made-up languages; Sunday Drabbleventures, NOW WITH HARDCORE DRABBLEOSITY!

[aesc]

Probably this is insight2's fault, but while I was brushing my teeth last night it occurred to me that it would be interesting (one word for it) to develop an angelic language, now that Skanr has been my practice run for language construction. What I've been thinking of is a language that is Romance-like in the sense that angels use different forms of the copulative (to be) for the created world and the divine, to express the distinction they'd probably make between essence versus state. Or would they just see the entire world as a collection of things in a state of being or becoming or changing? And how would the near-infinite think about the bounded and contained, anyway? *ponders these things*

In similar SPN news, I wrote one more drabble, In terra aliena (In a Strange Land) for the deancastiel drabble challenge.

SUNDAY DRABBLEVENTURES
By executive order, I have decided that on a semiregular basis (maybe every other Sunday, or however often I feel like it), I will contribute to weekend sloth and work avoidance by writing drabbles on request. When requests are open, I will note which fandoms I'm writing in; all you need to do is name your fandom, character/pairing, and prompt, and I will write 100 words of something. This post will be the prompt and response post, for purposes of consolidation.

.drabble prompts: Leave me a fandom/character/pairing and a prompt (SGA, SPN, Bones, and I guess I will take Merlin*) and I will see what I can do.

4.26 DRABBLEVENTURES NOW OPEN

In unrelated news, Iron & Wine's The Shepherd's Dog is completely awesome and I have been listening to it obsessively.

* = I like Morgana a lot and wish something heavy would land on Uther. And I like how Arthur is kind of a jerk, but basically a decent guy. Also, I am deeply amused and, dare I say it, somewhat gratified, by the fact that the incantation languages involve Old English. A lot of this is because the Anglo-Saxons really did not like teh magics.

*le sigh* Sunday is over, alas! Drabbles closed for now.

Comments

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

And how would the near-infinite think about the bounded and contained, anyway?

Um. *backs away slowly*

Also, John/Rodney, lost in translation?

What to do when the hypermanifold distributor ratio is low

[aesc.livejournal.com]

John eavesdrops on Rodney's mad-scientist conference call with Radek. Between trying to be furtive and trying to hear through the speakerphone's distortion, and the fact that what Rodney's saying is completely incomprehensible, he gets maybe one word in ten.

"Coallating the hypermanifold distributor ratios yields only a .035 increase in the megapercolator phase inducer output!" Rodney hollers at the phone. "Also, it'll induce cascade entropy in the retrograde thermomotor plasma modulator."

Radek says something staticky and rude and Rodney squawks.

John leans back against the wall and listens, and thinks some things are lost, some things come through just fine.

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

I like Morgana, too. How about Morgana and her dreams....or Morgana and what she's reallllly like to be doing instead of being the lady of the castle. Camelot's best dressed lady knight?

She seems so fearful of her dreams and yet she does warn people, so she must have a clue about being a seer. I wonder if she dreams about Merlin?

Take any of my blathering as a prompt. Take blathering as a prompt! ::bounces:: DRABBLES! WHEE!

Somnium, fantasia

[aesc.livejournal.com]

From her window, Morgana watches Gwen speaking with Merlin. Gwen's laugh flickers through the courtyard like birds. Please, let me dream something happy tonight.

That night, Gwen leaves the room leaves her to a crushing weight on her chest and acid on her tongue, and this: Arthur standing before a sword bright as the sun, reaching for it, reaching for glory and destruction because a shadow looms behind the brilliance.

She fights the weight, claws up through layers of fear and back to Gwen's voice and gentle hands. Still the acid, a pain in her heart like a sword wound.

[rsharpe.livejournal.com]

I am not a SPN fan, but I am intrigued by your thoughts. I usually have my tiny epiphanys when slipping into or out of sleep. The thoughts on language was timely to me because of catching LOTR on tv for a few moments last nite. I can slip so easily into that wonderful world and be lost in the elves, dwarves, hobbits and men . . .

Uh, anyways, SGA, John/Rodney, and in the spirit of your thoughts, "their own secret language". Thanks.

Lingua incognita

[aesc.livejournal.com]

"Stupid language," Rodney mutters. "Stupid ritual."

"Rodney." John turns another page of the ritual secret grammar book. "Remember, we get a ZPM out of this if we can learn enough to get us in the temple."

"Why isn't there a Fodors for this?" A page snaps as Rodney flips it. "Surely we don't need to study for months to learn how to say 'I broke my leg. Where is the hospital?'"

John kicks Rodney's ankle. Rodney kicks him back. Back and forth, until Rodney's face is inkstained and the librarian is horrified, and the secret system of declensions is forgotten.

[villainny.livejournal.com]

Dean/Castiel, road trip.

OH WHAT A SURPRISE I AM, MY GOD.

If that's too obvious for you, I would do anything you wanted in return for something with the angels and the Trickster. ;)

Peanuts and mysterious floating gators

[aesc.livejournal.com]

Dean doesn't know what's weirder, roadtripping through the South with Castiel, or discovering Castiel's addicted to boiled peanuts.

Or Castiel riding on the roof at odd intervals, which Cas says he "likes."

Or yesterday at Wild Wally's Gatorpark. Dean had snapped a photo of Cas holding a baby alligator. The phone had died, but when the screen flickered on, it displayed a picture of an alligator suspended in midair.

Dean mutters something disbelieving about weird-ass angels. A moment later, Castiel manifests himself in the passenger seat.

"Havin' a good time?" Dean asks.

"The best," Cas says, divinely sincere, and eats a peanut.

--

XD

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

Also, I think the verb tenses would be a real bear for angelic language. And...why wouldn't they just communicate telepathically? Also, it calls into question what angels are...because who you are informs what you talk about, right?

Are angels God's beta-test? Did he form companions closer to his own essence than man? They know of good and evil and have eternal life...so they didn't get the garden test. ::scratches head:: Did he find them too perfect and longed for something with free will to choose to have a relationship with him?

Or did he create them as his staff and army and aides later, as humanity grew and needed looking after and Lucifer fell and things got really complicated?

And I was wondering what language(s) they were using for spells.

[aesc.livejournal.com]

And...why wouldn't they just communicate telepathically?

I think they'd still have language. The whole creative process is described in terms of speech, after all--fiat lux and the naming of things. And humans were created as creatures of articulate speech... I guess it comes down to how I prefer thinking that the only things separating angels from humans is the body, and the way the body narrows down an infinity, or a plurality of perspectives, to just one.

Or did he create them as his staff and army and aides later, as humanity grew and needed looking after and Lucifer fell and things got really complicated?

All the traditions I know, which is not a whole lot, say that angels came first; the fall of Satan almost always precedes the creation of humankind (if not the world; I think Augustine says that Satan and the other evil angels were created and fell on the same day). They're the first expression of the creative principle, not embodied as humans are--which is another problem for language, because angels wouldn't have a physical aspect to it (no lungs, no breathing!)--but rather beings of pure intellection. You could probably argue that they intuitively understand each other, and can take on language and its habits for interacting with mortals, but still :D

And I was wondering what language(s) they were using for spells.

Yeah, I'd been listening, and I realized after a while that whenever someone wants to set something on fire, they say tobærnan (to incinerate... I find it fun that they use the infinitive on occasion XD). And when Nimue raises Tristan from the dead, she says something like "awac ond aris" (I think, she definitely says "awac"), "awake and arise."

Come to think of it, there are charms in OE, for things like curing a cramp or toothache or preventing a loss of cattle, but most of it's been safely Christianized for post-pagan consumption.

[dogeared.livejournal.com]

John/Rodney, selmelier :D

Salted caramels!

[aesc.livejournal.com]

Rodney thrusts the chocolate at John, who accepts it doubtfully

"Believe me," Rodney sighs, "the sel gris is the perfect accent to the sweetness of the caramel. And no!" he adds when he sees what John's about to do. "That's very sexy, but this is caramel, not a tequila shot."

"What salt do you use for tequila anyway?" John takes a hesitant bite, and wow, the caramel silk-smooth, sweet on his tongue, and under it the crunch of salt and the prickle of it.

"You can be taught," Rodney murmurs happily, because wow is written right there on John's face.

[tropes.livejournal.com]

John/Rodney, in a mall.

Because if I have to be here, they do too. =))

Trial by ordeal, or, The sales associate

[aesc.livejournal.com]

:D This is related to The Conferences (http://aesc.livejournal.com/324640.html) in one respect, but it's really just for further sales associate-associated fear and awe ;)

Inside the changing room, Rodney makes noises about searing torment. When the salesgirl (associate), a creature composed of glasses and a testy expression, stalks by, John whispers a request for more pants, shirts, and a cardigan John's ashamed look at.

Just when Rodney makes his escape, announcing he's tried on the pants, they can leave, the associate rematerializes.

"Not," she growls, "until you try these on. I went through the trouble of pulling them out."

Rodney meekly accepts the clothes and retreats back inside.

"You're buying all of it," the associate hisses. "Even the cardigan."

She smiles ferally. John swallows.

[sandrainthesun.livejournal.com]

How about: Merlin, Merlin/Morgana, mind over matter

or: Merlin/SPN Crossover, yellow eyes

*g*

The guy you need for all your time-traveling needs

[aesc.livejournal.com]

The kid ignores the devil's trap, he's puzzled by salt, doesn't mind iron. What freaks him out is polyester ("A wondrous fabric!") and learning it's 2009. He keeps insisting he's not a demon: he's Merlin, from Camelot.

"Is this Monty Python?" Dean hisses to Sam. The kid seems sincere, but… jesus, yellow eyes, and he had crazy mind-powers too.

"I need to figure out how to reverse Odin's spell," Merlin says. "He somehow sent me forward in time."

"Time traveling?" Dean sits up. Whether it's sending someone back in time or sending someone back to Hell… "I know a guy."

[mardia.livejournal.com]

I have two prompts, feel free to take either--

Bones: Sweets and Booth, hockey.
Merlin: Arthur, protecting a servant that isn't Merlin.

Sweets on skates

[aesc.livejournal.com]

Totally a take on "Wraiths! Wraiths on wings!" XD


The skating rink is empty, although it makes the sound of his ass smacking the ice ten times louder. Agent Booth circles him like a bird of prey with skates and a hockey stick.

"C'mon Sweets." Agent Booth makes encouraging motions. "Back in the saddle."

"I'm beginning to think I miscalculated." Sweets uses the boards to pull himself up. The padding weighs a ton. "When I said you should introduce me to something you enjoy, I thought perhaps the shooting range. Pie."

"Oh no," Agent Booth says happily. "Hockey's the best."

Of course it is, Sweets thinks, and hesitantly edges forward.

[kimberlyfdr.livejournal.com]

I'm putting these GRE words to good use ;)

McShep, rodomontade

Vocabulary, curse words and otherwise

[aesc.livejournal.com]

Rodney always gapes coming into John's house. The foyer dwarfs his parents' place. There are horses and antiques that could fund Rodney's postgraduate work many times over. John doesn't seem to notice it, or much of anything except their exam prep books.

"The SATs are fucking lame." Rodney's voice echoes in the vast kitchen. "Research has demonstrated standardized tests are biased against certain population groups, and if you know how to take them you don't even have to study, so I fail –"

"The answer to twenty-seven is 'rodomontade,'" John says, smirking. "It means 'blusterer.'"

"Shut up," Rodney mumbles.

[cathalin.livejournal.com]

john/rodney: discovery/discoveries OR collage OR San Francisco (ETA: OR secret language/secret code(s))

and/or:

arthur/merlin: arthur is kind of a jerk *g*

In which 'prat' is repeated many times

[aesc.livejournal.com]

"Mightiest warrior in the kingdom." A pause so Arthur can writhe. "And a little kid broke your ankle."

"Shut up," Arthur growls, not that it worked the first time. "S'just a bruise."

Merlin looms over him, smelling like Gaius's ointment. "If you hadn't been a prat and told that kid he looked like the wrong end of a dog, this wouldn't have happened."

"He was in my way, and I'm ordering you to be quiet."

"Prat," Merlin sing-songs, disrespectful hugely-eared bastard. "Prat, prat, prat."

Arthur scowls, but tries not to be too pratlike as Merlin changes the compress. He thinks he succeeds.

[insight2.livejournal.com]

Or would they just see the entire world as a collection of things in a state of being or becoming or changing? And how would the near-infinite think about the bounded and contained, anyway?

Your head- I would like to take a vacation there some time. Also if I am to be the scapegoat for your fantastic idea then so be it. I have been daydreaming about you somebody elucidating what the angelic culture-psyche comprises- and language is always at the heart of that sort of investigation *daydreams some MOAR*. Although, now I’m tempted to make a Babel-esque joke because let’s face it you’re kind of trying to reveal the FACE OF DIVINITY here, aesc, there’s every possibility that you might get SMOTE BY URIEL *straightfaced*

If you’re still up for one more drabble, Dean/Castiel…uhm ‘bendy legs hooked over shoulders’ :X, or if not that then Uriel and Castiel, ‘party-time’

Nemyahi

[aesc.livejournal.com]

C'mon, Cas, c'mon. Dean's world is closer and now, he can't wait, not with Castiel's face tucked against his neck, his shoulders slick under Dean's knees, hands on his thighs to keep him from slipping.

Nemyahi Cas whispers as he pushes in deep. Dean arches hard up into him and comes in fragments of fire and perfection that feel like pain, and that word echoes all along his bones and his blood.

After, he asks Cas what it means. Cas looks at him, says it means what it means, I can't explain it.

Try, Dean says.

And Castiel says, or doesn't-say, YouAREbreathlifesoulspiritcreationthatwhichis.



Nemyahi is a hybrid Greek/Hebrew word (pneuma and hayah. In classical and scriptural Greek, pneuma is both "breath" and the breath of life or life-force; hayah is the emphatic verb for "to be." The i is a tacked-on marker for direct address XD

[amberlynne.livejournal.com]

I couldn't ask for a drabble earlier because I was a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HOCKEY GAME! *huff*

Ummmmmm. John/Rodney....and truth!

What it is

[aesc.livejournal.com]

Certain things don't need saying, they're too obvious, cause too many problems. And sometimes, even for a person who uses words as lethal weapons, certain things are too big or too fucked up for words to cope with their bigness or fucked-upness.

Rodney watches John schmooze and slink his way through the IOA reception, like he does in any off-world gathering. A black-sheathed woman moves in for the kill shot, but John twists out of her manicured reach, turns, catches Rodney looking at him, smiles.

It's that look, right there, Rodney thinks. The only word for it is truth.

[kimberweeme.livejournal.com]

So you might be done with drabble prompts, but I just saw this and thought I'd comment anyway.

I am impressed that you thought all that while you were brushing your teeth. I can honestly say that my thoughts are far more pedestrian while I brush my teeth. More along the lines of, "What time do I have to get up tomorrow? Did I lock the front door? I really need to buy a new toothbrush head."

In the spirit of brushing teeth, what do you think John or Rodney (or both!) are thinking while they brush their teeth at night?

[aesc.livejournal.com]

Eeep, yes, sorry, drabbles are closed! But I can tell you that John is thinking about sex (or possibly rethinking the wisdom of teaching Ronon football), while Rodney is thinking about all the coffee he's going to need to deal with idiots tomorrow, ten different projects, possible catastrophes-in-waiting, how awesome he was today managing to snag the last brownie, and sex.

:D

(And I do most of my thinking while brushing my teeth, in the shower, or trying to fall asleep... This means I get a lot less thinking done during other parts of the day :D)

LAAAAAAAAAATE TO PARTY! *dances*

[sheafrotherdon.livejournal.com]

Um - tipsy John/Rodney trying to work out how a hotel bed works. v. complicated things, big beds :>

Re: LAAAAAAAAAATE TO PARTY! *dances*

[aesc.livejournal.com]

*saves for later date*

[birddi.livejournal.com]

My comment was just ate.. O_O! How about the language that man could speak before Babble - called 'lanuage of the birds' me thinks? Maybe like Early Greek and Akkadian/Summerian together? But make it have a different meter than what we're used to?


Prompt = SPN // Castiel and Dean // Castiel and Alisatir talk/snark at each other over who owns Dean and how Dean screams.

[aesc.livejournal.com]

Hm, it showed up above! Oh, eljay!

Maybe like Early Greek and Akkadian/Summerian together?

Maybe! I'm not entirely sure :D I'd have to find out more about how Akkadian works, because I know veryveryvery little about early Semitic languages. If I were to do something with it, I'd probably try to pick base languages that reflect something of how I think angelic minds work... like, they might use different words for their own state of being (they exist and they are) as opposed to mortal created things (which have existence, but also change; they aren't permanent or unchanging).

Castiel and Dean // Castiel and Alisatir talk/snark at each other over who owns Dean and how Dean screams.

Eeep, drabbles are closed for now, but I will put this in my notebook for future reference! I will probably do another drabble self-challenge soon, because they're awfully fun... and good for when I can't work on my longer stuff :)

[outsideth3box.livejournal.com]

Poor horrified librarian of the ritual secret grammar book.

*snerk*

[aesc.livejournal.com]

You really aren't supposed to have paper airplane fights in libraries :D

[uglybusiness.livejournal.com]

*is wearing a huge grin on her face* So adorable! :)

[aesc.livejournal.com]

Thank you!! ♥♥♥

[meanheans]

I am now a fan of that word! Awesome little drabble.

[aesc.livejournal.com]

:D Thank you!

[smilla02.livejournal.com]

Hee! Prompt: threadbare. Supernatural (duh!), and I'm going to challenge you and ask that you write it from the POV on a inanimate object (or, if that doesn't work, Dean).

Chain

[aesc.livejournal.com]

Lucifer forged Chain from links named Agony and Fury and Oblivion. Year on year Chain adds to itself, screams laid down in layers upon it, threaded through strata of blood. One end stretches into the heart of the pit; at its other is the clasp called Necessity, and the lock, Despair.

Clasp encloses the wrist of what was once a man. The soul's incorporeal touch cannot break it, no demon's will can unlock it. Chain is.

Until brilliance comes into the fire and shadow, and a hand laid against Lock shatters it, and Clasp falls open.

Chain throbs, flickers, agonyfuryoblivion, dissolves.


I took the prompt... more conceptually? XD

[kashmir1.livejournal.com]

Booth/Bones, flannel! :D

Stability

[aesc.livejournal.com]

"This is how the game should be played." Booth figure-eights around her, tails of his flannel shirt flapping, moving effortlessly and effortlessly happy. "Under the sky, on real ice."

Brennan lets him talk, concentrates on not falling over. She flaps and stumbles along behind him – why is she not better at this? – and when she finally gets her balance a knot of ice trips her up.

The first thing she finds to save her from total humiliation is Booth's shirt. It doesn't help, but at least they're both sprawling everywhere now, a knot of skates and limbs and Booth's ridiculous laugh.


FLANNEL ♥

[mardia.livejournal.com]

I will give you two options--

Merlin BBC: Arthur (with either Morgana, Merlin, or Gwen), and the prompt is "glorious".

OR--

Supernatural: Dean/Castiel, and the prompt is frantic.

These precious things

[aesc.livejournal.com]

Collectors don't just collect scraps of the occult now: the hot item these days is an angel.

They find Castiel trapped in a circle of sigils, bleeding and blazing and furious. Dean, his patience exhausted by waiting for Sam to break the curse-chains and Sam's threats to be quiet, slashes through it. Castiel surges to his feet, hand clasped around Dean's wrist. Sam has the sense of power shaking loose.

Around them the foundation shudders, and all Sam knows is confusion and flight before he's out in the night again, Dean tumbled next to him, a ruined house nearby, Castiel gone.

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

John/Rodney, comfort. Or cuddles. Because I'm sick and I wants some cuddles, dammit.

Comfort TV

[aesc.livejournal.com]

Rodney gravitates toward classic sci-fi because he'd rather snark than be sincerely furious at the IOA, Woolsey, SGC, the world. He wants to be angry at Teyla and Ronon too, for staying in Pegasus, but that's stupid and illogical.

"I don't fucking want to be logical," he tells Planck, who ignores his tantrum, cuddles up under his chin, and purrs.

"Just watch the movie," John says from the other end of the couch. His feet on Rodney's are welcome, bony and warm.

"I hate you too," Rodney grunts.

"I know," John says. He ignores Rodney's tantrum, too, and moves closer.

[villainny.livejournal.com]

I would like one in which Dean Winchester is completely discomfited by Angela Montenegro.

And I know I owe you a drabble, it is SO TOTALLY on my to-do list. For the weekend. ¬_¬

How the mighty have fallen

[aesc.livejournal.com]

"Sooo, you're a cop," the girl says. Her smile says she knows a hell of a lot more than Dean does. He's seen that smile on demons; maybe he could sneak holy water into her drink.

"Yup." Dean wonders if it's possible to hide behind Sam. The girl – Angela – grins even more widely. "I'm an artist," she says, and leans closer. "You have really pretty eyes."

"I do?" Dean tries to sidle around Sam's huge, smirking carcass and wonders how long he'll have to live with Angela's laughter in his ears, Sam How the mighty have fallen.

Dean Winchester, he thinks, is still fucking mighty.



Okay, really, Dean being completely discomfited by Angela needs so much more space for me to dwell lovingly on the details XD Poor Dean has DEFINITELY met his match. Also, Angela and Castiel would totally compare notes on how discomfiting is best achieved.

[kimberweeme.livejournal.com]

(I'm assuming this is still open? Because it says open?)

How about John and Rodney. On Earth. A conversation in a grocery aisle.

Important considerations

[aesc.livejournal.com]

John rubs at his forehead, where a headache's developing, along with a hatred of the frozen-food aisle. He remembers vacations Stateside after the abstemious desert life, going to the store and seeing an oasis.

Now… He sees calories, HFCS and preservatives. John eyes Torren in his stroller to make sure he hasn't rolled off, and reminds Rodney about how Teyla will kill them if they come back with Tombstone.

"You're right… DiGiorno," Rodney agrees.

"I meant pizza in general," John sighs, and when Rodney opens his mouth to offer up a Torren-level tantrum, grabs his arm to hustle him over to the health food.