mirroir ~ Reve's NaNo

[Deleted]

Oct 29, 2010 15:32:22 GMT -5 Yuka said:

I <3 this idea, it sounds really fascinating.

I don't know what I'd do in a room full of mirrors, I think I'd be scared to break the glass. :<

Good luck with this!

Thanks Yuka.



*


Phew. So I've finally finished the character list. Yay. I was so worried I wouldn't get this written up before November...

SPOILER: Click to show

carmines (allies of the red republic)
Queen Djinniri Fletcher
The eccentric Red Queen would much rather spend her time working with her machines than attending to political matters. Considered by many much too young to rule the throne, it is rumored she is nothing more than a political puppet being controlled from the shadows. By who and for what purposes have yet to be unveiled.

Dev Salvatore
Red Queen's bodyguard. Tall, dark and intimidating. A gunslinger with a robotic parrot. Not much is known about him.

Priscilla "Pria" Scott
A friend of Sinder and Catch. Pria is allied to the carmines in words only - she knows declaring neutrality is more dangerous than anything else, carmine, blueblood or violet. Friendly, witty and out-going, she has a big mouth and is never afraid to say what's on her mind. Quite mischievous, Pria enjoys meddling in people's lives. A talented actress with a knack for reading people, Pria plays the part of the fortune-teller at a traveling con-circus. (The circus in question only visits other worlds, so they can remain untraceable.) She's not so much in it for the money, though, as she is in it for the gossip and the acting hammy/making up ridiculous predications.

bluebloods (allies of the blue republic)
Queen Desdemona Ruse
Relentless and imposing, Queen Des is a no nonsense sort of person. She's everything the bluebloods want in a queen, and she couldn't be more unhappy about it. Des feels the pressure of the Blue Republic, and she struggles to live up to their expectations. She is also aware of her counterpart's struggle in the Red, how the other Queen may or may not be a political tool, and she will do anything to keep herself from ending up the same way. While the critics may call her ambitious, she isn't, really, she's just struggling to keep her position and her kingdom stable. While she puts on an unflappable facade in public, in private confines a snarky attitude is revealed, as well as a tendency for melodrama and over-thinking about THE WORST POSSIBLE OUTCOME. (She calms down by the time she gets to court, though.)

Jeremiah Heath
Blue Queen's bodyguard. A swordmaster who uses icemagic. While considered by many an ideal solider, like his Queen, he puts on an entirely different face while not in the public eye. A jokester and a trickster, he was enlisted in the army to pay off a gambling debt, and rose quickly thanks to his weaponry and magical prowess. An adventurer at heart, he intends to leave as soon as his debt is paid off, although the Republic doesn't seem to want to let him. (They keep finding excuses to keep him in the army.) Jer doesn't mind as much as he used to; he's become quite fond of Des, she's like a sister to him. (He quite appreciates her hidden cynicism. Most bluebloods are way too stuffy for Jer.)

Biana
Catch's foster mother. Works in the Blue castle's kitchens. Kind and compassionate, she's a gentle lady in her early forties. A well of information, she knows everything that's going on in the castle.

Nina
A small, timid, ditzy little scrap of a kitchen maid. Because of her size, it is difficult to decipher just how old she is. She is also quite adept at eavesdropping. A terrible gossip, she is the last person anyone would expect to be good at keeping secrets.

The Wintersage
A mysterious magician living on the top of a mountain. He takes on the guise of a reclusive hermit, but in truth he is sneaky, slimy and is a lot more aware of what's going on around than he lets on. Always with the secret agenda, he is tasked with keeping prince Vince prisoner.

violets (revolutionaries. whether they want to bring the two republics back together, or disband them entirely, no one is sure.)
Vince Fletcher
A former prince of the Red, he never did like the separation of the Republics and openly opposed the souvenir ban. (Truth be told, he was never very popular with either Republic, and both the bluebloods and the carmines have been looking for a way to off him for years. Lucky for them, he started a revolution and they got their excuse.) He led a revolution, intending to bring the Republics back together, although his motivations seems to become more mysterious as time went on... He disappeared shortly after the death of Alana Devereux, his co-revoltuinary. He is not dead, although everyone seems to think he is. He is being held captive by the Wintersage. Vince has the power over wind, and, thanks to growing up among the Red City's factories, knows quite a bit about mechanics as well. He can fly around on makeshift wings, but has been unable to escape the castle's imprisonment. Lonely and miserable, he creates an animated doll to replace Alana.

Alana Devereux
The co-leader of the short-lived revolution. Her mysterious death was the cause of the revolution's fallout. She's acquired something of a folk hero status, most people aren't aware that she was a real person. (There's a conspiracy going around trying to convince people that Alana Devereux never existed in the first place.)

Lana
She's a doll - literally. An artificial human created by Vince to replace Alana, Lana struggles to follow in the folk hero's footsteps. While she was programmed to be Alana, she has her own personality and is capable of independent thought. Her own personality is quite different from Alana's (Lana is a lot more soft-spoken and gentle) so she sometimes struggles to live up to the expectations. She wants to be her own person, but she knows how much Vince needs Alana, so she plays the part without any complaint. She has secret ninja skills.

alliances unknown

Death
Contrary to popular belief, Death does not kill people. He just has a bad rep like that. Death refers to himself as 'the underworld's custodian'. (The underworld is an endless city, the place where people go when they did. Death makes sure everything down there is running smoothly.) It's a rather stressful job. Death is rather frantic, scatterbrained. He is also quite shy. (He doesn't like showing his face.) When he's not wearing his traditional black cloak, he is an owl.

Tansy
As mysterious as mysteries come. Nobody knows who she is or where she comes from, let alone why she's here. Has cat-like green eyes and long, curly hair that is a different color every time she appears. (Magenta seems to be her favorite.) Enjoys dressing up in fancy, elaborate dresses. Silk top hats and lace parasols aren't out of the question, either. She enjoys giving cryptic, nonsensical advice. Speaks in riddles and seems to know everything. (Basically just pops out of nowhere, messes with people's minds, then disappears only to reappear sometime later. She is my favorite.)

The Passenger
A mysterious figure with dark hair and olive-colored skin. Wears a long, dark coat and a fedora, carries around a suitcase. Silent, almost never speaks. Always seen at trainstations. Where he is headed, no one knows. (actually a guide for the dead. travels endlessly from city to city, leading lost souls to their wayward destinations.)

[Rikku]

... Something about the phrase 'a gunslinger with a robotic parrot' fills me with glee. xD As does the fairly casual way in which it's said that Death is an owl, and the terms carmine and blueblood and violet. This world in general, I think.

I like Jer best! =D But really all these characters seem distinctive and intriguing and that's kind of ridiculously awesome.

[Zylaa]

These are all epic! Lena especially seems intriguing, and Tansy reminds me of the guy in Into the Woods whose name I forget (if he ever had one) so that is awesome. <3

[Deleted]

Oct 29, 2010 19:45:45 GMT -5 Rikku said:

... Something about the phrase 'a gunslinger with a robotic parrot' fills me with glee. xD As does the fairly casual way in which it's said that Death is an owl, and the terms carmine and blueblood and violet. This world in general, I think.

I like Jer best! =D But really all these characters seem distinctive and intriguing and that's kind of ridiculously awesome.

Yay thank you. =D

I have to admit, Jer has really grown on me. At first he was just this stuffy soldier guy, but then I was like "No let's give him the personality of the charming rogue and stick him in the role of the stuffy solider guy and see how that works" and now I love him. <3 His interactions with Des are something I'm really looking forward to writing. ^_^
/babblebabble

Oct 29, 2010 21:33:31 GMT -5 Zylaa said:

These are all epic! Lena especially seems intriguing, and Tansy reminds me of the guy in Into the Woods whose name I forget (if he ever had one) so that is awesome. <3

Thank you. =D

I haven't watched Into the Woods, although it is on my "PLAYS TO SEE ONE DAY" list, but Tansy was inspired by the Cheshire Cat, so maybe they share that riddletastic characteristic? x)

*

So I have reached the point where I must go OMG WHAT IS THIS AHHH I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I GOT MYSELF INTO WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN
and it's only day one.

Um. Yay?

I am having fun, though, which, I suppose, is the whole point. Um. I just need to get over the OMG IT NEEDS TO BE PERFECT AND THIS BEGINNING IS NOT PERFECT mindset. And I think I just need to find the right rhythm/tone, and things'll be fine. Alsoalso, words will probably flow more smoothly once I introduce Tansy, Pria and Jer, since they are fun to write.

In the meantime, have a one-sided conversation about trains.

SPOILER: Click to show

"When I was younger, I used to think the traintracks went on forever. I used to stand on them, look one way, then the other, trying to find the place where it started, finished. I never saw it. I thought about walking along the railway, once, twice, a few times. But whenever I tried, I always ended up backtracking, returing home. Sometimes I got too tired, too hungry, too thirsty, too cold. But... really. I think I kept turning back because I was afraid of what would happen if I walked too far from home and then couldn't turn back. I think I was afraid of finding the end of the track. Because the end of the tracks would be like the end of the world. And that... meant something, would mean something. I don't know what, though. I still don't. Had to be somethind, though, because why else would I be afraid? I stopped thinking about traintracks after that. They were something endless, infinite - like stars and blue sky. Traintracks were like circles, no endings or beginnings or inbetweens. They simply were. And then I started travelling, and I saw they had tracks in other worlds, too, and I couldn't help but wonder if they were the same tracks. I wondered if the railways were so endless that they linked between worlds, like chains, and that in the end all the worlds were just one big circle, one endless railway... And I think maybe that's why I travel. Because it's a circle I'll always find my wy back. No matter how far I go."

"What's your point, Catch?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just thinking out loud. Trains are really fascinating, aren't they?"

"Yeah, sure."

"You know there's a war coming, right?"

"What does that have to do with trains?"

"Nothing, nothing. But you do know it's coming, don't you? Everybody's saying it."

"They're always saying it. They've been saying it for a long time."

"So - "

"We're here, Catch."

"But - "

"We're here. Now shut up, 'kay? I need to concentrate. We've got work to do."

[Stephanie (swordlilly)]

Beautiful opening image.

Traintracks.

<3

[Rikku]

^_^ ... Your writing is so pretty. <3

[Deleted]

Awww. Thanks guys. ^___^ <3

*

So. Um. My muse seems to have come too many days too late and I am sort of failing at the NaNo thing. Still, I'm having fun writing even if it is just little snippets and scenes and not actual linear plot stuff... I figure I'm going to have to write something like 4k a day to hit the 50k mark? Haha. Yeeeeah. Suffice to say I am not used to writing things this long. ^_^ Um. It's challenging. But it's fun. And... I don't know.

The muse's name is Gideon, by the way, and for reasons unknown he is the one narrating the story. Nobody knows who he is but he seems to know everything (or people just assume he does). Gideon was created because I was struggling with writing third person and didn't want to subject the story to being told from just Sinder or Catch's point of view and I really like going off tangent and being weird with my narrative.

I'd like to try something with bolds and strikeouts and FONT CHANGING SIZE like that or like this and

WORDS JUMPING ACROSS

THE PAGE LIKE THIS

and crazy stuff like that, but perhaps this is not the story for that? Would be fun. Next year maybe? I need to find something that fits so words flow a lot easier and blah blah blah REVE GET OVER YOUR COMPLEXES YOU ARE TOTALLY MISSING THE POINT.

Yeah.
/ramble ramble

SPOILER: Click to show

The city is immense, sprawling, bigger than the Blue city, bigger than the Red desert metropolis, bigger than all the cities in all the other worlds. It's bigger than Catch has ever seen. It's bigger than anything I have ever seen. For yes, I too, have seen the city, just as you will someday. I do not know if the city is one and the same, or if everyone sees it differently. And so, since I did not see the city that day, I cannot tell you what I saw, or let alone how I saw it, I can only tell you what Catch saw.

What Catch saw was this

There is no end to the buildings, and so Catch has trouble deciphering the shape of the earth beneath the city. There is no way to tell how high the city climbs, how long it stretches, where it ends and where it begins. Catch can see it only through the train windows, but that is enough to know that the city is everywhere and in every direction the skyline is jagged with the silhouettes of distant buildings.

At that moment, Catch has no idea where the tracks are, where the train is, in relation to the city. Sometimes it is as if he was riding over the city, flying through the sky, gazing down on all the rooftops as if they were patches in a farmer's field or squares on a chessboard. Sometimes the train is travelling through the city, windin around and around the skyscrappers like a corkscrew, as if they were mountains and not buildings. The train plows through narrow streets, climbing hills, up, down, passing through tunnels, sliding under bridges and arches. And sometimes it is as if the train is beneath the city, staring up at the buildings, the towers, the collasal structures that tower. We all tremble like ants when faces with the might of the city. Simple, tiny little ants in a forest, staring up at trees that seem to disappear into the sky.

"Does it ever end?" Catch asks the passenger, but the passenger not respond. Catch does not expect him to. He has a feeling he already knows the answer. There is no end to the city, it goes on forever, loops back to the point where one began their journey. Like a glovbe where the oceans roll into each other, the city is a sphere covered with building after building, crowded surburban neighborhoods and farmouses with their sprawling fields tucked between a cluster of skyscrappers.

The city is a chaotic cocktail of architecture. There - a palace with soaring turrets and glass cathedral windows towers over a pictueresque cottage with woodwork the shape and color of lace. Victorian tudor houses are tucked in the shadows of skyscrappers. Balconies stretch out over smaller houses. Bridges pass between roofs. Staircases sprial down walls. Patios become sidewalks. The roads are like branches, in the city, branches and string. Parting and parting and then coming back together far away where the eye can't see. And all of this passes in an instant. The train moves quickly through the city, but Catch sees much more than he should.

Unwilling to tear his eyes away from the city, Catch looks at the passenger using his reflection against the glass. He is staring blankly out the window, staring not through the clean glass, devoid of grubby, greasy fingerprints, but instead through the cobweb of broken glass. His gaze is that of a jaded sailor, one who has seen the ocean a thousand times. His gaze is the lonely gaze of a journeyman with several hundred miles of simple highway before he arrives home.

While Catch can recognize mysteries, he cannot read them in the way Sinder can, so he tears he summons his focus and returns to the city. They passed houses with tireswings under oak tree branches and dilapilated shacks and houseboats floating in small patches of ocean and impossible apartement flowerboxes with kissing gates and fountains. A nagging feeling begins to claw at his stomach. There is something, Catch realies, that felt wrong about the city. It was something he should've noticed right away, something that Sinder would have noticed right away. So swept away with the city, Catch was, so awed by the concept of its infinity, that he failed to notice there was something missing.

The city was huge, sprawling, infinite. The city was also empty.

"Where are they? Where are all the people?"

"They're there. Where they belong."

Cacth blinks, trying to catch of glimpse of something, anything through the passing windows. He sees nothing but his own reflection as the train rolls on.

"Are they inside the houses?"

"They're where they belong."

"Home?" He asks, naivelly, hopefuly.

"Where they belong," the passenger repeats.

"Why can't I see them?

"You are not a part of the city yet," the passenger tells him.

I seem to switch between tenses while writing hahaha. x)
/had a little too much fun describing the city