Nick Brooke Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 I shared this over on Facebook, but I know some of you don't use that platform, and people do keep asking. Now that A Rough Guide to Glamour is out in print, I think the tale can be told. A flash of inspiration led MOB to write one of the short stories included in the book (The Son of Light Awakens, written in response to my Yolanela Spurned and followed by the gruesome sequel Moonson's Number Two - all three stories are collected in A Rough Guide to Glamour, of course [footnote], and were read aloud in Gloranthan Storytelling events at nineties RQ/Glorantha conventions, the notorious "Yolanelathons"). Michael O'Brien's genius brainwave was to draw increasingly explicit parallels between Moonson Argenteus, beloved demigod ruler of the Lunar Empire, a talented musician and the darling of the masses (much like the Roman emperor Nero) ... and the declining years of Elvis Presley in Las Vegas. He's a King, the King of Kings, a Living God no less, living in the lap of pleasure-dome'd luxury, with staff and servants and slaves and worshippers providing everything he could possibly desire... And yet, despite his Godlike image, he is bound by the burdens of mundanity, materiality, bloated decline and orgiastic decadence, cheeseburgers, alcohol, drugs, and - eventually - mortality. It was such a striking conceit, we all embraced it immediately, and were delighted when Dario Corallo drank our Kool-Aid and produced a perfect rendition of Moonson as Elvis for our book's front cover. That's the story. [footnote] Indeed, they're all illustrated (with just one exception): and MOB's other story in the book, Jaxarte and the Emperor, includes yet another picture of Elvis Argenteus Presley. The only exception is Moonson's Number Two. For moral reasons, we were not prepared to commission an illustration of constipated Elvis straining on the Imperial Commode. You will have to draw your own version in the space provided (and you can spill over to the blank last page if that proves insufficient). 5 Quote Community Ambassador - Jonstown Compendium, Chaosium, Inc. Email: nick.brooke@chaosium.com for community content queries Jonstown Compendium ⧖ Facebook Ф Twitter † old website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joerg Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 A blend of Louis XiV and Mel Brooks' version of Louis XVI? 1 2 Quote Telling how it is excessive verbis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonh Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 (edited) Now we just need to know how Kate Blanchett’s Hela and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn inspired two of the character portraits on the back cover, decades before they took the roles. Edited May 24, 2020 by simonh 1 2 Quote Check out the Runequest Glorantha Wiki for RQ links and resources. Any updates or contributions welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Brooke Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 (edited) Behold the power of archetypes! Asvedava the Black, the Spolite Witch who inherits Tatius the Bright’s role and immediately starts doing things very differently, wasn’t in Life of Moonson (she was added to Gloranthan canon in the Guide to Glorantha, when @Jeffdecided that - for fairly obvious reasons - it would be useful to know more about Tatius’ successor); the decision to depict her as Cate Blanchett playing Hela was another of Dario‘s inspirations, and I think it works very well. You clearly wouldn’t want to mess with her, and you’re reasonably sure she can access primal necromantic forces of Darkness and indeed Feminism in a way that probably isn’t in anyone else’s best interest. The Red Dancer of Power was conceived by Chris Gidlow (who wrote her up for “Life of Moonson” and, I believe, “The Hunt for Red Storm Season” before that) as currently presenting* as a slightly inhuman-looking anime schoolgirl. The hair in bunches was always a feature. I think Mike Hagen suggested Margot Robbie as a good model for the cover, adding a twist of psychosis and insanity to the original concept. And Dario, of course, delivered. (The rose-tinted sunglasses are my fault) One thing I hadn’t realised until Dario assembled the whole cover - as a group, they look remarkably like the Bat Man’s rogues’ gallery. (Which means, of course, that I’m working out who’s missing - The Riddler is only too obvious for the Lunar Empire; Two-Face fits perfectly as some kind of Carmanian vizier; others...?) * she changes form every year, of course. Edited May 24, 2020 by Nick Brooke 3 Quote Community Ambassador - Jonstown Compendium, Chaosium, Inc. Email: nick.brooke@chaosium.com for community content queries Jonstown Compendium ⧖ Facebook Ф Twitter † old website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajagappa Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 4 hours ago, Nick Brooke said: The Riddler is only too obvious for the Lunar Empire Riddle me this Moonson!... 4 hours ago, Nick Brooke said: Two-Face fits perfectly as some kind of Carmanian vizier A priestess of Natha sounds about right. 4 hours ago, Nick Brooke said: others...? Scarecrow, Poison Ivy (or is that Yolanela?), Mr. Freeze... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachristian Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 Why does the red emperor look like Elvis? Elvis is the red emperor. Duh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAZZA Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 2 hours ago, pachristian said: Why does the red emperor look like Elvis? Elvis is the red emperor. Duh. Math checks out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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