Taven Moore's Blog, page 31

[Perry] Adventures in XCOM

XCOM is a game where aliens invade earth and you, the commander of the XCOM project, must stop them.

You marshal your resources, decide which facilities to build in what order or which nations need to be helped first. You hire soldiers who develop and grow into specialized classes and you kick alien butt.

Or you fail.

Your soldiers may die in battle and remain permanently dead. Countries may pull their funding from the XCOM project because you’ve left them unaided for too long and their panic levels have risen too high. You may have assigned your research team to be developing new weapons when your soldiers are dying because they only have the basic armor.

The tension in the game when played properly (permanent death of your soldiers) is palpable.

Even more so when you NAME your soldiers after people you actually know. You develop closer relationships with said soldiers. You care about them and want them to grow stronger and more powerful.

And it hurts when they die.

It hurts when fickle chance causes them to miss a shot, leaving them out in the open for a counter attack.

It hurts when you’re a tiny bit careless and new enemies, previously unseen, flank your chosen champions and gun him down.

It’s absolutely agonizing to have to make the conscious choice to SACRIFICE one friend, a rookie, in order to save another more important soldier, a heavy weapons lieutenant.

My soldiers are all named after my friends and family. One of them, my support class (essentially a medic) is Tami Moore. Another, my heavy weapons specialist is Steven Moore.

If you’re so inclined, sit back and take a look at how last night’s nail-biting mission went…

****Curtains draw back and the room darkens****

CMD (Commander Perry)

SM (Steven Moore – Heavy)

TM (Tami Moore – Support)

NS (Noah Suh – MECH trooper)

MW (Matt Wan – Sniper)

Scene: Squad lands in a parking lot. Directly ahead and to the right is a small maintenance buildings with several windows. Ahead and to the left is a few large metallic containers organized in neat rows as well as another building wayyyyy ahead and to the left.

CMD: Eyes open people. We have reports of an unknown xeno mixed in with the regular crowd so keep your eyes open.

SM: Command, I’m getting some MELD readings directly ahead and to the right. Looks like it might be coming in from the maintenance building up ahead. It looks close by, I can likely reach it in two turns.

CMD: Affirmative, SM. Take it slow. Take cover by the first doorway and open it before you go through. If the shed looks clear, you can head inside and to the backdoor. Same procedure there. Take cover by the door and open it to look for hostiles before you push on ahead to the MELD canister.

SM: Roger that, Command.

CMD: Rest of the squad, move up by the left of the building. Proceed slowly, leapfrog each other in overwatch (unit stays behind cover and shoots at the first hostile they see moving). Take cover by the containers as you advance, make sure that SM doesn’t get flanked as he grabs the MELD.

Squad: Roger, command.

SM: Command, I’m by the back door of the shed. Opening it now…Contact! Contact! I see two sectoids by the MELD cannister. They’ve both taken cover behind waist high fencing. Permission to engage?

Sectoids:

CMD: Roger that, SM.

SM: One sectoid down. I’m keeping behind cover next to the back door. I can see the timer on the cannister from here. It’ll self-destruct in two more turns.

CMD: Roger that, SM. Squad, move up around the left of the building. Maybe you can flank the sectoid SM has pinned down and nail him through the window.

*Squad moves up left side, taking cover by containers*

TM: Contact! Contact! Multiple hostiles just dropped in! We have two sectoids to our left trying to flank us and a thin man on the roof of the shed!

Thin Man:

SM: Command! I’m taking plasma fire! It’s coming through the window! I’m down to 4/7 HP!

CMD: Sit tight, SM! Help is on the way. MW, do you have a bead on the thin man on the roof?

MW: Roger that, CMD. Take the shot?

CMD: Affirmative. Go for the Head Shot (ability). We can’t afford to leave SM flanked inside that building.

SM: Command, I have a bead on the second sectoid. Engaging! …Direct hit! Sectoid down! Get that thin man!

MW: Firing…..critical hit! Thin man down.

SM: Much obliged, MW. Moving up to the MELD canister. One turn to destruct.

CMD: Squad, move up and take cover around the corner of the building, make sure there are no more surprises.

Squad: Roger that, command.

SM: Grabbing the MELD…contact! Thin man dropped into the shed through the skylight! He’s taken cover 3 feet away from me! I’m flanked! Taking fire! Down to 1/7 HP!

NS: Contact, contact! Thin man moving up and taking shots at us! He’s by the two sectoids on the left.

CMD: Squad! Take cover! SM, can you fall back safely?

SM: Negative! He’ll be able to run me down. Command, I’m going to engage the enemy point blank, I have enough ammo in my light machine gun for one shot.

CMD: SM, if you miss your shot, you won’t be able to make it back to cover, you’re going to die.

SM: I won’t miss, Command.

TM: You’d fucking BETTER NOT!! *angryconcernedface*

CMD: TM! Get your head in the game! The area you’re in is too hot and you’re all flanked. Drop a smoke and pull back.

TM: Roger that, Command.

*SM sprints right up the thin man’s face and unloads fire with 95% accuracy*

SM: Direct hit! Thin man down! Taking full cover by a locker till I can fall back next turn! Health low and out of ammo!

*TM drops a smoke grenade, reducing ally’s chance to be hit. Squad pulls out one at a time, taking overwatch fire from the enemy as they do*

TM: Command, we’ve pulled back safely. Orders?

CMD: Use the full cover provided by the containers and move up along the left for a better engagement angle. MW, move to the far back and fire on targets of opportunity as they pop. SM, FALL BACK!

SM: Falling back, CMD. Sprinting to the initial door.

*SM takes full cover and uses a health kit one turn and reloads the next*

*Few turns pass, squad is retreats and advances to cross fire positions by the containers, exchanging fire with the sectoids and the last Thin Man*

NS: Contact! Two seekers cloaked in sight! They may be moving up on our position!

Seekers:

CMD: Remain in overwatch until they decloak!

MW: Firing on the Thin man…..missed!

NS: Seeker uncloaking right in front of me! It’s moving past me, trying to get to the rest of the squad! Opening fire with my minigun!

*Seeker explodes into sparks and blood*

NS: Direct hit! Seeker down!

TM: Firing on the thin man…direct hit! Target down!…Ahhhh! Seeker uncloaked directly in front of me! It’s got me! It’s Strangling me! I can’t move!

SM: I’m right next to you, Tams! I’ve got you!

*SM levels his light machine gun directly at the Seeker entangling TM from two feet away*

CMD: SM…if you miss, you’ll kill her.

SM: I won’t miss, Command.

*SM fires. Seeker goes down. TM recovers*

CMD: TM, use your last med kit on yourself.

TM: Ya think?

NS: Enough of this!

*NS charges out, mech suited feet crashing on the ground as he charges into the open, right up to the last two sectoids, taking overwatch fire as he goes*

NS: Ahhhhhh!!!!

*NS opens up with his flamethrower attached to his right arm, burning both sectoids to death*

NS: That’s what I’m talking about!

CMD: Mission complete. No losses on our side. TM and SM wounded for 5 days each. Nice work team. Return to base.

****Curtains close and cast bows to applause before theater darkens****

Needless to say, marvelous fun.

The highlight, for me, was when Tami got strangled by the seeker and Steven just happened to be the unit closest who could deal with the threat. And he charged recklessly, face first into the enemy to save Tami’s life. So damned perfect.

Even more amusingly? I was streaming my gameplay for my friend, Noah, who was watching and shouting comments and suggestions at me anytime I had to move ‘his’ character (Noah Suh).

I was planning to be a little more careful at the end there but Noah demanded that I “get him in there” and so I had him charge out, taking fire, to end the battle with a blast of his flamethrower.

Marvelous. Fun.

Related posts:

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[Perry] Why You Should Play Bioshock: Infinite
X-COM: Enemy Unknown

Book Giveaway for SHEDDING THE DEMON

Looking for a sci-fi book by an up-and-coming author? Our very own Bill Denise (the same guy who brought us the Novel Revision Database and author of stories in all of the Saucy Chronicle short story collections!) has self-published his novel.

Not only that, but he’s giving away a copy over on Goodreads!

Here’s the official blurb:

Weaving together perspectives from all sides of the conflict, Shedding the Demon is a fast-paced story of aspiration, ambition, sacrifice, and redemption. This science fiction novel is set in the far future when the human race has built an empire spanning the stars. It tells the story of Damon, a young street punk swept up into events much bigger than himself:

Raised by gang members on the violent streets of a ruined city, Damon finds himself coerced into a secret government program that molds him into a prototype super-assassin. Turned into a walking arsenal and an unstoppable killing machine, he soon discovers reasons to doubt his government-sponsored objectives and begins to see some ugly truths behind the benevolent facade. Damon finds himself haunted by doubts – is he somehow being used as a weapon in a covert bid to bring chaos the current regime?

Gathering together his friends and some unlikely allies, he must find a way to stop the usurper before the entire human race falls victim to brutal tyranny.

Now, go JOIN THE GIVEAWAY!

Congratulations, Bill! This is HUUUUGE and I am so very very proud to have been even a small part in helping you make it there!

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[Steven] Videorama – Pirate Baby Cabana Battle

Pirate Baby Cabana Battle

Link for details – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En3wcF...

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One Thing At A Time

So. Not much going on in the life of me, lately. I mean, work is still fantastic and I come home and maybe watch Supernatural (with the lights on) and play Path of Exile or something else. My dragons in Flight Rising are staying fed and providing me with happy, colorful diversion.

I’ve actually stuck with the Couch-to-5k program and I’m REALLY loving it. Like crazy. I’m on week 5 and feeling great.

But my writing? Hasn’t been going anywhere.

Sometimes? I’m pretty sure that I’m using my running as a way to not write. Like, if I don’t feel like writing, I tell myself “well, you RAN today, so that’s awesome and you should be proud of it.”

Part of me feels like that’s a cop out. That I’m avoiding writing and I need to get back to it.

Part of me, though? Part of me says it’s okay.

I DO need to focus on my health. I have a desk job and desk hobbies and some days I don’t get 3k steps unless I hop on that treadmill. It’s IMPORTANT and that’s true with or without the writing guilt thrown in for good measure.

And that gaming/Supernatural that sounds like such a waste of time? That’s time I spend with my best friend and husband, and that bonding time together is also important. And when I hop off the treadmill at close to 7pm and have dinner and then there’s only maybe two hours left of my day? I’d like to spend that time winding down with my husband instead of locked away to write.

And that’s selfish and ALSO partially an excuse, but it’s still true.

(It’s also meaningless on weekends, but that’s when I’ve been getting any writing done at all lately, so at least there’s THAT.)

Guilt? Guilt’s a pretty powerful, horrible feeling. Sometimes it can kickstart you into doing something you know you need to do, but sometimes it’s just bad emotions circling the drain. A cycle of self-flagellation that leads nowhere good and keeps a person from being able to enjoy what IS happening without constantly whispering that I could be doing BETTER.

I know that I can do better.

I think for now, though? I need to be proud of the fact that I’m running. That I made a goal and I’m sticking to it. I love my husband and I deserve to spend time with him AND to have time where I chill back and unwind.

Even if that means writing isn’t really happening very much right now, I need to be okay with that, and get rid of this guilt.

It’s heavy, and I’m tired of lugging it around with me.

Related posts:

Giving Myself Permission
Pictures of The Desk Are Here!
Life Advice From a Friend

[Perry] The Strengths of Stephen King

Have we got any Stephen King readers in the crowd here?

Sure we do, we’ve had some typing away about him in the comments here and there, don’t try to hide!

Come, sit up front here. I’ll clear you a seat.

Let’s talk.

So recently, I finished reading  a King novel called Doctor Sleep. For those not in the know, it was written as a sequel to The Shining.

I could talk about the new novel but there was something else that kind of stood out to me that I wanted to go over instead.

The strengths of Stephen King.

It was while I was reading Doctor Sleep that I…that it really sort of hit me as to WHY I find the man’s work to be such a draw.

It’s not his monsters, though some of his monsters and villains have formed the kernel of many a childhood nightmare. Hells, some of his monsters STILL creep me out, either on a reread or just sitting here thinking about it.

Pennywise the dancing clown? The room of 1408? Annie Wilkins in Misery? The twin girls from The Shining even?

He’s got a great touch with monsters but it’s not what keeps me coming back for more.

It’s the real, gritty reactions that his characters have to their various situations.

Let me tell you what sort of triggered all of this.

There’s a moment in Doctor Sleep where a character is describing sitting with their aged mother when, in the middle of the night, the poor woman falls and essentially shatters all of the brittle bones in her arm. 

Pretty wince-worthy situation, right?

But the character helps the mother as best she can, calls the ambulance…and then calls her husband and has a breakdown on the telephone.

And holy hells, was that breakdown EVER convincing.

I can’t even describe it to you in a way that would make you understand. If some of you are interested in it and don’t think you’ll ever read the book, I can pull out the quote and toss it up for you in the comments if you wanted to take a look.

But…it was the bleak and utterly real description that the woman gives of the situation and the utter hopelessness she felt…

I can’t even describe it.

A cold and icy hand reached up into my guts while reading that and it squeezed.

It was bleak and it was hopeless but it was real. Reading that…brings to mind that helpless waiting that we do in hospitals as our loved ones go under the knife.

It brings to mind the feeling you get when you KNOW a friend is self-destructing and that there’s nothing you can do to stop it or even ease their pain.

It’s that time freezing, heart stopping moment when you see your infant child teetering on the edge at the top of the stairs and you KNOW that you’re too far away to reach them in time to prevent their fall.

It’s the feeling you get when you realize and BELIEVE, for the very first time in your life, that everyone you know, including yourself, will one day grow old and die.

See, where I think King is fantastic…is where he can communicate the ground-level, gritty, dirt real emotions that we feel when confronted with unexpected situations.

Thinking about it now, I think the reason why I found his books so terrifying when I was younger (and even now, sorta, but shhhhhh)…is because he can effectively communicate what it FEELS like to be afraid.

He really knows how to convey that feeling where the skin tries to jump off your damned neck when you hear an unexpected sound.

He knows how to get across that ball-tightening terror. The way you have to tense up your entire arm to reach out and open the door because you know that if you do anything less, you’ll see yourself trembling and lose your nerve.

He knows how to make me BELIEVE what my characters feel, whether it’s the helpless feeling when an elderly family member breaks their arm in the middle of the night like in Doctor Sleep…

…or the the justifications we use to convince ourselves that we deserve something that we really don’t, as seen in Full Dark, No Stars…

…or just the way we try to convince ourselves that we’re not afraid when all we want to do in a given situation is RUN, as see in It.

I know that he’s prolific, and I’d be the first person to say that he can be sort of hit or miss, especially with his recent works.

But guys?

When he hits?

Holy hell, does he ever hit. 

Are there any other authors you’ve read that can convey that sense of real emotion? Or perhaps a Stephen King novel you think should be held up as an exemplar of that point?

I’d love to add to my reading list!

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[Perry] How to Scare People
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Thor

So … I was lazy and forgot to prep a post for this morning.

We’ll pretend I totally intended to tell you guys how wonderful the new Thor: The Dark World movie is.

Because it is.

Wonderful, I mean.

I was surprised, as I didn’t really like the first Thor very much? But this one had a great mix of action and humor and is highly recommended.

Also? The final showdown happens in England. And the big bad guy was the same actor who played the 9th Doctor. I didn’t see a Blue Box anywhere, but you can bet I’ll be looking for it when I watch it again. SURELY it’s there.

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[Steven] Videorama – When Trailers are Better Than Their Movies

Matrix Revolutions

Movie wasn’t the best, but the trailer was stellar.

Watchmen

Try not to remember the movie when you watch this

Terminator Salvation

Probably the one that first the most

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Podcastle Flash Fic Contest Results

So, as some of you may recall, both Perry and myself entered flash fiction pieces into the Podcastle Flash Fiction contest. We each entered two pieces.

THREE of our stories made it all the way to the semifinals.

TWO made it all the way to the finals.

And one claimed second place! I’ll let Perry decide if he wants to tell you about his stories, but I entered revamped versions of short fiction that was once posted here on the blog.

I rewrote the stories about the suburban gardening witch into a fluffy little piece called The Wicked Witches’ Most Dishonorable Gardening Gala, which got some chuckles and nice commentary.

The second place winner, however, was a rewrite of a teeny little pinfic you may remember called The Bear.

The prize? A contract so they will produce The Bear in audio format for their podcast, along with $20.

Not bad at all.

The contest itself was incredibly nervewracking — we weren’t allowed to vote for each other, and we weren’t allowed to “out” ourselves as authors until the very end. I learned a lot about biting my tongue and silently accepting criticism. It’s not often an author gets to watch through a two-way mirror (so to speak) while people openly discuss what they dislike about your writing.

Though my story came out pretty near the top, I feel like the time spent writing, refining, revising, and editing those little pieces with Perry beforehand was my true reward.

There’s only so much nitpicking you can do to a 100,000 word story. There is a LOT of nitpicking you can do to a little 500 word snippet, and it was amazing how tiny changes in word choice transformed an okay piece into a great one.

It was a tough competition voted on by very discerning readers, and it was an honor to even make it to the semifinals.

I’m also more than a little proud that the Saucy Ink members who participated did VERY well for ourselves. We’ve been writing and critiquing and rewriting for a while now. It’s nice to see that it’s paying off.

Congrats to ALL the winners, and for the blog readers here, rest assured that I’ll be letting you know as soon as Podcastle produces the story so you can listen in!

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New Flash Fiction Up
Flash Fiction Update
[Perry] Podcastle and Criticism

[Perry] Podcastle and Criticism

So Tami and I entered a short story contest recently.

I might have mentioned it before.

She’ll have a description of her own experiences in a post tomorrow, but by virtue of the calendar, it looks like I get to write on it first haha.

The contest turned into a fairly…fairly…hells.

I don’t even know how to describe what it turned into.

I guess I sort of should have seen it coming and prepared for it a little better.

So here’s the deal.

I submitted two stories to this contest.

One of these stories, “Roses” ended up moving onto the final round and made a pretty good showing of itself.

The other…sort of had the mob after me with torches and pitchforks, save for a very few lovely people who stood up for poor “Glory” as the mob descended.

And the thing about it was, I didn’t understand it. I couldn’t understand where all of the hate and animosity was coming from.

Yes, the ‘villain’ of the piece was portrayed as a female. But given that the narrator of the piece was a broken-down veteran, missing an eye and a limb (in his mind, these losses were attributed to her), I didn’t think it was an unreasonable point of view.

But the story got blasted.

It got knocked about for portraying negative female stereotypes (the irresistible seductress as a woman). It got knocked on for the fact that the female character of the piece (as seen through the mind of an embittered old man) didn’t have any agency.

That…I can take.

Honestly, while I personally don’t see it at all, if you feel that way about something you read, that’s your deal. It’s how you read into things and that’s not necessarily something I take on myself.

It’s when it started getting implied that the misogynistic viewpoints of the narrator reflected the same viewpoints of the author that made me double take.

Literally backed up and thought, “What the fuck just happened here?”

And you know what? Being impartial and all aside, it’s HARD to take a personal attack of that nature lying down.

But, with the whole restriction on the contest that authors can’t out themselves before the voting is done…there wasn’t much I could say without getting myself disqualified.

And believe me, the temptation to do just that was strong.

But…I let it go. I was forced to let it go and so I did. And in time, the bright blaze of my frustration and anger cooled to smoldering coals. And by the time the voting on the round ended and I was able to post again, even the coals were cold.

Well, that’s not entirely true.

I went back just now to reread some of the comments and felt myself getting irked once more so, take that last comment with a grain of salt heh.

But still, I’m sorry to say that the experience soured me to the whole contest.

And there’s a part of that that’s on me, for LETTING it get to me.

The lesson I’m taking away from this is to develop a thicker skin. Accept and understand the criticism but don’t let it get to you or really color your mood…

…But you see, that was my problem with it.

I DIDN’T understand where the criticism was coming from.

There were other stories submitted in this contest that I felt were far worse in the category of female stereotypes and image…and yet, pretty much the same people that set my story on fire, lauded others for being wonderful exemplars of powerful female characters.

The only bright spot to the whole endeavor was there were people, even people I didn’t know, who seemed to agree with me that the whole torch or pedestal seemed a little arbitrary.

At least, I knew I wasn’t alone.

I mean, sure, the narrator didn’t have the most flattering view of this one specific personification of a woman…but what if he did? Where does that lead us?

Do we all need to round off our corners to appease the outraged sensibilities of the masses?

In that case, we shouldn’t write any stories that portray ANYONE in a negative light, for fear of offending someone.

In fact, we should cut out all swearing, violence, and gore as well. because it might offend.

What would we be left with? At the end of that progression? Stories about two people of completely indeterminate gender in a blank room, having a conversation about things that are bland and inoffensive to everyone?

Fuck that.

It was a story I wrote.

My main character hated how this one particular woman made him feel and he expressed it.

I had a wonderful time editing and refining this story with Tami’s help…and you know what?

I was proud of it.

I AM proud of it.

At the end of the day…that’s what matters to me.

 

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[Perry] Resonance
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Harry Potter 1 Discussion

Would you look at that! November already, which means anyone participating in the book club will have finished the first Harry Potter book by now!

Tone

I found it interesting how different the tone of this book is from the others — particularly the ones after book 4. This was much more lighthearted and almost goofy, with candy frogs and jelly beans. Not that it was entirely fluff, just that the overall feel of this book is much closer to a middle-grade book.

I like that the books mature as its readership would have matured.

Roald Dahl

I heard someone once say that Roald Dahl was probably an influence on J.K. Rowling, and I can see why they’d say that. Some of the larger-than-life cartoon-like situations from Dahl books (the student thrown out of a classroom window by her braids, for example) can be found in this book as well. The best example I can remember offhand was Uncle Vernon pulling great patches of his mustache out at one point.

For all that there may have been some influence, I don’t think it was more than just a nod. There’s far too much even in this book that sets it apart from Dahl’s work as a whole.

Surprises

I’d forgotten that Harry meets Malfoy in Diagon Alley, at the robe shop. Does anyone know if that happened in the movie as well?

I’d also forgotten that Hermione was actively disliked for the first half of the book. She didn’t become friends with them until she lied to protect them. The relationship is so strong later that the realization came as a pretty big shock to me.

Quibbles

I feel like the magic system is weak. You’ve got enchanted food and pictures and mirrors and a sorcerer’s stone, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a ruleset behind what is allowed and what isn’t.

Take the wand selection, for example. Harry’s a powerful wizard, right? And yet they went through SO many wands at Ollivander’s before they found the wand for Harry. Ollivander says the wand chooses the wizard, but I think I remember that the Weasleys pass wands down? Ron definitely tries to do magic with a broken wand in later books. Doesn’t he get a new one? Is it just that Ollivander is so particular that he would refuse to sell anything but a perfect match?

Loved

As cartoony as his character is, I do love Hagrid. He’s just such an open and loving character.

My favorite part in the book was definitely when Neville won the 10 points for his bravery in standing up to his friends at the end of the book. I remember that bit striking me as perfect the first time I read the book, and it hasn’t diminished for me yet.

Quiddich and Harry’s pure joy in flying on the broom? Still a huge favorite for me, and watching the matches in the movies only made them better.

Dumbledore

We can see signs of Dumbledore grooming Harry to be a warrior even as far back as this. Deliberately arming and training him by making sure he had the cloak and putting him in harm’s way.

Snape

Even knowing what I know about the end and Snape? I still think he’s a vile, horrid man. Can a good act redeem a bad life? I don’t know, and although I can sympathize with the things that led him down this road, I still feel like he’s not a GOOD person.

Power of a Name

Dumbledore tells Harry “Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.”

In this book, that means using the name Voldemort instead of You-Know-Who. In later books, it means calling Voldemort by his real name. I think it’s interesting when something this small can mean so much in later books.

Your Turn

What struck you as you read the book? Anything you’d forgotten or particularly loved? Anything that bothered you or felt out of place?

Related posts:

Harry Potter Book Club
An Open Discussion on Reading
[Perry] Be Careful What You Leave Out