KanataQuest - Tamia's NaNo

[Kathleen]

I resent all these characters who have really awesome and crazy dreams with leather jackets and fedoras and stuff. D= Mine are never very prophetic or meaningful or really anything much.

Niagara Falls does splish and splash. Really loudly. =D

[Tam]

Rikku -- I do like the sounds of that. Accessorizing -- one of the many benefits of mastering your dream self! =D Although I'm kind of old-fashioned and stubborn in my loyalty to random, non-lucid dreams. The surprise is what makes them fun! *realizes it sounds like she's marketing dream techniques and promptly changes the subject*

Kathkitty -- ...well, to tell you the truth, the real reason I included a surreal dream sequence was so that I could eat up wordcount without worrying about whether what I'm writing actually makes sense or not. But as it turns out, some prophetic stuff crept in anyway, so it's all good (although in the end, it wasn't as quick to write as I had hoped).

And yes. Precisely. <3

...I'm so, so behind, yes, but I'm going to really try and bump myself back up in the next day or two. I'm planning to cram all my homework time onto Sunday and write until my eyes fingers ears something bleeds tomorrow. Just watch me. And maybe donate some bandages.

SPOILER: Click to show

"Anyone want to start?"

Her eyes roamed the circle. I looked intently at the ground.

"Skim? Have any good stories from camp?"

Skim shrugged noncommittally.

"Well then..." Toes rubbed her hands together. "I guess I'll star--"

"I have one."

Our heads snapped up as suddenly as if someone had punched all of us in the chin at the same time.

Charlie was lounging casually on her stump and inspecting her fingernails. "Oh, I have a story, all right. But you're not going to like it."

Elément was already hooked. "Why we not gonna like it?" he demanded.

Charlie looked up and flashed a small, knowing smile. I had to hand it to her; she had a flair for the dramatic. "Because if I tell you, you're all going to be so scared you'll be begging to pay the twenty-five hundred bucks and go home as fast as you can."

"I'm not," said Elément.

"Oh, we'll see, we'll see," she said mysteriously. "So, should I tell you guys or not?"

All ten of us nodded without really realizing it.

"Well then," Charlie said. With perfect technique, she leaned in closer to the flames so that the firelight cast stark shadows on her face and flickered in her unruly red hair, making her look like some kind of demon that had just been spat up from the very depths of hell. "Let's get started.

"This story takes place right here, right in the City. It was a calm fall evening, kind of like this one." She spoke in little more than a whisper. "In fact, it was just like this one. Everything was dark and still... but there was something lying out of sight, something in the shadows... lurking behind trees, in the alleyways. The streets were mostly empty, but one or two people hurried down the cold sidewalks. They could feel that they were being watched. Sometime after midnight, the clouds parted, and the moon shone through -- it was perfectly round, a perfect full moon. The beasts in the darkness shifted. And then..."

She cupped her hands around her mouth. "AHROOOOOOOOO!," she called to the sky, and we all jumped. "Someone's idiot dog woke up the werewolves!"

Startled, we all laughed before we could catch ourselves. I even saw Ink let a grin slip out.

"Now, it just so happened that a young girl was wandering around when the werewolves were so rudely awakened. And the werewolves were very angry, and they were very hungry too, so they decided that they would go after the girl, just as soon as they had dealt with that idiot dog...."

[Tam]

SPOILER: Click to show

I didn't sleep well that night, and when I staggered into the kitchen the next morning in my wrinkled pyjamas and unbrushed hair, the last thing I wanted to be faced with was another stranger. Unfortunately, my day was already off to a bad start.

The woman leaning against the wall next to the fridge looked at me as I entered the room, but said nothing. I looked from her to Skim, the only other person in the kitchen, who was busying herself with a small bowl of sliced peppers. I looked back at the stranger.

"Hi," I said flatly.

"Hi," she nodded. Her tone was formal. She was in her early twenties, tanned, and she had wrapped a green headscarf around her dark hair. "Are you the new girl?"

"No," I said, "I've been here for almost a month."

The corner of her mouth twitched. "My name's Marie. I'm from KanataQuest."

"What's up?" I asked.

She gestured in the direction of one of the rooms down the hall. "I'm just here to talk to Elément."

I found her use of the phrase "talk to" instead of "talk with" significant, and thought that if I went now, I could probably warn him. "Do you want me to go wake him up?"

"That won't be necessary," she said. "One of the other girls already went."

Even as she spoke, I saw Skelly appear in the hallway. She disappeared into our room, and Elément stumbled out of his own bedroom, blinking, hands shoved in his shorts pockets.

"Bon matin," said Marie.

"Bon matin, poupée," answered Elément (Skim winced and shook her head). "Ça va?"

"Ça va bien, merci," she said. She didn't return the greeting, but started to say something in French that sounded very official. Almost immediately I saw the emotion rise on Elément's morning-dulled face, and I knew there was going to be an argument. Rather than stand around and watch it, I decided I would make my escape and do some drawing.

Of course, I didn't actually draw anything once I got to my room. The sounds of their progressively intense arguing reached me even through the half-closed door and the headphones I had snapped over my ears. Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me, and I jumped down the ladder in time to hear the outside door shut.

Elément and Skim were now in the kitchen, arguing. Elément was still a little worked up, but his expression seemed to show bewilderment that Skim was now yelling at him and not Marie.

"C'est pas mon faute!"

"Non, coco, ecoutez, tu devez--"

"What happened?" I asked, and they jumped.

"Well, the neighbours phoned KQHQ when we didn't shut up last night," said Skim, breathlessly, "and apparently they told her that Elément here was the ringleader. Which is actually pretty accurate--"

"But it's not just me," protested Elément, wounded by the injustice of it all.

"--and so of course, Elément being Elément, he had to throw a fit--"

"I did not!"

"--and now Marie says that she's going to have to send someone else over to deal with the situation. Probably that means paperwork."

"Why does everyone everytime blame me?" he demanded.

"Because you're the loudest, Elément!" Skim said, breathlessly.

He gestured at his body. "Look at my size!"

"Tabarnouette, coco, I'm not trying to lecture you! I'm just trying to help you so that you don't get kicked out of the program--"

"Maybe I want that!" he shot at her.

Skim shut up, looking hurt.

He glanced from her to me, and then back to her, and our expressions seemed to take the wind out of his sails. He hesitated, and with a last, almost apologetic look at Skim, he grabbed his hoodie and headed for the door.

[Tam]

And now, I shall triple-post to give you my second excerpt of the evening. This fine piece of storytelling is exactly 1% of my novel so far (and oddly, it makes for an almost coherent and rather hilarious read).

SPOILER: Click to show

"Skim, attrapez!"

"Elément!" barked Skim.

Elément scowled darkly. Skelly asked.

Skelly said. Skim inquired. Skelly suggested.

Skelly's eyes bulged. Skim nodded.

Skim laughed. "Trailer's awake," answered Skim.

"You can't," said Skim. Skim frowned. Skim shrugged. Skelly swore. Ink smirked. Elément said heartily to Ink.

"Yep," said Skim.

Elément looked stunned. "Hey," said Elément, indignantly. "It's okay," said Skim. Charlie laughed. Skim said nothing.

Skim was silent again. Skim shook her head grimly. Skim frowned. Skim grimaced. Skim began again. Skim raised an eyebrow. "Elément!" "Hey," Skelly said. "Well. "Totally," agreed Skim.

"Clingy," suggested Skelly.

"It's true," said Elément. "Well," said Skim.

Skim sprang to her feet.

"Hi," said Elément.

"Fine," said Elément. Skim shrugged. "Sorry?" said Skim. "Well?"

Elément grinned happily. Skim said. "Ink," said Toes, smiling. "C'est quoi, 'loaded'?" interjected Elément. Skim demanded.

Ink glowered. "Skim? Skim shrugged noncommittally.

Elément was already hooked. "I'm not," said Elément.

Rien qu'une histoire, Elément," said Skim, amused.

Skelly laughed. Twiggy and Trailer grinned openly at Elément, exchanging glances.

"Charlie!" said Skim. Skim shook her head. "Skelly?" Ink smirked.

Elément peered around the door. Elément sighed and straightened. "Tabarouette, Elément... be quiet!" hissed Skim. Skelly screamed.

"Elément!"

"Okay, sérieusement!" said Skim. "'Allo?" called Skim. Elément swore, loudly. Skim winced and shook her head. Elément and Skim were now in the kitchen, arguing. Skim said, breathlessly.

Skim shrugged. Twiggy frowned. "Good luck," said Skim.

"Elément!" Skim said, with feeling.

"Okay!" said Skim abruptly. "Probably this is just Elément being Elément."

[Tam]

I will finish this thing.

[Rikku]

*cheer of encouragement*

[Tam]

<3 Thank you.

[Rikku]

It's just, like, 10k more. =D YOU CAN DO IT

[Tam]

I'M NOT GOING TO SLEEP TONIGHT! =DDDDDD

And I'm alternating between devouring a kilogram of celery and a ginormous lollipop that's flavoured like both cotton candy and bubblegum at the same time, so I should be good for a while. =D

[Tam]

SPOILER: Click to show

"Charlie," I said, very patiently, "I am not a speed-writer. I cannot write eight thousand words in a day."

"Sure you can," she said dismissively, "you just don't know it yet."

"I'm doing a very good job of not finding it out, too."

"Okay, then, listen. Pinecones?"

"What about them?" I asked, baffled.

"Exactly. What about them?" She was almost pacing across the room. "Are they nice? Are they cool? Are they delicious? What makes them that way?"

"I... I honestly couldn't tell you there."

"See, this is your problem. If you need to write eight thousand words in a day, you just do it like this. Don't stop. Don't think. Well, actually, do think, but don't think ahead any further than your pencil. Discover things together and complement one another's style and make long-winded speeches and write horribly glaring, completely incorrect run-on sentences."

"Charlie," I said. "I really don't care about pinecones."

"Well, maybe you should start."

"Pinecones have nothing to do with anything though!"

"Everything has something to do with something. Find a way to fit pinecones into your story. You'll eat word count and learn something new at the same time. Trust me, you'll thank me later."

"Okay, then you tell me about pinecones," I challenged.

"Fine then. Pinecones. They're brown and hard and little, with spiky bits all over them."

"Not always, though," I pointed out.

"Shut up, you. Alright. So they're brown. Why aren't they orange, or perhaps blue?"

"Nothing in nature is blue," I said automatically. "Only the sky. Flowers and fruits aren't supposed to look too much like the sky, because they need to be seen in order for animals to pollinate them and distribute the seeds."

"Right, well, thank you for that, Bill Nye. That was completely uninteresting and irrelevant to the plot in any way, shape or form, but at least you knocked forty words off of the eight thousand you need to write today. So far, this scene has already taken 333 words, that's pretty good, right? Anyway, pinecones are also hard. You can throw hard things. Why don't you have a character find a pinecone and throw it at someone? Who that someone is is up to you. It could be a savage werewolf that is trying to eat your supporting woobie, for example. Or, it could be someone as inconspicuous as the protagonist's best friend, who has suddenly and for no particular reason gone completely crazy."

"I don't think my characters are in a place where they can find pinecones."

"Why not? I found one." She was suddenly holding one, and I couldn't remember her bending down or doing anything that might have allowed her to pick one up.

"What? Where did you get that?"

"That's not important." She chucked the pinecone at me. As it turned out, it was rather hard after all.

"Ow!" I said indignantly as it bounced off my forehead. "What the hell was that for?"

"That was for showing and not telling. Er, actually, I guess that was a bit of both. But it would have taken a lot less text if I would have just told you."

"Charlie, if I could find that pinecone again--"

"Oh. Sorry, you can't. I used my creative license to make it conveniently disappear. But anyway, onto Lesson Three: pinecones are little."

"Your face is lit--"

"Now why might a pinecone be made so small? What is the purpose of not having pinecones that are several feet tall scattered across the world?"

"Someone must know that if there were, I might flatten you with one."

"Good point, that's using your skills as a fantasy writer. And now, for the last point... pinecones are spiky. Now why would a pinecone be spiky? I thought you said the whole point of fruit was to be easy for animals to eat and distribute the seeds of. Explain that one."

"Er," I said. I waffled over it, wondering what she wanted me to say.

"That's right," she said, smugly. "You don't know, do you, Audubon?"

"Alright, so tell me. Why are pinecones spiky."

She beamed at me, and shrugged. "I have no idea!" she trilled. "That's what makes them such good writing material!"

[Trilly (18426 words)]

Oh, dear. You poor soul.

You... have fallen into the realms of... crackiness.

I was lolling, though. I know you're going to cut most of this out of the finished copy, but you should keep an 'alternate version' just for laughs. And it eats up word count, no?

[Kathleen]

Oh, dear. It is hilarious to read though. xD

And... you can do it! =D Go Tamia! *cheers*

[Stephanie (swordlilly)]

xD That was amusing! You'll definitely get a lot of laughs out of it when you look back later.

For now, keep gooooing~~!

[Amneiger]

...Oh wow. xD And if you want to try to integrate it into the rest of your novel later, maybe you can make it into a dream sequence?

[Tam]

Actually, that would probably not work out too badly. xD I already have tons of random dream sequences in my story, and there's actually a very valid reason, plotwise, to include more.

...But, anyway, um.

I guess I won? =D

...The last 25 000 words of my "story" don't even follow the plot. xD I just wrote out some of the more interesting sequences that would appear later in the novel, interspersed with things like the pinecone sequence when I needed a word boost.

I'm gonna keep writing the actual story through December, though, I think. <3 And I'll probably end up posting the other Charlie/Sketch metacog-brain-trip sequences sometime tomorrow, too, just to show you how low I went. I think there are about three or four more. xD;