#introductions

When you meet new people, you don’t bombard them with unnecessary personal information. People who do that are considered weird in the bad way and the same goes for your characters. You’ve got a whole story to show us who they are. Keep the opening simple and, more importantly, keep it interesting. Make your readers want to know more. Make them ask who is this person?

Essentially, don’t do this:

Despite living there for almost two years, Eric had never been to the roof before. Mostly because he was so rarely home and he had no desire to meet new people. He was perfectly happy with his current circle of friends. There was James, who he’d grown up with and was more of a brother than a best friend, Sam, who’d become a friend after the third semester of on-too-many shared classes, and Maggie, who’d almost become more than a friend, but then she’s met Mark and there was no way he was messing up a couple that perfect.

Why are you talking about Eric’s friends? Are they at all relevant to the opening scene? No, what’s relevant is Eric and why he’s going to the roof so stop talking about people who may not even show up and focus on getting your readers interested in Eric and the story he’s part of.

Eric had never been to the roof before. Admittedly that was probably true for most people. When you hear “apartment building” and “rooftop access” there’s usually a “restricted” thrown in there.

Example 2:

James clutched his book under his arm as he pulled open the coffee shop’s door. He didn’t often buy coffee – the apartment he and his brother shared had a perfectly adequate coffee maker that didn’t charge them more than their combined hourly salary for a cup – but today was turning out to be a particularly crummy day, and he was going to need something if he was going to make it though. Plus it had just started raining as they had gotten off the bus, and the warm coffee shop was just as good a place as any to wait out the downpour.

This one has better writing and you mighthave genuinely enjoyed reading that, but I doubt you care that it ends there. I haven’t made you want to see what happens next and that’s what stories are supposed to do. Here’s another take:

“That can’t be right.”

“What?”

James pointed at the menu while treating his brother to an appropriately horrified look, “Sixteen dollars for a cup of coffee? That can’t be legal.”

Alex scanned the prices and sighed, “This is what we get for trying to buy coffee in Manhattan. Come on, let’s go.”

“No way. I’m curious now. I wanna try it.”

“Oh no, not this again. We do not have room in the budget for your curiosity.”

Jean-Pierre was a successful businessman. He created his fortune through cunning investments and his family’s influence in the Union of Countries. Everyone that was somebody knew him and everyone that wanted to be somebody knew him as well. To be under his leadership was not only an honor but a challenge. He was the kind of man that wanted perfection and expected the very best of his employees. He was also a charming and elegant fifty-two years old man. He noticed Marie running towards them with his deep blue eyes and gestured his hand gently, waving to her.

“Ah, you must be Marie Madeleine!” - He stated with a friendly and gallant tone. There was a subtle accent to his English, one Marie would relate to - “Almost everybody is here. I already anticipated two of our members would be delayed, so why don’t we wait for them inside? I’m sure none of you have visited the Government Halls yet!” - The middle-aged man rubbed his forehead and laughed softly and with embarrassment - “But where are my manners? My name is Jean-Pierre Lyons. I’m sorry, I’ve spoken my name out so much today that I completely forgot I hadn’t introduced myself to you, Marie Madeleine. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Jean-Pierre stepped to the side of the great door and invited everyone inside with a smooth swing of his arm towards the interior. His formal attire gave him a chivalrous look. He was a knight of Present days. His words struck Marie like thunder. “Such a charmer.” - She thought, smiling. Marie was an admirer of Jean-Pierre’s work and, without any doubt, his looks as well. His body was slim and his face was long with an imposing chin. His appearance already revealed his character and personality, but it was already beyond Marie’s expectations.
The group entered the Government Halls. They were fascinated. For the first time, they were all witnessing a perfect replica of the Renaissance with their own eyes. Different paintings from various artists were copied onto the surface of the Halls’ interior walls, creating an artistical and cultural shock beyond anything seen before by the team. Marie was truly mesmerized.

“Don’t go letting your jaw fall off.” - Marie turned to where the voice came from. Her gaze set on a woman in her early thirties, a brunette with an accent Marie couldn’t quite place. - “The name’s Helena. I’ll be the team’s guide. Nice to meet you.”

Helena hailed from the Iberian peninsula. She had dark skin and short, spikey hair. A tomboy at heart, the Iberian was a former soldier and her fit body was one half of what revealed it. She was wearing a black tank top, camos and black boots. She had a scar on the left side of her chin that tracked down to the bottom edge of her throat, closing in on the collarbone. Her eyes were black, or perhaps dark brown.

“Oh… H-Hello! My name is Marie Madeleine! It’s nice to meet you too! Oh… I’m the doctor!”

Marie’s eagerness was reflected by Helena’s stoic expression. The latter ended up letting a small laugh, but it was more of a befriending gesture than an honest feeling.

“I know you’re a first timer.” - Said Helena - “Don’t worry, just stick to us.”

“Thank you!”

Past the entrance hall with all its splendor were the corridors of steel. The Government Halls were built to portray a sense of security inside of a structure that was timeless and beautiful. Of course, the main reason was to create a place where the Government officials could work in, but I believe you catch my drift (ending of Fourth Wall Breaking).

Jean-Pierre used a keycard on a device by a door and it slid open. Once again, the gentleman stepped to the side and invited everyone inside. The meeting room was crude and simple, with a long table and some chairs. Whatever electronics were usually there, noticing by the objects where one could place a projection device, had been removed. Jean-Pierre alread had everything he needed: several copies of a map and documents on top of the chairs.

“Take a seat please.” - Requested Jean-Pierre as he walked to the end of the table - “You will find a map and some papers on your chairs. Do take the time to read them. We are still waiting for two members, so might as well do something productive while we wait, don’t you agree?” - The charming man took a step to his right, being secretive with a towering man - “I must leave for a short time. However, Luc will stay here in case you need anything. He is my most loyal assistant, be sure he will be yours in this journey.”

Luc was nicknamed “The Tower” during his highschool years. He was nearly two meters tall and as thick as a lion. He wore a protective leather jumpsuit with shoulder pads and a breastplate and he and Helena wore similar boots. Luc was black, bald and had a very mean look in his eyes, as if they were constantly ablaze. He was donned with special military training and had learned much in terms of culture from Jean-Pierre. His sense of duty towards his employer was beyond anything the group would eventually witness.

In the documents was a review of the journey, means of transportation and supplies readied, as well as a blank sheet to add anything if a member thought the expedition needed something important that was missing. The map had annotations by Jean-Pierre himself, addressing access points and alternate routes. Something Helena would care about. Marie didn’t understand much beyond the medical supplies, but she tried to read everything anyway.

“Everything was so different from the shelter, especially the people! I still remember my first impression of Helena. She seemed kind but distant, sweet but cold…” - Marie begins crying, wiping her tears seconds after. - “But after what seemed an eternity of reading and rereading those documents, they finally arrived. The last two members of the expedition: Andrei and River.”- Marie Madeleine

[ID. An edited graphic featuring the actor Luca Marinelli wearing a shirt that reads: “Pen Paper Peace,” within a circular frame. Above the frame are the words “basics - timeline - goals” in gradient font, and to the right a gradient font that reads “Introduction.” The background is blue hues of watercolor splashes, and a vector of blue torn paper. END ID.]

Basics

Welcome to the LM Zine - a fandom event dedicated to various Luca Marinelli characters, featuring exclusive content, with all proceeds going to the charity Pen Paper Peace on Luca’s birthday, October 22nd.

The theme of the (hopefully first annual) zine is “favorite thing about a character.” With over two dozen characters to pick from, content creators are encouraged to make something with the theme in mind (a favorite scene, a part of the character’s back story, a physical trait, or something about their personality, etc) - for specifics on content requirements, please click here for our FAQ.

Below the cut is an elaboration on the goals, the general timeline, and a disclaimer.

Goals

The goal of this collaborative effort is to gather content creators - writers and artists, including merchandise creators - through an application process by the end of April. With feedback and encouragement between fellow creators and the mod team via a private discord server, we hope to create a digital fandom zine of original content that will go live October 15th - a week before Luca’s birthday.

Potential bundle options will be going live in a week, with a kickstarter launched in the fall. If enough funds are raised, pre orders for the bundle options will become available on October 15th as well.

All sales will be finalized on October 22nd, and all proceeds - minus processing fees from the hosting website, kickstarter fees, production and shipping costs - will be donated in Luca’s name to Pen Paper Peace, a non profit founded by his wife, Dr. Alissa Jung. You can find out more about the charity via our FAQ post here.

Timeline

• 11th of April - launch of the tumblr platform, and applications for a mod team and content creators.
• 18th of April - bundle options launched for potential physical and/or bundles with merch options … The first step to our kickstarter.
• Second half of April - all applications processed and confirmation emails sent out with discord link invites to the private server on May 2nd.
• May - September 15th - all content creators will have the option in the application to request a collab or work independently, and will be encouraged throughout the process by a mod team. There will be two check ins, and hopefully pinch hitters on standby because we all understand life happens! Our ultimate goal is to simply create exclusive content, in order to raise money for a great cause as fans of Luca.
• The mod team will diligently work on compiling the digital zine as content is created, as well as securing quotes for prints and merch bundles before launching a kickstarter.
• September 15th - 30th - the mod team will run a kickstarter campaign and secure funds and place orders based on backers and demands.
• October 1st - 14th - teasers and snippets will be released as part of a countdown for the sales.
• October 15th - October 22nd - sales will go live for one week only. Then proceeds will be collected and donated. If applicable, shipments will be sent out for all physical/bundle orders at that time as well. A receipt of donation will be uploaded as soon as it becomes available.

To encourage donations, we’re keeping the content exclusively created for the zine out of the public eye for several months - if you’re excited to see this fan content, contribute towards our donation and you’ll get to see it right away! :)

Disclaimer

This is a fandom zine, and neither the mod team nor the content creators have any affiliation with Luca Marinelli or the charity Pen Paper Peace. This is simply meant to be a creative, collaborative effort across various fandoms to raise money for a good cause.

Cohen didn’t bother overmuch with questions. As far as Cohen was concerned, people appeared, people disappeared. After a five-year gap he’d just say, “Oh, it’s you.” He never added, “And how are you?” You were alive, you were upright, and beyond that he didn’t give a damn.

Terry Pratchett, Interesting Times

Introducing: Nublin!!

SMOL FRENS is part of a comics collective called Sunday Haha! We are kidlit authors and illustrators bringing funny paper giggles to your inbox each week. I hope you’ll look us up and subscribe to the mailing list!!

Links in my pinned post

Introducing … Pigmouse!!

SMOL FRENS is part of a comic collective called Sunday Haha! We are kidlit authors and illustrators bringing funny paper giggles to your inbox each week. I hope you’ll look us up and subscribe to the mailing list!!

Links in my pinned post

Writing rough draft to Academy 4. 50k in already and already moving elements I thought was going to add to this book to books later in the series. This series is huge. I can’t write fast enough.

Trying to get a proof copy to edit from CreateSpace is proving to be difficult. Going to switch out the cover for a plain/generic one just to get that print copy.

I keep thinking of scenes and lines when I go to sleep at night. I’m not getting much sleep for that very reason.

I feel like I talk about the Academy more than anything else. It’s an addiction and I’ve admitted this. AND I DON’T WANT TO STOP.

Cute guys are awesome.

Ok so, just some introductory stuff

Keep in mind that this is just what I have at this point, a lot of this may change

Name: Korrentin (look at this link for other names I’m considering)

Nickname: Korren, Korn

Main Blog: @judith-the-yellow

Pronouns: They/Them Ey/Em

Current gender labels: Non-binary, Genderfluid, Demigender, Demifluid

Other labels: Aroflux, Aceflux, Bi, angled aroace, oriented aroace, and just good ol plain aroace

“A Whirlwind”

Carmine Infantino