‘Pen Kept’ Stratagem
(17:3:22:7:00:18.5)
She would need Timorrow’s comfort if she was going to make it in this new, rushed, terrifying world. The pen bounced against her hip with every step and she tried to cherish it instead of worrying. Continue reading
(blurb)
A speed run is an attempt to beat a video game as fast as possible, for glory and personal satisfaction. Speed reading a book has never carried quite the same appeal, but perhaps that can change, with the addition of choice.
Here is a challenge, set in a fantasy world based on the principles of the speed run, where you the reader must guide the protagonist to her destiny, and perhaps a world record time. At crucial points you will have to make her decisions, and you should do so quickly, lest she careen into the void while waiting for you!
Through the Bottom of the World:
A Choose-your-own Speed Run
By
Blaine Arcade
Instructions
Even if you are familiar with speed runs, the subtitle of this piece of interactive fiction will likely confuse you some. For those of you who aren’t familiar, a speed run is an attempt to complete the story campaign of a video game, or some subset of goals within a video game, in the shortest amount of time possible for a human player who is not using any machine or program to interfere with the game’s function. Continue reading
Prompt: An elf boy and his fairy boyfriend are abducted by aliens.
The leaves of the the shy shoot plant were supposed to be excellent cover. It was a magical bit of flora, utterly invisible to human beings and their mechanical lenses, but still solid enough to hide anything under it. All sorts of magical tribes had relied on the tree to act as either neutral ground in times of conflict or safe bunkers for secret keeping. Continue reading
Regular Romp is an interactive fiction activity over on our Twitch stream where I ask a regular a series of questions before turning their answers and a corruption of their username into a short story. Stop by twitch.tv/blainearcade if you’d like to participate.
starring MelodyKazey
It had the distinction of being the quietest forest in all the world. Melody Korrespazey couldn’t even hear her footsteps. It was more than a month into autumn, the wind bit at her cheeks just over her thick orange scarf, so there should have been a healthy layer of crunchy leaves under her feet. Yet it was all yellow grass and whitish lichen. Continue reading
Author’s Note: This was written live on stream, with the tone being determined by the numbers under minesweeper tiles. The audience could bid tokens earned in stream to reveal random tiles. A mine hit results in the death of all characters, unless they are temporarily saved by a lump sum of tokens. If characters make it to the end of the stream, they survive to be seen another day. Join us at twitch.tv/blainearcade if you wish to participate.
1-peace 2-alert 3-escalation 4-action 5-tragedy 6-world-changing
The minefield has been moved. It now connects the Trap to a new world, a new game. There is no destruction this time, nothing forcing them to flee. Only the brave, curious, and strange will take the journey. Who will step through the fog and face the myriad dangers of the field?
Three enter: Barton the frighteningly regular guy, Glint the polished talkative labradorite chunk, and the chaotic Man of Lines. Continue reading
Author’s Note: This story was written live on stream with the audience bidding tokens (earned while watching) to determine the path of the story. The underlined phrases in the choice of three were the winning pathways. Stop by twitch.tv/blainearcade if you’d ever like to participate in our interactive fiction.
Chunky Garden Jellies Serpentipedes Giggling Gourds
The greenhouse was always quiet, so it was the perfect place to experiment. Since the castle grounds had been corrupted and usurped, all sorts of venomous little things had emerged from the garden soil, making their nests in the giggling gourds that would’ve been the food of the people just a week prior. Continue reading
Author’s Note: This was written live on stream, with the tone being determined by the numbers under minesweeper tiles. The audience could bid tokens earned in stream to reveal random tiles. A mine hit results in the death of all characters, unless they are temporarily saved by a lump sum of tokens. If characters make it to the end of the stream, they survive to be seen another day. Join us at twitch.tv/blainearcade if you wish to participate.
1-peace 2-alert 3-escalation 4-action 5-tragedy 6-world-changing
The minefield has been moved. It now connects the Trap to a new world, a new game. There is no destruction this time, nothing forcing them to flee. Only the brave, curious, and strange will take the journey. Who will step through the fog and face the myriad dangers of the field?
Three enter: Treackle the candy-thieving pixie, Floab the radically shy dragon, and Dawn the blind swimsuit model. Continue reading
Regular Romp is an interactive fiction activity over on our Twitch stream where I ask a regular a series of questions before turning their answers and a corruption of their username into a short story. Stop by twitch.tv/blainearcade if you’d like to participate.
starring SquishySnail
Much cleaning had to be done before the arrival of the president of the Creative Wildlife Solutions Committee. The man was famously allergic to almost everything, befitting his hatred of furry, scaly, and feathered things. His family crest bore a damp used handkerchief. A single stray hair could send him into a sneezing fit, and Edwar Beygal needed him to be quiet long enough to absorb his explanations. Continue reading
Prompt: A swords-woman wields an Eidolon-enchanted sword. The sword holds an array of powers.
Enish, daughter of the irrelevant Sir Nash, knew she was doomed to the same sort of history that plagued her family tree back to its roots. Observers, every last one of them. They’d never starred in portraits or tapestries, always relegated to the sidelines of the scene, their faces so tiny and simply in the paint or fabric that they looked deformed by awe or stupidity. Continue reading
Prompt: A sad male poet secretly does magical needlepoint
I’m actually surprised I’m allowed to tell my own story here. I thought for sure he would’ve stopped me. Can he not make it past the veil? Truly? It does make a sort of sense. If my art can’t make it, if nobody’s can, then the force that opposes it is similarly kept out. Do you keep anything else out here? Sadness? Pain? A poet can hope. Continue reading
Blaine Arcade 