Moss trolls and smeerps and pants, oh my

[stillsostrange]

So I've been joking for years about Isyllt Sue's fondness for leather, and how she wants to dress like she's on the cover of a paranormal romance. (She especially likes Marjorie Liu's Hunter Kiss covers, although she finds the sword impractical.) I've spent years trying to convince her to wear more practical--not to mention plausible--clothes*, and she's finally sat me down and explained the issue in small words that my feeble writer brain can comprehend.

Leather is made of dead animals, you see. And as such is affected by her magic, unlike silk or wool or cotton. So if I give her a long leather coat, the chances of Spawn-like special effects increase dramatically.

Who am I to argue with that?

---

I have a squid dilemma. Since the primary language in this book is pseudoGrecoLatinate, I have access to a lot of words I wouldn't want to use in, say, an unNorse novel. But typing calamari bugs me. What do you think, readers? Would seeing calamari in a second-world fantasy bug you overmuch? Would it be better or worse if I used an obviously similar word? I saw "calamar-fish" in Green yesterday, and was rather taken with it.

Thoughts?



*I talk about conversations with my characters, but it's shorthand. I do not actually externalize them that much. They're definitely not entirely controlled by my conscious mind, but I couldn't role-play them, or do one of those weird character interviews. And since sound is pretty far down on my sense-awareness when I write, I don't "hear" their voices at all.

Comments

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

And you do not actually have to kill the silkworm to get the silk. Unlike leather.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

then I got to thinking about bio-engineered cows that shed their hides..

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

"Don't go in the north pasture today. The bull's getting ready to shed."

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

*snorfle* oh yeah, it makes them cranky it does. Then they tend to sunburn.

[caprine.livejournal.com]

This is fracking hilarious.

[icedrake.livejournal.com]

I'll *never* get rid of that image, now.

It also matches the behaviour of moulting tarantulas, who are downright touchy while they wait for ther new carapace to harden.

(Sigh. Sorry for the comment spam.)

[caprine.livejournal.com]

Actually, you do have to kill the silkworm:

If the animal is allowed to survive after spinning its cocoon, it will release proteolytic enzymes to make a hole in the cocoon so that it can emerge as a moth. This would cut short the threads and ruin the silk. Instead, silkworm cocoons are boiled. The heat kills the silkworms and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. Often, the silkworm itself is eaten (see Cuisine). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombyx_mori)

Still, silk is not made from the formerly living tissue of the worm; like wool, it was never itself alive. So I agree that the leather thing totally makes sense.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

I had understood that there were two different ways to harvest silk, only one of which involved killing the silkworm. But I freely admit I am the complete opposite of an expert on the subject.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

You are correct. Otherwise, how would they raise more silkworms?

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

No, you're right. Here's a good link: http://www.wormspit.com/polyspin.htm

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia isn't always right. To get filament silk, you need to kill the worm. But there's a less-expensive kind, called spun silk, that uses the broken cocoons. It's much easier to embroider with, and it gives a different effect from the filament silk.

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

Silk is still usable after the silkworm burrows out. You just cut off the parts that are gross.

http://www.wormspit.com/polyspin.htm