- Thank you for all your suggestions and recommendations about getting back into Warhammer 40K. I read a ton of blogs, watched a ton of videos, and determined that the Dark Imperium box set was the best place for me to start. Because I am into the story and not too concerned with tournament play, that box gives me all the rules and lore, as well as a bunch of models that I can put together than then paint according to which Space Marine chapter I want to play. I’m still leaning Blood Angels, because that’s the chapter I remember, but until I finish the book, I won’t make a final decision. I’ll share whatever janky paint job I end up doing at some point in the future. Again, thank you to many people in the 40K community for reaching out, and being kind to me. I have a TON of novels on my Kindle, now, too, so I can dive even deeper into the story and the world, if I want to.
- Progress on this novel I accidentally ended up writing has recently been a real struggle. Some days I have been getting a lot of words out, and others (like today) I just sit here and can’t put words together. I’m wondering if I painted myself into a corner yesterday, and if I have to backtrack until I get back on track. Here’s a little bit from this week’s work:
Stephen walked up to the frisbee where it had landed in the grass, and said, “Hey do you guys want to go to my house and play D&D?”
“Jerry isn’t here,” I said. One of my many skills was observing the obvious and sharing it with my friends who had already made that observation.
“It’s fine. We won’t play the campaign. You’ll just go into a dungeon and fight stuff.”
“With our regular characters?”
With exasperated, exaggerated patience, he said, “Yes. With your regular characters. We just won’t count experience and you can’t die. It’s just, like …”
“It’s like the mirror universe,” Larry said.
“Well, not exactly, Stephen said. “You’re not going to be evil … I mean, unless you really want to.”
When we played D&D, I always wanted to be a good, honorable, honest character. I was playing my idealized self. But for a moment, I imagined my Lawful Good wizard, Joral, who was sworn to stand for the safety and protection of the citizens of Flanaess, using his staff and spells to terrorize them instead, steal their gold, and reduce their villages to rubble. The opportunity to release some pent up aggression and frustration was more attractive to me than I probably would have been willing to admit.
Freed from the risks of permanent character death, Joral would charge headlong into the first group of innocents he saw, fireballs exploding from his fingertips, engulfing them in glorious flames.
I would never have admitted it out loud, but the villagers who fell in the face of Jor-al’s wrath would look a lot like Evelyn’s mother, a few of them would look like the adults in the casting office, and at least two of them would have looked like my mom and dad.
“That sounds radical,” I said. “let’s do that!”
“But if you die, you’re out. You don’t get to resurrect.”
“That’s fair,” I said.
“But we’re still alive in the campaign, right?” Larry asked.
Stephen rolled his eyes. “YES! Jeeze! Are you even listening?”
“Well I want to be sure!”
“Why would I even say that we’re playing in the mirror universe and then put you in the regular universe, without Jerry even being here?”
“Maybe it’s like a Twilight Zone thing! I don’t know! Like you make us think it’s a fake universe but it was real all the time!”
“Oh my god you are so lame,” Stephen said.
They stared each other down for a long thirty seconds or so, and I wondered if their weird (and to that point amusing) nerd fight was going to turn into a real fight.
I like this scene, because I was watching these kids play frisbee, and then I was listening to them, and then they were arguing the way kids do about nothing important, and I just transcribed the voices in my head.I’m just over 44000 words, now, and it feels like this is going to finish at around 60000 words. This is still the puke draft, where I just puke up everything I have in my head onto the page and worry about fixing it later, so there’s a good chance that this won’t end up in the final draft, but it’s at least a nice foundation to build upon later.
- The series finale of @midnight airs tonight, and I’m in it. I made some jokes, and got to share the stage with brilliant people who make me feel cooler and funnier than I am. I’m going to miss the show so much.
- Today, Bandcamp is donating 100% of its profits to support the Transgender Law Center. If you’ve been waiting to get any of my audiobooks or experimental music, today would be a great day to do that.
Okay, that’s what I want you to know today. What do you want me to know?
Writing can be very cathartic. Can you take a recommendation about the scene? (FYI – I am a professional technical writer and editor so I make writing changes for a living). If you are going to play frisbee, than PLAY FRISBEE. By this I mean you should incorporate the physicality into he dialogue. There should be comments like “my turn” and “Crap. Off my fingertips,” dispersed throughout the scene. Also, Frisbee is a game of distance so it is not that you “said” something but that you panted it out across several sticcado breaths after unsuccessfully attempting to catch your friend’s pass that ended up eaten by the neighbor’s poor excuse for a topiary.
Anyway, just food for thought.
Keep writing!
Wil, spare the world your awful screeds and painful-to-watch acting. You should know by now that you are that rare man: one so completely bereft of talent. And one who hasn’t learned his place and has spent decades sullying the world with his dull and worthless creations.
Why. Are. You. Here. On. This. Space.
Seriously, what value do you get from doing what you just did?
You Sir, are a cad and a bounder.
I would like you to know that I think scorpi woke up on the wrong side of the coffin when he wrote that. Ignore him.
I want you to know:
1) I did buy your audiobook, “Just a Geek,” from Bandcamp.
2) It is a fantastic company-keeper for this learning-curve time that I have to put in on my new longarm quilting machine. I have a good spot of non-creative, basically “rote” work to do to get my muscles trained to the new approach and to learn the particular personality of the machine before I can get to the fun artistic work that I love.
3) Don’t spare us anything. Many of us enjoy your appearances, books, postings, and interactions, and the world honestly needs more folks like you. Snarks who like different entertainment have plenty else to choose from.
I am really upset lately, I think I realized that I haven’t had a date with my Hubs for a while. I still don’t understand when people say “I like my husband but I LOVE my kids.” My kids are on the autism spectrum, and they are EXHAUSTING. My hubs is my comfort and companion. I like and love my kids but I LOVE my Husband. I can’t wait for our anniversary getaway next weekend.
Also, I really liked watching Flashpoint! It’s my next game purchase.
Something else I want you to know: this T-shirt exists: https://www.outofprintclothing.com/collections/mens-tees/products/choose-your-own-adventure-unisex-t-shirt
Soooo….any chance we will get a season 2 of Titansgrave?
I would also like this very much… I love watching Wil GM/DM stuff. I’d also like another 100 seasons of Tabletop. I’ll shut up now.
I’m real pleased and excited for you that you;ve decided to dip back into 40k and I hope it doesn’t disappoint. I also think you might be pleasnatly surprisedby the results if you try and pick up painting again. I’m sure your schedule is super hectic and the painting side of the hobby can be time consuming but maybe fitting it in like you used to could be possible.
The fact is the paints have advanced as much as the quality of the plastic sculpts. Simple washes can pay huge dividends and those new Nurgle Chaos Marines in the Dark Imperium set are so forgiving thanks to the fact they’re all corroded and deformed anyway so even mistakes can be hidden and justified because of their corrupt nature. Add in the technical paint pairings of Typhus Corrosion and Ryza Rust and you can create so pretty decent weathered and rusted marines that require very little effort. I think you’d be really chuffed by the results.
Also GW has become a company that actually shares great step-by-step painting tutorials, not to mention some fun new social campaings that feel like they’ve turned a corner from some of their more detached views to the hobbbyists. Hopefully you’ll enjoy your new foray into the world of 40k.
Hi, long time listener, first time poster. First, I started reading your book Just a Geek (late bloomer, don’t start) and so far I’m pretty disappointed with it. Sure, it’s an excellent book with incites into your life and your journey to becoming an icon, but what I’m disappointed about is the fact you kept mentioning things you did as an actor and so far from my reading, you have failed to mention the movie Toy Soldiers. Maybe I missed that part, maybe you forgot to mention it, maybe you didn’t like it, BUT SOME OF US DID!!!
it was a great movie. I was 12-13 when I saw it and thought, “I will be in the military one day just to dive on the ground like a badass”. and yes, I became a Marine, door gunner in Afghanistan (beach, no ocean and the locals will shoot at you), then a cop (’nuff said), now a programmer/administrator for SAP BOBJ (obvious transition and thank you GI Bill/tax payers). WHEW, that felt amaaaazing to get off of my chest. The novel is great though.
few other things
1. the wil doll link doesn’t work. and no, I wasn’t trying to buy it in order to cuddle with it, of course not.
2. I want to buy all of the audiobooks, but is there any chance you’ll be doing a lifetime membership? so I can grab the current stuff and all future items? (and if this was an amazing idea, a signed pic of you holding this comment with an uncomfortable smile would be great. and if it was a terrible idea, it was my wife’s idea)
okay, still reading and you do mention Toy Soldiers. Hopefully you talk more about it because that seemed like a fun movie. loving the book
On the subject of painting minis: Don’t be afraid to hit up @donttrythis; I’m sure he has oodles of techniques to impart.
I have copies of the Fate and Fiasco rule books coming into my local game/comic shop. Watching you play them on Tabletop made me decide to give them a try.
I thought of another thing. I want you to know that your current banner pic, “Earthrise”, is one of my fave photos of all time.
What do I want Wil Wheaton to know?
A beer, some BBQ ribs, and walking the dog are all symptoms of a content life.
Just some <3 from a fan. Thanks for sharing these bits and pieces with us.
Will there be a tabletop Season 5?
“It’s fine. We won’t play the campaign. You’ll just go into a dungeon and fight stuff.”
“With our regular characters?”
When you get your head around the truth of a trepidation of players unwilling to risk their avatars without advancing their place in the plot, within a pretend world, you’ll have like five chapters of awesome.
Glad to hear you’re getting back into 40k, if you make it to the Memphis area you should swing by GW World of Battle for a game.
If you do read the Horus Heresy, you might imagine what it would look like as a movie series. Tell us which actor you could imagine filling which role… besides you playing Malcador