Charnotes: Book 2

Kings, circa April 2009

As usual, spoiler warnings apply.

• Book 2's working title was "The Peacock King in Court." The Google Doc for The Peacock King in Court Part I was created in March 2009. The document weighs in at 7,567 words, and marks the start of our current POV switching style.
• Part 2 - 31,837 words
• Part 3 - 2,942 words
• Part 4 - 7,003 words
• Part 5 - 3,856 words
• Part 6 - 18,688 words
• Part 7 - 11,640 words
• Part 8 - 11,566 words
• Part 9 - 6,433 words
• For a grand total of 101,532 words.
• The reason Book 2 is formatted that way is because there were concerns about readers being able to track the characters between Audiva Rocale and Radia. I've toyed with the idea of changing the formatting back to simple chapters, but it's still up in the air.
• This book feels the most awkward for me. Book 1 is a bit more cohesive, but that was written before a lot of the worldbuilding had been done, and was much more immediate and focused in scope. By Book 2, we were expanding the conflict even further, but were also coping with a change in approach to the storytelling. I think we were pretty in the groove by Book 3, though.
• Camden and Jenny? Yeah, my fault. I can't help it -- they're so murderously cute together, and Camden is the only match I can think of for her who would also be able to survive her daddy. XD
• Iaen is also one of mine. He appeared in Julia's section of The Halls. Well, used to be, at any rate -- I think by now it's safe to say Irk has made poor Jhe Duhaine her beeyotch.
• I love Jax. I want to snuggle him and pat his head and listen to him complain while nodding in an understanding manner. He's my favorite little brother that I didn't have.
• Sure, Lyric got the Peek caught and all. I consider the real sign of his potential to be catching his dad crying.
• Bruce and Wagner are my favorite Arms. I'm also rather fond of Diyn, but the big D isn't nearly as personable. Gellig'a is also pretty awesome, and I think Gevurah and Gedulah are neat, but there's just nothing like Bruce and Wagner.
• Speaking of Arms, Irk and I have this little convention of never listing the Arms as characters when we tag chapters.
• I'm pretty sure Kathe is one of the more misunderstood characters. Unfortunately, she's introduced right as events are causing her to snap, so she has the least flattering introduction and takes a while to recover. Even *I* want to smack her, and I know her backstory.
• Benny is awesome. I can't wait until she hits her full potential. The reason I can say stuff like that is because of side stories that have been written that take place WAY into the future. Irk has confirmed that a lot of the concepts in them will stay in the main stories, which makes me bouncy with glee. Benny and Julia's stories in particular had some fun stuff in 'em that I can't wait to see woven into the main plot. :D
• Lute is another character who never gets enough screen time. It doesn't help any that that's the way he likes it. XD
• Part 2 Chapter 6 has one of my favorite illustrations. I remember yawning a lot while I worked on it.
• I once wrote a short where Erynn got into a rap battle. Not that it has anything to do with Book 2, but I just happened to be listening to Snoop Dogg just now.
• In fact, there's a few PK shorts that haven't been put up. I think of them as the Velvet Hell stories, after the bar they take place in/around. The Velvet Hell isn't exactly ours, though, so unless we actually get around to getting permission to post 'em, we won't. (Which would be a shame. They're alt-universe, but they're FUN.)
• (OK, not entirely alt-u. Kind of hard to have alt-u in a world where you have people who are perfectly capable of moving between worlds if they get the idea to, and who can reform reality as they see fit. So, in a bizarre fashion, just because it didn't happen in The Peacock King's timeline doesn't necessarily mean it's not canon...)
• Irk and I tend to avoid some of the more far-reaching implications of who and what the Poets are. We'd be writing forever if we tried to get it all. ^_^;;
• Shenanigans are Irk's idea. She came up with them. I just went "O___O I WANT ONE!!"
• I admit that I rather like Xen. He's my favorite villian. He's a complete and utter bastard, but he's so likable at the same time. (Irk thinks I'm nuts.)
• Part 8 Chapter 1's illustration was inspired by a photo of Dr. Steel. It's probably the manliest outfit Lyric has ever worn.
• Sy's and Gerald's "Hey keep off my girlfriends, Dad" talk was a hard one to write. We looked forward to it for a long time, but once it was written, I looked at it and had to wince at how awkward it was for 'Sy, especially. Poor guy is just not very good at dealing with his kids as adults and equals...
• Katherine, you're a total BITCH. Oy.
• Amanda Cee is in fact a tribute to Amanda Palmer. It started with just a bit of inspiration, but as the character developed, she kept having more and more in common with the artist than I had intended. I finally gave up trying to write Amanda the Armed away from AFP and just let her go where she wanted to. For the record, though, Amanda was named that BEFORE the AFP connection. That part is coincidence.
• At some point, Camden and Jenny are gonna have to 'fess up about their relationship, and I am glad that I get to be there when that happens. XD
• Maaaan, 'Sy and Katherine. Even I didn't expect them to turn out as dysfunctional as they have.
• Fun With Chapter Titles time!
  • P2 Ch5 - Games People Play = I'm pretty sure this is a song reference, but for the life of me I can't remember specifics! Irk?
  • P2 Ch6 - Awaken = Awaken - Dethklok Not for any lyrical reason. I was just on a Dethklok kick at the time.
  • P2 Ch10 - This Present Darkness = Title of a book I read a lot when I was a kid. I still have a soft spot for it, especially for not being the Left Behind series. Plz don' sue me, Mr. Peretti. P4 Ch2 - Cagey Cretins = Cagey Cretins - Blue Oyster Cult Irk and I have a love for this band that occasionally borders on fetishism.
  • Part 5 - Benko Gambit = One of a few chess terms that have made it into the story. It's relevant, but not in a way I could explain short of a huge essay. XD;;
  • P7 Ch1 - Don't Turn Around = Der Kommissar - Falco And if you didn't get this one, I'm afraid you're just too young for this story because how dare you suggest I'm old.
  • P8 Ch2 - Love and Death = Woody Allen movie by the same name. I felt the gentle mocking of Russian novel romance tropes was appropriate for the chapter's topic.
  • P8 Ch4 - Eclipse = Eclipse - Pink Floyd Once again, our Pink Floyd fetish rears it's psychedelic head. XD
  • P9 Ch2 - When The Sparrow Fell = I don't remember how it started, but I've long associated 'Sy with sparrows. Somewhere one of us wrote 'Sy referring to Katherine as his sparrow, and there you have it.
  • Hall of the Dead is quite simply the most awesome thing Irk and I have totally collaborated on. Not only did we get to go full-bore on our horror story joygasm, but we got to kill off a LOT of our friends (always a bonus), pay homage to our favorite horror tropes, and still have it all end happily. For everyone but Edward, that is.
  • I actually want to use Jhe Brauer and Jhe Gaston in more stories. I've toyed with a short story centered on them. Jhe Milligan will probably end up mentioned in the novels, too, as will the Jhe Blackirons of the Lauryl variety.