#‘Can Power Bring About Freedom?’ is a true core Star Wars Problem. and ‘Is Freedom Good if there is Suffering?’

[egregiousderp]

Noted, but also, the Paladin of Conquest line in D&D exists for a reason, and there are multiple directions to take it.

Leia had a red lightsaber in the old EU for a reason. (That reason was her unpacking all the rage of dealing knowing her *father* was standing right next to her, actively murdering the rest of her family, so like. Fair.)

“I want knowledge”

“And do you know what knowledge IS?” From Rebels is a thing.

Grogu being so scared to death for so long (decades) that even with Jedi training, his instinct is to choke people using the force is a thing.

It’s more tied into the gray morality this site pushes where “oh you have extenuating circumstances like a shitty childhood and that makes it okay for you to oppress anyone who disagrees with you” shtick.

The dark side tells you you have reasons to hit first, and if you just give in, you’ll never be hurt again.

It leads you along with how you feel personally about things to the point where you don’t notice, or worse, justify what you do to the people around you.

It’s not a one hit thing where suddenly slavery is okay. (Former canon, yes. The temple on Yavin was built by the slaves of the Sith. Not much different from the Imperial Conscription of Stormtroopers. That’s supposed to be deliberate.)

It’s something that gradually works on you until your feelings become your only morality, and if you just feel more, get stronger, get angrier, you’ll be okay.

But the alternative where all your feelings don’t matter, tied up in the political structure of the Jedi order As A Political Structure is also oppressive. (Qui Gon is *not* there to free all the slaves, and Qui Gon has “Gray” leanings because he studied with the Whills in his youth, and the Whills famously teach both sides of the force and have a force ghost tradition. The Jedi do not. Lingering after death is NOT a light side technique or teaching.)

So the dark side looks like a way out, and people grasp at and struggle to create a system between the two that they think will let them do whatever they want. But the alternative extremes are One Will Eat You Alive And One Will Paralyze You.

And in the meantime, the slaves are still slaves.

Yall are so desperate for the Sith to be grey morality instead of just the straight up villains theyre constantly shown to be and it shows

[ravencromwell]

Teixcalaanli fandom, am I the only one who can't get the Omelas-style scenarios for Mahit in Memory out of my head? If Darj's info hadn't come when it did. If One Lightning hadn't decided to shit where he wanted to eat and wreck half a city for the fucking sun-spear throne--and if that hadn't led to Larkspur deciding he was some really hot shit who could also coup--. In that alternant world, where she simply came because of Yskandr's death, is there some part of your brain that closes the covers and can't stop thinking: would she have let the station be devoured, or sold him the damn machine?

 Putting the rest of this under a cut, for the sake of a mutual who I'm currently practically vibrating to have read this book and then come talk at me about it.

Without Darj's info and the coups, Mahit is left with utterly shit options. I immediately! viscerally want to say that she would've made different choices: that the utter perversion of the imago inherent in what Six Directions wants to do to Eight Antidote would make her say no--she knows! he would be utterly subsumed by 6D. But! oh but; we see the same problems that plagued Yskandr plague Mahit.

 Even a cursory tumblr search tells me that those of us who adore Yskandr, in all his morally bankrupt complexity/complicity like to joke that all her troubles started because he's an utter bi icon that adores getting in way the fuck over his head and then falling head over arse. But it's an oversimplification because 6D is! a good emperor: everything Yskandr thinks about him being like the starship captain in that beautiful poetic excerpt we get is *true*

 Don't get me wrong: it's also! true that he has a cruel streak (holy fuck making Nineteen Ads *complicit* in his sacrifice after what she said! about missing him every day for all the days of her fucking life! I can't be the only one who thinks that's yeah, because he wants good governance but also just as a massive fuck-you for denying his dreams of being the one to carry it out via imago--love and hatred and rage are such a hopelessly interwoven thing in these novels, constantly pushing and pulling against one another) He's got a cruel streak, and he grasps at his wish for immortality, long after the hope of it has died. But Yskandr's love didn't blind him so far as to be *wrong* about the core truth that he was a damn fine emperor within the confines of his world-view.

 So, here Mahit is, faced with this profoundly tempting offer of *eternal* freedom for her station, for such a small price; only one child devoured, one secret betrayed. And look, I have to be honest. My visceral scream of no, save poor baby Eight Antidote is uttered by a person secure in the U.S. empire, who's never felt the colonizer's boot, or the soft power of cultural integration.

 It also comes, I like to think, as a historian: knowing that if men like One Lightning and Larkspur hadn't struck in that! moment, they would have struck eventually; eternal peace is fool's gold, because you're always going to have some asshole who wants power or glory or...something that will lead them to think bloodshed is the answer. If Yskandr hadn't been quite so desperate to both save the station from 6D's inevitable war to prove his might even in illness and utterly smitten, he would've admitted he was buying finite time, not some eternity of peace.

 There's a haunting passage where Mahit thinks about her clone-sib, about all the things he would be denied if Teixcalaan invaded and decided stationer imagos were "barbaric"--all the possibilities dear to her he would never have, how the continuity of memory would be broken. When one child, in the form of Eight Antidote is juxtaposed against all the stationer children--even with the understanding that what you're buying is finite, it becomes an impossible choice. I've never been so fucking glad for aliens in a story; and yet, the Omelas possibilities just keep! haunting me.

 In one strand of time, Mahit comes to 19ads perspective: that an imago is not only barbaric in a child, but the consequences simply too unknown. She gets experimental surgery from Five Portico—one last, desperate gasp of fuck-you patriotism for her station. She watches a sun-temple be built on that same station. She clings to the imago of Yskandr--not letting them meld into one, but keeping up that back-and-forth patter, racked with dizziness and nausea because fuck everything. They are the two last to be preserved by imago. Maybe there is secret stationer resistance, tales whispered to children about imago machines; the hand-printed comics of heroic pilots and their consulted imagos passed from hand to hand, carefully preserved as the pages fade and tatter from so many fingers. But she does not know; she who failed as ambassador and can only blunt the colliding of the cultures; she, Mahit-and-Yskandr do not return home. She clings to 3seagrass through the tumult of inevitable rise-and-fall factions as Larkspur and Eight Loop struggle for dominance in that decade until Antidote reaches his majority. Maybe she even becomes integral to a coup by Nineteen Ads, she and Yskandr both thinking it's the only way to restore the peace Six Directions wanted as the aliens continue to eat away at the borders, learned of too late to do the station any good.

 In another: oh, in another. She capitulates. Antidote is subsumed. Perhaps, if she doesn't yet have the imago of older Yskandr in her head--because so much of that is over the message, so no message, no spurring incident--, Six Directions lets her have it installed; the most misplaced gesture of kindness, thinking that if she is subsumed by Yskandr, she will no longer be so guilty, so hollow. But of course, she is not subsumed by Yskandr. Oh, she has his love for Six Directions, tucked into her endocrine system, and in her empathy, she even understands it; his love for his emperor and Nineteen Ads both. But it is not her! love, and it brings her cold comfort indeed. Seeing Three Seagrass's lovely, beautiful empire continue in peace is a comfort. When she can stop thinking of stars going out, consumed by alien presences. Three Seagrass's gentle hand-pressure against her back, or her wide, skillful mouth, hot against Mahit's; those are comforts. Yskandr whispers to cling to them, but any warmth is distant, fleeting. And her station is so happy, all unaware of her treason, astounded by the skill of the child emperor in the war.

 Or perhaps: she lets herself become Yskandr; screams and begs until he takes command, and lets Mahit become only distant static in the back of his head, in this different body.

 Fuck, there're just so many! scenarios, and my terrible id-brain wants fic of them *all*

[opbackgrounds]

This might be a weird one or long but we all know Oda reuses the same plotline every. Single. Arc. (For the most part). A country falling into chaos saved by Luffy through circumstances. Yet we’re not sick of this plot, can you do a commentary on how Oda chieves this? I have some ideas myself but can’t articulate as well as you.

A couple things here: While it’s true that there are several country-wide escapades for the Straw Hats to muck about in, there are plenty of arcs with much lower stakes. For example, Little Garden, Thriller Bark, Punk Hazard, and of course the Davy Back Fight. You’ve got war arcs and arcs where the Straw Hats are the destructive force (Enies Lobby says hi) and arcs where the island they’re visiting doesn’t really change, except for a few select individuals. Some of these arcs are set ups for larger conflicts, but they’re necessary to help break up the flow of the story, variety being the spice of life and all that jazz. People don’t like the Davy Fight Back, but the story needed a place to breathe between two long, emotionally draining arcs. Same goes for Thriller Bark. You can’t go from the emotion of Water 7/Enies Lobby to the darkness of Saboady/Impel Down/Marineford without a little bit of levity in between. It’s a pacing issue, releasing tension before it can be built back up again. 

(Also this is another reasons why One Piece has a much more organic power creep than some other series. Not every villain has to be stronger than the last)

Secondly, “country falling into chaos saved by Luffy through circumstances” is pretty broad as far as descriptions go. You’ve got Point A and Point Z figured out, but all that stuff in the middle is up for grabs. How the Straw Hats go about saving Skypea is pretty different than how they end up dealing with Crocodile in  Alabasta. They’re different places with different characters dealing with different sorts of problems. Freedom is a major theme of the series, so it stands to reason that the crew is going to deal with a lot of characters trying to take away the freedom of others. Different arc villains do this in different ways, allowing Oda to explore his core message in a nuanced and deep way. 

Thirdly, Oda’s world building is second to none, and he does a really good job making his audience care about secondary characters and the dozens of different factions that influence the plot as much as the main cast. I get more excited about post-arc chapters than I do anything else because you know Oda’s going to throw curveballs at you that you never expected. 

Sometime you don’t notice that a plot line is similar to something you’ve seen before because you’re super invested in what’s going on In the present, or the settings are so different you don’t think to compare them. For example, I think there are some interesting parallels between Totoland and Thriller Bark, but their aesthetics couldn’t be any more different. 

Many of One Piece’s strongest arcs draw connections not just between Luffy and the big bad. The Guest Star Party Member is just as important. I noted it in East Blue that the villains were all foils to Luffy and the crew member he was recruiting, but when you think about it it carries over into the Grand Line. You can make just as many connections and comparisons between Vivi and Crocodile as you can Luffy and Crocodile, and it’s this sort of multi focal writing that really makes it easy to care about someone you know won’t be around after their arc is over. 

Lastly—and this isn’t directed at you, op—I’ve seen people complain about Luffy going around to all these islands saving the day and I’m like. What do you expect? He’s the main character, of course he’s going to do stuff. What I like about One Piece is that there’s a sense of progression. Luffy has always been working toward a goal, and though sometimes advances are slow, he is always advancing. First he had to prove he was ready for the Grand Line. Then he had to be able to fight Warlords. Then you bring in the giant, globe-spanning military might of the World Government. Then he got strong enough to challenge an Emperor’s strongest commanders, and by the time Wano is done he’ll be able to fight an Emperor (or two) and win. Luffy never feels stuck, is never retreading old ground or spinning his wheels. You know he’s going to reach his goal, it’s just a matter of getting there. 

[gegenji]

Musings on Post-5.3 Roadmap

So, I’ve had a fun little thought on how the plot of Final Fantasy XIV is going to go moving forward for a while now.

This latest patch did add some wrinkles and new information, but ultimately I think it actually makes my little story path I see in my head all that more... interesting, from a personal literary sense?

I’ve mentioned it on some Discord channels, but I figured I should really just put it down “on paper” as it were. To share, to discuss, and maybe come back to it down the road and see how close or wildly off the mark I was on my ideas.

This will involve some revelations from the most recent patch, of course, so I will be putting the theory beneath a Read More along with tagging the entire post as spoilers. Since it’s only been... a week and a half? Since the patch dropped.

So, my little theoretical roadmap comes in three parts. One for the rest of Shadowbringers, one for the unnamed Garlemald expansion that is supposedly coming up next, and one for the third and “final” expansion before the FFXIV main story ends and all that follows is just fun support stuff to keep the game alive (and bringing in money) for however long afterward.

So, to keep things tidy, I’ll split this diatribe into three parts to match.

Part One: Shadowbringers

With all our heroes back on the Source, I believe the rest of Shadowbringers will mostly wrap up the situation involving the Sundered members of the Convocation - like Fandaniel the Fantastical shown in the ending cutscenes of 5.3. Mostly since I believe somewhere it was mentioned that this expansion would wrap up the whole Ascian plot. So I don’t see these Sundered Ascians lasting past this expansion, as that would be counter to the aforementioned goal.

So I imagine that these Sundered Ascians may get some attention, but it’s hard to imagine them having the power and presence of the Unsundered like Emet or Elidibus. Unless - and this is what I think may happen - they pull an upgraded version of the Ascian Prime fusion that is done in the Aetherochemical Research Facility (or ARF, as many lovingly call it). This could serve as the final battle against the Ascians, providing a tangible combat threat for the WoL and their allies as well as handle the Sundered Convocation members in one fell swoop.

And since Elidibus took the station crystals with him when he was absorbed into the Crystal Tower on the First, there’s no way to elevate any of the other fragments of the Convocation members to their positions. Ascians effectively handled.

However, while that handles the Ascian situation, it doesn’t close the circle on Zodiark and Hydaelyn. Zodiark just loses its main core of people who are seeking to release him, as well as the main driving force causing the Rejoinings. That does not mean Zodiark is out of the picture, though, as there remains one very tangible individual who I see playing a major role in the Original Elder Primal’s release.

Zenos. (Not a huge surprise, I know, but bear with me!)

Part Two: Kingmaker

This expansion is dealing with the Garlean situation. The Populares as a united unit has been apparently dealt with offscreen given the ending cutscenes of 5.3. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some manner of ragtag band of freedom fighters or something that has been trying to cobble together a presence enough to get Zenos off the throne.

This would be our heroes’ “in” to entering Garlemald. Allying with and supporting this group of rebels against the Empire. Bringing in all the “good” Garleans we’ve encountered before, as well as introducing some others. Showing that Garlemald isn’t entirely full of cartoon villains but a nation of varied thoughts and opinions. It’s just the people in charge still adhering to the thoughts and principles instilled in them by the Ascians. The Ascians are gone, but their machinations still continue in this fashion.

The overarching plot involves getting the Populares reformed, fighting with Zenos’ forces, and - ultimately - putting Gaius on the throne instead. Putting him in the position to rule he had always wanted, but after being kicked down and having to make this climb back up. And perhaps senpai will finally notice Nero and he’ll end up as Gaius’ head of scientific endeavors while Cid remains with the Alliance (and perhaps joins the Scions as well in a more official fashion).

With Gaius on the throne, Garlemald would be in a position for peace with the Alliance and the war would finally end.

However, Zenos - as we have seen - doesn’t really care about the throne in the first place. He just wants to have his Grand Battle with his Best Friend. And the ending of Shadowbringers and the entirety of this Garlemald expansion has been setting up for this great battle. He has just been using his forces to entertain the Alliance and his Friend until he can get everything ready.

In the ending cutscenes of 5.3, it was implied that Zenos and Fandaniel were trying to goad Elidibus into showing up. There’s some ideas as to why, but my personal guess is to teach Zenos one of the few Ascian-related things he still doesn’t know how to do.

Rejoinings.

Either during the final patches of Shadowbringers or during this expansion, Zenos is going to figure out how to do this. Perhaps not as cleanly as the Unsundered did it in the previous Calamities, but he is going to. And that has been his goal during all this: to provide that one last Rejoining that will allow Zodiark to break free from His confinement.

Why? Shinryu 2.0. His goal is to harness the power of the Original Primal and seek to bend it to his will for a realm-clashing battle of the gods between him and the Warrior of Light. Whether he succeeds or his hubris finally comes back to bite him and he ends up a puppet of Zodiark, the now-deposed Crown Prince is still going to get what he wants.

And that’s the Warrior of Light having to do the same with Hydaelyn. The two have their great clash, and the Warrior of Light overcomes Zodiark-Zenos. Likely due to the power of friendship and Hydaelyn more willingly giving Her power to defeat Zodiark than Zenos’ forcing himself to replace Elidibus as Zodiark’s core.

This battle drains both Zodiark and Hydaelyn, finally removing the two Old Primals from the game. Things seem like Happily Ever After...

Until the Sound returns.

Part Three: Terminus Reborn

This is the big kicker: Zodiark actually never got rid of the source of the problem that caused His creation and sealed the end of Amaurot. He was simply holding it at bay - a task taken up by Hydaelyn after the Sundering, and perhaps aided by the problem itself also being split across the reflections. But with both Original Primals gone, and enough Rejoinings in place, the Terminus begins again.

This is where I see a literary parallel happening here. The Warrior of Light - also known as Azem, the wanderer and gatherer of stars - has been gathering people to them this whole time. The Scions.

And while they may not be exactly the same, and certainly don’t have the power, knowledge, or resources of the Convocation - due to not being Ascians, not having the station crystals, and not being in a similar position of power - there is enough of a similarity that one could compare the Scions to a New Convocation of sorts. Perhaps even taking up similar roles in the group dynamic - such as Cid fulfilling a Lahabrea-style position or something. Or Tataru being the Emet-Selch. Or even being identified as the counterparts like in the Scions of Light/Darkness in FFXII.

However subtle or obvious they make it, the full circle is here. The “new Convocation” has to deal with the threat of the original Convocation. From a far more perilous position and unable (and very likely unwilling) to just do a repeat of the past by summoning a new Zodiark analogue.

So the Warrior of Light does what they (and Azem) do best. They travel the world, gathering the help and knowledge of people all over to find out a way to defeat the problem. If there are any parts of the Star (would it still be called Hydaelyn at this point with Hydaelyn gone? Who knows) that have been left unvisited, this is the expansion it happens. New World, Meracydia, etc.

Through this, the true cause of the Sound is discovered (perhaps a previously unknown side-effect of Amaurotine Creation/Primal summoning) and a solution is found and implemented, saving the world. And showing the Sundered races having surpassed the Amaurotine they were fractured from by solving the problem they could not.

Expansion ends, and then all the future content is more or less just fun side stuff or other mini-conflicts that take place on the Star now that the threat of the Ascians, of Zodiark and Hydaelyn, and the Terminus are all resolved.

==========

And that’s basically my thoughts on where I could see the plot going, based on what I’ve seen and what thoughts I have had based on the information that’s been provided. And some adjustments and additions/omissions based on the Discord conversations I mentioned at the very start of all this.

What do you think? Seem plausible? Too far out there? Do you see things unfolding in a different way?

I’d love to see what others think - both of my idea, and their own ideas for how the plot of FFXIV will continue and ultimately conclude.

[rpgsandbox]

One moment sets the course of destiny.

But what if that one moment was changed in the smallest of ways?

What if one madman's plan actually were to succeed beyond our known history?

Darker Hue Studios presents its second project:

Haunted West, A Historical-Fiction, Weird-Western, Spaghetti-Action Game.

This is a game about hope through struggle. It is a game that pieces together the stories of the largely forgotten people of the Old West, the people who have been whitewashed by history. Discover the American experience in the Weird West.

Grab your rifle, jet pack, and spurs to battle traitorous rebels in the defense of freedom, join the fight against temporally displaced dinosaurs, rustle cattle to make ends meet, and hijack a train full of illicit Confederate gold!

I hope you’ve got the grit and gumption to see this through.

Head 'em up. Move 'em out.

                                               The Train Heist

The Old West—The Wild West, The American Frontier—is one of the world’s most familiar modern myths. The time was draped in ruggedness; there was an idealized dream of freedom, and a notion that just one person could shape the world. That myth belongs to all of us. Yet so many stories of truth, justice, and the American Way have been stolen, erased, and never recorded. Haunted West aims to tell many of those stories, to shine a light on the proud people who shaped America and fought for her just as much as those people whose stories are central to widely-known American folklore.

Haunted West honors the many forgotten voices of the American Frontier, tips its hat to the Weird West genre, rides the trails with the Spaghetti and Hollywood Westerns, and drinks at the saloon with historical truths. It’s a game about our real-world history that does not whitewash it, but instead amplifies the voices that shaped the West, and thereby America, helping define the world. We’ve taken an entirely new approach to the Weird West genre in gaming, with a system built from the ground up to enable you to tell the kind of stories you want, and accurately represent the history of the Old West while running games as gritty or as pulpy as you want.

Haunted West approaches the Weird West in a unique way, riding the rails toward something new. This is fertile ground for all. Haunted West explores the true history of the American Frontier with a focus on the tales of the forgotten, unknown, and overlooked, and all through Weird-West-goggles.

When I was young, growing up in the deep South of Alabama, I would watch Westerns with my grandmother on our one television in the house. Though we weren't always close, we huddled around that TV and explored the great Old West together, and that's how my love for the genre began. The only problem? No one looked like me unless they were cast as the villain or, sometimes, the butt of the joke. Haunted West aims to change that.

In Haunted West you'll battle the Weird, take side jobs to get by, and help shape a nation one step at a time. Experience adventures in the vein of Deadwood, High Noon, Gallowwalkers, Hell on Wheels, The Magnificent Seven, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., and more.

This is a role-playing game inspired by real-life icons such as Bass Reeves, Belle Star, Cathay Williams, Tom Threepersons, Ah Toy, Nat Love, Kate Warne, Jerome Crow Dog, Joaquín Murieta, John Henry Holliday, Lucy Eldine Gonzalez Parsons, Jackson Sundown, Mary Fields, and Fee Lee Wong.

Haunted West hears the voices of the past and amplifies them for all to hear.

"We need to haunt the house of history and listen anew to the ancestors' wisdom." - Maya Angelou

The world of Haunted West: Reconstruction begins close to our known history, but branches off a few years into the Reconstruction era following the Civil War, dropping you in the middle of an evolving historical timeline. The War’s aftermath burns bright in people's minds, no matter if they or their kin fought with the victorious North or the traitorous South.

In our known history, John Wilkes Booth assassinates Abraham Lincoln, which accidentally elevates Andrew Johnson, a Southern former slave owner, into the presidency. He goes on to fight against every change the people, their country, and fallen soldiers had earned.

Haunted West: Reconstruction creates a timeline in which, in addition to killing Lincoln, Booth's assassination plot also kills Johnson as he had originally intended. Lafayette Foster becomes President, and without presidential opposition, the Southern confederates are not allowed back in congress. The land is divided and given to the enslaved people as was actually planned in our known history, changing the power dynamic of America, with black landowners battling against traitors who are terrorizing them and trying to steal their legally-owned land.

We've worked with historians to help us imagine how that new dynamic plays out in our alternate timeline.

We think you'll love exploring the alternate timeline. As a gamer, I love world meta plots but I also like having the ability to run my own game. So in Haunted West we give you options. The game is layered, empowering you to run a purely historical game including many of the forgotten voices of the Old West, where you're more likely to die of dysentery than a bullet; or you may choose to take a turn toward the Spaghetti and Pulp Western; or, my hope is you'll want to take the ride into the alternate timeline which can be played in either gritty or pulp style—your choice.

That’s right, this is an entirely new system specifically designed with the Narrator's and players' enjoyment in mind. The system’s core mechanic is a 1d100 based system with some new twists. It’ll feel familiar and easy while having a level of complexity to appeal to old school gamers.

The rules themselves layer on top of each other for ease of use and can be applied in many ways.

Why a New System?: We created a new system to provide exciting versatility of play styles, a system that is tailored to create iconic stories of the West, and a consistent way for you to tell your stories. For me, it was important to have something fresh to empower the player and Narrator alike. The system is easy to pick up for new gamers and has levels of complexity for old school gamers looking for that. But at the heart of it, it’s built to aid in telling stories.

The Essential Mechanics: The ‘Ouroboros System’ is unique in its approach to modular play and has a number of easy-to-apply rules. The core mechanic is a 1D100 roll under system with degrees of success and failure that have different impacts. Skilled Paragons are able to invest a portion of their successes into ‘The River’ and use that portion for a later challenge when the chips are down. Each skill is associated with 1 of 7 different attributes that confer a starting percentage in the skill.

Paragons:  Paragons are our system's player characters. We chose the term 'Paragon' because they are iconic, modeling an aspect of the Old West and larger than life.

                                     Mock Up of Character Sheet

Skinwalkers, vampires, werewolves, aliens, clockworks, monstrosities, magic, and more await you here!

The Weird populates Haunted West on the fringes. People may know about it but rarely discuss it; it's not proper, and if you name it, you give it power. The Weird is rarely in plain sight and anyone that has a touched it is forever changed by it. These folks have seen beyond the horizon and understand the world is more, more dangerous, and more wonderous than anyone imagined. But unlike a Mythos protagonists, the people of the West are made of stern stuff. They don't faint or break easily.

Haunted West builds its Weird from myths, stories passed down from generations, real-world sightings, and from the recesses of our minds. We've got supernatural horrors, science fiction aliens with technology to astound, and more. Stepping out of your door into the world isn't for the faint of heart.  

                                         Artwork: Battling the Weird

Haunted West is a core book containing everything a Narrator needs to run scenarios in the Weird and Wild West. The book itself is an exquisitely designed hardcover 8.5” x 11” book clocking in at well over 130,000 words. Haunted West will be printed in two editions. The first will be available via offset printing for our US customers and the second will be available through DrivethruRPG for our overseas fans which will help to minimize the cost of shipping. Both versions of the book will be FULL COLOR! Our goal is to deliver the book to you Summer 2020.

                            Mock-up cover. Final design is pending.

This hefty tome would give any cowpoke pause from its hidden secret and arcane lore of the past. If you’ve got the resolve, I’ll tell you a bit about it and hold back a few prizes for a surprise when you open the book. Rest assured it’s not a snake in your boot.

A brief, “Howdy, partner!” We’ll chat around the campfire about history, how to apply the Weird, the horrors and wonders of the West, and the new system.

Then we sit a spell at the trading post to make some characters, what we're calling Paragons, and you'll have your choice of 10 distinctive archetypes that cover a lot of ground, enabling players to make any character they can think of. The creative posse has built a detailed Life Path system to guide character creation from your lineage, to your crew, to a few antagonists that don’t fancy your face.

Each Paragon has a couple of aptitudes making them more than a run-of-the-mill town person. Maybe they can shoot a little straighter, train horses a little faster, or rumor has it that some sawbones can bring the dead back to life.

Skills are the salt-of-the-Earth of what a Paragon can do. Qualities are those small traits that make you stand out. It could be something like striking looks, a 500-dollar bounty, or an intimidating gaze that forces any law officer to keep walking.

You can’t have the weird without a little magick. We start the ball rolling with four historically-based Western theme magicks of the time. They've been researched and gamified for those looking to meet at the crossroads to barter with a demon.

                                                     Book excerpt

We'll delve into an engaging narrative about the true West from before time until the early 1900s. Our story is sprawling with unknown visages and we touch on a lot of them, like an old friend buying the first round at the saloon. We’re storytellers crafting a tale that has never been told.

Haunted West takes the reigns and gives you all of the West, above and below to explore. Paragons may be dueling clockwork gunslingers in Deadwood, trading for supplies with the Lakota, holding the line with Texas Rangers against an unknown army, debating Southern politicians in halls of power on the East Coast, or stealing aboard steam-powered cities in the heavens. We are boundless.

The book comes primed with over 50 historical folks for the Paragons to meet, call out, run from, or with whom to posse up. These are real-life icons pulled from history, and their voices are waiting for your breath to make them live again.

See 'Methods of Play' for all the gunslinger goodness.

What kind of no-good scallywag would I be without offering a Narrator a helping hand for running games, discussing the careful economic and racial divides you’ll need to navigate? I am not alone; I've got a crew of diverse voices to help tell the tales.

Haunted West: Reconstruction is the world setting. The entire book up until now has been a historical game plus how to apply the Weird, and this section gives you over 10,000 words dedicated to the alternate timeline. In this timeline, in addition to killing Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth's assassination plot also kills Johnson as he had originally intended. The alternate timeline imagines how this new reality plays out.

The world of Haunted West is a grim place of untold horror, the supernatural, sights that shatter even the toughest gunslinger, with wonders beyond description. It is the Old West—the frontier of America—with her people arriving from every corner of the globe, seeking fortune, fame, and a moment in the sun.

The Paragons encounter rumors of some flying machine beyond description that's leaving mutilated cattle in its wake. They need the thing stopped before they go bust. But a deeper horror awaits those who follow the Aerostat.

We present over 40 creatures pulled from folklore and myths, both supernatural as well as alien, to baffle and combat your players' Paragons.

We’ll have a foldout train map of the United States, a reusable town map, and an old west hex map for miniature combat.  

                                            Artwork: Ghost Town

Kickstarter campaign ends: Fri, November 1 2019 3:00 PM UTC +00:00

Website: [Darker Hue Studios] [facebook] [twitter]

[dracox-serdriel]

Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

I think the thing that bugs me most about The Rise of Skywalker is that it was suppose to end the saga, which means resolving the overarching conflict: balancing the force.

And yet... The Rise of Skywalker ends the same exact way as The Revenge of the Sith and The Return of the Jedi: with an overwhelming amount of power on one side of the Force.

The whole “chosen one” thing was about balancing the Force, not “killing off all the folks who use the side of the Force we don’t like/respect” (which is, by and large, how both the Sith and Jedi attempt to frame their respective “chosen one” prophecies).

The original trilogy framed the Jedi as “the good guys” and acts as if the Light Side of the Force is synonymous with the Jedi way. The Sith are the “bad guys” and synonymous with the Dark Side of the Force. The Dark Side is painted as a seductive, dangerous thing, while the Light Side is nice and good and happy.

The prequel trilogy introduces at least a few wrinkles into these views. We get to see what the Jedi were like when they were an Order with numbers and power, and it’s not pretty. Yet still, the narrative frames them as the good guys, showing us Anakin’s “fall” to the Dark Side -- which is synonymous with him becoming a bad guy.

The problem with this framing is that there is an enormous flaw in the Dark Side/Light Side dichotomy that nobody seems to mention: those who wield the force are sentient beings that have emotions that contribute to both sides. The Sith and the Jedi both taught that individuals need to deny half of who they are in order to continue with their studies--as if an individual experiencing the full breadth and depth of emotion afforded to their life is somehow impossible... when, in fact, that’s how healthy individuals live their lives.

The sequel trilogy sets up the same paradigm as the original trilogy. The “good guys” are the Jedi/the light side of the force, and the “bad guys” are the First Order/dark side of the Force. On a fundamental level, this is where they went wrong.

Assuming we needed the following things to be true at the beginning:

Luke Skywalker is in exile (not training new Jedi)

the First Order has risen and is a new threat to freedom in the galaxy

Ben Solo (only child of Leia Organa and Han Solo) is allied with the First Order

Wouldn’t the story have been fifty times better if the First Order rose from the Light Side?

Imagine: Idealistic Luke Skywalker starts a training academy to restore the Jedi Order as best he can, and new waves of Force Sensitives rise into their own. As the galactic Senate struggles to maintain order even in the core worlds, a Light Side User (though not a Jedi) named Snoke starts the First Order, which acts as the law enforcement arm, enforcing the laws of the Senate.

But things go wrong. The Senate is put at odds with the First Order. The Jedi School is destroyed under mysterious circumstances... Ben Solo defects to the First Order, and Luke disappears with a handful of his youngest students. The Light Side of the Force consolodates power and becomes the formidable First Order, bringing peace to the galaxy -- whether the galaxy wants it or not.

And then rises Rey, a nobody from Jakku, who embraces the Dark Side of the force when so many Force Sensitives in power fear and shun it. She’s swept up in events, and when she first mets Kylo Ren, Paladan of the First Order, he captures her for information on the Resistance, but he also thinks she’s someone who can be saved from the Dark Side.

Because zealots can come from either side of the Force. Because abuse of power can happen on either side of the Force. Because the Force isn’t balanced when “all the Dark Side users are dead” or when “all the Light Sider users are dead” but instead when Force Users don’t have a damn side to begin with...

[detainedengineers]

Best 12 Patriotic Bollywood movies, you must watch

India Best Bollywood Patriotic Movies:

Independence day is near and we all are looking for patriotic Bollywood movies to watch and reinvigorate the feeling of patriotism. We grew up watching Bollywood emotional and romantic movies but my friend I must tell you that when it comes to patriotic movies Bollywood offers ice on the cake.

Bollywood has made some of the greatest patriotic movies of all time. These are movies that never fail to instill into us the feeling of nationalism and patriotism. So my dear movie lovers, here I am going to recommend to you the top twenty Bollywood patriotic movies which are based on real incidents and some are also fictional that too promote patriotism and excites us with goosebumps.

So here are some of the best Patriotic Bollywood movies:

Uri: The Surgical Strike

How is Josh?

High Sir! 

This is the dialogue that has touched every lip and has entered into every Indian heart. But if you are still oblivious to it then as a true patriot I would say put your all work on hold and watch this movie first. This is not just a movie but a magical memory. And also one of the best patriotic bollywood movies Under the direction of Aditya Dhar this movie tells the story of Major Vihaan Singh Shergill of the Indian Army who spearheads a camouflage operation against barbaric militants who attacked a base in Uri, Kashmir, in 2016 and killed many innocent soldiers. Another important noticeable point is the flow of the story both from the perspective of carrying the theme of Patriotism and believable action sequences. It’s a full-packed movie that in no way holds any water to disappoint you. It excites you, it incites you, it invites you, it strikes you!

Border

This is the first evergreen all-time favorite Patriotic Bollywood movie. This movie has a class. Based on the real-life incident of the longewala battle in 1971 between India and Pakistan, it depicts almost all aspects of a soldier’s life. It beautifully shows the life of a soldier as a brother, as a son, as a father, and of course, as a lover who chose to live as well as die for his beloved nation leaving behind all his personal aspirations. The J.P. Dutta directorial touches the core of a soldier’s life with a group of captivating casts which includes Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, Akshay Khanna, Jacky Shroff among others. The Songs of movies like Sandese aate hai( message comes) and others are still among the top patriotic songs. Watch it if you want to understand and experience the life of a soldier as a whole.

The Legend of Bhagat Singh

Everyone’s childhood hero Bhagat Singh rules over the hearts of Indian youngsters. He was the first Indian freedom fighter who totally revolutionized the freedom struggle. This biopic chronicles the courageous and valorous acts of Bhagat Singh. The movie gracefully shows how he fought and died for the nation without giving a second thought just to make India a free Nation. And also the best patriotic bollywood movies done by Ajay Devgan.

Mangal Pandey: The Rising

The freedom struggle of 1857 is the first such struggle that affected the whole nation and the main hero Mangal Pandey is considered as the first freedom fighter who inspired the whole of India to fight the Britishers. The movie with Amir khan in the lead paints a picture of a normal soldier who ends up fighting and inspiring many forthcoming freedom fighters and also a patriotic bollywood movie.

Raazi

Raazi is among those rare patriotic bollywood movies where the protagonist is not a man but a woman. Yes! A young Indian woman(played by Alia) enters the enemy nation(Pakistan) as a spy and successfully executes her duty. She is inexperienced yet adamant, she is new in the world of proxy war yet so mature in her decision and action. She, in full swing, breaks the stereotypical belief about girls and shows that even a girl can do wonders on the battlefield if given a chance and training. She is a great example of women’s empowerment and their role in the fight for the nation. 

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero

This is one more biographical war epic. The story deals with the last years of Subhas Chandra Bose’s life. However, in flashback, it also tells the story of his early life and struggle. He is credited with the fact that he had created the first organized Indian Army. His way of fighting was totally different from those of so-called mainstream freedom fighters like Nehru and Gandhi. The movie also tries to unfold the story behind his mystical death. Acting and direction are fine, the storyline keeps up with the pace. It deserves a one-time watch. And also the great freedom fighter and good patriotic bollywood movies.

Swades

This movie starring Shahrukh Khan is a bit different from other patriotic bollywood movies because here the hero’s fight is not against any outside enemies but against our own backwardness, poverty, and stereotypes. After working for years in NASA the hero came back to India with a dream of bringing change and prosperity to his birthplace. But guess what, this is not going to be easy even for a scientist. He too will have to fight and deal with a new problem at each stage of his struggle of improving education and bringing water to his village. This movie is promising for those who have ever dreamt of doing something for their nation, no matter small or big. 

RAW: Romeo Akbar Walter 

RAW is a full-packed action thriller based on the true story of an Indian spy and also one of the best movie of John Abraham, which is the best Patriotic bollywood movies. The background is the time before the Indo-Pak war of 1971. The main character is a banker who, for his capability and judicious nature, got recruited by Indian Intelligence for espionage in Pakistan.

Gradually he finds himself in a complex situation but his ability to leverage whatever is available helps him to come out after each conflict as a winner. Watching this movie is like riding a roller coaster. Each sequence is filled with curiosity and excitement. So hold your breath and get ready to ride the boat of patriotism.

Madras Cafe

On 15th May 1991, the youngest Indian Prime Minister was assassinated during a rally which left the whole country awestruck. Soon questions like by whom, how and why he was killed spread like clouds over the nation. But one more question that strike most was about the security system of India. It puts the whole defense system in question.

This movie also tries to gather all the possible events which lead to the killing of our PM and endeavors to understand why we failed in saving his life. The movie depicts the intricate relation between the Indian army, the Srilankan army, and the Tamil Tiger(LTTF). The movie direction is brilliantly executed and the simplicity of characters, especially John Abraham and Nargis Fakhri left an unforgettable mark on our memory of patriotic bollywood movies. This movie is not about winning and defeating enemies but going deep into the reasons why we failed as a nation and as a system.

Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran

One more John Abraham starar movie fills us with pride and happiness for our nation. This kind of movie does not celebrate winning over any enemy but our own achievement in science and that is also when the whole world, especially nations like America stands against us. This is the story of making India a Nuclear power. The lead character is assigned to test the nuclear weapons without getting into the eye of the USA. The flow is maintained throughout the movie and the direction is all good and also one of the best patriotic bollywood movies Some scenes are certain to give you goosebumps.

Rang De Basanti

The concept behind this movie is totally new but very promising.  This covers the story of six Indian students and one British filmmaker who arrives in India to document the story of five Indian freedom fighters. As the story proceeds these students start to live like real fighters and till the climax they find a real problem to fight for the betterment of the nation.

The movie also creates a bridge between our forgotten freedom fighters and new-age young people and their thoughts, this movies show the patriotism of the actors and also the best patriotic bollywood movies. It shows that maybe nowadays young people are not in the business of making a nation but when they get to know the bad politician’s actions they will turn into rebels in no time. And this is the must watch bollywood movies.

1971

Till now we have seen the story of fighting a war but have you ever thought about what happens to soldiers after the war. And what happens to them when they get imprisoned by enemies? This movie is your answer. This is a detailed account of the life of prisoners of war. Their attempt to escape and reach their home is not going to be easy. Some may lose their life, some may get caught, maybe a few or just one, or no one will make it home.

However whether one succeeds or fails is not the subject of this movie, this movie covers the thread of events that slowly unfold when they attempt to escape. The cast features all big package actors like Manoj Bajpayee, Piyush Mishra, and many others. One last disclaimer: if you are human, be ready to cry while watching. For your information, this movie also won the 55th National Film Award for best Hindi feature film. So you got one more reason to watch. And this is also one of the best patriotic Bollywood movies. 

[san-bika]

Tension: Matt Makes a Mistake

Rating: General Pairings: None Length: 3241 words Tags: S3 Continuation, world-building, hurt-comfort, Langst, team dynamics

Tracks: Interstellar - Coward, Message from Home, and No Time For Caution by Hans Zimmer

Notes: This is not the same universe as Discovery: Matt Meets a Paladin. It’s not a linear sequel. I just like writing Matt and Lance together in fic. 

Lance had a bit of an ego but his gift of insight wasn’t something he overestimated. Despite Keith’s best attempts at comforting him, and his slightly off-kilter attempt at a joke (his  math was pretty decent, all things considered), Lance hadn’t been wrong. There was a lion problem and when they had run into Matt and the REAL Shiro, not this unfortunate clone, Black had responded to her true paladin.

And things became really awkward.

Keith had been trapped inside fighting Lotor one-on-one and couldn’t get to Black. All the other lions had been engaged with Galra ships as they waited to warp with the castle. And with one loud roar Black had raced back to Shiro at the castle and he had saved Keith and the day in one swoop. Pretty fitting for a hero.

There had been some uneasy discussion. Some hints at needing to know this meant for the team. Keith and Shiro were supposedly fine with Keith remaining the leader. But not everyone was. Pidge trusted Shiro more, now that he was back, and said as much. Hunk didn’t want to step on toes but felt pretty much the same. Even Keith looked oddly guilty when it was brought up - as though he felt inferior to Shiro - and truth be told, Lanc would bet he still did, despite everything.

In the end, Keith hadn’t forgotten their math discussion and had volunteered to stay back with Coran, as he had before, and Lance, weak as he was, didn’t have enough pride to do the same. He knew that despite his best intentions, Keith stayed behind because it was the honorable thing to do and not because it was best for the team. If Lance were better, smarter, stronger he might have done the same, knowing that his skills were still needed and that he’d never be told different.

But Lance didn’t question his friend, didn’t bring it up even when he saw Pidge and and Shiro and Allura’s eyes shift towards him and then away, guilty. He knew the line that everyone was thinking but refused to articulate. They were waiting for him to step down. And that was something he couldn’t do.

They could still form Voltron.

But there was tension and unspoken words coursing through them.

They were unsteady and the battle had been too dangerous.

They won but Lance wondered what would happen in the next battle and the next.

How long would they last with that simmering uncertainty coiled in the back of everyone’s minds?

If he stepped down, he’d be admitting to the team, and to himself, that he wasn’t the right paladin for the job. Red was great with him, she thrived off of his energy and the thrill he got from flying wildly in freaking space, especially when he remembered that he was protecting his home in doing so. But it was never the same as with Keith - they had never reached the same heights or speeds, were never in sync. Lance hadn’t unlocked any unique or new powers. And he knew he never would.

Lance was a waystation on the journey and his time was up. There was a better team waiting to be formed. But he didn’t have the heart to say it and no one would would force him to. And he wasn’t humble enough to stick around to see it happen naturally.

So here he was, neatly towing his things in an Altean version of a suitcase. It hovered behind him, connected to his belt by an energy tether, rattling slightly when he took corners too fast. He wasn’t wearing his armor but had nicked one that looked similar to Allura’s original battle suit, pink and all. His armor and the red bayard were neatly stacked on his bed. He hadn’t left a note - he respected his team too much to patronize them.

They’d figure it out.

Lance couldn’t stop shivering even though he wasn’t cold. Facing his feelings about bringing the team down wasn’t easy and he was pretty sure he was a moment away from a full-on breakdown. He hustled quickly and quietly to the end of the living corridors and knocked on the last door.

A light silhouetted Matt as he scratched his head, trying to look as though he’d been sleeping and failing badly. His hazel eyes were too alert and the computer behind him was in the middle of running lines of code. He pursed his lips awkwardly, slightly annoyed and clearly confused. They hadn’t talked much since their rescue as he and Pidge had been so focused on locating their dad.

“Lance, everything ok? It’s pretty late…”

He offered a tight smile, “I know, I don’t mean to wake you but remember when I helped rescue you from the Galra attack on your freedom fighters?”

Matt arched an eyebrow. Yeah, that did sound kind of arrogant in hindsight but he plowed on.

“Well I helped! And I’m calling in a favor and it’s a no-questions-asked, I-was-never-here kind of deal. But please come with me, I’m sure it’ll take you just a few dobashes.”

The older man paused, frowning as he scanned the hallway for any sign of coercion. Satisfied that it was just one of the paladin’s whims, he nodded and slipped on some shoes, light glinting off his metal toes. For some reason Lance couldn’t look away, wondering if he’d ever lose a body part in this war. He pulled himself together and started walking toward the pod hangar, far from the lions.

Matt kept his pace easily, stride close to the same size as Lance's, and peered thoughtfully out of his new glasses.

“Can I ask what you need from me? Because if this affects Voltron, I can’t really make any promises of eternal secrecy.”

Lance chuckled. The Holt siblings were so alike in their need to know every damn detail and their dramatic nerdiness.

“I promise it won’t affect Voltron. I just need you to soup up a pod for me. Add cloaking. And maybe disable location tracking if that won’t take too long.”

Matt paused as they reached the first usable pod and forcibly turned Lance to face him. But the teen couldn’t hold his gaze, couldn’t handle the pity in it. So he pulled up the tablet in his hands and scanned the ship with it, checking that all of it was in working order and ready to go for a long trip.

Matt didn’t take his hand away and spoke firmly, falling into that Garrison tone “Lance, why are you running away? Where are you planning on going?”

Lance felt a bubble of defiance in him and took a few quick steps forward, pretending to look at a buffed out dent. Despite the hot emotion, he couldn’t help the waver in his voice as he spoke over his shoulder.

“I’m not running! I’m just…. doing what needs to be done. This really is for the best. Things will be better this way. Think about it. I’m not wrong.”

Matt didn’t say anything but turned to pull up a diagnostic screen on his computer and began inputting some numbers.

Lance had to hold onto the side of the ship, feeling weak with vindication and hurt all at once. His heart was pounding in his chest and he felt the chills return.

The thought that his team wasn’t in on his secret exhilarated him. And shook him to his core. Maybe it was his imagination but he felt like Red was antsy in the back of his mind. And it hurt to think of the team.

Hunk would be snoring in his pajamas with the mice hidden away in the little beds he’d made for them in his room. Pidge was most likely wide awake at her desk, still searching for her dad. Shiro was usually speaking with Allura in the common room at this hour. And Keith was training or passed out after training, without even showering like the filthy heathen he was. Coran usually looked at the star maps for another hour or two, taking notes and trying to update their databases with available info.

If the launch prep went on too long, he’d have to think of a quick explanation to avoid his plans being exposed in case someone came down.

Turning to Matt, he could see the other sneaking a glance before jumping when they met each other’s eyes.

The bespectacled man chewed his lip a bit and spoke up, “The cloaking is on, I guess Katie has been experimenting with these ships because it’s already functional. Taking the tracking off isn’t really necessary,” and here he held up a finger to quiet Lance’s protest, “These pods need to be within a certain amount of distance from the castle ship to be located. They aren’t meant to be fighters but emergency pods. They’re durable and can fight but they're disposable.”

And the word ‘disposable’ hit him right in the chest for whatever reason. Lance just nodded and focused on keeping his jitters to himself.

“I’d say if you fly past the second closest planet and then use your top speed, the chances of tracking the pod are reduced by about 90% percent. Being that far away, the ship won’t register your warp and going that fast and far will make it like finding a needle in a haystack. Possible but not easily and not quickly. The trail will be cold by the time anyone knows you’re gone.”

Lance ducked his head again and didn’t even bother trying to smile, laser focused on his tablet.

“Good. And can you confirm my specs, here? It looks operational and ready for a trip of at least ten quintants from my end.”

Matt walked over and reviewed the tablet before nodding slowly.

“Coran has tuned these up nicely. And Katie’s upgrades have been fully integrated and safety tested. You shouldn’t have any problems. But Lance, really, what’s going on here? Are you seriously abandoning your team? Is this some kind of secret mission no one knows about but you? Because if I’ve learned anything from this whole crazy misadventure, you should never leave your family or your team. It’s a recipe for failure. You know what Shiro says-”

This time, Lance cut him off.

“We’re always stronger together. I know. But the thing is… he didn’t really specify who the ‘we’ is in that statement.”

Matt furrowed his brows clearly trying to get through and failing.

“Listen, I appreciate the concern but honestly, think about what’s going on right now. I know Pidge has told you. And I’m not saying anymore. I would never abandon the team. Don’t put that on me. But I am giving them an opportunity they’re refusing to take.”

He turned to meet the hazel gaze head on until it dropped to the computer screen. Matt was a space explorer, a genius, a survivor of the Galra empire, and a freedom fighter. He knew better than anyone what Lance was talking about.

And he knew that Lance was right.

They went about preparing the ship for flight, checking operation levels, safety features, and the like. Lance focused on the ship’s biosupport, rations, and first aid, silently wondering how soon he’d need to rely on it. He dropped his bag on the ground, stolen blaster clattering, hoping no one would notice the small things he’d taken from them all. Pidge would want her headphones back but he’d make it up to her someday.

When they were done, Matt smiled sadly. He looked conflicted but pressed a small device into his hands.

“It’s NOT a tracker, but if you want to talk to us, that’ll send out a signal that we can pick up. It’s a two-way radio that no one knows about but me, so don’t lose it.”

Lance felt his lower lip tremble and bit it so he wouldn’t totally fall apart in front of his friend.

“Thanks man. Consider us even.”

He went in for a fist bump but was pulled into a hug. He’d forgotten how strong Matt was.

“I don’t know what will make things okay for you, Lance, but I really don’t think you’ll find it out there by yourself. Yeah, it’s harder to stay and deal with this but better in the long run. Maybe you’ll feel okay after flying around for a bit? Just come back and no one will know. I won’t say a word.”

Lance made a soft assent but that cold pit in his stomach didn’t fade with the comfort. He wouldn’t come back. He wouldn’t stay here and let himself hold the team back.

He couldn’t stay here and watch himself slowly fade into the background either.

Matt walked away to release the airlock for this pod’s containment unit. He smiled and made a thumbs up. He believed his friend would come back. Lance waved and offered a thumbs up in return, feeling guilty.

He maneuvered the pod outside of the castle and put it on a speedy autopilot while he thought. He’d decided to head to the same sector as the Balmera, thinking that since Shay hadn’t contacted them it was still safe and he could make connections and longer plans there.

And it wouldn’t take too long to get there, three quintants at the pace he needed to disappear from the castle’s radar. He was just settling and trying to ward off the anxiety and uncertainty bubbling up only to have a minor freakout when a metal hand came gently down onto the arm of his pilot’s chair.

“Sh-shiro!” He gasped out to turn to see his hero only to be stunned into silence.

Not Shiro. Kuron.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” Lance managed to whisper. Of all the people to discover his hack attempt to be noble, the awkward clone of the black paladin was not one he had considered.

Sure he was friendly with Kuron and tried to talk but that guy was going through something, dealing with memories and an identity that wasn’t his own. They’d helped to free him from Galra control but he had been keeping to himself, not sure how to help and not wanting to hurt the team. Even if he wasn’t Shiro, he had the same considerate nature.

Kuron offered him a sober smile before slipping into the co-pilot’s chair and strapping himself in.

“Aren’t you going to stop me? Make me go back?”

The words slipped out before Lance stop himself.

Kuron looked out into space for a moment before glancing back at him.

“I know why you’re doing this. I don’t know if this is the best plan but then… I don’t know much of anything these days. I need to fight the Galra. But… I’m not sure how I can do it or if I’m needed here. I want to come with you, to help you.”

Lance had to swallow and blink hard to stop himself from crying, too brittle from the harshness of his thoughts. Kuron was trying to say he agreed with him. That Lance wasn’t needed here anymore.

Or he could be saying that he sees where you’re coming from, understands your position. What if he’s just coming because he’s worried you’re going to get yourself killed? Can you put him in danger-

He shook his head, like that could stop that little voice when nothing else could. He drummed his fingers and pulled up a screen of the castle ship behind them and pointed at it, staring right at the clone.

“Look, you have to know I’m not going back there. If I stay, I’m messing up the team. If I go back, then I can’t live with myself knowing that I was too much of a coward to do the right thing. I’m leaving and fighting the Galra any way I can. I don’t know what that’ll mean for me, but you should know this is most likely a one-way ticket.”

The older man, so similar to Shiro and somehow… not quite the same, looked disturbed for a moment. Like Lance had said something wrong but he didn’t want to correct him. He held Lance’s gaze, however, until he smiled softly.

“I’m okay with that. Where are we headed, Commander?”

Hearing that word, addressed to him from the clone of a man he’d looked up to for years was not easy. He didn’t know whether Kuron was saying that because he hadn’t truly earned the rank Shiro had or as a sign that he trusted Lance but he felt a surge of pride he’d been waiting a very long time for.

Lance pulled himself together and finished entering the coordinates. He grinned over at his Co-Pilot.

“We’re headed toward Shay and the Balmerans. They’ll give us some intel and we can start our own response plan to the SOS calls we receive on our way. I want to stay under the radar of Voltron and the Galra. My goals are to assist civilians quickly and effectively and get out as soon as possible. What do you think, Kuron?”

It occurred to Lance as he word-vomited a bunch of thoughts that been on his mind these past few days how grateful he was to have a friend here. If he’d been flying this alone, he’d probably be in the middle of a panic attack. And looking at Kuron’s surprised face, he realized that he hadn’t addressed Kuron or even asked him how he felt since… well, since Shiro had come back.

“That sounds like a great plan. I’m happy to act as your number two. I’ll monitor the ship and log any SOS or other communications for you. It sounds like you’ve got a pretty good handle on things.”

Lance felt a little ashamed that he hadn’t thought to talk to him at all. Even if he was a Galra experiment, he was still sentient, he still had thoughts and feelings.

“By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask what you’d like to be called… I mean, it’s a little weird to say Shiro and then your Galra name means Clone so…”

The other man smiled broadly, “Thanks, Lance, you know, Shiro and I talked about that for a bit. I like the name Kuro for a few different reasons, so just call me that.”

Lance pursed his lips, “Kuro, huh? Well, it’s just the two of us and our beautiful pod ship. I haven’t thought of a name yet, but we can pick one later. And I’m… really glad to have you on board with me.”

Kuro reached out with his metal hand and they shook.

Looking out the window, he noticed that they were halfway past the second orbiting planet in that system. Pretty soon the only way that Allura and the others would hear from them was if he chose to use the communication device.

A wave of fear overcame him for a second and he focused on the castle in the screen he’d pointed to earlier.

Things would be better this way.

Voltron would be stronger with him gone.

This war was bigger than him and his feelings.

He was ready to go.

“All right, Kuro. I’m putting us into our top speed. Ready when you are.”

Kuro nodded, regaining his serious demeanor. Lance put the pod’s thrusters into position and closed the screen of the castle.

And then they were gone.

[swipestream]

New Release Roundup, 29 December 2018: Science Fiction

A war between elder gods, a mysterious deep space signal, intrigue between space miners, and a full cast audio drama from one of today’s bestselling authors feature in this week’s roundup of the newest releases in science fiction.

Advance (Animus #4) – Joshua Anderle and Michael Anderle  

You don’t become the best of the best by staying alive. In the Animus, you are closer to perfection with each death you suffer.

Kaiden Jericho would rather skip the death part, thank-you-very-much.

Join Kaiden as he learns about Nexus, the Animus, and the opportunities that one fight brought him. Never has helping someone benefitted him so much.

The future is looking bright, except for the pain.

Kaiden Jericho’s life just went sideways.

The problem? He isn’t as prepared as he thinks he is.

Out in the jungles of the Amazon, Kaiden meets a new set of nightmares, and death there is permanent.

Even with all his previous training in the Animus, will Kaiden survive?

Charm School Outcasts – Jamie Hawke

I wasn’t always this adorable, badass superhero you see before you.

Well, I was, but there was a shady side to me, a part of my past I don’t like to talk about.

And that’s what led me to Supralines, the best superhero school in the Oram galaxy.

What follows is a bit of insanity, a bit of love, and a bit of self-discovery. Join me, and I promise you won’t regret it!

“What can I say that has not been said? Interweaving novels, building new worlds, creating characters with amazing skills…Jamie makes it seem like a walk in the park. If you have not yet read a Jamie Hawke work, this is a good start.”–Amazon Reader Review

Desolation (Legend of the Galactic Heroes #8) – Yoshiki Tanaka

After utterly defeating the Free Planets Alliance, Kaiser Reinhard has brought 99 percent of inhabited space under his control.

Still, dissatisfaction and unease coil within his breast, for the galaxy’s last remaining sliver of free territory is defended by none other than Yang Wen-li.

Seeking decisive battle, the Imperial Navy moves to attack Iserlohn Fortress, but due to Yang’s unexpected plan, the battle has already begun before Reinhard arrives.

The Yang Fleet must overcome an enormous difference in force strength—while at the same time, a trap laid by the Church of Terra is closing in around Yang…

Krox Rises (The Magitech Chronicles #5) – Chris Fox 

The Godswar Has Come Again.

Nebiat has seized godhood, and now controls Krox, the most powerful elder god in the sector. Both Ternus and Shaya know she is coming, but their preparations cannot save them. She launches a strike at Ternus that cripples their home world, and shatters their fleets.

Voria desperately struggles to find a way to raise Shaya, or to rise as a goddess herself. She will do anything to oppose Nebiat, but fears it will not be enough.

Aran must confront the awful truth about the Skull of Xal, and make a deal with demons in order to gain the strength they so desperately need to overcome Krox.

And Nara must face the most awful choice of all. Will she murder the woman she most respects, or let the sector burn?

Lasso (Deep Space Mining Series #1) – Mike Coville 

Captain Greg Daniels of the DSM Boone is a handful of asteroids away from retiring when his plans are threatened by an explosion on his ship. With the risk of another more lethal attack, Greg must locate the source of the explosion or he’ll lose more than the priceless rock he just obtained – he’ll lose his life.

On the Lunar Community, Final Frontier Mining Director David Rivera has his sights set on become Prime Minister of the ISC. His hopes rest on ace miner, Daniels, bringing in the most profitable asteroid in the company’s history to keep himself in the spotlight. But when he discovers a conspiracy to destroy his company and put a stop to his political aspirations, David must hunt down his mysterious hacker while trying to save Greg, DSM Boone, and the asteroid it has secured.

One man fights for survival in deep space, another on the moon, but is there someone else pulling the strings of both? Only if they can work together, will they find the answers they need to survive.

Skywave (The Rorschach Explorer Missions #1) – K. Patrick Donoghue 

No one knows what to make of the mysterious clicks.

To Ajay Joshi, the amateur astronomer who discovered the strange sounds with his radio telescope, the clicks represent proof of aliens on Callisto, a moon of Jupiter, a theory dismissed as quackery by space agency radio experts. They contend the clicks are nothing more than terrestrial interference, so-called skywaves, or similar electromagnetic interference emanating from Jupiter or Callisto.

To Dr. Kiera Walsh, an aerospace engineer introduced to Ajay and his findings, the consistent, repetitive pattern of the clicks points to the possibility of a lost Martian probe caught in Callisto s orbit. She shares this view with her employer, billionaire and space exploration privateer, Augustus Amato, and is surprised to learn Amato disagrees with her conclusion. He believes the clicks herald something more ominous orbiting Callisto.

Compelled to learn the true source of the clicks, Amato launches a fleet of experimental probes to investigate the Jovian moon. A mission that produces a string of startling discoveries, revelations that shake the space exploration establishment to its core and spark a controversial race to preserve the discoveries before they are destroyed or suppressed.

A Star-Wheeled Sky – Brad R. Torgersen

Over a millennium in the past, humans fleeing Earth in slower-than-light vessels discovered the Waywork, an abandoned alien superhighway system that allows instantaneous travel from star to star. The problem: there are a finite number of Waypoint nodes—and the burgeoning population of humans is hemmed in as a result. Furthermore, humanity is divided into contending Starstates. One of the strongest is based on an oligarchy ruling families, but still mostly democratic. The other is a totalitarian nightmare. War seems inevitable.

Now a new Waypoint appears. Might it lead to the long-lost creators of the Waywork? If so, there may be knowledge and technology that will tip the balance in the coming war.

Three people race to make it to the new Waypoint—and beyond. These include Wyodreth Antagean, the reluctant son of an interstellar shipping magnate, Lady Garsina Oswight, the daring daughter of a royal family, and Zuri Mikton, a disgraced flag officer seeking redemption. They are facing an implacable foe in Golsubril Vex, a merciless, but highly effective, autocrat from the Waywork’s most brutal regime. Vex is determined to control the new Waypoint and whatever revelation or power lies on the other side.

Now humanity’s fate—to live in freedom or endless dictatorship—depends on just what that revelation might be. And who gets there first.

Starship Pandora: A Star Force Audio Drama – written by B. V. Larson

B. V. Larson returns to the world of his Audible best-selling Star Force series for the first time in three years with this original, full-cast audio drama.

The mysterious alien race known as the Ancients vanished before Earth’s last ice age – but not before building interconnected rings that form a highway system across the galaxy. Humanity has used these rings for years but has never figured out how to build its own, or even how to alter the connection pattern.

Now, the Imperial starship Pandora is on a mission to discover and explore new interstellar connection points. While on Venus, an unexpected guest arrives – Marvin, a rogue robot who puts his strange mind to work on reconnecting the rings into a new pattern. And everything goes haywire. Grotesque aliens come through the ring and overrun Pandora’s base camp. The good news is the aliens can be killed. The bad news is the aliens keep coming, and no one knows how to turn off the ring that leads directly to their home world.

And even if the aliens are defeated – there’s still Marvin to contend with.

  New Release Roundup, 29 December 2018: Science Fiction published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames

[gta-5-cheats]

Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Isn't Amazon's Answer to Black Mirror, It's Something Else

New Post has been published on http://secondcovers.com/philip-k-dicks-electric-dreams-isnt-amazons-answer-to-black-mirror-its-something-else/

Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Isn't Amazon's Answer to Black Mirror, It's Something Else

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

The works of science fiction author Philip K. Dick have been a near-constant source of inspiration for Hollywood, from Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner in 1982 and the Ryan Gosling-starrer sequel last year, the 1990 and 2012 film versions of Total Recall, Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report with Tom Cruise in 2002, and the ongoing Amazon alt-history series The Man in the High Castle to name a few. The adaptations have garnered billions of dollars altogether, but more importantly, have shown that Dick’s stories and the themes within them – reality, corporatisation, and what it means to be human – are timeless.

And for the first time, his name itself has become part of the title. Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, an anthology sci-fi series based on his many short works, shows how influential and important Dick’s name is in the industry. That success has a layer of sadness to it as well. Science fiction is a big genre for the entertainment industry today, but it wasn’t looked at as fondly in the 50s and 60s when Dick wrote much of his early work. It had no place in mainstream literature, and the author – who died months before the premiere of Blade Runner – spent most of his life with financial troubles.

The new show – there are a total of 10 episodes in the first season, coming to Amazon Prime Video globally on Friday, after having aired six on Channel 4 in the UK – is a tribute to his legacy, and further cements the place of anthology series in TV’s new golden age. Their short nature is beneficial for both creators and audiences; it affords the former more creative freedom and flexibility, and it means less commitment for big actors, and the viewers, who don’t need to catch up on previous seasons to enjoy what’s on offer.

That’s why Electric Dreams has been able to draw together a powerful cast and crew. The likes of Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire), Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner), Anna Paquin (True Blood), Terrence Howard (Empire), R&B artist Janelle Monáe, and Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) will be seen across episodes, with writers and directors borrowed from prestigious series such as Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, Battlestar Galactica, and the Potterverse.

Unlike Black Mirror, its closest cousin owing to the ‘anthology sci-fi’ label and Channel 4 home (that’s where Black Mirror got its start before jumping to Netflix), where Charlie Brooker has full creative control, and other anthology series such as Noah Hawley’s Fargo and Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story, there isn’t any central figure in the making of Electric Dreams. The show came together with the involvement of Cranston, Ronald D. Moore and Michael Dinner, and they chose to give free rein to the people brought on board.

Even in its story treatment, only a couple of the episodes are anything like Black Mirror. Dick’s work was always ahead of his time back in the day, and most of the short stories are still quite futuristic in their setting. While Black Mirror’s horror and eeriness comes from the fact that it offers a peek into a future just 10 minutes from now, most Electric Dreams episodes present a world that’s quite different from ours. The closest of the lot is “The Commuter”, starring Spall, while the farthest of the lot is “Impossible Planet”, written and directed by David Farr (The Night Manager).

Timothy Spall in a still from Electric Dreams’ “The Commuter” Photo Credit: Amazon/Channel 4

Incidentally, those two episodes are also opposites when it comes to quality of the show itself: “The Commuter” being the strongest, and “Impossible Planet” being the weakest. In the former, the wonderful Spall plays a dull middle-aged train station employee called Ed Jacobson. One day at the station, a commuter comes up to the ticket window and asks for a ticket to a non-existent town, but before he can figure out the problem, she disappears.

Ed is then pulled into the mystery, and tries to figure out whether the town actually exists. Frequent collaborators director Tom Harper (BBC’s War & Peace mini-series) and playwright Jack Throne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) created the episode, easily the best of the lot. “The Commuter” works so well because it uses science fiction to chip away at the heart of our fantasies that we dream of to get away from our grim lives. It hits neatly at the idea of secretly wishing for something to ease your pain, but still choosing your screwed up life because you’ve invested so much in it.

In “Impossible Planet”, an elderly (over 300 years old) deaf rich woman called Irma (Geraldine Chaplin) comes knocking at the door of an agency specialising in space tourism in a new galaxy, where Andrews (Benedict Wong) and Norton (Jack Reynor) are two overworked and underpaid employees. She promises a hefty payment if they take her on a journey to Earth, but there’s just one problem: the planet has long been thought extinct.

Shop On SecondCovers

Jack Reynor and Geraldine Chaplin in a still from Electric Dreams’ “Impossible Planet” Photo Credit: Amazon/Channel 4

“Impossible Planet” makes changes to the story’s end-game, and gets rid of the final twist that Dick had incorporated, which is baffling because that’s what gives the story so much meaning. Instead, Electric Dreams focuses on the relationship between Norton and Irma, two individuals who had never met before but seem to share a past and memories. Though the developments hint at time travel at one point, the episode ultimately chooses to ignore that and go in a very different and unsatisfying direction.

In this way, episodes vary in how they interpret Dick’s work, either sticking close to the original word or merely using it as a base to tell their own tale. “Real Life”, written by Moore (Battlestar Galactica), completely changes the setting and the character’s background, only keeping the central idea: two individuals living in different time periods, but connected mysterious ways. One’s a lesbian cop Sarah (Paquin) in the future with a flying car, and the other is a black VR game designer George (Howard) in present day.

“Real Life” is about survivor’s guilt, with the character questioning whether she deserves happiness after having survived a gunfight that claimed the lives of 15 fellow officers. As for the sci-fi element, the episode tackles a constant Dickian theme of alternate realities, and the failure to discern the real from the virtual. “Real Life” will keep you guessing which reality is simulated to the very end, but that’s only if you can get past the cringe-worthy dialogue.

Anna Paquin in a still from Electric Dreams’ “Real Life” Photo Credit: Amazon/Channel 4

“Human Is”, the episode starring Cranston and Essie Davis (Game of Thrones), on the other hand, is much closer to Dick’s original story. Cranston plays an emotionally abusive husband and military general who returns from a battle a different man. He finds little joys in life, and rejuvenates the loveless and sexless marriage with his wife (Davis).

The episode’s 26th-century setting where mankind is reeling from limited oxygen supplies is just background chatter for “Human Is”, which gets at Dick’s core ideas of what it means to be human. If an alien lifeform is capable of showing love, kindness and sacrifice, does that make it more human than human? What is more important over the long run in a marriage: someone sticking with it, or someone who’s looking out for you?

While both “Human Is” and “Real Life” give concrete answers, other Electric Dreams episodes choose to have an ambiguous ending, such as the season opener “The Hood Maker”, starring Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) and Holliday Grainger (The Finest Hours) as work partners Agent Moss and Honor respectively, the latter of them being a mutant telepath, derogatorily known as ‘Teeps’. The episode deals with state surveillance, civil liberties, knowledge, evolution, and fear of the other.

Richard Madden and Holliday Grainger in a still from Electric Dreams’ “The Hood Maker” Photo Credit: Amazon/Channel 4

Madden and Grainger are both great in their roles, the latter especially for the vulnerability she brings to a character trying to please both sides, the Teep clan she belongs to and the police force she works for. The trouble is that a single 50-minute episode doesn’t give enough time to develop the characters and make you feel their pain. There are moments in “The Hood Maker” that don’t have the needed gravity and depth to them because you haven’t known these characters long enough.

That’s not a problem for most other episodes, and the themes the stories weave together are not only timely, but can also be read in more than one way at times. All of that is brought to life by some terrific actors, writers, and directors, and complemented by great visuals and impressive production values. It’s hit and miss for sure, but Dick’s prolificacy as a writer means Hollywood can keep returning to this well for many more fascinating sci-fi setups for years to come.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();