InterNutter

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.

Burpengary East http://www.cmweller.com 12542 posts

Cake-like Object, Experiment #1

Followers of this blog will know that I've been making this bread with added linseeds for my intestinal health. It works pretty well in my humble opinion, but it is something of a brick and nobody else in the family will touch it.

I had been pondering how to turn it into a cake-like object, but not doing much about it.

However, Chaos has been battling internal blockages and since she won't touch my bread, I had to get into making that cake-like object sooner rather than later.

To the original recipe, I added:

  • 1 punnet of "ugly" strawberries, blended into goo and mixed into the psyllium gel [And of course you take the leaves and stems off, doy]
  • 1 punnet of prettier strawberries, sliced up [I cut the strawberries in half, and then cut each half into quarters. Your methods may differ according to your strawberries]
  • 4 tablespoon equivalents of artificial sweetener [I mixed half-and-half Xylitol and Stevia]
  • an extra half teaspoon of baking soda
  • "enough" thickened cream to stop the mix pilling in the electric mixer. I'd guesstimate about 200 millilitres, because I had 2/3 remaining of a 600ml bottle

The results were:

[Image shows a muffin from a top-down view. It is browned and beautiful, and you can see strawberry pieces in the crust]

...edible, I guess. Beloved tried one and shared bits with the family.

It was nice and moist -yay- but was neither detectably strawberry flavoured nor detectably sweet. I'm pretty sure real cake recipes measure their sweeteners in cups and not spoons.

Might be improved with a cream cheese frosting. As soon as I work out how to do that without buttloads of icing sugar.

Next iteration is going to involve two punnets of 'ugly' strawberries. See if I can force some flavour into this beast. I'm trying to keep artificial ingredients out of this [apart from the fake sugar], but if I have to use strawberry flavour, I guess I have to. But doubling down on the strawberry goop seems like a good idea.

And now it's time to wait for the bus.

Challenge #01701-D240: Chosen by Disorder

"When chaos bears fruit, you eat first and think about the stomach ache later." -- RecklessPrudence

It was the only tree that grew sideways. Its leaves were purple. Its fruit was a shade of pink never seen in nature. But this... was not natural. This was a tree that grew in the Realm of Disorder. It stood still in the wind and waved when it was calm. And whenever it rained[1], it danced.

The Lord of Disorder held a Fruit Party

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Now What?

I've run out of one thing to share with my Patreons. And this happened because I'm too busy doing other shit to fanfic much. Alas.

This week, I'm going to run out of editing chapters to post. The last one will appear on my Patreon this Friday.

I don't think I'll ever run out of stalled fics, so there is that bright point. Maybe. It's getting trickier to pick them, though.

On the other hand, I've posted the first piece of music

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Challenge #01700-D237: Tougher Than You Think

So, havenworlders getting a look at this data? Alternatively, Galactic Citizens or Deathworlders from a lower category seeing one of our weak areas (like water requirements) and going "I can do better than that!"

(Same data, but with it in sane units) -- RecklessPrudence

Galactic Society shares some information for free. For example, information on what they deem to be dangerous species. Before the rediscovery of a colony world later named Amity, they shared gathered information on humans so that others could

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The struggle is real

I'm halfway through beta-reading KIABIL's novella. And to be frank about it, it needs a lot of work. I'm trying to be gentle about it in my notes for him, but...

This thing REALLY needs work.

I joke that I'm addicted to ellipses. Well, KIABIL freaking loves the humble comma. It's almost like every paragraph is a long and complicated sentence that is peppered with the things. But I'm only halfway through it. There could be improvement in the other half.

There's

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Challenge #01699-D236: Everything You Can

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt. -- c/- Anon Guest

Improvisation goes well with inspired desperation, so it's said. Having been marooned on more than my fair share of asteroids, I can say it's a definite thing. Many a time, my arse has been saved by the ability to bodge up a life-pod out of wreckage and whatever the asteroid was made of.

And there was one time that I got eaten by

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Bit off more than I can chew?

So my know-it-all brother-in-law, KIABIL for short, has written his first novella. Or at least, the first one that he's ready to share.

And for a first showing, I suppose, it is pretty good. The dude has a year of writing things under his belt. Meanwhile, I'm headed for year six of writing and nobody in my family wants to look at a single page of anything I produce.

Bitter? Of fucking course I am.

But now I'm obligated to read his.

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Challenge #01698-D237: One Thing in Common

So, about those Deathworlders and their group singing/memetic hazards? -- RecklessPrudence

There were hundreds of human colonial representatives. An even third was busy having a heated argument with a second third, while the rest attempted to argue the other two groups into submission. Any moment, now, blood would be drawn and these savage Deathworlders would fly into a frenzy.

Which would not be good news for the first Ambassadorial Meet that actually welcomed these bloodthirsty, balding apes.

One of the human's

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After the Keto is broken...

I can definitely feel the effects of breaking Keto. Not helped in the slightest by the fact that cake was available, yesterday.

For those of you who are interested:

  • More asthma
  • Less focus
  • Less energy
  • Seeking more carb sources like someone who's mildly addicted

I haven't been off Keto long enough for it to effect my overall emotional balance, but I bet it would. Tomorrow, I'm back on to the good stuff. Salty broth, eggs, and loads of healthy fats.

Though potentially

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Challenge #01697-D236: Monstrophilia

[about a six year old]

"You must admit, her enthusiasm [for horrible monstrosities of nature] is quite charming."

"You mispronounced 'alarming'." -- RecklessPrudence

Pari was six and freaking loved dinosaurs. There is something about the age of six that makes children magnetically attracted to dinosaurs, and nothing can be done about it. However, in Pari's case, she was obsessed with paleontology. She was not yet a strong reader, but learned to sound things out by pronouncing the greco-roman names of her favourite

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Slackerday

Sunday, we're going to a thing. Today, we're not doing a thing.

Well, apart from the usual fiction installment.

Mayhem had a marvellous pig-out all day, yesterday. And may have cause to regret his choices.

I, too, regret some of my choices as I broke Keto with my little darlings and enjoyed myself with all kinds of forbidden fruit.

...and gained 1.5 kilos of what Beloved swears is water weight.

Beloved says that breaking Keto for short periods at intermittent times

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Challenge #01696-D235: Functionality

[From one person who got about three hours' sleep, to the person who dumped a new, extremely important, problem in their lap at godawful in the morning, and who they are responsible for]

"Have you slept at all, [Name]?"

"Not at all."

"You should try it sometime. I end up in less trouble when you do." -- RecklessPrudence

...by any other species standards, we just plain don't get tired. -- Archivaas Collective on Humanity's Self-realisation

The news of impending disaster was met

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Feast Day

It's Mayhem's 16th birthday, today. And we're having a feast day. Which means lots of fast food for Mayhem and just about anything my little darlings want to eat during the day.

I'll be a bit more conservative, but today will definitely include cake.

And today is a cleaning day without the influence of the cleaners, because our main lady is crook, today. Which means loads of self-discipline on my part.

And I'm not arting this morning. Because I'm taking everyone around

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Challenge #01695-D234: Unlikely Survival Tactics

[Person #1]: Stop asking hard questions.

[Person #2]: Buddy, if I could stop thinking 'em, I'd stop asking 'em. -- RecklessPrudence

It's very clear that humans are gather-hunters whenever an isolating emergency occurs. Their first instinct is to gather everything they can and use that as a basis for what they do next. Often, this can be displacement activity in situations where the best course of action is to wait for the ERT to come to the rescue.

But there are other

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The hurried-er I go...

...the behind-er I get.

That used to be one of Dad's phrases. I've taken it to mean that one is falling behind despite one's efforts to get ahead.

There's no scrimpings this week. Chaos needed shorts and underwears, Mayhem has a birthday this Friday, and that took care of everything I had on freaking Tuesday.

For the record, Chaos' Keto Clogs cleared, and she's no longer having trouble.

Meanwhile, I'm desperate enough to raise cash that I'm pondering what making music in

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