#friday featured larp

[waywardnerd67]

Replay Life Masterlist

Overall Summary: Taking some much needed time off after finishing The Boys. Jensen asks his best friend and roommate if she’ll watch Supernatural with him all the way through. As they watch together, he realizes how much the show and her means to him. Main Characters: Jensen Ackles, Reader Other Characters: Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Reader Rating: M - Mature Warnings: Angst/Fluff/Smut Total Word Count: A/N: This series features some of my favorite and least favorite episodes of Supernatural.

Posting on Fridays

Prologue - Ready, Set, Watch Summary: Jensen arrives home in Austin after filming in Toronto for almost a year. After a few days back with his roommate and best friend, he asks her to take a trip down memory lane. Word Count: 669

Chapter One – S1E1 Pilot Summary: Jensen and (Y/N) start their rewatch of Supernatural with the episode that started it all. Word Count: 1218

Chapter Two – S2E6 No Exit Summary: Jensen finds out an interesting fact as they watch one of (Y/N)’s favorite episodes from season two. Word Count: 2035

Chapter Three – S3E5 Bedtime Stories Summary: A fairytale influenced episode has Jensen revealing a fantasy of his during their rewatch. Word Count: 1674

Chapter Four – S4E10 Heaven and Hell Summary: A steamy scene and an emotional ending has (Y/N) feelings on a rollercoaster ride and Jensen trying to push down feelings he buried a long time ago. Word Count: 2172

Chapter Five – S5E16 Dark Side of the Moon Summary: During their rewatch, Jensen is surprised to find out that this particular episode is in her top five favorites of all Supernatural episodes. Word Count: 2444

Chapter Six - S6E5 Live Free or Twihard Summary: Before attending the Padalecki’s Halloween party, Jensen and (Y/N) continue their Supernatural rewatch. She shows him exactly why so many people love vampires. Word Count: 2363

Chapter Seven – S7E12 Time After Time Summary: (Y/N) comes home from a date gone wrong finding comfort in watching one of her favorite Dean episodes.   Word Count: 2227

Chapter Eight - S8E11 LARP and the Real Girl Summary: Jensen finds himself wrestling with his feelings for (Y/N) once more as they watch an episode that combines two of her favorite things. Supernatural and Dungeons and Dragons. Word Count: 3193

Chapter Nine - S9E4 Slumber Party Summary: Babysitting for Jared and Gen, Jensen creates the ultimate slumber party for them all. Word Count: 2722

Chapter Ten - S10E14 The Executioner’s Song Summary: As they settle into another night of Supernatural, they are both surprised to find that one episode is a favorite for them both. Word Count: 2504

Chapter Eleven – S11E20 Don’t Call Me Shurley Summary: After a hard day at work, (Y/N) confesses to Jensen what her dream job would be during their rewatch. Word Count: 2188

Chapter Twelve – S12E22 Who Are We Summary: An emotional episode has (Y/N) finding comfort in Jensen making him realize once and for all how he truly feels for her.   Word Count: 1705

Chapter Thirteen – S13E16 Scoobynatural Summary: Jensen invited Jared and Misha’s families to his house to surprise (Y/N) for her birthday. They do an outdoor screening of one of the best episodes of Supernatural ever. Word Count: 3892

Chapter Fourteen – S14E4 Nihilism Summary: As they get closer to the end of their rewatch, (Y/N) tells him about a job offer she received and he gets an important call from his manager. Word Count:

Chapter Fifteen – S15E18 & S15E20 Despair & Carry On Summary: As (Y/N) gets closer to making a decision about moving to Seattle, Jensen comes up with a counter offer he hopes she can’t refuse. As they watch the last three episodes he decides to throw caution to the wind and tells her everything he’s feeling. Word Count:

[measureyourlifeincake]

Earlier this year, I helped my friend @spacecoffeeandcartoons run a sci-fi larp that she wrote about 10 people (some human, some alien) in escape pods floating through the void of space with nothing but some faulty comms, an overly-cheerful AI, and random ads and radio broadcasts to keep them company. Everyone had a blast, and soon you will be able to experience this incredible story and its characters for yourself! We're creating ROGUEMAKER, an audio drama podcast based on the original game.

The podcast itself won't be coming out until next year, but in the meantime, you can follow us on twitter and instagram (@roguemakerpod on both platforms) and donate to our indiegogo campaign so we can make this podcast the best that it can be! The campaign launched on Friday and we're already over a quarter of the way towards our goal!

Also, if you go to our indiegogo page, you'll get an exclusive look at our trailer (which features the voice of yours truly) and hear our amazing original theme song!

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Hello! If you don't mind me asking, are you planning on watching House of the Dragon? I'm personally unsure about it. I was cautiously optimistic about it since D&D are not involved, but the recent casting news have been ugh disappointing imo. What do you think?

Hey anon! Sorry to say I kind of mind you asking because my inbox is still closed (to everyone except my secret Santas, which is why the ask page is accessible at all), but then I realized it’s possible if you’re on the mobile app only, you haven’t seen said note in my askbox, or my FAQ, or anything of the sort. And with older metas of mine being reblogged recently, it’s possible you may be confused. (I hope you’re on mobile only and not just ignoring my requests.) So I wanted to inform you of that... but also, y’know, I kind of wanted to make a post about the HotD cast anyway? And this ask is as good a prompt as any... so, you’re lucky, but please don’t push your luck. ;)

So, straight up: I currently have no plans to watch House of the Dragon. HBO is not getting any of my goddamn money, I don’t trust like that. And hunting down illegal livestreaming sites is a pain in the ass and I regret ever doing it for GoT, as well as regretting getting drunk every weekend enough to dampen my senses to ever tolerate that show. Yeah it’s different showrunners and writers, I know. It’s still (mostly) the same executives at HBO and even if the pervert producer is gone (or is he?), you know they still just want to sell sex and violence and dragons to an audience that thinks fantasy is for geeks.

Also, considering that Fire & Blood’s story of Dance of the Dragons has very little actual narrative or dialogue, and the historical record is deliberately untrustworthy, that gives them pretty much full rein to do whatever they like with the story and characterization and words without even being slightly obliged to GRRM at all. Furthermore, since the story is wholly political with virtually none of the magical side of ASOIAF (excepting dragons), and honestly does not have much in the way of themes or depth that main ASOIAF or even D&E has, I think it will be very hard for an adaptation to show even those brief sparks of quality that used to make me wistful GoT couldn’t be that good all the time and eventually just made me frustrated and depressed. Note I do like the history and characters of the Dance despite myself, despite its many many many textual issues, but I don’t need to see an adaptation, I have a very visual imagination. I don’t watch a lot of television to begin with, I don’t see why I should start again with this.

However, I’m not going to avoid spoilers or discussion, and I’ll probably follow the show the tumblr way, through gifsets and video clips and people bitching on their blogs etc. If, somehow, by some miracle of good screenwriting and acting, the show manages to transcend its source material, I’m sure I will be informed. And then, if and only if then, I may try watching. (Without, of course, giving HBO any of my goddamn money.) We shall see.

(Though I certainly don’t know why anyone in Targ standom would ever watch a Dance adaptation considering almost every Targaryen and everyone else in the story is terrible except Helaena and the kids, and considering how the story ends, unless y’all are gluttons for punishment? (I do not comprehend hatewatching, sorry.) It’ll probably be fun at first to see the adventures of those “precious silver douchebags” (to borrow a friend’s tag), but eventually rocks fall, everyone dies, including the girlboss you know you’ll hope the story will be changed enough that she succeeds. Just letting you know now, she won’t.)

That said. I’ve been following the casting news and I think the hate/fear/wild screaming is entirely overblown. Yeah, I know, but wait, just listen. On Friday I officially welcomed @naomimakesart to the “favorite character is now played by an actor who looks nothing like most fanart and is mostly known for wildly different roles” club. I still remember that day in September 2009 when my brother texted me “yarp”... and that right there is the thing. Yeah. Rory McCann looks very little like most pre-GoT Sandor fanart... but many fans grew to love him anyway. (There are some who never did, of course. And yeah the character went off the rails by the end, but truly, who didn’t. Having seen his audition, having spoken to him and heard him wistfully talk about book scenes he loved, I’m convinced if Rory had only been given Sandor’s actual scenes and such, he would’ve killed it. Sigh. Deep, deep sigh.)

And Rory isn’t the only one. Neither of the actors for Jaime and Cersei were considered “beautiful” enough at first. I recall very clearly people bitching about Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (about his nose particularly?) because they had wanted Tarzan-era Travis Fimmel to be Jaime. (Seeing people bitch because current-Fimmel isn’t playing Daemon made me laugh out loud for both BEYONCE?! meme -type “why would you ever cast him omg he doesn’t fit my headcanon Daemon at all”, and amazing amounts of fandom flashbacks.) Lena Headey was “too square-jawed”, “too mean-looking” (since at the beginning you should never be able to guess she’s evil), “too dark-complected”, “too mannish”, not at all attractive enough. (Tricia Helfer was the most common “but I wanted” for Cersei, btw.) And of course “they don’t remotely look like twins, ugh!” Note, there’s receipts for all of this, none of it is made up. (Unfortunately.) Those two actors are just the ones whose casting wank I recall most clearly, particularly because oh how the turn tables.

Also. You know, there’s a post with Matt Smith and Mark Simonetti’s TWOIAF Daemon going around with shrieks of horror... and I’m finding it maddening in a “am I crazy? am I  the crazy one???” way, because Matt looks like the painting. Their features are not that dissimilar.

Same deepset eyes. Same cheekbones of doom. Same thin lips. Same protruding chin. Same high forehead. Same invsible eyebrows ffs. Matt has a squarer jaw, and a longer more rectangular face, and a wider nose, but considering that Daemon’s features are not described in the text, and this is the only official ASOIAF artwork that shows Daemon’s face straight on, I can for sure see why he was probably shortlisted to begin with. And that’s not even getting into to his role in The Crown, which I’ve heard is very well played with politics and palace intrigue... and if you doubt Smith can play seductive/roguish and/or evil (depending on how you LARP as a Westeros historian), or look good with long hair... well. I do not want to watch the movie, but this trailer is disturbingly enlightening.

And as for Rhaenyra... y’all know this show is starting at the beginning of the story, right? When she’s a teenager? Not a voluptuous MILF? Yeah, Emma D’Arcy doesn’t look like a Magali Villeneueve painting (though who does, good lord), but you know who she does look remarkably like? Harry Lloyd.

Same jawline. Same nose. Same thin lips. Same sharp cheekbones. Notably, same kind of sharp cheekbones and deep-set eyes as Matt Smith. HBO evidently has a concept of a “Targaryen look” that’s a little bit quirkier than supermodel-Greek statue-gods on earth, yeah, fine. But it’s consistent, and they look like family, and that-- that is good casting.

And yeah, in a few months to a year or so, you’ll see them in costume and wigs and makeup, you’ll see them in motion and speaking lines, and go Oh. That’s different. Never mind. And while people will make fanart of the show depictions of the characters and those will probalby get popular, they’ll also keep doing fanart of their pre-show headcanons, and those too will be popular. (God knows when I draw or visualize book!Sandor, Rory does not come to mind, lol.) Either way, there’s no reason to panic. We’ll live.

(Though will we live well? Got to wait on the writing and showrunning for that, alas.)

[thosedamnsmoshkids]

bad video ideas part three

‘Gaming with a Twist’ is moved to Wednesday’s, and becomes like a two to six person show, and instead, on Fridays a new show is released featuring the ENTIRE smosh family. It’s titled ‘Family Game Night’ and the episodes are usually two parters and are 40+ minutes to allow for longer games. As opposed to their normal 10 am release time, Family Game Night is released at 5 pm on Fridays.

Sundays become RPG day, and the group begins a game of DND with Matt Raub DMing.

Wes takes the gang LARPING

We finally get the feral sort of Smoffice sketch series we deserve

They start having more and more sketches that help develop their more popular characters, and allow for new characters in a series somewhat similar to Youtube Detention

Monthly smosh meme wrap up where the fam has us send them our favorite smosh memes of the month though the phone number, and it has a similar vibe to show with no name

Mari and Courtney do an escape room

DAMIEN AND KEITH PLAY SPOOKY GAMES

any video with wes and joven i miss weshire contennnnnnt

lasercorn and mari do a video on smosh pit together

more songwriting videos??

[elizabethrobertajones]

14x04 watching notes

Happy Birthday, Davy!

-

Mittens just ominously warned me to warm up this notepad while I waited for the episode to finish downloading.

The nice guy from the phone provider has recently restored our internet after 4 days of radio silence from me, but it's only about 4'o clock on friday, so really some good timing!

Expectations: pre-mittens warning, Davy back on his nonsense with the scary episodes and expected nonsense of sinking back into MotW after mytharc but in capable hands because, you know, new writing team is aces and all.

post-mittens warning: idk but I should get a stuffed toy?

-

That's a suspicious amount of ghost lore.

Has Heaven started dumping the spirits out now and if it really IS a ghost it's not going to behave properly?

-

Oh my god it's a Hell Hazers poster.

There was something I would have talked about pre-episode but had no internet so didn't, but the focus on Dean and nerds and the expectation that this episode would be about a comic book store, did remind me of 9x07 and the action figure which was all "i clobber evil!" and was a strong Dean mirror, including that he needlessly burned it on the stove to try and get rid of the ghost of the mom but it turned out she needed to be talked into letting her son let her go in a scene which has all sorts of shades of Dean vs Mary in 12x22 now and also Dean's entire mark of cain arc was in the self-destruction of his self as an action figure that clobbered evil. A reminder that Dean is this figure seems fairly timely with him coming down from being possessed, as of course he has been used as an action figure. And his willingness to turn himself into one in 13x23 was very much turning himself into the Michael Sword, which in this cosmos is practically like the rarest collectible action figure of the universe. This harks back all the way to the first season and Dean's issues with John's control and the whole blunt little instrument arc, also something that fed directly into demon!Dean, and is being reflected this season in Nick, who murdered a guy with a hammer, after his family was murdered by a hammer, and said yes to Lucifer because of all that angst about hammer murder. Subtle.

Anyway, this is sort of the emotional background to me for action figures in the show.

A Hell Hazers poster also reminds us that Dean is a horror fan, his own connections to the genre, a CLASSIC episode, and a time when he was living his best life briefly.

You know, before he sold his soul for *waves at previous big paragraph* reasons

Fitting for how season 13 ended with Dean this close to happy world peace retirement living his best life :P

-

Awww the fake movie the MotW comes from is called All Saints Day. Davyyy :')

People I know who are born on like October SECOND consider themselves extra spooky halloween people. I can only imagine what it does, as a 23rd Oct. birthday person, to the psyche to actually be born ON it.

This episode's subtitle is just "Lol I have the best birthday, fuckers"

-

ACTUAL CLIP FROM 2x18!

And the fucking racist truck >.> Which in-universe was teased as another different movie using the footage in the trailer for Hell Hazers II.

-

My mum has that exact Wonder Woman figure

-

This guy is wearing a trenchcoat-featured jacket with a maroon t-shirt under it. I could not tell you what he represents but the trenchcoat part is amusing.

I can't *actually* start saying everything is party!Cas symbolism though so I'll just shush

-

Er this rando that people were saying was dressed like Sam from the promo images literally is called Sam, and she's wearing a very very loud checkered shirt, of course featuring a lot of orange. I'm guessing with that info it's next to impossible to say she ISN'T in some way a Sam parallel :P

Comic Book Guy is possibly caught in the middle of stealing an action figure, and I can't work out if he is just nervous about that or has a crush on Sam because his behaviour was so suspect, but from the promo scene where he looks a lil worse for the wear he talks about breaking up with his goth gf, and Sam is very clearly a nerd, not a goth.

(Goth nerds are things. The media will get there one day :P)

-

Oh okay after a few lines of the exchange, yeah this guy is a dick, I have NO clue why he's wearing that coat symbolism wise, and Sam really ought to fire him because wow, uncool and also he seems to be a stereotypical nerdbro gatekeeper who would literally rather scare off customers but be right than just enjoy what they all enjoy together.

-

Then he apologises for getting angry for saying he just gets spun out sometimes. Honestly, this seems to be crossing over into Dean territory considering the last thing from the recap was Dean being told he was like Michael by Bad Kaia and being really angry when he said he was nothing like him... He also used "spun out" about himself in 12x20 but in rather more tragic lost-Cas circumstances but obviously this parallel has a different lesson to tell than just making them equivalent. This guy is so awful and is using his anger in a petty way over things that don't really matter. He's getting spun out over made up battles rather than real angst, and whether he has his own underlying trauma that makes him behave that way or not, the straight white nerd is one of the secondary main villains of the century so far after the literal alt right, with some overlap of course. Think Kylo Ren as one of the dominant critiques of this behaviour :P Compared to the open of 8x11 for example, where the nerds were harmless weirdoes despite also being straight white and obsessive, the aggression and obsession are played not just as a harmless trait of people who like LARPing and collecting toys, but gatekeep, yell at kids over superman facts, and refuse to have their own dominance challenged.

Thinking he could fight superman might actually explain the Cas like jacket - it's too short to be a coat - that he idealises these heroes, is wearing Batman (who in pop culture most recently was around "v superman") and Cas of course has all his superman comparisons from both 6x20, and his rebirth in 12x01 where he came back to earth as a fiery comet and was immediately mistaken for a spaceman. There's some dark idolisation/mirroring here, that he's debating how to fight the guy (krytonite gloves = the BMoL knuckledusters) and at the same time mirroring the show's Superman in his dress. Only much, much lesser. More subtextual mockery about his weakness and how he doesn't really measure up.

I think in a lot of ways the discourse about nerds in pop culture is moving on now to  make this difference clear, that the ones who will be mocked are the ones who deserve it for being too cruel to respect, while in many other ways the mainstreaming of nerd culture into pop culture, meaning a large amount of it is no longer mockable, that everyone had at least SOME nerdy indulgences, means that in general nerdom is more accepted and exalted than ever. SPN obviously having its own deep roots into nerd culture has some direct room for commentary here, and this is also a way of reminding its own fans to be cool and not to be this guy.

-

Oh, huh, he safely exited the shop. I did not see that coming.

-

LOL he has batman bedding on a fold out bed in either a shed, garage or basement where he lives.

(This detail was tragic in Attack the Block but it's quite clear in this case the guy is fully grown and is being used as a detail to show his forward progression in life)

-

Wow, you really have some rage issues here. Especially trying to wrangle free pizza i mean dude. Talk about a line that personifies him 100 different ways in one go :P Who shouts at their pizza delivery place?? They remember your number! This is how to get extra toppings.

-

Oh my god please get beaten to death by this lil guy

(I know I know he survives he's in the promo)

Is this like... haunted kidney episode... but better?

Actually, Fallen Idols plus Mannequin episode but better.

-

You know how we saw in the last new year? Watching Small Soldiers for the first time since like the 90s or whenever it came out

-

The show's animation is so much better

Than Small Soldiers and itself from past years

-

Oh DEAN

-

I mean he totally deserves a day off.

-

I can't believe he owns these socks. Who got them for him for Christmas?

Okay, well first we have to work out which was the last Christmas they had where they were not in prison or in an alternate dimension or dead or -

-

Cas. It was Cas.

-

He literally had no idea this wasn't just a cute commentary on how much Chinese take out Dean eats

-

Anyway as far as I can tell Dean is living out the bisexualdemondean header just to spite Michael for defiling his temple. He's filling it with noods and pizza (and I am sure he didn't yell at the delivery guy, but tipped him well instead for making drop offs at a shady street corner miles from where anyone lives)

-

Honestly it's been 12 years since Hell Hazers II... What took them so long

-

Dean's drunk a full thing of Margiekugle mom beer, which is a lil worrying just in terms of him using it instead of comfort from her like in 12x02, now that she's back.

-

God I want Dean to meet the asshole from the comic shop and for him to get into a dick measuring contest about Hell Hazers II and Dean to be like uh I WORKED on it you ass

-

Er, does that vending machine contain the nougat of choice of your consumptive son on the other side of the wall?

(who may be out with Cas concealing his consumption on a case so not bothered by all this TV noise)

-

God I love and have missed Dean, my trashy guy who is sitting hugging a pillow like a teen girl at a sleepover to watch his hatchetman slasher to celebrate being back to himself and get the much-needed R&R, since, you know, last time we saw him he threatened to "break" Kaia and was in a very very bad place (lol)

-

This guy about to get murdered for trying to snatch a nougat bar is dressed like the unfortunate bandmate (Tommy?) to Vincifer. Is this an oblique Ladyheart reference to set up a weird scenario where Hatchetman is punishing a Lucifer-adjacent asshole for trying to steal Nougat?

-

I can't believe there's a red exit sign behind him which means Wanek is Waneking in multiple dimensions at once

-

"Mint Condition" flashes up over Dean indulging in his pizza, saying, hey look it's our guy back in shape. Or, you know, ironically so. Either because Dean being Dean means eating junk food and wallowing because his husband has wandered off with the kid and isn't home to snuggle him while he does this mandatory bedrest, or because, of course, Dean is not Mint Condition at all. He's literally and emotionally scarred.

-

I am pretty sure this shirt that Sam has on is 12 years old.

-

Statistically, they're gonna get murdered in each and every one of their original Kripke era shirts until none of them are available to be murdered in later.

I say for no particular reason.

-

Leave Sam alone. He doesn't shave you mock him, he does shave, you... also mock him. He was doing really well while you were gone! No one got even slightly stabbed who didn't deserve it! This is an all-time record. A beard is a price to pay for that.

-

Honestly I think Dean is stoned but they're not going to say so but I am treating this scene like it is.

-

"I wanted to check up on you," Sam says, pulling over a chair. This is so like how he was in 14x01 when he was powering around the Bunker being the boss, and given Dean's been on bedrest, again, much-needed, Sam is treating him like another one of his charges, and once more is in a position of authority... But now, despite shaving to act like nothing has changed a bit more, he is the one in charge of Dean as one of his wards. Everything has changed. Your dynamic is actually wobbling in a weird way.

In season 10 when Dean was laid up with the Mark blues especially around 10x12, which this intro also reminds me of, re: Dean spending a week in his room and Sam popping in to check on him, Sam was still keeping a very wary eye on Dean more that he was a bomb that may explode, and that while he needed to be managed, the power dynamic was extremely, extremely horrifying in that if Sam messed up Dean would murder him. Not an ongoing implicit threat between them, but the knowledge that Dean could become a demon again and demon!Dean would attempt to kill Sam, and so Sam had better do his utmost to keep Dean in a good place. Even if it eventually meant a series of convoluted secrets to try and fix him against his wishes.

Obviously, things are different here. Sam has developed a LOT since then, with season 11 beginning a recovery of his character in tentative little steps which actually kicked off in season 12, and, specifically, in 12x04 under Davy Perez in American Nightmare heralding the new era of Sam focus and lovingly stroking his hair and lavishing him with Sam-sculpted episodes the like of which we hadn't seen all through Carver era.

Now when Sam comes into Dean's room and pulls up a chair and sits down to check up on him, he actually radiates a comfortable, competent authority to do so.

... however he is doing it in that pink shirt which I honestly love the concept of but just wish that I couldn't see Sam in 2x06 showing up in it for the first time, like, my brain is just screaming at him to go get a bunch more pink shirts and refresh his wardrobe

I'm so certain of it but now I have to check because 12 years is such a long time but

http://www.homeofthenutty.com/supernatural/screencaps/albums/SPN2x06/SPN_0060.jpg

Mittens yelled "OH MY GOD" when I sent her the link so I think I'm right

Like, conceptually in every way it's great because it's this long pink shirt that fits him well, fuck toxic masculinity, blah blah action heroes in pink shirts, love it love it love it, but also: it's another fucking plaid shirt Sam has owned since he was a gap-toothed child six years younger than Jack presents as

-

Dean is lacking his second bedside table, as he has been for seasons, but I'm just staring at him lying sideways on his bed, wondering about his set up, and if this is in any way similar to how he watched all those cowboy movies with Cas, since Davy, of course, was the one to suggest that they had been watching movies together.

-

"And... not that I'm complaining... House is full of strangers"

Yeah, we know you hate it, Dean. God, it's tragic. In a wonderful way. Sam's built this little empire for himself and it's on top of Dean's old nesting spot. Dean's been forced into his room not just to hide away because he's ashamed but because he doesn't want to be seen and there's too many strange eyes out there. However this resolves, it's going to force some growth. Honestly, as much as Dean loves this room and it means to us, it's also a bleak lonely spot and in the like 7 years they've had the Bunker, Dean's never hooked up in that bed, while it has come to be very much like, well... The bed of an angry nerd living in a basement still using Batman sheets. Again, dark parallels, but of Dean in a dark place.

I'd love if he moved out and got a house in the suburbs.

I mean.

Cas has a house in the suburbs.

(Re: long-running Lizzy watching notes in-jokes about where he stashes a bunch of stuff like demon tablets, first blades, metatron's grace, etc etc)

But yeah, no. I like the idea of Dean nesting, of course. But aside from the obvious conveniences, the Dean Cave, etc, there's no reason it HAS to be here except that this is their inheritance and it's safe. But as I constantly talk about with the library abutting the war room, the work/life balance is always in question and filling the Bunker with strangers is a great way to shove all the life balance out, and leave the only spot left of that to Dean in this room.

If the AU peeps don't all get sent home but remain at least in part a hunter community and maybe even network and grow as the Winchesters finally open up the Bunker's resources and share them and stop being all isolated like Carver era fiercely protected... Dean might have no choice but to move his nesting down the road to somewhere with a sofa where he can park his car out front, and choose to commute in to work.

-

Awww they have the "our lives are a scary movie" argument again, in a well-worn way. So well-worn this is repeating dialogue from somewhere or other... 2x18? 4x07? God I don't know, implicit in Sam's eyerolling at Halloween in 1x01? All of the above? I am not looking that up. But anyway their stances haven't moved, possibly because this is something that has never really been challenged before. If Sam didn't hate scary movies already, watching 18 hours of Hell Hazers II dailies probably did in any remaining sympathy he would have had towards them, while Dean thrived there.

I guess he may finally have had time to watch it?

And of course stay for the credits to see his name.

Anyway Dean has historically cited movies as research or job adjacent, or vicariously enjoyed watching monsters at work from the safe remove of a screen, while Sam throws it all in to that box where of course it goes to 1x01 where he's running away from ALL of it and has his oddly specific choices to avoid halloween in his day to day as Lawboy. He's struggled to indulge in the weird as a hobby, likes serial killers as, as far as we can diagnose, an outlet of darkness but purely human, and keeps the work/life balance in a rather unhealthy way of denial and boxing things away, because so much of his early seasons arcs were about resisting the life and refusing the call. This harks back to their literal first episode characterisations of Dean being all in and Sam being all out and it's interesting to have us back here in season 14, in a period of such deep reflection, when Sam has finally sort of accepted the life, found a niche in the work that suits him as the boss, and Dean is struggling now with retirement questions, and taking a week off, not liking his home full of strangers, etc etc.

-

"More Michael Monsters?" Dean asks immediately quick fire when Sam says he has a case.

He may have taken a week off to indulge in pizza but that obsession lurks under his skin. He's in no way done, though I think perhaps better prepared to enter this case than he had been, though of course he's billed as still struggling.

-

Dean also instantly recognises the Thundercats name, and I'm afraid it's something I'm just not familiar with, that I clearly missed some wave of it when I was younger and it hasn't come back around as an adult... I can't wait to read stuff by people who know more about it and say tragic things about Dean's connection to it. But the important thing here is the dark mirror to the guy who got beat up by the toy, because Dean is being shown as also an enthusiastic nerd who knows the franchise and is excited by this concept and is leaping into a case about it with a "strippers, Sammy. Finally!" level of enthusiasm.

Healthy nerds and unhealthy nerds. But at the same time, Dean might be a better nerd, but his anger last episode is still being examined through this guy.

-

I love that for Sam and Dean, dressing up for Halloween is dressing up like total nerds in a totally different pop culture way - the old appearance of geeks which is wildly outdated but damned if they aren't putting on pocket protectors anyway. It's a caricature but it's one that is at total odds with who they are as people... More of a traditional halloween thing where normally Sam and Dean are really scary people with weapons, so when you make them dress all topsy turvy, they dress like this instead. They ARE halloween costumes, in their day to day.

-

Dean continues watching in the shop, Sam eyes up the Red Hood.

I watched that a million years ago with no idea that Jensen was in it, though I had watched the first couple of seasons at that point. I think it was during my "aww the show was cancelled" phase where it was completely off my radar. It's hilarious to me now, because I don't think I COULD watch it, now I know Jensen's voice so disproportionately well. It would be so off-putting.

-

"She's like your twin."

Sam and Sam both tuck their hair behind their ears at the same moment.

"What are you talking about?"

So. This is going to be extremely subtle.

I hope New Sam survives the episode D:

-

Sam points out the other guy who people were saying based off the promo pics would be the Dean to this girl's Sam with no idea what was to come. He and Dean in this case are both eating lollipops purloined from the halloween candy.

I guess this guy in the All Saints Day t-shirt shares Dean's love of the same franchise, and seems to represent the bizarre venn diagram with Dean on one side and Andrew Dabb on the other. Their nerdy overlap.

-

I feel like Sam is just pointing out this character mirror to be an annoying sibling and wow do I love seeing them like this.

I also feel like there is no way Davy would do this if he wasn't about to troll the fuck out of us with these parallels in some terrifying meta way and pointing out that character parallels are a thing this blatantly is about to be Awful somehow.

-

The Red Hood is staring disapprovingly at them through all of this

-

Anyway of course Dean Parallel immediately recognises Dean's enthusiasm for Hatchetman and encourages him to press the button, which Dean does with glee. I CLOBBER EVIL. Wait no.

Sometimes we do bad things.

Oh dear.

Oh deeeeeeeeeeear.

Yeah, Hatchetman is like... idk, michael!Dean or something. Or some dark part of Dean where all his violence is and this twisted version is almost like the burned result of the I Clobber Evil hero being melted by Dean and - too meta, I am in pain.

-

"Vintage hot wheels!"

I know what you want because I have a smol 67 impala on my shelf. Nyoom.

-

He has an eeny weenie mystery machiney so he can make them race.

-

Okay guy who got beat up by a toy is called Stuart (I am so bad at names, honestly.)

Of course he got kicked out by his roomie for being insufferable about something as pointless as subs vs dubs, and Sam is already apologising for him before they even go meet him.

Considering there's 3 people working at the shop and Stuart had a trenchcoat, but is also being mirrored to Dean, darkly, I feel like there might be some serious shuffling going on here that surface level, Stuart had that Cas marker, but... yeah

-

Heeee Dean stealing the Flash mug and making Sam have the one with the cats all over it. One mug representing Stuart, one representing his mum.

I mean it is Sam's turn to have a relationship with THEIR mom this season. Idk if the mugs are actually symbolic over anything other than Dean living his best geek life right now.

I mean he's added the glasses to his ensemble, he's really living it up.

I hope he's still wearing Send Noods under this

-

Awww it's hot apple cider. What a good mom. This is a perfect halloween drink.

-

*Stuart Rage Sounds from below*

Wow this is subtle that he has some rage issues.

-

"Campbell and sons insurance" Hey remember when I said that this whole season's emotional set up with Sam's ownership of the AU peeps reminded me of season 6 and the Campbells? They also literally are the sons of Mary Campbell, so.

No lies, at least, with some serious stretching of the truth.

-

God, the detail that Dean has played Zelda.

He's being nerdy out loud constantly, and without much fear of judgement. It's wonderful. I guess he's been jostled up enough by Michael that he doesn't really care to hide this random pointless thing that in the grand scheme why should he be ashamed, and also he feels so much worse about other things that this is just an escape to have fun. It also reminds me of last season when he was mourning Cas except that this indulgence Sam is allowing him is co-sponsored by Dean and he's throwing himself into enjoying the smaller things and being more openly Dean-ish than he has in a while. Like, I don't think character comparisons to 8x11 for the nerds is the only way the episodes link :P

-

In 8x11 Dean's initial reaction to LARPing is that it looks awesome, then he corrects at a look from Sam to being more judgy. In 9x04 as scripted, Sam is surprised that Dean want to read Game of Thrones. So idk if that's just Robbie character interpretations since my 2 surface level examples are from his episodes or if that's just been where open nerdery has lived in past years, but anyway. Sam isn't stopping Dean from indulging in the same way - it seems he also recognises Dean's nerdiness and is less threatened by it than before, in the sense that he doesn't feel like Dean isn't acting himself, but now accepts the nerdiness is a part of Dean.

-

"Who needs goth girl drama" dude you are the most awful over-dramatic asshole on the show now Lucifer is dead

-

LOL he's trying to lie about being attacked by a toy now, and Dean points out that he got whooped so thoroughly he was beaten on the back and genitals - so yeah we look at his face and wiiiiince

-

"Lady you wasn't kidding."

-

"Big Bang in there..."

Goodness are we calling out the Big Bang theory for its toxic nerdery? Love it.

-

Sam and Dean halloween costumed as total nerds, still driving around in the Impala. The reverse of someone rolling up in a boring old modern car and, like, a bunch of Draculas get out.

-

Sam can shave off the beard but it can't stop him Bobby-ing

Dean side-eyes this

-

"Yeah, it was Riley, he'll be fine."

"I don't know who Riley is, but cool."

God, I am so into this whole dynamic.

Tell me more, Davy.

-

"So seriously, what is your deal with halloween?"

"I don't like it"

Dean, I am watching this episode on November 2nd, just so you know.

Anyway. This is literally. 1x01's opening adult Sam moment. But Dean's going back to poke Sam about it since he's someone Sam won't lie to in the same way that Sam was concealing his entire being from Jess. I mean this isn't subtle - in 1x01 Dean calls Sam out for doing this. But then, Sam doesn't exactly develop beyond it - in season 8 he does this with Amelia.

Because obviously if Sam is going to move forward and develop there's still things which are not addressed. And if Dean is having his idea of home and work challenged, and his nest disrupted until perhaps he will fly it... Sam has never ever actually addressed his work/life balance in the meaningful way where... like... this was how his difference was introduced when we first ever meet lil babby Sam smiling innocently at us on screen as a kid who has the whole future ahead of him and no idea what torment he's gonna go through. 14 years later, if he's ever going to be a grown up who can handle himself in a relationship and know what is work and what is life and how he can watch halloween movies and not feel personally offended by them but enjoy them as a fantasy and a way of boxing off their world into a safe place they don't have personal responsibility for...

Maybe he might just get a girlfriend who he can tell he is a hunter. Like. Dude. Dean was past that step before the show ever STARTED thanks to his time with Cassie.

-

Sam, also, metaphorically is an angry guy living in his mom's basement, but perhaps in a more metaphorical way where it's to do with living his whole life under the shadow of his mom horrifically dying as a result of the supernatural and being brought up feeling like a freak and just wanting to be normal and all

wheeee

-

Anyway Dean is probing for actual answers so I assume Davy will give us a solution to this this episode, but this is my take on it before we get into it properly.

-

Alternative hypothesis: Davy is personally offended that Sam doesn't like halloween despite it being the best holiday, is determined to fix that and fuck canon, characters can change even 14 years later.

-

"Don't give me this 'every day is halloween' crap because one it aint, we don't eat that much candy"

I have missed Dean and I love him with every fibre of my being, brb I need to vibrate out of existence at the sheer joy of knowing him

-

That was the worst "we aren't here staking out your house" move I have ever seen.

You are professionals who have been doing this together for 14 years

why was that so laughably bad?

-

The youtube comments are so cutting and a bunch of them are unfortunately true. It's self-awareness of using the loser nerd trope but also, cutting in a way because of course Stuart is coming across so much as someone who deserves it - and we're starting to see his mom is sweet and doesn't seem to have caused any trauma in a surface read, and that he was the one who dumped his online gf, and he starts other fights at work or with roomies, so this is getting more and more into territory where he seems fully to blame for his own situation, and therefore you CAN mock him for living in mom's basement, because he PUT himself there, and is single because he chose to be, and so on. The pervading sense that if he was a nicer person, none of this would be happening to him, right down to him stealing the toy in the first place.

-

Oh boy, the bloody handprint on the wall... We are back in handprint territory, and, you know, maybe because SOMEONE walking past it has been scarred on the wrong shoulder by the actions of an angel or something

-

There's a chinese take out carton on the shelf in this basement. I doubt it's a collectible.

Send noods.

-

Okay, that's sort of weird.

-

If the mom is in costume I don't get the reference. I hope someone else has handled that.

-

We're going to get her POV on her loser son now, I guess.

-

"Everything's fine :)" *leaves the room* "everything is not fine!"

Are we calling them out for using "fine" so loosely again too huh?

(Side note: Jack saying he's fine while consumptive, and yeah I am still upset about that. What are you doing to the boy????)

-

Dean and Sam split up and as Sam walks off a nurse eyes him up and smiles. No idea how intentional that was but I mean, can you blame her? :P

-

You know, I don't know anything about this franchise, but Sam just jumped to see a toy of a guy who looks weirdly similar to the vampires that ATE HIM a few weeks ago.

He checks over his shoulder in case Dean manifested at his side just in time to see that

-

Awww Dean and New Dean meet. "he must have awesome insurance"

He calls Stuart's mom "Babs" which is hilarious. They seem close.

New Dean has issues with his dad and Stuart lets him crash with him no questions asked. I suppose Dean isn't going to think too hard about how Sam's choice for his parallel has issues with his dad.

This forgiveness for Stuart's behaviour because he's kind to his own people is a very TFW trait, which makes New Dean more like Sam or Cas forgiving Dean his outbursts, as he's by far the ragiest of them, with Cas trailing in second and Sam the zen fucking master.

-

Lol Dean and New Dean are both dragged into the room to watch All Saints Day 3 like they're being pulled in on a line

-

Oh dear, they're bonding.

Davy isn't usually on top of these things but he's channeling a lot of Edlund today and Edlund always had these sort of guys like Andy or Aaron who are so Dean's type in a harmless shared interests and getting stoned together way. This is a bit extreme with the guy's tininess and scruffiness but you know, we'll see how this develops, if it's an accidental twins or a missed connections soulmate dealio.

... You're taking to someone who's still bitter that Andy and Dean would have been perfect together, so.

-

Also this New Dean guy is demonstrating how to be a Good Fan - he may be as intensely nerdy as Stuart, but he and Dean can compare movies and even though they don't share a favourite, agree that the whole series is great and can see the merits both in each other's favourites, and in another movie that isn't either of their favourites but could be if they happened to be inclined that way.

So healthy :')

-

"It was always nice to check out. I like watching movies where I KNOW the bad guy's going to lose"

Ow ow ow. But yeah, there's Dean's pro-Halloween rationale, that the tropeyness of the genre has its comforts that every ridiculous horror thing is entirely safe and no one is ACTUALLY going to get eaten by any of these things. Which is also how normal people enjoy horror but at the metaphorical remove of being scared by things we may not literally meet but still represent anxieties we might have in our real lives.

Catharsis, yo

-

Sam barges in on New Sam to ask her the usual series of increasingly weird questions which get the "are you really insurance?" eyebrows.

"Downtown Salem" - are they in Salem as in the witch hunt one?

-

I kinda love how New Sam is talking with a speech bubble beside her. So meta.

-

I think New Dean is called Dirk.

-

Oops Stuart wasn't one of the co-owners because he kept getting fired for stealing D: Stuart, dude.

-

"And you hired Stuart back?" "he's my friend"

I think there is commentary appearing here about not just Stuart's unhealthy explosive rage, but that the people around him enable it - even Jordan fired him TWICE rather than banish him forever. The cycle of coddling him without encouraging him to change... Again, this speaks rather more of season 10 and a critique of Sam n Cas from there rather than much currently ongoing with Dean. Sam was complicit in originally abducting Kaia and he and Jody didn't move to stop Dean with Bad Kaia, so though it's in the focus as a critique on Dean's reactions, I feel like the real bad cycles were in Carver era. Though the behaviour still somewhat exists in Dabb era, the overall unhealthiness has declined so much, there isn't a constant oppresive blanket of it as there is here in this shop with Stuart being so awful to everyone and self-destructive.

(It's probably also not a coincidence that this thing has latched onto Dean as well, a la 4x06 I'd guess... Sam got no ghost vibes in the basement, Dean did, and was attacked... To me this is seeming to suggest that his current state has picked up the ghost's ire in the same way in 4x06 he was vulnerable. Loops and loops of things going on so I'll unpick that later if it does turn out to be the case clearly.)

Anyway. This seems to be more about destructive cycles and abusive dynamics, and I would hope a nudge for Dean, though his exile at the start of this episode also suggests to me he knew full well after threatening Kaia that he'd overreacted and needed to take 5, even if there was also a layer of sulking until news of Michael. Her call out was clear enough to make him self-reflect. So I would hope that this episode is here to try and steer Dean's reaction through various pathways, ideally to keep him from falling into anything too awful, as a reminder of where this may lead?

-

Sam sees the glass case freeze over, and pulls out the EMF, playing it off and being like "nothing... carbon monoxide detector" even as New Sam is understandably a little freaked.

Is this messing with Sam's refusal to tell Jess about monsters by having him keep the truth from New Sam until she's physically endangered?

-

I mean, carbon monoxide in enough quantities to make the blatantly homemade gadget go "WHEEE" and light up every single LED is a good enough reason to flee the room

-

"I think you're in danger -" Sam is smacked around the head by Hatchetman because he delayed too long and now he has been knocked out

-

"Samantha?" Sam determined not to let New Sam out-Sam him

-

I mean if she is you then she has been knocked out

-

How does this keep happening to you

how much head trauma has Cas healed over the years?

This is why they have to keep him an angel...

-

"Is this expensive?" "Wha - no don't!" *BOING* *silence* "yeeeah it's shatterproof glass"

HA

-

If Jordan really just wants to kill Stuart for getting them a 1 star Yelp review then this also has a weird shade of 11x07 where the ghost was getting revenge and took a few attempts to kill that one guy, eventually succeeding as the clown.

Except the clown was tuned to freak Sam out

and Dean's probably gonna be thrilled to fight Hatchetman

-

Dean having movie night with new Dean (probably stoned but we can't see it) with comatose Stuart in the middle

incredible

-

2 dudes watching horror movies 5 feet apart with a comatose guy in the middle because they aren't gay

-

Dean is thrilled to fight Hatchetman

I feel like this can't last

-

Davy throws in a gratuitous Halloween moment of Hatchetman walking through the park which is just bedecked in Halloween nonsense

no one cares about him wandering around because it's Halloween

It does make you wonder just HOW much nonsense happening on Halloween really is monsters and stuff out there enjoying themselves because it's expected, which, again, like Sam n Dean dressing up as nerds for this whole episode, having monsters mixing with regular folk and being treated as equals is literally the whole Halloween thing. There's less threat than in 4x07 because we're assuming at this point in the episode that the ghost does have a pretty one-track mind about killing Stuart because with all the characterising nonsense filling the episode the actual plot has been pretty sparse considering we're getting to the final 10 minute run now. So, yeah. This Hatchetman ghost is just out there being a part of the festivities, because that's what happens on Halloween, man

-

LOL And like Sam not telling his double until it was too late, Dean gets this call and is really open in answering in front of new Dean, and now he's filling in New Dean on everything instead of trying to get him to leave or protect him not just from the monster but from knowing about it at all.

-

Davy like, hey, remember when ghosts used to do loads of freaky stuff on this show just to be scary? And maybe it seemed like you all were getting bored of it or something, but hey this guy has no idea after 14 years that he shouldn't leave the salt line when everything starts thumping in the room despite having been warned the ghost is coming...

-

Hehehe Dean gets an axe... The moment of him going to smash it then not and checking if it's open... Whether that was improv or not, it's a good character thing in the sense that Dean is being encouraged not to smash first and ask questions later by the meta plot of the episode

-

Omg New Dean is as brave as our Dean in some ways... He sees Babs in trouble, and immediately is like "HEY" and starts confronting Jordon in Hatchetman

-

"He's MY friend. He's OUR friend." That's an interesting take on my/our, because that statement works on both levels - both that Dirk is protective of Stuart because he cares about him, but also that Jordan has his own investment in not killing Stuart that he should remember. In terms of emotional appeal, the first is confrontational while the second is the deep appeal to the ghost.

Filed in the deep deep deep deep deep flips of the crypt scenes, this moment demonstrates about 3 different kinds of flips, while still holding true to possessing thing out of its right mind confronting loved one

-

Omg the hospital security guards watching the Hatchetman chase a damsel through the hospital while New Dean is chased through THEIR hospital. Talk about dramatic irony and a whole commentary on the metaness of Dabb era in the story reversals and extractions to new levels and repurposing of scenes and narratives...

-

And despite it playing out scene by scene, the guards are laughing at the bad dialogue and pointing out how Hatchetman is so slow, so how can he even catch them, while the damsel slows herself down and badly fakes a trip so that he can catch up to her...

-

"We killed you! You're dead!" "We all do bad things sometimes"

And there we get the context for the cool quote the Hatchetman model can recite - just as how in fandom often things are quoted out of context as lines which seem emotional or special but are actually awful. Just for starters, all the Sam n Dean fans using "there aint no me if there aint no you" when Dean didn't even SAY that. Now we see the context of this line, we see that while Hatchetman really isn't deep, he's at least not just saying it to sound cool and talk about himself, he's judging the protagonist for her behaviour, as well as invoking relative morality. Which brings up some interesting ideas about what Hatchetman considers good and evil, in regards to seeming to have a concept of it but not including kill himself as a good thing to do. Obviously completely wild in context but in the philosophical language of the show, the nature of monsters and all is one huge question, along with if Sam and Dean are murderers themselves, and of course how they have done bad things for good reasons and vice versa.

-

Also I think Sam is about to blow up the door?

-

"I had a messed up childhood" he says, about to blow up a vintage SCOOBY DOO lunchbox to freedom.

SAMMY. Stop destroying symbols of childhood.

At least he's talking freely to New Sam about himself, which is probably already more than he ever let on to Jess. He really wanted to pretend to be well-adjusted to her, that he probably, like, would have rather waited for a locksmith with her than just pick the door to their apartment if they were locked out, you know?

-

RIP Scooby Doo.

-

"Cool" they both say, and share a smile.

It's probably weird to ship Sam and Sam just because the shipname is Sam

-

Dirk went to hide in the fucking Morgue

well done

-

Okay I need the security guards back to comment on how the fuck Hatchetman knew New Dean would come to the morgue with enough time to beat him there AND cover himself in a sheet and play dead.

-

Also before that happened Dean grabbed New Dean by the correct shoulder, and made him jump but aw don't worry it's just your new best friend.

-

Ghost Jordan is still a fucking nerd even in death because rather than talk to them, he presses the button to summon a catchphrase

It's good to know some things never change even when you are a murderous shell of your former self.

-

UGH SIGH DAVY ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO DO THIS TO ME?

(The director might also be to blame)

So now they are cobbling together a fake trailer for Hatchetman, using footage from the show

That is to say, Hatchetman is set on Oct. 31st, 1983, or, of course, 2 days before Azazel ruined everything.

I'm not sure if this shot is from the show because we have so few Halloween episodes that an exterior shot with Halloween elements would have to be faked up, but the house looks very much like the old Winchester house, but with a bigger porch and more dramatic features. It does, however, strongly feature the tree branch shadows over the appropriate wall to make it look exactly like the opening shot of their story, while this is the opening shot of the Hatchetman story.

"David Jaeger was an honest man making an honest living" *generic shot of something being worked on*

*shot of the back of John Winchester's head walking into his garage in 5x13 to discover his boss out cold because Anna is about to attempt to murder him, said boss hilariously visible in the shot if you know he's there*

So. That happened :P Hatchetman is John. That ain't subtle if you recognise the back of his head in a split second. Even if you don't they're casting him as a car mechanic which is of course directly connected to Dean and John.

"Until one night when a practical joke turned deadly"

*footage of the wife spectre-rage killing her husband in the cold open of 8x06 because she was still pissed he slept with someone else on prom night*

I think the burning vehicle was the car from 10x13 that Sam and Dean burned early in the episode, where it was violently reminiscent of them burning the memory of John for some meta reason I can't remember at the time, but definitely inspired a lot of frantic fandom typing.

Of course the ghost in that episode was the classic ragey vengeance ghost which was blatantly paralleled to the path Dean was on with the Mark of Cain, complete with being crypt scened out of it by a trenchcoat-wearing widow.

They're implying he was then burned alive and left for dead and I don't recognise the footage of the burned feet but I assume they're from some episode or another.

Anyway then they go to more new footage from the "actual" hatchetman movies. This one is set on Nov. 1st so it's not even a "Halloween" movie but ACTUALLY All Saint's Day (All Hallow's Eve being what Hallowe'en is a corruption of), Nov. 1 being of course a meta nod to the fact the episode is not even airing on Halloween but Davy just really really really really wanted his halloween episode so shut up and enjoy it :P

Oh, it's All Saints Day III The Reckoning. Because of course it's a reckoning. That's all that happens in Dabb era, reckonings.

-

I am so upset.... I made a joke about 5x05 waaay back, and now it's true because of the whole random thing about Dean's random Axe that was John's that Paris Hilton was going to use to Reckoning him but then Sam murderered her before she could. Now Dean's being reckoned.

-

Okay Dean is a lil dark right now but his come at me bro of "I was hoping you'd say that" and the preceding speech is incredible. I can't believe this show has Jensen except that I CAN believe that with Jensen we go 14 seasons because FUCK he's scary and intense when he wants to be.

-

But he delivered that chilling speech and then had the ghost use a red button to talk to him and then was badass at it

I mean

he can put the terror into ANY situation

-

I am a hysterical laugher, I could not have stood where Dean stood in that moment and taken Hatchetman seriously, even under threat of mortal peril. I once nearly got expelled for hysterical laughing over an untied shoelace that started a rapidly spiralling incident.

-

I love the new fight guy

I love how Dean is spoiling for a fight, and really enjoying how he can push back against this ghost, in a really, really scary way. But in a cold way, not the red hot Mark of Cain way he was dark last time. He's grinning and enjoying this nerdy ass fight, but it's got a vicious streak.

-

I especially love the choreography of Dean smashing Hatchetman around the head with clashes in time to the music followed by an elevator ding as Sam and New Sam emerge in the next scene.

Poetic cinema

-

New Sam guesses the key thing for ghost attachment and Old Sam is impressed.

Careful buddy, they're lining you up for replacement.

-

Dean seems not to have won this fight with the Hatchetman. I bet if Stuart was awake he'd have some useful advice for how anyone could beat him in a fight but especially Stuart, if they knew the correct thing to do.

-

New Dean saved Old Dean! Maybe we can teamwork distract the Hatchetman and win together. Possibly this is a metaphor for... working with yourself...

Is it foreshadowing for a fight later in the season of plot significance, just like in 11x07 Sam got beat up by a clown in a cage, as a not too subtle metaphor for Lucifer? I'd love an in Dean's head kinda nonsense with Mikey.

-

"Dean, key chain!"

TEAMWORK BROS ARE THE BEST BROS

-

New Sam chips in for her part with fuel for the fire.

Everyone high five the Sam or Dean/Dirk to your left

-

Oh, COOL effect of a ghostly spirit burning out of a model Hatchetman, who is unscatched by the ordeal

-

I mean, good, he's probably a really expensive collectible

-

He falls over with a thud, and goes out on a warbling "time to slice and diiiiiiiii" much like "I clobber evil" died on the fire with a last gutteral noise.

Hopefully bookending each other in terms of models with representations in their voices that haunt Dean and all.

-

Dean, unprompted, thanks Sam for getting him out of his funk and giving him an easy ghost hunt to win. I guess what 13x05 was supposed to be is what this actually turned out to be.

(Honestly, giving Davy episodes post-drama to let us all unwind is turning out to be an extremely good idea with 13x06 as well)

-

I am MAJORLY concerned about the time stamp on this episode. It better end in a few seconds and go to a full 3 minute trailer for Hell Hazers III or else.

-

"It was awesome!" "it wasn't really," says Sam, who burst into the room in time to see his brother pinned and choking

-

Sam moves on to confronting Dean with the concept of not just hiding in his room when they get back.

He gives Dean the "OI, CHEER UP" talk we've all been yelling at the screen. Good. Good Sammy.

Dean turns to the camera. "I'm never going to get over it. I'm just not."

Look, Sam, just because Dean stabbed Lucifer for you, and now you are sleeping without fear, doesn't mean everyone has that luxury :P

-"

elizabethrobertajones Oh dear, there's still 4 minutes left er I guess I keep watching .... *grimaces nervously*

mittensmorgul :D just watch it in context with the rest of the episode

elizabethrobertajones um what I didn't get far enough into what happens next to know what you mean so that's super ominous Sam is still psychoanalysing Dean in car NOW yo uhave me REALLY worried.

Hey, remember how I started this episode with a vague warning from Mittens? Why am I now getting the feeling that I still haven't watched whatever that was about?

-

"I'm not doing any good cooped up in my room. So whatever you need, I'm there." ("Chief"?)

-

"Alright, Chief?"

Oh, man. I'm turning into Dean.

-

Also Dean appears to have, finally, ceded power over to Sam. Again, the reversals of season 10 - Sam was put in this position of power he just was not ready to cope with and not with the stakes that were laid against him. But here, Dean might be driving the car but he's putting all the real power into Sam's hands.

-

elizabethrobertajones Is it why Sam hates Halloween because Dean turns out to have set an alarm on his watch to remind him to bug Sam about it again the intrigue you have spun is starting to get to me more than actually watching the episode :P

mittensmorgul oh gosh, I should've just kept my mouth shut. It was seriously just an innocent comment for a nice BM scene :P

-

I am more horrified about the concept of Sam telling an embarrassing story than I am about any amount of slasher and gore. Look, I can Not handle social squickiness and I love Sam and that is going to make this extremely hard to hear.

Dean's gonna love it though, I can tell.

-

Please. Protect. Sammy.

-

"It was soooo bad" he says with a haunted look of a man who has been tortured by the devil

-

Andrea's party got there first

-

"Next year, we're doing halloween right"

Oh no, don't you dare start talking like you're going to be alive and ready for a party next year, Dean Winchester. I will perish in your place to make it happen.

-

BAHAHA Dean coming up with matching outfits and suggests Bert and Ernie, before rejecting that one as too weird.

Yeah, you might not remember but we do

We are never going to let you live it down, in fact.

-

Also, listen, his mouth runs miles ahead of his brain, that was not suggestive until he realised it was and backtracked

-

You also can't go as Shaggy and Scooby unless you go to a party WITH them and they go as you and Sam

-

Thelma and Louise... Dean, stop.

Okay it's hilarious that Davy managed to get both Bert and Ernie and Thelma and Louise into this like... somewhere riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight deep down Dean's consciousness is putting things together. It doesn't remember half the shit he says, but like. Hey. Why ARE those two sets of on screen pairs connected, huh, Dean?

-

Oh, whatever, he's just trying to annoy Sam now

-

Nyoooom

-

IT'S THE SECURITY GUARD

RUN, MAN, RUN

-

Ew, I left it playing to type that and it told me to watch Legacies

-

Well that was the one wrong note in this whole episode so I suppose something had to happen like that :P

[steamfunkstudios]

What’s that? Just a friendly reminder from those of us at Steam-Funk Studios to catch our content at Manifest Density Tour: COGS Expo 2! Bharat's Ballads! Cosplay Court Case! And much more! We'll even be exploring behind-the-scenes of The Living Multiverse, our multi-platform fictional project featuring teams of artists, writers and playtesters spanning the continental U.S.! And why YES, we DO have our Performance-Schedule for the carnage! ————————————————————————————

Friday 4:30 - 5:30 pm Airship’s & Arya-Samaj (Salon 3) 5:30 - 6:30 pm Mantra, Mudra, Sutra Mecha (Salon 3) 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm  Bharat’s Ballads (Ball Room Stage) Saturday 9pm - 11pm Cosplay Court Case: Night Court (18+) (Living Room Stage) 11pm - 12am Swagger 303: Hench & Henceforth (Troy Hills Room) Sunday 1 pm - 2 pm       For A Few Dice More (Main Stage) ———————————————————————————— Tales to Astound: Bharat’s Ballads (Multicultural Folklore w/Modern References) A Storytelling Session with Rohan Mauryan Balraj & his band of notorious Silk Road mercenaries, the Dogs of War. Outlandish deeds and daring exploits are retold, to what audience members are not ‘roped-in’ to participate as extras or ‘Special Effects’. The Ramayana as WWE Smackdown? Epic Battles of Devas and Rakshasas as Redneck Olympics? Araungzeb and Shivajii as the most epic of Rap Beefs? All this and more! Mantras, Mudra, Sutra & MECHA!!! (Vedic & SE Asian influence on Sci Fi, Fantasy, & Horror) Being an exploration of the numerous instances, concepts and derivative works, past and present, that have been produced by both Western and Eastern Presses, inclusive of Scripture, Literature, Saga Poetry, Graphic Novels, Roleplaying Games and more. From the Rg Veda to Ramayana 3392 A.D. From Escher to Exalted RPG. Grab your Brahamastra and get ready to Pilot some Vimana. First one to mention Aliens gets hit with the Sanskrit version of the Mahabharata. Swagger 303: Hench & Henceforth - A Finale (18+) Back for one Final Time, One Night Only. A Count Named Slick-Brass and the Titilus Crew have schooled audiences from one end of the nation to the other, with 'Swagger 101: The Art of Shameless Self Promotion' and 'Swagger 202: More than a Hint of Pimp'. Bringing the Trilogy to a close, with this Postgraduate Studies course, The good Count himself analyzes his Crew, both present and historical, and showcases the most valuable arsenal in any Captain, Commander or Overlord has in their repetoir: their Squad. Spanning the Mahabharata to Alexander's Companions, to the Star Trek Bridge crew, and other Magnificent Seven allegories. Strap in, and bring your crew. This one's going to make an Impact Crater. Cosplay Court Case: Night Court (18+), Tesla Tribunal Edition Is your character in need of justice? For the past fifteen years, the officers of Cosplay Court Case have arbitrated grievances across fandoms of all genres with assistance from audience members in this widely-loved improv event. So whether you're a Arthur Conan Doyle looking to file a restraining order against modern fandom for molesting his beloved Sherlock, The League of Extraordinary Gentlement seeking damage against Hollywood for wage theft and Reputational Slaughter, or want Will Smith's Jim West tried for war crimes against Robotic Spiders, come get yourself on the docket! Our Irascible, Irreverent, Malevolent arbitration is HERE for YOU! For a Few Dice More: LMV Design Diaries (Lateral Thinking & Ditching Story Formula). An analysis of the line between internal logic and tropes in Sci-Fi and Fantasy, while engaging with particle physics, brane cosmology, and M- and SuperString- Theories. A quick overview of Campbell’s Monomyth, Dramatica’s, Story-Quartets, and Dan Harmon’s Story-Circle. *restrained Yawn, followed by kicking over a table* These methods have their logic and uses... and moments where they break HARD. We’ll review when these rules should be followed, when they should be AXED, and how to circumvent them with style! Spanning ventures from Tabletop RPG's to LARP to Live Performance Troupes, and back to written product.

[theonyxpath]

I’m going to get a lot of use out of the blog title this week, so stay with me.

First, it pretty accurately describes the Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e Kickstarter that is entering its last week today. Like most of our KSs, it had a great week and has slowed down to a walk right now, but we expect that it will also pick up the pace as we head towards the last days and run wildly towards the finish like the majority of our KSs have done.

So far, it’s been doing great and has achieved nine Stretch Goals – most of which are building the Memento Mori companion book, but there’s a lot more in store!

Geist has always had an extremely dedicated community that has come out and made this a very fun KS, and they’d love to add more folks to their Krewe. So, if you want to know just why we always had Geist questions thrown at us at every panel going back to when Eddy and I first started the “What’s Up with WW?” panels, this is your chance to find out! It’s the kind of game line and setting that gets into your head – in a memorable and thought-expanding way.

      Scion: Hero illustration by Darko Stejanovic

    Speaking of getting into your head in a good way, how many of you are listening to the Onyx Pathcast podcasts?

(I am the king of segues!)

Well, there’s now another way to enjoy Dixie, Matthew, and Eddy as they delve deep into our game lines and interview noted creators, and generally have an infectiously good time. We have put the first couple of the Pathcasts up on our YouTube channel. Here’s the link to the first one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3-jNUV5-hM 

Impish Ian Watson took the audio, and added art and graphics so that you’d have something to feast your eyes on as you listen to the Terrifying Yet Terrific Trio explore the secrets of Onyx Path, its creators, and its games. This last Friday they interviewed Eric Minton, one part of our excellent Exalted 3rd development team, and got him to talk about the thrills of developing new Ex3 projects. They even got some Lunars and Exigents tidbits out of him!

Marvelous marketing info aside, they really did a great job interviewing Eric, and you can tell they were all having a super time of it. I don’t know about you, but those sorts of audible and infectious good spirits makes me want to listen all the more when I check out a podcast.

This Friday, they’ll be talking about the connection, for good and for bad, between video games and tabletop RPGs. As creators that have worked in both spaces and as gamers themselves across a wide swathe of video games, it should be a blast and pretty insightful. And as always, you can download and listen on PodBean, or any of your favorites podcast venues: https://www.podbean.com/site/Search/index?v=onyx+pathcast

    Changeling: The Lost 2e illustration by Pat Loboyko

    Returning to our blog title this week, I’m gonna touch on one of our new game lines coming out that has walking dead, running dead, all sorts of dead. Plus human survivors who are turning them into really dead dead.

Of course, I’m talking about Dystopia Rising: Evolution, which is a Storypath System powered RPG set in a post-apocalyptic future where zombies are just one sign of the terrifying way the world has changed.

We’ll be demoing DR:E at Gen Con in less than two weeks, and since we are sharing our booth with our licensors from Eschaton Media, please come by. Because if Eddy Webb or any of our crew can’t explain Dystopia Rising, our booth-mates can!

If you’ve never heard of Dystopia Rising, beyond my very brief synopsis above, it is best known for being a hugely successful and compelling post-apocalyptic LARP setting that has spread not unlike an undead virus throughout the US and the world. In fact, I first became aware of DR because of encountering scary armor and weapon wearing Mad Max refugees wandering around several Vampire LARP venues.

They just looked intense, and really communicated that they were working out a huge and personal story as they gathered together with cobbled together costumes. They, and the setting, do a great job of convincing newcomers of the depths and potential of this wasted world of theirs.

We then met the Dystopia Rising creators at further conventions, and when Mighty Matt McElroy brought me into a Starbucks with them “just to get to know each other”, I knew he sensed that this was a group of folks we could work with in presenting their world to our Onyx Path community. As Eddy Webb, who is developing the project, says:

“The Eschaton folks have been great partners. I’ve worked on a lot of licensed products, and it’s very rare to find a partner that is so open to new ideas and collaboration. Some of the give-and-take we’ve had has been fantastic, and I think it’ll make the final product better as a result.”

If you are counting, this is our first new license after the WW one, as I consider our Creator-Owned projects to be only kinda-licenses, and we took a while to find the right project to do this with. The folks on the other side of the dotted line are a huge part of that, but also, we had a few more reasons for why this is a good idea:

  Honestly? Zombies. As Mirthful Mike sez: “At last I get to do up some real zombies!”

  Because the post-apocalyptic, zombie/mutant genre is really a new space for us to play in, we also thought it was a great third place to use the Storypath System. We’ll demonstrating even more of the system’s range in adapting it for this existing game world, and from everything I’ve seen and heard so far, it is passing that test with flying colors!

  The setting. Post-apocalyptic, but with a setting-based reason why the world is so messed up, and with a setting-based reason as to why survivors have both survived and have a hard time pinning down just how long it has been since things all went to hell. This gives both creators and players a massive chance to explore the world that is left, and to interject the themes and historical “facts” they want to include without contradicting the world we are building and which is already being played.

  Like I mentioned, we’ll be demoing Dystopia Rising: Evolution in our booth and elsewhere, and soon after we all get our collective heads together after Gen Con, we’ll be running the DR:E Kickstarter campaign. We hope to have a lot of interesting rewards based on the many years of the setting that have run, and a few fun treats in store that focus on our new game line!

    Scion: Hero illustration by Luciano Komorizono

    So here we go, into a new game, a new setting, a new license, and a new world to join our already successful and amazing universe of games. Like we surely must say, Onyx Path is really made up of:

Many Worlds, One Path!

  BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

ONE WEEK LEFT for the Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition Kickstarter and we’ve achieved nine Stretch Goals so far, even though this period traditionally is a very slow time during our Kickstarters. Thanks to all of our backers out there spreading the word! We are in good shape to be able to make a great looking hardcover edition, and get that into stores, even while we’re giving backers first look at the complete text and other fun benefits: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/geist-the-sin-eaters-2nd-edition

Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition includes all the rules you need to play as one of the Bound: Five Burdens reflecting the cause that pulled you back from the grave, five krewe Archetypes for building your own mystery religion, and the Haunts, Keys, and Ceremonies that provide the Bound with their macabre powers.

It also includes the Chronicle of the Dead, featuring the Sin-Eaters’ struggle against the all-consuming Underworld and a variety of terrifying threats. In addition, for the first time in the Chronicles of Darkness line, ghosts are presented as playable characters.

Chapters include:

The Quick and the Dead: the five Burdens (the reason a Sin-Eater comes back from the dead and what draws a particular geist to them) and krewe Archetypes (the common cause that draws a krewe of Sin-Eaters together).

The Road Back: On death and coming back, and why Bound make the Bargain, including possible consequences.

One Foot in the Grave: Character creation, with sections on both geist and krewe creation, Anchors, Merits, Synergy, Plasm, Abilities, Haunts, Keys, Ceremonies, and Mementos.

Old Laws: the core Chronicles of Darkness rules, with special rules for playing Sin-Eaters, as well as information on subsystems for krewes, ghosts, and the Underworld, including Avernian Gates.

Antagonists: villains for your Geist chronicle, including Reapers, Eaters of the Dead, necromancers, enemy Bound, and Kerberoi.

The Quiet Places: Setting information and story hooks for playing your Geist chronicle in specific times and places in history., from 16th-century Brazil to modern-day Edinburgh, Scotland to Mobile, Alabama in 1910, as well as information on Dominions.

Ghost Stories: Storyteller advice and information for running a Geist chronicle, including designing Remembrances, how to set theme and mood, story seeds, and various ways to play out the end of a game.

Appendix: The Absent: This Appendix details the Absent, playable ghosts, including Memories, new Merits, and a collection of possible ghost characters to expand on and use in your chronicle.

Appendix: Conditions and Tilts: Geist-specific Conditions and Tilts, including ephemeral Influence Conditions and Manifestation Conditions for ghosts, as well as Haunt Conditions and Tilts.

    ELECTRONIC GAMING:

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is both rolling and rocking!

Here are the links for the Apple and Android versions:

http://theappstore.site/app/1296692067/onyx-dice

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.onyxpathpublishing.onyxdice&hl=en

Three different screenshots, above.

    ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue you bought it from. Reviews really, really help us with getting folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile (Kindle, Nook)

Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Beast Within Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: W20 Cookbook (Kindle, Nook)

Exalted: Tales from the Age of Sorrows (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Tales of the Dark Eras (Kindle, Nook)

Promethean: The Created: The Firestorm Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Demon: The Descent: Demon: Interface (Kindle, Nook)

Scarred Lands: Death in the Walled Warren (Kindle, Nook)

V20 Dark Ages: Cainite Conspiracies (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Strangeness in the Proportion (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: Silent Knife (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Dawn of Heresies (Kindle, Nook)

      OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there!

https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

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

Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://theonyxpath.com/press-release-onyx-path-limited-editions-now-available-through-indie-press-revolution/

And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

      DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

The Christmas In July Sale continues at DTRPG.com! There are just so many bargains on all of our game lines that you need to check it out in order to believe it.

  This Wednesday, we will release the next set of creatures for the Hundred Devils Night Parade: Aurochs and Walkure, and a new antagonist for Adversaries of the Righteous: Adeimantus!

      CONVENTIONS!

This is the last full week before Gen Con 2018, which is during the first week of August, in Indianapolis, and things are nuts getting ready for it. In addition to our booth presence, be sure to check out the games and panels in the Gen Con Event Schedule.

From Fast Eddy Webb, we have these:

Eddy will be speaking at Broadleaf Writers Conference (September 22-23) in Decatur, GA. He’ll be there to talk about writing for interactive fiction, and hanging out with other writers who have far more illustrious careers. http://broadleafwriters.com/3rd-annual-broadleaf-writers-conference/3rd-annual-broadleaf-writers-conference-speakers/

Eddy will also be a featured guest at Save Against Fear (October 12-14) in Harrisburg, PA. He’ll be running some Pugmire games, be available for autographs, and will sometimes accept free drinks. http://www.thebodhanagroup.org/about-the-convention

If you are going and want to meet up, let us know!

    And now, the new project status updates!

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

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

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

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

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Tales of Excellent Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

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

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

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

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

  Redlines

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

Wr20 Book of Oblivion (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Changeling: The Lost 2nd Jumpstart (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

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

Adventures for Curious Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

  Second Draft

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Aeon Aexpansion (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

C20 Players’ Guide (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

In Media Res (Trinity Continuum: Core)

  Development

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

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

Fetch Quest (Pugmire)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Dog and Cat Ready Made Characters (Monarchies of Mau)

Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon (Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition)

  Manuscript Approval:

  Editing:

They Came From Beneath the Sea! Rulebook (TCFBtS!)

  Post-Editing Development:

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Night Horrors: The Tormented (Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition)

Guide to the Night (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

  Indexing:

    ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Trinity Continuum 

Geist 2e – Waiting for KS to end before getting rest of art.

The Realm

M20 Gods and Monsters – Working on it.

Ex3 Dragon Blooded

VtR – Guide to the Night 

Dystopia Rising: Evolution – KS art contracted.

  Marketing Stuff

Gen Con Signage

  In Layout

Fetch Quest – Met with Eddy…. got a good idea of what new art we’ll need. Gonna do the shirt up this week and we can get that SG out of the way.

Scion Hero – Layout about done.

Scarred Lands Trilogy Novels – Converting to PDF and PoD.

Promethean Night Horrors: The Tormented – Files with KT.

  Proofing

  At Press

Scion Dice – At fulfillment shipper.

Monarchies of Mau – Backer PDF links to backers this week.

Monarchies of Mau Screen – Printing.

Cavaliers of Mars Screen – Printing.

Wraith 20 Screen – Printing.

Wraith 20th – PoD coupons for backers this week, PDF/PoD on sale to public after GenCon.

Scion Origin – Backer PDF out, gathering errata.

Cavaliers of Mars – Printing.

  TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: Last full week of work before Gen Con, the black hole of productivity for our industry. So, feels good to know things will get done this week before we’re sucked in!

[officialotakudome]

New Post has been published on Otaku Dome | The Latest News In Anime, Manga, Gaming, Tech, and Geek Culture

New Post has been published on https://otakudome.com/mythic-quest-gets-bonus-ep-ahead-of-season-2/

Mythic Quest Gets Bonus Ep Ahead of Season 2

Ubisoft and Apple TV have announced a bonus episode for Mythic Quest ahead of it’s upcoming second season:

Apple today announced that “Everlight,” a special standalone season one episode from the highly regarded workplace comedy series “Mythic Quest,” will launch on Friday, April 16 on Apple TV+. The second season of the critically acclaimed, hit series “Mythic Quest” debuts on Friday, May 7.

In “Everlight,” the creative team, once again, presents a relatable subject that people all over the world are currently facing — the return to offices and co-workers.  In addition to the award-winning returning ensemble cast, special guest star Academy Award winner Sir Anthony Hopkins (“Silence of the Lambs,” “The Father”) lends his voice to the episode. This new, half-hour special episode finds the team behind the biggest multiplayer video game of all-time returning to the office for their annual Everlight party, with Poppy and Ian rigging a LARP (Live Action Role-Play) tournament in an underdog’s favor.

“‘Everlight’ is a special episode that addresses the practical and emotional difficulties of returning to normalcy,” said McElhenney. “It’s full of hope and joy and optimism for a bright future. Ahead of our upcoming second season, we felt it was the perfect way (and the perfect time) to invite the audience back into the world of ‘Mythic Quest.'”

“Rob and the entire ‘Mythic Quest’ team have created a beloved cast of characters that have struck a chord with audiences around the world,” said Matt Cherniss, Apple TV+’s head of programming. “After hitting it out of the park with their extraordinary ‘Quarantine’ special episode, we couldn’t wait for viewers to experience their unique take on another topical and universally relatable moment — returning to the office — ahead of the season two launch on May 7.”

“Everlight” follows the broadly acclaimed “Mythic Quest: Quarantine” special episode, which was lauded as one of the best episodes of television produced during the pandemic. The new half-hour, special episode is directed by star, co-creator and executive producer Rob McElhenney and written by Emmy Award-winner, series writer and star Ashly Burch.

Season two of “Mythic Quest” finds everyone back in the office (well, almost everyone), attempting to build upon the success of Raven’s Banquet by launching an epic new expansion, but Ian (Rob McElhenney) and the newly promoted co-creative director, Poppy (Charlotte Nicdao), struggle with the game’s direction. Meanwhile, C.W. (Academy Award-winner F. Murray Abraham) reconciles some unresolved issues from his past, the testers (Ashly Burch and Imani Hakim) test the bounds of an office romance, and David (David Hornsby) loses yet another woman in his life as Jo (Jessie Ennis) leaves him to assist Brad (Danny Pudi). The ensemble cast also features Naomi Ekperigin, Caitlin McGee, Humphrey Ker, Chris Naoki Lee and Jonathan Wiggs.

Created by Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Megan Ganz, “Mythic Quest” is executive produced by McElhenney and Day under their RCG banner, Michael Rotenberg and Nicholas Frenkel on behalf of 3Arts, and Jason Altman, Danielle Kreinik and Gérard Guillemot for Ubisoft Film and Television. David Hornsby and Megan Ganz also executive produce. The series is produced for Apple TV+ by Lionsgate, 3 Arts Entertainment and Ubisoft.

Apple TV+ is home to award-winning Apple Originals from today’s most imaginative storytellers. Apple TV+ offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all your favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service. Apple Originals have been honored with Academy Award nominations, Emmy Awards, Critics Choice Awards, Critics Choice Documentary Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Writers Guild Awards, NAACP Image Awards, a Peabody Award, and more.

Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac, select Samsung, LG, Sony and VIZIO smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. For a limited time, customers who purchase a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy one year of Apple TV+ for free. This special offer is good for three months after the first activation of the eligible device.

###

Note from Rob McElhenney

[shalliedragon]

Fur Squared 2018: Convention Report

All right. I think it's official now. Fur Squared is now my favorite furry convention. Their attention to detail, the sheer generosity of the attendees, the utter insanity of the events, the fact that it's just the right size, the fact that 40% of the attendees either sponsored or super-sponsored... all of those things make Fur Squared unlike any other convention I've been to. It is rare that I attend a convention that is pretty much non-stop happiness and excitement from beginning to end.

I say this despite the fact that the weekend was more or less one big blur of awesomeness. There weren't a whole ton of standout moments, because it was all consistently fun and enjoyable. But I will try to recount what I remember (might be easier now that it's over).

Thursday

Got everything packed into my car before work, and left work early to head on the road. It's a long drive from home to Brookfield, so I had to put the pedal down and just go. On the road I listened to the Dragget Show and Feral Attraction podcasts (sidenote: FA's "keeping yourself secure on the internet" episode was extremely disappointing, but that's a topic for another day).

I got to the con around 10:15 and checked into my room. I met my dear friend (and roommate) Jake (AKA Cobbs) in the lobby of the Sheraton. After exchanging pleasantries, he helped me carry my stuff in, and then we went over to MST3K (stylized to MiST3Ke on the schedule). Registration had closed, so I didn't have my con badge yet, but the person at the door thankfully let us in just by showing our state ID's.

The panelists were Alkali, Pandez, Xander, Draggor, Dixie Lioness, and Furry Bobs (I believe). The movie in question was... some kind of bad fantasy adventure thing, I don't remember the title, but it was bad. The panelists had to drink when a weapon was drawn, when there was a typo in the subtitles, when there was "(dramatic music)" playing, or the secret rule: anytime the panelists ended a sentence with a vowel. I didn't stick around to the end, as I was exhausted (so did Jake), but I think the panelists ended up winning.

We made our way back to the room, where we ran into our 3rd roommate, Gotherine Foxx (Gothy for short), who was putting the finishing touches (read: a pack of googly eyes) on a very large and ornately-drawn painting for the charity auction. She subsequently left with her friends, and then Jake and I went to bed.

Friday

I. Slept. Like. GARBAGE.

It took me a very long time to finally fall asleep the night before, and I don't quite know why. I think I got like 3-4 hours of sleep. It was BAD.

Thankfully, Fur Squared made it up to me with FREE BREAKFAST. This is one of my favorite features of Fur Squared. Every day of the con, they give all of the attendees vouchers for the breakfast buffet, so that everyone always gets at least one of the two meals needed for the 6-2-1 rule. I ate my fill, assuming that I wouldn't really be eating lunch that day. Jake and I sat with my friends Angel and Gabi, and we also ran into my friends Linn and Xeila.

After breakfast, I meandered around the con space with Jake, and went to get registered. Two things of note. First, they were giving out ribbons to the sponsors/super-sponsors that had character classes on them: archmage, drunken master, divine oracle, and ... one other one that I don't remember (I think it was Bard or something like that). I chose Archmage. Second, they had little stickers that you can put on your badge for your preferred pronouns. This made me REALLY happy; I always love it when cons try to be trans-inclusive.

Then we did some people-watching. There were a lot of familiar faces, and the excitement was palpable (both from the attendees, and from the many happy dogs that the charity had brought with them). I managed to snag a picture of Axikor as they walked past (it was actually the only picture I took the entire con, foolish me). Finally, it was time for opening ceremonies. It was filmed, so I won't go into detail, but long-story-short: the GOH's were Furry Bobs and Cypher (sp?), the artist of honor was Golden Druid, the con theme was "Lizards and Labyrinths 2nd Edition, Revenge of the Top Hat", the Kalerati and the Church of Adam started a charity donation war to see which one was the best, and people were silly. Good times.

Also, throughout this time, my 4th roommate, Dezzi, was nowhere to be found.

After the con was open, I made a beeline for my room and got right into my fursuit. I traveled around the con space some, posed for a few pictures, gave a few hugs, and got some professional photos taken at the photoshoot area in the headless lounge (I was due for some new photos). They had a whole collection of fantasy-themed props there, which made for some fun photos. I did a couple photos: one where I had a veil and some potions and looked like an alchemist, and one where I had a fistful of gemstones. The photos should be processed in the next few weeks.

I ran into my friend Alex while I was there; he was wearing his Azriel Dreemur fursuit (he's the one with the big Save button you see gallivanting around the cons). We chatted for a bit, and he went on his way.

I also had a goal for the weekend. Earlier in the year, I had bought a pack of "sprouts", these little clip-on plastic plants that you can affix to yourself as decoration. I was inspired by a former MFF roommate, Sven, who was giving them out to people. I wanted to continue the tradition, so that I could help #SproutTheLove on my own. I had a collection of 5 that I was going to give out by the time the weekend was over (I had already given my other 2 to my roommates).

After getting my photo taken, I sauntered downstairs to the video gaming room. They had rockband set up, so I immediately sat down at the drum kit and started getting a song set up. A couple other furries saw me banging on the drums and went "I have to get in on this." There were 3 of us playing "Somebody Told Me" by The Killers. And it was a cluster. We could barely hear the music, the instruments were all out of sync, and I was extremely rusty (and in fursuit). But it was fun, and it seemed like it made people smile, so it was worth it.

I said my goodbyes (I think we ended up attracting a small crowd), and made my way back to my room to cool off and clean up. I got a quick bite to eat at the con suite (which was decorated with candles, goblets, crystals, and even a little keg), and then made my way over to the Otherworld Stories panel. Alkali and a bunch of his Nero (LARP) friends told stories of their various experiences in LARPing, and hilarity ensued. It was a surprisingly popular event, and the individuals involved sounded pretty amazing. They also had a slideshow of old photos from Alkali's LARP days. I really wish they had Nero out where I live, because it sounded like a hell of a lot of fun.

After that I stayed put for convention horror stories. It's pretty standard for that kind of panel: old con chairs and con staffers talk about ridiculous terrible things that happened during their tenures, and hilarity ensued. I had heard many of them before, but it was still fun. It was filmed.

I got a quick bite to eat (#BeerCheeseSoup) between panels, and then went back for the 3-Headed Monster. As per usual, Alkali, Pandez, and Xander each did 15-20 minute comedy sets back to back. Xander got somewhat political, but also much darker than usual. Good balance of new and old material. Alkali ... was Alkali, and Pandez sang a song or two. It was filmed, as usual, and it is consistently one of my favorite events, so if you haven't seen it yet... see it. Seriously.

After that was QUIPFUR. This is Draggor's homebrew version of the popular video game Quiplash. Serathin was the MC (he basically just read off the answers and stuff) and the main panelists were Xander, Furry Bobs, and Huscoon. Unlike standard Quiplash (in addition to having furry-related questions), Quipfur was played where Draggor chose which two people played in a given round. He usually pitted one of the panelists against a random audience member. It was pretty hilarious, and I highly recommend it if you like fun events that you can participate in.

It was at that time that I noticed that Draggor still wasn't wearing his trademark skin-tight bodysuits. He was in a costume (broad-brimmed fantasy hat with feather, and tights), but he wasn't wearing a mask or anything. Indeed, throughout the entire convention, he only donned a bodysuit once: the fursuit parade (where he wore his Robbie Sinclair suit). Other than that, he was just his normal human self. He never said why he wasn't wearing them (to my knowledge), so I don't know what the reason was for the change of pace. I can only speculate: either a) he just wanted to change things up and do something different, or b) he was getting tired of being known as "the bulge" and wanted to be recognized for more than just his suits and his package. Maybe I'll ask him sometime...

After Quipfur, I went over to "Fox's Songs To Get Murdered By". Fox Amoore (accompanied by Flop the bass bunny) basically just played a bunch of random songs, and had Pandez, Alkali, and Boozy Badger sing along. It was definitely fun, and very silly. I think it was filmed (I hope so, because my memory for it was kind of weak).

Of note: this was one of the first panels I recall that made mention of the phrase "cripple fight." This phrase was to become a recurrent meme throughout the con.

Jake and I quickly went over to the restaurant and got some more food (I had a salad, and Jake had a salad with a brat sandwich, and also had the cocktail I got earlier that night, a variant of a sidecar). We often spent our time talking about things in the fandom and various hobbies. Jake's a soft-spoken guy, who often just responds with a "nice" or "I like that" when I tell stories. I worry that I am boring or annoying to him, but since he chooses to keep hanging out with me, I'm assuming my worries are unfounded.

After dinner part 2, we went to Whose Lion Is It Anyway (audience participation version). I've become more fond of the audience Whose Lion in recent years; people have gotten better at it, and the quality of the jokes has really increased. Further, I am SO HAPPY that Alkali specifically told people "please avoid insult humor and racist jokes" and encouraged people to get creative. That had been a problem in previous years; people had often used Whose Lion as an excuse to say terrible things to each other, in an attempt to be funny. But since they specifically quashed that this time, people actually tried different things beyond the typical "hey baby wanna do sex?" chestnut. It was great. Indeed, some some of the jokes were FANTASTIC.

Also more cripple fight. And Culver's. Culver's is apparently a thing now.

After that, we went to the bizarrely-titled "Boozy's Drunken Naptime." I honestly went into it expecting to see Boozy doing dramatic readings of children's stories or something. Instead, it was him, Huscoon, Fox Amoore, Nbowa, and Dixie Lioness just BS'ing for an hour. Weird, but still funny and interesting.

This seems to be a common theme for a lot of panels: get X people, put them on a stage, and have them tell funny stories and BS with each other, with pretty much no structure beyond that. There were at least 4 panels at Fur Squared that followed this format. It's a format I haven't really seen outside of furry conventions, and I am curious about how it came to be, and why it works so well. More research to come.

After that was the last panel of the night: Iron Alcoholic. It is competitive mixology. During each round, the competitors had to create a cocktail that met certain criteria (i.e. "must contain vodka, must be a shot"). They had a time limit to do this (2-3 minutes), and then audience members were the taste-testers for the event. Each round had a winner, based on how the audience felt. Me and Jake only stayed for 2 rounds, because the event started after midnight, and we were both exhausted. But it was pretty awesome. It was definitely filmed (thank you Silvergatomon, seriously he is a saint).

Saturday

I got up at around 8 in the morning, so that I could go to Xander's Saturday Morning Cartoons panel. I had been looking forward to this panel all year; it was a ton of fun last time. It's a great way to just relax and unwind on a Saturday morning. As usual, Xander created a "playlist" of various clips from cartoons and TV shows, and we just kind of sat and watched. It was funny, though some clips were better than others. Most of them were D&D or animal themed to an extent. Unlike last year, they didn't have cereal and milk, which was a bit disappointing. Still, a good time.

Immediately following was CHAIRity D&D. This was probably one of the best panels at the con. It was a one-shot D&D adventure, played by Alkali, Draggor, Dusty Montale, and John AKA Beardo The Magnificent, with Faelan as the DM. They were playing a variant of 5th edition, with some additional house rules to streamline things (each player had a deck of cards with spells on them). And it was BRILLIANT. The campaign was really smooth and fluid. Faelan was an EXPERT DM; he deftly made things up off the cuff, without batting an eye or checking a rulebook. All the players got really into their characters. And as usual, they were hilarious. To top it all off, the audience could donate money to the charity to both increase the difficulty of the adventure AND grant boons to the players if they so desired.

It was probably one of the best run, most entertaining D&D sessions I have ever witnessed. And it sounds like they'll be doing it again next year, so yeeeeeeee!

After the adventure, I booked it back to my room to quickly get into fursuit for the parade. While I was in the staging area, I ran into Xander (in suit) and gave him my usual hug. I also ran into my friend Angel, who was wearing her brand new wolf partial suit. It was super cute, especially because she had a big plush cookie in her mouth. After the group photo, the parade began. I was right behind Red Beagle (I think that's his name?) and I felt really bad, because I kept bumping into him as I walked. My vision isn't very good in-suit, so I had a hard time looking at the audience AND seeing where I was going. I'm going to make an effort to be aware of that going forward. Mustn't have been fun for Mr. Beagle (considering my head is made of resin and probably made for unpleasant noseboops).

On a lighter note, I do distinctly recall hearing people shout "Shallie!" as I rounded one of the corners (I think it was Leafy Greens?). This really made my day, as I rarely get recognized by name in the parade. I made an effort to get a lot of mugging and posing in, trying to do more than just wave. I think they like it when I act "fabulous", so I'm going to try and ham it up more next time.

After the parade, I rushed back to my room to get cleaned up before running back to attend Charity Whose Lion. Again, one of my favorite events. And again, more cripple fight (IIRC Boozy ended up swatting Propzilla with his cane). I highly recommend this panel; these folks are all experts at improv comedy. If you haven't seen it, watch the video when it comes out.

Following that, I went over to the dealer's room to take a look around, and collect my super-sponsor swag. This year's con swag: a Fur Squared beer mug, a t-shirt, a branded dice bag, a complete set of D&D dice, and a branded stemless wine glass for the super sponsors. As usual, sponsors got a copy of the poster, and super sponsors got to be IN the poster. I was pretty blown away by my picture: they knew somehow that I was a spellcaster, so they made me a sorceress (in a pretty dress no less). It was awesome.

After wandering around some more and snagging a bite to eat (while signing the super-sponsor poster for the charity auction and giving two sprouts away to some strangers), I went over to @FurSquared. This was a gameshow of some stripe, hosted by Iggy, where each round, people were given prompts, and were asked to come up with clever responses. For example, one of them was "what kind of fictional crossover have you always dreamed of?" The responses were pretty good, but I remember the game being a bit more... lively the previous year. Still, fun times.

Following that, I went over to another bizarrely named panel: "Monkey Knife Fights." Following a similar formula as Drunken Naptime, they put Alkali and Boozy up on a stage and had them BS for an hour. As you might imagine, it was hysterical. But that wasn't the cool part. That came after the panel.

Immediately following the event, Alkali revealed that a hypnotist had come to the convention, and was in the audience with us. I think some people donated to the charity to convince Alkali to undergo hypnosis at the hands of this gentleman. I thought "Oh this'll be funny, we'll watch Alkali do stupid things". But what actually happened was even better. The gentleman, who was named Mark, was a professional hypno-therapist, and he spoke all about how hypnosis can be used to help treat psychological disorders and mental illness. He also explained how hypnosis worked, in an effort to allay Alkali of his fears (he was visibly nervous at first).

Eventually, the ferret calmed down, and Mark began his hypnosis regimen. He told Alkali to imagine that a helium balloon was tied to his wrist, and that it was slowly filling up with gas. As it filled, Alkali was told to imagine that his arm was getting lighter as the pull of the balloon got stronger. Eventually, Alkali's arm PHYSICALLY ROSE OFF HIS LEG, and he literally could not make himself put it down. Then, Mark cut the balloon's "string", and Alkali went to sleep. Mark told Alkali to envision that one of his friends had snuck in the room and put googly eyes on Boozy's eyes (Boozy had been sitting there silently the whole time), and to think about how funny that would be.

At the end, Mark told Alkali that he wouldn't remember any of this, but that he would feel very refreshed and happy, and that he would see Boozy's "googly eyes" upon his waking. Mark commanded Alkali to wake up, and Alkali had the biggest, most placid grin I had ever seen on his face. He looked so peaceful, so content, so relaxed...

And then he turned and saw Boozy and LOST IT!

Alkali honestly believed that there were googly eyes on Boozy's face. He was all like "You look like Dr. Doom from Roger Rabbit!" and he laughed so hard that he nearly fell out of his chair. After he had calmed down, Mark asked how Alkali had felt. Alkali responded that he felt "the best I've felt all day."

I really hope that was filmed, because that was an incredible experience.

Moving on, I went to the super-sponsor dinner. More accurately, I stood in line for the super-sponsor dinner. Apparently there were so many super-sponsors that they had to bring in people in stages. I was toward the end of the line. Alkali was really apologetic, and said he would try to smooth things out for next year. But it honestly didn't matter. They had enough food for everyone.

And what a banquet it was. They had a buffet with chicken and mushrooms, roast beef, roasted vegetables, dinner rolls, salad, beer cheese soup, potatoes, cookies, brownies, and Sprecher Root Beer on tap. It was pretty delicious, especially considering how hungry I was. I sat at the table, eating with my fellow super-sponsors, thinking to myself "I'm doing this every year!" And frankly, I think I will. All the cool swag, getting to be in the poster, AND a free catered meal? Considering a Fur Squared supersponsorship is $100 less than one at MFF or AC, I think that's a pretty solid bargain.

Also, there was a proposal at the dinner. It was pretty sweet. I think Alkali cried.

After that was the DRAGGET SHOW! Super fun, like always. The panel was Xander and Alkali, Boozy, Draggor, and Pandez. I forget what all they talked about, but it was recorded, so eh. I do remember Xander mentioning the video I made for them. Context: I had been working on a remix of the JAPAN SONG for the past several weeks (go to YouTube and look up "dragget show japan song" if you want to see the original, or my remix), with my goal being to get it done before Fur Squared. I was successful. I also wanted to get Xander's attention about it (he tends to not check his phone often), so I asked him about it on his Patreon. He mentioned it, and said that he had actually retweeted the song. So yeah, that was cool.

Of note: the Dragget Show was a charity panel, so people were passing around the hat. But towards the end, there were two huge donations. One person donated $666.66. And (IIRC) Tobe donated $1,000. Alkali cried. Combined with the other money, the show raised over $2000, which made it the most generous event at the convention other than the charity auction. It was amazing. And as usual, the show ended with a charity story. It was the story of what REALLY happened on Draggor's birthday, when they all got insanely high. I won't go into detail, though; you need to attend the panel to hear the charity stories. >:D

Following that, I went over to the Foxes and Peppers after dark show. It was pretty funny, like usual. Pepper's guitar string broke mid-set, so he had to fix it WHILE performing. They auctioned off the last printing of one of Fox's CD's. And they performed "Lighthouse", in memory of the kids who were shot during the school shooting in Florida recently. Pepper put it best: "I want to forget the reason I wrote this song, but there keep being more and more reasons to perform it."

The show ran a little long, so I ended up being late to Libation Appreciation. For those who don't know, this event is all about sharing knowledge about alcohol. They talked about various different types of booze, how they like to enjoy them, and various recommendations for brands to try (apparently Nika distillery is good for Japanese whiskey). It was pretty informative. Then Fox and Pepper crashed the panel, and Pepper (who was drunk) started playing around with the giant Jenga set in the corner of the room. Still, good times. They kicked us out at 1AM and I went to bed.

Sunday

Got up at around 9 for breakfast (someone ended up taking our spots, so we had to talk to the wait staff and get new vouchers), and then Jake and I went over to main events for Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes. For those who don't know the video game: one person has a bomb in front of them, with a bunch of puzzles on it. The other person/team has a bomb manual, with instructions on how to solve the puzzles. However, neither can see each other's screens, so they have to talk and work together to defuse the bomb. It's a pretty fun, but stressful, game.

And they took it further at Fur Squared. Firr and Zen Fox were running the panel. They had one audience member at the bomb, and a team of other audience members with paper copies of the manual. While the bomb was being defused, Firr and Zen would do everything in their power to be distracting. They would scream and shout, sing, dance and stomp around, blare annoying music, and more. They even set up crazy "house rules" to make it even harder. One of the "experts" had to speak in a Russian accent. Another time, only one of them was allowed to speak. Another time, the audience had to use their phones to use the manual.

And then it was my turn. I got to be the defuser once (I lost), and it was hilarious. Firr and Zen were yelling and making the stage shake, and they were moving my microphone around. Another time, I was one of the experts, which was shortly after they had taken all of the paper manuals and threw the pages all over the place. We gathered up the papers as best we could, and were ready to start.

And then Harvard walked up to the bomb chair. Harvard is a silent fursuiter. We had to play "Keep Talking" with someone who didn't talk. To make matters worse, Firr and Zen decided to play "helping hands" with us, where they came up behind us and put their arms under ours, pretending to be "our arms." I distinctly remember receiving a nipple tweak from Firr. At any rate, we lost, even on the easiest difficulty. Harvard had the foresight to hilariously dive from her chair just as the bomb was about to explode. "She was the only one who thought to do that," said Firr.

Our next "victim" was Razzy, another fursuiter. Thankfully Razzy could talk. We still had a hard time deciphering what he was saying for some of the puzzles. This wasn't made easier by the fact that Zen Fox decided to lie down on top of all of the bomb manuals. I had to physically roll him out of the way (I thankfully didn't push him off the table). But we won!

For the last bomb, I think it was Zen in the hot seat, and Firr reading the manual. They misread one of the puzzles, but I think they ended up winning? I don't remember. Regardless, Firr does a really good job with the Keep Talking panel, so you should check it out next time you go to Fur Squared.

Following that event, Jake and I went down to the "Coming and GOHing" panel. SemJay, Zen Fox, Pandez, and Firr regaled us with stories about being the previous guests of honor at Fur Squared. They answered questions and shared their thoughts about unexpected things about being a GOH, what their proudest accomplishments were, and how they messed with Alkali's head. SemJay even took off her pants for charity (she was wearing underwear, don't worry).

This panel bled into the following panel, Firr's "Go Forth And Suck." It was a pep-talk panel, where Firr (and the other former GOH's) encouraged people to just go out there and try whatever they wanted to do. If you have an idea, just do it, and don't be ashamed of sucking. We all sucked at one point. And sucking is how you get good. It was because they all took risks and did stupid things, some of which just blew up in their faces, that they ended up where they are now. Pandez's story was particularly poignant; one of his first solo comedy sets was to a crowd of 12 people in a room made for 500. But he kept going, and he learned a lesson from his experience (tailor the room to the size of the event, and do smaller sets).

I was reminded of my panel at the previous year's Fur Squared. The one that only had 3 attendees. As of writing this, I never attempted to try again after that dismal failure (even though someone thanked me for my time). So, next con I go to, I am going to submit multiple panel ideas and see which ones I get. I will do my best, and I will have fun doing it, no matter what happens.

Sidenote: because one panel ended up bleeding into the other, the panelists decided to combine the two and call it "Coming and GOHing and Sucking." We laughed at that for a good 30 seconds.

After the panel, I went with Jake back to the room and we said our goodbyes. He unfortunately had a plane to catch. But I was happy to have been able to share so much of the con with him, whether it was sitting together at panels, or having in-depth conversations during meals. He told me he remembered fondly the time at AC when we just sat and talked for hours at the end of the con. I hope that we can do something like that again sometime.

Then I went to the charity auction. As usual, it was fun times. Lots of great stuff up for auction. I unfortunately didn't win anything. But honestly, it wasn't even about that. The Fur Squared charity auction is one of the highlights of the con, because people really get into it. Cheering, jokes, huge bids; the atmosphere was electric! There were items that went for over $1000 apiece. My roommate, Dezzi, actually ended up buying the creative rights to the Kalerati AND the Church of Adam at the auction. Alkali bought the signed super-sponsor poster, as a way to say Thank You for all the hard work done by Axikor and their team. A mask made by one of Alkali's Nero friends went for $1500. It was incredible.

Oh, and someone bought a collection of Victoria's Secret perfume and then sprayed it all over Alkali, Firr, and Pandez.

Charity auctions, the bar has been set by Fur Squared. Both in terms of money raised, and in terms of the experience.

After the auction, I quickly went back to my room to get into fursuit. I decided that this was going to be a tradition: I would always do "This Is How You Kill A Con" and closing ceremonies in-suit. So I did.

I met up with my friends Linn and Xeila at the panel, and had some snuggles (I know Linn had previously asked for fursuit snuggles, so I was making good on my promise). I gave Linn one of my sprouts. But the real fun was the panel itself. For those who haven't been: "This Is How You Kill A Con" is basically just a time-filler while the board of directors meets to go over the events of the con. As a result, they give Firr free reign to do pretty much whatever he wants. And he took full advantage of that.

Him and Zen (and I think Furry Bobs was there for a bit) just kind of did whatever for an hour and a half. We had a mini charity auction. Several things ended up being up for bid. First, a small sketch done by an artist in the audience at "Coming and GOHing and Sucking". Next, a small piece of string. I think there was something else (I hope they filmed the panel).

And then Huscoon showed up. The conversation turned to Culver's, again. Turns out, the Fur Squared Twitter account only follows one other account: Culver's. This gave Firr an idea. He would put up for auction the ability to send a single tweet from the Fur Squared Twitter account AND the ability to have the account follow any one other account (no unfollows). I think the winner tweeted out that he wanted to be the GOH for next year.

They also managed to convince Huscoon to auction off the ability for someone to post a tweet on HIS account. Yes, you read correctly. The famously conservative, controversy-starting Huscoon. The one for whom #BlameHuscoon was created. Turns out, Dixie was the one who won that tweet. I think she posted "I give my undying love to my sweetheart, Pepper Coyote" or something like that. Good times.

In the middle of the shenanigans, I made my way up to the front of the room and gave my last two sprouts to Firr and Zen. Firr clipped his to his hat (where it stayed for the rest of the con), and Zen clipped his to his beard. I was happy.

Finally (after ending the panel with a round of "Bohemian Rhapsody"), it was time for closing ceremonies. They began with a big Happy Birthday song for Draggor, and he was blown away. He was grinning from ear to ear, and he turned beet red from embarrassment. Turns out he's as big a sweetheart as Alkali is. The staff also brought up a present for him: a hoodie featuring the logo for Dragon's Milk beer.

I won't go into too much detail, as this panel was filmed. I'll just go over the highlights. Kataze had his traditional power point presentation, going over the numbers at the convention. This time he had graphs, and they were HILARIOUS. Final head count: 1101. Total sponsors and super-sponsors: 485. That's right. 45% of the convention chose to upgrade their badges. By contrast, I think AC had a similar number of upgraded badges, but had 7,500 attendees.

Someone brought in a whole cart full of Culver's custard. I didn't get any (as I was in suit) but they had enough for... a lot of people.

And then the waterworks. Alkali read off the totals for the charitable donations from each of the sources. And as he read, his became more and more misty-eyed. But it didn't stop there. I think there were at least 4 or 5 instances of people coming up and going "wait Alkali, I have more money." Including my roommate Gothy donating a LITERAL BRA AND PANTIES MADE OF MONEY, that was worth $69 on the dot. As usual, Firr went around and rounded things up.

The final charity total was $21,000. They beat their previous year's total by about $6,000. Which, as of this post, puts Fur Squared at #3 in the ranking of most generous furry conventions in the world (total donated divided by attendance).

To top it all off, Cy, one of the guests of honor, said that when she sells her house, she would donate 10% of the value of the house to the charity, which was estimated to be a donation of about $12,000.

Lastly, they announced stuff for next year. Vegas themed. Title: The Mouse Always Wins. I do hope that means that Miko is going to do something ridiculous.

They also announced the guests of honor. They doubled up on the artists of honor (I don't remember their names), but they also had a new "Gamemaster of honor" title, which they awarded to Iggy! I was ecstatic, cuz I had roomed with him the previous year, and consider him my friend. I was jumping up and down and clapping like mad. I think Iggy was pretty surprised.

After closing ceremonies wrapped up, Linn went back to my room with me, and I gave her the Christmas present that I had been meaning to get to her for the past 2 months: a board game called Pitch Deck (look it up, it's fantastic). She was so happy, because she's a huge board game nerd, and she immediately recognized the game when I pulled it out. We sat and talked for a while, catching up and talking about future convention plans. After a while, I told that I had to get cleaned up (I was still in my bodysuit), so we parted ways.

After cleaning up, I went over to the hotel restaurant for dinner. This was where things took a bit of a dip. I got to the restaurant, and sat down. I waited for the waitress to come bring me a menu, but she never did. I went over to the bar and sat down, looking over at the bartenders. They never acknowledged me. I sat there for a solid 15 minutes, and was never even noticed. It was stupid. Upset, I decided to give up and head over to the Adventure Time marathon. Thankfully they had pizza there, so I was able to eat my fill without having to spend money.

I discovered that night that I don't like Adventure Time. While it has some funny jokes, it's too full of existential dark humor and body horror for me to enjoy it. Plus, there were like 5 people watching the show. So instead, I decided to take a look around and see what people were doing.

It was then that I discovered the "dead dog karaoke" happening. Firr, being a DJ, had set up a karaoke machine in the main events room. People could give him a card with their requests on it, and he would call you up when it was your turn. It started out kind of slow, but as the night went on, it became increasingly more fun. And there were some AMAZING singers. Citrine Husky in particular did an incredible cover of "Don't Stop Believin'".

People were really getting into it. I ran into Gabi and Angel again, and we hung out for a bit before they ran off onto the dance floor. There were a surprising number of folks dancing. Then Zen Fox showed up and things got a bit more rowdy.

Highlights: closing ceremonies had a big confetti cannon, so people were having confetti fights. A lady in a big white fursuit, with padded digi legs, sat down on Zen in the middle of the floor. She then proceeded to poke Zen with a big "phallic" balloon. At another point, someone had a cardboard cutout of Jesus, and they were dancing around with it. Someone did Andrew W.K.'s "Party Hard" and Firr was backing it up unenthusiastically. One guy serenaded Gothy with R. Kelly's "Bump n' Grind." They did the Time Warp.

And I sang "Your Song" by Elton John. I was kind of afraid of the high notes, so I started out singing the song and octave lower than the original. This ended up sounding bad, so I switched over to the original register and just did my best. Turns out I was able to hit most of the high notes after all. I distinctly remember doing a silly dance during one of the breaks. Firr came up next to me and sang along. And I held out the last word longer than I expected (I looked at my "watch" in an effort to be funny).

I'm not saying all that to brag. I'm trying to remember what happened, because I don't think it was filmed. See, the main reason I write these journals is so that I can re-read them later down the road, and have a solid recollection of the events of the con. My memory isn't that good, and most cons become a blur after a while, so I try to capture everything as best I can.

Anyway, the night ended with another rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody", which concluded right before the hotel staff kicked us out of the room. Apparently there were business travelers, and we needed to be quiet after midnight. I think they said they'd put the karaoke in another room next year so that it would be less disruptive.

Exhausted, I wandered back to the room with Gothy. We chatted briefly about furry stuff before heading to bed.

Monday

Got up at a reasonable hour and got breakfast with Gothy. We ran into Dezzi at the restaurant. We chatted for a bit, about his newfound "power" as the new owner of a cult and a religion. He's apparently planning on handing over the reigns at next year's charity auction if someone can match his bid.

After our breakfasts, we went back to the room and got packed. Gothy had the foresight to request a luggage cart, which made things WAY easier getting out. However, in her haste to get home, she forgot her slippers, so I had to run them out to her before she left (made it).

I packed my things, and with a little finagling, I was able to get all my stuff out to the car in one trip. After checking out, gassing up, and getting a coke, I put the pedal down and drove home, listening to #Hashtag and The Dragget Show on the way.

Overall

I love Fur Squared. It is a magical, unique, wonderful convention, a true diamond in the rough. Every year, they have new surprises. Every year, new memes, new jokes, new stories, new insanity. They keep donating more and more money, and creating bigger and grander schemes and shenanigans. Every con is special, but Fur Squared is... different. Its craziness, its generosity, its attention to detail, its loving and close-knit atmosphere, its relationship with its hotel and charity... many cons have some of these things, but it is the confluence of all of them that makes Fur Squared worthy of being called my favorite convention.

You should go.

[civicdelslow]

Tomorrow is the day! Oklahoma Abandoned presents the Oklahoma Scenic and Historic Art Exhibit! It's a completely free event and will feature artists from all over the state including Landscape photographers, Abandoned building photographers, Storm chasers, Drone photographers, Painters, Sketch artists, paranormal researchers, and more. It's going to be a pretty awesome event! I'd like to showcase a few more of these artists here Photo 1 - Oklahoma Abandoned - Jesse Edgar - Well... I think you know who this is. Photo 2 - Eerie Okie - Marnie Vinge's podcast relating to all things spooky and ghostly in the state of Oklahoma - @eerieokie Photo 3 - Hoodoo Roosters Native Oklahoma Sandplum Jelly - Megan Hall - Jelly and jams that are made with Oklahoma Specific ingredients. 1st place winner in the State Fair of Oklahoma! - @hoodoo_roosters Photo 4 - Dystopia Rising: Oklahoma - Will Laymance - Dystopia Rising is an immersive role-playing game (larp) set in a post-apocalyptic, zombie infested Oklahoma world. An absolutely awesome role playing experience. @dystopiarisingoklahoma Photo 5 - This Is Oklahoma - Mike Hearne - He is the creator of the amazing ThisIsOklahoma Podcast which has interviewed the likes of legendary BMX biker Mat Hoffman, Robin Marsh of Channel 9 news, BoomTown Author Sam Anderson, and Mayor David Holt. @thisisoklahoma Entry is completely free and as you walk in you will be handed a free raffle ticket. Throughout the night the artists will be raffling away photo prints, gift certificates, sketches, paintings, food, and more! There is free food and live music as well. If you are into Oklahoma history, abandoned buildings, beautiful sunsets, Storm chasing and photography, Oklahoma Landscapes and even Oklahoma Ghost stories then this art exhibit is going to be right up your alley! This event will be held from 6pm to 10pm on Friday September 20th, at the Old Moore School on 201 N. Broadway street, Moore Oklahoma. A perfectly fitting location seeing as how the school was built in 1928, abandoned in 1980, and then renovated into a community center. You will still find the student's lockers in the walls! Hope to see you all there! (at Moore, Oklahoma) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2nE_L6Beio/?igshid=j797sm4c7axk

[dangomew]

Long time no Tumblr!

OK OK OK I went to World of Darkness Berlin- basically a big convention for all things WoD with amazing LARPs that I took part in- one of which is in there with the BEST LARPs I’ve ever attended. Picture the tradtionally WoD setting? Grim bars, dingy alleys, dodgy clubs. We had ALL OF THAT. We had the RAW area of Berlin to play in. No Storytellers. We were all the STs :) Anyway I could ramble for hours and days on that but the main stuff I wanted to bubble about.

-White Wolf. Want me. To. Send. Them. My. Writing. As in the legit writers and people who work for the company were there and did a panel on writing rpgs and I spoke to them and they WANT TO READ MY STUFF. They were even aware of Sub Terra, the board game I won 2nd in the fiction competition for :) They gave me a signed book and encouraged me and omg it was so wonderful. I nearly cried. They said my fiction sounded really unique and had a very fluid and dynamic style, and that I was probably just a ‘natural’ after I told them a bit of my writing ‘career’ and how I write. That was freaking scary. And even if I get rejected the first time, they keep good people on record in case something comes up that suits the writer, depending what they’re writing and publishing at that time. Anyway. EEP. I have ‘contacts’!

-They also suggested I set up an author facebook page despite not publishing anything really yet. I thought it was egotistic a bit, but I’ll take the plunge. I’m also going to get back on track with Kindred Claws. Maybe make a few changes to the bit I’ve written, like adding scenes to flesh it out more before going onto the next part. Or maybe both. I don’t know. Either was, I’m going to on Facebook as an author that people can ‘like’ and I am PETRIFIED. I don’t know if it would be worse getting like 6 sympathy likes or 60,000 likes :( But, I’ll do it.

-Sitting at the bar and the guy next to me from America says his friend has bought and played OneDice Raptors. And then everyone asked for the title and saved it to their phones ;-; I can’t believe people are out there, reading my stuff and playing a world I helped create. I nearly cried again.

-Same conversation talking about the Friday LARP, a character I had an interaction with said that I was the finest roleplayer he had ever played with. THAT made me cry. I was a very young Malkavian fledgling who was abandoned and alone so was adopted by the anarchs. He was a adamant vampire hater werewolf, at the bar to have fights and cause mayhem. He had mentioned something about being me tainted by the wyrm so of course I asked him about it. Big, wide tearful eyes begging him to tell her about what this thing was and how she could deal with it and why her? He got emotional. He was torn between his hatred and protective instinct. He could tell she was very, very young (probably youngest or second youngest vamp in play) and knew literally nothing. And people were playing with her all night, throwing mental affects at her for fun. He went as far as nearly reaching her for a hug or some comfort, crying he couldn’t tell her because it would upset her so much. The scene was very intense. He eventually ran away yelling ‘fuck it, I can’t she’s a fucking baby leech fuck it fuck it fuck it.’ And apparently had to fight 10 other vampires just to feel like he could return to the bar again. I’m hoping we can continue our roleplay on the forum the game has now moved to thanks to players being ultra keen (with talks of another LARP a year from now!)

-I got more compliments than I’ve ever had in my life. Someone said that I was a ‘cutie’ to a friend whilst they spoke after I had gone. I had... confidence! Everyone was so, so, so lovely. I made so many friends and some very close ones.

-The LARPs themselves were VERY full contact but with excellent consent mechanics. I quickly got used to this. It felt so much more real to actually bite (gently!) into a guy’s wrist whilst he begged me for it and moaned in pleasure. I actually felt like a damn vampire right then. I was pinned against walls with someones face right in mine trying to calm me down. We embraced each other, grinded each other, mounted and got into very physical fights (I didn’t, but watched others). And because of the consent mechanics it was all safe, and I believe everyone was happy. I felt so REAL. So intense. Real world setting, real bars and clubs, real contact, real random members of public we had to make sure didn’t see us break the masdquerade... omg it was fantastic. I’d love to see some consent mechanics brought over to my city’s LARPs and beyond, especially the checking in sign which was quick and simple and was very useful for maintaining players wellbeing in play.

-Leads onto the next feature- The mantra we had. ‘Players are more important than LARPs.’ It was lovely. Anytime a player wanted they could leave. Even in a fight or a run away scene, they could do that and not fear their character would be harmed. A lot of people stay in a scene because they fear their character would suffer concequences or they’d be berated for ‘cheating’ tapping out of a scene. Or they didn’t want to disturb others. The GMs didn’t allow that. You could leave at any time for the sake of your wellbeing and had break spaces to flee to. I didn’t use them, save for grabbing a drink and snack in the nightclub LARP, but many did. They were good. No one fussed. People came out the LARP healthy. So yeah. Players are more important than LARPs.

-Had a damn party in an ex-chemical factory on an industrial site. Have you played VTM:Bloodlines for the PC? You know the club atmosphere in that game? We partied in that basically. In grungy, dim and metallic surroundings. It was freaking amazing.

-Did something special for the afterparty too when we moved on afterwards, but I’m not disclosing it here as I’m still too shy about it. BUT. It was such a confidence boost. Something I thought I’d never ever be able to do, but I did it! Then I ended up back at the hotel at 8am ready for breakfast and sleep.

-Cried on the last night and the way home, as did a lot of people. I was so sad to leave, as in literally heartbroken. I met so many wonderful people who I love to pieces now. And now I want another one. I’m tearing up a little bit now thinking of it all. It’s had an affect on me. A good one. It’s like I’m no longer afraid. I said I feel like a Disney character making that first step into their big adventure. It’s scary and exciting and amazing. I am SO glad I took the plunge and went for it.

-One of the best decisions in my life. Seriously.

[spekture]

Anime Matsuri XI has come and gone. Now, for many of us, it’s time to start counting down ’til next year’s convention. Not sure what Anime Matsuri is? Well ‘matsuri’ is a Japanese word meaning “festivals,” and Anime Matsuri is Houston’s largest anime and Japanese culture convention, held annually for three days. The con is usually held around the end of March or beginning of April, with last year being the exception due to the construction and renovations of the convention center. The attendance from last year’s con earned Anime Matsuri the ranking of 7th largest anime convention in North America. Even though the main focus of the con is Japanese culture, anime cosplays are joined with sci-fi, video game, and comic cosplayers alike.

For myself and several others, the convention started Thursday afternoon at George R. Brown Convention Center here in Houston, Texas. While I wasn’t quite able to finish getting my car ready for the show, the Veloster was still there without the Naruto vinyl on the side and some new parts awaiting install. As Anime Matsuri staff and vendors were setting up for the 3 day con, the approved cars owners — including myself, were setting up for the Reactor car show portion of the convention.

Reactor car show area

Welcome to Anime Matsuri

After helping with parking and layout, I went to detail my ride as much as possible. Once I was done, I went around the area to capture a photo of each ride before the crowds of people came to see them. This was also my first time seeing what cars were approved for this year’s show. After that, the other Spekture staff and myself went out for a late dinner before calling it a night… or morning. With Friday starting at noon, I went to work that morning while both Andrews from our staff went to check out how everything was going. I met with them later in the day once I arrived to the convention, starting in the Reactor car show area. This was the first year for the open concept of the exhibit hall with the car show and amusement hall all combined. We made our way around the artist alley and vendor booths seeing what was all out here, including the cosplayers. This is a collector’s heaven, so many different merchandise and artwork you can find featuring your favorite characters from Pikachu (Pokémon), Natsu (Fairy  Tail), Naruto, or Vash the Stampede (Trigun)  to name a few… ok well those are a few of my favorites. While walking around, I continually stopped cosplayers that didn’t seem too busy for a quick snap, some are very eager to stop for a photo.

Group of Spideys hanging out together

Reaper and Tracer from Blizzard’s Overwatch

Once I was done roaming the exhibit halls, we made our way out to the food trucks to grab some food. Oh the food trucks, it was great and many to choose from, with some of Houston’s best food trucks all lined up next to Discovery Green. Discovery Green is another great opportunity for many photographers and cosplayers to meet up for some photos. I pretty much continued roaming the halls afterward to take photos of the activities and cosplays that filled the halls of convention center. Some of the activities included LARPing, ice skating, arcades, RC drifting, inflatable bounce houses, and the backdrops for photo shoots. I didn’t bring any photography lighting, nor did I set up any shoots with the cosplayers here, so I didn’t really get to use the backdrops much besides a few quick shots when some were around them. The faux skating ring looked a bit hard for most of the skaters I saw, but I didn’t give it a try so I can’t say from personal experience whether it was or wasn’t… it was an interesting concept, nonetheless.

There was a few times I ventured to the other floors to check out some of the other activities, but was a bit impatient and didn’t want to wait in the lines, so I just headed back down and continued roaming around snapping photos. I missed out on the concerts, raves, panels and other activities this year and mostly focused on the exhibit hall. This was pretty much the same routine for the rest of convention, but I loved seeing the various cosplayers and their outfits. Day three of the con was a bit different: I still ran around the hall, but a good portion of that time was spent assisting the featured guest cosplayers over to the Reactor car show portion to pick their favorite rides for the guest awards. Hopefully, next year I am able to set up a few proper photo shoots at the con, check out more of the activities there, more video, and cosplay myself. The date is already set: March 30 through April 1, 2018. See you next year!

Reactor Car Show Cosplayer Guest Awards

Tae Yeon Award

Melting Mirror Award

Ruka Award

Lightning Cosplay

Hiko Award

Reika  Award

Jennifer Van Damsel Award

Kaname / Astarohime Koyu Award

Shushuwafflez Award

Aza Miyuko Award

Leon ChiroAward

Mariedoll Award

Twin Cosplay Award

Enji Night Award

Full Gallery

#gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 16%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Military Demonstration team for Operation Homefront

Peter Brock arriving

Automotive legend Peter Brock

TIRES!

BRAKES!

MORE TIRES!

Cosplayers, gaming, cars, and more all at Anime Matsuri XI here in Houston! #spekture #reactor #am2017 #animematsuri #houston #texas #cosplay #carshow #alexventurathephotographer Anime Matsuri XI has come and gone. Now, for many of us, it’s time to start counting down 'til next year’s convention.

[taylortaylormoon-mainblog]

Went I first started larping a few months ago, at my first event i played Felix my human rogue who was a character i played for a dnd game and i’ve always had fun rping as her but when it came to larp it didn’t...fit. The cunning thief that stayed back in a fight, just wasn’t fun to play in the larp setting. I wasn’t the only rogue character, they all had personalities Felix should get along with but i still had fun either way. Thankfully i was giving a chance to change my character and not lose all of the good loot/cursed items that Felix had gotten.

Enter Friday my ram Kaddri(Humans with animal features ie ears and tail). Friday is a warrior on her way to becoming a paladin, she’s friendly trusting and wants to help people and is firmly against “The ends justify the means’ mentally that some of the other character’s have and it makes for great roleplay experience. She doesn’t just want to do the right thing she wants to do the morally correct thing as well, find an item of great wealth or power she’ll try and find the owner. There was one incident at the tavern where Friday and two other characters were trading with an old adventure, the other two wanted to kill/knock out the old adventure to steal his thinks Friday tried to convince them otherwise. Luckily the old adventure escaped because lv2 Friday would not have been able to fend off two higher lv players.

Friday also has a key characteristic that is vastly different then me and that is she’s brave. It’s a trait I'm having trouble portraying because i am a coward, i scare very easily and the one reason i didn’t larp sooner is because i would be out in the woods at night and that thought terrified me to no end but i went with a group of friends in October and had the best experience ever. 

[hobbitguy1420]

Fluffruary Friend Feature Friday Frof- I mean, Profile:

So, for Fridays I’m gonna do something special. I’m gonna choose one of my friends to shower with compliments. Because I can!

This week, I’m featuring the incomparable @adventures-in-medieval-lit

Adventures (withholding his true name for privacy’s sake) has been my friend since my freshman year of college (his sophomore), when I walked up to the university’s geekery club table and we realized we had the same first name.

Ultimately we learned that we share way more than that - from a love of learning and literature, to gaming (he brought me to my first LARP), to both being huge Tolkien nerds. Some of my fondest memories of my college career are from when we lived in a quad suite and would stay up far too late, chatting about homebrewed roleplay mechanics or whatever else struck our fancy.

Though he spends most of the year across the country these days, he’s still one of my dearest friends. I enjoy every single moment we get to spend together when he comes back to our area for the holidays. His intelligence and creativity, passion for his work, and empathy are all reasons I’m proud to show him off for my first Friend Feature Friday!

Love ya, buddy! Resistance is futile!

[tyleroakley-obsessed]

The weekend is upon us! Here are the five things you won’t want to miss plus a few extras. Crosstown Concourse Central Atrium. Photo by Alex Shansky. But first, be sure you didn’t miss anything on the blog lately. Our email subscriptions are down, sadly, so be sure to check the homepage and social media for the latest Memphis lovin’ things to do around town. – Where To See Santa In Memphis – 10 Live Music Shows In Memphis This Month  – Volunteering and Giving Guide (big list of local nonprofits!) – Things To Do For New Year’s Eve In Memphis – Our Favorite Memphis Holiday Traditions OK, now on to what to do in Memphis this weekend: 1. Lucero Family Christmas, Minglewood Hall, Saturday, doors 7 p.m./show 8 p.m., $21 – $23, all ages It’s a midtown holiday tradition: the annual Lucero Family Christmas brings the Memphis-based Southern rockers to town for a packed-out show. 2. A Victorian Holiday With Opera Memphis, Dixon Gallery, Friday (7 p.m. – 10 p.m.) and Saturday (6 p.m. – 9 p.m.), $25 (or $50 for a 4-pack on Family Night) Opera Memphis hosts an interactive experience at the Dixon – singers dressed in Victorian Era costumes, carols, games, an illusionist, and wassail drinks! Don’t know what wassail is? You’ll find out. Saturday night is Family Night, with an earlier start time. 3. Time Warp Drive-In: STRANGE CHRISTMAS 7, Summer Drive-In, Saturday, doors at 6:30 p.m./movies at 7:30 p.m., $10/person, all ages (parental discretion advised) Join Black Lodge for Strange Christmas 6: a double feature of bizarre and funny yuletide tales. It’s the final Time Warp of the year, so grab a blanket and get over to Summer Avenue for Elf with Will Ferrell, Scrooged with Bill Murray, and a block of short holiday films that are sure to freak you out. Kids are allowed (parents, check out the movies first) and kids under 11 are free. 4. Deck the Paws, Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby County, Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., $25 for photos, all ages Our local Humane Society cares for injured dogs and cats and helps find them homes – and they need our help this holiday season! Bring your pet for $25 photos, ornaments, and Christmas cards for sale, with proceeds benefitting the nonprofit. 5. Holiday Parades! Germantown hosts their parade on Saturday at 2 p.m. It goes west on Farmington from Kimbrough to Exeter and ends at the GAC. Uniformed Marines will collect Toys For Tots on the route. Downtown Memphis hosts their parade on Saturday at 3 p.m. on Beale Street. Expect bands, floats, and the big man himself. And a few more ideas… Ballet Memphis’ Nutcracker, Orpheum Theatre, Thursday – Sunday, $10 – $78+, all ages/kid-friendly The classic holiday ballet, with hundreds of dancers, elaborate costumes, and beloved music, all set in the romantic, historic Orpheum Theatre downtown. 18th Annual Toy Truck Benefitting Porter-Leath, WMC Action News 5, Friday – Saturday, gift or donation, all ages/kid-friendly More than 6,200 children receive a brand-new toy under their Christmas trees via the Porter-Leath Toy Truck program, and they need you to play Santa. Bring your new, unwrapped toy or cash donations to eh Channel 5 station (by the Chic-Fil-A in Midtown at 1960 Union) this Friday or Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Even more ideas… All Weekend – TN Shakespeare Company Presents “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley – The 12 Dates of Christmas at The Circuit Playhouse Memphis Room – Junie B. Jones at Circuit Playhouse – Peter Pan at Playhouse on the Square – Holiday Concert Weekend at Graceland (Fri. – Sat) – Come See The King Christmas Musical at Faith Baptist Bartlett (Sat. – Sun) – Santa’s Wonderland at Bass Pro Shops – Christmas at Graceland – Zoo Lights – Enchanted Forest/Festival of Trees at the Pink Palace – Starry Nights at Shelby Farms – Holiday Wonders at Memphis Botanic Garden – A Victorian Holiday With Opera Memphis, Dixon Gallery (Fri. – Sat.) – Theatre Memphis Presents: A Christmas Carol Friday PB & Jammies Holiday Sing-Along at GPAC Grizzlies v. Bucks at FedExForum Firepit Fridays at the River Garden at MS River Park Peanut Butter & Jammies at GPAC Star Wars Cosmic Skate at Mid-South Ice House Carols and Candlelight at Collierville Town Square Black Lodge Presents: Sunweight Album Release Party Ho Ho Highland Bar Crawl on the Highland Strip Santa, Snow and The Grinch at Overton Square Saturday Christmas with CoroRio at the Cannon Center Angelina Ballerina’s A Very Merry Holiday Musical at Bartlett Performing Arts Center Germantown Symphony Orchestra Holiday Concert at GPAC 12 Tastes of Christmas Martini Tasting, The Columns Deck the Paws, Humane Society of Memphis & Shelby County Jammies & Jingles at CMOM Christmas Home Tour in Collierville Time Warp Drive-In Strange Christmas 6, Malco Summer Drive-In Grizzlies v. Wizards at FedExForum Holiday Open House + 2-Year Anniversary Celebration at Cooper-Young Gallery + Gift Shop Christmas Pawty with Mutt Mafia Dog Rescue at Loflin Yard Darkon – The Adventure Begins! LARP event at Bert Ferguson Park Pizza With Santa at Aldo’s Downtown Future-Everything Presents: 12.14.19 at Growlers Don’t Be Afraid Comedy at MidTown Crossing Grill Sunday Folk All Y’all: Cory Branan’s Birthday Show at The Green Room How The Grinch Stole Christmas Tea Party at Primas Bakery & Boutique Santa at Celtic Crossing Macrame Class at Memphis Made Brewing Al Green 43rd Pastoral and Church Anniversary at 787 Hale Rd. A Performance of Big Star’s Third & More at Crosstown Theater Holly Street Live at Black Lodge Tex-Mex Brunch Buffet at Loflin Yard Tamar Braxton at The Cannon Center It’s almost Christmas! Are you a home owner in Memphis, with a broken garage door? Call ASAP garage door today at 901-461-0385 or checkout https://ift.tt/1B5z3Pc

https://ilovememphisblog.com/2019/12/5-things-to-do-this-weekend-12-13-12-15/

[thelananextdoor-a]

✦ @theirfate; continued from HERE.

a soft smile creep upon her lips,delight bubbling at the surface, fingertips toyed with her thumb as her verdigris orbs glanced towards the other. a bond in which grown over the time they had spent working as partners as good friends, strength together with a protectiveness held for others. a gratitude held clearly on her freckled features, hunter by trade of her pursuit of aiding others in her early dreams of a magical journey. the world of larping and books of oz continued her fascination of the real world supernatural that were different yet oddly similar in essence. ‘ i appreciate it lana, ’ amiability and softness lingered in her syllables, a small laugh escaped her lips ; a little pause in her tone. ‘ you know, people could never bring the queen of moors down. ’

❝ Never had a doubt in my mind. ❞  Lana let a grin come naturally to her as she sipped on her beer, genuinely glad to have Charlie as her company that one Friday night.  The huntress had had her fair share of lonely evenings in the last decade, so this girl time right there?  She appreciated it more than one could initially imagine.  One thing was for sure, though — whoever failed to see how amazing and full of light Charlie was, was a complete and utter IDIOT.  Plain and simple.  But the heart wants what it wants, and Lana understood that to a tee.  ❝ You deserve better anyway.  In fact, if you dressed up a little and found a karaoke bar, I’m pretty sure you’d rock the market.  And, for what it’s worth?  I’d happily be your wingwoman. ❞