Tag Archive | prompter: kelkyag

Planning for Spring, a ficlet for the Christmas Prompt Call

written to Kelkyag‘s prompt.

“I’ll start with carrots,” Agnieszka decided. “And then green onions. Chives, too. And then peas. Peas like it a little cold, right? Spinach and lettuce and start some tomatoes inside, and some peppers…”

“I’ll build a pavilion,” Natalia mused. “And an outdoor shower. It gets pretty warm, yeah? I’ll rig up a shadecloth or something for your plants. Let the goats out to frolic – I’ll have to set up a fence, if that wide plain over there doesn’t turn out to be a lake. Swimming! A nice big platform for proper sunbathing…”

The colony pod for Sieamans III was climate-controlled, with Sol-style sunlamps and a well-stocked hydroponic garden, a lap pool and a holographic relaxation deck. With the long, long seasons, the colonists needed it. But somehow, none of that compared to the daydreams, planning for the year when spring would finally get here.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1040902.html. You can comment here or there.

Lexember Day 13: Grain

kelkyag asked for Agriculture words — domesticated plants and their fruits. I got a brief start on that!

Food! Always important.

We already have belenuza, potato-parsnip (or earth-apple) and Lok, meal.

The first grain found by and eventually cultivated by the proto-Calenyena was barley: toppot, /tōp ‘pōt/ a word whose origins are lost in time. Later came wheat, tuz, /təz/ originally toppot-tuz. Tuz is a word that meant pale and can still be found in the word datuz, meaning “an unhappy surprise;” a pale-making.

Rice was borrowed from the proto-Arrans, the west-coast people, along with the name, corbin –> korbin

The long-grained black rice-like grain that was found on Reiassan was called Reiassannon’s Rice, voRiesa korbin.

And if you’ve noticed I slid in a possessive, you’d be correct.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1024393.html. You can comment here or there.

Lexember Day 5: Underwear and Vests, Linen and Buttons

kelkyag asked: “You have existing clothing words — are they all gathered up somewhere? Are there gaps in that to fill? Words for underwear and buttons and hats along with tunics and stuff?”

Some!

Quoting myself:

The basic unit of Calenyen clothing is the kiparrie. This, like “kimono”, is a generic term, with any number of specific terms depending on shape, length of hem and sleeve, purpose, cut of collar, etc…

It is worn down to the knees over full pants (tozhyu) or a full skirt (kanzhyu).


The kiparri is worn in layers, starting, usually, with what I commonly translate as “linens.”

The word in Calenyena doesn’t actually come from their word for linen, betbet or even their word for flax, betyier.

(Betbet itself is sometimes said to come from the word betyier and sometimes from the sound the wet stalks make when, after retting, the stalks were beaten against rocks to reveal the fibers).

No, the word for under-clothes comes from the word lur, meaning smooth, easy: from kiprat-lur to kiplur and eventually down to kur.

Under-clothes are fastened by ties or laces, from geg, rope, gegyup.

They are usually heavily decorated with bentyek, art-with-a-needle, embroidery, around the hems and cuffs, and sometimes along the seams as well.

The outermost layer is usually a vest, kiprat, which you might recognize from above. The modern vests are long, reaching to mid-hip, unlike their namesakes, which often fell only to the bottom of the ribs; the modern vest is made of woven wool, linen, or some combination, where the original kiprat were made of felted wool.

This is held closed with fancy buttons, reddakak, from kak, push (non-fancy buttons, purely for function, are dakak. A person who makes buttons is a Diedreddakak, and is considered a skilled craftsperson.

And if we have left our model in only their linens and vest, well, at least their linens are soft, and we can put in the middle layers on another day.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1018025.html. You can comment here or there.

Dragons, next door or otherwise, a drabble for Kelkyag

written to Kelkyag‘s prompt here. Prequel to the Dragons Next Door stuff.

“Well, what do you think?” Cxaidin looped slowly above the neighborhood, taking care to stay very high up in the air – above the range of everything but surface-to-air missiles. “It’s a bit crowded, yes, but I hear they’re very nice.”

“Humans being very nice is a bit like a volcano being very nice, isn’t it?” Cxaidin’s mate, Zizny, flew just above, peering down at the little neighborhood. “Is that a centaur herd I spy?”

“There are pixies and tinies as well.” Cxaidin let the currents drift its body lower. “And goblins.”

“There are tinies and goblins everywhere, dear. But pixies? Really?” Zizny moved closer to Cxaidin. “And I see harpies. Living that close to humans?”

“Smokey Knoll is special, so they tell me. And we’ve wanted the children to get used to humans.”

“It’s get used to them or get rid of them all.” Zizny snorted smoke. “So I suppose, yes. We could hatch an egg there, live there for a while. And that castle down there, that looks perfect. Do we conquer it?”

“Close, dear. I’ve offered to buy out the family currently living there. Ogres, and they think the neighbors smell funny.”

“Ogres think everything smells funny. Well, I suppose.” With two mighty flaps, Zizny gained more air. “As long as nobody shoots at us. I really dislike it when they do that.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/1014266.html. You can comment here or there.

Lilac in Spring, a character study of Radar and Lam, posted on Patreon

Lilac in Spring

“Hey, stop that, stop that. You’re my mother, yes, I fully acknowledge that, but what are you doing, no, no, not inside the ear…”

The cat often known as Radar was in the habit of ignoring voices that spoke in English. It wouldn’t do for anyone – not even the human that theoretically could call him as familiar – to get used to him being tame. He was a cat, after all, no matter what machinations had folded him into that shape….

read on…

Before Kitten troubles and after Charming, Kitten Switch, and Boy Trouble

Aunt Family have a landing page here.

This story is free for all to read!

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/986546.html. You can comment here or there.

Lilac in Spring

“Hey, stop that, stop that. You’re my mother, yes, I fully acknowledge that, but what are you doing, no, no, not inside the ear…

The cat often known as Radar was in the habit of ignoring voices that spoke in English. It wouldn’t do for anyone – not even the human that theoretically could call him as familiar – to get used to him being tame. He was a cat, after all, no matter what machinations had folded him into that shape.

But something about this voice drew him back, when he had nearly walked past the room and out of the house. Continue reading

Three Weeks For Dreamwidth: Three Weeks for Worldbuilding – Science!

The thing about the Lab in the world of Science! is, they are only the good guys by a specific set of morality guidelines – specifically, Liam’s, the head of the Lab.

On the other hand, while they may not be the good guys, in a place where human/rose hybrids are possible, there are people that are worse than them.

Super(*)-villains are a thing in the world of Science!, although there are not so obvious as the comics would have you believe. There are people who have learned how to wire brains to accept and manipulate computer data: they are hackers the likes of which the normal police and FBI have a very hard time catching. There are people who use pheromones or simple mind-control drugs to drive their Ponzi schemes. There are people who implant chips into kidnap victims and use them as unknowing Trojan Horses, or, worse, sell them on the black market.

The Lab tests on orphans. There are always more orphans to be tested on, because there are scientists who release flesh-eating bacteria into the wild for fun, people who make sniperbots for giggles, people who incite riots just to cover a bank robbery.

And if that sounds bleak, well, in some places it is. But there are heroes, as well: the FBI has an Unusual Crimes division. Police have their own scientists. The Red Cross has begun keeping simple gas masks and earplugs on hand at all locations, and, more than that, sedatives; they also have holding locations for those suspected to be under the influence of mind-control… something. And, in every city, there are at least five people who have either biological or mechanical enhancement, who can withstand almost anything the villains can throw at them. They assist the police, the FBI, and the Red Cross on a consultant basis, and keep each other honest.

And under all of this, Liam’s Lab – and other like it – are churning out cures for things like cancer right alongside flesh-eating roses.

Written to kelkyag‘s prompt here.

I still need lots more worldbuilding prompts! Check it out!

(*) Also, possibly, as originally written, Supper-villains..

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/930253.html. You can comment here or there.

Hurt/Comfort Meme Answer 2: Injured, Esha/Daxton

To Kelkyag‘s prompt to my H/C prompt here. After A Rescue in Hand.

There were people everywhere. There were courtiers and mercenaries, guards and generals and servants, all of them pushing as close to Daxton as they dared, all of them talking at once.

Esha was holding up, standing straight and answering questions. She was the hero of the day and she was rightfully proud, but she still had an arrow sticking out of her shoulder, and she was turning a bit grey.

Daxton met his father’s eyes over the crowd. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done that. From the raised eyebrows his father was showing, neither could he.

“Son?” He pitched his voice carefully, carrying over the crowd and aimed straight at Daxton.

“You offered my hand in marriage?” Daxton used the same trick. He wasn’t as good at it; the nearby crowd hushed.

“I did. If you-“

For the first time since he was two years old, he cut off his father in a public situation. “I’d like to take my betrothed to the palace doctor now, please. She’s injured, and she got injured saving my life.”

The Duke smiled at him. “Go right ahead, son. Captain Senner, Captain Iken, please escort Lady Esharina and Lord Daxton to the doctor. My son – I am very pleased to have you back.”

Lady. They were really going to do it. He bowed, as low as he could. “Thank you.” Before anything could sneak up on them, he wrapped a careful arm around Esha and led her to the doctor’s suite.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/928725.html. You can comment here or there.

Observing, a side story of the Unicorn/Factory

Per [personal profile] kelkyag‘s request, this comes after The Grey Line (lj), Productive, The Governors (LJ), Right & Wrong, and Cleaning House.

Unicorn Factory has a landing page here on DW and here on LJ

They were moving the river.

Ansel stood, a hand on the unicorn foal nobody else could see, and watched them. They were shifting their water-catchers and moving in rock, lots and lots of rock.

“It’s all right,” Ansel assured the foal that was also his sister. “See? They’re going to clean the water.”

She headbutted his hip, using her jowl and nose to avoid poking him with her tiny-but-deadly horn. Ansel chuckled. “It’s going to be okay.” He pointed at the rock they were bringing in. “Someone decided to learn. And once they decide to learn, things begin moving.”

She made a noise somewhere between a whicker and a whinny. Ansel, in return, petted her mane. She didn’t speak, not the way humans did. But she knew more clearly than any of them what was good and right and what was wrong.

“It’ll be fine.” And because she believed him, Ansel found he, too, believed it.

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/885447.html. You can comment here or there.

Turn Left Story Two: That Damn Cat

From the Turn Left meme here: http://aldersprig.livejournal.com/1005760.html; off of this story: http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/260041.html in the Beryl/Damn Cat sequence, an AU.

They had gotten the cats distributed, gotten everything sorted out, all but one angry Siamese cat. The big old tom had clawed, bitten, and, when the vet had mentioned fixing, he drawn blood on four different people.

“Some cats,” the vet mentioned, “you just have to put down. You can’t leave him wandering, not knowing what he might have…”

She went quiet, because the cat had gone completely still. He wasn’t looking at the vet; he was looking at Beryl. His eyes, she noticed, were blue.

“I think…” she said slowly “…as long as you don’t try to castrate him, he’ll behave just fine now.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/884583.html. You can comment here or there.