Post by zandyne on Sept 23, 2008 3:18:46 GMT -5
Creed of Good Writing
I declare to have memorized and adhere to the laws of language.
I pledge to use only the finest words to craft my worlds.
I vow to utilize the best characterization of my creations.
I promise to use the power of pen and paper wisely, not abuse it.
I will adhere to the authorities of the Land of Words and Literature,
So help me that the Knights of the Checker and the Association of
the BETA will punish me rightly for my transgressions.
signature: _________________________________
Once upon a time in the Sea of Exposition arose the great continent of the Land of Words and Literature. The mass of land was divided into provinces according to their general region of genre and though this was borne from the ground, the inhabitants came from the sky or inter-dimensional expanses of space by way of the author that created them. There were no regulations of who could inhabit the land in terms of character or author, the only rules that were really set forth was that all would abide by the Creed of Good Writing. It was simple enough, but on occasion they would be botched, be it on purpose or by accident, no one knew for sure. Regardless, in the early, Golden Texted Years, all was for the most part, right and well.
But, despite the benediction of the unseen sovereignty of the Land of Words and Literature, the grammatical errors and misspellings of the citizens began to run rampant. Chaos soon abounded in the glorious Capital of Capitalization, with riots of lowercases battering the foundations of the once-illustrious Factory of Uppercases. Droves of violent CAPSLOCK began to run rampant in the more humble districts of the Plaza of Punctuation crushing many ending marks in the process. At the renowned Academy of Lexicons there were horrendous massacres daily. In the frenzy of the slaughter dictionaries and thesauruses were set aflame or became suicidal (should they have survived) because of the frequency words were misused or needlessly repeated. The destruction only escalated from there, until the kind but invisible sovereignty would take no more.
To remedy this outbreak of terror and lawlessness the Knights of the Checker were created, as well as the Association of the BETA. With these two forces in tow, the era of crime and bad writing was quashed and kept in check. Characters that were too frequently OOC were rehabilitated and authors that had abused their power of authoring were disciplined or outright exiled. Character weapons known as Mary-Sues were either reformed or disposed of. Just as the sovereignty had planned, justice had been found and so it had been served. However, there were those who had made one too many innocent or careless mistakes, they could not be put into a facility to be cured as it was merely an error, and authors despite being as powerful as they were, were only human. Institution and banishment were too harsh for their crimes, yet ignoring them would be too lax, so another option was created, the Island of Penance.
Those sent to the Island of Penance would be tasked with producing quality writing. Should they have written sufficiently and repented long enough they would be welcomed back into the Land of Words and Literature, should they had otherwise failed, their time on the Island was extended. If the author themselves was otherwise unreachable, their primary character would have to do time and writing in their place. The arrangement was fair enough and was not opposed to by the majority of the Land.
From that day forward, glorious writing was all that pervaded, and so should the story end, yet it does not.
For deep in the heart of the Land of Words and Literature was a malevolence that was brewing behind the lance and shield of the Knights and Association. Yet it would all begin in just another Court of Balances...
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[Court of Balances]
The Judge looked over his maple perch of a desk, squinting through his numerous wrinkles of age and experience at the faint blobs of characters and authors alike waiting for their sentences. He couldn’t tell if there were many present or if they were merely…rounder than the typical citizens of the Land. He half-coughed through his rough moustache, black and white robes shaking with the sound. Absently he leafed through the pile of folders of individuals who had been reported. He fumbled with getting one open, the lack of dexterity stemming not from clumsiness but elderliness.
I declare to have memorized and adhere to the laws of language.
I pledge to use only the finest words to craft my worlds.
I vow to utilize the best characterization of my creations.
I promise to use the power of pen and paper wisely, not abuse it.
I will adhere to the authorities of the Land of Words and Literature,
So help me that the Knights of the Checker and the Association of
the BETA will punish me rightly for my transgressions.
signature: _________________________________
Once upon a time in the Sea of Exposition arose the great continent of the Land of Words and Literature. The mass of land was divided into provinces according to their general region of genre and though this was borne from the ground, the inhabitants came from the sky or inter-dimensional expanses of space by way of the author that created them. There were no regulations of who could inhabit the land in terms of character or author, the only rules that were really set forth was that all would abide by the Creed of Good Writing. It was simple enough, but on occasion they would be botched, be it on purpose or by accident, no one knew for sure. Regardless, in the early, Golden Texted Years, all was for the most part, right and well.
But, despite the benediction of the unseen sovereignty of the Land of Words and Literature, the grammatical errors and misspellings of the citizens began to run rampant. Chaos soon abounded in the glorious Capital of Capitalization, with riots of lowercases battering the foundations of the once-illustrious Factory of Uppercases. Droves of violent CAPSLOCK began to run rampant in the more humble districts of the Plaza of Punctuation crushing many ending marks in the process. At the renowned Academy of Lexicons there were horrendous massacres daily. In the frenzy of the slaughter dictionaries and thesauruses were set aflame or became suicidal (should they have survived) because of the frequency words were misused or needlessly repeated. The destruction only escalated from there, until the kind but invisible sovereignty would take no more.
To remedy this outbreak of terror and lawlessness the Knights of the Checker were created, as well as the Association of the BETA. With these two forces in tow, the era of crime and bad writing was quashed and kept in check. Characters that were too frequently OOC were rehabilitated and authors that had abused their power of authoring were disciplined or outright exiled. Character weapons known as Mary-Sues were either reformed or disposed of. Just as the sovereignty had planned, justice had been found and so it had been served. However, there were those who had made one too many innocent or careless mistakes, they could not be put into a facility to be cured as it was merely an error, and authors despite being as powerful as they were, were only human. Institution and banishment were too harsh for their crimes, yet ignoring them would be too lax, so another option was created, the Island of Penance.
Those sent to the Island of Penance would be tasked with producing quality writing. Should they have written sufficiently and repented long enough they would be welcomed back into the Land of Words and Literature, should they had otherwise failed, their time on the Island was extended. If the author themselves was otherwise unreachable, their primary character would have to do time and writing in their place. The arrangement was fair enough and was not opposed to by the majority of the Land.
From that day forward, glorious writing was all that pervaded, and so should the story end, yet it does not.
For deep in the heart of the Land of Words and Literature was a malevolence that was brewing behind the lance and shield of the Knights and Association. Yet it would all begin in just another Court of Balances...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
[Court of Balances]
The Judge looked over his maple perch of a desk, squinting through his numerous wrinkles of age and experience at the faint blobs of characters and authors alike waiting for their sentences. He couldn’t tell if there were many present or if they were merely…rounder than the typical citizens of the Land. He half-coughed through his rough moustache, black and white robes shaking with the sound. Absently he leafed through the pile of folders of individuals who had been reported. He fumbled with getting one open, the lack of dexterity stemming not from clumsiness but elderliness.
