Well, technically, I'll be back before then; my grandma found her plug-in for the internet today and called to tell me. She also convinced her friend Candy to let her borrow a laptop. So I shall have internet, sort of! =D!
If you haven't guessed...I'll be going to my grandma's tomorrow. And this time I actually will be, haha. I'm all packed and ready to go!
You know, I think I've developed insomnia. Or...worse insomnia. I've pretty much had a mild version of it since I was five. But I've been literally unable to sleep for the past few days. I'll just lay in bed, completely wide awake, all night until it's six in the morning and I finally fall asleep.It's kind of pissing me off, to be honest. But as long as I'm sleeping (even if it is during the day), that's okay with me. But what's my grandma going to think? Lawl.
I haven't done any writing at all lately...(groan). I really need to. Jamie, get your ass online so we can work on our book! >;D
So I finally found my PSP today, and spent hours sitting on the couch playing Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. Then I downloaded the original Final Fantasy VII and sat around playing that until eleven thirty at night. I freaking love FF7, if you can't tell; it's my most favorite game of all time. Vincent Valentine (<3) is a sexy beast. So is Cloud. And Sephiroth. And Zack. And Genesis. And Angeal. And Tifa (yes, I really did say that).
Okay, well, I think I'm going to go keep playing Crisis Core. Zack still needs to kill Angeal, which I've been trying to do for about three months now. The guy just won't die already. Neither will Reno on the original game.
Haha bye.
EDIT: Do you like the quote that I chose? You should check out the full poem; it's amazing.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Kas: heyyy ladies.
This is just an update post, since i still haven't talked to Heather.
Uhm, I drove the two hours to my future college yesterday to enroll. It actually made me a lot less terrified of going. I made a few new friends, but i do that everywhere, Haha. And I got into every class that I wanted, which I will now list for you.
Italian
Monday - Friday
12:30 - 1:20
Expo - 'The Jane Austen Meme' (English class)
Monday & Wednesday
3:00 - 4:15
General Anthropology
Tuesday & Thursday
3:00 - 4:15
College Algebra
Tuesday & Thursday
4:30 - 5:45
So, that's what i'll be up to next year. I'll be coming home most weekends, so its good that i only have one class on Fridays.
Also, I'm 100% nocturnal, so it's also awesome that none of my classes start until 12:30.
I was supposed to get my roommate assignment at the end of June, but they changed it to the middle of July. which sucks, but whatever. Haha. Still kind of nervous about the random roommate thing.
I found out that on the first Sunday after we move in, they have this big thing out on the front lawn where all the clubs and organizations set up booths for you to visit and such, so i'm excited about that. I already decided to join the Harry Potter club, the LGBT alliance club, and OU Cousins (which is where you are assigned a foreign exchange student to hang out with and help adapt. Etc. ) I'm sure there are a bunch of others i'll be interested in as well.
So, yeah, Heather, you need to get online pronto so we can work on Silver before my life is super duper hectic. :)
There is exactly two weeks from today until my sister's wedding. Soooooo close.
Also, I just found my new favorite website! Well, aside form SAAWAKM... and Tumblr. :)
It's called Polyvore, I don't know if any of you have ever heard of it. Its basically a website where you can piece together outfits from all over the internet, to see what they would look like. Also, you can browse other people's outfits and each piece of the outfit is clickable and links you to where you can buy it. I love it.
Here's my page;
http://kasdeek.polyvore.com/
I've only got two outfits at the moment, but that's because i just found the website like an hour ago. Haha. Some of you should make one as well! I would love to see your styles!
-K
Uhm, I drove the two hours to my future college yesterday to enroll. It actually made me a lot less terrified of going. I made a few new friends, but i do that everywhere, Haha. And I got into every class that I wanted, which I will now list for you.
Italian
Monday - Friday
12:30 - 1:20
Expo - 'The Jane Austen Meme' (English class)
Monday & Wednesday
3:00 - 4:15
General Anthropology
Tuesday & Thursday
3:00 - 4:15
College Algebra
Tuesday & Thursday
4:30 - 5:45
So, that's what i'll be up to next year. I'll be coming home most weekends, so its good that i only have one class on Fridays.
Also, I'm 100% nocturnal, so it's also awesome that none of my classes start until 12:30.
I was supposed to get my roommate assignment at the end of June, but they changed it to the middle of July. which sucks, but whatever. Haha. Still kind of nervous about the random roommate thing.
I found out that on the first Sunday after we move in, they have this big thing out on the front lawn where all the clubs and organizations set up booths for you to visit and such, so i'm excited about that. I already decided to join the Harry Potter club, the LGBT alliance club, and OU Cousins (which is where you are assigned a foreign exchange student to hang out with and help adapt. Etc. ) I'm sure there are a bunch of others i'll be interested in as well.
So, yeah, Heather, you need to get online pronto so we can work on Silver before my life is super duper hectic. :)
There is exactly two weeks from today until my sister's wedding. Soooooo close.
Also, I just found my new favorite website! Well, aside form SAAWAKM... and Tumblr. :)
It's called Polyvore, I don't know if any of you have ever heard of it. Its basically a website where you can piece together outfits from all over the internet, to see what they would look like. Also, you can browse other people's outfits and each piece of the outfit is clickable and links you to where you can buy it. I love it.
Here's my page;
http://kasdeek.polyvore.com/
I've only got two outfits at the moment, but that's because i just found the website like an hour ago. Haha. Some of you should make one as well! I would love to see your styles!
-K
Friday, June 29, 2012
Rachel: Saved by a lame website.
I was originally going to get online and do some precalculus junk, but the website where I am conducting my independent study nonsense refused to load again today, so I have some free time to blog while I wait. Before this I was sitting on my butt and doing nothing but planning out Freedom's plot while watching 30 Rock, so I am still inspired and have decided to torture you all by talking about Freedom. Again.
Okay, Cori, so you asked me exactly what type of insane Freedom becomes. I thought about it a little bit and here is what I know as of right now. Basically he becomes totally obsessed with surviving, and everything spirals downwards for him from there until he eventually snaps out of it towards the end of his journey. The way he kidnaps Vine in the name of his own well-being is kind of a prelude of what is to come. After he kidnaps Vine and all of the adrenaline wears off he ends up feeling horrible and starts having doubts about himself as a person. He wonders if he even deserves to live any longer because he has obviously become some sort of monster. But these feelings don't stick around. The police find him rather quickly and he is thrown in prison where he is left to stew for a bit while the city decides what they want to do with him now. This gives him some time to think, and, to cut a long story short, he no longer feels guilty about what he did because he becomes so frantic to find some way out of the mess he has gotten himself into. Again, long story short, he doesn't find a way for the time being. He ends up being taken to a hospital where he will have all of his beloved "implants" taken out and where he will ultimately die. Usually patients of this hospital have their unnatural body parts removed and are sent off to Almost Heaven, but Freedom has fused himself so thoroughly with wires that there is no way that he will be able to survive all of the surgeries. This adds to his distress, understandably, and it is at this hospital where he really starts to become a different person. His need to escape the place alive overpowers any clear-cut sense of right and wrong that he has left, and he rapidly becomes willing to use anyone and anything to his advantage. He acts normally on the outside to earn the doctors' trusts so that he is able to gain more privileges and thus stray nearer and nearer to the free world, but on the inside he is forever plotting and calculating his escape. What's more, he even begins planning what he will do after he is free, which is where his twisted view of the world really starts to develop. He has always wanted to take down the government of Paradise City, but now he feels that he will actually be able to do it, and rather easily; all it will take (in his mind) is the assassination of the top government official in the city, Cadmus Buck-Edwards. Once Cadmus is dead, he figures that everything will go back to the way that it is "supposed to be", which really makes no sense. He unconsciously convinces himself that his life will go back to the way that it was before everything went so wrong for him if only he can murder the man in charge of the city, which obviously isn't true. Murdering someone of such power would obviously get him into nothing but more trouble, but he doesn't see it that way at all. Ultimately, once he escapes from the hospital (he actually succeeds in doing that, which doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it is) he ends up intentionally endangering his own life by trying to end someone else's, which is totally the opposite of what he would have done at an earlier time. Freedom starts out as a generally level-headed guy who would never do anything to hurt anyone, but in the blink of an eye he turns into someone who is more than willing to kill someone and die trying, which is key: to avoid death was the whole reason he started freaking out in the first place, and now he doesn't care. His character kind of turns inside out...so I guess that is what kind of insane he is.
I kind of important thing, however, is that he doesn't stay "inside out." He ends up coming to his senses and using his "powers for good," for lack of a better way to put it. He still strives to take down Paradise City, but desires to liberate Paradise City's citizens and to overthrown the evil and corruption of the Death List. So it's different. But this doesn't happen until the end of his tale, so he spends a great deal of time lost within his own head.
Any, advice, Cori? I just realized that this whole post is for you, haha. You're special. I'd better go and check that dumb website again, but now you have this little chunk of information if you've got any ideas.
-Iridian
Okay, Cori, so you asked me exactly what type of insane Freedom becomes. I thought about it a little bit and here is what I know as of right now. Basically he becomes totally obsessed with surviving, and everything spirals downwards for him from there until he eventually snaps out of it towards the end of his journey. The way he kidnaps Vine in the name of his own well-being is kind of a prelude of what is to come. After he kidnaps Vine and all of the adrenaline wears off he ends up feeling horrible and starts having doubts about himself as a person. He wonders if he even deserves to live any longer because he has obviously become some sort of monster. But these feelings don't stick around. The police find him rather quickly and he is thrown in prison where he is left to stew for a bit while the city decides what they want to do with him now. This gives him some time to think, and, to cut a long story short, he no longer feels guilty about what he did because he becomes so frantic to find some way out of the mess he has gotten himself into. Again, long story short, he doesn't find a way for the time being. He ends up being taken to a hospital where he will have all of his beloved "implants" taken out and where he will ultimately die. Usually patients of this hospital have their unnatural body parts removed and are sent off to Almost Heaven, but Freedom has fused himself so thoroughly with wires that there is no way that he will be able to survive all of the surgeries. This adds to his distress, understandably, and it is at this hospital where he really starts to become a different person. His need to escape the place alive overpowers any clear-cut sense of right and wrong that he has left, and he rapidly becomes willing to use anyone and anything to his advantage. He acts normally on the outside to earn the doctors' trusts so that he is able to gain more privileges and thus stray nearer and nearer to the free world, but on the inside he is forever plotting and calculating his escape. What's more, he even begins planning what he will do after he is free, which is where his twisted view of the world really starts to develop. He has always wanted to take down the government of Paradise City, but now he feels that he will actually be able to do it, and rather easily; all it will take (in his mind) is the assassination of the top government official in the city, Cadmus Buck-Edwards. Once Cadmus is dead, he figures that everything will go back to the way that it is "supposed to be", which really makes no sense. He unconsciously convinces himself that his life will go back to the way that it was before everything went so wrong for him if only he can murder the man in charge of the city, which obviously isn't true. Murdering someone of such power would obviously get him into nothing but more trouble, but he doesn't see it that way at all. Ultimately, once he escapes from the hospital (he actually succeeds in doing that, which doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it is) he ends up intentionally endangering his own life by trying to end someone else's, which is totally the opposite of what he would have done at an earlier time. Freedom starts out as a generally level-headed guy who would never do anything to hurt anyone, but in the blink of an eye he turns into someone who is more than willing to kill someone and die trying, which is key: to avoid death was the whole reason he started freaking out in the first place, and now he doesn't care. His character kind of turns inside out...so I guess that is what kind of insane he is.
I kind of important thing, however, is that he doesn't stay "inside out." He ends up coming to his senses and using his "powers for good," for lack of a better way to put it. He still strives to take down Paradise City, but desires to liberate Paradise City's citizens and to overthrown the evil and corruption of the Death List. So it's different. But this doesn't happen until the end of his tale, so he spends a great deal of time lost within his own head.
Any, advice, Cori? I just realized that this whole post is for you, haha. You're special. I'd better go and check that dumb website again, but now you have this little chunk of information if you've got any ideas.
-Iridian
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Rachel: This is actually going to be short this time, I promise.
I'm sitting and eating a bowl of cereal for a very late dinner, and there was nothing that I wanted to do more now that I am finally home than check out SAAWAKM. I know that I have claimed that my posts will be short in the past, but this time I'm serious because I am perpetually busy and have to get to bed eventually tonight. In other words I'm putting a figurative muzzle on myself and am just going to try and say what is necessary and nothing more.
Basically I just wanted to get on and address Kas and Cori personally.
First off, Kas: OSAAWAKMS would probably come in handy at this point so I don't have to post something that grotesquely long ever again. Thank you for telling me about it--I'm sure everyone else will be grateful.
Secondly, Cori: I would very much like insane lessons from the expert :p Freedom doesn't become a total psycho, but he definitely loses himself for awhile there. So if you could give me some pointers (you certainly seem to know what you're doing) I would be forever in your debt.
So I promised that this would be short tonight and it will be even though I just realized that I don't have to get up early tomorrow morning for the first time in a short eternity and am sorely tempted to ramble on about something...but I won't. Not this time.
YOU'RE WELCOME.
-Iridian
Basically I just wanted to get on and address Kas and Cori personally.
First off, Kas: OSAAWAKMS would probably come in handy at this point so I don't have to post something that grotesquely long ever again. Thank you for telling me about it--I'm sure everyone else will be grateful.
Secondly, Cori: I would very much like insane lessons from the expert :p Freedom doesn't become a total psycho, but he definitely loses himself for awhile there. So if you could give me some pointers (you certainly seem to know what you're doing) I would be forever in your debt.
So I promised that this would be short tonight and it will be even though I just realized that I don't have to get up early tomorrow morning for the first time in a short eternity and am sorely tempted to ramble on about something...but I won't. Not this time.
YOU'RE WELCOME.
-Iridian
Cori: Just to clear up some confusion...
I am not thirteen. I am not fourteen. I am fifteen, and I'll be turning sixteen on July 27th. I've been on here for about two years now. Just thought that I should clear that up real quick, haha.
Now onto an actual post. I've been making mini outlines for each of my books, focusing on the plots. I make bullet points of the most important things that will happen. And it's actually helping me out a bit; it makes it easier to know what I'm working toward, instead of just wandering aimlessly until I find a good plot idea.
Here's the one for the first book:
Pretty cool, right? Book two and three are done, and I've already gotten some of the second trilogy filled out too, but none of them have names yet...and that makes me sad...but it's okay. I'll think up some names for them when I have to.
If you can't tell, I'm really bored. And in a writing mood...but I can't think of a way to begin the sequel to Caged, so I can't write. And Jamie isn't on, so we can't work on her book. Ugh...
Now onto an actual post. I've been making mini outlines for each of my books, focusing on the plots. I make bullet points of the most important things that will happen. And it's actually helping me out a bit; it makes it easier to know what I'm working toward, instead of just wandering aimlessly until I find a good plot idea.
Here's the one for the first book:
The Goals of Caged:
Find out where the
prophecy is
Infiltrate one of
the demon factories
Escape Xyren alive
Pretty cool, right? Book two and three are done, and I've already gotten some of the second trilogy filled out too, but none of them have names yet...and that makes me sad...but it's okay. I'll think up some names for them when I have to.
If you can't tell, I'm really bored. And in a writing mood...but I can't think of a way to begin the sequel to Caged, so I can't write. And Jamie isn't on, so we can't work on her book. Ugh...
Rachel: Longest post ever continued.
That last post was not really all that long, at least not by my standards, but imagine what I am posting now on the end of that one and you will see why I titled that last post what I did. Anyway, in case you need a refresher (I do) I was in the middle of blabbing about Freedom's character and I was about to post this traumatic experience that occurs that reveals how he reacts under stress. That relates to what I will be planning for his future because his whole life rapidly becomes a total mess, so he's ALWAYS under stress. So this is the kind of person he becomes. Again, be kind. I haven't really edited this yet, so there's bound to be lots of long, convoluted sentences. That's usually my main problem.
Things in this section that are out of context:
-"The Violet" is a restaurant that Freedom has been instructed to go to by a notice that was put on the door of his apartment.
-The thing that the cop says refers to an event that took place earlier on with a different one of my characters, Ziv Martell. The Fairfaxes are a very influential family in Paradise City.
-Freedom is not naturally a total bad-ass, just so you guys know. His "implants" make him stronger and faster than a normal human being.
-The "kid in the paint-splattered sweatshirt" is Ziv.
There's probably more, but oh, well. Anyway, here this is.
"When Freedom arrived at The Violet, he did not quite know what to expect. He had donned another white dress shirt and his usual tie in addition to his other typical attire, feeling that he ought to at least look casually nice in spite of what the notice had claimed. The evening was falling, but the sky was still bright with natural light and the dregs of an orange-yellow sunset. The Violet appeared to be somewhat popular, judging by what Freedom could see from the other side of the sidewalk. He was sitting on a bench outside of an unfamiliar pixel building, which was coated with glittering, flashing ads imploring him to purchase a beverage of some sort that he was currently unable to pay any attention to. He was far too busy being captivated by the loose collections of people drifting in and out of the restaurant that he was supposed to be within in a little under fifteen minutes. He wondered if the people who wanted him there were already inside, or if he would witness them arriving as he lurked here. If he saw them walking through the doors, would he recognize them? He did not know what he expected them to look like, and even if he did have an idea, there was no saying whether or not he would be correct. He wanted to believe that whoever was awaiting him within The Violet--or would be--was rather official-looking, if the notice was any indication as to who they were. Freedom was admittedly very off-put by the fact that his summons had evidently been put through to him by the Department of Gallagherite Affairs, which usually only dealt with things that involved the Death List. Freedom could only hope beyond hope that this rendezvous had nothing to do with either.
Freedom silently willed his eyes to zoom in as far as they could on one of the windows of the eating place before him in vain hopes that he would see anyone that fit his nonexistent description of the people he thought ought to be waiting for him, but he came away from the endeavor disappointed. All that he had caught sight of was an elder couple seated at a table pushed up against the window who were placing their order with a flustered-looking waitress, and he very much doubted that either one of them had anything to do with him.
Sighing, Freedom gave up and stood, brushing himself off to ensure that he had no grime from the bench left on his slacks. He only had about five minutes until the time he was meant to be inside, according to the digital clock that was his brain, and he thought that in a circumstance such as this one it was likely better to be early than it was to be late. Hesitating only briefly, he crossed the sidewalk and approached The Violet with as much calm, purposefulness as he could muster, which was considerable. He had become a master of feigning informal importance from all of his years of practice.
“Can I help you, sir?” a young woman with her dark hair pulled back in a bun asked Freedom from just outside the edifice.
Freedom blinked, caught off guard.
“What?”
“Can I help you, sir?” the young woman repeated. “Do you have a reservation here at The Violet for this evening?”
Freedom registered her uniform at around the same time that he realized that she was part of the staff at the restaurant.
“I…kind of,” Freedom said.
The woman frowned and cocked her head to the side.
“What I mean to say is that I believe I have a party I’m supposed to be joining tonight,” Freedom clarified, rediscovering his ability to formulate coherent sentences.
“Oh, I see,” the woman said, drawing a Celph out from her apron. “What is the name of your party?”
“I’m not sure,” Freedom admitted.
The woman frowned again, plainly slightly irritated.
“What is your last name then, sir?”
“Williams.”
“One moment, please.” The woman searched around in the databank of her Celph for a few seconds before looking back up at Freedom, smiling thinly.
“Are you Freedom?” she inquired.
Freedom faltered before giving her a reply, uncertain as to whether or not he should be giving out his full name to complete strangers.
“Yes, that’s me,” he said at last.
“Excellent,” the woman said, replacing her Celph into the depths of the apron tied about her waist. “Your party has been awaiting you for nearly an hour. I’m sure they’ll be glad to hear you’ve arrived. Please, right this way.”
The woman turned and walked into the restaurant, Freedom at her heels, his mind buzzing. Had they really been waiting for him for that long? Why? The noticed had said six o’clock, hadn’t it? Hadn’t it?
The woman lead Freedom through a maze of small, ornate tables and quietly-conversing groups of diners towards a larger table at the back of the restaurant. It was occupied by a tribunal of people in suits, chatting softly. They looked up as the hostess brought Freedom towards them, their faces bathed in the gentle, golden light of a chandelier hanging from the ceiling above them. There was a very elderly man with a face like a basset hound, a straight-faced woman whose mousy bun was so tight that it might be keeping her from falling apart, and a relatively young man who was graying prematurely at his temples and looked as though he were crawling in his skin. The hostess smiled and left Freedom alone with the three of them.
“Have a seat, Mr. Williams,” the woman said expressionlessly.
Freedom obeyed, sitting in the only chair available, which was positioned on the opposite side of the table of the trio.
“Hello,” Freedom said cautiously. He was suspicious and nervous, but he thought that it was best if he kept things polite and conversational.
“Let’s skip the small-talk, Mr. Williams,” the woman decided.
Or not.
“Why am I here?” Freedom asked, now that the time for exchanging nonexistent pleasantries had passed.
Now it was the elder man’s turn to speak. He reached into a briefcase leaning against the leg of the table on the floor beside him and pulled out a thick, manila file filled to the brim with more paper than Freedom had ever seen. He then allowed his long, crooked fingers to probe about in the interior of his breast pocket and withdrew a pair of reading glasses, which he placed delicately on the bridge of his nose.
“As you can see, Mr. Williams, we have acquired quite a bit of information regarding your case,” he said at last in a quiet, croaking voice.
“My case?” Freedom’s heart sank and he felt all of the blood draining from his face. He was not supposed to have a case.
“That’s right,” the woman said, taking over again. She seemed to be the speaker for the group. “You see, Mr. Williams, when you were stabbed last night and brought to the hospital, they conducted a number of tests on you to ensure that your body would not reject the nanocells.” She shrugged. “Standard procedure for stab victims. What those tests found, however, was far from standard.” He eyes grew icy, and she gestured for the manila folder, which the elderly man slid across the table to her. “We are required to ask, though the answer is obvious: are you, Mr. Freedom H. Williams, aware that you have implants of an illegitimate nature?”
Freedom felt his entire world crumbling about him. He wanted to run, but his veins were so flooded with leaden dread and terror that he could not remove himself from his chair. The clatter of silverware and the gentle conversations surrounding him seemed distant and inconsequential in comparison to the crushing dismay weighing down his very being. How could this have happened? How could an event of such randomness have been his downfall? Whoever had mugged him last night might as well have killed him, because they had robbed him of his life. The authorities had finally found him, and it was all that fugitive’s fault. If only Freedom had given him his money when he had demanded it. If only he had not been blinded by his desire for that marrow lubricant that he didn’t even need that night…
“Answer the question, Mr. Williams,” the woman said coolly.
What could Freedom say? Lying was not an option, not when they had all of the evidence they would ever need sitting right beneath their noses.
“Yes, I am aware,” he said venomously.
“And you are also aware that having illegal mechanical implants, such as the ones that you possess, is, indeed, against the law?”
“Is that not the definition of ‘illegal’?”
“Watch your attitude, Mr. Williams,” the elder man snapped. “You are not in a position to make matters worse for yourself.”
Freedom shut his mouth, realizing that the last thing that he needed was to anger these three people, who undoubtedly already had something in mind for his not-so-distant future.
“I apologize,” he said, but the woman shook her head.
“It’s a little late for apologies,” she said stonily. “You cannot just break the law and expect it to all go away because you’re sorry. You may only be eighteen years old, Mr. Williams, but you are still a legal adult, and you are expected to uphold adult responsibilities.”
“In case you have not already surmised this,” the elderly man cut in, “we are representatives from the Department of Gallagherite Affairs. Your case has been reviewed by the Department of Criminal Activities and Conducts, and was then referred to us.”
“Why?” Freedom asked hoarsely.
“Why? Because technological implants were outlawed during the Techno Age!” the woman exclaimed. A man at a nearby table glanced over his shoulder at her and she lowered her voice to a malevolent hiss. “You have broken the law, Mr. Williams, and not only that, but you have committed a series of what is considered seriously punishable crimes.”
“Seriously punishable crimes?” Freedom breathed. This could not be happening. This was rapidly becoming a complete and utter nightmare. He had never thought that getting implants would land him in such deep trouble. He had known that they were illegal, of course, and that if he was caught he would be sorry, but he had never feared much more than arrest or possibly a dreaded surgery to have all of them taken out. He had not realized that being a tech-head was a “seriously punishable crime,” and couldn’t imagine how things could possibly get any worse than they were now. He had hit rock bottom, and it hurt.
“You may not be aware, Mr. Williams,” the woman replied, “but when you had your muscles replaced with…”
“With what you did,” the uncomfortable-looking third member supplied.
“…yes, with what you did, your muscles and other tissues were sold to hospitals in need of extra body parts for their patients. Usually these body parts come from The Road to Heaven building and are salvaged from those who have passed through there, and, because those persons are no longer with us, the usual laws do not apply. You, however, are still alive, and having sold your body, you are considered guilty of the act of prostitution.”
“I’m considered guilty of what?”
“Prostitution,” the woman repeated.
“But I didn’t get any money for it! And it wasn’t--”
“In this day and age, it does not have to be sexual,” the woman interrupted, “and you were, in fact, paid, although instead of receiving money, you received technology. It’s a bit of a stretch for some, but in our books you still sold your body for something in return, and, although it’s a tad more literal than the usual candidates for prostitution, the charges still apply.”
She paused as though to let this sink in, and Freedom bit back spluttering exclamations of disbelief. Not only was he a criminal, but he was a prostitute? A prostitute? Of all the things in the world that he had predicted he would be in trouble with the law for, prostitution had never even crossed his mind.
“That isn’t all, son,” the elderly man said, as if to get things rolling once more.
“Yes, I’m afraid the list does not stop there,” the woman said. “Because you have repeatedly conducted activities that make you a danger to both yourself and others, we were asked to take action.”
“How am I a danger? What action? I haven’t endangered anybody!” Freedom exclaimed, grasping at straws. If there was any sort of flaw in their replies, he could find it and hang on to it. If he could prove that they had no reason to arrest him other than the fact that he was apparently a prostitute, then everything would be all right. Maybe he would just go to prison. That wouldn’t be so bad.
Freedom swallowed. Who was he trying to kid? He would be murdered if he were sent to a prison.
“You are a danger to yourself because you consistently undergo surgeries that were outlawed because they are unsafe and unnatural. You are a danger to others because you associate yourself with groups that are considered to be motivated by similarly illegal means and often have partaken in violent activities to uphold these means. And the action we have decided to take, well…it’s very simple, really.”
As if he had been cued, the elderly man leaned forward, regarding Freedom with impassive, weary eyes.
“The Department of Gallagherite Affairs deals with people’s Dates, son. When someone is born, their information is sent to the Department of Newborns and Listings, and then that information is sent to us. A Date is determined for that individual, sent back to the Department of Newborns and Listings, and recorded forever in several different places that you don’t need to worry about. Most of the time, Dates are final. The Date that is chosen for an individual follows them until the day that they were scheduled from birth to die. Sometimes, however, exceptions have to be made.”
“What?”
Freedom could not believe his ears. He thought that he must have misheard. Could it be that the popular rumors that twisted through the city could be true? Rumors were never true! They were fabrications!
“When someone like yourself comes along, Mr. Williams, we find it necessary to move that Date to a little sooner. The police contacts the uppermost governmental employees in the city, and they contact us. Meetings are held. Ideas are tossed around. Decisions are made. And the decision that has been made for you, Mr. Williams, is to end your days a little sooner than they might have ended before.”
The discomfited man reached into the manila file and withdrew a document.
“It says here that your Date was in…two years, approximately,” he said uncertainly. “Is that correct?”
Freedom could not speak.
“Yes, well, we thought that that was a little too far away,” he went on. Obviously it did not matter if Freedom answered their questions any longer. “You see, two years gives you plenty of time to continue pursuing your criminal conducts. So, to simplify matters for everyone, your new Date was moved to exactly two weeks from now.”
“TWO WEEKS?!”
“Please, keep your voice down!” the woman hissed in that poisonous way of hers. “There are other diners in this restaurant besides you.”
And then Freedom understood. He understood it all. They had left the notice on his door so that he would be forced to come to them, putting them in the seat of power from the start. They had already rehearsed what was going to be said during the course of the meeting and had already prepared for his reactions. They had chosen a public place so that when they told him that his Date had been moved, he couldn’t make a scene and, if he did, he could be arrested for disturbing the peace and taken away despite his efforts, just as it had been planned from the beginning. The Violet was not a restaurant at all, but a trap that was laced with the most potent poison of all: surprise.
“We know this is all quite the shock for you,” the ill-at-ease man said, “but it’s really for the best.”
“Yes,” the elderly man agreed. “Paradise City is a fragile organism, son. You and people like you are a virus. If you are allowed to flourish, you will multiply, and if you multiply, the once-thriving livelihood of our city will perish. So we have to keep you at bay, and get rid of you when we can. Consider us Paradise City’s immune system.”
“You can’t do this,” Freedom said to all three of them. “This is…is…completely immoral!”
“We can, and we have,” the woman said dispassionately. “And if you are so concerned with morals, perhaps you shouldn’t have broken the law.”
The three regarded Freedom for a moment before evidently deciding that the conference had drawn itself to a close. The elderly man reached for the manila folder and put it back in the briefcase leaning against the leg of the table, and his partners straightened themselves up as if a huge weight had been lifted from their shoulders, or a bushel of chores that they had waited all day to get done had finally been completed.
“It’s time for you to go,” the woman said to Freedom. She motioned to someone behind him, and, turning around, he saw a pair of policemen standing up from a table where they must have been waiting all of this time for the woman’s signal. How could Freedom have missed them before?
“These two fine officers are going to be taking you to jail, where you’ll wait for a few hours while things are sorted out concerning your apartment and belongings,” the elderly man said, folding up his reading glasses and replacing them in the breast pocket of his suit jacket. “You’ll then be escorted in a yellow pod to the edge of the city’s limits, where you will be transferred to another mode of transportation that will ultimately get you to Almost Heaven.”
This could not be happening. How could they do this to him? How did they have this kind of power?
“Goodbye, Mr. Williams,” the woman said, summoning over a waiter. “It has been a pleasure doing business with you.”
“Business?! This is my life! How can you--”
The pair of policemen heaved Freedom from his seat and, gripping him by the forearms, commenced to escort him towards the doors of the restaurant.
“You kids,” one of them sighed. “Always getting into trouble nowadays. Just yesterday we had one telling us that he was Vine Fairfax just so he could continue selling crap on the street. Vine Fairfax. Can you imagine?”
“Did you really think you could get away with all of this?” his counterpart inquired. “Did you really think you could hide your crimes forever? Why’d you do it, kid?”
Freedom could hardly hear what the officer was asking over the blood rushing in his ears. He was panicking. He could see two pale, blue pods loitering just outside, waiting to take him to a place where there would be no escape for him until he was shipped away to the island of death. The worst part of the whole affair was the fact that he had willingly come here, to The Violet, to the tribunal who had so indifferently told him that his life had been shortened dramatically. He had walked directly into a trap, one that he had smelled from the very beginning, but had chosen naively to ignore. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have thought that he was simply being paranoid? Of course he had been right about there being something fishy about the Department of Gallagherite Affairs being involved! Why had he tried to convince himself otherwise? He had been so brainless, and had allowed this to happen. He was being dragged outside by a pair of policemen because he had gotten himself into this situation.
This thought gave Freedom a spark of an idea.
Yes, he had gotten himself into this. But maybe he could also get himself out of it. Thanks to his implants, he was likely stronger than either of the policemen escorting him from the restaurant. If he wanted to, he knew that he could overpower them and escape with his life. How ironic it was that the very implants that had so recently condemned him to death were about to save him from it.
As soon as the officers brought Freedom to the sidewalk just outside The Violet, he launched into reckless action. He broke the policemen’s grip on his arms, but they seemed prepared for this. Before Freedom could make to sprint away, one of them had drawn his paralyzing gun and pressed its muzzle against Freedom’s shoulder, ready to pull the trigger. Freedom knocked it from his hand with a swift motion of one of his, and, with hardly pausing for thought, bent to retrieve it from the ground just as the second officer attempted to grab his arm again. This caused a moment in which confusion was the dominant emotion, and Freedom, realizing that this was his best chance at escape, darted away from the two of them. He dashed down the sidewalk at the quickest speed that his legs could carry him, which was already considerable, but was even more so because he was running on pure adrenaline. He did not allow himself to look back immediately as he shoved through crowds of innocent and often bemused passersby, convinced that if he did so, he would find that one of the officers had managed to keep stride with him. After perhaps thirty seconds, however, he allowed himself the luxury of a quick glance over his shoulder, and discovered that his worst fears were not being realized; there was seemingly no one directly behind him excepting the middle-aged woman in the lime green sweater he had nearly just sent tumbling. He slowed to a lope, but did not stop. He very much doubted that the pair of policemen had given up. The police did not allow themselves to lose the people they were chasing after, and if they were not directly behind him, that meant that they must have turned to whatever their Plan B was. A moment of intense listening confirmed Freedom’s thoughts. A choir of sirens had begun wailing in the not-so-distant distance, and Freedom was flooded with a fresh wave of terror. Not only had they returned to their pods, but they had called reinforcements. Very soon merely running was not going to be enough. He had to find somewhere to hide, but, as he skidded to a stop and looked frantically around him, he knew that there was nowhere that he could hide where they would not find him. All they would have to do was run to someone who operated the display on the outside of one of the pixel buildings and ask them to put up a “wanted” notice, and, in the blink of an eye, Freedom’s face would be posted all over the city. He had seen it happen countless times, and people were always so eager to help or so terrified of what would happen to them if they didn’t that they criminal in question would be sought out and captured in hours. It would be impossible for Freedom to hide for long with an entire city dedicated to finding him. No, he needed a more permanent solution. But what? What was there to do other than to disappear?
As the wail of the sirens increased in volume and the pods undoubtedly began to close in, Freedom was overwhelmed with a sense of hopelessness and desperation. He had never thought that this would be him. He had always known that there was a possibility that he might be caught for his illegal conducts one day, but it was never something that he had felt that he had had to prepare for. He had never truly expected it to occur. A part of him had secretly believed that he was above being arrested, that being in trouble with the police was something that could happen to other people, but would never happen to him. Now he knew better. Oh, he knew. And what was going to take place for him was so much worse than what he had thought would if he was finally exposed. He was going to die. His obsession with the Techno Age had killed him in a way that he had never been able to predict. He had always thought that his death would result from a malfunction of some sort, and he had been fine with that. At least he would have died from indulging in something that he had adored. But now he was going to meet his end cowering in the middle of the sidewalk like a feral animal, alone, afraid, and damned, with a gun in his hand that would do nothing to save his life.
Just as the first of the pods whirred around the corner down the sidewalk, Freedom caught sight of something that may just have changed everything. It was not so much of a something as it was a someone, and it was not just any someone. It was a someone that mattered.
Vine Fairfax was walking along the other end of the sidewalk with some boy in a red, paint-splattered sweatshirt who did not look as though he should be hanging around a veritable celebrity. The Fairfax’s were involved in the government, were they not? If Freedom had their son and claimed that he was going to shoot him if they did not change his Date back to where it had been before, they would have no choice but to do what he said. He did not think that he had it in him to actually kill anybody, but he wouldn’t have to if they cooperated. In fact, he wouldn’t even be able to. All he had was a paralyzing gun. But paralyzing guns looked so similarly to real, dangerous guns that it wouldn’t matter if he could actually go through with his threats. All that mattered was that the Fairfaxes believe that he would."
I'm going to stop it at that. You get the idea. He ends up letting Vine go, just so you all know, after they forge a weird kind of friendship. So, yeah. He obviously has the potential for craziness, which I will definitely use and bring out more. He's going to end up planning the assassination of the highest government official in the city and pretty soon. The thing about Freedom, though, is that he descends into kind of semi-madness but he comes out of it and "uses his powers for good", if you will. I'm kind of not sure how I want to depict his madness, but as I work on planning out his misadventures and whatnot I'm sure I'll figure it out. I won't blabber on any more, but if you're unlucky I'll be on later. Again, sorry about grammatical errors and unrealistic-ness and God knows what else that was in that excerpt up there.
-Iridian
Things in this section that are out of context:
-"The Violet" is a restaurant that Freedom has been instructed to go to by a notice that was put on the door of his apartment.
-The thing that the cop says refers to an event that took place earlier on with a different one of my characters, Ziv Martell. The Fairfaxes are a very influential family in Paradise City.
-Freedom is not naturally a total bad-ass, just so you guys know. His "implants" make him stronger and faster than a normal human being.
-The "kid in the paint-splattered sweatshirt" is Ziv.
There's probably more, but oh, well. Anyway, here this is.
"When Freedom arrived at The Violet, he did not quite know what to expect. He had donned another white dress shirt and his usual tie in addition to his other typical attire, feeling that he ought to at least look casually nice in spite of what the notice had claimed. The evening was falling, but the sky was still bright with natural light and the dregs of an orange-yellow sunset. The Violet appeared to be somewhat popular, judging by what Freedom could see from the other side of the sidewalk. He was sitting on a bench outside of an unfamiliar pixel building, which was coated with glittering, flashing ads imploring him to purchase a beverage of some sort that he was currently unable to pay any attention to. He was far too busy being captivated by the loose collections of people drifting in and out of the restaurant that he was supposed to be within in a little under fifteen minutes. He wondered if the people who wanted him there were already inside, or if he would witness them arriving as he lurked here. If he saw them walking through the doors, would he recognize them? He did not know what he expected them to look like, and even if he did have an idea, there was no saying whether or not he would be correct. He wanted to believe that whoever was awaiting him within The Violet--or would be--was rather official-looking, if the notice was any indication as to who they were. Freedom was admittedly very off-put by the fact that his summons had evidently been put through to him by the Department of Gallagherite Affairs, which usually only dealt with things that involved the Death List. Freedom could only hope beyond hope that this rendezvous had nothing to do with either.
Freedom silently willed his eyes to zoom in as far as they could on one of the windows of the eating place before him in vain hopes that he would see anyone that fit his nonexistent description of the people he thought ought to be waiting for him, but he came away from the endeavor disappointed. All that he had caught sight of was an elder couple seated at a table pushed up against the window who were placing their order with a flustered-looking waitress, and he very much doubted that either one of them had anything to do with him.
Sighing, Freedom gave up and stood, brushing himself off to ensure that he had no grime from the bench left on his slacks. He only had about five minutes until the time he was meant to be inside, according to the digital clock that was his brain, and he thought that in a circumstance such as this one it was likely better to be early than it was to be late. Hesitating only briefly, he crossed the sidewalk and approached The Violet with as much calm, purposefulness as he could muster, which was considerable. He had become a master of feigning informal importance from all of his years of practice.
“Can I help you, sir?” a young woman with her dark hair pulled back in a bun asked Freedom from just outside the edifice.
Freedom blinked, caught off guard.
“What?”
“Can I help you, sir?” the young woman repeated. “Do you have a reservation here at The Violet for this evening?”
Freedom registered her uniform at around the same time that he realized that she was part of the staff at the restaurant.
“I…kind of,” Freedom said.
The woman frowned and cocked her head to the side.
“What I mean to say is that I believe I have a party I’m supposed to be joining tonight,” Freedom clarified, rediscovering his ability to formulate coherent sentences.
“Oh, I see,” the woman said, drawing a Celph out from her apron. “What is the name of your party?”
“I’m not sure,” Freedom admitted.
The woman frowned again, plainly slightly irritated.
“What is your last name then, sir?”
“Williams.”
“One moment, please.” The woman searched around in the databank of her Celph for a few seconds before looking back up at Freedom, smiling thinly.
“Are you Freedom?” she inquired.
Freedom faltered before giving her a reply, uncertain as to whether or not he should be giving out his full name to complete strangers.
“Yes, that’s me,” he said at last.
“Excellent,” the woman said, replacing her Celph into the depths of the apron tied about her waist. “Your party has been awaiting you for nearly an hour. I’m sure they’ll be glad to hear you’ve arrived. Please, right this way.”
The woman turned and walked into the restaurant, Freedom at her heels, his mind buzzing. Had they really been waiting for him for that long? Why? The noticed had said six o’clock, hadn’t it? Hadn’t it?
The woman lead Freedom through a maze of small, ornate tables and quietly-conversing groups of diners towards a larger table at the back of the restaurant. It was occupied by a tribunal of people in suits, chatting softly. They looked up as the hostess brought Freedom towards them, their faces bathed in the gentle, golden light of a chandelier hanging from the ceiling above them. There was a very elderly man with a face like a basset hound, a straight-faced woman whose mousy bun was so tight that it might be keeping her from falling apart, and a relatively young man who was graying prematurely at his temples and looked as though he were crawling in his skin. The hostess smiled and left Freedom alone with the three of them.
“Have a seat, Mr. Williams,” the woman said expressionlessly.
Freedom obeyed, sitting in the only chair available, which was positioned on the opposite side of the table of the trio.
“Hello,” Freedom said cautiously. He was suspicious and nervous, but he thought that it was best if he kept things polite and conversational.
“Let’s skip the small-talk, Mr. Williams,” the woman decided.
Or not.
“Why am I here?” Freedom asked, now that the time for exchanging nonexistent pleasantries had passed.
Now it was the elder man’s turn to speak. He reached into a briefcase leaning against the leg of the table on the floor beside him and pulled out a thick, manila file filled to the brim with more paper than Freedom had ever seen. He then allowed his long, crooked fingers to probe about in the interior of his breast pocket and withdrew a pair of reading glasses, which he placed delicately on the bridge of his nose.
“As you can see, Mr. Williams, we have acquired quite a bit of information regarding your case,” he said at last in a quiet, croaking voice.
“My case?” Freedom’s heart sank and he felt all of the blood draining from his face. He was not supposed to have a case.
“That’s right,” the woman said, taking over again. She seemed to be the speaker for the group. “You see, Mr. Williams, when you were stabbed last night and brought to the hospital, they conducted a number of tests on you to ensure that your body would not reject the nanocells.” She shrugged. “Standard procedure for stab victims. What those tests found, however, was far from standard.” He eyes grew icy, and she gestured for the manila folder, which the elderly man slid across the table to her. “We are required to ask, though the answer is obvious: are you, Mr. Freedom H. Williams, aware that you have implants of an illegitimate nature?”
Freedom felt his entire world crumbling about him. He wanted to run, but his veins were so flooded with leaden dread and terror that he could not remove himself from his chair. The clatter of silverware and the gentle conversations surrounding him seemed distant and inconsequential in comparison to the crushing dismay weighing down his very being. How could this have happened? How could an event of such randomness have been his downfall? Whoever had mugged him last night might as well have killed him, because they had robbed him of his life. The authorities had finally found him, and it was all that fugitive’s fault. If only Freedom had given him his money when he had demanded it. If only he had not been blinded by his desire for that marrow lubricant that he didn’t even need that night…
“Answer the question, Mr. Williams,” the woman said coolly.
What could Freedom say? Lying was not an option, not when they had all of the evidence they would ever need sitting right beneath their noses.
“Yes, I am aware,” he said venomously.
“And you are also aware that having illegal mechanical implants, such as the ones that you possess, is, indeed, against the law?”
“Is that not the definition of ‘illegal’?”
“Watch your attitude, Mr. Williams,” the elder man snapped. “You are not in a position to make matters worse for yourself.”
Freedom shut his mouth, realizing that the last thing that he needed was to anger these three people, who undoubtedly already had something in mind for his not-so-distant future.
“I apologize,” he said, but the woman shook her head.
“It’s a little late for apologies,” she said stonily. “You cannot just break the law and expect it to all go away because you’re sorry. You may only be eighteen years old, Mr. Williams, but you are still a legal adult, and you are expected to uphold adult responsibilities.”
“In case you have not already surmised this,” the elderly man cut in, “we are representatives from the Department of Gallagherite Affairs. Your case has been reviewed by the Department of Criminal Activities and Conducts, and was then referred to us.”
“Why?” Freedom asked hoarsely.
“Why? Because technological implants were outlawed during the Techno Age!” the woman exclaimed. A man at a nearby table glanced over his shoulder at her and she lowered her voice to a malevolent hiss. “You have broken the law, Mr. Williams, and not only that, but you have committed a series of what is considered seriously punishable crimes.”
“Seriously punishable crimes?” Freedom breathed. This could not be happening. This was rapidly becoming a complete and utter nightmare. He had never thought that getting implants would land him in such deep trouble. He had known that they were illegal, of course, and that if he was caught he would be sorry, but he had never feared much more than arrest or possibly a dreaded surgery to have all of them taken out. He had not realized that being a tech-head was a “seriously punishable crime,” and couldn’t imagine how things could possibly get any worse than they were now. He had hit rock bottom, and it hurt.
“You may not be aware, Mr. Williams,” the woman replied, “but when you had your muscles replaced with…”
“With what you did,” the uncomfortable-looking third member supplied.
“…yes, with what you did, your muscles and other tissues were sold to hospitals in need of extra body parts for their patients. Usually these body parts come from The Road to Heaven building and are salvaged from those who have passed through there, and, because those persons are no longer with us, the usual laws do not apply. You, however, are still alive, and having sold your body, you are considered guilty of the act of prostitution.”
“I’m considered guilty of what?”
“Prostitution,” the woman repeated.
“But I didn’t get any money for it! And it wasn’t--”
“In this day and age, it does not have to be sexual,” the woman interrupted, “and you were, in fact, paid, although instead of receiving money, you received technology. It’s a bit of a stretch for some, but in our books you still sold your body for something in return, and, although it’s a tad more literal than the usual candidates for prostitution, the charges still apply.”
She paused as though to let this sink in, and Freedom bit back spluttering exclamations of disbelief. Not only was he a criminal, but he was a prostitute? A prostitute? Of all the things in the world that he had predicted he would be in trouble with the law for, prostitution had never even crossed his mind.
“That isn’t all, son,” the elderly man said, as if to get things rolling once more.
“Yes, I’m afraid the list does not stop there,” the woman said. “Because you have repeatedly conducted activities that make you a danger to both yourself and others, we were asked to take action.”
“How am I a danger? What action? I haven’t endangered anybody!” Freedom exclaimed, grasping at straws. If there was any sort of flaw in their replies, he could find it and hang on to it. If he could prove that they had no reason to arrest him other than the fact that he was apparently a prostitute, then everything would be all right. Maybe he would just go to prison. That wouldn’t be so bad.
Freedom swallowed. Who was he trying to kid? He would be murdered if he were sent to a prison.
“You are a danger to yourself because you consistently undergo surgeries that were outlawed because they are unsafe and unnatural. You are a danger to others because you associate yourself with groups that are considered to be motivated by similarly illegal means and often have partaken in violent activities to uphold these means. And the action we have decided to take, well…it’s very simple, really.”
As if he had been cued, the elderly man leaned forward, regarding Freedom with impassive, weary eyes.
“The Department of Gallagherite Affairs deals with people’s Dates, son. When someone is born, their information is sent to the Department of Newborns and Listings, and then that information is sent to us. A Date is determined for that individual, sent back to the Department of Newborns and Listings, and recorded forever in several different places that you don’t need to worry about. Most of the time, Dates are final. The Date that is chosen for an individual follows them until the day that they were scheduled from birth to die. Sometimes, however, exceptions have to be made.”
“What?”
Freedom could not believe his ears. He thought that he must have misheard. Could it be that the popular rumors that twisted through the city could be true? Rumors were never true! They were fabrications!
“When someone like yourself comes along, Mr. Williams, we find it necessary to move that Date to a little sooner. The police contacts the uppermost governmental employees in the city, and they contact us. Meetings are held. Ideas are tossed around. Decisions are made. And the decision that has been made for you, Mr. Williams, is to end your days a little sooner than they might have ended before.”
The discomfited man reached into the manila file and withdrew a document.
“It says here that your Date was in…two years, approximately,” he said uncertainly. “Is that correct?”
Freedom could not speak.
“Yes, well, we thought that that was a little too far away,” he went on. Obviously it did not matter if Freedom answered their questions any longer. “You see, two years gives you plenty of time to continue pursuing your criminal conducts. So, to simplify matters for everyone, your new Date was moved to exactly two weeks from now.”
“TWO WEEKS?!”
“Please, keep your voice down!” the woman hissed in that poisonous way of hers. “There are other diners in this restaurant besides you.”
And then Freedom understood. He understood it all. They had left the notice on his door so that he would be forced to come to them, putting them in the seat of power from the start. They had already rehearsed what was going to be said during the course of the meeting and had already prepared for his reactions. They had chosen a public place so that when they told him that his Date had been moved, he couldn’t make a scene and, if he did, he could be arrested for disturbing the peace and taken away despite his efforts, just as it had been planned from the beginning. The Violet was not a restaurant at all, but a trap that was laced with the most potent poison of all: surprise.
“We know this is all quite the shock for you,” the ill-at-ease man said, “but it’s really for the best.”
“Yes,” the elderly man agreed. “Paradise City is a fragile organism, son. You and people like you are a virus. If you are allowed to flourish, you will multiply, and if you multiply, the once-thriving livelihood of our city will perish. So we have to keep you at bay, and get rid of you when we can. Consider us Paradise City’s immune system.”
“You can’t do this,” Freedom said to all three of them. “This is…is…completely immoral!”
“We can, and we have,” the woman said dispassionately. “And if you are so concerned with morals, perhaps you shouldn’t have broken the law.”
The three regarded Freedom for a moment before evidently deciding that the conference had drawn itself to a close. The elderly man reached for the manila folder and put it back in the briefcase leaning against the leg of the table, and his partners straightened themselves up as if a huge weight had been lifted from their shoulders, or a bushel of chores that they had waited all day to get done had finally been completed.
“It’s time for you to go,” the woman said to Freedom. She motioned to someone behind him, and, turning around, he saw a pair of policemen standing up from a table where they must have been waiting all of this time for the woman’s signal. How could Freedom have missed them before?
“These two fine officers are going to be taking you to jail, where you’ll wait for a few hours while things are sorted out concerning your apartment and belongings,” the elderly man said, folding up his reading glasses and replacing them in the breast pocket of his suit jacket. “You’ll then be escorted in a yellow pod to the edge of the city’s limits, where you will be transferred to another mode of transportation that will ultimately get you to Almost Heaven.”
This could not be happening. How could they do this to him? How did they have this kind of power?
“Goodbye, Mr. Williams,” the woman said, summoning over a waiter. “It has been a pleasure doing business with you.”
“Business?! This is my life! How can you--”
The pair of policemen heaved Freedom from his seat and, gripping him by the forearms, commenced to escort him towards the doors of the restaurant.
“You kids,” one of them sighed. “Always getting into trouble nowadays. Just yesterday we had one telling us that he was Vine Fairfax just so he could continue selling crap on the street. Vine Fairfax. Can you imagine?”
“Did you really think you could get away with all of this?” his counterpart inquired. “Did you really think you could hide your crimes forever? Why’d you do it, kid?”
Freedom could hardly hear what the officer was asking over the blood rushing in his ears. He was panicking. He could see two pale, blue pods loitering just outside, waiting to take him to a place where there would be no escape for him until he was shipped away to the island of death. The worst part of the whole affair was the fact that he had willingly come here, to The Violet, to the tribunal who had so indifferently told him that his life had been shortened dramatically. He had walked directly into a trap, one that he had smelled from the very beginning, but had chosen naively to ignore. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have thought that he was simply being paranoid? Of course he had been right about there being something fishy about the Department of Gallagherite Affairs being involved! Why had he tried to convince himself otherwise? He had been so brainless, and had allowed this to happen. He was being dragged outside by a pair of policemen because he had gotten himself into this situation.
This thought gave Freedom a spark of an idea.
Yes, he had gotten himself into this. But maybe he could also get himself out of it. Thanks to his implants, he was likely stronger than either of the policemen escorting him from the restaurant. If he wanted to, he knew that he could overpower them and escape with his life. How ironic it was that the very implants that had so recently condemned him to death were about to save him from it.
As soon as the officers brought Freedom to the sidewalk just outside The Violet, he launched into reckless action. He broke the policemen’s grip on his arms, but they seemed prepared for this. Before Freedom could make to sprint away, one of them had drawn his paralyzing gun and pressed its muzzle against Freedom’s shoulder, ready to pull the trigger. Freedom knocked it from his hand with a swift motion of one of his, and, with hardly pausing for thought, bent to retrieve it from the ground just as the second officer attempted to grab his arm again. This caused a moment in which confusion was the dominant emotion, and Freedom, realizing that this was his best chance at escape, darted away from the two of them. He dashed down the sidewalk at the quickest speed that his legs could carry him, which was already considerable, but was even more so because he was running on pure adrenaline. He did not allow himself to look back immediately as he shoved through crowds of innocent and often bemused passersby, convinced that if he did so, he would find that one of the officers had managed to keep stride with him. After perhaps thirty seconds, however, he allowed himself the luxury of a quick glance over his shoulder, and discovered that his worst fears were not being realized; there was seemingly no one directly behind him excepting the middle-aged woman in the lime green sweater he had nearly just sent tumbling. He slowed to a lope, but did not stop. He very much doubted that the pair of policemen had given up. The police did not allow themselves to lose the people they were chasing after, and if they were not directly behind him, that meant that they must have turned to whatever their Plan B was. A moment of intense listening confirmed Freedom’s thoughts. A choir of sirens had begun wailing in the not-so-distant distance, and Freedom was flooded with a fresh wave of terror. Not only had they returned to their pods, but they had called reinforcements. Very soon merely running was not going to be enough. He had to find somewhere to hide, but, as he skidded to a stop and looked frantically around him, he knew that there was nowhere that he could hide where they would not find him. All they would have to do was run to someone who operated the display on the outside of one of the pixel buildings and ask them to put up a “wanted” notice, and, in the blink of an eye, Freedom’s face would be posted all over the city. He had seen it happen countless times, and people were always so eager to help or so terrified of what would happen to them if they didn’t that they criminal in question would be sought out and captured in hours. It would be impossible for Freedom to hide for long with an entire city dedicated to finding him. No, he needed a more permanent solution. But what? What was there to do other than to disappear?
As the wail of the sirens increased in volume and the pods undoubtedly began to close in, Freedom was overwhelmed with a sense of hopelessness and desperation. He had never thought that this would be him. He had always known that there was a possibility that he might be caught for his illegal conducts one day, but it was never something that he had felt that he had had to prepare for. He had never truly expected it to occur. A part of him had secretly believed that he was above being arrested, that being in trouble with the police was something that could happen to other people, but would never happen to him. Now he knew better. Oh, he knew. And what was going to take place for him was so much worse than what he had thought would if he was finally exposed. He was going to die. His obsession with the Techno Age had killed him in a way that he had never been able to predict. He had always thought that his death would result from a malfunction of some sort, and he had been fine with that. At least he would have died from indulging in something that he had adored. But now he was going to meet his end cowering in the middle of the sidewalk like a feral animal, alone, afraid, and damned, with a gun in his hand that would do nothing to save his life.
Just as the first of the pods whirred around the corner down the sidewalk, Freedom caught sight of something that may just have changed everything. It was not so much of a something as it was a someone, and it was not just any someone. It was a someone that mattered.
Vine Fairfax was walking along the other end of the sidewalk with some boy in a red, paint-splattered sweatshirt who did not look as though he should be hanging around a veritable celebrity. The Fairfax’s were involved in the government, were they not? If Freedom had their son and claimed that he was going to shoot him if they did not change his Date back to where it had been before, they would have no choice but to do what he said. He did not think that he had it in him to actually kill anybody, but he wouldn’t have to if they cooperated. In fact, he wouldn’t even be able to. All he had was a paralyzing gun. But paralyzing guns looked so similarly to real, dangerous guns that it wouldn’t matter if he could actually go through with his threats. All that mattered was that the Fairfaxes believe that he would."
I'm going to stop it at that. You get the idea. He ends up letting Vine go, just so you all know, after they forge a weird kind of friendship. So, yeah. He obviously has the potential for craziness, which I will definitely use and bring out more. He's going to end up planning the assassination of the highest government official in the city and pretty soon. The thing about Freedom, though, is that he descends into kind of semi-madness but he comes out of it and "uses his powers for good", if you will. I'm kind of not sure how I want to depict his madness, but as I work on planning out his misadventures and whatnot I'm sure I'll figure it out. I won't blabber on any more, but if you're unlucky I'll be on later. Again, sorry about grammatical errors and unrealistic-ness and God knows what else that was in that excerpt up there.
-Iridian
Rachel: BEWARE! LONGEST POST EVER!
I just got back from my farm girl duties and I couldn't be happier. There's nothing better than doing some honest hard work and getting to come home to some planning, which I am rapidly becoming addicted to. It's so fun! I finished ZeCat last night, or at least as much of his plot that I can plan out for the time being. There's a last leg of his journey that I can't plan out until I plan out everyone else to that point, but it's such a small part of the book that I don't even care. I won't even get there for a little while, so it's not like it's an immediate problem.
Anyway, now I get to work on Freedom. I have to say, I'm pretty excited to work on him for a number of reasons. Firstly, he's just one of my favourite characters. He interests me, and his story is going to be kind of fun to work out because, as a character, he goes in the opposite direction of ZeCat. Where ZeCat becomes braver, more independent, and more able to take charge of his life, Freedom kind of spirals into figurative darkness. He starts out as a kind of a shady character, but in the beginning he is still essentially a good person. He still looks out for other people to an extent and has no inclination to resort to any crime that is dangerous to anybody but himself...but that totally changes, and it changes surprisingly quickly. You know how I ranted at one point that my characters are often as unpredictable to me as real people? Well, Freedom turned out to be less mentally stable than I had originally thought. I don't know if you remember anything about him from my character descriptions, but he's the guy who is systematically doing all he can to turn himself into a robot. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, it might just be easier to include a little except that kind of describes his character in the beginning rather than trying to summarize all of it like I usually do. Let me find something. Picture elevator music as I look for this even though you won't actually have to wait...
Okay, I was scrolling through what I have of the book so far and this isn't really what I was looking for, but it tells you something about his character and kind of about Paradise City, so I'm going to put that on here really quickly and then find what I was actually looking for.
"A shiver of desire ran down Freedom’s spine with the thought of the Techno Age as he adroitly swabbed the surgical equipment laid neatly over the surface of his desk. He wished that he had been born during the Techno Age. All that remained of it was the dregs of some of the technology that had been used during its time and a number of laws restricting further technological advancement, and he longed to catch a glimpse of the time during all of its glory. Evidence of its magnificence still remained, but it was high obtain and against the law to use. Naturally, Freedom was familiar with ways of acquiring some of this dazzling circuitry. He had a number of hook-ups who were technology smugglers from lesser-visited areas all around the city, usually on the outskirts where the police hated everyone equally and did not pause to inspect suspicious persons because everyone around those parts was fishy. He also knew one surgeon who was a fan of the extreme and often admittedly dangerous surgeries that had used to be preformed during the Techno Age, and, as a result, Freedom was treated to a few implants that most humans ought not to have. He recognized the danger of having wires underneath his skin, but he could not stay away from it. It made him feel empowered and untouchable, something more than human."
So there's that. Let me find the other thing. Oh, and keep in mind that this stuff is unedited, so be kind. It WILL get better than this.
In this little excerpt Freedom is operating on his hand, just so you know what the heck is going on. It's the last part of this that's really important, but all if it provides information so I decided to just put in the entire paragraph.
"His eyes adjusted accordingly, and he slightly squeamishly got to work. As it turned out, the connection in his middle finger was being interrupted by a bit of tissue like he had suspected, which he swiftly removed. He could not find what was wrong with the other two, but once he injected them with a unique mixture of bone marrow and lubrication near the joints he was able to move them again with a minimal amount of trouble. He could have guessed that they needed such a simple tune-up, but he was not quick to use the blend that had resurrected them. He did not like to think about where the bone marrow came from. He knew that it must have once been someone’s that had died at Almost Heaven; any good parts of the body were harvested after death and used to serve the living. He supposed that he should be thankful for it rather than off-put and mildly repulsed, but he could not help but imagine that one day the marrow that was being injected into someone’s robotic joints would be his own. He still had two years left before his Date, but two years was not very much time, and it was getting nearer with every passing second. He was terrified of Almost Heaven and everything that it meant, which was perhaps why he was so obsessed with upgrading the body he had been born with. If he successfully became an android or some such thing, then what would there be for the government to kill?"
So that's his kind of mentality at the beginning of the book when he is first introduced. I'm actually really glad I went back and looked at this stuff because I just remembered a few things about him that I had forgotten. Anyway, so yeah. That's him. He's not really dangerous, but he's definitely kind of shady and a little weird, and he's definitely fearful. That's probably the key thing that turns him into sort of a monster: fear. When people are scared they do crazy things, and, though he's a fairly intelligent guy, Freedom is no different. Pretty early in the book he is finally discovered by the police and...jeez, this is extensive. I'm tempted to put that whole part up here to save myself the time of trying to explain every little bit of it, but that will make this post even LONGER. Ah, screw it. I'm copying and pasting it on here. Sorry, everyone.
Actually, no. I just discovered how long it truly is, so I'm going to make a whole separate post for it. Sorry, I know you all probably do NOT care this much, but I'm inspired and I'm going to go ahead and do my thing.
-Iridian
Anyway, now I get to work on Freedom. I have to say, I'm pretty excited to work on him for a number of reasons. Firstly, he's just one of my favourite characters. He interests me, and his story is going to be kind of fun to work out because, as a character, he goes in the opposite direction of ZeCat. Where ZeCat becomes braver, more independent, and more able to take charge of his life, Freedom kind of spirals into figurative darkness. He starts out as a kind of a shady character, but in the beginning he is still essentially a good person. He still looks out for other people to an extent and has no inclination to resort to any crime that is dangerous to anybody but himself...but that totally changes, and it changes surprisingly quickly. You know how I ranted at one point that my characters are often as unpredictable to me as real people? Well, Freedom turned out to be less mentally stable than I had originally thought. I don't know if you remember anything about him from my character descriptions, but he's the guy who is systematically doing all he can to turn himself into a robot. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, it might just be easier to include a little except that kind of describes his character in the beginning rather than trying to summarize all of it like I usually do. Let me find something. Picture elevator music as I look for this even though you won't actually have to wait...
Okay, I was scrolling through what I have of the book so far and this isn't really what I was looking for, but it tells you something about his character and kind of about Paradise City, so I'm going to put that on here really quickly and then find what I was actually looking for.
"A shiver of desire ran down Freedom’s spine with the thought of the Techno Age as he adroitly swabbed the surgical equipment laid neatly over the surface of his desk. He wished that he had been born during the Techno Age. All that remained of it was the dregs of some of the technology that had been used during its time and a number of laws restricting further technological advancement, and he longed to catch a glimpse of the time during all of its glory. Evidence of its magnificence still remained, but it was high obtain and against the law to use. Naturally, Freedom was familiar with ways of acquiring some of this dazzling circuitry. He had a number of hook-ups who were technology smugglers from lesser-visited areas all around the city, usually on the outskirts where the police hated everyone equally and did not pause to inspect suspicious persons because everyone around those parts was fishy. He also knew one surgeon who was a fan of the extreme and often admittedly dangerous surgeries that had used to be preformed during the Techno Age, and, as a result, Freedom was treated to a few implants that most humans ought not to have. He recognized the danger of having wires underneath his skin, but he could not stay away from it. It made him feel empowered and untouchable, something more than human."
So there's that. Let me find the other thing. Oh, and keep in mind that this stuff is unedited, so be kind. It WILL get better than this.
In this little excerpt Freedom is operating on his hand, just so you know what the heck is going on. It's the last part of this that's really important, but all if it provides information so I decided to just put in the entire paragraph.
"His eyes adjusted accordingly, and he slightly squeamishly got to work. As it turned out, the connection in his middle finger was being interrupted by a bit of tissue like he had suspected, which he swiftly removed. He could not find what was wrong with the other two, but once he injected them with a unique mixture of bone marrow and lubrication near the joints he was able to move them again with a minimal amount of trouble. He could have guessed that they needed such a simple tune-up, but he was not quick to use the blend that had resurrected them. He did not like to think about where the bone marrow came from. He knew that it must have once been someone’s that had died at Almost Heaven; any good parts of the body were harvested after death and used to serve the living. He supposed that he should be thankful for it rather than off-put and mildly repulsed, but he could not help but imagine that one day the marrow that was being injected into someone’s robotic joints would be his own. He still had two years left before his Date, but two years was not very much time, and it was getting nearer with every passing second. He was terrified of Almost Heaven and everything that it meant, which was perhaps why he was so obsessed with upgrading the body he had been born with. If he successfully became an android or some such thing, then what would there be for the government to kill?"
So that's his kind of mentality at the beginning of the book when he is first introduced. I'm actually really glad I went back and looked at this stuff because I just remembered a few things about him that I had forgotten. Anyway, so yeah. That's him. He's not really dangerous, but he's definitely kind of shady and a little weird, and he's definitely fearful. That's probably the key thing that turns him into sort of a monster: fear. When people are scared they do crazy things, and, though he's a fairly intelligent guy, Freedom is no different. Pretty early in the book he is finally discovered by the police and...jeez, this is extensive. I'm tempted to put that whole part up here to save myself the time of trying to explain every little bit of it, but that will make this post even LONGER. Ah, screw it. I'm copying and pasting it on here. Sorry, everyone.
Actually, no. I just discovered how long it truly is, so I'm going to make a whole separate post for it. Sorry, I know you all probably do NOT care this much, but I'm inspired and I'm going to go ahead and do my thing.
-Iridian
Chelsea: Hallo Again
HALLO, I love that word... I also love the scottish....
I just got done watching BRAVE the movie for the second time, no im not obsessed... I'm dedicated ;-p, but none the less its a really good movie, and once again it is yet another movie bringing light to archery. the hunger games introduced and promoted it, but Brave just sold it, archery is now walt disneys b***h along with minnie mouse and donald duck(yes).
Anyways haha, lets see what I write in three minutes on sleeping medication,
Hot as stone
Cold as ice
Watch the blades slice and dice
Dry the tears
Soak your pride
Never give a reason to hide
Sear the wound
open youre mind
:-)
I just got done watching BRAVE the movie for the second time, no im not obsessed... I'm dedicated ;-p, but none the less its a really good movie, and once again it is yet another movie bringing light to archery. the hunger games introduced and promoted it, but Brave just sold it, archery is now walt disneys b***h along with minnie mouse and donald duck(yes).
Anyways haha, lets see what I write in three minutes on sleeping medication,
Hot as stone
Cold as ice
Watch the blades slice and dice
Dry the tears
Soak your pride
Never give a reason to hide
Sear the wound
open youre mind
:-)
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Cori: Absolute contentment.
That's what I'm feeling right now. You know, we haven't had this many posts in many, many months...and now we have 66 of them. Isn't that amazing? I feel like SAAWAKM was in a coma for a while, but now that some fresh doctors have come in with fresh ideas it's starting to wake up and become active again.
Wasn't that a weird comparison? I was just reading a fanfiction where one of the main characters is tortured and goes into a coma, so that was kind of sticking into my head while writing it.
So I've been thinking a lot about both the novel Jamie and I will be writing, and the sequel to Caged. I was originally planning for it to be called Between the Lines, but I'm not so sure. It's going to be a trilogy though; it's titled the Angelic Threnody. The titles are Caged, Between the Lines (may change), and Negative Zero. Then begins the next trilogy - same characters, different plot that connects to the last one. It's going to be six books in all. Then I might write a prequel, writing Altrius's past all the way up until Caged starts, because's he's an extremely complex character and you have to really understand his past to understand him.
The thing I love most about writing Altrius is the fact that he's so mentally unstable, enough to say that he's quite honestly insane. It's just so interesting to write about his decent into eventual insanity.
I've done a role-play with my friend Larysa where we switched off characters for a while - she used Altrius and I used her character Julie. It was strange, but I knew Julie enough to managed with only a few mistakes. But she had no idea what to do with Altrius.
I think the reason for that is the fact that Altrius has so many personalities. For each different situation he's in, he'll put on a different identity that best suits him at the moment. So technically...even when something seems out of character for him, it's not. Because he's just using one of his different guises at the moment. Which sounds really confusing unless you're the one that's writing and interacting with him on a daily basis.
Here's one of my favorite parts of Caged, and what I'm going to use to wrap up this post with:
Wasn't that a weird comparison? I was just reading a fanfiction where one of the main characters is tortured and goes into a coma, so that was kind of sticking into my head while writing it.
So I've been thinking a lot about both the novel Jamie and I will be writing, and the sequel to Caged. I was originally planning for it to be called Between the Lines, but I'm not so sure. It's going to be a trilogy though; it's titled the Angelic Threnody. The titles are Caged, Between the Lines (may change), and Negative Zero. Then begins the next trilogy - same characters, different plot that connects to the last one. It's going to be six books in all. Then I might write a prequel, writing Altrius's past all the way up until Caged starts, because's he's an extremely complex character and you have to really understand his past to understand him.
The thing I love most about writing Altrius is the fact that he's so mentally unstable, enough to say that he's quite honestly insane. It's just so interesting to write about his decent into eventual insanity.
I've done a role-play with my friend Larysa where we switched off characters for a while - she used Altrius and I used her character Julie. It was strange, but I knew Julie enough to managed with only a few mistakes. But she had no idea what to do with Altrius.
I think the reason for that is the fact that Altrius has so many personalities. For each different situation he's in, he'll put on a different identity that best suits him at the moment. So technically...even when something seems out of character for him, it's not. Because he's just using one of his different guises at the moment. Which sounds really confusing unless you're the one that's writing and interacting with him on a daily basis.
Here's one of my favorite parts of Caged, and what I'm going to use to wrap up this post with:
Nothing
felt right anymore. Over and over again, he thought about what he was
supposed to do and say in order to keep up the act of normalcy. He
went through the motions expected of him—the actions that were
expected of Altrius Dial, demon extraordinaire...Altrius Dial,
bloodthirsty vampire...Altrius Dial, misused freak...or whatever part
he wanted to play that day.
Which
side of you is the real one?
Which
side indeed. Which one of his guises was the real him? He wasn't sure
anymore. The mercenary? The psychopath? The goofball? The manic
depressive? The frightened child? The criminal mastermind? The
monstrous demon? The victimized human?
For all intents and purposes,
he was whatever he felt like being. He had invented so many
identities over the years, and had lived under them so long that
Mirabelle's question had caused him no small degree of anxiety.
At the heart of everything,
what was he?
Rachel: Thinking "out loud".
So I've been sitting here and planning things out for just one of my characters all afternoon. That is how lazy I am. This isn't going to be that interesting of a post, just to warn you early on; I just wanted to type out some of my thoughts and, well, think "out loud" as it were. Sometimes that helps me out, and what better place to talk mindlessly about my ideas than SAAWAKM?
I have been working purely on ZeCat. I'm going character by character with the outlining that I'm doing, and once I have all of my main characters mapped out I will do a second draft of them, if need be, to relate all of my subplots to each other. This is possibly easier said than done, so I'm going to have to watch it. I have already been forced to think about aspects of Death List that I had barely considered up to this point, namely details that are just as important to the book as the plot is. What I am working on right now is the location of Paradise City, the city where all of my characters originate from. I can't remember how much about Death List I've told you all about, but it takes place in the distant future at some point (I had an exact year, but I'm starting to reconsider), right? In my version of the future everyone lives in cities, which are the remains of "supercities", or cities that once spanned enormous distances to accommodate the once-massive population. Because the remaining cities are what is left of old supercities, current cities are surrounded by old skyscrapers and whatnot that stretches on and on and on until they eventually crumble and become countryside. The cities that people live in now are walled in and are very separate from each other. They are so separate, in fact, that the inhabitants of each city have no idea that the inhabitants of another even exist. They don't even know what lies outside of the towering city wall. All anyone knows is what they were born into and that's it. So now that you know that, back to what I was talking about: Paradise City's location. I have decided that old supercity Paradise City is about the size of Oregon and is where Oregon once was (states no longer exist, just cities). This seems like sort of a random area for it to be, but I put a lot of thought into this! That way my characters have access to the Pacific Ocean as well as some kind of grassy nice environments once they get out of city ruins. I'll talk about why that's important in a different post; that gets way to involved.
Anyway, so now I know where Paradise City is, which is totally necessary for where I am in planning for ZeCat. I'm really pleased, because I almost have his entire...thing...planned out until the end. That might not sound like a big deal, but it is for me. I rarely know how my characters are going to get to where they're going until I have to directly address it in the book, but now I'm ahead of the game by my standards. And you know, I never realized it before, but when you sit and plan things out ideas just start coming to you. The story kind of tells itself. It's awesome! I have events written in for ZeCat that didn't even exist before today. Once I give you all the lowdown on what the heck my book is even about (in horrifying detail) I'll describe ZeCat's travels to you all. And everyone else's. But I kind of just realized what time it is and I have to get up early tomorrow (...goats...) so I have to end this post here. Until tomorrow, everyone.
Oh, and one last thing. I changed the quote of the week even though I have no idea if it's been a week yet, so I hope nobody minds.
-Iridian
I have been working purely on ZeCat. I'm going character by character with the outlining that I'm doing, and once I have all of my main characters mapped out I will do a second draft of them, if need be, to relate all of my subplots to each other. This is possibly easier said than done, so I'm going to have to watch it. I have already been forced to think about aspects of Death List that I had barely considered up to this point, namely details that are just as important to the book as the plot is. What I am working on right now is the location of Paradise City, the city where all of my characters originate from. I can't remember how much about Death List I've told you all about, but it takes place in the distant future at some point (I had an exact year, but I'm starting to reconsider), right? In my version of the future everyone lives in cities, which are the remains of "supercities", or cities that once spanned enormous distances to accommodate the once-massive population. Because the remaining cities are what is left of old supercities, current cities are surrounded by old skyscrapers and whatnot that stretches on and on and on until they eventually crumble and become countryside. The cities that people live in now are walled in and are very separate from each other. They are so separate, in fact, that the inhabitants of each city have no idea that the inhabitants of another even exist. They don't even know what lies outside of the towering city wall. All anyone knows is what they were born into and that's it. So now that you know that, back to what I was talking about: Paradise City's location. I have decided that old supercity Paradise City is about the size of Oregon and is where Oregon once was (states no longer exist, just cities). This seems like sort of a random area for it to be, but I put a lot of thought into this! That way my characters have access to the Pacific Ocean as well as some kind of grassy nice environments once they get out of city ruins. I'll talk about why that's important in a different post; that gets way to involved.
Anyway, so now I know where Paradise City is, which is totally necessary for where I am in planning for ZeCat. I'm really pleased, because I almost have his entire...thing...planned out until the end. That might not sound like a big deal, but it is for me. I rarely know how my characters are going to get to where they're going until I have to directly address it in the book, but now I'm ahead of the game by my standards. And you know, I never realized it before, but when you sit and plan things out ideas just start coming to you. The story kind of tells itself. It's awesome! I have events written in for ZeCat that didn't even exist before today. Once I give you all the lowdown on what the heck my book is even about (in horrifying detail) I'll describe ZeCat's travels to you all. And everyone else's. But I kind of just realized what time it is and I have to get up early tomorrow (...goats...) so I have to end this post here. Until tomorrow, everyone.
Oh, and one last thing. I changed the quote of the week even though I have no idea if it's been a week yet, so I hope nobody minds.
-Iridian
Rachel: It's official: Mt. Whitney is my BITCH.
Well, I'm back at my mom's house now and lounging around after the most epic hike of my life. In case you don't know anything about Mt. Whitney, the hike to get up and down it is twenty-two miles long in which you ascend a total of 6,100 feet from start to finish. The mountain itself is like 14,500 feet or something; I don't know the exact height. At any rate, it's the tallest mountain in the continental United States. You start out in a bunch of lush, leafy gorgeousness and climb up into a rocky, wind-swept zone that is completely barren excepting a few clusters of flowers growing here and there between boulders...but it's beautiful the whole way. The hike took us thirteen hours to complete, which in my opinion is a pretty long time but this lady we talked to said that that was really good. So go figure.
Anyway, now that you know a little about it, the hike was incredible. I won't describe every detail (even though I want to, it was so awesome!) but it was a fantastic experience. I have never been so high above the world before without being in an airplane; you can see clear into Utah! The wind was ridiculously powerful--I was almost blown over several times--and it was very cold, but WOW it was so worth the grueling journey/weather. I'm not sure exactly how it has changed me yet, but I feel like a slightly different person, as silly as that sounds. It was just a stupid hike, right? But I don't know. It was a really neat experience. I won't keep blathering on about it, but if you have the means and enjoy (a shit ton of) hiking, I would highly recommend doing it. But remember to wear sunscreen. LOTS of sunscreen. I forgot to put some on the backs of my knees and now I can barely walk. Oh, and wear sunglasses! My eyes got sunburned as well, so I am having just a blast looking exhausted/stoned.
Okay, apart from hiking, I have been spending a great deal of my time planning out Death List. I still need to put a lot of what I have come up with on paper, but I have made some progress. I think I might continue on that now, actually; I'm spending the rest of today recovering from my epic mountain adventures and reading Cori's posts about Caged inspired me to work on my own things. Oh, that reminds me, I need your opinions on something. Or on a few somethings. These are kind of stupid questions, but they are always things that I (sadly) fret about while writing...which I am still forbidden by myself to do right now, but even so. Anyway, I need your thoughts on the following:
1. Can a book be too long, even if the plot is good and things keep moving forward? Is there a point where the length can be a detriment to the book as a whole?
2. Is there a good length for a chapter to be? Assuming that what the chapter sets out to accomplish was accomplished, is it okay to end a chapter after only a few pages? I only ask because I worry that short chapters might seem like I am rapidly firing information at the reader when I do each chapter from the point of view of a different character.
3. Corruption in the government: too cliche?
4. Is it okay to kill off a few characters over the course of a book like mine? I mean, there's no epic battles or anything in this one, so I don't want the deaths to seem like pointless character-killing, if you know what I mean.
So, yeah, that's it for now. Well, actually it's not, but I can't figure out how to phrase my last question. I'll probably be on here later with that.
Before I draw this post to a close, I just want to say hi to Chelsea! Welcome to the blog! I am completely addicted to it, as you will soon see, and hope that you will not be too annoyed by my frequent posts.
-Iridian
Anyway, now that you know a little about it, the hike was incredible. I won't describe every detail (even though I want to, it was so awesome!) but it was a fantastic experience. I have never been so high above the world before without being in an airplane; you can see clear into Utah! The wind was ridiculously powerful--I was almost blown over several times--and it was very cold, but WOW it was so worth the grueling journey/weather. I'm not sure exactly how it has changed me yet, but I feel like a slightly different person, as silly as that sounds. It was just a stupid hike, right? But I don't know. It was a really neat experience. I won't keep blathering on about it, but if you have the means and enjoy (a shit ton of) hiking, I would highly recommend doing it. But remember to wear sunscreen. LOTS of sunscreen. I forgot to put some on the backs of my knees and now I can barely walk. Oh, and wear sunglasses! My eyes got sunburned as well, so I am having just a blast looking exhausted/stoned.
Okay, apart from hiking, I have been spending a great deal of my time planning out Death List. I still need to put a lot of what I have come up with on paper, but I have made some progress. I think I might continue on that now, actually; I'm spending the rest of today recovering from my epic mountain adventures and reading Cori's posts about Caged inspired me to work on my own things. Oh, that reminds me, I need your opinions on something. Or on a few somethings. These are kind of stupid questions, but they are always things that I (sadly) fret about while writing...which I am still forbidden by myself to do right now, but even so. Anyway, I need your thoughts on the following:
1. Can a book be too long, even if the plot is good and things keep moving forward? Is there a point where the length can be a detriment to the book as a whole?
2. Is there a good length for a chapter to be? Assuming that what the chapter sets out to accomplish was accomplished, is it okay to end a chapter after only a few pages? I only ask because I worry that short chapters might seem like I am rapidly firing information at the reader when I do each chapter from the point of view of a different character.
3. Corruption in the government: too cliche?
4. Is it okay to kill off a few characters over the course of a book like mine? I mean, there's no epic battles or anything in this one, so I don't want the deaths to seem like pointless character-killing, if you know what I mean.
So, yeah, that's it for now. Well, actually it's not, but I can't figure out how to phrase my last question. I'll probably be on here later with that.
Before I draw this post to a close, I just want to say hi to Chelsea! Welcome to the blog! I am completely addicted to it, as you will soon see, and hope that you will not be too annoyed by my frequent posts.
-Iridian
Monday, June 25, 2012
Kamie: Syra Avon
So I guess this post will purely be a writing post today, seeing as how I really want to brainstorm, via post, about my character with Cori, Syra Avon. She is an interesting character that I have come to enjoy and am overly excited to actually start writing through her! We're going to write our book in the third person limited, and we're going to switch off every two chapters, this'll be a lot of fun! (: Anyways, right now I'm just nerding out to my own character (if that's not freaky enough). I swear I had a reason about making this hole entire post on her... I just don't know what it is yet! xD Well I'm working on her character resume now, and I think it's going well, I like how she's becoming! :) I think she's going to be a very interesting character... Okay now I'm rambling, I think I'll just stop with the post for now, and I'll post something more... interesting later hopefully... if I don't fall asleep! Yep! Byall!
-Kamiella Maze
-Kamiella Maze
Cori: Heather is gone 'til Friday.
I was Skype-IMing her earlier today (well, technically, it was yesterday), and she told me that she would be going to a summer camp thing as a job or something like that. I think she's a counselor or whatever. I forget. But she told me that she won't be back until Friday, which makes me kind of sad.
I thought I should let you know, Kas. Otherwise you might develop homicidal tendencies and cut off Heather's head with the Master Sword from Legend of Zelda and stuff it into a blender and...actually, I'm not going to finish that train of thought. I'm going to go throw up now...
Erm, anyway - she won't be back until Friday. And she asked me to tell you guys, since she forgot to post, and la de da de deh. Yes, deh.
I'm rambling. I know. It's just that I'm exhausted right now, and I've had a headache for three days straight (I get headaches 3 times a week, but this is ridiculous!), and when I have a headache I tend to get a little strange.
You know...I'm going to go ahead and end the post here. Before I say something really stupid that will dumbfound you all, like the fact that I really enjoy crossdressing.
Bye! =D
I thought I should let you know, Kas. Otherwise you might develop homicidal tendencies and cut off Heather's head with the Master Sword from Legend of Zelda and stuff it into a blender and...actually, I'm not going to finish that train of thought. I'm going to go throw up now...
Erm, anyway - she won't be back until Friday. And she asked me to tell you guys, since she forgot to post, and la de da de deh. Yes, deh.
I'm rambling. I know. It's just that I'm exhausted right now, and I've had a headache for three days straight (I get headaches 3 times a week, but this is ridiculous!), and when I have a headache I tend to get a little strange.
You know...I'm going to go ahead and end the post here. Before I say something really stupid that will dumbfound you all, like the fact that I really enjoy crossdressing.
Bye! =D
Kas: Hey ladies
First off, thank you to everyone who gave me their opinion on the clothes. I decided to get the Aztec print one. :) And thank you to those of you commending my style. I'm sure everything you wear is beautiful as well.
Before i forget, Rachel and chelsea, do you have Facebooks? Because we have a SAAWAKM FB group, if you do.
I haven't talked to Heather in a few days. Hopefully she's finished her notes on Silver.. so we can move on. :)
I decided to choose the co-ed option for my dorm floor. I should get my roommate and dorm assignment this week some time. Hopefully before Friday, because that's when I go to enroll, and it would be nice to know which tower I'll be living in.
My sister's wedding is on July 14th, so the closer that gets the less you'll be hearing from me. I still don;t understand why she couldn't just have a small, nice wedding. But no, she has to throw a huge one. I swear, I /am never having a large wedding (Even though i doubt i'll ever get married) unless i marry someone super rich so i can hire a wedding planner to do it for me. Because this crap is ridiculously stressful.
Anyways, hopefully i'll hear from Heather soon, and I won't get a creepy, murderous roommate.
-Kas
Before i forget, Rachel and chelsea, do you have Facebooks? Because we have a SAAWAKM FB group, if you do.
I haven't talked to Heather in a few days. Hopefully she's finished her notes on Silver.. so we can move on. :)
I decided to choose the co-ed option for my dorm floor. I should get my roommate and dorm assignment this week some time. Hopefully before Friday, because that's when I go to enroll, and it would be nice to know which tower I'll be living in.
My sister's wedding is on July 14th, so the closer that gets the less you'll be hearing from me. I still don;t understand why she couldn't just have a small, nice wedding. But no, she has to throw a huge one. I swear, I /am never having a large wedding (Even though i doubt i'll ever get married) unless i marry someone super rich so i can hire a wedding planner to do it for me. Because this crap is ridiculously stressful.
Anyways, hopefully i'll hear from Heather soon, and I won't get a creepy, murderous roommate.
-Kas
Chelsea: HI!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh hai, my name is Chelsea, um I am new to this blog thing but I love to write so it should be fun. As far as names go, my pen name is Jeniffer Lovecraft, and as far as posts go I hope you like it. I'm throwing a poem at you guys as my first post hope you like it. :-)
You Hurt
You Hurt
You hurt me by not speaking
You stab me when you say I do nothing
Dad consoles your ripping and tearing
I’m done with all of your complaining
You are the mom; you’re supposed to be strong
You shouldn’t tell me you’ve been depressed for so long
I’m going to college, but you could care less
Fuck the formalities, and screw the dress
How long has it been since you said “I love you”
As long as it has, since I’ve believed you
“Don’t get me wrong dear, I do love you,
Go wash the dishes and clean the bathroom, then I’ll hug you”
Well I’m done; I’m done with all that you’ve asked
And where are you now, fast asleep, “deprived of rest”
I guess I’m okay, yeah I’ll be fine
I guess it just wasn’t the right time
So I will go and do homework and go to bed
It’s just another tear waiting to be shed
I’m almost gone and out of your reach
Yeah that’s right I’m still here, do you remember
I laughed, I cried, I died like a fallen ember
I hope you enjoyed our time spent together
‘Cause I’m done, say your goodbyes
You’ve pushed me away, I’m gone forever
Cori: You have got to be kidding me...
So I woke up at one in the afternoon today, to find that my parents and younger brothers were gone. I was confused, since we were supposed to wake up at ten and go to my grandma's. Well, my parents decided for us NOT to go, and to wait for a few more days before going. In other words...I finished Caged last night when I didn't even have to.
My older brother is here with me, while my parents and younger brothers are out swimming. I'm half-glad, half-annoyed that they didn't ask me. Half-glad, because I do not own tampons and I don't feel like bloodying up the swimming pool. Half-annoyed, because they never ask me if I want to do things, but they ask my brothers.
I'm just not having a good week xD! But at least I can still read fanfiction. That's one of the only redeeming parts of not going to my grandma's.
My older brother is here with me, while my parents and younger brothers are out swimming. I'm half-glad, half-annoyed that they didn't ask me. Half-glad, because I do not own tampons and I don't feel like bloodying up the swimming pool. Half-annoyed, because they never ask me if I want to do things, but they ask my brothers.
I'm just not having a good week xD! But at least I can still read fanfiction. That's one of the only redeeming parts of not going to my grandma's.
Cori: IT'S FINISHED!
WOO! IT'S FINALLY FINISHED! After so much hard work, I just wrote the last lines of Caged! GO ME! I can't believe that I actually managed to finish it in a single day, when I thought that it would take me at least another few days...Haha!
I feel almost sad. I've been working on that book since I was twelve, and that was the seventh draft. But now it's done, and I have to move on...to the sequel. It's going to be weird, not working on Caged. I won't be opening its document every day, but another document. It's a really weird feeling.
It's probably going to feel even weirder when I finish the entire series, and it'll finally strike me that I won't be playing with Altrius anymore.
Okay...now I feel sad...aww, man.
I feel almost sad. I've been working on that book since I was twelve, and that was the seventh draft. But now it's done, and I have to move on...to the sequel. It's going to be weird, not working on Caged. I won't be opening its document every day, but another document. It's a really weird feeling.
It's probably going to feel even weirder when I finish the entire series, and it'll finally strike me that I won't be playing with Altrius anymore.
Okay...now I feel sad...aww, man.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Cori: Chapter nineteen!
There's going to be 20 chapters in Caged, and I'm on chapter 19 - woo! Nearly done! It's almost 12:40 right now, so if I finish it by 2:00, I'll be a very happy girl.
I've also managed to creep myself out with one of my descriptions. For some reason, I love doing that to myself; so I try to create the freakiest descriptions possible. It's kind of fun. The parade where they're going to assassinate the king of Xyren has just started in the chapter I'm on, and now Altrius has to get into position and shoot the guy in the head.
But the chapter isn't titled Operation Failed for nothing. Instead of shooting Tranton, the king, in the head, Altrius's body will be taken over by the voice in his head and he'll be forced to shoot himself instead. After getting out of that mess, he goes to steal the prophecy, which they've been after since the very beginning. But instead of the prophecy, the guy he hates most will be waiting for him. Chaos ensues.
I'm going to have a lot of fun with this chapter, I think. Also! The last line in chapter eighteen is one of my most favorites in the book. "He was saying goodbye and he didn't even know it."
Sounds kinda ominous, huh? Heh heh.
I've also managed to creep myself out with one of my descriptions. For some reason, I love doing that to myself; so I try to create the freakiest descriptions possible. It's kind of fun. The parade where they're going to assassinate the king of Xyren has just started in the chapter I'm on, and now Altrius has to get into position and shoot the guy in the head.
But the chapter isn't titled Operation Failed for nothing. Instead of shooting Tranton, the king, in the head, Altrius's body will be taken over by the voice in his head and he'll be forced to shoot himself instead. After getting out of that mess, he goes to steal the prophecy, which they've been after since the very beginning. But instead of the prophecy, the guy he hates most will be waiting for him. Chaos ensues.
I'm going to have a lot of fun with this chapter, I think. Also! The last line in chapter eighteen is one of my most favorites in the book. "He was saying goodbye and he didn't even know it."
Sounds kinda ominous, huh? Heh heh.
Kamie: SKYRIM!!!!!!!
Skyrim. Skyrim. Skyrim. SKYRIM!!!!!! I am a Khajiit (cat person pretty much is what that is) named Freya in the game and like bows, daggers, one handed swords, fire, and healing spells. (: It is also the game that is occupying most of my time along with Minecraft and seeing my boyfriend. So needless to say, I have not been doing a lot of writing. I need to and am planning to... once I get past this dang dungeon... okay, okay enough nerding out... is nerding a word? It should be if it isn't. :) I am currently on the pets section for my Syra character resume and I really want to finish it soon so I can start doing some personal planning before meeting up with Cori online on Skype to plan more about it. I hope she finishes her book tonight! Best of luck goes out to you kelvi! I ralven va! :) So yeah, I'm still planning on writing my own book also, but recently my whole entire mind has been wrapped around Cori and mine's book. So yeah! That's all for now! I'm glad to see that Nat has posted! I've missed hearing from you! Kas: I love your sense of style! Really awesome! Iridian: Good luck at Mt. Whitney! Cori: Best of luck at writing Caged! Can't wait to read it! Well time to play more Skyrim before working more on the Syra! See ya'll!
-Kamiella Maze
-Kamiella Maze
Cori: Part five of Caged is underway!
As the day progresses (it's already 8:38, ack!), I'm going to be posting about the chapter that I'm on at the moment.
Right now I'm on chapter eighteen, Operation Assassination. It's the beginning of part five, which I've been dreaming about writing for quite some time now. And let me tell you - being on part five feels pretty damn good.
In chapter eighteen, Altrius and Mirabelle will be hiding out in an enemy country, using disguises to keep their real identities as demons hidden until they can find a way to murder the king. I'm sure you can guess what they name their plan, seeing as it's the chapter title.
Xyren, the country they're in, is pretty much the Russia as it was during WWII: The Soviet Union. There's even a 'cold war' between two countries.
Altrius and Mirabelle are posing as brother and sister, and their fake names are Czar and Calina. Mirabelle is pretending to be a blind girl, and Altrius is supposedly an exchange student hoping to go to college in Xyren. (It's the very first thing that came to mind. I wanted it to be a normal, boring back story.)
So that's basically what's going on in the part of ch. 18 that I'm at right now. In my outline, this is what it says:
Cool, right? So now I'm going to go write all of that out in story format. xD!
Right now I'm on chapter eighteen, Operation Assassination. It's the beginning of part five, which I've been dreaming about writing for quite some time now. And let me tell you - being on part five feels pretty damn good.
In chapter eighteen, Altrius and Mirabelle will be hiding out in an enemy country, using disguises to keep their real identities as demons hidden until they can find a way to murder the king. I'm sure you can guess what they name their plan, seeing as it's the chapter title.
Xyren, the country they're in, is pretty much the Russia as it was during WWII: The Soviet Union. There's even a 'cold war' between two countries.
Altrius and Mirabelle are posing as brother and sister, and their fake names are Czar and Calina. Mirabelle is pretending to be a blind girl, and Altrius is supposedly an exchange student hoping to go to college in Xyren. (It's the very first thing that came to mind. I wanted it to be a normal, boring back story.)
So that's basically what's going on in the part of ch. 18 that I'm at right now. In my outline, this is what it says:
Chapter
Eighteen: Altrius and Mirabelle
arrive in Xyren. Hiding out in Ardenia, the two wait for the
opportunity to put Operation Assassination into effect so that they
can kill King Tranton. Finally, they find out about the coming
parade; Tranton will be there, making a speech to the civilians of
Ardenia. They attend the parade, get into position, and prepare to
kill the king. [Operation Assassination]
Cool, right? So now I'm going to go write all of that out in story format. xD!
Cori: I'm screwed.
I'm going to my grandma's house tomorrow, and...well, she has no internet or computer. In other words: I have only today and tonight to finish Caged. I'M NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO IT!
Yes, I have bits and pieces of the last three chapters. I wrote the major fight scene last night (I take a super long time to write fight scenes), so I don't have to worry about that.
But I do NOT work well under pressure. I procrastinate horribly - the reason why I'm literally unable to write essays in school. Which is why I have a D in English class 90% of the time. Excuse my language, but fuck my life. Caged is not going to be finished by tomorrow morning.
...If it is, I'm going to cry my eyes out and stuff myself full of ice cream. Or something. I don't really know...but I do know that I'll be sleep deprived by the time I get to my grandma's house.
CRAP! I WON'T BE ABLE TO READ FANFICTION WHILE I'M THERE! I just realized that! NOOOOO!!!
Somebody please kill me...
Yes, I have bits and pieces of the last three chapters. I wrote the major fight scene last night (I take a super long time to write fight scenes), so I don't have to worry about that.
But I do NOT work well under pressure. I procrastinate horribly - the reason why I'm literally unable to write essays in school. Which is why I have a D in English class 90% of the time. Excuse my language, but fuck my life. Caged is not going to be finished by tomorrow morning.
...If it is, I'm going to cry my eyes out and stuff myself full of ice cream. Or something. I don't really know...but I do know that I'll be sleep deprived by the time I get to my grandma's house.
CRAP! I WON'T BE ABLE TO READ FANFICTION WHILE I'M THERE! I just realized that! NOOOOO!!!
Somebody please kill me...
Rachel: Finally on again
First of all, let me just apologize for how long it's been since a made a post; I've been crazy busy the last few days and have therefore been slacking on my SAAWAKM duties. Expect me to slack for the next three days some more because we're going to climb Mt. Whitney, which I have been talking about forever had am finally setting out to do. We're driving out there today, climbing tomorrow, and coming home the next day. Wish us luck. I will DEFINITELY need it.
Anyway, what have I been so busy doing, you ask? Goat-ing--what else? Weirdly that takes up a lot of my time, and even though I have hours of everyday free I am so tired that all inspiration to post anything has left me. I have also been doing a lot of musical schtuff. I had my second orchestra rehearsal for this year's Fourth of July gig on Thursday, which would have been a lot more fun if I was not brain-dead-tired at the time and was not playing 3rd/bass trombone. Most of the time 3rd trombone is just as interesting as any of the other parts minus a few measures or two, but I have this one song where I mostly just sit there and play for maybe thirty measures total. I HATE pieces like that, because basically the composer was like "We don't need a third trombone part...but what the hell? I'll just scribble something down here...yeah, that's right..." and I am forced to play whatever crap he comes up with. This isn't always the case, of course, but when it is it gets on my nerves. Still, though.I suppose I should be happy I get to play in that orchestra at all (it's full of very experienced adult musicians) and I definitely am. Despite what I just said, even when I mostly just sit and listen while waiting to play some more it's fun. I very much enjoy listening to classical music. So that's that. I'm playing one violin piece in that orchestra as well which I have not yet had a chance to test my aptitude with, so wish me luck with that (again) next Thursday. My violin teacher is very sad that I am not playing ALL violin pieces, but her husband, who is also the orchestra's conductor, said that they desperately need me on the trombone and that is that. Even though my poor teacher is bummed out, I have to say that it's kind of an honor to have been chosen to play the trombone in this group. I'm not filling in for anybody this time--I'm actually the person he wanted. Which is cool, I think. Anyway, enough prattling on about that. What else is going on...
Well, I have started my intense planning for Death List just like I said I would. I've decided to go character by character in order of chapter appearance and just come up with everything that I would like that particular person to go through from start to finish. Luckily I know where most if not all of my characters end up, so that makes that part sort of easy. I mentioned in an earlier post that my goal is to have everyone meet at least once (this may or may not actually be able to happen) but in this early planning stage I'm not going to worry so much about that. Once I've written out everything about everybody, I can go back and edit what I wrote to kind of bring all of those little plots together into the massive plot of the book itself. I expect that then it will be pretty clear who can meet up with who and when, especially since some of them ultimately end up in the same place. Unless they die, in which case they do not.
Well...that's about all I have to say for the time being. Oh! Except for that I think the blog looks INCREDIBLE! I love it! I know that this is super late, but I still think it needs to be said. I definitely enjoy the old-timey romantic feel of it, so thank you, Kas. Oh, and while I'm talking specifically to Kas, I just wanted to commend you on your taste in fashion. I was just reading that post of yours where you included a bunch of pictures of clothing you were considering purchasing and I was like...wow. I should take pictures of the things that I usually wear and put them on here so you can witness exactly how much more fashionable you are than me and get a good laugh out of it. I won't, just to spare you all, but jeez, Kas, your style is beautiful.
So...that's it. Like I said, don't expect me on for the next few days, but come Tuesday evening or Wednesday be prepared to read a LOT of complaining about how sore I am haha. Just kidding. I won't fall back on complaining unless I seriously have nothing else to post about, which I sincerely hope won;t be the case.
-Iridian
Anyway, what have I been so busy doing, you ask? Goat-ing--what else? Weirdly that takes up a lot of my time, and even though I have hours of everyday free I am so tired that all inspiration to post anything has left me. I have also been doing a lot of musical schtuff. I had my second orchestra rehearsal for this year's Fourth of July gig on Thursday, which would have been a lot more fun if I was not brain-dead-tired at the time and was not playing 3rd/bass trombone. Most of the time 3rd trombone is just as interesting as any of the other parts minus a few measures or two, but I have this one song where I mostly just sit there and play for maybe thirty measures total. I HATE pieces like that, because basically the composer was like "We don't need a third trombone part...but what the hell? I'll just scribble something down here...yeah, that's right..." and I am forced to play whatever crap he comes up with. This isn't always the case, of course, but when it is it gets on my nerves. Still, though.I suppose I should be happy I get to play in that orchestra at all (it's full of very experienced adult musicians) and I definitely am. Despite what I just said, even when I mostly just sit and listen while waiting to play some more it's fun. I very much enjoy listening to classical music. So that's that. I'm playing one violin piece in that orchestra as well which I have not yet had a chance to test my aptitude with, so wish me luck with that (again) next Thursday. My violin teacher is very sad that I am not playing ALL violin pieces, but her husband, who is also the orchestra's conductor, said that they desperately need me on the trombone and that is that. Even though my poor teacher is bummed out, I have to say that it's kind of an honor to have been chosen to play the trombone in this group. I'm not filling in for anybody this time--I'm actually the person he wanted. Which is cool, I think. Anyway, enough prattling on about that. What else is going on...
Well, I have started my intense planning for Death List just like I said I would. I've decided to go character by character in order of chapter appearance and just come up with everything that I would like that particular person to go through from start to finish. Luckily I know where most if not all of my characters end up, so that makes that part sort of easy. I mentioned in an earlier post that my goal is to have everyone meet at least once (this may or may not actually be able to happen) but in this early planning stage I'm not going to worry so much about that. Once I've written out everything about everybody, I can go back and edit what I wrote to kind of bring all of those little plots together into the massive plot of the book itself. I expect that then it will be pretty clear who can meet up with who and when, especially since some of them ultimately end up in the same place. Unless they die, in which case they do not.
Well...that's about all I have to say for the time being. Oh! Except for that I think the blog looks INCREDIBLE! I love it! I know that this is super late, but I still think it needs to be said. I definitely enjoy the old-timey romantic feel of it, so thank you, Kas. Oh, and while I'm talking specifically to Kas, I just wanted to commend you on your taste in fashion. I was just reading that post of yours where you included a bunch of pictures of clothing you were considering purchasing and I was like...wow. I should take pictures of the things that I usually wear and put them on here so you can witness exactly how much more fashionable you are than me and get a good laugh out of it. I won't, just to spare you all, but jeez, Kas, your style is beautiful.
So...that's it. Like I said, don't expect me on for the next few days, but come Tuesday evening or Wednesday be prepared to read a LOT of complaining about how sore I am haha. Just kidding. I won't fall back on complaining unless I seriously have nothing else to post about, which I sincerely hope won;t be the case.
-Iridian
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Kas: again...
Yes, I am posting again. And yes, it is 5:25 a.m. Whatevs. I decided I'm not sleeping tonight.
I am still shopping. Crazy how long I can do this, huh?
I decided that I am going thrift store shopping in the morning with my little sister. She has no idea yet, and I'm sure she'll be thrilled. Hahaha. Nothing bores her more than shopping with me.
I'll most likely just hit up the Goodwill and Salvation Army in search of high waisted mom jeans and old over-sized band t-shirts. I have to go to Hobby Lobby as well, though, and get lace, some different fabrics, Iron-on tape and fabric dye.
I'll show you all my finished products when i eventually get them done. :)
BUT, I didn't make this post to update you on my shopping plans, even though i have successfully done that. I need your advice, ladies.
So, I checked email and I received an email from the University of Oklahoma, my future college, asking me if I would prefer living on a co-ed dorm floor vs an all girls one. This is the first year they've even had co-ed floors, so i never really though about it. My roommate and suite-mates (also known as the girls in the room next to mine with whom I will share a bathroom) will all be girls. I kind of like the idea of having guys on our floor. I tend to get along much better with guy than I do with girls anyways... So, what do you girls think?
What would you choose?
-Kas.
I am still shopping. Crazy how long I can do this, huh?
I decided that I am going thrift store shopping in the morning with my little sister. She has no idea yet, and I'm sure she'll be thrilled. Hahaha. Nothing bores her more than shopping with me.
I'll most likely just hit up the Goodwill and Salvation Army in search of high waisted mom jeans and old over-sized band t-shirts. I have to go to Hobby Lobby as well, though, and get lace, some different fabrics, Iron-on tape and fabric dye.
I'll show you all my finished products when i eventually get them done. :)
BUT, I didn't make this post to update you on my shopping plans, even though i have successfully done that. I need your advice, ladies.
So, I checked email and I received an email from the University of Oklahoma, my future college, asking me if I would prefer living on a co-ed dorm floor vs an all girls one. This is the first year they've even had co-ed floors, so i never really though about it. My roommate and suite-mates (also known as the girls in the room next to mine with whom I will share a bathroom) will all be girls. I kind of like the idea of having guys on our floor. I tend to get along much better with guy than I do with girls anyways... So, what do you girls think?
What would you choose?
-Kas.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Kas: Help me?
Hey guys, so I'm glad you like the new look.
I finished my notes for Silver yesterday, so once Heather finishes, we'll be updating you on Silver a lot more.. hopefully. :)
Anyways, I've been bored all day, which usually just means I do a lot of internet shopping... also I just deposited all my grad money into the bank. I really should save it... Haha. Yeah, right.
So, along with ordering a copy of The Perks of Being a Wallflower (I've read it like 6 times, however, i want my own copy.) I decided I want a new bralet.
If you don't know what that is, here's a picture.
I finished my notes for Silver yesterday, so once Heather finishes, we'll be updating you on Silver a lot more.. hopefully. :)
Anyways, I've been bored all day, which usually just means I do a lot of internet shopping... also I just deposited all my grad money into the bank. I really should save it... Haha. Yeah, right.
So, along with ordering a copy of The Perks of Being a Wallflower (I've read it like 6 times, however, i want my own copy.) I decided I want a new bralet.
If you don't know what that is, here's a picture.
The top is a bralet.
Anyways, I already have one, which i wear quite often, but I just found an ebay seller who sells them for really cheap. So, I want your help deciding which one to get. I may end up ordering more, but I have really big boobs so i always order one just to test out the fit before ordering any more. :)
Here are the choices...
#1
#2
#3
#4
So, Tell me what you think.
Oh, I also bought...
These shorts
And these shorts...
and these studs, which I will put into those ^ shorts. :)
And I'm still going. Haha. I'm trying to find a cheap place to buy a few more pairs of boring high waisted denim shorts that i can destroy and dye. Hmm...
-K
Cori: Procrastination...
I know. I have only 8 days left - actually, I have 7...it's been 7 days for 50 minutes now - but I have not played Animal Crossing on the DS for about a year now. My town was FULL of weeds! I couldn't just leave it in that heartbreaking condition! I had to act!
...So I went and caught some fish on Animal Crossing. And got rid of all the weeds. And planted some trees. And sold every single piece of fruit in the town. And made a new character. And played around with him for a while. And caught some bugs. And fished some more. And ended up getting 250,000 bucks. And sent it to my house-building-Tom-Nook-is-trying-to-turn-me-into-his-indentured-servant loan thing. And then I fished some more. And shoved some animals into pitfalls. And then fished some more.
In other words: I got absolutely no writing done today. Because Animal Crossing is so freaking addicting.
Animal Crossing: it's the only time where you can fit an entire wardrobe inside of your pocket.
...So I went and caught some fish on Animal Crossing. And got rid of all the weeds. And planted some trees. And sold every single piece of fruit in the town. And made a new character. And played around with him for a while. And caught some bugs. And fished some more. And ended up getting 250,000 bucks. And sent it to my house-building-Tom-Nook-is-trying-to-turn-me-into-his-indentured-servant loan thing. And then I fished some more. And shoved some animals into pitfalls. And then fished some more.
In other words: I got absolutely no writing done today. Because Animal Crossing is so freaking addicting.
Animal Crossing: it's the only time where you can fit an entire wardrobe inside of your pocket.
Nat: Not a lot to say...
...but just want to say that I love the new layout!
Also - um, the John Green quote is fantastic. He is seriously AMAZING.
That's all.
:)
-Nat
Also - um, the John Green quote is fantastic. He is seriously AMAZING.
That's all.
:)
-Nat
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Kas: Heather asked me to fix the blog for her...
Haha. So, I decided to go for a more romantic, old timey feel this time.
I took out a few of the sidebar things that no one really uses anymore and added a new feature. Quote of the week.
Each week, we add a new quote. Honestly, we don't have to wait a full week, if the quote's already been up for a few days and you want to change it, go for it.
This week I used one of my all time favorites, from a John Green novel.
Well, tell me what you think of the new look.
ALSO, to go along with the new look, I want everyone to re-do their personal pages. Most of them are extremely out dated. I'll go work on mine now! :)
-K
I took out a few of the sidebar things that no one really uses anymore and added a new feature. Quote of the week.
Each week, we add a new quote. Honestly, we don't have to wait a full week, if the quote's already been up for a few days and you want to change it, go for it.
This week I used one of my all time favorites, from a John Green novel.
Well, tell me what you think of the new look.
ALSO, to go along with the new look, I want everyone to re-do their personal pages. Most of them are extremely out dated. I'll go work on mine now! :)
-K
Heather: Damn it!
I know this looks terrible, don't worry, I'm fixing it.
-H
And by 'I'm' I mean 'Kas-to-the-rescue!'
-H
And by 'I'm' I mean 'Kas-to-the-rescue!'
Heather: Did You Know?
That it's been almost a year (if not more) since we've had this many posts in one month?
Which, admittedly, while awesome, is also sort of terrible as the June before last, we had almost 200. But, I'm extremely happy to say that we (cough, Rachel, cough) are bringing this 'ere blog back to life!
So, I'm currently still way behind on the Silver read-through, even though Kas finished like an hour ago... (cough, six hours ago, cough).What can I say? I've been procrastinating for weeks. PLEASE. Give me some motivation!
Also, I'm sorry I fell behind on commenting! Exams just started, so, you know, busy busy bee! Ahem, except for today, which I had off, and did nothing... :D
Hmm. I'm not really sure what to say.
Lallalalalla.
Here's a list of the things I think (WARNING: Do not continue reading if faint of heart):
Which, admittedly, while awesome, is also sort of terrible as the June before last, we had almost 200. But, I'm extremely happy to say that we (cough, Rachel, cough) are bringing this 'ere blog back to life!
So, I'm currently still way behind on the Silver read-through, even though Kas finished like an hour ago... (cough, six hours ago, cough).What can I say? I've been procrastinating for weeks. PLEASE. Give me some motivation!
Also, I'm sorry I fell behind on commenting! Exams just started, so, you know, busy busy bee! Ahem, except for today, which I had off, and did nothing... :D
Hmm. I'm not really sure what to say.
Lallalalalla.
Here's a list of the things I think (WARNING: Do not continue reading if faint of heart):
- I want food.
- The fridge is empty.
- I want food.
- The fridge is still empty.
- I want food!
- Oooh! Bread!
- I wish food tasted like crap. Then I'd only eat in order to live. Not live in order to eat.
- I want food.
- Let's go see Madagascar 3! I've never seen 1 or 2, but who cares?
- That cop just gave me a thumbs up. I swear. He did!
- We are late. We're late we're late we're late!
- Mmmm. Greasy theater food.
- Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
- Afro circus, afro circus, afro circus, afro circus, polka dot, polka dot, polka dot, polka dot, AFRO!
- Mmmm. Food.
- Don't speed, don't speed, don't speed... HEY! That guy just gave me the finger!
- Cheap.
- Mmm. Bed.
- No, wait! Midnight snack!
- How the hell am I not 300 pounds heavier?
Ahem, in all seriousness, my stomach is growling and I think I'm going to go get more food... Then bed! Yum!
:D
-H
Rachel: Well, DUH, me...
I was in an appointment today that I always have on Thursdays. In this appointment I basically just sit for a really long time, so I was thinking about my books (specifically Death List) and where I want to take the plots. After some time of doing this, I got to thinking about all of you and how well you seem to know your own books. Some of you know every event that takes place in your book before you even start writing it. The planning that you do is so intense, and all of your books sound really, really awesome. So it just sort of struck me...I would quit running into problems with my own writing if I just dedicated some time to extensive planning. If I didn't just jump into my stories without really knowing where they were going or how they were going to end up, I might not wind up with so many issues. Because I just kind of jump in to a book, I always get tangled up in details and have problems with where I want the plot to head. SO the obvious solution is to stop writing and start planning, which is what I am hereby swearing to do. All of my books are being put on hold until I have a serious outline and KNOW where I want them to go. I'm posting this mostly so that I have witnesses to my promise to NOT WRITE until I know what the hell I'm writing about. If I start posting about how I just wrote something interesting or whatever, you all have permission to destroy me in an angry mob.
In other news, I really like Cori's idea of redoing the blog. Obviously I haven't been on here that long and SAAWAKM's look is still somewhat new to me, but I don't know. I like creativity. I would offer to redo it (with everyone's consent, of course), but I am also a technological idiot and therefore have absolutely no idea how to. Even so, I just wanted to tell everybody that I'm pro that idea and to reintroduce it to everyone. I know that it's been brought up before.
Well, I'm stupidly tired and am considering taking a nap after I finish everything that I want to do today because it's summer and I can do that. In theory. I can't actually sleep during the daytime, but it's worth a try. I might be on here later today to annoy all of you with more of nothing to say, but, until then, au revoir!
-Iridian
In other news, I really like Cori's idea of redoing the blog. Obviously I haven't been on here that long and SAAWAKM's look is still somewhat new to me, but I don't know. I like creativity. I would offer to redo it (with everyone's consent, of course), but I am also a technological idiot and therefore have absolutely no idea how to. Even so, I just wanted to tell everybody that I'm pro that idea and to reintroduce it to everyone. I know that it's been brought up before.
Well, I'm stupidly tired and am considering taking a nap after I finish everything that I want to do today because it's summer and I can do that. In theory. I can't actually sleep during the daytime, but it's worth a try. I might be on here later today to annoy all of you with more of nothing to say, but, until then, au revoir!
-Iridian
Cori: 9 Days Left...
Nine days until Caged has to be finished. I'm really freaking out right now! I still have three chapters left to do; I've written bits and pieces of those chapters, but I'm not so sure that I'll be able to finish the entire thing by June 30th.
I think SAAWAKM needs a new look. I love the one we have now, but a new one would be nice too. And since I'm technologically impaired, and don't even know how to make a page (I've tried, and failed miserably), someone else has to do it. Otherwise I would, because I've always wanted to. Lawl.
This is going to be an extremely short post, mainly because I need to write. I'll try to post later or something. =D
I think SAAWAKM needs a new look. I love the one we have now, but a new one would be nice too. And since I'm technologically impaired, and don't even know how to make a page (I've tried, and failed miserably), someone else has to do it. Otherwise I would, because I've always wanted to. Lawl.
This is going to be an extremely short post, mainly because I need to write. I'll try to post later or something. =D
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Rachel: This is extremely random, but....
I was just working on filling out an updated charrie resume that Cori sent me (thank you, by the way) and I got to the astrological sign bit. I don't know everything about all of the signs by heart, so I just went online to read up on them and see which one fit my character best. Needless to say, I got completely distracted and started reading up on my own just because I remember that the last time that I did this I was weirded out because it was so creepily accurate. Unsurprisingly, reading the exact same information on the exact same sight yielded the same results, so I got to wondering...why are astrological signs able to describe us so well? I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule, of course; there are bound to be Aquariuses that are nothing like what their sign says they should be. But for me it fits like a shoe...that fits...and it creeps me out. Why should some strange made up bologna be able to describe who I am so accurately? What does where the planets were positioned when I was born have anything to do with who I am? I think that is extremely odd. I might just sound stupid, but I would think that the circumstances that I was born into would have more of an effect on my personality than planets that I am nowhere near would. But if that's true, then how on Earth can astrological signs be so dag-nammed accurate?! RAWR!
Sorry to rant about this, but it is just something that that charrie resume forced me to think about.
-Iridian
Sorry to rant about this, but it is just something that that charrie resume forced me to think about.
-Iridian
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Cori and Jamie: Our characters!
Cori here! So Jamie and I have been working on our book lately. It was previously called To The Countdown (TTC), but we're planning on changing that, so it's sort of only going to be there for a while longer.
We each made a character; I got the male MC, and she got the female MC. Their names are Van Maser (pronounced Vahn) and Syra Avon. Pretty cool, eh? So we're going to do the character thing, just like we've been doing as of late. Let's get started!
Van Maser is the MMC. On the outside, he's a bit of a goofball - clueless, polite, a total optimist, and loves to have fun and to eat. But that's not the real him; he's not human. He's part of a species called the Nocti, and has a single power that puts him apart from normal people. Van can generate electricity. The Nocti are kept hidden from humans by the corrupt government, but every once and a while one of the Nocti will lash out and massacre some humans. When that happens, it's Van's self-proclaimed job to go out and eliminate them with his best friend Syra. On the inside, he's very serious and is a ruthless murderer. The reason behind killing the Nocti is because when he was one, his parents were killed by a group of them; he was sent to an orphanage, where he met Syra. The two ran away together and decided to destroy the bad Nocti. Appearance: Van has dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He's of average height and weight, and is lightly muscled from fighting. He has an attractive but slightly plain face - he's easy to overlook and forget about, making it easy for him to blend in with the rest of the civilians. Because if he and Syra are captured, they're bound to be either experimented on or killed.
Alright! Kamie here now! Cantcha tell? Is that a word? It should be! My personal character descriptions should be coming up soon. Right now it's saved in drafts, because I ran out of energy last night and I still don't know enough about them! But I'll try and get that up soon! So yeah, I changed my writing color so ya'll would know it's me... though I think it's obvious now... obviously. Oki doki then! So yeah, Core gave you a pretty good summary of it so far! It was WAAAAY different beforehand, so this is a new change, but a welcomed one! So yeah, I guess I'll get straight to my part of this post now about my character!
Syra Avon is the FMC. Syra tends to be shy and introverted through at least the first part of the book(s)? She tends to ramble often and stutter when she's nervous or unsure about her next move. She opens up when she's alone with Van and has an obsession with cookie dough. She doesn't fear death, and is a quick, clean killer, however, when needed she knows many different ways of torturing people. She has learned over the years how to blend in as a normal human along with Van when she's actually a Nocti also. Her power? She can transfer her mind and soul into any animal of her choice and can control them (without hurting the animal) for as long as she wants. The catch is definitely the after effects, as they seem to linger, such as primitive ways of thinking or acting, or even small things such as trying to clean herself with her tongue after being a cat. Syra, hurts in many ways from being torn from her parents at the age of two when she is found to be the dreaded Nocti and is forced to live in an orphanage in the middle of the capital of Japitias, Wytain. After learning what the Nocti who were raised in the same orphanages and institutes as themselves have done to humans all around, she decides to help Van with his job of killing the Nocti together.
Appearance: Syra has deep auburn hair with side bangs that is long to her hips. When she's out in public she keeps it up in a braid or a ponytail, however, when she's alone or in a more secluded area she'll keep it down, covering her face. She has blue eyes that switch from being grey/blue to aqual/teal colorings. She has pale skin with a brush of freckles across her cheeks which aren't really noticeable however, they are there. She has high-raised cheekbones with a small thin mouth and she is approximately 5'4," an average height. She has a frail and delicate build when she's in her normal "human" form and she's a little bit underweight, however, it's nothing deathly. She has learned the ways of blending in, and becoming one with her surrounding, due to the danger of living and getting either experimented on, thrown in jail for treason, or being killed... You never know, maybe even all of the above!
So yeah! That's our charries for now! We're still working on them, along with our charrie resumes! :D Hope this didn't completely bore ya'll and I hope you enjoyed it! Well... until next time! Peace out!
-Kamiella Maze
We each made a character; I got the male MC, and she got the female MC. Their names are Van Maser (pronounced Vahn) and Syra Avon. Pretty cool, eh? So we're going to do the character thing, just like we've been doing as of late. Let's get started!
Van Maser is the MMC. On the outside, he's a bit of a goofball - clueless, polite, a total optimist, and loves to have fun and to eat. But that's not the real him; he's not human. He's part of a species called the Nocti, and has a single power that puts him apart from normal people. Van can generate electricity. The Nocti are kept hidden from humans by the corrupt government, but every once and a while one of the Nocti will lash out and massacre some humans. When that happens, it's Van's self-proclaimed job to go out and eliminate them with his best friend Syra. On the inside, he's very serious and is a ruthless murderer. The reason behind killing the Nocti is because when he was one, his parents were killed by a group of them; he was sent to an orphanage, where he met Syra. The two ran away together and decided to destroy the bad Nocti. Appearance: Van has dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He's of average height and weight, and is lightly muscled from fighting. He has an attractive but slightly plain face - he's easy to overlook and forget about, making it easy for him to blend in with the rest of the civilians. Because if he and Syra are captured, they're bound to be either experimented on or killed.
Alright! Kamie here now! Cantcha tell? Is that a word? It should be! My personal character descriptions should be coming up soon. Right now it's saved in drafts, because I ran out of energy last night and I still don't know enough about them! But I'll try and get that up soon! So yeah, I changed my writing color so ya'll would know it's me... though I think it's obvious now... obviously. Oki doki then! So yeah, Core gave you a pretty good summary of it so far! It was WAAAAY different beforehand, so this is a new change, but a welcomed one! So yeah, I guess I'll get straight to my part of this post now about my character!
Syra Avon is the FMC. Syra tends to be shy and introverted through at least the first part of the book(s)? She tends to ramble often and stutter when she's nervous or unsure about her next move. She opens up when she's alone with Van and has an obsession with cookie dough. She doesn't fear death, and is a quick, clean killer, however, when needed she knows many different ways of torturing people. She has learned over the years how to blend in as a normal human along with Van when she's actually a Nocti also. Her power? She can transfer her mind and soul into any animal of her choice and can control them (without hurting the animal) for as long as she wants. The catch is definitely the after effects, as they seem to linger, such as primitive ways of thinking or acting, or even small things such as trying to clean herself with her tongue after being a cat. Syra, hurts in many ways from being torn from her parents at the age of two when she is found to be the dreaded Nocti and is forced to live in an orphanage in the middle of the capital of Japitias, Wytain. After learning what the Nocti who were raised in the same orphanages and institutes as themselves have done to humans all around, she decides to help Van with his job of killing the Nocti together.
Appearance: Syra has deep auburn hair with side bangs that is long to her hips. When she's out in public she keeps it up in a braid or a ponytail, however, when she's alone or in a more secluded area she'll keep it down, covering her face. She has blue eyes that switch from being grey/blue to aqual/teal colorings. She has pale skin with a brush of freckles across her cheeks which aren't really noticeable however, they are there. She has high-raised cheekbones with a small thin mouth and she is approximately 5'4," an average height. She has a frail and delicate build when she's in her normal "human" form and she's a little bit underweight, however, it's nothing deathly. She has learned the ways of blending in, and becoming one with her surrounding, due to the danger of living and getting either experimented on, thrown in jail for treason, or being killed... You never know, maybe even all of the above!
So yeah! That's our charries for now! We're still working on them, along with our charrie resumes! :D Hope this didn't completely bore ya'll and I hope you enjoyed it! Well... until next time! Peace out!
-Kamiella Maze
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