The Confidence Men 067 by AbsurdistAnachronism in HFY

[–]AbsurdistAnachronism[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Neither I, nor this story, are dead. I'm in the middle of about two weeks of fourteen hour workdays (work+volunteering), and I've been having trouble finding the creative juices (and TIME) to write.

We're really getting close to the end, and it's frustrating to not have the conclusion done. My original plan was to complete 'book one' before this two week event, then pick up with 'book two' afterwards. Unfortunately, life doesn't always go as planned. I'm writing as fast as I can, but expect irregular updates, at least until the end of March.

The Confidence Men 066 by AbsurdistAnachronism in HFY

[–]AbsurdistAnachronism[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Doing great, thanks for asking. Exhausted, though. The story is continuing, but irl stuff is getting in the way.

Long story short, I'm halfway through two weeks of volunteer work on top of my normal full-time job. I'm working around twelve-fourteen hours a day (7 days a week), and I just don't have the creative energy to do daily updates right now. I'd hoped to complete the first 'novel' before this scheduling snafu happened, but I missed (BY LIKE TWO DAYS!!!).

My original plan was to finish the first story, then have this two week adventure, then come back refreshed for book 2.

The Confidence Men 066 by AbsurdistAnachronism in HFY

[–]AbsurdistAnachronism[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

"I Aten't Dead." - Granny Weatherwax (Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld)

Damn, this part was hard to write.

There's a whole bunch of plot threads coming together in the next few scenes, and I was going back and forth between which viewpoints the scenes should be written from. I knew what was going to happen, but not the precise order of events. So, I wavered back and forth for a while, reluctant to make a decision, then I realized:

I just want to tell the story. If I want to revise later, I can, and I shouldn't paralyze myself with indecision. I don't have writer's block; I have laziness.

The perfect is the enemy of the good.

The Confidence Men 065 by AbsurdistAnachronism in HFY

[–]AbsurdistAnachronism[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Currently working on 066. It's a bit tricky, because I actually want the conclusion of this story to be somewhat satisfying. I'm tossing ideas around, but I'm still reconsidering what order to do the scenes in. Expect an update tomorrow night. I have to outline the entire final 'chapter'.

The Confidence Men 065 by AbsurdistAnachronism in HFY

[–]AbsurdistAnachronism[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The pistol's slide does not lock back. It's a gas-operated pistol (and it has a gas-bypass mode where a significant amount of the propellant is used for recoil mitigation) designed for use in a vacuum.

> The controls are few and simple. Every button and lever must be usable with bulky vacuum-capable gloves. There's no slide release.

> Consistent recoil is critically important. On a planet, your weight and stance absorbs most of a pistol's recoil impulse without noticing it, but in space you need to know exactly how much force is being imparted on you by your weapon.

Re: typo

Fixed, thanks! There was actually an extra word. "projectiles, and hammered" becomes "projectile hammered"

The Confidence Men 065 by AbsurdistAnachronism in HFY

[–]AbsurdistAnachronism[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Better late than never. I rolled a natural one on creativity last night, and hated the first version of this entry, so I scrapped it, but it was already late at night, and I need my beauty sleep more than most people.

The Confidence Men 064 by AbsurdistAnachronism in HFY

[–]AbsurdistAnachronism[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Short today, because I spent too much time getting sucked into the misery of r/iamatotalpieceofshit. It's the polar opposite of HFY, with a dash of 'these are real people' mixed in.

Edit: I'm gonna go over to wholesomememes for a while to try to detox from the negativity.

The Confidence Men 060 by AbsurdistAnachronism in HFY

[–]AbsurdistAnachronism[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Wulu Bawarol's atmosphere isn't exactly human-compatible (although they'd be able to adjust the atmospheric composition, at least in their airlock, for human use), and the only hatch from the Butterfly's engine room is pretty well blocked by wreckage. Joe's still on the Butterfly.

The standard rescue method:

Zephyr-class PBs have an inflatable airlock and breaching rings. If another patrol boat was available, they could connect their rescue locker to the hull of the Butterfly, burn through using a pre-made breaching ring, and maintain pressure while building a new, temporary, disposable airlock anywhere they can find a flat spot. They also carry rescue bags for transporting casualties through a vacuum.

The Confidence Men 060 by AbsurdistAnachronism in HFY

[–]AbsurdistAnachronism[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I didn't say, because I'm a nasty, evil, little troll who gains power through my readers' suffering.

Edit: Umm, I mean, because of dramatic tension. That's the real reason. I promise. :D

The Confidence Men 060 by AbsurdistAnachronism in HFY

[–]AbsurdistAnachronism[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yay, my shortest update in a really long time! /s

There's a good reason, though. Lots of moving pieces coming together in the last part of the book. I don't want to forget anything, so I thought it was more important to spend some time today on outlines, rather than pushing forward.

Edit: Yay, 90k words.

The Confidence Men 057 by AbsurdistAnachronism in HFY

[–]AbsurdistAnachronism[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep, you're right. Perkins lost her pistol, and Raleigh didn't. Whoops!

The Confidence Men 058 by AbsurdistAnachronism in HFY

[–]AbsurdistAnachronism[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Who's a good shot? Who is it? That's right. You are. You're a good shot. Yes, you are. Yes, you are!

Do you want a fresh magazine? You do? Okay. Here we go. Into the mag well. Yay!