May 8, 2023
I wrote!! a whole script!! it's two necromancers talking life and creatures of the other in a busy bar and will be out soon! I can't wait for you all to have it :)
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I wrote!! a whole script!! it's two necromancers talking life and creatures of the other in a busy bar and will be out soon! I can't wait for you all to have it :)
Update 1/3/2023: Happy New Year!!
Hello, everyone! I can't believe that the last time I made a big update was in July of last year. I hope between now and then, you have all been well and are having a pleasant start to your new year. Today, I will be sharing a few new poems as well as a book review, a short screenplay, and an essay. Enjoy!
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Social Justice and Mental Health Resources: https://sunsresources.weebly.com/
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You can find my book review of The Dawn of Yangchen, a novel that takes place in the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe here:
-Website: https://redjumpreviews.weebly.com/reviews/the-dawn-of-yangchen-review
-Tumblr: https://hongyueg.tumblr.com/post/691126172038332416/the-dawn-of-yangchen-review
-Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4881324025
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You can read my poem "The Question" here:
-Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/1302046126-poems-the-question-2022
-Website: https://darcywriting.weebly.com/poems/the-question
-Tumblr: https://sunlake1.tumblr.com/post/705460966422380544/the-question
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My poem "Stairs to the Stars" can be read here:
-Tumblr: https://sunlake1.tumblr.com/post/705461912404721665/stairs-to-the-stars
-Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/1302050519-poems-stairs-to-the-stars-2022
-Website: https://darcywriting.weebly.com/poems/stairs-to-the-stars
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"The Weight Above," a poem contemplating history and motherhood can be found here:
-Website: https://darcywriting.weebly.com/poems/the-weight-above
-Tumblr: https://sunlake1.tumblr.com/post/705462300045426688/the-weight-above
Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/1302052318-poems-the-weight-above-2022
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The final poem I am sharing today titled "Untouchable" can be read here:
-Tumblr: https://sunlake1.tumblr.com/post/705462648272224256/untouchable
-Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/1302053942-poems-untouchable-2022
-Website: https://darcywriting.weebly.com/poems/untouchable
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You can read my short screenplay "Queen", a sequel to my 2016 screenplay "Life in a Snowglobe", here:
-Website: https://darcywriting.weebly.com/screenplays/queen
-Tumblr: https://sunlake1.tumblr.com/post/705463143410876416/queen
-Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/1302056361-screenplays-queen-2022
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Finally, my essay "Ocean", which is written from the prospect of Ticklytudy, a character inspired by an imaginary friend I created as a child, can be read here:
-Tumblr: https://dancingadopteethoughts.tumblr.com/post/705463608477433856/ocean
-Website: https://dancingadopteethoughts.weebly.com/blog/essay-ocean
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Fun fact: The designs of ferfs and derfs, the dominant species of the planet Keldar, were inspired by Uglyworms from the Uglydoll franchise.
Thank you for joining me again on my writing journey and I wish you well until next time!
The Girl with the Frogs
INT. LUCIA’S BEDROOM- MORNING
LUCIA (blonde-haired tween) snores.
Click. An alarm clock’s screen flickers “6:30” followed by ribbits.
Lucia groans. Two beats. She shoves her covers off and pushes herself out of bed.
INT. MATH CLASSROOM- TWO HOURS LATER
In a room of colorful tables, Lucia sits in the corner with DAMIAN.
DAMIAN
This better be the last time I have to draw Mr. Trapezoid. I never knew I could hate a shape so much.
LUCIA
I think the directions say you have to rotate Mr. Trapezoid.
DAMIAN
Sh-
A ribbit. Lucia jolts. She peeks at her classmates continuing to chat.
LUCIA
Damian, did you hear that noise?
As Damian erases, his page tears.
DAMIAN
Come on! Yeah, Lucia?
LUCIA
Nevermind.
Lucia peers at teacher MS. MEI bent over grading. She grips her pencil and grimaces.
Three more ribbits.
DAMIAN
I think I do hear something. Was that a frog?
Four more ribbits. Lucia’s cheeks flush.
LUCIA
I-I don’t know what’s going on!
The other students freeze. Their stares penetrate Lucia. Ms. Mei glances up.
A chorus of ribbits. Along bookshelves and table surfaces, frogs materialize. One hops onto Damian’s head and the boy jumps.
DAMIAN
What’s going on?
Shrieking, the students swat at the frogs with their textbooks.
MS. MEI
I-I don’t know what’s happening, but-but please sit-
A student clobbers a frog into Ms. Mei’s chest. Two more spring up from the teacher’s head.
As the screaming continues, more frogs appear.
Below her desk, Lucia curls into a ball. A sea of frogs form around her.
LUCIA
This is all my fault. This is all my fault. My anxiety is doing this to everybody.
Damian ducks down beside her.
DAMIAN
AH! Why’s there so many here!?
LUCIA
Leave me alone.
Another frog pops up from the floor and lands on Damian’s knee.
DAMIAN
If you’re the one who’s causing all this, you need to figure out how to get rid of this. I would rather redraw Mr. Trapezoid ten times than keep getting attacked by these stupid frogs.
LUCIA
Stop, Lucia. Stop. Stop.
DAMIAN
They’re just frogs, Lucia. How hard can they possibly be to get rid of?
LUCIA Just frogs. They’re just frogs.
Lucia’s eyes squeeze shut. She lets out a breath before opening her eyes.
She stands.
LUCIA Everyone. I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I can fix this.
The students pause. The frogs keep ribbitting. Damian stands.
DAMIAN
How can you?
Lucia closes her eyes. She takes a breath. Lets it out. Takes a breath. Lets it out.
DAMIAN
Oh.
Damian follows Lucia’s example and a few of the frogs around them disappear.
Lucia’s classmates shrug and glance at one another and slowly, each student along with Ms. Mei takes part in the breathing exercise. After a few moments, the frogs are gone.
The school bell rings.
Lucia smiles and opens her eyes.
Update 6/13/21
Hi, everyone! I hope you’re having a good week. As always, if you are looking for organizations to support or educational/mental health resources, here is a starting place: https://sunsblmresources.weebly.com/ .
This week, I have one new poem, one new book review, and one new short screenplay.
You can read my new poem “The Wish” by clicking the links below. It takes place on the planet my sister and I created called Keldar.
-https://zhiridge.tumblr.com/post/653364079195455488/the-wish
-https://zhilanridge.weebly.com/stories/the-wish
-https://www.wattpad.com/1081986249-stories-drawings-and-more-the-wish-2021
You can read my book review of the fantasy middle grade novel City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda here:
-https://hongyueg.tumblr.com/post/653613416293040128/the-mortality-of-immortality or https://dancingadopteethoughts.tumblr.com/post/653652304670654464/the-mortality-of-immortality
-https://redjumpreviews.weebly.com/reviews/the-mortality-of-immortality or https://dancingadopteethoughts.weebly.com/blog/book-review-the-mortality-of-immortality
-https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4051303130
Finally, you can read my new short screenplay “Photographic Memories” here:
-https://www.wattpad.com/1084662860-screenplays-photographic-memories-2021
-https://darcywriting.weebly.com/screenplays/photographic-memories or https://dancingadopteethoughts.weebly.com/blog/screenplay-photographic-memories
-https://sunlake1.tumblr.com/post/653882427251572736/photographic-memories or https://dancingadopteethoughts.tumblr.com/post/653882492218146816/photographic-memories
Fun fact: The two dominant species of Keldar are derfs and ferfs. Both species look like giant slugs except derfs are much skinnier and often taller than ferfs.
Have a good week! See you next time! :)
Photographic Memories
INT. MEI-BEAS APARTMENT’S LIVING ROOM- NEW YEAR’S EVE MORNING
Through the window, the sun lights up a living room. A fourteen-year-old girl of East Asian descent, HELLEN, squats on a sofa with a photo album. As she turns each page, specks of dust sparkle in the air. Images of two mothers, one East Asian, MEGAN, and the other Latina, JULIA, stare up at the girl. Sprinkled within these photographs of the mothers are snapshots of two girls. One child, Hellen, is East Asian, yet this girl is not physically similar to either parent. Meanwhile, the other child, ADRIJANA, appears to be biologically related to the second mother. Chinese, English, and Spanish words for love and family outline the photos. The fourteen-year-old grins at each page and as she traces the images’ perimeters with her finger, the pictures glimmer. One image of the two girls at the beach glows especially strong while the setting of the living room fades.
EXT. BUCHTTON BEACH- DAY- FIVE YEARS EARLIER
The two mothers from the photograph chat with one another while their nine-year-old daughters build a sandcastle. Hellen sprinkles water from a bucket onto the fortress. Adrijana scowls.
ADRIJANA
Why’d you do that, Hellen?
HELLEN
It looks prettier this way.
ADRIJANA
No, it doesn’t. It looks like a dog peed on it.
HELLEN
No, the water makes it shine more with the sun.
The mothers pause in their conversation to stare at their daughters. They glance at one another and then sigh.
JULIA
Girls, we’re having fun at the beach today. You should be enjoying your time together.
ADRIJANA
You argue with your sister.
JULIA
Why are you bringing Aunt Lily into this?
Megan reaches into her tote bag and brings out her smartphone.
MEGAN
Picture time!
The two girls groan, but they get into position beside their sandcastle. The camera snaps and the scene fades back into the living room.
INT. MEI-BEAS APARTMENT’S LIVING ROOM- PRESENT
Hellen flips the page of the scrapbook, a grin still lingering on her face. She pauses to stare at a selfie of her and her mother Julia sitting at a kitchen table with bowls of ice cream laying before them. The image glows and the living room fades again.
INT. MEI-BEAS APARTMENT’S KITCHEN- NIGHT- TWO YEARS EARLIER
The fluorescent kitchen light gleams down at a sobbing Julia who is slumped over the table. Outside the window, snow drums the glass.
HELLEN
Mom?
Hellen, in pajamas, stands at the edge of the tiny kitchen. She steps into the light to take a seat beside her mother.
Julia picks up her head and wipes her eyes.
JULIA
(In Spanish)
It’s just the two of us tonight. Mama and Adrijana went to that Korean culture festival.
HELLEN
(In Spanish)
I heard you on the phone...with Aunt Lily. Is everything okay?
JULIA
(In English)
Yes, of course. How about we treat ourselves tonight. I think we have some ice-cream in the fridge?
Hellen nods and leaves to get the dessert. Julia sighs and dabs her eyes with a tissue. Hellen returns with bowls and ice-cream. Mother and daughter slurp on the treat together.
JULIA
(in Spanish)
You have no idea how blessed you are to have a good relationship with your sister, Hellen.
HELLEN
(in Spanish)
Adrijana annoys me sometimes. She’s so bossy and it doesn’t make any sense. I’m older than her by six months.
Julia laughs and takes a scoop out of Hellen’s bowl.
HELLEN
Hey!
JULIA
(in Spanish)
Let’s take a picture to commemorate this moment.
Julia takes out her phone and the camera snaps.
INT. MEI-BEAS APARTMENT’S LIVING ROOM- PRESENT
Hellen closes the photo album and places the book on the coffee table. She then turns to stare out the window as the sun continues to rise, saturating the room with light. It’s almost as if the sun itself is trying to take a picture.
Just A Story
Written by Darcy Ridge World Brainstormed by Hunter Fawkes and Darcy Ridge ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXT. THROLIA FOREST- SUNSET
Leaves rustle as the sun sets. Squirrel-like creatures soar from tree to tree with their skinny tails streaming behind them.
Laughter echoes as a young ren springs after the critters.
PALA
Hurry up, Tema, or the five-limbed volocrums are going to abandon you in the leaves.
TEMA (O.S.)
I’m coming, Pala! It’s...just so...much...jumping.
Another rennet shatters through the trees, his chest heaving.
Pala rolls her eyes as she continues to hound after the five-limbed volocrums.
The rodents twist left just as the trees open up to exhibit the ocean.
Pala halts at the edge of a thick branch and flails her arms to balance herself. Her eyes wide, she gazes off into the distance.
Tema nearly collides into his sister, but pauses just in time.
TEMA Why do you have to be so unpredictable?
PALA
Shush, Tema. Look, that dragon is completely green! It must be a Lapillus Forest Dragon!
Beyond the trees and over the swirling blue ocean, a hazy green serpent dragon slithers through the sky.
TEMA It can’t be a Lapillus Forest Dragon. They don’t exist. They’re just stories. The Lapillus Islands aren’t even real.
PALA
They do exist. The gods just hide them from view to protect them from outsiders. They came from outer space. That’s what Neela Auntie told me.
TEMA Neela Auntie exaggerates things. That’s what Sunar Ama told me.
The dragon floats closer towards the shore. Its mottled brown and green scales become clearer.
TEMA
See, Pala? It’s just a Throlian Forest Dragon. Nothing special.
PALA
Maybe we could talk to them and practice our dragonese!
TEMA
We shouldn’t talk to creatures from other troops. We have our own troop to practice dragonese with.
PALA
But there are no dragons in our troop. There’re only ren.
TEMA
So what? There’s nothing wrong with that. There are plenty of troops with just Forest Dragons that speak rennese just as good as any ren can.
The two siblings glare at one another.
PALA
Fine, Tema. Let’s go home.
Pala and Tema leap back the way they came, spraying leaves in their wake. As the leaves tumble to the dark forest floor, sunlight dims and night arrives.
EXT. THROLIA FOREST- NIGHT
Branches crackle below the trees’ canopies. The hint of lucid green scales glimmers between the leaves. The hiss of a dragon shivers through the air.
A gasp. Pala perches on a branch with a grin on her face. She peers down at the dragon below. Quietly, she hisses a response.
Update 1/31/21
Hi, everyone! I hope the end of January is going great for you. Today, I have a new book review of New Kid by Jerry Craft and a short screenplay about two teens and a train.
You can find the book review here:
-https://redjumpreviews.weebly.com/reviews/its-not-so-easy-being-new
-https://hongyueg.tumblr.com/post/641486824412463104/its-not-so-easy-being-new
-https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3447574398
The short screenplay titled “Going Places” can be read here:
-https://www.wattpad.com/1019169459-screenplays-going-places-2020
-https://sunlake1.tumblr.com/post/641840924205465600/going-places
-https://darcywriting.weebly.com/screenplays/going-places
Enjoy!
Going Places
INT. TRAIN- SUNSET
An empty commuter train car is illuminated by the setting sun. Dust billows around the blue seats and the rumbling of train wheels murmurs in the background.
Outside, fields of orange, red, and green highlight the country. Pink clouds glide across the sky and a hint of night peeks through the horizon’s upper edges.
The landscape transforms into mountain ranges and, along with the scenery metamorphosis, time transitions into night. Glasses clink and the train car is now filled with people from all over the world. These people sit at different wooden benches eating a diverse range of foods and speaking distinguishable languages.
At a center table protruding from the carriage wall, two sixteen-year-olds speaking in English are laughing with one another. One of the teenagers is a girl, Zaya, and the other is an enby, Taylor.
ZAYA
This is just incredible! How did this place even pop up? There’re no trains in Buchtton.
TAYLOR
Like I said, I just saw the train-stop appear next to my house and called you over.
ZAYA
Thank goodness you did, Taylor. I was getting so bored of Mr. Das’ chemistry homework. He gave us way too many summer assignments.
TAYLOR
I’m glad I did, Zaya. I love being with you.
ZAYA
You do? I swear I’m your only friend.
TAYLOR
That’s not true. I’m friendly with other people.
ZAYA
That’s exactly it, Taylor. You’re friendly with other people, not necessarily friends.
For a moment the two teens sit at their bench in silence. Taylor peers out the window and at the mountains rearing in the distance. A full moon floats above two peaks.
TAYLOR
I think...at this point, Zaya, you’re more than my friend.
INT. TRAIN- NINE MONTHS LATER- SUNRISE
The train’s interior has altered again to be unfurnished except for a lone wooden bench in the center of the car. Taylor is hunched over on the seat with their face buried in their hands.
TAYLOR
(muffled)
I’m sorry, Zaya.
The overhead lighting above Taylor dims while the sunlight outside intensifies. The wailing of a baby can be heard in the distance.
INT. TRAIN- A MONTH LATER- MID-DAY
The train horn bellows and the car is now inhabited by two parallel benches that are perpendicular to the wall. Zaya and Taylor sit on each bench with their backs toward one another.
Outside, snow floats down on barren fields. The mountains in the background appear jagged and endless.
ZAYA
We’re back on this train.
A silence settles in the room. Taylor fiddles with the strings of their dark red hoodie.
ZAYA
Maybe it’s better this way. Neither of us will know her now.
Zaya twists her body around to face Taylor’s back. She wears a green winter jacket and a tan hat. Her hair splays around her shoulders. Bags hang under her puffy eyes.
ZAYA
Maybe we now have a chance to be “normal” again.
TAYLOR
(back still turned)
It’s wrong. We abandoned a child.
Zaya sighs. She turns her head to stare out the window.
ZAYA
I know that. Maybe even more than you, I know that.
TAYLOR
We didn’t have to either. Our parents have money. We could have figured something out. It's like history is repeating itself. I was abandoned as a baby in India and now I'm abandoning a baby.
ZAYA
It’s this world, Taylor. It’s this world and its obsession with status. I hate this place. I really hate this place.
Taylor shifts around to face Zaya. Tears slip down their face and drop onto their jeans.
TAYLOR
I do, too, Zaya... but what good has hating this place ever done?
Zaya and Taylor peer into each other's eyes.
TAYLOR
This is all my fault. I should never have invited you onto this train in the first place.
ZAYA
Taylor, everything we did...it was the both of us. I don’t hate you, Taylor.
Taylor smiles at Zaya.
TAYLOR
Do you think there’s still hope for us?
Zaya grins and the winter sun shimmers down on her through the train window.
ZAYA
Do you know where this train is taking us?
The two teenagers turn to stare out the window at the limitless mountains. They keep to their separate benches, but their bodies lean toward one another just slightly.
EXT. TRAIN- DUSK
A white train rumbles down worn brown tracks. Multi-colored fields line the route and lights from little towns glitter in the distance beyond the train.
Only one car window is lit and an empty wooden table is in view. Although no one is there, indistinct voices can be heard echoing from the car as the train lumbers on toward night.