The Evil Genius Blogfest

Hey all!  I'm participating today in the Evil Genius Blogfest (even though I'm jumping on the band wagon a tad late, and didn't get my entry in on time.  Whoops!) hosted by my lovely, and long-time blogging buddy The Golden Eagle, for her two-years of happy blogging.  So, without further ado, here is my entry!

“It’s all prepared?” asked the woman in a long, white lab coat, striding into the room.

“Yes ma’am,” said the scientist, handing her the vial of clear liquid.  She smiled at it, then pocketed it.

“Perfect,” she said, smiling cruelly.

“May I ask what you’re to do with this liquid, ma’am?  It’s dangerous.”

“I know that very well,” she said, smiling even wider.  The scientist got a confused look on his face.  “And I think you, my friend, know that a little too well.”

Confused, the scientist glanced at her.  “What do you—“

Bam.

A look of shock appeared on his face as he toppled backward, and fell to the floor, dead.

“It’s always such a shame to see such a bright young mind go to waste,” she said.  “But no matter.  I have what I need, and he was expendable.”

She turned, and left the room.

***

A tall, slender woman entered the hall, and after mingling for a few minutes and introducing herself as a reporter, she wandered over to the water table.  She slipped a small vial of clear liquid out of her pocket, and after looking around the room to make sure no one was watching her, poured it into the water.

She quickly moved away from the water, and began mingling again.  It wasn’t long before a change came over the chattering crowd, water glasses clutched in many of their hands.  Hacking coughs replaced mindless chatter, and soon, water glasses were tumbling to the floor as people clutched at their throats, unable to breathe.  Within minutes, the tall, slender woman was the only one left standing.  She walked over to a woman standing near a podium, and turned over her body.  “Hello Alice,” she said to the dead woman.  “So we meet again.  This time however, I seem to have won.  I will miss our little skirmishes.”  She removed the woman’s wallet, and flipped through it, before removing a slip of paper.  “I have what I want now.  You thought I’d never find you.  Well, too bad.  Because now, I’ve won.”

And with that, she stood, and left the room of corpses behind.

(359 words)

So, what do you think?  Evil-genius-y?

The Dandy Lioness

Steampunk Love, Glimpses of Goodness Week Four

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Doctor Who cardboard cutouts/Mid-Winter break/YouTube/watching TV with my mom/the H.I.V.E. series by Mark Walden/BBC Merlin/rainy days/bunny rabbits/fluffy dogs/steampunk/story ideas/doodling/Pinterest/my Bow Ties are Cool bracelet/my TARDIS Nook cover/knitting/photo albums/reading/children's theaters/walking on a sunny day/bamboo stores/Irish dance/watching movies with my parents/meeting lovely authors/the Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld (oh, the steampunk love...)/airships/The Secret World of Arriety/when it's raining, but it's sunny/Nerdfighteria/the DVR/chirping birds/a hint of spring in the air/boots/steampunk jewelry, hats and goggles/Sevenly t-shirts (yes, I ordered another one.  It hasn't come yet, though.)/lazy days at home/yarn stores/the fact that my sister will be home in a week/the Oscars (I hope Hugo wins something, I adored that movie.)

Can you tell I've been on a steampunk kick recently?  Speaking of which, do any of you have any suggestions for good steampunk books?  I've read both the Airborn series by Kenneth Oppel and the Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld, and I love them both.  I think it's something about airships.  Seriously, they're just the coolest.  Things.  Ever.  I almost wrote my NaNo11 about a girl on an airship, however I gave up that idea for my circus idea.  Perhaps not the best choice, considering my circus story sort of... flopped.  I won, yes, but that poor novel... not pretty.  Not pretty at all.

Also, it's my last day of break today.  I don't want to go back.  Even though I was totally lazy, and didn't actually really see, well, anybody, and watched far too much TV, it was a nice break.  Sigh.  Also, I'm guessing I'll be posting less, as once again I'll be back in school.

The Dandy Lioness

Wibbely-Wobbely-Timey-Wimey-Knitting

So, for the last month and a half or so, I've had a knitting project in the works.  I may have told you about it, I'm not sure.  Finally, today, I finished it.

Meet the TARDIS.  Now, you may be wondering what exactly this TARDIS is for.  Well, it's a cover for my Nook.  It's perfect, actually, because what is a Nook?  It's small, compact, and is bigger on the inside.  Just like the TARDIS.

Yesterday, I finished the ribbing on it, but because I need to be able to fit my Nook inside of it, I had to do a stretchy bind-off.  Not entirely sure how to do this, as I had started with Judy's Magic Cast-On loop (sorry about all this knitting technical jargon for those of you who don't speak it,) I popped over to the neighborhood knitting store today, and had them help me finish it up.  The best part of that experience?  The first woman I asked, who immediately recognized it as the TARDIS, and who talked about Doctor Who with me for a couple of minutes.

(Sorry this one's sideways--  I couldn't get it to go the other way.  *shrugs* )

Isn't it cool?  I had tons of fun knitting it, and I managed to get by with only a few hiccups in the work.  It was the first Doctor Who themed knitting project I've tried, and I was very pleased with the outcome.  I spent ages scrolling through Ravelry trying to find the perfect project, and I finally found it, something easy, but with colorwork, which I had been wanting to try.  

So, what do you guys think?  Do any of you knit or crotchet?

The Dandy Lioness

Let the Games Begin— a Post about Dystopian Novels

Hello all!  Thanks for all the tips on avoiding boredom!

In the comments of my last post, I was talking to Scarlett about fanfiction, and the short piece I wrote for my group of teenage writers on NaNoWriMo.  We're all huge Hunger Games fans, and yesterday, we were talking about what it would be like if we were in the Hunger Games.  So, here's this short little fic I wrote (195 words) based on us (the Purple Elephants) in the Hunger Games.

“Let the Games begin!” shouted a voice, coming from seemingly nowhere.

Rosie stepped calmly off her plate, and looked around.  She began to walk calmly toward the Cornucopia.  This was their plan.  No fighting, no murder.  This was how they would do it.

All twenty-four tributes were walking slowly and purposefully towards the Cornucopia.  She could practically hear the Capitol’s outrage.

She reached the Cornucopia, and stood in the steadily-forming ring of tributes.

She nodded to the two tributes on either side of her—Brody and Eva.

“Ready?”

It was Lady.

They all nodded.  Carefully, they began rifling through the items in the Cornucopia.

“Anyone want a knife?” Lady asked.

“I suppose I’ll take it,” said Brody, after a moment, and it was passed along from Lady to Brody.

“Bow and arrow?” Lady called out.

“I’ll take that,” Lauri said, holding out her hand for it.  She nodded in appreciation for its fine craftsmanship, and slung it across her back.  Food was passed out, and the little medicine in the Cornucopia was spread evenly among them.  Weapons were distributed, and, for the first time ever, there wasn’t a single death within ten minutes of starting.

So, what do you think?  We all decided (shortly before I wrote this little guy) that we wouldn't be able to kill each other, and would all be allies, which is where the point of the fic stems from.  If you're wondering why it's based around Rosie, that's because on the NaNoWriMo forums, I generally go by Rosie.  I had fun with it, but there has been very little editing, so it's not very polished.

Have any of you guys read the Hunger Games?  If so, thoughts?  If not, why not?  The fact that I like the Hunger Games is actually quite surprising.  I am really not a fan of dystopian novels, which, considering that recently the YA genre has been flooded with them is rather unfortunate.  I much prefer regular fantasy.

Dystopia.  What do you guys think of it?  Generally, I can’t really stand it.  The only two dystopian series/novels I've ever really liked, are The Hunger Games, and the Uglies series (though I've only read book one).  My friend and I were walking home from school one day a couple months ago, and came up for this formula for most dystopian novels.

Bad history of a society + government taking over + a random girl a hundred years after the government has taken over, who meets a guy + guy explaining about some form of rebellion + guy gets between girl and her long-time guy best friend + eventually girl joins rebellion + girl figuring out how to stop the government in some way= a dystopian novel

Do you guys have anything to add (or subtract) to my dystopian formula?

The Dandy Lioness

A Pinch of Doctor Who, a Dash of Sherlock, and a Cup of Intense Boredom

Hello all!  How have you been?

I'm on mid-winter break at the moment, which, so far, has been rather unproductive.  The amount of TV and movies I've watched is both astounding and embarrassing.  I've listened to music some, and written some.  I've eaten a lot of chocolate, and not seen any of my friends.  I know.  I should be productive.  But I've not been.  I spent this morning on Doctor Who doodles, and watching Doctor Who and Merlin.  So... hi.

This is one of my Doctor Who doodles-- sorry it's bad quality, it's a cellphone picture, and I was too lazy to actually a) watermark it, or b) take it with an actual good-quality camera.  But I had fun with it, so, whatever.

I'm glad to know that you guys liked my Velociraptor post-- I had tons of fun with it.  I hadn't really just done a silly little piece of writing like that in ages, so it was really fun to play with.

Of course, though I continue to spend ages on the internet, in the last few days, it has been so slow.  I've had to restart my computer, refresh things five times... it's not a pretty situation.  However, I prevail, for I seem to be determined to waste my entire break on the internet, and not do anything.

Okay.  Now I'm going just a tad stir crazy.  And no one seems to be around.  This post is crazy and jumping around, and I don't even know if I'll post it.  And my internet's being lousy again, and just... I'm so bored, guys.  So bored.

I'm just so bored, guys.  I just... arg.

The Dandy Lioness

The Truth Behind the Velociraptor Incidents

The girl glances around her, then beckons to the small group of people standing around her.  "Okay.  Gather round.  I've got a secret to tell you."
The people look interested.  A secret?  What could it be?
"See that sign over there?" she asks, pointing to a small, printed sign that read, "This is a velociraptor-free workplace.  It has proudly been [12] days since the last velociraptor incident."
They all turn and look, then nod.
"I'm going to tell you the secret about the velociraptor incidents."
They all look interested now.
"It was a dark and stormy night," she begins.

It was a dark and stormy night, with winds raging outside, and rain pounding the windows.  A small group of writers, huddled over their laptops were writing furiously.
"FREEEAAAAHHHH!"
The writers look up, confusion in their eyes.  "What was that?" asked one.
"Was it our imagination?"
"Blame it on the storm.  It's got us all frazzled," the last one said, shaking her head.
They all nodded, and went back to their work.  But hardly two minutes passed, before they heard the screech again.  "FREEEAAAAHHHH!  FREEEAAAAHHHH!"
"That was certainly not our imaginations," said the first one.
A pause.  Finally, one of them spoke.  "Well... I was just writing about velociraptors.  You don't think they... they came out of my writing, do you?"
"That only happens in stories," the last one said, shaking her head.
"But we're the writers.  Perhaps it's all real to us," said the one who had spoken.
They all exchanged glances.  This was true.  "FREEEAAAAHHHH!  FREEEAAAAHHHH!" 
"Well," said one of them, after a moment.  "It certainly sounds like a velociraptor."
"What do we do?" asked the first one, fear showing in her eyes.
"Call an exterminator?"
"Who would we call, T-Rex-B-Gone?  Be realistic," the last one said, shaking her head.
"Realistic?  We have velociraptors.  Outside our office.  In the twenty-first century.  I'm done with realistic.  I'm desperate here," said the second one.
The last one pursed her lips, but said nothing.
"Come on guys, we have to do something," said the first one.  "These velociraptors don't sound like they're going to leave us alone.  How do you scare them away?"
"Well," said the one who had (accidentally) written the velociraptors into the world, "I wrote them in.  I could try writing them out."
They all glanced at each other.  The thought hadn't occurred to them.
"We might as well give it a try," said the first one.
"Alright..." said the velociraptor-writer.  She bent over her keyboard, and began to write.
Every so often, they would hear a faint, "FREEEAAAAHHHH!  FREEEAAAAHHHH!" from outside.  And then...
"FREEEAA--" the last velociraptor cry was cut off.
The writer looked up.  "Done," she said, nodding.  "They should be gone now."

"So, that's the tale of the velociraptor incidents," explained the girl.  "We have to be careful about what we do in this office.  We're writers here.  Sometimes, well... our imaginations get the better of us."

I hope you all enjoyed this silly post about velociraptors, inspired by Scarlett, a new follower of mine, who asked about the specifics of the velociraptor incidents.

The Dandy Lioness

Whimsy and Mystery, Glimpses of Goodness Week Three

As well as linking up with the Origins blogfest, I'm also linking up with Mirriam today, for Glimpses of Goodness.  I found some fun things for my Glimpses of Goodness this week.  

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Pink pens/The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes/used book stores/mothers who help make dance costumes/Doctor Who gifs/adorable Dutch movies/gelato/warm fires/quotes about writing/Playmobil/globes/my new Carpe Diem TOMS/ice cream after a long night/rare February sunshine/TV shows/mystery stories/Helena Bonham Carter/Disney movies/fantasy trips/Greece/Paris/London/BBC America/the last bell of the school day on Friday/watching TV with your mom late at night/Harry Potter/Skittles/travel nostalgia/excitement over The Hunger Games movie/miniature ponies/stories that come to you in a flash/doughnuts brought home by my dad/silly TV show characters/Sherlock Holmes/Doctor John Watson/How To Train Your Dragon/pictures taken of the school mascot during Yearbook/eating out for dinner/fuzzy blankets/pizza bagels/silly commercials/cheesy pasta/French the Llama/Greek gyros/children's books/characters who invade your mind/books, books and more books/silly dreams/dancing around the kitchen/a rogue Santa Claus found hiding in my living room/owl shaped book ends/roses/short movies about books/old books and photographs/clouds/wishing for summer.

{Via}

The Dandy Lioness

Origins Blogfest

So, I'm linking up with Alex J. Cavanaugh, DL Hammons, Matthew McNish, and Katie Mills today for the Origins Blogfest.  Basically, it's talking about your writing origins.  Where or why did you start writing?

I've been writing for practically as long as I can remember.  It really started when I was about six, and staying at my friend's grandparents house for a weekend.  We were both very obsessed with Harry Potter at the time, but we felt that in Harry's world, there just weren't enough girl characters.

And that's how GP began.  Technically, GP stands for Girl Power, but we discarded that title years ago.  The nickname however, stuck.  We still work on this silly little (or maybe not so little...) project of ours, whenever we can, and are determined to finish at least the first book.  Yeah... we're still not done.

Over the years, since GP began, I started working on other things.  My wonderful creations included stories such as "Zoe and her Pet Cat", and "Bluebell the Fairy".  And then... I hit my Warrior's faze.  I don't know if any of you have read the Warriors series, but basically they're a whole bunch of books about cats who live in a forest, in their own little clans.  Okay.  That's a really bad explanation.  Here's a link to the website.  And... well... from there, my writing exploded.  I created probably hundreds of characters, I started story after story, and I got into roleplaying online.  For about three, four years, that was basically what my writing world revolved around.  Then, it kind of started falling off my radar-- I got bored with it, and eventually stopped doing all of those things.

And then... my friend, O, the one who I write GP with, got me interested in NaNoWriMo.  I had been writing a lot more by that time, and had about 15k on my (now finished) wolf novella.  So, I thought, 'What the heck?  Why not?' and I tried it.  And... I loved it.  That was China Roses, my NaNo10.  I completed NaNoWriMo with just close to 52,000 words.  Ever since then, I've been writing like crazy.

So, those are my writing origins.  What are yours?

The Dandy Lioness

Soft Shoes, Hard Shoes

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Hop, and over-two-three, over-two-three-four-five, over two-three-four-five, over-two-three-four-five.  

The whispers of dance shoes against the floor.

The giggles of girls, their backs to the window.

Rhythmic, bouncing Irish music.

"Heels up!"

"Carriage!"

"Eyes up!"

Girls, talking, and laughing.  Hard shoes clatter against the floor, as they are tugged onto feet, and the soft shoes fall to the ground with only a soft whisper.

One girl stands, and stands in the middle of the room.  She waits, until she is joined by several others, and soon, the room is filled with chattering voices and clattering shoes.

"Stand on the tape lines, girls!" 

{Via}

Shoes tap against the ground.  Girls rush to position themselves.

"We're doing rallies, now."

Click-click-clack.  Click-click-clack.

"Heels up, girls!"

"Diamonds!"

"Louder!  Louder!  Wake the baby!"

The sound intensifies, but the little baby boy just keeps sleeping.

The music ends, and the teacher smiles.  

"My only complaint is that you didn't wake the baby," she says with a wink.

The music starts, and soon the room is filled with rhythmic clattering, timed perfectly to the music.

The Dandy Lioness

Glimpses of Goodness: Fluffy Puppies and Bacon Houses

Good books/sunny days/the sound of hard shoes on a dance floor/French tests that are easy.

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Fantastic authors you get the privilege to meet/new posters on my wall/YouTube.

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  Gilmore Girls/Doctor Who.

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Smiling, happy bacon houses/inside jokes/laughter among friends.

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(Luna, please tell me that your bacon house would sell these.)

Characters in stories, that never fail to make you smile/lazy nights/fluffy puppies named Milo.

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Head over to Mirriam's blog and link up with her Glimpses of Goodness!

The Dandy Lioness

Snippets of Story: February

Hello all!  Today I am linking up with Katie for her Snippets of Story link up for February!  It's the first month of this, and I decided to join up.

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The excerpt I'm posting is from my NaNoWriMo, tentatively called Dr. Blank's Traveling Circus for Talented Misfits.  So, without further ado, here we go.

"Hmm," clucked Lily, obviously not impressed.  "Papa always says we'll be the death of them.  We pull pranks 'a little too often' he says."

Gemma sighed.  "And Mama finds us simply ridiculous, and is constantly telling us to 'quit fooling around!'  Mama clearly doesn't understand what it's like to grow up in the circus.  You spend so much time on trains.  Sure, the shows are fun.  And training.  But while we're moving, we have nothing good to do.  Mama said we're not allowed in the training trailer anymore, not while we're moving.  I mean, it was only a little break."

"What did you break?" asked Ria, raising one eyebrow at the twins.

"Well, technically it wasn't us who ended up with a broken bone.  It was Roy.  It was his fault, though.  He was spotting us."

Ria laughed.

"And it was only a little break," pointed out Gemma.

"And what did you break?"

"His nose..." Lily said.

Ria laughed aloud at that.  "Only a little break?  I see," she said.

"Lily, I've decided I like her.  She's like Hugo, only funnier, and not as serious."

"I think so too," Lily said, nodding, and scrutinizing Ria.

"She has better fashion sense than Hugo," said Gemma.

"And she can hear you," Ria said.

I don't think I will ever edit this year's NaNo, at least, not for a while.  It was an experiment that, in my opinion, didn't work out.  So, while I finished, I didn't really like the end product.  However, there were little pieces of it, like this one, that I ended up quite liking.  Maybe I'll end up revisiting this story, and reworking it. However, I doubt it.

What do you think of this little piece?

The Dandy Lioness