#PennedPossibilities 324 — SC POV: If you could relive one day of your life without changing anything that happened, which day would you choose? Tootfic: Reframing the Experience
[When my SC says armor, it's really a weightless magical exoskeleton that melds with her body. It looks like blackened bones, because it is. —R.S.]
Oh, there's plenty of days I'd relive unchanged. Like the day I fledged, when I first flew on my own. Or the day learned the thrill of hauling things through the sky. Both good events in a rather dull and awful childhood that turned to cinders when my parents disapproved of the way I wanted to live my life. Said I aimed for the dirt not the sky. Maybe they weren't so dumb—I ended up badly, flying messages for a crime boss over a dozen years. But, then, there was that day last week...
I've told you a few times how I ended up with the armor and a new job training as a pretorian, you know, having faced down the greatest thaumaturge who ever lived, having nearly killed her. Impressed her.
I thought.
Well, my drill instructor was training me that dawn. I wore the armor. The thaumaturge dove at me, full speed. She's a monster flier, taller, more massive, immortal. I jumped into the sky. Fled.
She followed.
Though the armor let me fly like a sparrow, change direction in a heartbeat, and take a thumping only slightly changing my course, it had been her armor once. She kept appearing before me, striking at my face or heart, sending me into spins toward the ground, stalling me out, almost panicking me into flying into trees or buildings. For all her mass and the inertia that implies, I barely avoided her, half the time with her cackling at my barrel rolls or dives that sent down feathers flying. She had muscle; I tired despite the armor until I thought my heart would burst from my chest, at which point a flyby pitched me into the ground.
I skid across the running track on my belly right up to my instructor. I don't know how I didn't break a wing or my neck. Ok, I do: The Armor.
She landed beside me with a loud thump. She wasn't even winded! She told him, "She lacks stamina. Train her harder."
She leaned down until her face was in my face. I smelled maple syrup on her breath. She said, "You need to use the magic in the armor. There's a class at first bell in the Ivory building, room B7. Shower and be there ON TIME."
I have wings.
I don't do magic.
I showered though, once my legs stopped shaking. I slunk into the class still half-frightened out of my wits. My new friend was there, the curse breaker, a former prizefighter, the one I'd fought beside against Her, that ended up with me getting the armor. It was some sort of advanced special Ed class for mages. I suddenly felt totally inadequate and I cried. Me. At the age of 27, I cried telling her my story, pointing to my purpling bruises, complaining that had She gotten in a good strike She would have caved in my rib cage.
My friend was having none of it. She said, "You're a day angel who just went ten minutes fighting Her. Somehow, you're still alive."
I hadn't thought about it that way. I later learned the word, "Reframing."
The instructor came in with a truckload of tomes and grimoires. She had prepared him for me. He gave me a magic primer. I knew it was a primer because it had PICTURES of youngsters playing. Despite the stares of the other students, I read the book.
Half hour later, I got the armor to glow dull red, like iron out of a forge. Truly. Awesome. Didn't know what it did except look intimidating, but still...
Awesome.
I felt my heart grow large in my chest, and it struck me. Someone (okay, the ruler of the nation) wanted me for who I was and who I could become, and because I was capable. She wanted me to aim for the sky. My new friend supported me and pushed me forward. I liked this, who I was, what I was finding I could be, could become.
And.
Oddly.
I realized, for what it was worth, my parents would approve. (And flap them if they didn't!)
On today's #GreatestTrek, the Discovery crew is about to get the party started when Moll steals the Progenitor keg right from under them. Then an away team goes undercover to see if they can pull one over on the Breen.
Listen to the full episode at gagh.biz/greatesttrek
Alerte de votre Carte Vitale digitale :
Vous n’avez pas réalisé vos 10 000 pas par jour en moyenne ces 7 derniers jours. Vos prochains arrêts maladie ne seront pas pris en charge durant 15 jours. #ScienceFiction (?)
If you’re still confused and don’t understand what’s happening with the Hamas-Israel war (the genocide in Palestine) watch Starship Troopers.
It’s around to watch free…
Just look at IDF propaganda videos vs the satire propaganda ones in Starship Troopers. They’re almost the same. That’s very scary! It’s scarier that most people aren’t picking up on it or think it’s normal advertising.
I watched it in theaters yesterday and enjoyed it! Beautiful post-apocalyptic imagery, decent writing, great digital graphics, great story boarding. I’m always excited for sci fi epics and this scratched that itch....
House of Saints starts slowly, dealing mostly with oppressive politics, subterfuge and straining relationships.
It took me a while to get through the first half of the novel.
Things heat up in the second half, and we get to see more cool engineering as our beloved characters try to survive under the oppressive conditions of Venus, the government and the bank.
I finished the second half of the novel in one day.
I especially enjoyed Pascal's continuing transition story, it is nuanced and beautiful.
Note that This is not The Quantum Magician, it is slower, it broods.
The fifth chapter of Stardust: Labyrinth is out! Horrifying event after horrifying event happens as the five tries to find their way back after the fourth chapter's incident, threatening to derail the expedition completely. Will they manage to regain their bearings?
Well, well, well, this was quite a fast one. And I didn’t even push, I just ran on. At one point I noticed that I felt slightly out of breath, then I looked at my watch and was going 4:35/km, so it was alright. Today‘s audiobook was DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch, which I‘ve read some weeks ago. The book was brilliant, the audiobook is as well. I‘m looking forward to the AppleTV+ series of it. Have a great Thursday, y‘all! #Running#applewatchultra2#audiobooks#sciencefiction
#PennedPossibilities 323 — What's a piece of advice for writers that you listened to and are glad for?
An Australian author, Lucy Sussex, told us at Clarion West 1998 to be shameless in promoting ourselves. Being a shy person, networking and promotion has been a heavy lift, but I'm working on it and I know it's going to help. Mastodon: ☑️
Thoughts on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes?
I watched it in theaters yesterday and enjoyed it! Beautiful post-apocalyptic imagery, decent writing, great digital graphics, great story boarding. I’m always excited for sci fi epics and this scratched that itch....