January 4th, 2012
Movie Attendance Dropping
Poem: "Paper and Tiger"
marina_bonomi started by requesting a villainess that would require both the Origami Mage and the Kirigami Mage to defeat.
my_partner_doug provided her character class.
marina_bonomi then sponsored the poem. This is written in tanka verses. Read about Yìnglóng online. You can find other poems in the Origami Mage series through the Serial Poetry page.
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Brief Update from the Poetry Fishbowl
I'll be sending out the backchannel copies today, and I need to get started on this year's file of records. I also need to check the status of the linkback perk-poem from yesterday.
What Manhood Really Is
Baba Yaga's House
Poem: "Zee"
It's finished now! Linkluv from:
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Do Not Mess with the Mommy
Things like this are why I support the right to bear arms. I want people to be careful with weapons, yes, but I want them to have the option of using deadly force when threatened. I am totally okay with killing someone who wants to hurt you or your family.
Choice and Disability
Unsold Poetry from the January 3, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl
Note that as of 1/4/12, there is only one poem in microfunding, so all the epics are eligible for that.
[EDIT 1/8/12] There are two poems in microfunding; the others are still eligible.
"All the Things" -- 56 lines,
I combined your idea about "symbols of women without power" and combined it with one from Dreamwidth user Jjhunter about cleaning. The result is "All the Things," written in unrhymed quatrains. When her city is besieged with filth, Jenina must find a way to save the day ...
"Bittersweet Preserves" -- 14 lines,
This is a sonnet about Fiorenza and a magical jar.
"Bringing Down the Blaggards" -- 176 lines, $88
Built from many prompts in the thread about how heroes react to heras is the free-verse poem "Bringing Down the Blaggards." Three nuns, two swordladies, and a whore wind up in the dungeon of a castle controlled by evil wizards. Who's going to save the day?
"The Crackerjack Princess" -- 14 lines,
From the prompt about a princess rescuing Mario I got the free-verse poem "The Crackerjack Princess." Video games are mostly made for boys ... but what if they had a secret door for girls?
"Grit and Grace" -- 96 lines,
(Path of the Paladins)
I stacked together a whole bunch of prompts from this thread to get the free-verse poem "Grit and Grace." Ari is making breakfast while Shahana is out gathering more firewood ... when two bandits barge into the camp.
"Imalye Fotolyi" -- 32 lines,
"Imalye Fotolyi," written in unrhymed quatrains; it's also in two columns with four verses each. The title means either "Imalye the Savior" or "Imalye the Invader" depending on who you ask, because she is a hera to the Empire and the villainess to the Roluma. The two halves of the poem tell each side.
"Klytaimēstra's Kestos" SOLD
I love mythic prompts. "Klytaimēstra's Kestos" is written in unrhymed tercets. Klytaimēstra schemes to protect her daughter from the deceitful Agamemnon.
"The Morose Mascot" -- 126 lines,
From this I got "The Morose Mascot," a free-verse poem in which Amaia Thornestele has difficulties with her familiar. This poem belongs to the series The Adventures of Aldornia and Zenobia.
"Pandora's Gift" -- 39 lines,
I combined the mother seen as a villain with
"Princess in the Shadows" -- 42 lines,
Your prompt about an off-screen princess and agency got me thinking about how women are often peddled off for political gain. But what would happen if the princess was the one peddling herself? The result is "Princess in the Shadows," a free-verse poem in The Ocracies series.
"Sisters in Venom" -- 19 lines,
From your prompt about women who are evil to each other, and one from Dreamwidth user Serpentine about the dark lord as a woman, I got the free-verse poem "Sisters in Venom." This is a very bittersharp piece about a black slave and a white woman who are set against each other by the man of the house.
"What Makes a Woman" -- 30 lines,
The prompts about a gynoid and a transwoman stuck together to generate "What Makes a Woman," a free-verse poem about how snotty some feminists can be.
"When Themis Peeks" -- 29 lines,
From the prompt about judges came the free-verse poem "When Themis Peeks." It explains the realreason why the goddess of justice wears a blindfold, and what it means to serve her.
Poem: "Klytaimēstra's Kestos"
This poem came out of the January 3, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a cluster of prompts from rowyn -- who specified the characters and plot -- plus further details from
aldersprig,
wyld_dandelyon, and
haikujaguar. It has been sponsored by
minor_architect as a gift for
rowyn.
I'm using the Old Greek spellings in the poem; the modern versions are Clytemnestra, Agamemnon (that one's the same), Iphigenia, Achilles, Artemis (same), and Aegisthus if you want to read more about them. A kestos or cestus is a garment, usually described as a girdle or a belt. Greek mythology includes references to enchanted girdles, particularly the Girdle of Hippolyta and the Girdle of Aphrodite.
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Poem: "What Makes a Woman"
This poem came from the January 3, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl. It was prompted by fayanora and sponsored by
zianuray. Yes, some natural-born women really are this nasty to other women who weren't blessed with XX bodies. "Gynoid" is
fayanora's term for an android with female attributes.
"What makes a woman,"
the gynoid said to the feminists,
"is the nature of her soul."
"You don't have a soul,"
said one of the feminists.
"What makes a woman is a pair of X chromosomes."
"Get out of here," another said.
"The more you gynoids agitate for rights,
the harder you make things for real women.
You're not even human!"
Before long, the meeting turned ugly
and the feminists drove her out
of the little community center beside the park.
The gynoid sat down on a park bench,
far from the crowd where no one would see,
and cried without tears.
Another woman came and sat down beside her.
"I'm still a woman," the gynoid said to her,
"even though I don't have a pair of X chromosomes."
"I don't have a pair of X chromosomes either,"
the woman said, opening her clothes
to show the faint silvery scars
where her breasts had been created
and her genitals had been reconstructed.
"So, the question is:
are you going to let those bitches stop you?"
the woman asked.
"No," the gynoid said.
"Me neither," the woman said.
So they shook hands and became allies.
Love and Hate in F&SF
Anyhow, there's great inspiration for characterization and plot tension in these examples. I've had a lot of fun with Origami Mage and Kirigami mage along these lines. They may resent each other for most of their story arc, but when push comes to shove, they step to the same side of the line.