Things I've Written, Entirely Out of Context: Nostalgia Edition (2008-2011)

It's the beginning of the school year, which means more work for your resident college student and, unfortunately, less time and energy spent on new writing to entertain all you folks here at Mapping Out a Sky. But before I disappear into the mists of academia, here's another round of intriguing and amusing excerpts—this time from various works of mine written years and years ago! Keep an eye out for:

• Preteens snarking about how much "smarter" they are than adults!
• Grown adults snarking about how much smarter they are than other adults!
• The author snarking about the state of the education system!
• Fanfiction! Bonus points if you can guess the fandom.
• Random exclamations!
• Women snarking about the utter incompetence of men and running away with each other!

That's right, it's time for...

Things I've Written, Entirely Out of Context:

Nostalgia Edition

(2008-2011)

The Cover Project

Hello, readers! I know it's been a while - have I seriously not posted anything since May? - but I thought I'd show you a different side of my skill set today: namely, graphic design.

With the help of Adobe Photoshop and access to a wealth of Creative Commons licensed images, I've made a few mock-up covers for writing projects of mine. The first two covers are for projects I am no longer working on, but I loved designing them and couldn't leave them out.

So, without further ado, I give you the results of The Cover Project!

Things I've Written, Entirely Out of Context: February, March, and April 2017

Hello, readers! Time for another series of (hopefully) intriguing and/or amusing excerpts from pieces I've been working on—also known as Things I've Written, Entirely Out of Context!

There are considerably fewer excerpts this time around, despite combining three months of writing progress. What can I say? My life is busy and my muse fickle. Sorry.

Things I've Written, Entirely Out of Context:

February, March, and April 2017 Edition

Introducing the Character Directory

Ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary folk, please allow me to introduce you to a brand-new feature of this website: the Character Directory!

Yes, now whenever you hear me go on and on about a character about whom you know absolutely nothing, just head over to the Character Directory page and click on the character's name to get a detailed profile—or, for those pressed for time, a 140-character summary of their personality, Twitter-style.

Alas, previous few of the detailed profiles are actually complete, but I will continue to work on them, because apparently writing about my characters in purely theoretical terms is more appealing than actually working on my novel.

Here's a quick example of a completed profile, for a certain Arkady fe Normonne:

ARKADY 

Full name: Princess Arkadya Magati fa Normonne Prince Arkady Magati fe Normonne 

Age: 20

Gender: Male (Transgender) 

Appearance: 5'5" with pale skin, thin build, and long limbs and fingers. Dark brown/black hair cropped military-style. Dark eyes with epicanthic folds. Small, straight nose typical of fe Normonne ancestry. Small, bound breasts, the left of which has a scar under it. Muscled back and calloused fingers from archery. 

In 140 Characters: Shapeshifter, earth mage, trans man, and reluctant heir to the throne. Tries to avoid politics by running away to forest. Bad decision-maker. 

In More Than 140 Characters: Arkady is the only child and heir of King Mathylde of Kevarya. Because of his gender identity, his relationship with his mother—and with the entire royal court—is fraught with political tension. Introverted and guarded, Arkady does not trust easily and never has. He is fiercely intelligent with a deep hunger for knowledge and an observant eye, but beneath his quiet exterior lies an insecure and emotionally sensitive young man. Although he comes across as antisocial, Arkady is quite empathetic, especially in matters concerning the oppressed. He hates binaries, especially of gender, and has a personalized idea of masculinity to which he ascribes, entirely separate from society's definition of masculinity. To Arkady, gender is an individual creed, and a creed which he takes seriously. If you try to strip him of his identity or take away his freedom to be himself, hell hath no fury like Arkady fe Normonne.

Sound exciting? Well then, head on over and read more!

Valentines

Ah, Valentine's Day. A day to celebrate love in all its different forms. Though, come to think of it, Saint Valentine is also the patron saint of beekeeping, epilepsy, and the plague... and I'm sick in bed this Valentine's Day. Thank you ever so much, Saint Valentine. I'd better not have the actual plague.

Anyway, here are some... unique valentines my characters have sent and received this year.

To Willow Quince, from everyone's favorite bisexual scythe-and-swordswoman:

To a certain Creatrix, from Paris's most dangerous wannabe goddess:

To Sebastian Antonyve, from the Highest Adviser of Kevarya:

To Silias Longwood, from a notorious pyromaniacal rebel leader:

To Morian Redfern, from the resident drunken Scotsman:

And finally, to Geneviève Sondheim, from a brilliant neurologist who's a bit too morally gray for comfort:

Things I've Written, Entirely Out of Context: January 2017

Hello, dear readers!

Those who know me in real life may already know that I've been working on a massive update to this website. This is not that update. This is, instead, random excerpts from projects I've been working on (Kevarya, the Danse Macabre/Crossfire universe, and an interactive game called Villains), some of which have been previously posted on my Tumblr, to some praise from random strangers on the Internet:

Image description: Three screenshots of Tumblr post tags, reading: "#[three shocked emojis] #are you ever like #in suspense #because #[four shocked emojis]," "#I CAN'T STOP QUOTING THIS #AND IT'S YOUR FAULT," and "#a what now #grigory wht are you doing #GRIGORY IS ANNOYED I'M LIVEBLOGGING HIS INTERROGATION #*screams* #i'm really worried about grigory tbh," followed by an anonymous comment, "lol I love your dialogue. good job man," and the author's reply: "I keep trying to write these serious, emotional scenes and all my characters want to do is snark at each other. I love them so much."

Welcome to Things I've Written, Entirely Out of Context. I hope to make this a monthly series, so you have not seen the last of these amusing glimpses into the lives of my characters.

Disclaimer: These excerpts come from works of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events are probably just a coincidence.

Things I've Written, Entirely Out of Context:

January 2017 Edition