Post by Breakingchains on Oct 28, 2014 19:23:47 GMT -5
Well THIS thread is late.
I wasn't even really going to do NaNo, until I realized I had basically the entire prequel to Integrity planned already. I really only had to/still have to fill in a few gaps and the thing will be ready to go as a completed story, so I figured I might as well just do it for NaNo and get it done.
Now, thiiiiiis might not get that far. This'll be the first time I've ever even attempted a NaNo while also having schoolwork to accomplish. My last attempt in 2011 (Integrity) garnered roughly 118,000 words, which was insane for me, but this year is going to be more modest, and if school gets in the way then priorities are priorities. (But then, this is also a much smaller, shorter ideawhich most likely will not extend past about 75k oh who the hell am I kidding, we have thoroughly established how bad I am at estimates)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand here's a summary coming at your face. Let's see if it sounds dumb!
(Oh god, I really hope that didn't sound dumb.)
Thoughts on this project:
S'yup. We'll see how this goes!
EDIT:
Breakdown of how I'm going to operate this month:
- I'm going to attempt 2k/day, at least at first. I can definitely see having to take at least one day off down the line and I will need a buffer.
- Unlike last time, I WILL be working from a loose outline. (It's really more of a big ol' full synopsis, but it's a map of some kind, point is.)
- I'll try to keep this thread updated daily, but priorities.
- Aaaaaaaaaand I'll try to be better about posting excerpts than last time (hoo boy)
We start... TOMORROW. *DUM DUM DUMMMMM*
I wasn't even really going to do NaNo, until I realized I had basically the entire prequel to Integrity planned already. I really only had to/still have to fill in a few gaps and the thing will be ready to go as a completed story, so I figured I might as well just do it for NaNo and get it done.
Now, thiiiiiis might not get that far. This'll be the first time I've ever even attempted a NaNo while also having schoolwork to accomplish. My last attempt in 2011 (Integrity) garnered roughly 118,000 words, which was insane for me, but this year is going to be more modest, and if school gets in the way then priorities are priorities. (But then, this is also a much smaller, shorter idea
AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand here's a summary coming at your face. Let's see if it sounds dumb!
Almost overnight, the first wave hit. Worldwide, a fraction of humanity developed unearthly abilities, powers of manipulation and control. Today, years after the first superhuman rocked society to the core, science still struggles to explain a little girl who can fly or a man forging water from atoms in the air. Most of the gifted are putting their talents to use, honest work for honest (and high) pay. But there are always the outliers, and it is a tiny fringe element that the media has dubbed the "supervillain" subculture. Some are misguided kids, angry and bored; some are thieves, hitmen and pushers, using new abilities for the same old crimes; some are merging into a movement for all-out superhuman supremacy. But all are predators, made deadly by a force that falls on the just and the unjust alike.
But these predators contend with an aggressive white-hat response. Telekinetic healer Valerie McGrath spends every spare moment she can find patrolling the city of Serenity Lake. Using the codename Remedy, she routinely has her hands full, both in her vigilante endeavors, and in her civilian life at a large psychiatric hospital. But her supervisor is in the know and cuts her the slack she needs to stay employed, and for the most part, she has settled into a happy routine; it just involves getting shot at a little too often.
But that routine is broken when a new face appears in Serenity Lake: an angry young vagrant named Edward Faust, with a history of psychotic episodes and a lengthy rap sheet. Faust is convinced he’s the next big name in the superhuman underworld, and determined to become Remedy’s arch-nemesis whether Remedy likes it or not. But while he seems to have more bark than bite, his behavior as “Monstrosity” is erratic and confusing, and the man is as hard to catch as he is to understand. When Remedy finally brings him down, she thinks the story is over—only to later find that a certain doctor McGrath has been assigned to his case. If anyone can get Faust functional again, her supervisor believes, it’s her.
Valerie is less than optimistic. But as she delves deeper into the mind of her "arch-nemisis"—a man who would put on a mask and style himself as a maniac, who has terrorized a population with empty tricks and lies—she discovers an intriguing but confused individual, walled to the world and wound to the breaking point by fear and self-deception. And the more she hears, the more she begins to believe she can help him... if he will take the leap.
It’s a man named James Glenn who has other ideas. A castaway from the world's largest vigilante organization, Glenn has something to settle with the heroine who haunts these streets at night. And a year after her perceived crime, he has finally set foot in the undisturbed snow just outside Serenity Lake. With an audacious plan that will prove the death of dozens, an army of angry and gullible young superhumans, and an eye on Faust as a disposable tool, Glenn is moving in for the kill. Even as Remedy tries to hold her own, Integrity, the very group that disowned Glenn, is converging on the city in response. The result will be nothing short of war between two titanic forces, locked in a battle for control of Serenity Lake and the secrets it hides… and for the soul of one man.
But these predators contend with an aggressive white-hat response. Telekinetic healer Valerie McGrath spends every spare moment she can find patrolling the city of Serenity Lake. Using the codename Remedy, she routinely has her hands full, both in her vigilante endeavors, and in her civilian life at a large psychiatric hospital. But her supervisor is in the know and cuts her the slack she needs to stay employed, and for the most part, she has settled into a happy routine; it just involves getting shot at a little too often.
But that routine is broken when a new face appears in Serenity Lake: an angry young vagrant named Edward Faust, with a history of psychotic episodes and a lengthy rap sheet. Faust is convinced he’s the next big name in the superhuman underworld, and determined to become Remedy’s arch-nemesis whether Remedy likes it or not. But while he seems to have more bark than bite, his behavior as “Monstrosity” is erratic and confusing, and the man is as hard to catch as he is to understand. When Remedy finally brings him down, she thinks the story is over—only to later find that a certain doctor McGrath has been assigned to his case. If anyone can get Faust functional again, her supervisor believes, it’s her.
Valerie is less than optimistic. But as she delves deeper into the mind of her "arch-nemisis"—a man who would put on a mask and style himself as a maniac, who has terrorized a population with empty tricks and lies—she discovers an intriguing but confused individual, walled to the world and wound to the breaking point by fear and self-deception. And the more she hears, the more she begins to believe she can help him... if he will take the leap.
It’s a man named James Glenn who has other ideas. A castaway from the world's largest vigilante organization, Glenn has something to settle with the heroine who haunts these streets at night. And a year after her perceived crime, he has finally set foot in the undisturbed snow just outside Serenity Lake. With an audacious plan that will prove the death of dozens, an army of angry and gullible young superhumans, and an eye on Faust as a disposable tool, Glenn is moving in for the kill. Even as Remedy tries to hold her own, Integrity, the very group that disowned Glenn, is converging on the city in response. The result will be nothing short of war between two titanic forces, locked in a battle for control of Serenity Lake and the secrets it hides… and for the soul of one man.
(Oh god, I really hope that didn't sound dumb.)
Thoughts on this project:
- Super heroes plus psychopathology? Cool. But it's only really been done like a handful of ways and most of that's Batman. This is my attempt to make something very, very different with the same set of tinker-toys.
- Of all things, why is supervillainy partly grounded in youth subculture in my universe? Because I figure it would actually happen like that. Most adults who suddenly get super powers are just going to use it to go make money. But kids, or really immature adults? It's also gonna be a social status thing, a breeding ground for the whole "OMG I am weird and tortured no one understands meh I'm so cool" philosophy. Being superhuman would start as an issue of identity, collide with rebellion and poor impulse control as well as radical movements, and get out of hand.
- Wait, who the hell is Glenn? Yeah, I haven't touched on him much, but he was also the main villain of Integrity. Part of the reason I haven't mentioned him is because he was really tough to pin down as a character and nothing was concrete yet, but he makes more sense in my head now so here he is. And he is so much fun, because he's this... optimistic average Joe who is not so much a psychopath as he is really good at rationalizing everything he does even while things implode and everybody dies. Which means he has his own moral code, it's just based on crazy moon-logic.
- If you somehow magically remember the character profiles from last time, then you already know the spoilaaaaaars.
- Yes, I agree that's a dumb name for that character. Yes, I kinda want to fix it at some point.
S'yup. We'll see how this goes!
EDIT:
Breakdown of how I'm going to operate this month:
- I'm going to attempt 2k/day, at least at first. I can definitely see having to take at least one day off down the line and I will need a buffer.
- Unlike last time, I WILL be working from a loose outline. (It's really more of a big ol' full synopsis, but it's a map of some kind, point is.)
- I'll try to keep this thread updated daily, but priorities.
- Aaaaaaaaaand I'll try to be better about posting excerpts than last time (hoo boy)
We start... TOMORROW. *DUM DUM DUMMMMM*
At least the first falls on a Saturday?