Tools of the Trade Posts

Originally a Twitter thread, posted on March 25, 2020 (minor edits for clarity)

It’s no secret that I orbit Ursula LeGuin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”. I read it first when I was 11 or 12. It started my relationship with ethics, utilitarianism, pro-social responsibility, …everything. I love it & hate it. (It’s short.)

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Cooking Emergency Preparedness Food Household Recipes

Originally a Twitter thread. Minor editing, spelling & reformatting in this version.

Putting on my behaviorist hat for a thread. Our popular narrative arcs tell us that the story ends when we successfully escape the monster, defeat the corrupt government, flee the abuse, walk free of oppression.

This is where we end stories.

Our narratives lie to us. We are not made whole when the narrative ends. The conclusion of one lifecycle of narrative spawns the next. We move from the resolution into the next origin story, and as we proceed into the next cycle, we carry with us the damage, and skills, we gained in our previous cycle.

fiction Galantier Health psych Rebellion self-care trauma

current events environment Financial Crime Health History politics science

This was originally a Twitter thread, posted on 22 APR 02019.

Changes from the Twitter version: Lightly edited or re-expanded from the original text, linked to sources, and notes.

Addendum, October 2022, after the release of Black Widow filled in significant aspects about Natasha, and Falcon and the Winter Soldier filled in some details about Sam and Bucky. I have also updated links that experienced bit rot to their archive.org instance.

History Media critique

What follows is an example of Rien’s Rebellion in development, specifically to illustrate the evolution of the constructed language of Galantier. This is purely because I have access to my own drafts and the decisions that drove the evolution of Rebellion from Disney Princess Plays Virginity Porn with Robin Hood into … what it is.

As a reminder: the finished version of Rien’s Rebellion is available at Smashwords and Amazon, and I’m always delighted to have new readers.

fiction Galantier Rebellion Writing

fiction Galantier publication Rebellion

The cover of Repudiation & Refuge. A black and white image of a courtyard with an arched corridor extending into the distance.

Books are live, and they are going to kill me.

But we knew that, because that’s why I’m publishing these babies. Publishing them is actually selfish on my part. It’s been hard to write other things – or even the next Galantier cycle* — without locking these down. If I wasn’t pushing them, I’d still be f***ing with them.

*Yes, there are more stories. At least 3 cycles — no idea how many books — right now, and seeds for a couple more after that. It’s a big world, with a lot that needs fixing.

fiction Galantier Rebellion Writing

Rien’s world exists because of a vague idea I once had. When Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, it only destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum. But Mt Vesuvius has the potential to be a much worse eruption, then and now. It’s 150 miles/242km from Pompeii to Rome. Ash fell from Mount St Helens over 7 states. What if, instead of destroying two cities, Vesuvius destroyed Rome as an empire? What if Vesuvius went worst case scenario – a Mt Tambora or a Yellowstone caldera? When Yellowstone goes, there’s a good chance that Salt Lake City, Boise and Spokane will cease to exist, and Seattle, Denver and Portland may not be far behind. It’s 500 miles/800km from Denver to Yellowstone. 

fiction Galantier History politics Rebellion Writing

fiction Galantier Rebellion Writing