It’s a limited view, but what’s in the limit is damn pretty in the evening.
And to think, a member of my family founded this city. That’ll be a fun story to tell when I have the information in order.
For now, there’s dinner for find and writing to attempt!
Stay safe out there, readers.
-JB Swift
Sarah and I are sitting in the predawn, waiting for a business to open for 6AM, after being told that we needed to be here for 5:30AM or there’d be dire consequences.
I gotta admit, it’s a great tactic to get people to check in early. But that could’ve been another 20-30 minutes of sleep, if I was lucky.
While we’re waiting, I can let y’all know just how angry some of the other animals at the Swift Ranch were yesterday.
Ever woke up an old hamster to clean their litter? They really don’t like this and will make their opinions known, via grunting and nipping. At least, Daisy grunted.
And two of the cats were around while we were going about our travel-prep work. The third was nearby but she wasn’t feeling the camera at the moment and darted off into the woods for her rambling rounds.
Apollo turned out to enjoy being an outdoor cat, but occasionally he comes inside to sit on the desk and swat at my hands while I attempt to write. He fancies himself an editor.
Ever seen a cat headbutt the water bowl over and over until they knock it over? Then meow at you until you put out more water, so they can repeat the process? That’s Penelope. When she was a kitten, she had to be kept separate from the others for medication, so we set up a water feeder for her. Apparently she took to it way too well. She also gets annoyed if she doesn’t have the carrier we brought her home in set up for her to sit in during the day.
Time to start the morning. Stay safe out there, readers.
-JB Swift
I haven’t gone out of town for months and months, and it shows for this awkward little postman. We’ve gone out of town for a quick trip and upon arrival, Sarah wanted to stop by a few shops. She also knows me well and said “go look up the food available at the place”.
We got here with closing time coming soon, so it’s at the crowd level I like: sparse.
As the day was spent preparing for the trip and traveling, there hasn’t been much writing just yet. But once we’re settled in the hotel, I’ll have my tablet out to whittle away at Mardek’s Side-Arc.
Stay safe out there, readers.
-JB Swift
My hair’s been tucked up and under a hat all day while I’ve gone about my chores/errands. The moment the clip and tie came off…POOF.
A Monday morning broke over our little rural home and something was different about it.
Namely, that I wasn’t scrambling to get my postal gear together. It’s a day off. A week off, actually. I’m off from the day job all week until next Monday, as we prepare for a trip out of town and catch up on all the other chores/projects that have been needing attention. The kids were all kinds of confused to see me in civilian clothes while they were readying for school, but even they were glad I was off work for a little while. “You work too much, Dad,” Han said during the drive to school. “You can get some sleep!” Ben said as I helped him out of the car.
I wish I could, son. But just because Dad isn’t in his postal uniform doesn’t mean he is free of responsibility, be it self-imposed or house-spouse necessary. I’ll be writing some today, namely getting Votosh’s article finished with editing and posting, but also Mardek’s Side-Arc before Arc 1, Adventure 2 gets my full attention. As one of my players said during the sit-down discussion on Saturday: “No pressure on getting everything up, but I wanna read it!”
I’m not feeling pressured, don’t worry. That they are anxious to read the story is very encouraging. But before I can, I need to get the house in order. Sunday was spent on the backyard (wonderfully destroyed by overly excited dogs who love digging) and vehicle repairs (I am all kinds of an amateur with automotive mechanics but I can do some work), so it’s down the priority list I go.
At least I’ll have company while I wander around the house and property, as Old Man Casey refuses to leave my side when I’m home.
He’ll find the moving of topsoil entertaining, at least. So long as he doesn’t try digging through the bags.
I’m off to house-spouse and eventually write. Lots to do today and I can’t procrastinate. Stay safe out there, readers.
-JB Swift
I did manage to get some sleep, but thanks to Old Man Casey thinking he’s still a puppy if he tries hard enough, that sleep was intermittent as I had to push the 80-lb Golden Retriever around. Felt like fighting a sibling for sleeping space.
With everyone else sleeping in for their Saturday, I went through my morning routine and snapped a photo of the sunrise for Hannah.
With the scheduled posts up and my priority list for GameMaster notes finished, I’ll be looking at the list to see what I can work on during the weekend. Come Monday, however, I’ll be whittling away at the stories every day until the Main Arc session.
The Field Group had put in a request for an hour this evening so they can go over the Aftermath. Arc 2 ended on some high notes and they want to be ready for the next Arc.
On that note, I’m off to sling letters and get an answer for today’s question: Can a postman outrun a storm?
Stay safe out there, readers.
-JB Swift
Well, I took the evening to work on the plot for the upcoming Arc. I labeled it as “Wartime Diaries”, with a focus on what the Field Group would be handling during one of the most violent periods of Star Wars history: 1-2 ABY.
And… well, I did always pride myself on being a history enthusiast with the World Wars. I took that enthusiasm and put it to my plot-writing.
When I was done, I had to walk away from my tablet and take a moment for myself. Sometimes, the stories I write are visceral and painful, and I’m going to have think on how to pare it back so it can be a playable Arc, but when it comes time to make it a story, I’ll be going all-in on writing war.
I took the small moment I had to consider peace for what it was, and oddly enough, I got a good metaphor out of the starlit sky.
I interpreted it as a simple message: those who want war will always be bright and loud, but those who want peace are quieter and have so much more behind them.
I hope so. Man, but I should sleep. At least I can get through the first half of my biphasic sleep pattern. I’ll check in around 3AM, most likely, and see if I forgot to post anything.
Good night, readers. Stay safe out there.
-JB Swift
I was handling the early morning chores, taking the trash out while kids were getting dressed and wolfing down breakfast. Stepping onto the carport in the predawn light, I noticed a strange but familiar sensation.
It actually felt cold outside.
It looks like we’ll have an actual Fall season here in the Southern US, and who knows: it might last a full week! I’m not going to get my hopes up on that, though.
As it’s Friday, the mail is lighter and I’ve rested some after the Side-Arc session, so I’m confident I’ll get more on the writing list taken care of. I also packed the tablet for lunch (and might even take a lunch break) to handle what I can in the afternoon.
Best to check the Session Schedule and see what to expect during the day. This also reminds me to update the damn thing. Takes a while for a new habit to settle in.
With that, I’m off to sling letters. Stay safe out there, readers.
-JB Swift
Had to move today’s post to Drafts for a bit as the events of the day presented themselves.
It was a historic day, readers, and it took a while for me to think about it. But it was also a day of personal joys and challenges in the game-writing world.
I started this post early in the morning with wanting to give praise to my players for their maturity with scheduling, and I will write about that. But the morning had me helping on a mail route that used to be my territory when I started out as a postman, and I came across two areas I wanted to make note of: my lunch tree and the House That Won’t Fall, as I call it.
Nowadays, I stay in my truck for mealtime so I can also write, but 11 (or 12? The memory is fuzzy) years ago, my customers learned that if the mailman is under that tree, they needed to leave him alone so he can eat.
I’ve been passing this house for a decade now, and it’s slowly fallen into this state of decay, but every time I see it, I’m always amazed it’s still standing. One of these days, a hurricane will finally knock it down. I’ll be sad when that day occurs.
Speaking of sad days, I’ve been mulling over the news from the United Kingdom. Queen Elizabeth II died today.
I’ve been ambivalent over this news. As a US American citizen, my national soul is tied to rebelling against the British monarchy. As a man of Irish descent, the memory of Royal British mistreatment of my people is at the forefront. But Queen Elizabeth II was an interesting woman with a great amount of history to her, and her stories were phenomenal to consider. It’s difficult for me to not be impressed and have respect for a woman who became Queen before my father was even born and still reigned when my daughter had just turned 6 years old, though I will be taking another look at her history to see how I feel about it with a different perspective.
The evening ended with my wanting to give praise to my players. The bane of a GameMaster is and will always be scheduling, especially in our adult years. I’m fairly strict with the Main Arc scheduling and the players understand that. If they can’t attend, they need to tell me in advance. I do have leniency for a couple of my players on the East Coast: they have infants and we start late for them, so they deserve sleep.
But we have a secondary set of sessions in the schedule, and there, the players thrive. Since everyone can’t always make the regular sessions, they will set aside time throughout the week for Side-Arc sessions. They can explore a different plot line and develop their characters.
Granted, it’s also putting a new challenge on my shoulders to come up with these plots, but as I view that as my area to really stretch my creativity (IE, I’m slightly insane with wanting to write so much), I see no problem with this. Unfortunately, those sessions are also plagued by exhaustion among us adults, so they don’t last long and often have to be broken into multiple segments, like this evenings’ with Gilga and Beak (expect Beaks’ Bio soon and Gilga’s once I get into Arc 2). We’ve set the follow-up for next week, and I’m looking forward to how they do.
With all of that said, it’s time I sought my bed before the desk becomes my pillow.
Stay safe out there, readers, and good night.
-JB Swift
Never pass on an opportunity for alliteration, readers. They’re too much fun to leave alone.
While we sauntered out of the house this morning, Han began searching the sky for signs of today’s weather, asking if there would be rain today. I explained a little to her how different cloud formations indicate what should be in store for us later on, but I have to admit that I’m still learning the fine points, myself. I told her to try using her intuition, and she’d give it a try.
I had hit a snag with my page updates that was both unexpected and more frustrating than I would have believed: I’ve finally figured out how to make my charts look presentable in Word, but transferring them to WordPress takes away all the aesthetics.
That was the struggle of my late-night writing last evening, and I’m going to figure it out, one day. Until then, I should keep my word and post the information when I can.
According to the Session Calendar, I’ve been requested for two sessions this week! I’ll have one of my solo players coming in for a couple hours, and the Field Group (Main Party) wants to have a discussion about where they’ll be going from Arc 2’s finale.
Today will be a short post, I’m afraid, but while I’m here, I’ll link the Prestige Class I had been working on.
https://swiftscorner.wordpress.com/master-physician/
It was a personal annoyance that a medic didn’t have a specialization while the other aspects of the Tech Specialist class did. We’ll play-test the prestige class and see what it needs for editing.
With that, I’m off to sling letters and plan for the upcoming sessions. Stay safe out there, readers.
-JB Swift
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