The Worlds of Pele's Playground
Welcome to Pele's Playground! Here you'll find easy links to our worlds and the stories in them. Some worlds have a large number of stories waiting to be released; others have only one or two.
Some of these stories are complete; others are essentially complete, but need editing (a very time-consuming task). We've recently changed how we do our writing, dropping the time needed to prepare a rough draft from an hour for 1,500 words to an hour for approximately 12,000 words; expect to see a lot of the newer stuff before the older stuff makes it out. Luckily, however, none of our stories are in any particular chronological order, and none depend on the others to any great degree.
Note that most of these links won't work yet; only stories for which we have released at least one chapter have more than a nominal webpage.
Also, we have forums! Go here to discuss the stories!
Click here to donate! or for more information about donations and updates.
Jason and Kylie, Naked in School Chapter 21 Up
Jason and Kylie, Naked in School Chapter 21 (2934 words) is up!
Sonuachara Chapter 14 Up
Sonuachara Chapter 14 (1942 words) is up!
Jason and Kylie, Naked in School Chapter 20 Up
Jason and Kylie, Naked in School Chapter 20 (2602 words) is up!
Whoops!
YIKES!
Sorry it's been so long without an update here, folks — I hadn't realized how long it had been until it was pointed out to me, and then before I could get somethnig up here I was distracted by Vel coming down with salmonella food poisoning (which is unbelievably nasty).
Count on, at the minimum, a Jason and Kylie update in the next couple of weeks (depending on how long it takes me to get it up and then fix anything the betas find), followed by either another Jason and Kylie update or a Sonuachara update shortly thereafter.
I can't speak for Vel — it greatly depends on when she finishes recovering from the food poisoning. It looks like she's over the worst of it (she didn't have a particularly severe case, apparently, which is frightening), but it could be lulling us into a false sense of security.
Still not dead!
Yikes! Sorry there hasn't been a news posting since Oct — I thought I'd put one up just a couple of weeks ago, apologizing for just that fact.
Vel is working on another Prudence update, which requires her to re-read the existing story so that she can make sure there aren't any continuity errors. As she does so, she's making some changes to the earlier chapters, as they're hurting her to read. I've got a chapter of Whore of Slytherin up for beta (and I need to go through the comments) and I hope to get a chapter of Jason and Kylie and Sonuachara both up for beta this coming week, but job-hunting may interfere.
Health-wise, Vel's doing better, and we may have discovered the root cause of one of her health issues, which is good and bad. Good, because there's a medicine specifically for that, but bad because her doctor hasn't been impressed by it and the alternative is to avoid yellow food coloring — and you wouldn't believe how many things have Yellow Dye #5 in them.
We Aint'nt Dead!
For everyone wondering where we are, we're not dead. We've just had a bit of an emergency that's resulted in us pulling our son out of school and homeschooling him, and the last couple of weeks have been more than a little stressful and swamped.
On top of that, we've had computer issues — Vel's laptop is dead (but luckily still under warranty), my laptop is dead (The power supply yet again), and her motherboard in her desktop has died (also under warranty). Needless to say, this has caused some difficulties....
On the up side, I did manage to get 1700 words of outline done on Whore of Slytherin, and I hope to get some JaJNiS done this week — I'd hoped to get it done this weekend, but no joy. :(
New Sonuachara chapter....
And I want to make a point of thanking our betas on this one — it was a monster of a chapter, and we had over fifty comments within a couple of days of putting it up for them to look at; it's a much better chapter as a result.
Sonuachara Chapter 13 Up
Sonuachara Chapter 13 (9383 words) is up!
Upcoming downtime and updates
Sometime in the next couple of weeks (hopefully next weekend, but possibly later) Pele will be down for an indeterminate period of time, while a new motherboard is transplanted in. The current motherboard is, unfortunately, still having problems — the system shut down twice on Wednesday from overheating when I tried to compile a new kernel to resolve some problems.
The replacement motherboard is scheduled to arrive sometime between next Friday and next Tuesday, and with any luck, will do so on Friday so that I have the weekend to make the swap.
Once the new motherboard is in, I'll be compiling the new kernal and rebooting into it, which could extend the downtime somewhat if I miss something important in the configuration and have to recompile to fix it.
On the upside, the new processor is an AMD Phenom 8450 — the benchmark I found has it at around 3.5 times faster than the Sempron 3000+ Pele has now, and since it's a triple-core processor, it'll actually likely be more than four times faster for Pele's workload.
Whether or not this translates to any speed improvements that will be visible to y'all, I don't know, but I suspect it will.
In other, much better news...
Sonuachara chapter 13 went up for beta this afternoon. It's effectively 4+ updates in one, as there was no good break point after the first thousand words, so it's 9374 words long. It's been a while since we had an update, but at least it's a big one!
As soon as the betas have had a chance to look over it and I've corrected whatever they find, I'll release it.
Upcoming downtime
Just a quick note — pele will be down at some point in the next few days while I relocate it and make some network infrastructure changes in the house. Ideally, it'll only be down for a few minutes, but the network changes could result in it being cut off for a couple of hours if I screw something up and it takes time to fix.
Demon's Dream
Imagine a world much like ours on the surface. Beneath, however, lies a very different truth. Elves, were-creatures, and demons walk the earth with us...as do other, more dangerous creatures. Humans, did they but know it, are both the weakest creatures and the most important, for without their belief, the gods themselves would fail. Some of the novels in this world will be submitted for professional publication; others, however are not suitable due to their subject matter. Therefore, they will be released for free on the net. We don't write for money; we write because we need to. Not that we _object_ to money, you understand.Prudence, TX Population 1276
Prudence is the second story we wrote in the world of Demon's Dream, and the first to be released. It chronicles the story of a new teacher in a small town who discovers that life in a small town is very different from the world he knew. When he falls in love with one of his students, his life begins to change in ways he never expected, and he learns that, just like Horatio, there's more under heaven and earth than dreamt of in his philosophy. We've released over 190,000 words on this, so far, and we're committed to getting at least 2,000 a month out in the future. We've got a lot more ready for editing on this one; unfortunately, it's the old style, and editing is a pain.Pandora's Box
Pandora's Box is our most recent work. Gabriel is barely hanging on after his almost-ex-wife killed herself to protect him from her angry parents. He survives— it can't really be called _living_— only because not doing so would be a waste of her sacrifice. Then, on his thirtieth birthday, a teenage girl shows up on his doorstep and turns his life upside down. And then he discovers that he's not even human.Here, Kitty Kitty
When Nikki Morgan bought the small country practice from the former doctor, she thought she'd enjoy rural life. Unfortunately, she found that she missed the city. And then Kirsa showed up with the strangest symptoms she'd ever seen. If she didn't know better, she'd say she wasn't even human...Ascent Into Shadow (Not Active Yet)
Ashlyn didn't understand why she was so attracted to Lenore. All she knew was that she had to protect her. At first, she thought Lenore was being abused. Then she discovered that the truth was far worse. Lenore wasn't being abused...Lenore was _dinner._Artform (Not Active Yet)
Traci's father sent her to live with her uncle to keep her out of trouble. Hard work on a farm would be good for her. Then she met Reina...Mistaken Assumptions (Not Active Yet)
Jason was new in town, and everyone 'knew' he was a bad boy. He smoked, he wore a leather jacket, he drove a motorcycle, and he wore a pendant with a 'satanic' symbol on it. So he was surprised to see the note asking him to meet someone privately. But her proposal was most intriguing indeed...Demonic (Not Active Yet)
Miriel had been the Demon Princess of Lust for centuries. She was good at what she did, and she enjoyed the work. Now Lucifer has changed, and the rules have changed with him. He's returned to what he once was, and with him, the demon lords have been freed. And Lucifer has given her a specific assignment...Country Chaos (Not Active Yet)
Lee's mother had divorced her werewolf father and moved far away to 'protect' her from the metaphysical. But Lee had been training under the Pack's shaman for a decade, and didn't want to be protected. Or human, for that matter, but genetics didn't ask her what she wanted. So when she discovers the rot lurking beneath the surface of the quiet country town they've moved to, she can't not get involved. Even though it may cost her everything she's ever wanted.
Naked in School
This is our variant of the Naked in School world. Think of it as set in a very near parallel to the other NiS worlds.Jason and Kylie, Naked in School
Jason's the Big Man on Campus, the quarterback of the school football team _despite_ being the coach's son. He sees the Naked in School program as an excuse for more sex. But there's something wrong with his Program partner...Steve and Deanna, Naked in School (Not Active Yet)
Steve initially worries that his program partner has the same problems that Kylie had. He soon discovers, however, that this is a completely different situation...
Miscellaneous
These stories are all set in their own worlds, unconnected to any other stories. Should we write a sequel or related story, they'll get their own section.Oops
This one's experimental, and I'm not sure how to describe it yet. All I can say is READ THE DISCLAIMER, because it's a lot more extreme than anything else we've put up so far. This one's not part of the donation schedule, and I make no promises that we'll complete it; read the disclaimer.Sonuachara
Trina MacCeallich wasn't one of the 'in' crowd; she _was_ the 'in' crowd. Zoe was an outcast who'd bounced from foster home to foster home, counting the days until she was eighteen and could live on her own...and adopt her foster sister. So Zoe was surprised and suspicious when Trina went out of her way to befriend her. Why would someone like Trina want to be friends with her? The answer lies in the distant past, in the roots of Trina's family tree, and Zoe could never have guessed...New Age Dawning
The gods are dead, and magic has begun to go astray. When Adara rescues Rhishandri from the mage who attempted to sacrifice her, she begins to get a hint as to the reasons why.Blood Will Tell
Rafael Cortez had a good life. A successful business, a loving wife, a beautiful, intelligent daughter, everything he could have wished for. And then, one day, his daughter had a blood typing lab in her biology class at school. (Warning: This story, especially the beginning, covers some extreme territory. The 'torture' keyword is not there by mistake. Rafael is a very angry man, and he takes it out on his wife— but it _is_ consensual. Further deponent sayeth not.) (Keywords: MF, mf, Ff, ff, BDSM, torture, lolita)Furry (Not Active Yet)
Adam and Anya are twins, the children of a Tiger/Sable cross. Their father took them to Venus with him when he split from their mother, and all they've ever known was a primitive life. When he dies, their only choice is to run, or they'll be separated. And as they run, they grow even closer.Camp (Not Active Yet)
DJ liked girls, and he liked sex. He _didn't_ do relationships. Leah didn't do sex, but she found herself responding to him in ways that unnerved and frightened her. So he offered her a deal...Castle (Not Active Yet)
Jeffrey Vaser has just inherited a castle in Romania from a relative he never knew he had. And he doesn't even _own_ a tuxedo!
Fanfic
For our (extremely rare) ventures into FanFic.HPFic 2: Harry Potter and the Bonds of Light and Darkness
Harry and Ginny begin the new school year together, walking a delicate balancing act , trying to do what they must without arousing suspicion. New students and new allies serve to confuse things even further, and then they discover that not all is as it seems with their fellow students.HPFic 1: Harry Potter and the Heirs of Light and Darkness
In the summer after the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Harry learns that Light and Darkness are not the simple matters that they seem. And that facing Voldemort is the _least_ of his problems....Harry Potter and the Whore of Slytherin
Pansy Parkinson wasn't known as the Whore of Slytherin for no reason. It was a perfectly accurate description, because a whore was exactly what she was, and she made no excuses or apologies for it. It had gotten her through five years in Slytherin despite the fact that she didn't give a damn about blood purity and the idea of becoming a Death Eater terrified her. When she realized that Harry Potter had a chance to defeat the Dark Lord, she knew she had to do whatever it took to help him, because the Dark Lord's defeat was the only chance she had for freedom. But after the death of his godfather, Harry was teetering on the edge, and she feared he would not survive the summer. Well, she could fix that. After all... they didn't call her the Whore of Slytherin for no reason. (Keywords: mff)One-Eyed God
What if Xander had dressed as a certain one-eyed god that fateful Halloween?
Donation & Update Schedule
| Cumulative donations | Update schedule |
|---|---|
| $0 | Prudence update and either Sonuachara or Jason and Kylie, Naked in School update |
| $100 | Weekly updates |
| $200 | Two updates per week |
| $300 | Three updates per week |
| $400 | Four updates per week |
| $500 | Five updates per week |
| $600 | Six updates per week |
| $700 | Seven updates per week |
Let me start with this: The donation drive is not meant to be any sort of demand or extortion. Everything we put out as a result of donations _will_ be put out no matter what; all the donations affect is when things come out, and the schedule above is a minimum. We'll try for monthly updates of all the stories we've started, no matter what we get in donations, but the only ones we guarantee are Prudence (for Vel) and either Jason & Kylie, or Sonuachara (for me; one or the other will be updated every month).
I'm not going to try to convince people to donate; in fact, I'm going to do just the opposite. If you don't think the work is high enough quality that it deserves it, or if you don't care when things come out, DON'T DONATE.
Donate if you like the stories that much. Donate if you can't wait to find out what comes next, and you don't want to wait a month between updates. Those are the reasons to update.
Even -- no, especially -- if you don't donate, we still want your feedback. We want to know how we could improve the stories. Not that I'm saying we're going to change what we write based on popular opinion; if we were going to do that, Aaron would never have become part of the Prudence family, because we did that knowing we'd probably lose a lot of readers (though, to be fair, that hasn't happened nearly as much as we'd expected). But we do listen to what people have to say; if several people say that a certain scene didn't work for them, we're going to look at why that was and try to do it right the next time.
It all comes down to this: we want you to donate what you think the work is worth. If that's nothing, then that's what we want you to donate.
If people don't want Prudence to be at the head of the queue, tell us. Right now, we're alternating between having multiple Prudence updates on even-numbered months, and updates for all the stories on odd-numbered months, but that can change.
Also, note -- money in excess of a breakpoint (IE, the $50 in $350) will be applied to the next month's donations, giving it a head start.
