Tag: fiction

Alice and the Warden, Stories

AatW Music Playlist

Autumn

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.

About Writing

How to Improve Abrupt Transitions in Writing

Autumn

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.

Picture not remotely related.
Stories, The Scion Suit

Lartmann and Hambert Are Dead

Autumn

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

About Writing

Exploring What ifs

Autumn

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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