"You save yourselves, you save the world."

Primary blog for the Chasing Ghosts trilogy and all its offshoots. Whose idea was it to trust these idiots with such a momentous task? Certainly not mine. var sc_project=12106484; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_security="33f28154";

[chasing-ghosts-trilogy]

The self-serving create their own graves the moment they decide to live for no one but themselves. Social species need each other to survive. Once you've made the conscious decision for forfeit compassion and humility for others, you forfeit your place in the world. You will die, cold and alone, and that's the choice you have made for yourself.

Taliye

[chasing-ghosts-trilogy]

Everything I've read of human society shows they've got this knack for creating elaborate fantasies just to embellish reality. You have to think: what's the purpose of fabricating truths? What's it going to satisfy? And why isn't reality good enough? It's like their souls are in a constant state of suffering, and the end goal is... what? A test? To build upon those fantasies and create more until humanity achieves some undetermined end-goal? Is there even an end-goal? and why-- of all the species of Earth-- were humans chosen to be the catalyst of progression? Look at the Akkei: they've progressed further than us and is just lead to their demise and endless conflict. What's the reason behind it? Is there really a higher power and we're just locked in this performative dance seeking to impress them? Or is there something that's going to benefit us?

Phiku

[chasing-ghosts-trilogy]

We were pacifists once; then we were robbed of that privilege. I guess, in the end, pacifism is intangible when its not upheld by violence. How ironic."

Phiku

[chasing-ghosts-trilogy]

I don't know. I think people conflate apathy and strength too often. Disconnecting from everything isn't the same as endurance.

Alexandria “Tio” Weiss

[chasing-ghosts-trilogy]

[chasing-ghosts-trilogy]

217. I've become less interested in the act of debating society, and more interested in examining its history. Trying to discuss the here and now rather than how we got here is like biting into an under-ripe fruit: it's bitter, painful, and overall not rewarding." 217. All sides of the cube must be examined with care, even the ones invisible at first glance. When we ignore a side, how do we describe the cube with detail? We can't. We are left with incomplete information. It is naive to neglect any one facet in favor of focusing on another, just because it is more visible.

Amord vs Ejard, Footnotes for a Dying World

[chasing-ghosts-trilogy]

With NaNo and the cold weather, I’m back to working on book 1 rather than Reflections. There’s a whole chapter that’s just Phiku going on a tangent and he gets so lost in his thoughts that it doesn’t phase him that Phryra and Tio have left the room and he’s just talking to himself.

[chasing-ghosts-trilogy]

Your performative stoicism and macho brovado is nothing but a self-masturbatory facade brought on by discomfort with the idea of vulnerability, and the desire to seek approval from your peers as the pillar of your self-worth. This is rooted in a history of sensitivity which you were conditioned to believe was frailty. In truth, you did not defeat your oppressors by hardening yourself, you catered to them by molding yourself into the exact shape they wished for you to be. You are rigid, unmoving, and dull, rather than soft, malleable, and full of life. –Also, I’ve seen you cry over a stubbed toe.

Ankish, to Idihs

[chasing-ghosts-trilogy]

🎶Hold me closer scrawny baaaastard🎶

[noor-khoury]

One of my favourite things about writing is character development, and in that sense I enjoy writing these really broken, flawed, “difficult” characters and, through their interactions and role in the story, bring out the light that’s been in them all along, without necessarily “fixing” them by erasing every flaw. If I feel like the character is impossible to write a profile for because their end descriptors don’t match their beginning, I’ve succeeded. One of my beta readers criticized Tio’s character in Chasing Ghosts because they said she was rude and unlikable (she’s very Jessica Jones or Daria). The point is that she’s young and has a chip on her shoulder and major trust issues. Early on you see her move between trusting and being wary of Phiku, of helping So-e and So-la and empathizing with what vague details she’s given of their circumstances. Tio is rude, she’s distrustful, she’s flaky, she’s scared but she expresses that fear through walls of bitterness. By the end of the story, she’s grown so much on Luheh and Appeila that she’s soft yet strong, she expresses her empathy and compassion far more freely and chooses to use her childhood of trauma not as armour, but as a way of being able to help others by being on their level and knowing how it feels to hurt so deeply. From hopelessness, she becomes the hope. Phiku starts out stoic and almost humourless. He’s a staunch idealist, and he has a goal he’s been set out to reach and he wants nothing more than to reach it, but he’s insecure, he’s strangled by a guilty conscience, he’s bleeding out but won’t let anyone see it, he’s naive and stubborn, and that’s what ends him up in a huge mess. In the end, he’s learned to harness his drive and truly be what his late brother wanted him to be, not a broken man striving to fix everything without any forethought to satisfy a deep guilt for everything he’s done, but a driven man who uses his brains to reach an end which is good for everyone. He’s happy, he’s energetic, he’s showing his wit and he’s more open with what he’s feeling. From insecurity, he becomes the leader. Idihs shows his pain through aggression and megalomania with a touch of masochistic thrill-seeking. He’s quick to anger and quick to hate, he’s over-protective due to the loss he witnessed, and he doesn’t really embrace his strengths like he should because of how he was treated and coerced into servitude and shame for everything he loved, like written word and serenity. He learns to embrace everything natural to him, he learns to be more gentle and mindful and essentially goes from the obnoxious hellraiser of the group, to the wise one who is able to keep them grounded and calm, and he learns to channel his protectiveness into passionate love for everyone around him. From chaos, becomes the order. There’s some really great stuff with the supporting and background characters, like Phryra’s recovery, and Yu-la’s story physically pains me and so does Tio’s reunion with her foster sister Maddie, but I can’t get too spoilery no matter how much I desperately want to ramble about these plot points.

[mecharose]

I love characters that are completely harmless until they finally unleash their power and then they’re TERRIFYING

[mecharose]

or, even better: totally harmless but occasionally the other characters catch glimpses of what’s underneath and you just know

[noor-khoury]

“Into the Ocean” was the first character song I ever used for Phiku, and over the years, the band became deeply associated with his character to the point where I can’t listen to a Blue October song without essentially hearing Phiku’s “voice”. When I heard this song, it felt much more representory of Phiku’s feelings and character development from the midpoint of the story onward. Whenever I’m feeling super down, I listen to this song. Just saw this acoustic version, and the album version already exudes passion at the Bridge, but you can actually see and feel it in this version.

[noor-khoury]

[noor-khoury]

The Tana chapters are coming up, and I’m always itching for an excuse to make Phiku and Tana content…

[naturaekos]

Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it.

William Shakespeare (via naturaekos)

[noor-khoury]

“Examine each outcome, but fear none.”

—Idihs

[noor-khoury]

Appeila, Luheh, Earth.

There’s absolutely no metal on Luheh or Appeila so most things are made from wood, cork, or stone— and especially crystal. Likewise, Luheh’s cool-toned crystals are only found on Luheh and the same goes for Appeila’s warm-toned crystals.

Excuse my shaky hand I’ve been crafting all day.