Goodbye LJ...
Feb. 20th, 2006 06:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
windandwaterThis is just to make it official for those who don't know, but I'm leaving LJ completely. For the rest of this week at least. Tomorrow is the Bar Exam and it runs for three days, so don't expect to see me about at all until Thursday night. Or even until the weekend since I plan on spending Thursday after the Bar drunk and crying. No online time for me at all. *whines* It will be hard, but I know I can do it.
So, because I'm a total h0r like that, I am declaring this to be a spam post. Go ahead. Run wild! Give me fics, give me links, give me pics, just babble to your heart's content and rape my inbox so I have something to see when I finally DO come back to the wonderful world of LJ. I don't even care if you write me a drabble and post it one word at a time. XD;
Though, I've tried to make a spam post before and it failed a bit miserably, so I don't have very high expectations this time around. Feel free to prove me wrong though!
♥
So, because I'm a total h0r like that, I am declaring this to be a spam post. Go ahead. Run wild! Give me fics, give me links, give me pics, just babble to your heart's content and rape my inbox so I have something to see when I finally DO come back to the wonderful world of LJ. I don't even care if you write me a drabble and post it one word at a time. XD;
Though, I've tried to make a spam post before and it failed a bit miserably, so I don't have very high expectations this time around. Feel free to prove me wrong though!
♥
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Re: Before I Wake (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:10 am (UTC)Even as he hit the ground -- or did he? -- he rolled, tucking in his head and shoulder so as to present the smallest possible target. He came up on his hands and knees, one hand reflexively closing on his gun and bringing it out as he scanned his surroundings for possible threats. The familiar hollow click sounded in his ears as he pulled back the hammer, ready to fire, eyes searching for a target --
He stopped, still on his hands and knees, the tip of his gun pointing upwards. There was no target. The vista that met his eyes was bare, not only of people, but of buildings, plants, anything. The flat, hard ground he could feel beneath his hands stretched off colorlessly in all directions, the edges vanishing into a shrouding mist.
This was not a place he had been before. Confused, he tried to sort through his recent memories, even as his watchful eyes continued to scan the horizon. He couldn’t remember where this place was, or how he had come for. His mind was a confused jumble, his thoughts as foggy as the strange flat landscape. The last thing he remembered was --
The last thing he remembered --
and the sky
-- like a thin film of soap, shimmered above him in all the colors of the rainbow, and all of them gray, and none of them real.
Slowly, the tip of the gun barrel dropped; first only by a hair, then several inches. He stared out across the unreal place, mouth sagging open. “What is this place?” he whispered, deaf to his own voice. “Where the Hell am I?”
Tremors ran up and through his body. He tried to get to his feet, nearly falling face-first into the strange dust, all his perfect balance gone. As his left hand moved, something swung out from it and chinked, against his arm. It took a moment for Heero to identify it; it was the cross, the small silver chain and cross that he’d had in his hand when...
When...
He sank to his knees, and dug his fingers into the dark ground, and it bunched up beneath his fingers like gritty dust, just as he thought it would. But something was still wrong, terribly wrong... the sky...
Was it... was it an attack? A new trick of the enemy? Chemical weapons... affected the environment...? No, that wouldn’t cause... this... but, still... There was a mission. He remembered that. He clenched his hand around the handle of his gun, taking deep and steady breaths. A mission. He still had a mission.
Re: Before I Wake (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:10 am (UTC)07:38.
Status: Functioning at maximum efficiency. All hunger, thirst, fatigue, was ignored. All his doubts were pushed to the back of his mind, the strangeness and the white noise in his head locked away behind the crystal clarity of the mission. He still had his Mission.
...If only he knew its perameters...
Stop thinking about that.
The weight of the gun was familiar as breathing. He kept it in his hand, ready and waiting as he moved, watchful for any target that came within sight. In unknown territory, it was necessary to consider all bogeys as hostile.
It didn’t matter. There was no sign of anyone... friendly or hostile.
And the sky...!
It was easier to ignore it now -- for the last 78 minutes, the mist had steadily closed about him. And the the ground had finally changed; the complete and utter flatness slowly became more rolling, dark shapes looming up out of the mist ahead of him and passing silently on behind him. He kept a watchful eye on them as potential cover for an ambush, but...
...no-one.
Re: Before I Wake (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:10 am (UTC)Heero’s eyes widened, and he threw himself to his feet, whirling around and lowering his right hand onto his left wrist, pointed unerringly at the source of the voice.
That it had been the source of the voice was not in question; there was no-where else the voice could have come from. But he couldn’t figure out where it had come from.
He said ‘it,’ because there was no way to tell whether the figure was male or female. It was as pale and insubtantial as the strange fog surrounding them, and everything about it, from the features to the hair to the clothes, was fuzzy and blurred like a photocopy run through too many times. It had a head and body and limbs just like any human should, but the sleeves of the fuzzy clothing trailed off without ever really coming into hands, and the legs vanished several inches off the ground.
“Who are you?” Heero said, and his voice shook slightly despite all his training. “What is this place?”
14:06.
The creature gave a faint sigh. “If you weren’t showing your age before, that would have done it,” it said in a slightly disgusted tone of voice. “Only a Neate would ask such a stupid question. Let me guess -- your memory’s not in working order? I have to wonder at the cohesion you’ve managed, though -- I’ve never seen a stronger Corpus...”
“Answer me!” Heero said brusquely, raising his gun slightly to try and still the shaking. “What are you?”
“You can put that away,” the apparation said with a disparaging snort. “You can’t hurt me with it, you know. If it isn’t perfectly obvious, I’m a ghost.”
Heero went cold.
“And so are you,” it added as an afterthought.
Re: Before I Wake (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:10 am (UTC)He remembered.
“Ninmu ryoukai, Duo --”
He remembered everything. That battle, the mobile dolls, the com screen, Duo --
grief/loss/anger/betrayal/pain/resolve --
And those weeks, afterwards, those horrible weeks of living without anything to keep him intact on the inside, and slowly crumbling under the weight of the denial and pretensions. Weeks of numbness, the numbness of a limb that is lost to gangrene and does not even know it. Weeks of hearing the noise in his head and pretending it was only his fevered imagination
“I won’t fail you again.”
And then the shock that cleared his mind again -- the dreadful knowledge that he was not going crazy, that Duo still needed him --
hilde/triumph/metal/gun --
His own voice spoke, dry and calm, without his meaning to.
“I came to make the screaming stop.”
Re: Before I Wake (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:10 am (UTC)Nothing. Nothing. The broke and jagged landscape of black rock stayed the same, blank and bare. How was he supposed to find Duo in all of this? He didn't even know which direction to walk in this maze. And he knew, with a freezing certainty, that in this strange unreal world he could walk right past Duo and never see him. Never find him. Never save him.
He shook with despair, jaw dully aching as he clenched it against the rising tide of hopelessness. His hand slid away from the gun he carried so readily, and he crossed his arms over his body to try and block out some of the pain. He had failed, failed Duo again, and there was nothing he could do...
“Are you lost?”
Mary had a little lamb,
little lamb, little lamb,
Heero gasped, as if he had been struck, and every muscle in his body froze. Slowly, he dragged his gaze off the ground to the source of the voice.
I've been lost all my life.
The little girl, immaculately clad in her summer dress and hat just the way she had been, smiled like sunlight. Her cornflower-blue eyes were clear and guileless, her skin clean and unmarked. A small puppy frisked carelessly about her feet, pure white and unsinged, unbloodied.
He fell to his knees in front of her, unable to tear his eyes away. His vision blurred, the alien landscape wavering in and out of his sight, but the little girl's outline remained as perfectly sharp and clear as before. Helplessly, he raised a hand, reaching out to her, but managed to stop himself before he actually made contact. “I killed you,” he whispered, horrified. “I killed you...”
Mary had a little lamb
its fleece was white as snow.
She laughed, the sound like a tinkling of bells. “What are you talking about? Don't be silly, niisan! I'm taking Mary for a walk. But you look so sad. Are you lost?”
Was this real? he wondered desperately. He remembered what the ghost had told him, about illusions of the dead. Was this the shade of the little girl he had destroyed,
Re: Before I Wake (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:10 am (UTC)“Oh, that's too bad!” the girl exclaimed, and she too knelt down, heedless of the razor-sharp rocks, to pet her puppy's head. “I'd be very sad if I lost Mary. You shouldn't be sad. What did you lose? Perhaps Mary can help you find it!”
“My heart,” he said, numbly. “My heart.”
And everywhere that Mary went,
Mari went, Meri went
Slowly, his hands moving almost of their own volition, his hands moved up to his neck. The metal of the chain felt warm against his skin, much warmer than his cold fingers. Trembling, he held it out to her, the chain tangling around his fingers and the cross falling down between them to sway back and forth like a pendulum.
The puppy reached up, sniffing at the crucifix for a minute, then yipped excitedly, a happy puppy bark. Her mistress laughed again, in response, as the puppy started off across the jagged ground, pulling impatiently at the leash. “Come on, Niisan!” she said, beaming happily at him. “Mary knows the way. Follow her!”
Heero still knelt, as though glued to the ground, his head spinning. It was almost impossible to hope. This child, whether she was real or not, had no real reason to help him. It was too likely that she would lead him astray, take him down a wrong road so far he would never find what he searched for again, or lead him into a trap from which he could never escape.
Everywhere that Mary went, the lamb
Was sure to go.
He had no choice. He climbed shakily to his feet and followed her.
Re: Before I Wake (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:10 am (UTC)“Oh, that's too bad!” the girl exclaimed, and she too knelt down, heedless of the razor-sharp rocks, to pet her puppy's head. “I'd be very sad if I lost Mary. You shouldn't be sad. What did you lose? Perhaps Mary can help you find it!”
“My heart,” he said, numbly. “My heart.”
And everywhere that Mary went,
Mari went, Meri went
Slowly, his hands moving almost of their own volition, his hands moved up to his neck. The metal of the chain felt warm against his skin, much warmer than his cold fingers. Trembling, he held it out to her, the chain tangling around his fingers and the cross falling down between them to sway back and forth like a pendulum.
The puppy reached up, sniffing at the crucifix for a minute, then yipped excitedly, a happy puppy bark. Her mistress laughed again, in response, as the puppy started off across the jagged ground, pulling impatiently at the leash. “Come on, Niisan!” she said, beaming happily at him. “Mary knows the way. Follow her!”
Heero still knelt, as though glued to the ground, his head spinning. It was almost impossible to hope. This child, whether she was real or not, had no real reason to help him. It was too likely that she would lead him astray, take him down a wrong road so far he would never find what he searched for again, or lead him into a trap from which he could never escape.
Everywhere that Mary went, the lamb
Was sure to go.
He had no choice. He climbed shakily to his feet and followed her.
Re: Before I Wake (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:11 am (UTC)Duo!
He could see, he didn't understand how; no sun had shown in that hellish sky, and no light could break through the black ooze. Yet somehow, he could see, a faint suppurating glow that seemed to emanate from the bodies themselves. He struggled through them, using all of his strength to push through the obstacles, following that faint glimpse of beauty fast sinking through the blackness.
He swam, and his soul recoiled in horror as he did, because the river of dead bodies screamed at him as he fought his way through it, wailing in pain and bloodlust and endless hatred as he rended the rotting flesh apart. Only the sight of Duo, limp and inanimate below him, was what enabled him to keep going, because if he abandoned Duo here, to the screaming of the dead, then he too belonged in the river of the damned.
Duo!
The single gulp of air he had taken on the surface was beginning to press at his lungs, time ticking away endlessly slowly in his head. They were too far beneath the surface, growing ever more distant from the illusion of reality, and he felt the world bending around him. But he was almost there; Duo, lifeless as a doll, was sinking more slowly than Heero. One arm drifted limply through the water, and in a burst of desperation, Heero made a grab for it. His hand closed on Duo's forearm, and he gripped it with all the strength he had.
The chilling scream of the demon seemed to echo through the river, and Heero felt a cold ebb of satisfaction; but he would not allow himself triumph yet. He had Duo, he had him and would never let him go, but they weren't free yet. He held Duo to him, close against his chest, and looked upwards; he couldn't see the surface, and his lungs were burning with the need for air.
Holding Duo against his chest with one hand, Heero kicked his legs hard and desperately struck upwards. The black water clung to him like glue, gripping him and threatened to drag his weight under.
Duo, hold on to me. Please, hold on to me!
Re: Before I Wake (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:11 am (UTC)Duo, unresponsive, hung limply in his grasp; Heero was forced to hold onto him, cutting down on his power. It had been so much easier to sink, he hadn't realized how far they had come, until he tried to go back. With all of his strength, all of his willpower, he struggled upwards, against the viscous black fluid and the pull of Duo's lifeless body in his arms.
The whispers in his ears intensified, as he swam upwards, and the black water began to manifest. Faces, peering at him with cruel curiosity, hands, gripping at his limbs, trying to pin them down. He shook them off, trying to shut out the tendrils of madness stirring in his brain, and concentrated on swimming. His air was almost completely gone, now, and the light began to fade from his consciousness. Still, he thrashed, kicking with all his might, but his heart cried with despair, with the hopelessness of it. He had failed; he wasn't strong enough to escape, to save Duo. They would be lost, in this slime and blackness, for always.
I'm sorry, his heart whispered, Duo. I couldn't save you. But at least I'll be with you, where I belong.
...I love you, Duo...
He bent his head, away from the surface that was too far out of reach. In the last of the flickering light, he thought he saw Duo's eyes slit open, gazing up at him; thought he saw Duo's lips move, two slight syllables.
Then the universe escaped into chaos, a strange energy coursing through him. Some enormous pressure crept from his belly to his heart and burst from his back, and an explosion of white dazzled his senses. Blinded, with a last burst of strength flowing through him from some unknown source, he thought to move upwards; with even slight movements of his limbs, he was propelled upwards through the black water with almost dizzying speed.
Voices screamed around him, in protest and fear, and he burst through the surface into the air and kept going. He took a choked gasp, then a deeper breath, and for a moment all he concentrated on was in the miracle of breath once more. Then, as the darkness swam away from his eyes, he blinked his senses back into order and looked down.
Duo was cradled against his chest, both of Heero's arms encircling him in a strong and sure grip. That he saw first. But then he saw the black river, the broken ground, and they were below him, far below, and he felt something of him moving even though his arms held Duo and his legs did not touch the ground...
Another stroke took them higher still, with the river of the dead receding below them, and the whiteness flickered into the edge of his vision again. Disbelieving, Heero turned his head to the side, and saw the next beat of the vast, white-feathered wings that had sprouted from his back.
Re: Before I Wake (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:11 am (UTC)Duo, unresponsive, hung limply in his grasp; Heero was forced to hold onto him, cutting down on his power. It had been so much easier to sink, he hadn't realized how far they had come, until he tried to go back. With all of his strength, all of his willpower, he struggled upwards, against the viscous black fluid and the pull of Duo's lifeless body in his arms.
The whispers in his ears intensified, as he swam upwards, and the black water began to manifest. Faces, peering at him with cruel curiosity, hands, gripping at his limbs, trying to pin them down. He shook them off, trying to shut out the tendrils of madness stirring in his brain, and concentrated on swimming. His air was almost completely gone, now, and the light began to fade from his consciousness. Still, he thrashed, kicking with all his might, but his heart cried with despair, with the hopelessness of it. He had failed; he wasn't strong enough to escape, to save Duo. They would be lost, in this slime and blackness, for always.
I'm sorry, his heart whispered, Duo. I couldn't save you. But at least I'll be with you, where I belong.
...I love you, Duo...
He bent his head, away from the surface that was too far out of reach. In the last of the flickering light, he thought he saw Duo's eyes slit open, gazing up at him; thought he saw Duo's lips move, two slight syllables.
Then the universe escaped into chaos, a strange energy coursing through him. Some enormous pressure crept from his belly to his heart and burst from his back, and an explosion of white dazzled his senses. Blinded, with a last burst of strength flowing through him from some unknown source, he thought to move upwards; with even slight movements of his limbs, he was propelled upwards through the black water with almost dizzying speed.
Voices screamed around him, in protest and fear, and he burst through the surface into the air and kept going. He took a choked gasp, then a deeper breath, and for a moment all he concentrated on was in the miracle of breath once more. Then, as the darkness swam away from his eyes, he blinked his senses back into order and looked down.
Duo was cradled against his chest, both of Heero's arms encircling him in a strong and sure grip. That he saw first. But then he saw the black river, the broken ground, and they were below him, far below, and he felt something of him moving even though his arms held Duo and his legs did not touch the ground...
Another stroke took them higher still, with the river of the dead receding below them, and the whiteness flickered into the edge of his vision again. Disbelieving, Heero turned his head to the side, and saw the next beat of the vast, white-feathered wings that had sprouted from his back.
(notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:11 am (UTC)“As above, so below --” the second line of the Emerald Tablets, and also the major tenet of pretty much every Aristotelian and descendant world view. The world of matter reflects the spiritual Forms -- or the underworld reflects the real world, take your pick.
The nous -- a divine psychic plane on which God's imaginings are projected. It's analgous to the realm in which human souls move, but it's on a higher level and has no connection with the world of matter. At the center of the nous is the Form of the Good, also known as the Alien God.
Corpus, aenimus, spiritus: The three spiritual elements, associated with the chemical elements salt, sulfur, and mercury. They correspond, roughly to “body, lifeforce, and psyche.” Corpus by itself makes a pretty good candidate for a rock; add some aenima and you could have a plant, some more and get an animal, but only humans have spiritus.
In a sense, he's walking the thirty-two paths -- the paths connecting the higher functions on the Tree of Life. Since he's aiming for Hell, not Heaven, he's walking them backwards.
For the scenes of Hell, I'd like to give credit to the following: Dante, Neil Gaiman, C.S. Friedman, Fire in the Sky, Alan Harnum, and my bathroom wallpaper.
For the lyrics, I'll attribute them to the following: Disturbed, Korn, Rammstein, Slipknot, Tool, Godsmack, System of a Down, Metallica, and Lockheed.
(notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:11 am (UTC)“As above, so below --” the second line of the Emerald Tablets, and also the major tenet of pretty much every Aristotelian and descendant world view. The world of matter reflects the spiritual Forms -- or the underworld reflects the real world, take your pick.
The nous -- a divine psychic plane on which God's imaginings are projected. It's analgous to the realm in which human souls move, but it's on a higher level and has no connection with the world of matter. At the center of the nous is the Form of the Good, also known as the Alien God.
Corpus, aenimus, spiritus: The three spiritual elements, associated with the chemical elements salt, sulfur, and mercury. They correspond, roughly to “body, lifeforce, and psyche.” Corpus by itself makes a pretty good candidate for a rock; add some aenima and you could have a plant, some more and get an animal, but only humans have spiritus.
In a sense, he's walking the thirty-two paths -- the paths connecting the higher functions on the Tree of Life. Since he's aiming for Hell, not Heaven, he's walking them backwards.
For the scenes of Hell, I'd like to give credit to the following: Dante, Neil Gaiman, C.S. Friedman, Fire in the Sky, Alan Harnum, and my bathroom wallpaper.
For the lyrics, I'll attribute them to the following: Disturbed, Korn, Rammstein, Slipknot, Tool, Godsmack, System of a Down, Metallica, and Lockheed.
Re: (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:12 am (UTC)Mikkeneko: So he first arrives on the Shores of the Dead and he meets a ghost.
Mikkeneko: basically plays Virgil, and explains to him the way the afterlife works
Lockhyd: Uh-huh...
Mikkeneko: So the problem is, I've got Heero and a ghost standing around in the middle of nowhere -- literally -- talking.
Mikkeneko: It's BORING!
Lockhyd: Uh-huh.
Lockhyd: Oh dear.
Mikkeneko: All of it is information that needs to be passed on, in order to set up the action later
Lockhyd: So keep it short.
Mikkeneko: I can't!
Mikkeneko: I'll cut out as much as I can, but it'll still be a lot of talking.
Lockhyd: Cna they pedeconferance?
Mikkeneko: Say what?
Lockhyd: Wlak 'n' talk.
Lockhyd: Walk
Mikkeneko: But it's a very, very bland scene. There aren't even any props nearby that they can interact with.
Lockhyd: It's the TV without pity term for that they do on The West Wing.
Mikkeneko: Ah.
Lockhyd: Can ghosts have visions?
Mikkeneko: It's not a bad idea, except... one of the things that Heero has to find out is where he needs to go *to.*
Mikkeneko: Visions in what way?
Lockhyd: Maybe Heero could hear a haunting strain of music that plays in his...head...for the meeting.
Lockhyd: I don't know, I'm making this up as I go along.
Mikkeneko: Ah... hmm.
Mikkeneko: Not a bad idea.3
Lockhyd: Er, brainstorming.
Mikkeneko: Brainstorming is good. ^_^
Lockhyd: Thank you, I am brilliant.
Mikkeneko: ...Something else that's bothering me is the existance of the scene itself.
Lockhyd: Maybe you could play intricate word games.
Lockhyd: What do you mean?
Mikkeneko: Too much work!
Lockhyd: Havign an exposition scene at all?
Lockhyd: You need to be inspired for good word games anyway.
Mikkeneko: Well, how convenient is it that he dies, wakes up in the afterlife, and immediately meets up with a ghost who is both able and willing to tell him what he needs to know?
Re: (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:12 am (UTC)Mikkeneko: So he first arrives on the Shores of the Dead and he meets a ghost.
Mikkeneko: basically plays Virgil, and explains to him the way the afterlife works
Lockhyd: Uh-huh...
Mikkeneko: So the problem is, I've got Heero and a ghost standing around in the middle of nowhere -- literally -- talking.
Mikkeneko: It's BORING!
Lockhyd: Uh-huh.
Lockhyd: Oh dear.
Mikkeneko: All of it is information that needs to be passed on, in order to set up the action later
Lockhyd: So keep it short.
Mikkeneko: I can't!
Mikkeneko: I'll cut out as much as I can, but it'll still be a lot of talking.
Lockhyd: Cna they pedeconferance?
Mikkeneko: Say what?
Lockhyd: Wlak 'n' talk.
Lockhyd: Walk
Mikkeneko: But it's a very, very bland scene. There aren't even any props nearby that they can interact with.
Lockhyd: It's the TV without pity term for that they do on The West Wing.
Mikkeneko: Ah.
Lockhyd: Can ghosts have visions?
Mikkeneko: It's not a bad idea, except... one of the things that Heero has to find out is where he needs to go *to.*
Mikkeneko: Visions in what way?
Lockhyd: Maybe Heero could hear a haunting strain of music that plays in his...head...for the meeting.
Lockhyd: I don't know, I'm making this up as I go along.
Mikkeneko: Ah... hmm.
Mikkeneko: Not a bad idea.3
Lockhyd: Er, brainstorming.
Mikkeneko: Brainstorming is good. ^_^
Lockhyd: Thank you, I am brilliant.
Mikkeneko: ...Something else that's bothering me is the existance of the scene itself.
Lockhyd: Maybe you could play intricate word games.
Lockhyd: What do you mean?
Mikkeneko: Too much work!
Lockhyd: Havign an exposition scene at all?
Lockhyd: You need to be inspired for good word games anyway.
Mikkeneko: Well, how convenient is it that he dies, wakes up in the afterlife, and immediately meets up with a ghost who is both able and willing to tell him what he needs to know?
Re: (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:12 am (UTC)Mikkeneko: you see my problem?
Mikkeneko: Hm.
Lockhyd: Besides, it's the afterlife, I think you can have seredipity.
Mikkeneko: ...you mean, place an action scene before this one?
Mikkeneko: *ponders* I could move up the schedule on the Ship of the Dead...
Lockhyd: The existance of an afterlife suggests mystery and higher power, things we can't understand in life...
Mikkeneko: Or possibly the encounter with the mummy.
Mikkeneko: Well, not exactly higher power.
Lockhyd: No reason why you couldn't wake up dead knowing strange things, or with a guide waiting for you.
Mikkeneko: Hmm.
Lockhyd: Doesn't have to be a concious power...
Mikkeneko: I'd have to change the concept of the guide, tho.
Mikkeneko: There is that.0
Mikkeneko: I'm basing this one off of Virgil and Karril from Crown of Shadows.
Lockhyd: The theory of evolution interests me. What if we weren't created by a higher power? What if we're more than what came before us?
Lockhyd: Ah, Karril.
Lockhyd: That was book three?
Mikkeneko: Yup.
Lockhyd: Daddy was warning me about robots.
Mikkeneko: the thing is, the ghost is willing to talk with him, but not willing to lead him into Hell.
Mikkeneko: I mean, would YOU be?.
Lockhyd: Only if hell couldn't hurt me.
Lockhyd: How could hell hurt me? I'm a good person, and I like who I am.
Lockhyd: Nothing evil will happen to me when I die.
Mikkeneko: ^^; that's the other thing I'm basing this character off of...
Lockhyd: UU.
Mikkeneko: The reason the ghost knows so much is that she spent her time since death learning about the Afterlife.
Lockhyd: You UU!
Mikkeneko: She's Unitarian.
Lockhyd: Hee.
Mikkeneko: She's actually... er... me.
Mikkeneko: Do I have to label that?
Lockhyd: ^_^
Mikkeneko: #>_<#
Lockhyd: Only if the readers would have reason to know.
Mikkeneko: Not really relevant, I guess.
Re: (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:12 am (UTC)Mikkeneko: ...Interestingly enough, I ran the ghost through the 'Mary Sue Litmus Test' and came out with less than 10% MS.
Lockhyd: As a wtiter and a creator, you infuse your work with your essence. Your work springs in part from your personality...
Lockhyd: Your personality is there anyway.
Mikkeneko: I know
Mikkeneko: .
Lockhyd: This would simply be a more coherant form, a more direct injection of your beliefes.
Lockhyd: You're hardly the first.
Lockhyd: A Mary Sue is something elkse.
Mikkeneko: True.
Lockhyd: The offensiveness of the MS is based not on author insert...
Mikkeneko: Also true.
Lockhyd: Self-inserts can be hilarious when done right.
Mikkeneko: What this ghost does is provide an essentially omniscient view on this new world...
Lockhyd: MS is offensive because she's self-aggrandizement, the author's FANTASY of self, which tends to be inaccessible to other people.
Mikkeneko: Since the only one who knows anything about it is me, any explanation is going to directly channel me anyway.
Lockhyd: Call her a narrator, then.
Lockhyd: Be a narrator.
Lockhyd: Tell it from your point of view.
Lockhyd: It could be fun.
Mikkeneko: Well, I don't want this story to be narrated.
Mikkeneko: The ghost doesn't travel with him.
Lockhyd: All stories are narrated.
Lockhyd: One way or another.
Mikkeneko: True, but not directly narrated.
Lockhyd: This is so.
Mikkeneko: I think it's important that he be alone.
Lockhyd: You want it to be god's eye view narration.
Mikkeneko: He can get help and guidance along the way, but he has to complete the journey himself.
Mikkeneko: Yes. Pretty much.
Lockhyd: Still not mutualy exclusive, but I know what you mean.
Mikkeneko: yeah
Mikkeneko: So... what's your advice on fixing the boredom problem?
Mikkeneko: Roll with it? Move a different scene to before it?
Lockhyd: Thinking.
Lockhyd: Have you written it?
Re: (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:12 am (UTC)Mikkeneko: Part of it.
Mikkeneko: I stopped before actually getting into the exposition.
Lockhyd: Hmm.
Lockhyd: Strong opening.
Lockhyd: I like the use of time...
Lockhyd: Although it will lose power if you do it too often.
Lockhyd: You could try chopping up time.
Lockhyd: Stop the scene here and refer to it with flashbacks.
Mikkeneko: Hm.
Mikkeneko: Not a bad idea...
Mikkeneko: Actually, the time thing is continuing. It has significance.
Lockhyd: You'd have to work pretty hard to keep it from getting confusing.
Mikkeneko: I'm going to place a time marker every page.
Lockhyd: Howcome?
Mikkeneko: Because Heero can keep accurate time.
Lockhyd: thought so.
Mikkeneko: That's something very few ghosts can do.
Lockhyd: Wasn't there a LW fic where Heero kept perfect time?
Mikkeneko: Yes. The 'Soldiers and Fools' arc.
Lockhyd: Thought so.
Mikkeneko: Do you recall, time was an issue in the "Crown of Shadows" journey of a similar nature
Lockhyd: Vaguely.
Lockhyd: What's the significance of time, then?
Mikkeneko: It's what keeps him grounded.
Lockhyd: Hum.
Mikkeneko: It's very, very easy to get lost in the afterlife, because there is no reality.
“Lockhyd” is away from the computer as of 2:01:23 AM.
Mikkeneko: I'll write it in, and if it's getting too distracting, I guess I can take it out.
Auto response from Lockhyd: Given the time of day, doesn't it seem logical that I'm asleep?
Calculate by EST.
Lockhyd: Er, not yet, but soon.
Mikkeneko: You going to bed?
Lockhyd: Soon.
Lockhyd: Just IMed Rose.
Mikkeneko: Oh, right.
Mikkeneko: Well, thanks for your help... I'll ponder various solutions. *ponder*
Re: (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:12 am (UTC)Heero Ookami: ooh??
Heero Ookami: *_____*
Mikkeneko: trying to figure something out about my Dead!Heero story
Heero Ookami: ......ah
Mikkeneko: I envisioned a scene where he has to pay a toll in order to get into/past something
Mikkeneko: and he only has two things to pay with, his gun or Duo's cross.
Heero Ookami: OO
Heero Ookami: his gun
Mikkeneko: so of course he gives up the gun. ^^
Mikkeneko: The only problem is, I don't know when to put this scene.
Heero Ookami: awww
Heero Ookami: umm
Mikkeneko: the problem is...
Heero Ookami: i dunno what you got planned
Mikkeneko: In the scene where he's facing the demon who's got Duo, I also want him to turn around and shoot the demon
Mikkeneko: he can't do that if he's got no gun O_o
Heero Ookami: he can
Mikkeneko: and there is no point in having the toll scene after he's faced off against the demon
Mikkeneko: He can? how?
Heero Ookami: he can because he can call his gun
Mikkeneko: .oh
Mikkeneko: hm.
Heero Ookami: it's a part of how he sees himself
Mikkeneko: maybe...
Heero Ookami: he wants the gun so it comes
Heero Ookami: it's not the gun, iyt's an idea of the gun
Mikkeneko: but that erasers the value of him having sacrificed it...
Mikkeneko: OO that's a really good idea, though
Heero Ookami: he gave it up for duo, but if he needs it for duo, then he has it back
Mikkeneko: he's feeling angry thoughts, he wants to lash out
Heero Ookami: yeah ^___^
Mikkeneko: appear the gun.
Heero Ookami: he has to protect duo ^^
Mikkeneko: it's significant... it's the first time he manages to manipulate the environement
Heero Ookami: yeah! ^____________^
Heero Ookami: *purrrpurrr*
Mikkeneko: Maybe the gun could just appear for a second and then he loses it again
Heero Ookami: and the gun being the part of him that kills is only there for duo
Re: (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:12 am (UTC)Mikkeneko: he only needs it for a second anyway
Heero Ookami: hehe true
Mikkeneko: ooooh ^_^
Heero Ookami: or he can shoot, and after, he realize that the demon was hit
Mikkeneko: yeah
Heero Ookami: it's his mind that fired.
Mikkeneko: of course, then... why couldn't he shoot the demon before?
Heero Ookami: but then if they're in something like a dreamscape, the gun would appear
Heero Ookami: he didn't will it strong enough
Mikkeneko: when he wanted to get t Duo so bad?
Heero Ookami: he needed something of a kick in the butt
Mikkeneko: ....maybe it was because he couldn't bring himself to shoot something that looked like Duo?
Heero Ookami: it wasn't enough
Heero Ookami: yes
Heero Ookami: he would die before he hurt duo
Mikkeneko: and it wasn't until he'd had sex with Duo that his subconscious mind realized that they weren't the same
Heero Ookami: and he would kill before he would let someone hurt duo
Mikkeneko: that even if the demon looked like him, it wasn't him
Heero Ookami: exactly ^_^
Mikkeneko: wheee!
Mikkeneko: *glomps*
Heero Ookami: *cuddlepurr*
Mikkeneko: perfect!
Re: (notes only)
Date: 2006-02-21 08:12 am (UTC)Mikkeneko: he only needs it for a second anyway
Heero Ookami: hehe true
Mikkeneko: ooooh ^_^
Heero Ookami: or he can shoot, and after, he realize that the demon was hit
Mikkeneko: yeah
Heero Ookami: it's his mind that fired.
Mikkeneko: of course, then... why couldn't he shoot the demon before?
Heero Ookami: but then if they're in something like a dreamscape, the gun would appear
Heero Ookami: he didn't will it strong enough
Mikkeneko: when he wanted to get t Duo so bad?
Heero Ookami: he needed something of a kick in the butt
Mikkeneko: ....maybe it was because he couldn't bring himself to shoot something that looked like Duo?
Heero Ookami: it wasn't enough
Heero Ookami: yes
Heero Ookami: he would die before he hurt duo
Mikkeneko: and it wasn't until he'd had sex with Duo that his subconscious mind realized that they weren't the same
Heero Ookami: and he would kill before he would let someone hurt duo
Mikkeneko: that even if the demon looked like him, it wasn't him
Heero Ookami: exactly ^_^
Mikkeneko: wheee!
Mikkeneko: *glomps*
Heero Ookami: *cuddlepurr*
Mikkeneko: perfect!