A frightening incident turns a boy's world upside-down, and, after spending years coping with his new life, an opportunity to get back at the villains who did this to him reveals itself. Written by Armageddan from October 13, 2005, to January 26, 2006, this story became the first full-fledged fiction to make it's way to the Hall of Fame!
Do you want to read the fiction? Come on, you know you do! You can download it here, and read it at your own leisure.
Feel free to comment on the story, and tell us what you liked, didn't like, and
your overall opinion of the story! To comment, simply send
me a private message. You'll have to register at the RP Haven forums
to do so, but is that really a bad thing? Didn't think so.
You may also send me an e-mail with your comments, if you prefer.
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Some general information regarding Gene |
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| This fiction was written by Armageddan. | The story is a science fiction. |
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This fiction was started on Thursday, October 13, 2005 |
This fiction was finished on Thursday, January 26, 2006 |
| This fiction was 55 posts long. | The story is 28,220 words long. |
| This story took 105 days to complete. | On average, 265 words were written per day. |
Here we have an interview with the writer of Gene, Armageddan, who now goes by the name Trauma Advocate. Warning, there are some spoilers here!
| Interview with Armageddan, also known as Trauma Advocate | |
| Where and how did you come up with the idea for Gene? I came up with the idea about five years ago, often daydreaming about it while waiting for my cross country coach to arrive to practice. I often wondered about different scenarios a kid in Gene's place would have to go through, though I still have no idea where that idea came from. |
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| Many ideas for stories fall by the wayside or are forgotten before they get even a rough draft. What inspired you to sit down and write
Gene? You can probably thank Matthias for that... I don't know what made me start thinking about it again in the first place, but he encouraged me to actually turn it into a story when I kept getting random ideas. |
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| What is your favorite genre? Why? Sci-Fi. I always used to love stuff like Bruce Coville, aliens, and people getting thrown into situations they can hardly understand. |
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| What book, movie, or video game do you think is the best example of that genre?
Why? Hmm... Aliens Ate my Homework? That's more of an elementary school book, but I spent a lot of time reading things like that. |
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| Who is your favorite author? Why? What book do you think is that author's
best? Stephen King. He taught me that it is possible to scare a person with the written word, and I now seek to do just that. It is probably his greatest work, although probably not the scariest. |
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| Are any of the characters in Gene based on anybody you know online or in real
life? Er... no comment. |
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| Did you learn anything while writing Gene? Yes. I really felt that my writing improved as I went on, and I realized how important it is to recognize which characters are important enough to develop and when. |
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| Did you ever get writer's block while writing Gene? How did you overcome
it? Indeed I did. At a few points, I simply could not decide how to continue a scene effectively, and would simply come back to it later. At one point, I even dropped an entire scene from the story (for the best, probably). |
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| What was the hardest scene to write in Gene? The early ones involving Gene at school. I felt they were very awkward, and hope that they were easier for others to read than they were for me to write. |
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| What was your favorite scene to write in Gene? Any scene involving the vampire man, especially his last dialogue with Gene. He is my favorite villain ever. |
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Any writer knows that many changes will be made in the process of writing. How much does the final draft of
Gene differ from the original concept? Are there any notable
changes?
Spoilers: This occurs in the post just after Gene gets burned and Joy shoots a second guard.
At this point I gave up, realizing it would completely remove any sense from the following scenes, or would simply kill the excitement. |
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| If you were to go back and rewrite Gene, what would you change, if
anything? Well, in the document on my computer, I have already changed several early posts which keep switching back and forth between present and past tense. Man, was that poor... I've made a few other minor changes as well, but one thing I still debate over was Joy's boyfriend. His name, Vince, was way too similar to the villain's, and I hadn't intended there to be any connection. |
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| What other projects are you working on right now? Conspiracy, When Worlds Collide, and all the RPs I have joined. Also, I just got a work study internship for the city of Philadelphia including 40 hours of work every week. Once that starts in April, my time here will become limited. |
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| Do you have any ideas for a new fiction? At the moment, no, and I actually kind of hope I don't get any for a little while. To make it successful, a fiction takes a lot of work, and they demand my attention. I have too much else to worry about now to get into writing another, so I hope those ideas can wait for me. |
Here we have comments from the people who have read the story.
| Name | Comment | Date |
| Matthias |
What an amazing short story. When I first read it, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it: the main hero was a talking plant! But the uniqueness of the characters is a strong point for this story. Like Joy and Julie do, you grow to like Gene, despites his physical appearance, thanks to the superb character development. As I read through, I found myself engrossed more and more into Gene's story. The bittersweet ending was worth the journey, and I'm glad Armageddan graced the fiction board with this little masterpiece. |
February 06, 2006 |
| Thalzon |
I found Gene to be an exciting read, especially as it got closer to the end. The final battles were full of thrilling moments, and the ending was both bittersweet and touching. Armageddan really made the characters believable without over-explaining or silly caricaturizing. A thoroughly entertaining read. |
February 06, 2006 |
| Snowguy |
Gene, while Dan doesn't think it started out to strongly, turned
out exceptionally well. I really enjoyed reading it, to say the least.
Heh, every day I'd be expecting the post and be happy to come home and
read the next entry into the story. I especially enjoyed Joy's character
development, where it described her life before she met Gene. Get this
published, Dan, because someday you'll look back on this story and
smile. |
February 06, 2006 |
| Zuntrios |
I absolutely loved Gene. It was written masterfully. One moment, you think you know what's going on, and the next, you have no idea what you're supposed to think. I read it as it was being added, and everyday, I finished the latest entry, and wanted the next part. If it was in print form, it would be the kind of book you couldn't put down. I absolutely loved the way that the storyline flowed so fluidly. There were no rough spots in this story at all, only sharp turns in the plot that left you dizzy from the ride. But, those twists were executed so perfectly, that they didn't feel forced. It was like they were meant to be there. And, even though I saw the ending coming from the instant the base was about to explode, it still was very touching, and very memorable. All in all, I'd have to say that this was one of the best things I have ever read. Great job, Armageddan! |
February 07, 2006 |
| Wizard | I greatly enjoyed this fiction, and I recommend anyone who has not read it to do so in the future. | February 07, 2006 |
| Ricky |
I found Gene to be a very enjoyable read, and I think it's definitely publishable material. I liked the relationship between Joy and Gene, and the final scene in the garden was the best way to end the story, in my opinion. An excellent read. Great work, Armageddan!
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February 07, 2006 |
| Dr. Gate |
Well, frankly if I hadn't heard "you should read Gene"
so much from the other users in IRC, I wouldn't have. I'm glad I
listened... or paid attention.. since you can't listen in IRC <_<.
This was an incredible fiction deserving of such a Hall of Fame entry.
While the beginning was pretty rough, and I found it a bit boring, I
soon found myself unable to stop reading. The characters weren't all that transparent like they have been in some stories I've read over the years. I didn't find myself wanting to know more about them like I do in some stories (which was more a way for me to establish context), I just went with what I knew. Unfortunately, the hardest thing for me to follow was the appearances of Alex and Gene. Gene's last appearance was hard for me to envision; I didn't know how much larger than a human it was supposed to be, and Alex I just had issues envisioning entirely. The battles, too, were a bit of an issue for me. It probably would have worked better had I had even rough images of Gene and Alex (preferably Alex, since Gene was a bit easier to see in my mind). As for story, I sort of saw Alex coming for him from a ways back, but the plot twist with the double-crossing and later the missile took me completely by surprise. The rest of the story was well structured although the seemingly random switching between time periods ended up confusing me more than helping me to see the entire story. It also seemed to move a bit too quickly at times.. I ended up feeling it should have been dragged out a bit at times, such as maybe a bit more context and a few more experiences in High School. A rather sad ending, but its similar to things I've written before, and I did see it coming, and when Gene gave Joy the 'object' I knew it was a seed, so I wasn't terribly surprised by it. Nice work, though, I enjoyed it. |
February 21, 2006 |
| GeminiSaint |
Well, yes, it's a good story
with an original and weird concept: the main character, Gene, is a
plant. The writing is very good, and the pace is just right. The
surrealism derived from the main premise gives this fiction a feeling
somewhat reminiscent of MTV's The Head. It has much in common
with that series, in terms of overall feeling. It was an enjoyable read,
yes, but the story was not without its hitches. I feel obliged to question the plausibility of many a scene in this fiction. The surreal premise I talked about, combined with the direction the author led the story during the first half, bring up some situations that weren't explained or solved in a plausible way, considering the story clearly aims for a "realistic" feel. For example, it's not too likely that a boy-turned-plant would keep going to school for several years as if nothing happened. You'd believe the FBI or some such similar agency would lock him up in some hidden facility to conduct top-secret experiments on him for years to come. And no, I doubt the protection of that FBI woman (Julie) can successfully explain Gene not suffering that fate. On a similar note, Vincenzo attacking an entire school to abduct children for his experiments is a bit of a stretch too. It would have made a whole lot more sense if he had abducted homeless children from the streets instead, which would have drawn little to no attention compared to outright invading a school in the open at daylight. I have to point out, too, that Vincenzo being a vampire had no bearing on the plot whatsoever. His "vampireness" never came into play at all. He could have been a human and the story would have been exactly the same. Why tell us he is a vampire if nothing ever comes out of that? Onto a different subject. Plot twists near the end do their job well. The ending appears to be somewhat rushed, though. It could probably have benefited from investing more time and energy into it, especially considering it sports a classic cliché, with all that means (I can't say what that cliché exactly is without spoiling the ending). Closing comment: Armageddan, Gene is a fine story, but it could be much, much better. |
June 08, 2006 |
| Mavrickindigo |
I'm going to say this right up: My comment is full of spoilers, so here we go. It was a phenomenal story that sent me on a ride with my emotions. I hated the main villain and felt sorry for the other children who were mutated. Every death that occurred struck me personally. Continually I hoped for some kind of way for Gene and Alex to save everyone that I dreaded the possible outcomes. Although it was interesting how Gene and Alex turned on each other at the end. The whole psychology of the characters took a deep look into the individual's humanity or lack thereof. Like I said earlier, I actually felt sorry for each of the characters. Seeing them as children (or knowing that they were at one point) added an air of sympathy that I felt unlike when I did a mutation story in one of my works where the changed people were never seen human. Speaking of feeling for the characters, one character really bothered me. The main villain seemed too cliché to me. He seemed to be evil for the sake of being evil. There was no motivation to his actions that was really stated and the origins and purpose of the research had no real origin or purpose to it besides a "he just wanted to" feeling. While I understand it was done in the Point of View of Gene, it just didn't seem to do enough characterization on the main villain. But besides that one negative side, the story was different than the normal fare and was done very well. |
December 21, 2007 |
Here we have fun facts about the fiction.
·Gene
was the first 100% fiction to be added to the Hall of Fame.
·In the February 2006 edition of the VGRP Awards, this fiction won awards in
Best Male Lead, Best Villainous Male, and Best Fiction!
Click here to go to the media gallery. Warning: there are spoilers here.