(no subject)

Chapter Eight of Nameless has been posted! There is a fight, a storm, a dream, and a miracle. :D

The nature of these notes has evolved as I've hit my organisational stride with them -- there are fewer "note to self" notes now, because the stuff that's really extensive or meaty or would be exhausting to write all go into a separate file ("Nameless Notes I") for me to deal with on a slower basis, as I feel I can, and the immediate discussion stuff that I think you guys would be interested in goes into a file for the writing notes ("Nameless Notes II").

There aren't many notes of either kind for Chapter Seven, which must mean that some of the praise is right -- this is the chapter where the story really hit its stride. Here's hoping eight keeps it up.

( Chapter Seven Issues )

Max and Myfanwy has a catchy sound to it.

So. Then we got a puppy.

I don't want to hear it, people.

Actually pre-emptively Jack had a puppy already, and it's not like I would have made him drown it or anything, but I like to make him work for things sometimes. This is Max.



If Jack tells you his name is Theresa, don't listen.

I think he looks evil, like he's just waiting for us to let our guard down before he kills us with his soft flappy ears. He looks like he's plotting something. So I've run him through all the usual New Employee protocols: background check, pawprints, family history (very suspicious; no information at all about mother OR father), and a three-month surveillance setup. I've redirected the office CCTV camera to his bed and put a bug and a GPS tracking chip in his collar*.

He has already watched most of the major cinematic musicals of the last twenty years with Jack and/or myself and/or Gwen depending on time of day. Clearly this can't be allowed to continue; I'm going to have to put him on a proper steady diet of James Bond and Buster Keaton at some point.

I blame you, Internet. Just so that you're aware.

* We are absolutely not making him wear an ID tag reading Max Theresa Harkness-Jones, and I made Gwen return the one she already got.

(no subject)

I am full of LOL at people who refuse to observe the world around them and then get annoyed when their conclusions about reality are erroneous.

Client: Is there a men's room on this floor?
Sam: *sighs inwardly* Yes. Take this keycard, go across the lobby, turn left, keycard through the door.
Client: *goes*
Sam: *answers emails*
Client: *returns quickly* THERE IS NO BATHROOM ANYWHERE. THE BATHROOM YOU SENT ME TO DOES NOT EXIST.
Sam: Did you use the keycard I gave you?
Client: THERE WAS NO BATHROOM.
Sam: You have to use the keycard to get through the door.
Client: WHAT DOOR -- oh. Okay.

I magically made the bathroom appear. I am just that awesome.

I am also full of LOL that word has reached my ears that I got wanked at on an anonymeme that I didn't know existed, and then apparently the bit about me got deleted or something? So now I don't even get to go find the wank and weep bitter salt tears that someone on the internet doesn't like me.

I don't even hear about wanks I'm involved in anymore, this is awesome.

They had Fox&Obel cater lunch for a meeting downstairs today. I told Coworker J I would give him a shiny nickel if he kept an eye on the meeting and stole a leftover sandwich for me. I'm hoping for Brie and Cranberry but I'll take Roast Beef with Muenster.

(no subject)

I did not get a Fox&Obel sandwich of any sort. Sadface. Those bastards ate all the food they paid for!

I'm...perplexed and amused, mostly at myself, by the response to the latest Nameless chapter. It's the most unanimously positive yet -- not without its crit, which is fine, but the majority of the comments were complimentary. I actually specifically didn't talk about the chapter beforehand because I didn't want to colour anyone's opinion, but I hate almost all of it. Giving it a final proof for posting made me writhe.

To me -- perhaps because I know what's going to happen -- it feels ham-handed and kind of absurd. Like, seriously, high drama about MAGIC SPELLS. Also I hate writing fights, and I hate how stupid Christopher is in this chapter. I worried the storm would slow the action, too.

At the same time I know it absolutely has to be there, and there's not really a better way to write any part of it. But I was waiting for people to say "But the last chapter was so good, what happened here?" and...didn't so much happen.

Either I have no objectivity or you're all unreasonably fickle. Or both, I suppose. But I'm going with the former, because you don't seem like fickle people.

(no subject)

Well. I'm off tomorrow on the train for parts unknown (OMG TRAIN YAY) and I doubt I'll be able to post tomorrow morning, so I thought I'd give you guys chapter nine tonight. I'm hoping to post both Sunday and Monday but I'm still learning my way around the tiny shiny, which is what I'm taking with me, so I can't promise both. There'll be one more chapter before Tuesday, when normal broadcast will resume.

I'm also not doing a story-notes for Eight, mainly because aside from grammar there was only one big issue and that was Christopher's irrational personality change. :D But we've been discussing that in comments on the earlier "wtf I hated writing this chapter" post, so all the notes are there. I know what's wrong, and hopefully fixing it tomorrow on the tiny shiny will be good keyboarding training.

Anyway, I give you: Chapter Nine of Nameless. There are Christmas presents, a New Year's Party, a monologue on trains (ironic or apt? There's no need to decide!), a new resident of Low Ferry and, perhaps most importantly, a solution to the puzzle of the Great Bank Love Triangle. :D Enjoy!

(no subject)

R made me watch the Joaquin Phoenix interview on Letterman from a few days ago, where he's got a huge beard and tinted glasses and is behaving like he's either heavily tranked or super high.

It read almost like an SNL sketch to me and I got a little suspicious, especially when R played the clip of Phoenix randomly announcing his retirement from acting in a crowded hallway. And have you seen his quasi-hilarious rap, or the part where he's closing his show and "falls" off the stage?

So I call it now, though I'm sure I'm not the first. Publicity stunt on Letterman, staged improvisation for Entertainment Tonight. After all, the Letterman thing has been done before. The lighting is suspiciously good in that hallway during the retirement announcement, and frankly the guy interviewing him isn't a very good actor. And then there's the fact that he just happened to make the announcement while Casey Affleck was right there -- Casey Affleck, who is making a "documentary" about Joaquin Phoenix quitting acting for a hip hop career.

So, R and I have a gentleman's bet going; he says it's real and the Letterman tape will be the centrepiece of Joaquin Phoenix's E! True Hollywood Story, I say Casey Affleck is making a mediocre movie with a really good marketing schtick.

As an aside, I can't fucking believe I've put this much thought into crazy crazy Joaquin Phoenix.

Someday, mark my words, this post will be tagged with my "oh snap vindicated" tag.

ETA 9/17/2010: OH SNAP VINDICAAAAATED