#eve orion

[radlegowaffle]

a late celebration to them reaching 1000 subs (theyre at 3.3k now lmao)

[ihatebrainstorm]

Some TF One doodles/sketches (minor spoilers maybe? Idk if they count, nothing not seen in the trailers already)

sorta in a massive art slump rn so i'll draw more stuff when i feel like i can draw better again :')

[radicalredrasp]

Not a redesign but I really do like the idea of giving her a dress.

Bonus

[fantasyfantasygames]

Space Rampage

Space Rampage, Jack Spellington, 1997

Did you know there was going to be an Eve Online RPG at one point? That link has a thread with basically all the info you're going to get. There's a Twilight Imperium RPG if you like your games inspired by rules-heavy board games instead of rules-heavy MMOs.

Now imagine if someone decided to make a rules-heavy MMO into an RPG... that was also designed for a dozen or more players.

Space Rampage was designed for semi-competitive play at conventions, with games of 6-8 hours being standard. Jack Spellington (pseudonym), the creator, was of the opinion that the game worked best with 15 players across 3 tables. Each table's players tried to advance their civilization's cause in a set of mini-adventures. There was opportunity for alliances with other tables, and even characters shifting from one table to another as part of an alliance or through treachery. The game required a LOT of GM prep, especially when it came to keeping the tables in sync temporally.

Characters were kept simple: Body, Mind, and Charisma scores, percentile roll-under. Percentile skills in 12 different areas, starting at base stat -50% and going up to +50%. This simplicity is good, because every damn thing in the game added on top of those. You had weapons, armor, land vehicles, spaceships, bionics, symbionts, and more, all with their own 3 stats (except symbionts, which had 2 but also 6 new skills). It was good having unified mechanics. Some things really did call out for their own subsystems rather than getting squished into percentile roll-under.

Space Rampage was inspired by a much earlier game: Spaceward Ho! (the exclamation point is obligatory), which came out in 1990. SH! is a 4x game from before the term "4x" became common. You build ships, send them out to establish colonies where you build more ships, and eventually fight your rival civilizations. SH! has a lot of things I really like, and apparently I'm not alone - it's in the Macworld Games Hall of Fame. Space Rampage started development in 1991, but Master of Orion came out on Mac in 1995 and that resulted in some heavy revisions and major additions. SR was run at gaming conventions across the Chicago area about 2-3 times a year, plus a monthly playtest group.

There's no art in Space Rampage unless you really, really like data tables. The game never made it out of the three-ring binder format, but the ones I've seen do say "version 1.1", so Jack apparently considered it the finished version.

[thishadoscarbuzz]

246 - First Cow

Though this episode brings talk of the gloom of covid lockdown, we still get to talk about one of our favorite films of the last several years. The story of two men who become friends in the harshness of the 19th century Pacific Northwest and start a business by stealing the milk of the area’s only cow, Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow is a delicate study of American capitalism from one of the most under-rewarded filmmakers working today. The film’s modesty (a Reichardt specialty) might have kept it away from awards talk had it not been one of the last films released prior to covid lockdowns. Though the lack of released films that year and a Best Picture win with New York critics helped keep the film in conversation, First Cow and Reichardt remained on the outside of the Academy’s tastes.

This episode, we talk about Reichardt’s filmography and the film’s long festival run ahead of its thwarted theatrical release. We also talk about the performances of John Magaro and Orion Lee, A24 putting all of its 2020 Oscar energy towards (the also great) Minari, and retired bovine actress Evie the cow.

Topics also include the Academy ratio, cow puns, and the Gotham awards.

Links:

The 2020 Oscar nominations

Subscribe:

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[aceofstars16]

My brain, late at night, when I need to go to bed but instead it’s coming up with story ideas:

[cantsayidont]

June-July 1972. Following Orion's brutal but inconclusive battle with Kalibak in "The Death Wish of Terrible Turpin," THE NEW GODS #9 finds Lightray in Orion in a more reflective moment. This is probably my favorite scene from the original Fourth World books, and an excellent example of Kirby's approach to characterization, so let's take a more detailed look at it.

Orion is not merely battered and scarred in this sequence: The ferocity of his battle with Kalibak has revealed his true face, which we previously learned he alters using his Mother Box. Lightray is Orion's friend and so knows not to press this point; at the end of the previous issue, he handed Orion his helmet and said only, "I saw scars---both new and old--taken in the cause of New Genesis!"

Consequently, while Orion is in a decidedly bitter mood, he is conscious of Lightray's feelings. Lightray, for his part, is laying it on a bit thick deliberately in hopes of cheering his friend up:

I said before that the dialogue in Kirby's Fourth World books often has a theatrical tone to it, with a cadence like something from a stage play. That appears to have been intentional, as evidenced by the fact that Eve Donner, the woman in the pink coat, is a playwright. (She could just as well have been anything else that would justify her very expensive apartment, so the selection of her profession is obviously a deliberate choice.) Note that while Orion seemed to soften for a moment when it was just him and Lightray, Eve's presence has brought his sardonic streak back to the fore:

The book cuts away for a bit to a different plotline (involving the Bugs of New Genesis). In the interim, Lightray has apparently persuaded Orion to lie down and take a nap on a cot Eve has brought out:

The dialogue has a stage play vibe, but this is clearly a cinematic moment; you could do this on stage, but not with a closeup like this.

Note that while Lightray is superficially more polite than Orion, his condescension about "primitive" Earth customs remains in full force. (The people of New Genesis do eat food, so Lightray is just being a dick about that.) Eve, meanwhile, puts her hand too close to the fire and gets her fingers burned:

Writers other than Kirby who've used Orion have a tendency to make him a sort of insensate rage monster, sometimes literally foaming at the mouth, but here, there's a clear shift between his simply being bitter and irritable and his actually losing his temper. Note that while he's annoyed by Eve's patronizing attitude, what sets Orion off is recalling that the battle is still undecided. From Orion's perspective, Kalibak, captured by the Metropolis police in the previous issue, has escaped. (At this point, Kalibak is actually in a cell downtown, but I don't think Orion knows that here, or would care if he did.) And, of course, Kalibak is just a pawn of the true villain. In any case, when Orion really loses his cool, everyone in the neighborhood knows it:

Note the visual contrast with what Lightray did on p. 7 above: Lightray brings light to Orion's world, or tries to, but Orion's presence brings shadows. Eve, meanwhile, is smart enough to know she should be scared now:

Eve may be frightened, but she's not so intimidated by Orion that she can't immediately cut through his bullshit:

Note that even when he's furious or full of contempt, Orion is never less than articulate; he's just bitter. After this, he leaves, but not before remarking to Eve, "And, though I pay for victory with death---I shall seek you out in that final moment! At that moment, madam---you'll have the choice of greeting me with scorn---or a tear!" Eve seems unsure whether to take this as a come-on or a threat, but when it comes to Orion, there may not be much difference.

Is this realistic dialogue? Not especially, but it is mostly very well-crafted, and while there are some wording choices that clunk a bit (to say nothing of Kirby's eccentric punctuation, which is a pain to transcribe), the characterization in this scene is very sharp. (The anatomy of Lightray's fingers in the last panel not really so much, but that's another matter.)

[lolajames]

I crave the feeling that comes with the pain of pushing your limits, a religious penance. For who? I don’t know, I don’t think any God cares if I did yoga today or not.

Lola James

[poolpvrty]

Killing Eve! quillkiller art dump soon?? perhaps

[poem-today]

A poem by Rose Styron

December 24th

The world tonight is clear, if only for an hour

Orion's belt encircling us, the far indigo ocean thundering near

and I remember rain the alley no shortcut home.

Rose Styron

Image: Photo of Orion's Belt by Sue Pike

[radlegowaffle]

they do be livin and they do be learnin orion twins’ socials: twitter | youtube

[talvenhenki]

Trick or treat? 🥰

No photos but treats for all!

[radicalredrasp]

Eve tucking Orion in for a ‘Evening nap’

[doveriathegoddess]

I made these before the New Year but here's some more families of my OFA AU aka Mason and AVA's two moms, their dad, and little brother along with Orion and Prince Astral's parents :3

Stay tuned for Henrick, Jodie and Titanium's families later on!

[reshramlove1ob]

Ahaha! Naomi is so silly goofy! (Eve is going to kill her)