Notices by Kagan MacTane (he/him) (kagan@wandering.shop)

Argh, what the fucking fuck‽ This is not fair!

I just re-watched _Clue_ a couple of weeks ago. Still hilarious, even the 3rd or 4th time around. And Tim Curry was just one of the many reasons why. His pell-mell, hyper-kinetic "recap" of the night's events near the end never fails to delight me.

https://variety.com/2026/film/obituaries-people-news/tim-curry-dead-rocky-horror-picture-show-1236843955/

#TimCurry #RIPTimCurry #CelebrityDeath #death #FuckThis #FuckingHell

#ScribesAndMakers June 26: Summarize or link to yesterday's poll and reveal the answer. Explain why you still liked the movie.

So, I feel that _The Avengers_, _Inception_, and _The Matrix_ were all well-made. They're quality pieces of cinema, with A-list actors, special effects, and so on. That's on top of interesting stories about interesting characters and exploration of various themes. 1/3

That line will mean very little to youse here in cold black-and-white, but in the context of that moment in the movie? It is both triumphant and _chilling_ at the same time.

All that said, though, the production values are pretty cheap... and they plummet dramatically a few seconds after that line. (Many people say you can tell _exactly_ where the budget ran out.) 3/3

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In the case of _Frankenstein Unbound_... I could say that I like it for its exploration of themes of what goes wrong when you try to do something ambitious, or the excellent performances by many of the cast, or even the cool-ass car (and that car *is* cool AF). But really, the thing just absolutely peaks when Buchanan tells Frankenstein: "Meet *my* monster." 2/3

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#ScribesAndMakers June 28: Aside from obligations, what are your biggest distractions from your creative work?

Just generally feeling tired or unfocused.

#ScribesAndMakers June 27: What's your favorite woodwind?

I guess flute? It's a classic.

#ScribesAndMakers June 30: Choose an adjective to describe how you're feeling about your creativity going into next month.

I'm gonna go with "persevering". (It can be used as an adjective: "He was a very persevering fellow.")

#ScribesAndMakers June 29: Share the last line of dialogue you wrote (context optional).

"It's also a learning experience," Dan said. "Don't just focus on me. What else can you feel?"

In my adult life, I've been proud to have a San Francisco Public Library card (and occasionally check out books from it, or buy them from the store by the main entrance), and now both the New York Public Library (go Patience and Fortitude! 🦁) and the Brooklyn Public Library. 2/2

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#ScribesAndMakers July 1: Our featured creator is a former librarian. What has been your experience with libraries?

When I was in grade school, I'd stop by the school library nearly every day and check out a book or two. In high school, the library was a great place to study and hang out — and the town library also had wonderful resources on all sorts of topics! When I went back to visit my high school town last year, the library was one place I made sure go back and see again. 1/2

#ScribesAndMakers July 4: Sample?

Here's a sample of my work, from early in chapter 2. Kevin Wingard has just met up with 2 other urban shamans, Angel Castillo and their friend and ex-mentee Margot Chu, in downtown San Francisco's Financial District. Atop a skyscraper's roof, they scoped out a place they're about to try to infiltrate, high in a neighboring tower. Now they're back on the street, about to head for their target, when...

[Masto might cut off final graf; click image or read alt]

#ScribesAndMakers July 3: We have some new people in the community. Re/Introduce yourself and tell us about your creative work.

Hi, I'm Kagan! I used to live in San Francisco and still love it. I'm midway through my 1st draft on my 1st novel, an urban fantasy set in SF in 2024. It's about how the City is magical, and alive, and it awakens people and teaches them magic. And the many city wizards have different ideas about what magic is for, and what the City's future should be.

...stuff I was playing back then had a very mystical, magical feel. (My DJ name was DJ Digital Sidhe, so use your imagination...) I bet they'd like dancing to some of that stuff! 2/2

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#ScribesAndMakers July 5: You're whisked away by faeries to a woodland cottage for a weekend. Necessities will be provided, but for entertainment you're allowed 1 item of your own creation. What are you bringing?

I'd like to bring my draft in progress, because I'd be willing to read it to the fairies (with different voices and everything!) to entertain them. But I suspect they'd prefer music, so maybe I'll bring one of my old DJ mixes. A bunch of the... 1/2

#ScribesAndMakers July 6: Share the first sentence of the last chapter of one of your novels (or someone else's that you like if you don't have one of your own.)

My novel doesn't yet have a "last chapter" in the sense of "the last chapter in the story". But there's "the last chapter I've even so much as started". The first sentence of that is:

Margot had told Jessie to meet her early at the Women’s Building for her first time at Las Hijas de Juana.

#ScribesAndMakers July 8: How many spaces do you like after a period/full stop?

Just one; modern typesetting systems lay things out just fine without us humans having to burden our minds with "is this the end of a sentence, or just a period used for some other purpose?"

#ScribesAndMakers July 7: What do you find compelling in a podcast? If you don't like podcasts, is there anything that could make you interested?

I'm not really into podcasts. I don't have a good time in my life for listening to them, and I always feel like I could get the information a lot more quickly by just reading the transcript. I'm not sure what could get me interested in podcasts.

#ScribesAndMakers July 9: What's a fairly typical amount of time you spend reading per sitting? How many times per day do you generally get a chance to read?

I'm focusing on writing rather than reading lately.

#ScribesAndMakers July 11: It all started when...

...I received that mysterious box in the mail. The one that, when I shook it gently and listened, made a curious sound, almost like clockwork — if the mechanism were made of tiny, crystalline bells instead of ratchets and gears.

#ScribesAndMakers July 10: Do you prefer when a time traveler can choose a specific time/place to go, or when they don't have control over it?

When they can choose where to go. I like my characters to have agency, and their choices can help reveal their desires.