Friday afternoon polling goodness

[featherynscale]

[Poll #571821]

Comments

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

I'm already monstrous enough, thanks.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Monsterhood is not mandatory. No discrimination based on monster/non-monster status will be permitted.

I feel so validated now.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

I <3 you.

Cavet

[druidevo.livejournal.com]

I couldn't decide if I wanted to be a Were-spider or mummy that could easily pass for human, but had to occasionally take a really long nap

Re: Cavet

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

What fun is it to be a monster, if you're going to pretend not to be?

Re: Cavet

[druidevo.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying you would have to pretend all of the time, but it would be nice to walk down to the store for milk without freaking out the mundanes.

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

wotsa B.E.M.?

[orcjohn.livejournal.com]

Damn, you really don't read Sci-Fi much do you?

B.E.M. = Bug Eyed Monster

Often used in pulp-type sci-fi to describe otherwise undescribable alien critters.

[duriyah.livejournal.com]

Don't worry. I didn't know this one either, and I read sci-fi.

[duriyah.livejournal.com]

Fun poll!

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

I think of liches as self-created vampires: mages that intentionally make themselves undead ... for whatever reason.
You have to be damn powerful to do it, so you know liches are damn powerful.

do they really use it IN the story?

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Correction: I don't read much pulp sci-fi.

I think the closest thing I've ever read to a B.E.M. story (and liked) was Asimov's "Green Patches"/"Misbegotten Missionary" short story.

Re: do they really use it IN the story?

[orcjohn.livejournal.com]

Piers Anthony has also used it (in both forms) in his book, "Bearing an Hourglass".

The times I've personally seen it used was in reprintings of old DelRay, and other early "golden age" authors, they used it both as "bug eyed monsters" and "B.E.M.s" or just bems with out punctuation.

Now isn't this nice and almost totally useless information.

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

It would have to be interesting metacognition:

Note to self: Work on being undead for tomorrow. It's a good day for it.

Re: do they really use it IN the story?

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Huh, I've read some of the Incarnations books, but not that far in, I don't think... and as I said, very little early pulp sci-fi.

Asmovian books, Clarke, Harry Harrison, Joe Haldeman, Philip K. Dick... those are my sort of sci-fi authors, that I can call off the top of my head (and without delving into the Mountain of Fiction©).