merry christmas everyone. n.n
What is your daily commute like? What is the weirdest thing you've seen on that commute?
Submitted by E.
well, my current daily commute is rather uneventful. but i'll tell you about my commute to and from school (for night classes) two years ago. it was fun and occasionally entertaining.
i left my house, timed perfectly to avoid every red light i would encounter between my house and the nearest campus. this also included exactly 5 1/2 minutes at the 7/11 near Publix on Dirksen and Providence to buy 2 Lipton Green Teas, a pack of cigarettes, and on tuesdays, 10 1/2 minutes to refill the gas tank.
i wove through 2 small towns, and a "city" which was built, i kid you not, in a giant circle. i passed by 2 Winn-Dixies, China King (the BEST take away chinese in the whole Four Townes area!) and 2 walgreens stores. often i would be caught behind a LINE of schoolbuses, because there were 2 elementary schools, and 1 christian acadamy on my way. the entire trip, on average, would take 47 minutes, including the 7/11 stop. 57 when i needed to stop for gas.
the weirdest thing i saw on my commute was one afternoon when i decided not to go to 7/11, which was rare. lo and behold, i actually caught a red light, another rarity, but expected when i decided not to go to the 7/11 for my usual drinks and smokes. at this particular red light, i saw an ugly, red-necked out car, complete with confederate flag!
traffic starts moving, it's in the turning lane and so am i, so i get to follow it. well, i didn't really take much more notice of it other than it's an ugly rust bucket of a car... until it started swerving. so i figured the guy at the wheel was drunk right. i mean, it was after 5pm, there are bars in the area, it just makes sense right. well, i end up following this car all the way to the last light before i reach the campus. and i catch another red light (because my usual timing was off due to not going to the 7/11 as usual, remember.) and then suddenly up pops this head! o.o i mean, i've heard of doing it in cars before, hell, i've done it myself a few times. but NOT while the other person is driving! so apparently, i got to watch a guy give some other guy a blow job almost all the way to school. o.o i didn't "see" what they were doing, but it was obvious when that second head popped up and the guy giving it leans back into his seat and puts his seatbelt back on. o.o
these are various dribbles from my novel re-write plus one from a collection of short stories.
Reclaimation dribbles
"I see... four thrones. Two gilged in gold, two in silver. But dust covers three."
"What does it mean?"
"A woman, frozen in time, encased in a prison of stone... A man caught between flech and mechanation... And a great and terrible Shadow. You must find them, the Machina."
"I don't understand, Kellog. What does it all mean? It's so confusing."
"I don't know," he admitted. "But it is what I see along your path, and down the road behind."
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"Pain. A great and terrible pain inside of you. But this pain gives you your power. You are not what you appear, are you Dragon?"
"No, I am not," said he.
"I sensed that when we met. When you awakened, there was sent a tremor across the Ware. It was as if someone had plugged in a super computer without testing it first."
"I am."
"For this, you are feared, and you are sought."
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"Kamikaze."
"The Divine Wind," Kellog said. "Fitting for one such as you. Ironic, that you should choose such a name now, in this time."
"How so?"
"No wind has blown on this earth for two centuries, save those man made. And now there comes in mankind's darkest hour a man who is like the forgotten wind. Soft and calm, peaceful and soothing; but he is a raging storm rolling in from where oceans once lapped against ancient shores."
Kamikaze smirked. "Yeah, that's me alright."
"There is power in names. When you are given one by parents, they are expressing their love for you. But when you choose one for yourself, then it holds true power." The young shaman smiled thoughtfully, stroking his chin. "but there are other names for you, isn't there Kamikaze-sama?"
"Those are not for you to know, shaman."
"You are the last. A perfect result from two centuries of genetic manipulation. Selective breeding in isolation. The last of the Pike bloodline."
"You know not into which you dabble, wizard," Kamikaze growled angrily.
"Quite the contrary," Kellog said. "I see you more clearly now than ever before."
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"The divine wind blows weak. The Kamikaze will soon fall."
"No. I won't believe you!" she screamed.
"Your savior cannot help you now."
"You are wrong! The Kamikaze will come!"
"Her faith is strong. Her will is strong," the woman said. "I see in her His resolve. There will be much trouble from this one."
"Wipe her mind. I want to know everything she knows!"
"No!" she wailed as rough hands grabbed her. "You can't do this to me!"
"I am the emperor of Sombra. I am the master of this world. I will do as I please with the creatures I allow to live in my domain."
"The Kamikaze will come! He will come, and the Darkness will consume all!" she railed.
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Issa's story (from my short stories collection)
Of all the geisha in the Red Lotus District, I was his favorite. Me, little Issa.
He always said it was my eyes that captivated him so. I trust in his words, for he was a kind and generous man.
He bought up my contract when I came of age, from the House of the Floating Lilies. He took me to his dojo, to his compound, that would be my new home.
I had been trained as a child in the high arts of female companionship, ceremony, and entertainment. In return for food and a place to sleep, all that had been required of me were smiles and laughter at an old man's jokes. Lively discussions on poetry, art, and philosphy. Beutiful music and graceful dances to brighten the days of men who trained on day to become Samurai.
But he loved me, not as a man loves a woman, but as a father loves a child. Over time, as I grew older and more beautiful, he taught me the art of the sword and spear. Of the shield and the bow.
I was his favorite, his adopted child. He chose me to care for the children of his wives. To teach them to read and write and behave with good manners. I was their tutor, their friend, their big sister.
And then, the day came when he gave me my freedom, and I was a caged songbird no more. I left the dojo, but I would always return again with stories of festivals and plays, and I would bring back gifts for all his children and wives.
It was on one such return home that everything had changed...
My master, my father, my friend had been murdered by a gang from a rival dojo. I helped the women escape, and stayed behind to protect the children and the secret passage.
I was merciless. I was wild. Weilding a man's sword with a woman's grace...
I could not save my master, I could not save his men. But I could preserve their honor. I could avenge their murders. one by one I killed them, those who took part in the raid. I stalked them, I lured them in, and I showed them no kindness.
Local rumor called me the Beautiful Death, the Crimson Kiss, the Smiling Blade. I prefer Wrath.
My path of destruction and murder came to an abrupt halt when I at last faced their leader, or rather, the man who had been placed in charge of those who had performed the raid. He was much younger than I had expected, and like myself he was his master's most favored student.
again, this one's using Jonathan Rhys-Meyers for my roleplaying character Al. n.n
the first one's got text, the second one doesn't. n.n obviously.
What work of art (film, book, record, whatever) changed your life?
Submitted by bodhibound.
the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Yes, it honestly changed my life. I started reading it in middle school, and it was an escape from all the bullshit i was going through. it was so nonsensical, and at the time i really really wanted to be a writer, and was even working on my very first book (though it'll never be published, the atrocious thing it was) and the idea of writing such fantastical and silly things really made me happy in a time of uber gloom and doom. now that i think back, it was one of the few things that was keeping me half-way sane through that time, and i'm dead serious in that. if i hadn't ever picked up the first book, i'm not sure where, or even if, i'd be.
i got bored, and took the pics i was using for the pics in the last post and made some icons. enjoy. n.n
1. "some people NEVER CHANGE" - alabaster the undead
2. "haunted by the one who DIED" - alabaster - part of the "nightmare" series
3. "DO ME A FAVOR die quietly" - samuel the blind
4. "it's always cloudy inside my head" - sammy the confused
so i've got these pics. and i randomly PSed them together. o.0 for the hell of it. n.n
these are some random dribblies i wrote while at work today. n.n
"I'm puttin ye in the mobile squad."
"What? But I like it here!"
"Yeah, but I've got yer contract. Don't worry, I'm not gonna 'ave ye in a kill unit. It's the think tank fer ya."
"Al, no. I won't do it."
"why not?"
"You know why not! Anything but a think tank, please Al, anything!"
"Nope. I've made up me mind."
"Al, I don't want to be responsible for more deaths."
"Oh no! Ty, ye got it all wrong love! My think tanks don't do that. This ai'n the government yeah. We sit 'round an come up with peaceful solutions."
"What? But I thought-"
"No. That I leave fer my Problem Solvers. Like Reggie and eventually Nessa."
"I see..." Tyler said, taking a sip of his tea. "So you said something about a mobile squad right?"
"Yeah yeah. See, I got this idea a few years back. Why limit my good charity ta one area at a time? I can help tons of people if I have my worker bees movin about more efficiently. It's a mobile red-cross like unit yeah. Doctors, lawyers, hell even ditch diggers! But non-o them can do their jobs if there ai'n a think tank thinkin up things they can do ta help people."
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"The Unbeatable Dungeon. It was created as a challenge to those who had become elite gamers. If you win, and no one ever has, it will unlock the final quest of the game. No doubt you're friends are on their way there now. You must stop them before they go in."
"Why? What if they win-"
"the higher your level and HP, the higher the difficulty. If you're at level 50, the monsters are at a minimum of level 100. If you're at 100, they're at 200! There's only eve been one person to reach the boss battle. And even she could not win. And she was like you."
"Like me?"
"A game hacker. She escaped the Ban Hammer by hiding her codes in the game itself, and thus turned herself invisible to the Admins."
"Did she have a handle? A name? Anything?"
He nodded. "Her handle was Alpha-Omega."
"No..." she whispered.
"she wanders the game still, hidden. Find a glitch, and she is the cause. That's her, tampering with the game code."
"Yeah... That sounds like her alright," she said, grinning thoughtfully. "Figures... a prisoner of her only true love."
"What?"
"Nothing," she said. "Just a passing thought."
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"al!" he hissed. "we're gonna wake up your grandkids."
"No we won't."
"but your bed's old and squeaky."
"Who said anythin 'bout the bed?" he teased with a wicked look. "C'mon, we can get in the shower. With the water runnin, I'll cover up the noise."
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"this is where we came for vacation. It's a little run down now, but back in my day, it was a perfect hide-away. Three bed, two bath, a kitchen, dining room, private pool. There was so much that happened here. And for just a lit'le bit, we were all happy. Not all at the same time mind ye, but we had our moments."
Al leaned against the balcony rail, closing his eyes to the Mexican sun and feeling the soft breeze on his skin. "This is the second time I've been back here since then. The first was with another old friend, for his 70th birthday. Silly man wanted to see it one more time before he went. I'll never ferget the look on his face when we got 'ere."
"Really?"
"Yeah. He looked so sad. Bit it was a sort of happy sadness. Like, he remembered the good times we had 'ere, but knew he couldn't go back ta that, but-"
"But just seeing the place reminded him of how happy he really is."
"Bingo."
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"I... Remember. Laying out by the pool one night. I was so damn sick. But, I was watching the sunrise with my feet in the water. I was so angry, some stupid little punk-"
"I know. I was there. And ye snored like a dead man!"
So I have taken the random dribblies of mine about Belial, Lucifer, and the like (based off of my and a few friend's RP characters) and turned it into another giant epic story. I have written up a rough outline of the project, and will use the dribbles i have written previously, with some heavy handed editing of course.
This is one of three official excerpts from the first few chapters of the project, which will be posted on Melancholia Dragonflies chapter by chapter when completed, much like my other work PROJECT 8-13.
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Excerpt from The Angelican Scriptures
Opening: Whispers in the Dark
My kind came from Heaven. But dwell in Hell. We are the forsaken. We are the forgotten. We are those who dare not tread in the light. But there are some among us who defy the Universal Law. Who challenge the Devil, and defy his dark will.
We are the Lost. We are the Shadow. Many of us scattered throughout the globe. Abandoned by God, and in the service of the Morning Star. But there is a whisper among them of a man that will bring them together under a single cause. To restore the world of man to God's domain, and push the dark ones back into the pits from whence they came.
There are rumors in the dark that one among us is the key to ending the war that Lucifer began, and we supported. I have never placed stock in rumors...
That was my final mistake...
Chapter One: The Earth Bound
He looked up from his bowl of chedder broccoli soup. "Can I help you?"
"Are you the one called Sheol?"
"Who want's to know?" he replied, taking another spoonful of his hot soup.
The woman nodded with a smile. "Mind if I have a seat?"
"Go ahead. It's still a free country. Well, this side of it is."
She nodded once more, crossing her legs after she sat down. A cigarette was brought to her lips, and a silver zippo lighter flashed into view. She inhaled deeply the deadly smoke, and leaned back with an arm draped over the back of her chair. "We have been looking for you for quite a long time."
"I can't fool the great Gabriel can I?"
She laughed and tapped her cigarette over the ash tray on the table. He took another spoonful of cheese and broccoli. "We told you that when the time came, you would be called into the service of Our Father." She paused, and he seemed to ignore her, focusing on his soup. "Your services are needed."
"I fulfilled my obligations to Him years ago. I no longer owe Him anything."
"The restoration of a human life requires more than a simple night full of converting innocent teenagers to the Word of God. He showed faith in you, Sheol, and granted your wish for your dead lover to be returned to you. Now it is time for you to repay what He has done for you."
He set down his spoon and wiped at his mouth with a napkin. Black rimmed frames came off, and were folded neatly to be placed back into their dark red case. He opened his eyes, dull, dark-green orbs stared across the table at her as he slowly smiled.
"What is His will then, Gabriel?"
She nodded, and pulled an envelope from the inside of her jacket. A golden wax seal held it closed. Unbroken... meant only for him. "The Princes will soon be upon this Earth. Leviathan, Satan, and the Morning Star. War will rage again, and Our Father has heard the rumors of a Fallen hiding in the dark, waiting for a chance to get even."
"I see. And he assumes that it is I? There are others of my kind now. More than I would like. Let your Angels take care of it."
"No, Sheol. I cannot. Michael, he is stubborn, and will show no mercy, even to you."
"So? Let him come. I welcome death by his sword. I have remained in this world for far too long."
She smiled then, and tapped her cigarette once more. "You have become weary so soon my Brother?"
He sighed. "Not soon enough," he replied, folding the envelope and tucking it into his pocket. "I will take no part in this war."
"You have no choice. As one of the Princes, they will seek you out, and they will find you. What I have given you was given to me by Metatron, and to him from God himself."
"What is it?"
She smiled. "You will know when the time comes. Until then, do not break the seal, but keep it with you always."
When do you start your holiday shopping?
december 26th. XD
