Earring Tales: Dragonfly Dreams

Okay, now you guys get to see the earrings that gave me such a headache….

Worldbuilding: To Zom, or Not To Zom, Be

Zpoc this, end of the world that… why can’t we just have a good old-fashioned Undead Horde arising, terrifying the living because it’s an army that can’t be normally killed, instead of an existential threat to Life As We Know It?

No, seriously, why not?

On Crafts, and Playing the Bugle Badly

Okay, 3mm bugle beads are very very annoying.

Ahem. This may take a bit more explanation….

On Characters: Building Mastery

So, your Hero has a tragic past, isolating him from others, and has achieved unheard-of pinnacles of skill that set him even more apart-!

This is actually more Truth in Television than most people realize.

Worldbuilding: The Quest for Pizza

No matter where in time and space you are, foods that taste like home make life so much better. There are a lot of American comfort foods that might be replicable in 1600s Northeast Asia, if you knew what you were doing. Off the top of my head, some classics include: apple pie, mac and cheese, jambalaya, spaghetti, hamburgers and French fries, and pizza.

Colors of Another Sky Ficbit – Rosetta… Plank

The girl stared back, tears tracking down through bits of mud on her face. She took a breath, nail moving back to scrape at wood with sheer determination, to poke and pry….

No, no, that board’s not big enough, you shouldn’t take it until you can get out!

A Few Stray Stabby Thoughts

The jianghu is considered a lawless place, and I have to say that makes sense. Just think about the headaches of the poor magistrate trying to decide whether or not to let any of these wandering heroes loose on society again. Anqi (hidden/concealed weapons, usually projectiles) make a lot of these guys walking hazards. Sure, they saved the town from the bandits this time, but….

Earring Tales: Cherry Blossom Festival

I wanted a touch more color this time.

Worldbuilding: People Like Us

I was watching an episode of Unfettered Shogun, many of whose episodes can be found here on Archive.org. And it struck me how many tropes we think of as modern were here in 1700s guise. Traveling entertainers who are actually seeking information on the whereabouts of someone who “mysteriously disappeared”. Said lost at sea guys actually being the kidnapped experts who created the Secret Formula! (How to make expensive white sugar from local brown sugar.) A dogged investigator tracking down details that indicate Foul Play has occurred. There was even a case of “impersonate the chauffeur”; a ninja knocked out a boatman and took over poling so he could listen in on the Evil Plotting.

On Writing: Bits of Joy

Jason on finding out he’s back in a Little Ice Age: Everything is Not Okay, and we’re going to have to struggle to survive, and I am not looking forward to any of it.

Also Jason, on seeing Chae’s library: …I am camping here and never leaving.