WarbyPicus

Chapter 28- The Ninth Wave is Disgusted

The Murder Baboon’s camouflage was as impeccable as always. I could only vaguely sense they were on the battlefield by looking at how some of the monsters moved- the occasional dodge for no reason, a few moving a touch awkwardly, as though they were carrying something. It was subtle. Invisible if you weren’t looking for it. 

I mean, the ones nailed to a bigger monster and then the ground via a yard long glowing arrow were also a bit of a give away, but I will firmly ...

Random Update/Author Thoughts/Mechanics of Fiction

That thing I've been working on? The thing that wasn't quite clicking, but I had a minor breakthrough and now I'm turning the Alpha readers loose on it? I'm going to call it Project Abilene for now. (H/T Warren Ellis for the naming scheme, which I am shamelessly stealing from his newsletters.)

Anyhoo, the first really key bit of feedback I got on the first few chapters was that it reads "Like the autho...

Chapter 27- The Ninth Wave is Going to Suffer

“I had expected there to be a monster hiding somewhere. It felt inevitable. But candidly, I didn’t see the Woodcutter or his Wife being it. And if one of the two was going to be the monster, I’d have put money on the Woodcutter.”

“Why? Not like you had met either.” Versai asked. She looked mummified. I had returned us to the Tower to heal up again. Since progress through the relic site didn’t reset, there was absolutely no reason to press on to the clearing in a...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 26 Welcoming The Lord

I looked around, trying not to look like prey. Rikka was right- the tray for incense was empty, and the little sand holder for the incense sticks was empty. Something clicked.

“Ah! Mrs. Hungry, you don’t have any incense to offer. What are you going to offer Lord Welcome?”

“Mmm? Oh. Yes. He needs an offering. I’m sure he’s hungry too. Mmm. Maybe you could be an offering.”

I waved my hands quickly. “He gave up cannibalism, reme...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 25- I LOVE Playing Games

“No, absolutely not. Versai, slow her down. Rikka, set traps behind us. Miyuki, pick me up and run to the Temple. Everyone, we are falling back to the Temple. Right now.” 

I didn’t try to whisper or anything. A bat-spider-wolf-monster thing is going to have hearing beyond all human comprehension. Besides, there were only so many places we could run to, now that it had broken cover. I had already turned and ran the second I saw the huge net headed my way. 

Weeaboo chapter will be late today

Visiting my baby niece ate up most of yesterday. In a nice way, but still. It will be up today, just a bit later than usual.

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 24 Bloody Hands and Cold Hearts

Sebastian had prepared ten bottles of Ghost Touch Potion. It didn’t last long after being applied to weapons, and he and I agreed that it was far better to be safe than sorry. 

“So… I really should have asked this ages ago, but how do we apply it to ranged weapons? We can’t smear it on non-existant beams of light.” I had the insane image of just smearing it on Rakim’s gun but that-

“Oh you just smear it on the bow or gun or whatever weapon ...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 23 Embracing the Hard Way

I got myself together. I don’t know how long it took. A while. Not forever. I was becoming more used to the horror, though far from immune. My God. The scope of it. Feeling like a particle of dirt inhaled by some unspeakable monster and then having a momentary view of the lungs you were lodged in, the heart who’s walls you were, somehow, trapped in…

But ultimately you get over it. I felt the cool waves wash over me a few times. Felt my brain refresh. And I got over it. ...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 22 Yanking The Pull Cord on The War Machine

I didn’t shout. Shows a lot of emotional maturity, I think. I’d say that I’m on a really positive path as a leader and human being. I just closed my eyes and visualized the Principal versus Deer running gag from Nichijou. Haha, the bullet-proof vest does nothing, Principle-San. Deer-San is too strong.

When I opened my eyes again, my two Six Stars were waiting. Were they getting closer? That’s nice.

“Alright. Development Counselor, when I co...

Weeaboo Vol. 2. Chap. 21 The Eight Wave and the Power of Fear

“Rache, report! What kind of monsters were they?”

“Dunno their name, Boss. They have armor, but they look shorter and heavier than the armored ones we usually see.”

Wallbreakers. It had only been a couple of waves, and we were already getting wallbreakers. Not as bad as flying units, but arguably as dangerous, or more dangerous, as the stealth units. 

“Do we still have the big pile of dirt over the back door?” I couldn’t hi...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 20- The Eighth Wave Wants to Rush

Whistling arrow Miyuki- so long as the creature she shot was still alive, her arrow would make a horrifying whistling sound. So horrifying, it scared the monsters. The more monsters she nailed in place with an arrow, the louder the noise would be.

Which led me to wonder- what would happen if she shot a giant monster? I doubted she could pin it to the ground at long range, but would the extra size and vitality have the same effect as pinning several monsters? It turned out tha...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 19 A Question of Character

“I am told the law changed four hundred years ago. At that time, if someone was ill, their family took care of them, and if they were addled, their family minded them, and if they were mad, their family took care of them too. One way or another. But the law took no interest, do you see?”

“I don’t, sorry.” I shrugged. 

Carousel half smiled. “To lay hands on someone is battery. To threaten them is assault. To lock them in a room w...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 18 Hungry Aesthetic

In retrospect, “recruitable” does not explicitly mean “friendly.” Lots and lots of games have you fight some god-tier enemy only to recruit them afterwards. Inevitably, they still have all the brain damage you gave them during your fight and now throw hands like a narcoleptic snake. 

Mrs. Hungry lead us through the woods like an implacable ghost. Somehow I knew that she would be more than a handful in a scrap, and her daughter probably wasn’t anything nice eith...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 17 Jumping the Dead Inside

Jujustu Kaisen has its problems. Their commitment to jumping the enemy and group beatdowns is not one of them. It was always Naruto that was weird on that one. Early on they stressed the importance of teamwork, and then? Straight solo battles. Even Shikamaru, who really should have known better.

Me? I couldn’t run the ones even if I wanted to. And I don’t. 

Miuki nailed the sallow faced man to the wall with a long arrow through...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 16 Blender on the Mountain

“Fall back on me! Rache, work around the edges, high speed attack runs only! Rikka, get around behind them and attack from behind. Rakim, stick with me. Keep ‘em off me! Miyuki, shoot to pin them down, but keep them alive for now. Shoot whoever is closest. Versai- Get them!”

I have gotten used to shouting my orders very fast. There is still room for improvement. 

The demons came in all shapes and sizes, from prowling cats the size of a cou...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 15 Welcome, Welcome!

I don’t know how long I stared up at the statue. My brain kept going around in a very small loop- It looked exactly like the hooded figure that grabbed me and sent me to the Tower. On the other hand, all I saw of that… person was a pale, boney hand, and a load of black robes that piled up into a hood on his? head. So this could be a statue of any freak in a black robe. 

Who was worshiped. And apparently protected travelers from a hungry mountain.

Miy...

Salinas/Solitary Chapter 5

Do I stay or do I go? If I go, go where? And if I stay, how do I live? There is a ton of stuff in the hut, but so what? It’s just stuff. Just because I’m eating today doesn’t mean I can eat tomorrow. 

Could I hunt for food? Probably not. I have no idea how to hunt. Never been hunting. Fishing? I still haven’t checked out the lake. But I wasn’t exactly a fisherman either. I’d done it a couple of times when I was a kid, but I never owned a rod. Which leaves gro...

Salinas/Solitary Chapter 4

I poked at the tablet, trying to figure out what was in there. It didn’t go great. I feel like they tried their best, but I didn’t speak the language or read the language so there was only so much I could get. Could the tablet teach me their language? I’ve never been big on languages. English, obviously, and you pick up some Spanish living in California, or at least southern and central California. But that’s not studying, that’s just what you pick up.

I put down th...

OH, THE THING I ACTUALLY MEANT TO WRITE ABOUT!

I'm going to start rolling out Vol. 2 of Weeaboo on Royal Road. Fifteen chapters/five weeks ahead of the public release. I'll update the tiers to reflect where that puts everyone. Right now the tiers are a complete mess, and probably should be consolidated. Just got way too messy for a while there. Ah, what else? There should be something. I ordered a new cover for Weeaboo Vol 2, so we will see how that turns out.

Oh, and just an FYI, two chapters of Salinas/Solitary are actually going...

3,000 Word Chapters Aren't Faster To Write Than Two 2,000 Chapters and Other Revelations

TL:DR- Keeping the current chapter length and schedule, Vol. 4 of Slumrat comes out 5/20/25, and a literal "fuck around and find out" approach to story development.

We are now five weeks into the new Weaboo format, and at least on my end, the results are decididly mixed. I don't hate it, but it's not exactly a time saver either. Which is irritating, but life goes on. I'm going to stick with this for the rest of Weeaboo Vol. 2, but it's TBD if I keep the format going forward.

Spea...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 14- Finding a Friendly Face

The Fragrant Bamboo Inn was filled with contented sighs and nods of approval. I sat quite still, trying to process. Ms. Hungry spoke with a steady cadence, not quite flat, but calm. As though she was revealing the most ordinary truths to her listeners. It made those moments where she stressed a word, when she changed the cadence, hit like a thrown brick.

I could imagine that degree of starvation and desperation. Something I had never known, never even came close to knowing, b...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 13 Story Time With Mrs. Hungry

Fragrant Bamboo Inn was warmly lit from within, drawing us up the path towards it. There was a clearing around the inn, a little island in the bamboo shallows before you ventured out into the piney depths up the mountain. A safe refuge from the invisible terrors of the forest. Whatever they might be. 

“Ah, guests, come in, come in! It’s so late, did you get lost on the road?”

We were greeted at the door by an enthusiastic older man. I never quite u...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 12 On The Suitability of Rugs and Rug-like People

Alliana refused to be drawn further, claiming that this was all she knew about Hidden Moon Mountain that wasn’t immediately obvious. She packed up and headed out shortly afterward too. Which was irritating. There was a lot I still wanted to ask her. I had to let it slide. I could see some internal switch had been thrown, and now she had to go. Off to the next place. 

“A potential ally?” Versai asked.

“Mmm. Stand where she stood.” I pointed to a...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 11 A Long Awaited Dress Up Party

I leaned back on my throne, fingers steepled, eyes narrowed in thought. It’s a recliner, so the action was smooth and comfortable, if lacking in regal grandeur. My mind was circling things and drawing red lines on my internal conspiracy theorist wall. 

It started with the number of summons. I had no idea how many there were in total, but I’d been getting costumes for loads and loads of characters. This suggested a very large pool of characters. On the other hand, I h...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 10 They Love Me At This Store!

Alliana looked annoyingly comfortable standing in my Throne Room. Her little cart was apparently magic, and had no problem shrinking to fit up the stairs. I had Versai and Rakim with me, just in case. Alliana looked like she couldn’t have cared less. Which was also annoying. I forgave her. Anyone coming with information will find me a gracious and understanding host.

“I tallied it up. Across seven waves, I’ve collected twenty Cutthroat Clothier receipts.” Half of whic...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 9- The Seventh Wave Meets Gnomish Depravity

One must never simp in games or life. The pay-pig is a figure of profound contempt, one of the few universal exceptions to the ban on kink shaming. And yet. For some reason. For some absolutely disgusting, universally reviled reason, people think it’s okay to spend money on gacha games. Gacha games were invented in Japan. A place where whales are hunted and eaten. Something to think about. Wisdom keeps chasing these people, but somehow, despite all the blubber, they are faster...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 8 Improvise, Adapt, Beat The Enemy To Death With Money

I got back before the sky got all “Lovecraftian Apocalypse,” and took a quick look at the fortifications. 

“Nice. Very Nice.”

I wasn’t ready to wrap the whole Tower in fortifications just yet, but we all knew the day was coming. My initial plan was a sort of wasp-waisted hourglass design- wide front wall with bastions jutting out at the corners giving us a good cross fire on anything attacking from the front or sides. Then taperin...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 7 People, and Monster, Management

“If Exploding Murder Baboons are going to be a regular part of our lives, and I have every reason to think they will…” My words drained off like piss into a sink.

“Tower Master?” Versai raised a politely concerned eyebrow.

“Sorry. Just processing the fact that Exploding Murder Baboons are now a regular part of my life. That’s my day to day, now. Once upon a time, I dealt with rats in the subway. Sometimes, the rats were hauling pizza, because ev...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 6 Death Animation

I locked up. I couldn’t process what I was seeing. I knew I had to take charge, start giving orders, but I just… couldn’t. Kim. Kim got torn apart and blown up. A bunch of other people up on the Bastion got hurt too, but I couldn’t process that right now. Kim. Was dead. Before the thought could completely run through my head, I heard a distinct sound, shattering glass and an almost metallic crack, as a vision forced its way into my head. 

It was Kim, sur...

Weeaboo Vol. 2 Chap. 5 New Tactics for the Sixth Wave

“And the morning and the evening were the sixth day.” The complex feelings in me seemed to call for that kind of language.

“Tower Master?” Carousel looked over at me from under her enormous hat.

“I’ve been here six days. And I think I have created a lot, but even more than that, I think this place made me.”

I didn’t have the time to change the layout of the battlefield too radically. That would happen tonight, after the wave. ...