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Life as a Werewolf

In the normal course of events, this is the sort of discussion one has with people. I don’t have people, so you, my vast internet audience, will just have to do. I’m not sure where I want my werewolf series to go. I know the beginning. I know the thousands-of-years-later state, which is not really…

by Mark

Learning 2 Write – XIII

Explicit Time I’ve already decided that chapters are going to be my unit of story/plot/logical time. My goal is to have each chapter be approximately the same page count, which is right now about six 8.5×11 pages, and cover approximately the same amount of story/plot, which is right now about one level. It’s nothing as…

by Mark

First Strawberry

Of course it’s the first blossom, not the first strawberry. It’s still mid-April. That’s one that escaped the original bed. I hope to have this bed filled with them by fall, but for now it’s mostly peas.

by Mark

Predator in the Garden

It’s not my first rodeo. The plastic containers on the left don’t have anything planted in them. They are there to give the cat something to knock over. The rightmost two columns are both peppers (Thai Hot and Poblano). I’m hoping they just have a longer germination time. The seed is quite old (at least…

by Mark

History Repeating

First off, I just love the song. It’s not actually repeating. It’s definitely rhyming. This should be familiar: When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands that have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal…

by Mark

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 worrying…

by Mark

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’s…

by Mark

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,…

by Mark

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 overcomes…

by Mark

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 growing…

by Mark

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