Yahoo Image Search
Every second counts
Ticking by
Building into minutes
Hours
And grander spans
We try to ignore
Many succeed
Others succumb
To the curse of being human
Aware of mortality
Fearing death
We cannot regain
The seconds lost
Or add more
Than we are allowed
All we can do
Is live
Within our dwindling time
It’s been a while since we met, but here we are to welcome the awesome Laura Sibson, who is here to talk about her YA fantasy novel, Edie in Between,…
Check This Out: Edie in Between
Yahoo Image Search
The human mind and body can’t keep going without breaks. Whether it be a quiet weekend at home or a few days away from our stresses, we require these periods of time to regain strength. At least, we do if we don’t spend most of our days lounging around and never worrying about things. For those of us who aren’t rich, living in a virtual reality, or squatting in an abandoned mansion, breaks are our escape. What are some things to consider for these?
Seeing as I’m on the road today, I figure I’ll put up some funnies about traveling. Let’s hope I have Internet access upon arrival. As usual, I got everything with a Yahoo Image Search. Enjoy.
We’ve got pictures this time because a few cool things happened. Going to end on a big one too after the usual list. Even putting it behind a ‘Read More’ tag, which I’m sure will fail on some platforms.
First, I got some new masks for the school year since that hasn’t changed:
They’ve got Fullmetal Alchemist pictures, which I was trying to find last year, but nothing caught my eye. These are a little smaller than my others as far as the ear straps go, so we’ll see how they work on the days I have to wear them the whole time. I might bring another to do a swap if these hurt too much. Maybe I don’t need the adjustors too. Next thing is to get a few ‘One Piece’ masks, but I’m not sure if a cartoon Skull & Crossbones is school friendly even if it’s wearing a straw hat.
The was rather lazy with television, outlining, and other things. Went to visit a friend on Monday and watch ‘The Suicide Squad’. It was nice to get out of the house and hang out with a movie. Not a common activity these days. I really liked the movie too since it didn’t take itself seriously. When I settle in, I want to be entertained and zany gets my attention more than overblown CGI and flashy fights. This is what can help me overlook a rather shaky plot, but ‘The Suicide Squad’ was rather simple there. Honestly, it felt more like a character-driven story that happened to involve a superhero adventure. Anyway, that was the big outing of the week.
The rest of the time was spent outlining the 6 book . . . short story . . . whatever this spy thing is turning into. It’s fantasy and I had 6 books slated for the Windemere spy character who debuts in ‘The Ether Thief’. I’ve had this character since high school and expected to do so much more, but he kept slipping. Inspired by me getting into James Bond movies, I thought I had it right. Yet, all of the outlines are feeling like 14-section short stories. It might turn into a single book with these tales just like I did with the samurai who debuts in the same series.
This project also means I filled a notebook, which is unexpected. I’ll be taking a new one on the trip, but I’m not sure which series division I’m going to use. I have Windemere History (7 books/series), Windemere Organizations (9 books/series), Mylrixians (8 books/series), and then a 10 book gathering of Miscellanous. That’s not counting ‘Keys of Eden’, which I keep forgetting about. Leaning towards the Organizations because I’ve got more solid thoughts on that one than the others. God knows, the Mylrixians (Super Earth) drives me so crazy that I’m scared to touch them again.
I built a lift top table for my son’s room:
Barely managed to get all of the Mario Legos in and on this thing. My shoulder wasn’t thrilled with the building either. It’s not in pain, but it fatigues rather quickly. Going to make the trip that starts tomorrow rather slow. That’s why I bought a box of instant cold packs to use at rest stops.
Television wasn’t that interesting. Watching all of ‘Fire Force’ and then another anime called ‘Konosuba’. Really liked the first series, but I let the second one keep going even when I had to go to the bathroom or get food. Just watching another season of ‘Burn Notice’ to avoid getting into anything before we leave.
I have my son starting today, so we’re going on our trip this week. I won’t be bringing my laptop too. Partially because I have no reason to bring it along since I’m spending time with the little guy. Also, the case around the casing around the top part of the laptop has split. It’s being kept together by Gorilla Tape since I can’t afford a new machine and this one still works. The problem is that opening and closing it isn’t really an option. It’s like this thing wants to break, so I have to leave it open. Nothing I can’t do by phone though, so it isn’t a problem. This also means you probably won’t get responses from me outside of the morning and evening. Be patient please.
Goal list:
Cover Art by Alison Hunt
Yahoo Image Search
Here we are at the end of a really odd weekly topic. Maybe I stretched this out for too, but I don’t remember what started it. Funny how such a complicated medical issue can be used so casually and ‘simply’ in fiction. Shows how we can get away with no research at some points. Might not be the best way to go, so maybe these questions can help us use the trope better.
(Disclaimer: A warning to those who continue. This is a sequel to a previous story. Both of these were written in the mid-1990’s. While the first one was slightly edited and vanity press published, this one has not been touched in over 20 years. I figure I should do something with it and people may get a laugh or fright from how I used to be. Every author comes from somewhere, so this is part of my origin. To that end, I am deeply sorry for whatever nightmares I will inflict on the literary world and the American English language. Enjoy?)
As the Earth and Venus guardians land the space skimmer on one of the Twin Towers, the villains that they are going to face are awakening. But Adriana is having a little bit of a problem getting her head together. The massive blood lose put her out for a long time and left her giddy while her body produces new blood.
“Where are you, Tegam? I can’t see anything. Did you lock me in a damn closet again?” whispers Adriana from inside a body bag. When someone finally opens it, she sits up and focuses on Tegam’s smirking face. She groggily sits on the metal table and pulls off the little card on her bare toe. She is handed her clothes so she can quickly get dressed and warm up.
“You seem to be having a really bad day. First, Hydrana and now the police knock you out for a couple of hours. This has got to be leading to some permanent brain damage. Feeling better?” says Tegam as he helps her off the table.
“No. At least, we brought those new clothes that can fix themselves. No sense walking around barely dressed in this city. Of course, I don’t think anyone would care if I did that. This body is far too gorgeous to keep hidden under anything. Still, remind me to thank Mindtrigger about his invention as soon as we get home. Anything happen while I was out?”
“Draveon and Cybro were fighting the police at a zoo. Draveon had encountered Hydrana and severely beat her up and he encountered Fate a half-hour ago. That fight destroyed the Yellowstone Bridge. Everyone has gone into hiding, but they should be easy to find. In Draveon’s defense, he was attacked and only fought to survive just like you said. I saw another space skimmer land nearby and I heard a report that two people left it in a hurry. One had a set of wings while the other was in some sort of yellow bubble. They will be here within a few minutes.”
“It sounds like Miracle and Infinity are coming here since the other two guardians have already landed. Fate is definitely going after Hydrana, which takes away one of our problems. I seriously doubt that the Mars guardian could lose to that redheaded nut-job. Where did those cops put my weapon?” She silently pulls a nearby door off its hinges and lets the sunlight from an alleyway warm her body. In a nearby corner of the room are their weapons, which the police managed to pry out of their hands. The two villains are armed and on the street within seconds.
“Long time no see, prankster!” yells Miracle when she dives at him. Adriana quickly pounces on the Venus guardian and rips the bat-like wings off. The wings disappear in the villain’s hands, which takes the still dazed blond by a mild amount of surprise.
“I still owe you for biting my face, guardian. This should make us even,” states the evil immortal before biting Miracle on the neck like a vampire. Adriana gets kicked off and the two female warriors start to repeatedly punch each other in the face. Miracle throws one punch that puts Adriana’s head through the pavement.
“My hand!” moans Miracle.
“Who cares about that stupid thing? You broke my cute, little nose,” complains Adriana. She knees the ebony-haired guardian in the stomach and backhands Miracle through the morgue’s wall.
“Give me a hand, Tegam!” The jester is about to give his leader a round of applause, for the obvious joke, but a lamppost suddenly wraps around his body. Infinity drops behind him and kicks the carrot-topped immortal into a full trashcan.
“Let the women handle it on their own. How are you holding up, Kelly? I mean, Miracle,” asks Infinity.
“She’s doing fine. But you don’t have to worry, Steven. I know all of your real names. There’s no longer any need to be so formal when we talk. By the way, I’m great. Thanks for asking, gorgeous,” answers Adriana, who has the Venus guardian in a tight chokehold. As soon as her grip slips for a moment, Miracle breaks away and spin kicks Adriana in the ribs. The blond stumbles a little before catching the hanging leg that struck her, but the guardian flips her body in a way that sends the seducer sailing back into the morgue.
“Don’t you ever shut your mouth, psycho slut? Your voice gets annoying very quickly,” says Miracle. She hits Adriana on both sides of the head with wooden hammers that disappear on contact. For a split second, the guardian stops, which allows the injured immortal a chance to grab Miracle’s legs and slam her into the floor. She keeps a hold of the guardian’s legs and smashes her through the floor.
“Psycho slut? I really, really hate that nickname. Doesn’t anyone here believe that I am not a psycho? Now, where is that Earth guardian? I feel like ripping into someone besides you, Kelly,” mutters Adriana into the gaping hole she just made. When she sees Infinity, he is growing patches of blue and white feathers. She leaps out of the damaged building and sprints away before he becomes a giant, blue and white bird with a killer attitude.
“Coward. Why are you still here, Tegam?” the bird caws. It destroys the metal restraint on the prankster with deadly lightning bolts that come from its white eyes. Once free, the jester vanishes from sight.
Soon his voice is heard saying, “I don’t feel like fighting for a cause that I think I am against. Without Psylon’s morning star nearby, I’m getting my real memories and motives back. But I’m not free of its influence yet. It would be in all of our best interests, Infinity, if you left me alone. Just in case you decide to follow me, this will definitely change your mind.”
The whip of matter appears for a brief second as it hits the broken building that their fight was centered around. Slowly, the building turns dark red and grows scaled limbs. Within minutes, it has become a terrifying, red dragon that soars into the cold, winter air.
“Miracle is in there!” shouts Infinity.
“I know. You have about ten minutes before the thing grows a stomach and begins to digest her. Since I created it, the dragon is capable of killing her. And only you can save her, bird boy. Have fun,” replies Tegam, who is still invisible.
“I seriously hate that guy,” mutters the bird as it flies after the retreating dragon at full speed. The monster sees him following and belches a ball of fire at him. Luckily, Infinity’s lightning blast stops the fireball and continues through the air to cut off one of the liquid-like arms.
“I can’t hit it with a full lightning bolt because I could hurt Miracle. This is something Fate is a lot better at handling than I am. There is one chance that I have, but it’s going to be tough. Thank god, I love a good challenge. Just wish Kelly’s life didn’t depend on it. Pressure is not on my list of favorite things,” thinks Infinity while he dodges a rain of smaller fireballs. He gets right above the dragon and cuts into its soft back with his talons. The monster roars before trying to bite the guardian, but it barely misses his head.
“Too close. Way too close,” mumbles Infinity. He rapidly pecks at the dragon’s solidified skull, which causes the red scaled creature to go into a savage frenzy. Infinity flies off with the dragon close behind him and soon he sees the twin towers looming before him.
“This idea had better work.” Infinity changes back into a human as he comes to the space between the towers. He harmlessly passes through them and grabs a window ledge before he falls. The dragon follows, as planned, but it is too big to fit through. Since it wasn’t fully formed, the creature explodes into big blotches of red liquid on the sides of the towers and Miracle is stuck to the wall.
“This is disgusting,” says Miracle when Infinity picks her up.
“Maybe so. But at least you’re safe and not injured too badly,” the pale-eyed guardian responds.
“Not for long,” growls a low voice before a pair of muscular arms crash through the nearby wall and pulls the guardians into silent darkness. The last thing they see, before they feel something hard and heavy hit them over their heads, is a pair of red, demonic eyes.
Gandalf
I’m sure this has been examined in fiction before, but I haven’t seen it done a lot in the genres I favor. So, I’m sorry if I’m totally wrong here. Please feel free to say so in the comments.
Amnesia being the loss of memory creates a situation where a character needs to rediscover themselves. There’s that whole ‘find the trigger’ plot that gets used and half the time is solved by a random encounter. It was the smell of carrot cake at 10 am that did the trick! Seriously though, the story takes on rediscovery, but there is another door that could be opened.
Could an amnesiac character get a chance at a second life?
You see it in comics a lot actually. A character who everyone thought was dead turns out to be alive, but lost their memory. They forgot who they were and fell in love with a person who helped them. Keep in mind that amnesia isn’t supposed to affect one’s sense of identity, which is why it’s tricky to write. This does make it too complicated, which is why these characters end up returning with a new life. Inevitably, they are jolted back to their old selves and return to whatever path they originally hand. The second life is left behind because it no longer fits.
I wonder if this makes any sense. It really only works if the character is removed entirely from their old life. No family, friends, locations, or any connections to the life they no longer remember. Otherwise, people would be there to tell them the truth and help them recover. They can’t get a second life since the first one is laid out before them with a handful of guides. Even in the last paragraph, you can see that the character is drawn back to their old life. This really makes me wonder if such a path is possible.
I don’t believe it is. People have too many identifiers these days like social security numbers, credit cards, social media, etc. The doctors alone would try to identify them, which could include fingerprints and DNA. So, we’re looking at a scenario that is difficult to pull off in reality. That means suspension of disbelief is needed for it to happen in fiction. Otherwise, readers won’t be invested and see immediately how the situation could be remedied. Not so much the memories returned, but the character going back to what could trigger a revival.
This might be why amnesia happens so often to supporting characters. They aren’t in the spotlight, so the audience won’t pay attention to them as much. Disbelief is there because their amnesia and second life are nothing more than tools for the main characters. It could even be that they get to keep their second life because their importance to the plot is over as soon as the one piece of information or an object is gained. Still, you would think the interaction with the main characters would trigger something. This brings up the possibility that you can’t have this type of plot without it being the central theme because all other events could be seen as memory revivers. Now I know why I try hard to steer clear of this trope.
The more I write about this idea, the more I don’t see it as viable. At least, not in the type of stories that I write. Fantasy brings magic into the equation, which would be the cause or the cure. Character lost their memories? A telepathy spell or a psychic can fix that since it’s implied that the memories are simply inaccessible by the person. The brain could even be repaired if the issue is deterioration from dementia. Having easy cure-alls kills the suspense here and eliminates the chance of a second life. The only way it would work is if the amnesiac is struck on purpose and sent away to live a new life. This is done either to protect them or remove them from the scenario. In this way, nobody would be trying to revive their memories.
Again, feel free to tell me how this would work. I’d love to know.
Legends of Windemere 