Rust and Stardust - Chapter One

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NOTE: This is from my NaNoWriMo Novel and it's very rough. So be nice...please! Wait, what am I saying, rip this apart! Sorry if it seems a bit long but trust me, it really isn't.


“I’m getting too old for this,” Finn grumbled into the carpet as a Salvador’s tongue ran across his cheek.

Davie chuckled from his place on the coffee table. “You’re not getting too old. You’re just not doing it right.” He whistled and Salvador jogged over to the coffee table, propping his front paws on to the top. Drool dribbled down from his mouth and pooled onto the faux wooden surface.

“Is there a right way to be hung over?” Finn asked as he pushed himself up off the floor and flopped right back down on to the couch beside him.

“Of course there is. Just clear your head and focus on not vomiting up what I’m guess will be the least delicious Technicolor treat your mouth and your nose will probably ever experience.”

“You could have just said ‘nope’ and left it at that, Davie.” Finn’s stomach turned over at the thought before he grabbed for one of the couch pillows and chucked it at his roommates head. Davie leaned left quickly and the pillowed world passed, hurdling into the pyramid of beer cans that had formed on top of the entertainment stand. Salvador barked and scrambled into the aluminum pile, licking at the puddle of skunky beer and backwash that quickly formed on the floor.

Davie jumped off of the table quickly and grabbed up the bulldog pup. “Now now, Sal. You don’t need to be drinking that. Come on boy. We goin’ outside?”

Salvador barked and Finn could hear him licking away at Davie’s face.

“Why don’t you start cleaning up, Finn? Move around. Work it off,” Davie suggested. There was clinking as he stepped through the pile of spilt cans before the door creaked open and whined shut.

Finn cringed at the noise before rolling over to stare at the ceiling. His head spun and the world went out of focus as he stared up at the mildew stain they had named Jesus after its resemblance to the biblical figure. (Of course, the resemblance was really only noticeable if one were to squint both of his eyes and tilt his head approximately thirty six degrees to the left while laying on the couch and not looking directly at it.)

But it didn’t take long before he imagined the scent of the stain and his stomach turned over again. He eased himself off the couch and stood still, waiting for his head to stop spinning. It didn’t.

Finn dropped back onto the couch and looked around the apartment. The remnants of their beer can pyramid were still leaking a foamy mess onto the floor next to half a dozen empty pizza boxes. On top of the boxes stood three different shoes, none of them matching.

It looked as if Salvador had begun chewing one of them.

Things were laying about that he didn’t recognize as having ever been in the apartment. There was a witch’s hat resting over the lamp and somebody had drawn a face on the shade. And a dark cape had been draped over the kitchen counter along with a pink bra and the raw hamburger meat that he faintly remembered helping stuff into the bra.

And pants. From where he was sitting, he could see at least four different pairs of pants laying about along with two skirts that must have belonged respectively to a cheerleader and a naughty school girl. He spotted his own dark brown pirate breeches half-dipping into the fish tank.

“I can’t believe I’m not wearing pants.” He grumbled in the floor and glanced down at his bare knees, thankful for the first time ever, that he was wearing the frog-print boxes that his mother had bought for him.

“And I can’t believe that I woke up in the bathtub.”

Finn turned around to see Xandra, the girl from upstairs whose leaky water heater was the reason for Jesus’ existence. Her blonde curls were mussed up and she was still wearing the Princess Stripper costume that she had been wearing last night, her tiara, the only thing that made had made her costume princess-like, was looped through the front of her bra.

“Morning.”

Xandra plopped into the rocking chair opposite him. “I hate to break it to you, Finn, but it’s four o’clock…in the afternoon.”

“Do you know when the last of the people fell asleep?”

“Nah. You’ve still got a few people in your and Davie’s bedrooms.” She slipped into her strappy silver heals. “And I’m late for work. Stop by later on if you and Davie want to,” she seemed to, for the first time, take in the torrid state of the living room, “once you get all of this taken care of any ways.”

Finn stood up and stretched.

Xandra giggled. “Buh bye froggie boy.”

And before he even had time to blush, Xandra was gone and Finn was standing in the middle of the room. His muscles ached and he wanted to lay back down. But he resisted the urge to nape and rubbed at his eyes.

He kicked at the pile of beer cans, his socks soaping up the beer puddle like a sponge, and headed towards the bathroom. It was an obstacle course of random things and do dads that had been left laying about the room. Something smelt faintly like vomit and his stomach twisted again.

"Davie is not getting out of helping me clean up. Not this time."

Finn recalled the last time they had thrown a party of this magnitude. And when it was all done and over with, Davie was nowhere to be found. Davie had claimed that it wasn't his responsibility to do the cleaning up, seeing as the party had been for Finn in the first place. Finn had sensed a flaw in the logic but hadn't said anything. He hadn't had the energy too. Not being able to find or contact Davie for two days after the party hadn't helped either.

Finn grabbed a towel from off of the back of the rocking chair and carried it towards the bathroom with him, disposing of it into the hamper. At one point last night, they had used the hamper in order to collect socks. And now, resting in the bottom of the white plastic container, sat several dozen different colored socks. Black ones, white ones, long ones, short ones.

"And I'm sure as hell not going to figure out who those belong to." But he was, if nothing else, glad that the socks had been deposited there. It meant he wouldn't have to buy socks again for at least a few months once he sorted out the ones that wouldn't fit and the ones that would be too embarrassing to wear anywhere.

The apartment door creaked open and Finn could hear Davie whispering to Salvador. He had a habit of philosophizing to the dog. Finn would sit around for hours sometimes and just listen to all of the senseless things that his roommate would mutter to his dog.

"Hey Finn," Davie called. "You haven't accomplished much yet on the cleaning front if you haven't noticed." There was an uncomfortable amount of laughter and Finn wondered if Davie had meant to insult him just then but he couldn't be sure. There were only two years between Finn and Davie but those two years seemed like a lifetime or two of knowledge. Davie was the smart one. Thoughtful and experienced. Finn was still practically a high school punk. At least that's what Davie would call him.

"I know. You don't have to tell me twice. This place is in chaos. But I didn't figure that vomiting from the stench in here was productive towards getting this shit hole cleaned up."

"Ooh, 'productive' is a big word for you isn't it, Finn."

“Bite me,” Davie grumbled.

Davie appeared behind him. “Just say when and where.”
Never forget who you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.




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Alright, so, even in the beginning, you have clear, good sense of characters. I can already tell that Finn may be somewhat of that wild crazy party boy. Awesome.

Things were laying about that he didn’t recognize as having ever been in the apartment. There was a witch’s hat resting over the lamp and somebody had drawn a face on the shade. And a dark cape had been draped over the kitchen counter along with a pink bra and the raw hamburger meat that he faintly remembered helping stuff into the bra.


Alright, then with here, you start to bring in the mystery, which I liked. But two things with this paragraph.
1) you started a paragraph with 'And' I know, it's NaNo, but still, never start a sentance with And.
2) 'And a dark cape had been draped over the kitchen counter along with a pink bra and the raw hamburger meat that he faintly remembered helping stuff into the bra.' I'd suggest rewording that, since it took me a little but to understand

Other then that, awesome.
~WickedWonder
'We will never believe again, kick drum beating in my chest again, oh, we will never believe in anything again, preach electric to a microphone stand.'

*Formerly wickedwonder*




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At the very beginning, you say that Salvador licks Finn's face, but since I didn't know Salvador was a dog, it creeped me out. I know that you showed (not told, which is good) us that he was a dog throughout the first few paragraphs, but it was still kinda creepy...

“Of course there is. Just clear your head and focus on not vomiting up what I’m guess will be the least delicious Technicolor treat your mouth and your nose will probably ever experience.”


This is a long sentence and is awkward to read. Try breaking it up with commas or periods.

There are a few spelling errors, but I'm sure you'll catch them just by proofreading it yourself. I don't want to be too nit-picky.

You do a great job overall describing Finn's hangover, but there's one line that's bugging me a bit.

Finn cringed at the noise before rolling over to stare at the ceiling


I know he cringed because the sound was as loud as a jet engine to him, but some people might not, so you might consider telling them that.

Lastly, the thing about Jesus was kind of funny, but I don't like how descriptive you were about squinting your eyes, turning your head 36 degrees, and laying on the couch. You could get away with the squinting, but I don't know if it's even necessary. You could think about maybe changing the reason why they call it Jesus. Perhaps they had an odd guest over one time, and s/he decided to pray to it or something. I don't know. Be creative.

Other than that, I actually think it's really good. I can tell without you telling me that they had a crazy time at a Halloween party, which is fun :P (If that's not what it was, you should really think about writing from another angle...) I want to know what happens after this, so that means it has two thumbs up from me :) Keep writing.

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“I’m getting too old for this,” Finn grumbled into the carpet as a Salvador’s tongue ran across his cheek.

Davie chuckled from his place on the coffee table. “You’re not getting too old. You’re just not doing it right.” He whistled and Salvador jogged over to the coffee table, propping his front paws on to the top. Drool dribbled down from his mouth and pooled onto the faux wooden surface.

First thing, I would've liked to know Salvador was a dog a little before he's licking this character's face, because, um...it just seemed a little weird for a second there (haha).

“Of course there is. Just clear your head and focus on not vomiting up what I'm guess will be the least delicious Technicolor treat your mouth and your nose will probably ever experience.”
I'm guessing or I'd guess would be grammatically correct.


He kicked at the pile of beer cans, his socks soaping up the beer puddle like a sponge, and headed towards the bathroom. It was an obstacle course of random things and do dads that had been left laying about the room. Something smelt faintly like vomit and his stomach twisted again. Smelled


“Bite me,” Davie grumbled. Um, think you meant for Finn to say this?


Overall, we got a decent glimpse of the characters but not a real idea where the story is headed. So...not much to say, really. It was pretty solid, I just have no clue where this story is going to go.
Keep writing,
StoryWeaver
Reading is one form of escape. Running for your life is another. ~Lemony Snicket




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Bonjour lily!
Its good to see you again.
I’m still trying to get back into this reviewing game, but huzzah! I shall try!

First off, I noticed a couple of wording errors here and just small little things that can easily be fixed after a quick read through. I didn't bother to pick 'em out because, after all, you said it yourself it is a real rough draft.

The one thing I really liked about this piece was the characterization. You made that clear almost right away and you did that without telling us that directly, or made them lack anything. It was very interesting to read and very enjoyable. Though here is the part that made it hard for me to imagine. You didn't get anything clear about what their appearances are. This is going to be a novel, if I am correct, so the first chapter is very important with this. You have to get across what your main characters look like, just a few details here and there, if one is blonde, or if another has a moustache. The reason why you must do this is because without those pivotal details, it is harder to piece together the story because such vital parts of the story are missing and they distract you from the actual awesomeness of it all.

Don't do the whole, 'Finn was a blonde haired, tall gawky kid with glasses', kinda thing, just blend it in. As I said, through a couple details in, here and there. Blend it all in without just telling, because I believe that would take away from the characterization and the story-line. This story reads like a train of thought for me, very amusing and personal. Its all really good, just get those little details in.

The other thing I would like to see more of is a bit more about the setting in there. Yes, we know there is a stain of Jesus on the roof, and the whole place is a mess, but make more of a clearer image for the reader, like get across the colours of the walls and other such details, again, without just blandly telling. I loved the description of the stain on the roof. That was neat. Just find things like that that you can use to describe the setting. For instance, you described the stain on the ceiling;
His head spun and the world went out of focus as he stared up at the mildew stain they had named Jesus after its resemblance to the biblical figure.

At that moment you could try to get across that the greenish-black of the mildew stain seemed even more prominent against the white ceiling, or something. Just find ways to get those small details in to give the reader a better view of the story.

Overall, I indeed like this chapter, and would like to tell you that you have great talent with characterization. Just get those other aspects in there also.
If you have any questions, just ask. (:
~Incognito
'Everyone is entitled to be stupid, some just abuse the priviledge.'




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This is really good but I didn't really understand what was happening at the beginning. Were the two men laying upside down, letting the dog lick their faces? I was really confused. The Jesus part was really funny. :) I like the detail you put into it. Good job! Keep writing! :)
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