Musings in the Dark: July 2014

7/31/2014

Fic Update: Zodiac


“Or you can get the hell out of here,” Macallan said, still salty about the insult.  He was ready to shoot the guy and put his hand on the handle of the desk drawer, where he kept a nine locked and loaded.  He gave zero fucks about them being cops.

Woolcoat stared at the carpet and put his hands in his pockets in a futile effort to hide their turning into fists, but the Zhous weren’t fooled.  There were plenty of assholes in Suva Oriana who had trouble accepting assistance from Madalyne.  This prick was no different.  He looked up and managed to say, “I am sorry for offending you, Mrs. Zhou.”  Uttering the words looked painful.


Read more here...

7/27/2014

New Fic Alert: Zodiac

Well, all that time on the couch had to lead to something, and that something is another Shortie.  The Muse has graced me with a wonderfully fun and diabolical idea, and so I'm going to experiment with it.  It will be a series of shorties, or chapters, under the title "Zodiac."

Summary:  Macallan and Madalyne Zhou are owners of the Zodiac, a popular nightclub in fictional downtown Suva Oriana.  Macallan is a former criminal defense attorney and ex-Marine, and Madalyne is a former surgeon.  They are a beautiful, attractive couple; elegant, confident, and completely amoral. The Zodiac Club is a front for the Zhous' secret and extremely profitable venture: a brothel.

Head on over to Shorties to meet the rest of the cast.


7/25/2014

Dark Love IV: The Outer Limits


After a not-so-brief interruption, my homage to old-school television continues with The Outer Limits. 

The opening monologue is classic:

 There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to – The Outer Limits. 

This was a mostly science fiction anthology show that aired from 1963-1965 on ABC.  The first season combined sci-fi with a little bit of horror and followed a Monster-of-the-Week (MotW) format.  What separated The Outer Limits from The Twilight Zone was its straightforward storytelling style and sometime focus on dark forces that came from within the human condition and "outside"of our galaxy.  In that, TOL is very much Lovecraftian. 

7/24/2014

Year One Complete



*crossposted on Black Girl Nerds and The Blasian Narrative*


I just finished my first year abroad.  I would say that I can’t believe that a year has passed, but that wouldn’t be true.  I can believe it.  I’ve just experienced it.  I’d like to share a little bit with you.

What’s it like in this part of the world?  Well, I can tell you this: I get stared at A LOT, and the natives sneak pictures of me on the sly.  Sometimes, the stares come with smiles, other times, it’s just outright shock.  This is typical for a lot of the older Chinese, as many of them may never have laid eyes on a black person before.  I always smile and say hello, because if I am their first, I need it to be a positive experience.