(no subject)
"Vanity is so secure in the heart of man that everyone wants to be admired: even I who write this, and you who read this."
- Blaise Pascal
"A painter paints the appearance of things, not their objective correctness, in fact he creates new appearances of things."
- Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Kay made all sorts of figures, the most complicated, for it was an ice-puzzle for the understanding. In his eyes the figures were extraordinarily beautiful, and of the utmost importance; for the bit of glass which was in his eye caused this. He found whole figures which represented a written word; but he never could manage to represent just the word he wanted--that word was "eternity"; and the Snow Queen had said, "If you can discover that figure, you shall be your own master, and I will make you a present of the whole world and a pair of new skates." But he could not find it out.
- Hans Christian Andersen, The Snow Queen
Thursday, July 30th; early evening
I am displeased.
It seems that I have merely to step away from Excolo for a day or two for the place to begin unravelling. I have rarely seen a town so prone to disorder, and whilst I enjoy chaos, I have an interest in the chaos of Excolo being of my directing.
I had been to the desert. In the end I always return to the desert. Which desert is not important; all deserts share the same heart. And I dwelled on the nature of things; and I admired my own heart; and I spoke to the wind, and the wind spoke back to me.
I returned to Excolo and found the skyscape stained. Gaueko and Tezcatlipoca were written against the rent in the heavens; sealed now, but I could see where it had been, and I touched the tear, and I sighed a sigh of satisfaction. I had told Gaueko to be discreet; but in this case I am willing to forgive him. He brought worth wonderful things from the Night Wind, and for that I should thank him. I will call on him and Anushka soon.
I was about to go to Tezcatlipoca then, and embrace him as the prince he has become. I rode the wind in my pure form, and from the wind I could sense his heart.
His human heart.
Far away, lightning smote the earth in a dry and ancient place, and carved open a fissure in the rock; and there was no rain in the storm, only fire.
*
I kept out of Excolo for a while, for my fury was the sky and the rock and the space between them, and my breath would have burned the quick and the dead. And it is not time for that.
Attachment to another being has proved dangerous; it has threatened my course. I should cast him aside at once; take his blood and bones and make them into powder, and bury them in a high dry place away from the jungle air and damp earth where there is no one to call his name, not for thousands of miles. But I do not. Yet.
For some idle amusement, I decide to call on my Djinn. Ask him to sow some discord on the town. I have seen the trail of his flame in town and know that he walks it, playing his foolish games.
He does not come.
Oh, that little bitch.
Again my wrath rises; but I place it inside me, in a dark quiet space where I can nurture it. I bring punishments at the best of times, not when I am in my flush of fury; and so it is that my punishments are glorious and feared, for I have considered them long.
But now I need another diversion, to keep my rage from simmering over. I examine the rent in the fabric of things, and I see a handprint of someone I would not expect there. Oh, yes, she has been drawn to what she saw in her inks and pigments. She is most certainly a promising child.
*
In the Beginning there was the Word; and not long after the Word, there I was, most beautiful of the Heavenly Host; and I was struck down because I refused to bow to Man. I had a victory, however; my Adversary found that the free will that gave me my pride also gave that pride to Man; and I have dwelled in his heart ever since. I will be calling on that pride soon. For even the most innocuous and bland of the race of humankind has a sliver of pride in his heart, and I can turn it in him like a shard of glass.
Or her, in this case.
I put on the Danika body with care, brushing out its hair, dressing it in another dress. I tuck a couple of things in a satchel - watercolour paintings, and a small gift for Genny. Danika would bring gifts. And then I walk out as the light dims, crossing the bridge to the carnival. Tez is not here, I sense. Perhaps after his little display with Gaueko the others have thrown him out. This reminds me that I should speak to Management soon.
I stop by the river bank and look over the water. Let her find me here, a little space away from the carnival.
[closed]
- Blaise Pascal
"A painter paints the appearance of things, not their objective correctness, in fact he creates new appearances of things."
- Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Kay made all sorts of figures, the most complicated, for it was an ice-puzzle for the understanding. In his eyes the figures were extraordinarily beautiful, and of the utmost importance; for the bit of glass which was in his eye caused this. He found whole figures which represented a written word; but he never could manage to represent just the word he wanted--that word was "eternity"; and the Snow Queen had said, "If you can discover that figure, you shall be your own master, and I will make you a present of the whole world and a pair of new skates." But he could not find it out.
- Hans Christian Andersen, The Snow Queen
Thursday, July 30th; early evening
I am displeased.
It seems that I have merely to step away from Excolo for a day or two for the place to begin unravelling. I have rarely seen a town so prone to disorder, and whilst I enjoy chaos, I have an interest in the chaos of Excolo being of my directing.
I had been to the desert. In the end I always return to the desert. Which desert is not important; all deserts share the same heart. And I dwelled on the nature of things; and I admired my own heart; and I spoke to the wind, and the wind spoke back to me.
I returned to Excolo and found the skyscape stained. Gaueko and Tezcatlipoca were written against the rent in the heavens; sealed now, but I could see where it had been, and I touched the tear, and I sighed a sigh of satisfaction. I had told Gaueko to be discreet; but in this case I am willing to forgive him. He brought worth wonderful things from the Night Wind, and for that I should thank him. I will call on him and Anushka soon.
I was about to go to Tezcatlipoca then, and embrace him as the prince he has become. I rode the wind in my pure form, and from the wind I could sense his heart.
His human heart.
Far away, lightning smote the earth in a dry and ancient place, and carved open a fissure in the rock; and there was no rain in the storm, only fire.
*
I kept out of Excolo for a while, for my fury was the sky and the rock and the space between them, and my breath would have burned the quick and the dead. And it is not time for that.
Attachment to another being has proved dangerous; it has threatened my course. I should cast him aside at once; take his blood and bones and make them into powder, and bury them in a high dry place away from the jungle air and damp earth where there is no one to call his name, not for thousands of miles. But I do not. Yet.
For some idle amusement, I decide to call on my Djinn. Ask him to sow some discord on the town. I have seen the trail of his flame in town and know that he walks it, playing his foolish games.
He does not come.
Oh, that little bitch.
Again my wrath rises; but I place it inside me, in a dark quiet space where I can nurture it. I bring punishments at the best of times, not when I am in my flush of fury; and so it is that my punishments are glorious and feared, for I have considered them long.
But now I need another diversion, to keep my rage from simmering over. I examine the rent in the fabric of things, and I see a handprint of someone I would not expect there. Oh, yes, she has been drawn to what she saw in her inks and pigments. She is most certainly a promising child.
*
In the Beginning there was the Word; and not long after the Word, there I was, most beautiful of the Heavenly Host; and I was struck down because I refused to bow to Man. I had a victory, however; my Adversary found that the free will that gave me my pride also gave that pride to Man; and I have dwelled in his heart ever since. I will be calling on that pride soon. For even the most innocuous and bland of the race of humankind has a sliver of pride in his heart, and I can turn it in him like a shard of glass.
Or her, in this case.
I put on the Danika body with care, brushing out its hair, dressing it in another dress. I tuck a couple of things in a satchel - watercolour paintings, and a small gift for Genny. Danika would bring gifts. And then I walk out as the light dims, crossing the bridge to the carnival. Tez is not here, I sense. Perhaps after his little display with Gaueko the others have thrown him out. This reminds me that I should speak to Management soon.
I stop by the river bank and look over the water. Let her find me here, a little space away from the carnival.
[closed]