Image by @katharsisdrill
I
Nordlute strummed his strupaxe. He was a sysadmin for the big blogging platform. His job was to deal with shitposters who plagued it. They would post their shit and exploit the payment system to deprive others of justly earned rewards. This was endlessly frustrating and depressing work, so he would play his strupaxe to de-stress.
Nordlute was named after his father's favourite musical instrument which was used in traditional folk music, but he preferred the strupaxe with its 17 strings of electrified cacophony. It could sound like angels or demons with a flick of the wrist.
Lately a new shitposter had emerged. He was obviously new to it, but had been careful to conceal his identity. His posts just that little bit too good to be considered really shit, but still below what sane people would consider worthy of a 1 saloti vote. He was making far more than that thanks to an army of shitbots.
Nordlute had spent all day trying to track this shitposter down, but after a dinner of microwaved brogwurst and a luke-warm Pixielot beer he needed something to take his mind off work.
He chucked the disposable plate on the fire, downed the rest of his tasteless beer and flicked the switch.
Nordlute strummed his strupaxe.
Nordlute, the shit sysadmin is a serial shitposting fiction inspired by Torundel the shitposter by @katharsisdrill and Ren du Lot, the shit lawyer by @vcelier.
Rules are:
211 words - Starting with the words "Nordlute" - First and last sentence are identical.
What a wonderful thing that Torundel is growing in all directions, and who would have known that his name was so well suited for anagrams!
I was quite pleased with that name, especially after @vcelier suggested he should be a guitarist. I am not sure how much more I can come up with, but that was fun anyway.
What did you say? That you cannot write a fictional shitpost story? You did very well, I salute you.
Well I surprise myself sometimes. I didn't think I could write songs either, but have come up with a few. I do like playing with words.
Ah, this cheered me up!
This is taking off some, isn't it? Fiction never was my strong area... hmmmm....
You did okay with your fantasy series. This should be a piece of cake for you. I don't know if I can sustain multiple chapters.
I gave up on the fantasy series, as it was too hard! I kind of wish 'The Ink Well Community' was for autobiographical work like I do, I have no home for my stuff.
Is there scope for an autobiographical community?
I have sent a DM to @raj808 about this. He is semi-active.
I think there's room for a community (I'm talking about this one) that encourages really strong writing. I can see the problem with opening up to non-fiction which is that everyone will start to dump here and that focus on improving and honing writing skills will be lost.
There's also the Powerhouse Creatives Community for good stories of any genre.
I had been thinking about your fantasy series - is it worth reviving? Fantasy is big here, I've discovered.
I did ask about creative non-fiction, which is how I would describe your stories, but I think it was veering away from the focus they wanted for this community. Personally, I think your Kwiksave stories should go here - I've said previously, they have so much potential for a comedy drama series, and with the Director's cut ...
I struggled to write these @shanibeer and was not sure if people really liked them or not.
I was editing as you were replying :)
Maybe look at some of the prompts as they come out each week (I think @raj808 is unwell, or at least, recovering, at the moment) and see whether any of them appeal?