Minimalist Profiles

Minimalist profiles is something I use when I am first coming up with a character. It is often useful to me when I have an idea for a character, but can't put down any solid ideas.

For these profiles I draw a picture of what they look like, without filling in any main details. I put in a simple idea of what they wear, their hair and general build. Then, down the side, I write words that describe them. These could be personality traits, jobs, a weapon they use or flaws, generally a combination of the above. 

This especially helped me with the character of Karena, as I had changed her a lot; her mind set, personality and even name. Pretty much everything. This helped me to stop thinking of her as the last character and start thinking of her as her own character.

A profile for Karena

A profile of Skylar

Chapter 2 Part 2

After Eldon had been bandaged up, the two began to inform Elvrina, with Eldon still lying down, his head resting on a tree branch.
"We're trying to find a portal pretty much," summed up Eldon.
Rolling her eyes, Holly spoke, "like you I came from Earthland."
"Earthworld," said Elvrina, "I don't quite understand."
"Where did you come from? England? That's where you seem to have an accent from?"
"Yes, I'm from York."
"I grew up in England as well, in London to be exact. I was taken by a portal from my home after..."she left off trailing, before brightening up again, "I was taken from a portal to here, Isen."
"So, what has all this stuff you're blurting out about England got to do with the Earthworld you were talking about?"
"England is in Earthland, its just a small part of that world, that is named Earthworld. But Isen is made up of four kingdoms: Isgar, Frish, Misuke and Galta. Each of these different countries was born from a different element. Isgar is the land of water and snow, Frish is the country of fire, but they're in a civil war right now, so you don't want to go there. So you have been transported to another world. A world with...magic. Do you need some time to take all that in?"
Elvrina nodded hastily, thoughts rushing through her head. Her bony cheeks flushed from the sudden news before she began to pale.
"So," Elvrina began slowly, "Frish is the country of fire, but its in a civil war and-"
"It has nice soup though." Eldon cut in, "Frish I mean."
"Yes, it does have very nice soup, but it's still not worth going because of the civil war." Cut in Holly with a superior tone.
"It's debatable." Eldon cut in, again.
"Don't listen to him," Holly informed Elvrina, "all he thinks about is food. So, moving on, Misuke is the country of air and wind. They're a pit posh there, well in the cities they are, but once you get to know them they're nice enough."
"Again, it's debatable." Eldon cut in, then ducked to avoid a slap over the back of the head from the red headed teenager.
"So," cut in Elvrina, wanting to stop a potential fight between the two almost siblings, "that would make Galan or whatever it is the land of the earth."
"Galta, and yes, it is the land of earth. That's where most of the portals have been appearing. We came to Isgar to see if the portal would be better- you know, stay open for longer, but no, it was open for a shorter period of time, so we will be heading back to Galta soon to see if we can catch anymore." Responded Holly before Eldon could cut in, but he didn't this time, just remained still, his lips pursed.
"Well, thats all nice and good, but what I don't get is how a country can be born out of an element."
"Well according to the history books, well, legend, the people of Frish first appeared after a huge wildfire burnt across their land. Apparently they came after the fire, and rose from the red hot rocks. That one is the only one that is legend. The others are pretty believable, and are commonly regarded as truth. The people of Misuke were originally half elves and half orcs -tall, humanoids with claws, then there was a tiny percent of the population that was human, all of these creatures interbred, and now, there are no full blood anythings. Most people are part Orc and part elf. Then Isgarians were sea nymphs- naiads. They swum-or, well washed- to the land after a tsunami. Then Galta was-"
"Galtans were born from the trees, well dryads and wood elves ." Eldon put in, finally pulling himself together from his short walk down memory land, "the tree people had children with merchants, so here we are now."
"Okay... I think I've got all that." Muttered Elvrina, an eyebrow lowered in concentration.
Holly rifled through her bag and pulled out a map, to instil the information into Elvrina's mind. The map showed the whole of Isen. It was relatively new, and had been printed onto a sheet of white parchment. As depicted on the map, Isen was made up of one big island, there was of course small islands of the mainland, but no other major land masses. In the west lay Frish, the country of fire, currently in a civil war. To the North was the sprawling land mass of Galta, the land of the earth. In the SouthEast corner was Misuke, the kingdom of the wind, Misuke was most well known for its city's- as the biggest city's floated above the ground. Then, in the east lay Isgar, kingdom of ice and water. This was by far the smallest country, as it was nearly half the size of Frish.
"Now, if we've finally finished our geography lesson," stated Eldon, emphasising the word finally, "shall we depart?"
"What have you got against geography?" Holly asked
"My teacher in my 5th year. You don't even want to know." In response both Holly and Elvrina raised their eyebrows at him, a smug smile cloned across both of their faces.

Part 2 of 4

Chapter 2 Part 1

The centre of the portal was a whirl of light dancing to a constant ticking that was emitting from the very middle. The light moved to form a circle, made all the brighter by reflecting off the thin layer of snow. All of a sudden a gush of wind ran from the portal. A flash of orange shades whirled on top of the wind, riding it like a ghostly rider whose horse had been spooked.
Holly shook her head and moved against the wind in jerking movements, but she made as much progress as a rowboat moving up a river- none. Her hand gripped to a trunk of a large oak, her knuckles turning white. She pulled herself up and braced her back against the bark that was wet with snow. She looked back at Eldon. He waved her on.
"Go!" He shouted, his voice only just travelling to her ears, "It's you who wants to get there not me!" His voice was cut off when the orange ribbon that had been riding the wind landed on top of him, knocking him down to the ground before rolling a few metres away down a slight hill. It was then that the pair realised that the orange cloud was in fact a girl of about 13. Eldon looked at Holly, his eyes panicked, his hand raised and continue to wave Holly on.
"Someone's come out," He shouted, "You go! I'll take care of her!" Holly looked between the portal and Eldon, between her home and her best friend. She longed to go home, to see her family again, her grandfather, her sister. But she couldn't leave the girl stranded in this world. She shook her head and moved backwards away from the portal towards the girl. Eldon looked at her, eyebrows furrowed and nodded.
"I have to take her back, Eldon! She'll want to go back as well!" He nodded and moved back with her.
Holly grabbed the girls arm and began to pull her with her, however she made even less progress than she had before. Eldon grabbed the girls other arm and also began to haul her up the slight slope. The girl's auburn hair flew behind her, tangling with the branches behind them that were getting slightly further away.
It was Eldon that stumbled first, his foot rolled on an outcrop of rocks. He tumbled to the ground. As his momentum pushed him down the hill his leg caught on me of the rocks and a few drops of blood spilled onto the pure, white, snow.
"Eldon," Called out Holly, but Eldon continued to roll down the hill and was only stopped when his body hit a tree with a loud crack.
Holly dropped the girl ceremoniously, and ran down to Eldon, the wind pushing her down towards where he lay. She turned him over and her head began to spin at the sight of blood on Eldon. There wasn't a whole lot of blood, but enough to make her queasy. Swallowing her fear, she looked at his leg.
The cut wasn't huge, but it was coated in a thin layer of blood that the leg of his trousers had stopped from spilling onto the snow. The wound would heal fine with correct care, but it would probably leave a scar behind.
A series of popping reached Holly's ears. She turned round to witness the ball of light closing, sucking in on itself like a black hole, until it eventually turned black and disappeared with a final pop, leaving behind the smell of burnt toast and a pile of wreckage. Holly's shoulders sagged as she turned back to Eldon.
"I'm sorry Holly." He wheezed.
"It's ok," She replied softly, but her tone implied the opposite. Eldon tried to sit up, but only caused his leg to spurt more blood.
"Maybe I shouldn't sit up." Eldon said, his voice light with wooziness.
"What are we going to do about it then? I'm no healer. The best I can do is to treat a cold with a cup of coffee."
A small voice began to speak," If you tell me everything, I can try to heal him."
"We don't need your help," snapped Holly, "we're fine on our own."
Eldon rolled his eyes before answering to the voice's question in a shaky voice, "sure, can we tell you everything after though, I'm not really in the mood right now," he said, finishing with a laugh wobbling like an inexperienced tightrope walker.
"Okay," the voice, who was actually a girl with thick brown hair framing a bony face, "do you have any herbs?"

Hey guys. This is the first part of the second chapter. The other parts will be up in a few days :) please give me advice on what you liked and what you didn't. 
- Caylpso

Forgotten Shadows- Chapter 1

Crumbling price tags were attached to the leather covered books that lined the shelves. In a new, small cabinet at the back of the room sat a dozen oddly shaped vials that emitted an odd smell of lavender and grass cuttings. The whole room was a strange combination of old and new, most things with price tags attached, perfect for the home of a self proclaimed witch.
On a plump purple couch sat a woman facing two young teenagers, a boy with calm chestnut eyes and a girl with fierce orange hair and heavy eyebrows. The young girl sat on the edge of her seat, her eyes darting round the room as if it was to be under attack any minute.
"So you want to find a portal?" Asked the young woman, her dark brown hair swishing on her layered clothes.
"Yes." The boy answered snapping his teeth together, making a clicking noise, cutting off the girls possible response, getting a sullen glare in response.
"I can look for it if you want me to," She responded, her green eyes narrowing, "I will need a hand, a hand for the fortune." Without asking she reached out and grabbed the girls hand, the girl attempted to jerk her hand from the woman's, but the woman held it tight. Her nails digging deep into her flesh.
"Hol," the boy whispered to her, "we have to do this." The girl nodded, glaring daggers, before opening her hand at the speed of a snail for inspection.
"Ah yes. You have an interesting past here. You came here from another world, and you want to go back there. So you are travelling with a boy named Eldon, who you met in dangerous circumstances."
"We already know this. Just tell us where the portal is," Growled Eldon
"I can't tell from this."
"I knew this was a waste of time."
"It wasn't a waste of time! I can show you where it is, for a few more coins..."
"No, we're leaving now," said Holly with the firmness of a rock.
With that Holly wrenched her hand out of the woman's grasp, the woman's fingernails clawing into her skin. She turned and half ran out of the shop.
She stepped into the sun and blinked while her eyes adjusted to the light. She began to march down the street, Eldon half ran behind her trying to keep up.
"I told you it was a waste of time," she said to Eldon, fists clenched, "we learnt nothing what so ever."
"Yes, but-"
"And why wouldn't you let me talk? You kept interrupting me."
"That woman was a witch. She might have been able to tell something from your voice."
Rolling her eyes Holly whispered under her breath, "Sure, sure, she was hardly a witch. But it was still a complete waste of time, and money."
"Fine. We might as well head back to the camp now. There's no point us staying here, we'll only attract attention." Holly sighed.
"I suppose your right."
"I'm always right."
"You're pushing it Eldon," Holly said with a smile playing across her lips. She let it hang there for a second before snapping back into her stern persona.
The pair continued to walk down the street in silence. But it wasn't a cold silence, it was a content type of silence.

6 months later.
The two teenagers ran through the forest, dodging trees as they made a mad dash towards the centre of a burning light. As they ran things began to change, sound became static and eventually began to blend into silence. The hairs on the back of Eldon's neck began to prickle and his left hand began to twitch.
Then, the silence broke for a loud crash and the sound of a motor, a glottal spitting sound that sounded more like a wild beast than anything else. The sound came closer and closer until it seemed to pass through the pair.
"That's where we're going?" Questioned Holly, looking skeptical, "that's where the portal is?"
"It would seem so," replied Eldon, "well, we'd better advance. Your future life awaits!"
Holly glared at him softly her eyebrows raised, then the corners of her lips crept up and she looked at Eldon, her eyes alight.
"Race you to the middle?" She challenged, a smile playing on the corners of her lips.
"You bet."

Akame ga Kill review

Akame Ga Kill anime review- no spoilors

4.5/5

Akame Ga Kill is an anime that I decided to watch because of a 'suggested for you to watch' list, I wasn't expecting much, but I was blown away. The story follows Tatsumi, a young boy who is from the country and decides to make his fortune, as well as a group of assassins. The story is enriched by teigu, or imperial arms. These are special weapons with magical properties, such as a sword that poisons somebody with one scratch or armour that can turn invisible. The story is a good one, and had me gripped from the start. 

It is a great anime, and does not skip out on the blood, horror and gore, however, this is done well without too much. Despite this, it is a very innocent anime as it does not have much fanservice, compared to others of it's genre.

The characters in the show are all very interesting,and all so diverse in personality. Each character gets an episode or two for their time to show, and during this time, they tell of their history, it is a good way to see their story through their eyes. However, one of the problems is that they don't get enough time focused on their backstory. However, I find this a minor problem, as we still grow to care about the characters from what the do during the course of the show. 

One downside of the anime is that part way through it breaks away from the manga it is based on. However, this is because the manga is still being released, and the episodes often cover multiple chapters. This causes some of the best parts of the manga to be skipped, or generally done in a different way, normally worse way. However, this leads to double the pain when deaths occur.

Akame Ga Kill is a great anime, manga and manga prequel, and I suggest that you all go and read or watch it, or both. The English subbed is very high quality, but I have not yet seen the English dub.

Stay drunk on writing

I saw this quote on tumblr a few days back and I decided I loved it, I felt it really described why I wrote. So, I decided to add in a drawing based off aspects of manga. I hope you enjoy it.

6 days left

Anikiwa Dreaming

A few years ago, I participated in a short Outward Bound course in New Zealand. This is a drawing based off an experience in a boat called a cutter.
The drawing was coloured in with watercolour pencils, and I used three different techniques/patterns to colour in the sea, land and sky. This is to make all three domains seem connected, but still very different.

Anikiwa Dreaming

10 days left