Some Rambling, A Bit About Me, and A New Character Reveal

Okay, so I figure that some deviation from the usual content here is good to do from time-to-time, so I figured I'd try a few of the «Retro Web» projects out there for real. I've got an emulator on my laptop that's ran everything from DOS 6.22/Windows 3.1 to Windows 98 (and even OS/2, for some of my fellow computer nerds out there!)- mostly with success, but a few caveats here-and-there… mostly with the later stuff because it just needs so much horsepower to run everything the way I set it up.

I'll go ahead and say right here and now that I didn't exactly spend very much time doing my research and other homework, so my results were no doubt skewed.

This one was done earlier tonight… I'd been trying to have a consistent idea to write about, but nothing came. What do I do? The logical thing and emulate a computer from a novel series I'm trying to get a good idea for entirely in software. Shown is a Windows 98 machine (yes, 800×600 screen. I'm not holding out.) running StarOffice (OpenOffice.org) Writer with a document explaining sheer boredom and chastising Windows 4.1 for not having East Asian character support (again, I've spent a total of fifteen seconds looking, so if I'm wrong, I'm not surprised), Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 with (one of) the methods the character uses to get the computer online, as well as a resource meter (even when maxed out, the amount of resources on the thing in the story would be abysmally tiny). Should any inquiries be made about the text in the word processor, I've got the file saved and will happily put it in its own post. I feel like I shouldn't have to say this, but the title isn't asking «Why?» in the way of questioning anything on an existential level- it's just an answer to «Why are you doing this? There's a TV in the next room.» Still, even with the ancient-by-2014 specs Penelope's work computer has (that's the character's name and she uses this for "work" by choice. In 2023, might I add). Really, though, Windows 98 holds a special place in my heart- the first computer I ever got as a kid ran it, my grandad's laptop runs it, and it just seems like the best thing for a computer to run if you need Windows and wanna show off some major geek points. Own it loud and proud! But yeah, that's the kind of character Penelope is. The document opened gives some insight into her, but (unlike Aleks and Chloe), she has a concept of a filter. She's just brutally honest with it (that means no f-bombs at the worst time but still tearing a new one if someone deserves it). Anyway, that about sums up the first thing I've done tonight, but yeah… if anyone who reads this wants to see the contents of the file, I'll be more than happy to upload what my keyboard would've thought was me having too much caffeine.

I'm not an Apple person anymore- it just didn't suit my needs, but their technology isn't garbage in my opinion- I just needed something different than what it was. That's not to say I wouldn't afford myself the luxury of getting an old Mac or two and set them up for various tasks (like the print server in my home, courtesy of a $35 iMac from 2007- great thrift store finds). Anyway, i could keep rambling about this post, but I won't. There's a project called TheOldNet, and they have a proxy set up that you can, essentially, use to go back in time to any year (with some exception) in the history of the internet (well, 1996-2012 at least). What I did was set up the Windows 98 computer I have for Penelope (the above ramble) to it, using a proxy from the year 1999 and, outside of emulation, I downloaded the NetSurf browser (I use Debian now, just throwing that out there) and configured it to use that proxy, but set to the year 2004. That is Apple's homepage in 2004 in 2023, people. I figured I'd play around with it in that browser, seeing what the internet looked like when I was still a little kid… I don't think I ever got on until first grade or so. Anyway, since one of my hobbies is years past (generally 1970-2005), this project fell right into my line of interests. It's NOT perfect by any means, but it is enough that I now have something else that I can use to render old technology usable again… even if it's just for a party trick. Nothing about this is intended for daily use in any way (unless your computer just happens to be running Windows 2000 or earlier or Mac OS 10.4 or earlier). What it is, though, is sort of like a museum, using content from The Internet Archive to recreate the days of Geocities and AltaVista (older folks know and maybe used those) for a stroll down memory lane or a way of getting older machines back to the online they grew up with. I'm realizing that sounded stupid when I say it out loud, but I'll roll with it. Anyway, just a couple of things I've been playing around with, thanks to the curse that is writer's block.

Penelope Turner (Chinese Name: 譚平寧 "Tán Píngníng") is a young, antisocial bat woman with an extreme gravitation towards anything East Asian (specifically Chinese). She spent the first thirteen years of her life in an apartment in Manhattan, NY with her birth parents (though she'd often go with a family member when they'd go to China, Japan, or Korea) where she attended an unknown school where she constantly had to deal with "idiots being idiots" and "assholes being assholes". Her parents hold true to the belief that she is, in some way, mentally retarded. It came to a breaking point during the Summer of 2014 when one of her cousins from the family campground in Bellevue, WA stopped by to visit, only to find that Penelope had opted to drink bleach. Needless to say, it didn't go over well. After the psychiatrist deemed her mentally stable, she went to live in her cousin's house since she'd be attending college in Ohio, leaving the place vacant. Penelope, due to this, started the school year in mid-October (unlike everyone else, who started in early August). She spent most of her time in her new-to-her double-wide or in the campground store where she worked that was nearly across the road. She is fluent in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (the Seoul dialect), and pieces together information in many different ways, basically every way possible. After moving to the campground, she began dying her hair ice blue and wearing purple contact lenses. Her usual attire (until Junior Prom) consisted of a shirt from a convention in Asia, a jacket with a logo on the back (usually Acer or VW), a pair of blue jeans (unless it's a heatwave), a pair of beige shoes or dark boots, and a pair of gaudy, square, dollar store sunglasses that are on her head unless she's outside and it's sunny. Her favorite show is the British comedy The IT Crowd, and she refuses to use any "Romance Terms" in her English, usually opting to replace certain phrases (like the French-derived «Au contraire») with their usually-Chinese equivalents (the aforementioned term in her vocabulary would be «Xiāngfǎn»). Her skillsets reside, primarily, in music, computers, linguistics, and (for anything from East Asia) cooking. She is highly proficient with numbers and logic, often times solving highly-complex problems within a couple of minutes. After a school dance during her junior year, she began to get a taste of what being normal was like, though she preferred the mentally-stimulating anomaly that she'd come to know. Hey, at least she got a Shanghai-style Qipao out of it. The live student band needed a guitarist for a few minutes and Penelope had bought a Mongolian rock album in Shenzhen that made for some good dance music, so she stole a bow, rosined it up, got on stage, and played an electric guitar like it was a traditional Mongolian instrument. Popularity was fun, but she preferred logic and solitude.

Hidden in Plain Sight (Early Preview №4, read to the end)

 

[PREVIEW]

Inside, the roads were crumbling. Everyone wore the same clothes and wore black, rubber boots that looked like they’d been made from a car tire. The entirety of the city (they’d presumed) was surrounded by high walls and high-voltage fencing with only the one exit point. Everyone they’d passed knelt on one knee and repeated the gesture she’d come to hate, though one person of senior age didn’t kneel (Julie saw him get shot in her mirror and almost puked from the PTSD it triggered). Eventually making it to the middle of the city, there were eight roads leading to a massive square with armed guards stationed every three feet.

“This has to be the size of Tienanmen Square…” George muttered as Julie brought the car to an abrupt stop when a number of guards pointed their weapons at them, with the exception of one who walked (in goosestep) to the vehicle before turning to the perimeter with his hands raised. He lowered them and spread them apart as the army disarmed themselves and cleared the road.

Eventually getting on the concrete brick square, the road was simply a black, painted track around a statue of a hand grabbing a bloodied sword. Behind it sat a palace where three guards stood, one in the exact middle of the stairs and two on either side at the bottom.

This had been a stark contrast to the other buildings they’d seen- small huts, small trailers, or ram-shack stands.

“Don’t move,” Julie said, locking the car as it came to a stop at the base of the stairs.

The guard on the stairs said something into a radio before walking in the same fashion as earlier to the car as Julie opened the window an inch.

“My Lord wishes for you to come inside and for me to park.”

“Best do as he says,” Julie said, getting out of the car with George, only going inside when the car was moving again.

Their banner (a black-and-red sword in a white shape on a field of blood-red) had been on prominent display and no wireless signals got in or out. In spite of how much control Nasovar seemed to have on information, they both noticed WiFi signals everywhere, though none had a password except for the one labeled NASOVAR SQUARE-5G.

“First we had Adolf Hitler with Nazi Germany, then the Kim family with North Korea, and now Nasovar with Utopia Country,” Julie said as they traveled the empty halls, “Terrifying.”

“Are you sure we’re not in Nazi Germany?” George asked, “The only differences are no swastikas and this place is in English.”

“I really hope this whole thing is a bad nightmare.”

Moments later, a completely-naked oryx was shoved into the hall with the door quickly closing behind her.

“Oh my lord, are you okay, Miss?”

[END OF PREVIEW]

The scene that George and Julie finds themself in is, unfortunately, one that has been acted many times throughout history (and is still happening to this day). Walking into what is, essentially, a real-life North Korea, they find out things that were normal are exotic while the old definition of unthinkable claims to be the mundane. I never thought I would bring the cult up in its true light, but this isn't a dystopian fiction for some people- it's everyday life for them. Shows of loyalty, brainwashing, and a lack of information are issues that plague a number of societies in the world… all of which Nasovar's «Utopia Country» is not only built on, but hopefully brings to light these issues so that the right person or people might see and take action.

Here is a link to a YouTube channel of someone who has come from such a place.

Hidden in Plain Sight (Early Preview №3)

Most people, the word «espionage» doesn't even cross their mind unless they're playing Spy vs Spy or watching something about Vienna, Austria… let alone think about what happens when you come from a family that is the literal definition of Espionage Masters.

When someone trying to walk the Straight-and-Narrow finds themselves in a predicament where they have to be (or at least play) Heir to Hell, what does that someone do?

Anything, really. It doesn't matter if it's an existential crisis or take "Door 2" for the gold and riches that await them on the other side.

[PREVIEW]

Fully set up and signed in with only one real contact in the entire thing (she’d recognized combinations like Sapphire Yohansen as being the titular character of the Sapphire Twister series and Irina Yohansen from The Family Over the Border), she immediately got to a safe location, as per the instructions prior to receiving the phone, and called “Reese Johnson” on Skype.

It didn’t take very long for an answer to come, though the screen of the phone was briefly that of a voice call with the default avatar for the program before a human in a black suit answered the call- she’d never seen him in something that didn’t come from from a tailor. The face was adorned with red eyes, thick, brown hair, and a small smile showing through the thought that plastered his face for several moments as Julie took a few moments to gather her thoughts.

“K- konnichiwa,” Julie said before a blush showed through her fur.

“Glad to see you too, Julie, after all of this time,” he said.

He had the voice of a king. No doubt it would boom over legions of people at command.

“I know the marshals… and the Stanminson boy… are probably unaware we’re talking,” he continued, “But is it so wrong for a king to have a relationship with his daughter? You had it all,” he said smugly as he shook his head, “The best of the best. Where are you, now?”

“A dilapidated apartment with George,” Julie said.

“And I’ll bet you’d like to come home, too.”

Julie bit her lip and nodded, “I’m scared,” she said after a few moments, “I’m scared to.”

“I can call off the killings like that,” he said with a snap of his fingers, “But we never found the remaining two.”

“George was with me that day,” Julie said, “Ren Ya Dang was doing a book signing in town, so he took me over to the library for that and for Panda Express after. His uncle was on vacation, as usual.”

“Ah. As you know, you’re my chosen successor. Had that Jap bitch stayed where she belonged, you’d have been brought up with the best protection and education money could buy.”

“Why did George’s family get killed?”

“That monkey-faced piece-of-ass, only after she had been chained in a tank of water up to her nose, named the idiot’s family as her co-conspirators to murder me.”

“Why didn’t you just, I don’t know, see a marriage counselor?” Julie said, beginning to “go nuclear” (as they’d called it).

“Is George with you?”

Julie saw George vigorously shaking his head from the corner of her eye, “He’s in town.”

“When you take over as their leader, you can have any man you want.”

“I kind of already married George,” she said, “But you’re right, I might find someone who can please me better… though it is gonna be hard to top his cooking.”

Nasovar looked at Julie with one eyebrow raised before accepting what she’d said, “Very well,” he began, “If that’s what you want, then I’m more than aware the marshals intervening have prevented you from having a proper wedding ceremony. If you’ll be so kind as to join me for dinner, I’ll be glad to see what you’ve done with the idiot. Your room is still as it was the last time you stayed.”

“I- oh, wow.”

“If you’ll join me, I’ll call off the guards and arrange for transport for the two of you.”

“Could I get back to you on that?” Julie said, shaking her head, “All this time, I tried to take after Mom, of all people. I had no idea you were the good guy in this. Just, I… whoa. So much to take in. Would a text be okay?”

“Of course.”

“Well, it was great to be able to talk to you again, and I’m sure I can leave WitSec and come back home soon enough. I never knew that about Mom, though. I’m so happy you weren’t the monster I grew up thinking you were.”

“Monster?” Nasovar said, wishing he’d left Makiko alive to make an example of, “No.”

“Well, I’ve gotta go now, but I’ll call you back as soon as I can. Okay?”

“Sure.”

“Bye, Daddy,” she said, ending the call, turning off the phone, and taking the battery out.

[END OF PREVIEW]

---

This is Reese Johnson (better known as Nasovar), father of Julie Makiko Corella Johnson and attacker of Makiko Corella. A human that (as people have quoted) "Conned Satan himself out of a soul-and-a-half), he is likened to by his own (biological) daughter as "Kim Jong Un if he wasn't 300 pounds overweight, Asian, and actually was a charming person.", and this isn't without base, either. Nasovar controls an enormous base of wealth, is a god to at least thousands (maybe millions) of people, and manages to hide it all as a charming father.

Until it all comes crashing down.

The attacker of Makiko Corella during July 1996, he's never seen in anything less than a custom-tailored suit, usually wearing a pair of white gloves to help keep his tracks hidden. Makiko (worried about what would happen to their daughter) kept Nasovar away from Julie, but didn't manage to finalize the documents necessary for changing her last name from «Johnson» to «Corella». In spite of that little detail, Nasovar was never seen as her father unless she needed an organ and it was fatal.

Nasovar is the definition of a psychopath, often taking his rage out on Makiko for "grooming his rightful heir to the Martyrs" and hiding any reality from Julie unless it benefited him, though he went unaware for a while after Makiko had arranged for Julie to live with George and his family about two miles closer to the highway. Paranoia can root easily in him, as well as acting on a whim with no logical basis (eg sacrificing people). His actions are ingrained into people's minds to the point of fear of him, Makiko, or Julie. Everything Julie is, Nasovar isn't, even to the point of her own future- Nasovar wanted her to take over his throne and be surrounded with bodyguards and a personal army at all times (supposedly), Julie wanted to be an elementary school teacher and help children grow and learn, living in a platonic relationship with George.

Hidden in Plain Sight (Early Preview №2)

[PREVIEW]

“Ooh! I can’t believe they’re all the same guy!” Julie said giddily as she looked in the cover at the author’s signature, “Ren Ya Dang has got talent!”

“Who woulda known that the same guy that wrote The Supernatural Crime also wrote the Sapphire Twister series?”

“If you’d have told me that Ren Ya Dang writes pony fanfiction a month ago, I woulda checked you for narcotics!” Julie said, “The guy can take anything and make it original again! It’s an underappreciated skill, I’m tellin’ ya.”

“I still can’t believe he wrote that story about The Croods,” George said, getting into the turn lane as he came off of the bridge, “If only the road designers were as good at this as Ren was at writing.”

One thing that always baffled the two was that they lived in Sandy, which was its own city. How the place was laid out, however, was that Sandy was like a subdivision of Lamton, although when the metro area was organized, it was named Lamton and the city took on the name North Lamton to differentiate it from the metro area.

It was a mess of naming at the end of the day, but at least it meant that neither of them had to live on a trucking route.

“You know you could just clip the interstate and not have to deal with this traffic, right?”

“I’ve done that a few times, mostly before and after classes,” George said, “I’m not taking Exit 4A. Peacock Drive is hell at lunch.”

“Can’t you come up from the parkway?”

“I’d just meet the same traffic I’m avoiding. Usually, it’s better on gas if I just come up to where Jonathon Boulevard becomes the highway and file in at the end of the line. By the time I get to Peacock Drive, it doesn’t matter too much anyway. The bypass highway forks out and continues on, Leafgreen Avenue is two roads off of the fork.”

“It’d be funny if we gave someone directions,” Julie said, a chuckle in her voice.

Eventually making it to the house, they didn’t see anything off- George’s now-father’s SUV was parked in the driveway with his mother’s Volkswagen next to it, both in their usual places. The only thing that didn’t seem normal was what looked like a set of tire tracks from a dually and all eight tires were flat.

My uncle’s at the beach, he couldn’t have gotten here unless…

“Everything okay?” Julie asked.

“Something’s off,” George said, getting on a video call with his uncle, who was living it up in Panama.

[END OF PREVIEW]

--

Everything was going well for George Stanminson and Julie Corella until one day, after a book signing and lunch, they both returned to their house, only to find a not-so-nice surprise. On the outside, everything looked to be intact, but what had, earlier, been Home Sweet Home now resembled facing the lions' den.

Full of starving lions.

To a young couple just starting out, the world can seem like an intimidating place- full of scares and surprises, but their starting point should've been one of the best on the board. All of the cards were in their deck, nothing could have went better for the two.

Except for that one card.

While the two were innocent-minded young people starting out in the world, one of the two had a not-so-well backstory that, in a matter of a few hours, went from bad to worse. Who will come out victorious? Who will still be able to walk at the end? Can they ever return to the status quo, or has it been engraved in their new lives.

Coming soon to the Kobo eBook Store.

Happy Easter!

I know this isn't related to any literary material, but I just wanted to wish everyone on this journey with me (and to mirror the name of the month, Eastermonþ), Happy Easter to all! Stay safe and have a wonderful holiday! Hidden in Plain Sight is growing nearer and nearer to completion with each passing day, and (like I've said before) I'm so glad to finally be writing a story of this genre. It may be the last one I do like this, it may be the first in a series. Only time will tell.

Hidden in Plain Sight (Meet the Cast)

 

Follow along in one (of the many) chapters in the life of James Curtis (née George Monroe) and Rachel Quinn-Curtis (née Julie Makiko Corella Whitaker) as they hide, yet again, from Julie's father- the one and only Nasovar.

After a fateful day a few years prior to the start of the story, just as the duo were getting started in the real world, they were met with the realization of how easily Nasovar could end their lives, assuming the scene in the sitting room of George's house was anything to go by… four dead bodies leading to the start of an adventure that will haunt the two to their dying day…

--

George Monroe, born Eastermonþ (April) 8, 1997, likely comes off as a criminal at first sight, thanks to the scar under his left eye and being a well-built Siberian Husky, though this couldn't be farther from the truth. Since his childhood, he has generally been accident-prone, though this often presents less danger than you might think. creative, air-headed, and with nearly no concept of time (assuming he doesn't have a watch or phone on him), George is a very laid-back personality when at-all possible. Fluent in Middle English (thanks to a bible of his mother's) due to religious influence, he decided to embrace music early on- it didn't have to be spelled right, it didn't have to sound right… it just had to sound good. His favorite genre is mostly pertaining to Bluegrass or Western, though he's open to anything that's music. While still living at home and driving the car his uncle gave him, he doesn't care how it looks- he just knows he'd go off and forget something if he tried to make that jump. Nonetheless, he is semi-independent, as the upstairs in his parents' house (while only being a half-floor), has proven itself to be a comfortable apartment for two… so long as boundaries are kept.

George's liking to music cannot be overstated, as anytime there is a bluegrass concert or music festival, he takes off, packs up (often times with Julie), and heads out, as if it were the last one to ever happen. His main source of income is from the church he attends with his mother, as he put his gift in music to good use the day he became old enough for the position, usually opting for the old and dusty selections because, sometimes, a song from a bygone time is more appropriate for the modern-day than the regular selections. From a religious standpoint, it is a somewhat-unknown fact that he, while not enforcing anything, holds his own ground, though he does, on occasion, attend the Middle English services with his mother in the evenings. He is 5'8" and can drive stick.

--

Julie Makiko Corella Whitaker (shown without a nose, you may now applaud the klutz), born June 08, 1997 is the daughter of Makiko Corella and Nasovar. Her mother was never comfortable with her being in her own home, so she was often sent over to George's house, in the hopes of having a normal childhood. Dressing somewhat-conservatively every day (her usual outfit is shown here), she's more reserved than George, but equally as free-spirited and adaptable as he is. She is currently a third grade teacher, though being the biological offspring of Nasovar means that she is proven to register on the psychopath scale. Playful colors and hoop earrings project a fun image, though she's slightly more serious than George in any situation. Wanting to be a teacher from the time she first realized her home life wasn't normal, by any means, she wants to help children learn how the world really works, as well as how to function in it. While never as last-minute as George is, she has been known to race against the clock on a few occasions. Outside of teaching, her hobbies include reading, as well as the music festivals George will often ask her to come to. Her favorite author is Ren Ya Dang, though her favorite work is Beowulf. She enjoys watching movies and will often sit down to one with a good cup of tea when either has the urge. In George's rec room, she has two book case- one for books and one for movies. She is often the one using the office partition in George's rec room, though the two of them do have a mutual understanding.

Thanks to her upbringing, her worst trait is, during bouts of insomnia, she'll make a kettle of tea and promise herself to go to bed when it's empty, though empty doesn't come- just more refills until George wakes up and makes her take a nap before sunrise. She carries none of Nasovar's traits, thankfully, though she does have to worry about constant lies and threats. Granted, she's decently protected most of the time, but the lingering thought of being groomed to be the next cult leader or being something much worse isn't without good reason, reinforced by Makiko's and Nasovar's "wedding". She is 5'6" and can drive stick, though not very well.