Correspondence Sigils

The other day Flyte ran a bit of a contest in the IRC. He asked us all to submit our own translations of Correspondence Sigils, and the results were so good that I wanted to open it up to the forums. Here’s the ones we came up with already, please add your own.

If you like any of them particularly, consider sending a gift or a token to the writer. and if anyone would prefer their submissions not be up on the forums, let me know here or in IRC and I’ll take them down

AnstrutherBarron

    'The noise that silence makes.'
    'A silent look between lovers or enemies.'
    'The creation of a work so that you have something to destroy.'

Benveniste
‘The ripples on the surface of a beverage caused by the agitation of the imbiber.’
‘The feeling of exclusion caused by references to a conversation that had not been witnessed.’
‘The outrage of a winner cheated of their prize.’

Cocytus
‘Unthinkable mutual harm as a foundation for intimacy.’
‘The unease of a crowd witnessing a terrible injustice.’
‘Love that pours from the eyes and spills from the skin.’

Deadcrystal
‘The hunger that visits knife-bearers.’
‘An approach that leaves one further away.’
‘Awareness of the shape of space between you and another.’

DismallyOriented
‘Regret of words shared but never spoken.’
‘The daunting task of taking on a mentor’s responsibility.’
‘The moment of savored release before oblivion.’

Eadin
‘Anticipation for an event that, at the same time, you wish never to be realised.’
‘The light that shines without a source.’
‘The fear without a reason.’

Inthrall
‘A percolating tragedy in motion.’
‘The obviate sibyl who ruminates for relevance.’
‘Where the veneer of dreams is exalted.’

Otaara
‘The heart within its cage, beating like red wings.’
‘The sensation of crossing through a doorway made in a bonfire.’
‘Love created in the image of night.’

Roland_Jones
‘A daring escape into a different sort of prison.’
‘Running endlessly in circles.’
‘Clawing one’s way to the top, only to discover the movement was ultimately lateral.’

Saharan
‘The ratio of lovers one has scorned to one’s time well-spent, in seconds.’
‘The final parting moments in which both realize an acquaintanceship was never really enjoyed.’
‘A moment which had resolved itself to occur, and regretted it almost immediately.’

Streetfelineblue
‘The sensation of missing the crucial hint in the solution of an enigma while all people around you have already guessed right.’
‘The other side of a shadow.’
‘Molten lead in a tear duct.’

Vine
‘A social engagement wherein all attending plot against one another.’
‘The inspiration that spawns in forgetting.’
‘The joy of creating opposed by the despair of error.’

Zakamutt
‘The feeling of regret over not having performed a terrible deed simply to experience it.’
‘A glint of sunlight in a dark place, as perceived by a creature that hates light.’
‘The act of attempting to erase every connection to a place and failing.’

Sounds fun!
“The sensation of equidistance between longing and dispassion.”
“A parting that becomes inevitable, unbeknownst to a participant.”
“The satisfaction one feels after a successful lie.”
“Parameters that are conceived by perception, yet are unsubstantial in essence.”
“Experience that grants no wisdom.”

And one I stole from Kevin Spacey from “House of Cards”:
“Pain, of the kind that is merely suffering.”

Oh I love these, a few I’ve been pondering myself

  • “A stolen glance across a crowded continent.”
  • “The sound a lie makes as it moves from one ear to another.”
  • “A tongue of flame stolen from the mouth of Hell.”

In response to a challenge from Mr. Flyte: that I should write a definition in haiku, with bonus points for references cosmological:

This sigil could mean
&quotThe last irrational warmth
felt in a blizzard&quot,

or perhaps it means
&quotA sudden glimmer of light
outside a black hole&quot.

edit: and now, more!

&quotThe descent of souls
from a shell celestial
to a home of glass&quot

&quotThe knowledge that all
Things last but a few seconds
as Time marches on.&quot

&quotA hot beverage
that is almost completely
unlike Earl Grey tea&quot ;)

&quotThe sort of smile
that displays more of bared teeth
than of good humor.&quot
edited by Leraika on 1/19/2014

I’ve always wanted to try this:[li]

&quotThe horror of a long-time friend collapsing into a slavering monster, and knowing that you may follow&quot

&quotThe guilty pleasure of knowing that those who orbit you need your light, or risk being a desolate embarrassment.&quot

&quot The silence of distance that makes a momentary meeting bittersweet&quot

&quotThe absent moment between wakefulness and sleep&quot

&quotThe tiny shard of night that fells the titan&quot

&quotThe prideful shame of one forced to conspire with those who are believed to be unimportant&quot

“The momentary heightening of senses caused by a sudden uncertainty about whether one is asleep or awake”

“To follow one around and eat one’s words before they echo”

“The involuntary curling of one’s extremities brought about by an over-sweet taste”

“Disappointment over something one was sold as pure black taking on a brown tinge in sunlight”

“A dream in which one feels oneself failing to keep alive that for which one is responsible”

Semi-off-topic ramblings: Funnily enough, one of my neglected writing projects (quite unconnected to FL) has a ‘language’ that packs insane quantities of meaning into a single transmission. You don’t need to learn anything about it to understand someone who’s speaking it, either. (Which potentially has some rather horrible implications.)

The extremely simplified form of one single phoneme equates to “The shade of a grove of trees by a still pool dappled with early summer sunshine and the sound of birdsong”…

I messed around with a few. " Blazing skies of midnight light. " " A reckoning of cindered blood. " " An eternal lie of forgotten darkness. " " The false castle of rotten hope. "

By the way, delicious friends, is there a compilation of the ‘official’ sigils recensed so far? [An example of official would be the recent ‘Forever hurtling toward the earth’…]
In another somehow related note, I would urge the interested readers to complement their study of the Correspondence with that of Aklo…[li]
edited by Evariste S. Crumbledon on 1/20/2014

A Limerick of the Correspondence:

“A sensation of sudden sharp pain
From being hooked at the end of a Chain.”
Or perhaps, “A memory of love
Shining down from above;
But now, there is only rain.&quot
edited by Cocytus on 1/21/2014

“The inverted abstraction by which an unfortunate happenstance in matters of pure luck becomes reason to assign sentience and conscious malevolence to ones randomly determined misfortune”

“The begruding act of contemplating imaginary advantages one is the beneficiary of, at the behest of a particulary moralist opponent for usually no purpose at all”

“A string of déjà-vues from which one can no longer learn or gain anything”

“A semi-imaginary currency, the transactions of which are exclusively in the business of extraordinary fates”

“An encoded message written in the bodies of thousand and thousands of dead, small mammalian creatures”

Another Limerick of the Correspondence:

&quotThere was a young Market from space,
Who desired a sun’s soft grace.
To show her its worth
It came down to Earth
And abducted the whole human race.&quot[li]
edited by Cocytus on 1/22/2014

I think I’ve figured these out. Of course, the last time I tried to translate these particular glyphs I caused a run on laudanum that made three fortunes and ruined seventeen, but I have true hope that this time I’ll get it right. Ahem.

&quotThe feeling of helplessness at the destruction of a valued object.&quot
&quotSudden, momentary, and fleeting awareness of one’s own addiction.&quot
&quotThe reasonable, yet unsatisfying, justifications for an act of cruelty.&quot
&quotThe anxiety of knowing that one’s future is dependent on an uncertain chance.&quot
&quotPleasure bought at unsustainable expense.&quot
&quotAwareness of the mortality of a loved one.&quot
&quotThe power to change, create or destroy anything but oneself.&quot
&quotToothache caused by excessive sweetness.&quot

“Slitted eyes on the reflection of a candlelight.”

“An uncertainty which is preferable to both outcomes”

“Skin marred because of unrequited love”

“The augmentation of awareness caused by the loss of one sense.”

“The knowledge of the vacuity of one’s own promises to change oneself.”

“The anguish and relaxation felt in the moment in which you stop breathing and imagine what feels like not existing.”

&quotThe ecstasy and the agony when surrendering to the will of ruins and ill-omens.&quot

&quotWhen the lust of an individual risks the fortune of many.&quot

&quotAttempting to weigh the worth of a person’s story.&quot

&quotBeing blinded by the light of someone’s eyes so you will not see their shadows.&quot
[li]

The owl-like vigilance of the eye longing for the companion that’s locked within an arachnid’s grasp.

The silent protest of the soul that’s forcefully extracted by a feline villain.

The ecstasy of tasting blood as one bears the the brunt of an attack.

The soothing whispered secrets of the fox cuddling in your arms.

I have the vague suspicion that the Sun is constantly shouting &quota reminder that things which have died should remain that way&quot at the Earth…

this sounds like fun. i guess i’ll try creating a few from random long acronyms
http://www.acronymslist.com/alphabet/R-p12.html

&quotRapid Multiple Spasms Emitting a Purr of wisdom&quot

&quotThe Rain that Melts Persons , Relics, Ocelots and Papers&quot

&quotAll Renegades Must Scream…Very Politely&quot

&quotRavens Over A Valley… Eagles Ravaging Rabidly and Silently&quot

&quotRuins Of Cats, Erected with Wine&quot

&quotRunning Open-eyed, Never Ending Till one falls&quot

&quotRitual of Releasing Occult Pigeons, Clouding the Open Mist&quot


and some randomness: &quotFire in wine, water in smoke, and earth falling skywards.&quot
edited by Paya Danceswithporngroove Chin on 2/12/2014

[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)]The surrender the Sun makes of the Sky to Night.[/color][li]

Might I try?
“The truth that lurks within the eyes of needles”
“The sounds of the lives which do not live”
“A fire that burns with the truths of lies”

“The pleasant pattern of light and shadow on the blade of a striking knife”
“The ever-decreasing difference between a monster and (s)he who hunts it”
“The disappointment felt when a keenly-anticipated pleasure proves less spectacular than expected”
“A rather cunning and subtle ruse undone completely by accident thanks to the sheer blind idiocy of its target”