The Twofer One Drabblicious Special

[dawn_felagund]

In other words, I am doing Saturday and Sunday's drabble in the same post.

The first one is a cutesy, happy drabble befitting the crazy word. For the second one, I 180ed to my normal, depressive style. I must warn you for depression, angst, and a possibly upsetting (but canon) topic. Read at your own risk :)


hirsute \HUR-soot; HIR-soot; hur-SOOT; hir-SOOT\, adjective:
Covered with hair or bristles; shaggy; hairy.

Examples
"The Bear... makes the rounds of the clubs 'disguised' in trench coat and broad-brimmed hat, hoping (successfully, it seems) to be mistaken for a rather hirsute human."
-Richard M. Sudhalter, "'The Bear Comes Home': Composing the Words That Might Capture Jazz," New York Times, August 29, 1999

"'First of all, your nose is nearly covered with your bloody moustache and your beard,' Mr Gogarty replied. Mr Allen apologised for his 'hirsute' appearance."
-Paul Cullen, "No ambush sprung on returning Gogarty," Irish Times, March 23, 1999

"He was incredibly hirsute: there was even a thick pelt of hair on the back of his hands."
-Tama Janowitz, By the Shores of Gitchee Gumee

Etymology
Hirsute comes from Latin hirsutus, "covered with hair, rough, shaggy, prickly."



The Monster
With a shriek, Macalaurë hid behind his father’s leg. The monster—a brown, hirsute creature with wide, bulging eyes and enormous, heavy feet—snorted, and Macalaurë shrieked again and quivered, imagining the smoke that must have poured from the beast’s nostrils, and pressed his tear-damp face into Fëanor’s breeches so that he didn’t have to see.

Fëanor laughed and gently coaxed Macalaurë around to again face the pony, who lowered a whiskered muzzle to whuffle at the trembling boy.

“Happy begetting day, my son,” said Fëanor, wiping away Macalaurë’s tears. “Fear not! Someday, you shall be the best of friends.”
~oOo~



tenebrous \TEN-uh-bruhs\, adjective:
Dark; gloomy.

Example
"He found the Earl, who is eight feet tall and has the family trait of a Cyclops eye, standing stock still, dressed from head to foot in deepest black, in one of the most tenebrous groves in all his haunted domains."
-Peter Simple, "At Mountwarlock," Daily Telegraph, March 20, 1998

"We are so used to the tenebrous atmosphere that can be created in indoor theatres that it's a shock to realise that this murkiest of tragedies first saw the literal light of day at the Globe theatre."
-Paul Taylor, "Cool, calm, disconnected," Independent, June 7, 2001

"And lurking behind our every move is the knowledge of our own mortality. It gives life its edgy disquiet, its tenebrous underside."
-Douglas Kennedy, "Sudden death," Independent, July 3, 1999

Etymology
Tenebrous derives from Latin tenebrosus, from tenebrae, "darkness."



Discovering Fate
Starved and exhausted, Maedhros was grateful to be outside, even if the sky was filthy with bulging clouds and a cold rain stung his naked skin.

The orcs who had tormented him minded him not. They were hammering something into the rock. But Maedhros’ pain-weary heart was happy for the first time in years, to be under the sky.

Laughing, the biggest orc came to clamp something cold on Maedhros’ frail wrist, and another led him to the edge.

Two tears trickled down his dirty face, from beneath closed eyes, as his feeble joy died.

Suddenly, he knew his fate.
~oOo~


Edit: This has nothing to do with drabbling, but....

I am officially in the last section of AMC!!!

I figure it will be a long section, as there is a lot going on. A lot to resolve and (for once) a lot of actual action, versus all that internal, mental stuff. But then...it's finished!!!

And you all, wherever on this ball of dirt you are, will hear me carrying on all the way from here :)

Comments

[dawn_felagund]

Mine came from a book on surgical procedures explained for laypeople who might possibly be about to undergo the operations mentioned.

Eek! I guess that explains how your descriptions came to be so accurate then. I remember really liking that about your story, that you didn't shy away from the difficulty that is removing a person's hand. I have read so many stories where it is just a clean cut with a sword...one person even had Fingon slice it off with an arrowhead! In a single cut! Must have been a helluva big arrowhead.

Of course, I understand also that is *is* a difficult topic, and that to go into such realistic detail pretty much guarantees an R-rating, which can influence readership. So I don't usually mention to people who indulge themselves with the "single slice" theory that it isn't wholly accurate. I appreciate the touchy nature of the subject.

Mine, of course, as you can probably imagine, will be quite realistic and quite descriptive. Which, in part, is why I balk at writing it: because I am too attached to my characters to do them harm :) I know it's coming, but it's something I'm going to have to work up to.

[frenchpony.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the "clean cut with a sword" thing made me laugh loud, long, and bitterly. I play with swords on a regular basis, and they just don't work that way. Especially since there's no way to guarantee a clean cut, what with the whole mountain right behind the arm. And even if Fingon did manage a clean swishing slice, zhoop! would go Maedhros down the mountain face and splat! at the bottom. That's gravity, that is. So an emergency amputation with all the trimmings it was.

I also read thoroughly two accounts of real-life emergency amputations. One was a lady caught in the Oklahoma City bombing whose leg was trapped under a ton of concrete and the doctors had to amputate in order to get her out, and the other was that hiker who got his arm crushed under a boulder and amputated it to get free. Interesting reading, but the details do indeed give that kind of thing an automatic R-rating.

Which, in part, is why I balk at writing it: because I am too attached to my characters to do them harm :)

But consider that the harm has already been done to them. You're just. . . reiterating it. Yes, that's it. No mention of salt and open wounds whatsoever here.