My novel, the Adventures of Mysty

[Ghosty]

So, just about all of you already know about my current project, but for those of you who did not experience the apocalyptic world of the Forums of Buildism, here's a quick summary.

!i! WARNING !i!
MASSIVE WALL OF TEXT
Do not attempt to read if intoxicated, drowsy, bored, listening to intense music, eating cheese, pregnant, or mentally challenged
Key Bored Industries claims no liability for strained eyes, headsplosions, heart failure, reticulated splines, emancipated ear tubes, or any other injuries incurred by the viewing of this post

This story has a lot of background to cover, so let me start at the beginning.

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS DARKNESS. THEN GREAT OLD DUDE SAID, "HEY, SOMEONE TURN ON THE LIGHT!" AND THERE WAS LIGHT.

Uh, wait a second, wrong story. Let me try that again.

Ahem.

About a year and a half ago, I moved from the town I had lived all my life to a different state, leaving behind the few friends I have and essentially losing what little life I had built up for myself. I was a bit sad at first, of course, but eventually I got over it, mostly by completely immersing myself in the Internet.

Then, in December 2011, one of my two best friends unexpectedly got back in touch with me via email, and my life jolted back on track a little.

We took to using Google Chat rather often, discussing lots of things, but mostly how our lives had taken a dip for the worse after I had moved. However, my Internet has always been patchy, as has my computer (which is not-so-affectionately nicknamed the Craptop) and I usually had Minecraft or some other such program open in the background, and often we would be in the middle of a conversation when I would vanish for whatever reason. We had been trying to figure out what mythical creatures we resembled in any way, and this unpredictable invisibility of mine earned me the moniker "Ghosty". Of course, then we had to come up with something for her.

It was hopeless.

Eventually we settled on the name "Mysty", short for "Mystery" because there was nothing she seemed to match. (Except maybe a vampire, but we both share an undying [pun possibly intended] hatred for those overused menaces and so refused to even think about considering it.)

One day, Google decided to be Google and told each of us the other was offline when in reality we weren't. Now, who could possibly go around messing with ghosts? [WHO YA GONNA CALL? *dramatic music*] This incident led directly into a Spontaneously Initiated Role Play which lasted an amazing three days and somewhere around five hundred lines of dialogue. (Sadly, the large middle portion has since been lost to the unpredictable whims of Google's data storage.)

Unfortunately, a few weeks after this I was forced to lose contact with her. This launched me into 4 painful, depressing months of utter despair and sadness, which was mostly resolved when we finally got back in touch, although not as regularly because she is now very busy with school.

During this dark period, I started work on a project which I never seriously thought would go anywhere, and was mainly to give me something to do while I was thinking of her and too depressed or bored with everything else. This project soon grew rather large, and eventually I posted it on Buildism, the site that became 2DWorlds, mostly to have something to talk about that didn't involve yelling at this one British kid who was incredibly annoying and constantly lying and contradicting himself. (I also got addicted to Portal 2 at this time. I almost feel sorry for the guy because of the incredible amount of witty GLaDOS vs. Wheatley lines he had to endure from me and several others. Almost. But one does not feel sorry for Franco30557.) Eventually it got so large I moved it to its own web page, and then it got too large even for that.

This project was a novel based on that 3-day role play, and although to this day it does not have an actual title or cover (as of late November 2012, I have given it a true title: The Adventures of Mysty: The Mountain of the Wolves), it has been my major project for several months now. I kept most of the main plot elements, although I rearranged them a bit (ghost hunters, a strange device that zaps the two main characters out of their known territory, a peaceful meadow, a giant evil foggish being, a forest with a strange smell, a ravine that Ghosty has to pull Mysty out of, a Parasaurolophus) and added a few more (Mysty's amnesia being the largest such addition, and recently a new character suggested by the real Mysty). At the time of this writing it has reached over 150 pages on Google Docs, and I have had to split it into multiple documents.

Anyway, that's the backstory to the story.

The story itself can be read here for Book 1, Document 1 and here for the new Book 1 Document 2.

[ijfeswijfae]

I also got addicted to Portal 2 at this time. I almost feel sorry for the guy because of the incredible amount of witty GLaDOS vs. Wheatley lines he had to endure from me and several others.

Believe me, Franco Rothschild wasn't the only one who suffered.

[Ghosty]

Today I realized I'd written several segments without uploading them. So, there are two new 'chapters' up on the second Google Docs page.

[Ghosty]

Yesterday, me and Mysty found some of the magic that led to the creation of this story in the first place. What else can you call nearly 10 straight hours of continuous in-character roleplay, where, among other things, one of us had a good idea for doing one part of the story but let the other take control, and it turned out exactly the same way anyway; and later on, one of us coincidentally used a story mechanic that the other had planned to use heavily later on but had not even hinted at yet?

We even devised our own grammar system for it. Normal text is dialogue; if it's from her, it's Mysty. If it's from me, I prefix it with the initial of the character speaking [ G) or W) or N) ] unless there is logically only one character who could be speaking at that time. If it's surrounded by parenthesis, it's actiontext (smiles). And prefixed by an apostrophe is a comment not directly inside the story (because Google uses *this* for bold text, that can get annoying sometimes ).

Also, *........ means "HURRY UP ALREADY!"

So, good news bad news for anyone interested in reading. Good news is, we're working through a lot of plot here that will be ten times easier to turn into full-on story than the little roleplay that the whole thing sprung from in the first place. Bad news is, I might be doing this roleplaying the plot more often instead of writing the plot.

Here's a quick excerpt. (By the way, if I post any more of it later you might notice I use a more formal tone with Nate early on, like in this portion, but slip into more modern, 'natural' speech later; that's just for my convenience. In the story, simple but complete speech, such as this sentence, is how Nate will always talk.)

Qwerty: G) So, Will and I were talking about some stuff earlier, and I don't don't know if it's a good idea to worry you guys with it yet, so we'll be ... talking? There's no good verb for this telepathy stuff, is there? -- in the cabin for a bit.
W) Just call out if you need help, and don't go too far from the clearing. (breaks thoughtlink to Mysty and Nate)
Mysty: Ok....I'm going to go and try to figure some things out on my own.....hopefully I won't blow anything up....but no promises.....
(Heads more into the forest)
Qwerty: N) I will stay here in the clearing. Have fun.
*brb
Mysty: Are you sure? Do you not want to have conversation with w and g?
* and by the way, when I use the initial, I do mean the whole name, it's just faster to type
*...........
*i know you said brb, btw
*i just waitin'
*
*.......
*dishes or something?
Qwerty: *ding ding
N) They said they did not want to worry us about whatever it is they are talking about, and I do not think I need more things to worry about. I will work on drawing in the dirt.
Mysty: why drawing?
Qwerty: N) It is something simple I can do that I like. There isn't much else to do here... I can't do the tricks you and the ghost and the wolf can.
Mysty: hmm.....i dont feel safe just leaving you out here alone....would, would you like to come with me?
Qwerty: N) You will make sure not to, as you said, blow up anything... such as me?
Mysty: uhmm......sure (bad poker face smile)
Qwerty: N) Well, I suppose that if anything bad approaches, you can blow it up, and I could not, so that cancels out the possibility of me... what exactly is blowing up? Or do I not want to know?
Mysty: you might not want to know....but if for some reason you do, you can ask the ghost over there....he's an expert.
Qwerty: N) I will remember that if I ever need to. For now I will come with you. What exactly can you do? I know you can make it so we can talk without talking, like we are now.
Mysty: well, i know it kind of sounds childish, but I have ALWAYS wanted to do the art of telekinesis
and if you do not know what that is...
It is when you move things with your mind, without physically touching it
Qwerty: N) That sounds like it would be very useful.
*.......
Mysty: well, i guess so. I just always imagined that it would be kind of fun, to do something with what i have left of a mind. I believe you have to have a lot of brain power, and great focus, and also if I am correct, you can even fly yourself, or make others fly, but I rather not.....because of somethi--but anyway what do you think I should try it on first? (while walking further on into the forest)
Qwerty: N) Not me I hope!
Mysty: dont worry, i think it would be easier if i start with something small, and more light wight
*weight
Qwerty: N) How about one of the fruits, the glowy things? I see a tree over there.
Mysty: ok....i think i am gonna try to grab the highest fruit, without even touching the tree....but please do not make fun of me if it does not work.....i am atleast trying to do something on my own for a change
Qwerty: N) As long as you do not cause me to learn what blowing up is, I will be fine. (grins)
Mysty: ok, thanks. ( closes eyes )
( reaches out hand as if about to grab, but while with a very concentrated face)
( face loosens, hand goes down, with sad face of disapproval ) I, I can't do it.

[Emperor]

Mmm.
(I read a block of text and all I can say is Mmm.)

[Ghosty]

Check out my in-depth high-resolution extremely-informative illustration I spent hours making for a point later in the story!

[DysLabs]

Check out my in-depth high-resolution extremely-informative illustration I spent hours making for a point later in the story!

Amazing.

[Ghosty]

Since I posted about RPing with Mysty 10 days ago, I haven't written and uploaded much, because -- as I suspected might happen -- I've been working out more plot that way with her, instead of writing the actual novel.

Today, though, I have put up another short segment

[Ghosty]

Today and last night, I uploaded a couple more segments. I'm starting to move into the parts covered by the beginning of the new RP set now

[Ghosty]

Relevant: I have updated my signature.

(If you can see why it's relevant, you either have great eyesight or a bad internet connection.)