October 6, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Ficiton
The necromancer kept the forest at the center of her demesne in a state of perpetual autumn. It wasn’t a dead wood, but forever on the cusp. The canopy of vermillion and gold celebrated the beauty of the final moments, the view from the Bridge over the River.
Her colleagues visited her often These necromancers were invariably dressed in black and gray, and traveled in ebon coaches drawn by skeletal horses. They marveled at her colorful forest, and inquired how she drew power from it.
She didn’t, actually, but she considered the aesthetics important. “Have some style guys,” she’d huff.
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!
October 2, 2019
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Video Games, Review, Uncategorized
Anapurna Interactive, HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, Indie Game, Sayonara Wild Hearts, Simogo
Sayonara Wild Hearts
Developed by Simogo
Published by Annapurna Interactive
Played on Nintendo Switch
The Skinny: A fast-paced racing quest against Magical Girl Motorcycle Gangs.
Sayonara Wild Hearts is an unexpected gem of an indie game. Terms like ‘unique’ and ‘original’ get thrown around a lot in the gaming press, but SWH pushes against the tide of gaming trends and is all the more incredible for it.
You play as The Fool, the alter ego of a broken-hearted girl tasked with restoring harmony to a magical kingdom by racing against a series of girl gang street racers. Each level is a mixture of Synth Pop, Neon, and blazing speed. The combination of magical girl aesthetics and arcade racing style flow as smooth as silk, and the bite-sized level keep the action rolling at an exciting clip.
Each of the twenty-three levels embraces new mechanics as you race to catch your opponents. You’ll start out on a skateboard, but soon find yourself on not just the game’s signature chopper, but flying through the air on a magical sword, racing through a haunted forest on a giant stag, and even crossing a roiling sea on a boat. The game constantly introduces new mechanics, and this helps the pacing feel blazing fast.
The other thing that sets Sayonara Wild Hearts apart, if you haven’t already guessed, is its unapologetic embrace of feminine and queer aesthetics. In a space dominated by often toxic depictions of masculinity it is a breath of fresh air. The Fool is not an object of male gaze, and she isn’t a hyper-roided Space Marine killing a planet full of aliens. She is an altogether different sort of cool. This game came out alongside a few other games that have been gaining more attention, but I hope that SWH’s themes strike a chord with game designers and we see more games like it in the future.
Sayonara Wild Hearts is available now for the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Apple Arcade service. It’s a highly polished indie gem, and well worth your time. I heartily recommend it.
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October 1, 2019
hughjodonnell
Nostalgia Pilots, Podcast, Uncategorized
Gundam Wing, hugh, Jurd, Nostalgia Pilots, Podcast, Spence
Welcome to Nostalgia Pilots! This week, Hugh, Jurd, and Spence discuss Gundam Wing Episode 44: Go Forth, Gundam Team!
Click HERE to listen to the podcast!
This week: Dorothy leans in, Heero hangs back, and Hugh steals the bit. Plus, Relena probably doesn’t remember her brother, and flamethrowers totally work in space.
We’re getting towards the end of the series! What are your thoughts on Gundam Wing! Leave a comment or email us at Nostalgiapilots@gmail.com!
Promo: Nutty Bites
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September 29, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Free Fiction
The invaders took the capital that spring. The first thing they did was commission a statue to their victory.
The sculptor worked for months under heavy guard, and she made it exactly as the General demanded, with one change. She depicted him as a hero, with sword and shield pointed to heaven. It stood on a plinth so tall, the tip was the highest point in the city. He was enormously pleased by this.
It glared down all summer at the occupied citizens, until autumn’s low clouds moved in and completely obscured it.
It would topple under winter’s harsh winds.
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!
September 22, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Free Fiction, Ghost story
The violin had been left behind by the latest tenants.
Like most, they only stayed a few nights in The House before fleeing. The House liked its quiet, and it didn’t mind dripping blood from a few walls in order to get it.
But the violin, absent its owner, fascinated The House. With flexing floorboards and trailing cobwebs, it held the delicate instrument. It had been so long since it had heard music.
Folks in town said the house at the end of Pine Street was haunted. But it wasn’t until the horrifying noises started that it got national attention.
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!
September 19, 2019
hughjodonnell
CCR, Podcast, Uncategorized
60's Cinema, Chrononaut Cinema Reviews, hugh, Jurd, Opopinax, Podcast, Rich The T T, South Africa, The 60's
Tonight your hosts, Hugh, Rich the Time Traveler, Opopanax, and Jurd, are chase harbour beers and South African commies.
Click HERE to listen to the Podcast!
And HERE to watch The Cape Town Affair on Youtube!
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.
September 17, 2019
hughjodonnell
Nostalgia Pilots, Podcast, Uncategorized
Genre Conventions, Gundam, Gundam Wing, hugh, Jason, Jurd, Nostalgia Pilots, Podcast, Spence, Stealth
Welcome to Nostalgia Pilots! Today, Jason, Spence, Jurd and Hugh discuss Gundam Wing Episode 43: Target Earth!
Click HERE to listen!
This week, Dorothy Catalonia is the most excited she’s ever been, Treize even fires people fabulously, and Catherine doesn’t know much about lions. Plus, Duo’s stealth capabilities are underrated, and Sally Po is here to Mary Poppins the sh*t out of Noin’s murderous Boy Scout troop.
Promo: Flash Pulp!
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September 16, 2019
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Comics, Review, Uncategorized
Brian Michael Bendis, DC Comics, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, Multiple Artists
Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #1
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Drawn by Jim Lee, Dustin Nguyen, Andrea Sorrentino, André Lima Araújo and Scott Williams
Colored by Alex Sinclair, John Kalisz, Dave Stewart, and Jordie Bellaire
Lettered by Dave Sharpe
Published by DC Comics
The Skinny: Guess who isn’t in this comic?
First of all, no, this is not a Legion of Super-Heroes book. At least, it isn’t yet. But the concept is entertaining in and of itself, and it looks like it’s getting there in Part 2 of this two-issue series. What this book does do is follow one character, Rose and her alter-ego Thorn, as she lives through one DC Universe ‘future’ after the other, not aging because of something that happened to her during her career as an anti-hero. Something Rose doesn’t even remember.
Each short section of the book does a good job of feeling different, and evoking the character of the setting. The Jim Lee-drawn near future is techy and bright, and very 90’s., while the Batman Beyond section is shockingly violent. The Kamandi section is sad, and beautifully drawn. The fourth section has a very 80’s manga future vibe. I’m not familiar with he character it is referencing, but the sterile gray lines and bureaucracy (and hover scooters) evoked Otomo to me.
Bendis’s writing is fine, but it’s mostly serving the plot and doesn’t give us too much character aside from following this woman who doesn’t age and her 90’s comic book version of Dissociative Identity Disorder. The art is where this comic sings.
While this special issue is more of a curiosity than a great story, It was fun to see these different takes on DC’s ‘future,’ and see a bit of how they are all connected. You can find Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium #1 at your Local Comics Shop, or pick it up digitally from Comixoloy.
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September 15, 2019
hughjodonnell
Free Fiction, Uncategorized
Drabble, Everyday Drabbles, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Free Fiction, Horror
The pilgrim brought her daughter, limp and coughing, in the last paroxysms of disease, to the underground pool.
The priests said the pool had healing powers, which came at a terrible price. Looking into the inky black water, she believed.
She placed her daughter in the water. The girl barely moved, and the water sucked her down, down down. A cry caught in the woman’s throat. But she believed. She waited.
Moments later, an eternity later, her daughter rose from the water, whole, and well. Her little girl smiled with row on row of sharp, sharp teeth in the darkness.
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!
September 13, 2019
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Fiction, Review, Uncategorized
HLF, Hugh Likes Fiction, Romance, Sci-Fi, Time Travel
This Is How You Lose the Time War
Written by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Audiobook read by Cynthia Farrell and Emily Woo Zeller
Published by Simon and Schuster Audio
The Skinny: Two time-traveling agents begin a correspondence that will have epic consequences.
This beautifully written novella follows Red and Blue, two agents of opposed possible futures working to ensure their side wins history, as they begin an exchange of letters that will, well, change history.
El-Mohtar’s and Gladstone’s writing is lyrical and beautiful. The locations for the two agents’ missions are tiny glimpses into beautiful and compelling worlds. From neolithic labyrinths to ruined battlefields on crumbling, distant planets. But the letters themselves are as fascinating as their correspondents’ adventures. The reader watches as their exchange starts as a taunt, gradually becomes more friendly as the two begin to understand one another, and eventually become something more intimate, in letters written on plain paper, and hidden in more devious methods, in the bottom of a teacup, in the rings on a fallen tree, or the boiled water in an abandoned hospital MRI machine. Each exchange is surprising and engaging, and the reader is left to wonder what they’ll think of next, and to worry as a shadowy figure stalks behind them.
The audiobook, although short, was particularly good, which a pair of excellent narrators that give the poetic descriptions and intimate epistolary sections real gravitas. Often an audiobook is either well narrated or well acted, and finding not one but two narrators that excel at both is a triumph in and of itself.
This Is How You Lose the Time War is a confection of time travel mystery romance that will leave you aching for more, and heading back through to see how they pulled it off when you’re done. It’s certainly award-fodder, and it breathes new imagination into it’s sub-genre. Don’t miss this one!
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