Truth ran. Fast as he could, he ran. They knew he was in the sewers. This whole place would be flooded with golems and seeker talismans and demons in a hot minute. So he had to run. Get his head down and push. Ignore his aching channels, sore from being pushed so hard. Ignore how his body drew in thundering gasps of cosmic energy, trying to replace what he burned in just a few minutes of combat. Ignoring the burn of that energy coming in too. Ignoring the cuts. The lingering damage t...
2023-12-26 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“You really don’t know the city until you have eaten your way through it,” I said, as [[Marti]] and I walked briskly toward her pine tree. I had gallantly offered my arm, which she had ignored. Shame, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
“Oh, a gourmand?”
“No, just a food-enjoyer. See, you think you are in a generic Canid neighborhood, but check it out- the street food vendors all have killer vegetarian and vegan food.”
“Not my cup of blood tea, but ok.”
...
2023-12-26 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“It’s been years since I saw [[Marti]],” I thought as the police snipers lined up their shots. “Her cooking is great, and she’s even better company. Fantastic gardener too. Yeah, this loop, I’m going to play with Marti.” I turned my head slightly and drew a little circle just above my ear. Sometimes the snipers needed a little prompting, and it was embarrassing for everyone when they just missed. I waved the “detonator” and flicked up the “arming lever” just t...
2023-12-25 17:01:01 +0000 UTC
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You can’t let them keep their distance. Truth remembered war gaming it. What he would do if… when the PMC rolled in. He counter-charged as fast as he could, launching himself at them with explosive steps. Get in fast, start the violence, plan from there. Level two’s and threes- moving like sleepy birds. Their faces were covered with balaclavas and tinted goggles. So odd to see his reflection in the glass, sword rising high to take the first head. The Tongue went up then down- a...
2023-12-25 17:00:11 +0000 UTC
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That was a mis-click while I was scheduling chapters for the week. I apologize for the confusion.
2023-12-24 19:53:23 +0000 UTC
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News: Happy Holidays to all those who celebrate this time of year! And if you don’t, best wishes to you too. In the US, it is traditional for those who don’t observe Christmas to snag lunch or dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Make of this what you will. Maybe make it a tasty, yet affordable, lunch out with family or friends, or just yourself and a good book.
Speaking of books… Sinister author chuckles. For the week of the 25th, I am going to preview the fi...
2023-12-22 17:01:03 +0000 UTC
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Dinner was exquisite, as was expected. Butler and Niles waited patiently by the side of the table as he ate. Niles looked excited to report. Must have gone well. Truth finished with a sip of tea and nodded.
“Report.”
“Sire, we were expected. It seemed that Ms. Anakdaughter could tell I served you. How, I cannot say.” Truth waved it away.
“Her eyes work differently than most. Carry on.”
“Yes. Ah, she introduced me around the office. People were a bit disor...
2023-12-22 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Truth walked through Harban in a bit of a daze. Did I overachieve again? Not this time, right? Starbrite was doing this stuff back when I was in the well. I encouraged things a bit, sure. Pushed them harder in a direction they were already going. But I don’t think you could say I was responsible for this.
<<I mean, you did set off a chemical weapon in the bank lobby. That’s not nothing.>>
A stink bomb, don’t be dramatic. An...
2023-12-21 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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That’s a parrot claw. Or maybe an owl. Definitely something with talons. Wide, splayed… toes? Do you call them toes? With big hooks on the end. When you get right down to it-
The claws ripped through the very expensive building front. It wasn’t the headquarters of the Four Seas Bank, but it was a pretty big sub-office. Keyword being “was.”
I am just not a bird guy.
An owl’s head lunged out of the hole. There was a terrible hissing noise. Then a ...
2023-12-20 17:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Truth didn’t know if the disorientation was from jumping off an eight story tall building or realizing the cruel lie of the “real world.” Of the two, gravity was the most pressing problem. He smiled as the ground rushed towards him. Could he survive the fall? Yes, certainly. But it would hurt and he might break something. He saw a convenient sign coming up fast. He stretched out and barely got his fingers on it. They tore furrows through the metal, dragging down the length of the sign a...
2023-12-19 17:00:04 +0000 UTC
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Truth enjoyed the shiver running up his spine. It was beyond “transgressive.” It struck at the core of Jeon propriety. The hierarchy was all. You might be trash, but you were trash that knew its place.
“Eat the rich! Eat the rich!” Truth yelled madly, running down the street. He could see the words worming their way in. People looked confused. Angry. Like they couldn’t understand what he was saying, but what they did understand was revolting. Laughing madly, he leapt onto the ...
2023-12-18 17:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Probably should have put that in the newsletter. Anyhoo.
No holliday disruption. I won't be as responsive as I will be traveling, but everything gets queued up in advance, so... the schedule stays the same. In case you were worried or wondering.
2023-12-17 18:48:28 +0000 UTC
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The days just creep up on you. I managed to completely miss that today was Friday, somehow, despite having a calendar open directly in front of me. Alert. Focused. Primed to catch the tiniest detail. I would crush life in the post-apocalypse. I would be a god of the wasteland.
News- Racing to the end of Vol. 3. Expect to have it done ~mid January, or a little sooner. As you know, I write thirty or so chapters ahead of what’s on Patreon, so no, you ...
2023-12-15 17:01:00 +0000 UTC
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I haven’t thought of people around me as being real people for a long while now. That seems profoundly unhealthy.
Truth watched the sun wink through the leaves of the brilliantly colored tree above him.
It encourages a certain way of thinking. Of approaching problems. And I have to figure, since everything I have done I did because it seemed like a good idea or the best option, I must be picking cards from a stacked deck.
<<It’s an interesting...
2023-12-15 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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The tiers are now confirmed as Thirty and Twenty chapters respectively, ahead of RR. Just making the tiers conform with reality, no other changes came in. I'm just making sure everyone knows. Thanks,
Warby
2023-12-14 17:33:16 +0000 UTC
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Truth looked at the duck. The duck didn’t look particularly happy to be in the middle of a library, but it wasn’t freaking out either. Now that he looked closer, the horns were blatantly plastic.
That was definitely Manda, right?
<<Right. No ascetic mysticism needed. Who says you are a sucker who got tricked by a duck?>>
Get bent. He sold that beautifully. Even triggered Incisive.
<<I’m not seeing some top tier ang...
2023-12-14 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Truth allowed Niles to be escorted away by Butler. The young man would spend the night in dreams, receiving an intensive education on the Nephilim and what was needed to pretend to be a CEO. Not that Butler had the faintest idea about the necessities of running a major corporation. The succubus did, however, have a great deal of experience manipulating desire. Niles would find running an MLM to be not too difficult in the short term.
Niles would sleep in a bed tonight. A comfortable sin...
2023-12-13 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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<<You flirted with the giant girl. Disgusting.>>
I was very explicitly not flirting.
<<You were one hundred percent flirting. If I had skin, it would be crawling.>>
I kind of imagine you peeling off your skin and flensing away your muscles and organs in a desperate attempt to be rid of the clinging wetness of it all.
<<Yes, my skin would be crawling for several reasons. Not least of which is you flir...
2023-12-12 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Truth just looked at her for a long moment. Susan was, bluntly speaking, not his type. His paranoia would never in a million years settle down around her. Also, being honest with himself, he really didn’t like the idea of cheating on Etenesh. The thought gave him hives. He wondered if that was an effect of that bit of Etenesh inside him, or just his own nature. He hoped it was all him.
“Sorry, I am in a committed relationship. Also I am fairly sure our kinks don’t align. I am quit...
2023-12-11 17:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Truth wasn’t afraid to admit he had a type when it came to women- “Women who are interested in me.”
His number one, no question, highest rated feature he looked for in a woman was her interest in him. Everything else fell into the vague reaches of the “nice to have” category.
That being said, after Etenesh’s affection and getting hit on by a significant number of people, he was willing to widen his eyes a bit. Really consider what, if he was being picky, he fo...
2023-12-08 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Then I hit back before it was saved. This is the less pretty version. I am very sad.
News: Same as where I was last week, mostly. I have put out a bid for a cover commission for Project Innsmouth, and am sorting through replies. I am on track to finish Vol. 3 about on schedule, with ample time for revisions before it goes to the publisher.
Behind The Scenes: Why Samuel Pepys Is Such A Goddamn Menace To My Sleep
2023-12-08 16:48:13 +0000 UTC
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Truth left the office in a thundercloud of emotions. He took a moment to refresh the coma spells on the grunts out of some vague sense of spite. They were going to have a deeply unpleasant time when they woke up, and he just felt like spreading the misery.
He had just wanted vengeance. He had wanted to come storming in here and grab ahold of the shitty people responsible for making his Mom the way she was, hurting all the people like his mom, hurting him.
He wanted to sha...
2023-12-07 17:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Truth was trying to connect some very random dots at speed. The picture he was making didn’t make a whole lot of sense to him. Anak and Sons were some kind of human-ish. Cousins of humanity as he generally understood the term. He was a little hazy on what exactly that meant.
Merkovah had played down their importance, but he could vividly remember Remu Anakson. More than two meters of slab muscle and the furious eyes of an emperor, all supported by Level Five cultivation. Truth would b...
2023-12-06 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Truth sat Tony down behind the desk and shoved a recording crystal into his hand. “Go through everything you do in a day, everyone you call, all your relationships with your co-workers, all of it.”
“Do you have the faintest idea what that actually means? I don’t have “ordinary” days. Every day is completely booked, putting out fires, managing people, training people, figuring out strategy, managing political relationships, keeping an eye on suppliers and sales and marketing ...
2023-12-05 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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“I don’t know what I did to you-”
“But I bet you can guess.” Truth grinned, and smashed the heel of the shoe down on the CEO’s toes. He was pretty sure he broke three of them. Daragah curled into a ball, grabbing his foot and making a high pitched keening noise.
“This probably seems incredibly unfair. I mean, you didn’t force anyone to do anything, right? You are just out here, making opportunities for people to live their best lives. Financial independence for peo...
2023-12-04 17:00:07 +0000 UTC
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News: Charging through Vol. 3 of Slumrat. Had a look at getting To The Far Shore (my first novel, available on Royal Road) into a trad. publisher, but after looking at the numbers and time cost, that dog won’t hunt. I split it into a Vol. 1 and 2, Vol. 1 is already edited and typeset, so I just need to slap a cover on that bad boy and figure out how marketing works. I may yet try to sell it to a small indy pub, but a long novel that’s not part of an ongoing serie...
2023-12-01 17:02:00 +0000 UTC
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The dead drop was a lot bulkier than usual. Generally, there was only a crystal which shattered once Truth had learned the contents. This time, there were arrays, talismans, a few disposable charms, and not one but several informational crystals. Truth assumed there must be some kind of security consideration there, as each crystal could hold far more information than a person could read in a lifetime.
It seemed that the old exorcist was done with distraction and was now moving...
2023-12-01 17:00:18 +0000 UTC
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The River Fan had driven Truth into a quiet fury. Its tutelary spirit would be quite hurt by that, if it still lived. It’s not like it wanted to be polluted. It would have pointed out that it had been centuries of human management and intervention that left the watershed like this. The river was every bit as much a victim as Truth was.
Some absolute bastard, probably a long series of serious, hard working, focused bastards, had been working to remove the pollution from the River Fan. ...
2023-11-30 17:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Truth slowly pulled himself together. Improved understanding of self notwithstanding, he still needed to get into Harban. He also still had the minor question of what to do with Barton.
<<Find him a new name, for one thing. He’s been heavily conditioned by a motivated succubus for, what, three days now? We can only call that a start. Still a long way from ego death, and every bit of alienation and dehumanization you can cram in there will help.>>
You jus...
2023-11-29 17:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Truth was torn by conflicting emotions. There was anger, and shame, and pain. Envy. Hatred. Even some faint traces of affection. Not everything in Harban was terrible, and there were some happy memories there. Above them all was ambition. For the Prince, this was the only place worthy of being his seat of power. He would come to Harban. And rule.
<<Drop the persona! Switch to unnoticibility.>>
And why would I do that? A Prince should be seen, that...
2023-11-28 17:00:06 +0000 UTC
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