Darkniciad

Got a little more done today.  Passed 11k words, and I'm maybe halfway through this Celes scene.  She and Andrea ( and Ashley ) are coming back to the manor at the same time, so their threads merge again when I pick back up.

I'll try to get a little more done tomorrow — possibly even try to do some time management to open up additional writing time tomorrow.  That's provided that what I put in motion last week doesn't require more action this week.  Up to a phone call to determine that.

It ended up being another one of those weeks.  Stuff came up that had to be taken care of, and the only time I could really do it was the time when I would usually be writing.

I'll try again next week.  *sigh*

The young one is on fall break this week, so there was really no quiet time to write.

I'll get back at it next week.  ( Unless I happen to find some spare moments here and there in the meantime )

The Andrea scene ended up crossing the average 10k word mark.  LOL

I'm working on the Celes scene that follows now.  It starts a couple of minutes before the Andrea scene ends, and then catches back up.  It should be pretty obvious when you read it.

I'll figure out where to end the chapter after I finish this scene.  It's all a matter of what it takes to transition into the final scene that I already have planned.

Well, the early reviews are, shall we say, not wrong.

The first two episodes were slow -- out of the necessity to introduce the characters, I should imagine.  There's a little more movement in the third, but I'm still pretty "Meh" on the storyline.

I like Lockjaw.  Unfortunately, because he's 100% CGI, he probably will get minimal screen time.

I really like the actor playing Black Bolt.  His facial expressions and gestures do a pretty amazing job of conveying things without words -- especially humor.

I do not like Medusa at all.  I barely know anything about the characters, so I have no idea if she's being depicted faithfully.  If she is -- damn.  You can be regal or a badass without being a snooty bitch.

The only one I have any passing familiarity with is Crystal, since she was with the F.F. for a while and in a few other books when I was reading.  As I said, it's only passing.  She's okay in this, but nothing outstanding so far.

I kind of like Gorgon, but the whole "we're superior people" thing kind of drags his character down.  Of course, that could be part of his story arc, in which case it will eventually be forgivable.  I suppose the same could be said of Medusa, but they really haven't depicted her with any redeeming qualities at this point.

Triton is nothing more than an instigating incident at this point.

Karnak is okay.  The way they're depicting his powers confused the shit out of me at first.  I suppose muddling up his powers is his arc, but it feels to me as if his powers weren't established well enough in the first place for the loss of them to have an impact on me.

Maximus is a mustache twirling dick with small penis syndrome.

None of the peripheral Attilan-bound inhuman characters have made much of an impression on me.  Hell, the earth-bound inhuman from the prison is far more three dimensional, and he didn't have a chunk of a two-hour premiere to set him up.

The human characters seem almost an afterthought -- and pretty clichéd.

Attilan looks like a movie set -- not a living, breathing community on the moon.

Overall, this is certainly the bottom of the Marvel heap.  Next rung up is Iron Fist, which was weak throughout in both action and storyline, but had decent enough cliffhangers to keep me interested.  Above that is Luke Cage, which was awesome for the first half, and then fizzled once they moved on to the "real villain".  Then it's Agent Carter Season 2.  ( Season 1 was awesome )  Defenders gets a rung higher on the strength of the character interactions and humor.

Considering how well the Marvel Netflix stuff started out with DD seasons 1&2 and Jessica Jones, it's sad that Netflix is filling so many of the bottom slots.

Anyway, Inhumans hasn't bored me enough to stop watching.  There are a few things here and there that are worth seeing.  Maybe it will pick up and have a few stronger moments.

Tides me over until the pure awesomeness of Coulson and Agents of Shield returns in a few weeks   I think they should have skipped the Inhumans series and just introduced the characters for a two or three episode storyline on AOS.

I will give them points for the "radioactive bug" line in Ep. 3, though.

At 9500 words tonight before I got too tired to close my eyes and visualize.  The first "beat" of the scene is done now, the cool down, and the second beat is getting underway.  The end of it isn't going to turn out the way either of them want, and it's going to provide a transition to the next Celes scene, which will have a bit of sex as well, and bring the sister witches all back to the manor.  The end of that scene transitions to Danica and Marlena.

I'm not sure if that will be the penultimate scene, or whether there will be more.  The only thing I'm absolutely certain of beyond the above is what the very last scene of the chapter will be.  Finding a proper transition to that is what will determine everything else.

It's hard to guess exactly how long the chapter is going to be ( considering nearly every scene has been longer than I anticipated ) but I'm thinking at least 12k, and possibly 13k words.

Yeah, not even done with the first "beat" of this Andrea sex scene, and I'm already almost to 9k words.  I'm guessing that this scene alone is going to make it to 10k.

Up to almost 8500 words, and the Andrea scene is just getting going.  This is a sex scene ( the first in the chapter that doesn't "fade to black" ) so it's going to eat up some wordage.  The chapter is almost certainly going to be longer than average.

I'm getting too tired to close my eyes and visualize without nodding off, but I'm probably going to try to soldier through a couple more paragraphs to make it to that round 8500 number.

Think I have the right mindset and framework to begin that third, darker chapter of the Celes quintet.  I'll likely write the opening scene of it either this "weekend" ( my screwed up schedule, I know it's Monday going on Tuesday ) or next.  That way, I'll have a jumping off point for my memory if it takes me a while to get back to it.  It will be called "From the Hartwell".  I've had the title and cover image for the story for years.

Well, I said in the shoutbox that I'd get back to this tomorrow, or today if I was lucky.  As it turns out, as soon as I opened the document, replacing the story I just finished, I ended up reading the Celes scene I was working on.  Next thing I know, my fingers are on the keyboard, and the scene is complete.

Just hit 8k words.  On to the next scene with Andrea, which I'm going to go ahead and get started in the few minutes I have before the young one gets home from school.

Had a power outage.  When it came back on, I went to open back up Wordperfect and SOTM Ch. 20.  I happened to spot something I'd abandoned during my yearlong hiatus because I wasn't happy with it.

Like so many things I abandoned during that period, when I read through it, I couldn't figure out what I thought was wrong with it back then.  It was nearly complete, so I wrote an ending for it, and the first draft is done.

It's called "Little Fuckers" and will be the second in a new ( always planned ) series of stories about the Fey.  The subjects of this story aren't sprites, pixies, or fairies, like "Sylph Esteem" though.  They're gremlins.

Even though there's no direct connection, I've always felt that these stories inhabit the same universe as the Magic of the Wood series.

This one should be coming sometime next week.  It will have plenty of time to simmer before editing by the time my days off get here.  I'll likely post a preview sometime this weekend.

Probably half done with another quickie for Lush as well.  It will probably show up next weekend too ( As RR.  "Little Fuckers" will be a Les Lumens tale )

So, keep your eyes open!

Officially at the 7500 word mark.  The way this scene is going, I think this may be a longer than average chapter.  I still need to get to the Andrea scene at the very least, and I'll likely need to come back to Danica and Marlena in order to have the proper transition point to the final scene of the chapter.

I'll probably have a better idea once I've written some more tomorrow.

Finished that Danica scene and found a  good transition into the next.  Got the following Celes scene started, and revealed a secret from her past.  Or rather, a secret her love Anna kept from her in the past.

Chapter's up to about 7k words now.  Almost to the 3/4 mark.  Finally moving forward again

Had a tricky bit near the end of Danica's scene that was giving me fits.  It was the main thing that was stalling progress.  I've been thinking about it while taking a break, and finally worked out a solution.

I just wrote it, and it's working.  So, the next time I have some quiet time ( and it's not so late that I'll start nodding off when trying to visualize ) I can make forward progress again.

Also came up with the next Darkni story that follows "Facing Destiny."  It's called "Gates of Enchantment" and tells how Darkni got started on a couple of important magical pursuits.  It will also set up some important elements for the third story, which will be the final one from his youth.

The next Darkni story after that one will be much later in his life, and will co-star Mindblind.  It will be a sister story of sorts for a Thakkor and Alicia story.  Both of those stories will end in the same bar, and are the launching point for the story of how everyone meets and helps to free first Normandal and then Egoria.

Believe it or not, I'm finally putting pieces in place to bridge that gap between the history tales and the modern Nobles stories.  The freeing of Normandal will be a story on its own.  It starts with Darkni, Mindblind, Thakkor, and Alicia, and by the time the story ends, it will include Christi, Saggitariad, his future wife Carol Darkholme, and Darkni's wife as well.

Those are the people I'm sure will make it in.  It's entirely possible that Vladamir will join the group here as well.  In the actual game, everyone was together from the start, but I've got to write a story here!  LOL

Geflon, Devan, Zoraster ( yes, you read that right ) and others don't enter the story until the freeing of Egoria.

I've had an idea floating around in my head for a short story that will be a website exclusive, and follows shortly after "Lowborn" starring Indigo and the two prostitutes who were going to set up their own brothel in "stingy pussy".

Probably wait on that one until I finish the Celes stories, though.  Having a hard time getting in the right frame of mind for the next installment there, because it centers on her rape.

It's been another slow writing week.  Whenever my schedule changes at work every 4 months, it always buggers me up for a while.

I tweaked a few things in that Danica scene, but didn't really move forward this week.  Didn't even manage to do more than read back through the almost complete story I worked on last week as RR.  Just too exhausted to think straight.

Ended up backspacing again, but I've got it this time for sure.  I ended up taking an entirely different path to where I wanted to go, and it worked out much better.  I'm closing in on 6k words now, and near the end of this scene.  Just need to get the transition into the next Celes scene nailed down.

I have a long weekend due to a schedule change at work, so I'm hoping to get through some writing in the next few days.

This scene was proving sticky for me.  I knew how it was going to play out, but the details just didn't want to work out right.  I finally solved it, but all the backspacing ate up most of my writing time this weekend.  So, I only got a few hundred words I'm happy with down on 'paper'.

So long as work doesn't try to kill me this week, I should be on track to make progress next weekend, though.

Yeah...  Having to work that extra day this week just knocked me out.  The time I would normally spend writing on the weekend I ended up using to catch up on my sleep.

Looking much better this week.

Well, after getting things finalized to fix my water leak on Monday, installing the replacement parts on my computer, and dealing with a major snafu at work that's going to force me to work on Sunday, I did still manage to get some work done on Ch. 20.  It's just above 5k words now, over the halfway mark of the standard chapter length.

Also figured out the transitions between this scene and the next Celes scene, and the transition between that scene and Andrea's.  It's just a matter of figuring out the transition to the final scene of the chapter after that, I believe.  I'm pretty sure that what's planned will easily make it to 10k words, and possibly more.  Could be a longer than usual chapter.

Well, power outages, a water leak, computer problems ( still unsolved and remedied with a redneck duct tape fix while I wait on heatsink adhesive to arrive in the mail ) and the tight timeline for the Nude Day contest kept me from getting anything done this week.

The only good news is that I more or less have the whole rest of the chapter planned out.  I can use the long brainless parts of my day at work to further flesh them out so I'm ready to put them on paper whenever I have writing time.

Well, despite thinking I was going to give myself an "out" for the titles, the story is in progress, and it's called "Beloved of the Wood" LOL

It kicks off just before Ella and Terra's summer solstice handfasting ( officiated by Melinda, of course )

Not sure when it will be done, because I'm concentrating so much on SOTM with a few breaks here and there for contest stories, RR quickies, and some other new Darkniciad stuff.

The main purpose of the story is to solve some long term problems I've always known were going to arise as the timeline progressed.  That's why I've been putting pieces on the board in other stories, getting them ready for this one.

Not to worry, it's not an end of the series type thing.  It's just a necessary transition point which answers a lot of questions that were probably going to come up.

Even if they didn't, I was asking them myself, and it bothered me enough to deal with it.

Near the end of it, you'll probably be able to look back at the stories starting with Kindred of the Wood and see where I've been sliding in necessary elements.

I've got a better idea of how to start Dale's story as well.  The opening was dragging the way I was writing it, and that's what stalled me out.  I've got a quicker way to introduce one important character, which then gets me to his love interest.

That story is also going to fill a hole that's been there for a long time.  I've already solved a problem that filling that hole is going to cause in a future story.  LOL

There's a lot of planning and thought that goes into this series, and yet, decades have passed with almost no change in technology

That is just going to have to be a suspension of disbelief point

Just got back.  The movie is great

The final few minutes of the actual flick ( not end credits ) are incredible.  Without being overly intrusive on Spider-Man, they manage what I consider to be a major plot point for the MCU and a great cameo in one quick scene.

Then there's that last few seconds.  Those are easily on par with "I am Iron Man" and "Avengers, a--"

Keaton is great.  No shocker there.  Holland is a great Peter Parker and a great Spider-Man.  RDJ is on point, of course.  Favreau as Happy Hogan is fun throughout the movie as Tony Stark's point man with the fledgling Spider-Man.  Aunt May.  Ned Leeds.

Some of the visual effects were a bit off.  I think they tried to give Holland a degree of superhuman speed that made it look wonky at times.  It wasn't nearly as seamless as it was in Civil War.

I think the overblown diversification of the cast is worthy of some head-shaking, but I didn't dislike any of the new incarnations because of it.  Really, considering how incredibly well-cast the Sam Rami films were in the regard of bringing the drawings to life with real people, (for the most part... *cough* Topher Grace *cough*) an argument can be made that we've already been given that faithful adaptation, so moving away from it isn't all that stressing.  I give the Gwen Stacey points to Amazing Spider-Man.  That's absolutely the only thing I'll give those two films credit for, though

Ned in particular is great, which is a good thing, because he has a significant role in the movie.

The twist with Liz Allen and her dad was a surprise, but didn't throw me off or take me out of the movie.

Things to do, so I'll stop there.  If you're a fan of Spider-Man, go watch it.  I don't think you'll be disappointed.  May even go watch it again next weekend if I don't have too much to do and the available showtimes aren't terrible.  Sometimes they are for second week films in my area.

The Marvel Golden Age continues

Took a lazy weekend because I'm off on vacation next week, and because the young one was going to bed at a reasonable hour.  With the chance to catch some sleep and plenty of writing time to come, I needed the break.

Got to where I thought the meat of that Celes scene was going to start.  It does, but I also felt a transition there, so I broke the scene off.  I'm going to move to the next Danica & Marlena scene, then come back to Celes, and then move on to Andrea.  Her scene should be late in the day, so passing the time with those other scenes makes sense.

With the way things appear to be progressing, that Andrea scene and the final chapter scene that I'd already come up with before finishing 19 may very well get me up to the average chapter length.

Made it a smidgen over 4k words before the young one got too loud for me to think.  Other than a couple of sentences, I'm done with the transition and getting ready to start the main thrust of this Celes scene.  It will easily carry the chapter over the halfway mark.

Got a little more done today.  Closing in on 3500 words, and still working on that Celes scene.  This is still part of the transition that gets me to the meat of the scene.  The way it looks, this scene is probably going to take me over the halfway mark.

I'll try to get a little more done tomorrow, though I have an idea for the Nude Day contest at Lit I'd like to write, and at some point, I'll have to do the final work for a story I finished for the "Pure Filth" contest at Lush.  I just sent it off for editing.

Still moving forward, even if it is a bit slow.