Marketers should not be allowed to write anything, ever.

"MAGIC'S ATTITUDE
Magic is a head-to-head battle of wits in which two spellcasting warriors fight to the death with magic and armies of bad-ass creatures. Every card illustration should work in that context: active, aggressive, cool, wicked, “edgy.” The word “magepunk” works for us. Remember, your audience is BOYS 14 and up."

Excerpted here, from the Magic Style Guide. Cripes. If I'd read that description of Magic, I'd have never played it.

Jon Stewart Has the Easiest Job on the Planet

The Daily Show is Back

"Shut up. Just shut up. This was a failure of leadership."

Death in High Places (4/??)

Nomos glared at me. He didn't seem to have any other expressions for me. Then he turned his glare on the rest of the crowd. "Nothing to see here! Begone!"

When the crowd showed no sign of moving, he raised an arm and signaled. Servants of Law descended from on high. Their spindly copper torsos glittered with the implicit threat of Law. The crowd decided there wasn't anything here they were interested in after all.

The Servants settled into a perimeter. "What do you know of her Succession?" Nomos said, "Justice was my ally."

"Did you ever talk to her?"


(I have to keep reminding myself, even though I'm writing in first person, this is neither Fors nor me talking. I'm not quite sure WHO it is just yet, aside from a private eye.)

Death in High Places (5/??)

"Of course we talked. She was my ally, we worked together every day."

I crouched back down by the corpse, doing the best to ignore the keening the Servants of Law always emitted, and how it set the hair on the back of my neck on end. "Did you ever talk about anything besides work? Don't answer that. Do you know how her Succession works?"

Nomos wasted his glare on the back of my head for several seconds, then answered. "No. There's only been one Justice I've known."

"As far as anyone's known, I believe. She was among the eldest."

(Conversations go slow in 100 word chunks. Or maybe I just write too much dialogue.)

Death in High Places (6/??)

"All the more reason to keep amateurs from interfering. I'm giving you a last chance to walk away."

I stood up from the body and brushed my hands off. "I'm finished here anyway," I said, "But if I was you, I'd be careful. Like you said, you were allies, whoever killed her might come after you next."

"The Law knows no fear."

I said nothing, simply walked away. Law may know no fear, but much of its power comes from respect. Somehow, I doubted whoever'd done this had any respect for the Law. But babysitting's not part of my job.