Part 2

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This journal is primarily a follow up to the previous journal, seen here.


Remember how I said I would post another journal when I had put the character sheet and plot outline for "Pyrrha" in my Scraps? Well, here's a journal! Please remember, those do contain spoilers!

Since I'm putting up a new journal, I might as well talk about a few things I forgot to mention in the previous journal. I know I said I would edit it if I had forgotten something, but a few of these took time to develop. Besides, I knew I had to type this journal, so why not save some content for it?

I'll start with the dA related news and move towards the personal life stuff.


I'll start with a piece of news that should have been in the previous journal: I will be rewriting Pyrrha.
DON'T PANIC! I will not be starting over right now. Quite frankly, it drives me nuts when a writer writes the start to a story, doesn't like it, and decides to start over again. Thus, I will not be doing that. Instead, I will finish typing the story and make notes of places that I want to change in the first revised version, which will unimaginatively be called "Pyrrha – R1".
What do I want to change? Right now, it's two things, neither of which are minor.
The first thing I want to change are the next three chapters, Chapters 4, 5, and 6. They are Pyrrha's lessons, and act as a huge info dump. They were a pain to write, will probably be even more painful to type, and will most likely be rather boring to read. In the revised story, I plan to remove most of the content in these chapters. The events and information relayed during the lessons will instead be given to the reader during flashbacks when that information becomes important. These flashbacks will be their own separate chapters and will hopefully, when read in chronological order, tell an understandable tale.
The second thing I want to change is the beginning. In the revised version I'll let Pyrrha introduce herself and her background. Until she gets trapped during the robbery, I'll only refer to her by description or feminine pronouns. Then, when she talks to Ferrous and tells him her story, she will also inform the readers. It seems much more elegant than the current opening.
Like I said though, I'm going to post the original version of the story first. It'll be helpful in ironing out problems, getting suggestions, and ensuring that the story is enjoyable. Besides, I'm not scraping those chapters I haven't even posted yet!


The second thing I want to talk about is a second story. I want to write something more flexible than Pyrrha, and right now I have three different ideas. Before I go over the ideas though, I need to go over what I want from these tales.
Have you ever read Redwall? It's a very common book to read for young teens and is occasionally read as part of a school's curriculum. The interesting thing about Redwall and the book series it spawned is that it is not your traditional series. Between books, the characters often change, as does the time, but the setting often remains the same, or is at least similar. The same universe is used multiple times, but each tale brings a different set of characters, conditions, and time. So, while the books relate to each other, and probably could be put into chronological order if someone cared to try, each one is essential separate. That is the kind of setting I want my next story to have; one where, after the universe is set up, I can do whatever I want.

I call my first story idea the "Book of" series. It starts with a zoologist and his apprentice being tasked with cataloging all the mammalian species they can. Part way through their journey, they meet up with a dishonored knight, who they get to accompany them as a guard. The master zoologist ends up dying and the apprentice must finish the book. During this, the knight trains him in combat, and towards the end of the book he learns some magic. At the end of the book, he published his book, called "The Book of Fur". The twist to all this? The world is hugely anthropomorphic. Practically everything in this universe is anthropomorphic to at least some degree. There are talking animals, cat-girls, taurs, bipeds, quadrupeds, shape shifters, and everything in between. The third book would focus on bugs, the next birds, and so on.
The idea of this series is to really explore the idea of anthropomorphism. While most people might think of humanoid mammals, this isn't the limit. Just go look at the most popular deviation of all time in dA's Anthro category. Go ahead, look; this will still be here when you come back. It's a tree playing the fiddle, right? This is the stuff this tale will include. Some of the last books may include anthropomorphic shapes, for crying out loud. Yes, I'm serious, although that section is mostly a huge literary pun about round and flat characters.
How will all of this be strung together? The same knight and zoologist will do the exploration for each book. Now, you might be thinking that this doesn't really match the description of the story I was trying to write, and you'd be right! However, between each book most of the other characters will change, as will the continent, so I think I can make it work.
The main problem with this story is that it really hits on one of my weak spots. I order to introduce all of these species, all of these different cultures, I would have to think up a ton of names and words. Unfortunately, that is something I'm absolutely terrible at doing. Thus, unless I get a lot of positive feedback on this idea, I think I might just leave this as some sort of RP universe… if I knew how to RP…
The planned book series would go "The Book of Fur", "The Book of Love", "The Book of Feathers", "The Book of Scales", "The Book of Men and Mer", "The Book of Plants", and "The Book of the Abstract". "The Book of Love" would mostly be transition and character development.

I have yet to name my second idea for a story, but I do have a start for it: The world ended fifty years ago. At least, that is what the village elders tell me. I don't really know; I wasn't born at the time. Obviously, the setting for this story is post-apocalyptic, but it's a different type of apocalypse. The end of the world was caused by the natural reversing of the Earth's magnetic poles. This fries all of the electronics on the planet, causing a collapse of the modern world. It also causes something else: the release of magic. This first release transforms most of the people on Earth into new creatures, creating an anthropomorphic universe. The magic in this universe is rather limited. I plan to use it as a force over a distance. While everyone can use most types of magic, everyone is especially skilled at one type of magic. Energists are skilled at manipulating energy, letting them summon fire or lightning. Kinectists are skilled with moving things. Healers are skilled at, well, healing. I still have to think about a few types.
The first story will focus on a young dragon (are you surprised?) with seemingly no magic. All the people who live in his village must go to school, where, along with the normal subjects, they learn how to defend their town and themselves. He discovers he is a time-shifter, a type of magic only those who are skilled at it can use. On the day of his graduation from his school year, his village is attacked. Many of the younger members of the village escape, but all of the elders die. One of his friends goes back and is captured. Eventually, he goes back, rescues his friend with the help of a girl who ends up falling for the rescued friend, and they all live happily ever after. Basically, it's an adventure story with magic, weapons, and guns. What? Guns are mechanical, not electrical.
The problem with this series is that the plot is fairly undeveloped. I have a few characters thought up, most of the world set up, and an idea of what the conflict will be about, but I don't know how to get from A to B. I've got a rough idea of what the start will be like, so if this story generates interest I could at least get started on the story, but I still need a name for it and a few characters.

The third idea I had for a short is also the oldest one. I was thinking about doing a fan-fic based on Farm-Fresh's stories, but he has asked people to not do any more fan-fics and has been very inactive, so I can't even ask really.


I have also been thinking about some much shorter writing pieces I could write. I've got ideas for a descriptive scene, a short brochure-type piece of what to do if you ever visit Cincinnati, a piece on how the "anthroness" of stuff varies and a way to categorize it, and a thing on the way characters often fight, based in part on Skyrim. These are listed from shortest to longest. Leave a comment on which of these, if any, spark your interest.


I'm working on clearing my inbox right now. Currently, I'm got 454 messages in there, and I've got… seven stories to read or reread, and a few I said I would help with a little editing. So, that might take me awhile. If I can't finish it during winter break, I guess I'll find more than enough time to read it all during next summer.


I've changed my bio! Go take a look!


I started to watch montyoum's RWBY, made by Rooster Teeth. It's pretty good, and I'd recommend you take a look at it if you like anime.


One last thing: I'm moving! Yep, my family is working on selling the house I've lived in for about ten years now. We'll be moving to a larger house which was foreclosed on about two years ago. We'll have to do quite a bit of work to fix everything and get stuff the way we like it, but it should be a nice upgrade for us. The only downside is that my brother and I may have to share a room…

Well, thanks for reading this 1815 word long journal, and please leave a comment with your thoughts and opinions!

Edit 10-03-13: I GOT A JOB!

Edit 11-02-13: WOOHOO! Farm-Fresh is back! Also, I start working this Tuesday, and will be out on my old home this Sunday. I still think I should be able to clear out my inbox by Christmas, so around New Year's Day I should be uploading new bits to Pyrrha... Or I might just wait until I have a part or two done, and start uploading weekly again.

© 2013 - 2024 Combak
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