the ramble dump

Here's a magical preview of the upcoming City of Anarchy chapters:

'Get up,' said Hermes.

'I'm not going anywhere with you!'

Hermes grabbed fistfuls of Boris' black shirt and tried dragging him to his feet.

'Gerroff me!' Boris swiped angrily. 'I told you, my legs won't work!' He managed a moment on his feet before he keeled over backwards in demonstration. His eyes had lost focus, like he was drunk.

Hermes sighed once again and looked at the illuminated skyline. He considered abandoning the man and going the way that Avgi had gone. Leastways, he thought, glancing at the half shop, half crater ruin they had just left behind, he needed to get away from here before more police arrived.

He wiped a sticky brow with his sleeve--sweat, dirt, blood that speckled his formerly white shirt. A few people were maintaining their curiosity of the commotion from a safe distance, pointing him out, commenting to each other. Hermes still gripped the gun in an idle hand.

'I just killed two people, you know,' he said.

'No, you killed one person,' Boris mumbled indistinctly, now face down on the road. 'The other one will just never walk again.' He rolled himself over again and viewed Hermes with all the scrutiny that could be mustered from his perspective. His brow furrowed around his strange, circular tattoo. 'Why d'you do that, anyway? Shoot the officers?'

Hermes shrugged, stuffing the gun in the lining of his trousers. 'They just seemed to ask for it,' he said.

New chapters will be uploaded soon. Sometime this month. I promise.

Labels: city of anarchy, excerpts

# posted by Chris @ 5:17 PM 2 comments

CoA Chapter 6

I wonder if anyone remembers Beans from last year's trailer. Probably not.

In the dark and grim history of all things FMIT, beans have a somewhat ominous presence, having worked their way into the depths of my very consciousness and my every MSN conversation, etc, etc, and through their mischief caused incredible trouble and wonderful things also.

For example: did you know that a text message with the single word 'beans' triggered a set of events that would provide the basis for Jesnails Returns? Just ask Holly. She was so happy about it.

Mind you, everything to do with Jesnails and Chrisbot has such ridiculous origins that it could make you cry. But this is all Ella's fault. For she is Ella, and crazy. Crazier than me (she'll try to deny it, but that's just because she's crazy).

CoA Chapter 6 is full of nods to various things and people. Sometimes I can't help it. But, whateverbeans.

Labels: boardfic, city of anarchy, jesnails, starcustard

# posted by Chris @ 10:01 PM 0 comments

24 is one of the greatest shows on TV, and one day I may even write more about it. It's difficult to deny that it's been a pretty big influence on City of Anarchy, so I thought I'd pay direct homage by introducing this spring's brief run of the story with some of the show's addictingly stylised format - or at least, as much as I can do without the dynamics of sound, music and motion.

Of course, the nature of CoA means that I can get away with some slightly more ludicrous plot devices that let me bypass realism just that little bit more, such as...you know, having the characters eat every now and again.

The recap's an idea I've had knocking around for a while, and it took almost as long to get the thing done. I dug out the tiny graphics tablet Olli lent to me years ago and never wanted back. I spent weeks and weeks on Avgi by doing bits and pieces here and there; most of this last week has been spent on Holly, who actually has more than a head and shoulders; and Snails and Hermes, both whom were sketched out earlier, were done yesterday. Now that I don't have a deadline, I can finish up those bits I didn't need done for the recap, fix things that don't look right, and maybe upload all four complete portraits to the sketchbook sometime. We'll see. It's been good practice, at least.

These intermittent bursts of regular updates are probably going to be the way I do it for most things from here on in. It's better for me because it encourages me to be more productive and I can spend more time immersed in any one project, and it's better for the reader just because reading becomes slightly less fragmentary. And the recaps will probably help.

Labels: 24, city of anarchy

# posted by Chris @ 4:04 PM 0 comments

Back all those many years ago in 2003 when I decided 'I want to write humour', it quickly developed into a marathon of ridiculousness, which escalated millionfold. Funny equalled absurd. Overarching plot was not a main concern.

These days, it's no longer a case of 'I want to write humour'. It's back to, 'I want to write a good story', in which, when I can manage it, humour in whatever form (be it through parody, satire, irony, surreality or whatever) is just another layer in the whole thing. Sure, the end product could have any one of those things (and that whole period of seeking to write in that way definitely made a lasting impression on my whole writing style), but they're not ends I specifically aim for.

Some of my older online stuff (i.e. pre-FMIT) really was just me being as weird, surreal or downright silly as I could get it. The best example of this is most definitely the collaborative effort Agaffa, which had a minimal plot that was really quite hard to follow, and chronicled the exploits of two pretty horrific characters with other things happening mostly as vague background noise. Although Cholesterol the fat, talking monkey will forever have a place in my heart. And then there's The Manifesting Surreal, the previous incarnation of the current Aberration, the premise of which was quite simply as the name suggests: things got weirder and weirder until everything started to fall apart.

These days, as I said before, it's a little bit different. A greater focus on story (or at least on more tangible ideas rather than just a load of random stuff thrown together) has also meant that, in an unintentional sort of way, the stories are slightly more... grounded. Probably just as surreal and odd, but in a less overtly and forcefully outrageous way.

Over the years, The Aberration has changed. Starcustard started out with a tongue-in-cheek feel to it that is still evident, but turned out quite different to anything we would have expected. City of Anarchy is still weird, but the focus is now what has grown into a fairly complex plot.

But, see, now there's Jesnails. Which will be parody, satire, surreality, irony, absurdity and, quite frankly, as much crazy stuff as the concept allows while still being coherent enough not to fall apart. We would be lying if we said we weren't, at this point, here to present the profoundly silly, freakish and bizarre in the most flamboyant and shameless way possible.

So it's all very well for me to say that I've moved on from all that silliness, and I can talk about big concepts, ideas, themes and thoughts until the cows return from their trip to the moon, but really I haven't moved away from it at all. Jesnails is a refreshing reminder of that. And it is something still present in everything I do, reminding me never to take things too seriously, because some things just aren't worth taking seriously.

Jesnails 1875, Part I.

Labels: agaffa, city of anarchy, i am the ramblemaster, jesnails, starcustard, the aberration

# posted by Chris @ 10:53 PM 0 comments

So here am I, the shameless showman of the Fat Man In Tweed circus, announcing that the approximate third of 2006 remaining will be the most spectacular, most epic and most shocking yet witnessed by the two or three people who visit this website.

I'm excited. But then, it's a great excuse not to do any work.

But seriously. Dudes. Dudes. Get some loud and dramatic music of your choice playing, because lots of pretty major stuff is going to be happening. And at the end of December, 2006 will end like 2006 has never ended before. Just you wait.

So we should really kick things off. And to do so: a shiny new story.

On May 20th, a strange message appeared on the Fat Man In Tweed mainpage. Those with great astuteness and several nudgings in the right direction stumbled across this, a curious, ambiguous entry filled with clues to... something.

A month later a poster appeared, which was met with universal dumbfoundment.

Now let ye riddles be solved.

May I reintroduce to you: Jesnails.

Brought to you in a stylishly last-minute sort of way. Unfortunately, due to an unaccountable malfunction in time, only the prologue is going up tonight, but the first proper installment will be online very shortly (in two parts, because it's quite a bit bigger than we anticipated). We still met our deadline!

For those interested in a little bit of background, Jesnails first appeared at the end of 2005 as the result of some of the many bizarre conversations I have with friend Ella Turnbull. These led to Jesnails Returns, a Christmas story in which a strange, pseudomessianic figure appears, an individual with big hair and a passion for disco who is seen as a threat to the uncomfortable and rather inert dictatorship that currently has the somewhat indifferent population of the world in its grasp. Chaos ensues, with mercenary fake Santas, televangelists, drunken babies, psychotic judges, shotguns in teapots and lots and lots of beans all heading full-force into an explosive finale.

Jesnails made a surprise reappearance in April, in the last boardfic I did, SciBoard Resurrection, called on by the ultimately treacherous Mayor Electric to deal with the city's zombie infestation. A good portion of the city is destroyed towards the end when a giant stage and huge loudspeakers rise up from the ground and demolish the surrounding area, as Jesnails attempts to purge the city of its undead through the power of disco. She later inadvertently discovers the zombie's lair, in which her afrolights provide light for the others, and helps defeat the archzombie Zomborr by throwing a crucifix at him and knocking him off his high platform. Shortly after, she disappears.

And now she's back again, this time having earned the prestigious honour of being a main Fat Man In Tweed feature. This should probably be considered independant of her previous appearances, as her previous appearances were of each other, mostly for the sake of your own sanity.

But just what would happen if Jesnails was in possession of a time machine? We shall show you! Oh verily yes, we shall.

P.S. City of Anarchy will return in 2007.

Labels: boardfic, city of anarchy, jesnails

# posted by Chris @ 11:05 PM 0 comments

City of Anarchy Chapter 4.

In which Snails tackles a classic Hollywood sequence.

And that's it for a while. Well, an even longer while than usual. I'm going to put CoA on the backburner now, for several reasons; the main being that I have a lot of figuring out to do with it. There's a bit of a mental block regarding how everything's going to come together. I wanted to get another chapter out this summer, and did, but now I've really pushed as far as I can go without getting completely stuck, and it requires some long and careful thinking.

Anyway, next up: this.

Labels: city of anarchy, jesnails

# posted by Chris @ 2:38 PM 0 comments

So, dragons.

Dragons like to do everything on a grand scale. Flamboyant, ambitious and perhaps a tad egotistical, they love to be the centre of attention. Or so it is according to the Chinese zodiac.

One day I'm going to create my own zodiac, probably, and those born on the exact date and the exact time as myself, with the same name and characteristics, will be the great ones. But for now, I'll stick with what we have, and with that, I'm probably more in line with my supposed Western sign, Scorpio.

But I noticed an interesting thing about dragons.

And, inevitably, it's to do with writing.

To come from a seemingly total otherdirection: why do I write?

No...that's too big a question for just yet. How do I write? Cinematically. This is something I've realised quite recently, especially during the bigger, more action-orientated events in a story. Even if it doesn't always turn out that way in the end, the approach is cinematic. I get an image in my mind's eye, sometimes a very specific image, literally looked at from a certain angle, and I try to put it into words. In City of Anarchy, there's Hermes being launched into the sky as a building explodes underneath him, for example; Chimaera in SciBoard Fiction forcing the snout of the shotgun into the top of the alien's head and firing; or vehicles being hurled into the air and thrown into buildings as the fat men in tweed pursue the Mini Cooper down the street in The Aberration.

But why do I write like this? To impress? To turn to the audience and go, 'Look what insane and spectacular stuff I can make happen!'

'Woah,' said the detective.

I think I'm guilty of this even more than I realise. I do tend, I'll admit, to get a bit carried away. When I first posted City of Anarchy I had people going 'Is this story going to give me nightmares?', and while I was staging a zombie versus pirate fight in SciBoard Resurrection, the climax of which was a hundred barrels of gunpowder and rum igniting and tearing the pirate ship apart, I was too busy having altogether too much fun with it to realise how over-the-top it was, and ended up having someone commenting, accompanied by a shocked-looking smiley, 'My dear God. Not afraid of spectacle, are you?'

So is that all it is? Spectacle? Am I some sort of literary showman, with trailers and posters and general enthusiasm, trying to gather an audience to witness this showcase, this freakshow, that I have brought before the public?

It's that dragon thing, in a way. Eccentricity and flamboyancy. Showing off. Being the centre of attention, which all writers love to be, even though some might pretend otherwise.

But then, while I'd be lying if I said I didn't take some delight in people responding with pop-eyed smilies when I present the absurd, the dark or the unusual, entertaining other people is actually a very small part of it. It's much more selfish than that. I do it to entertain myself.

Picture, if you will, a dark and eerily-lit laboratory. Its centrepiece is a large slab, upon which lies a dormant creature of freakish qualities; and somewhere to the right is I, the mad but nevertheless genius scientist, cackling maniacally and bringing down a giant lever with all my force. Impressive lightning effects ensue, and the monster becomes alive. I shriek with glee at that which I have created.

Enthusiasm, sometimes demented, is needed to bring ideas to life, whether it's being curious about or taking interest in some line of thought or image, or throwing yourself full-force into a concept or hypothetical world, either way exploring it and seeing what interesting things you can find.

This is why I write. This is what I love about writing. It can be figuring out a way of telling or presenting a story, through the way I use language and the way I construct different scenes and situations, or it can be examining what-if scenarios: what if there was a universe with giant slugs that wore wigs and slippers? What would happen if such an aspect of history was changed in this way? Fat men in tweed as seemingly inhuman, terrifying monsters...weird, eh?

Entertainment. Imagination. Perspective. Causality, history, humanity.

Exploring, experimenting, seeing what happens. Making something good out of it, and making something interesting.

Labels: boardfic, city of anarchy, excerpts, fat men in tweed, i am the ramblemaster, starcustard, the aberration

# posted by Chris @ 7:39 PM 0 comments

Back in February, Amelia and I went through all the old Starcustard chapters, most thoroughly the first, and picked out and changed lots of bits with awkward syntax or phrasing (admittedly, they were mostly mine), so it was all nice and improved for the FMIT launch.

However, writing Chapter 6 these past few weeks, we've found we've had to go back again and take out or change a few more things, only this time for different reasons.

There are ideas that don't seem to fit so well now that we've defined the Starcustard universe a bit better. For example, we got rid of teleporting, which was briefly mentioned in a quick description of the slavekid card catalogue, because that makes things too easy.

There are also things that, in the context of the chapter, are so minor that they've merely been mentioned in passing, but that could potentially lead to some pretty sloppy plotholes if we don't see to them. The example of this that we found this time round we did actually try to sort out in Chapter 6, only to find out that the idea just didn't work, so we had to cut it out completely.

And then there was a single word we had to get rid of because we'd used it when we had a much vaguer idea of where that aspect of the story was going. While working on the sixth chapter, we had a long, deep conversation about where the story is going way beyond where it's at now and more than we ever have before, ranging from doctors to darkness and wide story arcs. And so we've had to go back and change this one little word, now that we have a clearer picture.

They were all very minor changes in the context of the chapters we've published so far, but all of them could have caused problems or huge differences as the story advanced. That's one of the main features of a system where each chapter is published when it's finished and you don't know where everything goes next. You have to constantly go back and edit what people have already read. If you're lucky, this is just minor things.

But then sometimes it isn't. I think there are few stories that have undergone as many drafts, redrafts and recreations as The Aberration. After their 'final' redraft for the FMIT launch a few months ago, I was supposed to leave those first few chapters alone for good. However, this week, as well as the usual syntax proofreading and some almost invisible minor changes, I've gone back and made more slightly bigger changes.

Minor TA spoilers follow.

The first isn't especially exciting, but here it is just so you don't have to go back and read it all again. The type of metal Beef encounters, which started off as copper-coloured, then went to shiny and silver when I posted it online, and then to green, is now back to copper-coloured. These changes happened for various reasons that I can't really go into as I kept changing my mind about things, but now (I think) I'm finally settled on it.

The second is the addition of the strange clock as the object they find inside the porcelain woman. For the past few months it's been a boring, bleeping sort of object that has mostly just been there as a more credible replacement for the note that they find in the old Kommingle version of the story. I just thought the clock would be more interesting. If you want, you can go and read Chapter 2 to see its new ending.

Hopefully, I can leave those chapters alone now. Poor things. But, you never know.

You can expect an extended Chapter 5, though. That'll be posted along with the new chapter in the not-so-distant future.

Before that, however: City of Anarchy.

(And yes, I've been going through that, too.)

One final note, harking back to the beginning of this post: Starcustard has a new opening track! As grateful as we are to friend Lonkey for coming up with Fleetwood Mac's Albatross at the last minute almost two years ago, we've decided it didn't sit quite right as the opening track (and also I personally now loathe it after all those M&S Food adverts), and replaced it with... Mystery, by Kelley Stoltz (some guy Melia found).

Labels: city of anarchy, starcustard, the aberration

# posted by Chris @ 8:47 PM 0 comments

The stalled traffic allowed Sofia and the Agents to run across with ease, one or two of them even taking the opportunity to throw up their legs and slide stylishly across car bonnets.

'And once again the Agents proceed with their task with startling appreciation for aesthetics!' Sofia said, already some way ahead.

So, I started City of Anarchy Chapter 4. Two weeks ago. I haven't written any more since, but I have plenty of valid academic excuses for that.

Amelia's been doing bits and pieces of the next Starcustard chapter. I haven't done any yet, but: fear not! I will.

Before any of that, however, I will be working on The Aberration. For the next chapter, I'll be introducing some stuff that I've had in my head for so long I'll have to blow the dust off before putting it to use. Be excited. Lots will be happening.

Unfortunately, exams are a priority at the moment, and I probably won't be doing much else until they're over with.

One final note: no, the strange message on the front page isn't just me being weird again. Apply your brains to it, dudes. See what happens.

Labels: city of anarchy, excerpts, jesnails, starcustard, the aberration

# posted by Chris @ 11:08 PM 0 comments

Finally, it's here!

Wow!

Yay!

Huzzah!

Today is the first of the three launchdates, and I bringeth you three sparkly new City of Anarchy chapters.

Chapters One and Two of City of Anarchy have undergone a lot of change. Descriptions have been fleshed out, the structure has been smoothed out, and rubbish characters have been thrown out and replaced with better characters. These newly revised chapters generally do a much better job of setting the stage for the story than the original ones did. There's a lot of old stuff I've kept in, but nothing has gone without being updated, and there are some additions that really help add to the tone, making the creepy bits creepier, the dark bits darker, and the insane bits all the more insane.

Chapter Three is completely new. It wasn't until I'd finished writing it that I realised it has very little dialogue, especially compared to the first two chapters. It's an action chapter, and I'm pleased with the way this one turned out more than any of the others. It really gets the pace going, and there's a nice dose of suspense in there too. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Although there's been a fair amount of problems and difficulties writing these, in the end I've managed to overcome or get around most of them, and they've generally turned out as well as I'd hoped. If you've read the old versions of the first two chapters, I strongly recommend reading the newer versions before you move onto Chapter 3, because they are quite a bit different.

There's also the first chapter of The Aberration, which is pretty much the same as the version I put online back in September, but because of major changes being made in the subsequent chapters, there have been a few things changed, and you might want to read it again so you don't feel completely lost when you read the next chapter.

There's also a little something under About, and be sure to check out the other sections, too. Except Sketchbook, which won't be online until Wednesday.

The biggest of hugest thanks to Melia, who made FMIT's MEGA-ROCKIN' design. I love it, which is why our wedding is still on in Octember.

Until Wednesday...peace out!

Labels: city of anarchy, floaty wise things, the aberration, the launch

# posted by Chris @ 8:12 PM 0 comments

Apart from some typing up of stuff, work on City of Anarchy has been completed. And only a week and a day late, too. I've been working on it since the start of the year, so I'll be glad to move on to the next thing, even if I'm now running really short on time.

The next thing being: The Aberration. Master Beef enters his fourth year of existence this month. Woot.

Fatmanintweed.com is now mine. I don't really want to say much about anything at this point, but you can expect things to start happening there very soon.

Labels: city of anarchy, the aberration, webtechnical

# posted by Chris @ 10:30 PM 0 comments

I wanted to try something new. Something different. Something short and experimental, to see what I could do with words.

A guy with a fantastical contraption attached strapped to his back and goggles on his head. The contraption sputters into action. The ascent, the feeling of gently rising and of the ground falling away. The split-second moment of flight. Falling back down to earth. The air gushing past, the feeling of disappointment.

I never wrote it. But the idea stuck.

I felt like beginning a new story. But how? I began it with this idea. No plot. No greater meaning. Just the short-lived flight of a character. How would it work? Would he have a contraption strapped to his back? How would I continue it from there?

Maybe he achieves flight some other way. Maybe there's...an explosion. A building explodes, and he's right by it. A dramatic opening scene.

Then I continued it from there. What made it explode? How are all these other ideas that have grown at an insane rate since it began back in May connected to it? What's the completely crazy ending and answer to those questions that finally clicked into brainly place a few months ago?

I know. You don't. Ner ner.

It started out with all the characters based on a group of people I knew. At one point, I thought it wouldn't work any other way. Now, knowing exactly where I want to go with it, it will only work if I don't do it this way. It was useful at first, helping me to kick-start it all, but now I need the freedom of not basing it explicitly on real people. There are restrictions that come with doing it that way. You're limited to what you can do, because some things just wouldn't be appropriate. And some characters were just people-for-the-sake-of-being-people anyway.

So, there's change. I am keeping just a few of the old characters though, because it really wouldn't be City of Anarchy without them. And they're based on good friends who can take it, anyway, not just people I've only spoken to once or twice. Although they might want to keep telling themselves that their characters are only loosely based on themselves. Because even they're going to be much more...intense.

The Fat Man In Tweed launchdates have been decided, by the way.

Labels: city of anarchy

# posted by Chris @ 9:34 PM 2 comments

The first City of Anarchy fanart ever. From Holly Heuser, world-famous artist. Rockin'.

Work on CoA starts this weekend.

Labels: city of anarchy

# posted by Chris @ 9:19 PM 1 comments

Labels: city of anarchy, sketches and doodles

# posted by Chris @ 8:45 PM 0 comments

The helicopter propellors came to a stop. Two appropriately crisp and austere-looking bodyguards carrying big guns climbed out, and Mayor Mawgly and a woman in a plum-purple suit followed them.

The bodyguards seperated like sliding doors to flank the women. They marched importantly towards a door that protruded from the rooftop, the woman in purple reading the day's busy schedule off a clipboard in her arms. Still reading, a bunch of keys appeared by some professionally efficient sleight of hand, the correct key already poised for the lock. The door was opened and a grille was pulled back to reveal an elevator, which the four of them stepped into, the women first, followed by the guards.

Mawgly yawned.

---

From City of Anarchy Chapter 3.

Labels: city of anarchy, excerpts

# posted by Chris @ 8:16 PM 0 comments

So, I went ahead and wrote my own sitcom episode. It's very short, so it's probably more of a sketch. I might post it if anyone's interested. I really like the script format, though. It's much quicker than regular prose. It's also strangely addictive. I'm now trying out making another coursework idea, already typed up as a short story, into a script. It isn't really the right type of story to translate directly (i.e. without making any changes to it), so I don't really know how it's going to turn out, but so far it's working quite well.

But it made me think... it'd be great to write a proper film script one day. To direct it too would be even better, only I know next to nothing about that.

Coming soon to this here blog...

Excerpts! Of previously unseen material! (See, I'm getting the hang of this film business already.) Agaffa, Starcustard, City of Anarchy and The Aberration!

And a few months ago I mentioned these ideas for a novel I've been having. More info on that is on its way.

Labels: agaffa, city of anarchy, starcustard, the aberration

# posted by Chris @ 8:20 PM 2 comments

I got a very brief confirmation letter from the Athenaeum on Friday. Meh. That's probably the last I'll hear of it.

I told Avgi to remind me to get City of Anarchy Chapter 3 done by the end of last week. Thankfully, she appears to have forgotten. I have made some progress, though. I plan to make more sooner rather than later, but I really need to work on Starcustard and The Aberration.

I failed to complete everything in my October to-do list, which just goes to show that to-do lists are useless.

Labels: city of anarchy, starcustard, the aberration

# posted by Chris @ 10:05 PM 2 comments

Yeah, I'd rushed it the first time round and decided I want to make it a little better.

Includes EXTENDED CHAINSAW SCENE AND MORE!

(Although not much more.)

Here be City of Anarchy Chapter 2: Ammended & Extended.

Labels: boardfic, city of anarchy

# posted by Chris @ 4:13 PM 1 comments

Right, a general where-things-are-at update for today...

The equivocal Project CAM is now moving foward at a good speed after a newsgroup was set up for the five of us to post ideas and sort things out, which seemed to get things going.

I also set up one for Gnome Milk. I still need to upload all the old versions of the first few chapters of Agaffa ready for drastic editing, and then everything will be in one handy place. Whether or not this will encourage any significant activity remains to be seen.

I've nearly finished the first part of Starcustard Chapter 5. (I'll get typed that up and send it to you during the week, Melia.) That means I'll be able to scribble out the first of my priorities for this month. Then I can get to work on The Aberration Chapter 2 and City of Anarchy Chapter 3. Woot.

Labels: agaffa, city of anarchy, project cam, starcustard, the aberration

# posted by Chris @ 9:34 PM 0 comments

Things to do this October (starting with the biggest priorities):

• Finish the first bit of Starcustard Chapter 5.


• Make a proper start on the Chapter 2 rewrite of The Aberration.


• Get some ideas for Project CAM down in ink.


• Write City of Anarchy Chapter 3.

Labels: city of anarchy, project cam, starcustard, the aberration

# posted by Chris @ 9:06 PM 0 comments

Lots of good stuff for you today (I was intending to get this posted on Friday, but... well, it's still Friday in Official Chris Time).

To start of with...




...some Starcustard concept art of Hepthazard, the spacestation. It is very, very big.

Amelia has also sent me some nice ideas for the Fat Man site design. We've discussed a few things and have come up with some neat stuff that will hopefully be possible, but we don't know yet.

Secondly, the first two chapters of City of Anarchy, with Chapter 2 being brand-spanking new. I know it's a little on the short side, but it's been a big last-minute rush to get everything finished for this update. I meant to get some of it done earlier on in the week, but after I've finished all my schoolwork, I'm always too tired to do anything else.

Now... this next thing is what this update is really all about. I've talked about it so very much, and now it's finally time for you to actually read the first bit of it.

I present to you... the NEW... The Aberration Chapter One: The Tramp.

All improved and refreshed. :) I think the old Kommingle version is still up if you feel like comparing the two.

DeviantArt will be where I post any updates of my independant projects until the site is launched.

And to finish off this rather spectacular update (by my standards, at least)... an announcement.

I will be teaming up with Holly Heuser, Michael Achtzehn, Sam Draxler and Amelia 'Aliens' Chesley to bring you the ambiguously named... Project CAM. All that remains to be said is: watch this space.

Labels: city of anarchy, project cam, sketches and doodles, starcustard, the aberration

# posted by Chris @ 12:29 AM 3 comments

I've tried to avoid going into things like this on this blog, but because there might be readers who are wondering why I keep changing my mind about it, I think I need to give some sort of an explanation.

I'm going to continue writing City of Anarchy. Two reasons for this:

(1) I had decided to give up on it because the community it's based on was falling apart and things had become very ugly for various reasons. I hadn't planned on going back because I was fed up of it all. Above all, I was angry with some people, and I still do disagree with a lot of things that were said and the way a lot of things were handled, but that doesn't matter now. I'd also decided that there was no point in me being there because there was nothing keeping me there. I wasn't enjoying it, and hadn't been particularly interested in anything that was going on for some time. I also wasn't too keen on being there for the dozen 'how to make it a better place' threads that I expected to follow, which always went around in circles in the end, because it was an unmoderrated board (the publishers that own it abandoned it years ago), and nothing the community decided on could really be enforced properly.

But I realise now that my exit was more a heat-of-the-moment thing than anything. I underestimated them. Not only have they recovered, but it's now better than ever. Everything's under control so it won't ever get out of hand like it did again. Ironically, I was originally against having moderators because an unmoderrated board had its advantages, but they've sorted it out so we're not restricted as you usually are with moderators, and so far it's working. I'm reminded of what it was that made me stick around there in the first place. Maybe a change or a fresh start was what was needed. I resolved to abandon it forever and only lasted a few weeks. Go me.

(2) After I started to have some initial ideas for City of Anarchy, it very rapidly grew and grew with all the different concepts, ideas and jokes, and in a surprisingly short amount of time, I had the main frame and a lot of the content planned out. As egotistic as it sounds, I really like a lot of the ideas I came up with for it that couldn't really be used as effectively if I tried to include it in something else, and I'm proud of the story as a whole and how it all fits together, and even when I planned never to return to that community, I couldn't help feeling that it was a shame that I was just abandoning it. I considered continuing to write it without basing it on the community, but I knew it wouldn't work as well. Although I know now that other projects like The Aberration are going to end up being slightly pushed aside like they were when I first started it, I'm sort of relieved I can now continue writing it like I was doing. I think more than anything it's because with other projects (like TA, where it's taken a year and a half to finally decide on a plot), I don't really have much of an idea where the story is headed, but City of Anarchy is one of those rare occasions where I do.

Labels: boardfic, city of anarchy

# posted by Chris @ 6:41 PM 1 comments

Righty. I'm back, and no more willing to get to work than usual. Still, here are some updates on where various things currently stand.

Agaffa: I've written down all the big changes I'd like to see in the rewrite, and I think once these are done the whole thing will be much more coherent. I'm just waiting to see if Olli has anything he wants to add now.

The Aberration: Lots of exciting stuff happening with this. I've made a lot of progress with where this is going to go, but there's very little physical evidence for this, most of the changes I'm making and the other ideas still only being in my head. As I've mentioned before, this rewrite is more than just polishing up the quality: there's a lot of big changes to the plot underway, the biggest changes being with the character Mike. For a start, his nationality's changing, because I want him to represent an aspect of British character which has grown in him as I've written the story. I'm also completely scrapping the court case and diminishing the TV show, both of which have been major parts of Mike's story, but the latter having very little bearing on the rest of the story and the former having none at all.

I've also been thinking about character histories, what effect they'll have on the events that occur, and how they can add depth to the characters and make the whole plot a hell of a lot more interesting as it unravels.

Website design: 'Easier said than done' has never been more true, especially when I find myself completely unwilling to make the effort. HTML/CSS is boring, and it doesn't help that I don't feel I'm going to get very far with it even if I can be bothered. Amelia has said she'll help me with that, which is fantastic, because now something might happen.

Stuff that's being discontinued: A Room Full Of Zombies, the text-based game, because, like with the webdesign, I can never work on it for more than ten minutes; and also City of Anarchy, because I've left the community it's loosely based on, possibly for good.

The Fat Man In Tweed launch: let's face it, it's not going to be happening any time soon. It'll be up whenever I feel I'm ready for it to be, which won't be until I've got the rewrites and the design done at the very least, and I'm not going to be giving myself any deadlines for them that I'll never live up to.

And, OMG, ideas for a novel, which have been knocking around in my head for several weeks. They're for a variation on an idea I've had for a novel for almost a year now, but I get the feeling I might actually start to write this thing soon.

Labels: agaffa, boardfic, city of anarchy, the aberration, webtechnical, zombies

# posted by Chris @ 11:51 PM 0 comments

I've been watching the repeat of the first series of 24 for a few weeks now. This is the first time I've seen it. The BBC have been showing two episodes every Friday night. Next Friday I'll be on holiday in France, so what are they doing? They're showing three.

Indignation courses through my soul like a raging, caffeine-stimulated dragon of high-voltage electrical power.

Suffice to say, I'm buying the DVD.

In other news [shuffles papers]...

We got started the rewrite of Agaffa and went through the first two chapters scribbling down various minor changes, but I think we decided that there's a lot of major stuff we need to sort out, which might make a lot of these minor changes unnecessary anyway. No idea when we're going to do that.

The future of City of Anarchy looks uncertain as a huge argument breaks out on the message board I write it for, and now I'm really not sure I want anything to do with it anymore.

As a result, The Aberration is now my main focus, and the one I'm really going to work on during the next few weeks. I've been neglecting it, and there's still a lot of stuff I need to do.

Labels: 24, agaffa, boardfic, city of anarchy, the aberration

# posted by Chris @ 5:31 PM 3 comments

The first part of City of Anarchy went online on Friday. I think those who read it liked it, but some responses were a little...bemusing.

One guy said, 'I like except for the bits with violence and pain. I kept having to close my eyes.' I don't understand how closing his eyes would have helped. How did he know when to open them again? Did 'YOU HAVE REACHED THE NEXT PARAGRAPH' flash across his eyelids?

Aside from that, I didn't think it was so...well, dark. Another person said, 'Is this story going to give me nightmares?' If people are seeing it this way, I think I'll just go with it, though I really can't see how they are.

Another guy told me, 'it reads like comics.' This is probably a good thing, because it suggests that the opening was sufficiently action-packed, but it was still something I really didn't expect.

Still... as long as they're enjoying it...

Tomorrow I'm going to force myself to sit down and get this bit of Starcustard done. I think one of the reasons I've been avoiding it is because I'm not sure how I'm going to go about it, but if I take another look at what we've already got, I'll probably be able to figure it out.

Also, Olli awaits Agaffa. I really need to be getting on with websitey things in general.

Labels: agaffa, boardfic, city of anarchy, starcustard

# posted by Chris @ 10:21 PM 8 comments

Do you know what I have now, what with all my exams being over? Lots and lots of free time.

I admit, I'll probably be spending a lot of it playing Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, but here's some of the stuff that's coming up...

Starcustard Chapter 4 isn't far from completion. It hasn't been for weeks, but, well, you know... I'm also part way through a Starcustard-related drawing. I'm making my first task finishing this off.

Olli mentioned revising/rewriting the first few chapters of Agaffa in a conversation at school. I don't know if we're still going through with that. We managed to finish Chapter 6 back in April, and we started Chapter 7, but there's most of that still to write.

(See also: Gnome Milk.)

The Aberration is the same as it has been for a while. The first three chapters are being partially rewritten, there are a few minor adjustments to make to Chapter 4, and Chapter 5 has barely been started.

The first part of City of Anarchy, a new project (with the characters based on the members of a message board I'm part of), will be posted online sometime next week. The second of the two drawings I'm currently working on is related to this.

And I want to make some progress with A Room Full of Zombies, my zombie game. I've had some neat ideas for this that I'm going to try and implement.

Nothing except the powers of procrastination and video games are standing in my way now. Time to get things done.

FATMANINTWEED.COM. COMING SOON.

Labels: agaffa, city of anarchy, starcustard, the aberration, videogames, zombies

# posted by Chris @ 3:56 PM 1 comments

Starcustard Chapter 4 is nearing the point that's somewhere near completion. I need to write one final bit, which can probably be done sometime this week, and then a quick proofread (because we've done some of that already) before we decide what music we want to feature in this chapter.

Speaking of which, I made an album with all the tracks from Chapters One, Two and Three, which is just over 54 minutes long. I didn't realise how strange our choices had been in places, and how varied some of the music is, but as a compilation, it all fits together strangely well.

Here's the tracklist (in order of appearance in the story):


Fleetwood Mac - Albatross
The Chemical Brothers - My Elastic Eye
The Chemical Brothers - Out of Control
Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
Fuel - Falls On Me
Jeff Beck - Where Were You?
Blur - Ambulance
Stereophonics - I'm Alright (You Gotta Go There To Come Back)
Radiohead - Where I End and You Begin
The Flaming Lips - Slow Motion
Beethoven - Für Elise
The Ramones - Cretin Hop
Muse - Ruled By Secrecy


I haven't really made much more progress with the TA rewrite yet, apart from a little bit on Phil's intro, but I have decided on a few things for Chapter 5.

I've also started writing another story that might end up on Fat Man, which will feature characters based on members of a message board I'm a regular on (or used to be until I had all these exams to deal with). This isn't the first one of these I've done (it's known as 'boardfic' there), but the others were a little too reliant on in-jokes to be put elsewhere, and this time around, a lot of usernames that are the names of characters of someone else's work will be changed to something else.

And this one's going to be a lot more KICK-ARSE than the previous ones I've written. YEAH!

So, priorities for this week (other than exam revision): write that last bit of Starcustard Chapter 4, and get some work done on The Aberration.

Labels: boardfic, city of anarchy, starcustard, the aberration

# posted by Chris @ 4:26 PM 2 comments