Just in case there was any confusion on the matter. XD
I am a Nerd
Tag: author
Joke
I’ve been pagan for my entire adult life, but I grew up Christian — not only did I go to church every Sunday, I went to the weekday activities too.
My youth group was fond of playing the game, Apples to Apples. For those who have never heard of it, a description card is placed down (eg ‘delicious’), and all the players choose the card from their hand that they think best matches it (eg ‘dessert’, ‘restaurant’, ‘homecooking’). A winner is chosen and they get a point, rinse and repeat.
Everyone else played it straightforward, but I liked to put down the silly cards for the laugh.
I realized very quickly that not only was no one else amused, they couldn’t even tell there was a joke staring right up at them. They were baffled. Why would someone say that kittens are delicious? It didn’t make any sense!
It turned into my private joke. More often then not, I played the ridiculous card, refused to fess up to it, and watched everyone else scratch their heads.
I knew I wasn’t like them.
Every silly card I played affirmed that fact over and over. I waited for the chuckles that never came.
In retrospect, that was one of the earliest things I did to assert myself as an individual.
Honestly, nothing has changed. It doesn’t really matter who I interact with, most of them can’t tell that there’s a joke staring up at them.
But every now and then, when I least expect it, somebody else laughs.
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AatW Music Playlist
Awhile ago I started to put together a playlist of some songs that fit the characters from Alice and the Warden, then proceeded to forget entirely about its existence.
Ha. Ha. Ha.
In no particular order:
Rachel Platten – Fight Song ~ Miranda, obvie. She might have a narcissistic bitch streak, but she certainly knows how to get up and keep going.
The Wallflowers – One Headlight ~ Damon, particularly the part where the guy sings, “Sometimes I think I’d like to watch it burn.”
Celine Dion – It’s All Coming Back to Me ~ Damon. Not only does the music video have a guy on a motorcycle, it fits Damon’s hidden angst … and it’s a little bit funny to pin this song on him.
Rob Thomas – Pieces ~ Alice and Hackett. It’s a good reflection of how sweet they are together.
Sixx:A.M. – Stars ~ Miranda and Damon. This is what Miranda fantasizes about their relationship. Reality plays out differently.
Slash – Bad Rain ~ Damon. He’s torn up about Alice moving on.
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How to Improve Abrupt Transitions in Writing
I’ve seen it around writing communities that you should never use “suddenly” or it’s synonyms to describe something happening abruptly — instead you should just jump in and have it happen.
ROCKS FALL AND EVERYONE DIES!!!!111one
…
I strongly disagree.
As a writer, you are telling your story to an audience.
While events might take the characters by surprise, sometimes it’s more polite to refrain from punching the reader in the face with a jarring transition.
Words like, “suddenly,” “unexpectedly,” “abruptly,” etc, slow down the transition into the new event, and make it easier to mentally process. So, when you think that the new event comes on too roughly, go ahead and throw those words in. Don’t let random people on the internet tell you otherwise.
Use your own judgment.
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MatC – 27
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Lartmann and Hambert Are Dead
A/N: …I wanted a break from serious writing...
……
Hartmann paced around the empty room, occasionally flipping a coin and studying it, before continuing on his circuit. Lambert, on the other hand, sat still in the middle of the floor, staring up at the ceiling.
“Do you …” he began, then hesitated.
“Get sick of all these tails?” Hartmann suggested. “Can’t say I do.”
Lambert gave him a flat look. “I thought you were getting heads.”
“Not from you,” Hartmann muttered in reply.
“What I meant to say was that it seems like we’re stuck in a featureless void.”
“Looks more like a room to me.”
“Do you see any doors or windows?”
“No. But there are distinct planes and vertices.”
Lambert rolled his eyes. “Alright then, a featureless cube.”
“Clearly, the answer is that when we were told we were going to be integrated into a biomechanical alien species, we were lied to. Either this room is some sort of alien prison, or we’re dead,” Hartmann replied.
“Yes. That makes sense,” Lambert mused. “But why do you have that coin?”
“It was in my pocket.”
“And why does it only ever come up heads?”
“Alien space magic. Why else?” Hartmann answered.
“Do you ever think that you and I are ultimately interchangeable?”
“We’re the variables. You represent the noble side of humanity, while I’m the cavalier aspect. Lawful good versus chaotic neutral.”
“Whatever.”
“You wanted to talk about it,” Hartmann muttered.
“Sometimes we might as well be the same person,” Hambert said darkly.
“There could be some truth to that,” Lartmann replied. “Our identities are already intermixing.
“I liked who I was,” Harbert said sulkily.
“How do you think I feel? You are a comparatively boring person,” Lamtmann pouted.
“Damn alien technology,” Hartert grumbled.
“Tell me about it,” Lambmann agreed.
“Fading …” Hartmet gasped.
“No …” Lambeann sobbed.
And together, they merged into Lartbertmann – half man, half another man.
~Fin
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MatC – 25
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MatC – 24
Thank you for sharing my work!
Exploring What ifs
I confess, when it comes to writing I often feel like I’m inserting things that most people are never going to notice.
Which is how The Scion Suit became a love triangle.
It’s not the stereotypical “Which guy will she choose?” sort of thing, though, because of the branching timelines. Carol never attempts to pursue both men in the same story arc. She’s not remotely the sort of character who would even think about doing such a thing, considering that she starts out completely asexual.
Aaaand I’m not remotely attracted to the sort of woman who plays/exploits multiple men. It’s a quirk of mine to write female characters that I would marry if I were a man, which drastically changes how everything plays out. Hence why Carol’s romantic prospects both make around $80~90k a year, and will never buy her any expensive cars or jewelry, lol.
Instead, it’s more about exploring a number of “what ifs”.
What if Carol’s human nature overrides the Commander?
What if Carol never gets back into the Suit?
What if Hartmann is the antagonist?
What if Lambert is the antagonist?
But since I’m not bluntly labeling each timeline with my underlying reason for writing it, I figure that most of my themes are going to slip by unnoticed. People are going to assume that I’m aiming for “Team Hartmann” vs “Team Lambert” and not realize that one of them works with the Commander, while the other fights against it.
Not to mention, Carol starts off as a blank slate, and the final shape of her personality depends on which man she interacts with the most, versus how much time she gets in the Suit.
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Carol, again
A bit of random trivia is that Carol was actually the name of the main character from the first novel I ever finished … when I was 14.
I technically still have the file, but it’s encrypted so it can never come back to haunt me, lol.
As you’d expect from a novel written by a 14-year-old, the main character was a Mary-Sue. She had unlimited magical abilities, fell head over heels for a handsome prince, but was tragically the daughter of The Evil Antagonist. So. Epic.
But, because I’m a MAJOR weirdo, I didn’t name her anything AWESOME like Silver Raventhorn or whatever.
I named her Carol.
Yeah … I dunno.
I guess I had a pragmatic streak back then, too.
My current Carol, with The Scion Suit, is not in any way related to or inspired by the original. I recycled the name because it fit as normal and average.
And maybe also as a nod to my teenage self.
By Autumn Rain 