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Realm of the InterNutter

Thoughts, stories and ideas.

Challenge #01731-D270: They Call it Dragoncote

Why do dragons hoard wealth and guard it so jealously? Because for dragons, much like for kings, money is power.

With kings, such a phrase lies more in the metaphor of capitalism, but for dragons it is taken much more literally - the greater the amount of gold and jewels and other treasures a dragon can amass and claim as their own, the more magically potent and physically larger they become, and likewise the less riches they possess, the smaller and weaker they become. Thus can their kind span from colossal ancient beasts dwelling in caverns lined with gold and gems down to tiny bat-sized wyrmlings clinging to their first silver coin... -- Anon Guest

They say money is power, and it's a good thing that most dragons don't get to hoard enormous amounts of gold. Most remain small, and hoard a single coin of negligible value. Their young are indistinguishable from geckoes, and the only way to truly tell is leave a coin in their line of sight.

Some infest bankers and trade-halls, where the people test money by seeing if the nearest dragon will try to snatch it. In towns that prosperous, it is bad luck to take off jewelry. Some dragons curl jealously around their first coin, and come along when it is spent. And rarely, very rarely, a dragon will find something more... valuable than a single coin.

Value is not the same as wealth.

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Summer's here

Usually, I take two prerequisites before announcing the arrival of Summer: Dead snake on the road, and somewhere visibly on fire. But this time? I'll accept being smacked in the face with the heat as soon as you step outside.

And speaking of smacks in the face... Went to all the trouble and through the last of my budget to provide my darlings with a different dinner. To whit: Trout and vegetable medley with hollandaise sauce. I usually knock it out of

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Challenge #01730-D269: Comeback

Deep fried Mars Bar. The dreaded chip buttie (fries on a buttered bun), Floater (Aussie effort: Meat pie floating in pea soup). -- KnitNan

"I've been everywhere," said Shayde, mis-estimating the size of the station by cubic klicks[1]. "Nobody around even knows what fries are an' I'm gaggin' fer a chip buttie."

Nik, overhearing this complaint to the universe at large, gestured her to come closer to his cooking station. "Tell me about these things you call 'fries' and the... chip

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But I don' _wanna_...

We need...

We need a decent dinner. We need cream because we're running out. We need snackables for the kids' lunchboxes. We need to find a local source of good eggs that won't break the bank because trundling to North Lakes every third day to get them is going to drain my budget faster than anything else.

Economically, I long for the days when we could just pop on over to the Golden Circle factory outlet and just get boxes of whatever

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Challenge #01729-D268: Swap Met

The Amalgam equivalent of the combined Swap Meet and Car Boot Sale (of course there are no cars on Amalgam - tow trolleys?). -- Anon Guest

They were called Swap Shops, and they were scattered randomly. They tended to crop up in poorer areas and public service zones. It was where those who had the time to spare on pet projects dropped those projects off to exchange with whatever they desired. Edibles were kept in Stasis Lockers. Everything else was placed wherever

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Scrape, scrape, scrape...

This is not the first time that I've had to scrape and scrimp to get things together. This is, however, the first time I've been trying to save for a new computer out of my own earnings and savings.

We've made half a cow's worth of meat last for most of this year, and that's fabulous. Now we're out of everything but soup bones... affording another half a cow is out of my budget and might be out of Beloved's for some

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Challenge #01728-D267: 'Tis But a Scratch

"So, you're telling me that even if a human tried to kill himself by stabbing his head, he could be perfectly fine if the blade goes between the hemispheres of the brain without damaging anything ?"

"Yup, and I didn't talk about Phineas Gage, who got a large iron rod through the head and survived without some part of his brain, or the war veteran who survived a bullet through the heart. Even if we don't have exoskeleton, we are pretty resilient. This

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Hocus pocus...

...I need to focus.

No lie, I actually chant that to myself when I find myself wibbling off into lala land. Depending on the day I'm having, it can be effective for maybe twenty minutes.

I don't have ADD or ADHD, I just... can't focus sometimes.

I don't know what the hell that's about, but isn't ADD. I know I have the OCD comorbs because hoarding is a problem I have to fight.

And I need to focus, today, because today is

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Challenge #01727-D266: Special Needs

The concept is fairly vanilla. Not so very long ago historically, say a generation or three, people started occasionally randomly developing superhuman abilities. But the twist was that it was in a world with no assumed behavior of putting on tights and fighting crime. So for the most part, powers are more of an embarrassing social condition, roughly between genital herpes and Tourette's Syndrome, depending on the ability in question.

But who is to say a new ability will automatically be cool?

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All together again

Miss Chaos returned home, last night, and to celebrate - we had fish and chips. Well. The little darlings had fish and chips. Beloved and I simply had grilled fish with a healthy dollop of Aoli.

Today, it's back to stew and whatever I can afford until such time as we get another influx of protein. And I have to rattle on up to the health shops to get some actual eggs.

I know. You're thinking, "As opposed to... plastic eggs?"

For

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Challenge #01726-D265: One Natural Twenty

"I'm gonna need you to punch me in the face."

"Sure thing!"

"I'm a little worried that you didn't ask for a reason..." -- OohLookShiny

"There has to be a reason?" said Magnus. "I mean, I like punching and fighting and stuff..."

"Yes," said Taako. "That is true. But listen. We're friends. You should at least pretend that it's some kind of moral quandary for you."

Magnus clearly did not understand. "How's that?"

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Of Mice and Me

This is not just a household rodent problem, though we do have one. I've spotted a minimum of one wee sleekit timorous beastie scuttling between hiding places and I plan to do something about it when I have money again.

Yesterday, I had plans to go and fetch my youngest from Scenic Coominya. Beloved had taken a day off and everything. Alas, Capt S had other plans that involved KIABIL and today. So we were told not to come at all.

I'd

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Challenge #01725-D264: Blind Spot

"You can't just get lucky and expect everyone to treat you like an expert!"

"Why not? That's what you did?" -- Anon Guest

Ambassador Shayde glared at the junior aide. "I'm no' merely lucky," she said. "I got into the Ambassador gig by pure accident. Fer all that's happened, I could'a well had a knowledge base that missed everythin' the Archivaas ever had. I could'a been dismissed as a dangerous fraud if I'd never met th' Consortium o' Steam or no' known

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Fun times ahead

Something there is that does not like me breathing, this week. At this stage in the game, I'm putting it down to Sneezin' and Wheezin' Season. And that's why I'm blogging with a breather mask on my face. Because Seratide and atrovent puffers aren't quite cutting it.

For some reason, I get more typos and type more slowly with a mask on my face, but I'm damned if I'm gonna just spin my wheels whilst I dose myself with saline and atrovent

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Challenge #01724-D263: Strange Bedfellows

The "Remittance Man": usually the of the English Aristocracy, sent off with a generous "Remittance" - an allowance paid to him as long as he stay Away, and didn't embarrass the Family. (Back then he was usually a drunk, a letcher, homosexual or cheated at cards. The last was unforgivable.) -- Anon Guest

After the Scandal, it was decided that it would be for the best that Reginald be sent away to somewhere remote but civilised for the remainder. It was the

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