Sunday, December 10, 2006

I'm back
Well, less trouble movin' things along now, I just need to write things out and I think I can draw it. I've updated the briefin' too, so here y'all go:

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--FANTASMA CIDADE-- (Literally means "Ghost Town")

Over 250 million "Casa dos Sonhos" lottery tickets were sold, but only three people would win. What was up for grabs wasn't cash, however, but a pricy mansion in sunny Rio de Janeiro. People in the Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and the United States were all praying for this season's dream house. When the final numbers were drawn on January 16, 2007, three older teens were ecstatic when their tickets' numbers were announced as the winners. The winners' names were Vicente Cavalcante, Adriano Baricelli, and Tânia Nakamúra, and they packed their things and jumped on the planes for Rio immediately.
Everything seems fine until weird things begin to happen at night. The oscillating clock on the end table in one of the kids' rooms suddenly begins to spin rapidly and stops just as fast. Blank stares are exchanged (as in the eyes are completely white.) Candles go out without being blown out. Mist enshrouds the house and areas on the outskirts of the city at night. Bulges appear in the walls— in the form of faces!— and wind screams on rainy nights. Apparently, nobody knew that the house is haunted by evil spirits— or the entire big city, for that matter! These spectres seek revenge, causing bad luck and trouble everywhere they go. The kids will have to stop them— but with barely any experience and millions in opposition, the chances of prevailing look slim to none.

I haven't made too many characters yet, still workin' on names for many of them. But here's the main characters:

Vicente Cavalcante— A Portuguese Brazilian-American writer from Boston who never believed in any legends other than "Legends of the Hidden Temple." He speaks Brazilian Portuguese fluently, but is nervous when he has to speak it instead of English. Once he gets over this, however, he stays cool and laid back unless the goin' gets tough. Vicente gets on Adriano's nerves a whole lot of the time, but havin' Tânia there to break things up might be good after all.
Vicente is a creative writer, though his ideas often seem strange and make teachers worry. He is actually a year older than either Adriano or Tânia, but he’ll have to repeat 11th grade because the school years run differently in the U.S. and Brazil and so he’s missed at least 60 days unexcused. Vicente is easily pointed out thanks to his spiked-up blond hair which is usually lined up right down the middle of his head.

Adriano Baricelli— A black Brazilian sports fanatic from Belo Horizonte (Cape Verdean mother and Italian father) who’s also tryin' to invent a new martial arts style. He frustrates easily, which may be his biggest flaw— his aggressive personality rushes him into really bad situations (or just another fight with Vicente.) Vicente and Adriano tend to clash— aggressive Adriano apparently just can’t seem to put up with laid back Vicente. If he doesn't make it to a World Cup-winning soccer team someday, he at least wants to create the best martial art since Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Adriano has a little trouble coming up with a name for his martial arts style, but he soon decides on Arcortado. (That’s “air-slicing,” a reference to the swift roundhouse kicks that’re his best moves.) He has more distinguishing features than his dark brown dreads— the two tattoos on that beefed-up right arm of his. On his upper arm is some sort of a hand axe with a snake coiled around it, and on the lower arm a long lightning-like pattern.

Tânia Nakamúra— A Japanese-Brazilian glamour gal from cramped São Paulo who’s just glad to be able to move out of her tiny apartment and into a huge house. She is a slave to fashion— she can't seem to keep a hairstyle for more than three months before she thinks it's gettin' old. Though it looks like plain black hair just a little more than shoulder-length with just one longer lock is enough to please her for now. There's no limit to how many reais she'd spend in one sitting (unless she winds up bankrupt, of course.) Tânia’s glad to be there to help Vicente, a newcomer to Brazil. She’s also the superstitious member of the group and collects tribal masks, thinkin' they would keep evil spirits away. She has a major flaw, however— one pretty face can knock her for a loop, makin' her completely forget what she was talkin' about only a second ago.
Tânia doesn’t hang out with Vicente or Adriano in the halls of the school, however— her two friends there are both girls but almost polar opposites. Short-brown-haired Andréia Russo is quiet and always wishing for something good (maybe a way to get rid of her overweight looks), but curly-blond-haired Gabriela Tozzi does whatever she wants and throws her cigarettes wherever she wants. As always Tânia is the “great bridge” character who has to keep clashing personalities from… well, clashing.

And I've planned to make it like a TV series in that each book represents exactly one episode. For now I'm thinking of making just 40:

Episode 1: Welcome to Dead House
Episode 2: The Masks
Episode 3: Grudge
Episode 4: Hide and Seek
Episode 5: Monster Blood
Episode 6: Pulse
Episode 7: Poltergeist
Episode 8: The Scorpion King
Episode 9: The Mask of the Red Death
Episode 10: Zuleica
Episode 11: Nightmare in the House of Dreams
Episode 12: Scream
Episode 13: Thirteen Ghosts
Episode 14: The Beast Within
Episode 15: The Exorcism of Vicente Cavalcante
Episode 16: Deep Trouble
Episode 17: The Cabinet of Doutor Cabral
Episode 18: The Invisible Teenager
Episode 19: Night of the Flesh-Eaters
Episode 20: Blood and Gold
Episode 21: I Walked with a Zombie
Episode 22: Lost Souls
Episode 23: A Kiss of Shadows
Episode 24: Interview with the Vampire
Episode 25: The Midnight Beauty
Episode 26: Caro
Episode 27: Bag of Bones
Episode 28: The Wolf’s Hour
Episode 29: Servant of the Bones
Episode 30: Pet Cemetery
Episode 31: The Face of Fear
Episode 32: Midnight
Episode 33: All the Rage
Episode 34: The Eyes of the Boi-tata
Episode 35: Misery
Episode 36: The Jewel of Seven Stars
Episode 37: The Language of Fear
Episode 38: Created By…?
Episode 39: Queen of the Damned
Episode 40: The Fall of the House of Nakamúra

Yeah, you got me— with only one or two exeptions they're all named after horror movies or books (but with any names replaces with those of the characters in Fantasma Cidade, of course.)
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This seems like an out there question I know, but what d'you think your element would be? Mine's earth, slow but powerful, rock-solid body (it's like my bones're made of rock I mean, I've got a real hard punch.) What about you guys? And if you can find a quiz that determines what your element is, gimme the link so I can try it to confirm this. And til next time, this is the Sarge relievin' ya. DISMISSED!
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