Signal Boosting: Horizon's "Thou Goddess" · 9:21pm Mar 3rd, 2014
So, while I was working on "Philomeanie," a fellow author and compatriot of mine, the talented and knowledgeable horizon, was similarly working on a Luna story for the exact same story contest, a piece entitled "Thou Goddess." For entirely different reasons, we both were cramming our writing into the last week of the contest, and it ended up being a weird but ultimately unforgettable week of back-and-forth readings and revisions for the both of us. I think that as a result of this communal writing experience, our respective stories sort of developed in tandem with one another (although he did my story more benefit than I fear I did his). They're not the same, mind you; not by a longshot; while "Philomeanie" is a slapstick story that eventually lurches to an awkwardly uplifting ending, "Thou Goddess" is magical and transcendent all the way through. It's got damn fine poetry, bad puns, a guest appearance by everyone's favorite bureaucrat Dotted Line, and a transformative moment that was quite nearly breathtaking.
Anyway, a story like this really needs some more loving. Check 'er out!
My announcements list is cacophonous with the trumpets announcing the arrival of Thou Goddess, and every fanfare is well deserved.
Hah, I thought it was Dotted!
At this point, I'm beginning to wonder if Dotted Line should have his own group. Possibly "The Group That Never Has Enough Tea."
Is it strange to say that while I think his story better, I enjoyed yours more?
Well, regardless, learning about the contest already paid off just from getting the chance to read those two jewels
1893149
1893168
Fun fact. There's exactly the same number of stories with Civil Service characters in them by other authors as there are by me.
That's insane.
Also awesome.
1893257
Nope, not strange. I think one's objective measure of any art's quality can vary freely when compared to one's personal enjoyment. Put another way, I can tell the difference in quality between gourmet food and pickled herring snacks on crackers, but sometimes, man, you just really enjoy the herring snacks. More than you would the other stuff, even though you know it's better.
I think - and I hesitate to say this, for fear of encouraging Lord knows what awfulness, and I can scarcely even believe I'm about to say it - but I think that "Though Goddess" might actually contain good puns.
/shudder
1893331
I sometimes wonder if goodness and badness are one and the same where puns are involved.
1893428 my working theory is that all puns are bad, but some puns are bad-bad, some puns are good-bad, and some puns are good and also bad. If that makes any sense.
1893428
Spot on. Some jokes belong to sadists, you see. The more pain it causes, the better the pun. A really clever pun is the rapier of a quick verbal sadist.
Thanks for the word of mouth! I remain blown away by the deep response people are having to this story. Contest or no, I feel like a winner.
1893257
Not strange at all! "Good" and "enjoyable" measure two different things, and our stories are striking very different emotional chords. 1893270 beat me to the analogy, even though he's selling himself short with the whole lutefisk thing.
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I am amused by the hugely outsized response to my punning, which after all is concentrated into a single paragraph that is less than 1% of the story by weight. It's like the puns in my romance are leaving the story to colonize people's brains!
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(In other words, contents may settle during 'shipping.
)
1893261
He's a useful guy. Both in-universe and as a literary tool.
1893960
Aauuuuaaaaauugh