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Psychotic Maniacal Sanity Vice Captain
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 Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 10:05 am
So, since nobody else has posted (or joined...) yet, I figured I might as well get my member journal up and running. Fun facts about PMS: Most people online call me PMS, but feel free to also call me Psychotic, Psycho, Sani, you know, all those variations. My online penname is Kitty; you can use that, too, if you like. I am 20 years old (soon to be 21) and I currently live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. At least, I live here until May 24th when I will go back home to England after my study abroad exchange. I have really liked living here but I can't wait to go home to see my family and my pets, and to go back to my home university. I can't wait for tea, English milk, biscuits instead of cookies and my mum's cooking. At home I study American Literature with Creative Writing. I enjoy it but I wish I had more time for reading that wasn't part of the canon. I enjoy literature, but also read a healthy dose of fantasy, urban fantasy, magical realism, historical fiction - oh, god, just about anything really. This summer I'm excited to read Game of Thrones, simply because it'll be such a nice diversion from everything else that's going on (aka me being home OHGOD). This summer I also have to begin working on my dissertation (thesis?) for my final year in university. It is going to be a fiction piece, combining literary fiction with detective fiction. YEAH. I'm concerned about it. whee I like reading, writing, singing badly, music and musicals, theatre (but only watching it!), dogs, cats, volunteering with animals, sunshine, and Saturdays. =D This year I'm determined to keep up with this 365 business. Over the next year, then, I hope to accomplish all of the prompts. Some of them will be drabbles, shortshorts, character sketches not at all associated with current novels or projects. And, especially as we come to the summer, the prompts may begin to associate themselves with whatever piece I am working on (dissertation, novel, whatever); so if anybody cares: expect inconsistency. Well, we'll see how that goes. sweatdrop [Oh, and I'm also keeping a blog with these prompts, which will have pictures: [x]]
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 10:07 am
Background on this prompt is that "New Beginnings" encouraged me to think about a novel that I was working on back in 2010. It's still in progress (because of a lengthy haitus due to lack of grout to fill those damn plot holes) but now it's back on the radar. The novel is about a detective in a dystopian future who tries to drown himself, only to find that he wakes up alive in an underwater city that has been flourishing despite the problems on Earth. And it's in trouble. And he has to help.
*Kind of spoiler-y* This scene is a spark from the end of the novel, when Leo and a girl he has saved finally make it back to the surface. smile
~ #1 - New Beginnings
The hand that enveloped her own was large and warm. Her tiny fingers curled against his palm as he held on tightly; they didn’t look at each other. His eyes were closed. The craft rose and rose and Jemima held her breath. There was a bubble of worry in her stomach that seemed to be growing with every second. She swallowed hard.
The whole front of the pod that protected them from the inky black water was made of glass. She realised now that she had been looking at things through glass her entire life. She forced her eyes to open wider, fear spiking as she realised that the blackness was blueness, was greyness and greenness - and there was light.
Light.
Real, wan, pale sunlight. Jemima let out a long gasp from between her chapped lips, unable to contain the panic that coursed through her core. She was suddenly aware of what was in store for her; in fits and starts she began to realise that the future was terrifying. Sunlight and people who never knew where she had come from. Would they have houses like hers? Would they have faces and bodies and hands like the people she had always known?
The small girl closed her eyes so tightly that she saw spots. Then she looked at Leo. His eyes were still closed, his face a complex mass of fear and concern and peace. Just like hers. She flexed her fingers and waited.
“It will be okay, Jemima,” he said softly. “You’ll see that it’s not so bad. It’s not so fancy, not so like you’re used to - but... It’s okay.”
“I’m not scared.” Her lips trembled even as she said this. Leo tried to smile.
“You’re a brave little girl.”
He looked away again, back towards the glass and the filtering greenish grey that slipped over them both. Jemima pulled her hand away from him, moved closer to the glass. She was beginning to make out shapes in the gloom now; fish and flotsam floating aimlessly away from their progress. The craft was almost without sound as it glided upwards, a miracle of engineering.
For the first time in her life she was glad for her father’s selfishness. It had allowed them a future. Future. The word was tainted, even before she had the chance to say it aloud. She couldn’t dare to let herself think of what they were leaving behind.
“Will it be so very different?” she asked softly, pressed her palms against the glass. “Will I...?”
“You will adapt, Jemima.” Leo let his hand rest softly on her shoulder and sighed. “If you have to be like your father in any way, be like him in that. Just don’t -” He let out a long breath and then tipped her chin upwards with the palm of his hand. His eyes were murky, like the sea surrounding them, and watering with the sorrow he was pressing beneath his kind words. “Whatever you do, sweetheart... Just don’t forget her. Okay?”
“No.” Jemima shook her head. She could see everything, the cloudy grey water and above them now - clouds. Real clouds and sunshine and birds. Air. “I won’t let that happen.”
“Good.”
Leo, suddenly breaking away from her, stepped to the front of the pod. A short, sharp bark of laughter escaped him.
“Good lord!” he cried. “I never expected to see this place again. Jemima, look!”
He pointed. Far off to their left there was a coastline. They were bobbing on the surface now, teetering slowly in this direction. There were buildings - or remains of buildings. She had never seen such architecture, never see such silver as it shone in the sunlight. She let out a yelp of excitement, fear, surprise, everything all mixed into one. Perhaps there was some happiness in there too.
“What - what is it called?”
Her voice was so soft that at first she didn’t think he had heard her. After a long minute of silence, Leo finally spoke.
“London.”
Together they stood on the brink of the future, the ocean swelling beneath them in rolling crescents. To Jemima the waves were a sign of this new beginning; their rising and falling was a power she had never before seen. The sun was just rising in a pale dawn over London, highlighting here and there the glass windows of old towering office blocks. She drew a breath. She could almost feel the breeze on her cheeks. Almost.
“Ready?” Leo asked.
He held out his hand.
Jemima took it in her own, letting his fingers close around her own. She nodded.
“Yes, Leo. I think so. I think I want to... Oh, lord.”
He said nothing, and they held together and shuddered as the pod ground onto the shore. The sand was so yellow Jemima swore she had never seen anything like it. And of course, she realised, she hadn’t.
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Psychotic Maniacal Sanity Vice Captain
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Psychotic Maniacal Sanity Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 10:10 am
There be no context to this piece. pirate
~ #2 - Cause/Effect
The room was only five feet square. She could barely lie down in it. The walls were cracked, but otherwise without anything she could focus on. There was no air vent like in the old room; but this time there was a window. It was low enough that she could look out from her bed. The sill was wide enough that she could perch on it, the cool plaster cracked yet sturdy beneath her light weight.
It was storming outside and the large, bruised-looking clouds were visible even through the slats of metal that hid the cold glass. She could hear the rain pounding, feel it vibrate deep within her soul. She hadn’t felt rain in so long - she had almost forgotten that it could feel like anything at all outside of this place.
Only months ago she would still have associated the rain with him. Not now. Not after this.
The storm raged so hard that she swore she could hear the trees bending outside. She was on the bottom floor; maybe. That was uncertain, since she couldn’t see the ground; only the purple sky and the yellowish clouds coming in from the west. The colours spread across her vision, and the walls of her cell, like a kaleidoscope image. They twisted with the wind, and when she closed her eyes they were tattooed across her eyelids.
She could try to write something about it - the feeling. That’s what the psychiatrist would recommend.
She didn’t want to.The pencil was blunt, and they wouldn’t give her a pen. The paper was the back of a receipt that the guard had given her several nights ago. He had thought she wanted something to read.
“You’ll have the library soon enough,” he had told her. “Then you can read all they got.”
“No,” she had said. She would not keep a book locked up with her; it was inhumane. She imagined a room like this, one filled from floor to ceiling with books. Perhaps that would be a paradise. This room was too small for books. If literature lined these walls, she thought, then she would certainly suffocate.
Instead she turned her face back to the window and imagined instead what the rain might feel like on her cheeks. It might blind her, might hide the tears. She might laugh through it.
Perhaps, like the storm, this room would only be temporary - and then, instead of thinking of him with the coming rain she would think of herself.
Now, that would be a novelty.
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 6:00 pm
Heeee. Your writing makes me excited. I think you might turn into one of my rolemodels. Do you have a link to novels you've written? I've heard you talk about novels in the past, in other posts...
Okaydonefangirlinganyway.
The first piece... I would love to read more about that. That's such an interesting concept. If you have any of it posted anywhere, I'd like to see. That said, I think this tiny piece is pretty much complete, story wise. The rise from the water, the emotional struggle/dialogue, and then the landing, the end. If there were maybe more background in it, it could be its own little thing. I really enjoyed the characters though I don't know much about them, and I guess the background story at the top influenced my imagining them, but that doesn't make them less awesome. cx One thing I'm not sure about is how the little girl would know to say "lord", when they finally hit the shore. I suppose he could have brought the notion of religion down there, or if they preserved religion from when the city sunk or formed or whatever the story behind that is. Againmaybemereadingwhatyouhavesofarwouldhelpyouknowhwatever. << >> cx
Sorry, heh, just a really interesting concept and it'd probably make me spaz, if it were a book. Seems right up my alley.
Second one!
It made me really curious as to how she got there, in the asylum or prison or whatever it is heh. Also made me curious about the boy she refers to. I like to think it's his fault she's there... I like the thinking on the reader's part, the open-endedness of it.
I think you showed her innocence with the want of being in the rain, and how the guards treat her. It's probably the best they can do, a receipt, but it gives the feel he'd wanted to help.
The last two lines were amazing. Really great.
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Psychotic Maniacal Sanity Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 6:13 pm
I haven't written a drabble in so long. I'd forgotten the challenge of having to choose your words so carefully. Pacing is another issue entirely. Excuse the bitty nature of some of the sentences. It's a problem. smile
A drabble (for those of you who don't know) is usually an extremely short work of fiction of exactly one hundred words in length. Phew!
~ #3 - Peace of Mind
The pale morning was crowned over her head by the waving palms. Between her fingers, resting against the warmth of her thigh, she held a Suffering b*****d; the sprig of mint floated peacefully on the surface. The rum burned as it settled her stomach.
She looked out to the ocean, paid intense attention to the husks of crab claws on the glassy sands. With her bronze legs stretched out, she imagined what it would be like to be anywhere else. Probably monstrous. The best part about here was that she had him.
The ring on her finger glittered.
Finally.
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 6:17 pm
Thank you so much for the feedback! (And thank you very much for the compliment. whee ) I really do appreciate it. As for my novels being posted online, there's bits and pieces of them everywhere. rofl I have some in the SuWriMos guild, if you ever become a member... and there used to be some in the WF if I can find the links to them. Would you be interested? I stopped posting on FictionPress a while ago, so that's all outdated. X3 The one I used for my first challenge is only in a NaNoWriMo guild, but once it's edited up and finished (I'm going to be working on it over the summer) I could even email it to you if you'd like. I'm hoping that it'll be the first piece I work on enough to attempt publishing. =D As for Jemima and her "Oh, lord" - she's copying Leo. :] It's sort of indicative of the father-daughter relationship that the two of them have developed. I'm glad you liked my second piece! I like leaving shorts like that open-ended so it's all for the reader to interpret. ^^
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Psychotic Maniacal Sanity Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 6:34 pm
Psychotic Maniacal Sanity
I would be very honoured in having an edited copy by email, once you're done with it. It would make me really happy. I would definitely love to have other pieces of your writing. Guh, m'sorry it's spread all over though heh. I could stalk your post history, don't worry. You don't have to go through that trouble.
Her copying Leo is a really touching thing. I wish I knew more about them heh. I'll be patient though. Good things come to those who wait. cx
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 6:37 pm
Oh, the posts are oooold, you won't find them. I honestly don't mind. Tell you what, I'll find a good one with a decent amount of story, and post it in this guild for feedback. Would that work? Unfortunately this novel was one I was working on two years ago and only now have figured out how to finish - but I'll be working on it in less than 2 months, so don't worry! XD
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Psychotic Maniacal Sanity Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 6:43 pm
Psychotic Maniacal Sanity
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 6:46 pm
Honestly, I'm just psyched that somebody wants to read my s**t! rofl I'm currently deciding which novel to post. What's your favourite genre, and I'll see what I have that's the closest?
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Psychotic Maniacal Sanity Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 6:53 pm
Psychotic Maniacal Sanity
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 6:57 pm
It's sad that I'm having trouble finding something recent enough that it showcases my ability accurately. XD I've been having a rough couple of years. I do, however, have my novel from last NaNoWriMo. It's totally unedited, nowhere near finished, and is a weird bizarro fantasy thing... but I can always post that if you're interested? rofl
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Psychotic Maniacal Sanity Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 7:00 pm
Psychotic Maniacal Sanity
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 7:03 pm
Awesome! I'm just waiting to hear back whether I can make another member journal, because I don't really want to clog this one up. If I can't, I'll post it in the WF or... I guess you could even have the google doc if you like? I think I'd prefer that, since I don't want the whole WF reading this novel... XD I have so many novels to choose from, but most of them are now a few years old and still haven't been edited, so I'd feel guilty giving them to somebody to read. sweatdrop
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Psychotic Maniacal Sanity Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 7:10 pm
Psychotic Maniacal Sanity
Also, um, if ever you want someone to... perhaps not edit, but just... tell you what they think, of a whole piece like that... I'm not half bad in English, heh. I wouldn't mind telling you thoughts, in the future, or whatever. This seems very forward to me heh and there's no pressure, ever, but just throwing it out there.
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