author: Nicole J. LeBoeuf

And now we are all caught up. Again. For as long as that lasts. In any case, "Weird Quantum Science" is the Friday Fictionette for, er, yesterday, and "The Touch of Iron" is the much belated fictionette for the Friday before that. Which makes four for February. Ta-da!

Why I keep getting behind on this stuff is very simple. In theory, I'm to spend a little time every day working on the next one that's due. Simple. Perfectly achievable. Leaves plenty of room for other writing tasks, like the production of publishable short stories and all that. But in practice, something happens most days per week to keep me getting to my daily fictionette-prep session. And then Friday comes and the thing isn't even drafted, much less exported to PDF and paired with some sort of cover art and also recorded to mp3. And Friday has whatever it's got waiting in the wings or hovering over my evening or sabotaging my afternoon, and there's no way I'm putting in all three or four hours it's going to take.

It's just like NaNoWriMo, right? You do your 1,667 every day, or your 3,333 every other day, whatever--or you do a 10K marathon at the last minute. Or worse. And I hate marathons. I'm much better at daily sprints.

So there's my confession for the week: I've kind of been sucking at this time management thing. But a new week starts now! A new month starts next week! New leaves: I am turning them over at a rapid pace! Watch them fly!

Do I perchance hear someone snickering in the peanut gallery? Do I? Surely not! Oh, wait... it's me. Because I do this every week. Every evening. "I give up. I'm done. I'm going to sleep. But tomorrow will be better!"

Well, and tomorrow will be better. Just... in small increments. But small increments do add up.

I've been lapse in my actually writing updates, and I'm gonna get lapser; this is not an actually writing update. This is your weekend Puzzle Pirates blockades roundup. Why? Because it's Saturday, and time and tide (and the blockade schedule) wait for no pirate.

Absolutely nothing seems to be scheduled for Cerulean. That's unusual. As though to make up for it, the Emerald and Meridian Oceans are hoppin'. They got multi-drops, Brigand King scuffles, and, in the case of Emerald, a whole bunch of max pay offers for the noon blockades.

Chapter Three would like you to know a little bit more about their attack on Raven's Roost (Meridian)...

Our JC/LA is out of town and will be sending in a few ships just for fun to see what Corteezism is made of! See you there. Pay starting at 69 poe per seg.

And Bite the Pillow have this to say about their Admiral Island operations (Emerald)

Come join us and help save Shigby's cat. Pay as crazy as it can be and good luck to both sides.

I'm not sure about the cat (more details might be available in their intent video, linked from the forum post), but pay is very much over the top. Well, the game won't let you go over the top. It's right at the top, 9,999 Pieces of Eight per segment (PoE/seg).

An actually writing update will probably be coming later on today. The preview summary is this: The week 3 Friday Fictionette for February did indeed go out on--I think it was Tuesday of this past week; the week 4 Friday Fictionette is a touch late but will probably be out later today. I hope so, anyway. There's no good reason it shouldn't be. But then again, when have I needed a good reason to slack off? *le sigh* Well, here's to optimism. Please stand by....

Standard reminders: Schedule is given in Pirate Time, or U.S. Pacific. Player flags link to Yoweb information pages; Brigand King Flags link to Yppedia Brigand King pages. BK amassed power given in parenthetical numbers, like so: (14). For more info about jobbing contacts, jobber pay, and Event Blockade battle board configuration, check the Blockade tab of your ocean's Notice Board. To get hired, apply under the Voyages tab.

Doubloon Ocean Blockades

*** Saturday, February 27 ***

10:34 a.m. - Hubbles Auge, Opal Ocean
Brigand King attack!
Defender: Alianca da Aguia
Attacker: Chthonische Horden (1)

12:14 p.m. - Admiral Island, Emerald Ocean
Defender: This Means War
Attacker: Bite the Pillow
Undeclared: Keep the Peace

12:14 p.m. - Scrimshaw Island, Emerald Ocean
Defender: Bite the Pillow
Attacker: This Means War

12:35 p.m. - Gallows Island, Emerald Ocean
Defender: Rebound
Attacker: The Crazy Department

12:36 p.m. - Paihia Island, Emerald Ocean
Defender: Rebound
Attacker: The Crazy Department

12:37 p.m. - Iocane Island, Emerald Ocean
Defender: Rebound
Attacker: The Crazy Department

1:13 p.m. - Isla Spaniel, Jade Ocean
Brigand King holds the island!
Defender: La Llama que todo lo consume (1)
Attacker: CORSARIOS DE POSEIDÓN

1:39 p.m. - Lilac Island, Meridian Ocean
Defender: Knockout
Attacker: Necessary Roughness

1:40 p.m. - Duat Island, Meridian Ocean
Defender: Knockout
Attacker: Necessary Roughness

2:00 p.m. - Zuyua Mist, Meridian Ocean
Brigand King attack!
Defender: Coming Soon
Attacker: The All-Consuming Flame (3)

4:00 p.m. - Raven's Roost, Meridian Ocean
Defender: Chapter Three
Attacker: Corteezism

6:00 p.m. - The Lowland Hundred, Emerald Ocean
Brigand King attack!
Defender: Illuminatti
Attacker: Jinx (3)

*** Sunday, February 28 ***

11:37 a.m. - Aimuari Island, Emerald Ocean
Brigand King holds the island!
Defender: Fleet of his Imperial Scaled Highness (6)
Attacker: Keep the Peace

12:00 p.m. - Napi Peak, Meridian Ocean
Brigand King attack!
Defender: Imperial Coalition
Attacker: Chthonic Horde (13)