so kiss me goodbye honey i'm gonna make it out alive

So I'm (finally) working on the newest chapter of WHIPLASH!, and goddamn, this shit's depressing. Not in the fact that it'll bring tears or anything, or it probably won't even sound all that depressing when read because it reads pretty quick and doesn't dwell (unlike actual tear-jerkers), but still. imagine this.

I decided to open up with some Lenore goodness. Because really, she doesn't get enough writing time yet. This'll change once the plot picks up, but as of now, she's pretty side-character-ish.

So we get major posttraumatic stress disorder and a good glimpse of what she goes through on a nearly daily basis.

“Nora, wake up.”
Flashes of memories, bits and pieces, frames of smiles, of kisses, of tears, were in her mind’s eye before she could stop it. Lenore screwed her eyes shut tighter and dragged her arms down to her stomach with a sleepy groan. Allen’s snoring jarred her completely out of her slumber. Lenore opened her eyes, unsurprised to find that Thomas wasn’t beaming down at her with his usual wakeup.
He never was.
She shut her eyes again and pushed herself up onto her elbows. It wasn’t even light out yet, but she knew she wouldn’t be getting any more sleep. It was happening more and more often, too, she noted with no small amount of irritation.
Lenore ran her fingers over the nivedidus on her arm, contrasting the smoothness to that of her skin. It may as well be part of her skin, but even after years of service, it felt so alien. Especially in the real world, out of the wastes. She looked over at Allen, still snoring quite loudly, and couldn't help a small smile. She silently got up, untied her hair, and knelt down beside his bed. “Allen,” she whispered as softly as her voice would allow, although he immediately cracked an eye open, “I'm going to go take the shower first. Go back to sleep.”
“What time is it...?” he whispered back, settling back into his pillow with a sigh.
“Early. Go back to sleep.”
He didn't need to be told again. He was snoring once more by the time she had the water running. Lenore moved her long hair behind her shoulders and tried to concentrate on the shower, she really did. All that came to mind, however, was Thomas. She could practically hear him complaining about her taking too long in the bathroom. Lenore shook her head, biting her lip, trying to stop the tears. It was much too early in the morning for such things.
“Thomas, I miss you.”
The scalding water didn't answer her. Lenore slowly sunk down to the floor, nudged the drain shut, and let the water and her hair flow around her until she stopped crying.

That's right. She actually, canonly wakes up every morning to "Nora, wake up" as her mental alarm clock. If she lets it happen, she would completely zone out and get lost in memories. Also, the stomach thing - in case people had forgotten, she was pregnant in the prologue. If she ever wraps her arms around her stomach, it's either damn cold or she's trying not to dwell.

And then, surprisingly, we get a dose of helpless angst from Nathan of all people. Imagine this one: You're nineteen, twenty in a couple months. Almost fresh out of school. Oh, you've had training. Graduated (nearly) top of the class and whatnot. Feeling pretty cocky about everything. Sure, the first mission was a bit of a surprise, but everyone came out more or less okay. At least on their team.

Then this mission. (Minor spoilers, but it's implied in the end of the last chapter and it's in the beginning of this one, so...) You meet this family. Adorable kids, beautiful wife. Cue monster the second you leave them alone for five minutes. You come back, manage to kill the thing, only to find one child mercilessly and literally ripped to pieces, the mother dead, the father wounded and breaking down, and the other kids and your goddamn Inven missing. You have two dead bodies and a dead monster lying at your feet and a man sobbing over it all and your literal link to life is hiding somewhere. It's dark out, the smell of blood and death hangs in the air, and your heart is about to explode. What do you do in this situation. Do you go out looking and leave the man alone? Do you lead children back to where their sister and mother are brutally murdered and still laying in their own guts and blood? Do you dare hope there aren't any more creatures roaming the wastes around you this very second?

The Lannish man took all of two steps before collapsing to his knees. Nathan started forward—only to be halted when he heard a sob.
I... I don't know what to do. He had never felt so helpless before. Training didn't prepare him for this. It didn't teach him to shoot monsters or what to do with attacks or how to comfort a man who had just lost a wife and child. Nathan looked, almost unwillingly, at Seraphine and the other body. It—she—was one of the girls. He wished desperately he could have remembered her name.

I think helplessness is one of the worst feelings in fiction, but when conveyed properly, is worse than almost everything else. It's incredibly powerful. Nathan has NO IDEA what to do, regardless of his class rank, regardless of his gun, regardless of his training, regardless of everything. He's just thrown into this and wasn't prepared in the least.

(I'm also reminded tragically of an episode of Adventure Time. Yes, it's a kid's show (but it's kickass). But in the episode The Jiggler, amongst catchy tunes and goofing around and an adorable little whistling creature they call the Jiggler, they nearly kill it and without anything else to do, the main character (a young boy) starts kissing it. "Why are you doing that?" his partner asks, alarmed. "Because--I don't know what else to do," he replies in the most heartbreaking little voice imaginable. It's short and sweet and that's how these things should be, lest they completely overpower the reader/viewer and break them/the character. A key element of tragedy is the helplessness, but mostly it's implied. When attention is drawn to it, well... Well maybe I'm just tired, I don't know. But I enjoy this.)

careful what you wish for 'cause you just might get it just might get it

Sooooo I got a new laptop!

This is awesome because, well, hey! New laptop! Major bad news because it has NO working word processor program. >: I'm trying to yoink my last one from my previous computer, Tachi the first (who went to my brother), but so far, no good. Good news is that I managed to get all of my pictures, photos, word documents, and music off. Which is good. XD I am NOT going to rebuild my music library. >> Like any good teenager, I have a huge one.

Speaking of which, I'm only a teenager for another twenty five minutes! :D As of the twenty-seventh, I will officially be twenty. XD I'm old now, damn. As such (and because of family and the whole not being able to type thing), probably no Pedestal update tomorrow... whoops. I had wanted to get that and a christmas one up, but life's like that. >:

(My new laptop is Tachi II.)

come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination

WEEEEELL. Got back home. Finished Assassin's Creed 1 and am waist-deep in 2. I love this series. Distraction!

As such, not a lot of writing. I'm not even sure I'll have a pedestal update for next week. No christmas thing, either, oh well.

Worst news of the year: NEW STORY IDEA AUGH.

"But cora, why is this bad news?" you all cry, I'm sure. The problem is that when this happens, stories get ditched. I think Pedestal's in the clear, but The Ram would be on the list of going down. WHIPLASH! too if I let this idea keep eating away at me. The problem is that I have no self-discipline whatsoever. I have never finished a novel prior to Dark Knight, and never finished an original completely-mine novel until The Rook. (note: these were both last year)

Uh it's late now I'm going to bed. More on this later.

furry walls turn out the light furry walls please stay the night

WARNING! Science content! This is an older post that I'm just now getting around to sprucing up and posting. Remember when I had a neat little entry about the ladies of the WHIPLASH!verse? Well...

Let's have the menfolk now! Who I secretly have a huge complex about because I shared chapter one of WHIPLASH! with my boyfriend and he critique'd my manspeek. I fail at the 'manly' man, I know. (But at least in Allen's case, it's purposely averted.)

Jack Gallagher.
Jack is tall and built with brown hair that likes to fall into his eyes and big dark brown eyes. He's terribly a dog. He's loyal, energetic, prone to puppy love, etc. Maria arguably sees him as a pet, too. He's very cheerful, and not a lot can get him down. And if it does, not for long. He can rebound from almost anything - which is crazy useful out in the field.
He was ranked fifth in their graduating class. Probably could've tried harder and gotten higher, but he a) didn't terribly care, b) was busy helping Allen not-fail, and c) had to go up against some crazy motherfuckers for those top spots. At some point, I imagine he just gave up and let Sara Grace and Nathan duke it out. Then put Luca and Zeren in between them for safety.
Jack is trained in how to use most handguns (well, in theory, they ARE pretty much the same anyway) and usually uses a .45 or a 9mm, depending on his mood. In fist fights, he hits hard, but usually remains defensive and lets his opponent come to him. He likes to think he waits for the opportunity to get under their guard, which may be true and he may go for it, but he often fumbles it. He can take a hit, though (and usually does). Probably one of the more composed men while injured, haha.
Inven: Emma Jagg. His is the opposite of Nathan & Sonya's - their relationship is about 25% brotherly and 75% fatherly. If pressed, he'd claim he sees her more as a sister, but that's a lie. He's enjoys playing the father figure far too much.

Luca Becker.
Luca is a tacit, tactful, reserved, emotionally constipated man. (I'm also congratulating myself on getting to utilize the phrase 'emotionally constipated'.) He has close-cropped hair that one color that is hard to describe. Not black, but dark; not brown, but almost gray, although he's in his twenties. You know what color I'm talking about. He has dark eyes that could be brown or black or maybe even blue. Luca is always wearing his dogtags, or at least people assume they're his. No one's ever worked up the courage to ask. He graduated third, but due to a mistake in the system, didn't get paired up with an Inven with the rest of his classmates.
Luca, like Nathan and unlike Jack and Allen, knows the value of a single well-aimed shot as opposed to three potshots. He can change between a handgun and a rifle comfortably, and in the couple months he had of very unexpected downtime, he started to learn the basics of knifework. Physically, he is built and muscular and knows how to fight. He, like Jack, relies on his opponents to come to him; unlike Jack, he uses openings well. He's ruthless and goes for weak points if it will win him the fight, but he only fights if it's a life or death situation.
Inven: He eventually gets paired with Emil (it's an open secret at this point). Luca unexpectedly develops a soft spot for the boy and it's hard to tell what exactly he sees their relationship as. It may be like a father and daughterson, or it may be like an owner and his pet... Either way, Emil very quickly gets him by the balls and keeps him. Very luckily for him, Emil is too sweet or possibly unknowing that he holds so much power over his Tego. (Very unluckily, Sonya has power over Emil and knows it. But that's another matter.)

Zeren Kaya.
Zeren hails from the land of Bauk to Sovine's direct south. In fact, he emigrated to Sovine just a couple days before leaping headfirst into the Tego exams. He didn't know a word of Sovinian and passed with flying colors. Three laws had to change after he entered into schooling. (First, 'you must speak our language'. Second, 'you have to have lived here for x amount of time to participate in the exams'. Third, 'goddamnit how could you have passed all of the tests without knowing what the hell you were doing - uh, we mean, you have to have lived here x amount of time to do anything government-related so gods help us, don't one-up us again, immigrants'.) Anyway! Zeren has soft bluish-gray hair, which a key minority in Bauk possess, and cold, steel gray eyes. He is a man of few words and doesn't like to speak in front of others. He's shy and reserved and has antisocial tendencies.
He graduated fourth in his class, and like Jack, probably could've done better but had had enough with the drama and Nathan and Sara Grace's escalating rivalry. He is skilled in weapons, but is possibly even more skilled in hand-to-hand combat. He fights in a Baukish style that he jealously guards and rarely shows off, although to his ultimate shame and annoyance, both his Inven and Allen Pershing have managed to pick up bits and pieces of it.
Inven: Genevieve Walter. Zeren isn't sure how to deal with her and does so very awkwardly at first. They soon come to a rather quiet decision on how to act, however; he treats her as an adult and they rarely talk about anything other than work. Probably the most srs bsns pair.

I'll chop it off here because the last one had just a couple characters, too. |D

she's like a star tonight without warning she gave up the ghost inside

I'd first and foremost like to thank the nice comments I've been receiving lately, especially from one Trisha. If blogspot has a nifty 'reply' feature, I'm missing it; I don't mean to ignore you! That said, I thoroughly enjoy comments on what I'm aware are usually just my half-coherent ramblings. :>

I thought I'd just leave some fun facts here about various characters and myself, haha. Because I can.

+I just found out tonight that "Kamala" also means "horrible" in finnish. If you've read Pedestal, this is hilarious.

+Also on names - I just now finished creating/naming all of the other Gym race trainers' teams. Some of the awesome names: Hansel, Gretel, Nolan, Hark, Asher, Litese, Samael, Noe, Reva, Ato, Vina, Taraka, Desmond, Miles (you see what I did there), and Susannah.

+Vaikuntha means "the savior".

+Lola and Lenore both means "sorrows".

+Nick means "victory of the people".

+I share a birthday with Hyuuga Hinata, one of my favorite characters from the series Naruto.

+I mentally call the nameless narrator 'NamNar' even though I know his name. I have a feeling this will persist for forever.

+I like to call Nathan 'Nate', although that's not his nickname and I don't like it for him.

+I seem to be very rough on my characters. Lenore has the most scars (by far) of all of my female characters, Sela is still missing a tooth from the riot, Alicia has broken ribs and a leg before, Sonya will probably end up getting shot/break some bones, Lola's had stitches and in fact has had that shoulder ripped open on three separate occasions, Sara Grace will break an arm, and Maria will probably get mauled by a bear or something. Tuesday also has some scarring around her wrist from tugging on her bracelet so much. She also has numerous scars from the Rook...

+For the menfolk: NamNar, a fourteen year old boy (at the time of writing; he started out in-story at ten and will end when he's fifteen) is the most scarred BY FAR of the male characters I own. Following at a distant second is probably one of the male Tego, possibly Thomas or Allen (Lenore, what do you do to those boys!). Nathan will get shot, Allen will have broken bones, Jack's already been in the hospital, and I'm sure SOMETHING will happen to Luca and Emil and Zeren.

+I myself have a couple interesting scars. My newest and most obvious is on my left elbow, from where I skinned it going down the super slide at the county fair this summer. BEST SCAR STORY EVER Y/Y (maturity what maturity)

+I'm not fluent in any language save English, but I'm sure as hell working on that avec francais. Though usually I just speak franglish.

+I'm also making up the language of Lanne (screw the others! SCREW THE OTHERS!) for WHIPLASH! and it sucks ass. It's based heavily on latin, french, spanish, and the basque dialect/language. I'm completely and utterly making it up as I go along.

I am now going to bed! *v*

you're gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul

I want to write something about myself (which I never do, haha). Due to recent events in my life. But I don't want to be a walking stereotype; I don't want to have it looked at as a cry for attention. I'm a writer, and writers write what they know. I want people to know this, to know about me, to bare my soul to someone without fear of judgment and only for support.

But I know this won't happen, haha. Humanity is too... idek. I'm selfish, too. I like keeping secrets. I'll just return to my characters and their fictional lives, even if I finally have some drama to rival their own.

who do you think you are running around leaving scars

So I'm rereading After School Nightmare (delicious, delicious manga - I don't care if you don't normally read manga, read it because it is amazing and the best psychological horror thing I have possibly ever read) as a treat to myself and because I am impulsive. This has made me start on a second WHIPLASH! ASN thing, because I am a dork.

At least I'm writing again. I've also worked more on chapter 8, although Nathan's being a dork, too. I'm glad to be writing something that's not The Ram, though, haha... idk what I'll do with Pedestal. I have an actual buffer! Shock and awe, I know.

But now mangafox's server died, so I can't read any more ASN. EVEN THOUGH I'M ON LIKE THE SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER /flail

Wolfie and I are planning on writing the most depressing thing ever. This is actually like, the third thing we said we'd write together in the past couple months. XD If you want an idea of what it'll be like, go play One Chance - but be aware, it's true. You only get one chance to play it. And you could possibly end up with the saddest pixelated scene ever created as the ending which will LOOP FOREVER if you let it. Even if you reload the page.

i wonder why my heart feels dead inside it feels cold and hard and petrified

OH MY GOD GUYS I JUST REACHED 50k. Admittedly, I was sitting at 49k for the past three days, but hey, life gets in the way sometimes. STILL. GREEN BAR. GONNA GET PURPLE ONCE I'M DONE WITH THIS PASSAGE.

Here's the last paragraph I wrote:

Oh my God—Stephen. With that, her train of thought finally derailed. He had been poking and prodding at her the entire time she’d known him for this sort of thing, although admittedly because he thought she was still seeing them as hallucinations. If he found out that the Rabbit was more or less real, he would immediately become suspicious of the rest. Even more so because she had never mentioned it to him before. And with his overactive imagination…

and with his last breath severus said "take it, take it!"

I wrote over 3.5k yesterday!

/celebrations

In other news, I'm sick. XD Doesn't make for very good writing... Although I've been a bad girl in the fact that I've switched stories for some of my wordcount. I'm still writing, so that's good, right?

Anyway, I'm off to eat soup and watch NCIS and think of more ways to torture my Namelss Narrator.

la vie ne vaut rien rien la vie ne vaut rien

God, look at that horrible rainbow of a NaNoWriMo update box.

I will fix that this weekend. THIS, I SWEAR.

Here are some cute things I drew though:

here i am a rabbit hearted girl frozen in the headlights it seems i've made the final sacrifice

So my laptop's charger finally gave up on life and refuses to charge my laptop. The good news is that it's not the laptop itself and that my roommate's charger actually works in it. The bad news? She won't actually let me use it.

Now I could go into a long rant about how much of a bitch that makes her and how she's kinda stupid for thinking that it will utterly destroy her charger (even though that it a) fits both computers comfortably, since they're the same make, b) I pointed out that they have the same ampage, and c) she said it 'heats up too much' and I outright proved to her that it does not), let's skip that. :U The point is, my laptop has less than 20% power and is, for all intents and purposes, unusable.

Thankfully Mark is coming up this weekend and will hopefully bring a new charger with him. If all else, my dad will mail it to me when it arrives (although I'd be pissed, as this is my second day without a working laptop and I already have to wait until friday night).

UGH I HATE NONCUSTOMIZED COMPUTERS. ESPECIALLY ONES WITH NOISY KEYBOARDS.

your heart is true you're a pal and a confidante

URGH.

So I forgot to set my time back for Daylight Savings Time on NaNo, thinking that it was done automatically. It wasn't. So those 168 words it seems to think I wrote today? I wrote those at 11.08 last night. I DON'T DESERVE THAT YELLOW BOX. GIMME THAT GODDAMN GREEN ONE.

I changed it now, but... ugh. That's just annoying. I stayed up past my bedtime last night - and with a test to take right away in the morning - just to make that wordcount to get my words in to get that green box.

Raeg.

this is a gift it comes with a price who is the lamb and who is the knife?

So. Tuesday has been asked by her brand new therapist to keep an online journal. And because she's paranoid/obsessive about these things, she changes her password every time she logs in.

Her username is "aviscarmenae" which should translate loosely to "bird of song".

Her passwords have/will include:
"TheGunpowderTreasonAndPlot" from V for Vendetta
"communityIDENTITYstability" from Brave New World
"NightlockNightlockNightlock" from Mockingjay
"ALOHAMORA" from Harry Potter
"QuothTheRaven_nevermore" from The Raven

I also want something from:
+the Artemis Fowl series
+The Lovely Bones
+how i live now
+The Great Gatsby
+To Kill A Mockingbird
+The Scarlet Letter
+the Narnia series
+Where The Wild Things Are
+Les Miserables
+Catch-22
+Message In A Bottle
+Good Omens
+WHIPLASH! & Pedestal, haha

Any more suggestions? Tuesday reads just about EVERYTHING but horror and gory stuff. She likes magical fantasy and romance, especially the star-crossed kind. "Intelligent" books are also on her list of loves. Even references to your own novels would be great! XD

i am the second alone in a faceless crowd a human caught in monochrome dreams i scream to wake up

So last night I thought it was a GRAND IDEA to go to tvtropes.

I didn't get any more preparations done last night. And, in fact, I also gave myself nightmares from reading Guts (do. not. read.) and the Eldritch Abomination page. DAMN. Eventually, I went to sleep thinking of hugging Mister Beggar (best therapy I have ever found; if you appreciate that reference, YOU ARE MY NEW BEST FRIEND) and thinking of my own horror plans. I thought of my horror to comfort myself. XD

And now we've officially started into november! EXCITING TIMES AMIRIGHT. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!

As a reminder, here is a link to my '10 story! (the first two chapters and 3,291 words of the third chapter are not counted in my nano wordcount, rest assured.) I also have this neat little wordcount thing to the right over there that keeps track of my wordcount here!

HAPPY WRITING!

why to people live in sorrow why do they have to live in fear for all the children of tomorrow we'll be stronger way is clear bring that beat back

Left my Rook notebook at home (again). Damn. The earliest possible chance I could get it is over veteran's day weekend, and that's IF I allow my family or boyfriend to root around in various notebooks to find out which one. Which I don't feel like doing. SO that means I don't get it until thanksgiving! XD

I've compiled all of the demons and their powers that I can remember/came up with recently on EverNote, which is an amazing program. Only being the idiot that I am, I downloaded it too early and subsequently, my free trial will run out on October 31st. Damn. I'll probably get another month's worth on my own and then try to con someone into getting me a year's worth, but it's a great program. *w* Me likey.

Just typing this made me recall a couple of demons though... Or just one. XD I'm pretty sure I've at least gotten the ones that are mentioned in The Rook and the new ones that'll appear in The Ram... PLANNING. THIS IS HOW YOU DON'T DO IT, GUYS.

well i've never had to knock on wood but i know someone who has

[[Tuesday AGAIN! This is important and spoiler-ish. X3 This is post-Rook Tuesday.]]

1. What is your full name? Do you have a nickname?
Tuesday Leonora Olson. James and Anna call me Day sometimes.

2. How old are you? When is your birthday?
I am twenty-two years old now... My birthday is September 18th.

3. Where were you born? Where do you live now? Are you patriotic?
I was born in Arkansas, but now I live in Seattle. I don't think I'm very patriotic. I don't wave flags or anything. I hardly even find the time to watch fireworks on the fourth...

4. Who are/were your parents? (Names, occupations, personalities, etc.)
My mother was a librarian. My father had a couple jobs... Their names were Thad and Anita Olson. Mom was, well, like a librarian--pretty quiet, loved books and reading, very loving but firm. But she was very smart and could tell you anything about any book ever. She was the best. Dad was quiet, too, but more solemn than bookish. He was very much a business man, but that's not to say he didn't have his silly moments. He loved playing with our dog. He had the most handsome smile...

5. Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like?
I was an only child.

6. What is your occupation?
Um... I work at a book store, and I suppose I'm a writer... *sigh*

7. How tall are you? How much do you weigh?
5'6, 148 pounds...

8. What color is your hair? What color are your eyes?
I have very dark brown hair, and very dark brown eyes. I think they've gotten darker recently...

9. What is your race?
I'm human.

10. To which social class do you belong?
I feel like a college student again, although I suppose my income puts me in the middle class. I'm still making a bit off of my book, Mr. Fallun wants to make a movie, and I have pay from the book store. And the Ram's income...

11. Do you consider yourself to be attractive? Do others?
Not really. I know I've gained weight and I wear baggy clothes on purpose. I don't know what others thing. The Rook doesn't find me very attractive, that's for sure.

12. What is your style of dress?
Long skirts, the loose kind that fan out. Baggy sweaters and long-sleeves. Neutral, natural colors. I still like blues and greens...

13. Do you have any scars? Tattoos? Birthmarks? Other unique physical features?
I have a couple of scars, the most recent one on my wrist from wringing that charm bracelet around it so many times...

14. Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses?
I have some mild allergies to furry mammals. But not much else.

15. Are you right- or left-handed?
Right-handed.

16. What does your voice sound like?
Quiet. Very, very quiet. I-I sort of have a stutter now, too, because of those stupid demons...

17. What kind of vocabulary do you use?
I'm not sure. A large one? A well-educated one? A reading one?

18. List three quirks or other defining characteristics.
I still wear lots of mascara and eyeliner. I like dark lashes. Um, let's see... I fidget a lot. Mostly it's touching my hair, but I also play with my bracelet. I hum to myself just before I fall asleep.

19. How often do you bathe? Do you wear perfumes?
Every evening I take a shower, early enough so I have time to dry my hair before I go to bed. I don't wear actual perfume, but I like to wear body spray. Usually something like sweet pea. I like the more natural scents instead of those flowery or fruity ones.

20. What kind of facial expression do you commonly wear (dour glare, wry smile, etc)?
Lately... I have a habit of frowning nervously or biting my lip. It might be my makeup, but I also seem to have wide eyes, like I'm scared all the time. Of course, that might not be too far off...

21. Do you use body language? How?
I keep eye contact with the Rook and Ram, but I look down or away for humans, I think. I fret with my fingers when I'm in public, or with the bottom hem of my shirt.

22. Do you have a commonly used saying?
I don't believe I do.

CHILDHOOD

23. What is your earliest memory?
A bed time story with my parents.

24. How much schooling have you had? Did you enjoy it?
I had a year of college and completed high school. I mildly enjoyed it, but I haven't been able to muster up the energy to go back to finish it.

25. Where did you learn most of your knowledge and skill?
Life experiences and books.

26. How would you describe your childhood in general?
So very happy. My family was so warm and safe and happy...

27. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A storyteller, or a librarian like my mother.

28. When and with whom was your first kiss?
It was in grade school or middle school, with a boy by the name of Bobby Fitz.

29. Are you a virgin? If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity?
...I am not. I lost it to Chris during senior year.

30. Do you have a notorious or celebrated ancestor? Does that affect you?
I don't, so it doesn't.

INFLUENCES

31. What do you consider the most important event of your life so far?
...The island events. Important doesn't necessarily mean good...

32. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I don't know. Getting into college, even if I didn't complete it.

33. What is your greatest regret?
...what happened on the island...

34. What is the most embarrassing or shameful thing ever to happen to you?
That time of the month in the asylum...

35. Do you have any secrets? If so, what are they?
I-I tried to keep the island a secret. I keep the truth secret.

36. What is the most evil thing you have ever done?
...

37. When was the time you were the most frightened?
The night when the Rook followed me into the asylum and I realized that he was real.

38. Have you ever traveled outside of your country? If so, to where?
I've been to Italy and Canada.

BELIEFS

39. What is your alignment?
I'm an atheist.

40. Are you basically optimistic or pessimistic?
Pessimistic, I'm afraid. I've been through too much to be otherwise.

41. Do you believe in a god? If so, which one and why?
I don't, not anymore. If He existed, He wouldn't have let any of this happen.

42. Do you believe in an afterlife?
Hell is where I'm going, I'm fairly certain.

43. What is your greatest fear?
Hell, but probably not in the sense you're thinking of...

44. What makes you angry? Sad? Happy? Why?
My life, for the most part, haha... When people treat that damned book so frivolously or say they enjoyed it, that makes me angry. Or perhaps frustrated is the better word? Frustrated and aggressive. When I recall certain memories, particularly my parents, they make me sad... Not much makes me happy anymore, but a good book will. So will polite customers who don't recognize me.

45. Do you think people are basically good or basically evil?
Yes.

46. What are your views on politics?
They're messy and I stay out of them now.

47. What are your views on gambling, lying, theft, and killing?
They're all wrong.

48. How far will you go to defend your beliefs?
To the death.

49. How much do you value money?
I value it as far as it gets me in life.

50. In your opinion, what is the most evil thing any human being could do?
Take away someone's loved ones.

51. Do you believe in self-sacrifice for the greater good?
Yes.

52. Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love?
I want to, and I may have once, but not anymore. Not since Chris left my life.

53. Are you superstitious?
Not really.

54. How much do you respect the beliefs and opinions of others?
I respect them as much as they respect mine.

55. How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings?
I am honest with my feelings, but usually not my thoughts.

56. Do you have any biases or prejudices?
I'm biased against all of the petty little humans running around, ignorant of what could be hunting them. They're so lucky and so damn stupid.

DEALING WITH OTHERS

57. Who is the most important person in your life, and why?
I'm not sure. Probably Mr. Fallun.

58. Who is the person you respect the most? Despise the most? Why?
I despise the Rook and the Ram and the rest of their kind! They're horrible, monstrous creatures who should kill each other off and get the hell away from me!

59. Do you have a significant other? Who? Why?
Not anymore. In a way, I guess I'm still getting over Chris.

60. Do you have a lot of friends? Who is your best friend?
Not anymore. I'm friendly with my coworkers, and some of them seem to like me, but we never hang out or anything.

61. How do you relate to members of the same race? Class? Sex?
I'm definitely better with humans than demons. Also better with females than males.

62. How do you relate to members of a different race? Class? Sex?
...Stiffly at best.

63. Have you ever been in love? If so, describe what happened.
I was in love with Chris, but after the incident of the island, and after seeing him once in the asylum... Never again.

64. What do you look for in a potential lover?
I'm not looking, because the Rook would only end up taking him away from me. I'm not going to do that to anyone else.

65. How close are you to your family?
...They're dead.

66. Do you want a marriage, family, and/or children?
I did, I really did. But now, I'm not sure...

67. Do you tend to argue with people, or avoid conflict?
I'm an avoider. It's so much easier to avoid fighting with the Rook and not get hit for it, and it's spilled over into the rest of my life, too.

68. Are you a listener or a talker?
I'm a listener. I'm quiet.

69. How long does it usually take for you to trust others?
I'm not sure I can anymore.

70. Do you hold grudges?
Not anymore. They're petty and stupid.

71. Do you tend to take on leadership roles in social situations?
I don't like to, but I'd like to think I'm still able to...

72. Do you like interacting with large groups of people?
Not at all.

73. How well do you express yourself?
I've been struggling with it more and more ever since the Ram came into my life.

74. How quickly do you judge others?
Instantaneously, but only little judgments.

75. Do you care what others think of you?
Not very much.

76. Do you have any enemies? How or why are they your enemy?
The demon populace at large... They're terrible monsters!

PERSONAL TASTE AND OPINIONS

77. What is your favorite pastime? Color? Food? Possession?
I still like reading, and working is actually fun. My favorite color is indigo, since it's cool and dark and very pretty. My favorite food is anything chinese or asian.

78. What are your preferences in arts and/or entertainment?
I generally stay away from horror, and I'm a sucker for romantic things...

79. Do you smoke, drink, go whoring, or use drugs? Why or why not?
Never. I've done enough stupid things in my life without adding to the list.

80. How do you spend a typical Saturday night?
Working, getting groceries, or curled up and watching television.

81. What is your most cherished fantasy?
...changing the past. I just want to go back to how things were. I want him back.

82. How long is your attention span?
Long. I'm very patient.

83. Do you laugh a lot? What do you find funny?
Not anymore. Although I do find dry humor (like british things) funny.

84. Is there anything that shocks or offends you? If so, what?
The Rook. The violence in the world. What even humans are capable of.

85. How do you deal with stress?
I'll read alone, listen to some light music. Or I'll leave the house, since the Rook and Ram are usually around.

86. How much athletic ability do you have? Artistic?
I don't have much of either of those...

87. Do you like animals? Do you like children?
I love them both.

88. Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan?
I prefer plans, mostly due to the Rook's tendency to be spontaneous.

89. Do you have a pet? If so, what is his/her name? Species? Fur color? Etc…
I did as a child, but not anymore. The Rook would kill it. Unless he counts...

SELF-IMAGE

90. What is your greatest strength as a person? Weakness?
I've gotten more and more stable, back to being even. But sometimes, the little things pile up and once they do, I'm utterly useless. Once I break down, I'm out.

91. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My past.

92. Are you generally introverted or extroverted?
Introverted, unfortunately.

93. Do you like yourself?
Not anymore. I'm working on that, though. My therapist says I have to get my self-esteem back up.

94. Do you have a daily routine? How do you feel if your day is interrupted?
I do, but since interruptions are fairly standard, they don't bother me as much as they once did. Stuff happens.

95. What goal do you most want to accomplish in the next six months? Your lifetime?
In the next six months, I would like to survive with my sanity still intact. I'd like to get rid of the demons before I die...

96. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 20 years?
I don't even plan that far ahead anymore...

97. If you could choose, how would you want to die?
Content with life!

98. What is the one thing you would like to be remembered for after your death?
Nothing, hopefully.

99. What three words would you use to best describe your personality?
Gloomy, submissive, skittish.

100. What three words would others probably use to describe you?
Shy, independent, airheaded? I'm not sure. It would depend on who you ask.

101. Why are you risking your life to adventure?
Because living with the Rook as a poltergeist is risking my life. I didn't ask for this. Lord knows I didn't.

curtain goes up and the lights come down wanna see the new look gotta hear the new sound

Herpaderp, no update for Pedestal tomorrow. Didn't get the chapter done, not even half done. ._. Plus I want all of the last race chapters to be double length to go through it quicker, so yeah...

I'm also very keenly stuck on WHIPLASH!. This is terribly annoying because I really really really want to work on it a bit more before November rolls around, but the words won't come. I know what I want to happen, I know roughly what the rest of the chapter should be, but it's just... not coming. Ugh.

I'd also like to get chapter three of The Ram done by November so I can start a new chapter/document for NaNo. But Stephen, that little ass, isn't cooperating. Neither is Tuesday. And the Ram only wants to beat on the Rook. idek what the Rook's up to these days.

Note to self: Get something done of WHIPLASH! first. Then finish The Ram chapter. Then spend the rest of the month churning out excess Pedestal.

i've been here before a few times and i'm quite aware we're dying

So since I'll be in the state's only big city this weekend, I'm going to be going out shopping! Exciting, right, but you may be asking what this has to do with writing. Well!

Apparently, a new nanowrimo trend is to get an article of clothing/outfit for each of your main characters and to wear it when you feel inspired for them/want to feel inspired for them! This sounds terribly fun, so I decided I'm gonna give it a try. :D I have no idea how many characters I'm gonna get stuff for, but I plan at least three.

Tuesday = baggy sweater, I'm thinking dark blue or green or purple.
The Ram = turtleneck! Haha, no, seriously.
Stephen = hipster clothes! Probably some shirt (+maybe a scarf?) with some hipster-esque design on it. I sorta already have the glasses.

Optional characters, if I could find the right clothes for:

The Rook = I know his exact outfit, but somehow, I doubt I'll find it. If I could find some sort of maroon long-sleeved shirt, though, perhaps.
The Owl = a blue dress, which I highly doubt I'll find, much less buy. But hey! If I find it, I'll go for it.
The Mockingbird = Some sort of brown or black hoodie... I'm not entirely sure. But if I saw it, I'm sure I'd pick it up.

I may just do this for other characters, too. XD Just because it sounds really fun and it'd be like a giant inside joke with yourself and your characters. Nathan and Sonya would be hella fun, too... And I have wanted to make a Pedestal shirt or two... HMM.

my voice drowns deep underground only the dead can hear me see me

Well, the new NaNoWriMo site is up and running, and I'm already perusing its forum. XD And updating my profile, etc. I'm mad because I had typed up an awesome synopsis for The Ram on there, completely forgetting about the site wipe, and then came back to no synopsis. D:

November's going to be fun. XD My roommate is more or less used to the creepy-ass music at midnight (she loooooves silent hill), but I have a new guy since last November, and he's kinda scared of it. He also said he's not going to visit me, aww. D: Probably for the best, though... More writing time. And less creepiness he gets to see from his girlfriend.

I'm also going to go to a write-in or meeting or something if it kills me. Especially since we evidently have TWO MLs for east river this year! (as opposed to none the year before, and one for the entire state the year before) Yeah boyyyyy. It'd be even awesomer if I could get some USD students to be NaNoers, or find the ones who already are. (I know there are others, damn it! DX I just don't know who they are...)

trust me there's no need to fear everyone's here waiting for you to finally be one of us

NNGH. Porn is hard to write.

After spending the day being terribly, horribly inspired by some Pedestal things and a fuckton of Rook things, I brainstormed a lot with my wifey, and then we collapsed into discussing how hot/cute shota!Ram is. And how he needs to get laid. By the Rook. Don't ask. XD

But seriously, mini Ram. How cute would that be. We also decided Tuesday is the mommy to everyone but the Rook & Ram are her parents, haha. Paradoxes aside, IT MAKES SENSE. I also tweaked The Rook soundtrack so now it's more for the general series instead of just the first book. Basically I added Petite Cossette, a whole hell of a lot of Silent Hill, Disgusting for the lulz, and some Neuroticfish. And then took out some of the 'lighter' songs. It's a lot more mellow, creepy, and sad now. Less anger, haha.

I also left my notes for the other demons in my other notebook AT HOME FFFFFFFFFF. And of course I didn't put it on le internet. u_u My only hope is either somehow going home before November, doing the best I can with what I can remember (read: not a lot), or biting the bullet and having my boyfriend pick it up for me when he visits which would not only entail him reading my notes but GOING THROUGH THE NOTEBOOK. Going through several. Which have drawings in them. BAD DRAWINGS. The more I think about that option the more I think 'oh hell naw'.

Originally I was going to put the oneshot I wrote up on here, but then I realized there were spoilers. >: Sorry guys. MAYBE LATER WHEN THEY'RE NOT SPOILERS ANYMORE? :D?

it's disgusting how i love you god i hate this i could kill you

Dream sequence GO!

This is gonna be so amazing. Pretty sure it'll be the last one of the story, too. D: Well... TECHNICALLY not... >w> But that would be telling, so it's the last "dream" sequence. Terribly enough, y'all will figure out what I'm referring to later. And it'll break your hearts. (It's been hard to write.)

Anyway, there's so much foreshadowing in this it's hilarious. Not to mention SYMBOLISM! And I'll admit, some of it is symbolic for things NamNar doesn't even know. u_u But I couldn't resist. (Hints: Alicia & her feathers, Celia's appearance...)

Also I have something REALLY FUCKING EPIC planned. You have no idea. It will be the best thing ever, promise.

and all he said was and roses are red

Here's some WHIPLASH! character things for y'all. Both so I can work on my babies, and so I could get feedback. (that means comment. *stares hard at certain readers*) Let's do the ladies first!

Sara Grace Kellner.
Her left eye is blue, her right one is hazel. She has "honey" colored hair. I based her physical design off of the concept of a "prom queen". She's very pretty, hair in ringlets, great body, gracious attitude, etc. ...Except when she's not like that. Sara Grace can be catty (mostly to Nathan), rude, brutal, and calculating. She's smart and knows how to manipulate others. (Hey! Just like a prom queen, after all!)
Personality-wise, Sara Grace is a girl. She's insecure deep-down - but mostly about being female. She sees herself as a Tego first, then a woman. Unfortunately, this is hard to do when everyone and their mother knows you as the "girl Tego". As a result, she's become more and more withdrawn and dresses up less and less. Which is sad, because she probably really likes cute clothes. She tries to act like a tomboy. And when she's not trying, she's great at it; six years of training with a class full of men lets her interact with the rougher gender pretty easily. But when she IS trying, she fails. She hates being called weak, and doubly so if she thinks it's because she's female. She will not hesitate to show you that she can, in fact, kick your ass without breaking a sweat.
Her training was pretty routine. She uses a .45 as her gun of choice, and relies mostly on weapons. If pressed into a physical battle, she'll hit hard and fast and hope to disorient or incapacitate her opponent quickly.
Inven: Ann Iridos. Their relationship is sister-like.

Maria Delgado.
Maria is heavyset, but don't let that fool you. A lot of that is muscle. Muscle she will throw around. And what she can't do with her fists she'll do with her sharp tongue and quick wit. Or, you know, with a gun. Maria is laid-back, doesn't give a flying fuck about anyone other than those she cares about, curses like a sailor, and has a temper. She has black hair and black eyes, very characteristic of northern Lanne.
Maria is hard and caustic, but does surprisingly have a softer side. People aren't sure which side it is she presents to Jack Gallagher, but it's pretty well known that she's put him in the hospital a couple different times. She's best friends with Sara Grace and was friends with Talli Johnson as well. She can be one of the guys (case-in-point: she can outdrink most of them) and is just as comfortable as a girl. She's very comfortable in her skin and while she's heavier, she has no problem with this. She's more or less fit and what disadvantages she does have due to that, she made sure to balance out with other things.
Maria went into sniper training and generally uses a .22 rifle for that. She knows Kyymese and Lannish martial arts but prefers hard punches and kicks to the groin/stomach.
Inven: Natania Novak. She and Natania have a working relationship. They mostly use each other, but probably like each other deep down. Probably.

Lenore Coracks.
Lenore is tall. Like, oh my god, tall. Breaks six feet easy. She's self-conscious about this, but hides it well. She has long black hair and black eyes, but is only a quarter Lannish. (Dark hair is fairly common in Sovine, anyway.) Lenore prefers to wear yellow and lighter colors, mostly because with that much black hair, it's too easy to fall into gothic trends. So she's tall and willowy, with angular eyes and a small nose.
Lenore is motherly to a fault. No, seriously, it's one of her biggest faults. She would go after refugee children and was a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, this very often placed her in danger and her Tego was not fond of that habit of hers. This also attached her immediately to any children and, well, heaven forbid one should die on a mission. This has toned down since her last Tego died and other circumstances happened, but it's still very apparent in how she treats the younger Inven. She secretly wants to adopt Sonya and Emil.
Lenore had a year of physical training and can at least protect herself, and can usually wield a knife pretty well. She knows how to point and shoot a gun, but not much else. She's an Inven; she relies on her Tego for physical protection.
Tego: Thomas Sayre. She was in love with him, and he with her. I'm pretty sure they were basically married. Very cute couple. They were the best team and a favorite among the officers.
+Allen Pershing. They eventually get past the awkward stages, but Lenore still can't let go of her past. She doesn't want to get romantically involved, even though Allen seems all for it.

I think Sonya speaks for herself...

quand il se penche quand il se penche mes nuits sont blanches et pour toujours

So Pedestal passed DK as my most favorited (by a fair amount, too, hmm...) but I still have no idea what to do for it. D: HELP GAIZ.

And I had twenty minutes free time in French, so I outlined the next arc or two in WHIPLASH!. Which is good, since, you know, I have no idea where that story is going. I almost miss(?) writing blind. |D

So here's a WHIPLASH! excerpt (I would use a Pedestal one, but the next chapter is going up later today, so I figure it would be redundant).

“What was that about?” Allen asked cluelessly.
“There will always be things between a Tego and Inven that simply will not be understood by any other pair,” Lenore replied, tone curt. He bowed his head, cowed, and didn’t reply. She sat down in the chair Sonya had claimed before, crossed her legs, and folded her hands neatly in her lap. “I’m going to talk to you boys about a few things now.”
“Is it really the best time?” Nathan inquired, eyes narrowed.
“Sonya’s asleep and I have you both as a captive audience. I see no better time,” she said with a beam.
“In that case, by all means, continue.”
“Nathan,” Allen scolded. Nathan only shrugged, coughed, and turned back to Lenore.
“Right now, Allen and I have been stealing a lot of the attention,” she started right in. Nathan huffed and crossed his arms. “It’s true. You and Sonya wouldn’t have even appeared on Leland’s radar for another couple of months, save for the fact that you brought in the little Lannish boy. This is both a blessing and a curse for you two. Emil now serves as Leland’s new distraction, but you two are now known to him.”
“Why are you saying this?”
“Because Leland Aminov is not someone you want to get too comfortable with. Especially Sonya,” Lenore surmised grimly. “Eventually, he will either try to recruit her for one of his special projects, or you could luck out and be too important to the Tego half for him to interfere much. I hope that is your case.”
“It will be his case,” Allen broke in with a look down at his friend, “Nathan and Sara Grace are the favorites. They’re both safe.”
“Leland is gaining more power over this project. The Inven are what drive this effort—let’s not try and pretend it’s any different. Without us, you would simply be fodder on the front lines.”
“Lenore!” Nathan snapped, sitting up with a glower. She glared right back at him. Allen pushed Nathan back down and turned to give his Inven a look that told her to plainly back off as well. Not that she noticed or respected it.
“I’m trying to give you a warning, Nathan Loar. I have years of experience on you and I’ve seen the darker side of this war.”
“It’s a war. It’s all dark. And if you badmouth our soldiers one more time—”
“Nathan, kindly shut up.” Lenore pinched the bridge of her nose, head tilted away from him. “You can be patriotic later. I’m only giving you this warning because you are a friend of Allen’s, but if you’re not going to take me seriously, then I’ll stop here and let you die out there.”
“Lenore, he doesn’t—well, you both don’t—Lenore, be nice. Nathan, listen to her.” Allen had to physically keep Nathan pinned to the couch.
“You’re on her side?” he asked, falling back with a betrayed look.
“She’s my Inven, and in this case, she’s right,” he admitted, though he couldn’t meet his friend’s eye. Allen fidgeted nervously and looked at Lenore. “I… I’ve seen the front lines. They’re not pretty, Nathan. I haven’t seen a Prissy yet or any of the monsters, or found any dead refugees, or what have you, but I’ve seen Sovinian soldiers get shot up and killed, and we had to bring them back. I’ve seen Aminov argue with Lenore, try to push his research forward through intimidation and enticement.”
“That reminds me. If you see a Prissy, for the sake of anything you hold precious or holy, run,” Lenore interrupted briskly. Nathan coughed again but didn’t say anything in argument. “I don’t care if you want to try to be a hero. You can play hero all you’d like with the regulars and Paronese and soldiers.”
“What are Prissies?” Nathan deadpanned.
“It’s slang for Pristines. They’re those monstrous things you’ll see out in the wastes, except they still look human. They won’t be broken or bloody or hurt. They’ll look, well, pristine. And that’s why you have to run like hell,” she explained, ducking her head so her hair covered her eyes. “They stayed clean and whole for a reason—because they’re dangerous. I’ve only seen one myself once before and it ripped apart three soldiers, two Tego, and an Inven before someone managed to stop it. So if you see one, run. I‘d like to avoid as many funerals as possible in the near future.”

only you can make me feel so true i'll never never be so blue as long as i have you

[kampfbee] says (10:26 PM):
I want to name one of the WHIPLASH! chapters "Beata Maria".
It's latin.
[kampfbee] says (10:27 PM):
It means "Forgive me, Maria", and Maria of course refers to the virgin Mary.
I know it's religious, but I like the phrase and the implication.
Plus I have a character named Maria.
I just can't decide which chapter it'd be for...
[kampfbee] says (10:29 PM):
I have this really clear scene in my head of Nathan and Allen coming back from a join mission and Allen bowing his head, his bangs would cover his eyes, and just ask Maria to forgive him. He'd be near tears, gritting his teeth, and telling her that Jack died. Maria and Jack are going to become a canon couple, so that would be sad. If I did do that, I want Maria to not only break down, but whereas
earlier she had sex with Jack and hoping she wasn't pregnant, after that, desperately hoping she WAS so she could have his bb.
Then again, I'm not sure I could handle killing Jack.
He's too cute to.
Plus Jack x Maria = cutest couple EVAR.
...though Sonya x Vai and Allen x Lenore probably top it at their high points.
[kampfbee] says (10:30 PM):
So the other option would be to kill Annie, Maria's sister-in-law. Which would be safer, but a bit harder to justify the impact, you know?
Or maybe...
Maybe Sara Grace could die. XD
Nathan would be like "YES".
[kampfbee] says (10:31 PM):
Because he actually does NOT have one of those "I hate her but I LURVE HER" relationships with her. He actually just hates her. There's no romance. XD Which is rare, especially for male - female relationships.
But Sara Grace actually did go out with Allen earlier in their training, so she and he are still on fairly civil terms.
[kampfbee] says (10:32 PM):
...And apparently that fact I was looking for I didn't put in. ._.
So I get to make it up! ...apparently.

I was looking for the fact of what is a Tego's pay, because I could not remember what I had set it as. But apparently, it was in an earlier draft and got deleted somewhere along the way. On the upside, I reread WHIPLASH!, corrected the one mistake I found, and refamiliarized myself with a couple of the subplots I had going on. (Samantha is a big one.)

I also want to find a way to put in what really happened to Jack and Emma during the attack somewhere. Because Jack's story was a lie. I just don't know how to do that. D: Jack and Emma are basically the only 'normal' Inven pair that gets any amount of screentime. Nathan & Sonya are CRAZAY, Allen & Lenore are quirky beyond reason, Maria & Natania regard each other grudgingly and as fodder, Luca & Emil are both male (very rare) and are very unsure of each other, et cetera.

i don't want you to change for all the hurt that you feel this world is just illusion always trying to change you

Two things this post shall hold:

One, this song will be mandatory listening during the last scenes of Pedestal. I'll give out the mp3 to anyone who wants it, so just drop me an email or something and I'll send it your way. BEAUTIFUL song.

Second, when I was holed up in the Denver airport (which I loathe) for four hours with literally nothing to do, eekun and I decided to make a story via text. I sorta want to delete them out of my outbox already, so here they are. XD

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Sonya. She was a happy, friendly girl with loving friends and a natural charm that helped her through life.

But one day, she met a boy. But not just any boy, oh no. He immediately changed her life. No one knows [if] it was for the better, though.

His name was - well, that would be telling. He was a little quieter than she was, but no less spunky. His most defining feature, however and oddly enough, was his luck.

It was terrible. They met when he was running - from someone unknown, since he refused to tell - and he ran right into her. She may have overreacted and kicked him off with a bit too much force.

He received a bloody nose, but they bonded after she decided to feel sorry for him and helped him clean it up. She snuck him into her dorm... Or tried to.

Thankfully, it wasn't her caretaker, but instead their neighbor, Lenore [who caught them]. She sympathized with the children and got them safely to Sonya's room.

'Sonya,' Lenore asked, 'Is this another one of your ploys to get Nathan to like you?' Sonya only stared at her, unable to grasp what she was getting at.

Lenore calmly explained that some girls try to make boys jealous by hanging out with other boys. This made the unlucky boy nervous."

And that's as far as I got in the time allotted. XD NamNar (the unnamed boy, obviously) was going to think that Sonya was using him to get to Nathan, which was pretty much a lie. Nathan WAS going to get jealous, but not in the way that Sonya (hadn't) planned. And NamNar was running from Nick, so there'd be a whole showdown. It'd be epic.

i just feel stupid when i'm dancing like a psychopathic fool

I am never going to be productive again.

or maybe I'll be extra nerdy and make some for my characters?

In ACTUAL writing news: I'm back from Wolfie's, Mark is monopolizing a lot of my free time, The Hunger Games series is monopolizing the rest, but college is coming back to me this weekend so hopefully I'll get back into a stable routine then.

I'm also going to do SOMETHING EPIC if Pedestal manages to KO Dark Knight as the top of my "most favorited story" list. And we're unnervingly close to that. (like, five away? WHAT) The problem is that I still don't know what that something epic should be. D: Epic things are hard to come up with out of story. You know, IN REALITY.

On the (lulzy) upside, some of Mark's witty banter is going into mah stories. My favorite thus far:
"I can't win a battle of wits with you. It's like going in with a butter knife while you have an Uzi. I'll cut you, but you'll still win in the long run."

YOU MUSTN'T BE AFRAID TO HRNK A LITTLE LOUDER DARLING

it's been one week since you looked at me cocked your head to the side and said i'm angry

Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedom.

Also Pedestal got 1000 reviews HOLEE SHIT.

praise to my father blessed by the water black night dark sky the devils cry

In addition to still wanting to in-character text with someone (*stares hard at MundaneJester*), very suddenly, I want to write smut. Which I have never actually written before. Moreover, I am still deciding between my Rook and Ram or Nate & Allen. (Also if anyone else other than me ever calls him Nate I will punch you in the balls.) So I'm currently discussing why my writing gland suddenly wants to do this.

And now for some fun ideas we're throwing around!
+hate sex (RR)
+drunkenness (sort of a given for NA)
+michael!verse vs. tuesday!verse

...and that's about it. I guess we're going with Rook & Ram first, hate sex, michael!verse (aka the first book).

I have no idea about the actual smut part, but surely writing different genres and different things is good for you, right? Right? (and lord knows I need practice on romance. ...if this can even be called that.)

god i hate you i could kill you

So I have known about this "idea" for awhile, but I guess I'm just now dorky enough to try it? idk. But texting in-character. Sounds fun. I wanna do it with someone. Any volunteers? What characters? XD

no dawn no day i'm always in this twilight in the shadow of your heart

The boy was pinned up against the wall before he could finish. Nick held him with one hand at his throat, the other reaching down to where Byron’s shovel was leaning against the wall. He picked it up and held the flat side against the boy’s cheek. “Do you know what this is?”

“B-Byron’s shovel?”

“Yes. It is. He’s hit me twice with it. He also nearly knocked out Chase when we challenged him. Byron was very animated with this shovel of his. And you know what?”

“What…?” the boy squeaked.

“He will never be able to do that again, will he? Byron will never be able to lift his shovel again and smack sense into younger trainers. He won’t be able to hand out badges. He won’t be able to give advice on continuing on with a training journey. He won’t be able to admire the up-and-coming young trainers. He won’t be able to challenge the next generation. He won’t be able to test trainers to see if they deserve their Pokemon. Are you seeing what I’m getting at here?”

The boy only stared at him, eyes rolling in terror.

“You, who are using Pokemon to bully others—no, it’s not even that tame anymore is it?! You are all using your own Pokemon to kill others! Do you know how stupid that is?! You don’t do that! You don’t have the right to pass judgment on anyone! You are the ones who don’t deserve the Pokemon that follow you!” Nick roared, dropping the boy and turning to the room. He swung Byron’s shovel against the nearest window, shattering it. Glass rained over the fallen Gym leader’s body. “You all claim to be my followers, right?! So you should know what’s coming next!”

Nick grinned at them all, arms spread, waiting for someone to answer him. The other two trainers in the room didn’t dare speak, and the Pokemon cowered before him. Nick stomped over to them, still swinging the shovel beside him, and beamed at them all.

“You don’t deserve these Pokemon, so that’s why I’m going to take them away from you! Chase, Flamethrower.”

He didn’t kill anyone himself until he found the burning warehouse with thousands of lives trapped inside and two starry-eyed girls responsible for it. For the first time, it wasn’t his Pokemon doing the dirty work; Nick still had Byron’s shovel, and was beating their faces in until the blood soaked the ground around them. They deserved it. They deserved it so much and so much more for doing what they were doing. They were killing not only innocents, but all in the name of their twisted judgment call on all of Sinnoh. They were trying to imitate him and decide who deserved what—so he just gave them a hand with a shovel and a parting Flamethrower just to make sure they got the message.

So what if he was screaming at them, too. “You don’t do that! You don’t attack other trainers, you’re stupid for trying to follow me! You’re as bad as I am! Why are you doing this?! Why did you try this? Why, why?!”

-------THIS IS A BREAK-------

“Is he always this shy?” Lenore asked, still trying to coax Emil toward her.

“Oh yes. Terribly timid. Though he’s got a nasty streak if—”

“Bevriedera ors,” Emil said with a fierce pout.

Aminov sighed. “If you happen to be from northern Lanne. And I know that you’re not, but with the dark hair and eyes, you could pass for it.”

“Technically I’m a quarter Lannish. On my mother’s side.” Lenore straightened up and smoothed out her dress, looking severely put-out. “Still, what has that have to do with anything? What did he say?” Allen had been wondering exactly the same thing.

“I’m currently teaching him more of our language. He knows the basics, and he’s picking it up quickly, but these daily meetings with him are still a bit of a pet project of mine. He’s the only southerner we have right now in the program, and I haven’t spoken to one in years, anyway…” he trailed off wistfully.

“…He’s in the Inven project?” Lenore asked brightly. Allen rolled his eyes. And just like that, child-loving Lenore was back.

“Yes. Actually, the accelerated program. Within a year, he should be out in the field on his own. I hope to use him as a key to further missions and negotiations with the southern half of Lanne,” Aminov explained, patting the boy on the head. Emil flushed at the attention and ducked out of it rather hastily. He completely scooted around the scientist in an effort to further evade Lenore—though eventually she got fed up and chased after him, much to Aminov’s amusement. By the time Emil figured out he was being pursued, she had caught up and had her arms around him, picked him up, and carried him rather awkwardly back towards Allen. He was reminded very strongly of a child with a puppy. Complete with pathetic whining and squirming.

“So a little Lannish Inven. Look at his hair, though…” she crooned, setting him back on the floor—though not allowing the poor boy to escape her grasp—and ran her fingers through his wavy hair. “Look, Allen. It’s even paler than yours is.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m Lannish, though I always thought they had dark hair and eyes. Like you or Maria,” Allen replied, eyeing Emil with equal parts curiosity and pity. The boy looked ready to burst into flames, judging by the redness of his face. “So, he looks new. He acts new. Who brought him in?”

“B-Be-Bevridera ors,” Emil stammered, repeating the same odd phrase as before. It didn’t elicit any sort of response from Lenore, however, much to his obvious confusion and irritation.

“One of the new pairs. Actually, a Tego from your graduating class, unless I’m gravely mistaken,” Aminov said, chin in hand. Lenore and Allen exchanged a look. Allen, for his part, figured it was one of two people. “Loar, I believe his name was. Your age, with orange hair and brown eyes. He also had this spicy little Inven with silver and brown hair, oh, and glasses. Do you know them? I think they mentioned you…”

“Yeah, we know them,” Allen replied with a sigh. Nathan had been his first guess, anyway. It wasn’t as if he expected anything less. “Nathan Loar and Sonya Karahalios.”

“They’re good friends of ours,” Lenore added, still petting Emil.

He perked up at the name, however. “Shachelle? Capelleau halon, beli oei lilietta na?” he asked, gesturing vaguely. Allen literally felt the words fly over his head once more. Thankfully, risking an embarrassed glance to the side, he found that his Inven was in the same boat; she stared down at the child in her arms blankly, as if he had just spoken another language—oh wait.

don't call my name don't call my name roberto

Got a Twitter for my writing because sometimes I can't be halfassed to post on this. XD; Though I have a feeling it'll start to turn into a character profile eventually.

I've worked out some ideas in my mind (well, most of them are lulzy and crack and will be put into comics/drawings instead of the actual stories, but still, they are ideas) lately and while I meant to donate tonight to writing - faaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiil - at least I have these things in my mind. I just don't know when I'd get the chance to put a lot of them onto a word document. >A> I have work for a lot of tomorrow, saturday I've donated to Mark, and my next free day off after that is for an eye appointment / new glasses. Yeah. Lookit how exciting my non-writing life is.

But back to my yes-writing life! Looks like we'll have a Pedestal update next week. As for WHIPLASH!... damnit I gotta work on that. BUT THE ROOK. YES. I made a Rook doll to go with my Mister Beggar doll, but I'm not sure what I'll be doing with him just yet. Wifey's claimed my Ram doll that I'll make at some point. I wanna do WHIPLASH! characters (Nick and NamNar are a given), but I'm not sure how I'll do the crazy hair colors and, well, hair for that matter. Lenore and Sonya's spring to mind as being rather complicated. Heaven forbid I attempt Sara Grace.

Yeah I'm done now so I can actually WRITE GASP.

she got a halo around her finger around you

OH GOD GUYS

NO TIME FOR WITTINESS NOW JUST GO BUY MY BOOK OKAY THANKS

power is not what he craves my friend it's just a means to his electro end

There are upsides to being sick! Who knew!

Upside 1: I finished proofing The Rook, updated it on createspace, and sent away for the finalized proof. I got the email notification saying they shipped it today, so in a couple days, I'll have it, and then I'll look over it once more (look over, not read) to make sure there are no spacing errors or anything. And then. Sale. aka the phase where I'm all like "GIVE ME YO MONEY HO" and beat people with my pimp cane.

Apparently a couple of my readers are making posters to hang up in their school, and quite a few have recommended it to their friends. ;w; This is so touching, guys. Now if only you were that cool with WHIPLASH!. But no, seriously, you guys are great, fantastic, wonderful.

Upside 2: Writing time! This is actually because I have missed three days of work now (and I'll probably miss part/all of tomorrow too, due to an appointment), but still. It gave me time to finish up with TR, mess around a tiny bit with WHIPLASH!, and write almost two chapters of Pedestal thus far. I hope to make a buffer again, even if it's just one chapter. It'll help tremendously. Plus it seems like the plot is moving ahead speedily now, especially since I only have one more planned competition and then the end. How does that work? Well, just watch and find out. Er, read. You know what I mean.

Oh, I also already pimped this out in the Pedestal-TeamAwesome group on deviantArt, but Pedestal has a tvtropes page. It makes me lol hardcore and is definitely something every pedestal reader should check out.

I was also playing chess the other evening with my brother, and we named all of the pieces after characters in The Rook. Dorky, but fun.
Rook = the Rook.
Bishop = the Rabbit.
Knight = the Mockingbird.
King = the Owl.
Queen = the Ram.
Pawns = the humans. All little Tuesdays and Michaels and Stephens and Silvermins.

Skitty out.

hello there the angel from my nightmare

So looks like next up is Lanne, mmyep.

It's technically pronounced "layne" (rhymes with "spain"), but mentally I've sorta been calling it "lan". I might change it. Or I might just leave it up to the readers' collective imagination. WHO KNOWS IT IS A MYSTERY OOOOOOOH~

Lanne is, very technically, the southernmost country in the "world" of WHIPLASH!. Why is this? Because no one actually knows where the southern border is. Most northern countries regard it very vaguely and hesitantly as the large canyon that cuts through the bottom half of the world (and serves as part of the southern border of Bauk), but the southern countries know better. Especially the northern Lannish. They may not like the southerners, but they know that many groups have traveled a lot farther south than the canyon.

Oh! Let's just jump right into the two groups then.

We have the northern Lannish, and the southern Lannish. This has already been introduced as a concept in chapter five (remember, I don't count the prologue as a chapter), but here's a quick recap: Two groups who are very opposite and hate each other to bits and pieces. They get along like a house on fire. Even Maria, who was born and raised in Sovine, and Emil, a young boy who probably never met a northerner before in his life, were about to come to blows over it. People outside of their culture can't really grasp it, but look at it this way. They have been warring for forever and a day. They currently aren't now, since they see the outside war as a bigger threat and are not stupid enough to weaken themselves, but it doesn't mean they have any sort of alliance. In fact, it basically means that the southerners went into hiding in the deserts and left the northerners to work it out with the political bullshit flying every which way.

Another note: southern Lannish are very skittish, simply put. They do not socialize well and are perfectly content with letting the northerners run the politics with other countries. They very rarely trade with certain Baukish companies, but that's about it. They are nomads who travel around the desert and basically just chill there for all their lives. They also only make up about 15% of the Lannish population - and that's a very rough and generous guess, since it's not like there's a census bureau down there. There's been talk lately (by the northerners, granted) that they've been dying off lately. Why? It's a mystery...

Anyway, geographically speaking, Lanne is separated pretty cleanly into two sections: the southern desert (about 40% of the region internationally known as the country) and the northern mountains. There's some plains in between, making a neat little belt in the middle, but no one lives there because while it would make for a temperate climate and nice farmland, neither the northerners nor the southerners would have anything to do with them and they'd probably die in a civil war battle, anyway. The mountains in Lanne are high and cold, but only the northernmost are snowy all year round.

Northerners have dark hair and dark, angled eyes, and usually have stockier and thicker figures. They traditionally hunt, but that's not to say they're uncivilized; they have cities, and roads, and while it's too mountainous for a train system, they know all of the safe passes and can get around pretty easily. They like hunting, and have an equal society; anyone who can hunt, will. Anyone who takes down large prey will be celebrated, male or female. They don't like the stereotype of wearing furs and sitting around fires, and won't take kindly to the implication, either. (but they are known for their very nice fur coats and have several companies who sell various kinds. they're considered a luxury in other countries, but everyone and their grandma has one in northern lanne.)

They wear dark colors and thick clothes. On the western border, Baukish fashion is not uncommon, too. Other than that, they don't really get into other cultures that much.

Lanne is technically neutral in the war, which is partly because they genuinely don't want to mess with that can of worms up north, and partly because they are nestled between Bauk and Kyym and enjoy their peace with both. This does not mean that they are neutral in action, however. Both Bauk and Kyym have recently taken more aggressive actions against them in order to sway them to their side of the war, and most refugees to the badlands are from Lanne. Bauk, without a guarantee of an alliance, won't let very many through their country up to Sovine, so going to the badlands is their best bet. Where they go from there is a mystery. A fair amount do end up in Sovine, though rumors state that the rebels have a large amount of Lannish in their ranks...

Southern Lanne is a whole 'nother beast, though. Emil is pretty typical of their kind. Thinner, darker skin, pale blond or brown hair, and light blue eyes. Whereas northern Lanne is staunchly atheistic as a culture, southern Lanne is polytheistic. (We'll learn more about that with Emil later on.) They wear long sleeves and long cloaks and tunics, but they're light and airy (and surprisingly comfortable). Camels are practically worshiped, since it's the easiest mode of transportation in the desert, not to mention the food aspect. Some groups have also taken to raising other domestic animals for food, though not in any large number.

Southern Lannish don't fight with technology or sheer number like northerners tend to do; instead, they are all built wiry and tough. They are used to scorching sun, freezing nights, sandstorms, poisonous insects, animals, and arachnids, and have on more than one occasion slaughtered "peaceful" groups of Baukish or Kyymese negotiators coming to, well, negotiate with them. No one but they know whether or not they actually have some sort of unified system of government between them or are simply a bunch of groups traveling around. They've also, due to their nation's proximity to both Bauk and Kymm, created their own fighting style that is a haphazard mix of the two, but somehow, it works for them. (Sadly, we don't get to see that, because Emil never learned it.)

Lanne as a whole speaks one language, though dialects naturally vary between northern and southern. And as a whole, the culture is based upon the Spanish, French, and Basque cultures. It's sort of touch and go at this point, though, haha. It is only one of two of the countries in the "world" that are based on existing countries/cultures.

And that's about it! From here on out, these things will probably be shorter, since I don't have as much planned for the other countries (nor do I need that much...). Still! What country should come next? (paronene, bauk, kymm, avle, escaia)

waterloo i was defeated you won the war

It looks like Lanne is going to be the next country to get a "story" thing here, which'll be fun, since it's the country I have the most figured out about, aside from Sovine. XD It won't be this post, but it should be the next one.

So I've gotten an xbox for all those who don't already know, and it's been eating up my time. It's not as if WHIPLASH! is gone from my mind - far from it. All this has created is doodles of Nathan and Allen in assassin "uniforms" running around and doing stuff. Oddly enough, expect a couple comics featuring various WHIPLASH! characters to things to ABBA songs. (seriously, go listen to "Does Your Mother Know" and try not to think of Sonya.)

I also keep meaning to do a Get Down thing for Pedestal. SHHHH DON'T TELL ANYONE IT'S A SECRET.

So basically the point of this was to inform my writing-blog-readers of three things: Lanne will be the next country up, I am distracted by video games, and I am sending The Rook back for one last proof. I'm slowly working through it, though, and it shouldn't be too much longer. D: It's just going a little more slowly with le work. *le sigh*

and they think they've got it made and they're right but they're wrong and they try to use our words but it's a lie

So I've talked a lot about the characters of WHIPLASH!, but I haven't really stated much on the world (aside from the fact that world-building sucks ass). So this post will be outlining the world of WHIPLASH! a bit, just so y'all who are lucky enough to read this will have a better grasp of what's happening, who's involved, and all that jazz. Since it's not as if the characters themselves talk about this. Damn them.

So the main country is Sovine. I think the capital city is also named that, but I'm still figuring that one out. Then again, they don't really have a system of rural/urban like we do. They basically have one giant city, miles and miles of city. Then around the fringes of that city, where it's slightly less populated, they do their farming and ranching and rural-ish things. Sovine has a fair amount of land, and a pretty large population, so they're basically a world power. They're highly militaristic. They have a leader who is chosen by a council of advisors, who are in turn appointed by whoever has seniority at the time. It is not a democracy; there is no voting for leaders. The military soaks up most of the funding, and there are four branches: the Tego branch (smallest), army (largest), navy (second smallest), and a reserve army-like thing thats sole purpose is to stay at home and take care of disasters, accidents, riots, etc. Domestic things. (they're also the second largest, though it's sort of like the national guard in the US; they're not on active duty all the time.)

Nathan was born in the capital city, like most Tego. Actually, like most Sovinians. About eighty-five to ninety percent of the population lives in that humongous city. Allen is one of the few who did not live there prior to training. The rest of the rural population is very spread-out and are farmers or ranchers, and generally live with their families in giant farms/ranches. They get a fair amount of government support (since farming is hardly lucrative), since they provide the food to the empire.

Sovine's allies are all to their south. Sovine's located in the northwest of the continent. To the northwest and west of them, they have tall mountains. To the northeast, a sea. To the east, they border Paronene. To the southeast, the badlands. To the south, they border Bauk.

Bauk, and Lanne to some degree, are both Sovine's allies. Paronene, Escaia and Avle are aggressively their enemies, and Kyym has been mostly staying out of their way but has been trading with them more than the "good guys". There is also the rebel group. That is a conglomerate of many different nationalities, though most of them are non-Sovine and non-Paronene, since those are the two major players in the war. They are not allied with any of the countries (at least not openly), but lately have taken to attacking Sovinian troops - and, more often than not, Tego. Several of the other countries view the Tego and Inven pairs as barbaric, since it deals with children, and will actively hunt them down.

The tactics used against the Tego and Inven pairs evolve throughout the novel. At the start, they will either kill the Inven to easily kill the Tego, or, if possible, kill the Tego and try to kidnap the Inven to "liberate" them. A surprising amount of the kidnapped Inven stay with them and join their cause. Later in the novel, however, let's just say they figure out a bit more of how the nivedidus works...

Anyway, back to Sovinian culture. (more on other cultures later.) They have a fairly conservative culture. Tego and most military roles are for men. Inven and nursing jobs in the military are for women. Teachers and religious leaders are female, while businessmen and military leaders are male. Politicians, however, are pretty evenly spread, though that happened fairly recently. No one really views it as a bad change, however. More women are also breaking out into researching roles (especially into the Inven program). Otherwise, the roles are pretty "traditional". Men work, women stay home. Working wives and mothers are not unheard of or looked at funny. Marriage is still seen as something sacred, though it is not religious; it is more of a duty to each other, an act of love. Sovine as a country does not have an official religion, though its largest one is a monotheistic one.

Schooling is public, free, and mandatory up until a certain age, unless the child in question is enlisting for service. The ages vary. Inven can join as early as age eleven with parental consent, or thirteen without it (though there has been talks to move that age back to twelve). Tego training begins at thirteen traditionally, though varying ages are not uncommon. Traditional schooling for that afterward takes six or seven years, depending on a lot of factors. (and contrary to popular belief, there is actual schooling involved, too.)

The entertainment in Sovine is pretty laid-back. Alcohol, smoking, gambling, and prostitution are all legal with age requirements, though are frowned upon in excess. (Light drinking is an acceptable social outing.) Homosexuality is viewed as weird and a phase, but not illegal or terribly immoral. (they do not have gay marriage though. >: poor dears.) Music and literature are popular. Bands are more popular than individual singers, though there aren't a lot of artists/bands at a time, anyway. The current most popular band is Daydreamer Syndrome (with their hit WHIPLASH! ;D). There isn't exactly a New York Times bestseller list or an equivalent, so most literature travels by word-of-mouth and it's difficult to tell what's "big" at any one time. Moreover, what's big in the city usually isn't so out in the rural areas. Foreign music and literature are seen as very exotic and sought after, though not unusual or all that expensive.

Fashion in Sovine is, again, sort of conservative. Showing chest is acceptable in women (well, not to the extent of some american ladies tend to), but showing leg is only acceptable in dresses and skirts, and even then, only in slits in the side. Shorts are to the knees or not at all. (which is why a lot of inven and female tego enjoy messing with their uniforms so much.) Jeans are common, but only for very casual things and working. It is perfectly acceptable to walk around in military uniform, or wear one to almost any occasion. Currently in high fashion: Kyymese style for the women, more formal attire (dress shirts predominately) for men, blues and reds. Currently in common fashion: lots of contrasting colors, big belts for ladies, long sleeves, bracelets, longer hair (for both men and women, though naturally 'longer' varies between the genders). Many of you might notice that these things bleed through into the WHIPLASH! cast drawings even now; Lenore likes contrasting colors and long sleeves, Maria almost always wears a belt, almost all of the ladies have long hair, Nathan has longer hair, Sonya wears bracelets, the Tego and Inven uniforms are blue and red, etc. Maria and Sara Grace also like to wear low-cut shirts, but no one outside of uniform has been shown with shorts/short skirts on.

I think this is long enough now. I hardly tapped the wealth of information, but there's a basic rundown of the main country of Sovine. What country should I do next? (choices: paronene, bauk, lanne, avle, escaia, kyym, the badlands)

angels sang out in an immaculate chorus and down from the heavens descended chuck norris

In honor of me completing the Tego class list and finally putting it in a word document as well as my dingy old WHIPLASH! notebook (complete with a map, Tego class list, semi-completed Inven list, main character bios, semi-completed scientist & politician list, semi-completed culture list, et cetera...), here's the class list. It's in order of class rank, and the numbers after are the ages. (I also made progress on chapter seven ohmaigaw. Though I really hope no one's expecting a Pedestal update tonight. *cringe*)

Sara Grace Kellner (19)
Nathan Loar (19)
Luca Becker (20)
Zeren Kaya (23)
Jack Gallagher (19)
Liam Wright (23)
Maria Delgado (20)
Del Mattson (27)
Hudson Blanshir (23)
Tristan Swarovski (22)
Gavin Erikson (19)
Vayden Amirmoez (20)
Cameron Lint (22)
Allen Pershing (19)
Peter Sherrill (20)
Kevin Blanchard (22)
Darren Gold (23)
Warrick Faulkner (20)
Conrad Teriti (20)
Kendall Williams (23)
Josh Morrison (20)
Chris Daniels (19)
Felix Azeel (20)
Ivan Callen (22)
Yuan Aldana (20)
Brian Rockefeller (23)
John Caldwell (22)
Samuel Mas (20)
Vachel Herriot (20)
Talli Johnson (23)
Matthew Bethaway (19)
Sol Palek (23)
Oliver Visatris (20)

A couple tidbits/fun facts:

+I will mention every single name on this list at least once. I will. A lot of them are actually semi-fleshed out in my head, too.
+Sara Grace (mentioned already; main character), Nathan (mentioned already; main character), Jack (mentioned already; minor character), Gavin (nope), Allen (mentioned already; main character), Chris (nope) and Matthew (Allen's neighbor lol, will be mentioned in chapter 7) are the only ones who graduated early.
+There are so many references it isn't even funny. Some examples: Sol Palek is pulled directly from A Queendom Fallen, (Prince) Vayden is pulled from AQF with an added last name, Hudson Blanshir is named for Mister Hudson's song "White Lies", Gavin is a friend's son's name, Brian is a friend's name, Johnson is a friend's last name, Tristan is my brother's character's name, Vachel Herriot is inspired by Hiruma Arakawa (mangaka of FullMetal Alchemist) (it's a long story), Conrad was named for Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name, etc etc.
+Three laws had to change after Zeren Kaya took and passed the Tego entrance exam. Muse on that. :D
+Of the top ten, one is full-blooded Lannish, and one is full-blooded Baukian. The rest are either mutts and/or had families from Sovine. Zeren is the only one not Sovine-born, however, since Maria, while very Lannish, was born there. (Luca is... something. A mutt, but I haven't decided of what yet.)
+The top five will all be main characters, to some degree. The first two are a given. It's an open secret that Luca Becker becomes Emil's Tego. Zeren Kaya will be mentioned numerous times and will have something else happen, and Jack Gallagher has already been the first injured Tego of the class (lucky guy).

And, what the hell, here's a couple Inven names thrown in for the fun of it. (Good luck figuring out who belongs to who, though. :P Although it's surprising how many have already gotten a mention/feature. For example, Ann Iridos has already been introduced and named as Sara Grace's Inven.)

Lenore Coracks (??)
Ann Iridos (13)
Emma Jagg (12)
Clover Gold (13)
Rani Solo (12)
Samra Tyn (13)
Natania Novak (14)

and if you threw a party invited everyone you knew you would see the biggest gift would be from me

So I really really don't like this latest chapter of WHIPLASH!, but me being me, I hate hate hate deleting things. I probably should since it went off on this hugeass tangent. Buuuuuut it still hasn't happened - progressed or deletion. XD It's how I roll.

Pedestal hasn't had any progress for awhile, too. Hmm.

'cause tramps like us baby we were born to run

I miss writing.

friday night it's time to party drop it down and get real naughty

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS.

I GOT MY PROOF OF THE ROOK TODAY.

well she's not bleeding on the ballroom floor just for the attention 'cause that's just ridiculous goodbye

Oh! Completely forgot about this, but today is the Write-A-Thon! Here is a link to my profile, if it'll let me post it without forcing anyone/everyone to sign up. :'D

Basically, you write 3k words in a day. Easy, especially for a veteran NaNovelist. In fact, I already have a thousand words down, since I had been writing late last night and didn't notice the time change, haha. I'm like that.

Anyway, just gonna do that today. It'll make me feel accomplished. Plus I'll use that 3k for WHIPLASH!, woo. I really really wanna get back to the main cast already... Sonya, Nathan, quit being whiny bitches and finish up with your flipping mission. :I

come with me honey i'm your sweet sugar candy man

Here are some fun writing-related links for y'all if you don't already have them. (And I'm assuming the drabblematic link just below this will work and doesn't have to be included in this post.)

The Evil Overlord List. Lulzy and true. Some day, I'd like to write a story about the "bad guy" who sticks dangerously close to that list. (It's also fun to look at it and think of how many villains fail at it. *cough*nick*cough*)

The Phobia List. A list of phobias! Even some really, really crazy ones! Give your character a debilitating fear of anything! (For example: Lenore - ornithophobia. NamNar - hydrophobia. Sonya - Nathandoesn'tlikemephobia.)

And now for some naming and other generators:
+ Serendipity
+ Seventh Sanctum

And now for some translators:
+ Quick (but not perfect) romaji converter
+ A very handy little translator for many different languages (opens up on the french one)
+ Another translator

Keep in mind that many/all of online translators and dictionaries are very far from perfect (and can even lead to some hilarious and unfortunate mistakes). But it's handy for simple things or vocabulary. It's also super super handy for making words. :D Tego, Inven, and nivedidus were all frankenstein'd together using words from other languages (primarily latin).

Basically, the first two links are lulzy and mostly there for entertainment, though they can provide an interesting amount of insight into a character. I use generators all the time for inspiration and a quick name for anything from a city to a drink (I kid you not; Dreamer's Dread is still my favorite). Translators are also a key, especially if you're like me and are world-building. Because worlds need cultures. And cultures need languages. Damn those cultures. Though remember kids, always put your original spin on things. If you just shamelessly steal, bad things will happen.

Here are some bad things:
+ If you decide to be "cool" and just use a randomly translated word as a term, chances are it'll either be wrong in a hilarious or offensive way and a native speaker will call you out on it. Publicly. With shouting. In the correct foreign words.
+ If you decide to be "cool" and "borrow" names from generators, other stories, or again, a translator, chances are that'll be wrong, too. The owner will track you down and flay you. In a foreign language if you really messed up.
+ You will get the pants sued off of you. And then you'll have to live a shameful, pantsless life. Come on folks, no one wants to go through that (or have to see it).
+ These stories are supposed to be your own, your creation, your babies! You would not use someone else's arm to make your baby, now would you? No. No you wouldn't. So use your own goddamn genes to make your own goddamn baby. You'll be more proud of it in the end, too, I promise.

(Though, just as having a baby, the process of creating it - labor - is very painful and long. Just so you know. Or perhaps the world does not wish for authors to procreate and thus gives them this trial instead. Hmm.)

aye amidakeni kaye amidakeni kaye amidaya emaeya

Woo, chapter two of The Ram done! Fuckin' finally. I think I'm going to lay off of it for awhile now and concentrate on WHIPLASH! (and, of course, the ever-present Pedestal).

Speaking of Pedestal, y'all may or may not have noticed that Bulbapedia is running a fanfiction contest! A generous awesome reader of mine volunteered to sign up and nominate it (aka "smear it all over"). The only prizes are some computer-made graphics, but those are cool in their own right and hey, if I win either of the sections, I can say Pedestal is an award-winning fanfiction! ;D How cool would that be.

In other news the song Moonflower from the Petite Cossette OST is gorgeous. The link is to a youtube video with the song, so go give it a listen! :D You won't regret it. (Unless you don't like it. Then I guess I just wasted three minutes of your life. Score!) It goes on The Rook series soundtrack, mmyup.