Sunday, March 31, 2002

Speaking of art, just so everyone knows, I do draw a lot of fan art. I just never actually show it to anyone because it sucks, and I'm really picky about what I give out. See, it's one thing if I draw pictures for myself that suck, it's something else if I'm giving it away. I draw art for people whose (who's?) work I really respect and enjoy, and as such, don't want to give them crappy things. And when their art can beat up my art anyway (-coughNicandVeracough-) I feel even worse giving away things at my meager level... So if I've ever emailed you about your story/character/whatever, chances are that at some point, I've attempted to draw for you. And no, you're never going to see the resutlts. Sorry.
Becky had too much free time at 8:45 PM

AeresAngel: oh man...can I tell you these two are so painfully stupid...I wanna smack them...stupid...get back in bed together you shmoes.

That's more or less how I feel.
Becky had too much free time at 1:27 AM

Friday, March 29, 2002

In other news, I finally got the two of them to stop screaming at each other and play nice, and as a result, the chapter is more or less done. It needs some editting and to be HTMLified, but then can go up (with a few other odds'n'ends I'm working on.)

The thing is... "Islana's Story" is kind of a misnomer. It's really more about Cleran... Or rather, the first half-ish is about Islana, but the second part is really about Cleran. Islana is an important part of it, but it's actually going to follow him more than her. I can see there being three or so chapters where she isn't present at all (I'm not sure how many, since it's not like there's an actual outline, but you get the idea.)

The thing about Cleran and Islana is that they're esentially just an echo of Kalin and Serissa, but far more in control of the situation (or so they'd like to think.) And Kalin and Serissa, of course, were almost an exact mirror of Taylin and Slenna. The forbidden love thing just keeps happening to people, and not only because it makes for a fun story for me to write, but there is a genuine reason for it within the story itself.

Which will be explained someday, I hope. If I ever get there.

And then there's the Hypothetical Season Three, which explains both the aftermath of all of this as well as how it all got started in the distant past (like, 2000 years ago.) I haven't decided if that will ever really be written, though. We'll see... I don't think I have to worry yet, since I have a good deal left to go on this season, plus the movie. But still.

So that was all quite random and unconnected. Hm.
Becky had too much free time at 4:57 PM

Sunday, March 24, 2002

Part of the reason that this is so tricky, aside from that I suck at writing anything even vaguely romantic (Islana and Cleran can try and kill each other and I have no problems, but actually, y'know, talking to each other? Not so much,) is that there are no events in this chapter. Or rather, there's an implied event int he beginning (-cough-) and then it's just how they deal.

And there's no one for them to talk to but each other. There is no one else in the chapter. Just Islana and Cleran. Which I'm doing on purpose to see if I can, since usually when I hit a wall I flash to someone else to get away from it (that's how Ilyan and Jall both ended up so important...) but this is just... Grrrrr.

Sigh. I'll change to Islana's perspective and see if that helps. She's just as messed up as Cleran, but in an entirely different way.
Becky had too much free time at 1:22 PM

Try as I might, I just can't get past the fucking eyecatch for the next fucking chapter... AAAAAUGH. No, really. AAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!

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Well, I feel better now.
Becky had too much free time at 1:08 PM

Saturday, March 23, 2002

Perhaps I shall explaina t some point that isn't 3:30 AM. Or perhaps I'll let the story speak for itself, for a change. (Though not this next chapter.)
Becky had too much free time at 3:24 AM

Wednesday, March 20, 2002

Someone shoot me now.

I like the picture, though. And the lyrics are currently very reflective of my mood.

Stupid fucking school.
Becky had too much free time at 5:30 PM

Tuesday, March 19, 2002

The only good thing about Hebrew? I can write character names in it (like the cool kids do for their characters in Japanese, or something.) So yeah, the pretty Hebrew block lettering says (appoximately) "Arant dal'Rhybka".

Meanwhile, in unrelated news, I'm restructuring a bit around here. If you find a broken link, try making it list/filename.jpg and see if that helps. It hopefully should.
Becky had too much free time at 1:11 PM

Sunday, March 17, 2002

The Land of Seven (for those of you just tuning in, the very first fantasy project I tried, circa seventh grade) stars four people. It used to be about fourteen, but I've cut it down. Those four are:

Arant dal'Rhybka: he belongs to a religious order that follows the Goddess of Wisdom, and he's supposed to protect her various holy writings (which supposedly contain the mysteries of the universe and other such things,) which is a hereditary job. Along with the job goes a magical sword with a key on the pommel, which is the key to the holy writings and whatnot. So protecting these is Very Important.
Arant's father was murdered by a mysterious and shadowy criminal named Kyrvan Bladedancer, who wants to unlock the mysteries of the universe. He figures that getting by Arant, who is relatively young and inexperienced, is a lot easier than getting past his father, so after Daddy Dearest is murdered, he starts trying to infultrate Chyronia, the city where the writings are. Arant, of course, has to try and stop him. With the help of...

Kaiya das'Rhybka. Kaiya grew up in abject poverty and was kidnapped by the Bladedancers and sold into forced prostitution. Pretty much her whole thing is that she knows who Kyrvan is (most people don't, this is something that makes more sense in context than it would here) and wants to kill him. She and Arant meet by accident (and "by accident" I mean "in a brothel," which is what the scene below is,) and they end up working together. She eventually joins his religion (which is actually kind of more like a cult, now that I think of it, but anyway.)

So Arant and Kaiya vs. Kyrvan is the equivilant of Part One. Things are more or less resolved when it finishes, except for a few loose ends, IE, Kyrvan has escaped more or less unharmed. Well, his empire is slowly eroding, but he's otherwise fine. His attempts to get into Chyronia have been foiled, though.

So Part Two centers around two more characters. It takes place awhile later, though... Eight or ten years, methinks. I haven't decided exactly. Anyway, it centers around...

Kara das'Abban. Kara is a serf under a fairly tyranical Duke who is slowly usurping the King and taking over his power. Being quite the patriot (and also pissed because some of the Duke's men murdered her older sister and beat the crap out of her and her best friend) and so she runs away and decides to get revenge in the form of some sort of peasant revolt. The problem? She's about fourteen and completely untrained. The solution? She meets a guy named...

Daevan. Just Daevan, really. They run into each other in the woods as she's running away from some of the Duke's men, and after fighting for a bit, he offers to train him for reasons of his own. He's got a shadowy and mysterious past. Anyway. The training takes place, over the course of those missing eight-or-ten years. (Kara and Daevan meet, like, right after Kyrvan gets his ass kicked out of Chyronia.)

So time passes, and we'll say nine years later, Kara and Daevan start to gather their army and all that jazz. The Duke (now King, as he successfully killed off everyone above himself in line for the throne, and then assassinated the King). Rushing to their help, seeing what a bastard the new king is and all, come (gasp) Arant and Kaiya. Who are very surprised to recognize Daevan.

Daevan's mysterious shadowy past? yeah, he's Kyrvan's son.

Things go down hill rather rapidly for him from there.
Becky had too much free time at 4:18 PM

...The man Lesl led inside the room was tall, broad-shouldered and blond. A large sword was strapped to his back, and he was smiling nervously. "Have fun," Lesl said in his obnoxiously nasal voice, then left, shutting the door behind him.

There was a long, silent moment. "Uh... Hello," the man said finally. "My name is Arant." He flashed her the nervous smile again. She didn't respond, just sat on the large bed, staring at his feet. "Um... What's your name?" he prompted.

"Kaiya." She said it softly, with an infinite sadness in her voice. She was tall, too, nearly as tall as he was. Her skin was dark brown and her sad eyes yellow and slit like a cat's. The clothes she wore were skimpy and old; both of her lower arms were covered with tightly tied cloth—a bandage, Arant realized.

He unstrapped the sword from his back, leant it against a wall, and joined her on the bed. "What happened?" he asked, gently placing a hand on one of the bandages. She shied away from his grip, looking away from him.

"Nothing. My Lord."

"Arant," he repeated, and she nodded but didn't answer. There was another long silence. "So... Now what happens?"

"Whatever you want to happen." She didn't sound terribly happy to begin.

"I'm not very good at this," he said apologetically. "I mean, I'm no virgin, but I've never been in a brothel before."

"Oh." She looked up at him for the first time, and saw a look no one had ever given her before: concern. "We can..." she motioned towards the center of the bed. "If you want. It's what you paid for."

"Well—" he shrugged. "You don't seem very eager. We could just sit, if you'd rather." He shrugged. "I'm mostly here at my friend's advice... He thought it might cheer me up..." Pain crept in to his voice, and he forced himself to shake it off and shrug. "It sounds like you're about as happy as I feel. What happened..." he brushed the bandage with his fingertips again. "Why would you want to slit your wrists?"

"How... How did you know?" she asked.

"Why else would there be bandages there, of all places?" he answered with a shrug. "What happened?"

"I... nothing."

"Nothing?" he asked, not really believing her. "If nothing happened, then why—Not that it's any of my business, I know, but..."

"It's—I'm—" She couldn't help it, she tried to stop it, but a tear escaped her iron will and splashed on to her chest. "Please..."

"Please what?" Arant asked, taking her hand firmly in his. She winced, then looked up at him and saw he was genuinely puzzled. Another tear came, then another. And then she couldn't help it anymore, and she was reduced to sobs. Arant abandoned her hand and put an arm around her, letting her head rest against his chest, stroking her arm and murmuring that it would be okay—without even knowing what "it" was.

"Th-thank you," she whispered after a few minutes, when the tears subsided.

"Of course, Miss. Goddess knows I've wanted to break down and cry lately..."

"What happened?" she asked, and she finally sounded as if talking wasn't the most painful thing he could have forced her to do.

"My father died." The sentence hung in the air.

"Were... Were you close?" she asked. "I mean, it's none—I shouldn't—"

"No..." he sighed. "My father and I hated each other. But he was murdered, and now..."

"Oh. I'm so sorry—I never should have..."

"It's fine," he assured her, realizing she was still cradled in his arms. "But now you know why I'm so upset—what happened to you?"

"Please..." she said again. "I can't—If..." She paused, then sat up and looked around. When she spoke again, her voice was full of bitter confidence. "What can they do, kill me?" She gave a bitter laugh. "I tried to run away from them, and the Bladedancers do terrible things to people who defy them—terrible things like giving me this job."

"I don't understand," he answered. "Tried to escape—from what? Who?" Arant thought for a moment, recognizing the name Bladedancer, but he had no idea how the prostitute sitting next to him could be connected to it.

"From Kyrvan Bladedancer. From his empire... I never wanted to be part of it, but I was born in to it and couldn't get out..."

"Kyrvan Bladedancer—but—I need to know who that is," he said, and Kaiya was amazed at the urgency in his voice. The voices I heard—someone named Kyrvan hired them. Some crime lord who didn't like my father, and now this girl tells me he's got some kind of criminal empire. It can't be coincidence I'm here tonight.

Kaiya gasped, and Arant turned to follow her gaze—the Keysword was giving off a faint, golden glow. That confirmed it. "I think I might need your help," Arant told her.

"My help... What? Why?"

"You see, Kaiya.... I overheard the assassins who killed my father." He paused meaningfully. "They were talking about someone named Kyrvan. And that thing—" he pointed at the large sword— "Only lights up when I've got something important to do, and at the moment, the most important thing is to find out who killed my father and why—and to do that, I think I need your help."

"How can I help?" she asked.

"I'm... I'm not sure," he admitted. "But I think we'd best get you out of here. But... I don't know. It'd be dangerous to help me—the man who killed my father probably has me on his list, too, and if you're caught helping me..."

"I'd do anything to get out of here," she told him firmly. "And the chance of getting back at the Bladedancer is worth any risk for me."

Arant thought about it, and looked back at the Keysword, which was now glowing more brightly than ever. "Fine," he agreed. "Now, is there a back door to this building?"

I think that scene's about two years old now. Wow. It's how Arant and Kaiya met each other to begin with, near the beginning of her story. Which is to say, near the beginning of the whole shindig that takes place in that world. So... wow.
Meanwhile, Kyrvan Bladedancer is a real sonofabitch, and his son (Daevan) is one of my favorite characters ever. He be yummy.
Becky had too much free time at 2:28 PM

I really want to do a comic... I got an idea (by stealing it from Vickie) that would amuse me greatly, actually; she was planning a comic based on, well, us (part of which was posted in her blog), and we were joking about what to do in it...

Esentially, what I want to do is this: God feels that She (yes, She) has lost touch with the people of today, and so has decided to give up Her powers (briefly) to find out what it's like to be a human, and thus hip. But, not wanting the world to go to hell while She's gone, She forces Satan to do something similar. So you've got God and Satan (also a girl) as roommates, freshman year in college.

Add some zany sidekicks, and I'm sure wacky hijinks would abound.

However, as I can not draw at all, this will probably never come to pass.
Becky had too much free time at 3:46 AM

Saturday, March 16, 2002

Elfgirl, I read your blog because it's interesting and fun. And you're a good writer, thus I like reading what you write, be it story, blog or journal. And now I sound like a creepy stalker, but I suppose that's the price I must pay for, well, obsessively reading your page/journal/blog. Hm.

Also, I'm always fascinated to read about writing; I love finding out why people write, what gave them their ideas, the inner workings of a world that don't necessarily come up in the story itself. Boffo babble rocks my world.

As for character descriptions... I suck at those. If you can't see the people, it's my own fault. I really feel like I've messed up Dysis' especially, since he's a really hard character for me. Mostly because despite the fact that I don't particularly like him, he's a main character. In terms of writing, Jall and Ilyan give me no problem, they were both supposed to be really minor characters (Jall was only supposed to have that one throwaway scene in Season One, so Erra would have someone to talk to; Ilyan was supposed to show up near the end of the series for about five minutes and yell at Erra) who just clicked, and expanded into major characters. Cleran can be a pain in the ass to write, since he never comes out the way he's supposed to, but I understand him pretty well. Islana, Erra and Jereh are cake. But Dysis and I just never clicked, and as a result I think that I've handled him really badly through the story, particularly description-wise.

Also, I suck at writing descriptions. *shrug*

But trust me when I say, any fanart of anyone is the best thing ever, and I appreciate it more than I can acutually describe.
Becky had too much free time at 5:05 PM

Wednesday, March 13, 2002

Specifically, Kieris and young Erra from Season One, and Dysis/Cleran/Jall/Erra/Erolis from Season Two. Or group pictures. Those are always yummy.

[/lame ass begging]
Becky had too much free time at 7:44 PM

And now, a brief scene from my Nanonovel. Just because. Yeah, it's near the end, but I think it's one of the best scenes, so there.

"Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit holy—" the drone was saying over when Quin found him. He was standing over Damon—Damon, bleeding, Damon, barely breathing, Damon, with a bullet wound in his chest.
Quin ran to his boyfriend's side. "Damon, what... Who..."
"Hey, Quin," Damon whispered. Quin looked up at the drone.
"Stop fucking whimpering and call the ambulance!" he snarled. "And get his father down here! And his fiance."
"I—I—I—"
"Go now, dammit!" he snarled. "Or I'll fucking kill you."
The drone took off, and Quin turned his attention back to Damon. "Damon, I.... How did this happen?"
"Don't know...." Damon breathed. "Quin.... They were.... They were my friends... Arison... It was them. I saw..."
"Shhh," Quin whispered. "I'll take care of your friends. I'll take care of Arison."
"Quin, you know... You know I love you." His eyes shone a little bit.
"I know," Quin said. "I... I love you too."
"I didn't... didn't want to die..... without saying it."
"You're not dying. The best doctors in the world will—"
"How the hell did this happen!" Nathaniel burst into the room. "Damon, you—Christ." He crouched over his son.
"Hey, Dad," Damon managed. He shut his eyes peacefully.
"No!" Quin yelled. "You keep your eyes open, all right? Just... Damon, can you hear me?"
"Mmmhmmm."
"Can you hear me, Damon?" Nathaniel asked, softly.
"Mmmm."
"You're an idiot."
Damon smiled faintly. "Mmmm."
"You aren't going to tell me to go to hell?"
"Nnnn."
"Damon, you need to open your eyes, it'll only be another minute before the doctors—Damon—Damon!"
Damon didn't answer, and he didn't open his eyes. He wasn't ever going to open them again.
Izellah appeared in the room, out of breath. "Oh my God," she whispered, seeing Damon. "He's not—please, Quin, tell me he's not... He can't be..."
"Izellah," Nathaniel said, his voice sounding frozen. Not his usual emotionless bargaining voice, or the threatening "you'll do what I say or else," one, he just sounded as if he were dying, too. "Izellah."
Quin managed to keep thinking rationally for long enough to check Damon's pulse, and bit his lip when he couldn't find it. He looked up at Nathaniel and Izellah, whose eyes went wide. "No," she said. "No. He's not—Goddammit, Damon!" she screamed. "You can't die, you can't be—open your fucking eyes, you damned junkie. Open your fucking eyes!"
She was half-screaming and half crying, and Nathaniel stood and actually hugged her. "Izellah, it'll be... It'll be all right," he whispered.
"No it won't, not until he opens his eyes, he has to open his eyes, he can't be...."
"Izellah." Quin cut her off, standing. "He said it was his friends from Arison. I'm going to find them." He swallowed. "I'm going to find them, and I'm going to kill them."
Nathaniel nodded, and Izellah took a deep breath. "Quin, when you find them... Make sure it hurts."
"I will," he promised. He cast a last look at Damon and felt something within him shrivel up and die. "I'm going to make them suffer."

Awww. I *heart* Damon and Quin. And Nathaniel, actually, though he was The Badguy right up until that scene. I actually kind of want to write the Quin Goes On A Killing Spree scene, since it wasn't in the story itself. Hmmmm...
Becky had too much free time at 3:36 PM

Tuesday, March 12, 2002

Cleran daydreaming. Pretty crappy, but it kept me occupied. I mean, occupied aside from listening to the lecture and taking notes. Of course. That's it.

Also, Arant dal'Rhybka, or somesuch. I was trying to work out his costume. This scanned badly, like so many things, because in my notebook it doesn't suck nearly so badly. Really.

I should write out Arant's bio sometime. (He's from the same story as Kaiya, actually, and I should write out hers as well...)
Becky had too much free time at 1:03 PM

Monday, March 11, 2002

Eventually, after much consulting with Rachel, the story evolved a lot. Took place in the same city, but the library back room had become a music store, instead of another world the magic involved a Well of Talent, the crazy psychic became a crazy 500 year old teenager (um, if that was possible) who had to protect it... I don't remember the details, which is a shame, 'cause it was really fucking cool. Something about how some sort of evil was slowly taking over all of the various Talent Wells by killing off the guardians, and had just done away with the very ancient and powerful guardian of the well in Pallis, and this kid (his name has always been Colin Specter, I believe) ends up needing to become the new guardian and defeat evil.

Did I mention that this all developed during the Summer-o-Fruvous? (That is, two years ago, between 11th and 12th grade, when I saw Fruvous three times). Most of the story related directly to the song Video Bargainville, in ways I don't recall. Sigh. I really loved the idea, and wanted to wait until I was a better writer to actually write it, so it wouldn't suck. But being dumb, I didn't write it down, and, well, it got lost. I had been working on the plot with Rachel, who left for California that summer, and by the time she got back, we only remembered bits and pieces of it.

But it also evolved. Mwaahaaahaaahaaa!! The day she got back, we went to see the Best. Concert. Ever. That is, my second Fruvous show, at Styleen's Rhythm Palace (Pallase? I've forgotten how that word is actually spelled now, I'm so used to typing it as Pallis) and came back totally inspired. I'd been joking about writing a story that was vaugely Fruvous based, and after that show... (Wow. Note: Styleen's Rythm Palace may or may not equal Styleen's Rhythm Challice, home of the Challice Championship.)

We ended up writing Laddage, which I don't want to get in to too much, since it's not like I've gotten to the actual plot in the story. (Which, believe it or not, does have a plot. Really.) But I'll say this much, it does involve something similar--no actual Well of Talent, but it is about how Evil is trying to infultrate pop culture.

Right, what was I talking about? Oh. Haven. Yeah. So as for that actual story, Pallis has gone on to become the home of the Lads and Silver (did anyone else catch that it's the same city? It is.) as well as my Nanonovel, starring none other than a fairly ordinary boy named (gasp shock!) Colin Specter, who at one point meets a crazy psychic in the back of a library. Similarities end there, but he is definitely the same character, as is she. Though that was the first time they ever ended up hooking up, but still.

....Um, right. Haven. I liked the name and wanted to keep it for something, as the project to which it formerly related evolved into laddage. So there. (oh, and it was the name of the cabin I had one year at camp, though by my timeline, that was after the story.)
Becky had too much free time at 7:17 PM

Ahhhh, Journey lyrics. Stop laughing at me!! Um, this may end up as a layout for something or other, it's the first picture I've done of Islana that I've been pretty happy with. And isn't she dressed up all purdy? Same outfit as she's wearing in the sketch at the side, actually.

I had fun playing around with the filters for this. I think they turned out well, 'cause they're pretty subtle. So, go me. It's not quite as pretty as the Sundancer pic, but it ain't bad. Again: I am content.
Becky had too much free time at 12:52 AM

Sunday, March 10, 2002

Some of the really old stuff I have is actually better written for him. And by really old I mean before I was certain what his name was, back when Dysis was named Khevyn, and Ocan was a major character. But at least in that he was sarcastic and amusing. Not so much with this spineless wimp crap. (Well, he's supposed to be a little bit like that, but still.)

Eh... Anyway.
Becky had too much free time at 12:47 PM

Saturday, March 09, 2002

That's definitely a step up for me.
Becky had too much free time at 11:54 PM

Friday, March 08, 2002

Islana seems to have gone a little bit crazy. Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me is sort of the Islana/Cleran theme song; I've been working on getting together a soundtrack type deal for the Saga and some parts of it struck me as about them. Lovefool is just... I don't know... More Cleran, really, but every now and then Islana has her self-esteem issues. And the "help me help me help me" is because, well, she's completely flipping insane....

Sundancer. Yeah, it turns out she's actually a character. I had no idea until a few days ago... I'm not sure quite when she'll show up or what will happen, but I'm pretty sure she and Ilyan don't get along very well.
Becky had too much free time at 12:22 PM

Monday, March 04, 2002

But back to the point: no, Dysis has never been involved. However, all of the amazingly good friend stuff goes double with Cleran, since not only are they so close, but Dysis feels responsible for his younger brother. He's inadvertantly hurt Cleran by it; it's impossible for Cleran to get respect when his brother always runs to his rescue. (But that's another issue entirely.) I suppose if we're talking about Cleran x Dysis incest, if one put aside Dysis' lack of wanting a relationship since he already has the weight of the world on his back,and the fact that it would totally squick me out as the writer, and that it wouldn't ever happen, it would work like this, would be my guess: Dysis loves his brother. He feels like he wants to be closer. Cleran, being both spineless and at least as devoted to Dy as Dy is to his religion, would do it. *shrug*

The reason I would go with Dysis x Erolis is that they were fairly good friends. Dy was far from being The Popular Kid among the varous ranking Lords' children, although Erolis was pretty popular. Dysis is a devoted friend, so losing Erolis to a slave, which he couldn't even comprehend, hurt a lot. Erolis, of course, is far to bitter towards Dysis, for reasons he hasn't ever shared towards me. I suspect it's just part of his character, though, as he's vaguely arrogant. Not-so-vaguely, actually. Anyway. I could almost see that as a break up instead of just the end of a friendship. Awwww.

Some about Cleran: the only other relationship he's been in (uh, I mean, the only one... *cough*) was with that bitch Eliz. And she completely broke his heart and added to his issues, which include low-to-no self-esteem (I editted out the alcoholic/suicidal scenes...) and an inferiority complex the size of Texas. And lots of repressed bitterness, which is (and will continue to) slowly become less repressed and more, um, present. It will come to the surface pretty soon, actually... Next three or four chapters some time. Cleran currently believes he's the least attractive person ever (which is a lie, I tell you, a lie! he's hot! ... um, don't mind me...) not to mention bad in bed. He sees no reason why any woman would want him, and when one actually does, he has... issues.

I don't want to give out spoilers here, but here's something somewhat vague: Cleran has never fought with Dysis because he pretty much believes that Dysis is always right, and he's never had something he feels strongly enough about to want to. And even if he had, he's not the type to argue about anything. He's too much of a wimp. But his whole character development thing is about to come into play. That may change. Bwahahahahaha.

Ok. Right. Time to do homework...
Becky had too much free time at 1:00 AM

Sunday, March 03, 2002

Maybe instead of spending my time on this, I should just write the damn story.
Becky had too much free time at 2:46 AM