The Literary Khan: fiction, wisdom, and writings of The Khan

             In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, there is only war. This tagline carried me through a great deal of my early Warhammer gaming years. I remember reading that opening crawl so many times. It was bleak, it was so much darker than anything I had read previously. Works from authors such as Tolkien, or the various Star Wars EU authors (may they get justice) it was my first experience with a dystopian universe. There were no plucky Skywalkers, and there certainly was not a defined good guy and bad guy. Everyone was horrible in their own way. However, lately I am seeing a growing trend in the online conversation to create a different lore setting, and potentially purge elements of the original lore to not only update the setting. But, to additionally try to give a face lift to certain elements of the setting that people are beginning to question. Yet, as I continue to watch the discussion online all I keep thinking is are we trying to ...

      Fanfiction is often a dirty word depending on who you talk to. There is also no denying there is an enormous spectrum that encapsulates works from Sherlock holmes, all the way through to the 'Samus is Praegnant' masterpiece of bad fanfiction ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Pkai4IyWs enjoy). However, from the spine damaging cringe self inserts, to the genuinely enjoyable I have always had a soft spot for the genre of writing, and hopefully by the end of this I can make a case for you as well.      Enter the movie Serenity. I had already been a fan of Firefly having picked up the DVD boxed set. I loved that show so much, and still do. I will duck for cover but it has been the old Whedon I have liked. I watched it on repeat. I had already had danced with the idea of writing some fanfiction and until that point. It would also mark the first time I had put any of my writing up for public consumption. recently my wife knowing full well my love of Firefl...

      We are all busy these days, and whilst Papa Nurgle himself reached out to gift most of the world with a chance to stay home and paint with his generous pandemic. The struggle to find time to paint is still one that faces many in this hobby today. I know for a fact that I was chief amongst them, especially with addition of my son. Working full time, and being a new father has taught me the value of finding any spare moment. My hobbying usually takes the bottom rung in the priority ladder of late. This is what led me to create my #LunchHammer initiative.      There is a famous quote from the US Marine Corps that goes 'don't stand when you can sit, don't sit when you can lay down, and don't lay down when you can sleep' . Well for our purposes let us adapt that to our own hobby needs. I took a look at my daily schedule and realised I had one glorious thirty minutes every day to potentially paint. Now thirty minutes does not sound that impressive, however ...

      What happens when you have incredibly limited time, a drive to write, and an opportunity to enter a story writing competition with a new outlet? Simple you get a frazzled Khan who slams out a one thousand word piece in a half hour lunch break. A one thousand word piece based on the theme 'there is only today'.      The competition was hosted by the youtuber Del Pera, and required people to adhere to a strict list of rules and the theme 'there is only today'. I wanted to get back on the horse after some set backs, and rejections so I decided I wanted to put my hat in the ring. This competition came at the right time, and I had wanted to branch out from where I had been previously sending my works. So It was a perfect opportunity. That said, I had also become a father, and between that and work I had very little free time. As I would later go on to joke 'pressure makes diamond and irritation creates pearls'. I was also working on the Open Window submiss...

      So once again we have passed through the open window period of Black Library's open submission. This time they asked authors to flex their skills at writing a horror piece. They had different categories to choose from, but beyond that they allowed authors to choose any Warhammer setting. As luck would have it I had completed a short horror work for a story comp. I decided to take that work and retool it. For comparison I will post the original work as submitted to the first story competition now.  CURIOUS SCRIPTURE – (1000 words)   “Oh they know my dear, they can see everything” the singsong voice tittered in Johaanus’s ear. Just remain calm, they know nothing Johaanus thought to himself as the skin across his chest seemed to writhe. The table before him was a collection of the highest authorities of the scriptorium. The rotund prefect archivist brother Hingel sat opposite, his multiple chins quivered when he coughed. Curator Aurelius, a wizened mixtu...