Moe Lane's Blog, page 680
September 23, 2021
09/23/21 Snippet, ETERNAL NIGHT OF THE MOON-BEASTS.
Horror!
Patreon!The trick was to forget each new horror as soon as it happened. It was easier than it sounded; the human brain is not designed to comprehend what Tobias was sensing. If he let it slide past him, no piece would be left behind for his mind to worry and scratch at. Well, there would still be some, but humanity long ago adapted to enduring chronic pain. He remembered impressions, though – and that was almost-literal; where the monster touched his psyche, it left bruises behind, and those he could understand. The monster was malevolent, and it was also horribly intelligent, in a distinctly anti-human manner. It was not until now that Tobias truly understood what the word ‘alienation’ meant: he had never before been able to compare his own situation with something so profoundly the Other. Even its malevolence was unlike anything he had ever felt before, subtly wrong and insistent in ways that mere human evil could not aspire to.
But alienation went both ways.
The monster could perceive his own memories, and promptly began to tear through them. Tobias thought it even enjoyed the revulsion that perception triggered in him. But what it could not do was understand the memories, or not fully. He could feel its patient bafflement as it contemplated his memories of geometry class; its grasp of space-time was capable of distinguishing between there and not-there, and that only barely. The thought would have cheered him, except that he was no longer feeling any emotions at all.
Tweet of the Day, …Mood edition.
Just a whale swallowing two tourists. (Powell vs. Kaplan & Rosengren) https://t.co/cl5v6fxLkJ pic.twitter.com/iDm7H9EOP1
— Wallstreetbets (@wallsteetbets) September 22, 2021
Via @CalebHowe. Mind you, the humpback whale didn’t actually eat them. This happened a few years ago; they’re fine. It’s still my mood this morning.
September 22, 2021
Buy my books! Although it may be my kids’ books, some day.
The eldest is starting to get into writing, which is way cool. The youngest is likewise firmly on the graphic artist track, which is just as way cool — and not particularly surprising, honestly. We were an artistic family, growing up: painting, drawing, dancing, writing, textile arts, and my dad was the cook. And since my wife’s a polymath, the odds were good the relevant genes would get passed on. Here’s hoping my kids surpass me.
But I wouldn’t mind if they had to work at it a little, so: buy my books!
The NIGHT TEETH Netflix trailer.
A day may come when stylishly absurd movies like NIGHT TEETH will no longer appeal to the adolescent still living within me. A day when I cannot ignore the logical flaws and contrived plots. A day when I say, Really: this makes absolutely no sense, so I shall not watch it.
And I’ll probably still be down for this on October 20th. Halloween season, folks!
09/22/21 Snippet, ETERNAL NIGHT OF THE MOON-BEASTS.
Bombing run!
Patreon!Knocking down the tower was so simple Tobias had to do it himself; the automated systems on the hopper (and every other device in human space) were designed to never, ever let something that destructive happen without human approval. Even then the actual mechanism was straightforward. The hopper’s spare recon drone could be released and aimed at the tower, again with the safety protocols disabled. After that it was just a matter of physics. The drone wasn’t moving very quickly, but then it didn’t have to. All it needed to do was impact against the tower hard enough to knock some pieces loose and knock the rest of it down.
Tobias didn’t wait around to watch the slow-motion collapse; as soon as the drone cleared its launch bay he boosted the hopper almost to the redline and peeled away at an angle up and well away from any human settlement. He half-hoped, half-dreaded the thought of not being pursued. He adamantly refused to remember what it felt like to share his mind with a monster, but the ghost-memory of its liveliest awfulness still lurked, deep down where the dark thoughts lay. He couldn’t risk returning home until he was sure he wasn’t bringing anything back with him.
A slurp of terminal static from the drone — and a flicker of another’s awareness — filled him with dread, and relief. The illusion of escape had just been shattered. This was going to end in a death, or deaths. Deaths, Tobias decided, would be fine. Not that he wanted to die, exactly. He was just running out of long-term plans.
Deepfakes get amazing and terrifying.
How much so? Take a look.
OO my God !!!!@
— Parsa (@Parsa44010208) September 8, 2021
Video from #SpiderManNoWayHome behind the scenes features Andrew Garfield !!!!#BehindTheScenes #SpiderMan #SpiderManNoWayHomeTrailer #WhatIf #SpiderManNoWayHomeleak pic.twitter.com/nbACSNW8Be
Now take another one.
Ain’t technological progress grand? And absolutely effing terrifying. Note, by the way: it’s equally neat and alarming if the second video’s the fake. Possibly even more alarming, in fact. Being able to discredit actual footage is something I didn’t feel like worrying about this morning; yet here, we are. Yay.
Tweet of the Day, There’s A Proper Grasp Of Science… edition.
There’s a proper grasp of science, there’s my grasp of science, and then there’s Hollywood’s. This makes me feel so much better about the outrages I’m doing right now to the laws of physics in my latest SF-horror story…
Syd Mead's original concept for Deckard's blaster for 'Blade Runner'.
— Last Exit To Nowhere (@LASTEXITshirts) September 22, 2021
The original idea for the weapon was for it to fire dark matter or open miniature black holes in it's targets.
– Jamie pic.twitter.com/rImCzWTCW2
September 21, 2021
‘If I Ever Leave This World Alive.’
Yeah, I’m doing it again. I literally don’t want to listen to anything else right now.
SCA/Flogging Molly this weekend!
New baron and baroness stepping up, so everybody’s on deck to help out with that. I get to make sure everything’s set up and so on and so forth. I also expect to be out there in the parking lot, at some point. Yay.
And after that: Sunday is Flogging Molly! I have a ticket. Hopefully, I won’t be so wiped that I can’t go, but we’ll see. The good news there is, it’s just off the Green Line in DC. Getting home should be straightforward.
