LJ Idol Exhibit A: "Empires Of Parched Earth And Air"

[halfshellvenus]

Empires Of Parched Earth And Air
LJ Idol Exhibit A | week 7 | 714 words
Honey Badger Don't Care

x-x-x-x-x

Day 1Amassed armies and provisions for first conquest this morning. Subdued three tribes between our base and the whispering lake. Ranks now larger by ten strong men, holdings by more than ninety goats

Comments

[lrig_rorrim]

I love this. Love love love. The format is perfect - it's like what Genghis Khan would have written if he had a twitter account. It's hilarious, punchy, and is perfectly in the spirit of the prompt (which is a helluva feat this week, I tell you what). Awesome!

[halfshellvenus]

Yay! This prompt was the biggest challenge yet, and that's really saying something. o_O

When I thought about what really embodied the prompt, and who was the most relentless and driven badass ever, Genghis Khan even beat out Alexander the Great. He had an inherent need to conquer new land, and he was tenacious and incredibly successful at it. He took what he wanted, by god, and no sane person got in his way!

Thanks so much for reading, and I'm thrilled that you liked it!

[whipchick]

Love. Love. Love. This voice is hilarious, and I love how there's still a poignancy, that nothing will ever be enough. Fabulous as satire but still meaningful. So well done!!!

[halfshellvenus]

that nothing will ever be enough.
I mentioned on the prior post that I wound up doing an ungodly amount of research for this, and it was amazing how driven the man was to possess what would mostly have been very resource-poor land in his time, and how clear it was that that it was the conquest and not the "having" that really spurred him on. He was just fearsome.

I'm glad this came off well-- the balance and pace of stories like this is more work that most people probably realize!

[whipchick]

100% agree. I'd call this "deceptively simple". It's hard to keep the jokes coming and still stay in the voice.

[halfshellvenus]

Yes! Each individual segment has to be crafted, and then it also has to work as a whole and with progression.

It always looks so much easier when other people do it-- I know I've had that thought before!

[tatdatcm]

Love the voice you gave him. Relentless in his pursuit but humorous as well. Great interpretation of the prompt.

[halfshellvenus]

Without the humor, this would be far too dry for the poor reader! But Khan is still Khan, so that neverending desire for expansion that rules his existence very much drives the rest of him.

So glad you liked it. Thanks for reading!

[audreybuttercup]

Did the dance of the furry boots

That made me laugh right out loud. This was really funny and interesting. I love it.

[halfshellvenus]

Haha! I was hoping that line would make someone chuckle. I had visions of Nepalese tribesmen and their footwear there. What a daunting terrain overall-- Khan conquered some of the hottest/dryest regions as well as the coldest. The fact that he so desperately wanted both of those really tells you how relentless he was!

[zephyrly]

You have no idea how much I love the Mongols. I love my history, and it's kind of a secret how much I enjoy military strategy.

[halfshellvenus]

I learned amazing amounts about this whole period of history while researching this, and really-- Khan and his armies were ruthless and incredibly skilled.

We tend to just think of him as brutal or an obsessed invader, but he was quite the military genius. One site summed it up very well: he conquered as much territory in 25 years as the Romans did in 4 centuries.

He also had some skill in promoting civilization, which tends to be overlooked as well.

He was made for this prompt. ;)