{"id":727,"date":"2022-08-31T22:11:44","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T20:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/albert.aribaud.net\/?p=727"},"modified":"2022-08-31T22:28:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T20:28:20","slug":"writever-august-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aribaud.net\/albert\/en\/writever-august-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Writever – August 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

#writever<\/a> is a Twitter writing prompt initiative with monthly lists of words. The suggestion is to write, based on these words, science-fiction, fantasy, fantastique stories. It can be a single story in thirty-odd tweets, or thirty-odd one-tweet micro-fictions, written any time one wants. My personal approach is to program one tweet in french, and one in english, for the morning of the day for each word, in the genre that comes to me that day. I post them on Twitter as suggested, and on Mastodon as well.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Here are my writevers for August 2022<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

1 – Meet
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

He’s a virtual hustler with a different identity on every planet within the Federation and then some.<\/span><\/p>\n

She’s an indie space trucker, roaming across the galaxy, hauling containers the content of which she doesn’t want to know about.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course<\/em> they’ll meet.<\/span><\/p>\n

2 – Consent
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0We vampires are actually unable<\/em> to do anything<\/em> against the consent of involved parties. Neither crossing thresholds, nor biting, nor even frightening, nor… the rest. This explains, I suspect, that we are not the dominant species in this world.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

3 – Friendship
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Volta and I met during the Earth-Mars war. I flew an ambulance, he flew a fighter. I would rescue the wounded, he would shoot at me — made sense then, we were on different sides. When the war ended, we stopped shooting each other, and we became mates.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

4 – Complicity
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes the knight would vanish under the blinding flame of the dragon, who would leave with the gold.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, the dragon would crash, an arrow in its heart, beyond a far hill, and the knight would take the reward.<\/span><\/p>\n

Always, they split the gains 50\/50.<\/span><\/p>\n

5 – Spark
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Well… The two Plasms attending this cocktail evening have caught each other’s sight. Look at them slowly spiraling toward one another! Imagine that if they were of opposite polarities, then the slightest spark would EVERYBODY DOWN!<\/span><\/p>\n

6 – Trust
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0You are a werewolf. You, a vampire. Reason dictates that there cannot be trust, \u00a0\u00bb the golem said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Trust is not about reason,\u00a0\u00bb the vampire countered, \u00ab\u00a0it is about, ah, heart.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Or guts,\u00a0\u00bb grunted the werewolf. \u00ab\u00a0Anyway we don’t trust all humans, only this one.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

7 – Smile
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0I cannot believe it! All your predecessors had to flee, chased by the enraged poltergeist! Yet here it is, peaceful, all smiles even! How in Hell did you manage that?\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0I took the lead: when it materialized, I smiled at him first.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

8 – Link
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A sorcerer has a link with the Mana that provides him with power. A witch has a link with Mana too… and then a link with every other witch. Cut a sorcerer from his Mana, and he’s as good as dead; cut a witch from her Mana, and *you* are as good as dead.<\/span><\/p>\n

9 – Look
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

They gaze at themselves, in love beyond remedy, embraced, in the mirror which allows me to watch her even though she’s a Gorgon, and which prevents me from seeing him since he is a vampire. Beauty is, indeed, in the eye of the beholder.<\/span><\/p>\n

10 – Declaration
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Statistics establish with a high degree of confidence that for equal durations, interactions with you produce more positive outcome than with any other human.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0My goodness, R42… Is this a declaration?\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Yes. A formal one.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

11 – Polyamory
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0The s\u00e9ance was a success: her spirit manifested itself well.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0I was sure that the love between her husband and her would provide.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Oh! No, it was far from sufficient. But love between her and every person present at the table turned out strong enough.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

12 – Date
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0I am trying to be understanding, but to be fully honest, I must tell you I would not have agreed to this date if I had known that I would have to provide alone for over three long hours of conversation,\u00a0\u00bb said the princess.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Ribbit\u00a0\u00bb, commented the frog prince.<\/span><\/p>\n

13 – Passion
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Examine a passionate human brain: none of its neurons carries any passion, only chemical currents. Therefore, a robot can act with passion even though none of its circuits carries anything else than electrical current.<\/span><\/p>\n

14 – Seduction
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Yeah well, he’s into demon invocation but in hardcore mode.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0What?\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0He invokes succubi but he<\/em> does everything he can to seduce them<\/em>. And then when they split up, he has to ensure that he does not come out of it gutted. Literally.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

15 – Attentions
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When they eat out, she spares him silver sets, and he spares her restaurant with mirrors. In contrast, he puts up with the one she keeps on the ceiling above her bed, and she tolerates his taste for sheer nightgowns. Love is made of these little attentions.<\/span><\/p>\n

16 – Letter
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0What did you tell R42 earlier today?\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0It asked me what love letters were for. I told it they were for laying out to the loved one what makes you love them. Why?\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Because since then it has printed out fifteen hundred pages and counting.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

17 – Laughter
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

She’s a siren, so her songs should intoxicate him, but apparently becoming a zombie took his musical ear, if he ever had one. However, his gait makes her laugh, and her laughs enrapture him — almost as much as the prospect of fresh brains.<\/span><\/p>\n

18 – Sweetness
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0\u2026 Your robot ?\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Yes. Its embrace always has the perfect pressure, its moves are always deliciously delicate, its skin is always marvelously smooth, and it always has ideal temperature and vibration levels\u2026 Do you need a glass of water?\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

19 – Surprise
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Defeating the dragon had been a mere training exercise devoid of any difficulty.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marrying the princess, a formality without the slightest of hurdles.<\/span><\/p>\n

The surprise came when he realized how horribly complex managing a kingdom was, and it lasted his whole life.<\/span><\/p>\n

20 – Flame
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0All I’m saying, Azzie, is you and I are well placed to know that demons have a big leaning toward literal interpretation. So you should have learned to be careful long ago. Yet what you did just now, this whole fanning the flames of love? Waaaay too literal.<\/span><\/p>\n

21 – Pleasure
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0My pleasure,\u00a0\u00bb said the prince, \u00ab\u00a0is to achieve legendary feats of arms!\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0My pleasure,\u00a0\u00bb said the dragon, \u00ab\u00a0is to hoard fabulous treasures!\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0My pleasure,’ said the princess, \u00ab\u00a0would be that you stop involving me against my will in obtaining *your* pleasures.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

22 – Potion
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0A love potion?\u00a0\u00bb said the witch. \u00ab\u00a0For your own consumption? This is… unusual. Why this strange request, knight?\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0I cannot cause her any harm, therefore I want to ensure that I am undyingly in love with her,\u00a0\u00bb said R42.<\/span><\/p>\n

23 – Fall
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Fallen\u00a0\u00bb, corrected Lucifer, \u00ab\u00a0But not from Heaven. In love. With Lilith. Whom I chose to follow when she was cast out of Eden as she dared claim herself equal to Adam. And as low as I’m said to have fallen, I am still above those who will not call her a victim.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

24 – Heart
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0I demanded of you the dragon’s heart,\u00a0\u00bb said the witch.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0I did not have the heart to deprive him of it,\u00a0\u00bb said the knight. \u00ab\u00a0Nor he the heart to let me endure your ire alone.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Rrr\u00a0\u00bb, approved the dragon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Punish you for doing as I hoped? I am not that<\/em> heartless.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

25 – Impetus
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0The worst case is two telepaths. As soon as they sense each other, if they like it, each one’s arousal boosts the other’s, and before you know it, they’re going at it like rabbits. Oh, and also it’s highly contagious on a radius of a hundred feet at least.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

26 – Disaffection
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

He loves action, she is fond of her bed. He is adventurous, she prefers home. Between Prince and Beauty, disaffection was a foregone conclusion. Plus, there is the age gap: he is in his early twenties, she is getting close to one hundred and twenty.<\/span><\/p>\n

27 – Fusion
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0When we create a new being, halves of two distinct DNAs fuse together\u00a0\u00bb, said the engineer. \u00ab\u00a0We robots,\u00a0\u00bb replied R42, \u00ab\u00a0call this \u201cfile corruption through concurrent writes\u201d. Did *you* find a way to fix this kind of damage?\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

28 – Thunderbolt
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

We vampires withstand things which destroy your own, human. Centuries of fidelity. STDs. Social convention shifts, inversions even. Centuries of in<\/em>fidelity. But we cannot stand being thunderstruck. The type of light it gives off is too sunny.<\/span><\/p>\n

29 – Throb
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0I can hear your heart beating,\u00a0\u00bb she said, her ear against his torso, and soon she fell asleep. R42 gently got up, then proceeded down to the workshop to readjust his oil pump in order to remove the imbalance which would have ended up in a failure.<\/span><\/p>\n

30 – Chemistry
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0What do you know\u00a0\u00bb, said the prince, \u00ab\u00a0of the chemistry of love?\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Not much\u00a0\u00bb, conceded the dragon, \u00ab\u00a0except the part about exothermic reactions\u00a0\u00bb.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0… You mean that your flame is in fact–\u00ab\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Yes.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0… Wait, but then, when you aim at me–\u00ab\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0Yes.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0… Ah.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n

31 – Love
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The prince bent over the Sleeping Beauty.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0You should stop,\u00a0\u00bb said a voice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0It’s alright, I have her express permission!\u00a0\u00bb said the prince, and exhibited a scroll.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ab\u00a0… Ok,\u00a0\u00bb said the voice, \u00ab\u00a0but do you really want to catch your true love’s strong mononucleosis?\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

#writever is a Twitter writing prompt initiative with monthly lists of words. The suggestion is to write, based on these words, science-fiction, fantasy, fantastique stories. It can be a single story in thirty-odd tweets, or thirty-odd one-tweet micro-fictions, written any time one wants. My personal approach is to program one tweet in french, and one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writever","category-writings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aribaud.net\/albert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aribaud.net\/albert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aribaud.net\/albert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aribaud.net\/albert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aribaud.net\/albert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/aribaud.net\/albert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":732,"href":"https:\/\/aribaud.net\/albert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727\/revisions\/732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aribaud.net\/albert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aribaud.net\/albert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aribaud.net\/albert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}