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Post by Kathleen on Oct 6, 2010 16:18:11 GMT -5
The truth that I don't have time to do NaNo cannot stand up to the truth that I want to do it so much. The former has been steamrollered by the latter, and we've ended up here. =D I actually wanted to go with realistic fiction for this year, but once again, this want has been trampled been another, more pressing want. This idea's been stewing since last NaNo (well, actually, far longer, since it's roughly based upon a short story I wrote a while back), and with a few minor adjustments, it should be just as much of a disaster. =D And now, without further ado, our feature presentation: A Kathkitty Production, in conjunction with NaNoWriMo 2010... Sixteen-year-old Marin Carter never knew her father. This age being a modern and progressive one where (mostly) children no longer get taunted for this, and her mother being quite open on the subject, this has never unduly bothered her. Until, of course, that one fateful day when her mother won't wake up. No, it's not just sleep-deprivation, and yes, it has to be all about her absentee father. Marin's father was a Dreamwalker, and now Marin is expected to carry on the legacy, something her mother has tried to protect her from for sixteen years. But it turns out you can’t suppress it—Dreamwalker genes will out kind of thing, and unfortunately for Marin, that means becoming the focus of a number of people who wanted her father dead, for mysterious and arcane reasons that are sure to ruin my plot. Now they want Marin. Dead, that is. But life's no fun when you're always running for yours, and there's plenty of awe-inspiring things to learn about being a Dreamwalker - not the least of which is trampling through people's dreams (or, if you're doing it correctly, helping out people through their dreams). Not to mention really cool friends who you've only ever met when you're sleeping. Being a teenager is all about finding yourself, and Marin's sure to be doing a lot of that, albeit mostly in her sleep. On the subject of sleeping, one other thing about Dreamwalking: you never get any proper sleep. ~ |
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Post by Shadaras on Oct 6, 2010 16:31:05 GMT -5
That sounds awesome.
Have you ever read Sweeper of Dreams? It's a (very) short story by Neil Gaiman, and this kind of reminds me of it. I can't remember which collection it's in, but it's prettiful. =D
And it shan't be a disaster, love; it'll be pretty and awesome and shiny and all. ^_^
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Post by Trilly (18426 words) on Oct 6, 2010 16:31:09 GMT -5
Yay, a Kathkitty story!  And really, what is NaNo without the irresponsible shirking of one's duties? Schools and employment should take the hint and just stop requiring any work to be done in the month of November, is all. *nodnod* |
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Post by Kathleen on Oct 7, 2010 16:02:44 GMT -5
That sounds awesome. Have you ever read Sweeper of Dreams? It's a (very) short story by Neil Gaiman, and this kind of reminds me of it. I can't remember which collection it's in, but it's prettiful. =D And it shan't be a disaster, love; it'll be pretty and awesome and shiny and all. ^_^ I have not, actually. So I shall, now. =D Thank you for all the encouragement. It is, at least, going to be completely fun. ^__^ Yay, a Kathkitty story! And really, what is NaNo without the irresponsible shirking of one's duties? Schools and employment should take the hint and just stop requiring any work to be done in the month of November, is all. *nodnod* Indeed. =D Heh, nothing at all, that's what! ... for some reason, that makes me want to go, 'Christmas in November!' which is, er, you know, not all that senseful-making. xD But anyway. You are completely right. |
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Post by Celestial on Oct 7, 2010 16:39:03 GMT -5
=3 Oooh, that sounds incredibly awesome! I'm sure you'll do well on it and the fact that you don't have time is irrelevant when it comes to NaNo! You can always find time.
Good luck, Kathkitty! ^_^ You can do it!
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Post by Kathleen on Oct 7, 2010 16:42:15 GMT -5
Aaand, we have characters! =D
Marin Carter (note to self: find a different last name; this one is dreadful): The heroine of our tale, up until now Marin's biggest worries have been that upcoming trig test and whether or not to join the yearbook. Studious, hardworking, and patient, Marin's the all-around good-girl, and until now, the karma theory was working out.
Asher Gabryelewicz: Suffering from the dreadful curse of the unpronounceable Polish last name in the United States, Asher is seventeen and currently in the running for World's Best Practical Joker. He appears to have sworn a vow to never be serious. Unfortunately, this combined with his higher-than-average intelligence makes some other people (including his dad) seriously annoyed with him. The only thing Asher loves more than physics textbooks is, in a rather odd twist, his skateboard.
Amy Gladstone: projecting an image of bland, plump, and contentedly cheerful, no one's ever looked twice at Amy. Life in general slides right off her, which is just the way she likes it. That is, until her dad finds out that that pesky Dreamwalker gene, which he'd thought was gone for good, had merely skipped a generation. Now contented, and also astonishingly stubborn, Amy is duking it out with her new Dreamwalking teacher (see below).
More Minor-ish Characters
Jane Spencer: In real life, Jane's a literary agent living in New York City. She boasts a frighteningly thin build, lipstick redder than a fire engine, and nine-inch heels, not to mention a will of iron that is even stronger than Amy's. She's Amy's Dreamwalking 'teacher'.
Gillian Brown: A disappointing life has made Gillian, at first glance, the doctor you hope you’ll never have. In reality, though, he can be perfectly compassionate, and although he often sees life as sour and pointless, as he tells anyone who will listen, he’s a surprisingly kind person.
Luke Moore: The bad guys should always have such innocuous names. It's not Luke's fault, though, since to be fair his mother did name him, and he had no choice in the matter. Luke used to be a friend of Marin's father's (let's call him Jack, he needs a name, I'm going to call him Jack), before he went insane and started believing Jack had the key to living permanently in the Dreamland.
Martin Schmueler
Sabrang Nolastname
Assorted other Guardians, parents, lots and lots of Innocent Bystanders, and some other minor roles.
A few important notes:
An important note to remember about timezones:
Because Dreamwalkers live all over the world, usually different timezones are ’Walking at different times, and usually they deal with ‘their’ timezone. This doesn’t mean they don’t occasionally cross, however.
The Guardians (and the Council, because you knew there had to be one of those. Duh. Actually, we’ll call it The House of Representatives for variety. =D):
Elected Dreamwalkers over the age of 21 make up the House of Representatives (there aren’t that many Dreamwalkers – as previously mentioned, it is very, very rare). Basically, in real life and in the Dreamworld, they make the laws of Dreamwalking. There’s also a subdivision that is the Dreamworld ‘police force.’ They also govern Atlantis.
Atlantis:
Atlantis is the ‘barrier’ between the real world and the Dreamworld. To get to people’s dreams, you have to walk through Atlantis. Only Dreamwalkers can enter, and to them it’s as real as anything in the world. Atlantis is pretty much just a ‘stopping by’ point, for Dreamwalkers in and out of the Dreamworld. It’s also a very convenient meeting point, for Dreamwalkers that live halfway across the world from each other in real life and need to meet in person.
Atlantis was built thousands of years ago as a refuge for Dreamwalkers when they were being prosecuted. If their corporeal body died, they could still live on in Atlantis. Dreamwalkers are not, however, immortal: they have a completely average lifespan, and once they had lived it out in Atlantis, they died there, as well. Eventually, Atlantis was no longer needed, and nowadays only the very few actually live there, those who were killed prematurely (i.e. murdered) and happened to be sleeping at the time. Atlantis is mostly a ghost city, empty but still beautiful. The only building really inhabited is the White Edifice, where at least two Guardians are always ‘on duty.’
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Post by Kathleen on Oct 7, 2010 16:43:30 GMT -5
=3 Oooh, that sounds incredibly awesome! I'm sure you'll do well on it and the fact that you don't have time is irrelevant when it comes to NaNo! You can always find time. Good luck, Kathkitty! ^_^ You can do it! Thank you! c; Time, pshaw. Time is not a straight line, it is a big ball of - well, you know. Which means there has got to be a part in it for me to do NaNo. =D |
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Post by Shadaras on Oct 7, 2010 17:10:33 GMT -5
...I think I love Asher. xD He reminds me of friends. Also, there are worse Polish surnames. :3
Atlantis and all sounds cool, too. ^_^
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Post by Kathleen on Oct 7, 2010 17:24:11 GMT -5
...I think I love Asher. xD He reminds me of friends. Also, there are worse Polish surnames. :3 Atlantis and all sounds cool, too. ^_^ Asher is going to be quite a lot of fun to write about. =D Although I hope I can do him justice. And this is true. His is probably worse than mine, though. Atlantis needs a proper name; I've been using it as a placeholder. D= It may also need tweaking, since at the moment it depresses me with its 'this sounds familiar...' aura. |
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Post by Zylaa on Oct 8, 2010 15:29:22 GMT -5
So is the name Asher from The Giver? Because that's what I always associate the name with (I so love The Giver).
Please please please keep the last character as Sabrang Nolastname. <3
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Post by Rikku on Oct 9, 2010 1:03:26 GMT -5
=D I remember that story! And this sounds all shiny and pretty-like. And 'Walking sounds fun. And the fact that there's a convenient term for it like 'Walking is also fun. And Asher is an awesome name and one that has been sitting in my 'notes' file for an age, waiting for a character to suit it, and here you come along making a character perfect for it. (And regardless of any name-connection The Giver was one of my favourite books in primary! =D I read it like a gazillion times! And then I read it again fairly recently and discovered it was still one of my favourite books! And I fell in love with the name Jonas then as well!) And I love this concept and the pretty and and and. ^__^
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Post by Trilly (18426 words) on Oct 9, 2010 1:23:30 GMT -5
I thought I recognized the name Asher from somewhere. ^^ I loved The Giver, and Gathering Blue, and I personally bawled my eyes out after reading The Messenger. Awesome, awesome series. Also on the subject of Asher, kudos for the impossible-to-pronounce Polish last name. ^^ I knew someone in high school with one of those. I'd also like to emphasize just how awesome your concept of Atlantis is. Win. |
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Post by Rikku on Oct 9, 2010 2:15:00 GMT -5
... It's. It's a series?
*happydanceofdisbelievingglee*
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Post by Kathleen on Oct 9, 2010 19:36:11 GMT -5
So is the name Asher from The Giver? Because that's what I always associate the name with (I so love The Giver). Please please please keep the last character as Sabrang Nolastname. <3 I love The Giver, as well. =D I can't count the number of times I've read it. <3 ... and, er, now that all these people've mentioned so, sure, let's say the name Asher is from The Giver! =D (because the truth is so much less awesome and more along the lines of 'someone in my writing class used it as a character name for an in-class exercise we did, and I thought, "hey, that would be the perfect name for this boy I haven't named yet. =D"') It's kind of catchy, I admit. =D Sabrang Nolastname. =D I remember that story! And this sounds all shiny and pretty-like. And 'Walking sounds fun. And the fact that there's a convenient term for it like 'Walking is also fun. And Asher is an awesome name and one that has been sitting in my 'notes' file for an age, waiting for a character to suit it, and here you come along making a character perfect for it. (And regardless of any name-connection The Giver was one of my favourite books in primary! =D I read it like a gazillion times! And then I read it again fairly recently and discovered it was still one of my favourite books! And I fell in love with the name Jonas then as well!) And I love this concept and the pretty and and and. ^__^ Do you? =D I'm glad you think so, at any rate, because Rikku-approval is, as I'm sure you know, quite highly rated, along with anyone-approval, naturally. And, um, now is probably the time to stop before I go into how much it means to me coming from someone I admire so much. =D Also the level of enchantment with the name Asher is quite promising. =D (also faintly daunting, because... what if he doesn't live up to expectations? D=) *nodnod* The Giver is one of the most fantastic books ever written. I thought I recognized the name Asher from somewhere. ^^ I loved The Giver, and Gathering Blue, and I personally bawled my eyes out after reading The Messenger. Awesome, awesome series. Also on the subject of Asher, kudos for the impossible-to-pronounce Polish last name. ^^ I knew someone in high school with one of those. I'd also like to emphasize just how awesome your concept of Atlantis is. Win. They quite are, aren't they. =D Although, yes, The Messenger was so sad. D= They are something of a hassle. D= 'It's like this... oh, forget it. And that's only the anglicized version!' The concept seemed to suit Asher. Hopefully I can make it work. =D And, erm, really? =D *basks in momentary pride* Thank you very much. =D The lack of gaping plotholes at this stage is really starting to worry me. So far I've been able to find a (semi) logical explanation for everything. I'm waiting for it all to crumble. D= |
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Post by Zylaa on Oct 9, 2010 20:29:13 GMT -5
Oh I keep forgetting that I need to find the rest of the Giver books... So so so much love for that book. Rikku, I did the same thing as you-- read it over and over in elementary school, then I reread it recently and still loved it.
And Kathleen, the lack of gaping plotholes thing is so weird, I agree! D: That's happening with the thing I've been working on since the summer. Plot holes just haven't shown up. 0_o I guess we get epic inspiration sometimes and we should run with it. =D
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