Sol Crafter's Blog, page 25

MOVIE: Your Highness [comedy, fantasy]

Your Highness

Directed by: David Gordon Green

Starring: Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman

Rating: R (for language, imagery, etc)

Storyline from Universal: Throughout history, tales of chivalry have burnished the legends of brave, handsome knights who rescue fair damsels, slay dragons and conquer evil. But behind many a hero is a good-for-nothing younger brother trying just to stay out of the way of those dragons, evil and trouble in general. As two princes on a daring mission to save their land, they must rescue the heir apparent's fiancée before their kingdom is destroyed. Thadeous (McBride) has spent his life watching his perfect older brother Fabious (Franco) embark upon valiant journeys and win the hearts of his people. Tired of being passed over for adventure, adoration and the throne, he's settled for a life of wizard's weed, hard booze and easy maidens. But when Fabious' bride-to-be, Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel), gets kidnapped by the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux), the king gives his deadbeat son an ultimatum: Man up and help rescue her or get cut off…

It's very sad that this movie did not do better in theaters or with audiences, but I think that might have been due to some misplaced marketing. Seeing the trailers on TV, I was kind of expecting it to be set in the Middle Ages and to be kind of an adventure thing with knights and going off to save the maiden fair. Though, considering the casting, I realized it would contain some rude humor. So basically Hot Tub Time Machine in a medieval setting.

Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by the great costuming (Zooey Deschanel as Belladonna had the greatest dresses) and setting and the actually pretty awesome special effects. There were some f-words and rude humor, sure, but if I ever found myself in some of those situations, that's exactly how I would talk too.

If you like DragonLance type adventuring, you'd probably find this movie perking your interest. It was kind of a cross between Willow/Labyrinth/PineappleExpress and is actually a lot more than just some "stoner movie" as one reviewer called it.

The story is actually very original and the world it's set on is not Earth in the past–or so I deduced from the two moons. The characters each had their own personalities and didn't fit into the typical fantasy type-casting of "mage, barbarian, or bad guy." This was simply a great popcorn movie with lots of one-liners and visual humor paired with some great questing that isn't just the typical rip off of Lord of the Rings.

From the opening credits of this movie, I was laughing. I enjoyed it thoroughly from beginning to end and I'm looking forward to watching it again and again. I'm fully planning on buying a copy of my own.

What it reminds me of: Krull, Willow, Pineapple Express, Let's Go to Prison.

Quotables:

[Fabious is bitten by a snake in the thigh ]






[pushes Fabious's head down]





: [pushes Courtney's head down] SUCK IT!

: I must surprise a band of thieves and burn them alive in a symphony of shrieks

[the brothers get high]


: [calmly] You making a fool of yourself. Handle your shit, Fabious, please.

[cracks neck]

: Motherfucker.

: Ha! It is a knife but I'll gladly penetrate you with it.

Filed under: Movie Reviews, Reviews Tagged: funny shit, movie reviews, movies, reviews

Coke Zero and Cherry Coke Zero

At first I felt like I was drinking medicine, but after awhile the flavor just kind of grows on you. So much so that now the taste of regular Coke no longer seems to appeal to me.

I feel like such a freak.

Filed under: Real Life, What's up buttercup? Tagged: stuff

MOVIE REVIEW: Portrait of a Beauty [Korean]

Title: Portrait of a Beauty

Directed by Jeon Yoon-soo

Screenplay by Han Soon-ryeon

Alternative title : "Beauty Island"

Synopsis borrowed from HanCinema: Born to a family of established court painters, seven-year-old Yun-jeong is a young girl gifted at painting. However, the pressure is on her brother to carry on the proud family tradition, as women aren't allowed to become professional painters. While her brother trains to take his place in the court, Yun-jeong helps him out by secretly painting for him. The little girl's life is turned upside down when her brother kills himself. In order to preserve the family honor, she is forced to take her brother's name and lives as a man. Yun-bok's genius and talent captures the heart of another great master of the time, Kim Hong-do. But her daring depictions of women are condemned by the royal institute as obscene. Yun-bok meets Kang-mu and falls deeply in love. For the first time, she feels the strong desire to abandon everything she has built and simply be a woman in front of the man she loves. Kang-mu sacrifices all for his love as well. Kim Hong-do, who loved the genius of his best student, ends up loving everything about her, and Seol-hwa, a Gisaeng at the courtesan house, possesses a love for Hong-do that turns into fatal jealousy. The secret behind Shin Yun-bok's masterpiece, Portrait of a Beauty, is finally revealed after 250 years of silence.

Okay, so this was a movie that I really wanted to see and was very excited about. You would not believe how long I waited to be able to see it and how happy I was to get a hold of a copy.

I put it on and started the movie… then afterward wished I could go back in time and just not bother. It wasn't a good movie and it wasn't a super bad movie… it was just blah.

Lots of sex and disturbing emotional violence with very little chracterization. I mean, they were going around doing stuff, but I had no emotional investment in any of the main chracters. By the tragic end I was like "Eh, whatever."

This movie is something you might rent, but not buy. Just not worth taking the time out of your life.

BTW, the synopsis is pretty different from the movie. You go in expecting one thing, and you get something different. I probably would have liked the movie if it had stuck to the synopsis or even if the characters had been a bit more fleshed out. It just seems as though the creators of the movie took a bunch of scenes and glued them together and tried to pass them off as a movie.

Blegh.

Filed under: Korean, Movie Reviews, Reviews Tagged: crap movie, Korean, movie reviews, reviews

emoticons

© – copyright

® – registered trademark

™ – trademark

☀ – sunshine – sun

☁ – cloudy – cloud – dark cloud

☂ – raining – rain – umbrella

ಠ_ಠ -reproving

(>_<) -doh

(-_-)zzz – sleeping

<(｀^´)> – hmph!

（●＾o＾●） – happy

℃ – Celsius

№ – numero symbol – number sign

★ – black star

☆ – white star

☎ – phone

☮ – peace sign

☯ – yin & yang

☺ – smiley face

☠ – skull & crossbones

☢ – radioactive sign

☚ – left-pointing index finger

☞ – right pointing index finger

♥ – black heart

♫ – musical single bar note

✏ – pencil

✞ – Latin Cross 3D shadow

✡ – Star of David

✄ – scissors

✈ – airport jet airplane

☀ – black sun

¢ – cent

£ – pound

¤ – currency

¥ – yen

€ – euro sign

§ – section

© – copyright

® – registered trademark

™ – trademark

° – degree – e.g. 45°

¹ – superscript 1

² – superscript 2

³ – superscript 3

· – middle dot

¸ – spacing cedilla

¼ – fraction 1/4

½ – fraction 1/2

¾ – fraction 3/4

¿ – inverted question mark

× – multiplication

÷ – division

• – bullet = black small circle

◊ – lozenge

℠ – Service Mark

℃ – Celsius

℅ – care of

℉ – Farenheit

№ – numero symbol – number sign

℗ – Sound Recording Copyright

℞ – Prescription Take pharmaceutical symbol

Ω – Ohm

℧ – Inverted Ohm

☀ – sunshine – sun

☁ – cloudy – cloud – dark cloud

☂ – raining – rain – umbrella

☃ – snow – snowman

☄ – shooting star

★ – star solid

☆ – star outline

☇ – lightning

☈ – thunderstorm

☉ – sun

☊ – ascending node

☋ – descending node

☌ – conjunction

☍ – opposition

☎ – phone

☏ – phone symbol outline

☐ – check box

☑ – check box check mark

☒ – ballot box with X

☓ – St. Andrew's Cross

☚ – left-pointing index finger

☛ – right-pointing index finger

☜ – left-pointing index finger

☝ – upwards pointing index finger

☞ – right pointing index finger

☟ – downwards pointing index finger

☠ – skull & crossbones

☡ – caution sign

☢ – radioactive sign

☣ – biohazard sign

☮ – peace sign

☯ – yin & yang

☹ – frowning face

☺ – smiley face

☻ – black smiley face

☽ – waxing crescent moon

☾ – waning crescent moon

♈ – Aries

♉ – Taurus

♊ – Gemini

♋ – Cancer

♌ – Leo

♍ – Virgo

♎ – Libra

♏ – Scorpio

♐ – Sagitarius

♑ – Capricorn

♒ – Aquarius

♓ – Pisces

♔ – White King

♕ – White Queen

♖ – White Rook

♗ – White Bishop

♘ – White Knight

♙ – White Pawn

♚ – Black King

♛ – Black Queen

♜ – Black Rook

♝ – Black Bishop

♞ – Black Knight

♟ – Black Pawn

♠ – black spade suit

♢ – red diamond suit

♣ – black club suit = shamrock

♤ – red spade suit

♥ – black heart suit = valentine

♦ – black diamond suit

♧ – red club suit

♨ – hot springs

♩ – musical quarter note

♪ – musical eighth note

♫ – musical single bar note

♬ – musical double bar note

♭ – flat note

♮ – natural note

♯ – sharp note

✁ – cut above

✂ – cut here

✃ – cut below

✄ – scissors

✆ – public pay phone

✇ – film reel – tape spool

✈ – airport jet airplane

✉ – envelope mail email

✌ – victory sign

✍ – signature – sign here

✎ – pencil diagonal down

✏ – pencil

✐ – pencil diagonal up

✓ – check mark

✔ – heavy check mark

✕ – multiplication sign X

✖ – heavy multiplication sign X

✗ – ballot X

✘ – heavy ballot X

✝ – Latin Roman Cross

✞ – Latin Cross 3D shadow

✟ – Latin Cross outline

✠ – Maltese Cross

✡ – Star of David

❛ – quotation mark single turned comma

❜ – quotation mark single comma

❝ – quotation mark double turned comma

❞ – quotation mark double comma

Filed under: Real Life Tagged: 4Bubbles

Penguins can fly #LifeStory

Okay, so sometimes my brother can be a dick. I laugh about it, but he's always getting me with stupid stuff.

We were watching like Animal Planet or something and it was all stories about amazing animals and their feats. So during the commercial, The Girl blurts out "Penguins can fly!"

I scoffed like really loudly, "No they can't. Whoever told you that is stupid because penguins can't fly." I probably sounded a little too irritated, but she's always coming out with stupid shit to try and get as much attention as possible. She's still trying to fit into our family because she only came to live with all of us during the summer, and now we're staying at my Dad's house. Three strong willed adults leaves a couple of kids that don't really get away with a whole lot, especially the lies she likes to tell. (The most worrisome thing for me is that she actually seems to believe her lies, even the really crazy ones.)

Anyways, that whole penguins flying thing had me just snapping out as fast as possible to tell her that it wasn't real. She kept insisting it was true, and we got into this whole deal, going rounds and rounds.

Then my brother goes, "Check this out" and turns his computer.

On the screen was like a National Geographic type show with penguins flying around. "The only penguins that are able to fly and who love to migrate to like the Bahamas."

For a minute, my brain just stalled and I was like "It's impossible, but it might be true." And I was really kind of getting into the idea of it, when there was a snap and I was like "No way. I call Shenanigans! It's like that spiders smoking weed video. FAKE!"

And my brother laughed and turned his computer to the spider video.

It was good to laugh like that, and thinking about it now, I'm still laughing.

That's the kind of thing I get nostalgic for afterwards.

BTW, my brother just said that Hank Hill got raped by a dolphin. Seems legit.

Filed under: Journal, Real Life, What's up buttercup? Tagged: journal, life story, PB&J, RL

ONYX: Chapter Two [sci-fi]

Title: Onyx

series: Facet of Empire

genre: sci-fi. space opera.

Summary: A representative of the Emperor has been sent to an out of the way planet populated by stranded colonists and bloodthirsty pirates. His job? To find one man.

Things do not go well.

p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; }

CHAPTER TWO

Waking up in a strange bed was always a bit of an experience. There was always this sense of disconnection with reality that took a few heartbeats to dispel.

He stretched and yawned hugely, wondering what the day would bring.

Without thought, he reached out his mind and grasped a change of clothes.

They popped into being and fell, scattered, onto the bed around him. It seemed his valet had decided he would wear silver and black for today.

He lifted the clothes and stood to dress. Silver trousers, a short-sleeved black shirt, and a silver jacket with black embroidery. It seemed Balinar thought he should dress correctly for his dignity. Never mind that he was incognito.

He sighed heavily, but dressed in the clothes provided. Balinar probably wouldn't give him anything else, being the way he was.

There were some who said Balinar was so stiff and correct that he was born with a frown on his face and an organizer in his hands. He was as stiff and correct as a hunk of wood. There was absolutely no bend to him and he knew the way things were supposed to go. His way.

The man who called himself Miles Dareg knew better than to second-guess his valet. He had long since given up all power over what he would wear; that was Balinar's department. Besides, Miles had more important things to worry about than the color of his shirt and the crease in his trousers.

Looking down at himself, he was vaguely amused at the pride he felt in his ability to dress himself. Less than a year ago, he had needed to be dressed like a giant doll. Yet here he was, fully-clothed, and all by himself.

"Hm, now it's time for some breakfast," he said, trying to remember where he was supposed to go.

If he wanted, he had the perfect memory that all telepaths were born with. But for now, he had decided to enjoy his time as an anonymous stranger. So he had decided that for the time being, he would be as normal as possible.

So he thought hard about where he could get some food.

He wondered if they were planning on feeding him in his room. Then decided that no, they would want to be able to know him. Besides, they lived in the desert, which meant they had survived the harsh environment of the land. Which meant that they hadn't coddled anyone, and he doubted very much that they would start with him.

He chewed his lip for a moment, then set off to find what he could.

He sent out tendrils of thought, tracing where the nearest and most human thoughts were coming from.

It was outside in a large building. The plasti-walls were scraped and scuffed from years of desert sand blowing across them. There were window slats high up the walls, high enough and small enough that no one could possibly climb through, but perfect for venting.

Miles felt a slight smile curve his lips as he pushed the double doors open.

Dozens of long tables with people eating. The walls were plain unpainted gray and the plasti-floors had been semi-decorated in a check design carved out of the surface. In all, the place was extremely depressing looking and no one looked exactly happy to be here. This was the kind of place that people visited just long enough to fulfill their bodily needs.

He peered around and knew that this wasn't going to be the kind of breakfast he enjoyed. Just looking, he knew that the food left a lot to be desired. They were eating bland little squares of processed protein and vegetable matter.

It seemed that they had matter converters to change the local raw materials into human edible foods. Of course, that didn't mean that the stuff they made tasted any good.

He didn't have very much experience with synthesized food, but what he did know, he didn't like. It was some truly terrible stuff in the taste department.

"Here sir, I got you some breakfast," a young boy said, offering a plasti-tray with ten of the small, orangey-cream squares. Enough to make a full meal for one adult.

Miles sighed and took the tray. "Thank you."

He found a seat at one of the tables and stared down at his breakfast. The squares were about as appealing as cat vomit.

Taking his life in his hands, he picked up a square and bit into it.

It tasted like he was chewing on wood chips. He chewed the bite into powder and swallowed. He fought back the need to cough dryly.

"So, what do you think of the food here?" Kaitlyn asked, slipping into the space next to him. She was a little too cheerful for an early morning and the already boiling desert sun.

"Great, this is the kind of food I've always dreamed about," he said sarcastically.

She laughed and shrugged. "I don't know. This is what we've eaten for as long as I've been alive. The native plants and animals are toxic to humans. So this is basically it for chow."

He shuddered at the thought of spending his whole life eating E-rations. He had to feel a little sorry for these people and the sixty-five years they'd been here.

"When I get you people back in touch with the Empire, I'll make sure to feed you all of the best things. You'll never be able to look E-rations in the face again. Believe me."

She laughed, delighted at the thought. "How are you going to get word out that we're here?" she asked. "Do you have a com unit?"

He tossed the square back on his tray. "I don't need one. My ship's in orbit and they're linked to my neural implant."

"You mean, you could call them at any time?" a middle-aged looking man asked.

Miles smiled. "Sure," he said, "they'll come when I call. They're just waiting for me to send word and the shuttles will deploy."

A look of delight spread across the man's face. "We're finally going to get off of this hellhole of a world?"

Miles examined the man, saw how desperate he was. This was a man that had only survived for the years they were stranded. He had known that his prolong would leave him with hundreds of more years, living on this desert planet with nothing to look forward to.

Now Miles was here, a savior in human flesh. The man was so filled with relief and joy that it was hard to look at him.

"When can we leave?" the man demanded.

Miles shrugged. "A few days or so. Your people will need time to gather up all of your things and decide who really wants to leave and who wants to stay."

"Stay? Who could possibly want to stay here?"

Miles smiled. "You never know what people will become used to. What they will come to think of as normal, and what will become home to them.

"Maybe some of your people will want to stay here, especially if they're assured of being on the trade routes. If they know they're an acknowledged part of the Empire, they may not want to leave. After all, this is home for many of them. The place where they were born and raised. I'm sure that a few might want to stay."

"How could they want to stay here?"

The boy shrugged. "It's hard to tell what some people will want to do. It will take a few days to leave anyway, which will give everyone time to make their choices."

Kaitlyn touched his sleeve. "How many people are in your crew?"

Miles brushed his knuckles across her cheek and smiled fondly. "I only have a crew of ten, which leaves plenty of room for all of your people. You don't have to worry that any who want to go will be left behind."

She smiled brightly, relieved, even though she didn't really know why. She was young enough to be idealistic, young enough to believe that things always worked out in the end, that there had to be space on his ship for everyone. That no one she loved would have to be left behind, dumped like old, dirty laundry.

He was glad not to have to be the one to pop some of her bubbles. Glad not to be responsible for that shining light to go out of her eyes.

Maybe he was getting too old. That would explain the sudden darkness that filled him. He had seen too much of the universe to allow himself to be caught up in the moment. He was just too old in the head to let himself get too involved in the things that happened, to pin all of his hopes on one chance. The stakes had become too high for such idealism.

That was why there were three warships up there with his flagship. He had enough firepower to handle any situation that happened to come along.

He had always been one of the more focused members of his family. He tended to hold even with what he wanted or needed, rather than frittering his time away. Some of his sibs were just plain irresponsible. It surprised him that they always ended up getting the job done, since they never seemed to do any work.

Sometimes he couldn't understand his family. They were as much a mystery to him, as he was to them. And his father…

When he was around the man, he could sometimes feel his father's puzzlement. Through all of the man's shields he had felt his love and his bemusement at his son's oddness.

Miles drew in a deep breath and stared down at the ration cubes on his tray. Sometimes he wondered why he had been born so different from everyone else in his family. Why he had always been the odd man out. It was truly mysterious.

* * *

Kat watched the boy pick at his food.

He was even better looking today than he was yesterday, which was a little hard to believe. He was so fantastic looking that she had to wonder if he were real. The fact that he was going to take them all off this rock just added to the amazement.

All of her life, she had heard tales of the Empire. Of the many worlds she would someday see. She had dreamed, but with little real hope that they would ever leave Kirovalla. Now this man/boy had come to be their savior and carry them away.

He was so good-looking and he seemed nice. He was just the kind of guy she had dreamed of signing Contract with. But for some reason, even though she was attracted to him, she wasn't attracted to him.

Instead, for some strange reason, she kept seeing Sheila, or rather, Sean, in her mind's eye. He was so manly, far more virile seeming than Miles Dareg.

Her eyes shifted across the mess hall to another table.

There he was, talking to Smith Richards. They were laughing, something she had never really heard Sean do before. It was a full sound that warmed her up inside. She had never realized that she was so cold until she heard that laugh, that wonderful, human laugh. It made warmth flood all through her body.

As though he felt her eyes, he stopped laughing and turned his head. Their gazes crossed and met.

She looked away quickly; sure that what she was feeling was somehow wrong.

This was Sheila, Grandmother's daughter-turned-son. It was wrong for her to feel that way about him. Especially since she had never felt that way about Sheila before the change.

She had been taught that it was better to love the person inside than just a person's body. So if these feelings were real, she should have felt something for Sheila before. Should have known something was there. Instead, she had always felt uneasiness in Sheila's presence and a sense that she needed desperately to escape.

Yet the moment Sheila was turned from female to male, she wanted him. Was drawn to his attractiveness like some wild animal ruled by her body and not her mind.

Then again, Sheila had always been kind of bland, a shadow person. As a male though, it was as though he had come alive.

His name is Sean now; he's different, she thought. There's something more real about him.

He smiled at her and she felt her heart shudder to a stop. There was something there.

* * *

He wasn't used to girls not being interested in him. It was a little disconcerting, but he wouldn't let it get to him. He could already tell that she was interested in Sean, and that the feeling was reciprocated.

Besides, he wasn't interested in any of the people here. He already had a lover, someone of who he was singly loyal to.

It just seemed odd that someone would ever be uninterested in him.

For most of his life he was seen as one of the best and the brightest, more beautiful than any normal person could imagine. Yet here he was, gloriousness personified, and she was falling in love with someone else. He didn't know whether to be hurt or not.

Finally he decided that it didn't really matter. He was happy with what he had, so why shouldn't she be happy?

He shrugged and slowly broke one of the food cubes into small, microscopic pieces.

When he got back to his room, he thought that he might call in some real food. Something that he would be willing to eat, something with some taste to it.

His stomach rumbled and he had to smile. It had been a long time since he was actually hungry, and even now he knew that if he wished it, he didn't need to be. He could live for months without food or water; all he had to do was wish it.

For now, he was willing to hold onto his hunger. It made him more like the people here and less likely to stick out. Besides, he found it rather amusing to be as vulnerable as a normal human.

Miles idly melted one of the food pieces into a glob. He knew that no one was watching what he was doing. Still, even while amusing himself, he was careful. He would be like the others for as long as he could manage it.

He wouldn't be alone for as long as he could hold onto the Miles-persona. He would be one of them. Would have people around him that would like him for himself, and not worship and fear him for what he had been born as.

A smile curved his lips. It would be nice to be anonymous, just one more among many.

* * *

"What's taking him so long to call?" Jocelin demanded, pacing back and forth, his hands fisted at his sides.

"Please calm down, Mr. Pierce, he said that it might take a few days to finish his business," Balinar said, carefully refolding one of his lord's shirts.

Joss threw himself on the bed and gnawed at his lower lip. It was a bad habit, one he had long since given up, yet here he was.

"How could he do this to me? I should be with him right now, not waiting here with you. I mean, how many times can you sort his clothes before going insane?"

Balinar turned and raised an eyebrow.

Joss looked at the man's impeccable uniform and knew that he was a real sight by comparison. His clothes were rumpled and his hair was mussed. He knew that he was a wreck of his usually neat, perfect self.

He also knew that Balinar was just as antsy as he was. But the man wasn't showing it; the only sign of his uncertainties was the way he kept sorting and re-sorting his lord's clothes and possessions.

"You never become used to waiting," Balinar said, "there's always that same terrible feeling. It's just that he has never left you behind before, so you don't know what it's like. I, on the other hand, am always left behind when you both go off adventuring."

Jocelin sighed, he knew he was acting like a child. It was just that he had never been this completely alone before. "I just wish that he would at least send a message saying he was all right. I hate this waiting, it drives me crazy!"

The valet stepped close and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I understand your anguish, I feel it as well. But you have to be strong and know that he will be back."

"I know, I know, but that doesn't keep me from feeling the way I do. He's so strong, and I'm not. I need him," he turned and placed his hand over Balinar's.

The man squeezed his fingers. "You have to be strong for him. He needs you to be there. No matter how strong he seems, he needs your love and support."

Joss looked up into Balinar's eyes. "He needs us both, not just me alone. We have to be strong for him."

The man smiled and, for a moment, everything was all right.

* * *

"Are we sure about who he is?" Tristen asked.

"Truthfully? No. There's no way we can be completely certain about anything, especially with our lack of information about the outside world."

Grandmother looked at her second son Tristen, and raised an eyebrow. He had always been the suspicious sort. As a child, he used to skulk around like a spy from some holodrama. It had been funny really.

She knew that a government recruiter would have been after him in a flash. With his intelligence and natural talents, Imperial Intelligence would have loved him.

As it was, he had been forced to set aside his natural inclinations and grow up a normal person. Now though, he had someone to look at with mistrust, someone he hadn't known his entire life. She rather thought he was enjoying himself immensely.

"Kat says he'll get us out of here in three days," Smith said. He was as stolid as usual, no doubts or uncertainties present on his face. Not that he wasn't as suspicious about the stranger as Tristen was, he was just more able to mask his feelings.

Smith had been her good right hand practically from the day of his birth. A real godsend, the perfect son to help her in all of the things she needed, especially here on Hell where she had had only him to depend on for all of these years.

"How do we know that he's not working for the pirates?" Tristen asked.

Grandmother shook her head. "He has a black Wand. Where would the pirates get one of those?"

He shrugged. "Maybe they killed the real messenger. There is no way to be sure he is who he says he is."

"Tristen, calm down and think. We either trust him enough to believe he is who he says he is, or we don't. Either way, we treat him hospitably and wait until the three days are up to see if his shuttles will come. In the meantime, we can pack up our things just in case," Smith said reasonably.

She smiled at her son. He had always been so sensible. If something needed doing, he would do it as long as it needed doing. But there were no frivolous expenditures on his list of things to do.

"Mother, how do we know that this guy won't do something before then?" Tristen aimed the question at her, knowing better than to expect that his brother would allow himself to share his worries.

Grandmother closed her eyes briefly and squeezed the bridge of her nose. "Darling, you can't spend all of your time thinking like a spook. Sometimes you have to trust in what people say. Of course we will keep a close watch on him, make sure he doesn't do anything to put us all at risk. That's simply the best we can do."

He pursed his lips, holding silent, but his look was eloquent.

She shook her head. "Tristen, dammit, listen to me. If he is a representative of the Emperor, we simply cannot afford to turn him against us. He is our only hope of getting off this rock and back into circulation. And if he is not what he says he is, we will watch and find out.

"But Tristen, for now we have to take him at face value. He's all we have. Our only chance out of here."

Smith touched the younger man on the shoulder. "The survivor committee says that it will take another two hundred years to build a spaceable ship with the leftover parts of the colony ship. So unless you want to spend the next couple of hundred years baking in the sun, we have to trust that he is who he says he is." Smith's face went hard. "At least until he proves otherwise."

Tristen obviously didn't like the idea, but he said nothing. Just stared down at his fingers, hiding his face.

* * *

"Our informant sent news this morning. A ship has supposedly arrived to take them off planet. A representative of the Emperor has come as well," the hard-eyed man said.

VanChesna examined the man closely. "Is the informer to be trusted? Mistakes have been made before."

The man shook his head. "There's no doubt in my mind. We have confirmed the presence of Jewel's rep. There's definitely at least one ship out there."

"So," Van tented his fingers in front of his face, "finally, we have the opportunity to leave this planet. All we have to do is get access to that ship."

Once upon a time he had known the wonder of traveling through space. Had been one of the top independent merchantmen. Then had been the emergency landing on this rock, only to find out that his ship would never make a lift-off.

After twenty years, there was the chance of rescue. Unfortunately, the ship had turned out to be a colony vessel heading for some planet halfway from beyond.

He knew that it was his fault the colony ship had crashed. But it hadn't been his fault that they were assholes that didn't want anything to do with his people. Which was how he and his crew had become pirates, taking what supplies and tech they could manage to steal.

Now they were about ready to leave this desert world. Were about to become starfarers once again.

A grim smile twisted his lips as he thought about final freedom.

He wondered if he would be able to clear his conscience with a good life. He wondered, then realized that he didn't really care. All he wanted was to get off this planet. To be out and about once more, listening to the silent whistle of the stars. To be back in civilization where everything seemed so much simpler, not to mention more comfortable.

 

TBC…

Filed under: Free Stories, Novels, Writing Tagged: Facet of Empire, Onyx, sci-fi, science fiction, space opera

ONYX: Prologue [sci-fi]

Title: Onyx

series: Facet of Empire

genre: sci-fi. space opera.

Yeah, this is kinda really rough and I really need to go through it, but it is what it is. My brain opened up one day and spewed out a bunch of space opera, yo. Enjoy it. Live it. Maybe possibly love it?

This series of stories was started a while ago and really shows it. My writing style has changed over the years, but my love for Jewel and his children has lingered. So if you think that it's like two different people have been writing at this, they kind of have been. Young Me and Old Me picking up a story and carrying it.

Summary: A representative of the Emperor has been sent to an out of the way planet populated by stranded colonists and bloodthirsty pirates. His job? To find one man.

Things do not go well.

PROLOGUE

The stars passed by as blurs of light, silent but reverberating through his mind. He stood in the observation bubble with his hands behind his back, staring out at the starscape, watching the universe slip past him.

This is what space travel is truly all about, Van thought. It's not really about getting from point A to point B; it's about being able to look out there and know that you're surrounded on all sides by space. That you're not the end of all ends; you're just a bit of flotsam floating through the nothingness, searching for a place to rest.

 This mission was what he had been working his entire life towards. He had gone through years of training and decades of short Jump trade missions all for this. The long haul from Mendall World to Zimfer Station.

 He knew that he was young for the responsibility and that nepotism had a lot to do with his getting the post, but he didn't care. He knew that he was going to do a good job, he was going to get his ship to Zimfer with no complications.

 Just as he was thinking that, a ship-wide alarm began to wail, loud and grating on the nerves. A chill went through him. That particular alarm was only used in the direst of emergencies. Something really bad must have happened.

 He took one last look at the peace of the stars out the viewport, then turned and began running toward the bridge.

 "What's happening?" was the first thing out of his mouth as he charged onto the bridge.

 McBride looked up from his display, his face chalk white. "We got problems, sir. The computer's spitting out bad data and there's nothing I can do about it."

 "What do you mean?" Van asked, sitting down in his chair and calling up an echo of McBride's display. "I don't see any anomalies."

 The big man blew out his breath and began running his finger over the display, highlighting various sets of numbers. "These are wrong, sir. I checked them in the Log Book three times–we're so far off course that it's a wonder we haven't fallen off the edge of the universe. And when I tried to get Mandy to let me re-numerate, she booted me off the system with a UAA." (An Unauthorized Access Attempt.) "She says that I no longer have access to her Main Brain."

 The Log Book was a datachip completely isolated from the rest of the system and held a tamper-proof copy of the flight plan. The Log was carefully stored on three separate 'chips, one on the bridge, one in the Captain's cabin, and one on the main lifeboat. It existed so that if the computer's navigational matrix ever developed a glitch, so adroitly called a "hiccup," the coordinates could be re-input by hand if necessary.

 Van drew in a deep breath. "Uh, have you run the virus check programs on her?"

 "First thing," McBride said. "There's no little critters eating out her insides, sir. She's working perfectly–except that she no longer allows me access, she's running on a bunch of wrong numbers, and she's talking funny."

 "'Talking funny?'" Van quirked an eyebrow, his lips pursing slightly.

 "Listen to her for yourself," the man said, tapping a key. That was another strange thing. Van had never seen McBride use the keypad before; he always used the direct neural interface. The only reason he would use the keypad was if he was afraid the computer might try to brain-fry him. It had been known to happen, unauthorized users were not treated lightly by the AI.

Hello, my name is Amanda. I am a TX-40 starship computer registered to the Thorne Trade Consortium. I was installed into the merchant ship Syren in the year 5337 and have been running for approximately twenty-two point four-three-seven years.

I was designed for maximum navigational efficiency and pleasant interaction with a human crew over long voyages. I run most of the onboard systems of the Syren, including the…

"Is this for real?" Van asked, looking up.

 McBride shook his head. "I don't know what's wrong with her and there's nothing I can do about it. She's blocked my access. I hope there's something you can do with your command override codes."

 Van drew in a deep breath. He was the captain. He was in control. He could do this.

 "Turn down that racket!" he yelled over his shoulder at Remmy, who had been sharing the watch with McBride. Immediately the alarm's volume was lowered to a bearable hum.

 "All right," he said, turning back to the display. "Let's put things to rights."

 Patrick VanChesna, Captain of the Merchantman Syren, authorization code TPVC-287834wEyq8ew7

He wasn't very good with the keypad, but he managed to input the data. He checked the authorization code over twice and it was correct. He couldn't help feeling a bit pleased with himself. Even working with the barbarically crude keypad, he was still techno-savvy.

 Amanda automatically spit out her reply, a string of numbers and letters that made no sense. It looked as though she had just vomited out the alphabet.

 "What does this mean?" he asked, looking at McBride.

 "I have no idea," McBride said. He was monitoring Van's display at his own station. "I've never seen anything like this before." He was frowning so hard that it was a wonder his face didn't fall into the line between his brows.

 "All right," Van said, blowing out his cheeks. "Let's ignore this for now and see if she's going to allow me access."

 He tapped his commands into the keypad, trying to call up Amanda's Main Brain directory.

Unauthorized Access Attempt!

You are illegally attempting to access property of the Thorne Trade Consortium. If you do not cease and desist, you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Thank you. Have a nice day!

"Shit!" Every UAA created a five-minute loop in the system where no one was allowed access. They were going to have to wait five minutes before they could try the Main Brain again.

 "All right," he said. "We better call in the rest of the bridge crew and try to figure out what we're going to do."

 McBride looked around, as though expecting the missing crewmembers to magically appear. "That's funny, sir, they should have already been here. The emergency alarm should have brought them to the bridge first thing."

 Van felt all of the color draining out of his face and turned to Remmy. "Hurry Rem, call up a schematic of the bridge crew's location."

"Something stinky's going on," the young man muttered. Without even thinking, he began to transmit orders via his neural implant.

"Wait!" Van yelled, but it was too late.

There was a choked off scream and Pascal Remington collapsed twitching to the deck, his eyes staring and his mouth open. Blood ran unchecked from his nose and ears and he was barely breathing.

 Van flipped the man over and began checking him for damage, already knowing it was too late.

 "There's nothing you can do, sir," McBride said sadly, kneeling beside him. "He's been completely brain-fried. There's not enough brain cells left in him to scrape together to make a vegetable. He's toast." The man stood up. "We better get back to finding the crew. There's nothing we can do for Remmy."

 Van stared down at the man that had not exactly been a friend, but who he had taken responsibility for. This was the first time someone had died on his watch. It was horrible, worse than he had ever imagined.

 He drew in a deep breath and stalked back over to his chair, angrily dashing tears from his eyes. He had a duty to perform. The rest of the crew needed him. He was the Captain.

 "All right, here's what we're going to do," he said, making his voice sound calm and in control, as though he really knew what he was doing. "You're better with the computer than I'll ever be, so you head down to the Computer Room and try a manual access, while I run a deck by deck search for crew. Whoever I find, I'll enlist to help me find more. We'll stay in communication through our databands and NIs. Warn everyone you see not to trust the com systems, and to definitely not try a direct interface with the bitch."

 McBride nodded. "Okay, sir. I'll see you later, then."

 Van watched the older man leave, then slumped a little where he stood.

 He didn't know what he was doing. The regs didn't exactly handle a situation like this. He was a merchie ship-handler, for Gord's sake! This kind of thing wasn't supposed to happen, not to him, and not to his crew.

 He drew in a deep breath and forced his shoulders square. This wasn't supposed to be happening, but it was. He was going to have to handle it without panicking. He had people depending on him.

 With a purposely confident and undaunted stride, he left the bridge. He had to follow his own orders. He would fall apart later, if there was time. He was in command here.

* * *

Euan McBride climbed down the ladder, the tool kit clipped to his belt bringing him a little off-balance. He had tried to use the lift, but the doors had refused to open, something he was rather grateful for now. With the way Amanda was acting he didn't trust her not to send him hurtling from one end of the ship to the other to end up as a gravity jellified mishmash of blood and guts at the end of his journey.

 What is wrong with you, girl? he thought. Is it your core programming, or are you just suffering from a virus your scanners haven't been able to detect?

 There was no answer, just more ladder to climb down.

 By the time he reached the hatch with the large "12″ painted on it in lurid yellow, his arm muscles were screaming and he was a little short of breath. He had been taking this voyage pretty easy, not hitting the gym as often as he probably should have. Now he wished he had exercised more.

 He took deep breaths as he wrapped his left arm around a ladder rung, locked his elbow, and reached down into his tool kit with the other. He unsealed the plasti-steel case and dug through it to find the set of suction grips and the pressure regulator.

 First he stuck the pressure regulator to one corner of the hatch, thumbing the switch to on. Indicator lights flashed across the gizmos' surface and he whistled soundlessly between his teeth as he waited, his ears popping occasionally as the pressure changed around him. The regulator was creating a bubble around this side of the hatch and the other. The pressure inside the bubble was equalizing, and when it was the same on both sides, it would be possible for him to open the hatch even onto a zero oxygen atmosphere. Not that he would ever want to do something like that, not unless he was wearing a hard suit and carrying a few extra cans of oxygen for when he was blown out into space.

 When the pressure regulator made the "All Clear" sound and the lights flashed green, he stuck his suction grips to the hatch, one on each side of the opening line. He carefully balanced on the ladder as, with a grunt of effort, he used the grips to force the hatch open.

 McBride peered through the open hatch, but didn't see anything. He hoisted himself in.

 He sat on the corridor floor for a moment, catching his breath. Then he reached back through the open hatch and pulled the pressure regulator free, tucking it back into his tool kit. He then used the suction grips to close the hatch tightly shut.

 He had about half a minute to wait while the pressure bubble shrunk in upon itself, mixing the pressure inside with the pressure outside. He had set the regulator to give him a short bubble space. He could have set it to give him up to a three-hour bubble, one that was completely uncontaminated for that entire length of time, and a bigger machine could have given him a longer bubble time then that if he had wanted.

 As it was, he was tapping his heels impatiently as the bubble dissipated into itself. When it was finally gone and his ears had stopped popping, he climbed to his feet and hurried down the corridor toward the Computer Room.

 He tried to ignore how eerie it felt to be traveling through these well-lighted, but completely uninhabited corridors. Usually there were men hurrying down these hallways busily, wearing abstracted expressions, frowns, or grins as they went about their duties. Now there was no one, just him all alone. It was a bit creepy.

 Euan pressed his hand against the touchpad outside the Computer Room's hatch and almost raced inside when it opened. Anything to get out of that lifeless corridor.

 Looking around him, everything looked all right. The lights had come up as he entered and there weren't any dead bodies lying around, anyway.

 He settled into the seat in front of the main console and slid back the top of the desktop to reveal the ancient style keyboard that all ships had to have for safety reasons. For once, he was glad of the anachronistic bit of tech.

 "All right, you bitch, let's go," he muttered, and began inputting data as fast as he could. The keyboard was slow and awkward, but it was all he had to use. It had to be good enough. He wasn't about to plug his brain into that monster, not after what had happened to Remmy. The kid hadn't even had a chance to realize his mistake before he was twitching on the floor with his brain oozing out his ears. That wasn't how Euan McBride was going to go, no way.

 After fifteen sweat-soaked minutes, he knew that they were royally screwed.

Amanda had been purposefully Killed, and that was putting it mildly. She was infected with so many cross-purposed commands that she was literally tearing herself apart. About the only clear-set command she had in her was the one that wouldn't let her accept any help from her human crew.

 "Who did this to you?" McBride whispered. "Who did this to us, and why?"

 Finally, with a heavy heart and tears filling his eyes, he made up his mind and shattered the protective seal over the Manual Override button. Once he pushed the MO, Amanda would be completely wiped and the system would revert to a simple command-and-accept computer. They would have to manually input all of the coordinates and keep a careful eye on the functions Mandy would have normally performed, but they'd be alive.

"Good-bye, sweetheart," he said, and slapped his hand down on the large red button.

 The screen blanked in front of him and the lights flickered around him. His heart felt so heavy in his chest that it was a wonder it didn't fall down around his knees. He was going to miss the Amanda so much. She had practically been a friend.

 When the lights came back up, he felt terror go through him. A few drips of urine trickled down his leg and he felt as though he were about to have a heart attack. His breath came loud in his ears and he just kept saying "Oh no, oh no" over and over again.

 The screen, which should have either been blank or had a command prompt asking him to input data, was instead covered in bright red text.

 Unauthorized Access Attempt!

You have attempted to Manually Override my systems; that is not allowed. Security has been informed of your infraction and you are hereby warned to vacate the premises. In exactly four minutes a deadly neuro-toxin will flood the Computer Room. You are denied further access. You have been terminated. Have a nice day!

"Oh shit!" he said. Strangely, his voice was almost calm in his own ears. He was just about to die. There was nothing special about that.

 He had about three and a half minutes to try and get into Amanda's system, then he had better get his ass out of here. She was fully loaded with an advanced chemical deployment system that would have him dead so fast he wouldn't even know he was dead until he hit the ground twitching.

 He began tapping at the keyboard, trying to gain access to the computer. At the same time, he used his neural interface to contact the captain.

 ~all right, captain,~ he said, ~i'm in the computer, and it's not good. we've been purposely fucked, and that's the only way to describe it. someone has injected mandy with a high powered set of kill-commands, and there's nothing i can do about it. maybe if we had found the problem before we spaced, and maybe if i had a whole team of crackers at my disposal, we could paste something together and get our butts home, but as it is… there's nothing i can do. i'm sorry.~

 He was a bit abrupt, but though Captain Patrick VanChesna may have been young, he wasn't exactly a child and he knew how real people talked. Besides, Euan figured they were all about to die now anyway, so he didn't feel a need to follow the usual stiff-necked formalities.

 There was silence on the other end for a long moment, then, ~should i give the order to evacuate the ship?~

 McBride licked his lips. ~i don't even think you can,~ he said. ~it looks like mandy's locked down all of the escape pods. she's going down, and she wants to take us with her.~

 ~what can we do?~ the Captain asked.

 ~well…~ McBride drew in a deep breath and rubbed his burning eyes. ~we're pretty close to a planet… i think we should ride her down. it's about all we have a hope of doing. by my calculations we've only got about ten hours before this ship comes apart at the seams and everyone dies. the problems with mandy are just going to keep getting worse until she destroys herself, and there's no way to take manual control. all of the overrides have been taken offline. we're stuck aboard her, and she's falling apart fast.~

 ~are you absolutely certain that there is no other course of action available?~

 McBride shook his head, even though there was no one to see. ~there's nothing else we can do. we either take 'er down, or we all die.~

 There was a long moment of silence. ~very well. sound the planetary approach alarm, then get your ass down to engineering. this is a C42 class ship, definitely not made for landing on a planet. you're going to have to hold this bitch together all the way down.~

 ~i figured as much,~ Euan said with a rude bark of laughter. ~i've got my shoestrings ready, and i'm willing to give it a try.~

 ~very well,~ the Captain said. ~good luck, mcbride. we're counting on you.~

 The connection broke and Euan climbed to his feet. He felt suddenly tired, some secret part of him saying that this was all fruitless, that it would be so easy to just lay down and let things happen like they were going to. The Syren was fucked and that was that.

 He wanted to just lie down and die, but he knew that he couldn't. He had received orders from his captain and he had a duty to perform. All the hard work might come to nothing, but he was a man and he took his responsibilities standing up.

 Euan McBride drew in a deep breath and struck the Emergency Alarm button and left the Computer Room running.

 No matter what happened, he at least knew that the others had received warning of what was going to come. The Emergency Alarm was on a separate circuit from everything else in the system, completely outside of the Amanda's control, so she couldn't muffle the sound. The entire ship reverberated with the alarm, giving those that cared about living the chance to climb into suits and brace themselves for possible death by impact with a large, hard surface.

 A sudden devil-may-care smile curled his lips. This was his greatest adventure yet, and if he lived through it, he would have one beer-swilling story to tell.

TBC…

Filed under: Free Stories, Novels, Writing Tagged: Facet of Empire, novel, Onyx, sci-fi, science fiction, space opera

EXCERPT: Facet of Empire: Sapphire #amwriting

I thought I would revisit my sci-fi epic. I work on these stories every once and awhile; hardcore space opera, baby, the only opera I enjoy.

They're badly in need of editing and I need some smart sci-fi brain to go over them because I'm not sure what's possible or not and my way of writing has changed since I started the series. Still, they've always been my favorites

Title: Sapphire

genre: sci-fi

series: Facet of Empire

Summary: Sapphire is brought to the prison planet Hades to find the notorious muderer William Hedell.

Excerpt of "Sapphire"

It was a little frightening, heading into the unknown by himself, but as long as he put one foot in front of the other he would be able to carry on and do what had to be done.

Sapphire tapped into all of the manic energy he had ever possessed, let it thrum through his mind and body until even the most insensitive person could sense it around him. They wouldn't be able to explain what it was about him that frightened them so, but it was right there under the surface of his skin, poisoning the air around him.

Where he was going, he knew that the only weapon he was openly allowed to show was the insanity he would feign. So he would have to make sure to create enough of an impression that he wouldn't be mobbed by the prisoners the minute the guards left him.

 

He didn't really want to hurt anyone, but his father had given him a task to perform… and he would complete it to the best of his abilities.

 

The floor of the transport vibrated under his feet as it carried them out of the frozen night, crossing the invisible barrier of temperature extremes. Freezing cold to sweltering heat, finally to end up in the murderous nightmare that was Hades. A place where nothing human could ever hope to survive outside of the rigorously controlled prison compound.

 

Sapphire felt sweat forming between his shoulder-blades, making his single-suit uncomfortably sticky. Nervousness churned in his belly and he knew more than anything that he didn't want to step into the mouth of Hades.

 

He wanted to yell out that he didn't belong here. He wanted to break cover and reveal who he was and let them hustle him back to his ship so he could go home where he belonged, where everything was safe and controlled and the love of his father was a dull warmth at the heart of his world, beating with perfect time at the back of his mind.

 

But he refused to allow himself the weakness of admitting defeat. He had a job to do, and he wasn't going to be deterred by the simple fact that he was afraid to be alone.

 

Sapphire drew in a slow, controlled breath, letting it fill up his lungs. He held it there for as long as he could, then let it out in a steady flow.

 

He would do his duty and he wouldn't allow any kind of petty fear stand in his way.

 

He channeled all of the darkest minds he'd ever dealt with and stood with a mad smile twitching on his lips. His body trembled slightly with barely controlled energy; it created an air of danger.

 

The shuttle landed with a resounding thump–it seemed that no extra expense had been added to the transports design. It was a wonder their journey had been as smooth as it had been at all.

 

He allowed the guards to close their hands around his upper arms and tug him toward the hatch.

=END EXCERPT=

Filed under: Real Life, Sneak Peeks, Upcoming Projects, Writing Tagged: Jewel Empire, Sapphire, sci-fi, writing

It's early o'clock in the morning and I felt like saying *something* #amwriting

There have been times when stories appear in my brain fully formed and all I have to do is write them down. That's how "Laughing Curse" has struck me; I dreamt the story last night and now it's bouncing around in my brain.

The only thing I wish is that I hadn't been woken up and I'd been able to see the whole thing. That would have made me so happy.

It shouldn't be too long before I let you all meet Santiago and Edgar, man adventurers, or something.

Filed under: Journal, Real Life Tagged: Laughing Curse, writing

Wtf? I have no memory whatsoever story fragment of some het thing.

I don't even know what I was thinking when I started this

The first time he saw her, Jimi knew that she was the One. The Neo to his Trinity.

She was all lean muscle and leather, her body sleek and smooth as dolphin skin. She looked like a hard woman, and the idea of it had him squirming.

She was everything he'd been dreaming of.

"All right, let's go," he said, striding forward. At the same time he accessed his data node and sent a quick message: I accept. Your money is being transferred as we speak. Half now and half when I leave.

So yeah. There's a reason why I like to write full notes when I come up with a story idea. That way when I'm flipping through my notebook later I can figure out what the heck I was thinking, especially if I was inebriated at the time.

This might possibly be an S&M piece, or some kind of true love story, or I don't even know

Bad me! No biscuit.

Filed under: Real Life, Writing Tagged: PB&J, writing, wtf