I hope you all are well after the holidays, or at least hanging in there.

I've continued to write on what I started in November for NaNoWriMo. In part of the story, canon character Claire Littleton keeps a handwritten journal (actually, two journals at present), which I'm writing by hand instead of typing out. That's an interesting experience, especially as for me, writing by hand slows down the composing process, which allows me to "think ahead" for what I'm going to say, while writing down the present idea. Claire has been emotionally damaged by her three years on the Island, and has found refuge in a loving and therapeutic community called St. Rose of Lima Retreat Center. Her journal is about her time there.

LOST continues to be a large and overwhelming source material in which to write. For one, it's a complex story. For another, a lot of character nuance and development gets expressed through the acting, mise en scène, props, and so on.

For me, there's also the "game" aspect. I like to find "holes" in the editing, where characters disappear from view, or are left out of an episode entirely - and I like to make up what happens to them when they're off-screen. Keeping these threads all straight is a lot of work.

Something strange happened during the November writing, too. I wasn't intending to start out writing a 'ship into the story (most of my ideas were very general), but the 'ship just kind of ... appeared. Anyway, now there's a Hurley/Claire 'ship sailing through it. Which while not a popular pairing does IMO seem to be supported, if thinly, by the canon. This is another example of the "game" aspect. It would be easy to just slap an AU on it and not worry about what the canon *does* say. That, however, wouldn't be as "sporting."

Anyway, that's what I've been doing with my spare time.

Also, thanks everybody who offered congrats on me finishing NaNo. I'm still pretty happy about finishing; it meant a lot to me.

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I can't believe it. The story isn't done (lots of editing, a few more scenes to add), but when I hit that word count, it was pretty sweet.

A few days ago, I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I'd lost about 5,000 words of work by doing something really, really stupid - pulled the USB drive out of the slot without unstaging it first. Then I accidentally copied from the USB to my hard drive - thus rewriting over my current version with an older, earlier, 5K words less version.

Gentle reader, there were tears.

After a lot of comforting and hankies, I got back into the saddle and recreated as much as I could. It wasn't that difficult, as it was pretty fresh in my mind, and some of it was definitely an improvement.

Not sure what I'm going to do with it at this point. As I said, it needs a lot of clean-up, not the least of which is going through a whole lot of LOST canon to make sure it (mostly) fits.

To channel Hurley, "Man, this feels awesome."

So, back to the Others @ the Temple. In late 2004, they've retreated to the Temple, where they are safe from Widmore's thugs. Those at the Barracks are killed.

They live either at the Temple, or at the old Pala camp, or perhaps in the forest, until the return of the Ajira 316 people.

Note that in this time Richard is with them - *but Ben is not.* Ben is living in our world, playing games with Widmore, getting Sayid to kill people for him, etc.

It's when they return to their roots that their healing begins: their recovery from the twin cults of Jacob and Ben. They may seem "cultlike" under Dogen, but it's under Dogen's leadership that they can combat their principal adversaries: Samael and his amanuensis, Claire, who is picking them off whenever she gets a chance.

( More LOST meta about the Others )

In LOST, the real and living source of life on the Island is called "The Heart," or "The Heart of the Island." It is a pool in a cave, a sacred well which is normally invisible to mundane eyes. It can be found only by the Island's protector, the person who has been given charge to protect and keep the Island, especially its Heart. Others can find it and go there, but only when the Protector leads them. Otherwise, it's like Avalon, unreachable.

If you go into the cave of the pool, the water leads you to a long drop, over a waterfall. At the base of the waterfall is another pool. Unlike the naturally-appearing cave, this pool is a man-made structure, in the center of which a large stone cylinder covered with cuneiform inscriptions is inserted into a round hole. With water flowing over and around it, the great cuneiform-scribed column is like the lingam, perpetually inserted into the yoni of the pool.

Elsewhere on the Island is the Temple, a large structure in the middle of the jungle, covered with sacred banyan trees and surrounded by a high wall. In what might be thought of as "the outer court," there's a pool. Inside the Temple, in the "inner court," if you will, there is a spring bubbling up in a stone man-made pool. As I see it, the Temple itself is an analogue for the Heart, especially in its dual bodies of water.

( A bit more, probably not interesting if you're unfamiliar with the LOST mythos. )

The boar god Kamapua'a, and the fire goddess Pele


From Islands of the Gods in Hawaiian sacred traditions: (bold sections relate to LOST)


"According to ancient tradition, more than two dozen cloud islands inhabited by gods and others of the spirit realm floated high above the world of mortals. ... they could only be seen by chosen individuals ...

"Called ao akua, they were profoundly sacred, for they were the private domains of all-powerful, supernatural beings who controlled the ancient universe. ...

"Cloud islands were said to occasionally approach a coastline ... where the akua, gods, of these spirit lands would make contact with mortals - appearing to a faithful worshiper in a dream, providing help in times of distress, or ushering a worthy descendant to the ao akua to enjoy a bountiful, carefree and timeless existence in the company of gods.

(snip)

"There was a spring named KawaiolaaKane, whose magical powers restored health and youth, as well as life, to those who properly honored Kane.

(snip)

"[These islands] were protected from trespassers - the unescorted and the uninvited - by an austere guardian who took the form of a helpless old woman. Her appearance was deceptive, for she was merciless and quick in dealing death blows to intruders who tried to swim to the island or beach their canoes there.

(snip)

"Cloud islands could float ... [and become] permanently fastened to land. Thus Maui granted humans the gift of an extraordinary oasis that was once created by, and solely for, the gods..."

Recently we went to a family wedding in Kenosha, WI, and at their local museum saw this exhibit of fantasy and science fiction art. Here are a few samples:




"Rogue Leader," by Dave Seely (who has done a fair amount of Star Wars book cover illustrations.)



( Three more, all SFW, all big )

Too involved in story to write meta now. It's all there behind the old eyelids; it's just that circumstances won't allow me enough time at the keyboard to get it all out.

I really love Hurley as a character, and as an animus figure. So much gentleness, kindness, sensuality for all the four elements. Inside this story is a good place for me to be right now.

The garden is done for the year, except for some peas. A frost a couple of nights ago killed the pepper and eggplant plants, as well as doing in the tomatoes, so I've been busy harvesting and cleaning the garden up for its winter sleep.

There is also a little broccoli out there, that didn't get eaten by bugs.