#contagion lp

[blueeyesking]

Come out, Critias! Pt. 3/3

[It's Seto's final turn. He doesn't have anything in his deck that can save him now...

However, upon touching the card he will draw, Kaiba's mind and spirit are transported somewhere else.]

Seto floats above two frozen dragon statues, in a large, intricate room that he doesn't recognize. Drawn to one by some unseen force, Seto gazes at the sword lodged into the great dragon's throat.

"I must be hallucinating... Am I supposed to remove the sword? What is this, an Arthurian myth?" Seto mutters to himself, incredulous, as he moves to take its hilt in hand. The sword gives with little effort, sliding free of the cracking ice, which shatters off of the dragon only a moment later. It roars in triumph, then looks at Seto expectantly, eyes shining with intelligence.

Seto's eyes meet its, and widen in shock.

"...How do I-? I know you." He floats forward, and places his hand on its dark snout. "Your name... is Critias."

[A bright light overwhelms the man, who is suddenly back in the Duel, about to draw.

"Well? Are you going to take your turn? Or have you realized you can't win, Kaiba?" Alister calls at Seto, hand on his hip confidently.

"SHUT UP! You don't know who you're messing with!!" Shouts Mokuba from behind Seto, banging on the barrier between them created by the Seal.

"That's enough, Mokuba," Seto shushes his brother. Alister laughs.

But Alister can't see the card under Seto's fingers glowing.

Without his usual dramatic flair, Seto draws- it's a card he's never seen before, and looks just like the dragon in his vision. It doesn't exist in his deck! But he knows its power, somehow... Kaiba stares at it a moment, then nods, as if to the dragon depicted.

"I use the Fang of Critias!" Seto holds the card aloft, and it glows with the effect of an activated spell.

"What?!" Alister leans on his side of the duel ring with both hands, incredulous and shocked. "But you don't have that card!!"

Seto laughs at the boy, triumphant. "I do now! Fang of Critias merges with my set Trap card: Crush Card Virus!"

"But you can't merge a trap card with a monster?!"

"Well, I just did! That's the effect of Fang of Critias!" Kaiba casts his hand out, as if showing off a new exhibit. "Behold, Doom Virus Dragon!"

The monster roars, manifested on the field, dwarfing Alister's monsters.

"And Doom Virus Dragon's effect destroys every other monster on the field with an attack of fifteen-hundred or higher!"

Doom Virus Dragon releases a blast greater than even Blue-Eyes White Dragon's Burst Stream, shattering all of the monsters on Alister's side of the field and leaving him with only a single face-down card for defense.

"Go! Doom Virus Dragon! Attack Alister directly!!" Kaiba points his direction to the dragon, who charges up its devastating beam, releasing its fury on Alister- "It's game over!"

"I activate my set spell: Contagion of Madness!" Alister casts his hand out, flipping the spell card. It deals half of the directly attacking monster's ATK to its controller, simultaneously to the battle damage it will inflict upon its target.

Alister's LP: 0

Seto's LP: 0

The duel ends in a draw, releasing both men from the Seal and flinging Seto back against Mokuba, who falls under his older brother's weight.

"From the darkness of the opposite hall, cut off by the duel ring, the Kaibas hear Alister's voice as he retreats, "This isn't over, Kaiba! I'll be back- and you'll pay for what your father did to me!"

Seto stands, brushing himself off, then helps Mokuba to his feet. He stares at the mysterious new card in his hand: The Fang of Critias.]

[himbopunk]

copy/pasting this here for self reference actually

here's the rosehead albums and the like notable songs from each one (not Every song just. like if u mention liking an album these are prolly expected to be the ones u know)

Spidersilk (EP) (first recorded music, early Rosehead era, before Yuvan joins)

A Maggot's Atlas

Prey No Longer

Orbweaver's Elegy

[UNKNOWN] (Single) (released singles during a sort of in between period, really settling into their sound + audience)

[UNKNOWN]

Finder's Keepers

Altered Self (Single) (Yuvan in here, Sal in here, settled on their sound)

Altered Self

Last to Know

SELF-TITLED (LP/First studio album) (concept album around exploration of the self, themed around plant and infection based body horror?)

Ugly Petals, Pretty Thorns

Self // Other

Voiceless

Blessed Contagion

From the Mouths of Babes

Germinate Within

Our Feeble Patriarch (EP) (protest/activism themed album? actively discussing current events and issues)

Fear Itself

Blood of the Land

Lend Thy Tongue

Seethe

Thirteen Lovers (EP) (play on the movie thirteen ghosts, explorations of gender and sex. also these r songs played a lot by rosehead at pride events)

Flesh, Blood, Bone

Dead Daughters

Idolatrous

An Altar to Myself

House of Mirrors (LP/Second studio album) (album about self acceptance, fuck what anyone else says. community/audience well established by this point and is a direct influence on how this one is written)

Liar's Lament

In Spite of Myself

Discarded

Found

House of Mirrors

Burn It All

[headlinerportugal]

2ª edição do Lamas em Chamas aconteceu em Santa Maria de Lamas | Reportagem Fotográfica

Serrabulho em palco | mais fotos clicar aqui O Parque de Santa Maria de Lamas, na vila do município de Santa Maria da Feira, acolheu a 2ª edição do ‘Lamas em Chamas’ no passado dia 16 de setembro, um sábado. A organização deste evento procurou “ter um cartaz o mais diversificado possível em termos de géneros dentro do som pesado e incluir bandas pertencentes à nossa região“.

Na parte das bandas da casa marcaram presença os Revolution Within, formação existente desde 2005 ; Ionized, formação com 7 anos de vida e ainda os M.O.R.G., bandas todas sediadas na Feira.

Law of Contagion e Tvmvlo foram outras duas bandas que atuaram, deram também suporte aos Serrabulho, a banda headliner do evento.

Serrabulho com apresentação num estilo único | mais fotos clicar aqui A banda transmontana Serrabulho, oriunda de Vila Real, foi a última a tocar neste 'Lamas em Chamas'. Eles que vão editar o seu 4º álbum 'Piss & Love' em data a ser ainda revelada provavelmente até final de 2023. A gravação decorreu no  Blind & Lost Studios, em Santa Marta de Penaguião. O presente ano tem sido bastante agitado para os Serrabulho, viram o guitarrista Paulo Ventura abandonar o projeto. Agora estão em modo trio com Toka na voz, Guilhermino Martins no baixo e Ivan Saraiva na bateria.

Nuno Mendonça dos TVMVLO | mais fotos clicar aqui Já os TVMVLO são uma banda recente panorama nacional. 'The Well Of The Lost Children' é o título do álbum de estreia cuja edição ocorreu em 2021 pela mão da Doomed Records. António Baptista (voz e guitarra), Nuno Mendonça (baixo) e Fábio Loureiro (bateria) são o trio que formam este novo projeto de Old School Death Metal.

Concentração total deste membro dos Law of Contagion | mais fotos clicar aqui Law of Contagion são uma banda dedicada ao black/death metal e contam na sua discográfica com dois álbuns: 'Woeful Litanies from the Nether Realms' de 2020 e 'Oecumenical Rites for the Antichrist' de 2022. Este é um projeto liderado por Ishkur e iniciado em 2019.

Prata da casa: foco nos Ionized

Das bandas oriundas da zona de Santa Maria da Feira damos agora destaque aos Ionized. Eles são uma formação de metal alternativo cuja carreira teve o seu início em 2014. Dois anos decorridos editaram o EP 'Big Bad Wolf' a primeira aventura nas edições discográficas. A estreia nos LP aconteceu somente em 2021 com o lançamento de 'Denary Breath'. A sua formação é composta pelo sexteto: Miguel Craveiro (voz), Rui Moreira (guitarra e voz), Ivo Lopes (baixo), André Almeida (sintetizadores), Bruno Correia (bateria) e Ricardo Ferrão (guitarra). Entre as suas influências musicais estão bandas como Alice In Chains, Alter Bridge, ou Sevendust.

Miguel Craveiro a voz dos Ionized | mais fotos clicar aqui Durante o concerto no Festival Lamas em Chamas aproveitaram para chamar a atenção sobre um dos assuntos mais voga na atualidade nacional e mostraram total apoio para com todos os músicos e artistas residentes no STOP. Eles que têm no videoclipe do seu mais recente single “Corporate Aggression” imagens sobre esse assunto portuense.

Ao longo dos últimos tempos têm vindo a dar o maior número de concertos possível e no próximo dia 4 de novembro são os convidados para abrirem os concertos de Blamezeus e Allgema no Hard Club, bandas que apresentam os seus novos álbuns.

Ionized na atuação neste Lamas em Chamas | mais fotos clicar aqui Este Lamas em Chamas, festival de heavy metal, terá a sua 3ª edição no dia 14 de setembro de 2024. Mais informações serão, com toda a certeza, lançadas via redes sociais em @lamasemchamas.

Reportagem Fotográfica completa: Clicar Aqui

Texto: Edgar Silva com o apoio de Jorge Resende Fotografia: Jorge Resende

[grindpromotionrecords]

Ascending from the odious decay of their first LP, Cerebral Rot passes from animal to human contagion with a new more purulent virus on ‘Excretion Of Mortality’. A return of such festering decrepitude and anatomical canker as befits the true adherents of vile and sick underground Death Metal. Soaked in the swamp of radioactive sewage, Cerebral Rot’s tumor like growth on ‘Excretion Of Mortality’ bludgeons with a hammering heaviness that few can manage or survive. A methodical focus on attaining maximum barbarism through every aspect of the production, from the meaty, dripping guitars to the immense rhythm section and Schwab’s nuclear travesty vocals, to the deceptively straightforward bludgeoning of the songs, exposes a scalpel-like cutting precision to this seemingly base display of horrid malevolence. #cerebralrot #excretionofmortality #20buckspin #metal #death #deathmetal #seattle #causticwound #fetid #vinyl #vinyladdict #vinylcollection #vinyldecal #vinylme #vinylmusic #vinylobsessed #vinylforever #vinylstore #grindpromotionrecords (presso Grindpromotion Records Hq) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoHZ4W0or7G/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cryptoheard]

The Ultimate Crypto Market Data Provider Guide 2023 | by Patrick Mehrhoff | The Capital | Dec, 2022

The Ultimate Crypto Market Data Provider Guide 2023 | by Patrick Mehrhoff | The Capital | Dec, 2022

Traditional financial institutions are increasingly entering the crypto market despite the recent FTX crash, general contagion fears and regulatory uncertainty. Asset managers like Fidelity and BlackRock, sell-side firms such as JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, and LPs and prop shops like Citadel and Jump are among those who will stay and further grow the crypto asset market. The growing recognition…

[mcgarjones]

      Michael god dammit

[dopingues]

hey i've been blasting your NOW THATS WHAT I CALL RED ROBIN playlist and I was wondering if you'd be willing to an analysis of like, the lyrics or what song applies to what section of tim's life? i can feel the vibes but i'd love to know your Thoughts™

Hello! Sorry to reply so late, ive been trying to remember it myself since i made that playlist (checks notes) all the way back in 2017! Apparently i had deleted a few songs so i added them back and rearranged it to jog my memory (sorry if youve seen any unusual activity in there btw). The playlist is chronological so I will list the songs for each era.

*it is actually 69 tracks (nice)

Prologue (Tim Drakes Background Backstory and Aspirations)

We Dont Eat - James Vincent McMorrow

Born In A Flash - Mother Mother

Everything Is Happening - Mother Mother

Donning the Cape.

Believer - Imagine Dragons

The Glow - Big Data, Kimbra

Nightvision - Daft Punk

Youre Gonna Go Far, Kid - The Offspring

Stepping Stone - Lemaitre, Mark Johns

Coattails - BROODS

Warrior - AURORA

Taking Stride, Making a Difference. Becoming Robin and Leaving Tim Drake Behind.

Here We Go - Extreme Music

Everything Now - Arcade Fire

Thunder - Imagine Dragons

I Wont Give Up - Jason Mraz

The Obeah Man.

Daydreaming - Radiohead

Night Time - The fin.

The sense of me - Mud Flow

Contagion - The Clench - The Epidemic

Dont worry about me - killedmyself

Cataclysm - The Earthquake

Hide & Seek - Amber Run

Tower Of Babel - Batmans Contingency Plans Revelation

I Am Not A Robot - MARINA

Afraid - The Neighbourhood

Robin No More - Replaced by Stephanie Brown - Retaking the Mantle

Asleep - The Smiths

Islands - Zola Blood

How to Disappear Completely - Radiohead

Wide Awake - Grizfolk

Turning - Foreign Air

Are You Satisfied? - MARINA

The Return of Jason Todd

The Pretender - Infected Mushroom

Lost on You - LP

Even in My Dreams, I Cant Win - Bad Suns

Identity Crisis - Death of his Dad, Move to Bludhaven

Runaway - AURORA

Tired as Fuck - The Staves

All I Want - Kodaline

Lost - Emily Afton

Infinite Crisis - Bludhaven destroyed, death of his friends. Return to Gotham.

Youth - Daughter

Cocoon - Milky Chance

Way Down We Go - KALEO

Final Crisis - Death of Batman

Hear Me - Imagine Dragons

Into the Black - Chromatics

Robin FIRED

We Used To Be Friends - The Dandy Warhols

Non Believer - London Grammar

Lights Out - Royal Blood

Till I Die - A Love Like Pi

Red Robin

No Sleep - SNOW CULTURE

Who Are You - C2C, Olivier Day Soul

I Of The Storm - Of Monsters And Men

New Person, Same Old Mistakes - Tame Impala

Chasing Honey - Wild Party

Lost Control - With Lions

All For You - Night Riots

Feel Something - Jaymes Young

Lullaby Bye - Dr. Steel

Joining The League of Assassins. Disrupting Their Operations.

Secrets - OneRepublic

Mountain At My Gates - Foals

Unstoppable - The Score

Watch Me Walk - Jay Watts

Waves - Dean Lewis

Bruises - Lewis Capaldi

Look Up - Chairlift

Wide Open - The Chemical Brothers

Getting Bruce Back. Return To Gotham. The League Retaliates

Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want - The Smiths

Ill Be There For You - Yungtown, Austin Hargrave

I Promise - Radiohead

Stockholm - Atlas Genius

A Mask of My Own Face - Lemon Demon

The Hit List

Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes

Veridis Quo - Daft Punk

Manipulator - Infected Mushroom

[howardswife]

Simulation Theory Super Deluxe Film Box Set

MUSE brings their Simulation Theory tour to life in this limited edition 80s-inspired D2C exclusive super deluxe film box set. This version  includes a clear/pink nucleus LP with selections from the band’s September 2019 performance at London’s O2 Arena housed in a gatefold jacket, a VHS-like box containing a HD 5.1 DTS Master Audio Blu-Ray of the film, a fluorescent pink cassette of the film score written by Matt Bellamy, a Marvel Simulation Theory comic book and an 11x17 Marvel Muse poster*. Each box will have metallic foil packaging.

In addition, this box includes a separate, specially designed box containing an embroidered Murph Moto Jacket, MUSE Wood Sunglasses, and Murph Face Mask and will ONLY be available in this box set.

The Murph Moto Jacket is a custom cut and sewn matte and gloss satin, featuring a large embroidered Murph across the back, custom MUSE zipper pull on a right arm pocket, band logo neck print, and matching trim details along the collar, wrists, and waist. The Muse Wood Sunglasses are made from recycled bamboo wood and feature the band logo across the left frame arm.

LP

Side A:

Algorithm (Alternate Reality Version)

Pressure (Film Edit)

Break It to Me

The Dark Side

Thought Contagion

Dig Down (Gospel Version)

Side B:

Propaganda (Acoustic Version)

Algorithm

Metal Medley

CassetteSide

A:

1) Simulation Theory Film Intro Music

2) Psycho Murf Speaks

3) Zombie Murphy gets wired upSide

B:

4) Behold, The Glove

5) Emotionality Rush

6) Simulation Theory Film End Credits with Newscaster

It costs € 500 if you’re wondering XD

[meredithalden]

DATING SIMS ARE GOOD AND YOU SHOULD PLAY THEM: A MANIFESTO

hello everyone, I am here today to talk to you about the most important literary genre ever created. yes that's right. you know exactly which one I mean.

This write-up presumes that you know absolutely zero about dating sims (to be more specific: dating simulation videogames), except for the fact that they exist. If you didn’t know that, well, now you know that. If any of this is a retread, my apologies. Please feel extremely free to comment, make corrections, additions, pile on, discourse, etc.

Part 1.  JAPANESE DATING SIMS: INCEPTION

Dating sims weren't invented by Konami, but they're the ones responsible for massively popularizing it and establishing all the now-classic genre standards (or genre cliches, depending on how you look at it). Tokimeki Memorial came out in 1994 for PC.

Per Wikipedia, lightly edited for clarity: "In a typical dating sim, the player controls a male avatar surrounded by a variety of female characters. The gameplay involves conversing with these girls, attempting to increase their internal 'love meter' through correct choices of dialogue and action. The game lasts for a fixed period of in-game time, such as one month, or three years. When the game ends, the player either loses the game if they failed to properly win over any of the girls, or they 'complete' one of the girls' routes, achieving eternal love (or getting sex, depending on what type of sub-genre the game falls under). This gives the games more replay value, since the player can focus on a different girl each time, trying to get a different ending."

Tokimeki Memorial (and all of its subsequent sequels and spin-offs) take place during the 3 years of the player character's Japanese high school career, including archetypal events such as the sports festival, the cultural festival, Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's day, and (at the end of the game) graduation.

A poster on the Something Awful forums made an extremely comprehensive screenshot & text-based Let's Play of Tokimeki games 1 through 3, and also one of the spin-off games, where the genders are flipped. In that spin-off, the player avatar is a high school girl, pursuing various boys. (In general, gender-flipped genre variants where you play as a girl are referred to as "Otome Games," i.e. "Games for Young Ladies").

These Tokimeki Memorial Let's Plays are archived here.

In order to understand this foundational series, you definitely do not have to read this whole archive (it's approximately 1 billion words altogether. These games are long and text-heavy), but I would recommend reading reading the summary write-ups for each game in the overview page that I linked up above, and maybe the first couple update chapters for each game, so you can get a feel for the overall vibe & conventions of the genre. Or you can probably find a bunch of video LPs on YouTube, if that's more your style! Or you can play them yourself! (I played Girl's Side 2 on a Nintendo DS emulator, and enjoyed myself a whole bunch.)

I like this particular Let's Play a lot because   A. Reading is just personally easier and faster for me than watching   B. The author is really thorough and takes the time to explain all the idiosyncratic Japanese cultural tropes and references that come up, and I think that's neat.

Part 2.  THE CONTAGION SPREADS

Any game with characters that you can "romance," or build up their "affection stats" by making various choices, owes this mechanic to dating sims.

Some examples of games from completely different genres, which nevertheless incorporate dating sim mechanics:

Every Dragon Age game, every Mass Effect game, every Knights of the Old Republic game (thanks for doing what you do, Bioware!), Fallout 4, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Skyrim, Grand Theft Auto 4, Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, Final Fantasy 7, the entire Persona series, The Witcher 3, indie darlings Oxenfree and Night in The Woods…

And also, there are a bunch of games that ARE straight-up dating sims, but stray from the genre-typical high school setting and genre-typical cast of beautiful hetero romanceable characters. They may also stray from the convention of having every character be "winnable."

You probably already know about Dream Daddy, where you play as a dad, and date other dads: https://kotaku.com/dream-daddy-creators-explain-why-you-can-t-smooch-all-t-1797354455

Rose of Winter is about a female mercenary warrior hired to escort 4 handsome princes: https://kotaku.com/rose-of-winter-is-a-visual-novel-about-first-love-1788036938

Katawa Shoujo is about a boy who transfers to a school for disabled children: http://www.katawa-shoujo.com/about.php

Monster Prom is about getting hot monsters to agree to be your prom date: http://monsterprom.pizza/

Part 3.  HEY YOU. YEAH YOU, BEHIND THE LAPTOP. HEY. YOU. I'M TALKING TO YOU.  

*puts on sunglasses*  Let's get...... metafictional.

I’m not going to say much about any of the following games. Just play them. Play them blind, or as close to blind as possible.

Play this:

don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story

Here is a non-spoilery review if you're curious to learn more first: https://killscreen.com/articles/review-dont-take-it-personally-babe-it-just-aint-your-story/

And then play this:

Hatoful Boyfriend

steam store link (DON'T READ ANY STEAM REVIEWS.)

Non-spoilery review here: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/12/hatoful-boyfriend-review-love-pigeons-japanese-dating-sim

And then play this next one.

Be advised that it gets heavy. If you play it at night, maybe don't be alone in the house. Content warning: “This game is not suitable for children, or those who are easily disturbed.”

Doki Doki Literature Club

steam store link (DO NOT READ ANY STEAM REVIEWS. DO NOT READ ANY OTHER REVIEWS. DO NOT READ ANYTHING. DO NOT GOOGLE THIS GAME. DON'T ASK YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT IT EITHER.*)

*If you want to know why it's good, or if you want to know more about the specific nature of the content warning before deciding if this game is okay for you to play, feel free to ask me. I'll let you know whatever you need to know to make an informed decision so you can feel comfortable.

~ The End ~

Thank you for coming to my thesis defense. Everyone, be sure to tell me which dateable dads, pigeons, monsters, and fictional Japanese high school students you think are the cutest and the best and most dateable.

[ayma-nidiot]

In the White Light - Prideshipping fic chapter 4

Chapter 4 – My Blackened Heart, Scorched by Flames

“Kaiba…”

“Huh?” Kaiba had remembered being in his duel with a weirdo named Alister a mere few seconds ago. So why the hell was he floating in a spacious room with two ice sculptures? “I must be hallucinating. Why else would the Dark Magician Girl be talking to me in a room that doesn’t really exist?”

“Kaiba, you have been chosen to awaken the might dragon Critias… All you have to do is remove the sword.”

“Excuse me?” Kaiba gave up trying to understand what he was doing there and simply did as he was told. He soon learned that these were not ice sculptures, but dragons encased in ice, as Critias broke free of his prison.

“Now join forces with the dragon.”

“Anything to shut you up. …There. Now can you please awaken me from this dream?”

Kaiba’s hand lingered on the top card of his deck as he simply stared into space. In the real world, he still floated – but this time, it was on the Seal of Orichalcos.

“What’s wrong, Kaiba?” Alister, Kaiba’s opponent in this match, waited impatiently at the other end of the Seal. “Are you going to play your card or not?”

Kaiba said nothing, but merely scowled at Alister as he drew his next card. Am I still dreaming? I never put this card in my deck! …Still, it looks exactly like the dragon from my dream. I just pray to all that is good that it’s not another one of Alister’s tricks.

No! Dark Magician Girl’s voice played in Kaiba’s head again. You must use that card! It’s the only way to beat Alister!

“I now play Fang of Critias!”

“What? You can’t play that card!”

“Ah, but I can!” Kaiba slammed the card on his Duel Disk, revealing a face-down card at the same time. “Now I’ll fuse my Fang of Critias with my Crush card to create a new monster! Behold!”

“Seto, I wish you would stop saying ‘behold’ every time you played a good card…” Mokuba would have frowned, had he not believed his brother now had the upper hand.

“Shut up, Mokuba,” Kaiba scolded as Critias began to fuse with the trap card.

“What the hell? You can’t fuse a trap card with a monster!”

“Looks to me like I just did, Alister! Hahaha!” Now that the fusion was complete, Kaiba ordered, “Rise up, Doom Virus Dragon!”

“Hah! Big deal. My monsters are way stronger than yours!”

“This game isn’t just about attack points. Doom Virus Dragon also has a special ability: it can destroy all monsters on the field with attack strength of 1500 or more! And now that your monsters are gone… My dragon, attack Alister’s life points directly!”

“Oh, you haven’t beaten me yet, Kaiba. Reveal my face-down card, Contagion of Madness! So while I lose 1900 Life Points, you also lose 950 thanks to my magic card!”

As the Doom Virus Dragon fell to the Contagion of Madness, Alister lost the remainder of his LP – and so did Kaiba. “It’s a draw!”

Mokuba refrained from trying to get close to his brother – that was, until the Seal of Orichalcos stopped shaking, and disappeared along with Alister, knocking Kaiba backwards. “He’s gone!”

“This isn’t over, Kaiba!” Alister’s voice temporarily remained. “I’ll be back to make sure you pay for what your father did to me!”

After Alister had disappeared for good, Mokuba asked, “Seto, what does he mean ‘what your father did to me?’”

“…It’s a long story. Apparently, Father had destroyed his village to expand KaibaCorp’s influence, and in the process his kid brother was killed. What it has to do with me, I don’t know and I don’t really care.”

“That’s mean! His little brother is dead, and you’re saying ‘I don’t care?’ So what then, do you not care about me?”

“Does not giving you all your food, clothes, and toys not count as ‘caring about you,’ ingrate?” Kaiba yelled.

“…Seto…” Mokuba instantly started crying. “I’m sorry… I’m a terrible brother.”

“No, Mokuba, I should be the one apologizing… Still, I can’t say I fully understand what’s going on, so I think I need to do some research into this ‘Seal of Orichalcos’ and ‘guardian dragon’ business. If Alister really is going to try to duel me again, then I need to learn all I can about him and what his agenda is.”

As Kaiba motioned to leave, Mokuba asked, “Can I help you, Brother? Please?”

“If you’re aware of the danger, then okay. …And again, I apologize.”

______

Kaiba had spent the week calling everyone he knew to get information and researching on the Internet. Unfortunately, half of the people he tried to call “had their souls stolen (whatever that meant)” and the other half were more useless than wet paper. Maximillion Pegasus, to whom he now spoke over video phone in his office, was definitely the latter. “So you mean to tell me you’ve never created a card called ‘Fang of Critias’ or ‘Seal of Orichalcos?’”

“That’s right,” Pegasus answered from the other end of the phone. “Just like those ‘Pyramid of Light’ and ‘Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon’ cards. I think you’ve got yourself a new enemy, Kaiba boy.”

“Ya’ think?”

“Hey now, don’t get mad at me for something that’s not my fault… It’s just the truth.”

“I don’t think I have anything else to say to you… Bye.” Kaiba dropped the phone into the cradle and rolled back in his seat. Just as he wanted to take a nap, Mokuba let himself in the office. “Mokuba, what is it?”

Mokuba offered Kaiba tea and biscuits before asking, “So did you learn anything?”

Kaiba took a sip of the tea. “Nothing, except that Pegasus is a useless son of a bi- son of a gun. Apparently, the Seal of Orichalcos isn’t one of his original cards.”

“You think some big scary god… monster… thing might be behind it?”

“Probably. But I don’t even know where to start looking! What if that smug Alister comes knocking at my door?” Kaiba gritted a tea biscuit between his teeth.

“Why don’t you try asking Yugi and his friends!”

“No. Anything but that.”

“But they’re really good at finding trouble! Especially that… um… really tall version of Yugi. I think the pharaoh dude.”

Kaiba hid his blush behind the teapot at the mention of Yami Yugi. “Hmm… You may be on to something, Mokuba. Doesn’t make me any more excited to see the Dweeb Patrol again. Anyway, thanks for the tea and biscuits. Guards!”

“Yes?” Two German men entered the office.

Kaiba gave Mokuba a few ¥10000 bills before instructing his employees, “Take Mokuba into town and get him something nice. He deserves it for being such a good brother.”

Mokuba’s face beamed. “Th-Thank you, Seto! Bye!”

When Mokuba and Kaiba’s employees left, Kaiba put his head down on his desk. The pharaoh… Why didn’t I try calling him?

________

“Kaiba… Why are you here again?”

Kaiba had awakened to the chamber in which he met Dark Magician Girl – and the last dragon was no longer there. “That’s what I should ask you. Can I have a… I don’t know, a more typical dream?”

“You’re troubled. I can tell.”

“And that’s your business because?”

“I think that helping save the world is very much my business.”

“So why should it be mine?”

“Because your company would probably be at stake if something bad happened to the world in which it resides.”

“Okay, now you have my attention. Can you tell me what I need to know?”

“Your enemy is a man name Dartz, and Alister is one of his henchmen. He’s interested in taking your company over… And if he succeeds, the fate of the world could-”

“Oh, that does it! I’m going to give that bastard Dartz a piece of my mind! Thank you, Dark Magician Girl.”

“You’re welcome! But please… Find the other two chosen ones…”

_____

Kaiba felt no grogginess as he stood right up and motioned to arise from his desk. “All right, Dartz, just wait until I- Hm?”

The video phone on his desk rang, prompting Kaiba to sit back down.

“KaibaCorp, this is the man who’s about to kill you for interrupting my otherwise great day speaking- Oh. If it isn’t the blondie of the Dweeb Patrol.”

“My name’s Joey Wheeler, you jerk, and don’t you forget it!”

“Hey, Joey, you’re supposed to be nice to him, remember?” Téa whined.

“Shit, I forgot…” Joey quickly changed his demeanour. “I… don’t suppose you could lend us one of your private jets?”

“And what makes you think I would lend you something you don’t deserve?”

“Please, Kaiba!” Tristan showed himself and begged. “We’re stuck in the middle of the desert and we don’t even know where the nearest grocery store is!”

“You made your bed, so sleep in it.”

“But we need to find Dartz’s other henchmen! Yug’s already found his guardian dragon, Timaeus… And get this, I got a dragon called Hermos!”

“Did you say ‘Dartz?’ And ‘guardian dragon?’”

“Yeah! But… um… There’s something else I gotta tell you. Yug got his soul stolen by Rafael, one of the henchmen, after he lost a duel to him.”

Kaiba remained silent for a few seconds before saying, “Did you say… Yugi lost?” He took a look around the video, and noticed Yami Yugi in the corner, looking down in shame. The dweebs must be talking about the Yugi who’s half my height. But the pharaoh… Why… did he lose?

“Joey, dammit all, you weren’t supposed to tell him that!” Duke smacked Joey upside the head. “Uh… Yeah. That’s the long and short of it, Kaiba. So pretty please?”

“Go to hell, all of you!” And with that, Kaiba slammed the phone into the cradle. “Yugi… he lost!”

Mokuba had just come back from his shopping trip and had already put his purchases back in his room. Coming back to Kaiba’s office, he asked, “Seto? What just happened?”

“That fucking Yugi lost against some fucking nobody!” Kaiba arose sharply, knocking over everything on his desk.

“H-Hey, calm down!”

In the span of ten seconds, Kaiba’s back began to burn, and he could feel strong butterflies in his stomach. “Yugi…”

“Seto!” Mokuba didn’t care that Kaiba looked ready to kill him, he approached him anyway. “Snap out of it!”

“Rafael!” A giant sapphire appeared on Kaiba’s forehead as the windows overseeing much of Domino City shattered. “You are going to pay for what you have done!”

“Brother, what’s happening to you?” Mokuba simply fell to his knees in fear of what his brother had become – a wondrous but fearsome dragon that he knew well. “Why did you turn into the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon?”

“Raaaaawr!” In this form, Kaiba couldn’t speak – and instead he whipped Mokuba with his heavy tail, throwing the boy against the wall so hard that it shook the furniture.

“Ouch!” Mokuba began crying – loud enough for five of Kaiba’s employees to hear.

“Mokuba!” One of them led the other four to Mokuba’s side before pursuing Kaiba. “You monster! You’re not getting away with this!”

Kaiba ignored this declaration and merely flew out of the building at breakneck speed.

[stephaniemarlowftw]

Absent In Body (Current and former members of Amenra, Neurosis, Sepultura) Announce Debut Album, Plague God, out March 25th

Watch a music video for first single “The Acres/The Ache” now.

ABSENT IN BODY make their Relapse Records debut with the terrifying new album Plague God, out March 25, 2022 on LP/CD/CS/Digital (pre-orders available here).

Featuring current and former members of AMENRA, NEUROSIS, and SEPULTURA, Plague God is bound by the same ideals of unity and fearlessly uncompromising honesty of expression that have driven their respective bands to imperious heights of reverence and groundbreaking sonic deliverance. Plague God is by turns devastating and sublime, drawn from musicians for whom life and art are inextricably bound.

Mathieu Vandekerckhove comments:

“We had not imposed any limitations or boundaries on ourselves to create this music.

Everything happened without any compromise, we gathered and let inspiration run freely.

It is the beauty and the strength of this album.”

Iggor Cavalera comments:

"It feels great to collaborate with such forward-thinking minds like Colin, Mathieu, and Scott on AIB. The music is dense and slowly brutal, very similar to the times we are living."

Watch (+ share) Absent In Body's "The Acres/The Ache" here.

“The Acres/The Ache” music video was filmed and edited by Mathieu Vandekerckhove.

Plague God track listing:

Rise From Ruins

In Spirit In Spite

Sarin

The Acres/The Ache

The Half Rising Man

MORE INFO:

In an era overrun by information, misinformation, unseen algorithms and viral contagion, to seek out what’s truly human in the face of overwhelming and unfathomable forces has perhaps become our most sacred of tasks. It’s an impulse that lies at the very heart of Plague God, the debut album from Absent In Body – the oppressive, industrial-driven collaboration by members of AMENRA, NEUROSIS and SEPULTURA. Bound by the same ideals of unity and fearlessly uncompromising honesty of expression that have driven their respective bands to imperious heights of reverence and groundbreaking sonic deliverance, Plague God is by turns devastating and sublime, drawn from musicians for whom life and art are inextricably bound.

Initially the brainchild of AMENRA guitarist Mathieu J. Vandekerckhove, and NEUROSIS vocalist/guitarist Scott Kelly, ABSENT IN BODY formed in 2017. Immediately recognising their kinship, and with AMENRA frontman Colin H. Van Eeckhout brought in on vocals and bass, what emerged is a reflection of the intervening years of turbulence, extending it's scope as it navigates across five stretches of unstable terrain. From the opening “Rise From Ruins” with ex-Sepultura drummer, Iggor Cavalera’s tribal beat emerging from foreboding, near-subsonic oscillations to explode in a tide of corrosive riffs and feral howls, through “Sarin’s” steadfast, procession-through-purgatory groove, to “The Half Rising Man’s” matrix of organic/mechanic evolution, it’s an album in constant dialogue between the animalistic, the human and the industrial, and a hunger to distill a truth, something unpolluted from the fray.

Protest music is often perceived as a petition, or a counter-argument against a controlling force. There is another sense of protest, though, that of a machine under stress: articulating the pressures weighing down on it by means of an involuntary, primal response. It’s these states of critical mass at which we must truly find ourselves, under duress maybe, but unblinded and alive. Plague God doesn’t just give voice to these moments of truth, but in the band’s deep kinship integral to every claustrophobic judder, every stretch of atmospheric dread and helpless alias assumed, lies a freedom we both forget and attain at our peril.

Recorded and produced by Tim De Gieter, Much luv studio BE

Mastered by Jack Shirley, Atomic Garden USA

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ABSENT IN BODY VISIT:

INSTAGRAM | BANDCAMP

[grindpromotionrecords]

Pre Order Now! Ascending from the odious decay of their first LP, Cerebral Rot passes from animal to human contagion with a new more purulent virus on ‘Excretion Of Mortality’. A return of such festering decrepitude and anatomical canker as befits the true adherents of vile and sick underground Death Metal. Soaked in the swamp of radioactive sewage, Cerebral Rot’s tumor like growth on ‘Excretion Of Mortality’ bludgeons with a hammering heaviness that few can manage or survive. A methodical focus on attaining maximum barbarism through every aspect of the production, from the meaty, dripping guitars to the immense rhythm section and Schwab’s nuclear travesty vocals, to the deceptively straightforward bludgeoning of the songs, exposes a scalpel-like cutting precision to this seemingly base display of horrid malevolence. Before leaving Jack Endino’s Soundhouse Studio in Seattle permanently uninhabitable for the next 500 hundred years, the pungent bubbling mess they set to tape on ‘Excretion Of Mortality’ lingers there, and everywhere, like a malodorous putrescence at the crossroads of the excremental and the existential. #cerebralrot #excretionofmortality #20buckspin #metal #metalhead #death #deathmetal #vinyl #metalvinyl #vinylrecords #vinylcollector #vinyllovers #grindpromotionrecords (presso Bassano del Grappa) https://www.instagram.com/p/CO25r30p4Eb/?igshid=b3n7p8ojef28

[m3t4ln3rd]

Listen to Cerebral Rot's Execretion of Mortality in full

Band: Cerebral RotAlbum: Excretion of MortalityRelease Date: June 25th, 2021 (CD, CS, digital), July 30th, 2021 (LP)Label: 20 Buck SpinPurchase: 20 Buck Spin webstoreBandcamp Excretion of Mortality track listing: “Excretion of Mortality”“Vile Yolk of Contagion”“Spewing Purulence”“Bowels of Decrepitude”“Drowned in Malodor”“Retching Innards”“Crowning the Disgustulent (Breed of Repugnance)”

[capitalchaostelevision]

CEREBRAL ROT Announce Excretion Of Mortality For Summer Release.

CEREBRAL ROT passes from animal to human contagion with a new more purulent virus on Excretion Of Mortality. @20buckspinlabel @EarsplitPR #cerebralrot #deathmetal #thrashmetal #blackmetal #heavymetal

20 Buck Spin presents the rotted second LP from Seattle death metal quartet CEREBRAL ROT, announcing Excretion Of Mortality for Summer release. (more…)

[infraredmag]

CEREBRAL ROT: Seattle Death Metal Act To Deliver Second LP, Excretion Of Mortality, Through 20 Buck Spin In June; “Bowels Of Decrepitude” Now Streaming

CEREBRAL ROT: Seattle Death Metal Act To Deliver Second LP, Excretion Of Mortality, Through 20 Buck Spin In June; “Bowels Of Decrepitude” Now Streaming

photos by Erin Severson 20 Buck Spin presents the rotted second LP from Seattle death metal quartet CEREBRAL ROT, announcing Excretion Of Mortality for Summer release, and putting the album’s lead single, “Bowels Of Decrepitude,” on public display. Ascending from the odious decay of their first LP, CEREBRAL ROT passes from animal to human contagion with a new more purulent virus on Excretion Of…

[mindanaodailynews17]

Town in Misamis records 4 new cases of Covid-19, mayor orders lockdown

BALIANGAO, Misamis Occidental--Mayor Agne Yap has declared Purok 4 in Barangay Miray under localized lockdown after the town recorded four new cases of Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the Mindanao Daily News online learned yesterday.

Yap ordered the lockdown to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 contagion in the area and provide guidelines for the movement of its residents.

A previously unknown COVID-19 infected Authorized Person Outside of Residence (APOR) from the province of Zamboanga del Norte  together with his friends had a morning meal and close interaction with relatives in Barangay Punta Miray, Baliangao including the 8-year-old child of the APOR’s friend.

The contact resulted in the transmission of COVID-19 to the child (Local Patient n0.01) as seen in the confirmed RT-PCR test result of the child three weeks later.

Three other family members of the confirmed COVID-19 (LP-01) in Purok 2 and Purok 4 of Barangay Punta Miray were tested positive for Igm and IgG on Rapid Diagnostic test (RDT) conducted for the close contact family members of LP-01 in their other house at Purok-4, Barangay Punta Miray.

To further prevent and contain the spread of the unseen infection, the family members who were positive on RDT were immediately transported to the provincial isolation facility for confirmatory RT-PCR test.

The other family members living in Purok 2, Barangay Punta Miray of LP-01, who tested negative on RDT, were immediately and carefully transferred to their other house at Purok 4 and were placed in strict home quarantine to contain their movements.

Three more close contacts of local patient LP-01 have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 after their RT-PCR test results came out, October 1.

Baliangao Mayor Agne Yap released an order declaring Purok 4, Barangay Punta Miray under localized lockdown to prevent, contain and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 contagion in the area and provide guidelines for the movement of its residents. (PR). BALIANGAO