Left Behind
"If you love me, you'll support me," said my friend fervently,
"I definitely need you to completely agree."
"My ideals are noble, and my intentions are great."
"I love you, I support you," though I began right anew,
"But I can't fully state that I agree with you, too."
"And I don't believe that our beliefs have to mate."
"But I'm striking down bigotry, the -isms and hate!"
"Unless those are your values, you'll quickly come round!"
"Just do it right now, before it's too late."
"If you really believed that, you'd do it with love,"
"But you act like a thug, and I think that you sound,"
"Too high and too mighty to be this
AESOP
Welcome to AESOP! How can I help you?
Hi, Im Joseph I just got here.
Oh! You must be the new guy! Im Cammy, nice to meet you.
Whats this?
Your waiver.
In the event of death or dismemberment, accidental or other what is this!?
Oh, dear, I thought I answered that question already.
The president will see you now.
The president?
Of the school.
Oh right. Well, Im excited to meet him.
Her name is Madeleine.
Right. I knew that.
He
Im a what?
Hi! Im Jim. Well, James Johnson the third. Dont be fooled, though, thats just my name. Im not really the third of anything. Thats what I just found out.
Youre my son.
Youre OUR son.
Its just that you didnt come from us.
You think?
I must sound really rude, here, talking to my own mom and dad like that, but Ive been under a little stress lately. Like, a lot of stress.
We still love you! Just like our own!
Please, Jimmy, calm down. Listen to your mother.
Talbot had heard of people who enjoyed the teleporters gut-wrenching, nausea-inducing sensations, but he was not one of them. He was used to it enough that he didnt puke any more, but it always brought back the memory. Ringeck didnt seem to mind, but he was pretty stoic about everything. Talbot might not ever know whether the man had emotions at all. Then, one by one, the rest of his squad came through. As unpleasant as it was to go through the transporter, Talbot didnt think hed ever get tired of watching people come through it. It was just like magic. You watched the shimmering surface of the portal, whi
There was little excitement about hearing this. Most of the troops were rather at home with missile weapons, and didnt like close quarters combat, except for Sergeant Ringeck, who was stretching his neck and smiling. He nodded and grunted his approval of the situation. Are there any questions about the weapons that will be allowed?
This time it was Walker who piped up. So let me get this straight, he said, You want us to fight the enemy with no guns, no grenades, no nukes, no flamethrowers basically with nothing but knives and long pointy sticks?
Youll have swords, too.
Captain Erwin Talbot was not in the mood to talk to the reporters. This was, of course, the usual state of affairs for him, so the reporter did not simply give up with the hope of finding the Captain more amenable in the future.
Just tell me, Captain, said the reporter, Do you have anything at all youd like to tell the public about now that youve been appointed to lead?
Captain Talbot looked him squarely in the eye and waited a moment before speaking. Unlike the man he replaced, Captain Talbot was not afraid of silence. I plan to win. I dont care that we havent won once in the last t
A Short Description of Thayrth
There are three continents on Thayrth that we know of, and they each are large enough to have a great deal of geological and climate variation. The Northern Continent is the home of Empires, for it housed the capitol of the Empire of Theyir, as well as that of the Ratling Empire. It is also home to the Skarpathan Empire, which is the only one of those three that survives to the present day.
The Western part of this continent is warm and full of life, but no longer full of civilization. It was once known as the Center of the World, but that name exists only in history books now. Both the deceased empires ha
THAYRTH
Prologue
"Some worlds exist in the spectra of universes, in which civilization arrives quietly, and peacefully sits down to a picnic with barbarism, as the latter slowly fades out of style and becomes outmoded. In most worlds, civilization and barbarism have some struggles with each other, civilization trying to gain riches from hard work and determination, and barbarism trying to gain riches by looting civilization. Thayrth makes all those wars, struggles, and difficulties look like a friendly wrestling match between adolescent boys."
"Thayrth has magic."
"Magic is, of course, the mere force of life, but without direction or in
Left Behind
"If you love me, you'll support me," said my friend fervently,
"I definitely need you to completely agree."
"My ideals are noble, and my intentions are great."
"I love you, I support you," though I began right anew,
"But I can't fully state that I agree with you, too."
"And I don't believe that our beliefs have to mate."
"But I'm striking down bigotry, the -isms and hate!"
"Unless those are your values, you'll quickly come round!"
"Just do it right now, before it's too late."
"If you really believed that, you'd do it with love,"
"But you act like a thug, and I think that you sound,"
"Too high and too mighty to be this
THAYRTH
Prologue
"Some worlds exist in the spectra of universes, in which civilization arrives quietly, and peacefully sits down to a picnic with barbarism, as the latter slowly fades out of style and becomes outmoded. In most worlds, civilization and barbarism have some struggles with each other, civilization trying to gain riches from hard work and determination, and barbarism trying to gain riches by looting civilization. Thayrth makes all those wars, struggles, and difficulties look like a friendly wrestling match between adolescent boys."
"Thayrth has magic."
"Magic is, of course, the mere force of life, but without direction or in
A Short Description of Thayrth
There are three continents on Thayrth that we know of, and they each are large enough to have a great deal of geological and climate variation. The Northern Continent is the home of Empires, for it housed the capitol of the Empire of Theyir, as well as that of the Ratling Empire. It is also home to the Skarpathan Empire, which is the only one of those three that survives to the present day.
The Western part of this continent is warm and full of life, but no longer full of civilization. It was once known as the Center of the World, but that name exists only in history books now. Both the deceased empires ha
Captain Erwin Talbot was not in the mood to talk to the reporters. This was, of course, the usual state of affairs for him, so the reporter did not simply give up with the hope of finding the Captain more amenable in the future.
Just tell me, Captain, said the reporter, Do you have anything at all youd like to tell the public about now that youve been appointed to lead?
Captain Talbot looked him squarely in the eye and waited a moment before speaking. Unlike the man he replaced, Captain Talbot was not afraid of silence. I plan to win. I dont care that we havent won once in the last t
There was little excitement about hearing this. Most of the troops were rather at home with missile weapons, and didnt like close quarters combat, except for Sergeant Ringeck, who was stretching his neck and smiling. He nodded and grunted his approval of the situation. Are there any questions about the weapons that will be allowed?
This time it was Walker who piped up. So let me get this straight, he said, You want us to fight the enemy with no guns, no grenades, no nukes, no flamethrowers basically with nothing but knives and long pointy sticks?
Youll have swords, too.
Talbot had heard of people who enjoyed the teleporters gut-wrenching, nausea-inducing sensations, but he was not one of them. He was used to it enough that he didnt puke any more, but it always brought back the memory. Ringeck didnt seem to mind, but he was pretty stoic about everything. Talbot might not ever know whether the man had emotions at all. Then, one by one, the rest of his squad came through. As unpleasant as it was to go through the transporter, Talbot didnt think hed ever get tired of watching people come through it. It was just like magic. You watched the shimmering surface of the portal, whi
Im a what?
Hi! Im Jim. Well, James Johnson the third. Dont be fooled, though, thats just my name. Im not really the third of anything. Thats what I just found out.
Youre my son.
Youre OUR son.
Its just that you didnt come from us.
You think?
I must sound really rude, here, talking to my own mom and dad like that, but Ive been under a little stress lately. Like, a lot of stress.
We still love you! Just like our own!
Please, Jimmy, calm down. Listen to your mother.
Captain Erwin Talbot was not in the mood to talk to the reporters. This was, of course, the usual state of affairs for him, so the reporter did not simply give up with the hope of finding the Captain more amenable in the future.
Just tell me, Captain, said the reporter, Do you have anything at all youd like to tell the public about now that youve been appointed to lead?
Captain Talbot looked him squarely in the eye and waited a moment before speaking. Unlike the man he replaced, Captain Talbot was not afraid of silence. I plan to win. I dont care that we havent won once in the last t
Current Residence: SF Bay Area Operating System: Windows. Linux just doesn't have enough games for it... MP3 player of choice: Laptop. Skin of choice: Nucleo AlienMind. For WinAmp. Favourite cartoon character: Definitely Schlock. Or Agatha Heterodyne, Girl Genius. Goblins? OOTS? I don't know.
[01] Do you have the guts to answer these questions and re-post as The Controversial Survey?
Not only do I have the guts to answer *your* questions, I will answer several questions *you* didn't have the guts to ask. Ha, beat that!
[02] Would you do meth if it was legalized?
Would you do self-lobotomy if it was legalized? No thanks!
[03] Abortion: for or against it?
In general circumstances: against. It is not something to be toyed with, and it is not a right. Abortion is never a good option. If there are good options, those should be examined first. In extenuating circumstances: for. Sometimes, abortion is one of the least bad opt
Since when did writing help me calm down so much? I just noticed this tonight, because I was feeling terribly. I mean just awful. You know those days where you get out of bed, thinking "man, there's no way I can do anything good today" and then you go out and just prove yourself right? I hate those days.
Anyways, today was one of those, and I was all set to wallow in depression for a while when I started writing.
Instantly is the most important descriptor about what happened then. Instantly, I started to feel relieved. Like there was some great strain and the only way it could get out of my body was to be tapped out on the keyboard, o
Maybe I should write a kid's book? I do like childrens' literature, and it's more difficult than it sounds.
But I'd have to have the help of a really good illustrator.
(Hint, hint)