Moe Lane's Blog, page 630
December 4, 2021
12/04/21 Snippet, THE STARS ARE WRONG.
Interrogations!
Patreon!The trick of pretending you already know what is about to be confessed is old, and does not always work. But it did here. “Forgive my master, Guardians! He is proud, and has always loudly scorned weakness. So he cannot abide the thought of others thinking him weak.”
“Indeed,” rumbled my partner. “But it is still the duty of all to confess their weakness to the Guardians. How else may we cut it out before it festers?”
The apprentice lowered his head. “It was not weakness; not truly. The Kee that came to him were too many to fight, and they left peacefully, leaving nothing behind but dire warnings.”
“The Kee? Peaceful?” Jak snorted. “I’ve not heard that one before.”
I raised one hand. “Stop. Return to the start. And tell me what you saw.” I did not bother to tell him to tell the truth. It is hard to lie to a Guardian, and the common folk know it.
December 3, 2021
‘The Holly and the Ivy.’
The Holly and the Ivy, Medieval Baebes
#commissionearned
12/03/21 Snippet, TINSEL RAIN.
Handcuffs!
Patreon!Dory had a look like she knew this day would always happen, but she still didn’t believe it was today. “It’s nothing personal, Tom,” she said as the doc prepared the syringe. “And I promised you’ll be fixed up, soon. The Mountain will clear your head.”
By which she meant, the Mountain will burn out that Dominion bitch’s hooks in your soul, hopefully without hurting you. And it wasn’t a bad plan, either. If I actually had any hooks in my soul. Or if I wasn’t on a countdown that could be measured in hours, instead of days.
“I’m not taking it personal, Dory,” I told her. “Tell you what: don’t stick that needle in me, and I’ll go quietly.” What I really wanted to do was find out where the damn AFTSE/Syndicate sit-down was, and get there in time to stop it from turning into a shambles. I didn’t know if I could do it if I had to start from Mt. Jeannie — ‘clearing my head’ there would take about three seconds — but it was for damned sure I wasn’t gonna be able to if I spent the next day drooling on a mattress. You do what you can, right?
Blizzard warning for Hawaii*.
*The highest part of Hawaii Island, not the entire island chain. The ten-day forecast for Honolulu shows storms, with a high of about eighty degrees. But it’s still kind of neat, hey?
A blizzard warning has been issued for Hawaii, with at least 12 inches of snow forecast this weekend. https://t.co/NKgvsrAkL8
— ABC News (@ABC) December 4, 2021
12/03/21 Snippet, THE STARS ARE WRONG.
Detective work!
Patreon!“Out of town, you say?” I looked at him. “You buy from the Kee?”
“Those scum?” Osco spit. “I wouldn’t buy a spavined goat from them. Not that they’d sell to me, the filthy degenerates. No, I buy from good, honest folk, herders and stockmen my family’s bought from for centuries.” He winked. “Now, if, some stock that came from the Kee happened to fall into their clutches, it’s none of my concern, is it?”
From the corner of my eye I saw one of the apprentices stiffen. It was only for a moment, but to be a Guardian is to see. Aloud, I said, “Well, Butcher Osco, we thank you for your help. If you should remember anything further, come to us.” I looked directly in the apprentice’s eyes and said, “We will be waiting.”
Osco noticed nothing, but Jak did. He was wise enough to wait until we were clear of Osco’s yard before speaking. “You set a hook, back there?”
“More like gaffed the fish. And he will follow us out, if he is wise…
12/03/21 Snippet, THE DOOM THAT CAME TO LUNA CITY.
She seems nice! Hope nothing happens to her!
Patreon!Distance was funny on the moon. A site hundred miles down the road was closer than one twenty miles away, and over broken ground. And this jaunt to Luna City was… definitely going to be a road trip, Tobias thought as he supervised the loading-up of the lunar bus. The buses could be recharged from the fusion plant, or a spare solar panel in a pinch. The hoppers could not.
Aside from Hawthorne, Wu, and Jones, he had two other people coming along: Dr. Lillian Peters from what used to be Oxford’s lunar research station, and Corporal Josef Buckley from the motor pool. Buckley was there to drive the bus. Dr. Peters’ research into lunar geology wouldn’t be helpful on the mission, but she had logged more hours outside than anybody else who at least qualified for fetching and carrying.
She also seemed fairly eager to actually go somewhere. “Thank you, Commander. I haven’t had a chance to work in vacuum since Before. Even if we’re taking the stairs instead of climbing down.”
New Weird Al Tour.
It’s another iteration of his original songs only tour from a few years ago so I can probably skip it safelHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, who am I kidding? The only reason I haven’t signed up yet for the Kennedy Center show (ooooh) yet is because I can’t. Seriously: the last show was a gas. I’m up for seeing it again.
133 shows, here we go. Check out all the dates at https://t.co/ETyiOJdd8h pic.twitter.com/26Db4N8PB4
— Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) December 3, 2021
December 2, 2021
12/02/21 Snippet, TINSEL RAIN.
Getting on with it.
Patreon!“There’s a bomb about to go off, Clancy.” I paused to think, and I remember some recent awkwardness. “And, oh, yeah: it’s not mine.”
I got lucky: the first Flatfoot I ran into on the security detail for the sit-down was somebody I knew. The last time I had seen Clancy, he was getting a lot of commoners out of the way of a wizard’s duel downtown, which did wonders for his promotion prospects. He might even be fresh-faced enough to think he owed me a favor for the way I got that duel to sputter out. Even if he hadn’t, he’d be smart enough to listen.
Clancy didn’t look happy to see me, though. “Shamus,” he hissed (while closing one eye), “you gotta make tracks, muchacho! Before somebody sees. Whatever your mess is, I can’t help. Or make it go away. There’s Crown papers out on you.”
“Not any more, Clancy,” I told him as I gave him Gannon’s note. “I got papers of my own, now. I’d say go check with Stoneface Joe himself if you can’t read his scrawl, but we’re running outta minutes right now. …Hey, don’t wrinkle that!”
Tweet of the Day, The Next One Is 12/11/21 edition.
Interesting. 12/22/21, too, if you keep using the digital font. Enjoy them, because they won’t happen again in our lifetimes (I think).
Today is both a palindrome and an ambigram. Which means it can be read backwards and forwards as well as upside down. This may be my most useful tweet ever. Good day. pic.twitter.com/xSPCAXMnyc
— Ed Solomon (@ed_solomon) December 3, 2021
