Mark – Marked Up

Dungeons

What is a dungeon? From a utilitarian perspective: A training ground. One can run about in the real world killing things (monsters, humans, random animals), but there are consequences. Even systemized worlds need ecosystems. If people wander around killing everything, the ecosystem will collapse. Dungeons are for training. One can kill everything inside without worryingContinue reading “Dungeons”

Enlightened, Monsters, and Animals

I’m not a big fan of the term “enlightened races”, but it exists and it’s convenient, so I’m adopting it. This refers to those races who naturally (without system fuckery) form societies. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Aliens, etc… This is not quite synonymous with “sapient”. Leaving aside the offspring question (i.e. are human babies sapient? It’sContinue reading “Enlightened, Monsters, and Animals”

How Does Magic Work?

This comes up in the context of a fight scene in Industrial Mage. Our intrepid hero casts a tornado-ish air shield around himself and it moves with him. Instead of a fireball, he creates a fire-whip, which behaves mostly like an actual whip. He casts water bullets at the bad spider creature, targeting the joints,Continue reading “How Does Magic Work?”

Learning 2 Write – XII

Scope Continuing the post on Endings – the irony of which does not escape me – I had a thought: It’s not (usually) that I get tired of a series, it’s that the series changes out from under me. Many stories (not just LitRPG) start with the struggles of our intrepid hero. As he overcomesContinue reading “Learning 2 Write – XII”

Garden Started

I planted seeds, yesterday/Sunday. Inside, of course. It’s 20 degrees with snow on the ground, outside. Adventure Cat refuses to go out. I’m surprised at how little I start inside. Peppers, tomatoes, brussel sprouts, and broccoli are pretty much it. Everything else (squash, melons, cucumbers, corn, peas, and beans) starts outside. I have herbs growingContinue reading “Garden Started”

Learning 2 Write – XI

Titles It occurs to me that I need both series and book titles. I have only one criterion: Book Title + Series Title + book number MUST be readable. Browsing through my Kindle for examples… Jack of All: LitRPG, Isekai, Survival Adventure (Book 1) fails in two ways. If one is looking at multiple books,Continue reading “Learning 2 Write – XI”

Learning 2 Write – X

Endings I just finished Ithria Book 15. It ended as I feared: Cliff-hanger. Sort-of. There’s enough said that there is no doubt whatsoever about what will happen (the bad guys are going to get their ass severely kicked), but the actual happening will be in book 16. This is more a case of “the lastContinue reading “Learning 2 Write – X”

Chicken Curry

First, I am well aware that “curry” is not a single thing. It’s more of a genre. Despite that, I’ve mostly used curry powder when making curry. I haven’t been pleased with the results. Since it was handy, I looked up “chicken curry” in The Joy of Cooking. It uses a Thai curry paste, forContinue reading “Chicken Curry”

Learning 2 Write – IX

Paragraphs Already at nine? I see VIII, but I don’t see VII. Anyway… I’m reading Book V of Matter Destructor. It has very (very, very) short paragraphs. For example: When Hunter said it, the noise didn’t just dip. It died. Like someone had cut a cord. Heads snapped toward him in a wave, and forContinue reading “Learning 2 Write – IX”

Cheddar

I’ve pretty much given up on every other sort of cheese – unless it needs to be melted; cheddar doesn’t melt well – and settled on cheddar as the type to have on hand. When I write “cheddar” on the grocery list, I mean a block of not-expensive cheddar that I can slice for sandwiches,Continue reading “Cheddar”