Bits and Bobs

Thoughts on Things

So… There’s been a lot of Florida Man incidents in the news lately.

Like, Florida Man recently kicked an iguana to death then claimed Stand Your Ground laws in court. https://twitter.com/HarperKingsley0/status/1400140467207999488?s=20

Or, Florida Man recently took his 10-year old son on a paintball drive-by that resulted in the kid being shot with a real gun and run over by his dad’s van. https://twitter.com/HarperKingsley0/status/1400166245429772290?s=20

“12-year-old boy, 14-year-old girl open fire at deputies with guns including AK-47, Florida sheriff’s officials say”

“A right-wing Florida pastor was hospitalized with Covid-19, weeks after saying vaccination efforts were part of a ‘mass death campaign.'”

So… yeah.

It feels like people are acting up lately.

Stay safe, normal people of Florida. We’re all praying for you. What with Florida Man being on the loose.

Writing stuff

Still working on my Bits and Bobs project. Gonna finish up a couple more fills and make it public.

The current settings of the browser play game have all content available. The purple (paid content) and the red (NSFW) writing is going to be in the paid version, same with most of the green (spoilers).

As the Itch system is currently set, if you have a game available for browser play, it’s there for everyone. I’m okay with that.

The only unfortunate thing is that if you buy the game, you still have to download it to your own computer/phone to play.

I think it would be better if you could just log in and have the full game available in their game browser. That way the updates are right there. And there’s nothing to download and fidget with.

As it is, the paid version will include a zip file of html and image files. Unzip the folder and click index to start. Any updates will include instructions of where to drop the new files. That’s the plan.

Otherwise, I have no idea what I’m doing.

“WIPs, Snips, Bits and Bobs” by Harper Kingsley. https://harperkingsley.itch.io/bits-and-bobs (current password: “Amorpho”)

Bits and Bobs: Story Prompt Generator

The “STORY PROMPT GENERATOR: 60 Prompts” section includes 60 story prompts for creatives.

I’ll likely include the current version of the story prompt generator itself in a later update. It’s a click-button tool that pulls up a character and a situation.

example: Prompt 26 and fill

26. Recently having regained human form, an alchemist’s apprentice drank a bottle of homemade alcohol.

He felt strange in his own skin, as though it didn’t fit anymore. He didn’t know if he’d outgrown himself or if his skin had shrunk while it was changed.

He felt uncomfortable in his human body. A month as an otter, and suddenly being human felt unfamiliar and wrong.

A part of him hadn’t wanted to change back.

If the spell hadn’t ended when it did, he might have decided to stay an otter. He might have followed the call of the sea and never come back to his humdrum existence at the Alchemists Guild.

And how should he feel about that? Happier as an otter than a human being.

The package had come for his master. She’d pointed at him and said, “Those must be the jams I ordered. Open it for me, would you?”

And he’d pulled the string and his everything had changed. Simpler and easier without losing a sense of “Everything is good and right.”

There had been joy as an otter that his regular life lacked. He wasn’t awkward and uncomfortable in his own skin. He was sleek and graceful and diving into the water was like coming home.

He raised the cup of Master Gardener’s best homebrew to his lips. The taste of the beer was said to be excellent; he didn’t know. He’d never had much fondness for alcohol. It was just that he felt so lost (afraid). He needed something to help him feel anchored.

So here he was in the toolshed with four other apprentices. His friends and age-mates.

Smug bastards that didn’t and wouldn’t understand the great sense of loss he felt.

For a brief time, he’d been whole.

“How you doin’, mate?” Alby asked.

“I’m alright,” he said, then coughed to clear his throat and take another drink. He didn’t see the concerned looks he received.

“I can’t imagine the bollocks on the magicians, thinking they could turn Master Flamewroth into an animal. She’d probably have been a tiger and torn them to pieces. Tough luck on you, though.”

“Yeah. Tough luck on me.”

/END Prompt 26

Bits and Bobs: Current suggested path

When you first run Bits and Bobs, click the “Show NSFW” button then click the “Hide NSFW” button (if you don’t really want to see NSFW content). The current settings have the “Show NSFW’ button unlocking what would otherwise be paid content (purple text).

Everything is currently a work-in-progress. Segments that have “/END” after them can be expanded at any time. (Especially if someone shows interest in a particular segment.)

The actual NSFW content is currently at around PG-15 levels. When everything’s finished, the button will mostly be for violence, language, dialogue, and graphic imagery. Erotica and all that will be separate modules available for purchase and download. That way I don’t have to worry about minors accessing content way outside their current kink settings.

There will also be extra story modules available for some projects otherwise unavailable for purchase (Tuesday Night, et al).

“WIPs, Snips, Bits and Bobs” by Harper Kingsley. https://harperkingsley.itch.io/bits-and-bobs (current password: “Amorpho”)

Oh yeah, and fyi, I’m writing this project in text, which means no spellcheck. I fix the mistakes that I spot, otherwise I’m going to run it through a spellchecker when I’m done with the project base.