#hot topic in mordor

[flannelepicurean]

I say this with the utmost, sincerest, most 💯 ADORATION: that boi looks like he is SO BUMMED that he can't cop his favorite band's CDs over in Bree because the record store there just isn't quite hip with the times, but he somehow also got bullied by 2 of the Gorillaz, and he's about to get seduced into going to the Hot Topic up in Mordor, and he's TOTALLY GONNA DO IT, FOR REAL, as soon as he works up the nerve to sidle past those elves that hang around by the woods on the way there...

I love him. I love this Gollum. I stan this Gollum. Soulful emo Gollum is my new blorbo. I would die for him. Done. ✅

Okay hear me out--

[defiledtomb]

im always down for mc risking their life for ros, like I live and breathe for that drama

If a story doesn't make me go

then what the hell are we even doing here. what's the point

[cleolinda]

Weekend links, May 12, 2024

My posts

Your head is hurting and your wifi is out because the biggest solar flare/geomagnetic storm in 20 years hit this weekend. I didn’t actually get to see the aurora borealis, but apparently it really did come down as far as Alabama. 

I admit that this was an extremely glib reply. But like, Athena specifically doesn’t like people claiming they’re better than her, so you can imagine the carnage when you throw in two more goddesses as well.  

(I feel like that post happened a month ago. This week has felt so ungodly long.)

Reblogs of interest

Hot Vintage Lady Bracket: Round 6. Eight polls. Poll Mod immediately chose violence and put Marilyn Monroe against Hedy Lamarr. Since Ava Gardner is out (actual shockers: Greta Garbo and Rita Hayworth are also gone), I was going to say “I’m just Chaos Elmo Flames Dot Gif about it all” but now I’m just scared. 

(Why would you ask us, a hot vintage poll blog, this)

Dracula Daily is in full swing again, and you can eat along!

The Met Gala was honestly decent this year! I reblogged only (some of) the ones I liked, including some of the construction details and a lot of Zendaya, although my favorite might have been Rebecca Ferguson with the crows. 

A while back and not what he wore to the Gala, but: Lil Nas X looking beautiful in a rose garden.

Hozier Watch 2024: I really thought there wasn’t going to be anything else and then he was like, “Oh I should probably put out a video for my accidental international #1.” I am entirely disgruntled that he was here last weekend and I couldn’t go. 

From the top of the week, Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar: An explainer. Also, Kendrick recs.

MrBeast is living in a joyless hell of his own making, and I at least understand now why he has always freaked me out. 

So anyway noted plagiarist James Somerton is alive and well on Twitter, where he’s... well, he sure is there. The words “hole posting” are involved. Another explainer for you. 

Lynda Carter proves she’s on Tumblr

We put our faith in BLAST HARDCHEESE

Peace and love on planet Earth and also in the Uber

“thinking about middle aged gay love is like. we have a future and we have time”

While there are merits to this concern, “Writers should all clown on Americans by making up places in THEIR country” doesn’t really sting when we’re all like “Yeah we love doing that!!!” I personally give you all permission to make up as many wackadoodle state names as you want. You can have West Mainolina for free. 

Meanwhile in Alabama: Bad, bad Leroy Brown, the baddest fish in the whole damn town

RIP Walnut the crane: “The Bride”

Dinosaurs are terrible lizards

Teaching consent is a many-faceted thing

Become ungovernable: grill edition

Video

Galadriel’s opening Fellowship of the Ring monologue, but it’s the Deep South (U.S.). “Across the county line in Mordor, the Dark Lord Sauron made his self another ring outta everything mean the devil put in him.” Absolutely pitch perfect. 

Also pitch perfect: Wellness influencers with terrible advice

“Mooom, the chocolate alchemist has an accomplice now!”

I will always reblog cheetah sounds

The Collage Atlas: a hand-drawn game on Steam

The sacred texts

South Canada. South South Canada. Canada A Bit to the Left

I think I’ve listed this compilation of parody lyrics (”I’m sorry Ms. Jackson/I am four eels”) before, but there’s more now

“Roses are red, that much is true, but violets are purple, not fucking blue”

Personal tags of the week

Scrungly and, as a related topic, Belphegor the Devon rex kitten.

[sgiandubh]

What do you think about the ring?

Dear (insisting) Ring Anon,

I see the topic itches. I have answered this question three days ago, but somehow kept receiving Anon upon Anon upon Anon about it and, to be honest, I was surprised to be thinking about it, too.

Which is exactly the intended - and achieved - effect of this new plot device.

Mordor went berserk, including Meow Kabob's Gay Clique. The Shire hummed and buzzed with DMs. Lasagna Lady could have testified before a Grand Jury it was gold. Another halfwit joked on X about giving it to Desi, then retracted when things went completely out of control. A perfectly executed spin for a drier, longer Droughtlander.

If all this hullaballoo were happening at the Olympic Games, I'd give Desi a Comăneci 10.

This ring is all about using very useful and cost-effective props. It will fuel endless speculation, vanishing and reappearing whenever convenient, with no further need for painful pap walks, Flukenzie Floozy clones or a new round of The Matrix Bikini Game.

And that brings along another thought. We often use the expression going down the rabbit hole, when we talk about how this charade started for anyone in this fandom. But I begin to wonder if we didn't go down a funnel: at first wide open and then narrower and narrower (IFH, EFH, Remarkable Week-End, etc). Then COVID, followed by this strike made it even narrower, if at all possible, because now we don't even have the customary promo/banter periodically thrown in to keep the sacred fire alive. The Vestals are bored and already yawning.

But there is also a new book and some more booze to be sold. He knows - because he reads us, make no mistake- this fandom's documented obsession with rings (his or Lucy's, for that matter), so let's assume he indulged us. Yeah, I am grinning as I write it. Desi is trolling us big time and let's be honest: we love every single second of it.

As an aside, allow me to share a little something about me:

This is my left hand, of course. And that is a beloved family heirloom madame Mère gave me on my eighteenth birthday. It belonged to my Armenian great-grandmother and I never took it off. Not even when doing the dishes, swimming or walking around Phnom Penh's slums. I am not married and I am not especially looking forward to, for personal reasons.

In Desi's case, The Ring appeared at Starbucks (who the hell shows an 'engagement ring' while staying in line for covfefe?), on one of those very hot & humid end of summer days when NYC turns into a giant sauna. Understandably, he was dressed to suggest he casually went to record that book at Hachette's after a workout session: but if also weightlifting, why bring The Ring?

So read my lips, Anon: it means nothing and also anything you want it to mean. Yes, at the same time. This is OL, after all.

We didn't even start to see the end of this, mark me. It's way too juicy and the night is young.

PS: The good thing about going down a funnel is that at the end of the day you know you'll be out of it, somehow. That moment will come. Not a single doubt or worry in the world about it.

[marlynnofmany]

If you take the spaces out of “one ring to rule them all,” then read the phrase too quickly, you get “one ring to rule the mall.”

...Has anyone written that 90′s teenage mall-rat AU? Because it really deserves to exist.

Hot Topic is Mordor. The Shire is the food court. The Nazgul are mall cops on segways. You can’t tell me that’s not amazing.

[benslittlestarkiller]

Hobbitlove: A Day in the Shire - Sam’s Ruminations

♡ Samwise Gamgee x Frodo Baggins ♡

Description: Sam, older, wiser, and married happily to Rosie, sits on his porch one day ruminating on his tragic love affair with Frodo.

Warnings: NSFW content, anal sex, creampie, CBT, bondage

Word Count: 1,040

♡

It was a balmy Saturday in the Shire. The gentle breeze played at the daisies, making them dance in their flowerbeds. Samwise sat outside of Bag End, smoking pipeweed and watching the birds fly to and fro. As he neared the end of his life, he reached a stage where he found himself ruminating on the past. He had grown so much since his youth when he used to garden for Mister Bilbo and then Mister Frodo after that. He had traveled to Mordor and back. Married his sweet Rosie, had beautiful children, and even became mayor. Life’s twists and turns had shown Sam more than he ever thought he would see as a young and virile Hobbit. His Rosie had died years ago and his children had left him to live their own lives. Sam looked up into the blue sky, losing himself in his memories…

It was morning, the first day of Sam’s new job as a gardener to the scandalous Mister Bilbo Baggins. Much talk of Mister Biblo was heard about the Shire and his adventures, even more talk spread when he took in his orphaned nephew Frodo. 

As Sam passed through the gate of bag end he was greeted by a handsome Hobbit he could only assume was the Frodo Baggins himself. Sam was caught off guard by Frodo’s delicate beauty. His piercing blue eyes seemed to assess Sam and then Frodo smiled and Sam was lost. 

A polite companionship bloomed between them in the coming months, the two started off just giving polite greetings but there was a magnetism that seemed to draw them together. Soon they began to chat over mundane topics and those talks together grew longer and more intense as the two Hobbits grew closer and closer.

Sam would lay in his bed at night and dream of Frodo. He saw him laughing as he played pranks. He saw his shy smiles as they shared secrets. Desire bloomed in the pit of his stomach but Sam knew there was a line he couldn’t cross. Sam was an employee of Mister Bilbo and by extension Mister Frodo. There was no way he would be interested in his uncle’s gardener. 

But one day everything changed. 

It was a rainy day. Mister Bilbo was away dealing with his relatives, leaving Frodo home alone. Sam started of repotting the prickleberry bushes but soon the rain became too dense for Sam to do any work. Frodo called him inside to wait out the rain. Sam was soaked to the bone and Frodo offered him a change of clothes. 

Sam went to a room to change, first removing his wet shirt that clung to his defined muscles that he acquired from all his gardening. He unbuttoned his pants and started to remove them when Frodo opened the door, “Sorry, I forgot to give you a towel—” 

Frodo blushed and so did same. Things were falling apart, Sam thought to himself. He was caught in a compromising position. His ass was out, the globes plump and pink. Frodo’s eyes couldn’t help but stare. He had harbored a secret longing for Samwise ever since he first laid his eyes upon the other Hobbit. There was a line that he knew the two of them couldn’t cross and today was a day of reckoning, a day for crossing lines. 

Frodo thought back to the times where he would watch Sam working in the garden. On hot days Samwise would remove his jacket and shirt. Frodo would watch the sweat travel down the handsome and lean form. The sunkissed golden skin covered in golden hair enraptured Frodo.  He longed to be held in Sam’s strong arms. To be cared for lovingly. Frodo found himself thinking of excuses to be around Sam and speak to him. In his heart the seed of love was planted. Each night he would tend to that seed until it blossomed on this rainy night. 

Frodo didn’t mean to intrude on Sam’s privacy and he immediately dropped the towel and vacated the room. Sam rebuttoned his pants and chased after him, “Frodo! Wait!” 

He captured Frodo's hand in his own. Holding the delicate hand in his rough calloused one. Frodo turned to Sam and held him in his gaze. The stared at each other for one heart beat, and then two. The two of them moved closer and closer to each other unknowingly until they were a hair’s breadth apart. Sam could feel the heat of Frodo’s breath on his face. Frodo reached up a trembling hand to gently caress Sam’s cheek. 

Frodo’s touch felt warm, like the sun shining down on the flower beds. It made Sam’s face redden with heat and the bud of suppressed desire finally bloomed into a blossoming flower of hobbitlove. 

Their lips crashed together none too gently. Their love burned hot Frodo’s hands traveled down the exposed flesh of Sam’s body. Sam moaned into Frodo’s mouth. Trembling just as much as Frodo, Sam moved his hands along Frodo’s shoulders, traveld down his chest to unbutton his shirt. Each inch of exposed flesh sent a jolt of fresh desire to Sam’s core. Soon they were both shirtless, their hardened bodies pressed together. The fit like a key and a lock, made for each other. The two of them moved back into the room, falling together in a mess of limbs onto the soft featherbed. 

Clothes were discarded as their fevered bodies moved together, yearning to be closer than close. To feel each other deep inside, to feel the depth of their hard love being spread open, spread before each other. Sam and Frodo worshiped at the altar of love, their moans a song sent to the ainur in the heavens. They painted each other’s bodies with their exhaulted love, drinking it in, savoring every salty drop. 

Once they finished they realized that once wa snot enough. Their bodies entangled in their hobbitlove all throughout the night and well into the morning. 

As Sam sat on his bench in Bag End, he thought back to that rainy night and smiled. He had know Frodo’s love and would always cherish it to his dying day. 

THE END. To be continued? Like and subscribe for more. LET me know you thoughts in comments bellow

[kitsuleif]

Okay, but what would happen if Nintendo wins? We know it is a patent lawsuit, not a copyright one, so it's not about creature designs. I'll come back to the linked article in a second. Most likely, PocketPair would have to pay a fine and change the mechanics they infringed the patents of. Or they'd have to pay a fee to keep using these mechanics. And no, we don't know exactly which patents they might have infringed upon. We can only speculate, but from all the patents that Nintendo has filed, the catching mechanic from Arceus Legends would seem like the most likely candidate. Patenting mechanics as vague as "I throw a ball and a creature gets caught in it and can be resummoned at a later time" is a rather scummy move, though. Just like it was scummy from WB to patent the Nemesis-mechanic of Shadows of Mordor, or from Bandai Namco to patent loading screen minigames. And other games use a similar catching mechanic to Pokémon, but instead of balls, they use discs, or cubes or whatever. So PocketPair could just change it to... I don't know... nets to catch the Pals instead of spheres as a result of the lawsuit (if that's really why Nintendo is after them). So the Pal designs would stay the same.

Remember Nintendo's big announcement in January when the whole topic came up?

"We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon." That would be a copyright lawsuit. That they didn't go for copyright, but for patent infringement now, 8 months later, is a good indicator that their lawyers couldn't find anything. No stolen assets, no stolen designs. Or they found so little that they advised Nintendo not to go that route because it wouldn't stand a chance in court. But Nintendo is like that creepy neighbor's Jack Russell Terrier. If they have their eyes locked on a target, they want blood! And they'll bite until it's dead. And if they paid those lawyers that much money, they want a lawsuit to happen. But of course, they want the best chance at winning that they can get. How do they do that? They file new patents this year that got approved in August, and now, a month later, we got the lawsuit coming? That's either a big coincidence (doubt it), or those patents are the ones that they are going for. Do they have the right to do this? I mean, sure... but at this point, they are looking like manchild Elon Musk throwing a tantrum about whatever new hot Elon Musk drama just dropped, just because there is a new game that looks a bit similar to theirs and that is scary successful, and now even has a deal with Aniplex and Sony Music Entertainment Japan for merchandising and maybe even an animated show in the future. Is Palworld flying a little too close to the sun with their designs? Maybe. But only a handful of Pokémon are actually trademarked, and none of the Pals look similar enough to those, so they are in the clear there. Which brings me back to the article (hey, I promised I'd come back to that): It sucks. Like, outright. "Therefore, Palworld's biggest fear in this lawsuit could be Nintendo pointing out the game's alleged copies of Pokémon's creature designs."

No. That would be a different lawsuit which they haven't filed (yet). "While some of Palworld's designs are original, others could be argued as copies of their inspiration, which would make stopping Nintendo's lawsuit incredibly difficult."

Again, completely different lawsuit. And then the part about the "former employee". Only having a twitter-Link as a source, with a self-proclaimed former employee speaking ill about the company... what does this remind me of... Oh, I know! The guy who faked evidence that Palworld was using stolen models, because he hated how successful it was and how it glorified animal abuse.

Not saying it can't be true, but I stopped trusting random internet users with no sources for their claims. At least when it's about this topic.

I know, the debate has been pretty heated from the very beginning. But maybe, we shouldn't jump to conclusions based on fake evidence, out-of-context quotes from the CEO (you know, the whole "AI created these" that was also debunked) and general rage? I love Pokémon. Heck, I wouldn't be a writer for a small Pokémon fan website if I didn't. I just hate what happened to the more recent games. A soulless, buggy mess that felt like it wasn't crafted with any kind of passion. Yes, I'm talking about Scarlet/Violet, but also about Sword/Shield. SwoSh was actually the last mainline Pokémon I've played. And then came Palworld. It showed, how beautifully crafted a monster catching game could be, if done correctly and/or differently. And I loved playing it in the early days of it's Early Access release, which was still less buggy than the fully-priced titles of Game Freak's triennial slop.

And I do believe, those two franchises can coexist and even benefit from each other. Palworld can be the more mature approach that apparently a lot of older Pokémon fans wished for (hence the massive success), while Pokémon could go back to games that are crafted with the passion of old games, which somehow got lost when they made the jump to 3D (the glaring problems started with the 3DS era, but got all more visible on the Switch). Either way, however the lawsuit ends, it will have a big impact on the gaming industry as a whole. If Nintendo wins, they could easily see this as a way to patent-troll and bully more Indie devs by patenting the fringiest of fringe mechanics and using lawsuits against them. But if PocketPair wins, and the court deems these newly filed patents invalid, it could be a precedence case of a freeing strike for the gaming industry as a whole. The Nemesis-mechanic could fall next. Patents like these are holding the industry back, because they prevent usage and thus further evolution of these mechanics. And if it needs a "Pokémon clone" to shatter these patent laws, I really hope that Nintendo will lose this one. If not... well, remember COLOPL? They got sued by Nintendo as well for patent infringement. In the end, they changed the mechanics in the affected game, paid a fine and that was it. They are still around. So Palworld as a whole probably won't just vanish if they lose the lawsuit.

Pokémon didn't invent the monster catching genre. Why should they be the one who are allowed to patent it?

Oh this continues to be fucking hilarious…

[space-blue]

Dune, the mostly spoiler free review.

Spoilers will be under breaks.

Having slept on it (and since I got to bed at 4am I needed that), and having eaten enough sugar to kickstart my brain again, I can now confirm, wholeheartedly, that Dune is a masterpiece.

Hardly a hot take on the internet right now, I know. I'll say this, to start on a low note : Dune's greatest flaw is that the side characters (anyone outside of Jessica and Paul) can be left wanting development. Some non-book readers might struggle to get attached.

The film simply doesn't have time to deliver narrative, mood and emotional characters the way Fellowship of the Rings did, as I often see the film compared to LOTR. Unlike LOTR, Dune has not shot part 2, and it doesn't have enough action beats/plot beats to give you engaging character interactions for 1/3 of the story.

As a result some characters seem to be "seen in passing". Which... Bothered me a little at 3am, but has since faded. My memories turn to Jessica and how incredible Fergusson was. Absolutely show stealing. And Skarsgard!! Yeesh, the Baron Harkonnen does not need more screen time to be intimidating...

All the cast delivers. The visuals, design, costume, photography... It's clear to me everyone involved in this was at the top of their craft and giving it their all for a career turning point of a production. I even struggle to believe book 2 could land such a punch again, I mean, I've rarely been punched in the face this hard by a movie...

I mean, I'm not the type to be into spaceships or anything. I even struggle with models in the Star Wars universe and I published 58 fan fics for that fandom so... And yet in this film, hah... When the Atreides ships are introduced (you see these big transports in the trailer) I was like "No. He didn't... OMG the madlad, he did." — the music, the visuals, the scale... And then there's the thopters, and I was having moments of prescience myself, seeing actual ship/spaceship nerds rise up, foam frothing at the mouth. Modeling thopters and making videos about them for years to come.

The audio was loud, bold. The music alien. The sound mixing done so well I had a snappy thought 2min in, along the lines of "I hope Nolan sits to this film and learns something about sound mixing from this" (don't @ me, I'm still spicy about my viewing of Tenet).

In short, Dune is spectacular. It oozes with mythos and charm, feels lived in, intimidating yet beguiling. The plot is as sound as the book's the visuals are a cinema/SFF fan's wet dream, the acting and production value are stupid crazy, and the only drawback IMO — for non book readers — will be the "in passing" characters (like Raban, Piter, Gurney, Hawat... Who simply don't have the space and time to shine yet) and the ending, which is 100% "INSERT CD 2"

It feels jarring and leaves you begging for more. But book readers probably won't feel the same pang, since we can now close our eyes and image how bonkers part two can be in such visuals.

I've over-heard old french people saying it was super boring and slow and... lol I can't disagree more, but then again the trailer does market an action movie, and the film is not any more action packed than BR2049 was. When the action comes calling it's big, fast... When it isn't, the movie is moody, deliberate, and meticulous.

It won't be for everyone, but if you've so much as "enjoyed" the books, you'll be having the experience of a lifetime.

Before I delve into some mild spoilers I'd like to make a disclaimer: Denis has begged people to see Dune in cinema, and I was thinking "of course, what film maker wouldn't want people in cinema?" but also suspected he might want the numbers in order to get part 2 started.

I owe him an apology for these impure thoughts. You MUST watch Dune in cinema, not for Denis or part 2 (though, come on...), but for YOURSELF. There is not a single home cinema set up that can do justice to this film. It's the definition of why you go to the cinema for. It's epic in scale, it makes you jump at startling moments, it punches and screams at you, and makes you squint at others, and you walk out of there with a sense of having witnessed something like... To me, like Interstellar. Remember seeing that docking sequence scene in the theater and walking out being like "holy shit" ? Well Dune is very much like that. It was made for the big screen, and anything short of IMAX or Dolby ATMOS would be a disservice to both the film and yourself.

I will be seeing it in France the instant it comes out in September. It begs rewatching.

Now for some spoilery thoughts (mild spoilers, and a warning for further spoilers below).

The film takes surprisingly little time to delve on certain topics. Like the spice. Sure you're told it's important, and the economics that drive the story make it feel important, but not nearly as much as I suspected it would be. There is no clunky exposition on the topic (lol no fucking time for that!) no scene where someone shoves spice in your face and goes “oh but blah blah spice must flow”. It’s said in passing and newcomers better hold on to their seat and pay attention.

Sadly though a fair bit of the dialogue was expositional imo, and too little of it over all felt like that heart warming moment between Paul and Leto. It's not a big drawback, but since I enjoy more character driven stories, I regretted the lack of general emotional investment.

On the point of emotions though, I was taken aback by Jamis! The scene of him in the trailers "I'll show you"... creates a sort of very subtle and implied dynamic that was probably one of the biggest heart punch for me, and started driving home how dire Paul's visions can be. I suspect some viewers won't interpret it the way I did though.

THE VOICE WAS SO WELL MADE YOU GUYS!! The thopter escape scene was always a "meh, sure, they get away" moment for me in the books. Good teamwork between Paul and Jessica... But *hearing it* was a completely different business. I was at the edge of my seat, I LOVED IT.

There's also a lot of actual signing in the film! And the Sardaukar don't speak english but a super guthural language. Kind of like making a conlang merging German and the Black Speech of Mordor and giving it to a Danish to speak. Felt very cool.

The shields were just as badass as you think they'll be. The slow impact weapons are just... *chef kiss*

Finally some heavy spoilers on book story details (jihad, Muad'dib, some characters) :

There is no mentions of Jihad, but not because it's avoided. The visions of a fight Paul has are rare, and he mentions them once. At that time he says war or massacre but not Jihad. I didn't notice until I was asked.

He also doesn't chose the name Muad'Dib. If I recall that's right after killing Jamis, but doesn't happen here, even if we see the literal muad'dib in the desert. It's also fine. Those scenes were at the very end, and I felt like slamming newcomers with such a significant moment with alien language at the very end might be a mistake. I'm curious to see how it's handled in part 2 though.

I was looking forward to Piter... His role is uber minor. As much as Hawat's. Like, the Bull that killed Leto's father gets more screen time, funnily enough. There's a heavy imagery around it that's going to fuel many video essays.

[aion-rsa]

Watch Dogs: Legion Review

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Watch Dogs: Legion’s hook is the ability to recruit and play as any character in London, but this new feature is really more representative of a series in the midst of an identity crisis.

Legion opens with Dalton Wolfe, an operative from DedSec, the hacker group featured in the previous two games, dispatched beneath the Houses of Parliament to defuse bombs set up by the rival hacker group Zero Day. (Apparently every story involving terrorists and London needs to reference the Gunpowder Plot in some way.) Wolfe succeeds in saving Parliament, but loses his life in the process while failing to stop other bombs set up around the city.

DedSec is blamed for the bombings and the British government quickly hires the private security company Albion to establish a high-tech surveillance state covering every inch of London. Things seem pretty grim until you choose a new operative to rebuild DedSec and unravel the conspiracy behind Zero Day. 

The story is largely formulaic and at times struggles to make a point. Ubisoft initially described Legion as a vision of post-Brexit London, but while hot button issues like fake news, illegal immigration, and National Health Service funding are regularly referenced, Legion seems too afraid to take any sort of stance on these topics or satirize them like other games such as the much bolder Grand Theft Auto. Ultimately, the plot feels as hollow as the many interchangeable characters you’ll play as.

I started my playthrough with Riordan Doyle, a pistol-packing debt collector with a deadeye, but quickly leveled up to unlock more than a dozen other operatives with a variety of skills. For as much attention as Ubisoft put on the ability to play as anyone you meet on the streets, it never feels very fleshed out, and isn’t all that different from similar systems in the State of Decay and Shadow of Mordor games.

Recruitment begins by pressing a button to learn a few basic facts about a character and the skills they’ll offer DeadSec. These abilities range from powerful new weapons and vehicles to drone summons and unique combat abilities. But some characters also come with disadvantages like poorer stealth abilities or weaker damage resistance.

If your potential DedSec member has a positive opinion of you, you can initiate a recruitment mission, which might involve information gathering, destroying incriminating information, or rescuing one of their friends from Albion. I actually enjoyed many of these missions more than the main campaign, which quickly grows repetitive with countless missions that have you infiltrate a secure areas to hack something before making a quick escape.

Procedural generation comes with its own set of problems. For one thing, character models are pretty bad in the Xbox One X version of the game I played. I’d say they actually look worse than the characters in the first Watch Dogs released in 2014. Leaving character creation to chance also leads to characters who just don’t seem to have voices that match their models. 

It leads to other inconsistencies as well. At one point, I was tasked with recruiting a lawyer who would be able to free jailed operatives more quickly. But in order to get her to join DedSec, I had to get information about two men who assaulted her father because she couldn’t get the police to do anything about them, so I don’t think she was quite the formidable criminal defense lawyer she made herself out to be.

Once you have multiple operatives at your side, you are free to change them at any time you’re not in combat or in a restricted area, but don’t expect the smooth transition between characters like in Grand Theft Auto V. Switching operatives is accompanied by an almost 10-second long load screen each time. And you can’t change characters (or even equipment) in restricted areas, which are where the majority of the campaign takes place. Then again, it doesn’t matter much since there’s little incentive to keep changing operatives once you meet a powerful one that matches your playstyle. 

Release Date: Oct. 29, 2020 Platforms: XBO (reviewed), PS4, PC, Stadia, XBX/S, PS5 Developer: Ubisoft Publisher: Ubisoft Genre: Action-adventure

At the start of the game, you’ll have the option of turning on permadeath. Without it, characters are hospitalized or sent to jail for a short time before they return to the squad. Even if you do play with permadeath on, there’s little risk of losing characters you’ve invested in. Legion’s AI is surprisingly dumb, with enemies constantly walking into gunfire or easily evaded. All in all, these issues make me wish Ubisoft had gone with a more traditional approach to the campaign with one playable character like in the previous Watch Dogs games. 

Other gameplay changes are a similarly mixed bag. Legion puts a greater emphasis on stealth and hand-to-hand combat than previous games, but melee controls are just plain bad, using essentially a rock-paper-scissor system of strike, guard break, and dodge. And it rarely seems to work all that well. More often than not, I’d whip out a firearm to quickly end a fight after taking a couple hard hits from enemies. Curiously, even though Albion’s guards are well armed and armored, they’re almost always willing to first try to resolve things with fisticuffs. It’s just a bizarre design decision, especially when Watch Dogs: Legion’s gunplay and driving remain fundamentally solid.

Near-future London, with dozens of self-driving cars on its roads and drones filling its skies, is rendered well enough, although I did notice the frame rate dipping when driving around the city at high speeds. Perhaps that’s why campaign missions focus so much on sneaking around building interiors.

One addition I did enjoy was the ability to hack cargo drones and fly over the London skyline. This gives you the best view of the city and lets you access quite a few areas that are otherwise off-limits, but pretty soon this feature also reveals itself to be a one-trick pony. There’s just not much else to do once you’re in the air. 

I do need to note that there are a couple other features I didn’t get to try out. Legion will feature a four-player cooperative online mode, but it won’t be available until December. And while I’m hopeful that some of Legion’s technical issues will be ironed out in the Xbox Series X version, I didn’t have the chance to try that version of the game for this review.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

There’s still some fun to be had in Watch Dogs: Legion. Hacking environmental objects to see the reactions of NPCs or raising blockers to evade police remain as amusing as ever, but you’ll really have to make your own fun in this sandbox, or hope that the game’s code spits out one of its better recruitment missions. When you stick to the main story, Legion’s new features feel half-baked, and the plot never comes close to its full potential. This is one of the more disappointing sequels in recent memory.

The post Watch Dogs: Legion Review appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2JLmq8F

[bikiniarmorbattledamage]

@avatarwill113​ submitted:

Have you heard that Shelob will be in Shadow of War (Shadow of Mordor sequel)?

Ah, Shelob the terrifying giant spider. I wonder what they’ll do with her…

Oh. They’ll give her the ability to turn into a generic sexy women. I can only assume they wanted name recognition, but they also wanted “Sex Appeal” so here we are. Why they couldn’t make up their own generic sexy women, I don’t know. 

Of course we’re at the stage in popculture  when even a giant arachnid has to appear as a “sexy” human woman, even though it certainly wouldn’t go that way if the character was male... Since she was unambiguously a spider in the LotR books and movies, we look forward to seeing what random human character they plan to turn into a spider in the next game. That’s only fair.

Took the liberty of joining this submission with the new Jimquisition episode that discusses Shelob’s sexy humanization (and the compulsory sexualization of female characters in general) in detail. 

Jim’s video makes some welcome references to related topics we discussed on the blog, too:

The inequality of generically handsome male game characters to generically hot female characters

His old episode where the only interesting, unconventional female game protagonist turns out to be a monstrous reptile goddess

The Alien Girl statue

Why having a narrative justification for a sexy lady in a story doesn’t legitimize the shameless pandering

How sexyfying anything even remotely female in your design is the exact opposite of creativity

I’ll leave you with that quote from the episode:

“The way Monolith is doing Shelob has been done to death, basically. Even ignoring anything social justice-y, it’s creatively so very, very done. There loads of engaging and interesting things you could do with a massive sentient spider - shexy Shelob isn’t one of them.”

~Ozzie 

Personally I’m not sure what’s funnier, that not only is Shelob apparently going to fill in the narrative role of Morrigan (a sexy woman who can turn into a spider) but also like they saw the introduction for other famous video game spider lady, Queelag of Dark Souls:

Then decided that perhaps the combination of horror and titilation would be too confusing for their intended audience and decided to go full sexy (and boring).

- wincenworks

[sindar-princeling]

Hello! I have a slightly peculiar question - about seasons in Middle-Earth ;p Specifically like - could there be a winter in Mordor? Is there even a possibility of snow and ice in there? I only remember it as a place of fire and dust, but I was watching a lot of Middle-Earth: Shadow of War gameplay and there is snow and even an ice lake in Mordor, so I'm confused now... It's not a canonical correct game, but, still, it raised this question in my mind xD Hope you don't mind it ^^

Hey! Thanks for the question and sorry for the delay - but now I finally found some time between maths excercises…

My first thought was that there couldn’t be a winter in Mordor, but I decided to dig deeper into the topic to be sure.

When you check Mordor’s LOTR Wikia page, the first thing you see is:

It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire, ash, and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume.

…doesn’t sound too winter-y, right?

But I looked for more sources, and I managed to gather a couple of pieces of information that lead to the same conclusion.

Mordor had an inhospitable climate, even ignoring theeffects of Sauron - hot and dry with little vegetation. (x)

Los Angeles and western Texas in the USA, and Alice Springs in Australia, have an annual-average climatevery similar to that of Mordor.(same source)

Karen Wynn Fonstad’s Atlas of Middle-Earth (I haven’t been able to find an English version to quote, unfortunately), also describes Mordor’s climate as desert and with little to no vegetation.

So, what I understand from these fragments, is that there is no winter in Mordor as we traditionally understand it. Which means, winter in Mordor looks more or less like any other season - maybe it’s a lttle bit less hot. But there is definitely no snow, ice, low temperatures…

Besides, all these sources didn’t take the topic of Sauron’s magic affecting the weather under consideration; which I think makes the region even more resistant to “natural“ elements of weather and sustains that hot, unnatural, fume-y atmosphere.

Hope it helped! If anyone has something to add, please do! ^-^

[wistfulwizard]

At this point, I just hope the visuals are nice so I can make video edits even if it's crap

My unease is not so much about sex scenes or lack thereof but more... if it will have the right tone, have emotional weight, feel meaningful, explore the very interesting themes, work with the lore rather than agaisnt it and just be respectful of all the cool things in the 2nd age

I'm one of those people that struggle to be in the complete 'death of the author' mindset since it's the universe that Jirt created for himself. Him being an actual war vet who lost friends and lived through two world wars is why I think battles, violence and horror feels very different in his work than in GRR Martin's for example. GoT relished in showing the world to be terrible and senseless, but in Tolkien... there is some lingering of hope, stars shining amongst the clouds in Mordor, the flowers growing on the fallen head of the king but there are some things that time cannot mend, some hurts that go too deep...

To me, there is something that touches me profoundly and I'm not sure how to describe it, a poetry, a beauty that at times makes me want to cry tears that are not evil, sad and comforting, an ever present longing for more

The worst thing this show could feel is trivial. That's the reason Jolkien never continued writing 'The New Shadow' and he wrote this in an essay:

I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which 'Escape' is now so often used. Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?

To know the world sucks, I really dont need another tv show telling me. Escapism and reflections on the nature of mortality, that's what I'm after, bébé

I have nothing agaisnt people making grim dark fantasy and so on, and there are very dark elements in Tolkien (they are handled rather differently though) which can be explored beautifully....buuutttt I'm afraid of how easily it could be done terribly

...

Sauron better be hot

They can mess up everything else but Sauron better be hot

Also somewhat intrigued/terrified to discover how the LoTR Amazon show shifts the fandom demographics and how that collision is managed by the rest of us cus like… It’s essentially going to be drawing the lotr and silmarillion fandoms into one space… Like air lifting some horny noldo vagabonds into the shire, we really cannot predict how this particular equation will pan out. 

[sgiandubh]

Hi Sgiandubh, I don’t have as much time as I’d like to keep up with Tumblr. And I’m falling behind! I have to say you love injected it with a whole new life with your atwllar posts and analyses. And now I’m even further behind!

I don’t know what happened with Mordor to make you post your photo. You don’t need to defend yourself. Your intellect and clarity are evident. You’ve done wi sera for believers. But I send you some warmth. Just so you know many appreciate your posts.

I also don’t know what happened with FMN gin or what it’s true meaning is. Is there a post that outlines it all? Kind of ironic she named it that and and then forgot about it.

Dear @lollilop,

Thank you for the wonderful words. Truly. They are very generous, as I am doing my best and I am always so glad if these posts of mine can be useful to anyone.

FMN gin is, for the moment, not a hot topic. You, along with all of us, will know when the time comes. But at the moment, as I already mentioned, I would not really hold my breath on this one.

Be well and have a wonderful first Advent week-end, if observing it :)

[garden-ghoul]

return of the blog, part 6

“I can’t believe I tricked myself into mandatory subheading/blurb things”

THE LAST DEBATE

I’m going to quickly try to guess what they’re debating. It definitely has to do with Aragorn, if only obliquely, because he’s such a hot topic these days. It might be like “should Aragorn reveal himself as the True King??” or it might be like “should we march on Mordor to act as a diversion for Frodo and Sam?” or it might be like “would it make marching on Mordor more likely if Aragorn revealed himself as the True King?” FIND OUT THIS AND MORE UNDER THE CUT.

No debate yet. Legolas and Gimli are off to see their hobbit pals; Gimli wants to berate them for being so much trouble (and hug them) and Legolas... I guess wants to smile benevolently but slightly creepily at them? That’s what he does, right? Anyway I think it’s rather odd that they need to “beg leave to go into the city” (all the fighting’s done, isn’t it? Maybe they’re supposed to help shovel corpses?), and then there’s this great description of how they look together:

Legolas was fair of face beyond the measure of Men, and he sang an elven-song in a clear voice as he walked in the morning; but Gimli stalked beside him, stroking his beard and staring about him.

Legolas is such an airhead, or he just doesn’t care if he annoys anyone by singing. I love him. Gimli is 100% me though, from the fact that he “stalks” to the fact that he is stroking his face and staring. That’s the ghoul aesthetic. I seriously do stalk everywhere. So they meet Prince Dol Amroth and tell him to go take council with Aragorn outside the city. Listen, Aragorn, it’s kind of pointless to pretend you aren’t taking over rulership of the city if you’re just... moving war councils out to wherever you fancy and actually making it more inconvenient for everyone. Like, your symbolic gestures are a little half-baked.

Legolas and Gimli are talking while they walk like, “what IS it about humans?” “well, it’s probably their high reproductive rate.” “oh yeah that makes sense. HEY SEAGULLS. GIMLI DID YOU KNOW.... I GOT A BAD CASE OF THE SEAGAYS...” “:(” Actually here I’m condensing two conversations, like half an hour apart, into one. But in my defense Tolkien really did not make that clear. Legolas tells the hobbits about how they got from the Paths of the Dead to Pelennor. I didn’t find any of it interesting except for this passage:

Pale swords were drawn; but I know not whether their blades would still bite, for the Dead needed no longer any weapon but fear. None would withstand them.

It’s really fun how unclear it is whether they are just Super Scary and people are throwing themselves overboard to get away, or if they actually are exuding a powerful curse of suicide. Metal. Oh also the dead army didn’t even make it to Pelennor. The stolen ships were manned by freed slaves and people from just, around the general region of Lebennin.

NOW we go to the debate at Aragorn’s. Gandalf tells everyone that, as Denethor saw, trying to win against Sauron in outright battle is just completely impossible. So they need some craftier way to beat him! Specifically, they need a way to keep him certain that Minas Tirith currently has the Ring. And they need to empty Mordor of combatants so it will be safer for Sam and Frodo to travel through. I’m looking at the map, and it can’t be more than a week’s walk to Orodruin from Cirith Ungol, if they don’t have to take too many detours. Aragorn and co just need to stall for time. Gandalf’s plan is to do something so incredibly dumb that Sauron will assume “only someone who possesses the Ring would be confident enough to pull a stunt like this!” So they’re going to take about 7000 people and try to assault Mordor. But as Gandalf says, for what they’re doing “there are names among us that are worth more than a thousand mail-clad knights apiece.”

THE BLACK GATE OPENS

Merry is upset that he’s too injured to come on the suicide mission. But Pippin can go! To represent hobbits! Ummm dude Merry is probably more worried about his best friend dying? Maybe? Also weren’t there supposed to be elves eventually. Maybe from Lorien. I’m sure they’re coming. Galadriel has a natural instinct for drama, so they’ll show up at precisely the most dramatic time.

The army rides for Minas Morgul, only to destroy the bridge so nothing bad can come out of it. Because they are goodies two-shoes they also wash off some graffiti on the way. They also regularly shout “ARAGORN IS HERE!” really loudly, just in case it might incite someone to attack them. They look like real boneheads tbh. When they get to the Horrible Nightmare Desert a lot of people just can’t go on because it’s so filled with evil thoughts and they’re just mostly young teens who really don’t belong here and want to go home. So Aragorn sends them to do murders in a more pleasant place, since there’s still plenty of murdering that needs to be done.

Wait sorry one of the features of the desert that was just mentioned is “vomit of the maggot folk of Mordor.” WHAT IS THAT. THE MAGGOT-FOLK? The way that it’s described makes me imagine some kind of enormous burrowing worms, which is FANTASTIC. Please let me meet the maggot-folk of Mordor. Like I know that’s not what maggots do but let a guy dream.

The army comes to the gate of Morannon and they shout “HEY. KILLING US UNPROVOKED IS ILLEGAL. SAURON COME OUT SO WE CAN ARREST YOU.” Sauron tells his thralls to do a really dramatic pause, and then... right... NOW do the drums and trumpets, yes, just like that, this is sick as fuck I bet they’re terrified. Now we’ll send out Ghost Rider (no seriously the Mouth of Sauron is described exactly like Ghost Rider) to taunt them. Ghost Rider is actually a human, a “black Numenorean.” no JOHNALD black Numenoreans are just cool guys who happen to be black. This is an EVIL Numenorean. Hey remember how great he was in the movie? He did this cute dumb smile that was really charming. I remember watching a special explanatory video on how they made the gross open wounds around his mouth, I am enormously fond of him. THIS version is more obviously just a normal person. Aragorn like, stares at him sort of menacingly and he cringes and goes “I’m an AMBASSADOR you’re not allowed to hurt me!!”

Then he holds up Frodo’s personal effects and says “Hey we are going to torture him until he is a horrible thing... UNLESS you cede all lands east of the Anduin to Sauron. This is some classic early WWII Nazi fuckery, honestly. First the lands east of the Anduin, then the entire south, then they’ll be spreading into Arnor, and when they’ve got the elves cut off and surrounded they kill them too. But Gandalf is like “uh hold on there is literally no single person who is worth that much. Fuck off.” And he takes Sam’s sword and the mithril coat and whacks Ghost Rider in the face with wizard light. All very badass, until the gate opens and 80,000 orcs and Easterlings come out. Everyone points their pointy things outward. Pippin gets ready to die, hopefully ASAP so he won’t have to see too much carnage. He misses Merry. He kills one guy and almost immediately gets sat on by a troll, and passes out. 

Also, eagles?

[vardasvapors]

Faramir and Éowyn! Because I love them!

1. I REALLY LIKE ITHILIEN I really like the idea of them being able to just chill there sometimes in between all the long-term cleaning up and restructuring stuff post-Sauron like ahhhhh what a good…in-between-y sort of healing healthy neutral zone-ish physical location and temporal/historical situation to be, re-establishing this new area and new House, doing cultural relations stuff now that they can relax more, maybe cleaning up the Dead Marshes, fixing up or building more of a cover between them and the wastelands nearer to Mordor, chatting with Legolas and all his elves who set up shop next to them and giving Legolas relationship advice, then writing to Eomer to make him give Gimli relationship advice ok no sorry i will stay on topic

2. I’m ofc a huge fan of how well their stories match up but also how like…kind of a couple things that bother me about both of them also match up really well? Like, it always lowkey kind of bugged me how Tolkien goes through all this stuff with Faramir talking about how war and conquest and violence is so terrible….and then emphasizes how many battles he fought in and how great a warrior he remained after the war lmao. Which makes perfect sense in-universe, because that’s exactly what the situation in canon warrants! But narratively it’s kind of…bleh. And it always lowkey kind of bugged me how Eowyn is both the only warrior woman who’s defying gender roles while at the same time is the character who is taught about how bullshit war and glory is. Which also makes perfect sense in-universe because that’s precisely what her specific character warrants and her specific character arc is really excellent! But narratively against all context it’s kind of…bleh. And yet, putting the two of them together, the two ‘bleh’s interact in a really fascinating way, especially if it got the further elaboration and detail those bleh’s deserved.

3. I think that even though the Gondorians would really like Eowyn there would also be some shitty like, cliched and personality-flattening hot takes on The Narrative of Their Dynamic And Falling In Love Arc, about like, taming and pitying and teaching her how to fit into a proper marriage dynamic and about the Uber-Numenorean scholarly Faramir with the ringwraith-slaying shieldmaiden from the less cultured nation, etc…and idk I feel like this might bother them more than they think it should?

4. I love Merry and Pippin’s respective relationships with either of them! I love the idea of them like, talking about Merry and Pippin themselves, as Merry and Pippin talk about them….and also okay so like Merry and Pippin definitely visited them later too? I’m, I love this sort of weird thing…

5. Faramir dying at age 120 seems somewhat too young to me, given how super-Numenorean he is emphasized as being throughout the whole story. I mean, compared to Aragorn’s 210? But it seems that the date of his death would have likely been not too long after Eowyn died, maybe even very shortly after Eowyn died if she lived to be very old (which is not unlikely given how hale Theoden was in his 70s and that she’s a bit Dunedain herself), and so maybe he decided to will himself to die after she died – a la all those bazillion women in the legendarium who up and died when their husbands died. Okay fine I admit this is partly just about my salt over all those always-female widows, but I genuinely like it as a character thing too.

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Dr Stone, Brain Circuits & G2A

Well once again we have an amazing show for your entertainment, DJ brings us news of a new anime series, Buck has news about brain circuits, good and bad decision making, and finally the Professor brings us news about fraud and scams. But first up we wish to just say welcome ad thank you for joining us once again.

Now the new anime series is called Dr Stone, set in a post-apocalyptic world where everyone has been turned into… Statues and society is to be rebuilt using science. So the premise is looking interesting, the promo gives some comedic content to look forward to. It looks like it will be worth checking out for a laugh. We wish to advise that no DJ’s were harmed during the recording of this and he was ok, just a bit stranger than normal. Which in itself is quite remarkable really, but we digress. Dr Stone has 24 episodes at this point and aired from 5th July on Crunchyroll. So, check it out and let us know what you think.

Now, have you ever wondered why people continue to make the same silly decision repeatedly? For example, people repeatedly using harmful drugs, voting once again for moronic politicians, and reality television shows still being watched. Seriously who watches that stuff, can they just stop it please so we can get better content that doesn’t make us want to claw our eyes out! Umm, yes, bad decisions, well a recent study has been conducted and shows support for the hypothesis that three particular regions of the brain are involved. That’s right, it is not just the frontal lobe, it bounces between various sections and is actually quite involved. If one section is not working right then the result is an individual with a predilection for bad choices, like the foolish nut job mumble rappers like lil stump, or is that bump, whatever, no one cares really. This is when Buck starts to get technical with some of his explanation and has to pause to calm down.

Professor tells us that game developers would rather we pirate games from something called file sharing, whatever that is. They urge this be done instead of using G2A due to a constant amount of fraudulent activity causing problems for both consumers and developers alike. That’s right folks, game developers are apparently tired of nasty vermin cheats who are ripping off everyone, this is a very interesting topic that has a number of issues involved and hits at the heart of our gaming recreation. So check it out and see what exactly is happening.

As usual we have the shout outs, remembrances, birthdays and special events of interest for the week. We also wish to say that a surprise mechanism is a trap, and so are loot boxes, so please EA, stop treating us as morons. But other than that, please remember to take care of yourselves, look out for each other and stay hydrated. Also check out the folks at Off with the Fairies and tell them we said hello.

We will return next week at the same Nerd time, on the same Nerd podcast channels, and at the same Nerd place (preferably over a cup of Earl Grey, hot). Catch you next time.

EPISODE NOTES:

Dr Stone anime Series - https://comicbook.com/anime/2019/06/30/dr-stone-anime-tv-promo/

Brain Circuits - https://scitechdaily.com/three-distinct-brain-circuits-lead-us-to-make-bad-and-good-decisions/

G2A piracy - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-07-02-developers-call-for-players-to-pirate-their-games-rather-than-buy-from-g2a

Games currently playing

Buck

– Mafia 3 - https://store.steampowered.com/app/360430/Mafia_III/

Professor

– Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy - https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/crash-bandicoot-n-sane-trilogy-switch/

DJ – Apex Legends

- https://www.playstation.com/en-au/games/apex-legends-ps4/

Other topics discussed

Mannequin Challenge (viral Internet video trend)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannequin_Challenge

Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995 anime series)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion

Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans (2015 anime series)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Suit_Gundam:_Iron-Blooded_Orphans

Tartarus Sunspot

- https://matthewreilly.fandom.com/wiki/Tartarus_Sunspot

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies (Psychology term)

- https://study.com/academy/lesson/self-fulfilling-prophecies-in-psychology-definition-examples.html

The Secret (2006 book)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_%28book%29

Mozart Effect

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart_effect

Oprah Winfrey moments

- Oprah shuts down her book club - https://ew.com/article/2002/04/08/oprah-shuts-down-her-book-club/

- Oprah gives everyone a car - https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/how-oprahs-iconic-you-get-a-car-moment-ended-on-a-sour-note/news-story/46646a3fbf54acc210354304c9910490

- Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s couch - https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/11-years-ago-tom-cruise-jumped-on-oprahs-couch-lost-his-mind_n_57436ab1e4b0613b512b05ad

You Wouldn’t Steal A Car (Anti-piracy advertisement)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Wouldn%27t_Steal_a_Car

Take Two CEO: Loot Boxes are freedom of speech

- https://segmentnext.com/2019/06/27/take-two-ceo-look-boxes-are-freedom-of-speech/

EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson’s take on loot boxes

- https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2019/06/20/ea-loot-boxes-discussed-by-the-companys-ceo-andrew-wilson/

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (2014 game)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-earth:_Shadow_of_Mordor

Spyro Reignited Trilogy (2018 game)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyro_Reignited_Trilogy

Mario (Nintendo character)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario

Donkey Kong Country (1994 Super Nintendo game)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_Kong_Country

Monkey island (adventure game series)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_Island_(series)

Wattson (Apex Legends character)

- https://apexlegends.gamepedia.com/Wattson

Shoutouts

2 Jul 1839 - Slaves aboard a Spanish schooner La Amistad revolt to secure their freedom while being transported from one Cuban port to another - https://www.history.com/news/the-amistad-slave-rebellion-175-years-ago

2 Jul 1900 – LZ-1 (Luftschiff Zeppelin 1) made its maiden flight, the first flight lasted about 18 minutes and covered about 3-1/2 miles over Lake Constance at Friedrichshafen in Southern Germany, not far from the Swiss border. The first flight of LZ-1 was the culmination of years of planning by its creator Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. - https://www.airships.net/zeppelins/

4 Jul 1776 - Independence Day (colloquial: the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States on July 4, 1776. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were no longer subject to the monarch of Britain and were now united, free, and independent states. The Congress had voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2, but it was not declared until July 4. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(United_States)

Remembrances

2 Jul 1850 - Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British statesman and Conservative Party politician who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and twice as Home Secretary. He is regarded as the father of modern British policing by founding of the Metropolitian Police Service leading to a new type of officer known in tribute to him as "bobbies" and "peelers”. He is also reforming and liberalising the criminal law. He died from a horse-riding accident at 62 in Westminster, Middlesex. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Peel

2 Jul 1999 - Mario Gianluigi Puzo, was an Americanauthor,screenwriter and journalist. He is known for his crime novels about the Italian-Americanmafia, most notably The Godfather, which he later co-adapted into a three-part film saga directed by Francis Ford Coppola. He received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the first film in 1972 and Part II in 1974. Puzo also wrote the original screenplay for the 1978 Superman film. His final novel The Family was released posthumously in 2001. He died of heart failure at 78 in West Bay Shore, New York. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Puzo

2 Jul 2008 - Elizabeth Spriggs, was an English character actress. Sprigg's roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company included Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Gertrude in Hamlet and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. In 1978, she won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for Arnold Wesker's Love Letters on Blue Paper. She received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress for the 1995 film Sense and Sensibility. Her other films included Richard's Things, Impromptu, Paradise Road and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. She died at 78 in Oxford, Oxfordshire. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Spriggs

Famous Birthdays

2 Jul 1877 – Hermann Hesse, German-born poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include Demian,Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, and The Glass Bead Game, each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in Calw, Württemberg - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Hesse

2 Jul 1908 - Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer, serving as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was the Court's 96th justice and its first African-American justice. Prior to his judicial service, he successfully argued several cases before the Supreme Court, including Brown v. Board of Education which held that racial segregation in public education is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. He was born in Baltimore,Maryland - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurgood_Marshall

3 Jul 1935 - Harrison Schmitt, American geologist, retired NASA astronaut, university professor, former U.S. senator from New Mexico, and, as a crew member of Apollo 17, the most recent living person to have walked on the Moon. As Apollo 17 was the last of the Apollo missions, he also became the twelfth and second-youngest person to set foot on the Moon, and the second-to-last person to step off of the Moon. Schmitt also remains the first and only professional scientist to have flown beyond low Earth orbit and to have visited the Moon. He was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Schmitt

Events of Interest

2 Jul 1843 - An alligator falls from sky during a thunderstorm in Charleston, South Carolina - https://www.onthisday.com/photos/the-day-an-alligator-fell-from-the-sky

2 Jul 1956 – Elvis records hound dog & Don’t Be Cruel during an exhaustive recording session at RCA studios in New York City - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Be_Cruel

3 Jul 1938 – World speed record for a steam locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 125.88 miles per hour (202.58 km/h) - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/only-in-britain/mallard-set-world-speed-record/

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

Follow us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NerdsAmalgamated/

Email - Nerds.Amalgamated@gmail.com

Twitter - https://twitter.com/NAmalgamated

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6Nux69rftdBeeEXwD8GXrS

iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/top-shelf-nerds/id1347661094

RSS - http://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/topshelfnerdspodcast?format=rss