Jess D. Astra

Thirsty Thursday Thoughts

Henlo dudes! I’m drinking a coffee (at 6pm 😱😱😱) and watching the Game Awards!

Bastion

Book 1 released on Bookfunnel, and release date is set: December 29th 2020! If you didn’t get your link, shoot me a DM.

Summer Episode 1 is complete! I’ll be releasing it for everyone Shop Owner and above in the next few weeks ^_^
You can still get it if you’re a dungeon mob... but you’ll have to sign up for my mailing list 😈

Book 2 has a cove...

Bastion 2 - Chapter 14

My heart thudded injustice in my chest. I hadn’t stolen anything. I had only looked!

Sung-ki went on, “That was how I wanted to deal with the situation, but the Grandmaster felt differently. The offender will be confronted, scolded, and returned on their way with a strike on their record.

“In addition to that minor slap on the wrist”—he laughed with disgust—“we will be locking the classroom every day, much how the ma antiques room is locked. You will not be able to a...

Bastion 2 - Chapter 13

Going back to class was hard. I wanted to work on Mae’s device and start unlocking its possibilities. More than that, I wanted to give Mae more than just a corner of quiet. Yes, I wanted her out of my head so I could have a single private thought for once in the last year, but more importantly, she needed her own space. Something to call her own.

Ko-nah needed extra assistance with his zo calm exercises before bed that first night, and before I knew it, I found myself waking up before...

Bastion 2 - Chapter 12

The first week of school dragged on with Ko-nah’s unending complaints, but despite his behavior, he hadn’t ratted us out to Tae-do—or at least, Tae-do hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary. Il-sung had become distant, speaking less and avoiding us more than seemed normal. I’d questioned him about dinner the first night and he’d written it off as nothing at all, then scurried away with an excuse.

I couldn’t keep reading into things, though, and had to keep my head clear ...

Bastion 2 - Chapter 11

I navigated Ko-nah through the most nutrient rich selections at lunch. He complained at nearly every selection and I wondered if he was actively trying to upset me. Maybe he thought there wassome secret I was withholding, and if he annoyed me enough, I would reveal it. He was going to be upset to discover there was no trick—other than Mae’s expert guidance, and I was already giving him that.

Munje Recycling II was a refresh from the end of last year, but Woong-ji p...

Bastion 2 - Chapter 10

Or I wasn’t. Ko-nah refused to rise when I told him to. He rolled over and pulled his pillow over his head, saying it was much too early. I looked to Cho for help, who only shrugged. At the fifth request, I added a little electric jolt to get him going.

The en munje shot down my arm and zapped into Ko-nah’s back. He jumped out of bed with a high-pitched yelp, then turned to me with hatred as he demanded, “How dare you touch me!”

I squared my shoulders and asked, “You wan...

Bastion 2 - Chapter 9

Slipping past Ko-nah was more complicated than I’d anticipated. His breathing was inaudible, like a mouse, and twice when I got up, he roused. After two failed attempts to sneak away I cast a ry sound dampening spell around his bed, which seemed to do the trick.

Cho and I shrouded ourselves in ry shadow as we ran to the glade beside the resident village. When we arrived at the fateful location where I’d had my arm yanked from its joint, we hid ourselves behind flowering bushes of bl...

Bastion 2 - Chapter 8

We met up with Hana and Yuri not long after getting Ko-nah settled. We made our way through the entry hall that was as tall as it was wide. Long, white pillars depicting scenes of the ancient ones supported the ceiling, no less than three stories high. The black floors were slick with a fresh waxing, and the whole pagoda appeared to have undergone some maintenance since the last semester.

We sauntered through the garden to waste time as Yuri questioned Ko-nah, much to his discomfort. I ...

Bastion 2 - Chapter 7

“Stop, hyeong, it’s not funny!” the student—a boy with black shoulder-length hair who’d missed his growth spurt—reached up for the disc Tae-do held just out of reach.

“You might not think so, but I’m having a great time,” Tae-do said with a smirk as his hand grasping the schedule flickered with ma munje.

“Should we do something?” Cho whispered next to me as we watched the bullying.

I sighed. It was the outer-city way to take care of our own. Th...

Bastion 2 - Chapter 6

“What do you mean, it’s me?” Cho asked as he held his bag closer.

Mae crackled through the speaker on my chest as we bumped along the train toward Bastion Academy. “I mean just that. The signature on the code was mine. It was distinctly me. When writing code, it’s impossible to not leave a digital footprint, and what was left behind was mine.”

Cho sighed, exasperated. “I’m sorry, I’m just not getting it. Also, code?”

“Code is the machina langua...

Cover Sketches!!! Woot woot!

Hey my dudes, look what just came in! Hawt hawt hawt! Who's excited to see Jiyong and Hana get their hands on these weapons?

I really really like Hana's cute hop in Option 2, but I think it's gotta be Option 1 all the way. Let me know what you guys think below ^_^

Bastion 2 (new) - Chapter 1

“Think you’re ready to take me on again, Master?” I asked as I looked across the clean, stone arena from my tall pedestal.

Woong-ji grinned, flashing a set of perfectly white teeth. “You’re getting a bit cocky for my liking, Acolyte.”

She pulled her small control panel onto her lap, and while I did the same, I did it for show. Over the summer I had honed my ability to remote access Tuko’s systems, which allowed me to operate him without additional machina—like a co...

Bastion 2 (new) - Chapter 2

Freezing water swirled around my legs as I dropped, waist deep a meter from the shore. I shivered, reversing the munje flow through my feet to heat the water instead. The current pulled me along, but I sent a reserve of zo to my arms and legs to paddle to the other side.

I dragged myself onto the shore with the help of some dangling roots a few meters from the path. I pulled my bag around and leaned against a tree.

“Ahem,” Mae cleared her throat with that tone.

...

Bastion 2 (new) - Chapter 3

I woke to the gentle chime of my automatic alarm and blinked away the crust in my eyes. I sat back in my lumpy little bed and rubbed a hand over my face. Daegon and Do-hwan, my twin brothers, were sound asleep on the bunk they were quickly outgrowing.

Daegon seemed to have shot up like a bamboo plant over the summer, and he was now almost up to my nose. I had also grown several centimeters over the summer, so it was a feat that he’d changed so much. Do-hwan said he wasn’t bothered b...

Bastion 2 (new) - Chapter 4

We raced through the muddy streets, Daegon taunting me every so often as I let him get ahead. He was going to blow out his entire store of energy like this, and while the pragmatist in me wanted to remind him to save his strength for when he may need it, the brother in me new to stifle it. He was a just a boy playing with his brother. These moments were too few and precious to bog them down with a scolding. I would just have to buy him something to eat when we got to Pi-Ki to make up for it.<...

Bastion 2 (new) - Chapter 5

Fear overtook all thought, and I dropped the sacks of rice where I stood. I rushed to the door and threw it open to hear Daegon screaming, “Stop, get off!” Daegon was beating his fists against a man in a tattered gray cloak on the front of the motorbike.

I rushed down the street toward them, yelling for Daegon, Se-hun, or anyone to help as the bike sped off toward the outskirts of town.

“Stop that thief!” I heard a gruff man shout far behind me as I pumped zo into my legs ...

Bastion 2 - Chapter 5

Fear overtook all thought, and I dropped the sacks of rice where I stood. I rushed to the door and threw it open to hear Daegon screaming, “Stop, get off!” Daegon was beating his fists against a man in a tattered gray cloak on the front of the motorbike.

I rushed down the street toward them, yelling for Daegon, Se-hun, or anyone to help as the bike sped off toward the outskirts of town.

“Stop that thief!” I heard a gruff man shout far behind me as I pumped zo into my legs ...

Thirsty Thursday Thoughts

*burp* Henlo my dudes. I am stuffed. I've got my Viking horn full of wine, and I'm ready to DISH the deets. Sorry, bad puns abound.

Bastion 2

BOOM. Alpha docs have been released to the alpha readers. Of course, I've been cleaning up some of the prose to get the style a little tighter, but it's definitely in the state I want it to be read. I know you guys are already getting chapters... so I'm going to stop and delete all of those this weekend so you can get the ho...

Bastion 2 - Chapter 4

(HAPPY FAMILY AND GLUTTONY DAY!)

We raced through the muddy streets, Daegon taunting me every so often as I let him get ahead. He was going to blow out his entire store of energy like this, and while the pragmatist in me wanted to remind him to save his strength for when he may need it, the brother in me new to stifle it. He was a just a boy playing with his brother. These moments were too few and precious to bog them down with a scolding. I would just have to buy him s...

Bastion Academy Book 2 - Chapter 3

I woke to the gentle chime of my automatic alarm and blinked away the crust in my eyes. I sat back in my lumpy little bed and rubbed a hand over my face. Daegon and Do-hwan, my twin brothers, were sound asleep on the bunk they were quickly outgrowing.

Daegon seemed to have shot up like a bamboo plant over the summer, and he was now almost up to my nose. I had also grown several centimeters over the summer, so it was a feat that he’d changed so much. Do-hwan did not seem outwardly both...

Bastion Academy Book 2 - Chapter 2

Freezing water swirled around my legs as I dropped to nearly waist deep a meter from the shore. I shivered, reversing the munje flow through my feet to heat the water instead. The current pulled me along, but I sent a reserve of zo to my arms and legs to paddle to the other side.

I dragged myself onto the shore with the help of some dangling roots a few meters from the path. I pulled my bag around and leaned against a tree.

“Ahem,” Mae cleared her throat with that tone. 2020-11-24 16:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post