Thursday, July 15, 2010

Jacques

In a move I am sure to regret later, I have just spent the last half-hour organizing all my information about Jacques. The story's thread is complete, so if you ever wonder why the Half-Djinni Spirit King gave his blessing to Jacques, or why the God-Slave of the Wreaked needed to send news to the council of the Unmortals, you have only to wait for that part to be written. I'm worried that I may be crafting a beast of hideousness beyond that which mortal man can bear.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Of God, Cousteau, Signs, and Nunnery

...in reverse order!


Maria (Part II, written for June fourteenth) was only written because I didn't want to write something difficult. She seemed easy.  She was. I wrote a relatively short, transitory tale and called it good. It was. The story was little more than a snapshot, but I don't think that's a problem. There's something powerful about a nun speeding to the Yucatán on a motorcycle, habit flapping in the wind.

Th response I received was mixed. Elphaba gave only encouragement, mirroring my feelings for the nun. I received a different response from an anonymous source I'm sure you all know. The source expressed dislike for our favorite nun (also for our favorite mariner, but that's neither here nor here. It will be there, though). However, I am inclined to completely disregard this response, and instead focus on the most powerful. My mother never, to my knowledge, reads rps. Yet, one day I checked my email, and found a note from her. It explained she liked my story about "The nun". I was shocked and then happy. Then I told her it was a sequel to an earlier part. I sent her a link.


Crow. I almost named her Wren, but I preferred Crow. It's a good name. What happened to her? I'm not sure. Where is she going? I hope we one day find out. But I think she might already be done, and for that I weep.


Jacques Cousteau lives again. His third story takes place before the Necromaster's death, and quite possibly before Jacques descended into the deepening darkness of the dark depths of Darkdeep. The entire story struck me as both less mad, and more. I don't know if I prefer it (do you?), but I have a feeling that further stories will be written more like this.


Ryan was given the last Gift of a dying God. Is it sacrilege to kill off God (I'm looking at you Philip Pullman)? If so, it is sacrilege of a delicious sort. I have vaguely formed plans for Ryan, but he might easily fail to return. I don't know. He is a much a character as Maria was at her conception, but less than jacques may have been. Yet so much more. How do you like him?

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Chapter Four, The Lurker in the Shadows

What follows is a sentence-by-sentence commentary for Chapter Four. Open it up in another tab. Now.


Heh. It never fails to start a chapter with a major viewpoint shift. It's somehow easier than to keep writing from one perspective. More importantly, it helped me expand what would otherwise have been a painfully short chapter.

Because pokémon battles are supposed to be fair.

Poor Nyoromo. Cut down so soon after hatching.

See? This sort of thing is the thing that just materializes. Story ideas are not made, they give themselves to authors. It is here where we work, cutting them until they shine. But then? These little touches appear from nowhere. There's an odd beauty to the art.

It tickles.

Boom! Implication that she is one of the Called from the same Calling as Red and Green.

I'm willing to bet Red has a little bit of shock to deal with, eh wot?

This sets up the tradition of having the girl be the only character whose thoughts we actually read. Yet Red is easily the protagonist, and the person the third-person perspective can see through. What an odd way to tell a story. The author should be censured for his crimes.

Green is not the sort of person who ties rattata to the ground and peels back their flesh to watch a still-beating heart pump the blood from his victims body.

Unless he has a reason to.

That would be Green.

Because "Smell you later!" is not at all something someone who enjoys causing pain would say.

Now who in the world does that sound like? And why is my narcissism telling me to stop wondering?

Wow. After seconds, this girl has put together an entire psychological profile. How astute.

Remember kids. Pokémon can bite. Even if they don't know the attack.

Yes, there are bluk berries in Kanto, even if this is based on Generation I. Which it is. Deal with it.

I had to do a fair bit of research to learn the word drupelet. Now that I know it, I will never forget. It's one of those words that somehow just sounds exactly like what it's supposed to be.

Ooh, maybe this is a clue to what her pokémon is. It's... not a magikarp. Right? Probably.

See? I can include hints of humor in a serious scene. Move over Brian Jacques, there's a new author in town.

Aw, poor Red.

Stupid fish.

See? Here I alluded to the attack Splash. I found it funny, at least.

Red seems seriously upset.

I'm writing this on an obscenely warm day. That water sounds good to me.

Now he wants it.

But my readers already did. Didn't you, Elphaba?

Not as easy as you thought it would be, is it, my dear audience?

You never know what you have until a flaming lizard scratches your clumsy little tadpole and sends it to a watery grave.

Because, you know, that's something you can really contribute too. Let's give the Seven a helping hand, shall we?

Right. Nyoromo is going to keep Red alive in the forest.

Did I just cleverly use adjectives to gain Nyoromo even more sympathy from my readers? How sly.

What are those things filled with, anyway? Lighter than air, evidently.

I'm quite fond of the word nor. However, like semicolons, I refuse to abuse it through overuse.

One, two, th-five?

Is this a bit much to expect from a little poliwag? Maybe. But he's in his element. More importantly, I built this world, so I make the rules. Mwahahaha.

Dramatic tension. What will happen next?

What else could have happened. Also, here I use the British leapt. Take that, Americans!

Apparently poliwag are half-dolphin. Who knew?

It's a loyal little thing, isn't it?

What? I just gained even more reader sympathy with that sentence. I'd best be careful not to let anything happen to Nyoromo then. That would just be too dramatic.

Like nor, I am fond of the word bemused.

Remember what? What does she need to remember? That Red has a tendency to get splashed by magikarp? That Nyoromo can't beat a powerful charmander despite its type advantage? Her pokémon is fond of bluk berry drupelets?

Yes, she swung. As will be implied much more later on, she is adept in the art of tree acrobatics. Also? Nest building.

Aw, how cute. They love each other and- what? Did I just hear more reader sympathy?

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The First of Fools

This was certainly a deviation from my usual sonnet style.

Aside: The sonnets are accurately numbered. Sonnet I was the first sonnet I ever wrote.

The first four sonnets are all written in senses. That is, they tell what is. Sonnet VI tells what is happening. I've finished Fools, and I warn you there is but one more. I originally thought to write only the first. Then I decided to write another. As I set to the task, I considered composing an epic of sonnets. Then I realized how stupid that would be. Sonnets are hard. I'll stick to writing my epic in ballad meter.

Aside: There is a short epic I'm working on. I say short because Homer defined what an epic can be, and I've nowhere near an Iliad of writing. I'm not sure I- who do I fool? Of course I want it. Sadly, I've only forty-five stanzas of ballad meter. It isn't even in pentameter or something fancy. Meh, I try.

Sonnet VIII will be a pleasant return to the old style, though, and IX should remain so, if it ever decides to allow me to place all eight syllables in every line (Oh, certainly. Why not drop half an iamb? All the poets are doing it!). I confess I am bitter.

Is it clear that the Fools the title refers to are the self-styled Wise and Rich? That's kind of what I was going for, but I got distracted with trying to rhyme form. I changed the word in the end. Obviously.

Was I the only one who noticed the tendrils of Lovecraft's influence creeping into the theme? Yes? Never mind then.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

The Ruse is Ended

I'm very disappointed in you both. Yes, you, Elphaba and Qupar. I will yell at you both. Separately. First, though, I must reveal something that should have been obvious.

It was all a prank. April Fool's day was celebrated with a false chapter eighteen of the Apocalypse and a temporary change of background to a revolting black.


Qupar, you managed to maintain a revolting level of disinterest. You commented only to ask what had occured, and never bothered to follow up on it. You only mentioned the template change once, and that was to say to me, in person nonetheless, that you liked it. No. No you didn't. It's ugly. The real template of rps not only screams rps, but is much more friendly. On a disappointment scale of one to Caligula, I give you an eleven.

Elphaba? You're worse. You get a Caligula to the power of Qupar. Not only did you fail to mourn Nyoromo who you claimed to love, but you accepted the deaths of the three main characters (at this moment). Admittedly, you trusted me to write something beautiful afterwords, but Yggdrasil, couldn't you form an opinion other than slavish loyalty to my work? It's not a bad thing to like a character enough to be angry with an author. It's a good thing. It means you form an opinion of your own.

The true chapter eighteen is up, though I warn you I write it only for Met. He didn't fail me.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Chapter Three, Enter the Dragon

Yes, charmander are dragons. Wingless, short dragons, but dragons all the same.

What follows is a sentence-by sentence commentary on the third chapter of the Apocalypse.

The first sentence was carefully calculated to fulfill a number of tasks. It's short, which imitates the simplistic thought of a mind reeling from shock and disappointment. It also-

Do you have the chapter open? It should be. Go to it now. This will make much more sense with context.

It also serves to give me a platform on which to build the rest of the chapter. Without a platform, the story would rest on the ground, and it's very particular about what it will and will not touch. Dirt is of the latter category, platforms of the former. Perhaps the most important function of the sentence is to review the previous chapter. Quickly. Without the reader realizing it.

It does fit, doesn't it? The translators really did a spectacular job. Mostly.

I have one: superfluseless. Or monowag. Or poliwoe.

Adverb placement is entirely up to the author, and I choose, on occasion, to use them after verbs. It sounds better.

Red deserves applause. It's extraordinarily difficult to prod something so small. Squishing is often the result, and if that happened I'd be out of a job.

Yes, massive eyes are cute, but think about it from Red's perspective. Not only is his pokémon small, but what area it does have is wasted by eyes. What good are those?

I refuse to check, but I think the trend of monosyllabic Nyoromo responses starts here has continued without a full "Poliwag" since. Also, ew. The placement of that sentence is ugly. I should have started a new paragraph.

Squirming sounds like it should be onomatopoeia. It isn't.

Again, Red performs an amazing feat. He should get an award for Extraordinary Dexterity of the Foot or perhaps for Extreme Perseverance in the Face of Squishing Temptation.

Poliwag do badly on land, regardless of what the anime may try to make you believe.

This also serves to nearly blind the creature. It's eyes would face mostly downwards.

The flag would, of course, be for an insect nation, or for other creatures equally as small. Not a Bug nation though, as those things grow far too quickly.

Get it? It slithers towards the water, and Nyoromo means "Slither-child" in Japanese! Am I the only one who thinks it's funny?

If the Apocalypse had a soundtrack, this is where the rival music would play. But you heard it in your head anyway, no?

It took me a while to figure out if Green's eyes had a color in the canon.

No, this is not a magical life-saving pendant given to him by his grandfather that will save him from a [spoilers redacted]

Haughtiness adds height. I am twelve feet tall.

Slowpoke tails are not exclusive to Johto. They are found wherever slowpoke roam.

WHOAARETHEYRIVALSWHATISGOINGONTHEYSHOULDBEFRIENDS!

Yes, Green. Not Blue. Green is an accurate translation.

I enjoy distorting handsome features. It robs the world of beauty.

What, no salutation?

An arbok? Don't be silly. Everyone knows arbok can only be found on Route 23 and cerulean cave.

And how does that make you feel?

Oh.

That, dear readers, is how small Nyoromo is. He took twelve sentences to be noticed.

"Um... no." lied Red. "I'm just holding it for a friend."

Diglett is, canonically, the smallest pokémon in the Kanto region.

Neither did Red.

I realize that it goes against convention for a pokémon to be named so long after it has been 'caught,' but I wanted Red to be so self-pitying that it wouldn't occur to him until Green asked him.

Again, I make reference to the Japanese name. Red is, apparently, bilingual.

Stalling looks ugly, but it had to be done.

He'll probably do this a lot.

Hitokage means salamander in Japanese. A literal translation would be fire lizard.

Oh, that's the other person. Pokémon, I mean.

Is there anyone who didn't know what the pokémon was at this point? There's really only one bipedal lizard.

I thought it would be hilarious to call a fire-type burnt orange. I wasn't mistaken.

Charmander start by knowing scratch. Thus they have claws. Thus, my charmander have really sharp claws.

The ground dulls the claws of those that walk upon it. However, feet tend to be larger, so their claws are as well. His claws are red because Green wouldn't bother letting a stray pidgey live if he could kill it instead.

Here is where the unintelligence of pokémon begins to be made known.

Yes, I used multiple references to find how long its tail would be. I'm thorough.

Deep red. Hm. It's been so long, I can't recall if I intentionally made the flame cold.

Interest? More like envy. Which is a deadly sin.

No. No he doesn't. He wants him. Since he can't have him, he begrudges Green for it.

Unless I'm mistaken, he uses this name for Oak in the games.

Oak is allowed to play favorites. No one would dare argue with him. Except for- SPOILER REDACTED.

This overconfidence would be your downfall if it wasn't deserved, Green!

Do attacks have names in the world of the Apocalypse? I don't know. However, scratch could be an order regardless of the answer to that question.

This was included for the extraordinarily dense. The bipedal lizard with vicious claws and a flaming tail is a charmander. How unexpected.

Isn't it convenient how he didn't quite make it to the water?

Poor Nyo. Attacked without warning when helpless.

Oh, Hydrogen Bonds. You've foiled us again!

Stunned? Fainted? Dead? Bleeding.

The narrowing of the universe that accompanies horrible shock. I enjoyed writing this.

Green had to say that sometime.

Apparently insects exist here too. Not just bugs.

Spearow are the closest thing to ravens Kanto has.

This took far longer and was far less entertaining to write than I had hoped. I quite look forward to reading it in a few weeks.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

End of the First

So ends the Red/Green arc of The Golden Apocalypse. You might think it abrupt. If you do, you're horrible and irrevocably wrong. It is the perfect time to end it, because now the stage has been set for the Yellow arc. The Yellow arc will begin the Sunday after next, so I can assemble my thoughts. It was a pleasure sharing the Apocalypse with you, and I think you'll agree this was really a flawlessly executed finale.


Have a happy Easter, everyone.