Memoirs From Fairyland

Please Hold On Tight and Fasten Your Seatbelts...

2009-11-14T15:30:29Z

We're back to that time again. That time where I have to do a marathon sprint at the end of the week in hopes of catching up to the days when I only had time enough for homework, sleep, and food-- one meal per day, usually, because there wasn't enough time for anything else.

Except this weekend, I have homework too.

An epic ~~16275/23333~~, 17100/23333

This is what has to be done:

Change journal layout back to what it was because it's the only one that doesn't drive me nuts
Finish coffee
Get dressed
Take dog out
Read 10 pages of Opium Culture by Peter Lee while eating breakfast
WRITE ARSE OFF
Do dishes at about 12:15
Brief ch17 planning session and drink French Vanilla cocoa
Procrastinate
Go to store
Make giant cookie
WRITE ARSE OFF

DIES LAUGHING

2009-11-13T02:14:05Z

Watch this. Just watch it. The Life of a Mary Sue. And this.

In Which I Am Awesome

2009-11-11T02:47:45Z

These things have been accomplished/not accomplished since my last posting:

I am still behind on my word count, but by nowhere near as much, and currently am at ~~14265/16667~~, 15766/16667.
I am now on the sixteenth chapter. Boo-ya! Dread and fear my awesome writing prowess. The half-way point's been crossed, the half-way point's been crossed. High-ho-a-dairy-oh, the half-way point's been crossed.
I have written 71 total pages, non-double-spaced, which means 143 double-spaced, which means that in thirty more pages in non-double-spaced I'll have a real 100 pages, which means chocolate ice cream. Just so you know. That was a lot of meaning packed in one bullet.

In related news, Tanner is driving me nuts, this time with boredom. Dude, just stop scheming, plotting, and stewing and make with the action already. Please/thank you. Also, Cordan, Yeni, and Mal have hijacked my other characters and are now going to be in the novel for the duration, like the greedy jerks that they are. This is annoying on several levels. In other related news, I have many papers and tests coming up and should probably be working on them. Why is it that professors don't realize that NaNo hath come? I need to shift arse, but I don't wanna.

The Daily Nano

2009-11-09T15:43:51Z

Current Word Count: ~~11846/15000~~, ~~12040/15000~~, 12418/15000

Favorite Line (So Far) Today: Guy could charm the pants off a boa constrictor.

Hopefully, there are better lines later today, because that one's amusing, but not awesome.

Character Profiles, p2

2009-11-08T20:59:26Z

And the one I'm thinking about making Tanner's romantic interest is introduced in chapter fourteen... If I do this, I really don't think they'll last for very long... Will finish the rest of these later-- first one is only one that matters right now.

Audrey Beaufort / Dri

Age: 26
Birthdate:
Gender: Female
Nationality: Home
Race: Human
Talent(s): None
Profession: Sergeant in the ASOW military
Favorite Color(s): Pale blue
Pastimes: VR, blip racing, etc.
Ambitions: Make rank of general
Best Friends: Juna Marie, Helene
Close Friends: Paulo Tims, Kendall Jonson.
Family Members: Assemblyman George Mandeau (father), Gentlewoman Camilla Beaufort (mother)

Looks: Dri has short, dark brown curls that are cut boyishly short and thick lashes. Her eyes are a very grayish brown, set with a faintly Ko-chenese look about them. She's of a medium height, about five seven, and wiry. Her features are very classic.
Comments/Personality: Dri is very headstrong and stubborn. She wants very strongly to please her father and eventually become part of the ASOW senate, which her father is currently a part of. She's tired of getting missions that are meant to protect her because of her father's rank. She spends all of her time off duty hanging out with her friends in VR and racing on her blip. She's very set in her ways and doesn't like it when anything disrupts her routine. She doesn't think of herself as spoiled, but lives mostly on the money that her father gives her. She argues vehemently when anyone says anything she thinks should be incorrect, even if she's never thought of it before, and after she has reconsidered her options, she finds it hard to go back on her word even when she's wrong.

Haven

Age: 19
Birthdate: _______
Gender: Male
Nationality: North Freehold
Race: Human (Mechan)
Talent(s): Telepathy, unspecified ability with machinery
Favorite Color(s): n/a (dark green)
Pastimes: Sketches (though he doesn't particularly enjoy it), money, working, tinkering with machines
Ambitions: None in particular; would like to continue working with Captain Hilda
Best Friends: Tanner, Jay
Close Friends: Hilda
Friends: Kindrive Caravan
Family Members: Unknown

Looks: Black hair cut just about his chin and braided through with little beads and bits of colored string, pale gray eyes, very pale skin, rather tall... five eleven, I think; Jay is one inch taller than him. He has silver markings all over his body-- metal grafts-- that trace in artistic marks all over his body. One curls up his neck near the back of his ear and a few trace down his back; one is on the inner part of his android arm, which is his right.
Comments/Personality:

Tanner Randolph

Age: 25
Birthdate: _______
Gender: Male
Nationality: Timberland
Race: Human
Talent(s): Spark
Favorite Color(s): Dark red
Pastimes: Blowing stuff up, causing trouble, teasing people
Ambitions: Anarchy in the UK, baby
Best Friend: Happy
Close Friends: Rev
Friends: Benny, Gabe, Hannah
Family Members: Millie Randolph (mother), Kelly (older sister), Dana (second oldest sister)

Comments/Personality:

I Solemnly Swear That I'm Up To No Good

2009-11-08T15:30:54Z

So, recently I decided that the internet was shiny and pretty and worth more than my Nano. NO MORE! I will catch up TODAY even if my fingers FALL OFF! So this is my vow to you, internet at large, and my game plan for the day. If I don't follow it, feel free to beat me with a mallet.

Game Plan

~~Finish getting dressed~~
~~Take dog out~~
~~Bring computer, iPod, and notes down to table~~
Write: ~~6815/13333~~, ~~7226/13336~~, 7881/13336

First steps to writing: open novel .doc, Word 2007 (for word count purposes) , and start up Write or Die.
Second and following steps: finish first Write or Die session and start again. Repeat until completed or dead.

~~Break briefly for lunch~~
Write: ~~7781/13336~~, ~~8617/13336~~, ~~9040/13336 (14th chapter begins now-- YES!)~~, ~~10940/13336 (14th chapter is going to be incredibly long-- oh noes!)~~, 11846/13333 - sleeping now (started about 10:30 AM, ending 11:30PM). Did not prevail, but mostly done. Still, darn.

GOLGOTHA Total Word Count: 41,846, ending for today with needing to begin chapter fifteen next time.

NaNoNaNoNaNo

2009-11-05T03:37:47Z

I have officially managed to catch up to the expected word count for today, despite not working on it very much yesterday, and am now weighing in at 6782/6672. This is awesome and I admire me very much.

I also admire me for having written one of the most emotional scenes that I have ever written and for managing to get two people dead and one unconscious in one paragraph. And now there will need to be interrogation, which should be fun. How far can the good guys go when interrogating? Oh wait. There are telepaths. Never mind. This should be fun.

Unfortunately, one of my characters is now incredibly screwed up-- not in an epic fail way, but in an "omg he needs so much therapy" way. This is good for plot, since I kind of needed him to have a slight mental breakdown, but bad for him. Dear Haven: I'm sorry I totally raped your mind, but it will all work out for you in the end. Unless I kill your lover off. Which I hopefully won't do. Definitely won't do. Really. No, really. Too much like is between the two of us.

More NaNo Updates (I am obsessed)

2009-11-03T14:00:46Z

Today's Word Count (so far): 3375/5000.
Total GOLGOTHA Word Count: 33,375/80000 (roughly).

Favorite Line So Far Today: "Please hold tightly to your belongings and silence your children."

NaNo Updates and Android Projects

2009-11-02T15:31:07Z

Now will be the true test of my mettle: the school week has started and I have to write another 1500 words for today.

Today's Word Count (so far): ~~2030/3333~~ ~~2594/3333~~ ~~2660/3333~~ 3432/3333

I have also come to realize that not everyone lives in my head with me. This would seem obvious, but unfortunately, it is not. So: the origins of the Android Project.

"I Heard the Church Bells Toll" was my Alpha submission story. It was originally titled "Golgotha" and was about a young girl named Key who was the embodiment of Fate. I reworked it several different times and each time it lost a little bit of the original plot. The version I submitted to Alpha was almost immediately crossed over to what it should be, but still kept a strange side character whose story was a complete dead end: a character named Key, who was not explained. At all. It was suck and I need to rewrite it to fix it, as she no longer exists in any form. Key's story was part of The World of Jaxton, a series of novels I wrote when I was twelve or so. She is completely defunct, now.

Then came in "Falling is easy.," which is a story I wrote for tygati because she wanted something about this picture. It is short and also needs rewriting. It was about a side character in what later became GOLGOTHA, Demon, an android soldier for ASOW. This story also brought back the characters of Ian Jenkins and Andrea Martin, who originally came from Key's story, and later "I Heard the Church Bells Toll." I didn't yet consider the stories connected, but eventually I came to consider them connected as they took over my soul.

Shortly thereafter, I had this idea in the shower. An opening sequence, just a bunch of characters milling around a market square and then blowing something up. The imagery of it was fantastic-- I wrote it, the first chapter of GOLGOTHA, and immediately followed it with Haven's section, except Haven informed me he would like to be a mechan, thank you very much. 'Oh crap,' I thought. 'I didn't realize this linked in with that other stuff.' Yet before that, my thoughts had been spinning around in my head about Demon-- I couldn't just leave him as he was at the end of "Falling is easy." He was dying. That was bad. I wanted him to go to this cool sanctuary in the mountains were all kinds of rebels went. And then Saint Peter's, a town in GOLGOTHA was born: heaven's gate. And then Tanner headed on over to Saint Peter's, and the rebellion was born.

That's the main sequence for how the Android Project started up. Before all of this, I wrote a flash fic called "A Worthy Pursuit". A man wandered through a desert, killed someone, and found someting worthwhile to do. But it was too short-- it needed something more. And the government was bad in that too... it decided to hitch up to the Android Project and become about four times as long. And "The Homegrown Army" was before that, even, and that probably hitches up even if I never finish writing. Not to mention "Pack," the story Yeni, Cordan, and Mal come from, and "Weapon," which is the working title for something about one of the other kids from "I Heard the Church Bells Toll." And the Android Project'll probably eat more stories: it is the Cthulhu of projects, it is.

NaNoWriMo: Commence!

2009-11-01T20:00:08Z

And let NaNo commence!

I have realized, by the way, that if I plan on continuing my Android Project, I'm going to have to keep a list of the slang, because I can't remember all of what I've used and Tanner insists that his section has to be full of it.

absolute zero: slang for when something completely horrible has happened or will happened
bender: slang for telekinetic
biod: genetically-engineered humans
colonizers - first, second, and third: the word to describe those who live in a series of satellites around the world; not very Android Project important yet/ever
droid: can either be short for android or slang for a robot
fed: derogatory term for any government official, particularly those in law enforcement
gopher guts: curse word
hack-monkey: slightly derogatory slang word for hackers
Hopper: short for Sandhopper, a hummer/hovercraft cross used in Duion
junk-monkey: slightly derogatory slang word for mechanics
jour: journeyman
monkey-shite: awful
nightchoke blooming at sunrise: something unlikely
op: operation or operative, depending on context
spark: slang for an electrokinetic
Skitter: short for Sandskitter, a dune buggy/hovercraft cross used in Duion
techie: generalized term for hackers, mechanics, and other "technical support" positions.
techno geek: someone obsessed with technology
to junk: common term for throwing something away, generally used when something that is useful is being thrown away; a futile gesture
to hack: common term for doing something difficult; a way to approach a problem

And then I would like to add in... Daily Word Count (so far): 1900

Note: Layout changed in honor of NaNo and what I'm working on. For as long as I can stand it changed, anyway.

Character Profiles, p1

2009-10-31T14:58:36Z

So, character profiles for new Nano (I.E. The Android Project takes over the Nano). Let's start with the newest first. Yeni's might be changed. I'm still trying to figure out how to modify his character to the new story. I should be adding to this a bit, since I don't have all of my resources with me as I'm writing this. For example, I usually check astrological signs before assigning anyone a birthdate. Note - Present day is 631 PCE (Post-Cataclysm Era). Story starts in late spring, about May, and Tanner and Haven meet in mid-June to mid-July-- need to check dates.

Shalal Cordanas - Cordan

Age: 42
Birthdate: _______, 589 PCE
Gender: Male
Nationality: East Edrin (equates to the northeast Indian peninsula, but that ethnic group no longer lives there by this time. Very close to the Greek and Italian sectors of South Freehold.)
Race: Human
Talent(s): None
Favorite Color(s): Dove gray
Pastimes: Reading old novels, working, eating Neon (slang for Chinese/Japanese food), taking care of Mal
Ambitions: Keeping Mal safe, fulfilling his role in the rebellion
Best Friend: Yeniveris Iko
Close Friends: Tanner Randolph, Reverant Ricardo Rothford
Family Members: Jonah and Meredith Cordanas (father and mother, deceased), Jessica Cordanas (younger sister, 33)

Looks: Dark brown hair threaded through with silver, unshaven but not bearded, dark brown eyes, six foot two, stocky build. I'm thinking, John Winchester, but maybe a bit younger.
Comments/Personality: Cordan's smart, but competent probably describes him better than anything else. He's fairly good with diplomacy and always gets the job done. He's very honorable and never backs down from his word. He's good at finding strange answers to difficult problems and can think fairly well on his feet. He's not a leader, but he doesn't want to be. He is always able to do the job he's given and always works hard. He was raised in Harwich on the border of South Freehold and Home, close to the Davies' Training Ground, but often visited his family in eastern Edrin. His mother and father both worked at mid-level positions for the Jonning Company, who manufactures toys, namely mechanical dragons, cats, etc. His parents fought throughout his childhood and were eventually divorced. He himself was never married or in a serious relationship. His sister, Jessica, is a journalist on the warfront, and he's always worried that she's going to get herself killed when she's out on assignment.
Changes From Original Appearance: Cordan came from his own short story, part of a previous sequence that I discontinued. He was originally in his late twenties, either twenty-seven or twenty-five-- can't remember. Looks mostly stayed the same besides age, and personality only changed to account for setting.

Yeniveris Iko - Yeni

Age: He refuses to tell me, and I bet he'll refuse to tell you, too. He looks like he's in his twenties.
Gender: Male. Sort of.
Birthdate: ???
Nationality: Southern Neo-2/The Independent States of Bangkok. He theoretically has Chinese, Japanese, and Thai ethnicity mixed up, and probably a bit of Indian and Korean as well.
Race: Biod
Talents:
Pastimes: Listening to loud music, clubbing, playing with Mal
Best Friend: Shalal Cordanas, Bakari
Close Friends: Tem Hamilton
Friends: Benjamine Francis, Happy
Romantic Interest: Bakari (might not/probably will not appear)
Family Members: Shu-Li Iko (mother, surname husband's, may be deceased), unnamed father (never met, status known)

Looks: Yeni is almost completely genderless, though physically male. He's very small and thin, about five seven, and positively pretty. He has short green hair, cut about to his chin, green eyes, and green painted nails. He has a smattering of tattooed four-leaf clovers running across the back of his left hand. He shows noticeable East Asian descent.
Comments/Personality: Bioengineering was officially outlawed in most ASOW run provinces in 487 PCE. However, a few illegal/"frowned upon" factories continued until 612 PCE until an incident in Alby, whereupon it was outlawed in every ASOW-run province. Yeni's mother went to a clinic in Neo-2 and after she was was impregnated and gave birth, she moved back to Bangkok Metro. Yeni is a smart-mouth, talks fast, and unbearably rude at times. However, he's also extremely kind and compassionate and more patient than he would first appear. He's the kind of guy that could teach chipmunks to eat out of his hands. His mother was very particular, a very well-Met girl (meaning that she was the epitome of Bangkok fashion) . She took much stock in appearances and required Yeni do the same. He left her when he was eighteen to go to college in Edrin, where he later met Cordan, dropped out, and followed him to his PI business. His mother was not pleased. Yeni adores money, but is not at all free with it. He lives in a very cheap apartment, in no small part because he simply doesn't make very much, and the only thing he indulges on is clothes. He hates to get his appearance fussed, but would never hesitate to do so or complain if he thought it would hurt whoever he was talking to. He often goes clubbing and sometimes disappears for days, when Cordan doesn't see him.
Note on Bioengineering: I haven't quite figured out how the bioengineering works yet, so bear with me. It's not horribly important to this part of the Android Project. I'm not sure if his looks are natural or not-- they in the story he's originally in, for the reasons stated below, but that doesn't work here. I might like them to not be natural, I might want them natural. Not sure yet. Things that are due to his biod-ness, though, are the fact that he is small, pretty, and pretty much androgynous-- his mother wanted him to be the perfect example of Bangkok fashion.
Changes From Original Appearance: The way he looks is precisely the same. I obviously changed his background to fit the Android Project, but I kept his personality. His lover might make an appearance; I haven't decided yet. He was originally half succubae, half shapeshifter. This does not, obviously, work in the Android Project. His story in the Android Project might change, depending on if I can figure out the genetics of his situation.

Malik Galletti - Mal/Mali

Age: 7
Birthdate:_____, 621 PCE
Gender: Male
Nationality: Quadrant 9-W (Jackson). This is one of the Western warfronts that ASOW is fighting in at the moment. Ethnicity is more correctly Arabic and Italian.
Talents: None, I think
Pastimes: Growing things, playing outside, reading, drawing
Ambitions: He's seven. Not yet?
Best Friend: I plan on Niven being his best friend when he's older.
Close Friends:
Friends:
Family Members: Kerra Galletti (mother, deceased), Stefan Galletti (father, deceased) , Tia (younger sister, deceased), James (older brother, deceased)

Looks: Mal has pale brown skin, an aquiline nose, dark brown eyes. He has straight, ink black hair that would hang in his eyes if he let it, but he usually keeps it tied back under a bandanna. He can't manage to get it to lie straight on his own. He's fairly tall for his age. He has a scar to the right of right eye, just hidden by his hair line, and it's still fairly new looking at the time he enters the Android Project.
Comments/Personality: Mal is just a little kid, but incredibly important. His parents were the owners of one of the food plantations in Jackson, which the ASOW calls Quadrant 9-W. They were killed and the farm was destroyed to prevent food from getting to the Western troops. Tia and James were caught in the crossfire, but Mal hid until they left. He managed to hide until some of his parents friends found him a day or so later, and they shipped him off to one of their contacts, Jessica Cordanas, who brought him to her brother. Mal has, when they come into the story, only been living with Cordan for a few months. Mal is always smiling, laughing, and making trouble, but he's also surprisingly serious and gives these looks that probably wouldn't be half as effective if he wasn't seven. He has nightmares almost every night. Because they aren't quite sure how to keep him safe yet, he isn't allowed outside half as much as he would like. He's meant to be a visible symbol of the war and all that's happened because of it.
Changes from Original Appearance: Mal was originally Mali'theja, from a country based on Egypt. He was also sixteen, if I remember correctly, and a skinwalker. I have brought down his age, kept his personality-- though fleshed it out-- and taken away any and all supernatural abilities.

Character List

Tanner
Benny
Rev
Happy
Haven
Jay
Hilda
Tem
Gabe
Demon
Cordan
Yeni
Mal

The Cthulhu of Projects: It Will Take Over the World

2009-10-23T14:25:13Z

I was working on GOLGOTHA in an attempt to get it up to a definite 30,000 words for beginning NaNoWriMo-- yes, to all who do not know, I am working on a pre-started novel for NaNo. It promptly decided to eat three characters from another story that I had abandoned. Which is complicated for one reason: the abandoned story that was eaten is attached to one I'm still poking at. I'm supposed to be dividing up the characters of the one I'm still poking at and passeling them out to their own stories, but I'm not sure I'm ready to give up yet. Yet, apparently I am, because Cordan, Yeni, and Mal are definitely appearing as members of the Android Project. I've been thinking about having them be members of the Android Project for a while, now they're definitely in.

Dear all things holy and beautiful, such as chocolate and caffeine:

Please to let me never stop loving the Android Project, because it is just too damn cool at this point. Also, I just can't deal with passeling out characters again. It's very stressful.

Thank you for your help, gods of caffeine and chocolate. I promise to pay homage to you soon.

Love,
me

This is just plain cool!

2009-10-23T01:28:28Z

Okay, so I was POed and trying to find why my TV is playing "The Boogyman" with instead of Supernatural, as is proper, but anyway, this comes up on Google when you type in "Why the--"

Why the f do you have a kid
Why the sky is blue
Why the caged bird sings
Why the lucky stiff
Why the scale lies
Why the world won't end in 2012
Why the drinking age should be lowered
Why the future doesn't need us
Why the world will end in 2012
Why the line x 4 is a vertical line

Dude, this is awesome.

Translation of "Lola" by Superbus

2009-10-22T22:39:52Z

Hello all! I wish to share with the world-- due to immense pride-- that I now have the only (mostly) correct translation of this song on the internet, because I did the dang thing myself! Go me! This is the translation of the song "Lola" by the French band, Superbus.

The original lyrics (from LyricsMania, formatting changed)

Allo Lola, c'est encore moi
J'ai beaucoup penser à toi Lola
Allo Lola ne raccroche pas
Ne mets pas de hola Lola ola

Allo Lola, comme un garçon
J'ai le coeur qui fait boum et les cheveux longs *
Allo Lola, comme un garçon
C'est la première fois pour moi que tes yeux me font

Boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum
Ola Lola c'est
Boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum
Lola c'est osé

Allo Lola, oui c'est bien moi
Je n'ai pas dormi pour toi; je n'en reviens pas
Allo Lola ne raccroche pas
Lola lit dans l'eau delà, ma jolie Lola **

Allo Lola, comme un garçon
J'ai le coeur qui fait boum et les cheveux longs
Allo Lola, comme un garçon
C'est la première fois pour moi que tes yeux me font

Boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum
Ola Lola c'est
Boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum
Lola c'est osé
Allo Lola, comme un garçon
Allo Lola, comme un garçon
Boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum
Ola Lola c'est
Boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum
Lola c'est osé
Boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum
Ola Lola c'est
Boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum boum
Lola c'est osé

* This line MAY wrong, depending on if the French sometimes don't contract particles when they sing. It would make more sense if it was "à", not "et."
** This line is definitely incorrect. It's "l'eu" instead of "l'eau." If it's "l'eau," it reads as something about a bed in water. Unless that's a French saying, just no.

My translation

Hello Lola, it's me again
I've thought a lot about you, Lola
Hello Lola, don't hang up
Don't put the... Hello Lola, hello

Hello Lola, like a boy
I have the heart who goes boom at long hair
Hello Lola, like a boy
It's the first time for me that your eyes make me go--
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom
Hello Lola, it is--
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom
Lola, it is daring

Hello Lola, yes, it's me
I haven't slept because of you; I can't go back
Hello Lola, don't hang up
Lola in bed was beyond my pretty Lola

Hello Lola, like a boy
I have the heart who goes boom at the long hair
Hello Lola, like a boy
It's the first time for me that your eyes make me go--
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom
Hello Lola, it is--
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom
Lola, it is daring

Hello Lola, like a boy...
Hello Lola, like a boy...
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom
Hello Lola, it is--
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom
Lola, it is daring
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom
Hello Lola, it is--
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom
Lola, it is daring

Please allow me to introduce myself...

2009-10-15T01:07:22Z

Okay, so I may have readdicted myself to Supernatural (and I do not apologize!) but srsly...

This is totally how they should have introduced the "Sympathy for the Devil" reference.

Dean shouldn't be amused by this, but "Sympathy for the Devil" starts blaring out the store's speakers the second that Lucifer walks into the building. In fact, he really, really shouldn't be amused, but he is.

"Dean," Sam hisses. "What the hell?" But he's also looking kind of relieved as well as pissed, despite himself, because this is the first time Dean's laughed like this since he was "gripped tight and raised from perdition" or whatever it was that Cas had said that was both melodramatic and a little bit awe-inspiring.

"Just, man. Seriously."

Dean grins even as he loads his gun, loading bullets into barrel with military precision. Sammy's swearing his head off and grabbing at weapons; Lucifer's standing in front of them, smiling this weird little smile that must have some shade of the man he's wearing-- way too well for Dean's liking, just for the record. Devil in Blue Jeans is kind of a literal saying at this point.

"I always did like the Rolling Stones," the Devil says, and Dean just smiles a little bit.

"Yeah, yeah. You would. So do I," he says, and opens fire.

Court Intrigue 101: Writing the Aristocracy

2009-10-13T12:55:27Z

Not everyone likes to write about the mystery, back-stabbing qualities, and intrigue of a Court system. But if you're writing fantasy, you're probably going to hit on it at some point in your career. Personally, I've always rather liked twisty, knotty little problems, and am thus willing to offer my great expertise in Court and Court intrigue. Mostly because I've been dying to write about writing for a few weeks now... or maybe years.... I am opinionated.

The Rules of Building Courts and Intrigues

1. If the Court is unhappy, why the hell are they unhappy? I've seen often (*cough*Mercedes Lackey*cough*) Courts that are just unhappy for no apparent reason. People brood and sulk, etc. But while a certain level of mean-spirit is going to be prevalent, unless there are other circumstances, it's not going to be much worse than an American high school. Yes, there will be rumours and they will affect people, and this will be considered a pain by some characters, but there still shouldn't be any soul-crushing hatred and fear of Court life. If there is, show me why. Also, if your ruler is an asshole, no one is going to hang around with him if they can help it, and the Court is going to be much smaller-- also, if your ruler is an asshole, he's not going to want a large Court because he's going to like different people and want different people around him. Just keep it in mind.

2. Servants are both your friend and your enemy. First thing you've got to know is, just servants or servants and slaves or slaves? Depending on your time period, you might need to have slaves somewhere, as painful as you might find it. Suck it up in the favor of historical accuracy or use a secondary world in which there are no slaves-- probably because of either religion or because they freed themselves already. Second thing is, servants are everywhere, but they are not omniscient. They have a stake in their masters lives, but they aren't going to be everywhere all the time because they are going to want to sleep, eat, and drink on occasion-- and just for the record, not every kitchen maid is a slut and she will not always be in the barn with some guy. Just so you know. I.E. Servants are characters too, not just deux ex machina. If you need them to be somewhere at a certain time, give them a reason. I'm willing to accept quite a lot, just give me plausible believability here.

3. Most or all of your Court marriages are going to be political. They are contracts and you should view them as such. Few people are going to be in love, so if your female/male character is in love with another female/male, marriage and the production of heirs is nothing more than a slight hurdle. Side note: if your king or queen is in love with someone of the same sex, for the love of all that's holy, he still needs to get married. But anyway, as long as there's some method of birth control and has been for a while, it probably won't matter if both of a married couple have lovers. There might be a societal restraint of some sort against this, usually for the women. You can invent a way around this or leave it in place, whatever, but be thinking about it. It doesn't have to be a great problem and not everyone has to be unhappy. If they need to be, go for it, but otherwise, you're good.

4. If you want intrigue, you need to know what it is and what the consequences are. Reputation was very important in the time when there were actual Courts, so rumour can be deadly. For an example of this, look at Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing-- it's all about rumours! It used to be believed in some places that unless someone was well-respected or renowned, he would not have an existence after death-- or anything after death, for that matter. You earned renown in battle. The reason that I'm saying this is simple: reputation is important, so don't underestimate what your intrigue is doing to your characters. They can be ruined for life just by rumour.

5. To make a Court and to have Court intrigue, you HAVE to know precisely what is taboo in your society. You need to know all of the intricacies, the little faux pas that occur, and you need to know the consequences of this. How much dissent is even the smallest thing going to cause? What are the consequences of the largest? If you don't know these little things, you aren't going to have very much intrigue because it's not going to be believable and no one is going to believe anything about your Court-- or they will, but just because they aren't thinking. You need to know a great deal about your society to make rumours plausible, because you have to know what shoes to wear to a function, what words have negative connotations (and not all words will have the same negative connotations as those in our world, though they could). Pay attention to your world and know what you're doing, because Courts, rumours, and intrigues are the most profound parts of your world, the most telling to your culture, and while you don't need to say everything, the reader has to have a feeling that you know what is going on.

I might add more later on.

Highlights of the Day

2009-10-12T20:29:05Z

"Plz to be learning how to write." - A very good suggestion that far too many people need to take the advice of.

"Alastair will die screaming." - for some reason this is incredibly romantic and sweet. Don't ask.

"Do you not feel the squee? Feel the squee. Ride the squee. Be the squee." - My mind is convoluted. Again, not asking is probably a good plan here...

I should feel productive, but I don't.

2009-10-10T18:57:15Z

Now those who know me and have been reading this journal for a while will know that I like to make lists. This one is entirely for me, so feel free to completely ignore it, but some people might find it interesting. This is just a list of the various things that I've got in progress, complete with resource lists of things that I've been using as inspiration/information/etc. This is comprehensive, which means that I'm not actually working on all of it at the same time, but it exists anyway.

Novels/Novel Length WIPS

GOLGOTHA - the main part of the Android Project, weighing in at slightly less than 30K at the moment.

Resources:

Hacking: The Art of Exploitation, 2nd Edition by Jon Erickson
Anarchism: What It Really Stands For by Emma Goldman
No Gods, No Masters by Daniel Guérin
Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century by Michio Kaku
Dogs and Demons: Tales From The Dark Side Of Japan by Alex Kerr
Anarchism: Its Philosophy and Ideal by Peter Kropotkin
The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels
Why's Poignant Guide to Ruby by Why the Lucky Stiff
Edison's Eve by Gaby Wood
Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails
Infest by Papa Roach

Following the Foxfire - 2008 NaNoWriMo story, currently at about 20-25K

Resources:

Grimm's Fairytales by The Brothers Grimm
Irish mythology and folklore
Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts by The Slants

Laria's Untitled - world-building done for this, but only about 2500 words

Resources:

Russian myths
Twin mythology and folklore
Werewolf mythology

The Strange Tales of Brakken Thrush - introduction done

The Arabian Nights: The Book of 1001 Nights
Grimm Fairytales by The Brothers Grimm
Russian mythology

One Year - part of my Jaxton-verse, but separate enough so that I could extricate it. 5-10K, maybe?

Resources:

Japan: Its History and Culture by W. Scott Morton
China: Its History and Culture by W. Scott Morton
The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, translated by Thomas Cleary
Japan: Past and Present by Edwin O. Reischauer
The Japanese by Edwin O. Reischauer
Code of the Samurai by Taira Shigesuke, translated by Thomas Cleary
The Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War by Yagyu Munenori, translated by Thomas Cleary
Chinese dragon mythology
Indian bindi meanings
Chinese governmental structures

Darkened Sunlight - main part of the Jaxton-verse... let's not talk about how many times I've rewritten it... or whether I plan to ever touch it again...

Resources:

Bonsai For Beginners by Werner M. Busch
Japan: Its History and Culture by W. Scott Morton
The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, translated by Thomas Cleary
Japan: Past and Present by Edwin O. Reischauer
The Japanese by Edwin O. Reischauer
Code of the Samurai by Taira Shigesuke, translated by Thomas Cleary
The Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War by Yagyu Munenori, translated by Thomas Cleary
Chinese dragon mythology
Indian bindi meanings
Chinese governmental structures
The United States Constitution
Egyptian god mythology

Painted Secrets - another part of the Jaxton-verse, but far more likely to actually get started at some point because I love it to death. Sort of... 3K-ish?

Resources:

Bonsai For Beginners by Werner M. Busch
Japan: Its History and Culture by W. Scott Morton
China: Its History and Culture by W. Scott Morton
The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, translated by Thomas Cleary
Japan: Past and Present by Edwin O. Reischauer
The Japanese by Edwin O. Reischauer
Code of the Samurai by Taira Shigesuke, translated by Thomas Cleary
The Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War by Yagyu Munenori, translated by Thomas Cleary
Chinese dragon mythology
Indian bindi meanings
Chinese governmental structures
The United States Constitution
Egyptian god mythology

Short Stories

I Heard the Church Bells Toll - one of the preludes to GOLGOTHA; part of the Android Project. Needs to be rewritten.

Falling is easy. - one of the preludes to GOLGOTHA; part of the Android Project. Needs to be rewritten.

Landon / Weapon - one of the preludes to GOLGOTHA; part of the Android Project. Needs to be written to begin with; some basic character sketches done.

A Worthy Pursuit - part of the Android Project. Currently on part two of the writing. At about 3K or so, so far.

Resources:

Anarchism: What It Really Stands For by Emma Goldman
Sea of Poppies by Amitov Ghosh
No Gods, No Masters by Daniel Guérin
Opium: A Portrait of the Heavenly Demon by Barbara Hodgson
Anarchism: Its Philosophy and Ideal by Peter Kropotkin
The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels
Opium, Empire, and the Global Political Economy: A Study of the Asian Opium Trade by Carl A. Trocki

Honorable - This one might not count anymore, because I think it's been absorbed into "A Worthy Pursuit," now that I think about it. In fact, I'm almost sure it has, but until I'm completely sure... incomplete, 3K.

Lazarus Fate - attempting to rewrite it without having the original; having no success. 1K rewrite, 15K original. Part of the Android Project.

Homegrown Army - part of the Android Project, I think. Not sure yet. 1K.

Butterflies - about 2500 words. Kind of interesting.

Resources:

Yggdrasil myth

Hilethenal the Soul-Thief - I love this one an unseemly amount... 4K.

Resources:

Wraethu by Storm Constantine
Transformation by Carol Berg
Dungeons and Dragons
Polytheistic myths
Viking history

Mirrors - 1500 words or so; needs to be rewritten. Done to the theme "Dark Glass."

Under Bridges - nearly done with the rewrite. Fairies, changelings, etc. About 6K.

The Virtue of Patience: Good Things Come to Those Who Wait - 1400 words, complete. Creepiness, dark fantasy/horror.

Resources:

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Marionette - probably needs to be rewritten. 1100 words. LOTS of creepiness, dark fantasy/horror.

Guardian Angels - This is probably going to spawn a novel at some point. I really love this verse, to absolutely no end, and have a severe weakness and adoration for its characters. Sort of strange-ish, kind of sad, and very gritty. This has three linking stories that I'm not going to count up. 5400K.

Resources:

Drawing Blood by Poppy Z. Brite
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldburg
A Fever You Can't Sweat Out by Panic! at the Disco

The Ways We Converse - sneaky, light, airy, very rumour-filled. Inspired by Jane Austen, L.M Montgomery, and (post-humously) by Much Ado About Nothing. 2K.

Shadow Light - part of Jaxton-verse, very lovely character study. Incomplete; about half-way done, 2400 words.

Drabbles

Okay, there are too many Jaxton-verse ones to count. The main of those are

White Rose - a series of character study drabbles about my favorite character that I have ever made and the only one who I ever killed so decidedly. One day I just sort of realized that he was going to die in the story he was in and I mourned for him for about a month or three after that. Six drabbles.

Splinter - twenty-two drabbles now... tons of fun while I wrote it, but really badly written on second thought. Wouldn't stand up to anyone's perusal but mine.

Noble Oath - Going to be twenty-six drabbles in total, one for every letter of the alphabet. Character study again and again wouldn't stand up to anyone's perusal but mine. I think about six or seven drabbles currently.

Step by Step - sort of half-way between a short story collection and a drabble collection. 2400 words and more of a relationship study than a character study. I.E. there's sap.

Divergent Future - a kind of weirdness that was a "what if" version of the main fic. Fifteen drabbles.

The Pineapple Drabble - not connected to Jaxton-verse drabbles, but sort of standalone funniness inspired by Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams.

Gah, Argh, and Pshaw

2009-10-06T13:38:39Z

Why is it that for every short story that I finish, I remember that I have about five thousand others that I need to finish? Mostly done with "Under Bridges" that I wrote at Alpha, just waiting for my second crit to finish up, so now I go over to peer at "A Worthy Pursuit," then remember that I'm tripling or quadrupling the length of the damn thing. It's fun, but I can't remember what I was trying to do when I wrote the first part, since I was doing something Adventurous again, this time with POV. And also, I keep forgetting that my revised part one needs to be stuck onto my laptop rather than the desktop computer. And at some point, I really do need to work on "The Demon Thardhak," since I want to do some interesting things concerning the color of silence...

FRUIT PORN

2009-09-18T18:25:28Z

elanid did it! Not related to Tygati's post at all; I just wanted inspiration! Not edited yet, so...

Strawberry's skin was so shiny... Banana thought about it all the time: it's red luminescence glimmering beneath the sunlight, catching the faint green tints that were still evident. It was just that Strawberry was so young. Far too young for Banana, who at most times wore his brown spots with grace and decorum, but now... Now he wished that he was still green, of an appropriate age for Strawberry. And he knew-- he just knew-- that if they could be blended together, smoothed into one being by the thrust of the Blades and the Gyration of the machine, they would make the tastiest fruit drink known to the modern world-- a Strawberry-Banana Smoothie of sweet, epic love.

Oh crap.

2009-09-18T18:08:34Z

I am trying desperately (and failing) to find out who wrote the original post on the fruit with personalities who had the sex and complicated love triangles. I feel it should be aggybird , because she started the epic Wereyorkie movement (my contribution located here), but know that it cannot be so. tygati is also a choice, but the largest part of me feels that it's maderr. I desperately want to find this, but cannot.

Edit - I FOUND IT!!! Located here.

IT EATS THE SOUL

2009-09-16T14:26:01Z

The Android Project consists of:

Three crossover short stories or drabbles (for random fun bits, to amuse me): Doctor Who, Firefly, and Torchwood
Two drabbles, vaguely connected
Five to six short stories (A Worthy Pursuit, I Heard the Church Bells Toll, Weapon (Landon Veritas), Falling is easy., Lazarus Fate)
Two poems
And of course, the untitled main story

That means 13-14 total parts of the Android Project, one of which is monstrously long (I.E. untitled)

The thing is, it sucks in even things that weren't originally meant to be part of it, like Lazarus Fate, I Heard the Church Bells Toll, and A Worthy Pursuit. And then it promptly takes several different other ideas that have been bopping around my head, steals them, and combines them into the Android Project. It steals from other stories. It is a thief.

I love my Android Project. This revelation/adoration is in preparation of ignoring school work later and writing like mad. It should be fun.

And Yet More Maniacal Laughter!

2009-09-12T21:41:40Z

While ignoring the mountains of assignments I have for classes, I have managed to actually work on my main Android Project fic and finish off the tenth chapter, putting me in at 29500 words, 52 pages, 101 double-spaced. It'll probably be 80000-ish words when it's done, but I'm feeling the halfway mark approaching and am veeeeeeery happy.

Unfortunately, still untitled. Less pleased about this fact. Either Reperio Sanctum (Finding Sanctuary) or GOLGOTHA. Cannot decide, but want GOLGOTHA more, except I have an offshoot of the Android Project called the Golgotha Project. Wish to beat head against wall about this.

...I could always change the name of the offshoot...

Insert Maniacal Laughter Here

2009-09-12T14:33:35Z

Jeez, I love maderr. She directed my attention to the fact that there is the most awesome song in the world in existence, "I Kissed a Boy" by Cobra Starship. This song = such total win that I'm busily giggling my head off over here and playing it on repeat. Of course, it's sort of making me want a Flogging Molly CD again for some reason, but I'm okay with that.

In other news, I'm doing pirates. Not in that way, of course. I'm writing them. It's fun. I get nautical terms, supercargoes, and captains. Of course, me being me, I'm having someone infiltrate the ship to assassinate the captain, brewing a revolt, and overthrowing an Evil Ruler. I think I have a thing for revolts. I really need to find another thing to write about, but rebellions are just so freaking neat. I likes the politics and the Bad Governments.

I'm tying it in to the Android Project, as a smaller substory. I'm meanwhile trying to find out why in FutureTime there would still be ships (as in, water, not space), but I'll prevail. I'm thinking the rich kids wanted a toy to play with and it was all because of style, but after they got sick of 'em, there were a bunch laying around cheap and smugglers wanted them to use to get out of ASOW (the government)'s eyes. Now if only I could figure out what contraband they're shipping... Weapons? Food to hostile territories? Would that work on a ship...?

Does anyone happen to know whether land or sea was faster for shipping things? I feel that it was sea, but I'm not sure.

Somewhat concerned, here!

2009-09-01T21:27:13Z

I had two shadows today... seriously... now worrying about possession.