Quote by Mendalla
Not sure if I will make it all way through QC or not. It's long (started in 2003 and still producing new strips).

Ugh, he's starting to get into a glut of characters. Some of the new ones I like, but it's getting hard to keep track of who is involved with whom. I mean, I guess that's closer to real life where people come and go but wow. And now it is becoming clear this is a post-Singularity version of twenty-first century society, with the AI characters becoming more and more integrated with the human ones. Which is cool, but expands the pool of characters even faster. Human-AI dating and sex seems likely to happen at some point now. We already had an AI space station wine and dine a main character (yes, there was a series of strips that take place in orbit).

(Um, what? "Then" wasn't Elizabeth's last word? Oh well, I'll just run with it.)

Be at peace, my friends.

Fine - Fire (ouch, that's hot)

Good morning!

For those awaiting big events, for those anticipating new life and new joys, for those enjoying the holiday in whatever way, welcome to Inspirations!

Coffee is ready to liven you up this fine (well, not here but it must be fine somewhere) morning. There's Irish Breakfast and Earl Grey in the teapots. If it's hot or muggy where you are, there's iced tea and sodas in the fridge. And, of course, there's always the marvellous cookie jars filled to the tippy-top by our friend Sara.

Hope all is well with you.

And again, Welcome!

Read the second Tana story. It opens with a birth. Maybe that will be a good omen. 😇

Good morning! Coffee is brewed. Teas are Red Rose and Cream of Earl Grey. Iced tea is cold and in the fridge.

Might try to actually write today. Didn't sleep the greatest, though. My obsession with the webcomic Questionable Comic is getting out of hand. I stayed up well past 10:30, my usual sack-out time, reading.

Quote by JamesPBear

I'm going to try to drop a new story that's been sitting in my file for a while. It was my entry to a public fiction-writing competition sponsored by The Toronto Star. (Hint: I didn't win the $5,000 prize). Maybe when I review it, I'll see why I didn't win??

That's a fairly old comp,. isn't it? I think I looked at entering when I was in university. I don't read the Star these days so kind of forgot about it.

Quote by redwriter

Sadly another story lies here, lonely and dying--anyway, it was fun writing it.

This place is rather quiet, eh. I see a few I want to read and my writing has sputtered to a halt again, even with the new story mostly plotted out. Maybe I will squeeze in some reading. I see Kat has returned with a new piece and you've got a couple up. Only seven stories posted in the month of August, though, which is not encouraging.

Coffee and hot tea are ready for your consumption. I've put a fresh pitcher of iced in the fridge.

Getting a (hopefully) last gasp of summer here. We shall see.

Twinge can become an ache.

Mine - Wine (hic)

Quote by verbal
I think our plan this weekend involve buying a Lego Central Perk (from Friends) and building it. I'm psyched!

Meh. I would rather hang out in Coffee of Doom from the webcomic Questionable Content. Friends never clicked with me for some reason and I stopped watching after a season or two.

More metal. Power metal veterans Blind Guardian dropped album #12 today (they've been in business since 1984). This single/video also came out today.

Ape walks in banging his head. New metal today from a band I got into earlier this year. Will post something in the music thread.

Coffee is hot and ready. Irish Breakfast and Earl Grey teas are steeping. Iced tea is in the fridge. Sodas are stocked.

Long weekend hereabouts. Have a good one!!

Vice - Mice (would rather have vices than mices)

Yet, it bothers some folks.

Quote by redwriter

Welcome to the club, Scott, but I wish I had the patience to list all the character names etc. as you do.

Oh, I usually don't. Often just start writing and let things happen. But this is the "Tana universe" which I am trying to document now since I value consistency in my secondary world fantasy. And it's a bit more complex than the Chronicles since I have a group of three protagonists (with one as a focal point) instead of just one person who gets most of the screen time.

And the second track from the album, which leans in more on a prog-ish sound.

They call Soilwork "melodic death metal" but I find they shade over into prog metal at times. A nice mix of both harsh and clean vocals, mostly from the same guy, Bjorn Strid though there are some guest vocalists. This is the title track from their latest, release a couple weeks ago.

Coffee is brewed and ready. Teas are Assam and Lemon. Iced tea is ready and in the fridge if you need a cold bevvie.

Got a lot of the thinking for the new story done. Made lots of notes in my OneNote writer's book (needed to make sure I keep things like names and words consistent as I write a series like this will be). Now just need to actually get some words down on "paper" (or what passes for it in the 21st century).

Quote by DenimAngel
This part time job is gonna be like herding cats since the girl who was suppose to help quit without a warning or anything.

Hate it when that happens. We once got a new accounting employee all setup prior to their first day and they didn't even show up.

Good afternoon. Sorry I'm running late. Thanks for getting the coffee going, Jeff. I'll put on a pot of green tea.

Mostly making notes about the new story right now though I've written an opening scene. Still sorting out the characters and relationships, but I'm thinking this may be more of an ensemble cast of three characters rather than a single protagonist like I had with Tana. Right now, it's a priestess of the Denith Lorn (the religious group mentioned in the Tana stories), a novice priestess, and their companion/bodyguard from the faith's lay order. Might shoot for a lighter tone, too, though there's also some spooky goings-on that could nudge it into horror-dark fantasy territory.

Concept is the big picture.

Mild - Milk (shake or weed)

Quote by AnnaMayZing
, I was an engineer on fast jets, namely the McDonald Douglas F4 Phantom II

Okay, you get serious cool points for this. I love the F4.😊

Unfortunately, I am not always so fortunate.

You can't get everything perfect.

Wind - Wild (because we apes are hard to tame 😜)

Good morning, StoriesSpace! How's things? Kind of a grey day here but I am stuck in the office with no outside view anyhow so who cares what it is like outside.

Coffee is a fine Blue Mountain, teas are English Breakfast and Lemon. Iced tea is replenished and soda stocks checked.

Have a nice one!

Quote by verbal
Bummed about the Artemis mission being scrubbed. My thoughts on Mr. Mush aside, I was very psyched to see us go to the moon. I hope they are able to lift off soon.

Artemis has nothing to do with Musk. The SLS, the booster for Artemis, is a purely NASA launch vehicle and has a lot of space shuttle DNA in it (e.g. the solid rocket motors are ones actually used on shuttle flights). Though I suspect that given the glacial pace that development of the SLS has taken, Musk might still beat them.

Coffee is brewing and there's some Irish Breakfast and Earl Grey in the teapots. Iced tea is refreshed as are stock of lemon and sugar for those what like to flavour their tea.

Keep jotting down notes for a sequel to The Chronicle of Tana but haven't got things fleshed out yet. It'll be a "next generation" story set two or even three decades down the line with Tana's daughter (mild spoiler for where Tana is at in life as of the end of the Chronicles) as the main protagonist.

Another classic from that era. This song made it onto my mental soundtrack for The Healer's Secret, playing as Tana watches her father's army and sword crumble to dust. Again, this is one where I lean into the Tarja version, though current lead singer Floor Jansen sings it beautifully as well.