Moe Lane's Blog, page 909
June 22, 2020
The “ACTUALLY this isn’t the Foundation” FOUNDATION trailer.
I got asked about this one on Twitter:
Strictly speaking, it’s drawing from the prequels to the Foundation trilogy, doesn’t it? Which I only vaguely read, and not all of them. But I’m pretty sure that we’re not going to see the Mule in this, unless of course they completely rewrite the timeline. Which would be extremely ironic, in its way. The whole point of Foundation, to me, is how far the story stretches out beyond the scope of any one protagonist.
As to whether it will suck or not? Damifino.
06/22/2020 Report, FROZEN DREAMS Kickstarter.
Infrastructure today: first off, I did the edits for another story for the sampler. I’m going to try to do the last two tomorrow, then I can figure out what structural edits to make, then I guess I put the whole thing into one collection and go from there. I’d like to check this one off of the list.
The other major thing was a layout/brainstorming gig for the RPG worldbook. I sat down with my wife – she is also a gamer; yes, it is quite unfair how lucky I am – and we just tossed out all the stuff I’d need to put in the book, considering the page count. Right now I’m contemplating about 48 pages, which is not enough for a standalone game. Then again, it’s not supposed to be a standalone: you’ll be playing this sucker with another GUMSHOE ruleset. A full standalone game… will probably be another Kickstarter, in 2021, because I don’t have the budget for that kind of staff. But for right now we’re just going to get this version out the door.
That’s mostly it. Oh, and my usual exhortation to get all your friends to buy the book, of course. And to have them leave reviews afterward.
Seed-Cakes!
Uses this recipe, only with orange zest and poppy seeds. This is kind of an escalation, in its way: yesterday I noticed that my neighbors were cooking on the BBQ, and I was roasting up some vegetables myself. So I laid on them some baked potatoes and roasted corn and tossed in some fresh onions because I can’t cook them anyway. I mean, hey, all that goes with BBQ, right? No sense wasting good vegetables.
Only they sent over a couple of groaning plates of BBQ – far too much in response to the corn and potatoes – so there’s nothing to do except go bake some seed-cakes and send one of them over. This is my standard go-to when it comes to getting free BBQ from neighbors, and it’s worked out well for everybody so far.
Behold! Seed cakes. pic.twitter.com/KWJapEYY6R
— Ogiel (Moe Lane) (@Ogiel23) June 22, 2020
The “Saying Nothing and Smiling Faintly” HAMILTON Disney+ trailer.
My wife and I were talking about seeing this, if* it comes out on July 3rd. I probably will: most of my objections to HAMILTON were frankly based on a rare (for me) sense of class outrage. I’m from a blue-collar background, and while I don’t mind it that there are $800 theater tickets out there I do mind the suggestion that anybody who can’t afford one is some sort of cultural barbarian.
So we’ll probably watch it, if it comes out. I do hear that the songs are nice.
Moe Lane
*Well, at the time of the conversation the word we used was ‘when.’
06/22/2020 Snippet, HOLDOUTS.
Actually written last night after midnight, because Father’s Day.
Patreon!Pam and I picked up Ms. Sax as an entourage of one as we headed out to look at the site where the feral had been found. Like me, Sax was dressed for the merciless February sun: full polyester bodysuit with detachable cowl and mask, gloves, and a heavy denim overcoat to block out even more UV light. Pam stuck to her usual fur coat over field leathers, with an added scarf against the cold she still felt. Judging from the elevated heartbeats all around us as we passed, we were making quite the impression among Sax’s colleagues.
Does that seem arrogant? I suspect it does. Sorry, but it’s just one of the things about vampires. We’re pretty. It’s all part of the package that makes us such good predators: the same boosts to speed and strength gives us an aura of power and grace, and being attractive and charismatic is useful when you’re trying to convince someone to let you bite them. Or just get them alone in an alley, if you’ve stupidly decided to go the predatory route.
But back to Ms. Sax. It was interesting to see her try to work out the dynamic, but we had a case to pursue, so I deigned to explain as we walked through the garage. “Lt. Grier is my keeper, Ms. Sax. Or may I call you Greta?”
“Yes, Special Agent Carter.” She sounded more than a little diffident, but young vampires can be like that. I grew up knowing that people weren’t allowed to just up and kill me, if I acted out too much and scared too many people; kids like Greta didn’t have that luxury.
June 21, 2020
The THE KING’S MAN trailer.
This franchise has a somewhat oscillating tone to it.
The first one was wonderfully reactionary, the second was suffused with an action comic book aesthetic that I’m still not sure that I entirely groove to, and THE KING’S MAN? I dunno. It’s got Rasputin as a villain, as well as the obligatory Shadowy War Profiteers that supposedly started World War I*. Your guess is as good as mine.
Moe Lane
*Despite the fact that World War I can more easily be explained as a failure for everybody in Europe to understand that the introduction of barbed wire and automatic weapons onto the battlefield would completely upend their tactical and strategic planning. But what do I know? I’m just this guy on a blog.
Patreon not-Microfiction: Terry.
There is a lot of rough language in “Terry.” But in the protagonist’s defense: you’d be swearing, too. Don’t read this around kids, and bear in mind that it’s considerably longer than 100 words. It’s also one of the best things I’ve written this year, so there you go.
Tweet of the Day, And Use *Toothpaste* This Time edition.
Although that may just be a boy-kid thing.
Happy Father’s Day. pic.twitter.com/l1LJqVs44v
— Gabe (@cwgabriel) June 21, 2020
