Mini-Ramble: Chapter 1 (Evil Static/The Endless Reading Cycle)

     Hello, all.  I'm sorry this is a day late; MC and Ducis (the aforementioned "private club's" fearless leader) came over yesterday to help me practice for the Gaming Club's upcoming "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" tournament.
     I don't think I mentioned this before; see, oddly enough, my school's video game club is really more serious than any of the others.  Last year's club president did absolutely nothing for the club, but this year's president (well, more like the second-in-command is doing all the work) is putting on a fundraiser to buy more games, remotes, and overall better equipment in the form of a tournament.  There's a two-dollar entry fee, and I was the first to sign up.  I plan on using Ike, because, although I've been using Pokemon Trainer the most during club meetings, Ike is my best character.
     Anyway, there's been something slightly concerning going on in my bedroom.  I've been sleeping with 3-5 blankets on top of my comforter since October, and now, whenever I shift any of them, you can hear crackling static.  I've been shocked a few times just getting out of bed.  And at night, when I sit up to fix the blankets at the bottom of the bed, you can see flashing sparks.
     It's kind of cool, but I'm a little scared I'll get a bad shock one of these days.  I already have static problems with my hair.
     Speaking of night, last night I sat down in bed at about 9:30 to read volume 4. of Loveless.  I had intended to read maybe two chapters, do a little drawing, and then get up, say goodnight to my parents, and go to bed so I could listen to an audiobook.  Next thing I knew, I looked up and it was 11.
     I had been reading like this: every couple of chapters I would decide to read another, since it wasn't that late yet and I was a fast reader, and I'd do that again, and again, and so forth, until I realized I had finished the book.  I didn't think it would take an hour and a half to read a manga, but I guess it did (and it makes sense since Loveless is longer than most).  By the time I got up the lights were off and I wasn't planning on crossing the house in the dark to see if they were awake -- I've been reading a reeeeaaaally good ghost novel by Jonathon Stroud, one of my favorite authors -- so I just went to bed, wondering if they would think I was mad at them.
     "Oh, one more chapter won't hurt....hm, I can't stop here, so I'll keep reading until I find a good cut-off spot...I'm almost done, so why stop now?...oh."  That pretty much describes my reading patterns.  Once I start, I can't stop, no matter what I promise myself.
     This leads to a lot of prematurely finished books and a lengthy period of boredom between me finishing every book to the next library visit.
     I need help.
     In any case, here are the last two chapters of my story, unparalleled in lack of perseverance.  I'm doing two at once because the last one is very short and it would be pointless to post it by itself.  Next week, if at all possible, I'll start posting bits and pieces of the comic instead, and if not, bits of roleplays I did or fan art, which will go along faster from now on since I finally have a drawing style I can work with quickly and well.  Until Wednesday, G-star out.

Chapter 1 -- Sensei

Geesh, maybe I should take that guy out shopping for people skills, thought Zane, when suddenly a petite, dark-haired girl came out of the other room (how there could be another room in a warehouse, Zane couldn’t guess) carrying a pile of boxes.  Even sweaty with effort and wearing a baggy hoodie that was rolled up to the elbows, Zane couldn’t stop gaping.  She flicked her short bangs out of her eyes (Zane could have sworn it was in slow motion with little flowers) and glanced up at Zane.  “As long as you’re doing nothing other than gaping open-mouthed at my forehead, could you give me a hand, newby?”  Zane nodded, still slightly jaw-dropped, and took a box off the top of the stack.  

“Oh, Zane, that’s my niece, Kenna.  She’s living here until her parents make up, and she’s a pretty skilled martial artist herself.”  No kidding, thought Zane, at the risk of sounding cheesy, she’s already karate chopped my heart for sure.  And then he dropped the cardboard box on his foot, emitting a yelp of pain.

The Cats Are Conspiring Against Me (An Alternate Route To Publication)...

     Hello, all.  G-star here, a little worried about the future of this blog...but I'm getting ahead of myself.  See, the entire first trimester at my school I had (well, have) Business and Financing for third period, and it's in the computer lab (if you haven't figured that much out by now, you need to see a psychiatrist).  Every Wednesday I would spend maybe twenty minutes of my 70-minute class writing my blog, and a lot of the time that would be the only time I would get on the computer that day.  For a while I've been depending on third period for my internet and typing allowance for the day, but next term I have Mechanics Science third period, which is obviously not in a computer lab.  Thus, my posts will probably be up later (like after dinner) and most likely be shorter.  This will have no effect on my Saturday story updates, but since I'm bad at keeping up with those anyway, that's not really a good thing.
     Speaking of my story updates, they will be ending soon.  While I did finish the first chapter after re-typing it from a printout I wrote on a computer in middle school, I never started chapter 2.  Heck, I didn't even type the chapter heading!  I simply lost interest, and now am interested in another story involving Zane, the main character.  After going over my weaknesses in writing, I realized that I'm just not cut out to write a novel and so came up with the idea to do it in comic book form.  I'll have more creative freedom and can put in more humor.  I've already drawn three of the major characters (including Zane) and they turned out very well.  This one I just know will get done.
     I've never talked about my "writing weaknesses", I know, and I will put them in a list in this entry, but now I'm going to talk about some interesting things that have been happening recently (I mean, that is the whole point of this blog -_-).  My family has two cats, an old, cranky grandma cat and a teenager cat who's as cute and timid as a kitten (it's pathetic, really).  Whenever I see the cute teenager, Spike (his name is so inaccurate it's funny) I want to just pick him up and cuddle him; he doesn't resist much, either (I think he's part ragdoll -- yes, that's a real breed) but if I get too close he'll sprint up the stairs and I give up.  Once I persisted because I REALLY wanted to pet him, but he ran back and forth from the upstairs exercise room (that my family never uses) to the upstairs play room (with a Foosball, an air-hockey, and a basketball setup that my family also never uses) and no matter what I did if I got close he'd sprint past me and into the other room.  It was exhausting.
     Last night, though, he ran away from me up the stairs, but kept stopping to see if I was there and then running away again when I got close.  If I went back downstairs he'd sit on the bottom step and stare at me until I followed him again.  Once I got upstairs he stood there until I picked him up, purred and kneaded his claws while I rubbed his belly, and when I put him down and went downstairs he followed me, standing still so I could pet him and then following me again.  He would've followed me into my room if I hadn't changed courses, which caused him to stare at me with a look of abandonment and confusion.  Him going into my room isn't abnormal, because he loves sleeping on my blanket, but normally he only runs into there trying to get away from me.  When I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, it took after I turned on the light and closed the door to notice that my other cat, Abigail, was curled up on the shower mat.  This itself was extremely odd, as for some reason none of my pets ever go in the bathroom (even though they hang out in the oddest places like the laundry room and Dad's office) but what was even stranger was the fact that she didn't look at me until I started petting her.  She normally looks toward even the slightest noise, but didn't respond to the door closing...
     I also tripped over her sitting in the middle of the laundry room in the dark four and running in front of me in the kitchen four times each yesterday.
     Spike came up to her while I was getting their food and randomly started licking her back.
     I swear, they're conspiring to drive me mad.
     Anyway, here's that list some of the ways I write, and I think you'll see why doing a chapter book just won't work for me.  I haven't written a list in a while, have I?  I hope I'll be able to post again next week, but until Saturday, this is G-star, signing off.

      Notes on My Writing

• I always start with either an explanation or by jumping right into the action in some way.
• I prefer to write from the view of my most developed character.
• I try to never use the same verb, adverb, or adjective twice in one paragraph.
• I have a habit of only writing interactions and details necessary to advancing the plot.
• My stories never really have an end goal.
• I don't like doing research.
• I find it difficult to write for more than three characters at once because I have to repetitively use "he", "she", and "they", without explanation of who's talking.

Mini-Ramble: Chapter 1 (Another Kooky Dream/It Was Mine First!)

     Hello, all.  G-star here.  I had another strange dream a couple nights ago; some parts of it were clear as real life, but others I hardly remember, so I'll just say what I can.  From what I gathered, it was about a camp for young superpowered individuals.  I'm really not sure what my power was, but I distinctly remember flying at one point.  I was also wearing my fluffy pink Cheshire Cat hat during most of the dream.  Anyway, the whole place was sort of...well, you know those play structures at McDonalds or Papa's Pizza?  It was kinda like one of those.  The first part of the dream was spent fighting random supervillains.  That part wasn't very clear, but I do recall fighting a guy who kind of looked like a Haunter and another guy who seemed to be wearing a diving suit.  One of the old ones with the big helmet.  (If my writing seems a bit monotone, which even I'm catching, that's because I don't normally post this early in the morning without sugar in my system.  Yes, 11:30 is early for me.)  I saw one of my friends from youth group (a lot of them were there, actually) but for some reason I couldn't remember his name, so I just blushed and turned away.  Next thing I knew I was asleep, and having the oddest dream -- within a dream.  (First time I've had one of those.)  I was some sort of sheep, and I was trying to escape from my captors.  I found two tunnels, one leading down and one leading up, and I got this weird idea in my head of "hey!  I can get away if I go into the one they don't want to follow me into!"  So I went down, and, after falling off a dilapidated minecart track thing into lava, was suddenly transported into this white room with two...erm...I think they were elves.  Anyway, they told me that the choices I had made in my dream-within-a-dream showed whether I was going to Heaven or Hell, and that I was going to Heaven.  That in itself was weird, but then I jolted awake into my other dream (the one with the superheroes), still wearing my cat hat, and suddenly this guy on the bunk above mine was grabbing my head.  Some sort of authority said that we were paired for a project, and that he was being protective, so I tried to smile in gratefulness but in all honesty was just freaking out.  Soon enough we were trying to make tea outside someone's garage from a book of magic.  My "partner" was a taller boy with close-cropped brown hair and wearing a unitard printed with scales.  In a way, he looked like a boy I used to know, and he was, I have to admit, kind of cute.  In any case, the front door of the house belonging to the garage we were next to opened and a boy with horns and dragon wings was pushed out by a teacher, protesting that he didn't know he was a drake, it just happened.  (I find it odd that every relatively clear dream I've had lately involves someone being part-dragon.)  Then these red, smoldering lines traced over the garage door, which bulged out, then went back to normal, glittering.  The snake-scale boy looked at it at awe and said "that was beautiful," to which I responded, for some odd reason, "magic".  Then I woke up.  Odd, isn't it?

     And that was my dream.  Yes, I actually have something relevant to talk about as well.  Yesterday I heard a song called "Chocolate" on the radio (you might've heard it; if not, you should) and it annoyed me beyond belief.  You see, I had found that song for free on iTunes a few months ago and downloaded it, and it was my favorite song for a while.  But then it showed up on the radio and now it's a million other peoples' favorite song!  I need to add to my list of things that bug me "people stealing my favorite songs".  It makes the fact that it's also my favorite song cliche, since a ton of other people like it as well, simply because it's played a lot on the radio.  This happened with another song I found as well, "Wings" by Little Mix, except in a slightly different way.  I was watching TV with my mom (that seems to be the only time I ever watch TV) when this trailer for a blechy-looking R-rated movie came on, and in the background they were playing, of all things, "Wings".  Now whenever I sing that song people will say "oh, that's the song from that movie trailer!"  NO!  I HAD IT FIRST!  MC had this problem too, once.  She found a song called "Pompeii" by Bastille for free on iTunes once (she checks it regularly) and she showed me.  We both loved it, and I think it was MC's favorite song for a good while.  Then, about two months ago, I heard it on the radio and immediately told MC.  I think she was okay with it, but I was ticked.  Yes, I should add that to my "things that bug me" list.  "When I find an obscure song/band that I love, and it's mine, and it's special, AND THEN THEY PLAY IT ON THE RADIO."

     Sorry, I've been rambling on for paragraphs, and you've been waiting to read my story; that is the title of this post, after all.  Here you are.  Enjoy, and I'll see you Wednesday.  For now, G-star out.

Chapter 1 -- Sensei

On the other hand, Brenton, a tall, equally muscular guy whose brown hair could only realistically exist in an anime (Zane thought he used too much gel), looked perpetually angry, and didn’t even bother to shake Zane’s hand.  “Brenton Gilmore,” he mumbled, and walked over to a sandbag, nearly blowing it apart with his first angry blow.  

Mini-Ramble: Chapter 1 (Offensive Referrals).

     Hello, all.  For the first time in several weeks, I've actually remembered to post this on Saturday!  And, though it's too late for this now, I have something to talk about.  I was watching "Oprah: Where are They Now?" last night with my mom (for the simple reason of her bed is comfortable and that's what she had on) and I saw two very interesting commercials.  First, you know those toilet paper commercials where they take one of theirs and one of the "nameless competitor's", get them wet, put a roll of quarters on them, and drag them across a table to show which one's stronger?  Well, I always thought that not naming the product you're better than was sort of an unwritten rule of advertising, but that seems to be changing.  There was a commercial for the new Window's Tablet and, at the end of the commercial, the actor specifically said "it's better than an iPad." (Quote not exact.)  If my life were a cartoon, I would've paused it right there, turned toward the camera, and said "Woah, woah, woah, did he just say what I think he said??  Did he just diss Apple??"  About twenty minutes later there was an ad for a truck (forgot the brand) where, after getting inside the truck that magically seemed to block out the noise of the neighboring busy interstate, said "It's so much better than those other brands like, say, Ram and Ford."  (Again, quote not exact.)  That last sentence was completely unnecessary, but they still had to name off brand names they're better than (or think they are).  It's a sad day for the advertisement industry.  Anyway, here's the next part of the story.  I'll see you on Wednesday.  Until then, G-star out.

Chapter 1 -- Sensei

He was greeted by the sight of two boys practice fighting on a gymnastics mat.  The woman was standing in the corner by the mat, correcting the boys’ stances every so often.  “Adam!  Raise your arms higher when you punch!  Brenton, you need to watch for his attacks, not stand there waiting for them to hit you in the face!  I can’t afford another hospital bill because you weren't paying attention.”  When the battle ended with Brenton on the floor and Adam with his foot on Brenton’s chest in triumph (the boy got the feeling that this had happened many times before), the woman clapped her hands, causing everyone’s heads to snap towards her.  “We have a new student today.  Adam, Brenton, say hello to Zane Hart.  And make sure you have his attention before bothering to say anything,” She said, rolling her eyes and beginning to roll up the mat.  Adam came over to Zane while Brenton stood up, grumbling and brushing himself off.  “Nice to meet you.  I’m Adam Smith,” he said, shaking Zane’s hand.  He was thickset in a muscular kind of way and tan, with wavy black hair.  He sort of emanated a friendly vibe, hippy-wise, and Zane liked him.

Mini-Ramble: Chapter 1 (Last-Minute Blogging)

     Hahah....I was on the computer for a good five hours and yet I completely forgot to post.  I'm sorry.  I need to get off in a sec, so I'll cut to the chase.

Chapter 1 -- Sensei (Par. 2)

 

A tall, slim boy stood in front of the dirty glass door, rocking back and forth on his heels as he nervously ran his hand through his spiky blonde hair.  The building before him resembled nothing more than a warehouse, its only means of identification being a poster glued up on the wall, announcing in faded letters that it was the home of the “Four Fires Fighting School Dojo”.  The boy knocked on the rusty metal door, and after waiting a few tense moments, he turned to leave, but was stopped in his tracks by the sound of creaking hinges.  Looking behind him, he found himself staring into the weather-worn face of a middle-aged woman in a plain white yukata.  Her wispy brown hair framed a face that seemed wiser than its years.

Mini-Ramble: Prologue (Stupid Fact of Time Machines Not Existing Yet v_v)

     Hello, all.  G-star here, with some annoying news.  Firstly, I'm sorry I wasn't able to post yesterday, but the computer was off-limits, no matter how much I begged and told Mom that I had a blog (and a reputation) to uphold.  Also, I didn't have time to scan the picture I finished recently (urrrgh) so I'll have to do that tomorrow.  It will be up soon, I promise.  And, lastly, the forums are not done yet.  *loud booing from readers*  GONEN'NASAI!!  I'm actually working on it as I write (don't ask how that's possible), but I only had about half an hour on the computer and that, sadly, was not enough time to finish putting up all the roleplay boards, not to mention all the chat/OOC categories.  I hope to have that finished by tomorrow as well.  For now, you'll have to settle for the prologue (aka first chapter) of that book I mentioned.  Remember...copyright.  Until Wednesday, G-star out.

Prologue

    A tall, pale figure stood at the edge of a cliff, looking down on the crashing waves.  Large, glistening wings suddenly spread out behind it, intimidating away anything that might have been watching.  After it was assured that there wasn’t a living creature for miles around, it stepped off into the night and glided over the shimmering water.  The moon came out from behind a cloud to reveal a young man, wearing metal wings.  Stranger than this, however, was the fact that his shaggy bedhead was as white as the moon itself.