AuthorPalt

A Gamer's Guide 355

They returned within less than half an hour, though even that felt like too much considering that every minute mattered now. Sundown would be in seven hours. Going by the scent of whoever the army’s leader was, it would take more than three hours to reach them. 

She found Prince lying face-down in the snow, straddled by a pair of kids she recognizes as Lisa and Ginni-ritt, using hi...

A Gamer's Guide 354

Before arriving in Purgatory, Jolene had only ever seen snow once, apart from on the silver screens and the world-wide web. It had been too late in the evening to do anything movie-typical with it, but she and Tommy and little Johnny had all ran out anyways, rolling snowmen that were more dirt and grass than snow and throwing balls filled with rocks and gravel. She had been nine years old, and ...

A Gamer's Guide 353

A few hours later, with my hands no longer covered in dirt and the flowerbeds bereft of husband-killers, I arrive at his door, carrying a frankly oversized bouquet of the flowers I’ve taken. Glyph helped me arrange them a little, sticking in other kinds of weeds I had to pull as well, pulling the whole thing together with a ribbon she agreed to borrow me. Individually, the flowers are very pr...

A Gamer's Guide 352

I chance a knock at the door. Who knows? Today might be different. 

Knock knock knock.

There’s no answer. At this point, I don’t even bother to bring the tray. “Lett?” I call out. “Please, it’s been over almost a month. Let’s talk about it. I don’t want to give my apology from beyond a closed door.” With little else to do, I rest my forehead against t...

A Gamer's Guide 351

Your name is Desput XVIII, though you were born Desput Hertig Rular Kaisa Ceezer Head Xing Haverdoer. 

According to your father, Kaisa XXIV, this was in order to ensure that you would be able to pick a suitable royal title when you ascended, no matter the political state at the time. Even as a child, you thought this was picking stupid. You are 688 years old. If you were a filthy lit...

A Gamer's Guide 350

This is about as good as any moment to approach, so after giving Rice a look, I head towards the little group, internally considering whether the housemother is the kind of person who wants you to pretend to smile, or if she would take a pretend-smile as an insult. By the time I arrive, I have failed to reach a conclusion, and therefore also fail to smile. 

She doesn’t seem to mind...

A Gamer's Guide 349

Falling into routine is a funky thing—one day everything is new and strange and exotic, and then, all of a sudden, it’s been almost a full week and the leaves are starting to fall. Which, of course, means that I’ve been raking for three days straight. 

Cleaning up the garden hadn’t been much of a bother—remove the weeds, cut down the dead stuff, uncover old hidden treasures...

A Gamer's Guide 348

Once I’ve left the room, once we’ve exchanged goodnights and she’s promised to tell Holly not to be so mean to me, once she’s gone down the hall and out of sight and brought the candle with her, I feel the coldness of the hallway in full. She’s gone. Something hollow and white aches within my chest, giving a grumble once I pay attention to it. What a strange girl, it...

A Gamer's Guide 347

I lean back into my chair. The candle is close again now, and the darkness is far away. She’s right in front of me, close enough to touch, crying tears of sheer frustration. 

…I don’t know what to say here. What am I supposed to do? Comfort her? I’m the problem here. When have I ever not been? “I’m sorry,” I mumble out of habit.

“I wish you wouldn’t say that,�...

A Gamer's Guide 346

Outside, the hallway is dark and quiet. After a day full of kids filling the house with running and shouting and squealing, hearing nothing but silence is almost a blessing. In the end, I do prefer silence over lots of noise.

Now, where did Holly say I was going to sleep again? The second floor, down the hall…

Absently, my feet begin to move. I’ll be sleeping in the same bed I w...

Hiatus is over

New chapters will be posted daily while I've got a bunch, for at least the coming eleven days or so, probably more though cuz my ass is WRITNING all the words right now frfr.

I'll see y'all in a bit, hope you like what's coming!

Music recommendation of the day: https://youtu.be/yN4Uu0OlmTg?si=3ZUOC...

Horton hears a what

I rewatched horton hears a who and was inspired to write something akin to it, thus birthing this. Take this as a sign that I am NOT DEAD and WILL RETURN!!

With that said, this thing is unfinished and highly self-indulgent. Idk, read at your own discretion, I guess?

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Am had never been born, nor would he ever die. In the reality within which he persisted, there was no ...

A Gamer's Guide 345

Once the bowl is returned to him, and once the handkerchief is returned to me, things pass in a far more relaxed manner. While he eats properly, we talk about all manner of topics, most notably about what Earth is like—something his books are unable to tell him. Strangely enough, out of all the subjects he could possibly have taken an interest in, the one that he found most engaging was the s...

A Gamer's Guide 344

Both Lett and I watch as Holly storms out of the room and slams the door behind her, which I suppose gives me implicit permission to stay as long as Lett will have me. To clarify this matter, I turn to him. “So, um…” I start, but quickly fall silent. 

He beams at me with equal parts pride and awe. “Never before have I succeeded in prompting her to leave so quickly,” he says...

A Gamer's Guide 343

Somehow, with more willpower than you’d expect it to need, I succeed in eating my soup. It was cold, and thick in a weirdly gelatinous way. But the flavor was good! It was good. It wasn’t horrible, or curdled, or anything else. It was just… good. It’s a shame Rice left early to go feed Grandma. Especially so since I could never find a good conversation topic to discuss with Hol...

A Gamer's Guide 342

It doesn’t take long for them to join me, each with their own bowl of soup and starch. 

Rice has almost completely filled hers with gnocchi, whereas Holly has made the cardinal mistake of letting her piece of bread lounge half-dipped in the soup. This means that when she goes to eat it, it will be all soggy, and maybe it’ll even fall apart into her soup, leaving the whole bowl fi...

A Gamer's Guide 341

“Hey, Holly,” I say, as warmly as I can once she’s in earshot. She stops a few yards away from us. “Sorry about that. I hope I didn’t distract them from their chores.”

Arms crossed, she watches us for a moment. I can’t read the expression on her face. “They had recess,” she says, half-muttering, “so it’s fine.”

I exchange a look with Rice. “So, um…” I t...

A Gamer's Guide 340

Preparing the fire isn’t entirely easy for me—Rice is much better at it—but I know enough to do it without her help. Pile some dry leaves and smaller sticks, put bigger pieces of wood atop it, make sure the wind won’t kill it, and then you just have to light it. Thankfully, I still have a few dragon teeth, which are actually excellent at lighting fires. And here I thought they were only...

A Gamer's Guide 339

We remain in the weed-ridden, thorny garden for a few minutes longer. She doesn’t ask me to, but since we’re both in this mess, I tell her about my conversation with Holly. During the entire thing, I feel like a kid confessing to stealing from the cookie jar. Of course, this is much more serious than that. What I said, what I did… Compared to everything else I’ve done, it’s less than ...

A Gamer's Guide 338

To discourage any further visits, Rice leads Grandma back to the stables. In the meantime, I start surveying the garden. Yep. That is certainly a garden. 

As a quick preface, I will admit that I have no idea how gardening works. I’ve lived in an apartment for the majority of my life, so the closest interaction I’ve had with gardening was mom’s annual reaping of vario...

A Gamer's Guide 337

I’m not sure what else to do, so I approach her cautiously, entering the river and finding it to be warmer than my body temperature. Curiously enough, despite the fact that she hates me, she doesn’t notice my approach whatsoever. Even when I’m only a meter or so away from her, she’s completely focused on trying to bathe this small goblin child.

I clear my throat. “E...

A Gamer's Guide 336

As I walk, I take the time to sniff a bit. The kids have all dispersed from the library, but Holly is in the hallway outside it, so I should really be going to talk to her. My conversation with Lett didn’t take more than a quarter of an hour at most, so she shouldn’t have had to wait long. By sniffing, I accidentally catch a whiff of the fact that Glyph is now hugging Lett—tightly. Huh. S...

A Gamer's Guide 335

The kids watch the spot for a moment, and then, one of the oldest ones stands up. “I’ll go get the broom,” he says, sighing as he heads for the door. “Aaron, tomorrow is your turn, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” one of the other older ones says, waving his hand.

While I’m still in shock over my apparent new profession, the door to the library opens, a...

A Gamer's Guide 334

The room is fairly big, and consists largely of bookcases, tables, and the odd sofa. It’s a pretty bright room, too, thanks to the large windows letting in the morning rays. So, despite there being oddly fancy candelabras dangling up high, I doubt they’ve been used recently. More importantly, the very instant I enter, I’m hit with the best smell in the world—the scent of old books. Must...

A Gamer's Guide 333

I come to in a bed only marginally more comfortable than the stables. My eyes open, and I blink up at a ceiling that wouldn’t look out-of-place in a church. Are those angels? No, since they’re goblins, I guess that makes them formers? 

I sit up, feeling the bed beneath me creak and whine. Straw mattress, as usual. This must be…?

“So, you’re awake...

A Gamer's Guide 332

…Welp, let’s pray!

Dear god of knowledge… You suck. I will bite your toes. If I see another of your churches I will give you a lesson in pyrotechnics. Less than three, less than three, less than three. GG.

There! Prayer: complete. Here’s to hoping it works. 

I tuck myself deeper in, trying to find the softest spot to lean aga...

A Gamer's Guide 331

I frown. “You didn’t have to repeat yourselves,” I mutter. “But, um… why?”

The other girl pulls the gobling closer to her, hiding it behind her legs. Her face is set in reproachful determination. “Do you really have to ask that?”

Damn. She got me. “I guess not. Though…” I jerk a thumb at Rice. “Is it okay if she stays? Her sprint drake r...

A Gamer's Guide 330

I blink, suddenly level with the gobling’s quickly escaping feet. I’m still standing, though. So, that would mean that I got beheaded. Well, that’s…

I move to pick my head back up, but something—someone—pushes me down, and stabs something sharp and heavy through my back, and right through my heart, forcing all of me onto the floor. By deftly wriggling my ...

A Gamer's Guide 329

The rest of the day is spent packing things, preparing ourselves, and fully mapping out the route we’re going to take. It does feel a little antithetical to the whole ‘explore the world’ aspect to be following a map, but if we don’t, we’ll most likely get lost.

So, with everything prepared, we head out. Grandma is wide enough for us both to ride, so we do j...

Dailies as Standard

Heyo everyone!!!

With the fact that I'm finally writing again, I thought I'd just pop in and explain some stuff. As you might remember, last time I was releasing chapters and stuff, I did them as dailies as a sort of event thing. This was very successful, and I really enjoyed it! Usually I post them in big batches whenever I finish writing an individual chapter (tldr; by chapter I mean m...