Category Archives: fiction

Do you really want to live forever?

Do I have a choice?

But then ‘forever’ for humans it is far different from the Sidhe definition of the same word. I am already centuries old, how many humans can have achieved that? And we do not ‘die’ in the same way that humans might. From my vantage point I have seen the roll of history, the many changes and upheavals. Each generation so-very-certain that the one within which they exist will be the last.

Each one has been wrong.

This time I wonder, however. Never have I seen such destruction for no reason other than the incessant dissatisfaction that only greed can bring. Nature is always been regenerative, even in the face of war, famine and pestilence. Most everyone is walking around poisoned and a disease unto themselves and only we who are one form of Immortal or another can truly see the difference between what it once was, and what it is now. The air is a miasma of smoke and filth, even in places that are called ‘pristine’. The water has less and less life within it so that it no longer nourishes or adeqately sustains. The soil labors constantly with no true rest.It is a wonder to me that anything grows at all anymore.

Do I want to live forever?

What I want is not relevant. The issue is whether or not I will. Fortunately or unfortunately, however, what I am has already decided the answer to that.

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100 Drabbles of Summer

Table under cut

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Munday – Villains

1. What makes a good villain, in your opinion?
There is no 100% bad villain, just as there are no 100% good heroes. Either one would be boring as hell and there can be no suspension of disbelief in either case. I like a villain that you can find glimpses of that person’s past – why they are the way that they are. When that happens, the reader can almost empathise with that character. It doesn’t have to be emo, or overt. Some of the most powerful things can be articulated with a mere glance, a gesture, or just the smallest of nuances. Those kinds of things add to their complexity and makes the villain far more compelling.

2. Do you tend to write more for villains or heroes? I tend to write characters with more villainous qualities than not. In the character’s mind, they know exactly what they are doing and why and as Faelyn is fond of saying, and the icon indicates, All is fair in the pursuit of power. Faelyn spent her life living by that creed because of who and what she is. Other characters, such as sheldonsandscia is a sociopathic little bastard. He does what he does and feels not the slightest bit of remorse, except in the very odd instance and with very few people. nomanselizabth does what she does because she is a queen, and as a monarch, unpleasant tasks that guarantee one’s survival have to be undertaken. I don’t know that any of them really sit around and dream up new and interesting ways to be villainous, however.

3. Who wins more often in your stories, the good guy or the bad guy? It’s a toss up. Sometimes one side wins over the other, but everyone is a villain or a hero, depending on your point of view. My stories tend to be about survival and the character going for what he or she wants. Formulaic who wins and who loses scenario rarely enter into the picture.

4. Have you ever written a redeemable / reformed villain? A good guy turned bad? Yes. I wrote a muse from child to adult who was just sweet and cute and she slowly changed into something else that in no way resembled her former self. That was hard, because I really rather liked the inquisitive little girl that was there before she lost her innocence.

5. Are there any themes among your bad guys – do you tend to write zombie stories, fantasy villains, etc?
Again, it is about the redeeming qualities of each villain that my muses interact with. captainbarbossa, early on, in spite of his dangerous exterior and arrogance has things about him that provide those small moments of creamy delicious story flavour! is a muse where you clearly do have a bit of sympathy for the Devil! There are lots of wonderful villain muses that my muses will itneract with. such as the Giovanni’s from the World of Darkness fandom. It is a natural for Faelyn / Fanny since she is half Unseeliewhich means,
“Unblessed” She even went as far to marry the “bad guy from the Three Musketeers fandom, The Comte de Rochefort as played by all_forme because they understood each other as more “heroic” muses wouldn’t have.

6. Are some of your antagonists non-villains, just at cross purposes from the hero?

I have NPC’s for that purpose and most of them are just ignorant and foolishly try to stand between my muses and their stated goals. Of course each side has varying degrees of success, neither side can win all of the time. Besides, conflict is what drives a story.

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Wednesday: Mood

Today, we challenge you to find and share a picture that visually represents your mood right now.

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OOC: Grrr!!

For the record, The PDF version of “The Memoirs of the Count de Rochefort” by Cortilz de Sandras (English Translation) is a complete disaster! Then again, maybe it is just the version of it for Kindle PC that is completely unreadable. Anyway…what’s with all these codes and HTML and nonsense?! It is so bad on the Kindle ap that it is completely unreadable. I just want to find out who thought it was ok to upload something so wretched to archives.org and ask what they could have been thinking. Thankfully, however, I have an actual physical copy and just have to figure out the difference between the use of “F’s” and “S’s” and you can pretty much get the general gist. I have always thought that a better rendition of the ‘Memoirs’ from the famous D’artagnan romances would be fantastic since, unbeknownst to most, they are based off of real people. Alexandre’ Dumas shamelessly ripped off both Cortilz and his co-writer, Auguste Maquet and yet gets all of the credit for being so bloody brilliant.

Anyway…

It is officially spring break which means a mad flurry of cleaning and fixing up so we can get the house appraised, refinanced and my ex husband off the mortgage, etc. Then there’s the eBook to finish up and the two manuscripts and upload them to Kindle. Then there is the FAFSA to finish, the scholarship application and the business plans for “Backwoods” and “Dragon Legacy”.

All this and I am supposed to get some sleep in there somewhere.

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Frater et Soror Alchemia: Rightful Places (Chapter 2)

“…and we must put aside the aside the conventional image of the alchemist as a threadbare, etiolated individual, filthy and stinking from sulphurous smoke and half-poisoned by mercury, and picture a well-dressed, articulate man surrounded by noble men and women in a vaulted chamber of a castle or palace, lecturing deferentially to people who most certainly well understood what he was talking about and who had examined his equipment to obviate any chances of fraud. Demonstrations by members of the Academie des Sciences in the presence of Louis XIV, or by Fellows of the Royal Society of London before Charles II, provide close parallels, the demonstrators being some of the foremost scientists of the day.” – P.G. Maxwell-Stewart, “The Chemical Choir: A History of Alchemy”

veryone judges by appearances, and yet they should not. London, for all its history and culture, is just barely more than a filthy industrial town. The scientists and heralds of new hope in the new age of technology have done nothing to usher in the New Aeon into the backstreet squalor that surrounds their hallowed, columned halls. We, the Magus, have kept close to our Highest Ideals and strove very toward them, and we struggle against the Masters that through their production, and technology and promise of work in their gilded age, offer thinly disguised collars of slavery to those who would but hand over both their minds and souls and settle for a pittance for the privilege to wait upon their lords and masters. Those industrial barrons fear that we can look at their brave new world and see the opposite of the dark moonlight that we do not fear to embrace. Continue reading

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Frater et Soror Alchemia: Ascension (Chapter 1)

OOC: This is out of the usual sphere for this particular muse. I am working on a Steampunk bit over on Pan Historia in the novel, “The High Adventure”. Essentially, it is the Steam Barons vs. the Alchemists who want to destabilize the economy and make things more “even” among the common people by literally turning lead into gold. Faelyn and her friend and confidante, Doctor Augustin Chaubert, who heads up the local chapter of the Order of the Golden Dawn, that serves as a front for the Alchemists, are the “bad guys”. We are hoping, however, that people may be able to empathize at least a little with thier alleged “cause”..

“…and we must put aside the aside the conventional image of the alchemist as a threadbare, etiolated individual, filthy and stinking from sulphurous smoke and half-poisoned by mercury, and picture a well-dressed, articulate man surrounded by noble men and women in a vaulted chamber of a castle or palace, lecturing deferentially to people who most certainly well understood what he was talking about and who had examined his equipment to obviate any chances of fraud. Demonstrations by members of the Academie des Sciences in the presence of Louis XIV, or by Fellows of the Royal Society of London before Charles II, provide close parallels, the demonstrators being some of the foremost scientists of the day.” – P.G. Maxwell-Stewart, “The Chemical Choir: A History of Alchemy”

Upon the dais he had ascended and he had done so magnificently. After the long-awaited passing of, Leiland Worth , Augustin Chaubert was the new blood that the Society of Alchemists had been needing for so long. Continue reading

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Quick Update

I apologise for my continued absence. Believe me when I say it is not apathy. I do try to glance at LJ once in a while, however, with less than 20 days in the semester, two papers due, four final exams and three production projects in the offing – one of which has got to be well underway by Tax Day, April 15th as the crew goes on the road to film the documentary until the end of the month – my world is insane. Apparently I am just one single credit hour away from being what is considered “overloaded” by the school’s standards. :-/

But I did manage to get my taxes done.

I realise that there are those that don’t have the patience to hang in. That’s ok. I completely understand. If I am not posting and commenting, then it is natural to do some spring cleaning of your friends lists.

I also realise that I have not done prompts for a couple of weeks. They will be updated this weekend.

Many of you and your families are in my thoughts and prayers. Some are going through some really rough times, and I honestly do not know how you get up in the morning and face it all. I am thinking of you, I am reading when I can.

Stay safe, stay sane (if you can), and know I will be back when I can.

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Wednesday – Picture that Causes You To Cry

The Unseelie are not easily moved to tears.

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Munday Survey Says….

Attitude in relation to authority figures

Faelyn being High Lady and Queen of the Fortunate Island thinks of herself as an authority figure. As long as she agrees that that person or institution has equal or greater “authority” than herself things are fine. She is, though, a diplomat and can play the subordinate and the suplicant if it is to her calculated advantage to do so. She hotly resents the Christian Church, particularly the Catholic Faith, but she sees many protestants as being far worse in their subjugation and exploitation of women. She won’t be overt in her undermining those authorities, but she does work covertly in achieving her objectives.
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