Thursday Thirteen 008: Thirteen Sentences.

[misslj_author]

Today's Thursday Thirteen is thirteen sentences from things I've written. I've limited it to four works – two that are published (Life and Nothing But and City of Gold) and two that are works in progress (City of Jade and No Quarter). So here we go. Sentences that I picked at random. Also, mea culpa, the works in progress really are still in progress, so any errors, etc, are as yet unfixed.



1. "Difficult and somehow insulting, as if all we are good for is war and when that occupation is taken from us, we are patted on the head and sent off to languish in occupations that are best left to the city's militia."
- City of Jade.

2. " So, I went and had a look around; Shamshiel's ranting at the other Grigori and his wings look a little bare -- he looks like he's a moulting chicken."
- No Quarter.

3. He had not been inside Nick's abode at all, he realized, and he couldn't help himself from looking around curiously, trying to learn as much as he could about the man without being too obvious.
- Life and Nothing But.

4. Misahuen’s lips curved upward in the faintest of smiles, and then he was gone, walking into Constantinople with the merchant and the rest of his pack train.
- City of Gold.

5. He didn't feel like explaining it right then, for the vista of Antioch, golden and lovely, shimmering in the light of the sun, captured his attention.
- City of Jade.

6. "You are the most stubborn, bad-tempered, ill-bred patient in the history of medicine," Raphael was saying, obviously continuing a conversation that had been interrupted by Tzadkiel's call, " you have absolutely no respect for your condition, you refuse to follow my orders, instead gallivanting about like an Archangel of leisure, which you most certainly are not... what am I to do with you, Uriel?"
- No Quarter.

7. The scotch burned his throat on the way down, a welcoming burn that distracted him from his dark thoughts.
Life and Nothing But.

8. Misahuen was silent as the rest of the party he was with talked among themselves, and Gallienus watched, hoping against hope that Misahuen would turn and see him there in the shadows.
- City of Gold.

9. "I will guard it with my life," Michael said solemnly and Gabriel's lips twitched in suppressed mirth.
- No Quarter.

10. "Culturally, I suppose that yes, the Byzantine Empire is more Greek than Roman, but Byzantium grew out of the Roman Empire and so it is the Eastern Roman Empire."
- City of Jade.

11. Turning in a small circle, he couldn't keep the smile off his face as he saw the pinpoints of golden light that were hundreds of candles shining in the windows of every room in every cottage and, up on the hill above them, the windows of the castle.
- Life and Nothing But.

12. “It is traditional in my country to marry, but there are many who have lovers outside the marriage, lovers of both sexes.”
- City of Gold.

13. As he looked up, blinking away the snowflakes, Gabriel let out a slow breath as he watched the beauty of the Northern Lights undulating serpent-like across the sky.
- No Quarter.

Comments

[captlychee.livejournal.com]

Well, if the wings are 10 metres long, they would need to be 90cm wide to get the necessary nine square metres for a fixed-wing angel to take off with a starting sprint.

But with magical powers you can do anything. Overcome their initial mass to mean they're only lifting a few kilos weight. INduce some local condition that alters the lifting properties of their wings. Cause a near-vacuum on the upper surface to provide additional lift. Lower gravity locally so they weigh less. Perform a miracle. :)

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

Hm hm hm. They're definitely wider than that at their widest point. For 1.5 meter width at the widest point, what would be a good length iyo?

[captlychee.livejournal.com]

Well, IK did a bit of looking on the Internet. I imagined the wing as a scalene traingle (ie, no sides or angles in the triangle are equal) and tried to find somewhere that would calculate lengths of eaqch side iven the area. Time was I could've done it myself, but when the Internet provides, why use brain and memory?

Anyway, the formula is Area (K) = (base x height) divided by 2. ONe calculator suggests that a 1.5m base would need a 9 metre length! This would certainly suit an archangel appearing as a giant Old Testament character with flaming sword and mien of vengeance, but perhaps not so good for tete-a-teteing at the Hagia Sofia.

But bearing in mind that flapping the wing gives more thrust and allows for a smaller wing. The bulk of the energy is expended at take off and from there theyu can soar like agles, flapping very little and using little energy.

But they're archangels! The wings are more cosmetic, or histrionic than practical.

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

That is actually very helpful. They furl their wings back and make them invisible so they can mingle with humans easier, and although Gabriel spent a lot of time hanging out in the Hagia Sophia, he's an archangel with a mission in this. So that works nicely, thankee!

[angharad-gam.livejournal.com]

Isn't it very uncomfortable when a human accidentally steps on your invisible wings? I've worn dresses with trains. They're like shoe magnets. People can't help themselves.

[misslj-author.livejournal.com]

With the ~magical powers~, they keep their wings lifted so they don't brush on the floor like trains. And I've had that happen too. It's very annoying to suddenly be choked or hauled to a stop by someone standing on your gown!