 Fantasy: August 11, 2010 Issue [#3896] |
  Fantasy
This week: Reptiles: Part 1 Edited by: shaara
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As one of your Fantasy editors, my goal is to challenge you to think outside the KNOWN and to help you inject your tales with fascinating facts while jagging left and right through troublesome frolics and teethe-writhing dilemmas.
Perhaps we can help each other to safely jog through these twisty turns of radical thought, alternate viewpoint, and dynamic detail. Come! Let's head down the Path of Dimensions, untextured by any earthly array.
In other words,
let's drop out of reality for awhile.
Shall we?
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Reptiles: Part 1
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As you may recall, I've vowed to roam through Earth's animal kingdom in search of interesting variations that may inspire creative writers to expand beyond normal boundaries. Today this trip crawls along beside four-footed, clawed reptitles.
Everyone knows that reptiles are called cold blooded. They're not really. They're just ectothermic which means that they need to get warm by proximity to warmth.
Ah, here we slip into something slightly horrid. What if the animal life of an alien planet is not dangerous, except that they are all ectothermic to the point that when a human sets foot on the planet he becomes the draw of thousands as they pile around him, attempting to garner his body's heat.
(Of course, either the "aliens" would need to be able to sense the heat through the human's space suit or else he wasn't wearing one.)
Supposing you're writing a fantasy about dragons. Wouldn't they need even more heat after an episode of fire-breathing? Imagine how much a dragon has to exhaust his body from all that outpouring of energy. Maybe dragons don't really capture maidens to eat them, but to lie down beside them, needing the heat of their warm, human bodies
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Chameleons are reptiles that can change colors This animal usually does so in response to emotions or to regulate its body temperature, not just to camouflage into the background environment as most people assume. Usually, a brightly colored chameleon is one dealing with stress.
Imagine the stress of first encounter with aliens.
Imagine the sight of a world populated by rainbow colored emotions!
The Meller's Chameleon can also use color to communicate.
Now that piece of information is something so startling it makes a science fiction or fantasy writer sit up and bark. Imagine a world full of beings that communicated via color. What could be more fascinating? What if their spectrum were not like ours. What if the miniscule difference between ruby red and fire engine red was significant on such a planet? What if . . . ?
Ah, see what I mean? The tale almost writes itself.
Would a human visiting such a land need to change clothes each second? Red shirt off. Blue shirt on. Hurry, toss on the yellow sweater . . .
Would a person be forced to use something computer generated that flashed changing patterns of color as any conversation progressed?
Would a human visitor need to drape himself in ribbons of a variety of hues that he could wave as his communication device? (He'd soon look like he was doing a Maypole dance.)
Could a spacesuit be specially aligned to brain waves so it could flash spectrums? (Picture that -- rather like a football panel during the half-time celebration.)
Suppose a human's skin color were naturally the shade of challenge, aggression, or violence. Would a person be forced to smear make-up on his body before leaving his dwelling each day? What if it rained? What if a windy day streaked him with dust? What if he got sun-burned without noticing? Yipes, could his change to red initiate something as dramatic as an agreement to marry?
Could a war be started due to a chameleon-like imbalance caused by the food exchanged during a friendly meeting between humans and aliens?
Food! What would it mean to offer a red apple vs. a purplish blueberry?
What if two colors of foods couldn't be served at the same time, same meal, same day? TABOO!
What if the touching of those two foods - or the blending could cause . . .
The possibilities involving color absolutely tickle a creative person's mind! Don't you agree?
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The American Green Anole, a type of lizard, turns bright pink -- not when it's angry or cold --, but when it wants to attract a female. That's a good reason to understand the color designation of a species. Green means happy. Pink means -- well, x-rated?
I think when dealing with aliens or strange critters in a fantasyworld, one definitely needs to ponder the importance of color. It could be dangerous not to know the palate. It could be embarrassing not to identify the mating hues.
This month, I hope you''ve become inspired to write about a character's need for heat (hopefully in a ectothermic manner) and in the uses of color - whether for emotions, warning signals, or offers of marriage. Have fun, and remember to thank a reptitle!
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August Featured
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I do not believe that the following piece was meant to be science fiction or fantasy, but it could be. It sounds to me like a drop into another world or into the river channel of dimension. I am including this story because it makes my fingers itchy to write. Its tale spurs me with its alternate customs and enticing dance. I hope you find the same invitation and are needled by your need to write, rippling or bouncing across its chasm of difference.
The desire to hide in her curtained-off section of the yurt was strong. But the clapping called. It called her feet to move, her hands to do the same, and she joined them beneath the star splashed sky ; bodies turned, backs bent in the manner of ribbons in the wind.
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Here's another tale that isn't sci/fi or fantasy, yet it makes the reader think of a different mode of conduct, into an arena where we do not dwell. Such stories open the window of one's viewpoint. They expand the vista, alter one's expectations and traditions (including taboos,) and allow for what if's -- just the kind of thing that can broaden one's writing.
Note: This piece may offend some folks. It is sexually explicit.
Water could not be swallowed until processed, food consisted of rice and beans, and toilets were more commonly referred to as "pots." Although she had studied anthropology for the past seven years, Abigail felt like nothing could prepare her towards the actual survival of the trade.
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All right. Now for the real science fiction pieces:
This is a giggle and a half. I enjoyed it, and I'm sure you will just as much. Hurry up and read it, though, for the Earth is sadly doomed! LOL
"I said that I, Groak, resolve to entirely quit attacking and destroying planets for the year 2003." Before his teacher could stop him, Groak pressed the red button that sent his New Year's Resolution to be forever filed away with his permanent identity record.
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The next piece was chosen because it does exactly what I was talking about - it leads us down a path of expectation, then fools us. This is a real short, short.
"Laugh at me will they?" scoffed Julius. "Who's the idiot now? They'll sing another song once I have demonstrated my Time Machine!
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It ought to be otherwise, but it seems one just cannot trust the words of a leprechaun!
"You know, I thought leprechauns were supposed to be short and therefore light." I commented from my comfortable perch of grass and rocks.
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Here's one of mine I hope you will enjoy. As usual, it's another Writer's Cramp story. I hope you find its fantasy-mystery elements intriguing enough to puzzle you into writing one of your own:
With two officers beside me, I headed home. We could see through the window that the strange man was fixing breakfast. Who was he? How had he gotten into the house?
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That's all for this month. See you in September!
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Comments Concerning the July Fantasy Newsletter on Snakes:
If you didn't catch it,
you can read any and all
of my Fantasy Newsletters by going to
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A.T.B: It'sWhatWeDo 
Hi Shaara!
I love the in-depth focus of your newsletter this week, and I'm definitely looking forward to more in the future. I couldn't help but think of the recent revival (though it might be somewhat short-lived) of the "V" series on television.
I wasn't old enough at the time the original aired, so I had no real foundation other than my other sci-fi or fantasy interests. I must admit that I wasn't surprised to find that the "Visitors" were a reptilian.
I think having reptiles stand in...er, slither in?...as the villains in so many sci-fi and fantasy storylines plays upon that phobia you mentioned. What better way to get that visceral response, after all?
Thanks for such a great NL and keep up the great work!
You made my day (week, month!) Thank you for saying that. I'm having fun doing the research.
I'm afraid that I rarely watch T.V., but I'm delighted to hear that one of the science fiction shows is good! I watched the old version via DVD. It was really absorbing!
I agree with you. Reptiles have had a bad rap from the beginning of history. It might be that their eyes are so different, or maybe it's the way they stick their tongues out at us - something we always tell our children is rude. LOL
Although they do give me the shivers, I must agree that I'm happy for them to eat up the excess rats of the world.
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THANKFUL SONALI back on Jan 4 
Sssssuperb newssssssletter about how sssssnakessss could be the good guyssssss.
*hiss* (Note to ssssself - ask SSSSMssss for an emoticon for hisssssss.)
Ah, yes. We must appreciate the special nature of snakes. Kind of strange to know someone who only eats now and then and never walks anywhere. Snakes never leave messes lying around either, except their dead skin, but we do that, too, even though ours is usually dropped in smaller bits. FOFL
Thanks once again for appreciating my crazy writing. You're the best!
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Joshiahis
Item: "Speculative Fiction Contest" (ID #1501478)
It's amazing how you pull so many story threads from something simple as snakes and venom.
Ah, but if I get to mention aliens, I could babble on for days. What I really want to do is open that window of weirdness. I've got it aplenty. I just like to share it about. LOL
Thanks so much for the compliment!
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Summer Day♥
Haha, I enjoyed this newsletter! Good luck with your reptile articles.
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Fyn
You hate going to Hell for a haircut, do you...but just think...you could (get) a postcard burned on its edges while the barber uses his sharp implements...ah but then, that's how it is done in Hell...Michigan that is! But at least here we have a good answer if someone tells us to go 'there'...been there, done that, have the T-shirt! *grin* Great Newsletter! Hissssssssssss
How delightful! Not only did you read my newsletter; you read my story, too! Yippee! (Doing a snake dance here!)
Hell, Michigan? I always thought a place with that name must be hotter than Death Valley. What happened in Michigan???
Thanks for the compliment. I'm hissing disssplays of sssplendiferous ssspins and sssprings!
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LJPC - the tortoise
Hi Shaara! Your newsletter was amusing and scary, too. (Snakes! Eeek! ) As always, you gave interesting details and inspiring concepts, and the links were great for researching new story ideas. I look forward to more things that crawl, creep, and go bump in the night in your next newsletters. -- Laura
I'm glad it was amusing and delighted it was scary. I'm not good at scary. LOL
Thanks for the comments (compliments.) I really, really appreciate your input. This month nothing slithers, but it does creep!
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tjohnson45
Thanks for the information Shaara about snakes and about fantasy world and I do think that when people expand their minds they can be a better writer.
You're very welcome. I'm glad you agree with me about stretching a little. It really does make all our stories more interesting. Sometimes I think the wacky stuff is what keeps us reading. We just love to hear something different than what we normally find on own turf!
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bookgraham
Thank you for this Newsletter. I love the idea of writing a story where snakes take on new characteristics. Your Newsletter has inspired me to storytelling. A world, or dimension where snakes calibrate their venom depending upon what they want to achieve - death, medicine, control - what a wonderful thought.
You're so welcome. I am thrilled that my article inspired you to storytelling. Yippee! Yippee! It sounds like you have a red hot idea, too. I can almost hear the pen (or keyboard) sizzling with friction as you scribble down (pound out) your thoughts. Good luck and thanks for writing!
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