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Twitch Stream Story: The Coffee Gave it Away

~ Blaine Arcade ~ 2 Comments

Brie sipped at the coffee. She had the feeling she wasn’t supposed to do that. It tasted foul, like rotten nothing. She looked down and, for a split second, saw a skull in the cream at the top. She set it down gently. It had frightened her, but she also had the sense that she was in a very delicate situation.

How was not clear. The diner seemed peaceful enough. A mother corralling her disobedient son. A waitress slicing up a cherry pie. A blind man reading a newspaper. Wait. Brie stared at him. He had to be blind; he wore the dark glasses and carried the right sort of stick. Yet, as soon as she looked he turned towards her. There was an image in his glasses, but just a slice of a reflection. It was gone a moment later. Another deathly face. She stood up. Everyone in the diner looked her way. Continue reading →

Twitch Stream Story: The Healthy Cousin

~ Blaine Arcade ~ Leave a comment

The electricity surged through his brain, speeding his recall even as it cauterized the loose flapping edges of his soul. The memories revolved around each other, spinning and picking up speed. He remembered losing his mother to cancer. His aunt. His best friend. There had been something in their water from the new factory.

He hated the year 1916. In his neighborhood at least, that was when the factories appeared in full force, like glaciers of garbage suddenly on the horizon. They’d eaten up the work, the sky, and then his family. Continue reading →

Twitch Stream Story: Orkh No Move Two Space Back!

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The piece was delicately cradled in the soft palm of the young dusk elf. Her name was Nystro, but her name mattered very little at the moment. To her the only name that mattered belonged to the piece. In her hand was a likeness of her species, its wooden legs rounded to look like the bottom of a column. Its face was placid, but she sensed worry from it. Worry over the name.

There were two more new pieces in the grand game hall that day. They were held in different hands. One was firmly held in the greenish grip of an adolescent orkh. Its teeth were expertly painted with mother-of-pearl powder, so it would glisten on the tiles of the miniature battlefield. It was crafted by Ancho, and he was very proud. It would bellow its name in the middle of the game, and draw gasps from every adult around. He would be a revolutionary. Perhaps his people would turn him over the fire that night as punishment, but something had to be done. Continue reading →

Twitch Stream Story: Colorful Apes

~ Blaine Arcade ~ Leave a comment

There was no consensus whether or not that morning’s rainbow was an omen. They were scientists; they didn’t generally believe in such things, but their hand was being forced by the times. The year was 1972 and research was still years behind the drug culture of the sixties.

That’s why the facility existed. It was supposed to help them catch up in various fields, most of them involving the strange psychosis-inducing substances that had leaked into the counterculture of the past decade. While their regulations were strict, their moods had to be loose and flexible, for beyond those bland brick walls, strange things happened nearly every day. Continue reading →

Twitch Stream Story: Rustgut the Talented

~ Blaine Arcade ~ Leave a comment

Deanna’s soup arrived. Everything looked normal. It was hot. Bits of meat bobbed up and down in the yellow broth. There was a full layer of sunken barley on the bottom, like pale river stones. She couldn’t stop herself from breathing deeply and craving the food. She threw her hands over her mouth and leaned backward, nearly falling off the bar stool.

The other patrons turned and scowled in her direction. They were enjoying their soup very much. Giles’ Bubbling Pot had quickly become the number one eatery in town. Even in the middle of this blazing yet rainy bayou summer, folks came from everywhere for a bowl of the turtle soup. It was one of those recipes good enough to pass through generations, and they were lucky enough to taste its first form before reincarnation. Deanna could show a little respect. Continue reading →

Twitch Stream Story: The Manual Descent

~ Blaine Arcade ~ Leave a comment

It looked exactly as it did on the page. Tyler’s eyes jumped between the book and the creature before him: lithe, faceless, and with countless ribs visible through its tight pale skin. Should he be surprised that it looked so similar? The creature was a mimic after all. That’s what the bestiary entry said.

Mimic

Class three monster

Arcane nature

Rare status

Possible drops: skin cloak, perfect mask +2, and shattering claws Continue reading →

Twitch Stream Story: The Lovely Creatures of Salmontown High

~ Blaine Arcade ~ Leave a comment

Sammy walked out with the bell blaring overhead. He was out. He was free. School was done for the summer, and this was high school, so he would be able to ratchet up the sort of trouble he had planned. Adults would no longer get mad at him; they’d threaten charges. Did you need at least one charge to be a man? You certainly needed at least one date.

Why am I hearing Mr. Sorkinson’s voice? He’s narrating my life! God, has my imagination always been this out of control? Sorkinson’s a drama teacher, of course he made everything sound like there was something at stake. Continue reading →

Twitch Stream Story: Walk out of a Bar!

~ Blaine Arcade ~ Leave a comment

So, a duck, a fish, and a snail walk into a bar…

They had had a particularly long and difficult week. The duck’s feathers were drab and disorganized. The snail’s slime trail was more phlegm-like than usual thanks to a recent cold. That’s what happens when you get passed around so much between mouths and ears. The fish was extraordinarily thirsty, and the fare at the bar was destined to be unsatisfactory. Continue reading →

Twitch Stream Story: How Long do ya Think he’ll Last?

~ Blaine Arcade ~ Leave a comment

“We ate yesterday!” Monica the mouthy scullery maid argued.

“No we didn’t, and we’re dying. You can’t hear that tummy grumbling?” Arthur said, angling his head to look into the kitchen. Between them sat Ophelia, who, at the moment, listened with tight lips. “Poor O’s nothing but skin and bones.”

“I don’t think she even gets hungry anymore,” a salty Caribbean sailor, sans shirt, said as he walked out of the bathroom and moved into the game room. Continue reading →

Twitch Stream Story: The Legendary Taco

~ Blaine Arcade ~ Leave a comment

Hi, my name is Karen and I’m a foodee. I admit it. I think about food morning, noon, and night… and at snack time. I was blessed with the metabolism of a caffeinated lightning bolt and it would be a shame if I didn’t use it right? If you’re a human who can eat cake, steak, and potatoes without waistline woes, you do it. It’s your duty.

That’s why I started this blog; I thought I could share a little bit of that joy with everybody else. Then we blew up! We’re currently the number five food blog on all of blogchug.com. You guys have been sending me more and more requests, and they keep getting stranger! I went to South America and tried those spices from extinct plants. I went to the Ukraine and had that cheese they tell you you can’t eat if you’re over thirty. Continue reading →