#not the same as The Hype of Yesteryear

[stardustbee]

Blood for Blood, Fire to Fire

Just some lockscreens I did for those two cause I love this promo pics and I am hyped for the new season and it sure will break me an inspire me for so much at the same time...will do some more in the future 💖

Taglist

@eloquentmoon @marivenah @justalittletomato @lune-de-miel-au-paradis @oh-three @nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius @herbalinz-of-yesteryear @bacarasbabe @pixiestookourstardust

[brokoala-soup]

South Indian cinema: Part 1

I think we (I) don't talk enough about my obsession with the South Indian film industry. I'm less of a star or fame powered fangirl and most of my obsessions start from very niche observations and qualities. Both me and my mom are good cinema enthusiasts, that being said, we love not just watching movies but also analyze them and talk about them in great lengths and detail; and it isn't always just about the actors but also the scenes, the cinematography, the dialogues and so on. We enjoy a good story based cinema that's more about carrying the characters in place and action than about how much hype a movie gets. I enjoy old movies, including monochrome movies of the yesteryears and the faded coloured classics of the 70's and 80's.

Let me go from one obsession to other. First, comes my unexplainable obsession with actors who are also trained dancers. That's a sexy characteristic because it adds an edge to the actor's identity over being just a movie star and IMHO, it also refines the depth of character and acting skills (many talented actors who aren't dancers do exist, this is just my view). I have this captivation with dancers because something in them, be it the unseeable depth of efforts and practice and hurdles they cross before they set foot on the stage or be it the inordinate amount of beauty they express and portray in both costumes and jewelry or be it the grace with which they carry themselves or be it the way the fluidity, fragility and fierceness of dance entwines with their soul and body making it indistinguishable, obvious and redefines their identity and adds meaning to their character for the better. Irrespective of gender, classical dance forms in my opinion, have a profound effect on the individual and somehow makes them all the more charming to me because it's art that flows in their body and art has that unique fragrance to which you can never turn a blind eye to. It also anchors you down to your inner zen because gender conforms and norms are all broken (atleast in Indian classical dances) as both male and female dancers play either roles in dances and it's all the more about expression and emotion than the role per se. And that I think is a very liberating thing and I love Indian classical dances for it.

So here goes the list: Kamal Haasan is a trained Bharatanatyam and Kathak dancer; the best of which is seen in his performance in the movie Sagara Sangamam which is a majorly dance based movie. My most favorite scene is when he humbles Sailaja when she opposes his critique. Padmini, one of the famous Travancore sisters, was a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and in her retired days also opened a dance school and taught abroad. Shobana, one of my favorite actresses, who is also the niece of the Travancore sisters is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer; she also received a national award for her performance in the Malayalam movie Manichitrathazhu which was the original for the famous Chandramukhi, Bhool Bhulaiya, Nagavalli, Aatmamitra etc. I rate her acting top notch because her expressions and her eyes often speak way more than the dialogues. Revathi, is again a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and has delivered multiple box office hits and is also one of my favorite actresses. Bhanupriya, who's pretty famous in tamil and telugu cinema, is a trained Kuchipudi dancer and appeared in the film Sitaara which went on to win the National award for that year. Jayalalitha, apart from her successful political career was a leading film actress in the tamil industry. She was trained dancer of multiple forms like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Mohiniyattam, Kathak etc. Sukanya, who famously starred against Kamal Haasan in Indian, is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. Prabhu Deva, who we all know as the Michael Jackson of India, is a trained Bharatanatyam and Udupi dancer. Amala Akkineni, is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and also has a degree bachelor degree for the same from Kalakshetra. Vineeth, who works mostly in tamil, telugu and malayalam films is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer; lesser known but he's Shobana's cousin and Padmini's nephew from her husband's side. Asin, who is well known for her role in Ghajini, is also a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. Jayam Ravi, now well known as the Ponniyin Selvan after the famous novel adaptation, is also a trained Bharatanatyam dancer.

This is in my list (can't think more, brain fried) do feel free to add more. Tagging @sister-of-satan @voidsteffy and @bipdf because I think y'all will enjoy reading this

Do reblog and tag people who'd enjoy reading this

[justanie]

It's been a while since I made a post like this...and it's probably the worst case scenario to talk about now. No, I love GUMI and I am proud of how it is giving more attention to enter into multifacets for different voice banks...I clarify this, it is NOT made to defame GUMI SV or Internet Co of this decision. My problem is due to SynthV and its scandalous Fandom that...I am not pleased with the level of stability that most users have for this type of news.

Well, I won't deny that Vocaloid is currently in decline and barely had the luck to update V6 a year ago, but it's not to say that they have always been terrible at their job and that they spread evil just because they use a more complex level to make new voice banks. Let's remember that if it weren't for Vocaloid, other Synthesizers like UTAU and SynthV itself would not exist, yes, their main star Miku and company are no longer updating themselves with all this success that the most recent synthesizers have but I remind you that, in 2019 Crypton had decided this after the decline of V5 and how Yamaha has become a conflictive company that lost all ties of labor cooperation to continue updating their Loids. So if there is someone they want to blame, it is both companies for having a closed mind, do not defame and make the Vocaloid characters look bad for this very reason.

Now the SynthV Fandom...look, I'm not one of those people who prejudge and make a group of people look bad just because I don't agree with their opinion, in certain cases, I admit that SynthV has surprised me and certain banks I like the voices of it depending on the cover I hear. But the direction I'm seeing from the majority of fans gives me a bad taste in my mouth...instead of taking things calmly, they exaggerate by saying that Teto or Gumi SV is the best thing that ever happened in SynthV and that it's going to trample to Vocaloid only because they consider their banks better due to the inclusion of AIs and the realistic intonation they choose (In case someone forgets, remember that before this happened many considered Gumi's voice to be more realistic even if it was already from Vocaloid). No vocal synthesizer is going to be superior to another, what's more, if you are a fan of Stardust or Sora, you will know that they managed to please a number of fans in a healthy way, so why is there this hype with Teto and Gumi? Easy, SynthV fans are demanding iconic character voices to take on Vocaloid, because "Vocaloid is so horrible and bad that it didn't leave its Synthesizers free to update" I remind you, Vocaloid is not a single company, there are several those who work using this program so it is ridiculous to judge an entire program when they are executives and people who work on the decision of their Vocaloids, as I said before, do not look down on the voices and the program itself.

And my last point which would be the controversial one...the AI and the supposed realism that people ask for in Vocaloid. Fans of yesteryear will know that the essence of Vocaloid was always that of "a robotic voice that is programmed to sing." At what point did they ignore what it characterized Vocaloid? The thing is that with the advancement of AIs, people have forgotten that same meaning that Vocaloid represented, I see that SynthV is taking advantage of the use of these and that is why people ask for more, not only original voices of it, but they demand the extinction of Vocaloid so that its popular voices belong to them. This is not like in animation companies where one is buying and acquiring the products of another, like a certain company that is also being hated, the voice bank programs are free, even if Yamaha Corporation has the authorization of Vocaloid or in more cases variables, AH Software has authorization from Voiceroid, it is enough to do business with them so that Vocaloid can be distributed to other companies and so that they also have the decision to use SynthV or Cevio for their voice banks.

I'm not claiming which side is better, I'm just asking that there stop being wars and insinuations over these issues that Gumi has been suffering from being a prisoner of Vocaloid, GUMI was originally from it, what Internet Co does is give it more variety of programs ( which not only SynthV, we will probably see a Cevio GUMI in the future) and believe me this is not the first time this has happened, in this case it was distinguished by being a Vocaloid with variable banks and intonations. Speaking of the latter, I remind you that the program works depending on how it is used, yes, I see people complain that the banks they have are complex, but even with that, there are still people who are planning to use Vocaloid because they have brief experience and knowing the proper use for when a bank will be used, I'm also not saying that only Vocaloid experts are the only ones who can handle it, anyone can be capable, it just takes a real intention to use it as it should and not be bothered by it.

You can ignore my opinion if you don't like me or you're not interested, I know that many won't think the same as me, but keep in mind that if you continue with that disastrous attitude of "Vocaloid deserves to die" it won't amount to anything because that the general fandom of the Vocal Synths can be better than the reputation that SynthV is having and the defamation they give to Vocaloid, which was the one who started this trend of robotic idols that sing as I mentioned before. And seeing people asking for "realism" makes lose why Vocaloid should exist in the first place...

[peppermintbuttlemon]

“Perhaps he can just be a character actor which is not bad. I've always admired actors/actresses who paid their dues, like Brad Pitt, Emma Stone, Robert Patterson, etc.. Gone are the movie stars of yesteryears. Now they're just over hyped factory-manufactured zombies by CAA.”

See, this is where I thought his career was going to head. I thought he had the potential to be a good character actor. My favorite actors are usually character actors- Sam Rockwell, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jennifer Coolidge, Steve Buscemi…I’m not saying he’s anywhere near on the same level as them, but not everyone has “leading man” quality, and that’s fine. I think signing with CAA might have been a bad move, especially the way it seems like they’re having him sign on for literally anything that comes his way.

Agreed

[thischarmingand]

Book ask: 9, 16, 17!

Ok, this is super funny. Both you AND @straydog733 asked me for the exact same numbers.

So now that it's been a day since I accidentally deleted my first response let's try that again...

9. Did you get into any new genres?

Arguably, cookbooks, in that I read two of the purely as texts this year: B. Dylan Hollis's not very good (sorry!) Baking Yesteryear and Max Miller's excellent Tasting History. Both of them are essentially Tik Tok/YouTube books, but while Hollis admits he's neither a historian or someone who... actually knows how to bake... Miller clearly loves food history and knows how to do actual research and... write words coherently (again, sorry!)

Miller's book also doesn't consider America from 1890 onward to be the be-all, end-all of history (a thing about Hollis's book which strikes me as extra strange when you remember he isn't American!), and the recipes sourced from ancient Asian and Latin American history are particularly cool.

16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

Hmmmmm. Probably the 1/3 of In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune that I tried? I don't know that I'd call that specific book super overhyped, but I'd argue Klune himself is, and as a new release it's a little more buzzy than most of the stuff I read. It's also super boring. Fascinating behind the scenes drama with his sensitivity readers, tho. (So much yikes that this man puts out into the universe and... simply could not!)

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

I feel pretty fortunate this year that I read a lot of things that I expected would be good and then were instead great. Stephen Graham Jones' My Heart is a Chainsaw not only made the case for turning the Lake Witch books into a trilogy, it retroactively made me like the first book of the bunch so much more. Grady Hendrix's How to Sell a Haunted House is for me the best work he's done to date (evil puppets are honestly such a good device for trying to unpack the baggage your parents leave you when they die, metaphorically and also in the literal evil puppet sense). Wolf in White Van is the first John Darnielle novel I've read that feels like it actually achieves what it sets out to do with all the ambiguity and artifice. Allison Rumfitt's Tell Me I'm Worthless scared the shit out of me and made my cry and hasn't left my brain yet. And Lavendar House is a rare modern queer historical fiction book that manages to properly address the psychic damage that period-typical homophobia would do to a protagonist without being a primarily queer suffering story (and the murder mystery is pretty decent too!)

[peteneems]

I'm almost a year late with this post, but wanted to add some comments about The 90s Are All That/The Splat/NickSplatAllThatWhateverWe'reCallingItThisWeek programming block that aired on TeenNick from 2011 to early 2022.

When the block first aired on television it came with a lot of hype. They brought back Kenan Thompson to host, they brought back Stick Stickly, there was variety in what they were airing, and I think the block was on for about 8 hours every night, which is a huge chunk of television time. In many ways, The 90s Are All That is what started the 90s nostalgia kick of the 2010s, with reboot after reboot of shows from yesteryear, that's still relevant in 2023.

Along the way though the programming block started to lose steam. There was less variety. Kenan stopped showing up. Stick went back into the freezer. Then there were the name changes. The Splat. NickSplat. NickRewind. When they changed to "The Splat" they started putting effort into the block again. I liveblogged their first night of programming back on October 6, 2015:

I wrote in it "I think The Splat will be fine, as long as they mix it up and not play the same shows over and over." Well, it wasn't fine and they shortly stopped mixing it up. From 2015/16 until its end the block became an afterthought, only watched by the most dedicated of viewers.

I just don't think Nickelodeon really ever knew what to do with the thing. With many of the promos they produced, they were trying to fit the classic programming in with the modern times. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. In my opinion, the block worked best when they aired a mix of shows each night, instead of replaying the same cartoons 7 nights a week.

So to wrap this up, it was nice that there was some sort of cable television time dedicated to retro Nickelodeon. Something is always better than nothing. I just think there was a lack of effort to consistently make it a true replica of a 1990s Nick programming block.

[melt-into-the-night]

So when does the 60th anniversary celebration actually begin? Don’t get me wrong, i enjoyed Trina and Joss’ performance. I generally love the Nurses Ball and glad it’s back. But it just feels like any other nurses ball….where are the flashbacks? Where are the returning characters? Where are the conversations about the Doctors and Nurses of yesteryear? Why instead of Blackie and the Riff Raff are we getting this barely known singer instead?

Bottom line, don’t hype this Nurses Ball up as this big better than ever ball that celebrates GH if it’s just gonna be the same shit but different year.

[lastchancevillagegreen]

Saturday, 8 April 2023:

My Best Evil Friend The No Ones (Yep Roc) (released 31 March 2023)

For those unaware, The No Ones are Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, Arne Kjelsrud Mathisen and Frode Strømstad.  The latter two hail from Norway, the former two hail from the US and have seemingly worked together longer than Buck and his former band who made great inroads in music once upon a time. 

This is the band’s second album (their first, The Great Lost No Ones Album came out in 2020, prior to that they released an EP in 2017 titled Sun Station).  Myself I wish they would release a physical copy of their Christmas single A Christmas Voice (I Don't Want To Bring You Into This World), an anti anti-abortion single.  Maybe when we can all control our own bodies it will come out as an antiquated hard-to-believe-we-ever-lived-like-that moment.

Anyhow, this new album is a love letter to record collections and unlike record collections of yesteryear, it is a bit complicated.  There is a 12 song CD out and then there is an 18 song double LP of the album.  I bought the double album and discovered that the bonus tracks are scattered throughout the album which means in later years someone will believe their CD version is the correct version just like someone will believe their LP is the correct version.  It is a limited edition first pressing edition but it is uncertain if that means the bonus tracks will disappear on subsequent pressings or if the colors of the vinyl will revert to black vinyl.  Modern record collecting has taken the step funny books took eons ago to pollute the landfills with multiple covers and foil trading cards and Issue #0 making everything so complicated and playing on the fears of those suffering from Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO). We much include this music collector since I still have two Scott McCoughey albums I’ve yet to hear one note of music from.  The last thing I’m sure I needed was this, the second No Ones album.  Anyhow, the six bonus tracks found on the album and not the CD are Set List, JED, All The Stupid Days, Solo In The End, Kick Out The Dwarf and Slowdown.

Above you see the album cover, the gatefold and the back of the album.  Below, you can see a close up of the hype sticker telling you who this band is comprised of.

As was the case of their first album, this album contains plenty of guest stars ranging from Debbi Peterson (The Bangles), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) and Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven). 

Below you will find photos of the different color vinyl, followed by close ups of the labels on that particular colored album.  Album number one is on orange vinyl.

And album number two is on purple vinyl.  The photos follow the same course as the above set.

And just because I like the idea that this band recorded a single condemning the over turning of Roe v Wade and I want everyone to know I do not support the abortion ban even at my advanced age, here is the digital cover of that Christmas single I mentioned above.

[goatsandgangsters]

Tagged by @electricbluebutterflies

1. Why did you choose your url?

I used to have a Doctor Who url but had stopped posting about dw regularly, but I’d routinely get dw followers. So I was saying to someone that I should change my url because it felt like false advertising, “since my blog is just goats and gangsters now” AND THEN!!! 

2. Any side blogs?

yeah, but my main is my only personal blog

like I have a sideblog where I review teas or some fandom blogs that I’m a mod on, but those are all Public Facing about a specific topic

I don’t have any personal sideblogs that are like “oh this is my sideblog for fandom, this is my sideblog for aesthetic,” cause it all just goes on here on the main 

3. How long have you been on tumblr?

Since March 2010

4. Do you have a queue tag?

No because I queue everything so that’d be redundant 

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?

in high school @l8rhader was like “you should get a tumblr” and I went home and went on tumbler.com and found nothing and was confused, but somehow I figured it out 

6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?

I like Charlie, and I like purple, and I already had this screenshot edited and lying around. 

fun fact: it’s a reject from this edit. but because he has the bright window behind him, it didn’t take the purple well so I didn’t use it for the edit but wound up making it my icon (I didn’t edit the background to make it white, it’s legit just a brightly lit window) 

7. Why did you choose your header?

I like succulents and the purpleness of it matches the aforementioned Charlie

8. What’s your post with the most notes?

this post about les mis that I made in 2013 that somehow got 51k notes??

anyway, thanks nick-from-high-school-on-facebook. you netted me a popular tumblr post.

9. How many mutuals do you have?

.........how does anyone check that? 

10. How many followers do you have?

2,433 right now, but that’s also buildup over 10+ years on tumblr and only a portion of those people are still active

11. How many people do you follow?

546, with the same caveat that only a portion are actually active blogs 

12. Have you ever made a shit post?

I assume this is asking about shitposts and not just, a post that is shit. but I definitely do shitpost. why bother if you don’t shitpost ever now and again?

13. How often do you use tumblr a day?

that depends on the day and how bored I am! but definitely I open it at least once a day

14. Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog?

ehehehehehehehe yes and I remember each one specifically. but I’ve NEVER sent anyone anon hate, I can tell you that with certainty. 

15. How do you feel about the ‘you need to reblog’ posts?

Well Now I’m Not Gonna 

16. Do you like tag games?

I can’t guarantee they won’t languish in my drafts, never completed, but I like getting tagged

17. Do you like ask games?

do I always manage to actually ANSWER the asks from the ask games? no! rarely, in fact! but do I like ask games? yes! 

18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

I doooon’t think any of my mutuals are tumblr famous, but I do Know the people involved in several famous tumblr posts 

For Example, you know the one post everyone hates about the professors who teach various subjects and are all fucking each other? I know about half of them from college. do I follow any of them on tumblr? no, but I see them and I’m like “oh hey [first name last name]” 

19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?

shh don’t tell anyone but I have a crush on @meyerlansky

20. Tags!

@meyerlansky who I definitely don’t have a crush on or anything, @l8rhader who brought me to hellscape (affectionate) in the first place, @thefractaldragon (who is the “somebody” I was talking to in question #1 about my url being false advertising), @naomisnagata, @runn0ft, @fancykraken, @waltzingtostars, @hacash

and also anyone who sees this and wants to do it too (I didn’t want to tag too many people at once, so I kept it short and sweet) 

[thisaintascenereviews]

200 Stab Wounds - Slave To The Scalpel Former frontman of longstanding death metal band Cannibal Corpse, as well as the current frontman of the inferior Six Feet Under, Chris Barnes said recently that he “despises what the genre has become,” and pretty much everyone jumped at him for it. Barnes is very much of the “elitist” mind, and while no one really uses the term “elitist” anymore, the point of him (along with many other likeminded fans and musicians) being so old-fashioned and stuck in the 80s and 90s is telling of how a lot of heavy metal fans think. With that said, death metal is in a very great place, as so many young bands are rising in the ranks, definitely on their way to being the next Cannibal Corpse. A good example of a young band that’s doing really cool things in the scene is Gatecreeper. Vocalist Chase Mason was on the podcast that Barnes was referencing. He said that he listened to a podcast with some vocalists of some newer death metal bands making waves, including The Black Dahlia Murder, Undeath, and Gatecreeper, and it made him “physically ill.” Gatecreeper’s last album, the surprise drop of 2021′s An Unexpected Reality, really showed that this band can go in very interesting and unpredictable directions, ultimately releasing an 18-minute furious blast of hardcore-laden death metal, but the last 10 minutes of it is a death-doom track. An Unexpected Reality ended up being one of my favorite albums of 2021, because of how unexpected, pun intended, it really was, and how death metal can go in weird and interesting directions, versus making the same Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, or Incantation clones. With that said, that’s all to preface of what’s to come within the following review of Ohio death metal band 200 Stab Wounds’ debut record, 2021′s Slave To The Scalpel. 200 Stab Wounds is apart of this new wave of old school death metal that’s been gaining a lot of traction within the last four years, give or take, and they themselves have been getting a lot of buzz since their debut dropped in the last few months of 2021. If I would have heard this record when it came out, it would have been on my list, because it’s absolutely fantastic in every single way, but there’s a bit of a caveat here. What’s interesting about this album is that 200 Stab Wounds, by all definitions, is kind of a generic band. These guys would fit pretty well in the early 90s death metal scene, including Death, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Immolation, Incantation, Cryptopsy, and many more, but that’s not a bad thing. One look at the cover of this record, and it’s gory and gruesome enough to fit in with those bands. Their sound is just as gory, gruesome, and brutal, but they do have some modern twist and turns, including the stellar production. These guys take everything about that 90s sound and modernize it, which is why I think this band is getting so much hype, even more so than other bands in this vein. People love Cannibal Corpse, myself included, but a new band like them hasn’t popped up in a long time, so hearing 200 Stab Wounds have a similar sound to them, just with a modern update, it resonates with people, ultimately showing them that bands can take from their influences and still reinvent their genre. That’s what I think 200 Stab Wounds does -- they reinvent death metal to a degree, as this album has a lot of energy, youthful spirit, and brutality to make one think of those bands from yesteryear, only in a new generation. It’s really cool to see, as well as hear, because they don’t sound like a generic carbon copy. That’s the thing about this type of death metal; it can be very generic, formulaic, and boring, but this record is none of those things. Yeah, sure, they take notes from the 90s death metal world, but they modernize it, and turn it into something their own, and ultimately bringing that sound into 2021. I don’t know, folks, I really love this album. Slave To The Scalpel hits me in all the right places, but it never feels like a lifeless knock-off, partially because this band knows their stuff, and the performances and the songwriting are amazing. At 27 minutes, this record wastes no time with what it’s trying to do, and you’re pummeled to the ground in no time from its brutality and intensity. Chris Barnes might be physically ill that death metal isn’t stuck in 1993, but you do have bands like 200 Stab Wounds that take that sound and bring it to a modern audience in a genuinely great way, and not being pandering or nostalgic for the sake of it. It would be so easy to make a record that sounds like 1993 era Cannibal Corpse, because of the nostalgia, but this album goes the extra mile. I’ve had it on repeat for the last week, and I plan on playing it for awhile, it just doesn’t get old. I play it every time, and it still feels like I’m listening to it for the first time. I love albums like that, and this band is so exciting. I, for one, am really looking forward to where they go after this. The world will be watching.

[game-boy-pocket]

Nintendo games have always been my favorite, even to this day. My family and I spent our evenings watching either my father, brother, or myself play through the latest Zelda game (or Banjo-Kazooie or DK 64 if long enough ago) whilst eating dinner together. What are your fondest Nintendo memories from yesteryears?

I think it had to be spending hours trying to unlock everything in Super Smash Bros Melee with my buddy. I stayed over night playing the game with him until my eyes bled. He fell asleep playing Golden Sun, I had to wake him so his GBA battery didn’t die.  He had just got the game along with Smash Bros, Gamecube itself was a pretty new console that I didn’t have yet, and I was still a relatively new Nintendo fan ( New to franchises besides Pokemon and Mario anyways )  

So each thing from characters to trophies were really hype to me.  I loved the original Smash Bros. game, and it was the gateway for me to check out games like Kirby, Star Fox, and Zelda, but Melee had that trophy gallery that introduced me to a whole slough of characters from series that weren’t even represented in a playable form.

That same friend who had me over playing Smash Bros taught me all about emulation. I didn’t have an NES or an SNES anymore, so that was really useful for going back to play things I missed out on because I was too picky.

[rpgsandbox]

We're Grasswatch Games, a partnership of two queer disabled folk.

We're making our debut with Sundown, a low tech science-fantasy set in a transhumanist frontier. Think cyberpunk goes wild west. It's an episodic game that focuses on otherism, class, and colonialism.

Sundown is a dyslexia-friendly, campaign-length rules-light tabletop roleplaying game for 2-6 players, one of whom is the lorekeeper, with a suggested session length of 3-4 hours.

Sundown tells political stories of a small and intimate scope. You play multiple campaigns and characters in the same world, your next one inheriting the world from your last. Your actions, though small, will ripple across history.

You play a drifter: a queer, punk outcast taking work wherever you can from folk that hate you.

      Lotus and Sati fighting off a swarm of Crowdogs by Mayara Sampaio

Fiends, the monsters of this world, linger at the edges of civilization. There’s always someone who wants some fiend dead.

Autocrats and Lords point their fingers at each other while Syndicates and Revolutions rot their thrones beneath them. Drifters who don’t slay fiends oft find themselves slaying folk instead.

But maybe you prefer to keep your hands clean. You’re a spy, stealing secrets from one corporatist for another, or you’re a thief, liberating the hoarded wealth of lords and bankers.

Maybe you’re lucky. One of the few of ‘legitimate’ employ. You work for the Merchant Protections Guild, a diplomat and ambassador to the townships of Sundown, struggling to keep the highroad from crumbling… and Sundown’s delicate peace with it.

                                       A Map of Sundown by Tad Davis

Sundown brings body mods into the frontier with some things called changes.

Sundown is littered with things that change your body - slip into some tailtar and you'll grow a tail. Snack on some indigoji, and you'll turn blue. The science of changing takes these things from the wild and combines them in new ways to create totally different changes. The experiments are mostly consensual.

Peek's Peak, a massive spire of rock jutting out from the sea, with buildings along the spire and boats at a small dock - by Orion

To get your changes, though, you'll need the coin, the reagents, a scientist that likes you, and a month of spare time. Be cautious. Most folk in Sundown don't take kindly to changelings. The march of science pushes us further and further from tradition, and the demagogues of yesteryear struggle to keep power.

Take the long sail to Sundown and fight for the right to mold your body as you choose.

Sundown uses a simple roll to resolve every situation, from slaying a fiend to giving a speech. You roll a single 6-sided die and try to overcome a difficulty between 1 and 9.

To make your drifter, you answer six questions about their life. You’ll refine each answer into a short, snappy statement about their personality or skills. These are called Traits.

A frogbeast, sitting with its wings splayed in the floodgrass, a cat perched on its head. - By Orion

When you roll against a challenge, the lorekeeper sets a difficulty, and you count the traits that could give you an edge. Each adds 1 to your roll. Sometimes you’ll be in an advantageous position or have the perfect tools for the job. This can give you an edge, too. If you meet or exceed the difficulty, you succeed!

But if you fail, you take Stress. Stress is kind of like Sundown’s hit points. There are three kinds: Anxiety, Exhaustion, and Injury. Stress is hard to get rid of, too. Healing items have severe overdose penalties, and you can only heal naturally with your precious downtime.

                Lysera, holding her kriegsmesser. - By AJ Ogden

Get a Sneak Peak at Sundown!

Check out our 28 page excerpt of Sundown to get a grittier look at the mechanics and a better feel for the setting. And to see what this sunring hype is all about, check out Frogbeast, a short story set in Sundown.

Whether you can pledge or not, you can be an active part of our community by joining us on discord or following us on twitter @grasswatchgames.

Completely forgot to post this one - kickstarter period ends very soon.

Kickstarter campaign ends: Sat, May 11 2019 4:59 AM BST

Website: [facebook] [patreon] [twitter]

[windowsstore-blog]

Why Choose Wood Sash Home Windows Over PVC Home Windows

Wood sash home windows have fallen from the recognition charts, although not from the charts themselves as of this moment. However, the popularity of getting PVC and plastic frames set up in your homes may backfire around the interior décor part along with other problems that you think about them better at. Same with there whatever reason you may still find takers for timber home windows offline or online? Well, because it pans out, you will find reasons aplenty.

So let us discuss around the junctures that wood home windows pawn PVC or contemporary lucca infissi frames generally!

Appearance - Appearance is really a segment where wooden home windows personal injury protection almost every other frame material by miles. Actually, it's a known proven fact that timber home windows were utilized in royal castles along with the regal homes to ensure they are look more and better aristocratic to look at compared to middle-class homes of yesteryears.

The look factor is yet another issue that crops up when an inside designer compares the face value of the house. If you have experienced wood home windows installed, you realize the resale value of your house could be a notch greater than when otherwise.

Comfort - For your comfort, it is usually the wood window that can take the laurels from the stage. How? First of all, wooden sash home windows tend to be best from the secure perspective. When installed and maintained by professionals, they may be as difficult to burglary just like any gadget-protected modern door or allied frames.

Finally, comfort may be the mainstay of timber frames. Why? As they do not have a tendency to rattle or submit freak scars through jagged edges when rusty or old.

Installation Ease - Once installed with a professional carpenter or sliding sash window expert, these window frames could be a lot less trouble compared to fidgety and unpredictable PVC window frames. Actually, weather-borne issues like rusting or jaded fallouts of frames are unthinkable within the situation of wooden home windows. Which is why, despite all the hype on PVC and plastic home windows, wood home windows continue to be among the primary priorities for designers worldwide.

Cost-effectiveness - Yes, wood sash window frames are costly. However, behind the cloak of cost-effectiveness, PVC home windows and plastic home windows are frequently marketed off despite the fact that being a lot more susceptible to damage and destruction than wood sash home windows.

So, if you have installed a timber sliding window pane, you needn't be worried about substitute or major upgrades inside a short time, which isn't so within the situation of PVC home windows or plastic window frames. Actually, the price effectiveness that's frequently marketed being an USP may be the downfall of these contemporary window frames - mostly since they're fragile and want substitute frequently within several weeks of getting installed a replacement!

This is why, wood sash home windows may have a lengthy lasting impact on your interior décor along with the overall ambiance of the home, given their advantages within the contemporary PVC window frames.

[theclairewaters]

leaving what you know [shorthand version]

wearing your heart on your sleeve is a dangerous game that only the lonely people play and i have found, that when you smoke a pack of desire a day, you are constantly searching for a flame. onlookers examine all the fissures and clefts left by yesteryear's guests the men who treated your heart like a map, riddled it with tacks, realized it lacked a place to live in, and left. all the antiquated philanthropists who searched for their languages in your pulse, strands of hair in your bed, so pleased to have left their scent on the pillow and you've begun to hold your breath to prove to them that only you can make your heart skip a beat and you've begun to dry clean your sheets, cold water hanging them from the rafters of your childhood bedroom in your mother’s house sweat it out girl, you’ve gone too far south found yourself melting like butter in the devil’s mouth and now you wring out the warm bodies tucked in your every pleat and crease, letting the sun bleach away the pieces of people still surviving in me. when you look at the sky, blink your eyes and change your rotation so what if this society treats infrared incubation like it’s latent I’ll rip the past from every pore, i abhor those kind of TV audiences, the ones that are obedient and well fed coming back to dine on the same lines each time, it's high fructose revenge the sinister scent of stereotypes is hanging in the air those little lies people tell when insisting that they care about anyone outside of themselves. and genuine kindness never really seems to come in stock but i never kill the birds because i refuse to throw the rocks my life is not just another kiss laced with arsenic, that sick kind of hint about how thick my blood really is. this is not a drama, this is not a soap opera my life is not a novel and you are not the author sure you’re having a hard time but you’ve been improving your posture and it looks like he didn't know you were nitric until you dissolved a linguistic string, and now he's realizing you bite back when attacked, and you have some surprises to bring my new hype track for the evening is silence not seething they didn't know; arsenic can only dilute a nitrous being so this time, my knees will not break like the fickle figs from their stems, sequestered in skin cells, bodily shell dropping dead and this time I’ll find the strength to change, isn't it strange, how you can wake up one day, and refuse to keep being misled. and today they brought my bones to the cellar door in his chest he didn’t mistake even an instant of no for the plump petal of yes and he tells me, "there will always be people out there who will love even your imperfect blisters cracking like transistors, because when you're looking electric everyone’s listening to the frequency within ya you were put here for a purpose, you will never be worthless.” and this is no longer a decision; there are places you belong and places you'll fit in where you'll flourish and gain a thicker skin and it's about time we stopped chalking up our mistakes to bad habit. so when i see that golden ticket i'll grab it and let life flow because see i've been told rivers reflect train windows in the mornings till they glow, first gilded and gold, then subtle and slow. the hope creeps in, i make the decision to go

[aion-rsa]

Link Tank: The Best Individual Movie Scenes of 2021

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The bus fight in Nobody, the bus fight in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and more of the best scenes from 2021 films (not all of them are bus fights).

“Today, we’re getting a little more granular on this rapidly elapsing, pandemic-shaped year for the cinema by looking at the movies within the movies: those unforgettable moments that served to either fortify the greatness of the films that contained them or offer a silver lining for the less-than-great ones they momentarily improved. These were the best scenes of the year, and they hailed from blockbusters and indies, musicals and action flicks, our absolute favorite films of the year, and a few that just made us laugh or wince or cheer for a couple of blissful minutes.”

Read more at The A.V. Club

Do you enjoy cleaning your house or creating a garden in real life? Probably not. So why is it so dang fun in video games like Animal Crossing?

“Time to do a deep clean of my wardrobe, plant a prize-winning flower patch, and rearrange all the furniture in my house. Except, not really. Dishes pile up in my sink and my laundry covers the floor as I do my chores from bed – they all just happen to be virtual. Anyone who was at least a bit Online last March was swept up in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons release hype, a game that mostly consists of running about, cleaning up a whole town, getting a mortgage, and building various bits of infrastructure.”

Read more at Inverse

Do you want something nostalgic to gift this holiday season? Maybe one of these retro gaming consoles will do the trick.

“Modern video games and consoles offer a narrative experience that rivals Hollywood blockbusters, but today’s games also require a lengthy amount of time to play through. Sometimes you just want to dive into the action, and your favorite 8- and 16-bit games of yesteryear are perfect for that. Retro gaming is more popular than ever, and finding the perfect retro gaming gear can be overwhelming, so we’ve done the hard work for you.”

Read more at Gizmodo

Did you know Dumb and Dumber star Jim Carrey was originally eyed to play the role of Buddy the Elf before Will Ferrell eventually got cast?

“Everyone knows the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear! But the second-best way is to enjoy Elf. Revel in the giddy glow of this modern holiday movie classic with a slew of secrets from behind the scenes.”

Read more at Mental Floss

Netflix released the trailer for Home Team, a comedy about New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton during the season he was suspended for his involvement with the bounty scandal.

“Hands up, everyone: who out there was asking for a Sean Payton biopic? Nobody? Understood. Fortunately, that’s not what this movie is. Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions’ latest Netflix creation is the movie HOME TEAM, a comedy about Payton’s yearlong Bountygate suspension from the NFL in 2012 that he spent part of being the offensive coordinator for his son’s sixth-grade football team.”

Read more at Deadspin

Sometimes games just get released before they should. Here are the most busted-up games of 2021.

“Let’s be honest: 2021 saw a number of games get released in a pretty shameful state. None were nearly as busted as the catastrophe that was—still is?—CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077, but this year’s crop of broken games was atrocious all the same. And though some eventually got patches that fixed various issues, there’s no undoing the fact that the games on this list weren’t ready for mass consumption at launch. So let’s look back, shall we, at some of the most busted games of 2021.”

Find out the rest at Kotaku

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