Yeah, its been awhile since my last post. Almost 2 weeks, but its the end of the semester and stuff is getting hectic. I’m mounting a comeback though.
I stumbled across this beauty in my web surfings and I loves it. Is it wrong that I find Belle and Cinderella hot like this? Bah, if that’s wrong I don’t want to be right.
Later,
K
P.S.
I won Nanowrimo!
Alright, so this has absolutely nothing to do with my book. Nor does it really have anything to do with Thanksgiving, but it DOES have a turkey in it. So that’s my justification. Enjoy!
Dr. Teeth is the man.
So I’m a good ways into my novel now. Not close to finishing but I have a substantial amount of pages and words. I’m very please with the progress. I have just added some new characters which are very intriguing to me. Also I have gotten to see a little more depth in my main characters.
Now I find myself already getting into some bigger bad guys. The zombies aren’t even into full swing and my characters have stumbled upon destruction that those walking corpses couldn’t even begin to think about doing. Of course whatever caused this will not really show its head in the story for a while, but there shall be more and more hints about it as time goes by. I really didn’t mean to get into anything than zombies in this first book but the story goes where it goes.
K
So, I’m fifteen days into National Novel Writing Month and things are going smashingly. I am one full chapter into the story at 25k words, which is halfway to my 50k goal of nanowrimo.
Chapter 1 is all about three high school students, a young country music superstar, and a fat priest dealing with the appearance of zombies in the world. They are stuck in a Wal-Mart in a small town in SE Oklahoma.
Now I’ve moved onto to Chapter 2 which focuses on four Classics and Letters professors from the local college. These characters are beginning to intrigue me very much and are progressing in their conflicts very well. If anyone desires I will post another excerpt.
I am currently reading Under the Dome by Stephen King, Dragons of Dwarven Depths by Weiss and Hickman, and I am watching Dollhouse. So said Dollhouse is getting canceled. The last episode was phenomenal.
K
Hello all,
Unfortunately this blog hasn’t had much activity recently and I apologize if anyone checks here regularly. The explanation for my lack of posts is that I have been furiously working on my Nanowrimo project, which is The Z Word.
In order to get my 50k words from scratch, I restarted my novel from a completely different point of view. Actually several different points of view. It has switched from 1st person narrative to 3rd person omniscient. That is to say, all of my character’s thought processes are able to be brought to the surface. I have to say that I was pleased with my first version, but this switch has offered so much depth to my characters that I would consider going back to the first person.
In closing I offer a little excerpt from The Z Word. I hope you enjoy:
“Adios Mr. Savage.” Christian said and lunged forward with his axe. Stepping a few feet away from George and Khalon, Christian pulled the axe from behind his shoulder and swung it in an arc. His left hand slid from the top of the axe to the bottom to push more force into the swing. Metal gleamed as the freshly sharpened axe slice through the air above the Spanish teacher. He thought that the axe was singing, much like swords were said to do as the cut through the air, as it sailed down towards its target.
Christian’s swing was so hard that he buried the axe up to the smooth black back of the head into the creature’s head. Mr. Savage’s head made a “thunk” sound like a pumpkin would make if someone knocked on the side of it. All function and movement stopped immediately as the axe split the top of the fat creature’s head. Christian tried to wriggle it free but it was stuck.
Mr. Savage slid to the floor, held in a place on the display by the plastic rod in his chest. No movement followed, but Christian nudge it in its fleshy ribs to make sure it wasn’t going to do anything. He pulled on the shaft of the axe and, with a great deal of effort, brought the thing back to a sitting position and tried to pull the axe free again. Still he could not budge it.
Tightening his grip as close to the head as he possibly could, Christian placed his Converse clad foot on the mountainous shoulders of the dead man and pulled as hard as he could. Sucking sounds that were reminiscent of pulling one’s foot from a muddy spot in the ground accompanied the blade as it was jerked free from Mr. Savage’s head.
Christian raised the large axe high in triumph. He was sure not to let any of the purple, red, and gray bits of gore fall from the axe onto him though. Turning, he looked at George who was looked a little freaked out. He was still having a hard time coming to terms with doing such violence and seeing Christian bury his axe in the teacher’s head and then do his little victory dance only confused him more.
Khalon had a disgusted look on his face, but it wasn’t from the violence or the victory dance “’Adios Mr. Savage.’ Really?”
Christian’s only response was to smile a little bit. He thought it was clever.
“Are you Buffy the Vampire Slayer now? Should we all think of something glib to say as we put one of these things down? If we do, I really need to come up with a few because, if they movies are any indication of what would happen, there are going to be plenty of these things to kill.”
Comments are appreciated.
K
Its that time of year again. All Saints Day marks the start of an event that I participate in every year but have fallen short of completing. This event is Nanowrimo which is National Novel Writing Month.
The purpose of this is to try to encourage novel writers to write at least 50K words from Nov 1-Nov 30.
50K words is a ridiculous amount words to write, but it is a good exercise for anyone who wants to write a novel because it sets a goal and a timeframe. In my experience, very few people who write rarely set timeframes or goals for their works.
I am going to be working on my novel, The Z word for this year’s NanoWrimo. During the course of this event I will be posting updates on my blog for those who cares and will constantly be updating my stats here http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/564439. I encourage anyone who is interested to try Nanowrimo out. If you do feel free to be my buddy on there. Time to start the process.
Good luck,
K
When I think of epic fantasy a couple of things come to my mind. Actually there is a pretty big list built in my head. But when I cross reference epic fantasy with video games, one of the greatest on my list is Lunar: Silver Star Story.
Originally Lunar was put out on the Sega Saturn in 1997 and the plot was a little different but remains mostly intact for the playstation version.
This story is epic in every sense of the word. The game starts with a young small town boy named Alex who dreams of one day becoming a Dragonmaster like his hero Dyne, one of the four heroes. He and his childhood friends Ramus and Luna decide to go see if the rumors of a white dragon living in a nearby cave is true. From that point the story is set into full motion and spans their world with a large cast of characters.
The villain (one of my all time favorite video game characters) Ghaleon was one of the four heroes who has decided that he is not happy with an event that he participated in involving Dragonmaster Dyne and the goddess of Lunar, Althena. He sets out to right the wrongs of the world and in the process becomes more of a threat to the world than help. Ghaleon is a complicated villain, one that means well but is going about everything the wrong way. The story suggests that he realizes what he is doing wrong but has gone too far to turn back. Also, he is not only my favorite character but many people around the world. There is a website dedicated to him that has many wonderful fan fictions based on him which can be found here http://www.sabrecat.net/ghaleon/. I recommend the story titled Summons.
The soundtrack to this game has also survived the years with me, one of the few cds that I actually retain the originally copy.
So if you love games and you love fantasy. Pick up Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete on the Playstation if you can find it.
Have Fun,
Kree
Lunar is one of those games that is so good, just experiencing it once isn’t enough. While the gameplay itself is rudimentary by today’s standards it remains a crown jewel of RPGs simply because it has an amazing story with lovable characters that make a memorable adventuring party.
What I like best about the characters of Lunar is that there is some level of romantic involvement going on between everyone. Kyle wants Jessica. Jessica wants Kyle in spite of herself. Nash wants Mia. Mia might want Nash but she’s got too much on her plate because she’s running the Magical City of Vane. Of course the relationship between Alex and Luna is the driving plot for the entire game, but each couple gets plenty of time to shine as the story unfolds.
In spite of its whimsy and sometimes bawdy humor, Lunar is a game that is rich with adult themes. Ambition, and sacrifice, and the power of the human spirit. Alex wishes to follow in the footsteps of his hero, Dyne and become a dragonmaster. Ghaleon wants the power of Althena so that he may bring order to Lunar. Just as Ghaleon is one of the greatest and most tragic villains of videogames, Alex is probably one of the greatest heroes in that he understands the nature of power- that it is only meant to be used when needed, and then laid aside when the threat has passed. He not only achieves his dream of walking the path of Dyne, but he is able to bring the tale of the Dragonmaster full circle when he sacrifices his power to save the woman he loves. Unlike Alex, Ghaleon is unable to believe in humanity. He believes mankind is lost without their god and he wants to make things the way they used to be no matter the cost.
Lunar is a great gaming experience, and a joy from beginning to end. When you finish you kinda wish they had done an anime series on it, and the cut scenes that were created for the PS1 version only fuel that desire.
DS Out.
As a parting gift, I leave you guys with a powerful scene that sums up the themes of this great game.
This is a feature shared with my friend over at Drunkenscholar. My text will be in red, while Drunken Scholars’s will be in blue.
Time, she flows like a river. Well, sometimes it does. Not so much in this week’s Find it again Friday game: Chrono Trigger. Chrono Trigger is a role playing game developed by Squaresoft for the SNES. It featured a unique new combat system that involved mixing techniques of three different players. Different combinations of main characters would make different 2 or 3 person techniques.
The real draw to Chrono Trigger, in my opinion, was the fantastic story. It was a deep and intriguing romp through time as the main character, Crono, went backwards and forwards in time to prevent a being called Lavos from destroying his world. During these time travels, he runs into various characters that agree to join him on his quest to save the world. All of the characters are amazing but two of them are complex and so interesting that I can’t bear to not have them in my party.
The first of my favorite characters is Frog. Frog started out his life in the Middle Ages of this world as a squire named Glenn. His master is killed by a bad guy named Magus and Glenn is turned into a Frog. He then vows to kill Magus and avenger his master. During the story Frog grows from a vengeful character who believes he is no great knight, to a grandiose hero.
Secondly, and this kind of ties in with the first, my other favorite character is Magus. Magus’ story is complicated and very well thought out. Lavos corrupts Magus’ family at an early age and after an event he cast forward in time to the Middle Ages. There he becomes master of some demon type characters and becomes a protagonist for most of the game. Later on you can defeat him and choose to take him in your party or not. He is a fantastic character and his back story is not to be missed.
These game receives a 5/5 score for me. Since its release in 1995 I have gone back and replayed it countless times and it is just as fun every time. The story is great, and on top of that there are different endings. Depending on what time period you beat Lavos in, you are treated to a different ending. The soundtrack is also fantastic and not to be missed.
Have Fun,
K
Chrono Trigger, Chrono Trigger…so many fond memories. This game is surprising in its complexity, as Kree said. Really, I think Hironobu Sakaguchi and friends did a fantastic job of utilizing the time-hopping, without overdoing it. While some storylines would get mired with all of the time period jumping and what not (Like Heroes?), Chrono Trigger manages strong story that delivers twists and turns from beginning to end- really, this is one of the first games where everything isn’t just cut and dry. The main villain for much of the game, Magnus, really isn’t a villain, and the real evil isn’t a demon or a member of some dark race that we are so used to in fantasy games, but an ALIEN! And let’s not forget that Crono spends a short span of the game, DEAD. Really, when that happened I gave a resounding WTF????? Thankfully, because we can hop through time, his friends are able to go back to the point of his death and save him, so that he may lead them in the final charge.
Part of why this game is so well done in my opinion is the seamlessness of the marriage between fantasy and science fiction. While no one would argue that this is, in fact, a fantasy game in a fantasy world, the sci-fi elements can’t be refuted. But while in many instances the two seem like oil and vinegar, the folks at Squaresoft managed to work in the sci-fi elements and make them feel natural. This is something that is very hard to do, especially in a video game where so much hinges on the visuals. You don’t often see robot standing next to a frog in knight’s armor and say, “Yeah, okay!”
Chrono Trigger gets five out of five pints from me. As always Square delivered a masterful score, that enhances a good game with a really great story.
DS Out.
This is going to be a new feature on thezword and drunkenscholar. On Friday’s I’m going to pull out an old favorite game of mine. Wail on it for a bit, and then I’m going to sit down and write up a nostalgic piece on it.
This week, I was perusing my collection of old games and I stumbled across Final Fantasy VI. Probably one of my favorite video games from years gone by (sigh…yes that’s a sigh like the love struck female lead on some show like Dawson’s Creek.) This game sparked my love of RPGs. Well this and its predecessor.
It originally came out for the SNES and was called Final Fantasy III here in the states. And it warmed my grade school heart. The story was epic and it spanned a world of knights and Lords, magicians and ninjas. Then, halfway through the game, a catastrophic event shook the world and changed it to the world of ruin.
There were somewhere around twelve characters and each one as exciting and different from the last. Terra was a mage who had lost all her memories. Lock was the endearing thief who wanted to be called a treasure hunter. Then there was Cyan the Samurai, Shadow the ninja, Celes the empire general who hated what she was. Each one drove the story to epic heights which made me want to never leave them.
So if you find yourself on a cold, lonely night at home wanting to pick up a video game. Forgo the latest Xbox shooter and go pick up this delightful game. It is Final Fantasy III on Snes, comes in a Final Fantasy V and Vi dual PS1, and I even think that they have re-released it on the Nintendo DS.
Have fun,
K
Unfortunately I tested positive for Influenza A which, according to my doctor, is Swine Flu. I wish this upon no one I know. But I have been give the opportunity (more like forced) to stay inside and watch my DVDS. And I have watched Ghostbusters several times this week.
I won’t bore you by going into the plot details as I’m sure you know them. And if you haven’t seen Ghostbusters I will show you my look of shock and disapproval. Ghostbusters is one of the greatest films of the last century. It is a perfect mixture of two of my favorite elements: horror and comedy.
This year is the 25th anniversary of this masterpiece and should be celebrated by one and all. This movie has spawned a sequel, numerous video games (the newest one is fantastic) and one of my favorite cartoon series of all time. Every actor in this is brilliant and deserves heaps of praise for this movie. Ivan Reitman directed cinematic gold.
My strength is leaving me so go, watch it. Love it.
K
The Z Word 