I asked my mom today what she thought of the name "Chiara Crivaro," and she asked me, very gravely, "Where did you hear that name?"
It turns out that we descend from a woman with that exact name, but from Montalto Uffugo instead of Tropea. Mom now temporarily thinks I have psychic powers. Ha ha, mom.
But it is a bit of a coincidence. I still think it's kind of cool. Maybe if I include Chiara, I'll make her a mother of two or three (at nineteen/twenty). All the kids died in Italy, and the moms in Montalto, at least, popped out at least one a year. I bet the moms' uteri exploded from the abuse, and that was why a lot of them died in childbirth.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Interview with Izumi
An interview with Izumi, who is being unacceptably schizophrenic in the novel.
1. Who are you?
"A former NSIO (Nippon Special Investigators, Osaka Unit) agent from Neyagawa."
2. Where are you going?
"Probably nowhere. At nineteen, my life is behind me."
3. Who do you serve?
"I used to serve my country, and the grand dream shared by my friends. Now I'm not so sure."
4. Who do you trust?
"A lot of people - the captain, the chief, even Richard Ivy, and to a certain degree Calliope is one of these people."
5. What is your favorite food? What food do you hate?
"I would die for a good serving (or three) of katsudon or blueberry pocky. I very much hate hot dogs with mustard."
6. What was your first or most memorable love affair? [This can be anything from a pre-teen crush to a long-term romance.] Be sure to describe the object of your affection, along with the changes that you went through in terms of feelings and thoughts about that person. Did it start out in terms of maddening hatred? Instant love? Who fell for who first? Were the feelings a surprise? How did it end? How does everyone involved feel about it now?
"My first and only true love was Mio Akiyama. She was like a lodestone - you couldn't help but be attracted to her. She was energetic, pretty, kind, sweet, always smiling, always surrounded by friends. She had a great smile. She had flaws, of course - she was naturally lazy, she was a ditz, she was dreamy to the point of being a little disconnected from reality. But I loved her so much - I could have married that girl, and I would have, if she hadn't died. Her body hasn't been found yet, but it's been a year. She fell first, I think. The feelings were a surprise when I fell for her - she was the opposite of the kind of girl I wanted to be with."
7. You get into a discussion about death and dying. How would you describe the perfect death?
"There is no perfect death, but I think the closest is to be sleeping peacefully, and to die of old age."
8. What were you like at the age of ten [fifth grade]? Were you a wimp, a bully, a nerd, a snitch or a klutz? Or none of those? Were you popular or not? Write up a description, and, if you like, a little day-in-the-life-of story of you at that age?
"I was always popular, even though my English was good. I was studious, but I was also a bit of a teacher's nightmare in that I asked many questions they couldn't answer."
9. Did you ever have a pet? What kind of pet? Where is it now or what happened to it?
"I had a pet dog named Tomo, a shiba inu. She was very friendly, and extremely loyal. She was the mascot of my father's restaurant, until Mr. Kagawa, who was allergic to dogs, became a paying regular."
10. Describe your perfect evening? Would it involve others or be alone? If it involves others, who would it involve?
"The perfect evening is one which I would spend with my family, including Uncle Yasushi, and Tomo."
11. To you, does revenge mean (1) "an eye for an eye", (2) "repayment with interest", (3) "the only good enemy is a dead enemy", or (4) something else? In exacting your revenge, would you serve it hot, as soon as possible after the offense, or cold, awaiting a perfect place and time?
"Revenge is an eye for an eye. I prefer my revenge cold. Hot often gets messy."
12. If you were doing something else with your life now, what do you think you would be doing? What do you want to do?
"If I could, I would become a rock star, like Iggy Pop or David Bowie. He might have sung about gay rebels, but I'm sure he got his share of women. Or could have had."
14. Where are you from?
"Neyagawa, Osaka, Japan. I wish I could go back."
15. Give a brief description of your childhood, including emotional and economic status, and any unique or odd events.
"My family did well. There was nothing particularly notable about my life until Mio and her coterie of superheroines adopted me as one of their own. I think they originally wanted me to give them the invisibility cloaks I worked with as a NSIO agent, which I did, but eventually they accepted me as one of their own. It's a long story, one I don't feel like telling."
16. How do you deal with your past? (any scars, emotional or not?)
"I take it one day at a time. I'm waiting for a chance to redeem myself."
17. Towards which races or groups, if any, do you feel animosity? Why?
"I'm completely prejudiced against serial criminals that don't depend upon their trade to survive."
18. What fears do you have (they can be actual phobias, or just worries) and where did they come from?
"I fear being senile like my maternal grandmother, Masami Ikeda."
19. If an opponent surrendered and asked for mercy, would you grant it, and under what circumstances, if any?
"It depends on the opponent. Mostly, I would grant mercy of some kind. Mercy is one of the things which divides us from animals."
20. If someone approached you and asked for protection, would you grant it, and under what circumstances?
"I would grant protection to anyone who I felt deserved it."
21. Would you obey a law even if you thought it was wrong?
"No. If I thought a law was very wrong, I would fight it."
22. Would you risk the lives of your companions without their knowledge and consent?
"Never."
23. Do you consider the use of force or the use of cleverness and guile to accomplish things to be "more" moral?
"Cleverness is superior to brute force."
24. Do you feel that the ends justify the means, no matter what those "means" may be?
"For the right ends, yes."
25. Do you feel that the strong are entitled to exploit or manipulate the weak? Do you indulge in it, too?
"Exploitation and manipulation are usually not right."
1. Who are you?
"A former NSIO (Nippon Special Investigators, Osaka Unit) agent from Neyagawa."
2. Where are you going?
"Probably nowhere. At nineteen, my life is behind me."
3. Who do you serve?
"I used to serve my country, and the grand dream shared by my friends. Now I'm not so sure."
4. Who do you trust?
"A lot of people - the captain, the chief, even Richard Ivy, and to a certain degree Calliope is one of these people."
5. What is your favorite food? What food do you hate?
"I would die for a good serving (or three) of katsudon or blueberry pocky. I very much hate hot dogs with mustard."
6. What was your first or most memorable love affair? [This can be anything from a pre-teen crush to a long-term romance.] Be sure to describe the object of your affection, along with the changes that you went through in terms of feelings and thoughts about that person. Did it start out in terms of maddening hatred? Instant love? Who fell for who first? Were the feelings a surprise? How did it end? How does everyone involved feel about it now?
"My first and only true love was Mio Akiyama. She was like a lodestone - you couldn't help but be attracted to her. She was energetic, pretty, kind, sweet, always smiling, always surrounded by friends. She had a great smile. She had flaws, of course - she was naturally lazy, she was a ditz, she was dreamy to the point of being a little disconnected from reality. But I loved her so much - I could have married that girl, and I would have, if she hadn't died. Her body hasn't been found yet, but it's been a year. She fell first, I think. The feelings were a surprise when I fell for her - she was the opposite of the kind of girl I wanted to be with."
7. You get into a discussion about death and dying. How would you describe the perfect death?
"There is no perfect death, but I think the closest is to be sleeping peacefully, and to die of old age."
8. What were you like at the age of ten [fifth grade]? Were you a wimp, a bully, a nerd, a snitch or a klutz? Or none of those? Were you popular or not? Write up a description, and, if you like, a little day-in-the-life-of story of you at that age?
"I was always popular, even though my English was good. I was studious, but I was also a bit of a teacher's nightmare in that I asked many questions they couldn't answer."
9. Did you ever have a pet? What kind of pet? Where is it now or what happened to it?
"I had a pet dog named Tomo, a shiba inu. She was very friendly, and extremely loyal. She was the mascot of my father's restaurant, until Mr. Kagawa, who was allergic to dogs, became a paying regular."
10. Describe your perfect evening? Would it involve others or be alone? If it involves others, who would it involve?
"The perfect evening is one which I would spend with my family, including Uncle Yasushi, and Tomo."
11. To you, does revenge mean (1) "an eye for an eye", (2) "repayment with interest", (3) "the only good enemy is a dead enemy", or (4) something else? In exacting your revenge, would you serve it hot, as soon as possible after the offense, or cold, awaiting a perfect place and time?
"Revenge is an eye for an eye. I prefer my revenge cold. Hot often gets messy."
12. If you were doing something else with your life now, what do you think you would be doing? What do you want to do?
"If I could, I would become a rock star, like Iggy Pop or David Bowie. He might have sung about gay rebels, but I'm sure he got his share of women. Or could have had."
14. Where are you from?
"Neyagawa, Osaka, Japan. I wish I could go back."
15. Give a brief description of your childhood, including emotional and economic status, and any unique or odd events.
"My family did well. There was nothing particularly notable about my life until Mio and her coterie of superheroines adopted me as one of their own. I think they originally wanted me to give them the invisibility cloaks I worked with as a NSIO agent, which I did, but eventually they accepted me as one of their own. It's a long story, one I don't feel like telling."
16. How do you deal with your past? (any scars, emotional or not?)
"I take it one day at a time. I'm waiting for a chance to redeem myself."
17. Towards which races or groups, if any, do you feel animosity? Why?
"I'm completely prejudiced against serial criminals that don't depend upon their trade to survive."
18. What fears do you have (they can be actual phobias, or just worries) and where did they come from?
"I fear being senile like my maternal grandmother, Masami Ikeda."
19. If an opponent surrendered and asked for mercy, would you grant it, and under what circumstances, if any?
"It depends on the opponent. Mostly, I would grant mercy of some kind. Mercy is one of the things which divides us from animals."
20. If someone approached you and asked for protection, would you grant it, and under what circumstances?
"I would grant protection to anyone who I felt deserved it."
21. Would you obey a law even if you thought it was wrong?
"No. If I thought a law was very wrong, I would fight it."
22. Would you risk the lives of your companions without their knowledge and consent?
"Never."
23. Do you consider the use of force or the use of cleverness and guile to accomplish things to be "more" moral?
"Cleverness is superior to brute force."
24. Do you feel that the ends justify the means, no matter what those "means" may be?
"For the right ends, yes."
25. Do you feel that the strong are entitled to exploit or manipulate the weak? Do you indulge in it, too?
"Exploitation and manipulation are usually not right."
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Minor Important Character Interview
An interview with the character Rosario, who is Calliope's constant ex.
1. Who are you?
"Rosario Crivaro. Male Rosario, not female Rosario."
2. Where are you going?
"I'm going nowhere, unless my band's going on tour. They wouldn't dare without consulting me."
3. Who do you serve?
"I serve myself. And, uh, whoever happens to stop by my section at La Orleans from 7:22 AM to 6:44 PM on weekdays. What kind of question is that?"
4. Who do you trust?
"If I don't count, then occasionally Calliope and Derrick."
5. What is your favorite food? What food do you hate?
"I like steamed pork buns all right. I can't stand calves' hearts, which Calliope finds endlessly amusing."
6. What was your first or most memorable love affair? [This can be anything from a pre-teen crush to a long-term romance.] Be sure to describe the object of your affection, along with the changes that you went through in terms of feelings and thoughts about that person. Did it start out in terms of maddening hatred? Instant love? Who fell for who first? Were the feelings a surprise? How did it end? How does everyone involved feel about it now?
"Calliope is the only notable "love affair" relationship I can think of. Once you've seen her, everything and everyone else just dims in comparison. Derrick says it was wrong, since I was eighteen and she was sixteen, but Derrick is dating his second cousin. It lasted only a year, but when the lights dim, Calliope's the girl I'm thinking of every night. I see her in the apartment halls sometimes, usually making a nuisance of herself or on the arm of some boy. Always a different boy. But she's eighteen now. Legal. I'm sure I can have her again."
7. You get into a discussion about death and dying. How would you describe the perfect death?
"The perfect death? Erotic asphyxiation."
8. What were you like at the age of ten [fifth grade]? Were you a wimp, a bully, a nerd, a snitch or a klutz? Or none of those? Were you popular or not? Write up a description, and, if you like, a little day-in-the-life-of story of you at that age?
"I was a brat. Not popular, not outcast. My...popularity...was based solely on my sister Chiara's."
9. Did you ever have a pet? What kind of pet? Where is it now or what happened to it?
"I had a pet dog named Killer. It was an alpaca that belonged to my mother. I named it, and it liked me best of all. It was put to sleep when it outlived its vitality."
10. Describe your perfect evening? Would it involve others or be alone? If it involves others, who would it involve?
"A perfect night is a night alone with a worthy adversary, it doesn't matter who, and a series of sword matches, ending with hours upon hours of sleep."
11. To you, does revenge mean (1) "an eye for an eye", (2) "repayment with interest", (3) "the only good enemy is a dead enemy", or (4) something else? In exacting your revenge, would you serve it hot, as soon as possible after the offense, or cold, awaiting a perfect place and time?
"Revenge is repayment with interest. Cold revenge is the sweetest."
12. If you were doing something else with your life now, what do you think you would be doing? What do you want to do?
"I don't care what I could be doing, idiot. I'm not doing it now, so it's worthless."
14. Where are you from?
"Tropea, Italy. My family immigrated when I was three."
15. Give a brief description of your childhood, including emotional and economic status, and any unique or odd events.
"My family was poor while I was growing up. We lived in Queens, and the fool I call a mother still does. My father was a paracop, one of the best. When I was fourteen, he died protecting me from some common thugs. I was trying to protect Chiara from them - they were eying her like she was a sweet drink and they were parched wanderers. They would have drained her quickly and without relish. She was just thirteen, and I was a naive idiot to not tell her to run. If I could, I would kill them now, but I haven't seen them since the trial. One was a cryokinetic. My right arm became completely useless from frostbite, so I replaced it with the most ominous, dangerous-looking synthetic the shop had. Lately, I wear the most normal-looking arm I can find."
16. How do you deal with your past? (any scars, emotional or not?)
"I keep it and the people who know about it hidden from my everyday life. Now it never comes up."
17. Towards which races or groups, if any, do you feel animosity? Why?
"I detest cryokinetics. I think you know why."
18. What fears do you have (they can be actual phobias, or just worries) and where did they come from?
"I won't eat garlic. It's the one "myth" I don't believe is fake. My father was a vampire, and I might have an allergy to garlic in my genes."
19. If an opponent surrendered and asked for mercy, would you grant it, and under what circumstances, if any?
"No mercy. There's no room for mercy in fights. In normal life, I give mercy where I can spare it."
20. If someone approached you and asked for protection, would you grant it, and under what circumstances?
"I would grant protection to anyone who didn't piss me off. As long as they repaid me later - any time that counts as reasonably later."
21. Would you obey a law even if you thought it was wrong?
"If I thought it was wrong, I wouldn't do it. It's simple."
22. Would you risk the lives of your companions without their knowledge and consent?
"No."
23. Do you consider the use of force or the use of cleverness and guile to accomplish things to be "more" moral?
"If they serve the right purpose, then they're equally moral. If they're for wrong, then they're equally immoral."
24. Do you feel that the ends justify the means, no matter what those "means" may be?
"For the right ends, yes."
25. Do you feel that the strong are entitled to exploit or manipulate the weak? Do you indulge in it, too?
"If they don't, then something in the world is different from yesterday. The strong will do as they please. It's true of me, as well. Of exploitation and manipulation, only exploitation is wrong."
1. Who are you?
"Rosario Crivaro. Male Rosario, not female Rosario."
2. Where are you going?
"I'm going nowhere, unless my band's going on tour. They wouldn't dare without consulting me."
3. Who do you serve?
"I serve myself. And, uh, whoever happens to stop by my section at La Orleans from 7:22 AM to 6:44 PM on weekdays. What kind of question is that?"
4. Who do you trust?
"If I don't count, then occasionally Calliope and Derrick."
5. What is your favorite food? What food do you hate?
"I like steamed pork buns all right. I can't stand calves' hearts, which Calliope finds endlessly amusing."
6. What was your first or most memorable love affair? [This can be anything from a pre-teen crush to a long-term romance.] Be sure to describe the object of your affection, along with the changes that you went through in terms of feelings and thoughts about that person. Did it start out in terms of maddening hatred? Instant love? Who fell for who first? Were the feelings a surprise? How did it end? How does everyone involved feel about it now?
"Calliope is the only notable "love affair" relationship I can think of. Once you've seen her, everything and everyone else just dims in comparison. Derrick says it was wrong, since I was eighteen and she was sixteen, but Derrick is dating his second cousin. It lasted only a year, but when the lights dim, Calliope's the girl I'm thinking of every night. I see her in the apartment halls sometimes, usually making a nuisance of herself or on the arm of some boy. Always a different boy. But she's eighteen now. Legal. I'm sure I can have her again."
7. You get into a discussion about death and dying. How would you describe the perfect death?
"The perfect death? Erotic asphyxiation."
8. What were you like at the age of ten [fifth grade]? Were you a wimp, a bully, a nerd, a snitch or a klutz? Or none of those? Were you popular or not? Write up a description, and, if you like, a little day-in-the-life-of story of you at that age?
"I was a brat. Not popular, not outcast. My...popularity...was based solely on my sister Chiara's."
9. Did you ever have a pet? What kind of pet? Where is it now or what happened to it?
"I had a pet dog named Killer. It was an alpaca that belonged to my mother. I named it, and it liked me best of all. It was put to sleep when it outlived its vitality."
10. Describe your perfect evening? Would it involve others or be alone? If it involves others, who would it involve?
"A perfect night is a night alone with a worthy adversary, it doesn't matter who, and a series of sword matches, ending with hours upon hours of sleep."
11. To you, does revenge mean (1) "an eye for an eye", (2) "repayment with interest", (3) "the only good enemy is a dead enemy", or (4) something else? In exacting your revenge, would you serve it hot, as soon as possible after the offense, or cold, awaiting a perfect place and time?
"Revenge is repayment with interest. Cold revenge is the sweetest."
12. If you were doing something else with your life now, what do you think you would be doing? What do you want to do?
"I don't care what I could be doing, idiot. I'm not doing it now, so it's worthless."
14. Where are you from?
"Tropea, Italy. My family immigrated when I was three."
15. Give a brief description of your childhood, including emotional and economic status, and any unique or odd events.
"My family was poor while I was growing up. We lived in Queens, and the fool I call a mother still does. My father was a paracop, one of the best. When I was fourteen, he died protecting me from some common thugs. I was trying to protect Chiara from them - they were eying her like she was a sweet drink and they were parched wanderers. They would have drained her quickly and without relish. She was just thirteen, and I was a naive idiot to not tell her to run. If I could, I would kill them now, but I haven't seen them since the trial. One was a cryokinetic. My right arm became completely useless from frostbite, so I replaced it with the most ominous, dangerous-looking synthetic the shop had. Lately, I wear the most normal-looking arm I can find."
16. How do you deal with your past? (any scars, emotional or not?)
"I keep it and the people who know about it hidden from my everyday life. Now it never comes up."
17. Towards which races or groups, if any, do you feel animosity? Why?
"I detest cryokinetics. I think you know why."
18. What fears do you have (they can be actual phobias, or just worries) and where did they come from?
"I won't eat garlic. It's the one "myth" I don't believe is fake. My father was a vampire, and I might have an allergy to garlic in my genes."
19. If an opponent surrendered and asked for mercy, would you grant it, and under what circumstances, if any?
"No mercy. There's no room for mercy in fights. In normal life, I give mercy where I can spare it."
20. If someone approached you and asked for protection, would you grant it, and under what circumstances?
"I would grant protection to anyone who didn't piss me off. As long as they repaid me later - any time that counts as reasonably later."
21. Would you obey a law even if you thought it was wrong?
"If I thought it was wrong, I wouldn't do it. It's simple."
22. Would you risk the lives of your companions without their knowledge and consent?
"No."
23. Do you consider the use of force or the use of cleverness and guile to accomplish things to be "more" moral?
"If they serve the right purpose, then they're equally moral. If they're for wrong, then they're equally immoral."
24. Do you feel that the ends justify the means, no matter what those "means" may be?
"For the right ends, yes."
25. Do you feel that the strong are entitled to exploit or manipulate the weak? Do you indulge in it, too?
"If they don't, then something in the world is different from yesterday. The strong will do as they please. It's true of me, as well. Of exploitation and manipulation, only exploitation is wrong."
Virgin Post
It's been about a year or two since I had the initial idea. The main character was the sweet, sullen, spineless Blake Bishop, who has since been relegated to minor character duty, and he did not at that time have a boyfriend or any real substance. The constant runaway Faith's name was still the Impresaria, and the story had no parahumans, policing or otherwise, and was set in modern times. Some things haven't changed, though. Calliope is still a sadistic bitch who almost never shows mercy or sympathy, even to her own brother, and drunken wanderer Jack is still in love with Roza, even though he shouldn't be, only now he's Saint Jack, forgiver and forgetter extraordinaire. And the typewriter is still there, of course.
I've started the novel from the beginning again, and right now I have 4,903 words only, with Calliope Bishop as the main character and set in 2054 AD. She's a junior parahuman police officer, age eighteen instead of nineteen. Her partner is Izumi Niigaki, who was deported from Osaka, Japan for accidentally sexually harassing the vacationing imperial princess telepathically. Calliope gets sent a mysterious package with no return address containing an ivory typewriter with the power to rewrite the code of reality. There will be eldritch horror creatures wreaking destruction upon Canada, show tune-singing zombies in towns that appear overnight, amnesiac necromancers bent on world domination due to boredom (you can only woe-is-me over not remembering stuff for so long, after all), evil twin zombie hunters, and a fearsome parahuman-murdering thief nicknamed Farmer Jane for the disturbing pictures she leaves behind at crime scenes - and who is after Calliope's typewriter. It's going to be a YA fantasy book, and it's also going to be called "The Ivory Typewriter" unless a miracle happens and I come up with a new name for it. This blog will be detailing, for my vanity and reference, everything that goes right or wrong with this novel. I'll even try to list a playlist. But not in this post.
I've started the novel from the beginning again, and right now I have 4,903 words only, with Calliope Bishop as the main character and set in 2054 AD. She's a junior parahuman police officer, age eighteen instead of nineteen. Her partner is Izumi Niigaki, who was deported from Osaka, Japan for accidentally sexually harassing the vacationing imperial princess telepathically. Calliope gets sent a mysterious package with no return address containing an ivory typewriter with the power to rewrite the code of reality. There will be eldritch horror creatures wreaking destruction upon Canada, show tune-singing zombies in towns that appear overnight, amnesiac necromancers bent on world domination due to boredom (you can only woe-is-me over not remembering stuff for so long, after all), evil twin zombie hunters, and a fearsome parahuman-murdering thief nicknamed Farmer Jane for the disturbing pictures she leaves behind at crime scenes - and who is after Calliope's typewriter. It's going to be a YA fantasy book, and it's also going to be called "The Ivory Typewriter" unless a miracle happens and I come up with a new name for it. This blog will be detailing, for my vanity and reference, everything that goes right or wrong with this novel. I'll even try to list a playlist. But not in this post.
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