Quick Update
The Brainfart Chronicles
Updates & Random Thoughts
- Sorry for the shitty formatting last time. It looked fine in the editor.
- As predicted, I got bored with Neverwinter after a couple of weeks and am now back to spending my time at least slightly more productively.
- The mental break must have helped, because I think I've figured out how to make some of the things I couldn't get a handle on in Cinemechanix work. Now I just need to get some feedback and testing on them. At this point the most recent version of the game is so far out of date that I think the best plan is to put together a bare-bones version of the rules without worrying about things like good writing or bells and whistles--basically just the minimum information to use the system.
- I'm glad I'm making some progress on Cinemechanix, because I haven't done much else. I still owe Leighton some work on the next Brainfart book, I'm way behind on monthly exclusives for my Patreon followers (though I hope to catch up on that soon with a whole bunch about the City of 10,000 Daggers, which is starting to gel in my head), and there's probably other stuff I need to work on that I've forgotten about completely.
- If you haven't watched Bandersnatch (the Black Mirror Choose-Your-Own-Adventure movie), I highly recommend it. Along similar lines, our old Archon pal Cullen Bunn is writing a novel where his Patreon followers choose what happens next. He's only done a couple of installments so far, but he's doing a really good job of hitting the tone of the old Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books.
- I've been reading a biography of Jim Henson. It's kind of refreshing because the author isn't trying to manufacture some kind of "paying his dues/tragic backstory" nonsense to make it fit the biopic formula. Things worked out for Henson pretty much from the start, and the author doesn't pretend otherwise. That's also what makes the book a little depressing: for those of us who notice that kind of thing, it's obvious that Henson benefited from considerable class privilege. Don't get me wrong, he also had a ridiculous work ethic and loads of talent, but we probably wouldn't have Muppets if his father had been roofer.
- Since I'm getting to the part of the Henson biography about The Dark Crystal, I decided to watch it (it's been on that list of movies I need to see but never do for a long time). It was ok. I really liked the puppets, but the plot was kind of weak.
- Part of the reason I don't watch all those good movies on my list is because I usually watch TV and movies when I want to turn my brain off, so I end up watching trash (currently: season 3 of The Magicians).
Word of the Week
Brainfart Press will eventually release a dictionary of words nobody particularly needs to know, tentatively titled (with apologies to Ambrose Bierce) "The Dumbass Dictionary." Here's one of those words:
Middle Dakota
A little-known federal territory between North Dakota and South Dakota. It was originally established as a demilitarized zone as part of the treaty that ended the short but bloody Dakota War.
©2024, Steve Johnson
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