muse: nattering
Apr. 21st, 2003 01:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
coronaviridaeSpecifically, on Abernathy, more the MGS version than the M3 version. That, and rereading my notes, makes me want to work on the Seraphim body of stories, or the Parallax stories.
The problem with the Seraphim stories is, while I have many beautiful ideas for making them work, and even a name for the first book (Seraphim: Heterodox, then Seraphim: Sinners, Seraphim: Orthodoxy, and Seraphim: Heretic), I find it very difficult to actually write the STORIES when I get down to brass tacks. I can hear my narrator's voice on and off, but I'm having difficulties writing him for some bizarre reason. I like rogue. He's the more mature version of Abernathy.
Mmmph.
I'll need to tug these notes and scraps together at some point and begin writing a cohesive story if I want to send it to Writers of the Future. I think I really have a chance here.
Oh, on that topic, I thought more about the Seraphim religious system a while back.
They have a very dispassionate god. One who sees only actions, not thoughts or hearts or reasons or intent. So the axiom 'a Seraph acts on his own time' doesn't just relate to their own skewed time sense but the fact that they also ACT when it's time to get things done, instead of 'intend'.
They also see their god as subtly nudging all creation toward perfection, through the mechanisms of evolution and continual growth. Thus the axiom 'all Seraphim are sinners', because the Seraphim, created through eugenics as they are, nonsexual as they are, generally unwilling to breed as they are, contribute nothing to human evolution. They're just shepherds, albeit high-powered shepherds. (Sidetrack: this also means that severe sexual deviancy is a sin, because it stymies evolution. Likewise murder, undue self-interest, &c.)
This idealogical system is partially manufactured, partially borrowed, and partially grown from the Seraphim themselves. It--especially the 'sinners' axiom--keeps them very much in check.
Female Seraphim worship a more nurturing, personal god. A few male Seraphim have been known to pay creedence to this god--or perhaps goddess--but they tend to be more job-oriented than their female counterparts, and more concerned with the redemption/justice/action aspect of their god. As opposed to the nurturance/creation/advance aspect the females usually work from. For creatures who have no real sexual gender identity, they still have strong enculturated genders that hinge on the biological roles of male and female mammals in pack societies.
rogue is 'special' because he is just that--a rogue Seraph. They happen, occasionally, for several reasons. One is when a Seraph runs rogue of his/her own volition, becoming a mercenary or otherwise. They're usually hunted down and killed, or--alternately--left alone, to act as outside agents to their former organization. All depends on how they behave toward Seraphim still bound to Heaven.
The other common reason is the theft of genetic material by unscrupulous parties. Seraphim genetics are of great interest, because of the Seraphic resistance to psi-probing and magic, as well as their high pain tolerance, unusual intelligence, and ethereal looks. There are many people out there who want a tame Seraph of their own, without realizing that stealing a sample and raising it to birth will only net them a very intelligent, slightly clumsy albino child with little or no sex drive. The Seraphim are as much a product of their nurture as their nature.
Some rogue organizations, operating outside Terra Nova's jurisdiction, have finally realized this. rogue is the product of one of these, who realized that the Seraphim are created by their unique society as much as their unique genes. They tried to raise a clutch of Seraphim of their own, but rogue was the only survivor of the brutal psycho-sociological training meant to emulate what his creators THOUGHT was Seraphic training methods. They were wrong, and it's left him a little warped and scarred.
I'm torn on whether rogue is a product of stolen gene samples from the Seraph base on Heaven and its outlying planets, or the clone of a captured rogue Seraph. (His 'brother'.) Both appeal, especially the latter if his brother dies or manages to escape, or otherwise becomes a haunting figure throughout the course of the books.
There's also Plague. This is not her real name. But she'll be the principle love interest. She is also a rogue Seraph, but she's a twist on their military black ops theme. She's a geneticist. Sort of a hybrid of Plague-the-android-OC for M3, and Xiang. She seems amoral, but it's just her morals are skewed in another direction entirely. She wants to serve her god. She just doesn't know exactly how she's supposed to be doing it. So she's advancing evolution through the creation of biogenetic horrors, diseases, &c. She has her android mirror's fixation on eggs, as well as the need for a mask--she's badly scarred by the surgery it took to give her cybernetics, and doesn't enjoy revealing that fact.
So the two rogue Seraphim eventually fall for each other. This is, of course, after rogue survives his trial by fire and chooses a Seraphic name. (I'm going to need to come up with a scheme for how they name themselves. For you who are reading this, any suggestions? I may just go with Biblical naming, but that can get overdone really fast. It worked for the Samaria trilogy, though...) The basic outline I'm thinking of now is that Plague is working, in her loveable way, to slowly destroy a community through tailored diseases. rogue digs her up and ends up pursuing her (and slowly falling for her), and eventually has to bring her back to the fold, and so forth.
[quip] All the bizarre sexual tension people see between Abernathy and Xiang, without the sick yaoi fantasy overtures involving Xiang's creations. [/quip]
Hmm. That's sort of the limit of my knowledge on the matter for right now. I keep getting quasiromantic snippets of thought from Plague and rogue (cuddles! and kissing, and getting to know each other with their respective masks off), but those aren't really formalized yet. They're going to get married. I know it. Soldier and the scientist.
M3-Abby is complaining. The fact that he's comatose IC right now means he's spending more time pacing on this side of the brainspace, and he's really unhappy that he's not going to get any romantic fulfillment anywhere on M3 any time soon. No female characters (outside of Bridgit) who show up strongly enough to his sensibilities of rightness/duty/honor/justice to drag him out of his obsessive attraction to other males (soldiers!), and no males who're really interested in that kind of relationship. Well, maybe a couple, but that's more of the casual-fling sort of thing he's trying (and slowly failing) to avoid. We'll see how far he ends up falling when he eventually does lose it. Not far, I hope. But with Black SHIELD everywhere, and the constant threat of being ostracized if his own preferences become really openly known...bad stuff will happen.
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jwhorfin actually said he'd like to get a scene in with Cossack 'n Abby while Abby's still hospitalized. (eeeeeeeeee) So. That should prove cool, once the Abster's no longer comatose. Get to (perhaps) get a little of his mental baggage regarding the Cossack worked out in full.
He's going to be so messed up when he wakes up. The last time comas and explosions were involved, he was out for two months, and Black SHIELD had ordered him killed and thrown into cryogenic stasis. He's going to be. FREAKING. OUT. for the first thirty minutes as he tries to find out how long he's been under, what's happened, that kind of thing.
Missed Easter Mass. Pfooo. He'll be unhappy about that. He wanted to take Melissa along.
The oblivion fetish. That's something I need to tug out into the open a little more. Do a scene with him destroying old photos of himself, a blood-stained uniform, ritualistic cleansing.
More vingettes! That suicide one could still be valid, as would something based off his panicking on awakening from the coma.
Finding a new base for Interpol is going to be fun. I admit, I'm projecting shamelessly onto him when I look for bases. The Himalayas appeal because they're the loft/roost kind of set-up I adore having. (The ability to survey your surroundings from on high.) A space station does NOT, because that's my mild agorophobia speaking, and my fear of the vacuum. I don't like being in an environment where I can't step outside without fear of death. Atlantis is a close second, because the safety and security of being underwater--despite the risks of drowning (which is a reason why HE would reject it, come to think!)--is comforting. A volcano doesn't, because of my fear of burning to death.
More stuff. The OC ideas progress slowly, but I keep swapping between them. All eighteen of them. Including some new ones, like the forty-something Maverick Hunter pilot who's been blind all her life, but relies on cybernetics to jack in to her Ride Armors/aircraft and flies them as an extension of her body. Or the android with the conflicting prime directives of 'don't allow yourself to be hurt' 'commit terrorist acts' and 'protect the innocent'. Or the anti-Xiang, gorgeously female bioengineer, a benevolent cyberneticist out to protect the world her own way.
Or Sasha. Mm.
Or Kareen. Mm.
Or Dominique, to countergreentease apping Eli into the Hunters.
Or Amaranth. If I can get its personality worked out to my satisfaction. Or Coulomb, if I can get her function worked out to my and Aldebaran's satisfaction.
Or Justin. He's still a fun idea.
Sasha is one of the ones speaking most loud to me right now. Likejwhorfin said, I should have some more experience with how the other 75% of the MUSH lives. Get a real combat character. Kick people to the curb. (Random note: it was amusing to me that our RS teacher for today instructed us to 'kick Satan to the curb, ladies'.) At the same time, more playtime with the Cossack!
The only problem with that being is I feel somehow...dirty...when I have two characters intimately associated with the same one character. Like playing Plague or the anti-Xiang cyberneticist would somehow dilute my ability to respond to Xiang as Abernathy. Or I'd come into actual alt-conflict with myself. Similarly with playing Sasha. Or trying to nudge Lucent to taking on some of Xiang's more favorable traits.
But it's a small MUSH. It'll have to happen somehow.
Gnargh.
I'm really liking the bioengineer, though. It will let me unleash my creative biomechanical tendencies freely. But which faction would she belong in? Hunters, probably. If she's a self-made cyborg. Or she could be Repliforce, and serve as Prismatic's organics-oriented counterpart. Give the poor man someone rational in the medbay. What Medico was supposed to be, without the potential of getting recruited into Pallbearer's sick-psycho little ego-strokin' squad.
Also, who would she be? Other than beautiful, gentle, and nurturing. And very good with the mercy aspect of things. Very...Christlike.
Nggh. No. Too much potential for dilution from Abernathy. Arghargh.
I wish this were easier. I want a new OC, but I have too many ideas, too many half-completed apps. It's just not helping that even casual conversation and misread comments can spark another one.
Or wanting stuff that'd be blatant alt-interaction, like apping Officer Noctule or Ops Mouse.
Ops Mouse is...wow. She's an NPC that came out of nowhere and made a name for herself. I like her. She'll be showing up more in Interpol, because she's just nifty. Little white mouse reploid, about five feet tall, with the most beautiful cerulean eyes. Enhanced senses spy sort, possible use of holos, interception, all those goodies. Real sweetheart, unless you upset her, and then she can cuss you out like the soldier she is. Small, soft-spoken, big-hearted. And she'll probably start crushing hard on Sergeant Fairbanks.
...Yes.
Teehee.
*facelessmuse*
The problem with the Seraphim stories is, while I have many beautiful ideas for making them work, and even a name for the first book (Seraphim: Heterodox, then Seraphim: Sinners, Seraphim: Orthodoxy, and Seraphim: Heretic), I find it very difficult to actually write the STORIES when I get down to brass tacks. I can hear my narrator's voice on and off, but I'm having difficulties writing him for some bizarre reason. I like rogue. He's the more mature version of Abernathy.
Mmmph.
I'll need to tug these notes and scraps together at some point and begin writing a cohesive story if I want to send it to Writers of the Future. I think I really have a chance here.
Oh, on that topic, I thought more about the Seraphim religious system a while back.
They have a very dispassionate god. One who sees only actions, not thoughts or hearts or reasons or intent. So the axiom 'a Seraph acts on his own time' doesn't just relate to their own skewed time sense but the fact that they also ACT when it's time to get things done, instead of 'intend'.
They also see their god as subtly nudging all creation toward perfection, through the mechanisms of evolution and continual growth. Thus the axiom 'all Seraphim are sinners', because the Seraphim, created through eugenics as they are, nonsexual as they are, generally unwilling to breed as they are, contribute nothing to human evolution. They're just shepherds, albeit high-powered shepherds. (Sidetrack: this also means that severe sexual deviancy is a sin, because it stymies evolution. Likewise murder, undue self-interest, &c.)
This idealogical system is partially manufactured, partially borrowed, and partially grown from the Seraphim themselves. It--especially the 'sinners' axiom--keeps them very much in check.
Female Seraphim worship a more nurturing, personal god. A few male Seraphim have been known to pay creedence to this god--or perhaps goddess--but they tend to be more job-oriented than their female counterparts, and more concerned with the redemption/justice/action aspect of their god. As opposed to the nurturance/creation/advance aspect the females usually work from. For creatures who have no real sexual gender identity, they still have strong enculturated genders that hinge on the biological roles of male and female mammals in pack societies.
rogue is 'special' because he is just that--a rogue Seraph. They happen, occasionally, for several reasons. One is when a Seraph runs rogue of his/her own volition, becoming a mercenary or otherwise. They're usually hunted down and killed, or--alternately--left alone, to act as outside agents to their former organization. All depends on how they behave toward Seraphim still bound to Heaven.
The other common reason is the theft of genetic material by unscrupulous parties. Seraphim genetics are of great interest, because of the Seraphic resistance to psi-probing and magic, as well as their high pain tolerance, unusual intelligence, and ethereal looks. There are many people out there who want a tame Seraph of their own, without realizing that stealing a sample and raising it to birth will only net them a very intelligent, slightly clumsy albino child with little or no sex drive. The Seraphim are as much a product of their nurture as their nature.
Some rogue organizations, operating outside Terra Nova's jurisdiction, have finally realized this. rogue is the product of one of these, who realized that the Seraphim are created by their unique society as much as their unique genes. They tried to raise a clutch of Seraphim of their own, but rogue was the only survivor of the brutal psycho-sociological training meant to emulate what his creators THOUGHT was Seraphic training methods. They were wrong, and it's left him a little warped and scarred.
I'm torn on whether rogue is a product of stolen gene samples from the Seraph base on Heaven and its outlying planets, or the clone of a captured rogue Seraph. (His 'brother'.) Both appeal, especially the latter if his brother dies or manages to escape, or otherwise becomes a haunting figure throughout the course of the books.
There's also Plague. This is not her real name. But she'll be the principle love interest. She is also a rogue Seraph, but she's a twist on their military black ops theme. She's a geneticist. Sort of a hybrid of Plague-the-android-OC for M3, and Xiang. She seems amoral, but it's just her morals are skewed in another direction entirely. She wants to serve her god. She just doesn't know exactly how she's supposed to be doing it. So she's advancing evolution through the creation of biogenetic horrors, diseases, &c. She has her android mirror's fixation on eggs, as well as the need for a mask--she's badly scarred by the surgery it took to give her cybernetics, and doesn't enjoy revealing that fact.
So the two rogue Seraphim eventually fall for each other. This is, of course, after rogue survives his trial by fire and chooses a Seraphic name. (I'm going to need to come up with a scheme for how they name themselves. For you who are reading this, any suggestions? I may just go with Biblical naming, but that can get overdone really fast. It worked for the Samaria trilogy, though...) The basic outline I'm thinking of now is that Plague is working, in her loveable way, to slowly destroy a community through tailored diseases. rogue digs her up and ends up pursuing her (and slowly falling for her), and eventually has to bring her back to the fold, and so forth.
[quip] All the bizarre sexual tension people see between Abernathy and Xiang, without the sick yaoi fantasy overtures involving Xiang's creations. [/quip]
Hmm. That's sort of the limit of my knowledge on the matter for right now. I keep getting quasiromantic snippets of thought from Plague and rogue (cuddles! and kissing, and getting to know each other with their respective masks off), but those aren't really formalized yet. They're going to get married. I know it. Soldier and the scientist.
M3-Abby is complaining. The fact that he's comatose IC right now means he's spending more time pacing on this side of the brainspace, and he's really unhappy that he's not going to get any romantic fulfillment anywhere on M3 any time soon. No female characters (outside of Bridgit) who show up strongly enough to his sensibilities of rightness/duty/honor/justice to drag him out of his obsessive attraction to other males (soldiers!), and no males who're really interested in that kind of relationship. Well, maybe a couple, but that's more of the casual-fling sort of thing he's trying (and slowly failing) to avoid. We'll see how far he ends up falling when he eventually does lose it. Not far, I hope. But with Black SHIELD everywhere, and the constant threat of being ostracized if his own preferences become really openly known...bad stuff will happen.
jwhorfin actually said he'd like to get a scene in with Cossack 'n Abby while Abby's still hospitalized. (eeeeeeeeee) So. That should prove cool, once the Abster's no longer comatose. Get to (perhaps) get a little of his mental baggage regarding the Cossack worked out in full.He's going to be so messed up when he wakes up. The last time comas and explosions were involved, he was out for two months, and Black SHIELD had ordered him killed and thrown into cryogenic stasis. He's going to be. FREAKING. OUT. for the first thirty minutes as he tries to find out how long he's been under, what's happened, that kind of thing.
Missed Easter Mass. Pfooo. He'll be unhappy about that. He wanted to take Melissa along.
The oblivion fetish. That's something I need to tug out into the open a little more. Do a scene with him destroying old photos of himself, a blood-stained uniform, ritualistic cleansing.
More vingettes! That suicide one could still be valid, as would something based off his panicking on awakening from the coma.
Finding a new base for Interpol is going to be fun. I admit, I'm projecting shamelessly onto him when I look for bases. The Himalayas appeal because they're the loft/roost kind of set-up I adore having. (The ability to survey your surroundings from on high.) A space station does NOT, because that's my mild agorophobia speaking, and my fear of the vacuum. I don't like being in an environment where I can't step outside without fear of death. Atlantis is a close second, because the safety and security of being underwater--despite the risks of drowning (which is a reason why HE would reject it, come to think!)--is comforting. A volcano doesn't, because of my fear of burning to death.
More stuff. The OC ideas progress slowly, but I keep swapping between them. All eighteen of them. Including some new ones, like the forty-something Maverick Hunter pilot who's been blind all her life, but relies on cybernetics to jack in to her Ride Armors/aircraft and flies them as an extension of her body. Or the android with the conflicting prime directives of 'don't allow yourself to be hurt' 'commit terrorist acts' and 'protect the innocent'. Or the anti-Xiang, gorgeously female bioengineer, a benevolent cyberneticist out to protect the world her own way.
Or Sasha. Mm.
Or Kareen. Mm.
Or Dominique, to counter
greentease apping Eli into the Hunters.Or Amaranth. If I can get its personality worked out to my satisfaction. Or Coulomb, if I can get her function worked out to my and Aldebaran's satisfaction.
Or Justin. He's still a fun idea.
Sasha is one of the ones speaking most loud to me right now. Like
jwhorfin said, I should have some more experience with how the other 75% of the MUSH lives. Get a real combat character. Kick people to the curb. (Random note: it was amusing to me that our RS teacher for today instructed us to 'kick Satan to the curb, ladies'.) At the same time, more playtime with the Cossack!The only problem with that being is I feel somehow...dirty...when I have two characters intimately associated with the same one character. Like playing Plague or the anti-Xiang cyberneticist would somehow dilute my ability to respond to Xiang as Abernathy. Or I'd come into actual alt-conflict with myself. Similarly with playing Sasha. Or trying to nudge Lucent to taking on some of Xiang's more favorable traits.
But it's a small MUSH. It'll have to happen somehow.
Gnargh.
I'm really liking the bioengineer, though. It will let me unleash my creative biomechanical tendencies freely. But which faction would she belong in? Hunters, probably. If she's a self-made cyborg. Or she could be Repliforce, and serve as Prismatic's organics-oriented counterpart. Give the poor man someone rational in the medbay. What Medico was supposed to be, without the potential of getting recruited into Pallbearer's sick-psycho little ego-strokin' squad.
Also, who would she be? Other than beautiful, gentle, and nurturing. And very good with the mercy aspect of things. Very...Christlike.
Nggh. No. Too much potential for dilution from Abernathy. Arghargh.
I wish this were easier. I want a new OC, but I have too many ideas, too many half-completed apps. It's just not helping that even casual conversation and misread comments can spark another one.
Or wanting stuff that'd be blatant alt-interaction, like apping Officer Noctule or Ops Mouse.
Ops Mouse is...wow. She's an NPC that came out of nowhere and made a name for herself. I like her. She'll be showing up more in Interpol, because she's just nifty. Little white mouse reploid, about five feet tall, with the most beautiful cerulean eyes. Enhanced senses spy sort, possible use of holos, interception, all those goodies. Real sweetheart, unless you upset her, and then she can cuss you out like the soldier she is. Small, soft-spoken, big-hearted. And she'll probably start crushing hard on Sergeant Fairbanks.
...Yes.
Teehee.
*facelessmuse*
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Date: 2003-04-21 03:25 pm (UTC)It must be difficult, with all of those ideas fighting for life in your mind. Perhaps setting some of them free for others to take up and give their own spin on would be nice? At least it might prevent some arena deathmatches in there. *tap tap tap* :D
Spin's relatively sane. He'll be good material for XO once Pall becomes unsuitable ennough for the position. Considering that Pall is thinking about defecting, you won't have to deal with his SuperAngstPoweredEgo. Perhaps. Especially if he goes Maverick. As mentioned, that's a long line of people who want a piece of him.
It WOULD be cool to have a bio-specialist in RF. The White Rust showed that it's something we're lacking, ESPECIALLY Since Pall did precisely jack and crap with it, and he's the most bio-oriented of MSE (Except maybe Selene, who's been really off and on lately).
Booyaka. Do what you want... Of course, the problem is deciding what you want, isn't it? :D