|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 3:26 pm
Hey! Anyway, this is a story I'm working on and I'm looking for some critique because every one on Deviantart.com hates reading. This is just the first part I have more though (the prologue has a lot of run-on sentences. It's a action/comedy that is about the teenage predecessor to the grim reaper and his friends the next god and devil.
The Grim Reaper Chronicles
Prologue: As the moon reached it’s zenith in the night sky, a young man crouched over a pile of skulls and bones. He had hair the color of the sun and eyes the color of the greenest green. His right hand at his side and his left hand rested on the black scythe on his shoulder blades. His eyes shut as the moon reached its zenith and waited for that sliver of moonlight to reflect off his scythe’s blade. He wore only black and wore a skull and cross bones chain around his neck. His feet were on there toes as if he was ready to jump at any moment. The area was mostly dirt and sand and a dying tree stood near the center. A crow as black as night cried it’s crow was in sync with his heart. It cried again this time louder more and more began to circle the tree. The scythe gleamed in the moonlight and he opened his eyes. Not speaking he stood and raised the scythe off of his shoulders and pointed it at the pile of leaves on the ground. The leaves blew away revealing a corpse. The sliver of light was drawn closer and closer until it was over the corpse. It rose and groaned, shaking off the chains of death. It’s arms dragged behind it as it approached the boy. He got off the pile of bones. Black blood followed the corpse burning anything it touched. It choked and groaned as if trying to say something. The corpse picked up speed and ran at him. He twirled the scythe with precision and cut the body in two. More black blood came from the corpse as it began to re-piece the wounds. Like a dancer, He moved with such speed and agility that it would put god to shame. He slashed again at the corpse only to have more blood erupt from it. He jumped back before the acidic substance could hit him. His face was not that of happiness nor anger but more serious than any emotion. The corpse came at him faster it’s arms dragging behind it and tried to hit the young man with such force it cracked the tree in front of it. He jumped and swung the scythe at the arms. The sound of it slicing through bones was sickening and the arms fell to the side. The boy landed on his feet and pointed the scythe at him. His feet together and in a stance you could have sworn he was using a sword. The corpse fell. Again it omitted a choking and gagging sound as if trying to form words. A gargling sound came from it and the choking stopped it was silent for a moment. The corpse ran at the boy and he disappeared completely, the corpse stopped and stood there as if it had won the fight. But before it could realize what happened a slash of black energy went across the corpse and it fell in two and the boy faded back into visibility. The corpse once again gurgled and then it stopped short and opened its mouth one more time. “Your god and you will burn.” It said in an old man’s voice and fell to the ground. It began to turn to dust and the wind and the boy turned his eyes shut again and he walked into the darkness of the night and disappeared. He reappeared on top of a clock tower in a schoolyard. He stood there as many students ran into the building. Demons, Angels, Vampires and many other things of legends were students here and they were all being trained to take their place on earth. The young man was special, he was also a student but he represented both heaven and hell. He was the god’s hit man and exorcist. His name was simple yet strong. His name was Reaper.
Chapter 1: Sunlight blanked the white room. At first glance it looked like a normal college student’s dorm. Drinks and bags of chips scattered on the floor. The kitchen part was littered with half-empty coffee pots and the counter needed to be clean. Ramen noodle packages lay scattered near the stove. The only thing wrong with this room was the black scythe lying against the left wall and a floating small version of a skeleton with wearing a black cloak covering its body and head, leaving only its hands revealed and deep green eyes. It floated in a circle around the bed that had Reaper passed out in the same clothes with the blanked pulled up to his torso. “WAKE THE HELL UP REAPER!!!” It shouted, the room almost shaking from the sound. Reaper lurched up panting. He glanced around the room before throwing a pillow at the skeleton. “Some alarm.” He muttered and got out of bed. He glanced down and looked at the skeleton on the ground. It pushed itself out of the pillow and went back into the air. “Well I wouldn’t have to do that if you had just woken up on time.” The skeleton said and crossed its. Reaper cocked an eyebrow “Well, Bones. You and I both know that I am allowed to be late for school once ever year due to a reaping. So no worries there.” Reaper replied and headed back to bed. Bones flew around him so he was in front of him. He extended his arm and faced his palm towards Reaper. Reaper floated for a second and Bones looked at him “Well we both know you already used that pass so you’re going to be late if you don’t hurry up.” He said, Reaper could feel the invisible smile and he headed off to school. He got out of the room and ran down the stairs. “Scythe!” He shouted and the scythe materialized its self into his hands. He jumped on it and rode it like you would a skateboard. He flew out of the building and into the streets. He entered the schools gate before it shut and jumped off the scythe and it disappeared and appeared as a bracelet on his arm. Reaper ran as fast as he could into the school and into a classroom filled with creatures. The teacher wasn’t here but Reaper ran down the aisle and sat down next to a teenage dressed in all white with a halo on his head. “Reaper!” He shouted and smiled. He hand bright blue, eyes and blonde hair. His face was flawless and so was his body. He wore a white tunic and brow sandals. Like a god would wear. “Hey Next-G.” Reaper said and gave a high-five to his friend. Reaper glanced at the floating small version of a god on Next-G’s shoulder. Bones quickly appeared on Reaper’s shoulder as well. Bones and the small angel floated off to talk. The temperature began to rise and a girl entered the door. Wearing nothing but red like fire. She was beautiful. She has blonde hair with red highlights and wore a red dress with matching high heels. She had a pointed tail and wore deep red lipstick and nail polish. The temperature began to return to normal and she took a seat next to Reaper and Next-G “She-devil!” Reaper said and she giggled quietly. “Reaper, Next God. It’s so good to see you boys again.” Her very voice was enchanting and seductive. She sat down at opened her books and sighed “Anyone but me just realized how simple our names are.” She said and Angel shrugged and Reaper nodded “It’s liked some bored fifteen year old created our names.” He said and She-devil laughed. She stopped and the chatter of the students died down as the chair by the desk was circled by black smoke. When it had disappeared a man sat there. He had black hair and one of his eyes was covered with a black patch. He wore gray clothes and sandals. “Good morning students.” He said and got up and turned his back to the class and began to write on the board. “Good Morning Mr. Ment.” The class said in unison. Mr. Ment turned and walked forward. “Today, Class. We will be talking about Heaven magic and Hell magic. These are powers that are granted to all the immortal creatures. A great example Miss Danielle, Mr. Nai and Reaper for each control these magic.” He said pointing at Reaper, Next-G and She-devil. Each hated being called their real names all except Reaper. Danielle thought her name didn’t sound like it belonged to a devil and Nai hated his because he thought it made him sound old. Mr. Ment turned and pointed at the three. “Nai is the next god of the immortal and mortal realm so he obviously controls all heaven magic while Danielle is the next devil or ruler of the hell of the mortal and immortal realm so she controls hell magic. However only one being can control both and he is sitting next to them, Reaper who as his name suggests is the next Grim Reaper controls Heaven Magic with his left hand and Hell magic with his right. This is because he is the master of death for both realms therefore he controls both magic.” Mr. Ment lectured. The students began to murmur amongst each other telling each other what they controlled. Mr. Ment held up his hand and the chatter stopped “This doesn’t mean that Hell magic is evil and Heaven magic is good. No, it just simply means that each has its purpose. Heaven magic consists of healing and elemental powers and energy beams while Hell magic involves more fighting techniques such as telekinesis, invisibility and speed.” He said and then he stopped “Each of you might have noticed the little floating people on their shoulders well they are the previous god, devil and Grim Reaper and they turn this way so they can train them so they can be the next God, Devil and Grim Reaper.” He said and Reaper sunk into his chair and Bones floated above him, happy with all eyes on him. The students muttered to themselves and then Mr. Ment held up his hand again. Light erupted from his eyes for a minute. “Reaper, you have a assignment. Get going.” He said and Reaper nodded and he walked out of the classroom. Bones looked at Reaper “What do you think it is?” He asked and Reaper shrugged “Zombies and Bogeymen only appear at night and anything at day would be humans and they usually are paranoid or hard to take care of.” Reaper said and Bones shrugged and Reaper held out his hand the scythe appeared. He slashed the air and a black rip appeared and it sucked him in. He flew through the black void and it opened up in Venice, Italy. He turned and walked forward and into an alley. Four men lay there a pool of blood around them and their bodies torn apart. Reaper held out his left hand and his palm glowed. He levitated and flew forward and looked at the bodies. It was a gruesome mess of mortals but it wasn’t something Reaper hadn’t seen. Bones looked puzzled “What do you think did this?” He asked and Reaper shrugged “an extremely strong evil power.” He said in his eyes he saw red aura around the area. “Vampires.” He said and Bones looked at him “Hungry ones.” He added and Bones looked at the bodies.
At the same time about a thousand miles away and in the immortal realm a black palace stood. Inside the throne room a woman in a black dress sat on a throne her face shrouded by darkness. Her face rested on her hand, In front of her stood a teenage boy and a teenage girl. The boy wore a black suit with a red tie and he had black hair and red eyes and the girl wore a black dress with red nails and high heels she also had black hair but hers had red highlights and red eyes “Dusk, Dawn. Did you enjoy your midnight snack?” The woman asked. They nodded “Good but do you know what tastes much better than mortal blood?” She asked and they both shrugged. “I’m sorry Queen Demonata, I am not in the mood for undead blood I’m not in the mood for spicy.” The boy said and bowed and the woman who was Queen Demonata laughed “No, Dusk. You see I am the Queen of the things that go bump in the night. In order to cement my rule I must get rid of a few thorns but what if we could get rid of the rose itself?” She said and the girl shook her head “I’m not sure if we follow what you are saying, your highness.” She said and the Queen laughed again “Well Dawn if we can destroy the one who is both Demonic and Heavenly then we can take over the immortal realm and the mortal realm. In other words we must destroy the grim reaper.” She said and Dusk and Dawn both were taken back by the suggestion. “How, He is the master of both Heaven and Hell magic. Bones, He is just too strong.” Dusk said and the Queen sighed “He was the previous Grim Reaper.” She said and waved her hand over a mirror in front of her and a projection of Reaper and Bones where they were at in Italy “Hey it’s the snack from last night!” Dusk said licking his lips “The boy floating, He is the next Grim Reaper. He is also your next meal. I’ve been told that only one vampire has gotten a taste of the blood of the grim reaper and he said it was the tastiest blood he’s ever tasted and even the best mortal blood couldn’t replace the taste. If you drink the blood of the grim reaper and kill him, you both will become vampire legends. Both of you are the strongest vampires I know which is why you are my trusted servants. Kill the Grim Reaper and you will be rewarded.” She said and they both nodded and ran out of there licking their lips, at superhuman speed. She looked into the projection and smiled and began to sing “Lock doors and the windows too, don’t even try to run because Demonata is coming for you.” She sang quietly in a haunting melody, Reaper looked up “Did you hear something?” He asked Bones and Bones shrugged and Demonata laughed and the projection disappeared.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:45 pm
Sorry, but polls are prohibited from any forums outside the polls forum.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 8:01 pm
iamasuperawesomeninja Sorry, but polls are prohibited from any forums outside the polls forum. Unaware and I will delete it.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 3:18 pm
Don't worry, luv, I promised you a review and you'll get it 3nodding Just gimme some time to clear some things out with the guild first.
I only read the first few lines out of interest, and I can already see you improved a GREAT deal from your journal entries. I had actually already written a review for the first chapter in your journal, but I lost it and my motivation alongside it crying Sorry I never came around.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 7:48 pm
Atra Angel Don't worry, luv, I promised you a review and you'll get it 3nodding Just gimme some time to clear some things out with the guild first.
I only read the first few lines out of interest, and I can already see you improved a GREAT deal from your journal entries. I had actually already written a review for the first chapter in your journal, but I lost it and my motivation alongside it crying Sorry I never came around. You did? Where? Yeah, I guess I did. I'm still not as good as I'd like to be (I'm still an amature after all), but I practically write every day working on new stories or completing old ones. It also has been a good two years too so I would have hope I'd improved!
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 9:24 am
DJ711 As the moon reached it’s zenith in the night sky, a young man crouched over a pile of skulls and bones. First off, "it's" is not a possessive noun, but rather a contraction standing for "it is." It's a common mistake to assume that when "it" becomes possessive, that it gains an apostrophe before it's 's' like any other possessive noun, but it actually doesn't-- the correct word you're seeking is:
"...reached its zenith..."He had hair the color of the sun and eyes the color of the greenest green. His right hand at his side and his left hand rested on the black scythe on his shoulder blades. I think that there should be a single comma after "green" to combine the two sentences:
"...green, his right hand at his side and..."His eyes shut as the moon reached its zenith and waited for that sliver of moonlight to reflect off his scythe’s blade. Omit everything after the word "shut." All it does is rephrase what your first sentence said, so you don't need it unless you're writing poetry. Also, if you break down the sentence, it turns out that the action "waited" is being committed by "eyes," so you need to split the sentence into a compound sentence like follows:
"...eyes shut, and he waited..."He wore only black and wore a skull and cross bones chain around his neck. His feet were on there toes as if he was ready to jump at any moment. The previous sentence about him closing his eyes and waiting should be moved to after these sentences-- don't interrupt the describing of your characters with their actions, okay? Fully describe them first so that we can form the whole picture and better imagine their image.
Don't repeat the verb in the first sentence and change everything after "wore" into a clause; describe his outfit more, too. We know he's in black, but that still doesn't tell us what he's wearing. Is he dressed in a trenchcoat and boots? In a corset and skirt? And contrast the white of the skull and bones to his black outfit.You need to tell us so that we can envision the scene.
In the second sentence, follow "were" with a vivid verb to emphasize the action, like "were balanced" or "were poised." You mistook "there" for "their."
"He wore simple black--black trenchcoat, black boots, black jacket, black slacks--a skull and crossbones chain around his neck was the only contrast. His feet were poised on their toes, as if tensed to leap at any moment.The area was mostly dirt and sand and a dying tree stood near the center. Begin this as a new paragraph. Comma after "sand," but I think you should change the latter sentence into a clause anyway.
"...and sand, a dying tree standing near..." A crow as black as night cried it’s crow was in sync with his heart. It cried again this time louder more and more began to circle the tree. "...cried, its screams in sync with his heart. It cawed again, louder this time, and began to..."
Don't use "crow" as both a noun and verb in the same sentence. Its calls should be plural, because heartbeats are also plural, and the caws are matching it, right?The scythe gleamed in the moonlight and he opened his eyes. Not speaking he stood and raised the scythe off of his shoulders and pointed it at the pile of leaves on the ground. Comma after "and" in the first sentence.
It's good that there's no comma behind "not speaking." Commas are so easily overused; most people assume all clauses at the start of sentences need a comma, but they're wrong. The general rule is that if a clause or phrase has three or less words, it needs no comma. The only exceptions are nonessential dependent clauses and phrases demanding consideration. That probably didn't make sense, so here; just listen to how each sentence flows, okay?
"Not speaking, he..." "Not speaking he..."
"Moving on, the friends left in a hurry." There's an instinctual pause after "moving on," so it needs a comma there. This is a 'demanding consideration' kind of phrase. "Running, they cleared the fence." Not only is "running" nonessential, but it's another 'demanding consideration' kind. Compare it to: "Running they cleared..." It flows better with the comma, right? "In May my sister will leave." Prepositions are usually the only ones accounted by the rule in the first place, so just watch out, kay? ^^
In the second sentence, too, you used double prepositions. That's a huge no-no, because they are wordy and take up useless space. Switch "off of" to simply "off." Now, when describing the scene, we never noticed a pile of leaves, so don't use "the" with it, because it draws too much attention to the item. Compare "an apple" to "the apple"; doesn't "the apple" seem more important than "an apple"? But you can't just start talking about "the apple" without taking note that there is "an apple" in the area in the first place:
"The scythe gleamed in the moonlight, and he opened his eyes. Not speaking he stood and raised the scythe off his shoulders and pointed it at a pile of leaves on the ground."The leaves blew away revealing a corpse. The sliver of light was drawn closer and closer until it was over the corpse. Combine this into a single flowing sentence:
"The leaves blew away, revealing a corpse highlighted by the moonlight."It rose and groaned, shaking off the chains of death. It’s arms dragged behind it as it approached the boy. Also combine into a sentence:
"It rose and groaned, shaking off the chains of its death, and turning its attention to the boy, it approached him, limp arms dragging behind it."He got off the pile of bones. Don't just randomly stick this sentence in the middle of the corpse's actions-- it makes it seem nonessential. Add another sentence or two to help add to the importance of this action. Also, use a more vivid verb:
"He left the pile of bones, weighing his scythe in his hands. His face was set blank, as if already bored of this scene which he had witnessed so many times before."Black blood followed the corpse burning anything it touched. It choked and groaned as if trying to say something. Combine these and use the new sentence to start a new paragraph. Also, how can the black blood burn anything is the entire clearing is just dirt and a single tree? Is it burning the remaining leaves in the pile?
"Black blood followed the corpse, who choked and groaned voiceless words as it reached for the boy. The forgotten leaf pile, smeared with the blood, sizzled and shrank under invisible fire."The corpse picked up speed and ran at him. He twirled the scythe with precision and cut the body in two. "The corpse paused, then suddenly lunged for him with unexpected speed. The boy, already prepared, twirled his scythe and sliced the corpse in two with deadly precision."More black blood came from the corpse as it began to re-piece the wounds. "Black bled from the corpse's wound, the rotting skin knitting together."Like a dancer, He moved with such speed and agility that it would put god to shame. "...he moved with enough speed and agility to shame any Olympic athlete."
I changed your comparison because there are no terms for God's speed, so it would be wiser to instead compare the boy's speed to something that possesses great speed, like an athlete.He slashed again at the corpse only to have more blood erupt from it. "...corpse, only..."He jumped back before the acidic substance could hit him. His face was not that of happiness nor anger but more serious than any emotion. ...hit him, his face more serious than any described emotion."
Ignore the emotion I stuck in his face earlier.The corpse came at him faster it’s arms dragging behind it and tried to hit the young man with such force it cracked the tree in front of it. ...faster, aiming for the boy. Instead it collided with the tree, the dead wood cracking and breaking under the force."
We already know it's dragging its arms, so don't repeat it.He jumped and swung the scythe at the arms. "...the scythe at the corpse's dragging arms."The sound of it slicing through bones was sickening and the arms fell to the side. The arms fell with a sickening sound of sliced bone and flesh."The boy landed on his feet and pointed the scythe at him. His feet together and in a stance you could have sworn he was using a sword. The corpse fell. "The boy landed and held a new stance, as if bearing a sword rather than a scythe. The corpse stumbled and collapsed to the ground."
Never EVER use the words "I" or "you" in third person writing unless in quotes. Never address your audience; only the characters or poetry is allowed to do that.Again it omitted a choking and gagging sound as if trying to form words. A gargling sound came from it and the choking stopped it was silent for a moment. The corpse ran at the boy and he disappeared completely, the corpse stopped and stood there as if it had won the fight. Start a new paragraph:
"Again the corpse choked and moaned, vainly mouthing silent words. And then it stopped, suddenly silent. But if the boy had thought it was over, he was wrong; the corpse rolled to its knees and returned to its feet, immediately lunging for the boy.
The boy vanished, as if wiped from the air and from existence. The corpse seemed pleased at this development, grinning with crooked dead teeth.To be continued, but I'll give you what I know so far: Work On: .Repetition. You seem to be doing this every so often, and it needs to stop. This commonly happens when you're not writing it all in one go; you write at intervals and forget what was written before. It's common. Just skim through what you've written before you write again ^^ .Vivid verbs. Use some variety and grab some vivid words. Don't snatch every synonym you can find-- sure, "scream" is a synonym of "call," but it doesn't mean that you should use it when you're character is only trying to get someone's attention across the room. .Compress. You're compressing all your sentences into as few paragraphs as possible. Spread it out a bit. A paragraph is technically three to four sentences, but I believe that a new paragraph starts a new angle of the story. In other words, one paragraph on describing the boy, the next on the scene, the next on his actions with the leaf pile, and et cetera. .Description. You need to bring more on the scene and the characters. Give us more about what the boy looks like, how disgusting the rotting corpse is, what the corpse once looked like, and such. Strengths: .Improvement. In such a short time, you've transcended into a whole new level of writing! I know you're still amateur, but with more practice, you'll become an excellent writer! .Description. While you do need to work on this, you have your amazing moments, like the first sentence. Zenith is such a beautiful and neglected word; I was so happy when you used it!
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:48 am
Haha! It's cute, different, but cute. I'm a writer myself, and aside from the grammar mistakes, I like your writing so far.
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|