Plenty to Ruminate
I haven't written in forever.
You don't mention it. I won't mention it.
Moving on.
I've been thinking a bit about Jacob Jacobsson, my time knight. I got the idea from a guy on Odesk (now called "Up"something). The bloke who intended on hiring me via the writing site recently wrote me to thank me for my assistance. I reminded him that, upon beginning the story, I had grown to love my characters too much so that I was loath to abandon them. He remembered and instead thanked me for encouraging him to indicate his intention with the rights to the work.
In any case, I've been thinking about Jacob. I'm quite fond of him. He's fascinated, polite, and rather lighthearted. I was doing something with the periodic table of elements, and my gaze fell across cadmium. Cadmium is the name of Esther's cat, but she calls him Cad. I also am excited about my idea of time as a volume and time travel simply as traversing against the flow of chronological gravity – obvious stuff really. I'm not sure about the time-warping battle-axe, but it will probably have to stay because every knight needs a battle-axe. I suppose I can give him a time-warping sword – but probably not.
And then the elementals! Oh my. I don't know what I'm going to do with them. I cannot describe to you the pulsing that enters my eyes and my heart when I think about the waters marching into battle while singing their dirge of fury. "I Miss The Misery" by Halestorm does a pretty good job of embodying the feel that the waters would create on the battlefield. It's the song that originally inspired this vision. However, it's like the elusive search for the perfect word: there's this space, this shape into which the perfect word would fit. There are so many words that get close, but they're clearly not the right one. The same goes for "I Miss The Misery": it's so close to the fury-song of waters on a battlefield, but it's not the perfect song.
I don't know if I've told you this, but "Gold Dust" by Flux Pavilion is the near-perfect song for a one-water opera. What I meant to say is that each water will be his or her own orchestra, opera, or what have you: full of moment and sound and passion and vibration and meaning and pain and feeling and desire and hope, a full orchestra of the heart all from one creature. Mix "Gold Dust" with the opera from "Fifth Element" (the movie), and you're getting close to a water elemental.
I could talk all day about what I've come to know about the elementals, but I have no idea what they will do in Tetraearth. You may be inclined to think of the earthies as bros, but they have this inarticulable grasp on the present, on action, on simplicity, on straightforwardness. I'll have to put them in context and see how in the world they react.
The flames are pretty incomprehensible, but I'm getting to know them. I love their expansive grasp on truth – nay, their inexorable entanglement in truth. Truth is interwoven with their bodies, their cores. They couldn't really escape truth if they wanted to, but they can bend with and around it. It's a devious, delicate dance.
The winds used to be my default favorite, but I've grown to admire the waters. I want to learn from the waters. In any case, the winds are still an admirable and inspiring race. They can seem snooty at times, but really they just long for order. They're smart; they're very smart. They're not caustic. They just want to makes things work more smoothly. I think they're misunderstood most of the time. Yes, sometimes they can be real asses. Typically, they're just not sure how to share their hopes and dreams. They try. They keep trying. They invent, and sometimes things explode. It's a good life. As I've learned more and more about the winds, I've been able to reconcile a lot of my own idiosyncrasies. Consequently, I appreciate them all the more.
But what shall I do with them all? I'd prefer not just to drop them in a shattered Earth and see how their chaos unfolds. I'd like to give them a plan, a destiny of some sort. I think it might have to be five books: one for each of the elements and then one to unite them all. That will have to come after Jacob who in turn has to come after Werbel.
Werbel! What shall I do with that brazen boy? He's timid, but he grows braver each day. I think I've lost Brind. He's had a rough life, but Alabaster will be redeemed I believe. Chirrratka! I wish he could be redeemed; he's definitely admirable but truly psychotic. He is full of dignity and conviction, but he has little to no empathy. I'm not sure if he's a proper sociopath, but I wouldn't mess with him either way. Nevertheless, he has to be overthrown somehow, overpowered somehow. But, crap, he's deadly. I'm not sure how I'm going to get around him. Rrrassiktchyackachrrr – "may his scars never be too many nor his scales ever too few" – seems aloof. Mary is full of fire, but I think she hides a fearful, tender heart. Jeremy doesn't even hide his tender heart, but he's old and wise enough to taper it to patience and good judgment. Jalek is downright charming; I'm not sure what becomes of him though. Jesse is so young; I fear for him. Allison can't be repressed no matter what you do; I'm not too worried about her: her bold heart keeps her surging forward to bold goodness. Rrraktotrrraka, the librarian, is a quirky case. I don't think it will take much to sway him. I worry about his temper sometimes, but I think he's too frustrated with the high lord to do anything truly dangerous. His threats are never empty though, so he's a dicey character. Vaide is a basic, good man. Nearish is a dubious whiner. I don't even remember what the special metal is called. Star metal? Fire iron? It had a technical name. Still, it seems so contrived. For now anyway. I should forge forward and let the characters explain themselves I think. At least for this book.
Sigh.
Well, I've given myself plenty to ruminate.
You don't mention it. I won't mention it.
Moving on.
I've been thinking a bit about Jacob Jacobsson, my time knight. I got the idea from a guy on Odesk (now called "Up"something). The bloke who intended on hiring me via the writing site recently wrote me to thank me for my assistance. I reminded him that, upon beginning the story, I had grown to love my characters too much so that I was loath to abandon them. He remembered and instead thanked me for encouraging him to indicate his intention with the rights to the work.
In any case, I've been thinking about Jacob. I'm quite fond of him. He's fascinated, polite, and rather lighthearted. I was doing something with the periodic table of elements, and my gaze fell across cadmium. Cadmium is the name of Esther's cat, but she calls him Cad. I also am excited about my idea of time as a volume and time travel simply as traversing against the flow of chronological gravity – obvious stuff really. I'm not sure about the time-warping battle-axe, but it will probably have to stay because every knight needs a battle-axe. I suppose I can give him a time-warping sword – but probably not.
And then the elementals! Oh my. I don't know what I'm going to do with them. I cannot describe to you the pulsing that enters my eyes and my heart when I think about the waters marching into battle while singing their dirge of fury. "I Miss The Misery" by Halestorm does a pretty good job of embodying the feel that the waters would create on the battlefield. It's the song that originally inspired this vision. However, it's like the elusive search for the perfect word: there's this space, this shape into which the perfect word would fit. There are so many words that get close, but they're clearly not the right one. The same goes for "I Miss The Misery": it's so close to the fury-song of waters on a battlefield, but it's not the perfect song.
I don't know if I've told you this, but "Gold Dust" by Flux Pavilion is the near-perfect song for a one-water opera. What I meant to say is that each water will be his or her own orchestra, opera, or what have you: full of moment and sound and passion and vibration and meaning and pain and feeling and desire and hope, a full orchestra of the heart all from one creature. Mix "Gold Dust" with the opera from "Fifth Element" (the movie), and you're getting close to a water elemental.
I could talk all day about what I've come to know about the elementals, but I have no idea what they will do in Tetraearth. You may be inclined to think of the earthies as bros, but they have this inarticulable grasp on the present, on action, on simplicity, on straightforwardness. I'll have to put them in context and see how in the world they react.
The flames are pretty incomprehensible, but I'm getting to know them. I love their expansive grasp on truth – nay, their inexorable entanglement in truth. Truth is interwoven with their bodies, their cores. They couldn't really escape truth if they wanted to, but they can bend with and around it. It's a devious, delicate dance.
The winds used to be my default favorite, but I've grown to admire the waters. I want to learn from the waters. In any case, the winds are still an admirable and inspiring race. They can seem snooty at times, but really they just long for order. They're smart; they're very smart. They're not caustic. They just want to makes things work more smoothly. I think they're misunderstood most of the time. Yes, sometimes they can be real asses. Typically, they're just not sure how to share their hopes and dreams. They try. They keep trying. They invent, and sometimes things explode. It's a good life. As I've learned more and more about the winds, I've been able to reconcile a lot of my own idiosyncrasies. Consequently, I appreciate them all the more.
But what shall I do with them all? I'd prefer not just to drop them in a shattered Earth and see how their chaos unfolds. I'd like to give them a plan, a destiny of some sort. I think it might have to be five books: one for each of the elements and then one to unite them all. That will have to come after Jacob who in turn has to come after Werbel.
Werbel! What shall I do with that brazen boy? He's timid, but he grows braver each day. I think I've lost Brind. He's had a rough life, but Alabaster will be redeemed I believe. Chirrratka! I wish he could be redeemed; he's definitely admirable but truly psychotic. He is full of dignity and conviction, but he has little to no empathy. I'm not sure if he's a proper sociopath, but I wouldn't mess with him either way. Nevertheless, he has to be overthrown somehow, overpowered somehow. But, crap, he's deadly. I'm not sure how I'm going to get around him. Rrrassiktchyackachrrr – "may his scars never be too many nor his scales ever too few" – seems aloof. Mary is full of fire, but I think she hides a fearful, tender heart. Jeremy doesn't even hide his tender heart, but he's old and wise enough to taper it to patience and good judgment. Jalek is downright charming; I'm not sure what becomes of him though. Jesse is so young; I fear for him. Allison can't be repressed no matter what you do; I'm not too worried about her: her bold heart keeps her surging forward to bold goodness. Rrraktotrrraka, the librarian, is a quirky case. I don't think it will take much to sway him. I worry about his temper sometimes, but I think he's too frustrated with the high lord to do anything truly dangerous. His threats are never empty though, so he's a dicey character. Vaide is a basic, good man. Nearish is a dubious whiner. I don't even remember what the special metal is called. Star metal? Fire iron? It had a technical name. Still, it seems so contrived. For now anyway. I should forge forward and let the characters explain themselves I think. At least for this book.
Sigh.
Well, I've given myself plenty to ruminate.
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