Friday, July 11, 2014

Friends and Enemies // Chapter Thirty One // Plans of Disguise

 
Excerpt from Willow's Journal
Betromith blew up at me today. He thinks I'm getting tight with Emmeth for some nefarious purpose. First of all, I am simply trying to help this planet, and its ruler, who happens to be the prince. Grief, I'm glad D isn't here, she'd be teasing me about it until I'd threaten to take away her wifi. I don't know what Betromith's stupid problem is. Does he think I'm evil or something? Is he trying to cover something up? I hope Hyaline doesn't actually like this jerk. And it really was Emmeth's idea about the him-and-Asharlah-getting-captured-part. I didn't think it'd work (and it still might not) but only time will tell. Now I have to go to Adira's with Kadesh to work out the next part of the plan. I need a ball dress and mask.
Willow
   Willow shook out the pen and dunked it back into its ink bottle. Closing the leather cover of her journal, she tucked in into her satchel and slung the strap over her shoulder. Checking her reflection in the mirror, she paused to give herself a once-over. Her waist-length dark chocolate-colored hair had been pulled back at the top with a silver clasp, and flowed freely around her shoulders. Her navy blue tunic-dress was mid-calf length, and her long sleeves were fitted to the wrist. Her black leggings were tucked into knee-length black lace-up boots. I look like a grownup, she mused, turning slightly on her heel to see how the dress fell. I wonder if I've changed much...
   Knock knock. Kadesh stuck his head in. "Ahem, your ladyship. You carriage awaits," he teased.
   Willow threw him a look, but a small smile played at her lips. "Like you would get a carriage for me."
   He shrugged. "It would be more pleasant for me as well. Now come along."
   Bréda appeared with a bundle of clothes. "Betro wants me to go stay with Lady Adira until it is more safe here," she explained, taking Willow's hand.
   Willow grinned slightly. "I'm sure Adira will love to have you stay with her, Bré. What about Brédin, though?"
   Bréda shrugged. "Betro says that he can stay. He thinks that 'cause I'm a girl I should be somewhere safe."
   Willow nodded. "That's probably for the best...." she murmured.

   "Welcome, welcome!" Adira greeted the trio as she opened the back door of her home.
   "Thank you for helping us, Aunt Adira." Kadesh clasped his aunt's hand in gratitude.
   Bréda curtsied. "Lady Adira," she acknowledged politely.
   Willow gave her a little push forwards. "Betromith wanted to know if it would be alright for Bréda to stay with you until it is safer in Essgarothe."
   Adira smiled and nodded. "Of course it is!" She knelt down to Bréda's height. "All of my children have grown and gone, and I would love to have a young girl to be my company."
   The little girl smiled, and Adira took her hand and led her to a spare bedroom to unpack. Than leaving her in the care of a servant, she reappeared and led the duo to the sunny kitchen.
   "Now, I received your letter, Kadesh, and have laid out some masks and gowns in the upstairs dressing room. Would you two like to go through them now?" she asked.
   "Yes, please," Kadesh agreed, with a nod from Willow. Once Adira showed them the costumes, Willow - who hadn't really thought that she would have a wide selection - was speechless. Glittering and shimmering gowns, masks, hair pieces, tunics, leggings, trousers and anything else you could think of were laid out neatly in a large, airy room.
   Almost afraid to speak, Willow touched a delicate dress gently to make sure it was real. "Wow," she breathed.
   Adira laughed at her speechlessness. "Go on," she encouraged, smiling broadly.
   It seemed to take hours as Willow chose a dress and mask, though it was only about twenty minutes. Kadesh had a costume of his own already, but had to bring some extras along for the others.
   After making their selections, they joined Adira and Bréda for dinner.
   "Those are lovely gowns," Willow commented, taking a bite of fried potatoes.
   "I do not mean to pry, but you were not very forthcoming in your letter. Why do you need costumes?" Adira questioned.
   Willow and Kadesh exchanged a glance. "Well..." Willow began. "You see, because Hyaline is engaged to Kedemeth, I wrote a letter to Tajoreth to suggest that they hold a masquerade ball to celebrate their coming marriage."
   Kadesh continued. "So we will be there, in masks, at the ball. We need to get a look at the king's library, but there is no other way besides this one."
   Adira lifted her eyebrows. "Quite a daring plan. Who hatched it?"
   Willow shrugged. "The prince. And me a little. I suggested the "masks" part."
   Adira nodded. "I pray that the Author will keep you safe and guide your feet, and your plan."

  
   "Ready to leave?" Kadesh asked the next day after breakfast.
   Willow nodded, then knelt down to hug Bréda. "Be brave, Bré."
   The little girl nodded sadly, and clung to her friend. "Must you go now?" she whimpered.
   Willow patted her head. "We still have to get this message to Tajoreth today, but I'm sure Betromith will bring Brédin to come visit you," she assured her.
   "Alright," Bréda agreed with a sigh, letting go of Willow's dress. She waved as the duo mounted their horses and trotted away. She was touched as they both turned in the saddle to wave back at her, then disappeared into the forest.
   What she didn't see was a darkly dressed figure crouched in the bushes, watching the entire scene. An evil grin twitched onto his ugly face, and he slunk away into the undergrowth of the forest to deliver his message.



Sorry that was a bit short, I didn't really start on it for a while, and we had stuff we were doing.
Independence Day went well. A bit boring, but no one blew up. Little Dog was a bit scared.
By the way, Bréda's name is pronounced Brayda because of the little French-like é. It makes the e sound an ay sound instead.
 Ammie and Billie are still at camp, working.
D and I are hard at work at our cosplays and fanarts, check out our new website here.
I will soon be changing the profile pictures on this blog.
Sarah awarded D and I the Sunshine Award on her blog,
so we'll be working on that and posting it soon :) Thanks, Sarah!
 Aaanndd that's all.
Can't wait for chapter thirty two!

Be a friend, not an Enemy,

Willow

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

The Watchmen Files // The Origins of the Watchmen Files // File One

Good morning, everyone!

Darrion here!

   Now a while ago I wrote up a little post about the Watchmen Files before it was thought up to the end where it was completed. Since I'm experiencing the symptoms of writer's block, I thought it would be nice to have this backstory to the story for you guys to read.
   Oh, and don't forget to check out our new website here if you missed the last post about it!

Here it is! The Origins Watchmen Files, File One.



   Almost a year ago, there were no Krugers, no Bartons, and no Watchmen. There was just a simple thought of an (almost) teenaged me.
   That thought came from the notion that Willow and I had only made up fantasy genre stories. We had the Star Wars fan fiction, the Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and other stories, but nothing in our time or world. I found that curious and wondered why we didn't have one.
   With that in mind, I was going through my magazine of Rolling Stone Collectors Edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. On page twenty-four there was a picture of Thorin staring off into the near distance, looking majestic as always, and on page twenty-six, there was a picture of Fili and Kili. Kili is, of course, trying (and failing) to replicate his uncle with a mysterious sort of look, though it came off as stalkish, he still looked much like his uncle in that instance.
   And then it struck me. "Hey, these two look a lot like each other! They could even be the father and son I was thinking about using in that modern story..." And so they were cast! Unbeknownst to me, they really didn't look much alike at all and I would later sort-of-regret my casting choices. But that's who they became, and I never changed that.
   The father/son team had to have a name and a purpose, of course. I had been thinking about super power like abilities, but I didn't want to make it cheesy and comic-bookish. So I turned to one of my favorite movies, Captain America: The First Avenger. I found out that Richard Armitage, who played Thorin in The Hobbit, also played a character named Heinz Kruger, who was a Hydra agent in the first Captain America movie. Which of course called for another family movie night in which I was particularly eager to watch my cast member in another film.
   The movie itself generated lots of ideas for me. What if I grew the story off of it? With Hydra agents and everything? That would mean S.H.I.E.L.D., but I wasn't very interested in using them. I wanted something new, something that I made up myself. That called for another group, someone else who was also protecting the world from the forces of Hydra.
   I came up with some names, one was 'The Protectors' (nagh, not original enough), another was 'The Gate Keepers' (much better! I like), and the last was 'The Watchers' (that one was growing on me, but it was too much like other peoples books so I added another shortly), or 'The Watchmen'.
   Then I did a quick look up on Pinterest of Aidan Turner, the yet unnamed character and found a few pictures that were completely fine and decent (later I would discover what exactly he has been in and would totally freak in a negative sense). But not having a Pinterest board to pin it to and knowing that it would get lost in my bookmarks, I made the mistake of downloading it onto our computer and into Willow's picture file (since we shared one), thinking that she wouldn't ever find it (ugh, the stupidity).
   Well, later I went through baby names and found the name Mason. I liked it very much, and Mr. Turner looked like he would fit it fine, so I dubbed him Mason Kruger, without thinking about the fact that Mason isn't a particularly German name.
   And then Willow went looking through old picture files. I mean, who does that anymore? She called me over to the computer which is in our living room in a suspicious and accusing tone of voice. I was in trouble. She tapped her foot and asked me why I had a picture of a guy (and of Aidan Turner, more specifically). I confessed. You see, my plan was to develop the story on my own and tell her about it when it was ready, which wasn't right then. But that's not how it went. After that, it was okay. She didn't think I was being creepy (which is correct), so she didn't bug me much.
   Knowing that in every story there had to be a supporting character, I found Dean O'Gorman, who played Fili, Kili's older brother in the Hobbit. Since they were in may of the same shots together, he was cast in the supporting roll. Later I had three names which I could use that I was debating between, Chad, Chris, and Conner. It was hard, but I ended up using Conner, and the last name McKee was added later when I asked my mom about Irish and Scottish last names. We had the last name McKee a while ago on her side, so that was a nice thought. Conner McKee it was.
   Doctor Kruger's name didn't come for a while, since I didn't like many German names at the time. I had determined that the family was German and that they were descended from Heinz Kruger, therefor his last name was Kruger and he had to have a German name, unlike Mason who was more American.
   Ava came about kind of half-heartedly, as an add-on of sorts. An adorable little kid was always a must in any book, right? But she couldn't be too closely related to them, she had light brown hair, not so dark like theirs, and I wanted Mason to be an only child. So she became his four year old (which I later changed to six) cousin who was being taken care of by my protagonist, Mason.
   Mason's situation with his parents being divorced, living on his own, taking care of Ava, and having a Super Soldier Serum in his blood came later too, but eventually it was generally in order.
   I finally picked a name for the group, calling them 'The Watchmen' since Willow wanted to use the 'Gate Keepers' for something else. I named the soon to become series, and 'The Watchmen Files' was born!
   Then I finally named Dr. Kruger. After going through a few German baby and most popular names with no avail, I found one that I could live with from a book. Doctor Hans Kruger was established (the middle name Jürgen would be added later, though I had no idea how to pronounce it, it just looked really cool).
   Everything was going pretty swell. But then I tried to start.
   Writing it was a nightmare! I couldn't get it right. Not like the wording, but I didn't care about him really. And if I was going to write this, care was the one thing that I needed. So there he was, getting fired and attacked by Hydra and I didn't really feel for him.
   That ended quickly. I quit, and just started a board on Pinterest (which was called A Modern Story at the time and was later changed to The Watchmen Files) where I could accumulate ideas to use later. My friend in real life, Ammelia G., commented and asked about my story and we talked it over, which was helpful, but not enough to break my writer's block.
   I pinned and soon caught the attention of a certain pinner who I didn't even know at the time: Megan Jane. Actually, I'm pretty sure it was the first time that she commented when she asked about my story. She was super nice about wanting to read up on my story, and I had actually been hoping that no one would notice and ask about it, because it wasn't ready at the time. But she seemed interested in it, so we conversed and I checked out her boards and found she had a similar story. I encouraged her to make a blog (and she did!), later to publish the finished project on paper.
   It got me all interested in blogging and Willow let me back onto her story blog, The Call, which was previously called 'Many are Called but Few are Chosen'.
   I started a personal blog and everything was fine. Someone else commented and asked about the story, and I soon came out of my shell and brought up the empty draft on the computer.
   Again, nothing seemed to work. I had added two characters, Jason Gray and Warren Jones (the latter of whom I would soon exterminate from the first file but insert into a later one), but I couldn't start it right. Then I decided to move it back from the moment Mason got fired to that morning. Poof! Writer's block gone! Adorable Ava started us off and it all came naturally after that.
   I had gotten to about the fifth chapter and Willow encouraged me to put it on the blog. I decided to commit to this thing and do exactly that.
   So on Tuesday night, September tenth, 2013, I did an introduction post, character profiles, the back of the book and such. Then I posted the first chapter of The Watchmen Files: File One.
   Six comments (and another later on) was huge for me! It was so cool how people liked it, even though it was different.
   I charged on from there, writing a full book of twenty-four chapters, an epilogue and an extra add on which I still don't completely know what is! It took me eight months and nineteen days, but on May 28th (that day was a Wednesday, unlike the first chapter which was posted on a Tuesday), 2014, The Watchmen Files: File One was completed.
   It is the first real book I have ever written from the beginning to the end, and also the first one finished on our blog, The Call.
   I did have help, of course. Willow read over the chapters before I posted them, and readers gave me their opinions on both the blog and Pinterest.
   Without the readers, this would have never happened! Thank you guys so much for all of your support through the good and not so great times, it's been great! I'm glad I could entertain you and brighten your days a little with this story.
   I also learned some things from this little adventure. I dove deeper into my faith, and learned lots about the fictional world of Marvel.
   I thank God for giving me the experience and life that I have now. I certainly struggled in the beginning, and had a hard time deciding to actually write, but it eventually worked itself out.
   By the end of the book, the characters became very real to me. Sometimes (scratch that, all of the time), I wish they were real. If I saw Mason on the street, without a word, I would go up to him and give him a hug. Not romantically, but like a hug you would give to a close friend. Because that's sort of what he is, really. A friend. A made up one, sure, but that's what he is to me. And it saddens me to know that someday I'll forget about him, about this story. He'll fade away into obscurity, out of memory.
   But today, they're here. And for now, I'll keep the memories associated with this book close to my heart and say thanks to God for them.
   I hope all of my readers will remember these times fondly as I do.


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

to

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

 
 
Always Watching,
Darrion

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Website // The Girls Who Time Forgot // Cosplay + Fanart

Hey everybody!

Happy Independence Day! Totally forgot to tell you guys that last post...

Anyway, yeah, this is D, here to announce the website!

   If you haven't heard all about the site already, I will inform (and re-inform) you :) Willow and I are doing a Weebly website for cosplay/fanart. Short version, cosplay is dressing up as a character from a movie/book/videogame/comic/actors/lots-of-things. Fanart is fans making art of everything already listed.

   Willow will be doing most of the cosplay, while I'll be doing the fanart. She's done Clara from Doctor Who, and has a list of other things she'd like to do someday. I've already drawn a couple (mostly Hobbit or Doctor Who related), and am sure to continue to add new things.

    We also have a blog to go along with it, so that you don't have to keep going through the entire things to find what's new. We'll make posts as we add new things.

   As you may have already noticed, we've never posted photos of ourselves on the blog. Well, that's about to change.

Introducing...

(drum roll please)

Willow! (though she recently got her hair chopped lots shorter, so this picture is a tiny bit out-dated)


And me (Darrion)!

Oh, Dalek. Um, I don't really like getting my picture taken so much anymore (though I use to love it), so I can't seem to find one of me smiling... hold on, lemme look a little more... ah, here we go!


Yeah, I'm not really smiling... but hey, a picture's a picture! Mom took this while I wasn't looking on the 4th.

Willow's and my hair color is not black, btw. It is very dark brown. Our dad has black hair, if you were to compare it, you could tell.

   Anywho, yep, that's us! Finally, it's our faces! Ammelia and Billie also have their pictures on the website, too.

And the cutting of the red tape... here it is, the link (and name) of our site!

The Girls Who Time Forgot


   That is the title of our website. The link is simple: thegirlswhotimeforgot.weebly.com

   Weebly is like a free website, you just have to say weebly when you search for it.

   Now Willow came up with the name before we started the site, and when she searched it on the internet, she found that there is another girl that time forgot (who we apologize to if she thinks we took her name which we did not). But I'm sure it'll be fine. Just don't get us mixed up ;)

   So here's the link to the website... thegirlswhotimeforgot.weebly.com
   And the link to the blog... the-girls-who-time-forgot.blogspot.com

Thank you so much for the support from you guys, from Pinterest to books to blogs to websites! You're the best readers/followers and we couldn't do it without you! We hope you enjoy the site and are inspired to do your own cosplay/fanart. Thanks so much!

Signing off,

Darrion and Willow