More Update, More Neverbeen Universe

It's here! :D
My second short story collection 'More Untold Stories of Neverbeen Universe' is finally online. I'm so excited. The print version will be available soon.

This time ten very different fantasy/scifi stories and illustrations await you. You will meet a lot of different characters; some of the those you already know from volume one.
So have fun reading! :D

Writing Exercise 025

This week's writing exercise takes you to a different country and a different time. The task was to write about a taxi ride. Without further ado, let's see what happens there:

2016/05/30 – write about a taxi ride

January, 1944. Naresh grinned like a cheshire cat as he drove to the station. The taxi was brand-new, just like the license in his pocket. A little figurine of the goddess of fortune Lakshmi sat atop the centre console and the radio was playing his favourite song.

It was a busy day. So as Naresh pulled over his car was the only taxi at the station.

Instantly the door was flung open and a guy poked his head inside. “I need to get to Poona,“ he said.

The tank was full, so about 150km there and back was doable. He had not been to Poona yet, but he surely would figure something out once they got there. Naresh nodded. “No problem.“

“Can you help me with my luggage?“ the guy asked. Naresh got out of his car and opened the trunk. But when he turned to look at the man he led a goat by the bridle and carried an aviary; inside was an eagle.

Perplexed, Naresh blinked. “This is a joke,“ he laughed and shook his head. “Sir, you can't take these.“

“But how else am I supposed to get to Poona? And I can't leave them here. Please, this is urgent.“

Naresh shook his head, thought of his new car. “You have to find another way,“ he denied. “I can't put them inside the trunk and they are going to make a mess in my car,“ he weakly argued.

But the man was adamant, desperate even. “Please, my wife is in Poona. I have to get to the hospital before she gives birth. I promise they'll behave.“

Naresh sighed. The Lakshmi figurine was laughing at him from atop the centre console. 'Just my luck,' he thought. “Alright,“ he relented.

The man sighed, visibly relieved. “Thank you. Thank you so much.“ He coaxed the goat to climb onto the backseat, then placed the aviary next to it and shut the door. Naresh put the man's suitcase into the trunk and sat behind the wheel as the guy climbed into the passenger seat.

As he slowly pulled away from the curb Naresh glimpsed the rear-vision mirror, worried. The eagle shrieked and fluttered his wings; the goat baaed and pattered on the seat. It reeked. Naresh just hoped the police wouldn't stop him as he joined traffic. He had invested everything into the taxi and the license; if he lost both he was done for.

As soon as they left Mumbai and drove north towards Ulhasnagar, the man, contented and smiling, started to prattle about everything under the sun. Naresh listened only with half an ear, his eyes darting between the highway and the rear-vision mirror. Whenever the goat bleated or the eagle cried he startled and almost drove into the ditch. But the man didn't seem to mind.

After half an awkward hour they reached Ulhasnagar. Traffic was extremely slow; only one lane was passable. The police was regulating the traffic. Naresh expected that there had been an accident but he couldn't see what had happened.

Suddenly a police officer knocked on the window pane. Naresh startled and rolled down the window.

'Oh, Vishnu, please let me get out of this unscathed,' he prayed. His heart pounded heavily and he feared he might lose his license because of the goat and the eagle.

“Good afternoon,“ the police officer monotonously mumbled, “registration and license please.“ Naresh fumbled and handed them to the officer, his hands slightly shaking. “Where are you headed?“ he was asked.

“Taking a passenger to Poona,“ Naresh stammered, breaking out in a cold sweat.

The police officer peered into the taxi and frowned. Both goat and eagle were deadly quiet, as if they weren't there at all. “Aha? Have a safe ride then,“ he said and handed registration and license back. He didn't comment on the animals.

Naresh was perplexed, his mouth agape. “Thank you,“ he murmured and hurried on. Soon the other lanes were passable again; the traffic jam didn't clear though. Naresh sighed.

'That was close,' he thought. The man started talking about his pregnant wife and a friend who lived to the west of Poona, but Naresh's thoughts were elsewhere. 'Why did the officer let me go?' He couldn't wrap his head around it.

Then he thought about why the police had been there in the first place. The news came to mind; earlier this morning they had reported on a fugitive mass murderer. Naresh even pondered about his strange passenger.

'Is he that man they talked about?' he wondered and glimpsed at the guy. But then he shook his head no. 'Just an odd duck,' he soothed himself. 'The police would have recognized him if he was.'

But the guy still gave him the creeps with his ghastly eagle and the annoying goat. He could feel the goat breath down his neck and the eagle stare at him. The long road to Poona was crowded with commuters. And the longer it took the more nervous Naresh became.

By the time they reached Poona Naresh was a nervous wreck. As he drove past the wooden palace-like buildings of the historic district Pesha with its narrow, crowded streets he was lost, but he didn't want to admit it to his strange passenger. So he drove to and fro looking for the hospital.

Instead the road suddenly was blocked by a cow. Naresh sighed, desperate. He couldn't go around the cow because the road was too narrow and the holy animal wouldn't budge. Naresh worried for his passenger but the man calmly smiled to himself, excited to see his wife soon. The goat nipped at Naresh's hair and startled the driver; the eagle shrieked and fluttered in its aviary.

When after half an hour of honking and impatient waiting the cow trudged on and the road was clear again Naresh let out a hurried prayer of thanks to Vishnu and Lakshmi. He drove on and after a while he finally, finally found the hospital. Relieved he sighed and prayed again; this ordeal was over. It only took him a moment but when he opened his eyes again and looked to the passenger seat, it was empty. Surprised he looked to the back seat, and the animals, too, were gone. Outraged Naresh bolted from the car, but the strage guy was nowhere to be seen.

'He couldn't have disappeared like that! It certainly wasn't just my imagination, was it?' Naresh groaned. And the guy hadn't paid. 'This whole horrible drive – for naught and nothing?!'

While Naresh was still seething, the passenger door was pulled open and a man sat. “To the airport, please.“

Stunned speechless, Naresh gaped. Then he was quick to get behind the wheel. “Yes, Mister Gandhi,“ he grinned, excited.

The Lakshmi figurine atop the centre console laughed.

Keep Playing

After this... different writing exercise let's get back to the game my friend and I designed cards for.
So let's talk a bit about the rules:

1. Players start with 50 HP.
2. Every turn you draw four hand cards (draw phase).
3. Every turn you may place one hero and as many item cards as you want on the field (placement phase).
4. You may have three heroes in total on the field.
5. Heroes do not attack the turn they are first played.
6. Abilities and item effects are effective before attack phase.
7. During attack phase you may choose which opponent's card (target) to attack.
8. When a hero reaches 0 HP they (and their respective item card) are removed from the game and may not be used again as hand cards.
9. Your turn ends with discarding all of your remaining hand cards.
10. The game ends when a player's HP reach 0.

 Easy as pie, right? :D Now for the next four cards we made:

Writing Exercise 024

This writing exercise is a little different from the others. The prompt for this week was found on tumblr and my first instinct was to turn it down. But then again these exercises are supposed to be challenging, so I braced up and came up with this four times drabble:

2016/05/23 - "You've been typing furiously on your laptop in the library, and have just gone to get a book, so I had a quick look and you're writing hardcore gay porn and it's GOOD." (4 x Drabble)

It was a sunny summer afternoon; too hot to sit in the library and bake in the stale air amongst the books. And yet a hand full of students sat there adamantly enduring and cramming knowledge into their heads between lectures.

The heavy silence was only ever disturbed by the fast clicking sound of fingertips typing away on a laptop. The monotonous staccato had been going on for quite some time. And it only ever stopped when the student in question fanned herself with some sheets of paper and looked out the window overlooking the other university buildings. Finally she sighed and stood to bring one book back and fetch another from the countless shelves.

Her neighbour observed her go from the corners of her eyes and wondered what her friend had been typing all this time while she idly flipped the pages of the textbooks she had stacked on her desk and tried to read. Curiosity got the better of her, she leaned over and took a peek at the last sentence on the screen.

He inserted a second finger and the motion elicited a wanton moan from his lover, who was spreading his legs wider – a nonverbal beg for more.

She blinked, startled and thinking she was imagining things. But a second glance told her she hadn't misread and these words were really written there. She was stunned speechless.

“What are you doing?“ her friend's quiet voice startled her once again and she felt a blush creep onto her cheeks that had nothing to do with the insuffrable heat. The author of those lines had returned with a textbook and sat. “Well?“

Her neighbour gaped incredulously. “You're writing gay porn? Here? Now? ...why?“ she whisper-blurted.

Her friend made a shushing sound. Then she shrugged. “So? Don't tell me you're not bored by this stuff,“ she whispered and tapped on the cover of the textbook her neighbour feigned reading. “It's so hot today, and I can't concentrate anyways.“

For a while they stared at each other, cheeks flushed, until her neighbour muttered: “Well... it's good.“

The author grinned mischievously. “I'll let you have a readthrough when it's done,“ she winked and they both snickered quietly. She resumed typing while her friend stared out the window into the summer sky and dreamily mused on the unfinished scene she had just read. It was really too hot to be cramming today.

Character Cards

Last time I showed you some of the cards my dear friend and I made. Now you get to see more of them. Again they are characters from my book 'The Untold Stories of Neverbeen Universe', namely Thanatos and Jake. Of course the cards still need colouring, but I don't want to withhold them from you much longer.
So here they are:

Writing Exercise 023

It's time for my writing exercise again. :D
This week the topic is dreams. And dream I do. So this exercise is a little different from the others. Enjoy nevertheless. :)

2016/05/17 – dreams

How often have I wondered about the dreams I've had – about the meanings and reasons for the things my subconscious makes up. How often have I dreamed strange things without ever questioning them while dreaming. How often have I not realized I was dreaming in the first place then.

When for the first time I finally did realize the dream collapsed like a house of cards and I woke up. That singular night I managed to lucidly dream every time I fell asleep, and again and again the dreams would collapse and wake me up once I noticed it wasn't real. It was the first and last time I ever had lucid dreams. I was over the moon.

However, despite not knowing I'm dreaming while I dream, I'm able to control my dreams – even though my control has limits. You see, when I wake up before my alarm clock blares away and I don't like the ending of my dream I sometimes can rewind the dream. Just like a video. When my rewind limit is reached and I fall asleep again I then may redream from that point in time and change the ending altogether. Which is rather cool. Of course this only works if I have the time to keep dreaming. I use this 'skill' whenever possible because I mostly don't like the outcome of a dream.

Then there are recurring dreams and 'to be continued'-dreams. Both are not uncommon to me. Some of them have been with me since I was a kid, others are newer. And a lot of them have something in common: they inspire me to write the things you now get to see. As I dream my mind makes up splendid worlds and interesting people; and these worlds grow into a vast universe, a universe that feels so real and is full of wonder and magic, a universe that won't leave me alone for about two decades by now; yet it's a universe that has never been. So I call it Neverbeen Universe. And its stories want to be told so badly. Finally I give and do just that; my body feels like but a vessel, a mere tool to bring Neverbeen Universe to life and share its existence with you.

It makes me wonder if someone else might have the same dreams I do; if dreams are but a method of this Neverbeen Universe to communicate with ours – through me. I don't feel special because of this; instead I am humbled facing this unfathomable, most splendid and rich universe and its unique inhabitants; I feel tiny the way I feel tiny and insignificant when stargazing. And yet it seems to me as if I was part of it all. As if dreams were a window to a whole new horizon, a parallel world as vast as the mind allows it. Which is basically limitless.

And even though I seldom like the outcome of a dream, I really enjoy the time I can spend with my Neverbeen Universe; I enjoy dreaming even if it kills me – only in my dreams, of course.

Where Creativity Leads

As I was saying, my dear friend was staying with me for a week. And it was such a creativity boost for the both of us!
First we wrote a 89 pages long 'choose your own adventure' book about two of our favourite characters (or more precisely: I wrote, she drew fitting illustrations). It is full of insiders and it's in German, so it very likely won't be published. But it was so much fun! :D
Thursday we played Thunderstone, a very nice tabletop/ card game, which inspired us to make our own card collecting game. And we did. Each of us turned five of our characters into a card with HP/AP, an ability and an accompanying item card each. So we have twenty cards in total for now, and the game is already playable. The cards still lack coloration, but given the time we had to accomplish the task it's a quite impressive feat, I think. :D
Anyhow, of course I'm going to show you those card prototypes. First up are Raphael and Gene, who you might already know from my book 'The Untold Stories of Neverbeen Universe'.
Here they are:

Writing Exercise 022

This week my dear friend is staying with me. She knows about my writing exercises, so I asked her to prompt me this time. She gave me a topic and I wrote a drabble about it.
Here it is:

2016/05/11 – neck kisses (Drabble)

Lounging under the sun. Birdsong and buzzing bees the only sound accompanying the rustling of turned pages. A slight breeze ruffles through unkempt hair; it reveals just that tiny patch of recently tanned skin. A hand comes up and instinctively rubs that delicate space above the neckline of the white shirt and below the hairline. The motion puts even more focus on that particular area of exposed skin, so slender and elegant. A light sheen of sweat highlights it further. Tempting, beckoning, taunting even. Ah, to place but one kiss upon that perfect neck! It is a hot day, indeed.

Island Shore

Here is another painting I did last week and it is called "Island Shore". I used acrylic on a 23x30 cm² canvas. It doesn't belong with my speed-painting series, but it took me about 30 min tops to finish; the topic is close to the other paintings, too, but this is unintentional. Especially the waves and the spray gave me a hard time, yet it turned out ok, I think.
Any impressions? :)

Writing Exercise 021

The first writing exercise this month is a fairy tale.
This story will be part of my third volume of 'The Untold Stories of Neeverbeen Universe'. Yes, you read right; I'm planning a trilogy of short story collections. I'm so excited. :D
And to give you a taster here is my exercise for this week:

2016/05/04 – write a fairy tale

The Raven's Feather

“They say, the raven is a messenger of evil. Their black wings accompany calamity and murder. It is proven that these birds of hell have the power of demons, who can change the good into the opposite and provoke nothing but destruction and evil…

Therefore beware of their dark power and flee as long as you still can...“

Everyone, who was wise enough to protect their family and to prevent the misfortune that might happen, had learnt this. Also the good grandmother warned the three royal children when she told bedtime stories. After the candles were snuffed out and the two girls dremed of heroes the young prince Hinoki was still awake and thoughtfully observed the stars. In contrast to his older sisters he was not afraid of the dark force of the ravens. How could a poor, little bird be dangerous to him? The prince didn't understand the adults' worries, instead the young royal son was fascinated that a crature as fragile had a power so tremendous that even the king, Hinoki's father, trembled when mentioning the black birds.

On these evenings the invalid boy had wished the most that he had even the tiniest spark of that power so he could forget his worries. Like every evening he wished upon a star and went to sleep.

But after a couple of years when his wish hadn't come ture yet and his malady had become more severe the prince lost his hope. Because of his ailment Hinoki couldn't go with his sisters to the many balls and dance, so he began to hate those parties.

One day – it was Hinoki's twelfth birthday – the king held an extraordinary ball for his son. There were many artists from all the countries, there were chefs who had created lots of formidable menus, there were those had prepared fireworks, they brought exotic animals and there was music all around.

But the prince couldn't rejoice.

Then his father went to him and asked: “My son, why are you so sad? Tell me, don't you see all these awesome things?“

But he didn't see them, and the king left disappointedly.

Later the gifts were given to the prince: there were silver and golden jewelleries with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, purpure and lapis lazuli garbs, swords made from the hardest of steels, valuable boxes and rare animals…

The king was happy and went to his sad son. He wanted to know: “My son, why are you so sad? Tell me, can't you enjoy all these awesome presents?“

But Hinoki couldn't enjoy them.

The ball continued until late at night and Hinoki secretly went to his chambers. He sat down at the window and thoughtfully observed the stars. The prince murmured: “The ball is awesome, but what to do if I can't dance and laugh? The presents are awesome also. But why have jewelleries and garbs when I have nobody for whom to dress up? But why have a sword when I can't fight? But why have boxes when I have no treasure? But why have animals when my heart can't enjoy those things?“

And he was right.

Suddenly Hinoki saw a bird land at his window. Surprised he watched his visitor and noticed it was a raven. The black bird cleaned his feathers and said with a beautiful voice: “Hello, my prince Hinoki, tomorrow's soverain over all the countries. Live long and prosperous!“

The raven made a little curtsey and looked at Hinoki intelligently. The prince was so amazed that he could do nothing but quietly nod. Then the black bird continued: “That's a splendid party that you're holding. I regret arriving so late. But I heard so late and the messenger must have lost my invitation; I don't care though. Here I am!“

He grinned craftily as a cartload of monkeys. “Of course I couldn't find a present, but I will give you something else.“

The raven put his beak in his plumage and lay one of his feathers into Hinoki's hand. The prince observed the feather as black as night admiringly and said: “What a beautiful present you've given to me. I'm really happy, but, my raven, what to do with it? No offence.“

The bird started laughing. “Of course not, my prince Hinoki, no offence taken. Here's the sense: the feather isn't your present. I give you my services and you can use them whenever. You have a wish? I arrive and do you the favour, mon prince Hinoki. Isn't that great?“

The raven made a gesture with his head smiling and the prince applauded happily. “That's awesome.“

Suddenly the raven became serious: “But attention: for every wish you have to pay.“

Hinoki promised to pay looking at the beautiful feather all the time. The raven was contented and flew into the night to enjoy the party. Immediately the prince put the feather into one of the boxes to protect his treasure.

All the following winter long the feather lay in its hidden place. Then the prince met a girl he liked. But he was afraid that she wouldn't like him back because he was so invalid that he couldn't walk anymore. He didn't know what to do. Then he remembered the feather and took it. Hinoki didn't wait long until he saw a bird arrive that evening. The raven cleanded his feathers and said: “Hello, my prince Hinoki, tomorrow's soverain over all the countries. I see with pleasure that you haven'T forgotten me. Finally you have a wish, haven't you? Yes, I know. There is this girl you want to dance with and so on, but you can't. Now, I shall heal you.“

The prince was astonished. “Err...yes, that's right. You can do that?“

The raven smiled. “Of course. It suits me fine, my prince Hinoki. But don't forget to pay.“ And so the bird healed the prince ith his spell. Hinoki was very thankful and he took his jewelleries and garbs to go out with the girl to a party.

Later that beautiful evening one of his sisters fell into a well and drowned. The king was so furious and sad that he declared war to the country the man, who his dead daughter had danced with, came from. The two armies fought for three months and the prince wanted to help end this calamity. So, totally despaired, he called the raven who appeared in the evening.

“Hello, my prince Hinoki, tomorrow's soveraing over all the countries,“ he said like always, “It's terrible, this war, isn't it? You want to help your father make peace, but you can't because you don't know how to use a sword. Now, I shall teach you.“ Hinoki agreed and the black bird cast his spell. “Now take your sword and fight for peace! But don't forget to pay.“

The prince went help his father and the ennemies finally surrendered because Hinoki fought like a lion and with grand finesse. Unfortunately the king had been killed during the war and the kingdom was in need of a new soverain.

And seven days after the war Hinoki's sister became the queen. She was a very beautiful queen and everyone admired her, but she also was very vain and lavish. She spent much money on balls. Hinoki saw the misery of his people and he thought about what he could do. Then the raven appeared for a third time. “Hello, my prince Hinoki, tomorrow's soverain over all the countries. The kingdom seemed richer previously, didn't it? Now, I guess you'd change the state of the state if you were king. Well, why not be the king? I shall crown you.“

The prince was shocked. “But my sister is queen. I can't do this.“

Immediately the raven cast a third spell. “We will see. You should pay a visit to your queen, my prince Hinoki – no, my king Hinoki. And don't forget to pay.“ Afterward Hinoki went to see his queen who had something to her little brother.

Then seven months later the young king with a black feather tucked to his crown unified all the kingdoms with a little bit of help of a secret friend.

And he proudly told the success of his long life when visiting the royal tombs.

Sneak a peek

So I've been programming visual novels again. This time around the story is taken from my still unpublished second volume of 'The Untold Stories of Neverbeen Universe'. And I decided to leak it to you. But pssht! ;)
The second short story collection is going to be called 'More Untold Stories of Neverbeen Universe' and it includes 10 stories and illustrations. I hope to publish some time this year (depending on how fast my beta is).
Be that as it may, I have a playthrough video of the second of those stories for you. It is quite short, but then again the story is still new and a taster to what the second volume will be like. Have fun watching! :)