Cryptozoology: Tuatha de Danann

This week’s Prompt for the Promptless is Cryptozoology.

Cryptozoology is the search for legendary creatures whether to prove or disprove their existence.

I grew up hearing stories of the Tuatha de Danann. Stories that wove them into myths and legends that may not have originally been linked with them.

For those who have never heard of the Tuatha de, I will attempt to explain. They are Irish and their name means “Danu’s People” or “Danu’s Tribe”.

It is said that the Tuatha de have the stance and grace of the gods. They are descendents of Nemed. The Tuatha de arrived in Ireland by riding a black cloud which blocked out the sun for three days.

The Tuatha de had four treasures which they brought to Ireland but which were lost. My favourite of the four treasures is the Spear of Lugh though my reason for it being my favourite is because it was in Alison Baird’s books.

When I think of magical beings, I think Tuatha de. I think towering majesty and terrifying beauty.

If I could prove the existence of any magical being, I would want it to be the Tuatha de. It would be absolutely terrifying but amazingly wonderful as well.

Overwhelmed By My Obsession

This week’s Prompt for the Promptless is Logomania.

Logomania:

1. an obsessive interest in words
2. excessive and incoherent talking
3. the state of being A.P. Roberts

I love words. I love hearing them and reading them. I love saying them and writing them. I don’t care if everyone else hates them because I love words.

I love how words reflect the world around them. I marvel at the way words can adapt to different meanings based on tone and body language. I enjoy how words can hide our thoughts but show our souls.

Friends know how I’m feeling based on how I’m speaking. When I’m excited I talk ridiculously fast (think Six from Blossom). When I’m sad I don’t talk. But I think the most telling is when I’m ecstatic because then I have trouble finding words that will correctly convey my bliss.

I love talking not because I love the sound of my voice but because I love the way words feel on my tongue. I love the way my mouth forms around syllables. I love manipulating meanings by changing the emphasis or sentence structure.

The only problem with talking is that my brain and mouth don’t always work together. (Though my boyfriend says they never work together.) That’s why I write. I can’t revise what I’ve said out loud but I can always edit the words I’ve written. I can take the time I need to find the perfect word rather than saying the first word that pops into my mind (which is usually meow). I can change words that don’t work  and rewrite awkward sentences.

In fact, my love affair with words has gotten me in trouble with the WordPress proofreader. Every post has complex expressions that the proofreader suggests I simplify. But simplifying the words runs the risk of watering down the meaning. If I were to omit all of my complex expressions then I would feel like Alice. Instead of saying what I mean I would only mean what I say.

This obsession with words has also created a writing problem for me over the last few weeks. As I mentioned in previous posts, I am trying to post almost every day. For someone who is obsessed with editing this is a challenge. Writing posts every day is becoming very overwhelming though it was a good exercise.

While I will have to cut down on my posts I am not going back to my old “Did I post this week or last week?” method of blogging. What I am going to do is post five days a week so that I have one day for me and one day for family. I am hoping this will lessen the overwhelming while indulging the obsession.

I would love to hear about your obsessions and if you ever found yourself overwhelmed with them. How did you handle it? Did it work or are you still struggling with the balance?

Before you go, check out the other bloggers who braved this week’s challenge:

Mama Bear Musings – Logomania

This Typing Makes Me Look Busy… Thank You Blogosphere

Journey Called Life – Music and Lyrics

AR Neal – Fußgängerzone

Serendipity – Confessions of a Logomaniac

Fish of Gold – Awesome Arcane Words

Rarasaur – Juxtapose This

Breathing Space – Logomania Hypothesized and Elucidated

Monomyth: The Plot Line of Life

For this week’s Prompt for the Promptless I wasn’t sure what to write. At first I was thinking about writing a fairy tale or myth. I even wrote up a nice little fairy tale that went so far off the mark that I don’t feel comfortable posting it for this prompt.

Monomyth: Also known as the Hero’s Journey is a concept coined by Joseph Campbell. The monomyth argues that every story follows the same basic plot line.

“Hero’s Journey”. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m not going to argue the concept of the Monomyth because I do believe that the majority of plots follow the same idea.

• Something happens
• A hero, who is usually reluctant, accepts the challenge of fixing the problem
• Along the way, more things happen
• The hero, who may have help, deals with the conflicts
• The hero comes across the biggest challenge and has some trouble overcoming it
• The hero eventually triumphs over the challenge and is usually awarded something (treasure, king’s daughter in marriage, the sacred sword of Swinter)
• The hero returns home (and often faces challenges along the way)

Does this plot line seem familiar? It should because most stories will fit into this plot line. In fact, life seems to fit well into the monomyth plot line as well.

Life is all about conflict and challenges. It is about overcoming these obstacles just like the hero in the monomyth. And, as most writers take inspiration from life, a lot of stories have the monomyth plot line.

Would it surprise you to know that The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien follow this base plot line? What about Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling? Criminal Minds and Castle follow this base plot as well.

Can you think of any stories that follow the monomyth? How can you make the Monomyth better? Does your life follow the monomyth?

Before you go check out the other blogs that responded to the call of the Promptless:

Journey Called Life – Just a Regular Savior

One Starving Activist – Conversion

Mama Bear Musings – Monomyth

This Typing Makes Me Look Busy – The Adventures of Wrendolyn

Serendipity – The Cardinal and the Cat

Blog of the Imaginator – Delusions of Grandeur

Do You Remember Winterwood?

Once again it is time for Prompts for the Promptless. This week, I am a bit later in my post as the new prompt will go online soon.

I deviated slightly from the meaning of Gezelligheid though I tried to stay within the togetherness and family theme. I apologize for the sad tone of this piece, unfortunately it was the only way to make it not sound extremely awkward.

“Carrianne, do you remember the village Grampy lived in? We stayed there for a few years when you were younger.” Wilhelmina’s hazel eyes seemed to focus on something behind Carrianne.

“I think so. It was called Winter right?” Carrianne shifted her chair closer to her mother’s bed. “I mainly remember Grampy complaining about the town’s name dooming it to endless winter.”

Wilhelmina laughed weakly. “The village is Winterwood and your Grampy only said that because he wanted to move to Florida.”

“Ok, but why are you bringing it up? Grampy died years ago and we have no other relatives.”

“Grampy owned the Bed and Breakfast in Winterwood. When he died The Flowering Rose passed down to you.”

“What? I thought you sold that.”

Wilhelmina held up a hand to silence her daughter. “I am unable to sell it as the deed was held in trust until you came of age. I hired one of the villagers to take care of the property until that time.”

“Well, I must have come of age by now. I can sell it and we won’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“It’s not that easy darling. There are several things you must do to come of age.”

“You mean besides getting older? Isn’t that what coming of age means?”

“Hush. There is more to be done. I am sorry that I failed to teach you our culture.”

Carrianne leaned closer. “What do you mean by ‘our culture’? Did you grow up in a different country or something?”

“No, nothing like that. I grew up in Winterwood.” Wilhelmina’s eyes began to drift shut.

“Rest mom. We can talk about this later; when you aren’t as tired.”

Wilhelmina shook her head. “I may not have a later. I need to tell you now.”

“Ok, but if you feel too tired, I want you to sleep.”

“The people of Winterwood are different from the ones I have introduced you to. They have different beliefs and values from the city.” Wilhelmina yawned. “I have raised you to be cynical and disbelieving. But to come of age, you must begin to believe.”

“Believe in what? I’m not joining some cult religion just to get the deed of a B&B I intend to sell.”

“You are a reflection of my own bitterness.” Wilhelmina spoke more to herself than her daughter. “Maybe Dad was right. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken you from Winterwood.”

“Mom, if Winterwood is a cult, then I’m glad you got out of there. Cults are dangerous.”

“If we hadn’t left, you would have grown up knowing your ancestry. You would have learned how to live rather than how to go through the motions of life.”

“I am living. I’m graduating from college in a few days. I’ve lived by myself for two years. I have a job I love in an industry that will use my degree. In fact, the only thing missing from my life right now is a boyfriend.”

“I thought Emma wanted to be your boyfriend?”

“She’s not my type; wrong anatomy. What I’m trying to get at is that I am living and I have a pretty good life.”

“No,” Wilhelmina said with a light shake of her head. “You only think you’re living because I failed to teach you otherwise. I’ve taught you to close your mind and disbelieve but I never told you what you would miss by doing so.”

“If I promise to open my mind a bit more, would it make you happy?”

“When I die-”

“Mom!”

Wilhelmina gave Carrianne a look which silenced any protests she might have had. “When I die, I want you to go to Winterwood. Grampy’s term for you coming of age was that you learn about our family history from the village elders.”

“I will go to Winterwood but I don’t want to think about you dying.” Carrianne took hold of Wilhelmina’s hand. “I don’t like the thought of losing my mom.”

“It’s something you’ll have to think of soon darling.”

“Why? They figured out what was going on and they’ve already started treatment. If my bone marrow is a match then you can be treated for good.”

“No darling. My heart’s not strong enough for a transplant.”

Pleading brown eyes met steady hazel ones. “But the drugs will hold back the cancer until you’re stronger. The doctor said that the drugs will help you.”

A slight shake of the head was the only response. Soon, both women had tears flowing down their faces as they hung onto the only family they had.

Before you go, check out these awesome bloggers who took on this week’s challenge:

Yllenkcalb – Comfort AND Coziness

Something Unspoken – Gezellegheid

AR Neal – Gezellegheid is the Law of the Land

Serendipity – Cozy Visions of a Messy Life

Calliope’s Lyre – Amaranthus

Fish of Gold – All the Comforts of Home

Mama Bear Musings – Gezellegheid

Repressed Expressions – My Parents Are My Neighbors

Breathing Space – Gezelligheid Gesundheit

This Typing Makes Me Look Busy – The Changing of Homes

A Sign of Life – November Rain

Indira – Gezellegheid

More Than Half Mad – Gezelligheid

Rarasaur – The Craft of Gezelligheid

Emma’s Vision Board

I think I like Prompts for the Promptless byRarasaur. So far I’ve been completing them every week. This weeks prompt is “Total Monet” and I also took some inspiration from my previous post “Hospitals Are Not Sexy“.

“Hey mom,” Carrianne poked her head around the door of her mother’s hospital room. “Are you awake?”

“Hmm?” The brown-haired woman slowly eased herself into a seated position.

“Mom, you don’t have to sit up. It’s just me and you need your rest.”

“I’ve had enough rest. I’ve been lying down all day.” Carrianne’s mother let out a weak smile. “Sitting up will do me some good.”

“Well, I have some good news. I was talking to the doctors and they said that they have an idea of what’s going on. They’re just waiting for the tests to come back.” Carrianne set her bag on the chair by her mother’s bed.

“I know Sweety. They told me earlier.”

“Okay, then how about good news number two?” Carrianne rummaged through her bag for a moment before pulling out a sheet of paper. “Emma made you a present.”

The laugh that greeted that statement sounded weak and tired. “Is it another self-portrait?”

“No, it’s the vision board I told you she was working on the other day.” Carrianne unfolded the paper revealing a collage of bright images.

“It looks interesting.”

Carrianne walked over to the bulletin board and pinned the vision board so that it was viewable from the bed. “If you squint your eyes it looks like a flower. But I’m not sure if she did that on purpose or not.”

“It does look better over there. Reminds me of that painter. You know, the one who used the dots.” Hazel eyes began to drift shut and Carrianne’s mother let out a yawn.

“Mom, lie down. You’re falling asleep and sitting up isn’t doing you any good. You need your rest.”

“What I need is to get better so I can go to your graduation.”

“You need rest in order to get better.”

“And you need to go to school in order to graduate.”

Carrianne smiled. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll go to my classes and you will get more rest.”

Her mother would have replied but sleep had proven to be stronger than her will to stay awake.

Before you leave, check out the other wonderful promptless bloggers this week:

Mama Bear Musings – A Total Monet

Serendipity – Pretty Messy Life

TheMatticusKingdom – Details

One Starving Activist – Someone’s Baby Once

Repressed Expressions – Ode to the Hair on my Chinny-Chin-Chin

Goodbye Whoopie Pie – Crinkling Monets

Journey Called Life… My Myopia and a Total Monet

This Typing Makes Me Look Busy … – Ding Dong, Crazy is Gone

Memoirs of an Unremarkable Man – Don’t Look Too Close, Except You Should

The Seeker’s Dungeon – Forgive Me for Seeing Only Cowardice

Sue’s Trifles – Monet Prompt

Cognitive Reflections – A Total Monet

Breathing Space – Ready for my Close Up

Running Gags

Once again I am writing a post for Rarasaur’s Prompts for the Promptless. This week’s prompt is “Running Gag”.

A running gag is a reference or joke which appears repeatedly.

Growing up, my friends and I always had inside jokes. I never thought much about it until someone from a different grade recognized me five years out of school. What did he remember? The inside jokes he never understood.

But in writing, it’s difficult to have inside jokes. For the most part, when something funny happens it’s never mentioned again unless the writer employs is as a running gag.

The main purpose of a running gag is humour. The first time the joke is mentioned, it may not be funny. In fact, it may not even be classified as a joke at all but with every repetition, the running gets funnier.

Unfortunately, when there is too much repetition the humour is lost and the joke gets boring. The line between just enough and too much can be vague; but if you find yourself getting bored of writing it, chances are you’ve crossed the line.

The running gag isn’t just about humour, it also serves a greater purpose. This greater purpose is to make the reader feel special. Everyone likes to be included and when a reader gets a running gag, they feel included. If it’s a joke that spans across different books, then readers feel special because they recognize the gag from previous books.

Running gags welcome readers into a fandom. It’s almost like a special club that you get into by reading the books or watching the show. They’re jokes that fans have in common and can bond over.

While running gags are not necessary, they can add an extra element to the story. If you find that your stories are losing readers, try engaging them with a running gag.

What’s your opinion about running gags? Are they worth writing or do they get old fast?

Before you leave, check out the other wonderful promptless bloggers this week:

Mama Bear Musings – Running Gag Playlist

Sue’s Trifles – Not Exactly a Running Gag

Serendipity – Catch that Running Gag

TheMatticusKingdom – Channel Surfing

Julie Chicklitasaurus – Lies that Chelsea Handler Told Me

This Typing Makes Me Look Busy … – Bitches Love Ecards

FishOfGold – FOG Easter Eggs

Repressed Expressions – Working Gags

One Starving Activist – The Running Gag

Rarasaur – This is my Friend Raptor Colossus

Hospitals Are Not Sexy

Once again I’m trying my hand at Prompts for the Promptless byRarasaur. This weeks prompt was “Vision Board”.

“I don’t care who you’re talking to. Hospitals are not sexy. In fact, they are the furthest thing from sexy that there is.” Carrianne sighed into the payphone she was using. “I’m telling you Emma, I am so done with the hospital fantasy. Actually, I’m just done with hospitals.”

“Carrianne? That you? Because the number is funky and you’ve had a sexy doctor in the hospital fantasy since I’ve known you.”

“I’m on a payphone. I get crap for signal here. And yes, I’m done with hospitals. I’ve spent the last week sleeping in hospital chairs by mom’s bed. They are not comfortable and definitely not sexy. I cannot believe that I ever wanted to have sex in them.”

“What about the doctor part of the fantasy? Please tell me they’re cute.”

Carrianne shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve been too worried about mom to pay attention to what the doctors look like.”

“She that bad? I thought the docs knew what it was and she was getting treatment.”

“They have theories but the tests always come back negative. She’s been seen by at least three different specialists this week alone. Each of them has a different theory about what’s going on. I just wish they would find out what’s going on before telling us their theories. It’s getting a bit tiring to get our hopes up only to have them brought back down when the results come in. Every time they tell us what they think is going on, we get excited because we think she’ll get treatment soon. Then the test results come back and we’re told that she doesn’t have what they thought and they need to do more testing.”

“That sucks. Have you told the docs that you want facts not fiction?”

“And have them tell me nothing? I couldn’t deal with that. I mean, I already can’t do anything but at least they’re telling me something right?” Carrianne sat down against the wall.

“You might not be able to do anything but I know what I can do.”

“Take notes for me in class?” Carrianne asked hopefully.

“The notes are online. I don’t need to take them. But, do you have any pictures of your mom from before she got sick?”

“The professors always say things that aren’t in the online notes. I need you to write them down so I don’t miss anything.”

“Don’t change the subject. Do you have a picture of your mom I can use?”

Carrianne rolled her eyes. “Maybe. Check my desk, if I have one it’s there. Why do you need it?”

“I’m going to add it to my vision board.”

“No.” Carrianne’s voice was clipped and her grip on the phone tightened.

“It will help send out vibrations of good health.”

“I don’t care what you think it will do. It won’t work and I’m not going to let you destroy a picture of my mom for it.”

“I’ll make a copy then. All I want to do is add a photo of your mom to my vision board. If I have something to focus on, like seeing your mom healthy, then I can send her healing vibes. Maybe I’ll even put on one of those doctor snake things so I can send smart vibes to the doctors. Besides, what will it hurt to try? The doctors haven’t been able to do anything yet because they haven’t figured out what’s going on. Maybe with some good vibes going their way, they’ll figure out what’s going on.”

Carrianne sighed into the handset. “Fine. I guess you’re right. It wouldn’t do any harm but I still find it ridiculous.”

“You have two minutes remaining. To speak longer please insert more coins.” A robotic voice cut into Carrianne’s side of the conversation.

“Listen Emma, I’ve got to go. The payphone says it wants more money and I don’t have any more change on me. When I can get away for a bit, I’ll find a signal and text you.”

“Bye Carrianne. I’ll see you when your mom’s better and you get back.”

“If I come back.”

“You will. Give your mom my best.”

“I will. Bye Emma.” Carrianne’s shoulders dropped as she hung up the phone. With a heavy heart she began the walk back to her mother’s hospital room.

Before you leave, check out the other wonderful promptless bloggers this week:

Hyperlocal Hero – #87 ~ ~ Hyperlocal Hero – #88

Things I See and Know – Envisioning

Journey Called Life… – Vision Board

Live, Love, Laugh, Dance, Pray – Vision Board

Bodhisattva In Training – What’s Your Vision

How to Dance – Vision Board

The Matticus Kingdom – Complete

A Sign of Life – Vision Board

Serendipity – Vision Board

Breathing Space – Just Say Whatever To That Vision Board

The Seeker’s Dungeon – Visionless Expression

Mama Bear Musings – Vision Board

Repressed Expressions – My Ignored Vision Board

Cognitive Reflection – Vision Board

Fish of Gold – Welcome to Fish House

Indira – Wish List

One Starving Activist – Vision of the Desired Call

Stuphblog – Vision Boards?

Rarasaur – My Biggest Fear

The Alter Ego: Mirrors

I’ve decided to try my hand at Prompts for the Promptless byRarasaur. This weeks prompt was “The Alter Ego”. Rather than focus solely on an alter ego for myself, I wrote about one that a lot of people have encountered. While not focusing on me, this post does showcase some of my own insecurities.

Mirrors lie.

They sparkle, they shine, and they lie.

Mirrors promise to show you beauty but when you look, you see only flaws in the reflection.

Sometimes you can stare for hours. You analyze everything you see; hoping against hope that you will see something good. Yet, at every glance, you only see the worst of who you are.

Bags under your eyes show the world how little sleep you get. Your eyes themselves are bloodshot and watery. If you didn’t know any better you would swear you had just gotten off a drinking binge.

Along your forehead the frown lines mix with laugh lines until you can no longer tell where each one came from. Of course, you’re young enough that you shouldn’t even have wrinkles so those lines worry you; causing even more lines to form.

The skin on your face is oily in some places and flaky in others. You wish they would even themselves out but there is little hope in that. And the sunburns gracing your cheeks make your skin looked even worse than the blackheads covering your nose.

You close your eyes before looking at the rest of your reflection. While taking your moment, you send up a little prayer that the rest of your body looks better than your face. Unfortunately, you know that your prayer will be as unanswered today as it was yesterday.

Your body has stored fat everywhere but where you want it. Your bra size is B but if the fat went to your chest instead of your stomach you would be at least a D. And your butt doesn’t even begin to fill out the large pants that barely fit around your thunder thighs.

It makes you want to cry when you see your reflection in the mirror.

You try to cover it up with fashion and make-up. You try to play up your strengths and enhance your beauty. But it never works.

Because mirrors lie.