The Business: Another Axanar Arrived

We have another Axanar situation.

The man behind Star Wars Theory put out a fan film that clowned on the Devil Mouse.

I am not exaggerating; compare this to what we saw out of D23 for the new season of Ahsoka and you can see that it does make Disney look poor by comparison. SWT isn't the Axanar gang; he doesn't have professional actors, costuming, practical sets, etc. and the expense that goes with it. He's made a CG fan film, but he did it right and thus it puts to mind the trailers for SWTOR that Blur did years ago- trailers that also clowned on the official live-action media.

This is what is coming.

No, Disney can't stop this- try as they might. The savvy will just lie about it, then upload it from jurisdictions that tell Disney's lawyers to pound sand to ensure that once up it stays up (even if you may need a VPN to access it).

"But Muh Copyright!" stops meaning anything when you have a global Internet and several countries that are more than happy to host this stuff Because Reasons. Couple that with the ready availability of hardware to burn things to disc, flash drives being cheaper than batteries, and all other forms of DIY distribution being available (including Torrents and FTP servers) and you have the conditions for the long-awaited Fan Coup.

Network Effects are real. Fighting within them matters. This? This demonstrates Proof Of Concept, and with it comes the test of what defines Uncle George's Space Opera now that Uncle George has abandoned his creation. You can argue that this should be spent on original creations, but then I must respond with the Enemy's words: "No one will watch it."

The people want the Brand. Now the tools are here for the people to make their own Brand media, and they will with increasing skill and frequency henceforth. Revealed Preferences are Revealed.

The Culture: This Is A Marketing Problem

This is a Marketing problem pretending to be a Literary problem.

Our host is not yet aware--nevermind accepting--that Genres Are Fake And Gay.

"Fantasy" is not real--Hilary Lane blew that one open--because it's the flipside of "Science Fiction" not being real (h/t JD Cowan). What he's complaining about is generations of incompetence at Marketing a Product to Prospective Consumers.

You need Ad Men sorting this shit out, because that's what this is- a failure to sell.

Until you accept this, you will continue to flounder.

The Culture: New Tex Talks BattleTech Today

Today, Tex and the Black Pants Legion premiere a new video.

3pm Central Time today. Be there.

The Culture: You Can't Reason With Those That Kill You When They Can

Vee dropped a reminder to us all on Sunday last weekend.

Normies run off vibes. They are the low-T men and women of the meme.

And we know that Commies Always Lie, thus fulfilling two other memes.

Thus do Commies always run off vibe-fuckery to get and keep power. They are a Christian Heresy based on Envy and Resentment, run by Elite-class cohorts that are on the outs and with dim prospects for fulfilling their class ambitions otherwise- same as it ever was.

They are your enemy. They hate you and want you dead. They hate God and side with the Enemy. They made their choice. Give them their just reward: flame and fire.

The Culture: Restoring Time To The Campaign Restores Functions Long Neglected

It's time to reconsider some games now that we have some practical experience in proper play that allows for Research & Development For Competitive Advantage to actually manifest on the table.

Those two posted above are examples. You can include Heavy Gear and BattleTech.

Because it is long past time to bust another myth- that this is exclusively the province of the publisher.

The Business: The Bots Write Better Than You

More receipts that Normies Prefer Bots.

This is going to play out the same way that mass-manufactured goods trumped the local craftsman.

Normies want The Same, But Different. They want books, movies, music, etc. that are clearly within strict boundaries, but vary within those boundaries like shades of color in paint--Maroon vs. Raspberry, even though both are Red--and as we've seen in physical goods the capacity to churn out mass quantities of the same thing with quality equal to what a human craftsman can make on average always wins in competition.

Book sales prove it, supported by Kindle Unlimited page reads.

This is what the refusniks have to contend with: the Revealed Preferences of Normies have consistently shown that they prefer the mass product over the handcrafted one because, when given the choice, they choose the former over 80% of the time- usually over 90%. The hysteria over AI is just that; when they get the blind test, they choose the bot.

You won't fix this by banning it; the savvy will just lie, the cunning will go where the bots aren't banned and do it there, and you still lose because the bot masters can and will Zerg rush you to win- which is already happening. Full industrialization of literature is here, like it or not.

The only consolation to be had is that achieving the full power of this technology still requires real skill, acumen, and mastery of the craft. You need the eye, if not the hand, to make the most of what this offers. That D&D app that Jon Del Arroz made can be vibe-coded to Minimal Viable Product status, but it still needs a competent coder to go from Viable to Finished.

Most people Thing That Works and as cheap as they can get it. They don't want, and will not buy, a hand-crafted version of what is mass-manufactured and available at Walmart- just ask all the axe and knife-makers.

And the human writers that stand after AI culls the weak? They are going to be those properly conversant with the Old Masters- they are exactly the highly-skilled, well-read, and knowledge-possesed masters who can make the most of this technology.

Which is not most of those whining about it- especially in OldPub.

I look forward to see you drowned by superior bot-manufactured work, because that means we're closer to the literary analogs of Art Nouveau and Art Deco- two styles that cannot exist without mass industrialization and output.

The Business: A Reminder That Vidya Does Cargo Cult (Non-)Gaming Better Than Them For Less

Vidya continues to make the Cargo Cultist offering look as bad as it is.

Light No Fire in particular is a threat to Temu D&D and even to Official D&D because you have a Domain Game.

Better than others like it (Valheim, Enshrouded, Pax Dei, etc.), this threatens the Cargo Cult in particular because of--you guessed it--reduced friction compared to Cargo Cult play and it being full of fake and gay lameness.

Want to play solo? You can. Want to get the boys together? You can. Build up your own domain? You can.

Lots of what makes Vidya in general a superior alternative to Official D&D and Cargo Cultist knockoffs is here, is refined, and is going to be far easier to acquire and play (and get others to play with you) at a cheaper price compared to Cargo Cult non-gaming.

Unlimited L Works, Cargo Cultists. All the Ls. All for you. All the time.