I hadn't thought about the kind of misunderstanding that might result from creatures who can regenerate limbs meeting up with a species who cannot.
Still not sure WHY the creature took off Gary's arm, unless it was that things got heated and that's the kind of thing crabs do when they're mad (they seem to). :O
Oops-- "mad", not "made". Makes it sound as if their cover was blown or something.
I actually explained it in one of my drafts, but felt like it was stronger without as much exposition. The idea is that they're miming a bunch of actions, but they're not really doing anything, and the clicker takes Gary's movement to express pain/parasitism in the limb. Well, when you have the easy ability to regrow it, the removal of such is simply a snip away.
...though now that I think about it, it's probably not obvious at all.
I'm so glad you posted this, and that Venus started this thread!
I initially read this story a few days ago, and put it on my "seems really well written, but IDGI" list - which usually means I'm out of it or in a brain fog, and need to come back and reread once I've re-joined the land of the living. I reread it a second time, and knew I was missing SOMETHING, but just could not for the life of me figure out what it was. This explanation puts the whole thing in perspective, and suddenly, it all snaps into place. This story was a really neat concept, and I can definitely see something like this happening and causing a totally unnecessary intergalactic throw-down, especially considering our species' track record for "sure, let's start a huge-ass mess over a communication failure, sounds grand!"
Shooting first and asking questions later: the human way!
...it's probably against the rules to edit pieces after the post, isn't it? Ah well - the feedback is really helpful and I'll make my future pieces more for people who are not residing in my head. Thanks :P
Hahaha... it wasn't completely obvious to me, either. Once I read the ending, I could tell it was intended as a gesture of friendship and I figured the general idea had to do with the clickers having the ability to grow back their arms. But I still wasn't sure why cutting off an arm was a friendly gesture.
With that said, I don't think knowing that is necessary in order to appreciate this piece, which I did, quite a bit. :)
Also, don't you love when something seems totally obvious in your brain and then isn't to your readers? That's one of my biggest struggles with writing.
Still not sure WHY the creature took off Gary's arm, unless it was that things got heated and that's the kind of thing crabs do when they're mad (they seem to). :O
Oops-- "mad", not "made". Makes it sound as if their cover was blown or something.
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...though now that I think about it, it's probably not obvious at all.
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I initially read this story a few days ago, and put it on my "seems really well written, but IDGI" list - which usually means I'm out of it or in a brain fog, and need to come back and reread once I've re-joined the land of the living. I reread it a second time, and knew I was missing SOMETHING, but just could not for the life of me figure out what it was. This explanation puts the whole thing in perspective, and suddenly, it all snaps into place. This story was a really neat concept, and I can definitely see something like this happening and causing a totally unnecessary intergalactic throw-down, especially considering our species' track record for "sure, let's start a huge-ass mess over a communication failure, sounds grand!"
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...it's probably against the rules to edit pieces after the post, isn't it? Ah well - the feedback is really helpful and I'll make my future pieces more for people who are not residing in my head. Thanks :P
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With that said, I don't think knowing that is necessary in order to appreciate this piece, which I did, quite a bit. :)
Also, don't you love when something seems totally obvious in your brain and then isn't to your readers? That's one of my biggest struggles with writing.
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