#halloween sale 2018

[theomeganerd]

Video Game News Stories for February 25th, 2024

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Soars to Critical Acclaim, But Questions Remain

Square Enix's highly anticipated Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second installment in their reimagining of the classic RPG, launched yesterday to generally positive reviews. However, the critical reception has been mixed, with some praising the game's stunning visuals, emotional storytelling, and expanded combat system, while others criticize its pacing issues and deviations from the original narrative. Regardless, the game is already a commercial success, topping sales charts worldwide.

Elden Ring DLC "Shadow of the Erdtree" Announced, Pre-orders Discounted

FromSoftware surprised fans by announcing the first DLC expansion for Elden Ring, titled "Shadow of the Erdtree." Details remain scarce, but the teaser trailer hints at new areas, enemies, and challenges. Interestingly, pre-orders for the DLC are already discounted on some platforms, sparking speculation about a potential release date in the near future.

Surprise! Dead Island 2 Launches on Xbox Game Pass

After years of development hell and numerous delays, Dead Island 2 unexpectedly launched yesterday on Xbox Game Pass. The game picks up the zombie-slaying action in Los Angeles, offering a gruesome and comedic open-world experience. While reviews are still trickling in, early impressions suggest it might be worth checking out, especially for Game Pass subscribers.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Gets Leatherface DLC

Gun Interactive's asymmetrical multiplayer horror game, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, is getting a chilling new DLC character: Leatherface himself. This iconic slasher joins the roster of playable killers, bringing his brutal chainsaw and signature mask to the hunt. The DLC is expected to arrive in March, just in time for Halloween season... or should we say, Massacre season?

Baldur's Gate 3 Mod Support Comes to Consoles

Rejoice, console RPG fans! Larian Studios announced that Baldur's Gate 3 will be receiving mod support on PlayStation and Xbox consoles later this year. This opens up a world of possibilities for user-created content, allowing players to experience new quests, stories, and even custom classes.

Other noteworthy news:

Twitch was hit with a hefty fine by South Korea for failing to properly classify and filter gambling content.

A popular 2018 RPG is finally coming to the Nintendo Switch, with details expected soon.

A Red Bull ad cleverly reimagines the iconic Final Fantasy VII intro with a twist.

Sea of Thieves is on the verge of breaking a 39-year record for consecutive weekly content updates.

Looking ahead:

Mark your calendars! The next Nintendo Direct is rumored to be happening in March, showcasing upcoming Switch titles.

The highly anticipated open-world Pokémon game is expected to be revealed soon, potentially during the next Direct.

The debate surrounding the controversial Hogwarts Legacy continues, with both supporters and critics making their voices heard.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

every single book I read in 2022. all 129 of them.

jesus christ

let's start with the best of the best; everything else will get listed beneath the read more because I'm not an animal. even just picking out my favorites is honestly probably going to get pretty lengthy, even though I'm trying to keep the synopses short.

batmanisagatewaydrug's noteworthy books of 2022

Complaint! (Sara Ahmed, 2021) - necessary for anyone doing diversity work in higher education, tbh

America is Not the Heart (Elaine Castillo, 2018) - achingly gorgeous novel of heartbreak and healing.

The School for Good Mothers (Jessamine Chan, 2022) - honestly? I feel very good calling this my favorite book of the entire year. sensitive, smart, chilling.

Black Feminist Thought (Patricia Hill Collins, 1990) - truly ashamed to say I didn't read this sooner. Collins' clear-eyed analysis remains crazily spot-on 30+ years later.

Hurts So Good: The Science and Pleasure of Pain on Purpose (Leigh Cowart, 2021) - I read this book so early in 2022 and literally have not stopped thinking about it since.

Batman: King Tut's Tomb (Nunzio DeFillippis, Christina Weir, José Luis García-López, and Kevin Nowlan, 2009) - dare I say the most fun I had with a comic all year.

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty (Akwaeke Emezi, 2022) - a romance unlike any other. queer, fun, sexy, bold as hell, and joyfully life-affirming.

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed (Mariana Enríquez, trans. Megan McDowell, 2021) - DELICIOUSLY creepy short stories that will lurk in your brain forever.

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century (Kim Fu, 2022) - if a more perfect short story collection exists I am yet to find it.

The World We Make (N.K. Jemisin, 2022) - I normally hesitate to include sequels on a list like this, but god DAMN Jemisin is the queen of modern spec fic for a reason.

We Do This 'Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice (Mariame Kaba, edited by Tamara K. Nopper, 2021) - excellent collection of Kaba's abolitionist writings, drawing on years of organizing experience and wisdom.

Jade City (Fonda Lee, 2017) - look out! new favorite doorstopper fantasy series alert!

Priestdaddy (Patricia Lockwood, 2017) - about the best damn memoir I've ever read. heartbreaking and hysterical in turns, poetry the whole way through.

Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory (Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, 1996 and 1999) - it's always so exciting when something much-hyped lives up to the hype in every way. Batman at his grim and moody Batmaniest with a Gotham that’s deliciously bleak.

Station Eleven (Emily St. John Mandel, 2014) - I didn't think I'd like this book much at all, then ended up proposing on the second date. oops!

I'm Glad My Mom Died (Jennette McCurdy, 2022) - you will also be glad McCurdy's mom died, and also experience every other known human emotion along the way.

Kaikeyi (Vaishnavi Patel, 2022) - SPLENDID mythology retelling + political fantasy.

My Body (Emily Ratajkowski, 2022) - haunting haunting haunting personal essays about Ratajkowski's life as a model and subsequent alienation from her own body.

Batman: Bruce Wayne, Murderer? (Greg Rucka et al, 2002) - genuinely what can I say I'm a messy bitch and I love when the Bats are having a terrible time.

The Batman Adventures Vol. 2 #1-17 (created by Dan Slott, Ty Templeton, Rick Burchett, Terry Beatty, and Bruce Timm, 2003) - a continuation of the Batman: The Animated Series universe that frankly just fucking rules.

Little Rabbit (Alyssa Songsiridej, 2022) - a potent and erotic adult coming of age story.

The Right to Sex: Feminism in the Twenty-First Century (Amia Srinivasan, 2021) - thorny, difficult, vital essays.

Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia (Sabrina Strings, 2019) - jaw-droppingly thorough research into the role of fatpobia played and plays in the project of race-making.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (Ocean Vuong, 2019) - yeah so it turns out no one was REMOTELY exaggerating. Vuong really is That Good.

Hench (Natalie Zina Walschots, 2020) - wild fun with a ruthless protagonist and her sex villainous beetle man boss; what more could you ask for?

Love Your Asian Body: AIDS Activism in Los Angeles (Eric C. Wat, 2021) - learning about queer history makes me feel like I’m holding something so vibrant and fragile and precious right in my little queer hand. this book is an emotional journey in such a shining way.

Never Have I Ever (Isabel Yap, 2021) - EXCITING short story collection centered on girls having Just The Weirdest Time.

and everybody else:

fiction:

Light From Uncommon Stars (Ryka Aoki, 2021)

Our Wives Under the Sea (Julia Armfield, 2022)

A Tiny Upward Shove (Melissa Chadburn, 2022)

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Becky Chambers, 2022)

Disorientation (Elaine Hsieh Chou, 2022)

The Laws of the Skies (Grégoire Courtois, trans. Rhonda Mullins, 2019)

The Monster Baru Cormorant (Seth Dickinson, 2018)

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant (Seth Dickinson, 2020)

Greenland (David Santos Donaldson, 2022)

Dead Collections (Isaac Fellman, 2022)

The Halloween Moon (Joseph Fink, 2021)

A Dowry of Blood (S.T. Gibson)

Nightmare Alley (William Lindsay Gresham, 1946)

The Vegetarian (Han Kang, trans. Deborah Smith, 2015)

The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka, trans. William Aaltonen, 1915)

Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Toshikazu Kawaguchi, trans. Geoffrey Trousselot, 2019)

Woman, Eating (Claire Kohda, 2022)

Long Division (Kiese Laymon, 2014)

Jade War (Fonda Lee, 2019)

No One is Talking About This (Patricia Lockwood, 2021)

Portrait of a Thief (Grace D. Li, 2022)

Elatsoe (Darcie Little Badger, 2020)

A Snake Falls to Earth (Darcie Little Badger, 2021)

Glitterati (Oliver K. Longmead)

Gideon the Ninth (Tamsyn Muir, 2019)

Harrow the Ninth (Tamsyn Muir, 2020)

Nona the Ninth (Tamsyn Muir, 2022)

The Memory Police (Yoko Ogawa, trans. Stephen Snyder, 2019)

Even Though I Knew the End (C.L. Polk, 2022)

100 Boyfriends (Brontez Purnell, 2021)

Flowers for the Sea (Zin E. Rocklyn, 2021)

Any Way the Wind Blows (Rainbow Rowell, 2021)

Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice, 1976)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Benjamin Alire Sáenz, 2012)

Aristotle and Dante Dive Into the Waters of the World (Benjamin Alire Sáenz, 2022)

Into the Riverlands (Nghi Vo, 2022)

Siren Queen (Nghi Vo, 2022)

Strange Beasts of China (Yan Ge, trans. Jeremy Tiang, 2020)

short story collections:

The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer (Janelle Monáe, Yohanco Delgado, Eva L. Ewing, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Danny Lore, and Sheree Renée Thomas, 2022)

Walking on Cowrie Shells (Nana Nkweti, 2021)

Terminal Boredom (Izumi Suzuki, trans. Polly Barton, Sam Bett, David Boyd, Daniel Joseph, Aiko Masubuchi, and Helen O’Horan, 2021)

nonfiction:

Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Judith Butler, 1990)

How to Read Now (Elaine Castillo, 2022)

Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work (Melissa Gira Grant, 2014)

What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat (Aubrey Gordon, 2020)

White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color (Ruby Hamad, 2020)

Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness (Da'Shaun L. Harrison, 2021)

Some of My Best Friends: Essays on Lip Service (Tajja Isen, 2022)

One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter (Scaachi Koul, 2017)

How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America (Revised Edition) (Kiese Laymon, 2020)

Sister Outsider (Audre Lorde, 1984)

Conversations with People Who Hate Me: 12 Lessons I Learned from Talking to Internet Strangers (Dylan Marron, 2022)

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism (Amanda Montell, 2021)

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments (Aimee Nezhukumatathil)

Histories of the Transgender Child (Jules Gill-Peterson, published as Julian Gill-Peterson, 2018)

Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance (Jessamyn Stanley, 2021)

A Queer History of Fashion: From the Closet to the Catwalk (edited by Valerie Steele, 2013)

Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution (Revised Edition) (Susan Stryker, 2008)

The End of Policing (Alex S. Vitale, 2017)

The Trouble With Normal: Sex, Politics, and the Ethics of Queer Life (Michael Warner, 1999)

Read My Lips: Sexual Subversions and the End of Gender (Riki Wilchins, published as Riki Anne Wilchins, 1997)

poetry:

Short Talks (Anne Carson, 1992)

Content Warning: Everything (Akwaeke Emezi, 2022)

Prelude to Bruise (Saeed Jones, 2014)

Alive at the End of the World (Saeed Jones, 2022)

Bright Dead Things (Ada Limón, 2015)

Motherland Fatherland Homelandsexuals (Patricia Lockwood, 2014)

Nature Poem (Tommy Pico, 2017)

Night Sky with Exit Wounds (Ocean Vuong, 2016)

Time Is a Mother (Ocean Vuong, 2022)

comics:

Batman: One Bad Day - Mr. Freeze (Gerry Duggan, Matteo Scalera, and Dave Stewart, 2022)

Spandex - Fast and Hard (Martin Eden, 2012)

Harley Quinn: The Animated Series: The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour (Tee Franklin, Max Sarin, and Marissa Louise, 2022)

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert, 2009)

The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes (Neil Gaiman, Sam Keith, Mike Dringenberg, and Malcom Jones III, 1988)

The Sandman: In the Doll's House (Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli, Mike Dringenberg, Chris Bachalo, Malcolm Jones III, and Steve Parkhouse, 1989)

The Sandman: Dream Country (Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Malcolm Jones III, Colleen Doran, and Charles Vess, 1991)

The Sandman: Season of Mists (Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Malcom Jones III, Mike Dringenberg, Matt Wagner, P. Craig Russell, George Pratt, and Dick Giordano, 1992)

The Sandman: A Game of You (Neil Gaiman, Shawn McManus, Colleen Doran, Bryan Talbot, Stan Woch, and George Pratt, 1993)

Run, Riddler, Run (Gerard Jones and Mark Badger, 1992)

Catwoman: When in Rome (Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, 2005)

Batman: Year One (Frank Miller and David Mazzicchello, 1986)

Batman: One Bad Day - Penguin (John Ridley, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Cam Smith, and Arif Prianto, 2022)

Batman: Bruce Wayne - Fugitive (Greg Rucka et al, 2002)

Batman: One Bad Day - Two-Face (Mariko Tamaki, Jaiver Fernandez, and Jordie Bellaire, 2022)

Batman & Robin Eternal Vol 1 & Vol 2 (James Tynion IV and Scott Snyder, 2015 and 2016)

Batman: Their Dark Designs (James Tynion IV, Guillem March, and Tomeu Morey, 2020)

The Joker War Saga (James Tynion IV and Jorge Jiménez, 2021)

Papergirls Vol. 1-6 (Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang, 2016-2019)

Real Hero Shit (Kendra Wells, 2022)

Poison Ivy #1-6 (G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara, 2022)

and some gaming guides!

Monster of the Week (Michael Sands, 2012) - great game. so cool. cannot wait to actually play it someday.

Thirsty Sword Lesbians (April Kit Walsh, 2021)

special shame zone because I want you to know how bad this sucked, do not read this:

Rethinking Sex: A Provocation (Christine Emba, 2022). patronizing, puritanical, reductive, painfully cisheteronormative. weirdly afraid of group sex. not actually that provocative, just aggressively Catholic.

and last but most certainly least, a comic that I want to remind you all fucking sucked just one more time before the year is done.

Batman: One Bad Day - The Riddler (Tom King and Mitch Gerads, 2022)

Tom King, go fuck yourself. Mitch is cool though, the art slapped.

[shopwitchvamp]

Ok, so who all wants to see some ancient designs?? Thought this might be fun since there's so many new people around lately, and even the not-so-new people may not know about these! Here's the first 3 skaters I ever made, back when I was still Syppah's Cute Creations mainly doing amigurumi crochet:

Creepy Eyes is a true OG that's been around since about July 2015! It isn't very popular on skaters or joggers since I stopped doing cons, but it's still going strong as midis and maxis. I've also used the pattern on eyeglass cloths, face masks, scrunchies, tights, zipper bags, and more. I don't think I'll ever fully retire it, haha. The other two up there are Rainbow Narwhals and Cute Eyes (original light pink version below, got the hot pink version above as a misprint afterwards).

The next ones I got that no longer exist were Rainbow Candy, Double Rainbow Candy, and Happy Bees:

tiny prehistoric pics because i can only find them in my old old etsy's sales history, haha As you can see, besides Creepy Eyes the vibes were incredibly different. I wanted to make clothing that could go alongside my ˜”*°•.★·.·´¯`·.·★𝓀𝒶𝓌𝒶𝒾𝒾 𝒶��𝒾𝑔𝓊𝓇𝓊𝓂𝒾 𝓅𝓁𝓊𝓈𝒽𝒾𝑒𝓈★·.·´¯`·.·★.•°*”˜ even though my personal style and fashion interests were/are much more goth. That leaked through again with the Guro Guts skirt next.

The first ever Guro Guts skirt was made just in time for Halloween 2015 In 2016, plushies were still my main focus and for a number of health reasons I was essentially dead that whole year. I don't think I added any new skirts at all..

The next big addition to my skirts was in April 2017 with this set:

Demon Summoning and Vampire Night have survived until this day. Good Medicine on the top left was only made in this colorway for a short time before I switched to a purple & pink version that I also kawaii'd up. Vaporwave and Angel Summoning are both pretty much defunct as of 2021.

2017 Blue/Red Good Medicine, 2018(2019?) Purple/Pink Good Medicine. Both are discontinued

In late 2017, I separated out my clothing shop from my crochet shop and started going all-in on a more goth leaning aesthetic. Witch Vamp (originally "Witch Vampire") was truly born. A lot of designs from that time are ones you'll still recognize today

The only other one that's pretty much gone these days is Rainbow Galaxy. I used to have it in skaters and joggers, but it's another one that wasn't as popular online as it was at cons. They're also like A Lot especially for my generally goth-ish shop

Rainbow Galaxy Skater (designed in 2017), Rainbow Galaxy Joggers (2018 or 2019.. unsure, haha) I last ran preorders with Rainbow Galaxy in 2021, but I don't think I got many orders. I've just let them fizzle out since then. But the skirt semi-lives on in the glorious mistake that is the Bomb Pop Skater

Originally I had 3 of these because a few Rainbow Galaxy Skaters got printed without any yellow. But like, what a good mistake! Since then I've ordered them this way on purpose. EDIT: Another discontinued skirt was the Black Widow's Web. Idk even when I made it first. 2018? But it died in 2021.

Next casualties, between 2020-2022 I discontinued a few more joggers due to slow sales:

Astrology Joggers, Creepy Eyes Joggers, Dark Galaxy Joggers (actually the 2nd version. V1 was a bit too.... phallic with the goo drips lmao) So after that, I think the main casualties have been *item types* rather than designs. I've dropped a lot of things (lanyards, zipper bags, wallets, all-over-print tshirts, tights, pvc charm keychains, and soon enamel pins) because they were great for cons, but don't really sell online. Or because they became obsolete (skirts w/out pockets).

It's been a long journey! And if you go all the way back to my crocheting days, I've been at this whole "self-employed" thing since the day I turned 18 in 2008 and was able to open up an Etsy shop (had other jobs too back then tho, like I was a pharmacy tech for 2 1/2 years). Hope you all enjoy seeing these designs from the old days and learning more Witch Vamp lore!!!

[twracehorse]

Hello hello! I'm trying to piece together all the lore for our favorite headless menace, and I thought I'd turn to someone who's been here since Galloper's early days.

I wasn't around when players searched for the ghosts of his victims - but he used to kill people just for standing in his path, and now he seemingly doesn't anymore? Do you know what caused him to change his mind like that (if I even got all of that correctly)?

Regards, wildwoods-sworn

(Forgive me, this'll be a long one. I tried to find all the info I could scrounge up, plus my memories of the mysterious menace that we love so much!)

Back in 2016 while the rest of the festivities played on there were rumors of a headless rider roaming the forests of Jorvik.

Written from Star Stable's news post-dated October 19th, 2016

“What's That in the Dark?

The legend of Galloper Thompson is well known all over Jorvik and has been terrifying kids and adults alike every Halloween for many, many years. Different versions of who - or what - Galloper Thompson is, are flying around all over the place at this time of year, and nobody really knows the truth.

Poems and stories about Thompson are everywhere, and these scary tales terrify the islanders and their horses. But hey, they're just silly ghost stories, right?

...

Right?”

Then in the news the next week

“Have you had the fortune (or misfortune) to meet Galloper Thompson yet?”

I'm not 100% sure about this, but he might've only been added to the second week of Halloween. I don't remember hearing or seeing anything about him in game before then. Because once it was found that if you ran into him, you'd get a t-shirt, a cursed amulet, and XP... the hunt was on! He would call out his arrival at the top of the hour and stay about 10 minutes till he'd bellow his departure. He would show up in Goldenleaf Forest, Mirror Marshes, Greendale, The Forgotten Fields, Hollow Woods, and Valley of the Frozen Mist.

Leading to many spooks when you'd look around and then suddenly see him from behind a tree. I've ran into him multiple times (on purpose and from not being graceful enough at steering my horse lol)

~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~

2017 would have Galloper missing as he was "on vacation". Although if you were in Goldenleaf Forest at 9pm server time, you'd hear his call. A small remnant of him.

~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~

October 24th, 2018 is when the keep was first introduced! Listing off the things we could do: Toss soul shards into the cauldron to get new Halloween tack/clothing sets, experience the twisted memories of Galloper via The Headless Horseman's Harrowing race, more Halloween shops, Galloper's look-a-like horse was for sale, and the scarecrow race was back after being banished from the main overworld. Plus, you could talk to three different daily ghosts that were in the keep, telling you a bit about themselves or how they died. Hinting where you could find their soul shard.

Now that was the fun part of this particular Halloween! A whole twenty-one souls to tell their stories!

This is where it gets long lol (I got the info from Jorvikipedia under "Ghosts of Galloper's Keep")

Ancient Ghost (their soul shard found among the thorny rocks)

"I was there in the first days. I yet recall my home in the mainland, all that we left behind to seek our promised land for the great Jon Jarl. At sea we fought. We starved. I never thought I would see dry land again. The sight of sand and thorn rocks around our landing site brought us relief. Seek my Soul Shard by the thorn rocks near the place where the great Jarl first set foot on Jorvik."

Drowned Ghost (close to the broken bridge near Jarlaheim - above a tree trunk lying beside one of the bridge's pillars)

"I sailed for weeks with Jon Jarl, only to meet my watery end so close to the shores of what would become my peoples' home... My body washed ashore close to the place that would become the walled city with the great stable. Seek my Soul Shard by the broken bridge."

Curious Ghost (on top of the arches around Butter Hill)

"As we explored our new home, we found out that we were not the first to set foot on this island. Great monuments with mystical descriptions and ruins left by settlers long gone.

These ruins were a source of fascination for me. Great columns and arcs in a style we had never seen, long since overgrown with vegetation. What happened to those previous settlers? Would it happen to us too?

If you seek out those ruins, you shall find my Soul Shard."

Mournful Ghost (in Forgotten Fields at the runestone close to Golden Hills)

"We assumed this island to be uninhabited. We believed we had finally found a paradise worthy of abandoning our homes for.

We were wrong. This is punishment for our arrogance.

On this island, rune stones were found, created by people with a special connection to the magic this island held. The Great Jarl ordered all of them destroyed to prove his claim to the island. My Soul Shard remains at that rune stone, at the Forgotten Fields, gazing out over the golden valley."

Angry Ghost (by the left side of the bridge at Nilmer's Highland there's a little dent with thorn bushes)

"Not allowed to rest, he shall never be given a moment's peace for what he did! Why should I suffer with him? You, who can leave this place, seek my Soul Shard and give me rest.

Seek the great divide to the southern counties, close to the bridge we built from the highlands."

Superstitious Ghost (in front of the gate leading to Devil's Gap)

"Devil's Gap? Why did the Jarl build so close to that accursed place?

I was on the crew that helped erect the northern walls of Jarlaheim. From day one, bad luck struck us like a blacksmith's hammer. Over, and over, and over again. Rocks would fall, ropes would snap, horses would go mad."

Stablemaster Ghost (in the corner of the arena that's attached to the building

"The Great Jarl made peace with the druids, and in return, he was rewarded with many strong horses for his great stable! I was in charge of making sure every horse was taken care of, a noble task! The horses of this island were strong and brave, but curiously there was one man they would avoid at all cost...

You can still find my Soul Shard at the entrance of the Jarl's stable."

Druid Ghost (next to a runestone at the portal to the Secret Stone Circle)

"The man you know as Galloper would never see Aideen's light shine upon him. Many horses, he tried to ride, but all would shun him completely.

Yet, one day he returned riding a black mare, a wild horse from the east. This horse could not be handled but by this one man, back when he still had a head. Worried what would it mean for a horse to not possess Aideen's Light, we tried to take her away to the Secret Stone Circle.

I can't remember anything else. Did he come after us? If so, could my Soul Shard be found by the entrance to the Circle?"

Miner Ghost (above a barrel behind the entrance of the right tunnel in the Demascus Mine)

"His real name... was never Galloper Thompson. "Old Galloper" was a name given to him many years later by peasants who feared his sightings as a bad omen and used his name to scare children. I never took those ghost stories seriously while I was alive. I should have.

Sighting Galloper Thompson was a sign of terrible things to come. My ill-fated encounter happened just before a cave in at the Damascus Mine. I never made it out. Even now I can still hear his cursed laughter. In that mine you will find my Soul Shard."

Traitor Ghost (in a tower of Jarlaheim's walls)

"The jarl had clearly grown weak to forsake our old ways for this "Aideen"! We chose our own Jarl to usurp this traitor and led a grim assault on Jarlaheim for control of this island. We failed, and you can still find my Soul Shard on the battlements.

In the end, the victory for Great Jarl was bought at a steep price, with only one of his men still standing when the battle was over. Why did that man survive when so many others did not? Cursed be his name forever!"

Whispering Ghost (near the Ancient Tree on South Hoof)

"I always knew that I had a special gift to understand horses. "Wild Whispering," they call it. There was only ever one horse that I could not understand. The dark mare was ever silent to me, no matter how I tried. Willing to explore my gift further, I sought out one of the great trees I had heard the druids speak about.

The tree on the peninsula promised me that it would help me develop my gift as long as I gave my flesh as a servant. As a young fool, I accepted. My body was twisted, my skin turned to bark and even my Soul Shard was left with the tree. But for a brief moment, I understood everything."

Farmer Ghost (near a building of the Abandoned Farm on Nilmer's Highland)

"Ghosts? Bah! I never believed in ghosts! My husband would tell me that Old Galloper would come to curse our chickens, but that's just talk! Certainly, our old farm at Nilmer's Highland blossoms to this day, go find my Soul Shard there and you will see!"

Confused Ghost (behind the Moorland forge)

"You look just like my apprentice! You must be here to help me with the smithy! What are you waiting for? The fires won't burn forever, hurry to get my Soul Shard from behind the old smithy before Old Galloper catches wind of what we are doing!"

Stonecutter Ghost (at the entrance of the Stonecutter's Vault in the Valley of Frozen Mist)

"Magnus Steinar? The finest stone cutter the land has seen! I watched as the Great Jarl ordered him to split the rune stone near his stable in two. This was meant to be some important ritual according to the Jarl, but it drove every horse in the stables mad!

Afraid of the Jarl's wrath, I fled to the stonecutter's vault in the north. I never quite made it back there. My Soul Shard must be frozen in ice by now..."

Greedy Ghost (on a small path on the coast of Forgotten Fields, very close to the ancient tree)

"That monster envy had sunk its teeth into the Great Jarl as he realized a mere subject of his had, by accident, achieved what he so long had dreamed of. Immortality!

I was at court that day when the Jarl ordered his subject to bring him the secret of immortality. I wanted this gift for myself and decided to find my way into the Devil's Gap from the Forgotten Fields. I fell victim to my own greed, as the stormy weather caused rockslides along the narrow pathways. This was not the immortality I wanted! I beg you, find my Soul Shard!"

Scared Ghost (near a fence in Doyle's Abbey)

"W-why do I find myself here? This is not where I should have ended up! I was a good, loyal person in life and laid to rest in Doyle's Abbey! Yet my Soul Shard shackles me to this place! Please find my grave and help me pass on peacefully!"

Soldier Ghost (by the ruins on the end of the Old King's Road in Goldenhills Valley (back when that was a short path up next to Pi's swamp)

"In his wrath, the Great Jarl ordered the execution of this man who had been nothing but loyal to him.

The axe came down, but the man stood up, headless! As the Jarl's men fled in panic, the dark mare carried her headless rider into the night.

That wasn't the last I would see of him. Patrolling the King's Road, the headless rider would show up and attack anyone he saw as loyal to the Jarl. Find my Soul Shard there!"

Trampled Ghost (on Paddock Island, down the path to the runestone by the sea)

"Growing up on Paddock Island, my mum always told me that if the bad ones come, find a runestone and Aideen's light would protect me. That night, I almost made it to the runestone, but Old Galloper, he was faster. I wonder if my Soul Shard is still there?"

Secretive Ghost (in front of Ashland's roadblock in Dino Valley)

"This place resembles a keep? Hehe, everything is not as it seems young one. If this is a keep, where did it come from? Why does it fly? Why does the cauldron in its center boil to the beat of a living heart?

I once tried to make my way to the one place I thought I would find absolute truth. The heart of the island itself, the Ashlands. I would have made it too, if it hadn't been for that infernal roadblock! I couldn't muster the energy to turn back, but the road wouldn't open.

You, seeker of truth, might reclaim my Soul Shard there."

Loyal Ghost (at the right side of the Jarl's Tomb entrance)

"The Great Jarl was laid to rest, not in the great city he had founded, but in the lonely hills he had first sighted when making landfall on Jorvik. The Great Jarl had sworn to atone for his mistakes and serve Aideen once more. For a man of his honor, such a promise would surely stretch from beyond the grave. As would the headless horseman's thirst for revenge.

He caught me as I was making sure the Great Jarl's resting place was undisturbed. Could you find my Soul Shard there?"

Haunted Ghost (entrance to the building of Old Church Ruin close to Scarecrow Hill)

"To this day he has never been able to get any rest... He still roams the lands searching for a way to rid himself of the curse and became nothing but a legend in the Jorvegian folklore. Even to this day, the smallest child knows not to travel the dark roads alone this time of year, lest Galloper Thompson will try to claim your soul for himself. He claimed mine on the slope of Scarecrow Hill. I thought the old ruins would keep me safe, hide me from him. My Soul Shard should still be there, even now."

~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~

2019 was a repeat of the previous year

~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~

Halloween 2020 was taken over by Ydris as he locked Galloper in a tower in the keep. As more and more ghosts filled the keep, they desperately begged us to help them as they were forced to dance against their will. Ydris too, decided that it was too much and that we should release Galloper from the tower to bring balance back to this unique space swirling in time. But when Ydris undid his magic, there was still a barrier keeping Galloper in, trapped and curled into a ball floating in the air. To undo the spells keeping him in that state we had to go through the regrets that he carried with him, collecting an item that represents that time.

“The Lost Loyalty”

Piece of a Banner “A soldier once lifted this with pride. Then carried it with less pride. Then shouldered it as a burden.” 

(Executioner’s Memory)

“We told ourselves that we were soldiers of the Jarl. That we were just following orders!  In truth, we always feared the grim man on the black mare. The way he was avoided by human and horse in equal measure.  When his head rolled, we all cheered. We truly thought it was over. Perhaps if we all had tried to understand back then, things would have turned out different.”

“The Witch’s Curse”

Defiled Soul Shard “Feeling its touch is like losing a part of yourself.”

(Old Witch’s Memory)

“The man you call Galloper served his lord loyally. What do you think that means?  Galloper, he crushed anyone standing in the way of his Jarl and committed many dark deeds. He himself knew them to be wrong, but his loyalty to Jon Jarl pushed him onwards. Loyalty is a measly excuse when you don’t dare to stand up against those that do wrong. Sooner or later there will be no one to speak for you, and just like that, Galloper Thompson got to reap loyalty’s final reward...” 

“The Horseman’s Respite”

 Galloper Thompson’s Amulet “According to the ghost stories, this amulet is cursed. Maybe you should get rid of it?”

(Equestrian’s Memory)

There’s no ghost to tell this tale. Galloper confronts “you”; he levitates off his horse to lunge forward, hand outstretched towards you. When you come to, the amulet is on the ground nearby.

“The Forgotten Friendship”

Burnt Charcoal Drawing “A sketch in charcoal, burnt by the ages. It depicts a lord and his retainer. They both look happy”

(The Jarl’s Memory)

“You...awaken me after all this time? Me, who was once known as Jon Jarl, ruler of all Jorvik!  You come here at the behest of Galloper Thompson? How dare you speak of that man in my presence?! I do not wish to remember that man! Take your memento and be gone!”

Once we’ve collected each item and brought them back to the Tower of Regrets, the passageway opens. Galloper is still huddled into a ball. That’s when his mare gallops forth, rejoined to her rider. He is able to break free of his shackles and return to continue his duties. 

Back at his post, he beckons us closer. He has a reward he wishes to offer us as thanks. Which is a fiery spider pet!

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Non-story related, but when SSO celebrated the game’s 10th birthday in 2021, Galloper was invited :)

He was in the celebration art (seen bellow), and he was also at the party in Moorland! A couple of riders complimented him on his “cosplay” lol

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(October 27th, 2021) Linda’s quest about Galloper. She had a vision of the Keep and the man it holds within. Wanting to understand him and what his backstory is, we go through the portal to his realm. 

But he is not there. Perhaps on a wild hunt on Jorvik? We set up camp near the tower of regrets. 

Linda then gets into the strange story of Galloper Thompson’s life and his even stranger “death”. 

“The history books say that a man, Gunnar Thrymson, was a valued and loyal soldier to Jon Jarl, nearly 900 years ago. An odd man with a fitting name. Gunnar was described as possessing a dark and brooding nature, but valiant and loyal in all things to Jon Jarl. 

Eventually Thrymson became pronounced, “Thompson” as new settlers and tongues landed upon Jorvik in the following centuries. No horse allowed Gunnar to approach it and the other soldiers and servants avoided Gunnar. They secretly made a mock of him. Perhaps out of jealousy or out of fear, they nicknamed him, Galloper. A cruel joke. 

One day a wild and fearsome mare appeared, a great, black, Shire. Rumored to be from the lands in the east, beyond the Jor mountains, this horse permitted no other but Galloper near and to ride. At last he had found a companion. She was an immense Shire, dark as a moonless night, whose fierce aspect and wild nature unnerved the Jarl’s men. 

The mere presence of the horse distressed and alarmed the other animals, setting them into a panicked and frightful state.  Galloper and the Shire became inseparable, their unique bond a source of wonder and gossip. 

Galloper Thompson earned a position beside Jon Jarl as his personal bodyguard and advisor. He performed great tasks for Jon Jarl, even defending him against a dangerous uprising of rebellious lords. 

Resentment and rumor ran rampant through the army. Superstition and fear fed tales of wizardry and dark magic. Hatred overcame dread, and hidden mockery became open derision. 

The Jarl ordered Galloper be held responsible for his alleged crimes.  Galloper was captured and bound. Shackled and shamed, he was brought before his king. Jon Jarl stood as lord and judge, passing sentence upon his faithful servant. 

When Galloper was brought before the executioner’s block, hundreds of the Jarl’s men arrived to celebrate the spectacle.

Their previous superstition was proven to righteous when Galloper rose from the executioner’s block and revealed his immortality.

Folklore and history is muddled here but the prevailing theory was that the source of Galloper’s strength, his bond with the Jarl, and his immortality stemmed from a powerful witch from the Devil’s Gap.

One full year after his execution, the headless Galloper Thompson was spotted riding a flaming mare across the night sky for the first time. There have been sightings every autumn since.

As we sit in the shadow of the tower, I can feel that there’s more to this story begging to be told. It feels like a word forgotten, but restlessly waiting on the tip of my tongue to be spoken out loud.”

Linda feels herself being pulled to Paddock Island. When we arrive, Galloper is already there, gazing at the lonesome island with the broken bridge. We pick up memory shards that were scattered on the ground for Linda to decipher. 

“I see... a building. A stable by its appearance. It’s this place! This was a stable... Galloper‘s stable! It has been rumored that Galloper‘s mount could not be stabled with other horses. Is that why it’s so far removed? 

It begins... there is a mob, frightened and superstitious. They surround the stable. They are full of fear and anger. Soldiers move through the milling throng. They are there to take Galloper! 

A young man stands in the stable with a great mare. It must be Galloper! His eyes are so green and bright! They are filled with grief. His arms are wrapped around the mare’s neck. 

He is whispering his goodbyes as the soldiers enter the stable. It is just Galloper and his horse facing Jarl’s men. Galloper surrenders. 

The horse snorts and screams her displeasure and fear as the soldiers take him away. She kicks the walls and stamps the floor. The soldiers recoil from her anger. 

There is confusion! The mob churns and surges. A fire has broken out! Was a lantern thrown into the stable? Was a torch dropped? I cannot see clearly. The smoke and flames blind my view. The stables are ablaze! The horse is trapped!

The soldiers struggle to smother the flames. The mob has fallen back, stunned at the spectacle. The mare’s screams of terror rise with the flames, matched by Galloper’s howls of horror. 

The flames are extinguished. A stunned silence has settled. Smoke and cinders still float in the air. Galloper has collapsed, overwhelmed by grief and shock. 

Jon Jarl has arrived, surveying the damage. He stares long at the ruin, anger behind his eyes. His fury rises as he turns to confront Galloper, now slumped on the ground. 

Galloper knows the true source of Jon Jarl’s anger. The jealousy and craving, driving suspicions of betrayal and treachery.  But... the mare died that night, how did she return? Was it the dark magic and witchcraft that was rumored? Did the mysterious witch of legend also endow the Shire with power?”

We are then pulled into Jarlaheim. Suspiciously everyone is hiding, believing that Galloper was just here. Collecting more memory shards as Linda ponders if Galloper knows that we’re following him. 

“Galloper is being taken to a place of execution. He is surrounded by the king’s men and townsfolk. They jeer and mock him, hurling insults and garbage at him. 

Now, standing before the executioner’s block, he seems unmoved to the words being spoken by Jon Jarl. Has he given up hope? No, there’s a quiet intensity about him. The shock of his king’s cruelty and the horrific death of his truest companion has marked him deeply.

Numbly, he kneels before the block. His lips are moving silently. What is he saying? The masked executioner raises his axe. Oh, I cannot look! The axe drops. His sad, green eyes have a slightly startled look, almost as if they see me. 

Wait... the once cheering crowd falls silent. Their faces stunned, filled with horror and alarm. Something is amiss. The body. Galloper’s body is moving! It pushed itself up from the block, a green glow slowly engulfing his headless frame. 

The crowd is in a panic! They struggle to run away... some of the soldiers stab at him, to no avail. Something else is happening! The crowd is being hurled aside. 

It is the Shire! Its coat is even darker, so much that it seems to devour the very light. Its mane is so fiery and bright! A blinding apparition of shadow and flame! It strikes terror into the guards and townsfolk.

The few who were able to face the headless revenant are now broken and fleeing. Even Jon Jarl is nowhere to be seen!

Calmly and purposely Galloper climbs astride the Shire’s sturdy back. Away they escape, galloping into the sky.”

Returning to the Keep to collect our thoughts and theories about Galloper and his mare, Linda feels another pull. Stronger than before, filling her mind with Devil’s Gap and the Forgotten Fields. Unlike the memories we just experienced, this event is happening now!

Rushing over to Forgotten Fields we see his horse, but no Galloper! Where could he be? 

Following the great mare to see where she’s heading. Linda comments on the mare, “She knows where she’s going. There’s intense purpose in each step, but her eyes... It’s almost as if she’s in a trance.”

“I feel that we are about to find out why all this is happening. The insistence is still there but hints of anticipation, as if a task is nearly complete and rest is near.” 

Galloper’s mare runs past the ancient tree onto a narrow path along the edge of the cliff. We cannot follow, our pursuit ends here. 

A voice speaks from Devil’s Gap (presumably) “Gunnar Thrymson! Your task is not yet complete! You cannot escape your gift that simply, or did another seek to thwart our pact? No matter. What we have done cannot so easily be undone.

Your memories are restored as is your destiny! Remember now, the name of your steed and be rejoined in its power...

MORRIGAN!”

Heading back to Galloper’s Keep, Linda comments that Morrigan has returned to Galloper, but something is off. There’s a change in them. She’s never thought about the name or origin of Galloper’s horse before. The name feels old. Old and powerful. The voice that spoke from the mountain must have returned the memory of this name to Galloper. Where once the feeling of Galloper was like a man blinded by rage, he now seems composed, focused... perhaps even more dangerous than before. 

Someone or something must have tried to undo Galloper’s memories. But why? To break his bond with Morrigan? Who would gain from that and how? Linda ponders. Planning to return to the textbooks and research deeper into Jorvik’s past. 

Not knowing who gave Galloper his “gift” nor their motives. Whoever or whatever it is, they must be quite powerful if they or a descendant survives today. 

“I sense they are rebonded... but it feels different somehow; more powerful, focused? Yes... I sense not only a renewal, but an additional purpose. Perhaps whoever tried to seal his memories away unwittingly awoke new ones?

I can sense that this is the beginning of something very big. The strong bond between them was but cinders compared to the raging inferno I feel burning within Morrigan’s heart.”

And with that, we are left to wonder what will happen next!

~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~

The “story snack” of a page of Galloper’s diary found by Ms. Holdsworth in Fort Maria (September 21st, 2022)

“There I was, abandoned by all my men, left to do the work that I’m sure will rain misfortune down upon all of us, curse the Jarl!” “It was mighty hard labor to go at the stones; good thing I had my splitting maul from Magnus, infused as it is with his special power.“ “And when one finally cracked under a ferocious blow, a woman, for I think it was a woman, did appear unto me.” “Whether she was called hence from the crack of the stone or had been watching my work I cannot say, she floated towards me with her hand outstretched, the antlers of a stag adorned her head, curls tumbled out from the hood of her cloak.” “She was terrifying, but I was too curious to feel afraid, and then she spoke, and her words were...”

-And that’s where it ends. The rest of the page appears to be blackened by flame.

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(October 26th, 2022)

We meet up with Linda at the makeshift campsite in the Keep. A new year and new discoveries await!

“We know somebody stole Galloper‘s memories. But why would they do that? What is there to gain?

It got me thinking.... What if somebody actually did something to Galloper? Something bad. Something they didn’t want him to remember! 

Suddenly, it all made sense. And all the anguish, anger, and regret I was sensing around Galloper before... It wasn’t simple blind rage; it was the feeling of revenge!

Something must have happened in the past, 900 years ago, before he became Galloper Thompson. Back when he was just “Gunnar”.

At first, I started searching the archives for any descendants or relatives of Gunnar Thrymson. When that failed, I turned my efforts to the Jarl and his closest allies. Then... A familiar name popped up. 

Magnus Steinar! It’s been said that Gunnar Thrymson broke magical runestones with the help of a stonemason, a stonemason by the name of Magnus!

We know that the ghost of Magnus still wanders Jorvik to this day, and the last time he was seen was in the Stonecutter’s Vault in the Valley of the Hidden Dinosaur. Let’s go see if he’s still there!”

When we enter the main section of Stonecutter’s Vault, Magnus is nowhere to be seen. A puddle of ghost goo is left on the cobblestone. Searching for clues as to where he went, we find an old horse statue, a worn, green tinted roofing tile, and scraps of an ancient bridle adorned with bronze serpentine ornaments. Thinking he went to Jorvik Stables and suspecting it’s a place of importance to him, we head on over!

Magnus is in a panicked state when we arrive. Screaming “He found me!! Help! Somebody help me! The horseman...”

“Please don’t take me away”

Linda sees something from the corner of her eye. A strange floating mist is hanging in the air. Going closer to this mist, it runs. We chase it down until it drops an amulet. It’s ancient, made from a piece of string tied around a gemstone. Herbs are braided into the string. It smells of sulfur and is covered in a slimy substance. 

As we ride back to Linda and Magnus, the air shifts, we see a vision of an old blacksmith’s workshop. Magnus begins to speak, “This place... it meant something to me. I lived here once. Long ago. The headless horseman... no, Gunnar. He was there also. I... did something. Something terrible. 

I can’t... remember. It’s all so hazy. The forging... forging of a tool.. so long ago. How did I do it?”

Going through the motions of the past. The forging of the splitting maul, he remembers. “There it is, my crowning achievement: forging this tool, perfectly crafted to shatter the most sacred of stones and splitting through the most hallowed of trees. It was made to... to shatter magic!”

“Forgive me, I did not know what I was doing! How could I know what he was planning...”

“The legendary splitting maul... A powerful tool imbued with the magic of a thousand unharness horses. It never missed its target. Rúnhammar. That’s what I called it.”

Magnus calls for us to go to a runestone that used to stand behind Jorvik Stables. 

“Yes... this is where it happened... Do you hear it? The horses...” (sounds of horses neighing echo in the memory)

“What is he asking you to do?”, Linda asks us. We take the splitting maul up to the runestone. One... the ground starts shaking. Two... a feeling of uneasiness rushes to us in waves. Three.... the runestone crumbles under the battering of Rúnhammar. 

“I remember now. I remember everything. So much pain, so much guilt. I spent the rest of my life... and undeath, trying to repent for what I did. 

I can still feel it, the runestone crumbling underneath the heavy weight of Rúnhammar‘s blow. I wielded it once, but never again. 

I suppose I should thank you for helping me remember, although I admit I didn’t really want to. Alas, holding these memories is an apt punishment for my actions. I do not deserve to forget.”

Magnus answers our questions:

Why would Galloper... Gunnar Thrymson... be chasing after you now?

“Rúnhammar, created for the sole purpose of destroying magic-imbued objects, was given to Gunnar Thrymson. He used it to shatter many runestones across Jorvik.  With every runestone, he seemed to lose a little part of himself, until one day, there was nothing left of him! That’s when the horse arrived. Morrigan, he called it.  I believe Gunnar, or shall I call him Galloper, ended up the way he is today because of me. Without my splitting maul, he would not have been able to destroy all those runestones, many lifetimes ago...”

Why did you forge Rúnhammar, the splitting maul?

“I forged the great splitting maul Rúnhammar at the behest of Jon Jarl. He wanted a tool to destroy the mystical runestones which could be found all over Jorvik. For some reason, those runestones seemed to bother him... I happily accepted the mission. I wasn’t concerned with what the tool was used for, I was too preoccupied with the thought of working with such wonderous magical materials. I had never seen anything like it before... How could I resist? Alas, I could not see past the great honor of being given such a mighty task. Now, Rúnhammar is my greatest regret...”

Where is Rúnhammar now?

“Nobody knows where Rúnhammar is today. It was last seen with Gunnar, however, Galloper Thompson does not appear to wield it now. Perhaps it has been lost to the ages...  It is for the best. I hope nobody finds it.” 

Linda takes the amulet we found that was stalking Magnus earlier. It’s vaguely familiar... It didn’t come from Galloper Thompson. That’s for sure. But she has to do a little research before she can figure out who it came from. 

~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~

(November 2nd, 2022)

We enter the portal to Galloper’s Keep, Kasper the ghost greets us. “Did you see that trailing blaze of green fire that just swooshed by? Phooey! I wouldn’t wanna be whomever he’s hunting! I’ve never seen Galloper in such an agitated state before... He was practically on fire! You know, more so than usual. 

If you’re fast enough out through the portal you might catch a glimpse of him in action!” 

As we exit the portal back to Jorvik, Galloper comes running past, blazing a trail into the forest of Hollow Woods. 

As we follow Morrigan’s trail, we run past Linda hiding in the bushes. That amulet from earlier was druidic in origin and happened to be very old, like a thousand years old! Coincidentally like the ethereal being with Linda hiding in the bushes, hiding from Galloper. 

Broderick is frantic to get to a safe place he knows. He gives us directions while on horseback to where this hideout is... the Spy Master’s Hideout! He apparently has a “semi-hostile co-living arrangement” going on here. Anyway, Linda fills us in about Broderick. 

“Broderick is a druid from ancient times who lived in the same time period as Gunnar and the great Jon Jarl himself, yet conveniently remembers nothing about them ever setting foot on Jorvik. He’s not quite like other druids I have met before though...”

Linda begs us to come closer, speaking lowly, “Something doesn’t feel right about him. I sense he’s hiding something, something of great significance. I think he might be the missing piece of this puzzle!

Why was he following Magnus? Why is Galloper hunting him? Why does he claim not to know of Gunnar or the Jarl? There are just so many questions he won’t answer, questions we need to find answers to!

I’ll keep him busy. You go look around the hideout for something... unusual. You’ll know it when you see it!” 

Poking around the hideout, peering our head over a box, in the corner we see a green memory fragment. As we grab it, we are given the vision of a young man, Gunnar, on a horse. The horse rears and throws Gunnar off, sending him flying and landing harshly on the ground. 

We find another memory fragment behind a crate. Showing Gunnar and Morrigan’s bonding moment. We go back to Broderick with our findings. “That’s... that’s not what you think it is! I mean, gee, how did they get there?”. He’ll tell us what we want to know, but we gotta help him in turn. 

Why is Galloper Thompson hunting you?

“Oh, he’s been looking for me for a long time... he just didn’t realize I was the one he was looking for until recently. My mistake; I got careless. He wants revenge of course.

You see... Galloper... he’s cursed... he cannot die, but he cannot quite live either. He is in a state of constant torment... heheheh. A fate most befitting his ill deeds. Someone had to punish that destroyer of runestones!

It was me; I cursed him! Split his soul into three, in the name of Aideen! One part of his soul he kept within himself, the other two parts... well who cares where they ended up!

However... Galloper becoming a ferryman of souls... most unexpected.”

How do you know Magnus Steinar?

“Magnus? That worm. I saw it with my own two eyes. Magnus forged the weapon which Gunnar used to desecrate our most precious runestones. 

Yes. Magnus is also to blame...”

Why do you have Galloper’s memory fragments?

“The fragments you found in my hideout? They’re only some of the many memory fragments I’ve stolen from poor old Galloper. Why did I steal them? Isn’t it obvious?

I knew he was looking for revenge, he was coming even closer to figuring out the truth... I had to make him forget, I had to cover my tracks. Then YOU came along! Now, you shall help me.”

What do you know of Morrigan?

“Galloper‘s abhorrent horse? A most unpleasant mare she is... Nobody knows where she came from, but she found Galloper and united with him shortly after I had cast my curse.

It was if they shared an unholy bond already then, lacking all light of Aideen. It is distasteful that a creature of such grace would choose to ally herself with somebody such as him.”

While answering our second chosen question, a chill blows in from the doorway, fog starts to roll in, Galloper is just outside!

We have the decision to help hide Broderick by shutting the door in hopes that Galloper will pass us by, we could do nothing and see what lays ahead, or we can make noise to ensure that Galloper finds us:

Broderick deserves a second chance, let’s hide him!

{You hurriedly shut the door to try and save Broderick from the wrath of Galloper Thompson... but it is futile. Morrigan bursts through and Galloper evaporates the ancient ethereal being from this plane of existence.}

I can’t make this decision! I’ll just see what happens...

{If you do nothing, Galloper runs in and collects Broderick’s soul.}

Galloper deserves his vengeance, give Broderick up. 

{We purposely knock over a nearby lantern, glass shattering across the ground, the sound alerting Galloper of our position. “What have you done?! You’ve doomed me!”, exclaims Broderick. 

Galloper rushes in to enact his vengeance. Broderick dissipates into thin air, gone from this existence.}

Linda is in shock over witnessing the outcome. Yet she feels sympathy for Galloper. “Poor Galloper Thompson... A state of constant torment!? Having his memories taken from him... Lacking a whole soul? I couldn’t imagine a worse fate; I know he has done unspeakable things but still... I can’t help but feel sorry for him. 

I wish we’d know more, where are the other pieces of his soul? How did he become the ferryman of souls and the master of the Keep?

And Broderick, what is to become of him? What will Galloper do to him? There’s more to be told in Galloper’s story... But for now, there’s nothing more we can do, for Galloper OR Broderick. The veil between our realms is closing.”

Heading back into Galloper’s Keep, we talk to Kasper. “Galloper seemed to be in a particularly good mood upon his return. Well, ‘good’ might be an overstatement. He seemed... resigned. Calm. Must have been a successful hunt for that lost soul. Tsk, poor fella!”

Our remaining time in the Keep simmers down after that enthralling experience. We will have to wait for the bridge between our worlds to strengthen so we can cross over to visit the land of wandering souls once again and continue our exploration of Galloper’s tale.

~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~ ~*~*~

Outside of the game there’s these two; a short audio book and some comics.

The comics Star Stable has released on their instagram. Drawn by @ellipuukangas. They delve into the past of Gunnar. Who he was, what came to be, how his mare came to find him. 

Comic from 2021

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

This whole comic has been uploaded to Star Stable’s blog website

Here for full page viewing!

Comic from 2022

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

And also, the spooky story of Linda encountering Galloper one evening. An audio book written by Helena Dahlgren. Narrated by Jennifer Jill Araya. Released October 29th, 2021

You can listen to it here!

That’s all there is about Galloper so far at this current time! (November 7th 2022). I hope there be many more in the future! 

[whenfatecollides]

honestly I was so emotionally drained a few months back that I didn’t even bother but at this point and seeing how dc are being promoted this cb I genuinely have to wonder what the fuck dcc think they’re accomplishing with all this?

- they literally threw away all the work our fandom had getting them their first win by not having a proper CELEBRATION with KOREAN FANS for it, how fucking hard was it to have a fanmeeting??????? if not an actual concert in KOREA (and I’ll repeat the FANS got them their first win, dcc did nothing for it, no ads, no nothing)

- magazine deals, mc deals, etc, all the stuff you see other groups get when they finally get their first wins, where is all that for dc? it’s not, because they just had to go to european festivals and a usa tour right after their first win (sure it’s great that intl fans got to see them but that’s not the point) how hard would it have been to promote dc a bit better in korea after this?????

-  and speaking of the usa tour, there were sooooooooo many complaints about the venues, that they didn’t have enough capacity in comparison to the demand and there were so many people who didn’t have a chance to see them because of this? again for the stuff that matters dcc keep acting like dc is still a rookie group with no fans

- now we get to october, comeback announced, and they’re still releasing maison content from months ago while vision teasers are dropping, content that should have been released like a week after the event because literally what is the point of watching any of that so much later when you can’t even remember things anymore (you and I era I miss you so much)

- they gave the fandom not even 2 weeks to pre-order the album and immediately announced an eu tour 2 days after pre-orders opened, with no stops in south europe because suddenly europe is just 5 countries, giving european fans 2 days to decide before pre-sale started and a month to organise everything (when usa fans had a lot more time to save money and organise everything)

- dropping merch (I still can’t believe they’re selling a JACKET FOR OVER 100 DOLLARS LMFAO), albums, online concert and eu tour all in the span of 3 weeks because suddenly they’re seeing us as cash cows and for that dc are a big group

- this cb promotion has been just... straight up questionable? again no ads, still relying on fans to put up ads for them, still not doing shit about dc’s digitals when every other company in the industry does it for their groups, mcountdown was just sad to watch, no interview, no intro, no special set for the comeback stage??? we’ve always had a set since fly high era, frankly it was just depressing to watch

- 1st gen insomnias got nearly nothing of benefits in these last 3 years like it’s honestly laughable

- fans have been BEGGING dcc since 2018 to reprint older albums and they still don’t give a shit about it (and no, the albums being from a different distributor from their current one is not an excuse)

- this whole shit show with the halloween concert. splitting the girls’ solo stages between the two days, forcing korean fans to buy both dates if they want to see them BUT ALSO not giving intl fans a chance to see them since they’re only streaming the 2nd day? where is the logic in this? (also 25$ for a ticket of an online concert that won’t even have all the special stages is insane if you ask me)

and I could go on and into more detail but is it even worth it? the disorganization is so palpable that it just genuinely pisses me off. they keep acting like they’re a 2 year old company who doesn’t know what they’re doing and has genuine reason for mistake, but the reality is that at this point they’re an over 10 year old company. there is no excuse for what they’re doing anymore, and personally I’m at my limit as someone who has been supporting dc, doing content, and helping with projects for the past 5 years. for a company that is so dependent on their main group’s fandom they sure act like they could have achieved this all by themselves

[non-binary-laurie-strode]

Reflections on my Universal Horror marathon

It is November 1st, 2023. As anyone can tell after being around me for, I don't know, five minutes, I am a huge horror queen. For my birthday this year, I got a big book on Universal horror, filled with production photos, background, trivia, actor bios, etc. I decided to use this book as a sort of guided reading list, where I would marathon all of the movies discussed in the book and read along. When I was first seriously doing a deep dive into horror in 2018, the classic 30s horror franchises were some of the first that I chose to get into, and so it had been five years or so since I had seen some of my old monster friends. (And many of the movies on this list I had not seen before!) I was excited for this project and decided to start it at 99 days until Halloween; I had found a Sam (1) "Countdown to Halloween" clock that counted from 99 days to 0 days last year, at the Spirit Halloween clearence sale. (2) So, 99 days to do a book's worth of movies—how hard could it be?

(1) from Trick r Treat, 2007

(2) He's currently sitting on my bedside table, at 0 days left!

Turns out, it was rather difficult! I hadn't expected the book to have so many entries in it.

The entire list of films that I did is as follows, broken down by chapter:

Silent Era (5 films): The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1923, The Phantom of the Opera 1925, The Phantom of the Opera 1943, The Cat and the Canary 1927, The Man Who Laughs 1928

Dracula (5 films): Dracula 1931, Drácula 1931, Dracula's Daughter 1936, Son of Dracula 1943, House of Dracula 1945

Frankenstein (4): Frankenstein 1931, Bride of Frankenstein 1935, Son of Frankenstein 1939, Ghost of Frankenstein 1942

The Wolf Man (5): Werewolf of London 1935, The Wolf Man 1941, Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man 1943, House of Frankenstein 1944, She-Wolf of London 1946

The Mummy (5): The Mummy, The Mummy's Hand, The Mummy's Tomb, The Mummy's Ghost, The Mummy's Curse

The Invisible Man (5): The Invisible Man 1933, The Invisible Man Returns 1940, The Invisible Woman 1941, Invisible Agent 1942, The Invisible Man's Revenge 1944

The Gill Man (3): Creature From the Black Lagoon 1954, Revenge of the Creature 1955, The Creature Walks Among Us 1955

"Universal's Lesser Known Monsters" (3+3+6): Paula the Ape Woman—Captive Wild Woman 1943, Jungle Woman 1944, The Jungle Captive 1945; The Creeper—Pearl of Death 1944, House of Horrors 1946, The Brute Man 1946; The Inner Sanctum Mystery Series—Calling Dr Death 1943, Weird Woman 1944, Dead Man's Eyes 1944, The Frozen Ghost 1944, Strange Confession 1945, Pillow of Death 1945

Non-serial horror (14): The Old Dark House 1932, Murders in the Rue Morgue 1932, The Black Cat 1934, The Raven 1935, Black Friday 1940, Man-Made Monster 1941, Horror Island 1941, Night Monster 1942, The Mad Ghoul 1943, The Strange Door 1951, The Black Castle 1952, Tarantula 1955, The Mole People 1956, Monster on the Campus 1958

That's 68 movies in 99 days by my reckoning. I also only did these on the nights that Mack worked or was dancing, which further tightened the number of days that I had. Good thing they were each about 60 minutes. I could never do this in the modern era where everyone bloats their movies to an absurd degree.

See, I thought it would be something small, with like... 30 movies in 99 days. I didn't expect all of this! Maybe I should have checked how many movies that would be before solidly deciding to do this challenge, eh? And it's not even allll of the Universal horror movies—Lugosi and Karloff did like six "duet" movies like The Raven and The Black Cat, but the book only focused on two and briefly name-dropped the others. By the mid-October, when I was in the final chapter, I was doing two or three movies per night, and it was quite a stressful thing, not knowing how I'd get it all to line up before Mack took his Halloweek vacation!

But I did it. I'm extremely proud that I stuck to it. And also, I will absolutely not do it again! Perhaps in another five years I'll have a craving for the Universal horror movies again, and I'll do my favourite 30 or so, but this insanity will not be repeated, or at least not with this time scale.

Anyway. Here are some things I wish to talk about:

Appreciating Silent Film

The silent era has always been one that I've wanted to get into, but I've never known how exactly to break into it. I've done a few silent movies before—if you're looking for a rec, Häxan from 1923 is a very disturbing and deeply effective look at medieval witchcraft—but I never felt like I had a sure footing in it.

And, well, the book starts at 1923 with Hunchback, no easing into it. And, turns out, it was mostly fine!

The 1925 Phantom was stunning. I love the tinted vibes of the silent era, and this film had a rare Technicolor sequence during the Masquerade bit where all the costumes were in colour, and it was amazing to see. There's a 19...29, I think?, scored version, which is what I watched, and the score pops off.

The 1927 Cat and the Canary ended up as one of my favourites of the whole marathon—there's no scoring option for this, but it's so fun I didn't care. The story revolves around a will reading on a dark and stormy night, a will reading, and a sudden heiress who has to prove her sanity as a condition of the will, all while an antagonistic family and a killer are loose in the mansion. It's a horror-comedy, and it is such a good time. I had rated it 5/5 on letterboxd years ago, but I had forgotten why, and I quickly rediscovered the reason!

So yeah, I got a couple silents to add to my résumé, next to stuff like Häxan and the typical Dr Caligari.

2. The Evolution of What Horror Is

One of my favourite things to think about and consider is what society's horror fixation is in a given era and how it all ties together in a sort of greater historiography.

This marathon covers the 20s through the late 50s, with most of it happening in the 30s and 40s. There's a pretty clear chain of where the focus goes in these—in the 20s, it's a lot of classic adaptations that have a gruesome element but which may not be yknow categorical Genre Horror as we recognise it and label it on a dvd box. The 30s explore the more typical folk myths and superstitions, such as vampires and werewolves; if there is science, it is either rather crude or primitive (Frankenstein using lightning bolts and sewing pieces of body together) or even has a mystical connection (Werewolf of London's Tibetan miracle flower—often this mysticism can unfortunately veer into Orientalist tropes :/). The 40s, and particularly around 1945 with the atomic bomb, the old superstitions lose steam and modern science begins to catch up, to the point that the 50s horror movies are, essentially, all a world away in terms of science—I mean, they try behavioural therapy on the Creature from the Black Lagoon in Revenge of the Creature! The later "Monster Mash" movies where all of the classic monsters join up have them turning to modern science to solve their problems—I believe it's in House of Dracula where the Wolf Man is legitimately ""cured"" by a cranial surgery based on some science, and Dracula gets cured by looking at the particulates in his blood and stuff. Anyway, continuing in the 50s, There's all this talk of atoms and radiation and such, and it's such a strong blend of science fiction and horror, such that the two genres are practically constant bedmates for this era. (Contrary to a popular tumblr post comparing Godzilla to 50s superhero comics, radiation actually did inspire a lot of monsters in America too; you just needed to know where to look, and it's here, in the giant Creature Features, where Godzilla would fit right in.)

I remember shortly after House of Dracula, I was talking to Mack, and I essentially launched into a ten minute lecture about this stuff, how it all ties into what was happening in society and whatnot. I have so much to say, but I won't word vomit it here.

3. These Movies Said, Continuity WHO?

One of the recurrent jokes I had while watching these movies is that the writers were clearly not interested in keeping continuity between films. There are two instances that I internally screamed at because of how insane they were—(1) In House of Frankenstein, Dracula is destroyed in the sunlight, The Wolf Man is shot by a silver bullet and dies, and the Frankenstein creature sinks into quicksand and disappears. Most of the plot of House of Frankenstein is quickly retold by the mad scientist character of House of Dracula; he leaves out the Wolf Man's death, probably because it would upset the Wolf Man, to whom he is speaking. Dracula is also back without explanation. (2) The Mummy's Ghost is set in Connecticut; they are very emphatic that they are in Connecticut. It is said over and over. At the end, the Mummy is chased into the swamp of Connecticut (yknow, the famous swamps of Connecticut) —at the very beginning of The Mummy's Curse, they point to a stretch of swampland, say that THIS is where Kharis sank all those years ago (it was 6 months in real time btw), and that he should still be there. This movie is set in the bayou of Louisiana, with a cheerful barkeep woman singing in French to evoke the whole "Cajun French" world. How Kharis went from Connecticut to "this is the exact spot where he fell" in Louisiana? Never mentioned.

Additionally, in one of the later Frankensteins, Ygor has his brain transplanted into the Frankenstein Monster in a scheme; Ygor-Frankenstein Monster triumphantly turns to the assembled characters and speaks to them, telling them how he tricked them and won. In the next movie, which I believe is Meets The Wolf Man, the Frankenstein Monster is a mute brute once more, and Ygor does not exist anymore. Now, the wildest thing is that this is not the writers cherrypicking what is canon and what is not—no, in the script the Frankenstein Monster-Ygor was to have deep conversations with the Wolf Man, and this was recorded. It was only in post-production that all of this was struck; all those scenes were either tossed or edited down. Apparently there are visuals of those scenes in the movie where you can watch the FM's mouth move, but the audio has been replaced with music or sound effects. Wild stuff.

There's more, plenty more, but you get the picture. I suppose in a world without home video, where your audience may not have seen the previous films or may not remember them well, you can convince them of anything and continuity matters less.

4. Some of these movies destroyed my will to go on (with the marathon)

Overall, I greatly enjoyed my time with this marathon. I found most of these movies to be very interesting and illuminating.

But there are two series in this that just crushed my spirit—The Mummy and Paula the Ape Woman. They were so awful that it made me not want to keep going.

The Mummy is just such a confused mess; the worst time I had was with The Mummy's Tomb. Tomb is the third movie in the series, so of course there's some catch-up that has to be done to get the audience up to speed. (They all do it, it's normal.) Now, this is a 60 minute movie. Tomb begins with a TWELVE MINUTE "recap" of the first two movies, using a flashback to show scenes from the old movies—all the while narrating them to construct a new story of what supposedly happened and wildly making up new stuff that directly contradicts what is visible on screen. TWELVE MINUTES out of SIXTY, one fifth of the movie, is just incredibly out of context scenes to do whatever the writers want.

And that's not even getting into the cultural sensitivity discussions around these movies, because girl........... girl. It's rough on that front, to say the least. (They reuse an Incan temple, if I remember right, as an Egyptian tomb in the last one, I think it was, and you can clearly see Mesoamerican imagery all over the walls, but they're yelling about pharoahs and stuff. And that's the tip of the iceberg.)

Paula the Ape Woman is about an ape who gets a brain and blood transplant and becomes a real woman, or at least temporarily. Now, audience, given that this an early 40s movie... do you think this uncontrollable, animalistic beast of a woman is going to be white or no? :////

The Paula movies just need to be forgotten. Not every Universal horror movie is a lost gem in the sands of time. Let's just say that.

5. James Whale, Lon Chaney Jr, and thoughts on recurring names and faces

With the studio system firmly in place for most of this marathon's concerned eras, there are many repeating names throughout the movies. It became something of a scavenger hunt to find "Gowns by Vera West" in the title credits of most movies—according to letterboxd, I think I hit 37 movies with her credited on wardrobe.

Some of these repeating names I grew to really like. James Whale really is among the greats, isn't he? Bride of Frankenstein is nothing short of a masterpiece, and his other work (especially The Old Dark House) is great. I would love to do a deeper dive just into his other works. He seems so fascinating! And he was gay, and apparently very very open about it.

A name I came to dislike, unexpectedly really, was Lon Chaney Jr, most known for The Wolf Man. I went in with a higher opinion of him, only knowing him from The Wolf Man; he eventually became a bit of a golden boy on the Universal horror sets, and so he got into a ton of different projects. And boy, did he ever only play one character across everything! He's extremely good at it, but he only ever played a sad, pathetic little man who is overwhelmed by the weight of the world! We get it, dude. Play a different character!

6. Conclusions

This is getting away from me, so I'll wrap this up. Thank you if you even skimmed this far!

I really did enjoy this marathon. It was stressful, a little, but a fun stress, all things considered.

Rapidshot overall favs: The Bride of Frankenstein, the Cat and the Canary, Revenge of the Creature, Dracula, The Old Dark House, Tarantula, 1925's Phantom of the Opera, the Raven.

Rapid boots: The Mummy franchise, Paula the Ape Woman series, She-Wolf of London, the Black Cat, Ghost of Frankenstein.

I love this era of horror: It's almost a cosy horror to me, with giant fog machines, goofy big analog science contraptions, and painted backdrops (you can see the painted backdrops and their flatness during the early 30s ones especially). I like that there are fewer cuts compared to the modern day: They hold the camera on the actors, and often the camera is not on a close-up, giving plenty of time for interesting physicality. It almost feels staged or traditionally theatrical in a way that modern movies do not. (Which makes sense, as the earlier writers and directors and actors all came from and routinely did theatre. Lugosi got Dracula after he did the stage version of it.) Many of them are very comfortable feeling, and they're short too!

I don't think I could do another grand tour like this again for years, at mininum,—and I won't revisit Paula and probably not The Mummy—but I do want to revisit it more than I have in the last few years. These monsters are my FRIENDS!

Anyway. Stan Boris Karloff, James Whale, and especially Elsa Lanchester

[mortallyminiaturewerewolf]

Halloween approaches!

It's almost October and that means it's time to plan my Halloween costume! A friend and I are actually planning to play Battletech around Halloween so I had the perfect idea of showing up dressed as Star Colonel Kristen Redmond*. The jumpsuit has already been ordered and now I just gotta get good with a green eyeliner pencil.

*I got big aggressively auburn hair so my choices for characters were like her and Samuel Ostergaard from the 2018 video game which I just recently finished and I quite enjoyed. I'm gonna get the DLCs when they're on sale.

[tyhalloweencats]

Hi everyone, welcome to my Beanie Baby side blog!!

Here I'll be posting every Halloween cat beanie baby and some unassorted/other Halloween cat/TY stuff

I'll post any info I have on said babies but keep in mind I'm literally just a person that owns the cats. The majority of the info is going to be from the Beaniepedia or AboutBeanies (wayback link)

All plushies and photos belong to me unless stated otherwise

The blankets I use as a backdrop are from Marshalls

All babies will be tagged with their names, their collection line, year, and "cat" (among other things). Non-cat posts will be "not ty" and/or "not a cat". Posts from other people will be "reblog" and my crap will be tagged "personal"

MY BABIES ARE NOT FOR SALE AND NEVER WILL BE

Tags quick list because I can't get a search bar to work on my page:

Years: 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Type: Original, Classic, Punkies, Beanie Boos, Beanie Balls, Beanie Bellies, Halloweenie, Beanie Buddy, Pluffies, Beanie of the Month, 2.0, Teeny Tys

Looking for a specific baby by name? Behold, the Master List: [x]

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

I'll be at the Studio City branch of the LA Public Library on Monday, November 13 at 1830hPT to launch my new novel, The Lost Cause. There'll bei a reading, a talk, a surprise guest (!!) and a signing, with books on sale. Tell your friends! Come on down!

#20yrsago We’ve had Napster since 1909, and the sky still hasn’t fallen http://earlyradiohistory.us/1909musi.htm

#10yrsago Fruitfly evolved pictures of ants on its wings https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/science/fruit-fly-with-the-wings-of-beauty-1.364064/#ixzz2jhxlLGaH

#10yrsago Rich America versus Poor America: stats about the wealth gap https://web.archive.org/web/20131108055750/https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-07/which-america-do-you-live-–-21-hard-believe-facts-about-wealthy-america-and-poor-ame

#10yrsago Letter from a Chinese forced-labor camp found in Kmart Hallowe’en decorations https://consumerist.com/2013/11/07/inside-the-chinese-labor-camp-that-made-halloween-decorations-sold-at-kmart/

#10yrsago Employment advice for Millennials https://medium.com/the-nib/six-totally-easy-tips-for-millennials-to-get-ahead-in-todays-economy-5451617c78de

#10yrsago Burglar surprised to discover the lady he’s robbing is an armed ax-throwing champ https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/ax-wielding-woman-chases-thief-away-in-hemet/

#10yrsago Toronto’s crack-smoking mayor, covered in the style of foreign affairs https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/11/06/canadian-regime-roiled-by-provincial-scandal-sparking-fears-of-instability/

#5yrsago Talking about the DMCA and 20 years of tech law malpractice on PRI’s Marketplace https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-tech/20-year-old-digital-copyright-law-still-being-fought-about-and-copied-today/

#5yrsago Wells Fargo cuts 26,500 jobs, shutters branches, declares “excess capital” and drops $40.6 billion on stock buybacks https://rooseveltinstitute.org/2018/11/07/what-wells-fargos-40-6-billion-in-stock-buybacks-could-have-meant-for-its-employees-and-customers/

#5yrsago 90% of Canadians want to kill future Saudi arms deals https://angusreid.org/saudi-arabia-canada-khashoggi/

#1yrago Tech a la carte https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/08/divisibility/#technognosticism

[tdcloud]

T.D. Cloud's October Novella Event: A Guide (blog#16)

Happy April, everyone! It’s finally starting to warm up here in Indiana, and I can’t say I miss the subzero temperatures, even if I do hate the rain more than the snow. There’s just something so soporific when it rains. It kills my motivation to do much of anything, and when you’re operating on as many deadlines as I am, that’s just not a good time. But! Onwards we move, and onto the next author blog.

Firstly, I want to give some updates—I’m freshly back from Evillecon in Evansville, IN, and WOW! It’s been several years since I last tabled at this convention and I am so stunned by how much it’s changed. The venue aside, the convention just seems to grow bigger and bigger every time I make the long trek down south to attend. Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by and picked up a book, and thank you to the repeat customers who remembered me from 2018! Evillecon was the first convention I tabled at properly—before that, all I’d ever done was sell ten or so books at Colossalcon’s Thursday Craft Fair—so anyone who took a chance on me back then and who were excited to see me again… That just means so much to me. Please enjoy your new books, charms, and other associated merch, and keep an eye out for what’s still to come!

My next scheduled convention will likely be Colossalcon in Sandusky, Ohio. Like always, I’ll be situated in the Thursday Craft Fair with my stock for a one day sale. Given I now have ten books and only half a table, I will likely only be bringing very limited stock of my older works and will begin prioritizing table space and numbers for my newer releases—which means the Tempest Series will soon likely fall out of rotation on my table. If you still have a few books missing in your Tempest collection, this may be a good time to pick up a signed copy while I still have them on tap! Please stop by and grab a book or two, and feel free to bring your previously purchased books if they’re lacking a signature! I am always happy to meet up with someone to sign their books—just shoot me an @ on twitter or Instagram and I’ll make it happen!

I’d also like to announce here that I’ve gotten into JAFAX in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This convention takes place the weekend after Colossalcon and will most likely be the convention where you can expect to see updated manjuu. I’ll be selling some Ossuary merch here that will later be made available on my ko-fi store. Keep an eye out on my Twitter and Instagram for pictures as they come in if that sounds like something you want to own for yourself!

That’s enough updates for now—what are we discussing this month? Given it’s April, there are a lot of updates happening on my Patreon right now. I figured we’d take a break from discussing DVerse clans to instead switch gears to one of my most popular and anticipated events of the year—the October Novella Event held on my Patreon!

First things first: are you pledged to my Patreon? If not, you should be! I do a lot of fun stuff there and every single novella as well as quite a few full-length novels are posted there as they’re written. I know I’ve spoken ad nauseam about my October Novella event here before, but for the few of you unfamiliar with it, I’ll give you the sparknotes: every October I post a full novella written to celebrate my birth month. My patrons vote in Spring to decide what I’m going to write, and then I write it, essentially giving them instant access in October to a weekly updating story that concludes on or around Halloween. It’s a really fun event that tests my ability to bring to life a fully realized story on a much shorter time schedule than I typically work with these days, and it’s more or less my version of NaNoWriMo, but for my patrons’ personal enjoyment.

Interested? God, I hope so.

With today being April 1st, I’ve gone ahead and posted this year’s novella premise options to begin the process of deciding what I’ll be writing for October. If you aren’t pledged to my Patreon, this is still something you can get in on! I’ve begun opening this poll to the public as well as patrons just to generate more interest in the event. To make this blog post a larger part of that, I figured we’d spend this month going over this year’s options in depth to showcase just what all is on the docket and maybe, just maybe, convince a few of you to join us in October for the big reveal.

To start in on this, let me give you the rules of the event itself. Every poll holds four options, and every year we have two new premises and two old premises to vote on. Each premise stays on the poll for two years unless it wins—after it’s been on the poll for two years, it’s cycled into my monthly short story poll and updated monthly when it wins that poll. It keeps things fresh, gives close runner’s up another shot at winning in the event, and allows me extra time to revise and sharpen previous premises if I can tell they need some additional planning before they’re ready to be written fully.

So far, Ossuary and Convergence have emerged as winners from this poll and reached fully published realization. I’ve got a plethora of other novellas that have either come off the monthly rotation poll or this novella event that are sitting on the edit block just waiting for their turn to come. If you liked either of those novellas, that’s the sort of thing you can expect to come from all of this!

All stories here run between 5-6 chapters and have varying smut/warning levels. I usually include that on the poll itself, so after you’re done reading this, check out the poll and get to voting on whatever sounds the most interesting to you.

So, onto the premises themselves.

It should come as no surprise that if Ossuary reached completion through this event that it stands to reason I’d give its sequel, Reliquary, a shot on the poll, too. Reliquary is one of our two repeat options and will be cycled into the monthly rotation if it fails to win again this year. It is, as I describe it, the sequel that no one asked for and that doesn’t need to exist but will solely because I want to write Thierry getting horror-fucked by an inhuman vampire creature. While Ossuary was my attempt at exploring the concepts behind survival horror as a genre and the inextricable link between horror and the erotic, Reliquary is my attempt at exploring another very prevalent and established horror genre trope: the haunted house. The idea of being trapped in a home with the vestiges of domesticity surrounding you but warped by something inherently malign residing there with you. Where Ossuary was survival horror, Reliquary will be psychological horror dealing with the concept of death-of-the-self and the idea of “infestation” within a space all humans by design should find comforting (the home). I went into depth on this concept of “infestation” in last month’s blog, so if that’s something you’re curious about, go check out the Q&A segment from March to learn more about that.

Suffice to say, this is going to be a pretty intense, Dead Dove Do Not Eat type of story, and while Ossuary was already pretty Dead Dove as it was, this will be a step further in that direction given it will involve sex and the logical extension of our dubious-to-outright-lack-of consent moments experienced in late-stage Ossuary. While I don’t view Reliquary as noncon, it certainly is closer to that than any definition of “enthusiastic consent.” It will not be a story for the faint of heart, and I don’t know if I expect it to win. If need be, I’m content to just write it on my own if there’s no real interest from my patrons to see it written for them there—but given how hugely positive the response has been for Ossuary, I think it’s safe to say there is demand, just maybe not fully informed demand. That’s why I’m trying to state things plainly here.

Either way, this sequel doesn't NEED to exist, but I want it to because I think by design, Ossuary has far more story left to tell. This will not be the happy ending Ossuary didn't have; if anything, this will be almost exactly like Ossuary in that the ending will carry on the thread of "What could happen next in this situation? Nothing good!" since that's the sort of premise it is.

I enjoy trying to offer up a diverse range of vibes and dynamics to keep things fresh and give people some difficult choices to make, and this is the not cute, not nice, apeshit horror option for the year. If you’re curious about the sort of dynamic I intend for this story to have, I've posted snippets already on twitter here.

I try to write summaries to give people a general overview of each poll option, and while I hate summaries and feel like I’m pretty bad at writing them even after the story itself is fully written, here is Reliquary’s attempted summary:

Thierry Pryor is the descendant of a family of infamous vampire killers, a fact which makes him horrendously blacklisted in the magical society he begrudgingly calls home. After encountering an elder vampire with ties to his family in the Parisian Catacombs, Thierry finds himself trapped in a strange house with the creature who professes love that tastes closer to obsession, and try as Thierry might, he can't seem to tell if the vampire sees him for who he is and not the dead ancestor the vampire can't seem to forget.

What transpires is a nightmare that refuses to disappear come morning-- and proof that your life isn't always the worst thing you can lose.

So, finish reading Ossuary and if you feel like you want to see more, vote for this option!

The other premise on the poll that’s about to grandfather its way onto the monthly rotation is M4gp13, the fourth and final installment of my as-of-yet untitled Vigilante-Verse series. For those of you familiar with the previous installments, this one will be set in America with more Pride/Stray vibes than Ezra/Kennedy or Tamsen/Vulture—meaning it’s not as drama filled or plotty in an interpersonal way; it’s really just a dumb, silly, and horny little foray into how a yandere-in-training younger hero-aligned top goes rabid-simp over the sexy yet oblivious older villain who keeps taking him hostage.

The summary is as follows:

Russell 'Rus' Underwood is the most maligned sidekick in all of New York State. His mentor, the hero Royal Flush, cares more for glory-hounding than looking out for her Bloodhound, and not a week goes by without Rus dangling from a rope while paparazzi snap pictures of the hero showing off from down the street. And don't even get him started on hostage situations. If there's a sidekick who's been ransomed off more, he'll eat his cape and be done with it, then and there.

Of course... Being held hostage isn't all bad, especially when the one doing it is M4gp13, the latest villain the city finds itself playing host to. European, chic, and cool, M4gp13 may be the only villain on the eastern seaboard to care about prisoner accommodations, and really, what does it say about Rus's life that his holding cell is nicer than his apartment?

The hacker doesn't have to treat him so well, but they do. They always do, and... Well, if Rus daydreams about being someone else's sidekick every now and again... What's the harm? It's not like it'll awaken something in him... Right?

I’ve spoken at length in previous blogs about my Vigilante-Verse and all the various characters, concepts, and story premises for the three previous incarnations. This will put a nice end cap on things and serve as a very nice conclusion to the American side of things while also allowing me to dabble a bit into a relationship dynamic I don’t get to play with often enough. I know danmei is super popular right now. Have you guys read Scum Villain Self-Saving System yet? If so, then you may love this option. Imagine LBH/SQQ with these two—they are really that bad, and it’s going to be hilarious.

Also, don’t worry if you haven’t read any of the other Vigilante-Verse stories: this will be entirely self-contained and functions as a one-shot within that universe. There may be a few name drops here and there, but your enjoyment of the story at large will not suffer from not having previous experience with the series.

Though, if you’re worried… All three of the previous installments are available in full on my Patreon. I promise you won’t reget binging them all, they’re fucking hilarious XD

The next option is brand new for this year! It’s also something that I’ve never written before, shockingly enough, and I can’t lie—I’m really excited about this one. A few weeks ago I went on a James Bond bender. I grew up watching those movies as a kid because my dad fucking LOVES them, and while they’re not well written, age appropriate, or at all good anymore, there’s just something so fun about hokey spy shenanigans involving dumb gadgets, seduction and honey-potting, and over-the-top bad guys with their world-ending weapons that have a convenient off-switch located somewhere nearby.

While this story won’t get into even half of that (a girl can dream), this will be a threesome heist-type story with assassins, spies, nefarious villain auctions, and all the bullshit spy nonsense you could hope for. Given this is a newer premise, the summary is a little rough. Regardless, you all should still get the gist of what I’m aiming for with this one.

In a world of assassins, thieves, and cutthroats, the chances of making enemies are higher than the alternative. Pierce Trevelyan knows this better than most and has thus spent the majority of his working life with only one man at his back—his longtime partner Ilya. The two share everything, be it jobs, guns, and each other’s beds, so when it comes to Pierce’s attention that a captured spy has just become the prized jewel of an Underground Auction and that Ilya has taken an interest in the situation… Well, turns out there’s a secret or two between them they have yet to share.

Which is fine, Pierce thinks as he looks at the picture of the spy in question. If this "Luka" has caught Ilya’s attention, there’s no reason the two of them can’t share this, too—especially if this particular secret looks like that.

-wags eyebrows- When a bad-at-emoting killer has a crush and doesn't know how else to act on it than through acts of violence, thank god his merc boyfriend is there to ease the way once the smoke clears! I’m super excited about the character dynamics in this one. We’ve got Ilya, the big, buff, gap moe mercenary Cheeto puff, Lucas, the oblivious, breedable conman caught in a pinch with a collar around his neck and no godly idea of the sort of danger he’s in with these ersatz rescuers of his, and Pierce, the mildly entertained charismatic killer who can’t WAIT to see just what makes Lucas so interesting to Ilya.

It’s going to be a riot and a half if it wins—trust me.

And the final option on the poll and likewise the other new premise is something I’m colloquially calling Circus of the Dead. Not to be confused with Carnival, the previous winner of last year’s October poll, CotD is a SFW yet massively macabre jaunt into Limbo a la Dante’s Divine Comedy. It’s largely a “vibe” that I’ve been mucking around with for the better part of four months now and has only recently coalesced into something concrete enough to write in this format. It’s a combination of a lot of my favorite things: the call of the void, erotic death, Limbo and Purgatory, and the sort of energy I’ve been calling “Corpse Bride meets Mushishi.”

I think I said it best on the patron poll itself: “While some take their existentialism with dread, this is the story that recommends you try it with a spoonful of sugar instead… but don't let that fool you--it wears its teeth in different ways than the other options on this poll.”

The summary is pretty rough (I'm still refining this concept, but trust me, it's really, really fucking dope), but y'all should still get the gist with what I’ve got here.

The Circus of the Dead are a traveling troupe of the restless dead who perform for those occupying the interstitial boundaries of existence. Ringmaster Nikita has the beauty of the dead and charm to match, and he serves as a semi-regular torment for Lyde, tinker and check-point denizen of Limbo. While the music, laughter, and company can break up the monotony of eternal neutrality, it also comes with challenges of its own. Something is off about the Circus’s newest member, and Nikita doesn’t want Lyde to find out what. And what, pray tell, is that rhythmic noise coming from Nikita's personal caravan?

The beguiling dead are a distracting danger, even to someone neither living nor dead. Lyde’s duty compels them to discover what Nikita is hiding, even if it does mean exposing themself to the full scope of the undead’s eternal charms.

It’s going to be a deep dive into Dante’s concept of Hell, the idea of functions of Limbo working as personifications of Duty (think of Lyde sort of like Charon in Chthonic myth), and the idea that while the dead want the living to be dead along with them, everyone has their roles to play, their duties to fulfill, and giving in to this hot, dead thing’s impressive tits will only result in you becoming a hot, dead thing, too, and you’re still on the clock!

Or, as I’ve been describing it to my editor and artist friend, CotD is what happens when a really slutty corpse tries to show his tits to the TSA agent checking his bag in order to distract them from the contraband tucked into their cosmetic bag.

That’s it. That’s literally the story. Excited? I hope so XD and not just about CotD. I hope you’re excited about all of these poll options. I feel like we’ve got a super strong, stacked set of choices this year, and I hope I’ve made it hard on all of you voters because as of right now, I can’t even decide which of these I’d want to work on more. They’re all bangers. No matter what wins, I guarantee we’re in for a rollicking good time.

Let’s open things up to some questions about these stories, other stories, and anything people felt like sending my way this month.

Do you have any prerequisites before you start a good writing sesh? Like a cup of coffee ect?

I do! I usually write here and there over the course of the work week as my schedule/energy allows and save my big writing binges for the weekends. I typically wake up between 8-9am, shower, go through my normal morning routine of doing my hair and getting dressed, and I make myself a latte with at least four shots of espresso. While I drink that, I’ll go through my social media, answer emails, update my website, and do the random bits and pieces of managing a business like this before tucking into whatever chapter I’ve got on deck for that weekend. By that point the caffeine has hit and I’m focused and ready to write.

The writing process itself involves listening to one of my many spotify playlists, typically something upbeat, heavy, and metal. I usually make a goal to get to before I stop for lunch, i.e. completing half of the required writing or ¾ depending on how easily it’s writing. I usually experience a dip in productivity after I eat so I really like to do as much as I’m physically able to do before stopping to eat anything.

So, yeah, a cup of coffee usually makes an appearance when I do a writing session XD I also treat it the same way I would treat a real job. I shower, do my hair, and I get dressed. I do as much as I can to put myself into Work Mode so I’m not tempted to fuck off the entire day on youtube or whatever instead, and a common thing I opt for when working and encountering blocks or dips in motivation is taking a walk mid-afternoon or just doing something outside for maybe an hour before getting back to things.

How do you pronounce “Thierry”?

Well, I’m shite at French so I pronounce it wrongly as “Theuh-ry.” To my knowledge, it’s more like “Tee-eyree” but the “tee” has a bit of a “t-yhuh” softness to it. This video will say it for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BULYCNSGFNQ.

I can pronounce Latin, Greek, and my bullshit titles much better than some French names (do not even begin to ask me how to pronounce Hippolyte), so sometimes, just reading it is better than saying it aloud.

Will you be at (insert convention name here)?

Maybe! My rule of thumb is that I’ll apply for just about any convention within easy driving distance of where I live (Fort Wayne, IN) if it seems large enough to be worth the trip and has its applications open.

If there’s a specific convention you’d like to see me at, feel free to use the contact form on my website to let me know or just leave a comment on one of my posts/DM me on social media! I likely will not travel further south than southern Indiana given I’m in the northern part of Indiana, a deceptively long state, but I’ll happily travel around to Ohio, Michigan, or Illinois and consider further conventions if I’ve got friends near the con who could help facilitate me flying and mailing my books out there (like I did to attend Anime Minneapolis).

I’ll be attending Colossalcon and vending at their Thursday Craft Fair as well as JAFAX the following weekend. As of right now, those are the only confirmed conventions I’ve got left for the year, but I’m crossing my fingers for Youmacon and potentially the Matsuricon waitlist to fall in my favor. If there are any other late-in-the-year cons you’d like me to consider, please, let me know! I’m all ears.

That’s it for now! Please, please, PLEASE check out my poll and cast your vote! If you see the post on Twitter, Instagram, or Tumblr, consider sharing it to spread the word about this event. My dearest wish is to branch out and include more people in this awesome event that makes October so fun for me every year, and the more we talk about the story premises and what’s potentially on tap, the more interest will be generated towards that end.

Also, I know everyone who ordered a signed copy of Ossuary has now received it. Great! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my latest offering, and if you did and want to help me out a little more, please leave reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and anywhere else you post to let people know your thoughts! This can happen on TikTok, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter—anything you want. The biggest challenge indie publications face will always be marketing, so any little bit you’re able to do to show your enjoyment helps me immensely when it comes to finding new readers and new audiences.

Thank you all for what you’ve done, and happy voting!

Until next time,

T.D. Cloud

[foxspirit1928]

My MFMM Calendars 2022 – October

Many people associate October with Halloween and costume parties, so one of my custom-made calendars this month is dedicated to the “one gaudy night” in S1E12 Murder in the Dark. Which character donned your favorite costume in this episode?

I chose the edit of Jack that I did for the miniseries Miss Fisher Lady Detective Agency Roster (posted in 2018) for the other calendar because he was incognito and because the tone of the image complimented the mysterious Halloween spirit. Besides, what’s better than being able to stare at Jack/Archibald for a whole month?

********************

p.s. I made these calendars for my personal viewing pleasure only, and they are not for sale.

(Posted 05-Oct-2022)

[listadisneylgbt]

Love, Simon (2018)

Simon Spier es un estudiante de secundaria gay que aún no ha salido del closet. Un día, se comparte por internet una confesión en línea por un estudiante gay en secreto de la escuela, conocido simplemente por el seudónimo “Blue”. Simon empieza a comunicarse con él como “Jacques”. Los dos se confían mutuamente detalles personales y conectan. Pero un chico, Martin, descubre los correos y chantajea a Simon con exponerlos. Mientras avanza la película Simon intenta averiguar quién es Blue, empezando por sospechar que un compañero suyo, Bram, es Blue. En la fiesta de Halloween, intenta acercarse a él pero lo encuentra con otro chico. Y antes de descubrir la identidad de su amigo en linea sus correos y su nombre son expuestos en internet, su hermana lo reporta y las borran, pero ya es tarde. Así, Simon se aisla de sus amigos, y en navidad sale del closet con sus padres, que están sorprendidos, pero le dan apoyo. Pero “Blue” le dice a Simon que deben dejar de hablarse por lo ocurrido.

Simon y otro estudiante gay, Ethan, son humillados públicamente. Ethan y Simon discuten las dificultades en torno a ser gay. Al salir de la escuela, quien expuso a Simon intenta disculparse con Simon, quien furiosamente rechaza el intento.

Simon publica una confesión en la que busca a Blue y pide que revele su identidad, Bram se sienta con Simon en una rueda de la fortuna y se revela como Blue, se besan, ante los gritos de ovación de sus amigos y del resto del instituto.

La vida de Simon gradualmente se normaliza de nuevo y comienza una relación con Bram. Además, en el blog del instituto comienzan a aparecer confesiones firmadas de otros estudiantes con secretos, inspirados por el coraje de Simon.

[lovetheangelshadow]

N'Pressions: Ghostbusters: Answer the Call Comic Mini-Series is a Better Movie

Greetings lethals and villains-it is spooky time and I decided to go chatter about a Halloween classic: the ghostbusters series. Granted I don’t consider the original Ghostbusters this sacred golden cow of cinema but it is one of those franchises that gives way to a lot of flexibility if the two animated series and comic lines have shown us anything. The first one has the best jokes, the second has the best storyline, and Afterlife has the most heart. I’ll admit I didn’t like Answer the Call….on its own terms. A lot of the scenes dragged on to get to the point or the jokes were repeated until they just lost all amusement. And there was just this undertone of unnecessary bitterness that just…why? I could even forgive the special effects if the writing was better. What is crazy is that it wasn’t the story or character concepts themselves that were bad because both Channel Awesome and Lego Dimensions could take those ideas and actually make them funny. Heck the IDW line did a mostly female team arc in their main Ghostbusters series about two years prior to the film and I highly recommend it.

Thinking about that; if they had used the basis of that story for the film-it would have been a huge improvement and maybe I’ll squawk about that one another day. One of the boons that came from Answer the Call was that a lot of the IDW Ghostbusters comics were on sale on Comixology way back in the days before Amazon and their meddling with the UI of the site. Which is really frustrating now especially when you live in the middle of nowhere and you would have to drive almost an hour to get my wings on comics and manga.

Which actually brings us to this mini series that is based off the Answer the Call team. This isn’t the first time they were featured in comics, that would be the crossover miniseries: Ghostbusters 101. Unfortunately that crossover is the weakest out of the six crossover specials but this is another discussion for another time. Though their comic journey would be improved in this 5 part miniseries and the Crossing Over event.

These issues would come out in 2018 and in timeline it would take place after 101 with the story written by Kelly Thompson and the artwork done by Corin Howell. The story begins inside a brownstone house and the team is fighting a ghost child. After the capture we see that something is up with Abbey. Back at base Patty is researching up the history of the place and finds something disturbing-that the house used to be come to a Doctor Kruger.

On the nose, I know-even the comic admits that and that he was researching nightmares. And then it shows Abbey being possessed. Holtzman brings out a new weapon and starts technobabbling like she did in the movie and Patty and Erin actually tell her to shut it. On a side note-one thing I will give the movie credit for is the variances of the proton functions and other tools. Sure they will use the basic wand shooters for most jobs-but when they are facing a different sort of enemy-they know they have to vary things up as we shall see later in the mini. Anyway, while they do recuse Abbey-Kruger uses Intimidate and then runs off. In the next issue they chase Kruger into the Empire State building but he is able to push back the capture streams. When they question why-Kruger gives them a demonstration of just what he is capable of even in his current power level by putting them each into their own personal nightmares. Erin is chased by giant bees. Abby is surrounded by clowns, Patty by creepy dolls, and Holtzman surrounded by automatons.

But if you look a second time there is a second nightmare underneath all that. Both Erin and Abbey have a fear of being laughed at and mocked by the scientific community despite their research and evidence. Patty being left behind by the others because she is not a scientist like the rest of the crew. And Holtzman being unable to escape the pressure of conformity. Again it is a nice little character moment that plays into the narrative without halting the plot.

Kruger leaves them behind and as Holtzman puts it afterwards he does not see them as an actual threat to his goals. But after a pep talk they head back to the firehouse to make a new plan and gather information. They realize the only way to really beat him is to either increase firepower (which they can’t do through legal means) or outsmart Kruger on his own turf-the latter being decided. After a joke about memory implantation and soup they discover they all share a singular experience from years ago and they can use that experience to level the playing field.

Back at the empire building they face off-though with some hiccups they manage to capture the field and have a plate of nightmare scrambled eggs. The end.

Honestly this comic is what the film should have been. It captures what is best about the franchise-a horror comedy that is still a fun adventure with some snark in the mix. In my opinion it addresses some of the issues of the 2016 film but fixes them in a more subtle way as opposed to shining a flashlight on them. I won’t go though every gag in this book but there is a clever running gag involving Kevin and the phones. The first time they didn’t receive calls because Kevin unplugged the phone. Later in the next book Kevin had cut the phone line but Abby had a storehouse of phones. And finally in the last book they bring up he can run the siren if he can master the phone plugged in. It’s a cute and clever bit of humor that varies it up enough and spaced so the gag actually works.

Though I wouldn’t say the comic is perfect. It’s biggest issue is that it tends to repeat the same story beats for the five issues. They encounter Kreuger, he scares them, he gets away-encounter, scare, escape-encounter, scare win. It really disrupts the flow even for a comic miniseries.

Even shows that play on the Fight to be Continued next episode still weaves into one another without falling back into a repeating loop. I get that they only had a limited space to work with unlike films but it some things could have been cut down such as Abbey being possessed (really aside from a quick reference to the film it doesn't do anything) or cut out to fit in those transitions more smoothly. If this ever got an adaptation this is something that could be fixed easily enough. That being said, if you can get your hands on a copy I recommend giving this mini-series a try and shrug about what we could have had. Also, Sony darling? Extreme Ghostbusters practically handed it to you! I’m Noctina Noir and take to the skies.

[whatisonthemoon]

Not exactly a fixer-upper: Unification Seminary in Barrytown up for sale (2018)

Got a spare $20 million on hand? Ready to finally fork over for those 260 acres with nine buildings, gorgeously overlooking the Hudson River and distant Catskill Mountains? For a cool $16,750,000, down from the original asking price of $17,995,000, you can have the former Massena estate in Barrytown, originally owned by the illustrious Livingston family, later bought by John D. Rockefeller so he could build a monastery for the Christian Brothers there, and still later sold to the Unification Church, then led by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, so he could start a Theological Seminary for his huge enterprise in the 1970s. That’s who is selling it now.

And an extra $2 million could go a long way towards making it into whatever one wanted.

“We have to find someone wealthy. We’re thinking in terms of museums, wellness centers, schools,” said Victoria Fischer of the property, being one of two brokers at Marcus & Milchap in Westchester County handling its sale since late Spring. “The place is in great shape; they’re still using the building.”

Fisher spoke about other large properties in the general neighborhood. Edgewater is a storied estate overlooking the Hudson that’s regained its old glory in recent years, after being owned for a spell by a much-younger Gore Vidal. Rokeby, also known as La Bergerie, is the former Astor estate a little to the south, run by the Aldrich family for years as a shared creative bastion where, among other things, New York City’s annual Halloween parade through Greenwich Village gets plotted out each summer and fall. Sylvania, smaller than the rest, remains in a storied family whose name shall go unmentioned; George and Susan Quasha maintain their long-running Station Hill compound for publishing and other artistic endeavors in what could be construed as “downtown” Barrytown (a crossroads of buildings, as it were).

“I’m not one to look behind I know that times must change/ But over there in Barrytown they do things very strange,” sang Steely Dan in their song “Barrytown,” off their 1974 album Pretzel Logic.

“The Banks are lined with elegant villas — thought it was the consummation of Earthly Bliss to live in one of those palaces, on such a Noble River, under such a Government,” wrote a young poet named Davidson in the early 19th century, who later grew Edgewater into a grand mansion while some of the old money was running from the area once a railroad was put in right up the banks of the Hudson, breaking their fabled views (and quiet).

When asked about the Unification Seminary’s largest neighbor, Bard College in nearby Annandale-on-Hudson — which recently bought the historic Montgomery Place estate just to the north of what was once Massena, to be used for events and environmental studies programs, among other things — Fisher said her company has reached out to the college. She added that they said they “were not interested at this point.”

What the realtors have been getting to date, she added, were “nibbles and bites, basically from people who want to make sure they have the money to do what they want.”

She mentioned the recent sale of a large convent, formerly the Kenwood Academy and Doane Stuart School in Albany, that sold to developers looking to create condominiums (Doane Stuart moved to a new location within the past decade). What she didn’t mention was that sale ended up one third under its original asking price.

In Barrytown, meanwhile, the Unification Church property includes a 120,000 square foot main building, shaped like an “H” with an updated “upper” half and older, mid-century-style dorms on the lower half. Ancillary buildings add up to another 150,000 square feet. There’s a chapel, library, dining halls, kitchens. There are offices, classrooms, guest rooms, an infirmary, a two-story gym, a 400-seat auditorium, and a 100-seat lecture hall.

“The Unification people feel as if they’re cutting off their left arm, selling the seminary,” Fisher added. They want to keep it but already have a lot of expensive real estate in midtown Manhattan.”

The Unification Church was founded by Rev. Moon in South Korea in the 1950s, following the Korean Conflict. It began spreading in the United States throughout the 1960s, after which Moon moved stateside in 1971. The Barrytown property was bought in 1974, and eventually the church and Rev. Moon bought numerous other properties, including the old New Yorker Hotel on 34th Street in Manhattan. They founded the conservative Washington Times, started matching couples and marrying couples from his followers in mass ceremonies at Madison Square Garden and other arena venues, and Dr. Moon was jailed for tax evasion for several years. He died in 2012.

Back in 1994, when the 25th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival took place in Saugerties, a number of key acts staying on the east side of the Hudson, including Bob Dylan, were flown by helicopter to the Winston Farm concert grounds from a landing area at the seminary.

Related

It’s official - UTS has been sold

Psychosis and Mental Illness at Barrytown - Moon and Salonen should be held responsible

The Barrytown Property is being sold off for $15 million

[the-firebird69]

Watch "Halloween (2018): The Mask of Michael Myers HD CLIP" on YouTube

It turns out to be their plan to put us in the mental hospital and put him there and we don't have the power and we're going to try to invade if we can't we should probably figure it out it's time you have to defeated and is and the planetoids and we can't get in here he says we probably still won't and we'll probably still trying to do that I'm trying to take it away from the federal government and it's wrong it doesn't it's motivation and such it's wrong it doesn't work and he doesn't want to go there it's prison but I end up there somehow in the very place that we plan on putting him he says and it's true and I have to break up and they give me opportunity here and he says you could easily pick the concrete up and smash it and break the others free so I'm pretty much decided to and it's how it starts and they run for their lives in the movie and they can't run fast enough I'll tell you what this guy is powerful it doesn't want to be there and it said that they shut the place down afterwards and we believe it and we're in a lot of trouble and we can't do anything to him we shouldn't be trying and we are out there and now the max are at us and we're hitting the max and a lot of them and it's a war and they're actually getting hit by us they're sort of see why we're kind of possessed and my name will become mystique fairly soon after Hit girl

Lilly

What the hell I'm going to be tortured to no end despite his max I do understand something you're a different kind and race and we're sitting here torturing the s*** out of you it doesn't help us the max aren't helping either and we can't stop them when I say is if the kids joining them and hitting us we'll never make it and nobody is on his side it's starting to show

Trump

I miss character and I can hear her telling him to screw I can hear them saying it a little what they say is screw these people and stop doing that s*** you idiot so it doesn't help it's just wrong and she says you're actually right or rebels and we can't do a s*** putting you in here it gets us in here he says how would you know that I mean how would you really know that said laughing and said here we go again cuz we're here and the other side howling cuz he was pretending he's being he is bane they heard what he said too and he came and gave her orders and she did it and then she said he'll take the blame and they said we know who you're following and it worked and he doesn't care just as long as he gets it done so they get out of the mental hospital and I'm trying to thank him they can't get over there they just barely escaped with their lives and they figured out what's going on

This is coming up in just a few days

Because the series is running and it doesn't take long and she's slaughtering people with gas and poison and fire and more and it's going rapidly

Hera

Zues she said her whole share of above it's amazing

Yes an amazing person is me and we are doing it together and he's amazing too

Hera

The car sales are through the roof electric motorcycle sales are through the roof and nobody can stop it now now the Chinese American motorcycle company because they named it one of their names so when they came up with and it's going crazy it's out of control even though they named it both female names no it's a man name and they're out of control the sales are through the roof as well as the boat sales from Brazil it's a massive massive massive company already and they're taking over Bayliner and they're selling as their own brand it is a huge deal it's a massive company and they're selling tons and tons of boats to morlock and the whole design is different he said the top is the same and we're still building them and they're working in the factories and they're thankful

Thor Freya

I Dare You employ my workers anyways I probably open some assembly factories for Hard knock kicker 5150 if I could qualify

Dempsy

I've been trying to qualify so far it's like one plant and it's not the United States it's in Mexico and he's going to open it up today but other people have like 20 and Trump and company have none other people who are more locked and Brad doesn't have any and Jason has a few but really those people keep harming our son so screw them but there's other morlock who have a lot of them Camilla has three which is pretty good for her and there are more likes to look like her have 20 each they're building like madness in their countries and they need them badly

Thor Freya

This is a massive day it's usually important it's getting more and more important

Olympus

[dbzshop]

Present your love and elegance with Dragon Ball Z anime by proudly owning Dragon Ball Z Theme 2018 Converse Footwear SIZE CHART [caption id="attachment_192655" align="aligncenter" width="461"] [/caption] SELLING POLICY: Delivery coverage: Irrespective of the place you reside, we ship our merchandise all around the world and you may take pleasure in free transport on all gadgets offered for orders over $50.00. Moreover, we could have despatched your gadgets in separate parcels so please examine your emails to see if any of your gadgets shall be arriving individually. Supply Time: It takes about 10-30 working days Customs charges: You aren't required to pay any customs charges. We mark all our orders as low-value items. Furthermore, we ship bigger orders in separate packages to keep away from such fees. Fee technique: All our funds by cost playing cards are processed through PayPal which delivers one of the safe cost platforms on the planet. Return, refund and cancellation: If the product you obtained is incorrect or faulty, please contact us at contact @dbz-shop.com as quickly as doable. Cancellation of an order is feasible so long as the order hasn’t been shipped but. A cancellation price of 10% is charged to a buyer who needs to cancel their order. Cancellation of an order isn't doable for orders which have already been shipped. Timeframe to report issues: You could report any downside associated to your order earlier than 60 days after your order has been shipped. If a declare isn't submitted throughout the pre-required time, sadly, there’s nothing we will do that can assist you. BENEFITS WHEN BUYING PRODUCTS FROM OUR STORE Inexpensive worth for all anime’s followers: We're extra inexpensive than different model. Moreover, we regularly maintain wonderful gross sales – loopy gross sales through the yr comparable to: Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Black Friday,… When clients purchase from us, they'll purchase on the lowest worth. Safe Checkout: Pay with essentially the most safe cost technique – Paypal. It is going to give clients a simplified and safe checkout expertise. All the time shielded from click on to supply: Monitoring quantity offered for all parcels, full refund if product isn't obtained. Buyer assist service 24/24: We’re Right here to Assist. Contact us at anytime for a easy procuring expertise. >>> CHECK THE TOP BEST SELLING CASE AT OUR  Dragon Ball Z Shoes 2021