Today Would Be A Good Day To Write

Today was a very quiet day at work. Today, not many people bothered me, and I didn't have much to do.

Today, I wrote 3,717 words.

And, I BROKE 50k!!!

So yes, today has been a good day to write.

Things have obviously progressed quite a lot since yesterday. Mer got to the car, tried to escape, was caught, and half-convinced herself that Bryn was gonna off her. Which, considering that she (unknowingly) put the lives of several billion people at risk...is actually kinda fair. But he didn't kill her, so there it is.

Anyway, Bryn & Mer set out on a long roadtrip to the meeting point, which is still a mystery to Mer. They talk a bit about music, but mainly sit in awkward silence. That's about to end, however, as they're going to be captured in a hot second.

So...yesterday I said that I might post some notes. I've been thinking about doing this for a while, but never did...they're very rough (they are notes, after all), and they might just confuse you. Anyway, I figured I would start you guys out with something easy and not too controversial: entertainment. Television, specifically. TV is not a huge part of this book, but it does have a very small and very important cameo, and I wanted to have it really fairly well thought out. Here, then, is my rough sketch (which I've since developed) of some of the TV shows and stations in Bryn & Mer's terrifying world.

Reality TV shows:

Realispree
Most famous is called Realispree. It is “a next-generation reality show” where a group of people is put in an extreme situation. They can band together or work alone. Anyone who is severely injured and cannot continue is removed from the competition. Often people die. Sometimes one person breaks away from the group and snipes them all in an attempt to be the only winner, and often people band together only to turn on each other in the end. Whomever makes it out alive and under their own power is then given a large cash reward…but if more than one person makes it, the reward is split by all of the survivors. The current season ends with two people making it to the top, only for one to stab the other, getting behind them as they clutch their stomach, and slitting their throat while smiling for the cameras. This person wins the entire award, and is a feature on news shows for weeks to come. “Realispree: the next-generation reality show where your survival spree might lead to a slaughter spree, and the winner is set with a spending spree for life!”

This year’s competiton, the 53rd annual, takes place in Yellowstone Park. They began their journey in the forest, but the end is in the midst of a geyser field. This is where K will die.

Competition Choir
An American Idol or The Voice ripoff. Features a choir of aspiring singers, each wanting a solo career. Instead of singing together, the singers attempt to outshine each other, and thus the “choir” sounds better as more people are kicked off. Singers routinely get each other kicked off through dubious means: poisoning, acid to ruin the vocal chords, fiddling with the pitch on the auto-tune, etc. Metaphor for society’s lack of community and cooperation, and the failure to organize. Apathy.

Teen Tweakers
Follows 12 teens (aged 12-18) who abuse everything from household cleaners to PCP, and everything in-between. They’re real people, but it’s still marketed like a sitcom: “watch tonight as all the teen tweakers are pushed to the limit! Because tonight one teen tweaker won’t make it out alive…”

Pregnant at Prom
Features a lot of bathroom/dumpster babies, and “redemptive” pre- or post-prom runs to drop the infants off at churches.

Meet the Neighbors
Exposes the “dangerous” people living next to totally “normal” people. Villified groups include LGBT, cross-dressers, atheists, “radical” dissenters who do not agree 100% with the govt, members of minority religions (“cults”), vegetarians, swingers, etc.

How to Spend Your Paycheck (Hit-Sip)
Mani-pedis, purses, shopping sprees, maybe tie this in with Realispree, where the winners of Realispree are sometimes guest judges on HtSYP. When referred to in speech, sounds like Hit-Sip.

Tetrathalon: Death Match
Show featuring bunch of different sports, all super violent, steroids encouraged, often leads to death of participants.


TV Channels:

FDNN
Federal Democratic News Network
Anchors:
Emory Cornelius Hays (Anderson Cooper) Emory for his father, Cornelius for his great-great-great grandfather, Hays for his middle name.
Walter Washington Douglas (Brian Williams) Walter for walter Cronkite, washington for GWU (last school he dropped out of, honorary degree), Douglas for his middle name

FRNN
Federal Republican News Network

MTV
Mormontology Television

TCBS
The Christianic Broadcast Station

JIN
The Judeo-Islamist Network

RLTV
Real Life Television

Anyway, that's it! 'Till tomorrow!

Working Title: Bryn & Mer: Nosce Te Ipsum
Word Count: 50,607
Writing Mode: Cold feet (no, seriously, my toes are so cold that I can barely focus!). Also, worried about timeline issues...