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radicalreliablerandomness · 8 months

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Podcast Rec Masterpost

I've been asked a couple times for podcast recommendations so I thought I'd post a compilation of some shows and a bit of info about them. Most shows I talk about are tagged below (I ran out of tags) so you can look through fan content as well if you're not one to care about spoilers. My asks are still open for personalized recs if you send me some others that you've listened to just because I love you, yes that's right! You. The person reading this right now!

Here goes!

Dungeons And Daddies *not a BDSM podcast

This show is a dnd actual play podcast. The first season is about four dads from our world lost in the Forgotten Realms in search of their lost sons. It’s a comedy but as with all comedies, you will cry by the end of it. It's super easy to get into with great chemistry between all the cast players and the dm, no prior knowledge of dnd is necessary. They do invoke slight horror sometimes so do keep an eye out for content warnings. Season 1 has 68.5 episodes along with bonus content and a mini campaign in between seasons 1 and 2. Season 2 is currently ongoing. Transcripts available.

The Bright Sessions

This is a science fiction podcast. The premise is a collection of clinical recordings of superpowered people's therapy sessions. The plot gets more interesting and convoluted as you get further in. Incredible voice acting filled with emotion. Does have some heavier discussions so be on the lookout for content warnings. It has 7 seasons (the last two are technically not part of the first five seasons' plot) and is completed. Transcripts available.

Hello From the Hallowoods

A post-apocalyptic fiction podcast. A beautifully written and preformed podcast that explores identity, religion, and other themes in vignettes throughout this haunted world narrated by an omniscient being. Some heavier topics are included so check the content warning before each episode. Seasons 1 and 2 are completed and season 3 will be done soon. Transcripts available.

The Magnus Archives

A horror fiction podcast. A well written chronological story told through anthology which seem to be tape recordings from a paranormal investigation institute. Incredible writing and actors that really bring it to life. This is horror so make sure to check the content warnings. The show is completed at 5 seasons. Transcripts available.

Neighbourly

Another horror fiction podcast! An interesting look into all the houses on Little Street and their peculiarities. Some more peculiar than others. The podcast is absolutely delightful with a horribly fun narrator. I would suggest checking the content warnings as some episodes are more intense than others. The show has 2 completed seasons. Transcripts available.

The Fall of the House of Sunshine

A musical mystery fiction podcast. The first season is about an investigation on the murder of a beloved host of a children's tooth-themed show. That's all I can say without spoilers. There are 3 incredible seasons along with short stories in between each season. Transcripts available until halfway through season 2.

Welcome to Nightvale

Possibly the most well known science fiction podcast, it really speaks for itself but I'll do my spiel anyways. Recorded as snippets of a daily radio broadcast, the show details the weird goings on in this strange desert town of Nightvale. Narrated almost completely by the radio host's smooth voice. It's ongoing and is currently sitting at 233 episodes. Transcripts available.

The Two Princes

A fictional queer romance podcast. It takes place in that special part of fiction that always starts with "once upon a time," it feels like a story book almost. The show is based around two boys meeting in the woods. Spoiler alert: they fall in love. It's just a cute feel good show. The podcast is complete at 3 seasons. Spotify auto-generated transcripts available.

What's the Frequency?

A self described psychedelic noir podcast. It's an absolute blast even if it is a bit hard to follow. Takes place in the 1940s in LA when all radio broadcasts were turned to static. You kind of just have to go with it until you get to the end. Completed at 12 episodes. Transcripts available.

Story Break

A writer's room podcast. The basic concept behind Story Break is 3 Hollywood writers in a room together take a prompt and try to make a story for it in an hour. There are many laughs in this podcast and just all around good humor and vibes. The show is complete at 169 episodes plus two full movie scripts. No transcript.

Who Killed Avril Lavigne

A science fiction podcast. It's about a time traveling pop punk loser and that's all you need to know. It's a podmusical so you'll be getting great nostalgic pop punk type songs along with crying from laughing so hard. Completed at 8 episodes. No transcript.

The Behemoth

A fiction podcast. Based around an unexplainable creature emerging from the ocean and how the world, and one girl in particular, deal with this phenomenon. It is pretty short with the longest episode being about 12 minutes. Completed at 20 episodes. No transcript.

Rude Tales of Magic

A dnd actual play podcast. It is mainly focused on the actual roleplay and story telling as opposed to the actual play. A handful of college students from Polaris University fuck the world up by completing a hazing ritual which in this case is a supposedly demon summoning. Obviously now they need to fix the world. Currently 64 episodes and ongoing. No transcript.

Midnight Burger

A very well written fiction podcast. It’s about a time/space traveling diner where the employees try to help solve a problem every place they land. Think Doctor Who adjacent vibes but with more drama. There is an overarching plot that comes together so look out for that. It has incredible characters that are really nicely fleshed out. You’ll somehow like and hate all of them as much as possible in the best way. Currently has 29 episodes of the main feed and a 9 episode mini-series. Transcript available.

Monstrous Agonies

A fiction podcast. It’s an radio advice segment on a station for “liminal Britain” aka the monstrous world to put it plainly. It’s really chill and comforting. There’s very good advice there and the intermittent ad reads will have you giggling to yourself. Episodes are on the shorter side, averaging about 15 minutes each. It does have some heavier discussions so make sure to check the content warnings. The show is completed at 111 episodes through 3 seasons. Transcripts available.

Desert Skies

A fiction podcast. The voice acting in this one is incredible, it’s the same person the whole time. The show as a whole is also just super well done. The premise is that when you die you show up on a highway and get to this astral pit stop. I’m not going to spoil it anymore you just have to experience it. There is an additional show, Desert Skies FM that's a buddy to this one. I recommend listening to both. Season 1 was completed at 12 episodes. Transcripts available.

Wooden Overcoats

A sitcom dramedy podcast. The show is about two siblings that run a funeral home on an island. It used to be the only one, it isn’t anymore. It has a wacky cast of characters and even wackier plot points. The dialogue can be a little hard to get used to at the beginning but once you get into it it flows easily. The show is completed at 4 seasons. Transcripts available.

Greater Boston

An audio drama podcast. It's set in Boston if you couldn't tell from the title and starts with the death of a man on a rollercoaster. It blends real life with some subtle (and at times not-so-subtle) fantasy elements. It's currently at 4 completed seasons. Transcript available.

Gay Future

A science fiction podcast. In a world where everyone is gay in the future we focus on this one straight kid. Following his journey to destroy the government who are making everyone gay. This is a satire by the way. 1 season completed at 6 episodes. No transcripts.

Death by Dying

A dark comedy podcast. The show follows an obituary writer while he does things that are totally under the jurisdiction of his job. A well written and preformed show. There are a lot of laughs and obviously some heartbreaks as well. Currently 1 completed season with season 2 sitting at 2 episodes for a bit now. Transcript available.

Not Another D&D Podcast

An actual play dnd podcast. This one's more mainstream than my other podcasts so I don't talk about it as much but that doesn't mean it's not incredible. The first campaign is about 3 adventurers off to save the world. Obviously. It can be a bit slow in the beginning but anything past the second half of the first season is incredible. There's humor, drama, love, and much more. The DM is also just incredible. 1 completed season, a couple mini campaigns, and the second season is currently at 43 episodes. No transcripts.

Forgive Me!

A fiction podcast. It starts based around vignettes of confessionals in this small town taken by a new father in the local church. An overarching plot is present but it's generally a feel good, sweet and simple show. They have 2 complete seasons with season 3 currently at 9 episodes. Transcripts available.

Real Housewives of D&D

An actual play dnd podcast. This show is based around the concept of a "Real Housewives..." type show but you don't need to know anything about those to listen to this. It's about 4 reality TV stars thrown into a magical fantasy world with no knowledge of how to get home. There's drama, excitement, danger, and lots more. The first season was just completed at 16 episodes. Transcripts available.

The Silt Verses

A horror fiction podcast. Two people who worship a banned god travel together up a river in a pilgrimage. There is incredible worldbuilding in this show along with acting and sound design. This is horror and a very good one at that so make sure you check content warnings. Season 1 and 2 are completed and season 3 is at 2 episodes so far. Transcripts available.

The Land Whale Murders

A comedy fiction podcast. It takes place in the year 1899 and is about a pair of friends? maybe not, that metaphorically explore the world they're living in. It is a commentary on the world we live in and the problems in it through a hilarious and wacky cast. There are currently 17 episodes between both seasons 1 and 2. Transcripts available.

Elaine's Cooking for the Soul

A post-apocalyptic cooking podcast. The show is about a dentist who makes her way through the fallout of an apocalypse while also making a cooking podcast. It does have depictions of violence, war, and dentistry so check out the content warnings. There are 2 completed seasons. No transcripts.

Fawx and Stallion

A mystery podcast. If you hate Sherlock Holmes you'll love this podcast. Also if you love Sherlock Holmes you'll love this podcast. It's based around the detectives who live across the street from Holmes at 224B Baker street. It's pretty goofy. Season 1 is completed. Transcripts available.

The Amelia Project

A fiction podcast. Follow the shenanigans of this death-faking organization as they take in new clients and hear their stories. It does develop an actual overarching plot later on but every second is fun. Seasons 1-4 have been completed and season 5 is in progress. Transcripts available.

A Voice From Darkness

A horror podcast. It's centered around a radio show hosted by Dr. Malcolm Ryder, Parapsychologist. He helps people who call into his show with supernatural problems, gives PSAs and warnings about strange happenings, and more. Season 1 is completed and season 2 is at 9 episodes. Transcripts available.

Station Arcadia

A dystopian fiction podcast. Formatted through a radio show, it tells the story of a world that's slowly dying. There are vignettes of different characters through different areas of the world. Season 1 is completed at 25 episodes. Transcripts available.

Margaret's Garden

A science fiction podcast. It has two plots running at the same time which keeps you on your toes but makes for an intriguing story line. In one plot line, two agents are sent to investigate the strange happenings of a weird little long abandoned town. Simultaneously, we hear from the past of that town as it catches up to the agents. Completed at 10 episodes. Transcripts available.

Camp Here & There

A horror comedy podcast. It's recorded as a set of daily announcements over a loudspeaker at a totally normal summer camp. The announcements are made by the camp nurse and he's also totally normal. I promise. Make sure to check in with the content warnings as some topics are a little mature or graphic. There are currently 34 episodes. Transcripts available.

Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye

A companion horror podcast. This is actually a bit meta because it is the result of a youtube series. This show is the one the podcast hosts in the series release, it's definitely worth both the watch and the listen though. It's got werewolves and drama. Completed at 10 episodes of video and 10 of the podcast. No transcripts.

I am in Eskew

A horror podcast. It's about a man who's trapped in a city where the buildings always change and the rain never stops. There's a weird monotonous creeping horror in this show that just draws you in. Check for content warnings definitely. Completed at 30 episodes. Transcripts available.

Traveling Light

A comfy cozy fiction podcast. It follows The Traveller on their exploration through space, visiting alien planets and collecting stories to send back to their community. For supporters of the show, it almost functions as a choose-your-own-adventure with choices to vote on and listener submissions. It's made by the same people as Monstrous Agonies so if you enjoyed that, you'd enjoy this and vice versa. There are currently 16 episodes. Transcripts available.

Not yet described but still recommended:

Eeler’s Choice

The Secret of St Kilda

The Endless Ocean

The Department of Variance of Somewhere, Ohio

The Sword & The Stoner

World Gone Wrong: a fictional chat show about friendship at the end of the world

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myteavsricochet · 24 days

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Latest firstprince fanfics read: Part 4

(part 1) (part 2) (part 3)

all i need (is on the other side of the door)

alex's neighbour plays the piano late at night when he's studying, and he hates it. when he meets his neighbour henry, he starts to form a crush on the hot british neighbour with a cute tax attorney beagle.

little does he know that henry's the one playing the piano.

I remember the time I knew what happiness was (Let the memory live again)

Alex undergoes medical treatment for depression, and comes out with some memories missing.

Henry helps him through it, and some memories are brought to light.

the tragic flaw is that they hide the truth (that you're enough, you're enough)

Alex has been staring.

For weeks now, actually.

Henry had originally chalked it up to Alex being, well, Alex. But lately, Henry can’t help but take it in as more than just his boyfriend's usual oddness.

Or: After gaining some weight, Henry feels self conscious. Alex however, loves his tummy.

Barracuda Is Down

“Barracuda is down, repeat, Barracuda is down-"

An attempt on the lives of the Claremont-Diaz's leads to a horrifying experience for Henry Fox, who was just trying to settle into new life with Alex in their New York City home. The two stand a test of true love-- if they can come out of the worst of their worst together.

Trigger Warning for Gun Violence

turn the desert to glass (you would be the one)

Henry and Alex's domestic bliss has lead to some changes in Henry's body. Henry doesn't really mind being a little chubby, but he wonders if Alex does. Alex, it turns out, does not. Not one bit. He does not mind one bit, and he is more than eager to prove it.

drowning man

Alex didn't know how he did it. How he did seventeen years of school, and extracurriculars, worked on his mother's, Rafael Luna's, and his father's campaigns, and was a good son/brother at the same time. He truly doesn't know how he did it.

He doesn't know how to recreate it.

He's starting law school this fall. He moved to New York and he's going to law school to become a lawyer and help people, then run for Congress.

you taste like home

“I lied to you,” he says.

He doesn’t clarify. He doesn’t have to.

Alex toys with his fingers. Quiet settles over them, offset by the pattering rain.

“I know.”

–

Or, the rizcriz prompt where Alex and Henry are roommates and Henry lies when Alex confesses his feelings in order to protect their dynamic.

we’d still worship this love (even if it’s a false god)

Alex and Henry are sleeping together because it's convenient, alright? They hate each other; it's supposed to be causal. So, why does Alex feel his heart break when he realises he's not the only one Henry is sleeping with?

It's Called Tact, Fuck-Rag!

Texas had been an odd choice, some might say. Henry thinks it's perfect. College is a time to go crazy, after all.

A Scream AU

Dallas, Texas

I thought I knew hopelessness. I thought I'd learned its specific dread years ago.

There's an assassination attempt on Ellen, Henry is caught up in the damage. Alex is... coping about as well as you would expect.

The sunshine lighting up my darkest days

Henry has a dark day and his daughter sits and reads to him.

Dancing, Drinking, Delighting in You

"Dance with me?" Alex asks, holding out a large hand to Henry. His palm is up, ready to take Henry's in it.

That very palm is one that Henry is oh-so familiar with. It's the palm that finds itself on the dip of Henry's hip when they lean closer together, the palm that cups Henry's cheek when they kiss. It's the palm that places itself on his chest as it pushes him down until the breath is knocked out of him, half by the impact of his back on the bed and half by the feeling of Alex's lips that often find his own not a minute later. He's traced the ridges of that palm, the slopes of its dips and curves, and drawn on the lines that June swears reveal Alex's nature. It's the palm that holds Henry's own, the one he kisses as Alex spoons him, the one that holds Henry's heart.

It's just his hand, but there isn't any universe in which Henry wouldn't take it.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Love, Henry has found, is at its strongest on a mundane Thursday night.

he feels like home

“Alex,” Henry sounded surprised to see him. He locked the door behind himself before dropping his things near Alex’s bag and hurrying toward him. Alex stood to meet him in the middle, Henry’s arms coming up around his shoulders while his own wound around Henry’s waist. Finally, despite being surrounded by all things Henry since he got home, everything clicked into place. Alex’s heart swelled as he breathed in the smell of real-life Henry and not just the products he used; this was home: clean linens and fresh-cut grass, with the new addition of cinnamon that clung to him, too, now that he spent so much time in Alex’s orbit. The realization made him dizzy.

or, alex gets a random night off; domesticity ensues

prove me wrong

Alex has texted.

Open the door. The first reads.

I’m not ready to go. The second says.

He stares down at the texts, then looks up at the door, and back down to the texts. You have a plane to catch, he replies.

I’ll figure that out later. Let me in. Comes the reply.

And Henry. Is feeling fragile and a little torn open and wanting and so he does the exact opposite of what he should do—he should tell Alex to go home because this was only a night, and they have to go back to their respective roles and expectations. They can’t just tell the rest of the world to fuck off while they get lost in each others skin.

or, Paris is more than a single night

come and get me

The email arrives 8 days after Henry left the lake house. He contemplates deleting it without reading, but it sits in his Alex inbox, where there are over seventy emails favourited, and somehow it feels wrong and weirdly impersonal.

As if leaving without a note were any different.

He stares at the from line with an aching longing that seeps into his veins. It settles on his heart like a tangible thing; something warranted and cruel that casts shackles around the aorta and locks them tight so that he might never love again.

or, alex sends an email instead of flying to KP.

Be Worthy Love, and Love Will Come

"For Christmas this year, all I would like is a best friend who doesn’t mind too much that I’m a prince. Most of my classmates poke fun because of who I am, or treat me like I’m too special to be their friend. I want a best friend who knows me as much as my family does and still likes me. I know that you can’t wrap a best friend up in a box and put it under the tree, but you’re magic so you know the best way to bring one."

(Movieverse canon divergence; Prince Henry, age 8, writes to Father Christmas wishing for a best friend. A few weeks later, he finds one.)

your needs, my needs

”Love,” he soothes, reaching out his hand to gently place it on Alex’s cheek and shuffles closer to the bed. ”Are you okay?”

Alex doesn’t answer his question and the silence tells Henry everything he needs to know. ”You’re home,” he says instead after a while, his voice rough and barely above a whisper.

***

Alex struggles with exam season and Henry helps him through it.

Fierce winds of love

Standing inside the lake, bleeding through his heart from a Henry shaped hole, Alex didn’t know. He didn’t know how to breathe, how to live or even how to exist without Henry.

If he managed to get himsef out of the lake, somehow made his legs work and enter his room, would he find Henry there, or would he be gone with the wind.

But if he just stayed there frozen, not finding the room empty, it would mean Henry never left, right? Never there but never not there either.

Biology 101 for babies

“There's a boy,” Arthur says seriously, still holding a bright red crayon tightly in his fist. “At nurs... nurs'ry. He's new an' he's brown.”

Henry, still twisting round to give Arthur his attention, blinks a couple of times, then very carefully takes his hands out of the washing up bowl and pulls off his gloves. “I see. What's his name?”

“Michael.”

"Alright. And why is it unusual that he is, as you say, brown?”

Arthur frowns. “Nobody else is brown.”

Henry realises with dawning horror and amusement that he is about to have one of the weirdest conversations of his entire life. “Arthur, my little love – you're brown.”

whatever you need

Alex’s jaw aches. He’s buried in a mountain of coursework preparing for the final that’s going to make or break any potential future career in law he has, his vision is blurry, and his fucking jaw aches. No amount of stretching it out or massaging at its hinges is helping, and it’s all he can focus on. Not the merits of a case from the 1980’s that set legal precedent, not the infuriating blinking of the cursor on his screen, only the insistent ache in his jaw.

He’s going to scream.

He opens his mouth to do just that, to vent all the frustration of it all out in an agonized groan, when he hears his bedroom door open and the silky sweet voice of his boyfriend saying, “Love, I made you dinner.”

pillow prince

So Henry lays on his side in bed, fidgeting with the unused pillow next to his head. No matter how hard he tries to force the thoughts of Alex out of his mind, they’re stuck. He thinks about the way Alex shook his hand upon arrival. Strong and firm with arms that nearly winded him upon sight. His unenthusiastic smile was still so bright and filled Henry’s stomach with butterflies. He was able to cope with that, he thinks. Then came the glasses.

Usually, Henry isn’t this quick to crumble. He’s always good at appearances and keeping everything together. He’s capable of restraining any unwelcome emotions. Or at least he was. Now he’s struggling to not rut against his mattress all over the passing thoughts of Alex.

---

or alex walks in on henry humping a pillow and wants to watch and help

Someone special

"That was Shaan," Henry explains as Alex snuggles closer to him, pressing his nose to his neck. "The blizzard hit early, apparently. Too risky to fly."

"So Christmas here?" Alex says in that sleepy drawl of his that Henry will never get tired of. "Fuckin' sweet."

in paper rings; in picture frames

“Your love for me,” Henry says, “and your devotion to our marriage, are here.”

He presses his own hand, and Alex’s where he’s still holding it, to the center of Alex’s warm chest, applies gentle pressure until he can feel the beat of Alex’s heart beneath the skin and muscle and bone that make up the framework of his favorite person in the universe.

“Not in a piece of metal, Alex, no matter how sentimental it may be,” Henry says softly. “Just here.”

or; Alex loses his wedding ring, and Henry is very understanding about it

Say don't go (I would stay forever if you say)

“Henry, there is something wrong. I’m June, by the way. I run this place, and this is Nora. Uhm. You see, one of our employees forgot to remove the date from the website."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"I’m really sorry," June says, trying not to cringe.

"Please don’t expect me to go find a place tonight in this rain." Henry is angry, but he still keeps his composure.

"No. No, we have a place."

“We have?" Nora asks, as clueless as Henry is.

—

Henry books a hotel online only to find out that the said hotel accepted it in error, and now he has to crash the hotel owner’s brother’s room because he has no place to go.

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #firstprince #rwrb fic #firstprince fanfic #alex claremont diaz #henry fox mountchristen windsor

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transrevolutions · 6 months

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@rex-and-regina

1) marat did not encourage "murder of innocent civilians" in l'ami du peuple. while he did sometimes use violent rhetoric (like in the "five hundred heads" quote that people love to throw around with no context), that was pretty much the norm for political journals at the time. they were sensational and emotional and dramatic and hyperbolic. that was pretty much the stylistic standard. if you compare marat's paper with, say, hebert's or even desmoulins's, you'll find he's actually pretty academic and straightforward for the era.

2) if you try to counter my first point with "but the september massacres", you need to know that marat was not directly responsible for those either. the narrative that he caused it stems from the fact that he put out an issue of his paper a little while before the massacres that said some stuff about taking up arms to defend the homeland from conspirators and traitors, etc. etc. except, y'know, a bunch of people were saying stuff like that in their papers (see above). it's true that he didn't explicitly condemn the massacres, but nobody in the government really wanted to talk about it because of how messy of a situation it was. someone else even said something like "we will draw the curtain over this event and leave its judgement to posterity".

3) robespierre.... did not cause the "reign of terror". in fact they did not even call it the reign of terror at the time (historians came up with that later). actually, if we want to get pedantic, the term terreur had a very different connotation in the 18th century than it does now, but I digress. robespierre was the subject of a massive smear campaign when his coworkers realized they couldn't make him shut up about various crimes that they were involved in and killed him to keep him from airing out their dirty laundry. they also killed a bunch of his political allies because they couldn't have them exonerating him, could they? look it up it's actually wild. so they blamed him for all the issues that the government had, even the ones he was trying to fix (he opposed the shitshow in lyons and nantes, cautioned against needless bloodshed, abhorred the practice of treating executions as a spectacle). also he didn't actually have nearly as much power as people seem to think now. he was a member of the national convention (the french republic's elected legislative body), and a member of the committee of public safety (a council elected from members of the convention to deal with the escalating war situation and some other stuff). he was not the leader of the CSP (which did not have a leader) or the convention (which had a presidency that was mostly ceremonial and worked on a rotating basis). he also never sentenced anyone to death because it was the tribunals that did that, not the convention or CSP.

4) the time period that is generally considered the "reign of terror" (as flawed a concept as that is) is usually placed after the assassination of marat. because a big reason for the paranoia that led to the escalation of security measures was the fact that marat was killed. marat was seen as kind of unkillable by the people of paris (won his own political show trial, etc.) so if you could kill marat, you could kill anyone. so it's kind of hard to say what marat would've supported or not supported after he died, especially since his death itself heavily influenced the next stage of the revolution.

5) charlotte corday wasn't even a monarchist. she was aligned with the girondins, who were moderate republicans in favor of the free market. she didn't like marat because marat was calling the girondins corrupt in his newspaper after a prominent girondin official turned traitor and deserted to the austrians (whom france was at war with). not entirely sure what she thought she would accomplish with this, because a great way to make your political faction seem really corrupt is to brutally murder a guy for criticizing it.

6) a bunch of people actually tried to stop marat through various means, legal and illegal. namely lafayette and brissot and capet and barbaroux and necker and... you get the picture. charlotte corday was just the one that succeeded.

a final point: why do you criticize marat for "encouraging" (but never committing) murder while you simultaneously praise corday for committing a literal actual murder? only one of the three people (marat, robespierre, corday) you mentioned actually killed anybody, and it wasn't marat or robespierre.

#discourse #marat #french revolution #frev #robespierre #I do not have the energy for this

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thenerdyindividual · 1 year

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Want stories featuring queer characters in fantasy, science fiction, or horror settings, where being queer is central to the character but not the only thing they have going on? Let me introduce you to my list of podcasts!

To start we have Welcome to Night Vale. You’ve likely heard of it thanks to the tumblr sexy man poll, or if you’re old school tumblr like I am. It’s a classic for a reason, it kicked off the fiction podcast renaissance and was queer from the jump.

Welcome to Night Vale is an episodic podcast taking the form of radio broadcasts from a strange desert town called Night Vale that appears to be in a parallel universe to ours. It follows the bizarre occurrences within the town and the oppressive government’s clumsy attempts to cover them up.

How is it queer? The show also follows the personal life of radio show host Cecil Palmer who met new-to-town scientist Carlos, and “fell in love instantly”. Not only are they now married, they’ve adopted a child together.

Alice Isn’t Dead

From the creators of Welcome to Night Vale, Alice Isn’t Dead is a horror fiction podcast that follows Keisha, a woman who became a long haul truck driver to go in search of the wife (Alice) she thought was dead, but discovered was alive. In the process she uncovers monsters lurking among us and a massive government conspiracy trying to hide the truth.

How is it queer? As stated, the inciting incident is that Keisha discovers that her wife is secretly alive.

Dimension 20: Fantasy High

A dungeons and dragons actual play show. This season is set in a 1980s John Hughes-esque fantasy high school called the Arthur Aguefort Adventuring Academy. It follows six high schoolers starting their first day of freshman year as they form their adventuring party and try to uncover the mystery of why girls at their school keep going missing.

How is it queer? Kristen Applebees is the cleric of the party, and most of her arc in the first season is based in the struggle between honoring her religious upbringing and the god that gave her her magic, and realizing she’s a lesbian. Fig Faeth (the bard of the group) does not have a romance arc in this season, however in season 2 she does end up in a romantic relationship with another woman, and much of her arc in that relationship is based around the insecurities hidden behind her rock and roll persona. Riz Gukgak (the rogue of the group) does not use the term asexual on screen, however it is clear in a conversation in season 2 where he discusses feeling awkward about not being horny when all his other friends are. He was later confirmed as asexual by dungeon master Brennan Lee Mulligan.

Dimension 20: The Unsleeping City

Another story with the same players as Fantasy High. This story takes place in a fantastical New York City where the waking world intersects with the world of dream and magic. The story follows six adventurers as they struggle to keep the two worlds in balance with each other, and prevent the big bad from ruining the world of dreams forever. It’s Brennan’s love letter to New York.

How is it queer? Pete Conlan (the sorcerer of the group) is a bit of a dirt bag drug dealer who is struggling to learn to take on the responsibility of being the voice for the dreams. He is also a trans man. His awakening into the magical New York occurs because his dad attempts to deadname him, and he uses his magic powers to fill his dad’s mouth with bubbles and blast him away.

Not Another D&D Podcast Campaign 1

This is another dungeons and dragons actual play set in a more traditional D&D world. It follows the story of three adventurers living in the shadows of the saviors of Bahumia that came before them. Only to realize one of those saviors might not have retired, and is up to no good. They will have to save Bahumia from one of its saviors.

How is it queer? Beverly Toegold The Fifth (Paladin of the group) is the fantasy equivalent of a Boy Scout and ends up in a romantic relationship with another boy from his troop. (They’re both meant to be 16 by the end of the campaign I believe.) Moonshine Cybin (the Druid of the group) is just generally horny for everyone and anyone that impresses her, but she does also spend her last night before the final battle hooking up with Hardwon’s (the third party member) sister in law.

Not Another D&D Podcast Campaign 2

This story is set in the world of Eldermourne which delves heavily into the aesthetic of gothic horror. It follows three adventurers as they go in search of a missing witch that will help them protect Eldermourne from the conflicting factions of gods and religious extremists each trying to take the world and remake it in the way that suits them.

How is it queer? A major thrust of the story is that Fia Boginya (the wizard and cleric multiclass of the group) once saved her dear friend Irina from execution, but they end up needing Irina’s magic to protect the world. The party goes in search of her, and Fia admits to having always been in love with Irina, even when they were just children.

The Adventure Zone: Balance

Another D&D actual play. This one is set in a fantasy world that draws heavily on both fantasy and other aesthetics. The three adventurers encounter an extremely powerful and destructive magical object, and manage to capture it. In doing so they are inducted into the organization called the Bureau of Balance, and are sent on missions to recover the other objects of power that have been scattered across the land. There is more to the characters than even they know.

How is it queer? Taako the Wizard (one of the adventurers) ends up in a romantic relationship with the Grim Reaper who in this world is a man. There is also a romantic relationship between two women who are also members of the Bureau of Balance that hangs out in the background of the story. A trans woman is also prevalent in the story, but explaining anything else about her reveals major spoilers for the campaign, but trust me she is narratively important.

The Adventure Zone: Amnesty

This is another actual play show, but it uses the Monster of the Week system that was created using shows like Scooby Doo, X-Files, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is set in the fictional town of Kepler, West Virginia and the Monongahela National Forest. Cryptids are real and they all hang out in Kepler. Three friends band together to stop monsters with ill intent from destroying the town, and learn more about the world that parallels theirs. It is Dungeon Master Griffin McElroy’s love letter to the West Virginia town he and his brothers grew up in.

How is it queer? Aubrey Little is the magic user of the group and identifies as bisexual. She ends up in a romantic relationship with a vampire girl in town.

Campaign Skyjacks

It is another role playing game actual play. I’m not entirely clear on what system they are using, as a lot of it is the creation of the game master. It is set in a fantasy world where crossing the oceans has become too treacherous, so pirates, privateers, and sailors alike have all taken to the sky in airships. The story follows four crew members of the ship the Uhuru as they try to make the ship profitable all while trying to hide from the rest of the crew that the captain has long since died and the doctor has been puppet-ing his corpse for weeks now.

How is it queer? I am still in the early stages of the podcast so there may be more queer characters later, but off the bat there is Gable who is the quarter master of the ship. Gable is non-binary.

These are not the only podcasts that fit the bill, but these are the ones I listen to. I’d also like to give a special mention to most other seasons of Dimension 20. There are a ton more, and you’re likely to get at least one queer character per season. However, I wanted to keep it to things you could find for free. Fantasy High and The Unsleeping City are both free on YouTube, but all other Dimension 20 seasons are on the streaming service dropout tv (which I do recommend getting because they do a lot of other good shows too.)

Feel free to add more shows in your reblogs!

#dimension 20 #fantasy high #welcome to night vale #the unsleeping city #tuc #wtnv #naddpod #bahumia #eldermourne #taz #the adventure zone #the adventure zone amnesty #taz amnesty #taz balance #skyjacks #the adventure zone balance #alice isn't dead

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sissa-arrows · 3 months

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Did you know during the Spanish Civil War, Moroccan soldiers who were allied with Franco would have rape "camps" for captured (or not) Republican women? One the most well-known perpetrators of such "campaigns" was Mohammed Mizzian, who was close friend of Franco, and after independence in 1956, he was personally invited by king Mohammed V to lead the newly Moroccan Army, and today even has a museum in his honour in Rabat..

And now the same thing is happening to Sahrawi women in the occupied territories.

Without removing anything from this type of horrors, that’s a very difficult subject for one simple reason. Part of Morocco was a Spanish colony.

Colonizers do use soldiers from the colonies to do horrific things. For example in Algeria a non negligible part of the soldiers who were sent by France to kill Algerians during the massacres of Setif, Guelma and the rest of the region, leading to the slaughter of 45000 Algerians, were Black infantrymen from other colonies. During the war against Vietnam keeping them from gaining their independence, some of the troops sent by France were Africans (Mostly Moroccan and Black men but they eventually started using them less and less because they were deserting the French army to join the Vietnamese revolution). Even without making them join the army France tried really hard to create division and use the colonized against each other. For example whenever Algerians organized an uprising the people would get arrested and either sentenced to death by guillotine or to forced labor and exile. For the “biggest” uprisings (excluding the war of liberation) they tended to avoid execution because they didn’t want to turn them into Shouhada in the eyes of the people. So the French often sentenced them to forced labor and exile. The exile always happened in other French colonies because the goal was also to use the Algerians to outnumber the indigenous people. Trying to turn the Algerians exiled into foot soldiers for French colonialism in those places (which didn’t work as well as planned but still).

So the colonized being forced to join the colonizers army and committing horrors in said army either by force or by choice is a subject that’s very complicated in my opinion. I don’t think they should be absolved of everything they did but I also don’t think they should be judged without taking into account the context. They were Black and Brown men at a time were refusing to fight for France could have easily gotten them under a guillotine. We all would love to think we would have chosen the guillotine over committing these horrors but the truth is we (myself included) don’t actually know what we would have done.

On top of it people (not saying that’s what you’re doing) LOVE to mention what the colonized did in the colonizer’s army while pretending white soldiers were not worst. So the colonized joining the colonizers armies is a very complicated subject in my opinion and not something I feel knowledgeable enough to talk about at length to condemn it.

That being said rape is definitely something that Morocco uses against the Sahrawi women. They also send tons of rape threats to Sahrawi and Algerian women online who dare be vocal against the occupation of Western Sahara. And this time they aren’t an army forced to act because the colonizers said so. They are not forced to join the army either. So there is absolutely no nuance. In this case they are the colonizers and they are hurting the colonized in horrific ways.

#Western Sahara #moroccan settler colonialism #settler colonialism #Moroccan occupation #rape #Ask

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josefavomjaaga · 3 months

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Ida meets Ney in Russia

I dimly remember that somebody (Cadmus?) mentioned they wanted to read more from Ida. So here’s a brief snippet of Ida – for once – getting in trouble with her hero, of Ney scolding her and … being jealous of Eugène?

The meeting takes place somewhen in late 1812 or early 1813, as much as it’s possible to tell from Ida’s chronological rollercoaster ride. In any case, after or at the end of the Russian retreat. Because of course Ida had joined the Russian campaign as well.

And not only she. If any tumblerinas here plan on learning how to time travel and want to go back to see the Grande Armée march towards Moscow, they don’t need to worry about incognitos. Most likely they would barely be noticed, as apparently there were wagonloads of groupies following their heroes around.

Okay: four. But that’s only those ladies Ida travelled with. Plus, two of them died on the way back.

Ida was particularly fond of a Polish-Lithuanian girl named Nidia, as madly in love with general Montbrun as Ida was in love with Ney. Not that either of the two got to see their idol much during the march. As a matter of fact, the first thing Nidia learned before entering Moscow was that Montbrun had been killed at the battle of Borodino. Other than that, Ida claims to have had a bad feeling about this city from the start:

As we entered Moscow, occupied at last by our troops, this immense city seemed to us like a vast tomb; its empty streets, deserted buildings and solemnity of destruction were heartbreaking. Despite the pomp of victory, I felt struck by I don't know what new kind of melancholy when I saw it; the flags seemed to me gloomy and almost surrounded by funeral crêpes and black forebodings. We were staying in Rue Saint-Pétersbourg, near the Miomonoff palace, which was soon occupied by Prince Eugène. The sight of this young hero and the cheers of the soldiers, who adored him, gave us back all the illusions of victory.

Okay, so I just added this because it’s so rare to see Eugène receive some praise. (I should also mention that the adored young hero was growing bald at an alarming rate and that his bad teeth were killing him.)

As a matter of fact, Ida claims that Nidia was especially interested in Eugène because he was rumoured to maybe become king of Poland (yes, another candidate). These rumours did really exist, Eugène mentions them in a letter to his wife before the campaign started. (And he also makes it pretty clear that these are just rumours and that he has not the slightest ambition to stay in this country. He may have used different vocabulary than Lannes but he didn’t like the region any better.)

The following night, Ida and Nidia wake up to a burning Moscow and are saved by soldiers of 4th corps. On the retreat, they seem to have followed headquarters as closely as possible, which was their safest bet to stay alive (because where the emperor is, there’s food and firewood and a resemblance of order) but still witness horrible tragedies. After the crossing of the Berezina, they apparently followed the remnants of Eugène’s 4th corps to Marienwerder, before Nidia says goodbye and goes back to defending Poland.

But before, on the way, at Valutina (?), Ida finally sees Ney again

At this point, after the retreat, Ida at least starts to question her decision to follow the Grande Armée around. Or something like that.

I have just recounted my fatigue, my difficulties and my perils in a war beyond human endurance, because of the new aspects it seemed to give to destruction and death. A powerful feeling made me undertake everything and endure everything. Why was I going to face the hazards of a campaign? Why was I going to expose the weakness of a woman to the rigours of a climate of iron? In order to obtain yet another glance from the one whose smile had always paid me for my military errands. This look was always like a world offered to my hopes; the dream alone of this reward had made possible all the impossibilities of time, distance, sex and fortune. My life was thus burnt for a few hours, still uncertain. I was giving up everything for a moment in space. Alas! this time, how I was going to regret this moment that had cost me so much to conquer! I had just gambled my existence for a flash of happiness, and this flash, the quickest of my life, became the cruelest.

I had to spend three fatal hours in a miserable shack on the outskirts of Volutina. My dress was so horrible that it was a real disguise. In a person dressed like that, one could hardly suspect a woman. Ney, however, only had to look my way to recognise me. To have been seen was enough to have been discovered. I was about to rush to the front of this first happiness; I was about to testify to the soul of my life how proud I was of this divination of friendship, of this perspicacity of memory, when words of an energy which was far from that of the feeling of which I was possessed, intimated to me the order of the most positive dismissal: "What are you doing here? What do you want? Go away quickly." With this address and a few short, curt rebukes about my reckless rage and my fury at following him everywhere, I only had the strength to reply: "It is a rage, indeed, but it is not at least the rage of pleasure or vanity," pointing to my coarse clothes and my face burnt by the sun and faded by fatigue. He took no notice of either the harangue or the costume. He was off and running. His displeasure at seeing me there was so great; he let it out so vividly that I thought he was going to push me back to the opposite bank of the Dniéper in his anger. Stunned by the reception, struck by lightning, I remained motionless for more than an hour, staring at him, thinking I saw him; he had disappeared without paying any more attention to me or worrying about me.

From which we can deduct that Ney was not a reader of Jane Austen novels. Otherwise he would have known that whenever you have behaved in a way that made a woman fall in love with you that’s f-ing your fault, monsieur!

In 1813, when I recalled to Marshal Ney this scene of such violent fury, followed by such cruel silence and abandonment, he told me that he had been so mortally frightened by the extravagance which had pushed me into the midst of so many perils and the licentiousness of an army, that he had even been tempted to beat me. Truth requires me to admit that the temptation had been so strong that he had, I believe, yielded to it a little; it was without his knowing it, for the great passions know neither all they want nor all they do. Anger is therefore still love, since it is as blind as fury.

Girl, get help. Seriously.

When we crossed the Dniéper at Serokodia, I could have had another word with him. A new laurel had just hidden his wrongs and healed my wound. I could have, I wanted to say to him: You have just added to your immortal glory here; you alone have just saved Frenchmen lost in deserts of ice; I would have liked to express to him what all parties repeat today, what posterity will proclaim on the ashes of the brave... But I stuck to the joy of hearing the distant cheers. There was then a little fear in my delirium for him, and I almost have the idea that I idolised him even more by fearing him in that way…

Did I mention the thing about getting help?

Yes, even the reproach was appreciated by my heart, and still seemed to me a tender interest. I found I don't know what pleasure in hearing myself scolded later for my association with Nidia, my marches and counter-marches with the Viceroy's troops. No matter how many times I told the Marshal that Eugène's protection had been focused exclusively on the young Lithuanian girl, and that I had slipped unnoticed into this benevolence, he took it into his head to believe nothing of these sincere protestations. To make him reconsider such a strongly conceived idea would have meant exposing myself to a repeat of the Dniéper order and military correction. I had no intention of trying the same pleasure twice. Finally, he saw the evidence of my attachment, and he found the generosity to prove this belated but strong conviction to me [...]

By calling her his brother-in-arms, by the way. And this, I believe, really meant a lot to Ida.

#napoleon's marshals #michel ney #ida saint-elme #memoirs #napoleon's family #eugene de beauharnais #russian retreat #russian campaign #russia 1812 #also #we have a phone call by a certain vice-queen interested in the exact definition of the word “protection” in this particular context

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pessimysticrw · 30 days

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The Watcher DLC - Personal Dissection

[SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED BASE GAME/DLC] Oh goodness me, Videocult has decided to drop a nuke on my already rotted brain due to this game and now I shall dissect this yummy meal bit by bit like the picky eater I am (in a good way this time though). And yall are coming with me because I said so. Really, this is just a great place for me to get my thoughts in order... cough. A lot of this is speculation! If I can find anything confirmed, I will try and write about it when I can.

Steam DLC Description

Let's start with the obvious- this basically confirms new creatures, regions, etc. This place seems to be in a completely different area than both the base game and Downpour slugcats, with new creatures to boot. I will go over the revealed regions/screenshots in more detail further down.

The descriptions states "the world beneath your feet cracks and crumbles", and while this could be linked to the Void Sea, the thumbnail art and font for the DLC's steam page and trailer depicts the Rot, and I am doubtful such an obvious detail would be thrown in there without it being present. Rot is only present where iterators are, and the only iterator we know of (in detail) to have the Rot is Five Pebbles, who got it by trying to rewrite himself. SRS gave him the pearl, but whoever wrote it is unknown, and I am highly doubtful it is 5P or SRS where this slugcat takes place in. It could be a pre-existing iterator like NSH/SOS (doubtful, but i suppose NSH would explain how Hunter got the rot if that is canon), a new one that also read the information that 5P and SRS did, or maybe even the one that originally wrote it that failed the experiment themself. This is a lot of speculation though and we will only really know for sure when more information is revealed. Take all of this with a grain of salt! I am just rambling possibilities.

New Regions

New regions are seen via screenshots on the DLC's Steam page. I will be attaching the screenshots here as well as what I speculate on what they may be/entail.

Starting with these two regions here, as it seems to match the most with the thumbnail art. At first I thought it was the foggy region below, but upon closer inspection this wall-like region incorporates more blue colors, fog/clouds are present, and would make the most sense for the rot to be present if this is indeed an iterator's wall.

Credits to shrinkshooter on Reddit for the enhanced image to the right.

This region looks reminiscent of 5P Memory Crypts, only in daylight. Whether this region serves a similar purpose to ancients is unknown. I considered the possibility of it being in a similar placement like 5P, but I am unsure if that would make sense due to the fact that 5P's shaded citadel is underneath his superstructure- hence why it is so dark in that region- when it clearly isn't here. (It could be completely separate from and not relating anything to Shaded Citadel entirely though!)

Mysterious looking underground region filled with green water. It's water guys. It better be water. Please no more acid, I'm begging.

This area immediately made me think of Spearmaster's start of their campaign, or it could be something reminiscent to Moon's Submerged Superstructure. Drainage System/Undergrowth also comes to mind.

Two desert-like regions are depicted here! While some speculation on the region on the right is it being a snow biome- I personally believe that this may be in face a dust/sand storm. Dust storms were planned during Metropolis' development in Downpour, but were scrapped in favor for the day/night cycle instead. Additionally, the snow particles present in Saint's campaign look drastically different compared to what is shown here. Additionally, there is Developer Commentary that talks about these dust storms for Metropolis. The dust storm effect looks different compared to what is shown, but it could have been possibly reworked to suit the region's look. Who knows though! Could just indeed be snow- but the entire area for this campaign looks to be generally warmer.

This region looks reminiscent to Sky Islands from 5P. Something to note is the lack of nearby iterator cities. This could mean two things: this campaign takes place far into the future, with surrounding iterators having already collapsed. Or...

It could be located on an desert island, right next to an ocean. Where all the water could have gone from this area will honestly be up to speculation until more information presents itself- however the seemingly coral-like structure to this region seems to point to this. It would also explain the lack of visible iterator cities in the background of the previous mentioned Sky Islands reminiscent region.

Additionally in one of the thumbnails for the DLC, water is present below the slugcat. (Then again, rain/water is present for all of em besides Saint eh?)

Additional Notes

An echo-like effect is seen around the slugcat in the previously mentioned thumbnail, as well as in the ripples in the water around it

#rain world #rw slugcat #rw nightcat #rainworld dlc #the watcher

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suspicious-whumping-egg · 10 months

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Collector’s Bounty: Part 1

Welcome to my newest WIP! @whumplr-reader gave me the prompt “ransom doesn’t arrive, whumper needs to do some quick black market organ work to make up the money they thought they were getting”, and I loved it so much that I’m making a whole series about it. This is part 1. Tw: referenced/threatened human trafficking. Enjoy!

~~~

It turned out Jackson Hawthorne’s family didn’t care about him nearly as much as Aris had been counting on.

The Hawthorne family does not stoop to ransoms or blackmail. The law is on your case and rest assured, you will be caught.

A paltry, two-sentence note typed on crisp stationery had been left in lieu of the tens of thousands Aris had demanded.

And he needed that money. A hit job for his newest client had gone south, and if he couldn’t come up with enough cash to clean up the mess, he’d be paying in blood— this time, his own. He snatched up the note, crumbling it into his pocket and stalking out of the dilapidated warehouse towards his car.

How dare they?

Going 90 on the deserted byways back to his place did nothing to vent his frustration, so he had his favorite balisong in hand by the time he’d yanked the car into park, mindlessly flipping it through his fingers as he fumbled with his keys and headed towards the basement.

Cliche, he knew. But also windowless, dark, and nearly soundproof. He’d fortified the door to the staircase, added a few extra bolts, but the room was otherwise unmodified. And for now, the only bloodstains littering the cement floor were an old, rusty brown.

But not for long.

If he couldn’t get a show from the family, he could have fun toying with his captive.

“Looks like your family doesn’t give a shit about you, Hawthorne,” Aris snapped as he slammed the door shut behind him, taking the stairs two at a time. Jackson was exactly how Aris had left him, albeit with signs of struggle. The chair he’d been tied to had shifted, rope burns smudged angrily around his wrists and ankles, the gag stuffed in his mouth was tangled and spit-soaked. But none of Aris’s friends had been dumb enough to lay a hand on him.

“So here’s the deal,” he continued, stalking around the chair and raking a hand through his captive’s soft curls, his grip tightening when the man jerked away from the touch. “Just because your family won’t pay up doesn’t mean I don’t need the money. And right now, you’re still my most valuable asset. You’ve gotta make yourself useful somehow.”

He twirled the blade one more time before ghosting its tip over the man’s throat, steel dipping into arteries and sinew but not yet drawing blood. And for a rare moment, his captive stilled, eyes widening in terror, a gasp frozen in his lungs.

“Make no mistake, you have plenty of worth to me, even dead. A human heart can sell for nearly a million bucks. That’s tempting, isn’t it? But Sebastian Hawthorne wouldn’t take well to his eldest son succumbing to some mystery killer, now, would he? And having a revenge-seeking millionaire on your ass isn’t the greatest way to maintain anonymity.”

He removed the knife without fanfare, drumming his fingers against the back of the chair. “But sex sells, that’s what they say, anyway. Pretty young Hawthorne boy, one night only, anything goes?” He grinned and slipped the blade under his captive’s belt, giving it a playful tug.

Jackson thrashed against the restraints on instinct, his terrified gaze hardening with rage. A string of furious retorts were muffled by the gag, surfacing as nothing more than a pathetic collection of desperate sounds.

Aris shrugged.

“I mean, not my cup of tea, but cash is cash,” he continued indifferently. “Although I have to say, Sebastian’s precious heir getting ruined by mob brats would warrant a revenge campaign equally vigorous.”

He withdrew the knife once more, gazing dramatically into the distance as if lost in thought. A few beats of tense silence passed, then he slid the knife under the gag, cleaving through tattered fabric without fanfare.

“Don’t like my ideas, huh? How about you come up with something better?”

Jackson stammered wordlessly, the ferocity of moments before draining away like it had never existed.

“I— I— I uh—“

“Can’t think of anything?” Aris murmured. “Then it looks like we’ll have to stick with plan A.”

“No— I— fuck— uh— I can wire money from his account— if you let me go— I know his passwords—” Jackson sputtered. “I’ll get it to you, if you let me go—”

Aris laughed. “Let you go? I’ll stop you right there, pretty boy. You get out, you owe me nothing. I shoulda known you’d be too boring to have any good ideas. Guess we’ll go with my original idea, then.”

“No! Please—”

His thrashing grew so furious that the chair tipped over, throwing him to the ground with it.

“Not that one, you can stop freaking out,” Aris snorted, nudging his captive’s face with his boot. “Aww. I almost don’t wanna put you back upright, you’re finally where you belong.”

“But alas. It’d be a lot harder to get you out that way.”

Jackson’s face lit with hope like a kid’s on Christmas morning, and Aris’s twisted smirk only grew.

“Don’t look too excited, champ,” he mocked. “You’re not getting out of here in one piece or anything.”

“I mean, you’ll be mostly in one piece, but a kidney sells for at least a hundred thousand bucks, sometimes two. Seems like a fair trade, doesn’t it? I get my money, you keep your life and go back home to mommy and daddy like nothing ever happened.”

The thrashing recurred with renewed vigor, and Aris rolled his eyes, whipping his gun from his hip and holding it in front of Jackson’s face. “What are you gonna do when you get out of that chair? Take me down with your bare hands before I blow your brains out? Get your hands on my keys, slip past me, and make it through the locks and out to my car before you realize it won’t start without my fingerprint?” He slid the gun back into its holster.

“Face it, Hawthorne, you’re lucky I’m considering letting you go at all. You’re cute when you’re terrified. Probably even cuter covered in blood. I could just keep you. Cut some pretty designs into you, sell a kidney, a lung, some bone marrow every once in a while— a gram can go for three thousand, and that regenerates. Hurts like hell and all. Weakness, nausea, muscle pain, risks of nerve damage, and some massive needles are involved. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?”

Aris knelt down next to Jackson’s trussed-up form, glaring at him until he made eye contact.

“Listen to me. I like a fighter. If you kick out at me, try anything stupid, whatever, that’s only gonna make me want to keep you for good. By all means, make this fun for me. But it’s not in your best interest. Understand?”

Jackson nodded shakily, gaze shifting to the floor.

“Alright then, here’s the plan. I’m gonna cut these ropes, get you outta the chair, and handcuff you. You’re going to follow me to the car like a civilized person, and depending on your behavior, you’ll either get into the backseat or I’ll shove you into the trunk. Either way though, I’m gonna sedate you, which is a protection for you as much as me. Because we both already know you’ll be tempted to do something stupid like jumping out of the moving car. We’re gonna make it to my friend’s place, prep you for the procedure, and the rest… well that’s not your problem. Except that you’re probably gonna need to stay put for a couple of days afterwards while we monitor your vitals and make sure you won’t die as soon as you’re shipped back to the mansion. Any questions?”

Jackson listened with a distant, hopeless expression, tears pricking in the corners of his eyes. He blinked them away, swallowing hard. Any real questions would go unanswered, he knew that much.

“You really like hearing yourself talk, don’t you?” he muttered instead.

Aris shrugged unapologetically. “Yep. You’ll get used to it.”

With that, he sliced through the ropes on Jackson’s ankles, then freed his wrists. His captive slumped to the floor in a heap, not even bothering to catch himself. He just curled up and buried his face in his hands.

“Come on, Hawthorne,” he said casually. “We don’t have all day.”

“How bad does it hurt?” Jackson asked softly. “I— I know it’s gonna hurt. But… how bad is it?”

Aris’s mocking smirk returned.

“Poor thing. I’ll just let you know, it’s gonna be hell after you wake up. You’re gonna wake up and ask to be knocked right back out again, cause pain meds are an expense I’d rather not pay for. It’ll ease up after a week or so, I’m sure you can tough it out. If your family ends up being reasonable, you’ll make your way back to them soon enough and they can pump you with as much morphine as your spoiled little heart desires, how ‘bout that?”

He heard the panicked hitch in Jackson’s breathing, watched as his eyes widened in terror, and plucked a syringe out of his jacket pocket.

All this stress couldn’t be good for his body or anything inside it.

“It’ll be over soon,” he said gently, holding the needle behind his back. With his other hand, he helped Jackson to his feet, then shifted to hold him by a shoulder before sinking the syringe into his neck, pushing the plunger in a smooth motion.

“Wait— but—” Jackson stammered. “I— please— I— I’m—”

“You’re too damn cute for your own good,” Aris murmured, cutting off his terrified babbling. “I’ll spare a few bucks for the morphine, alright? Least I can do now that you know twenty thousand bucks is worth more than your life in your family’s eyes.”

And in the midst of weak, half-slurred protests, Aris scooped up the Hawthorne heir in a bridal carry and hauled him off to his fate.

Taglist: @burntcoffeewhump

#blue writes #whump #whump writing #collector’s bounty #jackson hawthorne #aris

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ghostofacrow · 4 months

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Crow plays Gubat Banwa part 1.5: The Blorbos

First post: https://www.tumblr.com/ghostofacrow/736511498220863488/gubat-banwa-solo-campaign-journal I won't go over the other two Kadungganan in as much detail as I did for the first one. With Dranreb, I started from scratch and went along with the rolls I got, for the other two, I already had ideas in mind. Mainly that I wanted to use the Flower Balyan and the Baril Witch disciplines, and for the Baril Witch I had already decided that they'd be on a revenge quest, classic "I have 5 bullets with names written on them" stuff. Making Dranreb first helped clarify this for me - the game is going to start in a Gatusanon village that was conquered by the Virbanwa Lakanate about 10 years ago, and with that the Baril Witch character basically clicked into place. I still rolled for the life events randomly and got the following: -You copied the dance of fighting monkeys and hawks, and you have become like that flaming dance ever since.

-The stories of the Night Child killed your nights. One day, you met the night child and they stole away your gender. You're indebted to him for doing so.

-You broke an important bond with someone you cared for. You regret that you can never mend your broken relationship.

So! Nasirakna (any pronouns) grew up with a fiery spirit, until the day the Lakanate conquered her village. That day, he failed to protect his closest friend, who died in the fighting (this is a liberal interpretation of the third event but it works). Nasirakna swore that they'd take revenge on the warband who committed the attack one day, but they had to bide their time and ready themselves. She started to work for a gun smith and learned as much as she could from the Baril Witches she came into contact with, honing his childhood aptitude for fire into a weapon fueled by sorcery stolen from the very people who caused her suffering. One of the people on her revenge kill list is Dranreb's father, but when they meet at the start of the game, neither of them know this.

For the Flower Balyan I had no idea to start with, but rolling for the life events helped a lot. This is what I got: -The Lord of the Forest took you in one day. You spent 7 years in his grove. You are indebted to the Lord of the Forest.

-You stole something from your datu, and so the datu took something away from you.

-Something happened: You lost your original body. Your soul exists in a body you are not familiar with.

I also rolled for the complication and got "I committed a crime before with [blank], which caused us to be exiled from our hometown, and caused [blank] to hate us." The third life event is really interesting, but it took me a while to come up with specifics for it. What I settled on is the following story: Haraw and Pilakan, her lover, together stole something from the datu (no I don't know what the something is yet), but they were caught and got exiled. They sought refuge in the forest, after the Lord of the Forest took Haraw in previously, but found that devils now stalk the woods they escaped to. One of the devils stole Haraw's original catfolk body, and the Lord of the Forest bound her soul to Pilakan's body. As long as Pilakan is carrying her soul, Haraw alone can hear them. (I chose here to interpret "a body you are not familiar with" as "a body you are not familiar with inhabiting and moving in" not "a body you don't know at all").

Here they are, in unrefined sketch form:

They're not a warband yet, initially, they are going to meet in the forest Haraw and Bulsuk escaped to. Dranreb deserted from their original warband, and Nasirakna was stalking them because one of her other targets was part of that warband as well. He knows that Dranreb has some connection to the Lakanate soldiers they're after, but doesn't have a problem with Dranreb specifically beyond that (since he doesn't know who Dranreb's father is yet). But Nasirakna's goals are quickly put on hold as it becomes clear to everyone that the forests are crawling with yawa, and the three (+one disembodied soul) decide to stay together to keep each other safe from the demons and find the source of the yawa outbreak. Haraw and Pilakan are searching for the yawa who stole Haraw's body anyway, Dranreb is throwing himself at the first cause he can find to feel less lost and for Nasirakna, dealing with the devils takes precedent over his personal goals (for now). This is the pregame setup portion mostly done and I'm pretty happy with where they're at right now. There's some holes here that I still need to fill in (what did they steal?) but the broad strokes are in place. Next time will actually be a fight, which I'm looking forward to - the Flower Balyan and the Kawal look like they're going to combo off each other in very fun ways, with the Flower Balyan laying down danger zones and the Kawal locking enemies down so they stay inside those zones. The Baril Witch was actually the first class I picked out, because my last pf2e character was supposed to be a gun Thaumaturge and it sucked (the amount of investment it took to deal with reloading was really not worth it for the end result) and I was still salty about that when I read what if you never had to reload ever

But atm I'm actually a bit confused about how they're supposed to work in practice, because their basic attack options are either really long range single target or close range aoe attacks. Weaving in and out of range sounds really fun, but until their third signature technique, their movement options aren't great or require them to spend thunderbolts. Which makes me a bit worried about their early game not being able to capitalize on their different options well. Obviously I'll see how it plays out, I'm mostly writing my expectations down right now so I can look back on them later.

One thing I want to note here is how the specificity of the setting effected character creation for me. I'm not entirely talking about the SEA representation here, having more perspectives present in the hobby is nothing but a benefit, but if you're reading this, you likely already agree about that and I don't need to stress the point. But in kitchen sink fantasy settings like the D&D likes, I often have trouble coming up with characters because the culture of the setting is usually deliberately understated to let players do whatever they want. Which has benefits of course, but always makes me feel aimless. Having a more specific setting gives you more anchor points to work with, the restrictions actually help when coming up with characters, at least for me. Probably not a universal experience! But if you don't like the written lore for a class, you can always ignore or write around them - it's not even particularly hard to come up with a splinter school or a heretical teacher who has a different bend to the philosophy then the discipline as written has, and deliberately going against the grain already makes your character more interesting then they would be if that background wasn't there. There's just a lot of texture to stuff like this

that isn't present in, for example, Pathfinder's Gunslinger class.

Some last rapid fire observations:

This was one of the rare rpg books where I read something about the religions and went "oh that's interesting I'd like to know more" and not "yeah yeah I get it". They aren't coy about what their real world inspirations are, but have unique fantasy twists that make them distinct from their counterparts, and they are tied into the communities and lives of the people better then I see in most fantasy settings. The lack of a martial/caster divide is really welcome, both for the setting implications and the class design. There's a couple of paragraphs that aren't written from the objective rulebook pov that most ttrpg books strive for outside of the foreword. For example, this is from the section about making maps:

This is definitively not the only way to do terrain height, but there's an honesty that I really appreciate to encountering a common problem and writing "this is how I personally deal with this" rather then trying to portray it as either the objectively correct way to do it or depersonalize the advice.

@carthus-flame-arc you wanted me to tag you hi. you can also use the crow plays gubat banwa tag to keep up btw

#ttrpg #gubat banwa #crow plays gubat banwa

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blackkatmagic · 9 months

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Granta, Eldra, and Maul getting to thieve, punch, and be dramatic is a winning combination.

(i ADORE them ok)

“No guards, then,” he says dryly, pulling the cable up and coiling it. The hole vanishes as he hauls the shifted flagstone back into place, and Eldra snorts.

“Whatever Maul decided to do, it’s very distracting, apparently,” she says, but deigns to offer Granta a hand up as he finishes erasing any trace of the moved stone.

“Maybe he took his shirt off,” Granta suggests, and winces slightly as he comes to his feet, rolling his shoulders. He’s still feeling the after-effects of their trip to Felucia, apparently.

Eldra slants him a glance, then deftly pulls the coiled rope from his hands and slings it over her shoulder and across her chest. “At this point it would be more distracting if he put a shirt on. That scrap of fabric he normally wears covers about as much as the ‘traditional’ Twi'lek dancer outfits we saw on Nar Shaddaa.”

Granta hums, entirely amused, because he knows Maul has been showing progressively more of his chest each time he changes clothes at least thirty percent in an effort to make Eldra look. If he knew she’d noticed and disregarded it, he’d be incredibly offended. “Are you still offended by that? That was a year ago.”

“They don’t have anything to do with tradition,” Eldra says, scornful. “Ryloth is a desert. Do you know what happens when you have that much skin exposed in a desert? And the rest of the galaxy has just accepted it!”

Her lekku curl sharply, like fists. It’s not a gesture Granta thought lekku could make before he met Eldra, but it’s one he’s becoming increasingly familiar with.

“Our first act as rulers of the galaxy can be an educational campaign regarding the historic fashions of the Twi'lek people,” he proposes. “I'm sure it will be a riveting success.”

Eldra rolls her eyes, reaching out to thump him on the arm. It’s relatively light, for her, meaning it will only leave a small bruise. “Don’t laugh or I’ll bring up that Telosian town on Corellia—”

“You assume I can be offended by wild misinterpretations of my birth culture,” Granta says breezily. He’ll never admit the effort it takes not to twitch at the mention of the travesty they encountered on Corellia, though.

Raising a brow, Eldra aims a long, pointed look at him. “So I should assume that Telosian restaurant was standard—”

“It most certainly was not, and half the decorations were traditionally Doniphoni—”

#kat answers #and a night of dark trees

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the-archlich · 5 months

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Hey, where is all this support for Tartars and Syrians that the Russians are genociding? Must be something specific about who is fighting Hamas.

Let's not forget the Uyghurs and Rohingya. The Darfuri. Tigray. Nagorno-Karabakh. Let's not forget the US government poisoning the water of Standing Rock. And so many other things. These atrocities are far more common than we like to admit. I'm pretty sure there hasn't been a year of my life when a genocide wasn't going on somewhere. We've made this world a horrible place to live.

But yes it is absolutely about who Hamas is fighting, because what is unique about the genocide in Palestine is the US's relationship with Israel. We give them over 3 billion every year just for military aid. We shield them from every UN sanction. We're trying to give them more military aid right now, when every bomb we give them goes to schools and hospitals. That's just the most obvious and undeniable stuff the government does; without even talking about all the unofficial, entrenched power structures with an interest in upholding US imperialism.

The US is responsible for a lot of reprehensible things across the globe, but it is uniquely responsible for the actions of the Israeli government. None of this would be possible without America's support and sanction. It means that Americans, as a whole, are uniquely guilty for this one. The only thing we're more guilty of is the genocide of this continent's indigenous population; the historical campaigns of extermination and the ongoing repression and disenfranchisement of the survivors. And the tactics the US employed against them are exactly the ones Israel is using against the Palestinians.

America is also uniquely capable of stopping this one. Being the world's biggest imperialist means we have our hands on numerous levers of power. We have every bit of leverage over Israel that one country could possibly have over another. It's a completely one-sided relationship (because that's how imperialism works). The US government categorically refuses to being any of this leverage to bear against Israel. No one can seriously doubt that the US could end this atrocity at any moment it chose.

But we are seeing signs of the current administration starting to bend. There's an election coming up, putting the public in a unique position to put pressure on the president. If the Biden administration begins to genuinely fear that significant numbers of voters they're counting on are willing to desert them over this, that attitude will change. It's already changing; in the typical half-measures and equivocations you expect from these people.

Thanks for asking. There are, frankly, a lot of genocides and it's good to take a moment to express why this one, even more than others, is one that Americans need to mobilize against.

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freetheworms · 1 year

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Tell us more about locusts!!!

I DONT KNOW IF U KNEW WHAT U WERE SIGNING UP FOR BUT THANK U FOR ASKING!!!

they’re insane! they’re grasshoppers! or they were before they got too buddy buddy with the other grasshoppers while trying to eat food when it’s scarce as hell in the desert. very “you’re not you when you’re hungry,” except snickers never did an ad campaign on the dangers of locusts…

anyway. grasshoppers usually travel alone. the saying is “lone wolf” but really it should be “lone grasshopper,” okay? okay. but, when food is scarce, they’re forced to gather together in one spot to eat, getting so close to each other that they bump their little leggies together constantly. this sounds harmless right? a little cuddle never hurt anyone right?? wrong! in about 20 of the 7000 known grasshopper species, something about rubbing their little leggies together triggers what’s called a “gregarious phase,” which is a hilarious term to me but that’s not important. they get greggy. and WHEN they get greggy, they undergo a whole chemical transformation basically overnight!!

a greggy boi will transform magical girl style, from tan (best to blend into the desert when alone) to bright yellow and black (which might signal they’re toxic — interestingly enough, when they get greggy, they start to change their diet to ingest local toxic plants that they used to avoid) and actually become slightly smaller than their grasshopper counterparts. their legs and wings become stronger though, so they can fly super long distances with their buddies and. well. yknow, destroy vast fields of crops cause they looove carbs now! and unfortunately so do we, hence why a plague of locusts has been a major problem since the dawn of time :)

but wait! there’s more! i bet you’re wondering how these plagues of locusts get so big and only come around every so often, right? well. turns out that these species of grashopper lay their eggs in damp soil. so, when there’s a lot of rain in the african desert, there’s a lot of free real estate for these hoppers to make massive amounts of hopper babies! except, those hopper babies have to eat, and BOY CAN THEY EAT. so they’ll eat and eat all the new vegetation that came with those Rains Down In Africa that Toto was talking about, and then what? well, if there’s enough rain and enough vegetation like there was a few years ago, then there’s enough time for potentially more than one generation of grashopper to procreate before the vegetation finally can’t keep up with their appetites. each generation can grow exponentially by about 20 times the previous gen, and a generation cycle only takes 3 months! which means, many months later when they finally do have to gather together to eat the last vestiges of food? there’s JUST. SO. MANY OF THEM. just an insane number of grashoppers in one place, getting soooo greggy. and that leads to what you may call A FUCKING LOCUST STORM OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS COMING FOR YOUR GRAINS. BAD NEWS BEARS.

so anyway, africa has a locust patrol of dudes just out there in the desert, looking for signs that grasshoppers are about to get greggy and destroy everything AGAIN, so they can proactively poison them and save the crops, but. sometimes they slip by like they did in 2018 and things get real bad.

also, if you have a greggy breed of grasshopper, you CAN trigger their transformation yourself by rubbing their legs enough, which i find endlessly fascinating.

and um. yeah! i’m likely forgetting lots of stuff in there because i just woke up but. there you have my very brief rundown on locust basics

#i found out that locusts were grasshoppers a few years ago and lost my mind for a while researching them #busted into my roomies room like BRO DID YOU KNOW????#so anyway. love to talk about locusts!#gracie answers

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pen-and-umbra · 6 months

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About FS characters, you said you thought they wound up hunted by shinra maybe. But the ever crisis trailer gave me an impression that Glen was sort of hunting for Seph?? Like a revenge or a grudge, that kinda thing? So maybe Seph wronged them, somehow.

Anything’s possible, although personally I don’t see Sephiroth doing something intentionally malicious at this point. Maybe it has to do with that Rhadoran boy. Then again, how do we know the hooded figure, presumably Glenn, has a grudge against Sephiroth? Glenn’s agenda may revolve around ShinRA rather than Sephiroth himself, in which case he represents the company vicariously as a member of the SOLDIER force.

Naturally, this is all speculative, but I believe the context of the fight is a little broader. The timeframe appears to be centered on the Wutai campaign, either before or during the early Crisis Core events, with Sephiroth’s attempts to contact Genesis and the familiar environment serving as clues. The crux of the matter is that the clash between Wutai and ShinRA represents former’s struggle for independence in face of corporate greed and expansionist policy. What’s peculiar is that by that time — by the start of Crisis Core — there’s no mention of passive-type SOLDIER members. Neither the remake nor Crisis Core acknowledge their existence. Aside from formal reasons, such as the FS concept being developed after the release of Remake, the in-game reasons for their absence are unknown; in other words the current lore so far holds no explanation as to why passive types don’t appear to be even acknowledged by main installment. My tentative guess is that ShinRA sacks the first batch of SOLDIER members after Sephiroth’s field deployment proves successful, with his combat figures likely outperforming those of non-modified members. Here’s an even scarier possibility: the company could have attempted to physically eliminate its ex-employees in order to protect corporate secrets, or it could have forced them to participate in further human modification experiments. The point is that ShinRA abandons them in some way as a result of Sephiroth’s success, which could coincide with the FS trio discovering some dirt on their former employer. So yes, Sephiroth indeed “wrongs” them in a way.

Glenn’s reappearance in Wutai, of all places, leads me to believe that they’ve joined forces with whoever has the potential to turn the tide against ShinRA. To be specific, the Wutai. Surprisingly, the OG declared that the war had been won by ShinRA. In the remake, however, the fighting appears to have ended in a stalemate/ceasefire. So, besides Avalanche meddling, what other factors could have influenced the outcome? Could some ex-SOLDIER members have joined their ranks, tipping the scales in Wutai's favor? It's not an outlandish scenario. Glenn's conflict with Sephiroth may take on political significance in this case; Glenn, and possibly the rest of the trio, fight ShinRA as a whole. A development like that also allows Glenn's initial animosity towards the modified "golden child" who stole his place to be justified, as evidenced by his "Because I'm a hero" remark. When he fights for Wutai against ShinRA, he is fighting for the "right cause"; he is a true hero who triumphs through his own strength.

On the other hand, the trio's defection, if it occurred, fits in nicely with Sephiroth's abandonment issues, as every significant figure (Lucrecia, Gast, Genesis, Angeal, and so on) eventually leaves him. Furthermore, if ShinRA pursued the deserters and Sephiroth saw how much effort the company put into apprehending or silencing rogue SOLDIER members, it could have served as a deterrent, making fleeing ShinRA an unappealing idea.

Some more random thoughts. If the hooded figure in Junon in FFVII Rebirth trailer is Glenn, which is unclear at this point, then his survival of the Wutai encounter indicates that either it ended in a stalemate somehow or that Sephiroth did not go for the kill and instead spared him. In turn it lampshades the lesson he gave the boy: be merciful. And the plotline comes a full circle.

#words are cheap.#wild theorycrafting I guess #sephiroth #ever crisis #ffvii ever crisis #ff7 ever crisis #ffvii #ffvii rebirth #ffvii@luv fandoms

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nicklloydnow · 8 months

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“The system of the motorway, the social relation of the motorway, is left untouched by any attack on its specifics - untouched or is it reinvigorated? Does it bloom like the desert in places where fire and rain have visited. Anarchism against circulation is an ethics; it doesn't hurt the motorway even though it wants to. It doesn't hurt the motorway because it is just one response among many to present conditions, and it takes its place alongside all other theories and actions as an ideology - it exists as one strand in the strand of strands of commodified consciousness.

On the motorway, everything that can happen will happen, including dissent against the motorway. But we see now that achieving the heightened condition of dissent does not bestow upon the rebel a capacity to change anything, or even to escape the conditioning of the possible exits open to her/him. Saying "no" does not transport us to a place where we might make decisions separately from the world in which we live. I have met anarchists who live like ironside puritans and others of a deliberately decadent inclination, but whether you forbid or celebrate you do not touch capitalism itself. At every point it holds you in its palm - sometimes allowing a little more movement, sometimes gripping harder. Capitalism has facilitated democracy, fascism, state socialism, theocracy, militarism, human rights, religious revivals; it processes and transforms all social organisation into its social organisation. Every political aspiration is compatible with its productive relation. You propose the counter culture? Capital will commodify it, instigate it, reproduce it, and sell it. There is no outside of the loop.

The motorway cannot be undone either by ideas or practice. It cannot be undone. You think a million people like you could do the business? Well, where are they? If you haven't got them after two hundred years of agitation what makes you think they will turn up now or at some time in the future? And do you really think it possible that a million people can believe the same thing at the same time? How would you check they were really thinking what you thought and not hoping to get something else out of it: a Phd thesis, a promotion, a ministerial promo-tion, a groovy party, radical credibility, a new girlfriend? And if they did truly believe as you believe, if they downloaded your consciousness - by what mechanism would that change the world? Proposed democratic change works like magic, it has a misdirected relation to the movement of capital: if we all think the same thing then everything will come good. In reality, we know that agreement is both false and also not decisive on the mechanisms of power, which act automatically, independently of decision-making.

Why should large numbers of people be convinced by what one person claims more than the promises of any other? The internet is full of get rich quick schemes, anarchism is just one of them.

The easy anarchist answer is that it is not thoughts that change the world but acts. The fundamental flaw in political action is this: the more militant (and therefore true) the action is, the fewer people want to participate in it. The more unreal and fluffy, the more inclined they will be to turn up. Anarchists, being mostly young men, still have not learnt that only young men like to fight back on the streets, everyone else will find excuses not to be there. In directing campaigns, the choice for activists is stark, it is between numbers or ideological purity.

But even to say that rubs some up the wrong way; all discussion subverts the glory of acts. Apparently talking and thinking gets you nowhere because "there is no point in theory without action", as if the likes of Class War or RTS have ever got anywhere. How could Monsieur Dupont demonstrate its activities on the streets? How is anarchism demonstrated on the streets? It seems after all, that all deliberate interventions made by the pro-revolutionary minority are acts but what is really important is whether the proposed interventions either achieve, or are capable of achieving, what is claimed for them.” (p. 160 - 162)

#dupont #monsieur dupont #nihilist communism #nihilism #communism #anarchism #capitalism #motorway #mao #nietzsche #accelerationism

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chronotsr · 19 days

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Pre-G1 Modules, part 6: Reflections

This isn't a full on post or anything, it really is just random thoughts. This blog has basically 3 goals, in no particular order:

Show off some weird interesting ideas from older modules. This is why the bullet-point sections exist.

Look at all the obscure modules no one's ever heard and don't get discussed so they can enjoy more awareness. This is why it's module to module and not lists of cool things I've found.

Look at how modules grew as an art-form. Their design, layout, styling, writing, et c. This is why it's in release order.

So I'm going to ramble about all 3 in turn.

1. Coolest ideas

So somehow the coolest idea I ran into in this roundup was keep on the borderlands ~in the desert~. The mental image is just stuck in my brain and if you're one of my fantasy age players, you've probably inhaled some spoilers accidentally now. It's gonna show up eventually.

I was also really fond of the really lateral use of animated objects in Tegel Manor, particularly the battlefield painting that spits arrows as the events on-canvas play out. It's very fun and very goofy and I regret the yearly Samhain one-shot being so far away. I will find an excuse to use that random magic statue table eventually.

Third place goes to the pet sea monster of the invincible overlord. It's just really stuck in my brain

2. Coolest Module You Haven't Heard Of

Oh that's easy. Tegel Manor. 100% Tegel Manor. That was easily the most fun I had writing this column so far, even as the pagecount sprawled and sprawled. I think the haunted house is the single best starting location for a new player, it's part of why I'm so ride or die for Ghosts of Saltmarsh (and I do specifically mean the 5e iteration, they did an excellent job realizing Saltmarsh as a location. It's a crying shame people hate because they expect pirates and get, not pirates).

Happily, I don't think the move is actually to just, buy modern Tegel Manor. In fact, a spiritual successor to Tegel Manor would be just what the doctor ordered.

3. The Growth of Module Design

I am telling on myself hard but my favorite part of watching this go on is to see the art of keying slowly evolve and standardize around the familiar model of today. We are far away from the, I know I will get crucified for this, frankly better keying of 5e. Or even the significantly improved keying of 4e. We are in crusty-ass 1970s keying, where if it was typed, it was professional. Honestly Temple of the Frog's keying is a shockingly good first attempt. The keying solution that Vampire Queen went for is, kind of novel in its own way. I kind of wish that this table-style keying had stuck around as a sort of summary page for quick reference, it's…honestly kind of convenient, especially for particularly hack and slashy campaigns.

Watching JG recover from their tailspin of excessive loot was really fascinating. I do keep in mind that weight was a big thing about loot recovery in early DND but what exactly was to stop a party from just going back in and looting the place over and over again, anyway? Sure the monsters could move around, the loot could move, but they still know the layout. I really feel like you have to simply not provide that much treasure, and I get the sense JG worked that out too.

Finally, I am just kind of happy to see the focus on creating dungeons, as in combat rectangles is already starting to be threatened as the status quo. Arneson obviously understood why this was bad, and you can see some designers working it out too. Holmes also had a very good grasp of pacing and dungeon layout that it would take others (including Gygax) a while to catch up to.

So anyway, see you at G1!

#0e #chronotsr #dnd #dungeons and dragons #tsr #ttrpg

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