#anyways mike is the stalling king

[chirpsythismorning]

COWARD? STALLING? USED TO BE A HERO? HIDING THE ANSWER IN HIS POCKET!?!?!??

Funny enough, this is what we get 2 scenes later..

[mirrorballdazai]

Hey! Can you explain a bit more your comparison between it and st kids? I don't really understand. Have a nice day <3

gladly !!

there are LOTS of parallels between the st and it kids on so many levels, but what i was focusing on in that post was the difference between the two in relation to sex (and other “adult stuff” like cigarettes, but mainly sex) and how that shows different ways to cope with trauma and what the kids symbolize as a whole in the show/movie/book

first off let’s remember that the losers are all 11 years old, if i remember correctly only stanley is 10 in the book. the members of the party are 12 in the first season and obviously they grow up, so at what is right now the end of the show they’re all 14/15.

both groups face struggles like bullying (which is often rooted in racism, homophobia, ableism and other things), abusive or neglectful parents (or in max’s case, siblings), personal fears and obviously there are the supernatural plots, so monsters and whatever pennywise is (i didn’t finish the book yet but i think he’s an alien or a semigod but anyway).

the interesting thing is that even if the it kids are younger they show a knowledge of some, idk how to word it, “adult things”. for example some of them smoke — in the movies i’m pretty sure beverly is the only one who does it both in the og and in the remake. the thing that really stuck with me though is that they all know what sex is or even just have a vague idea of it (for example eddie in the book doesn’t really know what exactly is, but shows that he knows that it’s a thing). they make jokes about it and say/think sexual things in general. it’s also connected to eddie’s visions since in the book he sees a man with syphilis who offers to do yk sexual stuff which is connected to his fear of being ill and stuff.

on the other hand the st kids never show to know what sex is, except for max that talks about “happy screams” in s3, which makes sense because max is supposed to be the one who knows more stuff in the group, the one who lived in a city and all that. el then mentions again these “happy screams”, and when someone (i dont remeber who exactly i’m sorry) asks what happy screams are max interrupts el who was about to answer and says that it doesn’t matter — which could be for many reasons. maybe she is embarrassed or something, but when i first watched it i thought “ah she probably doesn’t want to kind of ruin everyone’s innocence” since she showed stress only after that-person asked what happy screams are, which shows that they don’t know what sex is at least in max’s mind.

the question now is why. there’s this difference between these groups, but why? for mainly two reasons.

1. show different ways to cope with trauma

my theory is that stephen king wanted to show how less innocent kids can be after trauma and abuse. he wanted to show the cruel reality, the one where kids are not that innocent even when they’re very young, especially after bad experiences. those experiences make them want to act like grown ups, talking about sex, joking about it and stuff like they think adults do.

stranger things does the complete opposite: the kids are an ideal. if you think about it even after their traumatic experiences they stay sweet and innocent — because let’s be real, they never act really bad. maybe they’re a bit bitchy or something, maybe they distance themselves from the others, but they never do REALLY bad stuff. i mean they acted like mike was a criminal in s2 because he cheated on a test/essay, or because of the graffiti thing. mike also says “everyone graffitis the bathroom stall”, which is true! they act like he’s a really bad kid for doing something normal kids do on a daily basis! another example that i love is that when will is feeling bad he clings to his childhood even more, whether that be playing d&d or going trick or treating or drawing. those are normal things kids do. when max faces depression and anxiety she stops talking to basically everyone — which kids often do, it can even be selective mutism in some cases. and there are many MANY other examples !! like el and mike’s relationship — whenever they’re stressed they scream about how much they love each other, they cling to each other and their relationship, because it was their first crush, their first love (even if you think they never really loved/had a crush on each other it was their first relationship you know?). being each other’s partner is a part of their childhood they cling onto when they’re scared.

2. because they symbolize different things

the losers are an example of how reality is: even things that are supposed to be pure and innocent can be cruel, “dirty”. they’re the symbol of a society that puts each person to their limit, sometimes making them the worst version themselves.

the party members are an ideal. they represent innocence, the “good” in a world full of bad people, bad ideals, bad decisions. they’re a symbol of hope, because a world that is as ugly as theirs needs hope.

+ i also want to point out that it as a whole has a grey type of morality — the kids do bad and good things and at one point you don’t even know what to think about them. richie is a kid that deals with this feeling of alienation from his friends (canon in book and in the movies, but for different reasons), he’s overall a sweet guy, but also makes offensive comments — sometimes these comments are even racist, or fatphobic, or ableist. henry is a character you’re supposed to hate from the first to the last moment, but you’re sometimes even supposed to emphasize with him because at the end of the day he’s been abused his whole live. while in stranger things the characters are inherently good or bad. a black and white kind of morality.

[eveningstar1516]

Rise of the Demon King ~ Chapter 8

Rise of the Demon King

Fic: Multi Chapter Paring: MC x Everyone (Mostly Lucifer) Type: Angst with a Happy Ending Total Word Count: 26,758 TW: Major Character Death, Reader gets stabbed with a sword through their chest so..., Abusive Parents, Past Child Abuse, Demon Hunters, Loss of Control Summary: You’ve done it. You’ve finally done it. You’ve managed to anger the demon king. Now you hold your head high as he hands down your sentence. AO3 Portal: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27065362

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Previously:

His brothers would always know whenever he went to see her as he’d always come back with a content smile on his face. Deep down, he wished that Y/N could’ve met Cynthia. They would have made great friends as they were the only 2 people who could make him smile like this. Mammon may not have been able to save Y/N, but he swore that he would protect Cynthia, no matter the cost.

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

CHAPTER 8 - The Great Pancake Debate (2261 words)

It’s been almost 6 months since you arrived in the Celestial Realm. Needless to say, you are quite certain that these last 6 months have been the craziest and stressful months of your life! When you told Simeon and Luke about you staying here, to say they were ecstatic would be an understatement. Luke jumped for joy and wouldn’t stop rambling about all the fun you were going to have. When you told them about God appointing them to help teach you about the Realm, Luke practically did a double take and it took an hour to calm him. Now you have Simeon teaching you about politics and Luke about how to use your wings and powers. On your second day there, Michael woke you up, or well came to get you as you didn’t get any sleep. Turns out, while the Devildom is constant at night, the Celestial realm is constant day and thanks to the floor to ceiling windows, there was no way for you to stop sunlight from coming in. You were introduced to the council at breakfast. Note to self, the brothers breakfasts are QUIET AND PEACEFUL compared to Archangels off duty. The first thing you saw were 2 angels passionately arguing over which pancake topping was the best, strawberries or blueberries. At some point a third angel cut in claiming chocolate chips were the best and all heaven (would you replace hell with heaven here? idk) broke loose. As for me, I just started chuckling in disbelief while making my way over to pick up a pancake of my own when the angel arguing on behalf of the strawberries saw you.

“Hey kid, what topping do you prefer, strawberries, blueberries, or chocolate chips? It’s strawberries right?”

“Actually, I prefer them plain with maple syrup. Although if Satan was the one making it, I’d go for the one with poison berries. Contrary to their name, they’re not actually poisonous and quite sweet.” All the angels present looked at me with a mix of shock and disbelief, save for Michael who just sat there eating his breakfast hoping to leave soon and get to work.

“Kid, did you say Satan?” The angel arguing on behalf of blueberries asked. “Yeah… Blond hair, teal eyes, Avatar of Wrath, Luci’s son? Ring a bell?” Turning to Michael, blueberry angel asked,

“Micheal, who are they and why are they wearing Lucifer’s old get up?” “This is Y/N. They will be staying here and taking Samael’s spot on the council until their agreement with Father ends and they return to the Devildom. Father has asked us to teach them about how our Realm operates and how to successfully fulfill Samael’s former position flawlessly, unless they want to return now and leave heaven early?” Michael turned towards you with a smirk on his face as he asked the last part.

“Very funny Mike. You and I both know I won’t do that no matter how bad you want me to.”

“What did I say about calling me that?!” Micheal’s smirk turned into something short of a snarl.

“Well, if you won’t take me seriously, neither will I. You want me to call you by your name, earn it and stop being an butt… I meant an butt… Why can’t I swear?!”

“This is the Celestial Realm Y/N. Angels don’t swear.” Michael said smugly over the rim of his cup of coffee.

“God Dang it! Argh! Fudge!. Dang it! Ya know what, forget it, my entire mood is ruined. Thanks Michael!”

“Anytime.”

Shooting Michael one last glare, I sighed and turned to the rest of the baffled angels in the room.

“Yes, what Michael said is true. Stuff happened in the Devildom which I will not get in too-”

“The demon king made Samael kill them.”

“Ok, Mike, first off, he didn’t, I ordered him too, second, I thought I said I didn’t want to talk about it. What gives you the right to tell them huh?”

“I felt like it.”

“You son of a beach.” I turned back to the rest of the angels. “Not a word about it. Anyway, due to some personal issues, I made a deal with Father to stay here on the condition that I take over Lucifer’s spot on the council until he either kicks me out or until our agreement has ended.”

“If I may, when will this agreement of yours be over?” The blueberry angel asked.

“I will be returning to the Devildom once Lord Diavolo has been crowned king and his father is 100% out of the picture. Now if you don’t mind me asking, could you introduce yourselves?” “Oh how rude of us, I’m sorry, I am Gabriel.” Gabriel had chestnut brown medium length hair, reaching shoulders. His eyes were a dull green. He wore a white turtleneck and had a light green shawl with golden tassels. He pointed to the strawberry angel. “This is Raphael and he’s Uriel.” He pointed to the chocolate chip angel. Raphael had long reddish-orange hair put up in a high ponytail. His eyes were a stormy gray. He wore a simple light gray half sleeve with an off the shoulder white cape and little decor. Uriel had short gray hair and golden eyes that almost seemed to sparkle. He wore something that reminded you of an off white scholar's robe with gray accents. “These are Saraqael, and Raguel.” He pointed to 2 of the quieter angels who didn’t participate in “the great pancake debate”. “We make up the Archangel council and we’re happy to have you Y/N.” Gabriel finished off with a smile. You were just barely able to make out a little “Not all of us” from Michael. You decided to ignore it, and then, like all the decisions you’ve ever made, it was the wrong one. Sitting back down you asked,

“So, quick question. What started The Great Pancake Topping debate?”

.

.

.

.

Breakfast ended 2 hours later with upset angels, and pancakes, everywhere…

In the Devildom. After they lost Y/N

Levi went straight to his room as soon as they got home. As soon as he closed and locked the door he went straight to Henry’s fishbowl, picked it up and sat in his bathtub, hugging the bowl as he cried. ‘Why do I feel like this?! I only like 2D characters and Ruri-chan, not 3D people. How do I miss them?... Why did they leave me? They were my player 2.’ “Well it makes sense, no one would want to stay with a worthless shut in of an otaku like me” he said to the empty room. Henry 2.0 glubbed a bubble in response. “You wouldn’t leave me, would you Henry?” *Glub* “No you wouldn’t… I miss them.” Levi stayed in his tub hugging Henry 2.0 until he fell asleep.

Present

It was another late night, Levi was bingeing a new anime ‘I fell in love with a 3D girl but I’m afraid she’ll leave me after finding out that I’m an otaku who rarely leaves their room’ . He was halfway through the 9th episode when he got a notification from Mononoke Island. One of his raid mates was stuck and needed some help. He paused his marathon to help his fellow mate and stayed up until the early hours of the morning switching between playing Mononoke and watching his anime. Stumbling into the dining room for breakfast the next morning, he was met with complete silence. Lucifer had left early, Belphie was asleep, Beel was too absorbed in eating, Satan in his book and Asmo on his phone to even notice him enter the room. Mammon was busy in the human world helping out sone witches. Levi sat down in his normal spot, taking whatever was left as he mentally prepared himself for the day. As soon as the bell rang, signaling the end of the day at RAD, still dressed in his uniform, Levi left as quickly as he could. There was an anime expo happening in the human realm right now and there was some ultra-rare limited edition Ruri-chan merch being sold there. He had gotten Lucifer’s permission to attend the expo so long as he was back by 11. Existing the portal and making his way to the expo, Levi thought about the last expo he attended with Y/N. They cosplayed as Erin and Levi from Attack on Titan and spent the entire day surrounded by fellow anime nerds. They had also booked a room at a nearby hotel. It was 3 days of bonding time for them. Entering the expo, Levi decided he would get something for them as decor for their headstone put in memory of them in the backyard of the House of Lamentation. Nearing the line for Ruri-chan merch, Levi noticed someone staring intensely at him. He decided to ignore them but keep a loose eye on them, just in case. He got to the front of the line and purchased 4 of the Ruri-chan collection kits. One for use, one for display, one to keep and sell in the future, and one for Y/N. He decided to wander around a little more to see if anything else would catch his eye while he was here. He spotted a Black Butler station and remembered the jokes he and Y/N would crack about Barbatos and Sebastian. He passed a Fate/Stay Night stand and remembered their conversations on which heroic class they would belong to. Levi would have been the perfect Lancer. He passed countless other stalls, each of them holding a memory he made with Y/N. Distracted by his trip down memory lane, Levi forgot all about the person stalking him. He went and purchased some dinner from one of the stalls before sitting down and pulling out his DDD and looked at some pictures of Y/N and him at their last expo. He didn’t look up from his phone until he felt someone sit opposite of him. Levi looked up to see some middle aged man just sitting there on his phone. He didn’t have any food, merch, or even look like someone interested in an anime expo. Feeling an uncomfortable aura emitting from this man, Levi got up and left. He took a quick look over his shoulder and saw that the man wasn’t following him. He left the expo and went down an alleyway to open up a portal back to the Devildom when he accidentally bumped into someone dropping his purchases.

“S-sorry”

“That’s quite alright.” The stranger extended a hand out to let him up. “Say, I’d love to know where you got your uniform from. No schools around here have uniforms like that one.”

Looking up, Levi saw the same man that was watching him with a twisted smile. Masking his fear, he mumbled an excuse about being in a rush and tried to dash around him. Before he could get 2 steps down the alley, the man grabbed him and pushed him further into the alleyway. Levi’s head struck the wall hard leaving him dazed for a moment.

“I didn’t think my intel about finding a RAD attendee at the expo would be true but whaddya know? Seems I caught myself a demon.”

Levi, now more aware of his surroundings, realized he was cornered by a demon hunter. Despite being in an alleyway, there were too many people around for him to do anything rash. Without missing a beat, the hunter pulled out an enchanted dagger aiming straight for Leviathan’s heart. Levi rolled and dogged last minute before colliding into someone’s chest. That person in question wrapped his arms around Levi’s chest and put their own dagger to his throat.

“I know you’re there! Come on out and I might spare your friend's life!” The hunter holding Levi yelled. When no one stepped out, the dagger held by Levi’s neck began pushing on his skin. Levi felt a flare of pain and against his better judgement, transformed. His tail wrapped around hunter 2’s leg and flipped him over while the first hunter charged at him, only to be blown to the ground as a powerful gust of wind knocked him over.

“Jeez Levi, you’re lucky I was here. Seriously, why didn’t ya do somethin’ earlier? Maybe then I wouldn’t have ta save yo ass.” Mammon stepped out from the darkness with a bored look on his face.

“Come on, Lucifer’s waiting for ya back home. LOOK OUT!” Levi turned around just in time to see Hunter number 2 taking a swing at his neck and managed to duck just in time. Mammon then charged over punching the hunter square in the face, knocking him out cold.

“T-thanks M-mammon.”

“No problem. Come on, let’s get ya back home before any more of them show up.”

Stepping through the portal, a question plagued Levi’s mind.

“Mammon, how did you know I was in trouble?”

“Some witches summoned me. I overheard them talk about some hunter group getting a tip about a possible demon being at some expo. Then I realized that it was the same one you were going to, so I decided to go there myself to make sure ya weren’t followed. I’m glad I did too.”

“Th-thank you Mammon. Really.”

“Of course, what are big brothers for. Anyway, about my payment, maybe you can forget about the money I owe ya?”

Groaning, Levi started walking faster, leaving Mammon and his whining behind as he made his way back to the safety of his room.

[theonyxpath]

Pirates of Pugmire art by Pat Loboyko

Pirates of Pugmire, which as of my writing this, has 16 days to go and is just under 75% funded! Thank you to everyone who has back, shared, and commented so far, and I’m so excited to help bring all the new pirate rules to the Realms of Pugmire, including ship battles, bird and lizard characters, new callings, firearms, and treasure! We’d really like to get this traditionally printed and in stores, so if you would, too, or just to see manuscript previews, head over to the Kickstarter at http://kck.st/2EoRkyp, yar! But who is writing this, you ask? (We’re going to pretend like you asked. And by “we” I mean “I.”) It is I, Dixie Cochran! Yes, that’s right, I’ve taken over the blog this week while Rich and the rest of the gang who attended UK Games Expo are on their way back from England (or in Matthew’s case, back to elsewhere in England). I’m sure Rich will provide a full account when he returns next week, but until then, here’s a report from Matthew, along with some photographs he kindly sent along.

“The team of Rich, Eddy, Matt, Matthew, Klara, John, Steffie, and Chris had a fantastic time at the UK Games Expo this year, where we ran a demo table, ran over a dozen games at the Hilton, and sold product from Leisure Games to great effect! It was Onyx Path’s first time having a booth at a British convention, and the sheer number of people who thanked us for coming or showed a keen interest in our games (Pugmire, Scion, and Prince’s Gambit were standouts) was staggering.”

L to R: Matt McElroy, Rich Thomas, Chris Allen, Klara Herbøl, Steffie de Vaan, Eddy Webb, and John Burke play Prince’s Gambit! The Sabbat wins!

“We organized our very first Chronicles of Darkness tournament at the Expo, with players from each game of Vampire (run by Klara Herbøl), Werewolf (run by Chris Allen), Promethean (run by John Burke), Changeling (ran by Steffie de Vaan), and Geist (ran by Chris Handley) went on to participate in an Antarctic session of the Contagion Chronicle (run by Matthew Dawkins)! The final winner was Michael, who played his changeling from Steffie’s game, and won a prestige copy of Demon: The Descent. The tournament concept was so good we’ll aim to do something similar next year.”

Matthew and the players of the final game of the Chronicles of Darkness tournament, Stephen, Chris, Sophie, Michael, and Andrew! Congratulations, Michael!

“All in all, we had a superb time. It was great to meet freelancers who haven’t made it out to Gen Con before, the business meetings we held were fruitful, and everyone had a lot of fun. Here’s to the next one!”

The Onyx Path crew at UKGE: Matthew, Klara, Eddy, John, Steffie, Chris, Matt, and Rich! No wonder it’s been so quiet around the office this week. Wait, I work from home…

Eddy welcomes folks to the Onyx Path booth at UKGE! Look how excited he is! “You’re all good dogs!” he seems to say

Dixie again! Isn’t it just like Matthew to interrupt me on my very first blog entry here? I feel like I’m sensing a pattern. For real, though, it looks like everyone had a great time at UKGE, and I hope it’s a convention to which we return in the future! (See how I said “we” there? Maybe I’ll come next year! Who knows? I got so much done while they were gone, though…) For those of you who aren’t as familiar with me, let me actually provide a bit of my history with the company. In 2015 or so, I was chatting with Rose Bailey, just catching up, and I mentioned that though I’d gone to school intending to pursue a career in copy editing, I was having trouble finding a way into the field (at the time, I was mostly focused on fiction and comic books). She subsequently tried me out on the Demon Translation Guide and from there I moved on to supplements and eventually cores. I’d been playing White Wolf/Onyx Path games since about 1999, but for some reason hadn’t considered the RPG industry as a career path until it fell into my lap. Now, several million words edited later (I’ve lost count, but it has to be over three million at this point), I ended up stepping into a version of Rose’s former position when she left to focus on her personal projects. I’m the in-house developer for Chronicles of Darkness and Exalted, so I make sure those lines are doing what they need to, and I still edit quite a bit of our books myself, though I outsource a lot of the smaller supplements and a few core books to other editors, depending on my current workload. In addition, as many/most of you know, I’m one of the three hosts of the Onyx Pathcast, along with Eddy and Matthew, which I enjoy immensely.

It’s been a really great 16 months or so working for Onyx Path, and I look forward to doing even more in the future! Let me know in the comments if there’s anything you’d like to hear about or anyone you’d like to hear from on an upcoming Pathcast episode!

The classic Shén pantheon from Scion: Hero!

Anyway, if I seem to be stalling before I get to the actual Monday Meeting notes, it’s because we didn’t actually have a true meeting this week, what with half the staff still traveling. I have updates and teasers, as usual, but as to what we talked about in the meeting? There wasn’t a lot. (Mostly I asked Mike to give me art, which he did! Thanks, Mike!)

Now that UKGE is past, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at PAXU, though of course bits of our team here and there will be at other conventions throughout the summer. Say hi if you see one of us!

To reiterate a couple of teasers from Rich from last week, we’ll be announcing a new developer for Scarred Lands and the projects they are overseeing once everyone gets back. Plus, on the Scarred Lands Community Content site, the Slarecian Vault, the beginning of July marks the start of a phenomenal linked adventure series you will not want to miss! Also, June 13th we’ll be starting a little treat for everyone that leads into the aforementioned July event. (Psst, it’s one we get a lot of questions about.)

The modern Shén pantheon from Scion: Hero!

One last tease before we get on to blurbs and updates, for something else that is coming soon…oh? What’s this?

Oh, sorry, that just fell out of my email, but hopefully it will help people create

Many Worlds, One Path!

(Did I do that right?)

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Our Pirates of Pugmire Kickstarter is nearly 75% funded, so swing over to our ship and check it out!

Pirates of Pugmire is a chronicle sourcebook for both Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau. It’s usable in either game, or as part of a joint experience. Some highlights include: * Two new species for players to enjoy: lizards and birds * Six new callings, including two for dogs and two for cats * Rules for building, sailing, and sinking ships * A trove of new allies, enemies, and treasures * Information on Waterdog Port and Port Matthew * “Going on the Account,” a chronicle of three new adventures, taking characters from 1st through 6th level

You can also hear Eddy discuss the writing and design of Pirates of Pugmire on the Onyx Pathcast on your favorite podcatcher, or here on : https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/)

ONYX PATH MEDIA

Onyx Pathcast art by Michael Gaydos

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast is an update straight from UK Games Expo!: https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

And Here’s More Media About Our Worlds:

Beanduck Productions’ crew has been playing Exalted! They’re on session 13 of Full Party, but the rest of the sessions are on YouTube if you want to catch up! There are hours of Exalted goodness there.

Garblag Games is still playing Scion! They’re on episode 9!

The ever-wonderful Saving Throw Show is also playing Scion! (So much Godly goodness!)

Twin Cities by Night just released Chapter 1 of their new Chronicles of Darkness game!

Occultists Anonymous’ Mage: The Awakening chronicle delves into magic-crafting territories with the following episodes:

Episode 17: We Got Our Scryes on You – The cabal establishes surveillance on the Predator Kings alpha and begins to track him. https://youtu.be/GP3500xZ41s

Episode 18: Preparing For War – With a scrying spell established, the cabal creates support spells and curses the alpha every way they can think of. https://youtu.be/-8uetChnfEM

Meanwhile, Red Moon Roleplaying has just concluded their Scarred Lands actual play run by Matthew, over on www.redmoonroleplaying.com! Stay tuned to their channels, as soon they’ll be participating in a V5 Chicago by Night chronicle!

It would be remiss of us not to link you again to the fantastic Pirates of Pugmire story Travis Legge ran for us, both parts of which are available on our channel! Here’s episode one: https://youtu.be/fU9y3tl77GM

Darker Days Radio interviewed a bunch of Onyx Pathers and Matt Timm from Modiphius at the UK Games Expo, the recording of which is here: http://podcast.darker-days.org/e/109-darker-days-radio-live-at-ukge/

And Roll the Role recently concluded an excellent Trinity actual play that can still be viewed on their Twitch channel here! https://twitch.tv/rolltherole/profile?desktop-redirect=offline_channel

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

ELECTRONIC GAMING

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can now order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we’re releasing print versions of both Origin and Hero for Scion Second Edition on DriveThruRPG and in stores!

CONVENTIONS!

Gen Con: August 1st – 4th Save Against Fear: October 12th – 14th GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd We’ll also be back at PAX Unplugged later this year!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB, COMPILED FOR THE FIRST TIME BY DIXIE COCHRAN (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)

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

Geist2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon) Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Redlines

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Second Draft?

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Development?

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

DR:E Threat Guide (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

DR:E Jumpstart (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Manuscript Approval

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

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

Editing

Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

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

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)V5 Chicago By Night Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Scion Ready-Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Blood Sea: The Crimson Abyss (Scarred Lands)

Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Indexing

Trinity Aeon

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle

Scion Ready-Made Characters – Art is in.

Dark Eras 2

M20 Book of the Fallen – Drew’s finals in

VtR Spilled Blood

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

Trinity Continuum Aberrant – Sketches

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars

They Came From Beneath the Sea

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

In Layout

V5: Chicago

Trinity Core 

CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel 

Proofing

WtF Shunned by the Moon

Signs of Sorcery – At WW for approval

DR: E

Scion Jumpstart

Aeon Aexpansion

C20 Cup of Dreams

Ex 3 Monthlies – At WW for approval

At Press

Dragon Blooded – Deluxe Printing

Dragon-Blooded Cloth Map – at press

Dragon-Blooded Wallpapers – Going out to backers

Dragon-Blooded Screen – Printing

The Realm – Gathering errata

Trinity Core Screen – Printing

TC Aeon Screen – Printing

Tales of Excellent Cats

C20 Player’s Guide – Gathering Errata

Adventures for Curious Cats

Geist 2e – Gathering Errata

Book of Oblivion – Out to backers

Trinity: In Media Res

Scion: Hero – Wednesday

Scion Origin – Wednesday

Today’s This Month’s Reason to Celebrate!

It’s Pride Month! This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, so let’s remember Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Brenda Howard, and all the other activists throughout the years who made Pride possible. Happy Pride to all our LGBTQI+ fans and freelancers, and I hope any celebrations you attend are amazing!

[11likeswritingfanfiction]

Haunt, chapter one: Stay out of my town!

Fandom: IT by Stephen King but like more based on the movies that came out in the recent years and not the novel or miniseries.

Summary: Shanice Hanlon and Her Brother Mike Hanlon move to Derry after the death of their parents and encounter something that will change their lives forever.IT.

Warnings: Murder, mentions of crimes and display of trauma

Word Count: 2,346

A/N:  So, this basically turned into like an alternate, novelized version of the first movie's original script and partly aspects from the novel. Anyways I mainly wrote this for fun and to relieve stress so I hope you enjoy reading this!

Read one AO3

William Hanlon was a murderer.

Shanice wanted to not believe it. She hoped it was a nightmare of some kind, a really messed up one.  The day he was arrested, it’d been a particularly nice day; she remembered watching fondly at her parents as they danced to Prince. Mike had out in the park playing with neighborhood boys.

She sat to herself, laid in a recliner, reading the newest issue of JET Magazine when she heard a knock--one that only she seemed to hear. Tossing her reading material to the floor, she walked from the living room to the front door, leaning up to look through the peephole.

Two officers, both white, looking very cold. Tilting her head curiously, she opened the door as the warm summer air hit her body.

Shanice’s gaze diverts from their path with a small voice she replies, “What’s up, Officer?”

“Hey, Sweetheart. Do you know William Hanlon?”

“Yeah, that’s my Daddy. What’s going on?”

Something wasn’t right.

She could feel it.

She didn’t answer but her eyes darted to her parents who were laughing and smiling. When she doesn’t say anything, the officers glance over her shoulder at the cheery couple.

“If you stand there and stall you for his protection, you’ll be obstructing justice, young lady.”

“What, you can’t--”

She feels her body shoved out of view as the men rushed into their small two-room apartment. She could feel her mother yelling and her father suddenly burst into a rage. Blood rushed to her ears, her wide, dark eyes glued on her father’s figure.

Chaos, pure chaos.

The memory she had of her father was nothing but a mask, a cover-up to who he was outside of their safe apartment.

Everything is a lie, nothing but lies!

“I ain’t goin’ to jail-that thing told me to do it. I ain't no murderer!” Tears started to stream down her cheek as--she wanted to holler, but she couldn’t utter a word or a sound.

“William stop it, put down that gun!” Her mother runs over trying to wrestle the gun out of her father’s hands, which eventually goes off and causes a stillness to go over the room.

Her mother’s body fell first, her eyes wide and petrified. Her breaths were shallow-- her body twitched as she bled out on the floor. She seemed to mumble something, something Shanice couldn’t make out.

Then, she was gone just like that.

It was surreal, intangible to her eyes.

“Sir put down the weapon.” As the officers urged him to stop, her father just stood there with a smile on his face.

“Ain’t no way I’m goin’ down without my Baby Girl." His arms stretched out, he calls out to her.

"Shanice, Baby girl. Come on to Daddy, everything’s gonna be okay. We're gonna be--” With her body trembling, the teenage girl rushes out the door in a sprint, screaming. As she dashes through her neighborhood, she flags down her brother on his way back down the street.

“Hey, Shay, what’s up? Why are there a bunch of cop cars out here? Why--Shay? Shay, what’s wrong?”

“Daddy he...he shot mom, h-he’s coming for us--we gotta run--”

A resonating gunshot fills their ears before Shanice could finish her sentence. She dropped to her knees, not caring about the harsh sting on the sidewalk.

When she saw the officers rush out, she knew one thing--her father was dead. Unknown if by himself or by an officer

He was dead.

When it was discovered that her father murdered twelve children between during his twenties--and more that investigators speculate.

Shanice and her brother Mike were condemned for his actions before their move because they were a ‘unit’ and the actions of one cemented them as a whole But where they were themselves, another league of victims that suffered due to his crimes.

A man died the day her father was arrested, not William Hanlon, the murderer, but the man she thought was her father along with her mother.

Moving to Derry was a lot for a fourteen-year-old who experienced the tragedy of seeing both of her parents and a thirteen-year-old who feels he should’ve been there.

It was a place they'd spent their early years at, it is held with some sort of nostalgia.

After climbing herself into the bed of her grandfather's truck, Shanice peered over at her brother with a small smile.

“It’s gonna be okay Mike--alright?” The young boy nods--Shanice wonders if she said the words only to comfort Mike or herself. After a month of being in state custody, being petrified and scarred was the least of her worries.

She was afraid. She hated that part of her, the part that made her human.

Being afraid is time-consuming; being afraid gives way for cowardice. Being afraid stopped her from being by her mother’s side, being afraid stopped her from confronting her father.

Moreover, she’d be the one to look after Mike when her grandfather eventually dies too.

Shanice was wearing jean shorts and a white, polo shirt, indicative of the summer heat. She hangs her head between her legs, the heaviness of her braids connected with her heart. Feeling emotional exhaustion, she curls up and forces herself to sleep on the bed of an unforgiving truck bed.

For the first time in a long time, she didn’t have a dream or a nightmare. What wakes her up is the sharp jerk of her grandfather’s truck and she finds him grinning a toothy grin at her.

“Alright Baby Girl, we’re here!”

A farmhouse, one she remembered playing in as a kid. Chasing around pigs and playing in the creek--she’d be happier to be there if it wasn’t for the circumstances. She quietly descends from the back of the truck, taking the bulk of their things. Her brother was as her grandfather described as ‘soft’ and the aforementioned man was already in his sixties, worn down from working diligently for years--she felt it was more than necessary.

“You shouldn’t  be carrying all those things, let Granddad take it.” Shanice waves off her grandfather’s helping hand.

“It’s cool, Texas built me well. I’ve got it.”

....

....

“Go on now. Pull it.”

“I don’t want to do this.”

“People need to eat.”

“But how would you feel? Raised for food...” Shanice, who was drinking a glass of Kool-Aid watched as her grandfather attempted to teach her brother how--slaughter a sheep. She frowned. Her brother was such a sweet boy, couldn’t harm a fly even if he was forced to--and this was the exact opposite of the Patriarch.

“Like I’d want you to get it over with is how I’d feel... Remember what I told you? You gotta do this quick. If the animal senses what you’re about to do, if it starts to fear you, adrenaline courses through its body and changes the taste and the meat winds up tough.” Drinking the rest of the red liquid, Shanice sets her glass down and makes her way over to the barn.

“Granddaddy, forcing him ain’t gonna do you no good.”

“Babying the boy ain’t gonna do you no good.” He then turns to the machine and without an inkling of hesitation pulling the trigger, killing the sheep it was aiming for.

“You need to start taking more responsibility around here, Mike. Your Dad was younger than you when he took this over--”

“But what if I can’t? What if I don’t want to do this, be here.” His words made Shanice frown--Watching silently as their grandfather spoke on.

“Look at me--you too Baby Girl.” The old man points to the sheep lined up to be slaughtered--quietly, patiently.

Waiting to be consumed.

“Let me y’all about being here. ‘Cuz you two need to understand something. There are two places you can be in this world. You can be out here, like us. Or you can be in there, like those eager bastards right there”

He continues with, “And if you waste too much time hemming and hawing, that choice is gonna be made for you. ‘Cept you won’t know it 'til you feel the bolt blast right between your eyes.” Shanice blankly stares at him, unaffected by the words while her brother trembles in fear.

“Ok, ok. Here." She hands then both sandwiches wrapped in saran wrap.

"A cheese sandwich for Mike and a BLT for you granddaddy.”

While the two men in her life sit at the living room watching the news, Shanice looks outside, at the forest outlining their house.

She didn’t hate Derry but something about Derry left her feeling like there was something outlining--maybe she thought too much.

A few weeks passed, today was Shanice’s last day of class. Mike remained home, homeschooled by their Granddaddy who said, "The boy needs to learn about the land."

Finishing off her bowl of cereal, as her brother appears from his room.

“Remember to do that test so we wrap stuff off it mail it off, ok? I'll see you when I get home.” Shanice mutters to her little brother, giving him a tight hug.

“Ride safe--don’t speak to strangers.” Shanice blinks at her grandfather who has her blocked from leaving the driveway. Its been a minute since they moved to Derry, but he still went over the same Spiel to her every morning.

“Granddaddy I’m already fourteen, you know?" Shanice groan, feeling as if she was practically ancient at that age, "You’ve been saying that since we got here.”

“And? You’re prey to anything out there.” Shanice rolls her eyes, beginning to ride away.

“I’ll keep that in mind!”

Shanice arrived at the school--preteens, teenagers fill the entrance like crowded in herds like those doomed sheep at the farm. She gripped her backpack, it being empty--her knowing it was the last day and that she wouldn't bother trying to stay in class.

Watching students dispersing in to clear out their lockers, walking, she overhears a group of boys talking.

“How’s it work?”

“They slice part of his penis off.”

“That can’t be true. He’d have nothing left...”

She grimaces.

Boys discussing circumcision.

Nice.

Shaking her head, she gets to the girl’s bathroom, where she planned to attempt to wait until the bell rung.

She pauses when she hears a commotion coming from the lockers around the corner.

“...I think I can handle this.”

There’s a bang as if something or someone slammed against it followed by mocking laughter.

“Sure know how to spread ‘em, slut!”

Her face tenses up. She quickly debates whether or not to get herself involved-- resigning to help the girl. She slams open the door she's cooped up, letting her presence known. At her reveal, the girls stiffen--one, in particular, stood with a hockey stick in her hand. Her eyes glance at another girl, a redhead who seemed to be shaking. Her pale knees were bruised pretty badly. She glares at the girls, who quickly leave, like a gaggle of hens.

“Hey, you okay?”

When the girl nods, Shanice lets out a sigh of relief.

The last thing she could make out on the girl was her fiery hair as she ran off in the opposite direction, making her way to her destination.

It’s around four by the time the Shanice leaves school. After picking up Mike and dropping off his test materials at the post office, Shanice decides to stop for tv tray meals as a substitute for a dinner that didn't feel like cooking--she calls her grandfather at a payphone in advance that they’d be a little late.

Stopping and parking the car on the side of the street, there’s a woman frantically stapling a poster to a  light post. It was a missing child flyer for a kid named Dorsey Corcoran. Right beside it is a sign that says, ‘REMEMBER THE CURFEW, 7 P.M.’

She spots the two siblings running over to hand the older of the two.

"Please tell me if you've seen my son. Please."

Both of the siblings stare at her retreating figure in silent sympathy, heading in the grocery store after a beat.

It was such a sign of fleeting hope.

“What’s up?” He asks her brother as they make their way through the small grocery store. He seemed to be off in his thoughts, so she felt like something was wrong. Ever since the accident, he’d gotten quieter, and quieter.

It was concerning.

The boy looks the other way and mutters, “Nothing.” and she drops it, for now.

Riding home, she glances over at her brother.

“Try to put up with Granddaddy this summer, ok?” ‘We’re the only people he has left.’ She wanted to add but decided against it.

He nods and she adds, “I’ll do the farm work too.”

His face brightens up and it cheers her up as well.

The next day, Shanice decides to look for work and to drop off meat at the Butcher’s with Mike after he insisted on going--probably because he didn’t feel comfortable alone with their grandfather.

After finishing those duties they head out on her bike, Shanice has a feeling she can’t shake.

The feel of being followed.

“I think someone’s following us.” She could feel her brother’s confused expression through his voice.

“Who?” He turns around. She sees some sort of sports car--it starts honking at them, not letting off. It starts to increase in speed, edging on them as if to swallow them whole. Her brother frantically goes faster and faster until they manage to crash into a tree.

Laughter and mischievous hollering emerge from the car, as well as a taunt.

“Stay the fuck out of my town!”

“Hey! What the fuck is wrong with y'all?” Shanice yells at the car as it flies away, helping her brother to his feet. She looks at themselves--he wasn't hurt too bad, neither was she.

The real damage was her bike--it mangled beyond recognition.

“Let’s just carry this thing to the house, Mike.” She says, turning to her brother, who seems to be locked in a trance by something.

“Mike?”

“Huh?”

She frowns.

“Let’s go home.”

[zylandus-blog]

It’s Done. (The Final Fight.)

It was just another normal ‘quiet’ day yet in a creepy way, Many particles flowing throughout the wind and eerie silence no matter where Sean went. Even though he was mostly smart for someone as lazy as him he had no clue what was happening so he shrugged and teleported down to where he usually protected his king, The Judgement Hall. As he normally expected, there was again eerie silence other than the usual “are you alrights” from the king that always checked up on him. When the king finally left, that when IT appeared. That damn black puddle….from out of nowhere, he slowly hid behind one of the pillars and waited for Nightmare to emerge, and he did no less than a second later. Sean chuckled to himself and came walking out with a bit of a position you would see in some types of movies. Since it was quite bright outside, a bit of shade was covering half of his face. Yet with a surprisingly happy smile his eyes were pitch black as were Nightmare’s.

Right as Nightmare was about to speak, Sean cut him off. “So you finally made it, huh? Hehehe….i’ve noticed the silence from our very loud world….i wonder who caused that….well i know why you’re here….you want me dead. Well, tough luck. I’m much stronger than any of my other friends that you’ve mercilessly killed. I’ve surpassed them by MILES….now….no more stalling…..Let’s begin you dirty brother killer.” A sudden dark void covered the entire world, yet it only looked like the room was covered by nothing but a dark void as Nightmare would get thrown down only to have bones pierce through his ‘chest’ yet there was seemingly no reaction from this ‘thing’ as he simply lifted himself off the bones, as the holes the pierce did into his body slowly regenerated like putting your hand through water will stop it, but when you move it away it will connect. Nightmare does not have a physical body. Even though Sean knew this from the countless failures of trying to kill him, He was still trying this as he still was not done with this murderer. He already had his fist already jabbed into his face yet again NO. REACTION. As nightmare chuckled he looked up at the already nervous Sean. “you still never learn….”

Sean took a deep breath before opening his fist as a skull slowly appeared behind his back before he disappeared as nightmare would get shot with a beam of pure energy. This would be enough to blow his ENTIRE dark body away yet the puddle was still there as he simply popped out. “This is hilarious. You’re just prolonging the inevitable! anyways….IT’S MY TURN!” Seemingly faster than Sean was, that same sharp-as-fuck bone was getting thrown directly for where the heart was located at yet it was dodged quite easily as this surprised Nightmare quite a bit. “Heh? What? You think i’m just gonna stand there and let ya kill me….? Tough luck, bucko, hm…..i was always curious why people never use their strongest attacks first….Now, the real battle begins….” Sean slowly lowered to the exact spot he was standing at before putting his hands in the pockets of his dusty hoodie as Nightmare returned to the same spot he was at. “It’s a BEAUTIFUL day outside….birds are singin’....flowers are blooming….on days like these, devils like you…...SHOULD BE BURNING IN HELL!” There was a sudden burst of energy coming from Sean’s body as his right eye changed. It was completely blue with a red pupil with bits of faint veins surrounding it showing how angry he really was. Sean winked at him teasingly as he raised his arm into the sky only for Nightmare to get dragged away from the puddle to get thrown upwards allowing the void to swallow him into the sky exposing the lower half that was never seen from this killer. Only to have sharper bones pierce Nightmare’s entire body, Yet something was off. Nightmare gave a bit of a reaction scrunching an eye and growling struggling to escape the bones that he eventually did landing on the ‘ground’ with a crash. The dark puddle was gone...Nightmare was getting really pissed off, Sean was NEVER this much of a problem the last times they fought each other as he began to form something in his hand….a fucking knife. Yet unlike a real-looking butcher's knife, it was completely dark and had a bit of a texture that looked like it was a melting. “Do you know what this is? It’s all my FUCKING hatred for you formed into one tiny weapon...Now...COME ON!” Nightmare lunged forward with a face that only spelled : CRAZY. He went for one single swipe, obviously Sean dodged it swiftly, yet with the sheer force of the knife created a literal cut in the wall behind Sean, and now instead of nervous He was scared. Sean didn’t have a chance to attack back as he continued trying to swipe at him each time getting faster and stronger as Sean’s limits were slowly getting matched as sometimes on a rare occasion the knife would slowly but surely cut some of his hoodie off showing how close he was to dying, as he finally realized how he can stop this assault. He stood his ground and put his paws on Nightmare’s small body and slightly pushed forward yet his body was lunged away, Using his psychokinesis, not even waiting for him to hit the wall and try to counter he sent more and more skulls after him trying to blast him into nothing as each and every skull landed a direct hit sometimes even dealing some damage. As, if only for a split second, The dark body of his was revealing a bit of white yet immediately got covered by the darkness. What the hell is his body made of?! Sean slowly smirked as this battle was slowly reaching onto a couple hours and not even a single hit was landed on Sean yet he was very tired, sweaty, and exhausted yet he kept on toying with him finding new ways to dance around the knife. Only before suddenly grabbing his arm knocking the knife out of his hand, What he expected was to phase through his body but he felt something…..the feeling of a real arm. He was WAYYY too pissed off to care right now as her grabbed him by the throat and slammed him down on the ground keeping him down by pressing a leg on his chest as the usually covered up left eye was actually visible with a bit of ‘tears’ rolling out of it, yet the right visible eye was as insane as ever as he screamed in rage at Sean. “LET ME GO! LET ME GO THIS INSTANT!!” Sean completely ignored him as he decided to end this. Instead of piercing his heart with his bones once more he picked him up gently and brought him into a hug. Which surprised this merciless psychopath, he didn’t attack sean nor did he hug him back. “Everyone deserved a second chance….Goremu….Mike...Riyo….those innocent bystanders….but….you also deserve one as well..Let’s just forget all this all right? Just….stop trying to attack me and bring it in….” Sean was slowly waiting as Nightmare thought about killing him but instead he chose the stupid route and hugged him back as his insane eyes reverted to that of a crying child. “I-i’m sorry….i’m so sorr-” “it’s alright….i know how hard it must be...to make that choice….but i’ll let you know, i won’t let it go to waste….” This confused him a bit but before he could process this ‘sentence’ He felt something pressing against his back, just before getting pierced once again this time leaving Nightmare motionless. “Get…..Dunked On…” As sean let him go he turned away but when he looked back. Bits of the dark matter of his body was fading into the air revealing a white/blue colored ‘child’ that was obviously much more sensitive than Nightmare was which surprised him. “W-what the…? Oh shit!” Knowing the mistake he did, all in a matter of a second he pulled him off the bones and looked at the injuries. This child was still motionless. No responses. A hole ranging from his back all the way to the rib cage, yet surprisingly low amounts of blood. Needless to say, he was luckily just unconscious. (End of this part. Is nightmare really gone? i can write more, but i need feedback. If you really read all of this, Thanks a million~!))

[tasteofstrangerp]

SAM EVANS. TWENTY-SIX. PHOTOGRAPHER. CAMERA-MAN.

The camera-man may not seem like an important job but Sam has always known his angles. It’s why his friends always looked so good in their videos. But don’t think that Sam’s presence in Taste of Strange isn’t known. He’s a fan favorite. Always there to offer witty commentary and funny impressions, he lightens the mood during some of their more spooky ghost hunts. 

THE STORY.

Sam has never been sure where his parents were. Any questions asked concerning their whereabouts were left with ambiguous answers and eventually, Sam stopped questioning altogether. There was no need anyway. His aunt, who had been raising Sam and his siblings since they were practically babies, was more than he could ask for in a parent.

As the golden boy in high school, Sam’s life seemed to be on the up and up. He was homecoming king two years in a row, head of the photography department for the school’s newspaper and more importantly, the recipient of an art scholarship. However, two weeks before he was set to head off to college, his aunt, suddenly and unexpectedly, died.

His siblings, still underage, held few options and Sam didn’t want to see them separated or worse, get lost in the system. So, he bit the bullet and decided to stay in Novis, raising his siblings himself. Times became hard. Sam worked odd jobs and the community helped when they could, but the money only went so far. Eventually, Sam began selling marijuana on the side for extra income.

The extra income helped substantially, and Sam felt he could finally breathe a sigh of relief, but then he was caught. The first time they let him off easy: a small probation period. The second time, however? He was sentenced to three years in prison. Now, out of jail, he’s trying to rebuild a life with his siblings and build up his photography business. But like most things in Sam’s life, the unexpected always shows up. And this time, it showed up in the form of his mother.

IMPORTANT CONNECTIONS. 

Finn Hudson; Complicated. In high school, they fluctuated between friends and enemies. Their personalities clashed and meshed in the best of ways. However, when they were on the outs, they were really on the outs. Their fights, at times, stalled filming of their web series. Their last argument caused Sam not to speak to Finn for years. They’re speaking with each other now, trying to keep some peace as their old friends regroup, but Sam can’t lie: he’s not exactly happy about Finn’s engagement.

Mercedes Jones; Friend. There was never a greater game of Cat-and-Mouse than the one Sam and Mercedes played in high school. They could never stick to a label. One week they were dating and the next? Just friends. This went on until Mercedes left Novis and Sam decided it was time for him to move on, but easier said than done. He’s happy Mercedes is happy with Finn, but he’s not exactly letting his annoyance with their engagement go unknown either. Especially since he’s been picked as the wedding photographer.

Mike Chang; Best friend. Mike has been Sam’s closest friend since high school. When he was at his worst, Mike was there to pick up the pieces, even keeping tabs on his siblings while Sam was away. Being two of the few who remained in Novis after graduation, Sam and Mike regularly hang out, knowing the best places in their small town to hang out and kick back.

[burning-up-ao3]

NEWARK, N.J. — While on a five-day trip to Jackson Hole, Wyo. during the Penguins’ bye week late last month, Sidney Crosby began to feel something he had not felt in years, since the most recent NHL lockout in 2004-05.

On the second-to-last day of what was supposed to be an enjoyable vacation, the Penguins captain wound up a couple thousand miles away from either of his two homes, miserable and sick, unable to do much of anything.

“You get used to having to play through colds and stuff like that,” Crosby said. “People go to work with them. It’s a part of life. But sometimes it stops you in your tracks like that. There’s nothing you can do.”

What Crosby went through is common for NHL players, who are constantly shuttling on and off airplanes, checking in and out of hotels and entering and leaving (entirely too) cold buildings, all during the darkest days of winter.

Ron CookRon Cook: Evgeni Malkin may be ready to break out of long slump

No matter how many vitamins they take or calcium they consume, they’re inevitably going to get sick. Sometimes it might get ugly. And they’re well aware that sick days are almost never an option.

Which means that Crosby, given what he contracted, was actually one of the lucky ones, in that he could rest some. More often than probably anyone realizes, NHL players have to play through some ugly stuff, flu bugs and stomach illnesses the public never hears about.

“It happens every winter, where half the team gets sick,” Matt Cullen said. “The training room is busy. Guys are looking for anything to help them get over the hump so they can feel well enough to play.

“It’s why you try so hard to take care of what you can control. You’re getting your sleep and fluids because it [stinks] as a player when you’re sick. You have to play regardless.

“You see it every once in a while, when guys are throwing up in the bathroom during warmup or between periods. I’ve had teammates run off the bench. It’s part of the deal.”

2. And when it happens on the road, Bryan Rust said, there’s nothing worse.

“It’s miserable,” Rust said. “It’s kind of a helpless feeling; it’s not like you’re in your own bed, and you can rely on someone.

Matt VenselPenguins blue line hopes to keep up its contributions on offense

“You also feel bad for the maids who have to come in there afterward and clean up.”

It’s a feeling Rust knows well, too. He said he was knock-down, drag-out sick twice: once in college at Notre Dame and another time during the early days of his Penguins career.

What does the versatile winger do when it happens?

“Lie in bed, turn the lights off, close the shades,” Rust said. “And hope it goes away as fast as possible.”

3. It was a funny topic to take around the Penguins dressing room: Have you ever been sick on the road?

Those who hadn’t, immediately found some wood on which to knock. Those who had, launched into some humorous tales.

In 2013, Olli Maatta was playing for Finland at the World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia. Maatta thought he ate something funky, food that was potentially undercooked. The next few days were brutal.

“Not the best thing that ever happened,” Maatta said with a smile. “Although being stuck in my room and trying to watch whatever it was on Russian TV might’ve been the worst thing.”

4. Before he was traded, Riley Sheahan told me a good one about when he was with the Detroit Red Wings a couple years ago. He vacationed in Mexico during the All-Star break and brought back a little present.

“I caught a virus or something,” Sheahan said. “I was sick for like five weeks. I actually had to miss a game, on the Moms’ trip, in Florida. It wasn’t fun.”

Garrett Wilson was a proud member of the knock-on-wood club. Despite playing for San Antonio in the AHL — where they’d have to leave for a month every winter because the rodeo came to town — Wilson has never been sick on the road.

“I don’t puke too often, either,” Wilson said. “Even drinking or anything, I don’t puke. Pretty lucky that way.”

Wilson said he did play with a guy — John McFarland, in the Florida Panthers system — who didn’t feel right until he forced himself to vomit before a game, although that wasn’t related to being sick.

“You definitely hear the odd time a guy is hurling in the bathroom before a game, whether they’re sick or nervous,” Wilson said. “It almost makes you sick hearing it.”

5. Whether or not it’s better to get sick in a hotel room versus at home sparked a lively debate. Matt Murray is all for the road option.

“I think a hotel room is a good place to be,” Murray said before taking his knuckles to his dressing room stall. “You’re not bugging your family or anything like that. You get to sleep it off.”

Wilson agreed.

“I don’t think it’s too bad on the road,” Wilson said. “You’re with the trainers all the time. They’re usually at the same hotel. If you do get really sick, they’re just a text or phone call away.”

6. My personal opinion: These guys are nuts. It’s much worse to be sick in a hotel, with none of the comforts of home.

It happened to me recently, too, around the same time as Crosby. In San Jose, Calif. for the NHL All-Star Game, I literally could not stand at Media Day because I was dizzy and nauseous.

Eventually, with neither Crosby nor Letang there, I decided to cut bait take an Uber back to my hotel room — backpack open the entire way, praying there were no issues.

Yada, yada, yada … the next 24 hours were not fun.

“Hotel room, being stuck in a little space there, it’s terrible,” Maatta (correctly) said.

7. Back to the war stories, though, which turned out to be my favorite part of reporting this.

In Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Rust’s next-door neighbor in the dressing room was former Penguins prospect Jayson Megna.

“One game, between periods, he was hugging a trash can,” Rust said. “On the bench, same thing. It was impressive to see him play through it. I don’t think I would have been able to. It was pretty wild.”

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan experienced the same thing when he played for the Calgary Flames.

“I had the flu,” Sullivan recalled. “Played through it to the point where I was throwing up between periods, and they had to put an IV in me to replace all the fluids I had lost. That was the hardest one from a personal standpoint.”

8. When he was with Minnesota — the first time — Cullen once played with walking pneumonia. To conserve as much energy as possible, Cullen skipped the morning skate and stayed home basically until puck drop.

With the Wild apparently short on players and unable to make a roster move in time, Cullen said there wasn’t another option.

“That was a tough one, running to the bathroom between periods,” Cullen said. “We were in a pinch. Just had to do it.”

Being able to rely on a routine, Cullen said, does help.

“It helps to normalize everything even if you feel terrible,” Cullen said. “You get out and do warmup, get some blood flowing, you’re out in front of the fans, it gives you some adrenaline. But after the game, you feel it.”

9. Tanner Pearson had some good perspective on the matter because he nearly wound up disgustingly sick on the road while with the Kings last February.

Los Angeles had arrived home from a four-game road trip that actually included its annual Dads’ trip — maybe we should blame the parents? — when Pearson started to feel dizzy and nauseous.

“I don’t know if it was something I ate on the plane or what,” Pearson said. “Just hit me like a ton of bricks. We landed, and that was the end of me.”

But there was the benefit, Pearson said, of making it home. He could sleep in his own bed. His wife was there. At least he wasn’t in a hotel room.

“I see guys who are sick on the road,” Pearson said, “and it looks like pure torture.”

10. It can also be downright scary.

Marcus Pettersson had a couple stories, one funny, the other not so much. The first was the 2016 World Junior Championship, in Helsinki, Finland. A couple of Pettersson’s teammates contracted the stomach flu.

“It’s crazy how quickly something like that can spread,” Pettersson said. “You just have to isolate yourself.”

Pettersson also heard a story about Detroit defenseman Jonathan Ericsson’s brother, Jimmie, when he was playing with SKA Saint Petersburg of the KHL in 2014-15. When Jimmie Ericsson told the team’s doctors he didn’t feel well, they treated it like some sort of illness — but never checked anything else.

Turns out Ericsson had a partially ruptured spleen, which they only discovered upon returning home.

“They just thought he was sick,” Pettersson said. “He got medicine shots in his [butt]. They said, ‘You’re good. You can play.’ It was crazy.”

11. The Penguins would never allow something like that to happen.

Sullivan explained the lengths to which the team goes to try and stack the odds in their favor, all while realizing that sickness during a winter sport are pretty much inevitable.

On the road, the Penguins will ensure that sick players get their own rooms, Sullivan said. They also get their own water bottles on the bench, the equipment staff will wash and sanitize things even more than they already do, and Sullivan has no problem sending a guy home if he’s sick.

“It’s difficult when you’re in close quarters like this,” Sullivan said. “But we do everything within our power to see if we can’t contain it when those types of things arise.”

12. Wanted to close with this anecdote from Crosby on not participating in the NHL All-Star Skills Competition when he was probably extremely contagious. Made me laugh, anyway.

“The last thing I wanted to do was get everyone sick. That’s all I need,” Crosby said before cracking a smile. “Of course, I guess it was our division … “

13. Moving on …

The more I think about it, Carl Hagelin would be a perfect fit for the Penguins at the NHL trade deadline, provided they can convince the Los Angeles Kings or or someone else to take Pearson.

Small problem: The deal actually isn’t possible.

I didn’t learn this until recently, and I’m guessing you didn’t know it, either. It’s a CBA quirk that’s actually pretty dumb, in my opinion.

Once a team retains salary in a trade — the Penguins retained $250,000 — they can’t reacquire that player for a minimum of one year after the transaction or until the player's contract expires or is terminated prior to the one-year date.

It’s a shame, too, because I think Hagelin would’ve been worth checking on.

For his penalty killing (Penguins are just 25 for their last 36, 69.4 percent), Hagelin’s fit with Evgeni Malkin and what Hagelin could potentially do for good friend Patric Hornqvist, who doesn’t have a point in 12 games.

14. As for what the Penguins could realistically do, I’m not in favor of anything big. Maybe add a depth forward or defenseman, depending on who’s out there.

But at some point, this group should be allowed to actually play together for a stretch, and we’re running out of time for that to happen.

Many of you have suggested a 1a goalie type as well. There’s a variety of problems with this. One, cost. That guy wouldn’t come cheap, if he was worth anything. Two, what do you do with Casey DeSmith? Three, how does that play with Murray?

I know he’s been hurt a lot, but I can’t imagine that would go over well. Murray is your No. 1. You paid DeSmith to be your backup. Hold onto Tristan Jarry. I’d stick with that.

15. Without Hagelin, I’m curious to see where this goes with Zach Aston-Reese alongside Malkin and Phil Kessel. It’s a tremendous opportunity for him and one for which he’s actually well-suited.

“Any time you can stay on your natural side, it’s a little bit easier,” Aston-Reese said after Sunday’s 6-5 victory over the New York Rangers. “Phil kind of has that signature shot, too, coming down on his strong side. I like to work hard defensively. It’s definitely nice to balance out those two.”

I like Aston-Reese as a lot, as a player and person. He’s extremely smart, quotable and great to deal with from our perspective. If we were ranking most media-friendly players in the Penguins dressing room, he’d surely be up there.

But hockey-wise, he’s going to make a lot of people happy if he’s able to blend some physicality with offense and a willingness to play defense. He’s still rounding out his game in a few different ways, but I think the Penguins definitely got a good one here.

16. It’s obvious — and Post-Gazette columnist Ron Cook wrote this off of Sunday’s game — but the Penguins need to get Hornqvist going. How do they do that?

I see two options. One, I’d consider playing Hornqvist with Sidney Crosby. Nothing against Rust. He’s been great there. But they need more out of Hornqvist.

My second possible solution would be trying Kessel on the third line with Nick Bjugstad — they had some chemistry — and using Hornqvist with Malkin, a situation where the feisty Swede thrived last season.

I hate Hornqvist in the bottom-six, as I’ve never seen his production give the Penguins a competitive advantage in that spot the way Kessel’s has at various times throughout his Penguins tenure.

17. This won’t be a popular opinion, but I’ve actually liked Jack Johnson on his natural left side the past couple of games.

I know what the goals-for numbers are — they’re awful — and I know how Johnson is perceived by the fan base. But if Rutherford or Sullivan are frustrated with Johnson’s play this season, they’re doing one heck of a job hiding it.

Whether you want to admit it or not, Johnson won’t be a healthy scratch. And what I’ve seen the past couple of games — Johnson’s been with Juuso Riikola with one and Justin Schultz for two — has actually been pretty decent.

18. Shut up, Don Cherry. Can we all agree on that?

He scolded the Carolina Hurricanes for, of all things, having fun. I hate giving this any airspace whatsoever, so I’m going to twist it another way: Forget about Dino Don and think of this from a Hurricanes perspective.

Great organization. Great city. A lot of fun to watch. If this gets their fans excited, my goodness, go for it. I think it’s tremendous. And I love seeing the Old (Canadian) Guard get upset over it.

19. Stat of the week: 12

That’s the number of points for Pettersson since the Dec. 3 trade that brought him to Pittsburgh. It’s also one less than Daniel Sprong has during that same stretch.

20. Non-hockey thought of the week: Apparently MLB commissioner Rob Manfred thinks we’re all stupid. Did you see this story from the Post-Gazette’s new baseball writer, Nubyjas Wilborn? Two quotes struck me.

“This narrative that our teams aren’t trying is just not supported by the facts. Our teams are trying. Every single one of them wants to win.”

Yes, they are trying, and they do want to win. I don’t doubt that the Pirates try and prefer winning to losing. But I could race Usain Bolt, and I’d still try. I’d still want to win. The problem is that I would not have taken the requisite steps to do so.

Then this gem: “I reject the notion that payroll is a good measure for how hard a team is trying or how successful that team is going to be.”

There are certainly outliers here: small-market teams that compete and big spenders that don’t. But the two teams in the World Series last year spent the most. Generally if you’re actually paying to play, you have a chance.

The only thing I hate more than baseball’s financial structure is when people in positions of power try to sell us this garbage.

Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.

[fuckyeahoutsidexbox]

Show of the Week - Tekken Tag Tournament 2

First Show of the Week giffed and transcribed! Transcript is under the cut, please tell me if there are any mistake so I can edit them!

[sounds from the game Tekken Tag Tournament 2]

 (Andy)

Hello everyone and welcome to show of the week. Mike, what have you been up to this week of which this is the show of.

 (Mike)

I’ve been on the Borderlands 2 skill tree calculators on borderlands2.com working out how I’m gonna level up my character.

 (Andy)

You’ve seemed to have put all your points into something called gun lust.

 (Mike)

…Yeah it was filled out like that when I got here.

 (Andy)

What’s in this folder?

 (Mike)

Umm… give me my laptop back.

 (Andy)

With… pleasure. So, this week we’re all about Tekken Tag Tournament 2 which is out today if you’re watching on Friday.

 (Mike)

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 or TTT2 as it’s known in some places is the… [interrupted]

 (Overhead Voice)

Get ready for the next battle!

 (Andy)

What was that?

 (Mike)

Uh it said get ready for the next battle… Um but obviously, I’m already ready for the next battle.

 (Andy)

I’m not ready for the next battle. These aren’t my battle shoes.

 (Mike)

I’ll tell you what, I’ll stall for time. Uh, you have exactly as long as it takes me to read out the entire character roster of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 in alphabetical order. Go.

 (Andy)

Got it.

 (Mike)

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is the eight game in the venerable Tekken fighting games series and its accumulated a lot of great characters as its gone along. As a result, the character roster for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is as long and bonkers as an extended remix of the Dizzee Rascal song “Bonkers”. So here they are in alphabetical order: Alex, Alisa Bosconovitch, Anna Williams, Armor King II… [fades out]

 [sounds from the game Tekken Tag Tournament 2]

 (Mike)

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 has a lot more going for it then a roster of 50 plus fighters. In it you select two characters then knock seven bells out of your opponent’s tag team with whatever flashy combo strings, throws, juggles and tag combos as you can muster. Maybe you’d gathered as much from the name. If you have eyes for only one fighter, by the way, you don’t have to tag in a second. You can pick just your favourite and then go up against your adversary’s team with the health of two fighters.

 [sounds from the game Tekken Tag Tournament 2]

 (Mike)

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 plays a lot like Tekken 6. It holds onto that game’s bound mechanic, for instance, with which you can smack a fool into the floor and bounce him as part of your juggle. But there’s plenty that’s new as well including fight lab, a tutorial suite with a generous helping of fun. It stars Combot, a cyborg with a bucket for a head and features mini-game style matches in which you dodge sushi and pizza pelted at you by a tubby man in a yellow jumpsuit, for instance.

 [Snoop Dogg rapping in background]

 (Mike)

Also, in Tekken’s time honoured tradition of being barmy, rapper Snoop Dogg appears as a pre-order special only guest in his own gaudy stage, sat on a throne, overseeing the battle like an emperor at the Roman Coliseum. Think about that, that’s mad, isn’t it? It’s as mad as if Snoop Dogg decided he was gonna stop being a dog and start being a lion. And also make reggae music.

 (Snoop Dogg)

It’s not that I wanna become Snoop Dogg on a reggae track. I wanna bury Snoop Dogg and become Snoop Lion.

 (Mike)

Oh… right. And it’s exactly for madness like this that Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is our game of the week.

 (Mike continuing the list)

Lars Alexandersson, Lee Chaolan, Lei Wulong, Leo Kliesen, Lili de Rochefort… [interrupted]

 (Andy)

Right, back, ready.

 (Mike)

Oh, brilliant, made it.

 (Overhead Voice)

Get ready for the next… [interrupted]

 (Mike)

Yeah, we get it buddy.

 (Andy)

Wait, so we have to battle each other.

 (Mike)

Yeah, apparently so. And in the style of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 as well.

 (Andy)

Why? What’s in it for us?

 (Mike)

Apparently, it’s for the entertainment of Namco Bandai Limited.

 (Andy)

Oh, okay. That’s fair enough.

 [Mike yells]

 [fighting noises from Tekken Tag Tournament 2]

 (Jane)

Hey, um, you’re making a racket in there. What’s going on?

 (Andy)

Uh… we’re fighting each other in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 style. Mike just knocked me through here into the next stage of our multi-tiered battle arena.

 (Jane)

Okay, right. And why?

 (Andy)

Uh, a disembodied voice told us to.

 (Jane)

Andy, if a disembodied voice told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?

 (Andy)

No…

 (Overhead Voice)

Jump off that bridge!

 (Andy)

Are you sure? It’s really high up.

 (Overhead Voice)

I don’t have all day!

 (Andy)

Alright.

 (Andy)

So, what have you been up to this week?

 (Jane)

Oo, I found a DDR machine on the Boardwalk map in Modern Warfare 3.

 (Andy)

Ah cool. Is it playable?

 (Jane)

Yes…

 [multiple gun shots]

 (Andy)

I can get thrown out of the arcade for that.

 [Jane makes agreeing noises]

 (Jane)

Anyway, I’m done here. Do you wanna tag me in?

 (Andy)

Yeah, sure.

 [hand slapping noise]

 (Overhead Voice)

Round 2, fight!

 (Andy)

So, while I’ve got you guys here, I want to talk to you about Tekken characters. Now as Mike already covered, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 has approximately 16 thousand playable characters but that’s not even the end of it.

 [fighting noises from Tekken Tag Tournament 2]

 (Andy)

We need to get this place soundproofed. Yes, according to our sister site BG 24/7, industrious people on the internet, intent on squeezing secrets out of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 to create delicious Tekken secret juice, have discovered 6 additional characters on the disc. First up is Thin Bob. As you may be aware, Bob is a pretty hefty guy, but his Tekken 6 ending shows him losing a load of weight for no reason. Now you can play as Bob’s slimmed down alter ego. Well, hello.

 [frustrated noises from the character “Thin Bob”]

 (Andy)

Now according to my Tekken research this is Sebastian, Lili’s frail and elderly butler who will presumably polish his opponents to death in an exciting first for fighting games. The next character found on the disc is Miharu Hirano, a character who was originally a palette swap or alternate colour version of Ling Xiaoyu in Tekken 4. She’s a high school girl so her character portrait is her in a tiny bikini, obviously… Here we have series’ staple Violet also known as Lee Chaolan in the world’s most unconvincing disguise of a wig and some sunglasses. Here’s a quick test. Here’s a picture of Jane. Now see if you identify this person on screen right now. Well done, you’re smarter than everyone in the Tekken universe. Next up in this roster of terrifying and physically imposing characters is a 96-year-old scientist, Dr Bosconovitch. He created Roger and Alex as well as the prototype Jack unit so maybe he knows something about fighting though, right, maybe, ah whatever. Finally, we have a nude woman covered in purple goo. Usually you have to pay a lot of money to see that. She’s called Unknown and you might remember her from the original Tekken Tag Tournament. Oh, she also has a terrifying wolf spirit growing out of her back for details. So these characters are apparently already on the disc but unlike Capcom’s model of charging for this content, which understandably gets gamers pretty annoyed, these characters will most likely be free if series’ director Katsuhiro Harada is to believed as he’s come out publicly against such practices in the past. And no one wants to argue with that guy, believe me.

 (Mike)

Well it seems we’re pretty evenly matched.

 (Jane)

Yeah, I know right. I am exhausted.

 (Mike)

Just as well as it’s time for the comments. This is the bit where we share your comments across the site, YouTube, Facebook, twitter, this rock with a note wrapped round it that someone threw through the window. The answer being yes we do like our legs not broken thank you very much.

 (Jane)

Right and remember we read all the things you write in all of those places so please do keep it coming. Over on twitter Neil Allchin tweets at us about Joe Danger 2: The Movie which is out on XPLA today and he writes “The 1st game was so much fun, such a happy game, my 5-year-old adores it!”.

 (Mike)

And somehow his scores are better than mine. Anyway, Sam Williamson comments on the site itself “I’m concerned this game might be a bit busy visually. The original is pretty much the best modern Sonic game, which is somewhat ironic as it looks like The Movie could be following in that series’ missteps of erring towards spectacle over readability.”.

 (Jane)

It’s not a problem we’ve had while playing but there is a free demo if you want to try before you buy.

 (Mike)

How? He’s like, he’s 5 years old.

 (Jane)

Let it go. Finally, terrifyingly titled YouTube commenter the brutality gaming explains why Counter Strike GO is easier on the console than on PC. He says “The reason why it’s easier on consoles is that less console players have played counterstrike (on any platform) so won’t be familiar with the way the game plays and the maps layouts.”.

 (Mike)

Hmm, if you’re playing CS:GO at the moment, let us know in the comments in a totally unscientific survey. Have you already played Counterstrike on PC or is this your first time striking counters?

 (Jane)

I struck the counter once. I was dissatisfied with the service in a Nando’s.

 (Mike)

Alright, I’m tagging out now. You can tell it to my partner.

 (Jane)

Okay well that’s it for Show of the Week. We’re off to further hone our TTT2 skills, thanks for joining us and we’ll see you… [fades off] I thought you were sending on your partner.

 (Mike)

I’m a palette swap.

 (Jane)

Argh that is so lazy. Go. Yeah, you better run.

 [Mike sits back down]

 (Jane)

That’s just you in a green wig now.

 (Mike)

No! I’m an entirely original character! I’m Verdant, mysterious child of nature… ah

[ericacheeks-blog1]

Mind the Gap

This weekend was one for the girls. Nicole, Jackie, and I decided to explore London and Munich all in three and a half days. Our flight to London was in Terminal 1 this time since we were flying to a country outside of the Schengen Area. The terminal was set up a little differently than Terminal 2 and really every other airport I’ve been to; instead of one big security check in which all passengers, no matter what gate they’re assigned, go through, there were mini security checks located in front of each gate. We weren’t a fan of this system, because we had to empty out our water bottles from dinner in the airport before getting to our gate. 

Like always, I knocked out for the entire flight. Once there we felt like we had things under control with transportation to the hostel, but our train got cancelled last minute. The strange part was that nothing was announced in the station so we were extremely confused and had to ask around. It felt nice being able to ask the locals for help in English.   On our way to the hostel, Nicole spotted a Five Guys and was jumping up and down from excitement. As you can imagine, we were all feeling a little homesick for “American” food. We decided to figure out dinner after dropping our bags off, but once at the hostel there was no one at the reception for a good 20 minutes. A pretty bad first impression of Clink261.   We made our way back to the Five Guys that was only a three minute walk away. Once there, Nicole tugged on the door and it wouldn’t open… It was closed. I still can’t imagine the disappointment Nicole must’ve felt. We were starving at that point and decided to find something nearby. We walked across the street and found a little Mexican grill called Burrito Café. Its concept was very similar to Chipotle’s. Jackie got nachos and I ended up with a burrito bowl that was a bit spicier than I expected. Back at the hostel, the lights were out and everyone in our room was asleep. Jackie, Nicole, and I struggled to make our beds and get ready for bed in the dark, but we all fell asleep pretty quickly. We made a “brunch” reservation at Sketch, which was recommended by my friend back from UT, Nadia. She visited London just the weekend before and gave us some good recommendations. Anyway, I put brunch in quotes because the only available time was at 8 in the morning. Unfortunately we got ready by 8 AM and the trip to Sketch would’ve taken another 15-20 minutes. As a group we decided to leisurely enjoy the complimentary breakfast at the hostel instead. To start off the jam-packed day, we went to King’s Cross station on the hunt for Platform 9 ¾. I think we spent a good half hour taking pictures and browsing the gift shop.

Next on our itinerary was Buckingham Palace, but on the way there we diverged into a London souvenir shop. I bought some great postcards; my favorites being cutouts of Queen Elizabeth’s face and a plate of fish ‘n chips. Jackie forgot to pack underwear so being the good friends we are, Nicole and I pressured her into getting a set of three thongs with the British flag printed on them.

We finally got to Buckingham Palace and the area was extremely crowded because of the changing of the guards. We decided it wasn’t worth the time to stick around for the ceremony and wandered around the area, taking pictures instead. On our way past the main gates, we spotted an Erasmus friend back from Prague, Big Mike. We weren’t absolutely sure it was him, but decided to shout his name, hoping for the best. He turned around and gave all of us hugs. What a small, small world!

Luck was on our side that morning. As we were crossing the street, getting further away from the Palace, a set of guards on horses walked right by us. It was as if we got front row seats! We continued our stroll to Westminster Abbey, where William and Kate got married. The gothic church was absolutely stunning. Soon enough we spotted both Big Ben and the London Eye. 

After taking our solo shots, selfies, and group pictures, we all got hungry and took the tube to get some fish ‘n chips (veggie burger ‘n chips for Jackie) at The Laughing Halibut. They had an assortment of sauces to pair with the meal – ketchup, mayo, tartar sauce, and two different brown sauces. One tasted similar to A1 sauce and the other was vinegary. Right outside the restaurant there was a street filled with mini food venders. The delicious smells wafted towards us and we were tempted to get a second or third meal. Before falling into the trap, we routed the GPS to Camden Market. I’m glad we made time to visit the market. The area was filled with colorful shops and stalls, selling clothes, accessories, paintings, candles, etc.

Nicole found a crepe stand and we couldn’t resist. The crepe was a little more pancakey than we were expecting, but it was a great pick-me-up to get us excited for Abbey Road. Once there though, I remember feeling a bit underwhelmed. It was just a typical two-way street, but with tourists (like ourselves) posing for pictures and almost getting run over by the angry drivers.

Next on our to-do list was Tower Bridge. However, when asking for directions, we ended up asking for London Bridge, which was a big mistake. The difference between the bridges is pretty drastic. Luckily, the older gentleman helping us out told us that we’d be disappointed and bored with the London Bridge within 20 seconds and directed us to the Tower Bridge instead. The teal detailing was a sight to see, but by this point in the day I was losing steam.

We went back to the hostel and sat around the lobby for an hour or so since we already checked out. We were all drained and so were our phone batteries. Eventually we changed into more suitable clothes for the pub-crawl and headed out for dinner. We wanted to give Five Guys another try, but realized there was a Nando’s nearby. Even Nicole was swayed and we all got our fix of chicken and creamy mash. We were on a time crunch for the initial meet up at Piccadilly Circus for the pub-crawl and had to take our dinner to-go. We ate at the train station and of course, I didn’t finish my meal until we were actually on the tube. 

Although we were cutting it close on time, we finally spotted a telephone booth that wasn’t 1) actually being used or 2) obstructed by gates, and we had to snap a few pictures. After all, did you actually go to London if you didn’t take a picture in the red, iconic booths?

The pub-crawl we booked was called the Banana Pub Crawl. They instructed us to look for the guys in banana suits and once we found them, we got our wristbands and welcome drink coupons and headed into the first pub. We met up with our friend from back home, Brittany Thum, and her friends who are all studying in Bath. Nicole, Jackie, and I left the pub-crawl pretty early in order to sneak back into the hostel and get one last shower before heading off to the airport. Our flight to Munich was at 6 in the morning so we decided to sleep in the airport that night. When planning the trip, Nicole and I thought that was such a great idea – you get to skip out on paying for a hostel and you don’t have to travel to the airport super early in the morning! Let me just say that we’re never doing that again… We ended up sleeping on the floor because the airport we were at was really small and all the chairs/benches were taken. There was a chilly draft that kept hitting us, making it even harder to fall asleep. I think we ended up getting a total of 2-3 hours between the three of us… Do not recommend.

To summarize London, I think the team did a fantastic job with the limited time we had, but I’ll have to go back to get the real experience (if anything, for the London Transport Museum haha). Hostel wasn’t the best, but we definitely got our money’s worth by sneaking in that last shower. The food surprised me since I had such low expectations. We are now huge fans of the tube (probably my favorite thing the city has to offer). We hate the Luton airport.

[goarticletec-blog]

Steelers blame themselves, not officials, for losing skid

New Post has been published on https://www.articletec.com/steelers-blame-themselves-not-officials-for-losing-skid/

Steelers blame themselves, not officials, for losing skid

PITTSBURGH (AP) – The excuses aren’t hard to find if the Pittsburgh Steelers were in the mood to look for them.

The false start that wasn’t called on a play that ended with a Los Angeles Chargers touchdown . The apparent block in the back that helped spring Chargers punt returner Desmond King for the game-tying score.

The weird floater by Ben Roethlisberger on a pass that slipped out of his hand and landed into the awaiting arms of Los Angeles rookie safety Derwin James.

Yet the Steelers understand it’s pointless and expensive to complain, one of the reasons coach Mike Tomlin opted not to vent – publicly anyway – after his team let a 16-point lead slip away in a 33-30 loss to the Chargers on Sunday night that reduced Pittsburgh’s once comfortable cushion in the AFC North to mere percentage points over second-place Baltimore heading into the final month of the season.

“I am going to keep my mouth shut,” Tomlin said after his team dropped its second straight to fall to 7-4-1, just ahead of the Ravens at 7-5. “I am going to do that because I send enough money (in fines to NFL headquarters) in New York.”

Tomlin understands the calls the officials do or don’t make are out of his hands. His team’s ability to avoid losing with a 16-point advantage at home – something the Steelers had been able to do 174 out of the previous 175 times it happened in franchise history – is another matter entirely. One that is far more troubling than a handful of questionable decisions by referee Bill Vinovich’s crew.

“We didn’t establish rhythm in the beginning of the second half,” Tomlin said. “We had a couple drives killed by penalties, holding penalties, it’s catastrophic.”

Pittsburgh took the second-half kickoff and moved into Los Angeles territory only to see a 22-yard gain by James Conner wiped out when officials flagged left guard Ramon Foster for holding. The Steelers punted three plays later.

Pittsburgh’s second possession of the third quarter appeared to be picking up steam when left tackle Alejandro Villanueva was called for holding. The drive stalled and Jordan Berry punted yet again.

King fielded it at the Chargers 27, slipped past a couple of tacklers – including Pittsburgh’s Brian Allen, who may have been helped to the ground thanks to a shove on the back of his right shoulder by Los Angeles gunner Rayshawn Jenkins – and raced down the right sideline for a touchdown that helped tie the game at 23.

The Chargers didn’t need any assistance, however, in taking control in the fourth quarter. Philip Rivers led Los Angeles on scoring drives of 79 and 64 yards on the Chargers’ final two drives, facing just two third downs in the process.

The Steelers did not get called for a defensive penalty on either of the drives. Instead, Los Angeles simply did whatever it wanted against a defense that couldn’t seem to get in the right position.

“You can’t say anything about our offense, our offense scored 30 points,” defensive end Cam Heyward said. “As a defense, we’re not getting the job done. I don’t look for anybody else to say that the officials did this or anything else, we didn’t get the job done as a defense.”

And now Pittsburgh faces a daunting stretch if it wants to lock up a fifth straight playoff berth. The Steelers visit hapless Oakland next Sunday, a meeting that looks like a mismatch. Yet the Raiders have always been trouble for Pittsburgh, particularly on the road.

The Steelers haven’t won in Oakland since 1995. They fell to the Raiders at the Coliseum in 2012 and 2013 to teams that finished 4-12 both seasons.

In 2006 Pittsburgh headed west as the reigning Super Bowl champions and somehow lost to a squad that went 2-14.

After that it’s a visit by the New England Patriots then a visit to New Orleans two days before Christmas before wrapping up the regular season at Heinz Field against Cincinnati.

A shot at earning one of the two seeds – a position the Steelers were in the mix for after a six-game winning streak had them at 7-2-1 – appears gone. At this point, holding off the resurgent Ravens is no given.

“We can’t seem to win it at home right now,” Foster said. “So maybe we’ll be great playoff road warriors.”

NOTES: WR Ryan Switzer is in the concussion protocol after taking an illegal hit from Los Angeles linebacker Jatavis Brown in the fourth quarter. … RB James Conner is dealing with a left leg contusion.

___

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[wolfy19982-blog]

Review #2 Oct. 9, 2017 “You’ll Float Too”

So in the spirit of Halloween and the fact that my birthday was recently, I decided to go see a movie. No it wasn’t “Blade Runner 2049″ I wish. I saw instead “IT”, or for the title at the end “IT: Chapter One”. Yes I know it has been out for a month and I know that many have reviewed it, but I want to take it differently. For those who haven’t read my reviews (there’s only like two of them) usually I divide it by the Pros and Cons; sadly I have seen the movie reviewed by multiple YouTube channels my most recent viewing of the review being Channel Awesome. 

To admit, I have not read the book by Stephen King, and I did grow up watching the miniseries starring Tim Curry. Like many I want to compare them but I can only say one thing:

     THE MINISERIES WAS MADE FOR TELEVISION.

I understand how some will always say the original was better, but please try to understand this, ABC (which wasn’t owned by Disney until 1995) took the book and tried to simplify it in a way that only could be done in the 80′s and 90′s. I was born in ‘98 so I fully don’t understand the “#90skidsremember with the exception of stealing them from my older siblings. The 1990 IT miniseries did scare me, well only the cover because the miniseries is hilarious. 

Anyways, I will try to refrain from comparing the two because it is over done. Big spoiler warning for those who haven’t seen the movie and are interested, or if you aren’t and just want to not deal with the fear. So here is my review/analysis for the 2017 IT move.

How do I start with this review. Simple. It scared me at times, but made me laugh the rest. I know the trailer was perfect, but when I watch a scary movie I expect not to sleep at night, and to be honest, I’ll be getting a full night’s rest. I have read Stephen King books, my favorite being Green Mile, and I want to do something I’m sure many have done. just a quick analysis on Pennywise, because he didn’t scare me. 

The reason why is because when I saw him taking the shape of their fear, in the movie theater I literally said to my brother next to me “he’s a boggart from Harry Potter”.  Quick Harry Potter information, a boggart is like a gremlin or imp that takes the form of what you fear the most. For Stan in the current film it was the painting. Now because there is no wizarding world they can’t say Riddikulus! 

Bill Skarsgard did a wonderful job as the dancing clown, and the fact that his siblings are also actors makes it better. Gustaf mostly known as Floki in History Channel’s Vikings; Alexander known as Meekus in Zoolander, the boyfriend in Lady Gaga’s music video for Papazzi, but he is mostly known as Tarzan in “The Legend of Tarzan” and as Eric in “True Blood”, also their father Stellan who is mostly known to Marvel fans as Dr. Selvig, to “Pirates of the Caribbean” fans as Bootstrap Bill Turner, and to the musical fans he is Bill in the film adaption of “Mamma Mia!”. His family is huge, however there was something missing going through the film with him. 

Though he was always there watching everything; it was as if his shadow on Derry seemed too great. It was cool how there were snippets on everything that he was somehow there and he had a presence, and yet it felt too overbearing. The biggest example to me could be the television show Eddie’s mom and Henry Bowers’ father watched, he was there watching them the whole time. 

I understand that was a means for dramatic effect for only the audience to know instead of the characters, it felt to me off, or really just awkward. The clown is a threat and is taking children, and yet he never took any adults. 

It is easier to scare a kid, but the fears that adults have are different, and it might happen in the sequel too. 

The plot overall with a group of kids looking a killer kind of reminds me of “Stand By Me” another film inspired by a Stephen King novella. The difference though is in IT the kids are looking for a clown that killed others, in Stand By Me the kids are looking for a dead body.

I know I’m comparing too much than I should, especially when I said I would try not to. The main problem with the movie is the easiest. It’s not scary.

Pennywise lives off of fear, that’s actually cool but he has weaknesses for whatever form he takes. The losers club are all outcasts that band together, that sounds like a lot of other groups I know (Breakfast Club, Power Rangers 2017, Outsiders, etc). The extremely well depth and three dimensional bullies in almost every Stephen King story where a child is the protagonist. These things have become a trope especially for Stephen King. 

Does it impact the story? Sometimes when it’s needed. Is it in anyway needed to continue the plot? Only when the story needs it. 

The story follows a group of kids who are outcasts. Bill the leader who has a speech impediment being his stutter, Eddie a kid who lives on medication (later revealed to be placebos), Stan the kid who was born Jewish that later SPOILERS is the first to die, Richie the voices kid and one that will not stop talking about how big his dick is (he seriously doesn’t stop. And it’s probably small), Ben the new kid that just happens to be chubby, Beverly the supposed slut of the town that lives in a very abusive home, and Mike the only black kid in town (no seriously he’s the only black person cast besides his grandpa). 

So it’s summer break and during the school year Bill’s little brother Georgie goes missing. We as the audience, and the cat on the porch, know that he died; after his arm was bitten off. Later on all of the kids are seen on the last day of school, Bill Richie Eddie and Stan going together, Beverly appearing to be smoking in the stall, Ben trying to escape, and Mike trying not to kill a sheep.       

Of course when Bill gets home he shows his dad where his brother’s body may have ended up, his father becoming furious. 

Now here is something that made me begin to think even more. Bill has not gone through all the stages of grieving. In fact he is still at the beginning, denial. Only until the end when he kills “Georgie” does he actually accept that his little brother died.

Now for the rest of the losers club, it’s a bit hard. So I will do my best.

Ben it’s a bit easy, for the 2017 remake they show that he’s interested in the history since he had just moved in, it makes him curious. He is of course different because really the only chubby kid I saw in the movie besides him was Belch, the bully that spoke out when Henry was starting to carve into him. Though he is new, he wants to know about the history usually going to the library, meaning one thing, he’s a bookworm with a heart of gold. The proof is in the library (my favorite scene) where he’s being chased by a headless kid and in the sewers when Pennywise’s head takes the form of a mummy.

Eddie suffers from a small case of mysophobia (germaphobia) that is mostly because of how “protective” his mother is, really he’s just a healthy boy that doesn’t know he’s healthy.

Richie is just a chatterbox that well, he doesn’t really grow except for becoming more quiet. 

Stan is a bit difficult, he grew up Jewish. That’s really the only thing I can remember of him. His character wasn’t that interesting to me really. 

Beverly is the only girl, and her relationship at home is her father sexually abusing her. What she does over time is face her fear against her father ultimately murdering him. Yes these kids kill people and aren’t sent to prison what so ever.

Finally Mike, being the only African American kid in  town, meaning of course he would be bullied, especially for that. The race card will always somehow be pulled whether it was wanted or not. Even though I consider him the Token Black Kid, he still left a great impression. He had morals pushing his pacifist nature when he finally beat the bully near the end of the film, he really is one of my favorite characters.

To me the film is good, but not great. Do I recommend it? Yes. Is it scary? No. 

Personally I give it a 6/10 and well it was weird to watch. So go ahead and watch it if you want. 

[watchingthesuperbowl]

Notes taken during Super Bowl XVIII

PREGAME

CBS broadcast. Pat Summerall and John Madden in the booth.

Madden: Tom Flores was my wide receivers coach, was always calm and calculated, which was good for me.

Summerall: Joe Gibbs is also calm and collected. Madden says maybe on the outside, but inside Gibbs is always nervous. Madden says he coached with Gibbs 20 years ago.

FIRST QUARTER

Raiders to receive opening kickoff. Greg Pruitt lets the kick bounce several times, eventually falls on it in the end zone.

First play: Marcus Allen off tackle left. Gets five yards.

Summerall: Joe Gibbs told us during the week you do not want #32 (Marcus Allen) loose in your secondary. Man, if he only knew what was about to happen.

Raiders get one first down, then punt. Ray Guy on to boot it away.

Great kick. 48 yard punt, fair catch at the Washington 19.

Recording now goes to coverage from Channel 4 in the UK. Marcus Allen welcomes viewers and hopes they enjoy the game.

Welcome.

Doesn't look like there are any commercials on Channel 4. Commentators talk over what appears to be the satellite backhaul feed. Then, once the game resumes, it's back to Summerall and Madden.

Washington has third and 1, they give it to Riggins up the middle and a measurement shows he just barely got to the sticks. First down.

Theismann throws to Monk and it's almost picked off. Haynes read the play and got to the ball first.

Madden: Washington normally runs Charlie Brown on the left and Art Monk on the right, but they're doing the opposite today.

Three consecutive incomplete passes thrown at Mike Haynes. Jeff Hayes comes on to kick it away. BLOCKED! Los Angeles falls on it in the end zone. #31 Derek Jensen gets the block, the recovery, and the touchdown, and it screws up a bunch of people who bet on the guy who'd score the first points. 7-0 Raiders.

Replay shows Otis Wonsley whiffed when attempting to block Jensen and Clint Didier, in the backfield, turned the wrong way and couldn't get to Jensen.

CBS graphic: Teams that score first have won 14 of 17 Super Bowls. As far as I can tell, this is the first appearance of what will become an annually referenced statistic. Anyway, Miami scored first last year and lost.

Wind blows the ball off the tee just before the ensuing kickoff.

Washington's helmets have reverted to vertical feathers instead of the curled feather logo from 1982.

Visual evidence.

Theismann throws another incomplete pass. He's now 0-for-4.

Madden: In order for Washington to get into rhythm, Riggins is going to have to run well and get them into situations like 2nd and 2.

Designed QB run on third down doesn't quite pick up a new set of downs. Hayes to punt again. This time it's not blocked. Short kick (27 yards) hits Los Angeles blocker Ted Watts in the hand and Washington falls on it. After the officials confer, they confirm the call. Washington has the ball at the Raider 42.

Theismann finally completes a pass on his sixth attempt. Scrambling, buying time, hits Clint Didier on the sideline for 7 yards or so.

Just over eight minutes left in the quarter.

Washington converts third down. Madden says when they need yardage, they always go left, behind Russ Grimm and Joe Jacoby.

Summerall: Raiders fear Joe Washington as much as any of Washington's weapons.

Washington drive stalls. Here's Mark Moseley to attempt a field goal from 44 yards out. Nope, wide left. Still 7-0 Raiders. 6:16 left in the quarter.

Madden: Raiders are sending Marcus Allen out in motion. I think they're setting something up, maybe a deep pass, by seeing how the defense reacts.

Raiders feeding the ball to Marcus Allen and Kenny King, both on the ground and on short passes. King was Oakland's starting halfback in SBXV.

Madden: Flores changed passing scheme to have two receivers short, often a running back and a tight end, when the wide receivers go deep.

After a holding penalty, LA runs with Marcus Allen on 1st and 20. Allen fumbles and the ball sits on the ground for a freakishly long amount of time before the Raiders fall on it. 2nd and 24 now. After two incomplete passes, Ray Guy boots it away on 4th and 24.

Holding on the receiving team on the punt. Washington starts at the 8 yard line. 2:31 left in the first quarter.

Cutaway to Channel 4 during commercial. English announcer asking Don Shula about his thoughts so far. Shula wearing shades, being smooth, discusses mistakes in the kicking game.

Theismann has been all over the place with his throws so far. He's 2-for-9 for 18 yards, and it's not like he's been facing insane pressure. He's just plain missing receivers.

Cutaway: Guys fixing the goalposts. Play continues while the repairs are underway.

Third and long, Theismann goes deep to Brown. A good throw this time, but Brown drops it. Hayes to punt again...and Pruitt fumbles on the return! Nope, it was whistled dead. The ref is emphatic that the return man was down. Madden thinks replay shows the ball was coming out. My copy of the game isn't good enough for me to have a firm opinion. Either way, Oakland - nope, Los Angeles - has the ball.

First play after the punt, Marcus Allen rips off a chunk of yardage, down to the Washington 45.

Quarter ends. 7-0 Raiders.

Between quarters, O.J. Simpson welcomes first-time NFL viewers on Channel 4.

Then to the studio in...London maybe? Not sure who this guy is, but he's clearly American. He says nice things about Raider DBs, says Theismann has been poor, and that Moseley should have made the field goal. Goes on to predict that Riggins would wake up. Tosses back to the stadium - is his name Mars? Is that Mars Blackmon Sr.? I have no idea who that guy is.

Shula says Theismann is unofficially 2-for-11, has been overthrowing. When you can't get your running game going and you aren't completing passes, you aren't going to do much.

SECOND QUARTER

Madden still talking about Pruitt "fumble" controversy. I think he's convinced me - that's a fumble. Blown call.

WOW, what a weird play. Plunkett throws to Christensen, who appears to catch it, then it squirts out, then a defender goes flying past, then somehow Christensen has the ball again. I have no clue what just happened.

WAT.

WAT.

Raider drive stalls, Ray Guy makes an incredible play to prevent a snap from going over his head, and he blasts it out the back of the end zone.

It's almost like LA is keying on Riggins and relying on their DBs to win one-on-one against Monk and Brown. Whatever they're doing, it's working. Riggins doesn't have much room and Theismann has been bad.

Cutaway shot: Cindy Alzado, Lyle's wife. I guess at this point they weren’t married yet.

The eventual Cindy Alzado

Third and 16, Theismann goes deep into triple coverage on Charlie Brown. Brown loses his crap, thinks he was interfered with. I mean, maybe he was, but it doesn't look like that was a catchable ball.

First play after the punt, Plunkett goes deep down the middle to Branch and hits him in stride. 50 yard completion, down to the Washington 16 yard line.

CBS graphic: Cliff Branch is the all-time leader in postseason receiving yards.

He's got about 12 more yards now. Plunkett finds Branch wide open in the end zone. An easy touchdown and it's 14-0.

Cutaway shot: Jim Plunkett's wife Jeri. Google says her name was actually spelled Gerry. Oops.

Gerry Plunkett

CBS graphic: Average yards on 1st down: Washington 1.4, Los Angeles 10.3.

Theismann sacked on first down and throws a terrible pass on second down (he's now 3-for-13 for 23 yards). Makes a nice play to Alvin Garrett on third down and converts a third and 18.

Theismann beginning to make some plays, but still not great. Just out of curiosity, I look up who his backup quarterback was in '83. Looks like it was Bob Holly, an 11th round pick in the 1982 draft out of Princeton who at the time had thrown one career NFL pass. So it was going to be Theismann all night, barring an injury.

Now Washington is moving the ball. After a pass interference call, tight end Clint Didier is lined up wide left. LA covers him with a linebacker and Didier is open on a post pattern. Theismann finds Didier and now Washington has it inside the LA 15 yard line.

Reading more about backup QB Bob Holly. His stats look pretty good, but he stopped playing after '85, apparently retiring after being injured in an auto accident. I wonder what happened to him, I dig around, and I find that he's a director at Guggenheim Partners. No big deal, just an investment firm that oversees a quarter-trillion dollars of assets and owns the LA Dodgers. So I guess he did okay after football.

Third down, Washington at the LA 6, Theismann forces a throw to a double-covered Joe Washington. That doesn't work. Here's Mark Moseley to try a chip shot. Got it. 14-3 Raiders.

Don Shula: Washington got its offense going on that drive, converted a few third downs, overcame a first and 20. But significantly, says Shula, the Raiders held them to a field goal.

Two-minute warning. Channel 4 goes back to...is this guy's name Mars? He continues to be bad at being a broadcaster. His qualifications appear to be "being from the United States".

3rd and 13, Raiders convert on a screen pass. Plunkett moves around in the pocket and finds Hawkins. 1:06 left in the half, Raiders out to their own 42.

CBS graphic: Joe Gibbs is 6-0 all-time in the playoffs.

Madden: Gibbs was 0-5 in his first five games as a head coach. Since then, he has the best record in the league.

Raiders moving the ball. Plunkett to Branch inside the Washington 40. 0:42 left.

Third and long, Plunkett to Christensen deep, incomplete. 0:23 left now, Ray Guy to punt. It rolls dead at the Washington 12. 0:12 left in the half.

Theismann: 6 of 17, 78 yards.

Washington runs a screen pass for some insane reason. Picked off by Jack Squirek, who waltzes into the end zone. Tom Flores has a sly grin on his face on the Raider sideline. Gibbs, not so much. Joe Gibbs looks like he's going to puke. 21-3 Raiders with just a few seconds left in the half.

Ball blows off the tee as Bahr attempts to kick off. Nice return from defensive lineman Darryl Grant, who nearly breaks it for a huge gain, if not a touchdown. Clock runs out, it's 21-3 at the half.

THIRD QUARTER

CBS: Teams leading at half have won 13 of 17 Super Bowls. Miami was leading at the half last year and lost.

Pretty good kickoff return by Alvin Garrett to start the second half. Gets out to the Washington 30.

First play of the half is a great throw from Theismann to Brown. Gains 23 yards, into Raider territory. LA cornerback Mike Haynes is hurt. Hit his head on the turf, but he only misses one play.

Now Theismann to Giaquinto, down to the Raider 26. Washington is in business here, but trailing by 18 points. One play later, Theismann to Clint Didier and it's first and 10 from the 13. Riggins gets 8 on first down, plows forward to the 5 yard line.

Riggins to the 2 now, and it's first and goal from the 2. Washington has come out of the break with a newfound intensity.

Two plays later, Riggins gets into the end zone from the one foot line. Washington cuts the lead to 21-9 with the extra point pending. That interception touchdown at the end of the first half was huge.

Extra point is blocked. Don Hasselbeck, the first (but not last) Hasselbeck to play in a Super Bowl, knocks it down. 21-9 Raiders. Replay shows the kick was low. Later, Summerall says Theismann didn't line up deep enough on the hold.

English announcer to Shula during the commercial break: Coach Gibbs must have given them a hell of a talking to at halftime. Don Shula does his best to break down the drive.

Early on the ensuing drive, Plunkett throws deep to Barnwell, who draws an interference penalty on Darrell Green. An easy call, Green just ran him over. Suddenly the Raiders are threatening to answer the Riggins touchdown.

Next play, Cliff Branch makes a catch and DB Anthony Washington gets in his face after the tackle. Branch yaps back, linebacker Neal Olkewicz joins the discussion, and there's some fairly intense pushing and shoving. No penalties called.

Madden: When Cliff Branch scored his first NFL touchdown, he spiked the ball. I told him to never do that again, he's too small and doesn't want to make people angry. He's never spiked the ball since.

Summerall: Plunkett calls 90% of his own plays.

Third and 4 from the Washington 11, LA converts on a screen pass to Frank Hawkins. Gets down to the 5, and it's first and goal.

2nd and goal, Marcus Allen with a pretty cutback touchdown run, shaking and baking his way to paydirt. Looks like he just learned a new button on a Playstation controller. It's now 28-9 Raiders, 7:06 left in the third quarter.

Washington runs a flea flicker. Handoff to Riggins, flips it back to Theismann, and then Theismann can't find anybody open. Checks it down to Riggins for two yards. If you're relying on a team with a 19-point third quarter lead to overpursue on a run up the middle at the expense of pass coverage, you're not going to win very often.

Washington punt after a quick three-and-out. 6:40 left in the third.

Madden: Allen is getting close to gaining more rushing yards against Washington than anyone ever has in the postseason. Stay tuned, John.

Plunkett goes deep to Christensen, who's behind the entire Washington defense. Rushes the throw a bit while getting hit and overthrows him by a step. Would have been an easy touchdown.

Raiders punt and Darrell Green nearly returns it for a touchdown. Ray Guy makes the tackle. Madden says Flores told him he was worried the Redskins would have Green returning punts, and Flores says Green was the best punt returner in the draft the year he was taken.

Another three and out from Washington. Apart from that drive earlier in the quarter, their offense has done virtually nothing. Raiders take over the ball with 3:18 left in the third quarter.

I figured it out! The Channel 4 studio presenter with whom I've been annoyed is Miles Aiken. Played college basketball at St. Bonaventure, won a couple Euroleague titles with Real Madrid, and coached the British Olympic basketball team. None of those things are football.

Miles Aiken, unimpressive broadcaster

Miles Aiken, impressive basketball player

Raiders complete a pass to Branch, who fumbles. Washington's Ken Coffey tries to pick it up and run with it, but can't find the handle. Washington recovers anyway. 1st and 10 from the Raider 36.

3rd and short, Joe Washington stuffed on a run off tackle. There's no question - Joe Gibbs is going for it. Three tight ends on the field on fourth down. Riggins runs left and...NOPE. They measure, but it's not close. Raiders ball.

12 seconds left in the quarter, the Raiders have it at their 24. Plunkett hands it to Marcus Allen, who goes left, cuts back, turns right, and goes untouched for the longest run and longest touchdown run in the history of the Super Bowl. 74 yards. Incredible run. Extra point is good, and it's 35-9 Raiders at the end of the third quarter.

CBS shows a cutaway shot of LA sideline. Matt Millen lifts Flores in celebration. Summerall: "Matt Millen likes to pick up people, doesn't he?"

Shula for Channel 4: Raiders just make the plays when they have to make them. This is how you win championships. Channel 4 shows the Allen run and Shula breaks it down. Shula notes that Allen and Mike Haynes missed the regular season matchup, won by Washington.

FOURTH QUARTER

First play of the Washington drive, Theismann zips a throw to Art Monk on a skinny post. Nice play and they're into Raider territory. Monk's first catch of the day.

Madden: Patriots traded Mike Haynes, a holdout, to the Raiders at the deadline. Haynes says if that trade hadn't happened, he'd have gone to the USFL.

Washington drive stalls again and it's 4th and 19 in their own territory. They can't possibly go for this, can they? Nope, it's Hayes to punt it away. Kick goes off the side of his foot, 28 yards, and out of bounds.

During commercial break, Shula describes what a blitz is. Uses video to break it down. Apparently people were calling Channel 4 asking what a blitz was, which seems like a reasonable thing to ask if you've never seen this sport before.

Marcus Allen: 427 rushing yards, four touchdowns, and counting in 3 playoff games this year.

LA punts. 10:55 left in the fourth quarter, not that it really matters what the clock says.

Miles Aiken reads a quote from Flores about how he manages the team. Throws a raw hunk of meat into the room, locks the door for a bit, then goes in, but not before a guy with a machine gun goes in to keep everybody in control.

GREAT throw from Theismann to a streaking Charlie Brown on a fly pattern. Brown catches it in full stride, gains 60 yards deep into Raider territory. 9:26 left, Washington has it 1st and 10 from the LA 12.

Summerall: We've probably seen the last of Riggins today. He's not really a weapon in the passing game.

Unnecessary roughness personal foul on the defense. Late hit on Theismann. Gives Washington 1st and goal from the 8. 9:00 left.

Theismann calls YELLOW 31! for, I think, the second play in a row. Goes back to pass and gets blindsided by an unblocked Mike Davis coming on a safety blitz. He fumbles, ball rolls 20 yards backwards, and the Raiders recover. If it wasn't over before, it's getting there now.

Aiken to Shula: There was a lot of talk about the Redskins being a dynasty before this game. How do you see that? Shula: Well, the result tonight is putting an end to that talk. You can only talk about dynasties after they happen.

Aiken to Shula: How hard is it to win back-to-back Super Bowls? Shula politely says it's really difficult to win one.

8:00 left on the clock. Greg Pruitt has replaced Allen, perhaps for the rest of the game. Allen: 19-152-2.

Cutaway shot: LA assistant coach Art Shell. Madden: "Someday he's gonna be a head coach in this league." Good call.

Shula: Plunkett lost his job to Marc Wilson for a while in the regular season, but won it back. His colleague discusses the '70 Heisman race between Plunkett and Theismann.

Theismann goes deep. Picked off by Haynes. This game is even over-er.

Madden: I don't know if I've ever seen better coverage of receivers than we've seen today. Summerall agrees, as do I.

First play of the drive: Marcus Allen runs right, cuts left, and goes nearly 40 yards to get to the Washington 19. Madden says it doesn't look like there are a bunch of defenders out there anxious to tackle anyone.

Allen: 20-191-2. New single-game Super Bowl yardage record. If he's not the MVP, I'll eat somebody else's hat. (Spoiler alert: Allen was the MVP.)

Greg Pruitt takes a handoff to the one yard line. Hey, wait a second, he's wearing Bo Jackson's number!

Raiders get four chances to get it into the end zone from the one yard line. Madden points out that they're giving it to Pruitt and not their usual goal line back. I think to myself that they're better off not scoring, just keeping the clock running. Again, not that it matters much.

After three unsuccessful - or very successful, depending on your goal - run plays, Chris Bahr comes on for the chip shot field goal. Less than 3 minutes left. Got it. That's a new Super Bowl record: 38 points for the Raiders. 38-9, a five-possession game.

Channel 4 is joined by Don Shula's wife, discussing what it feels like to watch your husband lose a Super Bowl. It doesn't feel good, of course. She cooks his favorite food and keeps the kids quiet.

Theismann still on the field even though this game is over. First play of the drive, he's sacked by rookie lineman Greg Townsend.

Channel 4 host asks Shula if the crushing defeat is a result of overconfidence. Shula says no, the Raiders are just an excellent team.

Marc Wilson in at QB for the Raiders. He'll just hand the ball off a couple times. Final score is 38-9 Raiders.

Summerall: I thought the Raiders would win, but not this way.

Shula: I didn't think the Raiders could run so well against this defense.

[zylandus-blog]

Rex Autem Genus Suum(The King of His Race) +The Fall of a Legend. (AFTER ABOUT A FUCKING MONTH I FINISHED IT.)

Having get past Michael Drake, the child was wounded badly from such an intense battle, yet they were still able to overcome their fears and take him on defeating him without using violence as they made it to the Judgement Hall, they were not afraid. And they shouldn’t have been as a familiar voice echoed through the long hall followed by loud footsteps. “Heya kid.” The kid gripped the worn dagger they were holding “in self defense” even though this still confusing fox noticed the weapon, everything about him was so neutral as he stopped about 10 feet away from the kid. “So, you finally made it….again...but this time, you actually did it. You didn’t kill anyone…*sigh* i guess this is my turn to actually thank you, kid. For not killing Zephyr or Mike….but, i think you won’t have a choice with the man you’re about to fight….King Shara….listen kid, you have a little power that not many kids have. The power to erase an entire timeline and RESET. Or even if you die you can come right on back. And that’s why i wasn’t able to kill ya those last couple times. But i have no reason to harm ya kid...here’s a little reward.” Sean walks up to the kid in a familiar manner and as the kid took a step back they were already brought into a hug, yet instead of what they expected of getting stabbed with spears and a “get dunked on” he normally backed away. “Good luck kid….please...try anything you can to spare Shara, i don’t want to lose him, but if you do indeed kill him…..i…*sigh* won’t blame ya. Now go get ‘em. I’m rootin’ for ya kid.” and just like that Sean was gone. The kid simply walked forward as they entered a grey hallway after almost 20 minutes, they entered a gate and what was in front of them was a bit frightening. A huge skeleton-like monsters with a big cape and golden crown sitting on his throne staring forward with a neutral glare. “Greetings….human.” He got up from his throne. “My name is Shara. I am the “rex” of my race. Or just king. Since you’re not latin. You know what we must do now….please. Let’s get this over with. Follow me into the next room.” The kid gulped gripping the dagger even harder as he followed the seemingly peaceful looking skeleton into the next room which he stopped in waiting patiently. “I understand if you are not ready….i am not ready either. Just…..think of it as a….um...a visit to the dentist….” after about 10 more minutes of stalling they entered the overworld as Shara was looking over an edge, proving his entire kingdom was inside a mountain as he turned around to the kid looking down on them. 

*The skies seem to be shining. *A dark void covers the world *It seems you have finally reached the end… *You can NOT turn back now…. “Human….it was...ugh..nice to meet you….” “Before we fight, do not try to spare me. I just want ONE of our races to finally live in peace….” *Shara lowers his head* “Goodbye.” A sweat runs down your head, and before you can turn around and try to flee, Shara throws his arm to the side throwing his cape back revealing a huge red blade. Suddenly he dashed to the right and outright destroyed your option to spare/flee. The true finale begins. *FIGHT *ACT *ITEM *there’s no mercy here. *ACT CHECK*

King Shara ATK: 100 DEF: 50 The king of his race. Determined to end this war. Shara’s eyes blink red and orange and he suddenly slashes his blade at you. From such a new attack it left you vulnerable taking each hit completely. Leaving you with many bruises yet still Shara doesn’t let up. *You take a deep breath scrunching your eyes and took a jab at Shara. *You expect him to dodge but he stands completely still with a big smile and tears rolling down his face he takes the hit, taking nearly 300 damage. “Good….now do not give up.” Shara sets down his blade and punches the ground, making the entire mountain rumble as many bones with a blue flame around them get hurdled towards you. You stand still and each goes right through yet you feel no pain except for the last white one pierces right through your chest, jabbing through the heart and pinning the body to a rock. As much as it hurt to die. Shara felt more emotional pain now having to deal with killing another child, he was in the middle of about to grab the soul, until the entire world seemingly reversed back to where the white bone was thrown, yet this time it was dodged. Shara was confused but he kept fighting. Now each attack was pretty much the same, knowing this the attacks were dodged as the kid was now winning the fight. Finally after an entire morning and afternoon of a relentless fight. The final blow was exchanged.  Shara was pushed to the edge of the cliff with a clear cut in his golden armor as he fell on one knee holding the wound that was visibly bleeding. “Ah….i guess it was…*ack* about time that i was going to get striked down…* He scrunched his eyes but then he looked up at you with a smile filled with his own blood. “T-thank….you...for your...ki-ndne-ss….please do not worry about my two sons. They will not blame you for this. I was a horrible father anyways….my kingdom will not miss me...i’m sorry for harming you...but thank you for finally lay-i-ng me to rest….” He was visibly crying now as his body and clothing faded into nothing but dust in the wind. The King….Has Fallen.