Stabat Mater - Latin Story

It's been a while since I dusted off my Live Journal, the first blog I ever had. And the first thing I find myself gravitating to is the Latin story I had begun there, so which eventually was title Stabat Mater, or 'Standing Mother', as the translation would be from the Latin.

I haven't read too much of it for a while. Really don't have to. Many aspects of it stick with me, and I know what it's about. Just don't know what to do with it yet. It's the first story that I put much effort into creating, in the more traditional aspects, rather than trying to piece one together that's been acted out in RP. Admittedly, though, some inspiration does come from experiences in SL, though most of the beginning started before I really got into SL.

At the beginning, I started writing in Latin, and then translating. That initial burst of creativity in that manner is something I miss, and would like to return to that. But, to do so really slows things down, because it's not just a matter of writing and revising, it's writing in a different language, and then rewriting the translation, and revising that translation, to which adds more steps to the writing process. Yet, it is rewarding too, because it lets me explore the world of Latin writers, and try to learn about an ancient culture. But, at the same time, it deals with religion, having formed initially from a Catholic origin.

This all makes it tricky, because I know fellow Latinophiles do not like the intrusion of Catholicism, because of the bias that they believe the Church bastardized the language and took over the culture. And then, on the other hand, Catholics may complain of things that aren't necessarily orthodox to what the Church teaches. It essentially puts it in that area that Dan Brown and other authors that write with religion and history mixing, which means, you'll have plenty of people that love it or hate it right off the bat without ever reading a single word, and really don't care about the story as much as the controversies they put up. But, that's unavoidable. Many people prefer to argue over reading, since actually reading something takes time and effort. Forming an opinion doesn't, especially if one doesn't care to make an informed opinion.

At any rate, here is what has been written so far, or at least a link to a few posts that link to the posts relevant to the story in my Live Journal blog. This is a much easier option than trying to copy-paste them over to this blog.

The Order of the Latin Story (the core of the story's beginning)

http://jcrawf.livejournal.com/54237.html

Stabat Mater (going from the core, into the greater body of the text)

http://jcrawf.livejournal.com/55020.html

Ending? (a potential ending to the story, lots of gaps to be filled)

http://jcrawf.livejournal.com/62651.html

So, that's the first opus I had started. Still a work in progress... well, halted for now, but may progress again eventually.

Αργυρόι Άνθρωποι

Transliterated, it's 'Arguroi Anthropoi', and translated from Greek, it's 'Silver People.' It's the name of a poem I have just written, and is inspired by a Romanian song known as 'Blood and Gold' that is here performed by Andy Irvine:

Beyond this, I won't talk on the poem, but present it here in this posting, to which can be discussed in comments after reading. So, without further adieu, here is the poem:

Αργυρόι Άνθρωποι (Silver People)

Come one come all to the fields of gold

Where ichor, the blood of the gods is sold.

For a price, said the medicine woman, you can taste of the vial,

And, if the gods accept you into their fold,

You may never die and never grow old.

To be immortal like the gods by drinking their bile.

Talk in the village square,

Of eternal life is in the air.

Mothers, sisters, and wives tell the tale,

Of hopes to revive fallen sons, brothers, and husbands,

Which gods of war have taken, leaving bodies rest upon the lands.

But the bile of the medicine woman, could it not fail?

For upon these fields of gold were battles fought, lost and won.

And the wars and rumors of wars were proclaimed by an only son.

To purchase this new miracle, could they be forsaken?

By the hands of man, slavery by gold, did they give over the field,

T'was Paris' folly among the goddesses for the apple, that he did yield.

To Aphrodite, for eternal love, to Hellen, to which a bond was broken.

And so did the gods give to blood so blue,

The prize and consequence of service due.

And the fields of gold, once prosperous and pure

For the price of silver remedies, and the poison of ichor

The copper blood of paupers, the hubris of man did pour

In so many wars for the lands to endure.

And even still, man has found no cure.

RP in Tempura: The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Well, maybe the good and the bad portions, but the bad was pretty ugly. >.<

You see, last night, I went to RP with a couple friends that are in Tempura, We hadn't officially met ICly there, and so we OOC agreed to work out an introductory RP for our characters. Another friend of mine that is dear to me, and to which we had already had an intro RP, but were looking to further to their story together, came in later.

So, the first part went perfectly well, and I show it here as a wonderful example of good RP here:

[2010/07/31 20:09]

Luke Heartsdale hops down from a rooftop to get a better look at what he had scented. And sure enough, it was a lycan.

Fenris (Shalaris) watches as a neko drops from the rooftop, raising a brow at him. He takes a wiff of his scent as well.

Luke continues to watch from across the street. The brow raised and he was certain the wolf was scenting him down. He walks slow out onto the street, keeping close to his side, not wanting to encroach on territory. "Hello." He says with a smile, trying to look casual.

Fenris keeps his red eyes on the Neko as he comes a bit closer, nodding his head respectfully when spoken to "Greetings...why don;t you come closer? So I don't have to shout" he beckons.

Luke sees what he thinks if a glowing red glare from the wolf, which makes him cautious. "Greetings." He looks both sides of the street and keeps distance for now, "Oh, I mean non disrespect er nothin' but I'm feelin' good right here."

Dakota Bookmite walks up and spots Luke. She isn't sure whether she should wave or not, given what happened last time she was with him. She sees someone else and gives a slight wave.

Fenris blinks and tilts his head at him curiously "...Really, it's fine. this is the Tribe base, home of Nekos...new people come in and out of here, you're nothing special..." his eyes turn to the woman and nods his head to her, then back to the male neko "..please, come in..it's really not safe out here right now...there's a nast creature around and she could pop up at any moment"

Dakota Bookmite turns around nervously wondering who the other male was talking about. She turns to the stranger and asks, "Will it be alright if I come in too? I mean, I don't want to be left out here either. I have seen some of the folks around here..."

Fenris (Shalaris) nods to her "You as well..."

Luke Heartsdale listens to the wolf, but still looks cautious. "A base for cats, guarded by a wolf?" He ponders that for a moment, then snorts at the 'nothing special' comment, but decides best not to comment. "Some creature about?" He looks curious at the wolf and murrs, "How do I know yer tellin th' truth an' not tryin' ta lure me into yer den o'wolves to make a meal outta me?" He looks back, seeing Dakota from the other night. He shrugs to her comment to the wolf, but a part of him had a strange feeling and he tells her, "If ya wanna take yer chances trusting a wolf missy, go right ahead..."

Dakota smiles at the wolf but the smile quickly fades when she hears Luke's remark. She backs away a bit.

Fenris raises a brow and sighs "I am no guard for them..I am a member of their tribe....my mate is a neko as well...you probably may have scented that on me..." he shrugs "But, it is your choice" he says with dissmay. I am going inside to be with my love..just ring that doorbell if you change your mind..." with that, he opens the door and walks inside.

Dakota watches the wolf go inside the building and quickly looks over at Luke. She wasn't sure if was safe to stay out here with him or to go into that building.

Luke murrs as he does smell the scent of neko. Whether he was telling the truth, or if it was just a scent from the wolf's last meal, he couldn't know. He looks between the wolf looking to step inside, then to Dakota on the street a few paces away. "Alright, see ya, sir..." he says to the wolf, pausing, as if to see if he obliges a name.

Fenris: "....Blackheart...." he finishes his sentence and closes the door behind him.

Dakota wonders if she is doing the right thing. She couldn't tell whether the wolf had the neko's scent or not. After all, she had never been around other nekos...she lived a rather sheltered life. She looks to Luke," Now what?"

Fenris opens his eyes widely as he sees his mate train. His eyes locked onto every curve and every muscle that peaked through as she moved. When she finished and turned to him, his jaw nearly dropped to the floor, feeling like the luckiest wolf in the world "H-H-Hey lover..." he stammers as he tries to regain himself.

Luke turns towards Dakota and shrugs. "How should I know? I ain't been her' fer more than a few days?" He could feel his steps being taken towards her.

Dakota eyes him cautiously and holds out her hand to show her claws. "Well...what about that creature the wolf was talking about?"

Alereana Snowfall mews happily and jumpst into his arms. Keeping from hitting him with the silver heels she wore. "Missed you mate.... I scent others outside.... make new friends?"

Luke shrugs again. He saw her claws unsheath, yet he at least looked to be unconcerned about it. He smiles coy, "What, you gonna believe a wolf about a monster eh?"

Fenris smiles and wraps his arms around her waist, giving her lips a loving kiss "Nekos outside...one of them is a hardass about wolves...but, I guess I can understand.." he nuzzles her neck affectionately "Training?"

Dakota stares at him as her light brown eyes begin to glow. He had a point. "Well, maybe....but I have been here a few days, and half of the people I have seen here seem like monsters."

Alereana nods and smiles. "Of course.... well I will see if I can convince them then." Kisses the side of his snout before going to step just outside of the door.

Fenris nods and opens the door for her.

Luke just casually walks closer to Dakota. "Well, I suppose..."

Dakota takes a step aside from him, just in case he had any tricks up his sleeve. She hears the door of the building open and looks over.

Alereana mews and waves over towards the other two. "Hey... don't mind the big guy....!" Chuckles and tilts her head to the side, waving a moment and seeming rather honest to goodness kindhearted.

Dakota begins to smile when she hears the female neko. She comes a little closer. "Good to meet you."

Fenris sighs and leans against the door, yelping as it shocks him and rubs his back with a grumble

Luke looks at the one that came from the door. His curiosity is peaked when he sees indeed a neko. "Are you, the..., ah, mate, of the wolf there, who calls himself Blackheart?"

Alereana nods and smiles. "He is nice... I love him to death honestly. Even if the species are different..."

Dakota Bookmite doesn't say anything. She figures that the female is nice so maybe the wolf was just as nice too.

Fenris smiles and looks down bashfully at Ale's words.

Luke hrmms at that. Looking at the two, then to Dakota. Though generally distrusting, seeing her there made it hard to disbelieve. "So, the creature is true as well then?"

Alereana nods again and motions towards the base. "Yes.... and there is an evil being about that makes me feel safer inside then vunerable outside..."

Dakota looks over at Luke. "See? I knew it! I don't want to be out here with some psycho running lose."

Alereana nods. "Please... come inside both of you...I'd feel better."

Luke nods. He looks at the wolf again, then to the cat, then to Dakota. "Alright..., then I only have one last question of you, kitten. What's your name?"

Alereana chuckles. "Alereana... but everyone calls me Ale..."

Dakota grins at Ale and says, "My name is Dakota."

Luke smiles a bit then nods, "It's Lukas ma'am, so, I'd imagine I know well enough now to step foot in your Den, now, ifn ya still would oblige an ol' cowboy cat to come in."

Alereana smirks and nods. "By all means... come within the base... I think I can find an extra can of tuna..."

***

And so, that was the basics of the RP that led to the general getting to know each other ICly portion. I let Shal know in IMs that Luke in this character is not very trustworthy of lycans. But that hardly needed to be noted, just from the flow of the RP itself. It was more of a courtesy heads up to let him know. There was more RP inside, but, regardless of what went on in the HQ, there was nothing said by them of Luke or Dakota having to leave, so we took it as meaning that we were guests and under the hospitality of the Tribe.

However, someone else thought otherwise. And so here becomes the example of bad RP:

[2010/07/31 22:42]

Dakota Bookmite leans over and continues to grin. With her eyes sparkling. She says, "I think it is because my foot is so close to yours....I think it is got you hot under the collar."

Luke Heartsdale blinks, "What? Nuh uh! That's silly." Even so, he doesn't move his foot, as if to prove her wrong. He smirks, "An' besides, I haven't worn a co...." He murrs and clears his throat, "I mean, as you can see I ain't got no collar aroun' my neck."

Dakota stares at him. She wasn't sure what he was trying to say at first. She shrugs it off and giggles. "It is just an expression."

Luke snorts again, "Uh huh, ok..." Even if he wanted to take offense, or hold anything about it, her giggling made it hard to feel that way. He almost cracks a smile. Instead, he yawns and looks about. "Supposin' ought ta find a place ta rest fer th' night, hmm?"

Dakota quickly looks at him and nods."I have been sleeping in the alleyways.....but I can't really sleep. I am afraid someone might try to rob me or something."

Luke looks at her curious, but then shrugs, "Well, looks like there's much more cozy places here. An they said it wasn't safe to go outside anyways..."

Dakota nods and looks around. She remembers having her own room with a big canopy bed. She sighs and stretches.

Luke stands up and looks around. "There might be beds upstairs, but reckon they's fer others that live here, so.. maybe a couch?"

"Sure", she says as she stands up to follow him.

Luke Heartsdale: (think will get out the wallet lol))

Dakota wrinkles her nose a bit as she looks at the couches. (((the

wallet?? lol))

Luke Heartsdale: ((the thingie that allows me to use poses, like we did at the camp in EW ;) ))

Dakota Bookmite: (((ohhh lolol))

Dakota Bookmite: ((lol i thought that was a sitting pose right here lol))

Luke Heartsdale: ((woot, shake it, shake it xD))

Dakota Bookmite: (((lolol!!))

Sex Wallet 2.0 - Ultimate: embrace

Luke Heartsdale: ((right beside me ;) ))

Dakota Bookmite: (((hahahha this Dakota the neko is too wary to snuggle with you. She doesn't know you that well lol))

Luke Heartsdale: (( awws, alright))

Dakota Bookmite: ((giggles))

Poses from the wallet put away. Some time around this point, Nadir appears, likely just logging on.

Punk Sofa TYPE - M - Bottom-right: Use PageUp or Down key to change pose.

Luke looks around at the couches and hrms, "Well, guess this is second hand stuff..."

Nadir Anatine snorts at the BULLSHIT she overhears when she arrives. "Well there doesn't happen to be an IKEA around here. If you don't like it, get the fuck off of it."

Dakota finds a seating area that isn't too dirty and lays down. She pouts a bit, wishing she was back home. "I guess so..." She quickly looks up to see someone.

Nadir looks back and forth between them coldly. "Oh, i see. A couple of homeless fucking bums trespassing in the clubhouse for the sole purpose of critiquing the furniture, Get the fuck out." she points at the door.

Luke then flops to rest of the cushion of the couch next to Dakota. He blinks, seeing the girl that just appeared, "Hello?"

Dakota hisses at the woman and says, "We were INVITED here...and I don't take orders from YOU!" She gives the woman a snobby look.

Luke blinks, "We was told to come here for safety by the wolf Blackheart and his mate."

Nadir is unimpressed. she reaches for the bottom of the sofa... and flips it the fuck over, like it's paper.

Nadir Anatine: "blackheart takes orders from ME. Fuck off."

Dakota mews and quickly moves away from the odd woman.

Luke hops up and looks at her scowling. "Fuking Matrons in ALL cities." He snorts, "I shoulda known not to trust them to say this was a safe haven for nekos!"

Nadir rolls her eyes. "Not when they're ungreatful, judgemental little bastards like you who are trespassing when nobody else is home."

Dakota Bookmite: "We were NOT trespassing. Are you deaf or dumb? We were invited."

Nadir Anatine ignores the NONCOMBATIVE smartass. "Last chance before i drag you out by the balls."

Luke snorts, "There were people home, and they said we was -Welcome-. Now I know that's not the case, and you are no better than the assholes in all places I've been!"

Dakota looks over at Luke and says, "Let's go. We don't have time to worry about this fool."

[2010/07/31 23:13] Nadir Anatine: (( you either need to turn your meter on or cease the namecalling. Per the ruleset of the chain. ))

[2010/07/31 23:13] Dakota Bookmite: ((that is not starting a fight. My character is going tit for tat with yours.))

Additional Note: This Nadira person seems to have a poor understanding about rules of engagement, or just doesn't care. For one, she came in off the bat cursing and insulting Luke and Dakota, and then, in her words, 'reaches for the bottom of the sofa... and flips it the fuck over, like it's paper.' In this case, she fully instigated and antagonized our characters and only now brings up the rules in a very poor class behavior. Dakota was also right in noting that it was not her starting a fight, but reacting as her character would to such an extreme and violent chain of events. I don't care what the specific rules are in the sim, but by more general aspects in ettiqutte of RP, This was just a horribly thought out RP by Nadir, to which her emotes give wonder about if she really understands what emotes are for, or if she's trying to antagonize through the emotes as well, which is also poor taste.

Luke nods, "Don't need any more crazy factions with assholes. We're gone!"

Luke Heartsdale: (will have to tp out, unless you open the doors for us))

Dakota Bookmite: ((lolol))

Nadir snorts. "Don't let our unfortunately secondhand door smack you on the ass on the way out."

Dakota quickly follows Luke.

Luke snorts back, "Don't worry, we won't. Cause we don't need none of your bullshit!"

Nadir muses. "Which is better than the no doors you have."

Dakota was a little shaken but tries not to show it. "What nerve!"

Luke looks to Dakota, and smirks, "Personally, I'd rather have no doors to worry about. Waay too confining in there."

Dakota nods and smiles at him. Although she was still worried about the creature Blackheart and Ale told them about.

***

And so, yep, in one night, we were both welcomed and kicked out of a faction. In the aftermath, though, Nadira did us a favor. After she so rudely interrupted our RP with her brain dead emotes, and mindless tyrannical tirades, and we left her precious little Den, Dakota and I went off to this jungle sim that we found a while back, and had a perfectly wonderful rest of the evening together in a place we didn't have to worry about harassment of some woman (in avatar character anyways, though in reality, could be questionable, being an RP sim and all) that's on a power trip.

And here's an excerpt from our more relaxed setting of the little bit that we reflected on what we just went through with that Nadira person:

[2010/07/31 23:22]

Luke Heartsdale smiles and purrs

Luke Heartsdale: wonders where to go now lol

Dakota Bookmite: LOL I know...

Luke Heartsdale: well, think some place more open with no doors would be nice now lol

Dakota Bookmite: LOLOL!! you are too funny

Luke Heartsdale: have to be after a rather tacky metagamed RP we just went through, by a faction leader no less <.<

Dakota Bookmite: I know. I just let it roll off of my shoulders. There is always one bitch or two in every rp sim.

Luke Heartsdale: yeah

Luke Heartsdale: hmm, think I know, that one palace thingie would be nice. now to remember where it's at...

After finally finding the place we were looking for:

Dakota Bookmite cuddles close to you.

Luke Heartsdale slumps back upon the much more comfortable pillows in the open spaced setting, then kicks off his boots. He purrs as you cuddle close and nuzzles your forehead.

Dakota Bookmite's body relaxes from the nuzzle. She hears the soft thump of your boots and realizes that you have taken them off. She slips her shoes off too.

Luke Heartsdale smiles then kisses your forehead, arm coming around to massage your back gently.

Dakota Bookmite begins to purr when she feels the soft kiss on her forehead and the gentle massage.

Luke Heartsdale: almost thought of joining that group even. But wow, think after that experience, kinda hard for me to see an IC reason to now lol

Dakota Bookmite: Yeah me too. I have dealt with irritating leaders before, that won't be for me if I decide to continue to rp there. Their loss lol.