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

      I was a little kid stuck in Sydney with my Grandparents, cut off by yet another series of those regular bushfires that Australia is so well known for. I had of course had my little tantrum, missed my parents, and had run out of things to do. I remember it was against this backdrop that I saw my first ever Star Wars film. I had woken up in the night, and come out to pester anyone I could find. My Grandfather was sitting in the lounge and on the TV a man was hanging upside down in ice. I sat down quietly. Next minute the man on the TV magically summoned a metal tube that burst into a blue sword, cut himself free and cut the arm off a mean looking white cookie monster. My mind was blown. That is right I started my Star Wars fandom with Empire Strikes Back. Arguably the best in the OG trilogy (Ducks for cover)     When I was finally reunited with my mother and father. It was my mother who was able to translate my vague nonsense about needing to find the movie ...

      I do not remember exactly how it was that I came to first reading the works of H P Lovecraft. I have two separate reasons. The first was that I was naturally led to him as a result of also reading the Robert E Howard Conan stories, and the second rough memory is watching the movie 'The Reanimator'.      Either way I enjoyed the creepy if somewhat verbose tales that Lovecraft spun. In fact it was the verbose adjective rich prose that I enjoy the most about his work. Neil Gaiman, an author who is happy to both praise and laugh at Lovecraft commented on Lovecraft's love of adjectives. Criticising him for spending so many words to convey simple ideas. To me I always like to think of Lovecraft's style of over use of adjectives as the textual equivalent of a burger with the works. Sure you do not need all the add-ons, but in a way it is so bloody decadent you can not help but enjoy it for all its gluttony.      It was this over use of adjecti...

             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 ...