Planetfurry BBS Forum Index Planetfurry BBS
Forums for Planetfurry Site Members and more
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   DonateDonate   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Latrans Writes Things

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Planetfurry BBS Forum Index -> Writer's Guild
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Latrans
Registered User


Joined: 05 Feb 2012
Posts: 52
Location: The quiet place with the matresses on the walls.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:58 am    Post subject: Latrans Writes Things Reply with quote

Occasionally I'll put words together in such a way as to actually say something (or maybe just talk a lot without saying anything at all). They're pretty few and far between (not to mention really short) but I'm proud of them. The other bits I've done so far can be found on my FA page here.

Anyways.. I present to you my latest little blurb, Photograph:
Quote:
My ship hung suspended in orbit as the planet turned slowly beneath me. The sight was breathtaking but my attention was focused elsewhere. Between my fingers was the product of an almost archaic technology. For many years of my youth I'd never understood why people continued to cling to this particular anachronism, but I'd finally found an answer. The photograph in my hand had seen better days. The edges were jagged, the colors had faded and the image had been completely worn off along the bottom edge where it had been habitually wedged into the frame of my cockpit. The face on the no-longer-glossy paper smiled at me and I smiled back, recalling the days we'd spent together. I had missed her terribly these long months, but this lone image had kept me going. She had always been my life, my world. Unfortunately, the world is a horrendously fickle thing and we were forced apart, but I had made her a promise on the day we were last together. I was looking at the fruits of that promise now: to carry her memory with me where ever I went until that day we could be together again. I'd never broken it. Across immeasurable distances over countless flights, that's what mattered. If anything it was more important now than ever because I was on my way to see her again. Soon we would finally be reunited. In another twenty minutes the CO2 scrubbers would be saturated, and I would finally be back in her arms.


Please feel free to leave feedback and I'll do my best not to ignore it. Also, any further works I squirt out my fingertips will probably be posted here since they're not likely to be substantial enough to warrant a new thread.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Latrans
Registered User


Joined: 05 Feb 2012
Posts: 52
Location: The quiet place with the matresses on the walls.

PostPosted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 3:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Putting the 'not story' stuff in the quote box because the story itself is much more substantial than before but I still want an easy way to separate the two.

Anyways, this is (already) the longest piece of fiction I've ever written and I'm hoping to get some feedback on it as I go. The last "entry" is only partial.


Settle the Dust: a journal from the siege of Boranthus
Anthony of House Latran, original author
Fitany of House Mephit, lead translator
Arand of House Mephit, editor

Editors note:

Unless otherwise noted, the contents of this document have been translated from the original, hand written works to make them available to the modern reader. Translation notes may be found at the end of this document. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain the original authors context and content.

Disclaimer:

In keeping with the laws and ordinances of Royal House Lupine, Act 246, Chapter 3, Article 84: "No work... contradicting established history... is to be presented as factual account..."

Readers should also be aware, despite the source material having been dated to correspond with the correct time period, several inaccuracies with publicly available historical events have lead to numerous debates over the authenticity of the original work. This document is not to be considered a factual account of events that transpired and should be listed as "Fiction" when made available for viewing.


.....................................


It's been five days. That makes today 43rd of Second Orbit 4355. Since anything remotely modern isn't working, I've resorted to keeping a journal the same way our ancestors did, by writing it down. Unfortunately the only paper I could find was an old school notebook. I hope Anthes doesn't mind me using one of her art pens. I was talking to the neighbors earlier. People are starting to get a little worried. Without photon transmission, the perishable food has either been eaten or has spoiled. Fortunately the mayor has said we should be getting power back online in a day or two. He doesn't know why everything went out, but having an entire frond go black is sure to raise some questions in the city. Someone with a private lift should be out any time. Not having news, especially considering how completely and suddenly everything went down, certainly hasn't helped matter. Jammec has been raving about her conspiracies now more than ever, and with little else to do until things get working again, people have bothered to listen, if only for entertainment.

On a lighter note, this new found free time, and lack of modern conveniences has led to a frond-wide interest in crafting. Jens has been turning out candles using donated supplies. Some of them are really quite beautiful. Even Jammec, for all her crazy talk, has turned out to be a veritable fountain of information on how to create little conveniences such as a portable burner using nothing more than some scrap metal and a Grazer. It's not much, but it keeps people entertained. Mine works half decent, but didn't turn out very nice. I've never been a crafting type. Still, it was neat to see how it worked and I'm thinking about stopping by tomorrow for whatever project she dreams up.

.....................................

48th of Second Orbit 4355

Lets start with the good news. We've got a couple lifts working, but they're both ancient, from back in the mid 4100's. These have ended up seeing a lot of use in the past couple days, despite their age and dislike of running properly. We've been mostly sending people out to get in touch with the outlying farms. Livestock seem to be doing alright, but they're going to need active care in another few days and two lifts aren't going to be able to do the entire job. The high school kids have been working with the repair depot to get a few more running and I hear they're even building one from scratch.

Unfortunately, that's all for the good news. Food is running low and people are being asked to ration what they eat. We're also running into sewage problems. Nothing has worked for days, and that includes the recycler. No running water. No working toilets. On top of that, without the farm-aware functioning, all but a couple have lost the entire season of crops. We're going to be in a financial bind for the next year, if not more. The mayor has asked for anybody with culturing experience to head out to the farms and help save whatever they can.

.....................................

49th of Second Orbit 4355

The frond is in turmoil. We've had contact from the city. A large cargo lift passed overhead and dropped a couple crates. Inside were visrads, emergency supplies and a couple hundred note tabs. The note tabs were the most worrying. It's war. The tabs didn't say who or why, but after bombarding the planet with some new photon disruptor, the major cities were quickly occupied. The biggest issue is we can't expect the photon stream to be back up any time soon. We're only one frond of hundreds of thousands, and they're ALL without a photon stream. The mayor is doing his best to keep panic to a minimum, but there are some serious concerns. Largest is food. There were rations in the crates, but certainly not enough for the entire frond. We've decided to send Eind and Feath to the city in one of the lifts. They left just after the meeting. If all goes well they should be back in a couple days.

The visrads are either set up to only receive one stream, or there's only one stream to tap. On top of that, they can only receive. The projection is some pre-recorded news currently loops ever hour. It's not very informative, but it gives people something to pay attention to. Some way to feel connected to the outside world. That, more than any of the mayors efforts are probably what's keeping people from really going nuts.

There have been some issues, though. The frond is starting to realize this isn't a short-term problem. People are hoarding supplies, and fight for what's left. Nobody's been seriously injured yet, but the sheriff is getting tense. The medipod is already running low on reserve power, we can't afford to start increasing the load.

.....................................

51st of Second Orbit 4355

Sanitation is becoming a serious issue. The 'bucket system' simply isn't enough and a work crew has been assembled to dig some latrines. Jammec has been working with the engineers to rig up a crude water distillery. It won't be enough to serve the whole frond, but it's better than nothing.

Quote:
I'm wanting to keep this 'ambiguously furry', meaning no explicit references to fur, muzzles, paws, etc. but things like 'House Lupine' are acceptable. Any suggestions along those lines are welcome.

As for where I'm going with this, what I've posted is only the beginning. I plan to soon delve into more 'serious' issues, like the town turning on itself, the author's flight to the city, and even combat.

Lastly, the point I'm shooting for is to not have a point. The reader must decide what to make of everything, so there are no good or bad sides, only good and bad people.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Latrans
Registered User


Joined: 05 Feb 2012
Posts: 52
Location: The quiet place with the matresses on the walls.

PostPosted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 5:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
OMG! Am I even allowed to write this much?!? Now hurry up and give me some feedback, darn it! Razz

Picking up where I left off...


51st of Second Orbit 4355

Living conditions are going from bad to worse. Sanitation is becoming a serious issue. The 'bucket system' simply isn't enough and a work crew has been assembled to dig some latrines. Jammec has been working with the engineers to rig up a crude water distillery. It won't be enough to serve the whole frond, but it's better than nothing. Food is another matter entirely. We're running out. Boranthus produces more food than any other planet in the UPG and we have nothing to eat. The irony isn't lost on me. Somone once told me that society is never more than three meals from violent revolution. I hate to admit it, but I think they might have been right. Moralle of the frond is plumetting and I wish I knew how it might be shorred up. The mayor is doing his best, but it might not be good enough. I don't envy his position one bit.

.....................................

52 of Second Orbit 4355

There was a fight today, a big one. Nothing more than a can of beans. Or, rahter, THE can of beans. It nearly sparked a riot. As was, five people found themselves in medipod. Should have been more, but we can't spare the energy. The frond has reached it's breaking point and people are openly defying established authority. A large number have been rallying behind Jammec. Nothing has come of it yet, but the Sheriff has ordered the fortification of public buildings, just in case.

On a more personal note, my own food has nearly run out. I've only some dehydrated A-Patties left. On a normal day it wouldn't be enough for a snack, but I've got to make it last as long as possible.

Finally, some world news. If you could really call it news, the visrad stream updated. The propoganda is only slightly more believable than Jammec's conspiracy theories. "The honorable House Felis" has launched a war of independence against the "corrupt and opressive UPG". Our planet has somehow found itself the unwitting pawn in this fight. We're being "generously offered" the "glorious task" of supplying them with much needed food and iron. The Boranthus caucus has, of course, accepted under the promise of help geting the global photon streams up and running again. In the mean time we can expect some more "emergency relief" airdrops. Rather than giving people hope, it's provided one more thing to divide the frond: those who believe we should support the caucus (mayor and sheriff) and those who feel House Felis has no authority to make such demands (Jammec). I don't care. I just want life back to normal.

.....................................

54 of Second Orbit 4355

No good news to report. The frond is rioting. People have drawn their lines and what had simply been dirty looks came to full-on fighting. We got another airdrop today. The Sheriff quickly took it into custody to "make sure it got distributed evenly". Jammec's crew took violent exception to this.

The medipod is overloaded and will run out of power some time tomorrow. The waterworks the engineers have been fabricating were also destroyed in the chaos. I've nothing to eat, nothing to drink, and no way to so much as give myself a sponge bath. A group of us are going to petition the mayor for one of the lifts so we can leave for the city. That is assuming, of course, that there's a working lift left after these idiots stop fighting each other.

.....................................

55 of Second Orbit 4355

I am ashamed of myself. I write this with blood still caked to my fingers. The riots were still going on. Where they got the energy I will never know, but I would have surely passed out from exertion. As was, I was barely able to walk around. We couldn't get anywhere close to the mayor to petition him for that lift. Instead we were forced back to the edge of the frond. While there one of the outlying farmers had driven three of his cattle into frond. He'd barely made it past the first building when the mob swarmed upon his lift. From there I don't really remember much. The rush forward, the yelling, clawing and climbing atop one another. Someone had a knife, and the cattle were quickly slew, but we didn't wait. It was food. The poor animals weren't even given the chance to die and we had drug them to the ground. Like wild beasts we set upon them. Driven mad by hunger we didn't care. By our bare hands we pealed back the still twitching skin and began to devour the unfortunate animal. I remember the flesh, still warm. What wretched creatures we were, without compassion or care for our fellows, we fought each other for every morsel until nothing remained. No will, no energy, no reason, no dignity. My entire life I'd believed us to be better than mere mindless creatures. What a fool I was.

.....................................

57 of Second Orbit 4355

Twelve of us have made for the city. We've taken the farmer's lift, though none of us know what happened to him. The frond is in chaos and we flee for what can't be any worse. The incident two days ago has only reinforced my belief that I can not stay and remain safe or sane. We've pooled all our supplies, and while it's not much, it should last us the trip. Two families on the lift with me have kids. I don't blame them for wanting to leave. The violence we've left is no place for children.

The visrads all went dead this morning followed shortly by what appeared to be a meteor shower, the likes of which I'd never seen. It makes me nervous. I haven't said anything to the group, but if Boranthus is important to House Felix, it's going to be just as important to the UPG. I can only hope that fighting stay in orbit.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Planetfurry BBS Forum Index -> Writer's Guild All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You cannot download files in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group