I'm not surprised you didn't like the poem much this week, but I hadn't written one in a while and they tend to be bleaker when I'm out of practice :)
As for the Victory; the idea of the conference room being on an actual ship came from that prompt, but I decided to hide what was going on with just a few hints here and there until later on. I'd already established that (unlike in the real Harry Potter) we've had some strategic thinking about where things should be located, so the prompt was a really nice way to enhance it more.
And I did enjoy your contribution to the East Wallingford Gazette!
The publication "Right," said Genius. "So, keep leading Hermione on, keep an eye on Master Harrington and hope that the Loom of Doom doesn't tie him up any further than it already has... anything for the Weasel kid?" Lady Jeniver frowned. "Who?" "There's a third child in the group," said Genius. "Acts like Harry's boyfriend some of the time, and a kicked puppy the rest of the time. Hermione appears to despise him, and I'm not sure Harry exactly knows who he is. But without him Hermione might have left Harry in a ditch somewhere a long time ago, so he's doing something useful. In a pretty wet way." "Oh, the red-headed child!" Lady Jeniver's smile appeared briefly. "Yes, that's a puzzle we haven't been able to figure out yet either. He's in the prophecies, and 'wet', as you said, is also the way they usually choose to describe him. But there's an oddity there, there are a whole bunch of references to his wetness somehow extinguishing the fires that will rage around Harry and Hermione." "Like he's a sacrifice of some kind?" "Or maybe he discourages certain events from happening, or people from doing things? It might be that he's a kind of decoy so that he gets taken instead of one of the others. Prophecy is not an exact science -- hah, for all they make their claims it's not even a science. It's more of a cookery lesson -- and the most we can really say is that he's in there so it would be sensible to see that no accidents happen." "It would be funny if he were to be an actual fire-blanket," said Genius, grinning. Lady Jeniver raised an eyebrow. "Well, not for him, obviously," he amended. "Third-degree burns can chafe a bit." "Quite. Try to avoid letting the Weasel child catch on fire then, Mr. Loci, unless it seems that events require it. Or possibly if it would destroy the connection to the Loom of Doom, however unfortunate Harry might think that." "Shouldn't be too hard," said Genius. "I'm pretty certain that yelling at him not to play with matches should be enough to keep him away from open flames. I might snarl a little too, just for effect." "Whatever works," said Lady Jeniver. "I can't say I have much experience with children in that age-group, so I honestly wouldn't be surprised if rubbing his nose in a puddle of candle-wax and slapping him with a rolled-up newspaper was appropriate." Genius opened his mouth. "Don't do that," said Lady Jeniver. "And now, I have a meeting starting in five minutes and I want to grab a coffee and the wrong set of publications, as that will confuse and worry a whole bunch of ministers who ought to be better prepared anyway. Good-day, Mr. Loci!" She walked to the door and left, while Genius pondered which publications they would end up in if Ronnie Weasel was used to put out a fire by the Harry Potter, possibly one started by Hermione Mangey.
2 comments:
I'm not surprised you didn't like the poem much this week, but I hadn't written one in a while and they tend to be bleaker when I'm out of practice :)
As for the Victory; the idea of the conference room being on an actual ship came from that prompt, but I decided to hide what was going on with just a few hints here and there until later on. I'd already established that (unlike in the real Harry Potter) we've had some strategic thinking about where things should be located, so the prompt was a really nice way to enhance it more.
And I did enjoy your contribution to the East Wallingford Gazette!
The publication
"Right," said Genius. "So, keep leading Hermione on, keep an eye on Master Harrington and hope that the Loom of Doom doesn't tie him up any further than it already has... anything for the Weasel kid?"
Lady Jeniver frowned. "Who?"
"There's a third child in the group," said Genius. "Acts like Harry's boyfriend some of the time, and a kicked puppy the rest of the time. Hermione appears to despise him, and I'm not sure Harry exactly knows who he is. But without him Hermione might have left Harry in a ditch somewhere a long time ago, so he's doing something useful. In a pretty wet way."
"Oh, the red-headed child!" Lady Jeniver's smile appeared briefly. "Yes, that's a puzzle we haven't been able to figure out yet either. He's in the prophecies, and 'wet', as you said, is also the way they usually choose to describe him. But there's an oddity there, there are a whole bunch of references to his wetness somehow extinguishing the fires that will rage around Harry and Hermione."
"Like he's a sacrifice of some kind?"
"Or maybe he discourages certain events from happening, or people from doing things? It might be that he's a kind of decoy so that he gets taken instead of one of the others. Prophecy is not an exact science -- hah, for all they make their claims it's not even a science. It's more of a cookery lesson -- and the most we can really say is that he's in there so it would be sensible to see that no accidents happen."
"It would be funny if he were to be an actual fire-blanket," said Genius, grinning. Lady Jeniver raised an eyebrow. "Well, not for him, obviously," he amended. "Third-degree burns can chafe a bit."
"Quite. Try to avoid letting the Weasel child catch on fire then, Mr. Loci, unless it seems that events require it. Or possibly if it would destroy the connection to the Loom of Doom, however unfortunate Harry might think that."
"Shouldn't be too hard," said Genius. "I'm pretty certain that yelling at him not to play with matches should be enough to keep him away from open flames. I might snarl a little too, just for effect."
"Whatever works," said Lady Jeniver. "I can't say I have much experience with children in that age-group, so I honestly wouldn't be surprised if rubbing his nose in a puddle of candle-wax and slapping him with a rolled-up newspaper was appropriate."
Genius opened his mouth.
"Don't do that," said Lady Jeniver. "And now, I have a meeting starting in five minutes and I want to grab a coffee and the wrong set of publications, as that will confuse and worry a whole bunch of ministers who ought to be better prepared anyway. Good-day, Mr. Loci!" She walked to the door and left, while Genius pondered which publications they would end up in if Ronnie Weasel was used to put out a fire by the Harry Potter, possibly one started by Hermione Mangey.
Greg - huh, that's interesting. So the more you write the more optimistic they get? That doesn't seem right... :P
Thank you for the explanation, it's always neat to get a peak at the inner workings of creativity.
Also - glad you enjoyed the Gazette article.
Ah, poor Ron. Well, at least he has a role to play, of some sort. I do hope he manages to avoid actually catching on fire though.
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