Weekly Update, September 14, 2025

Not gonna lie, this was a slow week for me. Practicing for the Great Cycle Challenge is time consuming. But bits and pieces got done. In particular, the Kali Yuga Countdown once again ticks down to the inevitable end of all things here.

On my other sites this week:

Reading Orders: Two orders were updated with new releases, The World of the Five Gods Reading Order and John Birmingham’s Axis of Time Reading Order.

Pharmacoepia Fantastica: Only one new drug added this week, but like I said, it’s been slow going. X-Drugs is the 142nd drug to be described on the site.

Weekly Update, September 7, 2025

This week has been a slow one, between putting the finishing touches on my game for Haven and feeling a little under the weather, this has not been an amazingly productive week. But my health and the weather both improve, so I’m optimistic of future accomplishments. As this goes out to you, I am just finishing up running my Call of Cthulhu one-shot (or I should be if all goes according to plan), so that’s another project done and dusted.

I did manage to get some stuff done this week, including adding some more drugs to the Pharmacoepia Fantastica, with 141 fictional drugs now listed on the site. The new additions are: Agony, Baccaran, Bliathol, Devilweed, Luhix, Mordayn Vapor, Mushroom Powder, Redflower Leaves, Sannish, Terran Brandy and Vodare

The 2025 Great Cycle Challenge

Every year for nearly a decade now, each October, I ride my bike to raise money for this charity. The Great Cycle Challenge raises funds for the Children’s Medical Research Institute, specifically for research into treating, curing and even preventing cancer in kids. This is a subject dear to my heart, as a cousin of mine died of leukemia when we both about 12, and he should have had more time. I hope to do my bit to contribute to other kids having opportunities he did not. I like to think he would approve.

In deference to the fact that I have shifted from pure pedal-power to an ebike this year (albeit, one that only gives me power while I pedal), I have increased my target distance to 400km over the month of October. And because the total amount I’ve raised over the years is so tantalisingly close to $10,000, I’ve also increased my fundraising target to $1274 in the hope of reach five figures this October.

It’s a worthy cause, donations over $2 are tax deductible, and I hope you’ll consider donating here or join in yourself here.

Weekly Update, August 31, 2025

The big news this week is the return of the all new, updated and reformatted Annotations to Keating! The Musical, the first part of the relaunch of my main site, The Centre Cannot Hold. You can find them here.

Aside from that, not a lot to report – various things in the background are coming along, but I’ve been busy being social this week, so I got a little less visible work done. Hoping to see some of you at Haven next Sunday, and in the meantime, have a great week folks.

Congratulations to Midnight in Melbourne on their ARPIA nomination!

Australian Role-Playing Industry Awards logoCongrats to the talented and wonderful Ivan Nevill and Elm Macpherson on their nomination for this year’s ARPIA awards! Their gothic vampire experience Midnight in Melbourne is a long time favourite of mine, and richly deserving of the Best Game Award.

Congrats to all the other nominees as well, you’ve all done marvellously and I look forward to seeing your works too, but MiM has a special place in my heart!

Weekly Update, August 24, 2025

No big announcements this week – slow progress on various projects continued, but nothing spectacular. Just another week of reminding myself that it’s a marathon, not a sprint, and that doing something is always better than doing nothing.

On my other sites this week:

The Pharmacoepia Fantastica had some new drugs added to it: Gamedone, Millenial Tristesse, Ninetenicillan, Ridilin and Stovulax. This brings the total number of fictional drugs now listed on the site to 130.

Weekly Update, August 17, 2025

This is the first of what I intend to become a regular feature here on the site, just a central accounting of the things I’ve been working on over the previous week.

First of all, and most obviously, I launched this site. It’s new and I don’t yet know entirely what I’m going to do with it (beyond what I’m already doing), but I’m fine with figuring that out as I go along. Aside from that, a lot of my attention has been on prepping my Call of Cthulhu game for Haven, which I am very excited about (it’s been a long time since I last wrote and ran a convention game).

On my other sites this week:

Reading Orders saw the new The Neal Asher’s Polity Universe Reading Order added to it, as well as more work behind the scenes on other upcoming features. I’m currently working on The Marvel Universe 14: The Late Eighties and its associated timelines and events, but it’s going to be a while yet before I get all that done, as I have other things with higher current priorities (like the aforementioned convention game).

Aside from the above, there’s work and life and things like that. You know how it is.

Coming Soon: Haven – Tabletop Roleplay

I will be running a Call of Cthulhu investigation set during the Emu War for them on September 7, between 1 and 5pm, at Rubix Warehouse (36 Phoenix Street, Brunswick). Here’s the blurb:

A Call of Cthulhu investigation for up to 6 soldiers caught up in the Emu War run by GM Loki

Times are tough. 1932 is staggering to a close, and there’s no end in sight to the Great Depression. There’s no jobs for an honest working man, except the one that’s always hiring: the Army. So you enlisted. Three meals a day, accommodation covered, money to send home to your family. It could be worse. I mean, it’s not like you’re gonna be called on to go to war like your dads were.

But you have been ordered to go out to some place in the middle of nowhere and help some farmers deal with some bird pests. They’ve been trying to shoot their way out of trouble, but this is beyond anything a bloke with a bolt action rifle or a shotgun can handle. This calls for Maxim machine guns and men who know how to use them. And that’s you.

It could be worse.

You can learn more about my game and the event as a whole here!