Skeletor
I don’t think I’ve touched on this topic outside of a casual mention, so I’m going to attempt to go below the surface. Curses show up in a lot of genres even when magic isn’t a main component. Some are real and others are legends that don’t actually work. The key point with a curse is that it triggers a sensation of fear and tension. That is the literary usage of such a thing. I’m going to get more into this on Wednesday with a 7 Tip list.
The reason I began thinking about this is because somebody asked me:
Do you think curses are cliches?
This honest question brings up a good point. Many people tend to point at anything they have seen before as cliche and stale. Evil curses have been around since mythology days if not longer. From punishments by the gods to witch hexes to Egyptian tomb curses, humans have clung to this concept that magic can be used to inflict a negative effect on others. Sometimes it’s a specific target while other times it strikes whoever is unlucky enough to wander into the area. We see them in movies, shows, books, and video games, so I can see how one can see them as cliche. Yet, can we really say that about curses when we take a step back to examine their purpose?
My personal opinion is that curses are more literary device than anything else. They are obstacles that have to be overcome through thinking, luck, and/or magic. You can’t swing your sword or shoot a bullet at a curse to get rid of it. This means you get a variety of ways to remove it. Even more so, you have an unlimited amount of curses to choose from. Yes, some have been overdone such as werewolves, vampires, and amnesia. You can do those with some twists, but they are rather widespread. This doesn’t mean curses in general are cliche. It means you need to be more creative. Maybe a man turns invisible and unable to be heard whenever he gets close to his family, so they think he abandoned them when he’s right there. Could be a curse that bestows a terrible allergy or weakness. The only limit is your imagination.
There is a story down the road that I was going to include curses as a main point. It would be a group of monster hunters who individually ran into a mystery beast that left them with a different curse. They want to find it, kill it, and return to normal. I haven’t done much beyond wanting the main character to switch between male and female through a trigger. Unfortunately, that’s also Ranma 1/2, so I might have to junk it. Unless I can get away with the character being 2 in 1, so it’s actually switching to an entirely different person since they were merged. As you can see, there are a tons of curses that you can come up with, but you need to give many of them twists because the juicier ones have all been taken.
So, what do you think about curses? Have you used any before? Do you think they’re a cliche?
Have fun storming the castle!
I came across some great answers by Jon Bourgetti, Patrick Ashby, Alexander Taylor, and Steve Blanchard on Quora on the subject of assaults on Medieval castles. Whether you write fantasy, historical fiction, or just love history as much as I do, I think you will enjoy learning more about castles and how they could be brought down.
Medieval castles were indescribably dominating. One historical report describes, literally, a handful of defenders on the walls using just six oaken crossbows to slaughter an attacking force who eventually took the castle by escalade (ladders). The odds were definitely in the castle’s defenders’ favor.
They could do this because castles are mighty force multipliers.
In a field, your 1,000 men would face my 1,000 men.
In a castle, your 5,000 men would be needed to take my 500 men.
Then, there’s geography. Consider the following two…
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Unsure what to expect inside the ball, Dedra pulls up the hood of the pink robe denoting her as an adherent of the Ahweian Order of Spirit. She takes a deep breath and slips inside, where she takes in the scene. She’s certain she’ll be asked to play something on the violin–she always is–but she wants to get her bearings before anyone sees her and makes a request. As she sizes up the revelers and their mood, she thinks of what piece of music would suit them best and pictures how the colorful tones would interact with the costumes and decor. After a few minutes of lurking around the edges, she feels comfortable enough to lower her hood, straighten her spine, and move forward to greet her hostess.
Are there any fantastic beasts where you live?
Yes, there’s one that shows up periodically in the dimension I visit…
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It’s Thursday night and I’m scheduling this baby now. What else could possibly happen this week? Well, Friday is my son’s moving up ceremony because he moves on to middle school in the fall. That’s going to be fun and quick, but that’s really the only thing left to the week. Had the usual Friday meetings and staring at a wall between those times because I’m drained. Definitely been a long week.
Monday is a blur, but I remember schoolwork for my son that didn’t go smoothly. He didn’t have a lot to do these days, but he kind of checked out. The work was getting done, but he was easily distracted. For example, there were a few minutes spent with me trying to get him to tell me why people go to a restaurant and he overthought it. This proved that I was out of it too. Last time I had a day of fun with him was March, so I’m feeling it. We have an inflatable pool now too, so seeing that through the window became his new obsession. Monday was video games because it was chilly, but the next two afternoons saw him being aquatic. It was fun and fresh air was good for him. I forgot that I still have a mild allergy to my own sweat, so I paid for it by the end of the night. Still, it was worth the itching.
I still have some class sessions next week and I might be working over the summer. My son has summer school, which is only on the days that he’s with me for all of July. It is what it is, but it’s only the morning. I promised to set myself up in the same room and do my own work . . . What work? Well, here is where the juggling act is going to make people think I’m insane:
That’s a lot that I’m tossing onto my plate, which is why I’m going to take this weekend to rest up. I’m aiming to finish the chapter titles for the fantasy tip book and the final outline for The Ether Thief. That will put those projects in a good place for me to barrel into the summer like a writing demon. I’m sure things will rise up to cause trouble. Weekends seem to be turning back into socializing periods, which will get in the way of the big novel since that’s my only clear writing time. Really wish I had all the free time that I see other people with, but it feels like I’m always struggling to get stuff done. It’ll be a lot worse once fall hits and I start grad school. Got a feeling that I won’t be doing any personal projects at that point. Someone sent me a meme that showed famous author making it in their late 40’s and 50’s when I brought this up. My only argument against that is they lived in a time when there was more respect for the written word.
That’s really it as far as writing and life. I binge-watched ‘The Great’ last weekend once I finished War of Nytefall: Ravenous editing. I might have lost some of it because I had no knowledge of the real events that they are incredibly loosely based on. The characters were fun and there was a lot of dark comedy moments. I found the level of sex and cursing was a little distracting from the story. F-bombs felt more common than the word ‘the’ and I think the writers got paid by the F-bomb. That aside, the story was solid with some good turns and character consistency. I’ve moved on to another anime that I thought was a fun action/magical adventure. Within the first episode, I realized that the story is interesting, but it’s very nude-filled. Nothing below the belt and no sex, but it was jarring when I settled in for a story about demons and got . . . lots of nudity. I’ve heard the story is worth it, so I’m going to muscle through. Wouldn’t be the first time since I’ll be outlining while it’s on too.
It’s gotten much warmer here, so I’m losing energy fairly quickly these days. My room heats up fast and gets humid, but I can’t pump the AC all day. The power bill would be insane, so I have to endure until it becomes unbearable and then cool things down enough to survive. You know I’m coming to the end of the post when I start talking about the weather.
What are the goals of the week? Should I bother since I’m so drained?
Oh! That was something else that happened. Had a heart attack on Thursday when Microsoft Office stopped working. It hit my dad’s computer first and caused a big mess that I stayed out of. The next day, I finally try to open a Word file and get a message that Word can’t be accessed. Needless to say, I nearly cried because I only imagined that I could no longer access my books. Took 10-15 minutes to find the answer, which was that the virus/malware blocker was updated. For some reason, it’s update made it think that the opening Microsoft Office programs were dangerous. So, I had to hunt through a forum to find a link to the patch to get it all up and running. Last thing my week needed.
Parts of a Ship
Ever now and then, I have my characters travel on a ship. Started in Prodigy of Rainbow Tower and it happened at least once in War of Nytefall. The reason is because you can’t always stay on land when traveling. You can come across a river, lake, or ocean because quests/adventures don’t pay attention to coastal borders. This brings up the challenge of creating scenes that are in a very limited setting. We’re not talking cruise ships here (although, you can go that route), but older traveling vessels that look similar to the picture above. This isn’t easy, so what are some ways to make it work?
So, does anybody else have some pointers on writing with ships? I know of many people who have taken on the challenge. Share your wisdom!
(Previously on Immortal Wars.)
(Again, we shall revel in my teenage originality. Everyone groan in unison.)
Disclaimer: Immortal Wars was the book I came up with and wrote in high school. I hadn’t even hit college by the time I wrote the first two books. That means I hadn’t developed my style yet, wasn’t good at self-editing, and the story was fairly basic. So, you’ve been warned that this is the ultimate author throwback segment for my blog and will show my author origins. FYI- I put the first book (The Summoning) through a Print-on-Demand publisher and the second one (Light, Blood, & Tears) never saw the light of day. Enjoy!
A few hours later, Infinity, Miracle, and Hydrana are slowly walking toward the game room. They were all asleep in their rooms after a long day of training and working out. When Fate’s message hit their rooms, all of them considering ignoring it. That is until they saw the look on Fate’s face and heard an angry edge in his voice.
“Any idea what this meeting is for?” asks Miracle. She is wearing a black nightgown with a green robe. The others are wearing their guardian uniforms, but none of them are wearing shoes.
“Not a clue. But Slane looked very pissed off. I’m guessing Solix bitched at him for being annoying. That boy always has to cause trouble. Just like on Earth,” replies Hydrana as they reach the door. The door opens before them and they see Fate sitting at a central table in near darkness. Infinity orders the lights to turn on and then they see the empty glasses in front of their friend.
“Fate? What’s wrong?” asks Miracle as she leaps over to him and puts her arms around him. Instead of answering, Fate holds her close and lightly kisses her neck. Infinity picks up one of the glasses and takes a sniff of the remaining liquid.
“What the hell? This smells like alcohol. You drank all of this?” inquires Infinity.
Fate looks up with a smile and answers, “Yep. And I’m not even drunk. Our bodies seem to counter the intoxicating effects of alcohol. I could drink until the end of time and I won’t get drunk. So much for watching all those after-school specials.”
“What is up with the depression, Blondie? You look like someone just ripped your heart out,” says Hydrana. She takes the seat next to Fate and moves his hair out of his left eye. When she does that, they all notice the black eye he got from Solix’s armored fist.
“That? It came from Solix. My regeneration ability is acting slower than usual. Anyway, Solix and I had a little disagreement. Seems he’s been lying to us the entire time. That bastard has been training us against enemies that he knows everything about and he won’t tell us anything. And as for the original guardians and why they aren’t here, they’re all dead. They had these magical weapons also. One of them is the Solstar medallion, which Solix wears around his fat neck. I have no idea what happened to the other nine weapons or what killed the original guardians,” explains Fate.
“Am I the only one that’s confused? You’re not making any sense, Fate. It doesn’t matter what happened. We’re the new group of guardians,” mentions Infinity. Fate shoots him a stunned look like he just got slapped across the face.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Whatever killed our predecessors could still be around and could kill us. Why are you guys acting like this is nothing? He lied to us,” says Fate as he stands up and moves away from Miracle.
“What Infinity means is what is the point of telling us? Why should we care what happened to the old guardians? We’re a lot stronger than they ever were. Solix told us so and I don’t think he lied about that. And if he did, we’re still powerful enough to fight almost anything,” says Hydrana.
“You guys don’t get it. He tried to send us up against a bunch of murderers without knowing what we were up against. That’s just wrong. Why should we trust someone who would lie to us?”
“Calm down, Fate. It isn’t like we’re taking sides. We just think that Solix didn’t do anything wrong. He was bound to tell us sooner or later. He probably just thought that known of us were ready to see our enemies. It could have scared us away and then Solix would be all alone against those monsters. Besides, we kind of owe him for everything that he has done for us so far. He’s showed us what we can really be and how important we are. Without Solix, we would just be normal human beings,” explains Miracle as she walks toward Fate. She blows a kiss at Fate and uses her pairs to show a pair of lips fly onto his cheek. They disappear on impact and Fate still looks angry.
“Miracle has a point. If Solix had not come along, none of us would be here. We’d be awaiting the end of the universe on Earth with everyone else. Now we can actually do something to help out everyone. This is our chance to be heroes for the entire universe. It’s important and we owe Solix our help in succeeding. Now, I’m gonna be going back to bed and I’m staying with Solix,” says Infinity right before he leaves.
Fate tosses one of the chairs across the room and watches it clang against the doorway after Infinity leaves the room. Hydrana just shakes her head at Fate and follows Infinity’s example by leaving. Miracle just stands there and finally sits down on one of the chairs. She stares at Fate for a few minutes.
“I take it that you are on Solix’s side also,” mutters Fate as he stares back into her eyes. She looks very sad and breaks eye contact. He walks over to her and starts to put his arms around her. Instead she breaks away and kicks him in the stomach when he makes another advance toward her.
“You are acting like such a child, Edward Slane. We’re your friends and you can’t make us choose sides that aren’t really there. Nothing is going to make me leave this place and I really don’t want to leave you. But if you keep acting like this then I’ll have no choice but to say good-bye to you. I’m sorry. It isn’t Solix who betrayed us. It’s just that you can’t trust anyone whom even if they have good reason to lie to you. Solix did it for our own good. I just want to go to bed right now. Don’t even think of stopping me, Edward. I’ll talk to you once you remember how old you are,” says Miracle. She turns away and heads out the door while Fate hears her starting to cry.
Fate punches the nearby table and puts his arm completely through the metal table. He storms into the multi-sport arena and turns on the hologram combat program. Instead of fighting, he lets the holograms beat him around for two long hours. After he heals all of the injuries, Fate starts fighting back and keeps going for the entire night.
Submarines!
So, you’re looking to journey to the depths of our world! Not the rocky ones, but the watery ones that have plenty of critters to haunt your nightmares. Well, since you’re lacking gills and fins, you’ve come to the right place. Come this way and check out the merchandise!
Our submarines range from your large crew vessels with plenty of living quarters to a single-person quick journey model. All of them come with armor plating that is designed to withstand the pressure of the sea. Paneling inside gives off enough warmth to make you comfortable, but not so warm that you get drowsy. All windows are triple-paned and the glass has been tested by our pet to make sure it can withstand blows that could shatter titanium. Every model is equipped with a beacon that our central computer can track in case of an emergency. You will not be told where this device is located because we don’t want you tampering with it. For your own safety, I assure you.
You want to talk about . . . Not color. Engines and power source are the first things on our list. This can help us narrow down the model that is best for you. We have nuclear, gas, oil, seaweed, solar, lunar, electric, pedal, and a few other types that you can see being demonstrated here. Ah, that one in the back is a curious one that many find a curiosity, but not worth buying. It is a biofeedback, which is a misnomer. You sit in the chair and put on that helmet, which displays a virtual landscape. It is your thoughts that direct the submarine and your hands hold onto those bars to give you extra control. It’s a wonderful method, but the user needs to remain focused. Distractions and panicking can result in a crash if you’re not careful. Pedal it is, so I assume you also want the free gym membership that comes with it. Only good for leg days.
Here is where our customers get that glint in their eyes. Weapons that can handle whatever the water has to throw at you. Our basic package includes four torpedo tubes, a single missile for any sky issues, and an array of harpoons. There are a few sonic weapons, but those come with several warnings. For example, you can hurt or kill the more sensitive creatures that happen to be in your way. Also, you may attract the attention of a male sperm whale and his randiness might be the only thing our armor can’t stand up to. I can put spikes and barbs on the armor to slightly protect, but we make no promises. Moving on, we have mine setters and a few close-range weapons. Buzz saws, piercing noses, and the like. They can help in some situations, but you have to be careful with slamming into things down there. Basic with two wing blades? You got it.
For the rest of the package, we have periscopes and other sensors. We have one periscope that is covered in a skin that makes it blend into its surroundings when exposed to sunlight. That means you can take a look without people noticing you. Sonar system is highly recommended and we don’t offer much variety on that. There are these surveillance drone swarms that we can connect to your computer for a higher visual. They may hit interference for an incomplete picture, but it isn’t for more than a second. What if they’re damaged? We replace them if you get the warranty, but the system can work as long as three remain. This is why we suggest that you only send the minimum out and keep the other eighteen around for spares. That’s only for the big ones while the thumb-sized clouds of drones can self-replicate to a point. They are programmed to not go beyond a certain number, so you maintain a perfect number regardless of issues. Yes, I thought you’d like that one.
Color and the other details can be handled in private. Looks like you have a bunch of people following you and taking notes. Don’t worry. They can’t take any pictures and steal our plans. Now, let’s look at the contract.
Legends of Windemere 