#unseen legion novel

[philicheesecake]

Come get your tea folks. New chapter of the UL just dropped

#I don’t even know what number chapter this is at this point pfhfkfh #I’ve given up keeping track #it’s all in order on my wattpad so I don’t have to think about it #vore story #vore novel #vore literature #the unseen legion literature #UL literature #unseen legion novel #gt story

[cq-studios]

We talked about Ven’s dream, but are there any other moments in the series that stand out to you as potential KHUX references?

Okay, so, this is gonna all be from memory — with the occasional reference to the novels (I have bookmarks lol) so take the things I say with a grain of salt…

Also it’s kind of long so, under the cut we go!

The first one that comes to mind is something exclusive to the novels but when Ven and Vanitas re-fuse in the BBS an unspecified voice says this:

Which feels very Darkness coded. The “I’m home” part especially, since it’s most likely that it was removed from him at the same time as Vani (this specifically is also why I still believe Vani and Darkness are separate entities, even if they might share a body).

It doesn’t really make sense why they’d refer to themselves in the third person like this, especially since we do have another plausible explanation.

On a different note

You cannot convince me that it was not intentional that the Dream Eater Theme is one of the only tracks in the franchise to have vocalizations (the only others I can think of would be ML Dearly Beloved and One Winged Angel? Could be forgetting some tho).

Like what kind of twisted foreshadowing is that?

And the fact that it’s so ‘childish’ too. Obviously the Dandelions weren’t that young (like not under 10 I mean) but it still drives me crazy. Just AHH.

I’m not very confident this one is intentional (I have no idea when KHUX started being planned. I doubt it was all the way back pre-2008, but who knows?) but in Days (only the game, not the cutscene movie) both Marluxia and Larxene consider recruiting Roxas in their coup.

I believe Marluxia is the first one to bring it up and I can only imagine that was because of his connection to Ven. Not really much else to say here lol

Last but certainly, nearly, tangentially on topic is the Keyblade War story Yen Sid tells Sora and Riku before their Mark of Mastery Exam.

And like, yeah, no kidding CQ, but hear me out, I think it’s how it connects to Union X that makes it interesting.

So my idea is that the story actually mixes the Keyblade War MoM presumably fought in (the one ‘when he was a boy’ he tells Luxu about) with the one that he made the Foretellers cause (the one in Chi).

Green and Bold are the former

Pink and Italics are the latter

Blue, Bold, and Italics are ones that could plausibly be both

“Long ago, in the age of fairy tales the world was filled with light — a gift, many believed, from an unseen power known as ‘Kingdom Hearts’. You see, Kingdom Hearts was protected by its counterpart, the ‘X-Blade,’ so that none could ever lay hands on its mysteries.

But in time, the world was overrun by legions who wanted the light all for themselves, and the first shadows were cast upon the land. These warriors crafted ���Keyblades’ in the image of the original X-Blade and waged a great war over Kingdom Hearts. We call this the Keyblade War.

But though the war extinguished all light from the world, the darkness could not reach the brightness inside every child's heart.

With that light, the world was remade as we know it today, with countless smaller worlds shining like stars in the sky.

As for the real X-Blade, it did not survive the battle. The two elements that created it, one of darkness and one of light, shattered into twenty pieces — seven of light, thirteen of darkness.

And as for the source of all light — the one true Kingdom Hearts — it was swallowed by the darkness, never to be seen again. As long as it remains there, even the brightest world will have its dark corners. After all, light begets darkness, and darkness is drawn to light.

For this reason, some decided to use the Keyblade — a weapon designed to conquer the light — to defend the light instead. These were the first heroes of the Keyblade.” - Narration by Yen Sid, Dream Drop Distance Novel, Page 165

So I’m gonna go over each coloured line one by one just to clarify what I think they’re referring to.

Anything said about the X-Blade is automatically about MoM’s ‘childhood’ Keyblade War to me (Green) as we do not see it or hear any reference to it at any point in the X Saga. Not even when MoM is talking to the Foretellers. Hell, I’m not even sure it’s ever mentioned in Dark Road.

The mythos could just be made up. But the X-blade is real and does summon Kingdom Hearts (a real or a fake one is yet to be decided). But also if this was a MoM Keyblade War thing, and he never told anyone about it, how would the rest of Keyblade society know? Maybe at some unseen point during MoM and Xehanort’s meeting he was told. I’m not sure. It’s a little rocky but I’m using what we have to go off of

And I am pretty sure that the X-Blade would be a thing MoM was exposed to considering it’s status as the thing all Keyblades are based on.

For a comment on the first few blue lines. I personally believe this is true for both wars, but that the wording leans a bit more into the Chi war.

The pink lines afterwards are obviously referring to the Dandelions and restoration of worlds

The next blue line…

So, we have no heccin’ clue which Kingdom Hearts is real. Like, is it yellow? Is it blue? Is it the god damn door from KH1? (It’s not the door from KH1. The door from KH1 is the Kingdom Hearts of Worlds and not the one we’re talking about lol) Not even some people working on the games are entirely sure according to one interview lol

And because of that I cannot tell you during which war the true Kingdom Hearts disappeared.

Most people, including myself initially, would assume it was in the war we see in Chi, and, honestly, I don’t think they’re in the wrong for thinking that. I think that’s what we’re supposed to think. But Yen Sid says that “the one true Kingdom Hearts” was “never to be seen again” and all instances of Kingdom Hearts appearing (both colours I mean) have shown up on at least 2 occasions.

In Fragmentary Passage (I think???) there’s a cutscene of Luxu watching the (Chi) war and the Kingdom Hearts shown there is blue. The same blue as in BBS. In KH3 its yellow the same colour as the confirmed fake Kingdom Hearts shown in Days.

If either of those Kingdom Hearts were real then they both would’ve very much shown up again by the time Yen Sid is speaking to them.

The last pink line is most likely referring to MoM taking on the Foretellers as his apprentices and them forming the Unions.

See I spent all that time explaining my thoughts about that Keyblade War legended and now I look at them so unconfidently… but it took so long to write it all out I’m gonna keep it in anyways lol

Anywho, that’s all folks.

Feel free to either add on to my points or tear them to shreds, if you’d like. I love a discussion. And prefer to be corrected if I get something wrong.

#sorry if this wasn’t what you had in mind but I hope it was interesting anyways #a lot of novel stuff here since it’s easier to look back into than #like… over 40 hours of cutscenes lol #I might’ve missed some things because It’s been a while since I’ve consumed games that would have the references #these are all from memory #I literally spent all day brainstorming things for this lo #lol* #khux #kingdom hearts #sometimes i think about khux

[petrichoravellichor]

Crowley kneels, a pentagram traced in the dirt in front of him and a brass bowl at its center. He adds ingredients to the bowl as Sam urges him to hurry; nearby, Crowley can hear Dean yelling as he unloads a gun on Lucifer.

Then the firing stops, and Crowley hears the weapon’s empty click. He glances up from his work and sees Sam’s panicked expression, and he knows they’re both thinking the same thing.

“Dean,” Sam gasps and moves to stand, but Crowley reaches out and catches his sleeve. “Crowley, let me go!”

“So you can get yourself killed and waste our only advantage?” Crowley snaps. “What exactly do you plan to do, strangle Lucifer with that hair of yours? No.” He exhales. “We do this ritual, we seal that rift, and we lock the Devil in this godforsaken place; that’s the plan. Remember: two birds, one spell.”

“Right, right,” Sam mutters, then draws a breath; when his eyes meet Crowley’s again, the worry is tempered with resolution. “Just hurry.”

From nearby, a grunt of pain splits the air, then another, and then another. Crowley clenches his jaw and continues adding ingredients without looking up. Dean can handle himself, can handle whatever Lucifer does to him for at least a few minutes. Castiel will be able to heal Dean later; he’ll be all right. Crowley will make sure of it.

“Dead Sea brine, mercury, lamb’s blood, holy oil,” recites Sam, pouring the last one into the bowl. “Here we go...”

Yes, thinks Crowley, and it’s almost funny how completely, utterly calm he feels as he thinks it, here we go.

Crowley had never been a good man. He knows this deep in his borrowed bones, knows that he wasted his life in alcoholism and finding novel ways of letting people down. It hadn’t been surprising, really, when no one had come to his funeral; for all Crowley knows, they were too busy celebrating, and why not? The world had, objectively, been better for having him gone.

Then he’d become a demon, and naturally, he’d been very good at it. He’d been a mastermind, a marvelously manipulative Midas whose touch had turned potential into power and placed him at its peak. He’d been a visionary, valued for his villainy, and his victories had been as legion as they had been legendary...but what did it matter, what did any of it matter, if they were also lonely, loveless, and overlooked?

They didn’t, thinks Crowley; they didn’t matter, not even a little. Not even at all.

“Okay,” Sam says, setting aside the jug of holy oil. “That’s the last of it. That’s everything.”

Crowley shakes his head. “No, it’s not.”

“What?” Sam’s brow furrows in confusion.

“It’s not everything, not yet.” Crowley raises his eyes to meet Sam’s. “If you want to heal that rip, we need one more...minor ingredient.”

Sam frowns. “What?”

“A life.”

Crowley stands, ignoring Sam’s shell-shocked expression and stepping out from behind the mound of dirt that’s been sheltering them, and as he walks, he remembers, suddenly, a poem by a man called Shelley:

I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert…

Lucifer is too busy beating Dean to a pulp to notice him. Crowley approaches unseen just as Lucifer throws Dean to the ground, Dean shifting to get back to his feet even as he spits up blood. Lucifer taunts him, moves in for another attack…

...but Crowley is faster. He channels the bulk of his remaining energy and blasts it all in Lucifer’s direction, knocking the Devil to the ground, then steps forward, clearing his throat. “Surprise.”

...Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read…

He watches disinterestedly as Lucifer laughs and kicks, crowing, “Crowley!” as he climbs to his feet. Out of the corner of his eye, Crowley sees Sam come tearing into the fray, reaching down to grasp Dean’s hand and haul him up. He focuses on the sound of Dean’s breathing as Sam pulls Dean away.

Before him, Lucifer sneers. “You sneaky little…”

Dean’s breathing is fainter now, further, as are the sounds of Sam and Dean’s footfalls. They’re near the rift now, Crowley knows. They’ll be safe.

“So,” continues Lucifer in cold contentment, “I guess I get to kill you twice, huh, Crowley?”

Crowley gazes coolly back. “I doubt it.”

Lucifer sneers. “Oh no no, you had your chance. You could’ve put me back in the Cage, but you had to make it personal, didn’t you?”

Crowley’s gaze flickers down, lands on Dean’s blood in the sand. “You're right,” he says. “It is personal.”

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:

He steps forward. “You humiliated me. I...I hate you, deeply. Truly.” Almost as much as I hate myself. “And I’m going to enjoy wiping that smug, self-satisfied look off your face.” Because the only thing I hate more than myself is the idea of you winning. “Personally.”

Lucifer smirks. “You mean, this one?” he taunts, teasing at his dimples.

Yes, thinks Crowley, shifting his sleeve to let the angel blade fall into his hand. That one.

Lucifer leers. “Come on, Crowley. You know whatever you try, you’re gonna lose.”

And Crowley palms the handle of his blade, and he says, “You’re right,” and thinks, But so will you.

And on the pedestal these words appear: My name is Ozymandius, king of kings; Look on my works, ye Mighty…

Crowley closes his eyes. He takes a final breath he doesn’t need, then turns to look one more time at Sam, at Dean. Crowley has never been a good man, but he thinks, perhaps, that he can save one. “Bye, boys.”

...and despair!

He plunges the dagger into his gut, gasps as he feels his life force flicker and flame. His vision fades, and he falls to the ground, vanquished...

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.

...yet victorious.

#crowley #spn crowley #crowley spn #crowley macleod #spn #supernatural #spn 12x23 #fanfiction #my writing #king of kings #angst #mcd #if i had the time and technical skill i'd make this into a gif set thingy with the poetry overlaid but alas i have neither #this was supposed to go into the sequel to a new kind of life as a flashback but it got way too long so #enjoy?

[gamerzack-blog]

I think now's as good a time as any to share a few deets on my Magic player identity, before branching out into my other interests:

The Basics

Archetype: Johnny-Vorthos

Colour identity: Altruism 🔥🌳☀️{💧}

Top 3 Favourite formats: Limited (any style); Kitchen table; Commander (hypothetically)

"Power Nine" planes (in alphabetical order): Alara; Arcavios; Ikoria; Kaladesh; Kaldheim; Kamigawa; Ravnica; Tarkir; Zendikar

Custom sets (Magic Set Editor): Uncanny/Unfunny; Secret Vault: Heroes of Squidkid Saga; Secret Vault: Ascensions Series

Milestones

First year: 2003

First Core Set: Eighth Edition

First Large Set: Mirrodin

First Small Set: Guildpact

First Side-Set: Coldsnap

First novel: The Moons of Mirrodin

First Commander: Glissa Sunseeker

Key Factional Affiliations

Guild (Primary): Izzet League 💧🔥

Guild (Secondary): Selesnya Conclave 🌳☀️

Shard: Bant 🌳{☀️}💧

Clan (Khans timeline): Jeskai Way {💧}🔥☀️

Clan (Dragons timeline): The Ojutai ☀️{💧}

Triome: Ketria 🌳{💧}🔥

Realm (Primary): Bretagard {🌳}☀️

Realm (Secondary): Surtland 💧{🔥}

College: Prismari 💧}{🔥

Other Associations (by Plane)

Ravnica

Simic Combine 🌳💧

Azorius Senate ☀️💧

Boros Legion 🔥☀️

House Dimir 💧💀

Alara

Esper ☀️{💧}💀

Naya 🔥{🌳}☀️

New Phyrexia

Quiet Furnace 🔥

Progress Engine 💧

Innistrad

Kessig 🔥{🌳}

Tarkir

Temur Frontier {🌳}💧🔥

Mardu Horde {🔥}☀️💀

The Dromoka 🌳{☀️}

The Silumgar 💧{💀}

Amonkhet

Trial of Knowledge 💧

Trial of Solidarity ☀️

Ixalan

River Heralds 🌳💧

Brazen Coalition 💧💀🔥

Eldraine

Ardenvale ☀️

Garenbrig 🌳

Ikoria

Raugrin 💧{🔥}☀️

Zagoth 💀{🌳}💧

Kaldheim

Istfell {☀️}💧

Starnheim ☀️{💀}

Gnottvold {🔥}🌳

Arcavios

Silverquill ☀️}{💀

Lorehold 🔥}{☀️

New Capenna

The GWU Family 🌳☀️💧

Planeswalker Friends List

Karn {⚪}

Elspeth Tirel {☀️}

Will Kenrith {💧}

Liliana Vess {💀}

Rowan Kenrith {🔥}

Vivien Reid {🌳}

Teferi {☀️💧}

Tezzeret {💧💀}

Angrath {💀🔥}

Arlinn Kord {🔥🌳}

Ajani Goldmane {🌳☀️}

Sorin Markov {☀️💀}

Ral Zarek {💧🔥}

Vraska {💀🌳}

Nahiri {🔥☀️}

Kiora {🌳💧}

Tamiyo {🌳☀️💧}

_________ {☀️💧💀}

#####_##### {💧💀🔥}

_________ {💀🔥🌳}

Huatli {🔥🌳☀️}

_________ {🔥☀️💀}

Sarkhan Vol {🌳💧🔥}

_________ {☀️💀🌳}

Narset {💧🔥☀️}

Nissa Revane {💀🌳💧}

_________ {💧💀🔥🌳}

_________ {💀🔥🌳💧}

Me {🔥🌳☀️💧}

_________ {🌳☀️💧💀}

_________ {☀️💧💀🔥}

_________ {☀️💧💀🔥🌳}

Planeswalker Friend List Deets (How We Friended Each Other)

Met him on my first 'walk to Mirrodin. Apparently he created it himself!

Heard about her on Bant, and decided to see if I could find her so I could learn more about being an altruist. Told she was slain, so my trail went cold, but they were SO wrong about that!

Met him while studying on Arcavios... HOO boy, THAT was a mess! Anyway, he helped save the plane, so good on him.

Friended her a while back after she failed to seduce me (turns out there are limitations to charm magic when the intended target isn't that into you).

Twin sister of #3, with both sharing the same spark. Must be awkward if one decides to 'walk while the other's in the middle of something important like... I 'unno, peeing I guess?

For some reason, liking the natural world to any extent warrants a friend request from her. That and having a connection with animals.

Heard about my affinity for time, and so he tracked ME down! This is AFTER I spent a while tracking down info on the "Great Mender", though I thought it was a specialist on healing magic, heheh...

Friended him when he was still... sane, I guess? This thing's glitching out for some reason, so I can't delete it. Probably should visit that gadgeteer on Kamigawa to get it repaired...

Asked to friend me after overhearing that I don't eat beef or wear cowskin... then swore fiery, forgey vengeance on me if I EVER come onto his daughters. PRETTY sure there's no danger of that even if they're human, so... yay?

Saw me blundering through Ulvenwald and asked if I were worried about the wolves, to which I innocently replied with "What's wrong with wolves?" She led me to safety (aka a different plane) as a thank you for being so kind.

THIS is the life mage I was trying to find! I eventually tracked him to a book club or something on Kamigawa. The Nacatl of Naya called him "a hideously gruff, ill-mannered, insatiably berserk rebel", but I see him as kind, wise, and calm.

Kinda unsettling at first, but let's just say that putting the Greater Good first and foremost reveals an unseen side of this seemingly snobbish gentleman.

My first 'walk to Ravnica was... let's say "tumultuous". Actually, let's also say it was "accidentally crashed into an Izzet laboratory-ish". This guy said I was an automatic shoe-in to become a member of his guild, but he also advised me to consider whether I wanted to get tied to one plane. I was too busy staring at his... uh... eyes to remember what I said, or how he was added to my friends list.

Friended me later that day, in fact. Turns out a simple, sincerely friendly "Hi!" is enough to win her over... though she DID admit to almost turning me into a statue for being too close at first.

She was dealing with an emotional conundrum, so I offered some advice: "Just be true to yourself, and vent those pent-up emotions. Holding onto them isn't healthy, and your needs matter just as much as others' do." Hopefully she's in a better state of mind than before.

For some reason, liking the natural world to any extent warrants a friend request from her. That and having a connection with the seas and skies... wait... did I do this one already?

Met her through Ajani's book club... well, she's the host of said book club, so friending her was a no-brainer.

To be added...

Weird... why is this now playing up...? Was someone already on here? I should ask Denkimoto to look at this, too...

To be added...

Met her in book club. Turns out she's some form of skald from a plane called "EESH-a-lahn". I tried finding it, but no-one's ever heard of it, OR a city on that plane called "or-RATS-kuh", which is supposedly made of gold...

To be added...

Met him through a member of the book club, though he's not really into books. He does, however, like DRAGONS! I just had to visit their home plane, which is filled with so many kinds of dragon. Any fan of dragons is a friend of his, apparently. He also had a good chuckle at my "Hi, Khan!" joke, so it's now our informal greeting (his is "Oh, Zed!", cos it sounds like "O. Zed").

To be added...

This is the book club member via whom I indirectly met #23. She loves learning, and is currently delving into the ancient history of her people, "a time before the dragons"... which seems kinda familiar.

For some reason, liking the natural world to any extent warrants a friend request from her. That and having a connection with the elements... okay, this is DEFINITELY the third time I've posted this, I'm sure of it!

To be added...

To be added...

No idea why there even NEEDS to be a slot for my own contact details, but...

To be added...

To be added...

To be added...

[radramblog]

Every Boros Commander, Part 2

Where we last left off, I was shitting on Adriana, Captain of the Guard, who gives ACAB a pretty different meaning. Fortunately, most of the pickings this time aren’t quite as dire.

Depala, Pilot Exemplar (3rd most played as of writing)

Holy shit, a Boros commander with card advantage? It’s niche, but it was a first. Being limited to Dwarves and Vehicles does leave her with a problem a lot of commanders and tribes tend to have, which is being just a smidge under critical mass- but with the upcoming Kaldheim appearing to support Dwarves, and vehicles appearing to be a deciduous mechanic, I feel like it won’t be long before Depala is as powerful as her placement suggests. She is niche and mana-hungry, but basically the only Vehicle commander (and definitely the only Dwarf commander at the moment), so I suspect she’s here to stay for a while.

Tiana, Ship’s Caretaker (15th most played as of writing)

Tiana is possibly my favourite character lorewise in all of magic, frankly. She’s cool and cute and a massive dork and also someone who found her purpose in life, and frankly I love that for her. 

She’s also a really interesting commander to build around, seeing as she has a unique brand of card advantage that leads to the addition of old and weird cards, which I’m always a fan of. I should really get around to building a Tiana deck, to be honest, though I already have 10 commander decks with an 11th in progress, sooooo…

Firesong and Sunspeaker (4th most played as of writing)

I’m surprised to see F&S this high, but the first unique Buy-a-Box card did expand into an archetype previously unseen in the combination in the form of Boros Spellslinger (Dalakos would later return the favour as an Izzet Equipment commander). Previously, you had to go into Pauper EDH and play fellow Minotaur Blaze Commando for this kinda deck. Like Depala, F&S are heavily played despite being niche, though the also have the benefit of being a RW minotaur commander, if you want to play White instead of Black in that deck for…some reason? The siren moo of Boros Reckoner speaks to us all, I suppose.

Sylvia Brightspear and Khorvath Brightflame (17th most played as of writing)

The only partner pair I’m discussing today on account of their monogamy. Knights and Dragons make a weird combination, seeing as there are basically no other cards that help them work together rather than apart. You could almost run them as a goodstuff deck if you wanted, seeing as many of Boros’s best creatures are Knights or Dragons, but largely I think sticking to one or the other is probably for the best. With that in mind, the pair are actually the only real commanders for either tribe within Boros- the only other Dragon is something we’ll get to, and the only knight is…Adriana…so…. The buffs given by either pair are excellent, and not something that either tribe gets easy access to typically, so I can see the appeal of them in that slot. At that point, the extra commander is just a bonus.

Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice (21st most played as of writing)

Oh, another Aurelia, and she’s worse this time. In seriousness, her ability looks like its likely to be targeting herself most of the time, and Mentor just doesn’t do enough in this format. She has enough keywords and power to Voltron, but I’m not expecting much interesting from her outside of that.

Tajic, Legion’s Edge (18th most played as of writing)

Tajic has 4 separate lines of text for some reason, and only one (ok fine two haste is nice) actually matters. Having a damage prevention effect is nice in the zone, but it doesn’t apply to himself, so if you’re planning on turning mass damage one-sided you’re going to need to protect him still. And like, what else does he do? He’s not a good aggro commander at all, his last ability is a joke, why are people playing this card? If I was in a mass damage deck I’d just play Gisela, at least she does something on the off chance she survives. Probably no-one is gonna go out of the way to kill Tajic, at least. Beats out Aurelia for biggest downgrade, imo, even if Aurelia fell from higher.

Feather, the Redeemed (Number 1 most played at time of writing)

Feather is the most popular Boros commander, by over triple the next most popular. It’s not hard to see why: she’s a cheap commander that turns any targeted cantrip into a draw engine, she synergises with so many random powerful cards that you can build her a fair few different ways, and she’s a cool story character getting a card 12ish years after her appearance in the Ravnica novels. She does so much and is so interesting that it’s completely understandable that she’s as huge as she is. I’m still never going to build her though, even with my funky Japanese copies, if only because I’m too much of a hipster.

Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero (13th most played as of writing)

Kinda funny that Gerrard’s little text that made him work in the command zone until recent rules changes is now a strict downside. Gerrard has his niche, with a Second Sunrise in the zone unsurprisingly supporting Eggs decks rather nicely, and synergising with a lot of just random bullshit. I’d probably never build him, and it seems pretty easy to make it degenerate, but I’m glad he’s here and he’s certainly better than the first iteration of the character.

Haktos, the Unscarred (12th most played as of writing)

I’m kinda surprised to see Achilles this high, considering how recent he is. He reminds me a lot of Progenitus, oddly enough, as a commander that would be good at Voltron but can’t get buffed easily by traditional means. I think adding equipment on the off-chance that it fits his heel is a complete mistake, but things like Silverblade Paladin and Exalted cards do exist, so fair play. He’s pretty hard to kill unless you’re boardwiping, and even then damage-based ones probably miss, so I can see the value in that. But that mana cost hurts to look at- hitting 2 mana of 2 different colours on turn 4 was a pain back when I played Trostani, and that was a green deck.

Stet, Draconic Proofreader (No data available)

Okay look, I tried so hard to find a way to abuse this dork’s ability but there’s just no good way to do it. Stet sucks hard enough that even if you are playing with Silver-Bordered cards legal I just don’t know why you’d ever run it. His art is pretty funny, I’ll give it that. We got Alexander bloody Clamilton and Surgeon Commander in the same cycle, keep in mind.

Winota, Joiner of Forces (2nd most played as of writing)

Having menaced standard, Winota is still pretty decent as a commander, even without access to her 7-mana blue payload.  There actually aren’t that many beefy humans to cheat out in general, but considering how easy it is to enable her ability and the fact that she digs *6 cards deep* on trigger, I think you just kinda end up swarming the board distressingly easy with her deck. It’s shocking to see a card from 2020 in the top 5 like this, considering how the year has gone for the format in general, but like. 6 cards.

Zirda, the Dawnwaker (8th most played as of writing)

Look it combos with Basalt/Grim monolith in the command zone isn’t that neat. Zirda is pretty open-ended, but not especially powerful outside of the aforementioned combo. I find them much more appealing in the Companion slot, frankly. With that said, I do like that Boros is the colour pair getting access to Training Grounds in the zone, seeing as it works well with its other themes (Equipment mostly) and opens new archetypes (Cycling, etc.) up as possibilities.

Akiri, Fearless Voyager (7th most played as of writing)

Haha, Brion has more decks than Akiri. That’s probably since it only released a few months ago. Of course, I’m not including the other Akiri, so this is the first time we’ve seen her on the list. But apart from that, Akiri was somehow the first of these commanders to actually say “draw” on it. Her synergies with Living Weapon (and the recent equipment cards that do the same) are pretty sick, though her second ability will end up costing a lot of mana over time if you have to use it. I think its hilarious how much more value this gives you than Adriana for doing the thing Adriana wants you to do, at 2 less mana.

Also, she’s probably the best general for Kor tribal? I guess you could go Akiri/Black partner so you can play Orah in the deck. Someone build this! Kor like equipment, Akiri likes equipment, lets go.

It’s only just occurred to me that Akiri gives you more for attacking other players than Adriana does. Fuckin hell, man.

Bell Borca, Spectral Sergeant (25th most played as of writing)

Bell finally getting a card 15 years after his fictional death was a welcome treat, but the exile-related ability is frankly awkward and abusing it to 1 or 2 hit commander damage is pretty difficult. Still, having impulse draw in the zone makes him probably just the best generic #goodstuff commander. I’m surprised he’s as low as he is, but he only released a month ago (at time of writing) and we got an absolute stack of legends (including 2 other Boros ones and the partners) in the same set.

Reyav, Master Smith (28th most played as of writing)

Reyav is neat since he combines 2 of Boros’s more traditional archetypes, being Aggro and Voltron, into one damage doubling dwarf. I suspect his lack of play is again due to the other legends in the same set and that it only dropped a month ago, because there’s no way he deserves to be below Munda. Also, he’s 2 mana! The only other 2CMC Boros Legend is partner Akiri! How did that happen? I think he deserves better. You can suit him up and get dunking real quick.

Wyleth, Soul of Steel (16th most played as of writing)

Our final general is Boros’s second ever Precon commander, and the only one with flavour text. He’s got the space for it, considering how much work that second line is doing. I appreciate that Wyleth, despite being superficially similar to Akiri, plays pretty differently, as he prefers Voltron while she prefers spreading equipment out. I assume Wyleth would be a lot higher if the precon itself was included, but there’s no way of knowing how many people are playing just the base deck, so who knows.

A CHALLENGER APPROACHES!!!

Koll, the Forgemaster (no data available) This bloke got spoiled between me writing most of this and going to publish it. I can see a few easy combos with his first ability, especially seeing as Grafted Wargear is a card. Playing fairly though, his first ability feels kinda slow, and not being able to protect himself is a huge drag. The second ability feels kinda stapled on, as its a way of giving you a bonus since the first one doesn’t do shit for tokens. But like, just don’t equip them, lmao. Awkward, but has potential.

And that’s the lot of them! Uhhhh yeah that’s all I’ve got, stan Tiana kthnxbai

#ramble #mtg #edh #commander #boros #Tiana best girl

[tyk-tyk-tyk]

🍁 Achievements + Analysis

I thought about making separate posts, but then I realized I could multitask and mash all of these into one. Lists all of the achievements in English and translated from Russian + some commentary. Behold, the Knock Knock Achievement Master Post. As always, long post under the cut.

“How’s Annie” was a fun tidbit that had a shallow rabbit hole to follow. Some of these are interesting, some of these are not. I used Yandex to help translate these, so take it with a grain of salt. 

This was taken from a website that archives Steam achievements. I’ll be going through them all, just to tie up any loose ends.

🍁Fear of a blank page

English: Fear of a blank page - Found a diary page Russian: Unclean leaf - Found the diary page

The Russian translation is interesting because it references something that you don’t really figure out until you find the whole diary in one piece. 

🍁Busy with paperwork

English: Busy with paperwork - Found five diary pages Russian: Paperwork - I found five pages of my diary

Not much to commentate on. Though it should be noted that in the Russian translations, typically it either refers to Lodger as a “he” or uses first person. Could be a translation issue, or it could have been used on purpose. 

🍁Weaving the story

English: Weaving the story - Remembered the story of the Lost Child Russian: The fabric of the story - I learned the story of the invisible child

I also like this one for referencing the diary more specifically. I wish we had gotten more black and white info on when this happened, where they were and what happened to the other children.

🍁Something in the way

English: Something in the way - Entered a haunter Russian: I do not believe - Entered the pop-up window

Pretty sure the Russian description is a mistranslation. But I’m glad that The Lodger retained his key character trait through translation. 

🍁They are legion

English: They are legion - Entered ten haunters Russian: Their name is Legion - Entered at ten o’clock

I’m ALMOST CERTAIN this is another wrong translation on Yandex’s part. I’m assuming the Russian description is the same as the English description. If it also isn’t a wrong translation, I like the title for the achievement in Russian. It sounds spookier.

🍁Open your mind

English: Open your mind - Saw a fragment of reality Russian: Window to the courtyard - I saw a fragment of reality

This could tie in to some theories that The Lodger was one of the children lost to The Program. ‘Courtyard’ is vague, but it could mean a school (like it’s referenced in the dream written in the diary) or some kind of asylum. Those are my best guesses. Cool nonetheless, could just be imagery of ‘looking outside’ that they were going for.

🍁Good things come in threes

English: Good things come in threes - Saw three fragments of reality Russian: In three pines - I saw three fragments of reality

Now I don’t know any symbolism with three pines, so I had to look it up. And according to this website post, this was based on a novel. Maybe. Some people claim that it may have been based off of real life events, someone planted pine trees to signify that refugees fleeing The Revolutionary War were safe in Quebec. Who knows though, another legend to throw on to the pile of growing mysteries.

🍁Knowing the flip side

English: Knowing the flip side - Saw all fragments of reality Russian: The flipside of being - I saw all the fragments of reality

Again, the translations are similar. Flipside could mean something like an alternate dimension, or if we’re being literal and are taking the textbook definition, could be a complicated roundabout way of saying “tomorrow.” So this is either a poke at seeing ghosts or seeing the future.

🍁I was ready

English: I was ready - Managed to hide successfully Russian: It’s not my fault - Hid and didn’t get caught

Woah, can we talk about this one for a second? “It’s not my fault.” This is definitely a reference to the diary, whether it’s The Lodger or his father or etc. 

🍁I’m not there

English: I’m not there - Managed to hide successfully five times Russian: I’m not here - I hid five times and didn’t get caught

Unlike the previous achievement, uneventful here. 

🍁Nobody home

English: Nobody home - Managed to hide successfully ten times Russian: No one’s home - Ten times I hid and didn’t get caught

Also uneventful. I will mention the perspective changes between languages again though. (I will also mention that this could be translated wrong... again)

🍁The enlightened

English: The enlightened - Turned the light on in every room Russian: Education - Lit up the whole house

I like the English title better, but I like the Russian description better. Feels more ominous and spooky.

🍁My name is Nobody

English: My name is Nobody - Turned the light on in a room before a breach opened Russian: My name is Nobody - Turned on the light in the room before opening the gap

Standard, similar translations, not really a theory to go off of. The breaches are weird on their own and could have many meanings, attachments or symbolism behind them, but who knows.

🍁Babysitter

English: Babysitter - Touched the weeping one Russian: Now don’t look - Touched the lost one

Not a lot to comment on this one. The translations are pretty similar, and the Russian version is a reference to gameplay (and maybe an in game line? My memory is hazy. Just like The Lodger’s har har)

🍁How’s Annie?

English: How’s Annie? - Turned into a doppelganger Russian: How’s Annie? - Changed into a double

If you’re new and/or haven��t checked out one of my earliest theories, you can check it out here. It goes over this particular achievement in whole. 

🍁Through the looking glass

English: Through the looking glass - Entered a breach Russian: Sight unseen - Entered the breach

The English version of this achievement is actually extremely interesting. A “looking glass” can either mean a mirror, or according to Lewis Carroll, something opposite of what we expect. Kind of gives me doppelganger vibes. Please imagine The Lodger in an Alice in Wonderland dress

🍁Breaking the circle

English: Breaking the circle - Chose to go into the woods Russian: Don’t go in circles - Preferred to go into the woods

I liked the wording of this better in Russian. Otherwise, no comment. 

🍁Pagurian 

English: Pagurian - Chose to lock The Lodger inside the cabin and remain hidden Russian: Hermit - He chose to lock himself in the house

A final commentary and then farewell. In English, the game makes it sound like we chose to torture The Lodger. In Russian, it makes it sound like he chose to torture himself. Ominous, I like it.

If you made it to the bottom of this post, you deserve two brownie points. I feel bad for taking so long to put this out, but I figure it’s done and out of the way. I do this because I enjoy it, and I hope you guys are enjoying it too. Next up I’m going to be reblogging some things from @eyesofflora, offering my own commentary, and doing more research on fae and folklore.

#knock knock #knockknock #knock knock game #knockknockgame #achievement theories #archive #long post #man it felt good finally putting this together #Yandex keeps being a pain but I'm pretty much at a standstill with my Russian lessons because I'm lazy #I didn't wanna tag eyesofflora and fill their mentions wheeze #тук-тук-тук

[buzzdixonwriter]

You Don’t Say

For me, one of the unforeseen benefits of Facebook and other social media is that it gives me a chance to do rough drafts of ideas, assembling my thoughts and getting feedback before committing to more permanent form.

And sometimes, like asteroids colliding in space, two separate ideas / posts slam into one another and either create something new and unexpected, or else shatter themselves and reveal interesting aspects of their nature heretofore hidden from view.

That happened recently with a pair of Facebook posts I made on Dennis Prager and Harlan Ellison.

Let’s get the turd out of our mouth first.

. . .

Dennis Prager is a purveyor of herpetology lubricants admired by many on the right-leaning-nazi side of the spectrum, primarily because he keeps his mouth closed when chewing.  Half of what he says is repackaged self-evident truths of the “Don’t eat the yellow snow” variety, a quarter is opinions that if not startling original are at least not genuinely harmful, and the remain quarter is egregious bullshit for which he deserves a public pants down spanking.

Hmm, what?  Oh, yes; purely metaphorically, of course.

I long since wrote off Prager as a. utterer of inanities, but recently his turdmongering was forced on my attention by someone who posted a link to Prager’s argument that the “left” (i.e., basically anybody who thinks Auschwitz was a Bad Idea) is inflicting harm on both the American body politic and the universe at large by denying people like Prager the right to drop the N-bomb whenever they feel like it.

As some of you no doubt already knew, Prager is a member of what polite bigots used to refer to as “those of the Hebrew persuasion”.

That a person from an ethnicity that historically suffered hatred so vicious and specifically targeted that a special word had to be created for it (“anti-Semitism” because the original word -- “Jew-hatred” -- was too damned ugly even for bigots to use) now has his knickers in a twist because he’s “not allowed” to use the only other word of equal or greater impact -- also coined specifically by oppressors for expressing unrestrained hate and contempt against those oppressed -- is so rich in irony that all I can do is swipe a phrase from Jim Wright over at Stonekettle Station and say Dennis Prager has “all the self-awareness of a dog licking its own asshole in the middle of the street”.

First off, he’s lying: Neither the “left” nor American law prevents him from dropping the N-bomb whenever he feels like it and I invite him to go down to the intersection of Normandie and Florence in South Central and drop it at the top of his lungs for as long as he is able and please make sure to take plenty of video recorders along because I really wanna see what happens next.

Second, why the fuck would you want to say that? Seriously, other than in an evidentiary context (a cop giving testimony in court, a journalist reporting what some bigoted politician says, etc.), who today gains anything from repeating the word other than inflicting unjustified distress on people who have done nothing to deserve it?

(This is the point where a bunch of alt-right trolls are gonna jump up and say “but whatabout all the times when black people say it?” and to those trolls I’m gonna say STFU & STFD; if you can’t grasp the difference in context then you’re too damned stupid to be allowed out in public except at the end of a leash and with a ball gag in your mouth.)

It’s a word specifically created and designed to be used to brutally oppress people who did nothing to deserve that brutal oppression.  Why would anybody outside that group use it except to participate in that brutal oppression?

. . .

Least there sit any in the cheap seats who presume the above rant was targeted at Dennis Prager simply because he was Jewish, guess again, ya yutzes.

Few writers enjoyed as brilliant and as incendiary a career as Harlan Ellison, and I count myself privileged to have been one of his friends.

Ellison, as many of you know, also was Jewish, a damned tough little bastard, singled out for hatred and abuse as the only Jewish child in his backwater Ohio school, growing up with nerves & balls of chromium, a bona fide Army Ranger, and a writer so honest and fearless that when he wrote about juvenile delinquency in the 1950s he did so by infiltrating and joining a street gang to get first hand experience and insight on the kids who ran in that crowd (and as icing on the cake, James Caan played him in the TV version!).

Top that, Dennis.

Harlan’s electric eclectic career features many highpoints, but the one I want to focus on is his brief 4-year run as TV critic for the legendary Los Angeles Free Press (a.k.a. The Freep) from 1968 to 1972.  

What’s interesting is that Harlan did this while at the same time at the height of his demand as a TV writer.

You got any idea how hard it is to make a living while you’re gnawing on the hand that feeds you?

Harlan may have been crazy, but damn it, he was honest.

Back to the issue at hand.

Recently I’ve been re-reading his TV criticism columns, collected in two volumes, The Glass Teat and The Other Glass Teat.

The depressing thing is that all the evil we see today was in place back in those days, and the same smug pious frauds and their dimbulb marks kept congratulating themselves how wonderful they were as things continued to spiral out of control.

Oh, we've had good moments when we made changes that improved the lot of people who'd previously been marginalized, but the core cancer is still there. Harlan was no cock-eyed sentimentalist -- he was often filled with anger and could vent it spectacularly at deserving targets -- but he did have hope that somehow we could keep nudging the ball further towards the goal lines.

The columns make fascinating reading; they are nowhere near as dated as one might suspect. Sometimes they offer diamond-like brilliant dissections of a particular instant in the cultural gestalt, other times they examine the unseen (well, to most audiences, that is) tides of Hollywood that shape our media, sometimes he turns his attention to bear on seemingly insignificant and forgotten local programming only to show with McLuhan-esque clarity how that tiny piece of seemingly insignificant fluff is symptomatic of a much wider, much vaster, and far more serious problem.

One entry caught my eye in particular, the March 7, 1969 column on a failed ABC pilot called Those Were The Days.

Harlan sat in the studio audience watching the taping of that pilot, and his column praised the courage and insight of producers Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin, the brilliant performances of Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton, and the raw honesty of the pilot’s sharp comedy and writing.

Those of you not in the cheap seats have already realized this was the second failed pilot for what would eventually become All In The Family over at CBS (there was an even earlier original pilot called Justice For All back when Archie and Edith’s last name was Justice, not Bunker.)

I remember the hoopla when All In The Family finally aired in January of 1971 as a mid-season replacement.

You might count Archie Bunker as the white Dolemite insofar as the comedy sprang from the shock of all the crude and vulgar things he said.

Lear and Yorkin were mocking that mindset, belittling bigotry, exposing the Babbittry of millions of “good” Americans who lacked either the self-awareness or the courage to take a long introspective look at themselves and realize how badly they were failing as citizens of this country.

Audiences weren’t supposed to like Archie Bunker.

And that’s where Lear and Yorkin made their fatal mistake.

No, audiences didn’t like Archie.

They loved him.

. . .

Asteroids collide, and sometimes they form new planets, and sometimes they shatter and expose what lies beneath.

Prager’s modern day Babbittry crashed into Harlan’s half-century old anti-Babbittry, and from the explosion a stark truth revealed itself.

It’s almost impossible to make an outlaw a villain in popular media.

No matter how many banks they rob, stages they hold up, sheriffs they shoot, the mere fact that somebody wrote a song / dime novel / movie about ‘em makes them into heroes.

Demi-gods.

People to be admired.

Emulated.

Professional wrestling knows this.

You can never be so big a heel that you won’t have a legion of followers.

And you can turn a heel into a baby face in the blink of an eye and none of the fans will remember the despicable acts the wrassler did just last week.

You put an Archie Bunker on TV, you do not get millions of people to recognize themselves in his hateful / hurtful behavior and change their ways.

Oh, hell no; you get millions of people to applaud him for saying and doing what they say and do in private.

And now that it’s all big and bold and brassy on TV, why it becomes even easier to say it in the privacy of your own home, then over the fence with the neighbors, then in the bar down the street, then on the street itself, and then against people who have done you no harm, who have committed no sin other than the heinous crime of not being exactly like you.

I remember watching and liking All In The Family when it first came on because I, like millions of other Americans, got the joke:  Archie was no hero.

But it wasn’t long before the voices cheering Archie began to drown out the voices laughing at him.

Lear and Yorkin tried undoing their damage with Maude and The Jeffersons and Good Times and other spinoff shows, but the bigot was out of the bottle.

Archie Bunker, even though written in a way to ridicule his use of bigotry and stereotypes, became a champion and defender of those who clung to said bigotry and stereotypes.

So tell me again why you want to drop that N-bomb, Dennis.

Explain to me -- even while you talk out of both sides of your mouth and claim even if everybody can use they word maybe they shouldn’t use the word -- how that does anything to help anybody…

…other than bigots and hate mongers.

Your argument is as circular as the thumb and forefinger gesture white supremacists use to signal one another, a gesture deliberately chosen because it lets them transgress openly by lying about the truth meaning of their gesture.

And Harlan, you were right about Those Were The Days as it began evolving into All In The Family.  Absolutely brilliant -- but absolutely deadly.

Not airing All In The Family wouldn’t have eliminated racial / ethnic / sexual prejudice in the United States…

…but it would have denied those ideas a voice.

The narcissist always proclaims, “I don’t care what they say about me so long as they spell my name right.”

Well, that’s what we got with Archie Bunker.

None of the bigots cared if we made fun of their ideas…

…just so long as they got their ideas out there.

Because ideas are made legitimate by their presence.

Now clearly, this is a bade that cuts both ways.

Ideas once unthinkable -- liberty and justice for all in the form of racial and gender equality, f’r instance -- need to be championed in public.

But we need to shout down and stamp out the bad ideas.

The United States took their foot off the neck of the defeated white racists after the end of the Civil War, and as a result jim crow came roaring back, and things did not change for millions of Americans for another entire century.

We allowed bigots and hate mongers and slavers to be whitewashed and glorified and forgiven for their crimes against humanity…

…and in the process we allowed them to continue victimizing African-Americans more and more.

Every song about the Ol’ South, every novel glorifying plantation life, every movie showing happy field hands, every statue commemorating murderous traitors as men of honor and principle, every single iteration of that idea made millions of people’s suffering not just possible but inevitable.

. . .

Now this is the point where the alt-right trolls are gonna jump up and ask “did you ever drop the N-word?”

Not in casual conversation, no.

I was born and raised in the South (Appalachia, mostly); my father’s side of the family were almost all Southerners.

Almost all.

My paternal grandmother was born and raised in New Jersey and met my grandfather when both served in the U.S. Army medical corps in WWI.  When my grandfather died in his 40s, my grandmother originally moved back to New Jersey, but her three children (dad and two aunts) felt heartbroken at having to leave their Southern cousins and friends behind so even though she carried no particular love for the South, my grandmother moved her family back and stayed there for the most of her life (she and one of my aunts moved out to California to be near us, but that’s another story for another post).

One thing my grandmother absolutely refused to tolerate was use of the N-bomb anywhere near her, especially under her roof or in the homes of her children.

This included both the -er and -ra variants, because Southern racists who didn’t want to appear as uncultured and as boorish and as bigoted as their backwoods cousins preferred the second pronunciation because they could claim they were actually speaking respectfully about “colored people”.

So I grew up in the rare white Southern home where the N-bomb merely wasn’t used, it was actually denounced as wrong.

Now, don’t go thinking my grandmother was some great paragon of virtue; she wasn’t (she was hell on wheels, in fact, but that’s another story for another post).

But she did recognize there was something wrong with the use of the N-bomb, and whether she demanded her children never use it in any form to keep them from appearing to be boorish, bigoted louts, or whether she just thought it was simple good manners of the golden rule variety not to use it, I dunno.

But I do know we never used it, and when my parents heard our neighbors or schoolmates use it, we were reminded in no uncertain terms that we were never to use it.

But that doesn’t mean I haven’t used it.

A couple of decades ago I wrote a screenplay based on the life of Robert Smalls, in particular his incredible escape from Civil War Charleston by hijacking a Confederate gunboat and sailing it right past Ft. Sumter to join the Union fleet, bringing his wife and several other escaping African-Americans with him.

As a skilled harbor pilot, Smalls enjoyed certain privileges other enslaved African-Americans didn’t.

For example, he was allowed to go about the streets of Charleston unescorted…

…provided he wore a big diamond shaped brass tag around his neck.

Like a dog.

The tag indicated to slave catcher patrols that he was one of the “good” ones, that he could be trusted because he was helping his masters in their struggle against the Union by guiding blockade runners into the safety of Charleston harbor.

But knowing Southerners the way I do, and knowing the kind of low class good ol’ boy types they recruited for such jobs, I couldn’t imagine the slave catcher patrols being particularly courteous to him, even when they knew they had to let him pass because clearly he had the protection of some high positioned muckamuck.  

And I could easily imagine them flinging the N-bomb at him with great glee, taunting him, daring him to act “uppity” so they could beat the crap out of him and teach him some manners and remind him of his place.

So I used the word in their dialog in my script.

Would I use that word today?

Probably not.

It’s not that crucial to the story, and if the viewer doesn’t grasp the concept that these are bigoted bully scum from their actions and attitude, then I’ve failed my job as a writer.

Have I ever quoted people who dropped the N-bomb?

Yeah, I have, in the past.

I’ve quoted Richard Pryor and Blazing Saddles and Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.

I would excuse it then as the aforementioned evidentiary context but ya know what?  I don’t quote those lines anymore.

I still think Pryor is hilarious and will recommend his routines to anyone I think might be interested, but he as a member of the African-American community at large (because like any other ethnic group, African-Americans have numerous sub-cultures and sub-communities among them), he could say things in a way neither I nor any other white person could say them.

(And, yeah, there’s a big debate going on to this very day among African-Americans about the appropriateness of that word and you know what?  Whatever decision African-Americans reach for themselves is their business and should not involve any input whatsoever from we white folk; we not only can’t use the word, we can’t even comment on how they choose to use it.  Period.  Full stop.)

Blazing Saddles when it came out used the N-bomb to be deliberately transgressive, to make a sympathetic point re how unfairly African-Americans were treated.

All well and good.

But nine years earlier there had been a movie called A Patch Of Blue and while it wasn’t a raucous comedy like Blazing Saddles it tried making a point about race relations in America and it was a really. Really good movie and it made some important points but today is virtually unwatchable not because of any flaws in it but because the times have changed.

Ditto Blazing Saddles.

We don’t need to approach the problem that way any more.

Quentin Tarantino?  I really like what he does as a director and a screenwriter but his use of the N-bomb to show us how transgressive his characters are is really shallow.  I have a strong feeling his movies are going to be considered embarrassingly passé’ in a generation or two, much the same way as benign-yet-stereotypical characters in 1940s movies render many of them passé’ today.  

Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction lose nothing by changing the N-word to something else.  

Maybe an argument could be made for its use in Django Unchained or The Hateful 8 but even there I think substituting another word wouldn’t significantly change the tenor or tone of either movie.

So I stop quoting those lines from Tarantino’s films, at least not fully.

I can admire his skill / talent / craft without signing off on his problematic elements.

Let me offer an analogy: If a creator can get the same dramatic effect by pretending to shoot somebody but not actually blasting them with a gun, then they can get the same dramatic effect by using something evocative of the N-bomb without actually dropping it.

(By the way, for those who may be curious, my mother was from Naples and a bona fide card carrying member of Mussolini’s Fascist Youth Brigade, but that’s another story for another post.)

. . .

We are plunging into a new cultural conflict -- and while I think there will be violence, I don’t see it being violence on the scale or level of political organization as the Civil War -- and we can only win by refusing to let the bigots and the hate mongers spew their bullshit in the marketplace of ideas.

There is no compromise with an oppressor.

Stand up to it every time you encounter it.

Make it unthinkable, never acceptable. 

  © Buzz Dixon

#racism #race relations #morals #ethics #Harlan Ellison #Dennis Prager #N-bomb

[mst3kproject]

814: Riding With Death

Oh, goody, another compilation movie.  Who thought these were a good idea?

The super-duper high-tech Backstory-O-Matic introduces us to our hero, Special Federal Agent Sam Casey.  He’s not very interesting but he does have one superpower, the ability to become invisible.  Rather than make any use of this, however, the spy organization Intersect assigns him to drive a truck transporting a sample of Tripolodine, a new fuel additive that could revolutionize the transportation industry.  What nobody’s told him is that Tripolodine is dangerously explosive!

Having survived that, Casey’s next assignment takes him to a racetrack in Ontario, to seek the ultra-elusive saboteur Robert Denby.  Denby also has something that blows up – an unstable metal called dutrium that goes critical when it hears a certain radio frequency.  He has smuggled this stuff into the USA by having it built into a racecar, which is exactly where you want to hide an explosive. Once again, Casey finds himself having to get out of a vehicle before an experimental substance on board blows it up. Apparently the writers could only think of one plot.

All those shots of the super-duper high-tech Backstory-O-Matic are actually from Colossus: the Forbin Project, which Joel said in Master Ninja II was his favourite movie.  I wonder what he would have said about their appearance in Riding With Death.

If you’ve ever encountered The Gemini Man outside of this MST3K episode, it was probably on a list of the fastest-cancelled tv shows in history – only five episodes made it to the air, and it most definitely did not leave legions of disappointed fans clamoring for plot threads to be tied up in a movie.  Unfortunately, they gave us a movie anyway.  Rather than film a proper one, however, they made Riding With Death out of one episode that was on TV (called Smithereens) and one that never made it (Buffalo Bill Rides Again).  The result is… well, you can kinda see why they cancelled this.

I like to say at least something nice about these movies, so I’ll start by noting that direction and photography actually aren’t bad.  The Smithereens half is quite competently shot and while dialogue scenes get a little long, the more actiony sequences are nicely edited.  Despite what Mike and the bots have to say, the part where the truck has no brakes and Agent Lawrence is desperately trying to keep the Tripolodine from exploding is tense and holds the attention.  I quite like Lawrence’s resourcefulness, using the torn-up laundry bag to suspend the Tripolodine bottle.  The Buffalo Bill Rides Again half is not as well-made – the stock footage does not blend well with the stuff shot for the actual show, and there’s a distinct lack of tension in both the race and the scene of Casey and his friend Buffalo Bill trying to get the car away from people before it explodes.

The special effects are very limited, but not awful. Besides extensive pyrotechnics, the only effect they need is Casey vanishing and reappearing when he activates his invisibility watch.  There’s nothing special to the effect they use but it works well enough. In terms of just getting stuff onto the TV screen, the people who worked on The Gemini Man were good enough at their jobs.  That’s really, really faint praise, but I’ve seen so much worse doing this blog that I feel I do want to mention it.

On to the bad stuff.  The biggest problem with Riding with Death is that the characters just aren’t engaging.  I suspect part of this is because we never get to meet them properly. Instead, we arrive with the plot already getting underway, and the movie is much more interested in making sure we know why Tripolodine is important than telling us who Sam Casey or Abby Lawrence are.  There are a couple of flashbacks, but they just repeat stuff from the Backstory-O-Matic. About the only personality trait given to either of them is that they’re competent and committed to their jobs, remaining calm under pressure and finding workable solutions to the problems presented to them.  This is a good characteristic for secret agents to have, but it’s all we get.  It doesn’t help that Ben Murphy and Katherine Crawford, not among the world’s more charismatic actors to begin with, don’t seem to care very much about the project.  They turn in just barely enough of a performance to get a paycheque.

Not only do we get no idea of who the characters are, the relationships between them are also left more or less mysterious.  Is Lawrence supposed to be Casey’s love interest? One tends to suspect she is, since he thinks fondly of her in his flashbacks and even today female characters in action movies are primarily love interests.  They never have a ‘moment’, though, and Murphy and Crawford have no romantic chemistry.  The scientist in Buffalo Bill Rides Again who berates the head of Intersect, Driscoll, for harassing Denby obviously feels he has a right to lecture his boss, but if it’s because they’re old friends we’re given no clue.  There is apparently a long history between Driscoll and Denby, but this is narrated at us by the angry scientist guy rather than shown.  All this stuff would be fine on TV, where backstory has to be filled in quickly to stay in the time slot and not every episode can follow something like the romantic arc. In what’s supposed to be a movie, it just leaves us with a lot of unresolved threads and stuff we’re not sure why we ought to care about.

When I watched Cosmic Princess I noted that the attempts to marry up the two disparate episodes into one story actually worked surprisingly well.  In Riding with Death, they… don’t.  The halves are connected as both feature a guest appearance by comedian Jim Stafford as Buffalo Bill, a man whose many non-talents include trucking, country and western songwriting, and racecar driving, but neither Wild West showmanship (sadly) nor tailoring human skin (fortunately).  Buffalo Bill comes across as not too bright and somebody you’d probably find annoying if you knew him in real life, but his eclectic interests and the enthusiasm with which he tackles them does give him a lot more character than Casey.  The friendship between Casey and Buffalo Bill is also the only relationship in the story that feels even halfway real, because we see it develop rather than just being told about it.

Choosing two episodes with a character in common seems like a pretty good start – that was how Cosmic Princess did it, picking two that both featured Maya!  Like Cosmic Princess, Riding With Death also does some editing and ADR to help connect the halves, but in this case it is disastrous.  Take, for example, everybody’s favourite line – you’re as elusive as Robert Denby.  If they wanted to establish the existence of Denby in the half taken from Smithereens, they should have suggested that villain Dr. Hale was talking to him on the radio or something.  That would have implied that he was also behind Hale’s scheme, making him the overall big bad of the entire movie.  In fact, this seems to be what they’re trying to get across when they have Casey’s boss tell Denby he’s going to prison with Hale.  Throwing that 'elusive' line in the way they did is jarring and mostly just emphasizes that Denby has nothing to do with what we’ve seen so far.

Even worse is what they did with the fact that Agent Lawrence wasn’t in Buffalo Bill Rides Again. The obvious thing to do with that would have been to make an excuse for her absence.  Say she’s on vacation, on another case, on maternity leave… anything would do. Instead, the editors put in random scenes of her somehow watching what’s happening via surveillance footage at Intersect.  Why did they bother?  It only draws attention to her absence, which is the very thing they were trying to paint over!  I don’t think this could have been less competent if they’d tried.

One place where Riding with Death does manage to resemble Cosmic Princess is an unfortunate one – they have one cool idea and they don’t do anything with it.  Sam Casey has the ability to become invisible for fifteen minutes a day.  Maybe in some of the episodes that did not become part of Riding with Death, this was more useful, but in this movie he doesn’t do much with it that he couldn’t have done without it.  Any half-decent secret agent in a movie can take a couple of guys with handguns or sneak into a car unseen.  James Bond or Black Widow wouldn’t have broken a sweat. Hell, even Super Dragon could probably have pulled it off, but Sam Casey relies on his invisible wristwatch.

This is especially annoying when the opening credits claim that this story was inspired by H. G. Wells’ The Invisible Man.  That was a novel that explored the corrupting influence of power, and even the worst film adaptations of it generally try to do something with that theme.  Riding With Death never even touches it, or indeed any other theme besides a brush with the 70’s energy crisis.  Again, maybe other episodes did something with this, but in Riding With Death Sam Casey is never troubled by his ability to become invisible, never examines the implications of it, never feels any temptation to use it for personal gain. It’s a big part of what makes him so outstandingly dull.

The main impression I get from Riding With Death is just that nobody really put any effort into it.  The writers didn’t bother to come up with an interesting way to use their ‘invisible guy’ premise, and stuck to mindless, often action-less plots that end in something blowing up.  The actors didn’t bother trying to infuse their characters with any personality. The bad guys’ goals are never quite clear.  It’s all very lazy and dumb, but at least it makes for good MST3K.

#mst3k #reviews #riding with death #70s

[threeravenspublishing]

A new JTF-13 novel is born! Witch Hunt, by Casey Moores now available on Amazon! They’ll fight the unseen evil, on the land or on the sea! During one of the earliest blockade actions of the Civil War, US Marine Sergeant Alexander Philips witnesses an unspeakable horror. With no explanation, he finds himself in charge of a group of hotheads and misfits in a strange, unorthodox unit. His new commander is the enigmatic Lieutenant Addison Green, who knows nothing about the military, but a great deal about something else entirely. He comes bearing a collection of weapons geared towards fighting something other than Confederates. The Marines of M Company take part in the Battle of Roanoke Island, doing a job far different than that of the other soldiers. They learn their true purpose—hunting the monsters that flood into the world in times of conflict. In the jungles of Roanoke, they find their first mission—to hunt the mysterious woman in white, a witch who commands the legions of hell and enchants the unsuspecting. Their journey takes them through Saint Augustine and behind enemy lines to New Orleans, where they find an even greater threat to the Union than they ever expected. get it here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MDGQDS4 #marine #military #JTF13 #milfantasy #milscifi #militaryfantasy #civilwar https://www.instagram.com/threeravenspublishing/p/CXTO8JtLeTd/?utm_medium=tumblr

#marine #military #jtf13 #milfantasy #milscifi #militaryfantasy #civilwar

[kingdomofthelogos]

Seeing Past Evil

Read Mark 5

Download a printable version here.

God is not tempted by evil, and nor does He tempt anyone with evil, as we are taught in James 1:13. Not only is God not enticed by evil, but He is not tricked by it either. Furthermore, God wants us to be transformed to a state where we are not fooled by it in our lives. In Mark 5:1-20, Jesus is confronted by a man who runs up to Him, bows down, and then cries for mercy to come out of his mouth. However, the Christ is not fooled into thinking this a mere victim to be pitied, for Jesus realizes this is a legion of demons pulling a scam. Holiness is not fooled by wickedness, and when we receive the gift of sanctification, that gift which quickens us for holy living, we are given a new set of eyes with which we can think more and more perfectly as we are aligned with God and His perfect will. Furthermore, we must realize that a lot of people want to be liberated from the nonsensical lack of truth in our world. Many see that scams are continually carried out, and they want liberty from them. We must witness to our neighbors of how the Gospel frees our minds to think clearly and see truth.

What do we expect evil to look like? A face of twisted features with a grotesque lack of symmetry? Whenever we think of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, we tend to envision the good doctor as a calm, collected man who wears a careful face of resolution, while his alternative self of Mr Hyde is a hideous brute with rudely contorted features. We think of one looking tame, as if he had never broken a bone, and other looking primitive, as if every bone had been broken and healed without being put back right. This is indeed how Hollywood has portrayed the situation; however, the actual novel of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde teaches something far more elusive about the face of evil.

Robert Louis Stevenson opens our minds to something different, something more sinister than mere misshapen features. In the novel, He describes Mr Hyde as follows: There is something wrong along with his look; something displeasing, something down-right detestable. I by no means saw a man I so disliked, and yet I scarce realize why. He had to be deformed somewhere; he gives a robust feeling of deformity, even though I couldn’t specify the factor. He’s an extraordinary searching man, but I truly can name not anything out of the way.

Mr Hyde’s features were not at all broken or misshapen. In fact, he appears much younger than Dr Jekyll, since never being a man he never had the opportunity to age. The discomfort he generates is unseen, and hard to pin down. He is certainly displeasing, but one cannot say why. Hyde gives the impression of being deformed, but there is no visible deformity. There is nothing visibly out of place, nothing strange which can be specified. Yet, his deformity is real, for his malady is nothing less than a nature that is perfectly sinful.

There is a lot we can learn from this fictional illustration. Evil does not always give us the gift of obvious deformity, but instead wholehearted evil often slips in looking completely ordinary. It is for this reason that we should be grateful when evil is obvious. It is easy to see the demonic truth of a twisted man tormented in the cemetery, but very hard to spot the demon which talks to you about Scripture on the sabbath.

In the first five chapters of Mark’s account of the Gospel, we find that Jesus has had a multitude of demonic encounters. Many of them were cast out in the synagogues, moving around society like ordinary people. Here in Mark 5 Jesus meets one in the cemetery, and something strange happens. The demoniac comes running towards Jesus, and upon meeting Him bows before the Christ. We read this story with the luxury of time, for we get a brief account of the encounter and learn how it ends quickly. But imagine if we saw this situation as it happened, imagine if we saw the demoniac speak to other people who did not have the power to cast out the evil, or even force it to reveal its name. If all we saw was a man bowing down and asking for relief, we might be fooled.

In Revelation 13:1 the Apostle John witnesses the beast rising out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names. The beast appears on the seashore as if it is an ordinary thing, as if there is nothing suspicious at all about its emergence from the eternal deep. Despite its indescribable appearance, the beast does not come out of the sea in strong declaration of its evil. Rather, it comes out of the sea as if it is the most natural thing, as if people should have expected it all along. It comes with no Declaration of Independence to King George III as did those who led the American Revolution, and it does not nail 95 Theses to the door of the Church as did Martin Luther. The beast does not bother with explaining itself, for it merely expects people to worship it. And they do; moreover, in Revelation 13:8 all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slaughtered.

The terrible demons in Mark 5 come to Jesus as if it is the most natural thing for them, as if their prostration is noble. However, they do this without the slightest recognition of the unspeakable evil they have enforced upon their captive child of God. The demonic hoard comes to Jesus, and forces their slave’s body to bow before the Christ. Specifically, the word used is prosekynesen, which refers to the reverent act of bowing down before someone in recognition of their honor. But let us not be deceived, the demons do not pay an honest tribute to Jesus’ honor as God the Son. They know who He is, and yet they think they can bow before Him without any recognition of the unfathomable evil they are conducting right before His eyes!

It is not the demons who bow, but the captive man they pilot around like a ferry. They cannot bow before Jesus without jerking about the chains and cables which animate their puppet. Their act of bowing is nothing more than an act of fiendish mockery. If they are not willing to even acknowledge their crime, then they are not serious about bowing down, much less real worship.

The wicked legion of hell comes with an attitude towards Jesus, as if they might somehow paint Him as the tormentor. Hell is very skilled at accusing others of what it is guilty of; in fact, we quite often find that people are regularly guilty of the sins by which they accuse others. It is easy to project the sin that one understands, and the demons understand a thing or two about torment.

From this we learn that we must be very careful not to be fooled by evil. Many of the superficial details of this scene might lead us to think the demons were good if we did not have Jesus there to exorcise them. They come bowing down before Jesus, they call out His truth and correctly name Him as the Son of God, and they even come with an appeal that makes them sound as if they are the victims who need pity. Yet, all of this is a scam. It is a diabolical misrepresentation that bears false witness to the truth that they are slaving pirates who sail around the earth with one of God’s children as their unwilling ship.

Evil is both real and present, and the more we think it is absent the better it is situated to prey on us. Christ does not want us to be enslaved to evil, but to be liberated by the power of the Gospel. If we want to stand firm against the wiles of Evil, then we must recognize that even the devil can quote scripture and demons will pretend to bow down before the King of Kings.

Jesus’ response gives no credence to the insincere appeal, and He commands them to be cast out. There is no negotiation, no agreement met where they can continue to keep their man in bondage. At the word of Jesus, they must let him free. This is how the Gospel handles evil: it casts it out. There is no compromise to be made with it, and let us not think that sending the demons into the swine was a compromise, for the Scriptures do not specify that it was only the swine who perished in the waters.

Jesus was neither fooled nor distracted by the fake posturing of the demonic legion, and from this fact we learn something distinct about holiness. Those who live holy lives should not be easily fooled by deceptive morality. Throughout the Gospel, Jesus is teaching us that we should not see problems in the world in the same way that the world does. We must teach our children and our neighbors how to think clearly, and the only way to truly think freely is to be transformed by the perfect love of Christ. God wants us to use our minds, but the devil and his demons want us to be blind and led astray by every passing whim.

In Mark 1:16-20 the world saw fishermen when Jesus saw two brothers named James and John who needed the call of Heaven. Later in Mark 1:40-45, the world saw a leper while Jesus saw a man that He wanted to make clean. The world saw tax collectors and sinners in Mark 2:13-17, but Jesus saw a man called Levi who needed the love of God. Time and time again in the Gospel the world tries to get Jesus to answer questions like “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” as in John 9:2, but Jesus answers, “neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” as in John 9:3. Jesus does not see things in the way the world wants Him to, for the holiness of God is not baited into anything less than truth. By the time we arrive at our text in Mark 5:1-20, a man runs up to Jesus, bows down, and an appeal for mercy comes out of his mouth; however, Jesus is not fooled by what appears to be a reverent victim crying out for earnest relief, instead He sees the truth: a diabolical scam pretending to be something it is not.

All Christians are instructed by the Gospel to have a new set of eyes with which they navigate life; furthermore the very gift of the Holy Spirit, a gift we often call sanctification, should transform how we see the world. In Acts 3:1-7 there was a man expecting alms by the Temple. He had been lame from birth and the world, including the supposedly spiritual people, expected this man’s situation to be addressed in terms of alms, pity, and material charity. Peter and John do not address this man’s problems on the terms of finance and pity. Instead, they heal him. They see the world differently, not bothering to get hung up in the weeds of alms and pity. They see the world on the terms of the Gospel, and are moved to bless the man with the liberty of Christ. This freedom to see problems differently is a gift of the Gospel, and we must illuminate it to others.

In 1 Peter 4:1-4, the Apostle Peter lays out for us how we should think differently than the world by thinking clearly with the Holy Spirit: Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin), 2 so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God. 3 You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation, and so they blaspheme.

In Ephesians 6:17 the church is given the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The Holy Spirit came to us, and we have been gifted the great weapon of sanctification. The church should not be in lockstep with the world, being fooled and baited into untruthful methods of thinking. People are hungry to be freed from the nonsense of our world, and we must teach the Gospel which frees people to think clearly with God. Real holiness gives us new eyes and ears to navigate life, and it makes us sufficient and motivated to live as God intends. There is great evil which we must stand against, and let us make good on the Gospel by seeing the world with Christ and not under the deceptive tricks of fallen creation. Do not be fooled by evil that puts on a show, but weigh out fruits and live freely with Christ.

[asklionjonson]

The Dreadwing Experience

Once of my favorite sections from the spectacular Horus Heresy series “Angels of Caliban” Depicts the Dreadwing in all it’s terror. From this you can see how the 6th hosts of the first legion were the bedrock of which other more specified legions were built upon. Of course all credit for this goes not to myself no I just Love spreading the word of the Dark Angels. Credit for this and almost every amazing Dark Angel Novel goes to Games Workshop and Gav Thorpe. 

Chapter 4

We Are Death

“Nearly Fifteen Hundred warriors of the Dreadwing had answered Redloss’ call to arms. Many rode in Rhinos, Land Raiders, Spartans and other transports, but several hundred formed up on foot behind the armored machines of their brothers. 

      Engines died and fifteen hundred warriors stilled themselves each reaching into his thoughts, remembering the teachings of the Dreadwing. 

    From external vocalizers and the address systems of the vehicles a low chant began. 

    It was almost nothing at first, a sigh that became a whisper. The cold wind flicked the hourglass-shaped pennants and brought a flurry of snow across the black of war-plate. The whisper became a murmur, the words still indistinct. Aboard the Spartan, Redloss cross-broadcast the transmissions from the Dreadwing network to all non-Dark Angel frequencies, blanketing the airwaves with the sound of his warriors. In low orbit, the Intolerant turned its prow surface wards, a spear of black and gold. Vanes like the vertebrae of a kilometer-long saurian extruded from its flanks.

  The chat resolved itself into words, still quiet but firm, the first rumble of thunder from a storm in the distance. The Dreadwing did not come in secret, they hid nothing of their purpose. Their strength did not come from righteous ire. They needed no justification. They needed no aggrandizing. 

The Dreadwing simply were.

We have come, they proclaimed. We are death. 

Energy flared along the length of the Intolerant, arcs of purple and blue that leapt from one vane to the next, moving from stern to ow in succession. A few seconds later another surge of lightning rippled down the starship. With each few passing seconds the pause between flashes shortened. 

The voice of the Dreadwing became regular speech, the words slow and insistent, uttered between teeth gritted in wolfish grins.

We have come. We are death.

We have come. We are death. 

Farith added his voice to the chant, his immense war-axe in one hand, the other forming a fist that gently struck the beat on the console of the comm-unit. 

 ‘We have come. We are death.’

The other Dark Angels fell back, guided by the command of their Paladins. Where gaps in the line appeared, the Dreadwing re-formed, transports moving forward, squads repositioning, the wall of black consolidating even as rockets and shells crashed down around them. And there they stayed, motionless, the chant as unbroken as the line.

We have come. We are death. 

The mantra was insistent, loud, growing quicker and quicker. 

The pulses of cerulean fire that enveloped the Intolerant were almost constant. Above the battlefield, through the break in the clouds, it seemed as though a violet star sprang into life. 

We have come. We are death. 

A shout. A promise, not a threat. Redloss’ fist was beating hard, denting the metal of the console. Along the line, gauntlets beat in unison on chest plastrons and against the hulls of the tanks. Every half a second, with metronomic precision, a crash of metallic thunder rolled across the battlefield, swamping the sound of lasblasts and auto cannon shells.

We have come. We are death.

The Intolerant was awash with swirling energy, the void around it buckling and twisting like a warped mirror. The flare of power cast impossible shadows against the vacuum of space. 

We have come. We are death.

The Dreadwing advanced again, walking forward at a quick march, every warrior in step, their vehicles taking the brunt of fire from the redirected weapons of the traitors’ bunkers. 

Redloss pulled himself up the ladder to the command hatch atop the Spartan and ascended to the roof of the vehicle. It ground forward in time with the advance, engines like the rumble of a dormant giant. He lifted up the great hourglass-headed axe in both hands pumping his arm along with the chant.

‘We have come!’ roared Farith. ‘We are death!’ 

The Intolerant opened fire. 

From the ground Redloss watched the descending bolt of darkness. It looked like a negative sun, a sphere of black that slid across reality rather than dropped with mass, slower than a shell or missile, impossibly dense yet intangible. 

We have come. We are death. 

The chant reverberated along the valley one last time before the Intolerant’s bolt struck the ground. The darkness vanished, slipping past the Ice and mud and for several heartbeats nothing happened.

    The rift blast expanded in an instant, the lighting-wreathed oval of discordant energy that filled the space between the Dreadwing and the stronghold, its crackling edge no more than a hundred meters from Redloss. A screech like a god’s whetstone split the air, speakers and vox-units emitting their own piercing feedback wails in reply. A million tonnes of earth and ice sparkled in blue suspension, every grain of rock and mote of ash shimmering with tiny arcs of warp power.

 In the depths of the rift shapes moved almost unseen- the broadest sweep of a face or raking claw. They appeared more like afterimages, rendered  in three dimensions against the stretched skin of reality, pressing to pass through a veil only made visible by their presence.

Redloss held his breath, awed by the beauty of the moment, as he always was.

An instant later the warp field collapsed like a storm bubbling down into a single drop of rain. Dirt, snow, ferrocrete, flesh, metal, ceramite, bone, all disappeared with a boom that eclipsed all other sounds of battle. Silence followed as Farith’s auto-sense shut out the reverberations from the valley walls, but he could feel the ground shaking even through the rumble of the Spartan’s engines and the grinding of its tracks.

Where the warp rift had imploded, it left a smooth-sided semi-ovoid, a perfectly formed crater ten meters. “

That was a Dreadwing assault from once again ‘Angels of Caliban’ by Gav Thorpe and Games Workshop. Please get the book for yourself and enjoy it and all the other First Legion novels. 

#Dark Angels #Horus Herasy #40k #Warhammer #Dreadwing #Warhammer 40k

[jimharbor]

Exploring Ixalan's Story: A Question of Confidence , Annotated

Welcome guys. This week Ixalan was fully spoiled and with it the next installment of the MTG Story. Today I’ll be going back to my roots and annotating the story.

Before we begin, if you like these articles and would like to see more, please like and retweet, and as always feedback is welcomed.

Let’s begin!

Huatli looked around the plaza as she and her cousin passed under the arch at the entrance to Pachatupa. 

Pachatupa is the capital of the sun empire, and takes it’s name from an inversion of Tupac Amaura, the last native ruler of the Inca. 

The high arches of the Empire are to let large dinosaurs pass through.

Only the two knights' mounts (two bright-eyed clawfoots) seemed to care about their presence.

In the same way we don’t call dogs Canis lupus familiaris , the Dinosaurs of Ixalan aren’t referred to be their taxonomic names as we usually do. The made up dinosaur names also give them an excuse to have more fantastic dinosaur designs. Clawfoots are based on Dromaeosaurs, commonly known as Raptors and are often used as mounts.

Inti held out a hand, and Huatli passed him the stolen sword. He rolled his wrist to test its weight and handed it back. "You should have seen their priest," he said. "Hierophant," Huatli corrected.

Hierophant isn’t a rank used in Spanish or Catholic clergy, but a term stemming from ancient Greece, were it was used for the leaders of the mystery cults. The word means “to show the holy” and the job entailed sharing holy wisdom with acolytes. It’s well known today because of it’s Tarot card, which (tying back to the Catholic vibes) is also known as The Pope.

The Legion of Dusk are very religious, being co-ruled by the Church of Dusk and their Queen Miralda, and their Vampires wade into battle, feeding only on the blood of non believers.

A girl no older than thirteen broke from the group and ran up to her, eyes wide and breath short. "Warrior-Poet, are you delivering an oration at the homecoming ceremony.

A warrior-poet is a character type of a civilized artisan warrior, who finds glory in battle as well as the arts and philosophy. While the rank here is totally fictional Hautli’s status as a poet (and somewhat similar name) show a link  to  Nezahualcoyotl. 

A famed warrior-poet himself, he ruled the city state of Texcoco and revolutionized Nahua poetry by writing from a personal point of view, a sharp divide with the anonymous hymns of earlier generations. His poems were stepped in oral tradition for decades and to this day he is the namesake of the  Nezahualcóyotl Award, given to writers in indigenous Mexican languages. Nezahualcoyotl’s personal style is reflected with Hautli’s emphasis on using poems to share her feelings.

Poetry that is honest has magic in it; the ability to let other people feel what you feel is a very powerful magic indeed." 

Huatli’s magic based on feeling is an example of wotc showing the non destructive parts of red magic.

Huatli lay a hand on her dinosaur's rough hide and willed her to be still.Wait, she urged, sending the scent-memory of food through the connection between her and the beast.

Knights of the Sun Empire form mystic bonds with their steeds. This power is connected to the Threefold Sun, as seen in the text of Sun-Blessed Mount.

The city around them shone with amber and the light of the noonday sun.

While amber-like resin was heavily used in Mesoamerica, these copal, served as incense for ceremonies, it’s less solidified state making it more aromatic for burning.

The temple itself had been built on the foundation of an older temple, which had been built over several ruins even older than that. The Sun Empire itself was much the same. It was the latest iteration of a land whose rulers were constantly vying for power, building on top of the old and reaching ever higher with the new. Whereas the River Heralds had once controlled the continent, under the leadership of its new emperor, the Sun Empire had cemented its grip on the land.

This process is called Spolia and is very appropriate for the setting. By the time The Spaniards arrived in Mesoamerica a long list of various civilizations had risen and fallen in prominence from the Olmec to the Zapotec to the Maya and Toltec. The Aztec Triple Alliance Cortex encountered was the product of a long line of mesoamerican cultures. The idea of the Sun Empire supplanting the River Heralds takes it’s cues directly from how the Mexica people rose from wandering squatters and mercenaries to the dominant power of the region by usurping their predecessors. 

The thing was flimsy and thin, meant for quick stabs rather than smooth cuts, and a tacky black rose was welded to one side. To think that these inferior craftsmen thought themselves conquerors.

The weapon is a Rapier , invented by the Spanish. Destreza, a martial art of it’s use was formalized around the same time they made landfall in the Americas. The Spaniard themed legion of dusk use them, but also have fangs at the tips to showcase their vampiric nature. The Black Rose is an emblem of the Legion of Dusk, and like the Sun Empire symbol, it looks very much like the seal of Ixalan’s binding.

"Kinjalli, hear my call! The time has come to wake the sleepers, To pierce the eastern shadow That would darken all our days.

Tilonalli, hear my call! Fill your children's hearts with fire That we may be the dawn that breaks To immolate the Dusk.

The Sun Empire worship three aspects of the sun, one for each color  of mana they use. Kinjalli is the wakening sun, of white mana Tilonalli is the burning sun of red mana. Huatli being RW homages these aspects of the sun in particular.

Kinjalli is close to K’injal which would be Mayan for “Sunify.” While Tilonalli is a corruption of tōnalli, the Nahua word for day.

A bit of irony in that the Aztec inspired faction is the one with the Holy trinity.

"Driving the Brazen Coalition and the Legion of Dusk from our eastern coast means that we are ready to reclaim the south," Apatzec announced.

Miraldanor is the name of the Vampire territory in the south of Ixalan. It’s named after their queen, and is where they first landed.

He had the body of a blacksmith, but the head of an animal that Huatli had only seen around Legion of Dusk forts—a bull? Heavy iron chains were wrapped around his chest, and he seemed to glow from within like a furnace, a steady flow of steam rising from his snout. 

Bulls aren’t native to Ixalan and Hautli only knows them from the Legion, just as in real life bulls were brought to mesoamerica by Europeans. Angrath’s burning horns are drawn to look like the burning ropes hair Blackbeard used in his hair for intimidation.

Hijack by Sveltin Yelenov

Blackbeard by Miles Teves

"I am the dread pirate Angrath," he said, "and I seek the Immortal Sun."

Huatli laughed out loud. "You and everyone else, fool."

“Dread Pirate” is a term taken from the classic film/novel the Princess Bride. Angrath’s foreign accent and alien way of fighting are because he is a planeswalker, one who is trapped on Ixalan and as Angrath’s Marauders tells us, not very happy about it. His name is an on-the-nose meld of Anger and Wrath that is similar to Dominarian hero and Tahngarth of the Weatherlight Saga.

The Immortal Sun is a lost treasure that all four factions on Ixalan want for different reasons.

The Vampire believe it will make them immortal without needing to drink blood.

The Sun Empire wishes  to reclaim their lost city of Orazca

The Pirates want the ultimate treasure

and the Merfolk want to keep it from anyone else because they believe if found it will cause doom.

Her vision burst into a miasma of color and light, sound rushed through her ears, and she felt her body begin to break away from itself. It was bright and warm and should have been frightening, but it felt like the most natural thing in the world—she felt her head pass forward, deeper into the color and light, and she saw.

It was a city that shone with the warmth of gold.

Huatli’s first planeswalk is an attempt to get to Kaladesh, a plane ruled by the creativity she so values and one that has a golden city, just as in her culture’s legends.

Her perception was yanked sharply back, as if some unseen force was pulling her backward to the jungle. Whatever door she peered through had slammed shut, barred her from entry. Everything was flying again through color and light, sound and noise, until her body rearranged itself on the forest floor.

Huatli's blood pounded, and her vision settled on a strange triangle-and-circle symbol hovering with a strange glow above her head.

Huatli’s first planeswalk is stopped by the same sealing that trapped Jace and that also traps Angrath.

She was not a seer, yet she had seen. She was not a voyager, yet her mission was to voyage. Huatli was two things, and neither seemed connected to the destiny that lay ahead.

Huatli closed her eyes and calmed her busy mind. Her dreams were dappled with gold, shining with the colors of a place beyond her any she had ever seen. The dream shifted, transformed, became more prophecy than dream, and she saw herself as she would someday be.

Huatli has been compared to Joan of Arc by her creators, in that  both are female knights driven by religious visions. The Golden City of Orazca’s mythic and sacred value to the Sun Empire as a bygone city mirrors the status of of Aztlan as the legendary homeland of the Nahua people.

And that wraps up this chapter’s annotation, I hope you guys enjoyed and special thanks to cultural consultant @stevethesorcerer .

#ixalan #mtg #vorthos #mtgxln #mesoamerica #aztec #maya

[thetrashbang]

Officer Benny and Characterisation in Stealth

There's a very special NPC in Thief II: The Metal Age. In the dimly-lit games room of the Truart Estate, surrounded by the discarded playing cards and abandoned dartboards of the recent party held by the Sheriff and his debaucherous toff friends, a lone drunken City Watch officer disconnectedly rambles to the barmaid on duty. His name is Officer Benny, and I love him.

"I can't believe that s-some (hic) taffer went and spilled mead all over that rug!" he yells as you approach unseen, his model swaying unsteadily in a dramatic display of intoxication. The barmaid, clearly worn out by a harrowing work shift, sighs wearily.

"Benny... you spilled the mead on the rug," she explains patiently. "Anyway, someone is on the way to clean it up already."

"But you don't understaaand!" Benny wails, now clearly, inexplicably on the verge of tears. "These (hic) taffers have no respect for such... b-beautiful things!"

Around this point, it’s likely that you’ll start to tune out and skulk around in the gloom, looking for the telltale glint of loot to funnel into your pockets. Stacks of coins and rings litter the gaming tables, tempting you to sneak a hand under the hanging lamps. One of Karras’s Children—a hunchbacked steam-powered automaton with a head like a brass football —clanks around the room, mindlessly praising its creator to the heavens. It’s not much of a threat, but it’s certainly an annoying little contraption. One water arrow to the boiler grate usually does the trick.

"Benny, I think you've had too much to drink. Aren't you supposed to be on duty?"

“Hah. So what if I am, huh?” he says, sounding more than a little defensive. “Anyways, I work mm-better when I’m drunk. It makes me fearless! If I see a bad guy, I’ll just point my sword at him, and saaaaaay… HEY, BAD GUY!”

You freeze, momentarily worried you’ve been spotted trying to snaffle the discarded goblet from beside the fireplace. Benny continues with his charade, utterly oblivious.

“You’re not s’posed to be here! G-go home or I’ll stick you with my sword ‘til you go ‘Ouch, I’m dead!’ Ah-hah-hah-hurgh!” He makes an indescribable sniffing, gurgling, chuckling noise, and momentarily falls silent. “See? Ain’t no one gonna be messin’ with ol’ Benny.”

“Whatever, Benny. I think you should sleep it off. No more mead for you.”

In the grand scheme of things, it’s a fairly trivial exchange: it doesn’t tie into some larger arc, it doesn’t impart any useful information about objectives or security system vulnerabilities, and neither Officer Benny nor the barmaid will ever be seen again. Benny’s emotional ping-ponging is unconvincing at best, and while his delivery certainly isn’t lacking in vigour, the only character in the room with exceptional voice acting is Garrett, the Master Thief; the one surreptitiously pocketing everyone’s gambling winnings during this exchange. And yet, Benny’s rambling accomplishes something very special. It’s the perfect, emblematic example of a quality present throughout the Thief games; one that shapes how we approach them, and in turn, the experiences they provide.

Thief II gives you a sword. Not a discreet little knife, fit for a slippery cutthroat, but a proper blade; the kind for lopping off soldiers’ limbs on a muddy, arrow-strewn embankment. It’s a silent acknowledgement that you may have to kill men, not in a surprise scuffle where you jump them from behind the bins, but in a full-on fight with multiple assailants. It’s the kind of thing you defend yourself with when things are rapidly going downhill and there’s nowhere to run; a tool for when the halls are filled with the sounds of alarm bells and clattering jackboots. In the right hands it can be quite effective, and it’s entirely possible to hack n’ slash your way through a legion of aggravated soldiers, provided they’re courteous enough to approach you in a narrow corridor or something.

Something doesn’t add up here, does it? Stealth needs reasons for you to stealth, so to speak. There have to be incentives to keep you in hiding, and those incentives usually start with some sort of punishment for being caught. You’re supposed to be outmatched and outgunned, or at the very least, have some higher-level motive for not wanting to be seen. If Garrett can accomplish his goals by going where he pleases and stabbing everyone who looks at him the wrong way, what’s stopping him, really?

Well, it’s kind of a dick thing to do, of course, but gamers have never been above murdering NPCs for slightly inconveniencing them. It’s also a flat-out fail state on many missions if you attempt them on a higher difficulty setting, but by the time you get around to them you’ve almost certainly put the idea out of your head long ago in any case. Dishonored, Thief’s darling modern protégé, would invisibly bump up the Chaos meter—a hidden metric that determines whether Corvo’s been naughty or nice—but Thief itself has no such system, and other than occasionally dropping remarks along the lines of “remember, murdering people is for poser scrublords”, does little to impress upon you the moral wrongness of your actions. A corpse is functionally identical to an unconscious body—indeed, were it not for a single line of HUD text, they’d be impossible to differentiate at all—and sure, people might be a bit more screamy if you clobber them over the head with a blade rather than a blackjack, but what does that matter if you’ve already established you’re not interested in being quiet?

No, Thief II chooses instead to work with characterisation. Who, of the people you encounter throughout its missions, are your enemies? Not the tired watchmen trudging through the halls on a cold evening; not the harmless peasants, trying to prosper in an industrial revolution even as it crushes them between its wheels; not even the Mechanist underlings, suckered into a fad cult and set to work fulfilling Karras’s insane agenda. Your foes are far away, clinking glasses in rooms full of light and music, and most of them will never meet you face-to-face. What direct quarrel do you have with the guards who patrol the game’s moody locales, besides the fact that they’re between you and your goal?

Right. They’re not your enemies, so Thief doesn’t characterise them as enemies. Engendering sympathy to discourage murdering NPCs is hardly a novel concept, but Thief’s approach stands out, primarily because it’s less about pre-emptive guilting and more about subtle humanisation. While you creep around behind their backs, guards will hum, whistle, recite passages, moan about the cold, mumble to themselves, even wonder aloud when they’re getting dinner. You’ll find guards cracking jokes, trash-talking each other’s employers, discussing financial management, complaining about the weather, worrying about being replaced by the new-fangled mechanical eyes, and a thousand other ordinary things totally unrelated to the here-and-now of their work shift. They’re not goose-stepping around shouting “boy, I sure hope nobody stabs me in the back while I’m pacing back and forth, how would my wife and three children ever survive on the streets without a loving father like me?”; they’re just… well, bored, usually. Wouldn’t it be terrible to have to cut down a person like that, just because they made the mistake of investigating some footsteps a little too closely? Thief makes you want to stay unseen, not for your own sake, but for the sake of those who might see you.

And Officer Benny? He’s the epitome of this humanisation. Not only is he drunk, chatty, skiving off work and chewing the scenery with an unprecedented level of unhinged abandon, but through his babbling, he offers an insight into his attitude. There’s no black, tarry pit of hatred boiling away somewhere in him, fuelled by some personal vendetta, waiting to bubble over in fury at the sight of a wayward miscreant; he’s just doing what he’s supposed to. Benny sees himself as the cop in the proverbial cops and robbers: a figure of authority in a simplistic world, out to stop the scoundrels and ruffians in a game where everyone mutually agrees on the rules. His inebriated cry of “HEY, BAD GUY! You’re not s’posed to be here!” is born of this position, announcing what he sees as incontestable truths, spoken more out of convention than anything else. And what’s his ultimatum? Go home, or get stabbed. Go home. Even faced with someone absolutely, undeniably in the wrong, in his morally black-and-white world, his first thought is of telling them to scarper; to leave peacefully, without accountability or interrogation. He’s not smart, or nuanced, or even—if you catch his attention—particularly true to his word, but Officer Benny’s attitude is charming in its simplistic naivety, devoid of real malice or antagonistic ideals. For that, I could no more swing my sword at him than kick a puppy, and that’s why he holds Thief II’s formula together—along with countless other watchmen, guards and Mechanists.

Thanks, Benny. I hope your hangover wasn’t too rough.

#Thief #Thief II #Looking Glass #Stealth

[spicynbachili2]

Out This Week: Tetris Effect, Overkill’s The Walking Dead, BlacKkKlansman

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After you vote, reward your self with a brand new recreation or two!

By Lucas M. Thomas

With so many new video games and films popping out, it may be exhausting to maintain up. Fortunate for you, IGN is right here to assist with a weekly round-up of the largest releases every week. Take a look at the newest releases for this week, and you should definitely come again subsequent Monday for a brand new replace.

Be aware: The costs and offers compiled under are correct on the time we printed this story, however all are topic to vary.

Overkill’s The Strolling Useless

Launch Date: Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Produced by Starbreeze and developed by Overkill, this chapter in The Strolling Useless saga contains a cooperative, first-person, action-based survival expertise. The sport (which is unrelated to the TV collection and as an alternative is a brand new storyline pressure primarily based on the comics) explores new characters and story occasions, and provides parts of motion, role-playing, survival horror and stealth multi functional harrowing expertise the place survivors fend for themselves in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by flesh-eating walkers.

World of Ultimate Fantasy MAXIMA

Launch Date: Tuesday, November 6, 2018

See it on Amazon for $39.99 (Xbox One)

Additionally downloadable on Nintendo Change and PS4

Within the enchanting RPG World of Ultimate Fantasy, gamers observe the journey of siblings, Reynn and Lann, as they enter the world of Grymoire and encounter a mess of acquainted Ultimate Fantasy characters and monsters. World of Ultimate Fantasy combines traditional RPG gameplay mechanics with recent and imaginative toy-like visuals. Seize and lift acquainted Ultimate Fantasy beasts (equivalent to cactuar, chocobo, and behemoth) to find alternate varieties and be taught new skills. With an inviting strategy to gameplay, this recreation may be loved by each followers and newcomers to the collection.

BlacKkKlansman

Launch Date: Tuesday, November 6, 2018

See it on Amazon for $19.99 (Blu-ray)

From our Evaluate: Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman is many movies, abruptly. It’s a severe drama about racial points. It’s an exhilarating undercover cop film. It’s a disturbing comedy about white supremacy. It’s a horror story about white supremacy. It’s a fancy dialogue about propagandist cinema. And most significantly… it’s implausible.

Déraciné

Launch Date: Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Downloadable on PS4 (PSVR)

As an unseen faerie summoned by a younger lady in a secluded boarding faculty, you should show its existence and construct a novel bond with the scholars by way of intelligent interactions. Because the thriller of the story unfolds, the spirit should use its potential to control the forces of life and time to vary the destiny of the pupils. Transfer round in frozen time, accumulating numerous bits of knowledge that serve to unfold an overarching thriller. Déraciné is the VR debut from director Hidetaka Miyazaki and FromSoftware. The story is a brand new tackle traditional journey video games and makes use of PS VR’s expertise to take players on a completely distinctive and private expertise.

Launch Date: Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Downloadable on Nintendo Change, PS4 or Xbox One

End your journey by way of the worlds of ARK in Extinction, the place the story started and ends: on Earth itself! An Aspect-infested, ravaged planet crammed with fantastical creatures each natural & technological, Earth holds each the secrets and techniques of the previous and the keys to its salvation. As a veteran Survivor who has conquered all earlier obstacles, your final problem awaits: are you able to defeat the big roaming Titans which dominate the planet, and full the ARK cycle to save lots of Earth’s future?

GRIP: Fight Racing

Launch Date: Tuesday, November 6, 2018

See it on Amazon for $39.99 (Nintendo Change, PS4 or Xbox One)

Impressed by the unbounded Rollcage racing video games, Grip: Fight Racing marks a return to the hardcore fight racer — bristling with heavy weapons and packing ferocious velocity, that is an intense sensory driving problem. Hit speeds of as much as 700 km/h whereas driving on flooring, partitions, and ceilings — something you will get your tires on to maintain the hammer down! With the specialised all-terrain design of Grip automobiles, flipping the automobile over now not means recreation over! From hostile, icy worlds to outlandish, non-terrestrial cities, Grip’s areas present racing experiences completely different from something you’ve got raced by way of earlier than. Select one of the best car from a roster of armored, customizable vehicles, and equip them on the fly with an array of power-ups and weapons. With destructible constructions round every observe to make use of towards your opponents, together with quite a lot of attainable routes on every observe, you must use your wits in addition to your expertise to win.

Swords

Launch Date: Tuesday, November 6, 2018

See it on Steam (PC)

Additionally downloadable on PS4 or Nintendo Change

Vikings face off towards Persian and Demon armies in ferocious battles throughout the globe in Swords & Troopers 2 Shawarmageddon, a strategic multiplayer lane protection recreation. Push the enemy again and smash their base with a legion of distinct models, spells and constructions. In case your opponent’s base nonetheless stands in spite of everything that, break the impasse with one of many highly effective heroes. This follow-up to Swords & Troopers HD improves upon the unique Swords & Troopers 2 with expanded and refined gameplay. A 10 hour single participant marketing campaign sees you race towards time to cease a tasty however terrifying apocalypse and is additional bolstered by loads of bonus challenges and mini-games. What begins as a easy mission to recuperate your favourite shawarma snack turns into a battle to stop Shawarmageddon! Alongside the way in which you will additionally acquire models, spells and constructions, which is able to help you construct your personal loopy combine by utilizing the customized military function. Construct the military of your desires – even use models from all three factions directly! Then, as soon as your beard has grown and your swords sharpened, you’ll be able to take a look at your mettle both in native multiplayer or towards different chieftains from around the globe in on-line multiplayer!

Brawlhalla – Nintendo Change and Xbox One Variations

Launch Date: Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Downloadable on Nintendo Change or Xbox One

Brawlhalla is a 2D platform combating recreation. An everlasting battle enviornment the place the best Legends ever brawl to show who’s one of the best that ever was, is, or might be. Each match is an epic take a look at of ability, velocity, and energy, and each victory brings glory and bragging rights to the winner.

Metal Rats

Launch Date: Wednesday, November 7, 2018

See it on Steam (PC)

Additionally downloadable on PS4 or Xbox One

Strapping in your spiked shoulder pads for all-out bike motion! Metal Rats is a 2.5D motion arcade recreation that fuses damaging, octane-fueled bike fight and death-defying stunt gameplay, set in a visually stylized retro-future world. Be part of the Metal Rats, a larger-than-life punk biker gang who as soon as dominated the streets of Coastal Metropolis and now discover themselves because the final line of protection towards an invading horde of damaging and consistently evolving military of junkbots. Select your character, and unlock new particular skills and customizable bikes to struggle with type by way of huge areas of the town in a lethal mixture of velocity, agility and firepower.

Moonlighter – Nintendo Change Model

Launch Date: Friday, November 9, 2018

See it on Amazon for $34.99 (Nintendo Change)

Or $24.99 when downloaded from the Change eShop

Moonlighter is an Motion RPG that follows an adventurous shopkeeper that secretly desires of turning into a hero. Throughout an archeological excavation — a set of Gates had been found. Folks shortly realized that these historical passages result in completely different realms and dimensions. Rynoka, a small business village, was discovered close to the excavation site– offering courageous and reckless adventurers with treasures past measure.

Tetris Impact

Launch Date: Friday, November 9, 2018

See it on Amazon for $39.99 (PS4/PSVR)

From Tetsuya Mizuguchi and the inventive crew behind Rez Infinite and Lumines, Tetris Impact is an evocative spin on the traditional puzzler with 30-plus levels that take gamers on a wondrous, emotional journey by way of the universe, from deep beneath the ocean to the furthest reaches of outer house and in every single place between. Named after the real-world phenomenon the place gamers’ brains are so engrossed that pictures of the enduring falling Tetrimino blocks (i.e. the Tetris taking part in items) linger of their imaginative and prescient, ideas, and even desires, Tetris Impact amplifies this magical feeling of complete immersion by surrounding you with implausible, totally three-dimensional worlds that react and evolve primarily based on the way you play. Music, backgrounds, sounds, particular results — every thing, right down to the Tetris items themselves, pulse, dance, shimmer, and explode in excellent sync with the way you’re taking part in. The core of the sport continues to be Tetris—one of the vital well-liked puzzle video games of all time—however such as you’ve by no means seen it, or heard it, or felt it earlier than.

Lucas M. Thomas assembles Out This Week each week, and when he isn’t doing that, he is assembling journal pages because the Editor-in-Chief of Nintendo Power Journal. New subscriptions out there now by way of Patreon! You may observe him on Twitter, @NintendoForce.

from SpicyNBAChili.com https://www.spicynbachili.com/out-this-week-tetris-effect-overkills-the-walking-dead-blackkklansman/

[booksovertv]

The Marie Laveau Series by Jewell Parker Rhodes . Here's the synopsis from Amazon.com . Jewell Parker Rhodes, who has earned legions of fans with her masterful fiction, launched her career as an award-winning novelist with Voodoo Dreams, based on the legend of New Orleans's most famous voodoo priestess, Marie Laveau. . Voodoo Season, Rhodes's fourth novel, revisits the mystical landscape of Louisiana, but now, for the first time, the celebrated author of historical fiction presents a mystery set in the here and now. . This is the story of Marie Levant, a great-great granddaughter of Marie Laveau and a medical doctor compelled by unseen forces to relocate from Chicago to her family's native home. This is New Orleans, where the slave-holding past merges with the twenty-first century, a place where women of color are still being abused, raped, and -- even more horrifying -- rendered "un-dead," zombie-like Sleeping Beauties. . The Quadroon Balls of yesterday are a present reality and only Marie Levant can untangle the medical mystery. . A smart modern-day heroine, unafraid of her sexuality, Marie Levant extends the Laveau legacy of spiritual empowerment, prophetic vision, and voodoo possession. Voodoo Season is a fresh and original work of fiction that is a magical womanist tale of mystery and power. • #books #bookhaul #igreads #igbooks #bookstagram #booksovertv #washingtonsquarepress #jewellparkerrhodes #bookblogger #blackbooks #blackgirlmagic #bibliophile #bookporn #bookphotography

#washingtonsquarepress #jewellparkerrhodes #blackbooks #bookphotography #bookporn #books #booksovertv #blackgirlmagic #igreads #bibliophile #bookhaul #bookblogger #igbooks #bookstagram

[mklopez]

Game Of Thrones: 15 Things You Didn’t Know About The Unseen Pilot Episode Padraig Cotter, screenrant.com

Games Of Thrones has grown over the years from a cult favorite to full on phenomenon, one that has legions of fans and is beloved the world over. The TV series was an unlikely success story, despite coming from an acclaimed series of novels…

Game of Thrones’ original pilot episode may have doomed the series to cancellation, so HBO reshot the entire thing