No Kiss Blogfest

Yay, I remembered this year!

Today is the 5th annual No Kiss blogfest. Make sure to check out all of the fun entries here: No Kiss Blogfest Homepage


This year I am using what started as a novelette but is going to end up a novel. And in an odd move on my part, it's actually contemporary Young Adult. Not a trace of speculative fiction in this one. But I still keep the boy/boy part. ;-)  Quick update. Ryan's father had a list for everything including List Thirteen, which was a list of things to do before dying. After his death, Ryan takes on the list in hopes of finishing it to keep for him. This is a scene that shows 2 of the goals and how his friend helps him.


A section from List Thirteen:

Ryan settled down on the floor in the corner of his father's office room. Since declaring his goal in finishing List Thirteen, he had made it his sanctuary. Though he refused to sit in the office chair. Each time he thought maybe he should because it had a very nice, cushioned seat, he couldn't get himself to sit down. It was his father's and he didn't want to change that fact. So, instead he sat on the floor in the corner and faced the organized desk. With a sigh, he opened the thick epic fantasy novel, turning to where he'd given up last.

Staring at the hundreds of pages that remained, he couldn't help but wonder what appealed his father so much about the series. Not to mention how could the author keep writing books of that length and keep them interesting. Plus, it was fantasy. But he had to read the whole series, so he took a quick sip of water and plowed forward, turning the pages to get started on chapter four.

A knock on the door interrupted much later and he grumbled as he put the bookmark in on page 398. He rubbed his eyes, unsettled at the dimness in the room that he didn't remember existing when he'd sat down to read.

The door opened and Trevor peeked in before pushing it wider so he could enter. "What are you doing in here?"

"Reading." He held up the book a couple inches higher as evidence. It hit him how long he'd been sitting as he moved with aches radiation through his legs, across his butt and up his back.

"Oh right, the book thing. Looks like you are almost done." Turning on the overhead light, Trevor moved by the desk and put down the plastic bag he'd brought with him. But he didn't sit in the desk chair. Instead, he stood near the desk, resting against the edge. "That makes one you can cross off the list, right?"

Sighing as he stood, his legs tingled with numb pain as he put his weight on them, he had to shake his head in the negative. "Not even close. The list states the whole series and this is just book one."

"How many are there?"

"Fourteen, well, the last book is called number fourteen but really there is one that is a prequel to book one that I don't know when it should be read. So, that makes fifteen." Ryan put the book aside on a small side table before changing his focus. He kind of liked the book at that point and wanted to finish but his friend coming in with something in tow made him wonder what he had in mind. "What is in the bag?"

"Damn." With a smile he put his hand on the bag. "Oh, this? Well, I said I'd help you with the list so I bought some hair dye. A nice pretty pink. I know you'll love it."

He hated pink and stuck out his tongue at his friend's suggestion. "If you got pink I'm going to punch you."

After a long, fake dramatic pause, Trevor pulled out a box of dye. He held it up so Ryan could see the front that had the color and an image of two people who had used it. "I know you can be a girl at times but relax, I got you a better color than pink."

Staring at the strange box gave him both relief and trepidation. While the color on the label wasn't pink and it had an image of a boy, it also had a girl with the same color and it looked sort of girly on both. But in truth, compared to pink and even purple, the teal dye did present a better option and it was crazy enough to qualify for the list. "Fine. So, I'm supposed to dye my own hair?"

"No, you goof. I am going to do it." Trevor pulled out another box. "And later on we can use this one so you don't have weird hair all summer long."

Ryan squinted at the box, uncertain about how often he'd have to color his hair and at the same time wondered how his mother and sister both put up with it since they did it a couple times a year it seemed. "Black? That isn't my natural color."

"I know. But it will cover better, or so the lady said. Besides, I think it looked good that time."

Standing close to his friend, Ryan caught his gaze, uncertain how to respond. He'd done the black hair look once, a couple years ago but the way Trevor had worded the comment combined with the stare that followed made his stomach twist. He wondered in that instance if something more lay hidden under the comment or if it was like the other things Trevor said to him in the past. Little jokes and pretend nothings that some said looked like flirting. The hand on his shoulder, touching the edge of his hair near his right ear felt real though.

Then it ended. Letting it go, Ryan led the way out of the office so they wouldn't risk ruining the carpet. Instead, they used his sister's bathroom. She was away at summer camp so he could use it without her knowing.

At first, he had little doubt but having to remove his shirt jolted his nerves. But he didn't want to stain his shirt. Relief came when they draped a couple towels over to protect his skin. He let Trevor handle the dye, doing whatever it required in order to get his hair done.

"I think this takes a few steps." Trevor stared at the box. "We need to bleach it first, then do the color."

"Whatever you say." He sat on the wooden stool and waited, not able to do much but keep still.

"Do you know why he had some of these goals?" Trevor kept the conversation going as he worked through Ryan's hair. "Like, some of them are kind of strange for his age, don't you think?"

He winced when his hair got tugged too hard. "I asked mom. She said a few of them were his mid-life crisis goals."

That caused a pause for a couple seconds. "Wait. Your dad planned his mid-life crisis? What a nerd. No offense."

"Yeah, he was a nerd." Even though Ryan smiled, he had to wipe near the corner of his eye to keep a tear from falling at the mention of his father. The hand that squeezed his shoulder helped.

Romantic Friday - Driven to Murder

Yep, I didn't forget. See!  This is a piece that I wrote actually a couple years ago. I still need to work on the believability of the character. Chemist, sure, humans to mannequins, why not. Chemist becomes a clown to please a ballet dancer... wait, what? Yeah, I'm still pondering that part. However, want to give some friends scary thoughts, tell them to consider a clown serial killer who can take a body and turn it into a mannequin. Got serial killers, clowns and mannequins in one story. Creepy. hehehehe

Blog Hop Link

Practice

Budders the Clown waited outside The Slipper dance studio. His love, Celia, taught kids ballet there five days a week. While he waited, Budders adjusted his polka dotted bow tie. He was nervous because tonight was the night he was planning on taking the relationship further.

Celia followed a group of students out the front door while pulling her blonde hair out of it's tight bun. It flowed down past her shoulders in waves.

"Hi sweetheart." Budders held out the plastic white flowers that he'd been holding for almost fifteen minutes during his wait.

"Oh." Celia stopped and stared at the flowers for a minute before accepting them. "Thanks." She started to walk in the direction of her apartment.

Budders followed easily, taking long strides with his large clown shoes. He didn't speak until they were almost there. "Do you wanna go up and change? I've got big plans for tonight. I can wait downstairs till you are ready."

She stopped walking. "Listen," Celia turned to him and put her hand on his arm for a second. "You are a nice guy and all but I think we should see other people."

"How can you say that?" He was devastated. "After all I've done for you. All the hurdles you've made me jump through."

Celia shrugged. "You're a clown. You should be used to doing that."

"I'm a clown because as a chemist I wasn't fun enough for you." He tried to control his voice but it was starting to raise anyways. "You promised if I did all that for you..."

"I changed my mind."

Budders had to fight back tears. "Please don't do this. I can make things right again if you just give me another chance."

She shook her head. "No. I'm moving on. Goodbye." Finished, Celia walked away.

"You'll pay for this, you selfish bitch!" He yelled, no longer about to cry; his anger had taken over. He stormed away while cursing under his breath and promised himself that things would change. He wasn't going to let a woman trample him like that and get away with it.

As he fumbled around for his house key Budders noticed a grasshopper as it landed next to his foot. Without thinking he brought down his big right shoe, squashing it. With a tiny sense of relief he went inside but just as he closed the door an idea struck him.

He spent the next three hours tearing through every room in the upper portion of the house. "It's gotta be here some where," Budders muttered as he rummaged through fake flowers, wigs, rubber hammers, and bow ties. He was about to give up when he found the item in a small drawer in the kitchen. It was a perfectly preserved grasshopper in clear white glass. Celia had given it to him on their second date because she thought it would be an amusing, although a tad bit morbid, gift.

Budders took the domed grasshopper downstairs to his basement/laboratory. On one half of the room he had a chemistry lab set up for his own experiments. There was a dense table and cabinets full of compounds and elixirs. On the other side he kept his secret clown stash. It consisted of a special clown wardrobe, a makeup cabinet and a few different accessories. He went over to the lab side and began to do research.

The research took several weeks of reading and experimentations before he had a full working plan. A few chemicals and some equipment had to be ordered and in a manner that would not arouse any suspicion. He also kept careful tabs on Celia. It would be a while before he'd be able to carry out his plans and he didn't want her to disappear on him. He had many chances to grab her during those scouting adventures but he wasn't ready yet. First he needed to practice.

The first experimental stage consisted of testing on insects and small animals. He knew that the compounds and amounts wouldn't even be close to what he'd need on a human but they made good tests for the idea in general. Once he was confident enough from those he began the search for his human test subject.

This proved to be more difficult than he'd first imagined.

Budders had to find the right female test subject. She had to be close to Celia in body weight and structure though she didn't have to be exact. That would be easy for a normal woman, but a dancer was a different story. He monitored all the dance studies that were fifty to one hundred miles away. His same town was off limits for now.

After almost a month of search he found someone. Her name was Jessica and she was a beautiful brown haired ballerina. She looked to be about Celia's height and her waistline wasn't too far off either. Plus, she gave Budders that feeling; the feeling that she was the one.

One afternoon he finally got up the nerve to approach her. "Hello, pretty lady." Budders bowed and offered a fake flower to her.

Jessica looked surprised at first but then smiled. "Hello," she said in a shy voice. She had been on her way to dance rehearsal.

"Have a wonderful day." He smiled to show his almost white teeth and then gave her another bow. It wasn't a full conversation, but he'd made contact and that was all he needed. He watched her walk to the dance studio before going to the hotel room he'd reserved for that night. He had to prepare.

Later that night, when Jessica passed by the dark alley next to the dance studio, he was there waiting. In a quick motion he grabbed her, pulling her into the dark, and placed a soaked rag over her mouth and nose. Soon her body went limp. He carried her to his car in a hurry, making sure that no one saw them. Then he started the drive home.

As he laid her on the chem table, Budders felt a sense of excitement mixed with satisfaction. A woman lay before him, unconscious, with chemicals and tools in the background. He couldn't wait to get started. He started the experiment while thinking; it won't be long, Celia. You'll be mine.

RFW Fanfiction

Yep, it's time I joined a blog hop again, and no better way to start then one with people I know. I've been asked about joining the Romantic Friday Writer's blog hop for a while now but would either forget or not come up with a story for the month prompt, but this month, I'm going to give it a try.


February is a Fanfiction challenge.

"For February's Challenge, your hosts invite authors to write up to 1000 words of fanfiction involving your favorite romance couple from TV, movie, literature or historical accounts."

 Romantic Friday Writers Link

While the general idea of the challenge is known lovers, it's a little harder to find m/m known couples unless doing the slash fanfiction that creates the idea of "what if" the character was gay instead of straight. So, I'm still doing fanfiction but going with a less known item.


My fanfiction comes from the source of an anime, one that even the people I know who go to anime conventions on a regular basis don't know about but I found as one of the coolest ones I've seen so far. That anime/manga (it was manga then an anime) is:

Monochrome Factor

The Manga link:
http://mangafox.me/manga/monochrome_factor/
The Anime link:
http://www.anime-planet.com/anime/monochrome-factor

Quick Explanation:
I've never read the manga, so am just going off the anime series that I watched a few times online. The basics of the story can be found on the sites listed and my fanfiction attempt takes place after the series ended. Once the Shadow King had retreated, Shirogane has returned with no idea whether he will survive in the shadow world, and Akira is back to a normal life with his friends and less demon fighting. The manga is a bit different story wise, with some different characters shown and didn't have the m/m aspect, which is another reason I went with the anime. In my attempt, Akira has been trying to leave the life of a normal, older teenager, closely to adulthood, and that includes dating, but he has found the whole endeavor boring.


My Fanfiction, Dating in Monochrome

Akira stared out across the water, watching the calm surface lap against the rocky edge. It had become his spot over the years; a place to be alone and contemplate his life. Even Kengo knew not to bother him there, which almost made up for all the times he hung around whether he was wanted or not. While Akira fumed at times over his persistent friend, deep down he appreciated that persistence, that his friend would have his back no matter what happened. With Kengo and Aya, deep down it almost made up for his loss, for his family never coming back to him.

"It's so calm and peaceful out here." The boy named Yokai interrupted the silence as he sat on the rock next to Akira.

Looking at the boy, Akira simply nodded. He still didn't know what to do. He'd been trying to date and have a normal life after the struggles he had endured fighting the Shadow King, but while having some boring days had felt great at first, things had gotten dull again. He had even tried dating, going out with a number of different girls but they had all brought nothing to him but lack of interest. But he didn't see why the last one had insisted he try dating a guy. Yet there he was, out on a date with Yokai, a new student to the school.

While nothing bad had happened on the date, it didn't feel any different really, he had found himself doing something he never would have planned. Instead of saying goodbye after the quick dinner, he had asked Yokai to join him near the water. But the boy reminded him of something, a feeling from someone he'd experienced before.

The last time he'd shared the spot near the water, it had been with Shirogane. Though he hadn't decided to share it, more the shadow wouldn't leave him alone. During those days he'd felt annoyed by Shirogane's shadowing of him and never leaving his side. He'd lashed out a number of times, fighting back against the man's claims of liking him but in the end, when he returned to the shadow world, Akira regretted never trying to say that he liked him in return. Part of him had wanted to, but he could never admit the words. Losing yet another had taken its toll and he still struggled to deal with the doubt and confusion.

A hand touching his own drew him back to the present. He looked over to see Yokai sitting closer with one of his hands resting on his shoulder and the other the one that had interrupted his train of thought.

Yokai moved back again. "Sorry. You looked sad so I thought..."

"It's okay. Maybe we should head back." Akira tried to shrug it off, feeling a strange buzz flicker across his hand.

They started walking, not saying anything for most of it. Not many people were out, it had already started to get late so that the lesser amount of light lead to the streetlights trying to illuminate small sections of the sidewalk even though daylight still made it easy enough to see. The park felt empty, trees moving to the slight wind.

"Want to see my spot? Since you shared me yours."

Akira stopped. "You have a spot already?"

"The spot isn't as great as yours, but yeah, I have a place I go to in order to get away and be alone." Yokai smiled at him. "It's nearby."

"Sure." Akira followed as the boy took him away from the path, walking through the bushes and trees, going through the park to the other side. Then they stopped and he watched him sit down on the ground near a group of short bushes. He sat down, not sure what else to do and waited.

Nothing happened at first, they both sat on the ground staring out across the park. However, when Akira was about to push up from the ground and suggest they end the night, Yokai surprised him. The boy pushed him to the ground.

Normally he would have fought back at once, Akira stared at the boy instead. "What?"

"Shh.. Stay here and do me a favor, don't look up until I tell you to, okay?" Yokai pushed away, moving across to the next open section of grass.

Despite the instruction, Akira looked up, annoyed at the strange situation until he saw something he hadn't expected to happen that night. A small group of kokuchi, shadow demons, approached the boy, who had seemed so defenseless against the other boys just the day before. He wanted to get up and fight but the sight of the blades that appeared in Yokai's hands stopped him.

Stunned, he watched the boy move with ease, taking out the shadows in quick, skilled motions. After they were destroyed, he approached. "Wow."

Yokai paled, looking around, his hands now empty. "That probably looked strange. It's hard to explain."

"I know what you were doing. I've fought kokuchi before."

"You could see them?"

"I can do more than see." Akira didn't know why he moved so close to the boy, but found himself leaning in and pressing his lips against his surprised date's for a second before making his offer. "Next time, you have to let me fight too."

MC blogfest

About the Blogfest:
1. pretend to be one of your main characters (have them write the post)
2. have them answer 3 questions (the questions are listed on the announcement post)
The questions are:
- What is your greatest fear?
- What is your biggest accomplishment?
- What is your biggest regret?
3. Post it and then go check out other entries.

As for my entry, I will leave that up to the characters. Yep, plural. I am giving Noah and Elijah the rest of the blog post. Noah is often posting over on The Character Cafe, though both blog there. He is from the adult mutant series. Elijah is an angel main character from the angel/demon novel.

My Entry:

Noah: Hello blog readers. Nice to see you again Elijah.

Elijah: Yeah, Hi. So... what are we doing on this one? It's not the same place we posted our conversation last time, is it?

Noah: No, this is Dawn's personal writing blog. The one we did the little secret sharing topic was on some group blog. Don't worry. I think this time we can be a little less personal.

Elijah: Good. Last time we talked it was a little too soul bearing. Don't think I can do it again this soon. Tonight we have questions?

Noah: *hands over a piece of paper* Yes, these are the questions. We'll both give answers, taking turns asking the questions. Do you want to ask first this time?

Elijah: *stares at the paper* I guess I can. Questions 1: What is your greatest fear?

Noah: Of course, that had to be the first question. Okay. Fine. I've talked about this a few times but one of my worst fears is to be used as a weapon.

Elijah: What do you mean?

Noah: The mutation I have is more powerful than most. Well, I was expected to have more power but no one really knows because I pretend I can't do all the tests. It's better that not many people know what I can actually do. Since I control energy, I can even create it and that could be used as a weapon to harm others. I really don't want to hurt anyone.

Elijah: Could it be that you fear hurting people?

Noah: Probably. I mean, I know people say that they don't intend or want to hurt anyone emotionally and I know I have hurt people before without meaning to but this is different. I could unintentionally kill someone, I don't even have to know them. If they are in the wrong place and I go off with my powers then bad things happen. I can't stand the idea of it. It would haunt me forever if something like that happened. Alright, your turn. What is your biggest accomplishment?

Elijah: I'm not sure. Let me think for a moment. *stares up at the ceiling* I guess becoming an angel could be a big accomplishment, considering all the things I did leading up to the whole turn my life around bit. I didn't have many good years before dying either. But I guess, what I would call my biggest accomplishment is holding on to myself. Despite what some people think, I still am true to who I am and how I was made. That means a lot to me and I'm glad I can still be myself for the most part even in the afterlife. Okay, so now we do the last question. How about we both answer this one?

Noah: Sure. What is the question?

Elijah: What is your biggest regret?

Noah: Now, that is a hard one. There are so many potential regrets. Guess it's my turn to think for a minute. What about you?

Elijah: Well, depends. Do we want it to be from the afterlife or back when I was alive?

Noah: How about one from each? And I'll keep thinking of one for my answer.

Elijah: Okay. Umm... I guess the one from my earlier life would have to be the thing we talked about on that other blog post. I did some stupid things because I assumed I was screwed either way so might as well enjoy myself and I put too much trust into strangers just to get that little bit of physical enjoyment. As for afterlife, that is a bit harder. We aren't supposed to do many of the things that I would normally regret. In some ways I regret not taking more chances and at least enjoying this second chance I've been given because boredom is not a friend to me.

Noah: Yeah, with boredom I get jumpy and start messing with lights if I'm alone. I guess it's my turn. My biggest regret is trying to shield myself too much and not going out before. I used my friend as an excuse to stay at home and avoid people. As much as I care about Dominic, I shouldn't have used his mutation as an excuse to be hidden, avoiding contact with others.

Elijah: That works. Well, nice chatting with you for another post. Good luck with your story.

Noah: Yeah, same with you. Maybe Dawn will get to our novels soon.

Dawn: I saw that! And yes, I'll be getting to both of your novels in July. Thanks for writing the post for this blogfest.

:-D

It is in the Muse-ic Blogfest

Oops. So, my entry is late. I completely forgot with everything going on that I signed up for this blogfest. I even did writing that night, just not to music. My bad.

Blogfest is hosted by Aleatoire over at blog link. Make sure to check out the link to see the other blogs that took part in the blogfest.

The basic idea of this blogfest is to write while listening to a single song, then post the scene along with what song it was that inspired it. Simple enough for people who don't forget.

I had a hard time picking a song and what to write, so this entry took me awhile. Finally, I picked Dirty Little Secret by All American Reject. The scene comes from the YA book I started writing in March. Though it's from Wyck's point of view, it might change when I put it in the actual story. I won't write the whole scene cause it would be way too long anyways. So, here is part of a scene for the book currently titled, Lighting the Wall.

My entry:

Following the rest of the class, Wyck slowly entered the book floor of the main building. The Governess called it the Library Wing, because of all the books, but it didn't compare much to the libraries that were mentioned in history and architecture books. Still, some books were better than none. While the other students in the Last Class grumbled about the book report assignment, Wyck looked at the walls of literature with excitement. It was his favorite assignment.

After a few minutes, he picked a wall of books that he hadn't visited much in the last year, slowly gazing over the books before his feet carried him closer. It took a few minutes of respected gazing before he let a hand move up to the middle shelf to graze the bindings of the slowly deteriorating books.

But he didn't pick a book right away off the shelf, like he used to do, because this time there was a different distraction. Curiosity snagged his attention and he gave in to the desire to check on the new boy, Sage. He wondered if Sage has ever seen a collection of books like what their village has. Or maybe he has seen bigger, maybe even a full building of books. Finally, Wyck looked over to Sage, who was by himself a few shelves down, standing in front of a stack of books. They were both alone since most of the books the others deemed as fun enough were located in a different room, so Wyck didn't feel bad staring as his attention went unnoticed.

At first, he thought Sage was feeling the books like he had but when his hands didn't move from the wall of books, he started to wonder. He looked a bit weird; his hands pressed to the wall, head leaning forward almost close enough for his shaggy hair to touch the edge of a shelf, and he wasn't moving.

Unable to think about any of the books near him, Wyck concentrated on Sage's hands. What could he be doing? The only thing behind the bookshelf was a dense wall, designed to keep those inside the building safe. Most of the buildings were strong, but the Main Building had a particularly tough exterior, and the wall behind where they stood was even thicker than usual because it was one of the few walls that touched a border. Course, not many remembered that and Wyck only knew because his father talked about the border constantly since he was the leader of the Border Patrol.

Then the though occurred to him. Could it be? It seemed impossible but as his eyes remained focus on the strange boy's hands, air rippled for a second, even causing the books that the hands rested on seemed to fluctuate for a brief second.

Wyck's eyes widened. Blinking, he couldn't believe what he had just seen. While not many would have seen anything different, and most wouldn't believe even if that had managed to catch the slight display, he knew what he saw. Sage manipulated the border. No one in the village had been able to do that since his father was a young boy. To have a new, young wall lighter would be a huge deal. It was even bigger than the new family's arrival. As soon as the Governess found out Sage's secret there would be all kinds of things that would change and Sage would have a permanent position in the village lighting the wall.

His excitement was short lived, however. The lessons from earlier classes and his own father came back to him about wall lighters. They never had time to do anything outside of work because the walls were flawed and required constant maintenance. In fact, the reason they died out in the first place was because they rarely lived past age 30 and never had time to find a mate, let alone procreate. If discovered, Sage would be used until he slowly perished from being overworked.

As Wyck continued to stare, his mind deep in thought, Sage looked up at him. His bright green eyes shown even harsher against the paleness that had taken over the tone of his face. He looked tired and yet wired at the same time. His gaze caught Wyck's and he immediately looked scared. His body slouched forward suddenly, causing his hands to grip the edge of the shelf.

Just then, the Governess walked out of the room where the other students must have been looking for books. She glanced down the hallway at them and started her usual slow, fake-smiling approach their way.

Wyck stepped closer to Sage and waiting until the Governess was close enough to hear him before acting. He stretched up, picking a book on plants off the shelf and offered it to Sage. "Here. I think you'll like this one."

"Thanks." Sage said, his voice quiet and a little raspy.

......


The song: