#TAU Simon

[that-ghosts-art]

“Cory’s friend turned out to be Simon, the oft-mentioned yet hitherto unseen lab-grown meat scientist… There was something magnetic about the man— he did not seem to care particularly about the noble ideals of his trade, but rather was driven only by an innate and inexplicable desire to see how many organs he could grow from a test tube”

Anyone else love Simon from Alcor the Dreambender’s Infinite Bed and Breakfast because you should he’s great :3

[katjapetersart]

Came home from a week long camping trip. sat down. eeeeh... woops?

In any case: Shas'la T'au Kais, the protagonist of the book I'm reading, Fire Warrior by Simon Spurrier. It is quite clearly a novellization of a video game, but also a very enjoyable haunting experience.

[slugbeaker]

i think a reason unrelated to the story or gameplay that soma is such a comfort game for me is that the sound design is just really relaxing - not the monsters screeching horribly obviously - but like the passive underwater noises, the regulation of our scuba gear/breathing, the doors sliding open with their pleasant little chimes, the pressure rooms in between parts where you're in and out of underwater sections filling or emptying with water - not to mention all the little things you can just interact with throughout the game - it just makes for a very soothing experience personally despite all the scary bits 😂

[temporaltourguide]

@ameno-hypostasis is the friend in these pics

[the-bi-library]

HAPPY BI VISIBILITY MONTH!!! 🩷💜💙

I wish all bi folks a very pleasant bi month!

Here are bi books of September!

Books listed:

💕 This Spells Disaster by Tori Anne Martin 💕 In the Ring by Sierra Isley 💕 Those Pink Mountain Nights by Jen Ferguson 💕 The Darkest Stars (The Broken Stars #2) by Kristy Gardner 💕Daughter of Winter and Twilight (Queen of Coin and Whispers #2) by Helen Corcoran 💕 Time to Shine by Rachel Reid 💕 Herc by Phoenicia Rogerson 💕 Fly with Me by Andie Burke 💕 Everyone's Thinking It by Aleema Omotoni 💕 A Crown So Cursed (Nightmare-Verse, #3) by L.L. McKinney 💕 This Dark Descent (This Dark Descent, #1) by Kalyn Josephson 💕 Providence Girls by Morgan Dante 💕 Wolf, Willow, Witch (The Gideon Testaments #2) by Freydís Moon 💕 What Stalks Among Us by Sarah Hollowell 💕 Thank You for Sharing by Rachel Runya Katz 💕 Cities of Women by Kathleen B. Jones 💕You, Again by Kate Goldbeck 💕 Double Exposure: A F/NBi Enemies to Lovers Romantic Suspense by Rien Gray 💕 The Fractured Dark (The Devoured Worlds, #2) by Megan E. O'Keefe 💕 Cover Story by Valerie Gomez 💕 The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White 💕 The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu 💕 Better Left Unsaid by Tufayel Ahmed 💕 Dearborn by Ghassan Zeineddine 💕 A Green Equinox by Elizabeth Mavor 💕 Salt Kiss (Lyonesse, #1) by Sierra Simone 💕 The Amazing Alpha Tau Boyfriend Project (Alpha Tau, #1) by Lisa Henry

Make sure to check the TWs for all books if necessary 💕

Here is the goodreads list of these books

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🌈 Queer Books Coming Out in May 2024 🌈

🌈 Good morning, my bookish bats! Struggling to keep up with all the amazing queer books coming out this month? Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Remember to #readqueerallyear! Happy reading!

[ Release dates may have changed. ]

❤️ Farzana's Spite - Felix Graves 🧡 Archangels of Funk - Andrea Hairston 💛 How It Works Out - Myriam Lacroix 💚 Queer History A to Z - Robin Stevenson, Vivian Rosas 💙 Queerceañera - Alex Crespo 💜 Second Night Stand - Karelia Stetz-Waters, Fay Stetz-Waters ❤️ You Can Call Me Cooper - Cali Kitsu 🧡 Gooseberry - Robin Gow 💛 Grand Slam Romance - Ollie Hicks, Emma Oosterhous 💙The Witches of Silverlake - Simon Curtis, Stephanie Son 💜 Drawn to the Enemy - Barbara Winkes 🌈 The Truth of Our Past - Heather Leighson

❤️ Infaust - T.D. Cloud, Ambi Sun 🧡 Garner for Gold - Catherine Labadie 💛 The Z Word - Lindsay King-Miller 💚 Snake Charming - Genevieve McCluer 💙 The 7-10 Split - Karmen Lee 💜 Loving Jemima - Sienna Waters ❤️ The Potion Gardener - Arden Powell 🧡 A Swift and Sudden Exit - Nico Vincenty 💛 The Worst Ronin - Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Faith Schaffer 💙 Murray Out of Water -Taylor Tracy 💜 The Guncle Abroad - Steven Rowley 🌈 The Weight of What Was - Pip Landers-Letts

❤️ The Amazing Alpha Tau Pledge Project - Lisa Henry, Sarah Honey 🧡 I Met Death & Sex Through My Friend, Tom Meuley - Thom Vernon 💛 Malicia - Steven dos Santos 💚 The Sins on Their Bones - Laura R. Samotin 💙 SLUTS: Anthology - Michelle Tea 💜 You Should Be So Lucky - Cat Sebastian ❤️ Death's Country - R.M. Romero 🧡 Cinema Love - Jiaming Tang 💛 The Brides of High Hill - Nghi Vo 💙 Emma - Jenna Kent 💜 Wish We Were There - Lionel Hart 🌈 A Troublemaker in Her Eyes - Genta Sebastian

❤️ I Make Envy on Your Disco - Eric Schnall 🧡 Lavash at First Sight - Taleen Voskuni 💛 Queer Power Couples - Hannah Murphy Winter, Billie Winter 💚 In Repair - A.L. Graziadei 💙 A Heart Divided - Angie Williams 💜 Long After We Are Gone - Terah Shelton Harris ❤️ The Queen of Steeplechase Park - David Ciminello 🧡 Lunar Boy - Jes Wibowo, Cin Wibowo 💛 Hot Boy Summer - Joe Jiménez 💙 Sunhead - Alex Assan 💜 The Summer Love Strategy - Ray Stoeve 🌈 Into the Mouth of the Wolf - Erin Gough

❤️ The Girl in Question - Tess Sharpe 🧡 The Lost Erwain - Mariah Stillbrook 💛 Starfire - Naomi Hughes 💚 Adrift - Sam Ledel 💙 Shanghai Murder - Jessie Chandler 💜 April May June July - Alison B. Hart ❤️ A Bone in His Teeth - Kellen Graves 🧡 Cabin Fever - Tagan Shepard 💛 Don't Be a Drag - Skye Quinlan 💙 The Ride of Her Life - Jennifer Dugan 💜 The Redemption of Daya Keane - Gia Gordon 🌈 Nearlywed - Nicolas DiDomizio

❤️ The Sunforge - Sascha Stronach 🧡 The End of Time - Trudie Skies 💛 Silent Ones - Melissa Polk 💚 Prime Time Travelers - Neil Laird 💙 My Darling Dreadful Thing - Johanna van Veen 💜 The Honey Witch - Sydney J. Shields ❤️ Spitting Gold - Carmella Lowkis 🧡 Last Chance - Claire Highton-Stevenson 💛 Road Home - Rex Ogle 💙 Only for Convenience - Shannon O'Connor 💜 Linus and Etta Could Use a Win - Caroline Huntoon 🌈 Finding Molly Parsons - Alyson Root

❤️ Breathe: Journeys to Healthy Binding - Maia Kobabe, Dr. Sarah Peitzmeier 🧡 See You Next Month - Jamey Moody 💛 Until You Say My Name - Tatum Schroeder 💚 Disembark - Jen Currin 💙 True Love and Other Impossible Odds - Christina Li 💜 Flyboy - Kasey LeBlanc ❤️ Thirsty - Jas Hammonds 🧡 Hands Off - N. Slater 💛 Flooded Secrets - Claudie Arseneault 💙 The Deer and the Dragon - Piper C.J. 💜 To Be Loved - Frank G. Anderson 🌈 Snowblooded - Emma Sterner-Radley

❤️ Blood Remains - Cathy Pegau 🧡 Blood on the Tide - Katee Robert 💛 We Were the Universe - Kimberly King Parsons 💚 Loyalty - E.J. Noyes 💙 Spirits and Sirens - Kelly Fireside 💜 Clean Kill - Anne Laughlin ❤️ The Worst Perfect Moment - Shivaun Plozza 🧡 Oye - Melissa Mogollon 💛 Here for the Wrong Reasons - Annabel Paulsen, Lydia Wang 💙 Exhibit - R.O. Kwon 💜 Experienced - Kate Young 🌈 Parenting with Pride - Heather Hester

❤️ Road to Ruin - Hana Lee 🧡 Meet Me in Berlin - Samantha L. Valentine 💛 The Advice Columnist - Cade Haddock Strong 💚 where lost & hopeless things go - Bryony Rosehurst 💙 Pit Stop - Ellis Mae 💜 The Switchboard - Christina K. Glover ❤️ In the Shallows - Tanya Byrne 🧡 Have You Seen This Girl - Nita Tyndall 💛 Another First Chance - Robbie Couch 💙 The Only Light Left Burning - Erik J. Brown 💜 Keepers of the Stones and Stars - Michael Barakiva 🌈 A Little Kissing Between Friends - Chencia C. Higgins

[onpyre]

I'm doing my annual black history month celebration, which is to highlight a black artist daily

I will usually try to find an image or summary of the artist, and post at least 3 of their pieces throughout the day. This pinned post will be updated daily with a link to the artist's tag:

Philemona Williamson

Troy Michie

Naudline Pierre

Jordan Casteel

Chris Ofili

Simone Leigh

Kehinde Wiley

Janiva Ellis

Belkis Ayón

David Hammons

Alison Saar

Diedrick Brackens

Kara Walker

Carrie Mae Weems

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Bill Traylor

Ming Smith

Tau Lewis

Kerry James Marshall

Doreen Garner

Charles Alston

Renée Stout

Gwendolyn Knight

Juliana Huxtable

Wangechi Mutu

Lorna Simpson

Glenn Ligon

Mosie Romney

Betye Saar

[divineerdrick]

Adepticon Reveals for March 21, 2024

I've almost recovered from COVID, so I'm going to actually watch the livestream for Adepticon and catch the reveals! Whoot!

Before we start, let's try and make some predictions. First, the easy one. We're probably going to get the reveal for Age of Sigmar 4th Edition, though they'll probably just call it the next edition. Everyone's calling this one, since we're currently wrapping up this edition's narrative campaign and GW seems determined to keep to their 3 year cycles. It's practically a gimme.

We know we're only getting teasers for Heresy and Necromunda, so I don't have much to say there. For 40K, we're probably going to see something Chaos. I'm not exactly sure where we are on the roadmap, but that teaser definitely feels like Chaos. I don't think they'll reveal our mystery Codex just yet, but I'm ready to be wrong there.

For Warcry I'm guessing we'll be getting a new box announced. Same for Kill Team, though I don't think we've seen all the previously announced boxes released yet. I'm betting we'll see something similar for Old World, since they seem to be bringing armies back a box at a time. They've been talking green skins, so maybe they'll show us a full box set for them.

For Underworlds I'm going to go a bit further. They'd mentioned new ways to play some older war bands, so I'm guessing they'll be announcing some new rules or expansions to breathe some life into older Underworlds sets.

With those predictions pinned for me to suffer or celebrate, on to the show!

IMMORTALITY IS A CURSE

That's the heading we're beginning the show with. Okay then!

Just Lewis today, then? Okay! Hello, Lewis! What you got for us?

Okay! So they're going to have various presenters talking to people to do the reveals. That's new! Let's see how it works out.

Yep. Those are some spikey boys.

Dread Talons! Oh hey! We've got the Chaos Lord with Jump Pack back! Definitely some new sculpts there. After the show, I'll go through the articles and take a look at what exactly is new.

We got Nick and Simon for this part of the reveal! They definitely look like they're ready to have some fun! Oh! And we've got both Stu and Josh today!

Oh wow! We're getting two new CSM battle forces! Interesting!

Mentioning Vashtorr, I hope he gets a bit of a glow up. I really like him, and it would be nice if he got rules that make him feel like he the Lord of the Soul Forges.

They're announcing eight detachments for CSM. Couldn't let the slaves of the corpse emperor have all the detachment fun! This is definitely going to be a sticking point considering Tau players just got their hands on their codex and it only has four. While I'd prefer fewer, more well balanced detachments, the way GW has been dishing them out to each faction is kinda weird. I'm expecting to hear some grumblings about this.

Okay, so they're trying to go for kind of an interview style feel to this presentation. But it's feeling very scripted. Like . . . really scripted. WarCom's purpose has always been to be the hype train for GW. But even with the obvious restrictions on how they'd interact with chat, there still felt like there was a little bit of genuine interaction. This feels very phony to me. Not sure I like this new way of doing presentations.

And, of course, they're suggesting all the CSM fans should run out to grab both boxes. I'm curious how this will turn out. On the one hand, this will allow someone still collecting their army to pick the box they think will serve them best. On the other, that's even more FOMO boxes coming out. And again, can't help but note that Tau only got Kroot in their box, so Tau players that wanted to actually play Tau didn't get served very well. But CSM is getting quite the spread it seems.

Wow! Even the way that cut off felt abrupt and forced. Geh. Really not liking this so far . . .

So apparently that's not it for 40K. They really want all the 40K fans to stick through the entire show and maybe find something they like from the other systems. For now, it's time to visit the Mortal Realms. Don't think it's AoS yet, but let's see what we get.

It's Warcry! And it's a new boxed set! Looks like an Osiarch warband verses an Idoneth warband! Those are gonna be some interesting miniatures! Of course we already saw those new hounds teased.

Just Nick and John this time.

Oh! I was wrong! Looks like it's Sylvaneth, not Idoneth. I got a more Idoneth feel, but these look like they're both oddballs for their factions. The Osiarch warbands are exiles. And the Sylvaneth have been infected in some way.

Warcry isn't going to smaller box sets yet it seems. This boxset will contain both warbands and the terrain.

Oh! Moving right on to Underworlds it seems! Let's see what's up!

Underworlds often gets the craziest warbands. We've got a Death warband, and I think a Chaos warband? It's honestly hard to tell, they've got kind of a torture asylum kinda vibe to them.

So this is our new box and season. Oh well. Maybe there will be more, but it was a swing for the fences prediction.

So our Death warband is Flesheater courts. The delusion for this band is that they're all gourmet chefs getting ingredients for their lavish banquets. Yum!

The Brotherhood of the Bolt are crazy flagellants that have at some point been struck by lightning. And so they believe they've been chosen by Sigmar! Like I said, Underworld warbands are fantastic.

Now we're back to get a little bit more build up for the full AoS reveal. What could it be?

Oh! Getting teased by some Chaos boys! This dude looks badass!

Looks like Cities of Sigmar verses Slaves to Darkness.

Oh! Dudette! Abraxia, Spear of the Everchosen! Really awesome model with some really cool lore behind her.

From here, we're moving on to the next chapter of the Dawnbringers. I'm not caught up on this lore, so I can't comment much here. As I keep watching and listening though, I can't help but be reminded of how well the AoS lore has developed. I really loved my read of the Dominion book and of Morathi. There just isn't enough space in my life for both setting and systems to receive equal attention.

Teaser time!

Dune. Arrakis. Desert Planet.

Oo! Something Mechanicum this way comes!

The little post teaser chat has me thinking this is Mars and that we might be doing something with the war there. It would be nice to get a campaign for the Martian Schism with rules for both Mechanicum and Dark Mechanicum forces.

And now Dwarves! Looks like they'll be getting our next Old World box set! Dwarf players rejoice! Most of these are looking like older sculpts still, though I think that one champion might be new.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's a new Dwarven champion. And he looks awesome! We're also getting a new Dwarf King that can be fielded either on Shield Bearers or on foot.

Oh! I see GSC!

Yes! I'm finally getting my GSC kill team! And they'll be up against an all new Votann Kill Team! Unfortunately, it doesn't look like my Kill Team is all new miniatures, as we've got part of the Broodcoven here. I was kinda hoping for something more bespoke. It's not like we've got a large variety of units.

Votann, on the other hand, definitely needs new units. So I'm glad they're getting some much needed love. These are Hernkyn Jagers, and are part of the advance forces for the Leagues.

Rotlock Negotiation! Heh!

"Anyone else want to negotiate?" "Wh-wh-where did he learn to negotiate like that?" "I wonder . . ."

Oh! It's specifically a Brood Brother Kill Team! Veteran Brood Brothers! Very nice! Looks like it is at least a little bespoke!

And I think this is our Necromunda teaser. Hah! Well that was quick!

Alright! Time for that "just one more thing."

Got quite the badass taking on some Tzangors! Oof! Really intense depiction of how harrowing being a Stormcast must actually be!

Woah!

That's one way for the Skaven to begin their assault! Bloody 'ell!

And yeah, they're just calling it New AoS, the New Edition. We can count guys! You realize we're only up to 4, right? There are Orks that can count to 4!

Alright! We're going to get into rules here! It sound like we're getting a full, proper Edition change along the lines of 40K 2nd to 3rd, 7th to 8th, or 9th to 10th. Wonder if they're going to try what they did for 10th and give us some free rules.

"Opening up the game to more players than ever."

. . .

Guys. You realize that AoS was already the simpler system, right? How much more simple are you going to go? I'm okay with streamlining, but you can go too far. There are parts with 10th Edition 40k where I feel you slimmed down too much. While I do think there is potential fat to trim in AoS, there's some things they slimmed down in 10th I don't want to see happen here. For example, I don't want to see AoS go to a 10th Edition style Enhancement system. They went to lean with that system, and I hope they expand it in future editions. Kitting out your heroes is an integral part of any fantasy setting. You can't do that if you've only got three Enhancements for your entire army!

He's literally using the same language Stu used for 10th Edition. I'm all but waiting for him to say "Simplified, not simple."

But! One thing I think AoS could use, is something like Combat Patrol. If they took the Vanguards and made them standalone buy and play armies, that would be good! I'm hoping that's more how they're planning to get newer players in, not by greatly "streamlining" the game.

D'oh! Combat range is gone. I know one AoS fan in particular that's not going to be happy about that. That was such an elegant way to do different size weapons without Rank and File. Oh boy, this is turning into my anti-hype . . .

Oh! Here we go! Spearhead looks to be the AoS version of Combat Patrol. There's the claim from 10th, that it will be the most balanced game. We saw how well that worked . . . I'm trying not to be down since this is still good. But I hate hearing the same marketing hype that we already saw fail to play out.

We're getting more USRs, so that's definitely good. I'm a big fan there!

Okay, there's another one they claimed for 10th that I please, please, PLEASE want them to actually have followed through on! Stu had talked about how in 10th they tried to make it so that when you look at unit, you know roughly what to expect from that. But 10th just has no consistency as to how strong or tough weapons or models are. I'm really hoping that when Ben says they lined models up and tried to assign stats to them, they really actually did it.

Okay! They're doing free rules at launch. That definitely helps things!

And with that, that's the end of our reveals. And we're back to that banner, "Immortality is a Curse." Which is incidentally, one of the reasons why corporations suck!

Final Thoughts

Okay, my initial plan is that I was going to go through the reveal show, and then take a closer look at miniatures. But I think I'm going to make that a Part 2, since I'm seriously running out of gas. The 4E reveal really didn't help.

What is it with fantasy settings and fourth editions?

I'm trying not to be to anti-hyped by this. There were cool things in this reveal show. Let me TL;DR my sticking points.

I don't like this new style of presentation. It's too staged and controlled and there's no opportunity to get more information or clarifications live.

Two FOMO boxes for CSM is maybe too much. On the one hand, I like the idea of having more purchase options. On the other, I can't help but feel this is them seeing if they can sell more big boxes.

Eight Detachments for Chaos. Fluffy, and puts them on par with the divergent Space Marine chapters, but also makes anyone who got five, or even only four detachments feel even poorer.

They're selling the Broodcoven again! Did they just make way too many of these? Chances are if you play GSC, you've already got this. It greatly reduces the value on this box set. I hope we can get those Veteran Brood Brothers by themselves.

All those selling points for 4E are the same ones we got for 10th. And they really failed to deliver on them. That doesn't mean they won't succeed with AoS. But taking weapon ranges away is a bad start.

Other than that, those were some great reveals with great miniatures! Abraxia looks absolutely sick! We've got Mechanicum teasers for Horus Heresy! Dwarves are one of my favorite classic Warhammer armies! And the new warbands for Warcry and Underworlds are all awesome!

I hope we get real livestreams back. I hope those boxes are just what CSM players needed. I hope they do more with the detachments in the future to bring more balance and parity. I hope I can get those Veteran Brood Brothers sooner rather than later. And I dearly hope that all my fears for Age of Sigmar 4th aren't justified.

I'm gonna try and catch the livestream for Grinding Gear Games tomorrow, so I'm gonna go to bed for now. I'll try to spend some time drinking in the cool minis sometime this weekend.

[yjhariani]

Simon menunggu anak laki-lakinya pulang dari masjid setelah salat tarawih. Ia duduk di teras dan menyalakan rokok. Sewaktu anak laki-laki itu tiba, Simon mematikan rokoknya di asbak.

“Bambang,” Simon memanggil si anak yang langsung menoleh ke arahnya.

Dengan satu tangan, Simon menyuruh putranya untuk duduk di sampingnya.

“Marbot telepon saya. He said you’re in this… sarung thing or something,” mulai Simon.

Segera setelah Simon mendapat telepon itu, ia langsung melakukan sedikit riset mengenai perang sarung. Kelihatannya bahasa dan meskipun ia percaya bahwa hal-hal berbahaya dapat mengembangkan karakter, ia akan lebih senang kalau anaknya jauh-jauh dari hal-hal berbahaya. Demi kamu.

Jadi, di sini lah dia, berbicara dengan anaknya untuk memikirkan ulang tindakannya

“We’re just playing,” jawab si buyung.

“Well, still—”

“Father,” potong.si anak berumur dua belas tahun dengan satu jari dinaikkan, “This is culture.”

“To hell with culture,” kata Simon. “This is—”

“Oh, kalo mama tau you said that, kita bisa-bisa makan nasi, tempe, tahu sama sambel doang sampe lebaran and you’ll be shitting blood every night,” si putra terkekeh pelan di akhir.

Simon menautkan alisnya, melihat anaknya dengan tampang tersinggung.

“Anyway, this is not your culture, dad, so you won’t get it,” tambah si anak sambil berdiri. “This is my culture. Just let me do what I was born to do. This is my culture, okay? What if I told you to stop drinking tea or eating something without flavour?”

“Son, there are consequences,” kata Simon.

“At worse, I’m gonna get whipped. Lagipula, gak mungkin ada yang di-ban dari masjid,” si anak bilang. “Atau mungkin you want me to teach you some moves? In case you and uncle Soap wanna do this in the fut—”

“You little shit,” kata Simon, benar-benar tidak tahan dengan anak laki-laki ini.

Si buyung telah melangkah menjauh dari Simon.

“If you tell mum, I will tell her about what you said earlier,” kekeh si anak sebelum melangkah masuk ke dalam rumah. “Night, dad!”

Selama beberapa lama, Simon hanya terduduk diam, terkejut lebih dari apapun. Entah ia harus menjitak anak laki-lakinya atau menepuk pundaknya.

Note to self, pikir Simon, don’t let him spend too much time with Soap.

[vyragosa]

analysis so far

- saint peter - saint anthony of egypt, st anthony’s fire - osiris and ra : Ausar of the underworld - mask of red jasper, the blood of isis the earthmother - the tau particule - the Desert Fathers : macarius of egypt and the cherub - the cardinal de richelieu - odradek: anglerfish and bloodworm - amphipod body - simon the zealot. - music: david bowie and franz ferdinand’s take me out

[that-ghosts-art]

Fernando, ‘Cory,’ and Simon from Gauvain’s fic Alcor the Dreambender’s Infinite Bed and Breakfast having a lovely time at the opera >:3

[c0d33]

My thoughts on SOMA

Last night, I finished my first ever playthrough of SOMA, and I just needed to put down my thoughts somewhere in a coherent manner

I got this game because of a recommendation from a friend, and I'm very glad I did! This was the first ever horror game I played through in full, and it's honestly gonna be hard to top this I think.

Warning for story spoilers! Don't read if you have interest in playing this game (Which I do recommend)

Story

To start off, the story. I found the story to be super interesting! Between everything that happened at Pathos-II and the story of Simon, it really drew me in. I find the thought of unknowingly being a copy of someone's own brain to be honestly terrifying, and I really felt bad for Simon throughout the game.

Although the story surrounding Pathos-II was a bit murky for me (Probably my own fault, I tend to not be great at picking up minute story details in games), researching it further was a lot of fun! I wish the WAU was more of a character than a sort of background villain, but I still love its inclusion and everything surrounding it was executed very well.

The ending was honestly really sad for me, with both versions of Simon having their own bad ending in one way or another. One is stuck all alone at the bottom of the ocean,

Environment

I absolutely loved the environment. The whole place feels very alien even without structure gel leaking out of every crevice, and really makes me feel like I'm a fish out of water. Everything felt very unique for basically being a bunch of similarly constructed underwater bases, and each section has its own thing going for it! The heavy machinery of Upsilon, the office spaces of Theta, the laboratories of Omicron, everything felt like its own unique space.

I especially liked the underwater sections, which provided a surprising amount of variety for what are essentially the same place. Highlights for me were the MS Curie, the hike to Phi with the Leviathan, and the anglerfish part of heading to Tau.

Gameplay

I really liked the gameplay! Of course the parts where you're facing off against the monsters are great (Special mention to the lower levels of Theta against Akers, which had the tensest moment of my playthrough for me where I barely managed to lock down the security room after Akers opened the door), but I think even the exploration segments where nothing is hunting you were really good. There were some really fun puzzles to solve, and although I needed help with a handful of them, I enjoyed all of them!

I really enjoyed all of the monsters having their own unique counterplay around them, which really helped each section feel unique. Some of the best moments of my playthrough came from me slowly figuring out each monster's pattern and weaknesses, which may have led to me being very slow in some parts, but it was very fun!

Final Thoughts

Overall, SOMA is a fantastic game! I really appreciate it not being full of jumpscares like most other horror games, and instead choosing to base its horror around the atmosphere and the knowledge that you're being hunted by something. The story was great and ended up being way more philosophical than I was ready for (/pos).

Highly recommended!

[slugbeaker]

"Richard gave me a set of AI templates I haven't seen before. Unfolded one of them to make a new friend for Capsule Catherine and her gang of legacies."

loneliness is such a big part of soma (the isolation simon experiences after the car accident, aker's isolation at delta, amy being left at upsilon b, sarah at tau, simon-3 at the end 🥲, etc.) and while a majority of these occur after the end of the world as we know it™️, catherine struggles with it before and during the game. And while i'm sure there were reasons outside of her loneliness that she put a capsule version of herself in her AR-Capsule project, i think she got a lot out of seeing at least A version of catherine have friends to spend time with, even if those friends were outdated legacy scans at that point. They're not as in depth as later scans but i hope capsule cath had a great time with them anyways 🥲🥲🥲

There are probably many other legacy scans/templates by the time the game takes place in Cath's time but seeing as the main ones at the terminal at Theta were Berg, Munshi, Simon, and 'Nanami' that's who i went with here. Capsule Cath gets to experience the joys of talking to people from the mid-2000s 😂

[jeonvie]

Mentari muncul membawa sejuknya udara pagi hari, tetapi banyak insan yang sudah lebih dulu keluar dari kediaman mereka sebelum sang mentari. Kali ini, Fadhlan menjadi salah satu dari banyaknya insan itu, dia terpaksa bangun dari tempat tidurnya lebih awal dari biasanya karena ada hal yang penting yang harus ia lakukan.

"Pagㅡ Wow! Bro, lo pagi-pagi udah keringetan aja," tutur Andre kala netra nya menangkap Fadhlan yang di mandikan keringat.

"Abis work out tadi di atas," jawab si empu santai.

"Jam segini!?" sambar Julian, "It's six in the morning," lanjutnya.

"Ya emang kenapa? Bagus pagi-pagi work out," celetuk Rey.

"Jam segini cocoknya buat tidur," jawab Julian.

"Lo sendiri udah bangun," tutur Fadhlan.

"Kelas pagi!" kesal Julian.

•••

Petang datang dan kini Batara tengah mempersiapkan sebuah kelas kosong untuk ia gunakan sebagai tempat rapat organisasi kali ini untuk membahas mengenai event yang akan mereka laksanakan satu bulan mendatang.

Lelaki itu sibuk membaca beberapa hal yang akan ia bahas, mengenai biaya, konsumsi apa aja yang akan diberikan, dan proposal yang sudah sampai mana.

"Pada kemana nih?" tanya seseorang dari arah pintu ruangan.

"Masih pada jalan ke sini bang, kenapa?" tanya Purnama.

"Udah jam berapa ini!? Mau mulai kapan kita?" serang Yanto; orang yang berdiri di ambang pintu bersama tiga orang lainnya.

"Tau nih! Niat ga si kepanitiaan? Jam segini masih pada di jalan!" lanjut Dafa.

"Anjing! Ngapain si pada ke sini!?" batin Batara menahan kesal.

"Woi kabem! Lo ngapain berdiri di situ aja? Cari anggota lo, cecer biar buruan dateng! Ah elah!" titah Yanto membuat Batara segera mengiyakan permintaan sang senior.

"Mereka udah buru-buru bang," ucap Batara.

"Batara! Maaf telat, tadi di jalan macet," celetuk Wanda sambil terengah-engah, di susul oleh sekitar tujuh orang lainnya.

"Iya, masuk-masuk," suruh Batara.

"Itu... Mereka ngapain?" bisik Simon kala ia, Gilang dan Latif masuk ke dalam ruangan.

Purnama menggelengkan kepala nya tanda tidak tau apa yang di lakukan keempat senior itu di dalam ruangan, padahal mereka seharusnya sedang mengerjakan skripsi bukan malahan mengurusi organisasi seperti ini. Apalagi, ketika mereka mengikuti rapat kepanitiaan, pasti akan ada hal yang berubah.

Batara meneguk ludahnya sendiri, ia terus-menerus menunjukkan ekspresi tidak nyaman di wajahnya. Di garuk-garuk tengkuk lehernya yang tidak gatal itu berulang kali, tak lupa dengan helaan nafas beratnya yang dapat di denger sampai ujung ruangan membuat Simon berdiri dari tempat duduknya dan menghampiri sang ketua.

"Lo kenapa?" bisik lelaki jangkung itu.

Batara memijat pelipisnya pusing, "Fadhlan, dia izin telat dan gua bingung gimana bilangnya," ujar Batara pelan.

Simon tampak menunjukkan ekspresi keheranan di wajahnya, "Lo gila?" kesalnya membuat keempat senior itu menatap mereka berdua.

"Ssst! Sini deh," ajak Batara ke pojok ruangan, "Kalo engga di kasi tau, nanti itu empat orang rese bakalan cecer Fadhlan, gua gamau dia kenapa-kenapa," lanjutnya dengan nada khawatir.

"Gamon ya lo?" sindir Simon.

"Sort of, lagian gua sama dia putus sebulan aja engㅡ"

"Lo berdua ngapain si!? Udah waktunya mulai nih? Anggota lo mana lagi?" hardik Yanto.

"Ada yang izin telat bang," jawab Batara sambil berjalan menuju meja.

"Ha!? Izin telat!? Apaan tuh? Harus on time lah anjing, ngapain ikut organisasi kalo ga niat mah!" cecar Lukman.

"Hahaha, kalo gagal jangan minta-minta buat di bantuin," ungkap Raja.

Seisi ruangan penuh dengan atmosfer canggung dan rasa tak nyaman, namun tampaknya keempat senior itu tidak merasakannya sam sekali. Hingga lima menit kemudian terdengar suara ketukan pintu.

"Masuk," ucap Latif yang duduk dekat pintu.

"Permisi, maaf Tar telat. Tadi ada urusan dulu soalnya, rapatnya udah mulai?" tanya Fadhlan sambil menghampiri sang ketua.

"Barㅡ"

"Oh! Jadi lo yang izin telat," celetuk Yanto membuat Fadhlan menatap sang mantan tidak percaya.

"Oh, jadi lo yang bikin ricuh," serang Fadhlan sambil tersenyum, membuat suasana seisi ruangan semakin tidak karuan.

"Berani lo hah!?" kesal sang senior.

"Ngapain juga takut? Lo tuh cuman sampah masyarakat!" tekan si lebih muda.

"Sampah masyarakat gini juga lo minta bantuan buat ngurusin kepanitiaan, yang sampah itu lo!" sambung Dafa.

"Berarti lo ngaku kalo lo sampah masyarakat?" ujar Fadhlan membuat keempat senior itu makin naik darah.

"Lo tuh ga becus tau ga Fad jadi sekretaris, masa datang aja telat si? Abis ada urusan apa si lo?" serang Yanto.

Fadhlan menghela nafas kesal, "Mau tau banget lo sama urusan gue? Urusin aja tuh skripsi, atau mau gue tikung lulus duluan?" balasnya.

"Fad, udah..." pinta Batara sambil mengelus punggung lelaki itu.

"Edan!" seru Raja, "Jijik banget lo berdua," hina nya.

"Bang, kalo cuman mau bikin ricuh doang tolong keluar," pinta Batara.

"Ketua doang songgong banget lo! Lagian siapa si yang pilih lo dulu? Homo kok kepilih mimpin BEM si," hina Raja yang disambut tawa ketiga temannya.

Hening, satu ruangan terdiam setelah Raja melontarkan hinaan nya itu kepada sang ketua. Entah ada dendam apa yang lelaki itu miliki kepada Batara, satu hal yang jelas adalah Batara ingin sekali menonjok lelaki itu.

"Kalo gitu lo kenapa ga jadi kabem aja? Oh waitㅡ No one vote for you, hahaha," sarkas Fadhlan dengan tawa nya yang menggelegar di seluruh ruangan.

"Fuck you," kesal Raja.

"Come here and fuck me then," tantang Fadhlan.

"Anjing! Jauh-jauh lo, takut penyakit homo lo nular," sambar Yanto.

"Lo semua keluar deh kata gue, bikin ricuh aja!" seru Wanda.

"Salahin sekretaris lo dong, ngapain dia telat? Kalo dia telat gakan tuh kita kayak gini," balas Yanto.

"Playing victim lo?" sambar Simon.

"Sekretaris lo tuh yang playing victim," balas Yanto lagi.

"Lo anjing yang playing victim!" kesal Dian.

"Sekㅡ Lepasin gue bangsat!" pinta sang senior kala Fadhlan menariknya keluar dari ruangan.

"Fad!" seru Batara sambil berlari menyusul sang mantan.

"Lo bertiga mau kemana?" tanya Gilang sambil menghalangi pintu.

"Beraㅡ"

"Cuman itu yang keluar dari mulut lo?" tanya Purnama.

"Beyani lo cama gue," ejek Latif, "Alay," lanjutnya.

•••

"Anjing! Lepasin gue sat!" kesal Yanto sambil terus memberontak.

"Fad! Udah Fad, kita masih di area kampus!" seru Batara.

Fadhlan masih setia menyeret sang kakak tingkat, ia sama sekali tidak menggubris ocehan dari kedua orang di belakangnya itu. Ia sudah kepalang emosi dengan sang senior yang selalu bertindak suka memerintah, mengoceh tanpa ada isinya, serta menghina anggota lain sana sini.

Sudah cukup ia menahan emosinya selama ini menghadapi sang senior yang selalu sangat percaya diri ini.

Fadhlan membuka salah satu pintu gudang terbengkalai dengan kasarnya, membanting sang senior ke dalam lantas mendorong Batara untuk menjauh.

"Stay away," tekannya lantas menutup pintu gudang tepat di wajah sang mantan kekasih.

Batara dengan lantang meneriakkan nama Fadhlan berulang kali sambil menggedor-gedor pintu gudang tersebut, sebenarnya ia bisa saja mendobrak pintu tersebut dengan mudah, tetapi ia lebih ingin Fadhlan untuk membiarkannya masuk ke dalam sana.

Sementara itu, Fadhlan yang berada di dalam gudang bersama sang senior dengan santai nya tidak menggubris seruan dari sang mantan kekasih.

"Main kotor lo?" tanya Yanto.

"Kalo main kotor, lo udah gue keroyok," balas Fadhlan.

"Gua ga suka sama cowok, anjing! Gue normal, jijik gue sama lo," serang Yanto tiba-tiba.

"Gue punya selera anjing, lo juga bikin gue jijik. Orang bossy kayak lo harus di kasih pelajaran," tekan Fadhlan.

"Bossy? Ngaca! Lo sendiri suka ngatur orang," balas sang senior.

Fadhlan mengangguk-anggukkan kepalanya, "Whatever you say," tuturnya.

Yanto mendengus, "Fad, lo tau? Sebenernya anak-anak ga suka lo jadi sekretaris, lo ga becus sama sekali, gada guna nya, datang aja telat. Gue rasa ya, lo masuk hukum juga karena lo tidur sama pejabat kampus, ngaku aja Fad, a little confession won't hurt," hina nya.

"Lo bilang apa? Gue? Tidur sama pejabat kampus?" hardik si lebih muda.

"Hahaha, ngaku aja si. Lo jago nya jadi lonte kan? Lo aja mau ngangkang depan si Batara kayak cewe, apalagi depan pejabat kamㅡ"

"Ngomong apa lo bangsat!?" seru Batara memotong ucapan sang senior, ia tidak tahan mendengar semua hinaan itu dari luar gudang.

"Widih, pahlawan kemaleman," hina si lebih tua lagi.

Batara menarik kerah baju si senior dengan penuh emosi, di ikuti oleh Fadhlan yang menyuruh dirinya agar tidak kelepasan dan menyudahi semua ini.

"Lo gatau apa-apa, jangan sembarang bacot sana sini hanya karena lo kating!" sambar Batara.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅡ Fin.

[flunkyofmalcador]

I’m currently reading Simon. Spurrier’s Tau book “Fire Warrior”.

It’s really good! I’m 25% through and I want to read even more about the Tau. The whole “utopia always has an evil side” trope is one of my faves.

[free-for-all-fics]

Obscure Characters List - Male Edition (N-Z)

Obscure Characters I love for some reason (N-Z). (By obscure I mean characters that have little to no fanfic written about them. Not necessarily characters nobody’s ever heard of.) Don’t ask me to explain why. UPDATED: Tumblr is being a butt about post length or something so I’m splitting up the lists.

N

Nigel Billingsley (Jumanji 2 and 3)

Night’s Cavalry (Elden Ring)

Nothing (The Night House)

P

Pazuzu (The Exorcist)

Pierre Despereaux (Psych)

Prince Anton Voytek (Vampire 1974)

Prince Escalus (Romeo and Juliet, no particular adaptation)

Prince Quartus (Stardust)

Prince Septimus (Stardust)

Professor Petrie/Phantom of the Opera (Phantom of the Opera 1962)

Peter Quint (Turn of the Screw, the book and maybe some other adaptations. Not the Bly Manor Flanagan show.)

R

Reese Kelly (Scarlet Hollow)

Rene Belloq (Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark)

Roland Voight (Hellraiser 2022)

Ronin (Star Trek)

Rorschach (Watchmen)

Rupert Giles (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Rusty Nail (Joyride trilogy)

S

Salem Saberhagen (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)

Sam Wayne (Scarlet Hollow)

Silver Surfer/Norrin Radd (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)

Simon Jarrett (SOMA)

Sir Lancelot (Night at the Museum 3)

Sportacus (LazyTown)

Starscourge Radahn (Elden Ring)

STEM (Upgrade)

Sutter Cane (In the Mouth of Madness)

T

Thantos DuBaer (Twitches 1 and 2)

The Auditor (Hellraiser: Judgment)

The Babadook (The Babadook)

The Black Knight Ghost (Scooby Doo 2 Monsters Unleashed)

The Curator (Dark Pictures Anthology)

The Designer (Devil’s Carnival 2)

The Djinn/Nathaniel Demerest/Professor Joel Barash/Steven Verdel (Wishmaster series)

The Faun (Pan’s Labyrinth)

The Fox (The Little Prince 1974)

The Jester (The Jester, A Short Horror Film series)

The Kinderfänger (Crypt TV)

The Knight/Tarhos Kovács (Dead by Daylight)

The Look-See (Crypt TV)

The Man (Carnival of Souls)

The Merman (Cabin In The Woods)

The Metal Killer (Stage Fright 2014)

The Mirror (Oculus)

The Narrator (Stanley Parable)

The Other (Hellfest)

The Phantom (Phantom Manor)

The Projectionist (Pearl)

The T-1000/Cop (Terminator 2, Terminator Genisys)

The Tall Man/The Entity (It Follows)

The Thing (The Thing 1982)

The Torn Prince/Royce Clayton (Thirteen Ghosts remake)

The Torso/James “Jimmy” Gambino (Thirteen Ghosts remake)

Thomas Alexander “Alex” Upton (TAU)

Tiger Mask/Dave (You’re Next)

Tommy Ross (Carrie, 1976)

V

Valak (The Conjuring)

Valdack and his real world counterpart (Black Mirror)

Van Pelt (Jumanji 2)

Venable (Wrong Turn 2021)

Viktor (Underworld series)

Viktor Frankenstein/Dr. Whale (Once Upon a Time)

Vladislaus Dracula (Van Helsing 2004)

W

Wade Thornton (Nancy Drew, Ghost of Thornton Hall)

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Westley/Dread Pirate Roberts (The Princess Bride)

Wildwind/Dark Skull, Stormy Weathers, and Lightning Strikes (Scooby Doo and the Legend of the Vampire)

“William”/The Headless Figure (Crypt TV)

William “Billy” Butcherson (Hocus Pocus 1 and 2)

X

Xenan the Centaur (Xena Warrior Princess)