The ancient one came bustling back into the bAAR which had more people in it than since the holiday party. A smile beamed across his wrinkled face, but then he fished his cell phone out of his robes.
"This thing has been buzzing all day with the activity in here," he glared at the phone as he tossed it back and forth between his hands like a hot potato. Then he stowed it back in one of his pockets. "Glad to see it though."
He walked over to where
@DensleyBlair was snoozing in his leather chair next to his papers, notebooks, and half finished mug of cocoa. He left a note scrawled in gold ink on a heavy stock card that said merely, "Congratulations." He made sure to place the card carefully on Densley's sleeping form without disturbing him.
"Definitely had to congratulate him, one of the great folks who hangs out here on such an accomplishment," Chac explained as he joined the knot of folks who were gathered around
@coz1 by the main bar counter.
A middle-aged woman slips through the front door and stands awkwardly, checking her phone repeatedly as if anxious that she has the wrong address. Finally, she ordered an old fashioned from the bar.
I understand that we're celebrating @DensleyBlair completing Echoes of a New Tomorrow?
She waits for a moment to be contradicted. Hearing none, she raises her drink.
Congratulations indeed!
Accepting the drink gratefully, she considers it for a second.
"My little story is a piker compared to some of the others on here, but I was astonished to realize that it is currently more than fifty thousand words--more than novel length, at least according to the SFWA. It's longer than any of the other AARs that I've written on here, and much longer than anything that I've written outside of this context.
"I've never been able to stick to a piece of fiction this long, and I think the fact of an audience helps: the little dopamine rush that comes when people read it, or try to guess what's happening next. And sometimes one of the comments will get me thinking, and that changes the direction of the story slightly or inspires me to fill in some bit of world-building. But I wouldn't enjoy it if it was just a game of anticipating what other people want from the story.
"Honestly, do you really want an artist who gives you what you expect? Do you want to see your own mind reflected back at you, really?"
She takes a sip and smiles. "And if I did want to sell out," she says, "my wife is always there to talk me down."
"Also, didn't want to miss the return of
@Cora Giantkiller to the bAAR. She was one of the early keepers of the flame here," Chac added. "You should be honored that coz is making your drink. He doesn't do that for just anyone, especially not for any of us new folks who haven't earned our stripes."
coz1 crushes the sugar cube as he looks to @Cora Giantkiller , "Indeed we are."
He pours the bitters with the bourbon and smiles, "And it occurs to me...are we all writing the longest works ever?"
He rubs the twist of the orange peel over the rim of the glass as he looks out over the bAAR, "Or are we all just enjoying ourselves? Amusing ourselves and hopefully others?"
"I think so,"
he muses as he hands over the drink, "For twenty plus years, I most definitely think so."
Not wanting to test coz while he was tending bar for a change, the ancient one went behind the bar himself and found the good mezcal. He poured himself a glass and then went to the edge of the knot of folks still gathered. From the side he said, "Offering another somewhat muted toast to Densley and his accomplishment." Then he held the glass up momentarily before bringing it down to take a sip.
"You know what, I'm going to do it. I'm going to try and read at least one chapter per day of Echoes, Mission, and Tomorrow. It may take a while, but I should get caught up eventually if none of you post multiple times a day."
"A bold promise,
@jak7139 . Wish I could make that commitment. I have all of those in my reading queue but find it hard to keep up with the ones I'm already currently reading. I suppose I will just have to promise to get to them," he replied, and then sighed.
There are 56 chapter updates in those four pages...nearing on 115k words...basically half of everything written so far is in those last four pages.
"You definitely have a good novel there, sir. Love your shorter work, and catching up with that. Maybe when you are done you should try getting it published?" Chac offered.
And if you do read an AAR for longer than two chapters, comment on it.
"And here I was thinking folks had heard more than enough from me. I've actually been using the emojis more lately," Chac admitted.
Euraisa walked into the bAAR and looked about. "Gentlemen, I need some information." He looked a tad uncomfortable and added, "I have a question that I am not sure is proper to ask. Ahem...if we have a AAR that ISN'T in the Paradox universe....where would we display it? I have come upon a interesting...game. A wonderful, amazing, game that I think many would enjoy. But....it was created by a indie company...and well, I want to make sure I won't be chased down and arrested for trying to...share it with the many readers."
The ancient one glanced around quickly to see if
@Eurasia was still here. He had never seen Eurasia in the bar during his days here. The place was certainly drawing out the veterans these days and he appreciated that. He wasn't sure he could make out Eurasia but he was glad he had come in with a question and received an answer.
Then the ancient one found a stool and sipped on his mezcal happily as the conversation continued.
