And I am finished.
Well, "finished" is maybe the wrong word. There are still two short chapters to write — detailing Scapegrace's little adventure - but basically, essentially, that's it. I'm done. I've just sent the official first draft of The Dying of the Light over to Nick, my editor, and Michelle, my agent. They've both read a rough version a few weeks ago so I know there's not going to be much in the way of changes when I start editing next week. Which is a relief. And word count, you ask? Word count?
Well, at the moment, before the edit and missing two little chapters, the word count stands at 153,193. I can't find the exact count, but I think LSODM was about 161,000, so it'll be pretty close in size. I genuinely thought this would be a much smaller book, closer to Dark Days in terms of length. My editor, however, knew the word count would just explode once I started to do what I planned. The book is, he has told me, "hugely ambitious". So there's that.
And I'm glad it's taken me this long to write it, to be honest. I'm glad TDOTL is going to be a heavy, substantial book. It is the end, after all. It deserves to be weighty.
It has still to hit me, by the way. The fact that this IS the end. I think when the edit is finished it'll occur to me that there'll be no more Skulduggery books. Not exactly looking forward to that moment.
On a cheerier note, I've seen Tom Percival's rough sketch of the cover, and it will literally KILL YOU with feels.
Which, now that I think of it, probably isn't a cheerier note at all.
We have such cool ideas for the coming year, plenty of AMAZING events to announce, and I can't wait to let you all in on what we're planning. The next two days, in fact, I will be spending in a massive meeting about those very same events.
The Year of the Requiem is gonna ROCK.
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«Oldest ‹Older 4001 – 4200 of 4703 Newer› Newest»Hello Blake
*pats her back while she hugs him*
You know I'm going to be fine! Don't doubt my ability to survive.. and.. stuff.
*Places crystal on floor and falls unconcious*
*Stretches against the rack slightly, yawning, then pulls out a glass of wine, getting to her feet*
*Takes a bit of blood from the floor, drawing a symbol on the wall* *It activates, and she finds herself in the middle of the forest, and walks out*
*mutters into his chest*
Don't ever leave me without warning! Ever! I though Ed had taken you! I though you'd hit one of the random portals! I though you were gone!
*hugs him tighter*
*helps Silente climb onto his back and stands up, then climbs down from tree house*
Why hello there Blake!
((Hey Adra. Eat Edward))
*Stands up and looks round*
*shakes his head*
Never! I am always in control of the situation, dear Sil. Except for when I am baking cupcake and the likes, in those situations I am rarely in control, and often nod off to sleep and leave everything in the oven to burn until I wake up several hours later. But, that is beside the point.
*looks up*
Blake. Hello.
*hugs Matex's back*
*still refusing to let go*
(She probably won't. She would say something along the lines of "I'm not your slave you ________" (The blank can be left to your imagination, I think.))
*Walks over to Matex* Hello, have we met?
*sighs*
What is going on, who are you?
I don't know, but I found this crystal with a note on adressed to someone named Matex
((Okay then))
*glares at Edward*
*resists the urge to strangle him*
Go away Edward.
*Sees rabbit and runs after it*
((Sorry for poofing for that moment, hello to everyone who said the same))
Who, me?
Yes. You Edward.
*climbs off of Matex's back*
*holding his hand*
No I think she was talking to the other Edward
*walks up to Edward*
Let me see that note.
((How're you ugly?))
((Fabulous as ever, and you short stop?))
*Looks past Silente in confusion* I that a tree? *Walks over to it*
((Apart from the fact a cat is CLAWING MY LEG I'm fine))
*Drops note as tree is more interesting*
((Aww but cats are adorable, I have two))
*shakes her head*
I do not have the patience for his games.
*hugs Matex*
I'm going to harass Blake, don't run off.
*walks over to Blake*
*throws glitter at him*
((I have 4 and 2 kittens but the cats have sharp claws that hurt))
*puts up an orb of shadow to block the glitter and hides in it*
*In the forest, she steps out, then begins to go for a stroll, leisurely stretching her muscles as she goes- one usually has to stay in shape for genocide, after all*
*Finishes her glass and breaks it on the ground, crushing it under her foot, and moves towards the small pond, where a young rabbit is hopping curiously towards* *It's little nose wiggles, sniffing the air- it's about the size of her hand*
*She creeps over to the small creature, and, in one move, scoops it up- it makes high pitched squeals as it squirms, desperately trying to get away from her, it's little claws digging into her palm*
*Rips it's head off with one sharp move, twisting at first until the spine breaks, then unscrews it as one might a bottle of wine*
*Drinks from the carcass as if if were wine as well*
CATS.
OH MY GOD.
CATS.
I LOVE CATS. YES YES. AND WHEN THEY CLAW YOU ITS LIKE OH MY GOD IS THIS A CAT OR WHAT LIKE WHAT A CAT DAMN THATS SO CAT LIKE UGH CATS CATS ARE GREAT YEP CATS <3
*pokes the orb of shadow*
*sprinkles glitter on the orb*
*Pokes tree*
@Matex all I got from that was Cats.
*spikes shoot out when she pokes it then recede back into the orb*
@Adra: Thank you for the nightmare
@Max: OMG YES *high fives*
Ohh!
*pokes the orb more*
*Stands on note squashing it into mud and runs after a butterfly into the forest*
*grabs note*
*frowns*
there is nothing written on here!
*walks over to Ed and shoves the note at him*
what is it you see? read it to me!
*Spikes fly out from all over the orb*
*The darkness parts enough for Blake to poke his head out*
Stahp it ;-;
(You are most welcome, Blake.)
*Pushes the entrails out of the tiny creature, slurping it up, before tossing the bit of skin and fur that is left of the animal behind her shoulder without a second glance* *She follows down the river, in search of another snack*
*whispers* Heeelllloooooo......
((Karma --->))
Never!
*keeps poking the orb faster than before*
((Adra.... UUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHASLDNASLDKAHDHJASDMAJHKH *pukes in a corner* WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO A POOR LITTLE RABBIT))
*Note projects hologram*
Hologram: As you know, a few people may wish to see me dead. So I have developed a way to make them forget. Well, more me forget. I have removed all memory of life and magic leaving me as a mortal with no idea what magic is. The crystal is my identity, but if I find my magic it could be disasterous.
Hello Amy
*whispers back*
Hey Amethyst!
*Rolls his eyes and grabs Silente's hand*
PLEASE stop?
I just took an AP Bio test and I still have to go to class afterwards... how do people expect me to function?!?
Hai Amy! :D
*gasps*
YOU SAID PLEASE!
*stops poking*
Okay then.
And why was that addressed to me?
*pulls a lime out of his hat and starts munching on it, humming Beastie Boy's "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn"*
HELLO AMY
*throws her a lemon*
*shouts from right behind Silente*
BOO!
Hello Matex-sama, Silente-sama.
BABY!!!!!!!!!!! *TACKLEHUGS*
Amy Adra and Edward
*leaps into the air and catches the lemon in his mouth*
Wait... I hate lemons.
*Hand it to Amy*
Sorry about that.
*turns pretending to jump*
Hey Chi!
*catches lemon*
*cuts it open and scoops out insides*
*places grenade in it*
*tosses it back*
CHI-CHAN
*tacklehugs Chi*
((Because you robbed my kitchen)) *Runs after butterfly until it flies off a cliff*
*catches lemon, places it back inside hat*
Hello Chi
*Gets the air knocked out of him by Chio*
Hey there cutie xD
*She finds a snake that is slithering across the grass and bends down, scooping it up, with her hand placed behind it's head to prevent it from biting her* *She fuses a bit of her energy with it's as it immediately calms, wrapping around her throat protectively of her, and she keeps walking, allowing it to slither and curl around her arms and sides*
*nods*
Yep, I do rob kitchens, that explains a lot.
*goes to where Ed was, picks up Crystal*
Okay, he won't be needing this.
*places it inside his hat*
got to leave for a while, bye
*finds a nice patch of grass*
*lays blanket down*
*lays down on it*
*falls asleep*
See ya, Edward.
((Bye Edvard))
*stalks over to Amy*
*crouches down, watches her sleep*
*sneaks up on Amy*
*pulls out a never ending glitter shaker*
*shakes it manically over her sleeping form*
*stops and grabs one of the cards she always carries*
*its a little business card that simply says 'Sorry' on it*
*walks off*
((Cya Eddie))
*She wanders back to her portal- she was only there for the snake anyway, and walks back into the snake medieval torture chamber, and closes it, awaiting the moment where she can show off her new pet*
*pops up next to Amy*
*Hastily brushes the glitter off her*
*Goes to find Silente and thwart her glitter-spreading*
*is dancing around throwing glitter everywhere*
*jumps up*
SILENTE!!! LEMME SLLLEEEEEEPPPPP without glitter.
*runs after Silente*
*Hops in and out of shadows, grabbing glitter out of the air and sweeping it up*
*Grabs the glitter shaker and jumps into a shadow, laughing manically as he does*
...glitter shaker... OMG!!! SILENTE!!! GLITTER SALT SHAKER!!! :D
Adra, you have a snake torture chamber? ;-;
*runs over to Silente and starts dancing in the glitter with her*
Nooo! Blake come back!
*remembers she has more*
*smiles*
*taps the sigil on her nose stepping into a portal*
*come back with another never ending glitter shaker*
*goes back to dancing and throwing glitter around*
*pokes his head out of a shadow*
*Glares at Silente and Max*
*Slowly sinks back down, plotting his next move*
(No, she has a snake, and Alastair and she infiltrated a museum that specializes withedieval torture. )
GLITTER SALT! GLITTER THAT IS REALLY SALT!
*decides to build a glitter-free fortress*
*calls in an order of stone, brick, wood and other construction materials*
Oh I see. As long as the snake is safe!
*laughs at Blake*
...salty glitter? or...salt that's colorful like glitter and flaky!!!
*Suddenly a dozen Blake clones leap out of shadows all around Silete and Max, they grab the glitter and pass it around. After a bit they all sink into darkness or fade back to nothing*
(Perhaps..)
*the shipment of materials arrive at a nice hilltop*
*begins to build fortress*
Uh..
*shrugs figuring the clones are crazy*
*start throwing glitter around quicker*
Awwwwwwwwwwwww MALENTE!
ALL HAIL!
*Taps Silente on the shoulder*
Hi there ^-^
*Grabs the glitter and runs off towards Amy's new fortress*
So Avenged Sevenfold's drummer died a few years ago, and they dedicated their album Nightmare to him. And on this inside of the case, the part where you pop the CD out, there's a picture that looks pretty much like this.
*points*
And I've seen that image quite a bit, on lyrics videos and such, so I'm quite used to it.
But one time, I saw a video, and it showed a moving version of that picture - like, the picture was taken from the video.
And they were hugging, like so. *points*
And one of them, I'm pretty sure it was their vocalist - he told the others that he loved them - "And I love you too much, but that's okay, that's okay."
Something like that.
And then that, that moment, becomes the RIP image.
Make of that what you will.
But I think I dedicate one of my undedicated page to friendship. Friendship like Avenged Sevenfold have, and friendship like Hunter and Ez have, and friendship like we have, and any type of friendship, because it's beautiful.
And I also dedicate it to people who've lost friends. It's horrible, and I hope you can get through it. No, I know you can get through it.
Sometimes you think that, if hit hard enough, a window will shatter and break. And you clench your teeth as the vibrations reverberate through you, and you know in your heart that one pane of glass cannot withstand against this.
But I live near the world's only submarium, and there's a glass lift at the end, and you go in it and you move up past all the sharks and stuff.
And at the bottom, by the front of the queue to the lift, there is a small square of the glass used in the lift, and it is so thick. It's . . . well, it's very thick. It really impressed me when I was younger. :)
And maybe you think you're only a fragile pane of glass, and the pressure will get to you, and the sharks will tear you apart, but you're not. You're strong, and you're thick, and however hard they bash, they can't break you.
Tell yourself that, and, like Hunter telling me I'm pathetic, it'll become true. :)
*hugs*
#ChaseForBookNine
*.* there are a lot of Blakes... *drools*
BLIONE! ALL HAIL!
*Tacklehugs Chio along the way*
Blione is much better in my opinion
*kisses her and drags her along to the fortress*
BLAKE!!! Create more clones! Help me finish this fortress!!!
Aww Silente-sama...
*frowns*
Clones?
*shurgs, takes off hat, withdraws a certain lemon, pulls the pin on the grenade within and throws it at Amy's silly fortress*
Blake bad!
*goes get another shaker*
*runs after Blake*
*yelps and holds her dress down*
Don't drag me like that! >.<
But I love youuuuuu
So put me down? pwetty pwease?
...you used my lemon grenade against me! D:
I also really need to get to sleep now, so fours. :P
#ChaseForBookNine
*Amy's base go boom*
Bye Star
((Shadow clones Max, necromancy really is the most diverse magic))
*Creates as many clones as possible, all but one begin work on the fortress. That one other guy catches the lemonade (PUN) and runs off into the wild blue yonder*
Bye Star!
*Picks up Chio in both arms and continues running*
Love you too ^-^
...*decides fortress wouldn't work*
*calls in an order for a hot air balloon*
Bye Star.
@Star, thanks, that was nice. (I do remember AS's drummer dying, it was devastating, I was a beginner drummer at the time actually and heard about it from my drum teacher in one of our lessons). I've lost too many friends so that whole paragraph really spoke to me aha.
*watches Amy's base go boom and nods a few times*
*calls hot air balloon company and adds in crates of lemon grenades*
*runs back to Matex*
*jumps at him*
((Amy from now on we must call them lemonades))
You did not just bring Naruto into this -_- *glares at Blake. every one of his clones. Glares.*
Not like that... I mean actual shadows
*catches Silente and hoists her high into the air and runs around holding her above him*
*decides to run to hot air balloon company*
*jumps into balloon*
*flies above everyone*
*throws lemon grenades*
*one lands on ground and glitter explodes*
...*looks at grenades and realized company got the wrong ones*
*decides to rain down glitter grenades instead*
*holds her arms out*
*grinning broadly*
*calls company and when someone picks up, starts yelling at them*
*steers balloon towards company to pick up lemonades*
*Sets the snake down on a branch-like contraption that, at a glance, appears to break open the chest cavity from the inside out* *The snake intertwined itself with the plastic bars, slithering happily- she puts a few pieces of leftover human from last night's meal on the contraption for the creature to eat*
*Unbuttons a few fastens on the black shirt that she's wearing, jumping onto the bed with a slight bounce, pulling out a sketch pad, drawing a few lines intricately- a young woman being bludgeoned to death*
*aaaand now we are running through clouds of glitter. hell yeah!*
*glitter clouds! Yes!*
*dumps entire crate of glitter grenades down to decrease weight of balloon*
*glitter grenades explode and form layer of glitter over everyone/everything*
Wouldn't be surprised if the next box is a shipment of bottles of schweppes lemonade, Amy, sorry..
I made sure the company understood what I ordered... if they get it wrong, I'll bomb them!
*is covered in glitter*
*grin broader*
*shake her head making it rain bitter on Matex's face*
bomb them, with glitter bombs hahahahahahaha. YES.
*puts Silente down and kisses her*
*kisses him back*
*picks up shipment and flies over everyone*
*dumps entire crate down*
*lemonades rain down upon everyone*
............. *waits for them to explode... hears nothing*
*looks in crates*
*the lemonades are just lemons...*
*facepalm*
I'm going to go now. I'll be back (maybe)!
*takes off his hat and runs around catching as many lemons in it as he can*
Bye then Amy! I'll have to leave soon too :(
*catches a lemon*
*bites straight into it*
*sucks all the juice from it*
*grins*
Aww! Me too I guess haha, there is work to be done >.<
There is sleep to have in my case!
As we speak I am eating a lemon, it is fabulous, but I think the juice is gone from this one too... I'm just chewing on the peel now..
I don't think I've tried a lemon before...I'm adding that to my buckle list.
I must leave! Sleep calls with its soothing voice!
HOW CAN YOU HAVE NOT EATEN A LEMON BEFORE OH MY GOD D':
*Rockets out of a shadow*
I'M BACK!
Boom boom
Why hullo there Zaf! How's life?
*Looks around*
Hello..? Is anyone still here..?
*runs up behind Blake, kisses his cheek then runs away again*
*Runs after Chio*
Nuuuuuuuu come back! ;-;
*runs up behind Blake, kisses hiWAIT WHAT AM I DOING*
*runs away again*
*Finishes up her drawing, and sets it on the side of the bed that he usually sleeps on, then gets up, moving towards the stretcher, inspecting it again-it's a clever device indeed*
*Moves instead to the wardrobe, deliberating which dress she ought to wear- she plans to take him dancing again*
*Turns around and bitch slaps Max*
BAD.
I DO NOT ROLL THAT WAY.
NOT ON MONDAYS.
OR ANY OTHER DAY OF THE WEEK.
*Runs off after Chio again*
*Drops into a shadow as he runs*
*Leaps out of hers and tacklehugs her to the ground*
Got ya *kisses her*
*alas, Blake is slapping the air because Matex is nowhere to be found. Was he asleep? Had he slept? Perhaps it was an elaborate fantasy.*
((Perhaps Blake is just insane.))
((Who am I kidding? Of course he is))
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I'm alone again.
Wonderful.
Hello y'all!
*flips a table*
WILL YOU PEOPLE STOP SCREWING WITH ME
*Sighs*
Hello iloveskul... How are you?
Um hi!
Good, how are you?
(You can call me Dugglyn!)
Are you the only one here?
*Selects for herself a long black dress that hugs to her sides carefully with a grin, then quickly undresses, slipping into that number instead* *Jumps and lands on the bed on her back, her hair sprawling everywhere* *The snake slithers down the bedpost to her and curls and wraps itself around her arm, hissing slightly, it's tongue flickering* *It curls up in a tight coil on her stomach as she spreads out, having to move some of the ropes attached to the posts as she does so, and picks up her sketch pad again*
Not to shabby if I do say so myself. What brings you to this fine post on this fine day?
Well apparently Ms. Animal Murderer is here too.
That poor rabbit....
Hello Dugglyn! (I take pride in giving you that name, it was one of my better choices I think. After the horrible mistake of naming you Dug, oh, the shame :c )
Just kinda sitting around after a long day of school. should be doing homework.
(I am not really here, wbvd.)
Hello Matex! I do like the name Dugglyn.
(It's actually quite curious how you care more for a mere kit rather than the billions of others that I've slaughtered.)
Oh, ok!
((Because that's the one I saw... read... had knowledge of >.<))
((Firsthand knowledge that is))
It seems I missed most of the action. Darn school!
(Even so, Blake. Even so.)
Ah, but action can take place at any time. For instance, if you were a roleplayer of any sort with a character on this blog we could have ourselves a little blogfight!
(<3)
DUGGLYN WHAT TIME ZONE ARE YOU IN?
*jumps out of the shadows*
*pulls out sword*
You're on!
(Hello, I didn't know if I'd return here or not but I did. Not that you'd know unless I told you. To make this short(er), if that was somehow possible, I want you to know that you all are pretty cool and thank you to the few people I've met so far, because you few are really cool and creative.)
Hello there Blue, I don't believe we have had the pleasure of meeting before!
(Good afternoon/morning, I suppose, Blue)
*Darkness swirls around me and the sky seems to blacken. Shadows seep from the earth and his eyes glisten in anticipation of a new foe*
I do hope you'll fare better than my last match...
Pacific! Or west usa, I don't know what it's called! It is 3:30 right now.
((Why thank you blue! Although we are not aquatinted I'm sure the same applies to you!))
OH MY GOD BLUE YOU'RE AN AUSTRALIAN LIKE MEEEE :D
OHH that would explain a lot Dugglyn haha, most of us are either going to sleep or just waking up (in my case it is early morning but I just haven't been to sleep yet :P )
*looks at Blake*
Oh I will!
(Hi Blue! How are you? I am Dugglyn!)
((EST for me, or east coast of the US))
*steps forward and swipes at Blake with sword*
*Smirks* We shall see.
*Whips of solid darkness fly towards Dugglyn at impossible speeds, ripping the ground apparet as they crash downwards*
((I like the enthusiasm, but try not to double post. It messes with the timing and order of the fight, just makes it kinda hard to keep track of things ^-^))
(Lol Blake second option makes much more sense, most countries have their own "EST", I'm EST as well hahahaha)
((Also you need to dedicate the page! Have fun))
*jumps back*
*shadows just miss*
(((NO ONE REALLY DOES DEDS ANY MORE IT BREAKS MY HEARTT :L)))
(I'm sorry, the school's wifi is really slow and makes it rather difficult for me to comment.
Yes, I'm an Aussie. I'm from Victoria!
And hi, everyone. I'm sure I'll eventually get used to your names.)
(Oh ok, let me think!)
OH MY GOD ME TOO, VICTORIA HELL YEAH. Aw no, School is the WORST :P When is the last time you came on the Blog?
*Darkness swirls together next to Blake and forms an exact replica which manifests blades of darkness in its hands*
*Blakes arms become shrouded in shadows, almost like massive gauntlets. He and the clone dash forward, slicing and punching rapidly*
*She shuffles nervously where she is, and goes to do up her shoes, pacing around the room curiously as she does so- looting through boxes full of torture instruments that she might bring for the inevitable massacre*
I dedicate this page to tapeworms! Those horrible little things! I drew a face on my leg and my mom says it looks like a tapeworm, so it is dedicated to them! (I have no idea why she thinks it looks like a tapeworm!)
((uh... hear hear..? Interesting Ded Dugglyn xD))
Hello! I'm back!
(The day before yesterday just before I was going to bed. I'm central to northern Vic)
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