Moe Lane's Blog, page 17

Oh, NO, Lionsgate. You’re having problems making AI work? That’s just TERRIBLE.

Geek Tyrant has the details. Basically, Lionsgate teamed up with an AI shop in an audacious plan to “take one of its big-name series, repackage it as an anime generated entirely by AI in just hours, and then resell it as a brand-new movie.” They plan to use their own film library, which at least eliminates the possibility that they’re stealing from, well, me. Which is always nice.

Only problem – well, there’s several. First off, Lionsgate’s library is far too small to make a model that doesn’t look like crap. Second, the tech is still not there yet*. Third, a lot of the people in the original production still need to get paid, thanks. Which might include the actual original production crew, all of whom are highly unlikely to be nice about letting the studios freely use their data to train up the technology that’s threatening to take away their jobs.

Oops.

…And that’s pretty much it, really. This is a point-and-laugh post. A day may come when they fix this little out-over-their-skis problem of theirs; but it is not this day.

Moe Lane

*As usual. I know that AI is the wave of the future and will inevitably replace artists and authors by letting anybody write a book or draw a picture because you can’t get in the way of progress, man, and yadda yadda yadda. And we’ll probably be hearing the exact same thing next year, too.

09/25/2025 Snippet, IRONGHOSTS.

Planning.

…

“And you want our help with that,” Nat replied, his tone making it clear it was not a question. “These sisters came close to killing us, the first time we met them. Only their quarrel kept us alive. They’re also twice our size, and made of metal. What, exactly, do you think we could do?”

“If I was capable of imagination, Nat, I would have used it by now. I do know their weaknesses, and I will tell you them. You also now have a relic of the Old Americans; my one arm did not have the strength to pull it from its resting place. Or perhaps it prefers Oxman to me. It does not matter. He can strike my sisters with it, and they will feel the blow.”

“Once, at least,” replied Oxman, looking at his new axe with intent eyes. “If we took them in an enclosed place, and I struck quickly and true, I could manage it. Then the second one would kill us all.”

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Adventure Seed: Operation LANDFORM PANCAKE.

The actual names of these will be a good deal more descriptive.

Operation LANDFORM PANCAKE – Google DocsDownloadPatreon!

‘I’m Beginning to See the Light.’

…Would another playthrough of Fallout 4 really be that silly? Suitably modded, obviously.

I’m Beginning to See the Light, Ella Fitzgerald

#commissionearned

Tweet of the Day, This Is Not An Easy Question To Answer edition.

What’s the greatest fake band from a movie or TV show?

— Eric Alper (@ThatEricAlper) September 24, 2025

I’m already up to four.

Riverbottom Nightmare Baaaaaaand! pic.twitter.com/hsbETG4Ycn

— Chris Shockley (@ChrisShockley76) September 25, 2025

…Okay, five.

My book prices will be going up January 1st.

[Yup, this is essentially the same post as yesterday, only with more details. I am apparently very tired tonight.]

I’ve looked over the numbers, and it’s pretty clear: a combination of inflation, the need to go Amazon’s Extended Distribution route (which requires a minimum book price), and the annoying need to not charge too low a price means that my paperbacks will be going up in price. I’m researching right now what the sweet spot is, although two dollars more a paperback is probably about right. Huzzah.

Seriously, it feels counterintuitive that raising prices might help sales, but there you go. Anyway, buy my books now if you want the old price.

09/24/2025 Snippet, IRONGHOSTS.

One thing to remember about this setting: the USA didn’t fall. It was murdered, and people remember that. Oh, my, yes, they do.

“We are not exactly golems,” Nu told them. “Or at least, we were not supposed to be. We might be anything by now.”

She had taken them to a set of rooms underneath the ground, likely some sort of cellars before the end of the world. There was light from ancient ceiling lamps, however dim; no food, but another stream now ran through the rooms, bringing fresh air with it. Best of all, Nu had collected some of the fabled foam cushioning of the Old Americans. It was a little stiff at first, but softened wonderfully after a few moments. There were worse places to have a palaver.

“So, no chem, then?” asked Nat, as he rooted through his pack for the last of the dried giant spider. “No memories of a rabbi, chanting the Name and inscribing life into your limbs?”

“You are familiar with the most ancient legends? I had to teach myself to read, in order to learn the few that were still written down when the world ended. — But no, we were made, but by men, not gods. What do you know of the Old Americans?”

“I know what most do,” Oxman replied, stretched out on a couch and looking appraisingly at his boots. “They ruled over these lands, from sea to shining sea, from time out of mind. Fell fighters in war, kindly in peace: quarrelsome, yet generous. Their empire fell with the coming of magic, but remnants survive, here and there on the continent.” His face grew hard. “Fewer now than before, thanks to the cursed Dominion.”

Nat nodded. “To that I’ll add: the Old Americans knew many secrets, and were great crafters. They dug deeply, flew through the skies, could travel above and below the waves, and even put cities on the moon. And all without magic! They lived in an age of wonders.”

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The “Oh, nooooooo I’m one of the OLDS, now” ED movie announcement.

Everything about ED is personally disconcerting, if not for the reasons intended:

[John] Travolta will be joined by Crystal Reed, known for Teen Wolf: The Movie, and Chet Hanks, son of Tom Hanks. The project is being directed by Christopher J. Scott and written by David Kukoff, and it sounds like it will deliver a mix of tech paranoia and old-school horror vibes.

The story follows a sentient AI chauffeur bot that escapes and decides to start “killing reckless drivers under the guise of public safety.”

Nostalgia-bait star (thus making sure I’ll go see it)? Check.Scion-actor with famous last name (thus reminding me that we’re all old)? Check.Legitimate, if a touch irrational worry (self-driving cars feel like magic, man), punched square on the apprehension? Check!

I have to accept it. I am no longer hip. I have aged myself right into the of ‘ha-ha, look at the old people scared of modern life’ demographic. Cruel time has come for me all…

Moe Lane

PS:

‘Late In The Evening.’

Late In The Evening, Paul Simon

#commissionearned

Book prices will be going up in 2026.

It’s partially because I need to raise my prices anyway to keep my books from looking too cheap. The other reason, though: I think it’s time I took my books to Extended Distribution on Amazon. That means fewer royalties, but more places to sell my books. But to do that, I have to raise prices on FROZEN DREAMS, because there’s a minimum price I’d have to charge and it’s currently under that.

No, I’m not happy about inflation, either. I guess buy my books now, while they’re still cheaper.