Stories and Ramblings

Wed, 22 Dec 2004 02:58:15 GMT

Well, I know I haven't posted in forever, and I apologize. But I just finished my last final today - I am now officially done with school. :) I will be posting a lot of stuff in January, now that I have time again, and I'll be getting back into critiquing. If I owe you a critique and you still want it, please post a comment? I'm afraid I've lost all my bookmarks - my computer went down for a little while, and I lost a lot of stuff, including a chunk of Hidden. I usually back up my work obsessively, but I let it slide while I was busy - I lost a chapter and a half. And considering how slowly I write, that's saying something. My own stupid fault, though.

Also, I've gotten a new e-mail address - lee.scribbles AT gmail.com. Go ahead and e-mail me there if you need anything.

Because I likely won't post again until January, I hope you have a happy December and enjoy whatever holidays you hold dear. :)

Hidden ficlet/exercise

Sat, 10 Jul 2004 07:21:37 GMT

Well, I've been pretty dead with my writing recently - frankly, I haven't had time. I've been really busy with my class and my work. I've done some small exercises, but nothing I can post. So tonight I was tired and cranky and I realized I hadn't written anything for myself in over a week and a half, so I went to 15minuteficlets and I picked up the word of the week and I spent 15 minutes writing. It was a good exercise, though it's not really something I'm proud of. I normally wouldn't even bother posting it here, but I felt like letting people know I wasn't dead. :-P Additionally, since my computer's down, it was either post it online or not save it at all. And I could have done a private view, but what's the fun in that? That being said, I'm not looking for a lot of feedback on this particular piece - it's simply a look into the "villain's" head for the Hidden series, and it won't be a part of what I eventually 'publish' for Hidden. (By publish, I mean put up on a website, in order, the chapters). Frankly, I think it's bad, but I finished in exactly 15 minutes, though I added the definition at the top after I was done. I also spellchecked after my time was up, but I figured that didn't matter so much. :-P Anyway, here it is. Feel free to comment, but I probably won't change anything, since it's not important, but feedback makes me a better author. (Though I do know it needs more description - next time I write a 15minfic, I'll be more careful. Being rushed was kinda fun, though).

Redemption

15 minute ficlet word - redeem

Redeem [ri-'dEm]: To buy back or purchase, repair, restore. (Merriam Webster Online, www.m-w.com)

When I stumbled into my Hill, I knew it was over. Before that, nothing had set in. I was happy - joyous - to be free, to feel the wind again, to be out of the accursedly Cold Iron room. But when I reached the Hill...

They stared at me. They whispered. I'd played a joke on most of them at least once, some of them had chased me across the forest and mountain, but now none of them recognized me. Someone murmured something about humans - but I was one of them! I am Fae!

There was my mother - she'd defend me! Parents are always defending their children. A shudder ripped through me as I remembered the reason I was in this plight to begin with. The crowd around me drew back. No, not you too! Mother! I said the words out loud - I'd barely spoken for months. My voice was rough and sounded nothing like the lyrical noise I had made before- Before.

And that was when she recognized me. "Thesil?" she whispered. Her voice was so soft and cool - my mother had always before had a voice of steel and flint, not this quiet thing.

I stared into her eyes. "Mother."

And that was when it happened. Her eyes grew cold - why had I never noticed how colorful her eyes were before? Her face grew stern, her mouth pulling down. When she spoke, her voice was loud, full of the metal I remembered. "You are not him. You cannot be. My son is Fae - you are nothing but a filthy mortal."

The rest of the crowd drew back, turned away. The Queen just sat there. I raised a hand, beseeching - she turned her head. Mother would not look at me either. There, Alicon, he would help! We'd played together as children, had stayed as friends for years.

"I have no idea how you got in here, mortal, but you should leave. Now. Before we become angered." Not even a glance with the words. I frantically shook my head, looked around - but they did nothing.

I started to weep - simple, mortal tears. When I touched my face, it came away wet. In shock at this proof of my difference, I turned and left the Hill. The manacles around my wrist seemed to weigh more than was physically possible. When I reached the forest, I turned again to look at the Hill. At least it was still clear - the manacles didn't change that, at least. I slumped against a tree and did not even look up when I heard the soft step behind me. A small kindness, to let me acknowledge what would likely be my executioner - it must not be my mother or Alicon, then.

"Mortal, eh?" A dry voice - I quickly turned and beheld Helier, the oldest among us. "What crime did you commit, to be turned into such a beast?" The moonlight reflected off of his simple silver collar.

I shrugged. "Does it matter? It's done. They reject me. They knew the truth of who I am - they wanted to ignore it. There's nothing left for me - you may kill me now."
He gave a short bark, then bent down, to whisper in my ear. "All is not lost yet, child. Not until your manacles turn black and tighten with age. There is only one race that could have done this to you - and there is only one race that can undo it. Pity they are one and the same."

I looked up at him, hope in my eyes, I am sure. He smiled - a twisted thing that showed no sympathy - and tapped his collar, the one he was never without. "Come with me, child, and I will teach you what you need to know to survive. Perhaps you will be as lucky as me - or perhaps not. Time will tell - time will always tell." Chuckling, he turned away and headed deeper into the woods. I hesitated for a moment, but taking a deep breath, I followed. A chance - to return to normal, to put this behind me, to regain myself. How could I not follow? And that, my friend, was when I truly knew it was over.

By the Numbers

Wed, 09 Jun 2004 04:19:34 GMT

So, after everything, I don't even have a new story in the Hidden universe. :) I'm working on a few chapters for that series, but having a hard time - everyone's dialogue comes off as rather stilted, and it's giving me writer's block. So to combat that, a friend of mine challenged me to write something surreal. She figured surreal is an easy thing to do, since it doesn't have to make sense. ^_^ So this is it - and I'm actually rather fond of it, all things considered. It got me writing instead of just editing the same stuff again and again, and I find myself strangely liking the characters. Eh. My mental image of my 'muse' (see icon) didn't like it, but I ignore her at all possible opportunities. :-P

By the Numbers
One turned to Three, cocking his head and twisting his hands. "Do you really think we can make it? Do you think we have a chance?"

Three nodded slowly. "Probably. Maybe. If we're careful."

Five, the youngest, peered around Three's legs. He blinked his slanted eyes and fisted his hands in Three's pants. "Careful? What does that mean? Do we gotta be quiet? Like a mouse or a bunny or a bird or a frog or a-" he rambled on in this vein for a while, the others speaking over him.

One didn't even look at Five, his gaze never leaving Three. "Maybe? That's all you can give us? Maybe? Maybe isn't very good. Couldn't you have ended on 'probably' instead of maybe?"

Three simply glanced at him and pushed her hair back over her shoulder. "Maybe. Probably. If we're careful."

One nodded, decisively. "Better. Much better. I like it. Probably. We'll go, then."

Two and Four looked up from the floor, where they'd been crouched, talking quietly. "It's decided?" Two asked. She fiddled with the end of one of her pigtails, tracing a random pattern on her hand. "Wait, who decided? It wasn't Five, was it?"

"- or a dog or a parrot or a tiger or a -"

"No, it wasn't Five. Of course not. Who'd ask Five? He'd take a week. No, not Five at all." One picked at the cuff of his sleeve, tugging it down as low as possible, then shaking his entire arm to get the shirt to lay right against his shoulder again.

Four finally spoke. "It won't work. They'll catch us before the day is over." His voice was steady, even, without a hint of emotion. His palms were flat against the floor, and he didn't move at all, his gaze on One.

Three raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. Five continued on in his prattling, and Two hunkered down into herself, muttering too quietly to be heard, but One started gesturing wildly. "Not work! Of course it will work! Three said it would work!"

"Probably. Maybe."

One continued talking as though Three hadn't spoken at all. "If it doesn't work, she'd be wrong! And she's never wrong! And if we don't go, Five will continue talking until he runs out of breath and dies, and we don't want that!"

Everyone paused and looked at the boy.

"- pony or a all'gator or a trout or a bee or -"

"And Two agrees with me! Don't you, Two?" One turned the full force of his stare on the younger girl, the look on his face making him appear more eager than puppy about to be fed.

"I, uh, that is, I kind of, I mean, I don't want Five to be- " Two, startled, dropped her pigtail and tried to reply.

"You see!" One whirled on Four. "Even Two agrees with me!"

Four shrugged, "Doesn't matter," he said, and turned away, facing Two.

One stared at him, looking surprised and befuddled at the way Four had backed down so quickly.

Three interrupted One's silent gape. "Actually, if you noticed, I didn't say that it would work. I said that it would may-"

"Yes, yes, yes." One waved his arm, cutting Three off, and spun around. "So then, let's go, shall we? Chop, chop, time's a-wasting, anchors away!"

Four held out his hand, towards Two. Two, still mumbling under her breath, fell silent; looking surprised, she hesitantly took it, flinching away before settling her hand in Four's palm. Four stood up, pulling Two with him.

Three bent down and picked up Five, nodding absently at Five's continued recitation of various animals. He hadn't repeated one yet. She turned to One, adjusting Five until he was comfortably leaning his head against her shoulder.

"So, you'll be leading, then?"

One blinked, then stammered out, "I-I guess so. Since I've been here the longest, and all. Right." Tugging his shirt down so that the collar dug uncomfortably into the back of his neck, One turned to the door. Striding up to it, trailed by the others - only Five making any noise - he set his hand on the doorknob with no visible sign of hesitation.

Drawing a deep breath, One turned the knob. At the sharp 'click,' even Five fell silent, and all of them held their breath. One slowly pulled open the door, and the empty room was bathed in bright light. With one last swallow, One took a step into the outside, followed first by Four, Two trailing behind, their hands locked together. Three glanced behind her at the bare room, then followed, Five curled in her arms. The door closed softly behind them.

Things I didn't like: The opening, mainly. Also, the lack of description of where, exactly, they are. I mean, there's not much to describe - they're supposed to be in an almost entirely empty room - but I wish I had managed to work that in there. Ah, well. Maybe on the next revision. Story is cross-posted to writer_girls. And don't expect another post for a while, sadly - my computer is giving me troubles, and that makes it very difficult to write. :(

[Hidden 01] Rain (Arie)

Sun, 04 Apr 2004 17:16:12 GMT

Well, this is my first piece. It's part of my 'Hidden' series (I think it needs a better name, but I needed *something* to call it...). The Hidden series is a bunch of really short fics (Under 500 words, preferably, under 1000, definitely) about various supernaturals hiding in the modern world. It's always been an idea that's fascinated me (and sparks my love of the World of Darkness roleplaying games by White Wolf), and it's one that lends itself easily to short fics.

These stories are also being used as exercises. This one, for instance, was supposed to mention all five senses, and is based off of a picture I saw, of a bright red jacket lying on top of a bunch of dark garbage.

With no further ado, here's the fic.

[Hidden]

Rain

Arie spun around in a circle, her arms flung out, ignoring the strange looks she got from the rest of the pedestrians on the busy street. It had just started to rain, and the cold water felt wonderful trickling down her neck. Her bright red jacket did nothing to keep the rain from soaking into her sweatshirt, and Arie grinned. She'd look like a drowned cat by the time she reached Michael's place, but that was all right - she was just happy to be out of the subway. The cramped, closed-in cars always made her feel trapped, and the scents of all the people crammed in the little area made her feel nauseated, every single time she entered. Pity she was simply too lazy to walk.

Still grinning, Arie sauntered down the street, taking a sharp right onto Wilton Road. She could almost feel a tail swishing behind her, and actually took a moment to turn around and check to make sure it wasn't there. Assured of her current state of normality, Arie crossed the street, not bothering to check either direction. The sharp noise of squealing brakes came first from her left, then her right, but she cheerfully ignored both sounds, keeping her head turned forward. After reaching the sidewalk, she took a quick glance back over her shoulder, and seeing the man driving the second car glaring at her and making rude gestures, she blew him a kiss. Watching his face turn a deep red, her smile tightened, turning more vindictive and less mischievous. She turned her head back to front, and ducked into the alleyway she'd been heading for, chuckling.

She picked her way nimbly through the rubbish and refuse that littered the ground here, careful not to step on anything too dirty. Her nose wrinkled and she tried to breathe shallowly - the smell of rot and mold made her stomach turn and left a hideous taste in her mouth. Reaching the bottom of the fire escape, she frowned. Michael had forgotten to leave the ladder down *again*.

Arie didn't even bother to glance around before concentrating hard on the feel of her feet on the ground. Less than five minutes later, a large grey housecat leapt lightly up the fire escape, headed to the open window on the third floor. On the ground, dirty and torn, lay a red jacket.

A little intro...

Sun, 04 Apr 2004 07:22:32 GMT

I'm a college student, and while I've been writing for pretty much my whole life, I've never really gotten any good feedback on it. I eventually stopped showing my scribbles to others and kept it all sitting around on my computer and in notebooks. I read tons more than I write, of course - I'm a big fan of fanfiction and original fiction on the web, as well as a good number of fantasy authors. I don't consider myself a good writer, though I do have a better grasp on grammer and a better spell checker than a lot of people out there. :)

I write almost entirely original fics, so you won't see a lot of fanfics on here. I don't post a lot of stuff until it's been edited by me quite a bit, so you won't see a lot of posts. I'm mainly going to use this journal to post in communities where I can get help with my writing, and finally get some of that feedback I so badly need - I currently have no clue how much my fics suck, or how to make them better. :) I will also be posting a lot of writing exercises I plan to be doing, but those posts will likely be friends locked or private.

So, right, I think that's all you really need to know about me. How 'bout you? :)