Amaretto Sour

O_o;;

Yay! A word that means two opposite actions! >_>;;

*googles* I think they left off part of the definition for 1 for the word.

Same thing here

Although, it might have been neat to have a word for breathing in.

"The huge whale opened its cavernous mouth and suspired before plunging under the water for the next thirty years."

On the other hand...it sounds really goofy.

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Now I want someone to write a story with a whale in. <.< >.> Anyone? ;_;

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*dies at your icon* XD

Now I want someone to write a story with a whale in.

Moby Dick with a slashy fairy tale twist!

Dude, now I want someone to write a story about a whale. ;_;

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Yay, I'm spreading!

(And I stole this icon last night ^__^. It made me laugh sooooo much and I needed it.)

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Dude, Moby Dick was slashy enough. Honestly, I've never seen such a homoerotic book in my life, except maybe possibly for that one Samanthat hates - Billy Budd?

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rykaine.livejournal.com

Billy Bud! The beautiful sailor with the golden hair. Loved by all his fellow sailors. ~~Universal bitch~~ Friend to all while out at sea.

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Sednan woke slowly, painfully, amazed that he was even alive given the state the seas had been in earlier. His people had sent him out to discover why the whales had abandoned them and the waters surrounding their seaside village.

It had happened before, the whales and the fish and the seals disappearing leaving his people to starve to death. But that had been many generations ago, and they had been left struggling to attempt to eek out a living off of the meager plants that grew on the rocky shores and the small woodland creatures that lived farther inland.

Sednan had volunteered to search the seas for the missing whales. Not because he was confident that he could find them, but because no one else in his village would. The oceans had turned on them, they'd whispered. The gods had grown angry at them for their complacence and would take their revenge on any who dared venture across their waters.

And revenge the gods had gotten in the form of a huge Northeaster that had blown his boat far, far off course. To make matters worse, the chaotic waves had filled it with the cold winter waters of the oceans and Sednan had felt his limbs going numb long before he'd slipped, knocking himself out with a blow to the head on the edge of the boat.

For all intents and purposes, he really should be dead right now, which was why he was so reluctant to open his eyes.

"Ah, awake, I see."

Blinking, Sednan looked up to see a figure bent slightly over him. The man was huge. Broad shouldered and narrow hipped, and at least a good foot taller than Sednan ever had a prayer of growing to. He had long white hair that was tied back at the ends in small clumps with bits of leather and charms. His face was surprisingly young in spite of the color of his hair, and his gray eyes looked down at him with amusement. He wore a necklace of polished seal teeth tight around his thick neck and a belt of shells, the colors and shapes of which Sednan had never seen the like, wrapped loosely around his waist.

TBC because I wrote too much for one post...

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"Wha?"

"My name is Balaen," he offered a hand to Sednan, and cautiously, Sednan accepted it, standing somewhat shakily. His boat was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the ocean was nowhere to be seen given the thick mists surrounding them. There was rough rock beneath his bare feet and Sednan wondered briefly how he'd come to be here in this place when he'd been certain that the gale had blown him far out to sea.

"Sednan," he answered quietly, glancing around. "I was sent out to the oceans by my people to discover why the whales have deserted us."

"Delphin heard the pleas of people more desperate than yours," Balaen shrugged as if it were no big deal. But it was those words that let Sednan know he was in the presence of a god. No mere mortal would dare to presume to know that information. His eyes must have gotten big with the revelation, though, for Balaen's face turned down into a scowl. "None of that now. You've been chosen."

"For what?"

"As my companion. Surely you were their for the rituals your people put you through before sending you out to the seas for me." Balaen raised an eyebrow.

Sure there had been rituals. Ones his mother had done for good luck. Ones his father had done in hopes of a successful hunt. Ones the village elders had done to prepare him for the voyage he'd been undertaking.

Sednan was starting to get a bad feeling about this.

"They sent me out to the seas for you?"

"Of course," Balaen looked a little surprised by the question. "It's custom to send a sacrifice to tempt new whaling gods into the area once the old ones have left."

Sacrifices? Sednan liked the sound of that even less. "Okay," he said bravely, assuming what he hoped was a dignified stance as he crossed his arms behind his back and braced himself. He only hoped that he didn't look quite as bedraggled as he felt. Closing his eyes, he waited for the death blow to fall.

"You have a rather calming inner strength," Balaen chuckled in his ear as his hands fall lightly on Sednan's shoulders. Heat radiated off of Balaen, warming him in spite of the frigid northern winds and the wet sea breeze that Sednan could now smell. "However misplaced it might be."

Sednan stood still for a moment, which seemed to drag on for an eternity as he waited for Balaen to gather his godlike strength and spatter Sednan's blood across the oceans in order to bring new whales and new life to the waters for his people.

When nothing ever happened, he opened his eyes slowly, looking at the god standing before him with no little amount of confusion. "Aren't you going to kill me?"

Balaen looked at him with impossibly old gray eyes for a moment before they crinkled around the edges and he burst out in laughter. What Sednan had taken for a rocky ledge creaked at the noise and Sednan was overtaken by the sensation that the ground was moving beneath him. "It's generally considered bad form for a god to kill his consort. Throws of the balance of the world."

"But--" Sednan sputtered before Balaen stopped the sound with his mouth sliding over Sednan's.

Sednan melted into the embrace.

----

Whale Myths Scientific names of whales Whaling

La...

From:

Well, no huge whales opened their mouths and suspired but I suppose I can forgive you <3 You spoil me XDD I really like their names. And you have a talent for creating a whole believable and different and cool world in such short drabbles and stories.

In other words, EEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! That was so good!!!!!!!!!! You are so amazing!!!!!!!!!!! (etc.)

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*giggles* Yeah, I realized that after I posted it. XD But! The rocky ledge was supposed to be a whale-island and if you really stretched it and used your imagination you could maybe possibly see the whale-island suspiring before it sank back into the sea...maybe...okay so it's a really big stretch. ^_^...*sweatdrops*

I've decided that the best example of the first definition there for the word suspire would be

starparty's Choo Choo Bear icon of that cat that sucks in a breath and then becomes a red heart. *nods* It just doesn't make as good a slash daydream as a suspiring whale might...^_^;;

Yay! Apparently today is 'spam

maderr's lj' day for me.

*tackle glomps you* You're a bad influence. And I like it! ^______^

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Sky, I think you'd be more likely to write successfully about the Secret Lives of Ladybugs than I. Your whale story is too cute for words. You've got something of a major flair for stories like this ^_~

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This from someone who can take a couple lines from a nursery rhyme and make a whole complex world out of it? Multiple times over? You'd stomp me into the ground, and I'd be beside myself in happy squeeing the entire time. ^_____^ *hearts* I live in awe, envy, and mad love of your abilities. *tackle glomps*

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~Hickory Dickory Dock! The mouse ran up the clock!~ Heh. I should revamp that. I still don't know how the hell I managed that one. Can you tell I spend way too much of my childhood with nursery rhymes? To do this day, I like to sing them when I'm thinking or need to chill.

But dude. Snail ejaculation. Whales. You could totally give me lessons on making the random work in a story.

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YAY, I'm a bad influence!!!!

I like the whale imagery, although the icon is pretty good. It scared me until I saw the comic it's from XDD

And I'm sure

maderr doesn't mind story spam ^__^. It's not fair if she has to write all the stories all the time and doesn't get any back so having them delivered direct to her journal is probably nice <3 (I dunno, I just made that up)

And I'm spamming her journal too, so I'll stop now XD

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Spam away. Its keeping me from killing people right now.

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In that case I'll write you a story, too.

Once apon a time in a far away land there was a castle on the sea. In the castle lived a beautiful Queen and a powerful King and scores and scores of ladies in waiting, knights, musicians, and nobles, as well as servants of all specialties to wait on them all.

Brynn was neither servant nor noble, although the former was probably more accurate than the latter. He was the Court Archivist: the recordkeeper for all the land. Day after day he worked and slept in the vast archives below the castle. He knew where to find the birthdays and family histories of every man, woman, and child in the lands. He knew where to find maps of every part of the known world. He knew where to find histories of times long forgotten.

Because of this knowledge, he was very valuable. However, because he worked in the basement, he was often taken for granted.

One day, a storyteller came to town. His name was Barto and he was a very well-known and great storyteller. On the Queen's birthday, he preformed for the entire court telling a story of buried treasure on this very land that had never been found. This excited the sense of adventure in the hearts of the young knights and the greed in the eyes of the Queen.

Brynn did not attend the celebration, but he heard about the story late the next morning when his basement was invaded.

He looked up from a scroll, blinking at the band of young adventurers. "You're looking for what?"

"A treasure map," said a tall, blond youth. "Barto the Storyteller told us of a buried treasure in this very land."

"I know that story," Brynn said. "But alas, it is only a story. There is no real treasure buried anywhere in this kingdom."

"Barto said it was a true story," piped up a scruffy lad from somewhere in the back. The others nodded in agreement.

"Barto's story had music behind it and we believe him," said the first young man. "He would not be allowed to preform lies in front of the King and Queen."

Brynn refrained from rolling his eyes, although that is how he felt. "Oh, yes. Everything with music behind it is true." He sighed and removed his spectacles to look the band of youths in the eyes. "I am the Archivist. I live and work down here. I have every written manuscript ever produced and I know everything that is here. There is no treasure map and there never has been."

For a moment the knights looked at each other uneasily. Finally the scruffy youth in the back spoke up. "The Queen and King are offering money for this quest!"

"Yeah!" the others agreed, and the blond youth nodded. "Yes. That's true. And if you do not believe what the King and Queen believe to be true, you must be a traitor." He turned. "Come, my brothers. We must go and tell them of the Archivist's treachery."

"He probably wants the treasure for himself," one of the other knights whispered to the blonde as they headed out of the basement.

Brynn sighed inwardly, rolling up his scroll and putting it away. This could be very bad.

(To be continued.... I'm making this up as I type XD)

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Brynn was not at all surprised when several hours later, two armed guards broke the sanctity of his archive for the second time that day. He looked at them evenly and asked in his usual calm manner, "Can I help you?"

The guards looked at each other and Brynn felt his heart sink. He knew why they were there, and this knowledge was confirmed when one of them opened his mouth and said, "The King and Queen request an audience with the Court Archivist. We are to escort you to the audience chamber at once."

"Very well," Brynn said and stood up, walking past the guards to the door. As he passed by them, one of the guards hooked his elbow with one large hand. Brynn fixed a cool stare on the offending guard and said politely, "I believe I can find the audience chamber on my own."

"We are to escort you," the first guard said again, grabbing his other arm, and the two proceeded to pull him roughly up the stairs.

The Queen and King looked passively on as Brynn was tossed to the floor in front of the dais. "Court Archivist Brynn," said the King in his booming voice. "You have been accused of treachery against this Kingdom by holding the whereabouts of a hidden treasure legally owned by this Land."

"What do you have to say for yourself?" asked the Queen.

Brynn had landed in a stooped position and remained that way, as it resembled one of the many ceremonial bows allowed in an audience with the King and Queen. "Your magesties," he began. "As the Court Archivist, I am aware of all documents in this Land and there is no map. The minstrel was mistaken."

"Fetch Barto the Storyteller," the Queen decided. "We will ask him."

"Barto has vanished, my Queen," one of the Guards stepped forward to say with a bow. "He vanished from his chambers last night after the celebration and hasn't been seen since."

The Queen and King looked at each other. Finally the King raised one hand. "Leave us," he bellowed. "We will have our verdict shortly."

The audience had not been dismissed five minutes when Brynn was called back in for sentencing.

"Court Archivist Brynn," the Queen said. "You are hereby exiled from this castle until the treasure is found and returned. No man in the Land may employ you until such a time. It would behoove you to find this treasure as soon as possible."

Brynn's head snapped up. "This is an impossible task, my Queen! There is no treasure and I will surely starve before I find a treasure that doesn't exist!"

"You are dismissed, Court Archivist Brynn," said the King sternly in a voice that moved the waiting guards to rushing forward and dragging the Exiled Court Archivist Brynn out of the palace. He was tossed roughly on the grounds outside the castle walls and left there as the gates closed solidly behind him.

For the rest of the night and the entirety of the next day, Brynn walked in a haze of depression. As the sun set, he found himself on the edge of the Land, his face to the sea feeling the spray as the tide began to rush in. Suddenly a great whale rose from the sea. It opened his mouth and suspired, causing a wave to break over the sand where Brynn stood, carrying him out to sea and into the whale's mouth.

Brynn thrashed against the pull of the sea but to no avail, and when he thought his lungs were going to burst from lack of air, he was suddenly washed up on what appeared to be a great room inside of the whale.

It was relatively dark except for a few eerily glowing lights on the walls, which seemed to consist of whale bones. The room had no furniture but a fortune in gold and jewels was piled on the floor and a man rested in the pile.

(sorry for double posting I wanted the whole story on the same place XD)

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Brynn started when he recognized the man's description. "Storyteller Barto?" he gaped.

Barto opened one eye and smiled. "Hello. You must be Court Archivist Brynn, the Exile."

Brynn's hands closed into fists. "You- You did this on purpose!"

Barto waved one jewel-covered hand. "I did no such thing. You just don't know all of the right stories."

Brynn spluttered for a moment before closing his eyes and counting backward from ten slowly. Finally he said, "How is it you are alive in this whale?" Barto took a deep breath to answer and Brynn held out a hand in a precautionary measure. "No stories please.... just the truth."

"Ah, but the truth is a story. The best story is the truth," Barto said smoothly. "You see, this is the King of all Whales. He is neither flesh nor spirit. He lives forever and holds all of the stories of the sea- you see, whales have greater memories than man. He lets me stay here and we exchange stories- he from the sea and I from the land. Land stories interest him so."

"So the treasure is a story from the sea?" Brynn asked. "I was exiled for a story from the sea?"

Barto nodded. "Yes. But it may not be so bad. You think we have not heard of the great Court Archivist who no one appreciates? All day and all night you slave away in the basement, only to serve the whims of those above you, no matter how silly. You know all about the Land and yet no one listens. I have freed you from that."

Brynn sighed. "I did not mind. I enjoy the stories."

"And now you have the opportunity to learn more," Barto said. "I have been waiting long to meet you, Court Archivist Brynn." He bit his lip and glanced at the treasure around him. "And yet it would not be fair to keep you here for my own whims. If you truly want to return, you may take this treasure to the King and Queen. They will gladly give you back your old position."

Brynn looked at the treasure and indeed, the prospect of returning the treasure to the already wealthy monarchs and going back to his unappreciated position in the basement seemed unappealing. And suddenly he had the opportunity to be a story, travelling with the greatest storyteller in the land and consorting with the Kings of the sea. And he looked at Barto and he asked, "Do you truly want me to stay?"

Without hesitation Barto nodded and smiled the smile that had charmed many kingdoms all over the known world and beyond. "Yes. Would you?"

"I would," Brynn agreed and crossed over to where Barto still sat nestled in the mound of treasure. "Now we have many stories to exchange. Let's not waste any time."

A smile ghosted across Barto's lips. "No. Let's not."

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Gyah!!!!! *bounces*...you win. ;3 Totally and utterly hands down. *mad hearts*

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One more link! Where Delphin's came from

Sorry about the links. I think I do a little too much random associating when thinking. >_>

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I memoried this post to save your story XDD I actually have a "skylark97" category in my memories- this is something I just noticed XDD

(My story has suspire, nyeh XP)

From:

starparty.livejournal.com

Skylark? Can I have your babies? <3

*falls over giggling*

Seriously this is awesome <3 <3 <3 you!!

From:

hayama-sb.livejournal.com

From dictionary.com

sus·pire ( P ) Pronunciation Key (s-spr)
intr.v. sus·pired, sus·pir·ing, sus·pires
To breathe: “And from that one intake of fire/All creatures still warmly suspire” (Robert Frost).
To sigh.

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[Middle English suspiren, to sigh, from Old French, from Latin susprre : sub-, from below; see sub- + sprre, to breathe.]
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suspi·ration (ssp-rshn) n.

[Download Now or Buy the Book]
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

suspire

v 1: heave or utter a sigh; breathe deeply and heavily; "She sighed sadly" [syn: sigh] 2: draw air into, and expel out of, the lungs; "I can breathe better when the air is clean"; "The patient is respiring" [syn: breathe, take a breath, respire]

Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University

From:

raielchan.livejournal.com

Yes, they are different as I understand them.

However, they are listed as 1) and 2), two separate meanings. Therefore, the meanings do not have to coincide or even be similar. 1) could be a sigh and 2) could be a breed of aardvark.

If it is awkward, the solution is simple. Don't use it.

From:

2elliot4.livejournal.com

Yeah, I think that's weird too, and I'm a redhead. Mostly.
Anyway, hi. I've just read everything on your fiction site, and think that maybe you're my new favourite author. Honestly, I love your work. I'll for sure be checking in here, too, as I see you post fiction here sometimes.
Thanks, and I'll be reading.
Love, Elliot

From:

rykaine.livejournal.com

I wish I still had access to the OED. Damn Dickinson for spoiling me so!

Someone had better get me a huge fucking tome edition of the OED for Christmas, that's all I have to say... *grumblegripe*

From:

chris-king-2005.livejournal.com

*giggling happily*

Oh, I needed that.

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Thanks for letting us mess around in your lj today. *hearts and hugs*

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