I don't know what it's like where you, reader, are, but it's hot here. I've felt like I've been melting the last few days, woof. Either way, it's been a busy two weeks since I had that little scheduling snafu. Luckily, podcasts got all sorted out, nothing was totally lost, just a few hours of work. No big deal.
Since then, episode 9 of Big Fiction Energy has gone up, along with Episodes 1 and 2 of A Grim Podcast of Perilous Adventure. So far people are enjoying it, which is good, cause we're having a great time making it! As always, check out professionalcasual.com for all the updates! I'm really excited to record the first episode of a new miniseries on The Space Between focusing on the Final Fantasy 8 Remaster. Tim and I will be discussing the game one 'disc' at a time, so roughly a quarter of the game at a time.
In personal news, I entered Lani: The Girl Without Fear into Writers Digest Self-Published Book Awards. I'm excited and nervous. Wish me luck! If you haven't gotten yourself a copy yet, here's the link to help you out:
Instead of the normal fiction update, today I'm going to give you a ton of little blurbs. I mentioned this two entries ago, about the 100 Words/ 100 Days challenge. I haven't given up yet, although I did have to do two in one day a few times... but I'm going to put them all here for you to peruse. I've been taking prompts from https://thinkwritten.com/365-creative-writing-prompts/ , Writers Digest email newsletters, and NaNoWriMo newsletters as well. It's been really fun and I hope you like them!
More news! I've started creating a tabletop role playing game set in Lani's world. At this point I'm just calling it the Andora RPG, but I'm sure I'll come up with something better. It's coming along nicely, a D6 based game. Entry 8 below covers it in a bit of detail. The plan is to actually record the play test sessions and get feedback from the PCN community. I hope to have it ready in a few weeks. Super excited.
That's all for today, enjoy the 100 Words below, I still have to do today's!
-Stay Classy!
1: 5/11- “Mutatis Mutandis”
The needle dripped with a clear fluid. The hand clutching the syringe shook ever so slightly. A figure in a thick coat crept down a dark alley, eyes glued to two people chatting on the sidewalk. The figure wiped sweat from their forehead, more nervous than they thought they’d be. They checked the syringe again, making sure the needle was uncapped. It was. Time was up. Mutatis Mutandis would change the world, one person at a time.
The figure took a deep breath, steadying their hand. The next step took them within striking distance. The needle flashed in the light from the street and sunk deep into the unwitting person’s hamstring.
2: 5/12- “Character Collision”
Purge and Lani grasped each other's forearms. "We're in this together now," Purge said. Lani gritted her teeth and nodded. "This whole thing is weird, but we've got this." The two were an unlikely pair, one from a fantastical world, the other futuristic superheroics. They turned together and squared off against the most terrifying thing either had encountered- one of the dreaded Slavers. Purge gathered hardened goo in his hand, Lani raised a long katana and set it ablaze. They rushed forward in unison, the Slaver readied itself. The thing was monstrously tall, its head covered in a full helm, giving it an especially inhuman quality.
3: 5/13- “Character Collision 2”
The Slaver whipped its cloak aside, revealing a weapon pointed at the duo. Lani and Purge leapt in different directions, forcing the energy blast from the gun to miss both. They tumbled to the sides and sprang back to their feet without losing any momentum. "We've got this," Lani shouted. "Not going to be a problem!" Purge nodded in agreement and they both hurled themselves at their adversary. Purge led with his handful of hardened goo, striking the Slaver square in the face, forcing its head back. Lani took the opportunity to slash the flaming sword through its weapon, shearing it in twain. The Slaver lashed out, catching Lani on the side of the head with a vicious backhand.
4: 5/14- “Character Collision 3”
Lani spun backwards, careening into a rocky outcrop. The sword clattered against the stone, falling from her grip. Purge watched her hit, wide eyed. He threw more goo at the Slaver, this time gunking up its eyes. The thing howled with rage and annoyance. Purge sprinted to Lani to help her up, but it wasn’t needed. Her hair glowed afire, her eyes shone with orange light. She took a deep breath and stood. With her exhale a gout of flame erupted from her mouth, engulfing their enemy. Purge watched in awe as the thing fell the ground, silent as the grave. Lani slumped against Purge, her power nearly spent. Before they could go though, she grabbed the sword.
5: 5/15- “Outside the Window”
Azure skies. Meringue clouds. Heavy air. Dread lingering. Looking out the window, it seems like the perfect spring day, yet we all know what is coming. It was forecast days ago. Plans have been made to prepare. Films have been selected, food procured. Get the kids out before it comes crashing down. The cold droplets will come careening down, whisking away any notion of a 'nice day.' But for now, the closest star burns bright and warm, filling revelers with joy. Others lament the burning orb in the sky. Fair skin turns pink, hair pregnant with pollen. The coming storms are a reprieve, an excuse.
6: 5/16- “The Vessel”
Today’s writing is going to be a little different. The prompt is The Vessel, so I’ll recount a few times I was on the water riding in a boat or other device! First up is the story of the time my friend Tim and I tried to go on a lake in a kayak. For some background neither Tim nor I are small people. We made it about twenty feet from the launching point before we capsized and had to swim the boat back to shore. At least it was funny for everyone watching! Another time was in Australia, on the Great Barrier Reef. Dani and I were on a large ship going out to snorkel and scuba dive. The bow of the ship had a huge cargo net to lounge in. Neither of us felt comfortable with it though... That, and Dani spent most of her time (cont.)
7: 5/17- “The Vessel 2”
...trying not to be sick. She was in there so much she had the pattern of the rubber mats imprinted on her knees. They did have yummy tea and prawns for me to snack on tho. Next up was our scuba training. 'Always...breathe! Never hold your... breath!' Way different than in the States. It was a singular experience, scuba diving. We went down in groups of three with a tour guide. Before we went down, the third person in our group got too nervous and had to get back on the boat. It was a singular experience. Seeing clown fish in their anemones, sea turtles. Even a shark- that Dani told me about after we were back on the boat (thank goodness). Only regret: we could have gone again, but didn't think we had the money.
8: 5/18- “Andora RPG”
Now for something completely different! Today I decided to start creating my own tabletop RPG in the Lani's world, Andora. So today's 100 words will be a snippet from that!
Characters play in the world of Lani and Ronan in the time before the Void War. The world is full of magic and warriors, goblins and monsters. Characters play as wielders of the elements, blessed by the Sprites, warriors of renown, sneaky rogues, charismatic dilettante, or dark agents of the Void. Characters will fight against the agents of Greymelken and try to rid the world of his darkness. Playable Species: Human, Primal (many variations based on animals), Dwarves, Elves, Half-Dwarves. Classes: Blessed (element wielders), Warrior, Sneak, Dilettante, and Learned (though they prefer the term, treasure hunter). Character's stats are the 7 'S' Characteristics: Strength, Stout, Speed, Skill, Savvy, Suave, and Shot. Mechanics will be a simple D6 system that leave a lot up to describing what the PC is doing.
9: 5/19- “A character's day from another person's point of view”
‘He's always running. Wherever he needs to be, he's runnin' from one place to another. Why can't he just be on time? Leave a minute or two earlier, right? I know he's busy, he still has lots of training to do, but nerk, he's always in a damn rush. He's got a lot to learn if he wants to make it as a Hero. We can't be late to a job, otherwise we wouldn't get hired again. Ah well, the Directors hired him, and that stuff is out of my pay-grade. Still not sure what I think of the green kid. Seems to have a decent head on his shoulders, even if he's a punk.’ Implant describing Purge.
10: 5/20- “Two Truths and a Lie”
"So, I've got a game we used to play at Home," Purge said, sitting across from Camille at lunch.
"Oh? What's that?"
"I tell you three things, two of them are true, one is a lie, so you guess."
"Sounds fun, hit me," Camille said, setting her fork down to listen better.
"Ok, first, I'm green."
"Come on," Camille complained. Purge chuckled to himself and his cheeks flushed a darker green.
"Ok, ok, for real. My best friend looked like a pig with one eye..."
"There was this one alien at Home that looked like a human, but swore he was from Helceon-IV. Also, all I ate before coming here was noodles."
"Wow, I didn't realize it would be this hard. I don't know what aliens from Helceon-IV look like, so I'll go with that."
"Correct!"
11: 5/21- “The Rocket Ship”
Mothership sped through the vastness of space, desperate to find a safe haven. The Slavers had taken over much of the galactic east of the Milky Way, their sights were now set on the core, then to continue their expansion ever outward. The disparate races on Homeship had all escaped their home worlds with only a scant few of each species represented. Life aboard Homeship wasn't a paradise though, many of the species didn't get along. The only thing that held them together was their collective fear of the Slavers catching them. Also joining them together was their collective hope they all had placed on the planet they were traveling to. A backwater, undeveloped world within a solar system with an average star: Earth.
12: 5/22- “Animal”
Firenz's wet nostrils flared, taking in the scents of the forest. Humans, he thought. His yellow eyes shifted back and forth, looking for his quarry. He slunk lower in the foliage, shifting to the form of a wolf. His fur was rust and black, shockingly effective camouflage in the green forest canopy. He padded silently along the ground, his form low, imperceptible.A party of elves and humans walked along a path, as loud as a bumbling Usarus crashing through the undergrowth. Firenz rolled his eyes and followed the easy path. He had to report to Beo soon, but he had to find out where the invaders were going first.
13: 5/23- “Friendship”
Lani always struggled with having friends in Ghal. She always felt like an outsider, no matter what she did. She was shorter than everyone her age, but she would routinely embarrass her classmates in her physical education classes. Even though her legs were shorter, she was faster than anyone else. Even though her arms were smaller, she was the strongest. Instead of her classmates congratulating her, they used this as another source of fuel to mock her. That's when she decided not to care what others thought anymore. She began dying her hair so instead of all black, it had a gradient to red at the tips. She escaped school to go to Jork's pub. She carried a long dagger on her at all times. Lani struggled with friends, until she met Kas.
14: 5/24- “Friendship 2”
Lani always had Brutus, but it was his job to be with her all the time, keep her safe. He was really good at it too, being a large, burly Minotaur helped. But Lani wasn't sure if she could call him a friend. Is a bodyguard your parents pay for a friend? Kas was different though. As soon as Lani met Kas she knew she had found a real friend. Maybe she was her first friend? Kas had a way of smiling that made Lani think everything would be alright, even if things were constantly not alright. Kas bounced back. Kas recovered, and helped Lani do the same through all the craziness that they lived through. Kas was a real friend, and Lani wondered if she wanted her to be more?
15: 5/25- “Dragon”
The word ‘dragon’ wasn’t known on Andora. Instead, the Sprites of fire were called salamanders. They ranged in size from tiny sparks of life to ancient, massive worms of molten fire hotter than the volcanoes they lived in. Salamanders exist in the world because of the Sprite of fire- Shonshou. Once the original Sprites decided to split their power into lesser beings that covered the world, the salamanders were born. Throughout Andora’s history there have been a few notable salamanders. One that has been lost to most history books was Blaze, the familiar created by the legendary warrior Ronan. Blaze was a small elemental that usually rode on Ronan’s shoulder, attempting to give him advice. Blaze was as hot-headed as any salamander though, and usually that advice was to rush forward and slash with the salamander-blessed sword.
16: 5/26- “Eye Contact”
She saw him for the first time in the gloomy sewers. His eyes were a green hue even brighter than his skin. He landed softly in front of her and stood upright. He wasn't menacing or threatening, but curious. The teen boy with green skin and eyes peered at her, brows knit in confusion. She looked back with eyes that burned like fire. Her blood was up, so her eyes and hair glowed red. The boy took half a step back, unsure of what to do. But then his eyes shrunk as his mouth turned up. She noticed a glint of playfulness and a mischievous nature in that grin and it was contagious. "Uh, hi," she stammered out. "I'm Prism, a Hundred Dollar Hero, who are you?"
17: 5/27- “Greeting”
Hello, my 100 words today is going to be a little about me, maybe you'll learn something new! First, I'm a dad to two awesome kids, 8 and 2. I'm a husband to a wonderful wife, and a science teacher to now hundreds of students. I am also a writer and podcaster who loves nerd stuff! I currently have one self published book, Lani: The Girl Without Fear, on Amazon and am part of a number of podcasts. All of the pods are found at professionalcasual.com and they're all a blast to record, and I've heard they aren't too bad to listen to. I hope to reach people with my stories and make them feel what my characters feel. Maybe even grow with them too.
18: 5/28- “Addict"
It filled his nostrils, made his mouth salivate. The tips of his fingers tingled, hand hands shook ever so slightly. The ends of his tapered ears twitched. His eyes shifted back and forth. Gnash knew slop was nearby. He scampered on all fours, raising his flat nose to scent it out. His huge eyes scanned the area, but he couldn't tell who had the slop. Those eyes started to itch. He knew it was close, he had to get some. Gnash flapped his arms and membranous wings unfolded from between his arms and his sides. He flapped again and was above the crowd, scanning for the slop. He sniffed again, but the scent was gone. Gnash landed atop a carriage and dropped his head low and covered himself with his thin wings. There was no slop. There never was.
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