#and a creator I follow put that card among others on her story today as well

[littleeyesofpallas]

The other day i had a kinda drunken rant I went on with a friend that I had wished I could’ve written down.  But today I read an article about the shift in hollywood marketing from star power to IP and character driven power instead: the idea being that an original movie used be able to draw crowds with the basic idea of “your favorite star as <insert role>” but we’ve moved more towards the appeal of familiar franchise names like “from the creator of XYZ.”  But I think this is an interesting place to draw the line because it does go back to that drunken rant.  So, here I go again... this is gonna be lo~ng and boring (and this is the shortest possible version) and without pictures, but god knows i have no idea what i would put to accompany this super tangent-filled tirade, so I guess just buckle up...

(I apologize now for all the weird side subjects that I’m going to name drop but just not take the time here to go in depth with.)

I don’t even remember where my drunken rant with my friend the other night started so my first obstacle is finding a place to even begin with this because it has so many entry points and none of them are any closer to where this all ends than any other so like.... whatever...  Shakespeare.

It’s a super complicated thing but in the first era of professional english theatre  that Shakespeare ushered in (from the mid-late 1500s to early-mid 1600s) there were strong strong associations with theatre and prostitution.  Maybe it was exactly what it sounded like, maybe it was elitist slander against the revolutionary accessibility of the arts to the poor as self debasing, maybe it was the church being really angry about literally everything all the time, maybe it was a little of all of that...  But either way the persisting notion was that a theatre, established or travelling, was a place one could ostensibly go to pay for sex with the troupe’s actors.  of course at the time women weren’t a part of that profession, and while they may have been as much a part of the theater going demographic as anyone else it’s hard to pinpoint how much of the already vaguely defined theatre sex trade they patronized --Point being when we talk about theatres prostituting their actors we’re talking about male theatre goers paying to have sex with male actors, and predominantly those young boys playing female roles.  In most classic academic circles this is either wholly ignored, brushed aside/glossed over, or sloppily chalked up to “homosexuality.”  But there’s a lot more nuance to that... which is part of the big mess of stuff I’m just not getting into here...

But this is where I draw my line of connection to Kabuki theatre.  Kabuki somewhat infamously had similar practices as all-male theatre and as duel industry for theatre and prostitution.  And as a parallel development it seems to make sense... In England and Japan alike, you have a group of people who by nature of their jobs charm people and constantly move from town to town.  Even if a community or government thinks what they’re doing is wrong, by the time they can take notice or do anything to stop them: they charm, they fuck, they leave.  But unlike Shakespearean theatre, kabuki has a slightly more convoluted history of development.

See, Kabuki started with Izumi-no-Okumo, a shinto shrine maid (ironically also in the 1500-1600s cusp, same as shakespeare) and although a lot of her personal history is lost to time you can imagine the basic development here: a shrine maid tells the myths, she tells the myths dramatically and with with character voice, then all that but with props, and costume, and then dividing roles into separate actors, and collecting donations for the shrine as regular practice anyway but hey look people donate more when they’ve come for a story they enjoy... and then oops you’ve invented theatre.  Also on account of this being started with shinto shrine maids, the form naturally took an all female slant.

Whether it started with Okumo herself or not, as theatre became an established form, and a lucrative one at that, non shinto affiliated women quickly seized the chance to make a living outside the bounds of common peasantry, and with the growth of travelling theatre as an industry that same side venture of prostitution developed.  But here’s where it gets interesting...

Due to things that, again I won’t dive into here, the untaxed revenues of prostitution painted a target on the backs of kabuki actresses, and women were eventually outlawed from theatre.  The art form was of course immensely popular however so to keep the gravy train rolling the theatre form continued but now with all young-male casts, to retain the feminine aesthetics of female kabuki.  This did absolutely nothing to stop the rate of prostitution however, so they outlawed it again and replaced the young boys with grown men.  This still didn’t stop the prostitution but there was other stuff going on in Japan at that point and legislative attentions were pulled elsewhere.

And here’s my weird little take away from this...  it’s not like Kabuki theatre suddenly went from being popular with horny straight men to horny gay men in a seemless and perfectly balanced transition. (and granted japan at the time was a lot more open about their grasp of sexuality compared to now and to the west in general) so presumably a lot of these thirsty theatre goers were just overwhelmingly indiscriminate in their tastes in fucking actors...  But stick a pin in that, we’ve got a tangent to go on!

So around this same time Japan was having kind of a second rennaissance: japan’s high arts culture had first really risen to prominence in the heian period right before the long long descent into the civilwar we all know and lover for all its flashy samurai drama.  When that 400-ish year civil war finally ended and then stabilized under the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo period, the art scene finally had some room to breathe again, and among many other things ukiyo-e wood block prints saw a huge explosion in popularity.  And part of this tied into Kabuki theatre, as an extremely popular genre of prints were actor portraits and theatre scenes.  Actor portraits in particular are kind of culturally fascinating, because they weren’t simply prints of character illustration, they were frequently labeled with both the character played, the story they featured in, and the name of the actor playing them.  moreover, despite the reverence of classical art historians now, these weren’t fine art at the time; they were mass produced, affordable and disposable.  In major cities, everyone went to see theatre, and everyone bought, kept, and even collected actor portraits.  As theatre seasons and troupes came and went actor portraits came to occupy and kind of cultural value space a lot like American baseball cards in how prestige, rarity, and trading became an entire subculture in and of itself within the sports/theatre community.

Now we see how Japan had created this thriving popular/mass culture, and celebrity culture for itself.  And while the notion of a “parasocial relationship” wouldn’t be formulated and explored until the 1950s-60s in the wake of things like Elvis fever and Beetles mania, that brand of one-sided relationship where you as an audience member form a “relationship” with a celebrity that involves collecting information about their heavily curated persona is exactly what japan stumbled into some 300 years earlier.  And in fact Japanese pop culture would maintain a lineage of parasocial relationships during the intervening years (in a way the deification and worship of the emperor as a god-king was a kind of parasocial relationship in the way a secular monarch doesn’t quite achieve) So it’s no surprise that when Takarazuka Revue opened in the 1910s as a new modern all-female theatre form, it attracted a familiar old brand of horny theatre audience --one that maintained a very nebulous relationship with the now much more stringent notions of gender and its relation to sexuality.

taking this tangent a little further, Japanese pop culture has always shown this interesting, self-aware approach to the parasocial relationship dynamic that western cultures seems to lack.  I remember that when the 1990s put boy bands briefly into the spotlight, the thing that sunk them in the American eye seemed to be this weird sense of betrayal that the boys werent some garage band rags to riches story, and they didnt write their own music, or make their own dance moves, or even sing live at their own concerts.  America seemed to be repulsed by this notion of a manufactured pop hit.  Japan however (and Korea soon to follow) seemed to thrive in this instead; there was no pretense that J-pop idols weren’t manufactured, and in fact they took pride in the rigors of having been hand picked and raised to stardom --of course they were scouted and trained, because the idol could’ve been any of millions but it was them who got picked, it was them who sang the best, performed the best, climbed the charts, and fought to stay there.  Stardom wasn’t an art form, it was a contest, and they were WINNING.

And the manufactured nature of that J-pop idol business model is what gave rise to Hatsune Miku (in fact there were multiple attempts in the 1980s to design and market a wholly fictional pop idol, but if anything they were too ahead of their time and lacked the technology to really sell the idea in its best form) because when your entire product is about making and curating your performers’ public persona, to the extreme level at which them having their own lives actually starts to contradict their stage persona and hurt their marketability... why bother projecting the persona onto a real person?  Why not just cut the human component out all together and just market the persona for what it is?  And for Japan I think that kind of relationship was one that they were culturally always just a few steps away from being ready to accept anyway, so it just took a little persistence.

Then came the anime waifu thing...  Dating sims, and body pillow marriages, etc... and I think the pretty unanimous impulse to turn this into a enormous joke (and lets be real who could blame anyone for that) overlooks what actually happened here: paraosocial relationships in the purest form, with the fleshy middleman removed and with it the lie, not less false but somehow now false yet honest.  A bizarre paradox to be sure...

But now lets back this up...  Kabuki theatre.  Prostitution.  The change from women to young boys to men, and the almost hilarious unflappably bisexual audience who embraced it.  I don’t think it was a component of sexuality as any historians who have looked at that time period bothered to conceive of it.   Because even in an early japanese mass culture scene, the relationship was between the audience and the persona, and not the audience and the actors; The audience was always in love with the characters in their collectible trading prints, with their 15th century waifus, and they paid to have sex with those personas regardless of the bodies or real people involved.

...

okay, so, I typed all that out weeks ago and then just left it in my drafts, not even really intending to come back to it.  And now that I’m here, I don’t know that I had a point to this when i went on my drunk rant.  But i guess if there was any kind of a take away from this, it’s that I find that people have a lot of trouble separating personal identity from gender, from performance, from social dynamics... and in western culture, especially within recent history/memory, that’s kind of understandably hard to untangle. But historically people’s sexuality and sense of attraction have basically always been based implicitly on attraction to an idea made manifest in a persona first, and a body to match it only secondarily to that;

Society’s abiding dedication to forcing you into a gendered box, and to box gender into a narrow range of performance, is equitable to screeching fans being “in love” with celebrities they’ve never met and convinced that the steady feed of curated marketed personality traits constitute “knowing” those celebrity strangers.  The idea that the person and the persona are the same is a lie told to sell product.  Gender is just the brand.  You’re the rockstar.  Fuck marketing.

[ellrys]

Between Two Hands - A Short Story

We are here to leave...   My mind was blank. My ears were fixated in the sound of raindrops hitting on the window of the room as well as the distant yet clear sound of the wind beating on the old willows in the backyard. It was a rough storm. Rain was a common routine yet; the lightning crackling through the midnight dark was a rarity of sight as well as the following thunder roars. The shelter corridors were filled with the silent echoes of the whimpers of the dogs that had a sharp increase in volume every time the thunder reached their ears.

She sighed, sitting in the corner of the office in the ground near window side, with Omi lying on her left thigh, a mix breed which was surely a half a springer spaniel but yet other half was only about our speculations. A beautiful soul yet not so much in appearance to be adopted… She was one of the oldest we had here in the shelter and although she always says she loved them equally, it was obvious Omi had been her favourite for a while, right along with Munno, the little old Basset who was also leaning against her leg at the same moment.

She had laid a blanket underneath them and one more on her  own shoulders as she leaned towards the cold wall . Never would strike you as a manager. Neither could say she looked her age. She had a small build, small and fragile. Came back from the capital as a top graduate from our best University. Yet instead of pride, she always had this sense of disappointment in her eyes. She had a shelf of research materials and papers she never ended up finishing. I always wondered why she end up giving up the life in the big city and opening this place that she called the “Carehouse.”; A shelter and a veterinary service for the abandoned and lost animals. It was a shelter of lost and forgotten, even by the residents of the town. When a lost animal was found by a random passer, when a parrot escape from the crack of an open window, when the litter of kittens wandered away from where their mother had hid them, or when they were taken away from their abusive and addict owners by the local police, they would end up here. Whoever found them, would throw them in our arms, so their conscious would be clean when they forget about ever encountering them as it was no longer their problem.

I made my way toward the cage at the corner of the office, with the green wing macaw we have received a few months back. The police found him in a shady house with two drug addicts and an ex-convict. He was most likely stolen from someone in the neighbouring town in order to sell it under the counter as he had no health card or any documents of ownership. The parrot clearly had been under stress cause of the new environment and absence of bonded owner as the parrots usually show extreme behaviour as plucking their own feathers and even los off appetite.  He was almost featherless with occasional blood marks on his skin along with obvious signs of malnutrition. The police told they would look into it but she already knew not to hope anything by the moment the officer diverted his eyes making that half-assed promise. That was a few weeks back.

“Do you believe in god?” she asked suddenly, while softly caressing Omi’s ear and gazing out of the window.

I took the macaw out of his cage. He was shivering due to lack of feathers and the blanket around the cage was not helping. He gladly accepted the offer of my warm arm and climbed on to my jumper without question. As I covered him with a small warm towel I found on the heater nearby, I saw down nearby, facing her.

“Yes.” I had grown up in a religious environment. Taught prayers by the time I could read and write, and read the book a few times along with the others. My mother was a pious one, I often grew up listening the stories and tales out of the book and talking about the god and its means.

She looked down to the face of the dog, shivering in her arms, not by cold but by fear, each time the lighting strikes. “Would you be bothered, if he did not exist?”

“He does exist.” I said without hesitation.

“I do not say he doesn’t nor that he does., but about what your reaction would be, if you found out that he did not. What would you feel?”

I diverted my eyes to the ceiling. “I don’t know. I never questioned his existence. Nor do I want to.”

“Precisely.” She said, in a subtle tone. I could hear her hand rubbing the ears of the spaniel. I waited an explanation. Nothing.

“And you?” I asked, giving up on waiting for a reply. "Do you believe?"

“No.”

“Why?”

She was scratching under Omi’s ear now, as the old dog was slowly closing her eyes. She was old. And I did not expect her to live long after the lump we have found in her lungs. She was too old to be operated. We could not take the risk. It was a matter of time. It’s sometimes hard to know whether a dog was suffering or not, as they not always show their weaknesses. She looked tired but unable to sleep due to the storm but we both knew, she also had lost appetite past day and barely have moved out of her place in the past week.

“Give me a proper answer first” She said. “Imagine if he did not exist today, what would you feel. If you do, I’ll tell you why.”

I shrugged. I gazed upon the silent macaw in my lap, snuggling in the centre of my oversized jumper and the small towel. I haven’t noticed but I was softly scratching his bald head all this time. His feathers started to regrow and he partially had feathers in his chest. He looked at peace, his eyes were softly blinking in parallel to my fingers movements as he was softly shifting to sleep. “I would probably be lost.” I said hesitantly. “I spent a life believing him, his justice, his kindness, and his love.” I gazed upon the open door of the shelter. Most of the dogs we had were in a single large compartment. She did not like the idea of caging them so she made a playroom for them to spend the night. It really resembled of a common living room, so they somewhat cosy and at home. The most of the dogs, especially the youngest ones were curled up in a corner together, scared from the thunder obviously.

“I would probably be like an abandoned dog. You know, wait entire life believing someone out there exist that will one day pick you up and take care of you. You believe he will come and pick you up one day. And yet that day never comes. Something like that feeling I guess.”

She softly nodded. “It’s exactly what it is.” She said confirming. Her hazel eyes were foggy and distant. As if she was talking to me from a different time and space. “This is the reason I don’t believe.”

“That didn’t make sense.”

She looked at me, and then showed the dog lying underneath he hands. “That depends on what you define a god.”

I lift an eyebrow. She turned against me with a bitter smile on her face. “What you call god, if it’s a creator yes, I think that exist and but that does not require to be all knowing and all powerful. It can be anything. Humans created a lot of dog breeds that did not exist before by playing with genetics. We created artificial intelligence and we even created different lifeforms from a single cell just by the use of our also self-created tools. We are clearly not gods, yet for some of the creations, we are. Doesn’t mean we are all knowing and all potent. We just create. Yes, I believe someone or something did create us. But that’s not what we seek, we do not seek the god that created us. We seek a being that is all knowing, wise, powerful and just. “

“It isn’t the same thing.” I argued. “God itself created all from nothing. We just reshape and modify his creations to make something new. It’s not the same thing.”

“That part doesn’t matter.”  She interrupted. “Again, I don’t question what he is, I am questioning what we seek in him. We do not seek a creator god in our religion, we seek a divine being.” She gave a pause to think over her words, possibly looking for a different way to put them. Her eyes slide down to the old Spaniel in her lap. “For her, we are gods.” She said softly. “And she doesn’t care if we are creators or not. That’s not why we are gods for her.”

I examined the both dogs. Both of them were hunter breeds, Gun dogs. Considered to be brave and sharp, yet they both looked scared, seeking shelter in her side, from the thunders echoing in the sky. “They find safety in my presence, as they believe I can protect them from the thunders and lightnings, the means they have no power against by themselves. For them, we are the all-powerful beings as we can change the course of their lives. We can provide protection in the houses we built, the food we produce, the artificially created heating in our spaces. Also, we can punish them for the wrongs they have done. If an unjust deed happen among them, like unequally rationed food, they seek our aid to justify, or if we let the injustice happen, they will accept, believing they had deserved such fate.  They will love us unconditionally, and will be loyal to us eternally, although they know we are imperfect, that we have ill sides within just as we have good. Isn’t that sound familiar?”

I saw her point but I did not want to admit it out loud. 

“We all believed in fate, and that everything happens for a reason, and if bad things happen for us, they happen for a reason that only god knows. We cannot create true justice ourselves as we are corrupted in heart. So, we want to know the evil will be punished, and the good will be rewarded by a divine court with no possible fault. But mostly, we want to know there is a power out there, that will take us under their arms and protect us from all the things left us powerless; time, fear, pain, death... We want to know that there is something out there that is all above the things we fear and the things we cannot control.” Her hand slowly slides to her side, losing the will to continue petting the dog. I could hear the whimpering dogs from the room next door. The cats were all silent, they were all hiding in the safest looking corner they had found.

“We seek the god, not because we believe he is the creator of all, but because we expect him to be all powerful, just and loving. We want to know we will be better in the afterlife, just like as you said.” She faced me again, her smile had disappeared and all that left was the bitterness in her eyes. “Similar to the dogs waiting to be picked up from the shelter by a loving hand.”

My mind went blank again, and my thoughts, slide back to the raindrops in the window, the consistent yet ineffective diving of the droplets to the glass, and slowly sliding downwards in silence, getting lost within the soil. I did not want to think of what she said. I believed he was out there, and that she was wrong. We did not create a concept just to comfort our minds. It was no deception. It just sounded logical considering the miracle of life. I tried to recall what my biology teacher said a while back; that the odds for the forming of life itself was, one in hundred trillion? Or Something, I really don’t remember the number, recalling it had a few zeros and that’s it. Yet it was in a number to be defined impossible. No, the god did exist I had no doubts on it still...Yet she never made a claim against his existence either, but only about his potency.

I understood. She was right, about that we wanted him to be potent. That I hoped for him to be that potent. To think, he exists did not make me budge, as I did not question his existence. I devoured every bit of biology source in our school library only to believe in the existence of the god to make more sense, given the probability of all existence. As a matter of fact, after all I have devoured, the science books were better proofs than the holy ones, on his existence as nothing seemed a mere coincidence to happen. But I never thought on the extent of his potency. We humans, have history full of discoveries by accidents. As she just specified, the dog breeds we have created purely by cross breeding. Or AI that can think without us. The counter argument formed itself immediately. Some of the dog breeds we created were faulted. Dystocia. The disorder or birth, due to the proportion difference of the pelvic canal from the offspring, as some of the small dog and cat breeds formed by the result of humanity, cannot even give natural birth, and without human intervention it can be deadly. I recall her mentioning this to me when I began working near her as a part timer. Yeah, it’s not the same.

“There’s a difference between creationism of god, and ours. We, created faulty beings, the breeds of dogs you mentioned, that cannot give natural birth by Dystocia. The AI we created cannot self-sustain. The constructs of ours, cannot exist without us.”

“And are we?”

I stumbled by her suddenness’ was confused of what she meant. And then it hit me. She was mentioning death.

"We are creations of miracle maybe, but we are not created perfect. From the moment of birth, we are in an endless cycle of decay. The diseases, the malfunction of the body, and the decay of everything of existence. If not just physical, but mental as well, we are broken beings, who damage and disrupt one another, wars, murder, injustice, and cruelty. We justify saying we were meant to be this way. No, there’s a broken rusty gear among our system, that disrupting and corrupting all our existence as well as our environment and the entire world we live in. “she looked again to the old, abandoned dog in her lap, and then to the half-naked and abused macaw on mine.

She was right in her claim. And given my education level and experience of life, I could not go into a sophisticated scientific argument about the consistency of life and structure of parasitic life forms we call diseases as her medical expertise was far beyond a high schooler like me, who simply liked biology classes. It would be tiring and time consuming to go further on factual side of the matter.

“Maybe it is not.” I said softly.

She snorted while still looking out of the window. “It’s, just our minds searching for comfort, to justify our existence and make sure we will be safe and sound and all that hurt us, pained us, troubles us, all that caused us to suffer unjustly, will be magically solved after we die so we can leave the world in peace.”

I gave a pause. It suddenly hit me why she was like this. My eye slides down to the other hand of hers, which has been standing idly all this time behind her leg. I saw that idea flashed in my mind and  that my guess was right, she was holding a syringe. That meant only one thing.

“Is she?”

She nodded silently. Omi, was not going to last the night.

That explained her melancholical aura, as well as the questioning of existence of a creator. She was about to send her oldest companion away, with her own hands, to the creator…no, the caregiver that she was unsure that existed. This was not a matter of belief actually. She opened this care house, the so-called shelter, for the abandoned animals of the town to find a warmth of home. It did not look anything like a usual shelter, but more like a real home, each animal group had their house like rooms, with furniture that we occasionally used, and encouraged the youth to come and spend time in. We even made a small library, in the feline section of the building for kids and youngsters to come read while interacting with them. She did not want to put them on mass cages, and endless corridors of concrete and steel. We adjusted a backyard for them to roam, and each and every one took proper attention and care from us, as well as medical care. She made sure, even if they were never to be adopted, they would live a good life here. It was where she lived, and she was not their owner or manager, or a simple vet, she was their caretaker until their real owner one day appeared in the very door. She was barely funded and holding on the hardest to give them the warmest conditions. But considering the low heat of the room when it is already November, she was struggling to keep it up I knew.

All this effort, to keep them safe and sound, to care for them a life time, and she was about to send the one she started this journey with away. The first comer of her residence, was about to depart, and she was wondering, if at the end of that syringe, whether there was going to be a caregiver or not.

“It doesn’t matter if he exists or not.” I said. I was able to put a soft smile in my face and I hoped it wasn’t as bitter as I thought it would be. “You don’t need to believe in a god, or a caregiver of a divine being for something like this.”

She turned to me with a sceptical face. She had no faith in what I said, I knew it. Its usual I guess, for adults to look with that kind of expression to my age groups, it’s just that I was no ordinary teen.

“There are a million possibilities we can say about after life, or god, or creator or whatever you may call it. And, although I’m a believer, I don’t think main point is to believe in him, it is to understand the life itself.”

She chuckled.

“No, I am serious. The life, perfect or imperfect, incomplete or not doesn’t matter. Life itself isn’t something we own anyway, it’s something we rent. We borrow it for a moment, to experience it for a brief moment, and then we return it back to its place, to leave it for the next one in line. No matter what you can say about religion, god, existence, they will all be hypothesis and assumptions. But what we know, is that the life itself comes from the soil, will eventually return to soil and through the cycle it will be given back to another form to another being.”

“The cycle of life. “She murmured. I don’t know if I sounded like a dreamy boy or a mature adult, but at this point, all I wanted was to continue.

“Nothing exists out of nowhere. The energy you would say, is finite so, if you hold on to it for too long, you are stealing the time from the next creature in line.”

“Sounds like a queue over there.” She said chuckling again. So, did I.

“Yes, actually it is. It’s like a cinema hall. There’s a movie to play, and before it begins you take a seat, you watch the movie and when it’s over you leave so the next ones in line can take your seat. You can’t remain as that would be selfish, and someone out in that queue, would never get to see the movie.”

She finally smiled. Her face was still facing the blank emptiness of the window, but I saw her empty hand move back up again to caress Omi’s ear, and my optimist side wanted to take it as a good sign.

“You really don’t sound like a kid in your age.”  

“And you are hesitating when you know what to do.” I said looking at her other hand. “That doesn’t sound very adult like either.”

Her silence told me I had won the argument for now. I think her mind was somewhat calmer about what was going to happen next. As she finally lifted the hand I knew, she had given in to my words. She didn’t say a single word after, it went pretty much silent, even when she started to cry, there was not even a slight sound of sobbing. She simply accepted it. The cruelty of life cycle, is that whatever it gives, it ends up taking back, meaning you never actually end up owning it anyway. And you truly don’t know, if all you have done in this earth, is well deserved or not.  You could only hope that there is.

As I kept on thinking of my words, I knew there were a lot of matters she can argue over them if she wanted to.  But I know she didn’t. She was searching for what she claimed all of us were searching for; Comfort, that everything was going to be okay in the end.

The idea for this came onto me as I was looking for animal adoption advertisements as I am planning to adopt one in some time. Somewhat the whole conversation between the two of them formed in my mind randomly without my control. It was as if I was having an awake-dream. It usually happens like this with me and the stories. I know it’s dark. My thoughts were the same of its sadness but somehow it felt too powerful to let it slide. I wanted to somewhat record it. I had no real intention to be supporter of a side, in matter of existence of god, as I said, it all formed simultaneously, as if it was opinions of them and I’m only a spectator. So I simply wanted  you to hear them out as well.Thanks for reading  anyway

[quantumrpg]

NAME: Ariadne “Ari” Lefebvre AGE: 25 SPECIES: Time Traveler - The Creator OCCUPATION: Owner of Tempus YEAR OF ARRIVAL: 1973 RESIDENT FOR… fort-five years. FACECLAIM: Marine Vacth

t i m e  i s  a n  i l l u s i o n,  b u t  n o t  o u r  s t o r i e s…

The beginning, as most beginnings could often be described, was exceedingly ordinary. Ariadne was born in a small village in France, an unanticipated but welcomed birth to a pair of young, wayward couple who were by all means perfectly ordinary and decent, with ambitions that matched their humbleness, vigour that commanded their hearts. The memory of early childhood to her was sweet and hazy, one of those that when recollected, seemed to be composed of a picturesque likeness with soaring landscapes and a country girl passing flowers for diadems, bathing in the turquoise haze of the many afternoon days she’d spent sauntering about with a book in hand and a whole cosmos contained in her shimmering eyes of sage-green satin. She was a musical girl, a capricious girl. A girl with a smile that never faded yet rarely bursted into laughter—was brilliantly inquisitive and held a determination fuelled by whimsy yet steadfast in the way only a child could be. She was a girl fortunate enough (or perhaps not) that, despite the turbulent time in which she would eventually attempt to write and later learn to read(in that specific order), she had never really known much suffering. For she always remained one step behind corruption while gradually gliding past innocence, even when she was made to flee the post bombing shambles and fields that she had once left her mark all over barefoot, when she was shown death and more—through cold grey gazes of familiar corpses, the fabric that threaded her reality never showed signs of wrinkling. For she thought of all of it as such ordinary things, because how could it not be?

So then she moved from city to city, ruins to ruins, a toddler still, with a mother that shielded her from pain and a father that protected her from secrets a child needn’t know and beyond. And that’s when the real story began—with a shroud of darkness left behind by the war that many possessed but few dared acknowledge; and it started with an overly zealous child, too proud, too smart for her own good, as it often does. Within the carnage of the proceeding eleven months before she found the land of freedom the girl had met two new family members and lost three more, and it was this fragment of memory that would serve as an enduring reminder to her on how eleven months of time could ever have felt remotely significant. Finally, at the tail end of the war when all the chaos and despair had finally half-sunk into her tender consciousness, Ariadne grew increasingly restless. Not because of how she had sensed the waning thrum of her mother’s life or of how hungry she had been as the surviving pair of mother and daughter barely managed to scrap by with food and supplies; but because of how little control she saw over the forces in their lives and the mercilessness of time’s arrow, stripping away humanity and what sustains it in the way a seven year old saw it as it was. Though a last ray of silver lining and a soldier’s patronage would secure a future for the young girl, within a mere seven days after they have arrived at their destination, her mother too, loosened her grip on life while still tightly holding onto hers. It was the winter of 1945, and they were in Michigan.

The man they met then and took them in was supposedly a close friend of her late father’s, whom the girl had never heard anything about until they’ve landed on the shore of the United States. Ariadne, for all that she was eager to learn and see in this brand new land of strangers and apparent safety, still clutched onto in her mind too fervent the desire and ambition to wrestle control over from existence itself. While dainty she poised herself and timidly she spoke with a hint of honest purity that would devastate anyone with half a heart, her eyes had already become accustomed to the certain darkness of understanding things much too soon in a way that is just twisted enough to reflect reality. In this new life she was now given, though, she was quite fortunately granted the opportunity to satiate her thirst for knowing, and knowing more. That friend of her father’s, a lecturer at the University of Michigan, became known as her surrogate father and provided her with all the unconditional care that ought to be the birth right of every child born. While in a disappointing sense, there remained a rift between them until Ari had aged well into adolescence, they formed a considerable bond nonetheless over a mutual respect for higher learning and solidarity over the loss they have both endured.

While life was by no means simple growing up in Michigan post war, the girl who was once nearly extinguished by smoke and debris quickly found some semblance of a child’s attitude to life with meaning upon enrolling in public school. They called her a genius then, the girl with a confident gaze that conveyed too much for her age and a tongue so wickedly precise and more bitter than arsenic. People either furiously disliked her or felt endlessly fascinated by the girl who proclaimed that she wanted to solve the theory (or theories) that governed existence itself—space, time, the human mind and all. She felt empowered by the knowledge she absorbed perpetually through books and papers and quickly she became addicted to that power she felt. She had not ceased to be that storm of lyrical mystery that once flourished on foreign soil; her existence, now forged metallic and carved deeply into the fabric of time conducts rapidly her desire over knowledge and control. And if her human brain isn’t enough, she will build another, and another, and another until she has in her command an entity with such capacity that will allow her to master reality in its entirety.

Her enrolment in MIT was a monumental achievement in such grand ambition but it was still no where close to where she needs to be. That is, until she met the five other individuals with ambitions perhaps not as colossal as hers but were perchance her equal in audacity and will. December of 1963 marked the moment where the history of reality itself will permanently change, for better or for worse—and Ariadne, having never forgotten what it meant to be the one with her strings pulled and moments stolen away, quickly mined through and embraced the shockwave of revolution. She took matters into her own hands to explore the scope of her new abilities: and found out that not only could she now master time, she could also create them. She saw new possibilities, creating liminal spaces where realities are in a sense, under her control, while branches of time and infinite realities are made accessible at her fingertips.

She knew what that meant instantly, and in the span of ten years she had lived through ten thousand, and in the ever increasing amount of liminal spaces she has conceived, people were able to live better lives, left contented and each to their own devices. She was careful, indeed, careful never to bite off more than she could chew or to create irreparable tears in the any of the higher dimensions. But nevertheless she saw the consequences, though more notably the ones caused by the others. She decided then, whatever she would do could not be done while the others are present, while they - including herself - each went their own way. And in 1973 she created a version of New York, originally a pet project that she grew increasingly fond of for reasons ranging from nostalgia to excuses of cultural relevance, but mainly because that was where she had first landed on the American soil, and where millions of others have found a place for themselves too. She met up with the other travellers, her old friends, put on her mask of sincere goodwill and concerns for the greater forces at play—none of which are fake, in truth, and once more united their abilities, intellectual or otherwise, to share the burden of such knowledge including ones regarding those forces beyond any logic and scientific explanation made for human comprehension.

A leader emerged among them, and she followed. While continuing to play her cards close to her chest as she always have, she may be a team player just yet. Or maybe she will wait, wait patiently biding her time, while realising greater forms of intelligence or maybe become one herself. There’s all the time in the world, she had thought, the realisation that reality may collapse was not one she had ever feared she may cause, but was what she had always thought was the reason she stands here today instead. And if not, life then, might have never meant to last and exist in the way it has. The universe’s swan song, and she will be there to watch, she will be there and she will be smiling.

This is what it must feel like to be a god.

t e l l  m e,  a r e  w e  a  p r o d u c t  o f  w h o  w e  u s e d  t o  b e?

She is a young girl’s pure hearted curiosity and the shadow of injustice that beckons forth a lamentation of mercy in the way which a child may perceive. The scent of stale roses atop of overheating laptops flashing through midnight over the weighty tune of an orchestral symphony. She is well mannered speech and carefully edited writing of chaos made orderly, an amused and sincere smirk responding to deep philosophical inquiries. She is daring, optimistic in the ways only those with matching confidence would understand. A wayward soul by every means, but capable and erudite with weaponised beauty, as captivating as an era-defining genius and a tragic hero drunk on insanity. She is a child of time made into a catalyst, unorthodox in the manners she pursues meaning and ruthless in execution. Some braces themselves for inevitable catastrophe, whilst others watch in awe as she dances with graceful obsession, meticulous and decisive, her each determined step in a universe of infinite spotlights but no cheers as she rises and falls to an adagio of evanescent sorrow again yet again, without end. Though just another clog that would one day be lost to history, she is determined to be the epicentre of madness made reality—is she virtue buried deep, or hubris’ reckoning? Perhaps in time, we will see.

[abbajane]

I hope everyone had an informative and reflective Black History Month! This month for the Own Voices Global Reading Challenge we read for Black America (#ownvoices selections from Black American authors). Here’s what I read, listened to, and who I followed this month!

What I Read

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston: My favorite of the month! This book has been on my TBR for ages, and I finally sat down to it and read it all in one sitting. Following the life of Janie from her idyllic but illusionary childhood, through her marriages, through her adventures and travels, Their Eyes radiates with beauty, love, and self-discovery. The story was so vibrant and moving, so complex and philosophical. I loved Janie and her story; she’s probably one of the most interesting and complex characters I’ve ever read. I was thinking about her and her story long after I closed the book.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones: Another that’s been on my TBR for ever. I was working at the library when this book exploded in popularity — it was almost never on the shelf. With Jones being a local author, I was excited to read her Atlanta and this book did not disappoint. Moving between the lives of a married couple, Roy Jr. and Celestial, the novel navigates the complicated terrain of love while the characters navigate the even more complicated terrain of a wrongful conviction and imprisonment. I was riveted to the last chapter, unsure how it was going to turn out well for anyone with only a few pages left. A moving portrait of love, loss, and the effects of the criminal justice system on Black lives, this novel is an instant classic.

Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine: I had the honor of meeting Claudia Rankine while I was in college. She was a guest at Agnes Scott College’s Annual Writers’ Festival in 2017 while I was interning with the program. I was amazed by her wisdom and quiet grace, and I thoroughly enjoyed her reading though I had never read her work. When I devised this challenge, she was immediately at the forefront of my list for this month. Citizen is a moving collection of experiences, reflections, and essays in which Rankine lays bare the Black experience. There was so much I learned not only about the physical and casual experiences that Black women face, but also about historical events of racism and violence that I had never heard about before.

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange: I found this book from a bingo card for Black history month by @diverseclassics on Instagram (see below!). I had heard about this book here and there, but I didn’t really know what to expect from it. It was unlike anything that I’ve ever read. Written and performed on stage originally in the 1970s, For Colored Girls is a moving and flowing collection of Black women’s experiences. It can be hard to read. I will admit that the form of this book really inhibited the experience of it for me. I have no experience in theater, I don’t read plays, and I only read poetry when forced. I’d love to watch this book performed, as it was intended.

Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson: Another that’s been on my TBR for a while! This book came to my attention more seriously when the film was released, but I had watched it dance around on Bookstagram for a while. I found a copy at my library book sale recently, so I had it up farther on the list. I knew it would be good, but I had no idea how moving, how emotional, and how mindset changing it would be for me. The book follows the experience of the now-famed civil rights lawyer Brian Stevenson as he became involved with Death Row cases and began his organization the Equal Justice Initiative. The stories Stevenson told about the people he met on Death Row, the injustices they faced, the outright racism that warped their lives was truly harrowing. I cried a lot reading this book. It truly changed how I think about the world and the experiences of others in it.

What I Listened To

Ella Fitzgerald (with Louie Armstrong): a classic! I love nothing more than dancing around the kitchen cooking dinner while Ella and Louie sing their jazz.

H.E.R.: I’ve been a fan of H.E.R.’s award show performances for years. Her style and skill and attitude and persona on stage is electric and empowering. I’ve just gotten around to listening to her music more casually and I’ve really enjoyed the experience!

Bobby Hebb: I found the song “Sunny” on instagram’s music feature while I was looking for a happy song to put with a video of one of my cats rolling in the sun. The rain and cold and whisper of spring this month has me listening to this song literally once a day.

The Birth of Rhythm and Blues (Spotify playlist): I love this Spotify playlist! So much good music!

Women of Motown (Spotify playlist): Another classic. Gladys Knight and Diana Ross — need I say more?

Who I Followed

@booksbythecup: This Bookstagram is so dreamy! Creator La’Shell posts photos daily of Black-authored books with cups of tea. She’s been working through the alphabet this month, posting a photo each day with a theme.

@nedratawwab: Nedra Glover Tawwab is a therapist and writer who posts amazing graphics about mental health, healthy relationships, and living to your truth. This is a great entry way into therapy for someone considering it, and a great resource for those who can’t invest fully in therapy at the time.

@rachel.cargle: Rachel Elizabeth Cargle is a writer, academic, and lecturer. For the month of February, in honor of Black History Month, she posts prompts for folks to research Black History for themselves. I love this idea! It’s an amazing way to bring attention to topics in Black history that aren’t well known and to practice your researching skills.

@diverseclassics: A staple of Bookstagram! This account is dedicated to highlighting marginalized voices in the literary world as well as redefining what the “classic canon” is. I’ve discovered so many new authors and books through this account. They also shared this amazing bingo-card style list for Black classics which was very helpful in building my TBR!

Further Reading

Here are some topics in Black America that need to be talked about. Obviously, this short list doesn’t begin to cover the traumas and injustices and realities that Black Americans face each day living in this country, but it is a good place to start to bring awareness to targeted and vulnerable people in this community. DISCLAIMER: Many of these issues deal with violence against Black people. Read the links at your discretion.

Violence against Transwomen of Color: MTV has recently launched a new show in their primetime slot on Wednesdays called MTV True Crime in which Dometi Pongo, the host, investigates crimes against young people, largely people of color. The show is hard to watch at times, but it brings a lot of light to issues that the modern American teenager faces, especially when they are from marginalized groups. One episode covers the murder of Kedarie Johnson, a gender-fluid teen in Iowa in 2016. The episode largely focuses on Kedarie’s murder, but also highlights a major issue in the Black Community today — violence against transwomen and gender non-conforming people. Often, the woman or person’s race and gender identity puts them at greater risk for violence, and their murders are not being solved, reported on, or brought to public attention.

Books in Prison: Reading Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson already had the prison system on my mind, and then articles began to come to my attention that discussed the censorship and banning of books in prison, which appear to be largely racially motivated. Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, and history books about racism in America are among those on banned lists across the country. Obviously, being such a huge proponent myself of freedom to read, this was a big issue for me. People in the prison system not only still have the right to read and pursue learning and education and art, but they have the right to access stories that resonate with them and reflect their experience and identity. The Equal Justice Initiative has fought the courts in many cases and has gotten bans lifted on what books prisoners are allowed to receive in prison, but most states still have racially biased banned lists. If you are interested in donating books to prisons, check this link for a list of organizations you can support. To learn more about the history of racism in the prison system, check out Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13TH, which is currently available on Netflix.

Violence against Black children in schools: The Black body is safe almost no where in America. In schools, headlines recently have been bombarded with news about children of color, especially Black children, facing extreme and unbelievable violence in schools. Increasingly, this violence comes at the hands of police. All ages are risk: 6-year-olds, 11-year-olds, teenagers. Black youth are more likely to be arrested at school than any other group. This report from an activist group called We Came to Learn reports on the history of violence against Black children in schools, highlighting that our current situation stems from segregationist beliefs and practices. The violence is not only physical: ‘spirit-murdering‘ of youth of color takes place when school systems, teachers, and administrators denigrate the identity and experience of their students in a racially discriminatory way.  This action kit by We Came to Learn can provide you with resources and support for fighting racial discrimination against children in your schools.

  I hope you enjoyed this month’s reading as much as I did. I got around to books that had been on my list forever, discovered new favorites, and learned more about the experience of my Black siblings in America. There is so much work to be done. Let’s get going!

  Black America: Wrap-up! I hope everyone had an informative and reflective Black History Month! This month for the Own Voices Global Reading Challenge we read for Black America (#ownvoices selections from Black American authors).

[theonyxpath]

Yep.

It’s my turn for the annual winter fever and hacking coughing chest cold.

Ugh.

I’m going to digress right now, but you’ll see that this lil story will link my cold and the next subject of discussion today:

When I was in grad school, pure luck gave me a chance to have the first puppy I ever raised. She was half Dalmatian and half Pit Bull and gorgeous and strong. Her name was Wee Bea. While she was still in her first year, I came down with one of these awful colds. So bad, I was shaking with chills even covered with the few blankets we had (we were poor students and didn’t have much in the way of bedding).

As I was laying there and my teeth were actually chattering, Bea climbed up on the bed and sprawled her full body length over mine. Which she had never done before as she preferred curling up under the blankets next to me when she was allowed on the bed. She stayed on top until my fever broke later that night, and just like that slipped off the bed and curled up in her basket.

Her work there was done.

  Pugmire adventuring party by Claudio Pozas

  So you can understand that I haven’t needed much persuading when it comes to the magical power of dogs and the depths of feeling that dogs can both feel themselves and engender in people. Depths that I believe are a big part of the magic of  Pugmire.

Which I bring up because this Wednesday afternoon we will be sending out links to the Backer PDF for the Pugmire Core Rulebook to the Kickstarter backers who pledged for it. Eddy and all of us at Onyx Path are just thrilled to be able to get this out where folks can actually read it, and play it, and send us feedback about it!

We’ve never actually delivered a new reward via BackerKit, so we’re finding our way with this. The plan is to let non-backers, and you know who you are, still be able to “pre-order” Pugmire on the site until we get closer to printing and shipping the physical parts of the project. In fact, right here: http://ift.tt/1WC83B5

    Amirani for Dark Eras Companion by Vince Locke

  Other, non-doggy things:

We’re hoping that the physical PoD proofs for Chronicles of Darkness: Hurt Locker come in before Wednesday so we can set it on sale along with the Condition Cards for Promethean 2nd and Beast.

We talked a bit about Onyx Path panels at GenCon this coming August at our meeting today. We mostly stick to the informational “What’s Up With…XXX” kind where we have developers talk about their upcoming projects, but are playing with the idea of different kinds this year.

What do you think? If you’ve gone or intend to go, or just have thoughts about the kinds of panels we could host, throw your ideas into the Comments here so we can talk about them.

Mirthful Mike Chaney is looking for artist submissions, and we’ll have info going out on our social media later this week. Right now, he is interested in artists whose styles match the feeling of the World of Darkness and the Chronicles of Darkness sets of game lines. You can submit links to websites (he will not open zipped files or anything like that) showing work you’ve done as well as any messaging for Mike at this address: onyxpathart@gmail.com

The Mirthful One is also looking for graphic designers interested in doing layout work for our books. As you can tell, we have a lot of projects being worked on right now, and more on the way! Just like potential artists, you can submit links to websites (he will not open zipped files or anything like that) showing work you’ve done as well as any messaging for Mike at this address: onyxpathart@gmail.com

I’m sure there’s more I wanted to talk about, but my brain is fogging up.

So let me leave you with a non-dog pic that is the line-up of the signature characters for Monarchies of Mau. We told our cat-lovin’ friends we hadn’t forgotten about them while doing Pugmire, and we hope you find these characters intriguing.

  BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER!

We’re exploring card game Kickstarters, packaging, and components, for Prince’s Gambit. I’m working on the KS pages this week, and our video genius is assembling edits while Justin is picking music. Things look good, and we are all for starting the KS in Feb so long as the process of pulling the KS together cooperates. If so, then Monarchies of Mau KS would be next, after Gambit.

  ON SALE!

For 2 MORE DAYS Hunter: the Vigil explodes into the Bundle of Holding! For two more days, you can pledge for first edition Hunter: the Vigil PDFs at massive discounts and 10% of your purchase goes to the RPG Creators Relief Fund, INC too, which is very cool. Check it out here: http://ift.tt/2jUHawr

This offer is doing really well- thanks to all of you who have supported a great cause so far!

And we did something we never before attempted and have added WoD Armory to this set of PDFs! For those of you who pledged already- we give this with our thanks! And if you haven’t pledged yet…well now you get even more awesome PDFs when you do!

    Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://ift.tt/1ZlTT6z

You can now order wave 2 of our Deluxe and Prestige print overrun books, including Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary, and Deluxe V20 Dark Ages!

    Both the Beast: the Primordial & Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition Condition Cards will go on sale Wednesday, the 8th on DTRPG in PDF and physical card PoD versions! Great for keeping track of the Conditions that are on your characters!

      From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Ruins of Empire (Mummy 1893-1924). Perhaps the quintessential era of the mummy in the minds of Westerners, this period saw the decline of the two greatest empires of the age: British and Ottoman. Walk with the Arisen as they bear witness to the death of the Victorian age, to pivotal mortal discoveries in Egypt, and to the horrors of the Great War.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG. http://ift.tt/2k0XDhX

    From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: The Sundered World (Werewolf and Mage 5500-5000 BCE). At the birth of civilization, in the shadow of the Fall, the Awakened stand as champions and protectors of the agricultural villages spread across the Balkans. In a world without a Gauntlet, where Shadow and flesh mingle, the steady taming of the world by humanity conflicts with the half-spirit children of Father Wolf.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG. http://ift.tt/2k16mRj

    Night Horrors: Conquering Heroes for Beast: the Primordial is available now as an Advance PDF: http://ift.tt/2j7p7lO

This book includes: 

An in-depth look at how Heroes hunt and what makes a Hero, with eleven new Heroes to drop into any chronicle.

A brief look at why Beasts may antagonize one another, with seven new Beasts to drop into any chronicle.

Rules for Insatiables, ancient creatures born of the Primordial Dream intent on hunting down Beasts to fill a hunger without end, featuring six examples ready to use in any chronicle.

    The PDF and physical book PoD versions of Reap the Whirlwind, the Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition Jumpstart swirls into being on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2i1WPpD

You are a vampire, a junkie. Every night, you beg and you borrow and you steal just a little more life, just a few more sweet moments. But there’s a guy at the top. The Prince. He’s got everything. The money, the secrets, the blood.

Tonight, you’re going to take it from him. Tomorrow, there’ll be hell to pay.

This updated edition of Reap the Whirlwind features revisions to match the core rulebook for Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition. Text edits and rules clarifications have also been updated.

Reap the Whirlwind Revised includes:

Rules for creating and playing vampires in the Chronicles of Darkness

The first two levels of every clan Discipline, the dark powers of the dead

A complete adventure by noted horror author Chuck Wendig

This new revised Reap the Whirlwind Revised includes an updated booklet, 7 condition cards, and the interactive Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition character sheet.

        It is now the preordained time for Dawn of Heresies, the Mummy: the Curse novel written by internationally renowned author Brian Hodge to arise! Both PDF/electronic and physical book PoD versions are now available on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2iEP9dW

Rawhead and bloody bones

Steals naughty children from their homes,

Takes them to his dirty den

And they are never seen again. 

So says the nursery rhyme that gives birth to Rawhead, the most fearsome entity to imperil the living since the infamous Roller. Once an obedient mummy by name of Benefre, a desperate bid by his cult fails in tragic fashion, and in so doing, sends him to the Devourerís waiting, corruptive maw. What remains of Benefreís ambitious soul rises again, impure and unholy, set to the execution of a scheme so baleful, it constitutes a heresy even among his own misbegotten kind.

All that stands between Rawhead and his terrible aim are a lone mummy, Kemsiyet, and what little remains of her cult following its destruction at Rawhead’s hands. Declan, her prized security aide, and Fiona, an Irish researcher only just recently inducted into the cult and its blood-soaked world, must fight both the odds and the clock in order to prevent a calamity the likes of which the world hasnít seen since the days of the mummies’ creation.

About the Author:

BRIAN HODGE is the acclaimed author of 11 novels, almost 125 short stories, and four full-length collections. His first collection, The Convulsion Factory, was ranked by critic Stanley Wiater among the 113 best books of modern horror. Heís currently wrapping up his fifth, The Immaculate Void. Among gamers, he is perhaps best known as the author of the first official Hellboy novel, On Earth as It Is in Hell.

Recent works include “The Weight of the Dead,” from Tor, and novelettes of cosmic horror in The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu and Children of Lovecraft. His oft-reprinted 2013 novella, “The Same Deep Waters as You” has recently been optioned by a London-based production studio for development for television. Brian lives in Colorado.

    Open the V20 Dark Ages: Tome of Secrets now on DTRPG! Both PDF and physical book PoD versions are now available! http://ift.tt/2i1XOXd

The Tome of Secrets is a treatment of numerous topics about Cainites and stranger things in the Dark Medieval World. It’s about peeling back the curtain, and digging a little deeper. Inside, you’ll find:

• Expanded treatment of Assamite Sorcery, Koldunic Sorcery, Necromancy, and Setite Sorcery

• A look at Cainite knightly orders, faith movements, and even human witchcraft

• Letters and diaries from all over the Dark Medieval World

    Travel with us all the way to the Red Planet for the Cavaliers of Mars Jumpstart: A Festival of Blades, available in PDF and PoD on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2biWBpR

Live, fight, and love on Mars, a world of red death and strange mystery, a world of savagery and romance.

Includes: 

A complete adventure set in one of dying Mars’ greatest remaining cities.

The innovative DEIMOS rules, for high-flying, swashbuckling adventure.

Four pre-generated player characters, ready to get into the heart of the action.

    The Locker is open; the Chronicles of Darkness: Hurt Locker, that is! The Advance PDF is now available on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2gbM9me

Hurt Locker features:

Treatment of violence in the Chronicles of Darkness. Lasting trauma, scene framing, and other tools for making your stories hurt.

Many new player options, including Merits, supernatural knacks, and even new character types like psychic vampires and sleeper cell soldiers.

Expanded equipment and equipment rules.

Hurt Locker requires the Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook or any other standalone Chronicles of Darkness rulebook such as Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, or Beast: The Primordial to use.

    Discover the long-awaited  Secrets of the Covenants for Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition as we unearth the Advance PDF now on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2gbQjus

This book includes:

A variety of stories from each of the covenants, all told in their own words.

Never-before revealed secrets, like the fate of the Prince of New Orleans.

New blood sorcery, oaths, and other hidden powers of the covenants.

      CONVENTIONS!

Discussing GenCon plans. August 17th – 20th, Indianapolis. Every chance the booth will actually be 20′ x 30′ this year.

        And now, the new project status updates!

    DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Cookbook (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

CtD C20 Jumpstart (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Pugmire Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers (Pugmire)

Monarchies of Mau Early Access (Pugmire)

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

  Redlines

Scion: Origins (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

VtR Half-Damned (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

  Second Draft

The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

BtP Beast Player’s Guide (Beast: the Primordial)

Book of Freeholds (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

V20 Dark Ages Jumpstart (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

  Development

W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

SL Ring of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Ring of Spiragos (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

SL Dagger of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Dagger of Spiragos (5e– Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Arms of the Chosen (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

BtP Building a Legend (Beast: the Primordial)

CtD C20 Anthology (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition

  Editing:

VtR A Thousand Years of Night (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

V20 Beckett’s Jyhad Diary (Stretch Goal Content)

W20 Song of Unmaking novel (Bridges) (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

  Post-Editing Development:

CtL fiction anthology (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

  Indexing:

      ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Beckett’s Jyhad Diary

C20 

M20 Book of Secrets – AD’d

W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook

V20 Dark Ages Companion – Sending out contracts… as I’m behind on paperwork

EX3 Tomb of Dreams Jumpstart – Art over to WWP for approval.

Dagger of Spiragos 

VTR: Thousand Years of Night

Cavaliers of Mars 

  Marketing Stuff

  In Layout

V20 Lore of the Bloodlines

Prince’s Gambit – Kickstarter Prep.

Dark Eras Companion – artist shenanigans.

  Proofing

Necropolis Rio

At Press

Ex 3 Screen – Shipping to fulfillment shippers.

Ex 3 core book – Shipping to fulfillment shippers.

Beast Condition Cards – On sale this Wednesday in PDF and physical POD versions on DTRPG.

CofD Hurt Locker – Physical PoD proof on its way.

Secrets of the Covenants – Waiting for errata to make PoD.

Beckett Screen – At Printer, being printed.

W20 Shattered Dreams – Shipping to fulfillment shippers.

Shattered Dreams Screen – At Printer, being printed.

Promethean 2nd Condition Cards – On sale this Wednesday in PDF and physical POD versions on DTRPG.

Beast Conquering Heroes – Advance PDF now on sale at DTRPG, gathering errata.

Mortal Remains: Beast- Red In Tooth and Claw – Went out to Beast KS backers, gathering errata.

Dark Eras: Doubting Souls – Waiting for OK to order PoD proofs.

Dark Eras: Bowery Dogs – Waiting for OK to order PoD proofs.

Pugmire – Backer PDF to backers this week.

Wise and the Wicked PF & 5e – Out to backers.

      TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: Today a year ago we went out to a freezing cold parking lot on the outskirts of town at 5am to meet a dark green semi hauling unwanted dogs from kill shelters down south. Our big brown buddy had suddenly died right before Christmas, and the house felt empty without a dog in it, so my wife found what looked to be a good fit for us on a rescue website. That morning, Molly came gingering down a ramp from the green semi, and pulled her handler over to us as she enthusiastically greeted her new family. No sound though, not a yip. She still does everything enthusiastically, and has proven to bark really loudly if she needs to warn us. She is a Good Dog.

[biofunmy]

How streaming, diversity, #MeToo shaped TV decade of change

LOS ANGELES — “Game of Thrones” was both an unprecedented achievement and old-school role model in the TV decade that’s rolling its final credits.

Installments of the elaborately produced hit were doled out one at a time by an established outlet, premium cable channel HBO. That was standard TV operating procedure until, suddenly, it wasn’t. The new era arrived in 2013 when a full season’s worth of “House of Cards” popped up amid Netflix’s on-demand movies and old TV shows.

The drama’s unexpected home appeared simply to be an option to the 500-channel universe born in the 1990s. But “House of Cards” foreshadowed a streaming gold rush and volume of programming dubbed Peak TV in 2015 — and with no drop in altitude in sight.

The result: Nothing is the same, whether it’s how much television we consume; how and where we do it; who gets to make it, and the level of respect given the creatively emboldened small screen. We don’t just watch TV, we binge it until we’re bleary-eyed if not sated. We still change channels with a remote control, but more often we’re logging in to watch shows on our phones or other devices and on our schedules, not network-dictated appointment TV.

We’re couch potatoes and office and car and everywhere potatoes.

A comic strip, “Zits,” recently summed up the current reality in three panels. “What’s on?” a father asks his teenage son, who’s sitting cross-legged in front of a TV set and is bracketed by a smart phone on one side and a laptop on the other. “Everything ever videotaped, filmed, recorded, photographed or otherwise documented whenever I want to watch it,” the teen answers, nonchalantly tossing popcorn into his mouth.

“I miss television,” the downcast dad tells his wife.

ALL HAIL STREAMING

Generational nostalgia aside, consumers have embraced the change in their media world, said Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University’s Bleier Center for Television & Popular Culture.

“This was the decade that streaming became for many, many people the dominant way in which they watch television,” said Thompson. It’s a rapid shift that bears little relation to the previous entertainment industry revolution, cable TV.

Only about a quarter of U.S. homes had cable in 1980 despite its availability since the mid-20th century. While growth finally exploded in the ‘80’s, it wasn’t until the tail end of the 1990s and the arrival of HBO’s “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City” that premium cable received critical praise and honors, Thompson said.

In contrast, it took less than a decade for leader Netflix to skyrocket from about 12 million U.S. subscribers at the decade’s start to 60 million this year and 158 million worldwide. The streamer reportedly lavished $15 billion on programming for 2019 alone, and earned buzz with series including “The Crown,” “Stranger Things,” and “Orange is the New Black.”

Even major films, among them Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” are making themselves at home on Netflix while still in theaters.

Others in the fray include Hulu and Amazon Prime Video, although “streaming wars” became the aggressive phrase applied to the increasingly competitive marketplace. With newly emboldened (and sometimes mega-expanded) media companies intent on getting a piece of the streaming action, there was a growth surge that won’t abate in the new decade.

Apple TV Plus launched Nov. 1 with Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg among its first wave of producers, and was quickly followed by Disney Plus. The latter has a storehouse of Disney movies and TV shows to draw on, along with acquired properties from Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm and its “Star Wars” franchise.

Among the other services set for 2020: Peacock from NBCUniversal; Quibi, run by ex-Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg and former eBay head Meg Whitman, and HBO Max, is counting on HBO, TBS and the Warner Bros. studio assets acquired by parent company AT&T to lure subscribers.

While cord-cutting became a quest for viewers seeking to shed hefty cable bills, there is still a price tag for the gusher of riches, as much as $14.99 monthly for HBO Max alone.

A bonus for viewers as they sort through the competing options: More programming doesn’t just mean more of the same.

VARIETY STORE

If retailers can provide every type of yogurt known to humanity, why can’t TV take the same eclectic approach? It has in the past 10 years, as the increasing demand for content and the growth of niche programming created opportunities for diverse and candid voices. Ongoing efforts by advocacy groups also contributed to the gradual but unmistakable shift.

Donald Glover illustrates the before and after. The future multi-hyphenate writer, musician, actor and director had a respectable run as a cast member on the network sitcom “Community.” Two years later, he was the creator and star of FX’s “Atlanta,” which drew raves for its innovative storytelling focused on African American characters.

Jill Soloway called on family experience to create the groundbreaking “Transparent,” about a trans woman and how her decision to be open has a ripple effect on her children and their circle.

Ryan Murphy, already established as a successful producer with “Nip/Tuck”and “Glee,” exercised his clout to make FX’s “Pose,” set in the LGBTQ ballroom culture scene of the 1980s and ‘90s. Its star, Billy Porter , became the first openly gay man to win the best actor Emmy. Credit RuPaul and his “Drag Race,” which arrived on the cusp of the previous decade and grew in popularity, for setting the table.

Even mainstream broadcasting expanded its field of vision, with ABC the first network in 20 years to air an Asian American family sitcom, “Fresh Off the Boat,” ending this season. Nahnatchka Khan was its executive producer, one of the women who gained prominence behind the camera in a sector long dominated by men.

As producers, directors and writers, women put complex female characters in the center of the frame — a switch from the male antiheroes of “The Sopranos,” “Breaking Bad” and other turn-of-the-century hits. With women taking the reins as storytellers, female characters became as varied and complex as their male counterparts and began to encompass a fuller view of the modern experience.

Lena Dunham’s “Girls” presented more than cookie-cutter young women, both in body and spirit, and foreshadowed the rise of actresses whose talent demands more attention than their weight, including Aidy Bryant of “Saturday Night Live” and Chrissy Metz of “This Is Us.”‘

African American women took the spotlight in creator-star Issa Rae’s “Insecure,” while Jenji Kohan’s “Orange is the New Black,” featured characters notable for their ethnic, sexual and class diversity. Writer-actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s “Fleabag” provided the decade’s big finish with its bold sexuality, earning six Emmys last fall including top comedy.

Some established female producers further cemented their success. Shonda Rhimes added “Scandal” and “How to Get Away with Murder” to her body of work, with the latter’s star, Viola Davis, becoming the first African American to win a best drama actress Emmy. Ava DuVernay, already a filmmaking force, spearheaded “When They See Us” and “Queen Sugar.’”

Reese Witherspoon, adding producing to her portfolio, made good on her vow to bring strong female characters to the screen with the hit series “Big Little Lies” and “The Morning Show.”

Statistics confirm the anecdotal evidence. Across all TV platforms in 2017-18, women accounted for a historic high of 31% of those working in key behind-the-scenes jobs including directors, writers and editors , according to research by San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film.

Good, but not good enough, said Kirsten Schaffer, executive director of the advocacy group Women in Film, which joined with the Sundance Institute in 2017 to create and lead ReFrame, an initiative that works with companies and others to foster hiring of women across the media landscape.

“Our goal is to have the industry reflect the population of the United States,” Schaffer said, and that’s 51 percent female and 17 percent women of color.

While television moved toward better reflecting the world at large, it was forced to look inward as well.

#METOO FALLOUT

Revelations of sexual misconduct hit the TV industry hard and with more lasting effect than any other sector of Hollywood, even compared to producer Harvey Weinstein’s fall from moviemaking heights.

Two of media’s top powerbrokers were brought down in the #MeToo era. Les Moonves was ousted in 2018 as CBS CEO after an outside investigation of abuse claims, with Moonves denying any non-consensual sexual relations. Roger Ailes, who built Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News Channel into both a lucrative operation and major force in American politics, was forced out in the wake of sexual harassment claims.

Harassment claims also ended the Fox News career of host Bill O’Reilly, who called it a “hit job.”

Matt Lauer (“Today”), Charlie Rose (“CBS This Morning”) and PBS host Tavis Smiley were wiped away from TV screens for alleged misbehavior of varying types and their denials notwithstanding. “60 Minutes” executive producer Jeff Fager, a CBS News veteran, denied the misconduct claims that got him fired.

Top-tier actors and a famed comedian lost their jobs, including Jeffrey Tambor of “Transparent,” Kevin Spacey of “House of Cards” and Louis C.K., whose TV projects included “Louie,” which he starred in and produced. Tambor and Spacey rebutted the misconduct allegations, Louis C.K. apologized.

The reverberations continue. NBC repeatedly has been confronted by Ronan Farrow’s claim that he was prevented from breaking the Weinstein story on its airwaves, which the network denies, while CBS was criticized for renewing “Bull” despite actress Eliza Dushku’s claim that she was dropped for complaining that the show’s star, Michael Weatherly, made crude comments about her on set.

Dushku received a reported $9.5 million settlement under its then-CEO — Les Moonves.

———

Lynn Elber is at lelber@ap.org and Twitter at http://twitter.com/lynnelber.

Sahred From Source link Entertainment

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[thefriedcollectionarbiter-blog]

Lead World Professional Job.

The need to enhance our intellectual capability through brain-training video games has actually turned into just what is mentioned to become a trillion-dollar business. Thus immediately, AAPL looks extra eye-catching than ever before as high tech investors become born once again diehards in the weeks in advance. When children did their HTP exam, the psychologist subsequented with an interview, during which they would inquire if anybody had actually attempted to chop down the plant, or even which resides in your house. If one person going through coming from message distressing tension disorder discovers even a little bit a lot more concerning what they're going through from after that this digital practice is a results, I will say that. Then after being a distance runner for three years, that is actually when I completed my 1st one-half marathon, in September 2011 at the Hamptons Half-Marathon in East Hampton, N.Y. That wasn't till I decided that I was visiting come to be a runner and also know to adore something I hated that is actually when whatever altered. This is going to have a lot more compared to this, however, for the profession of psychology to recoup its own ethical reputation. This way our experts could offer creators excellent exposure for their work, reveal awesome advertisements to our community as well as encourage even more members to end up being clients along the way. That delivers several functions as well as excellent flexibility, however you may get started, with practically no discovering curve, and vacant your thoughts without stressing over just how that works. Component of the story of Bakuman is just one of performers along with imaginative motivation functioning to find a way to show that incentive within the confines of a rigid device. Status: The Status Inspiration Scale measures the magnitude from your have to be actually openly marvelled at, to win in competitive circumstances, to become in a status from authorization, or even to have respectable assets or wealth. And also whether you believe she ever before did truly adore her family or not, they still made up a portion of her decision-making process in previous periods. To tell the clergyman of his exalted yet humble placement, the artist possesses the clergyman's hands reduced completely down to his arms, to ensure his palms become a worthless set from 5 extra-long hands. As a result, buyers as well as organisation companions trust fund much less and also become much more mindful of which they open their purses for. In retrospect, that stress and anxiety was a wonderful knowing adventure in my larger quest to end up being a drone fly. Yet that's a good idea: Most wise Televisions are an individual adventure problem, which is actually why Chromecast is piggybacking on the one communication style that has actually proven to work: mobile phone. Although www.invaloaredecumparare.com/ might look at checking out Home from Cards in bedroom the interpretation from relaxing, when it involves falling asleep it is hard for your human brain to switch. To puts it simply, you acquire business-class papers at the hit of a button, and all accordinged to your authentic thoughts map. Yet there are various other studies done in additional all-natural environments, beyond the psychological science labs. That would be teenage years, essentially." And also, if that is actually heading to take you much more than a years to come to be Batman, you want to ensure you have actually reached the needed ability level due to the time you're in you mid-20s to early-30s. Because Pinterest is an aesthetic tool, any kind of employment method for this system need to be actually made keeping that in mind to do effectively in the atmosphere. Among the significant ones is actually micro-expressions, which show off throughout the face for concerning 1/20th from a 2nd or even less when a person exists. You'll need to have to explore the Industry Agent website as well as click the large Money Out button on the appropriate side of the web page when you're prepared to accumulate your cash. The disagreement against the incentive from developers developing gamified platforms has very little manner in reality. Improving intellectual functionality has actually long been actually a topic of interest one of psychologists. Many thanks for your enthusiasm in incorporating PokéStops and also Gyms to Pokémon GO. While our experts're certainly not currently allowing new submittings, our company'll keep your metropolitan area in mind in the future. Altering finance systems, transforming computing paradigms, transforming market incentives, they're done in solution to transforming psychology. That seemed like a creative stalemate, 3 additional professions sacrificed on the church of the WWE's artistic group.

Our team will not like modification in the things our company recognize along with - our company come to be very comfy along with items, and also our company establish exactly what feels like a friendly relationship with all of them, or even at the extremities, a relationship," Dr Lewis points out. So powerful has that become that, today, many popular labels rest their whole entire company approach on their ability to customize. Costs smart, the Songsterr app follows a registration version and is actually free of charge to install. And yes, the work market for scientific psycho therapists is actually very bloated at the moment, although if you would like to enter I/ psychology the project market is better (you'll be a professional though so it'll likewise be a great deal much more unforeseeable). The outcomes of religious motivation are regard, tranquility individual and also aggregate welfare, a feeling of reason and also the emotion from a deep fulfilment in one's being actually. Possibly you are currently laboring in this particular helpful obscurity; maybe you have additionally listened to additional opportunities in comparison to you can easily tally that motivation must arise from within. After numerous advertisings, brings up and also bonus offers, Mr. Bucher was actually delivered property from his project on November 10th, 2004, and afterwards updated in January from 2005 that he had actually been cancelled since December 31st. I spent fifty percent my time in Senior Scrolls video games reading the tradition in guides therefore this actually ecstatic me. The excellent export/import capacities create that easy to incorporate right into your tasks if you have been using thoughts maps previously, as well as sharing all of them along with buddies as well as associates. If thoughts charts and also web-based task control tools are out of range to your venture team for whatever reason at that point that is crucial to know the alternate viewpoint alternatives available in your project monitoring devices. This is actually the inescapable byproduct of mindshare - that folks end up being mentally bought something that controls their interest as well as ideas.

[nofomoartworld]

How Olivier Assayas' Unofficial "International Trilogy" Did the Impossible

Only as I step back out into Saturday night do I feel the denouement of French director Olivier Assayas' unofficial "International Trilogy," which I had spent the past six hours screening at Lower East Side film haunt, The Metrograph. The stillness that betrays death in 2004's Clean cold-calls down an empty stretch of Ludlow Street. A model's desultory gaze on a torn-up fashion ad beckons fulfillment at the cost of agency, the pharmacopornographic pact of 2002's Demonlover. My pocket-weight, which had been, for a quarter of a day, disallowed to disturb me, now drags like an anchor with its cut-off contact; the paradox of interconnectedness in 2007's Boarding Gate. Altogether, it makes me wish I were back inside my cinematic chrysalis, inside that bubble outside of everything, watching the films back-to-back all over again. I'd rather watch multinational capitalism subsume the world, as, over the course of three films, Assayas illustrates, than have to face it.

Olivier Assayas (L) in conversation with Greta Gerwig (R) following the screening of Clean. Image: Metrograph LLC

"Assayas' unofficial 'international' trilogy tracks the frictionless movement of bodies and capital (currency, culture, sex) across continents, through a sinister landscape of hotel rooms and business parks that are everywhere the same," is how The Metrograph bills it. But Assayas himself, live and in conversation with the actress and filmmaker Greta Gerwig following the 3:30PM screening of Clean, goes into little detail about the trilogy's 'unofficial' business. How Clean came about after his divorce from the film's star, Maggie Cheung; how Demonlover was his answer to a millennial cinema lacking the bite of DeLillo books; and how Boarding Gate just wanted to be a B-movie; are all more important than the films' critical theory, of which they've generated an abundance. Instead, Assayas and Gerwig gab about the then-real-life indie rock scene immortalized in Clean, about the peripheral importance of blocking a scene, and about "Kristen [Stewart] the person, not Kristen the movie star." (Stewart leads Personal Shopper, Assayas' latest film, in theaters now.) I get the impression that discussing the theoretical implications of his films bores Assayas; he'd rather say it on celluloid than into a cordless mic. "Filmmaking," he contends, "is all about freedom and the boundaries you create for yourself." Having to explain yourself later, I gather, isn't very liberating.

Maggie Cheung stars as Emily Wang in Clean.

What's interesting, then, is how each film deals with boundaries and/or the modern world's lack of them. Clean, for example, separates the world of movement from the world of stillness. When aging rocker Emily Wang (Maggie Cheung) gets released from jail following the junkie death of her partner, Lee Hauser (James Johnston), she faces two worlds: one, as a singer-songwriter revered and reviled for her hard-living ways, and the other, as the single parent of an estranged, now fatherless, young son. For Emily, staying put signals death—both the death of her dreams and of Hauser, as a reliable heroin sale quickly demonstrates. Movement, on the other hand, means living, both in terms of road tripping and crossing continental lines in pursuit of life after losing the person who kept her in motion. But when her father-in-law Albrecht (played with striking tenderness by a grizzled Nick Nolte) arrives in Europe to settle Hauser's affairs, he presents our heroine the opportunity to reconnect with her son and renegotiate her own borders in the process. She can mother her child and remain a globe-trotting songstress, provided she kicks the thing that's been blurring her lines throughout the entire process: her drug addiction.

In Demonlover, however, the importance of lines is that they're all torn wide open. Lines of communication, lines of thinking, and even the lines between the digital and physical worlds are forcibly violated in the cautionary tale masquerading as a crypto-caper. Corporate double-agent Diane de Monx (Connie Nielsen) crosses company wires and double-crosses her coworkers in pursuit of a lucrative internet porn company portfolio. But as the world of hand-drawn hentai is ravaged by the emergence of 3D CGI animation, so, too, are Diane's devices by an even more ruthless network of independent power players. The narrative "glides from Paris to Tokyo to backwater Mexico to the American suburbs, all with the speed of a broadband signal," writes The Metrograph. As opposed to Clean's Emily Wang, Diane de Monx's comeuppance (and perhaps her salvation?) arrives when she is finally—and quite literally—tied down.

Asia Argento as Sandra in Boarding Gate.

Where Clean deals with setting boundaries and Demonlover with breaking them, Boarding Gate presents a world of boxes, bubbles, and cages of our own creation. It is a tale that pits those who survived the ontological shift ushered in by the new millennium against those who didn't, as "cliché of a bygone era" underworld magnate Miles Rennberg (Michael Madsen) soon discovers. Following a visit from old girlfriend Sandra (an inimitable Asia Argento), his attempt to reignite their former flame consumes him like kindling but sets her off on a blaze of bullets, drugs, and contract killings all the way from Paris to Hong Kong. If Miles is a sheep in a wolf's sport jacket, the film is a Deleuzian hot-take, high on GHB and not wearing any panties. Of Boarding Gate, philosopher-critic Steven Shaviro writes, "[the film] presents the world of global capitalism as a loose ensemble of lateral connections among contiguous but separate spaces. [...] Some of the spaces through which Sandra passes are nearly empty, and others are filled with crowds. Some of them are run down, and some are luxurious. But none of them is home; none of them is a place where Sandra might be able to stop for a moment and take a breath—let alone a place where she might actually feel that she belongs." It exposes the simple, eviscerating fact that we now live in a world where our identities are determined by our cell phones, credit cards, and passports, and not the other way around.

Seen together, the three films tell the story of a world in transition—from one in which what was shared was private, to one where nothing could be private, to one where intimations of individuality reflect over the skins of customizable identity-bubbles that pass over each other like temporary Venn diagrams, but with more choke sex and cell phone interruptions (Boarding Gate, in fact, features watershed moments in both).

"Such is our postcinematic condition: the fantasies that used to be manufactured specifically by the movies can now be found more or less everywhere," writes Shaviro. "This is why Assayas, for all his daring, seems to be making films under a sort of constraint. In an age of ubiquitous recuperation, he cannot hope to display anything like the exuberance, caprice and freedom of invention of his predecessors in the French New Wave." But for six hours at The Metrograph, immersed in Assayas' worlds of fantasy, I escape the all-consuming fantasy of whatever it is we call the "real world" today. In a funny-backwards way, the experience gives me the hope that there just might be something that comes after multinational capitalism—the caveat being that the only one way to proceed is to continue plowing through. So, invest in a coat that will last you; learn how to grow your own food; start reading the classics; whatever it takes, do you. For what it's worth, which is no more or less than everything, I'll be at the movies.

Olivier Assayas' "International Trilogy" screened in full on March 11. Click here to learn more about The Metrograph.

Related:

Watch the 19 Best Films About Artificial Intelligence at This Indie Movie Theater

A Private Moment with 'Elle' and 'Robocop' Director Paul Verhoeven

Everything We Know About the Art in 'Nocturnal Animals'

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[theonyxpath]

Michael Gaydos art for the Prince’s Gambit card game

TLDR:

Myself and a whole bunch of Onyx Path folks just got back from the 2017 MidWinter convention. Why you should care: We had a great time there, which helps us get recharged to tackle the many projects were working on) and had some business meetings that may pay off this year, as well as demoing upcoming games, and meeting and answering questions with a lot of attendees (both current fans and those who we hope will be).

Also among those we chatted with were possible freelance creators who will help us continue to create these great projects and might even help us drive a few projects forward faster.

And Now, On With the Show:

Thursday most of us flew in, got settled at the hotel, and before we could blink it was time for the annual Onyx Path dinner at Mader’s. This medieval decorated German restaurant was White Wolf‘s special place to eat back in the day, so I love introducing our Onyx Path crew to its bounty of boots of beer, salty bread, and genuine German cuisine.

    Neall Raemonn Price, noted Scion developer, seated next to his wife Aimee, loves his boot of beer.

  Meredith Gerber has a much smaller stein…

  …while Mike Hollywood Tomasek challenges Neall as to who can finish their boot first, and Monica Valentinelli, HtV2nd developer, looks on in amusement.

  Mighty Matt McElroy, Michelle Webb, her husband, and Rose Bailey look on in sheer awe as Mike and Neall compete.

We were also joined by freelance writer and developer Danielle Harper and friends, and writer (and the man who keeps our booth running) Bill Bodden was just to my left at our table, so was unfortunately cut from these pics. Neall left early and heroically to run a Scion 2e demo game. I should also note that The Legend Dave Martin and the Wrecking Crew were already running a variety of Onyx Path games (although I forgot to take any pics when I visited them.)

Thursday night was mostly carousing in the hotel at the Monarch Lounge as attendees showed up and were loudly greeted. There’s a very welcoming feeling as old friends are met again, and you wind up meeting new folks that somehow you missed the last few years.

    Here’s an illustration interlude by Brian LeBlanc for Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition

    Friday, we got the booth together, had great sales, and then it was time for Mighty Matt McElroy’s Pentex Retreat LARP.

    The Onyx Path booth before opening.

  And a booth action shot by Meredith Gerber

  A bird got into the vendor room and stayed there through the con. An omen of what, though?

  The Pentex Retreat LARP as Werewolf’s Pentex employees mix and mingle and do corporate team-building exercises before things heated up.

  Near the end as the many underlying plots came together. Eddy Webb was whacked by an ambitious corporate ladder climber, and the Orpheus group had record enrollments.

  This was a one-shot using very simple rules that relied on playing your role. I was there as Black Dog Game Factory CEO, Ron Thompson, and I survived the entire thing by doing an exaggerated version of myself and one-time WW CEO Mike Tinney. There have been a lot of calls from players for Matt to run it again next year, which we’re taking as a good sign that great fun was had.

Friday night, after a lovely dinner at the steak house in the hotel, Eddy Webb ran a “friends&family” playtest for Monarchies of Mau, the cat focused follow-up and connected game to Pugmire. This went very well, although we were all rolling abysmally, and ultimately my Wanderer(Monk) cat, Halo von Siberian, did succeed in a Disadvantaged leap to kick one of the White Rats off of a roof in the adventure’s climax.

At the same time Rose Bailey was running a Cavaliers of Mars demo that I hear was filled with swashbuckling fun.

We all met up again in the Monarch to share our stories and fire Neall.

    Illustration interlude by Shen Fei of the Pointer splat for Pugmire

    Saturday was our busiest day for activities, starting with an interview alongside Eddy that I hope to have a link to sometime soon, and a very productive if fast lunch with Rose and Matt as we discussed potential new projects and further ways to improve how we work with developers and writers. We would have done this by Skype anyway, but there were a few things that needed saying in person.

Then we began our day in the Oak Boardroom, a cool meeting room we were able to use for the rest of Saturday. First was the first-ever playtest of a secret card game project for Pugmire that Eddy has been working on. Even I had never seen the components and how it actually played. Here are a few uncredited, because it is secret, pics of the play with the prototypes:

      Next was our Onyx Path Q&A, which was packed. We provided some “refreshments” and the more intimate room setting was really much more enjoyable, for me at least, than the classic front table and audience format at lot of panels use. Would do again.

    We, the dark council, have brought you all here today…

    Thanks to everybody who sat in and threw your great questions at us.

Finally, I sat in on the first half of the official Monarchies of Mau playtest, and these folks really got into their Cat characters. A really great sign. I also heard that the Halo in this session also kicked a Rat off the roof. Hmm, must be something about that character.

      Finally on Saturday, a rare selfie by me of Neall, Danielle, Maria Cambone, one of our friends from By Night Studios who helped edit their very beautiful and big new Werewolf: the Apocalypse for Live Action play, and yours truly, after Maria managed to get the attention of the bartenders and got us drinks. She’s a lifesaver.

      Thought I had gotten back to my room at a reasonable hour, but then folks started dropping by, so we talked about life, the universe, and everything for a couple more hours.

Sunday, briefly, was standing in line for twenty minutes at Starbucks because also in the hotel were several HS girl’s volleyball teams and every single one of them needed whatever drink had the most tooth rotting combination of syrups, and then getting my Chai Latte in time to meet with Matt and several other folks from other companies as strategic alliances were proposed. We shall see if anything happens this year with those things, and then it was check-out and airport and buh-bye.

I also finally got to chat a bit with another long-timer, John Wick, after more than a decade of not seeing the guy. We had promised to say hi at last year’s GenCon and that never worked out because at the bigger cons we’re all just so freaking busy. Which is another great thing about MidWinter.

Overall, this was a very successful MidWinter con for us, with tons of input from playtesters to go over, game and other proposals to review, and many friendships renewed.

  BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER!

We’re exploring card game Kickstarters, packaging, and components, for Prince’s Gambit. Justin, Eddy, a crack team of players, and our talented videographers have finished shooting the KS videos in Atlanta and are assembling edits even as you read this. Things look good, and we are all for starting the KS in late January so long as the process of pulling the KS together cooperates. If so, then Monarchies of Mau KS would be next, after Gambit.

  ON SALE!

    Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://ift.tt/1ZlTT6z

    The cards are alive! Conditionally. This Weds. the Advance PDF version of the Promethean 2nd Edition Condition Cards goes on sale at DTRPG!

    It is now the preordained time for Dawn of Heresies, the Mummy: the Curse novel written by internationally renowned author Brian Hodge to arise! Both PDF/electronic and physical book PoD versions are now available on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2iEP9dW

    Open the V20 Dark Ages: Tome of Secrets now on DTRPG! Both PDF and physical book PoD versions are now available! http://ift.tt/2i1XOXd

The Tome of Secrets is a treatment of numerous topics about Cainites and stranger things in the Dark Medieval World. It’s about peeling back the curtain, and digging a little deeper. Inside, you’ll find:

• Expanded treatment of Assamite Sorcery, Koldunic Sorcery, Necromancy, and Setite Sorcery

• A look at Cainite knightly orders, faith movements, and even human witchcraft

• Letters and diaries from all over the Dark Medieval World

      Travel with us all the way to the Red Planet for the Cavaliers of Mars Jumpstart: A Festival of Blades, available in PDF and PoD on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2biWBpR

Live, fight, and love on Mars, a world of red death and strange mystery, a world of savagery and romance.

Includes: 

A complete adventure set in one of dying Mars’ greatest remaining cities.

The innovative DEIMOS rules, for high-flying, swashbuckling adventure.

Four pre-generated player characters, ready to get into the heart of the action.

    The Advance PDF for Reap the Whirlwind, the Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition Jumpstart swirls into being on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2i1WPpD

You are a vampire, a junkie. Every night, you beg and you borrow and you steal just a little more life, just a few more sweet moments. But there’s a guy at the top. The Prince. He’s got everything. The money, the secrets, the blood.

Tonight, you’re going to take it from him. Tomorrow, there’ll be hell to pay.

This updated edition of Reap the Whirlwind features revisions to match the core rulebook for Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition. Text edits and rules clarifications have also been updated.

Reap the Whirlwind Revised includes:

Rules for creating and playing vampires in the Chronicles of Darkness

The first two levels of every clan Discipline, the dark powers of the dead

A complete adventure by noted horror author Chuck Wendig

This new revised Reap the Whirlwind Revised includes an updated booklet, 7 condition cards, and the interactive Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition character sheet.

    The Locker is open; the Chronicles of Darkness: Hurt Locker, that is! The Advance PDF is now available on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2gbM9me

Hurt Locker features:

Treatment of violence in the Chronicles of Darkness. Lasting trauma, scene framing, and other tools for making your stories hurt.

Many new player options, including Merits, supernatural knacks, and even new character types like psychic vampires and sleeper cell soldiers.

Expanded equipment and equipment rules.

Hurt Locker requires the Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook or any other standalone Chronicles of Darkness rulebook such as Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, or Beast: The Primordial to use.

    Discover the long-awaited  Secrets of the Covenants for Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition as we unearth the Advance PDF now on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2gbQjus

This book includes:

A variety of stories from each of the covenants, all told in their own words.

Never-before revealed secrets, like the fate of the Prince of New Orleans.

New blood sorcery, oaths, and other hidden powers of the covenants.

      We have now added a B&W PoD version of the Endless Ages Vampire Anthology to the existing full color PDF and PoD choices! Celebrating 25 years of personal horror, the eighteen stories in Endless Ages range in style and aesthetics from the very first edition of Vampire released in 1991, all the way to the latest books put out for the 20th Anniversary Edition. http://ift.tt/2dL7Gkt

    Seek the Cainite Conspiracies, the fiction anthology for V20 Dark Ages, in PDF and PoD physical book formats! http://ift.tt/2fMksQQ

This collection of short stories features tales by Vampire developers such as Justin Achilli, Eddy Webb, David A. Hill, Jr., and Neall Raemonn Price along with award-winning horror authors including Maurice Broaddus, Catherine Lundoff, and Richard Dansky.

      Promethean: the Created 2nd Edition comes to life in both PDF and PoD physical book versions NOW on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2aUBEnc

You are a pilgrim now, one of the Created. You rose to life from dead flesh or inert matter, under the ministrations of one of your own, or a mad scientist, or perhaps just the power of the Divine Fire. You wander the world, sometimes alone, sometimes in the blessed company of your own kind, driven by memories of events and facts you never knew, all in the service of one Great Work…

…to be human.

Humans don’t make it easy, though. The Divine Fire that animates you burns too bright, blinds people, and scorches the land if you linger too long. It masks your disfigurements and makes you appear human, but that mask slips and people see your hideous, true form. The Pilgrimage is a long, difficult road, but it is yours, and you know, somehow, that the salvation of the New Dawn waits at the end.

This book contains:

The complete guide to playing a Promethean in the Chronicles of Darkness

Reimagined Lineages and Refinements, and a redesigned system for Transmutations

A more detailed approached to the Pilgrimage that presents players with more control over their characters’ path

New challenges on the road to humanity, including deranged, greedy alchemists

      CONVENTIONS!

Discussing GenCon plans. Every chance the booth will actually be 20′ x 30′ this year.

        And now, the new project status updates!

    DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

V20 Dark Ages Jumpstart (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Cookbook (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

CtD C20 Jumpstart (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Pugmire Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers (Pugmire)

Monarchies of Mau Early Access (Pugmire)

  Redlines

Scion: Origins (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

VtR Half-Damned (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

  Second Draft

The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition

BtP Beast Player’s Guide (Beast: the Primordial)

Book of Freeholds (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

  Development

W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

SL Ring of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Ring of Spiragos (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

SL Dagger of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Dagger of Spiragos (5e– Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Arms of the Chosen (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

W20 Song of Unmaking novel (Bridges) (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

BtP Building a Legend (Beast: the Primordial)

CtD C20 Anthology (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

  Editing:

Cavaliers of Mars

VtR A Thousand Years of Night (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

V20 Beckett’s Jyhad Diary (Stretch Goal Content)

  Post-Editing Development:

CtL fiction anthology (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

Indexing:

      ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Dark Eras Companion

Beckett’s Jyhad Diary

C20 

M20 Book of Secrets – AD’d

W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook

V20 Dark Ages Companion

Mortal Remains – Beast – AD’d

EX3 Tomb of Dreams Jumpstart – Continuing to get sketches and seeing first color comps.

Dagger of Spiragos – Putting together the art buy.

Marketing Stuff

Banner and Slider Updates – Working on new stuff for Hurt Locker, Secrets of the Covenants, and Scarred Lands.

  In Layout

Necropolis Rio

Promethean 2 Condition Cards

V20 Lore of the Bloodlines

Prince’s Gambit – Kickstarter Prep.

Pugmire

Wise and the Wicked 5e – Starting on it sometime this week.

  Proofing At Press

Ex 3 Screen – Finished at the Printer.

Ex 3 core book – From RichT: manufacturing continues. Gilding finished at last, now on to binding.

Beast Condition Cards – Getting physical cards uploaded.

CofD Hurt Locker – Waiting for errata to make PoD.

Secrets of the Covenants – Waiting for errata to make PoD.

Revised Reap The Whirlwind Jumpstart – PoD proof ordered.

Beckett Screen – At Printer.

W20 Shattered Dreams – Deluxe Edition at press.

Shattered Dreams Screen – At Printer.

Dark Eras: Ends of Empire – PoD proof ordered.

Dark Eras: The Sundered World – PoD proof ordered.

Promethean 2nd Condition Cards – Advance PDF going on sale this this Wednesday.

Beast Conquering Heroes – Advance PDF now on sale at DTRPG, gathering errata.

      TODAY’S REASON TO DRINK: Pelt of the werewolf that bit ya.

[theonyxpath]

  Brazil is the topic of the day, today, for a variety of reasons.

1) Last week I received a bunch of pics and notes from our friends at Cronistas das Trevas who ran a Chronicles of Darkness Day all across Brazil that demonstrates that the Brazilian tabletop RPG scene is exploding! 160 people in 14 different cities (double the number of cities from last year!) sat down to play Chronicles of Darkness games. It sounds like a great time was had by all!

Maybe one of these years some of us Onyx Path folks can join you down there for the day…

Here is the website, and a few pics I pretty much randomly pulled to share with you all: http://ift.tt/2kJbPue/

    These folks played two games while podcasting!

  2) Cursed Necropolis: Rio is getting set for approvals and then out as a Backer PDF to the Mummy: the Curse KS backers. It is the last of the KS Stretch Goal rewards, and while it took us a much longer time to deliver everything from that KS, it feels great to have delivered (almooost) such a diverse yet solid selection of Mummy: the Curse books.

3) Just today, Fast Eddy Webb let me know that there is a translator/publisher in Brazil interested in Pugmire. This is both very cool, and not surprising. We have had interest in all of the game lines we publish from possible translators from Brazil, and we’re looking forward to getting some signed up soon. Again, from what I hear, the country is just in love with tabletop RPGs, and very open to cool new games.

    CofD Dark Eras Companion art by Vince Locke

  This brings up something I do want to touch on.

I get a fair number of requests from players in other countries outside the US for us to create our books in their language. This is cool, and it is great to hear that there is interest there, but I hope folks understand that we’re not the ones who are translating and publishing the books in other languages.

We just don’t have the bandwidth or knowledge base for that. We also do not have the time to actively seek out translation partners.

Onyx Path relies on working with translation/publishing partners in other countries who have contacted us, have proven they can do great work, and who are willing and able to pay the licensing fee or fees we ask for. If we had our way, there’d be a partner company in every country around the world making localized versions of our books!

But unfortunately, that’s not the case yet, so we are gradually building relationships with those folks who can and do match up with what we need from our translation partners. If we haven’t done that for your favorite game in your language, please rest assured it is not that we hate your country, language, that game, or you! We just haven’t found a partner who can make it happen yet.

    Pugmire illustration by Claudio Pozas

  Finally, and try as I might I can’t really get it to fit the Brazil theme, I did want to let Mage 20 fans know that Rollickin’ Rose and Mighty Matt and I sat down with Satyr Phil Brucato and worked out ways to get an additional developer or two onto some of the M20 books we have listed as coming out of the Deluxe M20 Kickstarter. The one dev I heard for certain is onboard is our old friend Pete Woodworth, which Satyr let me know about over the weekend.

Satyr puts his heart and soul into every book, and writes and rewrites and develops the hell out of them (or into them in the case of the Book of the Fallen?), but that dedication has also slowed things down as there are only so many hours in the day for one creator to cover so many things. Satyr didn’t like it, we certainly didn’t, and now we have a working plan.

Really just one of the many ways we’re learning from the lessons of the past five years to move into our next five.

    BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER!

We’re exploring card game Kickstarters, packaging, and components, for Prince’s Gambit. I’m working on the KS pages this week, and our video genius is assembling edits while Justin is picking music. Things look good, and we are all for starting the KS in Feb so long as the process of pulling the KS together cooperates. If so, then Monarchies of Mau KS would be next, after Gambit.

  ON SALE!

Hunter: the Vigil explodes into the Bundle of Holding! Starting today, you can pledge for first edition Hunter: the Vigil PDFs at massive discounts and 10% of your purchase goes to the RPG Creators Relief Fund, INC too, which is very cool. Check it out here: http://ift.tt/2jUHawr

This offer is doing really well- thanks to all of you who have supported a great cause so far!

How about we do something never before attempted and add WoD Armory to this set of PDFs! For those of you who pledged already- we give this with our thanks! And if you haven’t pledged yet…well now you get even more awesome PDFs when you do!

  Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://ift.tt/1ZlTT6z

We’re preparing wave 2 of our Deluxe and Prestige print overrun books, including Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary, and Deluxe V20 Dark Ages.

      From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Ruins of Empire (Mummy 1893-1924). Perhaps the quintessential era of the mummy in the minds of Westerners, this period saw the decline of the two greatest empires of the age: British and Ottoman. Walk with the Arisen as they bear witness to the death of the Victorian age, to pivotal mortal discoveries in Egypt, and to the horrors of the Great War.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG. http://ift.tt/2k0XDhX

    From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: The Sundered World (Werewolf and Mage 5500-5000 BCE). At the birth of civilization, in the shadow of the Fall, the Awakened stand as champions and protectors of the agricultural villages spread across the Balkans. In a world without a Gauntlet, where Shadow and flesh mingle, the steady taming of the world by humanity conflicts with the half-spirit children of Father Wolf.

Available in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG. http://ift.tt/2k16mRj

    Night Horrors: Conquering Heroes for Beast: the Primordial is available now as an Advance PDF: http://ift.tt/2j7p7lO

This book includes: 

An in-depth look at how Heroes hunt and what makes a Hero, with eleven new Heroes to drop into any chronicle.

A brief look at why Beasts may antagonize one another, with seven new Beasts to drop into any chronicle.

Rules for Insatiables, ancient creatures born of the Primordial Dream intent on hunting down Beasts to fill a hunger without end, featuring six examples ready to use in any chronicle.

    The PDF and physical book PoD versions of Reap the Whirlwind, the Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition Jumpstart swirls into being on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2i1WPpD

You are a vampire, a junkie. Every night, you beg and you borrow and you steal just a little more life, just a few more sweet moments. But there’s a guy at the top. The Prince. He’s got everything. The money, the secrets, the blood.

Tonight, you’re going to take it from him. Tomorrow, there’ll be hell to pay.

This updated edition of Reap the Whirlwind features revisions to match the core rulebook for Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition. Text edits and rules clarifications have also been updated.

Reap the Whirlwind Revised includes:

Rules for creating and playing vampires in the Chronicles of Darkness

The first two levels of every clan Discipline, the dark powers of the dead

A complete adventure by noted horror author Chuck Wendig

This new revised Reap the Whirlwind Revised includes an updated booklet, 7 condition cards, and the interactive Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition character sheet.

        It is now the preordained time for Dawn of Heresies, the Mummy: the Curse novel written by internationally renowned author Brian Hodge to arise! Both PDF/electronic and physical book PoD versions are now available on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2iEP9dW

Rawhead and bloody bones

Steals naughty children from their homes,

Takes them to his dirty den

And they are never seen again. 

So says the nursery rhyme that gives birth to Rawhead, the most fearsome entity to imperil the living since the infamous Roller. Once an obedient mummy by name of Benefre, a desperate bid by his cult fails in tragic fashion, and in so doing, sends him to the Devourerís waiting, corruptive maw. What remains of Benefreís ambitious soul rises again, impure and unholy, set to the execution of a scheme so baleful, it constitutes a heresy even among his own misbegotten kind.

All that stands between Rawhead and his terrible aim are a lone mummy, Kemsiyet, and what little remains of her cult following its destruction at Rawhead’s hands. Declan, her prized security aide, and Fiona, an Irish researcher only just recently inducted into the cult and its blood-soaked world, must fight both the odds and the clock in order to prevent a calamity the likes of which the world hasnít seen since the days of the mummies’ creation.

About the Author:

BRIAN HODGE is the acclaimed author of 11 novels, almost 125 short stories, and four full-length collections. His first collection, The Convulsion Factory, was ranked by critic Stanley Wiater among the 113 best books of modern horror. Heís currently wrapping up his fifth, The Immaculate Void. Among gamers, he is perhaps best known as the author of the first official Hellboy novel, On Earth as It Is in Hell.

Recent works include “The Weight of the Dead,” from Tor, and novelettes of cosmic horror in The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu and Children of Lovecraft. His oft-reprinted 2013 novella, “The Same Deep Waters as You” has recently been optioned by a London-based production studio for development for television. Brian lives in Colorado.

    Open the V20 Dark Ages: Tome of Secrets now on DTRPG! Both PDF and physical book PoD versions are now available! http://ift.tt/2i1XOXd

The Tome of Secrets is a treatment of numerous topics about Cainites and stranger things in the Dark Medieval World. It’s about peeling back the curtain, and digging a little deeper. Inside, you’ll find:

• Expanded treatment of Assamite Sorcery, Koldunic Sorcery, Necromancy, and Setite Sorcery

• A look at Cainite knightly orders, faith movements, and even human witchcraft

• Letters and diaries from all over the Dark Medieval World

    Travel with us all the way to the Red Planet for the Cavaliers of Mars Jumpstart: A Festival of Blades, available in PDF and PoD on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2biWBpR

Live, fight, and love on Mars, a world of red death and strange mystery, a world of savagery and romance.

Includes: 

A complete adventure set in one of dying Mars’ greatest remaining cities.

The innovative DEIMOS rules, for high-flying, swashbuckling adventure.

Four pre-generated player characters, ready to get into the heart of the action.

    The Locker is open; the Chronicles of Darkness: Hurt Locker, that is! The Advance PDF is now available on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2gbM9me

Hurt Locker features:

Treatment of violence in the Chronicles of Darkness. Lasting trauma, scene framing, and other tools for making your stories hurt.

Many new player options, including Merits, supernatural knacks, and even new character types like psychic vampires and sleeper cell soldiers.

Expanded equipment and equipment rules.

Hurt Locker requires the Chronicles of Darkness Rulebook or any other standalone Chronicles of Darkness rulebook such as Vampire: The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, or Beast: The Primordial to use.

    Discover the long-awaited  Secrets of the Covenants for Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition as we unearth the Advance PDF now on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2gbQjus

This book includes:

A variety of stories from each of the covenants, all told in their own words.

Never-before revealed secrets, like the fate of the Prince of New Orleans.

New blood sorcery, oaths, and other hidden powers of the covenants.

      CONVENTIONS!

Discussing GenCon plans. August 17th – 20th, Indianapolis. Every chance the booth will actually be 20′ x 30′ this year.

        And now, the new project status updates!

    DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Cookbook (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

CtD C20 Jumpstart (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Pugmire Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers (Pugmire)

Monarchies of Mau Early Access (Pugmire)

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

  Redlines

Scion: Origins (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

VtR Half-Damned (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

V20 Dark Ages Jumpstart (Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition)

  Second Draft

The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

BtP Beast Player’s Guide (Beast: the Primordial)

Book of Freeholds (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

  Development

W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

SL Ring of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Ring of Spiragos (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

SL Dagger of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Dagger of Spiragos (5e– Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Arms of the Chosen (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

BtP Building a Legend (Beast: the Primordial)

CtD C20 Anthology (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Wraith: the Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition

  Editing:

VtR A Thousand Years of Night (Vampire: the Requiem 2nd Edition)

V20 Beckett’s Jyhad Diary (Stretch Goal Content)

W20 Song of Unmaking novel (Bridges) (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

  Post-Editing Development:

CtL fiction anthology (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

Cavaliers of Mars

Indexing:

      ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Dark Eras Companion

Beckett’s Jyhad Diary

C20 

M20 Book of Secrets – AD’d

W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook

V20 Dark Ages Companion

EX3 Tomb of Dreams Jumpstart – More color comps coming in.

Dagger of Spiragos 

VTR: Thousand Years of Night

Cavaliers of Mars 

  Marketing Stuff

  In Layout

V20 Lore of the Bloodlines

Prince’s Gambit – Kickstarter Prep.

Wise & the Wicked 5e

Dark Eras Companion – Getting things ready to roll.

Pugmire

  Proofing

Necropolis Rio

At Press

Ex 3 Screen – Finished at the Printer.

Ex 3 core book – From RichT: manufacturing finishing up. Shipping books from printer to shippers.

Beast Condition Cards – Pod proofs ordered.

CofD Hurt Locker – Waiting for tech OK to order PoD.

Secrets of the Covenants – Waiting for errata to make PoD.

Beckett Screen – At Printer, reviewing proof. Too dark, new fixed proof coming.

W20 Shattered Dreams – Prepping shipping to fulfillment shippers.

Shattered Dreams Screen – At Printer, waiting to print.

Promethean 2nd Condition Cards – PoD proofs ordered.

Beast Conquering Heroes – Advance PDF now on sale at DTRPG, gathering errata.

Mortal Remains: Beast- Red In Tooth and Claw – Going out to Beast KS backers this week.

Dark Eras: Doubting Souls – Uploading files to Drivethru.

Dark Eras: Bowery Dogs – Files uploaded.

      TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: Wow. Tough week for this one. Howzabout this week we go from January to February, which is our shortest month, so we’ll get through that the fastest into March, which means Winter is almost over. Throw me a frickin’ bone here, people.