#i researched but I ended up just pulling ideas from general swords used in europe

[dawnthefluffyduck]

I don't know how tattoos work but I was asked to make a mock-up for one by my cousin. He just wanted a sword with the word "valor" on it in Hebrew and some vines, which is kinda vague, so I did my best. I put a few blade types at the top for him to pick from and some kind of vine leaves at the bottom so that way he has more than one example of what he was asking for

He ended up not liking the vines which was a shame, but he liked the blade in the bottom middle, so I'll take the wins where I can get them :D

[aion-rsa]

Top New Fantasy Books in August 2020

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It’s summer. Lots of people are staying home. It might be a good time for a book. Here are some of the upcoming books we’re anticipating:

Join the Den of Geek Book Club!

Top New Fantasy Books August 2020

The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Tor Release date: Aug. 11 

Den of Geek says: The Baru Cormorant series features as its hero a mentally ill accountant with the fate of an empire at its fingers. The third book in the series promises more dark, twisty introspection and grim, creative world-building. 

Publisher’s summary: The hunt is over. After fifteen years of lies and sacrifice, Baru Cormorant has the power to destroy the Imperial Republic of Falcrest that she pretends to serve. The secret society called the Cancrioth is real, and Baru is among them.

But the Cancrioth’s weapon cannot distinguish the guilty from the innocent. If it escapes quarantine, the ancient hemorrhagic plague called the Kettling will kill hundreds of millions…not just in Falcrest, but all across the world. History will end in a black bloodstain.

Is that justice? Is this really what Tain Hu hoped for when she sacrificed herself?

Baru’s enemies close in from all sides. Baru’s own mind teeters on the edge of madness or shattering revelation. Now she must choose between genocidal revenge and a far more difficult path―a conspiracy of judges, kings, spies and immortals, puppeteering the world’s riches and two great wars in a gambit for the ultimate prize. 

If Baru had absolute power over the Imperial Republic, she could force Falcrest to abandon its colonies and make right its crimes.

Buy The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. 

Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley

Type: Epic Poem  Publisher: MCD x FSG Originals Release date: Aug. 25 

Den of Geek says: Headley got an intimate look at Beowulf in the modern interpretation The Mere Wife. She turns the intellect behind that inventive, scathing novel about complex and furious women to a translation of the poem featuring new research. 

Publisher’s summary: Nearly twenty years after Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf―and fifty years after the translation that continues to torment high-school students around the world―there is a radical new verse translation of the epic poem by Maria Dahvana Headley, which brings to light elements that have never before been translated into English, recontextualizing the binary narrative of monsters and heroes into a tale in which the two categories often entwine, justice is rarely served, and dragons live among us. 

A man seeks to prove himself as a hero. A monster seeks silence in his territory. A warrior seeks to avenge her murdered son. A dragon ends it all. The familiar elements of the epic poem are seen with a novelist’s eye toward gender, genre, and history―Beowulf has always been a tale of entitlement and encroachment, powerful men seeking to become more powerful, and one woman seeking justice for her child, but this version brings new context to an old story. While crafting her contemporary adaptation of Beowulf, Headley unearthed significant shifts lost over centuries of translation. Buy Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley.  

The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe

Type: Novel (Reprint)  Publisher: Tor Books Release date: Aug. 11 

Den of Geek says: Gene Wolfe is a modern master of fantasy. This reprint of a 2004 duology provides both original stories in one paperback package. 

Publisher’s summary: A young man in his teens is transported from our world to a magical realm consisting of seven levels of reality. Transformed by magic into a grown man of heroic proportions, he takes the name Sir Able of the High Heart and sets out on a quest to find the sword that has been promised to him, the blade that will help him fulfill his ambition to become a true hero―a true knight. 

Inside, however, Sir Able remains a boy, and he must grow in every sense to survive what lies ahead…

Buy The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe. 

Top New Fantasy Books July 2020 

The Book of Dragons: An Anthology by Jonathan Strahan

Type: Anthology  Publisher: Harper Voyager  Release date: July 7 

Den of Geek says: I’m always looking for a good book about dragons, and this incredible list of authors promises adventurous and unique stories. Anne Leckie, Zen Cho, Seanan Maguire, J.Y. Yang, Patricia A McKillip, Brooke Bolander … it’s an astounding, literary-flavored list of people qualified to write cool creatures.

Publisher’s summary: Here there be dragons . . . 

From China to Europe, Africa to North America, dragons have long captured our imagination in myth and legend. Whether they are rampaging beasts awaiting a brave hero to slay or benevolent sages who have much to teach humanity, dragons are intrinsically connected to stories of creation, adventure, and struggle beloved for generations. 

Bringing together nearly thirty stories and poems from some of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers working today— Garth Nix, Scott Lynch, R.F. Kuang, Ann Leckie & Rachel Swirsky, Daniel Abraham, Peter S. Beagle, Beth Cato, Zen Cho, C. S. E Cooney, Aliette de Bodard, Amal El-Mohtar, Kate Elliott, Theodora Goss, Ellen Klages, Ken Liu, Seanan Maguire, Patricia A McKillip, K. J. Parker, Kelly Robson, Michael Swanwick, Jo Walton, Elle Katharine White, Jane Yolen, Kelly Barnhill, Brooke Bolander, Sarah Gailey, and J. Y. Yang—and illustrated by award-nominated artist Rovina Cai with black-and-white line drawings specific to each entry throughout, this extraordinary collection vividly breathes fire and life into one of our most captivating and feared magical creatures as never before and is sure to become a treasured keepsake for fans of fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales.

Buy The Book of Dragons by Jonathan Strahan on Amazon

Or What You Will by Joe Walton 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Tor Books Release date: July 7 

Den of Geek says: Jo Walton is a writer’s writer, highly praised but still generally skating under the radar. I found her 2014 My Real Children to not nearly live up to its very high concept, but she’s one of those authors with technical prowess who is at least worth checking out for context for women’s science fiction. The metafiction plot sounds fun. 

Publisher’s summary: He has been too many things to count. He has been a dragon with a boy on his back. He has been a scholar, a warrior, a lover, and a thief. He has been dream and dreamer. He has been a god. 

But “he” is in fact nothing more than a spark of idea, a character in the mind of Sylvia Harrison, 73, award-winning author of thirty novels over forty years. He has played a part in most of those novels, and in the recesses of her mind, Sylvia has conversed with him for years. 

But Sylvia won’t live forever, any more than any human does. And he’s trapped inside her cave of bone, her hollow of skull. When she dies, so will he.

Now Sylvia is starting a new novel, a fantasy for adult readers, set in Thalia, the Florence-resembling imaginary city that was the setting for a successful YA trilogy she published decades before. Of course he’s got a part in it. But he also has a notion. He thinks he knows how he and Sylvia can step off the wheel of mortality altogether. All he has to do is convince her.

Buy Or What You Will by Jo Walton on Amazon 

The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal

Type: Graphic Novel  Publisher: First Second  Release date: July 14 

Den of Geek says: The Adventure Zone is a wildly popular humorous fantasy podcast. It’s part of the big 2010s wave of Dungeons & Dragons coming back into the geek space. Especially for someone who might not want to listen to hundreds of episodes of a podcast, the illustrated version does a good job of smoothing out the story into a graphic novel format without removing the goofy chaos of the original podcast. 

Publisher’s summary: START YOUR ENGINES, friends, Clint McElroy and sons Griffin, Justin, and Travis hit the road again with Taako, Magnus and Merle, the beloved agents of chaos from the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novels illustrated by Carey Pietsch, The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins and The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited.

Our boys have gone full-time at the Bureau of Balance, and their next assignment is a real thorny one: apprehending The Raven, a master thief who’s tapped into the power of a Grand Relic to ransack the city of Goldcliff. Local life-saver Lieutenant Hurley pulls them out of the woods, only to throw them headlong into the world of battle wagon racing, Goldcliff’s favorite high-stakes low-legality sport and The Raven’s chosen battlefield. Will the boys and Hurley be able to reclaim the Relic and pull The Raven back from the brink, or will they get lost in the weeds?

Based on the beloved blockbuster podcast where three brothers and their dad play a tabletop RPG in real time, The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal has it all: blossoming new friendships, pining for outlaw lovers, and a rollicking race you can root for!

Buy The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal 

The post Top New Fantasy Books in August 2020 appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/30f7KEw

[sjrresearch]

Historical Accuracy vs. Diversity: The Greatest War in Gaming

Diversity is a hot button issue across all mediums, the video game industry included. Developers are starting to ask themselves whether they're being diverse enough in their content, and consumers are responding in both troubling and supportive ways. It's an issue that primarily arises when developers tackle a game rooted in real, verifiable history. We know who was predominant in specific periods and locations and who should have the lion's share of representation, but only recently have creators started to even consider how diverse in gender, race, and sexual orientation their games have been. With representation an important topic of the 21st century, there has been a push to ensure all have a share of the spotlight, regardless of sex, color, or sexuality. 

The more video games start to favor representation, the more they create a sort of tug of war between the depiction of races or genders and the accuracy of real-world events. As the two can often counter one another, we're left asking if it's worth sacrificing historical accuracy in favor of diversity. To many, it's not an issue. So long as the core historical elements of a game are intact - i.e. a samurai warrior's use of a samurai sword or a Viking's preference for an ax - characters can have customization options that don't line up with their known history without taking away from the experience. As so many have responded with, it is just a video game after all, right?

Unfortunately, not everyone feels the same way. To see the negative responses to this idea of pushing diversity over historical accuracy, you just have to check the Steam discussion forum for For Honor, Ubisoft's 2017 online historical fighting game. There was some push back over being able to make the skin color of a Viking, samurai, and knight to black. While there is debate among historians that the notion of a black Viking isn't far fetched, there is only one known case of a black samurai warrior, and Yasuke is not representative of perceived samurai culture. In response to what may be considered "forced diversity," one user writes, "Am I the only one that finds it annoying and a bit too far of a leap for there to be black [V]ikings and black samurai, and [sic] black knights in this game?"

What can't be forgotten about video games is that they're intended to be immersive experiences. Very infrequently are they educational pieces. Pieter van den Heede, a lecturer at the History Department of Erasmus University Rotterdam, may have said it best when he described video games as "generally inadequate" to "teach social and cultural history." In a piece for EuroClio.edu, van den Heede explained that "players are interested in heroic roles and adventures, they prefer to play characters whose decisional power can significantly influence the game's outcomes." Ultimately, the average doesn't care who they're playing as, so long as they're a significant figure, regardless of that figure's role in the real history unfolding throughout the game. 

The Call of Duty series is a primary example of what van den Heede was touching on. None of the protagonists were real, but the setpieces they battled through were pulled right from our textbooks. Early entries of the series were also a hotbed for discussions on diversity and historical accuracy as they depicted nothing but all-white American battalions fighting the German forces. Call of Duty: WWII attempts to tackle inclusion while remaining historically sound, but chooses the most unusual way to do so. 

Overlooking the fact that all-black units like the 320th Anti-Aircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion were present for the Omaha Beach landings, developer Sledgehammer Games opted to include only one black character. His purpose was solely to highlight the presence of racism and bigotry among American soldiers. It may introduce a genuine issue present during the Second World War, but it fails to provide a fair representation of black soldiers, who were more than poster children for the oppressed. Men like Doris "Dorie" Miller embodied the bravado of black men, and while their service was laden with racism, that's not why we remember them. We know them for their heroism, and it would have been a better touch for Sledgehammer's writers to take that approach. Especially if the plan was to introduce one, lone black person in a war full of diversity.

Unlike the war fought across Europe, the battle between historical accuracy and representation doesn't have a clear, defined end in sight. Players will argue with developers who will either bend to the consumer's will or stick to their guns. DICE and Electronic Arts opted for the latter when lambasted over the inclusion of women soldiers in Battlefield V. The 2018 shooter didn't hide the fact that it favored inclusion over perceived realism. EA chief creative officer Patrick Soderlund put it bluntly in an interview with Gamasutra, stating, "[Gamers] don't understand that this is a plausible scenario, and listen: this is a game." Even as the development team tried to point out that women held roles on the battlefield, they were met with the "#NotMyBattlefield" hashtag - a clear indication that, regardless of a potential connection to history, diversity simply isn't welcomed by some.

As developers continue to navigate this minefield, they'll have to be prepared for the inevitable losses, the loud and persistent vitriol, and the notion that not all of their fans will appreciate the push for representation, regardless of how it works within the game's historical setting. As simple of a concept as it may appear to be on the surface, so long as there is a very vocal voice against it, diversity in gaming will continue to be a complex issue, especially when it pertains to games rooted in history. 

At SJR Research, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse SJR Research’s service on our site at SJR Research.

[brightestandbest]

I Went to School in the Cult of Michael

I have been needing to start this series of posts for awhile. Every single one of them will be convoluted and hard to write. Please be patient with me, I feel the need to reveal this part of my story and spiritual background. This first post will be long, but still only a crude overview. 

So: I went to school in a cult.

Now, there are cults and there are cults. This wasn’t a terribly abusive one. It was a damn expensive one, and it was also very immersive and consuming. My feelings about it aren’t completely negative. I have some positive memories and I took some good things from the experience. I look back on my education with a complex mixture of fondness, disgust, exasperation, amusement, contempt, and gratitude. 

Perhaps you’ve heard of Waldorf Schools. From the outside-- and even from the inside, much of the time-- they appear quaint and eccentric but basically innocent. The children aren’t allowed to watch TV or use computers. They do a silly looking form of interpretive dance called Eurythmy. When they are younger they play with little felt gnomes and draw with expensive beeswax crayons. When they get older, they participate in ancient Greek sports such as discus and javelin throwing. In sixth grade, everyone learns to ride a unicycle, for some reason. The classrooms are painted in soft, lovely colors, and each features a “nature table,” a sort of seasonal nature altar. Children don’t learn to read until they are in second grade. 

These are just a few of the harmless-seeming eccentricities of Waldorf schools. The media occasionally freaks out a little and runs sensationalist pieces accusing Waldorf, with its nature-altars and spiritualistic flavor, of “paganism.” Which is hilarious. Waldorf is many things, but it’s definitely not pagan. 

Surprisingly media-saavy Waldorf representatives are always at the ready to deftly counter such accusations. But if the writers of those critical pieces did just a teensy weensy little bit of research, they would encounter the real esoteric philosophy underpining all of Waldorf education-- Anthroposophy. 

History time!

Setting: Europe, near the turn of the 20th century. Spiritualism and Theosophy are the big crazes. Holding seances in your parlor is a chic way to have a good time. 

Our “hero” is an Austrian dude called Rudolph Steiner. He’s involved with Theosophy for a little bit, but then decides to spin off and make his own occult religion. He calls it Anthroposophy. (”Theosophy” is “knowledge of God, “Anthroposophy” is “knowledge of man.” I am tempted to be a brat and start calling my shit “Diavolosophy” just for a tacky joke.) 

As far as I can tell, the basis of Steiner’s Anthroposophy is a heretical read of Christianity, ideas from Theosophy, random concepts like karma and reincarnation yanked from Hinduism, a big heaping helping of racism... and his own “clairvoyance.” 

(It’s actually really complex and esoteric. I went to Waldorf from kindergarten through 10th grade, so I have a pretty good foundation in the “surface” ideas of Anthroposophy and its core values, but they don’t tell us much about the actual occult concepts underneath. And I am resisting reading Steiner’s actual books, so much of my information so far comes from checking my experience against the site Waldorf Watch, which is heavy on the Steiner quotes and elaborately cited.)

To Steiner, Christ and the Archangel Michael (fun fact: we all had to pronounce it with three syllables, My-KYE-el) are the same entity, who is a “sun spirit.” Also reincarnation exists, and if you are really good, you end up reincarnating as a white, Aryan person. (There’s that big ol’ heaping of racism I promised! Way to appropriate a concept from Eastern culture and then use it to shit all over anyone who isn’t white.) 

Future reincarnations can be helped somehow by ritually waving your arms around, hence that weirdo dance called Eurythmy. 

DEMONS

Ahriman, a demon that Steiner associates with technology for some reason (actually a God from Zoroastrianism), is supposedly trying to force humans to abandon spirituality and exist on a physical plane. Hence the not watching TV or using computers thing. 

Oh yeah, also? In opposition to Ahriman, and yet somehow also working with him, is another demon. He’s trying to pull humans in the opposite direction-- out of embodiment and into pure, overly theoretical intellectual and spiritual concepts. You might recognize that demon’s name. Just some fallen angel called Lucifer. (And he lives on the moon, or something, according to Steiner.)

To mediate between these demons, we need Michael/Christ, who according to Steiner cast down Lucifer in the form of the serpent of Eden, and does battle with Ahriman in the form of the Dragon. Waldorf students repeatedly watch little pageant plays about these two stories-- The Paradise Play about the Fall from Eden, and the Michaelmas Play about Saint George and Michael defeating the Dragon. 

SO MUCH MICHAEL

Michael is a big fucking deal in Waldorf. Being conflated with Jesus helps, of course-- but a lot of the focus is on the Michael aspect. 

We sang a shit-ton of little hymns and receited a bunch of “verses” (actually prayers, Steiner literally told his teachers to call the prayers “verses” so no one would realize his schools were religious) about Michael. Here are a few I remember.

Unconquered hero of the skies

Saint Michael

Against the foe with us arise 

Thine aid we pray

The foe to slay

Saint Michael 

The heavenly banner dost thou bear

Saint Michael

The angels do thine armor wear

Thine aid we pray

The foe to slay

Saint Michael 

Also: 

Michael with sword of light

Blaze in the darkness of earth’s long night

Archangel Michael with radiant glory shines above

Hero Michael will defeat the foe

(The first two lines of that one were sung as a counter melody against the second two lines. It was really pretty actually.)

Wind in the trees blows loud

For summer’s last song

Thrashing the branches

Pelting the leaves along 

Sleepers awake

Hark to the word of the wind

Breaking on summer’s dull drowsy spell

Show us the way

Point with thy spear before

Forge us the future

O Michael

That one was pretty as fuck, too. It was my favorite. I still catch myself singing it sometimes. 

There were more that I don’t remember in their entirety. There was a sort of crappy one that I think was an original composition by my teacher. I only remember the second verse:

From a little freshet something streams

Freshly new-mown hay and moonlit dreams

Float with water fairies down the streams

O Michael

O Michael

The dragon fell

The dragon fell 

Honestly, if you are a devotee of Michael and want the melodies of these songs for your use, I will fucking record them and send them to you. No hate. At least, not for actual Michael or his devotees. 

MICHAEL AND ARYANISM IN ANTHROPOSOPHY 

Unfortunately, though, hate is kind of part and parcel in Waldorf. According to Steiner we are now in the age of Michael, which supposedly started in November 1879. (Gabriel was in charge before.) Michael is here to guide us into our next stage of evolution. Sounds nice, right?

Well, for Steiner, evolution means Aryanism. In fact, according to Steiner, there should only be one race existing at any given period of time, and the continued existence of non-white races is the fault of Lucifer and Ahriman. (So, THANKS LUCIFER AND AHRIMAN! I have no fucking idea why Steiner thinks you’re the baddies, probably because he’s fucking racist.) By the way, reading the links about Steiner’s Aryanism can be really upsetting and triggering, if that wasn’t obvious. 

(If any of this sounds familiar, it might be because certain Aryan “Satanist” groups have really similar ideas about time spirits and entering an Aryan eon.)

Now, generally, they do not openly teach these ideas in Waldorf schools. The racism is more covert, but still not terribly subtle. Waldorf curricula are rightly under fire for being too “Eurocentric,” aka white supremacist. To which Waldorf apologists will point to the fact that students learn about Hinduism and Buddhism, for example!

Yes, it’s true that we learned a (probably bastardized Anthroposophical view) on Hinduism and Buddhism. We also learned the Torah, again through a similarly wack-ass pseudo-Christian lens. But what’s really telling is when we learned those things. 

You see, Waldorf children are taught about certain cultures in certain grades for a reason: because Steiner thought that children of a certain age were at the same level of sophistication as those civilizations. 

So for example, there was a lot of stuff about Native Americans when we were in fucking kindergarten. 

The Torah was for third grade. 

Hinduism and Buddhism came in fifth grade, the same year we were also learning Greek mythology. 

So yeah, for Steiner kindergarteners are the equivalent of all adult Native Americans. Third graders are at the level of the Hebrews. Etc. We never learned any African history or mythology at all-- probably because racist asshole Steiner would have considered that to be at a pre-kindergarten level! 

When I was in school I had no idea why we were learning certain things at certain times. It’s only my adult reading that has revealed this part of the philosophy, and I am furious. 

The schools I went to were pretty damn white in terms of student body and also faculty. There was some diversity, but I realize now that a lot of gate-keeping was happening. The Eurocentric and Christian-flavored curriculum was generally a turn-off for Jews, Muslims and PoC, and the incredibly high tuition was of course an additional layer of racist/classist gate-keeping. 

I think I need to stop this overview post here. Next time, I’ll write more about what it’s like to be a clueless child inside of Waldorf-- what Anthroposophy looks like on the ground, as it were. The picture I have painted here is obviously revolting, but it’s not the picture we were shown. In my next article, you’ll learn why Waldorf is so seductive-- but also how it might be effecting small children.