Favourite Parts

Hiya! I promised that I would write a list of my favourite parts in my Escaflowne series (these aren't in any particular order). Here they are:

Dragon's Moon

1. I love chapter 18. I love the whole thing. It is the chapter where Hitomi and Van argue before he goes to the stadium. Originally, I had written a make-out scene, but when I was editing it, I was like WTF? And I changed it for a scene where they yelled instead. It didn't really fit, so yelling was a nice alternative. In the end, this chapter has the highest hit count in 'Dragon's Moon'.
2. I love Dilandau. I wish that I'd made better use of him in 'Dragon's Moon', because I wasn't going to get many more chances to use him. So, I love the part where Van throws a dagger at his head and Dilandau deflects it with the barrel of his gun - hot.
3. I like that part where Hitomi goes in to talk to Van after he's been shot and they're at Aunt Flo's. I finally work Van and Hitomi's romantic problems out. I think I did a good job. At least I'm satisfied with the way things turned out.
4. I like that Hitomi is beaten up by the Dragon Slayers after Millerna is killed and the way I portray them in the stadium.
   
5. I'm glad I used Millerna in the slot of 'Hitomi's best friend' rather than Yukari.
   
6. Lastly, the best thing I did in 'Dragon's Moon' is that I killed off Millerna. I have seriously congradulated myself on this decision at least a hundred times. For one thing, Millerna is a love rival for Hitomi in the series, and I didn't want anything like that for this story. Her personality is boring because she's sweet, intelligent, and a princess. BORING. I didn't start to like Millerna in the series until after she married Dryden.
   

In a lot of ways, I'm bored with 'Dragon's Moon'. It's not because I don't think it's a fun read, but I have read it zillions of times. I also wrote most of it (like 80%) of it quite a few years ago. I wasn't as much fun then, but the good thing about this book is that it's suspenseful. My beta reader says it's her favourite one for that very reason. Well, the biggest thing it did was provide a launching pad for two more books. There's a good premise, unresolved problems, interesting characters, a world, and a bunch of other stuff. It's not all that bad. I think it turned out to be much better than I thought it would.

Mystic Wings

1. I love the part where Hitomi goes to The Voltage Room to talk to Dilandau and ends up making out with him on the dance floor. Granted, she doesn't kiss him, but I love that she tries to knee him in the groin when she realizes that he's not Van - HA!
2. I also love the part where Van sets fire to the church after he and Hitomi get married. I really like that wedding. I like that there are no guests, that the place is in shambles, and that Van's shirt is open (I already explained my angst about the double standard for men and women - girls should be able to wear more clothes, but in the absense of that - men should wear fewer).
3. I like that Hitomi takes off with Allen on his motorcycle during gym class (I would have loved to do this) and the way her dad reacts when he finds out ... hehehehe.
4. I was really pleased with the way Yukari worked out. I have never read a fanfic where I have enjoyed her character. I always thought she was just a filler - boring. But in my fic, she has a purpose and once that purpose is fulfilled - she's gone - JUST THE WAY SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE.
5. And the last thing I liked about 'Mystic Wings' is Dryden. He had so much more character then I thought he was going to when I cast him in his role. He was a friggin' blast to write. I love him!

I wish that the ending of 'Mystic Wings' could have been a little smoother, but in retrospect I don't know how I could have fixed it. I think it went as good as it could have. I know a lot of people got frustrated with this story because Van (precious Van) is gone for 14 chapters. Honestly, if I hadn't thought of the scenario where Hitomi has to get along without him by living with her parents and having to return to high school - I wouldn't have written it. It would have been boring.

Mark of a Goddess

1. I like the part where Hitomi confronts Dilandau in the chapter called 'The Night of the Dragon Slayers'. She ends up drawing his blood.
2. I like the part where Van tells Allen that he's married to Hitomi. Seriously, I love every line that comes out of Van's mouth - he's awesome!
3. I think one of the best chapters in the book is the one where Van convinces Hitomi to transform into Marlene in order to trick Allen - seriously. That is a great chapter on so many levels.
   
4. Also, I really like the chapter called 'Barrel of a Gun' where Folken tells Hitomi all about his past. I might have to check again, but I think that chapter had one of the lowest review turnouts. I don't care. I think I pulled it off well, even though it's probably not the sort of thing that teenage girls dig.
5. I was really pleased with the way Folken turned out. When I was writing him in 'Mystic Wings' I didn't feel like I had a good sense of who he was. I think that got cleared up when I wrote the epilogue. The Folken that came into 'Mark of a Goddess' was MUCH easier to work with.
6. I think I managed to have great continuity for Eries. She's not in it very much. I think she only appears in four chapters in 'Mystic Wings' and doesn't talk a lot in any of them. But she clearly has a lot of personality in 'Dragon's Moon' because she slaps Hitomi. When she finally gets a chance to talk again in 'Mark of a Goddess', I thought her personality remained the same as when she was introduced. I was really pleased with her.

If I were to take this opportunity to point out my struggles, I'll have to say that Allen was a big fat pain in the can. I enjoyed him when I introduced him in book one and book two, but by chapter 13 of 'Mystic Wings' I was annoyed with him and I didn't stop being annoyed with him until chapter 11 of 'Mark of a Goddess'. I wanted to beat the crap out of him myself the whole time.

Another one of my obvious challenges was that I wasn't sure how to proceed with Van and Hitomi's romance. Having been in a relationship a long time, I know how relationships progress, but I didn't think my readership would be happy with the truth, so I kept on having to come up with conflicts for the two of them to have. Some of them were good and some of them left me with a gross taste in my mouth.

I was also sorely tempted to use Dryden more than Van. I think I avoided the trap nicely, but that doesn't change the fact that the temptation was there. The reason why is shameful - Dryden is easier for me to write than Van.

I also had major problems with the perspective for the final book. Most chapters are people explaining things to Hitomi rather than her experiencing them for herself. There's Eries explaining, Akira explaining, Dryden explaining, Chid explaining, Folken explaining and so forth. That's frustrating. I'm writing my next book in a different style.

I also had a lot of problems with the last two chapters. I had to be very careful what I put in them, just in case I ended up writing a fourth book. In the end, the final chapters contain a lot that would have gone into a fourth book - if I had chosen to write it. I needed to wrap things up in a more ruthless manner instead of protecting my secrets.

Okay - that's enough. I really enjoyed writing this series. I hope all of you enjoyed reading it. Cheers!