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Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

250 followers 230 following 1.9K posts

Author-shaped Human || Simp for Justice || Gorilla Channel Truther || Kaiju Groupie || Blocking is self-care || Follow-For-Follow not guaranteed || ちょっと日本語わかる！
https://linktr.ee/robertinthewires

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Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

NEW BOOK JUST DROPPED

Want a space opera novelette about life after an interstellar rebellion, written by me and with seven stellar comic pages by @ryanhowe.bsky.social?

Go read THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF GYRO BRONSON!
robertislostinthewires.itch.io/the-last-wil...
ko-fi.com/s/244938e18a

A shot of a planet with two moons and a sun orbiting it. The text around it reads "THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF GYRO BRONSON. ROBERT IVENIUK. ILLUSTRATED BY RYAN HOWE."

Black and white text. Reads:

The mountains would be migrating soon.

It was clear by the way the snow and boulders rolled off their peaks and the birds flew from their stony backs. If Talisa squinted, she could see them shift in place, teetering as though they were about to topple over. In truth, their countless root-like legs were wrestling themselves from the soft soil. Before long, they would begin their long march to find new stretches of earth to plant themselves.

Talisa wished she could have stayed to watch them leave. Mountains only migrated once every hundred or so years. The last time she saw one move, she was a child, and too young to appreciate their majesty. Not that her parents let her get close enough to do so. From the safety of their colony, they watched the mountain by their colony shuffle mindlessly eastward, knocking over trees and ambling through Liberation Lake, while Talisa and her parents were safe behind blast-proof windows at least ten feet thick. Other moments from that day did not come to her as clearly. Her father insisted she cried and waved goodbye to the giant living rock. Why she didn’t remember that, who could say?

She rested by her speeder as its hydrobattery finished charging in the river. The trees swayed in a calm breeze. Puffy seeds rode by on a gust of air, rooting themselves on a mossy outcrop in the distance. A mothbat settled on the long stem of a flower with prismatic petals, colours shifting as the light danced along its sharpened petals. Birdsongs and the babbling of the creek behind her tickled her ears. It was soon interrupted by the chime of her battery, and an electronic voice calling out “Fully Charged.”

Kicking herself off the speeder, she trudged over. The top half of the battery, a brass ring angled upward for her to grasp, breached the surface of the water. From beneath the stream came a radiant cyan light, and a low hum.

[editor's note: the rest of the description will continue on Page 3!]

[editor's note: due to character limits, I moved some of the alt text from Page 2 to Page 3.]

Without hesitating, she stepped one foot into the waters and reached over to collect the bulky, lantern-shaped fuel cell.

After a thorough towelling to ensure it didn’t short out the vehicle’s insides, she loaded it in. Please, not like last time, she said to herself. Internal processors revved up and her ride was alive again. The speeder evoked the image of a wingless, legless bird, and when its headlamps and side-lights flashed on, the steel body appeared as though it was decorated with feathers. Fishing her gloves from her pockets and the flight jacket off of the duskox-leather seat, Officer Cadet Talisa Severn put herself behind the handlebars and switched the machine on. Her speeder huffed and lifted itself off the ground.

As she slid goggles over her head, in the corner of her eye, she noticed the smallest mountain in the range was moving forward.

Eight-panel comic page.

PANEL 01
WIDE PANEL showing a buff man, GYRO BRONSON, standing between a young woman, HELENA HATHAWAY, and a BEAST rising out of the ocean, something halfway between a Komodo Dragon and a coral reef. The two humans are standing at a beach at sunset.
NARRATIVE BOX: THE PLANET VADRIA, AT DUSK!
NARRATIVE BOX: OUR HERO, GYRO BRONSON, HAVING ESCAPED THE UNDERSEA KINGDOM WITH HIS LADY LOVE, HELENA HATHAWAY, FINDS HIMSELF FACE-TO-FACE WITH A TERRIBLE FOE!

PANEL 02
Small panel of GYRO with HELENA looking terrified.
HELENA: OH, GYRO! DO SOMETHING!
GYRO: DON’T WORRY! WE’VE BEEN ON LAND LONG ENOUGH THAT THE SOLAR BATTERIES ON MY PLASMA PISTOL SHOULD BE CHARGED!

PANEL 03
Small shot of GYRO taking a BLASTER off his hip. It shimmers as he readies it.
GYRO: HALF-POWER?! THIS BETTER WORK!

PANEL 04
Show GYRO blasting the BEAST and sending it reeling into the sea behind it.
GYRO: TAKE THAT, MONSTER!
SFX: BZAP!

PANEL 05
Shot of the BEAST taking the brunt of the blast and reeling back into the sea behind it.
SFX: BATCHOW!
BEAST: SKEEEEEEE

PANEL 06
Show HELENA and GYRO embracing as GYRO looks on at the smouldering beast’s body in the foreground. He looks firm, but also remorseful.
HELENA: OH, GYRO, YOU DID IT!
GYRO: ALL IN A DAY’S WORK.

PANEL 07
Panel showing a retrofuturist SHUTTLE flying close to the ground, nearing a hillside.
HELENA [from off]: GYRO, LOOK! IT’S THE GALAHAD! THE OTHERS FOUND US!
GYRO [from off]: WE BETTER GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE TROUBLE SHOWS UP!

PANEL 08
Long panel of GYRO and HELENA running to the ship as a pair of lobster-humanoids crawl out of the rocks.
GYRO: UH-OH! CRAYMEN!
HELENA: OH, WHY’D YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT, GYRO!
NARRATIVE BOX: NEXT WEEK: THE CLAWS OF CARNAGE!

November 13, 2025 at 4:13 AM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

The Number of the Beelzemon!

November 2, 2025 at 4:29 PM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

Hi! For #Morktober, I took last year's prompts and this year's prompts and stitched them together to make a megadungeon. I couldn't finish it this month, but I will continue working on it for the remainder of the year and will have it ready for May 2026.

Check out some samples from the Word doc!

Reads:
FIRST FLOOR: THE MAW
The rigid pathway leading from the entrance will carry the adventurers down to the next set of doors. Around our heroes will be walls of crimson stone marked with jagged white stalactites and stalagmites. The bodies of other wanderers and adventurers can be found littering the floor. Some are pierced to the white stones or trapped between them.

Eagle-eyed PCs will recognize this is built similar to a mouth, like the massive serrated jaws of a lamprey. The road itself it not unlike a tongue.

Offer a chance to stray from the path and loot some of the corpses lying around the red canyon. The stones around the path appear slick. Players may notice that it reacts to their movement.

Roll to see what the PCs find on the bodies. Add a +1 if they choose to move Stealthily (Agility DR13) or Smartly (Presence DR13):
1, 2, 3: Crushed bone, broken iron, and shredded cloth.
4: Rusted armour. (Breaks after being hit once)
5: d3 Centipedes, each as long as your hand (HP: 1. Bite: 1, risk of Infection)

Reads:
OVERZEALOUS PALADIN
The Order of the Vast Skies has long-protected the land from evil. You are – were? – a brave Paladin who served the great Bishop Zweigard. However, you were too keen to fight off against the monsters and heretics of the Dying Lands. Sadly, your efforts were not appreciated, but when word of the Talon's reemergence reached the Church, you volunteered to burn it down. To your surprise, the Bishop agreed. Perhaps it was the only way to be rid of you.

YOUR OBJECTIVE IS TO CLEANSE THE TALON. Destroy its most heretical aspects.

WHAT WAS THE ONE TIME WHERE YOU "WENT TOO FAR?" (d6)
1. "Never flog someone to death with a censer. They're more fragile than you realize."
2. "That village burned down on its own, I swear."
3. "So what if I tortured the wrong guy? Flaying builds character!"
4. "Apparently you can have "too many people" in a torture chamber."
5. "Who amongst us hasn't wanted to crucify someone themselves?"
6. "Look, that orphanarium was FILLED with dangerous grimoires."

Begins with 3d6x3 Silver and d3 Omens
HP: d10+Toughness

ABILITIES
Sword of Holy Wrath, 3d6+3 to Strength
Unlikable Fanatic, 3d6-3 to Presence
You deal an extra d6 damage against undead, demonic, or heretical enemies. If you deal full damage, roll Presence DR12 to not go berserk and attack your allies.

Reads:
EMPTY VASSAL
Undead serfs working to keep the Talon together. Dug up from graveyards around the realm, or are former Devout who died in service to Zandt or Mezos.
HP: 3
MORALE: 6
BLUNT, RUSTED SWORD. d3
RAGS. No Armour. Cannot be charmed, poisoned, or infected.
ICHOR SPRAY. Chance of vomiting up the ectoplasm holding them together. d6 damage, burns.

CARCASS BALLOON
Bloated, drifting corpse, floating along using trapped gas and black magic. Sentient and suicidal.
HP: 5
MORALE: 10
CLAWS AND TEETH. d4
RUBBERY BODY. -d3
TENDON STRING. DR12 or get entangled by a reticulated tendril dangling underneath it.
POP! The Balloon will either burst of their own volition or explode if they are killed in one hit, dealing d10 to everyone nearby. The sound of the pop is deafening.

Reads:
1:1 URN FULL OF CORPSE ASH.
1:2 d3 STRIPS OF DRIED MEAT. Tastes like pork (isn't).
1:3 SILVER SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS. Caked in dried blood.
1:4 WINGED HARNESS. Strength DR14 to fly. Agility DR14 to fly well.
1:5 SACK OF BONES. Mix of human and animal. Has d3 gold teeth, worth d6x5 silver each.
1:6 GRIMOIRE. On the nature of succubi. Filled with racy drawings. Pages stuck together.

2:1 SET OF FALSE TEETH. d4 are gold, worth 10 silver each.
2:2 VIAL OF PISS.
2:3 HEADSTONE. Yours, apparently?
2:4 WAILING RING. Emotionally drains the wearer. DR16 to give a shit about something.
2:5 HORRIFYING PAINTING. Depicts a howling, bleeding noble. Worth d666 silver. Cursed.
2:6 JEWELLED SCARAB BEETLE. Worth d6x30 silver. Moves.

3:1 GILDED BREECHES.
3:2 ALABASTER SUNDIAL.
3:3 SMALL WITCH'S CAULDRON. Collect bones, chemicals, and plants to brew a Curse.
3:4 WOODEN FROG-SHAPED OCARINA.
3:5 BONE KEY. For a chest in the Treasury. Roll d6. 1, 2: Filled with hungry bats. 3-6: 100 silver.

November 1, 2025 at 11:08 PM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

Another thing I did? Read "Genshiken." I might start reading Season 2, but I did enjoy this and I did like where it landed. Also, the Genshiken itself is basically otaku purgatory and the series is about escaping the maze of pornography, trivia, and references that traps fans, in this essay I will

The spread from the last chapter of Genshiken. From left to right: Madarame, slouching with his hands in his pockets, glasses fogged up. Tanaka, in a tracksuit looking proudly at the others. Ohno, smiling with her hands on the stoic and stiff Oguie. Kuchiki, in the middle, thumbs up with a huge grin. Sasahara, in a zipped-up top and cargo shorts. Kugayama, in the back with a satisfied look. Power couple Kousaka and Kasukabe posing for the camera. And Sasahara's sister, smiling broadly with a hand extended to the view.

November 1, 2025 at 12:02 PM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

The fastest I've ever said "absolutely not" to a Mangaplus title.

A screenshot of the website Mangaplus. On the right, a man in a business suit and glasses adjusting his tie with a sly look on his face. Around him: a blue-haired smiling warrior woman with ginormous boobs smiling at the camera; a different big-boobed warrior woman smiling (and winking0 at the camera, this time with red hair held up with a ribbon; and a weird little fennec fox/cat looking thing with a red scarf. Next to him, the title: "The Plain Salary Man Turned Out To Be A Hero: He Was Invincible, Only To Be Exposed On His Niece's Dungeon Stream" by Ghost Mikawa, Yuki Imano, Akira Yuki, and Raika Mizuiro.

October 31, 2025 at 12:38 AM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

I WAS RIGHT

Three French police officers waiting by a squad car while a dapper man with a doffed fedora, rain coat, tan vest and blue tie, holding an umbrella, stands off to the side looking stoic.

October 22, 2025 at 10:11 PM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

What up

Black and white picture of an astronaut floating above the earth. The caption reads: "The World Is Fucked And I'm Not Helping. Enjoy."

October 17, 2025 at 9:07 PM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

I'm late, but hello! I'm mostly a writer, but I do draw as a hobby. Here are some examples from the past year.

October 6, 2025 at 12:54 AM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

Happy Mörktober to all who celebrate!

I'm still working on The Ingrown Talon, my mega-dungeon based on the 2024 and 2025 prompts, so in the meantime please enjoy my Mörksona. Stats and Gear in the Alt Text.

A scruffy-faced man in mid-leap. He's dressed in armour with a horned helm, a warhammer in one hand and a side-bag with a scroll sticking out of it over one shoulder. Affixed to his belt is a magnesium strip.

Full Stats and Equipment below, in case you wanted to play as this Highly Disposable PC. Made using random rolls from the Mörk Borg core rulebook:

Robert, Cursed Walker Within Wires

STRENGTH: 12 (+0)
AGILITY: 12 (+0)
PRESENCE: 15 (+2)
TOUGHNESS: 12 (+0)

HP: 3
60 silver pieces
1 day of rations
Side-bag (holds 10 normal-sized items)
Magnesium Strip
Bestial Speech Sacred Scroll
Warhammer (d6 DMG)
Splint Mail (-d6 DMG, DR+4 on Agility Tests, Defence is DR+2)

October 5, 2025 at 8:49 PM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

Quote with your queer characters. My hand slipped and I made the main character of my first book a lesbian. The second book is told from her wife's perspective.

Cover art by @rodrigobravo.ca. Get the PDFs of both novels for only $8 CAD here:
robertislostinthewires.itch.io/olivia-zero-...

An image pf a cracked phone screen. The title, Olivia @Zero, hovers over a light-skinned woman with a bowl cut and a two-toned blue dress. She has her back to us. The cracks in the glass are behind the back of her head. On one side, a hyper-advanced cyberbunk cityscape. On the other side, red brick buildings with iron fire escapes. A blue border frames the mock phone.

The author's name, Robert Iveniuk, is at the bottom.

An image pf a cracked phone screen. The title, Morgan @Home, hovers over a dark-skinned woman with short frizzy hair, a side bag, and a short-sleeved camo top. She has her back to us. The cracks in the glass are behind the back of her head. On one side, modern buildings with plants growing on them. On the other side, a burning cyberpunk city. A yellow border frames the mock phone.

The author's name, Robert Iveniuk, is at the bottom.

September 29, 2025 at 2:11 AM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

Before #Morktober comes #Septemborg

Plotting a dungeon crawl using this year's Mörktober prompts AND last year's prompts. We're back in the lab, baby.

September 28, 2025 at 4:03 PM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

Speaking of Itch, I saw the ratings for my Nameless Scriptures submission and I'm very proud of myself. I'm sorry the stories didn't have nearly enough Skeletons. I promise to do better.

The backend of an Itch page showing the Results of a submission's rating as part of a fiction Jam. The Columns read Criteria, Rank, Score, and Raw Score. The rows read as follows:
Bleakness #15 4.082 5.000
Skeletons #17 2.858 3.500
Overall #21 3.368 4.125
Humor #22 2.858 3.500
Darkness #26 3.674 4.500

September 22, 2025 at 12:38 AM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

200 downloads on Itch! Thank you for the support! It's greatly appreciated.

Part of an Itch page listing 509 Views, 200 Downloads, and 27 Followers. Belongs to Robert Is Lost In The Wires

September 22, 2025 at 12:34 AM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

This character would fit right in with the Battle Beasts.

A dozen or more Battle Beasts, small plastic toys of humanoid animals in metal armour.

September 10, 2025 at 2:25 AM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

Come and Get My Stuff!

I'm off to three shows, including one happening today!

Meet me at Grafficker Alley, Neighborly Market, and this year's Mississauga Comic Expo! Buy some books, say hi, stare into my mouth.

Digital Stuff here:
robertislostinthewires.itch.io
ko-fi.com/robertislost...

A man in sunglasses and a souvenir jacket staring up at the clouds wondering What Doth Life. Above him, the text: "COME AND GET MY STUFF. I'm going to the following events: Grafficker Alley (September 6th), Neighborly Market (September 13th), Mississauga Comic Expo (November 15th)

Same man, same sunglasses, same jacket, same Deep Contemplation. Above, the text: "WHERE AND WHEN? I GOTCHA. GRAFFICKER ALLEY: Small Arms Inspection Building, 1352 Lakeshore Dr E, Mississauga. 11 AM-5 PM. NEIGHBORLY MARKET: Tapestry. 224 Augusta Avenue, Toronto. 12 PM-6 PM. MISSISSAUGA COMIC EXPO (MCX). Hazel McCallion Central Library. 301 Burnhamthorpe Rd. W, Mississauga ON L5B 3Y3. 10 AM-4 PM"

The man, in his sunglasses and souvenir jacket, points to a message from the heavens themselves. It reads: "THIS IS WHAT I AM SELLING (OR AM I?! EXPECT NEW BOOKS AT MCX!!" and a list of prices: "Odd Ends (comic w/ Jon Berg), $6. Checkmate Blues (comic w/ Keith Grachow), $6. TWO Comics, $10. MÖRKBERT (MÖRK BORG fanbook), $13. Olivia @Zero (novel), $15. Morgan @Home (novel), $20. BOTH Novels, $30. All Five?! (plus 1 janky sketch) $50

September 6, 2025 at 11:56 AM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

I'm going to be at Neighborly Market this Saturday and on the 13th of September. Come say hi! Details here:
linktr.ee/neighborlymkt

August 1, 2025 at 3:32 AM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

More Japanese learning. It cuts off on the right side, but who cares.

PANEL 01. A man pointing upward, with Japanese kanji around him. The translation:

MAN: "My favourite kanji is HONE [bone]. Because it looks like a tiny skeleton."

PANEL 02. The kanji for BONE floating through the air. The man from Panel 01 is watching it sail away. Translation:

BONE KANJI: "Ho-Ne, Ho-Ne. Ho-Ne, Ho-Ne."
MAN: "Good luck."

July 30, 2025 at 2:21 AM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

Grand Theft Auto VI was mentioned in "Zoo City" by Lauren Beukes, a novel from 2010.

Except from the book "Zoo City" by Lauren Beukes. Of relevance is the paragraph that reads "He waves a hand vaguely in the direction of the ashtray. There are a couple of video game boxes lying next to it, starring flesh-eating undead and aliens. One, Grand Theft Auto VI: Zootopia, features a badass in a hoodie, packing a shotgun with a snarling Panther by his side."

July 29, 2025 at 2:15 AM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

Let's talk about anime (or manga) because I want to talk about anime (or manga).

Blue picture with white text reading "Tell me an anime name and I'm going to tell you my honest opinion about it."

July 27, 2025 at 6:40 PM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

Take a break from the doomscrolling to appreciate Eiichiro Oda's drawing of Godzilla.

A crude sketch of Godzilla, facing the left side of the screen, teeth bare and throwing punches. The katakana for "jab-jab" is beside him

July 7, 2025 at 9:59 PM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

Just going to print this off and frame it for when Trump inevitably puts Sean Combs in the Supreme Court.

A Bluesky post from one Aaron Rupar, which reads: "the interesting thing about the Diddy verdict is that House Republicans are about to vote to take away healthcare from tens of millions of Americas." 1K Reposts, 204 quotes, 4.6 likes, and 256 comments.

July 4, 2025 at 2:23 AM

Robert In The Wires || Mr. 404

@robertinthewires.bsky.social

Pride is wild because sometimes you see a local politician dressed like Batman and ringing a gong from the back of a flatbed while surrounded by Mardi Gras dancers.