I dunno, man. We gotta go ‘All In’ on populating the galaxy somewhere and sometime, right? Especially if nobody else is stepping up.
Tag: microfiction
Patreon Microfiction: Infrastructure.
‘Infrastructure’ is a nice idea, but I don’t have anything else to say about it. I dunno, that happens sometimes.
Patreon Microfiction: The Fight Music of the Spheres.
Missing from “The Fight Music of the Spheres” are questions like, Should any of us care? or Do we need to do anything about this? Sometimes it just ain’t none of our business, you know what I mean? I mean, clearly, in this particular case we are absolutely not the things the galaxy revolves around…
Patreon Microfiction: Reasonable Ambitions
The trope of ‘Older, non-maestro schemer ends the career/life of young, naive maestro’ always bugged me*. It happens, sure. But the trope’s not always compatible with the idea of a competent schemer, is it? An intelligent person – like the protagonist of ‘Reasonable Ambitions’ – could just as easily realize that you don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, particularly when the goose is going to be ridiculously and profitably grateful for the way you take care of those annoying day-to-day distractions. The people normally interacting with the goose would probably be more grateful, too. Genius can be a bit much to deal with, on a regular basis**.
Moe Lane
*AMADEUS is an excellent movie that nonetheless has a lot to answer for.
**Twenty years ago, I would have made an arrogant joke about that; these days, I refrain. Mind you, I haven’t become humbler. I just have less of a need to remind people about how awesome I am.
Patreon Microfiction: A Whiff of Buckshot.
‘A Whiff of Buckshot’ posits that there is absolutely no reason why a civilized member of a sapient species would not use firearms, should they be available. Even if there’s stuff like wands of Fireball, or what have you. Black powder works even when you don’t chant mystic prunes over it.
#commissionearned
Patreon Microfiction: Food for Thought.
For the record: I thought of the pun in the last line of ‘Food For Thought’ when I wrote it. I offer that not as an apology, for I feel neither shame, nor remorse. Instead, I offer it as a reminder that great evil can lurk in the heart of even the most good-natured and innocent of men.
Patreon Microfiction: Trading Up.
Of course, there’s always of what to do with those Dark Lords afterward. The person running ‘Trading Up’ is simply kicking the can down the road. On the other hand, that’s usually a good strategy! A lot of those regimes will just regress to a boring old monarchy or something within one, two generations.
And, on the gripping hand: if there is a problem, there’s also a lot of Dark Lords out there that now owe Trading Up some pretty significant favors…
Patreon Microfiction: …Made Them Equal.
It doesn’t matter what the power is. Technology, magic, theurgy, High Weirdness — if it can be accessed reliably, somebody’s going to find a way to simplify the process and “…Make Them Equal.” Which is a good thing! Hard on the people who used to have the power monopoly, sure. But that’s life for you.