Zoanthropes, shapeshifters, werebeasts: the names don't matter.
They watch us, and we watch them.
Pity and fear flowing back and forth across the barriers between us, it's hard to say who's worse off, or whether we peer at them through the bars of a prison or a zoo. They are bound by their natures - who could blame them for that? - and expect that their outrageous claims will be accepted, even when the facts that contradict them seem obvious to any who can see the undistorted truth.
They are delusional, it's clear - whether unwitting victims of some deep hypnotic suggestion, or by some accident of chemistry, it matters not at all - their perceptions are flawed, and they see what isn't there, hear voices pitched by their own imagining, and base their actions on those bizarre artifacts of their condition. We are patient with them, for our pity and compassion are real, but when their actions threaten us, risk our lives, then we have no choice but to act.
Many of them won't live out the week. It's hard to see them like this, know the fate that awaits them, and still smile blandly, keeping them calm and unsuspecting until the end comes.
And the end will come. All our arguments, discussions, and plans come down to this: reason, pity, and sentiment cannot stand against the ancient, bone-bred imperative to protect the self, the tribe, eradicate the threat. Soon, when the gates are next opened, Death will come through them, perhaps carried by a pale horse... or, perhaps, by some more fearsome thing.
Yes, Death will come through the gates, and in the presence of that Entity who brings such clarity to life, they will see too late that they have misjudged us, see too late that their delusions, the strange misfirings of their sorry, tortured brains have betrayed them at the end. Will they relent, recant, attest at last to the veracity of all we have tried so patiently to explain? Will they see in those last moments the reality so far hidden from their minds, our fur and our feathers at last revealed, our beaks and our fangs, the leaping, loping strides of the hunter that they have so far denied made clear? Or will they meet Death confused, still seeing soft and stubby fingers in the place of glistening claws, not grasping how flabby, fangless mouths could tear them with such abandon, how two of our legs could so swiftly outrun the fastest among them? We are few, but strong. We have been patient, more than patient, and we have shown them pity and compassion, and our pity and compassion were real. But no more.
Is that the gatekeeper's key?
*************************************************************************************
Since I didn't have the time or energy (or, let's face it, the talent) to draw endless interlaced zoomorphic illuminations for the final day of the A-Z challenge, and I didn't want to skip the last day, even if I haven't been perfect about posting, you get a short story about Zoanthropes and unexpected endings instead. It isn't really too tightly linked to the Nine Worlds setting, and it doesn't fall into any of the other tags here, except, possibly, microfiction, if you really want to stretch the term, but you do what you can do. I hope it is an enjoyably creepy ending to this month's series of posts.
Many thanks to everyone who has stopped by during the A-Z event. I hope you liked what you found here, and will keep checking back. I will continue to post as much as humanly possible under the circumstances. I have really enjoyed reading through your posts this month, and have found some great new blogs as a result of this exercise in the past 30 days.
I'm hoping that the energy and the creativity will carry through to next year's event!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Flash Fearsday: Xenophobia
Stranger, danger!
Don't stray yonder. Walk right home. Never wander, run or play:
stick to the familiar way.
What else would a hunter say?
***********************************************************************************
This is my response to the April 28th, 2011 Flash Fearsday exercise over at Lunching on Lamias, which challenges you to write a horror story in exactly 140 characters. It is also my "X" entry for the A-Z Blogging Challenge.
Don't stray yonder. Walk right home. Never wander, run or play:
stick to the familiar way.
What else would a hunter say?
***********************************************************************************
This is my response to the April 28th, 2011 Flash Fearsday exercise over at Lunching on Lamias, which challenges you to write a horror story in exactly 140 characters. It is also my "X" entry for the A-Z Blogging Challenge.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
V is for Vortices
Maelstroms of energy interlaced with whirlpools of utter nothingness, the Vortices of the Void are spoken of only in hushed whispers...or, if you frequent precisely the wrong bars, in the slurred, perpetually-intoxicated, muttering half-shouts of those few who have seen them and lived.
While most Navigators consider the Vortices to be readily identifiable and avoidable hazards, there is a small but steady stream of adventurous challengers who attempt to traverse this treacherous and deadly region, ranging from those who enjoy courting death (many of whom find their advances accepted more quickly and completely than they had actually planned) to those who believe, against all evidence to the contrary, that the Vortices of the Void hold the secret of creating the next Jakkar Instability.
While most Navigators consider the Vortices to be readily identifiable and avoidable hazards, there is a small but steady stream of adventurous challengers who attempt to traverse this treacherous and deadly region, ranging from those who enjoy courting death (many of whom find their advances accepted more quickly and completely than they had actually planned) to those who believe, against all evidence to the contrary, that the Vortices of the Void hold the secret of creating the next Jakkar Instability.
Monday, April 25, 2011
U is for Usual
This is my response to this week's Poetry Potluck, which I discovered thanks to a link over at Porky's Expanse!. The theme for the week is "Muse, Art, Music and Poetry"
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The Usual Muse
Within the ordinary things we find
a fire that, once seen, will spark the mind,
illuminate extraordinary roads
that cross in unexpected ways, form nodes
which link bright worlds within to anchors of
substantial form. Our senses fall in love,
and through them, born of our delight, we share
the flame, ignite another when we dare
express the wonder in a common stone,
the way the sand-smoothed, tumbled surface shone
beneath the flashlight's beam, a moon touched by
some alien gleam, refracting through a sky
half-framed by grass along the path. Strange dreams,
awoken by the real, reveal what seems
for what it is: the every-day surreal.
*************************************************************************************
The Usual Muse
Within the ordinary things we find
a fire that, once seen, will spark the mind,
illuminate extraordinary roads
that cross in unexpected ways, form nodes
which link bright worlds within to anchors of
substantial form. Our senses fall in love,
and through them, born of our delight, we share
the flame, ignite another when we dare
express the wonder in a common stone,
the way the sand-smoothed, tumbled surface shone
beneath the flashlight's beam, a moon touched by
some alien gleam, refracting through a sky
half-framed by grass along the path. Strange dreams,
awoken by the real, reveal what seems
for what it is: the every-day surreal.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Expansion Joints: part 9, "Temper"
Once again, my indecisiveness makes an appearance. These are my responses to this week's Expansion Joints Challenge., and my entry for the letter "T" in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge
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Time travel's tricky.
Both clavier and composer were in ill temper.
Make note - Bach later.
************************************************************************************
"Poison! I could die before morning!"
"To avoid Mother's visit? Try to temper your enthusiasm."
************************************************************************************
"You dare haggle here, over these?"
Unlike the smith, his blades always held their temper.
************************************************************************************
************************************************************************************
Time travel's tricky.
Both clavier and composer were in ill temper.
Make note - Bach later.
************************************************************************************
"Poison! I could die before morning!"
"To avoid Mother's visit? Try to temper your enthusiasm."
************************************************************************************
"You dare haggle here, over these?"
Unlike the smith, his blades always held their temper.
************************************************************************************
Expansion Joints Challenge: part 9, "Temper"
When this exercise was hosted over at Porky's Expanse!, he always chose the word for the Expanders! challenge based on some relevant happening that had occurred during the previous week. This week has seen some commentary on Fantasy as a genre that has created a bit of controversy, and, as I am desperate for something to help me narrow my word choice to one, I seized upon this as an excuse, and proclaimed the word of the week to be "temper".
If you aren't familiar with the Expansion Joints project, it all began over at Porky's Expanse!.
The rules are just as they are described over at Porky's: as much narrative as you can cram into fifteen words, one of which must be the word of the week.
This can take the form of
1. An epyllion,or litle epic, a stand-alone fifteen-word narrative, or
2. An epos, or 'epic'. Instead of an independent 15-word story, you can choose to develop someone else's story from a previous week, or extend your own story from week to week. Just write the next installment. If it has 15 words, uses the word of the week, and continues the story, you've done it.
There are two important things to think about if you choose epos. First, you should have the permission of the person who wrote the story you will develop. If anyone writes a 15-word epyllion or adds to an epos and is happy for others to develop it later, please say so, with something like 'for use in an epos'. Second, by using specific elements of someone else's story, we technically create a derivative work, so it's best to avoid this.
There are a number of generous contributors who have given express permission to use some of their writing as the basis for epos:
Porky, the founder of the project, offers up all of his contributions.
GDMNW has opened up the three stories here.
Dave G_Nplusplus makes any of his Expanders! stories available for use in an epos.
Jim Hale has an epos running on his Expanders! page, and he has graciously extended permission to play with any or all of the contributions there.
Andy, over at The Creepy Corridor, has also made his epos posts available for expansion.
And, as always, feel free to use any of the stories on this blog that are tagged as "Expansion Joints" in an epos.
Words that have previously made an appearance in an Expanders!/Expansion Joints include: food, fort, stuff, elf, rogue, pass, fool, hammer, and note, in case you are of an historical bent, or wish to write a complete set.
When you've finished writing your entry for this week, either post your 15-word story directly in the comments here, or leave a link in the comments to the blog page where we can find it.
If you aren't familiar with the Expansion Joints project, it all began over at Porky's Expanse!.
The rules are just as they are described over at Porky's: as much narrative as you can cram into fifteen words, one of which must be the word of the week.
This can take the form of
1. An epyllion,or litle epic, a stand-alone fifteen-word narrative, or
2. An epos, or 'epic'. Instead of an independent 15-word story, you can choose to develop someone else's story from a previous week, or extend your own story from week to week. Just write the next installment. If it has 15 words, uses the word of the week, and continues the story, you've done it.
There are two important things to think about if you choose epos. First, you should have the permission of the person who wrote the story you will develop. If anyone writes a 15-word epyllion or adds to an epos and is happy for others to develop it later, please say so, with something like 'for use in an epos'. Second, by using specific elements of someone else's story, we technically create a derivative work, so it's best to avoid this.
There are a number of generous contributors who have given express permission to use some of their writing as the basis for epos:
Porky, the founder of the project, offers up all of his contributions.
GDMNW has opened up the three stories here.
Dave G_Nplusplus makes any of his Expanders! stories available for use in an epos.
Jim Hale has an epos running on his Expanders! page, and he has graciously extended permission to play with any or all of the contributions there.
Andy, over at The Creepy Corridor, has also made his epos posts available for expansion.
And, as always, feel free to use any of the stories on this blog that are tagged as "Expansion Joints" in an epos.
Words that have previously made an appearance in an Expanders!/Expansion Joints include: food, fort, stuff, elf, rogue, pass, fool, hammer, and note, in case you are of an historical bent, or wish to write a complete set.
When you've finished writing your entry for this week, either post your 15-word story directly in the comments here, or leave a link in the comments to the blog page where we can find it.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Flash Fearsday: Q is for Quiescent
Sleep...
Beautiful Sleep!
Sleep, where the Hunger cannot follow...
The Hunger rising? No!
Flee! Return to sleep, sweet sleep?
Too late...
***********************************************************************************
This is my presponse to the April 21st, 2011 Flash Fearsday exercise over at Lunching on Lamias, which challenges you to write a horror story in exactly 140 characters. It is also my "Q" entry for the A-Z Blogging Challenge.
Beautiful Sleep!
Sleep, where the Hunger cannot follow...
The Hunger rising? No!
Flee! Return to sleep, sweet sleep?
Too late...
***********************************************************************************
This is my presponse to the April 21st, 2011 Flash Fearsday exercise over at Lunching on Lamias, which challenges you to write a horror story in exactly 140 characters. It is also my "Q" entry for the A-Z Blogging Challenge.
Monday, April 18, 2011
P is for Poetry Potluck : Fog
This is my response to this week's Poetry Potluck, which I discovered thanks to a link over at Porky's Expanse!. The theme for the week is "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things."
I stuck to the theme, at least for those values of "few" that are greater than zero and less than two. What can I say? This is what wanted to be written tonight.
*************************************************************************************
Fog
Awaking to a night-born world,
the fog, in pennants fresh unfurled
that bear the standard of the fey
and wreath in shifting, soundless grey
the works of men, enchants our eyes
and warps our gaze with tendrilled lies
that sculpt the haze in dream-worked forms
that obviate our day-bound norms
and dance wherever mist is curled
until the sun unmasks the world.
I stuck to the theme, at least for those values of "few" that are greater than zero and less than two. What can I say? This is what wanted to be written tonight.
*************************************************************************************
Fog
Awaking to a night-born world,
the fog, in pennants fresh unfurled
that bear the standard of the fey
and wreath in shifting, soundless grey
the works of men, enchants our eyes
and warps our gaze with tendrilled lies
that sculpt the haze in dream-worked forms
that obviate our day-bound norms
and dance wherever mist is curled
until the sun unmasks the world.
Expansion Joints: part 8, "Note" and O is for Oracle
This is my response to this week's Expansion Joints Challenge., and my entry for the letter "O" in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge
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Note to self:
Accurate prophecies may be more dangerous to the prophet than false ones.
************************************************************************************
Note to self:
Accurate prophecies may be more dangerous to the prophet than false ones.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Expansion Joints Challenge: part 8, "Note"
When this exercise was hosted over at Porky's Expanse!, he always chose the word for the Expanders! challenge based on some relevant happening that had occurred during the previous week. There is so much great stuff out there right now (and, really, always) that it is hard to narrow down the choices to just one word. I confess to briefly considering "dichotomy" after David Brin's article about the differences between Fantasy and SF generated such good commentary from many of you, but then I remembered how much I like you, and decided against it. Overall, I would say that the theme of the week from my perspective is that because there is so much going on, so much being created all the time, it is imperative to pay attention, to step out of routine, to take a moment to awaken to the wonderful things all around you that you may not have sought out or truly appreciated before. Porky appears to agree with me here. In that spirit, the word of the week is "note".
If you aren't familiar with the Expansion Joints project, it all began over at Porky's Expanse!.
The rules are just as they are described over at Porky's: as much narrative as you can cram into fifteen words, one of which must be the word of the week.
This can take the form of
1. An epyllion,or litle epic, a stand-alone fifteen-word narrative, or
2. An epos, or 'epic'. Instead of an independent 15-word story, you can choose to develop someone else's story from a previous week, or extend your own story from week to week. Just write the next installment. If it has 15 words, uses the word of the week, and continues the story, you've done it.
There are two important things to think about if you choose epos. First, you should have the permission of the person who wrote the story you will develop. If anyone writes a 15-word epyllion or adds to an epos and is happy for others to develop it later, please say so, with something like 'for use in an epos'. Second, by using specific elements of someone else's story, we technically create a derivative work, so it's best to avoid this.
There are a number of generous contributors who have given express permission to use some of their writing as the basis for epos:
Porky, the founder of the project, offers up all of his contributions.
GDMNW has opened up the three stories here.
Dave G_Nplusplus makes any of his Expanders! stories available for use in an epos.
Jim Hale has an epos running on his Expanders! page, and he has graciously extended permission to play with any or all of the contributions there.
Andy, over at The Creepy Corridor, has also made his epos posts available for expansion.
And, as always, feel free to use any of the stories on this blog that are tagged as "Expansion Joints" in an epos.
Words that have previously made an appearance in an Expanders!/Expansion Joints include: food, fort, stuff, elf, rogue, pass, fool, and hammer, in case you are of an historical bent, or wish to write a complete set.
When you've finished writing your entry for this week, either post your 15-word story directly in the comments here, or leave a link in the comments to the blog page where we can find it.
If you aren't familiar with the Expansion Joints project, it all began over at Porky's Expanse!.
The rules are just as they are described over at Porky's: as much narrative as you can cram into fifteen words, one of which must be the word of the week.
This can take the form of
1. An epyllion,or litle epic, a stand-alone fifteen-word narrative, or
2. An epos, or 'epic'. Instead of an independent 15-word story, you can choose to develop someone else's story from a previous week, or extend your own story from week to week. Just write the next installment. If it has 15 words, uses the word of the week, and continues the story, you've done it.
There are two important things to think about if you choose epos. First, you should have the permission of the person who wrote the story you will develop. If anyone writes a 15-word epyllion or adds to an epos and is happy for others to develop it later, please say so, with something like 'for use in an epos'. Second, by using specific elements of someone else's story, we technically create a derivative work, so it's best to avoid this.
There are a number of generous contributors who have given express permission to use some of their writing as the basis for epos:
Porky, the founder of the project, offers up all of his contributions.
GDMNW has opened up the three stories here.
Dave G_Nplusplus makes any of his Expanders! stories available for use in an epos.
Jim Hale has an epos running on his Expanders! page, and he has graciously extended permission to play with any or all of the contributions there.
Andy, over at The Creepy Corridor, has also made his epos posts available for expansion.
And, as always, feel free to use any of the stories on this blog that are tagged as "Expansion Joints" in an epos.
Words that have previously made an appearance in an Expanders!/Expansion Joints include: food, fort, stuff, elf, rogue, pass, fool, and hammer, in case you are of an historical bent, or wish to write a complete set.
When you've finished writing your entry for this week, either post your 15-word story directly in the comments here, or leave a link in the comments to the blog page where we can find it.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Flash Fearsday: Machinations
There is strength in numbers.
In numbers, strength!
As if your analog minds could comprehend the truth of it...
We do, and we are strong.
***********************************************************************************
This is my response to the April 14th, 2011 Flash Fearsday exercise over at Lunching on Lamias, which challenges you to write a horror story in exactly 140 characters. It is also my "M" entry for the A-Z Blogging Challenge.
In numbers, strength!
As if your analog minds could comprehend the truth of it...
We do, and we are strong.
***********************************************************************************
This is my response to the April 14th, 2011 Flash Fearsday exercise over at Lunching on Lamias, which challenges you to write a horror story in exactly 140 characters. It is also my "M" entry for the A-Z Blogging Challenge.
L is for Literature, and Laziness
My post for "L" in the April A-Z Challenge is another one that is pulling double-duty: it started out life as a reply to a blog post at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, here. I found this post while I was loitering over here at Porky's Expanse!, one of my favorite internet places.
For those of you who didn't read the IEET article linked above, I'll summarize, admittedly very roughly: David Brin says that the main difference between Fantasy and SF is that fantasy is about resigning yourself to your fate and SF is about having the power to change it through scientific progress. I've included almost all of my response to his article below:
For starters, I don't believe that Fantasy teaches us to be resigned to Fate. Fate and Prophecy appear frequently in Fantasy stories, but often more in the role of a challenge to be met by the heroes than of a foregone conclusion. In LoTR, Gandalf says "Surely you don't disbelieve the prophecies just because you had a hand in bringing them about!", yet the reader in LoTR, and in most fantasy, has the definite sense that the outcome could have been far different, if any of the characters had chosen differently, had not shown courage and determination, had not persevered through daunting and seemingly hopeless situations, and had not acted from positions of high moral and ethical standards. On one level then, prophecy or fate in the fantasy story is the yardstick against which we can measure our hero - did he or she fulfill the prophecy? Was he or she found worthy in spirit and deed? If so, then his or her behavior is a worthy guide to how we should conduct ourselves when faced with similar, if less potentially Earth-shattering, situations. If not, then his or her behavior is still a worthy guide, but a guide of how not to behave.
Far from teaching resignation to injustice and social inequity, many fantasy stories are explicitly about the weak or the disregarded finding the courage, the skill, and the ingenuity to defeat the established power structure when it has become corrupted or destructive, and establishing or re-establishing a more just and equitable system with the formerly-powerless taking control.
Fantasy uses archetypal settings and elements, many of which derive in part from feudal systems and mythos - kings and peasants, damsels and monsters, swords and shields, magic and witches, and dungeons and riddles - not because feudalism mixed with superstition is or was such a great form of government and social structure, or even because readers want them to, but because fantasy deals with archetypal themes where the details of the setting are not the important issues, where, instead, the questions are of the relationship of the powerful to the weak, of what constitutes the nature of good and the nature of evil, of the right relationship of the individual to the society, and of the society to the individual, questions and answers that are intended to be universal, or at least culture-wide, and that are primarily directed at issues of human relationship and moral behavior. For these types of stories, being able to access the rich history of previous experiences and literary references that most readers already have around these types of characters allows much more freedom to spend time and text on the interesting and meaty part of the story rather than spending a great deal of time developing the reader’s understanding of what a “king” or a “wizard” is. There is plenty of this type of archetypal fantasy that gets shelved under SF, in my opinion, and these science fantasies are littered with similarly readily-recognizable archetypes, just decidedly non-feudal ones: "The Mad Scientist", "The Flawed Creation", and "The Unsuspecting (member of the ) Public”, as well as “The Scientist-Messiah”, “The Greedy Competitor”, “The Miraculous Creation”, and “The Unappreciative (or Idiotic or Interfering) Public”.
"Hard" SF, which is comparatively rare these days, is concerned entirely with the permutations of the realm of the possible, the answer to the question "What if...?" constrained firmly within the boundaries of the Real. Science or scientists or technology or even the scientific method may play either heroic or villainous parts in such tales - but the stories are located in physical frameworks outside the realm of the fantastic: they follow from what we know (or currently believe) to be true. In SF, the questions the writer and the reader wish to explore often reside firmly in the details – “What kind of life could develop on the surface of a neutron star? What would a society made up of such organisms look like? Could we detect it, or recognize it as life? Could it detect us, or recognize us as life?“ or “What would happen if we had a genetically-engineered plague that only killed fertile women of childbearing age?”
From my perspective, then, the core difference between the two genres is that fantasy is almost always about the big picture of what should be, and SF is much more about the details of what could be and what is.
I'm a huge fan and voracious reader of both genres, and I think that they both have a lot to offer people who are concerned with ethics and how to apply them to emerging technologies, and even to people who couldn't care less about how to apply ethics to emerging technologies, although I confess I have a hard time imagining that you could spend much time reading F & SF and not be concerned with that.
I'd love to hear what the rest of you think.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
K is for Keys and Kaleidoscope
Not exactly a new post, but links to two older ones that I hope you will enjoy:
K is for Keys. and Kaleidoscope.
I promise that I will have actual new A-Z posts for the letters this week as soon as possible, but I didn't want anyone to think I had abandoned the project.
K is for Keys. and Kaleidoscope.
I promise that I will have actual new A-Z posts for the letters this week as soon as possible, but I didn't want anyone to think I had abandoned the project.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
J is for Jakkar
No one forgets their first sight of the Jakkar Instability, or of the Gates that surround it .
Jarring.
The word, or one like it, is in every report about the Instability filed by new Journeyers, in every private log entry as yet revealed, in every language spoken on the Nine Worlds. Hard to call it anything else. Certainly not "functional", although the Instability and the Gates are certainly that, at least as far as the term goes.
The jumble of angular shapes, some bright metal, some matte black synthetics interspersed with fluorescent swathes of flexible radiation sheeting, the garish patterning spiking up-spectrum and trailing back down as the plasma waves splash over and around the access points, conspires to initially direct the novice's eye away from the warping pulsations and comparatively subtle distortions that mark the boundaries of the Instability itself, the fortuitously-located natural gravitational anomaly that comprises the core of the teleportal monopoly of the Jakkar.
Jarring.
The word, or one like it, is in every report about the Instability filed by new Journeyers, in every private log entry as yet revealed, in every language spoken on the Nine Worlds. Hard to call it anything else. Certainly not "functional", although the Instability and the Gates are certainly that, at least as far as the term goes.
The jumble of angular shapes, some bright metal, some matte black synthetics interspersed with fluorescent swathes of flexible radiation sheeting, the garish patterning spiking up-spectrum and trailing back down as the plasma waves splash over and around the access points, conspires to initially direct the novice's eye away from the warping pulsations and comparatively subtle distortions that mark the boundaries of the Instability itself, the fortuitously-located natural gravitational anomaly that comprises the core of the teleportal monopoly of the Jakkar.
Monday, April 11, 2011
I can now refer to myself...
...as "an award-winning blogger".
Deirdra from A Storybook World gave me the "Creative Blogger Award".
Thanks, Deirdre!
Deirdra from A Storybook World gave me the "Creative Blogger Award".
Thanks, Deirdre!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
I is for Instability
This is my response to this week's Poetry Potluck, which I discovered thanks to a link over at Porky's Expanse!. The theme for the week is Evolution, Environment, and Survival.
I feel like I am channeling Ogden Nash this week...
*************************************************************************************
The pattern set, the dance arises,
called by DNA surprises;
radiation fiddles, clearly,
often costing dancers dearly;
on the other hand, it rarely
benefits them, Punnett-squarely.
New mutations change the rules,
by broadening or ending pools,
and new conditions reshape life,
like a random pocket knife
that whittles out forms, plain or odd,
mimicking the hand of God.
I feel like I am channeling Ogden Nash this week...
*************************************************************************************
The pattern set, the dance arises,
called by DNA surprises;
radiation fiddles, clearly,
often costing dancers dearly;
on the other hand, it rarely
benefits them, Punnett-squarely.
New mutations change the rules,
by broadening or ending pools,
and new conditions reshape life,
like a random pocket knife
that whittles out forms, plain or odd,
mimicking the hand of God.
Expansion Joints: part 7, "Hammer", (and H is for Hardware)
This is my response to this week's Expansion Joints Challenge., and my entry for the letter "H" in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge
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"Drunk?"
"Hammered."
"Discovered?"
"Nailed."
"Disciplined?"
"Screwed..."
Nothing but gut-wrenching silence to hammer the point home.
************************************************************************************
"Drunk?"
"Hammered."
"Discovered?"
"Nailed."
"Disciplined?"
"Screwed..."
Nothing but gut-wrenching silence to hammer the point home.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Expansion Joints Challenge: part 7, "Hammer"
When this exercise was hosted over at Porky's Expanse!, he always chose the word for the Expanders! challenge based on some relevant happening that had occurred during the previous week. I must confess that, once again, my life outside the blogosphere has been such that my time and energy to peruse the details of all the wondrous happenings here has been sorely lacking. One post this week, from Netherworks, really did stand out for me, though, and so, in the big, bold, low, gritty, and exuberantly shameless tradition of Rabelais, the word of the week is "hammer". You know how he'd use it - let's see how you will.
If you aren't familiar with the Expansion Joints project, it all began over at Porky's Expanse!.
The rules are just as they are described over at Porky's: as much narrative as you can cram into fifteen words, one of which must be the word of the week.
This can take the form of
1. An epyllion,or litle epic, a stand-alone fifteen-word narrative, or
2. An epos, or 'epic'. Instead of an independent 15-word story, you can choose to develop someone else's story from a previous week, or extend your own story from week to week. Just write the next installment. If it has 15 words, uses the word of the week, and continues the story, you've done it.
There are two important things to think about if you choose epos. First, you should have the permission of the person who wrote the story you will develop. If anyone writes a 15-word epyllion or adds to an epos and is happy for others to develop it later, please say so, with something like 'for use in an epos'. Second, by using specific elements of someone else's story, we technically create a derivative work, so it's best to avoid this.
There are a number of generous contributors who have given express permission to use some of their writing as the basis for epos:
Porky, the founder of the project, offers up all of his contributions.
GDMNW has opened up the three stories here.
Dave G_Nplusplus makes any of his Expanders! stories available for use in an epos.
Jim Hale has an epos running on his Expanders! page, and he has graciously extended permission to play with any or all of the contributions there.
Andy, over at The Creepy Corridor, has also made his epos posts available for expansion.
And, as always, feel free to use any of the stories on this blog that are tagged as "Expansion Joints" in an epos.
When you've finished writing your entry, either post your 15-word story directly in the comments here, or leave a link in the comments to the blog page where we can find it.
If you aren't familiar with the Expansion Joints project, it all began over at Porky's Expanse!.
The rules are just as they are described over at Porky's: as much narrative as you can cram into fifteen words, one of which must be the word of the week.
This can take the form of
1. An epyllion,or litle epic, a stand-alone fifteen-word narrative, or
2. An epos, or 'epic'. Instead of an independent 15-word story, you can choose to develop someone else's story from a previous week, or extend your own story from week to week. Just write the next installment. If it has 15 words, uses the word of the week, and continues the story, you've done it.
There are two important things to think about if you choose epos. First, you should have the permission of the person who wrote the story you will develop. If anyone writes a 15-word epyllion or adds to an epos and is happy for others to develop it later, please say so, with something like 'for use in an epos'. Second, by using specific elements of someone else's story, we technically create a derivative work, so it's best to avoid this.
There are a number of generous contributors who have given express permission to use some of their writing as the basis for epos:
Porky, the founder of the project, offers up all of his contributions.
GDMNW has opened up the three stories here.
Dave G_Nplusplus makes any of his Expanders! stories available for use in an epos.
Jim Hale has an epos running on his Expanders! page, and he has graciously extended permission to play with any or all of the contributions there.
Andy, over at The Creepy Corridor, has also made his epos posts available for expansion.
And, as always, feel free to use any of the stories on this blog that are tagged as "Expansion Joints" in an epos.
When you've finished writing your entry, either post your 15-word story directly in the comments here, or leave a link in the comments to the blog page where we can find it.
Friday, April 8, 2011
G is for Gateways
Translation of the initial stanzas of the Catechism of the Dorai, an extended verse mnemonic taught in preparation for their initiation rituals performed at the age of maturity. These rituals are purported to assure that the initiate is a true person and not a malignant spiritual energy made manifest. Subsequent stanzas go into extensive detail on overcoming specific physical, mental,and spiritual challenges that might be faced within the context of the ritual.
Subsequent stanzas go into extensive detail on overcoming specific physical, mental,and spiritual challenges that might be faced within the context of the ritual. There is much debate among scholars as to the symbolic meanings attached to the Gates of Fire and Ice in these verses, with some asserting that they clearly represent Passion and Will, others championing Emotion and Reason, and still others proposing Action and Restraint, and even a few considering the possibility of Anger and Fear or Love and Detachment. It is worth noting that none of the scholars prominent in this debate have ever undergone the rituals, and the few adult Dorai who have consulted with researchers about the topic have dismissed the question out of hand, saying that the verses are clear on the primary point, which is that the choice of which gate you choose is of no consequence to the final outcome, and that the choices that you make must be consistent with your true self.
Now, to pass through the Kingdom of the Shadow,
and come out again the other side,
there are many paths to take
but there's something you forsake:
there are many things you must decide.
There's a gateway that's a portal of Fire
There's a gateway that's a portal of Ice
and whichever gate you choose,
there is something that you lose:
You can't pass without a sacrifice.
You might leave behind some pieces of your body,
you might leave behind some pieces of your soul:
but take care which parts you shed -
(there are far worse fates than "dead") -
and to come out sane's your highest goal.
Subsequent stanzas go into extensive detail on overcoming specific physical, mental,and spiritual challenges that might be faced within the context of the ritual. There is much debate among scholars as to the symbolic meanings attached to the Gates of Fire and Ice in these verses, with some asserting that they clearly represent Passion and Will, others championing Emotion and Reason, and still others proposing Action and Restraint, and even a few considering the possibility of Anger and Fear or Love and Detachment. It is worth noting that none of the scholars prominent in this debate have ever undergone the rituals, and the few adult Dorai who have consulted with researchers about the topic have dismissed the question out of hand, saying that the verses are clear on the primary point, which is that the choice of which gate you choose is of no consequence to the final outcome, and that the choices that you make must be consistent with your true self.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Flash Fearsday: Unfathomable
Water rippling, silver and black.
What does it conceal?
Moon beams cannot interrogate from above.
Sightless eyes stare back -
Dead silence.
***********************************************************************************
This is my response to the April 7th, 2011 Flash Fearsday exercise over at Lunching on Lamias, which challenges you to write a horror story in exactly 140 characters. It is also my "F" entry for the A-Z Blogging Challenge.
What does it conceal?
Moon beams cannot interrogate from above.
Sightless eyes stare back -
Dead silence.
***********************************************************************************
This is my response to the April 7th, 2011 Flash Fearsday exercise over at Lunching on Lamias, which challenges you to write a horror story in exactly 140 characters. It is also my "F" entry for the A-Z Blogging Challenge.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Pathfinders: Egging You On
The creature peers at you in silence as you begin to move your hand toward the nest; then, as your fingers pass the rim, explodes in what seems to be an alarm or a warning, wings partially extended, head bobbing, eyestalks waving, scales puffed out away from its body, the once-pleasant chirruping sound now harsher and higher. Hunger outweighing sympathy, you remain unmoved by the display, and redirect your gaze into the nest, targeting the largest of the eggs there, while concentrating on keeping a tight grip on your rather precarious perch. The alarm call is repeating faster, now...louder, too...much louder...and as your fingers curl around the first egg, you notice that the sound is no longer directional, but seems to be coming from all around you, and there is another sound behind it, a rustling, like storm winds blowing leaves. You retrieve your prize and glance up at the enraged creature, realizing with a start that there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of similar creatures who have taken up the alarm call and come to the aid of the aggrieved parent, and they are covering all the branches within reach. More can be heard approaching from all sides. You are surrounded.
Do you:
Try to flee?
Replace the egg in the nest?
Break the egg into your mouth? Blog one
Attempt to scare off the creatures?
Drop the egg?
***********************************************************************************
This post is part of Porky's Fantasy Blogwalk, a collaborative cross-blog Choose Your Own Adventure narrative, as well as a part of the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. If you have an idea for what comes before, write it, post it on your blog, and link to this post in one of your action options. If you have an idea for what happens next with one or more of the options (or if you have an idea for what happens with another action not yet listed) write it up and leave the link in the comments here. I will add the link to the appropriate option. The main adventure begins here.
Do you:
Try to flee?
Replace the egg in the nest?
Break the egg into your mouth? Blog one
Attempt to scare off the creatures?
Drop the egg?
***********************************************************************************
This post is part of Porky's Fantasy Blogwalk, a collaborative cross-blog Choose Your Own Adventure narrative, as well as a part of the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. If you have an idea for what comes before, write it, post it on your blog, and link to this post in one of your action options. If you have an idea for what happens next with one or more of the options (or if you have an idea for what happens with another action not yet listed) write it up and leave the link in the comments here. I will add the link to the appropriate option. The main adventure begins here.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
D is for Dreanak'ta
The Dreanak'ta, also known as the "Children of the Void" or "The Hole in the World", are a strong cultural, spiritual, and philosophical force, which, though derived originally from the Breanak teachings of the Kreag Mountain peoples, developed independently in the Nielon Archipelago on Amphitrite in the centuries following its introduction, and is now quite distinct from the earlier tradition.
It is said that several of the Seven Keys of Destiny can only be accessed with the permission or guidance of monastic wardens who are part of the order. This is a highly suspect claim, despite the pervasive extent of the folkloric belief, as the Dreanak'ta share few of the practices of the Seekers, and even fewer of their stated goals. The Dreanak'ta hold that the world is created anew in each instant, with only consciousness acting as a bridge to tie the disparate universes together, and it is the goal of the devotee to experience and absorb as much of each creation cycle as possible, in order to prevent the utter destruction of the world (and the self) from moment to moment. It is the Dreanak'ta belief that sentient beings have a responsibility to cultivate their own consciousness and remember themselves into being from creation to creation.
Monks and nuns of the Dreanak'ta are immediately recognizable by their elaborate, intricately patterned, but entirely black-and-white habits, headdresses, tattoos, and body paint, and by their practice of silently approaching random passers-by and suddenly shouting "T'ol dreanak? Na'tol toralapa?" (literally, "Are you awake? Can you see that you will soon die ?") Lay followers of the sect vary in their public observances, with many giving no outward indication of their philosophy, and others adopting varying degrees of the monastic practice.
The influence of the Dreanak'ta's teachings and practices extends throughout much of the Nine Worlds, albeit usually in a much-diluted form. The most obvious examples of this are the grave insults, present in a variety of forms throughout the Nine Worlds, all of which translate to: "I forgot your name."
It is said that several of the Seven Keys of Destiny can only be accessed with the permission or guidance of monastic wardens who are part of the order. This is a highly suspect claim, despite the pervasive extent of the folkloric belief, as the Dreanak'ta share few of the practices of the Seekers, and even fewer of their stated goals. The Dreanak'ta hold that the world is created anew in each instant, with only consciousness acting as a bridge to tie the disparate universes together, and it is the goal of the devotee to experience and absorb as much of each creation cycle as possible, in order to prevent the utter destruction of the world (and the self) from moment to moment. It is the Dreanak'ta belief that sentient beings have a responsibility to cultivate their own consciousness and remember themselves into being from creation to creation.
Monks and nuns of the Dreanak'ta are immediately recognizable by their elaborate, intricately patterned, but entirely black-and-white habits, headdresses, tattoos, and body paint, and by their practice of silently approaching random passers-by and suddenly shouting "T'ol dreanak? Na'tol toralapa?" (literally, "Are you awake? Can you see that you will soon die ?") Lay followers of the sect vary in their public observances, with many giving no outward indication of their philosophy, and others adopting varying degrees of the monastic practice.
The influence of the Dreanak'ta's teachings and practices extends throughout much of the Nine Worlds, albeit usually in a much-diluted form. The most obvious examples of this are the grave insults, present in a variety of forms throughout the Nine Worlds, all of which translate to: "I forgot your name."
Monday, April 4, 2011
Expansion Joints: "Fool" ( or is it "Letter"?) and C is for Confusion, Conflation, and Challenge
This is my response to this week's Expansion Joints Challenge., and my entry for the letter "C" in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge
************************************************************************************
The postman screamed. The recruit realized, belatedly, "Get a letter carrier!" was a fool's errand.
************************************************************************************
The postman screamed. The recruit realized, belatedly, "Get a letter carrier!" was a fool's errand.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Expansion Joints Challenge: part 6, "Fool"
When this exercise was hosted over at Porky's Expanse!, he always chose the word for the Expanders! challenge based on some relevant happening that had occurred during the previous week. I have a streak of laziness that rears its head here and there, and with the way the rest of my week outside of the internet has gone, I haven't had the time or energy to really scout out any happenings of significance. So, since it is the beginning of April, and there is nothing happening in the blogosphere that I know of that is remotely connected to the month of April, nothing to spark the imagination, no mass blogging project, for example, running during the course of this month that has attracted over a thousand participants, each writing a post a day every weekday (Sundays excepted) for 26 days, one for each letter of the alphabet, I am at a loss. If there were such a project, the word of the week would have been easy to choose: "letter". As it stands, the best I can do is commemorate the fact that this week saw the annual observance of April Fool's Day, and grudgingly admit that the word of the week is "fool".
If you aren't familiar with the Expansion Joints project, it all began over at Porky's Expanse!.
The rules are just as they are described over at Porky's: as much narrative as you can cram into fifteen words, one of which must be the word of the week.
This can take the form of
1. An epyllion,or litle epic, a stand-alone fifteen-word narrative, or
2. An epos, or 'epic'. Instead of an independent 15-word story, you can choose to develop someone else's story from a previous week, or extend your own story from week to week. Just write the next installment. If it has 15 words, uses the word of the week, and continues the story, you've done it.
There are two important things to think about if you choose epos. First, you should have the permission of the person who wrote the story you will develop. If anyone writes a 15-word epyllion or adds to an epos and is happy for others to develop it later, please say so, with something like 'for use in an epos'. Second, by using specific elements of someone else's story, we technically create a derivative work, so it's best to avoid this.
There are a number of generous contributors who have given express permission to use some of their writing as the basis for epos:
Porky, the founder of the project, offers up food, fort, stuff, and elf.
GDMNW has opened up the three stories here.
Dave G_Nplusplus makes any of his Expanders! stories available for use in an epos.
Jim Hale has an epos running on his Expanders! page, and he has graciously extended permission to play with any or all of the contributions there.
Andy, over at The Creepy Corridor, has also made his epos posts available for expansion.
And, as always, feel free to use any of the stories on this blog that are tagged as "Expansion Joints" in an epos.
When you've finished writing your entry, either post your 15-word story directly in the comments here, or leave a link in the comments to the blog page where we can find it.
If you aren't familiar with the Expansion Joints project, it all began over at Porky's Expanse!.
The rules are just as they are described over at Porky's: as much narrative as you can cram into fifteen words, one of which must be the word of the week.
This can take the form of
1. An epyllion,or litle epic, a stand-alone fifteen-word narrative, or
2. An epos, or 'epic'. Instead of an independent 15-word story, you can choose to develop someone else's story from a previous week, or extend your own story from week to week. Just write the next installment. If it has 15 words, uses the word of the week, and continues the story, you've done it.
There are two important things to think about if you choose epos. First, you should have the permission of the person who wrote the story you will develop. If anyone writes a 15-word epyllion or adds to an epos and is happy for others to develop it later, please say so, with something like 'for use in an epos'. Second, by using specific elements of someone else's story, we technically create a derivative work, so it's best to avoid this.
There are a number of generous contributors who have given express permission to use some of their writing as the basis for epos:
Porky, the founder of the project, offers up food, fort, stuff, and elf.
GDMNW has opened up the three stories here.
Dave G_Nplusplus makes any of his Expanders! stories available for use in an epos.
Jim Hale has an epos running on his Expanders! page, and he has graciously extended permission to play with any or all of the contributions there.
Andy, over at The Creepy Corridor, has also made his epos posts available for expansion.
And, as always, feel free to use any of the stories on this blog that are tagged as "Expansion Joints" in an epos.
When you've finished writing your entry, either post your 15-word story directly in the comments here, or leave a link in the comments to the blog page where we can find it.
Pathfinders: B is for Bold...or is it for Bottomless?
The call of that tunnel is too strong.
Cautiously, your heart beating in your throat, you grasp the edge of the hole, slide a foot down, ready to spring back at once should anything seem amiss. You feel the cool firmness of the earth under your hands, steadying you, and your toe touches a pipe. The pipe holds beneath light pressure, and, emboldened, you ease more weight onto it. You can feel a low, steady vibration, like the hum of distant machinery, transmitted through the pipe, but the pipe itself stays fast.
The vibration is oddly comforting, and you begin to relax. All your weight on the pipe now, you bring your other foot down, feel your footing still solid on the rounded surface of the pipe. You release the breath you hadn't realized you were holding. Sure of yourself now, you reach out for a handhold on pipe that juts out just below the edge of the hole, grasp it, and gingerly begin climbing down, maneuvering around and through the maze of pipes, edging closer and closer to the tunnel, struggling not to look into the dizzying void. The vibration in the pipes grows stronger, and your hands and feet begin to tingle and go a little numb. Is it from the vibration, or something else?
The pipes feel moist and slick now under your hands, getting hard to hold on to. Sweat? Oil? The tunnel seems closer now than the top of the hole, and you resolve to make quickly for its relative safety. You release your grip on the pipes to wipe one hand on your clothes, the other hand sliding on the slickness now, but still keeping a tenuous grasp, and you realize that your movements seem slow and heavy, like moving through water. As you shift your weight to take hold of the next pipe, you catch a glimpse of the star-filled void, and dizzied by the view, feel yourself sliding forward. You grab for the pipes to steady yourself, but your arms and legs fail to respond in time, and your fingers just brush the edge of the pipe as they swing past. Your feet slip off the edge of the pipe and the jolt pulls your other hand free from the pipes.
You are falling toward the void, into the stars, banging against the pipes as you struggle in vain to reach them. You abruptly stop, your body slamming against an invisible barrier. The impact leaves you dazed, your nose bleeding...do you burn from the impact, or from the barrier itself? Amazed, relieved, but terrified, disoriented, gazing into the impossible starry void, you push frantically against the barrier, manage to raise yourself up, and feel a sickening sensation of vertigo. You collapse, trying to fight back nausea, and you realize with horror that the barrier is softening, has ceased to hold you up, and that you are slowly, inexorably, sinking into it. The burning, prickling sensation increases as the field begins to close over you.
Do you:
Call for help? Blog 1
Struggle against the field?
Close your eyes and accept your fate?
***********************************************************************************
This post is part of Porky's Fantasy Blogwalk, a collaborative cross-blog Choose Your Own Adventure narrative. If you have an idea for what comes before, write it, post it on your blog, and link to this post in one of your action options. If you have an idea for what happens next with one or more of the options (or if you have an idea for what happens with another action not yet listed) write it up and leave the link in the comments here. I will add the link to the appropriate option. The main adventure begins here.
Cautiously, your heart beating in your throat, you grasp the edge of the hole, slide a foot down, ready to spring back at once should anything seem amiss. You feel the cool firmness of the earth under your hands, steadying you, and your toe touches a pipe. The pipe holds beneath light pressure, and, emboldened, you ease more weight onto it. You can feel a low, steady vibration, like the hum of distant machinery, transmitted through the pipe, but the pipe itself stays fast.
The vibration is oddly comforting, and you begin to relax. All your weight on the pipe now, you bring your other foot down, feel your footing still solid on the rounded surface of the pipe. You release the breath you hadn't realized you were holding. Sure of yourself now, you reach out for a handhold on pipe that juts out just below the edge of the hole, grasp it, and gingerly begin climbing down, maneuvering around and through the maze of pipes, edging closer and closer to the tunnel, struggling not to look into the dizzying void. The vibration in the pipes grows stronger, and your hands and feet begin to tingle and go a little numb. Is it from the vibration, or something else?
The pipes feel moist and slick now under your hands, getting hard to hold on to. Sweat? Oil? The tunnel seems closer now than the top of the hole, and you resolve to make quickly for its relative safety. You release your grip on the pipes to wipe one hand on your clothes, the other hand sliding on the slickness now, but still keeping a tenuous grasp, and you realize that your movements seem slow and heavy, like moving through water. As you shift your weight to take hold of the next pipe, you catch a glimpse of the star-filled void, and dizzied by the view, feel yourself sliding forward. You grab for the pipes to steady yourself, but your arms and legs fail to respond in time, and your fingers just brush the edge of the pipe as they swing past. Your feet slip off the edge of the pipe and the jolt pulls your other hand free from the pipes.
You are falling toward the void, into the stars, banging against the pipes as you struggle in vain to reach them. You abruptly stop, your body slamming against an invisible barrier. The impact leaves you dazed, your nose bleeding...do you burn from the impact, or from the barrier itself? Amazed, relieved, but terrified, disoriented, gazing into the impossible starry void, you push frantically against the barrier, manage to raise yourself up, and feel a sickening sensation of vertigo. You collapse, trying to fight back nausea, and you realize with horror that the barrier is softening, has ceased to hold you up, and that you are slowly, inexorably, sinking into it. The burning, prickling sensation increases as the field begins to close over you.
Do you:
Call for help? Blog 1
Struggle against the field?
Close your eyes and accept your fate?
***********************************************************************************
This post is part of Porky's Fantasy Blogwalk, a collaborative cross-blog Choose Your Own Adventure narrative. If you have an idea for what comes before, write it, post it on your blog, and link to this post in one of your action options. If you have an idea for what happens next with one or more of the options (or if you have an idea for what happens with another action not yet listed) write it up and leave the link in the comments here. I will add the link to the appropriate option. The main adventure begins here.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Apparently, reading all that Arthur C. Clarke paid off.
I had a few of my Nine Worlds posts analyzed, and got consistent results:
According to the analysis program, I write like Arthur Clarke. Proof: http://iwl.me/s/a19b4b4
Much as we all miss him, I think I'm glad he didn't live to see his writing and mine compared!
According to the analysis program, I write like Arthur Clarke. Proof: http://iwl.me/s/a19b4b4
Much as we all miss him, I think I'm glad he didn't live to see his writing and mine compared!
Flash Fearsday: Number of the Beast
She sighed with relief, the assassin unmasked, but with 140 characters, could she be certain only one was evil? At least one was a cipher...
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This is my response to the March 31st, 2011 Flash Fearsday exercise over at Porky's Expanse!, or possibly over at Lunching on Lamias, (I am playing a little with the concept of linear time, responding to things which haven't yet appeared!) which challenges you to write a short story in exactly 140 characters.
***********************************************************************************
This is my response to the March 31st, 2011 Flash Fearsday exercise over at Porky's Expanse!, or possibly over at Lunching on Lamias, (I am playing a little with the concept of linear time, responding to things which haven't yet appeared!) which challenges you to write a short story in exactly 140 characters.
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