altarwise by owl-light

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:22:33 GMT

Pick one of my characters and one of yours, and I'll tell you something they've always wanted to say to your character but could never bring themselves to say out loud.

YAY MEME

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 04:59:27 GMT

Pick a character of mine and a number from 40 to 167. The number will correspond to an entry number of this blog and my character will answer the listed questions. You can find the entry by entering it's post # into the search box at the top of the blog.

my characters are attention whores

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:25:06 GMT

1. What would your character kill for? What would they die for?
2. What would they refuse to do under any circumstances? Why?
3. What do they dream about? [Either literal or figurative].
4. What’s their biggest fear?
5. What single object would they be most hard pressed to part with? Why?
6. What is their fondest memory?
7. What is their worst memory?
8. What or who was were their most significant influence? Expound.
9. What do they believe makes a successful life?
10. What makes them laugh?
11. What are their religious views?
12. What is their greatest strength?
13. Do they have a fatal flaw? If so, what is it?
14. Who is the most important person in their life?
15. If they died or went missing, who would miss them most?
16. How would they describe themselves?
17. How would others describe them?

I am out of the loop

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:17:31 GMT

Name: Cristallinaaaaaa
Alias: I used to go by alias...es. Aliasi? I went by "No" in a lot of Harry Potter games.
Years role playing: I've been RPing on and off since SIXTH GRADE. So... a long ass time.

Notebooks: If this means a literal notebook, I actually have boxes of them. It's a problem.
Earthlink: wtf.
Chatrooms: Guys, remember AOL chatrooms? Everyone was just cybermating in them. And none of them could spell tongue.
Message Boards: In some oldschool RPs, yeah.
Journals: But of course.

Favourite three characters: Viollca, Remy, and Tennessee. My bbs <3
Least favourite character: Jules. The way he thinks sometimes makes me ill.
Male or female characters: Male. Absolutely. If I ever make a girl again, guys, shoot me.
Oldest character: Character I've been playing the longest would be Tennessee. He predates PS, I've been playing a character LIKE Tennessee for over six years or so. His name was Lester Lucas Gunter, or Lukie for short. Tennessee is just an evolution of him. He's my bb. Oldest age-wise would be Jules, at 28 or 29, I forget.
Newest character: Craven!
Most popular character: Hmmm. If by most popular you mean the ones that get the most scenes, then it would be Vilca, Remy, and Tennessee because I push for writing my favorites. I'm not sure if they're the ones people like best, though.

Which character of yours would be most likely to...
Jump off a bridge: Hart did!!! Current characters... Casey, I think. He'd just wander onto it all dazed and zombielike and walk right off. Liam would be more private if he were ending his life, he wouldn't do it in public.
Kill somebody in a very unorthodox way: If Casey had been able to, I think he'd have tried to kill Donatien, and it would have to be unorthodox because clearly he can't overpower him.
Get married: Viollca, obviously! Tennessee would, and Remy probably will but because of Hadrian, not because it's something he's always wanted. Casey wouldn't be comfortable with that much attention and Craven would do something like, I don't know, get on a boat saying he'll meet his wife in a few days and take off to New York City instead and change his name to Dorian Hope and make a living peddling counterfeit Oscar Wilde letters and manuscripts.
Be far too hyper for their own good: Tennessee can get very hyper, but Remy takes the cake.
Rape somebody: Jules. Maybe not forcefully, but definitely in an emotional sense, where he would pressure someone until they gave in.
Be raped: Casey, clearly. Kaspar has been as well. Viollca has come rather close.
Get lost and refuse to ask for directions: Tennessee, maybe. Remy, absolutely. He's way too prideful.
Get lung cancer: Tennessee and Craven.
Star in a horror movie: Remy would totally eat up the attention that would come with being a star.
Star in a porno: Remy has. He's conflicted about it, though, because while he loves the attention and loves showing off, it's really sex for money, and Remy strongly believes he can't be bought. He thinks he's worth more than anyone could afford anyway~
Star in a video game: I'm not sure any of my chars are videogame material!
Be a rap star: I doubt any of mine could pull that off O_O
Have a torrid gay love affair: God, ew, none. They're all SOOOOO straight!!!!!!!

Relate each word to a character of yours.
Love: Viollca
Hate: Craven
Money: Remy (because he likes it, not because he has it)
Seduction: Viollca. Remy.
Lies: Craven
Tragedy: Casey
Manipulation: Remy
Violence: Craven
Politics: Ramses
Fire: Casey
Ice: Jules

Lastly, would you ever...
Play a prostitute?: I have, omg Nicci~ And in the old game that I was in, I played a hooker named Chase Anthony, he was so fierce, and Isaiah Garnica was his PB!
Play a musician?: A lot of my chars are musicians. Tennessee plays guitar and sings CONSTANTLY. Music is Remy's life, and he can pick up almost any instrument and learn to play it in a few hours. Liam is really rather adept at playing guitar.
Play a pilot?: I have thougt about Saint-Exupery, actually...
Play a homosexual?: OH GOD NEVER
Play a pedophile?: Jules would probably go as low as 12/13, which is gross.
Play a politician?: Ramses. In the old game I played the President of the United States. He was dreamy. And not old, it was a post-apocalyptic RP (it's actually the one Lukie got started in) and he was a soldier who wanted restore government order and.... alright, I'll stop, it was so complicated, this could get boring.
Create a character for the sole purpose of smut?: Not JUST for writing smut, though it goes without saying that there will be smut since my characters seem to love teh sex.

peaches in the summertime, apples in the fall

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:59:10 GMT

Okay guys, I want to give this a try. In another game I was in, we did a sort of meme where each character posted a dream he/she had, and all of the other characters replied, analyzing said dream. There were pretty hilarious results, and I think we could have some fun with this. I thought I would post a few dreams, as written up and dreamed by my characters, and your characters can feel free to analyze anyone's dream they have an opinion on. They can seriously offer advice, can honestly try to discern a meaning from the dream, or they can tease, bully, joke, whatever they'd like! I think this could be fun! Post your own dreams and see who has something to say!

Viollca: I dreamt of the swings in the park I pass on the way home. I dreamt I was sitting on a swing, swaying, just as I would have as a child. My feet were bare, and the air rushed against them, cool and refreshing. The sun was setting, and though I felt everything should be peaceful, I was uneasy. I felt some kind of impending tragedy. I kicked off the ground harder to swing higher, but I suddenly found myself falling backwards, off of the swing. I expected my back to hit the dirt immediately, but it did not. I fell and fell, and when I did hit the ground, I was staring up from the bottom of a grave, dirt falling in from an unseen fosser's shovel.

Tennessee: Dreamt I was workin' at this pretzel stand, right? Everythin' was all brown, 'cause I don't never dream in color really. So I was workin', sellin' these pretzels, but I wanted to be promoted. Ain't sure what bein' promoted does in the pretzel stand business, but whatever. So I wear this suit to work an' all, an' made a resume and shit, and went to this meeting where I had to shake hands with other guys in suits and be real official 'bout it all. So anyway, they made me president of the pretzel company, an' I got a crown an' a new pair o' socks. I don't like pretzels, though.

Casey: I had a dream about the moths in the basement back home. There were always moths, I guess they came in through the window. They always looked a lot like butterflies to me so I liked them, it reminded me of being outside, and sometimes they flew close and brushed my cheek with their wings and it tickled. In my dream they were there, but I was plucking them out of the air as they flew past, sticking pins in them and pressing them to the wall, watching as they wriggled and fluttered and died.

Remy: So the other day Hadrian and I were food shopping and he bought these stupid fruits that he told me were called kumquats which either made them stupider or fucking awesome, I wasn't sure. Anyway, so that night I totally had this dream that Hadrian said he wouldn't have sex with me unless I ate a kumquat, and I told him I wouldn't eat anything with quat in the name, but he gave it to me and I bit into it and there were all these pins inside and shit. Whatever.

plz dr. phil

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:26:12 GMT

If you could say anything to one (or more) of my characters, what would you say? Give advice, give a compliment, ask a question, whatever! I'll give you a response in-character.

Tennessee/Vilca/Casey the musical!!

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 07:10:34 GMT

So I made a post a while ago with songs that inspired/reminded me of characters/ships. I'm back with another! As ships change and I get new characters I have some more stuff to share!

Tennessee
Third Eye Blind - 1000 Julys: Reminds me very much of the Eli/Tennessee breakup. "I'd tell you to come back now, but we've gone too far."
Langhorne Slim - Lord: Post-Eli Tennessee. "Life goes on since you left me, but Lord, it don't need to."
Dolorean - Holding On: More post-Eli Tennessee! Ugh, this song just breaks my heart, and is so perfect. "Your coat, your keys, your blankets and sheets, your favorite blue jeans. I'm holding on to anything."
Mike Doughty - Down On The River By The Sugar Plant: I love this song, and ugh, so many lines fit. "I'll dream you up on this vast, dark bed and believe I loved you for each hair upon the back of your neck and I want to kiss you but I can't."

Viollca
Everything But The Girl - Didn't Know I Was Looking For Love: I would say this song is more from Luke's side of things, because Vilca definitely WAS looking for love, but it definitely suits them. "If you left I would be two-foot small, and every tear would be a waterfall. Soundless, boundless, I surround you. I didn't know I was looking for love until I found you."
Bishi - Namaste: This song is practically the ultimate love song, and so appropriate for Luke/Vilca. "Two sides of a coin, indivisible. Two kinds of a voice guide my way."

Casey
Roisin Murphy - Ramalama: Two songs playing in succession on my shuffle inspired me to create Casey: this song, and the next. This one has that creepiness to it that's so very Casey. It has a very disjointed, eerie sound that really set the mood for him in my head. "If you can be good, you'll live forever. If you're bad, you'll die, you will die."
K's Choice - Virgin State Of Mind: Part two of Casey's creation, the lyrics of this one have a lot to do with how I envisioned him behaving. "Where can I run to, where can I hide? Who will I turn to? Now I'm in a virgin state of mind."

I suck at finishing these though, FIRST COME FIRST SERVED (if you catch my drift)

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 02:50:46 GMT

Pick a character, fill in the blanks, etc etc!!!! <3

1. What do you think of _____________ ?

2. When did you last ____________ ?

3. __________ or ___________ and why?

4. What did you ______________ ?

5. What's your favorite ______________ ?

6. How would you ______________ ?

7. Who would you most like to ________ ?

I really like this meme

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:37:07 GMT

Pierian Springs

St. Augustine: psalm18
Inspired by Augie's favorite psalm, clearly. "The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer."

Hans Christian Andersen: lucky-duckling
In his final years, Andersen was asked if he would write a final autobiography. He responded that he did - the ugly duckling. He also once said that he was born with more luck than talent, hence the "lucky." Which rhymes with ugly. Yeah. Shhh.

Edgar Cayce: somnambuliste
Somnambulism, aside from being a medical term for sleepwalking, is also the name of a particular brand of monster made popular by the silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The villain in this movie is a sleepwalking prophet, which is what Casey views himself as. Casey gets his visions only in his sleep, and he believes he's a monster for them - just like Cesare in the film (and the somnambulists that arrived in later German expressionist movies, which were characterized as zombies, essentially.)

James Corbett: laws-of-man
Jim Corbett was a strong conservationist despite his reputation as a hunter. He had a deep respect for animals, and he only killed big cats when they posed a tangible threat to the human population. However, even then he expressed remorse over it, and wrote that he felt guilty killing them because what they were doing "was not against the laws of nature, but against the laws of man."

Wilhelm Grimm: grimm-truth
"whatherocomplex" was taken, so I went the easy route with a play on the whole grim/grimm thing. Shhh.

Edna St. Vincent Millay: afewfigs
Taken from her collection of poems, A Few Figs From Thistles.

William of Newburgh: darane-svatura
Darane svatura is the Romani name for ghost stories. Which is William of Newburgh's thing. Pretty simple, yah.

Jules Verne: la-jangada
Gosh, here's another pretty uninspired one. Everything I tried to name his journal was taken, so I settled on this, the title of one of my favorite Verne stories.

Assia Wevill: filthywoman
Honestly, this might be my favorite one, because it's so damn appropriate. Ted Hughes often referred to Assia as "filthy", calling her "filthy with erotic mystery" in one poem. Later, after Plath had killed herself and Assia moved into her home, she wrote in her journal that she could never be more than the "filthy woman who murdered Sylvia" to Hughes.

Tennsessee Williams: tennessee-stud
Based, of course, on a Johnny Cash song about escaping Tennessee on a horse.

A Royal Pain

Antinous: hisgod
Remy is kind of arrogant sometimes. And Hadrian worshipped Antinous. Like, literally.

Lucrezia Borgia: velenosa
Means "poisonous" in Italian, because Lucy is a bitch and because Lucrezia Borgia liked to hug people she didn't favor and prick them with a pin dipped in poison.

Kaspar Hauser: thelostheir
Because Hauser was, most likely, the lost heir to the Baden throne.

Nefertiti: ladyofthelands
Because Nefertiti was called the lady of the lands!!

Nezahualcoyotl: coyote_fast
Nezahualcoyotl means "coyote that fasts", so I just sort of played around with that. Ceza fasts. Or is fast. I don't know, I'm not too great at these.

Ramesses I: ramesses-i
.....Yeah.

I'm a little late on this one I think

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:48:22 GMT

Name one of my characters and one of yours. I'll show you three icons displaying expressions that my character frequently makes (or MADE) when interacting with yours, and explain why!!

Chapter One

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:06:54 GMT

"Talya, slow down," my brother protested, a slight whine to his voice. It was bad enough that he was stuck trailing after me through Barneys, even worse that I was practically running from rack to rack. Time was running low – my father's dinner guests would be arriving in just a few hours and I had yet to pick a dress for the occasion.

"I'm serious, Tal. Slow down. You'll live longer."

"Live longer?" I repeated, scoffing and whirling around to face Nathaniel. "What does the pace at which I walk have to do with the length of my life?"

"Tal, tortoises are the slowest animals on the planet, and they live for like four hundred years," Nate said seriously. I snorted in response and rolled my eyes, continuing to scramble through the racks of clothes.

Nate and I might have been twins, but we definitely were not identical. Not physically or psychologically. I was glad for that, really – firstly, because we tended to balance each other out. Secondly, because I just thought it would be really creepy to live with a clone of myself.

It did sort of suck growing up and having to share my birthday with my brother, never having the spotlight to myself and all. But at least we weren't triplets or quadruplets or something. Women who have like five babies at a time were creepy to me. I always thought they were part Labrador or something.

"Hold this," I commanded, shoving my purse at my brother as I grabbed a few articles of clothing from one rack. I hurried to the dressing rooms and changed into a brown dress with giant black polka-dots. I struggled to tie a bow in the back of it as I slammed out of the dressing room for Nate's opinion. He was standing dutifully near the fitting rooms, holding my purse and looking kind of lost.

"How's this?" I asked him, doing a little spin and then planting my hands on my hips.

"Aren't you not supposed to wear brown and black together?" Nate asked curiously. He seemed to consider that a moment, and then added, "You know what, I like it though. It's like you're turning the fashion world on its head like the damned bitch-whore that it is." He paused again, smirking to himself. "What if Nietzsche wrote for Vogue?"

"Ugh, shut up," I whined, turning to go back into the dressing room. Nathaniel was no help.

I didn't get very far.

I swore that no one was behind me a second ago, but when I turned, I ran head-long into a girl standing there. She had all of my clothes in her arms, and was pushing me into a different stall than the one I came out of.

"Wha-" I tried to protest, disoriented.

"I'm sorry, the dressing room you were using is closed for – maintenance. Plumbing issues." The girl shoved me a bit roughly into the new dressing room, dumped my clothes into my arms, and then slammed the door shut quickly. I stared vacantly at the door, kind of terrified. What the hell was that? That girl had purple hair. I was pretty sure that none of the employees at Barneys had purple hair. And plumbing issues in a fitting room?

But whatever, right? I mean, it was just a different fitting room. I looked around, and nothing was out of place or weird. I shrugged my shoulders and set the clothes down on the bench, then unzipped the dress I was wearing and wriggled my way out of it. I surveyed the pile of clothes on the bench, fishing out a pretty dark pink dress.

I had yet to fully process the first surprise of the day – the girl pushing me into another room – when the second occurred.

I didn't hear any sounds that were out of the ordinary. There was no warning.

Just cold metal pressed to my throat from behind and a hand clamped over my mouth.

I made a muffled sound behind the hand over my mouth, a shout of surprise. His strong fingers blocked it. The man behind me was powerful and tall. For some reason, I was overwhelmed by the way he smelled. You'd think the guy who puts a knife to your throat in a dressing room would smell like cigarettes and filth or something. He smelled good. Musky, earthy. And why the hell was I even noticing the way he smelled? He had a knife to my throat!

"You need to come with me," he murmured, low against my ear. He had a husky voice, and an accent I couldn't place. "You will die if you don't."

I remembered something I saw on TV once, on one of those Lifetime shows. It said to never let an attacker take you to a second location. So I shook my head and struggled in his grip. I realized suddenly that I was standing there in my underwear. What was he going to do, haul me through the store in my Hanes? Someone would have to notice!

"You need to come with me," he said again, in a patient tone. "Your life – and your brother's life – depend on it."

Everything changed for me when he mentioned Nate. I would crawl into hell if someone told me Nate's life was at stake. He must have known that I had made a sudden decision to obey him, because his hand eased up slightly on my mouth.

"I will take my hand from your mouth, but you can't scream. You need to call your brother over. Tell him you need to show him your dress." His fingers slowly moved down, resting on my chin rather than on my lips. My mouth felt bruised, my jaw aching. His grip had been so strong.

"I won't," I hissed, refusing to bring my brother anywhere near this creep.

"Call out to him," the man commanded, his voice harsh even in a whisper. "Bring him into the room."

"Listen, you can slit my throat right here, but I am not bringing my brother to you."

"Talya?"

Fear turned my stomach to a solid block of ice when I heard my brother's voice just outside of the door. No, no, he couldn't be here!

"Go away!" I shouted quickly, my voice cracking.

"Jeez, are you alright?" Nate said, sounding concerned. He always knew when something was wrong. How could I fool him?

"Tell him to come in," that voice hissed against my ear again. I disobeyed.

"I'm fine. Go away, Nate!" I was panicking. Maybe I should have screamed for help, but the only thing I was thinking about was getting my brother away from this monster.

"God, fine." Nate sounded annoyed. I knew exactly why – he knew I was lying. He knew something was wrong. A terrifying realization hit me – he would find out soon enough that he was right. When my body turned up in the Hudson or something. I whimpered faintly and struggled against the man's arms, but he only held me tighter. I could hardly breathe.

"You just made an enormous mistake," he whispered, sounding almost stricken. I tried to elbow him in the ribs, but they were hard as a rock. It hurt my elbow more than it hurt him. He started dragging me backwards, and I struggled to peer around him to see that he was leading me towards the mirror. He slid his fingers under the frame and opened the mirror like a door, pushing it aside and revealing a poorly chiseled hole in the wall, leading deep into blackness. I gasped, my eyes flying wide open. How many girls had this horrible man kidnapped this way?

He stopped suddenly, his arm easing up slightly on me. He was looking down at me, I realized, when I strained around enough to finally see his face. I sucked in another gasp when I saw him. He was hardly a man at all. He was young, and ridiculously - absurdly handsome. He had beautiful dusky tan skin and dark hair, broad shoulders and black eyes framed by long eyelashes. Those eyes were currently on my bare stomach, and I blushed vibrantly as he lifted his eyes to my face again.

"Get dressed," he commanded quietly. I gulped, frozen in place by his black eyes. They weren't just dark brown, or any sort of black I'd ever seen before. They were deep, fathomless black - void of any color at all, and filling up more of his eye than most irises should. I must have been gaping at him, because he made an impatient noise and grabbed that dark pink silk dress I had been about to put on and shoved it at me. My hands were shaking as I parted the fabric, and then stepped into the dress, pulling it up and slipping my arms through the sleeves, tying the thick ribbon that wrapped around the waist in a bow at my back. He watched me do it, his eyes closed off and distant. I lifted my gaze to his face again, trying to decide if it was worth making a break for it. I swallowed hard and then decided to try, turning fast on my heel, wanting to run for the door. Before I could even turn all the way, I slammed into something hard. My breath was knocked out of me.

How the hell was he suddenly in front of me?

I panicked and tried to scream, but his hand was over my mouth again. His grip was too strong; tears sprung up in my eyes, falling down my cheeks and over his hand. He ignored it, pulling me through the doorway the mirror had turned into. He pulled the mirror shut behind him, and then started dragging me through the pitch-black tunnel. My feet were bare and dragging over uneven ground, scraping concrete and brick. I had no idea where I was, what was happening. My eyes were squeezed shut and flooded with tears, I was sobbing against my captor's hand. I gasped and started crying harder when my feet suddenly touched water and sludge and my senses were assaulted with the stench of stagnant filth. The sewer.

I was struggling to keep up with the man's long strides, my feet bleeding from dragging along the ground. I could barely breathe through my sobs, and now I was being pulled through the sewer. It was still impossible to see through the darkness, and the tears in my eyes made it even harder to see. I shook and sobbed, but I stopped crying very suddenly when I felt something solid brush my foot. I gasped, my eyes opening wide as I looked down at the ground. There was suddenly a light, and I looked over at my captor to see the source. My mind spun. I could swear that the light was coming from his fingertips. I felt faint, dizzy and it only got worse when something brushed my foot again and I spun towards the water below me.

What I saw was undoubtedly the most bewildering and terrifying thing I had ever seen.

Crouched low in front of us was a mass of tangled dark fur, baring yellow teeth and staring at us out of glimmering black eyes. It looked like a wolf with clumps of dark green fur, seeming to blend in with the sludge of the sewer. But as it rose from its crouching position, I realized that it was no stray dog with a bad dye job. It was huge. It rose up to nearly the size of a horse, and I could have sworn my heart stopped. I was gaping at it, and suddenly I was clinging to my captor instead of trying to get away from him.

The dark-eyed man shifted, edging me behind him. The dog growled and I let out a yelp of fear, unable to take my eyes from the beast. The man suddenly snarled in return, a sound I had never heard a human make before. It hardly registered as bizarre to me anymore - I had been kidnapped out of a Barney's fitting room and I was facing down a green wolf the size of a horse. Suddenly nothing seemed unbelievable.

The creature suddenly leapt towards us, and my captor rushed forward, bearing the weight of the enormous canine.

"Stay back!" he shouted at me, as if I had some plan to join the fray. I was pressed back against the wall of the tunnel, my feet ice cold in the sludge and the hem of my dress soaked. I couldn't take my eyes off of the man and the wolf. Running didn't even cross my mind in that moment. The dog lunged for the man's throat, the both of them snarling like wild animals. The man lifted his arm and the dog's inch-long teeth buried in his forearm instead, tearing at flesh. I wasn't particularly concerned with my kidnapper's survival, but I was all too aware that the dog would come for me next if he defeated the man. There were tears in my eyes and I had my hands clamped over my mouth to muffle my shouts of terror as the dog tore at the man.

Quite suddenly, the beast backed off, yelping and howling. Through the darkness I realized that the man had a weapon in his hands now - a long, curved blade. He advanced on the beast without hesitation, chasing after it and swinging his weapon. The wolf made another lunge at him, and the man held up his arm again and sliced with his other hand, slamming the blade into the beast's throat. It made an awful keening sound and writhed on the end of his blade, pinned like a mouse in a trap. The man thrust the blade into the wall of the sewer, sliding the metal deep into the cement as if it were soft as a bar of soap. He was panting faintly as he turned towards me, holding out his hand. I immediately rushed forward, grabbing his hand with my own. His skin was warm and slick with blood - his own or the beast's. Suddenly my kidnapper seemed like a savior to me - he seemed much more safe than the monster-filled sewer.

"What the hell was that?" I finally managed to ask him, my voice trembling like a child's.

"Cu Sìth," he said, as if that name meant anything to me. I nodded as if it did, because damned if I was going to make sense of anything just then. I willingly kept close to my kidnapper's side now, my hands shaking a bit violently. He led me on through the sewers, his breath getting more and more labored. His clothes were soaked with blood. The dog's long teeth had torn up his arms, and I was pretty sure there was some kind of vital artery in there somewhere. I hoped that he at least waited until he'd shown me a way out of the sewer before he dropped dead. I did not want to run into any of those beasts on my own.

"Here," he murmured, stopping and reaching towards the wall to find a ladder. He turned to me and placed his broad hands on my waist, lifting me up to reach the metal bars. My raw-skinned feet screamed in protest as I climbed, my captor close behind me. He reached up over my head to wrestle with what I could only assume was a sewer cover, pushing it off and aside. He helped me climb out and emerged after me.

As I stood above ground again, I realized that we were a far ways from Barneys. The alley I was in was trashed and full of garbage, and my view of the street showed graffiti-covered buildings and clusters of loud people. I was in a part of the city I never dared venture into. I was the daughter of the C.E.O. of a multi-million dollar company. I had no business in these parts of the city. I was just as scared of it as I was of that beast, and I looked to my kidnapper. He looked exhausted, no doubt losing blood. He put his arm across my back and started guiding me towards a door right beside us, ushering us into the building.

I found myself in a dimly lit hallway full of doors, each with rusty apartment numbers hanging from them. I limped along with my kidnapper, who led me to an endless flight of stairs.

"Why don't you just get it over with and kill me?" I groaned, stopping at the foot of the stairs. My feet were bleeding, my head spinning and my body weak. "Please, I don't need to cater to your sadistic games."

My kidnapper must have found this statement very amusing, because he abruptly snorted and grinned faintly to himself. He looked back over at me with a smile curling the corners of his mouth.

"What's your name?" he asked me, rather bluntly. I was taken by surprise, and answered automatically.

"Talya," I responded immediately. "Natalya Wharton. You didn't know that?"

"I knew you were a Wharton," he admits, shaking his head, one of his bloody hands on the banister at the foot of the flight of stairs.

Realization suddenly dawned on me, and I gasped and lifted my hand to my mouth, then planted both of them on my hips. "You're going to hold me for ransom, aren't you?" My kidnapper laughed again at this, and I felt rage bubbling up in my stomach at his simple amusement in a situation where I was terrified for my life. "You're repulsive, you know that?!" I shouted, crossing my arms firmly over my chest. "Kidnapping a girl and dragging her around, throwing her at giant man-eating horse-wolves-"

"Hey," he interrupted, holding up a hand. "I saved you from the giant man-eating horse-wolf."

"Oh yeah? And why?" I demanded, lifting my eyebrows at him. "So you can - so you can ravage me?"

"Ravage you?" he repeated, blanching and then bursting into wildly amused laughter. He had an odd laugh - a sort of wheezing, rough sound that sounded more like he was coughing than laughing. "Oh, you wish." He started to climb the stairs, still laughing. I gaped at him and started to slam up the stairs after him, furious.

"I do not wish! I don't know what you sick people have on your mind! You made a tunnel to the Barney's dressing room, I'm sure you're not exactly playing with a full deck of cards!"

"Can you shut up for a little while? I'm kind of bleeding to death right now."

"Don't tell me to shut up!" I shouted, still storming up the stairs after him. I gasped and stopped suddenly, letting out a shout of pain as I brought my already injured foot down on a step and lost my footing, scraping away more skin. I was in the process of falling when his arms caught me. He didn't even wince, despite the wounds under his sleeves - which were themselves torn to ribbons. He gathered me up in his arms, pulling me to his chest with one arm under my knees and the other across my back. I punched his chest a few times, attempting to get free, but he started carrying me up the stairs and I stopped struggling. Maybe it would cause him to bleed to death faster. Maybe I could get away from this infuriating creature as soon as possible.

And somewhere along the road, in the back of my mind, I had started calling him a creature. Not human. I wasn't sure what put that idea in my head - maybe seeing the whole giant green wolf. Maybe seeing the way he fought said giant green wolf. Maybe it was the fact that he should have bled out everything in his body by now, but he was carrying me like I was weightless. Maybe it was he blackness of his eyes.

But I think the thing that pretty much sealed the deal for my subconscious was the fact that the blood he was trailing up the stairs was the same color green-brown as a squished beetle's entrails.

i am discouraged

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:46:22 GMT

lately i've felt very discouraged in my personal writing. does this happen to you guys, and if so, how do you deal? with rp it's great to get constant feedback, but with my personal writing - my pet novel-project in particular - i feel like i sit so long stewing my ideas between just me and myself, and quickly lose my will to write and come to believe that my ideas are just bad. there is no love & encouragement in personal projects, is there? today i went exploring to try to encourage myself, and amassed a perfect visual representation of my story.

but that wasn't really enough to get me motivated again, so i was wondering if any of you ladies are also working on projects and would be interested in swapping first chapters. i need some feedback and encouragement, and i would be glad to provide feedback and encouragement. we could have a first-chapter-swapping party. anyone up for it?

go easy on me guys

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:22:04 GMT

Comment here with a character of mine, and I'll tell you five things you didn't know about him/her, as well as one thing even he/she doesn't realize!

how come no one has asked for more cowbell?

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:29:05 GMT

Which scenarios would you like to see my characters get into? This could be anything from more interaction with another char, more emphasis on a certain character flaw they have, or something as simple as more happy scenes!

yoink

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:46:59 GMT

Without looking at my current and past character directories, what patterns do you associate with my roleplaying? This can include things like gender, economic status, living arrangements, physical details, PBs, presence of NPCs, family, personalities, eras, specific characters, etc.

And, now you are allowed to look at my directory, which character(s) have been the greatest stretch for me, in your opinion?

keréngro

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:22:27 GMT

Viollca is one of my favorite characters to write, and his apartment is in many ways an extension of him. It's a sanctuary, it's warm and inviting, and it is entirely his space. I have an extremely vivid picture of his apartment in my mind, so I thought I'd go crazy and make a whole post devoted to it.

After much searching, I found this to be the closest to the house I had in mind. I changed the colors and stuff, but the house itself is about right. The only difference is that the frontmost window is a bow window, not just flat like the one in the photo. In addition to being Viollca's apartment, Augie's mother's stationary store is located on the first floor. The backyard is devoted entirely to Viollca's garden. Viollca enters his upstairs apartment through a door on the side of the house.

Inside Viollca's apartment. Shut up don't make fun of my shitty map. Whatever. The floors are entirely dark, antique wood that looks like this and the ceilings slope and point the way the roof does.

A: The door. To get to this door, there is a steep and narrow flight of stairs accessed by a screen door on the side of the house. Viollca has old bells tied to his door that make it jingle when opened.
B: Old refrigerator.
C: Countertop made of dark green marble. Above and below the countertop, there are tons of cabinets, which Viollca keeps stocked with plenty of food and cookware.
D: Kitchen sink, which has a wide window in front of it, overlooking the garden behind the house. Viollca has black lace curtains on all of his windows save for this one.
E: Oven. This is also very old, but is still going strong.
F: Table. This table is very long, big enough for a feast, though Viollca lives alone. The table is antique wood, chipped and worn, and all of the chairs are mismatched. He keeps candles and candelabras along the center of the table.
G: Washer and dryer. Probably the only modern convenience in the home, and one that Viollca has learned to love.
H: Large claw-footed tub, stocked with homemade soaps.
I: Sink that looks as if it has been there since the house was built, very old-fashioned.
J: Toilet with a pulley flush.
K: Bookcase, most shelves full of books of poetry, history, parapsychology. Some shelves also have keepsake boxes on them, where Viollca has designated items that he treasures.
L: Antique, dark wood hideaway desk with golden knobs. Viollca's desk is perpetually messy, full of papers and tea leaves and history books. It is set up in front of a window, with different handblown glass bottles lined up along the windowsill to cast pretty reflections on the desk.
M: Bookcase.
N: Bow window with a wide seat, which Viollca has lined with pillows. He spends a lot of time here reading. The window has lace hangings which, when drawn, tent the window off from the rest of the room and make a sweet little hideaway.
O: A sort of sitting area, with a dark hand-woven oriental rug in purples and reds. There is a Victorian sofa unholstered with soft red velvet, and a cozy and ornate armchair, also lined with red velvet. The coffee table is squat and antique and has Viollca's best tea set on top of it, as if he might ever have company over to use it.
P: A nightstand, with a candle and a glass of water on top and Viollca's journal beneath.
Q: Viollca's bed. This consists of a soft down-filled mat set on the floor, covered with pillows and quilts. It's more of a burrow than a bed. Over the bed, there is lace hanging from a point on the ceiling, draping down to surround the bed and keep it closed off from the rest of the room and the sunlight that comes through in the morning.
R: Viollca's heavy antique wood dresser. Viollca's clothes are pretty much all made by his mother and aunts.

And that concludes your tour of Viollca's apartment. Can you imagine Viollca showing his place on Cribs? He'd try to offer the camera tea.

Music

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:05:12 GMT

So, music is really important to me when developing characters, and I have a serious problem with creating playlists for my favorite characters and their pairings. I decided to share these with you guys, not only for the joy of character development, but also because my music is awesome. Face it. Right click & save to download songs, click to listen. I have them hosted on my server, so no worries of link expiration!

Tennessee
Freedy Johnston - Bad Reputation: Tennessee/Eli. "I know I got a bad reputation, and it isn't just talk talk talk. If I could only give you everything, you know I haven't got."
Sean Walsh - Darlin': Tennessee/Eli. First of all, there's the obvious fact that it's titled darlin', and says the word throughout. Also, "Darlin', you have never asked of me for more than a place where you and I could sleep, and I promise someday I will find a place where we can stay, but darlin' won't you sleep with me today?"
Hank Williams Sr. - Lost Highway: Tennessee's anthem. "I'm a rolling stone, all alone and lost. For a life of sin, I have paid the cost."
The Pierces - Lights On: Tennessee/Eli. There are about a thousand lines that remind me of them, but for starters, "Some people say that I want you for your money but I really want you for your body. Pleased to meet you, baby, I want to be your honey, so let's go tell your daddy and mommy."
Lynyrd Skynryd - Double Trouble: I'm pretty sure they met Tennessee before they wrote this song. "Even mama said, 'Son, you're bad news, and it won't be too long before someone puts one through you.'"
Azure Ray - Beautiful Things Can Come From the Dark: Tennessee/Oscar. I'll always have such a sweet spot for them, and this is basically their anthem. "Someone else's boy, tell me your convoluted stories through a half-rotten mouth. I will decipher them, and tell the world of your heart and how beautiful things can come from the dark."
Johnny Cash - Walk The Line: Tennessee/Eli. Tennessee's playlist would not be complete without mention of this song. "Because you're mine, I walk the line."

Hans
The Boy Least Likely To - Be Gentle With Me: Hans' song, because he is a sweet little thing. "Staring off into the solar system, all the stars are fixed up into the sky. I just want to sparkle for a moment, before I just fizzle out and die."
Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I Am: Hans/Gabe. This song is so sweet and suits them so well. "'Cause I love the way you say good morning, and you take me the way I am."
Regina Spektor - Movies: This very creepy-sounding song is quite appropriate for current Gabe/Hans. "Don't say goodbye like you're burying him, because the world is round and he might return."

William
Two Gallants - Despite What You've Been Told: This is the song that prompted me to make Liam in the first place. Well, put his personality in my head anyway - Ama's incredible Jacob was the first inspiration. "Despite what you've been told, I once had a soul."
Nick Drake - Time Has Told Me: Liam/Laura. Nick's music suits Liam so well, and this song could be their anthem. "Time will tell you to stay by my side, to keep on trying 'till there's no more to hide."
Dave Matthews Band - Out Of My Hands: Alright, generally I hate DMB, but this song is so appropriate for Liam. "It's out of my hands for now. I can't just walk away, it'd be nice to walk away, but I don't feel safe."
Red House Painters - Brown Eyes: Liam/Laura. "Tell me and take your time, set free this soul of mine." Also, Red House Painters is Liam's favorite band.

Viollca
Yann Tiersen - Soir De Fete: Kinda just makes you want to dance, right? Or make out with a gypsy, maybe.
Tilly & the Wall - Perfect Fit: Viollca/Luke, painfully so. "One heart attack and you stumble lost into a light you make so brightly false, and I watch as blood spills down your arm and makes its way to me."
Rocky Votolato - I'll Catch You: Viollca/Luke. I would type up like every line of this if I felt like spamming even more, because it suits them so well. "The days behind you are haunting the ones you're living in now. The ghost of your past carries the weight of your name. Where would you be, who are you without the scarring?"
Regina Spektor - Better: Viollca/Luke. Okay, painfully obvious, but just so appropriate. "If I kissed you where it's sore, would you feel better? Would you feel anything at all?"
OneRepublic - Come Home: Viollca/Poe. They break my heart. "Come home, come home, because I've been waiting for you for so long, for so long."
Devendra Banhart - A Ribbon: Viollca/Luke. "I'd like to sing to you if you'd like me to..."

Remy
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Penthouse Pauper: Remy has fabulous po' boy chic for a little bayou baby. "I can be anything at all, but it's gotta be twenty-four karat solid gold."
Mayday - Pond Love: Hadrian/Remy. "I'll be your lily pad, step down, step right down on me." <3
Of Montreal - Keep Sending Me Black Fireworks: Hadrian/Remy. This song is so sweet and blissful, as they are right now. "What is this that sends black fireworks dancing around me? When we kiss, the explosiveness is life's sweet mystery."

Chanta
Johnny Hollow - Rasputin: Clearly, totally self-explanatory. "From God I'm sent, or so I'm told."

BONUS PS SONG OF THE DAY
Daniel Johnston/Bright Eyes - Devil Town: "All my friends were vampires. I didn't know they were vampires. It turns out I was a vampire myself, in the devil town."

paper dolls

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:36:14 GMT

I'm actually really excited about this meme because I tend to have really strong images of my character's clothes in every scene. And in my opinion,

Wendy's style is sweet and a little dreamy. She's half tomboy and half girly girl, wearing messy jeans and nice shirts. Consider about 90% of her clothes covered in paint.

Vinny probably does not own any pants. She is all dresses, all the time. She goes stocking-less most of the time, and isn't afraid to wear sneakers with dresses despite how short she is.

Tennessee's clothes are lived in, the epitome of comfort. Everything is soft with wear and age, and he wears a lot of grays and olive-tones. Oh, and the cowboy boots? They go with everything, as far as he's concerned.

Nesia's style is based around vintage earth tones. She wears mostly second-hand clothes, including a lot of old rock and roll band t-shirts. She also combines things that shouldn't go together, like saris and boots. But do you really want to question her?

Remy likes stripes. Most of his shirts have stripes. His clothes are wrinkled and definitely old, sometimes ill-fitting but mostly he makes it work.

Lucy likes silk and high heels. Heels high enough to do serious damage if you stand between her and something she wants.

WHORECRUX LOL

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:01:34 GMT

The Questions

1) Of all the characters you've played, past and present, which was your favorite? Why?
I have a top three. Trying to pick only one of the top three is entirely impossible. Hans, Tennessee, and Viollca. They're my bbs! I'm not sure why exactly, but they're my favorite to write, and they're the closest to my heart. Also, Nesia is getting up there too.

2) Of all of the characters you've played, past and present, which was your least favorite? Why?
JP. I always had a love-hate relationship with him, and now, because of outside influences mostly, I totally hate him and don't enjoy writing him.

3) Of all the characters other people have played, which was your favorite? Why?
WHAT YOU WANT ME TO PICK FAVORITES? Everyone has characters that I seriously love. My TOP favorites? Okay. Gabe, Wilde, Jacob, Eli, Luke, Robbie, Poe, Peter..... I could go on, actually. I love them dearly~

4) Of all the characters other people have played, which was your least favorite? Why?
I think this is a really rude question! If you don't have anything nice to say, and so on. GOSH.

5) Of all of the 'ships you have participated in, which was your favorite? Why?
Um, I love ALL the 'ships my characters are in!! But I suppose, since my top three are closest to my heart, all of their ships are most dear to me. Tennessee/Eli, Tennessee/Wilde, Gabe/Hans, Vilca/Poe, Vilca/Luke... Oh, Peter/Wendy too! And you know, I love Jacob/Vinny, because they shouldn't work but they do. They don't have much in common, but they still work.

6) Of all of the 'ships you have not participated in, which was your favorite? Why?
I love Piers/Edward, seriously. And Nico/Eli, too, even if Tennessee hates it :P

7) Of all of the 'ships you have participated in, which was your least favorite? Why?
Uhm... I'm not sure if there are any that I don't like. Even characters that I don't like writing (read as: JP), I love the characters he was 'shipped with!

8) Of all of the 'ships you have not participated in, which was your least favorite? Why?
ALSO A RUDE QUESTION.

The Challenges

1) Name a 'ship you haven't seen yet that you think might be fun to see played out. Why?
TENNESSEE/NICO ROFL. Jk. Seriously. The world would implode. You know what would have been pretty? Hans/Poe.

2) Name one character you've played that has died during gameplay and explain how it affected you, if at all. If you have not had a character die, name the character that changed the most while in play and how that affected you.
I haven't killed anyone in ps/arp/sl, but I have killed characters in other games. One was way too close to me and I shouldn't have done it. Killing Ves off was not a pleasant experience, and it was mostly done because of the fact that he was so close to my heart.

3) Name a character you started to play, decided it did not work for you, and dropped. Why?
Peter in PS, but he was dropped after his first scene. JP wasn't working for me for a long time before I dropped him.

4) Name a character you've always wanted to play, but never got around to. Why?
Dear god, don't even get me started. Lately I've really wanted to play a Ross Lockridge Jr. Let's see how long I can resist.

5) Name a character that you've played in the past, and would love to play again. Why?
Draco from HP fandom, because he's such an asshole and I love it. I'd love to play a Ves again, but I suppose Viollca is similar enough.

6) Name a character you've played that ended up contrary to how you originally envisioned them. Why?
Hmm... A lot of mine change a little in their first couple scenes, settling into themselves, but I don't think any have changed drastically between creation and now.

7) Name a 'ship that happened that completely took you by surprise, either participant or spectator. Why?
Guy/Marcus. What? Also, of my own, Luke/Vilca. They just kind of bonded without consulting us.

8) Name a 'ship that started off as something you disliked but grew into something you liked quite a bit, either participant or spectator. Why?
Um... I don't think there are any that I've changed my mind about!

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:56:01 GMT

List three (or more) of your characters, and I'll tell you how I would have played them, similar or different.

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:00:52 GMT

Comment on this entry with a character and three prompts - a noun, an adjective, and a verb - and I'll write a little drabble about it.

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:45:35 GMT

Certain characters of mine have been dosed with a potion that makes them tell only the truth.. Ask them any question that you want, and he or she will answer truthfully!

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:46:22 GMT

1) Pick one or more of my characters, and go here to generate 10 random numbers between 1 and 100. Generate a different set of numbers for each character you pick.

2) I will answer the corresponding questions from here from the point of view of the character(s).

yay i steals it

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:03:30 GMT

1. Who are you?

2. Yay! How long have we been RPing together?

3. What was your first impression about our RPs? (IE, were you nervous, intimidated, disappointed, impressed, amused, annoyed?)

4. First characters we played together?

5. Most amusing scene from one of our RPs?

6. Most depressing?

7. Sappiest/most romantic?

8. Cutest couple from our RPs?

9. Cutest friends?

10. What's your favorite character that I play/have played? Why?

11. Least favorite? Why?

12. Something you'd like to RP/see happen in an RP with me at some point (no matter how random!)?

13. Name a song that reminds you of one of our couples/one of my characters and why you chose it.

14. Anything in particular that makes my style of RPing stand out from others'?

15. Anything I could improve on?

16. Character of mine you'd like to see more of?

i stealz your memes

ctharaldsen@gmail.com — Tue, 20 May 2008 11:10:19 GMT

What were you thinking when you first met your current main squeeze (husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, significant other, sex partner, WHATEVER!)

Augie re: Morgan: Who is that? He's gorgeous. What? No, I didn't just think that. I didn't. Oh, look at his lips...

Hans re: Gabe: Oh my god, he's going to punch me. Oh my god, he's going to - oh my god, he's beautiful. And he's going to punch me. Why is he looking at me like that...
(Hans thinks in italics a lot.)

JP re: Evelyn: Oh, what a dick. I'm going to shove that book down his throat.

JP re: Simone: Two questions: How can we prove that we really exist at all and will you marry me?

Tennessee re: Oscar: Well, lookit him. Boy that gorgeous shouldn't be walking by his lonesome in the rain...

Tennessee re: Eli: Mine.

Vinny re: Jacob: Heehee, he's wearing a tie. I think I'll keep him.

Viollca re: Poe: I have been looking for you. It must be you.

Liam re: Laura: Jacob is going to slap me for letting a girl see me reading a book called Naked Lunch.

Ramses re: Ana: Oh, she's gorgeous. Wait. Is she talking to me? Does... not... compute...

And some Lindonport characters:
Tennessee re: Charlie: Well ain't this my lucky day? Two jackpots...

Nicci re: Charlie: He looks cold. He looks like me. I won't let anyone hurt him.
(Not really significant others, but bifflz)

Nicci re: Neftali: Of all the doors in all the city... I should really play the lottery. Delicious.

Edward re: Neftali: I want to paint his skin. His bones. His hearbeat. Oh, I want to paint him.