Welcome to the New Year!

Tags

completed stories, fanfiction, iris, irisbloom5, marvel, short stories, the avengers, writing dares and prompts

Confetti and balloons! Floating lanterns! (oops, I think that was a spoiler… 😛 Ehh, even superheroes aren’t perfect.)

This is the first post of 2015 on this blog! Wooo!!!!

Second year I’ve been blogging, can you believe it? I am so haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapppyyyy right now… 😛

Anyway, in celebration of the new year, let’s hear from Mr. Stark in New York on the post SHIELD expose fallout and on the Avengers front.

---

Auld Lang Syne

When Steve got up to the roof, fully wrapped in sweaters, scarf, hat and blanket, he was frankly surprised to find it deserted. He had been expecting to find at least Hawkeye up here. The sniper came up for the sake of the height.

Then Steve mentally kicked himself. Hawkeye was in hiding; Steve didn’t even know where. Officially, he himself was in hiding. It wasn’t safe for him, any more. He wasn’t used to living, being hunted. Hydra wasn’t all gone, and it would be hard to burn it out of the civilized world, but he was going to do it.

Grabbing the notebook from under his arm, he picked up the pencil he usually used for drawing. He flipped the book open and began to write. Hey Peggy, it’s me. I just wanted to say that the world didn’t end, and we’re still fighting. I won’t stop until all of Hydra is dead or captured. I promised you and Bucky that a long time ago. Some things have changed, but I’m still on the mission, Peg.

                It seems like so much has changed, but it really hasn’t. It’s the same war still. Funny how that works. When they brought me back, I thought there wasn’t really much of a use for me any more, but there are still people who need to be protected. And I’m still working with a team. It’s just a team of… well, superheroes now.

                I feel almost like two people sometimes. Like I had left part of me with you. As if I’ve lived two entirely separate lives. It’s funny how dreams can become memories, almost as if they actually happened.

                Tomorrow it’ll be 2015. Wasn’t there a movie set in 2015? Oh well. I don’t care much, anyway.

                Good night, Peggy. I’ll see you in Heaven.

He tore the page from the book, folding it neatly, and picked up the strange construction beside him. He could remember making one of these out of a paper bag when he was twelve and then getting in trouble for sending it up on a Boy Scout campout—he had nearly set a tree on fire and had scared his senior patrol leader and the Scoutmaster badly. This time, it was a safer version of the same thing—a sort of hot-air balloon, miniaturized. He tore open the plastic that covered the tissue paper and balsa wood construction, then gently waved the balloon in midair to fill it out, flipping the frame open. Setting the note on the fuel cell, he took the cigarette lighter and lit it. Slowly, the lantern rose, joining many others floating over the cityscape. Steve drew in a slow, deep breath and leaned back, looking up at the lanterns. It was almost like the scene in the one Disney movie that he’d been ordered to watch once and hadn’t seen since.

“Kind of surprised that you’re up here, not in bed getting some sleep,” Tony commented from behind him. Steve didn’t startle. He’d known Tony was there; he had heard the door from the interior open and close, the crunching of gravel on the roof as Tony and Pepper joined him.

“I don’t have anywhere to be tomorrow,” Steve said, turning. “It isn’t as if SHIELD is going to send me to some remote place at 3 a.m. this morning.” Pepper looked him up and down, probably able to tell that the smile was the one he reserved for awkward situations and that never matched his actual feelings.

“How are you coping?” she asked.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve survived this sort of thing before,” Steve replied. He turned to Tony. “Thanks for letting me crash here. I’m not exactly the safest person to have under your roof at the moment.”

“Is that why you’re on it and not under it?” Tony snarked. Pepper gave him ‘the look,’ but Steve actually laughed.

“Part of the reason,” he joked back.

“What’s the other twelve percent?” Pepper asked, joining in the fun.

“I’m not scared of heights.”

“When are you going to let that die?”

“Probably never,” Pepper told Tony. She frowned at Steve. “Really? Weren’t you ever afraid of them?”

“No. Bucky wanted me to get my head examined. He did not like heights at all.” Steve replied and then winced. Pepper crossed the space and put a hand on his shoulder.

“It won’t ever be like it was before. Don’t delude yourself into thinking that. But you will get him back, Steve.”

“It’ll be hard,” Steve murmured. Tony slapped the former soldier on the back.

“And that’s why superheroes have girlfriends, Cap,” the billionaire said. “Because otherwise we’re just a bunch of temperamental basket cases.” Steve groaned good-naturedly.

“Oh no, not you too,” he said. Pepper cocked her head.

“What?”

“Natasha has been trying to set me up on blind dates. She even had me go out with Peggy’s grandniece. That was weird.” Pepper blinked. Tony frowned.

“Who’s Peggy?” Steve looked down.

“She’s dead.”

Pepper gave a quiet ‘oh.’ Tony was silent for a while. Then, quietly, “You’re stronger than I could ever be, Cap. I can’t imagine losing Pepper.”

“You would go on without me,” Pepper said.

“You would go on because you had to,” Steve said, quietly. “Because the world out there—they still need heroes. The world is flawed. They’ll always need heroes.”

“I’m not sure if I deserve to be called that.”

“So am I.” Steve leaned back against the railing, absently. “I’ve never seen the city from this high up before.”

“I thought you said you weren’t scared of heights?” Pepper asked.

“I never got up to the observation decks. Back then, everyone moved too fast for me. That actually… hasn’t changed that much.”

“I feel weird now.” Tony muttered. “Like I’m getting motion sick.”

“Do you ever get motion sick in the suit?” Steve wondered, then bit his tongue.

“I refrain to answer that.”

“Sorry,” Steve said, blushing.

2015. It divided evenly by five, thirteen, and thirty-one. All of them prime numbers. Absently, Steve scraped the toe of one boot in the gravel.

“Are you up here to watch the fireworks?” Pepper asked.

“Actually, the stars. Though they’re a bit hard to pick out with all the lights down there,” Steve said. “It helps put things in perspective.” He didn’t say it aloud that he came up here to be alone, much of the time, but he was glad of the company tonight.

“Sorry to ask this now, but I haven’t exactly had time before,” Tony said. “What do you think will happen to the Avengers, minus the backing from SHIELD?”

“We’ll keep operating, as a separate entity.” Steve said, quietly. “We’ll probably not have an easy time of the PR part, or dealing with the government, but we’ll still be here.” He turned, slowly. “You told me once that we weren’t soldiers, Tony, but… we all have duties to carry, still. And I know it’s not easy to balance duty with conscience, especially when you’ve sworn your allegiance to something. We slip. We fail. But we get back up again.” He stared out at the skyline. “Some people called Captain America the perfect soldier, the ultimate soldier. But we all know that’s not true. I disobeyed orders when I thought they were wrong. I’ve made poor decisions. I’ve failed missions, and people died on my watch. We aren’t perfect soldiers. What matters is that we try to do the right thing. I guess that’s what makes us the heroes.”

In Tony’s pocket, his phone began to play “Auld Lang Syne.” Tony smiled and took a few glasses from the side table that had been sitting up there all evening, utterly ignored. He handed one to Pepper and another to Steve. “To the future.”

“To new friends,” Steve added, ringing glasses with the other two.

“The future where we fix our mistakes,” Pepper said. She took a sip. “Happy new year.”

---

So, that’s my New Years’ story. Based around a dare from Iris. (Like her, I didn’t particularly want to write fanfic, but okay, here we go. 😛 ) Hopefully you enjoyed it… It’s also for Liam’s New Year’s short story challenge… I apologize for the lack of plot; I focused more on wrapping up loose ends than anything else. There will probably be another New Years’ story based around the ever popular Connor Rawleigh, of Colorblind fame, so don’t forget to check back in for that, Colorblind fans!

Happy New Year! May it be full of joy, new friends, and whatever brand of awepicness you prefer. As always, thanks for reading, and God bless you.

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Archivist of Selay’uu’s Journal: Goodbye Party

Tags

bbc merlin, bbc sherlock, brian jacques, characters, humor, iris, j.r.r. tolkien, john flanagan, lord of the rings, ranger's apprentice, redwall, sherlock holmes, sir arthur conan doyle, star trek, star wars, technology humor, the silmarillion

My proposal to study in Camelot was accepted! I am so excited. I can’t wait until I get to go! As I write this, it’s Monday (which means that my proposal was approved in one day. That’s quick work for Mistress El’ye, especially considering that she had to contact Merlin, Gwen, Gaius, and Arthur in order to check things through. I had expected to wait at least a week for her to get back to me.) However, it probably won’t be posted until later this week, as there have been a few issues with the internet in the Selay’uu mansion. (The most commonly suspected culprit is Anakin; however, I’m inclined to disagree. He’s affected by the loss of internet the same as the rest of us, and he’s too addicted to posting his Angry Birds high scores on Facebook to actually consider destroying our internet connection. Personally, I think it’s probably the fault of Morgarath and Morgoth, who have also been torturing us with the similarity of their names, and Vilu Daskar. Obi-Wan is working with Quinlan, Sherlock, John and Lestrade to covertly investigate. The perpetrators will probably be put to a punishment so awful they will never ever dare to cross the Council again. Also, the punishment is said to be unspeakable, which is a bit of a paradox, isn’t it?)

Anyway, I can leave as soon as I’m packed, provided that Obi-Wan, or possibly Scotty, can get me over there, but I’m planning on taking the rest of today to say goodbye to all my friends after I pack, and then leave early tomorrow. There’s even an element of uncertainty, because Obi-Wan says that while he’s fairly sure he can get me to Camelot, within a few miles of the city, I may end up anywhere in the realm and have to make my way to the city on my own. Of course, being the reckless adventurer I am, this is only making it all the more exciting for me!

Frodo and Sam, being the sweet people they are, planned a whole farewell party in the courtyard. Pippin turned up rather shamefacedly, apologetically replacing the cake, which he had shared with friends last night by mistake. Will came, and Tug came as well, which Halt found rather annoying. Everyone else thought that the pony was good company, though, and Tug was given an inordinate number of apples over the course of the evening. Every time we gave him one, though, Tug would just give Halt this knowing look, which most of us found hilarious. Halt took it all in his stride. It’s pretty much common knowledge that he is secretly amused by his apprentice’s antics, and occasionally–occasionally–this extends to his apprentice’s pony. I carried away the prize at chalk drawing, narrowly–surprisingly enough, it was Halt who was giving me a run for my money. Also, I think Gilan and Xanatos must be related. I mean, they act nearly exactly alike. Though I think Halt would say, “The world can only bear one of you, Gilan.” Anyway, all of my original characters were there, except that Klis was missing (again.) She needs rescuing so often, it’s not even funny.

And then I realized that for some reason, Captain Kirk had my cell phone. I had to go retrieve it. (Doctor McCoy was quite the help, there.) On second thoughts, it was probably Anakin who left it in his room, and I’m just being too harsh a judge. Still, I risked my life in there… I kid you not. Unlike the dinky little room you see on the Enterprise, there is neither rhyme nor reason to this room. Seriously. It’s like Iris’ mind, times five exponential. Or the room she was living in for the last year or so before she moved, only worse. (For those of you who have never seen Iris’ room, it was right under the eaves and already half-way in use as an attic, for storage. There wasn’t even room for an actual bed–she just put a mattress on the floor and a comforter on top of that and called it good. A certain distance over, there wasn’t enough room for me to stand up straight. And it was like a maze, with the bookshelves and boxes and all.) I suppose Kirk thinks it’s orderly, but honestly? I’m a practical sort of girl. I don’t do mess. Unless it’s my laptop or next manuscript in there, next time, I am never risking going in there again. And if I ever have to go in there again, I’m getting an official reprimand for the Captain. I don’t care what they say about bedrooms being a reflection on their owners. There is no way Kirk’s head is that crowded!

The Upstairs Archives Blog Birthday!

Tags

anniversary, blog birthday, blogging, celebrations, coruscantbookshelf, friends, insanity, iris, selay'uu, selay'uu (sort of)

Hello, my dear readers!

I’m posting for something very special today. Yes, it’s the blog’s birthday!

One year ago, I started this blog to connect to my friends who blog. I wanted to put my stories where people could read and enjoy them. One year ago, this post started it all.

And now, one year later, I look back in awe at all that’s happened.

1. Incredible amounts of insanity has been shared.
2. This blog has gained Allies!
3. Tales (such as Bound to the Flame and The Hero’s Dream) have been told.
4. Selay’uu was launched, to much acclaim, and (hopefully) evoking much laughter.
5. Last but not least, I began to figure out how to use html shortcuts, and learned that there is no real substitute for experimentation when it comes to the Internet (so long as one does not say something unforgivable, or forget one’s manners.) Also, I began to learn how to use the blogger’s key tools, such as scheduling, saving drafts, categories, tagging, and how to set posts as password protected (though I have not tried it.)
6. Erin-isms, such as typo turkeys, plot cobras, and poison ink were introduced to the world.
7. I got my hair cut. (This has nothing to do with the blog, but it sure makes me look different.)

But for a celebration, I’m not quite sure what to do… Perhaps you all can help me decide. 😉

Now, for the “State of the Archives” address. ;-P

Statistics are as follows:

Seven (7) Pages

Two hundred six (206) Posts

Two thousand, six hundred thirty-five (2635) Comments

Five thousand, eight hundred four (5,804) Views

Approximately five hundred four (504) Likes

One hundred thirty-one (131) Followers

And finally, I’d like to thank everyone who helped me to get to where I am now.

Coruscantbookshelf (aka Rosalie), who introduced me to WordPress in the first place.

Iris, who was forever encouraging (Also my BFF IRL!) and one of my long-time readers, even though she didn’t get her own blog or WordPress account until recently.

Professor V.J. Duke, who was crazy when I needed craziness (and Punchiness!) in my life.

PorterGirl, who helped and encouraged me to get the Selay’uu section of the blog started.

There are lots of others (if your name isn’t on this list, don’t worry, it’s probably on my “Allies” page 😉 ), so don’t be offended; I just named the people I could think of at the moment.

Teens Can Write Too!: Books or Movies?

Tags

a&e, alice in wonderland, baronness emma orczy, bbc, bbc sherlock, c.s. forester, c.s. lewis, courageous, disney, dumas, film, filmmaking, fireproof, horatio hornblower, hornblower, independent films, iris, j.r.r. tolkien, james fenimore cooper, jane austen, joe morlino, lewis carrol, movies, navis pictures, novels, pixar, plans of trust, pride and prejudice, seaward, sherwood pictures, star wars, steven graydanus, susan cooper, t.h. white, tangled, teens can write too blog chain, the chronicles of narnia, the last of the mohicans, the lord of the rings, the once and future king, the scarlet pimpernel, the sword in the stone, the three musketeers, the war of the vendee, through the looking glass

First of all, I’d like to say that if my books ever get published, and if I ever get a proposal to make movies based on my novels, I definitely want to be in on the process. Not only do I want my books to stay at least reasonably like the books–I don’t mind characters who don’t look like they did in the books so much, as long as they act like the characters in the books–and not only have I seen too many movies where the essence and messages of the books were lost, but I’m also fascinated by all things filmmaking. 😉 See Plans of Trust. Also see The War of the Vendee, from Navis Pictures, and the Sherwood Pictures films. All of these movies are done by independent groups and have more charm and in most cases better acting than Hollywood movies. I have not seen Plans of Trust yet, but Vendee, Courageous, and Fireproof are among my favorite films of all time. Thank you, Mr. Morlino! And I know that was off-topic… In the case that I have passed away by the time my books catch the eye of some director, then I hope my estate will definitely be consulting. (My de facto, informal will at this time is pretty much that Iris inherits all my writing stuff, including unfinished texts, with the hopes that she will continue them. Also, anyone else may build on my work with Iris’ permission. The rights to my completed poems and novels go to my family, to help support them.)

Wow, I just got really off track. I’ll blame it on my cold. (The same cold that Obi-Wan also caught and is still recovering from… *sigh*)

Now, I think that it’s only fair if we judge the movie by its own criteria and not by the industry in general. There have been marvelous adaptions (aka, The Lord of the Rings and the Hornblower series,) and there have been bad ones (Alice in Wonderland… *shudder* Frankly, I’ll take my chances with the Balrogs and mumakil. I don’t want to face a Jabberwocky or a Mock-Turtle. Ever again. But maybe I’m unfair, even if the movie sucked. The books was almost as creepy… Sorry, I just can’t read Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, or any of the book clones *cough* Seaward *cough* without suffering nightmares. The book destroyed my childhood, and the movie freaked me out.)

The adaption of The Lord of the Rings is a great movie, but it does play free with certain parts of the books. And yet, at the same time, it goes very well as an adaption of the books. It can stand alone, yes, but it also ties in very well with the books, if we can stay our bookish-snobbishness for the time being as we watch the movies. The only thing that really annoys me is if someone takes only what happens in the movies as “canon”. To me, the books will always be the only canon. People love to hate on The Lord of the Rings for eliminating Tom Bombadil, having other elves than Legolas at Helm’s Deep, the too-early deaths of Sauruman and Wormtongue and Frodo telling Sam to go home on Cirith Ungol (yes, those last two are my own private pet peeves), but frankly it’s probably the best book adaption out there if you use both epicness and true-to-the-book-ness as your measure.

The A&E adaption of The Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Richard E. Grant, is another really good adaption, if you can temporarily suspend your sense of disbelief and/or your booksnob attitude. True, it plays free with the situations, historical accuracy, and (to an extent) Chauvelin’s appearance and character, but if you like action and historical movies, this is your cup of tea, courtesy of the BBC. (To balance out the blah-history-ness in the third movie of the trilogy, Mademoiselle Guillotine, I highly recommend The War of the Vendee, above. Also, this same movie has the best villainess I have ever seen in any movie! She almost beats Lady De Winter from The Three Musketeers for sheer evil and disgustingness and oh-heaven-I-so-want-to-slaughter-her!)

The Hornblower movies, also from A&E, are perhaps the only franchise about which I will ever say “I actually liked the movies better than the books.” The C.S. Forester classics, while good reading, can be very dark and a little depressing at times, not to mention the blood. C.S. Forester is nothing if not honest. Not necessarily family-friendly material. However, if you ignore the four-letter words (which, let me promise you, is pretty much limited to just ‘hell’ or ‘damn’), you find yourself in the middle of a movie just about everyone can like. If there is one disappointing thing about this series, it’s that it didn’t follow the course of all the books and take the unfinished one–Hornblower During the Crisis–which would have had Horatio as a spy *swoons*!–into the cinema world as a full blown story.

And I need not even mention Sherlock, which is sheer brilliance!

Now, for the not-so-good.

The Chronicles of Narnia (the old BBC adaptions.) While these were charming movies and re-created the charm of the books quite well, they weren’t all that imaginative, and they cut some of my favorite scenes from the books. Also, the series was discontinued, leaving the count at The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair. And… *cough cough* I would like to see anyone try to make a movie of The Last Battle. It could never be as awesome as the book!

…Ahem.

The Sword in the Stone. It is a cute family movie, but let’s face it–except for bits of the face-off between Merlyn and Madame Mim (Yes, I spelled Merlyn right! This is how he’s spelled in the T.H. White-verse–probably to differentiate from the falcon species… which does appear in the book…), this movie is absolutely nothing like the book. It lacks the book’s charm and humor and incredible detail. It cuts out chunks (the more interesting ones) from the book, it completely mutilates Kay… I could go on and on. Not that I have any particular hate for this movie. Like I said before, it’s a nice little family movie. It’s just not… all that memorable. Unlike the book. I’m glad they stopped there rather than trying to make the whole Once And Future King cycle into animated movies. It’s a movie about Merlyn educating the Wart. It’s not a movie about the Wart, the Wart and Kay, or even the Wart and Merlyn. It’s not exactly character-oriented, which is probably why it’s less than memorable. (Though Archimedes was adorable. Which is almost sacrilege, to a fan of the books… No spoilers. >:-D)

The Last of the Mohicans. (The animated one.) It’s another charming family movie–and not really forgettable–it might even be a cult classic–but it’s just not the book. Characters were different. Different people died. (More people die in the book, which gives it a more complex aspect. No spoilers. :-3) Again, recurring theme here, it lacked much of the humor of the book, such as SPOILER Major Heyward trying to impersonate Hawkeye END SPOILER.Now, the book might be both sexist and racist, but let’s face it–almost anything could be labeled sexist or racist in one way or another. And it’s a classic, and a good read besides. Need I say more?

But about the movie, I did rather like it. But if I’m looking for entertainment when I’m not absolutely worn out by Raya’s antics, I’m going to the book.

Pride and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley. Most Austen movies tend to be very close to the books, but this one… All I can say is pretty much… meh. The acting may be good, but the story is pretty much insipid–at least to someone who’s seen the version with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. Its only advantage above the latter movie is that it’s shorter–and some people wouldn’t call that an advantage. (I only do because I’d really rather read Austen than watch Austen. No offense, people.)

This movie is also fairly good, but next to the A&E version… it does not stand a chance.

I would like to present a new set of criteria for judging movies (and especially book adaptions) as a whole, which is based on the way Steven Graydanus breaks down the good and the bad in his film critiques. It is based on systematic evaluation of the message, the way it executes the story, and the divergences, which should be justified. While critiquing any art form is in itself an art, this should at least simplify it for people who don’t have much experience with critique. Be forewarned, though, it takes a little math, and some familiarity with negative values.

1. Message. Is the message true to the book? On a scale of one to five. How good or bad is it? (Yes, add points to score; no, subtract points from score. If the message is virtually unrecognizable or mangled into a twisted dark clone of itself, subtract up to ten points.)
2. Trueness to the book. (Yes, +0points; no, -1point unless it’s really really bad. Then -3points.)
3. Diversions from the book. (Yes, +0points; no, -1point. Come on. It’s a movie. It is a separate entity. And if it has no diversions, it’s unimaginative.)
4. Execution of diversions from book, on a scale of one to five. (Well done; +points. Poorly done; -points.)
5. Execution of book canon portions, on a scale of one to five. (Well done; +points. Poorly done; -points. Superbly done; +7 to 10 points. Extremely badly done; -7 to 15 points. Yes, I’m a cynic. The real question is… are you?)
6. General inventiveness, on a scale of one to five. (Well done; +points. Poorly done; -0points. Unless it’s completely unimaginative, in which case -up to 5 points.
7. For Christians, believers in moral absolutes, and concerned parents only! Moral value, on a scale of one to five. (Moral value positive: +0 points. Moral value extremely positive: +5 points. Moral value negative: -up to 7 points.)
8. Special effects, on a scale of one to five. (Good; +0points. Poor; -1point. Poor but ignorable; -0points. Poor for a reason–such as to emulate another era or style of film– +1point.)
9. Other. For depressiveness, euphoria, simple beauty, etc. + or – up to 5 points.

Bear in mind, this system is not perfect. Different people will most likely get different scores on the same movies. Lord of the Rings scored 20 (17 without morality points), and the BBC show Sherlock scored 27 (24 without morality points), due to its sheer inventiveness and addictiveness. Alice in Wonderland, on the other hand, scored a -11, or a -13 without morality points. *shudders* I really, really dislike that movie.

So, in general, I am a connoisseur of movies, and a lover of books, but I have my limits. And some things (such as blatant departures from book canon without any justification, or book canon so badly done it doesn’t even recall the book canon,) just drive me nuts. In general, I’m not as hard on fairy tale adaptions as I am on book adaptions (Tangled scored a princely 23, 22 without morality points–yes, I only gave it one morality point, because she runs away from the only parent figure she’s known and disobeys and rebels–she got the point because she’s a peacemaker and willing to sacrifice herself), but that’s mostly because folk tales belong to everyone and sheesh, I know what it’s like to slave and suffer over a book for months and years and then realize it’s not what you want and overhaul it and spend blood from your paper cuts and tears from your text cuts on it! A book is a little piece of the author’s heart. With something that personal, it needs respect. Just as movies are little pieces from the hearts of everyone who worked on them.

I hope you enjoyed the post. Be sure to check in for the other bloggers’ posts in this blog chain!

5th – http://nasrielsfanfics.wordpress.com/

6th – http://theloonyteenwriter.wordpress.com/

7th – http://sammitalk.wordpress.com/

8th – http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com/

9th – http://insideliamsbrain.wordpress.com/

10th – http://maralaurey.wordpress.com/

11th – http://charleyrobson.blogspot.com/

12th – http://taratherese.wordpress.com/

13th – http://theweirdystation.blogspot.com/

14th – http://fairyskeletons.blogspot.com/

15th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

16th – http://novelexemplar.wordpress.com/

17th – http://magicandwriting.wordpress.com/

18th – http://mirrormadeofwords.com/

19th – http://www.brookeharrison.com/

20th – http://miriamjoywrites.com/

21st – http://eighthundredninety.blogspot.com/

22nd – http://unikkelyfe.wordpress.com/

23rd – http://aaronandtamarabooks.blogspot.com/

24th – http://www.butterfliesoftheimagination.weebly.com/

25th – https://erinkenobi2893.wordpress.com/

26th – http://turtlesinmysoup.blogspot.com/

27th – http://missalexandrinabrant.wordpress.com/

28th – http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ – The topic for July’s blog chain will be announced.

Thanks for reading, and God Bless! 🙂

Archivist of Selay’uu’s Journal: Staff Meeting

Tags

bound to the flame, disney, disney fairies, iris, j.m. barrie, j.r.r. tolkien, kysherin, lord of the rings, muse, peter pan, selay'uu, star wars

Eight people sat around a table, three of them dark-haired, one blonde, three ginger, and one with mousy nondescript unkempt locks. There were notebooks in front of five of them; the other three weren’t particularly keen on taking notes. All of them had coffee or cocoa in tall mugs, and there was a plate of cookies and another of hot muffins on the table. No one seemed overly interested in the food, though.

I finished telling them about my plans for the Peter Pan story that had recently devoured most of my imagination and time. I turned to look around the table at the two main actors and my various encouragement moguls and assistants. “So, any questions?” There were none. “Thoughts? Pan?” Peter sat up from where he had been lounging in his chair with his light boots on the table.

“We’re dealing with some pretty weighty stuff here,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s as well you banned Tinker Bell from this meeting.” Everyone except Obi-Wan gave a collective shudder at the idea of the jealous and vain fairy disrupting the staff meeting. Wendy nodded.

“I like the multi-generational aspect,” she said encouragingly. “There’s an awful lot of theory involved though.” I nodded.

“This isn’t going to be such a light-hearted jaunt through Neverland. For some reason, as well as emulating J.M. Barrie’s style, I’ve also wound up adding doses of Tolkien in equal parts–completely unintentionally, of course.” Obi-Wan steepled his fingers; it was hard to tell whether he was channeling Mace Windu, or Sherlock.

“Please tell me you’re not attempting a truly dark fantasy, Erin.” he said in a tone that told me he was already fairly sure that I wasn’t.

“No, I’m not,” I said. “I just felt the urge to put my own twist on the classic. Don’t worry, Rowan and Margery, I’ll get back to yours as soon as may be.”

“Are you borrowing theory from our story?” Rowan asked.

“I don’t think so,” I said thoughtfully. “If anything, I’m borrowing it slightly from Heather Dale. But no, I think not. Your Scotland is a very different place from Neverland, and I think that the magic system there will probably be a bit more varied than yours. For instance, Shadow Summoners. Though your novel could do with one, I guess.”

“Mmm,” Rowan said. “I already get the feeling that you’re planning a scene with some sort of monster for us.” I grinned.

“It can only harm you if you look at it.” Rowan shrugged.

“I can walk just fine blindfolded, you know.” I grinned.

“Exactly.” Margery raised her hand, hesitantly.

“What about me?”

“You’re going to be helping him control the Amatane power when that comes up. In fact, I have a feeling that you’ll be key. As a matter of fact, I just realized that Wielders’ powers come from their compassion and their connections to other people and nature. I’m not quite sure how yet. Anyway, back to Peter.”

Iris had listened quietly all this time, but now she spoke up. “I especially like your idea of having Neverland begin to fall apart when Peter goes missing.”

“Well, in my mind, it just made sense,” I excused myself. “Peter Pan is, essentially, the life of fairy tales. His role is just to be, and to keep back the dark. So when he’s gone, or threatened, the person who threatens him is essentially threatening to let all the powers of evil–at least in this world–loose on both Neverland and the mainland. You know…” she paused. “If we could get someone half-decent to do the editing and effects, this would make an amazing movie.”

“It would,” Iris said. Obi-Wan decisively downed the last of his coffee and leaned back with a grimace.

“I’d suggest that you keep it doable, keep up a realistic outlook.” he said. “After all, unlike some of your projects, this one is completely doable.”

Kysherin gave an evil, uncanny, skin-crawl-inducing chuckle. “Yet.” I scowled at the Muse.

“This is why you’re ugly, Kysherin,” I said. She smiled evilly.

“I know.”

Suddenly, the doors slammed open and Legolas burst in. “Someone left the stables unlocked, and all the flying dragons and horses and even H’vyenteh are getting away!” he shouted.

Life as usual with Selay’uu.

Mr. Lucas? There’s a Plot Hole Right There!

Tags

authors, humor, iris, j.r.r. tolkien, lord of the rings, star wars

(Sorry folks, but I’m not the only one talking here so I had to write it in script form. Hope it’s still enjoyable! :-P)

Erin: I just noticed something about Revenge of the Sith.

Anakin: Yeah right. She still hasn’t seen it yet.

Erin: Be quiet, you! Some of us have standards, such as no graphic violence. Besides, Chosen One’s should be seen and not heard. (Obi-Wan laughs, tries to cover it up with a cough.) Anyway, I just noticed something while watching a music video. Doesn’t Obi-Wan drop his cloak on a catwalk just before confronting Grievous on Utapau?

Obi-Wan: Oh, I think I know where this is going…

Erin: And then, when he flies off in Grievous’ starfighter, he still doesn’t have it, correct?

Obi-Wan: No, I did not.

Erin: But then, after you met up with Senator Organa, you suddenly had it again, to hide your identity when you were sneaking into the Jedi Temple!

Obi-Wan: Yes–

Gollum: Sneaking? Sneaking, it says, precious! We were only trying to get featured on her blogses, yes, precious!

Erin: I only have one blog! Now be off with you, or I’ll call Sam!

Gollum: We is going, yes, we is going. Nasty authorses with their inkses and pens, we never did them harm did we precious?

Erin: Oh, just get out! *kicks Gollum out of her imagination*

Obi-Wan: I did not have my cloak until that scene, no.

Erin: Did you sneak back to pick it up off the girder?

Obi-Wan: I have a feeling that was a rhetorical question, not one that was meant to call into question either my intelligence or my sanity…

Erin: I wouldn’t blame you if you were insane. I’d blame Anakin. *glares at Anakin*

Iris: *cheerfully walks in, ties Anakin to a chair, puts duct tape over his mouth, then notices everyone staring* What?

Erin: You’re in my mind palace.

Iris: And that’s surprising… why?

Erin: *sigh* Never mind. Anyway… So, where did you get your cloak from in the next scene, Obi-Wan?

Obi-Wan: I noticed that when I was reading the script and called it to Mr. Lucas’s attention. He said, “Well, you kind of need it… maybe you left a cloak on Bail’s ship?” I wish people would stop accusing me of negligently dropping my cloak in any odd place. Anakin makes a much bigger mess than I do.

Anakin: Mppppppppppppppphssssssssssssgrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Erin: You sound like a Wookie that’s been put through a sound design program. *shrugs* So, I guess that’s that.

Obi-Wan: For the record, in real life I did not leave any cloak on Bail’s ship.

Anakin: *telepathy* ISN’T SOMEONE GOING TO UNTIE ME!?

A Random Story

Tags

alice in wonderland, alligators, author, bagels, bbc sherlock, disney, doug, dragons, dug, editor, electronics, funerals, g.k. chesterton, hilary clinton, iris, j.r.r. tolkien, john h. watson, justin beiber, lewis carrol, lord of the rings, madeleine l'engle, moriarty, paratroopers, pixar, sherlock holmes, social networking sites, the hobbit, united nations, up, venus flytraps

This is what happens when three writers on the way back from Washington, DC get bored. They begin a randomly-jumping-in-and-writing game of Story Round! And this is what results. Bask in the random awepicness!

Bold: Erin

Italics: Iris

Underline: Our other friend (who in real life shares a first name with me!)

Once upon a time, there was a dragon. He had nothing to read, and so he picked up a book by G.K. Chesterton, and his [the dragon’s] name was Fred.

However, the book turned out to be the wrong dust jacket on the wrong book, and he found himself reading “The Hobbit.” Caesar and Napoleon put all their genius into being heard of, and they WERE heard of, with a loud snore like a clap of thunder. And he [Fred] had a chicken as an uncle.

iPods and iPhones fought the other MP3 players, CD players, tape players, and radios, while Facebook bad-mouthed Twitter and Instagram and Tumblr hid. Instagram kissed Pinterest, who fainted. Touchpads and iPads fought the other tablets, who were led by General Samsung Galaxy. The authors studiously ignored them all with a tea-drinking contest. The computers got tired of the authors procrastinating and revolted. His [Fred’s] life was ended when a tomahawk came down and through the door he [Fred] entered.

Aliens came down from Camazotz and fought a marvelous battle with the Hobbits, and Bilbo, Frodo, Merry, Sam, and Pippin whopped them spectacularly and sent them packing. They [the aliens] hid in a rabbit hole and were lost forever in Wonderland. They ran into Cyrus and Alice as the two were on their adventures, and our intrepid heroes slaughtered them all.

The squirrel fell off the balcony and into Doug [from “Up”]’s mouth. Dug died of imaginary tuberculosis (so he wasn’t really dead) and was sent to Camazotz, where he turned into IT. Meanwhile, Moriarty snored up a storm, so Sherlock stuffed a biscuit in his mouth and escaped over the back fence. Meanwhile, Meg Murry defeated IT and IT turned back into nice, friendly Doug. [She made me spell it like this and not like Dug, which is how it was spelled on the back of the movie case. Gah.] They all went back to Earth, where Doug became friends with Fortinbras.

A dog dressed in a military uniform walked up the aisle beside the casket at the funeral for the squirrel, which [the casket] was empty because, of course, the squirrel had been eaten. Meanwhile, Twitter and the United Nations texted disrespectfully in the background. Then Sherlock ran in, shouting that the coffin was NOT really empty. Hilary Clinton gawked. Justin Beiber screamed like a fangirl and fainted. John Watson stepped over his inert body and opened the coffin, which contained a bagel. The entire funeral dissolved into a brawl as to who got the bagel. Sherlock told Clinton to shut her mouth. It snapped shut like an alligator or a Venus Flytrap. Doug tried to bury the bagel for later as Facebook ran in and screamed that Twitter was cheating on him. He laid Twitter out with a punch and ran out the door with Sherlock and John in hot pursuit.

Meanwhile, tablet paratroopers dropped in and carried off the bagel for their general’s breakfast, so everyone else went back to the funeral. They buried Moriarty in the grave with the tomahawk and now-empty casket, Facebook went to jail, everyone cried buckets, and they all lived happily ever after.

The End.

Author’s note: Being the scribe, I got to embellish wherever I liked. I also added notes in the hopes that it would help you, my readers, understand the complete craziness that happened on that trip. Here’s hoping that you enjoyed the story! Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

 

I’m Alive!

Tags

bbc sherlock, catholic culture, catholocism, christianity, complete epicness, homeschool culture, iris, march for life, march for life 2014, national shrine of the immaculate conception, notre dame indiana, sacred heart church, star wars

Hello, continuous readers and newcomers to my blog! No, I have not dropped off the face of the earth. However, a different (and only slightly less astounding) thing has occurred: I only thought about Star Wars three times in the past week.

No, really. Really.

But, to catch you all up; I attended the March for Life in Washington, DC, and if you have not checked out their Twitterfest with the hashtag #whywemarch, then by all means, DO SO! Virtual cookies and bonus points (not to mention visits and likes on your blog!) to those who do so and then comment! I don’t have social media but all you people out there who do, get out and shout out! Here’s my first shoutout: To Erin of Laughing at Live Dragons! Unfortunately, I did not see her at the March this year, but I did see the Santorums, the Duggars were there too! And then there was an entire spirit squad, no less!!!

It was cold, but fun. I made the stupid mistake of wearing dress shoes instead of boots. Iris was smarter. (But she always wears her boots anyway, so she don’t count. ;-P She wanted to wear her combat boots, but her mom wouldn’t let her. :’-( )

We went to the March with seven boys and three girls from another Latin Mass parish, and (including us) seven girls and three boys from our parish. Add in three deacons and an Italian priest and you have unbelievably awesome chaos!!! We rode in three vehicles: The Deacon Buggy, Eagle One (the girls’ van), and Donkey Zero (the boys’ transport.) Note from Sgt. Sprite: The boys’ van was aptly named. Lots of them were donkeys. And they all had crushes on Elsa, of Frozen fame. *shudders* I was tortured for all the trip by songs from Frozen and merciless teasing about not having seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame or The Little Mermaid. (By no means am I normal. Huff. I still question how people could take thirty minutes just to decide to freaking go to bed! Taking twenty minutes to decide what to order at a restaurant, on the other hand…) It took us two very full days and about three more hours to get there; it snowed on Monday night, so we wound up going an extra few hours to get to Richmond, where we were staying. We rode a charter bus into D.C. and visited the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History for an hour, not nearly enough time, in my opinion. Iris bought two post cards, and I tucked them in my purse. I lost them that afternoon. :’-( She’s mad at me for “apologizing too much” and “having tardiphobia.” (That’s the fear of being late, for those who were wondering.) We lost her hunter-orange stocking cap at the Smithsonian; if anyone has visited the Smithsonian recently and found a hand-knitted neon orange hat somewhere, yep, that belongs to Iris. You’re welcome to whatever bugs and/or dandruff are left on it. (Just kidding! :-P) I am officially tired of Subway and all cheap pizza. And the second shout-out goes to the housekeeper for the FSSP priests of St. Joseph’s in Richmond. That was the most delicious beef stew EVER!!!! 😀

On Thursday, we visited the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The artwork (especially the murals) was incredible. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to touch the murals/statues/other artwork, and I am a very tactile person. *sob* Then we visited the Holocaust Museum. It was much more intense than I had expected, and I had a hissy fit at one of the boys who was joking around right after we had to rush through the last exhibit due to time concerns. This is one of my favorite all time quotes; I have to thank my history teacher for introducing me to it, even though I can’t remember who to attribute it to. The reason why we need a Holocaust Museum in the United States, which did not take part in the horror, is:

The recuperative power of innocence in a liberal society

Which basically means that the reason why we need the memorial is because otherwise, due to our own complacent stupidity, we’ll forget, because our society is a free society (aka, “liberal.” This has nothing to do with Republican vs. Democrat. It just means free.) That’s my deep thought for the day.

We went to the house of a lady who had offered to let us use her house to shower up for showers and while we waited in line, someone turned on the TV. They started watching Duck Dynasty (which I had never seen before, or even heard of) and I said, “Bored!” (Sherlock quotes for the win!) and worked on my knitting instead. (Don’t judge. I really was bored. But the endings were sweet…) Anyway, I got ten merit points for being bored with the show. Teehee. I took a very cold shower.

After sightseeing, we ate out at the China Buffet (I don’t remember where it was. Yummy food, though. Almost as good as the beef stew!), where we got merit points for trying new things. I tried sushi. The stuff which was made with fake crab wasn’t that bad, but the salmon stuff just tasted odd. I didn’t have a gag reflex problem, though. And I also tried oysters. MMMM! We tried to talk our Youth Group coordinator to try calamari (read: adorable baby octopus, heehee), and she almost did, but she had all this drama with bringing it to her mouth, and when she finally popped it in it shot out again! Like a bullet. Like the sound of Father’s former ringtone. (Which was a machine gun and bombs before he changed it to some demented music from Psycho.) And I have the photos to prove it.

When we headed back out for Omaha, Iris and I (who had sat in the VERY BACK of the van before) switched out our seat assignments and rode towards the front. We played lots of games and had a sing-off (which was FUN! :-D) Iris proved to be the champion of a game which has the point of making “it” laugh, and she was “it” and only laughed THREE TIMES among the many games we played. I replied “Get Sherlock” at one point and had to say that to everything. It got me farther than before, but I still cracked up. People teased me about Moriarty wanting to marry me, and I said “No way! I’m probably way taller than he is!” (I’m taller than Ewan McGregor, for crying out loud!!! Why are most British actors so short???!)

We stopped in Notre Dame, IN and visited the Church of the Sacred Heart. More subdued than the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, but just as beautiful. The ceiling murals were the best part, and their high altar was amazing.

We stayed in the most iffy motel I’ve ever seen on the way back. Breakfast was blah and the shower had poor pressure. One of our room doors was 1) frozen shut, and 2) had a broken handle. Another one smelled like smoke, so we switched on that one. Who wants to smell tobacco all night? Eugh. But at least we could lock our doors, and there was no balcony door to become loose and begin to break away from the wall. (That was at the second hotel we stayed at, fyi. Since there was a connecting door that led to one of the boys’ rooms, the girls in that room traded assignments with the other guys. Also, that was the same time I had my first temper tantrum. Everyone forgot ENTIRELY about my brother!!! He had stayed in his room to go to the bathroom and he had NO IDEA where we were meeting! I wound up crying, but that was partly low blood sugar and sleep deprivation… I’m still embarrassed about it though. Though I think I WAS JUSTIFIED!!!)

Anyway, we arrived safely back home at 9:10 p.m. central time. The St. Francis youth group still had an hour and a half to go, though… I feel sorry for them.

We did get in some good prayer time and soul food, though. We went to Mass every day, Confessions on Thursday, and had a full Rosary (three sets of mysteries!) a day.

All in all, it was a good trip, and my first big adventure since 2008. Hope you’ll forgive me for dropping off the ether, and also hoping that you’ve enjoyed my story! Thanks for reading, as always, and may God Bless you! Have a better than awesome day!

Joining Nano!!!

Tags

author, completely random posts, confusing nonsense, editor, insanity, iris, kysherin, long rants, muse, nanowrimo 2013, national novel writing month, rambling musings, small rants, story dynamics, writer

Hey, everyone! It’s two days till November, so I thought I’d go on and tell you all what I’m up to.

I’m a proud participant of National Novel Writing Month!

This November, I’m going to be writing a 50,000 word novel… or, actually, the third section of a 150,000 word novel. Next comes editing… which I don’t exactly look forward to. Or maybe I do. Hmmm… X-P

Anyway, as is likely very obvious, when you’re an author it’s hard to understand the ins and outs of your own mind. Even your muse (mine is named Kysherin and is a wicked little creature) doesn’t understand you. I really should clean out my mind palace… heehee… Fortunately my editor (who normally only grouses about my posture and spelling/grammar errors, though when I’m in editing mode he’ll make numerous brilliant suggestions faster than I can type) is more than just an editor. He also knows the ins and outs of my mind better than I do… which makes things far easier. Funny how these people who are only “figments of the imagination” are so real… Incidentally, if you want to know my editor’s name, it’s Obi-Wan Kenobi and he is far less annoying than most authors’ inner editors. ;-P

Anyway, I’ve already done both of the Nanowrimo Summer Camps (April and July), and enjoyed them. Like Crazy. Crazy is awesome. Anyway… Irisbloom5 (aka Iris) was a big help then, since she already had one Nanowrimo under her belt, while I was still just a newbie. So this is a shoutout to the MOST AWESOME BEST FRIEND out there. You know who you are. You just don’t accept it. ;-P

And about my novel… Like all authors, I can talk about it for hours if I get going. So I won’t. But if you do want me to tell you all about it, tell me in the comments and I’ll see what I can do!!! 😉 But if you absolutely can’t wait, then go here. 😉

Anyway, so I won’t be around quite so much. But now you know what I’m doing, you’ll hopefully feel better… 😉