Well Aimed Chaos (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
whitemage) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rainbowfic2013-08-04 10:32 pm
whitemage) wrote in rainbowfic2013-08-04 10:32 pm
The Swan and the Mermaids
Name: Ardy
Piece/Story: The Swan and the Mermaids
Colors: Fire Opal 20 (destroy what you love/want most)
Styles/Supplies: Graffiti (Midsummer Night’s Dream prompt); Glitter (Pride); Glue
Word Count: 1248
Ratings/Warnings: PG; Warning: Drowning
Notes: What is the tag for one-shots? D:
Amara was the most beautiful princess of the land, a radiant jewel who made the palace glow and the people sigh. Not only was she beautiful in face, but everyone assumed she was beautiful at heart as well: she was deeply religious, with a pure mind devoted to transcendent splendors.
But she was very haughty because of her many beauties, and she begin to look down on other women when she went to the marketplace. Any who did not recognize the rareness of her natural grace and piety became objects of scorn--of course, this simply meant any who did not give in to her way.
One day at the dress maker’s, she continually found her way in the shop blocked by some street workers, negotiating the price of of some silk. Angered that they continued about their business as if they were her equals, she loudly proclaimed, “You of base fancies, who make your living by a woman’s wiles, you daughters of earth and flesh, turn and recognize the holiness diffusing in the air around you. I would that you would all turn to sirens: surely your truest forms!”
Little did she know, they truly were mermaids, who had shed their tails for a day and a night to walk among the townsfolk, as such creatures used to do--and might yet. The eldest of them turned and approached her. “By sunset, to the see we’ll return, but when a year has passed, may your judgement burn.”
Amara thought nothing of the mermaid’s saying, especially as the purple embroidered dress she purchased that day helped her land the eye of the prince of a neighboring kingdom. Their fathers met, and married the two quickly, with many blessings.
The princess kept a full life with her new husband and her continued to devotions to the gods. Just when she felt no more happiness could be dealt her, she discovered herself pregnant with her first child. This only increased her pleasure, to the point she sighed with gratitude, “I believe I could find no more bliss in this place, unless I were to ascend into my higher self.”
The gods heard and while she forgot the mermaid’s curse, they did not. They could not harm her, as she was truly under their protection, but they could give her what she unwittingly asked for. And so, the next morning, she awoke to discover she had been turned into one of the holy animals: a swan.
“Ah, well,” she said, “My love will understand. He will still see my true beauty, and he will be proud his wife is chosen of the gods.”
But the prince did not. Holy or not, he bristled at the idea of being married to an animal, much less a bird that required such care. He drew his sword and attempted to kill the princess. The servants, hearing the commotion, stayed his hand and summoned his father. His father forbid the boy from killing his bride, and attempted to persuade him to take this as a sign of fortune from the heavens. The swan nodded along with this, but to no avail. The only compromise the prince could come to is if the swan were taken far, far from his sight, so they he might receive the blessings from this touch of the gods without the work of its source.
The swan found herself marooned on a rocky island, with no friends save the insects, the winds, and her child still in an egg. “Oh, if there was but one voice I could hear--comforting or not!” she cried. “Oh, woe is me scorned among women.”
Day and night she continued. “There is no other who knows my pain, to be undone by my own being. I can’t help what I am!”
One night, a voice from the waters answered her. A chorus of voices. “Nor can we, my lady swan. Nor can we, and for that you cursed us.”
Up from the waves rose the mermaids, faces stern as stones, but voices bearing a sadness the princess had never heard from them on land. “Now you see we are all the same--sisters--coveted for our gifts and scorned for our souls.”
Over time, the princess listened to their stories, and she realized the truth of their words: they were all the same, she and the mermaids, seen for their beauty, or their gifts, or magic--what they could provide, or possessed by some chance of fate.
The mermaids cared for her, and she became friends of theirs: food they brought for her, and gifts from the sea--gold and jewels of kings’ wrecks.
Meanwhile, the prince’s kingdom was failing. Distraught, he remembered the god-marked swan, and took a boat in search of his bride. “If only I brought her home, put her up--in a cage of gold, with a crystal lined pond. Then maybe I would have the blessings of the gods my father believes in.”
He reached the island, and saw most wondrous sights: heaps of coins, jewelry, treasures from so many far away lands. Exotic fruits, and lumber--everything a kingdom could ask for. “Ah, see?” he said to himself. “These are the gifts paid to the swan. These could all be mine were I to possess her again.”
The mermaids saw all this from the water, and they went and told the swan.
“Help me,” she said, and they arrayed her with chains and rings--just like a princess, even with her feathers.
Sparkling in the sun, she went to meet her prince, a tiny flutter of hope within her the mermaids were wrong, and he truly had repented.
“My love!” he cried. “I have come to beg your forgiveness, and return you to our palace, that we may rule happily in health and wealth!” For he knew the haughty girl she was before, and how she could be flattered so easily by someone she loved.
Her heart broke on hearing these words, for the mermaids had told her all. “Back home... and you will sit in the gilded cage with me? And swim in my little crystal pond? Is that what you mean by health and wealth?” Silently, she begged him to deny these things, to take her up in his arms once more...
He became angry that she talked to him so. “Foolish girl! You are my princess, I am your prince: you will obey my command, swan.”
“I will obey love’s command, and you have none of that in your heart. You will go back alone.” Sadness ached in her breast, but she let it slowly turn to vinegar. She loved, she loved, but it would never be returned
“No, I will not. I will wring your neck and rescue our daughter.” The prince had spied the egg.
“She is a swan, as her mother.” The swan replied, standing in his way. In the water, the mermaids hissed.
“She is a human, as her father, and I will take her from your madness.” The prince reached for the egg, but the swan grabbed him, her beak reaching under his thick leather gloves to bite his arm. He screamed.
“Come here! Come here! We will rid you of the treacherous prince!” The mermaids urged the swan to the water, and she pulled him in with her speedily. With the mermaids’ help, she destroyed her once-dear prince in the sea.
And this, child, is how swans learned to drown in the deep waters all those who dare grieve them.
Piece/Story: The Swan and the Mermaids
Colors: Fire Opal 20 (destroy what you love/want most)
Styles/Supplies: Graffiti (Midsummer Night’s Dream prompt); Glitter (Pride); Glue
Word Count: 1248
Ratings/Warnings: PG; Warning: Drowning
Notes: What is the tag for one-shots? D:
Amara was the most beautiful princess of the land, a radiant jewel who made the palace glow and the people sigh. Not only was she beautiful in face, but everyone assumed she was beautiful at heart as well: she was deeply religious, with a pure mind devoted to transcendent splendors.
But she was very haughty because of her many beauties, and she begin to look down on other women when she went to the marketplace. Any who did not recognize the rareness of her natural grace and piety became objects of scorn--of course, this simply meant any who did not give in to her way.
One day at the dress maker’s, she continually found her way in the shop blocked by some street workers, negotiating the price of of some silk. Angered that they continued about their business as if they were her equals, she loudly proclaimed, “You of base fancies, who make your living by a woman’s wiles, you daughters of earth and flesh, turn and recognize the holiness diffusing in the air around you. I would that you would all turn to sirens: surely your truest forms!”
Little did she know, they truly were mermaids, who had shed their tails for a day and a night to walk among the townsfolk, as such creatures used to do--and might yet. The eldest of them turned and approached her. “By sunset, to the see we’ll return, but when a year has passed, may your judgement burn.”
Amara thought nothing of the mermaid’s saying, especially as the purple embroidered dress she purchased that day helped her land the eye of the prince of a neighboring kingdom. Their fathers met, and married the two quickly, with many blessings.
The princess kept a full life with her new husband and her continued to devotions to the gods. Just when she felt no more happiness could be dealt her, she discovered herself pregnant with her first child. This only increased her pleasure, to the point she sighed with gratitude, “I believe I could find no more bliss in this place, unless I were to ascend into my higher self.”
The gods heard and while she forgot the mermaid’s curse, they did not. They could not harm her, as she was truly under their protection, but they could give her what she unwittingly asked for. And so, the next morning, she awoke to discover she had been turned into one of the holy animals: a swan.
“Ah, well,” she said, “My love will understand. He will still see my true beauty, and he will be proud his wife is chosen of the gods.”
But the prince did not. Holy or not, he bristled at the idea of being married to an animal, much less a bird that required such care. He drew his sword and attempted to kill the princess. The servants, hearing the commotion, stayed his hand and summoned his father. His father forbid the boy from killing his bride, and attempted to persuade him to take this as a sign of fortune from the heavens. The swan nodded along with this, but to no avail. The only compromise the prince could come to is if the swan were taken far, far from his sight, so they he might receive the blessings from this touch of the gods without the work of its source.
The swan found herself marooned on a rocky island, with no friends save the insects, the winds, and her child still in an egg. “Oh, if there was but one voice I could hear--comforting or not!” she cried. “Oh, woe is me scorned among women.”
Day and night she continued. “There is no other who knows my pain, to be undone by my own being. I can’t help what I am!”
One night, a voice from the waters answered her. A chorus of voices. “Nor can we, my lady swan. Nor can we, and for that you cursed us.”
Up from the waves rose the mermaids, faces stern as stones, but voices bearing a sadness the princess had never heard from them on land. “Now you see we are all the same--sisters--coveted for our gifts and scorned for our souls.”
Over time, the princess listened to their stories, and she realized the truth of their words: they were all the same, she and the mermaids, seen for their beauty, or their gifts, or magic--what they could provide, or possessed by some chance of fate.
The mermaids cared for her, and she became friends of theirs: food they brought for her, and gifts from the sea--gold and jewels of kings’ wrecks.
Meanwhile, the prince’s kingdom was failing. Distraught, he remembered the god-marked swan, and took a boat in search of his bride. “If only I brought her home, put her up--in a cage of gold, with a crystal lined pond. Then maybe I would have the blessings of the gods my father believes in.”
He reached the island, and saw most wondrous sights: heaps of coins, jewelry, treasures from so many far away lands. Exotic fruits, and lumber--everything a kingdom could ask for. “Ah, see?” he said to himself. “These are the gifts paid to the swan. These could all be mine were I to possess her again.”
The mermaids saw all this from the water, and they went and told the swan.
“Help me,” she said, and they arrayed her with chains and rings--just like a princess, even with her feathers.
Sparkling in the sun, she went to meet her prince, a tiny flutter of hope within her the mermaids were wrong, and he truly had repented.
“My love!” he cried. “I have come to beg your forgiveness, and return you to our palace, that we may rule happily in health and wealth!” For he knew the haughty girl she was before, and how she could be flattered so easily by someone she loved.
Her heart broke on hearing these words, for the mermaids had told her all. “Back home... and you will sit in the gilded cage with me? And swim in my little crystal pond? Is that what you mean by health and wealth?” Silently, she begged him to deny these things, to take her up in his arms once more...
He became angry that she talked to him so. “Foolish girl! You are my princess, I am your prince: you will obey my command, swan.”
“I will obey love’s command, and you have none of that in your heart. You will go back alone.” Sadness ached in her breast, but she let it slowly turn to vinegar. She loved, she loved, but it would never be returned
“No, I will not. I will wring your neck and rescue our daughter.” The prince had spied the egg.
“She is a swan, as her mother.” The swan replied, standing in his way. In the water, the mermaids hissed.
“She is a human, as her father, and I will take her from your madness.” The prince reached for the egg, but the swan grabbed him, her beak reaching under his thick leather gloves to bite his arm. He screamed.
“Come here! Come here! We will rid you of the treacherous prince!” The mermaids urged the swan to the water, and she pulled him in with her speedily. With the mermaids’ help, she destroyed her once-dear prince in the sea.
And this, child, is how swans learned to drown in the deep waters all those who dare grieve them.
no subject
Also, DON'T FUCK WITH A SWAN, DUDE. Jesus. I thought everyone knew this.
no subject
Thank you very much! Camaraderie and mentorship among women is really important to me. In the volunteer work I do in science education, we've actually been accused of sexism for splitting up the girls and boys (I work with the girls), but my team really strives to create a collaborative environment based on both sound academia and friendships and it has worked really well to counteract the attitude that science is for boys and is super competitive and scary (okay, some science is super competitive and scary, but we're finding out that method isn't very innovative and can't handle our current frontiers).
This has had enough impact on me, the visibility and community of women in science has become one of my 2 study focuses for my minor in history and philosophy of science, and has me considering it for grad school. :U
Hi, welcome to my soap-box. XD