The Nexus of Writers

This contest was...not as exciting/eventful as the previous six-word-story contest, but it was still pretty fun! And I'm going to cut to the chase: Gabby wins again, with 5 votes for "Hope isn't dead; it's just dimmed"! Kyra's "Remind bread he is not alone" came in second, followed by Kyra's "I'll give you a face high-five." Fun fact: the latter six-word-story by Kyra was almost rejected; I almost messaged her and told her it was really 7 words. Thankfully for Kyra, I learned before then that two words joined by a hyphen actually only counts as a single word. -Narrows eyes menacingly- You outsmarted me this time, Kyra, but it will not happen again...

I wrote a short story a while back called Jason Citysaver! I suppose I never posted it on this blog, and that'll forever be the case. HOWEVER, for those of you wanting to read it, it is now on the PoetofSteel's blog! This is the only place I will post it, so I recommend finding it there !

Okay, so, a few months have passed, and I've decided to reflect on everything I've seen on Disney+ so far. (Note that, while I have kept rewatching the MCU films with my family, I will not be counting those.) The Mandalorian My favorite TV show ever, and given how I like TV shows better than movies, that says something! This show combines action, adventure, characters, and plot very effectively, and is even pretty hilarious! The mystery of the man behind the mask combined with the natural affection for the creature that is called Baby Yoda make this an easy pick for anyone to watch. The main shortcoming? It's only 8 episodes long. Thankfully, we've got a Season 2 coming this Fall! Star Wars: Rebels (Seasons 1 & 2) I...-cough-...binged too much in a 3 day period, and thus Rebels is now ruined for me. (NO! THRAWN! I have failed you!😡) However, I did get through the first two seasons of this show before I felt insanely bored and annoyed with it. It's def...

10. Lightsaber crystals weren't always kyber crystals. If you're not a nerd, you probably don't know what kyber crystals even are, and if you're a nerd, you'd probably describe lightsaber crystals as being referred to as "Kyber crystals", which are the lifeforce of the lightsaber. I've got news for you, though: kyber crystals weren't required to power lightsabers. In ancient times, Jedi had power packs attached to their lightsabers to supercharge them. And while it's never been very common, there are certain types of crystals that could replace kyber crystals. The most notable kind is one found in the novel, "Master and Apprentice". An orange crystal is found, and while it's not a kyber crystal, it can create an orange lightsaber. 9. The Darksaber is the rarest form of lightsaber. The Darksaber was created by a Mandalorian Jedi. The significance of the blade was its ability to subtract light, rather than add it, giving the blad...

We're like hot dogs, Delicious food topped With all sorts of dreams. Then, slowly, Time eats Us away, and the pain Grows until we are gone. So why even bother? Because a life lived For nothing is a life Wasted, when we could Have made a difference.

SIX days left until the six word story contest submission ends! It's seriously not that much time, so if any of you are like me and are procrastinating, now is the time to stop!

Author's Note: This is a highly whimsical retelling of the fairytale "Hansel and Gretel". Hope you enjoy its cringiness!  “How are we going to survive?” Gretel whispered to her brother Hansel. While neither of them preferred to talk about it, their future wasn’t bright. Their parents pretended they didn’t even exist, and to top it off, food was becoming expensive…too expensive. Which begged the question, how long before the two twins starved?                 Hansel knew. Or, he had a hunch. A strong hunch, even, and his hunches were never wrong. He’d had a hunch that Jack was having fun, and when he looked out his window, he had seen a giant beanstalk that had ripped out of the ground and reached to the clouds. He’d had a hunch that his friend, Ella, had gotten lucky, and the next time he’d seen her, she was a princess. He’d also had a hunch that something really, really bad was going to happen to him ...

I found this "fun fact" on Pinterest: Figured I'd use this as a "teachable moment" or something. The only way this can be proven is if it's tested over and over again, and obviously, since we haven't been destroyed by a black hole, this has not been successfully tested once. Thus, the most this can be is a hypothesis, not a fact. Sorry, I'm just super against much of modern science. I feel like, since no one actually bothers to check experiment results (or sometimes even perform experiments), we're reverting back to the age of the ancient Greek philosophers. And I don't have a way to actually vent. Thus, blog teachable moments exploring the comedic fails of science. And now, "Would You Rather...?" Would you rather live for 100 years and have 100 friends throughout a majority of your life... ...or would you rather live for 10 years and have 1-3 friends for a majority of your life?

Alright, so, I had to make a few tweaks to the blog. First off, the reason I keep the blog background that shade of gray is because when I copy/paste from Google Forms, it carries over a strange light brown white highlight, so I rehighlighted the text to match the blog's background. Now, with more than 150 posts having light gray background, I'm keeping it this shade so that not as many posts are affected by blog changes, and thus every post is fully readable. Minus the ones that were created when the blog had a black background. Those are goners. So, anyways, I had to change this blog's theme up a little, as the standard blog background was no longer applying to the same place. In fact, there were two tabs, "Blog Background" and "Post Background", and I missed that when changing the blog's theme. Thus, I've edited the colors of the blog a bit. Honestly, it looks more like an eyesore to me, now, so the full blog format is still a work in prog...

Author's Note : I...have no idea where to credit this poem, honestly. One of my best friends and I collaborated on this poem in last night's dream. I have no idea if I should give credit to that friend, who has no idea this blog ever existed, to credit God for giving me this dream, or to credit someone who, in this case and this case only, is a third-wheel friend who accidentally inspired the poem's creation. Dear Myra, my long lost friend, To the one I hid who I was. I'd give anything for another day with you. Dear Myra, who once lost me, To the one I never got to say goodbye, Now do I give you the final farewell, goodbye.

Author's Note: I told many of you I'd write one. Here it is! . If an onion was a person, would I cry any less? If an onion was a person, would its layers be few? If an onion was a person, would it finally be spared? If an onion was a person, I would cry with it every day. If an onion was a person, No knife would harm it. If an onion was a person, I would be its one sanctuary. . If you liked this poem, check out this scene from Shrek.  

Alright, so, the Dwarvish castle build is progressing smoothly, though I'll warn you, it's not going to feel like a castle at all . Kinda wish I'd named the other build Dwarvish Tower, and this one could be Dwarvish Fortress . But, this update for the castle build is about the entrance, which I've finished. This is what I call the Courtyard. Unfortunately, some of the details clash, but...well...dwarves aren't known for being pretty . Mostly made of stone and functional, as well as lots of lava. Another look at the Courtyard, which gives you an idea what the inside kinda looks like. Like I said, lots of lava. The Courtyard leads to the Trail, which leads to the actual entrance. The trail has about 50x more detail than I'd originally planned, since I had to cover up a few miscalculations. In the end, though, it looks rather normal, thus there's no close-up. The entrance gives us a break from pure stone, and includes a nice, ov...

Forenote: The idea for this post came from my Psychology class. I learned about classical conditioning recently, which is when your brain learns to associate two things together even if they're unrelated. For instance, if you're used to bad things happening to you in the evenings, you might learn to be fearful of the evening since you expect something bad to happen. Classical conditioning isn't only negative, however; it can be used to train animals, overcome fears, teach children, and so much more.  Hello! If you're reading this and you have a fear of technology, raise your hands! Hmm...there doesn't appear to be many of you fearful of technology...well, we're all scared of something! Whether you've got acrophobia, hydrophobia, pyrophobia, hemophobia, clausterphobia, myrmecophobia, or something else, this guide will help you conquer that fear! The first stage is to go to a pet store. You're going to want to buy plenty of doggie treats. Like, go ...

UPDATE:  Okay, so, slight problem. I changed the blog's name and font, but sometimes when I enter the site, I can't interact with the blog.  At all . I can't even scroll. If ANYONE has this issue, too, let me know ASAP! The gray background will remain. That's not changing one bit. However, the blog design will be changed. The reason why is to match with an even bigger change: the blog's name will be changed. Sure, I post more of my own content on here than any of you individually, but all of you readers combined do more for this blog than I do, so it seems a little unfair, from my perspective, to attribute the blog's title only to me. Now, I don't have a clue what I'm going to name it. I haven't gotten that far, yet. But I assure you, I'll think of something! (Ideas will nonetheless be appreciated.) (NOTE: the blog address will remain as markswiftnexus.blogspot.com since that makes sense. I'll try to set up a redirect for markbornen...

Author's Note:  This is about my struggles as a thinker and emotionally dense person in a world of feelers and mushes Mark's Addition: To quote Kyra, "FEELZ!" I am lost In the swirl of emotions I am lost With my friends I am lost In a swirl of emotions That I do not understand I am lost When you break down in tears I am lost In all of my fears I am lost In a swirl of emotions That I do not understand I am lost In confusion I am lost On what to do I am lost In a swirl of emotions But I’ll still be there for you

I would sing for you, As the stars shone above. I would dance with you, As our minds kept us awake. I would take a leap of faith, Into freezing, rocky waters. I would die for you, If only you could understand, You're my sister, not my lover.

These are songs I've recently found that I've enjoyed. Pocketful of Poetry This song has a strange title, and the way it's built/sung is...even stranger, to be honest. But the pure optimism behind the singer's voice always catches me off-guard, and it's honestly very intriguing . Hey, Soul Sister (by Train) Every now and again, I come across a song that practically screams "STALKER"; this is the only one I've found I've actually loved nonetheless. And it's super upbeat, too! Life is a Highway (by Rascal Flatts) Making its premier in the movie Cars, this song always catches my attention. Yet upon rereading it, it appears to be a love song...why'd they squeeze that into Cars? Chasing Cars (by Snow Patrol) I never found this song anywhere other than the radio because "Chasing Cars" is sung only once in the entire song, and in a random place at that. The name is extraordinarily facepalm worthy.  Count on Me (by Br...

I've had a variety of Minecraft building projects in the past. The first one was a Minecraft city. Here's the final product of it: It looks pretty sad, I know. In my defense, however, I was unaware the "Kill All Entities" command was reprogrammed to kill even players on Creative Mode, so when I tried to get rid of all the annoying slime monsters through a simple command, I killed myself and I respawned realizing I had no idea where my build actually was. Thus, I failed before I had a chance to succeed. My second build project was a Village Renovation. It turned out pretty well: Of course, this is only a snapshot of what I actually did. It was a large village, and I renovated most of the houses. I redid all the paths, upgraded the well, created a fishing pier, made an underwater temple, and built a bridge over a river that led to a new market. My third project was a Dwarvish Fortress build: Again, only a snapshot. There's a lot of thought I put into that...

Only 16 days left until the contest is closed! This is like reverse Goldilocks. The first Tournament Contest was just right, the second one had too short a window, and this one has an unbelievably long window.

Author's Note:  The meaning of this story could be something cringe-y like “to fly, one must first leave the ground and accept the risk of falling” or something. XD Jason clung to the rock face, clenching his eyes shut as the salty sea breeze whipped his sandy hair around his face.                “Come on!” a voice exclaimed from above.                Jason pried his eyes open to see Samantha impatiently glaring down at him from the top of the ledge.                “Don’t rush me!” Jason replied sourly, groping for a handhold and heaving himself up another foot.                 If I fall, I am going to die. “You are not going to die,” Samantha laughed as if reading his thoughts. “Yes, yes I am!” Jaso...

Author's Note : Honestly, never thought I'd post this, and I still feel like it's a bad idea...at least this time I can accurately blame Kyra! Ten, Friends I never Thought I'd miss. Nine, Times I had To say goodbye. Eight, Stories I quit when That day came. Seven, Nightmares, the Number of Perfection. Six, Panic attacks As I cry out. Five, Songs I sang To keep calm. Four, Months of sitting Alone and waiting. Three, Statelines of pain Erased from existence. Two, New raw emotions I didn't know. One, Friend who made Me whole again.

Author's Note: This is a combination of two previously posted poems ("Lone Fox" and "A Friend In Me") that I wrote. I discovered recently that, combined, they actually worked well together, and decided I'd repost it as a single poem. Hope you enjoy! Sometimes I looked out at the endless sea, Wondering what was left here for me. The tears began to sting my eyes, As if I was one who at sad sights cries. But then I got up as my eyes fell upon a lone fox, At that moment, the whole world seemed to fit in a box. Funny how even the simplest of creatures, Can claim to be the most relaxing of features. The road is long, and bumpy, too, But just remember, I'm here for you. Over the mountains, across the sea, Remember you've got, a friend in me.

First it is the loss of a little thing What’s next? Our friends? Our family? A single end Rips us out of our youth Into fear Farther away from the truth

You ask me why I'm happy, Why I smile in pain. Why I'm strong in hardship, Why I laugh all day. --- I have a friend to guide me, He shows the way. He takes away my worries, Then I feel okay. --- I have a friend to guide me, He's with me every day. You'll never guess his name, He's closer than you think. --- That's why I am happy, Why I smile in pain. Why I'm strong in hardship, And why I laugh all day.

Author's Note: I love writing stories; until I have to write one for school. I love doing research; until English throws an argument paper at me. Likewise, I appear to love poetry, until I find myself banging my head against the wall in frustration at a poetry slam assignment. This poem is one I wrote for an assignment for school, and while I absolutely hated writing it, I actually don't mind the final product. It's also highly experimental. In the past, I've always had to write with emotions I was currently feeling, or else I had to write with unusually potent emotions from my past. This poem, however, takes bits and pieces from various emotions I've felt over the years, and smashes them all together in a giant Frankenpoem. Some parts of this poem are recent emotions, others I've felt a decade ago, and many other snippets are from spaces in-between. Anyways, enjoy this poem! --- Love is like a fire, An inferno blaze which consumes And melds emoti...

Please don’t stay, Please don’t leave me. Please don’t listen, Please don’t ignore me. Please don’t speak, Please don’t stay silent. Please don’t be there, Please help me. The pain won’t end, The pain won’t go, Will the pain leave with you? Or will it just grow?

The Discussion Board will be deleted. It's not used very often, and I find when people do chat, they tend to use the Update post, which actually makes sense to me. Therefore, Discussion Board is going away. Same with Q/A page.

The loyal can abandon their friends, The strong can fall the furthest. The happiest cry the longest, The brave can made the most. Yet the betrayed stick around, The weak push the hardest. The heartbroken smile the brightest, The cowardly stand the tallest. So leave me behind, And shove me down. Taunt me tears, And make me scared. I'll never leave my friends, And never give up hope. I'll always grin and joke... ...actually, I'll always be a coward.

I spy green grass, Blue sky and white clock; Cars and vans and bikes, too. I spy yellow shirts, Pink nails and red roses; But I never found you.

2020 means a lot of things! Here's a highlight of current details: I have a New Years resolution to finish this novel project I will begin at some point. I'm almost done with my Harry Potter project, and once that's finished, I'll work on this novel project. Title and details will be hidden, as if/when I publish it, I'm planning on using my real name...and thus keeping the details hidden will keep this blog disconnected from my real, actual life! Edge of Space Roleplay will not be immediately activated. I'm going to wait for at least a total of 3 characters. (I've already made one, so I'm really only waiting on two.) Lots and lots of puns regarding vision. Here's one for you: "Why didn't I realize a new year had started today? Because I don't have 2020 vision." (Fun fact: I really don't, in either sense of the pun. Another fun fact: that's a true story. I didn't realize it was 2020 for a couple hours.) A New Chapt...

Beautiful kindness, Quiet patience, Brilliant maturity, Missing mystery. You were mine, And I was yours, Like crackers and cheese, Or PB&J. Smile unending, Forgiveness unyielding, Love endearing, Hope enduring. You were mine, And I was yours, We belong together, Not worlds apart.