Holy crap, where has the time gone?

Into the past would be the obvious answer. To offer more of an explanation, it has gone into focusing on completing the pair of Associate of Science degrees I have been working on for no few years. This summer the time went into traveling to Canada and enjoying time with my fiancee. Both of which are little excuse for my lack of writing.

So, let's be honest, I got lazy. I fell victim to the allure of Minecraft and various other video games, as well as began the awful habit of reading comic books. (I saw awful only because it has only increased the chasm in my mind between the two media of print and art I wish so desperately I could bridge myself.)

But never mind. Excuses are, in the end, only excuses. I have been undisciplined in the craft and it has since fallen into disrepair and out of habit. I desire to change this. I should change this. Challenge the shadow of my mind with keyboard and pen in hand and force it out into the light.

Bah. I have no more to say on the subject. Only actions matter at this point. If you're still reading this, I thank you for offering me your time and I hope to soon reward it soon with more than mere tidbits of well typed drivel.

I never really left, but I haven't been posting any of my writing on-line because I was quite convinced no one (with the exception of a rare few) was even interested in reading my drivel.

I do need some place to put my random scribblings though. They've been piling up on this old fashioned thing called Paper for a while now. I'll try not to bore everyone with a ton of incomplete stories. The exception is going to me by attempt to plow through the 100 Theme List. I won't promise one a day, but I'll aim for at least three a week.

Current Projects:

- The EX-Men: Marvel Mutants based Super Hero Team
+ Character design and back story finished. Broad story arc ideas finished as well. Working on specifics now. Still unsure if I the whole Super Hero Team idea works in a written medium. Wishing I knew someone who draws well.

- Down by the Lake (Working Title): Horror/Fantasy
+ Mostly dead at the sixth scene. I've decided on a direction but keep getting stuck about how to write it. Has undergone major overhaul since last it was posted.

- My Own Green Faerie: Fantasy/Modern
+ Writing random scenes off and on, but unsure how to link them or general direction I want the story to go.

- Frog Price (No real title): Fantasy
+ Short story form finished. Desire to turn it into a larger piece has waned, but I don't feel happy with the way it is now.



Also, if you're all wondering where the rest of my stuff went, it's just in the scraps. I don't believe in deleting old work, but I didn't want to look at it.

Simply put, the Rune Empire is equivalent to a magically powered Rome in it's heyday. The capital city, Solium, is roughly the size of our New York and nearly as advanced. Magically powered buses and rail cars ferry citizens around this great city daily. Multilevel apartments reach up into the sky and down underground. Streets are straight and well-maintained.
Even the next most advanced city, the Akinan Moonlit City, is only a pale shadow in comparison. The Rune Empire, as a society, is quickly outstripping the rest of the world. Unfortunately that seems to be giving the Emperor ideas. He talks of bringing the 'Glory of the Empire' to the rest of the world and letting them share in the bounty that is Solium. He wants to share their ideas and technology with the 'less fortunate lands'.

Sounds great though, right? Why fight against the man offering candy and awesome, shiny toys?

Well, for starters, there is a huge difference between the lower and middle classes in the Rune Empire. The Middle class consists of those with technological or magical skills as well as lower end merchants. They live in nice apartments above ground and get paid a healthy wage for their daily work using their talents. They don't live like kings by any means, but they have enough money to eat out several times a week and enjoy the various entertainments on a regular basis.
The lower class isn't nearly so lucky. Consisting of anyone not gifted with magical skills or technological talents, these people live in squalor on the underground levels. Some find jobs as personal servants or helpers, but all too many have found the commonly lower-end jobs filled with Golems. So a large part of the population is jobless and lives off the scraps from above ground. They are forced to either join the military or scavenge in an attempt to survive.

So the Emperor gets a cheaply paid, huge army at his disposal and it doesn't cost him any of his more talented workers. Sure, their losses are huge when faced against the Akian magical army or the Sketh's highly trained troops, but there are always more peasants. Just offer them a extra 2 gold bonus for signing up and watch them come running. From the outside, it looks like someone planned things this way, doesn't it?

What's more disturbing about this picture? The fact that no one truly notices this plan... or that it's working so well?

I've heard it described several ways.
"Hell is other people." (Jean-Paul Sartre)
"Hell is a half-filled auditorium." (Robert Frost)

But the most accurate one for me is:
"Hell is something you carry around inside your own head."
Which, oddly enough, comes from the Soul Eater anime.
Still, it's quite true. What can be more maddening than ones own thoughts?
To see dreams and wishes and desires so clearly, yet
be unable to touch them?

To see a world so perfectly crafted that if you closed your eyes you could
stroll down the markets of Hel-Tkah and see everything the booths would be
selling? The Fire Emeralds (worthless really, but pretty) and the J'lin fruit
(tasting somewhat like a pineapple but shaped like an apple) and even
stop and see the blacksmith hammer out the last taps on his latest sword
(crude, but then the Sketh are only recently learning the art of sword-smiting).

"But that is pure joy!", you say. "Take the world in your head and put those
stories to paper. Pick an adventurer and follow his quest for glory. Put down
his struggles and triumphs and failures and all the naughty bits in between!"

Like it's that easy. As if I can just sit at my keyboard and have the words flow
like water down onto my screen.

"Yes! It is that easy!"

...

"Dedicate yourself. Toss video games and the internet and television out the window.
Sit down and write, even if the words aren't perfect. Even if the story isn't quite
coherent."

That's not how my brain works. My very mind conspires against me. I start down
the path of an idea, only to have it vanish as if swept away when I try to grasp it.
Do you know what that's like? It have so much sound in your head that you can't
even concentrate on what you want to get out of it? And when you do try to express
the hell that is in your own head you just come off rambling like a madman?

"You're just blaming anything you can for your lack of dedication."

Oh really? You try living with a hundred stories trying to fight their way out of
your skull all at once. You go through the day, people thinking you're either
slow or stupid because listening to them requires constant effort. Hearing other
people requires me to think about it to understand what they're even saying.
Does that sound like someone passing blame? Or someone with so many
thoughts that everything else blends together into one horrifying static?

And now I've become the internet. Expressing myself while simultaneously
begging for attention. Hurray. I know how Spider Jerusalem feels.

Gonna have to credit Rooc (http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1427614/) for this list, though I don't know where it initially came from.

I really miss the Thursday Prompts and have been looking for something to replace them since they went away. I like having a jumping point to write from. Some of my best ideas have come from Prompted writing. So I'm gonna steal Rooc's list and have a go at doing at least one a week in between my other stuff.

Then again... knowing my track record, I'll do about five on this list before I wander to something else. Ah well. I've gotta try it anyways.

Also, the dirty list was posted mostly to show the whole list. I've never written porn before, so umm... yeah. We'll see what happens on that front. Just don't hold out hope, you thousands of people who aren't watching my erratic writings. XP

~~~ Normal Version
1. Introduction
2. Love
3. Light
4. Dark
5. Rot
6. Break
7. Heaven
8. Away
9. Cut
10. Breathe
11. Memory
12. Insanity
13. Misfortune
14. Smile
15. Silence
16. Spit
17. Blood
18. Under
19. Gray
20. Fortitude
21. War
22. Mother
23. Distasteful
24. Want
25. Lurking
26. Tears
27. Foreign
28. Sorrow
29. Urban
30. Rain
31. Flower
32. Night
33. Wrath
34. Moon
35. Walk
36. Precious
37. See
38. Abandoned
39. Dream
40. 4:29 PM
41. Citric Acid
42. Still
43. Die
44. Two Roads
45. Two Guns
46. Drop
47. Dirt
48. Young
49. Preservatives
50. Breaking the Rules
51. Sport
52. Old
53. Desecrate
54. Tower
55. Need
56. Biohazard
57. Sacrificial
58. Kick in the Head
59. No Way Out
60. Desert
61. Fairy Tale
62. Voodoo
63. Do Not Disturb
64. City
65. Horrific
66. Snow
67. Drum
68. Hero
69. Annoyance
70. 67%
71. Obsession
72. Mislead
73. I. Can't.
74. Confrontation
75. Mirror
76. Broken
77. Testament
78. Drink
79. FUCK
80. Words
81. Pen and Paper
82. +
83. Heal
84. Cold
85. Sick
86. Seeing Red
87. Hunger
88. Pain
89. Through the Fire
90. Triangle
91. Drown
92. Rape
93. Iron
94. Soft
95. Waiting
96. Storm
97. Safety
98. Puzzle
99. Alone
100. Gone

~~~ Dirty Version
1. Love
2. Orgasm/Cumshot
3. Finger
4. Inflation/Male Pregnancy (Nah, that's okay, thanks for offering though.)
5. Shonen-Ai/Softcore
6. Hardcore
7. Fantasy
8. Family
9. Whip
10. Costume/Regalia
11. Seme/Dominant
12. Bondadge
13. Bed
14. Innocence
15. Insanity
16. Cry
17. Hold My Hand
18. Gang Bang
19. Drugs/Alcohol
20. Strangulation
21. Fisting
22. Master-Slave
23. Oral
24. Voyeurism
25. Police
26. Gun
27. Childhood
28. Keeping A Secret
29. Do Not Disturb
30. Pervert
31. Obsession
32. Virginity
33. Drunk
34. Pain
35. 1:58 AM
36. Biohazard
37. Friendship/Platonic
38. FUCK
39. Handcuffs
40. Teenager
41. Alone
42. Humiliation
43. Anal
44. Erotic Nude
45. Medical Fetish (Why did my brain flash to surgical addiction and that one bad guy from Hellboy?)
46. Incest
47. Breaking the Rules
48. Words
49. Uke/Submissive
50. BDSM
51. Rape
52. Hump
53. Shounen
54. Cross-dressing
55. Masturbation
56. Violence
57. Caption
58. Nightmare
59. News
60. Flexibility
61. Stuffed Animal
62. Sick
63. Hunger
64. "PlayBoy" Cover
65. Rimming/Salad Tossing
66. Spreader Bar
67. Torture
68. Restraints
69. 69
70. Sound Effect
71. Darkness
72. Blackmail
73. Heart
74. Abuse
75. KAWAII DESU
76. Stick It
77. Fetish
78. Smirk
79. Gag
80. Cosplay
81. Bleed
82. Vore (You can keep it.)
83. Grope
84. Dirt
85. Rivalry
86. Frot (Had no idea what this was, but now that I know... nope, not doing it)
87. Basement
88. Cuddle
89. Marks
90. XXX
91. Anger
92. Glorification
93. Ego
94. It's Huge
95. Sweat
96. Mouth
97. Fear
98. Possessive
99. In The Beginning...
100. Lick

Hmmm... Now that I look at the dirty list, some of them could be quite fun. Others I really won't touch with a 10 foot pole though. (Seriously, how is Vore supposed to be sexy? Most of the rest of the list I can understand, to a point.)

Characters:

Thomas: Major changes - Goes from murderous ghostling to helpful familiar. Gives Darren the Map and helps him out from the edges of his consciousness. Will be seen as any number of common urban animals.

The Map: Actually a physical representation of Darren's power, though that won't be revealed until later on. In the beginning, it give Darren cryptic messages ("Won't you come play?" and "You will learn quickly, never fear.") that seem designed to lead Darren into danger. Life threatening situations force Darren to use his power, grow it and eventually understand it. In the end, the Map will have to be destroyed.

Darren: Not many changes, just tweaks. Middle management drone for a paper distribution company (Issac Paper Inc.). Still a cat half-breed, but not just for no reason. Half-breeds are the only ones who can see Spirits and even then there are few enough who can do it. His early powers will be wild and reactionary, but will eventually resolve into Shamanistic magic. Mainly non-attack magic with heavy visual influence from the urban surroundings.

Tawny: Exploration. Dual personality character struggling to contain the beast within while still using it to hunt the Spirits that threaten those around her. Both sides go by Tawny, which should lead to the idea that it is really just two sides of one person unable to cope with such polar personality traits. Normally dresses comfortably, but conservatively. When out "Hunting" her dark side prefers something special. One legged jeans (Maybe black?) fringed with fluffy fur at the cuffs and waist (the other leg about on par with short shorts, kinda like http://tinyurl.com/7x7g4ny ). Deep Red Leather jacket without a shirt on underneath, held shut by several wide belts strapped around her stomach, breasts and shoulders (over one and under the other). The exposed leg would reveal a number of various tattoos trailing down from her hip to her ankle (to be detailed later). Her powers will be mostly physical in nature, buffing her strength, regeneration and agility, allowing her to be a strong melee combatant.


Scene Changes:

Scene 1: --- Thomas hands Darren the map, telling him that he dropped it out of his briefcase some ways back. --- Thomas looks nervously at a building Darren doesn't remember seeing before, even though this is his normal route to work. --- Thomas warns Darren, in a roundabout way, about the "new" building. --- Thomas disappears when Darren looks away to fetch some money to give to the poor kid. --- Darren stuffs the map into his briefcase, barely looking at it as he has to dash for the bus.

Scene 2: --- Darren doesn't seem quite so surprised about the map as in the first draft, though it tickles something in his memories. --- Diving into work, Darren doesn't notice lunchtime going by until Tawny drops by to deliver some Chinese. --- Tawny, nervous as ever, tries to ask Darren something (actually going to ask him out on a date) but notices the map and begins to ask about it instead, but is interrupted by one of the other managers wolf-whistling at the pair. --- Embarrassed beyond words, she dashes away. --- Confused and a little bit frustrated, Darren discovered that the map now has writing on the back and a red 'X' where the "new" building roughly was.

Scene 3: --- Darren, working late, takes a taxi home. He is shocked by something he sees outside the window and practically screams at the driver to stop. --- He quickly pays the driver and steps out onto the sidewalk in front of the "new" building, which is anything by new now. The top two floors are caved in and there appears to be years worth of vegetation growth. --- Nervous but needing to find out what is going on, he walk into the building, traveling down the dark hallway, through an empty doorway and into the ground floor apartment. --- Something flows out of the darkness not lit by his flashlight/phone. Something sinister and giggling and whispering about devouring the power source. Darren cannot seem to get a good look at it. --- He tries to talk to it, which surprises and angers the darkness, causing it to shake the already crumbling building. --- Thomas appears, ethereal but visible as a rough gathering of falling dust, urging Darren to run. Darren doesn't need to be told twice, but takes several pieces of rubble to the back and head before collapsing just outside.

Scene 4: Dream sequence would run roughly the same as before, except with Tawny's face transforming into a dark voids and burying several knives into Darren before he manages to wake up.

Scene 5: Darren comes to, barely conscious, bruised and battered in both body and mind. Slow footsteps walk over and he sees Tawny (dark form) moving to kneel down beside him. She says something like, "Oh Darren, why didn't you tell me?" before he passes out again.

---

Finally got all that out of my brain. Major rewrite in the works for Down by the Lake. I let it drop for so long because I never had a real direction for the story to go, but I think I've found one now that I like enough to keep at it.

Now to get some sleep. Morning is going to be death by birdsong, but it was worth it.

"Let me ask you a question Mr. Johnson. Do you believe in magick?"

I blinked, brain working overtime in an attempt to consolidate my surprise at the question as well as formulate some kind of response.

Up until then the interview had been pretty standard. A new company, Magictek Inc., contacted me, saying they saw my resume online and were interested in the spirit I could bring to them. Details like what I'd actually be doing and what they did were vague at best, but I couldn't be picky after three months of unemployment.

I stared at Mr. Ulysses, trying to determine if he was kidding or not. His hair, almost a buzz cut, was the color of a darkening raincloud which matched his tie perfectly. His suit was desperately trying to be black but was several shades off. The very image of an aging, not quite rolling in it, business man. But the eyes he had belonged to a much younger man, twinkling with life and tinted a very deep blue.

Nothing about him gave me any hint as to what answer he was looking for. Not that I even had a passing skill at reading people. So I went with my gut.

"Um, I believe that at one time magic did exist in our would, but it has been shouldered aside by technology lately." I tried to sound confident, but ended up on nervous.

A smile erupted on Ulysses' face.

"Oh ho? Is that so? How recently would you theorize it has been gone?"

I didn't have a clue where this conversation was going or what purpose it served, but I decided to just run with it.

"Well... The most likely answer would be that it 'died' back in the Arthurian days after Merlin left this world. But I believe it had to live on father then that. At least until the end of the second World War and the destruction of Hitler's Occult Corps. There is also the matter of Rasputin, the last well published 'sorcerer'."

I felt myself starting to ramble, so I quit while I was ahead. Mr. Ulysses eyes had gone thoughtful and his smile fallen into a downward curve at just the edges of his mouth.

"That's quite an interesting theory. Quite interesting indeed." He twirled in his chair to look out over the city through his wall of glass. I just sat there and waited. After a moment, he continued.

"But not quite right. Merlin lived until three years after the end of World War 2, when he confronted the undead Rasputin and they destroyed each other in magical combat. They were the last two Great Magi of this world. When they left, much of this world's magic went with them. But not all."

He twirled back around, eyes glimmering again and smiling fit to match a shark.

"That's why we want you, Mr. Johnson. Your resume is unimpressive on it's own, but your imagination blows everyone else out of the water. Imagination and determination together with a little hard work is exactly what we're looking for here. Can you do it?!"

The logical portion of my brain threw up its hands at this point and stomped for the door. I ignored it, intrigued, curious and fascinated by the possibilities if any of this was true.

"I'm sure I can, but what exactly would I be doing?"

His grin began to stretch the physical limits of his face, treading the time between overly-friendly and dangerously demented.

"Why, my boy, you're going to be a wizard!"

Hi guys. Been a while. After visiting Critique Circle several times in the past month, I feel like I have to say something about some of the comments I've been getting.

---

TLDR: Writing related. No porn or real drama.

---

"Your use of anthromorphs as main characters doesn't have any real purpose or add anything to the story. Consider writing it out."
"There is no reason for the merchant to be a furry."
"What's the point of..."
"Why use anthromorphs?"

You get the picture. I keep getting comments like that on many of the stories I write. I've even seen it in several books I've been reading on writing fiction in order to improve my technique. "If it's not important to the story, leave it out."

I can understand the logic and message behind that advice. But it just rubs me the way so hard. I mean, they're my characters. It's my world. In my world there are eel-people and dog-people and cat-people and half a dozen others. So why should I bother limiting my writing in such a way? Why stick with the same old point of view? Why not inject an enhanced senses into the scene, painting a picture of a lady clad in the taste of roses, the whisper of lace and the subtle smell of death on her hands. Instead I should describe her simply by her dress and only what our very crude human noses could detect?

On a side note, why is the matter of anthromorphic races so much harder for people to accept than the fey races, for example. Dryads and Elves and Faeries of all kinds popular fantasy genre books. But dare to stick a dragon-person in and they jump all over you.

It's not like I'm trying to write stories specifically for the furry audience either. I'm just trying to write general fantasy using the world I've long since created in my head.

I dunno. I feel a little better now that I've ranted. Something I had to get off my chest. Thanks for listening.

It's a freaking masterpiece of facial expressions. I mean, I love Lackadaisy to begin with. The art style is a lovely blend of realism and cartoon. Gah! It's hard to even put it into words. So here, a link.

http://www.lackadaisycats.com/exhib.....?exhibitid=333

Seriously, look at it. Link it to your artists friends. It is BAR NONE the single most comprehensive compendium on facial expressions I've seen in years.

God I wish I could draw.

I'm writing again. Not well, but that's not the point. I'm writing and I'm gonna make myself keep writing, even if I break something. XD Hopefully it'll be the writer's block that I break.

Though, there are certain things I've taken to heart about writing during my break. I think it was Rule #17 of some book on common traps for writers to avoid. "Furry for the sake of being Furry". That was the problem with some of the stories and my Dungeons and Dragons worlds as well. I was making characters Furry for no reason. Complicating the story by adding in details that didn't add to the story.

Sure, I'd love to write about Catfolk and Akina and the various other animal races I dreamed up, but without making up a backstory for their race, it just seems kinda slapped on. I mean honestly... how would a race of bunny-people evolve on a planet filled with monsters, most of which love anything small and fluffy to eat?

I'm not saying it's not possible or even hard to devise up these reasons, but unless they have to do with the story, they just distract your (my) brain from what it should be doing. Telling a story.

Anyways, it's 1 am. I'm tired and a little ramble-y, but I know at least one person will read it. (No pressure GreyRaven. XD Lol!)

So then, good night, good luck, good morrow and a good new year!

PS: This just adds to the list of things going right in my life so far this year. I'm on a roll baby!

This post is just a placeholder for my writings while my computer is down. Writing on the DSi isn`t easy. XP

---

It was dark. Not a whisper of wind swept through the dust covered hall. Even the dust had settled several hundred years ago. So it was quite a surprise to several colonies of dust bunnies when their quiet existance was disturbed by a thunderclap and an outrushing of air.

Empty space was suddenly filled with a man in green robes, gripping a staff. His lungs suddenly protested their surroundings and sent him into a fit of coughing. The clattering that erupted as well betrayed the charms and talismans he carried. A second figure, shorter and clad in black leathers, seemed to melt from the walls themselves to join the first.

"I always hate Shadowslipping. Makes my stomache flip." The shorter mutteres. Her hand rubs in an attempt to alleviate the ill feeling.

It takes a moment for the taller to clear his lungs. He finally manages with a throaty snort which earns a grimace from his companion.

"Foul dust. Banish thyself from my sight." He cursed with a wave of his hand. The smell of burnt lemons filled the air as dust found itself swept to places unknown all up and down the hall.

Well, I`m back. My winter vacation with my kitten is nearly over. She goes back tomorrow. Bittersweet.

Honestly I don`t know why I`m posting this. Only three people in the community even know I exist. Just talking to myself I guess. Like a real journal. Whatever. I`ll keep it up anyways.

Video card craped out on my computer I think. Posting this from my DSiXL. Still can`t believe I get internet on this thing.

More to follow tomorrow as I plunge back into the insanity known as the creative process.

Just rain. In Florida. What a novelty.

Ensign: Sir! The Sarcasm meter can't take much more of this!

It'll take it and like it! *random phaser blast*

...

That's really it. Nothing at all going on recently. How about you?

Apparently I'm facing the opportunity of running another game with my friends before I move for Canada in about a year. (All plans going accordingly that is.) Normally I'd be quite happy to jump in and completely screw up the process of running a game, but I'm looking at a start up time in just about 2 months. I've never worked on so tight a time line.

I suppose that's not really all that tight. I'm sure a few writers would kill for 2 months notice. XP I just work more casually than that.

... I need to buckle down I guess.

Hmmm... It's true what they say. You really do need a regimen for writing. Time set aside specifically for the purpose.

Doing it is certainly harder than typing it though.

Food for thought. Sometimes it helps if I type this sort of thing out. Organize it fully in my head. ^_^

... and I almost can't stand up. It's a good thing. XP

Probably too much info, but I had to brag.

And there's still a week to go. XD sefjyighpeaof7u

That last bit is a result of a very playful kitten (Danielle) XP Is it any wonder I can't get any writing done? (Kidding)

*laughs* Thursday prompts are starting again. I won't say that I'm going to do all of them, because apparently I can write until I tell others I can do it reliably. But I am going to do my best. In between that, I'll attempt some more writing on my Five Adventurers. We'll see what happens.

As a side note, 724 submissions and climbing. I won't be looking at any of them until after Danielle goes home. Any takers for bets on just how high it'll get?
*laughs*

I sense a disturbance in the force...

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1644493/

Can't think!

Tomorrow will be a double post. I'm too tired to type it out tonight.

To be fair, I have the story finished in my mind. But work calls at the ass-crack of dawn tomorrow, so I need the sleep.

Night FA.

Rules:
1. Each of the 14 days has a word. Your goal is to produce some amount of writing based on that word. All you must do is include the word somehow in your writing, be that through the literal meaning or something more imaginative.
2. There is no upper or lower limit on the amount of writing you need to produce. Write until you feel satisfied with your progress.
3. The stories in all 14 days need not be linked in any way. But can be if you so choose.
4. HAVE FUN!

THE WORLDS!
1. Dragon
2. Robot
3. Sunflower
4. Undead
5. Neon
6. War
7. Paintbrush
8. Dream
9. Yellow.
10. Dive
11. Bar (as in the Tavern/Pub sense)
12. Bloodstain
13. Energy
14. Love or Sex*

*RULE NUMBER 5: Surprise rule! On the 14th day, your word is Love if your works include a lot of porn and/or sex. You cannot stretch the meaning of Love to mean Sex. If, on the other hand, you are of age and do not write a lot of porn, your word for the day is Sex. (That means I'm doing Sex on the 14th day. Should be fun!)

---

So there you have it boys and girls. I'll be posting my submission later tonight in submission form! (Woah! Yoro, you're submitting something?!) If you're participating, feel free to pimp this out a bit and post it yourself! Just toss a little fame my way. XD *chuckles*

In an effort to keep creative juice flowing during a rather stressful time of my life (minor money troubles and work related, nothing major) I will being the 14 day writing challenge!

Never heard of it? That's because I just made it up! Look who's the fancy trend setter now?
*hand off screen hands Yorokonde a card*
What's this? Who are you?!
*snatches the card and reads*
Blast! THEY inform me that I'm neither original or first in creating this type of challenge. Blasphemy!

(*chuckles* Of course I know I'm not first. I've adapted this off the 30 day Artist challenge that seems so popular.)

Similar to :poetigress:'s Thursday Prompts, the 14 day Writer's challenge involves producing something... anything that has to do with the word presented in some way. The goal is to reach a reasonable length with your writing, but there is no limit to how small or large it has to be. As long as you're satisfied with it.

I shall be beginning this tomorrow, August the 6th and running all the way up to August the 20th. Why 14 days? Because on the 20th Danielle is coming down, thus distracting me completely for the 2 weeks she's here. (She's good at distraction. XD) And also because I'm different!

The list of words will be posted tomorrow. BE WARNED!

Almost late for work. Don't really care. Danielle's coming down in about 25 days and I'm too excited to care about anything else.

Even writing. Which is horribly bad timing because a story is taking a sledgehammer to the side of my head trying to get out.

I'm forcing it to stay in there and complete itself a little more. I want a full short story when I write this one down, instead of the random scribblings I usually produce.

On a side note, my dad said something odd to me the other day.

"I was sure you'd be writing adventure novels by now son."

Caught me totally by surprise. I don't really broadcast my writing abilities in the real world. People know I write, but most don't see any of the work I produce. Mostly because I don't think it's good enough.

....

So it's my new goal to produce something worthy of showing off by the year's end. Hell, I'll be ambitious and shoot for a booklet of short stories published over Lulu or some other site. Why not? I can write just as well as anyone! YEAH!

*minotaur snort*

Fuck you writing industry! Here I come! Watch out! I'm packing a chainsaw!

In the not too distant future, a long forgotten artifact has forever changed the world. Pandora's Box, told about in legends since before time was recorded, has reappeared. Dug from the forgotten corner it was cast in by a greedy archeologist and a soured woman. Brought to New York city and then opened, it unleashed magic not seen in this world since the Industrial Revolution.

Each Age of man, each era distinguished from each other so easily in our stories, were touched by the Box in some way. The Byzantine Empire, The Egyptians, The Dark Age, the Renaissance, World War 2, and others. Each changed the world forever and at each turn, Pandora's metal curse could be found.

Now the horrors of ages past have been unleashed once again. Gryphons fly over the streets of New York. Dragons are torching London. The Jabberwocky once again roams the shadows of Greece. There's even a few Minotaurs roaming the cubical mazes of the world. People are dieing by the thousands for the greed of only a few.

But there is hope. A team of archeologists and a pair of spies have been given the tools to shut the box again. Gems, containing the knowledge and skills of those who shut the box in ages past, have been given to each of them. Now, thrust into an apocalyptic nightmare complete with monsters and given a mission that most would call insane... will they be able to seal Pandora's Box again? Or will their new power prove too much of a temptation to give up?

---

Just a teaser trailer for the game I'm currently playing in on Fridays. it's such a good concept that I couldn't NOT share it. We're only a few sessions in but it's already shaping up to be a fun game.

<.< I'm currently trying to convince everyone Not to invade the New York Museum of Art in search of newly re-magical weapons. King Tut is there right now... and I'm sure he's gonna be pretty pissed to be awake again. Especially now that researchers have discovered his penis was stolen at some point in the past. >.>
Don't believe me? http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/06/29.....penis-missing/

Why is this so funny?! WHY?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNPjnlJyLI0

(To be copied into the notebook later. Part of my continual apocalypse scribblings. The laptop is just easier tonight.)

---

By then, someone up along the chain decided it was too dangerous to keep watching the virus unfold. A number of guards stormed into the chamber SWAT team style, emptying the clips of their rifles. The infected fell rather quickly. After a moment, one of the braver guards poked a nearby infected with the barrel of his gun. It twitched. He shouted and a booted foot slammed down on its head.

If you blinked, you would have missed the next part. The infected pounced like wild animals playing lame. Unhindered by broken bones, pain, blood loss, or anything similar to a normal reaction. Within an hour the virus had completely changed the three scientists and two guards into killing machines. They weren't anything as simple as a zombie. They were... are... so much more.

I can hear them beating on the door now. It won't hold for much longer. I don't have any useful final words... nothing you can use to fight this infection. I just figured someone deserved to know how this all started. And how noble our intentions were in the beginning.

The faded writing ends there. Other yellowed pages lay scattered around on the floor. A few are splattered with long dried blood. A soft wind shuffles them around, blowing in through a hole in the wall. Outside, the ruined city of Atlanta lay still and silent only a few miles away. A sole figure makes its way on foot down the road.

Dressed in tattered rags made of three different shirts, two pairs of pants, several tires and limping slightly on his left leg. A dirty bandage is wrapped around that knee. A heavily reinforced welder's mask blocks much of the face and head, leaving only a line across the eyes that allows for full field of vision.

He looks nervously over his shoulder. Something darts between two cars on the tattered highway. A shadow only seen at the corners of his vision. He droops wearily for a moment, as if the stress of survival had the weight of several hundred pounds. He shakes it off and reaches for the rifle strung over his back. It looks even more battle-worn than his clothes. Despite that, it looks quite futuristic. A display on the side shows the number 21 next to a single bullet.

The shadow moves again, this time bumping into a car door, which falls off the hinges with a crash. The figure jumps visibly and fires a few shots in direction of the sound.

---

(That's all for now. Elapsed time: 2 hours. Goodnight everyone.)

I have work in 8 hours.
I should be sleeping.
But I demand Oblivion.
...Damn you games.

XD

Random thought:

Take a hallway. Place a Portal on either wall. Throw a length of rope through one so it comes out the other. Tie the two ends together.

Have you made a circle? Or a straight line?