Posts about my stories and concepts behind them
I wrote this piece four or five years ago now. I was satisfied with it then, but now I’m not sure on the ending.
Let me know what you think and let me know if you want to see more like this in the future!
So I’m working on a legit comic as of right now–though it really needs a good name
Easily enough said, but far more difficult than it sounds. I’ve got a basic idea and some scribbles for the cast, but as they are, neither will get me very far. It’s the same sort of problem I have every time I want to do a comic, I just don’t have enough of a plan. So this time, I’m gonna get that all figured out. Right now.
Two friends, Keene “TrippleE” Greene and Charles, “Chuck88″ Reed, go to college for graphic design and play league. Coming up on the summer before senior year, the two of them, along with Chris “Swordcore” Li, set out to form a team in the hopes of making it to Dreamhack.
This is going to play out against a back drop of this year, granted that means squat once we get moving since a webcomic with plot that only updates at best twice a week moves slower than a glacier. Its gonna take a lot of time dilation to keep up with the real world version. You would think then that setting it back a bit might be prudent, but then its not as relevant, since I’m not talking about League today or this week even, it might as well mean nothing. OR maybe that’s too harsh, I’m not sure really.
Anyway, going to get back to drawing Hope to have something to show this evening
Synopsis/Background – Jump to Story
One of my goals for my first semester was to write a short story. Not a novel chapter, not a novella that I’d crammed into a tiny space, but a standalone narrative with a beginning, middle and end. That said, this Tess mystery is still part of something larger—think of it as something like the Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple short stories—but I feel it accomplishes that goal of having a narrative singularity.
As a note, the setting is a bit Sci-Fi/Alternate Reality, with primates not being the sole recipients of the “sapience gene.” Though I’ve not quite hammered down all the details, the history does stay pretty close to our own as most of the exceptions are pre-history and end up ironed out by the natural course of events. Yes, I realize that beast people would have greatly altered the course of history, but I’m fairly confident that the major high points would have still happened thanks to the nature of sapience. There would still be leaders, empires, and wars. Conflicts over religion, race, and everything else would still persist. In essence, the names might be different, but the moves and their effects are fairly inevitable.
Anyway, sticking with the Sherlock context, this is after Tess’ Sign of Four and Study In Scarlet cases and is about halfway through Adventures. The principles have already been established and the groundwork for the their relationships laid. The two mains, Kao and Tess, are roommates in Gilligan Hall at River City University.
Tess is at RCU because it is the premiere university for undergraduate creative writing. She has spider in her ancestry which is shown most prominently by her pointed ears and six extra eyes, two in the center of her forehead, one on either temple, and one on either cheekbone; the irises are red and the sclera is black. She is slender, pensive, and styles her hair to hide most of her eyes. She likes playing MMOs.
Kao on the other hand, is going to RCU on a Track and Field scholarship and is a psychology major. Her parents are from Australia and she carries the accent with pride. Kao has ‘roo in her ancestry and as such has their characteristic feet and ears, along with a tail that comes down to the back of her knees. Kao dresses casually, preferring printed t-shirts and loose pants. She is a hardcore PC gamer and does Maui Thai.
The story starts in February, six months into freshman year. People know that Tess solves mysteries about ghosts and the occult, her blog about the cases gets around a thousand hits a day. Their last case was stopping a cult from stealing the silver plates used by President Jefferson for communion. We open as the pair of them walk through historic Citadel Hill towards one of the city’s recent hauntings.
Story – Jump to Top
Tangora Del’Tessa—just Tess, please—and Kao Folsmith stood on the corner opposite of a mansion whose grounds occupied the entire block of 29th and Q in Citadel Hill. The sky was cloudless and the winter evening was tinged with a subtle chill.
“And you’re sure that place isn’t haunted?” Kao asked in a wavering tone. She was bundled up in a heavy black zipper hoodie that bore the letters RCU and came down to her hips. Her long speckled ears were down and back against her scarf. “I saw the news last night. A woman got attacked by the ghost while walking near here.” Her blue eyes darted around the abandoned intersection, looking for any sign of the specter they had come to disprove.
Tess blew her bangs out of her face and shifted in her patch-covered canvas coat. She stared across the street, taking in the huge house for a moment before responding. “Yeah, that place is totally haunted.”
Kao glanced at her roommate, eyebrow quirked and eyes widening. It was so hard to tell when the spider-girl was being serious with her deadpan tone; even now, after six months of living together.
Tess grinned at the expression, “If bad taste could be counted as a haunting, that is. My room is more haunted than this place.”
This was, at one point, the first chapter of Rebirth, but times have changed and its now somewhere near the middle. Rex has arrived from Farenheim in response to rumors that entire city has vanished the same way the Enthi had at the start of the novel almost two months ago. After the confrontation with the Brigade in New Fareh and later in Fayholme, Rex believes some very dark is responsible for the destruction and find himself apprehensive as he ventures into the unknown.
Feel free to comment, as always any feedback is appreciated.
Fog had rolled in with the storm, obscuring the beach in a fine mist. One that muffled the crashing waves but did nothing to soften the pouring rain. Even with my aura burning, I was getting soaked. I couldn’t turn back though, I close enough to the city now though to see its silhouette through the haze. Aside from the storm and waved though, there was no noise where there should have been. Even with the rain, there should have been the dull murmur of people conversing as they hurried through the streets. It looked like the first part of the rumors had been true—but what about the second? Only one way to find out.
I moved forward, the fog clearing with each step in that particular way it does while you’re standing amongst it; like you’re in a bubble. Anticipation rolled off my skin, mixing with the equally plentiful rain that blasted the open stretch of sand. Despite myself, I tensed up causing my aura’s light to wane and the mist to close in around me.
Soon, the base of the wall loomed out at me and my gaze climbed its face. I stopped after only a few feet. The white stone wall, which used to tower over me, was devastated. What remained was blackened and charred. Forgetting that there might be pirates or even Augmented Loh troops, I rushed through one of the gaps in the wall.
Scrambling up and over the debris, I found myself in a courtyard. There were no signs of life in the small open area. I forced myself to relax, to center, and felt my energy start to flow freely again. My aura flared up, burning off the fog and filling the space with blue light. Ornate columns emerged from the mist, a few still stood but many were knocked over and lay shattered on the stones. I cast it out in long sweeps around me, looking for energy, no matter how faint. Almost immediately, I knew it would be futile. The Currents of energy that used to run throughout the city were sluggish and weak. It was, in a sense, like all the water in a river had been removed, laving behind only mud. I knew before I’d even started there would be no survivors.
No, I’m not grumbling about the DLC thing. This is more a character design rant.
I got the N7 edition of ME3, in part so that I’d have the Day one DLC, which I rant through first thing on the off chance that the Prothean would be another Kasumi and I’d spend the rest of the game with them permanently part of my ground team. That is sadly not the case. In fact, I’ve avoided Javik ever since we brought him on board.
First off, he’s a total dick. His attitude towards the crew is worse than Ashley’s was in the first Mass Effect. I hoped perhaps this was just a front, a Jack like hard shell that contained an interesting character within. The debrief dialog gave no such inkling.
Second, he is totally a Roman Batman+2. He describes himself as the Avatar of Vengeance, meaning that he’s really just an angry Paladin and we had one of those in Samara. If not her, there’s Garrus’s righteous fury, Wrex’s near genetic resentment, or even Vega’s gung-ho marine mindset. It feels like he’s a wasted character.
No seriously, Javik’s entire character is boxed in and since he’s “non-essential DLC” it isn’t like the course of the story will change him. Why couldn’t he have been, oh I don’t know–an aritist? A writer? A musican? A poet? A philosopher? Something that could bring a positive change to the universe?
I mean, look at Mordin. Yes, he’s the most badass doctor this side of the Tardis, but he is still a doctor. Tali’s amazing at watching my back against the Geth, but it’s her tech specialization and genius that makes her an asset. So why couldn’t Javik have been a Bard or an Artist? It isn’t like he wouldn’t have picked up a gun as the last member of his species if he wasn’t a warrior. Instead, the chance for world building is wasted on a character who’s less interesting to have around than Zaheed was.
Feel free to disagree with me, but I feel like Javik was a let down and certainly wasn’t worth the 800 points that people who didn’t get the Collector’s Edition had to spend on him.
Edit: Just finished an event that sort of warmed me to Javik. He send me an email to meet him on the citadel and we had a talk about what it was like for him and his people. Then a Hanar shows up, followed by an Asari and a Turian. At first Javik is about to go on a rant about how we are all doomed and that we have no chance at stopping the reapers. There’s a paragon interrupt and Shepard takes him aside with a chastising rebuke and he seems to understand that he’s being a dick. So he turns to the assembled crowd and instead gives a speech that make me smile just a little. He admits that the other, younger races had potential and it is now that potential that will save them where his own people failed. Still not totally cool with him, but was impressed they had that moment.
Avani's Hyde form.
A rough sketch I did today while trying to figure out how to go monstrous while still human. Keeping with the idea of being part plant, I decided the best route were other "branches", in this case arms. The second pair are totally green, along with the hands and forearms of her original arms, her feet, and her ankles.
Did some revisions on Soyentific Method today and completely changed the character --that's how it goes sometimes, but now the story as a whole is much healthier and works on more levels.
This here was Mai Xing (now Avani Patel) after her first exposure to the mutagen. Did a quick sketch mostly to center and refocus on the story now that I have a more solid protagonist and a reason for why the changes manifest the way they do.
Even after graduating earlier this month, the Stonecoast MFA Program stays on my mind (I will undoubtedly write more posts about Stonecoast in the coming weeks, now that it's over for me). It was a realm of firsts for me. My first flight somewhere by myself. My first trip to New England. My first taste of salmon. My first drink of red wine.
As you may know, I’m working on a short story retelling of the Jekyll/Hyde archetype. That’s not really all that inventive, we’re all aware of the fear that our inner selves could take over, but I’d like to think the premise I’ve laid over top might be something new. I’m worried it might be a bit too far into “fetish” but it isn’t like every other monster myth hasn’t been white washed with sex appeal at this point. So why not Hyde?
Just to be safe, the premise is after the break. You’ve been warned. Read the rest of this entry
Trying to write a courtroom scene to set the stage for my novella, Suspicions of Mages, and was wondering if I could pick ya’lls brains for feedback. I’m trying to end up with the defense motioning for a mistrial because James (the protagonist) used magic to obtain evidence without a warrant or notifying the defendant of their Fifth and Sixth Amendment Rights. This better sets up what had been a rather shallow conflict between James and Captain Day’d Foosche and as the primary motivation for James to do exceptionally well on the next case (the main story)
I’m just worried that the scene is too much…drama and not enough real legal wrangling. Anything helps!
