NEUROTIC. CHAOTIC. ANTI-PROBLEMATIC. P S Y C H O S O M A T I C.

The line between make-believe and real life must finally have snapped for me. Like really snapped. Was this how crazy people felt when they finally realised that they'd gone crazy? Do crazy people even know when they've gone crazy? Because if I knew that I was going crazy and crazy people didn't know that they'd gone crazy then that'd mean that I wasn't crazy after all... which I dearly hoped.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

The adventures of Data Mining!

So I was making yet another WoW-related 3D render and came across a lot of the new models and NPCs for the Cataclysm expansion.
Now I think they're cool, so I posted the cool ones here :D
You can Scroll through the images I shot in the slideshow :)






I also found the model for the Paladin-related Avenging Angel and a few of the mounts. But I liked these ones better, mainly because they're evidence that Blizzard are actually getting off their asses and making new skins and not just re-colouring the old ones -.-

Enjoy!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Blood Queen Lana'thel Costume - The Beginning

So I decided this weekend to get off my ass and start designing my costume for Supanova next year.
I will be going as this:
Blood Queen Lana'thel from Blizzard's MMORPG World of Warcraft. Complete with wings that (should!) react to my posture to open and close.

This is going to be a HUGE task. Thank god for the internet.







So first of all I've been doing some research into exactly how I should construct the wings, since I figure that they'll take the most time out of my life. I came across http://www.the-avariel.com in which the webmaster - Rachael I think - had SO MUCH information on making large-scale professional wings. Check it out if you ever get the time :D
From what I'd gathered though her wings seem to be posable - kind of like an action figure - which is nifty... but not exactly the wow factor I want my costume to have. Then through her links on her forums I found this which I thought was more omgwtfepic than Gumby-wings.
The main thing I have to think about at the moment is what exactly I'll be making them from. I mean I'll be walking around with these things strapped to my back for a fair chunk of the day and I don't exactly have the best back because of my work. Main possibilities are aluminium piping, foam and liquid latex for the leathery look, OR garbage bags for the wing membrane.
It didn't really occur to me that the heavier I make the framework, the lighter I'll have to make the wingwork. I.e. if I were to use PVC pipe for the frame I'd probably go with the painted garbage bag membrane idea. Al-piping would probably give me enough working space to try foam and latex (cause the Al is lighter than PVC so I can make heavier membranes.).
Drawn up a very basic plan on the workings and mechanics of my wings. Shall post them soonish.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Just for You :)

My fave character/s so far, for a friend at the school reunion tonight :)
3rd edit... still some tweaking to do i.e. language-wise. And a tad more justification but... I'd like everyone to meet Deathere. Gul'darrah major character #1.

Darys cast a glance towards the entrance to the town; what she saw made her rein her horse in suddenly, making it rear in surprise. She steadied it, eying the waves of undead pouring in through the breaches in the high walls of the town. The onslaught of scourge had not been what had stopped her in her tracks though. Barely 50 paces from the walls were a group of 5 warriors in dark plate armor... fighting on the side of the Nosferatu. They were cutting a bloody path through her own scarlet soldiers like they were target dummies.

They fought like animals, screaming and snarling as they ripped through mortal flesh. Through the rising smoke of magic fire and the spray of blood through the air a broad-shouldered, black-armored warrior with horns on it helm looked up from the battle - the bi-horned helm turning directly to face Darys, as if sensing her gaze. Darys felt fear clutch her heart as the soldier lifted one arm, beckoning her closer with a gentle curl of fingers. The commander's horse whinnied and shied backwards nervously. Darys stared at the warrior, two small pinpoints of blue light burned maddeningly inside the darkness of the helm. She drew her reins to her, shaking her head in denial, though she couldn't look away. The warrior plunged its huge sword into the ground, purple lightning beginning to dance around her. It struck the Order of Sanguin soldiers and they fell noiselessly to the ground, convulsing and tearing their skin from their bones with their bare hands. Within a heartbeat they began to rise once more, flesh hanging loosely from their bodies. She swallowed a gasp of fear as they began to tear through their old allies; tearing with new teeth and claws. A few even failed to distinguish between friend or foe and began to attack the other ghouls viciously. The warrior laughed, surrounded by the newly birthed ghouls. A deep cold laugh that sent chills through Darys body. She began to shiver uncontrollably, watching in terror as the Necrophyte said something to its comrades and pointed directly at her. As four more black helms turned her way she kicked her horse viciously, fleeing the breach and galloping uncontrollably to the Keep.

The true heart of the town was the Keep - it housed the leaders of the newly reformed Sang d'le Anor. The Onslaught was what they had been assembling on the beach - the force that the Nosferatu armies had apparently decimated. No-one except the high-ranking officers of the Onslaught had known about the offensive - not even the Mayor of Blood's Marchessies, so the possibility that it had been compromised was almost unthinkable. Darys' thoughts raced in an uncontrollable blur as she dismounted and entered the keep. She paused, noticing the absence of guards at the entrance to the Keep.

She gritted her teeth and drew her sword, quieting the pounding of her heart as it galloped around her ribcage like some kind of wild beast. Her mind raced back to the Necrophytes she had seen fighting at the breach in town. Had that been all of them? What if they had penetrated the Keep covertly? Her eyes searched the corners of the corridors as she rounded the corners in the stone Keep. At the stairs to the command chamber Darys visibly shook herself. She was behaving like a child, not like a commander of the Sang. She steadied herself at the top of the stairs, she must be composed before facing the High Inquisitor. She was being needlessly stupid, the chance of any scourge reaching the Keep covertly should be impossible. She was about to walk through the door to the command chamber, when the sound of voices stopped her.

"I will tell you NOTHING!" Came the booming voice of her Lieutenant Commander Coren Garnblade.

"You will sing prettier than a sparrow in spring!" A cold voice snarled, "Tell me about the "Sang d'le Anor" and I'll end your miserable life!"

A man screamed in pain, followed by a short gasp. Darys gripped her sword tighter as her palms began to sweat. She had been so terribly wrong... the scourge had been vastly more prepared than they had anticipated. Was this how they had discovered the secret army mobilizing on the beach?

"Is that all you have, corpse?!" Garnblade gasped, though his voice shook with less confidence.

Darys crouched low and rolled across the doorway, pressing herself against the door frame and peering through the crack between the door and the wall. The Lt. Commander was a large man, formidable in combat due to his sheer strength. It was clear that this was one fight where he had found an equally formidable opponent. Blood ran through his sandy blond hair and seeped through the joins in his armor, trickling down the silver and gold plate in a delicate scarlet spiderweb in the light of the room. He was on a desk at the top of the stairs in the chambers, restrained only by one Necrophyte. It had one hand around the Lt. Commander's neck to hold him down as it knelt by his side on the table.

Squinting slightly she noticed pools of blood on the ground, dripping from his legs. In a split second she clapped a hand to her mouth as she suppressed a gag; the monster had severed his hamstrings to stop him from escaping! Darys began to shake now; nothing had ever prepared her for the ruthlessness of this kind of Nosferatu. Her eyes switched to the Necrophyte, noticing that it had cast aside its helm. The Nosferatu was a female Hydraxian, slender and covered in dried blood. What had once been pale white hair was streaked and blackened by countless battles in grime and blood. It knotted and twisted around itself in thick dredlocks, falling to halfway down its back. Its eyes were like the others that Darys had seen - endless holes of cold glowing ice. Grime coating its cheeks, its bloodred lips curved slightly as it leant down slowly and whispered in the Lt. Commander's ear,

"I can keep this up all day, dog... Is your life worth so little?"

It drew a pointed spear from its back slowly - letting the grinding pitch of metal on metal cut through the air in the room. It was barely the length of a human forearm, black and dull. The Necrophyte spun it in its hand and smiled more widely - revealing a jaw with very sharp canines. What exactly were these Nosferatu? Darys thought desperately, More animal that human?

"Just tell me what I need to know and I'll end your suffering quickly." The Necrophyte gently stroked the spear against Garnblades' cheek, almost lovingly. The Lt. Commander spat at it, gritting his teeth in defiance. The Necrophyte laughed jovially, the same ice-cold laugh that had frozen Darys in terror at the breach.

"Oh how I love the strong ones!" Its face changed abruptly and it cocked its head to the side. It must have tightened its grip on Garnblades' neck, as he began to choke.

"I'm through being courteous with your kind, human." Its voice began to change, becoming a multitude of voices - all of them evil. It snarled and drove the spear deep into the Lt. Commander's chest, ignoring his screams as the Nosferatu levered it between his ribs.

"What is the Sang d'le Anor?" The Necrophyte hissed, its eyes warming in tone as it became angrier; the icy flames changed gradient to a fiery red. It lifted him from the desk with one hand and shook him violently.

"Speak worm!" The multitudal voice screamed. Garnblade spoke weakly, through ravaged vocal chords.

"I serve a higher purpose, monster." He smiled, "The reward that waits for me will be knowing that you will burn in Hell for eternity."

The Necrophyte dropped the facade of civility and snarled like an animal, raising the spear once more.

"STOP! PLEASE! " Darys suddenly cried, she stumbled from the doorway and fell to her knees. The Necrophyte crouched low on the desk like a tiger waiting to strike, watching her with a sickening smile on its face.

"I was wondering how much you were going to take, hiding in the corner like a rat." It purred and straightened. It cast aside the spear and let it fall to the floor with a wet clang. Darys carefully stood on shaking legs, circling around the room towards the Lt. Commander.

"I'll tell you everything." She breathed shakily, drawing beside her superior slowly. His eyes were fluttering and he was coughing blood,

"Darys..." He muttered, blood trickling from his lips, "...run... while you still... ca-ARGH!"

Darys leapt backwards as the Necrophyte suddenly jerked him from the desk using the fresh hole in his chest to grab a firm hold of his ribs. Blood began to flow freely from the wound and his head lolled limply to the side.

"Thankyou Lt Commander, your services are no longer required." The Necrophyte threw him with a flick of its wrist. He hit the stone wall of the chamber with a sickening thud, dropping to the wooden floor where he didn't stir. Slowly the Nosferatu turned its burning eyes to Darys, she fell to her knees once again under the weight of those eyes, stammering as it advanced on her slowly.

"Tell me what you know and I give you my word I shall kill you swiftly." Its eyes bored throught Darys, as if it could draw the secrets from her head with its eyes alone.

"The Sang are assembling on the beach to s-s-sail for the North.”

North?” The creature cocked it's head to the side, “So close to our home, yes Human?”

The H-High Warlord d-d-decreed that the Light..."

"The Light!" The Necrophyte curled its lip in contempt and spat on the floor, "And what does your precious Light tell you?"

"It tells us what must be d-d-done!" She said desperately, "We... We do as we are told. It is what must be done!"

"What must be done?" The Necrophyte picked her up with both hands and sat her heavily on the bloodied desk, "Stop stammering like a coward and tell me everything you know!"

Darys cowered, eyes wide in her head,

"I-I know v-v-very little else... There's nothing else... You must believe me! I don't know where they go!"

The face of the Nosferatu contorted and it fastened a hand around Darys' neck.

"LIES!" The Nosferatu snarled and raised her arm, snapping her wrist blades from the fore-armor, "The pain you are about to endure will be talked about for years to come!"

Darys grabbed the arm and begged,

"NO! PLEASE! You must believe me!"

The Necrophyte drew closer to her.

"Go where?" The cold echo of her voice slid through Darys' mind, scattering her thoughts.

"Nuh... to er... North... to Orgindur."

The Nosferatu blinked, surprise evident on its face. It looked away from Darys, thinking deeply.

"Crafty rats." It murmured.

"P-please...." Darys begged, sweat beading on her forehead in fear. The Necrophyte flicked its blue eyes up at her, she saw no compassion in the Nosferatu. It nodded,

"I always keep my word, human. You will have a swift death. Spare a thought for your comrades that I will not be as considerate with."

Darys' bloodcurdling scream echoed through the Keep into the fast approaching night.


Wednesday, August 25, 2010

On Fathers Day :S


Well once again another major public celebration of the year has rolled around and I'm planning on giving one of my stories (thus far) to someone as a present.
Ha.
GL.
Gives me a week to type out everything from my notebook into computer form and re-edit and save into PDF to publish at work. A week... O.O
I am REALLY not good with deadlines lol!
Behold ye cover :)

Friday, August 6, 2010

Comissions

I was issued a challenge by a young male WoW friend the other day; write another sex scene.

So 3 ideas later, I'm halfway there. It's odd though, it takes about 4 times as long for me to write a sex scene as it does to write a bloody murder or something. The only thing I'm really worried about is variety... there's nothing I dislike more than repetative sex... if I wanted that then I would still be with my ex -.-
Also trying to make it actually part of the storyline - i.e. not gratuitous - is a little hurdle. On top of that the overall quality of the story itself... I HAVE to keep an eye on that.
I recently read 'Claimed by Shadow' by Karen Chance, and although I thoroughly commend her on her ideas (I mean, seriously, a dude that does magical moving tattoos is completely awesome) but every time something drastic happened like she gets raped, she has sex with her ex-roomate, she goes to the Fae Realm... I dunno it seemed like a majority of 'action-packed' moments were just... there cause she felt like it. It wasn't convincing enough for me I guess. Like this happened, then that happened, then this happened and Zzzzzzzzzz....
I'd be interested to find out where she got her influences from though. If there's any lore behind it all or if it sprung from her imagination The idea of a psychic time/space ruler seemed pretty original, as did the paradox of her giving the Geis to whatsisname her old master in a massive time-loop accident (now that was well done xD), and the ghost in her locket, Billy. The ghost in the locket was PRO.
Anyways, I must go back to my steamy sex scene (not that I'm complaining) but still... wish me luck! -.-

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Adventures with a shortie :)



'Just a small bite' - part of my Dark Cries and Moonlit Nights anthology.
Hopefully finished before I go bedward tonight. If not... meet Isabelle.



It's my display pic on facebook at the moment! lol
It's so much easier to use myself as a character model than go through all the shit of using stock photos from DA.



Next update coming soon I hope :x

Monday, July 26, 2010

Feasibility and the unbending legends of Galvanism

So I decided to re-read Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' again, brought on by seeing the music vid for Oomph's song 'Brennende Liebe' (Burning Desire).

mmm this is bad... ideas of Galvanism and alchemical reanimation are gonna worm their way into Trinity now.
Oh well, at least it has a basis in historical science... so it's KINDA feasible.
Fuck me... how feasible is a un-ascended Angel, a Warlock and a Demonic old God in the first place? I can't believe I'm attempting to label this series 'feasible'.
HOWEVER; I guess having story arcs like this that have a basis in either well-known fiction that involves historical science make things more BELIEVABLE. Believability is good. There's nothing I hate more than a book that goes 'Oh yeah, and then daisies shot out of his arse. Why? Dunno... but it was the coolest idea I had at the time.'

I can see it now; a Victor Frankenstein-inspired character hunted by a being that he created. Keylee already has some of the traits that Elizabeth Lavenza had... being an Un-ascended angel and everything.
Productive night tonight :)

No phone and no WoW makes Jacqui go something something...



Mad?

DON'T MIND IF I DO!

--------------------------------------

I should take this time to write... I really should -.-

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Random head explosions

I am far too busy for this shit -.- Wouldn't give it up for the world.

The Art of Self-Insertion
Chapter 1: Meet our Mary Sue


There was a resounding smack as the last box of my things hit the floorboards of my new living room. I stood and cracked my back, eying the mountain of cardboard boxes distastefully.

“That everything?” My dad poked his head in through the door. An aging Englishman, still chivalrous enough to take a day off from work to help me move into my new apartment in North Strathfield. He was wearing his 'baggy olds', though I couldn't really tell much of a difference from his normal faded denim jeans and white bonds t-shirt.

“Yeah,” I said, casting my eyes in one final sweep around the room, “That should be it.”

“You sure you don't want a hand setting up?”

I saw soft concern in his eyes. His little girl moving out of home... and so far away! I smiled and gave him a hug,

“I'll be right dad.”

“Ok then, wingnut.” He kissed me on the cheek; a prickly kiss from his 'Dorian Gray'-style goatee. “Give me a ring if you need anything.”

“I'll be fine! Honest!” I started gently shoving him out of the door, “Now bugger off and let me set up.”

After he had left I stood in the center of the room for a moment. It was funny how my life could get packed into a series of 8 boxes, a couch, fridge and computer. How depressing.

I decided to set up my computer first, unpacking the Macintosh and throwing the plug in the socket was simple enough. The speakers would take a little more work to position around the room, but for the moment they were fine sitting on the little Ikea desk my dad had supplied me. I loaded iTunes and chucked a playlist together. Something to fill the emptiness of the room until I'd unpacked.

With Devin Townsend pounding out of the speakers I felt more energised. My bedroom had already more or less been unpacked... I'd get to the other boxes after a cigarette.

Sliding the glass door to the patio open, I pulled a bent and abused box of Benson and Hedges Smooth from my back pocket and lit a cigarette, breathing in deeply to savor the nicotine hit with a sigh as I leant on the brick wall that fenced off the patio from the 4-story drop.

I'd finally decided to leave home for the sake of my own sanity. I had books to finish! I was one of those people with way too overactive imaginations; I usually found it useful to write whatever my brain dreamed up from one day to the next in book form. The only problem with being in a dead-boring graveyard shift job like mine was that I'd be driven to the edge of insanity in my little white room with 4 white walls and navy blue carpet 4 days a week.

So I daydreamed, but this is where the overactive imagination separates itself from the active imagination. Lately it had felt like I had a movie cinema in my head; too many people, too many places, too many creatures... I was going insane!

A friend had suggested that I spend a little more time writing. The only problem was that after living so far from work, I got very little time to sit down in front of my computer and 'put pen to paper'... at least figuratively speaking. This is when I had decided to make the big move out of home – closer to work and alone.

Of course my mother had been a little upset, my father had given me the lecture on how expensive and hard it was moving out of home but my mind had been made up. As loving as my mother and fathers intentions had been, I really needed a chance to clear my head – literally – or I'd end up getting myself committed!

In particular was my lack of a leading male in my Magnum Opus. I mean, I hadn't exactly been the most popular girl in school, and coming off the back of a nasty breakup barely a few weeks ago (that may or may not have contributed to my new found desire for independence...) I had very little inspiration for male characters in my stories. They usually ended up being a loosely based plagiarism of Legolas from Lord of the Rings or Allanon from Terry Brooks Shannara series. I was officially the worst authority for male figures in literature in the world.

Okay so there was one. He was kind of my secret; whilst other girls was fantasizing about their favourite movie star or singer I was writing my little books. I actually started a trilogy with this character... but I'd quickly outgrown that once I left high school and attempted to live life in the 'real world'.

I had hoped that moving out into a new social circle would force me into a different male demographic... as opposed to the rev-head loving, car-kissing twerps that I'd been to high school with.

I sighed deeply, watching the people walk below me like ants. A vague idea to write a random short about how tough it is to be a writer in a position like mine passed through my head, but I waved it off as a blunt waste of time.

The sound of another glass door opening dragged my mind back to the present – rather regretfully. I liked my long daydreaming sessions in solitude. I looked to my right, where someone was stepping out of their apartment.

It was a man 3 or 4 years older than me. Black jeans, grey t-shirt... and pure white hair. Like... anime-style blonde. No halves... it just hit your eyes with the full force of the spectrum.

He pulled a cigarette packet from the back pocket of his jeans and sparked up, taking a long drag with doubtlessly the same look that I must have had barely 2 minutes ago as the nicotine sank into his lungs.

He looked over, seeing me and gave a slight nod of his head in greeting. I caught a glimpse of his eyes and had to catch my jaw before it hit the floor. Deep honey gold.

Shit.

I flicked my cigarette over the balcony with trembling fingers and hurried back inside the door, shutting it behind me soundly. I leant against it, letting myself slide gently down the glass.

I wasn't stricken. I had seen plenty of attractive males in my life, none of them had the ability to make me fall to my knees.

Well maybe one. The one standing outside.

“Fuck no.” I argued with myself. I had to have mistaken something. It was overcast outside... had I confused shadows with the small spiderweb-thin scar trailing across the left side of his jaw?

No. I knew that face. I knew it all too well.

I leapt to my feet, grabbing the nearest box labeled 'Writing stuff' and started pulling papers out, letting them pile on the floor. I had to have forgotten something; because I swear to god I knew that mans entire life story.

I knew because I had created him.

Which was insane. I knew it was insane. I mean who the hell has the ability to randomly create people out of thin air? God? Was I going through some kind of God-hallucination? I paused for a moment, half-hoping that I was just daydreaming again and I'd snap back to myself; standing on the balcony with a cigarette in hand.

Nope. Nothing.

I suppressed a sigh and shoved my hand as far down into the 'Logitech' box as I could reach. I felt the familiar touch of spiral-bound sketchbooks beneath my fingertips.

“Ah ha!”

I grabbed as many as I could with one hand (which turned out to be four) and ripped them out of the box, sending papers and school exercise books spilling out onto the floor. Which one? How long ago had it been?

I flipped through the first sketchbook; elves, a mage... no, too old. From my 'sword and board' fantasy days. I tossed it to the side and grabbed the next one; Demon, anime girl... this was the right one.... now where...

There.

I flipped a page and stared, dumbstruck, at a perfect portrait of the man I had seen standing on the balcony barely two meters from me. Underneath was a roughly scrawled note; 25+ or something... Daemon.

Daemon.

“Impossible.” I whispered to myself, “You've finally cracked.”

The line between make-believe and real life must finally have snapped for me. Like really snapped. Was this how crazy people felt when they finally realised that they'd gone crazy?

Do crazy people even know when they've gone crazy?

Because if I knew that I was going crazy and crazy people didn't know that they'd gone crazy then that'd mean that I wasn't crazy after all... which I dearly hoped. If I wasn't crazy and by some sheer miracle of the powers that be I had brought this man into creation, then I was now living next to the man of my dreams. Literally.

I clutched the sketchbook in a deathgrip and got to my feet, moving back towards the balcony. The song on my computer faded and changed; the first bars of Lady Gaga echoed around the room.

Monster.

Firstly I expect you to judge me on this. Yes. I have the Lady-G on my computer. Secondly, the fact that Genius had decided to flick THIS particular song on at THIS particular moment... I was almost as creeped out as I had been when I saw the oh-so-familiar face next door. The significance of this? My Daemon was... well a demon. Half-demon, half-succubus to be exact.

I shook my head, sliding the door open again. He cast a quick glance in the direction of my balcony as I stepped out. After a quick thought I dropped the sketchbook onto the floor, trying to avoid any sort of awkward exchange having him see the sketch may have started.

“I don't usually scare girls away that fast until I've at least opened my mouth.”

My heart galloped and did the final 200 meters of the Melbourne Cup around my chest. His mouth broke into a perfectly rehearsed smile – not revealing too much teeth.

I knew why he didn't show too much teeth. It's how all of his kind smiled; fangs can freak out even the most steadfast Twilight groupie.

I blinked rapidly, speechless. This was impossible... and fantastic! What would you say to someone who you'd spent so many late nights up with, saved from countless instances of death and worked with through his messy too-young-and-too-fast marriage breakdown?

“Hi.”

Hi? That was it? Faced with someone you'd known for almost 9 years, and the most you could manage was a weak 'Hi'?

Inwardly I defended myself. What else could I say? 'Hi! Have you managed to divorce your ex-wife yet? How's the Underworld going lately?

He flicked his cigarette butt over the balcony and cracked his shoulders. I swallowed and gripped the brick balcony under clawed fingertips,

“Sorry, You startled me for a sec. I was daydreaming.”

See? That's not too bad.

“You looked like you'd seen a ghost.”

I laughed, a little too high pitched to be anything other than slightly manic.

“It happens a lot. Sometimes I think I'm going a little too crazy.”

“Too crazy?” He raised an eyebrow at me. I shrugged, getting used to the feeling of my heart beating like a hammer in my chest.

“Craziness is just another way of looking at the world.” I whispered, taking in every little detail of his face. Was it my own craftmanship? Or had I simply caught a glimpse of his in some place long ago and not remembered?

Slight arrogant amusement flickered through his amber eyes,

“I didn't introduce myself. My name's Daemon.”

I knew that! I SO knew that! I crowed triumphantly in my head. Aloud I said,

“Jacqueline.”

He grinned and leant against the balcony,

“Jacqueline? That's very...”

“Long?” I offered.

“Old school.” He finished, “Not many refined European names around these days.”

In that split second I loved my name. I loved it.

“Daemon is old.” I replied, “Very... demonic.”

His face darkened a little,

“My parents had a sense of humor.”

Did they ever...

His phone rang; the ringtone from the movie Crank. I inwardly did a little excited jig. Who was it? Nidal? Carmilla? Sidney? I went through the list of his associates like a menu in my head.

“Yes? Sidney?”

Bingo.

I suddenly remembered a little detail I'd written about Sidney years ago; she was a double-crossing Witch. Literally. I made a mental note to discreetly drop warning signs in the future. That was assuming that he suddenly didn't drop from the face of the earth as soon as he walked back into his apartment and I woke up in a padded room with lovely men in white coats.

He pushed the phone from his mouth to speak to me,

“Sorry, I should leave you to your daydreaming.”

“I understand.”

Oh boy did I understand.

“Cya.” He turned back to his door, sliding it open. I had a sudden idea,

“Daemon!”

He stopped and turned back to me. I clenched the balcony in my hands again,

“Um, I got a bottle of Canadian Club black label with your name on it if you feel like a chat when your not... busy. Being... neighbours after all...”

Well, aren't we being the captain of the obvious? I closed my eyes in embarrassment, catching the soft humor in his voice,

“Sure thing, neighbour... I just have a small... problem ...I need to deal with first.” He emphasized the word as he said it.

Demon? Vampire? Ghoul? Marius? Was it Carmilla, trying to lure you out for a bounty or had the Left Hand killed again?

I nodded and tried to mask any excitement I felt as I slid my own door open again.

“Sure... be careful.” I spoke over my shoulder, casting one last glance in the direction of the impossible creature standing on the balcony next to me. He grinned, a cocky grin.

“Always, princess.”

EEP!

I almost tripped into my doorway, falling against the glass as I slid the door shut. That was my little girl giggly moment. Princess!? Any boy who knew me knows that I liked being called princess – what girl doesn't like the idea of being a princess? – but only he had the ability to make me fall through a door with that one word.

I rushed over to my computer, activating the broadband wireless and hastily opening my email. I drafted one to my dad, grinning like an idiot as I began;


Dad!

You'll never guess who I met today...

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Re: Zombie Apocalypse

Rules for Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse:
Follow these simple but crucial rules and you will survive any Zombie Apocalypses that come your way:
1. Keep Moving:
It’s always best to move around constantly; never ever stay in the one area for more than 2 hours, yes I said hours not days. You’re supposed to be running from the zombies; not waiting for them to catch up to you.
2. No Loud Noises or Bright Lights:
Avoid both at all times. We’ve discovered that most – if not all – zombies are unconditionally attracted to both noise and bright lights. No we’re not saying that you can’t make some noise; that would be impossible, but keep it as quiet as possible. If you don’t; you’ll have 10 times the number of zombies coming your way and that makes it all the harder to avoid them.
3. Always Have a Back Way Out:
Always make sure you have at least 1 exit apart from where you came in. Especially if it’s only a small building such as the local supermarket. If possible make note of other possible exits as well, but always have at least one handy to make a quick getaway if you’re outnumbered. Yes; windows count as an exit... unless they're four storeys up, then your screwed.
4. Stay Together:
This is only valid if you are travelling with someone. Pretty self explanatory really; Don’t go anywhere alone – two or three people makes better odds than just one alone. Oh but just make sure you don’t travel with too many people; but that’s another rule altogether.
5.No Secrets:
Make sure that if you are travelling in a group that no one keeps secrets from anyone else. Everyone has to be honest – that way you stay alive longer. For example; if by some unfortunate circumstance you do get attacked and bitten, don’t just keep it to yourself; Let Everyone Know About It. It might not be a happy thing to be admitting but think of everyone – not just you. You’ll be putting all the people with you in danger if you’re not honest right from the start. Better a quick shot to the head than using your friends as entree`, main and dessert.
6. Avoid Large, Multi-level Areas:
This is just common sense when you think about it. How many times does it happen in the movies? You walk into a shopping centre thinking there’s more than enough places to hide out for a while. WRONG!!!!!!!! That’s dead people talk. Sure there are plenty of potential hiding places but there’s also plenty of open spaces and too many doors that have potential zombies behind them. Also avoid hospitals and medical centres at all cost – that’s where all the infected people went before they turned DUH!!! Danger of infection skyrockets in places like that.
7. Keep a Weapon Handy at All Times:
Baseball bat, chainsaw, machete, gun or walking stick. Anything that can be used to beat off a potential living dead. The last thing you want is to be caught in a compromising position with no weapon to defend yourself. This can also be applied to would-be thieves and other sorts of lower forms of humanity that seem to pop up when apocalyptic events occur.
8. When in doubt; GTFO!
If you find yourself in a place that feels bad. i.e. a large dark room with little light, low average exits and random echoes of shuffling and moaning; high-tail it. Roughly the same as 'When in doubt; chuck it out' except this time the food concerned is YOU. Nothing is worth the risk of winding up as a walking drool-factory hell-bent on devouring every living thing that moves and/or breathes.
9. Don't be a hero:
A hero is someone who gets people killed... or kills themselves in the process, thus becoming a Martyr.
Martyrs are bad. Especially when a majority of the human race will be dead. Or dead-dead (not a zombie but ACTUALLY dead). We don't need to help extinction along on its merry way.
10. Trust No-one:
The hardest rule to follow. Every Man For Himself can be a hard instinct to break in those of us closer to apes than others. Zombie Apocalypses can changed even the best of us into double-crossing good-for-nothing scumbags. Groups are good, groups of 'friends'... not so good.
Unless you got a friend like Natalie... or Jacqui... then you're screwed.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Back to the sword and board!

I gave Daemon a bit of a rest to keep working on my hard core fantasy series :)
Almost finished the first bit of 'Necrophile'! Stay tuned!

Oh and I filled up the little notebook that my friend gave me, I had to buy another one to write in whilst I'm on the way to and from work. Now all have to do it to copy the writing from the notebook to my computer... but it's so much hard work!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

The Art of Self-Insertion


My Lovely lovely Bloodlust story has undergone a transformation!
Visit http://www.4shared.com/document/0tBy4uhk/part_1.html and tell me what you think!
I found the easiest way to combat my writers block was to write myself into the story! Little did I realise the dangers associated with that :/
Enjoy what I have so far!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Engineer

Tinka Berberry had seen many explosions in her life. There were bangs, echoing thumps, tiny pops and soundless puffs of smoke... and then there was this.

As a demolitions expert she knew exactly how much gunpowder had been in any particular explosion simply by the tone of the 'boom' (or 'puff'... depending on magnitude). A higher pitched bang indicated tightly packed smaller incendiary devices, whilst a lower sound would more often than not prove to be loose gunpowder in either a crate or a barrel.

This explosion was a series of 'boom's, instigated by 6 sharp 'crack's. These 'boom's and 'crack's were four crates of loose gunpowder, stacked – one on top of the three – with an Arcane Incendiary placed lightly on top like a glazed cherry on a high-powered birthday cake as a catalyst.

Each of these volatile multi-layered concoctions were placed in positions strategically engineered for total demolition. Nothing would be left in the Clockwerk City except rubble and the bodies of 6,422 Necrophile warriors – hopefully dead.

Like a finely tuned fireworks display, the explosions shot stone and rubble into the air, the Arcane Incendiaries firing so hot that the rising dust cloud was impaled with the trailing blaze of molten metal and rock like bright red shooting stars.

It was her best work. An order from the High Overspark himself; leave no foundation standing, no hallway unburied and no courtyard uncluttered... and she had done it in a record time of 2 hours and 16 minutes.

Tinka Berberry watched the Clockwerk City of Crankshaft explode like an overfilled balloon and wept, for she had just destroyed the only home she had ever known... and the halflings that had not been fast enough to run.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Time to buckle down.

Okay, no more procrastinating. I WILL finish 'Daemon' damnit!
Dad's prodding me into publishing a small anthology of everything that I've started over the years. It really hit me once I started going through my really old stuff. The sword and board epic fantasies that I'd stay up all night (all school night) writing. I mean, seriously, where'd all that energy and focus go?
So, now, I'm making a pledge to myself. I give myself until christmas this year to finish 'Daemon' in it's entirety. By that time my friend at work will have set up his binding business - meaning that I can employ one of his business partners to print at least 10 copies, get it bound by him and do the cover graphics myself. Hey presto! 1st edition copies of my book for christmas presents :D
Hmmm maybe I'll sign them too...

Listening to;
Help, I'm still Alive - Metric

Sunday, April 11, 2010

OST coincidence or not?

Acquired the Clash of the Titans (2010) soundtrack from iTunes and had a little listen-through while I was working on Wicked Truth. Words just fell out of me! It was wonderful! I think I found my new inspiration tracks for this book :)
It was interesting too, the score was composed by Ramin Djwadi - who work as an assistant composer to Hans Zimmer on Pirates of the Carribean! You can actually hear some of the same elements, which was nice because its the bits from the PotC score that I really enjoyed; the soft drums keeping time with a lot of violin 8th notes working up and down. Most of all are the wonderful bits where the music swells with the brass section... it sounds... striving, if thats a way to put it. You can hear the epic struggle in the pieces.
Anyway, on that note I shall return to my writing. I HIGHLY recommend this soundtrack, even as a little background music. The music is beautiful :D

Friday, April 9, 2010

New story time!

My newest irritating story flitting about my head finally got put to text during my road trip to Melbourne this past week. A friend gave me a notebook for my birthday to write in whilst in the car, which definitely came in handy :P
So my newest endeavor revolves around the Tuatha De Danann - 'Peoples of the Goddess Danu'. In my particular case; Irish faeries. It's got little bits of Samhain and Beltane law with a bit of Green Man legends and all manner of funky bits of folklore like a Sheela na Gig, fairy raths and a secret underwater Crannog.
I love Irish fae-lore to bits.
The only thing is I want to try and keep is as believeable as possible. I mean it's nothing like my Briar Rose sequence (which, by the way, can be found here. Chapter 1 :D) which is all magic and fairies and stuff. Wicked Truth is more folk-lore mystery that's got you goin 'is it or isn't it?'... kinda like Sherlock Holmes when you think the bad dude is a warlock, but really he isn't.
The only task now is to type it out from my notes. I got about the first 3 chapters and a bit done :) not bad for 20 hours work!
Hmmm I also wouldn't mind doing a little list of my leading males, for comparison. I don't wanna start making them all the same. That's the thing I hated about Stephanie Meyers books Twilight and Wanderer. Melanie and Bella have almost no behavioral differences, and you can draw lines between Jacob/Ian and Edward/(the dude melanie's in love with). I want them all to be somewhat different.
So Daemon is a half-Japanese grump who walks with a limp, has a scar from cheek to chin (on such a perfect face! /sob) and is a general badass with 2 guns and a wazikashi blade. Pale, black hair to his jaw and muscled like an AFL player.
Taliesin is a 2000-something year old War-mage who uses blood-sacrifices, charms and a wand to blow people to bits. He also can drain people's life-energy by touching them directly. He's got dark-tanned skin and loooong black hair to his waist... plus long pointy ears and fangs :)
Dominic is half-arab, half-irish (don't ask me how it works, but it does) doctor of Religious Symbology pertaining to European ancient history. Also a descendant of the Fir Bolg people, after the run-in with the Ifreet (fire-demon) he shows certain Jinniyeh aspects (i.e. Keylee has a vision of him disappearing in smoke etc.)
Gotta read up a little more on my Arab folk-lore though for that one -.-
Anyways, till next time!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Random Nerd moment

I work at a digital print shop for Harvey Norman that prints all of the lovely high-quality photobooks and canvases you order from Harvey Norman Photocenters around Australia. So if you've got one of these recently there's a good chance I've either bound it, trimmed it, printed it, covered it, stapled it or packed it.
So one of the machines I operate at work is a Horizen HT-30 Robotic Trimmer. It cuts the photobooks to fit nicely in their hard or soft covers. It's like a huge machine from Willy Wonka's chocolate factory O.o




<------ It makes very cool 'whirr', 'phoosh' and 'cha-bang!' sounds XD



I was using it yesterday and one of the guys was with me, showing me the finer details of operating it, when we started to talk about how it works. Yeah hydraulics to power the 1kg blade etc etc... but what caught my attention was the tiny tiny motors it uses to make the precise measurements and cuts. I mean it can cut to like a 1/4 of a mm accurately! It uses these funky little motors called 'Servo Motors'.



This is what it looks like when u rip it apart. ---------------->



They turn particular angles according to the length of electrical pulses they get.
So to keep it in a 'neutral' position requires a pulse of 1.50 milliseconds. Anything less than this will turn it accordingly counter clockwise (I think, or I might have it back to front) and anything more will turn it clockwise.

So you can program pulses to turn them in whatever degree u like, maybe attach a robotic arm to the end and you have... well a funny-looking thing that can pick things up and drop them a little bit away.
So you program software to release timed pulses - like a macro in WoW - one pulse to activate the robotic 'clamp' (I think it'd work by completing the circuit... I haven't done electronics since primary school -.-) to pick up ... a coffee cup or something. Then a pulse of 1.75ms to turn the motor from 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock and another pulse to release the 'clamp' and a 1.5ms pulse to return it to neutral. (Most servo motors, I've read, only work within 180 degrees.)
These little things are the same type of motor in remote-controlled cars! Very cool :) I dunno why I found this so interesting... maybe cause I had a light-bulb moment where I suddenly understood exactly how a little part of something worked.
At least in my head I get it :s


Oh and I discovered the trimmer is technically classed as a 'Robot', though I doubt it will be plotting any plans for world domination soon...

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Wonders and woes of Twitter


I made a lovely Twitter background today!
Too bad it won't upload -.- so after wasting 3 hours of my life I decided to post it here :)
Started turning my Deathknight fanfic into an audio-drama-ish thingo. It would be awesome to podcast it for other people :)
Stay tuned for more!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Why can't I own a Canadian?

Well?

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

omgwtf

*WANT!*
I have money... it's pay day. I'm officially buying this necklace. I don't care if I'm a geek.
Maybe get this shirt for DB :)

Saturday, January 2, 2010

For the seductress in us all...

I've found what I want for my birthday!
Too bad my bf isn't that much into Star Trek :(
Kirok of L'Stok stumbled across this and forwarded it to me, knowing my love for corsets <3

On another note I TOTALLY forgot to link to the BEAUTIFUL brushes that I used to jazz up my blog! I'm a huge fan of Obsidian Dawn's Fantasy Brushes, it makes it so easy to wow people with your pictures. Just make sure you linky back to the DL page if you're planning on using them please!
I also used a stock photo from www.sxc.hu, free high-quality stock photos. The beautiful header base was by Fangol, the background flowery rectangles were by Duchesssa.

Spent the entire morning reading Darklegacy comics and LookingForGroup -.- I should really continue writing. Just doing a final edit and finish of Chapter 1 of Deathknight (part 2).
... okay I'm gonna rename it Chapter 7. "Deathknight; Part 2, Chapter 1" is WAAAY too long.
Hopefully should be able to post it tonight :)


Greetings and salutations

NEUROTIC. CHAOTIC. ANTI-PROBLEMATIC.

P S Y C H O S O M A T I C.

Live by the laws of:

Eyeliner NewRocks HeavyMetal Nuttella

\m/ God has SPOKEN! \m/...

She has:

- Lots of black lace and eyeliner
- A love for musicals; singing/acting and dancing
- A strange fascination with photographing herself
- An odd fetish for boots and corsets

- A lvl 80 Draenei Deathknight (Sven - Blackrock) a lvl 80 Night Elf Boomkin (Bellwind - Blackrock) a lvl 80 Shaman (Shaamrock - Blackrock) and a Gnome Warlock (Bellfear - Blackrock)

- A personal vendetta against Supre after they insulted her and asked her to leave
- Taken up and quit smoking in the 2 weeks after she turned 18... then started smoking again.
- Mourned the loss of her beloved rat... then rescued a cat from the RSPCA
- An iPhone that's pracically surgically implanted in her ears. ...

She STILL has not:
- Managed to learn the guitar like she's always wanted to
- Conquered her nerves and sung solo publicly as well as she sings solo in private
- Learnt Latin, though can read it quite well... just not understand what it means... sort of
- Discovered why she's such a Mosh Pit Junkie...lol...

Currently writing:- Devil May Cry Fanfic- Halo Fanfic- World of Warcraft fanfic ...


This is a blog to clump together my works; writing, photos, fanart... all in one little convenient blog - complete with links!

Occasionally I'll write brief discriptions of my oh-so-geeky life... but hopefully they should be few and far between :)


I should start first with the basics; links.

- My Deviantart page

- My Fanfiction.net page

I will link most uploads to those sites, but if you ever want to browse around the web version of whats inside my head right now - feel free to explore them :)

Writing:

Most recently I'm working on a series of World of Warcraft fanfics that I'm contributing to my brothers website "Tales of the Slaughtered Lamb" (still in development). The intention is to create a site that can be a sort of hub for Warcraft fanfics so its easily accessible by fans. Lord knows they must be - like me - fed up of sifting through the crap on ff.net to find a few good stories. Don't get me wrong though, I beta-read for a lot of people on ff.net to help them polish their work. This site will have a 'tales from the taven' theme; supposedly told to the old barkeeper.

I'm going to contribute 3 (possibly 4) three-part stories; Deathknight, Warlock, Druid (And maybe Shaman). Who knows? Maybe eventually I'll write a story for each class!

You can find "Deathknight - Part 1" here. Part 2 is writing in progress :)

Fanart:

Just finished uploading a small collection of glorified screenshots of my favourite toons to DA.

Bellwind

Shaamrock

Bellfear

Svén

See the pic comments for links to the brushes I used and artist notes :)

I guess that's all for now before my giant wall of text kills you.

/walloftext crits you for over 9000

You die

Damn...