intermission I

morning rambling

wow it turned into a suspense!
It's surprising unexpected. prob coz of the tail i left 'how could there be 67 kings...'
doesn't it sound like a setting where a gigantic dark castle-styled mansion filled with 70 something inhabitants, each with their own secrets to tell.
i'll carry on with the story althou i suck at suspense.
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after lunch thoughts

lol. I didn't mean to remove it though. I should probably type 'to be improved'. YES nothing's to be removed. Shamey shamey I didn't finish any of Woolf's great works, not even a single novel.

There I digressed. Intermission I. Want I.

After lunch I continued on the cliffhanger you left me, and in courteous return, didn't quite forget to leave you another hanger to tackle with. So I hope you enjoy it!

The merits of a marathon style blog novel is becoming clear. Unexpected plot developments could be v mind broadening. What I had in mind initially was a weird story in modern setting, where the mysterious man who owned 77 mail boxes (or 78 if including his own) was waiting to forget, or to remember. Whatever reason it is. A cold-hearted city story even.

But now it seems more interesting stuff is coming up. I'm all eager to know what's in store. Don't press yourself to write. Move your fingers and type only when thoughts come to you. I'm v v free at the moment and after the nap, I woke up with a few immature ideas which I thought would maybe tail nicely to your last entry. But sometimes I plainly didn't know what more to write.

So like said, no discussion. Just have fun!

ps. i take back my last sentence.
Let's discuss while we have fun!

This's going suspense, not some free verse. Have to discuss or else the characters will be split beyond recognition

Stick starting Chapter One

Stick wakes with a splitting headache and yawns wildly. Contemplating the ceiling fan for some fractions of a second he decides to call himself ‘It' today, a sexless, whirlpool-like consciousness. ‘It' then lethargically tosses around on the narrow bed, only to discover, grudgingly, that he's sleeping among scattered tarot cards, survivors of previous night's attempts at fortune-telling. Thwarted efforts in trying to tear the opaque veil off Fate's ugly face had driven Stick into some tantrum-throwing, which resulted in, among other things, an already-dog-eared and faded set of tarot cards becoming ink-stained and torn beyond repair. One card, however, seems to fare surprisingly well—The Fool, resting snugly beside Stick's pillow, stands unscathed, clean, grinning widely, a sight that's almost sinister in the feeble morning light. Stick shudders and in the same flash of a second recalls the impending deadline of the novel, which his agent and sometimes even the publisher have started calling up and inquiring about more frequently than pleasant. The stack of paper Stick prepared for the novel months ago now sleeps on his broad desk in the vast emptiness of his workroom, yellowed through autumn and winter, yet to enjoy the gentle scratch of a pen point and soothing flow of indigo ink. Except last night, in the severe attack of Nausea and self-loathing, Stick had smashed his pewter ink bottle. He stared gaping, as if stunned, as the indigoness, now free of confines, flied towards the paper stack and gave it a light kiss on the side, speckling each and every page with idiosyncratic streaks and dots, almost as telling as crack patterns on a turtle shell.

Alright, I am going to start with The Fool. Before Stick consciously realizes his almost subconscious resolution, he's already striding into the deserted, stale workroom, and starts scribbling away frenziedly in a broken pencil. Somehow, the impermanency and ease of change of pencil marks gives Stick tremendous comfort, unthought of and quite unthinkable in his fountain pen days. He writes—

April 1st,
[The Fool—Upright: New beginnings, new adventures, new opportunities, unlimited possibilities, pleasure, passion, thoughtlessness, rashness. Reverse: A bad decision, indecision, apathy, hesitation, a faulty choice.]

“Mother, I think I'll go to the literature camp myself.”
A girl in a checkered denim dress lowered her eyes and said aloud, as if more to herself than to her slightly startled mother. It was a clear day in mid-spring, the platform, reeling in gasoline smell, was quickly emptying, the dusty red train noisily engulfing passengers, the air making its presence felt by its unsettling stillness.

The girl fingered the creases in her faded blue dress and said once more, this time with a solemnity and determination that was almost irrefutable. She didn't turn around to behold the melancholic, knowing smile in her mother's eyes; she knew. Without another word she reached out for her light suitcase, now with a black dove sitting on it, Sphinx-like, fixing her with an unfathomable stare, cooing silently. She felt momentarily dizzy, blackness closing in all at once. She shook her head, and it was daylight again. The black little creature had departed, leaving an almost dried, heart shaped puddle of poop on the suitcase. Instinctively the girl reached in her pocket for a Kleenex—“Don't.” the mother broke her silence suddenly, her voice low and comforting, her manner queenly. The girl looked up into those steady, dark eyes, and saw both premonition and determined amusement. In that fleeting eye-contact mother and daughter conversed a thousand thoughts, and the girl boarded the train, alone.

Diary, April the first, departure from northpoint station.
Alice,
We both saw the premonition in mom's eyes just now and I can hardly tell what the Future has in stock for me. You, my future self, would be wiser of course, but I won't be daunted to jot down my ignorance now, or maybe it's just my usual rash thoughtlessness that constantly threaten to humiliate me before you. Either way, I'll say this: I am happy that I am embarking on this new adventure, though I am hardly seeing beyond where I stand in time and space Now, the bright penetrating light of the torch that's my Insight now rendered quite powerless as the straight passageways it shone down no longer are, replaced instead by crooked, narrow alleys, meandering in an insentient maze called Fate, all a resolute choice of mine. New openings, new possibilities, adventures, these are what energize me, and I really hope that you still hold these dear in your heart, no matter how far you have advanced on the Time axis.

Novel X, a tentative start

Prologue (Or should it be plot summary?)

Here’s a room, almost empty you say, but there’s one desk which makes you hesitate to say the word ‘empty’, and above all, there’s a man at the desk, biting his pencil. You can almost make out the teeth marks. He’s thinking, musing, deeply entrapped in his own web of imagination, or is it deadlock--we’re not sure. But we can see his pages are empty. There’s only a date, 1 April. He needs his players, he needs a protagonist. Probably a girl to start with, then continue to invite in more to make the plot going. He stared hard at the blankness and suddenly started to scribble with such fury that started us.



Meanwhile, it might be useful to know that the man is a schizophrenic, split into two major personalities, among other tinier, quieter ones; he himself terms the two Slap and Stick, mocking his own life as a slapstick writer. Quite a terminal case, shall we say.

Here you say there’s nothing special about it, just another lunatic writing a multi-paragraph self-entertaining thing. Why, it’s all a dream. We always excuse the inconsequentiality and nonsensicality of dreams, don’t we.

It’s a dynamic, interactive novel. Not to be composed by one person alone. For every 2 weeks, writings are to be exchanged, at random. To whom the unfinished pieces are passed on to is unknown. Scripts are deposited in a black box and drawn by the next one, but who? Nobody knows. No complaints, no grudges. Write on as if it’s always been your own.

They don’t know each other. How is that possible? Communication is strictly forbidden. Let’s just idealize the situation for now and be contented.
They can’t tell from handwritings since everything’s typewritten.

But, there’re always ways to know. Loopholes, chances, traps.

The same beginning takes on different flows. Life of the writer at the desk takes different turns.


A girl gets to know the secrets of a boy, or she thinks it’s a he. And keeps the secrets well. Pen pals in love.

One of them writes a detective story. On paper, horrible crimes are committed. On the day of final submission, real murder takes place. It is April 1st.
Who wrote the plot? Too many. Who did it? No one. Everyone.
A paper is stolen and returned a day later. Everything’s the same except the ending. Why the change?
They’re each independent happenings. They’re all linked

novel discussion post 2

novel discussion post2

haha great great kicking it off! yeah i totally agree that we should have some kind of forum specially dedicated to novel discussion just to keep track n easy reference. stick, you configure that! Stick starting Chapter One, great! initally when i read the post i thought the 'Fool' was a he, or is it my stereotypical view that made me think along this old line. surprised yet super delighted that it's a female FOOl hahaha, laughing my lungs out. this's kind of offstream n cool in some sense to have a female protagonist who's like the puppet master pulling the strings n silently dictating the lives of our tarot players behind the scenes dont you think? alrite, so we have Stick as the map maker. This's getting mysteriously interesting!!

and i favour the idea that the life of our protagonist, the Fool, should be given little mention throughout the early part of the novel, or maybe only unfolded slowly, bits by bits to keep her a forever mysterious mind boggler. and about what kind of background and character the FOOL shoudl entitle, it must be somewhat unusual and shocking then, can't think of an abstract idea of it though. yes she's schizo.

Tarot cards: agree, 22 would be horrifyingly excessive. let's lay our favourite cards down. i think something mysterious about tarot card (it does happen to me!!) is that some cards never appear. for me personally,these cards seldom appear ' the lovers, hierophant, the sun'. and these appear with shocking high frequency 'devil, justice, fool, magician'. well, digressed. ok, i'll pick some first.

lovers
justice
devil
hermet
hierophant
magician
death
empress/emperor - should we give both versions? they're about the same to me, maybe just choose one.

btw, is there such card as 'stars', 'the towers'? stars being hope, towers meaning dillema? and the hangman?

stick pick your favourite cards and let's see the final contestants.

mmm, after deciding the cards let's assign names n characters and link them all up in some way. like matchmaking game, maybe we should think of some ultra bizzare relationship, such as the Hierophant with the hermit,hangman and tower, and some contesting ones like devil-justice, death-stars etc. can well go beyond one to one correspondence. and anyway it's a dynamic novel and everything gets swapped on periodical basis, so there's equal chance that these tarot characters meet each other once, on paper or in some other forms.

logic is a tangle of mess now. i'll continue with chapter 2 tmr. any suggestions how to do the intro, or we stick with 'stick writing the first chap', or giving a prologue. i was thinking, giving each chapter a tarot card name may not be a very good idea though, depends on how we pull it off, if not smooth it'll sound very mundane and poorly structured. ideas?? and continuing on chap 1, the fool start scratching the scary date down' april 1st', what will she write and who's gonna follow?
maybe we should draw up some independent events first, major themes, such as establishing the realtionship of major characters. ok, waiting for your wise thoughts! with abaited breath!!

Novel discussion post 3

hoho now Stick wakes again and here's my thoughts: but hey no, before my thoughts, I must give my previous batch of thoughts/intentions, which consist of the following—
1. nah Stick is hardly THE mapmaker. Neither is Stick a female. In my head it went like this: since Novel X is a doll-within-doll affair, the outermost layer is of course the man at the desk in an empty room writing the detective novel, and in the tentative prologue I named this man SlapStick, who is schizophrenic, who splits into two major personalities that's Us! This lays the grounds that Us can take turns to write and the differential styles explained for. In a style like “stick writing chap one”, “slap writing chap 2”, “stick continuing chap25””slap revising chap 14””diary: by stick/slap” etc etc, so as to give ourselves flexibility and control over the developments at any one time. Hence, Slap is THE OTHER IMPORTANT HALF OF a mapmaker, just like how it works here in the blog enterprise hehehehe. Exactly which differing aspects of personality in Us (us us us) we want to reflect here in novelist SlapStick we both will have to start another discussion on. My tentative ideas now: Stick as the angry, anxious, impatient, violent, fatalistic, and always theorizing about HIS (since Slapstick was defined to be a man biologically) sexual identity or lack thereof (therefore the she/he/it thought, a minor point of interest which could be played out more if it becomes more relevant later), and Slap as gentle maybe, easier going, trying to be brighter, but still a bit sulky about life n acrid. We'll have to make them two distinctly different, if not contrasting, yet subtly sharing some character too, say sentimentality, that underlies the united individual Slapstick. Gotta arrive at a consensus later.

2. So Slapstick being a terminal case of schizophrenic (refer to Prologue) constantly switches back and forth between Slap and Stick (reminds of Fightclub huh?), either self quite unconscious of the switches. He may keep a personal diary too, so while detective novel under his pen unfolds, his own personal history and problems and realisation of his split can be disclosed on a parallel line. (how very complex! But hey, we are challenge-loving souls!)

summary of chat history, 2004-12-01

1. agreeing on the girl being a schizo…there's distinct difference between schizoid and schizophrenic and i am not sure which would fit with her THE FOOL identity better, if at all. NB: gotta do research on that.
2. named the fool Alice, from Alice in wonderland. Her mom is the high priestess, tentatively
3. the novel has 3 layers: slapstick, tarot set ppl, tarot ppl novel
4. hourglass structure probably. the first and third layers being the bigger ends, the second layer a connection between the two worlds
5. characters sorta abstract and eccentric and surreal but hauntingly make readers have to identify with one or another trait in them
6. the personalities of characters remain largely unaltered, we assume that's where slap and stick have unwittingly agreed upon. only the fate of the people are steered around. like in a whirlpool they are pulled by contesting forces （ that's us), not knowing if in the end they'd be swallowed alive or escape
7. we write diary entries and letters and 3rd person narratives on 2nd layer but the weightage needn be as big as on 1 and 3
8. characters in layer2 have real life names, like alice. they arrive at the scene of confine, say an island, a mountain resort, and are asked to draw tarot cards.
9. we have to come up with characters and establish their basic relationships or else this's gonna run into a hodgepodge given how inexperienced we are. although individual pictures will be perfect, impressionistic, coloured, the whole plot can't be void or else we'll be 张艺谋ｎｏ．２
10. a bit like nausea/fightclub/ten little niggers/run lola run/conan/the talented mr ripley/*more to come* rolled into 1
11. http://www.themysticeye.com/info/tarotcardm.htm
12. stick's fav cards ( which are suitable to adapt into persons): fool, magician, hanged man, hermit, devil
13. maybe an inner circle of ppl writing the novel, say five, plus the ruling one, who can be the Emperor going all wrong in the head. and there's an outer circle, relatives and friends, whom the inner circle communicate with via letter, telepathy, whatever
14. the devil in particular in slap's impression is a very charismatic person
15. fool and magician are lovers
16. slap was thinking of a character, not exactly hermit, someone inconsequential who has extrememly low self esteem n watches others in silence, always there in the shadows and he has lots of secrets too. Stick thought that's the hanged man.
17. there are just 9 ppl cards among the 22.. 9=fool, magician,high priestess,empress,emperor,hierophant,hermit,hanged man,devil
18. slapstick himself could be the tenth one. Nice number.
19. summary of chap1: alice is departing from train station, saying bye to her mom who's tentatively the high priestess, going to the mountain resort/island. a 3rd person narrative, maybe plus a short diary entry
20. if we auteurs can't agree on one ending, we can write multiple endings...like run lola run
21. advice: don't look too far and speculate immoderately, or you shall get vertigo and writer's block.

Novel discussion post

I thought we'd better create a post specially dedicated to our discussion of the novel, ideas of characters, flow and plot and all that. String our ideas here. Hopefully this is an easier way to keep track and reference too.
So now I am thinking this: there are 22 cards in the major tarot set, but we couldn't possibly get 22 characters in the novel! Maybe we can mention some of them in passing, still it would be very hard to keep track of all of them, and the sheer number would hamper the novel's focused-ness, considering that most Agatha novels contain less than ten main characters, (the masterly And then there were none has ten of course), and skilled as the queen of crime novels was, sometimes we readers just can't help get baffled and irritated...i think I have belaboured the point. So now what shall we do? Assigning the cards to a full set of 22 characters and choose to concentrate on some of them, or rolling some cards into one character, like The High Priestess and the Empress into one? Or do both? Or something else? Thoughts thoughts~~~~~

Also, if you have read what I just wrote, my idea goes like this: faithful to your original plot line I am gonna introduce a girl character, embodying the Fool. She's going to be presented through her diary entries and letters to someone(s), who can take up roles from the cards, say, her mother as the High Priestess or the Empress, or a much respected teacher as a the Hierophant etc, who may or may not be part of the novel-within-novel writing group. So I am going to write her letter or diary now, briefly saying why she's going for this novel-writing thing, (exactly why I myself haven't figured out a remotely plausible explanation. I'm just gonna make up an easily replaceable one that hopefully doesn't impact on the novel plot much at this early point.), and perhaps shed a little light on her character and personal life in the short entry. Then I'll pass on the pen (keyboard haha) to you dear Slap. Do edit my writings, add and delete and alter as you deem fit, and develop new characters and lines~~~~~~exciting exciting exciting!! It's like groping in the dark with just ever so little light, enough to see where your foot is next going to be and not a single step beyond, and all the time knowing the ending!

The Major Arcana
The Fool Upright: New beginnings, new adventures, new opportunities, unlimited possibilities, pleasure, passion, thoughtlessness, rashness
Reverse: A bad decision, indecision, apathy, hesitation, a faulty choice
The Magician Upright: Originality, creativity, skill, will-power, self confidence, dexterity, sleight of hand
Reverse: Weakness in will, insecurity, delay, no imagination
The High Priestess Upright: Wisdom, knowledge, learning, intuition, purity, virtue, a lack of patience, a teacher
Reverse: Ignorance, lack of understanding, selfishness, shallowness
The Empress Upright: Action, development, accomplishment, mother/sister/wife, evolution
Reverse: Vacillation, inaction, lack on concentration, indecision, anxiety, infidelity
The Emperor Upright: Accomplishment, confidence, wealth, stability, leadership, father/brother/husband, achievement, a capable person
Reverse: Immaturity, indecision, feebleness, petty emotions, lack of strength
The Hierophant Upright: A need to conform, social approval, bonded to the conventions of society
Reverse: Unconventionality, unorthodoxy, an inventor
or
Upright: Mercy, kindness, forgiveness, compassion, conformity, a sense of historical importance, inspiration
Reverse: Foolish generosity, errors are repeated, impotence, vulnerability, frailty, unorthodoxy
The Lovers Upright: Love, harmony, trust, honor, the beginning of a romance, optimism, a meaningful relationship/affair
Reverse: Unreliability, separation, frustration in love, fickleness, untrustworthy
The Chariot Upright: Perseverance, a journey, a rushed decision, adversity, turmoil, vengeance
Reverse: Unsuccessful, defeat, failure, last minute loss, vanquishment
Strength Upright: Strength, courage, conviction, energy, determination, action, heroism, virility
Reverse: Weakness, pettiness, sickness, tyranny, lack of faith, abuse of power
The Hermit Upright: Counsel, inner strength, prudence, caution, vigilance, patience, withdrawal, annulment, a loner
Reverse: Imprudence, hastiness, rashness, foolish acts, immaturity
The Wheel of Fortune Upright: Destiny, fortune, a special gain, an unusual loss, end of a problem, unexpected events, advancement, progress
Reverse: Failure, bad luck, interruption, outside influences, bad fate, unexpected events
Justice Upright: Harmony, balance, equality, righteousness, virtue, honor, advice, a considerate person
Reverse: Bias, false accusations, intolerance, unfairness, abuse
The Hanged Man Upright: Suspension, change, reversal, boredom, abandonment, sacrifice, readjustment, improvement, rebirth
Reverse: Unwillingness to make an effort, false prophecy, useless sacrifice
Death Upright: Transformation, making way for the new, unexpected change, loss, failure, illness or death, bad luck
Reverse: Stagnation, immobility, slow changes, a narrow escape, cheating death
Temperance Upright: Moderation, temperance, patience, harmony, fusion, good influence, confidence
Reverse: Discord, conflict, disunion, hostility, frustration, impatience
The Devil Upright: Ravage, weird or strange experience, downfall, unexpected failure, controversy, violence, disaster, an ill-tempered person
Reverse: Divorce, release, handicaps are overcome, enlightenment
The Tower Upright: A sudden change, abandonment of past, ending a friendship, unexpected events, disruption, bankruptcy, downfall, loss of money or security
Reverse: Following old ways, a rut, entrapment, caught in a bad situation, imprisonment
The Star Upright: Hope, faith, inspiration, optimism, insight, spiritual love, pleasure, balance
Reverse: Unfulfilled hopes, disappointment, dreams are crushed, bad luck, imbalance
The Moon Upright: Deception, trickery, disillusionment, error, danger, disgrace, double-dealing
Reverse: Deception is discovered before damage can be done, trifling mistakes, taking advantage of someone
The Sun Upright: Satisfaction, accomplishment, success, love, joy, engagement or a happy marriage
Reverse: Unhappiness, loneliness, canceled plans, broken engagement or marriage, a clouded future, a lack of friends
Judgment
or
Rejuvenation Upright: Awakening, renewal, a well lived life, better health, a quickened mind
Reverse: Fear of death, failure, possible loss, ill health
or
Upright: Atonement, judgment, the need to forgive, rejuvenation, rebirth, improvement, development, promotion, efforts are rewarded
Reverse: Delay, disappointment, indecision, procrastination, theft, worry
The World Upright: Completion, perfection, recognition, honors, the end result, success, fulfillment, triumph, eternal life
Reverse: Imperfection, lack of vision, disappointment

Let's start a novel!

Jaded @ 2004-11-27 13:37:13
Haven’t any idea or beginning in mind yet. Just wanna shout this suggestion across and get into some kind of motion when the time is ripe.
Let’s be spontaneous, and crazy, and stream-of-consciousness-ish, and eclectic, and free in thoughts and forms and structures and languages, let there be prose, poetry, lyrics, aphorisms, what-have-you, let there be romance and existential angst, le there be watercolors and oil paintings, songs and choreography…
Let there be Light.

Juded @ 2004-11-27 13:54:52
great you have my full support all the way to milkyway. this idea has been hanging there for a long time at the back of my mind, let''s do it! we can start anywhere, any theme. what about we set our players first, just names, suggest some. and about what kind of format, i was thinking of the bram stoker dracula journal style, as if every entry is an independent entity, but you''ll soonish find that they''re all linked in some way. like A and B mentions C in their journals and what happened b/w them, B might not know A, we can paint of web of characters, link them up any way we want. n we can really create lots of characters, let''s even code ourselves into some of them. i might just put you as the tarot card ''the hermit'' or ''the fool'', who meets ''the towers'' or the ''magician''. i''m not suggesting any fantasy-like all surreal story plot, what i mean is, our players have these inherent characters which somehow define them as who they are, then a web of life ensues. getting exciting, just let it flow!!

Juded again @ 2004-11-27 14:11:52
this is what i originally thought, and i told another 2 pple(note: they''re the ENGIN pple), i asked ''who wants to pick up the idea n write a novel?'' they both sort of scorned, wat the heck, guess you''ll do this much better since you read so many detectives, i only have this intangible mess of idea at the back of my mind, but might just be of some interest in case u wanna pick up n integrate it somewhere
It wasn’t exactly a dream. I might be formulating my own ideas inside that so-called dream. I remembered I told my friend a story about this novel, which later involved into a more complex web of betrayal, murder, love etc. Let’s give it a name, I’m bad at titling. Just a title. Just a second. Mmm, I can’t think of a title. Better call it Novel X A small literature class of small size, roughly 20 more or so students who have never met each other before. And it’s their first day of class. Their professor gave them a project, title: not to be decided until the end of the project. Duration: depends, but there’s a due date, 3 months from now, let’s make it end nicely on April Fools’. Plot: there isn’t one. However, there’s a starting paragraph. What is it? I can’t remember. Why not make up one. Which might say, here’s a room, almost empty you say, but there’s one desk which makes you hesitate to say the word ‘empty’, and above all, there’s a man at the desk, biting his pen. You can make out the teeth marks. He’s thinking , musing, deeply entrapped in his own web of imagination, or is it deadlock we’re not sure. But we can see his pages are empty. There’s only a date, 1 April. He needs his players, he needs a protagonist. Probably a girl to start with, then continue to invite in more to make the plot going. He stared hard at the blankness and suddenly start to scrabble with a fury that started us. Here you say there’s nothing special about it, just write a multi paragraph novel. Well, that’s why it’s a dream. Dreams are mad. It’s a dynamic novel. Not to be completed by one person alone. For every 2 weeks’ cycle, writings are to be exchanged at random. To whom the unfinished pieces are passed on is unknown. Scripts are deposited in a black box and redrawn by the next one, but who? Nobody knows. No complaints, no grudge. Write on as if it’s your own work. They don’t know each other. How is that possible? Communication is strictly forbidden. Let’ s just idealize the situation for now. They can’t even tell the handwriting coz it’s typewritten. There’re always ways to know. Loopholes everywhere, or chances, or traps. The same beginning takes on different flows. Life of the writer at the desk takes different turns. … A girl gets to know the secrets of a boy, or she thinks it’s a he. And keeps the secrets well. They’re pen pals in love. One of them becomes a detective story. Horrible crime commited on paper. On the day of submission, murder took place. It was april 1st. Who wrote the plot? Too many. Who did it? No one, everyone. A paper is stolen and returned a day later. Everything’s the same except the ending’s different. Why should it be changed? They’re each independent happening. They’re all linked.

Jaded @ 2004-11-28 2:27:03
great idea! tarot cards and a multiple-character thing set in a small, closed environment sounds very good gothic fun,and a good place to start! reminds me of agatha christie''s ten little niggers, aka and then there were none (sudden shudders and goose pimples)..i''ll think up more stuff to flesh up the skeleton~