Lance Redfield's comeback

I momentarily take off John's vampiric mask and hang it beside the various online personalities that I adapt according to my feelings and thoughts. Now the artistically writer side of me has returned for a fleeting moment and now welcomes itself back with something to relay what my silly brain has been arguing about with the middle, more impulsive region of my body.

Don't worry, the Vampiric Chronicles doesn't end there. XD

Sad to say I was in the middle of cursing the bad weather and Internet connectivity during the afternoon. I could've posted earlier, but ah well. I'll try to bring this up today lol. I really have to make a mental note to purchase prepaid Internet cards every week.

Ah well, here's Lance's returning poetry~

I'm here.
by Lance B T Redfield

You stand at a crossroad
Alone and forlorn
Unsure which to take
Your feelings remain unknown

Both paths seem alike
In ambiance and in form
The only thing that differs
Is the destination drawn

On one path lies a pen
The other holds a brush
A choice of either path
Will not differ much

Though should you choose to take
The path that yields the brush
The pen will still be there
Hopeful, Waiting, Untouched

But in all unlikeliness
That the brush had been gone
You can always turn back
There's no harm to that

The pen will still wait
At the path not taken
For that pen is with me
And for you I'll always be here...

PS. For those still unaware, Lance Brian Tracy Redfield is the personality I often use when I am in the process of writing my Terra Nova series, which incidentally has faced quite a huge dead end. I am still in the process of figuring out a way to bypass it. LOL.

*Sigh* At least Lance did express some happiness that neither Dave, Allan, not even John, could possibly express... Oh, happy days~

*Dances around the room*

The Vampiric Chronicles Part Four: An Enticer Enticed; A Witch Bewitched

Two interesting rhymes for a title, and the story gets even more complicated. Now this really becomes a fanfiction LOL.

As John walked back to the Manor, his mind raced with various thoughts whilst he contemplated on the witch's response to his queries.

"Perhaps if you tried being a little open at your thoughts and understand your maker's behavior, you will be enlightened to accept his offer..."

The words etched on his mind like carvings chiseled on wood, and the more he thought of the idea the more it scared even himself. Being open on that matter wasn't exactly a resolution he expected the witch to tell him. He kind of expected her to formulate a medicine of sorts to cure him of his queer hunger, but now he's left to ponder over the witch's words.

However, as he emerged from the woodlands that bid entrance to the witch's abode, he felt difference settling in his system - like as if his mind had been turned to a new inclination. The feeling was unnatural for him, but a smile crossed his lips as he continued.

It was a short while before sunrise when John finally reached the confines of the Manor, finding his friend and maker seated calmly on the drawing room, reading a book over the lamplight.

"Ah, you have returned." Mark said, speaking like as if nothing happened during dinnertime. "I suppose you have found some other victim by which to satisfy your natural hunger upon my blood? That won't be healthy for you..."

He smirked as he returned to his reading. John sat on the armchair opposite him.

"No, as I've said, I've got too much respect on you, that's why I can't bear to do it." John said, smiling at his friend. "But I seem to notice - you're quite interested to tempt me to take a bite at you, aren't you?"

Mark looked up from his reading.

"Let's just say it would bring me no end to pleasure to see my own victim having a taste of my tainted blood. It would strengthen your vampiric identity if our kin were to find out."

"Bring you no end to pleasure? Then I suppose you want to bite me again when I finish having a taste of you?"

The words escaped John's mouth in a sudden manner that even he himself was stunned. It was as if something nudged his mind to have such thoughts. Mark, however, remained impassive, although there was a hint of surprise.

"You assume too much, don't you?" Mark said, recovering from the reaction and smiling. "I have already bitten you once, and that would suffice for me."

John smirked - another action he never expected even himself to do. It was like as if strings had been attached on all parts of his body, a puppeteer controlling him from afar. Nevertheless he liked it.

"Really... but whenever you stare at me I see the same hungry stare I give you most of the time." John said, winking at his friend then heading off to his chambers to retire.

The following evening, the witch Sandra was thunderstruck when she found a lovely black rose placed gently at her doorstep. A small piece of paper was folded under it and when she read its contents she just smirked at herself. The note ran:

"I send my love to the witch who might be responsible for the change that suddenly overcame me. Perhaps you gave me more than just an answer.

Love,

The Vampire"

Sandra held the note for a moment in her hands, then picked up the black rose and went in her shack.

Love story? LOL

The Muse on a Moodswing, alquanna, has posted her side of the story after John left. You may opt to check it out too here XD

The Vampiric Chronicles Part Three: Dilemmas and Perils

O-kaaay, this is starting to turn into fanfiction! XD - I'm having quite a lot of pent-up writing energy stored to keep this continued!

Cold, Troubled, and Confused, John stormed out of the Manor and straight into the woodlands surrounding their abode. It was a chilly evening and the cold winds blew sharply against John, who had not bothered to take a coat on his way out. His mind was flying in a daze of confusion and a mixture of several other emotions that constricted him from thinking properly. Even his usual thirst for blood for that evening was temporarily wiped off his mind.

Desperate for resolution, John traversed a grimy path in the woods that was said to lead to the house of Lady Sandra, an eccentric woman who apparently practices witchcraft and has knowledge on several denizens of the underworld, including vampires like him. The woman's house was just a simple shack in the middle of the woods, but with a touch of odd formality and nobility in its surroundings. John's suspicions on her witchcraft practices were proven though, when he chanced to see a cauldron in boil atop a small fire just beside the front door. Apparently the witch had been concocting.

As he approached to knock, the door opened and out came Lady Sandra, whose appearance was not John had entirely expected of a woman who practices witchcraft. She wore a flowing black dress that clashed perfectly with her shimmering long black hair, and had her nails tinted black, even her lips.

"Yes, vampire?" Sandra asked stiffly, with an air of a noble woman. "What brings you in my residence at this time of the night? If you plan to take a bite out of me I assure you it won't be pleasant."

"No, I mean you no harm." John said. "I come here to ask you a question."

Sandra proceeded to her boiling concoction and gave it a stir, then added several powdery ingredients. Then she motioned him to a stump that she uses as a chair, and they both sat down.

"Pray tell, vampire." Sandra said. "Pay heed, however, I do not take kindly to certain queries."

"I... I do not know if this is a problem of mine or if it is even normal for a vampire... but strangely I have had several strong urges of wanting to take a bite at my maker and drink his blood... does one find that normal for a vampire?"

The witch gave one stir of her cauldron before returning her gaze to John.

"When a vampire inflicts a pure-blood with the tainted blood that it has possessed and passed down from generation to generation, it is nothing but natural for you to hunger for blood... even if it were your maker's blood or any other living being's blood."

"Then... this hunger I have... it is normal?"

"He permits it, does he not? I presume he has offered you to bite him."

"Y-yes... but I just can't seem to do it..."

"Respect." Sandra said stiffly. "When you are a denizen of the underworld or a being tainted with darkness, respect is exceptionally uncommon to find. Perhaps if you tried being a little open at your thoughts and understand your maker's behavior, you will be enlightened to accept his offer."

"I... I understand... thank you."

With that John departed.

Getting darker and darker LOL. This is the first time I wrote about this theme XD

The Vampiric Chronicles Part Two: Revelations Strike

Somehow I felt that the story I posted earlier wasn't at par much with the things that this new personality of mine has achieved... hence I opted to continue the story. Hey, I might even make a fanfiction about it!

To those who are following its mysterious trail of events, continue reading on:

Day after day John watched with a delicate stare at his maker, his mentor, Mark, during their nightly raids at the countryside or even when they are in the manor, where John now stayed, having been forsaken for his tainted identity. True, he satisfied his hunger for blood with the innocent that he takes in as victims, and at some point even animals suffer no mercy. But deep inside there really was that desire to even have a taste of his maker's blood.

But it was not until several weeks after he discovered his true wants that everything seemed to crash down upon him. It happened during dinner:

"I want to talk to you about something." John remarked, as the two vampires sat down for a meal of raw-cooked meat and a glass of blood.

"Oh, what is it?" Mark asked, a sly smile on his face.

"I... I think I may have a problem."

"A problem?"

"Night after night we stalk the countrysides and feast on the blood of the unwary and the innocent. But I fear it doesn't satisfy my hunger..."

Mark laughed.

"You wish to have a taste of my blood, then?" Mark suddenly blurted out, making John's insides freeze with sheer coolness. "Don't you?"

"I... n-no! I couldn't possibly do that!" John cried. "I have too much respect for you, you're my friend!"

"Oh, you speak truthfully, my friend." Mark said. "But your instincts betray you. I can tell by your stares that you hunger for me."

It was then that John understood: He had been staring at Mark longer than usual in the past few days that he seemed not to notice his maker staring back at him.

"Oh, but if that is what you want, then by all means." Mark said, inclining his neck a little for John to see, the latter's mind wracking with mad thoughts of pouncing on him and planting his fangs on his maker. "Take your best bite."

But John shook his head with an air of a confused person.

"N-No! I m-mustn't... I cannot do it!"

With that he stormed out of the manor, leaving a sinisterly smiling Mark.

It gets even more mysterious, ne? It's starting to sound like a real fanfiction! LOL

The Vampiric Chronicles Part One: The Vampire Within

I make this post today whilst whittling down the time for waiting at the Group Writing Project. Six Weeks of relentless writing can be quite a burdensome task especially in thinking of good ways and means to present my thoughts and feelings towards online gaming. Anyway, it was an enjoyable experience! XD

As it is, one might wonder about the title. Why a vampire? Some of you know that I currently maintain several online personalities - a student, a writer, and now a Fa Shih (The dealer having unfortunately faded with the closing curtains of pROSE). Now I introduce the fourth personality that sprung from the depths of my mind - the vampire John.

Here is his tale:

John descended from a pure bloodline of nobility and scholars in the community. His family was one of the most respected and has everything at his beck and call, from expensive food to priceless treasures.

Despite the riches and the smarts that he possessed, there was a part of him that seemed unrelenting, an emptiness that seemed to be prevalent. Even though everything was at the tips of his fingers, there was something that absolutely cannot be attained.

One evening, as he walked down the woodlands where he was accustomed to taking a walk, he chanced to have a companion on his way home - a gentleman of good upbringing, wearing a black traveling cloak over what seemed to be nobility's clothes. The man was an amusing conversationalist and soon enough John and the man, whom he later on knew was named Mark, became the best of friends.

But the friendship took a different twist when John was invited at Mark's abode - an ancient feudal-looking manor at the outskirts of the town. There he discovered his friend's secret identity - it was a Vampire.

Unable to escape, John confronted his friend, but ended up being given a loving bite on the neck by the vampire. At once his insides tightened as the scent of blood, once unfamiliar and irrelevant, now entered his senses like an enticing meal, and the thirst for blood started to sink in the fangs that had grown in his teeth.

Thus marks the sinister legend of the two vampires that scoured the countrysides for prey, indulging in the blood of the unwary innocent, satisfying the hunger of eternity.

But to John the human memories that have remained in his mind slowly found an answer to its unrelenting question - as he looks at Mark, his vampiric instincts contorting with hunger as his maker's neck swims into his view. How he would love to drink its blood...

It's a pretty deep story, but not in a negative sense, I haven't turned into a vampire LOL. There's just a few who might be able to crack the mystery of this post. XD

Anyway, it's lunchtime for me!

Gridlock: Every MMO Player's Nightmare

While I consider myself as a dedicated and devout player to the Online Game that I bind myself into (I find addict as an inadequate term to describe my condition XD), my online lifestyle is not always a life of easy-going, progressing character in terms of level, skills, equipments, and build. I'm sure that the challenge I am often met with every MMORPG is also prevalent among my peers in the industry as well - I call it Gridlock.

Mr. Google defines Gridlock as the inability to move through a transport network, in other words, traffic jam! In the realm of online gaming, whenever I find myself (and my character) struck with Gridlock, I am always unable to level-up, often getting killed by the simplest of mobs and sometimes not managing to attain the levels I had expected I would attain.

What normally causes Gridlock? For me, here are some nasty symptoms that it's about to come my way:

• When I find another game that merits my attention (Or if an old interest to an old PC game suddenly awakens deep in my subconscious. Lately my attention in Perfect World has been slightly marred by the revival of my Civilization III: Conquests mania LOL)
• When monsters kill me often. This normally happens when I am on a point in my leveling when the monsters that I must kill are my absolute nightmares (physical hitters are a magic-user's worst enemy). Normally I find myself swearing to myself when a monster kills me for the nth time. Experience lost is time lost as well.
• When the clan or party I am in are starting to get... well, irritating. I don't normally engage into arguments online since it counters my personality so much, but when I find my companions being - forgive the profanity - assholes ingame, I tend to lie back a bit and let myself cool down.
• Worst of all, when I am overtaken in levels. Competition seemed to be an aspect that has embedded itself in my bloodstream and I cannot detach it no matter what therapies and brainwashings I do to myself. When I find myself lagging behind in levels, I tend to get depressed and level slower (instead of typically working doubly hard to get even)

Normally Gridlock brings me to my knees for about a month at the worst (especially when i get addicted to other games too - attention is severely divided), but thankfully I have several cures to this queer disease of mine:

• Whenever I find games starting to distract me from the online game I play, I normally log in to the Online Game for at least once a week. Eventually the thrill of getting new achievements ingame, new levels and quests, those stuff normally get me back on track and before I know it, the other games have already been forgotten XD
• Whenever monsters kill me often, I normally ask help from my clanmates or friends. Most often they are more than willing to help, especially my close friends in the Holy Order. They're always there for someone in need *winks*
• Normally arguments within the clan do not last long so thankfully the symptom of having a rowdy clan never shakes me much. We try to listen to problems as openly as possible and try to arrive at a just settlement of the issues.
• When I am overtaken, I just continuously convince myself that eventually I will reach max level... I can do it this time... thankfully that mantra works for me lol.

Thus defines my greatest challenge in every MMORPG I play: Gridlock, and how I bested it with my own and my friends' aid. Remember, no man is an island, seek out friends and companions ingame so you don't get too bored of it easily.

This wraps it up as my sixth and final entry for GM Tristan's Group Writing Contest. Judgment day is here! LOL.

To Live in a Real Perfect World...

Let's face it: I'm a guy dwelling deep in the fantasy realms than in the reality that I move into. I don't know why I am born with this affliction, but I feel much at home when I sit back and imagine stuff that I wished I was able to do - cast magic, explore dungeons, destroy monsters, fantasy stuff like those. That's one factor that pulled me into the realm of video gaming since the ability to role-play a character (from the epics of Final Fantasy to simple adventures like Mario and the other fantasy games) brings me even at least inches closer to a world that I wished I would have existed instead (although I do not regret being me, don't get me wrong, hahaha).

Currently the game that has me tied, bound, and trussed up, is, as we all know, Perfect World! I won't highlight anymore why I got engrossed in this new MMORPG, you know the idea; I'm hooked into it!

Sometimes I went in my subconscious ramblings as to imagine myself in the shoes of my avatar, DaveTNova. He's a Fashi, you see, and a magic user at heart, bringing me even closer to the aspect of living a real fantasy world where magic and steel run free and clash among each other. Sometimes I even wonder - what if it really happened, what if, through a hitherto seemingly-impossible series of events, the world of Pangu suddenly replaced our Earth, and everyone ingame would have themselves turned into living, breathing Path-seekers?

If that were to happen to me, I'd definitely know what to do: live through the experience as best as I can. I'd go out on dungeon explorations personally (with my guildmates or partymates) and relish the thrill of being in the dungeon myself (since it must of course not be the same feeling as controlling your character from behind a screen while it does the fighting for you!). I'd live the life of an explorer, a life I've never enjoyed with my current lifestyle, and go to the far reaches of Pangu's Perfect World with my flying sword. Oh, the limitless bounds we can all go!

But of course, even with these things happening, I won't set aside the fact that I am still human at heart and I'd of course retain the compassion I have for other people, friends or not. Being in the game itself would be a different scenario now and it won't just be about grinding or powerleveling anymore (I wonder how one can track levels when he himself is on the game! XD), but on building up on the world's story, how your character can make that difference.

I know it's too much to ask for Existence to happen, but hey, there's always the power of imagination to help us reach those impassable terrain. And there's still the computer to aid us in building up our imagination!

Posted as the second-to-the-last entry for GM Tristan's Group Writing Contest, we're almost closing in on the moment of truth! Hope everyone enjoyed reading!

Shall We Play?

My typical day is never complete without me being online even for at least an hour, and during my earlier days of gaming I can be online from the last few hours of the evening until the first few hours of the morning - not that I don't do it anymore, though, of course I still do ^_^

During those times as well my life was always on the warpath as far as the field of online gaming is concerned. My parents, particularly my dad, was my number one enemy when it comes to this industry, since he has everyone else's mindset that gaming is not a healthy habit for young teenagers and even adults to indulge into, and they should rather be putting their energies to more productive things such as work or education. Not that I neglect my studies due to gaming, since even my classmates are amazed that even a hardcore gamer such as myself can gain top marks in class! (/heh. LOL)

In fact, one can consider online gaming as my driving factor in my studies. I've often noticed that an absence in the online world renders me unable to focus on what I'm supposed to do at school. Call me weird, but that's what happened during my earlier days of study. Before I entered the world of online gaming, my life was like that of Mr. Clark (Richard Gere, from the movie Shall We Dance) whose life was entirely monotonous with work and family until he discovered the world of dancing.

Back to the online gaming then. During my earlier days of gaming I was a proud participant of the Honor Roll Program for Ragnarok Online and got a lot of incentives from submitting my grades and marks in the program. Heck, I even got an interview in Massive! for that program!

What a lot of people do not realize about online gaming is that it's not just a game. I've endlessly highlighted in my previous posts that online gaming has a lot of hidden benefits and treasures that are worth keeping for the rest of your life - from friends and relationships to values and ethics. I can say for myself that these factors have greatly changed my life and has made me into a more mature and responsible person. I learned the value of putting work priorities and managing my schedule to accommodate my gaming with the ever-increasing burden of studies.

Right now my parents had taken quite a docile manner with regards to my gaming. Perhaps the alternate side of online gaming has finally touched and opened their minds that it's really not just a game that is played and finished and discarded in time. So if you think your life is headed to boredom when your day-to-day tasks are revolving around the same things, why not try online gaming, and make some difference?

For GM Tristan's Group Writing Project, I commend my thoughts for everyone to read. Thank you for your time, I hope I've made my impression :)