Sharing Credit
4 Stars

For this assignment you had to present a collaborative story via email among two people. To complete this assignment I worked alongside with Sahar and we send emails back and from our characters emails that we created for class this. My character Jeff had just posted an job ad online looking for entertainment at the bar he worked at. His manager put him up for this task of finding entertainment for the bar to test and see if Jeff is managerial material and Jeff did not want to disappoint him. Sahar’s character Sara Sparkle is a dancer from LA.Sara has been checking new job offers in NYC to leave LA and be close to her family when she ran into a Craigslist post by Jeffery for new entertainment job offering at the bar he works at. Sara immediately emailed Jeffery to apply and attached her resume. They have been communicating through emails to fill out the applications. Jeffery was very professional and responsive. Sara will be interviewed this coming week for her interview with Jeffery. Sara believes this is a life-changing event that could actually make her forget about the trouble she got in LA and the few days that she spent in Jail for a crime she didn’t actually commit. Jeffery gave her a hope that she might get the job and live with her family.

For Jeffrey hiring Sara eased up his load at work so he was very happy that he received a respond so quickly to his craigslist ad.He also is glad that is manager is pleased with Sara as entertainment in their bar. After reviewing Sara’s resume he was extremely pleased with the work experience she has and believes she will make a great addition to his team.

Dear Diary… (3 Stars)

For this assignment, you were supposed to write from the perspective of a Disney Villain, but I instead chose to write a diary entry from the perspective of our Noir Soap Opera villain Shannon Mills, which is how I got this piece below:

Dear Diary,

In case you didn’t already know, prison isn’t a fun place to be. I would not recommend it. Thankfully though I am allowed to write here. So while I am serving my time, which by the way I don’t believe I deserve, I can hopefully improve my writing skills so that when I get out of here.

I can’t believe the nerve of Sasha Kellogg. How dare she not give me my share of the Kellogg fortune! It’s not like I had any say in getting put up for adoption. The nerve of her. She act all cute and innocent, but I see her for her true manipulative self. I am her twin sister after all!

And those two so-called private investigators she’s friends with, how cliché can you get! Sarah Mustard and Shelley Layton have definitely not seen the last of me. I know this was all their doing. Sasha wouldn’t have had the stomach to go through with it if it weren’t for her friendship with them. I don’t even know why she associates herself with such people. A Brit and someone who has the last name of a condiment! She can do so much better.

They probably expect me to write my remorse or something, like “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have gone after Sasha! I shouldn’t have started that fire that killed someone!” But I shall not repent. I am not guilty of anything except for being mistreated by my supposed family. I will never eat their cereal again. From now on my household will always eat General Mills.

Sincerely,

Shannon Mills

I decided that Shannon was stereotypical enough to be a Disney Villain, perhaps one day Disney will write a villain that is an evil twin. Who knows! I felt that our radio show shouldn’t be the last we see of Shannon Mills, since the character was such a hit. I chose to make her not at all sorry for her actions that she had committed, because I felt that Shannon was more of a crazy character than vengeful. I think that she would believe wholeheartedly that she was completely justified in everything that she did. I also believed that Shannon would not think so fondly in Sarah Mustard and Shelley Layton saving the day and protecting Sasha Kellogg. I added a few quips at the cereal companies as well, just for fun.

I really liked this assignment, because I definitely have more fun with assignments that are more writing based, such as writing and audio assignments. I personally find it much easier to tell a story through these than with visual assignments.

Writing Assignment:

Renegade Teacher 3?

For this assignment we were supposed to write a story about a character teaching a class something, and it goes horribly wrong. So I wrote about the Tune Squad coming into a first grade class and telling them about what they do for a living. Unfortunately everything does go horribly wrong.

“Alright kids, today we are going to have three guest speakers. Two of them are very cool detectives and the other is a forensic technician!” The teacher of the first grade class, Mrs. Burke, was very excited to inform her students of the speakers. She had been trying to get the Tune Squad to come in and talk to her students for a while now, but they had always been busy with their cases.

“What’s a fensic techcian?” Billy was always one of those kids who never stopped asking questions.

Mrs. Burke sighed, “Billy, I’m going to let the FORENSIC TECHNICIAN, Mrs. Callaghan, answer that.”

At that moment there was a knock on the classroom door. The students started to squirm in their seats in excitement at the prospect of meeting real detective. Mrs. Burke squeaked in surprise and went to go open the door, “Good morning, please come in.”

As she stepped aside to let the guests in Detective Cunningham was the first to walk in. He was iffy about being there in front of all these little kids. His gait was stiff and he awkwardly smiled and waved to the grinning children.

After him Detective Longs appeared around the door. In his hand was, of course, food. He had made Callaghan pull into a McDonald’s before they arrived at the school. He cheerfully waved to the children and went to go stand next to Cunningham.

Callaghan was the last to enter the room. She had stopped to talk to the teacher and thank her for letting them talk to the kids, and tell them what kind of work they do.

“Children, let’s give our guest a big round of applause!” Mrs. Burk started clapping and soon all the kids were clapping along with her.

“Thank you very much,” Callaghan started, “We are very pleased to be here and talk to you all about what it is we do. My name is Emma Callaghan and I’m a forensic technician.” She pointedly looked and Cunningham.

He furrowed his eyebrows at the look she was giving him, “Oh. I- uh- I’m Detective Geoffrey Cunningham. I, um, I’m a detective.” He said it in such a way that perhaps it could have been a question.

“Really?” Callaghan looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

“I don’t know how to talk in front of little kids. Most of the people I talk to make me angry and get me cussing a lot.”

At this point Longs stepped up, “Hey everyone, my name is Detective Longs.”

Billy raised his hand, “What’s your first name Mr. Longs?”

Longs’ face went blank, “That’s classified information. If I told you I would have to –“

“LONGS NO!” Both Cunningham and Callaghan knew where that sentence would lead.

Mrs. Burke didn’t know how to respond to the… interesting officer. Her face had gone white when she realized what was about to be said. “Uh, Billy, Mr. Longs doesn’t really like his first name. That’s why he doesn’t want anyone to know it,” she drifted off with a pitiful laugh.

“No ma’am. I like my first name well enough. I just cannot tell it to the children,” he turned to the class, “You see classified means that it’s a big secret and if anyone were to find out that secret I have permission to terminate them in any way possible.”

Everyone’s mouth was hanging open by the time Longs was done with his explanation.

“Why did we think it was a good idea to bring him here?” Callaghan smacked her hand to her forehead.

Although Cunningham didn’t know how to deal with first graders, he knew he had to get the topic of discussion away from Longs’ first name, “So, what does a detective do?” Many hands shot up into the air. “Oh, uh, that was a rhetorical question. So…”

Billy’s hand shot up again, “What does rhe- ra- rhetasicle mean?”

“Well, I’m not sure what rhetasicle means, but rhetorical means I wasn’t expecting anyone to answer it. Now-“

“So then why did you ask a question if you didn’t want anyone to answer it?” A girl in the back chimed in.

“Because I was using it as an attention getter,” Callaghan could tell Cunningham was getting frustrated with the children. She put her hand on his shoulder to make sure he knew he needed to calm down.

He didn’t catch the hint.

“But we were already looking at you. Why was you trying to get even more of our attention?”

Cunningham was gritting his teeth, “Because that’s just how you start speeches.”

Callaghan stepped in then, “So who knows what a forensic technician does?”
No one raised their hands.

“Okay, well what I do is help the police gather all the evidence at a crime scene.”

“Do you get to see dead bodies?” Billy was at it again.

Callaghan looked to Mrs. Burke. The teacher was shaking her head. As the forensic technician went to go answer the little boy Longs jumped in.

“She does in fact see the victims’ bodies. Actually there is this one story we tell all the time. The victim had been hanging by a noose for over 3 weeks. He was very decomposed by the time we got to him. Callaghan had to walk under him and that was a bad idea because the bottom half of the body suddenly fell right on top of her. She had blood and guts all over her, but she couldn’t take a shower because it was all evidence,” He was the only one laughing by the end of the story.

Callaghan looked at Mrs. Burke, who had now turned a pale green, and mouthed, “I am so sorry.”

Mrs. Burke couldn’t take anymore. Somehow this had turned disastrous and she didn’t know how to get the class back on track. Detective Cunningham was still glaring around at all the children, Detective Longs was still silently chuckling at his story, and Callaghan looked like a disappointed mother. She knew what that look looked like because she had seen it so many times, “Well, it looks like were out of time. It’s time for math now class. Let’s give our… esteemed guest speakers one more round of applause.”

It’s safe to say that the Tune Squad was never invited back to that school.

For this assignment I used Microsoft Word to type out my story. From there I just copied and pasted it into this post.

Love Calling Through the Night

Moonlight pools in from the open window,

saving the man drowning in his own shadows.

Throbbing temples, the internal voices pushing to be freed

through his lips; the words he is afraid to say aloud.

Her beauty.

A fiery canopy of curls against porcelain skin

and the secrets that swim in her ocean eyes.

The only wonder of his world,

she holds him captive, never leaving his mind.

No resistance, those restless nights he struggles

to memorize the labels he stamps on each feeling,

trying to make sense of something words don’t even understand

themselves.

Her smile melts his armor, yet he feels readied for

the waging war between logic and passion.

A gentle wind sweeps the curtains

and the locks of his hair,

Her voice whispering, calling his name,

his heart echoing hers, a two-syllable beat.

Unspoken love in the shadows of the night.

For this collaboration, I chose to use Kim Roehl’s Sasha Kellogg again because she is set to be the main romance in Sebastian Crane’s life. I wanted this poem to express who Sebastian has yet to confess his feelings for Sasha and he constantly has her on his mind. He is evermore curious about her since she is such a mystery and he has fallen for her. Sebastian fears telling her these feelings because he has been hurt in the past, but he trusts her enough to tell her soon. His mind tells him not to waste time on love, yet his heart disagrees. He knows that he can’t articulate the feelings he has for her and fears he won’t be able to say everything he wants to say to her. He knows words don’t truly describe a feeling like this and is conflicted in that way since he always knows how to express his thoughts, not when it comes to love though.

For my final collaborative character assignment I chose to create A Story in Alphabet (worth 2 stars).  The assignment includes creating a story (that makes sense, if possible) with each sentence using the next letter of the alphabet…ex: A cat jumped…But he fell…Cats are clumsy…etc. I once again chose Victoire Absinthe to be the inspiration of Lawrence’s writing for this because I feel that she and he could be a power couple and I like writing about them both together. She is changing Lawrence and it’s really for the better

I thought this assignment would be kind of hard but once I started writing the story it actually came to me really easily. I like writing stories, which is why I chose this assignment and now I’m really glad I did! I also included Donnie Rawlen in this story just briefly because he and Lawrence are friends so I thought it would fit well with the line that I used him in. I wanted to wait to name the girl til the end because it would leave the reader waiting to see who is causing all of these feelings inside of Lawrence. I don’t normally like writing but I enjoy these writing assignments I also saw that no one had completed this assignment which I thought was a little weird because I had fun doing it!

Addicting is the only word I can use to describe her. Baby’s got a back, a front, and curves that could kill. Can’t seem to get her out of my head without killing myself in the process. Damn, how did I get caught up in this shit? “Everyone falls in love, Lawrence,” she says but I don’t think that’s the case. For as much as it’s worth, I don’t think anyone really falls in love. Gals definitely fall in something but I wouldn’t call in love. How am I feeling this way? I tell myself “No love, just sex” but she is just so tantalizing that I can’t seem to shake her off. “Just don’t think about her, man,” Donnie says to me. Kill me. Let’s not even get started on her eyes. My heart does things it never has when I look into them. Not that I’m saying I get those butterflies, because God knows that will never happen to a cold soul like me. Obviously, she’s drugged me in some kind of way. Percocet could make my heart stop…she’s slipping it to me somehow. QUIET! I have to tell my brain as it wonders about what she is doing while I’m laying in bed trying to fall asleep at night. Really? Seriously? This girl really has me hooked. Unlucky for me, I’m in a business that can’t handle any kind of serious relationships even if I wanted one. Very unlucky…I feel like if I had someone to change for maybe changing wouldn’t be so hard. We could be the perfect pair, me and Victoire. X-rays would show that my heart only beats for her. Young and beautiful, I think I could love her until she was old and gray.  Zeroed in on her, I am but I don’t think I would have it any other way…

This is an adaptation of the Postcards from the Past writing assignment.  The idea is to take a postcard, or some old document, and contextualize it with some narrative writing.  I decided to make a fictional postcard, and base it on Kim’s character, Sasha Kellogg.  Kellogg’s origin story includes her parents being murdered when she was a kid, so I went with the sad trope of ‘the little girl sending a note to the PI regarding her parents’ death, asking for help’.  I tied in this note and Sardic reading it with a day at the office, and meeting clients.

I just stared at the postcard for a while.  It’s definitely real; people think my business is such a joke that customers hardly ever even show up, let alone pranksters.  I recognized the kid’s last name, Kellogg, when I opened the card.  Her parent’s murders were in the papers.  This poor girl, being there when here parents’ lives were violently ended by another person.  She would carry the weight of that night for the rest of her life.  Eventually that weight will either make her strong or crush her, but for now she’s just a little girl who wants to know why her parents had to die.  My mind drifted to my own parents, and how they died when I was a kid.  I quickly snuffed out the thought, no point dwelling on my own baggage now.  This girl needed help, and without it she might try to do something dumb like go looking for this murderer.  I don’t know if this guy is human or an outsider, but either way, a murderer is a murderer.  I’ll find him.

A loud knocking interrupted my thoughts.  Looking up, I saw three bulky shadows through the semi-transparent glass window on my office door.  Hmph, they’re early.  I carefully fit the post card back into its envelope and placed it on my desk.  “Come in,” I said loudly enough for the figures outside to hear as I took a pen from the desk drawer and scribbled “investigation pending” on the back of the Kellogg’s envelope.  The door opened to reveal that the three figures were not at all being obscured by my dirty office window.  They were vaguely humanoid, smoky clouds floating a foot above the ground.  The top of the thick swirling wisps that I assumed were their heads would have stood a full foot above me if I were standing.  The three clouds drifted through the door, toward me.  As they approached, I dropped the envelope containing Kellogg’s postcard into the bottom bin of the filing cabinet behind me.  A deep buzz emanated from the clouds before me, growing more and more intense as they approached.  It was something I almost felt rather than heard.  I clenched my jaw when they got too close, to keep my teeth from audibly rattling.  Just as they stopped in front of my desk, I slid the drawer shut and locked it with a small key, which I put in my pocket, before looking directly at them.

“So,” I said, as nonchalantly as I could muster, “you must be my three-o-clock.  What can I do for you gentlemen?”

I was happy about this assignment. Not the whole dying part but, you know, the nostalgia. I also decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to incorporate my noir character and someone else’s. After looking through some character dossiers I decided on having the person who “died” to be Rick Shannon, a character created by Ben. His dossier can be found here. His job as a cop was perfect for Layla who is apart of the mob. It all just fell into place after that.

You turn the corner and fall to your knees, out of breath. You roll your shoulders and stand back up. However, you freeze because one of the men who had been chasing you was now standing in front of you. He was tall and all clad in black with dark features akin to an eastern European. He grabs you roughly by the shoulders and throws you against the wall, head tilted slightly. You struggle against him and try to grab your gun but he holds you steady, easily keeping you pinned.

Soon, the other one who had been chasing you appears from behind him. They both look identical, twins maybe. They murmur a foreign language to each other, perhaps Russian. The other one pulls your gun from your holster and aims it at you. However, he doesn’t cock it and that means you know he won’t shoot you. Yet. They stare at you for a long moment, eyeing you up and down as the first lifts you slightly.

“So? Are you gonna kill me yet?” You grind out, struggling again.

“No. That’s what I’m going to do.” A voice says somewhere in the dark alley.

The one holding you lowers  you and pulls you towards the middle of the alley. Footsteps could be heard approaching you. They were loud like heels on concrete. A figure appears before you and you know she will be your death. She smirks and your adrenaline rises. This, this will be your end. She takes your gun from the other man and aims it at you. Not at your head but at your chest. She cocks it and you hold your breath.

“Goodbye, Rick.” She says. “Any last words?”

“Fuck you, Layla.” You shout and she pulls the trigger.

You fall to the ground, breath ragged and uneven. Your blood pools around you as the trio walk away. Life flickers away from you as you finally close your eyes.

THE END

This assignment involved writing a diary entry for a disney villain. However, I changed it to suit the Collaborative Character assignment we needed to do. Instead of a disney villain, it will be from my noir character, Layla Arkwood. This particular entry is a continuation of my group’s radio show which involved Layla being kidnapped. This entry encompasses the effect the event had on the rest of the people around Layla.

Dear diary,

As painful as it may be, I must admit that I have been slightly outsmarted by some run-of-the-mill, political cheerleader by the name of Bev. Don’t ask me her last name or whether there’s more to the first. I have no idea. I remember having spoken with her  prior to my capture but she had been under the guise of some news reporter. Of course I had my suspicions. I always do. But somehow she drugged me and I soon found myself in a strange room with a young man by the name of Damon who also had no idea why he was there too. Strangely, the two of us had no association to each other by any means and I still don’t know why we were both there. I understand why this “Bev” would want to interview someone like me but not Damon. Perhaps that is worth discovering. I must also find out who within our organization spoke to an outsider about me. My involvement within the Syndicate is mainly by name only so I do not know how Bev found out who I am. That must be a top priority.

Returning to what I first mentioned, I can not believe that this Bev outsmarted me so easily. Her tricks are clever  and whoever she is working for must be very powerful for the need for my involvement. I will not be so easily tricked again and I will make sure everyone within the organization knows who she is. My father is adamant about the whole scenario and he has demanded that security be increased around the main building. Mikhail and Nikolai are taking this incident too hard, believing that this is somehow their fault. They were nowhere near me when I first met Bev. Those two are too overprotective of me and they need to understand that this is all my fault. It’s not theirs. I haven’t heard word from Marcus, if he even cares about what happened to me. I must also admit that I am unable to read that man. Regardless, this shenanigan will be the last. I guarantee it. And this Bev will need to watch her back. Closely.

Layla