2021-04-25 #diceRollProse
Stats
Words: 214
Words-of-the-day: 33
Inclusion: 15%
Sentences with no words-of-the-day: 2
Most words-of-the-day in one sentence: 4
Nouns: 12
Adjectives: 13
Verbs: 8
Words of the week
Approach (v).
Seclude (v).
Forfend (v): to defend, secure, or protect. – to fend off, avert, or prevent.
Ebullient (adj): overflowing with fervor, enthusiasm, or excitement; high-spirited.
Accompany (v).
Fons et origo (n): The source and origin (of something).
Exposed (adj).
Half-hearted (adj).
Blaze (n).
Sunlit uplands (n): a wished-for place or time of happiness and prosperity.
Alfresco (adj): out-of-doors; in the open air.
Homegrown (adj).
Canaigre (n): a plant, Rumex hymenosepalus, of the buckwheat family, found from Oklahoma to California, having clustered, tuberous roots that yield tannin.
Indigent (adj): lacking food, clothing, and other necessities of life because of poverty; needy; poor; impoverished.
Sustainability (n): the ability to be sustained, supported, upheld, or confirmed.
Cankerfret (n): a corroded surface on metal.
Longanimity (n): patient endurance of hardship, injuries, or offense; forbearance.
Parnassian (adj): pertaining to Mount Parnassus. – pertaining to poetry.
Environ (v): to form a circle or ring round; surround; envelop.
Versal (adj): universal or whole.
Engaged (adj).
Devilshine (n): illusion or delusion caused by or attributed to the Devil; the power or influence of a devil; diabolical works; devilish behaviour.
Three stops short of Dagenham (adj): crazy; mad.
Fallacy fallacy (n): (Logic) The formal fallacy of inferring that if an argument contains a fallacy, its conclusion must be false.
Transformative (adj): causing a radical and typically positive change in outlook, character, form, or condition.
Brummagem (adj): showy but inferior and worthless.
Leaf Through (v).
Adulate (v): to show excessive admiration or devotion to; flatter or admire servilely.
Touchstone (n): a test or criterion for the qualities of a thing.
Caked-on (adj): of a substance: that has dried or congealed to form a thick crust.
Moisturize (v).
Jabber (v): to talk or utter rapidly, indistinctly, incoherently, or nonsensically; chatter.
Folktronica (n): a style of popular music incorporating elements of folk and electronic music, typically characterised by the use of electronic rhythms and acoustic instruments.
Bogart (v): to take an unfair share of (something); keep for oneself instead of sharing.
Unused Words of the week
Bibliopole (n): a bookseller, especially a dealer in rare or used books.
Chlamys (n): a short, fine woolen mantle worn by men in ancient Greece.
Clocker (n): a brooding or broody hen.
Fragrancy (n).
Hutong (n): A narrow alley or street in a traditional residential district of a city in China, esp. Beijing.
Impresario (n): a person who organizes or manages public entertainments, especially operas, ballets, or concerts.
Intermingle (v): to mingle, one with another; intermix.
Twoc (v): The offence of taking a car without the owner’s consent, esp. For the purpose of joy-riding.
Breakdown
The illustration for this prose is clearly inspirational. Lots of storytelling happening in the moment. I wanted to write something sciency as I had plenty of nice words that could fit in an informative dictation type dialogue: Sustainability, transformative, fallacy fallacy and touchstone. But knowing a string of science findings would be dry, I wanted to mix in some personality in the characters, naturally.
Since two characters appear in the image; I wanted a sort of lackey for the protagonist to banter with to make the narrative less boring. That’s how Campbell came into existence. The protagonist associates ebullient and jabbering with Campbell. I seem him (got to be a him) as an adorable pet, really thick, and undeserving of his space suit. Yet, ebullient has affectionate connotations in this case, and you get the sense the protagonist has a loving soft spot for their sidekick.
The idea for the protagonist is that they are feeling a tad bit smug on this day and have allowed their tongue to get a bit loose. As a deep space explorer, using flippant words like fons et origo, sunlit uplands, homegrown, devilshine, and of course, three stops short of Dagenham, speaks a lot about the character’s demeanour.
During the third paragraph the protagonist continues their blasé confabulation but it is interlinked with some actual clever observations. Parnassian and environed work well together. Devilshine was a gift for this pairing of word and image. The statues are unquestionably demonic or godly and perfectly ominous. I was pleased to put a glib edge to it.
It’s not until you get to the final paragraph that you understand the cause of the protagonist’s light mood. Some bogus reputation surrounding the protagonist’s expertise has been circulating the community involving the backers of the project. He can’t wait to shove his discovery down their throats.
Art
Sealed Ruins by Marina Ortega
