Blairwood, Vermont

Ultimate Houde

UC's Resident Genetic Recombinator
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This story takes place in a fictional town called Blairwood Vermont. This story takes place outside the Marvel universe and all that, but, once you read it, it can very well take place in a comic book setting.

Blairwood is a small town nestled in the middle of Vermont. This tiny town is the home of a massive BioTech company called Reqiuem Technologies. What goes on in this place is a mystery to anyone who doesn't work there.

The story shifts through many points of view ranging from a new employee at the biotech industry, to a bum on the side of the street, and a multitude of teenagers.

Oh, strange things are happening as well.

There is a planned 24 total episodes, with nine written up, three in production, and the following six planned. As new episodes are written, I will inform the masses via this thread.

The first is in a semi-script format, after that they are much easier reads in a story format. I hope you enjoy, and comments will be welcomed. They are long though, be warned.

Thank you for taking time to read this.

Word.

(Had to change websites again, this one has limited bandwidth, but at least it won't be deleting my works like the last one did. If you find you cannot download, feel free to PM me your email address and I'll send a hardcopy directly to you. Remember, this is copyrighted, so talk to me if you wish to use the characters in any other story)
 
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First Arc: Fall

The Big Bash - The introduction to the students of Blairwood high. Two weeks are left until school starts, and one of the students decides to throw a huge party to celebrate the event, their final year of school. Meanwhile, a new employee to the Biotech company known as Requiem shows up for his first day of work. Two seemingly unrelated events happen, with a cliffhanger leaving one of the students life in jeopardy. (written in script format)

Shadows of the Past - Neve Clinton had a normal childhood growing up with her father, and his strange obsession with wolves. Her father left her in the care of the local foster home when he left to investigate something years ago, he didn't tell her what. While she spends time with Noah as he recovers in the hospital, she keeps seeing a strange looking man following her. Is this her father, returned?

First Day- Chadwick Coleman is the son of a very rich man, the owner of Requiem Tech, Arthur Coleman the third. Arthur has very high plans for his child, including a strange workout regimen that Chadwick needs to do every day after school. William, Chadwick's little brother, is mainly ignored by his father. Also, the mystery that is Requiem Tech continues to unravel as Nathaniel researches more into his curious benefactor.

Weekend Antics – Stephen fell madly in love for Brianna sometime during the summer. Now, Tamara wishes for John Northfield. When he finally comes over their house, his life is changed forever, as is Stephen's. What are these triplets messing with? Also, Noah takes Neve out for their first date on the town. Will they end up as love birds?

The Omega Project – Nathaniel's been extremely sick for the last couple of days, and calls in sick to work. Stephen, ever since the events of that fateful weekend, has been skipping school and noticing new things, mainly, the ghost that has taken to haunting his bedroom. Witness as Stephen and Nathaniel both unearth the mysterious Omega Project, and see what happens when a ghost enters a cemetery in Blairwood. Also, Noah meets up with John, for a confrontation that shakes Noah's beliefs.

Bushido – Jeet Kune Do, the fighting style of the late Bruce Lee, a fighting style that the energetic persona of Jack Newman had mastered within twelve years. Tonight, his master has an honor for him, and a lesson. When Jack meets John Northfield in a brawl, will Jack remember his lessons, or in the face of jealousy and love, forget everything he has been taught?

Strange Encounters – Strange things have happened to Noah, Stephen and Neve. The three friends confide in each other, and make a pact to tell each other everything else that happens, and go their separate ways. Each experience a new oddity in the small town of Blairwood, which opens yet a new mystery.

Father Knows Best – Tina, Nathaniel's girlfriend, is worried. He is still sick, and showing no signs of improvement. He is also talking in his sleep. Meanwhile, Thanksgiving has descended on Blairwood, and this means the Shopmart closes early. As Noah, Stephen, Jack and Rob get ready to leave, a man in purple claiming to be called Oberon, show up, demanding he be returned his son, Rob.

Paranoia – Nathaniel's old friend from down South, Boomer, shows up with news. Before he can tell Nathaniel whats going on with his strange benefactor, Boomer finds out Nathaniel is being poisoned, but by whom? Mark and John talk for the first time since John's mysterious transformation. What is the connection between these two twins? Nothing is as it seems in this town of Blairwood, not even the twins.

Second Arc: Winter

It's a Christmas Thing - A snow storm begins to hit Blairwood, hard, on Christmas Eve, promising a White Christmas, which is great news. Unless your Patrick Jarvis, who hates Christmas and everything it stands for. Will he help his friend's daughter find her lost cat, or is he simply in it for a meal? Noah and Neve, hoping to have a relaxing evening before Christmas, are interrupted by a jealous ferret. Christmas hits Blairwood, but will anyone be happy?

A New Year's Ball- Chadwick Coleman hosts a party for the upcoming new year, unknowing that his younger brother has a plan for him. Nathaniel and his friend Boomer return to BLairwood after the events that unfolded in Paranoia, but are greeted by two different welcoming parties. Chayton Feather, the engima, watches a power play between the two twins, Mark and John Northfield.

New Beginnings - Fights and Information! In this episode, the fights that broke out from the previous episode conclude. Noah, Neve and Stephen bring another one of their friends into the mix, Chayton Feather gets two disciples and Oberon breaks down the hospital in search for his love. Meanwhile, Nathaniel Hawkins secret is exposed, along with the secret behind Requiem Tech.

Downhill - It's all downhill from here. Noah and Neve work through some relationship problems, while Stephen and Jack explore the mystery of that is Chayton. Brendan sheds some light on the experiments themselves to Nathaniel. Chadwick and his friends try to go skiing, but they get sidetracked, by something from legends.
 
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Future Episodes

Wind & Dust: Connie and Seamus take center stage at a school play. Stephen uncovers another ghost mystery as more of his spectral companions begin to disappear, and Rob notices something odd about Zeke.
 
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After reading "The Big Bash", I've got a few initial comments...

* First of all, let me say that it's a very strong "pilot". It does a good job giving the audience a hint about the main cast; they're well-defined enough to all have unique personalities, but they've been painted with strokes broad enough to want to learn more about them, and how they fit into the over-all mystery of the town.

* However, at this early stage, I can now see why it might invite immediate comparisons with Veronica Mars.

If you overlook the odd thing that appears in Stephen's room (which totally creeped me out, by the way :shock: ), the pacing of the story -- with brief, interspersed flashbacks, establishing teen angst, and parental intrigue -- is really quite similar to VM.

Even the mysterious cliffhanger involving the message Nathaniel recieves does not seem immediately supernatural, because there are still plenty of possible "realistic" explanations for it. It's precisely the sort of tease that would be used to end a VM episode.

* I'm particularly intruiged about the significance of the "Beta" symbol (and, I presume, it's connection to Requiem's activities).

* I was surprised to see the ".gov" extension on the Requiem email addresses, since I was under the impression that it was strictly a private corporation owned by Arthur. Even if they were working on government contracts, they shouldn't realistically be allowed to use a ".gov" server. So either there was a lapse in your research, or Requiem is not quite what it appears to be. Hmmmm...

EDIT
Just downloaded "Shadows of the Past". Damn you, Houde! This stuff is compulsively readable. I'm glad I "waited for the TPB"
for this, because the suspense of reading it in installments would be frustrating (in the best way possible, I assure you).
 
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The cliffhanger is a frequent plot device used in this piece, it directly relates to a person though

The creepy thing in Stephen's bedroom, explained in Omega Project

The .gov isn't a mistaken reseearch point

The Greek letters are very important.

I'm glad you liked it. Shadows in the weakest in my opinion, I had to rewrite it three times before I got it to a point where I enjoyed the flow of the story.

thee great one said:
I will read these one day.

You keep saying that
 
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A few more points...

* I love the mystery about whether the strange happenings are scientific or magical or a little bit of both. At this point, it seems to go either way.

For example, the unique blood sample -- could be an augmented human, but it also brings to mind the methods used to explain vampirism scientifically, in pop media (e.g. Underworld, Blade, etc.).

Also, the "animal" introduced in "Shadows..." could be a mutant (in the Wolverine or Sabertooth sense) as much as it could be something more otherworldly. I love the ambiguity, since there are no definite visuals to accompany it.

* Speaking of visuals, I keep picturing this in my head as resembling Donnie Darko, in terms of lighting, "camera angles", perspective, use of color. Is that what you had in mind, when you wrote it?

* Oh, and you better check the link to "First Day" -- it doesn't appear to be working at the moment :evil:

* Finally, I now have the mental image of the ghost girl stuck in my head, and I keep imagining it in my peripheral vision, so I guess I have you to blame for that. :x
 
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First Day just worked for me, if you still have a problem with it, PM me your email address, and I'll just send you the hard copy.

And I have never seen Donnie Darko, so I can't realte it to that or not.
 
compound said:
Just wanted to point out that I downloaded "The Big Bash". Feedback soon-ish.

Should I post it here, or in the thread at IdeaStorm?

:twisted:
 
I read the first two and posted a comment over at Ideastorm. I'll read the third one later on. :rockon:
 
I read the first one. I really getting into it. I'm curious as to all the mysteries you put in. Why did Neve's Dad hit Noah with the car? How is his dad still alive and what were they talking about in the past?

This really is great stuff. I'll have to finish it.
 
Alright guys, I need some help.

I need names, i know it sounds easy, but you name a whole town, it gets hard not to make them slew together.

Basically I need the names of parents.

One is a downtrodden ******* of a father, who lives in the bottle, and does nothing than complain.

The other is an overweight mother, who does nothing but yell at her kids, and beats them.

Great people, I know. So, I need names, give them to me!
 
I think Gamma Man should have a temporary banning if he doesn't stop the constant spamming/thread making.

How about Murray?
 

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