July 28, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction
I walked in to Bar None and headed to the bar. It was still empty, so I struck up a conversation with the bartender.
“That name’s a solid pun,” I said.
She frowned as she poured my beer. “The sign is a typo.”
“Does that mean you won’t let just anyone in this place?” I asked.
“Everyone is welcome, provided they behave themselves,” She said.
“And what if they don’t behave themselves?” I asked, mischievously. She reached for something under the counter. Lighting quick, she struck the back of my hand with a ruler. She smirked and adjusted her habit.
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for more free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
July 22, 2019
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Comics, Review, Uncategorized
Christopher Sebela, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, Indie Comics, Jen Hickman, Vault Comics
Test #1
Written by Christopher Sebela
Drawn by Jen Hickman
Colored by Harry Saxon
Lettered by Hasan Orsmane-Elhaou
Published by Vault Comics
The Skinny: Aleph Null is a test subject on the run. But what is he running towards?
Laurelwood, USA is the town where They are making The Future. Runaway professional test subject Aleph Null is on his way there, as soon as they can figure out what state it’s in, and evade the corporate recovery teams on their trail. But Aleph is a self-surgery junkie with schizophrenic tendencies, and possibly an actual cyborg.
Test is a difficult first issue to wrap my head around. We get flashes and stutters of reality as Aleph wanders their way through a warped and twisted American heartland. The story plays in to the unreality, showing Aleph’s journey in disconnected panels over two distinctly different narrations. One is Alpeh’s semi-lucid narration as they make their way to and observes Laurelwood. The other are reports from the corporations they escaped from, detailing their mysterious past and trail of violence.
Hickman’s art does a great job of framing the story. Everything feels a little off and unreal, and the reader can never be completely sure what is happening, and how it connects to the narration. Everything feels a bit off, in the best way for the comic. Saxon’s colors assist tremendously in setting the mood.
Test #1 is a post-modern medical thriller that is the kickoff to something great. You can find it digitally on Comixology, or in print at your local comics shop.
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July 21, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Free Fiction
“JACOB KAZDY, YOUR TIME HAS COME.”
He expected dying. His doctors had told him the cancer was going to win in the end, and he made his peace. He was ready.
He hadn’t expected to actually meet Death, but there he was, larger than life, skeletal and black robed, holding a… wait.
“Is that a wicker basket?” Death sighed, a sound like wind moving through winter trees.
“THIS IS A CORNUCOPIA, SYMBOLIC OF LIFE AND FERTILITY. YOU WILL NOTICE IT IS EMPTY.”
“Where’s your scythe?”
“BUDGET CUTS,” Death said, and whacked Jacob with the cornucopia, a bit harder than necessary.
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for more free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
July 20, 2019
hughjodonnell
CCR, CCR Commentary, Podcast, Uncategorized
CCR, CCRC, Commentary Track, Podcast, Saturday Morning TV
Tonight your hosts, Hugh, Rich the Time Traveler, Jurd, and Opop, join the Scooby Gang in Ireland for some questionable culinary claims.
Click HERE to listen to the commentary!
And Click HERE to watch the cartoon online along with us!
Chrononaut Cinema Reviews is presented by http://skinner.fm and http://hughjodonnell.com, and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
This podcast was originally posted at Skinner.FM on Wednesday, July 17, 2019.
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July 14, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction
“It’s just a number, Helen,” he said.
“I know that, Gerald, but still, It makes me, I don’t know.” She glanced nervously at the road sign ahead of them. “Can’t we just go another way?”
“All the other routes add hours to our trip. I thought you wanted to get to the bed and breakfast before dark.” He poked at the tiny map on his phone screen. What he wouldn’t do for a TripTik right now.
“I do, but, do we have to take Route 666?”
He sighed. Their romantic getaway to Hell, Michigan was off to a rocky start.
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for more free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
July 11, 2019
hughjodonnell
Nostalgia Pilots, Podcast, Uncategorized
food wars, hugh, Nostalgia Pilots, Podcast, Spence
Hello listeners!
This week Jurd is out celebrating the independence of Canada, and Jason fell asleep, so Spence and Hugh are here with an intro to one of our favorite non-Gundam anime, Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma!
Click HERE to listen!
How to watch Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma:
Subbed on Crunchy Roll
Dubbed on Hulu
and coming soon to Cartoon Network’s Toonami!
Buy Spence’s book, Stonebriar Casefiles 182: Bad Alchemy!
Buy Hugh’s book, Everyday Drabbles: Winter!
July 7, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, The Freelance Hunters
Glory Bywater, freelance hunter and consulting mage, listened to the heiress’s request with some confusion.
“If I understand correctly, you require a mansion-sized fireproofing charm for your new pet?”
“That’s quite correct. She’s an adorable little thing, but she breathes fire, you see. I just can’t bear the thought of keeping her outside.”
“I recognize that it may be considered cruel, but have you considered simply removing her flame sacs?” The woman looked at her with contempt.
“I’m afraid that’s out of the question. I require the enchantment.”
“Might I ask why?”
“Because the poor devil will suffocate, obviously!”
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for more free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available as an eBook from Amazon! Enjoy over 90 short stories for less than two dollars!
July 1, 2019
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Comics, Review, Uncategorized
Canto, Comics, Fantasy, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, IDW, review, Steampunk
Canto #1
Written by David M. Booher
Drawn by Drew Zucker
Colored by Vittorio Astone
Lettered by Deron Bennett
Published by IDW
The Skinny: A boy with a clockwork heart ventures into a dark world in this grim steampunk fairytale.
Canto’s people live in chains. Denied freedom, identity and even hearts, they toil for cruel masters bigger and stronger than themselves. But Canto believes in two things: A fairytale about a boy who saved a princess, and the girl who gave him his name. When she is injured by the cruel slavers, he’ll do the only thing he can to save her: Leave the confines of their labor camp and bring back her heart.
A sinister but none-the-less charming steampunk fable, Canto #1 opens with a familiar fantasy theme, but plays it expertly. Booher and Zucker’s steampunk fable starts on all the right notes for a great series. The story flows around the gaps in the characters’ knowledge, the questions that Canto will have to find the answers for. It is also doesn’t flinch away from the horrors of its world.
Zucker’s designs are doing a lot of great work here. Canto and his people are little clockwork knights, and their is brutal and violent without being gory. They don’t have or lose blood, but Time. It’s a clever and occasionally devastating use of metaphor that works well on the page. The designs are all funhouse mirror, with the squat, dwarfish slaves and their towering, bestial masters. Even Canto’s face looks like a mask. Astone’s moody colors are dark but also deep and rich. The art and colors are what really elevates the story.
Canto #1 is an excellent start to a story that looks to take a critical, or at least subtextual eye the tired quest motif. I can’t wait to see how far it goes with its material. You can find it digitally through Comixology, or pick up a physical copy at your local comics shop!
June 30, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fantasy, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Humor
I was a sailor, and wrecked in a storm, I washed up on a strange shore.
I awoke in the house of a giant, who warned me, “You may go wherever you wish, but stay out of my cellar.”
As I recovered, his warning weighed heavily upon me. I recalled every story of man-eating giants I’d ever heard. Eventually, I snuck into the forbidden room.
I found it stacked floor to ceiling with balloons, banners, and supplies for a welcome party.
“It was going to be a surprise, the disappointed giant said. “But now you’ve gone and ruined it.”
This story originally appeared in Everyday Drabbles, a daily free fiction project on Wattpad. Visit the link for more free stories. And if you enjoy my writing, support my work by buying me a coffee!
The first collection of Everyday Drabbles stories, Winter, is now available from Amazon!
June 26, 2019
hughjodonnell
Gaming, Hugh Likes Video Games, Review, Uncategorized
HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, Nintendo Switch, RPG, Steampunk, SteamWorld Quest
Steamworld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech
Developed by Image and Form Games
Published by Thunderful
Played on Nintendo Switch
The Skinny: A lighthearted but mechanically deep card-RPG sort of set in the SteamWorld Universe.
Each SteamWorld title is a little different. From the dungeon diving of SteamWorld Dig to the Tactical gunplay of SteamWorld Heist, each is a charming and innovative little gem of a game. The latest game in the series, SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech, builds on that reputation.
A fantasy RPG, SteamWorld Quest is framed as a storybook being read in the main SteamWorld post-post-apocalypse setting. Like its predecessors, this game is short but deeply engaging. The hand-drawn art style and the snarky writing work well. There are lots of little sight gags and clever bits that only really work if as a fantasy story told in a world of steampunk robots. This seems counter intuitive until you meet the first mini-boss, a black knight with a birdcage for a head.
The card-based RPG combat, which are stylized punchcards, naturally, has a good balance of randomness as strategy. Each character has a deck of eight cards which represent attacks, spells, buffs, and healing. Characters also manage items, weapons, and equipment. In combat, you have a hand of cards pulled from all three decks, and play three cards a turn. Three cards from the same character creates a combo, with a variety of special effects. During combat, you have to build up steam by playing low level cards. More powerful abilities cost steam, so you have to balance your decks to be able to play better cards. As a veteran RPG player, I found it pretty intuitive, with a lot of depth and options over the five playable characters.
At around twenty hours, the game isn’t very long for an RPG but you can go back to previous chapters to grind for items, experience, and money, or to find hidden secrets. The story isn’t very complicated, but it is filled with charm and clever little references to games like Final Fantasy IV and other old-school RPGs.
SteamWorld Quest is a lighthearted but perfectly executed take on the card RPG. It’s available for PC and from the Nintendo Switch eshop.
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Hugh J. O'Donnell 
Podcast: CCRC50 – Be Cool, Scooby Doo
July 20, 2019
hughjodonnell CCR, CCR Commentary, Podcast, Uncategorized CCR, CCRC, Commentary Track, Podcast, Saturday Morning TV Leave a comment
Tonight your hosts, Hugh, Rich the Time Traveler, Jurd, and Opop, join the Scooby Gang in Ireland for some questionable culinary claims.
Click HERE to listen to the commentary!
And Click HERE to watch the cartoon online along with us!
Chrononaut Cinema Reviews is presented by http://skinner.fm and http://hughjodonnell.com, and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
This podcast was originally posted at Skinner.FM on Wednesday, July 17, 2019.
Support Me on Ko-fi