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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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It’s not all bad! We wouldn’t have the Sonic franchise if she hadn’t forged the Rings of Prower.
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Richard Roberts@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social |
158 followers 26 following 1493 posts
Writer of the Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm A Supervillain series and a bunch of books that are awesome but don't sell as well. www.amazon.com/stores/Richard-Roberts/author/B005XOLGVU
I tell a lot of funny stories.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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It’s not all bad! We wouldn’t have the Sonic franchise if she hadn’t forged the Rings of Prower.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Imagine being a fantasy mage smith and creating amazing artifacts that will be fought over (and with) for centuries, but they all have stupid names because you weren't great at spelling or languages. "This blade is Orcrust, the Goblin Clover!"
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Powers are not static, they grow, practice and training are hugely important, and like any skill learning never stops, although the big rush is during adolescence. Who says she has control? Maybe she got lucky and her first repeat was her favorite shape. Get ready to meet Eviscerate!
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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It was a full moon a week ago when Celeste interrogated Graveyard Princess. Then two days later, Stella blew everything up. Girl is a doer. A go-getter. She has moxie. And gams. As many as eight at a time. Neon Blackout knows how psychovores work. The only obvious effect is they're scared!
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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When the person whose telekinesis is just good enough to let them sweep the floor while washing the dishes does something incredibly stupid, you just get broken plumbing. Foot binding was one of the examples in my head, yes. That's exactly what's been done to Stella's powers.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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No, it's at 6666. It's labeled 'Instrumentum Diaboli'. Fortunately it's not Stella's sense of humor to check. It is real! It has no recorded composer and took considerable effort to find again when I tried to dig it up from memories. Typo. "I eat fear!" I found and fixed it already.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Yeah, Celeste sure was acting weird and extreme. It's the Victorian architecture style! Just squished. The overwhelming majority of super powers are weak, noncombat, or both. The boy with cat ears and senses of smell and hearing just a little past human isn't very dangerous.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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@misterprotocol.bsky.social They'd better be in hand. I want you healthy AND happy, boy! Not one, both!
There is always Hell to pay.
Her monster forms are not getting more civilized. Some don't even have a cute phase.
I went through so much trauma so early I don't process it this way either.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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My standards for creepy are ludicrously high, so if I even notice the creepiness I suspect a lot of folks won't be able to handle it.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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I just finished the game Birth. 'Cozy macabre' is an odd genre when you turn it up to 11, and Birth generously scoops out the body horror and surreal setting. The game is adorable. It is sweet. It is, dare I say it, tender It is also creepy and grotesque.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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You can leave Finland, but Finland never leaves you.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Is this a sweat thing? I may have a real estate rich heroine one day. I need to know this practical, non-romantic stuff.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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I was expecting ‘egress’, until ‘absquatulation’ kicked it up at least two notches. Bravo.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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It might be back next chapter. Not this one.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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@nycteris.bsky.social and @misterprotocol.bsky.social were you expecting another chapter this soon? Because hey guess what.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Ugh. When I saw some of the hateful comments left by the proofreader in Quite Contrary got actually buried in the final text, it hurt so much I couldn't bear to tell my publisher for a long time. Too long. Our books are so personal.
1 replies 1 reposts 13 likes
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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I love that story in the Kalevala. Everybody’s on their way to war HOLD ON COOL HARP PRIORITIES PEOPLE. Then the harp breaks and the Sampo is lost and nobody cares about the Sampo OH NO THE HARP.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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She's a lot stronger and more determined in the book, but I like 'girl Atreyu'. I like it a great deal.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Okay, but will you agree that YOUR vibe is Childlike Empress from the Neverending Story?
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Let's be honest. I don't think I really ever stopped being 12.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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It really, really sucks that a scammer has completely taken over the kindle lock screen ads. Has owned it for months.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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This is exquisite.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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There is a movie I’m glad never had a sequel.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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I just heard 'bendy straws' used as a nickname for digitigrade legs and I like it.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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I suddenly thought: Wrench’s wig is made of plastic. Where in Space did they get that? And I must conclude it was hammered out of strips shaved off a yellow plastic monkey’s back on Ganymede.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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All chickens in Finland wear little top hats and speak at least four languages. Kevin will love it.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Where there's a broken mirror in Hell, the Shattered Prince is watching you.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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I am in this picture and I like it.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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"Problems involving sultry penis may occur." <- what commercials sound like to my slow pattern recognition brain
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Everyone panicking about Biden was going to vote for him anyway. Undecideds saw both candidates, and the choice between ‘old guy’ and ‘Hitler’ was pretty clear.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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I am with you all. I started reading because people kept going "This book is so good and funny!" I got to the (first?) masturbation scene and was like nope, I'm done. I hadn't so much as chuckled, and that scene wasn't gross, it was just sad and uninteresting.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Take a bow for this one.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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🎵Rubber Ducky, watching you bathe🎵 🎵Rubber Ducky, owns a lathe🎵
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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He is very definitely not going to fall in love with Stella. He'll be twice her age THEN! Oh, you're probably talking about the borderline personality disorder line. He means supervillains in general and Atelier in specific. This is a dark moment for Stella. I tried not to depress the reader.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Superheroes and superheroes both have poor impulse control. Big thrill seekers. You have put your finger on something that will come up soon. Hardly anyone ever has to eat them at the rate Stella does. She's starting a transformation power from scratch. It's metabolically brutal.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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I get a huge kick out of mixing actual history in with super powered world background. Weird is good. The thing I absolutely and utterly wanted to avoid was 'lewd' and you're reassuring me I succeeded. And this was why I needed to take that risk, because I HAVE to sell that trust to the reader.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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I've been leading up to this goofy high heeled shoes conversation the whole book! I wanted to tie a bunch of things together, including making comic tropes real. Also, guess what. Super powers are much more rare in non-hominids - but they're out there.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Face Down is not someone whose life I would want, no. I have absorbed this camera information with interest. Thank you! I hope that I have established by now that Stella is EXACTLY the sort of person who would be great at this and love doing it. Atelier is in a very good mood at that moment.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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It's not foolproof, but yes. Also cute anecdote. Atelier is mostly crazy in ways that Stella can empathize with. Mostly. One misstep could cost her everything, though. I'm glad nothing sticks out as 'wrong' in the photography session. They find it easier to obey game rules than laws.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Yes. She has. Stella is being hit too hard emotionally to notice that. That you both noticed and didn't means I played the right level of subtlety. Another typo fixed, but since it's Dr. Biotic, she's done it all. Lord knows she's old enough. Discussed waaaay back in chapter 4!
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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I don't know which number produces a violin. Note carefully the not addressed adjective. I mean, Graveyard Princess warned her. That she dismissed it feels very teenage thinking to me. Celeste's powers certainly seem made for this situation.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Okay. I have created your superclownsona. Enjoy. It was H Salt Fish and Chips. Google Maps tells me a different chain has taken over that spot. Real memories of living in Los Feliz. Great fish, terrible fries. GREAT fish. Yeah, nutrition for super powers is its own whole discipline.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Stella's life might be better if she'd wondered who was singing too. YES IT IS. AH HA HA HA HA HA. Backwards and in high heels. At least Stella doesn't have to dance backwards. Celeste is exaggerating, but super powered metabolisms do have odd side effects.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Candy has the super power of parents who taught her skills kids really shouldn't have. Cherry also has these skills. Thank you for spotting I mixed up their names. Are you a nuanced and educational blend of good and evil? It wasn't TOO bad. Stella thought it was pretty funny.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Okay, I'm proud of this one. The 'invisible' mass does interact with gravity! It does so in a diffuse way. Stella could carry tons of it and not notice, but on a larger scale Earth's gravitic interactions are identical to if she was actually 250 pounds.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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@misterprotocol.bsky.social Mysterious notes go in, mysterious notes go out!
I will try and fail to remember these books.
Plant girl sweat smells wonderful. Also it's toxic. Fortunately Stella isn't dating.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Imagining the planet destroying weapon has a 10% chance of exploding every time it fires. It has an enormous ‘fatally trapped in a gravity field’ range. The engineers know, but the Emperor says moon sized planet buster, and you can’t tell him it’s a terrible idea.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Sigh. I'll start training the harpies, but it takes awhile.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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There were probably a slew of other design failures we didn't hear about. The inner 3/4ths is just empty rooms because the Empire doesn't have a billion crew members to house, and ventilation doesn't work because the Emperor will never travel 500 miles down there anyway.
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Richard Roberts
@inscrutablemachine.bsky.social
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Thinking about the Death Star like the Cybertruck. The boss kills anyone who tells him why space stations aren’t moon sized. Weeping with shame, an engineer designs a reactor vent straight to the surface because otherwise it melts down instantly.
3 replies 9 reposts 34 likes