InterNutter

Challenge #01732-D271: Ageing Ungracefully

Still, working on their manners ... I don't know if there are any etiquette schools around known space who take enrollments from intelligent battleships. -- RecklessPrudence

Humans love war. It is a well-known fact. In their early history, they would war with opposing factions of humans, different coloured humans, and, in a large swathe of history covering the pre-Shattering period, nouns. They don't often talk about the war they lost against emus, though.

Given their love of war, it was no surprise that the first vessels of the United Fellowship of Terran planets were battleships. They took every advancement they had ever made in their numerous battlefields and figured out how to bring that weaponry with them into space. It must have been quite a shock when the Hungry Caterpillar and other devices rendered battle obsolete. Humanity sulked for a decade or three, but they never got rid of their battleships. They'd show them off to other warlike civilisations and make displays of strength with them, but they didn't recommission them at all. It took Galactic Society some years to find out why.

At least one of them is alive.

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Hard slog

Poor Beloved is flagging. I can tell their personal batteries are running low because work/play imbalance and a lack of affectionate contact. All of this should be over by maybe Wednesday next week. The launch is this Wednesday, and the mad scramble to fix any gaps in the programming happen for a week after that.

After then, my love may finally have some time to spend in relaxation and family snuggles and just... recharging.

I might finally be able to shift

Challenge #01731-D270: They Call it Dragoncote

Why do dragons hoard wealth and guard it so jealously? Because for dragons, much like for kings, money is power.

With kings, such a phrase lies more in the metaphor of capitalism, but for dragons it is taken much more literally - the greater the amount of gold and jewels and other treasures a dragon can amass and claim as their own, the more magically potent and physically larger they become, and likewise the less riches they possess, the smaller and weaker

Summer's here

Usually, I take two prerequisites before announcing the arrival of Summer: Dead snake on the road, and somewhere visibly on fire. But this time? I'll accept being smacked in the face with the heat as soon as you step outside.

And speaking of smacks in the face... Went to all the trouble and through the last of my budget to provide my darlings with a different dinner. To whit: Trout and vegetable medley with hollandaise sauce. I usually knock it out of

Challenge #01730-D269: Comeback

Deep fried Mars Bar. The dreaded chip buttie (fries on a buttered bun), Floater (Aussie effort: Meat pie floating in pea soup). -- KnitNan

"I've been everywhere," said Shayde, mis-estimating the size of the station by cubic klicks[1]. "Nobody around even knows what fries are an' I'm gaggin' fer a chip buttie."

Nik, overhearing this complaint to the universe at large, gestured her to come closer to his cooking station. "Tell me about these things you call 'fries' and the... chip

But I don' _wanna_...

We need...

We need a decent dinner. We need cream because we're running out. We need snackables for the kids' lunchboxes. We need to find a local source of good eggs that won't break the bank because trundling to North Lakes every third day to get them is going to drain my budget faster than anything else.

Economically, I long for the days when we could just pop on over to the Golden Circle factory outlet and just get boxes of whatever

Challenge #01729-D268: Swap Met

The Amalgam equivalent of the combined Swap Meet and Car Boot Sale (of course there are no cars on Amalgam - tow trolleys?). -- Anon Guest

They were called Swap Shops, and they were scattered randomly. They tended to crop up in poorer areas and public service zones. It was where those who had the time to spare on pet projects dropped those projects off to exchange with whatever they desired. Edibles were kept in Stasis Lockers. Everything else was placed wherever

Scrape, scrape, scrape...

This is not the first time that I've had to scrape and scrimp to get things together. This is, however, the first time I've been trying to save for a new computer out of my own earnings and savings.

We've made half a cow's worth of meat last for most of this year, and that's fabulous. Now we're out of everything but soup bones... affording another half a cow is out of my budget and might be out of Beloved's for some

Challenge #01728-D267: 'Tis But a Scratch

"So, you're telling me that even if a human tried to kill himself by stabbing his head, he could be perfectly fine if the blade goes between the hemispheres of the brain without damaging anything ?"

"Yup, and I didn't talk about Phineas Gage, who got a large iron rod through the head and survived without some part of his brain, or the war veteran who survived a bullet through the heart. Even if we don't have exoskeleton, we are pretty resilient. This

Hocus pocus...

...I need to focus.

No lie, I actually chant that to myself when I find myself wibbling off into lala land. Depending on the day I'm having, it can be effective for maybe twenty minutes.

I don't have ADD or ADHD, I just... can't focus sometimes.

I don't know what the hell that's about, but isn't ADD. I know I have the OCD comorbs because hoarding is a problem I have to fight.

And I need to focus, today, because today is

Challenge #01727-D266: Special Needs

The concept is fairly vanilla. Not so very long ago historically, say a generation or three, people started occasionally randomly developing superhuman abilities. But the twist was that it was in a world with no assumed behavior of putting on tights and fighting crime. So for the most part, powers are more of an embarrassing social condition, roughly between genital herpes and Tourette's Syndrome, depending on the ability in question.

But who is to say a new ability will automatically be cool?

All together again

Miss Chaos returned home, last night, and to celebrate - we had fish and chips. Well. The little darlings had fish and chips. Beloved and I simply had grilled fish with a healthy dollop of Aoli.

Today, it's back to stew and whatever I can afford until such time as we get another influx of protein. And I have to rattle on up to the health shops to get some actual eggs.

I know. You're thinking, "As opposed to... plastic eggs?"

For

Challenge #01726-D265: One Natural Twenty

"I'm gonna need you to punch me in the face."

"Sure thing!"

"I'm a little worried that you didn't ask for a reason..." -- OohLookShiny

"There has to be a reason?" said Magnus. "I mean, I like punching and fighting and stuff..."

"Yes," said Taako. "That is true. But listen. We're friends. You should at least pretend that it's some kind of moral quandary for you."

Magnus clearly did not understand. "How's that?"

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Prompts remaining: 17

Of Mice and Me

This is not just a household rodent problem, though we do have one. I've spotted a minimum of one wee sleekit timorous beastie scuttling between hiding places and I plan to do something about it when I have money again.

Yesterday, I had plans to go and fetch my youngest from Scenic Coominya. Beloved had taken a day off and everything. Alas, Capt S had other plans that involved KIABIL and today. So we were told not to come at all.

I'd

Challenge #01725-D264: Blind Spot

"You can't just get lucky and expect everyone to treat you like an expert!"

"Why not? That's what you did?" -- Anon Guest

Ambassador Shayde glared at the junior aide. "I'm no' merely lucky," she said. "I got into the Ambassador gig by pure accident. Fer all that's happened, I could'a well had a knowledge base that missed everythin' the Archivaas ever had. I could'a been dismissed as a dangerous fraud if I'd never met th' Consortium o' Steam or no' known

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Indie writer seeks audience with an audience. Paying customers welcome. [pronouns: ze/hir] Daily free stories happen because it is an excellent counter to Writers' Block.

Challenge #01732-D271: Ageing Ungracefully

Hard slog

Challenge #01731-D270: They Call it Dragoncote

Summer's here

Challenge #01730-D269: Comeback

But I don' _wanna_...

Challenge #01729-D268: Swap Met

Scrape, scrape, scrape...

Challenge #01728-D267: 'Tis But a Scratch

Hocus pocus...

Challenge #01727-D266: Special Needs

All together again

Challenge #01726-D265: One Natural Twenty

Of Mice and Me

Challenge #01725-D264: Blind Spot