And I'd love art. I'm curious about these high-quality visuals you speak of. There are a few places that sorely need a piece of art... like Urist and Vanya sharing their almost-kiss in the gorlak cave (seems like a pic-worthy moment).
Ugh. I wish I could grant this wish myself, but this sounds wayyyy too complicated to attempt to draw with a mouse.
No worries.
Honestly, it's not that important. I was actually just listing the first thing that came to mind. The first part/book of the four has 15 pictures, the second has four, and the third only has one... so the first part doesn't really need any more pictures, I guess... granted, I just "stole" most of them from the Spearbreakers thread, though it's debatable whether they were actually "stolen" as they're for the same story in either place... Only ten of them were actually specifically made for the story, distributed as 6/3/1, comparedd to 15/4/1, so that's about 40%/75%/100%... i.e. the stuff from this thread only really helped the first part of the story.
McClellan requested a summary of Vanya's tale at some point... hrm. I'm not too sure I want to spoil the book. Generally, people have a tendency to click spoilers without discretion on Bay12.
So... hmm. I'll summarize while avoiding major spoilers, major dramatic moments, and plot twists. You'll miss a lot, but you'll have a basic idea of where the story is.
Part 1:
Vanya saves Talvi's life by yelling that she's awake, getting Splint, Fischer, Mr Frog and others to keep the doctors from putting her back under. Talvi afterwards requests Vanya's assistance in finding proof that Mr Frog attacked her, and getting "Joseph" back, an unidentified supposedly malevolent entity that she claimed was going to destroy the fortress. However, she soon forgets this quest in the face of realizing that Mr Frog had killed all her pet cavies, and she wants to kill him. Vanya later sneaks into Mr Frog's room and sees him talking to Joseph on a PEA, and after Mr Frog leaves, she becomes stuck in a conversation with Joseph long enough for Mr Frog to return, as Joseph wants Vanya dead. Vanya manages to hold Mr Frog off long enough for Talvi to arrive. Vanya escapes largely unharmed, but is later captured and put in the Holistic Spawn prison cell for a year.
Urist rescues Vanya from her prison cell, and with the help of a miner/soldier named Hans, Vanya manages to get back to Mr Frog's room and destroy her bracelet. He listens to her this time, and decides to take her on as an assistant, for the purpose of using her to collect certain objects of his from Ballpoint, his previous place of work. After extensive training, Vanya makes two attempts, one with Hans and Urist as backup, but fails both times, leading Mr Frog to decide she's useless except as a guinea pig. After consuming one of his experimental drugs, she has a nightmare that greatly distresses her and, after a visit to the forges, it is confirmed that the nightmare is actually a memory. After the second failed mission, Ballpoint has been combing Spearbreakers to find her, but Urist manages to get to Vanya first, and they escape through the Gorlak caves (which is where their almost kiss takes place).
Vanya takes it upon herself to learn more about her past, and in the process, Mr Frog decides to send her, Hans, and Urist on a third trip to the artificial universe containing Ballpoint's Everoc outpost. While the mission itself is a success, Ballpoint seizes the opportunity and attacks Spearbreakers from within, trying to capture Mr Frog to keep him from causing any more damage to their outpost. Vanya makes a valiant attempt to save the fortress (and is successful), but is betrayed, and finds herself alone, stranded in the caverns below Spearbreakers.
PART 2
After escaping the caverns, Vanya roams the blood plains for a while with a band of Scythods, and eventually convinces them to help her return to Spearbreakers. They are instead attacked by Holistic Spawn, and the Scythod warmaster, Kythraka'l Scylk, decides that they must return to the mountains, where Vanya isn't allowed. He sends Vanya with two of his soldiers towards a nearby Parasol outpost, and they find Lord Reudh on the way. Upon arriving at the devastated Parasol outpost, staffed only by Parasol's Auxiliary Squad 48D, they discover that Ballpoint has besieged it and is trying to open the nearby captured megaportal, which will spell certain doom for Parasol. Vanya helps 48D formulate a plan which will hopefully allow them to overcome Ballpoint just long enough for Vanya to open the portal to Parasol's military quadrant, so that Parasol's troops can come through and crush the besieging Ballpoint troops. In the process, Vanya learns a magic spell from a girl named Katie.
After an intense battle, the operation is a success, and the portal to Parasol is opened. Parasol wins the battle, and Joseph, now aware of Vanya's survival, contacts her a second time. She speaks to him, and afterwards goes to Parasol with Katie and Lord Reudh.
PART 3
Vanya and Katie are attacked soon after arriving at Parasol, and Katie's father, Kenzon, decides to let Vanya stay at his apartment. They are visited often by Trebor, a fellow member of 48D, and Katie slowly begins to gain feelings for him, despite his apparent hatred for Vanya. When they are later attacked a second time, Kenzon bans Katie from leaving his house, for her safety. In the meantime, Vanya visits Solnay, the wife of Jonah, a member of 48D, and begins a friendship with her - and Joseph appears before her a third time to warn her that there's nowhere she can hide. Vanya and Katie decide to sneak out of the house on Katie's birthday, which narrowly saves them from being attacked a third time, and Kenzon sends them off to live with a co-worker. At this point, Katie and Vanya decide that they need to figure out who their attacker is on their own, so that Katie can see Trebor again, and so that Vanya can get back to Spearbreakers. This leads to a series of adventures that brings the story to where it is now.
This is all massively summarized. A lot happens that I haven't revealed above, including some extremely major plot points.
I'd offer my skills with a tablet for that piece mentioned earlier, but I... Splint no good with that sort of thing.
...huh? Since when were you not good at art?
It's okay, though... but really, you're good at art, don't think otherwise.
My username here is pronounced as you would expect it; Lol-fail. (If I could change said username to EightTimesNine, I would :/)
However, the character of mine named Lolfail's name is pronounced Er-hail.
Ahhhhhh, okay. I got confused. >.> At least I know now.
:O Mad World and Kiss From a Rose? Brilliant! I love those songs. Please tell me you've heard the original, Tears for Fears "Mad World" though...
There was also Yellow (by Coldplay) but I forgot to mention that. And yes, I've heard the original Tears for Fears... but I like Gary Jules's better because the slower tempo makes it sound more melancholy, whereas in the original, "I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad, the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had" sounds somewhat sarcastic and scathing instead of legitimately unhappy and depressed, because of how upbeat it is.
Nnnnope, I mean it's buzzy. Lesson learned... I need some higher-quality way to record.
I was referring more to this part:
Also, I shouldn't have listened to the recordings because my nerves came back after I had. lol
Ahhhhhhhh. My mistake.
But really, the mic was awful. In addition to the buzzing, my voice sounds "tinny", if that makes sense... like I'm singing through a metal box or something, I don't know. It's hard to describe. My regular mp3 mic is better, but I have to have the songs going while I sing or else I just flail about and shut up... so I was playing it on my regular mp3 player and recording on a second one. There's no way I'm singing in front of my family. >.> I was recording outside.
edit: looks like yardwork again today, so I'm not going to be able to get much done.
Also: RE: Tablets:
I have one, and I've had it for... I guess eight years?
I've only used it once or twice. I can't draw at
all unless I have a pencil, for some reason - I lack the fine motor control skills for low-friction styluses, and that means my handwriting looks awful in pen. I can't draw at all unless I'm holding a pencil... so my tablet has seen very little use. I could ship it to you, but... one, it's old, two, it's cheaply made, and three... I have no idea how I'd ship it in the first place.