W/S: ....ERROR 404

No Writing Supernaturals this week either. I'm just to out of it to be inspired. sadface,,,
I'm taking  vacation from blogging for a while to get my head together.
Smooches!

W/S: Pinnochio

This week I's like to talk about Transmogrification, which is a really cool way of saying shapeshifting. The thing about transmogrification is that it most often refers to the act of changing something else's shape and not your own shape.

Now it's one thing to turn a prince into a frog, or a princess into a swan, but it's something else entirely to change a puppet into a boy.

I find the idea of changing something animate into something inanimate or vice versa to be rather facinating and disturbing.

Using the above example:

While the blue fairy is not directly held responsible for Pinocchio's creation she does later take responsibility for his becoming a "real boy".  My question would be, "WTF? Are you some kinda sadist?"
Some of you may be surprised by that response, but I'd ask that you take a closer look at the practicalities of what happened. Pinocchio was an animated block of wood. He'd never grow old, he'd never need to eat, breath, use the bathroom, or feel pain. In fact prior to his "change" he would never have experienced any of those things, nor have any way to reference what they even meant in a any real way (except possibly while he was donkey, one of the worst experiences of his existence up till that point).

I see stories of people who are deaf who get cocular implants. People who've never experienced sound in a way hearing people do who are shown on television "hearing" their families voices for the first time. IT sounds like it'd be an amazing experience, and i'm sure it is, but what people don't seem to get is that just because you can sudden;y hear doesn't mean you now how to listen. Those thing being said to the newly hearing deaf person don't make sense, their just sounds, like hearing a dog barking perhaps, or birds calls. You have to learn how to equate sound with language to find meaning in what you hear. How are they to know that something they hear isn't something else. Like snoring isn't a car alarm? There isn't a way until after they've experienced them both, and i'm sure it's a very difficult process.
While i won't equate Pinocchio's story with that of the deaf community I will ask if as a human being reading this, Would you advocate aging or the feeling of pain on a person who didn't experience them?
There are people out ther who don't feel pain and life is very difficult for them, perhaps would even be easier on them if they did, but it's not something to be done lightly and i'm sure even they would recognize the difficulties they'd experience waking up one day and suddenly having to deal with it.

Wondering on the Human Process have been going for years and of pain and mortality two things have been proven to be possible.
Pondering you mortality can drive you insane, and Pain can drive you insane. Literaly. I'm not joking pain can break peoples minds, as can fear of eventual death.

I wouldn't wish these things on a puppet, let alone a puppet who becomes a child. Shame on that fairy, and shame on Gipetto in the first place for not raising a better puppet.
 

W/S: Alien Invaders!!

This weeks post, while still applicable to Supernaturals, is most often applied to science fiction. Still it's an interesting view of what people think and what's likely in reality.

Let's start with the Aliens themselves.
Aliens are living (whether by our standards or not) or non-living (think robots) that are not native to our planet.
Honestly there are any multitude of possibilities when it come to what aliens could exist.
The place where a problem arrises is what people and writers think the earth having contact with aliens would entail.

Here's an easy one:

Humans being kidnapped by aliens and experimented on.

The problem with this idea is that Aliens who have enough intelligence to "Experiment" on people also have no reason to do so. The fact that they would have to be advanced enough to go unnoticed by modern technology also means that they could also have easy enough access to the internet and pretty much any data that's been collected over the course of human history. we've done more than enough experimintation on ourselves, and continue to do so to this day, to make extra expermintation unnessecary from a scientific standpoint.
Unless the experiments are testing something which would be beyond our current level of understanding, which given their advanced nature would be a possibility.

The Aliens are gonna invade. Mindless monsters, intent on eating everyone, and laying eggs inside us!!

OH NOESSSS!!!
There's only two ways this would be possible and they both make the chances of them happening highly problamatic and non-viable. In order for non sentient creatures to end up on our planet they'd need to either be:
 1) transported via spacial projectile, the largest of which would be a planet sized, well, planet. we'd see that coming, and the fact that it'd have to crash into us in order to deposit the aliens means we'd all probably die upfront anyways.
2)The second is to arrive via unnoticeable means, that means no giant asteroids or anything. Assuming that they can arrive unnoticed without destroying themselves or our planet the problem would be that our planet while being capable of supporting a wide variety of life, is not necessarily capable of supporting life that can travel through space or originates on another planet.
For example there's atmospheric pressure. There are creatures who live in the depths of our planets oceans that literally explode when the atmospheric pressure is reduced. The same is true of the opposite, people who attempt to travel to those depths can be crushed by the pressure.
Another example would be our atmosphere which for certain forms of life is actually toxic. In theory, a position could be taken that states that earth atmosphere is toxic to fish. That in a way would be true.

There are two other unlikely possibilities. One would be that intelligent aliens put creatures into space and sent them to a planet capable of sustaining them. However it seems unlikely that they would do so without having investigated the planet, due tot he fact that they'd want to avoid the above scenerio...
The other possibility is that intelligent creature sent hostile creatures adapted to destroy us. In which case we'd be screwed, anyways. This however would most likely be a crime for any intellectually advanced species. So the likely hood of that happening is probably the same as that of a serial killer killing off all whales.

Aliens are coming to enslave us, take our planet for themselves!

The problem with this is the same as above, what guarantees or planet would be hospitable? nothing that's what. Also chances are creatures intelligent enough to travel to our planet and want to take it over, are also smart enough to have robots for that shit.
It's also worth mentioning that in the event robots are sent to take over our planet, there is a chance we could win, but that'd probably be very unlikely since an race that would send robots ahead of them to take over the planet would probably just fuck with our atmosphere and kill us all.
which brings me to the next reason, Intelligent creature would not engage in discussion or combat with humans if the wanted the planet. They'd just bombard us from afar with missiles or change our atmosphere or introduce a plague or something.

We're just an experiment of our overlord masters.

IF this is the case, it doesn't really matter. We're either screwed or life will continue as it is. That's not that different from the way the world is now.

In closing the simple fact of the matter is that the chances of non-sentient aliens arriving and killing us all is probably non-existent. The chances of Sentient aliens arriving and killing us all or working with robots or non-sentient aliens to kill us all has only a slightly high chance. And finally sentient aliens would most likely be more advanced than we are, have an easy time learning all about us without taking "samples", and would probably contact us for peaceful talks, or not contact us at all.

Any scientist will tell you that interacting with the subjects skews the data.
Smooches.

W/S: Creation.

For me writing is about creating, and writing supernatural/paranormal fiction is about creating something that by it's very definition has never been seen before.

So in a way my writing is equatable to my children.

I create and then nuture them to the point at which they are ready to go out into the wold.
I have hopes for them even when i nolonger have an active hand in their shaping.
I hope they grow old and loved by the people who know them.
And if they ever run into slash writers I hope they have lots and lots of smexysmex time. ^_^

But i think that writing can also be a group affair too big for one individual to accomplish easily. while many of us online and in other mediums write our books solo, we do not live in a vaccum. we talk to our friends, our family, our editors, our publishers, our teachers, our fellow authors, librarians, we interview character source material like scientists or police officers. we are by definition recieving help with our stories thought we are maintaing our own singular vision in most cases.

The point of this is to aknowledge within ourselves as writers that writing is more then the work we call the finished product. It comes from us, from our desires and needs. And while it's might be nice in theory, if something that tied to who we are was easy to accomplish and didn't have any other affect on our lives, sadley that isn't the case.

Treat your stories right, and treat yourself right. Good luck!

W/S: Vampires

This weeks "Writing Supernaturals" post is brought to you by esteemed author Katica Locke, who can be located a http://katicalocke.wordpress.com/  .

On Ms. Locke's website she has a number of articles which provide details into her writing process and views on the types of character she uses in her writing.

Below I've reposted with her permission her article on Vampires in it's entirety. Ms. Lock says:

I was brainstorming the other day, working on a plot for my next Suburban Fantasy story, and I realized I hadn’t written an article on vampires yet. I have been a vampire fan for many years–so long ago that I can’t remember what started my fascination. I do remember chasing my little sister around the house as a child, the broken tines from a white plastic fork held tight between my upper lip and gums like fangs. Yes, I was a strange child. I haven’t changed much.
I grew up in the era of romantic vamps, the dark, brooding sort who lament their lost mortality and strive to atone for their crimes, the kind that can be dangerous, but fight against their baser instincts and thirst for blood. That’s the kind of vampire I like to write about.
In my universe, being turned into a vampire is a deliberate act that takes three days to complete. The act of biting a mortal does not turn them into a vampire. The vampire-to-be must either be willing, or held captive. The first step is to have a significant amount of blood removed and replaced with vampire blood. This works best through a transfusion. Within the first twelve hours of the first transfusion, subsequent transfusions may take place, which help speed the process and may be necessary if the vampire donor is young.
After the blood is transfused, the vampire-to-be must remain out of direct sunlight for sixty to eighty hours, depending on the potency of the vampire blood. Exposure to sunlight, for as little as a few minutes, halts the transformation progress. If exposed during the first day, the vampire-to-be remains mortal and can make another attempt to be turned at a later date.
If exposed during the second or third day, the vampire-to-be is stuck as a ghoul and cannot ever complete the change into a vampire. Ghouls are halfway between mortal and vampire–they live longer, are stronger and faster, hear, see, and smell better, are sensitive to sunlight and heat, and crave blood. The will eventually die of old age, but sunlight will not kill them and do not need to feed exclusively on blood to survive.
After the third day, the mortal has become a vampire, though it can take up to a week for their fangs to grow in and sunlight to become fatal. During this transitional period, they are very vulnerable, at the mercy of a terrible thirst for blood, but not yet strong enough to protect themselves. Most die before having been a vampire for fifty years–more than half of those within the first few months.
Vampires do not technically feed on blood. Their internal organs are repurposed, their digestive system transforming into a storage and distribution center. Blood is held in the stomach until needed, then moved into the intestines, where connective blood vessels have attached, allowing the blood to be sent where needed.
Since a vampire’s heart ceases to beat within a few days of being turned, the circulatory system is no longer needed. Veins, arteries, blood vessels, and capillaries are rerouted into one-way streets, taking blood out to the tissue that needs it. As blood is consumed by tissue, it creates negative pressure, drawing more blood to fill the space. Vampire tissue is so efficient at consuming blood that it produces very little waste product. What is produced cannot be removed in the normal, mortal fashion since the system is no longer circulatory. The waste is simply pushed to the surface and exuded in minute amounts through the pores as a slightly waxy substance, not unlike mortal sweat. This waste is virtually undetectable unless the vampire has poor personal hygiene, in which case it builds up on the skin and their clothes, giving them a musty smell that has long been associated with the undead in folklore.
Speaking of myth and folklore, I ran into an interesting dilemma when I had to choose which parts of the vampire legends to keep and which to disregard, and come up with good reasons for both. I decided the religious aspects had to go since few of my books take place on Earth, and it would seem strange for a vampire who had never heard of Christianity to be repelled by crosses and holy water. Also, it insinuated that vampires are inherently evil, which was something I wanted to avoid.
I changed garlic from vampire repellant to simply repugnant due to its strong odor and a vampire’s keen sense of smell. I didn’t see a use for the OCD behavior of needing to untie knots or pick up and count small items that had spilled, like seeds or rice, except as comic relief. In a truly life or death situation, it would seem silly.
My vampires do have trouble crossing moving water, and they can’t touch hawthorn or garnet, though those particular traits haven’t made an appearance in any book yet. Their bodies are cold, right around room temperature, since all metabolic functions have ceased. Heat degrades vampire tissue, so the colder they can stay, the less blood they need to drink. They don’t have reflections, nor do they show up on film or in digital photographs, however, they are not simply absent from the picture, they appear as a blur. In mirrors, they are like a mirage, a hazy, indistinct form seen out of the corner of the eye, but gone when looked at directly. They will die if exposed to the sun, the light burning exposed skin, the heat and UV radiation damaging the tissue until all the blood inside them is used up and their tissue cannibalizes itself trying to repair the damage being done.
They are adapted to feeding on humans, with small, slender fangs that pierce the skin and arteries without tearing out huge chunks of flesh. They are inconspicuous predators, often trying to blend in with their prey. Their saliva contains pain-killing enzymes which act quickly on open wounds. The act of drinking is often pleasurable and even erotic to the one being drunk from–a unique way to subdue a frightened or struggling victim–though not everyone responds this way. Some mortals take no pleasure from it, while others are intensely sensitive to it. Most find that the act becomes more pleasurable with each subsequent bite.
Now, as far them being evil or soulless, I prefer to let my characters be individuals. A kind mortal is going to become a kind vampire (with some understandable issues about his thirst for blood). An arrogant mortal is going to become an arrogant vampire (perhaps with new narcissistic tendencies due to new-found eternal youth). A timid mortal is going to become a timid vampire (or maybe not–maybe his new strength and urge to kill will give him the push he’s been waiting for to tip him over the edge and he goes on a killing spree). I like having the option to develop the characters. Vampire = monster doesn’t leave a lot of room for character development.
Picking a favorite vampire from among my characters is easy–Lucifer, the vampire stallion. He’s every bit the vicious predator, but with almost human intelligence. You can read about him in The Devil’s Hunt and Broken Wings, both free on FictionPress, and in Magebound, available through Amazon.com and other online book retailers.
Second favorite is Julian Marcellos. He’s dark and sexy, with decades of practice in the art of seduction, but still young enough to be insecure about his vampirism. I’m a sucker for that kind of vulnerability in a character; makes me want to huggle them. You can read about Julian in A Crash-course in Kinsa-sitting here on the website, and in the Suburban Fantasy series, which can be purchased from Shadowfire Press.
As far as vampire villains go, I actually have a couple. In Sparkles & Strawberries, Ezarali and Zarik must infiltrate an S&M club run by a sadistic vampire, and in Empathetic Magic (currently unreleased) the heroes must return a lost necklace to Lord Raethen, a crazed teenaged vampire. Of course, there is hope of redemption for Lord Raethen, because I cannot seem to create unredeemable villains.
That’s everything I can think of. I hope you enjoyed reading this article and if you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask!

I appreciate how Ms. Locke hasn't adhered to common stereotypes when writing her version of the Vampire mythology. She's put a lot of thought into what she wants these characters to be like as well as realizing that the world she has placed them in would have an effect on them and they're mythology.

Personally, Vampires aren't my favorite type of supernatural/paranormal creature, and i studiously avoid fiction in which they are the main character due to their over abundance. Also, i'm more than a little put off by the "blood focus" which is often associated and quit frankly unavoidable when a story is told from a Vampires perspective. 

In my multi-verse, Vampires are relegated to the Gate's Crossing Universe (also known as Earth #1). They are actually part of the Komu (Japanese spider demons) Hierarchy. 

The Komu Hierarchy is organized as follows:
Komu: At the top are the Komu themselves. Komu are always Female, and are "pure blooded" descendents. They live in Japan and rarely leave the compounds which are referred to as nests. There are 4 nests coinciding with the cardinal directions. They consider males disposable.
Pure blooded males ( Master Vampires ): Next are Pure blooded males which the Komu breed with in order to create more Komu, although pure blooded males are also born of such unions. They often have enhanced strength and speed. They are also susceptible to sunlight, but it simply causes severe sunburn and they are capable of remaining awake during the day. They are required to obey the Komu.
 Non-Pure blooded Vampires (Vampires) : These types of vampires are created by Master Vampires. They are also technically undead. While they are not forcibly/magically controlled by their masters, they often trade their servitude for the "immortality" associated with being a vampire. They cannot create vampires themselves, and their ranking within their covens/seethes are based on what they bring in. They have enhanced strength and speed. while the Komu acknowledge the usefulness of Pure blooded males, non pure blood vampires are ignored, in the event they make nuisances of themselves or draw the attention of a Komu they are killed. They are susceptible to sunlight, they are also highly flammable. They "sleep" during the day, although a master vampire can adjust them to be awake during the day but that is at the master vampires discretion.

So that's what i've got on Vampires, Check out Ms. Locke when you have the chance. 
And remember to pick up "Broken Wings" on Smashwords at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/katicalocke

W/S: Consistency

It might be because i'm Bi-Polar, and part of that is increased OCD like compensative tendencies, but i like structure. As far as that applies to books, I've read A LOT of books and there is structure in what i've read that i expect to continue in the future books i read. People act like people, even when they're not people. Nobody is perfect and those that are perfect don't deal with perfect people so leaks happen and mistakes happen and shit happpens.

So when i read or watch something i expect, and in fact often take for granted, the fact that i can tell you what happens to a certain extent with the story or plot. I expect consitency for the most part. It's when the story starts to go off in unexpected directions that i begin to doubt the writer.

As an aspiring writer of fiction, I believe that the one thing you shouldn't do is ret-con your own characters. Putting them in life changing situations in an effort to change their perspective is fine, but a friend should be a friend and an enemy should be an enemy.
And you should always know where the story starts and where it ends. Hoe you get there isn't the issue it's know when to stop and let it go. If you end up in a situation where your story is beloved and people want more you need to know when to say "it's done. that's all i've got."
Forcing an extension often results in inconsistency.

That's why I often have outlines for multiple books within a series, with the final book ending things.
Gates Crossing is actually two five book series for which the first four books are shared and there are two vaguely, but consistently different versions of the last book.

W/S: Alternative Universes Vs Multiple Universes

This week on Writing Supernaturals, I'd like to talk about Universes and how that relates to authors as well as readers of Supernatural/Paranormal fiction.

Now there are a lot of different types of Universes that authors of fiction create. For this post were gonna set aside historical and present day fiction, since those don't carry supernatural/paranormal elements and go straight to those that do.

First off we'll discuss Present Day Paranormal universes, which most people often associate with Suburban Fantasy.

 A well known example of this type of story is Charmed. It featured supernaturals, but for the most part took place in a time when humans were about as advanced as they are in real life.

Now another type of story that shares some similarities with this type of universe is the type of present day paranormal fiction where the paranormals have been "exposed" and so everyone knows they exist, although not necessarily in a way that accepts them. And example of this would be the Rachel Morgan Series by Kim Harrison.

This type of universe takes a bit more work in my opinion, since it requires that the author take into account not only changing the history of earth, but also changing the views of the human race. This can either go really well or really badly from a believability stand point.  Ie. how exactly do you keep the supernaturals from taking over the world, without making it so that the human race would have already killed them out of xenophobic fear?

I personally didn't think i had any series which took place in this type of universe and then i realized i did. For me this would be my Gate's Crossing, Heart, Matchmaker, Curses, Superheroes, Demon, and Therapy series. And as an author this type of universe normally takes only a bit of a historical rewrite as adverse to an actual from scratch world.  The reason i consider this to be the case is that while certain  elements of the universe are hidden I.E. the magical etc. People are well aware that there are superheroes.

 

Next we've got Fantasy universes. This is fiction for which the author creates a new world which has it;s own history involving the supernatural/paranormal. Lord of the rings would fall into this category, were as Narnia would fall into the category of present day paranormal since the main characters hail from England.

This type of universe plays by your rules. You can feature as many "out there" ideas as you want and although you don't necessarily have to explain them it's often a good idea to stay consistent in what you decide to do.
For me this would be my Omaria universe which is being featured in my Free Fiction Tuesdays posts.

~*~.

Now that we've gone over some basic universes, we run into a bit of an overlap a lot of the time. We have authors who write story where all different types of universe are rolled into one because different planets in the same universe have different rules. I personally think i'd have a hard time keeping things organized in my brain if i wrote a universe like that, which is true considering that my Gate's Crossing series has a large amount of fantasy world characters who pass under the radar, while also containing places where there are well known superheroes.

but say you're a writer and you want to write stories in all different types of supernatural genres?
The solution is one of two things.

Alternate realities/dimensions/universes or Multiple realities/dimensions/universes.

Alternate Universes are pretty common place. when you read a story and the Fey live on the "other side" of the veil? that's an alternate universe.

What I've done with my series is set them in alternate versions of earth, which the "gods" can travel between at will but aren't easily traversal by anyone else.
These would be:
 Earth (the Gate's Crossing series which share the majority of human history as we know it).
 Omaria (in which scientific advancement has stalled around the 1800's and for which history is completely different form earth is the culture given it's magic-centric focus.).
Terra ( which was scientifically-centric to the point of abandoning all forms of spiritual for the physical until they destroyed their planet and got busted back to the stone age. Apocalypse style.).

This way they are all connected to each other and really take place in One large META-UNIVERSE, cause that's what works for me.

Multiple Universes are also a route some people take. This is when you start a new series and it has nothing at all to do with the previous universe you worked in. Lot's of authors do this, especially if they get tired of working on a particular series's universe. They'll go in and start from scratch.
At this point in my writing because of the way I've created my universes, i wouldn't be comfortable going the multiple universes route. I've got enough on my plate with the meta-verse i've got, and even one universe has a lot of stories to tell.

Anywasy I wish everyone luck finding the type of universes that's right for them. Until next week.
Smooches

Writing Supernaturals delay... sadface

I got caught up in reading a book, so there might be a delay until Sunday for this weeks Writing Supernaturals. (>_<) this is because I'm just heading to bed now, 8:38 am, and i don't know if i'll be up in time to write it before midnight.
If I do It'll be up, if not expect it tomorrow.
Sorry in advance,
Smooches

Video blogging? O_o?

So i've been thinking of getting a webcam so i could live blog some stuff.

I mean i could do a video blog of my Writing Supenaturals series, but i thought it might be fun to do a live stream of me writing my Ask TheLostSigns or Free Fiction series.

I don't know that people would be super insterested in that, but it might be fun to get a group of authors together and do a writing workshop/group thing together if were working on some of the same topics like relationships or supernaturals in our stories.

Could be fun...

Anyways I'll post more on this as the situation warrants.

Smooches!

W/S:What make's a Lady?

Today, I'd like to discuss the triangle of lady business that fiction writers base female characters on.

The first is the Maiden-Mother-Crone triumvirate. But what does that really mean?
There are a lot of characteristics that these three types of females exemplify, so for this post they aren't specific enough. The three characteristics we want are:

1)Attractive (Youth is considered an attractive quality. woman of middle age are considered unattractive)
2)Stupid (level of intelligence when compared to a man. Women of equal or higher intelligence aren't stupid)
3)Evil (Evil is measured in 2 ways. 1)Destructiveness, and 2) ability to do things that aren't in a males best interest.)

Let's take our first example:

 "Hi there! In classical fiction I get eaten by a witch in chapter three. Maybe i should learn how to remember my way home or that you shouldn't eat houses made of food that you stumble upon in the woods?"

The above young lady is pretty, and well, probably stupid, which means that she cannot be evil. She's more likely to be kidnapped, used as unicorn bait, or when she's older be found dead in the forest and have her corpse molested by a wandering prince she's never met before who will smooch her decaying flesh back to life. Princes love them some stupid hotties.

 

 "She's sexy and she knows it!" 

*Adriana Lima did not sign off on this post*

Now, the next type of female is attractive and intelligent which means she is EVIL! She's gonna seduce your inheritance right outta your rich daddies man parts. She learned things you couldn't even imagine while travelling in the far east!!  She's your typical seductress. Why, you ask? Because men don't want a woman who's smarter than they are cause that would immasculate them and put the power in the woman's hands. Thus any woman smarter than you who you want to bone is evil and should be slain.

 

*Diane Keaton is smiling in this picture*

*..she is also confused*

Now we come to the unattractive ladies.

They're either stupid and super evil. Also known as Harpies, Furies, Sirens, and Meanids. Here's evil translates to destructive potential. Pretty ladies don't destroy property.

Or intelligent and not evil. I like to call that "Grandma Syndrome".

Until next week!

WS: Power-full Possibilities

Today we'll be discussing one of the things i most often get confused by in supernatural/paranormal fiction and that is the use, or rather lack of use, of people abilities.

See a lot of characters with abilities are the good guys. Sadly the good guys are not as bloodthirsty as their villain counterparts, this also makes them less smart and imaginative apparently.

For this post we're gonna use the wonderful "Captain Planet and the Planeteers" as our example!!!

YUP!! I went old school on your asses!!

Kay so let's start with the lamest and stupidest power on the show. Reminiscent of Aquaman on the Superfriends, we've got Ma-Ti.

*He's smiling because he thinks that holding a calculator he doesn't know how to use makes him a vital member of the team.*

 Now, Heart is actually a pretty interest ability since it provides Ma-Ti with a form of telepathy he can use with people and animals. This is actually a pretty useful and possibly destructive ability considering that the planeteers are often in exotic wildernesses, quite a few of which are also home to lots and lots of pollution.

What does that have to do with Heart power?
Well in the episode "The Power Of Heart" Ma-Ti uses his ring to force a bad guy unconscious. He can make people pass out. People driving cars. People flying planes. People swimming. That's hell'a dangerous and could lead to multiple fatalities in some cases.

Even if he limits himself to just using his ring to politely ask surrounding critters to come to his aid he's still actually pretty dangerous. He could have mosquitoes chock full of malaria infect groups of people or perform perfect/untraceable assassinations. He could call all the animals nearby infected with rabies to attack his foes. I don't want rabies, it's nasty and painful.

So Ma-Ti actually has a pretty strong ability. To bad he's a goody two-shoes idiot.

*Rabies. Rabbbiieeeessss on thelostsigns!!!*

Next up we've got Linka...

"I also push zee button, da?"

Now, poor Linka's ring gives her power over wind, which she uses to throw gusts of wind at people. She also uses it to levitate herself. While that's all well a good, she's pulling her punches.

Why? For those of you who don't know wind can be measured as PSI (pounds per square inch). This is because wind applies force to whatever it comes in contact with. Now the gusts Linka regularly uses don't apply to much force, normally enough to lift her foes off the ground. But what if her winds exerted more force or covered less surface area/weren't as broad.

If her wind exerted more force, say hurricane force winds or greater, towards an opponent and pressed them into an immovable object like a wall or the ground, Linka could literally crush them into a paste.
Restricting her area would give her winds the same effect as a pressure washer. She'd be able to blast peoples skin off or even cut through their bodies like a laser or a saw.

Also increased wind causes windchill. She could lower the temperature enough to freeze foes, or just their lungs. She could even cause the wind to move so fast that taking a breath would be impossible, effectively suffocating her opponents.

That's kinda bad ass...

"I vill killl youu vith mine vinds of DEATH!!!"

Gi was the resident water user and indefinably Asian character. Seriously she never says where she's from, ever...
Anywasy...

*This is a picture of Gi demonstrating what victims of human traffickers look like. Confused and afraid.*

Gi is the wielder of the ring of water, or something like that. The ring gives her power over the element of water and as far as i can remember she was often seen moving water from one place to another, although at times the ring itself would create water spontaneously.

Gi's in the same boat as Linka in that her abilities have the most murderous potential.

The human body is like 80% water or something right? Gi could move that fluid other places, as in not in a person's body anymore. That would be bad. Or she could fill peoples lungs with fluid causing suffocation, or cause eyeballs to explode or mummify people.
....
what is she like 16? Who gives a 16 year old the ability to make peoples eyeballs explode...?

Anywasy, WHEELER!!!

  "Hey Wheeler!" "Hey Guuurl, hey!!"

Wheeler...Wheeler, Wheeler..sigh.
He's an idiot. He's also a slut, and his ring is the ring of fire!!!! It's also the most obvious, as the ring shoots flames and lasers!!! You know how the bad guy counters that? He cuts off your freakin' hand that's how.
Seriously Wheeler is so busy running around feeling bad that he's illiterate and his alcoholic father abuses him and he has to define his life's meaning by the way girls treat him, kinda like a male Rachel Berry from Glee, that he is in fact completely ineffectual.

 

"Hey Mister, those gerbils look mighty big. That there's gonna cost ya extra."

Kwame. What is there to say about Kwame. Kwame has power over the element of earth. Kwame is also, and this is probably the most important, a Black person from Africa.
OMG, I know right?

*This is literally the only screencap on the Captain Planet wikia of Kwame. Freakin racists"

Kwame basically uses his ring to move earth around and cause earth quakes. He's more likely to do the most damage in a urban environment where sewage and gas lines as well as buildings need stable earth to, well, not collapse or explode.
He's also kinda the leader, and is most notable for saying "Let our powers combine!!!"


That's it for today's "Writing Supernaturals" I hope ya'll enjoyed it!!!

Blog-gy stuff! (^_^)

KK, so here's the plan:

Free Fiction Tuesdays
Ask TheLostSigns Thursdays Fridays

Writing Supernaturals Saturdays Sundays

This is the Official plan! Yey!!! (^_^)

I don't have i title yet for the Free Fiction Tuesdays book, maybe i'll leave that to you guys?
I totally did the first installment for next week!!!
I did make maps and writing names and descriptions and i think i know what's going on. lol
Still gotta figure out what everyone looks like. Figured out what everyone looks like!!

I asked my brother to take over this weeks advice for "Ask TheLostSigns" but i don't know if he'll actually do it although he did say he was flabergasted by the letters i wrote to give advice to.

Still in the middle of the "Writing Supernaturals" for this week. So many pictures...gah.

Getting ahead... (^_^)

Tonight while i wait for my hotdogs to explode, I've decided that since i'm prone to procrastination I'm going to get ahead a bit on my "Writing Supernaturals" and "Ask TheLostSigns" blog series. I think maybe having a week or 2 done in advance might give me a pretty decent buffer.

wish me luck.

Smooches!

W/S: Genitals!!!

Today's post is about all the different forms of genitals used for smexing, not necessarily reproduction, in supernatural/paranormal fiction!
Yey, an excuse to say PENIS!!!..cause i'm immature like that...(^_^)

KK, but seriously there a bunch of types of genitals in supernatural/paranormal fiction. The main two you'll see are inspired by how the sexes differ in humans: the penis and the lady penis..wait...no... i mean the vagina. See, i can remember this stuff, too.

Kay, So the vagina is the "receptive" organ of a female human and sadly there isn't a lot of variation found in fiction. I'd say this is probably because of the fact that on earth there isn't a lot of different types of vaginas to use as inspiration.

 

"My darling wife. Tonight i'm gonna give it to you good!!!"

 "Sorry honey. I've got a headache..plus my vagina looks like this so you'll never find my g-spot..sadface (T_T)"

 

 *Seriously Ducks have maze like vaginas with fake off shoots that go noooowhhheerrreee and just serve to confuse would be suitors. Look it up!*

 

"Don't look at us. Fish don't even have vaginas! ...why are we in this post anyways?"

 Also, pretty much anything having to do with a vagina can also be applied to an anus and often is, although i've never read an instance where an anus is paired with a clitoris, sooo... get on that... or not. Things like moving/textured walls, temperature, and self lubrication are the things most often seen in fiction for vaginas and anuses.

Then you run into the vaginas and/or anuses that have "added" protrusions, like teeth or tentacles!

*TENTACLES!!! Except in the center of these ones is a beaked mouth where the food goes in. That doesn't really work for lady business...nomnomnom*

Now, personally i feel that adding things like teeth or spines to a vagina or anus just serves to vilify female sex organs. VILIFY I SAY!!! It's often unnecessary to the plot even when the plot is porn. As far as tentacles go, I personally see them as a "combining of" female and male sexual organs in a way that isn't obvious and thus won't be pointed to with the word hermaphrodite screamed at it. 

Hermaphrodites are pretty common in supernatural/paranormal fiction from my experience. This is probably due to the advanced science and magic as well as the need for differences between human and paranormal species. In Japan there's even a genre exclusively tuned toward hermaphroditic characters called Futanari.

"Excuse me Miss. You appear to have a rather large..boner?"

*Note: You do not want to know how much Futanari porn i had to look through to find this ONE safe-ish picture. sooo much pornzzz...(>_<)*

On to the Penis!!! (hehe, see what i did there! lol)

 The penis, unlike the vagina and anus, is basicly a protrusion from the body, plus it already comes in two forms for human males (Circumcised and Uncircumcised). It's relatively easy to substitute basically anything in its place or add something to the existing testicle/penis combo (McDonald's...I don't know why i put that...I wrote the word combo and immediately thought of the McDonald's value menu. lol "Would you like extra balls with that shake?" ). Arms? Yes. Feet? Yep. Tentacles? Hells Ya! Ears? Ehhh, no. Maybe for lady business so she can hear you coming, tho. (Hehe, i did it again!) 

Many authors add to the number of testicles or penises a character has that a human might not have. 

"Why does Timmy have 4 balls, mommy?" 

"Radiation Billy. Radiation!"

You'll also run into instance of more than one penis per individual. While you might think having more than one penis is impossible, snakes and a lot of other reptiles actually have 2 phalluses called Hemipenes.

"I'm poisoness, and i've got two dicks!! Jelly much? MUAHAHAHA ...iwishicoulddance..."

Other animals which have penises often mimic-ed or substituted in supernatural/paranormal fiction are:

 

*Canine penises have a knot at the base that locks the partners together. It also looks like a tumor.*

 

*Horses have penises. They're ribbed for someones pleasure.*

*Aww cute kitty! So innocent. Secretly a feline's penis has barbs which extend toward it's body for easy penetration, and ripping out insides during removal. Owww."

*Dolphins penises are Not prehensile, a common misconception. Their ejaculations are also not forceful enough to do bodily harm, apparently. The more you know!*

Here are some other types of real penises, just because i feel like making you rinse your brain out with Clorox later.

 

*Elephant penises are shaped like the letter "S". This is not weird for Elephants it's only weird for you.*

 *Echidna's have 4 headed penises. They also lay eggs, because God loves them more than us*

That's pretty much everything having to do with genitals used for smexing in fiction.

Until next time. 

UPCOMING POSTS: Hey, all. ^_^

So, I haven't been posting things in a minute, but i have been working on stuff. (^_^)
I've got partial outlines completed for "City of Mirrors" and "A Heart of Stone", yey me!

I wanted to start showcasing my writing a bit, but I'm hell'a lazy, and i'd like to present a completed work..andchargepeople...no freebies!!! lol, but seriously all of the books i've started work on are parts of at minimum 4 book series. That's a lot of work to put in for someone like me who can barely get out of bed in the morning, plus any excuse i can find myself for not doing anything is what makes my world go round, so i think about things like eventual sales to give me a reason not to do things. sadface (>_<)

SOOOOO, what i'm gonna do is start a new blog series, tentitively tittled, "Ask TheLostSigns" where i answer the questions of fictious characters and give them my own brand of real life advise. It's gonna be a hot mess.

I'll also be posting another "Writing Supernaturals" in the next few days. I hope it's a good one since i'll be writing about a subject that makes me akward in real life. See random euphimisms in the post.

While i'm trying to do these on a weekly basis I'm gonna figure out a series of "free fiction" i can write for my blog. Hope fully it'll be something i can turn into a series of ongoing oneshot fic-bits that won't neccesarily be about characters you'd like to see in a full book. I.e. you'll be satisfied with a bit of story that has a biggining, middle, and end.

Wish me luck! ^_^

WS: When Xenophilia is the polite way of saying Zoophilia...

What it is Xenophilia, you ask?

Well according to dictionary.reference.com, zoophilia is defined as "an attraction to foreign peoples, cultures, or customs." 

Taken in a relatively "wholesome" way that might mean something like this:

"And here we have George's wife recieving a kiss from her handsome husband for finally learning to hand wash his plaid boxers."

*The above caption is a joke and is in no way meant to factualize George Bush having a secret African wife. We all know he's "probably" racist anyways.* 

Now xenophilia isn't nessecarily a problem unless there is more then one definition of "people". See in some cases of Supernatural and Paranormal fiction, were relationships of a romantic nature are involved, there is often a supernatural or paranormal creature in a relationship with a human or another supernatural creature. The problem then arrises in cases where the supernatural or paranormal "being" is considered a person, thus part of the "people" covered by xenophilia, but is not proported to be a magical human or a human suffering from a virus of genetic anomally. 

When this happens you may end up with a supernatural or paranormal creature who is a person but not the same species as that of the human or other supernatural/paranormal creature that they are in a romantic relationship with.

 "Oh, Superman. Isn't our love wonderful and wholesome?"

And what is that called folks?

That's called Zoophilia. Now zoophilia is defined as, "an abnormal fondness for animals." It's also fondly refered to as Beastiality when sexual activity is involved.

And what does that have to do with xenophilia, well on Earth in real life, because there are no other species that are considered people all other species that share our phylum are considered animals. Also, again by extrapilation, zoophilia can be defined as an abnormal fondness for species other than your own.

This then means that all those wonderful character we love in many different forms of media like the girl who falls in love with the sparkly vampire, the telepathic quarter-blooded fairy girl making time with the shifter/vampire/fairy, and the beloved puppet frog's longstanding relationship with the sassy well dressed pig are all technically beastiality. 

Isn't that special?

 Now don't get me wrong I love me my mixed species supernatural and paranormal romance stories, but my problem arises when the setting is supposed to be relatively the same as our world (except that the supernaturals and paranormals are hiding) but humans don't seem to realize their engaging in beastiality, or in the case of Superman, everyone is supportive of his relationships and noone ever mentions it to him or his partners in passing. Lois Lane is supposed to be an investigative journalist. Those are smart, right?

Anywasy, The point is: Xenophilia is not different from Zoophilia, if what you mean is Zoophilia. Then it's still beastiality.

In closing:

"Cuteness or sleazy post orgasmic kitten after a good hard pecking?"

You can never unthink that. ^_^

Ooops...I disapeared. ^_^

So, I've found that i haven't posted anything in a month. I'm currently in my tub, and thought now was an appropriate time to reach out to all of you out there in La La Land.

I've been a bit busy being depressed. Plus, I've been tentative about posting anything in my Writing Supernaturals series for fear of treading on the toes of possible guest writer contributions. However at this point I say "Fuck IT!". If someone does decide to contribute and chooses a topic i've already written on it'll just be another perspective, so there! lol

Anywasy, I haven't been on WOW, haven't written or recorded anything, so noones missed anything i don't think.

Upcoming: WS: Xenophillia

WS: D/S Relationships

"I'm in charge!" "NO! I'M IN CHARGE!!"

I read a lot..AAAA LOOOOTTT of supernatural/paranormal fiction, and one of my largest deal breakers when it comes to choosing a story is the portrayal of Dominant and Submissive relationships.

Now, don't get me wrong I love me a good story and i'm open minded to different portrayals of this dynamic, but my problem stems from specifically Shifters (Were-animals) and Vampire portrayals.

For these two character types, D/S relationships are almost gaurenteed to be a large part of the story.
It's always the same old, same old.

Shifters:
The shifter is almost always larger then the human and an Alpha and/or a Dominent, and in this case is almost always a wolf/dragon or other large breed predator.
If the shifter is smaller than the human then the human takes on the Dominant arch type while the shifter is an omega or runt of the litter, or otherwise submissive breed of "pet" like animal.
Or in the case of two shifter the larger is an Alpha and/or dominant while the smaller is an omega or generally submissive "breed", like a house cat.

AND EVERY TIME a shifter finds their mate they are overcome with the desire to have sex with said mate immediatly regardless of location. "But they're soulmate!" "It's animal instinct!" Uh, animals don't actually behave like that unless the female is in heat, humans don't normally go into heat..so it's kinda completely inaccurate.

Vampires:
when a vampire is paired with a non vampire the vampire is almost always a Master Vampire of sometype, and take the Dominant role.
when the vampire is paired with another vampire the older vampire is normally the Dominant while the younger is submissive due to either having been "sired" by the other or because of inherent submissive personality caused by some kind of issue instead of actually being a natural submissive. Can't claim natural submissiveness if you've been turned into a magical creature.

Also the vampire is at the minnimum 2x the age of a they're "partner" when Dominant, while submissives are often newly turned or significantly younger than they're Dominant.

 ****

Portrayals of other supernatural/paranormal creatures often follow a similar patern if you take into account that any hybrid of human and animal normally follows the shifter example, while and imortal diety not associated with an animal, any type of fey, as well as most human magic users, follow the vampire example.

It becomes a bit tedious. I encourage writers to switch it up. There's more to D/S relationships then is exampled in most of the works i read, a lot of which are mainstream.

And lest it be overlooked during this post, there is more to Supernatural/Paranormal Creatures than D/S relatioships. Especially for Vampire and Shifters.

Get some new material.

Smooches!

******EDIT 12/31******

Just finished reading two books in a series about Werewolves and it recalled to mind a topic of D/S relationships in these genres that i find supper irritating because of its stereotypical-ness.

It's the fact that  Dominant partners are NEVER inclined to assume receptive roles during sexual situations. While submissive partners NEVER  required or seem interested in taking on active roles.

This, I've found is most common in M/M romance of this genre where the Dominant partner never bottoms because the authors and perhaps the readers infer that bottoming means you are less Dominant or perhaps more vulnerable.


When switched to M/F romance the female character if Dominant often engages in sexual activity from a "girl on top" postion, While the male dominant character i portrayed the same as in M/M romance.

I've found though that close examintation of the characters actions reveal that a character portrayed is Dominant in these circumstances is often Controlling and protective (paranoid) outside the bedroom while in the bedroom they are demanding, BUT not focused on their own pleasure to the point that sexual activity is often entirely in the hands of the Submissive partner who does absolutly nothing but recieve attention.

Some of you may ask, "But isn't that what D/S relationships are?".

To that i say, Dominant partners can be controling and are often intiator the when it comes to sexual activity, however, the Dominant partners role at it's basis is to have thier needs/desires fulfilled by the submissive partner. The submissive partners role is to fulfill the needs/desires of the Dominant partner, most often recieving pleasure from pleasing their partner.
A "submissive" partner who lies back and does nothing but give them selves over to the "dominant" partner, who in turn works dilligently to provide said "submissive" with pleasure, is not actually taking a submissive role, but is in fact taking on a Dominant role. While the "Dominant" is taking on the role of submissive by focusing on fulfilling their partners needs and placing those above their own.

This can be identified also in the often seen example of the "Dominant" who is abusive or does not acknowledge their relationship with their "submissive", and then when the "submissive" has met someone else (a rival), or the the couple has borken up or been seperated with or without the "dominant" fighting to maintain the relationship.
Under these circumstances you find that the "Dominant" partner becomes obssessed with the "Submissive" partner often to the degree of not taking care of themselves, becoming depressed or suffering mood swings even while maintaing a denial that they don't actually want to be with the "submissive" while the "submissive" often is saddened but soon becomes angry and begins to move on with their life rather quickly while rembering their "dominant" fondly.
If you switch the Dominant and submissive labels in the previous two paragraphs the fact that the story still make sense if not more sense shows that the author hasn't taken into account the personalities of Dominants and  Submissive.

I should say however that not all Real Life dominant and Submissives behave in the same ways. Some may follow the examples i've described while some may not, however i should point out that the MAJORITY of D/S relationships in romance today follow only the one path painting a singularly monochromatic landscape in regards to D/S relationships while at the same time misrepresenting a lot of the things which label D/S relationships as D/S relations.

KK that's all for now. ^_^

WS - Telepathy

So to kick off this blog series i thought i'd start with the subject that gave me the idea for the series in the first place: Telepathy.

For those of you who don't know I've been writing stories with supernatural/ paranormal themes and creatures and abilities. *I'm gonna have to look up the difference between supernatural and paranormal. lol
Anywasy, since i'm pretty open about the abilities featured in my Gate's Crossing, Omoria, and Heart series I tend to run across certain ideas and concepts i don't really think i could work with.
One of those concepts is telepathy.

Now, I've got Empathy in my Omoria series and i'm okay with it, but the idea of telepathy bugs me.
I can understand say broadcasting ones thoughts, so I'm fine with that aspect of it, I'm even slightly okay with the idea that someone or thing with electrical senses might be able to "read" someone else's thoughts at a real time level or even with a bit more work access memories, but I'm not at all comfortable with the idea of someone or something accessing someone else's "mindscape" and delving through their motivations and thoughts while maintaining some kind of context instead of seeing something resembling a "movie" with additional sensory information.

I most definitely consider other similar abilities allowable such as fighting, moving, etc. on the Astral Plane, as well as dream walking and misc. things having to do with souls and/or minds without bodies, per say. Higher conciousnesses are tottally fine as are inanimate object with consciousness who use projection of thought to communicate.

I'm also fine with the idea of inviting someone into your mindscape, since that can be spun from a projection stand point.

I guess i'm just not fine with the sort of all powerful telepaths that i see in most mainstream examples of telepaths. Although i do love the work other people have done on the subject i guess it's just not for me. ^_^

Writing Supernaturals

Hey, all.
So this is gonna be new blog series I'm starting. A lot of the stuff covered in it will be similar to things covered in the two personal reference books I'm compiling, but i thought it'd be cool to post some stuff on here.
I'll be going over things i like, things i don't get, thing i think would work, etc.
Hope y'all will join me in the comment section to share your views and stuff.
Smooches.