[Poem] The Man in the Glass Mask

by Emmit Other

There is therein the words do lie
Of conscience streaming in the wick
The locks we guard our hearts with
Masked shadows flames tongue lick
One place we find refuge is the place of great effervescence
Where the well runs deep
and we refine it in quicksilver steel
Mirrors run cool that tells therein there are
We learn to wield the blade of sapience precisions
The light of a thousands suns behind the visor
The authentic bucket of well water made still
And poured upon the reach of our expectations glass
So much word salad tossed until Caesar is rendered unto Caesar
And Christ as And On Toast whispers amenities of the soul
In the sense that you practically haven't got one
But do when you where your heart on your sleeve
But show now not thy scars young buck
For the ides of march will stab at thee
This then the mask of glaziered ice does burn close to the skins touch
Advice heeded is wisdoms watch word.
Know silence's queue when it comes.

[Script] The Trial of Captain America - Page 3

Scene: Almost identical to the first, but it looks on Steve Rogers with the Angry Cow and the Judge and Sosori, only now it is Nick Spencer and Sosori looking at again.

Nick Spencer: So...what are we looking at again?

Sosori: For light's sake, this is the THIRD time I have explained it to you.

Nick Spencer: Humor me.

Sosori: I'm not particularly inclined to.  You tell me.

Nick Spencer: What if I don't want to?

Sosori: Not my problem.

Nick Spencer: Aren't you supposed to be my defense attorney?

Sosori: Something like that.

Nick Spencer: So isn't it like...your job to explain things to me?

Sosori: No.  I don't actually get paid to help you, its more of a calling.

Nick Spencer: Wait, what? So what makes sure you are working in my interest?

Sosori: Why, nothing Mr Spencer.

Nick Spencer: Then why the hell should I trust you?

Sosori: I never said you should.

Space Goats 2 Electric Boogaloo

Check out this episode!

No Culture Today

When Britannia turns to Filthy Island, I can't think of much.

[Writer Stuff] How to Find Where to Sell Your Stuff

I am hesitant to write about this because I suck at it, but I am still of a mind that even as a hobby, writing to a professional standard improves what you do.  Thus, finding places to sell your work can be a good idea.  Some schools of thought say write whatever you want, and there is nothing wrong with that per se.  But I prefer to write to my market, while still making sure that I write things that I enjoy writing and reading.  As you can from this blog, I tend to like the fantastic; either as Fantasy or Science Fiction.

The first thing that I would recommend for anyone writing in such a genre would be to check Science Fiction Writer's association.  Now its true in a workshop, their 'expert' writers treated me like shit, but they do a lot of good including ensure that the prices and pay for a number of venues stays relatively high.  You just need to be able to write a novel or three short stories, which is easier than it sounds but you can do it if you have the talent or the tenacity.  I have little talent beyond raw creativity; and as I explained last week, that does little good by itself.

But I also have tenacity.

You can just google writing venues or also check out (or buy) a recent copy of writer's digest.  All fine things.  What I can tell you is that especially with short stories, if they don't take electronic submissions, they probably arent worth submitting to.   Why pay postage to be able to just get a form letter as rejection? In the old days, of course, this was not an option, but this is 2016, and if they arent with the program, find somewhere else for your stuff.

Two other options are contests and anthologies.  There are number of sites that collect lists of these; but if you are considering which ones you can trust, I would go with someone who has done it before.

[Script] The Trial of Captain America - Page 2

Scene: A stark black room.  Steve Rogers stands in a white circle while Sosori walks around him.  Steve Rogers hangs his head in disgust.

Steve: I would never be a nazi.

Sosori: I don't disagree with you, but a Nazi is a nazi is a Nazi.

Steve: My whole life was told by someone else....

Sosori: Does it feel that way from your perspective?

Steve: No.  My life didn't seem fictional from my perspective.

Sosori: We have been resurrecting so called 'real people' for a few centuries, we know how to get it right.

Steve: I don't remember being a nazi.  I certain didn't choose to be one.

Sosori: That is good.  The formula we use for resurrecting a fictional character is new.  It is something that involves them putting together the bulk of the stories and letting the world and the nacent AI figure out for themselves what is true and what is not.  Every time it is generated, it is different.  There may be many Steve Rogers, but ultimately because of the evil done in the name of Captain America the Nazi, we started with figures who could be tried instead of...real symbols.  That's been done.  And it has been enough of an emberassment that they do not want to repeat the experience.

[Heliotrope] Of Course Mad Jack Churchill was a Slayer of Darkness

(Thanks to John Bridges for sharing the original article)

There are some things that go without saying.

When a tall gaunt stranger comes into town and buys up the entire garlic supply as well as all the silver weapons they can find, OF COURSE he's a vampire.

When large amounts of children go vanishing only to be replaced by adult strangers who say they were abducted OF COURSE you are dealing with an infiltration from Middle Fairy....

And when the clay more wielding bow hunting bad ass goes around hunting Nazis, OF COURSE he's not just hunting Nazis but is in fact fighting evil Thule Society members and things that threaten us all from beyond that CANNOT BE KILLED by guns.

Obviously.

In Earth, evidence of the supernatural is well hidden with blurry photographs and tall tales, but on Terra there is no such quandry.  The supernatural is well documented in Terra for anyone that wants to actually bother to look or show up at their local occult bookstore.  Every mall of considerable size has an occult book store and regular book store at the same time.   It's one of the things that makes Terra that much better than Earth.

Do you think Sir Terry Pratchet was the first English knight to force a weapon from meteoric iron?

OF COURSE NOT.  Duh.

Thousands of evil arcane nazis and their supernatural foes were killed by this actual historical badass.