Moe Lane's Blog, page 637

Tweet of the Day, How Did I Miss The TSW TTRPG Kickstarter News? edition.

Actually, I know how I missed the news of a Secret World TTRPG and Kickstarter. I missed it because when it came out I was off writing a novel. This is gonna be way cool.

#secretworld #rpg #5e #dungeonsdragons #horror Everything is true including the Secret World in 2022. pic.twitter.com/PdsVdbPk1B

— Star Anvil Studios (@AnvilStar) November 12, 2021

I need to rethink my writing strategy for this month.

TINSEL RAIN needs to get done, no question, we’re on track for that. But: THE DOOM THAT CAME TO LUNA CITY is this month’s Patreon entry, and I want THE STARS ARE WRONG to send around as a submission next year (originals do better than reprints, and I’d like to keep my hand in the submissions market). So I think I’ll try to finish THE STARS ARE WRONG in the next couple of days, then finish up DOOM. I think that’ll work.

Patreon!

12/20/21 Snippet, TINSEL RAIN.

Chapterization is now horked! This is good, because the chapters were of wildly uneven size. This works better

Patreon!

“All right, change of plans.” I gave Graciella a wry grin. “Well, change of plans for me. You’d be going back to the Billy anyway.”

“Hurrah,” Graciella muttered, then made herself smile. “Sorry, sir. I just hate looking stupid. But why the change in plans?”

I snorted. “Because the audience is tomorrow.”

“What?” She looked shocked. “Why are they telling you now?”

“Because if they gave me more than two days’ warning, something would happen. Fire, flood, locust horde, the sudden return of the Crazy Cocaine Hooker Killer from beyond the grave — the point is, if you want a Shamus to be somewhere on time, give him or her a day’s warning. One day’s warning. No more, no less.”

“Huh. Is that, ah, you know?”

I shrugged. “It’s New California.”

Tweet of the Day, The @HPLHS Has Dropped Another Solstice Carol.

Very good, on multiple levels.

Have you heard ‘Solstice At The Gilman House’ by HPLHS on #SoundCloud? #np https://t.co/KImtMzIU5G

— Ogiel (Moe Lane) (@Ogiel23) December 21, 2021

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME didn’t have a good opening, by pandemic standards.

It had an amazing one, by anybody’s:

MONDAY UPDATE, with actuals: Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home became the third biggest global opener of all time this weekend, now with a confirmed $600.8M through Sunday, versus yesterday’s estimate of $587.2M. Crossing the $600M mark makes it only the third film ever to the milestone in a launch frame. The Jon Watts-directed MCU entry is the No. 6 movie of 2021 worldwide (No. 3 for the studios) just from its debut and overtaking all other Marvel pics this year. Topping $600M at open is even more impressive as NWH did it without China, only the second film ever to the six-century mark sans that giant market.

I am personally fine, by the way, with us not taking the PRC’s official numbers into account when determining a movie’s box office. Indeed, when it comes to popular entertainment I would be fine with us not taking the PRC into account at all. It’d be better for everybody, in the long run.

12/20/21 Snippet, THE STARS ARE WRONG.

Reality!

Patreon!

The Vicar’s teeth showed, bright and white. “And what mishap would be greater than a dozen half-drunk, half-maddened Guardians being swallowed up by the streets?”

“Hundreds of sober ones with axes and torches, come to burn out the Razor District,” I said promptly.

“Ha!” barked the Vicar — and I do believe that he found the situation grotesquely, pervertedly amusing — “they will come anyway, your lost Guardians or not. Your masters will not attempt to stay their coming wrath, even if your comrades still live, and are brought forth. Dead fools might still have some perceived value to Seacity; alive ones enjoy none.”

“And what value is that, Reverend?” I asked, putting a bold face on a sinking stomach. Because he was correct, and his next words proved it:

“Why, Guardian Ward, they will serve as a most wondrous excuse. So rejoice! This self-chosen duty of yours is as naught. You are free from the fetters of responsibility, for what you do does not matter. You might as well return to your comrades, and prepare yourself for the coming assault.” He knelt again, this time head bowed towards the altar. “Rejoin the formless horde your city has spawned, and find what peace you can manage.”

‘Feliz Navidad.’

Feliz Navidad, Jose Feliciano

#commissionearned

‘The Season’s Upon Us.’

The Season’s Upon Us, Dropkick Murphys

#commissionearned

12/19/21 Snippet, THE DOOM THAT CAME TO LUNA CITY.

I didn’t get as much done as I’d like on this one today, but I did get stuff done. That’s the important thing.

Patreon!

Step one was checking his suit for external piggy-back riders. And it was good that they did; an orb-camera found several black globules on Tobias’s suit, out of sight but not reach. They were sticky, but came away without residue — but Tobias sprayed ammonia dust on the affected areas anyway. “Better safe than sorry,” he muttered.

Then he just had to patch himself into the bus’s intercom without using the newly-reestablished communications network. It was one of those jobs that was mildly tricky with Asenath’s help and absolutely impossible without it; Tobias often wondered what he’d do without her help. He did not wonder why the other people at Heinlein Base never seemed to use her services, mostly because he had learned not to have (or remember) that particular sequence of thoughts. It always ended up distressing him, often to the point of passing out.

But the real tricky part was convincing Buckley and Jillian that Tobias was — well, if not fine, then currently in control of his own head. It turned out they didn’t need any particular warning. “The longer you were in there, sir,” Buckley said, “the weirder you all got. I mean, we could watch it happen in real time. Whatever’s going on in that place, it’s moving damned fast.”

12/19/21 Snippet, THE STARS ARE WRONG.

Church! What could possibly go wrong?

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More surprises awaited me inside. There was so much light, to begin with, cast from what must have been a hundred lanterns. I knew that the Kee were notoriously bad at seeing in the dark, but if this was more to their liking then they must find the outside dim, indeed. It was almost too much for me to bear at first, but I learned quickly not to directly look at any one given lamp; my eyes also seemed to adjust after a few moments. But only to a certain degree, and the sharp shadows threatened to make me shiver.

Another surprise was the congregation. That there were many here after curfew did not shock me, or even alarm me, since every person here was one on the streets not causing trouble. But there were more non-Kee than I expected. Most hunched over as if to avoid my gaze, but a few stared back, unblinking and defiant. For my part, my impulse was to match glare for glare, but why should I? This was a Seacity temple, not some primitive shrine to the dead gods of the Kee. They all had every right to worship here, alongside anyone else of the faith willing to abide their presence.

It occurred to me that they might not wish to abide my presence, but nobody said a word as we walked up the aisle to the central altar. A man kneeled there, back to the congregation, and praying to the image of the Dreamer that hung on the back wall. As we reached him, Willkoad hastily went to one knee in front of the image, his hand firmly dragging me down to do the same. It was not a ritual of the Dreamer, but I allowed him to direct me. I had no quarrel with this god, after all, and it would not hurt me to show Him respect.

Or so I thought.