Demon, blow by blow
So here's something fun.
Because they're really long, I started LJ-cutting ARGEN THE DEMON so as not to destroy your Friends pages. However, to demarcate where the various sections were about, I added fun little tags to the LJ-cuts. Obviously these things exist nowhere except the links on the tags in my journal... They don't exist in the actual entries, and not in the printed versions I made for Mr. Walker and my parents.
And here! I have no idea what this reflects about the book as a whole, but, y'know, this could be entertaining.
ECHOES
-It was late August...
-Citadel was a gray city
-Antonio closed the cabinet...
-A cloth sack sat in the middle of an alley...
-Antonio rolled over...
-Argen stood in the shadows
-Argen set down his glass...
Just the first line from the passage in question. Kinda dull. Let's move on.
CHECKMATE
-The Spanish Game
-No wonder in his eyes
-Argen's breath steamed in the night...
-You know what the interesting thing is about chess?
-Will the bailiff please escort the accused?
-Do I need this?
-I don't want to lose to anybody stupider than I am
-The Vipers don't do kids
-Checkmate
A little better. Lines from the story that get at the heart of the passages. And "The Spanish Game," a delightful anachronism.
LAW AND ORDER
-We live in an age of miracles
-It's the vigilante!
-Sometimes, you have to sacrifice the things you love
-Unconcious and bleeding
-S'more ale, Miss Marina?
-Sometimes, the skills he learned still came in handy
-Honest. I just want to talk.
-Remember Antonio?
One of the things I kind of miss about the early stories is the more freewheeling comicbook elements. Watchmen yelling "It's the vigilante!" That's just fun. Also, "S'more ale, Miss Marina?" Oh, McNab, you ladykiller.
WAR STORIES
-The Black Duck
-The cold gets into your bones.
-He never knew about the Three Vipers.
-We were in the war together.
-I'm guessing we should stick to swords for this one?
-No clue why somebody would want to kill him, huh?
-It's the best deal anybody is ever going to make you.
-And if you don't talk, I'm going to crush your windpipe.
-Three Fangs
-Right to the heart
For a couple of reasons- Kaleb Aust's plight, the first big appearence by Jacob, the first look at Argen before he became the Demon- War Stories is the chapter where I think I really began to get a feel for the overall story. This is clearly not meant to be a comicbook.
WAKE UP SCREAMING
-At McNab's
-The Docks
-Masks
-The Letter
-The Last Mission
-Sanctuary
-Everything will be different by tomorrow
Ooh! How clipped and mysterious we were, Eric In March Of 2006. Then again it was that kind of a story.
"NO GOOD DEED..."
-Something you want to see for yourself
-You normally chain up your guests?
-I don't expect my money to ever be good again at your bar if this works.
-Are you the Demon?
-Hope you feel like you got a noble death.
-A murderer in the House of God
-Fallen angels
I like these, especially the last two. "No Good Deed..." was one of the stories that I considered crucial to the overall theme of the book. The scene at the end, especially, had been a big part of my plan for the story for a long time.
REPTILES
-Strange environs
-Ermenrich
-Savages poisoning his soup again?
-I mean, we're double-crossing him.
-She smelled like jasmine
-Cutting a deal
Reptiles is one of my favorite stories, just because it introduces Ermenrich, who I love to write. Argen (of course) is my favorite, because he's the main character, but Argen hates to talk and I never feel great about my exposition. Ermenrich, by contrast, won't shut up, just like the real Ermenrich. The story took forever to write, though, because I thought it would be a story called "The Kid," about Antonio (the boy from "Echoes.") I'm glad I thought of the Reptiles instead.
ASP
-Sanctuary
-Meeting in the Study
-Nighttime run across the rooftops
-The Box and the Balcony
-Everything the same, everything different
-No, he lied
-Sanctuary
Ah, the tricky "Sanctuary/Sanctuary" bit. This was actually the first story to be written in prose form; "Echoes" was originally a comicbook script. I revised it fairly heavily but I liked it alot in the first place.
DESERT AT NIGHT
-Tell me all your thoughts on God
-Baptism
-Alone in desert
-Another fine mess
-You took my veil?
-Arguing in the rain
-A little less than the truth
-Prison cell
-Going home
"Another fine mess" is a reference to Laurel and Hardy. "Prison Cell" is the title of a track from the Sin City soundtrack, and I just like it as a title for a chapter. Yale illustrated the scene "Baptism" for me; it currently hangs in my bedroom.
KNIGHTS AND PAWNS
-Every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man
-Give them swords, and next thing you know they'll want dental plans and free child care.
-This fire is out of control!
-Obedience
-The Bishop
-And let it burn
References to ZZ Top, Franz Ferdinand, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer in here. Also the smarmiest of the tags. This story was not in the original mythology, but Marina had become too big a character to have no real presence towards the end of the book, and I knew she wouldn't be a main figure in the last three stories.
SHRIEKER
-What's the worst that could happen?
-Goodnight, your Grace
-I've never done anything illegal in my life.
-It's widely held that Palvus is the single most obnoxious man in Arnoch.
-Who's awake during the daytime?
-The Part with the Twist
-Love and Hate are very similar emotions
-Looking into the setting sun
The Part with the Twist is kind of an inside joke from the author to the author. "Love and Hate are very similar emotions" was a common retort to my exclamation of "I hate Halley!" in high school. (Read Raining in January for more on that, though.)
FRIENDS AND ENEMIES
-Baby, It's Cold Outside
-Stranger in the Bar
-Professional Mistakes
-Hard to Say
-He Said, 1
-Oh, Hell
-Learning to Walk
-The Prodigal Son Returns
-He Said, 2
-Long may we reign
ARGEN THE DEMON basically has two plotlines: Argen's internal conflict and his external conflict with Citadel's criminal element. (Don't you just love that phrase?) This is the climax of the first plotline. For the longest time is was going to be called "Demons and Angels I: Old Friends," but then I realized I was writing a novel and not just a bunch of stories, and the need to make it an obvious two parter with the last story went away. Especially since really it's kind of a three parter with Shrieker. "He Said" is a Missile Silo Suite song.
DEMONS AND ANGELS
-I imagine that you are a bit confused
-You still got that sword above your mantle?
-You picked a weird damn place for this.
-Arming
-No killing. Be enough of that here tonight as is.
-The Mark of the Demon
-Things best left forgotten
-Citadel
For the longest time this was to be called "Demons and Angels II: Lost Redemption," after a Reigning Heir song that is disturbingly suited to be the main theme of the DEMON TV show. *L* "Arming" is a reference to a scene common in many epic poems where the hero dons his armor and gets his weapons ready, often in laborious detail. Argen does a simple "arming" scene in this story. (Hey, epic poetry is one of My Things. It's going to be in there.)
And there you have it. All in all, 102 little scenes in 13 stories in one book.
Later on tonight: something not related to DEMON! Probably!
-E
Because they're really long, I started LJ-cutting ARGEN THE DEMON so as not to destroy your Friends pages. However, to demarcate where the various sections were about, I added fun little tags to the LJ-cuts. Obviously these things exist nowhere except the links on the tags in my journal... They don't exist in the actual entries, and not in the printed versions I made for Mr. Walker and my parents.
And here! I have no idea what this reflects about the book as a whole, but, y'know, this could be entertaining.
ECHOES
-It was late August...
-Citadel was a gray city
-Antonio closed the cabinet...
-A cloth sack sat in the middle of an alley...
-Antonio rolled over...
-Argen stood in the shadows
-Argen set down his glass...
Just the first line from the passage in question. Kinda dull. Let's move on.
CHECKMATE
-The Spanish Game
-No wonder in his eyes
-Argen's breath steamed in the night...
-You know what the interesting thing is about chess?
-Will the bailiff please escort the accused?
-Do I need this?
-I don't want to lose to anybody stupider than I am
-The Vipers don't do kids
-Checkmate
A little better. Lines from the story that get at the heart of the passages. And "The Spanish Game," a delightful anachronism.
LAW AND ORDER
-We live in an age of miracles
-It's the vigilante!
-Sometimes, you have to sacrifice the things you love
-Unconcious and bleeding
-S'more ale, Miss Marina?
-Sometimes, the skills he learned still came in handy
-Honest. I just want to talk.
-Remember Antonio?
One of the things I kind of miss about the early stories is the more freewheeling comicbook elements. Watchmen yelling "It's the vigilante!" That's just fun. Also, "S'more ale, Miss Marina?" Oh, McNab, you ladykiller.
WAR STORIES
-The Black Duck
-The cold gets into your bones.
-He never knew about the Three Vipers.
-We were in the war together.
-I'm guessing we should stick to swords for this one?
-No clue why somebody would want to kill him, huh?
-It's the best deal anybody is ever going to make you.
-And if you don't talk, I'm going to crush your windpipe.
-Three Fangs
-Right to the heart
For a couple of reasons- Kaleb Aust's plight, the first big appearence by Jacob, the first look at Argen before he became the Demon- War Stories is the chapter where I think I really began to get a feel for the overall story. This is clearly not meant to be a comicbook.
WAKE UP SCREAMING
-At McNab's
-The Docks
-Masks
-The Letter
-The Last Mission
-Sanctuary
-Everything will be different by tomorrow
Ooh! How clipped and mysterious we were, Eric In March Of 2006. Then again it was that kind of a story.
"NO GOOD DEED..."
-Something you want to see for yourself
-You normally chain up your guests?
-I don't expect my money to ever be good again at your bar if this works.
-Are you the Demon?
-Hope you feel like you got a noble death.
-A murderer in the House of God
-Fallen angels
I like these, especially the last two. "No Good Deed..." was one of the stories that I considered crucial to the overall theme of the book. The scene at the end, especially, had been a big part of my plan for the story for a long time.
REPTILES
-Strange environs
-Ermenrich
-Savages poisoning his soup again?
-I mean, we're double-crossing him.
-She smelled like jasmine
-Cutting a deal
Reptiles is one of my favorite stories, just because it introduces Ermenrich, who I love to write. Argen (of course) is my favorite, because he's the main character, but Argen hates to talk and I never feel great about my exposition. Ermenrich, by contrast, won't shut up, just like the real Ermenrich. The story took forever to write, though, because I thought it would be a story called "The Kid," about Antonio (the boy from "Echoes.") I'm glad I thought of the Reptiles instead.
ASP
-Sanctuary
-Meeting in the Study
-Nighttime run across the rooftops
-The Box and the Balcony
-Everything the same, everything different
-No, he lied
-Sanctuary
Ah, the tricky "Sanctuary/Sanctuary" bit. This was actually the first story to be written in prose form; "Echoes" was originally a comicbook script. I revised it fairly heavily but I liked it alot in the first place.
DESERT AT NIGHT
-Tell me all your thoughts on God
-Baptism
-Alone in desert
-Another fine mess
-You took my veil?
-Arguing in the rain
-A little less than the truth
-Prison cell
-Going home
"Another fine mess" is a reference to Laurel and Hardy. "Prison Cell" is the title of a track from the Sin City soundtrack, and I just like it as a title for a chapter. Yale illustrated the scene "Baptism" for me; it currently hangs in my bedroom.
KNIGHTS AND PAWNS
-Every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man
-Give them swords, and next thing you know they'll want dental plans and free child care.
-This fire is out of control!
-Obedience
-The Bishop
-And let it burn
References to ZZ Top, Franz Ferdinand, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer in here. Also the smarmiest of the tags. This story was not in the original mythology, but Marina had become too big a character to have no real presence towards the end of the book, and I knew she wouldn't be a main figure in the last three stories.
SHRIEKER
-What's the worst that could happen?
-Goodnight, your Grace
-I've never done anything illegal in my life.
-It's widely held that Palvus is the single most obnoxious man in Arnoch.
-Who's awake during the daytime?
-The Part with the Twist
-Love and Hate are very similar emotions
-Looking into the setting sun
The Part with the Twist is kind of an inside joke from the author to the author. "Love and Hate are very similar emotions" was a common retort to my exclamation of "I hate Halley!" in high school. (Read Raining in January for more on that, though.)
FRIENDS AND ENEMIES
-Baby, It's Cold Outside
-Stranger in the Bar
-Professional Mistakes
-Hard to Say
-He Said, 1
-Oh, Hell
-Learning to Walk
-The Prodigal Son Returns
-He Said, 2
-Long may we reign
ARGEN THE DEMON basically has two plotlines: Argen's internal conflict and his external conflict with Citadel's criminal element. (Don't you just love that phrase?) This is the climax of the first plotline. For the longest time is was going to be called "Demons and Angels I: Old Friends," but then I realized I was writing a novel and not just a bunch of stories, and the need to make it an obvious two parter with the last story went away. Especially since really it's kind of a three parter with Shrieker. "He Said" is a Missile Silo Suite song.
DEMONS AND ANGELS
-I imagine that you are a bit confused
-You still got that sword above your mantle?
-You picked a weird damn place for this.
-Arming
-No killing. Be enough of that here tonight as is.
-The Mark of the Demon
-Things best left forgotten
-Citadel
For the longest time this was to be called "Demons and Angels II: Lost Redemption," after a Reigning Heir song that is disturbingly suited to be the main theme of the DEMON TV show. *L* "Arming" is a reference to a scene common in many epic poems where the hero dons his armor and gets his weapons ready, often in laborious detail. Argen does a simple "arming" scene in this story. (Hey, epic poetry is one of My Things. It's going to be in there.)
And there you have it. All in all, 102 little scenes in 13 stories in one book.
Later on tonight: something not related to DEMON! Probably!
-E