Corrupting Power posts
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Weekly Update - 2/22/23
I pushed out the most recent chapter of McCallister's Madness on Monday because I sort of knew I was going to be taking a little bit of extra time with the most recent chapter of Breakpoint because of research, so that'll be out probably very late tonight or sometime tomorrow.It's been windy as the Dickens over here lately, and we had to batten down the hatches yesterday at Chez Dev, because the wind was literally rattling our windows. Rather frightening, that!The concert last week was amazing, and if you ever have the chance to see...
Quaranteam: McCallister's Madness - Part 4
Part four - “An object lesson”They had finally brought him a meal, if it could even be called that. The soda was a flat Coca-Cola, although he was only going by the logo on the can. The paper plate had held a sandwich of some sort, although that term was more than a little generous for the excuse of a concoction they had laid on the table before him. The bread was barely a step above hard tack, the 'meat' in the middle of it was from some creature he couldn't identify and McCallister desperately hoped the white sauce was mayonna...
The Seven Secrets Of Mr. Magpie - Part 6
Part Six – GoldWhen I went to start at Ordinary Exotic Games, the name that Marc had given to the game company, I almost expected that one of the g’s in GG would stand ‘gold,’ since that was on schedule for very soon, but as it turned out GG stood for Gilbert Guttierrez, and he was as cheerfully queer as the day is long. GG;s an openly gay Latino, with dyed blue hair in a haircut that can only be called a flophawk. On the day I first met him, he was wearing a shirt with a 1980s style airbrushed unicorn on it that said “I AM the magic,...
What Am I Writing? - 2/28
So you can't choose Morgana's Gift again, but everything else is on the table, so vote for what you want to see, because February's a tight month, so there's only so much space!I haven't been able to get to profiles this month, so I'm letting the tier 3s vote on just one of the two You Decide's this month. You have until Monday to cast your vote!
Weekly Update - 2/15/23
Thanks for indulging me and letting me do another Silversmith story for Valentine's Day. I had a kernel of an idea rolling and sometimes you just have to let those things loose. I was very happy with how it turned out. Part of the fun of the last couple of Silversmith pieces is that the titular character of the series is sort of peripheral to the story -- oh, ol' Jonas plays a big part, but the stories haven't really been about him. I'll have to have a think on that. Friday'll see part 6 of Seven Secrets of Mr. Magpie, the p...
Three Days In February
Three Days In February(a Jonas Silversmith story)Feb. 14, 2015Maybe I’ve never told you this, but I truly hate Valentine’s Day. I get that it’s meant to be a romantic holiday and a celebration of love, but in thirty plus years, I’ve had someone to celebrate it with exactly once. But every year, I go out to a bar on Valentine’s Day, just out of some sense of obligation, that I should be at least trying to fill this hole inside of my soul.My name’s Karl Hines, and if there’s a prize being given out for shittiest luck with women, I...
Morgana's Gift - Part 15
Intermission Six – The StairsMuch of the next month of Kevin’s life was spent hip deep in work, although he certainly made time to enjoy himself here and there. The film was scheduled to be content locked in just a few days’, and that meant endless amounts of tiny twiddles. He was starting to lose his damn mind with the amount of slight decibel tweakage he’d done in the past week alone. He wanted to tell them to let their sound engineer handle it, but it was his first major film project, so he wanted to be a team player and help out whe...
Weekly Update - 2/8/23
Is it just me, or does it still feel weird writing "2023" on dates of things? I know there's a little bit of that every year, but this year feels particularly egregious. No idea quite why.Spent most of today writing in things that either you won't see (i.e. internal reference notations for QT) or stuff you'll see eventually, but still a ways off (i.e. commissioned works that the commissioner will eventually feel satisfied enough with for release) but will start work tomorrow on the next chapter of Morgana's Gift for Frid...
Brewster's Brood - Part 26
Part Twenty-SixDanny Garney – 3/9/2017 – Friday – 5:48 pmHe’d had to be keeping tabs on these kinds of events for weeks when they were doing early research and study on Max, but it was truly a security nightmare, and they never seemed to get any better. In fact, with this one, basically people could approach from any direction. Sure, there was a gate that people were supposed to walk in through, but the trucks were in a parking lot next to a sidewalk, which meant people could come in from nearly any direction. Thank Christ one of the fo...
Quaranteam 2:4
Chapter FourDecember 11th, 2020Brunch had been about as tense as Andy had anticipated it would be, with many of his partners voicing concerns about bringing Melody Park into the family, but in the end, Piper laid them all quickly to rest by pointing out that if she could give the woman a second chance, then all the rest of them should be able to as well. That had pretty much settled the argument, although he could see that some of his partners were certainly going to be less trusting than others.It certainly changed the energy around the house,...
Weekly Update - 2/1/23
I actually feel pretty good about where I'm at right now, and how much I got done last month. I'm late on a few remaining commissions, but should have those done within the next week, will probably be late on Friday's post because of other obligations (I'm a judge for local Magic: The Gathering prereleases which will take up my Friday night and all of my Saturday) so if I don't have it done by mid-day Friday, it'll be posted on Sunday. Still, I've been writing at a pretty good clip lately, so it's entirely possib...
Quaranteam: Book 2, Chapter 3
Chapter ThreeDecember 11th, 2020It was incredibly uncommon for Andy to get up before dawn, but this particular morning his body just would not let him sleep, and he knew exactly why. He was going to have to have one of the more difficult conversations he’d ever had to have in his life. Skipping it, however, would’ve been endlessly worse.The morning sun was just threatening to peek over the hills and nobody was awake inside of the house, not even the normal early morning risers like Lauren and Piper. He’d extricated himself from Jade’s b...
A Pack Of His Own - Part 2
(a commissioned work)Chapter TwoThe next week or so, he was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it never really did. He figured since Lacey had gotten off with him, she'd fall back into her familiar patterns and distance herself from him as far as possible as quickly as possible. That was what she'd done whenever she'd gotten what she wanted from other boys in the past. Instead, she'd doubled down, and went out of her way to make sure everyone on campus knew they were hooking up on the reg, and exactly how happy s...
C.A.R.P. - Part 3
Part Three – Freshman Year, Spring SemesterWhen spring semester rolled around in my freshman year, things were already starting to evolve and I wasn't entirely sure what to make of any of them. A handful of students had left CARP during the winter break and that meant the campus wasn't quite as packed as it had been before. We were told during our first assembly in January that 6 alphas had left as had 3 betas. Now all three betas who had left were paired with alphas that had left, but that also meant there were now three betas withou...
Weekly Update - 1/25/22
I had fun writing the most recent chapter of 7 Secrets, so hopefully else had loads of fun with it as well. I'll have another chapter next month and then the final chapter in March, just so we have that one thread wrapped up. I also had a blast with the most recent Breakpoint which I know had a lot of people scratching heads. It's only going to get more insane, folks.Within the next five days, there'll be new chapters in CARP and QTB2. Sometime within the next few weeks we're also likely to see chapters of The Devil's Detail...
Seven Secrets Of Mr. Magpie - Part 5
Part Five – SilverSo, by this point, I think we can agree I'm not a complete idiot. I'd recognized there was a pattern in how long things were in between their occurrences and it was descending. That meant I should expect the fifth gift or secret or whatever to be springing up sometime in August of 2017.There was something strange about knowing what the timeframe was. Like, having no indication it was coming was part of the fun of it before then, but now that I knew I had four months before it came back around, there wasn't any pr...
Breakpoint - Part 5
Part FiveRin“It's a big fucking thing, innit?” Rin asked Len. “They aren't supposed to be this big, are they?”“I'm not an etymologist, but–”“Entomologist,” she corrected.That seemed to throw him, because he paused for a long moment before he turned to look at her. “Wait, what?”“Entomology is the study of insects, chief,” she said. “Etymology is the study of origin of words.”“Well shit, Rin, if you can tell me the difference between those,” he chuckled. “You should know way better than I do.”“I...
Weekly Update - 1/18/22
Ah, an entire house to myself for a couple of weeks. The flatmate is away traveling, meaning I don't really even have to put on pants if I don't want to. I even have the fridge stocked with Mezzo Mix, so it's all good in Mr. McTaggart's neighborhood.Yesterday I posted a previously commissioned one shot, Brass In Pocket, and as such I introduced a tag, "One Shot," which will be used for standalone stories that there are no current plans to revisit. I thought about tagging the Silversmith stories with the "One Shot"...
Poll for everyone!
Hey, it's time for everybody to get to take part in a poll! So I was looking at scheduling today, and we are now officially 6 months ahead of public releases of my work.As you fine folks are all supporting my writing endeavor, I want to ask you if we should hold here (i.e. make some public weeks 2 releases a week) or if we should extend our lead up to a year's worth. I could go either way on this one - six months is a nice solid lead time but I can also understand subscribers also wanting more advance time.Content releases to public sit...
Brass In Pocket (One Shot)
Brass In Pocketa one-shot commissionHe didn't realize it was going to be a particularly interesting day when he woke up in the morning, but today was going to be a day that Shawn Horley wouldn't forget any time soon. Shawn was in his third year of thaumaturgical engineering at Grimcandle University, and he'd been up studying late into the wee hours of the morning before finally crashing.Shawn was still five months away from his twenty-first birthday and was genuinely looking forward to getting away from all the wizards, witches and ...
Morgana's Gift - Part 14
Chapter Six – Always SaturdayThe next few weeks passed relatively without incident before Kevin got the sort of one-two punch of a day like he couldn't possibly have anticipated. It started off relatively light, with him having a meeting with Alice Karteaux with a few final notes about last minute tweaks and adjustments to the score. He would've been worried that Emily wasn't there for the meeting, but she was wall-to-wall booked in terms of editing, final effects and getting as close to final picture lock as she could. Alice had ...
Brewster's Brood - Part 25
Part 25Danny Garney – 3/9/2017 – Friday – 3:22 pmIt had been nice, hanging around the club, not having to worry about Max in motion, but all that was going to change in a few hours, as the food truck headed back out into the city with Max behind the cook's station. That was when things were going to be dicey again, but in some ways, it would be a nice change of pace again, getting back to being a more active threat zone. They were unlikely to be back at the club again until at least Monday or Tuesday, so he was treating it like it was...
Weekly Update - 1/11/23
Noah's Journal, Day 23: Very glad I didn't think God was joking when he suggested I build a big-ass boat.So here's where we are, folks. I've been with off-and-on power for the last day or so, and the rain is still fucking coming. We're not in any danger of being flooded, but there's a distinct possibility I won't be able to drive much of anywhere for a few days if this keeps up.I'm working on Brewster's Brood 25, but it's likely to be late tonight or even mid-day tomorrow before it's out. For those of...
The Devil's Details - Chapter 6
Chapter SixThere was something incredibly lush about the entire surroundings as they descended from the main auditorium into the belly of the building that held the backstage meet and greet. The entire walk felt like being in the long tracking shot in Martin Scorcese's “Goodfellas,” with such a wild mixture of people all around them. They were by far the only people being brought back for the meet and greet, and Tabby was certain she could see politicians, movie stars and athletes in the minor crowd around them. A few people had taken n...
Weekly Update - 1/4/23
Cutting it close, huh? Well, folks, what a crazy month it's been so far. Hopefully you all had great holidays, but believe me, I seemed to hit nearly every misstep I possibly could.I headed back to the Midwest, and caught stuck in a hotel for a night since driving the last leg back to the family wasn't possible, since roads were closed. In addition to that, my laptop's battery finally gave up the ghost, and refused to charge, so I could only get writing done when I was at the hip with an electrical outlet. Then when I flew back to C...
Quaranteam - Book 2, Chapter 2
Chapter TwoThere was a certain level of expectation that had been building up around tonight for the past several weeks. While he and Jade had been sexually intimate several times now, they'd both sort of been dancing around the subject of her virginity, until last week she'd come to him with a proposal. They could have a nice dinner date, and then they could fuck and get her past the hurdle of her virginity without anyone else present, without any real pressure, with the chance for her to have the experience exactly how she wanted. It ...
Before The Storm - Part 5
Part FiveThe surface of the planet was nothing but dead rock and mausoleums as far as the eye could see, and if Helen was to be believed, there wasn't another living soul basically within ten minutes flight in any direction. The defenses were all automated, and many of them were basically antiques at this point so Sketch wasn't especially worried about them, although there was always a chance that a patrol could come swooping by or that they could trip some alarm he wasn't perfect at dealing with. There wasn't even much in the w...
Weekly Update - 12/21/22
I'm still working on Before The Storm 5 but travel has been massively complicated by two things: the winter storm decimating the Midwest, and the fact that my laptop's battery no longer seems to hold a charge for shit (some of this may also be attributed to cold weather). The laptop's an easy enough fix - I've ordered a new one which I'll have in a week or two, but the storm is gonna do what storms are gonna do. BTS5 will happen sometime over the winter break, though, that much is guaranteed.Progress on doing the edits for Q...
Breakpoint - Part 4
Part FourHarryWhen he opened his eyes, he was in what could only be described as a 'clean room,' as the overriding theme of the entire place was white. White walls, white benches (including one that he was strapped to), white doors and an abundance of white lights all around the room to infect his view with diffused light, as if everything was seeped in a heavy white glow.He wasn't the only one in the room, however, as he noticed two other people strapped to benches. All three of them were dressed in white hospital gowns, hanging do...
QT Profile - Mali - also new poll
So here's the poll for the next person I'm writing a profile about from the QT universe. Also, here's the profile for Mali, who should start appearing in QTB2 within the next few chapters. Consider this your introduction to her!
