IELTS GR11
"When you are too afraid to try something. Do it to spite God"
my name is Mariana, I was born in Chile and travelled into many places in the world and I'm studying in sekolah Mutiara Harapan. This is a blog for all my writing assignments for my IELTS classes.
I have a love for art. Is a thing that motivated me to make many things, but the passion that motivates me to draw is storytelling. so let me write to you about 'catalyst echo'. A personal project I have had since December 2018 and since then I have been making multiple stories and learning about them.
Premise:
Catalyst echo is about two travelers that explore the lands for their own goals. A knight named Simon wishes to be freed of a curse and a spirit named Rash, desires to return home. While traveling they meet foes and friends which soon become a group with a common goal and even if they wish not to be involved. Their story takes them face to face with death and the fate of the world in their hands.
About the world:
The world of catalyst echo is filled with magic. Magic is energy that covers the lands, some areas are higher in magic than others. Is like energy that needs the soul and body to work the way you want. Although as amazing and beneficial as magic can be, it is also dangerous. At some point, magic overwhelms the soul and body, and transforms the body into a beast and monster out of control that wanders the lands, behaving like animals and acting hostile to anything that moves. Truly, a fate worse than death.
Though, humans who dared to use this powerful energy needed items like staff, gloves, gems and much more to handle the energy and even then, scars of magic usage will be formed. That was the land of the past until, kinds of humans –capable of using magic without tools– began to appear. Over the years these people had worked for peace, being one with nature and health, violence only for justice and science for the persistent. The most powerful ones were given the title of “guardian”, who promised to keep the peace of the land until their end. These guardians were given a catalyst which amplified their powers to fight against foes and beasts.
Many generations of guardians are born or replaced, to keep the promise of their ancestors of a “prosperous world”. One day, a message came from a warlock who had a vision. A kingdom in pieces, magic going rampant, unknown humans that had fallen, and a figure holding a catalyst. The vision made distrust spread, fear of what it would mean, a fear of what the fate of the guardians is and whether they are capable of keeping the promises of their ancestors even after knowing this fate.
This led to 2 powerful guardians –royalties of distant lands – to make an act of violence, by passing a rule. All humans who are doing magic WITHOUT a tool must be executed. It led us to the world today. A world which had wars of magical beings, the catalysts missing (theorized to be destroyed), thousands were mutated and transformed or killed, a land that thrives on technology rather than magic and a land where its magic is becoming unstable each passing year.
Characters:
Catalyst echo has plenty of characters. From the most important to the casual ones. But there are 7 important characters that are crucial to the story at hand. So, how about I show you?
Simon
Simon was a knight from a distant kingdom in the mountains. He had to run away because of an event where, in the process of saving his friend, he was inflicted by a curse of ice. The curse transformed him into a beast and the king of the land had given him a special sword to handle the curse. Soon after, he was wanted for damages and rumours that painted him as a bad person. Since then, Simon has wished to get rid of the curse that ruined him. Simon, though a knight, doesn't always resort to violence. Simon understands that people will do actions for one reason or another, thus he would ask or talk to find another solution, he is peaceful with anything and anyone, only using his sword when he feels something is unfair or has no other option. Simon can be a bit of a critical thinker but a gullible person, leading him to make erratic decisions when under pressure. He can be a bit awkward in conversations with others (especially about his past) but would listen to others speak to understand them better. He has sword fighting skills but also plays around with what other moves he can do besides the common ones. Later on, he learns how to use his curse to make different ice spells to benefit him and his friends. The sword he always has and doesn’t want to replace contains a piece of what was left of a catalyst. That is how Simon was able to revert to his human self.
Rash
Rash is a spirit from the underworld. He died by drowning at the hands of someone, lived in the 1950s and the underworld took a bounty hunting job and had a simple life going on. Rash had a collar with a broken catalyst which did nothing for some time until one day it teleported him into the mortal realm. He wishes to go home at any cost to return to a life he felt happy with. Rash can be erratic and not think things through. Sometimes, he is energetic, a bit silly and chatter but reserved once you try to make him talk about personal things. Once in serious situations. Rash can be overwhelmed by anything and would need a short time alone to reconcile. Spirit abilities are pretty useless in the underworld, but in the mortal realm are amplified. In the mortal realm, Rash can go through shadows as well as become one when there is not enough lightning around. The catalyst is the reason why he is alive in the mortal realm, otherwise, he would die from magic overload in less than a day.
Hellen
Hellen is a witch from a town near the land's capital. She had to run away because people had seen her do magic without a device or tool and didn't want her sister to be in danger. She can be distrustful of others and cold-hearted to hide her insecurities. Once Hellen feels safe around others, she would open up and can be comforting and sometimes changes her behaviour a bit to make others comfortable around her. Hellen can be closed-minded sometimes, being persistent in things until you have proof of the opposite. Hellen is capable of using fire, however. The life she had made her afraid of her abilities, which makes the magic backfire on her. The day she showed she was able to do that kind of magic, the fire burned her hand leaving a scar. If Hellen had to use her magic, she would give it the form of butterflies. When the catalyst is activated, she can use magic to heal wounds.
Clover
Clover grew up in a hidden village away from high-tech civilizations. He was unable to speak but used sign language and writing to communicate. The villagers had a different belief in the vision of the warlock’s message, a prophecy that the figure was a guardian defeating evil. When Clover showed he was able to use magic without a tool, he was trained and taught to use an axe that was kept hidden. It was from the previous guardian that had fallen in battle. One day, Clover heard about Simon, Rash and Hellen. He was determined to find them, so he left the village in search of them. Clover can look threatening, and he is determined. However, he cares for others, he is friendly and kind when no threat lingers anywhere. Although being unable to talk has made him patient, he also can get irritated when they don’t get what he’s saying for the 10th time (or when it is obvious). Clover uses an axe that has a catalyst (although it isn't in the best state) for battles but also uses his fist and with magic, he can use the nature around him for defense and offence. He is also an agile swimmer, capable of fighting against the current of rivers but he isn’t agile enough to go up a cascade. The catalyst on the axe balances the magic in the area and people out evenly.
Iris
Iris is the princess who “controls” the capital of the land. She is in a royal bloodline of the 2 guardians that had established the rule that killed thousands of innocent individuals. As a child, she had read books and scripts related to the guardians and as she grew older, she understood less and less why people were killed for a simple quirk, but she was unable to change it since she wasn’t in control of the ruling. One night after another, she heard of this trio of magicians and decided to run away from the capital. Iris also believed the vision could be wrong in some way. She hopes that with enough proof, she can get rid of the rule and people could live. Iris is open-minded, and quiet but optimistic. She can speak for hours at a time about her interests, but her emotions can get out of control easily which results in erratic actions driven by emotions. She is kind but gullible to be tricked easily. She doesn’t like conflict and tries to find other ways to solve conflicts. Iris may not be a fighter, but she knows a lot of magic spells. She can make a special kind of crystal-like glass that behaves like a mirror. This crystal can bounce magic off, can be used to make coordinated attacks or shields and can even amplify magic. With her catalyst, she can divide or combine magic to benefit herself or others.
Kassian
Kassian is the prince that fully controls the capital. He along with iris are guardians but Iris comes from royal blood. Kassian was about to meet his demise when he was caught being capable of doing multiple forms of magic that were impossible to be done by someone normal. Iris was the one that saved him, back when they were kids. He was forced to become a prince and as he grew older, he became numb to the executions and pain he inflicted on others. Kassian is cold and emotionless, seeing emotions as ‘flaws’ which had led him to ignore his own. He is stubborn, erratic, and closed-minded. He won’t believe facts until he has piles of proof and even then, he will still doubt everything you say. But he isn’t fully heartless, Iris was the reason why he is still alive and is a point of weakness to him, but sadly, his beliefs are stronger than his memories. He can only do magic by taking from others, weakening them. In contrast to Iris, Kassian knows how to fight and uses 2 daggers when fighting. With the catalyst, he can summon portals but only a certain distance away.
Ace
(Ace is the antagonist of the story.)
He had a project with many people to benefit and help the earth. As months went by, his dreams began to look impossible to reach, but it didn’t stop him. He slowly shows his mindset deteriorating from stress and false hope but still keeps going. He began to have delusions and, the more he had, the more distorted his goal became. He began to trick people, throw them away once no longer needed, and lie to be recognized and it had led him to kill his right-hand man. Once Ace passed, he lost the original goal he had. All he wanted now was to change the world, into what he sees as the “perfect” world. Ace is calm and organized in his way of speaking, never sounding threatening to anyone. He is a critical thinker, always learning from others' responses or movements as well as his surroundings. This makes his intentions hidden. This calm image he does is how he's capable of manipulating others and taking advantage of them. When that image of him is broken (or people who are aware of his true intentions), he then behaves violently and is worried when seeing them. He doesn’t hold back unless it is about his right-hand man. Ace has been able to change into different human forms. He prefers his old human form but can look like anyone and even copy its voice. He wields a gun with the second piece of a broken catalyst. When is active, he’s able to turn the surroundings into anything he wants.
In the junior high school, United nations day, took place. The event started 8:30 in the morning and finished at 12 pm. The event took place at the hall of the 2nd floor at the school, where 7 booths represent a country (1 put of these 7 was a continent), had the food, decor, history, culture and facts about it. The nations were. India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Europe, Korea and South Africa.
The theme is to end racism and build peace. This means that we are not different just because we are born in 2 different countries and to build a world with no discrimination at each other. It is a general goal that the United Nations have and to achieve. The booths showcase many things that make their country special. Like in South Africa, it had mask and dolls that South African people make. The India booth had the jewelry and spices found in India. Indonesia's booth had the history and culture that can be found in the country.
These 3 booths are managed by actual people that live on these countries while the rest were managed by nationals that did research on it. Sadly, there should be things that need to be improved. An example is the Japanese booth, it got the tree of wishes right and the stand where the katana was. The katana was placed a bit wrong, but what made me more upset is that it was mostly "anime" instead of the culture and history. They could had put the stories of yo-kai that roamed the lands and facts that aren't as known in a country with so much history. The Europe booth may have a bunch of things but at the time we arrived, it was mostly emptied out so I can't really say my opinion on it. I overall enjoyed my time there and hope to be in another event like this, perhaps with more booths.
Some people think that students should learn all subjects while other people believe students should learn the subjects, they are more interested or best at. I agree to the extent it isn't harmful to said students. people can choose things, and students should be allowed to choose their own subjects as it makes school less stressful and less difficult to study but it can have drawbacks that affect the student in the long run.
Firstly, students should be allowed to choose the subjects are the best or most confident in. It is because, this is what they want their job to be or what will it need. The student would be interested on the subject which motivates them into doing more research about it. The student will also have time to study these specific subjects that would be occupied with other subjects they are uninterested, but this other subject that the other students didn't choose can affect the knowledge on the topic. That is, if they need a topic of a subject the students didn't choose, it will affect them in the long run.
On the other hand, students learning all subjects help them expand their mindset with many topics and themes. it will help them find what job they want, and this extra information can be useful in the future. this also have drawbacks which can lead on unused information, and all their time is used to study an uninteresting subject than the subject the students are interested at. this means they have unnecessary stress that could be completely avoided.
Many people love holidays and who wouldn't? Is a break from work or school that people need. Although, these holidays will have a reason why it exist. A break a event or a celebration. So I thought maybe there can be a holiday that can benefit some with developing English reading skills and inspire others. I wanted to give a holiday for schools.
The 'literature week' will be a holiday of 2 weeks long. In it you have to read a book, comic or novel of your choice. The book can be of anything and either for kids, young adults or adults, but is not recommended to use Electronic books as I'm worried the screen can make it tiring to read (This is a exception if you don't have books or any library nearby).
The holiday takes place in March 6 to March 19. And is up to English teachers if they want to add a task related to the holiday (as in, to write a summary of the book) or not. This, in hope can get students interested into reading which then can help with English or IELTS tasks.
The reason why it should exist is that kids lately don't read much, and that can affect their options to communicate with others or make them less and less creative which are very important, for any future they want to achieve. With this holiday, I have hopes that students can find a interesting books to read to be inspired, expand their vocabulary or give them a wide imagination.