I have just pressed SEND.
By pressing SEND, I have emailed off the completed book to my agent and editor. It will now be sent to the copyeditor who, amongst other things, will be checking for grammar and spelling mistakes that I've missed but, more importantly, will be ensuring that everything I've written makes sense.
She will be checking facts and figures and timelines, scouring her notes on the other books to make sure I haven't contradicted myself... A good copyeditor in invaluable, and I have a great one.
It's done. I wrote the two Scapegrace chapters that I'd left until last. Oh, and I ALSO included the winner of the Die Horribly competition...
It took me until last night to pick a winner. I was sent 30 finalists out of everyone who entered. Of those 30, I quickly whittled it down to 15. Then, not so quickly, down to 10. Then it took me ages to narrow it down to 5. Then 3.
There were some great entries. Lots of funny reasons why people reckoned they should be the reader I pick to kill horribly in the book. But I needed something specific. I needed something that would fit in with what I'd written. And there was only one reader who fit PERFECTLY.
So congratulations to Lewis Holmes, from the UK. You shall have the distinct honour of being Horribly Killed in The Dying of the Light.
Lewis' death was the last thing I had to write. Now it's all over. Sure, I'll be sent the copyeditor's notes to approve, and there'll be a little more fiddling around between now and printing time, but...
... but it's over. I have finished writing Skulduggery Pleasant.
I think I need to lie down now.
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«Oldest ‹Older 1401 – 1600 of 4942 Newer› Newest»*The Horseman grabs Rhydian and throws him into the air where he turns to dust and the dust falls into the Horseman's horses eyes, absorbing him and transporting him to his own pocket universe*
(May have to go. Tea's here. Pause the rp? Plz? I'm starving?)
((Gtg bye! Pause the rp or somethin!))
((*hits pause button* paused. This is so not over.))
*Oh no*
*Oh boy*
*Ohboyohboyohboy that isn't good*
(I'm ok with that, I will have to go soon.)
Bye Rhydian!
((Well in the mean time..))
((How are we all?))
Hey Sam! When are you gonna get your body!
(Ok, that sounds really weird!)
((Well then...))
I am good, what about you?
Fine thank you Dugglyn. Remember Sam can't head outside of asterisks..
**hear
95 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!
OMG!!! OMG!!!!! OMG!!!! ,
*oh, yeah.*
*Sam when will you get your body?*
*sorry that sounds so weird!*
*95 DAYS TILL THE DYING OF THE LIGHT!!!!!!!!*
*I dunno*
*Silente said tonight*
*But I have no concept of time, so...*
*Whenever, I guess*
*ok*
*Silente, do you know when?*
*we'll sort it while Rhydians gone!*
*okay Sam just...float here or something..*
*runs off quickly*
*Uh*
*Okay*
*I'll just exist here*
*Wherever here is*
*sorry I poofed for a moment, had to lift my cat onto my bunk bed!*
*comes running back*
*cradling a medium sized body with brown shortish hair*
*its eyes are closed*
*carefully lays the boy down*
Okay. Okay. Right. Manuel.
*phones Manuel*
*talks briefly*
*hangs up*
Good.
*so...., do you have any pets Sam?*
*how does this work?*
*No, not really*
*I only popped into existence a month ago, so there's that*
Hi I'm back!
*walks over to the body*
*kneels next to it*
*Hey Sam, you here?*
*(my kindle is working again!!!)*
((Rhydian Silente says can we stay paused a tiny bit longer..))
*(Hi Rhydian! Hi Manuel!)*
*Hello?*
*Who?*
*What?*
((Sure friendship. Hi btw))
*hello Sam!*
*I'm Manuel, I'm here to get you in your body*
*okay this should be fun*
*I need you to work with me, if you feel a pull or a draw I need you to follow it*
*ready?*
*hello Sam!*
*I'm Manuel, I'm here to get you in your body*
*okay this should be fun*
*I need you to work with me, if you feel a pull or a draw I need you to follow it*
*ready?*
((Hi Rhydian! Pretend that only posted once..))
*Oh*
*...*
*You kinda gave your name away pretty freely*
*Silente was keeping it all secret and stuff*
*this will be interesting!*
*good luck Sam!*
*oh no I'm not the one who made the body*
*I'm the one helping you into it*
*I don't know who made the body*
*someone else*
*so, ready?*
*Suuuure?*
Hello. I'm watching 21 Jump Street.
*good bye!*
*I might be back later!*
*good*
*places his hand on the bodies shoulders*
*presses his head to hers*
*closes his eyes and gentally start tugging at Sam's consciousness, guiding it towards the body*
*at the same time sends messages to Same subconscious about moving towards the body, joining with it*
Hi/bye Dragona!
((Goodbye Dugglyn))
((Hello Dragona))
**Sam's
*Okay*
*I...*
*Feel like I'm being tugged...*
*Towards something*
*follow the tugging*
*that's me trying to help you*
*tugs harder on Sam's consciousness and sends more messages to his subconscious*
*adds a general push as well as the tugging*
*Following it...*
*Hey! That hurts! I'm almost there, I think...*
*sorry*
*lessens the tugging*
*continues to tug him gently and calmly*
*lessens the pushing*
*Okay... I...*
*What*
*I think I... Feels som-*
*The body's eyelids flicker*
*WHAT WAS THAT*
*I-I-*
*I did that, but I still-*
*I-*
*Okay, just have to... Get settled...*
*yeah. Make sure your in first*
*sends messages to his subconscious to make sure he connects properly*
*pulls his head away from the bodies*
*turns to Silente*
He'll be okay now.
*Wait*
*I don't think it worked*
*I still-*
*FOOMF*
*nods*
Thanks Manuel. Your awesome.
*watches Manuel leave*
*Sam its okay, your in calm down*
*open your eyes*
That was interesting. So Sam, how's it to have a body?
*...*
*...*
*...
...
...
...
Sam. Come on, wakey wakey.
*pokes Sam*
*A quite breeze ruffles the hair*
*The distant sounds of traffic echo around in her brain, coming through the ears for the first time*
*Her mouth, her throat, feel horribly, terribly...*
*Dry*
*That was the word, right?*
*Yeah*
*... Is that a... A smell?*
*She's never smelled before*
*But it smells... Delicious*
...
*She opens her eyes*
AARGH! THE SUN! IT'S BRIGHT!
*Promptly shuts them*
*laughs*
Hello. Welcome to the world.
*puts her hat onto Sam to shade her face*
Okay open them again.
*She just talked*
*SHE JUST TALKED*
*Her hands fly to her mouth, awkwardly knocking Silente's hat aside, and she promptly attempts to shove them into her mouth, to see- to FEEL what the heck is going on in there*
Hey don't eat your hands!
*laughs and grabs her hat*
*guides Sam into a sitting position*
*puts the hat back on Sam*
*Opens her eyes again, and winces*
*Quickly looks towards the ground- and to herself*
...
*Whispers*
Silente
Silente I'm not wearing any asterisks.
I know your not. Your in the solid world. The full nothing world.
*smiles*
Hope you don't mind the clothes, it was the best I could get.
*looks at the wonder woman costume Sam' wearing*
I tried..
*Stares*
N... Nothing...
...
*Curls up into a ball*
((Okay Rhydian if your still here I'm ready to press play..))
Hey its okay Sam.
*pats her back*
Its okay.
((Yeah sure Sil...))
Who's starting then?
*Quietly rocks back and forth- which only makes it worse*
*Sensory overload*
*She's hearing things*
*Seeing*
*Smelling*
*Feeling*
*ALL AT THE SAME TIME AND ITS HARD AND ITS CONFUSING AND ITS WEIRD AND SHE DOESN'T KNOW IF SHE SHOULD LAUGH OR CRY OR DO SOMETHING ELSE*
((*hits play button*))
RHYDIAN!
*watches in disbelief*
No! No no no no no!
*turns and glares at the headless horseman*
YOU IDIOTIC MONSTER!
*stands in front of Lena teeth gritted body tense*
-----------------------------------------------
*just pats Same back and makes soothing noises*
**Sam's not same.
Lena: What are you going to do to him you monster!!!
Horseman: Torture? First I'm going to do my best to separate them both. It's the remnant I want, not Rhydian. I'll return him once it's done. Lena, you've got two months left of your contract. See you then *vanishes* *just like that* *poof*
*is shaking slightly*
*speachless*
*Finally stops rocking back and forth, and awkwardly tries to sit up*
...
*Now that the adrenaline has worn off, she tries to find the words to describe how she feels, and comes up a bit short*
Th... T... Talking's...
So-o-o-ort of... Hard....
Lena: *turns to Sil* What do we do? *begins to cry* Two months and I'm dead. We don't even know if he's telling the truth about Rhyds
------------------
*smiles at Sam*
Yeah. You'll get used to it. Don't worry.
*Gulps, and, shading her eyes, looks at anything nearby*
... Th... This's... Wh-w-what s..
Seeeeeee....
Seeing's like?
*just looks blankly at Lena*
*closes her eyes and takes a deep breath*
Okay. Its okay.
*opens her eyes*
*squares her shoulders*
We wait. If he doesn't give Rhydian back, we kill him. If he comes for you. We. Kill. Him.
*face is darks and serious*
------------------
Yep. This is what seeings like. Its all colourful and groovy and stuff.
OK then...So either way, we're killing him. So let's hope that, that dick of a remnant does something right and kills him for us.
*Stares*
*It doesn't look that strange*
*Then an airplane with a Mohawk flies by*
...
*Frowns, unsure if planes are supposed to have hair, or not*
Yeah. Let's hope. Either way he dies. I don't care about the fact that people say he can't be fought. Everyone dies. Everyone can be killed. Even him. We should go.
*looks at Lena*
*face still dark and serious*
Yeah you're right. Let's go back *gets into the car* *sighs and is still crying*
*climbs in the passenger side*
*glares out the window*
*teeth gritted and body still tense*
*Yelps*
Owowowowowow! Feels like something's bouncing around in my brain!
---------------------------
Its okay Sam. Breathe.
(TIME WARP!)
*they arrive in Blogland*
Here we are...I honestly don't know what to do anymore. I'm going to die. I know I am. There's no escape. I've been running from this since I was 12...Now it's time
*turns to look at Lena*
*she hasn't talked at all during the car drive*
No your not. Your not going to die. Your going to live until your old and gray. I don't care how. But you will live.
*Gulps in breath after breath*
*After a while, she feels like she's gonna explode...*
*Wait*
*Oh, people have to exhale*
*Quickly does so, and she soon gets blue in the face*
*Starts to gulp in air again*
*This plays out several times before she finally stabilizes, fascinated with the rhythm of her breathing and her heartbeat*
Phew... I f-feeeeee-fe- feel better now...
*looks at Silente* Must be nice to think that way...But the fact is, he's coming to get me. he was lying, my contract doesn't end in two months, he wouldn't risk that! He knows Darquesse is coming, so he's collecting all of the souls of people who owe him.......So I'm going to die soon. Very soon
*grits her teeth*
No. Your. Not.
*takes a deep breath*
I'm not letting him kill you. Your my friend, NO ONE kills my friends!
*is fumming *
ESPECIALLY NOT SOME STUCK UP IDIOTIC HEADLESS JERK WHO RUNS AROUND THINKING HE OWNS THE FUCKING WORLD AND IS IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING AND-
*just stops talking*
---------------------------
You will, your breathing.
Thank you Sil...I hope you're right. I'll fight to the end. I'll do what I usually do; I'll fix this myself
O... Okay...
*Looks around*
...
Sh-should we m... moo... Move?
No. No one has to be alone, no one should be alone. If he lied then he thinks we stand a chance of beating him. Together.
*looks into her eyes*
I might seem young Lena, but that doesn't mean I'm naive. Your not going this alone. I'm going to help you. I want to help you.
-----------------------
First check everything works.
Do this.
*taps each other her finger tips with her thumb*
*on both hands*
Thank you Silente. You're right. We stand a better chance if we /all/ try to kill that Headless nob
Agreed. And..
*takes a deep breath*
I don't think you should be on your own. At all.
What do you mean Sil?
*Frowns as she awkwardly attempts to do so*
*Several minutes later, she finally does it*
Woo hoo!
*Grins at the tiny triumph*
I mean if he was lying we don't know when he's coming, so we need to keep you with someone in case he comes. So your not on your own,
---------------------------------------------
Okay now wiggle your toes.
*sits waiting to decide if I should jump in*
((Hey Zaf!))
((Hey Zaffy!))
Yes I understand. Who do you suggest I stay with then?
I don't know..me?
...
What's a toe?
-----------------
*points to Sam's toes*
They're toes.
OK then...As long as I'm safe, I'm not overly that bothered
Which house? Tree or vault? The treehouse is more homey..
...
Oh.
*Experimentally wiggles them*
Hah! Look at that! They move!
*Looks back up at Silente*
So what're they for?
Homey please...Can't stand places that you can't get comfortable in
--------------------
Well they help you balance when you walk. Speaking off...
*looks at her*
Try crawling.
Okay then. Tree house it is.
*nods*
*gets out of the car*
*waits for Lena*
*follows Sil*
*walks to the tree house's base*
One minute. I'll activate the easy way up.
*walks to the back of the trunk*
*taps a sigil hidden there*
*a portal appears before Lena*
*walks back around*
Ladies first.
Hey, I'm here to kinda watch again. Alastair disappeared again and won't be back till later....
And so I find myself here again.
I might join in, I might not- I haven't decided yet.
((Hey Adra))
((Hey Adra!))
Thanks *goes in*
...
Er.
*Awkwardly rocks back and forth, and tries to get on her knees*
*She fails, and falls back into the sitting position*
*Frowns*
Hrm...
*Lays down on the ground, and flips onto her stomach*
And...
*Gets up on her knees*
What were we doing again?
*walks in after Lena*
Right okay. You can have the bed..
*guestires at the bed*
I'll set up the spare one I have. The kitchens there..
*points to a door*
Bathrooms there..
*points to a different door*
And if you need anything ask.
*opens the curtains*
----------------------
Crawling Sam.
*sighs* So all I need to do is spend most of my time in Blogland, but mainly in here? This should be fun
Good afternoon, morning, or evening.
Yeah, should be fun.
*turns*
It could be worse. You could be on your own at home curled up crying and waiting for the headless dick to come get you.
*smiles*
Oh. Don't go in the big white fridge by the way..
Hiya, Adra! Friendship helped me out of my asterisks!
Er, that is to say, someone named Friendship helped me out. I guess, like, friendship as an abstract concept led me to getting out, but it was more directly... Whatever.
----------------------------------
Rhydian wakes up in his house* *it was gone* the dark little thing that had taken him was gone* *his clothes were torn and his skin was cut and bruised and bleeding and his hands were cuffed to the radiator* *he felt like he hadn't eaten in weeks, or slept or anything* *his whole body was weak and sore and all he wanted to do was slip away and die, so this pain would be over* *he didn't have the energy to shout*
Oh. Crawling. Right!
*Leans over, getting on her hands as well as her knees, and awkwardly crawls a meter or two*
That... Good?
---------------------
Try to crawl a little further. Then you can try walking..
Lena: OK. *sits down on the bed* Long day, eh?
---------------------------------
*Rhydian lies and tears roll down his cheeks* Anybody...? *quiet and weak voice* I'm kinda hungry, and I wouldn't mind a glass of Coke
lies there**
Yeah. Long day. That's one way to put it,
*smiles*
*frowns*
*shakes her head*
*she's imagining voices*
*Rhydian notices that he's a lot skinnier than he once was* *and that was saying something, since he was really slim before* *he looked sick. He didn't look healthy* *deep breaths*
*frowns, and crawls forward about another meter*
*looks back at Silente*
... Okay, so far so good...
*gets off of her hands, absentmindedly dusting them off*
I should... Probably try standing now.
Hmm....
Well....
Things are.... Weird. I should probably go....... I don't know if I'll be back tonight, it depends on if people are anywhere else on the internet who might be...engaging.
Yeah..
*Nods*
*Goes*
*shakes her head*
*starts setting up the spare bed in the spare room*
------------------------
Yeah you probably should
((Oh right. Bye then Adra! See ya another time!))
((Bye then Adra!))
*sees the couch* is it close enough to kick?*
*if he could make enoguh noise, then maybe someone would come* anyone*
*Rhydian stretched and winced at the pain, and wimpered* *he tried kicking it* *again and again* *he was hardly touching it*
*all he could do was wait for someone to find him* *he didn't have anything else left in him that could fight, scream or shout* *numb*
*hears a faint wimper-like noise*
*its followed by tapping*
*frowns again*
*maybe she isn't crazy*
*sticks her head into Lena's room*
Hey, I need to go somewhere..you coming with or..
((Hey Sir!))
Hello sir I trust that everything is standard as usual?
Bye, Adra! Hello, Sir Reingington, nice to meet you!
--------------
*Lifts one leg, and plants it firmly on the ground*
*Well, not every firmly, it actually starts to shake a bit*
*Still, she slightly straightens it...*
*And puts her other foot on the ground*
...
*Shakily begins to rise, waving her arms about for balance*
Lena: I think I'll stay thank you. Need to catch up on some sleep (ok that's about it for Lena. Her rp done)
Back.
-----------------------
*stands near Sam, not touching her but close enough to stop he from falling*
Carefully..
Okay then. I'll be back soon. Scream if the horseman comes.
*leaves the treehouse*
*walks around listening carefully*
*Accidentally smacks Silente in the face with her arm-waving*
*Immediately straightens, and gasps, bringing her hands to her mouth*
Oh jeez! Sorrysorrysorry!
Greetings, Mr. Sky, Ms. Tempest, and Ms... Ish.
A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Wish. I am Sir Reingington, gentleman and interdimensional horror.
((Wb Dragona))
Ms. Wish? Heh, that's a pretty cool surname! Might consider that one.
I do apologize, I meant Ish.
-----------------------
*rubs her face*
That's fine. Concentrait.
((Hi Dragona))
For God sake...what did I do wrong? Why do I deserve this? I simply read a book, believed it and started looking for this secret world of Sorcerer's. Learnt magic, had adventures and made friends. So why am I being punished? All I want is to lie down in my comfy bed and close my eyes and rest
*Blinks*
*Looks down*
*She's standing up*
Oh!
*She slowly begins to sway backwards, and her arm-flailing renews itself*
*hears the voice*
Rhydian..?
*walks towards the sound*
*towards his house*
*starts running*
----------------------------
*backs away to ensure she isn't hit*
*hears someone* hello...? *voice still weak and quiet* *he wasn't going to die here cold and alone* *tries his best to shout, but throat is so sore* Hello...?!
*comes bursting through his doors*
Rhydian?!
*Stabilizes*
Phew! Okay, I.... Am up here. Now.
...
*Resists the urge to start flailing her arms about, again*
-------------------
Good. When your ready try to walk.
*sigh of relief* *his eyes light up for the first time in a while* Silente *smiles* *hurts to smile* *every muscle in his body was screaming at him, telling him to give uo and die so they could rest finally* ....little help? Think I /might/ need medical treatment
I'm irritated. Now Ari is ignoring me because Adra cant fucking shut her fucking trap and die and leave him alone
*stares at him*
Your alive.
*keeps staring*
Your actually alive.
*moves over to him and snaps the handcuffs in half*
*Nods*
*Begins to take a step forward...*
*And doesn't fall on her face*
*Aw*
*Well, that just completely snubs its nose in the face of basic comedy*
... Hey, I did i-
*A wild banana peel comes flying in out of nowhere, lodges itself under her heel, and then promptly flies away, bringing Sam back down to the ground*
*Winces, and coughs in the small cloud of dust*
Ugh! W- *cough cough* What was THAT?
--------------------
Wild banana peal. Forgot about them,
*helps her back up*
Thanks Sil...*struggles to breath* *lungs are so achy* But can you properly help me? Like medically? My poor body may die eventually
*Lets out a hiss of pain in between her teeth*
Bleh. Alright, trying that again...
*Takes a shaky step forward*
*And then another*
*And then another*
Hey! Look! I'm doing it!
What's up? Apart from malnutrition and dehydration.
*walks off*
*comes back with a cup of water*
Small sips only.
------------------------
Well done!
*takes small sips* That's good....I never understood how much I loved water. Er Sil you may want to go. I'm bleeding, every inch of me is dripping with blood, it'll be safer for both of us if u kept your distance. No offense. Btw...good to see you again. Anything happen while I was possessed?
*Gives Silente the dopiest grin ever*
Yeah!
*Stops her psuedo-walking*
So...
A lot. Me and Lena saw you got turned to dust while by the lock ness. And the blood is fine, I can concentrait..
*looks at the blood*
*stares at it*
*shakes her head*
I'll get some bandages.
Oh...that's nice? Thank you
-------------------------
Okay. There we go. You can walk, talk. Everything will come to you eventually. Eating, drinking, magic.
*Blinks*
Eating? I have to eat? And drink?
*goes to get the bandages*
*riffles around and finds some*
*taps a deep breath*
*stops*
*hunts around for a peg*
*shoves it in her nose and comes back*
Okay. Found some.
--------------------
Well yeah. Unless you want to die..
... Oh.
We're thinking of the same thing, right? The thing where people... Like... Shove stuff in their mouths, and then swallow it?
-------------------------
Well they generally chew first but yes that eating generally is.
**on my nose not in my nose!
...
I'm beginning to see a downside to this "body" thing...
-------------------------
*punches a tree*
*catches the two apples that fall from it*
*throws one to Sam*
Catch!
*The apple bounces off of her face*
*Beams*
Did I catch it? What's catching?
------------------
Also, the idea of Silente shoving a peg up her nose... Beautiful.
-------------------------
*shakes her head*
*throws her own apple up and catches it in her hands*
That's catching.
...
Oh.
*Awkwardly bends over, and picks up the apple*
Gtg now. I shall be back tomorrow!
Hello, Dugglyn has returned!
Sam! You got your body!(that just sounds really, really, weird!) Also, you need to dedicate this page!!
Have fun!
Bye Rhydian!
Does anyone here have Monday off from school?
Oh. Dedicate?
Also, hi, Dugglyn!
Zaf. This is ridiculous.
1) I haven't been "ignoring" you. And if you have a problem with me, you should've sent me an email to talk it over. Random outbursts of anger will not solve anything, and they certainly won't make me or Adra more inclined to rp with you.
2) I am not ok with the way you're treating her, or the way you've been treating her for months. And I haven't been mean to or bullied you, and I don't intend to start, but if you can't get over this, I can't do anything with you.
You just need to stop. I can't stress enough how much you need to stop. You never tell someone to die, and you never tell someone they're not a person. And you've done both of those, repeatedly, and I've about had it. I don't hate you, and don't think that I'm abusing you, because I'm not. I haven't insulted you, or made any false accusations. But I will criticize what you're doing to Adra, because no matter what happened in the past, this is wrong and horrible and it needs to stop.
#ChaseForBook9
Bye Rhydian!
Hey Dugglyn! I have Monday off!
Yes, write a ded! It can be about anything! I did one on tapeworms once, everyone loved it!
(Or at least they thought it was very odd!)
Silente, what country do you live in? (If you feel comfortable sharing, most of us are just random internet people)
England. I live I'm England. Why do you ask?
(I'm not saying that we're not friends, but we don't really know each other):)
Because I have school off for Memorial Day and it is a USA holiday.
Ah. We just plain have a holiday. For a week.
Sorry, got to go. Be back tomorrow!
I dedicate to the human body! Yes, it is flawed, it fails, and it isn't nearly close to what someone might call "perfect", but it's wonderful in its own way, and gets the job done!
-------------
*Awkwardly bites at the stem of the apples, and wrinkles her nose in distaste*
Bye Dugglyn!
*laughs at Sam*
No not the stem!
*bites into the body of the apple*
*chews and swallows*
Like that.
Bye, Dugglyn!
...
Oh.
*Quietly spits out the stem, and takes a bite of the apple, instead*
*Hesitantly chews it about, and her legs practically give way*
Mmf... Oh...
*Swallows*
Wow. That was great!
*laughs*
Oh! Are you okay? You er fell.
*offers her a hand up*
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