A Writer on Pinterest

   You know that awful moment when it's a Saturday morning and you're expecting to sleep in after a really long, really emotional day yesterday that had you in tears as you crawl into bed, and then it's 7:30 in the morning and you never wake up this early, let alone on a Saturday, but you're awake now and it's just... Sigh.

   So, yes, it's 7:45 and while my headache from last night is gone, I really had wanted to sleep longer. Oh well.

   For the focus of this post, Pinterest.

   I believe that the majority of you already follow me on Pinterest, but I'm going to put this together for those who don't.

   As any good writer on Pinterest does, I have a variety of story and character related boards to which I pin a good deal of pictures pertaining to the board's title.

   I will provide a link to each board and a brief summary about what's entailed below. Please don't hesitate to follow through, even if you don't have Pinterest. (Though if you don't have Pinterest, you might consider it.)


   Story Inspiration
   I have three boards that all begin with "story". Story Inspiration is a collection of pins that provide me with inspiration for something to include in a story. That could be anything from a bunch of dragon pictures to a short quote that makes me go "Ooh, that'd be a fascinating line to spin a story off of."
  
   Story Setting
   As the title might suggest, Story Setting is all about the world in which a story might take place. The locations range from an artwork of an oriental palace in mountains to a digital rendering of a sci-fi style hotel room. Take your pick.

   Story Style
   This would be for those looking to outfit their heroes in anything from silver wire masquerade masks to a black bustle skirt from the Victorian era. This board is still a bit new and my eye is not particularly drawn to things of the accessory/clothing genre, so filling it is a work in progress.
  
   Faces to Remember
   When you're on Pinterest and going through people's story boards, you'll find that they have a penchant to save pictures of people who they find inspiring, and this is my take on that. All the faces to be found in this board are ones that I think would be interesting in a story, but have not yet found a home for. Ages range from adorable little Asian girls to an older woman with gray hair who has all the qualities of a mentor in her face.


   Now, for the more personal boards, involving the characters I already have.


   Characters
   This is a stashing spot for the pictures I find that remind me of my characters. It doesn't always have to be spot on. Maybe it's his hair, or her expression, but it's a little conglomerate of things that make up the people inside my head. (Hint: If you wanted to have an idea of what Vivian looks like, here's your chance.)

   Hints of Character
   This board is very similar to Characters, but it's in words, songs, and poses instead. This song lyrics remind me of those two characters at this given time; that Mustang is one that I could see my character's brother fixing and then the character driving. Little things that make up the characters on the inside, instead of on the outside.

   Profile: Sarris and Novarr Schaefe
   This is a specialized board for my characters, Sarris and Novarr. It's a big mish-mash of Characters and Hints of Characters, just for the two of them. I also enjoy doing MBTI for my characters, so Novarr has a fair deal of ENTP pins. Sarris, on the other hand, shares her type with several other of my characters, and I have stuffed them all in another board that I'll share at the end. (Warning: Sarris has had a tough background, and a couple of the pins in this board reflect that. One is of bloody hands, the other uses the word "h*ll", so if you're not comfortable with either, consider skipping this board.)

   Profile: Ruusan and Jaydn Schaefe
   Technically, Ruusan has been both an Armstrong and a Vhander, but calling her a Schaefe was easiest, so I went with that. Like Sarris and Novarr's board, this is just a collection of pictures and quotes that remind me of these two sisters, although now it's extended to encompass the Deviant, so if something doesn't make sense, see if it has a "Deviant Ruu/Jade" note attached. If not, it may have a "Kidnapped Ruu" note, and that means the same as the deviant.

   Profile: Ianthe and the Tribes
   I believe I already shared this board when I posted about Ianthe a while back, but I'll share it again for any newcomers or happen-byers. This board is a bit more expansive than the last world, extended to include Ianthe's world and all the people and places in it. So there'll be pictures that remind me of characters or images of real life Arabian palaces, all in an attempt to capture the feel of that world.

   Profile: Jasmine "Jaz" O'Haire
    Not one of my largest boards ever, but this is a smattering of things that make me think of Jaz, who I've posted a couple of scrawls about. The majority of this board's contents are her MBTI type, which is ESTJ, but there are a handful of others things included as well.

   MBTI Personality
   And last but not least, my MBTI Personality board. This has a mix of various types that either hold meaning to me via friends or characters, or just interested me enough to repin them. If they are connected to a character, there will be a note at the bottom saying who it is. For instance, there are several ISTJ pins that are marked with Sarris, Jaydn, and Cameron, and more still of ISFP, which is a new character of mine, Leo Argon.


   And with that, I think I've covered all my story-related boards on Pinterest. If you feel like delving into the bottomless pit that is the rest of my Pinterest, feel free, but don't expect to escape for some time.

   Hopefully, you all found this quite interesting, or some such. Thanks for your time and I pray you all will be sleeping on Saturday morning, not writing blog posts, as I am.

   Ad astra per aspera.
   To the stars, through difficulties.

Profile: The World of Ianthe

    It seems I'll do everything but write about Ianthe, but I've been kind of short on energy of any sort this past week, so I won't hold it against myself.

   Just this evening, I decided to create a profile board for Ianthe's world on Pinterest.

   (For those who don't know what Pinterest is, now is your chance to get in on the awesomeness.)

    http://pinterest.com/penwielder1262/profile-ianthe-and-the-tribes/

    You don't need a profile on Pinterest to view the pictures, so feel free to go mosey through what I've dug up so far. There is also a small description at the top giving you a little bit more of an idea about Ianthe and what her story is, since I don't think I've explained it thus far.

   Also, keep in mind that Ianthe's story is not set on Earth, but in some other distant realm/desert/thing. So none of the cultural distinctions (?) that you might garner from the pictures on my Pinterest board are probably not how things are over in Ianthe's world. Does that make any sense?

    To fill up a little more space, I'm going to run down the characters I have so far. (The ones with names, that is. There are a couple, far hazier characters without names that I won't list.)

    -- Ianthe of the Iparsha Tribe. Main character. Younger sister to Isra by five minutes. Gives herself over to Malika (see below) in exchange for Isra's freedom. She, being the younger twin, is Isra's guardian and as such, her life is not her own until Isra marries and allows Ianthe her freedom.

    -- Isra of the Iparsha Tribe. Older sister to Ianthe. Heir to the Iparsha tribe. Betrothed to Haro of the Delath Tribe (see below). Set free by Malika after Ianthe hands the rest of her life over to Malika.

    -- Malika of the *unnamed* Tribe. Main antagonist, but not a technical villain. Sole ruler over her tribe's city. Husband has been deceased for several years. Her tribe is renowned for its strength and ingenuity, making it a formidable foe that is not to be crossed. Ianthe and Soran (see below), of their own free will, gave their fates over to her so their respective twins could go free.

    -- Soran of the *unnamed* Tribe. Ally to Ianthe. Older brother to his twin, and also the rightful heir to his own tribe before he handed that right to his brother and stayed with Malika so his twin could go free. Eventually becomes Ianthe's confidante.

    -- Haro of the Delath Tribe. Oldest son and heir to the ruler of the Delath Tribe. Betrothed to Isra by their fathers to bring the two tribes together, although there is a genuine affection between the two of them.

    Alright. That's most of them. Everyone else is kind of hazy as they haven't had any majorly important parts to play in my mind rambles.

    I think it's also important to note that Malika, while the main antagonist, is not an inherently bad person. She enjoys toying with lives, but it is rare that she is actually cruel. She keeps her word to both Soran and Ianthe and lets their siblings leave. (Also doesn't declare war on their tribes, but that's a small, inconsequential detail.) She was in love with her husband before his death several years ago in the story, but I don't believe he ever loved her in return. She also has no children, so Malika's life is a very lonely one.

    Which I believe is one of the reasons why she 'kidnapped' Soran and Ianthe. They might hate her, but they fill that empty gap in her life.

    So... does Ianthe's story interest you yet?

    (And have my fellow romantics connected the dots yet?)

    That's about all I have for now. Thank you for reading1

    Ad astra per aspera.
    To the stars, through difficulties.

Writing: Ianthe and Isra

    I was just going through my hard-drive and realized that I had more of Ianthe and Isra than I had initially assumed and, since I really enjoy these two, I decided to post it.

   Maybe I'll get around to posting something aside from writing one of these days...

   Ianthe and Isra were inspired by a Japanese manga I read quite a while ago, placed in a desert with a quite different storyline, but my brain was churning anyways. After all was said and done, I had a pair of twin sisters, the older of which is Isra. As the elder, she is the 'chosen' of the two. She will be the one to inherit their father's duties as the tribal leader upon his eventual death. Ianthe, though she seems a good deal older, is the guardian. She appears older by necessity. She must have her wits about her at all times in order to protect Isra from anyone who would harm her.

   These bits begin shortly after, while traveling in a caravan, Ianthe and Isra are captured by the militants beneath Malika, a woman who rules over a rather vast area, left to her by her husband upon his death a handful of years ago. And, as you will see, Ianthe decides to sacrifice herself one last time for her sister.


     Ianthe gripped the edges of her cloak, holding an arm out to shield her sister from the dark eyes of the woman reclining before them.
    “What do you want?” she asked, injecting every ounce of strength she could muster into her words.
    “You are the chosen sister?” Malika, leader of their captors, did not appear to have heard Ianthe’s question, as she voiced her own in a liquid voice.
    Ianthe nodded. She had already ordered Isra to play along, don’t say anything, and to let her handle it. Because, in truth, Isra had been chosen when they were born. Isra would be the one to inherit everything from their father upon his death. Her own role would be to protect her sister until that day which she wed.
    But it was a simple matter to fool someone not of their tribe into believing that Ianthe was the superior of the two. All it had taken was a switch of the cloak and rapid-fire instructions to Isra before the horsemen had reached them.
    Even now, she still wore the deep amethyst dyed cloak of her sister, and the other her own sand colored one.
    Ianthe drew out of her thoughts to again inquire, “What do you want with us?”
    Malika drew to her feet with slow movements, pacing over to stand before the younger woman. 
    “You two will be inducted into my clan,” the woman stated bluntly.
    The guardian balked.



    “I will stay here,” Ianthe told Malika in a low tone, meeting the older woman’s eyes. “But in return for my complete cooperation, my guardian must be returned to my father.”
    Hooded eyes studied her for a long moment. “Tell me why this is.”
    “Why I would give myself up?”
    Malika inclined her head.
    “Because I am the only one that would satisfy you, and it would be more beneficial for you to have one cooperative captive as opposed to two who would fight you every step of the way.”
    “You have a valid point. And all you require is your guardian being returned to your father’s tent?”
    “Yes.”
    “You are a brave chosen; I have known few others who would do what you do for your sister.”
    Ianthe smiled grimly. You do not know the half of it. “It is the least I can do after stealing her right to have a life of her own.”
    The monarch nodded again. “Say your farewells then; I will have her delivered on your father’s doorstep, and in turn, you will remain here as long as I desire it, and none shall come in a foolish attempt to rescue you.”
    “Very well,” Ianthe murmured, turning to face her little sister.
    Isra’s eyes were wide, and the guardian could tell she was struggling to keep her composure.
    Kneeling before the young woman, Ianthe dropped her voice to a scarce whisper. “Isra, you must heed my words, and do not deviate from them. Do you understand?”
    She received an unsteady “I am listening, Ianthe. Speak what you will.”
    “There are two things you must attend upon reaching Father; the first, do not allow him to attack your escorts, but do not allow them to depart until Father has written, in his own hand with the Iparsha dye, that you have arrived and are safely in his care once more. Give the letter to them and they will return it to me. The second is that you must convince Father to abandon all hope of rescuing me. Do you understand, Isra? Father must not attempt to come after me. I do not wish to see how hard the hammer would fall upon our tribe should we break my pact with Malika.”
    “But, Ianthe—“
    “No, Isra. He must not come after me. You will return, marry the man who holds your heart, and forget me.”
    “I will never forget you, sister,” Isra whispered, tears filling her eyes despite her struggle against them. “Neither you, nor all you have sacrificed for me. Thank you.”
    Ianthe could see the underlying gratitude for the protection she had provided for the better part of their lives.

    I've always intended to write more of these two, so maybe in the coming months I'll get around to it. There is a good deal that happens to Ianthe while she resides in Malika's court, which I've been meaning to start pinning down.

    In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed these blips and thank you so much for reading! Comments are always welcome.

   Ad astra per aspera.
   To the stars, through difficulties.