#specially with characters like lady d getting popular recently

[raredrop]

had the thought the other day

while these interests still are out there

its funny how a majority of posts i see today are like

"hes so pathetic" "hes so meow meow" "cringefail babygirl" ect the love of the pathetic and fail (and yes there are cringefail girls too)

as oppose to seeing any post from like 2011-2013 where everyone was like

"oh my 😳 fans self" "omg daddy" "omg crush me"

i cant word it but u know exactly what i mean insert gif of man whipping bed with belt here

[kellyedith]

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[princecharmingtobe]

Oh man, I realized I don’t think I shared the ridiculous shenanigans that happened in this weekend’s D&D game

Somewhat NSFW talk and brief mention of drug use below

So. For those who haven’t been keeping up, I’m playing in a game where we are a special unit in a war. The party was my human artificer, Jack, a wood elf rogue, Rowen, and a half-orc barbarian, Grarg. However recently Grarg’s player decided he didn’t like playing Grarg and wanted to switch characters. Enter Terra, a human monk with purple hair (dyed with berries, this will be important later).

So Terra’s introduction to the party is kind of funny, because she wasn’t invited to join the party. Hell, she didn’t even ask. She just kind of showed up and made herself at home.  Now, Terra’s character motivation is that she is a bookworm, and noticed that in the books about war, they tended to be heavily biased toward the victor. So she joined this war because she wants to write her own book, as accurate as possible and totally unbiased. This means that she is constantly taking notes. About everything. And everyone. 

In their first official interaction (the morning after Terra joined us), Terra tried to flirt with Jack to see how he would react. Jack hadn’t had his coffee yet so he just kind of brushed her off and went back to breakfast. She was not subtle about immediately writing about it in her notes, so Jack caught on.  The night before she had overheard Jack asking to sleep in Rowen’s room (Both are paranoid about assassins, so since Rowen does his elf trance in a dark corner instead of the bed, Jack sleeps on the bed, acting as a decoy while Rowen acts as sort of a guard dog), so that combined with the breakfast interaction resulted in her notes on him reading “Not easily swayed by feminine wiles, probably likes men.”

Jack doesn’t actually care what people think of him or his sexuality (he’s aroace but not repulsed and uses sex as a means to an end), but he’s not impressed with her just showing up, making herself at home and taking notes on him. So he decided to mess with her. When the party found a tavern to stay at for the evening Jack picked out a conventionally attractive woman to flirt with, intending to screw with Terra’s already inaccurate data. He didn’t really expect to get anywhere, but due to a roll by the DM it was determined that this lady was Down to Fuck, and she began leading Jack to her room. Now, Jack wasn’t too concerned just yet. He figured once the door was closed he could explain the situation and hopefully the woman would play along. Buuuut then Terra decided to get involved.

Terra came over pretending to be Jack’s girlfriend, with the intention of cockblocking him, however another roll by the DM had the NPC mistake them for a couple looking for a threesome. Which she was down for. And which Terra was also down for. And Jack was just screaming internally at this point. However, he is a stubborn idiot, and felt like if he backed out now it would mean Terra “won”. Sooooo...

They fucked. Within a day of meeting each other Jack and Terra (and some nameless NPC) had a threesome. To quote the DM: “I knew you guys would fuck around this session but I didn’t know you guys would FUCK AROUND"

And all while this was happening Rowen had gone off to stock up on poisons, and apparently his poison dealer is also a drug dealer, and Rowen decided to try out some “magic cocaine”. He can cast faerie fire now! 

So after their little romp Jack went outside to smoke. I should note that Terra tried to “see how much Jack could take before going catatonic”, but he rolled a high con save and she rolled low, so he was largely unbothered and she was a mess lol.  While he was smoking Rowen came back and they had a chat. Jack: Get what you need? Rowen: A little more than I bargained for actually. Jack: *sighs* I can relate. Rowen: How so? Jack: I don’t wanna talk about it.

Finding that suspicious, Rowen looked him over for anything amiss and with a high roll noticed he looked more disheveled than usual, in a manner indicative of Having Fucked Recently. He made a comment about Jack being popular that evening, only for Jack to keep quiet and avoid eye contact, which is sort of uncharacteristic of him. With such a high roll, upon getting closer Rowen could actually smell Terra on him (her hair dye gives her a distinct scent).

Rowen: Really? Grape Juice (his nickname for her)? Did she bewitch you or something? Jack: *groans and brings a hand to his face* It’s complicated and I don’t want to talk about it!

I’ve joked about Jack knowing no shame but he sure knew it that night lol

After letting that go they talked about her and their mutual distrust of her. Someone joins you uninvited in the middle of a war and starts asking a lot of questions, you gotta be a little suspicious. So Rowen suggested teaching Jack drow sign language, which he picked up as part of his backstory, so that they could communicate without being eavesdropped on. It’ll be an ongoing process, but he spent an hour teaching him some basics and with a high int roll from Jack the DM has let us pick 5 short phrases he can use. We’re still deciding on what they should be. So far we have: 1. We should speak in private. 2. This person is lying. 3. Danger/Watch your back. 4. I am lying, play along

As they went to turn in for the night Terra popped her head out to ask if Jack was up for a second round. Jack just told her she couldn’t handle it and ducked into his and Rowen’s room, and Terra shrugged and went back into the NPC’s room (presumably for round 2). It’s unfortunate that she left so quickly because Rowen’s player said later that had she lingered a bit longer he would have told her “Thanks for keepin’ it warm for me” just to further mess with her, and make Jack regret his entire existence. 

Couple more notable quotes:

"And that's where we're going to end our session With two of you participating in a three way And the other doing cocaine with his friend Congratulations you bunch of degenerates lmao" - DM

"shout out to our party for getting promoted by the future king, who trusts us so much... and then proceeding to spend the evening making poor life choices" - me

[jackoshadows]

Say what you will about Sansa in the show, even though I disagree and think she’s an awesome character and is one of my faves in the show. But what’s with the bashing of Sansa in the books? She’s also a great main character in them. She’s compassionate, intelligent and her inner strength after enduring horrible abuse for the past few years is admirable. I’m excited to see how her arc will go in Winterfell.

I mean, that’s my subjective opinion about a fictional character based on her relatability, characteristics and actions in the books. People are allowed to not like characters right? And IMO, my posts on book Sansa are not exactly ‘bashing’ - rather, its about the actual character in the books versus a fanon made up version of her that some of her fans keep stating as fact. If you think talking about GRRM’s Sansa is ‘bashing’ …. well then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The reason I end up writing so much about Sansa is because her fans keep insisting on shoving her into everything, making the story all about her, insert her into relationships where she does not belong, take away from other characters to give to her etc. This has had the unfortunate side effect of me writing quite a few Sansa posts, the irony of which has not been lost to me 😂

My rambling thoughts on book Sansa under the cut…

I don’t even really dislike Sansa in the books. I have quite a few mutuals and people I follow who love book Sansa and her story and that’s totally fine. Different tastes and all that. And while I loathe the badly written Mary Sue propped up by other characters on the show, I am indifferent to book Sansa. I found her annoying and unrealistically naive in the first book and boring in the later ones. Tbh, I could not care less about the Vale Lords or Sansa organizing feasts in the Vale. I don’t think she’s all that important in the books in the grand scheme of things and GRRM’s original outline only confirms that.

Basically, I don’t care all that much about the character.  And funnily enough, neither do many of her self-proclaimed super fans considering they keep attributing the qualities, characteristics, relationships, plots and themes of other characters to Sansa. My posts are mainly about addressing this disparity.

Number one Sansa fans David Benioff and Dan Weiss are prime examples of this. They give interviews talking about how great a character Sansa is compared to her supposedly ‘one-dimensional adventure seeking’ sister Arya… and then they pretty much give Show Sansa  Arya’s book plots, themes and narrative arcs. Show Sansa’s story arc is a patch-work of plots from book Jeyne Poole, Arya, Jon, Stannis, Theon, Bran etc.

For reference here is a recent post from @circe1fanatic,

https://circe1fanatic.tumblr.com/post/190902121511/ew-interview-whenever-i-read-posts-about-how-more#notes

https://ew.com/article/2015/04/26/game-thrones-sansa-ramsay-interview/

where D&D admit that they find book Jeyne Poole’s story more entertaining than Sansa Stark’s. They think the story in the North is more important compared to what Sansa is doing in the Vale - and dumped their fave there to give her a more important role on the show.

Sansa does not stand out in any special way in the books. Your description of her here is a perfect example of that - ‘compassionate and intelligent’. There are several other main characters who have proved to be more compassionate than her. Even attempted child murderer Jaime Lannister has demonstrated compassion in the books. Intelligent? Book Sansa is still being manipulated and led around the nose by LF and made a correct guess that one time about Lyn Corbray being on LF’s payroll. Her peers in the meantime have become leaders, rulers, FM, greenseers and are actively changing and influencing the world around them. 

In a lot of ways she is superfluous in terms of skill sets. Jon, Bran, Dany, Arya, Tyrion all know politics as well. Unlike the show, the books don’t give only one specific skillset to one character. In the show, they designated Bran - warg, Arya - killer, Jon - military man, Sansa - politician. That’s not how it works in the books. Bran, Arya, Jon are all wargs. Jon is a savvy politician and diplomat. Arya has learned FM skills of manipulation and detecting emotions. Bran has ruled.  Arya has learned how the North works from Ned. Jon has played the game, outwitting the Karstarks.Sansa can learn at being underhanded from LF, I guess.

One reason for why Book Sansa is popular in fandom is because she is still in many ways a blank slate. While her peers are actively moving the plot forward, she stagnates as a prisoner and pawn, stuck with giving us descriptions of marriages, feasts and a view into other characters like the Tyrells. That’s why it’s easy to imprint on her the desires and expectations of the fandom and why she is the subject of a lot of fanfiction. 

This is why she is often seen as this great queen, great ruler, great player of the game, expert politician etc. - despite having done nothing at all and despite GRRM’s actual rulers being human beings who make mistakes and have flaws and can only learn to lead through doing and experience. It’s the same reason she’s the fandom bicycle when it comes to shipping - the character is traditionally beautiful and is into romance. It’s why nonsense like ‘Jonsa’ exists.

Book Sansa must indeed be appreciated for her inner strength to endure and withstand abuse - just like Arya, Dany and Jeyne Poole endured their abuse with great strength. Consider Jeyne Poole - got trapped in KL because Sansa tattled all her father’s plans to Cersei. Send to LF’s brothel since she was not a Stark like Sansa. Then send off to Ramsay Bolton to be raped and tortured. And still have the presence of mind to escape with Theon. I do indeed admire her strength. All their strengths.

Sansa was a vain, selfish, snobby brat with lofty ideals in book one and by tattling to the enemy - because she wanted to be queen - she loses her father, gets stuck in KL as a political prisoner and realizes the error of her ways. In later books, Sansa tries her best to help others including poor Dontos and that’s a compliment to her that she’s changing for the better and trying to help the little guy like Arya tried to help Mycah in book one.

She now understands that fairy tales are not real, there are no true knights in reality, beauty/appearances are not everything, appreciates her home and family more, and even finds herself attracted to the Hound. She’s lady like with courtly manners and after seeing her interact with KL nobles, Tyrion thinks that she would have done well as Joffrey’s queen.

Currently she is enmeshed in LF’s plots and learning from him in the Vale. She wants to go home, she wants to be loved for herself and not for her claim. Can she outwit LF at his own game and still be Sansa Stark. One cannot play the game by being honorable. Even Jon Snow was breaking his oaths playing the game at the Wall. Would Sansa go along with murdering her little cousin to gain power in the Vale? Would she go against her family in the North or support them? Sansa was originally created as a foil to Arya and as someone who causes conflict among the Starks. Is that where we are still headed or will her character head in a different direction in the books? The show depicts her as being self serving and LF like in the end. I am not sure if this is a reflection of the book character. We will have to wait for GRRM to write the books to find out.

But yeah. I got into this series as a fantasy fan and hence my investment is with the characters involved in the fantastical - Jon, Arya, Dany, Bran - and I don’t really care one way or another about Sansa.

[ehc-on-ao3]

What superpowers do you think LiS characters would have?

Saw this topic on Reddit and, well, I just had to respond. This is what I wrote:

Let's have some fun, shall we?

Max: n/a (we love you just the way you are)

Chloe: Resurrection. Nothing other than old age can permanently kill her. She can be shot, hit by a train, stabbed, whatever, but she'll bounce right back to life anywhere between 10 seconds to a minute. It's not regeneration, though, so normal wounds can still be inflicted and she has to heal normally. Unless, of course, she just shoots herself in the head. Seriously, why would she bother sitting in the hospital with a broken leg for two months when eating a bullet is so much quicker?

Rachel: While pyrokinesis is a popular pick, I'd vote that she instead has powers of the classic four elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. It's just that Fire is super easy to summon forth on account that it's tied to anger. Air is tied to happiness, Water to serenity/peacefulness, and Earth to something else (forgive me, I'm actively pulling these out of my ass and can't think of something at the moment).

Kate: Psychometry, the ability to "read" objects by touching them. She could, for example, touch a note and immediate get impressions on who wrote it and their state of mind while doing so. The longer the person was in contact with the item, the stronger the impressions and the more clear the information she can derive. Touching living things, fortunately, doesn't automatically trigger her powers. She has to choose for them to activate in that case, which she does so only reluctantly as the sensory input can be overwhelming.

Victoria: Speedster. And hates it. Seriously, what does it matter that she can run at 300 mph if it completely ruins her hair? Not to mention her damn shoes. Those were Jimmy Choos, for fuck's sake! Stupid powers.

Courtney: Flight. Top speed is unknown but enjoys getting away from it all from time to time. Victoria is jealous of her powers (can you imagine the shots she could take while airborne?!) but tries not to show it.

Taylor: Telepathy, and loves it. Now, she has the inside scoop on everyone she could possibly want! Or would, if it wasn't for her sick mother (Empathic Broadcaster) who loves her so damn much and has inadvertently made Taylor super conscious about invading other people's thoughts. While she loves gossip, she has a healthy respect for other people's privacy, too.

Brooke: Multiplication of Self. Can create doppelgangers of herself, up to three (for now), that can all act independent from one another. Total duration is six hours, divided amongst the clones (so, 1 clone can last 6 hrs, 2 can last 3 hrs, etc.). Memories transfer back to Brooke when they fade away, meaning she can take a LOT of classes simultaneously. Principal Wells has attempted to say that using her clones in this manner should mean she should have to pay 4x the tuition but failed to win the argument.

Dana: Elasticity. Some thought her power to be rather weak in comparison to others but two things really make her shine. First, she seems to have some sort of invulnerability as well, as not even Victoria running at close to top speed was able to penetrate her body (it was an accident, and both came out of it fine, if not a bit embarrassed). Second, she can stretch herself incredibly thin (like, hair thin) and not suffer any adverse effects. Incongruously, her clothing stretches with her, so long as it's skintight.

Juliet: Healing Touch. If she can touch someone, she can heal them of any disease or physical injury. Mental injuries, however, are trickier. She can alleviate (not cure) the pain of the sufferer (things like severe depression, PTSD, etc.) but only by taking the pain herself. For obvious reasons, she doesn't use this ability all that often.

Nathan: Immunity, Specialized: cannot suffer any negative effects of any drug nor can he ever get addicted to one. In addition, he possesses a very unusual type of Empathic Broadcast/Telepathy/Psychometry: he can induce the effects of any drug he's ever taken onto anyone within 10 feet of him. So, if he smokes weeds, he can get everyone around him high. Makes him incredibly popular at parties.

Warren: Super Strength and Invulnerability (think Mr. Incredible). Tries to use his powers to impress the ladies. Only sometimes works.

Steph: Telekinesis. Upper weight/mass limit unknown, as she's been seen lifting entire tractor trailers without any strain. She does have incredible control at a minute level, too. Many have accused her of using her powers to cheat at D&D. She has vehemently denied these allegations.

Principal Wells: Regeneration. Perfect for his liver as he's an unapologetic alcoholic.

Samuel: Animal Communication (or, as Chloe calls it, the Disney Princess Power). Seems spacey at times as he can't turn off this ability and he hears them constantly, though distance does mute the effect. With permission, Juliet once tried to alleviate his pain but it didn't work (he doesn't see it as a detrimental thing any more, having had this power for over 40 years now).

Joyce: Creation, Specialized. Can summon food from thin air, great for busy nights at the diner. This is the real reason the menu at the Two Whales diner is so small: the fewer items she has to deal with, the easier it is to summon the food. In addition, it has to be food she's familiar with. Ask her to summon escargot, for example and she just won't be able to do it. If you explain they're cooked snails, she might be able to summon a plate of snails. Don't be surprised if they're still moving, though.

David: Penitent Stare. Anyone who looks into David's eyes while in close proximity feels a powerful compulsion to confess any and all crimes to him. However, there are drawbacks. First, it requires eye contact. Second, it can be overcome through sheer willpower. Third, there's no telling what will be confessed. It could be a recent murder. It could be the time the victim took one too many cookies from the cookie jar when he was five years old. Once a crime is confessed, it never comes up again. David tried to use his power to become a police officer but was dismissed from the force as his power was too unreliable. He's a security guard at Blackwell as the teens that attend school are more likely to confess recent crimes and often lack the willpower to resist.

Don’t take this list too seriously. With the exception of Rachel, I was trying to come up with power pairings that hadn’t been done before and even grant powers to those characters that are usually ignored in superpower AUs.

[scots-dragon]

The Big Fucking D&D 4E Rant

Or, ‘That Time Wizards of the Coast Fucked Up D&D’s Lore’ 

At the risk of raising the spectre of edition war again, I feel like it’s worth going back and exploring that time that Wizards of the Coast fucked over basically all of their lore to chase a trend that wasn’t there. Admittedly this comes with the (begrudged) acknowledgement that quite a bit of of this is likely to be out of date now that fifth edition has been out for a good several years now, but that edition has its own problems and while I’m not really going to touch upon it now, my problems with it are many and numerous.

It should be noted from the outset that this is going to talk about fourth edition in a negative and critical context, but I’m not going to be talking about the rules of the actual game as a game. This is entirely centred on story, worldbuilding and lore, and how those were handled in fourth edition as compared to what came before. That being said, if you like fourth edition, and especially if you like its lore, I would not suggest reading further.

I’m going to go far beyond being critical in this; I’m going to get outright mean.

A shout out must go to Susanna McKenzie (@cydonian-mystery) for input and feedback on this.

I suppose the most important place to start is, in many ways, the beginning, by which I mean my own introduction to Dungeons & Dragons. Mostly because it’s directly linked to the main reasons why I consider the lore to have been ruined, but before I even start off with that, I’m going to have to tell you where the lore was before I can really adequately explain its downfall.

In Realms Forgotten...

Like many people of my generation, I got into Dungeons & Dragons first through the computer based role-playing games. Specifically I started off with various titles by Black Isle and BioWare in the late-90s and early-00s, with stand-outs including Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, and their sequels. What all of these had in common beyond being Dungeons & Dragons adaptations is the fact that they took place in the Forgotten Realms, one of the more famous settings thereof, and the lore of that world intrigued me far more than the rules alone.

This might not sound like much, of course, to a newer fan for whom the Forgotten Realms, and its central setting of Faerûn, likely feels just like that generic world that D&D just happens to take place in nowadays. But back in the day, it was far more than that.

At the time I was getting into it, local libraries and bookstores carried bestselling novels set in the worlds in question, so I could pick up a novel based around various characters who appeared in the games, like the drow ranger Drizzt Do’Urden or the powerful wizard Elminster. There was also this huge encyclopedic book of geography and deities and the history of the world, with a big fold-out map which is still stuck up on my bedroom wall even after moving house three times. It was perfect fodder for my young nerdy fangirl self to develop full-on special interests in this stuff.

And the level of detail and lore and nuance in the world and its peoples was immense, with even the tiny and obscure bits of the setting earning massive amounts of unique lore. The result was a world that felt like it was alive, vibrant, and lived-in. Like real people could live there, with colourful heroes and villains to encounter.

This, I think, was the unwitting downfall of the Forgotten Realms, but I’m getting ahead of myself because this is really only step one, and Realms are really only one part of it. There are in total three of them, and I’ll be going through the baselines of each of them before we move on.

Out to Planescape

If you’ve read through the core books for fifth edition, there’s a chance you already have some degree of knowledge of Planescape and what it is. Or more precisely you know about the core structure of the Dungeons & Dragons multiverse; the Great Wheel. A series of elemental inner planes and transitive planes, with a ring of sixteen aligned outer planes representing various combinations derived from the axes of law versus chaos, and good versus evil, centred around a neutrally-aligned central plane.

At the centre of this central plane is an infinitely tall spire, atop which lies the famous torus-shaped city of Sigil, the city at the centre of the multiverse. There are a few more bits to it than that, and there are actually differences between how it once was and how it now is. For instance back in the day, there was no such thing as the Feywild or Shadowfell, and neither one was present in the original structure as laid out in 1987’s Manual of the Planes for AD&D.

Once again, to say that this is barely scratching the surface of the planar cosmology and its general meaning to Dungeons & Dragons lore would be a gross understatement. It wasn’t long after the publication of the above book that there was a new campaign setting created called Planescape, which would centre entirely upon this cosmology and build it into the lore. This is where the city of Sigil was introduced, a place of weird concordance where demons, angels, and creatures far, far stranger than either rubbed shoulders in the street, and only the watchful eye of the mysterious and powerful Lady of Pain kept things from erupting into all-out war.

It was a world of disputes, where a myriad of factions representing various philosophical concepts went toe-to-toe with one another. All wrapped up in a tone not unlike a strange mix of China Miéville and Charles Dickens, with the local dialect and thieves cant giving a unique flavour that no major campaign world outside of Planescape can really manage.

Perhaps the most famous and lasting contribution that this setting has was the tieflings, aasimar, and genasi, referred to collectively as the planetouched. These were born from a mix of planar interaction with human bloodlines, in particular through the very old fashioned way that any hybrid is created, which is perhaps why tieflings were the more common. They carried the blood of fiends, and most commonly demons by way of ancestors who reproduced with succubi and incubi, though no two tieflings looked especially alike, with variable and strange features.

I’ll be getting back to these later, but suffice it to say that Planescape was an interesting outlier setting, far stranger and more creative than almost anything else in anyone’s catalogue. And it forms the second part of our list of ruined lore.

And back down to Greyhawk

There’s a very good chance that your knowledge of Greyhawk is pretty limited, because while one could make good arguments for the above only just being ruined when fourth edition came around, there’s a lot to be said about how Greyhawk’s been the forgotten cousin for a while now, though to the credit of the current staff at Wizards of the Coast, they did just release a full-on Greyhawk adventure with Ghosts of Saltmarsh.

Introduced in the late seventies and early eighties, the World of Greyhawk, taking place on the fictional planet of Oerth and in particular on the subcontinent of the Flanaess, was the personally created campaign setting of Gary Gygax himself. While not as detailed as the Forgotten Realms, nor as interestingly out-there as Planescape, it is nonetheless a pretty cool world overall with a fun pulpy atmosphere that gives it its own sense of weight and nuance.

However, after Gary Gygax left TSR back in the 1980s, some later creators took it upon themselves to more or less mock his legacy overall. Nonetheless it remains a popular location for fans and creators, and towards the late third edition there was a lot of good work done in reviving it, such as with a series of adventure paths published in Dungeon Magazine in the form of Shackled City, Age of Worms, and Savage Tide, and following that a big adventure module in the form of Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk.

Since it’s the most basic element, let’s start with how they treated Greyhawk...

Strip-Mining the Free City

To say that Wizards of the Coast ruined Greyhawk would actually be inaccurate because, to a degree, they didn’t actually use Greyhawk. At least, not fully.

What they did instead was create a ‘new’ campaign setting, sometimes called the Nentir Vale, that used a few scavenged and cherry-picked Greyhawk deities and also a whole selection of adventures and locations previously specific to Greyhawk. Notable examples of such on the larger worldmap seen in the boardgame Conquest of Nerath included the Tomb of Horrors, the Vault of the Drow, and the Temple of Elemental Evil.

The resulting setting wasn’t Greyhawk, but had enough pieces that it felt like an insult to it. Often having those elements be modified in such a way that they felt like mockeries rather than the original concepts. A big part of why that felt like mockery is of course that Nentir Vale, or the Points of Light setting as it was sometimes referred to as, didn’t really exist as its own fully-fledged world. There wasn’t really a campaign setting book, or much detail on anything outside of a few small locations.

This is a relatively small part of what Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition did wrong, but it’s a small taste of what’s to come. However as seen with the Greyhawk conversion guidelines for many adventures, and even the release of the recent Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Greyhawk itself seems to have survived while the Nentir Vale remains almost entirely forgotten except for mentions of the Dawn War pantheon on one page of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

It seems like Wizards of the Coast realised it was a bad idea.

‘The Great Wheel is Dead!’

As we go back out to Planescape, we notice that — much like Greyhawk — it also isn’t there, as the entire cosmology and its thematic importance has been replaced with something so radically different that it’s practically a complete replacement. Just about the only part of Planescape that was kept was Sigil itself, but as shown repeatedly in the fourth edition version of Manual of the Planes, they obviously didn’t understand either Sigil or the Great Wheel in any real way.

I’m not going to talk about the World Axis much in direct terms, but instead more the mindset that was taken with regards to Planescape’s Great Wheel. Now this requires something of a diversion into an old pre-fourth edition preview document, and how it handled the Great Wheel and old materials.

The Great Wheel is dead.

One of my mantras throughout the design of 4th Edition has been, “Down with needless symmetry!” The cosmology that has defined the planes of the D&D multiverse for thirty years is a good example of symmetry that ultimately creates more problems than it solves. Not only is there a plane for every alignment, there’s a plane between each alignment — seventeen Outer Planes that are supposed to reflect the characteristics of fine shades of alignment. There’s not only a plane for each of the four classic elements, there’s a Positive Energy Plane, a Negative Energy Plane, and a plane where each other plane meets — an unfortunate circumstance that has resulted in creatures such as ooze mephits.

The planes were there, so we had to invent creatures to fill them. Worse than the needless symmetry of it all, though, is the fact that many of those planes are virtually impossible to adventure in. Traversing a plane that’s supposed to be an infinite three-dimensional space completely filled with elemental fire takes a lot of magical protection and fundamentally just doesn’t sound fun. How do you reconcile that with the idea of the City of Brass, legendary home of the efreet? Why is there air in that city?

So our goals in defining a new cosmology were pretty straightforward.

• Don’t bow to needless symmetry!

• Make the planes fun for adventure!

The ‘impossible to adventure in’ mindset towards the Great Wheel is entirely bullshit, which I think is best highlighted in the passage on the City of Brass. How can a plane of pure unchanging fire without variation also have a city-state? Maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t without variation and they’re making shit up to justify their own nonsense. 

The arrogance here is nothing short of infuriating. It typifies everything about the approach that Wizards of the Coast was taking towards Dungeons & Dragons at the time, and can only really be described as destructive.

There was nothing but an arrogance and often gleeful disdain for previous editions. Along with declarations of how it was so much better now, with the old version being bad for some reason despite that version having generated a huge fanbase, and a critically beloved computer role-playing game in the form of Planescape: Torment. And as with Greyhawk, they’ve done what they can to reverse that. The only elements of the new cosmology that remain are the Elemental Chaos as an in-between for the Elemental Planes, the Feywild, and the Shadowfell.

Wizards of the Coast once again seemed to realise where they were going wrong, and this is basically a recurring element of fifth edition. 

Unfortunately, the World Axis and Nentir Vale aren’t really where the majority of my frustrations lie.

The Shattered Realms

To summarise the degree to which they basically destroyed the Forgotten Realms is going to take a while, simply because they were thorough. And it’s this that ultimately puts me into a position where I’m always going to be negatively predisposed towards Wizards of the Coast and their handling of Dungeons & Dragons.

As a bitof a preamble, fourth edition brought with it several substantial changes to the way a lot of the ruleset worked. And not just on a mechanical level, but on a lore level as it related to certain in-universe elements.. Basic concepts about magic and how it worked were altered at the baseline level, and in order to explain these differences it was decided by the higher-ups at Wizards of the Coast to implement a big huge event to explain the edition differences. This was something they called the Spellplague.

This is not the first time they’ve done that; they previously had the Time of Troubles, which worked to explain the relatively minor differences in magic between the first and second edition versions of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, killed off or replaced a few gods, and ultimately shook things up a little bit. This was not really met with widespread acclaim at the time, and many complained about it but ultimately it’s a series of events which were later picked up by BioWare for Baldur’s Gate so it’s hard to really complain too harshly.

And indeed, they did it again with the change-over from fourth edition to fifth edition, with the Second Sundering bringing radical changes that all coincidentally left things looking like the pre-fourth edition version of the Forgotten Realms. Like with Planescape and Greyhawk, Wizards of the Coast knew they’d fucked up. But unlike with those, there were more than a few scars that haven’t really been all that fixable.

And to show you what I mean, I suppose we can start with the map, as that’s one of the clearest indications, when put in comparison, as to just how much was changed.

If you scroll back up and compare with the original map, you can kind of see just how much they absolutely fucked the Forgotten Realms.

The basic idea behind the Spellplague was that the goddess Mystra was murdered, and in her death throes the entirety of magic went haywire. Blue fire erupted across the world, and left entire nations and segments of the landscape scarred and destroyed. Often, conveniently, hitting worst those places that would traditionally, in-setting, be inhabited for the most part by various peoples of colour. Going into exhaustive detail would be extremely difficult, but keep in mind that the most heavily-devastated looking locations tend to be those that are inhabited by non-white people.

At least one of the nations destroyed, Halruaa, was actually the homeland of a long-running half-elf wizard character of mine at the time. 

Most major magic-user characters suffered extreme maladies to their spellcasting, either killing them off or rendering them powerless.

In a series of unrelated but contemporary events, the entire elven and dwarven pantheons were radically altered. Most elven deities who weren’t Corellon Larethian were revealed to be aspects of non-elven deities, and around half of the elves themselves wound up being renamed to ‘eladrin’ to match the bullshit new elf subrace from the fourth edition books.

The drow pantheon was similarly culled until only Lolth remained, and as part of that they slew the goddess of good drow, Eilistraee. What happened to her followers is probably a good example of how there was a good deal of racism involved. Basically, the drow who followed her were ‘cleansed of the taint’ that had turned them into drow to begin with.

Including lightening their skin.

This is an event that Wizards of the Coast hasn’t really broadcast much after their reintroduction of Eilistraee, and it’s really not hard to see why they’ve minimised it.

The human gods didn’t fare much better. The entire Mulhorandi Pantheon was removed, because apparently having real-world Egyptian mythological gods around was a little too much for them. They also did the same with Tyr, who was originally from Norse mythology, though left Silvanus, Oghma, and Mielikki. Possibly because barely anyone pays attention to Celtic pantheon deities, and the latter Finnish deity was the patron goddess of a specifically popular character from the novels.

And between destroying half of the map, eliminating half of the pantheon full of various fan favourite gods, and killing off a lot of major magic-user characters, you’d think that would be considered a bad enough result.

But then there’s the timeskip.

Wizards of the Coast advanced the timeline by approximately one hundred and five years, therefore killing off literally every major human character who didn’t have some kind of magical way of extending their lifespan. And in addition to the effects of the Spellplague, brought in a variety of huge geopolitical changes that replaced major governments and kingdoms with new and nearly-unrecognisable versions that might have shared a name.

I’m not going to go into much more detail on various other changes, but keep in mind that this is only barely scratching the surface. There wasn’t a single region of the Forgotten Realms left unaltered or unmarred by this event, and it ultimately can’t be seen as anything other than an act of vandalism. It’s not even getting into the fact that, for instance, entire sections of the landscape of Toril were replaced by segments of another world entirely so they could justify the introduction of dragonborn as a core race.

Which is incidentally why I dislike the dragonborn.

The events of the fifth edition changeover worked to mitigate a lot of this, but the sheer extent of damage done is so much that the modern Forgotten Realms is still only a pale echo of its former self. All because they wanted to chase the audience of fucking World of Warcraft of all things.

Seriously, fuck Wizards of the Coast.

[grelleswife]

Writer Asks

Tagged by: @lawliet-imagines Thanks so much for the mention!

Author name: I'm still grelleswife over on AO3. Very creative, I know. :D

Fandoms you write for: Primarily Kuroshitsuji, but I also recently wrote a Death Note drabble and would like to write more content for the Death Note ladies. Still have a BSD request I need to get to, and I'd love to write for Vanitas no Carte at some point!

Where you post:  AO3. I usually include links to my fics on Tumblr, as well.

Most popular oneshot:  If we’re going by number of kudos, that would be my Sebagrelle oneshot Mending.

Most popular multichap: My Sebagni fic, Metanoia

Favourite story: Oh dang...maybe my Grellefellows fic Ar Hyd Y Nos. It’s very special to me. <3

Story you were most nervous to post: Probably my Grellefellows fic The Battleground. Although I can be rather shameless, I’m often a little shy about pressing post on more “adult” works. XD

How you pick your titles: It depends, to be honest. Sometimes, a title will make itself apparent almost as soon as I start writing (or even before then), which was the case with A certain je ne sais quoi, Measure for Measure, Le toucher, and Embers, to name just a few. In other cases, I have to really wrack my brains to come up with a fitting title. For example, I was initially going to call Metanoia “Chiaroscuro” to reflect the way Sebastian’s and Agni’s relationship is a melding of darkness and light. The more I thought about it, though, I realized that I wanted the title to reflect how Agni’s love transforms the demon, and the Greek Orthodox concept of “metanoia” fit beautifully! Chiaroscuro eventually became the title for Chapter 1.

I don’t have a hard and fast rule for chapter titles, though I try to stick to a certain pattern within a work. For example, the Rosethorn chapters have more ornate titles (”The Queen’s Seal,” “Silver Masks and Solemn Oaths”). For Metanoia, on the other hand, it felt right to use single words; maybe to emphasize the concepts of union and wholeness?

Do you outline?  Yes, but mostly in my head, and I will occasionally shuffle the order of events if the characters take me in that direction. In the actual Word docs for my multichaps, I have very skeletal outlines indicating the sequence of events-- though, again, this is subject to change during the writing process, and I often fill in the blanks as I go. For example, the Metanoia outline currently looks like this:

Bard and other servants figure out something is going on (Sebastian and Agni ain’t slick)

Ask for masters’ permission (O!Ciel is a little snarkmeister and says that Agni has his “deepest sympathy”)

Agni and Soma stay at townhouse while everyone else returns to the estate. Massive amounts of pining ensue. Poor Sebastian doesn’t know what’s happened to him. :(

Reunion. Yay!

Some sort of autumn date (Scarf/gentle touching)

Need to work in murder arc at some point

Agni accidentally burns Sebastian with his blessed hand

Waltz. There has to be a waltz. Seeing Agni in a suit kills Sebastian dead.

Jealous Sebastian?

 Rings

So, as you can see, very minimalist compared to the finished product!

Complete stories:  40 one shots (please don’t judge, y’all; I’m just a sad girl with a special interest)

In Progress:  3 multichaps (Metanoia, Rosethorn, and Coffee and Kismet) + a ridiculous number of ideas for future oneshots and multichaps!

Coming Soon: Your guess is as good as mine. XD Hopefully a Halle x Kiyomi coffee break/date for a request, then Chapter 4 of Metanioa, then the BSD request. Can’t make promises about the timeline for that, though. D:

Prompts: Feel free! I already have several stored away, but I’m a masochist who will happily accept more.

Upcoming story you are most excited for: I’m really hyped for the works I’ve started to plan for @cosmic--lion ‘s platonic Sebastian and Ciel week. UwU

I’m also excited about the Sebagrelle roleswap AU and the Fembastian requests some of you sent me!

Five authors: Only if you want to, of course! @red-butler @deadly-safety-scissors @weywyrdsis @bemused-writer @misas-biggest-fan

[dramioneasks]

So you’re new to DramioneAsks?

Firstly, hi! Welcome! *waves*

Secondly, we are a group of dramione obsessed fan-ladies who use our free time to help other dramione obsessed fan-people find fics they’ve seemed to forgot, get fic recommendations, and rec their own suggestions. (This blog was not started by us, but by an amazing lady named Mandy who has generously left us in charge of things.)

As mentioned above, we take care of this blog on our free time. We all have lives and jobs and school and kids etc, so we don’t always be online all day. We cannot get to the asks within a day or sometimes within a few days. So we always ask that if you send in an ask, please wait until the end of the week to see if we have answered it before re-sending in your question. (Tumblr sometimes like to eat questions, so there will be times when we just never receive any asks from you.) We close on the weekend to give ourselves a little break, and give us a chance to answer all the asks we couldn’t get to during the week. This information can be found on our sidebar.

We close on Friday around 9-11 pm EST; and reopen on Sunday around 11 pm EST. (We do not accept any questions via fanmail on the weekend.) Come Monday morning, if you do not see your ask, that means we never received it, Tumblr ate it, and you can resend it again. We have a search bar, and we always tag tumblr users’ names on posts. So you can either scroll through the previous posts, or use the search bar to find your ask. Because sometimes we may have answered your question, but you just missed it. It happens.

So as you know Tumblr has three options for asking questions to a blog. We prefer that you always use the ask option when you need help finding fics, or want fic recommendations. Use the submission option to recommend a fic or if your fic search exceeds the ask’s word limit. And use the fanmail to send us, well, fan mail.

When sending in an ask, please only inquire about one fic or one request. If you have another fic you need help finding or another request you need fulfilled, send in another ask for that one. We have an extensive tagging system, so when an ask is answered, we tag it appropriately so that in the future anyone looking under a particular tag will see your post with a relevant fic for them to read and enjoy. We also ask that if you have a request for similar fics to another fic, you tell us what exactly you liked about the original fic and what you want to read more of. This way we will be better able to give you suggestions if we know what you are looking for, because as you know all fics have multiple tropes/themes. We don’t want to assume anything. You can also use the ask option to help us with the asks we didn’t know the answers too. The best way to do this is to send us the unique ID in the URL of the original post, along with the name of the fic. Each post, has its own unique URL. So by including that ID number in your ask, it’ll make things so much easier for us to find and update that post.

Our tags, as mentioned above, are our pride and joy! We take our time to carefully add tags to each post, and to update the various lists we’ve made. The tags can be found at the top of the page.

When you click on that, you get to our various lists. We have organized the tags to make things easier for everyone who uses it.

If you cannot find the specific tag you are looking for, we also have a Tag Cloud which collects all the tags we use on the blog. Unfortunately, the specific one we use only collects a certain amount, and only shows the most recently used tags. 

For some unknown reason, our links at the top of the page do not work in the Tumblr app. So to combat that, you can load our page on your phone’s web browser or use the search feature in the app.

We ask that if you are looking for a specific type of fic to read, (a specific trope, or a certain character trait, a fic with one character being heavily featured, or a fic with a special side pairing), before you come to us, check out our tags and see if we already have that listed. If we do, click on it and you will see many recommendations for you to enjoy.

You can also use our search bar to find what you want if you don’t want to go through the tags. But the search bar gives you a broader search, so if you type in a keyword, instead of posts tagged with that word popping up, every single post with the word will pop up regardless of whether it was tagged as such.

We have two sister blogs; @dramioneficindex and @dramionediscussion. Both are run by some of the admin here. So from time to time, you will see posts here about those blogs. 

We also look through the #dramione tag here on Tumblr where we reblog fic information from authors who post those types of things. Or sometimes authors come to us to tell us updates on their fics. Other than that we do not have any sort of relationship with any author, so we don’t have any insider scoop nor do have any contact with authors. We do not know what happens when an author deletes their fics, or why they leave the fandom. Your guess is as good as ours. 

We also no longer share downloadable copies of deleted fics. So if you are looking for a copy of a fic, you may want to check elsewhere.

On the right top of our page you will see various tabs. 

Under Fic Lists, we have a list of the most popular tropes and many fic recommendations, as chosen by our followers. Under FAQ, we have our frequently asked questions. And under the Fests tab, we have a list of all the Harry Potter fests to have ever featured dramione fics, and of course we list those fics for you to read.

Annnnnnnd that’s about it! If you want anymore information about us check out our about us page and our blog features page. There you will be able to find out about some other cool stuff we try to integrate on our blog from time to time. If you are interested in us, the admins, you can find links to our personal pages under the about us link.

We are glad that you have chosen to follow us and we hope you enjoy the ride! :D

- Lisa

[gossamerandshadow]

Pepper of the Aster: Character Sheet

Summary

Chef Pepper is a truly accomplished gourmand whose Domain and restaurant, Relish, is an immensely popular spot among all those who traverse the Grand Stair. Her Domain welcomes all, and she expects people to put aside their differences and come together over food when they enter. Being honest, she has no real way to actually enforce this rule, but Relish is so popular among the Gossamer Lords that the simple threat of the ire that would result if she were harmed or otherwise had to close or restrict access to her Domain is enough to ensure that everyone behaves.

150 points spent out of 151 points earned

Attributes :: -10 Points

Psyche: Paragon  Strength: Superior  Endurance: Paragon Finesse: Paragon Presence: Paragon

Powers :: 100 Points

Empathy Talents - 5 points

Aura Sense and Item Reading - 5 points

Shapeshifting Talents - 50 points

Shapeshifting - 35 points

Advanced Shapeshifting - 10 points

Bodily Autonomy - 5 points

Internal Reorganization - 5 points

Exalted Shapeshifting - 5 points

Regeneration - 5 points

Cantrips - 5 points

Surge

Dampen

Grasp

Sureness

Invigorate

Blessings - 30 points

20 point pool

Applied via the food served at Relish

Flitting Wings - 9 points

Engine Speed - 4 points

Conferred quality - 5 points

Other Traits - 1 point

Super Taster

Extras :: 10 Points

Domain: Primal World, Guarded, Control of Time Flow - 10 points

Pepper’s domain is called Relish, synonymous with the restaurant contained within. Its Door is located in centrally in the Stair, right next to the Agora market. 

It is a world of extraordinary bounty, where any plant or animal can thrive, and where the harvest is always rich, ample and excellent. Much of the space outside of the restaurant itself is gently rolling farmland, where the residents of this world carefully husband the enormous variety of plants and animals eventually intended to be served to the clientele at Relish. 

The restaurant itself is housed in an enormous, ancient lighthouse, settled sturdy on a very small rocky peninsula that breaks several miles of smooth, white sand beaches in either direction, merging into warm, quiet forest a little further up the shore.

Takeout is extremely popular, with an always-busy takeout window situated just up a set of steps from the beach, carved into the stone, where visitors can order straight out of the kitchen and get a sweetly furoshiki-wrapped lunchbox to take down the beach and find a nice private spot for a picnic; the furoshiki cloth makes for a fine picnic blanket. Most customers bring their blankets with them when they come for lunch, but, if you’re new, your lunch will come wrapped neat in a brand-new blanket, courtesy of the kitchen, and a sweet little note from Pepper herself, thanking you for giving her restaurant a chance. Most takeout visitors end up somewhere on the beach near the lighthouse, though treks into the forest to find a verdant, flower-speckled meadow are nearly as popular a choice. Others still will hike a little deeper into the woods, seeking out the mossy old ruins that can be found on ridges and near the tops of waterfalls, if one knows where to look. And some - especially the very long-time customers - like to make their way in-land, to the quaint little villages that dot the interior amid the wide and rolling fields.

There is also a more traditional sit-down dining experience available, in either the lighthouse itself - where there tasteful and quiet dining rooms on three of the top floors with lovely views of the ocean - or out on the “patio.” There is no actual patio, but rather there is a large, open, grassy space, dotted with trees with the air of a well-maintained garden, just behind the lighthouse, slightly up the slope away from the beach. The tables are large, with none seating less than ten, to encourage camaraderie and an opportunity to meet new people. It’s an especially pleasant place to eat at night, when the boughs of the trees are hung with hundreds of little lanterns. On special occasions, the tables in the center of the patio are removed, and replaced with a very large bonfire and several buffet tables with any imaginable treat that one could want to roast over an open fire - mouthwatering homemade marshmallows in every colour, an impossibly wide variety of fruits and vegetables, a selection of fresh nuts, an assortment of spiced sausages (often with spices one would think wouldn’t work in a sausage, but they always, always do), and more. And, of course, all the of the necessary condiments associated; buns and sauces for the sausages, graham crackers and chocolate for the marshmallows. On extra special occasions, Pepper closes the kitchen for a few hours and comes out to the bonfire with the ingredients for bannock, and teaches the gathered group how to make it. It’s a different flavour every time. Many people go to great lengths to ensure that they make it to every single one of these bannock bonfires and so, over the years, the size of the patio and the fire itself have. grown to accommodate the ever-increasing number of people. While the increasing number of people has occasionally made things a bit difficult, Pepper has always found a way to make it work - she would never turn someone away from one of her special occasions at Relish.

There are a lot of special occasions at Relish. At least one a week.

Absolutely no weapons are allowed within either the dining rooms or on the patio. They’re kept, instead, on a rather large table next to the entrance to the patio, with the maitre d’, who has a photographic memory and knows exactly who left which item. He is a regular human being - just one who happens to have an exceptional memory - and certainly could not stop any given Lord from taking an item that did not belong to them, but he has never had to do anything beyond make a polite request that the Lord in question put the item back; in part because it’s always followed with the quiet reminder that it would be trivially easy for him to get the attention of the Lord to whom the weapon actually belongs. And nobody wants to make a fuss like that at Relish.

Every time Pepper leaves to explore a new gossamer world, she returns with a head full of new and interesting ideas, and an arm full of new and interesting ingredients, and the menu inevitably changes and grows to add some of what she’d just discovered to her repertoire. Once word gets out that Relish’s menu has expanded (again), there’s always a little rush to taste the newest delights.

But no matter what gets added to the menu, no matter what delights she finds to add to the regular rotation of delicacies, nothing will ever match the magic of Pepper’s Special. There is no description for what’s in this particular dish, for it varies with every person who orders it, and no individual gets the same thing twice. Pepper’s Special is only available to eat-in patrons, because Pepper herself has to come to your table after you order it. It’s always a pleasant experience; she’s warm, welcoming, and always bubbling with laughter. It always seems like nothing at first - she greets you and says something about how happy she is to get to know you, there’s an exchange of pleasantries, and then she returns to the kitchen. But when the meal is brought out, there’s a little magic in it. The greeting has given her an opportunity to read you and your aura, to learn about you, how you feel, what pains you and what comforts you. She doesn’t know the details, of course, but she knows what you need. And whatever you need in that exact moment is always exactly what comes to your table. Sometimes, this means that Pepper has managed to reproduce chicken soup, made lovingly, by hand, by a mother long since passed away. Sometimes, this means that you end up served a plate piled high with chocolate chip cookies, which seems like an absolutely ridiculous thing to have for dinner, until you take the first bite and realize that the simple sweetness provides a comfort for an old pain you’d forgotten you even had. Sometimes it means that you get a pile of macaroni covered in neon-orange “cheese” that, while objectively gross, tastes exactly like the crappy school lunches you used to eat with your very best childhood friend that you haven’t seen in years, and you couldn’t remember his face until you were struck by the sense-memory of the meal.

The tables at Relish all have a little box of tissues tucked discreetly away, but within easy access to everyone seated at any given table. Tears are common enough that there are rules of etiquette that have developed, associated with such an event - pay attention to your own table, giving the person privacy, unless they are seated alone, in which case an offer of company and a drink over which to discuss nostalgic memories might be in order.

Backstory

Pepper is a fairy. She was born in the Domain that would eventually come to be known as Relish, though it wasn’t called that until recently (or at least, recently in the context of the age of the world and the Stair itself). She was born into the Autumn Court as a fairy of low standing and power - she was a fairy of bounty who presided over a small meadow, and her job was to make the aster flowers bloom in the Autumn. Her meadow was far from anything of value or power, and she was mostly ignored by the more powerful Fae of the various Courts in their attempts to vie against each other for power. In fact, so ignored was she that, when the politicking and backstabbing of the Courts devolved, finally, into open war... she was never called to the front line. She was never called to combat. And so, while the great and powerful Fae destroyed each other utterly, Pepper was left alone on the edge of the world, tending to her aster.

She felt it when the Queen of Autumn died. She was bound to her Queen, bound to obedience and to loyalty. It was not the first time a queen had died, but, usually, the title simply passed to the Lady of the Court. This time, there was no Lady. There was no one. The court was empty, but for Pepper. And so, with no one left to pass the title onto, Pepper became Queen of Autumn - a title which she never uses, and feels entirely uncomfortable with. The only saving grace is that she is the only member of the Court of Autumn left, meaning that she does not retain the obedience of anyone else, as that would be entirely unacceptable to her.

Forgotten as she was, she was the only fairy left on a Primal World that had utterly torn itself apart in the war. And so, not quite knowing what she was doing, she began the very slow, very methodical process of putting it back together. It was not so different, she thought, from having to heal the aster field after it was torn up by a bear, drunk on fermented apples. Just... with a much larger aster field, and a much more destructive bear.

A Primal World left so undefended would normally be extremely tempting to a Gossamer Lord. Indeed, more than one Lord of great power came to the nameless, destroyed world to determine if he might take it for himself. But the destruction was simply too great. The primal energy of the world had been made wild and vicious by the destruction wrought upon its surface, and that energy was inclined to lash out at invaders from the Stair. In time, world spread that the primal world of the Fae had been destroyed utterly, and those who would wish to seek it out for their own eventually stopped coming entirely.

It was during one of the last visits from such a Gossamer Lord that Pepper, curious about these seemingly-god-like beings, followed one through the Door before it was closed away again. This was how she found herself on the Grand Stair, in the middle of the bustling Agora. It was here that she discovered a bounty of treasures beyond imagining. And it was here that she began the discover just how she might rebuild her homeworld.

She took to exploring other worlds. At first, she was simply looking for plants and animals to take home with her, hoping to repopulate her home with greenery and life to replace what was lost. It was during one such trip that she discovered the pleasures of fine cuisine and, as a fairy of bounty, took to it with extraordinary talent. With this skill developing, she learned to barter in the Agora, trading food and recipes of her own creation for plants and animals she felt she would be unable to obtain on her own. No one knew where she was from. Everyone assumed that she was simply gardening in her own little private domain. Which was why it came as such a shock to the culture of the Stair when, abruptly, the once-condemned Door to the destroyed Primal world of the Fae was thrown open in welcome, to reveal lush greenery and the smell of delicious food, all under a new name: Relish.

It was dangerous, for a little while. Pepper has never been a being of great power, and the temptation for a few Lords to take this Primal world from her after she’d rebuilt it to a land of such stunning beauty was nearly enough to end her endeavour before it even really started. But it was, in the end, the political scheming of these Lords that saved her, for each knew of the other, and each wished to outmaneuver the other before laying claim to Relish. And, by the time one of them had navigated himself into a position in which he felt he could claim the world without falling into outright war with his rivals, Relish had developed the reputation that would protect it for the rest of its existence - nobody wanted to be that asshole who took away the best food in the multiverse out of a petty desire for personal gain. 

Appearance

Pepper usually appears as a mostly-human woman. Mostly, because her ears are pointed, her eyes are a little larger than is natural and are a shockingly bright shade of amber, and she’s usually found with a set of dragonfly-like wings. Her skin is a warm sorrel-brown, dotted with barely-there freckles over her button nose and full cheeks. It’s unusual for a shapeshifter to be anything other than extremely lean, given how much energy is required to shift, but Pepper doesn’t shift often, and she’s constantly snacking on new inventions and leftovers in her kitchen while she works, gracing her with round features that make her smiling dimples stand out all the more sharply. Her hair is a naturally wild explosion of dense coils, usually held back out of her face with a soft, brightly coloured scarf.

She can - and often does - shapeshift into a completely mundane version of herself when it makes sense to do so, but she mostly prefers to keep her natural appearance. When she’s in the kitchen, her wings are often replaced with an extra set of arms or two, depending on how busy things are, but she rarely allows her customers to see her that way.

Most days, when she’s working in the kitchen, she wears very simple, practical clothing. The only exception is her apron - she always wears one from her enormous collection, and they are filled with more personality and sunshine than most entire outfits. She seems to have a particular soft-spot for aprons that have frills or lace or some other girly feature. Her recent favourite is printed with lemons and has two extremely large pockets.

One the rare occasions that she leaves Relish, it’s always to seek out new and exotic ingredients (hopefully in a form she can bring home with her and grow in her own Domain). On these occasions, she’s usually found in very practical khakis with a very large straw hat.

Pinterest: coming soon.

[celebritytgcaptions]

Requests (12/5/17)

Hi lovelies! These are all the requests I’ve received in the past week or so! Thanks! And don't forget you can now submit your own celebrity tg captions! :D

@madisonbaylor said:

Can you do a caption where a guy named Joseph gets turned into Serena Williams after losing a tennis game?

Sure thing!

Anonymous said:

Can you do a game that focuses on Basic Bitches? You could piss off a witch that you called basic, and you have to choose from basic things like uggs, leggings, pumpkin spice lattes and stuff like that to see what kind of basic you become.

I have thought of this game before, but the thing is if you’re a basic bitch you’re a basic bitch. It’s hard for me to think of variants on it, for the results to be different enough to work in a game. I’ll keep working on it though.

Anonymous said:

Can you do another one with Alexa Bliss? Specifically something about her butt?

Like, totally!

Anonymous said:

Can you do something with Jemma Wolf? She's amazing. Maybe something where she beats the viewer at basketball and has to be feminized... Idk

I don’t really know when Jemma Wolf is. Sorry, hon. :(

Anonymous said:

Can you do a caption with Natalie Alyn Lind (from the gifted) please

I had to look it up to make sure, but Natalie Alyn Lind IS 18 so yea, I can do this! :)

Anonymous said:

I would love to see a follow up caption on the recent mean girls one of what he became! thanks!

I’ll see what I can do, sweetie. ;)

Anonymous said:

I saw that you said you love to do basic botch captions, so can you do one where a dude makes fun of a group of girls he calls basic for all dressing the same, so they feminize and hypnotize him into being just like them, except to make him more unique and special they make him the only one of them that likes anal! There's a lot of pics floating around of Jenifer Lopez in yoga pants. If you could use one of those, it'd be great!

Sure thing. ;)

Anonymous said:

Can you make one using Brie Larson in Scott Pilgrim Vs the World where a guy is in a band, and his rival band tries to bimbofy him but it backfires and just gets his band a bigger following?

Yas! LUV Brie Larson in that movie! :D :D

Anonymous said:

can you make a caption with britney spears using an image of the scream and shout video?

Yep. :)

Anonymous said:

Hiya, absolutely love your captions and was hoping you could do some with Tessa Thompson and Aubrey plaza :)

Will do. :)

Anonymous said:

I don’t know how well it would work and u probably have an idea for and xmas game but what about basing it about what present you chose could be either the colour of wrapping or the size/shape of it. Idk how well it would work but it’s an idea

I actual did a game like this last year. You can find it here! Hope you like it. :)

@stoat-hypercube​ said:

Just out of the blue, how about a caption with Fran Drescher? ^.^

Okay. :)

Anonymous said:

Can you make a choose your destiny game where you make a bet with a witch? She kidnapped the player's girlfriend and to rescue her you have to pull a card from her hand (maybe you could make them tarot instead of regular cards, obviously not all cards, I believe that 6 is enough). Depending of the card, you get to be a different girl and serve the witch (as slave, pet, fellow witch, lover, etc), one of them makes you rescue your girfriend but she now is different and enslves you

Anonymous said:

Do you know that part of the Iliad, before the Trojan War, where three goddesses where arguing about who was the fairest, and then they took a mortal to choose,? And then, each one of them offered different treasures, trying to buy his favor. Well, what if you make a game like this?

I like both these game ideas! I will say I am doing exclusively holiday games in December though, so if January comes around and you want to remind me of any game requests you’ve made go for it! (And that goes for anyone making game requests right now too. Thanks lovelies! :))

Anonymous said:

Can you do a caption with Elodie Yung.

Totes!

Anonymous said:

Please do more Natalia Dyer captions. I loved your first one!

Thanks hon! And yep, I can do more with her. :)

Anonymous said:

Could you do Kaitlin Olson?

Yep! :)

Anonymous said:

I noticed you haven't done any with Mary Elizabeth Ellis yet. Or Juno Temple either. I'd love if you could do captions with either of them. Also, I noticed you have one with Jillian Bell, but she's barely in it and that's the only one with her on the site. I'd love to see her too if you could.

I can do one for all of these ladies! :)

Anonymous said:

How about a caption with Melanie Martinez?

I literally had to come back in and edit this post before it went up because this morning news broke that Melanie Martinez’s former best friend accused her of sexual assault and her response is problematic to say the least. So for the time being, there will be a hiatus on Melanie Martinez captions.

Anonymous said:

Whatever happened to that sequel to the neon room that you said you were working on months ago?

I still haven’t found the right way to do it. The Neon Room is like one of my most popular posts EVER so I don’t want to give you guys a lazy sequel, I wanna do it right you know?

Anonymous said:

Christmas cap of James getting turned into Victoria Justice (can you make his name Maria at the end of the cap?)

Yes to all! :)

@addicted-to-tg said:

Do you think you could maybe possibly do a werewoman caption where the subject transforms into Meghan Trainor? Thanks! :)

Sure thing. ;)

Anonymous said:

Can you make one with Krysten Ritter, where a guy named Carter finds his girlfriends best friend super annoying, and is enemies with her boyfriend. Then one day wakes up trapped in her body?

Ooooo, I like it! Totes! :D

Anonymous said:

Hey... I was going back and reading some of your older captions... I really liked the two you did with Deborah Ann Woll... and I was wondering if you could make a third one where he accidentally over sleeps on the very last day of the year, and is stuck

I like it! I almost want to wait until a year after the original caption though (which was posted in July) but that’s kind of a long wait. I think I’ll do it sooner than that. :)

@hibyehellojsmd said:

Please do more with Arians grande and a choose your destiny Christmas

I’m going to be posting only Christmas/holiday games this month so no worries there! :) I’ll totally do more with Ariana though too. :)

Anonymous said:

Hello! Could you do a caption of me being transformed into Alicia Silverstone's character from Clueless? My name is Rene. It would be great if I were a nerdy guy being transformed into this ditzy Valley Girl. Thanks!

Sure thing!

[vitmelbourne]

The Career growth for Multimedia Courses in Australia

In this age of recent Information Technology, the Multimedia Technology has caused some numerous exciting career option for aspirants. One among such vocations is children game design which has become considerably popular within the present world. This text highlights a number of those various related career options that are available in computer game designing.

 It's a matter-of-fact that we all need a good career for our self, where there's an excellent combination of labour and fun. Computer game design program is one such fine field where you'll experience working with fun.

 As parents, you want to have noticed about your children that after finishing their home-work, they are doing not want to waste a second of their life to play. It’s the technology of course that enabled them to play their favourite video games. Alongside this, their curiosity to understand something more about video games encourages them to consider creating and designing video games for themselves. Therefore, now-a-days, many Multimedia Courses in Australia institution have come up with this new computer game design program to satisfy the interest of the youngsters.

 If you would like to travel deep into how these video games are created, designed and tested, then the primary thing you would like to try to be to seek out those multimedia institutions that provide such sorts of gaming-based computer courses. The well-liked option for your search can rightly be the Multimedia Courses in Australia institution as game design is formed and possible only due to technology and Multimedia training program.

 Children game design isn't a piece performed by one expert alone; it's a team effort that creates it possible. The team members include character artist who is liable for creating and developing the characters that are required within the game. The animator prepares the 3-D effect of the characters, objects and elements in order that the sport seems like real. Programming like C++ or Java are employed by the programmer of the sport to smoothly run and play the sport on a computer, play station or on a smartphone. Aside from that, there are level designing section which is taken care of by the extent designer who creates and styles the various levels for the sport. Sound effects to the sport are then given by the sound editor.

 The interface designer designs the menu of the sport. And intrinsically, different artists play a key role in creating and designing a computer game.

 Multimedia Courses in Australia Creating a Different World Literally

 During the technology of a course, a rare and strong late-season category 4 typhoon named Bopha was on the path of destruction along the western Pacific including Palau and the Philippines. But instead of getting their updates from the radio and TV, people at home or in evacuation centres watched live streams that contained multimedia clips of forecast models and received multimedia messages in their mobile devices. Residents in hazardous areas responded positively to the call for pre-emptive evacuation because they saw the potential damage Bopha can cause via a multimedia presentation.

 They tell better stories; they drive home the truth more effectively and efficiently. Multimedia Courses in Australia as platforms of communication have come a long way from the lights and sounds display that was referred by a singer.

 Today, Multimedia Courses in Australia, because the term implies, and may be a combination of several media of communication that caters to the various sense organs primarily hearing and seeing. I say primarily because there are innovations that allow you to smell and taste and experience also. These include the written texts, still and also moving images, graphic images, and audio components that are accessed, oftentimes interactively, via electronic means.

 Multimedia Courses in Australia is a source of second life for many other people as it shows life better than any other. Its use and with wide range of variety makes it an absolute must to have in it every home. An interactive interface is necessary for the flexibility and learning.

 Multimedia in the 90s were focused as a platform of communication for entertainment and educational purposes. These days, multimedia creations are utilized in journalism, education, medicine, engineering, architecture, business, and even diplomacy among many fields. But quite that, multimedia has evolved from audio-visual presentations to highly advanced innovations that make a special reality.

  Multimedia Courses in Australia

 Most of today's Multimedia Courses in Australia are designed to hone highly specialized skills that capture the imagination of contemporary viewers.

 Let us look at a few of them are

 Augmented Reality - Because the term implies, multimedia innovations capture real, physical, or actual reality and uses technology to reinforce sensory experience. These include sounds, graphics, video, interactive components, and GPS feeds. For instance, consider that Open Ladies Finals 2013. While you were watching real-time battle between eventual champion Serena Williams and Victoria Azaria, you were also informed of match statistics, historical perspectives, crowd point-of-views, etc. Thus reality isn't replaced or substituted (like virtual reality) but simply enhanced or augmented. When Serena Williams scored an ace, you were also informed that she has the best serve in the history of tennis.

 Electro-Holographic Display - The CNN Presidential Election Coverage 2008 is arguably its world debut but Electro-Holographic Display has been imagined or talked about as early as the first Star Wars Trilogy. An award-winning actress within the movie Simone was created by this technology. Electro-Holography uses a rare combination of technical wizardry, virtual gadgetry and aesthetic supremacy to record, reconstruct and release 3D objects that represents the important one, say, Anderson Cooper reporting live.

  Audioscopic - Music and noise are a neighbourhood of the truth of the new generation. But new innovations allow for them to not just listen but experience music using products with audio capacity. These include clothes, furniture, books, etc. Fashion designers are now also enrolling in courses to learn multimedia and incorporate these innovations.

 These and more are signs that the Multimedia Courses in Australia is creating a different world. And those who wish to be part of it find it useful to enrol in multimedia courses that provide basic and advance skills to become a major contributor in the industry.

 For getting more information visit here VIT - Victorian Institute of Technology.

14/123 Queen St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

1300 17 17 55 (or) support@vit.edu.au

[fireflyfish]

Hi, do you have any advice for this unable-to-make-decisions GoH newbie? I'm level 62 atm and just developed 7-star Luminara, and I can't decide what to invest in. (7-star Mace is almost there as well.) I want an actual squad (right now my A-team is Mace, Luminara, Tarkin, Chewie, Jedi Consular), which one do you recommend?

Hello there and Welcome to the Madness! We are super glad to have you with us on our long trek to Rancor/Tank/General Kenobi Domination! 

First of all, Congratulations on getting 7* Luminara! YAAAAAY! 

She’s fabulous and she stays fabulous for a good long while. She was my first 7* character and I still love her. She’s a character you can level up to a certain point and she stays competitive with everybody else for a good long time. Unlike some characters I am looking at you JK Anakin you pretty, squishy thing you she’s pretty good on her own and mods just make her even better. 

Since your Arena team has three Jedi I’m going to make two Suggestion Lists, one based on what you’ve already got and can easily level up and then another Suggestion List based on what’s going to be easy and successful in the long run. I’m not super skilled and well versed in what’s Meta (i.e. what’s popular and super successful in the arena right now.) because I love my Jedi and Clone Sons too much.

But I will try to keep the Meta Game in mind so that later on you haven’t managed to craft some kind of Lovecraftian Horror Zeta Ewok Scout or whatever. XD 

I’m also tagging my guild officer @silvergryphon, and my GOH sempai @gffa as well as anyone else who wants to join in the fun! @tygermama, @resistancepilots, @generallkenobi, @dendral, @teapirate, @loverofcake And anyone else who wants to help out and has Thoughts! XD

So without further ado… here’s my suggestions!

JEDI

Jedi are fun because they have lightsabers and do fun flippy things and also LIGHTSABERS ARE PLASMA CHAINSAWS! How is that not cool? 

Easy Jedi to Farm

Ahsoka Tano - Hands down Ahsoka is one of the easiest Jedi to farm for. She shows up in the Cantina Store and she has two nodes where she can be found Dark Side 4-C and Light Side 5-D (which has come choice gear on it). Ahsoka can supplement healing for Luminara and she’s also a must have in Fleet Battles. She plays well with others and I’ve often won arena battles where I was down to her and Fives and they made hash of my opponents. Ahsoka is great in mid-game and an excellent addition to your Jedi team. 

Ezra Bridger - After Ahsoka, Luminara and Mace, Ezra is probably the second easiest Jedi to farm for. He’s on a low Cantina Node (2-B) and he pops up in the Fleet Store with an annoying regularity. No, Game! I wanted Chirrut Shards! I don’t want Emo Blueberry Shards! Of the Phoenix Squad characters, he’s the one I kill first when I face a Phoenix team and he’s very useful wherever he goes. His bonus attacks can kill Baze and Fives and that takes some serious doing. He also has a ship (Phantom II) so that’s nice for your Fleet arena. 

Kanan Jarrus - Okay so with Kanan you’re going to have to balance his availability with whoever else you’re going for in the Squad Arena store but he’s another useful Jedi who can taunt, add protection and debuff your characters. He’s not super easy to get but if you’re going to get the Phoenix Squad he’s tied for second place with Hera after Ezra. 

Qui-Gon Jinn - *sighs* Get him. You’ll need him if you want to run a Jedi team. His leadership gives your team speed and he can call assists as well as debuffs. Don’t let my lackluster recommendation of everyone’s Neglectful Hippie Space Dad dissuade you. He’s useful and not hair-pullingly difficult to get.

Difficult to Farm but Worth It

Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker - Oh my precious Rage Baby! So beautiful, so angry, so… squishy? If you’re going to have a Jedi team, you need to have Anakin on it. He does serious damage and he can also inflict healing and buff immunity for 2 turns. He plays very well with clones and Ahsoka. When Luminara gets her heal over time ability, that really helps shore Anakin up. He also has an AOE attack which I don’t think any other Jedi has. He’s only on four nodes (Dark Side 5-B, 7-D, Light Side 5-C and Cantina 7-G) so he’s not impossible to get I am looking at you Aayla Secura but he’s not easy either. Probably just the way Padme and Obi-Wan like it. 

Barriss Offee - Eh. Get the murderous wench. She’s the best healer in the game, for a back-stabbing-jedi-turned-terrorist. Like Anakin, she’s not in a store but she’s got four nodes (Dark Side 5-C, 5-E, 8-A and Cantina 6-A). She’s a popular for Zeta when you get to that (and that is still a long ways off for you so don’t worry about it.) 

So… uhmm… TL:DR

Ahsoka

Ezra/Qui-Gon

Whoever you didn’t go for last time in the Ezra/Qui-Gon mashup

Jedi Knight Anakin/Kanan Jarrus

Whoever you didn’t go for last time JK Anakin/Kanan Jarrus

Back-stabbin’ Barriss Offee

Holy Crap I went on forever! But onwards and upwards my dear! Here is part two!

REBELS

Because you will need Rebels to compete in all sorts of special events (Empire Themed events, Emperor Palpatine events, the new Territory battles) you are going to need Rebels. 

The good news is THERE ARE LOTS OF REBELS. SO MANY REBELS. LIKE MORE THAN WE NEED AND I AM AN AVOWED DISLIKER OF THE SITH/EMPIRE/FIRST ORDER CHARACTERS.

Right now your Squad Arena team is tilted in the direction of Jedi which is fine! I have had my butt handed to me by many a Jedi team before. I swear to the Force Yoda if you don’t leave my precious Wedge alone I am going to reach through the screen and strangle you! But a Rebels team is pretty much required to advance in the game and EA has given you a MYRIAD of options to chose from.

Which brings me to… Easy to Farm Rebels

Biggs Darklighter - Popular recently is a combination of Wiggs (Wedge Antilles + Biggs Darklighter) and Chaze (Chirrut Imwe + Baze Malbus). Now here’s a thing, or two, you need to know about these two combos. 

It’s REALLY effective.

It’s kind of a pain in the ass to get. 

The good news for you is that Biggs Darklighter is not only in the Galactic War Store (where if you defeat the table you have a chance to purchase up to 15 of his shards a day!) but he’s also located on Cantina Node 3-G and Dark Side Node 4-A. Biggs also has an X-Wing that taunts (I LOVE YOU, BIGGS) and he has amazing synergy with Wedge Antilles. If you can get an omega mat on his Comrade-in-Arms Super-Mega-Killshot attack, he can perform that every other turn. WHICH IS SO AMAZING. 

SO. 

AMAZING. 

So I highly recommend Biggs. Even if you don’t want to run a Rebels squad right now, he is worth it for his ship and that Comrade-in-Arms ability. 

Stormtrooper Han Solo - ST Han Solo has the advantage of being both a Rebel and a Scoundrel, which are ANNOYINGLY important in this game. It may not seem like it now but trust me, when you start Mod farming, you are going to need those credit heists desperately. Where is my Dave Chapelle Meme with the white powdery lips and “Y’all got any more of ‘dem Credit Heists?” ST Han is in the same boat as Kanan Jarrus as he’s only available in the Squad Arena store so if you have to pick between the two, go for ST Han while you’re going after Jedi elsewhere. 

ST Han can taunt and his taunt is particularly insidious because every time he takes a hit, his allies gain turn meter. I’ve seen him work well with all sorts of teams and I’ve seen him in the top level squads as well. 

Princess Leia - Her Royal Highness, the Crown Princess of Alderaan is a beast. On top of her stealth move (which apparently can cleanse some debuffs. *o*) her basic attack “Hair Trigger” allows her fire up to three times in one attack. Remember when I mentioned that Phoenix squad earlier? About the only person I have that is really capable of taking them down to size is Princess Leia. (And Fives, because Fives is indestructible.) She’s also an excellent counter to Grumpy Secessionist Grandpa Count Dooku. She got reworked when they introduced Commander Luke Skywalker so she should be even better now! 

Sadly, Our Lady of Sass and Cinnamon Rolls is only located in the Squad Arena store so you’ll have to juggle her against everybody else. I’ve also heard she’s great against Part 4 of the Tank Raid and works well with a team of Clones to form the fantastic portmanteaux of Princess Zody (Princess Leia + Zeta Cody). 

Last but most definitely not least is the Baron Administrator of Cloud City…

Lando Calrissian - To call Lando easy to farm is kind of misnomer. He only shows up on two Cantina nodes (1-E and 5-F and for me 5-F had a better drop rate than 1-E) but he’s on Cantina nodes and if you chose to use your crystals that way, you can get probably four to five shards a day for him as opposed to the limits placed on Light Side and Dark Side Battles. I have gotten more but that wasn’t until I opened up 5-F. 

Lando is, to put it bluntly, a stone cold mass murderer. Sure he looks all suave and charming and you think, “That man in the open neck blue shirt and that disco-tastic seventies gold lined cape looks charming and harmless! I’ll leave him alone and concentrate my forward power on Darth Vader or Jedi Knight Anakin or something like that. 

And then two, maybe three, Lando turns later you’re dead, your party is dead. Your neighbor is dead. EVERYONE IS DEAD. 

Not only does Lando have great leadership and a pretty good basic attack, his AOE attack will slaughter YOUR WHOLE TEAM. ALL OF THEM. I’ve seen my Lando take out an entire teams protection in one go! POOF! GONE. ALL OF IT. And then? If he scores a critical hit? (which he does with terrifying regularity when he’s on the opposing team) HIS COOL DOWN RESETS AND YOU ARE DOOMED TO BE PERFORATED BY BLASTER FIRE YET AGAIN.

See? Lando Calrissian: Stone Cold Mass Murderer. 

If Lando is paired up with Admiral Ackbar and Ackbar uses his Tactical Genius before Lando, you can perform his ORBITAL BOMBARDMENT OF DOOM TWICE IN A ROW. Lando is the Dread Pirate Roberts of Galaxy of Heroes. 

There will be no survivors.

Not only does Lando work great with your Rebels but like ST Han he’s a Scoundrel too so he’ll play well with a Scoundrel team in Credit and Droid Heists. 

TL;DR 

Biggs Darklighter

Stormtrooper Han Solo

Lando Calrissian 

Princess Leia

And then maybe Admiral Ackbar for cleansing and assisting Lando in his mass slaughter of your opponents.

I hope that was helpful, my dear! I wish you all the best in your galactic conquest! Have a great Wednesday and may the Force and RNGeezus be with you!

[gothrapxxx]

Mehndi is the standard art of henna painting in India and the Middle East. You might see it written as mehandi, mehendi, mendhi, henna, al-henna, and a myriad other names and spellings. In current times, United States henna artists have pertained to denote the art with the term "Henna Body Art." All of these words explain the same classic art form, body painting for festive occasions. However you spell it, mehndi is pronounced meh-hen-di (with a soft, dental d sound like "thee"). I focus on comprehending conceptions of henna in India, where it has actually been used given that the 12th century. Lots of historical documents detail earlier use; for example, it is the Arabic Muslims who brought henna to India, where it has actually blossomed into its own distinct art design. In Indian mehndi, an individual applies designs traditionally to a woman's hands and feet. For especially advantageous celebrations, males use mehndi also. The most auspicious celebration necessitating mehndi art work is the Indian wedding event, where both bride-to-be and groom apply henna, along with numerous members of the bridal celebration. Henna on any occasion symbolizes fertility. At the wedding, henna artwork furthermore signifies the love between husband and wife, and the stain's long-lasting nature symbolizes the long-lasting nature of their love. Mehndi entered use because of its cooling restorative effect in a hot environment, and, in India, it was likewise a way for a groom and bride to learn more about one another before a set up marriage. A variety of traditions underlie using mehndi, consisting of wedding event video games and legends. For instance, the groom's name is typically written somewhere within the bride-to-be's mehndi; if he can not discover his name within the complex design, the bride is stated to have the control in the marital relationship. Also, a dark mehndi design for both bride and groom symbolizes that the two will have a strong relationship. Within the past few years, mehndi has become popularized in the West by artists and Hollywood characters alike, and is now a quickly rising pattern among females and guys in world culture.

Equating the word "henna" actually indicates "to end up being queen." The Indian name "mehndi" designates the procedure, the color, and the stain of mehndi. To make the color, henna (mehndi) leaves are dried and finely ground. The powder that results is filtered 2 or more times through a great nylon cloth. This process leads to getting rid of the coarse fibers from the powder, making what is left finer and easier to utilize. The artist then mixes this fine powder with an oil (such as eucalyptus, nilgiri, or mehndi oil) and other liquids (lemon, water, or tea), making a thick paste. This paste is applied to the wearer's hand in various styles, which can vary from large, thick patterns to Moroccan geometric patterns to standard Indian paisleys and lace-like drawings. All depends upon the ability of the artist and the style of styles used. A solution of lemon juice and sugar is then applied to the drying mehndi to allow it to remain stuck to the skin and to improve the dying process. Mehndi is yet another conventional yet interesting pre wedding ceremony. In Indian weddings, a lot of focus is given on customizeds and routines and the very same is reflected in the Mehndi ceremony prior to marital relationship. Mehendi event has ended up being such an integral part of the wedding ceremony that it can not be imagined without it. Additionally, Mehndi is among the sixteen adornments of the bride and her beauty is insufficient without it. Mehndi event usually happens just before marriage. According to the routine, the bride-to-be does not step out of your home after this ceremony. simple mehndi event is basically arranged by the family of the bride-to-be and is generally a personal affair which happens in the existence of friends, relatives and family members. Nevertheless, the scale of the event relies on private choice. Some people celebrate it with fantastic pomp and show. Mehndi is one of the oldest kinds of body art developed by guy. The Hindi and Arabic word Mehendi is stemmed from a Sanskrit word 'mendhika' which described the henna plant itself. Referral to uses of henna can be traced back to the Bronze ages. In the bible, henna is described a Camphire. In and around the Indian subcontinent, henna has been used as a cosmetic even prior to Vedic ages. India is considered as the source from where the body art traditions with henna infect different parts of the world like Egypt, Asia Minor and the Middle East. Recommendations of henna throughout the mummification procedure of Pharaohs in addition to anecdotes of the famous queen Cleopatra using henna to paint her body are popular in history. Prophet Muhammad is known to use henna paste to color his graying beard and was understood to promote use of henna to others as well. Use of henna is thought about immensely auspicious in lots of traditions worldwide, especially within Hindus, who would think about Mehndi part of the popular 16 adornments or Solah Shringaar. Henna (Botanical name: Lawsonia inermis) is a small shrub-like plant, found in tropical climates of Indian sub-continent, Malaysia, Africa, Middle Eastern countries. The leaves and branches produce a red-orange dye called Lawsone that is responsible for imparting the characteristic color when bound with protein particles of the upper skin layer. The plant is commercially cultivated in Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and parts of Madhya Pradesh. Traditionally, the Mehndi paste is made from dried powdered henna leaves. The leaves are dried in sun, ground and sieved to obtain a fine mossy green powder, which is then integrated with water, lemon juice, drops of eucalyptus oil, and mixed till a smooth paste is acquired. The paste is soaked overnight for optimum infusion and after that poured inside a plastic cone. Smaller cones are chosen as it affords much easier application.

The suggestions of the cones are cut according to the favored thickness of the lines required. The cones are squeezed lightly to make sure smooth, constant circulation of Mehndi. Application is normally begun with lower arms, slowly moving down the hand, ending in the fingertips. Gone are the days when particular aunties and sis were in need around the area for their know-how in Mehndi designs. Now Mehndi event centers around professional Mehendi artist who specializes in the most recent patterns in henna art. Conventional Indian styles consist of peacock themes, floral styles, bride/groom reproductions and other elements that cover every inch of the hand, lower arms, feet and calves. The fingertips are usually covered in thick layers of henna paste. The idea is to decorate the bride-to-be's body in imitation of costly Fashion jewelry. For those who are minimalists, they can pick Arabic styles where the Mehndi concepts are normally applied to one side of the hand and feet and do not extend to lower arms or calves. Floral and paisley themes control this style and the designs are usually curvy with great deals of focus on vines. Indo-Arabic style of Mehndi merges these 2 design patterns into a classy, artistic category. Latest trends in bridal henna styles is incorporation of colors in between henna concepts, addition of stones and blings, addition of flashes or metallic dusts. Geometric patterns and white henna designs are likewise in vogue today. The henna needs to be kept on for a minimum of 4 hours for deep and uniform color. The longer the paste is kept, the deeper will be the color. The color actually intensifies depending upon one's temperature, so the henna-painted body parts can be wrapped in cling wrap or hinders to seal in the temperature. A mix of lemon juice and sugar should be applied on the styles with a brush or light cloth at 1 hour intervals so that the dried Mehndi does not fall off and stays put guaranteeing much better color. Another method to make sure better color advancement is to dry roast some cloves on a tawa and letting the hands soak up the smoke. The Mehendi should never be gotten rid of by water after it has actually dried and must be done by simply rubbing the hands together as the dried bits come off quickly. The Mehendi Ceremony normally takes place the day before the wedding, in the early morning. The bride-to-be and the groom's family observe this ritual separately at their own residences. It is traditionally a women centric event with the men of the family generally not taking part. The outfits chosen for the ceremony are simple, in light colors, absolutely nothing too flashy. The venues are decked up with flowers and colorful draperies. The bride-to-be wears a light yellow or light green colored Lehenga or Salwar Kameez with short sleeves preferably and the groom uses Kurta Pajama likewise in light colors. It is not compulsory for the groom to use Mehendi, however a little bit is applied on his hands and feet in simple dots or little designs. The ceremony also involves application of oil on the groom's hair. The henna for the bride's ceremony needs to arrive from the groom's side together with some other gifts like fruits, dry fruits and sugary foods. Lady of the houses put together and the Mehndi is either applied by one of the bride's relative or nowadays by professional Mehendi artists. Designs are more elaborate and depending on what the bride prefers, the henna is applied on the front and back of her palm, forearm, till above the elbows, and on the feet till below the knee. Elderly girls sing conventional Mehendi songs with dholaks and other musical instruments. Ladies loved ones of the bride-to-be also get latest mehndi applied to their hands, although the styles are not as intricate as the bridal Mehendi.

The Mehendi ceremony includes within itself a host of standard beliefs that are handed down the generations. Traditionally, somewhere within the complex bridal Mehendi, the groom's preliminary is included. In post wedding, the groom needs to look and find it out. This helps with a good ice-breaker for the freshly wedded couple especially in case of an organized marriage. It is likewise said that the darker the color of the Mehendi, the more love the bride will receive at her in-laws and especially from her partner. The longevity of the color of Mehendi has special significance as well. In older days when set up marital relationships were primary, the bride-to-be retaining her Mehendi while visiting her parents' house after the wedding signaled her mother that the in-laws were thoughtful and caring.

Use of Mehendi in a pre-wedding routine is not just cosmetic but has deep underlying clinical factors behind it. Henna is known for its cooling residential or commercial properties and is expected to calm the bride's nerves when applied to her hands and feet. Indian weddings consist of a host of pre and post wedding rituals that extend the happy event through days before and after the real wedding day. These colorful events bring the whole household together, even from far off locations. The immediate and extended families, buddies and neighbors get together to commemorate the union through numerous tried and true routines throughout a span of numerous days. The Mehendi Ceremony is one such occasion that is an indispensible part of the wedding celebrations. simple mehndi Event typically describes application of a henna paste in fancy complex designs on the bride's hands and feet. A tremendously colorful event, with lots of singing and dance efficiencies involved, the Mehendi event officially kicks off the wedding celebrations completely gear.

This ritual is not only part of Hindu wedding events in Northern and Eastern India but also a part of the wedding event routines amongst Indian Muslims. The ceremony is observed in countries adjoining India like Pakistan and Nepal, in addition to in a number of Arab countries in the Middle East. Although, the ritual was primarily observed in parts of northern India, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, the pattern has gained appeal all over India. More and more cultures are welcoming the concept of Mehendi Ceremony as a pre-wedding routine mainly due to the aesthetics included. The event has ended up being a symbol of splendour, enjoyable and festivities, and excuse for some significant pre-wedding lady bonding. Mehndi (or Hina) is the application of henna (Hindustani: हेना- حنا- urdu) as a temporary form of skin decoration, most popular in South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Somaliland, along with migrant neighborhoods from these areas. It is generally employed for events and special events, especially weddings. Henna designs are generally made use of the hands and feet, where the color will be darkest due to the fact that the skin consists of higher levels of keratin. The leaves of the henna plant consist of a red-orange dye particle, lawsone, which has an affinity for bonding with protein, and has actually been utilized to color skin, hair, fingernails, leather, silk, and wool. Henna leaves are usually dried and ground into a powder, which is blended into a paste and applied utilizing a range of methods. The henna pasted is typically left on the skin for 8 hours; after it is removed, the pattern continues to darken for roughly 3 days. The word "henna" originates from the Arabic name Hina for Lawsonia inermis. In the Bible's Tune of Songs and Tune of Solomon, henna is described as Camphire. In the Indian subcontinent, there are lots of variant words such as Mehndi in North India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In Arabic-speaking countries in North Africa and the Middle East the Arabic word is "hina." In Telugu (India, Malaysia, U.S.), it is known as "Gorintaaku." In Tamil (South India, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka) it is called "Marudhaani" and is utilized as ground fresh leaves rather than as dried powder. It is utilized in numerous celebrations and celebrations and utilized by women and kids. It is left on overnight and will last one month or more depending upon the plant and how well it was ground and how long it is left on. The various words for henna in ancient languages recommend that henna may have had more than one point of origin. It is known that henna has actually been in usage as a cosmetic, along with for its supposed healing residential or commercial properties, for a minimum of 5,000 years, but a long history of migration and cultural interaction has made it tough to figure out with outright certainty where the custom began. Some scholars claim that the earliest paperworks of henna use are found in ancient Indian texts and images, showing that mehndi as an art-form may have come from ancient India. Others declare that the practice of ornamenting the body with henna was taken to India by the Moguls in the twelfth century C.E., centuries after it had remained in usage in the Middle East and North Africa. Another theory is that the custom of latest mehndi come from North Africa and the Middle Eastern nations throughout ancient times. Henna is likewise known to have been utilized in ancient Egypt, to stain the fingers and toes of the Pharaohs prior to mummification. Another possibility is that the similar use of henna for skin design developed individually and maybe all at once in these areas.

It is thought that dots of henna were first applied to the palms of the hands as a means of cooling off the body. Early users of henna began to add lines and other shapes to the single dot on the palm, ultimately establishing the sophisticated styles utilized today. Henna has been utilized to embellish young women's bodies as part of social and holiday events considering that the late Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean. The earliest text mentioning henna in the context of marriage and fertility events comes from the Ugaritic legend of Baal and Anath, which has references to ladies marking themselves with henna in preparation to fulfill their partners, and Anath adorning herself with henna to commemorate a victory over the enemies of Baal. Wall paintings excavated at Akrotiri (dating prior to the eruption of Thera in 1680 B.C.E.) reveal women with markings consistent with henna on their nails, palms and soles, in a tableau consistent with the henna bridal description from Ugarit. Numerous statuettes of young women dating in between 1500 and 500 B.C.E. along the Mediterranean coastline have raised hands with markings constant with henna. This early connection in between young, fertile women and henna seems to be the origin of the Night of the Henna, which is now popular global. The Night of the Henna, a ceremony throughout which henna is applied to the hands and feet of a bride-to-be, and typically to other members of the wedding celebration, was commemorated by the majority of groups in the locations where henna grew naturally.

[omegangrins]

Attack the Block - The Hulk Deconstructs the Modern Hero

The full movie:

Rewatching this movie because of our new love of Jodie Whittaker, and I was reminded of this review from the Hulk. It's strangely worded but takes a refreshing perspective on the idea of a protagonist. This is what he says about John Boyega's character Moses, and heroic characters overall.

My favorite bit is from the end though:

**OKAY NOW FOR WHAT MOST SPECIAL OF ALL: ATTACK THE BLOCK DONE SOMETHING THAT HULK CAN NO REMEMBER A SINGLE OTHER FILM.

IT GOT MOSES RIGHT.

TO CLARIFY, HULK NOT TALKING ABOUT THE COMMANDMENT GUY, BUT INSTEAD THE LEAD CHARACTER OF ATTACK THE BLOCK AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE KIND OF CHARACTER HE IS AND WHY IT SO IMPORTANT.

HULK NOTICING THAT SOME FOLKS SORT NOT REALLY GETTING WHAT MAKE MOSES GREAT. THEY CERTAINLY GET THE FEELING AND UNDERCURRENT OF WHAT OCCUR (IT SO WONDERFULLY ENGAGING IT HARD NOT TO), BUT THE COLLECTIVE SUMMARY OF MOSES’ CHARACTER’S JOURNEY SEEM TO BE MORE OF A “HE TAKING RESPONSIBILITY NOW!” KIND OF THING… AND THAT TOTALLY FAIR BECAUSE HULK NOT ENTIRELY SURE IT OBVIOUS:

MOSES IS AND ALWAYS WAS THE KIND OF PERSON WHO WOULD RISK HIS LIFE FOR SOMEONE ELSE. AND IN REAL LIFE, THOSE KIND OF PEOPLE EXTREMELY COMPLICATED.

LET’S GET ONE THING STRAIGHT. MOST SCREENWRITERS HAVE A PRETTY SHITTY CONCEPT OF HOW HEROES WORK.

1) MOST OF THE TIMES THE AUDIENCE IS TREATED TO AN ENDLESSLY REGURGITATED JOSEPH CAMPBELL VERSION, WITH THE SAME PAINT BY NUMBERS ANSWERING THE CALL BULLSHIT WE SEE TIME AND TIME AGAIN. HULK TOO THOUGHT IT A NOBEL CONCEPT ONCE… IN 8TH GRADE. ANYONE WHO CITES THAT STUFF AS GOOD STORYTELLING HAS TO TAKE SCREENWRITING 102 NOW. YES, IT A HANDY ARCHETYPE AND UNDERCURRENT OF ALL HEROES (EVEN MOSES), BUT SOLE DEPENDENCE ON IT FOR STORYTELLING WILL RENDER ANYTHING YOU TRYING TO DO COMPLETELY ROTE AND POINTLESS. STAY AWAY WRITERS. STAY AWAY.

2) MOST REAL LIFE HEROES ARE ALPHA PERSONALITIES. MOST SCREENWRITERS ARE BETA PERSONALITIES. A.K.A. PEOPLE WHO POSSIBLY SPENT THEIR FORMATIVE YEARS BEING TERRORIZED BY ALPHA PERSONALITIES.

TO COMBAT THIS OBVIOUS PROBLEM HEROES ARE WRITTEN BY BETA PERSONALITES IN SEVERAL WAYS:

A) THE BETA BECOMES THE PASSIVE HERO, WHO MEANT TO REFLECT DECENCY AND EVENTUALLY GET THE GIRL JUST BY BEING DECENT GUY! (HINT: THIS ACTUALLY NOT HOW IT WORKS AND SAID HERO WHO THINK THEY DECENT GUY NOT ACTUALLY A DECENT GUY. JUST UNDERDEVELOPED AND LIKELY WILL TURN INTO BITTER ASSHOLE ONCE THEY ENCOUNTER THE TERRIFYING EQUALITY OF ADULTHOOD). OH AND ALL THE WHILE THEY TERRORIZED BY IDIOTIC ALPHA PERSONALITY VILLAINS. THEY WILL LIKELY BE RICH OR FOOTBALL PLAYERS. HULK JUST DESCRIBED 99% OF 80S MOVIES. MOVING ON…

B) THE BETA IMAGINES A HERO NOT BASED ON HEROIC QUALITIES BUT INSTEAD JUST THE ANTITHESIS OF ALL THEIR WEAKNESSES. PERFECT EXAMPLE? JAMES BOND. THE IMPOSSIBLY SUAVE GUN-TOTING LADY-FUCKER EXTRAORDINAIRE WHO NEARLY NEED TO SLAP A GIRLS BUT TO SHOW HER WHAT’S WHAT… HULK KNOW LOTS ABOUT BOND. AND NEEDLESS TO SAY THERE PROBLEMS WITH THE CONCEPT.

C) IGNORE ALL THIS AND CREATE YOUR HERO CENTERED AROUND A LARGER SOCIAL CONCEPT. IT CAN BE ANYTHING FROM FEMALE EMPOWERMENT TO CIVIL RIGHTS TO WHATEVER. POPULAR IN COMICS, DISNEY FILMS, BLAXPLOITATION AND OTHER STUFF.

AND D) THE MUCH MORE INTERESTING AND SUCCESSFUL RECENT SOLUTION HAS BEEN THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE MODERN ANTI-HERO. AT BEST THEY REPRESENT THE HUMANE AND UN-PERFECT QUALITY OF THE SEMI-HEROIC FIGURE THE AUDIENCE INVESTS IN… AT WORST THEY REFLECT THE BETA WRITER’S OWN SHORTCOMINGS, BUT WITH BETTER LINES THEY WISH THEY SAID IN REAL LIFE AND A FORCED AUDIENCE TO ROOT FOR THEM… HULK PRETTY SURE WOODY ALLEN IS THE ONLY ONE WHO EVER DID THIS WELL (BTW, HULK KNOW A LOT ABOUT ALPHA AND BETA PERSONALITIES. WHY? CAUSE HULK THE FUCKING HULK. HE BEEN DEALING WITH THIS BANNER/BIG GREEN GUY SHIT FOR LIFE. SO HULK GOT IT DOWN).

BUT WOULDN’T YOU KNOW IT? THERE’S ACTUALLY THAT RARE ANSWER E)… ONE SO IMPOSSIBLY RARE HULK CAN ONLY ACCOUNT THE HANDFUL OF TIMES HULK SEEN IT.

THE ACTUAL, REAL HERO.

WHAT WOULD IT TAKE FOR YOU TO PICK UP A GUN, SWORD, WHATEVER THE HELL, AND RUN OUT IN FRONT TO DEFEND YOUR FRIENDS? TO LEGITIMATELY SACRIFICE YOURSELF.

… THINK ABOUT IT.

IT SOMETHING PEOPLE SEE TIME AND TIME AGAIN IN MOVIES AND YET IT SOMETHING WE NEVER REALLY QUESTION WITH OUR OWN LIVES. WHAT WOULD IT TAKE FOR YOU TO DEFEND YOUR FRIENDS? THE MOST OBVIOUS EXAMPLE IS THE MILITARY. GRANTED, THE MILITARY AND THE REASONS FOR JOINING OFTEN PAINTED IN ROSES. IN BRUTAL HONESTY, LOTS JOIN BECAUSE THEY WANT TO KILL STUFF, IT WAS FORCED ON THEM, OR MOST OFTEN THEY JUST NEED THE MONEY. BUT LOST IN THESE CYNICAL REASONS ARE THE THOUSANDS OF MEN AND WOMEN FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE WHO JOIN TO CONTRIBUTE TO SOMETHING BIGGER THAN THEMSELVES. IT’S HEADY, HONORABLE STUFF. SOMETHING THAT THE POSH, LIBERALLY MINDED WORLD OF HULK AND EVERYONE ELSE FORGET. SACRIFICE = REAL. BUT IF OFTEN TAKE A FLAWED, INTERESTING, AND DEEPLY WOUNDED KIND OF PERSONALITY TO GET TO THAT PLACE OF SACRIFICE. IT RARELY A WHOLLY NOBLE PURSUIT.

AND HULK HATE TO BREAK IT TO YOU, BUT YOU ALSO MEET A LOT OF THESE HEROIC PERSONALITIES IN INNER CITIES.

AND OFTEN THEY IN GANGS.

THIS ALL SOUND VERY COUNTER INTUITIVE HULK KNOW, BUT HEAR HULK OUT. THERE ARE INNER CITY ALPHA MALES BUILT UP AROUND POMP, CIRCUMSTANCE, AND POSTURE (THIS ALPHA MALE WELL REPRESENTED BY THE LEAD, BAD DRUG CHARACTER IN THE FILM). THE OTHER ALPHA MALE IS EQUALLY COMPLICATED. BUT THEIR PERCEIVED STRENGTH COMES NOT FROM FEAR, BUT SURVIVAL INSTINCT. THAT BECAUSE THIS KIND OF ALPHA MALE OFTEN BROKEN BY HOME LIFE. THEY ARE OFTEN ABUSED. AS SUCH, THEY WILL LIKELY BULLY OUTSIDERS. THEY WILL OFTEN GET INTO SELLING DRUGS. THEY DON’T HAVE THE SOCIAL TOOLS FOR EDUCATION AND SCHOOL. THEIR PAIN OFTEN BROUGHT ON THEMSELVES AS MUCH AS IT IS DEALT TO THEM. IT CYCLICAL.

BUT IN THAT NEED TO SURVIVE, THEY WILL BE WHOLLY TERRITORIAL. THEY WILL DEFEND THEIR FRIENDS TO THE DEATH. AND THEY WILL DO SO IN THE MOST HEROIC TERMS THAT TOTALLY INCONCEIVABLE TO YOU AND HULK. THEY WILL DEAL WITH ADULT CONCEPTS OF RESPONSIBILITY OFTEN BY AGE 8 OR 9. THEY TAKE THE WEAKER UNDER THEIR WING. THEY WILL POSSESS A STRENGTH AND A WILL SO BEYOND WHAT WE HAVE AS TO ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS SOLDIERLY; ONE THAT IS OFTEN UNCHECKED, UNREGULATED, AND UNCARED FOR AS TO RENDER THE VERY CONCEPT OF SUCH A PERSON TO BE TERRIFYING.

THEY ARE THE HEROIC ALPHA MALE, JUST NOT WHAT WE ENVISION. THEY ARE THE MOST EXTREME VERSION OF THE SAME PSYCHOLOGY THAT CAUSE SOMEONE TO JOIN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT OR THE ARMY… IT JUST IN THE HAZE OF TRUE, HORRIBLE PEOPLE THAT GET INVOLVED IN THE INNER CITY NIGHTMARE, WE OFTEN HAVE HARD TIME SEEING THE GOOD PEOPLE WHO JUST DOING BAD THINGS.

WHY HULK KNOW ALL THIS SHIT? WHY HULK FEEL SO STRONGLY ABOUT IT? HULK’S FAMILY SPENT THEIR LIFE DEALING WITH IT. IT THE SUBJECT OF MAMA AND PAPA HULK’S LIFE WORK. HULK KNEW DOZENS OF MOSES’ (MOSII?). THEY IN EVERY CITY, ALMOST EVERY GROUP OF FRIENDS LIKE THIS. THEY NOT UNDESERVING OF OUR ATTENTION OR OUR COMPASSION. THEY OFTEN DO ALL KINDS OF WRONG, BUT THEIR PLIGHT FUCKING MATTERS. THEY MAY NOT GIVE A SINGLE SHIT ABOUT YOU, OR I, OR ANYONE WHO TRY TO HELP THEM. BUT THEY WILL MAKE A FAMILY IN THEIR MIND. AND THEY WILL PROTECT IT TO THE DAY THEY DAY. WHICH WILL LIKELY BE AT A VERY YOUNG AGE.

AND HULK SITTING HERE, RACKING BRAIN, TRYING TO THINK OF ANOTHER MOVIE THAT UNDERSTAND THE MOSES’ OF THE WORLD (THERE PROBABLY ONE. IN TELEVISION THERE THE CHARACTER OF MICHAEL FROM THE WIRE… THAT ALL HULK GOT). AND WHY THEY MATTER MORE THAN ANYTHING TO PEOPLE OF THE COMMUNITY. HULK LOOK BACK AT ATTACK THE BLOCK AND IT BRINGS TEARS TO HULK’S EYES. TRULY. IT SOUND IMPOSSIBLY DUMB, BUT HULK SWEAR. IT NOT DUMB. THE MOVIE AND CHARACTER OF MOSES COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THE WORLD AND PSYCHOLOGY THEY TALKING ABOUT. JOE CORNISH BRILLIANTLY USE THE OUTWARD ALIEN THREAT THEY EXPLORE THE HEART AND STRANGE HEROISM OF THESE CONCEPTS. AND THE YOUNG ACTOR, JOHN BOYEGA SO TOTALLY BRING HIM TO LIFE. HE HAVE THIS AMAZING STOIC SCREEN PRESENCE THAT JUST GRAB YOU.

SO WHY THE STRANGE TITLE ATTACK THE BLOCK? BECAUSE THIS A FILM ABOUT TERRITORY. AND TERRITORY BEST MEANS “HOME” AND “COMMUNITY” IN THIS CASE; BEST EXPLORED THROUGH THAT SINGLE, AMAZING CHARACTER.

HULK SIMPLY CANNOT BELIEVE SOMEONE MADE A MOVIE ABOUT MOSES."

And the final, and best, scene of the movies.

[johnwatson424221-blog]

LIVHO Frames Introduced on Baltimore

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Converse Specs are all Bursting with New Design

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[hermanwatts]

Sensor Sweep: Firefly, Black Mask, Original Adventures Reincarnated

Anime (RMWC Reviews): By 1969, Japan had advanced quite far in terms of animation. Especially when a studio would put real effort behind a project, such as when Toei Animation released Sora Tobu Yuureisen in July of that year. Known in English as The Flying Phantom Ship or The Flying Ghost Ship, the film is a 60 minute full-color adventure into suspense, conspiracies, and super science with a few important creators involved.

T.V. (John C. Wright): We were discussing Joss Whedan’s late and lamented outer space horse opera FIREFLY. A reader named Sophia’s Favorite holds forth sharp criticism for the show: In my opinion Firefly is the JFK of TV shows: a mediocrity at best that gets ludicrously overrated solely because it was taken “too soon”. He goes on to list several reasons for saying so.

T.V. (Jon Mollison): If you’re into network action/dramedy shows, you’ll want to give tonight’s episode of Hawaii Five-O a look.  For one thing, the show has not been renewed for an eleventh season.  Ten years is a pretty good run for any show, and this revival is one of the few to come close to matching the original.

Writing (Pulprev): Conventional wisdom states that characters should be flawed. Nobody can relate to perfect people. Flawed characters are more believable, more likely to gain the reader’s sympathies. But the conventional wisdom doesn’t teach how. In the hands of lesser writers, this usually manifests as a grab bag of random negative traits. Alcoholism, smoking, minor but not debilitating mental illness, snarkiness, cynicism. Poorly handled, these traits add flavor to the story but they do not significantly influence the characters, and therefore do not influence the plot. The result is a patchwork person, a collection of traits and behaviors sewn together and little else.

RPG (RPG Pundit): “Adventure Paths” Aren’t Deep-Roleplay, They’re D&D for the Special Bus Today: “Adventure Paths” and story-mechanics are not ‘deep roleplaying’. For that, you need the freeform style of the OSR. Take off the D&D training wheels!

Horror Fiction (Wasteland & Sky): Today I would like to talk a bit about horror fiction. It isn’t brought up much on this blog because my knowledge on the subject isn’t too vast, but I have been reading a bit about it recently and would like to share some observations. This is because horror, like just about everything else, isn’t doing so hot these days. Though I suppose that isn’t much of a surprise.

Science Fiction (Washington Post): In “The Visual History of Science Fiction Fandom — Volume One: The 1930s,” David and Daniel Ritter — a ­father-and-son team — show us, through words and pictures, how a passion for science fiction evolved into a way of life for young people who couldn’t get enough of that crazy Buck Rogers stuff. The result is a sumptuous scrapbook of photographs, magazine covers, artwork and hundreds of articles, letters and typescripts, everything beautifully held together by the Ritters’ concise but enthralling text.

Cinema & H. P. Lovecraft (DMR Books): Entertaining adaptations of H. P. Lovecraft’s work are, in my estimation, few and very far between. While I’ve been pleasantly surprised by a few films over the years, for the most part movies tapping into Lovecraft’s work tend to feel like they’re miles away from the cosmic horror themes that saturate most of the author’s stories. Five years of working at a video store and taking home anything that promised to delve into the Cthulhu Mythos have, I confess, made my approach to these kinds of films rather antagonistic. They have to prove themselves to me.

Anime (Walker’s Retreat): Given the point-and-shriek swarming attacks done on other targets, this was inevitable. Amazon is vulnerable due to having SJWs in junior positions who are amenable to SJW swarm attacks, and one can likely assume that Ebay and other Western-controlled outlets will feel the swarm in the days to follow once Amazon’s seen to bend the knee. As usual, the SJWs in the media will reliably inform you that this is the play by making a big deal out of it once such swarming gets sufficient momentum to amplify in their outlets.

RPG (Karavansara): Fantasy AGE does not walk any extraordinarily original terrain – it’s basically a sword & sorcery engine, very similar in tone to the old classic D&D, but running on a system that’s both lightweight and cool, allowing for the creation of original, detailed characters rather swiftly. Clocking at a little over 140 pages, the Basic Handbook is beautifully illustrated, rationally arranged, and covers all the bases: the races and classes we expect from a fantasy game, combat and magic, and all the basic perks.

Pulp Magazine Fiction (Pulp Fest): Although a trailblazer as a specialty magazine, DETECTIVE STORY did little to further the development of the detective or crime story. That task would be left to its highly prized successors: BLACK MASK  — the pulp where the hardboiled detective story began to take shape — and DIME DETECTIVE MAGAZINE — where the tough guy detective became extremely popular. Call them what you will — flatfoots, gumshoes, dime detectives, or private eyes  — it was these hardboiled dicks that transformed the traditional mystery story into the tough guy (and gal) crime fiction that remains popular to this very day.

Fantasy (Dark Worlds Quarterly): What I do like about Rabkin’s scale is it helps me to identify or codify some types of fiction that don’t fall neatly into genres (which we must remember were invented by publishers as a marketing tool, not academics). For example Doc Savage is a genre-crosser, with some Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror and Mystery elements, and yet none of the above. But ol’ Doc can be placed on the scale, outside of genre considerations.

Men’s Adventure Magazines (Paperback Warrior): During the 1950s and 1960s, Men’s Adventure Magazines like “Stag” and “For Men Only” told salacious stories – often masquerading as non-fiction journalism – of daring deeds and lusty ladies around the world. The magazines were illustrated with vivid action drawings by many of the same artists who created the cover art for the vintage action and crime paperbacks we adore. Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle have preserved many of the great stories and art from these magazines in a series of anthology books called Men’s Adventure Library published by New Texture.

RPG (Goodman Games): You’ve speculated. You’ve wondered. You’ve waited. Now you get an answer. Coming this September, Goodman Games will release Original Adventures Reincarnated #5: Castle Amber. Intended for levels 3 through 7, Castle Amber was the adventure that launched the Mystara campaign setting, and was the second adventure for the D&D Expert Set. Here’s some text from the back cover:

Music & Comic Books (Far out Magazine): We dive straight back into the Far Out Magazine Vault to find Marc Bolan, the musician, guitarist and poet who is arguably best known for being the lead singer of the glam rock band T. Rex, who was seemingly obsessed with comic books. Now this tale seemingly twists and turns into areas that even we weren’t sure where it would take us next. This story is going to depict how three extremely popular figures of popular culture all interviewed each other, at different times and in different circumstances but all with aiming for the same end result.

History (Peter Grant): The so-called Shangani Patrol was a legendary encounter in 1893 between colonial forces and the Matabele tribe of Lobengula in what is today Zimbabwe.  The entire patrol was annihilated, after having killed more than ten times its own number in an epic fight through the bush.  In colonial Rhodesia, it was regarded in the same light as the fall of the Alamo in Texas, or the doomed fight of the three hundred Spartans at Thermopylae.

Gaming (News Hump): Nation turns to Warhammer players for advice on how to stay at home for two weeks. Pungent men with severe vitamin D deficiency and a large collection of overpriced figurines are suddenly very much in demand as they are deemed the nation’s greatest experts at staying indoors for weeks on end while they paint space goblins.

Comic Books and D&D (Goodman Games): Thus begins the Crypt-Keeper’s Corner, the letters page in the June-July 1950 edition of E.C. Comics Crypt of Terror. You could be forgiven if you mistook that dramatic introduction as the opening salvo from any game master at any table-top role-playing game. In fact, it’s also fairly easy to see how Gary Gygax, the main co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons (and an entire gaming industry) would fess up to being influenced by the art and storytelling found within the comic books of his formative years.

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