#boardwalks & sorcery

[r-rook-studio]

Weeknights at Beverly's, 1979

Crossposted from the R. Rook Studio blog.

Characters and Origin Stories

An offshoot alternate setting for Moonlight on Roseville Beach using the Boardwalks & Sorcery SRD/Creator's Kit, "Weeknights at Beverly's" is also set in 1979, but instead of a queernorm community that LGBTQIA+ people could escape to, it's about queer paranormal investigations in smaller cities where Roseville Beach characters might have come from. Unlike my #City23 project Cape Crescent, an alternate setting about paranormal faction play in a queer-friendly (but not queernorm) town in the aughts, I'm starting Beverly's in an unfriendly town haunted by the ghosts and demons (at least some of which are of its own making). PCs might not always like this town, but they're the street-level heroes the town has (and most likely doesn't appreciate).

I've not named the town Beverly's is in, but no matter where it is, there's a queer bar called Beverly's where the PCs hang out most nights. There are some other places, too, of course, but at this stage, I've not thought them out yet (much less figured out how much of this setting I want to have pre-set).

So instead, I'm starting with character creation. While Roseville Beach is a vacation town you escape to, the town of Weeknights at Beverly's isn't usually the town you've fled to; it's the town you've grown up in, so that shifts at least some of the Roseville Beach archetypes, and opens up a couple of others that wouldn't make sense in a Roseville Beach context.

Local Kid (Replaces Fresh Face)

You’re an adult out of high school, ready to live your own life, but everyone around here remembers when you were in kindergarten (if not when you were in diapers). What would they say if they knew about your secret life?

Age: 17 + 1d3 (or choose)

Beginner’s Luck: When you make a roll without the help of your background or skills, you can reroll any dice that land on a 1, but you must accept the reroll.

Backgrounds & Skills

Take a Family background and a School background, and then roll or choose two skills from one background and one skill from the other. Don't take the same skill twice.

Your Family

Choose one family rep as a background and one skill.

Family: Holier than Thou

Friendly

Sneaking

Oratory

Music

First Aid

Endurance

Family: Community Institutions

Stubborn

Friendly

Driving

Sneaking

Athletics

Debate

Family: Trouble

Firearms

Stubborn

Intimidating

Friendly

Driving

Brawling

Back in School

School: Drama Club

Acting

Stagecraft

Electronics

Disguises

Jumping

Climbing

School: School Journalist

Photography

Interrogation

Intimidation

Friendly

Stubborn

Illustration

School: Jock

Fast

Jumping

Brawling

Throwing

Running

Strength

School: Gearhead/Gadgethead

Repairs

Electronics

Driving

Cars

Radios

Power Tools

School: Future Veterinarians of America

Animals

Dogs and Cats

Insects and Arachnids

Farm Animals

Stubborn

Strength

School: Honor Society

Hiding

Intimidation

Debate

Oratory

Electronics

Writing

The Secret Keeper (Replaces The Scandalous)

Whether you've been here for 5 months, 5 years, or even longer, you're part of this town. You might even be from here. You know everyone around here has their secrets, and mostly, you leave each other alone, but you hope you don't have to choose between your secrets and the life you've made around them.

Age: 17 + 3d6 (or choose)

The Secret: When you encounter someone from town who's not a regular at Beverly's, there’s a 1-in-6 chance they've heard a rumor about you. It's mostly innocuous stuff, but it's enough to make you nervous, but of those who've heard the rumors, there's a 1-in-6 chance that the rumors are shifting how they look at you, for better or worse.

Background and Skills

Pick two Backgrounds, one representing a job you have here in town now and one representing a job or training you had when you were living away from town. Roll two Skills from each. If you get the same skill twice, pick one from either background list instead.

Political Appointee

Friendly

Sneaking

Driving

Charming

Stubborn

Intimidating

Beloved Coach

Running

Easy Raport

Strength

Intimidation

Wrestling

First Aid

Community Theater

Acting

Stagecraft

Strength

Climbing

Disguises

Jumping

Favorite Teacher

Easy Raport

Intimidation

Writing

Interrogation

Oratory

Repairs

Journalist

Photography

Illustration

Writing

Intimidating

Charming

Carousing

Healthfood Store/Headshop Owner

Friendly

First Aid

Bookkeeping

Business

Plants

Food

What Needs Rethinking

[weepingchoir]

Imperium Sanctus

(...T)he phrase “Grimdark” may suggest the name of some 2000s era Goth club. It’s a recent coinage for an ongoing craze in “gritty” and dark fantasy settings, epitomised and popularised by George RR Martin, becoming the default tone for a whole range of feted fantasy offerings from Joe Abercrombie’s First Law series featuring a dark, brooding protagonist who kills a lot of people — and occasionally feels bad about it — to Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire Trilogy featuring a dark, brooding protagonist who kills a lot of people — and occasionally feels bad about it.

Like many fantasists with a bone to pick, mister Milbank doesn't actually know when or where "grimdark" was coined. Knowing fuck all has never stopped a critic (indeed, The Critic): Milbank goes on to blame everything from Breaking Bad to The Sopranos, constructing a spurious history of dark fantasy(?) that ultimately singles out author Michael Moorcock as godfather of grimdark.

While Moorcock’s gory, British sorcery is a major influence on today’s grimdark, the inception point of the trend is in fact googleable: it’s been the tagline of gory, British science-fantasy wargame Warhammer 40,000 since its 1993 second edition.

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.

Already this betrays the hopepunk's antimaterialist concerns. It doesn't matter that The Walking Dead and Boardwalk Empire are nothing alike. Taking the historicist tack, it becomes even less likely that they have a connection to 40K. But morality, as an immaterial concern, is a laser beam: it vaporizes material history. Grimdark is a specter on the pages of anything that irritates gentle sensibilities.

For the sake of avoiding googleable gaffes, Alexandra Rowland, author of books named things like A Taste Of Gold And Iron, and coiner of "hopepunk", in a follow-up essay:

There’s no such thing as winning forever. Evil cannot be vanquished, only beaten back for a day or two, and then it trickles back in, like water seeping through the cracks in a dam. Ask it of hopepunk, then: "What's the point?" And the answer is, of course, that the fight itself is the point.

In the noble brightness of the far future, there is only (___)?

Unlike Rowland, Milbank is a nothingpunk: The Critic is a conservative Christian rag pontificating everything from trans-exclusionary rhetoric to the dismantling of higher education. Which begs us to consider how Milbank so easily co-opts shades of Rowland's language to peddle a retvrn to Tolkien, on its face the last thing a fantasy author looking to innovate would want.

The Imperium of Man, the central setting of 40K, is an arch-conservative Great Man cult worshipping the once-Emperor of Mankind. This is the gate leading to the inner sanctum where the Emperor's corpse resides. Catholic readers may have noticed similarities to portrayals of the Archangel Michael fighting the Dragon (1400~, 1498, 1860), as narrated in Revelation 12.

Revelation is the tale of darkness enveloping the world, and the noble, virtuous men who persevere despite persecution and are eventually victorious in heavenly war(!). This is not dissimilar to J.R.R. Tolkien's "fundamentally religious and Catholic work", in which ordinary men persevere against darkness enveloping a world. Rowland and Milbank both champion Tolkien as exemplary, the former in the same breath as Jesus. Yes, of Nazareth.

The Lord Of The Rings is unmistakeably about the War of the Ring. Positing Tolkien's apocalypticism as aspirational fails to rebuff the basic conceit that war is a human constant and even a force for good. If this isn't the aim of a genre purported to concern itself with kindness and "giv[ing] a fuck about the people on the other side of the world", what is?

Aesthetics. Rowland doesn't call for a narrative movement with less conflict, but one that appropriately celebrates those that fall on the right side of conflict. Even just those that deigned to imagine, of slaying the Dragon, "probably drunk in a bar somewhere, I bet it can be done, though." (The writer's original temptation: a medal for thinking the right thing.) Millions of people die in Revelation, magnitudes more than in Game of Thrones, but the virtuous go to heaven forever. The Emperor of Mankind sits on the Golden Throne, Frodo bodily assumpted into the Undying Lands, Jesus curled up into a ball and just rolled away. All manner of things shall be well.

The transition from here to open conservatism is again in aesthetics, and thus stepwise. Having established Tolkien as the only fantasy writer he respects, Milbank derides grimdark as immature wish fulfillment. If you write fantasy at all, it ought to have a clear moral message, else you are devaluing reality by infesting Real (not in the Lacanian sense) conflict with magic missiles. But he's also established that realistic fiction with no clear hero is a faux pas. He wants Breaking Good and, like, The Walking Alive.

This is no surprise: if you were around for the Disco Elysium craze, you might remember this tweet (holy shit it's still up) calling for a game that uses Disco's systems to narrate the story of "a young witch" looking for her neighbor's cat. Take another step and this is the logical conclusion of an aesthetic that prizes upright moral posture: a world where the protagonist has to do nearly nothing to be good. The little village in the Alps and the events of Disco Elysium might be unfolding in the same world. But our little German girl with no problems doesn't have to participate in anything as unsightly as a Pinkerton massacre. Milbank disdains C.S. Lewis without knowing that what he wants is the end of Narnia, irrespective of the events that preceded it: the crowning of the king, who once was good. The Emperor protects!

[seamayweed]

― Jeanann Verlee, Lessons on Loving a Prophet (x)

(image description underneath the cut)

[ID: 12 gifs of kim dong-won as hwang sung-rok and woo do-hwan as nam seon-ho in “my country: the new age”. the first and last gifs are in full color, edited to emphasize the teals while the rest is in black & white. gif 1: sung-rok is on his knees in front of seon-ho, falling forward after getting stabbed. seon-ho reaches out, but only manages to graze the fur lining with his fingertips, unable to grasp either sung-rok, or what is happening. the text says: “one; you know how this ends. there's nothing you can do to change it, so make peace with it now. ready your hands for the callus, shred the cloth for bandages, prepare the rosaries.” gif 2: their first meeting; when seon-ho tries to take general yi’s bow, sung-rok tells him to kneel, which he does. the text says: “two; when you meet him, outside the grocery, along the boardwalk, beneath the overpass, you will not know what he is. he will be neither too charming, nor too handsome. not thunder, not polish.” gif 3: in the burning apothecary, seon-ho takes a step forward towards a crestfallen sung-rok. the text says: “three; the day you fall in love, his mouth will spill your name. he will repeat. and repeat. he will not touch you. he will watch your hips. study whatever ample you have. will ask to watch you dance. when you turn to leave, he will use your name like a choke chain.” gif 4: sung-rok is looking back at the burning apothecary in quiet awe as seon-ho walks out, his silhouette wreathed in flames. the text says: “four; he will call you miracle. your face will unravel. this is his magic. when he begs you promise, say yes.” gif 5: sung-rok tells seon-ho to stop whining and presses a hand to his stomach wound; seon-ho’s fingers are curled tightly around his forearm. the text says: “five; when he offers his lips, take them. take his arms, his throat, take his toes. when he offers, gorge. swallow everything whole. gag. vomit. swallow more. do not hesitate. no time for polite or coy. take.” gif 6: the scene where sung-rok corners hwi, but his friends show up to fight sung-rok off and jeong beom calls him a yain; a barbarian. the text says: “six; when the minions call you whore, nod.” gif 7: sung-rok takes an angry step towards seon-ho who only looks up at him slowly from where he sits at the table, nonchalant. the text says: “seven; he will tell you of the others. how they went crazy in their sleep, awaiting his return. do not flinch. do not doubt your thickened fingertips. stand upright. you promised.” gif 8: seon-ho howls and cries in yeon’s room. the text says: “eight; when you find him in his room, thrashing the sheets, pressing his palms into the walls, howling, his face, a river—close the door. this is how he makes wine. leave him to his sorcery.” gif 9: seon-ho rips his arm out of sung-rok’s grip, leaving him behind to go and save hwi. the text says: “nine; when he explains how he cannot love you, that he will never be yours alone, when he tells how the meek and the gluttons, the tempted, the proud are his angels—do not mourn. smile. feed him. wash his hair.” gif 10: we see seon-ho from behind, kneeling on the ground after getting stabbed multiple times. the text says: “ten; he is a king among thieves. the leeches will hollow his skin, the crows, reduce him to bones. his own heart will empty him. allow for the bleed. be ready with tourniquet and prayer.” gif 11: sung-rok tells seon-ho he’ll get killed in his sleep if he keeps drinking like that, but seon-ho only smiles softly and gazes up at him, quipping back that he’ll have sung-rok to protect him. the text says: “eleven; in the dry burn of dawn, after the last of the lashes, the thorns and the spittle, when his limp body is laid at your feet, remember the night he loved you. the ember of his eyes and the way the words came like honey. gif 12: seon-ho looks off to the jurchens whose loyalty he just won while sung-rok looks at seon-ho, eyes shining with quiet, fierce pride. the text says: “twelve; you were made for this.” /end ID]

[brucespringsteen]

From My Home To Yours Vol. 8: Summertime, Summertime

Instrumental Intro: Noveller - "Canyons" / "Pre-fabled"

The Jamies - "Summertime Summertime"

War on Drugs - "Up All Night"

Lonnie Donegan - "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (on the Bedpost Overnight?)"

Bruce Springsteen - "Sherry Darling"

Beach Boys - "California Girls"

Ren Harvieu - "Summer Romance"

Lana Del Rey - "Video Games"

H.E.R. - "I Can't Breathe"

James Brown - "The Boss"

Sly & The Family Stone - "Hot Fun in the Summertime"

The Rolling Stones - "Under the Boardwalk"

Bruce Springsteen - "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)"

Bruce Springsteen - "County Fair"

Instrumental interlude: Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks - "Lullaby"

Bruce Springsteen - "Backstreets"

Kendrick Lamar (ft. Zacari) - "LOVE."

Victoria Williams - "Summer of Drugs"

Instrumental interlude: Noble Oak - "Hypersleep"

R.E.M. - "Nightswimming"

Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul - "Summer of Sorcery"

Bobby Darin - "Beyond the Sea"

[springsteenvanzandt]

Bruce joined Steven and the Disciples of Soul last night, May 9th, at the Asbury Park Boardwalk to kick off a summer of sorcery ☀️🔮

[ya-aburneeburymewithin]

Lessons on Loving a Prophet-Jeanann Verlee

For Kasturba Gandhi and Coretta Scott King.

1. You know how this ends. There nothing you can do to change it so make peace with it now. Ready your hands for the callus, shred the cloth for bandages. Prepare the rosaries.

2. When you meet him, outside the grocery, along the boardwalk, beneath the overpass, you will not know what he is. He will be neither too charming, nor too handsome. Not thunder. Not Polish.

3. The day you fall in love, his mouth will spill your name. He will repeat, and repeat. He will not touch you. He will watch you hips, study whatever ample you have; will ask to watch you dance. When you turn to leave, he will use your name like a choke chain.

4. He will call you “miracle”. Your face will unravel, this is his magic. When he begs you promise, say yes.

5. When he offers his lips, take them. Take his arms, his throat, take his toes. When he offers, gorge. Swallow everything whole, gag, vomit, swallow more. Do not hesitate. No time for polite or coy. Take.

6. When the minions call you whore, nod.

7. He will tell you of the others. How they went crazy in their sleep awaiting his return. Do not flinch. Do not doubt your fickend fingertips. Stand upright. You promised.

8. When you find him in his room, thrashing the sheets, pressing his palms into the wall, howling. His face a river. Close the door. This is how he makes wine. Leave him in his sorcery.

9. When he explains that the cannot love you. That he will never be yours alone. When he tells how the meek and the gluttons, the tempted, the proud are his angels, do not mourn. Smile. Feed him. Wash his hair.

10. He is a king among thieves. The leeches will hollow his skin. The crows reduce him to bones. His own heart will empty him. Allow for the bleed. Be ready with tourniquet and prayer.

11. In the dry burn of dawn. After the last of the lashes, the thorn and the spittle, when his limp body is laid at your feet. Remember the night he loved you. The ember of his eyes, and the way the words came like honey.

12. You were made for this.

[bewitchingbooktours]

Mary, Everything by Cassandra Yorke #LitFic #LGBTQ+ #TimeTravelRomance

Mary, Everything

The Flapper Covenant Series 

Book One

Cassandra Yorke

Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, LGBTQ+

Time Travel, Time Travel Romance

Date of Publication: March 30, 2020 

ISBN: 9780578680361

ASIN: B086HYTB3Q

Number of pages: 414

Word Count: 108,498

Cover Artist: Cassandra Yorke

Tagline: A gripping tale of best friends and romance, sorcery and survival, at the dawn of the Roaring 20s.

Author Commentary: This novel is a memoir wrapped in fiction. While it's a tale of time travel and sorcery, at its core are real events and real themes - haunted yearbooks in college archives, yearning for times long gone, battery and abuse, exile and homecoming. 

While I hope you enjoy it, I promise you will never read another story like it. It's from the heart, it's gritty and lurid - and below the action, it's real.

Book Description:

A young woman born in the wrong reality.

A destiny that will lead her into the past.

And a love so enduring it reaches across time - and existence itself - to bring her home.

Courtney is a lonely undergrad at secluded Braddock College in 2004, working a drowsy summer job in the Archives. Assigned to a new project, she becomes haunted by a college yearbook from the 1920s - filled with familiar faces and memories of times she never experienced. A chance encounter with a mysterious girl named Sadie - dressed in long-outdated clothes - alters her reality. But if you were never meant to be born, that reality can expel you like an infection - or kill you outright. While Courtney struggles against forces she cannot comprehend, a psychopathic stalker smells blood and closes in for the kill.

Sadie, now in 1921, races against the clock to save her friend, joined by some remarkable allies - an American combat sorceress and veteran of World War I, an enigmatic professor who specializes in piercing the veil between realities, and two young women who insist they’re Courtney’s oldest friends - one of them even claiming to be her truest love.

Time is running out for Courtney, and a terrifying wilderness - haunted by the dead from centuries past - may hold the key to her salvation. But none who enter have ever returned…

Cassandra Yorke's groundbreaking debut brings Magical Realism home to the Midwest in an explosive new style, blending midwestern gothic and historical fiction with a warm lesbian love story to create a riveting, deeply immersive epic you won't be able to put down. It's the world of Boardwalk Empire and Gatsby, with an urgent, immersive narrative about what it means to belong, what it means to be hated, what it means to be loved, and ultimately what it means to come home.

Amazon

Excerpt The crosswalk is the busiest place in town any time of the year, and even if Braddock has a fraction of the people in the summer, it’s still bustling. As I’m coming up, I spot a girl approaching from my left. She’s ghostly pale like me, with auburn hair cut in a short bob around her soft jawline. The most striking thing about her is her narrow, almond-shaped eyes. I’ve always thought chicks with eyes like that are really cute. They catch mine as I approach, and there’s a kind of click; two people in a crowd with matching energy. She greets me with a narrow, witty smile. I return hers in my usual unintentional way, soft and genuine and a little bit sad-looking without ever meaning to seem that way. And we stand there for a minute, waiting for the traffic to clear.

 “Say, is it gonna be dry like this all week?” she asks.

 “Um…” I wish I had a better answer ready. “I think so? I haven’t really checked the weather.”

“Why, I sure hope it is.” She stares back across the street at the shade of College Green. “Anything I hate is rain in the summer.”

 Roll my eyes in agreement. “Ugh, totally.”

I sneak a look at her. She’s wearing a brown bell-shaped hat, the kind that were popular in the 1920s. She’s wearing a 20s style dress, too: green, knee-length, with a round-cut neckline and loose cap sleeves. She’s even wearing old-fashioned brown stockings and brown heels. It catches my eye and I stare for a second or two; it’s a hot day for stockings, especially the old-fashioned silk kind like that. And her shoes are really retro, like old church grandma shoes. She must shop at that vintage thrift store all the way up at the far end of Court Street; it’s the only place around here where you could get clothes like that, unless she goes thrifting in Columbus.

She’s standing here next to me, watching the street, not self-conscious at all. Like she wears stuff like that every day without even thinking about it.

Then she looks at me, glances away, looks at me again a little longer. Her eyes linger on my top and on my legs, and she looks away again, blushing. I’ve always been a little bit empathic and I can feel curiosity in her glance. And…attraction?

Nah, that can’t be right - girls are never into me. Maybe I look too preppy, I don’t know. I’m a D&D nerd, raised on video games from the age of five, but because I wear an Abercrombie hoodie or Hollister shorts or flat iron my hair, people assign me a whole package of expectations - Courtney is a bitch, Courtney’s stuck-up, Courtney’s a backstabbing gossip, Courtney’s rich. Courtney is heterosexual...? Look, I’ll be honest with you, I’m gonna have a hard time living up to all of that. Maybe not the bitch thing - because yeah, I’m probably a bitch - but the rest of it?

Sorry, no can do.

The traffic finally stops from the other direction. I give her one last smile - which she returns warmly - and step onto the street. A few quick steps take me to the other sidewalk. I stop and look at my slender Fossil watch, making a pretense to turn in her direction again for one last look. She’s awfully cute, and I love her chic vintage style. I wonder if she’d think I was creepy if-

There’s nobody there. I glance around to see if she took off in another direction. Nothing. There are plenty of people around, walking dogs, wearing flip-flops, riding bikes. But no girls with vintage clothes.

She’s gone. It’s like she was never there.

But she totally was there! I talked to her!

Unless I’m finally losing it?

I rub an eye with the heel of my hand, not really caring that I just stamped dry mascara on my skin. Maybe I need to get out more. Maybe I need friends. I stand on the busy sidewalk for a moment, completely disoriented, before remembering that I was looking for a place to sit down and eat my salad. But even as I make my way onto College Green and up toward the Civil War statue, looking for a place to sit, I can’t get that girl out of my head. Not just because she was cute. Something about her, that weird click when we saw each other.

Eh, maybe I’ll see her again. I shove a straw through the lid of my drink. Nobody just vanishes.

I wish you could just disappear.

Though I guess if you wanted to disappear, this would be the place to do it. Outside the city limits, the nights are dark and old, and people who vanish are never seen again.

About the Author:

Cassandra's life was changed forever when she was taken captive by a haunted college yearbook as an Ohio University senior in the summer of 2004. Ten years later, she started work on Mary, Everything to make sense of the experience. Bathed in summer sunlight and crafted from early 2000s punk rock, Cassandra's goal is more than just telling a story - she wants to take you captive, too.

She lives in central Ohio with her wife, house rabbits, and video games.

And of course, her own ghostly memories.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cassieyorke87

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cassieyorke1921

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassieyorke1921/ 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20211211.Cassandra_Yorke

TheStoryGraph: 

https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/dc35e2b2-2257-48a6-b5b4-db307f06ac01

a Rafflecopter giveaway

[vestriis]

LESSONS ON LOVING A PROPHET

by Jeanann Verlee

1. You know how this ends There is nothing you can do to change it, so make peace with it now. Ready your hands for the callus, shred the cloth for bandages, prepare the rosaries.

2. When you meet him, (outside the grocery, along the boardwalk, beneath the overpass), you will not know what he is. He will be neither too charming, nor too handsome. Not thunder, not polish.

3. The day you fall in love, his mouth will spill your name. He will repeat. And repeat. He will not touch you. He will watch your hips. Study whatever ample you have. Will ask to watch you dance. When you turn to leave, he will use your name like a choke chain.

4. He will call you miracle. Your face will unravel. This is his magic. When he begs you promise, say yes.

5. When he offers his lips, take them. Take his arms, his throat, take his toes. When he offers, gorge. Swallow everything whole. Gag. Vomit. Swallow more. Do not hesitate. No time for polite or coy.         Take.

6. When the minions call you whore, nod.

7. He will tell you of the others. How they went crazy in their sleep, awaiting his return. Do not flinch. Do not doubt your thickened fingertips. Stand upright. You promised.

8. When you find him in his room thrashing the sheets, pressing his palms into the walls, howling, his face, a river---close the door. This is how he makes wine. Leave him to his sorcery.

9. When he explains how he cannot love you, that he will never be yours alone, when he tells how the meek and the gluttons, the tempted, the proud are his angels---do not mourn. Smile. Feed him. Wash his hair.

10. He is a king among thieves. The leeches will hollow his skin, the crows, reduce him to bones. His own heart will empty him. Allow for the bleed. Be ready with tourniquet and prayer.

11. In the dry burn of dawn, after the last of the lashes, the thorns and the spittle, when his limp body is laid at your feet, remember the night he loved you. The ember of his eyes and the way the words came like honey.

12. You were made for this.

[shovelthefries]

All of them except "tempest"

pearl: if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?probably some of those cliffs in taiwansails: describe your perfect partner.drives a pickup truck, bakes a mean huckleberry pie, good hats, knows how to fish, good taste in beer, really into automobile engineering at the same time. or emma.lighthouse: how much makeup do you wear?0 makeupshells: would you prefer to be a vampire or a werewolf?i'm the human who seduces bothmermaid: most embarrassing moment?not realizing i was talking to someone on 971 about something 971 madeturquoise: weirdest dream you’ve ever had?the one i had last night that was overwatch with sword and sorcerywaves: favourite season and why?summer because its hotbreakers: would you ever consider getting married?i prefer blood oathsseafoam: describe your ideal summer vacation.sitting on a beach, flying my drone rain: if it were possible, what exotic animal would you keep as a pet?a warp lizard!!sunlight: least favourite song?thriller by michael jacksonmarine: would you ever consider plastic surgery?nah i'm too scaredsea glass: what do you consider to be your best physical feature?my hairstorm: do you like piercings and tattoos? Why or why not?yeah but i think i'm too lame for themboardwalk: who is your favourite fictional couple?alleria and turalyon all the waycoral: if you had to describe your personality as a food, what would you be and why?pineapple, small but spikynymph: old-fashioned or modern decor? idk both look coolseawater: scariest movie you’ve ever watched?2012siren: in a fantasy setting, would you be a warrior, rogue or mage?rogue ofc, love that leathertropic: what is your least favourite thing about your appearance?my uglinessaquamarine: describe your dream date.we play through the entirety of skyward sword and then listen to my playlist, also we walk outside and there's a nice lake, how'd that get there you ask and then i reveal to you that i'm actually an earth sculpting titan and then i build a statue of you, you fall in love with me. also at some point we play laser tag and i dress up as mccreebrine: gold or silver?silvertidal: what is a colour that best describes your personality?blue, the tryhard diehard colorazure: what is something that you do that makes you happy?bikingfog: describe where you think you’ll be in five years.on top of a manhattan skyscraper doing an angsty photoshoot bc my tea making business exploded and i'm richcoastline: what is your favourite flower?peacebloom, lvl 1 herbalism ftwshallows: what is your typical Starbucks order?hazelnut fraptrap and a cheesy danishvoyage: what are your favourite names?tirion, anduin, and jainashipwreck: do you have an OC? If so, describe them.too many OCscerulean: do you believe in true love?true love that you have to work forshoreline: if you could become fluent in another language, which would you pick and why?russian, you always sound like an angry badasstsunami: describe a dream outfit of yours.a bulletproof onesieriptide: are you introverted or extroverted? Are you happy with this?introvertedish, wish I could talk to people for longerhurricane: describe a strange habit of yours.running my hands through my hair a lot apparently

[therewas-a-girl]

One. You know how this ends. There’s nothing you can do to change it, so make peace with it now. Ready your hands for the callus, shred the cloth for bandages, prepare the rosaries. Two. When you meet him, outside the grocery, along the boardwalk, beneath the overpass, you will not know what he is. He will be neither be too charming nor too handsome, not thunder, not polish - Three. The day you fall in love, his mouth will spill your name. He will repeat and repeat. He will not touch you. He will watch your hips, study whatever ample you have, will ask to watch you dance. When you turn to leave, he will use your name like a choke chain. Four. He will call you miracle. Your face will unravel. This is his magic. When he begs you promise, say yes. Five. When he offers his lips, take them. Take his arms, his throat, take his toes when he offers. Gorge. Swallow everything whole. Gag. Vomit. Swallow more. Do not hesitate. No time for polite, or coy. Take. Six. When the minions call you whore, nod. Seven. He will tell you of the others. How they went crazy in their sleep awaiting his return. Do not flinch. Do not doubt your thickened fingertips. Stand upright. You promised. Eight. When you find him in his room, thrashing the sheets, pressing his palms into the walls, howling, his face a river… close the door. This is how he makes wine. Leave him in his sorcery. Nine. When he explains that he cannot love. That he will never be yours alone. When he tells how the meek, the gluttons, the tempted, the proud are his angels, do not mourn. Smile, feed him, wash his hair. Ten. He is a king among thieves. The leeches will hollow his skin, the crows reduce him to bones. His own heart will empty him. Allow for the bleed. Be ready with tourniquet and prayer. Eleven. In the dry burn of dawn, after the last of the lashes, the thorns and the spittle, when his limp body is laid at your feet, remember the night you loved him, the ember of his eyes and the way the words came like honey. Twelve. You were made for this.

'Lessons on Loving a Prophet' by Jeanann Verlee

[r-rook-studio]

So I think it might be time for a jam...

[punkpoemprose]

PunkPoemProse’s Frozen Fic Masterpost

A little collection of everything I’ve ever written for this fandom (In order by date of publish within each subheading). Very long list of links can be found under the cut.

Updated as of: 4/4/21 (If I missed anything please let me know!)

Oneshots:

-Stormy Weather

-Secrets Shared

-Hard Work

-Building Snowmen

-The Plan (NSFW)

-Iced Coffee

-New Year’s Kiss

-Tie Me Up (NSFW)

-Dirty Work (NSFW)

-April Showers

-In This Diary [Modern AU]

-Jealousy

-Home (NSFW)

-Is This Seat Taken? [Modern AU]

Childhood Games

Apple Picking

Kiss

Dance With Me [Modern AU]

Sorcery (Part 7/12 In the Kristanna Past Life AU Collab)

Green Card [Modern AU]

Valentine [Modern AU]

Little Bear

A Valiant Effort

The Sash

Lepidoptera

Quarantine

Longing (NSFW)

Run Away With Me [Modern AU]

Knowing [Bear Shifter AU]

Luck and the Lady [ Victorian England AU]

Blind Date [Modern AU]

Frostbite [College/ University AU]

Creative Solutions (NSFW)

Seven Days

The Language of Flowers

Kill Him With Kindness

Little White Lies & Little Black Dresses [Investigative Journalists AU]

Lovelier Than Ever

Like Adults [Modern AU]

Always [Modern AU]

Down on the Boardwalk [Modern AU]

Stay

Sharing the Studio [Art School AU]

Comatose [Bodyguard/ Modern Royalty AU] With Art by @epbaker

Blue Lips, Blue Veins [Vampire AU]

Make it Pink, Make it Blue [1960s AU]

Go Figure [Modern Figure Model AU]

I Hate You (And I Hate That I Don’t Really Hate You) [Modern AU]

Cursed [Werewolf/ Little Red Riding Hood AU]

Answers to Prompts/ Asks (Collection on AO3)

Multi-chapter: -The Harvest: (Complete)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight (NSFW)

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven (Final Chapter)

-Rescue [Modern AU] (Hiatus)

Chapter One- Meeting

Chapter Two- Making Good

Chapter Three- Emergency

Chapter Four- The Sister

Chapter Five- Second First Date

Chapter Six- Confrontation

Chapter Seven- Waking Up

Chapter Eight- I Will Be Right Here

Chapter Nine- The New Normal

-Naked Soul Masterpost [Stripper AU] (Complete)

-A Tale As Old As Ice [Beauty and the Beast AU] (On Hiatus)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

-Siege of Arendelle Masterpost [Post Canon War Fic] (Currently Updating)

 Amazing Art By @minnothebunny​

-Where We Live [Modern AU] (Complete with occasional additions)

Chapter One: 18&21

For The Love Of You

Chapter Two: 21&24

Chapter Three: 24&27

Making Home

Square Houses

-Rain and Sunshine [Regency/ Pride and Prejudice AU] (Complete)

Chapter One- Rain

Chapter Two- Sunshine

-Ice and Warmth [Kristoff Weekend 2017] (Complete)

Ice

Warmth

-Kristanna Week 2017 (Complete)

Cozy

Talk

Spark

-Modern Witch! Anna Fics (Complete with occasional additions)

Love Potion Number 9

Charmed

Strange Magic (NSFW)

Holiday Magic

-Bearstoff Fics (Complete with occasional additions)

Knowing

Paws

-Demigod AU (Currently Updating)

Protected

Promise

-The Love Talker Masterpost [Gancanaugh/ Fae/ Dark Fantasy AU]

-A Convenient Arrangement Masterpost [Arranged Marriage AU]

Advent Fics:

- Advent 2014 Masterpost

- Advent 2015 Masterpost

- Advent 2016 Masterpost

-Advent  2017 Masterpost

-Advent 2018 Masterpost

-Advent 2019 Masterpost

-Advent 2020 Masterpost

[lucky13-452]

Amber Sand is not a witch. The Sand family Wicca gene somehow leapfrogged over her. But she did get one highly specific magical talent: she can see true love. As a matchmaker, Amber's pretty far down the sorcery food chain (even birthday party magicians rank higher), but after five seconds of eye contact, she can envision anyone's soul mate. Amber works at her mother's magic shop--Windy City Magic--in downtown Chicago, and she's confident she's seen every kind of happy ending there is: except for one--her own. (The Fates are tricky jerks that way.) So when Charlie Blitzman, the mayor's son and most-desired boy in school, comes to her for help finding his father's missing girlfriend, she's distressed to find herself falling for him. Because while she can't see her own match, she can see his--and it's not Amber. How can she, an honest peddler of true love, pursue a boy she knows full well isn't her match? The Best Kind of Magic is set in urban Chicago and will appeal to readers who long for magic in the real world. With a sharp-witted and sassy heroine, a quirky cast of mystical beings, and a heady dose of adventure, this novel will have you laughing out loud and questioning your belief in happy endings.

Goodreads

The Best Kind of Magic is the first book in new series, Windy City Magic and it was such a delight to read. The book has a cute whimsical look on magic and everyday life, that made it a fun read.

In the Sand bloodline there are witches. Unfortunately for Amber Sand she didn't inherit that talent or a least not completely. In a world of real witches, her mother being one of them, the only magical talent Amber received is the ability to be a matchmaker. People / supernaturals from all over Chicago come to Windy City Magic shop to find true love but Amber has never experienced love for herself, how can she when every time she looks at a guy all she is his perfect match. So when classmate (and sort of family friend) Charlie ask for a little magical assistance with his dad's girlfriend, Amber is not prepared for the amazing adventure they will go on or her sudden developing feelings for Charlie. What is a girl to do when she looks into his eyes and she she's not his match?

The Best Kind of Magic surprised me a little, I thought that the plot was going to be centered on Amber's romantic situation but the story went beyond that. There was not only moral dilemmas, magic, mystery and family drama. Not only was a magical mystery afoot but there is also the stressed relationship of a mother and a teenage daughter who doesn't think she lives up to her mother's reputation.

I really liked Amber as character, she puts up with a lot, first from the kids at her prep school who all look down on her (I still don't get why) and then there is the magical community that is filled with all sorts of powerful magical beings who look down on her because her only talent is matchmaking. However she does what she does with her head held high and she doesn't let their hangups get to her, also she has an excellent sense of humor and can banter with the best of them.

I am not going to lie I at first thought being a matchmaker in a magical community sucked. However after reading the book, hearing Amber explain things and deal with the prejudice of her skills (that she doesn't have more power) I have a lot more respect for Amber. Another thing I liked about Amber, who has a sweet tooth I can appreciate, is that she is an excellent baker and creates delicious confections and is very proud of that skill.

Crystal created a lovely blend of magic and everyday life. A magic shop in the middle of downtown Chicago with new age customers and witches in the same shop. How you can see a person who is one-fourth fairy get on a bus or a troll stroll down the boardwalk but all under human disguise. The supernatural world and human world blend perfectly together.Crystal manage not only to do a nice little introductory build to this world but give a nice representation to the supernatural community.

Something that was a little change-up was that Lucille (Amber's mom) was involved in Amber's life and was always suspecting that Amber was up to something. Also Lucille had her own stuff going on that flowed into the story as well. Lucille while maybe a good mother but she comes across a little cold to me and I know that it makes for good representation because that how people can be sometimes but I just wished they softened her up a bit.

Best Kind of Magic was kinda the perfect title for the book and you would have to just read to find out why. I really enjoyed the story and I am very interested to see where the story goes next because I have some questions about backstory and I am hoping more will be explained in the next book.

Overall 3.5 stars

[the-master-cylinder]

SUMMARY The film opens with archival footage from a press conference where NYPD officers Dave Greenberg and Robert Hantz are lauded by Commissioner Patrick V. Murphy commends them for the sheer volume of drugs and weaponry that the two cops have removed from the streets.

After a credits sequence, the narrative begins at the New York City Police Academy, where Greenberg (Leibman) and Hantz (Selby) graduate as probationary officers. They are assigned to low-level work like clerical tasks and directing traffic, but they chafe against the insignificance of these tasks and frequently abandon them to follow the sound of gunfire. One day, Greenberg is standing on the street in plain clothes when an elderly man offers to sell him some “French films” (porn). When he refuses, the old man attacks Greenberg, who arrests him. Greenberg gets in trouble for making an arrest while off-duty.

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Greenberg and Hantz decide to keep making off-duty collars. They go to Coney Island disguised as Texaco attendants. They make a drug bust under the boardwalk and bring their collars to the local precinct, where the supervising officer is astonished to learn that two off-duty probationary cops confiscated so many illegal weapons and drugs. The pair continue to make busts around the city in their spare time. They stop a stolen car on Convent Avenue in Harlem, and at the local precinct, they bluff their way into being treated as senior officers from the “SUB” division, which is just the acronym for traffic enforcement.

After their probationary period, they are assigned to the fictional 21st Precinct in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. On their way to report for duty, they are aghast at the state of the neighborhood, and the precinct seems to be in just as much disarray. They are told to not make waves and to report for their first full day of duty the following morning. Instead, they find some prostitutes, hoping to get information. Greenberg tells his prostitute, Sara (Frazier), that he is a cop and asks where he can find some drug dealers. She screams for her pimp, causing a commotion.

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Undaunted, Greenberg and Hantz manage to find an informant and make their first drug bust. As they book their collars, they identify themselves as new to the precinct. They are asked when they started, and Greenberg replies, “Tomorrow”. They track down the precinct Captain Krasna (Frazer). He is convinced his office is bugged, and he views Greenberg and Hantz’s enthusiasm warily.

Greenberg meets Sara again at Hank’s Tip Top Inn and accompanies her back to her apartment. He presses her for information about drug activity. The duo start making busts with her information. Captain Krasna calls them into his office and accuses them of being on the take because of all their independent drug busts. He pretends to call Internal Affairs, but when they do not react like corrupt cops, he decides to encourage their freelancing. Sara tells Greenberg that a contract has been put out on them. An anonymous tip to the station confirms her warning. Greenberg and Hantz lay in wait for their assassins and make a daring bust in broad daylight. The bystanders jokingly yell out greetings to the adventurous cops who they call “Batman and Robin”.

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At the arraignment for the case, Greenberg and Hantz are offered $1,500 to lie and get the case dropped. They try to gather evidence about the attempted bribe, but the District Attorney’s office ruins the bust by warning off the targets. The officers are growing more isolated by their fellow cops, who either resent them for showing them up, or view them with suspicion as being either corrupt or part of Internal Affairs.

The partners eventually corner the three Hayes Brothers who run the drug market in Bed-Stuy. The Hayes offer them a $1,000-week bribe, which Greenberg and Hantz pretend to take. Greenberg insists on meeting the Hayes’ suppliers, but on the way to the meeting, one of the Hayes notices Greenberg’s wire. Greenberg and Hantz kill the brothers in self-defense, and they are taken off duty while Inspector Novick (Hingle) conducts an internal investigation.

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Greenberg is approached by another officer who has just transferred from the 80th Precinct. He offers to cut Greenberg and Hantz in on a scam. They meet at the Fish Delight Hut to discuss the details. It turns out the officer is from the Knapp Commission, and when he tries to arrest Greenberg and Hantz, the pair, in turn, try to arrest him for engaging in conspiracy. Greenberg threatens to arrest the other Knapp officers on the scene for entrapment. When Insp. Novick and Cpt. Krasna arrive at the restaurant, both factions of officers reveal that they have been taping each other. The stalemate is resolved by promoting everyone. The film ends with a re-enactment of the opening press conference, with Novick commending Greenberg and Hantz for their service.

In the early 1970s, Archie Comics recruited Gray Morrow to create a new line of comic books under the Red Circle imprint intended for a more mature audience. Interviewed by Jon B. Cooke in issue #17 of Comic Book Artist, Morrow explained the genesis of the Red Circle comics: “I met with Richard Goldwater (of Archie Comics), and his art director, Victor Gorelick They asked me if I could put together a package for them. I wasn’t sure if I could or not, but I said, Why not? I’ll give it a shot.’ I was thinking… in terms of old movies and radio shows.” The Red Circle line included titles like Chilling Adventures in Sorcery and Madhouse, as well as The Super Cops.

The Super Cops comic book was published around the same time the movie was released. Based on the book, the comic characters bear a greater resemblance to the actual policemen than did the actors in the film. The comic book is not an adaptation of the book, though, but rather a series of vignettes featuring the exploits of Greenberg and Hant.

THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE, Steven Keats, 1973

A half-hour pilot for a proposed TV series based on the film, starring Steven Keats as Greenberg and Alan Feinstein as Hantz, aired in 1975 on CBS.

CAST/CREW Directed Gordon Parks

Produced William Belasco

Written L.H. Whittemore (book)

Screenplay Lorenzo Semple Jr.

Ron Leibman as David Greenberg David Selby as Robert Hantz Sheila Frazier as Sara Pat Hingle as Insp. Novick Dan Frazer as Police Capt. Irving Krasna Joseph Sirola as Police Lt. O’Shaughnessy Arny Freeman as Judge Benny Kellner Bernard Kates as Heller Alex Colon as Carlos

CREDITS/REFERENCES/SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY Wikipedia Youtube

The Super Cops (1974) Retrospective SUMMARY The film opens with archival footage from a press conference where NYPD officers Dave Greenberg and Robert Hantz are lauded by Commissioner Patrick V.

[r-rook-studio]

Oh no! It's Boardwalks & Sorcery: A Roseville Beach SRD

I couldn't sleep, so I went ahead and took an initial swing at what I want to include in the Roseville Beach SRD, with the hope that Boardwalks & Sorcery will grow into a hacker's guide or game creation kit.

[r-rook-studio]

"The Wrong System" Jam (aka, "Do It Wrong and Make a Mess" Jam) When?

Before I host anymore general jams, I'm going to make a Boardwalks & Sorcery jam.

But after that?

After some good leads and feedback on Twitter last night, I made some updates to the Open License TTRPG Database.

Then I got to thinking about how much conventional wisdom we've accrued about what types of games and activities certain systems are good for. I'm not a fan of conventional wisdom, and conventional game design wisdom has too erratic and inconsistent a record to follow it too closely.

So what about a jam that takes a CC-BY, CC0, or CC-BY-SA (or similar permissive license) and creates a very different game than those mechanics were originally conceived for?

Use the Troika! compatibility license to make a homey wainscot fantasy. Create a paranormal romance mystery for Liminal Horror. Make a tactical combat scenario with extra rules for Lasers & Feelings. Hack Trophy to make a game about joy.

Figure out what works and what breaks, make a mess, post it in the jam. A lot of interesting stuff like this happened in the What's Cool About Jam? with Jared's simple, quick adventure system being used to make storygames, OSR games, and lyric games.

What other cool shit could also happen?