#part of the Shadow Walkers Saga

[sir-yeehaw-paws]

TOP 20 KOJIMA MOMENTS

In No Particular Order, Our Favourite Moments from the Metal Gear Mastermind

-PlayU: The UK’s Only Playstation Magazine, Excerpt from an Interview with Hideo Kojima, 2013

(Full Transcript Under Cut)

1. Psycho Mantis: From reading your memory card to telling you what games you like by requiring the controller be plugged into port 2 to beat him, Mantis played with game conventions in a way unseen at that point.

2. Snake Never Gives Up: Crawling through radiation filled corridors to save the world as Snake slowly dies while his friends are shown struggling in battle is one of the most powerful and emotional moments of MGS2.

3. Raiden Gets Pissed On: Get through an entire part of MGS2 without getting seen and Raiden comes across a soldier on a roof, taking a leak. Stand in said trajectory, call people on your codec, and enjoy the laughs.

4. The Boss: The Boss is one of the most intriguing, and tragic characters ever created by Kojima, and the final battle against her at the end of MGS3 is still by far one of our favourite gaming moments.

5. Kojima in Peace Walker: Recruiting our pal Hideo in Peace Walker is a lovely little bit of video game fourth wall-destroying fun. Big Boss exclaiming, “Mr. Kojima!” makes it perfect.

6. The End: Another phenomenal boss fight, which can take hours or even days, Big Boss and the 100-year-old sniper face off in a battle of wits, disguises and patience, riddled with tension. Utterly unique and properly brilliant.

7. Enter Gray Fox: Coming across a darkened corridor full of blood and body parts is one of the most memorable moments of Metal Gear Solid 1, and the boss fight that follows is tense and thrilling.

8. Rex vs Ray: The trip back to Shadow Moses is surely the most fan-service filled part of MGS4, and is topped with Snake, piloting Metal Gear Rex, fighting Ocelot in Metal Gear Ray. Bizarrely sublime.

9. “Back of the CD Case”: If you’ve played Metal Gear Solid 1, you know this one. Meryl’s codec frequency, never told to you in-game, is actually on the back of the game box the whole time. Frustrating, but wonderful trickery.

10. Young Ocelot/Time Paradox: Young Ocelot’s appearance in MGS3 is hilarious and interesting, explaining how he came to be known as Revolver. But don’t kill him, unless you want to cause a TIME PARADOX.

11. The Battle of Aumaan Crevice: Zone of the Enders 2 improves upon the first game by making everything bigger and louder. Hundreds of mechs on either side clash in a scene like something out of Dynasty Warriors. Glorious.

12. That Bloody Ladder: If you’ve played MGS3, you know what we mean. “What a thrill...with darkness and sorrow throughout the night..” It’s a big ladder, alright? A ruddy big ladder. The biggest ladder there is.

13. Johnny Sasakai (Apart from MGS4): The uncredited hero of the MGS saga, Johnny has bit-parts in 1 and 2 (he’s the guy who gets knocked out by Meryl), before becoming an awful story-killer in 4, getting the girl after shitting in a barrel.

14. Snake vs. Liquid: “I’m you..I’m your shadow..” An awesome fist-fight between two shirtless dudes who happen to be clones, on top of a destroyed mech surrounded by flames? Epic stuff. Fox? Die.

15. Throwing a Metal Gear Ray: Kojima was hesitant to put this in Metal Gear Rising, but we are glad he did. What better way to cap off a fight against a huge robot than heaving it over your shoulder and slamming it face-first into the dirt?

16. Raiden vs. Vamp: Raiden is a lame little crybaby in Metal Gear Solid 2, but redeems himself in a big way in his next appearance . His stand out moment is his epic battle against Vamp.

17. The Sorrow: Another wonderful “boss fight” from Metal Gear Solid 3, a game rammed absolutely full of them. Facing the souls of the people you’ve killed is a genuinely harrowing experience.

18. MGS4 Car Chase: There have been a few fair car chases throughout Metal Gear history, but the one throughout narrow European streets in MGS4 as you race to save Big Boss’s remains stands out.

19. Snake vs. Ocelot: “You and I..have a score to settle.” An awesome fist-fight between two dudes on top of a destroyed boat-mech thingy in the middle of a massive war? Epic stuff. Fox? Die.

20: The Tanker: The opening tanker section of MGS2 is one of the best levels ever featured in the series, with some great set pieces and a ton of stuff to do. Shame about the rest of the game eh?

[thatboxylady]

i am beaming some expanded universe thruststorm thoughts into ur brain

YES EXCELLENT I got so many of those too hhhhHHH.

I'm thinking humanverse au atm.

• Human!universe continuity Jetstorm is a guy named Jeffrey Soucy, and Thrust is a guy named Thaddeus Barker. They're both from Canada, unfortunately.

• Jeffrey (from Quebec) is an only child with an absentee dad and weirdly uptight mother. He rushed into a marriage with his wife Blackarachnia Beatrice and was utterly goddamn miserable. He served her divorce papers twice, which she rejected, before finally bringing her to a coffee shop where he gave her the papers in a folder. Then he went to the mens' room, climbed out the very small window above one of the toilets, fell into a garbage bin in the alley, hopped half a dozen fences, got attacked by someone's dog, took the bus to the middle of nowhere, hiked in the woods with nothing but a small bag of belongings and a can of bear mace in the snow, took a train, hitched a ride on another bus after buying multiple tickets in cash to throw Beatrice off, and ended up in Vancouver to start over.

• Jeffrey is a recovering cocaine addict. He used exclusively during his marriage with Beatrice to cope, but he went cold turkey after moving to Vancouver and reinventing himself. He's never had a relapse. The one time he almost did, he asked Thaddeus to go to his place to make sure it was gotten rid of. Thaddeus scoured the apartment to be sure. Some people think it's weird he went that extra step, but they're friends, aren't they? Why not?

• Jeffrey is a type one diabetic which is EXTREMELY annoying because he was diagnosed at thirty-six. An absolute piss take, if you ask him. Thaddeus was the one who drove him to the ER.

• Thaddeus is trans and was born [REDACTED] McMahon. He named himself after his paternal grandfather who he used to shadow almost constantly. They used to work on his Harley before he passed away and the bike was sold.

• Thaddeus is the middle child of two siblings, Janice (older) and Monica (younger). His parents are Walker and Charlotte. Only Monica was accepting of him after he came out, and she's still the only one who he talks to after she reached out to reconnect with him one day.

• Thaddeus' motorcycle is a Suzuki GSX-R750, but he upgrades to a Suzuki Hayabusa post-beast machines adjacent timeline shenanigans wrap up. Jeffrey is the one who gets it for him. The GSX was ultimately destroyed by Cheetor Chester in a final showdown that he and Thaddeus had.

• Thaddeus has a prosthetic foot. He tells most people that he lost it in a biking accident, but in reality he shot himself through his boot on accident. Because he saw a spider. And was aiming for the spider. And missed. Waspinator energy prevails across space-time. Sometimes he gets phantom foot pain and Jeffrey goes out of his way to make sure he has decent painkillers for any particularly distressing episodes.

• Jeffrey is not a natural blonde (which he claims). He's a brunette. It's tragic. He also wears his hair long because Beatrice said he would look terrible with long hair, once. Thaddeus thinks it's pretty, though. Jeffrey values one of their opinions more than the other.

• Jeffrey has a biplane. He keeps it in reserve for potential emergencies, and if if the shit with Megatron Megan goes sideways, he plans and taking it and flying it to the states using a fake visa. After awhile, Thaddeus becomes part of the bug out plan.

• Nothing bad happens to them after the events of this timeline's beast machines saga ends, and they escape on Jeffrey's biplane and retire with several million dollars (stolen lol) in a small city off the Gulf of Mexico: Venice, Florida. They are very gay and very happy about it. Beatrice never finds them.

[innerdreamercollective]

🎧🎧Wide Release Blitz 🎧🎧

Paranormal Romance Fans, This one's for you!

Witch’s Curse (The Shadow Weaver Series, Book 1) by @sloanemurphybooks

Narrated by David Black & Elise Hoffman (@bookishlybye)

Published & Produced by @pinkflamingo_productions

Featured on @the_flock_on_tour

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Blurb:

What do you do when you know your world is about to shatter around you? Do you run toward the change or try to hold on to the broken pieces so that everything doesn’t fall apart?

I knew it was coming. We’d had time to ready ourselves, but nothing could have prepared us for the fall out. No one warned me our enemies would make me the pawn in their game. No one saw just how broken I would become.

Now it’s up to me to pick up the broken pieces and wield them against the ones who made me this way. Believe me… they are all going to pay.

This audiobook is part of the Shadow Walkers Saga. It can be listened to as a stand-alone, but will contain spoilers to the first books in the saga.

#NowLive #NewRelease #ReleaseBlitz #PinkFlamingoProductions #TheFlockonTour #WitchsCurseAudioTour #SloaneMurphy #DavidBlack #EliseHoffman #Fantasy #ParanormalRomance

[celebritydecks]

Sam Elliott Saga

Sam Elliott Saga: From Saddle to Silver Screen Stardom

Some actors in the world of cinema have an undeniable charisma that makes them stand out. Samuel Pack Elliott (Sam Elliott), an American actor whose career in the entertainment world has been nothing short of amazing. Elliott has left a lasting impression on Hollywood thanks to his distinctive appearance and powerful voice. Join us as we go through this remarkable person’s diverse career and personal life.

The Birth of a Hollywood Legend

Sam Elliott was born on August 9, 1944, at Sacramento’s Sutter Memorial Hospital. He is the son of Henry Nelson Elliott, a predator-control specialist for the Department of the Interior, and Glynn Mamie, a former high-school diving champion for Texas who went on to become a physical-training instructor and high-school teacher.

His family, however, relocated to Portland, Oregon, when he was just 13 years old. Elliott spent his formative years here until graduating from David Douglas High School in 1962.

The Early Pursuit of Dreams

After high school, Sam Elliott studied on a college at the University of Oregon, initially majoring in English and psychology. However, his passion for acting led him to the stage at Clark College in nearby Vancouver, Washington. Here, he played Big Jule in a production of “Guys and Dolls.” Even though the Vancouver Columbian newspaper suggested that Elliott should pursue acting professionally, he initially pursued a college degree.

Tragically, Elliott’s father’s untimely death shifted the course of his life. He left college and moved to Los Angeles, a decision his father had discouraged. Sam’s father had been a realist and had doubted the possibility of a Hollywood career for his son. Yet, it was his father’s work ethic that Sam carried with him, serving in the California Air National Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing before fully dedicating himself to acting.

The Rise of a Western Icon

Sam Elliott’s acting career began with minor roles, frequently putting him in Western-themed films that complemented his appearance and voice wonderfully. He gained fame in the late 1960s by appearing in TV episodes including “Lancer,” where he played Renslo, and “Judd for the Defense,” where he was credited as Dan Kenyon.

Elliott’s talent shined through in 1970, when he played the cowboy Walker in Falstaff Beer advertisements, a role that wonderfully suited his persona. He played Doug Robert in numerous episodes of the popular series Mission: Impossible during the 1970–1971 television season. In 1975, he continued to advance his career as Charles Wood in the television film I Will Fight No More Forever.

Feature Film Breakthrough

Sam Elliott’s debut in a major feature film came with the release of “Lifeguard” in 1976. His portrayal of a lifeguard in Southern California, reevaluating his life choices, showcased his ability to bring depth to his characters. Elliott’s performance stood out despite the film’s mixed reviews.

Recognition as a Character Actor

Elliott’s career took a turn for the better when he appeared in adaptations of Louis L’Amour novels like “The Sacketts” in 1979 and “The Shadow Riders” in 1982. These parts enhanced his reputation as a versatile performer who could handle the complexities of Western stories.

[tastywordgasms]

🄰🅅🄰🄸🄻🄰🄱🄻🄴 🄽🄾🅆 Witch's Curse by Sloane Murphy. @sloanemurphybks @BareNakedWords #NewRelease #SloaneMurphy #WitchsCurse #ParanormalRomance #BareNakedWords

🄰🅅🄰🄸🄻🄰🄱🄻🄴 🄽🄾🅆 Witch’s Curse by Sloane Murphy. @sloanemurphybks @BareNakedWords #NewRelease #SloaneMurphy #WitchsCurse #ParanormalRomance #BareNakedWords

***AVAILABLE NOW*** Witch’s Curse by Sloane Murphy The Shadow Weaver Series #1 – part of the Shadow Walkers Saga. Genre: Paranormal Romance Release Date 16th February AVAILABLE NOW: https://geni.us/shadowweaver1 #NewRelease #SloaneMurphy #WitchsCurse #ParanormalRomance #BareNakedWords Blurb What do you do when you know your world is about to shatter around you? Do you run towards the…

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

Been quite a while since anything new has been available, but I was able to get a new batch of 7 inked Archie Mega Man pages from Gary Martin last week. 

First up, the neat splash page featuring a couple of conniving mad scientists, Dr. Wily and Dr. Robotnik, which appeared at the end of Issue 51, penciled by Edwin Huang. The hand belongs to Xander Payne, who created the portal they walked through with his electronic eye.  Interestingly enough, on the back of this page was what is listed as a patch for the final page of Issue 37, which was the first chapter in the Dawn of X saga. This one was drawn by Jamal Peppers. Just the top panel of that page, not the part with Mega Man’s helmet broken by the spikey foot of the Wily Walker. Still, as always, so fun to see a bonus hiding on the back of one of these official pages!

Next up is page 3 from Issue 31, the 3rd issue of Blackout: The Curse of Ra Moon. This one is a Mike Cavallaro issue. Rock and Gutsy encounter Needle Man for the first time, before he’s brain hijacked by Ra Moon.

Then from Issue 43, the great Powree issues, it’s page 10, where Magnet Man goes down after a flurry of Shadow Blades pierce him. I gave away the page before this in a contest a long time ago, so happy to get a different Shadow Blade Rock page now.

Moving on to Issue 47, pages 2 and 8, drawn by Ryan Odagawa. This issue had that really different coloring style, so it is kinda refreshing to see the inks for these two. Page 2 features blasting and Hard Knuckling through the Yellow Devil, while Page 8 had Doc Robot blasting Mega Man through a wall, which led to a capsule room where the bodies of the 8 Robot Masters from Mega Man 2, whose robotic brains were all intermingled into Doc Robot, were housed in capsules. But wait a minute, isn’t there something odd with this page, compared to the final...? 

That’s right! In this inked page, Ice Man and Shadow Man were originally in the bottom right capsules! Somebody certainly caught the mistake and added Wood Man and Flash Man in. Although to be honest, the top left head silhoutte looks more like Flash to me. And it also looks like Magnet Man’s legs are the visible left pair, which seems to have made it in the final page as well. So this is actually a really fun thing to look at, to see what was mistakenly originally drawn, and how they tried to fix it in the final. Poor Air, Crash, and Heat kinda got screwed in this setup. XD

Second to last, it’s the first page of Issue 49, by Ryan Jampole. This page is from Quick Man’s perspective as he’s booted back up in his own body, after the whole Doc Robot situation and Mega Man 3 story has ended. Because who doesn’t love Rock’s happy face in Jamps’ style?

And finally, another from Jamps, it’s page 4 of Issue 54. This is one of the great easter egg pages in Wily’s lab, where we get a lot of cameos from things in later Mega Man games that we unfortunately never got in the series, before it was cancelled. I won’t list them all, but some things stand out a little better in this inked page, without the speech bubbles hiding them all.

One day maybe I’ll try to scan and stitch some of these pages together, rather than just always taking photos of them with my phone. It’s a lot harder to scan, due to how large these pages are, compared to the size of my scanner. But it is something I want to do one day, for better quality.

Scanned from: My Production Art Stash

[tawneybel]

May 2021 Reader Insert Smut Masterlist

Note: Request rules.

1. N/A

2. N/A

3. Patrick Ross from Species 2

4. Mermen Characters 

5. Huntsman from The Company of Wolves

6. Soldier and devils from Jim Henson’s The Storyteller 

7. N/A

8. N/A

9. N/A

10. Lily from SiREN

11. Carmilla from The Vampire Lovers

12. Humanoid from Humanoids from the Deep

13. Aleksander Morozova from Shadow and Bone

14.  N/A

15. N/A

16. N/A

17. Major Cain and Nemesis from Resident Evil: Apocalypse

18. Aleksander Morozova from Shadow and Bone

19. Red Eye and Lash from Oblivion

20. Lilith from Bordello of Blood

21. N/A

22. N/A

23. N/A 

24. Norman Osborn and Peter Parker from Spider-Man

25. Jacob Black and Leah Clearwater from The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1

26. Harry Osborn and Peter Parker from The Amazing Spider-Man 2

27. Lou Bloom and Rick from Nightcrawler

28. N/A

29. N/A

30. N/A

31. Gage Petronzi and Cameron Walker from Buffy the Vampire Slayer 

[cardest]

Sweden playlist

Goodness! The Swedish Chef is deliriously pleased with this Sweden playlist. Det här är otroligt! It’s not far off 350 songs. Can we get there? I think so. (I tried to get songs by Retaliation and 10,000 years, but maybe later when someone puts up those songs on Youtube). This is epic!

What songs and bands have I overlooked for this? I bet there’s plenty. Sweden is just oozing with so much talent and so many great bands. Listen to the playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC1-HqTl9SJKkER2dKbR2NWkE Add your songs and suggestions. Tack! SWEDEN

001 The Muppet Show - Swedish Chef goes bezerk in the kitchen 002 Grand Magus -  Fear Is The Key 003 In Flames -  Pinball Map 004 Entombed - Like This With The Devil 005 Soilwork - Figure Number Five 006 The Divine Comedy - Sweden 007 Bathory - Reaper 008 ABBA - Take a Chance On Me 009 Therion - Gothic Kabbalah 010 Moloko - Indigo 011 Katatonia - I Break 012 Opeth - The Baying Of The Hounds 013 Sabaton -  Carolus Rex 014 Europe - Scream Of Anger 015 Jean-Louis Aubert - Stockholm 016 Blues Pills -  Jupiter 017 Amon Amarth  - The Pursuit of Vikings 018 Triakel - Alla Gossar (Swedish folk music ) 019 Arcana - As the End Draws Near 020 Kenta  Guldkorn  - Stockholm 021 Tiamat - Whatever That Hurts   022 AVATARIUM - The Starless Sleep 023 Spiritual Beggars  -  Star Born 024 Dismember - Dreaming In Red 025 Lasse Berghagen - Pomperipossa 026 In Solitude - Sister 027 Sahg III - Baptism of Fire 028 Ebba Grön - Mona Tumbas Slim Club 029 Nightingale -  The Dreamreader 030 Roxette - Dressed For Success 031 Ghost - Rats 032 Yngwie J. Malmsteen – Far Beyond The Sun 033 Candlemass - Crystal Ball 034 Bathory - Under The Runes 035 Orup - Stockholm 036 Katla - Embryo 037 Pugh Rogefeldt - hog farm 038 Trees of Eternity - Gallows Bird (feat. Nick Holmes) 039 Paatos - Shame 040 THE STRANGLERS  - SWEDEN 041 Katatonia - Brave   042 Brighter Death Now - No Salvation 043 Nationalteatern - Livet är en fest 044 Meshuggah -  Bleed 045 Sir Douglas Quintet  - Meet Me In Stockholm   046 Ulf Lundell - Stockholm City 047 In Mourning - Fire & Ocean 048 Dark Tranquillity - The Science Of Noise 049 Blue Swede - Hooked On a Feeling 050 Clawfinger - The Truth 051 John Coltrane - Dear Old Stockholm 052 The Hellacopters - In The Sign Of The Octopus 053 Hypocrisy -  a coming race 054 Carola - Mig Var Du Står 055 Bloodbath - Let The Stillborn Come To Me 056 Vapnet - Stockholm sett snett uppifran 057 Mercy - Im Your Pervert Priest 058 The Spotnicks - Hava Nagila 059 Vanhelgd - Allt Hopp ar Fobi 060 Mammoth Storm - Fornjot 061 Vomitory - redemption 062 Entrails - No Cross Left Unturned 063 Virna Lindt - Attention Stockholm 064 Night - Fire Across the Sky 065 Dungen dar -  Har du vart i Stockholm 066 The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So 067 Sabaton - Gott Mit Uns 068 Svante Thuresson Och Totta Näslund - Stockholm Sweetnin' 069 Lake of Tears -  To Blossom Blue 070 Scott Walker - The Seventh Seal 071 Garmarna - Vänner och fränder   072 Stockholms Negrer - Det förlovade landet 073 Thåström - Ballad om en gammal knarkare 074 The Haunted - Godpuppet 075 Ordo Equilibrio - The First Harvest 076 Therion -  The Dreams Of Swedenborg 077 VINTERSORG - Fjällets mäktiga mur   078 Aeon - Aeons Black 079 Arckanum - Trulmælder 080 Edge of Sanity - Enigma   081 Scar Symmetry - The Illusionist 082 Tribulation -  Melancholia 083 Witchcraft - It's Not Because Of You 084 At The Gates - At The Gates 085 Unleashed - The One Insane 086 Candlemass - ancient dreams 087 Hasse Andersson - Guld och grona skogar   088 Crucified Barbara -  Electric Sky 089 Evergrey -  The Grand Collapse 090 Lord Belial - Bleed on the Cross 091 Hedningarna - Räven 092 Dismember - Pieces (with intro) 093 Entombed  - Sinners Bleed 094 MUSE - Stockholm Syndrome 095 Bathory - Valhalla 096 Gösta Berlings Saga - The Shortcomings Of Efficiency 097 Tiamat - The Ar 098 Oz - Turn the cross upside down 099 Grand Magus - I Am The North 100 Soilwork -  Light The Torch 101 Spiritual Beggars - Fools Gold 102 Stuck In Motion - Moon 103 Cult of Luna - Receiver 104 Arcana - A Cage 105 Memento Mori - The Seeds of Hatred 106 Wolfbrigade - Barren Dreams 107 Dr Zeke - Jag Ska Aldrig Dö 108 Yngwie Malmsteen - gimme gimme gimme (your lust after midnight) 109 Arch Enemy - Pilgrim 110 Torch - Watcher Of The Night 111 Magic - Vi drar på disco 112 Refused -  Elektra 113 Grave - Into The Grave 114 Lädernunnan - Ensam I Natt 115 The Orchard Enterprises - Fear Might Harm Self 116 Suma - Swordlord 117 Kulning - Ancient Swedish herdingcall 118 Bob Hund - Ska du hanga med Na 119 Dark Funeral - As One We Shall Conquer 120 Disfear - Get it off   121 Ghost -  From The Pinnacle To The Pit 122 Morbus Chron - Chains 123 Heavy Load - Traveller 124 Therion - Tuna 1613 125 Entombed -  Left Hand Path 126 Hearse - Mountain of the Solar Eclipse 127 Monolord - The Last Leaf 128 Night Viper - The Wolverine 129 Agrimonia - A World Unseen 130 Jonathan Hultén - Nightly sun 131 Diabolical Masquerade - Blackheim's Quest To Bring Back The Stolen Autumn 132 Army Of Lovers - Crucified 133 Dissection - Where Dead Angels Lie   134 Noctum _Liberty in Death 135 Europe - Open Your Heart 136 Darkane  - Secondary Effects 137 Candlemass - Codex Gigas 138 Bathory - Enter Your Mountain 139 ABBA - Ring Ring (Bara du slog en signal) Swedish Version 140 Watain - Malfeitor 141 Louise Lemón - Devil 142 Cult Of Luna - Vague Illusions 143 Diablo Swing Orchestra -  Black Box Messiah 144 Opeth - Nectar 145 Hills - Milarepa 146 Ceremonial Oath - The Book Of Truth 147 Dark Tranquillity - Silence And the Firmament Withdrew 148 Göteborg Sound - Björn Borg 149 In Flames -  Reflect The Storm 150 MESHUGGAH - Demiurge   151 Expiremental Pop Band - Gothenburg 152 Millencolin - polar bears 153 Hedningarna - Pornopolka 154 Ratata - Ogon Av Is Liv Utan Spanning   155 OBSCURITY - Roses With Thorns 156 Nifelheim - Sodomizer 157 Soilwork - One With The Flies 158 Gardenian - Netherworld 159 Cemetary - Sundown 160 Månegarm - Hemfärd 161 Garmarna - Herr Mannelig 162 YE BANISHED PRIVATEERS - First Night Back In Port   163 VINTERSORG - Svältvinter 164 SNOWY SHAW - Nachtgeist 165 Moloken - The Titan Above Us 166 BEWITCHED - HARD AS STEEL (HOT AS HELL) 167 The Night Flight Orchestra - Green Hills Of Glumslov 168 Vanhelgd - Gravens Lovsång 169 Marduk - Christraping Black Metal 170 Garbochock - Streberbarn 171 Negative Self - Back On Track 172 Nightingale - Sleep 173 Iggy Pop - Five Foot One 174 Owe Thörnqvist - Varm korv boogie 175 Candlemass - Elephant Star 176 Tiamat - Cold Seed 177 Dismember - Shadowlands 178 Hypocrisy - Penetralia 179 Therion - Melez 180 Yngwie Malmsteen - You Dont Remember Ill Never Forget 181 Woven Hand -  Swedish Purse 182 Roxette - Joyride 183 Wolf -  Skeleton Woman 184 Europe - Seven doors hotel 185 ABBA - Me Knowing Knowing Youse   186 Opeth - Ghost Of Perdition 187 Katatonia - I Am Nothing 188 Sabaton - Uprising 189 Bathory - Total destruction 190 Cult Of Luna - Owlwood 191 Cortex - Warrior Night 192 Trettioåriga Kriget - Krigssång 193 Lee Hazlewood A House Safe for Tigers 194 Dead Sleep - Back to black 195 Greenleaf  - Tides 196 The Crimson Shadows - When I'm Going Away 197 The Night Flight Orchestra - Transmissions 198 Anekdoten - Nucleus 199 Enhet För Fri Musik - Det Finns Ett Hjärta 200 In Flames - Jotun 201 Dungen - Ta det lugnt 202 Ghost - Ritual 203 Witchery - A Paler Shade of Death 204 Landberk - Tell 205 At The Gates - Blinded By Fear   206 Anna von Hausswolff - Epitaph of Theodor 207 Uran - Mr Piggy 208 Runemagick  Remnants of the Old 209 SKÁLD - Flúga 210 Sacramentum - Far Away from the Sun 211 Dawn - Malediction Murder 212 Nifelheim - No more life 213 Craft - The Cosmic Sphere Falls 214 Solitude Aeturnus -  Waiting for the Light 215 ARCH ENEMY - War Eternal 216 Nasum - Worldcraft 217 Insision - No Belief 218 The Oath - silk road 219 Shining - Förtvivlan Min Arvedel 220 Burst - I Exterminate The I 221 Bloodbound - Stormborn 222 Puissance - Love Incinerate 223 Electric Boys - All Lips 'n Hips 224 Exgenisis - Embers 225 Don Cherry - GamlaStan - The Old Town By Night 226 Raison D'etre -  Sub Specie Aeternitatis 227 Bloodbath  - Weak aside 228 Therion -  Opus Eclipse 229 Cult of Luna - I: The Weapon 230 Marduk - The Sun Turns Black as Night 231 Ragnar Grippe - Symphonic Songs: Part 1 232 Unanimated - From a Throne Below 233 Entombed - Hollowman 234 Grande Royale - Royale 235 PAGANIZER  - Soulless Feeding Machine 236 Bathory - Woman of Dark Desires 237 Paranorm - Critical Mass 238 Refused - The Deadly Rhythm 239 Golgata - Med din kyss kom mörkret 240 Ett Dödens Maskineri – ‘Låsta dörrar 241 MÖRK GRYNING - Fältherren   242 Daughter Chaos - The space born 243 BLUES PILLS - Rhythm In The Blood 244 LUCIFER - Ghosts 245 November - Mount Everest 246 Dissection - Night's Blood 247 Tøronto - Lights Out At Bedlam 248 ICE AGE - Breaking The Ice 249 Sweven - By Virtue of a Promise 250 Ghost-  Year Zero 251 TRIBULATION - Strange Gateways Beckon 252 Drain S.T.H. - Crack the Liar´s Smile 253 Horisont - Odyssey 254 Witchcraft - Snake 255 Kirstie Sarboe - Ein Student Aus Uppsala 256 Sodomisery - Reapers Key 257 Opeth - Under The Weeping Moon 258 Olle Adolphson - Gustav Lindströms visa 259 Therion - The Wild Hunt 260 Bloodbath - Bloodicide 261 Bathory - The Golden Walls of Heaven 262 Soilwork - Follow the Hollow 263 Magnus Härenstam - Huddinge, Tullinge, Tumba 264 OBSTRUKTION - Hopeless Path 265 Amon Amarth - The Way Of Vikings 266 Anguish - When the Ancients Dare to Walk 267 Palme sköt först - Spiders 268 Totalitär - Allt Är Inom Dig 269 Vassago - Sign of Vassago 270 Larma - Elitens Eskapism 271 ENSNARED - Anti-Prophet 272 Third Storm - Forgotten Deity 273 Chronic Decay - Ecstasy In Pain 274 Transport League - Man Sized Drain 275 Nasum - mass hypnosis 276 Inevitable End - Memento 277 Candlemass - Dancing in the Temple (Of the Mad Queen Bee) 278 Gadget - Remote 279 Sayyadina - Nothing 280 Coldworker - The Contaminated Void 281 Katatonia - Teargas 282 In Flames - Dead God in Me 283 Trial - Motherless 284 Watain - Satan's Hunger 285 Bewitched - Rise Of The Antichrist 286 Shining - Jag Är Din Fiende 287 In Solitude - Witches Sabbath 288 Comecon - The House That Man Built 289 Marduk - The Black Tormentor of Satan 290 Lifelover - M/s salmonella 291 Naglfar - Enslave the Astral Fortress 292 Sacrilege - Sweet Moment of Triumph   293 Spiritual Beggars - Monster Astronauts 294 Massgrav - Det Här Är Stockholm 295 IRON LAMB - Backstabbers 296 The Hives - Tick Tick Boom 297 Candlemass - Dark Reflections 298 Megatomb - Forbidden Altar 299 Entrails - Condemned to the Grave 300 Katatonia - Gateways of Bereavement 301 Träd, Gräs och Stenar - Sanningens Silverflod (Djungelns Lag) 302 Hammerfall - Let the Hammer Fall 303 Obnoxious Youth - Mouths Sewn Shut 304 GRAND MAGUS - Wolf God 305 Dark Funeral - Unchain my soul 306 Entombed - Say it in slugs 307 Amon Amarth - Runes to My Memory 308 Ghost - Absolution 309 Hypocrisy  - Dominion 310 Edge of Sanity - Darkday 311 Orbit Culture - North Star of Nija 312 Cemetary - Caress the Damned 313 DOZER - Through The Eyes Of Heathens 314 Grave - Now and Forever 315 ARCH ENEMY - Bury Me An Angel 316 Skraeckoedlan - Universam 317 Cult of Luna - I remember 318 Doris  Svensson - Did You Give The World Some Love Today, Baby 319 Svard - A Rift in the Green 320 Evergrey - Monday Morning Apocalypse 321 Lightbringer - Lightbringer in Sweden 322 Bastard Priest - ghouls of the endless night 323 Westkust - Cotton Skies 324 Maggot Heart - sex breath 325 Abruptum - De Profundis Mors Vas Consumet 325 Raised Fist - Flow 326 Makthaverskan - Antabus 327 Eternal of Sweden - Heaven's gate 328 Wolfbrigade - Fire Untamed 329 Fyfan - Intrangd Och Instangd 330 Opeth - Svekets prins 331 Martyrdöd - Hexhammeren 332 The Haunted - Liquid Burns 333 Dismember - Override of the Overture 444 Bathory - Under the Runes 666 Dark tranquillity - A Bolt of Blazing Gold

Play the songs here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC1-HqTl9SJKkER2dKbR2NWkE

Next edition of Sweden playlist will have tracks from: God Macabre, Deutsch Nepal , Retaliation, In Slaughter Natives and 10,000 Years.

[neilmobile]

Here's my movies of 2021 list. I watched so many terrible horror movies (free Shudder trial) and now, with a criterion subscription, rounding out the year with obscure 70s gems. Bolded were great, italics were terrible:

The Sword in the Stone

Mank

Blackbeard's Ghost

Beowulf

Beowulf & Grendel

Sweet Smell of Success

Jane Eyre (1943)

Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds

Solaris (1972)

Tapeheads

You Should Have Left

Sea of Shadows

The Lodge

War Games

Vamp

April Fools Day

Tales of Terror

Our Man in Havana

Odd Man Out

Beau Travail

Running Man (1963)

Outside the Wire

The Midnight Sky

The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes

Beastie Boys Story

Mystery Train

The Professionals

Psycho Goreman

Bill and Ted Face the Music

Fantasy Island

Arkansas

Waiting for the Barbarians

The Yakuza

Coming 2 America (ugh)

Nomadland

Zac Snyder's Justice League (fuck this)

Sunset Boulevard

Waiting

Batman Forever

Le Havre

Godzilla VS Kong

Elvira Mistress of the Dark

One Cut of the Dead

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla

Terror of Mechagodzilla

Cleopatra

Urban Legend

Warlock

Warlock 2

Fear Dot Com

Mindhunters

The Blob (1958)

Play Time

Dragon Inn

Mortal Kombat (2021)

Point Blank

My Fair Lady

Assault on Precinct 13

House (Hausu)

Police Story 2

Without Remorse

Snatch

The Street Fighter

The Street Fighter Returns

Revenge of the Street Fighter

Beverly Hillbillies

High Flying Bird

Apostle

The Naked Gun

Ava

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Da 5 Bloods

Mudbound

Poseidon

Spider-Man 3

Dark Skies

The Mitchells vs The Machines

12 Rounds

The Marine

Elvira's Haunted Hills

Space Sweepers

La Traviata

Exodus

Army of the Dead (why do I keep watching his movies)

Down Periscope

Bachelor Party

Countdown

Antebellum

Rocco and his Brothers

Sam Whiskey

Repo Man

Local Hero

Greenland

Stroszek

Woyzeck

Fata Morgana

Heart of Glass

Jubal

Slaughterhouse Rulez

An Elephant Standing Still

Fast Color

F9: Fast Saga

Handsome

Wolf of Snow Hollow

Summer of Soul

Fear Street 1994: Part 1

Concrete Cowboy

Runaway

Cleo from 9 to 5

Rio Bravo

Rio Lobo

The Sparks Brothers

Black Widow

The Great Beauty

Werewolves Within

Fear Street 1978: Part 2

Fear Street 1666: Part 3

Psycho

Psycho 2

Terror Train

Escape Room

The Hitcher (2007)

The Green Knight

The Suicide Squad

Employee of the Month

Don't Breathe

Old

Waxwork

Bacurau

Horror of Dracula

Brides of Dracula

Rollercoaster

The Mummy (1959)

Night of the Lepus

How to Make a Monster

The Thing That Couldn't Die

Snake Eyes: GI Joe thing

Haunted Mansion

King Kong Escapes

The Beast Must Die

Cannibal Women in the Avacado Jungle of Death

Demonic Toys

This Island Earth

Doll Man

Evil Bong

Trancers

Romeo Must Die

Marseille Trilogy - Cesar

Marseille Trilogy - Marius

Marseille Trilogy - Fanny

Shang-Chi

Killers From Outer-Space

Hideous!

Valley of the Dragons

The Mole People

Seven Samurai

Hook

Son of Dr. Jekyll

Crystal Lake Memories

Hobgoblins

Shrunken Heads

Seedpeople

Puppet Master

Oblivion

Anacondas: Hunt for the Blood Orchid

The Creation of the Humanoids

Kate

Candyman (2021)

The Empty Man

Day of the Dolphin

The Mummy's Tomb

Dinosaurus

Malignant (this was terrible and great)

Lost Boys: The Tribe

Prom Night (2008)

Prom Night (1980)

Prom Night 2

Snatchers

Hellmaster

Carrie

House on Haunted Hill

No Time To Die

Halloween 4

Halloween 5

Night of the Demons

Dark Waters

Viya

There's Someone Inside Your House

Blacula

Muppet's Haunted Mansion

Maniac Cop

House of Wax (2005)

Curse of the Mummy's Tomb

The Turning

The Grudge

Evilspeak

Another Evil

Satanic Panic

Scare Package

Porno

Edge of the Axe

Here Comes Hell

Saturday the 14th

Dr. Cyclops

Dracula: Dead and Loving It

Halloween Kills

Malevolant

Annette

Curse of Frankenstein

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Cult of the Cobra

She-Wolf of London

Lamb

Time Walker

Last Night in Soho

Dune (2021)

Have Rocket Will Travel

The Devil Rides Out

The French Dispatch

Adios, Sabata

Jungle Cruise

Red Notice

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me

The In-Laws

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Beatles: Get Back

Hot Millions

To Live and Die in LA

Wild Goose Lake

Monos

Snake Eyes (1998)

Those Who Wish Me Dead

A Spy Movie

Black Friday (1940)

Popeye

The Last Embrace

Prisoner of Zenda (1979)

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Raising Cane

Stalker

Sparkle (1976)

Sanjuro

Tick, Tick, Boom

Power of the Dog

Night Comes For Us

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

News of the World

The Last Duel

The Matrix: Resurrections (yoinks)

Antlers

10 Rillington Place

Living in Oblivion

To Die For (this is so good, go see it, Illeana Douglas forever)

Last Train from Gun Hill

Reversal of Fortune (fuck this movie for making Alan Dershowitz seem like a decent person)

Man on a Swing

[allgirlsareprincesses]

A Saga in Ruins: How the sets reflect the empty nostalgia of the Sequel Trilogy

To the great surprise of many fans, the Skywalker Saga ended in the ruins of the Lars moisture farm on Tatooine. Perhaps this was intended to be circular, to be a coming home of sorts, but it was an odd choice for many reasons. Why would the youthful heroine find herself in an old, empty home to which she had no real connection, instead of on a verdant green world that she had so clearly craved earlier in her journey? Wouldn’t a place full of life be more fitting for a young woman starting a hopeful new chapter?

Of course, the dirty little secret is that there is nothing hopeful about the end of the Skywalker Saga. In fact, if we look across the Sequel Trilogy, we can see the theme of destruction, aging, death, and decay in many of the settings. Notably, the only sets that look truly new are the interiors of the First Order ships, and the rich luxury world of Canto Bight, but these sleek structures actually contain a moral rot.

It was appropriate for the Prequel Trilogy to be filled with shiny new sets as the Republic and Jedi were at the height of their power. The beauty was intentional, both so that we would appreciate the civilization that would be lost with the ascension of the Dark Side, and so that we would see it as the deceptive shell hiding the moral destruction within. In the Original Trilogy, the sets have an older, worn appearance, but are rarely what could be termed “ruins.” Given that the Sequel Trilogy takes place 30 years later when the galaxy has presumably been rebuilding since the Galactic Civil War, why then are SO many of the events set in ruins, or in places that become ruins?

Ruins in The Force Awakens

The first movie of this final trilogy started on Jakku, a ruin of a world home to the destroyed imperial fleet that made a last stand at the end of the Galactic Civil War. In the first scene of the film, new ruins are created when First Order troops destroy a village. Not long after, Poe and Finn crash-land into the desert, the ruin of their TIE fighter swallowed up by the sand. Later, we meet Rey, a lonely scavenger who is picking at the guts of a downed Imperial Star Destroyer. The shots in this sequence emphasize the scale of these ruins, along with the utter emptiness of the desert. Next, we see Rey in a little trading outpost cobbled together from disparate parts. She gazes dolefully at an elderly woman working the same task that she is, clearly seeing in the aged woman her own barren and lonely future. Finally, she travels to her own home, which turns out to be a collapsed AT-AT Imperial Walker. In an endearing but somewhat macabre moment, Rey dons the helmet of a Rebel X-Wing pilot. In a parallel scene, Kylo Ren is seen talking to the charred helmet of Darth Vader, beseeching his grandfather to speak to him. It’s nostalgia, yes, but for a past that is ruined, destroyed, and dead.

She next escapes Jakku in the Millenium Falcon, which might not be considered a ruin since it still (barely) flies, but it has clearly seen better days. Rey heaves the decrepit freighter through yet more bones of downed starships, finally escaping Jakku only for the Falcon to malfunction again. Han and Chewie, elderly yet vigorous as ever, join Rey and Finn and they all travel to Takodana, where Maz Kanata lives in a castle. From there, they witness the destruction of the Hosnian system, and then the First Order arrives and completely destroys Maz’s castle, creating yet another pile of rubble. The group next travels to D’Qar, a Resistance base nested in an old Rebel Alliance base from the Galactic Civil War three decades prior. Again, everything is old, aging, and recycled; nothing is new.

Starkiller Base is shiny and new, but it is also a tool of destruction, and before long it too collapses into space debris like Alderaan and Hosnian Prime. Meanwhile, we learn that the Skywalker-Solo family itself is in ruins, with Han and Leia split up, their son Ben fallen to the Dark Side, Luke missing in exile, and Han soon killed by his own son. Rey then travels to Ahch-To, where stand the ruins of the first Jedi Temple, to find the aging and bitter Luke Skywalker.

Ruins in The Last Jedi

On Ahch-To, Rey comes to find that the Jedi religion itself is in ruins, with their ancient texts abandoned and their one avatar, Luke, having cut himself off from the Force itself. In the course of her stay, she shoots a hole through the wall of her hut, slices through a large rock on the island, and emerges from the ruin of a hut that Luke explodes when he finds her with Ben Solo. Though Ahch-To is teeming with life, death is equally present, with Luke chatting with Force Ghost Yoda and watching the Jedi tree burn.

Further, Luke is a ruin of his former self, his moral certainty destroyed by regret. In the series of flashbacks to his last encounter with Ben, we see the hut collapsing, Luke rising from the rubble later, and his training temple in flames. Luke’s legacy, his relationship with his nephew, and now the physical manifestation of both is in ruins, as well. Even his X-Wing, once a symbol of his daring, sits submerged in water, presumably unusable and possibly scavenged already for parts.

On the Supremacy, the shattering of the Skywalker legacy is made visible in the breaking of Anakin’s lightsaber in the destroyed throne room. The ship itself lies in ruins after the battles that have raged across the ship and Admiral Holdo’s brave sacrifice, and even Ben and Rey’s fledgling relationship has been shattered by the end of the sequence.

Meanwhile, after the destruction of their fleet, the Resistance escapes to Crait, to yet another old Rebel Alliance base in the hope of escaping the First Order. Their speeders are so decrepit that Poe manages to punch a hole through one with just his foot, and the remaining forces are decimated before he makes the decision to pull back. With their massive laser cannon, the First Order punches a hole through the blast door to the base, effectively destroying it and rendering it unusable as a defensive position. By the end of the Crait sequence, the Resistance, their fleet, their base, and the central relationship of the movie between Rey and Ben are all in ruins.

Though destruction and ruins abound in The Last Jedi, the framing is notably different from the other two films because the purpose of all this imagery is to show hope for the future springing from the rubble. Rey states this theme explicitly when she’s meditating for Luke on Ahch-To, saying she sees “death and decay that feeds new life.” The breaking of Kylo Ren’s mask and the legacy lightsaber are intended not as endings but as steps in the cycle of rebirth and renewal. Luke manages to shed his broken shell and become the young hero he once was, later achieving transcendence as he passes whole into the Force. Despite the massive wound dealt on Crait, the salt cleanses and covers the carnage, suggesting rebirth with womb-like imagery. Ruins in The Last Jedi tend to serve less as nostalgic settings and more as visual symbols of brokenness that must and will be healed.

Ruins in The Rise of Skywalker

As the final film of the sequel trilogy opens, we see Kylo Ren fighting a group of cultists, whom the TROS Visual Dictionary tells us are Vader loyalists. Leaked images from the art book and cut scenes suggest that this scene actually takes place in the shadow of Vader’s castle, also now a ruin in the absence of its dark master. Using the Sith wayfinder, Kylo flies to the Dark Side planet of Exogol, entering what appears to be an ancient temple of the ruined Sith culture. There he finds the resurrected but still deathlike Palpatine, who is clearly such a ruin of his former self that he must be kept alive by machinery and dark arts.

In returning to the forested, hidden Resistance base, Finn and Poe nearly destroy the Falcon yet again, with the old ship catching fire as she lands among a small collection of similarly ancient ships that appear to be in questionable flight condition. While running her Jedi training course, Rey uses the same pilot’s helmet and training remotes that Luke used over 30 years earlier to practice her skills, and cuts down a number of trees in the process, leaving a path of destruction in her wake. Not only does the continued use of old, OT-era objects confound logic, but the wanton destruction of the natural world seems at odds with the Jedi philosophy’s reverence of the life which creates the Force.

Rey’s vision leads her to the barren desert world of Pasaana, where she meets the now-elderly Lando Calrissian, then finds the wreck of the ship that pursued her family when they were fleeing the resurrected Emperor. In the ruin of Ochi’s ship, Rey finds D-0, a broken and abandoned droid who yet again mirrors all the broken and abandoned characters (literally, ALL of them) in the Sequel Trilogy. When Kylo Ren appears, Rey first destroys his TIE Whisper, then when he crawls from the wreckage, the two have a Force tug-of-war over a transport ship which ends in Rey destroying it, as well. Of course, it later turns out that Chewbacca was not aboard that transport, thus continuing the pattern in this film of laying waste to the new planets, ships, and characters that were created for the sequels, while those from the original trilogy are miraculously preserved.

The gang next travels to Kijimi, where they apparently need to destroy C3-P0′s memories in order to unlock his ability to translate an ancient Sith language. As with Chewie, this is merely a temporary “death,” and Threepio’s memories are restored later. Kijimi, unfortunately, is not so lucky, and it is rather unceremoniously blown up, like Alderaan and Hosnian Prime. It seems that even with their allies, the Resistance heroes leave nothing but destruction in their wake.

Rey and friends next land on another moon of Endor, and the poor Falcon takes another beating. While her friends work yet again to repair the old ship, Rey escapes alone to the most imposing ruins of the entire film, collapsed shell of the second Death Star from Return of the Jedi. Calling back to not only Luke’s ordeal there, but also Rey’s own origins scavenging in the carcasses of Imperial Starships, the partially-submerged battle station serves as the backdrop for still more violence and destruction. When Ben Solo arrives, Rey engages him in another duel, which ends with Leia dead and Ben mortally wounded. Though Rey heals Ben, she next flees to Ahch-To, abandoning him and taking his TIE Whisper with her.

On Ahch-To, Rey burns the TIE, standing before the flaming ruins and attempting to throw her lightsaber into the fire. Luke stops her, then leads her to an abandoned hut to find Leia’s lightsaber, a remnant of her aborted Jedi training. Lastly, Luke raises his X-Wing from the water, offering it to Rey inexplicably space-worthy and no worse for the wear having been underwater for the better part of a decade and being at least 35 years old.

Finally, all the characters converge on Exogol, where they continue to engage in as much destruction as possible, including the apparent annihilation of an entire Sith civilization who lived on the planet as part of Palpatine’s Final Order. Ben Solo also arrives on the planet to help Rey (in another OT-era fighter that is miraculously space-worthy and moreover made it across the galaxy WITHOUT A HYPERDRIVE), but Palpatine sucks the power from him and then throws him painfully down a chasm, leaving his body broken. The climactic sequence ends with thousands dead, ships destroyed, and even Rey dead (or something) on the ground. Ben drags his broken body up and across the wreckage of the arena, and dies after resurrecting her, thus ending the Skywalker line.

After a celebratory hug with her friends, Rey flies the Falcon to Tatooine, to the literal ruins of the Lars Homestead. This is the place we last saw belching smoke as Owen and Beru’s charred remains splayed grotesquely across the scene of Luke’s destroyed childhood. Recalling again Rey’s beginning scraping a meager and lonely existence from battle wreckage, she slides down a sand dune on a loose piece of debris, and precociously explores the place. Finally, she buries Luke and Leia’s lightsabers (further cementing this place as a graveyard since Shmi is also buried here along with the Lars), and declares herself to be a Skywalker, the heir to these ruins.

Nostalgia as Love of a Dead or Imaginary Past

So, what does it all mean? If the Sequel Trilogy relies on ruins as a setting more than the other two trilogies, why does that matter? Isn’t it just paying homage to all the stories that led to the saga’s conclusion? Doesn’t it simply tie everything together?

Most critics and fans agree that the Sequel Trilogy relies heavily on nostalgia. In particular, JJ Abrams is often criticized for using nostalgia to such a degree that many of his films are direct copies of the stories they’re referencing: Super 8 is a mash-up of films like E.T. and Stand By Me, Star Trek: Into Darkness is a copy of The Wrath of Khan, The Force Awakens is nearly identical to Episode IV: A New Hope, and so on. Nostalgia is defined as:

“A sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.”

Most of Abrams’ movies succeed in creating this feeling because they rely on a shared cultural childhood memory. We fondly remember iconic moments from the films we loved as children, so seeing those moments again creates a feeling of remembered happiness. These movies encourage the viewer to recall how they felt the first time they saw certain images by repeating those images.

The first problem with this approach is that nostalgia is for the audience, not for the characters. The believability of the characters’ actions suffers when they are forced to act out scenes from a story that is not their own, from lives and perspectives that are not theirs. The audience might love seeing a lightsaber battle because that’s quintessential Star Wars, but if the two (or more) characters have no logical reason to fight other than as a spectacle for the audience, then the scene will lack any emotional depth. Likewise, a character revering someone whom they either barely knew or openly loathed makes no sense. In the case of settings or props, characters must respond to them in a way that is believable based on their actual history (or lack thereof) with the place or object. If the main characters of a story function only as a sort of modern Greek chorus, mirroring the nostalgic reactions of the omniscient audience, then they fail to be characters at all and become the most reductive versions of a self-insert.

This video explains the problem well, from 7:09 to 10:58 (the whole video is good but fair warning that not all of his takes align with what I believe about Star Wars, especially as regards Kylo Ren/Ben Solo): 

Another problem with this reliance on nostalgia is that in order to speak to a shared childhood experience, everyone in the audience must have had similar childhoods, or at least belong to the same generation so that they all fondly remember the same things. This is necessarily exclusive, as different generations have vastly different collective experiences and memories. The members of the audience who were children at the time of the Original Trilogy’s release or shortly after grew up in a very different world than those who were children during the release of the Prequel Trilogy, or from the generation living through childhood now. Some things that older generations remember fondly carry uncomfortable or even traumatic associations for younger generations, so something intended to be nostalgic will not impact all audiences in the same way.

The legacy saber is a great example of this: an older Original Trilogy fan might be delighted to see Luke’s inaugural lightsaber from the very first Star Wars film being passed on to the new generation, but a younger fan who grew up with the Prequels might see it as a tainted symbol of Anakin’s fall to the dark side and a weapon stained with the blood of innocent younglings. A family sword meant to press the nostalgia button in The Force Awakens instead invokes a feeling of dread and horror in fans with different associations. While Rian Johnson mentions deliberately referencing the Prequels in his creation of The Last Jedi, JJ Abrams and Chris Terrio make no secret of the fact that they don’t acknowledge those films, and it shows.

Lastly, Star Wars has always been a story of youth, of coming of age, growing up, and becoming one’s own person. Luke’s story in the Original Trilogy was about him learning who he was independently of his father and mentors. He is merely a boy, young and defiant, and through his own mistakes he learns how the elder generation was wrong, resolves to do better, and thereby redeems them. Anakin’s story was similar, except that he was unable in his youth to learn the right lessons from the failures of his mentors, his defiance taking a more destructive form. In contrast to both of them, Rey learns.... that all her mentors and parental figures were right all along. In the end, she defies no one, discovers no new and better way, and ultimately brings nothing new and different to the galaxy. She brings no peace or renewal, adopting a legacy of death and destruction to cap a life that has featured only the old, dead, and destroyed.

This is where Disney and Abrams tip their hand and the true philosophy underpinning the Sequel Trilogy is revealed: in an effort to appeal to the nostalgia of older Star Wars fans, they fail to tell a story of youth and instead offer an orgy of death-worship and aesthetic decay. Rather than having the Star Wars conclude with Star Peace, the final trilogy seems to say “Weren’t those wars great? Don’t you miss them? Don’t you want to be reminded of all those wars?”

In her book The Future of Nostalgia, Svetlana Boym defines the term a little differently than the dictionary:

"Nostalgia (from nostos - return home, and algia - longing) is a longing for a home that no longer exists or has never existed. Nostalgia is a sentiment of loss and displacement, but is also a romance with one's fantasy."

Boym points out that memory is often faulty, and that fond recollection is often a reaction to current despair. If things are bad now, it is natural for us to imagine a more comforting past, as with popular references to “the good old days.” In fact, another translation of the root algos is “pain,” thereby associating the return home with pain. Is it pain that prompts our longing to return home? Pain that creates the fond memory of home in the first place? Perhaps home itself is a source of pain, and so our minds construct an imaginary home that is better than the reality. In any case, it is typical that our rose-colored glasses distort the truth of what we long for, so the danger of nostalgia is a disassociation from truth.

One of those truths that we might deny in our fantasies is the ephemeral nature of human life and experience. All things age, decay, and ultimately cease to be. They may be evergreen in memory, but in a contiguous timeline like the Skywalker Saga, every location, object, or person must inevitably show the passage of time. Thus it is that the youthful heroes of the Original Trilogy become wizened and less vital when they reappear in the Sequels, that old ships break, and symbols of better times shatter and burn. As Boym states, however, the nostalgic lives in denial:

“The nostalgic desires to obliterate history and turn it into a private or collective mythology, to revisit time like space, refusing to surrender to the irreversibility of time that plagues the human condition.”

Nostalgia cannot hide the steady march of time, which is why most stories look to the future and the creation of the new. Not so the Sequel Trilogy. At no point in the story does there appear to be a goal outside of “defeating the latest bad guys, who are identical to the old bad guys.” There’s no vision of the future toward which the characters are striving, neither on a galactic level (achieving peace) nor a personal level (starting a new family on a vibrant living planet). As such, with nothing to look forward to, the story can only look backward, trapped in nostalgia for a past that appears worse the closer you look at it.

This is why the Sequels are filled with characters, objects, and places from the Original Trilogy that are revered in spite of their violent and even traumatic pasts, not to mention visible signs of age. Ultimately a story that has nothing new to say or offer, only weak attempts to recreate a half-remembered childhood feeling of an aging generation, can ONLY logically end in a graveyard. Viewed in this light, it makes sense that the young protagonist builds her life around fond memories that for her are only imaginary, surrounded by the visible evidence of death and decay to which nostalgia blinds her.

If this is all the fan in the audience is looking for, a faded echo of their favorite memory, then perhaps that is enough. But for those who do not share the reassuring memory, or those who look forward to the future and how things might change for the better, the ending of the Skywalker Saga offers only knowledge that all things fade and die. Without the lens of nostalgia, the Sequel Trilogy is merely an empty tale of death.

[comixconnection]

Choose Your Three Free Comics!

At long, long last...Free Comic Book Day is here! Unlike the usual “first Saturday in May” celebration that has defined the even in normal years, due to issues with the ongoing pandemic the folks in charge have decided to move this year’s celebration back to August 14th. Want a sneak-peak at the books...?

The following titles will be available at Comix Connection on Aug 14th (while supplies last!). Everybody gets to pick three! Unlike previous years, we will NOT be accepting FOOD DONATIONS in exchange for additional comics. Instead we will be collecting monetary donations to give to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. For every DOLLAR donates, you may select an additional free comic book!

We know the line for the FCBD comics can get long (if you want to come in and shop first, you can skip the line and head straight inside!) so in an effort to both entertain you while you’re in that long line and to help it go a little faster by giving you a preview of the various titles so you can decide ahead of time what looks good, the Comix Connection Counter Monkeys have read and reviewed all of the available FCBD books! Take a peek!

CHOOSE YOUR FREE COMICS:

One hundred years before the Skywalker Saga began, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy! In this prelude to the ongoing Star Wars: High Republic Adventures comic series, follow padawans Ram Jomaram, Lula Talisola, and Zeen Mrala as they try to save Lonisa City from the dreaded Nihil. Also read the beginning of Star Wars: High Republic Adventures #1! [All Ages]

“Two brand-new adventures from the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender! In Clearing the Air, Tenzin attempts to teach his rambunctious children a lesson Aang taught him about how to resolve conflicts. In Match Makers, Iroh runs into some trouble with a few friends...that just might lead him to something fun he’s been trying to hide from!” [All Ages]

Who Sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott? gives a sample of the upcoming graphic novel by the same name, a tale telling the true story of the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement,” Rosa Parks! This excerpt features the immediate aftermath of Rosa’s arrest, and her decision to start a legal battle that would change the course of American freedom! [All Ages]

“There's nothing better than a beautiful sunny day reading comics, so join us for a look at this summer's fantastic all-ages reads, courtesy of Oni Press! From the gentle, magical worlds of The Tea Dragon Tapestry (by K. O'Neill) and The Sprite and the Gardner (by Rii Abrego and Joe Whitt), the adventurous magical mystery of Mooncakes (by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu), and the action-packed Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters (Chris and Laura Samnee), there's something for everyone. Sneak a peek at these four fantastic fantasy graphic novels!” [All Ages]

Sonic is 30 years old! Celebrate the anniversary of the world’s fastest hedgehog with this peek into the ongoing Sonic comic series. Things get meta when Amy Rose starts drawing a comic about Sonic, Tails, and their friends...but what will Sonic think when he finds out he’s been turned into a comic book? Prepare for the big 30th Anniversary Sonic Celebration here! [All Ages]

It's the crisis of infinite Archies! Celebrate 80 years of the Riverdale Gang with this tale featuring a dimension-hopping Archie Andrews in his quest to save the multiverse. Then, witness Archie go toe-to-toe with... himself?! May the best Archie win! Plus, get a preview of the newest Archie One-Shot in shops! This title includes several versions of Archie (from classic to TV to horror) and showcases his evolution as a character over eight decades, all while being a tie-in to the company's 80th Anniversary plans. [All Ages]

“Despite the pandemic and the swirl of world events, back issue comics are booming! It's not all record prices (though there are many) or bargain basement deals, but rather it's many different categories! The team that brings you The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide shines the spotlight on this exciting part of the universe of comic books. Includes tips on how to collect, care for your comics, and preserve them, among other things.” [All Ages]

“Get a sneak peek at book four in the bestselling InvestiGators series! With agent Brash trapped in a mysterious coma, the technicians at S.U.I.T. have designed the ultimate replacement: RoboBrash! This high-tech replica has been programmed with all of the original Brash's crime-fighting skills and know-how--but it seems he's got a few bugs in his system! Will Mango and his new partner be enough to stop the giant ants that are on a rampage in the city? Orchestrated by the spaced-out villain, Maestronaut, and Houdino, the dinosaur escape artist, it seems criminals are certainly upping the ANT-e!” [All Ages]

“My name is Grace, not ‘Kyle's little sister’!” Having a good-looking, friendly, outgoing older brother sucks--especially when you're the total opposite: someone who likes staying home and playing video games. Your parents like him better (even if they deny it!) and everyone calls you "Kyle's little sister" while looking disappointed that you're not more like him. Grace was really hoping she'd get to go to a different middle school, but no such luck. At least she has her friends...until he finds a way to ruin that, too! What will Grace have to do to get out of his shadow?! [All Ages]

Jewish mythology has it that when God created the universe, He left one corner of it unfinished. Opinion is divided on why, but everyone agrees that the Unfinished Corner is a dangerous place full of monsters. Twelve-year-old Miriam is too busy preparing for her Bat Mitzvah to care about the Unfished Corner. She spends her days wrestling with whether she even wants to be Jewish--until a peculiar angel appears, whisking her, her two best friends, and her worst frenemy off to this monstrous land with one mission: finish the Unfinished Corner. [All Ages]

“The City of Gloomhaven isn't "safe" at the best of times, but lately, more folks than usual seem to be disappearing. In a city paralyzed by an unknown menace, only one adventuring crew will do: The Jaws of the Lion! Based on the hit games, Gloomhaven and Jaws of the Lion from Cephalofair Games, comes a fantasy adventure with humor and heart.” [All Ages]

The Last Kids on Earth and their friends each tell their own best story of the Monster Apocalypse, including Jack's high-stakes baseball game, Globlet's attempt to take over the world, Quint's bad-day-away invention, Dirk's bragain with a witch, and June and Skaelka's creepy carnival--plus a surprise story from some bad guys on the run... [All Ages]

Being the new kid is tough, even for a superhero/ward and heir to a billionaire, Damian Wayne (aka Robin)! Join Damian as he struggles to learn patience and understanding from the students at Gotham Metro Academy, including star student and all-around Great Guy, Howard! Plus, an adventure of Amethyst, princess of the mystical realm of Gemworld by bestselling authors Shannon Hale and Dean Hale! [All Ages]

To celebrate the new animated TV series premiering on Nickelodeon Fall 2021, Papercutz is releasing a new series of graphic novels entitled The Smurfs Tales. Preview it here with a number of silly short Smurfs Tales, with a back-up appearance by one of Peyo’s other beloved creations: Johan and Peewit, the young page and the court jester. [All Ages]

In Edge of Balance, a new High Republic story set in the wake of the Hyperspace Disaster, meet new Jedi and their enemies 100 years before the events of the Skywalker Saga! Young Jedi Knight Lily Tora-Asi is assigned to help displaced civilians relocate to Banchii in the Outer Rim. She and her padawans will face more threats there than just anxious settlers, from the insidious Drengir to the Nihil! And in Guardian of the Whills, encounter Baze and Chirrut before they join the Rebellion against the Empire in Rogue One! Presiding over the Kyber Temple on Jedha, the Guardians of the Whills had hoped to maintain the balance despite the growing presence of the Empire in their Holy City. Yet when a rebel named Saw Gerrera appears, Baze and Chirrut must decide if they're willing to compromise for peace, or if Saw's plan is too dangerous to risk. Read the first chapter of these two new Star Wars Manga Graphic Novels here! [Teen]

It wouldn’t be the Teen Titans without heightened teenage emotions and romance! Fan favorites Beast Boy and Raven are travelling away from the dwellings they know to find homes they can feel comfortable in. Along the way, their paths cross, sparks fly, and even a destiny or two might be found. [Teen]

“Street Fighter heads back to school, as the world's young fighters flex both their academic and martial arts prowess! Fan favorites Sakura, Ibuki, Karin, Makoto, and Elena come face-to-face with a new challenger - the leather-clad, motorcycle-riding Akira! It's a square-off of (rival) schools in this action-packed one-shot!” [Teen]

[NOT FINAL ART] “This Fall, jump on board here as VALIANT UPRISING overthrows the status quo with new titles, new creators, and new takes on Valiant's most iconic characters! The VALIANT UPRISING FCBD SPECIAL features: A brand new X-O MANOWAR story from Harvey Award-winning writer Dennis Hopeless and breakout star Emilio Laiso. It's the perfect jumping-on point as Valiant's flagship hero prepares to "Upgrade the World"! Then, get a special advance preview of THE HARBINGER #1, an all-new series from co-writers Jackson Lanzing and Colin Kelly join superstar artist Robbi Rodriguez that promises to take Valiant's psiot rebel in a vivid new direction! Plus, find out how the world's greatest spy responds to being unmasked, hunted, and trapped in a first look at NINJAK #1, the pulse-pounding thrill ride from Ringo Award-winning writer Jeff Parker and legendary artist Javier Pulido. Finally, get a sneak peek from writer Cullen Bunn and artist Jon Davis-Hunt of what's to come when SHADOWMAN returns!” [Teen]

Three epic new Marvel moments begin here! Read the beginning of the upcoming Spider-Man Beyond story that will be starting in Amazing Spider-Man #75! Big changes are coming to everyone’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man...but are they for good, or ill? Also discover the new Venom series, which will take spider symbiosis to whole new levels in the wake of King In Black. And last, sneak a peek at the Luke Cage: City On Fire mini-series, which will pit Luke against not just the Kingpin, but Daredevil too! [Teen]

Gotham is under attack, and it’s by the people claiming to keep it safe! Billionaire Simon Saint has slowly been taking over the institutions of Gotham with his insidious private security Magistrate program. Meanwhile, Batman finds his mind infected by Scarecrow’s fear gas, forcing him to question every decision he makes. It is all leading to the DC-spanning event FEAR STATE that will rock Gotham to its core. Plus, read a preview of Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridely’s I Am Batman series in which the sons of Lucius Fox struggle with the legacy of both their father and Bruce Wayne as they take up the cowl to defend Gotham. [Teen]

Who is Avenger Prime? And what has spurred the chronal collapse that has them sending their army of Deathloks out to save all of space and time? Discover the start of the end here! Then, journey into the unknown with the Incredible Hulk! Bruce Banner never wanted to smash, he wanted to discover. Now, it’s finally time for the Hulk to expand his horizons with Operation: Smashtronaut! [Teen]

In this story from Critical Role, explore a small but important corner from the adventures of the Mighty Nein. Then, in The Witcher, it's an original tale featuring the iconic witcher himself, Geralt! Created in close collaboration with CD Projekt Red! [Teen]

A fascinating graphic adaptation of historian Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny, a collections of essays and reflections on lessons from history and how they can help America steer away from the course of authoritarianism. Recommended for anyone looking to learn more about how tyrants all through history have manipulated people and systems to take away the freedoms of others. [Teen]

“Side A: "BLACK: Interlude" What else was going on the night Kareem Jenkins was shot by police and discovered only Black people have superpowers? Find out in this FCBD one-shot! Side B: "CALEXIT: Hollywood Babylon" Once California refused to be ruled by the US government, its resistance fighters became overnight celebrities. Zora used her infamy for recruiting, but Emmie-X has other ideas.” [Mature]

In 2019, James Tynion IV (Batman) and Werther Dell'Edera (Briggs Land) introduced the world to Erica Slaughter, the iconic monster hunter who came to Archer's Peak, Wisconsin to save the town's children from the monsters only she can see. But Erica is not the only member of the House of Slaughter... With nearly half a million copies sold, Something is Killing the Children has become a true comic phenomenon and this Free Comic Book Day you are invited to enter the House of Slaughter...if you dare. [Teen]

Crewed by teenage geniuses frozen in cryosleep, the JEMISON is on a mission to terraform other worlds and provide hope for the human race. But when the ship is mysteriously stopped over a planet that isn't on any of their maps, the crew finds themselves suddenly awoken ten years early. One half remains behind to try and assess the damage and the other is dispatched to the planet below to figure out the answer to a perilous question: What stopped the ship, and is it friend or foe? [Teen]

As the earth dies, salvation is offered to five thousand children who will be spirited away from our planet’s apocalypse -- but what of the other children, still hoping to find one of the bracelets that give them their ticket off planet? In this wistful one-shot from the sci-fi hit We Live, go into the Broken Lands with a group of friends...but there are four of them, and only one bracelet to be found. How will they decide who gets to leave? Then, preview the Rainbow Bridge graphic novel where Andy has to help his beloved dog Rocket save eternity! [Teen]

“The comic adventures of Max, Chloe, and Rachel from the award-winning video game Life Is Strange continue in this exclusive lead-in to an epic new story arc! This FCBD special features the first comic book appearance of an all-new character who will feature heavily in the Life is Strange universe in 2021! This FCBD issue contains exclusive original material!” [Teen]

“To reclaim the Dungeon that fell to the scheming William Delacour, the plan is simple: Marvin the dragon, Isis, and Herbert the duck must find some magic “fugus purit” and use it to dislodge the current occupants of the fortress. But is this really the Guardian's plan? Our heroes will have to fight against everyone to save the Dungeon. Meanwhile, will Marvin succeed in his engagement blast-of-firebreath 'Tong Deum'? Preview the new series here!” [Teen]

See the next chapter of the super-powered scifi epic The Resistance, and then meeet the “Moths”: a subset of the super-powered Reborn. The pandemic that granted the Reborn their gifts during The Great Death gave power to people like  Emily Kai and the rest of the Moths, too...but the moment they use their gifts, their clock starts ticking and they have six months to live. Also, get a sneak-peek at the just-released Not All Robots futuristic techno-depressive-thriller! [Teen]

The second semester of School for Extraterrestrial Girls is in session! Peer into the lives of Tara Smith (fire lizard!), Misako Sato (extra-dimensional fairy!), Summer Cortez (pink tentacle void beast!), and Ekaterina and Zvenislava (anthropomorphic Russian kittens!). They’re all normal teenage girls...except that they’re all aliens stuck on Earth, and since Tara partially destroyed their old school they’ve been sent to bunk at the School for Extraterrestrial Boys while it’s repaired...that’ll go fine, right? Read the first issue here! [Teen]

This official spinoff manga of Rent-A-Girlfriend, the rom-com turned hit anime, features fan-favorite Sumi, the shy girl longing to come out of her shell. Written and illustrated by original creator Reiji Miyajima! Catch up on the manga before the Rent-A-Girlfriend anime returns for a second season, coming soon! [Teen]

Zom 100 is a violent and funny take on the zombie apocalypse! Its main character, Akira, is so depressed in his soul-crushing job that he uses the undead hordes as motivation to finally complete his bucket list! Also included is a sample of the hit fantasy manga Demon Slayer. [Teen]

“Known as the the Weakest Hunter of All Mankind, E-rank hunter Jinwoo Sung's contribution to raids amounts to trying not to get killed. Unfortunately, between his mother's hospital bills, his sister's tuition, and his own lack of job prospects, he has no choice but to continue to put his life on the line. So when an opportunity arises for a bigger payout, he takes it...only to come face-to-face with a being whose power outranks anything he's ever seen! With the party leader missing an arm and the only healer a quivering mess, can Jinwoo somehow find them a way out?” [Teen]

In the small Pennsylvania town of White Ash, there isn’t much going on aside from mining...and keeping the fact that there are elves and dwarves living in the town secret, of course! In this pre-launch of Season Two of the ongoing series, a romantic rendezvous for the grieving dwarf Alex and mischievous elf Lillian doesn’t go as planned...with potentially disastrous consequences! Also read a preview of The Game, a new series where your every action affects impacts the score of your life! Plus a sneak-peak at some vampiric troubles in colonial America in Stake! [Teen]

World of Zorro gives readers a peak at the upcoming titles for the legendary masked swashbuckler, both new stories (that range from the familiar to supernatural horror) as well as newly-translated classic tales! [Teen]

For FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, enjoy this special expanded edition of the hit IMAGE series, STRAY DOGS! Stray Dogs is a comic thriller that features art inspired by classic Don Bluth-style animation, telling the story of a group of dogs brought together by a mysterious loner. Rather than behave like four-legged humans, the brilliance of Stray Dogs is that it gets inside the heads of its canine characters, showing the human world from their perspective. Unique, entertaining, and creepy. [Teen]

The undead Vampirella has been around since 1969, and as the celebrations of her 50th anniversary draw to a close, Dynamite presents a reprint of the first issue of their series that kicked-off her modern adventures! [Teen+]

Take an inside look at everyone’s favorite bipedal shark god, King Shark (aka Nanaue)! Suicide Squad’s many-toothed muscle is currently inside Belle Reve prison, but he won’t remain there for long. PLUS: a sneak peak at the just-released Suicide Squad miniseries Get Joker! [Mature]

“After 20 years of antics coming out of Sunnyvale trailer park, the underground TV phenomenon Trailer Park Boys is finally coming to comics! Full of short stories and activity pages, several of comics' finest join to create a series of comic book specials in 2021 and beyond honoring Ricky, Bubbles and Julian and everything fans have come to love about the series.”  [Mature]

Fungirl is a humor comic that is as unpredictable and hilarious as it is observant and smart. Cartoonist Elizabeth Pich’s creation does as much smashing the patriarchy as she does dreaming of delicious donuts and being spit on by llamas. [Mature]

“Tensions between the clans are high, so when Cecily Bain, an enforcer for the Twin Cities' vampiric elite, takes a mysterious new vampire under her wing she finds herself in over her head and dragged into a massive undead conspiracy! Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the city, a rebellious found-family of clan-less vampire cast-outs investigates a vicious killing.” [Mature]

“Preview the forthcoming full color, original Space Pirate Captain Harlock series from ABLAZE, personally overseen by the legendary Leiji Matsumoto!  In this brand-new Captain Harlock adventure, planet Earth is threatened by an upcoming invasion by the Sylvidres and despite being banished as a pirate, Captain Harlock won't give up trying to save the world. Will Captain Harlock and his crew manage to solve this mystery and save the Earth from yet another menace?  Also includes teasers for 3 highly anticipated upcoming manga/manhwa releases from ABLAZE, including The Breaker Vol 1 omnibus (critically acclaimed martial arts manhwa), Versus Fighting Story Vol 1 (Capcom e-sports shonen manga) and Crueler Than Dead Vol 1 (zombie horror seinen manga).” [Mature] 

“An evil so profound it threatens all mankind... the mightiest heroes on the planet uniting to defend us all... a secret crisis of such utter finality that a countdown to civil or infinite war seems unavoidable... but have you ever wondered what really happens during Crossovers? The Seven, Payback, Teenage Kix, Fantastico and every other supe on Earth team up for an annual event like no other... and where the supes go, can a certain "five complications and a dog" be far behind? Vought-American prepare to make their move, in a story that will change the world of the Boys forever: Herogasm #1. The first-ever Boys spin-off mini-series features the pairing of Ennis with Hitman artist John McCrea and covers by Boys artist and co-creator Darick Robertson!” [Mature]

“The most eagerly-anticipated series of 2021 gets the FCBD treatment with this ALL-NEW "bonus" issue of the series! Featuring 33 pages of comics produced exclusively for FCBD, from the creator of Hip Hop Family Tree and X-Men: Grand Design, designed as a perfect entry point for new readers and a must-have for those already on board. Aided by the anonymous dark web and nearly untraceable crypto-currency, there has emerged a subculture of criminals who live-stream and patronize webcam murders for entertainment. Who are the murderers? Who are the victims? Who is the audience? How do we stop it? An outlaw, splatterpunk masterpiece, as seen on Piskor's YouTube channel sensation, Cartoonist Kayfabe!” [Mature]

“An award-winning comic and soon to be Netflix anime series!  When dusk arrives in the city of Manila, that's when you become the most likely prey of the underworld. Kidnappers and thieves will be the least of your worries. Beware the criminals that can't be bound with handcuffs nor harmed with bullets.  Beware the ones that crave your blood, those who hold your heart ransom, and the ones that come to steal your soul. When crime takes a turn for the weird, the police call Alexandra Trese. Featuring a preview from TRESE Vol 2: Unreported Murders, a section on the forthcoming Netflix TRESE anime series launching this summer (including an interview with Director Jay Oliva), bonus pages with w/ background about the monsters of Philippine myth as told by TRESE creators Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo, and a teaser on TRESE Vol 3: Mass Murders, coming this Sept from ABLAZE!” [Mature]

“2000 AD Presents All-Star Judge Dredd is a thrill-powered showcase of the past and shocking present of the iconic lawman of the future! Witness the birth of the world of Judge Dredd in an incendiary preview of upcoming prequel graphic novel Dreadnoughts by Michael Carroll with art by Watchmen's John Higgins. Fan-favourite Judge Hershey travels to the ends of the earth to dispense her own brand of justice in long-anticipated blockbuster spin-off, Hershey: Disease by Rob Williams (Suicide Squad) and Simon Fraser (Doctor Who). Along-side these teases for Fall 2021 epics enjoy a bone-rattling all new stand-alone Dredd caper from elite writer Al Ewing (Immortal Hulk, Marvel's Empyre) and Caspar Wijngaard (Star Wars, Home Sick Pilots)!” [Teen]

“Four titanic tales of pure fun and entertainment for everyone to enjoy! First up. It's no dog and pony show here! Bringing back the iconic puppets from the San Francisco Bay Area "Charlie and Humphrey"!! The modern-day Gumby and Pokey! A true love for al ages featuring a tale by Justin Sane and John Hageman! Next up is "Red Dawn" Written and created by Brandon McKinney, with inks by Bill Anderson and vibrant colors from Ross Hughes!! The government has created the first "controlled" superhero doing the bidding of a shadow operation until things go bad leaving our hero to blame and now on the run. The following story is only exclusive to this FCBD edition. Written by Greg Boucher and illustrated by Victor Moya they bring you "Rock and Roll Biographies: FIGHt" See how a troubled Rob Halford leaves the world biggest heavy metal band to form his own supergroup and take metal back!! Our last preview is written by Mel Smith, illustrated by Frank Cirocco/Alex Sheikman and hand colored by Gerhard! "Becoming Frankenstein" takes down the journey of a troubled Victor Frankenstein as he grieves the loss of his mother while harvesting the body parts of victims to create life again for his monster! Learn the tales of the victims and who they were before they became what becomes Frankenstein's ultimate creation! : This will be the only edition to feature this Rock and Roll Biographies story featuring FIGHT “ [Mature]

Enjoyed your Free Comic Book Day books? Want to read more? Let your friendly neighborhood Comix Connection Counter Monkey know which ones caught your eye, and we’ll be happy to direct you to the next part of the story!

[collectorscorner]

CC Blogger - New Arrivals @ Collectors Corner : Wednesday 7/8/20 Collectors Corner Parkville - HQ : IN STORE SHOPPING Resumed on Friday May 22nd with Strong Safety Measures in Place (Hand Sanitizing Stations, Masks Required for All, Social Distancing Required, Limited Capacity, CURBSIDE Pick Up Optional) - According to Baltimore County Guidelines. 1-410-668-3353. CC Parkville - NEW 2020 STORE HOURS July, Sunday 12-6, Mon-Tues 12-7, Wed 9-8, Thurs 11-7, Friday & Saturday 11-8 Collectors Corner - Bel Air Outpost Location : IN STORE SHOPPING Resumed on Friday May 15th with Strong Safety Measures in Place (Hand Sanitizing Stations, Masks Required for All, Social Distancing Required, Limited Capacity, CURBSIDE Pick Up Optional) - According to Harford County Guidelines. 1-410-838-1777. CC Bel Air -NEW 2020 STORE HOURS as of July, Sunday 11-5, Monday/Tuesday - Closed, Wednesday 11-8, Thursday 11-7, Friday/Saturday 11-8 Complete list of items shipping to the stores, some items may be limited in availability. If you see anything you want to purchase on the list and are not a subscription member at Collectors Corner, just contact us and let us know if you want an item held at the stores. email - collectorscornermd@comcast.net Subscription Membership & Free Membership Card : Collectors Corner's No Obligation (FREE) Membership Card or FREE (In Store) & ONLINE Subscription Membership saves you 10% Off ALL Bagged & Boarded Comic Book Back Issues, Board Games, Graphic Novels, Manga & Special Orders. Plus Never miss a comic again! Computerized and organized + you can add and cancel titles on your subscription list from home on your own time, or in the store when you pick up your comics at : Maryland's Coolest Stores! Since 2001. 2 Super Cool & Convenient Locations - CC PARKVILLE - HEADQUARTERS 7911 Harford Rd Parkville, MD 21234 & CC BEL AIR - OUTPOST 17 N. Main St. Bel Air, MD 21014 www.collectorscornermd.com PUBLISHER/TITLE/PRICE ABLAZE Cimmerian Red Nails #2 (Cover A Kendrick Lim), $3.99 Cimmerian Red Nails #2 (Cover B Meghan Hetrick), $3.99 Cimmerian Red Nails #2 (Cover C Natasha Alterici), $3.99 Cimmerian Red Nails #2 (Cover D Olivier Vatine), $3.99 Cimmerian Red Nails #2 (Cover E Fritz Casas The Dark Knight Returns Parody Variant), $3.99 Kidz #4 (Cover E Jocelyn Joret Stranger Things Parody Foil Variant), AR AFTERSHOCK COMICS Join The Future #3, $3.99 AHOY COMICS Ash And Thorn #2, $3.99 ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #310, $7.99 B & V Friends Jumbo Comics Digest #281, $7.99 Sabrina The Teenage Witch Something Wicked #1 (Of 4)(Veronica Fish 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $3.99 Sabrina The Teenage Witch Something Wicked #2 (Of 4)(Cover A Veronica Fish), $3.99 Sabrina The Teenage Witch Something Wicked #2 (Of 4)(Cover B Sweeney Boo), $3.99 Sabrina The Teenage Witch Something Wicked #2 (Of 4)(Cover C Rian Gonzales), $3.99 AWA STUDIOS Archangel 8 #3 (Of 5), $3.99 Old Haunts #2, $3.99 BOOM! STUDIOS Alienated #4 (Of 6)(Cover A Chris Wildgoose), $3.99 Alienated #4 (Of 6)(Cover B Christian Ward), AR Buffy The Vampire Slayer Willow #1 (Cover A Jen Bartel), $3.99 Buffy The Vampire Slayer Willow #1 (Cover B Mirka Andolfo), $3.99 Buffy The Vampire Slayer Willow #1 (Cover C Rosemary Valero-O'Connell), $3.99 Buffy The Vampire Slayer Willow #1 (Cover D Jen Bartel), AR Buffy The Vampire Slayer Willow #1 (Cover E Mirka Andolfo), AR Eat And Love Yourself GN, $14.99 Firefly #17 (Cover A Marc Aspinall), $3.99 Firefly #17 (Cover B George Kambadais), $3.99 Firefly #17 (Cover C Kano), AR Red Mother #6 (Cover C Tony Infante), AR Something Is Killing The Children #8 (Cover A Werther Dell'Edera), $3.99 Something Is Killing The Children #8 (Cover A Werther Dell'Edera), AR COMIC SHOP NEWS Comic Shop News #1715, AR DARK HORSE COMICS Stranger Things Into The Fire #4 (Of 4)(Cover A Viktor Kalvachev), $3.99 Stranger Things Into The Fire #4 (Of 4)(Cover B Evan Cagle), $3.99 Stranger Things Into The Fire #4 (Of 4)(Cover C Kelly McKernan), $3.99 DC COMICS Batman #94 (Cover A Tony S. Daniel), $3.99 Batman #94 (Cover B Francesco Mattina Card Stock Variant), AR Batman #94 (Cover C Jorge Jimenez Card Stock Variant), AR Batman And The Outsiders #14 (Cover A Tyler Kirkham), $3.99 Batman And The Outsiders #14 (Cover B Shane Davis), AR Batman The Adventures Continue #2 (Of 6)(Cover A Sean Murphy), $3.99 Batman The Adventures Continue #2 (Of 6)(Cover B Dustin Nguyen), AR Batman Volume 13 City Of Bane Part Two HC (July 14 per DC), $24.99 Batman's Grave #8 (Of 12)(Cover A Bryan Hitch), $3.99 Batman's Grave #8 (Of 12)(Cover B Rafael Grampa Card Stock Variant), AR Crisis On Infinite Earths Paragons Rising Deluxe Edition HC, $17.99 DC Classics The Batman Adventures #2, $1.99 DC Super Hero Girls Weird Science TP (July 14 per DC), $9.99 DCeased Dead Planet #1 (Of 6)(Cover A David Finch), $4.99 DCeased Dead Planet #1 (Of 6)(Cover B Francesco Mattina Card Stock Variant), AR DCeased Dead Planet #1 (Of 6)(Cover C Ben Oliver Card Stock Movie Homage Variant), AR DCeased Dead Planet #1 (Of 6)(Cover D Blank Variant), AR Detective Comics #1023 (Cover A Brad Walker & Andrew Hennessy), $3.99 Detective Comics #1023 (Cover B Lee Bermejo Card Stock Variant), AR Doom Patrol Weight Of The Worlds #7 , $3.99 Dreaming Volume 3 One Magical Movement TP (July 14 per DC), $19.99 Flash #750 Deluxe Edition HC, $17.99 Flash #757 (Cover A Rafa Sandoval & Jordi Tarragona), $3.99 Flash #757 (Cover B In-Hyuk Lee), AR Flash Forward TP, $17.99 Green Lantern Season Two #5 (Of 12)(Cover A Liam Sharp), $3.99 Green Lantern Season Two #5 (Of 12)(Cover B Gary Frank Card Stock Variant), AR Green Lantern Volume 2 The Day The Stars Fell TP, $19.99 Harley Quinn #74 (Cover A Guillem March), $3.99 Harley Quinn #74 (Cover B Frank Cho), AR Hawkman #25 (Cover A Mikel Janin), $3.99 Hawkman #25 (Cover B Gerardo Zaffino), AR Justice League #48 (Cover A David Marquez), $3.99 Justice League #48 (Cover B Claudio Castellini), AR Justice League Odyssey #22 (Cover A Jose Ladronn), $3.99 Justice League Odyssey #22 (Cover B Skan), AR Justice League Of America By Brad Meltzer The Deluxe Edition HC, $39.99 Legion Of Super-Heroes #6 (Ryan Sook 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $3.99 Lois Lane #12 (Of 12)(Cover A Mike Perkins), $3.99 Lois Lane #12 (Of 12)(Cover B Amanda Conner), AR Superboy A Celebration Of 75 Years HC, $39.99 Supergirl Being Super TP (New Edition), $16.99 Superman #23 (Cover A Kevin Maguire), $3.99 Superman #23 (Cover B Bryan Hitch), AR Wonder Woman #758 (Cover A Robson Rocha & Daniel Henriques), $3.99 Wonder Woman #758 (Cover B Jeff Dekal Card Stock Variant), AR Wonder Woman Her Greatest Victories TP (July 14 per DC), $12.99 Young Justice #16 (Cover A John Timms), $3.99 Young Justice #16 (Cover B Darko Lafuente), AR DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT Dejah Thoris #6 (Cover A Lucio Parrillo), $3.99 Dejah Thoris #6 (Cover B Vasco Georgiev), $3.99 Dejah Thoris #6 (Cover C Joseph Michael Linsner), $3.99 Dejah Thoris #6 (Cover D Juan Gedeon Jim Lee Homage Variant), $3.99 Dejah Thoris #6 (Cover E Tasha Cosplay UK Cosplay Variant), $3.99 Nancy Drew And The Hardy Boys The Death Of Nancy Drew #2 (Cover A Joe Eisma), $3.99 Nancy Drew And The Hardy Boys The Death Of Nancy Drew #2 (Cover B Joe Eisma Black & White Variant), AR Nancy Drew And The Hardy Boys The Death Of Nancy Drew #2 (Cover C Joe Eisma Virgin Variant), AR Nancy Drew And The Hardy Boys The Death Of Nancy Drew #2 (Cover D Joe Eisma Black & White Virgin Variant), AR GALLERY Stephen King's The Dark Tower The Drawing Of The Three Volume 3 The Lady Of Shadows HC, $26.99 HEAVY METAL MAGAZINE Heavy Metal #299 (Cover B Gerald Brom), $9.99 Heavy Metal #299 (Cover C Andrew Murray), $9.99 IDW PUBLISHING Cobra Kai The Karate Kid Saga Continues Volume 1 Johnny's Story TP, $15.99 Dungeons And Dragons Infernal Tides #4 (Of 5)(Cover A Max Dunbar), $3.99 Dungeons And Dragons Infernal Tides #4 (Of 5)(Cover B Max Dunbar & Jim Zub Character Sheet Variant), $3.99 Dungeons And Dragons Infernal Tides #4 (Of 5)(Cover C Max Dunbar Black & White Variant), AR Marvel Vault Of Heroes Captain America TP, $15.99 Michael Recycle Meets Borat The Space Cat HC, $15.99 Sonic The Hedgehog Annual 2020 (Cover A Sonic Team), $7.99 Sonic The Hedgehog Annual 2020 (Cover B Nathalie Fourdraine) , $7.99 Sonic The Hedgehog Annual 2020 (Cover C Tracy Yardley), AR Speed Bump A 25th Anniversary Collection HC, $19.99 Starcadia Quest Heart Of A Star TP , $9.99 Transformers Galaxies #7 (Cover A Umi Miyao) , $3.99 Transformers Galaxies #7 (Cover B Alex Milne) , $3.99 Transformers Galaxies #7 (Cover C Anna Malkova), AR Usagi Yojimbo Color Classics #4 (Of 7)(Cover A Stan Sakai), $3.99 IMAGE COMICS Adventureman #2, $3.99 Bitter Root #9 (Cover A Sanford Greene), $3.99 Bitter Root #9 (Cover B Shawn Martinbrough), $3.99 Excellence #8 (Cover A Khary Randolph & Emilio Lopez), $3.99 Excellence #8 (Cover B Alitha Martinez), $3.99 Killadelphia Volume 1 Sins Of The Father TP, $9.99 Oblivion Song By Kirkman And De Felici #25 (Cover A Lorenzo De Felici), $4.99 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Scott Campbell), $4.99 Oblivion Song By Kirkman And De Felici Volume 1 HC, $39.99 Sonata #11 (Cover A Jay Anacleto & Geirrod Van Dyke), $3.99 Sonata #11 (Cover B Brian Haberlin & Geirrod Van Dyke), $3.99 Stealth #3 (Of 6), $3.99 Undiscovered Country Volume 1 Destiny TP, $9.99 MAD CAVE STUDIOS Battlecats Tales Of Valderia #4 (Of 4), $3.99 MARRS MEDIA Rue Morgue Magazine #194, $9.95 MARVEL COMICS Amazing Spider-Man By Nick Spencer Volume 7 2099 TP, $17.99 Black Panther And The Agents Of Wakanda #8, $3.99 Dr. Strange #5 (Cover A Phil Noto), $3.99 Dr. Strange #5 (Cover B Luke Ross Marvel Zombies Variant), AR Empyre Fantastic Four #0 (Cover A Jim Cheung), $4.99 Empyre Fantastic Four #0 (Cover B R. B. Silva), AR Empyre Fantastic Four #0 (Cover C In-Hyuk Lee), AR Empyre Fantastic Four #0 (Cover D John Tyler Christopher 2-Pack Action Figure Variant), AR Ghost Rider #7 (Cover A Aaron Kuder), $3.99 Ghost Rider #7 (Cover B Mike Del Mundo Marvel Zombies Variant), AR Immortal Hulk Volume 2 HC, $34.99 Marauders By Gerry Duggan Volume 1 TP, $17.99 Marvel Monograph The Art Of Frank Cho TP, $19.99 Marvels Spider-Man Poster Book TP, $24.99 Marvels X #4 (Of 6)(Cover A Alex Ross), $4.99 Marvels X #4 (Of 6)(Cover B Well-Bee), AR Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man Omnibus HC (New Printing), $125.00 Previously In Marvel Comics Recap Guide, AR Savage Sword Conan The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Volume 3 HC (Earl Norem Direct Market Cover), $125.00 Savage Sword Conan The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Volume 3 HC (Ryan Brown Book Market Cover), $125.00 Star Wars Legends Epic Collection Legacy Volume 3 TP, $39.99 Strange Academy #2 (Cover A Humberto Ramos), $3.99 Strange Academy #2 (Cover B Arthur Adams Character Spotlight Variant), AR Strange Academy #2 (Cover C R.B. Silva), AR X-Force #10, $3.99 X-Men God Loves Man Kills Extended Cut #1 (Of 2)(Cover A Salvador Larroca), $4.99 X-Men God Loves Man Kills Extended Cut #1 (Of 2)(Cover B Brent Anderson), AR X-Men God Loves Man Kills Extended Cut #1 (Of 2)(Cover C Giuseppe Camuncoli), AR X-Men God Loves Man Kills Extended Cut #1 (Of 2)(Cover D Rod Reis), AR ONI PRESS Aggretsuko #4 (Cover A Patabot), $3.99 Aggretsuko #4 (Cover B Jeff Parker), $3.99 Dryad #3, $3.99 Hell Was Full TP, $24.99 Rick And Morty Volume 11 TP, $19.99 Scullion A Dishwasher's Guide To Mistaken Identity TP, $19.99 REBELLION / 2000AD Rise And Fall Of The Trigan Empire Volume 1 TP, $24.99 RED GIANT ENTERTAINMENT First Defense #1 (Cover B Ruiz Burgos Holographic Foil Variant), $9.99 Wayward Sons #1 (Nigel Raynor Holographic Foil Variant Cover), $4.99 SCOUT COMICS Everglade Angels #1 (Cover A Roc Upchurch), $3.99 Everglade Angels #1 (Cover B Jae Lee), AR Loggerhead Bloody Bayou #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Bryan Silverbax), $3.99 Loggerhead Bloody Bayou #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Walt Ostlie), $3.99 North Bend #3, $3.99 SOURCE POINT PRESS Skylin #1, $3.99 UDON ENTERTAINMENT Art Of Darksiders Genesis HC, $49.99 Street Fighter Swimsuit Special Collection HC, $39.99 Street Fighter World Warrior Encyclopedia HC (Arcade Edition), $44.99 VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT Quantum And Woody #4 (Of 4)(Cover A David Nakayama), $3.99 Quantum And Woody #4 (Of 4)(Cover B Rahzzah), $3.99 Quantum And Woody #4 (Of 4)(Cover C Gurihiru Pre-Order Edition Variant), AR Quantum And Woody #4 (Of 4)(Cover D Ramon Rosanas Extra Virgin Variant), AR VAULT COMICS Finger Guns #3 (Cover A Val Halvorson), $3.99 Finger Guns #3 (Cover B Jen Hickman), $3.99 Money Shot #6, $3.99 No One's Rose #3 (Cover A Alberto Jimenez-Alburquerque), $3.99 No One's Rose #3 (Cover B Adam Gorham), $3.99 Vagrant Queen A Planet Called Doom #4, $3.99 VIZ MEDIA Beastars Volume 6 GN, $12.99 ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT Grimm Fairy Tales #38 (Cover A Alejandro Barrionuevo), $3.99 Grimm Fairy Tales #38 (Cover B Caanan White), $3.99 Grimm Fairy Tales #38 (Cover C Nelly Jimenez), $3.99 Grimm Fairy Tales #38 (Cover D Allan Otero), $3.99 TOYS - T-SHIRTS & COLLECTIBLES MANDALORIAN Framed Mini Posters, AR

[gffa]

Scattered Star Wars novels thoughts: - After months of hoarding it because I don’t want it to be over (and just not making much progress on Twilight Company), I’m finally starting Empire’s End.  I want to get back into the swing of listening to books, rather than podcasts, and I’m pretty sure this is one that will suck me back in.  So wish me luck on that! - After Empire’s End, I think I’ll probably start over with Darth Plageuis, after that really cool discussion with @arihndas-pryce about the narrative structure of the book hopefully having adjusted my mindset on it.  Hopefully, by then, I’ll have caught up on Dark Lord of the Sith, which I think was part of what was contrasting against that book, because the comic is really digging into what a monster Vader is, even as Anakin Skywalker is a tragic figure, and I’ve been enjoying it so intensely, that a different structure (one that’s more neutral and felt, at the time, like it was trying to say the dark side wasn’t so bad, you guys!!!) clashed with what I wanted from a book about a dark sider. *laughs*  I do harp on narrative structure a lot, but it’s important stuff a lot of times, where it can make or break a book for me even.  But also because I listen to a lot of interviews from creators and themes and structures are really an important part of what goes into the bigger Star Wars story, so while I can’t pretend that I always know what an author is aiming for (see my half a dozen posts about Life Debt’s structure and my inability to entirely grok what I think Wendig was going for! XD), I do like to engage with that aspect as much as I can.  It can make a good story great or make an average story terrible, so it’s fascinating stuff! I eventually want to relisten to Lockdown as well, since I think @sl-walker’s comments about it may have shifted my mindset to better enjoy that one as well.  Because I want to enjoy these things!  And it’s one of those things where, you can never make me hate something I love, but you can absolutely make me love something I hated. - Someone please gently kick me to get started on Choose Your Destiny: A Luke & Leia Adventure, because I have trouble with those Choose Your Destiny books, I just want a straight narrative, I don’t want to have to choose!  Which wouldn’t be so bad, except it’s a lot of back-tracking and trying to remember which choices I’d already made, so I can read all options.  But a Luke & Leia adventure!!!  I WANT MORE OF THE SPACE TWINS. - So it looks like Shadow of Vader isn’t even going to be continued by other authors, it’s been out and out cancelled by Marvel.  I’m unsure of the status of Wendig’s other book (which wouldn’t have had anything to do with Marvel comics), but last I heard, that was cancelled, too.  I AM REALLY BUMMED ABOUT THIS, both as a loss of a story that I wanted and as the infuriating shit that went down over this whole thing and how, of course, nothing matters and he’s still fired and nothing changes. - I read that thread from Jason Fry about the thought going into the TLJ novelization and it was really interesting!  It’s some fascinating behind the scenes stuff about the process of writing such a thing, what could/couldn’t make it into the novel (like the Snoke backstory stuff) and Fry’s intentions about how to parse the story of it. It sort of ties into my more overarching thoughts about TLJ and where I am with it, where I like some stuff about it and still dislike some other stuff about it.  I suspect it’s how a lot of people have finally come around on the prequels (god, for awhile, it was impossible to go ANYWHERE on the internet without people saying that the prequels were objectively bad, because fandom loves and has always loved Hot Critical Takes, which continues to this day *side-eye look at some of YouTube’s The Jedi Are The Worst videos*), that a lot more people are like, “Well, they had a lot of problems, but I like these things about it.” because we have so much more Star Wars now and they’re not locked into having only prequels stuff. That’s kind of where I am with the sequels?  That and how the supplementary material does a lot of the heavy lifting for me--while I think the sequels are probably always going to be some of my least favorite (truly in the sense of “least favorite” and not “most hated”), I’m coming to the point where I think there’s a lot of interesting potential in there and I like the bigger themes (now that I’ve gone back to really look at Luke’s character and his flaws that have always been there), even if I think the movie itself needs a ton of propping up.  I mean, in fairness, I could really say the same about the prequel movies (aside from ROTS, which I will refuse to hear anything bad about, that movie is perfect, I WILL HEAR NO ARGUMENTS ^_~), but that work has already been done for me/I’ve already been doing that work, while the sequels aren’t even finished yet. So much depends on how well they do/don’t stick the landing, so much will depend on how supplementary material helps win me over (yes, yes, I know, the movie should be able to stand on its own, but Star Wars is a multi-media franchise and has been that way for decades, that’s just how it is, and, honestly, I love that aspect of it)(but also this is really not about me speaking on an objective level, but about a very personal journey through how I feel about the sequels! ie, this is about me, not you. XD) and Fry’s thread of tweets about the process of writing the TLJ novelization and the thought that went into it reminded me that, yeah, I really do very much feel like the supplementary stuff wins me over to what I saw as a flawed movie (but not nearly as flawed as I feared it would be)(but, then, IX isn’t out yet and it could ruin everything, especially as the closer to the Skywalker Saga) that has potential that can be teased out.

[mylifeinfiction]

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

I enjoyed this so, so, so much more than The Gunslinger.

I feel like very early into this one was when Stephen King finally settled on the style of storytelling for this epic fantasy saga. It makes all that follows grab hold of the reader in a way nothing in the first book ever fully managed to. Plus, the new characters we're given here are incredible; both interesting and impossibly well developed in that special King-ian manner that makes so many of his characters draw breath as a fully formed person rather than words on a page.

Eddie Dean is just compelling in an all-around, you meet 'em and immediately interested in each beat of their story, each decision they make, each choice thrust upon them. Plus, the entire first section of this book, 'The Prisoner', which focuses entirely on Dean, is perfectly executed adult fantasy, mixing the high-concept with the gritty crime drama in a way that however outrageous it gets, never feels anything less than completely conceivable. The second part, 'The Lady of Shadows', which focuses on Detta Walker and Odetta Holmes, threw me at first. The jarring switch in setting and character after spending such a large, rich chunk of the book with Roland and Eddie made for some awkward moments that took some getting used to. Once I did, it became clear (not really at all, not until much, much later) what role the character(s) would be playing, and what followed developed them in a way as exciting as it was unexpected and original.

When King brings it all together in the final part, 'The Pusher', he paves a very smooth and clear path for the journey on which we're only just getting started. This is the book that makes the rest of King's The Dark Tower series absolute must-read books (even if they were already must-reads for someone who's working their way through King's entire works). I really can't wait to see where he takes these characters next.

9/10

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

[theonyxpath]

Here’s a look at what we put out over the course of the last month:

Scarred Lands: Dagger of Spiragos in 5e and Pathfinder (print)

Scarred Lands: Ring of Spiragos in 5e and Pathfinder (PDF/print)

Scarred Lands: Spiragos Saga Bundle in 5e and Pathfinder

Changeling: The Dreaming: Kithbook: Boggans (PDF/print)

Exalted: Hundred Devils Night Parade part 14: Lodestar and Susuruss (PDF)

Exalted: Adversaries of the Righteous part 9: Fivefold Masks and Lies (PDF)

Also now available via our Indie Press Revolution store:

Vampire: The Masquerade: Lore of the Clans Deluxe Edition

Vampire: The Masquerade: Lore of the Clans Storyteller’s Screen

Available via Fantasy Grounds:

Gauntlet of Spiragos for 5e (FG/Steam)

Gauntlet of Spiragos for Pathfinder (FG/Steam)

Shelzar: City of Sin for Pathfinder/3.5 (FG/Steam)

Blood Bayou for Pathfinder/3.5 (FG/Steam)

Echoes of the Past: The Slarecian Legacy for Pathfinder/3.5 (FG/Steam)

Merch

V20 Assamite (journal)

V20 Brujah (journal)

V20 Followers of Set (journal)

V20 Gangrel (journal)

V20 Giovanni (journal)

V20 Lasombra (journal)

V20 Malkavian (journal)

V20 Nosferatu (journal)

V20 Ravnos (journal)

V20 Toreador (journal)

V20 Tremere (journal)

V20 Tzimisce (journal)

V20 Ventrue (journal)

V20 Baali (journal)

V20 Daughters of Cacophony (journal)

V20 Gargoyles (journal)

V20 Harbingers of Skulls (journal)

V20 Kiasyd (journal)

V20 Nagaraja (journal)

V20 Salubri (journal)

V20 Samedi (journal)

V20 True Brujah (journal)

W20 Black Furies (journal)

W20 Bone Gnawers (journal)

W20 Children of Gaia (journal)

W20 Fianna (journal)

W20 Get of Fenris (journal)

W20 Glass Walkers (journal)

W20 Red Talons (journal)

W20 Shadow Lords (journal)

W20 Silent Striders (journal)

W20 Silver Fangs (journal)

W20 Stargazers (journal)

W20 Uktena (journal)

W20 Wendigo (journal)

Kickstarter

Week we wrapped up the Fetch Quest deck-building card game Kickstarter!

We funded in 21 hours, and since raised $21,059 of our $6,000 goal, or 351%

We’ve got 488 backers

We’ve passed four stretch goals:

A Kickstarter backer T-shirt

Fetch Quest Booster Cards: 6 Pioneers from the Monarchies of Mau

Fetch Quest unlocked for Canis Minor community content. Create your own cards!

Tomorrow, we launch the Kickstarter for Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition.

Did you miss one of our previous Kickstarters? The following Kickstarted products are still open for preorders via BackerKit:

Scion: Scion 2nd Edition (Origin and Hero)

Trinity Continuum: Trinity Continuum (core rules and Trinity Continuum: Æon)

Cavaliers of Mars: Cavaliers of Mars rulebook

Monarchies of Mau: Monarchies of Mau rulebook

Chronicles of Darkness: Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras 2

Changeling: The Lost: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition

Exalted: Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought

Community Spotlight

The following community-created content for Scarred Lands has been added to the Slarecian Vault in the last week:

Scarred Lands: Encounters in the Calastian Hegemony Volume 1

Scarred Lands: Love-Scorned Soul

Scarred Lands: Dungeon of Horror

Scarred Lands: Encounters in the Calastian Hegemony, Volume 2

Your product could be here! Have you considered creating your own to sell?

The following community-created content for Pugmire has been added to Canis Minor in the last week:

Your product could be here! Have you considered creating your own to sell?

The following community-created content for Vampire has been added to the Storytellers Vault in the last week:

Vampire: The Masquerade: Secrets of the Masquerade’s Guide to Playable Characters

Vampire: The Masquerade: Jack Snow

Vampire: The Masquerade: 10 Feeding Surprises

Vampire: The Masquerade: Dark New England Regional Sourcebook

Vampire: The Masquerade: Descendants of the Three Sisters: Native American Clans of the Northeast

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Death, Volume 1: Curses Writ in Blood – Sample

Vampire: The Masquerade: Verona by Night

Vampire: The Masquerade: Disciplinas Olvidadas

Vampire: The Masquerade: Artifacts of Blood

Vampire: The Masquerade: To sup upon the city

Vampire: The Masquerade: Beckett’s Vampire Folio 10: Hands of Darkness

Vampire: The Masquerade: Camarilla Edition Art Pack

Vampire: The Dark Ages: VTDA Clan Sheets [1st Edition] – PACK 3/4

Vampire: The Dark Ages: VTDA Clan Sheets [1st Edition] – PACK 4/4

Vampire: The Dark Ages: Dark Myth and Legend

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Werewolf: The Apocalypse Storytellers Vault Style Guide

Your product could be here! Have you considered creating your own to sell?

[tawneybel]

April 2021 Reader Insert Smut Masterlist

Note: Request rules.

1. N/A

2. N/A

3. Patrick Ross from Species II

4. Mermen Characters 

5. Huntsman from The Company of Wolves

6. Soldier and devils from Jim Henson’s The Storyteller

7. N/A

8. N/A

9. N/A

10. Lily from SiREN

11. Carmilla from The Vampire Lovers

12. Humanoid from Humanoids from the Deep

13. Aleksander Morozova from Shadow and Bone

14. N/A

15. N/A

16. N/A

17. Major Cain and Nemesis from Resident Evil: Apocalypse 

18. Aleksander Morozova from Shadow and Bone

19. Lash and Red Eye from Oblivion

20. Lilith from Bordello of Blood

21. N/A

22. N/A

23. N/A

24. Norman Osborn from Spider Man

25. Jacob Black and Leah Clearwater from The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1

26. Harry Osborn from The Amazing Spider-Man 2

27. Lou Bloom and Rick from Nightcrawler

28. N/A

29. N/A

30. N/A

31. Gage Petronzi and Cameron Walker from Buffy the Vampire Slayer