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hellzyeahwebwielingessays · 4 years ago

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Was Norman Osborn ‘flanderized’?

It has been said that over the years, particularly following his resurrection, that Norman Osborn became a caricature of himself. Does this accusation carry any weight?

First things first, let’s define what the terms ‘flanderized’ and ‘flanderization’ actually mean. The most comprehensive descriptor can be found on TV Tropes. To quote an excerpt from them:

The act of taking a single (often minor) action or trait of a character within a work and exaggerating it more and more over time until it completely consumes the character. Most always, the trait/action becomes completely outlandish and it becomes their defining characteristic.

When it comes to Norman Osborn the accusations hinge upon his evolution into a villain who:

Just wants to kill Spider-Man

Is behind everything bad in Spider-Man’s life

Makes Spider-Man the point of all of his schemes

The latter point is often accompanied by referencing Norman’s original goal of taking over New York’s gangs. The idea being that originally Norman wanted to take over the gangs and then was ‘flanderized’ into being obsessed with Spider-Man.

To an extent these accusations carry merit, but not really the way detractors might think.

I’ll begin by addressing the two most obvious counterpoints.

Firstly, the idea that Norman’s vendetta and schemes against Spider-Man are ‘outlandish’ is a hollow critique in context.

Almost everything in super hero comic books is outlandish, even accepting the pseudo-science of super powers. The majority of super villains could make more money legitimately than as criminals.

Common crooks would be unlikely to go to jail if any masked vigilante beat them up. The world at large would never resemble the real world on any level if even one super powered being existed as it’d redefine what it meant to be human. Not to mention the confirmation of life on other planets, other dimensions, parallel universes, alternate timelines and the existence of deities and the afterlife.

So Norman Osborn’s schemes (the most ambitious of which was the ‘Clone Saga’) are only outlandish if we take it on face value. In context, it’s merely a large-scale version of super villain standard practices. After all, perhaps the two greatest Doc Ock stories of all time respectively involved him having secretly built an underwater base out of a James Bond movie and attempting to nuke New York City.

As for Norman ‘just’ wanting to kill Spidey, I’ve already addressed that in an earlier article.

Moving, on let’s talk about Norman’s schemes. Did they all revolve around Spider-Man? Well, even dismissing his post-OMD stories or stint as an Avenger, this is simply not true.

Osborn actually retained his gangland aspirations in the 1990s. In fact that was his primary concern in Europe between his ‘death’ and ‘resurrection’.

When he returned to America during the ‘Clone Saga’ it was revealed (through exposition provided by the Rose) that Osborn was still very much involved in acquiring power through the criminal underworld.

Spider-Man: Made Men #1 revolved around various gangland figures vying for power. Osborn was unsurprisingly among the figures depicted.

There was some follow up to this in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #95 when the Kingpin tried to assassinate Norman as a rival gangster.

So Peter was absolutely not at the root of all of Norman’s schemes.

Nor was he behind the majority of the bad things in Spidey’s life. Between 1997-2007 alone Norman had nothing to do with:

The Chameleon learning Spider-Man’s identity

The resurrection of Doctor Octopus

Mary Jane’s death being faked by her stalker

Spidey’s duels with Morlun

The Venom symbiote seeking out new and more violent hosts, including Mac Gargan

The destruction of Peter and MJ’s apartment and of Aunt May’s home

Peter’s failing health and death in ‘The Other’ arc

Aunt May being shot courtesy of the Kingpin

So when we look at the facts, Norman just doesn’t fit the definition of flanderization listed above. He’s far from a caricature of his early appearances. This is actually fairly uncommon in general among Silver Age characters. The vast majority of all characters who were around back then have developed at least some layers of complexity since then; if anything that’d be the opposite of flanderization if anything.

This is unquestionably the case for Norman Osborn. Through stories and issues like Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #14, ‘Revenge of the Green Goblin’, Spider-Man: Legacy of Evil #1 and ‘A Death in the Family’ Norman Osborn’s personality and psychology has been immensely expanded upon from what it was between 1964-1973.

But I do not deny the idea that Norman has changed and become more focused upon Spider-Man himself. Initially his primary goal was the conquest of the criminal underworld, through which the death of Spidey was a means to an end. But from the 1996-2005 (and arguably since Superior Spider-Man v1 #4 in 2013) Norman’s primary concern seems to have been his feud with Peter.

However, these accusations against the character seem to treat this change as unnatural. As though lazy writing simply kept exaggerating one trait of Norman’s and consequently made that the crux of the character.

In reality though this change in priorities was entirely organic. Norman grew gradually more and more frustrated with Spidey’s interference until he decided to just find out who he was and destroy him. Upon learning one another’s identities that was when Norman and Peter’s relationship fundamentally changed. It became less about gangland aspirations but far more personal. This didn’t occur due to lazy writing across time, it was an evolution during he same run that invented Norman. And it happened around 2 years following his debut.

From there Norman was integrated into Peter’s social circle and Harry was unwittingly caught in the center of their feud. After ASM #40 every time Norman remembered he was the Goblin he wasn’t going after Spidey to rule the gangs, he was pursuing a personal vendetta against him. ‘The Death of Gwen Stacy’ in particular displayed this as Norman sought revenge for Peter giving him amnesia and for the harm he felt he’d done to Harry.

So, Norman’s priorities had fundamentally pivoted within less than 10 years of his debut. And it wasn’t due to lazy writing that ‘drifted’ him in that direction. It was an entirely believable evolution of what had began as a practical consideration and then spiraled into a personal blood feud.

Detractors though might argue that Norman became a caricature upon his return in 1996.

Even if he was manipulative and at times nasty in the Silver Age, it wasn’t nearly to the same extent as his portrayal in the 90s and beyond.

This is perfectly true. And you know what, the same can be said of the impact he had upon Peter’s life. He became far more integral to shaping Peter’s life from the 1996 onwards than he’d ever been in the Silver Age.

On these counts perhaps it’d be accurate to argue Norman became flanderized.

At which point I must ask…why is that a bad thing?

Let me give you an example that’s a bit left field.

In the 2010 animated show ‘Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated’ the classic Hanna-Barbera meddling kids got a major update. The most starkly different character though was Fred Jones. In the original and majority of Scooby-Doo shows Fred had almost always been both the de facto leader and the guy who planned the traps.

He was also the single blandest character of the main five, even excusing the pretty simple personalities of the rest of the gang.* SDMI however outright flanderized him. He went from the guy who happened to be in charge of setting the traps to someone literally obsessed with traps.

And you know what? He became immeasurably more interesting as a result. Suddenly he had a role within the group as the eccentric, the strategist and his interest in mysteries had more specificity as he actively looked for chances to ensnare would be ghosts and ghouls.

Whilst it’s often not the case, SDMI’s take on Fred proves that flanderization is not inherently a bad thing.

This is certainly true in Norman’s case. His vendetta with Spider-Man, status as puppeteer and framing as the ultimate evil within the Spider-Man universe has been used to great effect over the years.

As a puppeteer and manipulator he was given greater scope to attack Peter and his loved ones, thereby making him a far more dangerous villain that Spidey couldn’t just knock out with a punch.

His framing as an ultimate evil also helps render Peter’s heroism in starker contrast. Everything that makes Spider-Man a true hero and champion for good is spotlighted whenever he confronts the sheer sadism and malevolence of Norman. Personally, I feel Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75 is the greatest example of this.

Call me crazy or old-fashioned but isn’t this an essential function of a villain in superhero fiction?**

And the emphasis upon the Parker/Osborn feud simply made their encounters more emotionally gripping. We all read Peter Parker’s adventures specifically for Peter’s character. We don’t want just any given person (spider powers or not) in the spotlight. We want to follow the ups and downs of his life, his relationships with his friends, family and colleagues, what job he’s working, where he lives, how he provides for himself and others, etc.

The Spider-Man story is in essence is the life of Peter Parker.

Having a villain who has a dramatic impact upon both halves of Peter’s life is more than creatively justifiable. It makes every encounter personal and if we read Spidey because we’re personally invested in his life then Norman’s vendetta renders him perennial relevant.

He is the villain who fundamentally tests the soul of our hero.

This isn’t to say that it wouldn’t be nice for Norman to be written with goals beyond Spider-Man. But my point is that making that his priority was never ever a problem in the first place.

In short, Norman Osborn was better for his flanderization.

*Noticeably Fred’s character has had the most reinventions over the years when you look at wider Scooby media.

He’s been a cool douchebag in the live action films, something of a conspiracy theorist in ‘A Pup Named Scooby-Doo’, a cameraman in ‘Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island’, etc.

The lack of uniformity to his character is very likely an indicator of how simple and bland he originally was; and has largely remained since.

On a symbolic level one could even argue that Norman’s elevation to this personification of evil was appropriate for an older and adult Spider-Man. As we grow up the world in general grows darker and more sinister, presenting challenges that test our inner resolve.

A great example from modern literature would be Harry Potter. Harry ages from 11-17 across the seven novels, each of which dials up the amount of pain, cruelty and death Harry must confront.

#Spider-Man #Norman Osborn #Harry Osborn #Green Goblin #The Green Goblin #Clone Saga #the Clone Saga #Peter Parker #Fred Jones #Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated #Scooby-Doo #Aunt May #May Parker

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tsunflowers · 5 years ago

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anime featuring adult women

there are a lot of great female characters in anime, but sometimes it feels like they’re all supporting characters in shows about men or they haven’t graduated high school yet. I wanted to compile a list of some anime with adult women front and center

kidou keisatsu patlabor on tv:

in the sci-fi future as imagined in 1988, human-piloted robots called labors are used regularly by all kinds of people, including criminals. to combat labor crime, the police develop a special unit of patrol labors—patlabor. instead of following the prestigious division one, we follow a cast of quirky characters in second-string division two, as they solve cases ranging from mundane to dangerous to paranormal

izumi noa, and why I love her:

she’s incredibly strong-willed and stubborn. she’ll stand up to anyone. she’s obsessed with labors, not just piloting them herself but repairing them and learning about new developments in the field. even though division two is primarily men and there is the “men at work” vibe of so much military and police fiction, noa fits in easily with the guys and no one excludes her. the few times people do question her skills bc of her gender, they’re immediately shut down

other women in the cast:

nagumo shinobu, the captain of division one. we never actually see her or her unit at work, but they have a great reputation. I just love her bc she’s very funny always shutting down the captain of division two and I like that in-universe there are women in leadership roles like this

kanuka clancy, a visiting cop from new york. her relationship with noa is very strong, definitely shippable. she’s adept with a gun, a sword, and a giant robot. she’s the serious member of the team who yells at the others for being dumb but there are still times where she goes completely off the rails and ignores the law to do what she knows is right

wotakoi: love is hard for otaku:

momose narumi is an office worker and a fujoshi. she wants to keep the fujoshi part a secret this time around because things went south for her at her last job once people found out she was an otaku, but it turns out several of her new coworkers are fellow nerds. most importantly, her game-loving childhood friend hirotaka works at the same company, and the two of them reconnect as friends… and soon more than friends. it’s a romance drama involving only nerds

momose narumi, and why I love her:

she’s a lot like your standard high school girl protagonist who runs out of the house because she’s late for school, but this time she’s late for work. she’s really funny and straightforward, except she thinks she has to hide that side of her at her job. she and hirotaka have a great childhood friends to lovers relationship. she’s kind of rude to him but he adores her (though he’s kind of bad at showing it). I love a cheerful girl/serious guy romance that’s done well and I think this one really is

other women in the cast:

koyanagi hanako, narumi’s new coworker who’s a fellow fujoshi. she’s also a cosplayer, specifically a crossplayer who specializes in cosplaying as handsome guys. she and narumi only met each other under their fandom nicknames before, but they were big fans of each other and hit it off instantly when they meet at work. they’re cute friends even if they always argue about who tops in their ships

psycho-pass:

in a futuristic society, people’s mental health is constantly measured by “psycho-pass” readings which track their emotional state and judge the likelihood that they will commit a crime. naive rookie cop tsunemori akane leads a team of enforcers, people who are considered “latent criminals” too dangerous to live in normal society but who are still useful to the police. akane develops a close relationship with enforcer kougami shinya in particular, but kougami has his own intense relationship with the elusive criminal makishima shogo. as the team of detectives investigate him, they uncover secrets about the system they never wanted to learn and their fates become entwined with makishima’s

psycho-pass is written by urobuchi gen (madoka magica, fate/zero) and if you’re familiar with him you know what to expect. the show is pretty grim and gory. content warnings for rape, violence, gore, body horror, police violence, the predatory lesbian trope, forced institutionalization, and probably a lot of other things I can’t remember. not a light watch, is what I’m saying

tsunemori akane, and why I love her:

she’s incredibly principled. she sticks to what she believes is right despite immense pressure. it’s precisely because she’s naive and doesn’t understand the system that she is able to fight against it. she grows a huge amount over the course of the series but she never loses her compassion or her sense of right and wrong. she’s pretty badass too

other women in the cast:

karanomori shion, a lab analyst at the public safety bureau. she’s your typical sexy and flirtatious anime character but I think her position within the setting is interesting. although she’s categorized as a “latent criminal” unfit for society, she seems to be valued more than the enforcers. she’s also bisexual and dating a woman, though she plays into the “bisexuals can’t settle down” trope a little. she is not actually the best character or peak representation but I’m pretty attached to her and a certain type of woman will be too

kunizuka yayoi, a lesbian former musician and the only female enforcer. she’s shion’s girlfriend. there is a predatory lesbian character in this series, but it’s not kunizuka. I think her being a lesbian is handled pretty well. she has romantic and sexual relationships with women that are important to her, but she doesn’t hate men or flirt with every woman she meets (traits I hate to see in lesbian characters written by men). she’s really serious and calm but still cute and I love to see her growing respect for akane over the course of the show

death parade:

two people wake up in a strange bar with no memory of how they got there. a mysterious man with white hair named decim and his assistant, a woman known only as “the black haired woman,” ask them to play a game. the games are both absurd and dangerous, and as the contestants play them dark sides of themselves are revealed. decim’s job is to judge them based on their behavior while playing the games, but the black haired woman’s influence causes him to wonder if he’s doing the right thing

like it says in the title, the anime deals with the topic of death, and death by suicide comes up as well. I don’t remember everyone’s backstories but I think violence and abuse come up several times. there are also mannequins that move around on marionette strings which is kind of freaky

the black haired woman, and why I love her:

it might be wrong to say that she’s the main character when she isn’t introduced until the end of the first episode and her name isn’t revealed for half the show but listen. she’s the emotional core of the show and the person who sets the events in motion. she’s a very emotional person and that’s her strength. her relationship with decim is the classic “woman teaches cold-hearted man to feel” trope but I think it’s an outstanding example bc it centers her emotional experience and the two of them are not explicitly in a romantic relationship. I’ve been trying to avoid spoilers but for her it’s almost unavoidable. I love the way that her story is slowly revealed over the course of the show culminating in an incredible sequence in episode 11. I think her depression is handled so well too. it’s heartbreaking

other women in the cast:

nona, the boss of the arbiters. she’s a schemer who knows a whole lot of things she’s keeping from everyone else. I really like her outfit above all else. baggy pants with suspenders… a great look

mayu, a high school girl who is a contestant in one of the games. she tries to be cutesy but is prone to anger and makes incredible faces. I like that she’s an obsessive fangirl character who’s played for humor but is also shown as being noble and sympathetic

sakura quest:

koharu yoshino is a woman who moved to tokyo to find a job but has no luck. when she finally gets a job offer, it’s to become “queen for a day” of rural manoyama village. upon arriving in manoyama, she learns that she was only hired because they thought she was someone else but they still want her to work there for an entire year. now she lives in a small town and is tasked with both revitalizing the citizens and drawing tourists in, along with the help of four friends. it may not sound funny and heartwarming but it really is. it’s a good story about connecting and reconnecting and also the head of the tourism board wears a chupacabra mask sometimes

the main characters, and why I love them:

koharu yoshino, queen of manoyama. her struggle in the job market is unfortunately relatable to many people today and I love that she wishes she could have a job as a queen. she’s great and she really comes to love the town despite everything

shiori shinomiya, a very sweet manoyama native. she’s almost too nice but it makes it all the funnier when she gets intense

maki midorikawa, an aspiring actor who is famous among manoyama citizens for a small role she played in the past. she’s serious about acting but her family wishes she would get a more stable job. she can be kind of rude but she does love her friends and her town

sanae kouzuki, a web developer who moved to manoyama to escape the intensity of city life and the negative effects it had on her mental health. the problem is she hates rural life and is afraid of bugs but is too proud to admit it on her blog. the only true city girl among the five

ririko oribe, my favorite of the five. she’s shy but loves cryptids and the occult. it’s very easy to read her as autistic and the other characters affirm her interests and behavior. her love of cryptids even helps the town out when Spanish tourists come in search of a local legend. her relationship with her grandma is really good as well, with the two coming to understand and love each other over the course of the show

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stiffstyrofoam-fapplesart-blog · 7 years ago

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Coronation

Vadaphra Micro-Fiction.

The Coruscant Center for Health was always clean, it’s hallways seemed to go on forever, but Tarkin was only interested in one room. Every Grand Moff and Grand Admiral had been called into that room; even Lord Vader had been summoned from the war to go into that room. Tarkin had gotten here from the Maw installation the second he had been called; he hoped that he wasn’t late. Maybe he could wait for the next person and pretend that he was there to escort them in. Tarkin kept walking down the endless white hallway for, but he stopped when he started to hear that mechanical breathing.

It was Lord Vader, a young woman Tarkin didn’t recognize, and two droids. They all walked in pairs; Vader with the young woman and the two droids together Tarkin slowed to a stop as he turned to face Vader, but Vader didn’t slow down. “Lord Vader.” Tarkin echoed. “I see you have finally arrived; I was waiting for you.” Tarkin picked up the pace to walk with Lord Vader, Tarkin could barely keep up. Vader was walking so quickly. The young woman stared at Tarkin, she seemed to be sizing him up. Regardless, he needed to speak with Lord Vader.

“We had to expect this Lord Vader. He is very old. He-“ Vader stopped and grabbed Tarkin by the shoulder. Vader proceeded to tell him quietly “The Emperor is unwavering, this disease is nothing compared to 5 Jedi Masters!” The young woman made a confused face when Vader said this but he didn’t have time to pay attention to her. Tarkin gestured for them to keep walking, so as they continued Tarkin responded, “The Emperor’s health has been declining for the past two years and he has been very sickly ever since the Jedi attempted their coup. We need to accept that this could be the last time he gets sick.” Vader glared at him as they walked, almost in the room but not close enough. “What are you saying Tarkin?” The silence between them grew uncomfortable as Tarkin continued, “With Krennic’s passing on Scarif and Tagge getting blown up on the Death Star after pushing me out to the Maw…” Tarkin's voice became hesitant as he explained further. “I know that you are Palpatine's appointed heir. All these deaths in the court may prove in your favor...” Tarkin’s voice became a mockery of soothing as he finished, “Lessen the strains of exchanging power.” Vader grew quiet, even his breathing seemed to stop.

Aphra could feel his anger growing. She feared that this Tarkin was going to get cut in half. However, he saved himself by saying: “I just want you to know that I’m on your side Lord Vader. I haven’t forgotten what you did for me. For my son, or when you liberated me from prison. I just ask that in return you consider my loyalty when you revise the court of Grand Moffs.” With that, he became silent as they continued to see the sickly Emperor. After another ten minutes of walking, they finally reached the room. Vader paused and told Tarkin “Go inside, I must brief my companion.” Tarkin nodded and walked inside.

He turned to face Aphra and spoke: “This is…” Vader paused. “Not what I expected. I always imagined myself becoming Emperor after having killed Palpatine. After proving that I was the stronger Sith.” Aphra was confused, she thought Vader hated Palpatine. She had come with him here to kill Palpatine. However, she decided to just go with the flow and give him her advice. “Well, he is very old. This is natural, I’ve experienced this with some of my family but everyone processes the death of someone close differently.” Vader seemed to be sated for now. He then proceeded to explain how she and the droids need to act in the Emperors presence, “When we go inside, don’t look at Palpatine. Simply come in and don’t speak. If any of you are asked why you are here, simply say that you are my companion.” She nodded and they all walked inside together.

The room was very solemn and serious; it was filled with the Imperial elite such as Sate Pestage, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Admiral Yularen, and Admiral Pelleon. Tarkin was in the corner with a redheaded woman; her uniform read: Admiral Daala. The two held hands, Tarkin looked grateful to be alive.

Vader approached Palpatine, the old man was shriveled up, barely able to breathe without wincing, and too weak to speak loudly. “Palpatine…” Vader whispered as he knelt down to speak to him. The elderly man grabbed Vader’s arm and tried to speak. Palpatine was quiet but he was straining his voice so much it sounded like he was screaming.

“Lord Vader I have sensed your anger, but I do not have much time; so I must tell you this before I am gone. I have lied and tricked you for many years, but you have become stronger! You have worked so hard, so do not feel as though you have failed as a Sith. The reason that the apprentice has to kill the master is that it is the only way to show they are stronger. However, there is a way for you to prove yourself. Keep the Empire together, finalize our revenge on the Jedi, and eliminate the rebels for good.” Palpatine's voice began to waver as he concluded, “Don’t be weak! Be strong!” With these final whispers, Palpatine began to quiet and he passed out.

Darth Vader was shaken; he had never seen Palpatine so weak, Vader knew that this would be the end for Palpatine. Vader staggered outside the room and Aphra followed. She was surprised; he wasn’t happy or sad that Palpatine was dying. As the two came outside of the room Vader paced in the hallway and Aphra came up to him and hug him. Aphra then looked at him and said “I know you wanted this to be simple. Coming here and killing him would have been something that made sense. I know that you really believe that the simplest solution is the best one but that is not going to apply here. I am sorry that this has turned out to be so complicated.” Vader stared at her as she continued, “Let’s just take this as it comes. Palpatine will pass, we will become Emperor and Empress,-“ Aphra smiled, “- and we can wipe out the rebel alliance for good.” Aphra let go of him but kept holding his hand. The two of them paced together awhile in that hallway.

Tarkin and Daala waited in the room. The other Grand Moffs and Admirals had left to go eat, Aphra and Vader were still in the hallway, but Tarkin was still here. “Still here…” Tarkin thought aloud but, Daala interrupted him with a question. “Tarkin… why did you leave me at the Maw? If Tagge hadn’t sent you back, you would have died on the Death Star.” Daala asked sorrowfully. Tarkin took time to tell her an answer, he didn’t know what to say, but he answered anyway, “You were the only one I trusted to keep the Maw station under control. I didn’t think that I could’ve of died.” Tarkin looked mad, “All those soldiers… the resources, the manpower, all for some rebel idiot in an X-wing to blow it up.” Tarkin was so angry, but Daala just held on. Daala moved up her arms to hug him and she spoke “Don’t think about that. We are here, and you said yourself that you trust Vader to bring this to an end. This whole war could be over within the next year.” Daala paused; she knew something was wrong with Tarkin. “Usually you would be scheming how to get yourself on that throne.”

Tarkin looked at her in shock, and retorted, “Is that what you think? Daala, I have gone through life-changing events. If I hadn’t been betrayed by Tagge I would have died! My greed would have killed me. This isn’t some new leaf I have turned onto; this is me realizing that I am the owner of an entire section of the galaxy, I am one of the most powerful men in the history of the galaxy, and I am one of the wealthiest in the galaxy.” He stopped to gather the words as his finished, “I have everything I ever needed or wanted; maybe I don’t need to try to steal this from Vader.”

“I don’t know a lot about Sith customs,” Aphra told Vader. She paused for a few seconds before continuing, “But it seems as though most Sith hate their masters and end up killing them. Isn’t that unproductive?” Vader leaned against a wall as he responded, “If the Sith master was weak enough to be killed by his apprentice then he didn’t deserve to be a master. If the apprentice is too weak, then he doesn’t deserve to kill him.” Vader seemed to wince as he said that statement.

Aphra had no idea what to do. Even though the Sith system was weird and backward; Vader was being affected tremendously. Aphra had never seen him like this. Even was Cylo had turn off the suit that was holding him together, Vader still triumphed. Aphra sensed that this was a common theme in his life, he could destroy any enemy but it was his allies that were the danger to him. “How powerful is the Emperor anyway? I have seen you stop countless Jedi, horrible beasts, and your own organ failure. How do you know you couldn’t have beaten him?” Vader stared at her, he formulated his words, he didn’t know how to explain, but he tried,

“The Jedi were the most powerful force in the galaxy because they could sense danger’s to the Republic; over 10,000 Jedi, actively sensing for anything that could threaten their government. Palpatine threw a mist over the galaxy; he masked the senses of every single Jedi all at once. Usually, that would mean that if a Jedi got close to the source of that shroud that he would see who was doing it, but they never did. Palpatine insisted on frequent visits to the Jedi temple and routinely met with them. He shook every single Jedi masters hand on a weekly basis. They couldn’t see it because he was hiding it.” Vader closed his left hand into a fist and squeezed Aphra arm with the other. He was in so much pain. In the meanwhile, Tarkin and Daala left to get something to eat. Despite the sudden interruption Tarkin seemed happy enough and greeted them both, then Tarkin and Daala walked off holding hands.

After they left Vader continued “When he finally revealed his true nature; five Jedi masters attacked him. He killed them all with ease.” Vader sighed, he was breathing hard. “Aphra… I am so weak. I’m barely held together through cybernetics and the force. I am not even going to kill my master like every other Sith. Aphra, I don’t know what to do! I can’t see what to do… I’m being blocked.“With that, he stopped and stood up straighter. Even though the masked Vader look as though he had realized a great truth. Vader walked down the long white tile hallway and entered the room. Aphra heard lightsabers igniting, clashing of blades, a scream, and then silence. She ran over toward the room; she opened the door, Vader stood there and Palpatine laid out cut in half on the floor. Vader stood tall and told Aphra “He was hiding his weakness. I have been stronger than him since the beginning.” Vader then said calmly. “I am Emperor.”

#vadaphra #this is my shit god damn it.#Daalarkin #Im proud it it #fuck you #Alternate universe #tarkin lives

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aion-rsa · 6 years ago

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Best New Horror Books in December 2018

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Looking for a good horror read? Here are some of the best new horror books to be released in December 2018.

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The Lists Kayti Burt

Dec 17, 2018

There's never a bad time of year to read a creepy classic, and that includes the winter holiday season! Here are some of the horror books coming out in December that we are most looking forward to checking out here at Den of Geek...

Have you joined the Den of Geek Book Club? You should!

Best New Horror Books in December 2018

The Day the Sun Died by Yan Lianke (Translated by Carlos Rojas)

Type: Standalone novel Publisher: Grove Press Release date: December 11th

Yan Lianke has secured his place as contemporary China’s most essential and daring novelist, “with his superlative gifts for storytelling and penetrating eye for truth” (New York Times Book Review). His newest novel, The Day the Sun Died―winner of the Dream of the Red Chamber Award, one of the most prestigious honors for Chinese-language novels―is a haunting story of a town caught in a waking nightmare.

In a little village nestled in the Balou mountains, fourteen-year-old Li Niannian and his parents run a funeral parlor. One evening, he notices a strange occurrence. Instead of preparing for bed, more and more neighbors appear in the streets and fields, carrying on with their daily business as if the sun hadn’t already set. Li Niannian watches, mystified. As hundreds of residents are found dreamwalking, they act out the desires they’ve suppressed during waking hours. Before long, the community devolves into chaos, and it’s up to Li Niannian and his parents to save the town before sunrise.

Set over the course of one increasingly bizarre night, The Day the Sun Died is a propulsive, darkly sinister tale from a world-class writer.

Read The Day the Sun Died by Yan Lianke

Kingdom of Needle and Bone by Mira Grant

Type: Standalone novel Publisher: Subterranean Release date: December 31st

We live in an age of wonders. Modern medicine has conquered or contained many of the diseases that used to carry children away before their time, reducing mortality and improving health. Vaccination and treatment are widely available, not held in reserve for the chosen few. There are still monsters left to fight, but the old ones, the simple ones, trouble us no more. Or so we thought. For with the reduction in danger comes the erosion of memory, as pandemics fade from memory into story into fairy tale. Those old diseases can't have been so bad, people say, or we wouldn't be here to talk about them. They don't matter. They're never coming back. How wrong we could be. It begins with a fever. By the time the spots appear, it's too late: Morris's disease is loose on the world, and the bodies of the dead begin to pile high in the streets. When its terrible side consequences for the survivors become clear, something must be done, or the dying will never stop. For Dr. Isabella Gauley, whose niece was the first confirmed victim, the route forward is neither clear nor strictly ethical, but it may be the only way to save a world already in crisis. It may be the only way to atone for her part in everything that s happened. She will never be forgiven, not by herself, and not by anyone else. But she can, perhaps, do the right thing. We live in an age of monsters.

Read Kingdom of Needle and Bone by Mira Grant

Best New Horror Books in November 2018

Creatures of Want and Ruin by Molly Tanzer

Type: Standalone novel Publisher: Mariner Release date: November 13th

Amityville baywoman Ellie West fishes by day and bootlegs moonshine by night. It’s dangerous work under Prohibition—independent operators like her are despised by federal agents and mobsters alike—but Ellie’s brother was accepted to college and Ellie’s desperate to see him go. So desperate that when wealthy strangers ask her to procure libations for an extravagant party Ellie sells them everything she has, including some booze she acquired under unusual circumstances. What Ellie doesn’t know is that this booze is special. Distilled from foul mushrooms by a cult of diabolists, those who drink it see terrible things—like the destruction of Long Island in fire and flood. The cult is masquerading as a church promising salvation through temperance and a return to “the good old days,” so it’s hard for Ellie to take a stand against them, especially when her father joins, but Ellie loves Long Island, and she loves her family, and she’ll do whatever it takes to ensure neither is torn apart.

Read Creatures of Want and Ruin by Molly Tanzer

The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Volume Three

Type: Collection of stories Publisher: Valancourt Books Release date: November 20th

A new collection of twenty ghostly tales of Yuletide terror, collected from rare Victorian periodicals

Seeking to capitalize on the success of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1843), Victorian newspapers and magazines frequently featured ghost stories at Christmas time, and reading them by candlelight or the fireside became an annual tradition, a tradition Valancourt Books is pleased to continue with our series of Victorian Christmas ghost stories. This third volume contains twenty tales, most of them never before reprinted. They represent a mix of the diverse styles and themes common to Victorian ghost fiction and include works by once-popular authors like Ellen Wood and Charlotte Riddell as well as contributions from anonymous or wholly forgotten writers. This volume also features a new introduction by Prof. Simon Stern.

“Before me, with the sickly light from the lantern shining right down upon it, was—a cloven hoof! Then the awfulness of the compact I had made came to my mind with terrible force ...” - Frederick Manley, “The Ghost of the Cross-Roads”

“By the fireplace there was a large hideous pool of blood soaking into the carpet, and leaving ghastly stains around. I am not ashamed to confess that my brain reeled; the mysterious horror overcame me ...” - Lillie Harris, “19, Great Hanover Street”

“A fearful white face comes to me; a horrible mask, with features drawn as in agony—ghastly, pale, hideous! Death or approaching death, violent death, written in every line. Every feature distorted. Eyes starting from the head. Thin lips moving and working—lips that are cursing, although I hear no sound.” - Hugh Conway, “A Dead Man’s Face”

Read The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Volume Three

Lip Hook: A Tale of Rural Unease by David Hine & Mark Stafford

Type: Graphic Novel Publisher: SelfMadeHero Release date: November 27th

Somewhere in the British Isles, at the end of a neglected road, there is a village called Lip Hook. For its inhabitants, the village is more than the end of the road—it’s the end of the world. Beyond it, there is nothing but mist-shrouded marshland. Few travelers take the road to Lip Hook, but one foggy night, a car speeds perilously toward the village. The driver is a dangerously beautiful woman, the passenger a man with a gunshot wound and a suitcase containing a treasure he has risked his life for. Cash-strapped but in need of a place to hide, the two fugitives seek shelter at the Hanged Man Inn, where the woman persuades the innkeeper to accept payment in kind. As days pass and the woman extends her services to more of Lip Hook's men, among them the village priest, a false faith grips the community—and reason, logic, and humanity begin to disappear.

Read Lip Hook: A Tale of Rural Unease by David Hine & Mark Stafford

The Dinosaur Tourist by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Collection of short fiction Publisher: Subterranean Press Release date: November 30th

Almost nothing is only what it seems to be at first glance. Appearances can be deceiving and first impressions often lead us disastrously astray. If we're not careful, assumption and expectation can betray us all the way to madness and death and damnation. In The Dinosaur Tourist, Caitlín R. Kiernan's fifteenth collection of short fiction, nineteen tales of the unexpected and the uncanny explore that treacherous gulf between what we suppose the world to be and what might actually be waiting out beyond the edges of our day-to-day experience. A mirror may be a window into another time. A cat may be our salvation. Your lover may be a fabulous being. And a hitchhiker may turn out to be anyone at all.

Read The Dinosaur Tourist by Caitlin R. Kiernan

Best New Horror Books in October 2018

Blood Communion by Anne Rice

Type: Part of the Vampire Chronicles series Publisher: Knopf Release date: October 2nd

The Vampire Chronicles continue with a riveting, rich saga--part adventure, part suspense--of Prince Lestat and the story of the Blood Communion as he tells the tale of his coming to rule the vampire world and the eternal struggle to find belonging, a place in the universe for the undead, and how, against his will, he must battle the menacing, seemingly unstoppable force determined to thwart his vision and destroy the entire vampire netherworld.

In this spellbinding novel, Lestat, rebel outlaw, addresses the tribe of vampires, directly, intimately, passionately, and tells the mesmerizing story of the formation of the Blood Communion and how he became Prince of the vampire world, the true ruler of this vast realm, and how his vision for all the Children of the Universe to thrive as one, came to be.

The tale spills from Lestat's heart, as he speaks first of his new existence as reigning monarch--and then of his fierce battle of wits and words with the mysterious Rhoshamandes, proud Child of the Millennia, reviled outcast for his senseless slaughter of the legendary ancient vampire Maharet, avowed enemy of Queen Akasha; Rhoshamandes, a demon spirit who refuses to live in harmony at the Court of Prince Lestat and threatens all that Lestat has dreamt of.

As the tale unfolds, Lestat takes us from the towers and battlements of his ancestral castle in the snow-covered mountains of France to the verdant wilds of lush Louisiana with its lingering fragrances of magnolias and night jasmine; from the far reaches of the Pacific's untouched islands to the 18th-century city of St. Petersburg and the court of the Empress Catherine...

Read Blood Communion by Anne Rice

Read our full review of Blood Communion by Anne Rice here.

Plight of the Living Dead: What Real-Life Zombies Reveal About Our World—And Ourselves

Type: Standalone non-fiction Publisher: Penguin Release date: October 2nd

A brain-bending exploration of real-life zombies and mind controllers, and what they reveal to us about nature—and ourselves.

Zombieism isn’t just the stuff of movies and TV shows like The Walking Dead. It’s real, and it’s happening in the world around us, from wasps and worms to dogs and moose—and even humans.

In Plight of the Living Dead, science journalist Matt Simon documents his journey through the bizarre evolutionary history of mind control. Along the way, he visits a lab where scientists infect ants with zombifying fungi, joins the search for kamikaze crickets in the hills of New Mexico, and travels to Israel to meet the wasp that stings cockroaches in the brain before leading them to their doom.

Nothing Hollywood dreams up can match the brilliant, horrific zombies that natural selection has produced time and time again. Plight of the Living Dead is a surreal dive into a world that would be totally unbelievable if very smart scientists didn’t happen to be proving it’s real, and most troublingly—or maybe intriguingly—of all: how even we humans are affected.

Read Plight of the Living Dead by Matt Simon

Dracul by Dacre Stoker and JD Barker

Type: Prequel to Dracula Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Release date: October 2nd

The prequel to Dracula, inspired by notes and texts left behind by the author of the classic novel, Dracul is a supernatural thriller that reveals not only Dracula’s true origins but Bram Stoker’s—and the tale of the enigmatic woman who connects them.

It is 1868, and a twenty-one-year-old Bram Stoker waits in a desolate tower to face an indescribable evil. Armed only with crucifixes, holy water, and a rifle, he prays to survive a single night, the longest of his life. Desperate to record what he has witnessed, Bram scribbles down the events that led him here...

A sickly child, Bram spent his early days bedridden in his parents' Dublin home, tended to by his caretaker, a young woman named Ellen Crone. When a string of strange deaths occur in a nearby town, Bram and his sister Matilda detect a pattern of bizarre behavior by Ellen—a mystery that deepens chillingly until Ellen vanishes suddenly from their lives. Years later, Matilda returns from studying in Paris to tell Bram the news that she has seen Ellen—and that the nightmare they've thought long ended is only beginning.

Read Dracul by Dacre Stoker and JD Barker

The World of Lore: Dreadful Places by Aaron Mahnke

Type: Standalone non-fiction Publisher: Del Rey Release date: October 9th

Captivating stories of the places where human evil has left a nefarious mark, featuring stories from the podcast Lore—now a streaming television series—including “Echoes,” “Withering Heights,” and “Behind Closed Doors” as well as rare material. Sometimes you walk into a room, a building, or even a town, and you feel it. Something seems off—an atmosphere that leaves you oddly unsettled, with a sense of lingering darkness. Join Aaron Mahnke, the host of the popular podcast Lore, as he explores some of these dreadful places and the history that haunts them. Mahnke takes us to Colorado and the palatial Stanley Hotel, where wealthy guests enjoyed views of the Rocky Mountains at the turn of the twentieth century—and where, decades later, a restless author would awaken from a nightmare, inspired to write one of the most revered horror novels of all time. Mahnke also crosses land and sea to visit frightful sites—from New Orleans to Richmond, Virginia, to the brooding, ancient castles of England—each with its own echoes of dark deeds, horrible tragedies, and shocking evil still resounding. Filled with evocative illustrations, this eerie tour of lurid landmarks and doomed destinations is just the ticket to take armchair travelers with a taste for the macabre to places they never thought they’d visit in their wildest, scariest dreams.

Read The World of Lore: Dreadful Places

I Am Behind You by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Type: Standalone novel Publisher: St. Martin's Press Release date: October 16th

A compelling, eerie new novel from the internationally bestselling author of Let the Right One In.

"At the top of his game, Lindqvist gives Stephen King and John Saul at their best a run for the money." —Library Journal (starred)

"Dubbed the Stephen King of Sweden, Lindqvist lives up to the billing." —New York Post

Four families wake up one morning in their trailer on an ordinary campsite. However, during the night something strange has happened. Everything outside the camping grounds has disappeared, and the world has been transformed into an endless expanse of grass. The sky is blue, but there is no sign of the sun; there are no trees, no flowers, no birds. And every radio plays nothing but the songs of sixties pop icon Peter Himmelstrand.

As the holiday-makers try to come to terms with what has happened, they are forced to confront their deepest fears and secret desires. Past events that each of them has tried to bury rise to the surface and take on terrifying physical forms. Can any of them find a way back to reality?

Read I Am Behind You by John Ajvide Lindqvist

In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt

Type: Standalone Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Release date: October 16th

The eerie, disturbing story of one of our perennial fascinations--witchcraft in colonial America--wrapped up in a lyrical novel of psychological suspense.

"Once upon a time there was and there wasn't a woman who went to the woods."

In this horror story set in colonial New England, a law-abiding Puritan woman goes missing. Or perhaps she has fled or abandoned her family. Or perhaps she's been kidnapped, and set loose to wander in the dense woods of the north. Alone and possibly lost, she meets another woman in the forest. Then everything changes.

On a journey that will take her through dark woods full of almost-human wolves, through a deep well wet with the screams of men, and on a living ship made of human bones, our heroine may find that the evil she flees has been inside her all along. In the House in the Dark of the Woodsis a novel of psychological horror and suspense told in Laird Hunt's characteristically lyrical prose style. It is the story of a bewitching, a betrayal, a master huntress and her quarry. It is a story of anger, of evil, of hatred and of redemption. It is the story of a haunting, a story that makes up the bedrock of American mythology, but told in a vivid way you will never forget.

Read In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt

Slender Man by Anonymous

Type: Epistolary novel Publisher: Harper Voyager Release date: October 23rd

One man’s search for the truth about one of the most intriguing urban legends ever—the modern bogeyman, Slender Man—leads him down a dark, dangerous path in this creepy supernatural fantasy that will make you question where the line between dark myth and terrifying reality begins.

Lauren Bailey has disappeared. As friends at her exclusive school speculate on what happened and the police search for answers, Matt Barker dreams of trees and a black sky . . . and something drawing closer.

Through fragments of journals, news stories, and online conversations, a figure begins to emerge—a tall, slender figure—and all divisions between fiction and delusion, between nightmare and reality, begin to fall.

Chilling, eerie, and addictively readable, Slender Man is a unique spine-tingling story and a brilliant and frightening look at one of the most fascinating—and diabolical—mythical figures in modern times.

Read Slender Man by Anonymous

Alice Isn't Dead by Joseph Fink

Type: Standalone Publisher: Harper Perennial Release date: October 30th

From the New York Times bestselling co-author of It Devours! and Welcome to Night Vale comes a fast-paced thriller about a truck driver searching across America for the wife she had long assumed to be dead.

“This isn’t a story. It’s a road trip."

Keisha Taylor lived a quiet life with her wife, Alice, until the day that Alice disappeared. After months of searching, presuming she was dead, Keisha held a funeral, mourned, and gradually tried to get on with her life. But that was before Keisha started to see her wife, again and again, in the background of news reports from all over America. Alice isn’t dead, and she is showing up at every major tragedy and accident in the country.

Following a line of clues, Keisha takes a job with a trucking company, Bay and Creek Transportation, and begins searching for Alice. She eventually stumbles on an otherworldly conflict being waged in the quiet corners of our nation’s highway system—uncovering a conspiracy that goes way beyond one missing woman.

Read Alice Isn't Dead by Joseph Fink

What horror books are you most looking forward to checking out? Let us know in the comments below or in our Den of Geek Book Club on Goodreads...

Further reading: Best New Science Fiction Books

Further reading: Best New Fantasy Books

Further reading: Best New Young Adult Fiction

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.

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[WOIN] The EONS Collection

Publisher: EN Publishing

94 EONS supplements gathered in one place! The ultimate collection of supplementary WOIN material. Ths epic collection contains rules, races, gear, adventures, careers, and more for fantasy, modern, and sci-fi games. Here's what you get. Note that some of these articles were later incorporated into core rulebooks. This collection includes over a dozen adventures!

#94. Four N.E.W. Alien Races III. Welcome to another four alien PC races for your sci-fi WOIN games! As before, you can easily use these in fantasy games, too! This time, you’ll meet: Clockmen, clockwork mechanoids who repair themselves with spare parts; Drahzik, a hunter culture of trophy seekers and bounty hunters; Fornians, a fungal race with the ability to emit hallucinogenic spores; Garga, a race of amphibious frog like beings.

#93. The Power of Christ Compels You! WOIN takes a darker turn as it adopts some themes from horror movies such as The Omen or The Exorcist. This article deals with demonic possession, and the exorcism thereof. Learn how to prepare for an exorcism, and how to connect the ritual itself. Also includes the new Exorcist career.

#92. Four N.E.W. Alien Races II. Following last week’s four new alien races, we have another four for your campaigns! This time, we introduce the Bragi, a cephalopod race, experts at piloting and astro-navigation; Changelings, naturally amorphous, creatures which have evolved to be able to mimick the shapes of others; Charons, a humanoid race mutated by radiation; and Chorax, eight-legged cannibalistic spider-people who experiment on others.

#91. Four N.E.W. Alien Races. This article, the first in a series, introduces four new alien races suitable for player characters. Acorax, humanoid bird-men; Adraxi, winged, featherless humanoid aliens who resemble pterodactyls; Argons, tall, fur-covered humanoids who live in tune with nature; and Betrux, stocky, beetle-like aliens with thick shells and waving antennae.

#90. Encounters in the Frigid Wastes. As the cold weather in the real world continues, we add some frigid encounters into your fantasy WOIN games. Avalanches, frozen bridges, mammoth warriors, winter riders, and wolves in the storm await in this article by James J. Haeck; illustrated by Ellis Goodson.

#89. The Trade War. The second adventure in the Code of Honor trilogy by Jacob Rodgers (a trilogy which started with The Palermo Gambit last month). In the Galileo Sector, settled by the ne-er do wells and "Businesses" of the Union, a trade war erupts between The YOEN Conglomerate and and Capitolia Business ... and when a trade war begins the Galileo Sector, the laser pistols follow quickly after. Illustrated by Ellis Goodson, Victoria Oliveira, Phil Stone, and Indi Martin.

#88. SolSpace: A Brief Timeline. Welcome to the first overview of SolSpace, the "core" setting for science-fiction What's OLD is NEW games. This document contains a short introduction to the setting, a timeline of the setting's history so far, and maps of known space. The maps are also included separately as image files for convenience. Note that all of our settings, including this one, are available for use by creators selling content in the WOIN Community Publishing Syndicate.

#87. Deep Space Encounters. Spice up your space travel with these encounters in deep space! escape pods, space restaurants, debris fields, and rogue shots all present intergalactic challenges, and each has a handful of variations so that you can use them again! By Michael McCarthy; illustrated by Sade, Giacomo Marchesi, and James Gary.

#86. Urban Noir. WOIN covers a wide range of genres. Space opera, dark fantasy, modern action, spy thriller, and more. This article takes a look at the noir genre, offering game and setting advice as well as four new exploits suited to such settings. By Charlie Brooks; illustrated by Indi Martin.

#85. Behold My True Form! It can be hard to make solo "boss" monsters which are interesting enough to stand up to an entire party, while not making them a big bag of endless HEALTH which requires tedious chipping away. This article gives you some options for traits acquired when the monster hits half HEALTH, and when it hits zero HEALTH. By James Haeck; illustrated by Ellis Goodson.

#84. The Last Star Knight. The Star Knight career is expanded with a plethora of new powers, some inspired by a recent sci-fi movie which recently appears in cinemas! Learn how to call lightning, project your consciousness, or turn off your targeting computer....

#83. The Palermo Gambit. From writer Jacob Rodgers comes the start of a new trilogy! Set in the Galileo Sector, an area of space settled by criminals and ne'er-do-wells, the PCs will play scoundrels working for the gangster Boss Nadir. Can they locate Danos Petrar, and then infiltrate the warehouse in Palermo City? And how will they fare at the firefight at the Bull's Eye club? And finally, can they protect the freighter Gentileschi during the New Venice Run? Illustrated by Phil Stone, Indi Martin; cartography by Derek Ruiz.

#82. Faces of the Grotesque. This collection of five magical masks, fashioned out of a monstrous creature's visage, imbue your characters with the powers of the monsters they depict. Each mask has a history, powers, plot hooks, and curses and drawbacks -- the Goblin Mask, Mask of the Dragon, Dire Bear Mask, Hill Giant Mask, and Octopoid Mask.

#81. The Judicial Legion of Adventurers: Swift. Part of the Judicial Legion of Adventurers, Swift is the fastest person alive! Imbued with superhuman speed, he can run faster than the blink of an eye; so fast, in fact, that he can even walk on water or run up walls!

#80. The Judicial Legion of Adventurers: The Dark Avenger. The Judicial Legion of Adventurers is a group of powerful heroes dedicated to fighting evil and injustice. Their epic abilities, global renown, and awe-inspiring reputations are enough to make even the most depraved arch-villain think twice, and give alien invaders pause to reconsider the wisdom of going up against them.

#79. Faces of Hallow's Eve. These five dark artifacts are suitable for fantasy or sci-fi campaigns. Each is a grisly mask with evil powers and dangerous drawbacks - the Ghost Hood, the Hag Mask, the Mask of the Shamed Royal, the Visage of the Vampire, and the Slashed Faces. By Kiel Chenier; illustrated by Kim Van Deun.

#78. ZEITGEIST #: Island at the Axis of the World (Part 3). The ZEITGEIST adventure path continues! Can the party infiltrate Axis Island, and open the way for Risur's navy to take down the treasonous duchess?

#77. Psionic Gear. Twenty new psionic items, including grenades, companion stones, crystal masks, mainlines, psionic detonators, perception torcs, psi crowns, psychic cuffs, and much more.

#76. ZEITGEIST #1: Island at the Axis of the World (Part 2). The critically acclaimed adventure path continues! In this Act, the heroes will open the way for Risur's navy to take down the treacherous duchess by infiltrating Axis Island. Espionage and skullduggery abound!

#75. Life Events. These rules add to the career lifepath character creation system, adding personal, social, and extra-curricular events to your character's history, increasing the depth and richness of your character's backstory. Simply roll one life event for each career grade when first creating your character. You might get married, have an accident, win the lottery, or take up a new hobby.

#74. Rank & File. If your character belongs to an organisation, it's likely that they'll have a rank of some kind. Whether a fantasy pirate captain, or a veteran star knight, a grizzled watch commander, or a modern marine, a character's rank adds an extra level of immersion into the setting. These rules tie rank to REP for a wide variety of fantasy, modern, and sci-fi organisations.

#73. You're All Doomed! An abandoned wizard's tower resting atop a hill. A peaceful village threatened by the undead. Rumors of vast treasure buried in forgotten crypts. Sounds like the perfect start to an adventure! A little too perfect...

#72. Give Chase! Chases can be hard to run! In you're mind, they're an exciting cinematic adventure; in reality, they can end up being a tedious, plodding plotting of minis on a grid. The core rules explain how to run a chase; this article goes into a little more depth, describing how to make sure your chase scenes run smoothly!

#71. Danuki: Mischievous Shapeshifters. This new race for both OLD and NEW games introduces a diminutive race of mischievous changelings. These prank-loving beings are not known for their bravery, nut they love to take down the pompous and the aloft. By Carl Cramér; illustrated by Ellis Goodson.

#70. Racebuilding Engine. Are you players bored with the core races? Here's their chance to design their own unique alien or fantasy race using a point-based system. They'll choose its type, size, attributes, skill choices, and exploits and create something exotic and personal to them!

#69. Summoners. A brand new magical career, along with a new magical enhancement and a range of summonable fey spirits form this article by Nathan Thurston!

#68. Monster Design. Struggling with creating WOIN monsters and NPCs? This system takes you through the steps by choosing a template and power level and going from there.

#67. ZEITGEIST #1: Island at the Axis of the World (Part 1). The first part of the critically acclaimed adventure path is here! In factories throughout the city of Flint, months of ceasless toil by mages, engineers, and shipbuilders have finally concluded. Now well-wishers from across the nation of Risur have come to witness the launch of the world’s mightiest vessel of war: the R.N.S. Coaltongue, impervious to spell and cannon and armed with fire that could slay even a dragon. On the docks, constables keep a close eye on celebrants and troublemakers; in the shadows, conspiracy and betrayal threaten this technological titan on its maiden voyage.Meanwhile, on an island in the lush Yerasol Achipelago, enemy spies put their plans into motion, clouded with secrecy...

#66. Deadly Traps. From acid pools to trash compactors to cursed glyphs to poison needles, traps are a staple ingredient in any adventurer's diet. This article tells you how to create a trap for your WOIN game, and includes 15 example traps ready to use, along with a (simple) trap generator.

#65. The Goddess Within: Playing Nymphs. These three new fey races for fantasy settings allow you to play an immortal forest, earth, or water nymph. These magical creatures are physical spirits of nature, with natural magical abilities. By Josh Gentry; illustrated by Tamara Cvetkovic.

#64. Black Powder Conjurer. This new magical career for fantasy games combines the arts of evocation with the explosive potential of gunpowder. The Black Powder Conjurer can use her guns to throw fire, as her weapons crash like rolling thunder.

#63. Trappist. Trappist-1 is a real star system about 30 light years from Earth, believed by astronomers today to have seven rocky planets in the star's habitable zone. Little do they know that in the future, humans will discover the crowded and vibrant system that is Trappist, with its seven populated planets. This 15-page article details the Tarppist system, its seven worlds, and the races who live on them.

#62. Conditions & Critical Hits. Some people like their critical hits to be a bit more "in your face". This alternate system of critical hits (and status tracks in general) makes them a little more dangerous, as well as a little quicker to use.

#61. Ten Magical Careers. WOIN fans have been asking for new magical careers for a while now, and so we present you with TEN of them! The Archmage, Battlemage, Enchanter, Healer, Icemage, Illusionist, Magician, Shaman, Soothsayer, and Witch/Warlock add to the seven magical careers in the core rules, taking you up to 17.

#60. Union Space Force. This short PDF contains the overall career structure diagram of the USF (Union Space Force). While the WOIN career structure is very freeform, specific organisations may have their own prerequisites. The diagram in this PDF indicates the order in which USF officers may take careers.

#59. Catalogus Naeniam. Got your copy of OLD and eagerly devouring the Elements of Magic spell building system? This article by Nathan Thurston contains 21 new spells all created using the WOIN rules! Ranging from the 3 MP Strike Through Stone to the mighty 37 MP Curse of the Beast, these spells cover a wide variety of magical skills and secrets.

#58. The Virosa Accord. The third and final adventure in the Nereid Trilogy, which began with The Last Survivor, and continued in Harvester Moon. The Virosa were first encountered in The Last Survivor; now the PCs are invited to join a First Contact mission to their homeworld. But can they deal with radical factions, assassins, and more? By Jacob Rodgers; illustrated by Indi Martin, Ellis Goodson, Giacomo Marchesi, Phil Stone, and Kier Lyles.

#57. Laser Swords. Laser swords in the N.E.W. core rulebook are a fairly basic affair. For those who enjoy their science fantasy, this article provides upgraded rules for laser swords -- six distinct sword colours, four weapon traits, and information on the Star Knight tradition of building and upgrading their own swords

#56. Incident at ICEREACH-1. In this adventure by Rob Nuttman, the PCs will find themselves investigating events at a lunar mining outpost. Can the heroes discover what happened at ICEREACH-1? What did North Atlantic Heavy Industries find below the ice of the Atinken Basin? Illustrated by Peter Woods, Xanditz, and Huy Man Van.

#55. Game Modes. Regular and Cinematic Mode are two ways to modify the tone of your WOIN game. This article offers two new ways to play substantially different styles of game - Grit Mode (suitable for survival horror, or hard sci-fi) and Cartoon Mode (suitable for light-hearted games with ridiculous action). Also presented is a new ammunition tracking rule using the countdown pool mechanic.

#54. Small Ships. One thing often requested for the WOIN system is support for vessels smaller than 1,000 tons. This article provides statistics for smaller vessels, along with select range of ship components from the Chen-Zua Corporation designed for ships of that size. Of course, those ships can use larger components, as long as they can fit them in, but these have been specifically engineered to accommodate smaller sized vessels. Also included are two sample ships, the Newton Class 0-I Shuttle and the Stingray Class 0-II Freighter.

#53. Size Matters! A shorter article this time, after the recent two adventures! This two-page article illustrates the different creature size categories in the WOIN system, from tiny housecoats to titanic monsters which crush entire buildings beneath their feet! Illustrated by Michael McCarthy.

#52. Harvester Moon. Harvester Moon, by Jacob Rodgers, is the second in the Nereid Trilogy which began with The Last Survivor. In this adventure, the PCs will track down the Ogron slaver Bauk and discover the ominous reason why ship crews have been captured in the region. New monsters, two new starships, and a brand new psionic-based starship weapon are included in this 15-page adventure. Can the heroes infiltrate the Harvester Moon, explore the slaver facility, survive the Reapers, and escape again? Illustrated by Victoria Oliveira, Ellis Goodson, James Gary; cartography by Meshon Cantrell.

#51. Into the Dreaming. A fey-themed fantasy adventure for starting PCs! The adventurers are trapped in a strange land - can they find their way home? And can they navigate the labyrinthine Hedgegrove, domain of Princess Daneliean Dandelion? By Kiel Chenier; illustrated by Egil Thompson.

#50. Ranged Brutes. Our 50th article! In settings which focus on ranged combat, especially sci-fi or modern settings, it can be hard to balance an encounter against melee opponents, especially those big brutes which make mincemeat out of sword-wielding PCs in fantasy RPGs. When you can perch at cover and snipe a T-Rex to death, it's not much of a threat. Of course, WOIN already addresses the encounter reward by basing it on how hard the encounter actually was, not on how hard some equation says it should be, but sometimes you just want your brutes to give your ranged PCs a hard time. This article will help you do that with advice on existing exploits and a range of new exploits like Come Here, Living Shield, Monstrous Leap, and more.

#49. Light & Dark. When Vader warned Luke that he underestimated the power of the Dark Side, he was not joking. As the Ring slowly corrupted Frodo, it had visible and mental effects on him. As clerics fail to uphold the ideals of their god, their patrons turn away.This short set of rules introduces the Shadow Track - a way of tracking Light and Dark points. As characters ascend into the light or descend into the darkness, they gain manifestations.

#48. Uplifted. Six new PC races for your WOIN games! These uplifted species are descended from dogs, crows, pigs, rats, chimpanzees, and elephants! They join the existing Felan in the ranks of WOIN uplifted races.

#47. Trader Captains. Taking up a career as a trader, merchant, smuggler, or pirate? Then this document is for you! Details on trading rules, cargo types, permits, fuel costs, and more enable you to begin trading right away!

#46. Cauldron Cant. Instead of an article, this week we're giving you a font file. Cauldron Cant is a futuristic font created by Darren Morrissey which you can use in your games for player handouts and the like. Simply install the font (that's the .ttf file attached) and use it as a letter/number substitution.

#45. Tartarus. Welcome to Tartarus, the greatest space station in the galaxy! Located in The Cauldron, Tartarus is home to 7-million people and aliens. This 12-page document gives an overview of the station, a handful of notable locations and NPCs of note, random encounter tables, and a sample starscraper floor, 323 Maple Grove, with details of the 40 business to be found there and plot hooks to bring it alive.

#44. Specialist Armor: 37 New Armor Types. Is the basic armor list in the NEW core rulebook not quite doing it for you? Would you rather be showing off the latest TD85 Scorpion Flexible Armor Suit, a Guardian A9 Energy Sheath, or prize of the rich socialite, the DE76 "Ninja Machine" Molecule Mai? Or perhaps some of the latest Price-Arakaki Rubber Armor or some Carapace Body Armor (don't run into any insectoids while wearing that....) 37 new armor types ranging from SOAK 3 all the way up to a mighty SOAK 26... if you can afford it!

#43. Damage Report! Want to add a little more detail to ship damage during starship combat or crash landings? These advanced rules enable PCs to track damage to their vessel on a system-by-system basis.

#42. Variant Humans. The universe is a large place, and humans spread everywhere. After a while, they adapt to their new environments - high gravity, low gravity, asteroids, planets orbiting black holes, even clones born in chemical tanks. This article introduced four variant human races for sci-fi games: the Belters, who come form low-g envirnments such as asteroids, starships, and small planets; the Jovians, who come from planets with crushing gravity; Clones, who are created in tanks and emerge fully formed into the world; and the Warped, crazed humans who live near black holes.

#41. Premum Non Nocere. This sci-fi adventure from writer Jason Watson deals with an abandoned medical freighter and its missing crew. What happened aboard the ship, and can the PCs locate and rescue the crew? Including full colour maps, and a tough new monster (the Kremlin Beast), this adventure is designed for advanced characters of grades 10+. Illustrated by Meshon Cantrill, Indi Martin, Phil Stone, and Egil Thompson.

#40. Reputation, Contacts, & Credit. Your REP score is more important than you realise. It's not just fame - it also controls your credit rating, and your access to aid in the form of contacts. Using these simple rules, your characters can obtain goods on credit, and request assistance from people they have known in their lives. Need that old college roomate to leave the door to the museum wher ehe now works unlocked? Want to call in the expertise of your old xenobiology professor? Can't quite afford that new laser gatling gun? If so, this article is for you!

#39. Minotaurs, Goblins, & Clockmen. Three new PC races for your games! These races fit in with any fantasy setting, and ar ealso suitable for sci-fi games. Minotaurs make great gladiators, sailors, pirates, and lair guardians; goblins are cunning, thieving little scrappers; and the mechanical clockmen believe in order and structure. Also included are two new careers and two new weapons.

#38. ZEITGEIST Player's Guide. There's quite the treat today for EONS patrons! A 67-page setting book, detailing the ZEITGEIST campaign setting for the WOIN rules. Those of you who know of ZEITGEIST may have noticed its influence in the OLD rules, and this book lays out the full world, details the principle city of Flint, and delves into the Royal Homeland Constabulary, an organization that PCs in ZEITGEIST might belong to. Also included are 3 new races and 9 new careers, such as the Docker, Gunsmith, Technologist, Eschatologist, Vekeshi Mystic, Skyseer, Yerasol Veteran, and Martial Scientist. ZEITGEIST is a world on the brink of an industrial revolution, with central themes of conflict between the old ways and the new, magic and burgeoning technology.

#37. What Does My LOGIC Score Mean? Wondering whether you can read or write? How many lnaguages you can speak? How best to roleplay your LOGIC attribute? This article is here to answer those questions, taking at look at what each LOGIC score means for your character.

#36. The Devil On Your Shoulder: Careers for Antiheroes. This article presents new criminal careers with potential for reputation and wealth, but accompanied by risk - the Anarchist, Criminal Informant, Forger, Money Launderer, Psionic Interrogator, and Vandal. By Anthony Jennings.

#35. Explosive Ordnance. Want some heavy weaponry in your sci-fi game? This selection of bazookoids, mortars, and rocket launchers will be sure to create a heck of a mess! Burst weapons come to WOIN with a bang - literally!

#34. Creatures of Nightmares. Horrific creatures suitable for fantasy or sci-fi settings, these nightmarish beings embody your darkest dreams and touch your deepest fears or shame. A deadly foe for any horror-themed scenario. By Simon "Skipp" Morin and Mike McCarthy; illustrated by Xanditz.

#33. Trailblazer 9 Heavy. The Trailblazer Heavy vessels are over a hundred years old and were designed to cut routes through the nightmarish hazards that fill the space of the Cauldron. When TB9H becomes a runaway train headed straight for the planet of Diana, can the PCs figure out what is going on and stop the ship before distaster strikes? By Alasdair Stuart; art by Sade, Ellis Goodson, and Indi Martin.

#32. Against the War Mind. This adventure by Mark Kernow puts the PCs on the trail of a renegade AI and a sinister corporation. Will they manage to stop the War Mind before it enacts its deadly plan of revenge? Illustrated by Phil Stone, Sade, and Egil Thompson. Cartography by Michael McCarthy.

#31. The Kryte. The Kryte are a psionic race of interplanetary raiders - Viking-esque creatures of floating crystal. This article contains a new PC race, a typical Kryte Raider starship, and a Kryte Marauder creature stat block.

#30. The Last Survivor. This 21-page adventure, by Jacob Rodgers, is designed to be dropped into any WOIN sci-fi game. The PCs will investigate a mysterious ship, battle an Ogron slaver, and rescue the ship's crew. Also includes a sector map, deck plans of the SS Selkirk, stats for the Selkirk and the Ogron All-Master Warship, and a new alien species, the Virosa. Illustrated by Michael McCarthy, Darren Morrissey, Gicaomi Machesi, Sade, and Indi Martin.

#29. Houseki, Pajak, Jamila, & Zetan: 4 NEW Alien Races. The Houseki are a race of good-natured, ponderous crystalline beings. The Pajak are greedy insectoids. The Jamila are beautiful humanoids who exude strong pheromones. And the Zetans are a race of phased beings who move with incredible speed. All of them are official new player-character races.

#28. Royal Blood: The Divine Right of Kings. This article introduces royalty into your WOIN games, whether it is a fantasy or far future setting. It contains the new Monarch career, and the Royal Birth origin, with information on legitimacy, featly, and an expansive section on royal titles and how to build your own like Her Revered Majesty, Agathe the Lawgiver, Queen of Andalor, Custodian of Heaven, Tribune of the West, or His Serene Excellency, Mandallan the Pious, Hammer of the Gods, Commander of the Nine Kingdoms, Heir of the First Men.

#27. Wild West Weapons. Take up your Colt Peacemaker, Winchester Rifle, or a stick of dynamite and bring a little of the Old West into your WOIN games! This article introduces a range of handguns, longarms, and explosives.

#26. Racial Paragons. This is a free article; you will not be charged for it (though you do need to be a patron to access it). It is being presented as a playtest concept, and may make it into a WOIN rulebook in the future. This simple one-page article presents a way of buying new grades in your race rather than your career. Please give it a try and let us know how it goes - your feedback will determine whether it makes it into a future book!

#25. Hobbies & Quirks: New Hooks. The hook part of a character's descriptor gets a boost in this article, which describe two types of hook - hobbies and quirks, along with new rules for the use of each. Also included are random tables to help players select each.

#24. Ageing With Grace. This article takes a look at playing older characters - along with a range of exploits only available to old characters, two new careers for old characters, and special XP-gaining Bucket List rules and Life Events to help flesh out your PC.

#23. Solspace: A Guide to our Stellar Neighborhood. This short document contains a hex map depicting the positions of the dozens of (real) star systems within 10 parsecs or so of our own Sol system, along with a list of each star's stellar classification. This is conceived of as a tool for those designing settings based on real astronomical data. The hex map is scaled at the standard 1 hex = 1 parsec size used for WOIN space travel. The document also contains a brief recap of the stellar classification found in N.E.W. The Science Fiction Roleplaying Game, and WOIN Space.

#22. People of the Fey Realms. This article for fantasy campaigns (or sci-fi campaigns with fantasy elements) introduces three new player races - the musical faun, the mischievous gremlin, and the plantlike spriggan. All three races are fey races.

#21. Drahzik. Another new alien species for N.E.W. games (or any sci-fi WOIN game), the Drahzik are a race of hunters. This article includes the Drahzik race, the Drahzik Hunter origin, and the Drahzik Manhunter career, along with a selection of Drahzik weapons and armor.

#20. Solurials. EONS' 20th article! This new alien species for futuristic campaigns is a plant-based race with thick bark for skin, lashing vines, and a healthy respect for fire. Here you'll find the Solurial race, the Solurial Sharmarin Class VI Scout (a organic starship), and the Solurial Shepherd origin career.

#19. Revenants: Death or Vengeance. This new race for fantasy, modern, or future campaigns allows you to play one of the living dead, a walking corpse driven by revenge, justice, or unrequited love.

#18. Tomb Worlds: Graveyards of the Elder Races. Designed to slot into the WOIN world creation rules found in Building A Universe and the N.E.W. roleplaying game core rulebook, this article by Anthony Jennings introduces the remnants of long-dead civilizations, with tables to determine how the civilisation fell, the current state of the ruins, and more. Also included is a sample world, Clarke VII.

#17. Flintlocks & Bayonets: New Archaic Pistols. For those who like a little archaic gunpowder in their WOIN games, or who enjoy the thought of Grand Elf Musketeers, this article introduces the axe-pistol, bayonet, blade pistol, duelling pistol, hold-out pistol, hilt pistol, ogre pistol, shield pistol, and the twin-barrel pistol, as well as four magical pistols.

#16. 3.x Spell Conversions: Level 1 Arcane. From writer John Lynch comes this collection of over 40 spells converted from the original 3E/Pathfinder/d20 rules to WOIN's Elements of Magic system. This collection contains all of the core 1st-level arcane spells from the aforementioned games.

#15. Knowledge Checks: What We Know. What do you do when your players ask "What do I know about that creature?" You ask them to make an attribute check, of course. The difficulty of that check is defined by two things: how common or rare the creature is; and how famous or infamous it is. A fire dragon is very rare, but it is very well-known.

#14. An Axe to Grind: New Archaic Axes. The core WOIN rules contain a small handful of axes. This article expands on the list, increasing the number of different axes to over 20. From boarding axes to Danish axes to Dwarven axes to the Amazonian Sagaris, these new axes are accompanied by the Woodcutter origin and two magical axes (the Executioner's Axe, and the Royal Dwarven Waraxe), along with a range of new weapon properties.

#13. RESOLVE: Horror, Sanity, & Social Combat. The RESOLVE score is a combination of sanity and social combat rules. These rules allow characters to charm, persuade, intimidate, and more, and also allows special magical effects (like a ghost's keen) directly attack RESOLVE rather than HEALTH.

#12. Heroes of the Far East: Ninja. The ninja is a favourite career for fans of Eastern settings or characters. This article presents two new careers: the ninja (a master of shadow) and the shinobi (a master of disguise). These two careers are adept at espionage and infiltration. Also included are details of the ninja's equipment, including smoke bombs and shuriken. This is the first article in an occasional series which will also include the samurai, wu-jen, and more.

#11. Elemental Magic: Transforming the Terrain. Use transformation spells to transform the very terrain around you! Whether turning the floor to lava, ice, or writhing plants, these uses for transformation magic are ideal for battlefield control. Also includes a selection of sample spells - entangling vines, greasepatch, lava field, vine chains, and watery grave.

#10. Emergency: Divert All Power! "Divert power to the engines and get us out of here!" - a command many have heard uttered on their favourite sci-fi TV show. These advanced rules for WOIN starship combat allow vessels to divert power to Engines, Shields, Weapons, or Point Defences, or to access emergency Auxiliary Power when in dire straits. Next time somebody tells you that the rear shields are down to 30%, you know what to do!

#9. Bastards & Apprentices: Six New Fantasy Origins. Adding to those in the core rules are the Apprentice, Bastard, Chosen One, Feral, Nomad, and Villager origins for fantasy/archaic characters.

#8. En Garde! Melee Combat Stances. This article adds an additional tactical element to melee combat. Different stances can not only grant warriors benefits, but they can also be used to negate the advantages gained by an opponent's choice of stance.

#7. Runewright. A brand new career for fantasy settings! The runewright uses runes and spells to set traps, enhance weapons and armor, and more, resulting in a spell caster who can stand toe-to-toe with more skilled martial opponents.

#6. Endeavour Class XI Cruiser. This item is a freebie to EONS patrons - you won't be charged for it, though you need to be a patron to access it. The Endeavour is the navy's flagship exploration class vessel; 12 of these ships were built, and the first - the FSS Endeavour itself - mysteriously vanished during its second multi-year mission. This article presents the Endeavour Mk I and Mk II cruisers, along with full stats, background information, speed trials, and a list of Endeavour class cruisers and their current status.

#5. Junker Class I Courier. The quintessential starting ship, the Junker Class I Courier is small, cheap, and commonplace. Originally designed mainly for inner-system travel, the Junker's operational range is limited. However, later models included FTL engines which extended its range and helped transform the little vessel into something more suited to intergalactic travel. If you are just starting up a WOIN sci-fi campaign, this little ship is an ideal starting vessel for your PCs.

#4. New Universal Exploits. Nearly 30 new universal exploits which allow you to fight blind, cleave, lunge, sunder, throw anything, and much more.

#3. The Face of Treachery: Night Elves. Evil has a face, and it is the night elf. Night elves - cousins of the wild sylvan elves and the stoic grand elves - are known for their lies, their treachery, and their poisons. Rarely venturing from their pale white citadels, these evil fey are sometimes encountered in small bands led by the feared magisters. This article introduces the night elf, both as a PC race and as an enemy or foe, with stat blocks for the night elf and the night elf magister, along with details of the famed night elf blinding poison.

#2. Children of the Earth. This free article is a taste of the sort of material you can expect from EONS magazine. Designed for fantasy campaigns, this article introduces three new dwarf races - the resolute flint dwarves, the exalted jade dwarves, and the dark, flesh-eating obsidian dwarves.

#1. New Upgrades for Androids. This free article is a taste of the sort of material you can expect from EONS magazine. Designed for sci-fi campaigns, this article contains over 30 new upgrades for android characters, along with guidelines on how to turn the numbers on an android's character sheet into technical specifications. The article also includes rules on designing and building robots - non free-willed mechanoids.

Price: $99.99 [WOIN] The EONS Collection published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

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nebris · 7 years ago

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The Growing World of Libertarian Transhumanism

Freedom from the government will allow radical science to go on undisturbed.

By Zoltan Istvan August 8, 2017

Transhumanists are curiosity addicts. If it’s new, different, untouched, or even despised, we’re probably interested in it. If it involves a revolution or a possible paradigm shift in human experience, you have our full attention. We are obsessed with the mysteries of existence, and we spend our time using the scientific method to explore anything we can find about the evolving universe and our tiny place in it.

Obsessive curiosity is a strange bedfellow. It stems from a profound sense of wanting something better in life—of not being satisfied. It makes one search, ponder, and strive for just about everything and anything that might improve existence. In the 21st century, that leads one right into transhumanism. That’s where I’ve landed right now: A journalist and activist in the transhumanist movement. I’m also currently a Libertarian candidate for California Governor. I advocate for science and tech-themed policies that give everyone the opportunity to live indefinitely in perfect health and freedom.

Politics aside, transhumanism is the international movement of using science and technology to radically change the human being and experience. Its primary goal is to deliver and embrace a utopian techno-optimistic world—a world that consists of biohackers, cyborgists, roboticists, life extension advocates, cryonicists, Singularitarians, and other science-devoted people.

Transhumanism was formally started in 1980’s by philosophers in California. For decades it remained low key, mostly discussed in science fiction novels and unknown academic conferences. Lately, however, transhumanism seems to be surging in popularity. What once was a smallish band of fringe people discussing how science and technology can solve all humanity’s problems has now become a burgeoning social mission of millions around the planet.

At the recent FreedomFest, the world’s largest festival on liberty, transhumanism was a theme explored in numerous panels, including some I had the privilege of being on. Libertarian transhumanism is one of the fastest growing segments of the libertarian movement. A top priority for transhumanists is to have freedom from the government so radical science experiments and research can go on undisturbed and unregulated.

So why are so many people jumping on the transhumanist bandwagon? I think it has to do with the mishmash of tech inundating and dominating our daily lives. Everything from our smartphone addictions to flying at 30,000 feet in jet airplanes to Roombas freaking out our pets in our homes. Nothing is like it was for our forbearers. In fact, little is like it was even a generation ago. And the near future will be many times more dramatic: driverless cars, robotic hearts, virtual reality sex, and telepathy via mind-reading headsets. Each of these technologies is already here, and in some cases being marketed to billions of people. The world is shifting under our feet—and libertarian transhumanism is a sure way to navigate the chaos to make sure we arrive at the best future possible.

My interest in transhumanism began over 20 years ago when I was a philosophy and religion student at Columbia University in New York City. We were assigned to read an article on life extension techniques and the strange field of cryonics, where human beings are frozen after they’ve died in hopes of reviving them with better medicine in the future. While I’d read about these ideas in science fiction before, I didn’t realize an entire cottage industry and movement existed in America that is dedicated to warding off death with radical science. It was an epiphany for me, and I knew after finishing that article I was passionately committed to transhumanism and wanted to help it.

However, it wasn’t until I was in the Demilitarized Zone of Vietnam, on assignment for National Geographic Channel as a journalist, that I came to dedicate my life to transhumanism. Walking in the jungle, my guide tackled me and I fell to the ground with my camera. A moment later he pointed at the half-hidden landmine I almost stepped on. I’d been through dozens of dangerous experiences in the over 100 countries I visited during my twenties and early thirties—hunting down wildlife poachers with WildAid, volcano boarding in the South Pacific, and even facing a pirate attack off Yemen on my small sailboat where I hid my girlfriend in the bilge and begged masked men with AK47s not to shoot me. But this experience in Vietnam was the one that forced a U-turn in my life. Looking at the unexploded landmine, I felt like a philosophical explosive had gone off in my head. It was time to directly dedicate my skills and hours to overcoming biological human death.

I returned home to America immediately and plunged into the field of transhumanism, reading everything I could on the topic, talking with people about it, and preparing a plan to contribute to the movement. I also began by writing my libertarian-minded novel The Transhumanist Wager, which went on to become a bestseller in philosophy on Amazon and helped launched my career as a futurist. Of course, a bestseller in philosophy on Amazon doesn’t mean very many sales (there’s been about 50,000 downloads to date), but it did mean that transhumanism was starting to appear alongside the ideas of Plato, Marx, Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, Sam Harris, and other philosophers that inspired people to look outside their scope of experience into the unknown.

And transhumanism is the unknown. Bionic arms, brain implants ectogenesis, artificial intelligence, exoskeleton suits, designer babies, gene editing tech. These technologies are no longer part of some Star Trek sequel, but are already here or being worked on. They will change the world and how we see ourselves as human beings. The conundrum facing society is whether we’re ready for this. Transhumanists say yes. But America may not welcome that.

In fact, the civil rights battle of the century may be looming because of coming transhumanist tech. If conservatives think abortion rights are unethical, how will they feel about scientists who want to genetically combine the best aspects of species, including humans and animals together? And should people be able to marry their sexbots? Will transhumanist Christians try to convert artificial intelligence and lead us to something termed a Jesus Singularity? Should we allow scientists to reverse aging, something researchers have already had success with in mice? Finally, as we become more cyborg-like with artificial hips, cranial implants, and 3D-printed organs, should we rename the human species?

Whether people like it or not, transhumanism has arrived. Not only has it become a leading buzzword for a new generation pondering the significance of merging with machines, but transhumanist-themed columns are appearing in major media. Celebrity conspiracy theorists like Mark Dice and Alex Jones bash it regularly, and even mainstream media heavyweights like John Stossel, Joe Rogan, and Glenn Beck discuss it publicly. Then there’s Google hiring famed inventor Ray Kurzweil as lead engineer to work on artificial intelligence, or J. Craig Venture’s new San Diego-based genome sequencing start-up (co-founded with Peter Diamandis of the X-Prize Foundation and stem cell pioneer Robert Hariri) which already has 70 million dollars in financing.

It’s not just companies either. Recently, the British Parliament approved a procedure to create babies with material from three different parents. Even President Obama, before he left office, jumped in the game by giving DARPA $70 million dollars to develop brain chip technology, part of America’s multi-billion dollar BRAIN Initiative. The future is coming fast, people around the world are realizing, and there’s no denying that the transhumanist age fascinates tens of millions of people as they wonder where the species might go and what health benefits it might mean for society.

At the end of the day, transhumanism is still really focused on one thing: satisfying that essential addiction to curiosity. With science, technology, and a liberty-minded outlook as our tools, the species can seek out and even challenge the very nature of its being and place in the universe. That might mean the end of human death by mid-century if governments allow the science and medicine to develop. It will likely mean the transformation of the species from biological entities into something with much more tech built directly into it. Perhaps most important of all, it will mean we will have the chance to grow and evolve with our families, friends, and loved ones for as long as we like, regardless how weird or wild transhumanist existence becomes.

Zoltan Istvan is the author of The Transhumanist Wager, and a Libertarian candidate for Governor in California.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-growing-world-of-libertarian-transhumanism/

There are a lot of negative comments on this article, so I added my own:

A few simple propositions for those hating upon TH:

~It is fairly certain that unless humans become a space-faring species, we shall go extinct and very possibly in the not too distant future. See Stephen J. Hawking. Elon Musk, et al

~Baseline Humans [that's me and thee, folks] do not do well in space. Not at all. Tends to break our bodies down quite rapidly.

~Only deeply modified Humans, both Genetic and Cybernetic mods, have a real chance to survive and prosper in space.

So, it is pretty much go Transhuman or go Extinct. I know which future has my support.

#The Sisterhood #transhumanism

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christinaepilzauthor-blog · 8 years ago

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The Infamous Countess of Carlisle

by Cryssa Bazos One of the most intriguing characters in historical fiction is Milady de Winter of the Three Musketeers. Alexandre Dumas depicted her as a lethal spy whose loyalties were sold to the highest bidder, notably the Cardinal Richelieu. The inspiration for Milady was a socialite and renowned beauty of her day, Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle. Though Lucy was not an agent of Cardinal Richelieu, she held court at a time of social upheaval when men were drawing battle lines against King Charles I. The real woman was even more fascinating than the fictional one.

Lucy Percy, by Anthony van Dyck [Public Domain] via Wikimedia Commons

Lucy Hay was born Lucy Percy in 1599 to Lady Dorothy Devereux and Henry Percy, the 9th Earl of Northumberland. Lady Devereux was the daughter of the Earl of Essex and Lettice Knollys whose second husband, Robert Dudley the Earl of Leicester, had once been a favourite of Queen Elizabeth, that is until he and Lettice married without the Queen's permission. Through her maternal line, Lucy was the great, great granddaughter of Mary Boleyn, sister to Anne Boleyn. On Lucy's father's side, the Percys were an old and respected bloodline having first arrived with William the Conqueror, and later, descendants of King Henry III. The family stood for centuries as the bulwark against Scottish and Welsh invasion of England. Given Lucy's stellar connections, she was well poised to be a courtly influence.

Unfortunately, her early years were marked by notoriety and not the favourable kind. When Lucy had been six years old, her father had been implicated in the Gunpowder Plot (to blow up Parliament and murder King James I) due to his kinship with one of the leading conspirators, Thomas Percy. For the next seventeen years, Lucy's father was a prisoner of the Tower of London (along with famous prisoner Sir Walter Raleigh) and during this time Percy indulged his interest in alchemy and chemistry. He was committed to his experiments (even lost the hearing of one ear) and everyone called him the "Wizard Earl."

While Henry languished in the Tower, Lucy's mother tried to secure her husband's release. She appealed to her friend Queen Anne, who put in a good word with her husband, King James I, but unfortunately the King levied a crippling fine that the Percys couldn't afford and they found their estates seized. This was Lucy's early introduction to the influence women could yield in politics as well as the fickleness of royal prerogative [1]. Sometime around 1617, Lucy Percy caught the eye of James Hay, who would become the 1st Earl of Carlisle. At the time he was a baron and a widower. Her father was furious. His imprisonment put him at a disadvantage to squelch his daughter's choice, particularly since his wife favoured the match. Henry Percy did not have a high opinion of the Scottish faction at court, the courtiers who had followed King James to England upon his ascension of the English throne, and James Hay was one of the King's more extravagent favourites. Henry Percy had been reputed to say, "I am a Percy and I cannot endure that my daughter should dance any Scottish jig."

James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle, by Unknown National Portrait Gallery: NPG 5210 [Public Domain] via Wikimedia Commons

James Hay was not considered a handsome man, but he was suave, charismatic and knew how to entertain in style. He introduced Lucy to a sophisticated set, lavished her with courtly masques, fine music and theatre. For an ambitious woman like Lucy, James Hay was irresistible. More importantly, he pulled her from the shadow of her father's disgrace straight into the royal limelight. In November 1617, Lucy became James Hay's second wife. Her wedding was attended by the fashionable and the powerful, including Charles, Prince of Wales and George Villiers (later the Duke of Buckingham). In the early days of Lucy's marriage, her husband served as a Privy Councillor and a Groom of the Stool. Between 1618 and 1622, Hay travelled to foreign courts on behalf of the King, counselled the King on the growing troubles in Germany and recommended England's support for the Protestants in Bohemia and the Palatinate. He was a voice for the Huguenots in France though not a successful one. In 1622, the King made him the 1st Earl of Carlisle and Lucy became a Countess. Lucy flourished in the years to come, greatly celebrated for her beauty and accomplishments. She had a gift for politics and intrigues, enjoyed poetry and theatre, and cultivated admirers by the score. In later years when she contracted small pox, the entire court feared that she would be disfigured. For a time, she wore masks to hide her healing face and managed to turn them into a fashion statement. Fortunately for Lucy, the disease did not leave lasting scars. Men waxed poetic over Lucy's charms. One admirer, John Suckling, wrote a risqué poem about the bewitching Countess of Carlisle in the form of a dialogue between himself and another admirer of hers, Thomas Carew. The poem was entitled, Upon My Lady Carlisle's Walking in Hampton Court Gardens. Here is one of the stanzas:

"Twas well for thee she left the place; There is great danger in that face. But hadst thou viewed her leg and thigh, And upon that discovery Searched after parts that are more dear"

Lucy and James Hay's star continued to rise after the ascension of the new king, Charles I, and the growing influence of his favourite, George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham. Lucy was rumoured to have been Buckingham's mistress, and through Buckingham's influence, she was appointed Lady of Queen Henrietta's Bedchamber, while her husband received a similar honour for the King.

It suited Buckingham to install Lucy as a companion to Queen Henrietta Maria, in order to be informed of the Queen's visitors and activities. The Queen was passionately against Lucy's appointment. After all, Lucy was beautiful, witty and entirely Buckingham's creature, and as her duties brought her in close contact with the King, Henrietta feared that Buckingham worked to install Lucy as the King's mistress. Charles was not so easily led astray and resisted Lucy's charms; he even refused the Queen's petition to get rid of her. Over time, Lucy overcame the Henrietta's suspicions and became a close confident to her. Through her proximity to the Queen, Lucy became the centre of fashionable society, gathering poets and politicians within her circle.

George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham By Michiel van Mierevelt [Public Domain] via Wikimedia Commons

It was around this time when the story of the French Queen's diamonds surfaced, made famous by Alexandre Dumas in The Three Musketeers. A 17th century French diarist, Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (Prince de Marcillac) wrote in his memoirs that Lucy stole the diamond studs that Anne of Austria, Queen of France, had given to her admirer Buckingham. Lucy's motives were reputed to be revenge for having been jilted by Buckingham by his obsession with the Queen. Dumas borrowed heavily from Rochefoucauld's memoirs and created the character of Milady de Winter in Lucy's image.

James Hay meanwhile continued his diplomatic service for Charles I, engaging in intrigues against Cardinal Richelieu of France and was even named Governor of the Caribbees. Eventually his health failed, and he died in 1636. Now Lucy found herself a wealthy widow, and it gave her a degree of freedom that she had never previously enjoyed before. Though she would not be shy of male companionship, she never remarried and so maintained her independence. During this chapter of her life, she fell in love with Thomas Wentworth, the Earl of Strafford. Intense, serious and ambitious, Strafford was the exact opposite of Lucy's late husband. Strafford had at one point been a vocal supporter for the rights of Parliament against royal prerogative, but he eventually switched sides to become one of the King's most ardent supporters. As discontent against the King grew and the country headed toward civil war, Strafford became a scapegoat for the country's ills, and Parliament called for his impeachment. The impeachment failed but a bill of attainder was passed against him, and Charles I had no choice than to sign the attainder and seal Strafford's death. To read more about Strafford's trial, see Strafford Must Die by Annie Whitehead. Politically astute, Lucy managed to distance herself from Strafford so she was not brought low by his ruin. Lucy Hay was a survivor, after all. She switched sides and started passing information to one of Parliament's most ardent advocates, John Pym. Some even said she became his mistress. Perhaps one of the most important pieces of information that she passed to Pym, and which was credited with igniting the spark of civil war, was a warning that the King was planning to arrest Pym and four of his companions. Pym managed to escape, and a week later, he returned triumphant to Parliament to resume his crusade against the King. When the English Civil War broke out in 1642, Lucy favoured Parliament, though she took care to not entirely burn her bridges on the other side. She had a growing aversion to royal prerogative. Lucy favoured moderation, where the nobility retained their privilege instead of being irrelevant by the whims of the king. By the end of the 1st civil war, when it became apparent that Parliament was being circumvented by a fanatic Puritan faction, moderate Lucy switched sides to help spy for the Royalists.

During the second civil war (1647-1648), Lucy raised funds for the king and acted as a go-between the Royalists in the north and Queen Henrietta. In the end, all her efforts were for naught. The King was captured and in January 1649, executed. Two months later, Parliament arrested Lucy and sent her to the Tower of London for questioning. They threatened her with torture but could not break her. Lucy remained in the Tower for eighteen months, ironically not far from where her father had been kept all those years. Eventually she was paroled and released. In the final years of Cromwell's Protectorate, Lucy became a Royalist agent, joining others who worked to restore Charles II to his father's throne. A few short months after the Restoration, on November 5, 1660, Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle quietly passed away.

Femme fatale, informant, spy, Lucy Hay was a fascinating character. Alexandre Dumas obviously agreed. Further reading: Court Lady and Country Wife: Royal Privilege and Civil War (Two Noble Sisters in 17th century England), by Lita-Rose Betcherman. [1] The English Civil War: A People's History, by Diane Purkiss Poem of the week: Upon My Lady Carlisle's Walking in Hampton Court Gardens by John Suckling. ~~~~~~~~~~

Cryssa Bazos is historical fiction writer and 17th century enthusiast with a particular interest in the English Civil War. Her debut novel, Traitor's Knot, will be published by Endeavour Press and will be released in 2017. For more stories about the English Civil War and the 17th century, visit her blog cryssabazos.com. Follow Cryssa on Twitter (@CryssaBazos) and on Facebook.

Hat Tip To: English Historical Fiction Authors

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thisisdollydaydream · 8 years ago

Text

Food For Thought

Have I gone mad?” asked the Mad-Hatter.

“I’m afraid so, you’re entirely bonkers”, Alice replied, “but I’ll tell you a secret… all the best people are.”

The exchange above is from Lewis Carroll’s notorious fictional story, Alice in Wonderland, which in my opinion stands with more validity than today’s psychiatric and mental health paradigms. In fact, Alice shares the same view as some of the greatest thinkers of all-time, such as Socrates who once declared: “Our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness, provided the madness is given us by divine gift.” Plato too referred to insanity as “a divine gift and the source of the chief blessings granted to men.” So, to best understand bipolar disorder as the modern day epidemic of medicated “madness”, down the rabbit hole we go… Going back to our friend Alice, on the first page of the classic story, we find Alice is disinterested in the dull, boring, everyday existence in which she resides. She peers into her sister’s book to see it has no illustrations or even conversations, which to Alice has no use or interest. She ponders the idea of making a daisy-chain, but lacks the energy or motivation to take the time to pick the daisies. She is disinterested in ‘normal’ life. Then, suddenly, a talking white-rabbit runs past her; he appears to be late. Of course, Alice is curious about this bizarre occurrence and follows him down the rabbit hole — and most of us will be familiar with the rest of the story. By today’s standards and diagnostic references, Alice’s disinterest in ‘normal’ life would very likely be diagnosed as a mental disorder. With this diagnosis, she would then be medicated for life, after a brief stay at a psychiatric hospital to stabilize her on the medications that are claimed to be capable of normalizing her mental sickness. Bipolar disorder is one of the oldest recognized ‘mental disorders’, yet it remains one of the most misunderstood. It is my belief that people with bipolar disorder are not “sick” – the real sickness lies in the treatment and medications they receive. Formerly known as manic-depressive disorder or manic-depression, bipolar disorder refers to the experience of opposing poles with regard to a person’s mood. Essentially, bipolar disorder is distinguished by the experience of polarity. At one pole is mania, which includes intense energy, racing thoughts, feelings of euphoria, inflated grandiosity or sense of self, impulsiveness and risk-taking behavior. The other pole includes depression, which presents the opposite symptoms, such as fatigue (to the point of inability to get out of bed), moving or talking so slowly that others notice, a feeling of emptiness, loss of interest in things that were once enjoyable, difficulty concentrating or making decisions, and thoughts of self-harm. It is important to understand the distinction between moods and emotions here. Moods are essentially emotional feelings that last for a period of time – typically for more than two or three days, which can be difficult to shift. While everyone has their ups-and-downs, bipolar disorder is far more disabling, with symptoms far more severe than a typical mood swing from happiness to sadness. The extremes of bipolar disorder can take you from feeling that you are omnipotent to the point of wanting to end your own life. “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society” ~ Krishnamurti Just as Alice does in the opening chapter of her story, many people with bipolar disorder realize that “normal life” is far too phony, boring and constrained. They realize that there is much more to this mundane existence than what is commonly suggested. So, with this insight, one can see how easily it would be to slip into a depressed mood with thoughts such as: – Why would I want to go through with this life? – Nobody understands me! – I am all alone. – Why am I the only one who thinks this way? – Maybe they are right, maybe I am crazy. – What is the point of it all? – What reason do I have to keep going? This depression sucks the life out of you, to the point that you lack the energy to even get up and pour a glass of water. If I got up, then I would have to find a glass, wait for the water to filter, and then put the glass away… it is not worth the effort. Furthermore, the person experiencing these thoughts realizes that this thought process is illogical, and destructive, which only creates a tidal-wave effect, inducing further feelings of sadness and dejection. "Bipolar disorder cannot be cured… Because it is a lifelong illness, long-term, continuous treatment is needed to control symptoms." How Does Bipolar Come On? At birth, we are free — we are born with a clean slate and we see the world is magical. But as we grow, things change. We are trained to behave a certain way; we are domesticated to a set of standards that our society has agreed are “normal”. We learn to create a mask and put it on every day; to conform. We learn to use different masks for different groups of people, different occasions, and different times. We are taught that this is “normal life”, and that wearing these masks is “normal” human behavior. And yet this mask, this image that we create and send out to the world, is our false self. It is a learned function of the ego. It is only behind the mask that we find our true self — our soul. Manic episodes — those times of euphoria, grandiosity and impulsiveness — are triggered by the collapsing of the ego or mask. It is as though the soul is allowed to be free for the first time. Just like a dog that is tied to a chain its entire life and then finally breaks free, it runs wild, explores, and does whatever it can, because it can finally be the animal it was meant to be. A spiritual awakening is much the same process. Like those times of mania, it involves taking off the mask and living as our true self for the first time. If treated as a spiritual dis-ease, this is the unexpected gift that bipolar disorder can offer — a short-cut to enlightenment. The mania pole can reveal to us our strongest and deepest desires, and exactly how our personal energy truly wishes to be expressed, while the depression pole shows us – in no uncertain terms – the areas of our lives that are not being lived in total alignment with our most honest truth. But, like the dog that just got off its leash and is running wild without care, there can be great danger if those manic episodes that are not controlled. Experiencing and freely expressing the impulses of your true self for the first time, you may begin to test reality in life-threatening ways, such as trying to fly out a window, walking into the middle of traffic, etc. In contrast, if the dog (the soul) has always been allowed to roam freely, it learns not to run in traffic or to chase people, and knows how to regulate its natural energy and exuberance for life. The key is balance; learning always to roam free, not just in moments of mania.

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