gone With The Wind influences hahahaha!). It’s also one of the first truly good things that happened to Kim

Ecstasy of Gold ~ Metallica

Enter Sandman ~ Metallica

All the Metallica tracks are from their S&M album, featuring the San Francisco Philharmonic

Simple Survival ~ Mushroomhead
I said your the only one
Whats your name
Who do you love
I wanna hate you kill you
Treat you like ive have enough

Kim taking out her anger on Jens. He hasn’t done anything wrong but having him in her life is opening up a lot of wounds.

Damage Done ~ Mushroomhead
As the day is long as the
Damage done
Rise get in line getem pumped up high
Get the hammers up high get in like to
Get fucked up

Kim’s life

Tattoo ~ Mushroomhead
Seeds of hatred boil deep inside
My will has grown weak
To find the path that i seek

More for the music, but the words kind of work

Sun Doesn’t Rise ~ Mushroomhead
I can’t feel my faith can’t recall my crime
I think I sealed my fate along the way I may have lost my mind
I guess we’re all damaged in our own way
Alone in our own way
Distant headlights desolate highway

Once again, more about Kim and her life. She’s been able to hide her hurt well.

Nowhere to go ~ Mushroomhead
we’ve been brought here for a reason
Be it fate, or internal treason
Souls will be saved,
Or mutiny’s waged,
As we plead for something to believe in

Love destroyed this body figureheads and lies
Have i survived)
Breathe yet I
Can feel the knife
Widening this great divide
Confession of a fallen king
I’d do almost anything
Die to be your everything!

The more I think of it, it’s a Jens song. Once Kim goes crazy this is his thought process.

Becoming Cold ~ Mushroomhead
Every day life takes it’s toll
Every day life takes it’s toll
When are we going home
Becoming cold
How did we get here
How did we get here
What are we alive for
Give me a reason
Give me a reason
To murder my idols

save your faith for the faithless we need it most
Need something to believe in but nothing comes close
Hindsight won’t let me sleep at night amputate this foolish pride
Minds eye pickled in cyanide and I can laugh at myself

Once again, Kim’s life has slowly kicked her butt over the years, and now she has to deal with it.

Solitaire/Unraveling ~ Mushroomhead
Locked Away In A Cage
My Rage Has Got The Best Of Me
Time Finds A Way Each Day
Of Leaving Less Of Me Behind
I Find This Fight Must Be Won
Inside The Mind

I’m On A Quest
For Atonement
I’ve Got To Find Piece Of Mind
And A Place To Rest
Biding My Time
Until I’m Strong Enough
To Fight Back
Hope,

Kim just tryin’ to get by (ok from this point if I DON’T write an explanation to the song, it’s because it’s something like I just wrote)

The Wrist ~ Mushroomhead

Mostly for the sound of it, the lyrics KIND OF fit.

The New Cult King ~ Mushroomhead

Basically for the music, the words don’t really apply

Mein Herz Brennt ~ Rammstein
Mit diesem Herz hab ich die Macht
die Augenlider zu erpressen
ich singe bis der Tag erwacht
ein heller Schein am Firmament
Mein Herz brennt

The lyrics kind of fit, but once again the music is amazing so it’s more about that. Check herzeleid.com for a good translation. I tried to translate, and well my German skills suck. LOL!

Links 2 3 4 ~ Rammstein
Kann man Herzen brechen
können Herzen sprechen
kann man Herzen quälen
kann man Herzen stehlen

I had to post the whole song because I couldn’t choose one part. Once again herzeleid.com has a WONDERFUL translation.

Out Of The Ashes ~ Symphony X
Out of the ashes of my youth
- I rise a (wo)man
And through the eyes of truth
- I finally understand
The way

I don’t wanna be me anymore
I don’t wanna be me anymore

When Kim’s mother dies.

Amaranth ~ Nightwish

Mainly for the sound, but there’s a scene where this is the song I envision being sung by another character, Nathalia Kabaleski, and Blake Devereux (the singer of the band in the story). It’s just seeing how well she sings with him, harmonically.

Cadence of Her Last Breath ~ Nightwish

Running for her life
The dark rain from her eyes still falls
Breathtaking butterfly
Chose a dark day to live

A loner longing for
The cadence of her last breath.
Also another one that appears in the song, sung by Nathalia. But it also strikes Kim because not only is she a wonderful singer, but the song itself reminds Kim of her life.

Eva ~ Nightwish

6:30 winter morn
Snow keeps falling, silent dawn
A rose by any other name
Eva leaves her Swanbrook home.

Mocked by man to depths of shame
Little girl with life ahead.
For a memory of one kind word
She would stay among the beasts.
Time for one more daring dream
Before her escape,
Edenbeam we kill with her own loving heart.

I had to post all the words to this song. I always envision a little Kim, only putting up with her parents because she just wants to hear, “I love you.”

Poet And The Pendulum ~ Nightwish
Get away, run away, fly away
Lead me astray to dreamer’s hideaway
I cannot cry ’cause the shoulder cries more
I cannot die, I, a whore for this cold world
Forgive me,
I have but two faces
One for the world,
One for God,
save me
I cannot cry ’cause the shoulder cries more
I cannot die, I, a whore for this cold world

“I’m afraid, I’m so afraid.
being raped, again and again, and again
I know I will die alone
but loved.

Story of Kim’s life.

I’ve been listening to TONS of Nightwish. What they do is what I envision happening in the story.  Basically anything metal has been a HUGE inspiration. The more epic, thrash, or heavy it is, the better! Except for that hardcore crap that tries to pass itself off as metal. Blech.

We’re all familiar with the contraversy that Harry Potter has caused over the years. Personally, because of it, I don’t really have any interest in the series. So naturally, working in a bookstore, I discussed as much with several customers. Never critisized them for liking the series, or whatever, but I would be critical of its popularity. Almost any person I talked to, who liked the series, always had the same response:

“Well at least they’re reading!”

 They of course being children who have never picked up a book in their life, nor will they ever again because it’s not “cool”.

I’m sorry, but that’s some of the weakest logic I’ve ever heard. It’s like going to Africa, visiting a child whose mom died of AIDS, they don’t know their dad, they’re half starved, and their 2 year older sibling who’s HIV positive is watching them, so then you hand them a candy bar and say, “Well at least they’re eating!” I think most people would agree with me and say that’s pretty weak.

Just because a kid finally picks up a book and reads doesn’t automatically mean it will do them any good. There are just as many books out there–ESPECIALLY for kids–that are full of junk, and probably put more bad ideas in kids’ heads than good ideas. And you’re going to say “At least they’re reading”?

Most parents would have a huge problem if someone said that about their child who was eating mostly junk food. Sure, they’re well fed, but is the food quality any good? Of course not. So the parents will try to adjust their child’s diet and get them eating well.

It’s the same with books. Sure, the kids are reading, but are they reading anything of quality? Not to say Harry Potter is or isn’t of any quality, but there are so many trendy series out there that aren’t: The Clique series, The Gossip Girl series, and PLENTY of young adult series that deal more with black magic, occult, withcraft, and sorcery than Harry Potter ever did. I mean, is it a good thing to let kids read about satanism and vanity? I think most people discourage that sort of thing.

So I’ve never liked the phrase, “At least they’re reading,” at all. That logic is allowing people to let kids read things that fill their mind with trash, and that only continues to produce trash in actions. I’m not one of those hardcore crazies that entirely blames the media for all the problems for kids, but I will say if we continue to support children reading things that have nothing positive, and use the banner “At least they’re reading” as a justification, then kids will keep absorbing junk. And if that’s all they absorb, then there’s not a lot of good that can come out of what they read.

Encourage kids to pick up books that make them think. Sure, they should be age/ability appropriate, but seriously, take a look at what they’re reading. Encourage them to look at something that may not be so trendy, but has a good point. Or even if they want to be cool,,

I know this is meant to be a literature and writing blog, but I’ve been wanting to say for a long time how I think learning foreign languages helps with writing, believe it or not. I’m fluent in French, and semi-fluent in German. I can pick apart bits and pieces of Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and Swedish, as all of those languages are linked. I’d like to learn at least Italian and Dutch, and possibly Latin. Obviously, it expands your vocabulary, and global awareness if you delve into it far enough, but it solidifies everything you’ve ever been taught in school about grammar.

Seriously, who remembers learning about subjects and predicates in the 3rd grade? The first recess afterwards, you forget it. Most people can barely use there/their/they’re and your/you’re properly, nevertheless understand the finer inklings of their native language. But learning a foreign language takes everything you’re taught from K-8, and crams it all in your head really fast. It’s known that it’s easier to learn another language at a younger age, but on the flipside, at that age, you don’t really remember the structure of it. Even a kid growing up in a bilingual household can speak both languages flawlessly, but it’s not like they could breakdown the structures of either. At least not yet.

But once you hit the high school level, it all changes. You have 2 years, minimum, to learn a language and gain enough proficiency to pass, and then graduate high school with enough requirted classes. Everything you learned in your early education? Bam, it’s all crammed into the first 2 weeks of class. You have to learn it, and learn it fast.

So what the heck am I rambling for? haha! I’m rambling because, once you’re at this point, you have a better understanding and comprehension of things, on a general level. So when your teacher is talking to you about subject verb agreements, tenses, and gendered nouns, it doesn’t sound so abstract. Then, as you read and write in your language, your comprehension of it goes up.

So as you’re working, it’s easier to piece together your works,  you don’t just put ideas down on a page, but you understand their mechanics. You understand the best way to convey the idea that’s been rolling around in  your mind,and you now have the tools to do it.

Literature and writing classes are great, of course, but there are things language courses touch on that those don’t. Language courses are the rational side, where as writing and literature classes are the emotional side. They’re both necessary, as with anything. KNowing another language though opens up so many different ways to be able to use your abilities.

Thanks to my job, I’ve been thinking more and more about Twilight, and its impact on pop culture, literacy, and so on. I hear a lot of comments–for and against–the series all the time. Between this job and the bookstore job, I think I’ve caught just about ever angle of its popularity imaginable from the teenybopper girls who would NEVER dare be caught dead in public with a book aside from Twilight to the people like me who read everything they get their hands on, and took Twilight as another recommendation.

The bad side, though, to it is that now that it’s popular, any legitimacy it has is ruined because of those teenybopper bubble gum chewing girls who teeheehee giggle and squeal and swoon and drool on Edward Cullen, and that’s that. And do you really think these girls will pick up anything beside People, or Us Weekly ever again in their lives? I doubt it. It’s as disposable as Harry Potter. Maybe in time it’ll be stacked up there with other great works of literature, and will truly earn its place among the revered classics, who knows? This era in literature has to produce SOEMTHING that will be considered classic at one time. It’s part of the cycle. But until it stands the test of time, it’s just another girly book that’ll fade as soon as the movie to “Breaking Dawn” is done (assuming all the books are being made into movies).

The good though is that girls ARE reading something besides People and Us Weekly. And, it walks that fine line between smutty vampire trash (pick up some romance novels sometime, and see how THOSE read in comparison to Twilight. Even if you hate Twilight, I’m sure it’ll be like a drink of fresh water compared to the beefcake vampires whose lust for the bed is as bad as their bloodlust), and a quality novel of epic porportions. I mean, even Stephenie Meyer was inspired by stories such as Wuthering Heights, Romeo and Juliet, and the Merchant of Venice (though I don’t like how it’s influence was used in Breaking Dawn, I still give her credit for knowing Shaekspeare). To me, that says a lot if that’s some of your inspiration, and in the cases of Wuthering Heights and Romeo and Juliet, she executed their influences quiet well, and used passages to deepen her plot. To me, that proves that she was out to be more than a teenybopper cutie pie kid’s writer that just wanted to make little girls giggle.

I also like the whole sparkly vampire thing. I know, I know, they’re supposed to fry in the sunlight. I like the old mythos too. The reason I like the sparkle thing though is because it was her attempt at something new. I respect people who at least try to do a new adaptation of something; it’s the same reason I didn’t say “Decemberunderground” from AFI was trash. Sure, it wasn’t their best album, but they went out on a limb, for them, tried a new sound, and made an album out of it. Stephenie Meyer took an idea, and adapted it to a whole new legend of how vampires are. I can  guarantee, years down the road, that people will write about some hybrid of vampries who can go out during the day, because of the cross of vampires who sparkle in the light, and vampires who combust in the sunlight.

Is her writing stellar, on the mechanical level? Honestly, not really. Not to me. She needs a lot of work. But her plots and ideas are there, and that’s more important than mechanics. Now, I mean, I hope she’d be able to use there, their, and they’re properly,  know which witch is which,  and differentiate between two too and to. If she couldn’t do that then woman writing is NOT your vocation (kinda like Tina Chen trying to be a pop singer when she can’t carry a tune). But I can forgive subpar writing if the story itself is good. That’s why you pick up a book, right? So you can read a good story. Your mechanics can be amazing, but if you can’t tell a story, once again, wrong calling buddy.

While I love Twilight, I do think there are better books out there to be read, old and new. I personally even like older literature versus new because people can’t write anymore. Gregory Maguire is one of the few new writers who understands language like people did in centuries passed.  Anyway, before I go too far off track, my point with that is, if a girl reads Twilight, and decides she actually likes reading, then it ushers her into those better books. Like I said, I think it’ll only go so far. Most girls won’t read if it’s not cool. Smart girls aren’t attractive (so the system says).But, sometimes things that appeal to the popoularity aspect can sometimes open doors to bigger and better things.

I’m going to dare to be the optimist and hope that little girls who squeal for Edward Cullen now will eventually squeal for Heathcliff, Mr. Rochester, Rhett Butler, Colonel Brandon, and Edward Ferras in the future.