#cool kickstarter project btw

[prcttyinpcnk]

Phiona does roller derby! However it's not... conventional roller derby. It involves magic, and weird tracks... and swords.

[casliveblog]

Custom Toonami Block Week 180 Rundown

The Witch from Mercury: This episode starts out with a nice little scene that I wanna break down for a bit because I think it goes through the themes of the episode and Suletta and Mirorine’s character developments. Suletta’s still upset that she doesn’t know Fake Ceres is dead and thinks she’s just being ghosted while Miorine’s a little disturbed by this sudden bout of heterosexuality in her new wife but she basically establishes Suletta does have protagonist syndrome and will just kinda run in and help anyone she sees while Miorine is the queen of staying in her own lane and doesn’t stick her neck out for anyone. The two are invited to the big Investment Ball and we get to have some fun seeing everyone in their fancy dresses and everyone comments on how Miorine’s actually supporting her new fiancée instead of doing her self-proclaimed staying in her own lane showing Suletta has rubbed off on her a bit, this whole episode is basically showing the ways Suletta has helped Miorine grow and it’s really kinda cool. Miorine meets her new mother-in-law Prospera and they kinda have a passive-aggressive chat since Prospera is still kinda mad about Miorine’s dad murdering her entire crew but is also a fan of how much Miorine’s not a fan of her dad. Prospera basically tells her that for someone that hates her situation so much she sure doesn’t hesitate to use the perks and status available to her and with no standing of her own she won’t get anywhere with just determination and words of pride. Real Ceres has to take Fake Ceres’s place since he’s, you know, fucking dead, and we’re in the awkward situation where the real guy has to pretend to be the guy that was pretending to be him and Suletta’s hoping to progress a relationship that no longer exists while Real Ceres has to pretend he knows what she’s talking about and is oddly more amicable yet more dubious than Fake Ceres. The two get on stage and get called out for the whole NewType thing that happened last episode which apparently only happens with two Gundams that synchronize. Ceres’s group is like ‘oh yeah we made a Gundam too btw, we’ll take the tax writeoff’ and Suletta’s gonna get executed or some shit, the difference between rich people and poor people breaking the law. Miorine’s character development culminates in her coming to Suletta’s rescue, promising to make a company out of Prospera’s company and the defunct part of Ceres’s group that will work to make sure Gundams no longer kill people since neither Suletta nor Ceres are dead from piloting Gundams. Like Legally Speaking that doesn’t matter, bottom line Gundams are still illegal even if they eliminate the reason they were outlawed so you shouldn’t be able to make a company that does that without changing the law but Miorine’s dad basically makes the laws so I guess it doesn’t matter. Still, just as Prospera said, no one will invest in the new Gund-Arm company run by a teenager without some more pull. So Miorine bravely abandons all pretense and earnestly asks her father to invest in the project she believes in. Whether it’s genuine care for her after all this or some smug satisfaction of seeing her actually ask for his help, he does invest a small amount which causes a domino effect since the top guy invested everyone else fully funds Miorine’s Kickstarter to save her wife. The funny thing is Prospera basically works for Miorine now and she does confirm that Aerial is a Gundam which for some reason freaks Suletta out.

Inuyasha The Final Act: Sesshomaru goes to mope to Totosai about his dad kind of being a dick and wanting him to master Meido Zangetsuha to give it to Inuyasha because he’s the protagonist. Totosai confirms this is the truth and it is kind of a dick move but he also says that their father cared for Sesshomaru too and also had a long-term plan for him but he’ll never realize it while he’s still attached his father’s heirlooms as the only path forward. Meanwhile while Sesshomaru’s away, Naraku takes the chance to just come after Kohaku personally which is the most awkward ‘Main villain slowly chases the weakest characters in the plot’ sequence since Aizen chased Ichigo’s friends around Karakura Town, though Naraku’s kind of run out of henchmen at this point since he has to do this shit himself and can’t actually touch Kohaku’s shard directly since Kikyo’s light is still protecting it. Still you’d think he’d be able to catch up to A-Un or like blanket the forest in Miasma faster than Kohaku can get away since this is big Post-Hakurei Naraku against two children, an imp and a horse, never thought you’d see the whole plot hinge on fucking A-Un did you? Eventually he does catch up but Sango’s able to save Kohaku from Naraku’s control while the others are delayed by Byakuya. Still, one of my favorite moments in the series happens when Sango throws Hiraikotsu and Naraku’s like ‘bro I am the main villain, you really think you can take me with a D-list attack?’ and gets absolutely WRECKED by the Poison Hiraikotsu, to the point where he can’t regenerate and everyone gets a hit in on him before he has to run away with his tail between his legs. This’d be like if during that Aizen scene fucking Renji came out of nowhere and smacked Aizen down, like it’s great, I really appreciate it. Still they heal up Kohaku and get him to agree to stay with the main group so he’s not in grave danger whenever Sesshomaru has a temper tantrum because this will not be the last time. Naraku also has a shard of Kanna’s demon to have Byakuya give to Sesshomaru which I know what this is, it’s time for the best grudge match in the series.

Castlevania: Last time after we got an update on everyone except Isaac, now we get Isaac. After raiding another town for a mirror that shows him Hector’s being held in Carmilla’s castle, the people are predictably assholes and he starts murdering only to come to an uneasy alliance with a ship captain that will take him where he needs to go. Meanwhile Carmilla develops a plan to use the fact that 90% of the Vampire leaders are dead and everywhere’s in chaos to basically take over the country using the manufactured manpower that Hector can provide. The rest of the girl squad rightly tell her if he’s so crucial to the plan she probably shouldn’t have made his life a living hell and beat him within an inch of dying. Like this is what I mean when I say Carmilla has her carrot and stick backwards, she likes to think she’s this epic chessmaster femme fatale but she’s just not very good at it which at least her squad is aware of. One of the squad named Lenore offers to bring Hector back around from hating their guts and judging by the anecdotes it seems like she’s quite similar to Hector in personality so I’m intrigued to see where this’ll go now that Hector’s character development is in the hands of someone more subtle than a flying mallet. Not much happens with Trevor and Sypha this time but local busybody and Jack Sparrow type Saint Germain realizes he can’t out-Jack Sparrow Trevor but he does get access to the Priory for the purposes of getting more occult shit done for the Dracula Sympathizers that run the place. The only weird thing is apparently they think Dracula’s with his wife in Hell and bitch that lady was the kindest woman in the world she better be in heaven or ain’t none of us getting in. Lastly Alucard finds two Japanese Vampire Hunters who want to use his new home base to better learn how to hunt vampires. Kind of convenient that after resolving himself to use the combined knowledge of Dracula and the Belmonts for good an opportunity to do that just kinda falls into his lap but sure, give Alucard some replacement humans so he doesn’t go crazy from solitary confinement.  

Delicious in Dungeon: It’s a full-on Marcille episode this week, we get her backstory and learn she basically has Gifted Child Burnout Syndrome because she was really good in school and did everything by the books but has a hard time adapting when things don’t really shake out the same in an active environment. Baby Falin takes her to a real dungeon and Marcille realizes that the reason everyone calls Falin weird is cause she’s FUCKIN’ WEIRD, but also they become friends when Falin teaches her about the ecosystems of dungeons and helps her advance her dream of basically making an auto-farm minecraft dungeon that’s risk free. Back in the present she reflects on how the other party members left them after Falin was captured and is kinda holding it against them especially since she probably has the strongest connection to Falin out of anyone except MAYBE Laios, and that’s a big maybe. However she’s attacked and fucked right up by an Undine which is only the second time someone’s been fucked up so far in this campaign and they have to use the Joestar Family Secret Technique to survive but because Marcille’s a squishy wizard she’s basically out of juice and they feed her grilled liver to replenish her blood and shit. It’s kind of funny how we get to see her outside of the context of being the squad’s punching bag, like in her element she’s like the Frieren of her circle but she’s essentially in the wrong series. Anyway one of the girls that left them is on their way down to where the party’s at so guess we’re heading for another confrontation maybe.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End: It’s Fern’s birthday again and after all the hubbub with Stark’s birthday, he seemingly forgot about hers and she is pissed. Sein puts in some good work as the new team member and official adult-ish person and councils Fern, basically saying the same thing I did before that she doesn’t really have the best experience dealing with men and she needs to be a little more patient when it comes to letting relationships develop. Stark reveals he didn’t actually forget but wanted to go out and pick something with Fern like she did for him but once things started getting heated he basically got too flustered and angry to try and elaborate. Sein and Frieren talk about their half-and-half responsibility as adults whereas both of them are also pretty childish in their own ways but are also good role models in different ways. Frieren reminisces about Heiter talking about how every adult is really a child inside but tries to act authoritative to guide the actual children and she praises both him and Sein with headpats for their adult-ish efforts. Next they’re traveling by carriage and get abducted by a griffin thing and we learn about the limits of flight magic because as any DBZ fan will tell you, having unlimited flight does kinda fuck with your worldbuilding. Still they manage to make a crash landing and we get a nice little vignette about the ring Himmel gave Frieren and the bracelet Stark gave fern basically being Amulets of Mara and meaning eternal love, Stark had no fucking clue but Himmel knew exactly what it meant and gave it to Frieren on purpose in a shot that’s quite a bit like a wedding proposal. Fern refuses to remove the bracelet since whatever external meaning it has, to her it’s a symbol of Stark’s hard work to make her happy and that’s what matters (also shipping stuff I guess if you wanna go that route), meanwhile Frieren’s only just learned of the true meaning of the ring and she lost it in the crash, just like Fern it means more to her because Himmel gave it to her rather than the symbol on it and she is grateful when the coachman gives her a spell to help find it and the light of her memory literally guides her to it, very good episode.

Vinland Saga: At long last Thorfinn finally comes home, it’s so dissonant to see Iceland barely change after all Thorfinn’s been through. Also it’s pretty funny to watch him have no idea what to do with his family, like he’s felt nothing but rage and/or stalwart determination for so long that watching him just kinda cave is pretty comedic. Ylva just straight up doesn’t believe it’s him and thinks Leif is punking them which is hard to discount when he literally has a backup Thorfinn he adopted right next to him, like it’s gotta be hard to identify someone across continents and decades before any sort of ID came into place considering Thorfinn doesn’t look anything like he did four years ago nevertheless sixteen. Still when his mom sees him she instantly knows it’s him, as mothers tend to do. He tells everyone the story of the whole series and it blows them away as much as it does us. Honestly I expected a little more pushback on the “You want to do WHAT with the slaves!?” but I’mma just chalk that up to Thorfinn telling the story really well. He also explains that he has to go as far as he can to get away from the reach of warring kings like Canute so people who want peace and freedom have a place to go. I’m tempted to say Iceland already seems pretty peaceful but we saw in season one the Vikings can just dip right in there if they need to, so it makes some sense he wants to start somewhere new instead of building up the existing village. Leif signs off on it and we’ve got ourselves a One Piece/Dr. Stone arc of sailing to an undiscovered place. Thorfinn does one last reflection on the top of the hill from episode one, remembering the slave his father freed and the first act of kindness in the series, reaffirming to himself that he will make a place for the helpless to run to where they can have peace.

And that does it for Vinland Saga, the last of the "Fuck it" pack I did a while back where I just dumped a bunch of shows I thought would be good for Toonami but was tired of waiting for and ironically absolutely none of them came to real Toonami in that time even though it's been over a year at this point, kinda wild to be finally done with it, at least until new seasons come out. I already have some ideas for what's gonna replace JJK and Vinland Saga so stay tuned on that front.

[aleclightofmylifewoodbane]

You guys dont know how excited for the project this is apart of IF YOU HAVENT SEEN IT !!! Cassie talked about it in one of her newsletters theres a kickstarter event going on next month and theres gonna be a whole bunch of cool stuff!! STUFF IVE BEEN WAITING FOR FOREVER IM SO EXCITED IM EATING THE PAINT OFF MY WALLS

link btw !!!

AND BTW HAVE YALL SEEN THIS YET BY CJ

I FEEL LIKE WE HAVENT BEEN FED IN FOREVER

THEY ALL LOOK SO GOOD !! TY LOOKS SO HANDSOME !! so very focused. dru is so pretty !! this makes me so excited im begging cj and cc for any and all content. as always the art is gorgeous i cant wait to see what this is meant to be a part of

[celestriakle]

I posted 2,331 times in 2022

That's 230 more posts than 2021!

16 posts created (1%)

2,315 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@hellonorik

@roach-works

@becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys

@teaboot

@elodieunderglass

I tagged 2,053 of my posts in 2022

Only 12% of my posts had no tags

#bugsnax - 138 posts

#deltarune - 59 posts

#tumblr - 55 posts

#undertale - 52 posts

#snorts - 52 posts

#pretty art - 45 posts

#angelic apparitions - 39 posts

#goncharov - 36 posts

#cool ocs - 35 posts

#animal vid - 34 posts

Longest Tag: 110 characters

#i’ve lived in what america considers a walkable city vs what europe does and they’re not even remitely similar

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

✨ 💸 🤔 ⚠️ 🛠 📉 ✨

- the good wizard

1 note - Posted April 1, 2022

#4

Every night you dream that you talk to a genie, when you wake up you can't remember what you wished for. One morning you wake up with a giant crab pincer replacing your right arm. What do you do?

I recognize carcinization has begun and look forward to evolving to my true form.

2 notes - Posted September 7, 2022

#3

Farewell Sweet Crabs 👋 🦀

When I remember my crab friends I'll think of:

the turning of the tides

2 notes - Posted July 24, 2022

#2

hi! just a quick question, have you listened to limetown? seeing the podcasts you liked in your pinned post, i think you might enjoy it! you have awesome taste in podcasts btw!

Thank you!!

Not yet! It's been on my to-listen list pretty much since I started listening to podcasts though. I've been really moseying to getting around to it since there was the long hiatus+I heard the ending wasn't great. Idk if that's true though, so I'm still planning on giving it a shot!

3 notes - Posted June 28, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hi! I found your at from a zine modding advice compilation doc. I am planning to make a zine, but I have no experience modding. I was wondering if I could get your advice on how to make realistic/fulfillable plans as a newbie?

Hi there! I'm in a zine mod advice doc? 0: I had no idea, could you send me a link? I'm curious!

So, I ran my zine solo and it was my first time running any sort of project like this. It was saddlestitched 30-40 pages (I don't remember exactly; this was several years ago) and we did merch: an enamel pin, a sticker sheet, a die-cut sticker, and two holographic prints. In the end, we made enough money to cover our costs and pay out $6 (approximately) to each contributor, but did not raise enough money to offer complimentary copies of the physical zine/merch. I was aiming to have enough for complimentary copies, which is why I'd call the project a semi-success.

This got long! But here's pretty much all the advice I got:

Know your audience. Is it a fandom zine? How big is the fandom? Original content zines will struggle more to gain interest. How big is YOUR platform, specifically? As lead, the onus is on you to get the word out at the start to attract contributors and potential buyers. Try to gauge how many copies you might sell from this. Lean conservative on your estimate and base your plan on that. (This is where interest checks come in!)

Pick your vendors. Familiarize yourself with the terminology they use. Compare and contrast prices and services using the sales estimate you devised in the last step. How long does shipping take? What is the policy if products come out defective? There are always going to be some defective products when producing en masse. Check reviews. Have you bought zines yourself? Contact the creators of zines you like and ask them which vendors they're using for their assorted products. (I had a great experience with mixam.) Don't forget to look into acquiring packaging and shipping costs (domestic and international)!

Decide how you're going to sell the zine. Kickstarter's great if you're using a vendor that has a set MOQ (minimum order quantity) or if you want to guarantee to be able to provide a certain level of compensation for your contributors, but it also takes a fee and means that, if you don't get enough orders, you have to start the campaign all over again. Bigcartel has more flexibility in terms of sales windows and such, but it's difficult to customize like kickstarter. Also, if you're using bigcartel and don't sell enough, you're on the hook for either refunding or fulfilling all the preorders you do get. You'll also need a stripe and paypal business account.

Make a budget. So you have an estimate of how many you think you'll sell. You know how much your vendors cost. You've accounted for your incidentals (kickstarter fee, packaging, gas to get to the post office, etc). Refer to other zines for what typical prices for your products are and set your prices based on that. (Analyzing what other zines are doing is generally a good idea.) What's the absolute minimum number of sales you need to cover costs? (Fewer orders usually increases production cost.) How many sales do you need to make to compensate your contributors? What will you do if there's excess money? What if it's not enough to split it among your contributors evenly? ($40 is a lot for one person, but it's basically nothing split 30 ways.) Are you going to make stretch goals?

Make a timeline. Interest check, contributor apps, concept submissions (you'll want to know what people are doing before they start working), periodic WIP checks to make sure everyone's on task (there will always be a few people who need to drop out), preorder period, manufacture time, shipping timeline. People will want to know what to expect, especially contributors. Ensure the contributors have plenty of time to work, since, chances are, they're effectively donating their time and effort. Keep in mind major holidays and school schedules; people will need more time if those are happening. Give yourself plenty of pillow space for unforseen issues, so you can stick to this timeline as much as possible throughout the process.

Have the full plan written out for your contributors before they arrive. Be clear and concise. Timeline, expectations in terms of content and behavior, instructions, how you're going to fulfill the zine, expected compensation. Not everyone knows how to prepare an image for print, so include that in your instructions. You're gonna want a discord for this. I also used google forms to manage check-ins and other such things.

Be involved, and COMMUNICATE. Talk to your contributors outside of check-ins. You're their hypeman! Hype them up! Make sure your passion's there for all to see! Nothing, and I mean nothing, kills a project faster than a disinterested/aloof leader. You'll also want to communicate any issues to contributors and buyers asap. It's not embarrassing; people will be patient (mostly) as long as they have communication. Silence is upsetting.

Consider marketing. I've written this as if you're going solo, but these next few bullets is why people usually run zines as a team. Once the contributor team is assembled, that's when you need to hit the bricks. There's a lot of waiting time and you need to gain a potential audience and keep them interested. Marketing is a weak point of mine, so I don't have much advice, but it's critical for the success of a zine. Contributors can advertise a little, but the bulk of that's on you. You'll want an account dedicated to the zine, I can say that much.

Is graphic design your passion? Even if a contributor is designing the cover, what will be on the inner page? The back cover? Do you have any writers contributing fic? That will need formatting. (Do you know how many words fit on a page? It's different depending on the size of the book.) You'll need to make some sort of credits page, or will you put credit information on the same page as each contribution? Quality graphic design can make or break marketing attempts.

Double check your contributors' work. There are going to make mistakes. Most people aren't used to preparing things for print. Having room for bleed (edges of an image that may be cut off during the printing process, or hidden when bound into a book) was a particular issue in my zine. Even if all this is written in your instructions, you'll get files with not enough bleed room, or in RBG (files must be in CMYK for print), or in too low a resolution (300 dpi minimum). Any issues need to be caught, corrected, and all the files compiled for submission to the printer.

Don't forget postage. I mentioned this briefly earlier, but don't forget to account for packaging and shipping in your budget and time. Things like pins can make a slim package too thick and change the postage class. You'll need room in your house to hold the product. You'll want to pack things to ensure nothing's dented or bent. I highly recommend against having a shipping mod, unless it's someone you know and trust very much. I've seen too many projects fall apart because a shipping mod ghosted or stole all the materials or similar issues.

Have a backup plan. What will you do if you only get five people wanting to be contributors? What if you don't sell enough to cover your costs? What if you get bad product? What if you don't hit the MOQ of your chosen vendor, or if they announce a spontaneous price change before you get your order in? Have answers!

Be confident. If you're not used to leadership, it can be weird to have everyone looking to you, but if you've prepared, then there's no reason to be nervous. The people you work with will respond to your energy, so put out those good vibes.

I enjoyed making my zine very much, but also, it was still very much work! I discovered I hate marketing and graphic design, and love the technical bits of arranging the vendors and budgeting and handling the materials. I probably wouldn't go solo again, but I'm glad I did it at least once because it taught me the ins and outs of every aspect. A lot of people, for their first zine, do digital only because, needless to say, physical product is complicated!

If you made it this far, congratulations. xD It felt nice laying out everything I learned; I hope it's just as useful for you to read.

Feel free to ask if you have any further questions!

82 notes - Posted July 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[nightingale101]

Guys, does anybody want a Super cool Bag? because i do! 

Please back this campaign on kickstarter so this awesome Ita bag bag can be made and so i can have one because i really want one. 

Whats and Ita bag? its a bag that has a clear window in it behind witch you can display Pins, Charms, Badges, Ect without fear of them getting damaged or lost!

(this isn’t my campaign btw, i’m just one of the backers and i really want love it and will be crushed if it Doesn't get funded)

[theonyxpath]

The Deviant: The Renegades Kickstarter launched last Thursday and we would have loved it to fund in 24 hours, but it was actually closer to 25. Possibly every backer was pranking us, but in the end it’s cool- we did fund, we’re gonna get this newest Chronicles of Darkness game into retail stores, and we’re moving into building additional books with the Stretch Goals!

So basically, the Deviant KS is doing great! Come join us!

Links for the Deviant: The Renegades and the Creature Collection for Scarred Lands 5e Kickstarters are below in the Blurbs! section.

We have had some folks, who I’m guessing have not backed any of our last few KSs, write to tell us that they’re taken aback by the listed international shipping costs. Yep, we are as miffed at those costs as you, and as I posted here a month or so back, we have chosen to go ahead and still ship internationally and post the costs, rather than stop shipping internationally as quite a few of our fellow TTRPG publishing have chosen for their KSs.

I figure it’s better to let prospective international backers know the cost upfront so they can make the informed choice that makes the most sense to them.

Usually when I explain this, I also let folks know that behind the scenes we have tried and are continuing to explore alternative shipping options. With Deviant‘s KS, we are still using our previous methodology, but with the concurrently running Creature Collection for Scarred Lands 5e Kickstarter (also doing nicely, thank you!) you can see one of the options we’re exploring.

In CC’s case, we’re working with Handiworks Games not just on the art and writing and design and Kickstarter for the book, but also with printers and fulfillment based in the EU. We’ll have a bunch of books sent over to the US for those backers, and then we hope that costs to ship from the EU for our international backers will be more reasonable.

Like I say, it’s an experiment that we think will work in a good way, but that’s never a guarantee in the rapidly shifting cost-structures of international shipping. And we’ll have to see if it is repeatable for other projects, too.

VtR2 Spilled Blood art by Michele Giorgi

But enough about Kickstarter, let’s talk about me.

Well, pretty much about how I spent my weekend, but it will circle back around to general topics about our hobby.

Have you ever had one of those time-frames where it seems that everybody you haven’t been able to get together with all want to hang out at essentially the same time? Well, that’s what happened to me, and for a twenty-four hour period I had three get-togethers (one was virtual) with old gaming buddies.

The first was an invitation from two high-school friends for dinner on Friday night which of course turned into talking about how my one buddy Johnny, aka Shithead the Dwarf, and I first met during our first D&D games as sophomores in HS. That’s the gaming club where when we started, we had the first four little D&D booklets and were waiting for the fifth booklet, Blackmoor, to be released.

It just so happened that my English class (that’s what we called Language Arts then, kids) had assigned me a journal to write, and in it I chronicled those first D&D adventures, so even now through the mists of time I can read all about how we’d stir through piles of mud with 10′ poles, and get attacked by 11 Stirges, and lose our Cleric to being swallowed by a Giant Frog.

The first few months we played with our very first DM, Robert, but then he had to get ready to graduate, and both Johnny and I stepped up as DMs. Johnny continued to run and play games until he graduated, and I did same but returned to our HS to run games for a couple of years since my art college wasn’t that far away.

When Johnny came home for break, and later when he was on leave from the Navy, there was always a seat at our gaming table for him, and some of his “temp” characters lived on as famous NPCs. Which was easier because my setting, my D&D “world”, has been the same since I first stepped up to DM as a sophomore.

(I share all this about my friend both for context and because I’ve known this guy for over 40 freaking years and that amount of time boggles my mind.)

And we weren’t the only players who ran games too, most of our players did both – which makes me wonder what we could have done with Community Content sites for all of our many worlds? Getting into Dragon Magazine was some folk’s goals, but if we could have published our stuff? Wow!

Of course, we probably would have needed the internet to make it happen, and we were just getting desk-top computers at that time!

BTW I just listened to the recording of our “What’s Up With Onyx Path Community Content?” panel from Gen Con on the Onyx Pathcast from last Friday, so Community Content might be on my mind. It’s a good panel if you’re interested in exploring publishing your own material for our games, so check it out on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue.

Dark Eras 2 art by Alex Sheikman

Then, Saturday all day was board games with the old gaming crew from both HS and the college years: Elmer the Troll, Thock the four-armed well, Thock, D’Gr’Gr the Duergar, and Ish, the gender-neutral Deep Gnome jester.

Obviously, those are their character names (from one campaign I ran), but in real life they are old friends and we’ve tried to get together once a quarter to play games, or go to the movies, or whatever, and this was one of those occasions.

We played Terraforming Mars and Blackbeard, and had a fun time learning the former while grinding our teeth trying to figure out what the hell the rules were so desperately trying to say with Blackbeard. Granted, it was an old Avalon Hill game, but seriously, these things were contradictory in the same paragraph.

This is one of the reasons I take the errata phase of our Onyx Path games seriously – can the audience understand and implement your text in the way you intended when publishing it? It’s sometimes hard to tell until you get it in front of that audience, so that phase for us gives us that feedback.

Then Saturday night, after our guests left, I raced upstairs to join our ongoing D&D 5e game on Roll20. It had been quite a while since we could get our schedules to line up (and of course it had to be this self-same day), and we were shifting from Justin running it to Oscar. So big change, although they had decided to keep our current characters and storyline with Oscar stepping in to add to our ongoing saga, and Justin could join in as a player.

So I had to play if I could swing it timing-wise. Turns out I could, and did, and a good time was had by all. What’s really interesting is the contrast as I look at the playing experience Johnny and I were reminiscing about, and the one I had on Saturday night.

Still playing D&D (from 1e to 5e!), but there’s our group doing collaborative world building as DMs. Not done by me and my HS friends in those early days; everybody was more about presenting THEIR world, that melange of influences and tropes that they wanted everyone to play in. The chance to tell the stories they wanted to tell. In a way, it was very personal, and it was how we all expected was just how it was done.

I do think part of opening up how and why we create and run our settings is the ensuing decades of game design that have experimented with more innovative ways to play. Not all the avenues that have been explored have worked long-term, but the accumulation of trying different things has enriched our hobby overall.

And, of course, there’s the huge difference that we played on Roll20. We had players on the West Coast US and on the East Coast, and we’ve had players coming in from London, places in Canada, the EU, and Micronesia previously. Being able to pull your group together from all over the world is such a boon when I remember worrying if all of our group would make it just from all over Philadelphia for our weekly session.

What I’m saying with these comparisons, is it’s a great time to be a table-top RPGamer!

DR:E Jumpstart art by Sam Denmark

Final thing about me – I’m going to do Inktober again this year. That’s the challenge to do one drawing in ink every day for the entire month. Any kind of ink. Last year I depicted characters that were all from the MithraukoQuest storyline of my old game world. This time around I’ll be doing characters and creatures that are part of the world, and from different gaming groups’ adventures, that weren’t part of the years the players fought against Count Mithrauko – so look out for my drawrings on social media.

All this, all these years of playing, and the years of reading genre fiction and comic books, the years of TV and movies, of studying fine art and graphics, all go together so I can decide what games we’re publishing, and what seems like it’ll play well at the table, be characterful and immersive, will look really cool, and have visual hooks like page layout and symbols – all of it comes to together and powers up my ability to make sure you have:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Our Creature Collection Kickstarter for Scarred Lands 5e is skittering on creepy-crawly legs towards the next Stretch Goal to add more monsters – that the backers vote on – to the book! The first group of creatures to be added by backer voting are:

Flay Beast

Fleshcrawler

Gray Lancer

Hellfire Bloodshark

Iron Tusker

Love-Scorned Soul

Mist Murderer

Night Tyrant

This book was designed with amazing art by our friends at Handiwork Games, and they’re running the Kickstarter for us on our brand-new Onyx Path Kickstarter page! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/339646881/scarred-lands-creature-collection-for-5th-edition-rpg

And, we’re running this Kickstarter, too!

The Deviant: The Renegades Kickstarter launched last Thursday and we funded in just a tad over 24 hours and are vengefully slamming through Stretch Goals now! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/deviant-the-renegades-a-tabletop-roleplaying-game

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features an interview with Red Moon Rising, one of our favorite actual play groups! Go to https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/ or to your favorite podcast venue!

This week should be the last one where the Onyx Path News goes directly onto YouTube, as soon, Matthew will be streaming directly to Twitch! In this week’s news, Matthew discusses Deviant: The Renegades, Scarred Lands, Vengeance of the Shunned, freelance writer tips, and more! Check out this week’s news here: https://youtu.be/Zf-YB2drW54

Speaking of Twitch, please follow our channel if you haven’t already done so! Our schedule is filled with games including Vampire, Scarred Lands, TC: Aberrant, Pugmire, Scion, Mage: The Awakening, and Hunter: The Vigil, as well as videos on Storytelling advice! Visit www.twitch.tv/theonyxpath and give us a follow, and if you have an Amazon Prime membership and haven’t already subscribed to a Twitch channel for free using it, just type Amazon Prime Twitch into Google and please use it on our channel! The first season of our Scion story is coming to a close this weekend, so thank you to David for running it, and please check out any parts you missed on our YouTube channel

Look forward to October, because we’re going for a special Character Creation Month, where every Saturday we create characters for different games, including Scarred Lands, Deviant, Scion, and more! Remember to find us on Twitch!

Remember, if you miss any content on our Twitch channel, some of it finds its way to our YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/user/theonyxpath Don’t forget though, that some of that content is Twitch exclusive or belongs to the Storytellers running their games, so don’t miss out and remember to follow us!

The ENnie award winning Red Moon Roleplaying continue their actual play of The Sacrifice, from V5 Chicago by Night, with Klara Herbol as the Storyteller and Matthew Dawkins as a player! Please check them out on www.redmoonroleplaying.com

This week, the Story Told Podcast have created a Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition primer: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/episode-36-geist-the-sin-eaters-2nd-edition-primer

And here’s the newest Occultists Anonymous content right here, for you Mage: The Awakening fans: Episode 45: Get Out Within the lair of the Seers, the cabal strikes while they still have an advantage. Mage-on-Mage combat! The most harrowing experience the cabal has had yet, threatening mind and body. https://youtu.be/kvTU3Wp8KEs

Episode 46: A Deal Is Struck The cabal recovers from battle and deals with the decision Wyrd made without consulting Songbird or Atratus. Emotions are ragged but there is still Mysteries residing in Lynnewood Hall.https://youtu.be/o5HR_Oj3cjk

If you’ve not been keeping up with our TC: Aberrant actual play, please do give it a look here on our YouTube channel! Collateral Damage is a superb way to introduce yourself to the Trinity Universe through an Aberrant lens: https://youtu.be/WFBBZrUZVkE

And here’s Paws & Claws, our Pugmire actual play! Lots of content for you to watch and interact with: https://youtu.be/ga7wb3ESdEA

It’s been a while since we last promoted them, but Devil’s Luck Gaming are embarking on Season 3 of their Scarred Lands pirates campaign. As one of the best actual play shows around, do yourself a favour and start watching from Season 3. You will not regret it: https://www.twitch.tv/DevilsLuckGaming

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

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 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

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

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

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

As always, you can find most of Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we’re releasing the EX3 Dragon-Blooded Screen PDF and two more of our monthly Adversaries of the Righteous!

Conventions!

Save Against Fear: October 12th – 14th GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd PAX Unplugged: December 6th – 8th 2020: Midwinter: January 9th – 12th

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

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

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

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

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

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

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Redlines

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

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

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

Second Draft

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

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

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

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

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Development

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)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

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

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

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

Manuscript Approval

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Post-Approval Development

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

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

Editing

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

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

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

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

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

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

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

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

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

Post-Editing Development

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

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

W20 Art Book (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

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

Indexing

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution core (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e – Sam on the fulls.

Ex3 Lunars – Contracted. More sketches coming in.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers – LeBlanc on this.

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Trinity RMCs – Contracted.

Cults of the Blood God (KS) – Contracted.

Chicago Folio – Sending contracts and art notes out.

Mummy 2 (KS) – Characters being worked on, fulls next.

Memento Mori – Contracted.

City of the Towered Tombs – Contracted.

In Layout

They Came from Beneath the Sea!

Dark Eras 2 – Files with Aileen

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

VtR Spilled Blood – In progress.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

W20 Art Book

DRE Screen

Geist 2e Screen

Proofing

C20 Cup of Dreams

M20 Book of the Fallen – PDF back to Phil for review.

DR:E Jumpstart – Sent to Eschaton for approval.

At Press

Trinity Core Screen – At Studio2.

TC Aeon Screen – At Studio2.

Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs coming.

Trinity Core – Printing. PoD proofs ordered.

Trinity Aeon – Printing. PoD proofs ordered.

V5: Chicago – Files sent to printer.

Aeon Aexpansion – Backer PDFs out, errata.

CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel – Backer PDF out to backers, errata gathering.

Signs of Sorcery – PoD proofs ordered.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

And so we now are in Autumn! Falling into fall! Let’s celebrate the season that starts today where things get really colorful and then die! (OK, nature is just sleeping…really.) And Saturday was, I hear, Batman Day, which works well, especially if you recall the first drive in the Batmobile to the Batcave in Tim Burton’s Batman with the low angle shot up the road with swirling dead autumn leaves in the car’s wake. Lovely, just like the season.

[dev-archeops]

if you’re not aware, lanette-3 is the latest iteration of hoenn’s pss network, which superseded lanette-2+ above four years ago. it’s roughly the same system but it supports a higher box limit per trainer thanks to implementing the HOME protocol.

you’d think this would be good! yay more space! you can sort your boxes more efficiently! haha no it’s caused soooo many downstream effects (all of which were predicted btw when the HOME project whitepaper was published)

lanette publishes anonymized usage data on her clusters every week, so we can find historical trends. and folks. the trends. they’re not good!

(keep in mind that becaue all the data is hoenn-specific some things will be skewed, like what pokemon appear the most)

- the median PSS user had 8 pokemon across all their boxes on lanette-2+. on lanette-3, that number has jumped to 45.

- of 28,344 registered users, 423 of them account for 95% of all box usage.

- 90% of users do not have any eggs in their boxes. the mean number of eggs in the boxes of the other 10% is 28.

- 15% of all boxed pokemon are eevee. fifteen percent. there are over a thousand known species and this one is overrepresented by a factor of 150.

- eevee isn’t native to hoenn btw. so even if you did want to explain it as the Route 1 Effect (as if that makes it okay) you can’t in this case cuz they’re an imported species!!

- 0.5% of users make over 1000 box transactions* per day on average. that is like full time box management. these aren’t like gts service accounts either cuz those are excluded from reporting.

i love the pss for how accessible it’s made it to become a trainer - it used to cost serious money to transport a larger team cross-region, and the ease of access of the pc really kickstarted the solo trainer lifestyle and that’s so cool! but it sucks to see it get used in this way. the HOME protocol isn’t the only thing to blame but it was just so obviously going to make things worse**. sometimes it’s good to have limitations!

* one box transaction is a single move, withdrawal, or deposit. a bulk action counts as one transaction though, so the actual number of pokemon affected can be way higher

** im aware rescues and the like really take advantage of the increased space. but i think that at the very least the privilege could’ve been given to accredited organizations or something idk. maybe that still would cause problems but its hard to be worse lol

shiny breeding causes a lot of pokemon to live trapped in the purgatory of the pokemon storage system with no trainer to care for them, but it also helps silph reduce costs on rotom phone manufacturing so it’s impossible to say if it’s good or not

[templeofshame]

I really like your thoughts on the membership thing, and I wondered: how do you think dnp/any other YouTuber should generally earn money on YouTube? Do you like that the platform is free and that it only works because of ads? Why do you dislike voluntary direct payment more than everyone having to watching adds/#spons for their payment? And do you think that they are obligated to tell us how much money they make? Do you think millionaires shouldn't be able to earn more money at some point?

Probably no all around? I think there are a lot of problems with the advertising economy, but I also don’t have an across-the-board solution, and I don’t think that the problems with it affect D&P nearly as much as other people. Honestly, I don’t dislike voluntary direct payment as a system in general; if Youtube always worked that way across the board, I’d probably cool with it.  The thing for me is, Youtube covers such vastly different situations. A smaller Youtuber who uploads regularly and struggles to make ends meet or works other jobs is just a totally different thing to me than someone who could, with smart investing and fewer extravagant purchases, probably support themselves without ever making another video. I personally don’t have a problem with #spons as long as people don’t promote really terrible things (like if Jameela’s gonna go off at someone on Twitter I’m probably not okay with that #spon) and it allows them to make good content. I don’t think anyone owes me their financial info and I don’t think millionaires shouldn’t be able to make money (although I appreciate when some millionaires decide to give their adsense to charities or are explicit about projects that money is funding, but not everyone can be vlogbrothers). I just find it a bit squicky at a point for millionaires to ask for it from their fans for what seems like minimal extra effort. And I do think a lot of the issues I have are inherent in the way Youtube does it, and I’d probably feel better if Phil just had a ko-fi or a per-unit-of-content Patreon. 

I think my analyses probably make it sound like I feel more strongly than I do; what I feel is discomfort, not like outrage or something. And maybe we’ll see that Phil is really doing more as a result, and I’ll end up feeling better about it. Like, I will definitely give to the kickstarter of someone with a lot more money than me if I want to support (and get perks of) a cool project, and if this goes to a cool project, I’ll be psyched. He just hasn’t presented me with that expectation. (If Phil wanted to Kickstart a weird short film or something, I’d be down.)

I definitely want to be upfront about how much of my response is psychological, and also related to the timing of feeling strung along and having D&P taking away more than they deliver on. And I do, personally, experience a fair amount of unease around people spending what seem to me to be ridiculous amounts of money on things that I don’t value, and that’s something I’m working on, because I don’t want to judge anyone for spending money in a way that I can’t relate to. If $200 candles and $175 lunches make them happy and they can make it work for their finances, I don’t want to begrudge them that. (but… it also feels weird to me to ask for money in that circumstance. like if a friend asked me to pay for a movie night and then turned around and spent $200 on a candle i’d probably not be happy about it) But I also see a lot of amazing people in the phandom struggling to make ends meet, and it’s hard for me not to feel like there are places that $5 could do more good, inside and outside the phandom. Which is absolutely none of my business, because everyone chooses how we spend our own money, and I bought a Rolling Stones ticket with money I could have given to charity, and that’s how life kinda has to work often.

tldr: i’m generally uncomfortable with rich people, and not always in rational ways or ways that i’m proud of. but it would make me feel less weird about the whole thing if phil was like ‘btw i’m gonna use the membership $ to do a cool thing for you guys!’ or if they weren’t so rich, but hey, capitalism is a thing we have to deal with.

[katfajardoart]

Life update!!

Just wanted to take a moment to thank y’all for your wonderful support throughout the years. I know I haven’t been on here much lately, but I appreciate the love & recent follows, so thanks!!<3 

After my last graphic novel project (which hasn’t been announced yet by the publisher btw UmU), I felt a bit lost & my anxiety levels skyrocketed. I was working an impossible schedule, working 10am-5am almost every day and usually on days I worked at my day job. I wasn’t taking care of myself (I gained a lot of weight & my sleeping habits were a joke & I would have an anxiety attack every.single.night) just to meet deadlines. I don’t recommend that lifestyle for anyone. And after months of that crazy schedule, the book was officially completed and I finally had time to rest (I even left my stressful dayjob). I figured it’d take me a week to fully recover & regain my sleep schedule & then I’ll jump back into my work habit right?....nah. It took me like a month to get my shit together lol. 

So here I am, a full-time freelancer, waiting on those checks and working on my own stuff before I sign my contract with a new publisher & work on my next book (stay tuned for those announcements, like next month maybe??). 

And new exciting stuff happening my life:

- starting a bullet journal lmao (my mind is very hectic atm so this helps)

- Connecting w/ other creators in Latinxs in Comics FB group.

- Creating exciting new content for my Patreon!

- Starting a Youtube channel for my WIPs & sketchbook tours.

- working with a new publisher for my first solo graphic novel

- Bandida 2 & a new minicomic will be ready by CXC/SPX as well as cool new merch.

- Being a featured guest at The Small Press Expo this fall (and designing the cover for the program!!) 

- shipping out the last of La Raza Kickstarter orders 

- trying to improve myself as a person

So I’m hoping for a very productive + great summer! Anyway, sorry for the long essay, but I just wanted to give y’all the rundown. I hope y’all are safe & happy <3

Best,

Kat!

[wordsandpicturesvt]

We’re in Seven Days & The Essex Reporter!

Last week, Sadie Williams from Seven Days wrote this wonderful article about our project. I think it give some amazing insight in what we are hoping to achieve with W&P!

We're also on the front page of The Essex Reporter this week! Huge thank you to Colin Flanders for stopping by to talk to us! 

BTW, we’re still fundraising for equipment through Kickstarter. We have a little under $3k to raise before we hit our goal. There are lots of cool rewards from VT-creators to choose from, if you pledge. Anything helps!  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aioazech/words-and-pictures-a-community-print-shop-in-vt

[no-space-for-sadness]

Super Science Friends: The Video Game

Can we all please make this happen?

This is such a cool game concept for everyone who likes science and video games. And if you don’t like science and video games, you’re about to. You can play as different scientists like Einstein, Tesla, Marie Curie or Freud (and more) to fight against Villains you’d always wanted to beat up: Hitler or Edison and Ford for example! It is on Kickstarter and I’d love it to get to it’s goal. So please. If you’re able to support them go to their Kickstarter and throw them your money!

And don’t forget to share this with your Super Science Friends!

There’s a hole series about the Super Science Freinds on YouTube btw. Here’s episonde 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjKGWvdSamQ

Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2034721517/super-science-friends-the-videogame/description

[realdealmy]

Interview with Rizal (Minimum Wage)

A lil background of how you become a musician. What is the starting point of you be in a band? (maybe you can tell us a bit)

If i were to take it to the very beginning, I would say my mom is the kickstarter. My mom is heavily into blues & rock & roll like B.B King, Muddy Waters, Rolling Stones,The Beatles & Queen. I remembered her getting me a Roxette at an early age on VHS. I watched it religiously and ive always thought the guitarist (Per Gessle) looked so cool playing the electric guitar. My mom had an acoustic nylon string Yamaha guitar around & i thought i could play the guitar by simply imitating Per, clearly I was wrong. It was harder than it looked! Fast forward to when I was a teenager, I discovered other types of music & subcultures like punk & skateboarding. I enjoyed the cheeky-ness and juvenile humor of bands like Screeching Weasel, Lagwagon, NOFX, Blink-182, Green Day. As natural progress would suggest, I started playing in bands around that time too. I guess my first serious step into recording & the music scene was the KL punk & hardcore scene back in 2009. My first ever band was Corporate Youth, we managed to record a 5 song demo with Mokhtar Rizal at his old house. I was nervous as hell, I couldn’t even strum a chord without breaking a sweat but it was a good experience and after that I was hooked with recording & playing music. Along the way til now, I’ve played in a few local bands including The Liberals, Orchestra of Wolves, The Hiroshima Lovers, Paranoid Pest. Currently I’m playing in Minimum Wage, Dum Dum Tak & a solo synth project which is under the working moniker “RFM”. What other thing that you do, beside being musician?

Other than playing music, I enjoy skateboarding, cooking good food, looking after cats & I’m currently learning the ins & outs of recording (pun not intended).

 How are you affected by this MCO?

This current Movement Control Order (MCO) affects me as musician majorly in many aspects. Minimum Wage had a show scheduled in April at Soundmaker, Penang alongside a sick lineup of local hardcore bands like Split Tongue, Bad Idea, Slave, The Fog (they’re from Germany btw) & SS Block. We had planned to release new material & merch at the show. The show had to be cancelled due to the MCO being extended til the 14th of April. Being in a new DIY band thats been around for a year, whatever we get from selling merch & playing shows really helps in sustaining the band. Getting back our capital & rolling it back into stuff like pressing, printing shirts, buying musical accessories is an amazing achievement for us.

We all have jobs & city life is hard. We’re not gonna get rich doing this & it’ll be great to just have a self sustaining unit where we can do whatever we want. It’s essentially about fun. This band is an excuse for a bunch of friends to get together, drink beer & play punk rock. It’s an outlet for us to try new things like recording, managing our asses, writing songs, get out of reality & expanding our creativity.

During this MCO, we can’t do any of (the above). We still have a bit of merch left but i think it’s wishful thinking to assume that anyone would buy it during these hard times. We recently released a single on our bandcamp which is https://mwhc.bandcamp.com

Currently we can only chat through WhatsApp, we check on each other to make sure everyones alright & “aspire” on what our next plan is for the band. Social distancing sucks but it has to be done. I miss being in a studio with my friends writing stuff & playing music together. Not doing the familiar routines & being quarantined can get depressing but we cope in different ways like spending time with family, keeping busy with work. I personally am working on my solo synth project. 

On the bright side of things, this MCO gives me ample time to work on music production, learn new skills like mixing tracks, experiment with i guess “unique” ways of recording, write music & practice playing musical instruments on my own. That’s my coping mechanism & I feel very blessed to be able to do that during these hard times. I’ve got 2 tracks done & I’m currently working on a 3rd track.  

You got any alternative way to make/sell/publish your artwork to public during MCO?

For now, I’ve got a messy drawing board of plans because I’m currently writing the music. My most immediate plan would be putting it out on soundcloud & bandcamp. Video’s something i intend to get into as well cause everything revolves around that nowadays. Visuals are key. (I guess 2020 is the year where Riz might get an instagram too!) I’m looking into selling my music on donation basis & when i have more tracks i’ll do a livestream. I personally always wanted to contribute to animal welfare or an organization that supports the betterment of a certain group of people. There’s a beauty in between in running a solo/DIY operation. Everything is a matter of a creativity. You sorta just try stuff out & if it works, why not? There’s not really a right or wrong way. You just learn something from the experience. I’m a take it as it comes kinda guy & i’m currently doing some research about it too through various articles online. So we’ll see what happens! 

Thoughts and hope during the MCO?

I think like everyone else on this earth, I hope this pandemic ends real soon. There’s a lot of anxiety & uncertainty in the air but hopefully we can all get back to our regular programming soon.

This MCO gave me a lot time to reflect on how lucky i am just being alive, well & still being able to do the things i love. Everytime i’m writing something or doing something, I just narrow into it & never take the ample time for granted. It’s truly a blessing to get to do what i do & I sincerly hope that everyone (also to whoever that is reading this and every stray animal) out there is safe, well fed & clean.

[kerushi-fanart]

Very late Fannibal Appreciation post below~ 

I know I missed appreciation day, and ack! I can’t believe I did! First off, I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to those that tagged me, either here or on my main account ( @sinsational ). I can’t believe I was tagged at all, and thank you so much to those that did. 

This is literally in no particular order. I’m very scatterbrained. xD 

@miasmatik : Your art is FUCKING AMAZING, first off. I love seeing everything you’ve put together, and seeing your art on my feed is always a huge treat. Your colors absolutely amaze me, and I still adore my cutie Beverly sketch (currently set as my phone wallpaper. ;D). I appreciate you not minding my random annoying messages. I know I can be a bit much with some of my hyperness. You are also UNBELIEVABLY supportive. You have no idea how much that means to me both as someone who follows me, and as an artist I respect and admire. (I’m totally making that stupid HanniSnail into a button/sticker thing because of that conversation, btw. Something I wouldn’t have done otherwise.)

@felidfannibal : Again, HOLY SHIT DAT ART. I’m really happy that I found your stream, as I plan on watching as often as I can. Your art is a goddamn treasure. The Greek Marble Master of the fandom. It’s absolutely inspiration and I cannot wait to get your art tattooed on me. <3 (You will probably get flooded with pictures. xD) You’re also totally sweet and kind and I adore annoying you. 

@le-wendigogo : Soft colors of adorableness~ First off, omg I can’t wait for the cover to my fanfic (that I really need to get back to writing). You are another poor soul that I have inflicted my hyperness upon, and I’m glad I randomly reached out to you. Thank you for being so supportive and allowing me to gush about your art~ 

@jadegreenworks :  I want to say, I absolutely LOVE Overcoming. I’m looking forward to seeing how everything is going to unfold and it’s like a friggin roller coaster. *w* I love it~ You are also incredibly supportive of other artists/writers, and thank you for helping me by reblogging my stuff. I am overwhelmed by your support and I’m so happy you’ve enjoyed the silly fanarts I’ve done for you. I also greatly appreciate the patience you’ve had with me on your winning piece. Once work and the move are complete, I can put a lot more time into it and get it to you ASAP. I’m really happy you’re enjoying it so far, though! 

@fragile-teacup : Another incredibly supportive Fannibal and writer~ I read the first part of your The Spaces Between series, and I need to read the rest. (Definitely enjoying it so far. ;D) I really wanted to give you a shoutout for reminding me of cool events going on in tumblr, sending me screenshots (please keep doing so), and generally just being really kind and friendly. You’re another person who reblogs me frequently, and I consider both you and Jade as these big players in the fandom. Every time you two reblog a piece of mine I wind up with more followers, so huge, huge, huge thank you to you both. 

@vulcanplomeeksoup, @h4nnibalism,  @matildaparacosm, @amutantandproud, @azuresky2011, @hannigram-hell, @the-winnowing-wind, @electrarhodes : This group happens to be amazingly, wonderfully supportive. Matilda and Mutant have both given me amazing screenshot projects that I absolutely loved doing. (Please send me more D: ) and dealt with my very spazzy weirdness. xD I appreciate your sacrifice and time. I’m incredibly shy and awkward and you both were so very sweet to me. These guys are like -- my always rebloggin’ team. I constantly have reblogs from all of you, and I can’t tell you how much that means to me. As an artist, while I love <3s on my stuff, reblogs helps get my stupid little doodles out there. I see all of those reblogs you guys have been doing and it just -- warms my heart endlessly. You have no idea how much your support means to me. Literally. 

@radiance-anthology : Thank you for putting together such an amazing book. I cannot wait to hold so many artists and writers in my hand. That kickstarter was an amazing, wonderful project and I am so excited to read through everything. While I missed the deadline by returning to the fandom so late, your reblogs have really helped spread my art through the fandom when I was still brand new here. I’m so happy to support your project, and I’m so very thankful for the support in turn. 

This is such an amazing fandom to be apart of. I’ve written before about how supportive this fandom is, but literally I would not be drawing at the rate I do without you guys. It’s even inspired me to actually do more artwork again that isn’t just a half hour doodle, and I never thought I’d do that again. I would not be here, I would not be drawing, without you all. 

Thank you so much for all of your support. It really does mean the world to me. <3 <3 <3 

I am sure I missed a lot of people, especially those followers who are newer as I haven’t been able to check my notifications as much these past couple of weeks. The move is FINALLY JUST ABOUT DONE. My unpacking should be done as well by the end of the week. I’ll be producing more artwork soon that I hope you all enjoy, and hopefully some pretty stellar pieces for the winners of my giveaway. I’m also looking at opening up a Redbubble here around Halloween. So stay tuned, everyone. <3 

Love,  Kerushi 

[retronator]

I’ve shied away from all the ZX Spectrum revivals so far, which might be odd for a ZX Spectrum buff of my order of magnitude, but none so far picked my personal interests. Bluetooth keyboards and handhelds just aren’t my thing.

ZX Spectrum Next is different. Let’s break it down (and just if it wasn’t clear, this is why I personally love the project, not some objective assessment):

The design is based on the ZX Spectrum+, which is the one that I grew up with. It’s also not a copy, but inspired by and quite modern/sleek. It was the first piece of hardware I saw that I’d genuinely want to own for its looks.

It’s not a shiny piece of hardware with an emulator running inside, but a recreation of actual ZX Spectrum hardware, all the way down to the Z80. I’m not going to claim I understand how this FPGA technology they’re talking about works, but it creates all the same weird glitches and edge cases the real Spectrum did (these things drive emulator developers nuts, because it’s hard to simulate in software). It’s fully compatible with all the weird real-hardware hacks.

Not only does it offer perfect compatibility, it is also upgraded to bring new abilities to the ZX Spectrum world. It’s essentially the next product in the ZX Spectrum lineup, as if Sinclair didn’t go bust and kept on iterating and upgrading. It comes with 512kB of memory (a nice continuation of the 16k/48k/128k predecessors) but can be upgraded all the way up to 2.5MB.

All the increased abilities let you take ZX Spectrum development to the next level. This is not only a machine to play existing games, it’s something you are more than encouraged to write new ones on. The demo scene has been creating new games all along, but this could bring a bigger user base to it and continue the evolution of complexity using the more powerful hardware. You can even get rid of color clash (not sure why anyone would commit such a crime, but …).

You can buy just the board without a case. This is so like the 80s when you could get a kit that you assembled yourself instead of buying a normal consumer version. Even more, the board actually fits into the original spectrum case. Other expansions are possible, even ones where the only option is to solder things on your own (the perfect reason to ask your mom and dad to pass this essential skill on to you).

There are way more selling points (HDMI output, SD card reader, serial interface over wi-fi, hardware sprites, a dev kit/IDE, open source firmware …) but these sum up why I’m in favor of the Next over similar projects. 

I’m now wondering how hard it’ll be to mod existing games to use the new graphics modes, which would be a really cool exercise for pixel artists. Usually you need to recreate the game code when developing remakes (which is a nice exercise for coders, not artists), but this might enable some quick hacks to just run original Z80 code with enhanced graphics. So far I’ve seen Cybernoid II recolored and it looks great. We’ll see. This is exactly why I like the Next: it gets me excited about the possibilities of tinkering with it, just like my ZX+ did back then.

You can head over to Kickstarter to see the main video and tiers (99 GBP just the board, 175 GBP for the normal base model … same price as back in the days btw). Here I’ll show you what’s more interesting to me, seeing how the thing works in practice.

As a disclaimer, I’m not sure yet if I’m getting one for myself at this moment (I hope to at least get one after it’s released). I wish I had a TV to hook this into, but I’m pretty much in travel mode right now, without a permanent living room. So far I might have to stick to the software dev kit. I’d love to port Pixel Art Academy to it, lol.

[greensparty]

Album Review: L7 and Josephine Wiggs

L7 Scatter the Rats

One of the great bands to emerge out of the 90s Alternative Nation was L7! Their 1992 album Bricks are Heavy is one of the greatest grunge albums of that era. They were also a cautionary tale of an indie label band getting signed to the majors and going back to indie before breaking up in 2001. Around 2015 a Kickstarter campaign was announced for the documentary film L7: Pretend We're Dead as well as the bands reunion tour (read my 2016 concert review and my 2017 documentary review). The band hadn't released a new album since 1999′s Slap-Happy (good album BTW) but that all changes this month with the release of Scatter the Rats released on Joan Jett's Blackheart Records.

Scatter the Rats album cover

We are so lucky to have the ladies of L7 back! They are all fired up, hard-playing and bringing their edge to the here-and-now. People talk about the Me Too movement now, but if you go back and look at L7 in the early 90s, they were breaking the glass ceiling of that time for the old boys club of hard rock. The mainstream music press looked at it as “they’re not bad for a girl band” but they missed the point entirely. L7 were better than most male bands of the early 90s alt-rock era. They didn’t play it safe either: they were a mix of metal, punk and grunge. They were one of the headliners of Lollapalooza 1994, appeared in John Waters’ film Serial Mom, and they founded Rock For Choice, where they garnered strong support from the likes of Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

All four original L7 members are now in their 50s and they are playing like nothing changed in the 20 years since their last album. Their discography is quite strong and its hard to listen to this and not compare to classic albums like Bricks are Heavy, but on its own, this is definitely one of the best rock albums of 2019 thus far.

For info on L7: http://l7theband.com/

4 out of 5 stars

Josephine Wiggs We Fall

One of the most underrated musicians of the Alternative Nation was Josephine Wiggs. Hands down! She was one of the founding members of The Breeders, the side project of Kim Deal (The Pixies) and Tanya Donnelly (Throwing Muses) that soon became so much more than a side project. Wiggs was the band’s bassist on their first two albums including 1993′s The Last Splash, which is one of my Desert Island Top 10 Albums Ever. During that time period, The Breeders toured with Nirvana, had a music video for “Cannonball” co-directed by a young Spike Jonze, and headlined Lollapalooza ‘94 (with, of all bands, L7!). The band went on hiatus in 1995 and when they re-grouped in the 00s, Wiggs did not take part. But in 2012 she re-joined the band for some shows and eventually the classic Breeders line-up recorded last year’s phenomenal album All Nerve (read my review here), which I named my #1 Album of 2018.

We Fall album cover

In addition to her work with The Breeders, Wiggs has also worked with several bands and some film scores / soundtrack work (including Brad Anderson’s Happy Accidents). But this month she is releasing her first ever solo album We Fall being released on May 17 on Sounds of Sinners. She composed, recorded and performed the entire album herself (with a few guest musicians).

Wiggs is a multi-instrumentalist but known for the bass

I have to admit, this is not the type of album I normally review. I appreciate and enjoy all types of music genres, but in terms of album reviews I am mostly a rock critic. I say this because this album while it is Wiggs performing, is more of a classical / new age genre or neo-classical as its called. Its not an album you put on and rock out the way that I would a Breeders album, but its a good album as something moody, instrumental and atmospheric. I always respect when a musician spreads their wings and does something completely different than what they’re known for. As much as I hope I don’t have to wait 9 years for the next Breeders album, its cool to see the members branch out.

For info on Josephine Wiggs: http://josephinewiggs.com/

3 out of 5 stars

[just4programmers]

Turn your Raspberry Pi into a portable Touchscreen Tablet with SunFounder's RasPad

I was very fortunate to get a preview version of the "RasPad" from SunFounder. Check it out at https://raspad.sunfounder.com/ and at the time of these writing they have a Kickstarter I'm backing!

I've written a lot about Raspberry Pis and the cool projects you can do with them. My now-10 and 12 year olds love making stuff with Raspberry Pis and we have at least a dozen of them around the house. A few are portable arcades (some quite tiny PiArcades), one runs PiMusicBox and is a streaming radio, and I have a few myself in a Kubernetes Cluster.

I've built Raspberry Pi Cars with SunFounder parts, so they sent me an early evaluation version of their "RasPad." I was familiar with the general idea as I'd tried (and failed) to make something like it with their 10" Touchscreen LCD for Raspberry Pi.

At its heart, the RasPad is quiet elegant and simple. It's a housing for your Raspberry Pi that includes a battery for portable use along with an integrated touchscreen LCD. However, it's the little details where it shines.

It's not meant to be an iPad. It's not trying. It's thick on one end, and beveled to an angle. You put your RaspberryPi inside the back corner and it sits nicely on the plastic posts without screws. Power and HDMI and are inside with cables, then it's one button to turn it on. There's an included power supply as well as batteries to run the Pi and screen for a few hours while portable.

I've found with my 10 year old that this neat, organized little tablet mode makes the Pi more accessible and interesting to him - as opposed to the usual mess of wires and bare circuit boards we usually have on my workbench. I could see a fleet of RasPads in a classroom environment being far more engaging than just "raw" Pis on a table.

The back of the RasPad has a slot where a GPIO Ribbon cable can come out to a breakout  board:

At this point you can do all the same cool hardware projects you can do with a Raspberry Pi, with all the wires, power, touchscreen, ports, and everything nice and sanitary.

The inside hatch is flexible enough for other boards as well:

I asked my 10 year old what he wanted to make with the RasPad/Raspberry Pi and he said he wanted to make a "burglar alarm" for his bedroom. Pretty sure he just wants to keep the 12 year old out of his room.

We started with a Logitech 930e USB Webcam we had laying around. The Raspberry PI can use lots of off-the-shelf high-quality web cams without drivers, and the RasPad keeps all the USB ports exposed.

Then we installed the "Motion" Project. It's on GitHub at https://github.com/Motion-Project/motion with:

sudo apt-get install motion

Then edited /etc/motion/motion.conf with the nano editor (easier for kids then vim). You'll want to confirm the height and width. Smaller is easier on the Pi, but you can go big with 1280x720 if you like! We also set the target_dir to /tmp since motion's daemon doesn't have access to ~/.

There's a number of events you can take action on, like "on_motion_detected." We just added a little Python script to let people know WE SEE YOU"

It's also cool to set location_motion_style to "redbox" so you can see WHERE motion was detected in a frame, and be sure to set stream_localhost to "off" so you can hit http://yourraspberrypiname:8081 to see the stream remotely!

When motion is detected, the 10 year old's little Python script launches:

And as a bonus, here is the 10 year old trying to sneak into the room. Can you spot him? (The camera did)

What would you build with a RaspberryPi Tablet?

BTW, there's a Community Build of the .NET Core SDK for Raspberry Pi!

Sponsor: Get the latest JetBrains Rider for debugging third-party .NET code, Smart Step Into, more debugger improvements, C# Interactive, new project wizard, and formatting code in columns.

© 2018 Scott Hanselman. All rights reserved.