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Showers on Okkatu

Day 470

Why no, I don’t write on days I go fishing. Seems self-evident to me.

Yeah, that’s bullshit. I dropped a day and didn’t need to if I’d planned better. Though I did fish longer than I’d anticipated. And then there were the Christmas lights to take down. This week of writing has not gone the way I’d hoped but it’s right in line with how I planned. Since I didn’t plan, I can say that with high accuracy.

You got a prime berthing but you still have to walk a bit to the showers since you’re not the first to get stowed. Some weasly functionary in dockworker whites waits for you at the end of the gangway near the doorway to the pilot’s lounge. He’s eyeballed every other pilot coming in and stopped once his eyes met yours. That you could take him in a fight doesn’t enter into your mind, but you do wonder what he wants. You hope he’s not been sent as a recreational sex apology.

“Excuse ma’am…err…miss,” he asks. You pretend not to know he’s addressing you and walk on by. He’s prepared for this and good at being weasly. He smoothly matches your step and grabs your wheelie to help.

“I just want a shower. Can it wait?” you ask.

“Yes and no.” He thrusts a card into view for you to take; you don’t. He continues wrangling with the wheelie trying to gain control; you don’t let him win. After several more steps and no explanation of the card you pull up short and exasperated.

“Sorry. It’s an upgrade for the lounge. It won’t get you away from the xenos but you won’t have to wait for a hot shower. Newer towels and even a massuere.” He abandons his useless grasp on the wheelie to talk with his hands.

“Thanks.” You snatch it from him and head off to the showers. Leaving him in your wake.

“Ma’am!” There must be more than the upgrade.

“Call me Bonnie. And keep walking if you want me to listen.”

His black hair manages to make a dockworker buzz look stylish, but he’s too skinny and his eyes too small. As weasly as he is, he’s still attractive—but too young. He hurries to catch up.

381 words

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Hello Bite

Day 469

I can’t believe I decided Duoroo would understand politics. I don’t understand politics. How do I write a character that does?

Worse than that, I keep coming back to a Dune-esque sort of dynastic economy and politics. Shit. Hello, bite. You look like more than I can chew. But I’ll roll with it for tonight since I’ve alread pissed away too much time to start over and pretend this didn’t happen.

Duoroo has been cast off by her family. There is an official casting-off process whereby a dynastic family recognizes the abundance of heirs and seeks to mitigate the backstabbing by limiting the playing field to the top tier. Cast-offs are not allowed to ‘take the thrown’ once cast off. They become safe from the dangers of being in that upper tier. If a family were to exhaust it’s upper tier—unlikley—then it would be like a king losing his only born son: it would get messy.

And that’s whats happened or will happen or is being planned (by someone). That someone is having Duoroo collected for manipulation. Despite being cast off now, Duoroo had been part of the first tier—maybe quite close to the top even—but had scorned the life or her family’s business because of her blindness. She forced her family to cast her off so she could be safe. And now, because of that unusual circumstance, someone is looking to exploit that angle.

They’ll exploit it by having in place a plan to kill a larget number of that upper tier in bulk. Something unlikley enough that few would accomodate that sort of thing in their scheming, so someone is the only one to know why Duoroo is still important. Duoroo figures it out though—quickly. She convinces Kraite of the truth and enlists him to help. I suspect the large number of people being killed would be leverage for Kraite. He’s a bounty hunter but not ruthless. Maybe it will be some public event likely to result in innocent deaths as well. Maybe Mallen’s.

This public event could provide a countdown as well as a ‘end of the world’ type disaster.

I must have more than just playing the game however. I must have a real reason for this somebody to be motivated. There must be a payoff more substantial than crown or title. Or the crown must come with a clear personal or professional payoff—maybe just revenge? I hear revenge is motivating.

If I’m going to have politics I might as well have a motivator I don’t understand too!

426 words

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Escape From Napthalene

Day 468

I had a nice visitor yesterday. Of the many of you who arrive here trying to uncover the mystery of how many years or months 1000 days happens to be none of you so far has bothered to click the link in that post where I recommend some interesting reading of my work here on 1000 Days. A birthday gift to me from Anon.

My thanks. Because of your reminder I read many of the posts you read and am reminded that I used to do more creative and more coherent work.

I like the four characters of the Shanty (ah’Taconschientee) posts. The deserve better care and feeding. A better world. And a better life to live. I’m not sure I’m prepared to give them those amenities however. I’m not sure I’m ready to write a three-plot interwoven as these need. I need a solid single thru-line executed start to finish. I think I should let Tritti, Johnka, Brother Gane, and You cool their heels a bit longer.

What will I write this week? Who comes out of the mothballs?

184 words