I’m excited! Are you excited? It’s a new writing project, shiny and fresh. Haven’t had this sort of an event since early 2009, when I posted details about a project I had no title for beyond “Broomstick, Grenade, and Jetpack.”
The first scenes of coa\\001 are now available, and I welcome your feedback. The first step out of the gate is critical. Is it engaging? Is it exciting? Is it confusing? Is it annoying? Is it too zany, is it too scary, is it balanced, is it well crafted? I need your feedback to help steer me true.
Speaking of which, you’re going to want to join the VIP club. True, I won’t have a “VIP only” story for some time, but I’m running a special — join now by filling out a simple form, and it’s totally free. I will say up front that this is an experiment of a most experimental nature, so the exact offerings and nature of VIPness may shift over time. I trust you will find enough value there to justify it all. If you have ANY questions about this, please voice them now — it’ll help me hammer out any bugs.
It’s three years after the start of anachronauts, six months since I put down my pen last, and time to move on. Welcome to the City of Angles. Crawl the Zag, mind the Sideways, don’t get Picasso’d, and good luck out there.
chaosite says
Of course Dave’s life would be turned upside down on a Thursday. =D
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
He never could get the hang of Thursdays.
I used Arthur Dent as a jumping-off point, but in my mind, Dave feels quite different from Arthur now. (The process of making them different was what helped me understand Dave’s character; I purposefully set a goal that was uncomfortably close to an established character so I could find a direction to move away from it.)
Arthur is the plaything of a cruel universe, unable to find a footing, unable to control anything about his situation. He’s put-upon and put-upon until the only peace he can find is sitting in scratchy cave on prehistoric Earth, and even that is hardly the peace he wanted.
Dave is in completely over his head, but is so far into shock from a long life of misfortune that he’s dealing with what arises swiftly and effectively. He uses very basic life patterns to approach every situation (as seen in the recently posted scenes) and holds fast to his core values, even if the universe seems to disagree with him. In the end he’s just as lost, but he chooses to act regardless.
kamalloy says
Welp, I’m intrigued. Having an adversary that can warp reality is seriously freaky (although it sounds like this is a world where “reality” is very loosely woven) and I have an idea of what a Picasso looks like. It is not something I’d want to see.
Also, is having a character named Penny going to be a trademark of your stories now? ;)
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
What can I say, it’s one of my favorite names. But, as we’ll see in future scenes, she actually prefers Penelope. It’s only her dad that keeps calling her Penny, for character reasons.
Luridel says
Whoa, was anachronauts really started that long ago? Time’s been going by so fast.
It’s still too early for me to have formed any strong opinions on any of these characters (I don’t think I’m meant to have a strong opinion on Dave just yet), but I do have a feeling I’m going to love this setting.
Lirazel says
I like Dave. He has the unfazability of the true D&D player. Let’s hope he doesn’t pause too often to roll for initiative.
Penny and her dad seem a tad trope-tastic, but perhaps I’m seeing tropes where none exist? I know that anachronauts was all about the tropes, and perhaps I have an anachrohangover.
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
I think as the story goes on and they get more time to talk aside from “AAA RUN” they’ll become more distinct. Same goes for Dave.
PetitPrince says
That part with the growing door knob made me remember that sequence in Planescape: Torment when Sigil (as in, Sigil the city at the center of the multiverse, if you’ve never played) gives birth to an alley. It doesn’t make any sense AND it makes perfectly sense at the same time.
The fact that Dave is a newcomer on a (literally ?) living city feels also very Planescape-esque.
I’m definitely interested !
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
Planescape was definitely an influence, but I never got too far into the actual game (D&D 2nd ed plus an obtuse interface = erm). It’s the setting more that intrigued me.
Still, as the story goes on you’ll see a lot of differences. Sigil isn’t constantly-shifting, and it’s more of a nexus between worlds instead of a death trap / oubliette / whatever the hell the City of Angles is.
PetitPrince says
Yeah, Planescape interface is kind of an oddity. Still, most of the game consist of clever dialog rather than tactical combat; I encourage you to dig deeper if you can though I think you already figured out what makes it so interesting (take any fantasy/rpg trope you can think of and deconstruct it to death).
Kowh says
If you don’t intend to ever go back and finish Planescape, I highly recommend the “novelization”: http://www.wischik.com/lu/senses/pst-book.html . It’s a playthrough finessed enough to make it work as a novel, and it’s not half bad.
loopychew says
Dammit, WP, don’t automatically shift the cursor to “Post Comment” when I’m tabbing back and forth!
If it was capable of independent thought,
“If it were”
eight hours time
This is one of those things where my mind is arguing whether this or “eight hours’ time” is correct.
the U shaped bed
“The U-shaped bed”
Seemed had the entire day to himself.
I think there’s a “he” missing here.
his DIY swedish bookshelves
“Swedish” is capitalized.
the end of her door seeking quest
“door-seeking”
a middle aged guy
“middle-aged”
working as team.
“working as a team”, I presume.
check in on dad
Capitalize “Dad.”
So it sounds like Cubists can masquerade as ordinary people, but unmanifest themselves at any point to reveal their true, bizarrely distorted form, like The Thing?
Interested to see where this leads.
loopychew says
And can you make it more like a celtic knot?
“Celtic” is capitalized.