Here's a picture of Reginald. It's not super great, but yeah. ^_^
Here's the original.
Here's the edited version.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
W/S: ....ERROR 404
No Writing Supernaturals this week either. I'm just to out of it to be inspired. sadface,,,
I'm taking vacation from blogging for a while to get my head together.
Smooches!
I'm taking vacation from blogging for a while to get my head together.
Smooches!
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Ask TheLostSigns #.....ERROR 404
soo yeah no Ask The LostSigns Fridays this week...sadface. I wrote it but I didn't get around to typing it up and posting it.
ehhh....
ehhh....
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Free Fiction Tuesdays: Heart Of Stone (Part 3)
Still go writers block on "Seeds of War" so this week I'm bringing you another installment of "Heart Of Stone". For those of you who don't know this is the book I started for 2012 NaNoWriMo and a very special thank you goes out to AnAutumnRose for bringing the event to my attention. Thanks, Love! Anywasy here's some more "Heart of Stone"!
Euryale did not know what response
she had expected from the two women, but the screaming match that had then
ensued had most definitely not been it. After what seemed like ages, the two
women had come to the conclusion that it was not each other they should be mad
at and had summoned the whole of the sisterhood together in the great Oracle
chamber deep within the temple and revealed the travesty that had occurred.
Unrest had moved through the gathered women like a wave coming to the shore and
the screaming it seemed was set to resound through the country side much as it
had resounded through the chamber in which Euryale had asked her seemingly
simple question in the presence of the High Priestess and the Oracle. Before it
got out of control, however, the High Priestess called for silence and with her
support the Oracle described a solution. All within the sisterhood would take a
vow of celibacy forgoing pleasure in order to focus on their higher calling. By
the time the decree had settled into all the sisters minds, relief was almost
palatable in the air. Sadly, it was not to last for not even a fortnight passed
before Apollo appeared within the temple courtyard in a flash of light and a
wave of heat. All gathered could see that Apollo was furious. When the High
Priestess appeared with the Oracle in tow, to politely inquire as to what help
they could provide to him in easing his anger, they were loudly informed that
“They” were the cause of his anger. That he had come to the women of the
sisterhood as he had for time incalculable and been turned away with none of
his usual comforts. He had approached many of the sisters, in many, different
guises, and not one had lain with him as was his right. To this the High
Priestess informed him that the Sisterhood of the Oracle of Pythia was not in
fact required to provide those types of services to any being, be they God or
man or anything in between. That the temple, and all who dwelled within, were
the sole purview of the Fates themselves and were not to be used as anyone’s
personal harem. That they were sorry he was upset, but that they were only
thankful that his deception had finally been revealed to them.
Euryale felt her face pinch up at the
memory of what had followed even as the mass of lizards that made up her hair,
sensing her distress, began to make soothing noises. Sighing softly to herself
she crooned back to them softly before once more reliving those moments within
her mind’s eye.
At hearing the word revealed, all of
the anger that Apollo had been displaying and the courtyard grew eerily silent.
“And how is it that I a god have come
to be revealed unto thee, Priestess?” Apollo had quietly asked as his gaze
roved the amassed crowd a strange gleam having replaced the anger in his eyes.
No sooner had the High Priestess and
the Oracle called Euryale forward and told of the part she had played in
thwarting Apollo’s deception, then had Apollo turned his banked fury upon
Euryale herself.
Unable to kill her, as the High
Priestess had said all who resided in the temple were under the protection of
the Fates themselves, and he would have surely done so if he could have.
Instead, Apollo had chosen to Curse her. His terrible screeching frightening to
those who heard it.
“ YOU! YOU HAVE TAKEN SOMETHING FROM
ME WHICH I VALUED ABOVE ALL OTHERS AND IN DOING SO YOU NOT ONLY SHALL YOU BE
PUNISHED, BUT YOU SHALL KNOW MY LOSS AS WELL!” He bellowed. Taking a deep
breath and throwing out his arms in her direction, Euryale found herself alone
facing an angry gods wrath quaking in fear and abandoned on the steps leading
in to the temple proper and all within the Sisterhood watch in horror as Apollo
decreed her fate.
“ I WHO AM A GOD ABOVE MEN SO SHALL
YOU BE PLACED ABOVE WOMEN, CHANGED AT A BASIC LEVEL TO REFLECT THE LIGHT IN
WHICH I PERCIEVE YOU IN THIS MOMENT. YOU VILE SNAKE OF A WOMAN. “
The change had started immediately.
She had fallen as her legs began to move of their own accord. It had been
painful, but not as painful as watching them fuse together into the form they
now held. Her scalp had begun to burn, and reaching up to feel what was wrong
she had found masses of scaly flesh pushing themselves from her skull. She had
screamed then, screamed until Apollo had called her to silence, before
continuing to curse her.
“AS I CAN NO LONGER HIDE MY TRUE
NATURE FROM THOSE I ONCE SAUGHT OUT SO TOO SHALL YOU BE UNABLE TO HIDE YOUR NEW
NATURE FROM THOSE WHOM YOU WOULD SEEK OUT. FOR ALL THOSE WHO LOOK UPON YOUR VISAGE
SHALL BE TRANSPARENT BEFORE YOUR GAZE AS WAS I.”
At those words Euryale had turned in
confusion to look upon the High Priestess, who had come to crouch beside her on
the warm stones, and that look of confusion had turned to one of horror as the
High Priestess herself began to turn into glass. It had started with her eyes
and quickly spread to every part of her body. Fearing for the gathered sisters
she had quickly covered her face as best she could, placing her face into her
no longer temple white stola. As her new body shook and heaved with sobs of
sorrow, she vaguely realized that Apollo was still cursing her.
“LASTLY, KNOW THAT I WILL NEVER LOOK
UPON YOU WITH BENEVOLENCE AGAIN NOR WILL ANY ASPECT OF MY STATION. SIGHT YOU
MAY HAVE, BUT THE FATE OF YOURSELF AND ANYONE WHOM YOU SHOULD EVER LOVE WILL BE
HIDDEN FROM YOU.” Apollo snarled at her.
“AND SHOULD YOU FIND YOURSELF, EVER,
BENEATH THE SUN. YOU. SHALL. BURN!”
And burn she had as she had struggled
to push herself and as much of her new form back into the temple proper and out
of direct sunlight, patches of her skin blistering scraping off onto the
paving. Apollo’s malicious laughter had followed her into the artificial light
cast by torches and fires within the temple, even as he had vanished and the
oracle had rushed to her aid, being careful to keep her face turned aside so
that she would not fall under the power of Euryale’s new visage, she quickly
grabbed a light tapestry and placed it over Euryale’s face.
“We will help you, Sister, as best we
can for we have brought this curse upon you.” The Oracle had whispered to her
before a few of the larger sisters had carried her into a darkened room in the
caverns below the temple. There she had discovered herself anew as the sisters,
protected by the ever present darkness, had treated the wounds the sun had left
on her flesh. Even as she regained her strength hidden beneath the temple, she
could still see Him. Apollo. In his rage he had knowingly, or perhaps unknowingly,
cursed her to be placed above women, even as he was a god above men, and the
power of her sight had grown to a level often times reserved for the Fates
themselves.
In the few months she spent under the
temple healing she watched Him. Him, with his pettiness and his temper. She saw
the happiness and sorrow he felt as he traveled answering the prayers of those
in need that he could, and she hated him for destroying who she had been and
then moving on without remorse.
Eventually though in her solitude she
thought to put her visions to the task of finding a companion or companions who
would not be transformed by her curse. Her visions had shown her Stheno, with
her strength, and Medusa, with her tears, and although she hadn’t known their
names at the time she had covered herself as best she could and gathered what
food could be spared and saying goodbye to the sisters and the oracle had
disappeared into the night. She had followed her vision for a few weeks, hiding
in caves or even burying herself in the ground as best she could and still be
able to breath during the day in order to avoid the painful light of the sun,
before she had found Stheno in a cave by the sea.
Glancing again at her sister,
striking with the dark scaled bodies of her snakes blending seamlessly with her
similarly dark hair, their red faces like roses moving against the dark curtain
of it, their blue bellies flashing as they turned this way and that. Always
watchful, always on her guard, that was Stheno.
She had in fact attacked Euryale when
they had first met in that sea side cave. After Euryale had explained her
situation and also her visions, Stheno had grudgingly joined her in her quest
for companionship. Eventually they had even begun calling each other sisters,
and Euryale had felt that they had develop as strong a bond as any during the
travels that had subsequently led them to Medusa.
Turning her head once more a short
look showed, Euryale that Medusa was still crying, so with another sigh, she
turned her attention back to Stheno.
They had found Medusa and together
they had traveled many months to come here to this out of the way place far
from the sea, but Medusa still had these episodes. Each time an episode
occurred Euryale wondered if Medusa would ever truly be free of her past, and
embrace her new life with them, or if she would fall into madness. But she
could not see what would be for now she loved Medusa as much as she loved
Stheno.
“Do you think it will be asss bad
thisss time as it has been the othersss, Ssstheno?”
Leaning slightly towards Stheno,
Euryale felt no need to expand upon her question as Stheno would know what she
was truly asking, as she had known every time Euryale had asked, every time
this had happened after the first time.
It took a moment for the response to
come and when it did Euryale could barely hear the words, Stheno’s low gravelly
voice barely more than a growl as she answered, moving gently to wrap her arms
around Euryale, before speaking into her hair.
“They are only tearsss. It could
always be worssse.”
There you have it in all it's unedited goodness. I've done part of the next part, but it's long and complicated and i stopped in the middle. >_< Hopefully I'll have something to post next week.
Kay buh bye!
Monday, April 15, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
W/S: Pinnochio
This week I's like to talk about Transmogrification, which is a really cool way of saying shapeshifting. The thing about transmogrification is that it most often refers to the act of changing something else's shape and not your own shape.
Now it's one thing to turn a prince into a frog, or a princess into a swan, but it's something else entirely to change a puppet into a boy.
I find the idea of changing something animate into something inanimate or vice versa to be rather facinating and disturbing.
Using the above example:
While the blue fairy is not directly held responsible for Pinocchio's creation she does later take responsibility for his becoming a "real boy". My question would be, "WTF? Are you some kinda sadist?"
Some of you may be surprised by that response, but I'd ask that you take a closer look at the practicalities of what happened. Pinocchio was an animated block of wood. He'd never grow old, he'd never need to eat, breath, use the bathroom, or feel pain. In fact prior to his "change" he would never have experienced any of those things, nor have any way to reference what they even meant in a any real way (except possibly while he was donkey, one of the worst experiences of his existence up till that point).
I see stories of people who are deaf who get cocular implants. People who've never experienced sound in a way hearing people do who are shown on television "hearing" their families voices for the first time. IT sounds like it'd be an amazing experience, and i'm sure it is, but what people don't seem to get is that just because you can sudden;y hear doesn't mean you now how to listen. Those thing being said to the newly hearing deaf person don't make sense, their just sounds, like hearing a dog barking perhaps, or birds calls. You have to learn how to equate sound with language to find meaning in what you hear. How are they to know that something they hear isn't something else. Like snoring isn't a car alarm? There isn't a way until after they've experienced them both, and i'm sure it's a very difficult process.
While i won't equate Pinocchio's story with that of the deaf community I will ask if as a human being reading this, Would you advocate aging or the feeling of pain on a person who didn't experience them?
There are people out ther who don't feel pain and life is very difficult for them, perhaps would even be easier on them if they did, but it's not something to be done lightly and i'm sure even they would recognize the difficulties they'd experience waking up one day and suddenly having to deal with it.
Wondering on the Human Process have been going for years and of pain and mortality two things have been proven to be possible.
Pondering you mortality can drive you insane, and Pain can drive you insane. Literaly. I'm not joking pain can break peoples minds, as can fear of eventual death.
I wouldn't wish these things on a puppet, let alone a puppet who becomes a child. Shame on that fairy, and shame on Gipetto in the first place for not raising a better puppet.
Now it's one thing to turn a prince into a frog, or a princess into a swan, but it's something else entirely to change a puppet into a boy.
I find the idea of changing something animate into something inanimate or vice versa to be rather facinating and disturbing.
Using the above example:
While the blue fairy is not directly held responsible for Pinocchio's creation she does later take responsibility for his becoming a "real boy". My question would be, "WTF? Are you some kinda sadist?"
Some of you may be surprised by that response, but I'd ask that you take a closer look at the practicalities of what happened. Pinocchio was an animated block of wood. He'd never grow old, he'd never need to eat, breath, use the bathroom, or feel pain. In fact prior to his "change" he would never have experienced any of those things, nor have any way to reference what they even meant in a any real way (except possibly while he was donkey, one of the worst experiences of his existence up till that point).
I see stories of people who are deaf who get cocular implants. People who've never experienced sound in a way hearing people do who are shown on television "hearing" their families voices for the first time. IT sounds like it'd be an amazing experience, and i'm sure it is, but what people don't seem to get is that just because you can sudden;y hear doesn't mean you now how to listen. Those thing being said to the newly hearing deaf person don't make sense, their just sounds, like hearing a dog barking perhaps, or birds calls. You have to learn how to equate sound with language to find meaning in what you hear. How are they to know that something they hear isn't something else. Like snoring isn't a car alarm? There isn't a way until after they've experienced them both, and i'm sure it's a very difficult process.
While i won't equate Pinocchio's story with that of the deaf community I will ask if as a human being reading this, Would you advocate aging or the feeling of pain on a person who didn't experience them?
There are people out ther who don't feel pain and life is very difficult for them, perhaps would even be easier on them if they did, but it's not something to be done lightly and i'm sure even they would recognize the difficulties they'd experience waking up one day and suddenly having to deal with it.
Wondering on the Human Process have been going for years and of pain and mortality two things have been proven to be possible.
Pondering you mortality can drive you insane, and Pain can drive you insane. Literaly. I'm not joking pain can break peoples minds, as can fear of eventual death.
I wouldn't wish these things on a puppet, let alone a puppet who becomes a child. Shame on that fairy, and shame on Gipetto in the first place for not raising a better puppet.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Ask TheLostSigns #8
This week's "Ask TheLostSigns" is brought to you by famous video game character with problems!!! Gotta catch em all? We can help! Girlfriend get kidnapped a LOT? We've got a support group!
Dear TheLostSigns,
I'm scarred. I haven't even hit puberty yet, and i've been thrust into participating in these legalized animal fights. I just don't know how to deal with it you know. Some days it seems like i can't take to steps without being attacked by someone or something, and it's like the animals are smart you know? Like they've got feeling and lives and could have families, but instead they're angry or brainwashed or feral or something and people JUST don't seem to care. Like it's normal, you know? I don't understand why things are the way they are, and i want this to change but i don't know how to make it happen. Can you help me?
Sincerely,
Always So Horrified
Dear ASH,
Thank you for writing in and sharing your story with us here at TheLostSigns. I'd like to start by saying i sympathize with the hardships your facing. You are not alone lots of people a born into or arrive upon trying situations. Please remember that your not alone.
It sounds to me like a lot of the cruelty to the beings that your so affected by is the result of the way things work in the place that you live. The easiest option i could suggest is moving somewhere where things arn't the way they are where you live. I'm sure there are others out there who feel the way you do and communtities that would welcome like minded individuals such as yourself.
BUT...that won't fix the overlying problem, which is that these things are legal and the social norm where you are now. Running away won't change that. IF you want to change the system you've got to work within it. Write your congressmen, talk to your city counsel leaders, use the internet to connect with other like minded individuals, and maybe even hold protests or rallies. Educate the masses on your ideals and try to understand their perspective as well as share your own. Open a dialog of mutual respect and hope for the best.
Good Luck!
Yo TheLostSigns,
Me and My brother, we've got this problem. You see this girl we both know (She's my girlfriend now but he used to like her before he got one of his own.) gets kidnapped a lot, and we always have to go save her. It's gotten to the point where she's getting kidnapped allll the time. I'm afraid that soem of the things we 've been doing to save her are having negative affects on us. I'm not saying we're doing a lot of drugs or anything, but....okay yeah we're doing a lot of drugs and i think it's fucking up our bodies. I've been seeing ghosts and bullets flying at me out of nowhere, and i think the sun is trying to kill me.
And don't even get me started on the outfits. Why am I so convinced dressing like a frog helps when i'm swimming? They're just clothes right?
Anyways...What do you think we should do?
Yours Truly,
Basically Running Outta Sense
Hey there BROS,
I...think you should leave your girlfriend. From what you say she's gotten you involved in some deep shit. If she's getting kidanpped all the time why are you the ones who have to rescue her, especially given the dangers inherent if it require drug use and costumes?
Where is this girls parents? Why haven't they called the police or other government agency? There are people who should be handling this, and i'm sorry but i don't see why that has to be you.
I'd also like to let you know that you aren't alone. There are lots of guys out there who have girlfriends this "happens" to and I recommend starting a support group and reaching out to each other. These so called rescue missions sound like they keep you isolated and in a drug induced haze away from friends and family who might try to help you or point out the dangers, or persuade you from persuing this path.
You're as much of a person as she is and no matter what anyone else says TheLostSigns truly believes you can't help anyone if you can't help yourself.
Good Luck
Thank you for stopping by for this week's installment. Only two more weeks to go and then "Ask TheLostSigns" will be going on an indefinite hiatus. Don't worry I've already got something planned to take it's place. Laterz!
Dear TheLostSigns,
I'm scarred. I haven't even hit puberty yet, and i've been thrust into participating in these legalized animal fights. I just don't know how to deal with it you know. Some days it seems like i can't take to steps without being attacked by someone or something, and it's like the animals are smart you know? Like they've got feeling and lives and could have families, but instead they're angry or brainwashed or feral or something and people JUST don't seem to care. Like it's normal, you know? I don't understand why things are the way they are, and i want this to change but i don't know how to make it happen. Can you help me?
Sincerely,
Always So Horrified
Dear ASH,
Thank you for writing in and sharing your story with us here at TheLostSigns. I'd like to start by saying i sympathize with the hardships your facing. You are not alone lots of people a born into or arrive upon trying situations. Please remember that your not alone.
It sounds to me like a lot of the cruelty to the beings that your so affected by is the result of the way things work in the place that you live. The easiest option i could suggest is moving somewhere where things arn't the way they are where you live. I'm sure there are others out there who feel the way you do and communtities that would welcome like minded individuals such as yourself.
BUT...that won't fix the overlying problem, which is that these things are legal and the social norm where you are now. Running away won't change that. IF you want to change the system you've got to work within it. Write your congressmen, talk to your city counsel leaders, use the internet to connect with other like minded individuals, and maybe even hold protests or rallies. Educate the masses on your ideals and try to understand their perspective as well as share your own. Open a dialog of mutual respect and hope for the best.
Good Luck!
Yo TheLostSigns,
Me and My brother, we've got this problem. You see this girl we both know (She's my girlfriend now but he used to like her before he got one of his own.) gets kidnapped a lot, and we always have to go save her. It's gotten to the point where she's getting kidnapped allll the time. I'm afraid that soem of the things we 've been doing to save her are having negative affects on us. I'm not saying we're doing a lot of drugs or anything, but....okay yeah we're doing a lot of drugs and i think it's fucking up our bodies. I've been seeing ghosts and bullets flying at me out of nowhere, and i think the sun is trying to kill me.
And don't even get me started on the outfits. Why am I so convinced dressing like a frog helps when i'm swimming? They're just clothes right?
Anyways...What do you think we should do?
Yours Truly,
Basically Running Outta Sense
Hey there BROS,
I...think you should leave your girlfriend. From what you say she's gotten you involved in some deep shit. If she's getting kidanpped all the time why are you the ones who have to rescue her, especially given the dangers inherent if it require drug use and costumes?
Where is this girls parents? Why haven't they called the police or other government agency? There are people who should be handling this, and i'm sorry but i don't see why that has to be you.
I'd also like to let you know that you aren't alone. There are lots of guys out there who have girlfriends this "happens" to and I recommend starting a support group and reaching out to each other. These so called rescue missions sound like they keep you isolated and in a drug induced haze away from friends and family who might try to help you or point out the dangers, or persuade you from persuing this path.
You're as much of a person as she is and no matter what anyone else says TheLostSigns truly believes you can't help anyone if you can't help yourself.
Good Luck
Thank you for stopping by for this week's installment. Only two more weeks to go and then "Ask TheLostSigns" will be going on an indefinite hiatus. Don't worry I've already got something planned to take it's place. Laterz!
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Free Fiction Tuesdays: Heart Of Stone (Part 2)
I didn't get around to writing this weeks installment of "Seeds of War" so I'm gonna post a continuation of my "Heart Of Stone" prologue. It's rather short If you'd like to read the part that precedes this one, click the tags for free fiction or heart of stone. Thanks, and i hope you enjoy it.
“Sssissster?” said Euryale, extending her hand towards Medusa only to pause and then draw it
back to follow its twin as she wrapped her arms around herself. Holding herself
gently she rocked herself to and fro in frustration. These sisters of hers, so
different from herself, left him nothing but confused.
“ Well, we have not always been
sisters…”
Memories followed that train of
thought, Euryale, again recalling the trials of her own life. Being born to a
small tribe of nomads traveling far to the East, the childhood spent helping
her tribesmen and learning to become a woman. Perhaps even one day, as she had
been told often enough, head wife of the tribe leader.
“A woman that I’ll never be, now.”
Now that thought touched a place deep
within Euryale’s soul, a place that hated a world that had made her suffer so.
That ached with the grief for a life that she could never have and could never
go back to. Still, looking down upon what she had become, she hated herself
more. This body was not so different from the one she had been born into. In
some ways it was even the same as the one she had always known, but where she
had once had legs, with which to dance and celebrate with her people, she now
could not dance as she once had and had no legs… and most importantly no
people.
“Well, that’s not entirely true.” She
thought, “I have Stheno and Medusa. Sisters in our struggles, if not in blood.
Why should I care that my legs are now bound into a column of molted brown,
pink, and chalk white colored flesh and covered in translucent scales? That my
hair, so similar to that of my once loving mother now shares its place upon my
head with snake like lizards? That I can no longer go out into the sun because
it sears my flesh with His wrath? At least I am alive and not alone, and it is
not my fault, it is His.”
For though she had been the one to
reveal that she had been born with what her people called The Sight, and that
the revelation had led to her being sent to the oracles at Pythia to perhaps
one day join they’re sacred sister hood. It had not been her fault that Apollo,
god of the sun, had been consorting with the all of the priestesses in
residence at the sacred temple under different guises. Finding it strange that
none of the sisterhood had mentioned it to her that their patron god often came
to call upon them in one form or another, she had naively approached the High
Priestess and Oracle of the temple and asked simply if she would also be
required to provide services of a carnal nature for the god when it appeared to
her that so many of the other sisters, including the High Priestess and the
Oracle where already providing them.
She made a soft chuffing sound before
she could stop herself earning her a sharp look from Stheno, which she avoided
by meticulously smoothing down her dark brown stola, and patting her soft brown
hair, before once more wrapping her arms around herself.
“That did not work out the way I thought it would.”
She thought to herself.
~*~
This is only about a third of Euryale's part, but i thought i'd end it here this week so you're not overwhelmed. This story was my first attempt at writing in one sitting scenes. Let me know what you think! ^_^
Sunday, April 7, 2013
W/S: Alien Invaders!!
This weeks post, while still applicable to Supernaturals, is most often applied to science fiction. Still it's an interesting view of what people think and what's likely in reality.
Let's start with the Aliens themselves.
Aliens are living (whether by our standards or not) or non-living (think robots) that are not native to our planet.
Honestly there are any multitude of possibilities when it come to what aliens could exist.
The place where a problem arrises is what people and writers think the earth having contact with aliens would entail.
Here's an easy one:
Humans being kidnapped by aliens and experimented on.
The problem with this idea is that Aliens who have enough intelligence to "Experiment" on people also have no reason to do so. The fact that they would have to be advanced enough to go unnoticed by modern technology also means that they could also have easy enough access to the internet and pretty much any data that's been collected over the course of human history. we've done more than enough experimintation on ourselves, and continue to do so to this day, to make extra expermintation unnessecary from a scientific standpoint.
Unless the experiments are testing something which would be beyond our current level of understanding, which given their advanced nature would be a possibility.
The Aliens are gonna invade. Mindless monsters, intent on eating everyone, and laying eggs inside us!!
OH NOESSSS!!!
There's only two ways this would be possible and they both make the chances of them happening highly problamatic and non-viable. In order for non sentient creatures to end up on our planet they'd need to either be:
1) transported via spacial projectile, the largest of which would be a planet sized, well, planet. we'd see that coming, and the fact that it'd have to crash into us in order to deposit the aliens means we'd all probably die upfront anyways.
2)The second is to arrive via unnoticeable means, that means no giant asteroids or anything. Assuming that they can arrive unnoticed without destroying themselves or our planet the problem would be that our planet while being capable of supporting a wide variety of life, is not necessarily capable of supporting life that can travel through space or originates on another planet.
For example there's atmospheric pressure. There are creatures who live in the depths of our planets oceans that literally explode when the atmospheric pressure is reduced. The same is true of the opposite, people who attempt to travel to those depths can be crushed by the pressure.
Another example would be our atmosphere which for certain forms of life is actually toxic. In theory, a position could be taken that states that earth atmosphere is toxic to fish. That in a way would be true.
There are two other unlikely possibilities. One would be that intelligent aliens put creatures into space and sent them to a planet capable of sustaining them. However it seems unlikely that they would do so without having investigated the planet, due tot he fact that they'd want to avoid the above scenerio...
The other possibility is that intelligent creature sent hostile creatures adapted to destroy us. In which case we'd be screwed, anyways. This however would most likely be a crime for any intellectually advanced species. So the likely hood of that happening is probably the same as that of a serial killer killing off all whales.
Aliens are coming to enslave us, take our planet for themselves!
The problem with this is the same as above, what guarantees or planet would be hospitable? nothing that's what. Also chances are creatures intelligent enough to travel to our planet and want to take it over, are also smart enough to have robots for that shit.
It's also worth mentioning that in the event robots are sent to take over our planet, there is a chance we could win, but that'd probably be very unlikely since an race that would send robots ahead of them to take over the planet would probably just fuck with our atmosphere and kill us all.
which brings me to the next reason, Intelligent creature would not engage in discussion or combat with humans if the wanted the planet. They'd just bombard us from afar with missiles or change our atmosphere or introduce a plague or something.
We're just an experiment of our overlord masters.
IF this is the case, it doesn't really matter. We're either screwed or life will continue as it is. That's not that different from the way the world is now.
In closing the simple fact of the matter is that the chances of non-sentient aliens arriving and killing us all is probably non-existent. The chances of Sentient aliens arriving and killing us all or working with robots or non-sentient aliens to kill us all has only a slightly high chance. And finally sentient aliens would most likely be more advanced than we are, have an easy time learning all about us without taking "samples", and would probably contact us for peaceful talks, or not contact us at all.
Any scientist will tell you that interacting with the subjects skews the data.
Smooches.
Let's start with the Aliens themselves.
Aliens are living (whether by our standards or not) or non-living (think robots) that are not native to our planet.
Honestly there are any multitude of possibilities when it come to what aliens could exist.
The place where a problem arrises is what people and writers think the earth having contact with aliens would entail.
Here's an easy one:
Humans being kidnapped by aliens and experimented on.
The problem with this idea is that Aliens who have enough intelligence to "Experiment" on people also have no reason to do so. The fact that they would have to be advanced enough to go unnoticed by modern technology also means that they could also have easy enough access to the internet and pretty much any data that's been collected over the course of human history. we've done more than enough experimintation on ourselves, and continue to do so to this day, to make extra expermintation unnessecary from a scientific standpoint.
Unless the experiments are testing something which would be beyond our current level of understanding, which given their advanced nature would be a possibility.
The Aliens are gonna invade. Mindless monsters, intent on eating everyone, and laying eggs inside us!!
OH NOESSSS!!!
There's only two ways this would be possible and they both make the chances of them happening highly problamatic and non-viable. In order for non sentient creatures to end up on our planet they'd need to either be:
1) transported via spacial projectile, the largest of which would be a planet sized, well, planet. we'd see that coming, and the fact that it'd have to crash into us in order to deposit the aliens means we'd all probably die upfront anyways.
2)The second is to arrive via unnoticeable means, that means no giant asteroids or anything. Assuming that they can arrive unnoticed without destroying themselves or our planet the problem would be that our planet while being capable of supporting a wide variety of life, is not necessarily capable of supporting life that can travel through space or originates on another planet.
For example there's atmospheric pressure. There are creatures who live in the depths of our planets oceans that literally explode when the atmospheric pressure is reduced. The same is true of the opposite, people who attempt to travel to those depths can be crushed by the pressure.
Another example would be our atmosphere which for certain forms of life is actually toxic. In theory, a position could be taken that states that earth atmosphere is toxic to fish. That in a way would be true.
There are two other unlikely possibilities. One would be that intelligent aliens put creatures into space and sent them to a planet capable of sustaining them. However it seems unlikely that they would do so without having investigated the planet, due tot he fact that they'd want to avoid the above scenerio...
The other possibility is that intelligent creature sent hostile creatures adapted to destroy us. In which case we'd be screwed, anyways. This however would most likely be a crime for any intellectually advanced species. So the likely hood of that happening is probably the same as that of a serial killer killing off all whales.
Aliens are coming to enslave us, take our planet for themselves!
The problem with this is the same as above, what guarantees or planet would be hospitable? nothing that's what. Also chances are creatures intelligent enough to travel to our planet and want to take it over, are also smart enough to have robots for that shit.
It's also worth mentioning that in the event robots are sent to take over our planet, there is a chance we could win, but that'd probably be very unlikely since an race that would send robots ahead of them to take over the planet would probably just fuck with our atmosphere and kill us all.
which brings me to the next reason, Intelligent creature would not engage in discussion or combat with humans if the wanted the planet. They'd just bombard us from afar with missiles or change our atmosphere or introduce a plague or something.
We're just an experiment of our overlord masters.
IF this is the case, it doesn't really matter. We're either screwed or life will continue as it is. That's not that different from the way the world is now.
In closing the simple fact of the matter is that the chances of non-sentient aliens arriving and killing us all is probably non-existent. The chances of Sentient aliens arriving and killing us all or working with robots or non-sentient aliens to kill us all has only a slightly high chance. And finally sentient aliens would most likely be more advanced than we are, have an easy time learning all about us without taking "samples", and would probably contact us for peaceful talks, or not contact us at all.
Any scientist will tell you that interacting with the subjects skews the data.
Smooches.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Ask TheLostSigns #7
This weeks "Ask TheLostSigns" comes to you courtesy of the books i read this week. anna know what to do if your boss tries to get you to sign a sex contract? what about if your boyfriend has is really a shapeshifting "Aliens" monster who only looks human some of the time? Find out in this week post!
Dear TheLostSigns,
I'm really hard up. I just finished highschool, and live with my mother. I've decided to find a job and move out but the only employer to call me in for an interview is a 40-something Englishman who wants me to be a live in nude housemaid and sexual submissive. The pays great, but i'm not sure if it's the right position for me.
What do you think?
Getting Really Anxious, Yeah
Oh GRAY, Child. I'm not one to judge (that's a lie. I totally judge.), but i don't think letting some dude twice your age use you as a sextoy WHILE YOU ALSO CLEAN HIS HOUSE is a good idea. Not only because of the obvious problems relating to power distribution between yourself and this person, but also because it might cause long term damage to your self-esteem.
Some people find that they enjoy a lifestyle of servitude that include sexual servitude, but it sounds like your being only considering this due to the lack of employment options. That should tell you it isn't for you.
Also, while i'm not comppletely up to date on what constitues prostitution, this sounds a hell of a lot like it. Are you willing to be a prostitute? Are you aware of the legality of prositution in the place where you live?
This doesn't sound safe in the slightest and i'd recommend refusing to participate in further interactions with this employer as well as reporting this to the Department of Labor in your area.
DON"T DO IT, AND REPORT THAT SHIT.
You'll be doing your community a favor.
Good Luck!
Yo TheLostSigns,
I got sent to kill this alien , but we ended up having crazy hot sex and now he's obsessed with me. He says that he's only half alien, and that he and i are biologically bonded. I agree that we're bonded, but i'm afraid, because the alien half he's descended from is known to be horrifically ugly, eat people's organs, and lay eggs in people. What should i do?
Worrying Takes Feelings
Hey WTF,
You are soooooo screwed. You could always just kill the guy like you were supposed to, right? But if you're seriously intent on making this work I reccomend fleeing at high speeds and holing yourself up somewhere safe.Once you've done that I suggest educating yourself on these aliens, from reputable sources ya hear, and then figuring out what you want to do after considering the risk of alien babies eating their way out of your chest.
You could also trying having faith in this guy, and trusting him not to well eat your organs, but thats something you have to decide for yourself.
Good Luck!
(cause you're as good as dead anyways)
Tune in next week for more Ask TheLostSigns. Only 3 more to go and then TheLostSigns might shelve this series for a while. Smooches.
Dear TheLostSigns,
I'm really hard up. I just finished highschool, and live with my mother. I've decided to find a job and move out but the only employer to call me in for an interview is a 40-something Englishman who wants me to be a live in nude housemaid and sexual submissive. The pays great, but i'm not sure if it's the right position for me.
What do you think?
Getting Really Anxious, Yeah
Oh GRAY, Child. I'm not one to judge (that's a lie. I totally judge.), but i don't think letting some dude twice your age use you as a sextoy WHILE YOU ALSO CLEAN HIS HOUSE is a good idea. Not only because of the obvious problems relating to power distribution between yourself and this person, but also because it might cause long term damage to your self-esteem.
Some people find that they enjoy a lifestyle of servitude that include sexual servitude, but it sounds like your being only considering this due to the lack of employment options. That should tell you it isn't for you.
Also, while i'm not comppletely up to date on what constitues prostitution, this sounds a hell of a lot like it. Are you willing to be a prostitute? Are you aware of the legality of prositution in the place where you live?
This doesn't sound safe in the slightest and i'd recommend refusing to participate in further interactions with this employer as well as reporting this to the Department of Labor in your area.
DON"T DO IT, AND REPORT THAT SHIT.
You'll be doing your community a favor.
Good Luck!
Yo TheLostSigns,
I got sent to kill this alien , but we ended up having crazy hot sex and now he's obsessed with me. He says that he's only half alien, and that he and i are biologically bonded. I agree that we're bonded, but i'm afraid, because the alien half he's descended from is known to be horrifically ugly, eat people's organs, and lay eggs in people. What should i do?
Worrying Takes Feelings
Hey WTF,
You are soooooo screwed. You could always just kill the guy like you were supposed to, right? But if you're seriously intent on making this work I reccomend fleeing at high speeds and holing yourself up somewhere safe.Once you've done that I suggest educating yourself on these aliens, from reputable sources ya hear, and then figuring out what you want to do after considering the risk of alien babies eating their way out of your chest.
You could also trying having faith in this guy, and trusting him not to well eat your organs, but thats something you have to decide for yourself.
Good Luck!
(cause you're as good as dead anyways)
Tune in next week for more Ask TheLostSigns. Only 3 more to go and then TheLostSigns might shelve this series for a while. Smooches.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
"TheLostSigns Interview Author AnAutumnRose!!!"
Today, TheLostSigns blog brings you an interview by the lovely AnAutumnRose. A long time friend of TheLostSigns, AnAutumnRose is a prolific artist, as well as, an author. This interview will mainly go over the authors story "The Identical Rule" which is available on Fiction Press. Feel free to check out her other types of art on her Deviantart Profile.
TheLostSigns(TLS): First off i'd like to thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for The Lost Signs blog, Autumn. Is there anything you haven't gotten to say or would like to say to readers of your work?
Autumn(ARW): Thank you! For interviewing me. I am so excited to be doing this with you! To the readers of my work, I want to thank them for being so patient with me (it's been a long while since I have updated my current story) and let them know that they won't have to wait much longer for the next installment.
TLS: Speaking of you current story, you make a point of mentioning that the main character's(MC's) mother is a traditionalist. What role do you feel tradition plays in your writing?
ARW: Tradition is the key issue for all of my characters in my writing, and especially in "The Identical Rule" The MC's Mother is trying to uphold traditions that have been set for at least the last 100 generations of Rulers. The MC's themselves will be forced to decide whether or not they agree with the current traditions and what that means for them, and their entire universe, in the long run. I think I focus on tradition so much in my stories because it's something I really didn't have growing up, and the very few traditions I did have were exceptionally hard to hold on to. I feel like that comes out in Lady Wynn (my MC's mother). She is a magnification of my desire for some solid traditions. So it plays a huge roll in my writing.
TLS: Speaking of Rulers, in the initial chapter of "The Identical Rule" you reveal that there are number of brother-Kings and their wives the queens. Can you speak a little on why this system exists in the story, the purpose it serves, or how it's been implemented in your stories universe?
ARW: It's a tad bit complicated, but essentially within the area of the Universe that this story takes place it has become much more common for people to give birth to Multiple-sets of children instead of one Single child at a time. Scientists there believe that it is because the Ancients used so much artificial medication to boost fertility that it eventually became the norm for a woman's body to produce multiple offspring. Before the transition, The Galaxy-System (GS) was Ruled by one King and his Queen, but for a few generations the King (or Queen) would always have a set of identical multiples born (this trend continues to be the norm). There were generally a set quadruplets born in line to the throne, and it became increasingly harder to choose the son or daughter that would succeed the throne because they were all essentially the same age, give or take a few minutes. One generation the King died suddenly and his sons had not agreed with what order their father had put them in line for the throne and a giant civil war broke out amongst the four sons. Long story short, eventually all of the sons died but one, and during his reign he and his Queen had 6 children, an elder quadruple set of boys, and twin daughters. He decided that since the family line always had a quadruple pair born each generation, that should they be the first in line to rule the throne, they must rule together. Eventually it became a tradition that ONLY a quadruple set rule, and there are a whole bunch of other complicated things going on within the tradition in present day Ua'flor, and those will be explained in the book. A more mundane reason for this GS's tradition is that I am fascinated by identical children. I came up with the four sisters that this story is about when I was younger, and expanded on them as I have gotten older and more experienced about the need for explanations for things. I really hope that answers that question fully. ^_^
TLS: Can you explain why as an author it felt necessary for you to create a Galaxy-System within the universe of your story, and what exactly a Galaxy-System is?
ARW: Well, I created the term Galaxy-System to describe the many planets and Solar Systems that comprise Ua'flor because there just wasn't any other name out there for it. There are four main planets in the Solar System that the MC's live in, and some odd planets that aren't habitable. There are 4 or 5 Solar Systems within the Galaxy that they live in, and there are 2-3 Galaxy's within the entire System. (For my story's purpose, a Galaxy is a territorially defined set of Solar Systems. Ua'flor is Ruled by the Maji family, and it has been for thousands of years. There are a few more Galaxy Systems in existence, but they will only be briefly spoken about in the book.
I felt it necessary to create a Galaxy-System because I wanted to make sure that the idea's for this universe that I came up with when I was a 5th grader just dreaming things up could be in the story and make viable sense.. At least to me. :D
TLS: Your MC's appear to be telepathic, and you explain a bit about why that is shortly after introducing the characters. I've spoken before on my feeling about telepathy, and was wondering if you'd care to explain the limitations, beyond being limited to between sets of siblings?
ARW: My MC's are definitely telepathic, but they can't read anyone's mind. I would describe their telepathy as "purely projective telepathy," or "projective-receptive telepathy" and I would do this because Sibling sets can only hear the thoughts that their siblings send to them. They are purposefully talking to each other by using the ability. I haven't created any characters that have been able to forcefully read someones mind. Even the odd character that I've created that can project into anyone's mind cannot read anyone's mind unless there is particular spell cast, and then there is a lot of red-tape, so to speak, to go through for those particular characters in order to do so. I felt the need to include telepathy because, well, I like it, and because of the situation I put the four newest royals into. I mentioned in the the story that identical's can speak the clearest to each other, but that even mixed sets can speak to one another, and that is very important to the story line.
TLS: Moving on to environmental conditions, you mention in the initial chapters that it's raining. Is this rain in the way a person in real life would think of rain? How different our the planets in your story from earth in terms of climate and environmental conditions?
ARW: Yes, it was raining really, really hard... and it's exactly the kind of rain that we would experience here on Earth, just more all encompassing. The planet that the story is taking place in right now is mostly comprised of rain forests, and they get a lot of rain, but that day it was like a blanket on them. I would say that the individual climates and environments are essentially the same, just on a larger scale. In Mandhari, the Solar System that the Capital Planet is, there are four livable planets and their compositions are vastly different. Riana (the working name for my capital planet) is the one comprised of rain forests, Aigua is mostly oceans and seas, Mwali has a vast range of very high altitude mountains (The tectonic plates there are thicker and created more mountain ranges), and there is another un-named planet with volcanoes and swamps, and it's closer to the systems dual-suns. So I guess it's dependent on where the planet is, but everything is just an ecosystem that we could find here on Earth magnified to a global scale.
TLS: That's one of the things i greatly enjoy about your work. It's well thought out, and even if you find that changes are necessary they don't negate the whole that you've been building. I'd like to ask as a follow up and paired question to the last one: What kind of fauna can we expect in your story given the similar yet dissimilar environments when compared to Earths?
ARW: I'm so excited that you like it. Ooh, Even I'm not sure what exactly lurks everywhere on these planets... I'm excited to find out as I continue to write and build the universe and all its extremely diverse settings. There are definitely animals that look and seem like the ones we have here on Earth. For instance, in the next installment, which I will be posting soon, there are farms with what could be goats, and pets that are descendants of cats. There will be sentient creatures as well that even take part in the government, seeing as how they live where the Maji's rule... Basically, in the same fashion that the ecosystems on Earth are scaled up, you'll find creatures from Earth on a larger scale, and things that have evolved because of the immense planetary environments. For instance, since Aigua is covered with vast oceans and seas, the sea creatures have evolved to outnumber the people that have colonized there, and Riana is sure to have its fair share of giant insects. I am working on a private work book comprised of all the flora and fauna that will be found within the different planet systems... Like I said, I'm excited about them, creatures are so interesting to me.
TLS: Now, since your setting spans numerous worlds, i'd like to ask about technology within the Galaxy-Systems. The initial chapters give the impression of a sort of low technological environment similar to feudal earths, but during our interview you've mentioned fertility enhancement, which i'd think would necessitate a higher scale of technology then is immediately discernible. Can you share how technology plays a part in your universe?
ARW: Yes... well, Traditions play a part with what you've seen so far. . . The castle that they're in is extremely "high tech," but tradition mandates that the birth of the Royal Children be done in castle with a midwife and her assistants present. Lady Wynn is extremely interested in Tradition, and although there are what we would call modern hospitals on Riana, there was no way that she would give birth to the first set of children in line to the throne in a non-traditional way. There are planets within the Galaxy System that are technological to the extreme, with city-scapes that reflect what you can see on the Republics Capital planet, Coruscant in Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace. There are teleportation devices, but those have to be used with Magick, and space travel... which I haven't sorted out all the kinks, but I am working on the exact science behind all of it.
TLS: Ohhh, Magick!! You know i love me some Magick, lol. Can you tell us a bit about Magick in your universe, as well as clarify whether you mean natural Magick (i.e. abilities such as pyrokinesis) or ritual Magick (i.e. general spellcraft)?
ARW: Of course I do! and I couldn't exclude Magick, it's one of my most favorite things to read about. Magick is something that is pretty normal within the Universe at the time the story takes place, although, of course, there are planets/groups of peoples that are opposed to it's use. I'm sure that somewhere in the Royal Library there is a history book with some War fought on the subject.... But getting back to what we were talking about. There is natural Magick, such as the pyrokinesis that you mentioned, and other nature specific abilities. The spell for Teleportation is a form of ritual Magick, but it definitely helps if the person casting that spell has natural Magick abilities. Telepathic ability is also helpful with Teleportation, because communicating between the planets isn't always the easiest. Twins (who generally have the strongest telepathic abilities) are sought out to work at opposite teleport stations because they can speak with each other the clearest and for longer distances.
TLS: Also a sensitive subject when it comes to different culture is that of religion, which often walks hand in hand with tradition. Can you describe how religion is handled in your Galaxy-System, and what form it takes?
ARW: My Galaxy-System is poly-theistic. The general belief is that there is one greater higher power that manifests itself in a way that will best fit the people that it's serving... which is why the Maji family has been able to rule with so little religious discord for so many generations. There is a planet or two that believes that their Deity is the One True Deity and have tried to make a muck about it... and the Royals have had to be crafty in handling those people in rough times... The most trouble comes from outer Galaxy-Systems that believe in different Gods and Goddesses.. But all-in-all, since their religious beliefs are pretty much all-encompassing... it doesn't cause too many problems for the MC's. Which is all to the better for me, since religion can be really tricky.
I nearly forgot to add that there are no sentient beings that worship other sentient beings. I don't think I'm comfortable with that. So it's more ethereal.
TLS: It's sadly time for last question. Having been a good friend of TheLostSigns for quite a few years, the fact that your bi-lingual is well known. How do you feel that affects not only your views on language within your universe, but also the ability to work with language, as all authors do, when creating your story?
ARW: Language has always fascinated me, which is why I have worked towards being multi-lingual and am bi-lingual now. I think that it has made me more aware of the importance of language within a culture, and it has made me want to incorporate more languages in my story. There are different languages in each solar system, and vastly different dialects on each planet within those, and there is a language that is used to communicate in political settings (that language is closely related to our English). I think that having the ability to speak in more than one language has made it easier for me to work with words in my own language, because I understood more of English and all of its intricacies after I took classes in other languages and Linguistics.
TLS: Sorry that took so long, and thank you so much once more for stopping by and doing an interview with me. As always TheLostSigns is hopeful your fans out there will enjoy hearing these questions answered and other interviewers or reviewers will have a bit more information to add to their write ups. Would you like to say anything else to the readers?
ARW: No problem, I have really enjoyed this. I am also hoping that they like it, as this is the first time any of the information has been posted about the way Ua'flor functions as a story-book universe. I want to let the readers know that I am so grateful for them reading my work and that I look forward to continuing the story on FictionPress and hearing what they think about it. Thanks so much for having me on your blog! I hope that this won't be the only time that I'm here. :)
TLS: Until next time, ya'll!! (^_^)
TheLostSigns(TLS): First off i'd like to thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for The Lost Signs blog, Autumn. Is there anything you haven't gotten to say or would like to say to readers of your work?
Autumn(ARW): Thank you! For interviewing me. I am so excited to be doing this with you! To the readers of my work, I want to thank them for being so patient with me (it's been a long while since I have updated my current story) and let them know that they won't have to wait much longer for the next installment.
TLS: Speaking of you current story, you make a point of mentioning that the main character's(MC's) mother is a traditionalist. What role do you feel tradition plays in your writing?
ARW: Tradition is the key issue for all of my characters in my writing, and especially in "The Identical Rule" The MC's Mother is trying to uphold traditions that have been set for at least the last 100 generations of Rulers. The MC's themselves will be forced to decide whether or not they agree with the current traditions and what that means for them, and their entire universe, in the long run. I think I focus on tradition so much in my stories because it's something I really didn't have growing up, and the very few traditions I did have were exceptionally hard to hold on to. I feel like that comes out in Lady Wynn (my MC's mother). She is a magnification of my desire for some solid traditions. So it plays a huge roll in my writing.
TLS: Speaking of Rulers, in the initial chapter of "The Identical Rule" you reveal that there are number of brother-Kings and their wives the queens. Can you speak a little on why this system exists in the story, the purpose it serves, or how it's been implemented in your stories universe?
ARW: It's a tad bit complicated, but essentially within the area of the Universe that this story takes place it has become much more common for people to give birth to Multiple-sets of children instead of one Single child at a time. Scientists there believe that it is because the Ancients used so much artificial medication to boost fertility that it eventually became the norm for a woman's body to produce multiple offspring. Before the transition, The Galaxy-System (GS) was Ruled by one King and his Queen, but for a few generations the King (or Queen) would always have a set of identical multiples born (this trend continues to be the norm). There were generally a set quadruplets born in line to the throne, and it became increasingly harder to choose the son or daughter that would succeed the throne because they were all essentially the same age, give or take a few minutes. One generation the King died suddenly and his sons had not agreed with what order their father had put them in line for the throne and a giant civil war broke out amongst the four sons. Long story short, eventually all of the sons died but one, and during his reign he and his Queen had 6 children, an elder quadruple set of boys, and twin daughters. He decided that since the family line always had a quadruple pair born each generation, that should they be the first in line to rule the throne, they must rule together. Eventually it became a tradition that ONLY a quadruple set rule, and there are a whole bunch of other complicated things going on within the tradition in present day Ua'flor, and those will be explained in the book. A more mundane reason for this GS's tradition is that I am fascinated by identical children. I came up with the four sisters that this story is about when I was younger, and expanded on them as I have gotten older and more experienced about the need for explanations for things. I really hope that answers that question fully. ^_^
*A picture of an Ua'flor system courtesy of AnAutumRose's Deviantart Profile.*
TLS: Can you explain why as an author it felt necessary for you to create a Galaxy-System within the universe of your story, and what exactly a Galaxy-System is?
ARW: Well, I created the term Galaxy-System to describe the many planets and Solar Systems that comprise Ua'flor because there just wasn't any other name out there for it. There are four main planets in the Solar System that the MC's live in, and some odd planets that aren't habitable. There are 4 or 5 Solar Systems within the Galaxy that they live in, and there are 2-3 Galaxy's within the entire System. (For my story's purpose, a Galaxy is a territorially defined set of Solar Systems. Ua'flor is Ruled by the Maji family, and it has been for thousands of years. There are a few more Galaxy Systems in existence, but they will only be briefly spoken about in the book.
I felt it necessary to create a Galaxy-System because I wanted to make sure that the idea's for this universe that I came up with when I was a 5th grader just dreaming things up could be in the story and make viable sense.. At least to me. :D
TLS: Your MC's appear to be telepathic, and you explain a bit about why that is shortly after introducing the characters. I've spoken before on my feeling about telepathy, and was wondering if you'd care to explain the limitations, beyond being limited to between sets of siblings?
ARW: My MC's are definitely telepathic, but they can't read anyone's mind. I would describe their telepathy as "purely projective telepathy," or "projective-receptive telepathy" and I would do this because Sibling sets can only hear the thoughts that their siblings send to them. They are purposefully talking to each other by using the ability. I haven't created any characters that have been able to forcefully read someones mind. Even the odd character that I've created that can project into anyone's mind cannot read anyone's mind unless there is particular spell cast, and then there is a lot of red-tape, so to speak, to go through for those particular characters in order to do so. I felt the need to include telepathy because, well, I like it, and because of the situation I put the four newest royals into. I mentioned in the the story that identical's can speak the clearest to each other, but that even mixed sets can speak to one another, and that is very important to the story line.
*Artwork by AnAutumnRose entitled Earth Ankh.*
ARW: Yes, it was raining really, really hard... and it's exactly the kind of rain that we would experience here on Earth, just more all encompassing. The planet that the story is taking place in right now is mostly comprised of rain forests, and they get a lot of rain, but that day it was like a blanket on them. I would say that the individual climates and environments are essentially the same, just on a larger scale. In Mandhari, the Solar System that the Capital Planet is, there are four livable planets and their compositions are vastly different. Riana (the working name for my capital planet) is the one comprised of rain forests, Aigua is mostly oceans and seas, Mwali has a vast range of very high altitude mountains (The tectonic plates there are thicker and created more mountain ranges), and there is another un-named planet with volcanoes and swamps, and it's closer to the systems dual-suns. So I guess it's dependent on where the planet is, but everything is just an ecosystem that we could find here on Earth magnified to a global scale.
*Artwork by AnAutumnRose entitled Water Ankh V.2*
TLS: That's one of the things i greatly enjoy about your work. It's well thought out, and even if you find that changes are necessary they don't negate the whole that you've been building. I'd like to ask as a follow up and paired question to the last one: What kind of fauna can we expect in your story given the similar yet dissimilar environments when compared to Earths?
ARW: I'm so excited that you like it. Ooh, Even I'm not sure what exactly lurks everywhere on these planets... I'm excited to find out as I continue to write and build the universe and all its extremely diverse settings. There are definitely animals that look and seem like the ones we have here on Earth. For instance, in the next installment, which I will be posting soon, there are farms with what could be goats, and pets that are descendants of cats. There will be sentient creatures as well that even take part in the government, seeing as how they live where the Maji's rule... Basically, in the same fashion that the ecosystems on Earth are scaled up, you'll find creatures from Earth on a larger scale, and things that have evolved because of the immense planetary environments. For instance, since Aigua is covered with vast oceans and seas, the sea creatures have evolved to outnumber the people that have colonized there, and Riana is sure to have its fair share of giant insects. I am working on a private work book comprised of all the flora and fauna that will be found within the different planet systems... Like I said, I'm excited about them, creatures are so interesting to me.
TLS: Now, since your setting spans numerous worlds, i'd like to ask about technology within the Galaxy-Systems. The initial chapters give the impression of a sort of low technological environment similar to feudal earths, but during our interview you've mentioned fertility enhancement, which i'd think would necessitate a higher scale of technology then is immediately discernible. Can you share how technology plays a part in your universe?
ARW: Yes... well, Traditions play a part with what you've seen so far. . . The castle that they're in is extremely "high tech," but tradition mandates that the birth of the Royal Children be done in castle with a midwife and her assistants present. Lady Wynn is extremely interested in Tradition, and although there are what we would call modern hospitals on Riana, there was no way that she would give birth to the first set of children in line to the throne in a non-traditional way. There are planets within the Galaxy System that are technological to the extreme, with city-scapes that reflect what you can see on the Republics Capital planet, Coruscant in Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace. There are teleportation devices, but those have to be used with Magick, and space travel... which I haven't sorted out all the kinks, but I am working on the exact science behind all of it.
*Artwork by AnAutumnRose entitled Fire Ankh.*
ARW: Of course I do! and I couldn't exclude Magick, it's one of my most favorite things to read about. Magick is something that is pretty normal within the Universe at the time the story takes place, although, of course, there are planets/groups of peoples that are opposed to it's use. I'm sure that somewhere in the Royal Library there is a history book with some War fought on the subject.... But getting back to what we were talking about. There is natural Magick, such as the pyrokinesis that you mentioned, and other nature specific abilities. The spell for Teleportation is a form of ritual Magick, but it definitely helps if the person casting that spell has natural Magick abilities. Telepathic ability is also helpful with Teleportation, because communicating between the planets isn't always the easiest. Twins (who generally have the strongest telepathic abilities) are sought out to work at opposite teleport stations because they can speak with each other the clearest and for longer distances.
TLS: Also a sensitive subject when it comes to different culture is that of religion, which often walks hand in hand with tradition. Can you describe how religion is handled in your Galaxy-System, and what form it takes?
ARW: My Galaxy-System is poly-theistic. The general belief is that there is one greater higher power that manifests itself in a way that will best fit the people that it's serving... which is why the Maji family has been able to rule with so little religious discord for so many generations. There is a planet or two that believes that their Deity is the One True Deity and have tried to make a muck about it... and the Royals have had to be crafty in handling those people in rough times... The most trouble comes from outer Galaxy-Systems that believe in different Gods and Goddesses.. But all-in-all, since their religious beliefs are pretty much all-encompassing... it doesn't cause too many problems for the MC's. Which is all to the better for me, since religion can be really tricky.
I nearly forgot to add that there are no sentient beings that worship other sentient beings. I don't think I'm comfortable with that. So it's more ethereal.
*Artwork by AnAutumnRose entitled Air Ankh.*
TLS: It's sadly time for last question. Having been a good friend of TheLostSigns for quite a few years, the fact that your bi-lingual is well known. How do you feel that affects not only your views on language within your universe, but also the ability to work with language, as all authors do, when creating your story?
ARW: Language has always fascinated me, which is why I have worked towards being multi-lingual and am bi-lingual now. I think that it has made me more aware of the importance of language within a culture, and it has made me want to incorporate more languages in my story. There are different languages in each solar system, and vastly different dialects on each planet within those, and there is a language that is used to communicate in political settings (that language is closely related to our English). I think that having the ability to speak in more than one language has made it easier for me to work with words in my own language, because I understood more of English and all of its intricacies after I took classes in other languages and Linguistics.
TLS: Sorry that took so long, and thank you so much once more for stopping by and doing an interview with me. As always TheLostSigns is hopeful your fans out there will enjoy hearing these questions answered and other interviewers or reviewers will have a bit more information to add to their write ups. Would you like to say anything else to the readers?
ARW: No problem, I have really enjoyed this. I am also hoping that they like it, as this is the first time any of the information has been posted about the way Ua'flor functions as a story-book universe. I want to let the readers know that I am so grateful for them reading my work and that I look forward to continuing the story on FictionPress and hearing what they think about it. Thanks so much for having me on your blog! I hope that this won't be the only time that I'm here. :)
TLS: Until next time, ya'll!! (^_^)
AnAutumRose can be found at her Fiction Press and Deviantart profiles.
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