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The Daily Spell

I stumbled across this well-spell-crafted game whilst wondering around itch.io: The Daily Spell, a story about a sudden surge in magical beast manifestations in a fantasy city, told through daily word puzzles that resolve into the headlines of brief newspaper articles that advance the story. Quite delightful and very well done.

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All that I cannot give you

A comfort you’ve known
or a simple night-sound
(to which you’ve grown accustomed)
The peculiar floor creaking
in rambling from room-to-room
and the plumbing that clamors
at night over a glass of water
There are so many things
I cannot give you, yet
there are a few in me
that I will always
(or want to -- at least)

Entry tags:

vacation

How about a Christmas tree under water?🐬.🎄

( Read more... ) Joyeux Noel et Bon Annee MMXXVI

as widely requested

This was the best of the gingerbread cuneiform. I put the good ones in the freezer to give to pals tomorrow at brunch and will eat the rest, or something. This is one of the maple syrup tables, which were lighter in colour and held the clarity slightly better. (More water, therefore harder texture? Not sure.)

I copied characters from Andrew George's excellent renderings of the tablets, as any photos I looked at were way too unclear. However, I freely skipped tricky characters or sections. Sîn-lēqi-unninni would be pissed.

ETA: Oh, I believe this text is taken from a fragment of the third tablet.

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Haunted by the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon

These things seem to appear everywhere: roadways, sidewalks, parking lots, parks, floors, playgrounds, creeks, stairwells, etc.

Being rather non eco-friendly, especially in terms of being a single-use plastic, they also apparently can be a major cause of gum damage. As my dentist put it, a user tends to "saw" into their gum line. Plus, since the string is rigid, it is difficult to properly work the floss around the tooth, especially at the base of each tooth.

Beyond all of this, I just can't imagine performing dental care in my car or while strolling down the street and then simply tossing said tools on the ground. Dental care just seems better done at home.

Now that you've read this, according to the aforementioned phenomenon, you will more than likely start seeing these dental picks everywhere (usually in a dull bluish-green color) as I do.

You're welcome.

Entry tags:

vacation

Ctenophora Is this even real?

Watch on YouTube

It might share ancestor with us, meaning we are from the same root although evolution has made us different species eh.

If Mary Anning Only Knew

He sells himself selfishly
down by the sea shore.

And in his embarassment
folds a hand gently yet
to inspire the delicate scent
of her lingering perfume
that has never been near
his own wrinkling hand.

How could it be that
wishing willy-nilly
has made it fugacious
like tide and sea-foam
yet persistent now
as the breaking waves.

The wind of wishing
but for weaknesses
in desperate whispers
of a hunger’s pang
or the siren’s song
by his own invention
and frantic invitation.

She sells sea shells.

Pseudologia Fantastica

In a twist of the wrist
or even a lemon
you may fabricate
your life as it sits
but it wouldn’t
be as striking
as what you are
or just that far
and how it fits

It seems we have all run into this in a few folks over the course of our years and this seems it really isn’t something meant to harm anyone but maybe more a mechanism of internal protection. It wholly reminds me that we are all weak in ways, and all need others whether we admit it or not.

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If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were.
From: Mediation XVII, John Donne, 1624

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Weird. (a game)

Hey, I posted my game! You can find it here.

Playtests welcome. It is a solo storytelling/journalling/story creation horror game. It uses a simplified version of solitaire to drive the story.

[ETA] From the writeup:

And yet the sun rises.

Weird. is a horror game about a flawed protagonist confronting their worst nightmares.

I, a troubled character, am alone on the longest night of the year.

You, a storyteller, use prompts and the inevitability of card order to tell a story for me, driven by fear and fate.

I am tormented by unfinished business, which, as you know, is a great way to become the target of supernatural forces.

Enjoy bringing about my nearly inevitable and almost certainly miserable end, but also maybe final moment of grace, redemption, or transformation, in Weird.

* * * * * *

Title-wise, I went with Weird, as an archaic synonym for fate, styled with a period: Weird.

I liked the suggestion of Patience quite a bit, but this isn't really a game about being patient. I'd want waiting, duration, something like that, in the mechanics somewhere. Actually, maybe I'll try to make such a game, since I still seem to have Game Fever. Maybe it's to play in waiting rooms.

As predicted, the game jam I made has not posted to the Itch calendar, so I am the only person who knows about it or has submitted anything. But I tried!

( Thoughts on the possibilities of this mechanic )

* * * * * *

Qua writing tool, I find the game a pretty decent method for creating something between a detailed outline and a rough story draft.

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Toys with Sharp Tabs

My mom used to buy things at a ”Swap Shop” in town. I never went to it with her, but I think it was held in the municipal building a few times a year and was some sort of mega-multi-person garage sale – way before the internet, Ebay, or Craigslist.

I remember a wood and leather burning set that was missing most of the specialty tips but did have a few leathers left. One in particular was circular and featured an American Indian printed in red ink. It was already half-traced with the burning iron. I imagined that some other kid must have gotten tired of burning it.

I also had a painted metal Gas Station/Parking Garage assembled and held together with little twisty metal tabs. It had a car elevator with a string winch that would allow you to bring the car up into the parking area and then send it back down to the first floor via a spiral ramp. It was missing a few pieces but had to be one of my favorite toys, ever. I wanted to go inside, use the pay phone, and smell how it smelled.

If the Consumer Product Safety Commission had existed then, I wonder if exposed heating elements, sharp edges or lead-based metal paint would have mattered.

(Repost) Atmospheric River

As we are once again fording the atmospheric river, here's the villanelle (!!) I wrote about the one in 2022:

(Climate Change Villanelle)
After an image by K.

Consider the atmospheric river
as a dragon, slithering through peri-
apocalyptic skies. The end is never

reached of all this rain. Its teeth of silver
gnaw the bones of men who refused boldly
to consider the atmospheric river

as a dragon, not just as the weather,
winning us the wages of false bravery:
apocalyptic skies. The end is never-

ending. Consider the dragon, glitter-
ing, greedy, cruel and wise; now carefully
consider the atmospheric river

as an alternative to the wither-
ing coils of smoke, wildfires' choking, hazy
apocalyptic skies. The end is never

quite what you expect or would prefer.
Drink if you wish, smoke up, get high, daily
consider the atmospheric river,
apocalyptic skies. The end is nigh.

Vital question re: Tablet XII is Canon patch

What is best?

1. A patch with just the text "Tablet XII is Canon"
2. A patch with this text and the shape of the broken tablet above or below it
3. A patch that's in the shape of the broken tablet with the text written on the tablet?

Font would be vaguely cuneiform-y but legible.

For aesthetics, so far as I can tell with very sketchy research the best Tablet XII fragment is shaped kind of like this:

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Entry tags:

Winter Solstice Haunting TTRPG Game Jam

Hey, I made a little game jam, mostly so that I had a jam whereat to submit my own game:

https://itch.io/jam/winter-solstice-haunting-ttrpg-jam

Make something and I'll try to round folks up to play it!

Sentience in Longing

Below what I know
wants to find its way
around your hips
simply by touching.

It could be your shoulder
leaning into mine,
or even how good you smell
in a quiet morning.

Where have we gone?

* * *

Watch on YouTube

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Frivolous question - solo horror game

I am nearing completion (fingers crossed) on a little winter solstice horror game that uses solitaire as its mechanic.

You will not be surprised to learn that this is is pretty much a solo journalling game with prompts. However, the solitaire mechanic does impose (I hope, anyway) a kind of melancholy fatalism.

I have been calling the game Solitary for obvious reasons, but of course there are many many many many games on Itch alone already called Solitairy. Any thoughts on an alternate title?

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