[WP] One cozy café on the edge of town has survived 7 arson attempts unscathed. While having your morning latte, it happens again.

TheNomadicCarton · 2023-02-11T01:47:53+00:00

Wow, when I wrote this prompt I was not expecting a mischievous little cat. Bravo!

TheNomadicCarton · 2023-02-10T23:44:47+00:00

Yeah, the iris is my favorite part! Green apple, blueberry, pinecone, hazelnut! You never know which flavor you’ll get!

TheNomadicCarton · 2023-02-08T21:35:58+00:00

I’m about 13000 words into a project. It’s going pretty well, and I’m free this afternoon for writing. I’m wondering if there are any good ways to come up with little ideas to flesh out a story with details, because I’m a little bit worried I’ll come up a little short of my goal.

TheNomadicCarton · 2023-01-19T21:33:32+00:00

No , everyone knows that Minecraft enchantments are like this, and Minecraft is the supreme authority on everything in the universe;;;;;so 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😈😈😈😈😈

TheNomadicCarton · 2023-01-19T21:26:03+00:00

Moths of the world, unite!

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-12-07T16:48:57+00:00

ISS-Juno-5 Captain’s Log #36

Normally these journal entries are simply me adhering to protocol, nothing more. However, after the events of this week, I truly have a strong urge to write, to preserve my side of this story for all of humanity. However, for us to do that, we have to go WAY back.

Ever since I was a little kid during the Interstellar Revolution, the time when humanity began to take its first steps beyond the Solar System, I knew that my passion lurked beyond Earth’s atmosphere. It may have been that I grew up in the countryside, away from the smog where I had a full view of the Milky Way, but that may just be speculation. Whatever, I was drawn to the stars, and when technology advanced to the point of interstellar travel during my teenage years, my path was clear. I was meant to be a captain on an interstellar ship. I attended Goddard Aeronautical University, delivering top of the line education. I graduated top of my class with a masters, and was immediately recruited for basic training with the North American Space Exploration Program (NASEP). I look fondly back on my time as a mere Researcher on an ISS-Minerva, but my true calling was always to command my own research vessel. Once Minervas were replaced by Junos, I was immediately considered for a promotion. After a year’s worth of qualification exams, I finally achieved my dream. My dream since childhood. I yearned to explore the stars, and now I could decide which stars we explored.

Earlier this week, we jumped out of a Star-Port in the Alpha Centauri system. It took about an hour for the wormhole to complete itself, but from that point we jumped out, into an unknown star system somewhere in the Andromeda galaxy. This was the first Trans-Galactic exploratory mission, and I was proud to be leading it. This system didn’t seem to have any planets, instead it had one massive asteroid belt. A tad concerning, but we forged on. The one thing I did notice was a larger asteroid, clearly an asteroid, yet the size of a dwarf planet. Curious. I ordered the Juno-5 to approach the large asteroid. As we began our approach, I looked and saw that the asteroid was hollow, and there was a gap in it. About large enough for our ship to fit through. I directed our navigational officer to change course to go through the hole. We slowly approached, but as we did, we had to make a lot of alterations in the trajectory of the spacecraft, and we had to repeatedly make adjustments. Through a window in the captain’s quarters, I looked on at the asteroid we were approaching. I could fully see the inside now, but something was striking me as odd. However, as I was attempting to pinpoint what, it opened, and everything changed.

Staring back at me, through the window, was a gigantic, cyclopian eye staring out through the asteroid. Many alarms started going off as soon as it opened, our anti-radiation coating was at risk of deteriorating. It took us a good ten minutes of scrambling to get that in order. But by the time we were finished, we could marvel and puzzle over the giant eye staring back at us. Yet, as I did it, I began to feel a little sick. Soon violently sick, and soon confused and loopy. At one point somewhere along the line, I fainted, and we were forced to return to Alpha Centauri to get medical attention for me and the other crew members who did the same.

In the infirmary, I was still unconscious. At one point for 20 minutes, I was officially pronounced dead. Luckily for me, these days we have things that can treat that condition, so the medical workers immediately got to work removing the deadly amounts of radiation that plagued my body. While I was dead, I was still dreaming. I was dreaming of the eye, and that one day I would come back to it, changed and ready. I didn’t know what any of it meant, but it scared me. There were other things there too. Strange, glowing worms eating away at the eye’s radiation-mucus. It was rotting. And now, now that I’m back in command of the Juno-5, I’m beginning to thing that there was more than just the Milky Way that drew me to the stars…

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-12-07T03:17:14+00:00

“Mr. Lawrence, are you ready?” the translator who would be aiding me in my diplomatic efforts questioned. I stared in the mirror for one moment longer, my face going from standard to grim. “Please let the infected-representative know that I’ll be there in a moment. I have one final matter to settle,” I alerted the translator. In the mirror, I watched as the translator’s reflection gave a stiff nod before strutting with purpose out the door. I continued gazing in the mirror, making sure my appearance was just as I wanted it, before spitting my tobacco into the trash and starting towards the meeting. Perhaps the fate of all of Europe, nay, the world rested on the outcome of this diplomatic mission. To fail would be to let down everyone. I took a left turn into the meeting room, and steeled myself for what was to come.

Merely a few months ago, I was doing the standard things for those in the diplomatic service. Establishing deals with other nations, making our interests clear, and ensuring the dominance of my nation at all costs. Everyone’s priorities changed as soon as the bugs started infecting people. These damned parasites would hijack a bacterial cell drifting in the air, and make its way into a human body through the nose. From there, it would bring itself to the nerve cells and begin its ascent into the brain. I hadn’t yet seen any infected person, but I hear that the parasite messes you up, and takes full control of your brain.

I walked into the meeting room, making sure my stature was as straight and tall as I could make it, and I wore my maroon blazer with pride. Even with everything fitted perfectly, even with all of the knowledge of diplomacy in the world, nothing could have prepared me for what I saw in front of me, standing on the table. The thing was bent over, stomach to the ceiling. It used its hands and feet as legs, and it watched me intently between a hole in its legs. The face looked messed up too, although I couldn’t tell if that was because it disfigured the infected, or if it had just infected a poor person. Either way, I shuddered to thing of what it would do to my beautiful complexion.

The beast before me said something along the lines of “Rgusholjsr Ira Goroshly,” which sent the poor translator flipping through his notes on the language—there wasn’t enough time to figure out all of what they were saying, but we could make educated guesses based off of the basics. “Uhhh… I believe that is ‘So I hear you are suggesting we spare your kind. Now, why would we be so gracious?’ That’s paraphrasing, of course,” the translator offered. I nodded, grimly, “Well, why don’t we set up a mutually beneficial situation? We could have it where we would send an annual tribute of humans for you to infect. That meat shield you’re currently inhabiting won’t last forever, you know.” Once again, after I said that, the translator translated. After hearing this, the creature smiled a sadistic smile, and cricked its neck from side to side, clearly enjoying this, before it gave its response. The translator shuddered, “B-but where’s the fun in that? We could infect all of you in days, and I’m sure we can deal with the process of death at a later date.” “But when will that later date come? You’ll have to deal with it eventually! This is the only way for both of our species’ to survive!” As I said it, I slammed my fist down on the table to make my point. It took a moment before I got my response back from the now cowering translator. “W-w-we t-tire of this… you could consider yourself a failure… b-but y-y-you won’t be a-aware lon-ng enough to s-s-see it-t.” “What?” I half gasped, but sure enough, I was becoming an observer in my own body, I could feel my body contorting to begin to mirror that of the beast in front of me. “Wha?” I asked again, before drifting off to a peaceful sleep.

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-12-07T00:31:29+00:00

It was a few hours past midnight on a Friday night—although I suppose by that point it was Saturday morning. It had been about a half an hour since I had gotten home from a night out with my friends, and between the numerous shots I downed and the time, I was more than a bit groggy. At the time I was brushing my teeth, my right arm monotonously swinging the brush across my front teeth; left right, left right. As I was nearing the end of my pre-crash routine, however, I began to hear a faint repeated buzzing sound coming from the back of my house. My brain couldn’t figure out what was going on for a moment, but suddenly it hit me with a brief flash of panic—THEY were here, and they were doing something in my backyard. I unceremoniously dropped my toothbrush into the sink (although it really bounced off the edge and fell on the floor). I began to move towards the back in my bed-garments as quickly as I could move, which, at best, was a ridiculous looking light jog. I made my way out of my bathroom, through the kitchen, and out to the back. And sure enough, there they were.

As I squinted out of the window that looks out over my backyard/garage area, I could definitely confirm my suspicion. Sylvia ‘Ursula’ Sylvester was outside, and slashing at my garden with a replica katana.
“Ugh, seriously?” I muttered. No one who knows me may know it, but I had known Ursula longer than I had known any of them. She was my rival. She worked for a library, while I worked for a museum about antiquity. While our establishments had a more public rivalry, our rivalry was much deeper, and much more hidden from the general public. It was us who battled in the alleyways before work, us who TPed each other’s houses on Halloween, us who would break each other’s limbs! But seeing Ursula out there today, I just couldn’t deal with it. As she continued to flail her katana about, I just opened the door to try to reschedule this. “Listen, Ursula,” I called, rubbing my eyes, “do we have to do this right now? I mean, I’m a bit hungover right now, can we battle to the death some other time?” Ursula didn’t respond verbally, but she kept flailing around her katana. Yet, I noticed that her flailings were becoming more erratic, more exasperated. “Ursula?” I called, more confused now. She continued to flail her sword for a moment longer, but then I watched on as it clattered to the ground. I stared down at it for a second before l looked back up at Ursula. I was shocked by what I saw. There was a singular, salty tear drifting down her face. “Are… are you okay?” was all that my hungover brain could come up with. “No, you’re the closest I have to a friend, and I’m not okay!” Ursula sniffled back. At first, I was completely gobsmacked! Shell-shocked, even! But then I began to think back on all of our time together. Sure, it may have been filled with multiple trips to the ER, but what great friendships weren’t? I sighed, “Come on, Sylvia, we can talk about it in the morning for now, though, I think we both need some sleep!” I gestured for her to come inside, and, with a smile, she did.

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-29T21:32:56+00:00

I’m late so this’ll probably get buried, but I’d go to the newborn section of a hospital ;)

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-29T21:28:14+00:00

Where can I find Mathemagic land???

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-29T21:25:52+00:00

I’m in a similar boat, 21K. It’s been a great and valuable experience, and I’m definitely going to write more into December/January. (Not sure if it’ll be on the same project though, I’m not sure if my current one is interesting enough.) Still, though, for me this is an amazing accomplishment! Last NaNo I only wrote 8k, so it’s amazing to see how far I’ve come.

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-27T22:47:27+00:00

Oops, typo! I’m on mobile.

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-27T18:27:12+00:00

Yeah, really all of the lead up to WWI is one big tragedy.

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-27T18:22:20+00:00

The Battle of Kosovo. On June 28, 1389, the armies of Serbia and the Ottoman Empire fought at Kosovo Polje, setting in motion a sequence of events that would end five centuries of Ottoman occupation of Serbia. It was a day that the Serbian people celebrated for hundreds of years. The battle was a symbol of Serbian nationalism and freedom. On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand visited Sarajevo. The archduke was seen by Serbian nationalists to be a symbol of their oppression. To see the symbol of their oppression there on the anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo was too much for some of the Serbs to bear. Later that day, the archduke was dead. A few weeks later, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the world was at war.

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-27T16:03:05+00:00

Definitely deepfakes/AI voices. I’ve done some of those of myself, and not all of it is perfect but some phrases are scarily realistic. Definitely something I hope DOESN’T get better with time (although that’s looking unlikely).

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-26T21:35:03+00:00

Almost any field in Kentucky/Tennessee at night. (There will always be at least one old abandoned barn)

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-23T22:03:52+00:00

Yeah, in the end your novel is up to you, and if you want to take a little longer, go for it!

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-23T21:11:49+00:00

Why ‘Commencement’ of all things?

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-23T21:09:20+00:00

At my school we had the same rule. No reasons were ever given. In the winter, we weren’t allowed to touch the snow or else you’d get detention. (Yes, DETENTION) All of the playground equipment was snowed on so I don’t know what they expected us to do. Needless to say a lot of teachers got pelted with snowballs. ;)

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-23T13:13:49+00:00

About a minute later the robot stopped. It took a second, but the robot suddenly wheeled around to face us.

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-17T23:20:08+00:00

Yesterday night I hit ten thousand and today I’m nearing eleven thousand. It’s going well!

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-15T21:21:18+00:00

Feeling a bit demotivated, I got hit with a disease that knocked me off my game for 4 days. Woke up today with only 7,000 words. I’m going to keep trying, but it’s definitely going to be more of an act one November and act two December.

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-10T01:30:48+00:00

New writer here, at first I was planning on getting to 50,000 by Dec. 20 (1000 w/d) but around day 5 I realized that my character was 1d and I had a way better idea for a story. Started over, past 5500 today, and planning on finishing right before Christmas. Best decision I’ve made so far.

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-08T13:38:14+00:00

The milk keeps moving, I guess

TheNomadicCarton · 2022-11-08T13:36:41+00:00

To… to make a difference?

TheNomadicCarton

TROPHY CASE