Almost there.
Also, hey, if you need other stories to read while you're waiting for me to drive this story off the cliff? Go check out The Roads Unseen. It's on RoyalRoad, it's written by someone I know, and it's pretty fun fantasy that has a lot of the same style of humor that I tend to like. Or, if you want some big smart sci-fi adventure, check out Cosmosis : Above the Sky. It's *not* written by someone I know, but I wish it was, because it's really cool.
<...
2021-08-14 08:13:45 +0000 UTC
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“I dreamt like a war machine // and woke like a child.” -Lo Kwa Mei-en, Arial-
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The girl who’d been with Alanna was named Katie. Ragged blonde hair, a razor thin nose, and a layer of dirt that had given way to reveal a series of scrapes and scratches after she’d taken a half hour in the shower. She was, after getting over being timid, honestly kind of a rude person. Older than James had initially assessed, too.
She was one of three peo...
2021-08-06 22:23:38 +0000 UTC
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I lied about taking this week off. I felt like I might have needed it, but then I started writing, and felt pretty good. So, if my mental health holds, we'll just stay on our normal schedule. Oh, also this one's early, so enjoy that extra bonus.
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“What if every living soul could be upright and strong? Well then I do imagine, there would be, sorrow, no more.” - Bad Religion, Sorrow -
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The first word James attempted to...
2021-07-29 21:55:08 +0000 UTC
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I will be taking a break next week for mental health reasons. No need to worry, just need a slight reprieve.
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“War isn’t hell. War is war, and hell is hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse. For one thing, there are no innocent bystanders in hell.” - Hawkeye Pierce, MASH -
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“Why aren’t you more worried about this!?” Jeanne was yelling at James. Currently, instead of being worried about anything, he had prop...
2021-07-24 07:10:22 +0000 UTC
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Nothing special to say this week.
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“To quote a great sage, ‘Answer unclear. Try again later’” -A. Lee Martinez, Helen and Troy’s Epic Road Quest-
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“Not even a little okay with that thing being out here.” James was shaking his head as they drove the winding wooded road back toward the lights of the city. “I know I said this whole place felt dungeon-y, but if the actual life is coming out? That’s just danger...
2021-07-18 00:00:33 +0000 UTC
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Road trip!
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“I‘m not in denial, I’m just selective about the reality I accept” -Bill Watterson-
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The contrast between the roadways of the Midwest and the alien landscape of Route Predation were just as stark the second time as on James’ first excursion here.
Twin suns hung overhead, having shifted only slightly from their previous positions, pulling apart from each other and drifting toward opposing horizons. If yesterd...
2021-07-10 06:56:56 +0000 UTC
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I dunno if I wanna write narrative anymore. I think I want to go back to just writing emails and documentation. Is this how campaign settings get started?
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“Those who play with the devil’s toys shall be brought by degrees to wield his sword.” -Buckminster Fuller-
James woke up, and didn’t remember any of his dreams, which was a surprise and a blessing.
He’d woken Anesh up instantly, after making the connection. And they’d dis...
2021-07-03 15:46:02 +0000 UTC
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Okay, yes, I know we left on a cliffhanger. But I needed to take it a little easy this week, so here's something that's not exactly plot.
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“We were all in it together, though. Every stranger you ever met, they were fighting the very same fight you were. Of course, you didn't talk about it with them, but all of us saw that terror, the terror any mortal person has. That terror wasn't natural. No other creature in the universe woke up every morning knowing it was gua...
2021-06-25 10:55:51 +0000 UTC
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Middle length today!
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"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." - John Lennon -
Reality was still dark as they drove out into it, despite having spent well over twelve hours in the dungeon.
Once again, they parked by the side of the road, this time after James narrowly avoided hitting an innocent skunk. The three of them stretching out after the long trip, James and Anesh stripping off armor plates they’d been wearing for...
2021-06-19 03:37:17 +0000 UTC
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You know, the road dungeon was, like, the first one I brainstormed after the Office? It's actually been hinted at existing since before they even met El, and it's one I thought would be one of my favorites. And now that we're *here*, well past when I expected to have gotten around to it, I find that I don't really know how to write it. It's like I'm writing a different story entirely, and it feels... weird, I guess. Awkward.
Anyway, here's a chapter.
_____<...
2021-06-11 23:42:23 +0000 UTC
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I haven't slept more than six hours in the last three days, and I dislike this a lot. I thought getting vaccinated was supposed to give side effects that made you feel like you had the flu. I want to feel like I had the flu! I didn't sign up for insomnia, *again*.
Anyway enjoy the chapter.
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“Women and men; soldiers and outlaws; fools and corpses. All will find their way to us now that the road is clear.” -The Narrator, Darkest Dungeon-
2021-06-05 12:58:06 +0000 UTC
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I'm really not happy with this chapter, and I can't put my finger on *why*. It does the job I need it to of advancing time and showing a few small things that are actually important. But I fear it drags on a little. Maybe I'm just overthinking it, I dunno. I'll feel better next week about next chapter.
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“He died as he lived. Not dying of poison.” - Blue, History Hijinks - Failed Assassinations -
Nate met up with Myles at the ai...
2021-05-29 08:56:34 +0000 UTC
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I am very tired.
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If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery -
“Do we have everything?” Anesh asked, for the eight time.
“For the tenth time,” James lied, “yes, we have everything. Probably.” He rolled his shoulder, loosening up the muscle as he looked at the loaded trunk of thei...
2021-05-22 00:31:57 +0000 UTC
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This ended up being longer than I expected. Al
2021-05-08 23:35:21 +0000 UTC
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Go vote for your favorite dungeon idea. Voting closes Sunday. I'm harvesting ideas from all of you, like some kind of combine machine but for nerd thoughts.
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“They say ‘a lie can get around the world before the truth has got its boots on’. Well, now the truth has its boots, and it is time to start kicking.” -The Truth, Terry Pratchett-
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“Okay, so, the important thing to take away from all this” James was saying to t...
2021-04-30 11:52:28 +0000 UTC
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I know I said I might take this week off. But
2021-04-24 05:33:25 +0000 UTC
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I may need to take next week off, but I don't want to say that out loud in case I can manage to *not* take next week off. Further bulletins as events warrant.
Also, I've aged up! Yesterday was my birthday, and I am now slightly older than I was previously. Incremental growth!
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“Look upward, and share the wonders I’ve seen.” -John Chriton, Farscape-
James walked through the doors of Officium Mundi like he was puppeting h...
2021-04-18 03:10:12 +0000 UTC
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"Normal" is an illusion.
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“We’re all the time confined to fit the mold. But I won’t ever let them make, a loser of my soul.” - Metric, Synthetica -
It was a matter of scale.
James could understand the scope of the problem when it was just him, easily. He needed to pay rent, and eat. He existed inside systems that were orders of magnitude larger than himself, and nothing he could do as an individual was going to disrupt thos...
2021-04-10 20:23:24 +0000 UTC
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The perk of having worked really hard the last couple of weeks is that depression no longer slows down release schedules. Which, in a neat twist, takes a lot of pressure off me, and makes it easier to break out of a depressive spiral and go back to writing.
I should have tried this years ago!
Anyway, here's a chapter. I'm not sure if it's exactly what I was going for, so I'd really appreciate seeing people's reactions to this one in particular.
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2021-04-03 14:59:00 +0000 UTC
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Short chapter next week. Seriously, this time.
2021-03-27 02:13:17 +0000 UTC
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Early chapter this week for you guys, because I am mildly busy tomorrow, and mildly impatient right now.
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“You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” - A. A. Milne -
“There’s a wikipedia dungeon!?” Momo burst into the kitchen like a purple and black tornado. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?!” She demanded.
James glanced up from where he was taking the rind off a cantaloupe, helping N...
2021-03-19 23:26:38 +0000 UTC
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I lied last week. Long chapter this week. Sho
2021-03-13 03:29:49 +0000 UTC
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Long chapter this week. Short chapter next wee
2021-03-06 19:48:09 +0000 UTC
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And we're back!
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“So what does a perfect person do with unlimited strength? They get better. And they get stronger.” - Matt, Superman and the Utility Of Strength -
Morgan woke up in an actual bed, for the first time in a week. And despite the perfect warm embrace of the worn brown cloth comforter that he was wrapped in, he sat bolt upright as soon as his eyes opened. Hair that was a little too long tangling around his neck and ...
2021-02-28 02:11:19 +0000 UTC
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I am going to probably take next week off, to recover a bit. I might try writing something, or I might just lay in bed for a whole day reading blog posts about goats or something. Either way, I need to reset my brain a bit.
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“Down these mean streets must go a man, who is not himself mean. Who is neither tarnished, nor afraid. He is the hero; he is everything.” - Raymond Chandler -
“Nate!” James called out as he entered the ...
2021-02-15 01:51:07 +0000 UTC
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The Shandification of my work begins.
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“Each meeting occurs at the precise moment for which it was meant. Usually, when it will have the greatest impact on our lives.”
-Nadia Scrieva, Fathoms of Forgiveness-
Every two weeks, there was a meeting.
The Order of Endless Rooms had, more than a little bit, an anarchistic structure. People did what they thought was important, worked with who they trusted, and didn’t really follow any f...
2021-02-07 00:27:53 +0000 UTC
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Sorry for being a day late. My eternal bout of single combat with depression continues.
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“A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it.” - Agent Kay -
“Ughh.” James let out the noise as he lay half-sprawled across the desk. It looked like a chaotic gesture, but in reality, he’d flopped quite gently to avoid spilling the host of manilla folders that currently cluttered the space. He’d also taken...
2021-01-31 20:35:35 +0000 UTC
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I imagine that if you told start-of-the-story me that he would eventually be disappointed for 'only' writing seven thousand words, he would roll his eyes at you. But here we are.
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“This is the dream of small minds: a gentle place ringed in spears. But I do not think those spears will hold against the queen of the country of armies. And that is all that will matter in the end. “ - Toland the Shattered -
The tower at the entrance to Officium Mundi...
2021-01-24 05:47:52 +0000 UTC
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Back in the thick of things!
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“The strong do what they will. The weak suffer what they must.”
- Thucydides -
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Once upon a time, James had dreaded high school.
If this came as a shock to anyone he knew, he’d been exceptionally surprised. Some of his current friends had even been with him through the experience, and they almost universally agreed it hadn’t been great.
‘Almost’, because JP was an eternal outliner in any po...
2021-01-17 06:43:15 +0000 UTC
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I am not a hundred percent, but I am not dead. Let's get this started.
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“Arm yourself, because no one else here will save you.”
Chris Cornell - You Know My Name
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James hated this building, right now.
The not-so-young-anymore man sat in his car, outside a three story white house in the middle of the Beaverton suburbs. The front yard, instead of a lawn, was a brick terrace and small garden. A basketball hoop sat in the driveway ne...
2021-01-10 00:32:46 +0000 UTC
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