Fencing Bear at Prayer

Imagine being Chaucer before The Canterbury Tales . Nobody you know writes poetry in English . Certainly nobody you know writes poetry in English in iambic pentameter. For centuries, the literati  have written in Latin (or French), but you, Chaucer, have the idea of writing in English. (Middle English, for you literary types.) Great literature. High symbolism. Various characters in all their embarrassing and heroic complexity. Except you do it in English. Even worse, you do it in rhyming, metered verse. Your first effort involves an animal allegory — a parliament of birds . Nobody reads it. (Well, not as many as you’d hoped!) So you seek adventure in other ways. And lose all your clothes gambling. Which means you end up on a road somewhere in France, naked, trudging. When a not-knight comes along with his fellow servants and rescues you, if you will forge for him patents of nobility. You spend the next year writing heraldic introductions for him and proofs that he is of the nobili...

Most people are idiots. Tell them you are writing an entirely new story, and the first thing they want to know is how it is like the stories they already know. In the profession, we call this “genre,” but what it really means is that most people are afraid of dragons. “People think that people tell stories,” the narrator of the Discworld opines. “In fact, it’s the other way around. Stories tell us. This is why in a hundred worlds, the princess always marries the frog and the witch is always burned at the stake.” (I paraphrase.*) Tell the story a different way, and people get upset. People hate being shown themselves in the mirror, which is what stories do. Everyone wants to be Snow White, nobody wants to see herself as the Witch Queen. Except we are all the Witch Queen, looking in the mirror, begging to be seen as beautiful. Just try it out here on the Internet sometime. And see the Dragon looking back. George Lucas wanted to be famous, so he used a story everybody already knew. Except...

DCR Poet KJ Crilly with more Spenserian backstory on our setting and characters to add to the Dragon’s hoard ! Apogee A thousand points of light glowed in the room, illuminating throngs of devotees who watched the golden dragon fountain spume its water arches towards a canopy atop four pillars, tall as cedar trees. Below it, a foundation myth in tile belied the purpose of this apogee; the consummation of mimetic style was transformation of the world through Dragon’s guile. Smoke Signals The smoke from cigarettes and pipes was rising above the heads of guests at their banquettes around the chandelier and rafters, spiraling, incensing the casino and smart set who’d come to watch the race and place their bets. Like signals from a secretive callsign, the particle, infused by sulphuret, formed sultry Theosophical designs that led her to the chosen mark in vaporous lines. Mathematic Rivalry She was in thrall to esoteric signs; symbology and little charms and fate, the currency in all her gr...

 Once upon a time... There was a City on the shore of a great Sea. Its name was Carthage, and it was filled with pagans. But not just any pagans.  These were pagans in the old style. Pagans who studied the liberal arts to become orators. Pagans who studied philosophy to live virtuous lives. Pagans who enjoyed the theater and the circus as entertainment. Pagans who gave money to their city to erect monuments and public works. And they wanted to become Christians. Deogratias was the deacon of the cathedral where they came for instruction, but he had a problem. As he wrote his friend and teacher Augustine of Hippo, he was bored with giving the pagans lessons. He didn’t know what to tell them when they asked for instruction, so much so that his discourse left a nasty taste in his mouth, not to mention leaving his audience confused and unconvinced. “What should I say?” he begged Augustine. “Why can’t I explain to them what it means to be Christian when it is so clear to me? Why do ...

Enter the Myth.  Drink the Spice.  Arm yourself for the battle to come. Where the attention flows, power goes. An electric faërie tale Act I: The Casino Act II: The Court Act III: The Market Act IV: The Carnival Act V: The Wedding Authors: Rachel Fulton Brown, Kilts Khalfan, Kimberly Crilly, Mel Wiggin, Ken Ramsey Illustrator: Zé Nuno Fraga #ArtWar #DracoAlchemicus #DCR Trailer:  https://youtu.be/RV8xS2xZoB0 Website:  dragoncommonroom.com Email: books@dragoncommonroom.com Why Stories Kilts Khalfan, “ Storytime is the Art War ,” gab news , May 24, 2023 “The alchemical desire of mankind for healing was amplified as the entire internet became a maelstrom of medical debate. And yet we found our healing in our story time, where Art became our focus. Art was our immunity to the fear. It was also the way for us to craft our own narrative within the chaos of lockdowns. And as we created this narrative, we began to understand the power of telling stories that orientated our f...

Sacred Cows The pillars might recall the Lateran. The Dragon might be wholly Manichaean. The verse romance might be an also ran. Without romance, our world would be plebeian. And so I offer a truncated paean requested, for an image I can’t want. Twelve oxen holding up a vessel. Be an impression of a fine baptismal font. Maybe the oxen are the twelve apostles. Perchance they are old Israel’s twelve tribes. Perchance they mock us, just as Gosse’s fossils against Creation became hostile jibes. What are the mystic and mysterious vibes which round the watcher in her tower rain down? What wine, who’s blond, what nectar now imbibes the Passion’s fencer, Rachel Fulton Brown? — Verses offered in tribute, if not accolade, by David Ganz, fellow lover of fonts medieval and modern   Can you read the riddle of the cows?  dragoncommonroom.com

DCR Poet KJ Crilly gets her Spenserian stanzas on! Chasing the Alchemical Dragon In Pharmakeia’s pixilated world, which holds the fractal myths of time gone by, the Dragon’s whispered lies slowly unfurl, to captivate men in his mirrored eye, suspended seventh heaven ever nigh. But one comes now, intending to restore the world with a creative battle cry. And who is this, this reconquistador, this champion, come to take our part in this Art War? Sigil Star Wars The planets, in concentric circles pass by way of golden tracks through space and time. Each one a shining star through mirrored glass; each one predestined for the pantomime of underhanded hatefulness sublime. But in the center of this force majeure, the only true star, constant in its shine, attracting and repelling at its core, will challenge their dark master in the new Art War. The Golden Helix The helix wraps around a world adrift; it coils and then recoils down every path while pantomiming Fibonacci’s gift, perverting n...

Enter the Myth. Drink the Spice. The Dragon Common Room is pleased to announce that we are now raising money for the publication of Act I: The Casino of Draco Alchemicus. Backer bundles include options to receive all five acts of the poem in digital or hardcover format, as well as color prints suitable for framing. Top tier backers will have the opportunity to enter the story and become part of the myth. Premium rewards include exclusive edition playing cards, guest appearances on our livestream, and donor portraits. To back our project, please  go to Kickstarter , and look for  the Dragon Jewel . dragoncommonroom.com

The Dragon Common Room is excited to announce our first Kickstarter! We wanted you to be one of the first to know about our formal launch on May 22, as we have exclusive rewards that only the top backers will be able to share. We are grateful, of course, for whatever level of support you are able to give, but as one of the early readers of our work, we are hoping you are as excited as we are about our new fairytale! DRACO ALCHEMICUS is an invitation to enter the myth and join the battle against the Alchemical Dragon—the great enemy of art, joy, and love who hypnotizes humanity with spices and lies.  We have written the first Act of the five-Act story and are raising money to help pay our artist, the magnificent Portuguese comic illustrator Zé Nuno Fraga.  Kilts Khalfan and Rachel Fulton Brown give a sneak peek behind the scenes of the work we have been doing with Zé here: https://youtu.be/52vd32NZylw . We give more behind-the-scenes details including the reading and research w...

  21:9  Fecit ergo Moyses serpentem æneum, et posuit eum pro signo : quem cum percussi aspicerent, sanabantur. COMING SOON

Enter the myth. Drink the spice.  Arm yourself for the battle to come. May 22, 2023  

The Professor gives a brief lesson on designing the Sigil for a key scene in Draco Alchemicus Act I, as a married couple decide which language they will use to navigate their way through a test. Are men and women complete strangers in their own focus, or do the sexes consider the same truth with two different symbolic realities? Can total opposites synchronize without destroying their distinctions? Join our Kickstarter ! Sign up now to be the first to know when we launch! Want to know more? Watch the full episode: Mosaic Ark 41 Behind the Scenes  The Ark prepares to launch the Dragon Common Room Kickstarter for the upcoming work DRACO ALCHEMICUS. Walking you through the new DCR website, the Professor and her pigeon describe their vision of the Electric Mosaic: DCR's multimedia resurrection of an integrated Medieval sub-creation culture, where the archaic becomes new in our own space and time through Art. You wanna learn to scan? Join the stream! —Streamed May 10, 2023 Visit Drag...

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