Letters Column for January

Posted on February 2, 2004 by Jenna

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Thank you for your kind words,
Bodacius
Beth
Sab
Rana
mo
BrandonQ
Solarbird
incandescens
Mulciber
rmaleski
Adam West & Burt Ward
Amber
Veebs
Alexander Williams
S
Janos
Jason
S.D.
Tim
Gary Burke
Jakebe
Tim Gray
Claire Sasahara
Gar
t.rev
thenorm42
Nigel
Arref
Todd
Shawn
loki
Judd
Norm
Requiem
Senji

**

I guess what I don’t understand is what Robber bees *do* with all the shirts they steal. Unless they steal an awful lot of starch, they’ll have a pretty tricky time constructing hexagonal cells from their purloined apparel.
— Svend

In ancient times, stranded pirates would make sails for their rafts out of old shirts. In the modern era, the robber bees daily trundle shirts up to space, where they integrate them into their great robber bee solar sail. Propelled by photonic pressure, these shirts will one day take the bees to the great star Aldebaran. Truly, their migratory instinct exceeds all measure.

**

Hmmm….doth the author protest too much? Anything semi-autobiographical here? ;-)
— Ilanin

Sometimes, when you’re writing, your characters fight you. They want to do things that you don’t want them to do. It’s not very surprising that this would extend to other creative endeavors, such as shortcakes striving to become boxes of pain or backrubs that accidentally make people sprout wings. It’s perfectly normal.

*sweatdrop*

**

How were there fireworks when the last city fell? How were there sirens when the creature returned to its cage? Did the creature grow sirens?
— PASchaefer

In the late 21st century, there was a fad—particularly in rural areas—where people wouldn’t live in cities. When the creature started depopulating and destroying cities full of people, this minor subculture fad became a major fashion and took the world by storm. The runways of Paris were full of ‘disurban chic’, right up until the day the creature destroyed Paris. Then they were full of fashionable corpses.

**

no explanation for the absence of the Big 3 (Supes, Bats, and Wondy) was given.
— Scott Harris

I just realized what happened to Superman, and I’m kicking myself for not seeing it sooner. Isn’t it obvious? He must have been killed by Luthor with a Mistletoe-Kryptonite dart.
— Tuxedo Slack

Yay! I was wondering how long that would take people. :)

**

Very interesting. From this, does it not follow that you have read Lun Yu?
— Ilanin

Some! This, however, was based off of Er-shih-ssu Hsiao, by Kuo Chu-ching. I don’t accept Confucius’ ideas, but I find them interesting.

**

I’m almost positive that this mini-series was some kind of metaphor; namely, the kind of metaphor I am not cool enough to understand.
— rmaleski

Is The Stage an allusion to the death of the Hero’s sister, referenced back in The Hero (II/IV)?
— D-Trix

Read for a few more months. :)

**

Flu?
— Tim Gray

Yes.

**

Sharks are fish.
— Carolyn

*giggle*
*evil smile*

**

You know, killing Martin is obviously the implicit “right thing to do.” After all, he’s applying pressure to engage in an immortal, unethical, and religiously wrong action. Ergo, those seeking to be in the Right must remove him from existance.
— Alexander Williams

In Martin Visits Liz, I probably cheated a little.

See, I figure, if a divine entity visits you and says, “This is your destiny. Go do this icky thing,” you *know* if it’s your destiny. You know if it’s something that makes sense at all. You know if it’s what you’re supposed to do. So Liz knew. If Martin was telling the truth, she knew that; and if he was lying, she knew that too.

But if I told *you* the answer, then her situation would look easy. And I don’t think it is; and I don’t think it feels easy to her. So, to increase empathy in the readership, I cheated. :)

That said, killing Martin isn’t a solution. It may or may not be independently the right thing to do, but it doesn’t actually answer the dilemma he posed.

**

So, what if Martin didn’t leave?
— Discipulus

Liz suggested that his presence was removing her free will in the matter, so I figure it would make the whole issue a null point.

**

What’s the etymology of “cerycur,” Rebecca?
— Discipulus

Invented from whole cloth, with influence from various Vancian words such as ‘deodand’. Slightly modified from mericur, because that looked too much like American and I wasn’t aiming for political commentary. A proper derivation can be obtained, however; note that ‘cer’ is in the dictionary as an acronym for ‘conditioned emotional response’ and ‘y’ refers to the ordinate.

**

I wish I was an advocate so a whale would eat me..
— Penny

I’m not sure how I can help.

**

Okay, I recognize Bertramus and Hernais, and Count von Count, but without a fur color, I can’t identify the Messenger precisely. Help, anyone?
— Tuxedo Slack

The Messenger was discontinued in the 1540s. Parents were concerned that the character’s Papist leanings would breed disloyalty in children baptized by the Church of England. To oppose the deeds of the muppet Devil, Sesame Street introduced a new muppet, Grover, his name a qabbalistic shorthand for ‘all-conquering glory of God’.

**

Is there an actual tune for the “Everybody Sins” song?
— Tom

Yes, but I’m currently the only one who knows it. At some point, I might make it available on the site. :)

**
That’s it for now! Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting—even if you didn’t get thanked for a compliment or picked for a specific response—and see you again this coming month!

Rebecca

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