The Twisted Melodrama of TacomaSquall

Stolen from LJ user celisnebula

If you happen to be working on some creative writing project, fanfiction or NaNoWriMo or what have you, post exactly one sentence (or more) from each of your current work(s) in progress in your journal. It should probably be your favorite or most intriguing sentence so far, but what you choose is entirely your discretion. Mention the title (and genre)if you like, but don't mention anything else -- this is merely to whet the general appetite for your forthcoming work(s).

From Crash Depth – a science fiction original short story about a duel between atmospheric craft in the skies of Jupiter:

Dimartini looked at Commander Angel. "Bring her up at a speed no greater than that of the wind currents outside – we want to look like one of the islands of compressed matter that gets dragged along in one of Jove’s storms."

From The Frogmen of the Apocalypse – a Final Fantasy VII novella that expands upon the material presented in the source to held develop the Alternate Universe setting of the New World:

As the Sahugin applied the ointment, he was chanting.

"From balance to ruin, and back again.
I call the Sleeper that he may awaken after the Change.
The Change is passing, it is time to live again.
Frog no more, you are Sahugin.
Once-Cetra, once-Human, now once-Frog.
Forever Frogman, as the Apocalypse nears.
Waken from the Rite of Transformation."

From Gloom’s Fang – a fantasy short story set in an original world I plan on using for a series of novels about a bastard knight:

"Don't like it when your prey can fight back, do you?" Uriel gauged the reach of the 'fang's legs. The last thing he needed was it to trip him up and get close enough to bite him.

"risk..." the 'fang breathed. It tensed and then flowed like molten metal into the pit. Uriel found himself being attacked from four different directions at once, as the spider's front limbs darted at him.

The scarred man wove a web of steel that barely fended off most of the thrusts of the gloomfang. Uriel felt a burning pain from his side and another from his face where the monster's claws penetrated his defenses. He backed away from the spider-beast, until his back was to the pit's wall. He hoped he hadn't made a fatal miscalculation.

From Nightmares – a nearly-complete novel continuing the tale started in Final Fantasy VIII and expanded on in the short story, The Angel of Chaos (by Astarte), and the novella, Consequences (by Soul Hunter and I):

Selphie felt the world of the Guardians begin to fade from view, as Neptune glared at Diablos. As she left the realm of the Guardians, she heard Diablos speak.

Sooner or later, Mistress of Doom, you will be mine. I have marked you for all of eternity.

From Tangled Destinies – a Final Fantasy VIII novel that dares to ask what would have happened if the SeeDs had met partial success in their attempt to assassinate the Sorceress Edea in Deling City (the end of Disc One of the game):

Ultimecia sat on her throne as the processional continued. Deling City was now hers, and with Deling City came all of the might of Galbadia. Soon it would be time to move against the first stronghold of those accursed SeeDs. They had interfered in her plans once too often, and it was time to put paid to them, for all time.

She smiled at the tall form of her Knight, the failed SeeD cadet, Seifer Almasy. He thought that she loved him – the fool. Soon enough, the time would come to replace the romantic idiot with the man she now knew was destined to be her knight. Soon enough, that man’s rivalry with her current Knight would lead him to destroy Almasy, and then she would be free to offer him a place by her side.

From The Mark of Conquest (co-written by Soul Hunter) – a Final Fantasy X epic that junks the story of Final Fantasy X-2, taking the whole saga in a completely different direction, in a world without Aeons:

One of the Al Bhed, the proprietor of the Trading Post near Lake Macalania, forgot she was amongst outsiders, as she asked, "Frana tet drao lusa vnus?" Panic was strong in her voice.

Before Cid could chide her for forgetting to ask her question in the Al Bhed tongue, his daughter replied. "Marya, they came from the Calm Lands."

Tromell scoffed at that assertion. "The Calm Lands? Surely you joke. There are no fiends that powerful to be found in the plains where Sin was battled so many times before."

"Rikku is not joking," Yuna calmly stated. "The two creatures that attacked Luca and Besaid are Creations, fiends bred for combat."

"Impossible! Everyone knows that fiends are mules." Tromell sneered. "I think this is all a plot -"

The older Guado’s words were cut off by the sound of the World Champion’s impact into the rear wall of the Council Hall. The hard granite of the edifice cracked under the force of Wakka’s throw, and the blitzer’s weapon rebounded back into his hands.

"Tromell, when you insult me, I could care less, yah?" The blitzer’s voice carried an edge of anger. "But you are comin’ close to sayin’ that two of my best friends - people who risked their lives to save Spira while you blindly followed Maester Seymour - are liars."

Tromell started to temporize. "Nay, Councillor Wakka -"

Wakka cut him off. "I don’t like people callin’ Yuna and Rikku liars." His voice dropped an octave. In a deep growl he continued, "In fact I tend to think that such people are just as bad as -"

Yuna interrupted. "Wakka - the Councillor from Guadosalam is just stating his opinion. It is his right to speak freely in this assemblage, without fear of repercussions." The High Summoner turned away from her friend and faced Tromell. "It is clear to me that you have never visited the Monster Arena in the Calm Lands."

"If you had, you would realize that these fiends are not being bred by normal means. They are organisms that are the result of magical splicing of more than one fiend - in a very real way, they are a mixture of many fiends." Yuna looked to the Black Mage who had protected her since the beginning of her pilgrimage in Besaid. "Lulu can explain things better than I can."

Lulu bowed her head slightly to Yuna, and glided effortlessly forward. Some of the Councillors had to strain to hear her husky voice. "The Creations are magically created monsters. Some are brought into being by taking samples of flesh from all of the fiends that live in a region, while others are a mixture of all of the species that make up a specific family of fiends."

"The two Creations that have attacked settlements in recent days are both examples of this latter group - what the Arena Master called Species Creations. The blue-shelled Tanket is related to the various species of Mafdets, most commonly found in the Macalania Woods. The golden-plumaged avian is the Pteryx - the vastly-superior relative of the common Condors of Besaid Island and the Alcyones of the Sanubia Desert."

"It is worrisome that these fiends have gained their freedom. Arena Master Banner swore that he would keep the fruits of his labors safely restrained, so as to not harm Spira’s general populace." Lulu frowned in thought.

From Twilight’s Opening, the first original novel in a series about a rock musician-turned-vampire who becomes enmeshed in the struggles of the two most powerful vampires in existence:

Winter rolled into spring, and Ryan started working as a courier for a local delivery company. The pay was not great, but it kept him fed, clothed, and with a roof over his head.

One morning in March, he got up early for work. When he stepped outside to climb onto his motorcycle, a blue Kawasaki Ninja, he was greeted by the sight of the sun rising over Mount Rainier. The sun shone a brilliant orange-gold that spread to the tattered strips of clouds that stretched across the sky. The sky was a stunning azure, with the cirrus clouds adding the faintest tinges of white to the panorama.

Ryan paused, and drank in the sight. It was the first time he had seen a sunrise since arriving in Tacoma. He saw the Olympian majesty of the mountain, which dominated the eastern skyline, and glimpsed it as it was changing from the shadowy silhouette of the pre-dawn to its monolithic splendor in broad daylight.

He was looking across Commencement Bay, the industrial outlet of the Port of Tacoma. The dawn’s light converted the bay from a polluted, brackish inlet into a shimmering reflection of the sky above it. The movement of the water made the sky’s reflection dance and weave with every soft breath of wind. A handful of ships were crossing the bay, cutting furrows across the image of the sky above as they passed, and sending further ripples in the wake of their passage.

Steam rose from the dozens of smokestacks of the industrial center. As it ascended, the steam thinned out and became a filmy haze that occupied the layer of sky immediately above the hilly city, and especially the Port area. The filmy haze was a pale orange that was barely noticeable.

Ryan was hard-pressed to think of any sunrise that was more striking. He finally understood what Laura had been referring to when he was moving in. It was like God was making up for all of the rain.

What was the first movie you remember seeing in a movie theater? 
Question submitted by mainmor.

The first one I recall seeing in a movie theater (as opposed to a drive-in) was Star Wars.  I know I saw Jaws and The Land That Time Forgot in the drive-in before then...

*I know, it is not quite as effective as the intro to Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare, but what can one do?  After all, while some aspects of my life are nightmarish to some extent, others are pretty good, all in all.*

I welcome you to my Vox journal, which will be a place, in conjunction with my LJ blog, found at http://dark_tsquall.livejournal.com, for me to post.  For the most part, until I have a developed audience here, only my general posts on LJ will be crossposted here, but in time, I may look at establishing existing or even new filtered groups in this journal.

What can you expect here?

Stories of events taking place in my life.  Samples of my writing, as I continue to work on it - honing what currently is merely a hobby into something more.  Lyrics from songs that strike me as particularly relevant.  Glipmses of the real-world that are hard enough for me to deal with alone, that I post here to get the feelings out and try to deal with them.  Angst - because my life situation is full of it.  Essays about topics that strike my interest.

What you won't see?

Quizzes (excluding the QotD) or memes.  Picture posts (at this point).  My erotica (unless I create a filtered group for it).  Anything I plan in submitting in its current form for publishing.  Overly political commentary (I have my views, just as you do yours, but I don't expect that my beliefs are the only way to see things - I love diversity...).