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You know how when you absolutely have to do something you fill your brain with other things you'd rather be doing?
I am NOT allowing myself to write fic until I've done this stupid portfolio thing, which is MOSTLY done and due on Monday.
Then I MUST write the three fics I have unfinished. Because I'm being lazy about them.
And then there is the epic fic, which really isn't very epic yet. It has epic quantities of notes and ideas, but not an epic wordcount.
BUT.
I AM SUDDENLY OVERCOME WITH DESIRE TO WRITE A MERLIN WHODUNNIT. Two laundry maids have been killed in gruesome ways and it's up to Prince Arthur and his trusty manservant to solve the mystery...
Oh God, you can tell my work is going badly: I've posted three times today.
I am NOT allowing myself to write fic until I've done this stupid portfolio thing, which is MOSTLY done and due on Monday.
Then I MUST write the three fics I have unfinished. Because I'm being lazy about them.
And then there is the epic fic, which really isn't very epic yet. It has epic quantities of notes and ideas, but not an epic wordcount.
BUT.
I AM SUDDENLY OVERCOME WITH DESIRE TO WRITE A MERLIN WHODUNNIT. Two laundry maids have been killed in gruesome ways and it's up to Prince Arthur and his trusty manservant to solve the mystery...
Oh God, you can tell my work is going badly: I've posted three times today.
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Ummm, here. Posted for the first time ever, the last bit of S&S that I was too depressed to post in my NaNo journal. How's that? It's the best I can do on short notice, I'm afraid, since I don't do drabbles or whatever. [laugh/flail]
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Arden looked at him for a moment, then nodded and relayed what he'd said to his aunt.
She gave them both a sharp glance, then said in accented Ruvori, "So tell me, what in this room has been touched by the goddess?"
Arden started looking around, but Luka said, "I don't think it works like that, holy lady. Things in Dereno's temple were the same as things in Ashti's. It's not particular to which god, or... I don't know, maybe it is sometimes? But if you've things in here which have been touched by different gods, I don't think I could separate out the ones from your goddess."
"That's fine, boy," she said with an impatient hand-wave. "What do you see?"
"The gold sun on the shelf," he said. "Altar? On the wall." He pointed to a golden sun-disk on Aunt Gerra's altar niche, which Arden privately thought anyone could have guessed and made a poor first choice.
Apparently his aunt agreed because she said, "Any fool would've guessed that right off, the Sun and Sword and Plate. Try again or stop wasting my time."
Luka bowed and said, "Your pardon, holy lady, but only the sun has been god-touched. The plate and... knife? The blade? They're ordinary."
"Ridiculous!" she snapped. "I use them every day. They've all been consecrated!"
"Maybe consecration isn't the same as being touched by a god, though," Arden put in. "If a priestess has dedicated an item to the goddess's service, that's not the same as the goddess herself touching it."
Aunt Gerra frowned for a moment, thinking. "Perhaps. I was assuming all truly holy things would look the same, but yes, there could be a differentiation there. Go on, then. What do you see? Both of you."
Arden pointed out two of the polished stone markers on her counting board, and one of her rings. "Not the whole thing, just this one piece." He pointed to a single curling strip of gold in the filigree design.
"Interesting." She held up the ring and frowned at it. "The gold must have been taken from some other object. More than one other object. I'll have to find out where it came from originally, before I was given it." She looked up at Luka once more and said, "So? What else, boy? Anything?"
Arden didn't see anything else and thought it was a trick, to see whether Luka would point out something at random. He didn't think Luka was that stupid, so Arden was surprised when he said, "There, these two dots on this painting."
Luka walked over to an illuminated painting on the wall opposite the broad, sunny window. It depicted Orlana and Baruno in balance, sun and moon, in a forest-girded meadow which shaded from day to night. He pointed out two of the tiny meadow flowers, which had been picked out in gold leaf. The shine of the polished metal in the sunlight from the window had nearly washed out the tiny sparks of god-glow on the dots, but now that Luka had pointed them out, Arden could see them too.
He nodded and said, "You've sharp eyes. Strange that it's just those two flowers, though."
"Different source of gold?" Arden asked. "Like the one curl in the ring?"
"Probably," Arden began, but his aunt interrupted him.
"In that case I doubt it was an accident." She stalked over and glared at the painting. "This was a gift from Jeron Ripavo, upon my elevation to office. A symbol of the natural harmony between Orlana and Baruno, he said."
[Continued on Next Rock...]
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Arden thought she was going to spit. Revered Lord Jeron Teronus Ripavo, high priest of Baruno in Cara and therefore in the Empire, had been feuding with Geralia's superior, the high priestess of Orlana, but very genteelly. No one would have thought anything amiss if he'd sent a handsome gift to the Revered Lady Mulana Shoraja Ilado's new second. The two temples had been sending each other gushing flattery in the form of expensive gifts for generations.
"Out! Out, both of you." She suddenly grabbed each of the men by the arm and bustled them all to the door. We've been summoned by the Emperor and we've kept him waiting long enough."
But when they were through the door and she slammed it behind them, she stopped right there in the hall and said, "I need you two to check every room in the temple. My brother can wait -- we need to know the place is safe from that sneaking louse!"
"Wait, what?" Arden's head was spinning and he was trying to figure out how to make the world slow down for a moment. "What are we looking for?"
"You didn't notice? Those two golden flowers your slave pointed out are shaped like eyes. That diseased rat has been spying on us, I'll wager an entire quarter's rents!"
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Better? A little? [hugz]
Angie
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Thank you. Sorry I'm being so miserable. It just feels like I've been working on this thing forever (it has been WEEKS) and it's still crap and I have to hand it in soon. And I'm just losing the will to live!
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Angie
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And, of course, if it were an essay I'd be able to tell if it's any good, because I know what a good essay sounds like and I know what a bad one is like. This? Haven't a clue. So it's like hitting my head against a brick wall.
I think I'm just going to reference it, tidy it up and bit and give up!
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Angie
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LOL! I don't think I'll do very well. But I did much better than expected on the last one, so at least I have marks in the bank to rely on!
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That always helps. [nodnod] I remember one quarter I was sick for almost two weeks and scrambling to catch up. I was taking a US History class and figured that, with the points I had, if I got an A on everything for the last three weeks or so of the class (which I should, since I'd gotten As on everything before that) I could afford to completely ignore this one project I'd missed and still get an A over all. I told the teacher that I'd made a decision not to turn in this project (it was a family tree sort of thing, which I'd done a bazillion times before anyway, so it's not like I'd have learned anything new) she was a bit taken aback, but my logic was sound and I did get an A in the class. It's nice to have enough points stored up to be able to make those kinds of calculations toward the end, though, when you need to. Whether you're missing something like I did, or just putting a single assignment into perspective.
Angie
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Angie
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Angie, waving pom-poms for you
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The only good thing is that I know everyone else is struggling just as much. Which is reassuring.