Atelier Valoron

Posted this last night on my blogspot page, figured I'd put it up here while it was still the first day of the year.

It occurs to me that, upon seeing others reflect on what 2008 meant for them, it should probably behoove me to do the same, if nothing else to acknowledge what has come before in order to better look to the future.

In 2008, I came to realize that my main career path should not be video games, but instead writing. In 2008, I began the path that I needed to take in order to get a Master’s in English.

In 2008, I set things in motion so that I could graduate Summer 2009 with 2 Associate’s Degrees at once. In 2008, I struggled with, and overcame, seniorities, and found the fire that I needed in order to finish my studies for the semester and my program of study.

In 2008, I met and dated a young woman for the first time in my life; it did not last beyond a month, but it gives me hope that I will do it again soon. In 2008, I began working on my own self-confidence, both with everyday and dating situations, which I hope to continue and grow in 2009.

In 2008, I seriously began working on my own life, working on truly becoming the confident, independent adult I know I can be.

In 2008, I finally found a job again, and after working there for over nine months, am now one of the most respected employees there.

In 2008, I completed the first draft of one my stories, and seriously began working on the first story in the series I’ve been designing for the past year and a half. In 2008, I finished the first draft of a poetry book.

In 2008, I developed my skills in level design, writing, and in working in a team environment.

In 2008, I strengthened my resolve to no longer define myself in part and/or mostly by my ties to my family.

2009 though…What should my resolutions be?

I resolve to finish both of the two novels mentioned above.

I resolve to finally get the things I meant to do in 2008, both the driver’s license, car, and bank account issue, done and finished as quickly as I can in 2009.

I resolve to find a second job, in order to help me save up on university payments and beyond.

I resolve to date far more, and develop my confidence when it comes to meeting and interacting at my best with women.

I resolve to continue defining myself as my own man, developing into a Man that would honor God, my future wife, and myself.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

The season finale of Eli Stone has just aired, allowing ABC to begin airing their usual stable of Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, and Lost episodes again on Thursdays.

But how did the season finale of Eli Stone do? For that matter, what kind of a show was it? Here’s the premise from Wikipedia:

( Eli Stone Finale Thoughts )

Things are coming along nicely with the story; so nice, in fact, that I have the first three pages of the first draft right here:

( First Three Pages of The Muse )

Well, I feel like I finally have enough to actually update about, so here goes:

- Just finished a suspense scene for the Creative Writing II class that I'm taking, which came out fairly well from my viewpoint. It concerns the scene where Celeste is lead to, and first meets the story's villain.
- Thanks to the class' first assignment, I've finally gotten the whole plot actually written down, which means that now it's no longer just inside my head. What's nice about this is that it has helped me figure out different aspects about the story and Celeste and Auberon's role in it, that had previously been giving me problems.
- For this next week, I have to write up the scenes that would constitute the first "chapter" of the story, so for all of you interested in it, I should have it ready and available to read by this time next Sunday.

Till then, hope you are doing well, and I will see you next time.

Well, as I said, here's the first of my progress reports. Honestly, I should put this off till I get up in the morning, but since I can't sleep, I'll do it now.

So far, I've gotten the groundwork for the novel pretty well-laid out; I know the characters enough to be able to confidently write them, I've written more than enough of the setting of the novel to write it convincingly, and I have a good layout of what the plot looks like.

As for the actual written part of the novel, I've so far gotten the first page of the beginning down (something that is quite hard for me, as I don't often know HOW to start a story right), and I've gotten six pages of two connected scenes later on in the story already written down. I've also gotten the start of a scene that takes place before those two already started, and I will try to get it fleshed out more by this Friday.

While I could do better in not jumping from scene to scene, I'm pleased to see that what I've already gotten down is satisfactory to me. Since I'm taking a Creative Writing II class this semester (starting at about later today at either 11 or 12:30), I'm going to try and convince the instructor of the class to let me use the novel as my major work for the semester.

I'm rather curious to see whether I can pull this off or not, as last semester I wrote between 30,000 to 60,000 words for my Character Development class, more than enough for a good-sized novel. I look forward to seeing whether I can achieve that same number with my novel, while at the same time working on the semester project for my Project class.

For those interested, the working title of my novel is The Muse.

To all those who have been wondering where all my old posts went, this is the explanation why.

First though, I want to say hello to all the readers out there who have come across this page. I am Bernhard C. Moffitt, and this is my main blog, where I post updates on my work progress, as well as my own thought essays on a variety of subjects that interest me. Occassionally, I will also post different entries where I take an existing art piece and write a scene about it, as general practice to make sure that I keep myself fresh.

To all those that have been watching me for the last few years, you may have noticed that almost all of my posts are gone. The reason for this is because some of them I've made for friends only, but mostly, it's because I've gone through them and realized that I am no longer the person who wrote those posts.

Because of that realization, and because I want to use this blog as a professional resource to keep myself up to date with my own work, I'd decided to delete all the posts that I felt didn't serve a purpose anymore, effectively cleaning house here.

This brings up the question of what you can expect on this blog. Well, several things actually. Besides essays and movie reviews, I do intend to every so often post a bit about my own life here, but not to the almost whinny extent that I had done so before. Along with those three things, I will continuously post updates about my novel's process, including my attempts at getting it and my other works published.

I will try to post such a progression report later tonight, with the hope that anybody who reads this and is interested in the process of writing a novel will show interest in it (which I wouldn't mind at all, as I seem to work better if I have the pressure of an audience).

With that said, I look forward to this new year, and I hope you will join me in this interesting journey that I'm undertaking. - BCMoffitt.

Goodness me, will you look at that? I'm actually posting on this.

It's mostly for my own benefit, but for anybody whose interested, here are some of my reflections on 2007.

- I turned twenty this year. That might not mean a lot to most, but for me it's taken on the importance that many associate with turning eighteen. Since November 5th, it's like I've begun to see the world in an entirely new light. Granted, I had already started to do so before the birthday, but things are just far more obvious to me now.

- This ties in to the reflection above. I'd finally gotten to where I should have been development-wise in September and October (as in, to me at least, I had finally reached and slightly gone past the maturation that was appropriate for my age), when all of a sudden, my birthday comes along, and it's like I've jumped to an outlook a few years ahead of my time.

Analogy-wise, it's like I was finally at the right page of where I should be as a person, with said page half-turned in accordance with my turning twenty. Then suddenly, my birthday comes and goes, and not only does the page turn, but the book of my life turns two, three pages, and is now almost halfway through a page in my maturity and outlook that by rights I shouldn't have reached until I was, what, say twenty-two? Twenty-three?

(I blame my life of reading for this; that's the blessing and curse of books for you.)

- While it doesn't pay, I do now have a job as a Lab Supervisor for the Simulation, Modeling, and Visualization Center at CPCC. It's rather helpful, as I'm able to stay in the building all hours of the night, using the resources available to me (and we have a LOT of resources avaialbe at the Center), without the guards being able to kick me out at all.

That, and it rather helps with filling out applications as well.

- I've gotten physically trimmer and fitter, and I think I'm finally on the right track to looking like a white Ganondorf in my thirties. This is particularly important for me, as I have every intention to try and live to see and pass 2087, and one of the best ways to do that is to have a physically fit body suited to my own body structure.

That, and it helps to actually look like a fridge that will be able to protect you in case of an emergency.

- With my art, I'm quite pleased to see that I've improved drastically since last New Years, finding that if I have a good idea and references, I can draw something fairly competently. I'm no master, but I don't think I'm in the amateur league anymore.

- I've rediscovered my love of books, primarily through the help of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books and Terry Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule novel.

- Video games, while fun, don't occupy my every waking thoughts anymore. This is good in some ways, I feel, because life can't be JUST about video games. There's just so much more to it than just them.

- I've finally gotten off my ass and am working on a novel. Sure, most of the work so far has been developing the characters, but the time has been well worth it, and now I can focus on the story itself.

- As the year has passed, I'm quite pleased to find that I've become fully accepting of my love of plus-sized women, and am glad to see that I no longer worry about people finding out about it. It's still a private matter, but I don't think I'll worry anymore about people thinking less of me just because I prefer women that have nice, thick curves, and that's the important thing.

- In the SGD course, I've become recognized by my peers and teachers as the best writer in the curriculum, which means a lot to me. Finally, I have something that more than makes up for my lack of skill in, say, programming and, at the start of the last semester at least, modeling, and what's also rather nice is I've proven myself to have a rather deft hand at animation as well.

- Along with that is the joy of knowing that at least by this time next year, I will hopefully have graduated with my Associates Degree, while being in the process of getting into UNC Charlotte. I'm quite looking forward to the challenge, to be honest.

- One of the most important reflections to me is that over the course of this past year, I've learned how to conquer my OCD, which has been hounding me for the last four or five years. In the spring I learned what it was via my Psychology class, and in the fall I learned how to focus via my Acting class. Thanks to those two things, and because of what I think is natural genetics for the men in my family, I've finally gotten on the path that will eventually lead me to finally be free of this psychological curse once and for all.

- Finally, I can't help but think that I've grown in my walk of faith. While I know that I won't ever truly BE like Jesus was, I think I'm pretty close to it. True, I don't subscribe to a specific denomination, nor do I obsessively read through the Bible, which seems to may to be two of the hallmarks of being Christian.

But in compensation, I've grown to know what Jesus would want ME to do, so that I can't help but think that he's as much a part of me as my own organs. Which is rather funny, when you think about it; most people would think that there's the person you are in say, the church and church committee, and then there's the person you are when you're in the world.

Granted, I don't go to church (can't find one that feels RIGHT to me), but I can't help but think that everything I do is permeated with Christ's will and teachings. If you took his presence from me I would be an entirely different person, his presence being so much a part of me that it's now in my bones.

All in all, a thought that I'm most pleased with.

I have no idea how I'm going to use this journal in 2008; I may abandon it, post up art works and sketches that I'd tried out, or instead post bulletins about and excerpts from my novel, if nothing else to help keep a fire under my bottom to get me to actually stop being a procrastinating idiot git.

Anyway, Happy New Years to you all, and may God bless you in this new, uncertain, and overall exciting year to come. - BCMoffitt.

Since I did this with LynxGriffin, I'll do it here as well. This is taken directly from her blog, as it's the meme.

Pay It Forward: I will send a handmade gift to the first 4 people who leave a comment here on my blog. I don’t yet know what that gift will be, but you will receive it within 365 days. The only thing you have to do in return is "pay it forward" by making a similar agreement on your blog.

Should be fun.

Type: Biography
Words: 290
Comments: While I wasn't able to get the full 400 at the present time, I intend to try and write some more, to be added in an edit later. (I consider my day to comprise the entire time I'm awake, which means that it may be 5:00 AM Monday and I'd still consider it Sunday.)


Apeth is the great Star Whale, who carries upon his back the Ruby City. Flying through the skies he is the first of the children of Illiana and UlShalom, who circle Austegard in eternal chase. Feeding on the nitrogen oxide produced by the ancient volcanoes and the bacteria-feeding airkrills, Apeth expels pure water and oxygen into the planet’s ozone.

Apeth was worshipped and revered by the people of the Ruby City as their guardian. Flying through the air, his whale song was an often-heard feature of the city-state.

Yet like many of the human nations of that time, the Ruby City was attacked by the fallen Djinish, who sought to subjugate all mankind in vengeance against their maker. As the battles raged on, the Ruby City suffered great losses, which tore at the heart of Apeth.

Finally, when all hope seemed lost, Apeth sprung from the clouds. His song now filled with anguish and anger, he dove down to the Ruby City, diving underneath it before rising from the earth, the city now lodged within his rock-like frills.

Flying into the sky, Apeth faced the fallen Djinish, and unleashed upon them his wrath. Sundering the rocks with his echosong, he dealt great losses to the fallen spirits.

Yet Apeth’s victory was hollow to the beast, as the shamans and priests of the Ruby City soon learned. The beast knew that even if it the Djinish threat was vanquished, one day its beloved city would be destroyed. Because of this, the beast came into a covenant with the people of the Ruby City: So long as they desired it, Apeth would carry them on its back for the rest of time, protecting them from any threat that should come to them.

I've just come home from watching Shrek the Third, latest in the Dreamworks series. I want to make sure I get this down while it's fresh in my memory, which is why I'm writing it down here.

After the events of the second movie, Fiona and Shrek have been filling in for Harold, Fiona's dad and king of Far Far Away (a rather amusing spoof of Beverly Hills). Soon after, the king is on his deathlily (as a bed would be too big for a frog), and tells Shrek that, as husband to Fiona he is the next in line for the throne. Since Shrek has found himself completely out of his element, he implores the king if there is anybody else. Harold (throughout a funny extended death-sequence) tells Shrek there is another heir: Arthur "Artie" Pendragon, Fiona's cousin at a private highschool. The king then peacefully dies, and is laid to rest in a newly built memorial pond in the castle.

Almost immediately afterward, Shrek breaks off to find Artie, and is told right as he's departing that Fiona is pregnant. This unsettles Shrek, as he isn't sure whether he'd be a good father or not.

While Shrek and his sidekicks Donkey and Puss are gone, Far Far Away is overrun by every single villain from all the different fairy tales while being led by Prince Charming, the son of the previous film's villainess the Fairy Godmother. Their reasons for the takeover are that they are tired that their side of the story never gets told, and goaded by Charming are hell-bent on getting their own "Happily Ever After".

Admittedly, the movie deviates from the trends that Shrek I and II have established. One deviation is that the film doesn't end with a giant concert; another is that the film doesn't focus so much on the antics of Puss and Donkey.

However, as a proponent of serious storytelling, I admire how the movie doesn't let past conventions impose on its story. Both previous movies were somewhat light-hearted compared to the third movie. The story that it set up made me think of many of the old adventure Disney movies that I grew up with, like Aladdin, The Great Mouse Detective and The Rescuers Down Under. None of them ended with a giant musical number as the climax, as their stories were somewhat more serious. The same applies to Shrek the Third, and I was glad to see that it stayed true to its own story.

While the movie could have done better with how it presented its message, i.e. not hamming it up as much as it did, it did a lot better than most recent animated movies as it didn't shove it done your throat. Admittedly it was like sitting at a table and then having a giant plate filled with spaghetti and meatballs placed in front of you that you know you can't finished. But at least you didn't get the sense that it was shoved down like a giant breadroll.

Altogether, while it wasn't a Shrek I or II, it did far better then many other third entries in a movie series did, which is why I give Shrek the Third an 8 out of 10.

This is the first act of my story If I Only Had A Heart. It's a Kingdom Hearts fanfiction, set about four to five years since the ending of Kingdom Hearts II. So be warned, spoilers are ahead.

( Act I of If I Only Had A Heart, Curtain Call... )
I hope you all enjoyed the first act; the intermission scene between this and the second act is up next.