#{A Cabal of Beauty and Lethality} | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

zealousartisantimemachine-blog · 3 years

Text

Cone Snails versus Man

Deep Sea Diving with all the diving gear, through a rigorous and vigorous training has its invaluable dividends. Among the fish, he is likely to see colorful objects. The Cone Snail.

Colorful Cone shells The snail underneath would be a boneless Snail, looking for its own food amid equally colorful fish. Remembering about electric eels in fresh water, training would have taught him to regard these with the respect due to a living organism, but yet research and seek to satisfy his curiosity.

The cone snail is known for its beautiful shell and that is what attracts the collectors. On being picked up by its shell, the snail will stick its harpoon into the person. The kind of effect will depend on the snail’s poison as each one has its distinct fingerprint. The poison contains a neurotic element which can temporarily paralyze you. Severe respiratory problems will start developing and the body will ultimately shut down due to the nervous breakdown. It is advised that if you are stung by a cone snail, immediate CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation should be performed or else risk dying. In extreme cases, full blood transfusions might be necessary to get the poison out of the system.

The cone snail, one of the most venomous animals on earth, releases a cloud of insulin when a fish swims by, causing it to go into hypoglycaemic shock, immobilizing it so it can inject the fish with a cocktail of up to 200 toxins.

Museums Victoria, Australia's largest Public Museum, holds about 8000 individual cone shells. A team of scientists there spent months digitizing and re-organizing those shells. In life, all the cone snails used venom to hunt prey. Inside one particular shell was a kind of Cartridge containing the arsenal of neurotoxins so diabolically complex it may actually harbor secrets which prove hugely beneficial to human society.

So the most venomous animal on Earth is probably not a predator like a Rattle Snake or a Cobra, or even a Viper, that looks dangerously intimidating. Surprisingly its the Snail, also a synonym moving at the slowest of speeds.The kind that is in the Ocean, sporting a Shell so exquisite it is among the most desired of all sea shells. Its shell is conical, placing it among the 800 or so species of marine predators which make up the Conidae family—known in plain English as cone snails.

Conus geographus—aka, the Geography Cone—eats fish. Sometimes, entire schools of them.

undefined

youtube

Yes, one of the slowest of creatures catches one of the fastest, even several at time. Not by chasing them down, but by immobilizing them.

With chemical weapons.When its unsuspecting prey swims past, the Geography Cone releases a cloud of insulin. It’s the same hormone used as a life-saving drug for diabetics, just subverted.

The insulin cloud—called a ‘nirvana cabal’—enters the fish’s blood stream through the gills. Instead of stabilising, their blood sugars plummet and the fish enter hypoglycaemic shock.

Cone snails are the only animals in the world, other than humans, that have been recorded to use insulin as a weapon. bunch of pretty shells, indeed !

The Geography Cone then sends out a false mouth which balloons like a net and engulfs the stupefied fish. Selecting from up to 200 toxins, the snail concocts a fatal potion which it injects into its prey with a harpoon-like tooth.

Other cone snails launch these harpoons from a proboscis, shooting fish at a distance and reeling them in before swallowing them whole. Some submerge themselves in sand, lying in ambush. It is the incredibly varied nature of these chemicals which makes cone snails so appealing to biomedical research. Because, by peering into their lethal chemical arsenals, scientists can make life-saving breakthroughs as cone snail venom that can target specific pain receptors in humans without the addictive qualities.

Creation is beautiful from a distance, in its natural habitation, natural endogenous spaces and privacy, without human interference, for we have already seen the effects of this when we interfered with Bats.

The moment he sets his eyes on something, beautiful, he figures it out why its beautiful and seeks to find ways in which he can possess it, employing to his advantage.

In his next follow up measure, which is used as a standard template he has set for himself, he examines the conditions for its growth and its, streamlines the channels that supplies the food for it, and extracts its venom, processing it for the updating present suppressant, grading it, distributing the lowest grade for the under-developed countries, then middle order quality to the developing countries, and keeping the creame for himself and his superior white race. He then converts it into Capsules or Tablet, or merely an injection. His claim of improving it to 1000 times will be capitalized likewise.

At some point in the future, fresh, blue and crystal clear water and unpolluted, non-toxic clean air, with absolute purity will be rarity with Powerful Rich Nations aspiring to take into control that Nation that has such massive sources of water, as the Powerful Nations go for Oil, now.

Thus it applies to all things living that the human animal finds it desirable for his never-ending needs.

After the extinction of the Cone Snails, it will be the Jellyfish.

Observe through Scientific History of exploration in reaching out to each corner of this World, especially in the South American, African and the Tropical Jungles, the Seven Seas, where there is no stone upturned to find out possibilities that could be of service to the homo sapiens in every conceivable way.

While the purpose of this blog is to highlight just this, that some point we have to pull the brake-lever up, and call to the powers that be to stop looking at the bountiful Nature as something that exists for the Human Beings' consumption to service all his fancies needs to compensate for his indisciplined behaviour and nurture his narcissistic pursuits.

#environmental injustice #conservation #save earth #pristine nature #Youtube

2 notes · View notes

dailycharacteroption · 4 years

Text

Urushiol (Druid Archetype)

While some species use venom to hunt, many more toxic creatures use poison as a defense mechanism, rather than as a weapon.

You’ve probably seen hundreds of nature specials about plants, animals, and more that are dangerous to eat, or even touch, things like brightly-colored poisonous frogs, fruit not meant for human consumption that makes you sick, and even plant leaves that leave behind itching rashes on skin contact.

With that in mind, today we’re looking at an archetype of druid that seeks to emulate such creatures, becoming incredibly toxic at a moment’s notice.

The very name urushiol, is derived from urushi, the Japanese word for laquer trees, and is the scientific term for oily compounds that certain plants secrete to induce a rash or other reaction on contact. This is interesting, as we rarely see such a scientific term used for an archetype, let alone tied to a traditionally “uncivilized” class. (Then again, druids are naturalists first and foremost, so perhaps it’s not so odd).

Rather than bond with a creature or an aspect of nature, these druids instead focus on a specialized minor form of wild shape in addition to their normal wild shape abilities. With it they change their flesh to secrete toxins from their skin.

At first, this weakening poison can only be secreted from striking appendages or onto weaponry, but later on, they can use it to suffuse their body with ingested poison to wrack those that bite or swallow them, and later on as a contact poison to punish those that they touch.

Later on, mimicking toxic pollens or gasses, they can exude their toxin into the air.

They even learn how to make paralytic or deadly poisons as well, though it takes more effort.

Due to their focus on poisons, these druids become totally immune to poison much faster than other druids.

As one might imagine, these toxic mystics have a lot of potential for characters that want a more subtle approach to defeating foes. I imagie such druids would favor poisonous wild shapes and spells that debuff foes with poison, but of course they can change things up as needed to deal with the foes at hand. You don’t get nature bond at all though, so keep that in mind.

Whether they revere poisonous life for purely naturalistic reasons or practical ones, there is no denying that their skill set makes them quite useful in a city setting where subtle forms of lethality or debilitation find the most use. They might be outsiders who have found their niche within city walls, or they might be part of secret cabals not unlike urban druids and the like. Stealth and melee combat are also good choices.

The homes of the vanara are beautiful rainforests where poisonous plants and beasts live in abundance. As such, many among them who take the druidic path master such poisons to turn on their foes. Occassionally a raja will hire one to become a poison-checker, or more commonly, and assassin.

Few places have more poisonous creatures than the ocean, so it only makes sense that the way of the urushiol crops up often in coastal undine communities. Some develop translucent flesh reminiscent of a jellyfish when using their abilities, but they otherwise prove quite deadly to invaders, be they sahuagin or pirate raiders.

If it had not been for the party’s timely intervention, their sponsor, an elderly scholar, would have died from an assassination attempt. When questioned about it, she claims she was attacked by a man with a poisonous grasp and the ability to transform into a gigantic scorpion. Such magical abilities might point to any number of beings, though there are only a few of the old scholar’s enemies who deal in goods from lands where such beasts are common.

#pathfinder #archetype #druid #urushiol #vanara #undine #Ultimate Intrigue

13 notes · View notes

elaraves · 4 years

Text

Lost Light

With much effort, Elara managed to squeeze through parts of the ruined city wall. Ahead of her was the wilds, untamed and dangerous to go unarmed. The tops of the trees that lined the edge of the woods waved to her. She gave one last look up and behind her to make sure no Cabal was sitting in wait at the perimeter. All she found was more ash and destruction. She couldn’t help but feel sad and scared. Her home and people were in ruin and she only had her Ghost to accompany her into the unknown.

Calm yourself. She took a moment to breathe. Question seemed to notice her hesitation and remained silent.

Her fiery eyes flashed open once more and she dashed for the treeline. She ducked under and behind the brambles and peeked back towards where she was. Nothing had changed. No one was pursuing her. She stood and continued her stealthy trek onward.

EE:// Outskirts // 4 Days after Tower attack

She had to find a weapon and rations. Anything to help sustain herself. She was tired of picking berries that Question told her were safe. It was growing colder the further away she moved from the City. She didn’t even know where she was heading. She could also hear the sounds of Cabal, Fallen, and various other predators out beyond where they camped at night. Question always looked out for her and she was careful not to draw unwanted attention to them, but she definitely didn’t sleep much anymore.

“Evie look!” Question gasped.

She stopped and looked up. A beautiful brown falcon was perched above them. It looked well cared for and fed. Strange. It was looking intently at them and screeched, before taking flight away.

“Weird. Was it looking for something?” Elara wondered.

“As long as it doesn’t try flying off with me,” Question stated.

Elara watched where it flew to, and continued walking the same path. Once they reached the edge of the ledge they were on, she came to a dead stop and gasped.

A moderately sized campsite was set up right under them. A handful of corpses were scattered amongst it. The area looked destroyed and ripped through. There was a struggle, but ultimately they were all slain.

“Those are.. Guardians,” Question gasped.

Elara quickly skidded down the gravel incline into the camp. Hurriedly, she moved to check to see if any were still alive.

“They’re all dead..” Question said after a quick scan of the area, “This is horrible, they didn’t have a chance without-“ Elara faced him and he stopped. She assumed he didn’t want to scare her anymore with the truth. It didn’t make her feel any better.

“I’m going to see if there’s anything I can salvage to help us. Scan this area to identify them and mark the location for a later date,” Elara stated, “I want to bring these names back with me and allow a return for a proper burial.”

Question nodded and immediately got to work while Elara dug through the few crates they had. She managed to grab a decent amount of rations and some unused ammo clips. She found a functional hand cannon on a male Hunter and SMG on a female Titan, but she didn’t dare shoot them yet out in the open here. She looped them on her belt and turned to watch Question. He was currently hovering over another female Warlock.

“Anyone we know?” Elara questioned.

She was afraid of the answer, but she had to know. Out of everything, she was most terrified of finding a familiar face among them at this moment.

“No. Nothing more than passing names and faces,” Question answered.

That didn’t make her feel any better either.

She looked over the Warlock again and knelt beside her body. Her hand was outstretched towards something. Elara looked to where she was reaching to find a discarded sidearm. She picked it up and placed it firmly in the Warlock’s hand, before resting it over her chest. She hoped it was a nice symbolic gesture of respect, but this stuff was never familiar nor easy for people like her.

Elara looked at her closer. The Warlock’s helmet remained almost untouched, with only minor chipping on a portion of the outside rim of the visor.

“I’m sorry to do this. I didn’t want to disturb anyone here,” Elara said, reaching a hand for it.

She carefully removed the helm to find she was another Awoken. She had short red choppy hair that stood on end and a clear, soft face. What startled Elara the most was that the small waves of light that danced under the Awoken people’s skin were gone from her. Elara removed her own broken helmet and replaced it.

“Goodbye, cousin. Thank you.”

She stood again and turned to Question who was quietly watching.

“Are we all set here?” she asked him.

“Yes. I’ve got everything you asked for.”

“Good. Let’s keep moving.”

They continued on in silence.

EE:// Twilight Gap // 1 week after Tower attack

The two had managed to travel a far distance in the amount of time they’d been on their own. They even managed to hit the mountain ridgelines that afternoon. Elara still had a fair amount of rations carefully saved, but that was about to get more difficult. It was going to take a lot to keep her stamina up. Cabal ships were frequently passing through this area as the days passed, which kept her even more on edge. She told Question to keep scanning for ships they could commandeer as they went.

As she crossed over a crest, she faced a familiar sight. The falcon from days prior was perched off of the rock wall in front of her. It turned its head at the sound of her arrival, let out a cry, and took off further down the mountain.

“Is it following us?” Question said, also noticing it’s presence.

Elara continued down the ridge to the mountain pass where the bird flew. Something was telling her she should follow, but then again she could be going crazy out here. She already respected the Hunters ability to live out here on their own, but now she really understood how easy it was to lose yourself. They’d probably be the only ones that had a chance now..

She pushed that thought to the back of her mind. She had to remain optimistic for herself. If not for her, at least for Question. She had to see him safely through this.

She came across a ledge that led into a large opening of the mountain pass and jumped down. She walked further down and around large clusters of rock. The falcon was gone. She continued looking.

“Evie up ahead!” Question alerted.

She looked up in that moment and saw it. Two Cabal psions were perched overhead, keeping watch over the area. They were alerted to her presence with Question’s voice and took aim at her. She turned and dove to the ground in a flash as the two rifle shots whistled in unison.

Not fast enough..

She felt a knock on the top of her helm and was tossed backwards. Sharp stinging pain erupted from below her right clavicle. She heaved her chest upwards to a sitting position and pushed herself up against the stone she was hidden behind. Looking down, blood was already pouring out of her ruined armored robes.

Shit!

It was the only word running through her head. She managed to dodge lethal blows, but wasn’t fast enough to avoid the bullets completely. The sound of alerted Cabal legionaries and their war dogs arrived immediately after the gunfire.

Elara pressed her left hand firmly over the entry wound, a sharp cry escaping her lips. She looked down again through the pain to find her palm soaked in blood. She pressed down harder before carefully pulling the SMG from her belt and flipping off the safety with her free hand.

“Evie, you’re hit! Let me look at you!” Question cried in front of her.

She turned behind to get a better line of sight. The war dogs' snarls were close.

“No get back!” she yelled at him, firmly nudging him backwards with her gun hand. More pain cried through her shoulder at that protective gesture. She moved to hold her arm steady.

As soon as she saw the first canine turn the corner, she opened fire. Countless followed on either side, all slumping to the ground, but more kept coming. Her heart beat faster in fear, she was going to be swarmed in any moment.

“Elara!” Question urgently yelled. He was serious now, he only ever called her by her real name when he was.

“I said get away! Hide!” Elara yelled in response, while glancing back at him.

He remained hovering behind her shadow. In a flash, she turned to face him. Grabbing him from the air in her bloodied fist, she tossed him into cover in a bramble bush a few feet behind her. She felt a pang of guilt for throwing him in his battered state, but she didn’t want them hurting him.

She turned back around and was immediately thrown to the ground. Teeth and claws ripped at her person. She screamed and released more bullets into the dogs, before the pain unintentionally caused her to lose grip of it. She attempted to claw back over to it, but the dogs began pulling her by the legs in their maws back to their owners. She kicked to try getting them to open their bites, but it only received more.

A large figure shadowed over her. A Legionnaire looked down at her and shooed his last remaining dogs away. Elara quickly grabbed at her hand cannon and fired.

Click. What? Click click. No.. the safety is still on!

The Cabal soldier gave an alienated laugh and swatted her gun aside. He pressed one foot down upon her chest, immediately receiving a wheezing exhale from her. She couldn’t breath. She punched and clawed at him, anything to try to get the weight of the mountain off of her. She only received a slug rifle in her face.

This is it, I’m dead…

She braced for the impact.

Bang!........ Bang!

She looked back up. That wasn’t against her and it was close.

The Cabal was looking in the direction the noise came from as well, his dogs already running off barking away from sight. He moved off of Elara and yelled something in his native tongue into the air. She gave a heavy exhale in relief as she could breathe again.

Pow! The air in the Cabal’s armor hissed and he collapsed to the side, silent and unmoving.

Whoever that was, they were helping her.

She turned over and pushed herself up somewhat to her unsteady feet. The pain in her shoulder and new punctures across her body screamed and her vision grew hazy. She didn’t need to look down at her wounds to know she was on the verge of bleeding out. A few more cracks of gunfire cut the air and the wind grew silent again. She grew dizzy as she scanned around for her tossed weapon and her ghost. She caught sight of her hand cannon, and reached down towards it before falling face first into the dirt. The sound of footsteps approaching alerted her and she turned to face her unexpected savior.

A cloaked figure, bathed in browns and red with multiple glowing eyes was hurrying to her. She blinked to fight the haze in her head. An Eliksni helped her?.. There was no way.

“Question,” she muttered aimlessly in an attempt to call him to her. “Question..”

It didn’t stop coming. She grabbed the gun from where it lay on the ground next to her and aimed after quickly flipping the safety off. She continued trying to call out to her Ghost.

Her arms gave up before her eyes did. She saw their well worn boots before the darkness of unconsciousness swallowed her.

#destiny #destiny 2 #short story #fanfiction

2 notes · View notes

littleeyesofpallas · 5 years

Text

I know it ended like 3 years ago, but I got to thinking recently about how Nisekoi was a hot mess of a manga, and a blitheringly stupid anime adaptation. (as is par for the course with Shaft) Under normal circumstances it’d be easy to ignore. But I followed Komi Naoshi up until Nisekoi debuted and I feel like people don’t know about his previous work, or how he sold his soul for a hit JUMP serial.

If anyone knew Naoshi for anything before Nisekoi, it’d probably be his short-lived 2008 serial Double Arts. It ran a little over a year, amassed 3 collected volumes, and then got the axe, and was afforded a brief epilogue chapter to tie things off. Double Arts was a beautiful, genius little miracle of a battle series. Eminently charming and whimsical, with a delightfully unique conceit, while still adhering to the familiar formulas of a shounen battle series. Tell me if this rings a bell...

Protagonist living his normal life is visited by girl with special powers, has a brush with death, and is conscripted to fight a class of enemies while going on an adventure to a far off place, ostensibly to save the world. (I know I’m working in broad strokes here but I’m hoping that sounds like Yu Yu Haskusho, Bleach, Busou Renkin, Psyren, and a couple others...) Hero boy has a best friend and sorta rival, a mentor fighter, a comical but super competent support character, and of course a shady cabal of super powered villains... But even though these bullet points feels pretty familiar, there are some fun twists that Double Arts takes in getting between them... So, let’s take this from the top!

In a vaguely 1900s fantasy world a disease called “Troi” plagues mankind. The disease spreads by skin contact, it is absolutely lethal, and there is no cure. The one defense against the deadly epidemic is a Sisterhood of gifted young women, each born with a unique tolerance for the disease. By making contact with victims of the disease, they can take the disease’s burden onto themselves, but they are not immune and as such are each marred by tragically short life spans.

While following the pious and selfless life of one prodigious Sister, Elraine, she finds herself on death’s door --her natural resistance to Troi finally at its limit-- when she crosses paths with the bizarre miracle child Kili. Kili possesses a rare and bizarre power that lets him share his strength with anyone he comes into contact with, like a polar opposite of Troi: with a partner he and another person can each gain the strength of 2 people (a total of 4 people’s strength), and if he daisy chains the effect the power can grow exponentially! By a miracle chance this power allows Sister Elraine to return from the brink of death, but if she ever breaks skin-to-skin contact with Kili, the Troi will kill her.

So, the adorable romcom adventure begins with Kili and Elraine off to the Sisterhood headquarters, far across the continent, where they hope to find in Kili, the secret to ridding the world of Troi once and for all. But along the way they have to face down assassins sent by a mysterious villainous organization that seems to want to see Troi spread. To combat these attempts on their lives, the two enlist the help of a legendary fighter, but to their surprise he’s a little reluctant to teach them to fight. What he does teach them, however, is how to dance! And in a goofy Mr.Miyagi kind of way it turns out that due to their peculiar circumstances, learning to partner dance is the foundation of the unique fighting style they will need to develop to make fighting while holding hands possible; and this new kind of martial arts they’re inventing is christened, Double Arts.

And then right around there the manga got canceled due to poor ratings...

But if that sounds CUTE as all get out, thats because it ABSOLUTELY was. Because it wasnt just a charming little gimmick, Naoshi really is a thoughtful and very emotionally in-touch writer (not that Nisekoi was ever any indicator), which is honestly a little strange for a shounen author. It was what made him such a breath of fresh air among his contemporaries in the magazine. To top it off, his art style was actually eminently modest with its female characters, and while Nisekoi obviously runs counter to that idea, all of his one-shots display with utmost clarity that Double Arts was no fluke; emotional and character driven adventure stories were just his thing. I'm not gonna run thru all his one shots in this post (maybe ill male a few other posts to cover them some other time) but theyre all in the tags if you want to look them up, and i highly suggest you do!

#komi naoshi #naoshi komi #nisekoi #false love #double arts #personant #island #williams #koi no kami-sama #apple #toki doki #e no genten #starting point #weekly shounen jump

43 notes · View notes

anissapierce · 5 years

Note

1 So this is the logan podcast anon, if you're up for giving recs then I guess what I'm looking for is a fictional podcasts, not documentary or liveplay and preferably without any kind of omniscient narrator. Ie all dialogue is in character. I generally prefer genre fiction like sci-fi but that's optional, and mostly prefer mystery or thriller

2 something with more than 1 actor or host, I’ve tried a couple that were just one guy talking into a mic and it was very difficult to concentrate. Tbh I started looking into podcasts after listening to a couple tie in audio dramas to the dumb scifi franchise I follow. And please nothing by the mcelroys I’ve nothing against them I just don’t think they’re funny or interesting and when I ask for reccs they’re usually all I get

—–

The idea of only being recd mcelroys sounds like my own personal hell. Like the clips ive heard r funny but not enough to subject myself to these white men. so my condelsences anon. I feel u on the single narrator/liveplay podcasts. So the ones im reccing arent either. Im gonna come back to this post to add some clarifications but i know if i just sent this post to drafts itd end up there forever.these r all audio dramas/fiction podcasts

Ones tht fit ur clarifications (bolded means i like it a lot)

Adventures in new america, Aftershocks, Alba Salix/axe and crown, archive 81, Big Data,blackwood,brimstone valley mall, bubble, calling darkness,caravan, congeria, the dark tome*, darkest night,deadly manners, eos 10, freed, girl in space,greater boston, in her burning, lethal lit, life after/the message,limetown,mabel ,star tripper, station to station, steal the stars (this might b my favorite podcast of all time, v embaressing to say bc its from a network), the after disaster podcast,the blood crow diaries,the bright sessions, the infinite now,the once and future nerd,the penumbra podcast,strange case of starship iris,the two princes, the van,unwell, video palace,blackout,carrier,fuck humans,limetown, point mystic, what’s the frequency, the white vault

Anthologies: Monsters out the closet,nightlight,nosleep,scp archives,the grey rooms,the long hallway, the truth, uncanny county,

Maybe (some of these fit ur criteria but the quality might not b wht ur used to, or they dont fit your criteria but theyre rlly well made or i listened to them so long ago so idk of i can recommend fully ill specify in a bit): a Scottish podcast,ars parodica, audio diary of a superhero, bear and banjo, bronzeville, ethan sees all,fan wars, gay future,harlem queen,homecoming,it makes a sound,moonface,mythos,oakpodcast, palimpsest,paralyzed, passanger lost,podcast meander,radio drama revival,return home,sandra,sight unseen,small town horror,station blue*,still lives, the box, the cleansed,the deep vault,the deca tapes,orbiting human circus,under pressure,violet beach,inkwyrm,lake clarity, modern audio drama, the orphans,unplaced,earthbreak

Ok, finally got a chance to write some stuff under the readmore. It’s very long but I know that when ppl rec podcasts to me, I like knowing a lot and also this is for my own reference as well.

Adventures in new america- Summary: Set a few years in the future, Adventures in New America follows the escapades of two mismatched African-New-American best friends — fat, lonely curmudgeon IA and lesbian sneak-thief Simon Carr — who take on a series of increasingly high-stakes heists to get quick cash to pay for IA’s medical treatment while attempting to survive the wilds of New New York City… and a secret cabal of Tetchy Terrorist Vampire Zombies from outer space. Intrigued? Good! Frequently, there will be musical numbers — and radical reflections on our dangerous, beautiful, heart-pounding world. This is from the night vales network and so the production quality is really good. It’s fantasy but with a scifi mindset if that makes any sense, fantasy elements exist alongside scifi elements. and it’s got a very comedic bend to it. The acting is all pretty good, and I enjoy it. Critical of capitalism and power structures in general.

Alba Salix/axe and crown: Fantasy but Shrek/Galavant fantasy rather than LOTR fantasy, I didn’t like s1 of Alba Salix that much but I liked the latest season and I really enjoyed every part of axe and crown. Axe and crown is very funny and it stars a curmegeonly gay troll cavern owner, his niece and his new much younger landlord. The landlord wants to change things up so the cavern can make money and be better competetion against the hip new place across the street. Alba Salix is set in the same world and is another magical workplace comedy starring the kingdom physician, a witch, and her assistants a fuck up ex-monk and a clumsy fairy. I really enjoy the second season a lot, its a lot of low stakes fun comedy. The looseygooseyness of a dnd liveplay but with structure and in very bit sized pieces. (It’s rare for an episode to be longer than twenty five minutes and the longest is 33. )

archive 81- Summary:Archive 81 is a found footage horror podcast about ritual, stories, and sound. It’s kinda hard to explain because the second season is so different from the first, but explaining the second really spoils a lot of the fun. It begins with a man named Mark trying to figure out where his friend Dan has disappeared to after he took a job going through audio archives for a city, Dan left behind a ton of audio files for Mark to sift through though. I love the characters a TON, i adore the sound design it has especially how it makes certain things sound otherworldly, id say it’s more fantasy but it has a lot of scifi elements as well, like a really good marriage of the two. I haven’t listened to the first season in forever though, so your mileage may vary on that but I found myself very invested. I found it easy to keep up with who was who, even when I forgot, the story gives you nudges to remember who they are if you forgot. It can be confusing to follow sometimes but if you keep on things fall into place pretty easily.

brimstone valley mall- summary:The year is 1999. Lurking somewhere between Hot Topic and the food court, five misfit demons from Hell kill time inciting sin in a suburban shopping mall.

calling darkness

congeria,

eos 10,

the dark tome

girl in space

greater boston

Mabel*

Steal the Stars

Bright Sessions

The Once and Future Nerd

The Penumbra Podcast

Strange Case of Starship Iris

The Two Princes

Unwell

Point Mystic*

The Family Tree

The White Vault

The After Disaster Podcast*

Blood Crow Diaries

bubble,

caravan

darkest night

deadly manners

in her burning

lethal lit

life after/the message

star tripper,

station to station,

Freed*

infinite now

the van

video palace

blackout

carrier

fuck humans

limetown

Whats the frequency

Big Data- Summary:What if someone stole the internet? This comedy caper takes 100% real concepts, like the seven keys to the internet, cyber police, relay calls, photocopier black boxes, 419 scams, and more, and turn it into an anthology of nerdy crime stories tied together by a global plan to end the internet. it’s a series of heists ranging from hijacking top secret military satellites, to stealing a dude’s pants. Features 73 actors from all over the world, including Paul F. Tompkins, Felicia Day, Jemaine Clement, Samm Levine, Amy Stoch and more! I loved this podcast when it came out, enough that I listened to it all at once on my janky phone that didn’t let me fast forward or rewind for certain podcasts (this one included) so it involved often having to listen to the episodes a lot of times, because also it restarted the episodes if you started listening to another episode of another episode. But that was 2016 so I can’t bold it in good conscious. I loved the audio design and all of the actors are really good and from other podcasts. Kind of a whos who of audio fiction in 2016 also a bunch of actors who have like…. gotten season regular roles in tv and stuff. It’s finished and a very neat and tidy in story structure, gets it all done in 9 episodes (7 hours) in a way thats very professional. Also I’m pretty sure I remember all of the episodes having more than one person talking and no omniscent narrator but I can’t remeber for sure if thats the case for all of them. It’s a heist movie in podcast form, focusing on each member of the heist team.

blackwood- summary:Five years ago, Molly Weaver, Bryan Anderson, and Nathan Howell started a podcast focused on the local legend of a monster called The Blackwood Bugman. Quickly, the investigation grows out of their control, as they discover that, not only are the legends seemingly true, many people in Blackwood have turned up dead or disappeared without a trace. Worse, there may be a reason why no one has ever uncovered the truth before. Someone is watching them, willing to do whatever it takes to keep the secret. Their recordings have finally been released. I enjoyed this one a lot, its another finished podcast and I wasn’t sure if you wanted something so short form so it isn’t bolded, it’s from Skylark so it’s really professional sounding, the story is good and the acting is good. But also, my memories of it are Very Vague bc i listened in like a day while doing a laundry in 2018. It’s got six episodes all less than thirty minutes, but I remeber it being really interesting from a horror perspective. It’s got a good mystery element as well, and reminds me of season one of the anthology show Channel 0.

Aftershocks: Summary: It all started when Riley was institutionalized after suffering a psychotic episode, after being treated she was moved to Amber Ridge. There she meets Ryan and Eli, also patients at Amber Ridge. Together, the three of them stumble upon the dark secrets of the institution where they reside. The thing that stops this from being bolded despite me loving it is me not being sure if it’ll ever continue? I love the story though and the way that the mystery unfolds without any cheap ‘turns out this person wasnt actually crazy what an Injustice!!!!! stuck with the crazies when actually this person is Speshul!!!!’. It’s supernatural but also very fascinating.

____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Anthologies: Monsters out the closet,nightlight,nosleep,scp archives,the grey rooms,the long hallway, the truth, uncanny county,

#asks #anon #sara recs pods

2 notes · View notes

woolleyluciscayde · 6 years

Text

Destcember Day 19: Worthy Weapon

So now my haemorrhoid and my constipation are clearing up, I can finally write without having to worry about keeping my medication in! It basically means I can write earlier than normal without having to worry about rushing off to deal with my haemorrhoid. Anyways enough about that, on with today’s entry of which I have no idea how it’s gonna go since I write this bit before I start!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ash are you sure this is a good idea?” Cayde asked as they stood at the entrance of a Cabal base that was crawling with Legionaries and Centurions on high alert for Guardians to slaughter with their lethal weapons.

“Of course I’m sure you idiot, I wouldn’t have suggested we come if I wasn’t!” Ash confirmed, dusting off her sword, which one she had retrieved during her travels to the Dreaming City known as Abide the Return. But she shortened it to ATR to make life easier for herself.

However, her prize possession, and consistent weapon of choice, was the hand cannon Cayde had gotten her when she was in need of an upgrade.

She’d returned from a patrol covered in Cabal oil and other substances Cayde couldn’t identify, looking miserable as sin and her hair was all over her face as she dragged herself out of her ship and onto the hangar floor, dripping the black liquid all over the place.

“What happened to you?” Cayde asked as she trudged over to their workspace.

“Lots. Lost my gun. That nice hand cannon I had, the Sunshot? Gone. Loved that gun too. Now all I have is my auto rifle and a bow! And my sword but they’re nothing compared to that hand cannon!” She groaned, trying to scrape off as much of the Cabal oil as she could.

“I’m sure we can get it back for you, I wouldn’t worry.”

“Cayde I watched ‘em crush it under their rhino sized feet. It’s gone.”

Cayde couldn’t help but feel sorry for his love as he watched her walk away and disappear into the courtyard, leaving a trail of Cabal oil behind her as she trudged up the stairs towards their home. He knew what it was like to lose a gun, he’d lost the Ace for a little while until the Young Wolf was able to get it back off of Uldren Sov.

The name made Cayde shiver each time he thought about what happened. Ever since it had happened, his memories of everything were shaky, but he still remembered things that he considered to be important.

Shaking the thoughts out of his head, Cayde grabbed the sketches he’d drawn of a hand cannon he was designing for Ash, and he brought them up to the courtyard and over to his good friend and reliable weaponsmith, Banshee-44.

“Banshee! It’s been so long!” Cayde greeted him confidently, trying to hide the fact he wanted something.

“Yeah... yeah it has... hasn’t it?” Banshee nodded, unsure of himself as always. “Saw that Hunter you never shut up about walk through here. Covered in Cabal oil. Who is she again?”

“That’s Ash. C’mon Banshee you remember Ash. Saved me from the dead?”

“Oh, her. Yeah I think I remember. You like her right? Asked her out?”

“I’d say it was more than that, we live together now. Speaking of her, I need you to make her a gun. I’ll pay, but it’s for her hand.”

Cayde slid over the drawings of the desired gun, and Banshee looked over them several times. Cayde had wanted to save the drawings to get the gun made for Ash another time, perhaps for their anniversary, but he knew the time was right.

“Looks a lot like your piece, Cayde.” Banshee noted. “Hearts instead of Spades? Black and red?”

“Yep. And uh, see if you can make it something fancy for an Arcstrider like her.”

“Been working on a new spec like that recently. Fire a bullet, Arc charges it on discharge, sends shocks out to any enemy around the one you shot.”

“That sounds perfect. What’s it called?”

“Lassiter.”

“Sounds fancy. Anyways can you get this done as soon as possible?”

“Three days. I’ll let you know when it’s done.”

Banshee did not disappoint. Three days later, he contacted Cayde and told him the gun was ready, and so with Ash in tow, they picked up the gun, and Ash was at a loss for words when Cayde told her that the gun was for her, as a gift from him.

“A worthy weapon for the best Hunter I know.” Cayde told her as she span it around in her hand, her mouth agape as she stared in awe at it.

“It’s beautiful... does it have a name already?”

“Yeah. Queen of Hearts.”

“Isn’t that your ships name?”

“It is, but the Queen of Hearts stands for the one I truly love in my life. And that is you, my queen. So you deserve a gun to remind you of just how much you mean to me each time you look at that gun in your hands and remember it’s name. My gift to you.”

“Cayde stop I’m gonna start crying!”

Cayde pulled her in for a tight hug as she sniffed away her tears, wiping them on his armour as she returned the embrace, not wanting to let go but also wanting to try out her new hand cannon.

And the hand cannon did not disappoint. The Lassiter specification was something Ash put to good use every time, especially in the Cabal base they were at. One by one, Cabal fell and hit the ground, releasing forks of Arc lightning out of their bodies due to the specification, and within no time at all, they were all dead.

“Still can’t believe you gave this to me.” Ash smirked as they headed back towards their ships. “It’s such a powerful gun. It’s worthy of someone much more skilled than me.”

“On the contrary Ash, that gun was made for you and only you. Nobody else I might’ve had a good time with before we met ever got a gun. Or much at all. You deserve the best I can give you, and that gun is the best. Maybe even better than my Ace.” Cayde explained, squeezing her hand.

“Oh I don’t know, the Ace is pretty badass. C’mon, lights fading and I wanna get to bed. I’m exhausted.”

#i really liked this one omg #cayde-6 #ashlynn grace toriel #cayde x ash #my oc #destcember2018 #destcember

13 notes · View notes

mtgsharzad · 6 years

Text

the cool thing about doomsday is it’s a very efficient tutor for multiple cards

so you can set up your clunky combo onetwothreefourfive justlikethat

(and how do you like your blue-eyed boy mister death)

I. DOOMSDAY CONTEXT AND HISTORY

Doomsday in Constructed is originally a Vintage combo deck that uses Black Lotus to pull off some really quick combo kills. There's a Legacy port of it, which is where most of my knowledge comes from, but it's a different beast without Lotus and Yawgwill. The OG OG OG kill is Lotus, Recall, Mana Vault, Mind's Desire, Beacon of Destruction - so elegant! - but Doomsday decks have killed in a number of ways. Vintage Doomsday is brutal and uncompromising while legacy doomsday is a lot more work than every other combo deck for no discernible edge, so of course I have a soft spot for the card and not the anger it deserves.

Some early piles used Ill-Gotten Gains, a Storm engine card from a beautiful deck from a bygone age. It was called IGGy Pop, and it abused Ill-Gotten Gains to generate mana and storm and featured Intuition both as part of the combo and a tutor for its initiator (intuition for IGGx3, loop 2 IGGs, Lion's Eye Diamond and cabal ritual for mana and storm, eventually IGG for Intuition for three Tendrils of Agony for lethal). Sometimes you could just use fast mana to slam IGG as a Mind Twist that sets up your combo a turn or two later, also.

Obviously IGG says "each player", so it could only really work in a meta without Force of Will control decks (which indeed is when it lived up until like original rav block) and so it died out. Traditionally you'd get recursion, protection and a kill, cast your Duress first to strip their Force, and then go off. As if Force of Will weren't cruel enough, New Phyrexia dealt the death blow. Now IGG had a real enemy - Misstep on Duress, Force exiling the other blue card. [c=Counterbalance]Counter[/c][c=Sensei's Divining Top]top[/c] control's rise to prominence was also less than kind. Good luck setting up your clunky kill! Doomsday used Top itself (it filters for the combo before you go off and then taps to draw you into it) but didn't really gain an edge until it started to kill with the uncounterable combo of Shelldock Isle casting Emrakul.

Contemporary Doomsday builds usually kill with Lab Maniac in Vintage and Tendrils in Legacy, (siding in to Shelldock/Emrakul against counterspell decks) but they're flexible enough that they can play (and play around) all sorts of things, which is what Doomsday in particular enables. It's not that hard to go through the motions, the challenge is in working out which kill gets around what sideboard hate and how many turns you should do it in.

II. HOW TO PLAY DOOMSDAY

Here's how you build piles: card draw and mana on top, combo and protection in the middle, recursion on the bottom. That's Doomsday, now you know how to pilot Doomsday. You're welcome!

III. DOOMSDAY IN CUBE

Now this is where this post stops being pointless b/c even though Doomsday is allegedly REALLY COMPLEX or whatever it's honestly not that hard to play if you have an idea of what's up and don't care about mastering the deck. Obviously some people have exhaustive tables of potential weirdo combinations (kill around two swords to plowshares and Leyline of Sanctity is one i remember being impressed by) but you're essentially going to look at the resources you have, the kills you have available, and build a pile that takes you from A to B. With fast mana, Brainstorm and recursion, the Eternal formats get a really sweet package out of it.

In the Lab Man case, you need lab man, mana to cast him, a way to draw five cards, and protection for Villain's meddling. Thought Scour is cool because it's not just 3 cards off your pile for 1 mana, it's valid protection against removal (thought scour in response, can't draw the card, win), so where you put it in the stack can depend on what you need it to do. Flexible cards like these are probably key to making Doomsday/Lab Man work in Cube.

The key to porting it to Cube is you probably need to give up on the idea of winning the turn you cast Doomsday. That's fine, I think! It lets us really focus on its strengths and show them off. First off, it's a combo-agnostic tutor; it doesn't care what you wanna do, as long as you don't need more than 5 (12) cards to do it. This excites me because conceivably I (one of my drafters?) could use it to support whatever janky corner-case interaction I think is interesting that draft. It's "for" DDLM combo though, that's just a bonus.

I'll go through a couple of Cubable DDLM piles at the end of the post, so don't worry if this doesn't make sense yet. Doomsday's interesting as a combo enabler in that you're not doing anything to your hand when you cast it. Any spells already in your hand are part of your combo resources, but remember that Doomsday also looks through your graveyard so if your fair spells are part of the combo you get to cast them as fair spells first! This is really key to making it work over other combo archetypes IMO - you can cantrip away in the early game and then have those cantrips all over again post-resolution.

IV. PRACTICAL EXAMPLES

You do some stuff, maybe draw some cards, make some mana sources, and then you cast Doomsday. We're doing Soft Doomsday here so let's assume we pass the turn and kill next turn or the turn after that. This lets us draw 1 or 2 cards off our pile naturally, which is huge, because then we can build looser piles. Instead of 'draw six cards and you win', we just need to draw 4. It also means we're probably putting protection at the top of our pile so we draw it first. If we don't have any protection, that's okay, we can recur Doomsday somehow, draw into it, and make a new pile (remember, we can tutor from the graveyard).

We drafted Brainstorm, Snapcaster and Unearth, so we'll untap, cast a cantrip from our hand (activate a planeswalker?) to go to 3 cards in deck, and then we'll cast Lab Man. Maybe we fight over it on the stack - maybe we drew into Thoughtseize and that isn't a problem - or maybe Hero (at this point I concede I am in fact the villain here) tries to bolt it immediately. We could either cycle Unearth and then brainstorm in response (winning the game) or wait for Lab Man to die, Unearth it, and hold brainstorm in case there's a second piece of removal. Or just make a pile of Lab Man, recursion, brainstorm, and two flex slots for draw or protection.

Remember for these examples that we're passing the turn and drawing into the first card naturally unless otherwise noted. If you've got a Ponder still in your hand when you cast Doomsday, that resilience should count for something, no? You get to go off a turn faster, and the tightest builds get to go off really early (esp. with Dark Ritual).

Left card is the top of the deck.

'just the brainstorms, thanks' pile: (negate on the bottom brainstorms out a turn faster but doesn't protect your first brainstorm)

'he's already in the lab' pile

'high school boyfriend' pile (eternal witness gets back doomsday but he forgot to bring protection)

'johnny five aces' pile (he gets all the goods)

Conveniently there's actually all sorts of marginal stuff (at a few power levels!) we might already be running to support DDLM combo and probably wouldn't suck that much to include (although I think Brainstorm and Unearth will be key to making it work):

Sensei's Divining Top

Unearth

Thoughtseize

Darkblast

Lotus Petal

Chromatic Sphere

Conjurer's Bauble

Duress

Eternal Witness

Thought Scour

Painful Truths

Tezzeret's Gambit

Breakthrough

Meditate

Dark Ritual

Cabal Therapy

Gitaxian Probe

Brainstorm

Snapcaster Mage

Mnemonic Wall

Ancestral Vision

Relic of Progenitus

Faithless Looting

Red Sun's Zenith

Emerge Unscathed

Chain of Vapor

Ill-Gotten Gains

Unearth is awesome because, like Thought Scour from earlier, it pulls double duty: recurring Lab Man or drawing the last card you need (since if lab man dies in response to the cycle, you'd lose and be unable to unearth regardless). Brainstorm's resolution involves drawing three cards before you put back two; if there's two cards in your library it'll win the game as well. These are the heavy hitters in Cube, but obviously the looseness of the tutor leaves our panicked drafter open to alternatives.

Next time, I’ll talk about the Tendrils of Agony kill, but this has already gone on for long enough.

ALLEZ CUISINE

1 note · View note

uncannynerdversenetwork-blog · 7 years

Photo

ALL-NEW WOLVERINE #29 REVIEW

Writer: Tom Taylor Artists: Juann Cabal and Nolan Woodard Letterer: VC's Cory Petit Cover Artist: Elizabeth Torque Publisher: @marvelentertainment NCBD: 1/17/18 Review by: Ryan Douglas

After Murumasa pulls some voodoo spirits from the body of Laura, Gabby, and Daken. They have a couple days to rest while Murumasa forges a beautiful piece of work, which will allow Laura to have the upper hand to deflect Orphans of X's lethal bullets forged from the shard of Murumasa blade. But there's no rest for the wicked. They've been found out by The Hand, Laura and Daken are able to sniff them out, giving them time to get into formation and face the Orphans of X's new recruits. When Daken and Gabby retreat back to the house, the Orphans of X follow them ready to put a bullet in Daken there on the spot. There were two major mic drops in the X-Men titles this week, one being in Generation X #86 and the reveal of Murumasa's handy craft work, leveling up Laura by tenfold. The Orphans of X still aren't budging and there continue to egg on Laura with the news of Logan, Lady Deathstrike, and Sabertooth laying in a fridge with a bullet lodged in their heads. This sends Laura into a rage, giving a mighty punch-like roar to give Murumasa’s home a new patio door.

While Laura is taking on the world, Murumasa provides some humor and apologizes for the outcome of their visit, explaining he's called on some assistance. Daken will take matters into his own hands to calm the chaos by stage diving into The Hand swarm, giving himself as a prisoner. But don't you worry, he's got his own plan. With Daken captured, the Orphans of X leave the scene and leaving behind the Hand Lieutenant, who led the army to assist with the Orphans of X doings. The Lieutenant stayed behind for good reasons and that's to pay for his crimes by the hand (no pun intended) of Gorgon, who arrives on the scene to clean up the mess caused. Murumasa is a very kind and generous soul and strikes a deal with Murumasa, offering more of his crafty skills and in return, Gorgon will provide transportation and protection for Laura and Gabby during their travels.

Sometime later, Laura and Gabby posted up on the roof in Brooklyn as the sun sets (very reminiscent to Batman & Robin). The two look onto the warehouse where the Orphans of X have made a base of operations. In a James Bond sly way, the two sneak into building. They've sniffed out Daken's body and there the issue ends with Laura preparing to remove the bullet lodged in his head.

Let me remind you this series is monthly, same creative team, and isn't a flagship title. All-New Wolverine is the example why the bi-monthly X-Men titles need to change schedule. Those series continue to suffer from the sub-par revolving door of artists and rushed story endings. It's obvious the DC Rebirth approach isn't working and Marvel should hop off that train.

Tom Taylor continues to plot out the most consistent series within the X-Men bubble. This issue per usual allows the reader to become attached to each character and giving each person their own voice. A big thing to take away from the issue is Tom Taylor provide a name of the victim hurt by the Wolverines. That would be Henry Sutter, son of Martin Sutter, who was apart of the Weapon X program which created Laura Kinney(X-23). At some point, Laura killed both of Henry's parents. Henry Sutter seems to be mastermind behind the Orphans of X, as we haven't gotten much on him. That reveal can easily for overlooked by the abundance of stunning action and developments surrounding the major plot point. I can really appreciate this arc for paying attention to plotting the story, keeping the reader engaged in every aspect of the comic. Tom Taylor choosing to return to Japan, gives him the opportunity to use the artistic backdrops to enhance his vision for the presentation. This arc continues to get me hyped every week to talk on air and geek out.

When it comes to sinking the reader into the world, Juann Cabal and Nolan Woodard do just that with their art. The collaboration soaks in the fantasy feel using Japan as it's location to take advantage of beautiful landscapes. Every transition is seamless, even at one moment placing a prominent color strip across a panel to not only enhance the scene. But an inventive way for the next page-turner. Pure gold!

9.5/10

Hear more discussion of All-New Wolverine #29 on the X-Men Monday Podcast, here.

5 notes · View notes

noxusappreciationblog-blog · 7 years

Text

Updated Noxus Biographies (And what it means for the Noxus lore update)

It has come to my attention that some Noxian champions had their lore (kind of) updated in the pbe client. I’m going to go through them all.

Darius New Lore:

There is no greater symbol of Noxian might than Darius, the nation’s most feared and battle-hardened leader. Rising from humble origins to become the Hand of Noxus, he cleaves through the empire’s enemies—many of them Noxians themselves. Knowing that he never doubts his cause is just, and never hesitates once his axe is raised, those who stand against the commander of the Trifarian Legion can expect no mercy.

First of all “ There is no greater symbol of Noxian might than Darius, the nation’s most feared and battle-hardened” is the same introduction word by word from his old lore except it was changed from battle-hardened warrior to battle-hardened leader. This does imply that Darius is not just some meathead who follows orders but has the capabilities to lead, I appreciate this.

“those who stand against the commander of the Trifarian Legion can expect no mercy.”

Trifarian Legion? I would like more information on this and how it ties with Darkwill and Swain. All we know about the Trifarian Legion is from this piece in the short story For Demacia:

“ Dark of hair and keen of eye was Diadoro, the bearded swordsman who’d held the Gates of Mourning against the armored host of the Trifarian Legion for an entire day.”

Aand lets face it this does not say much.

Draven new lore:

In Noxus, warriors known as reckoners face one another in arenas where blood is spilled and strength tested—but none has ever been as celebrated as Draven. A former soldier, he found that the crowds uniquely appreciated his flair for the dramatic, not to mention the spray of blood from each of his spinning axes. Addicted to the spectacle of his own brash perfection, Draven has sworn to defeat whomever he must to ensure that his name is chanted throughout the empire forever more.

My first question is that is he still an executioner or was he an executioner? Here it implies he is more of a gladiator. Also, Reckoners were already hinted at in the new runes from the triumph rune description:

“The most dangerous game brings the greatest glory”- Noxian reckoner.

Again this hints at Draven being more of a gladiator. Which is contradictory considering his title GLORIOUS EXECUTIONER, getting called an executioner in the recent Darius comic, and the fact that he was called Urgot’s (the ex-headsman’s) replacement . We need a longer Draven lore with Swain vgu to clarify this.

Elise new lore:

Elise is a deadly predator who dwells in a shuttered, lightless palace, deep within the oldest city of Noxus. Once mortal, she was the mistress of a powerful house, but the bite of a vile demigod transformed her into something beautiful, yet utterly inhuman—a spider-like creature, drawing unsuspecting prey into her web. To maintain her eternal youth, Elise now prefers to feed upon the naive and the faithless, and there are few who can resist her seductions.

This is just a summary of her new biography and short story, not much to say here.

Katarina new lore:

Decisive in judgment and lethal in combat, Katarina is a Noxian assassin of the highest caliber. Eldest daughter to the legendary General Du Couteau, she made her talents known with swift kills against unsuspecting enemies. Her fiery ambition has driven her to pursue heavily-guarded targets, even at the risk of endangering her allies—but no matter the mission, Katarina will not hesitate to execute her duty amid a whirlwind of serrated daggers.

Not much to say here. We already did know she remained General Du Couteau’s daughter from Urgot’s interactions. Although I do like that they stressed her ambition and determination.

LeBlanc new lore:

Mysterious even to other members of the Black Rose cabal, LeBlanc is but one of many names for a pale woman who has manipulated people and events since the earliest days of Noxus. Using her magic to mirror herself, the sorceress can appear to anyone, anywhere, and even be in many places at once. Always plotting just out of sight, LeBlanc’s true motives are as inscrutable as her shifting identity.

Dark mysterious past..

In all seriousness I’m glad they kept her mystique.

“and even be in many places at once.”

This is new and I’m not sure if she could do this in the old lore. True she did impersonate Jarvan in the Journal of Justice, however, this implies that she could have done that and still be at Noxus at the same time which would have made impersonating Jarvan all the more successful. I’m guessing she has some connections with Swain and they are still keeping her heavily under wraps for spoilers sake.

I look forward to seeing what Riot has planned for Noxus once the Swain vgu comes. If I missed something please notify me. Note that Talon, Vladimir, and Riven still haven’t had their client lore updated yet. I’ll keep an eye out for them.

#Darius #Draven #Noxus #Katarina #league of legends #leblanc #elise #league lore

16 notes · View notes

thewolfisawake · 2 months

Text

youtube

So I'll be at until I die and Imma grab a mic Til I make it overnight Making the world my own So hold tight, I hope you enjoy the show.

Turning down the lights low Open up the window Don't you wanna party Don't you wanna blow smoke? Banishing the heartbreak Tell me what the cards say Give me all the tingles Vois je voux le monde

Tell my witches what's making 'em weak Told us that we would never be free They been singing the melody wrong They be in a whole different key Now get out the way.

I've been waiting for the full version of this to drop and just never has. But this song is just so general-coded, I had to add it because it needs to be known. And like I have places for like most of them with the verses so far...

The first is very obviously Bal. Especially the last two lines. I sometimes put Norval in there as he is kinda a people facing person. Second I usually have Solanine and Risteard. Lyrically the former, vibe wise the latter as it feels like something in a dim lit parlor. And lastly I usually think of Siubhan and sometimes Morgan. The witches line alone makes it work. I wish I could place Mhoirbheinn but Kristen knows him far better than I (as where I think, it's usually the first or last).

#{A Cabal of Beauty and Lethality}#Youtube

1 note · View note

itunesbooks · 5 years

Text

The Lions of Lucerne - Brad Thor

The Lions of Lucerne A Thriller Brad Thor Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers Price: $9.99 Publish Date: April 25, 2003 Publisher: Atria Books Seller: SIMON AND SCHUSTER DIGITAL SALES INC In his daring and chilling first novel, #1 New York Times bestselling author Brad Thor draws us into a sinister labyrinth of political intrigue and international terrorism, serving up an explosive cocktail of unrelenting action as one man is pushed to the edge. On the snow-covered slopes of Utah, the President of the United States has been kidnapped and his Secret Service detail massacred. Only one agent has survived—ex-Navy SEAL Scot Harvath. He doesn’t buy the official line that Middle Eastern terrorists are behind the attack and begins his own campaign to find the truth and exact revenge. But now, framed for murder by a sinister cabal, Harvath takes his fight to the towering mountains of Switzerland—and joins forces with beautiful Claudia Mueller of the Swiss Federal Attorney’s Office. Together they must brave the subzero temperatures and sheer heights of treacherous Mount Pilatus—where their only chance for survival lies inside the den of the most lethal team of professional killers the world has ever known… http://dlvr.it/R6FYj5

#Mysteries & Thrillers

0 notes

eddycurrents · 5 years

Photo

For the week of 26 August 2019

Quick Bits:

Absolute Carnage #2 expands a bit further as Eddie and Peter regroup after getting their butts kicked. The story’s still a bit of chaos as the sparks are lit and it works to reference bits and pieces of the broader story across all of the tie-ins, but this remains visually stunning. The art from Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, and Frank Martin is worth it alone.

| Published by Marvel

Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors #1 looks to be doing a bit of the heavy lifting on Carnage’s side of the story, continuing on from the Web of Venom: Cult of Carnage one-shot, delving into what Carnage is doing at the Ravencroft Institute and his followers. Great start from Frank Tieri, Flaviano, Federico Blee, and Joe Caramagna.

| Published by Marvel

Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales #1 expands on what we see of this confrontation in Absolute Carnage #2 from Saladin Ahmed, Federico Vicentini, Erick Arciniega, and Cory Petit. In terms of the overlap between the two books, it doesn’t actually line up the same entirely, but it’s still interesting, building too off of Miles’ interaction with Knull way back in the early issues of Venom.

| Published by Marvel

Action Comics #1014 is an intriguing story from Brian Michael Bendis, Szymon Kudranski, Brad Anderson, and Rob Leigh. While the Leviathan search and bits and pieces with Thorn and Red Cloud occur in the background, the thrust of this one is Marisol Leone introducing herself to the Daily Planet and inquiring how much money they need to operate at full efficiency. Very different premise than you would have thought from the head of a criminal organization who bought a newspaper. It makes you wonder what her long game is.

| Published by DC Comics

Amazing Spider-Man #28 concludes the arc with the Sinister Syndicate and Boomerang, showing just how messy the interconnections between Spider-Man’s life is right now. Very nice art from Kev Walker, John Dell, Laura Martin, and Andrew Crossley.

| Published by Marvel

Angel #4 is another highly impressive issue in what has been an excellent reinterpretation of the Angel characters and concepts from the beginning by Bryan Edward Hill, Gleb Melnikov, Roman Titov, and Ed Dukeshire. Very interesting hint at the Darkness behind everything and the drive for Angel to form his own team, while protecting Buffy.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Ascender #5 concludes the first arc, with a pretty harrowing confrontation between Andy & co. and a number of the vampires’ agents on Sampson. Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen, and Steve Wands do a great job of setting a catalyst to change the status quo here and add another level of tension.

| Published by Image

Avengers #23 continues “Challenge of the Ghost Riders”. The art from Stefano Caselli and Jason Keith is gorgeous, especially the fiery landscapes and colours of hell. It’s kind of weird that this series is still working through supernatural influences, characters, and locales, but it definitely makes this for a different kind of Avengers story.

| Published by Marvel

Batgirl #38 is another great issue from the new creative team of Cecil Castellucci, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Jordie Bellaire, and AndWorld Design. They’re building on what came before from Mairghread Scott and Paul Pelletier’s run, with the supporting cast, politics, and conflict with the Terrible Trio, but there’s a new verve to Babs’ character, a DIY attitude as she scrapes the bottom of the barrel just to continue her superhero career. It’s different, accentuated by very beautiful artwork from Di Giandomenico and Bellaire.

| Published by DC Comics

Batman/Superman #1 is kind of terrifying as Joshua Williamson, David Marquez, Alejandro Sanchez, and John J. Hill unleash the next stage of The Batman Who Laughs’ plan as Batman and Superman are forced to question who has been infected by the insane Batman’s toxin. There are some truly gruesome bits here, especially as we learn how the Batman Who Laughs took out his world’s Justice League, so go in with a strong stomach. Great art here from Marquez and Sanchez.

| Published by DC Comics

Black Panther #15 finally gets T’Challa back home to Earth. It’s not necessarily the homecoming you’d have expected, as he’s conflicted with memories of his life in the Intergalactic Empire and his past. Beautiful artwork from Daniel Acuña.

| Published by Marvel

Black Science #42 is part one of the two-part finale for the series from Rick Remender, Matteo Scalera, Moreno Dinisio, and Rus Wooton. It’s fairly epic. It continues to play into the conflict between Kadir and Grant, spotlighting two different possibilities: defiance or submission. We’re not entirely sure which choice Grant actually made, which makes this more interesting.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chosen Ones #1 is a one shot with three stories telling tales of various Slayers through history. The lead from Mairghread Scott, Ornella Savarese, Wesllei Manoel, and Jim Campbell pulls double duty of not only introducing Sunnydale’s first Slayer, but also as to why the Hellmouth was fixed to the town. It’s rather good, with the added conflict of what humanity has done to itself, even without vampires in the mix. The other two stories are shorter, somewhat whimsical in art style, but still wonderfully told by Celia Lowenthal and Alexa Sharpe respectively.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Captain America #13 gives us the first part of “The Legend of Steve” as Jason Masters and Sean Izaakse join Ta-Nehisi Coates, Matt Milla, and Joe Caramagna to provide the line art. This is an interesting start, melding some real life politics of the southern US border with Steve’s current conflicts.

| Published by Marvel

Detective Comics #1010 continues the rather compelling tale of Deadshot, Batman, and a plane full of billionaire crash survivors on a desert island. Peter J. Tomasi, Christian Duce, David Baron, and Rob Leigh weave humour and action throughout the story, including a rather interesting aside with a pair of World War II pilots who’ve been surviving on this island since before the war ended.

| Published by DC Comics

Dial H for Hero #6 proves that Joe Quinones is one of the best artists in the business. Again. Quinones, Scott Hanna, and Jordan Gibson weave through multiple different styles as a plague of superheroes erupts in Metropolis, complete with shifts to different formats, in this incredible tale.

| Published by DC Comics / Wonder Comics

Doctor Mirage #1 upends the status quo in this excellent debut from Magdalene Visaggio, Nick Robles, Jordie Bellaire, and Dave Sharpe. There’s some early Vertigo vibes here in the story’s tone and atmosphere, especially from the gorgeous artwork from Robles and Bellaire. Particularly when it comes to the eye effects. There’s something spooky and seemingly nefarious going on here, which makes it all the more compelling.

| Published by Valiant

Doctor Strange #18 is a very entertaining one shot from Mark Waid, Jesús Saiz, and Cory Petit. A rather brusque, rude Strange invades a family’s home in the middle of nowhere in search of an invasive demon. It’s a nice change of pace from the longer arcs.

| Published by Marvel

The Flash #77 continues two main threads; Captain Cold continuing to gather his Rogues and Flash reuniting with the other new Forces users to try to outrun the Black Flash. It’s interesting, picking up the various threads that Joshua Williamson has been weaving for some time now into a wider tapestry. Nice artwork from Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, and Tomeu Morey.

| Published by DC Comics

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11 is another gorgeous one shot from Tom Taylor, Juann Cabal, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Travis Lanham delving into the character traits that really define Peter’s supporting cast, in this case an adventure of the “Friendly Neighborhood Mary Jane”. Wonderful funny bits here.

| Published by Marvel

GI Joe: A Real American Hero #266 begins “Snake Hunt” as Cobra Commander tries to do reconnaissance on Throwdown, hoping to kidnap him and brainwash him to Cobra’s side. Interesting set up here.

| Published by IDW

Ice Cream Man #14 is another highly inventive issue, spotlighting a man who has lost himself in crossword puzzles, ignoring his life, wife, and pretty much everything else following a tragedy. W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo, Chris O’Halloran, and Good Old Neon are consistently delivering intriguing horror with this series.

| Published by Image

Justice League #30 kicks off the “Justice/Doom War” from Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez, and Tom Napolitano. It posits a bleak future where Luthor and Perpetua win, leaving the universe Doomed, causing even more complications when the Justice League attempt to prevent this horrible future. It does lead to some very intriguing returns to the main DC Universe, though.

| Published by DC Comics

Justice League Dark #14 is part one of “The Witching War” from James Tynion IV, Alvaro Martínez Bueno, Raul Fernandez, Adriano Lucas, and Rob Leigh. It’s interesting to see the other side of the coin here as the darker, villainous forces of the DC Universe gather to wage war on Wonder Woman’s team. Gorgeous artwork as always from Martínez Bueno, Fernandez, and Lucas.

| Published by DC Comics

Killers #2 adds a few more members of the Britain’s ninja programme to the mix as we get further details on what the Jonin wants and pieces of why they’re being attacked in the open. From the one arc in Ninja-K, I was under the impression that most of Colin King’s predecessors were dead, but apparently that really isn’t the case. Still, it’s an intriguing story, and the action art from Fernando Dagnino and José Villarrubia is beautiful.

| Published by Valiant

Knights Temporal #2 builds nicely off of that impressive first issue, going deeper into August trying to find out more about himself while being pressured to move forward by Jane. There’s definitely more going on than what we’re being let in on and it’s an intriguing mystery. Cullen Bunn, Fran Galán, and Dave Sharpe have something interesting here.

| Published by AfterShock

Mall #1 is a very impressive debut from Michael Moreci, Gary Dauberman, Zak Hartong, Addison Duke, and Jim Campbell. It’s a post-apocalypse thriller set within a mall that has seemingly withstood the brunt of the destruction of the world. This first issue sets up a bunch of gangs and cultists running this society and a mystery of who killed the top dog. Great art from Hartong and Duke.

| Published by Vault

Manor Black #2 is quite possibly even better than the first issue. Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt, and Tyler Crook are delivering a story here that is rich in mystery as we still don’t really know what Ari or the wild magicians’ deals are, and it just seems like their existence is throwing the town into a tailspin. The character moments here are wonderful and haunting. And the artwork from Tyler Crook...next level.

| Published by Dark Horse

Martian Manhunter #8 reveals a lot of Diane’s past and her history with the real John Jones in one of the most impressive character-driven issues to date. Steve Orlando, Riley Rossmo, Ivan Plascencia, and AndWorld Design continue to deliver an incredible story here.

| Published by DC Comics

Marvel Monsters #1 is an interesting one shot. There is a framing story featuring Kid Kaiju from Cullen Bunn, Scott Hepburn, Israel Silva, and Travis Lanham that’s entertaining, introducing a new villain, but you’re really going to be wanting to pick this up for the art pieces. There’s a murderers’ row of artists doing splash pages of the monsters and cross-section pages from Superlog and Gaigan-Yamazaki. It’s amazing.

| Published by Marvel

The Necromancer’s Map #1 is the follow-up to the very excellent Songs for the Dead series from last year by Andrea Fort, Michael Christopher Heron, Sam Beck, Ellie Wright, and AndWorld Design. Though I highly advise reading the first series, both for enjoyment and background, you can technically dive into this one and still be brought mainly up to speed. It’s a wonderful magical fantasy and this opening chapter goes into a number of mysteries, in the titular map, in the sickness afflicting one of few people that might be able to help with the map, and in Bethany’s raised and bitter friend/protector/minion, Elissar’s, past.

| Published by Vault

Power Pack: Grow Up #1 is another of the 80th anniversary specials, this one reuniting the original Power Pack team of Louise Simonson and June Brigham, with the creative team rounded out by Roy Richardson, Tamra Bonvillain, and Joe Caramagna, as well as a back-up illustrated by Gurihiru. This is definitely one of my favourite so far, capturing the feel of the old stories perfectly, while still telling an entertaining story for modern audiences.

| Published by Marvel

Resonant #2 is another winner for Vault. The artwork alone from Alejandro Aragon and Jason Wordie is worth giving this a look alone. Really neat layouts, panel transitions, and character designs. But also as a whole with David Andry and Deron Bennett, they’re crafting some unique world-building across this horror landscape that really sets this apart from your usual post-apocalypse.

| Published by Vault

RWBY #1 begins a new digital-first series based on Rooster Teeth’s animated web series franchise of the same name, from Marguerite Bennett, Mirka Andolfo, Arif Prianto, and Gabriela Downie. I’ve never watched any of the series, but this is still entertaining. This first issue gives us the backstory of the world and the lives of Ruby’s original team of Huntresses. I get the impression that I’d get more out of it if I had a grounding in the series beforehand, but I quite like the effort to fill in the blanks. Also, the artwork from Andolfo and Prianto is gorgeous.

| Published by DC Comics

Sera & The Royal Stars #2 delivers immensely on the promise of the first issue, richly unfolding the fantastical lore here of Parsa’s mythology, especially as aspected through its zodiac, and on the continued familial conflict between Sera’s side of the family and her uncle. Jon Tsuei, Audrey Mok, Raul Angulo, and Jim Campbell are telling a very fine fantasy story here.

| Published by Vault

She-Hulk Annual #1 has some wonderful artwork from Andy MacDonald and Matt Milla, with some very neat panels, layouts, and compositions. The story itself is also fairly entertaining, with some nice funny moments, as Jennifer Walters gets zapped into a robot body while Bullseye runs around with hers.

| Published by Marvel

Spider-Man: Life Story #6 concludes what has been a very interesting look at Spider-Man through the lens of aging normally across time from Chip Zdarsky, Mark Bagley, Andrew Hennessy, Frank D’Armata, and Travis Lanham. It’s been interesting seeing the different elements of the Spider-Man mythos remixed and reinterpreted in this fashion, entertaining along the way.

| Published by Marvel

Star Pig #2 is more odd fun from Delilah S. Dawson, Francesco Gaston, Sebastian Cheng, and Shawn Lee. Some interesting humour as Vess learns that Earth culture seems to have permeated throughout much of the galaxy, and that creepy spore creatures enjoy collecting human artifacts.

| Published by IDW

Star Trek: Year Five #5 begins the next “episode” in the series, from Jody Houser, Silvia Califano, Thomas Deer, and Neil Uyetake. After investigating a long dead ancient civilization, communication breakdowns begin to occur aboard the ship, with some interesting and combative results.

| Published by IDW

Star Wars: Age of Resistance - General Hux #1 shines a spotlight on one of the new era’s antagonists, with Tom Taylor, Leonard Kirk, Cory Hamscher, Guru-eFX, and Travis Lanham providing insight into Hux’s past. Some very dark humour in this one.

| Published by Marvel

Star Wars: Age of Resistance - Poe Dameron #1 gives us a tale of Poe before the Resistance was fully a thing, giving us a look at life under the New Republic. Tom Taylor, Ramon Rosanas, Guru-eFX, and Travis Lanham craft an interesting story here, establishing both a wider plot, and a more succinct tale as Poe learns some manoeuvres.

| Published by Marvel

Stranger Things: Six #4 concludes this mini focusing on the experiments prior to the first season from Jody Houser, Edgar Salazar, Keith Champagne, Marissa Louise, and Nate Piekos. It’s been interesting seeing the kids prior to Eleven and really just how evil Brenner and co. are. Some interesting twists too.

| Published by Dark Horse

Superman #14 begins the “Conclusion” to the House of El portion of the Unity Saga arc that has been running since the series began. Great art from Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Oclair Albert, and Alex Sinclair. And a very welcome return of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

| Published by DC Comics

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #97 turns up the heat on “City at War”. This is a rough one as Karai’s forces press their advantage on Splinter and we get further hints as to how far Karai has really fallen. Great art from Michael Dialynas and Ronda Pattison.

| Published by IDW

Test #3 gets weirder. Yeah. I didn’t think that was possible either. The reality being lain out here from Christopher Sebela, Jen Hickman, Harry Saxon, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is layered, like peeling away at an onion, but we’re never quite sure what actually lays underneath and why any of this is happening.

| Published by Vault

Thanos #5 sets up a very intriguing reveal as to who Gamora has been telling this story to in the penultimate chapter from Tini Howard, Ariel Olivetti, Antonio Fabela, and Joe Caramagna. It makes you kind of reexamine the rest of the narrative, making you wonder what Gamora is really getting at other than just relaying her early years with Thanos.

| Published by Marvel

Thor #16 brings this volume to a close as Jason Aaron, Mike Del Mundo, Marco D’Alfonso, and Joe Sabino deliver a story that’s essentially a coda to War of the Realms and a summation of much of the seven years of Aaron’s time writing, giving a look to the possible immediate future of the present, before heading off to the forthcoming four-part finale of King Thor in the far-flung future.

| Published by Marvel

Tommy Gun Wizards #1 is built on a great premise of infusing magic into Prohibition era Chicago, setting wizards into Eliot Ness and his Untouchables’ war against Al Capone. It works even better in execution as Christian Ward, Sami Kavelä, Dee Cunniffe, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou bring it to life. Incredible period designs from Kavelä.

| Published by Dark Horse

Venom #17 elaborates on the Maker and Dylan portion of the story hinted at in Absolute Carnage #2, as they’re attacked by the new family of Life Foundation symbiotes from Absolute Carnage: Separation Anxiety, from Donny Cates, Iban Coello, Rain Beredo, and Clayton Cowles. It is interesting as to how interconnected these stories are. Unlike many other events, you kind of have to read all of these.

| Published by Marvel

Wonder Woman #77 begins “Loveless” from G. Willow Wilson, Jesus Merino, Vicente Cifuentes, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Pat Brosseau. If follows up on Aphrodite’s death as Wonder Woman darts off to confront Cheetah. There are some shenanigans going on, so the set up is not as straightforward as you’d think.

| Published by DC Comics

Other Highlights: Bone Parish #12, Books of Magic #11, DuckTales: Silence & Science #1, Fantastic Four: 4 Yancy Street #1, Fight Club 3 #8, Freedom Fighters #8, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, House of X #3, Immortal Hulk: Director’s Cut #2, Invader Zim #46, Jughead: The Hunger vs. Vampironica #4, Just Beyond: The Scare School, Lumberjanes #65, Marvel Team-Up #5, Mary Shelley: Monster Hunter #5, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #42, Mountainhead #1, Planet of the Nerds #5, Red Sonja & Vampirella meet Betty & Veronica #4, Rick & Morty #53, Runaways #24, She Said Destroy #4, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge #5, TMNT: Shredder in Hell #4, TMNT: Urban Legends #16

Recommended Collections: Age of X-Man: The Amazing Nightcrawler, Age of X-Man: X-Tremists, Barbarella/Dejah Thoris, Captain Marvel - Volume 1: Re-Entry, Doctor Who: The Thirteen Doctor - Volume 2, GI Joe: A Real American Hero - Sierra Muerte, The Girl in the Bay, Heathen - Volume 2, Jim Henson’s Beneath the Dark Crystal - Volume 2, Oberon - Volume 1, Orion - Book 2, Star Wars: Vader - Dark Visions, The War of the Realms: Journey into Mystery, Wolverine: Infinity Watch

d. emerson eddy knows the way to San José. But it’s full of sharks.

#This Week in Comics

0 notes

urbanwronski · 7 years

Text

And it is money that has come out of the pockets of some of the poorest people. It is money that comes from human hardship. These machines are located in pubs and clubs in areas of economic disadvantage deliberately. And that is why we have fought so hard, so hard, to get poker machines out of pubs and clubs in Tasmania. We know they are lethal and toxic machines. Rebecca White Tasmanian Labor leader

Like rabbits caught in the headlights of a juggernaut of pro-pokie Liberal Mad-men, Tasmanians vote, Saturday, mostly to do as they are told. It’s a win for pokies’ owners by pokies’ owners. Bugger the people. Yet it’s not the crushing victory being sold on mainstream media. What is clear by Sunday is the Liberals will stay in power.

Premier Will Hodgman’s government wins 13 of the 25 state lower house seats on Saturday, a loss of two, or down 0.8 %, but still enough for his Liberal Party to govern in its own right in a large late surge over the last month.

Labor’s vote is up 5.4% with 84% of the vote counted Sunday. The Hare-Clark, Robson system means that several seats remain in doubt in contests between candidates from the same party. What is not in doubt is the size of the Liberal war chest which some say is ten times Labor’s. Did wealthy Liberals donors help the party buy its victory?

Bedazzled by bill-boards, newspapers and TV screens, in a saturation ad blitzkrieg, voters succumb to sentimental slogans such as “love your local” and fear of paternalism, the dreaded spectre of Labor-Green despotism.

And the jobs’ lies. “I’ll have to go to the mainland for a hospitality career if Labor gets in,” whinges a teenager on the radio, a model of self-pitying misery and entitlement, already a perfect fit for any career in customer service.

Bad news, kid, the “hospitality industry” is rife with wage theft and exploitation. Better you should stay at school.

“Whether it’s a big, small or medium business, the most common worker is young, unskilled or a migrant so really it’s a hotpot for exploitation. When you put all these things in the mix, people aren’t aware of their rights — people are desperate to work, and it’s a recipe for exploitation,” says Shine Lawyers employment law expert, Will Barsby.

When it comes to wages, Tasmanian workers share the predicament of all Australia’s workers. Wage earners’ share of the national pie has shrunk dramatically to the lowest point since the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) began recording this data in 1959.

Roy Morgan reports that our workforce is 13,410,000 comprised of employed and unemployed, up a whopping 518,000 on a year ago, a context omitted in Scott Morrison’s misleading claim that “2017 was a year of extraordinary jobs growth in Australia, over 400,000 jobs created in the year”.

1.312 million Australians were unemployed (9.8% of the workforce); an increase of 126,000 (up 0.6%) on a year ago, but Morrison chooses to hide this from us in the hope we are all mugs. ScoMo or Michaelia Cash never talk about numbers of unemployed.

Furthermore, despite Liberal shills on ABC and mainstream media who pretend there is some miraculous recovery happening ,Tasmanians are in fact more likely to be out of work or underemployed than workers in any other state.

Tasmania’s unemployment rate is 10.7% while 11.5% of the workforce is under-employment 11.5%. 22.2%, or one in five, Tassie workers have either no work or not enough. Abolishing pokies is not going to cost 5000 jobs – as claimed by Hodgman’s Liberals – when there are only 370 workers in the industry – or about 1000 in gambling overall. And other jobs are likely to be created as a result of money not spent gambling.

The new gaming laws will bring a windfall for casinos reports The Australia Institute, cutting their taxes in half if they are put on the Federal group rate. Taxes for pubs and clubs, on the other hand, will rise by $10 million. Yet, in a typically caring, sharing, token concession to pokies’ toxicity, taxpayers will contribute an extra $1.7 million to the Community Support Levy to counter the costs of problem gambling. The casinos are the big winners while the punter loses out yet again.

The Liberals’ big Tasmania vision is not solution, either, for unlucky punters. Population growth is at its highest rate since the GFC, but that doesn’t “grow” jobs. Nor is it a state economic windfall. It’s the structure of the population that counts. Each year Tasmania has fewer young and more older people compared to the rest of Australia, even when population “booms”.

Will Hodgman has had a population push since 2014. Yet Tasmania has always gained more people over 45 and lost more younger, working, fertile, 19-39 year olds due, mainly, to the state’s lack of employment opportunities.

Older folk create jobs and actively contribute to society and economy, but they also will create increasing demand for government services, such as pensions and healthcare, areas in which Liberals have a poor track record.

The Government has made sweeping job cuts in health, reports ABC Fact check with the Treasurer stating publicly that while the Tasmanian Health Organisations gained 80 full-time equivalent staff, the Health Department shed 200 positions between June 2014 and March 2016.

But bosses and government never gull young people, it’s always unions and greenies who are out to con you.

“Labor and the Greens think you’re stupid. What’s next? Don’t let them tell you what to do”.

This richly allusive Liberal rhetorical campaign gem shrewdly taps Tasmanians’ memory of the unpopularity of its last Labor-Greens coalition cabinet of 2010, a coalition which psephologist, William Bowe, dubs an electoral disaster.

Be it inertia, bewilderment, blind panic, cynical manipulation, disinformation or a toxic cocktail of the lot, in the end, voters elect Will Hodgman’s Libs, a shady cabal of big business, big gambling and Big W, in a result which will further erode Tasmanians’ control of their own lives, expand state power, boost gun-power and feed the canker of poker machine blight, introduced to the Apple Isle by Ray Groom’s, 1993 Liberal government.

Can Tasmania, our most beautiful, most wondrous state, Australia’s own Serendip, now be rotten at the core?

Ministry of Truth, our ABC in its Insiders cosy Sunday hack-chat-show, a forum which artfully evades the real issues, or real depth, says the Liberals win as Tasmanians flock to sunny uplands of neoliberal prosperity. Hodgman’s Liberals, they say, deliver an “economic upturn” a myth based on the island state’s property boom, or bubble.

It’s a tall story which can only grow taller, as the federal Liberals’ spin doctor army toils to turn the result into a vindication of the Turnbull government’s futile attempts to revive neoliberalism’s corpse; its corporate tax cut payola to its donors, and austerity budgeting, a campaign of calculated impoverishment of innocent and vulnerable victims of its policies, which daily widens the gulf of economic inequality, in its war on the poor and elderly.

By Monday, Tassie’s results will become a sign of upturn number 365 in the Turnbull government’s popularity. There is always a reboot, a recovery around every corner.

Yet, apart from real estate sales, any other economic upturn is hard to find. So why the sudden turnaround? A month ago, polls had the two parties neck and neck, on 34% of the vote, but in more recent polls Liberals soar an alarming 12 %. in a shocking corruption of the popular will, which, William Bowe, worries, means,

The election could join federal Labor’s mining tax debacle in 2010 as a cautionary tale about the dangers of taking on deep-pocketed interests in an election campaign.

A key issue at stake is many Tasmanians’ opposition to Federal Hotels’ pokies monopoly. Federal owns all 3500 machines (plus Wrest Point Casino, some luxury wilderness accommodation and the Henry James Hotel). Labor and The Greens’ want to remove pokies from all pubs and clubs by 2023. But end the firm’s half-billion dollar revenue stream?

Also not sitting well with voters is Federal’s breath-taking, back-flipping duplicity. Anti-pokers veteran, Pat Caplice sums up Federal’s hypocrisy.

“The clubs and hotels pushed for pokies back in the ’80s. Federal opposed it totally, used all the arguments about dependency they now deny. Then, when it was being debated in 1993, there was a huge backflip, within days, and Federal itself was gifted a monopoly licence.”

Saturday’s election result ushers in a new “gaming” agreement, an industry euphemism for ripping off unwary, vulnerable, punters. The state will revoke Federal Hotels’ monopoly and gift licences to pokies pubs, in a move which will result in cashed-up Federal and Woolworths buying up dozens of pubs, allowing Woolworths a 30-40% stake in gambling in the state. The result is guaranteed to increase personal misery and social breakdown.

Meanwhile, the pro-pokie promotion create a ruckus that sucks the oxygen out of many other areas of debate.

Protecting what remains of The Tarkine is a huge political issue. Speciality timber logging permits granted in 2014 by Hodgman’s government reduce the area’s reserve to five per cent of its former area. Liberal candidate for Braddon, Adam Brooks’, media release reads “Only the Liberals would stop a Tarkine National Park”.

The Liberal election pledge is an indictment of the party’s senseless environmental vandalism; its contempt for Aboriginal cultural heritage, history and the legacy of shell middens, stone quarries, hut depressions, seal hides and rock carvings that remain and its failure to consult with local Aboriginal people.

17 coupes are still being logged while the 4WD fraternity, bush-bash on expensive temporary road mats. In Hobart, around two thousand people protest the abuse of the unique wilderness, in a gathering led by the Bob Brown Foundation. The group calls for permanent protection for the 447,000 hectares of the Tarkine.

One-armed bandits backers make such a racket they drown out late news that the 45th Tasmanian premier, William Edward Felix Hodgman, promises the quaintly termed sporting shooters and farmers, a hard-nosed gun lobby, an easing of gun control laws, extending licences from five to ten years and permitting automatic weapons.

But if it’s a victory for guns and money, it’s also another stage in the ascent of the corporate oligarchy Woolworths, which, Guy Rundle writes, will wield power over Tasmanians “from controlling prices to suppliers, to selling them their food back as consumers, and taking the cash of people who never quite make it to the shops.”

At the same time, Tasmanians surrender their own say in their own affairs, as Hodgman’s big government proposes major projects legislation and a state-wide planning scheme which shuts out community input.

Tasmania, fruit of the fruit machine, rolls with the dice, as the state’s obscenely powerful gambling lobby pours millions of dollars into Liberal party campaign coffers, vastly outspending the Labor Party. Some estimate a Liberal war chest up to ten times larger. We may never know. The state has the nation’s slackest campaign donation disclosure rules.

What is unique – and refreshing about the Tassie election campaign is the respect between the Liberal and Labor leaders, a tradition that is dead, buried and cremated in federal politics this week when Michaelia Cash suddenly threatens to name young women in Bill Shorten’s office – about whom there have been rumours “for many, many years.” The idea that she should “slut-shame” nineteen women working in Shorten’s office is bizarre, wrong and a sign of an ugly decline in federal politics.

Worse, Cash makes it clear that she proposes to name names and then Shorten will have to prove his innocence. It’s a perversion of legal process and a cheap, demeaning stunt. Worse, it plumbs new depths in character assassination as political strategy.

And it’s part of Liberal team plan: Peter Dutton is soon off the leash on 2GB attacking loose, louche, philandering Bill and two-timing Tony Burke.

“I think we’ve sat here taking a morals lecture from Bill Shorten in relation to Barnaby Joyce over the last few weeks and people know that there’s a history of problems in Bill Shorten’s personal life, Tony Burke’s personal life. And to be lectured by the Labor Party really sticks in the craw.”

As is Dutton’s wont, he is undeterred by being factually incorrect and totally out of order. Labor scrupulously abstained from criticising Barnaby Joyce’s affair with his staffer Vicki Campion.

It was, in fact, Malcolm Turnbull who took it upon himself to deliver a finger-wagging moralising, which was backed up with what can only have been a National to Liberal Party hand-ball leaking of the name of a woman who is bringing case of sexual harassment or serious misconduct against Joyce to the National Party – from whom we have heard nothing further.

Above all it’s not Joyce’s dangerous liaisons that are the critical issue – not his fidelity or his personal morality but how he could create or cause to be created not one but three jobs for his (non-partner) paramour Vicki Campion. And his boondoggle inland rail. Plus his Murray Darling basin water for rich cotton irrigator National party mates scandal.

As the week closes, it is clear that the Coalition’s mud-slinging will continue as part of the Kill Bill strategy – but also as a splendid diversion from any alleged peculation, nepotism or misuse of public funds including travel allowances, a net which seems to be closing rapidly on Julie Bishop, whose non-partner, David Panton, is somehow able to travel at taxpayers’ expense.

The situation is clarified late in the week when Bishop changes her mind; agrees the two have been partners for six months. At least that’s cleared that up. Will Panton now repay his trip to the UN or any other trips he took with her prior to that period? At least it’s not “a grey area” as Barnaby Joyce calls his paternity.

A new tune to add to his brilliant riffs on playing the innocent victim, Joyce tells media that everyone assumed he was the father of Vikki Campion’s child. He may not be. The Daily Tele never asked, despite there being an email from the paper to Joyce asking that very question according to Fairfax.

Now it seems Barnaby and non-partner Vikki were mostly geographically apart with some togetherness during the putative conception date of the unborn child, whom Barnaby, nobly, says he will love anyway. And no. He has no intention of taking any paternity test. Perhaps it may turn out to be an immaculate conception.

In Tassie this week, the Liberals win by throwing buckets of their sponsors, the gambling mob’s – (wrongly dignified as an industry)- money at advertising promoting fear and loathing of Labor, while, in the senate, Michaelia Cash dishes the dirt as a diversion from her own alleged collusion with the AFP to contact media to help her conduct a witch hunt in an illegal raid on the Melbourne office of the AWU, a union Michael Keenan says gave a donation to Bill Shorten’s campaign – as it is perfectly entitled to do.

The AWU has not yet been charged with a single criminal offence. Probably because none has been committed. In the meantime, politicians from Tasmanian to the nation’s capital compete this week, as Hamlet almost says, stewing in corruption, honeying and making love – while tipping buckets of excrement over their opponents in a debauched, degenerate, parody of a competitive party political system which was once based however loosely around policies and reasoned argument and rational rebuttal.

The nation moves beyond policy, principle or even the fan-club of identity politics to savage character assassination, innuendo and vituperative personal attack. Each day we draw closer to the politics of Trump’s USA, the nation our PM wishes to sedulously ape and not only in tax cuts for corporations but in health and welfare, too.

One-armed bandits rob Tassie election while Cash loses plot and Barnaby finds paternity a grey area. And it is money that has come out of the pockets of some of the poorest people.

0 notes

thewolfisawake · 1 year

Text

Figured that I should start making a list of the generals since I feel like the number is only gonna increase. Also I guess a thing about them too.

Despite the name, the Generals of the Unseelie Court are not exactly the military leaders to their land's forces. They can be but not really their purpose. The generals primarily serve as advisors and extensions of the king's will. And outright defiance towards them is tantamount to going against the crown.

Not that many Unseelie are likely to start anything with them. In addition to their advising, the generals are considered some of the most powerful and/or fearsome beings within the Unseelie's jurisdiction. Be it martial prowess, razor sharp wit, or deviousness unmatched, they are powerful. And power is difficult to argue with.

All of generals have chosen to follow King Balmoral for their own reasons but their loyalty to him is rather strong. It adds an intimidation and awe of those running the Unseelie to their own people. Some consider the generals and the king that presides them to be a cabal of beauty and lethality.

The generals are listed in order of chain of command should Balmoral be unable to govern for any reason. Note, this is not line of succession.

Mhoirbheinn Geadais

The Royal Protector and the king's right hand man. He always at the side of his liege and it is an ominous sign if he is not. He tends to use daggers and a weapon similar in function to a kusari-gama. He's known Balmoral since he was a fledgling soldier to the Unseelie. It is unknown to just about anyone in the Court how or why Balmoral has Mhoirbheinn's unwavering devotion. He is generally not liked by the Unseelie due to his unsociable attitude and reputation for intimidation and violence.

Risteard Gallochbar

The Vizier to the Crown. Also commonly considered the king's left hand. He advises the king, handles streamlining information given, and affairs within the Citadel. He is a master poisoner that also uses a whip sword. He was Balmoral's rival and one of the few gentry Balmoral ever considered a threat. His loyalty came from a 'complete defeat' to his rival and his own desires. While Balmoral's headstrong nature can irritate him, Risteard does hold a respect for the king and has little reason to truly defy him. The Unseelie Court holds him in a favorable light due to being 'on the ground' when it comes to the Citadel.

Solanine

The King's Shadow. She is his personal assassin and spy. The sight of Solanine outside of her dalliances with the generals or the king is an omen that secrets have been discovered or one has been marked for death. She relies on her demonic traits alongside poison and knives. She is the closest to a childhood friend that Balmoral has but her loyalty was forged upon his assistance in taking back 'what was rightfully hers' when they were teenagers. She runs a 'debt collections' business that is primarily run outside of the Unseelie so she does tend to travel back and forth. The favor for Solanine is neutral from a combination of her secrecy and her mean-spiritedness.

Siubhan

The actual general of the Unseelie forces. Known as the Dark Vanguard, Siubhan has no issue helming any physical obstacle to the king. And not simply issuing commands but wading into the fray. After all, you want a job done right, do it yourself. She is usually armed with a claymore and curses. She came to know Balmoral after she lost a duel to him with the wager of her service to replace one of his men she killed. Her leadership in the Unification Campaign and her action through to the Invasion of Dun an Fhómhair made her force of military might. Her relationship with Balmoral is amicable with hints of past strain. Her reputation is shining within the militia as they see her prowess as a general. Outside of this, it is still mixed due to her venomous temperament towards talking the type of fae she is.

Norval Chaput

The Herald of the Unseelie. The public relations manager and propagandist to the king. He keeps a pulse on the populace's outlook and gossip. This to formulate strategies to maintain the king's public image and favor with his subjects. He also handles affairs outside the Citadel. Norval was tracked down by Balmoral when his articles swayed the Unseelie on its own. Tempted with a cushy life and the thin-veiled threat of destruction otherwise, he entered the king's service. He is rather chummy with Balmoral although doesn't stick around because he doesn't like to work. His popularity is high within the Unseelie.

#{The Unseelie}#this will expand as more generals are made #and this is mainly a quick cheat sheet

4 notes · View notes