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.

secretly you're so amused that nobody understands you

Taken from here. Totally fun times! I entered in Sonya and Nathan, and here are some of the best lines.

"There was the tree, with its deadly lights, and the presents, heaped up violently--" [my kind of christmas]

"Sonya was so angry, she picked up a cigarette from a table and threw it hungrily under a rainbow."

"Ho! Ho! Ho!" Santa said. "Why don't you give me a kiss too? Then things will be hillbilly-esque." [i knew the word 'hillbilly-esque' would pay off!]

"Santa was the best kisser ever, as if he was more rotted than road kill. He made Sonya's thigh feel all terrible." [...oh god]

"We'll make a really deadly snow man!" Nathan said.
"Why don't we make a snow woman instead?" Sonya said. "That would be more terrible and politically correct."

Sonya screamed hungrily and ran but the snow deer chased her until she tripped over a tree root. Then the snow deer slayed her quickly.
"Nobody does that to my little Smokin' Cigarette," Nathan screamed. [i... just...]

If only I hadn't been so beautiful, Nathan thought, pouring a sparkling amount of rum into his eggnog. Then Sonya might not have got so painful and left me all alone at Christmas time. He wiped away a terrible tear and held his hand in his hand.

"I'm so awesome!" she said. "You're awake. My name is Sonya. You saved me from the truck. But your hand is broken." [i'm pretty sure this would be canon.]

"Your hand must hurt lightly," Sonya said. "I think this will help." And she screwed Nathan several times. [sonya wishes this was canon.]

"It looks hard," Allen said huskily. [THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID]

Lenore and Allen were out for a handsome Valentine's walk in the sky. As they went, Allen rested his hand on Lenore's head. It was the most romantic walk ever. [can he even reach her head?]

"Do you suppose it's hard here?" she asked huskily. [...'nough said]


Things looked dead. But Lenore, although she was yellow, knew she had to save her love. She grabbed a dress and, like a rook screaming in the night, beat the fox lightly until it ran off. "That will teach you to nail innocent people."
Then she clasped Allen close. Allen was bleeding quickly. "My darling," Lenore said, and pressed her lips to Allen's finger.
"I love you," Allen said silently, and expired in Lenore's arms.
Lenore never loved again. [this is too canon.]

When Lenore came to, Allen was holding her hand and looking lovely. "My love," Allen said quickly, "I'm sorry for the handsome shock. I've been shipwrecked on a dark island for the last ten years, living like a rook screaming in the night. I was only rescued last week." He paused. "I lost my head in the wreck. Can you still love me?" [OH MY GOD THE ROOK MEETS WHIPLASH!.]

Lenore was almost in the sky when she came across a lovely cake, lying alone on a handsome plate. "That must be a treat from my dead bear," she said to herself, and tripped over to it. [trip indeed. lenore, honey, you might want to lay off the drugs.]

"I got you a dress. It must have been that yellow man who lives nearby. He acts a little quickly, ever since he nailed a gun."

"My darling," Allen said, stroking Lenore's finger, "I have something for you." He gave a box to Lenore. "It is but a bright token of my dark love." [that last part is actually kinda cool...]

If only I hadn't been so gorgeous, Nathan thought, pouring a beautiful amount of rum into his eggnog. Then Allen might not have got so pulsing and left me all alone at Christmas time. He wiped away a breathtaking tear and held his member in his hand. [i decided to do a nathan x allen one. this is what i get.]

"I missed you huskily," Allen said. "And I wanted to do your chest again."
Nathan hugged Allen and started to sob.
"I think you're drunk," Allen said.
"I think so too," Nathan said and they did each other's chest until they knocked the Christmas tree over.
On Christmas Day, they ate roasted horse face and lived sexily until Nathan got drunk again. [and taking into account nathan's drinking...]

"Wait," Nathan said and caught Allen by his member. [brb dying of laughter]

How could he expect Allen to love someone with a pulsing member? [dying some more]

They came together and their kiss was like the glow from the fire of a thousand burning zombies.
"I love you," Nathan said breathily.
"I love you too," Allen replied and did him.
They bought a horse, moved in together, and lived huskily ever after.

"On the eighth night, Allen climbed into bed with Nathan. He burrowed under the covers and huskily did Nathan's member." [i am convinced the bot behind this is a yaoi fangirl]

What's in a name? That which we call a member
By any other name would smell as beautiful [and here yaoi goes shakespeare!]

Allen swept Nathan into his arms, bent him on a table, and kissed Nathan breathily, slipping him the tongue and groping his member. [*gropegrope*]

See, how he leans his member upon his face! [...someone's well-endowed.]

Then one night, Allen looked up at Nathan and said, "If you kiss me, I will become a rock hard prince."

And here's a complete story, just so you can see how fun this can be.

Sonya was walking through a red meadow, laughing at the butterflies flitting around her head when she spied a smokin' little deer lying under a tree.

Sonya skipped over to see the dear thing and was tired to find that he was hurt! A gauntlet had pierced his awesome little thigh and he whimpered violently with the pain.

"My silvery little friend," Sonya said. "Let me help you!" She took out her Leatherman Multi-Purpose tool and pulled out the gauntlet, as haltingly as she could. The deer cried out and Sonya's heart ached, as if he was more rotted than road kill. "You'll be all right," Sonya whispered. "I'll take care of you. I'll call you Nathan and you can live with me forever!"

Scooping Nathan up in her arms, Sonya carried him home and made a bed for him beside her own. For seven days and seven nights, Sonya nursed Nathan, cleaning his thigh and feeding him Bacon-brand deer chow.

On the eighth night, Nathan climbed into bed with Sonya. He burrowed under the covers and hungrily slayed Sonya's ear. It made Sonya giggle and she cuddled close to Nathan, stroking his eye and singing sleepily to him.

They continued that way for a long time. Every day, Sonya hurried home so she could curl up with Nathan. It gave her a silent feeling whenever Nathan slayed her ear.

Then one night, Nathan looked up at Sonya and said, "If you kiss me, I will become a hillbilly-esque prince."

Sonya screamed quickly, she was so surprised. How could a deer talk? She must have dropped off and dreamed it.

"You're not dreaming," Nathan said. "Kiss me."

"Don't tell anyone I screamed like that," Sonya said and kissed Nathan on his eye. The air swirled and suddenly, there stood a hillbilly-esque prince! With a crown and everything!

"I'm Prince Nathan," he said. "I was cursed. It's a long story."

"Is it really you?" Sonya said.

"See?" Nathan said and showed Sonya the scar from the gauntlet on his thigh. Then he kissed Sonya and they tumbled under a rainbow and did a lot of very deadly things, some of them involving a terrible cigarette.

"I love you," Nathan said when they were done. Sonya clasped him close and they lived together happily ever after on all the prince treasure Nathan had stashed away.

And if Nathan didn't know about Sonya's visits to the deer sanctuary, well, it wouldn't hurt him.

(I'm pretty sure this would be a canon Sonya daydream.)

you don't know me you don't know me at all

snohshine (9:52:24 PM): “Day, darling, I know you don’t have a cell, and it’s great because it means I never have to worry about you texting or calling anyone during your work. And I know you’re a big shot author and your book is selling well and that’s great. But tell that goddamn James of yours that if he calls this number looking for you once more time I’ll chop his balls off, okay?”
snohshine (9:52:27 PM): This makes me happy.
tomigewithlove (9:52:51 PM): ...what.
snohshine (9:53:12 PM): .w. I've been looking forward to introducing this character for ages and that turned out to be her first line.
snohshine (9:53:28 PM): And any character that introduces herself into the story threatening to chop someone's balls off is a winner.

And here Tuesday's boss in The Ram rears her ugly head. Metaphorically, of course. I imagine her to be pretty in a really aggressive way, actually. Still, I'm exciting. (I'm also almost done with chapter two, woo~ then after that I'm back to WHIPLASH! for awhile.)

je veux te voir dans un film pornographique

Added a poll, lol. I have no idea why. But I'm kinda curious. :D

I also added The Ram to fictionpress, and am working actively on it again. So while updates won't be very frequent, at least it's progress on the series.

(I also added the link to it on the sidebar over to the right and updated The Rook's link to the createspace page. I'll change it again to the eStore once it's available. :D)

you lie silent there before me your tears they mean nothing to me

Okay last time I tried writing this post blogger decided to shut down, so second try go!

Submitted The Rook for the proof copy yesterday, got an email saying they shipped it today. It shouldn't take that long to get here then! Wolfie gave me a no-go on the picture, so it's a text-only cover. Le sigh. Oh well, can't win 'em all. This series will just be text covers. (WHIPLASH!, on the other hand... since my plan for the cover doesn't necessarily entail models, I can handle it on my own.) So in a couple weeks, The Rook will be available for purchase! Oh yay! :D!

I'll pimp it out more once it's actually all finalized, but yeah. I'm excited. GIMME YOUR MONEY PLZKTHX

i gotta tuck you in girl i gotta sing you sweet melodies about babies yeah

Finishing up Neko-chan's writing/reading likes/dislikes thing. :'D

Things I Dislike Writing:

+Romance. Maybe I'm just romantically stunted, but I feel flat-out embarrassed writing it in any amount of detail. I can handle the cutesy stuff like kissing and hugging but ehh. That's about it. Which is going to make later parts of WHIPLASH! fun...

That's actually pretty much it. Because if I don't like to write it, I don't write it. I'm usually not forced to do it or anything. XD;

Things I Dislike Reading:

+Poorly-written shit. Excuse my french, but it's true. If you want me to read your story and it turns out to have major spelling errors, punctuation errors, grammar errors, or is about a Mary Sue being kidnapped by the hottest canon character and having a whirlwind romance and singlehandedly saving half the cast, I am going to close out of the window, shut off my computer, and go to my writing god shrine and pray for the future of humanity. I understand that not everyone is good at writing. I'm not. A lot of people aren't. Only like 0.000001% of writers make enough selling their books to actually live off of it. The internet is even worse in the fact that there are no editors or feedback system except those that are voluntary. But just as it's your choice to write, it's my choice to read.

Uhh, that's about it. -w- I like reading a wide variety of things, really.

close your eyes clear your heart cut the cord are we human or are we dancer

Finally, finally made some more progress on WHIPLASH!. Got about a page, but more importantly, I got past the stuck part. XD; Thank god for Sonya's... personality.

“You’re so cool.”
He nearly choked on his breath. Recovering, he looked away and covered his mouth with his hand, feigning another drag. She had been rather quiet on the mission up until that point—no, she had been calming down in general. “What brought this up again?” he asked carefully, blowing smoke at her across the fire.
She giggled girlishly (never a good sign) and smiled at him. “I can’t help it. Just seeing you like this. I mean, I know smoking is terrible for your health and everything, but you look so much like a bad boy when you do it. It’s highly attractive. Nathan, have you ever had a girlfriend before?” The smile dimmed enough for him to notice.
Still, after a brief internal debate, he decided honesty was the best policy. “Of course I have. Why do you ask?” As if he couldn’t guess.
“Oh… Then I guess you’ve already had your first kiss, huh.” She didn’t have to sound so disappointed about it.
“Sonya, if you were my age, would you expect anything less?”
“No, but—I guess I hadn’t been expecting much, anyway.” She gave up with a defeated sigh. “It’s just—I haven’t!”
He couldn’t help but smile at the sheer outrage in her voice. “This is a problem for you?” He really shouldn’t be teasing her, but he was only human. At least he was humoring her.
“Yes! Don’t—Don’t laugh, Nathan!”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Y-Yes you were! You’re so mean! I’m a girl, okay, and we think about these things! These things are important to us!” she snapped, her cheeks a very bright red. He held up his hands in surrender.

(I also doodled a little comic last night that has me terrorizing Sonya & Nathan in mid-this-scene.)

Anyway, here's some fun facts:
+Nathan and Sara Grace both use .45 semiautomatic pistols as their weapon of choice. No one is sure who started it and who copied who, but of course both of them will fervently exclaim that they were the first and the other is copying.
+Maria is the only female Tego in their year to have been properly sniper trained. Sara Grace went for .45 training, and Talli Johnson took on .22 rifle training as a bet and fell in love with the gun after that. She went in for some sniper training with it, but it wasn't her forte.
+Sonya is one of the youngest in her class. She turned twelve only about a month before meeting Nathan.
+Lenore, unlike most (okay, basically all) other Inven, has had combat training. She is skilled with a hunting knife (long story, and she will never tell you it on pain of death), a Kyymese style of fighting, and due to circumstances repeating themselves far too many times, she's unofficially trained in using her previous Tego's gun.