Archive | February 2014

Theo Status Report

Feb14

We took Theo to the vet last night and he was given subcutaneous fluid, which perked him up a bit right away.

He has a small heart murmur, dehydration, anemia, and a fever. Tests show that he doesn’t have FLV, thank gods. It’s probably-a-virus, and now we have steroids and an antibiotic to deal with whatever-it-is (obviously the antibiotic is for if it’s not a virus).

T’s been feeding Theo a tablespoon of wet food every three hours, which seems to be all he’ll eat, but it means he’s both eating and getting fluid. I bought him some tasty-super-natural (not supernatural) kitty food from the hippy pet food store, and he thinks that’s awesome. In tablespoon increments.

Theocracy’s still a baby – not yet two – so I have faith (heh) that he’ll bounce back. It’s just pins-and-needles in the meantime.

In related news, our vets are pretty awesome. And immensely patient.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/668698.html. You can comment here or there.

Outnumbered

Feb14

To [personal profile] eseme‘s prompt to my January orig-fic card. This fills the “Outnumbered” slot.

Nila, Tros, Allan and Susan are part of my Fae Apoc setting; its landing page is here.

They’ve shown up in Hey you Kids get off my lawn!, Leaving Town, A New Flower

“Asset count.” Nila stepped back against the cliff, putting her children behind her.

“We have a cliff,” Allan offered. “And you have your spear and your gun and Tros has his sword and knife. And I have a stick.”

“Good, kiddo. And they have -”

“Twelve people and a truck.”

“Very good. Now, can you see anyplace for you and your sister to hide?”

“There’s this little cave back here.”

“Atta boy. Take Susan, there you go.” She made sure her kids were wiggled into the cave, then looked over at Tros. “Well.”

“I promised to help protect your kids and watch your back. These people don’t look like they’ll be nice to your kids.” He was trying to sound brave, but she could see the way his knuckles were turning white as he gripped his sword.

“This wasn’t in the deal. I’ll release you from your promise, if you want.”

“No.” His retort was sharp. “I promised. And you healed me. So… what’ve we got?”

“A cliff, a sword, and two small children. And they’re coming.”

“Right. Back against the cave and here we go.” She started chanting. When in doubt, her Mentor had taught her, hit them as hard as you could before they knew you had a fist.

Nila was a healer and a gardener; Tros was a wood- and stone-worker, an artist. Neither of them had trained primarily in combat. The team in front of them looked paramilitary, headed by someone who wasn’t bothering to Mask, and with two other obvious fae in the team.

Healers could do some pretty terrifying things with bodies, and with two people Working wood in their group, they had quite a bit of control of the fae-poisons of hawthorn and rowan.

The hedge grew up around their attackers in a split second, and kept growing, taller and tighter and most of all thornier. Blood spurting from the attackers fed the hedge, which only grew hungrier.

It didn’t stop them all, of course, and more seemed to keep coming, attack after attack. But Tros was better with the sword than Nila had expected, and she was getting very good at cutting the enemy’s feet out from under them.

“You cheat.” The soldier was missing half of his body, but it didn’t stop him from fighting. Nila danced out of his way and poked at him with Allan’s stick.

“We were outnumbered six to one. Now… we’re not.”

~*~

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/668520.html. You can comment here or there.

February is World Building Month. Day Thirteen: Tír na Cali

Feb14

[personal profile] piratekitten has declared February world-building month.

Every day in February, I will answer one question about any one of my settings.

The question post is here, please feel free to add more questions!

The sixth question comes from [personal profile] moonwolf and is for Tir na Cali.

Why Cats?

Cats are cool. 🙂

Cats aren’t the only moddies the Agency worked on (and the Agency aren’t the only ones who created moddies); almost every animal-type has been experimented with.

In terms of “skin jobs” (appearance-based modification with no underlying behavioral or physiological changes), in the proper underground markets in Tír na Cali, one can buy a moddie with almost any appearance. Cats sell very well, as do rabbits and other fuzzy things; snakes and lizards are more of a niche market. That’s simple aesthetics; when people are purchasing someone for their “cute” and “attractive” features, they tend to want someone that will look, well, cute.

In terms of full mods, the Agency has discovered that cats are the most versatile of the moddies. The more wild animals tended to lead to behavioral problems, and dogs either went feral in packs or followed their handler around. Cats maintained a level of independence while still being friendly with their handlers or owners.

The most successful moddies in terms of the burgeoning space program were the monkeys. However, while they performed all of their tasks very efficiently, they were too independent-minded, or, rather, they had a similar problem to the dogs but while in space and in control of a ship.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/668335.html. You can comment here or there.

Dance the Dance

Feb14

This is to [personal profile] anke‘s prompt here to my February Giraffe Call.

Addergoole, Year 15 – directly after Bully for You.

Addergoole has a landing page here.

“He’s a bully, Kelse. And there’s no reason you should be putting up with bullies again.”

“Cy-y-y.”

“A bully, what?” Lor looked back at the girl. “Nah, I don’t beat people up. But Kelsey here doesn’t mind bring my food, does he?”

A bully? Really? What were they, in elementary school?

“Cy, you can’t do this. You can’t keep fighting every time anyone is a jerk to me. Remember what happened back in Mayville?”

“You’re not doing your brother any favors, you know, Cy.” Lor leaned back in his chair and grinned. “I mean, who wants to know his little sister had to defend him?”

“I’m two years older than he is!”

“Oh, and that makes it better, hunh? Look, just run along and leave us alone; Kelsey and I are getting along fine.”

“I think there’s something wrong with your hearing, new boy. I said I challenge you.“

“She’s well within her rights.” Suddenly the short guy – Luke, that was his name, security, wasn’t he? And the gym teacher. Lor hadn’t broken any rules; he didn’t, usually. “If the woman is going to challenge you, Lor, you can either accept or decline.”

“So I decline.” He shrugged. “I don’t fight girls.”

“Of course you don’t.” He was beginning to get the feeling the gym teacher didn’t like him. “But what did you say? Oh. You’re not going to do yourself any favors if you’re afraid to fight a girl.”

“Nobody’s going to look at me sideways for that. Look at her. She’s tiny.”

“Of course you could beat her. But if you don’t… well, what’s that look like?”

“Shit, you people really want me to fight a girl, don’t you? Okay, I’ve got this.” Lor stretched. “Where and when, little girl?”

“And don’t forget terms.” Luke was so helpful.

“And, sure, what are your terms?” Lor was amused. “This is a pretty silly dance for me to just knock her to the floor, you know.”

“I know. But this is the way we dance, here in Addergoole.”

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This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/668092.html. You can comment here or there.

Friday Show-and-Tell

Feb14

Shamelessly copied from [personal profile] jjhunter:

Friday, every Friday, I invite you (yes, you!) to share with me key Dreamwidth (or LJ, or Tumblr, or anything else) posts from the last week. They can be one or more of your own posts, posts of others you’d recommend, interesting discussions, linkspams, tiny delights, whatever stands out to you from the last seven days that you’d like to highlight. Assume that I’ve been away and pining too true and catch me up on what matters to you.

In return, I will make a point of commenting on at least one post of those you share, and I encourage others to do the same.

Newcomers, lurkers and long-time commentators equally welcome

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/667770.html. You can comment here or there.

Worldbuilding Day 12: Stranded

Feb14

PirateKitten has declared February world-building month.

Every day in February, I will answer one question about any one of my settings.

The question post is here, please feel free to add more questions!

The twelfth question comes from clare_dragonfly and is for Stranded World

Was there a first person to discover the strands?

From an earlier question this month:

There are those who believe that, at one time, all humans had this power, but most of them are poo-pooed; studies show that almost every case of a known Strand-Weavers can be traced genealogically to a handful of magically inclined people in approx. 450 AD.

The literature here disagrees, and there is quite a bit of literature.

Not out on the public shelves of the library or your local Barnes & Noble, of course, but if you know where you’re looking, there’s information to be found – texts and treatises and long boring papers and short graphic novels. The Strands tend to attract those of a curious and artistic bent, and that leads to a great deal being written about them.

If you look back at the earliest known material – in the era of the end of the Roman Empire – you are more searching for clues than reading information; many of the books of that era are believed to have been burned in purges through the centuries.

There is a tapestry in a museum in London which shows a woman plucking multi-colored strings out of the clouds; rain falls onto parched crops where she plucks. It’s been dated to approximately the seventh century AD.

Deep in catacombs under Austria, there have been clay tablets found describing the way that threads could be used to bind people together, or to unbind them if the binding was unwanted. They are assumed to be from about 800 AD.

And so on. Common theories suggest that one person found the Strands and taught their friends about them, or that several people in different places around the globe found out about them at about the same time.

When the proper sort of anthropologist has been sent in to newly-discovered isolated communities, in almost all cases the people there have demonstrated neither the ability to manipulate or see the Strands of the knowledge thereof.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/667572.html. You can comment here or there.

A selection of Addergoole microbits for the Giraffe Call

Feb13

So, I was looking at [personal profile] ysabetwordsmith‘s prompt here, and I asked Twitter for some ideas and then um you ended up with four microficlets.

One is Canon, Two could be, Three Might be, and Four is a definite AU.

All are Addergoole.

One

Luke was flapping in Regine’s office. Again. She set aside her papers and regarded her crewmate.

“Have you seen the reports?”

“I’ve seen the films.”

“Not those.” She tilted her head at a small pile of mostly-hand-written notes. “Those are from Williamsburg; the stack under them is from the former Washington State. Places whose survival has been smoother because of the presence of Addergoole graduates.”

She gestured at another pile. “These are the fatality figures for one hundred selected areas. Ten of them have active Addergoole graduates.

“Not to mention,” of course, “the survival rates of our graduates vs. that of the general population.”

Luke flapped again, but Regine was unfazed. “We are doing good here, Luca. We continue to do good for the world and for our students.”

Two

“You just have to learn to survive without him. It’s a one-day-at-a-time process, but you can do it.”

The matron was very kind. Keven appreciated her kindness, at the same time as he wanted to rip out her lying tongue. It was quite a contradiction, but, then again, this whole place was a contradiction.

“I’m bound to him.” He’d explained before. He’d explained every day he was in this place. “He’s my Keeper and he owns me. Without his say-so, I can’t just ‘let go.'”

“I know you think that, but it’s just a process of brainwashing that we can reverse. But you have to be willing.”

In the room next door, someone screamed. Keven felt like joining them.

Three

“It’s always better to be honest.”

The Addergoole South project wasn’t an official branch of the school, yet, but there were students they could pull in, and they were hoping for official accreditation soon –

    “It’s always better to be honest” was one of their main tenants, and one they had built right into the walls and the wards of the school.

    “Teacher? I don’t think I should have to learn this. It’s boring and, besides, I’m only going to be a despot when I graduate.”

    “No, Morley. I’m not interested in wearing your collar. You smell like a dead bat.”

    “…and that’s how we’ve set up the breeding program for maximum efficacy and best results. We got the idea out of a science fiction novel…”


– soon. As soon as they had the wrinkles worked out.

Four

Luke burst into the room, wings flaring and sword in his hand. “Put down the girl.”

Angus looked up at the Mara, then back down to his Kept. “…what?”

“Don’t act stupid, boy, you do well enough without acting. Giada, come here, be a good girl. Angus, you’re going to release her now.”

“…but I’m happy.”

“…but I didn’t do anything wrong to her.”

“That’s not what the tapes show. After what you did to her in the shower-“

“You were watching me in the shower?” The tiny girl shoved Luke and darted back to her Keeper. “Angus! Angus, he was watching me. In the shower.“

“I’m always watching everyone.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/667301.html. You can comment here or there.

February is World Building Month. Day Ten: Aunt Family

Feb13

[personal profile] piratekitten has declared February world-building month.

Every day in February (or most days), I will answer one question about any one of my settings.

The question post is here, please feel free to add more questions!

The tenth question comes from Kelkyag and is for The Aunt Family

Ruan seems to be in a different genre from the rest of the family, with scientific chemical/alchemical experimentation and enchanted mechanisms (as well as trapped spirits and whatnot else). What changed? (Or have we just not seen more recent Aunts at that sort of work?)

Good question!

Ruan was certainly more scientific-minded than many of her relatives, even in the era in which she lived.

Aunts tend to fall into two camps (truly, it’s more nuanced than that, but this is the short version): Those that accept the power, often those just considered a placeholder until a stronger Aunt can come along, and those that stretch the power to its limit.

However, the Aunts do not live in a vacuum, and what they do – and how they do it – is heavily influenced by the rest of their family, especially their mother, their grandmother, their predecessor, and their successors. So an Aunt who lives in a repressive family is either going to end up quiet and unassuming, not pushing the magic far at all, or, like Zenobia, end up pushing everything as far as she can in hopes of finding new limits and then breaking those.

It is likely that, given a little more time, Evangaline is likely to start exploring the limits of the family power, reading into old notes, and learning what others before her have done before.

(As a side note: Ruan had huge impetus, in what her non-Aunt-aunt had left her; she had to figure out what to do with all those ghosts. So far, nothing quite that big has spurred Eva).

Short answer: the scientific urge runs in the family, but in some cases it is far stronger than others.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/666998.html. You can comment here or there.

February is World Building Month. Day Nine: Unicorn/Factory

Feb13

[personal profile] piratekitten has declared February world-building month.

Every day in February (or most days), I will answer one question about any one of my settings.

The question post is here, please feel free to add more questions!

The ninth question comes from Kelkyag and is for Unicorn/Factory

What do the factories produce? (Other than pollution …)

The factories in the Unicorn/Factory setting are very early Industrial Era for this world. Whatever ulterior motives the Governors (dun-dun-dun!) or the Administrators have, the Factories were developed and built to provide basic consumable goods in a mass-produced fashion.

Among the things produced in the four Towns and the central capitol are: fabric, clothing, farm tools, machine tools, and weapons.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution

Many of these tools are labor-savers, taking time and effort off the shoulders of farmers and laborers who can then do other things.

And if they could come to a more comfortable accord with the Unicorns, the ‘Corns could actually work very effectively as air- and waste-scrubbers. However, that would require not having chained them in the first place….

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/666730.html. You can comment here or there.

Pirates and Bad People

Feb13

This is to kelkyag‘s and cluudle‘s prompt here to my February Giraffe Call.

It takes part in my Space Accountant ‘Verse.

Names from Fourteen Minutes’ name generator.

It was easy, when the ship wasn’t raiding, for Genique to forget that she worked for pirates.

It wasn’t even that hard when the ship was raiding, because support staff like Genique were locked into their rooms while the raids happened, for reasons that were entirely unclear but that, to be fair, Genique didn’t look too closely at that lack-of-clarity. Numbers were where she focused.

It was very easy to focus on those numbers. The ship had such a tangle of them, such a jury-rigged bureaucracy, as if they had just picked someone and given them an office and a budget any time a need came up – and, looking at this place, they very likely had done just that.

So, when Genique was meeting withCleonorayen Clyd and a strange man walked in, it did not faze her or strike her as strange – until Clyd was bowing and so Genique was too. Clyd was the First Mate; that meant this had to be-

“Captain Anson.” Clyd rose from her bow.

“Who’s the new girl?” The captain didn’t look like a pirate, although none of them really did. He was clean-shaven, snappily dressed…

“Genique, sir. She’s an accountant.”

“Everyone starts in the Pit. Or in my cabin.”

“Yes, sir, but she’s been helping with the books.”

“Everyone starts in the Pit, Mate. Everyone. Send her to the Pit.”

Genique cleared her throat and risked a full glance at the Captain. Ten earrings in one ear, seven in the other; his skin was golden brown under black hair; his eyes were blue like the sky she could barely remember. Jayssey, then, and she was wearing no jewelry at all.

“If this one might be permitted to speak to the Captain?”

“Speak.” He was smiling, and his voice was amused. Good.

“This one has already done time in the Pit.” The Pit-Master had given what he called the short tour, but it had been twenty-four hours she would not forget.

“Yeah?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then I guess you’re coming to my cabin.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/666475.html. You can comment here or there.