#mythpunk — Public Fediverse posts

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 131, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

#Wss366 Register #ScribesAndMakers Share something you've been working on this month. #TimeTravelAuthors 09/9. laugh

Weena led me into the building through an arch decorated with elaborate carvings of dancing nymphs and satyrs. Like everything else, time had left them battered. The building’s inside was the same: a huge vaulted chamber hung with brown tapestries so faded that any patterns had long since vanished. The floor was constructed of slabs of a metal resembling aluminum. While free of tarnish, countless feet had worn deep channels along the fairy folk’s paths. Raised tables of polished granite ran the length of the room. At only half a meter tall, they were an ideal height for wee people to kneel and eat the fruit heaped upon them.

Silken pillows clustered in the center of the chamber between the tables. I remember from “The Time Machine” that this is where the fairies slept huddled together. I shivered as it #registered that this was also where the Morlocks selected their meals from the helpless fae.

A broad mezzanine ran beneath the stained-glass windows. I would later discover that dilapidated stairs ascended to it.

I pointed to the balcony and spoke to Weena in pidgin English. “Sleep, you, me.” I used sign language to help.

She #laughed, nodded, and said, “Hurburth, foony.”

#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 131, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

#Wss366 Register #ScribesAndMakers Share something you've been working on this month. #TimeTravelAuthors 09/9. laugh

Weena led me into the building through an arch decorated with elaborate carvings of dancing nymphs and satyrs. Like everything else, time had left them battered. The building’s inside was the same: a huge vaulted chamber hung with brown tapestries so faded that any patterns had long since vanished. The floor was constructed of slabs of a metal resembling aluminum. While free of tarnish, countless feet had worn deep channels along the fairy folk’s paths. Raised tables of polished granite ran the length of the room. At only half a meter tall, they were an ideal height for wee people to kneel and eat the fruit heaped upon them.

Silken pillows clustered in the center of the chamber between the tables. I remember from “The Time Machine” that this is where the fairies slept huddled together. I shivered as it #registered that this was also where the Morlocks selected their meals from the helpless fae.

A broad mezzanine ran beneath the stained-glass windows. I would later discover that dilapidated stairs ascended to it.

I pointed to the balcony and spoke to Weena in pidgin English. “Sleep, you, me.” I used sign language to help.

She #laughed, nodded, and said, “Hurburth, foony.”

#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 131, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

#Wss366 Register #ScribesAndMakers Share something you've been working on this month. #TimeTravelAuthors 09/9. laugh

Weena led me into the building through an arch decorated with elaborate carvings of dancing nymphs and satyrs. Like everything else, time had left them battered. The building’s inside was the same: a huge vaulted chamber hung with brown tapestries so faded that any patterns had long since vanished. The floor was constructed of slabs of a metal resembling aluminum. While free of tarnish, countless feet had worn deep channels along the fairy folk’s paths. Raised tables of polished granite ran the length of the room. At only half a meter tall, they were an ideal height for wee people to kneel and eat the fruit heaped upon them.

Silken pillows clustered in the center of the chamber between the tables. I remember from “The Time Machine” that this is where the fairies slept huddled together. I shivered as it #registered that this was also where the Morlocks selected their meals from the helpless fae.

A broad mezzanine ran beneath the stained-glass windows. I would later discover that dilapidated stairs ascended to it.

I pointed to the balcony and spoke to Weena in pidgin English. “Sleep, you, me.” I used sign language to help.

She #laughed, nodded, and said, “Hurburth, foony.”

#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 131, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

#Wss366 Register #ScribesAndMakers Share something you've been working on this month. #TimeTravelAuthors 09/9. laugh

Weena led me into the building through an arch decorated with elaborate carvings of dancing nymphs and satyrs. Like everything else, time had left them battered. The building’s inside was the same: a huge vaulted chamber hung with brown tapestries so faded that any patterns had long since vanished. The floor was constructed of slabs of a metal resembling aluminum. While free of tarnish, countless feet had worn deep channels along the fairy folk’s paths. Raised tables of polished granite ran the length of the room. At only half a meter tall, they were an ideal height for wee people to kneel and eat the fruit heaped upon them.

Silken pillows clustered in the center of the chamber between the tables. I remember from “The Time Machine” that this is where the fairies slept huddled together. I shivered as it #registered that this was also where the Morlocks selected their meals from the helpless fae.

A broad mezzanine ran beneath the stained-glass windows. I would later discover that dilapidated stairs ascended to it.

I pointed to the balcony and spoke to Weena in pidgin English. “Sleep, you, me.” I used sign language to help.

She #laughed, nodded, and said, “Hurburth, foony.”

#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 131, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

#Wss366 Register #ScribesAndMakers Share something you've been working on this month. #TimeTravelAuthors 09/9. laugh

Weena led me into the building through an arch decorated with elaborate carvings of dancing nymphs and satyrs. Like everything else, time had left them battered. The building’s inside was the same: a huge vaulted chamber hung with brown tapestries so faded that any patterns had long since vanished. The floor was constructed of slabs of a metal resembling aluminum. While free of tarnish, countless feet had worn deep channels along the fairy folk’s paths. Raised tables of polished granite ran the length of the room. At only half a meter tall, they were an ideal height for wee people to kneel and eat the fruit heaped upon them.

Silken pillows clustered in the center of the chamber between the tables. I remember from “The Time Machine” that this is where the fairies slept huddled together. I shivered as it #registered that this was also where the Morlocks selected their meals from the helpless fae.

A broad mezzanine ran beneath the stained-glass windows. I would later discover that dilapidated stairs ascended to it.

I pointed to the balcony and spoke to Weena in pidgin English. “Sleep, you, me.” I used sign language to help.

She #laughed, nodded, and said, “Hurburth, foony.”

#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 130, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

#Wss366 Tall #TimeTravelAuthors 09/5. Plant Grow

The fairy dance ended as suddenly as it had started. One flute cut off mid-verse, and the other trailed off right afterwards. No one seemed alarmed or surprised. Most stopped in their tracks, while a few continued prancing for a few moments more before joining the rest and slipped away.

Weena tugged on my arm and gestured at the building behind the trees. “Coome. Hoomee. Eeat.”

I nodded, and we started toward the woods.

The whole way, my new friend held my hand and babbled to me in a mixture of melodic syllables and fractured English. After asking a few questions, I realized I wouldn’t learn anything useful. She either didn’t know the answers, couldn’t communicate them, or I failed to make myself understood. As such, I retreated into my thoughts.

I considered what I’d learned. I knew a fair amount about this world, or at least H.G. Wells’s theories. Meeting the fairies, for that is what I still thought of them as, had been fortunate. If I had followed the path, I might have run into the Morlocks. But about myself, I remained ignorant except for what short flashbacks had shown me.

It was beyond frustrating that I remembered a “fictional” book more clearly than my own history.

The woods soon ended, and we emerged into a wide glen with an enormous ruined mansion in the center. Lichen grew thick on its walls, and time had shattered its #tall stained-glass windows. The remaining geometric panes had slumped like wax candles left in the sun. I doubted the fairies had built it. Instead, some forgotten civilization must have done so.

That thought offered a glimmer of hope. Remnants of that race could still exist. If I found them, I might learn more.

Returning to my survey, I noted #plants heavy with berries, small fruits, and pea-like pods growing throughout the glen. There was no sense of their being planted by the fairy folk. The herbage sprouted in random swatches or alone, just as the wind had scattered their seeds. Amidst this lush abundance, a wide variety of melon vines snaked along the ground. Here too was an untended bounty of yellow, green, and dappled gourds. At the forest's edge grew trees laden with red, purple, and topaz globes. It was no surprise that the protagonist of H.G. Wells’s story had mistaken this for a utopia at first.

#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 129, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

#Wss366 Cant #TimeTravelAuthors 09/1. Introduce your story (use the word "fall")

The fairy, Weena, turned and spoke to the others, who were now traversing the circle, dancing a graceful yet chaotic dance while singing in the flowing language of her people. One word was clear: “Hurburth.” Upon speaking, she pointed at me. Was that my name or the type of creature I was? I don’t suppose it mattered; there were no other humans they could confuse me with.

I pointed to her and asked, “Who are you?”

“Who?” she asked, cocking her head in puzzlement. Then, touched her chest and said, “Weena—Freenn.” As she said the second word, she took my hand and smiled.

“Friend?” I asked.

She nodded and repeated, “Weena, freennd.”

I looked at her hand, then at her, and then back at her hand. It felt awkward. She seemed to know me and to be attached to me, even intimately. I, however, had no recollection of her. There wasn’t even a hint of familiarity. She was a total stranger.

When I tried tugging my hand free, she pouted, so I stopped. Her childish looks and behavior made me afraid of offending her. I needed an ally, and she was offering.

Meanwhile, the dancers spun around the circle faster and faster: twirling, #canting first to one side and then the other, weaving in and out, but never colliding. The pipes grew shrill, and their voices filled the air like a flock of chickadees. Periodically someone would #fall to the ground panting. Once rested, they either rejoined the dance or came to stare at me. Some stroked my cheeks or hair, while others decked me with flowers or offered me berries and nuts.

“The Time Machine,” I thought. Yeah, I had finally figured out where I was: The sphinx, the garden-like setting amid rhododendrons, effete people, and Weena—it all fit together. So now I knew my name and location, but not my history or why I was there.

I sighed. This adventure seemed all too familiar, yet puzzlingly different from the vague impression I had of my past. I was in a book—weird!

#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 128, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

#Wss366 Violet #TimeTravelAuthors 08/31 Author's choice/promo

While I watched, a crowd of fairy-like creatures emerged from the woods. They were slender, feminine figures with shapely limbs. Each wore a colorful tunic belted at the waist.

A man and a woman led the group, though it was difficult to discern their gender, so similar appeared their features. Small apple-like breasts were the sole difference. The man was garbed in a dusty rose tunic, while the woman wore a #violet one. Crowns of matching flowers encircled their heads. They each played a bamboo flute, and the creatures following them danced to the music, laughing and singing.

I could have run, and perhaps I should have, but they seemed harmless, and if I fled, my chances of learning anything useful would be minimal. Worse came to worst, I could break through their ranks, so frail did they seem.

As they drew nearer, I saw they stood a little over a meter tall. I could make out their Dresden features: smooth faces; small, thin, bright-red lips; large, mild eyes; pointed chins; and delicate noses. Curly hair fell to their necks, hiding their ears, but I imagined elvish ones. Except for the absence of wings, they might have been fairies straight out of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” I would have been a proper ass not to appreciate their fragile beauty.

The majority swirled around me, while a few stopped to poke at me, speaking in strange, sweet, liquid tones. Except for one woman, it was all delightful, but totally incomprehensible. She spoke broken English with an odd lisp. The oddness didn’t stop there; one side of her face had been burned.

“Hurburth?” she asked, embracing me. “Weena miss you.”

#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 12: Post 127, 1,802,701 CE, Middlesex, UK

#Wss366 Take #TimeTravelAuthors 08/29. craft

I mulled over my options. Should I follow the flutes? But they gave me the willies. Or should I shout out? That seemed risky. Okay, how about I #take the path? No, if I followed the trail, I would miss my opportunity to investigate the trampled grass.

Fairy circle it was then.

The slope leading down through the meadow was gentle. The grass was lush and weed-free. It brushed pleasantly against my legs, making a soft swishing noise. Clover, buttercups, and daisies made the lawn merry. Soon, I found one of many paths leading toward the fairy ring. Occasionally, I saw a fruit rind, a wilted flower chain, or small shoe prints.

The circle’s bed measured about two meters wide and swung in a lazy curve that would have taken me about five minutes to walk around. The crushed grass gave off a fresh, green scent. It hadn’t been trampled for long.

As I examined the area, the flute music grew louder. Far from sinister, the tune was familiar, and I found myself humming along: “Greensleeves was all my joy, Greensleeves was my delight, Greensleeves was my heart of gold, and who but my lady Greensleeves.”

When I looked toward the sound, I saw a ruined building #crafted of gray, weathered stone rising above the trees and rhododendron thickets. The music seemed to originate from this edifice.

#TootFic #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Sapphic #Slowburn

Prince Charming Part 2
#FanFic WanderingWitch #SnowWhite
#Wss366 Hedge / #GreeneryDay Japan

Ahead, light streamed through a honeysuckle-draped arch. The air was sweet with their scent, buzzing with the song of bees.

“Hum,” I thought and then laughed at my pun. It looked as though there was a grassy clearing ahead. The sun would feel nice there. I could lie in the grass and eat the bread I’d bought at the last town. But wait, there was someone already there: a tall, handsome man standing next to a proud horse. The man’s elegant hunter’s outfit made it clear he was some kind of noble—“too bad.”

He looked up, smiling. “Have you come to see her too?”

“See who?” I asked and approached cautiously, peering through the grass to see what he was looking at.

There, in the middle of the clearing, was a crystal coffin. Inside was a woman wearing a brown peasant dress. Among the wilted remains of wildflowers that someone had placed on the lid was a bouquet of fresh roses.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” the man said. “I could stroke her hair all day.”

“Yes, it’s lovely,” I said. It was too: an amber-brown, lightened in streaks by the sun.

“And you are?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t want the Queen to hear I came here, so you can just call me Prince Charming. Many people do.”

“So you visit often, Prince Charming?” My sarcasm went unnoticed. I had met nobles like him before. Their charm chiefly resided in the threat of violence. That and the power to wave away such aggression as the victim’s fault.

I hadn’t failed to notice the short silver hunting sword at his side.

“Yes, she is so lovely. How can I resist? I’ve named her Snow White. Doesn’t she deserve it?”

“She is quite lovely, Your Highness. But I hear that if you kiss a sleep enchanted woman, she will wake. Have you tried that?”

“I’ve heard the same, but youth’s beauty fades with time. The lovely bride of today is a wrinkled hag tomorrow. I will let her sleep so she never fades. A gem forever brilliant for me to view.”

The poppies and bluebells nodded in agreement; whether to my ironic thoughts or his statement, I didn’t know.

The honeysuckle odor had suddenly cloyed, and clouds cast shadows on the grass.

I smiled and departed. I could eat my lunch elsewhere.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #FairyTale #Mythpunk #NMFic

Prince Charming Part 1

#FanFic WanderingWitch #SnowWhite
#Wss366 Hedge / #GreeneryDay Japan

The day had started well. A gentle wind scented with verdant greenery stirred my hair. Bright violets bloomed along my path, mingling with yellow buttercups and brilliant orange poppies. Thrushes and titmice flitted in the #hedges. It was truly the kind of day where wandering the byways was a goddess-given blessing.

So wondrous was the day that I didn’t even mind the occasional burr that attached itself to my mage’s robes or the dense foliage that forced me to walk. The moss-covered path was easy on my feet. The occasional brook sang to me. Butterflies as bright as the star brooch of my profession delighted my eyes.

Who was this young woman so enamored with life?

It was me, Elaine the Wandering Witch.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #FairyTale #Mythpunk #NMFic

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 8: Post 82: 2025 Arkham

#Wss366 Irish & #StPatricksDay #TimeTravelAuthors 03/17. Patient or patience in your story

Rather than leave the way we had come, I decided to time-trip out. The less information we gave our foes, the better. Apparently, they knew we could time-travel, but we could hold dematerialization as a trump card.

I took Emily’s hand and thought about our next destination. “Take us to my university office on the day the pink rat arrives from the future.”

The familiar sensations of time-tripping took over, and we appeared in a small academic office. Green streamers hung from the window, and a mega plushy papillon wearing an emerald top hat sat in the guest chair. A small plastic Buddha rested on the desk next to a picture of a young woman and me. Behind them stood the brick wall of an #Irish pub. The picture triggered a sense of profound sadness, but no memories.

Emily burst out laughing when she saw the clothes I’d manifested. “Nice duds. Is that what the daring avant-garde wear in your time? Absurd, but it’s charming in its own way.”

I pulled the floppy hat down and the N95 mask up higher, hoping they might hide how red my cheeks were. They probably matched the large cherry-red sunglasses I was sporting. I’d considered wearing a hijab but was unsure about the cultural implications of a nonbeliever wearing one. “I told you I don’t want people to see two Professor Henrietta Dubois’s.”

“Professor Tweedledee and Dum,” Emily joked.

I tipped up my glasses and rolled my eyes. She laughed.

“And this must be a young Tweedle-dumb,” she said, looking at the picture. “You look happy.

She stopped, tapped a signature, and said, “Who's Sarah Lockwell?” The amusement on her face had faded.

“I don’t remember.” My response wasn’t an evasion. I truly didn’t remember.

“Shame,” she said, but it didn’t sound as if she meant it.

Next, she walked around the desk, materialized her hand, and opened the bottom drawer. “Brandy. You were a bit of a lush, weren’t you, Professor Dumb?”

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I’m a spy, sleuthing.”

“Well, be careful. You’ll get caught snooping.”

“You’re the only one who can see me.”

“Right, I forgot.”

After that, I sat #patiently on the edge of the guest chair while Emily continued to investigate. “Faustus Pakt, Liber Juratus, Pompilius’ Spiegel,” she read as she browsed the books on a shelf. “You had quite an interest in Faust and medieval grimoires.”

Having no memory of my prior reading, I didn’t comment.

Emily had moved back to the desk when the door opened, interrupting her investigation. In the corridor stood an outraged Professor Dubois, carrying a pink rat in a cage.

Medieval Grimoires:

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #Series #SaintPatricksDay