⏹️⏹️OFPMFP Novel: Dark Redemption -- CONCLUSION

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Friday April 12, 2024 · 4:41 PM PDT

2024/04/12 · 16:41

script lowercase single line against 6 different-color dusty-shade tiles for dk group Original Fiction, Poetry & Memoir, for Fun & Progress

Header for "Dark Redemption", an urban gothic fantasy novel

And here we are, finally at the end of our adventure. Strephon, the retired barrister and semi-immortal half-fae, has descended into the depths of the earth beneath the City of Redemption and battled the ancient being and part-time newspaper publisher Togwogmagog; and Cassandra, a perfectly normal reporter enmeshed in supernatural intrigues and trapped in a horrific enchantment, have vanquished their foe. At the end of the cataclysmic battle, after being briefly reunited, the two have once again been separated.

It is time now for Strephon to go home.

Dark Redemption is an Urban Gothic Fantasy which will be running in weekly installments Wednesday evenings. Previous installments can be found linked at the Dark Redemption Index.

If you enjoy reading this, please consider clicking on the newest Community Needs List diary, to see if you can kick in a couple bucks to help someone there.

All material is copyrighted by the authors. 📚 Click on their name to follow individually, or on genre, group, etc. in the taglist, to get those diaries in your activity stream. 📚 Depending on RL, authors may arrive some while after posting; this is a feature, not a bug.

quarkstomper

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Wednesday April 10, 2024 · 5:32 PM PDT

2024/04/10 · 17:32

I had hoped I would have the final chapter of Dark Redemption finished this evening, but I’m still working on it. For those who have been following my story, I will post the chapter later tonight if I can. If not, I will either post it later this week, or next week Wednesday.

For those who haven’t, let me invite you to peruse my earlier chapters, indexed here.

I live for feedback.

⏹️⏹️OFPMFP Novel: Dark Redemption -- Chapter 74

quarkstomper

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Wednesday March 27, 2024 · 5:07 PM PDT

2024/03/27 · 17:07

Welcome back to the adventures of Strephon, a retired barrister and semi-immortal half-fae, and Cassandra, a perfectly normal reporter working for a large regional newspaper in a city called Redmption. But beneath the gleaming skyscrapers and picturesque façade of the City lies another world; a community of dark and ancient magic populated by creatures of the night.

Newspaper publisher Simon Knox, now revealed to be an avatar of Togwogmagog, a powerful entity buried beneath the city, has ensnared Cassandra in a spell which will free him and force her to take his place. Strephon has descended into the underworld to do battle with Togwogmagog and in the chaos of the battle, a tear has opened in the fabric of reality, swallowing the demon. Strephon finds himself engulfed by darkness.

Dark Redemption is an Urban Gothic Fantasy which will be running in weekly installments Wednesday evenings. Previous installments can be found linked at the Dark Redemption Index.

If you enjoy reading this, please consider clicking on the newest Community Needs List diary, to see if you can kick in a couple bucks to help someone there.

quarkstomper

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Wednesday March 20, 2024 · 5:30 PM PDT

2024/03/20 · 17:30

Trapped in the grip of Simon Knox’s spell, Cassandra is compelled to utter the incantation which will free him. Meanwhile, in a secret chamber underneath the meeting chambers of the Hidden Council, Strephon is engaged in battle with Knox, now revealed as the Demon Togwogmagog.

Dark Redemption is an Urban Gothic Fantasy which will be running in weekly installments Wednesday evenings. Previous installments can be found linked at the Dark Redemption Index.

If you enjoy reading this, please consider clicking on the newest Community Needs List diary, to see if you can kick in a couple bucks to help someone there.

quarkstomper for Readers and Book Lovers

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Thursday February 22, 2024 · 5:00 PM PST

2024/02/22 · 17:00

"I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking." — Dorothy L. Sayers: Lord Peter Wimsey in Have His Carcase (1932)

One of my odd little hobbies is collecting quotations. Several years ago I started up a database on my computer where I could save some of my favorites, and I’ve been adding to it little by little ever since. At one point I began combing through my ancient pocket edition of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations selecting good ones. I still haven’t worked my way all the way through Bartlett, but every now and then I spot a good, juicy quote on Facebook or somewhere else online.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, a lot of the quotes in my file pertain to the subject we’re here for: writing. So for your entertainment and perhaps edification, here are some dribbles from my Quote Bucket.

quarkstomper for Original Fiction, Poetry & Memoir, for Fun & Progress

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Wednesday February 07, 2024 · 5:46 PM PST

2024/02/07 · 17:46

If you are new to the story, or if it’s been so long since I last updated, (sorry about that!) you can read the previous chapters from the Dark Redemption Index.

Strephon has come face to face with Simon Knox, now revealed as the Giant Togwogmagog, long imprisoned beneath the city, and discovered that the various plots he has been investigating have all been part of a master plan by Knox to cast a magic spell which will liberate him. Knox has placed enchanted paperweights in the hands of various members of the City’s magical community which will form the vertices of a huge pentagram, and he has trapped Cassandra in a spell which will compell her to cast an incantation to trade places between her and Togwogmagog.

Unable to break free from the spell’s compulsion, Cassandra gives one of the magic paperweights to Strephon’s cousin Devon and tells him to take it someplace far, far away, in hopes that this will break the alignment of the pentagram and thus break the spell. It’s worth a try.

Things are going to get interesting...

Dark Redemption is an Urban Gothic Fantasy which will be running in weekly installments Wednesday evenings. Previous installments can be found linked at the Dark Redemption Index.

If you enjoy reading this, please consider clicking on the newest Community Needs List diary, to see if you can kick in a couple bucks to help someone there.

quarkstomper

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Thursday December 21, 2023 · 2:35 PM PST

2023/12/21 · 14:35

It’s been a few years since I last posted this. I originally wrote it for a now-departed blog titled Dead to My Flesh and have re-posted it on Street Prophets and here and a couple other places. I like coming back to it at this time of the year when the Cultural Saber-rattlers break out the tinsel, to remind folks that a War on Christmas makes no sense if you don't know which one you're shooting at. So with that in mind, I'd like to take a moment to repeat some of my own observations on The Two Christmases.

quarkstomper

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Thursday November 30, 2023 · 3:06 AM PST

2023/11/30 · 03:06

Yes, he was evil. But at least he was a grown-up.

YouTube Video

But perhaps Pops Armstrong put it better:

YouTube Video

The Secret Life of Defendant Mitty

quarkstomper

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Friday October 27, 2023 · 5:30 AM PDT

2023/10/27 · 05:30

I wrote this as a comment to someone else’s story, but I had too much fun with it not to re-post it on its own:

The gavel rapped sharply on the bench, ta-pokketa-pokketa as the judge called for “Order!” The chaos in the courtroom subsided only when Defendant Mitty rose to his feet and with a steely glare of resolute defiance commanded: “Be Peaceful! You’re all good people! The best of people!”

That stilled the crowd, and the Judge, cowed by the Mitty’s presidential demeanor and massive hands, muttered, “Do you have something to say to the court… er, Sir…?”

Mitty favored the Judge with a magnanimous smile, which caused the bailiff to begin to weep. “I merely wished to say that these proceedings have gone long enough.” Mitty’s voice grew thunderous, like the smack of a Number 2 Driver hitting a hole in one. “The guilty party is really, THAT WOMAN!”

The crowd gasped as he thrust his accusing finger at … THE COURT REPORTER!!!

The reporter leapt from her typey-thingie whatever the hell it is and snatched off her wig.

“Good Lord!” someone gasped.

“Yes?” Mitty replied.

“That's no woman… that’s SLEEPY JOE BIDEN… IN DRAG!!!”

X Marks the Brand Name

quarkstomper

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Tuesday July 25, 2023 · 10:18 AM PDT

2023/07/25 · 10:18

Back when I lived in Darkest Iowa, I worked for a time doing paste-up for a small weekly lifestyle paper in Des Moines called The Skywalker. The paper took its name from the city's skywalk system which linked the downtown district into an interconnected web.

Every once in a while, the paper's owner would make noises about changing the paper's name. I don't think it was out of fear of George Lucas's lawyers; (although I did have some trepidation the time my editor had me draw a cartoon of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia for the paper's cover; nothing came of it).

The main reason, I think, was that when her sales staff would approach businesses about advertising in the Skywalker or even being a distribution point; (it was a free advertiser), often the business would say, "My store/restaurant/bicycle shop/whatever isn't located on the Skywalk, so why should I advertise with you?" And there were some street level businesses that disliked the Skywalk system because it diverted foot traffic away from their storefronts.

Once the paper's owner formed a focus group, composed of some of her friends in the Des Moines business community to try to find a better name for the paper. One of her friends came right out and said, "If you really want to change the name, let me know ahead of time so I can buy the trademark. It's a good name." That assuaged her for a little while.

But I think the final nail was once when a neighbor of the owner's, while chatting with her in the elevator of the condominium where she lived, greeted her by saying, "How's that paper of yours doing, 'The Street-walker'?"

A couple years after leaving the Skywalker and moving back to Ames, Iowa, I ran into one of my co-workers from the paper, who told me they had finally changed the name after all. The paper was now called "The City Times."

Which struck me as a terrible name. "Skywalker" at least was distinctive, and it evoked a feature of the city fairly unique to Des Moines. It's an interesting feature of a midwestern city not terribly known for its interesting features. "City Times", however, is bland and generic. Nothing about it specifically says "Des Moines" I couldn't help but think that they had ditched a recognizable brand for something boring.

Kind of like what Elon X has done.

Ethical Dilemmas; or, Sometimes You Win, Sometimes Gurus

quarkstomper

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Friday June 30, 2023 · 5:44 PM PDT

2023/06/30 · 17:44

The Supreme Court Decision today involving a Virtuous Web Designer anguishing over being forced by the Forces of Evil to make a rainbow wedding cake… or something like that, reminded me of an instance when I faced such a dilemma, when Professional Standards conflicted with my Personally-Held Beliefs.

Fortunately, I wrote a diary about the incident for Street Prophets back in Days of Yore. Activate recycling powers!

quarkstomper for Original Fiction, Poetry & Memoir, for Fun & Progress

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday April 12, 2023 · 5:00 PM PDT

2023/04/12 · 17:00

Beneath the gleaming skyscrapers and picturesque façade of the City of Redemption lies another city; a community of dark and ancient magic populated by creatures of the night.

Strephon has come face to face with Simon Knox, now revealed as the Giant Togwogmagog, long imprisoned beneath the city. Using the power of the magical nexus beneath under Castle Redemption, Strephon has assumed the form of a knight to fight the giant. Knox, naturally, has replied by turning into a dragon. Meanwhile, Miss True is trapped by a spell Knox has devised which will force her to release him.

Dark Redemption is an Urban Gothic Fantasy which will be running in weekly installments Wednesday evenings. Previous installments can be found linked at the Dark Redemption Index.

If you enjoy reading this, please consider clicking on the newest Community Needs List diary, to see if you can kick in a couple bucks to help someone there.

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⏹️⏹️OFPMFP Novel: Dark Redemption -- CONCLUSION

⏹️⏹️OFPMFP Novel: Dark Redemption -- Placeholder

⏹️⏹️OFPMFP Novel: Dark Redemption -- Chapter 74

⏹️⏹️OFPMFP Novel: Dark Redemption -- Chapter 73

Write On! Words of Wisdom

⏹️⏹️OFPMFP Novel: Dark Redemption -- Chapter 72

Holiday Rewind: The Two Christmases

A Requiem or Two for Henry Kissinger

The Secret Life of Defendant Mitty

X Marks the Brand Name

Ethical Dilemmas; or, Sometimes You Win, Sometimes Gurus

⏹️⏹️OFPMFP Novel: Dark Redemption -- Chapter 71