Moe Lane's Blog, page 886
August 11, 2020
Tweet of the Day, Another Portent of 2020 Arises.
Behold! Blockbuster.
Just checking in.
August 10, 2020
Could use a word count/story count opinion.
The next book going up for Kickstarting is going to be the short story collection (I expect it’ll be around November), and I wanted an opinion. Assuming a price point of 2.99 – 4.99 for a Kindle, what’s a reasonable expectation for word count and/or story count? I personally think that it should be more than what was in the sampler, so I guess ‘six stories’ is the lower limit there, at least. Thoughts?
08/10/2020 Snippet, VERDICT OF HISTORY.
Beer and discussion!
Patreon!2860 AD
“So what’s bothering you more?” asked Jackie. “The way the opera whitewashes Cunning-Claw, or the way it humanizes the Burning Brand?”
Luis thought about it, his beer halfway to his lips. “I’m not really bothered by it?” he said, and took a quaff. “I had to learn about opera for this detachment, so I know that the story’s only going to make sense when it won’t get in the way of the singing. But They used to teach the legions about the Great Lakes Campaign, too. So that we’d understand how we were supposed to act.”
The orc’s voice had gone a little tight at that, and Jackie winced. It was easy to forget that this polite, pleasant officer had been born and bred to be a slave-soldier for the Universal Dominion. Aloud, she said, “Clearly, it didn’t take.”
“Thank the Lady, yes. Anyway, I’ve seen some of the old manuals. Razor-Claw Singh fought like a vicious beast. No, he was a vicious beast. That’s why the war lasted so long; he even took the Dominion by surprise.” Luis finished his beer. “For all the good it did him.”
CD PROJEKT RED puts up some CYBERPUNK 2077 videos.
This one is about the actual band (Refused) that they’re using to be the band (Samurai) for the game. It’s very interesting! CD Projekt Red is going for a specific sound, which I guess is something that you can do when you’re writing a AAA game whose budget might break nine figures*. I also suspect that the non-gamer lead vocalist that they interviewed may not be entirely sure just how monstrously big CYBERPUNK 2077 might get.
More videos at the link above, including a look at lifepaths. I suspect that I will be going corporate for my first run. I’m wondering whether I’ll want to run the other two, afterward.
*It’ll make that back, though. Shoot, I can’t be the only person who pre-ordered.
08/10/2020 Snippet, MORGAN AND THE ELDRITCH TOME.
Climbing!
Patreon!Getting up to the roof took a few stages. For the first stage, Morgan simply ran and leapt up, pulling himself to the outbuilding’s roof with only a mild twinge from the wounds on his arm. Forgot about those, thought Morgan as he let down a rope for Kiddo and Ben to use. I need to start being more careful. …And I mean it this time!
Kiddo went up as quickly as Morgan did. As for Ben? Well, he wasn’t in bad shape, but he clearly wasn’t a climber; despite his best efforts, he made some noise scrambling onto the first-story roof. The three of them froze at an odd, half-rumbling, half-rustling sound from inside the annex, but after a moment or two it subsided. They still waited another minute, just to be sure: the two older men had watched enough movies, after all.
“All right,” said Morgan, quietly but not in a whisper. “So, yeah, there’s a thing in there. Huzzah! But we knew that already. So we just need to get up the side of that wall quietly.” He pulled out the rest of the rope; at the end was a sophisticated-looking grappling hook. “I can place this well enough to get up there, then set it better for you two. Ben, you got a trick up your sleeve for this?”
Ben was looking up at the roof. “I think so… yeah, that spell would work. One problem, though: it might be a little louder than usual.”
His spells hadn’t been very loud, so… “Guess we’ll risk it,” shrugged Morgan. “Unless the thing inside pops outside onto the roof, we should be okay. You want me to wait, or should I go up now?”
“Go up now,” said Ben. “It’s going to take me a minute to adapt the spell, and the faster we move after that, the better.” Again, Morgan didn’t understand the level of skill that implied until much later.
08/10/2020 Snippet, OMBUDSMAN.
Labor disputes!
Patreon!“…Boots?” said Bad Jack.
He might have said something more, like Why would Yapper order boots?, except Morty didn’t give him the chance. “Yes, Director, boots. The reinforced boots Mr. Joeson negotiated for the floor shifts. I’ve found a form agreeing to the request, and I’ve found a form authorizing the release of funds to fill the boot contract. What I haven’t found are the order forms for the boots, or the receipt showing payment for the order.”
Morty stepped just a little bit closer to Yapper, who was looking more and more worried by the second. “Most importantly, I haven’t found any boots.” The Ombudsman still wasn’t looming, but he didn’t have to; the floor workers around him were all really big guys, and they had Morty covered when it came to hulking over people. “Where are the boots, Mr. Joeson? Where is the money for the boots?”
Yapper wasn’t real bright, because he tried to appeal to Bad Jack. “Boss…”
“Excuse me.” Morty didn’t shout that, and he didn’t have to. “He’s not your boss, shop steward. They’re your bosses.” He waved his hand at the floor crew. “You answer to them.”
August 9, 2020
08/09/2020 Snippet, Verdict of History.
Refreshment!
Patreon!“Well, I’m not going to let you go, sorry.” Firebrand sat down, and poured himself some tea. “I’m not going to let you live, either. Oh, pardon me: would you like a cup?”
“Ha. Real funny, asshole,” Razor-Claw said. He then blinked as a cup daintily levitated into the air and moved over to his lips. He was clearly thirsty; after a second, the bandit king gingerly sipped from the cup. His eyebrows rose as the cup proved to, indeed, have nothing but tea in it. And as soon as it was empty, the cup flew away to be refilled.
Razor-Claw drained four cups before he said, “Screw this tea crap, gimme a beer.”
Firebrand laughed with genuine humor. “That’s the spirit. And it’s Commanding Warmage Asshole, thanks. I beat you, so I get the title.”
Razor-Claw shrugged as much as the chains would let him. “You’re the guy with the beer, Commanding Warmage Asshole. If that’s what it takes…”
08/09/2020 Snippet, OMBUDSMAN.
I’ve been thinking about the scene just after this one for a couple of years.
Patreon!It wasn’t a great scene that Bad Jack had walked into, though. It was mostly workers there, with his guy Yapper on the floor for once. That was weird; Jack had given Yapper the job of ‘shop steward,’ mostly because the Consortium said somebody had to have the job. Yapper was supposed to pass on bullshit from the workers or something like that, but Bad Jack didn’t care about that and did care about being whined at, so Yapper stayed in his office and did whatever.
Apparently ‘whatever’ wasn’t going over great with the Ombudsm- Morty; whatever he was saying to Yapper, it wasn’t happy-talk. Morty looked like he belonged there, though, although he was no way as hulking as the other guys. Maybe it was the suit; Bad Jack had never noticed before how solid Consortium formal clothes looked. Down here it looked a lot better than Bad Jack’s fancier local duds.
“What’s going on here?” Bad Jack said as he walked up to the knot of workers. “Don’t you all have shifts?”
“Good afternoon, Director,” said Morty, without even a trace of disrespect. “These men are witnesses by my order; I’m arbitrating a labor dispute, and I didn’t want Mr. Joeson here to feel like the bosses were singling him out.”
Who the hell is ‘Joeson?’ thought Bad Jack. Oh, yeah, Yapper’s dad was named Joe. Probably. “Whaddya mean, a labor dispute? What did they do?”
“The workers here? Nothing.” Morty looked at Yapper. “But I had some questions for Mr. Joeson here about boots. Like where all the ones he ordered all ended up.”
