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Post by Rikku on Jun 30, 2011 23:25:52 GMT -5
xD Julian is awesome. <3 Also I like your doodlings. :3 . <3 ^__^ Stories always start out muddled in one's head. =D Hopefully they become unmuddled as you write them out. And I think it should be a perfectly terrible idea for me to do so, which is why yes, probably, as soon as I get a bit of time to sit down and figure out which of the ideas I've been collecting like shinies could be novel-worthy. ^_^ (and if that time never comes, I will partake of your marshmallows and be happy to sit around your campfire in the absence of mine. =D) Well. I mean, you have skulls. And 'sides, there are probably hundreds of wall-books (I mean, you know, books with walls). Because walls are really useful things. Keep stuff out, keep stuff in. Sometimes. Anyway, I digress! =D Your doodles are most adorable. And I'm fond of Julian already. <3 =D Oh gods I sincerely hope so. ^__^ Excellent. *companionable grin* Yes! I have skulls like anything. And adorable okay. And that's good. I am also fond of Julian! =D ... Increasingly. If I run out of inspiration I can probably just throw him at a situation and see what happens. |
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Post by Rikku on Jun 30, 2011 23:31:52 GMT -5
Ohgods, two pages already? xD ... Well I shall make the problem worse. Mwahaha. “Hullo,” the boy said conversationally.
Jackdaw looked at him. He didn’t know him. Smallish boy, his age but scrawnier, looking rather a mess – his hair all a-tangle, his tie too loose, no jacket, his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows. “Hello,” Jackdaw said uncertainly.
The boy grinned at him. And – oh. That was who it was. There was no forgetting that grin. Unfortunately.
“Go away,” Jackdaw said.
The boy gave him a deeply disappointed look. “You’re suggesting I cut class?” He placed his hand over his heart nobly. “Have you no consideration for my education?”
“Plainly you don’t, or you wouldn’t be coming in halfway—”
“Well, one has to hide somewhere,” the boy said cheerfully. “Here’s as good a place as any! Better, actually. None of the masters would look for me in class.” He stopped, looking impressed. “I say! Now I think on it, that’s dashedly clever of me.” ... In a few paragraphs I finally get annoyed enough with calling him 'the boy' to force his name into it. xD |
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Post by insanepurpleone on Jul 2, 2011 2:30:14 GMT -5
Oh man, I rather like Julian already. I think Jackdaw is pretty adorable himself, but about half that is because I love his name so much. XD
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Post by Rikku on Jul 2, 2011 4:04:36 GMT -5
Oh man, I rather like Julian already. I think Jackdaw is pretty adorable himself, but about half that is because I love his name so much. XD Julian is an awful amount of fun. xD And 'awful' is about the best word. And Jackdaw ... <3 Yeah, I love that name (and thanks! =D I do try so to have good names) and I like him quite a lot but his awesomeness is quite understated and only really shows in Situations of Peril. ... Note to self: hasten ahead to the next Situation of Peril! And. Er. xD; The next scene was being boring and dull and I couldn't make myself write it yesterday, and then I had drama and was exhausted, and I couldn't make myself write it this morning either and then I had orchestra and was exhausted again, for, like, most of the afternoon, and then I was like 'screw this I will at least write something' and wrote a scene completely unrelated to the story and set somewhere in the year after this and quite bad and just ... really, completely unrelated, no purpose to it at all. So, like. 2k of utter story-uselessness. It's just ... quite odd. I don't think I've done that before. But at least now I can stop and feel like at least I've done something. =D So thank goodness for that.
Now that they were in senior year they had the right to two-person rooms instead of sleeping in the mass dorms, which was wonderful, because it meant no more being woken in the middle of the night by loud rapping on the window and having to sneak his way cautiously past the rows of sleeping boys to follow Julian on whatever madcap adventure he had planned. Less wonderful was that Julian now had access to him all the time to drag him on whatever madcap adventure he had planned, and, more to the point, Julian was completely insane and only tolerable in small doses. Several times Jackdaw had woken to find that ‘someone appears to have inexplicably scrawled amusing words all over your face, Jackdaw, that was quite rude of them.’ Or it was ‘goodness, Jackdaw, how did you manage to walk all the way here in your sleep? How remarkable! Hold this skull for me.’ Once he came in to find all the furniture nailed to the ceiling. Another time he came in to find all the furniture replaced with – of all things – frogs. Julian had been sitting on the bare ground where his bed had been, doing his English homework – or trying to, rather, because his desk kept on croaking and trying to hop away, which was fair enough considering how squished it was underneath his book.
(“Julian,” Jackdaw had said, trying to restrain his temper and not altogether succeeding. “Why the hell have you filled our room with frogs!”
Julian had looked at him, perplexed. “My dear fellow,” he said. “Surely you’re not proposing I should’ve filled it with toads.”)
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Post by Vapor on Jul 3, 2011 13:53:52 GMT -5
I-I am incredibly and wonderfully amused. I like this very much. xD Yes. Oh my. Fae lurking about and charming bemused fellows messing with heads and altogether I like their names too much for my own good. x3
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Post by Shadaras on Jul 3, 2011 14:19:03 GMT -5
That snippet of random = <3
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Post by Kathleen on Jul 3, 2011 20:56:10 GMT -5
I was very glad I wasn't eating, drinking, or trying to breathe while reading the last sentence of that. <3 And I just realized how much fun 'Jackdaw' is to say, which is why I am going to be repeating it for a while now. =D
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Post by Rikku on Jul 3, 2011 22:59:36 GMT -5
I-I am incredibly and wonderfully amused. I like this very much. xD Yes. Oh my. Fae lurking about and charming bemused fellows messing with heads and altogether I like their names too much for my own good. x3 =D Well amusement is definitely a good result. <3 And yep, lurking fae (... they haven't done much else but lurk so far. xD Note to self: make some fae characters rather quickly) and Julian in general. And. Yeah. Names. xD I have such fun with names. That snippet of random = <3 xD It was fun. Julian, in general, is fun. I can make him do or say whatever strange things I want him to, and it's in character! Mwahaha! I was very glad I wasn't eating, drinking, or trying to breathe while reading the last sentence of that. <3 And I just realized how much fun 'Jackdaw' is to say, which is why I am going to be repeating it for a while now. =D Hee. ^_^ And right? It's such a nice shape or ... texture or whatever it is that makes it so much fun to say. Jack-names in general are wonderful because they're all solid and quick, but the daw really adds something, there. Also, once I finally decided to ditch the belltower scene that was giving me such trouble, I managed to make a decent number of words today! =D Writing Sal. I think I quite like Sal, I will post some Sal-ness later. Still feel like I'm waaay behind in terms of story, and not going where I want to go, but as long as I have fun it doesn't particularly matter. And. Mm. I think I will officially give up on the belltower scene. I am declaring a moratorium on the belltower scene. Gonna morator the heck out of that scene. ... -ium. |
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Post by Rikku on Jul 4, 2011 4:12:31 GMT -5
Broke 10k. *beams* And tomorrow there's a scene with Jackdaw and Julian running around the forest at midnight or something. Finally. Gods, it feels like I've been writing statue-alchemists for ever even though it's only been a day. xD I want my boys back! And this, friends, is why I always have multiple viewpoint characters. ... Have some Sal! This isn't quite how she is, really, but it was pretty. And I always love pretending that science. The wall fell, stones crumbling and crashing to the ground. Crane fell with them, curling in on himself as he gave a little scream of pain. He lay crumpled, at an awkward angle. There was colourless fairy blood around his mouth, his ears; his limbs weren’t quite right in relation to his body. The King must have left at some point, but Sal was distracted: Crane was trying to sit up, hissing through his teeth at each motion. He’d heal quickly, being fae. But not anywhere near quickly enough. Every time he tried to sit up he ended up lying on the ground and whimpering anew, the pain felling him past the point of coherency.
Sal watched, as there wasn’t much else she could do.
… It was interesting, really.
She used to go to the mortal world every now and then – Crane couldn’t leave the castle himself, and sometimes he needed things from there. That was where she’d learnt of alchemy, naturally, and eventually she’d taken it up, for her own reasons. But there were no alchemists in the mortal world now, precious little magic at all. It was a pity. If there were alchemists still, she might’ve published a paper, because she had a pet theory that fairy blood was a whole other humour, one entirely unknown to humans. There was blood to tie with fire, black bile and earth, yellow bile and fire, phlegm and water. And this hypothetical fifth humour, fairy blood, would be humour and element both. It wasn’t messy like human blood was, no wasteful splash of crimson; near as colourless as water, but shining slightly, shifting. She’d call it sanguina spirare, maybe. From a scientific standpoint the fae were fascinating. Wind ran through their veins.
Scientifically, it was fascinating. But all she could think about was how much she hated to see him bleed. |
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Post by Rikku on Jul 9, 2011 1:51:02 GMT -5
On track again. After not writing for, like ... two days. xD; I'm glad the scene finally decided to start working, because it felt weird and unnerving to be behind quota. I don't recall that happening before. Sort of exciting, though. =D Like running when things are chasing you. And I'll probably be able to write another thousand or two later, because next up I am just going to write fun, easy interaction. That's my favourite. <3 And what this scene was too, actually, so it's odd that it just up and died on me. But whatever. All my favourite bits in this scene are rather dependent on context, really, so have some earlier silliness. “So,” Jackdaw said. They were in the orchard now; soon they’d reach the wall. “Your skull.”
“Yes.”
“Human skull?”
“Naturally.”
“And Headmaster Hudson took it.”
“Yes. Frightful cheek, actually.” Julian sauntered beneath a tree-branch. Jackdaw had to duck it. “He sat me down and said he more or less knew that it was me who was behind that whole cake fiasco – his words, not mine, I’d have called it ‘intrepid cake enterprise’ or perhaps ‘Glorious Adventure Involving Cake’, and, anyhow, he was just about blaming me for it even though he admitted having not the slightest shred of evidence. Not even the slightest flutter of proof, and there he was glaring at me as though my guilt was as sure a thing as Thursdays! Would you believe it?”
He sounded so righteously outraged. Jackdaw grinned into the dark. “And then?”
“Well, he said he couldn’t punish me for it properly when he didn’t have evidence – and quite right, too! – but he said that, while I was in his office and all, there were a few others things he really ought to discuss with me, along the lines of a rather illegal item being found in my chest-of-drawers, and that having such morbid items wasn’t healthy in a wholesome young lad, and, long story short, he confiscated it. My skull! I earned that skull, you know. And then he smirked at me!” Julian stopped walking for a moment, turned around, waved indignantly at his face. “Like this!”
“I can’t see that, Julian,” Jackdaw said patiently.
“Well, then you’re jolly well lucky, aren’t you, it’s a horrendous sight.” Julian turned sulkily and went on walking. After a second or two he perked up. “Then,” he added brightly, “he turned his back on me to give me a long lecture about appropriate school behavior, so I stole three of his pens. And a letter-opener. And that is the tale of the tragic loss of my skull.” |
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Post by Kathleen on Jul 11, 2011 17:45:06 GMT -5
I love this excerpt. <3 Every one I read, I fall more in love with the story. =D I want this to be a book so I can read it and spend a whole book gleeing over it.
... being behind quota is not at all exciting for me. D= It makes me panic-y.
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Post by Trilly (18426 words) on Jul 13, 2011 16:23:02 GMT -5
This makes me so happy. ^^These two are legitimately adorable.
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Post by Rikku on Jul 13, 2011 18:29:26 GMT -5
Thank you two! <3 Those comments made me actually try writing today, however grumpy I was with the story. Appreciation and gratitude! ... That said, this may or may not have been a good thing. xD This has, um. Things have ... sort of completely stopped making sense. But hey. I'm sure it'll be fun anyway.
Jackdaw kneaded his forehead. “You …” he said. “You were storing food in a coffin that still had a corpse in it?”
“Well, yes.” Jackdaw popped up again, looking dusty. He smiled reassuringly. “It’s alright, though.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, I put it in a bag. Give me a moment, old chap.”
He ducked in again. Jackdaw sat on the table-slab, rather heavily. A moment later Jackdaw emerged, bag clutched triumphantly in hand.
“See?” he said. “Perfectly sanitary.”
“No. No, I really don’t think so.”
Julian, ignoring that, peered into the bag. “Oh, good, I have a cheese,” he said, producing it. It was one of the big, wheel ones.
“Why,” Jackdaw said. “Whyyyyy do you have a cheese …”
Julian produced a knife from somewhere and cut into the cheese. “Well,” he said regretfully. “Two cheeses would’ve been too heavy. Do you like cheese, by the way?”
“… Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine with cheese. Cheese is … fine.”
Julian beamed. “Excellent.”
“Just …” Jackdaw eyed him warily. “Don’t do anything ghastly while I’m eating, I’ll lose my appetite.”
Julian looked almost offended. “Ghastly?” He picked up a skull and stuck his hand inside. “Skull,” he said seriously, “he thinks I’m ghastly.”
Jackdaw sighed.
Julian wriggled his hand around, so the jawbone waggled. “How utterly unjustified and unkind, Julian! Yes, it rather is, isn’t it? Such is the sad state of the world.” He pitched his voice squeaky again, waggling the jawbone. “Tragic, really. Yes, it is! Breaks your heart, it really does …”
... yeah. Though honestly, I'm less concerned by the silly oddness than by how it's just ... not making sense, the plotline and such. But eh. xD Making sense isn't exactly what my stories are known for. And I have a cold! I totally have a cold. So. I have Done my Duty nonetheless, and soldiered bravely, and I am going to go have some hot chocolate now. <3 Mmmm. |
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Post by Rikku on Jul 14, 2011 17:11:40 GMT -5
[spoiler title=Oh dear. Oh dear.]
Julian was bouncing, practically capering. He kept on walking ahead of Jackdaw, and then coming back, and then spinning in gleeful little circles, and then, pretending to be casual, sauntering along with his hands in his pockets, then skipping for a few minutes, then peering curiously around them and nodding to himself. It was like he had too much energy to contain within himself, too much sheer delight.
“Julian?” Jackdaw said, uneasily.
“Yessss, Jackdaw?”
“I know you want to find the fae, and I’ll support that.”
“Dashed decent of you.”
“But could you at least try to take it seriously?”
“Seriously? Pfft, Jackdaw. Yes, pfft, I say!" He flashed Jackdaw a reassuring grin. "When am I not serious?”
[/spoiler]
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Post by Rikku on Jul 22, 2011 9:10:35 GMT -5
I kind of hate this story to pieces, and am annoyed with it, because it's so rubbish that I'll probably have to rewrite it at some point, and that's a pain, but. =D I totally just wrote 5k in a sitting anyway. In the middle of the night. 5 rubbish k, but 5k NONETHELESS. I am going to go collapse now mmkay <3 “She’s good at alchemy,” he added to Jackdaw as he did so. He sounded rather proud. “Makes all sorts of things, Sal does.”
“Not like you do,” Sal said.
“But like you do. So it’s beautiful all the same. Oh, you should tell him your full name!”
Sal crossed her arms (there was a faint chink of stone) and looked huffy, but she said, grudgingly, “I am Sal Philologus Lapis,” and Jackdaw got the feeling, right there, that there was very little she wouldn’t do for this Crane fellow if he asked, or even if he didn’t.
“Isn’t that lovely?” Crane said happily. “And she chose it herself. One day she just said, ‘This is my name now, if that is alright,’ and it was a beautiful thing.” He sighed happily.
Sal looked at the ground.
“Wait a minute,” Jackdaw said slowly. He’d been paying some attention at Latin class. “Sal means salt, right?”
“Another of the Three Principles,” she said. “Fixity, non-action. Incombustibility.”
“And lapis … that means ‘stone’, like in lapis lazuli. And philologus. Er.”
“Scholar,” Sal supplied, in a ‘please do not pursue this any further’ sort of voice.
“Sal Scholarstone,” Crane agreed, almost humming it. “It has a lovely sound to it.”
“… Wait,” Jackdaw said slowly, “you’re an alchemist—”
“Yes.”
“And you called yourself—”
“There’s nothing wrong with—”
“Philosopher stone? You’re an alchemist and you made your name what basically amounts to philosopher stone?”
Sal clenched her fists. “THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY NAME,” she said grumpily.
“Philosopher stone!” Jackdaw said, feeling a mad urge to giggle.
“Children,” Crane chided, sounding amused. |
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