Yep, I'm back... and a little rusty. This segment kinda sucks. It's mostly an excuse to name-drop and describe what the characters actually look like. Hopefully I'll soon get to the meat of the story and have things actually happen... until then, have this.
_4_
Zed stepped out of her office. She stood in front of the five girls, sitting neatly in a row against the wall. They all looked like they had just stepped off the stage of a play, something written centuries ago when everyone wore too much clothing with too many frills and decorations. She cleared her throat, the stares of the girls unsettling her. Their skin had a shimmering, unreal quality, more like paint or cream than skin. Standing close to them, Zed could almost feel some sort of warmth radiating from them. She clicked the recorder on her lapel on.
"Now first, I would like to get everyone's names."
The girl on the left spoke first. "I'll start! My name's Cherry," she chirped, smiling wide. She looked to be in her early teen years, with a thin, wiry frame. She had green eyes and soft-looking green hair falling down a little past her shoulders, with a red cloth cap. If it was dyed, it was a professional job; it looked natural to Zed. She had on an expensive-looking dress, red down the middle with white sleeves. Zed jotted her name down on her notebook.
"My name's Sunny," the next girl said. Her hair was a soft golden color, like wheat, held into long twin-tails by a pair of thin, white ribbons. Her eyes were a similar white. She had white vest that stretched all the way down into a skirt, with a yellowish streak running up the center, and white arm-socks, like detached sleeves.
"I'm Lunara." The third girl's body was mostly hidden under a poofy black dress, with a wide black hat lying loosely on her head, her orange-tinted hair down to around her chest. The sleeves of her dress were rolled up to her upper arms. The outfit reminded her of those witch costumes women used to wear sometimes on Halloween.
"I'm Flora," the fourth girl looked to be the oldest, sitting a few inches taller than the other girls. Compared to the others she looked downright matronly, with thick white hair partially hidden under her bonnet. She had a lavender dress that looked a size too large for her, with a white apron around her waist.
"I'm Noelle," the final girl said. She was noticeably shorter than the others. Zed guessed that she was about three feet tall, with the boyish face of a ten-year-old. Her hair was a short, sparkling blue, the color of the ocean, with a big dark-blue bow on the back of her head. She had a blue jumper dress, with a crisp white blouse underneath.
Zed scribbled sentence fragments of her impressions onto her notebook. Lots of white. Clothing themed on colors. Pastels; red, blue, black. Layered, uncomfortable looking.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
More Content
This section skips forward a bit, so I'll summarize what got skipped:
The girls got taken to the Blue building, where the government officials of Sector 34 (where the story takes place) gather and do stuff. We learn that the black guy's name is Dudley, he is the head overseer of Sector 34, where the story takes place, and the driver of his car is his right-hand man, taking care of all his busywork. He has a name, but everyone calls him The Intern. As the scene opens, The Girls are waiting to get documented: get their photos taken, get interviewed, etc., and Dudley and The Intern are discussing the situation.
_____3_____
Here's that coffee you wanted." The Intern handed the fresh mug to Dudley.
"Thanks." He took a sip. "Today's gonna be a long day. Strap in." The Intern had worked with Dudley long enough to catch on to all his nervous habits and expressions. He could see Dudley's free hand drumming his fingers on his palm.
"Look at it this way, it's a test. We can expand our horizons, and see just how effective we are when something like this happens."
Dudley gave a single sharp laugh. "Yeah. Got the cameras set up?"
The Intern nodded. "Set, checked, and rolling. Not quite sure why you want them."
"I'm not taking any chances. Nobody's seen these girls before, there was nothing else at the crash site. These girls must've broken the laws of physics to survive completely intact."
"Girls... weird word. Isn't used much anymore."
"That's because we don't really have 'girls' anymore. a 'girl' is immature and naive." Dudley took a long drink of coffee. "Let's start with the tall one, with white hair. She seems to be their leader."
The girls got taken to the Blue building, where the government officials of Sector 34 (where the story takes place) gather and do stuff. We learn that the black guy's name is Dudley, he is the head overseer of Sector 34, where the story takes place, and the driver of his car is his right-hand man, taking care of all his busywork. He has a name, but everyone calls him The Intern. As the scene opens, The Girls are waiting to get documented: get their photos taken, get interviewed, etc., and Dudley and The Intern are discussing the situation.
_____3_____
Here's that coffee you wanted." The Intern handed the fresh mug to Dudley.
"Thanks." He took a sip. "Today's gonna be a long day. Strap in." The Intern had worked with Dudley long enough to catch on to all his nervous habits and expressions. He could see Dudley's free hand drumming his fingers on his palm.
"Look at it this way, it's a test. We can expand our horizons, and see just how effective we are when something like this happens."
Dudley gave a single sharp laugh. "Yeah. Got the cameras set up?"
The Intern nodded. "Set, checked, and rolling. Not quite sure why you want them."
"I'm not taking any chances. Nobody's seen these girls before, there was nothing else at the crash site. These girls must've broken the laws of physics to survive completely intact."
"Girls... weird word. Isn't used much anymore."
"That's because we don't really have 'girls' anymore. a 'girl' is immature and naive." Dudley took a long drink of coffee. "Let's start with the tall one, with white hair. She seems to be their leader."
Friday, November 5, 2010
Rough Draft of ACTUAL CONTENT 8O
Please excuse some of the awkward descriptions, this is a rough draft so it alternates between "actual prose" and "just kinda listing stuff that happens."
_____1_____
Cherry was falling.
The wind pounded on her ears and stung her eyes. "I can't fly!" she screamed, barely able to hear herself. She could see her friends, Erin, Sunny, Mina and Lunara, falling around her. Erin was shouting something she couldn't hear, struggling to make wild hand gestures against the wind.
Cherry looked down and instantly regretted it as she saw the ground, a swirl of gray-brown-green splotches of color, speeding toward her. She strained her mind again, trying to at least slow her fall. It was useless, her powers no longer worked. She could feel the closeness of the ground now. She curled up and clenched her teeth, bracing for the impact.
_____2_____
A cloud of debris erupted with the crash. The impact dug the five of them deep into the ground, launching up jagged chunks of concrete. Then, silence. The five of them lay there in a pile, still bracing for the crash.
"...We're still alive?" Mina whispered. She wrenched her eyes open, the cloud stinging her eyes and mouth. She crawled off of Erin and stood up.
"We did it!" Sunny shouted, springing to her feet and pumping her fists in the air. The dust began to settle as the rest of them composed themselves.
They could see the uniform gray of the concrete stretching for miles in both directions, boxy metal buildings spaced uniformly between patches of grass and plants. They were struck with a sense of vertigo, like they could run for miles and the landscape would be unchanged.
"Where are we?" Lunara whispered to herself. Erin bit her lip as White leaned close to her, holding on to her skirt for support. People began pouring out of the buildings, forming a circle around them, none of them daring to get too close. The Girls huddled closer together, the air suddenly thick and nervous. Cherry scanned the crowd. There were other girls like them, but looking much older, toned bodies that arced back and forth with their breasts and hips, small eyes and thick, colored lips. Others, though, were different. Even taller than the girls, they were sharp and angular-looking, lacking the soft arcs of the girls, with hairier arms and legs and faces.
One end of the crowd parted as a car began rumbling down the road, squealing to a stop a few feet from the crowd. It was a large white van, with a shining red cross pained on each side. The doors of the van swung open and four men jumped out of it, with bright white coats and red toolboxes, forcing their way through the circle. They stopped in their tracks when they saw the girls. They all stood in silence, jaws hanging open, until finally one of them finally spoke.
"Are you... who are you? Did you fall? What happened?"
Sunny began talking rapidly. "I don't know, I'm sorry! We were just playing and we were going over the ocean and we hit this barrier and we couldn't even see it, we just started pushing against it, and we fell through, and then we just started falling, I don't even know where we are!"
"Calm down, ma'am," the man said, stepping a bit closer. "Are any of you hurt?" He felt like it was a stupid question, none of them had so much as a scratch on them. Not even their clothing was damaged in the fall. He wouldn't have believed that they were what had fallen, but there was nothing else around that could've produced such a crater, and no scattered shrapnel.
A second car, this one small and sleek, pulled to a stop near the van. Cherry tensed up even more when the passenger in the back stepped out. He might not have been the tallest there, but his posture and swagger he looked twenty feet tall. His skin was an inky, threatening black. His head was shaved bare, and lines pockmarked his face. If the other people around her were a perversion of form, this one was an all-out destruction, a borderline monster. She heard Mina's muffled gasp as she buried her face in Erin's dress, overwhelmed with fear.
"What happened?" he said. His voice was like massive steel gears grinding together.
"I... I... We..." Sunny struggled to form a sentence. His stare felt like needles going through her head. She looked away and shut her eyes. The silence heated the air as he continued to stare at each of them in turn.
"We fell here," Luna said, puffing her chest out and crossing her arms in defiance.
"I see that." He said. "Funny thing is, to fall down, you've got to get up."
"We live up there." She pointed a finger directly up, continuing to meet the man's stare.
He looked up, then back down, straight at Luna. She in turn gave the best stare she could, scrunching her eyebrows and pursing her lips. Finally, the man sighed, his face softening as he smiled sadly. "I can see you're not lying. I think we might have to discuss a few things." He turned around and gestured to the driver, still standing outside the circle of people. "I think we're going to need another car."
_____1_____
Cherry was falling.
The wind pounded on her ears and stung her eyes. "I can't fly!" she screamed, barely able to hear herself. She could see her friends, Erin, Sunny, Mina and Lunara, falling around her. Erin was shouting something she couldn't hear, struggling to make wild hand gestures against the wind.
Cherry looked down and instantly regretted it as she saw the ground, a swirl of gray-brown-green splotches of color, speeding toward her. She strained her mind again, trying to at least slow her fall. It was useless, her powers no longer worked. She could feel the closeness of the ground now. She curled up and clenched her teeth, bracing for the impact.
_____2_____
A cloud of debris erupted with the crash. The impact dug the five of them deep into the ground, launching up jagged chunks of concrete. Then, silence. The five of them lay there in a pile, still bracing for the crash.
"...We're still alive?" Mina whispered. She wrenched her eyes open, the cloud stinging her eyes and mouth. She crawled off of Erin and stood up.
"We did it!" Sunny shouted, springing to her feet and pumping her fists in the air. The dust began to settle as the rest of them composed themselves.
They could see the uniform gray of the concrete stretching for miles in both directions, boxy metal buildings spaced uniformly between patches of grass and plants. They were struck with a sense of vertigo, like they could run for miles and the landscape would be unchanged.
"Where are we?" Lunara whispered to herself. Erin bit her lip as White leaned close to her, holding on to her skirt for support. People began pouring out of the buildings, forming a circle around them, none of them daring to get too close. The Girls huddled closer together, the air suddenly thick and nervous. Cherry scanned the crowd. There were other girls like them, but looking much older, toned bodies that arced back and forth with their breasts and hips, small eyes and thick, colored lips. Others, though, were different. Even taller than the girls, they were sharp and angular-looking, lacking the soft arcs of the girls, with hairier arms and legs and faces.
One end of the crowd parted as a car began rumbling down the road, squealing to a stop a few feet from the crowd. It was a large white van, with a shining red cross pained on each side. The doors of the van swung open and four men jumped out of it, with bright white coats and red toolboxes, forcing their way through the circle. They stopped in their tracks when they saw the girls. They all stood in silence, jaws hanging open, until finally one of them finally spoke.
"Are you... who are you? Did you fall? What happened?"
Sunny began talking rapidly. "I don't know, I'm sorry! We were just playing and we were going over the ocean and we hit this barrier and we couldn't even see it, we just started pushing against it, and we fell through, and then we just started falling, I don't even know where we are!"
"Calm down, ma'am," the man said, stepping a bit closer. "Are any of you hurt?" He felt like it was a stupid question, none of them had so much as a scratch on them. Not even their clothing was damaged in the fall. He wouldn't have believed that they were what had fallen, but there was nothing else around that could've produced such a crater, and no scattered shrapnel.
A second car, this one small and sleek, pulled to a stop near the van. Cherry tensed up even more when the passenger in the back stepped out. He might not have been the tallest there, but his posture and swagger he looked twenty feet tall. His skin was an inky, threatening black. His head was shaved bare, and lines pockmarked his face. If the other people around her were a perversion of form, this one was an all-out destruction, a borderline monster. She heard Mina's muffled gasp as she buried her face in Erin's dress, overwhelmed with fear.
"What happened?" he said. His voice was like massive steel gears grinding together.
"I... I... We..." Sunny struggled to form a sentence. His stare felt like needles going through her head. She looked away and shut her eyes. The silence heated the air as he continued to stare at each of them in turn.
"We fell here," Luna said, puffing her chest out and crossing her arms in defiance.
"I see that." He said. "Funny thing is, to fall down, you've got to get up."
"We live up there." She pointed a finger directly up, continuing to meet the man's stare.
He looked up, then back down, straight at Luna. She in turn gave the best stare she could, scrunching her eyebrows and pursing her lips. Finally, the man sighed, his face softening as he smiled sadly. "I can see you're not lying. I think we might have to discuss a few things." He turned around and gestured to the driver, still standing outside the circle of people. "I think we're going to need another car."
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
So What's This all About Anyway?
"We are not a society. Society has been defined through the millenia by petty wars over religion and politics and expanding empires. By an unending race to see who can get the most money, power and land. We have no religion, no politics, no corporations or monopolies or classes of wealth. We are beyond society. We are Novamond."
-Dudley Danford
Thanks for Being Beautiful is a science fiction novel. It takes place in the world of Novamond. Build from the ashes of a world devastated by a third World War. The remaining world finally got its act together. Millenia of technology and scientific knowledge have finally been put to good use, meaning the average person can spend more time on vacation than working. Built from the ground up to be independent, Novamond emphasises individual responsibility and sufficiency: people grow their own food, fix their own appliances, and treat their own sicknesses. Because of all this, currency and economy have been thrown out the window: who needs an economy in a world where it's easy to make enough for everyone, and then some? Mankind's natural urges are released through raves, drugs, and competitive logic puzzles, MMO's taken to their logical extreme. Novamond seems to have finally created a collape-proof world.
~~~BUT THEN!~~~
Five girls crash into the ground in Sector 34 of Novamond Northwest, seemingly from nowhere. They're unscathed, even though they fell for miles. The five girls are youthful and beautiful, and many people in the Sector quickly become fascinated with them. The girls are capable of magical acts, even being able to fly briefly, but their powers are limited back on Earth. As the girls are trapped, unable to work their way back home, the interest in the girls starts to turn more and more dangerous: cameras start to follow the girls, people fight over who gets to be in their company, and the more unscrupulous people try to manipulate them. The girls start to strain the seams holding society together, as Dudley, head of Sector 34,does whatever he can to keep those seams from breaking: surrounding the girls with bodyguards, monitoring the more dangerous people, most at risk for hurting the girls.
Even that doesn't stop Dudley's fears from coming true: four of the at-risk people get caught kidnapping one of the girls. The fiasco ends with a burned-down apartment complex, and three of the four men shot dead. The girls, formerly oblivious to the danger, now realize how much trouble they're in.
The ending? Well, I'm not gonna spoil everything here.
-Dudley Danford
Thanks for Being Beautiful is a science fiction novel. It takes place in the world of Novamond. Build from the ashes of a world devastated by a third World War. The remaining world finally got its act together. Millenia of technology and scientific knowledge have finally been put to good use, meaning the average person can spend more time on vacation than working. Built from the ground up to be independent, Novamond emphasises individual responsibility and sufficiency: people grow their own food, fix their own appliances, and treat their own sicknesses. Because of all this, currency and economy have been thrown out the window: who needs an economy in a world where it's easy to make enough for everyone, and then some? Mankind's natural urges are released through raves, drugs, and competitive logic puzzles, MMO's taken to their logical extreme. Novamond seems to have finally created a collape-proof world.
~~~BUT THEN!~~~
Five girls crash into the ground in Sector 34 of Novamond Northwest, seemingly from nowhere. They're unscathed, even though they fell for miles. The five girls are youthful and beautiful, and many people in the Sector quickly become fascinated with them. The girls are capable of magical acts, even being able to fly briefly, but their powers are limited back on Earth. As the girls are trapped, unable to work their way back home, the interest in the girls starts to turn more and more dangerous: cameras start to follow the girls, people fight over who gets to be in their company, and the more unscrupulous people try to manipulate them. The girls start to strain the seams holding society together, as Dudley, head of Sector 34,does whatever he can to keep those seams from breaking: surrounding the girls with bodyguards, monitoring the more dangerous people, most at risk for hurting the girls.
Even that doesn't stop Dudley's fears from coming true: four of the at-risk people get caught kidnapping one of the girls. The fiasco ends with a burned-down apartment complex, and three of the four men shot dead. The girls, formerly oblivious to the danger, now realize how much trouble they're in.
The ending? Well, I'm not gonna spoil everything here.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Okay. I'm really gonna try and do this. For reals, you guys.
Hello!
If you're reading this, you're probably a friend of mine. You've also probably heard me talk about a novel I'm writing. Thanks for Being Beautiful is its tentative title.
This blog will be a catalog of all things related to that, from nuts-and-bolts stuff like outlines and character sheets to actual rough drafts to more general stuff like updates, question, and so on.
I'm not sure how often I'll update, but given how many people know about it by now I certainly won't be backing out.
If you're reading this, you're probably a friend of mine. You've also probably heard me talk about a novel I'm writing. Thanks for Being Beautiful is its tentative title.
This blog will be a catalog of all things related to that, from nuts-and-bolts stuff like outlines and character sheets to actual rough drafts to more general stuff like updates, question, and so on.
I'm not sure how often I'll update, but given how many people know about it by now I certainly won't be backing out.
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