#the full $5 version is there is no game: wrong dimension

[satoshi-mochida]

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven demo now available - Gematsu

A demo for Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is now available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam, Square Enix announced. Save data can be carried over to the full game when it launches.

Here is an overview of the demo and game, via its store pages:

About the Demo

In the demo, players can enjoy the opening part of the story, where Emperor Leon and his retinue take on Kzinssie of the Seven Heroes. Progress from the demo can be carried over to the full game.

About the Game

The fifth entry in the SaGa franchise returns as Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven a full 3D remake of the original 1993 RPG. Embark on an exciting adventure fit for both new players and long-time fans, highlighting classic and new SaGa franchise features, full Japanese and English voiceovers, rearranged compositions, and much more!

Story

In an age past, warriors known as the Seven Heroes fought to save humankind. Praise slowly turned to curses as their fellow Ancients came to fear their power and banished them to another dimension. Their good deeds lived on as legends passed down through the ages, foretelling that the Heroes would return when the world needed them most… True to the legend, the Heroes have reappeared…but their long exile has corrupted their forms and they now seek vengeance on all who wronged them. Take on the role of the Emperor of Avalon as legions of fiends spread across territories under the Heroes’ command. Defend your Empire across successive generations, expand your realm, and defeat the vengeful Seven Heroes one by one to save the world!

Key Features

Characters and Imperial Succession – Join forces with characters from over 30 different classes featuring a wide variety of professions and races, each with their own favored weapons, unique abilities, and effective tactics. Choose the next Emperor from this wide pool of candidates, each eligible to inherit the throne and become the next protagonist. The knowledge and abilities of previous rulers are passed down to the next through the mystical art of inheritance magic, forging a lasting bond between you and your chosen characters.

Free-Form Scenario – The game presents a unique story structure that offers a vast array of narrative experiences in response to your choices and which objectives you tackle first—from how you expand the Empire to what order you challenge the Seven Heroes. Your actions and decisions will dramatically alter the course of the Emperor’s journey.

Combat – The strategic turn-based battle system of the original has been further enhanced to a timeline system. Enjoy all the classic SaGa mechanics like “Glimmers,” where you learn new abilities whilst in the heat of battle, and “Formations,” which provide unique benefits to the retinue based on composition. Furthermore, the remake welcomes the new “United Attack” feature to perform combination attacks with your retinue members to turn the tide of battle!

Graphics – The original 2D pixel sprites are now modeled in full 3D while retaining their charming, familiar appearances based on the beautiful concept illustrations by Tomomi Kobayashi. All towns and dungeons are now also fully rendered with reworked terrains and layouts.

Difficulty Settings – Select from one of three difficulty levels to match your preferred playstyle, from Casual, Normal, to Hard (Classic). Casual offers a story-focused experience with less emphasis on battle, while Normal is recommended for veteran RPG players looking for a balanced game. Hard (Classic) is perfect for players looking for the brutal but satisfying challenge of the original 1993 version.

Music and Voices – Kenji Ito returns to present a beautiful soundtrack full of new arrangements! The music can be toggled between the original and new versions from the Options screen. Furthermore, all event scenes now feature full Japanese and English voice acting.

Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is due out for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam on October 24. Read more about the game here, here, and here.

Watch a new trailer below.

Tokyo Game Show 2024 Trailer

English

Japanese

[badlydrawnmanic]

[deep breath]

i just spent a significant amount of time putting together (a) timeline(s) for every piece of sonic media i can think of minus the racing games because... idk it doesn't matter that much

points of interest under the cut, follow the image link for full size!

origins shows that cd came before sonic 2

just pretend sonic 4 episodes 1 and 2 are classic games. they're styled like classic games and apparently intended to be direct sequels to sonic 3&K

sonic boom is what happens when they go modern but wrong

alternate "forever classic / young" timeline made by phantom ruby fuckery

sonic advance 2 has to take place before sonic adventure because in sonic x (based on adventure) sonic already knew cream

solaris' flame existing causes sonic 06 to happen but it got deleted when they went back in time in Sonic 06 so therefore that never happened

Sonic 06 time fuckery caused displacement with silver and blaze, making silver really confused and placing blaze in the sol dimension i guess

sonic rush and sonic rivals therefore have to happen before the storybook titles because in alternate modes versions of blaze and silver are available and iirc every alternate character in those worlds are based off of sonic's memories of his friends

at least sonic and the secret rings has to happen before colors because sonic directly references "saving genies in magic books"

sonic generations classic sonic is sonic's younger self (likely from sonic 2 due to the absence of classic knuckles and him being mute)

the chao in space short can just be sonic chilling. let him chill. he never gets to chill

sonic lost world has to happen before forces for zavok to be in the picture

idw sonic starts right after "the eggman war" which i presume is sonic forces

sonic prime has to happen before sonic and his friends are separated in sonic frontiers

knuckles then disappears due to what happens in the prologue short

... sonic frontiers happens

i presume that this has taken place over the course of 2 years at the very least due to sonic canonically having a birthday in sonic generations and sonic's birthday seeming to be a pretty big deal in sonic frontiers with all the cosmetics and attention given to it, but looking at all this this has to have happened over a longer period of time because wow that's a lot of shit

there's gotta be another one between sonic blast and sonic advance because there's a shift in style and it feels appropriate

feel like there'd be a significant amount of time between sonic adventure 2 and sonic heroes

something happens between shadow the hedgehog and sonic rush. feels like a good place to put a divide

probably a gap between sonic unleashed and sonic free riders

sonic lost world and sonic forces are so different plus I think there was an irl big gap there

there had to be enough time between the end of sonic forces and sonic prime for everything to be kinda okay again

so that's… maybe 5 or 6 years for all of this? that feels about right. still hectic but y'know

[nemotunovi]

so fun story

they only pokemon game i played as a kid was ruby. and don't get me wrong, i loved it. but pokemon was never a franchise i was IN LOVE with.

but during college, i found myself surrounded by discord furries and felt compelled to finally give the franchise a shot. And its the single most profitable multimedia franchise on planet earth, so it's probably i should be keeping tabs of regardless.

so i played through all 7 games that had been released by that point- playing the most up-to-date versions (so instead of the original red/blue, i'd be playing leaf green. instead of silver, i'd be playing soul silver. etc.)

And here's my full, zero nostalgia goggle review:

Gen 1- Genuinely kind of bad, but every gameboy game was bad in some way or the other. It's a miracle what was able to be accomplished, even if it was never super engaging.

Gen 2- Genuinely a very captivating handheld RPG experience. I still felt like it was on the easy side, but that's going to be an complaint with the series.

Gen 3- Just kind of okay. I liked it, and it has some of my favorite mons (shedinja, tropius) but I feel like it lags during the final third. And I know the IGN "Too Much Water" is a meme thing, but let me clarify the complaint- water in these games are super boring and lacking in dimension. The reason the game feels like it starts dragging in the third act is because the last third of the map is almost entirely water-based. The issue isnt that there's too much of it, it's that there's too much of it AND it's boring and poorly designed. With that said, it's still good.

Gen 4- Just kind of okay. It feels like much of the game is actively wasting your time. Like those tiles that serve no purpose but to take up twice the time to move through? The complete drought of fire types? Apparently a lot of the issues with the game were addressed in platinum, which I should have played.

Gen 5- Genuinely spectacular. It was this first game since Johto where I was looking forward to every play session. Every room had some fun little easter egg in it if you went exploring. Every map was bursting in charm and style. I played this game and UNDERSTOOD the appeal of the series. I even sunk dozens of hours into the post-game, because there was just so much of it. I cannot stress enough how much I genuinely adored this title.

Gen 6- Just kind of okay. It was lacking in a lot of the features of earlier games and the new stuff they added felt VERY gimmicky (mega evolutions, pokemon ami). But ultimately... I couldn't be TOO mad at the game since they were on new tech, and it would be unfair to expect every game to be a masterpiece

But then with gen 7... I noticed something

the game wasn't good. It wasn't "just okay" like most of the entries thus far. It was actively bad. Everything just felt so... rushed and phoned in. The world was boring and ugly. The designs lacked charm. The pokemon lacked charm. The story lacked charm. And that's when I realized so much of the games were crutched up BY the charm and visuals and cute designs and attention to detail that when those are all stripped away... pokemon at its core is kinda shit.

Cut to years later.

Then Gen 8 came along and it too was lacking in anything to love. The production values got worse. It got lazier. The world got more empty. The animations got worse. And I began getting frustrated with it. The shallow systems. The repetitive gameplay. The story that is both completely uninteresting, intrusive, and obnoxious. And the gimmicks got even more gimmicky. These are all issues that have been with the franchise since gen 1. For the first time, this was a mainline game on a home console. It was widely publicized that they would be DRASTICALLY cutting back on features and scope. When I first heard it, my naive ass was thinking "This was the perfect opportunity to rework the core of the franchise and fix the issues that have been with it since day 1." But they didn't fix anything. They didn't add anything either! They just did the exact same thing they've been doing for 20 years, but worse!

It was the most profitable game in the series up until that point.

Then gen 9 is just more of the same. I bought it when it first came out and of all of these listed, it is the ONLY one I couldn't bring myself to finish. I resold it after 9-ish hours.

Just like... What the fuck happened to pokemon? I know most of the people who say that are nostalgia-blinded and have some drooling investment in the property and think daddy nintendo actually likes them and they hold up whatever game they grew up with on a pedestal and just call anything new shit...

But objectively speaking, as someone with no investment in the property or loyalty to nintendo, there was a noticeable and drastic drop in quality that happened at the start of gen 7.

Was it the switch to 3d? I don't think so, because gen 6 was their first attempt at 3d and it wasn't bad.

Was it the switch to home console? I don't think it could have been that as gen 7 was where it started and that released on the 3ds.

What was the shift in the company culture and ethos that caused this dramatic and consistent drop in quality? Please tell me i'm not the only one who noticed this.

Another for scientific reasons poll

[tendercoretroglodyke]

there is no game is a very good (not) game... so creative and challenging and funny I highly recommend it! it's 5 dollars for the mobile game (13 on steam I think), but there's a free demo-ish version to get a feel for it on the app store. after playing the demo I was sold on buying it even tho I have an aversion for paid apps!!

[rpgsandbox]

Part homage, all farce, the AWFULLY CHEERFUL ENGINE! is an irreverent, affectionate parody of pop-culture tropes and a love-letter to 80s roleplaying games in a new, modern comic-book sized format! It’s a wacky roleplaying game of action comedy!

       Hardcover collector's omnibus, softcover rules and adventures, blank ID cards, monster cards, hero role cards, VTT tokens

Are you a fan of the Ghostbusters RPG from the 1980s? Danger Mouse or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Bill & Ted or Rick & Morty? Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Dracula, or sci-fi adventures on the final frontier? Do you enjoy chortling at TV tropes or chuckling at pop-culture parodies? Then the Awfully Cheerful Engine! is here for you!

ACE! is brought to you by Russ 'Morrus' Morrissey (EN World, WOIN, Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD), Dave Chapman (Doctor Who, Star Trek Adventures), and Marc Langworthy (Hellboy, Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD). With a foreword by Sandy Petersen, co-author of the Ghostbusters RPG!

ACE! is designed for everybody! From talking animals to pulp heroes to eldritch horrors, kids and adults alike will find adventures to love with the Awfully Cheerful Engine!

This tabletop roleplaying game, which we’re calling ACE! with an exclamation point, is one of fast, cinematic, action comedy. To play you need a handful of six-sided dice, a pen, and some paper. Each player plays one Hero, except for one player who takes the role of the Director.

Think of ACE! as an irreverent, fun-packed movie. You might play as ghost hunters in New York City, a band of plucky galactic guardians, vampire slayers, or soldiers of fortune in the Los Angeles underground. Heck, you might even be cartoon animals. Good grief!

This is a multi-dimensional, time-hopping, genre-mashing, pan-galactic portal into any type of adventure you can imagine! Want to play in a fantasy world full of elves and orcs? Crew a starship as it explores the galaxy? Hunt vampires in Victorian London? Play as animal detectives, robot cowboys, wizards, ninjas, or time traveling bounty hunters?

The only limit is your imagination, and the requirement that you have fun.

This Kickstarter is for the full five-book set.

What? Five books, you say? Fear not -- they're pretty small books! They include the core rules, and four hilarious genre-hopping adventures. Each book is about 30 pages long. Except for one which is longer, but we wrote 'BUMPER SIZE ISSUE' on the front of that, so it's OK. If you’ve ever held a comic-book in your hand, the Awfully Cheerful Engine! will feel very familiar!

The core rulebook is just 30 pages in a bright, colorful comic-book sized format. We even gave it an issue number, like a comic-book! After that, each 'issue' is a standalone adventure, designed for one-shots or short campaigns with new characters each time. One week you might be fighting ghosts on the streets of Manhattan, and the next you might be exploring the frontiers of space in your trusty starship!

You don't have to play them all, or in order. The standalone format means you can fit them in whenever and however you feel like it. GM can't make your regular game? Go bust some ghosts instead! Pickup game at a convention? Investigate the strange goings-on in a small American town in the 1980s. Running a livestream? Board a starship and fight the Kulkan Empire! Play one of them, some of them, or all of them! It's up to you!

                Are they comics? Or are they RPGs? (They're RPGs)

ACE #1: Introducing the Awfully Cheerful Engine! With a foreword by Ghostbusters RPG author Sandy Petersen, this book tells you the rules, how to create your Heroes, and gives you a bunch of Extras (NPCs & monsters) to use. By Russ Morrissey.

ACE #2: Spirits of Manhattan. Strap on your Anti-Plasm Particle Thrower, grab your Electromagnetic Field Detector, and jump into your Ghostmobile. New York City needs your help! By Dave Chapman and Russ Morrissey.

ACE #3: Montana Drones & The Raiders of the Cutty Sark. At the request of Army Intelligence, Montana Drones and her team travel the globe in search of lost or hidden artefacts, often exploring dangerous sites and racing against hostile enemy agents to keep the objects of their quests from falling into the wrong hands. Striking locations, exciting chases, dangerous enemies and monotonous classroom lectures await! By Marc Langworthy.

ACE #4: Strange Science. Welcome to Wilden Falls, your average American town in the heart of the country. Surrounded by trees, nature, and there’s a wonderful waterfall that brings the tourists. It’s a quaint little town. Until weird things start happening at the local research facility, people go missing, and there’s a sudden influx of fitness nuts in the town. That’s before we get to the time travel, bodysnatching, and portals to other dimensions. Maybe ‘strange’ isn’t strong enough a word for it! By Dave Chapman.

ACE #5: Beam Me Up! These are the voyages of the starship FSS Brazen. Its continuing mission: to recklessly go where plenty of people have probably been before… and hope a major interstellar incident isn’t sparked in the process. In this highly illogical adventure for the ACE! roleplaying game, you’ll explore frontiers you never thought you had. By Marc Langworthy.

We give you four adventures to start with, and we have plans for more, but there's also a free compatibility license so anybody can write and publish material powered by the Awfully Cheerful Engine!

Hardy Hobbit. Teenage Samurai. Cheerful Stuntman. Clumsy Vampire. Squeamish Ghost. Who knew you could say so much in just two words? The possibilities are endless.

It’s not just Awfully Cheerful! It’s fast and fun, too!

You won’t get bogged down in endless rules and character sheets that look like tax forms. Your ACE! ID Card contains everything you need to know, and it’s only about the size of a credit card! But don’t try to spend it. It’s not a real credit card. Honestly, we tried, and it didn't end well.

You can download blank ID cards from our website. Don’t worry, there’s a printer-friendly black-and-white version too!

Making your Hero takes about five minutes. And that includes a coffee break.

You can choose from an array of talking animals, alien and fantasy species, and occupations from a bunch of genres. Play a cat, a crow, or a turtle. An alien, an elf, a robot, or a vampire. A knight, a pirate, or a wizard. An astronaut, a burglar, a reporter, or a spy. The core book has dozens of Roles to get you started with, and each adventure book introduces more!

Even better, you can already use our online character builder and make a character in about 30 seconds! It's so quick! Give it a try! And if you felt like sharing your Hero on Twitter with the hashtag #awfullycheerful and a link to this page, well, we'd be most awfully grateful!

                                       Build your Hero online!

Alternatively, each adventure comes with its own selection of pre-generated characters. If you don't want to make your own characters, you can simply use those - perfect for one-shots or new players!

Download the pre-gens for all four adventures from the official website!

In A.C.E! each Hero (that's you!) has a Role. Your Role gives you a special ability only you can use. Here's a quick look at some of the Roles you can play!

Talking animals like Ape, Cat, Crow, Dog, Kangaroo, and Turtle.

Species like Alien, Dwarf, Elf, Ghost, Goblin, Golem, Hobbit, Monster, Ogre, Robot, Vampire, and Werewolf.

Fantasy roles like Alchemist, Assassin, Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, Knight, Ninja, Outlaw, Pirate, Ranger, Samurai, Slayer, and Wizard.

Occupations like Actor, Archeologist, Astronaut, Athlete, Bounty Hunter, Boxer, Burglar, Chef, Con Artist, Cowboy, Detective, Doctor, Engineer, Gambler, Gangster, Hacker, Hermit, Inventor, Musician, Pilot, Priest, Professor, Reporter, Scientist, Smuggler, Soldier, Spy, Student, and Stuntman.

Even a couple of superheroes like Speedster and Vigilante!

Yep, you can play a Ghost. You don’t take damage unless its from a holy source or some special sci-fi ecto-gadget. But you also can’t pick things up. So there’s that.

Each of the adventures adds some more Roles (or recommends some old ones)!

Spirits of Manhattan adds Ghost, Demonologist, Doctor, Engineer, Exorcist, Inventor, Priest, Professor, Scientist, and Student.

Raiders of the Cutty Sark adds Botanist, Double-Agent, Socialite, and Witch.

Strange Science adds Brain, Cheerleader, Outsider, Protector, Radio Presenter, and Tycoon.

Beam Me Up adds Captain, Chief Engineer, Comms, Hologram, Gunner, Counsellor, and Pilot.

ACE! is a pretty fast, light game. If you played 1986's Ghostbusters RPG, you'll see the influence immediately.

Stats! The AWFULLY CHEERFUL ENGINE! is a d6 dice pool system*. You have four Stats -- Smarts, Moves, Style, and Brawn. If you have a Moves score of 3, you roll three six-sided dice when you try to jump a motorcycle over a ravine. If you roll high enough, you succeed. It's pretty simple!

Focuses! For each Stat you also have a Focus. For Smarts it might be a science, or chess, or history. For Style it might be bluffing, singing, or fashion, and for Brawn it might be brawling or swimming. You can choose from plenty of focuses. Foci. Focuses. Whatever.  Anyway, if the thing you're trying to do relates to a Focus, you get to roll an extra two dice.

Trait! You choose a trait, like Angry or Cheerful or Rebellious or Despondent. This, combined with your Role, makes you a Gullible Vampire, a Brave Turtle, or a Squeamish Scientist.

Karma! Finally, you have a bunch of Karma points. These can be spent for extra dice or to absorb damage from attacks, and they're recovered by using your trait.

*Fun fact -- did you know that 1986's Ghostbusters RPG, by Sandy Petersen, Lynn Willis and Greg Stafford, was the first ever dice pool RPG? Also Sandy Petersen has written an awesome foreword for the AWFULLY CHEERFUL ENGINE!

What, I hear you ask, is a CALAMITY DIE?

The Calamity Die is how you find out that your friends really aren't your friends. You see, when you make a roll, one of those dice is a different color, and is called the Calamity Die. And if your roll fails, and also the Calamity Die rolls a 1, your so-called 'friends' decide what happens to you. It won't kill you or anything, but...

Well, we'll leave that thought with you.

                             Nooooo! And it was all going so well!

Kickstarter campaign ends: Fri, June 18 2021 10:00 PM BST

Website: [Awfully Cheerful Engine] [EN Publishing] [facebook] [twitter]

[zkzm500a2]

GAMES WITH LICENSED SOUNDTRACKS AND THE NUMBER OF SONGS ON SAID SOUNDTRACK APPEARING ON MY MAIN PLAYLIST:

Burnout 3 (2004): 14

Burnout Paradise (2008): 13

Skate 3 (2010): 11

Watch_Dogs 2 (2016): 11

Flatout 2 (2006): 11

Watch_Dogs (2014): 7

Forza Horizon 2 (2014): 6

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (2004): 5

Wreckfest (Early access 2014; full release 2018): 2

Burnout Revenge (2005): 2

Brutal Legend (2009): 1

Grand Theft Auto 5 (2013): 1

NASCAR 09 (2008): 1

NASCAR: The Inside Line (2012): 1

under the cut is a full list of songs on my playlist from each game

Burnout 3:

My Favorite Accident -Motion City Soundtrack

Memory - Sugarcult

Populace In Two - From First To Last

Over The Counter Culture - The Ordinary Boys

Lazy Generation - The F-Ups

Hot Night Crash - Sahara Hotnights

Time And Time Again - Chronic Future

C'mon C'mon - The Von Bondies

C'mon - Go Betty Go

Decent Days and Nights - The Futureheads

Here I Am - The Explosion (also featured in Tony Hawk's Underground 2)

I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones (similar to the Wolfmother songs from earlier, i was already into the Ramones before i started playing Burnout 3 in like 2005 or something)

This Fire - Franz Ferdinand

Breathing - Yellowcard (also featured in Flatout 2)

Burnout Paradise:

Stand and Deliver - Adam & The Ants

Friction - B'z

Heart Of Fire - innerpartysystem

Archers - Brand New (appears in game with the title The Archers Bows Have Broken)

Red Orange Yellow - The Photo Atlas

Dead Living - Sugarcult

Electable (Give It Up) - Jimmy Eat World

Rusty Cage - Soundgarden

Beautiful Ruin - Make Your Good Escape

Finger On The Trigger - Never Heard Of It

I'm Not Sorry - The Pigeon Detectives

Give It Up - Midtown

Until You Leave - Permanent Me

Skate 3:

Lee Majors Come Again - Beastie Boys

Summertime Clothes - Animal Collective

Born To Lose - Johnny Thunders

Dead End Friends - Them Crooked Vultures

The Gravy - Japanther

For Energy Infinite - Mazarin

Sleeper Hold - No Age

A Pillar Of Salt - The Thermals

Goodbye Horses - Q Lazzarus

Almost Ready - Dinosaur Jr.

Debaser - Pixies (also featured in Forza Horizon 2)

Watch_Dogs 2:

Reservoir - PUP

Art School Wannabe - Sorority Noise

United Cigar - Good Riddance

Hip Hop My Friend - Pep Love

Chesterfield King - Jawbreaker

Wrong Way - Sublime

Spaz -N.E.R.D.

Crimewave - Crystal Castles

Gothic Summer - Prayers

Hard to Read - Day Wave

Planet Earth - Duran Duran

Flatout 2:

Pyramid - Wolfmother

Dimension - Wolfmother (these two are an interesting case because they were already on my playlist long before i first played Flatout 2 in 2017)

7 Minutes In Heaven (Atavan Halen) - Fall Out Boy

Nowhere Ride - The Chelsea Smile

Your Time Has Come - Audioslave

Man Or Animal - Audioslave

Don't Listen To The Radio - The Vines

Lobotomy For Dummies - Zebrahead

Rough Landing, Holly - Yellowcard

Breathing - Yellowcard (also featured in Burnout 3)

Mercy Me - Alkaline Trio

Watch_Dogs:

Big Chomper, Big Chomper - Dr. Manhattan

My Brain Hurts - Screeching Weasel

Jesus Built My Hot Rod - Ministry (literally added it while creating this list)

The Good Life - Weezer

Winter in Chicago - Flatfoot 56

Day 'N' Night (Nightmare) - Kid Cudi

Soldiers Requiem - Naked Raygun

Forza Horizon 2:

Mesmerise - Temples

Debaser - Pixies (also featured in Skate 3)

Take It or Leave It - Cage The Elephant

I Come From The Mountain - Thee Oh Sees

This Much I Care - Skaters

Train in Vain (Stand by Me) - The Clash

Tony Hawk's Underground 2:

Los Angeles - X (the censored version. the uncensored version also features in Grand Theft Auto 5)

Break On Through (To The Other Side) - The Doors

It's Gonna Be a Long Night - Ween

Beat Your Heart Out - The Distillers

Here I Am - The Explosion (also featured in Burnout 3)

Wreckfest:

Harder to Breathe - Shiraz Lane

The Wolves Are Coming - No Man's Valley

Burnout Revenge:

Riot Radio - The Dead 60s

Dance Dance - Fall Out Boy

Brutal Legend:

Dr. Feelgood - Motley Crue

Grand Theft Auto 5:

Los Angeles - X (also featured in Tony Hawk's Underground 2. i only even put GTA 5 on the list because it was the one that made me go "i should put this on my playlist")

NASCAR 09:

Strange Times - The Black Keys

NASCAR: The Inside Line:

Itchin' On A Photograph - Grouplove

at the time of writing (1:05pm PST on 7/26/2023) my main playlist has 770 songs on it. not counting songs that appeared in multiple games, there are 82 songs listed here, or about 10.6% of my playlist.

"your music taste is so cool" thanks i got it from video game soundtracks from 2004-2016

[silly-bean]

oh ohhhhhhh may I ask for the 5 of your wips xD, bc wow you have a lot of ideas

Doc 5 is yet another version I forgot about of a C!Cloud dimension hopping au thingy (even though I literally just came up with it and talked to people about it like yesterday or something lmao).

The doc title is Most Dangerous Game AU and it literally just consists of the discord chat log between me and a few others in the Aimee server. @emrald-writes actually came up with the prompt for this version, so I'm crediting them with like half of this because we basically just hashed out plot details together.

The first "section" reads:

emrald_fern — Today at 7:46 PM

ok but au where cloud gets tossed into a post c!cloud world and for whatever reason, it takes months for that worlds inhabitants to realize he's not strife. months they spend hunting him like an animal

gil bean — Today at 7:54 PM

OH HOHO

emrald_fern — Today at 7:59 PM

just poor cloud constantly on the run from avalanche and like maybe the firsts. every time he tries to explain that he's not who they think he is they think he's lying

the thing that finally makes them see sense is like cloud taking on like a fucking behemoth pride or something to protect some kids. or fuck maybe he goes toe to toe with strife himself

this is of course after months of stress so cloud's just fucking exhausted so he gets the absolute shit beat out of him. then he gets to walk up in a hospital room like strapped down to a bed.

needless to say he freaks out

gil bean — Today at 8:12 PM

oh yes

I call it "Most Dangerous Game AU" because Cloud spends months being hunted through the wilderness by the C!Cloud AVALANCHE because they assume he's Strife before he gets captured.

He actually gets captured because the party runs up on him saving some wannabe adventurers from a behemoth and are wary of him, but now willing to talk because he's protecting people instead of just killing them??? And then they all walk up to him before he can confirm the behemoth is actually dead and start interrogating him. Cloud's in a daze since he's absolutely exhausted and very hungry and dehydrated from being on the run for so long but then he spots movement from the behemoth, who's not dead and makes to land a hit on Zack, who has his back completely to the monster. Cloud leaps forward and takes the hit full-on and collapses because he's just gotten himself very injured.

This gets them to question whether or not Cloud is actually Strife, since Strife would never take a hit like that for Zack, and they decide to get him medical care, so they bring him back to a hospital for treatment. They restrain him because they're still worried about him being a genocidal maniac and sedate him with the intention of having Zack and Seph (who survived Nibelheim and spent time in Hojo's lab right along with Zack, the scientist trying to figure out "what went wrong" with him) be there when he wakes up.

The first time he wakes, it's earlier than expected because he has a higher tolerance for sedatives than they thought, so he goes into a panic attack upon realizing he's restrained in a "lab". The dimension-hopping fully saturated the poor man in mako, so he's also got a mild case of mako poisoning that he hasn't been able to shake since arriving because he's spent the entire time being hunted down like an animal.

The second time he wakes actually ends up being worse because Zack and Seph are there and he's still restrained, so he enters full flashback territory and it's not pretty. The third time he wakes up, Vincent is there, but he's still confused as to where and when he is, so he talks to Vincent like he's his Vincent, just making more questions for the party.

After that, it kinda goes downhill because he can't differentiate what's real vs what's in his head, so he succumbs more to the mako and yeah it's a whole mess.

The rest of what we plotted basically goes like:

Cloud eventually falls back on his Zack-personality because the stress is too much for his brain

He ping-pongs between being Zack and having no memory of anything past Nibelheim and a raving mess of ptsd

They eventually decide to do a brain scan to try and figure out if something's wrong and go "holy shit that's a lot of damage", but the act of doing the test also makes Cloud take another turn for the worst

It culminates in Marlene (who Barret had visit one time and Cloud's apparent familiarity with her caused many a question) deciding to visit on her own because "the strange man seems really sad and scared" and Cloud seeing her and freaking because "omg there's a kid in the labs???" and then taking her and breaking out.

He gets all the way to the chocobo farm and the birds actually help him sort out what's real and what's not and allow him to get a handle on things.

Of course, there's more angst after they find him and Marlene, and Strife makes a return and does not like someone who is basically him being "friends" with Zack and causes problems, but this is all I'm gonna directly talk about for now.

[foxghost]

Read: Don’t Pick Up Boyfriends from the Trash Bin

by Qi Jing Nan Qu (gone south on the back of a whale)

FINISHED IT. 1.36 million words + all of the extras (13 of them). It took me around 12 days.

The continuous read thread is over here, but overall, I enjoyed it. The later cases were a bit of a stretch (it is meta commented on by the characters themselves) and it quickly went from "saving the shou" to "saving the world". You know that book on abuse "why does he do that"? This is like the fictionalised manual of abusive relationships, and then we're immediately presented with the fix-ti (sometimes the fix it is literally KILL THE ASSHOLE). That's the appeal — some people suck, but if we have control of the matrix, boy can we get a whole lot of revenge!

=_=|||

Ok the rest got kind of long because this was a fun, good book, but it could have been a fun, and much better book.

The major problem of Trashcan is that if it was a video game, it'd be one where you start at level 20 with access to the command line and every high level item available in the game granted that you have enough points. That makes Chi Xiaochi WAY overpowered — to begin with. Then 061 (system, in this case basically personal guardian angel) spends his own energy in tiny amounts on Chi Xiaochi all the time without him having to spend any points, and he conveniently acts as a BAG OF HOLDING. Chi Xiaochi can give 061 anything and he can digitise it, store it in a warehouse, and take it out later, and this storage works ACROSS WORLDS and MISSIONS, and everything that is placed into this space is frozen in time.

See? WAY OVERPOWERED.

Your "Mantrash" can accumulate two kinds of points, "favour" points for how much he likes MC, and "regret" for how much he regrets what he did to MC, which Chi Xiaochi figures out that "regret" can be for anything, including "regret ever meeting MC". Which means Chi Xiaochi's first intuition of "what if I just hit the mantrash with a car?" is a perfectly legitimate way to solve the problem, since trash WILL very much regret meeting MC right before he dies if Mc just ... hits him with a car. XD When "regret" hits 100, his missions is complete and he can transfer to the next world/mission, but since regret is worth more than favour for buying cards/powers, Chi Xiaochi figured out that the most efficient way to buy everything in the store is:

begin torturing the mantrash in some way and let regret rise

don't let regret hit 100

buy as many CARDS(limited time power boosts) from the store as possible

(essentially turning mantrash into ATM)

buy as many physical items from the store as possible and a fresh crate of strawberries then have 061 digitise them

when the warehouse is full, let regret hit 100

...then later on in the book, because Chi Xiaochi is a completionist, ask 061 to get him a 2nd warehouse

So yes, Chi Xiaochi figured out how to cheat early, and therefore he cheated often. Here's a list of powers that I can remember just off the top of my head:

hypnosis (in 5, 30, and 7 hour increments i think?)

lucid dream (can send lucid dream, 3 minutes for what feels like YEARS if need be) that the dreamer will remember like it happened

shared lucid dream (in which Chi Xiaochi has all the power) that the dreamer will remember as if it happened in real life

recording in shared lucid dream (061 does this for free)

recording anywhere (061 also does this for free)

teleportation

memory wipe (short term, for the past 5 minutes)

super strength (side-effect: super weak for the next hour)

super ability (x2 current ability)

halo effect (x2 attractiveness)

soul trap bottle (takes one soul, soul is released when bottle broken)

speed up time (turning a 2 year mission into a 2 month mission, but it still feels like 2 years)

change the magnetic field within the distance of ... a thousand miles? (061 did this for free)

oh also 061 can spy on anyone in the world at anytime anywhere, and he does this for free

There's absolutely no mystery at all that they're going to win every single NG+. The missions are rated from A-C and then S, with "S" mean "you have to save the world too I guess" but even when they're in an S level world the MC is also S level. For instance, in the A/B/O world, Ji Zuoshan (MC) is the most powerful alpha of them all, can send his soul through dimensions with the help of a resonating metal, can make you fall over if he so much as stands in front of you, and he just ... chose not to.

The entire series went kind of like this: original MC got bad ending, then Chi Xiaochi starts the game in NEW GAME PLUS taking over MC's body instead, and with the power of 20/20 hindsight and the ability to temporarily control the matrix, cheats like no tomorrow, get good ending, making sure to turn mantrash into ATM and buy as many things as possible before letting the points get to 100.

Thankfully the worlds are varied enough to keep me entertained, even if they're very much derivative of other web novels I've read before (I'm 100% sure QJNQ has read all the Priest, as the ABO world gives me a Can Ci Pin feeling and the Ancient Imperial world reminds me of Qi Ye). What kept me scrolling for 1.36 million words though was the Chi Xiaochi / 061 ship and the underlying system, in which they CANNOT CHEAT. In which things are difficult and there are actual problems to overcome and pain to suffer and massive consequences for getting things wrong.

The framing story has weight that the internal missions don't. And it got me attached to 023 and 089, and I nearly cried over 009 in the end ;-;

The missions themselves are just fun, impossible revenge fantasies, and I think that's the biggest flaw with this book. It goes in a direction of "things could have been different if MC had chosen differently" but ends up being "things could have been different with hindsight and MAGIC". The alternate universe, "better" (for me) version of this book would have had less magical powers in it, and more of using each MC host's innate ability to overcome their obstacles. In that case, the ice skating mission #3 was the best one of them all.

Overall, I liked it. It's full of minor plot holes and the worldbuilding doesn't stand up to any detailed analysis, and I'll forget most of it by next week, but the characters are all very well rounded out and distinct. For now my heart is still so full of Chi Xiaochi and Lou Ying that even reading 13 extras doesn't feel like enough.

10/10 will recommend for light reading =3=

[quotes-of-dreamland]

Anyone got any headcanons on how Magolor came into possession of the Lor? I’m a personal fan of him accidentally finding it ruined then deciding to fix it, and spending a really long time fixing it. Some part of me just really likes the thought of the Lor sitting abandoned and broken but still awake and aware for a long long time, then this catboy just comes in one day

Mod Susie: Oooooo,,, I believe in canon he says he excavated the Lor from the volcano on Halcandra. In my headcanon he has a special spell used for finding magical things around him, this is how he found the Lor AND the Crown, detecting it in Landia’s den where she was sleeping.

Mod Lor: *CLASPS HANDS TOGETHER* HOKAY, SO... Actually, before I start, heads up, this gets pretty long because I am do not can't talk short. I do give a bit of background to give context to stuff and also to clarify a bit of headcanon, but if you just want the shorter to-the-point version, skip to text block 4. Or 5, if you count this one.

My personal take is that Magolor actually comes from a long line of historians, dating back to not too long after the first major Halcandran Civil War. Actually, in this case, the suffix -lor, which was originally the full word lore, happened to initially just be an indication of their business, similar to the name Mason in our world coming from the masonry trade. None of the current members know at which point it became the family name. In other words, the fact that Magolor and Lor have similar names is just coincidence.

I will mention that Lor's name actually comes from a similar process; in the past it would have been understood as meaning history, or more specifically, history maker. Long story short, someone who definitely hadn't seen any glimpses of the future via illegal magic had a "gut feeling" that Lor would have significance in the future. They never elaborated because they knew if they did it wouldn't happen.

To summarize what would otherwise add several more paragraphs to an already long explanation, Lor was a little shit on purpose a lot because fuck the government she can do whatever she wants, and then did a big oops with bigger consequences, so the government put her in volcanic time out. They had planned to excavate her when they could figure out how to delete everything that was Lor (personality, memories, etc) without also losing all the other data she had collected, given that she was a research ship. Then they fought another civil war and didn't have the funds to excavate her, so they just left her there and eventually forgot she existed.

You know what doesn't forget? Books. Really old books that the government forgot existed along with an entire sentient spaceship. And you know what kinds of people tend to have access to really old books? Historians. What about books with government secrets? Well when a government forgets what the secret is, it isn't long before those secrets get confused with regular history and get sent to people who, y'know, study that stuff. Eh, surely nothing would come of that minor slip-up, right?

Magolor had been planning his... well, plan to take over Halcandra, for a very long time. The one thing he's missing is a means of transportation, and almost as if he was fated to succeed, he happened upon some old records in a book that his parents had gotten from an unknown source. He translates the shit out of it, and a few months later he's begun a stealth excavation, because the last thing he wants in his Burger King existence is someone else's very territorial and protective four-headed dragon attacking him.

When he did finally excavate Lor, everything seemed pretty functional. She's not talking or anything, but maybe that part of the writings was made up and added in later for... I dunno, flavor. Not like her AI could still be shut off or something weird like that. She's fit to fly, and he studied how to pilot a Starcutter for a whole two and a half days, so obviously he didn't see how anything could possibly go wrong. Nuh-uh, no crash or betrayal or possession or untimely death and subsequent resurrection in his future.

I wonder what happened next? They should totally make a game about it. Call it something like uhhh... Kirby's Return to Dreamland. I bet a lot of people would like it.

Lor "woke up" after the events of that entirely theoretical game, during the collapse of Another Dimension. While I would love to explain what all went down after that, now isn't the time and this isn't the post. But I mean, hey, if anyone wants to give me the excuse to ramble.....

[spiral-inc]

|Megaten thoughts|

The Megaten timeline is so fucking weird and it hurts me on all planes of existence. Everything is canon, games are connected but at the same time no, the persona dancing games are canon?? At this point I’m just not gonna look at another Megaten timeline for a while.

Can we all agree that SMT 1 protag had the short end of the stick? Like he has been having weird dreams, then demons start popping up on the streets, dude’s mom dies by a demon, people are now dividing into fractions, nuclear missiles then go off and the world is turned into a wasteland, one of your friends sacrifices themselves and teleports you and the rest of the gang into another dimension for 30 years, another one of your buddies fused with a demon while another dies and is reborn as some church’s messiah, then eventually you get turned into stone and people cover it up as a ‘cave-in’ accident. Well in the end you still have your dog with you.

Follow up to the last one but au ideas for the SMT 1 protag 👀 y’know what if his stone statue self ends up at a park- or like he gets ‘unstoned’ and is just confused and wondering were the fuck he is, this has given me so many ideas and if anyone is interested in helping just message me.

You think they would add another version of Jack Frost in the new SMT game? If they do I wonder what it would look like, maybe they will pull a Raidou and strange Journey and make it look like the protags or I guess their clothes, or base it off if a new demon in the game kinda like with lucifrost. I just think the alternate versions of jackfrost are pretty neat.

I kinda want SMT to get popular but at the same time not really. Don’t get me wrong I wanna get more people into the games but I don’t want it to turn into something that is bigger and well has a bigger toxic side. I feel like at the moment, while there are problems, it’s the right size ( for me at least ) idk I’ve always liked small fanbases.

I would like to see some more SMT centric merchandise, maybe with the new release of SMT 5 we will get some. I know they do already got some ( Raidou figure and an Alice one to make a few. ) but like a full on Lucifer figure or maybe doing the rest of the SMT protags would be pretty cool! Also plushies: they got the persona plushies and a jackfrost one which I love but just imagine a Raidou plushie or Flynn. Speaking of persona I am hyped for all the new merch they have for the 25th anniversary!

These are all of the thoughts I’ve been thinking as of lately, I’m most likely gonna make more post like this one. My DMS are open if you wanna just say hello to me and talk!

[jimmyflemion]

Hi everyone. The Spiritual album is here. Damaged Goods  / Sinned in Reverse. Out now! Finally. Our album that has been talked about in interviews & the works for the last 30 years. Today digitally available everywhere. Always had it in mind for this to come out as an album in album form (who knows, maybe someday?) but now that it has been finished this seemed the perfect time for its release. Over the last 9 years all the song versions were listened to meticulously, chosen, vocals & instruments added & recorded, the theme of the story & running order placed in a schematic theme, mixed, mastered & the artwork went through several renovations until today as it stands in its completed form. Whenever it seemed like it was finished & patience had given out, there was that voice saying that when the time was right it would be ready. Why are any of us here? Our spirits, our souls, the learning, the forgetting, the remembering. What is my purpose? Is it something other than what I think it is? Am I supposed to be helping in some other way? I often ask myself these questions. Music always has given me hope to figure out these things & be good with myself & my choices, helping me to make sense. I often think of my sins & sins of omission words I feel I should have said or shouldn’t have said. The life I’ve led, previous lives. Being honest with myself & others & communicating my feelings freely & openly. Reflecting how my life would have changed dramatically. Often pointing the finger & not owning up to my own part in things. We all play a part in the communion. I’ve judged so much in my life. Through my own faults perceived through my own judgement, I become more & more conscientious & conscious & not so much on autopilot. For those I’ve hurt through my own neglect, I offer my sincere apologies. To be good with yourself & your pure refection brings peace. Myself & my brother were The Frogs. We grew up together, played & wrote songs entwining a world revered & a world despised & quickly scribed them with quill, in the end giving you the listeners your own choice in choosing where your heart aligns. From seeing both sides of characters as well as taking an honest look at ourselves, there began an introspection as to who we are as humans & it made its’ way into the work. We uncovered a society of depravity we had no intention of joining. Although given somewhat of a view of the music biz here & there from a ringside seat, in fact we were never invited to the party for we posed a threat in seeing through your false idol’s bullshit. We were different, we didn’t fit in & in retrospect a very good thing to be, working in our favor. But alas however cool or punk or whatever someone might think that might feel it took on an aura of loneliness. We were outsiders, who still in a way wanted for our ego’s sake (remember this is show biz, it takes some sort of ego to continue on, year after year) to be appreciated or make some sort of a living at this game. However, looking at things now, there really was never anything we missed out on, knowing how proud he was of me & I of him & what we set out to do through our creativity. I am reminded by a beautiful princess who once upon a time told me, we are all frogs. We are God’s children that keep getting turned into frogs & under the spell of the witches. The Frogs, the band represents all the frogs of the world. The Frogs, the band are the narrator, the storyteller as in the fairytale. The Frogs have their sweet revenge by flipping, showing the people thru song their own judgements of what beauty, evil, cruelty & perception of what is truth or not. You are the judge. It’s always been up to the listener of the message what they were to receive from it to learn or unlearn. Like a lot of music itself, it’s multilayered, multidimensional, the listener gets to decide what it means. We are all frogs, right & wrong, good & bad, ugly & beautiful, loving & hateful, mean & kind. We have a choice. Thru our own experience, we can heal & help to shine our light or to stay in the darkness & continue to judge all of it or accept & return to all that is within us which is love. & somewhere within all that we must not forget what they do to frogs in school’s biology class, cutting them open, dissecting removing parts showing children that it is ok in the name of science & men who eat & destroy the lives of children. Becoming comfortable with these ideas as if it’s cool or gross, not really understanding what they are doing. That which was once life, God’s creation lie there on the table, it represents us thru the fairytales. Being manipulated, being blinded from the day of our birth that we should be okay with all this and yet that is the great big lie too. The world you, we know/knew & the people of it that revel & cling to darkness remain at that vibration until they subscribe to the light. The light is for all yet some have an allergic reaction to it due to their disposition & judgement of the collective creation. The Frogs, myself and my brother spoke the truth about everything the 3rd dimensional world holds & ascending dimensions above. Together we were not puppets, poseurs, plagiarists or frauds, follow the long lost line of money, our trail is short. Those who hijack the heart will find & attract those of like. There remains nothing to be taught or learned for the kingdom of heaven is within, pretty simple. It’s easy to innerstand, if one makes a concerted conscious effort to spread love as opposed to their fascination with fear & pornographic obsession with death, which spoiler alert walks hand in hand with life. The music we created has nothing to do with “satire”, in fact at times there is no rhyme & reason & in times needed there is rhyme & reason. A fool auditions for a song, a wise man dresses up in costume, the world’s zoo comes to life & appears & disappears in illusion or what some call magic or a critic appears on notice to define art. There is a floodgate of material & songs to peruse & at times it makes the most sense to corral them conceptually. I used to be so concerned on being comprehended correctly to my liking but matters not. If I must spell it out, see how the Phoenicians, use their created language & words in plain sight, with the word spell to cast spells. In conclusion, the words with respect to the music are laced with wisdom. There is no other way. The goal, the direction, the soul purpose being co-creating beautiful sounds, energy & vibrations with the maker. In appreciation of creation. The heart beats, the world turns, the divine nature of the soul is changeless, without wavering, it answers the call of protecting & nurturing the mutual life force. Love avoids competition as it stands in its own sovereignty. ‘Tis the very common ground we all share & vibrate to. No one else can control our destiny, that which we were put on this plane, planet earth to fulfill. There was a shared mission only Dennis & I shared. The understanding & meaning that music in the right hands transforms the soul. Caging people, labeling, putting them in boxes, thinking these monsters own you is the absolute antithesis of love. The angels provide the roadmap, speak to them, I’ve spoken in song about freedom, having loved the show “Born Free” growing up under the Leo sign. I pray someday people that are real will find like minded humans & the fake actors satisfied with their empty empathy will have a true awakening. Judge much, yes but ‘tis a lonely world full of ghosts. So on a lighter note, as we float higher, what have I learned in all these years later 9 since Dennis has passed. What I’ve always known that I am so beyond blessed & grateful to have had him as my brother, how much love, care & detail he put into every moment of his life, how much he gave & how everything was a gift, how much he cherished life & being in everyone’s presence. His heart was always in the right place. An angel. Finally this album is the final Frogs album (the spiritual album that has been promised for years) 32 tracks, (number 5) Dennis & I were both number 5’s in our life paths. “damaged GOoDS / sinneD in Reverse” Damaged Goods / Dennis in Reverse In reality this album could not have been completed without the help of our dear friend Bjorn Thorsrud (additional production, mastering & editing) Dennis always wanted to have Bjorn work on this album & when he offered to help it was a GODsend. I devoted my heart & soul into this record & when I finally completed it on the final playback, I broke into tears, my only wish was for Dennis to be proud & happy with this record as a testament to The Frogs legacy. This album is in 432 hertz, the highest energy that governs the universe, vibrates with the earth’s heartbeat, the golden ratio, divine proportion. We made music because it brought us joy & made life such a wonderful experience. The telepathic musical communication Dennis & I shared is innerstood, felt inside. With regards to words they would have you say understood, but none of us is beneath or under where any other human soul stands, we are all equal & equally divine. I love Dennis with all my heart, always have & always will. I am so happy & thank creation so much that I was able to be here on this day to fulfill Dennis & my dream for you to hear this our final Frogs album. This album is for you all the fans who drove all over the country to come to our shows, stood in line, supported us at our merch booths. We started out having fun playing music together in the garage, writing songs in our bedrooms, had absolutely no idea any & all of this would have happened, well it couldn’t have happened without you our fans, we love each & every one of you for showering us with your love all of these years. This album is dedicated to the fans. Love,         Jimmy

[thebrideofthewizardhowl]

Background:

Rhythmic gymnastics is a women-only event in which gymnasts perform on a floor with a rope, hoop, ball, clubs or ribbon accompanied by music, in individual or group events. In the 1800s rhythmic gymnastics operated under the guise of group gymnastics, and included a trace of elementary choreography. It grew slowly until the first experimental competitions appeared in eastern Europe in the 1930s, when its newfound complexity began to draw a wider audience. Rhythmic gymnastics evolved from a host of related disciplines. It incorporates elements from classical ballet, such as pliés and arabesques, as well as the German system of emphasizing apparatus work for muscle development and the Swedish method of using free exercise to develop rhythm. The FIG recognized rhythmic gymnastics as an official discipline in 1963, and a year later organized an international tournament in Budapest. In 1964 the tournament was officially declared the first Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, and Ludmila Savinkova of the Soviet Union became the first world champion. The number of athletes grew as interest spread to other parts of the world. Gymnasts from the United States first appeared at the championships in 1973, and rhythmic gymnastics slowly emerged from the shadow of the long-established artistic discipline to enter the Olympic program in 1984. Since its integration into the Games in 1984 in Los Angeles, rhythmic gymnastics has always been a part of the Olympic program. In its inaugural year, it was Canada’s Lori Fung who won the gold medal. Until 1992 in Barcelona, only one individual event was on the program. A second, team event was added to the program in 1996 in Atlanta. At the 2000 Games in Sydney, the Russian Federation won two gold medals: the group and individual multiple competitions.

Court Dimension:

The standard performance is 13m x 13m. The border is 100cm minimum and where there is a delimitation strip between the performance area and the border, the strip is 5cm wide and included as part of the performance area. An Olympic floor exercise mat is required to be 12 meters by 12 meters, which equals 39.37 feet by 39.37 feet. The standard distance from one corner to the opposite corner is 1,697 cm or 55.68 feet.

Equipment:

Rope

Look for swings, circles, rotations, wraps, unwraps, figure-eight-type circling movements, throws and catches of the rope. Gymnasts also leap and jump through the open or folded rope, held by both hands.

Specs:

Material: hemp or synthetic material, knotted at each end

Length: proportionate to the size of the gymnast

Hoop

Common movements with the hoop include swings, rolls, tosses and catches, spins, passes through and over the hoop, rotations of the hoop on the floor and rotations of the hoop around the hand and other parts of the body. Most impressive here are the high throws and complex techniques for catching the hoop in a different fashion each time.

Specs:

Material: wood or plastic

Diameter: Interior is 80-90 cm (31.2-35.1 in)

Weight: 300 grams (10.5 oz) min.

Ball

Waves, circles, throws and catches, movement with the ball balanced on the hand, bouncing and rolling the ball on the floor and along parts of the body are all key movements.

Specs:

Material: rubber or synthetic material

Diameter: 18-20 cm (7-7.8 in)

Weight: 400 grams (14 oz.) min.

Clubs

Swings, large circles, small circles, mills, throws and catches and rhythmical tapping are common tricks.

Specs:

Material: wood or synthetic material

Length: 40-50 cm (15.6-19.5 in.)

Diameter: 3 cm (1.2 in) max. for head of club

Weight: 150 grams each (5.25 oz)

Ribbon

Ribbon routines are comprised of snakes, spirals, swings, circles, throws and catches and figure-eight movements. The ribbon must remain constantly in motion.

Specs:

Material: stick – wood or synthetic material; Ribbon – satin or similar non-starched material

Diameter/width: stick – 1 cm (0.39 in); ribbon – 4-6 cm (1.56-2.34 in)

Length: stick – 50-60 cm (19.5-23.4 in); ribbon – 6 m (6.54 yds.)

Weight: ribbon, 35 grams (1.225 oz) min.

Group

In the group event, five athletes work together as one cohesive unit. Group is judged on the ability of the athletes to demonstrate mastery of body and apparatus skills in a synchronized, harmonious manner. A group exercise must include difficulties from the same body movement categories that apply to individual competition and characteristic movements for the apparatus. In addition, the group athletes must execute elements involving both large and small exchanges of equipment. The more interaction between the gymnasts, the better the exercise. Each group must compete with two different routines. The apparatus used in group competition is selected by the FIG. One of the routines is performed with five of the same pieces of apparatus, the other routine is choreographed with mixed equipment. Group athletes are trained to work as a team. The close interaction of five athletes within a 13 X 13 meter (approx. 42.5 ft. square) area and the many apparatus exchanges that occur during a routine require each athlete to be extremely sensitive to the movements and actions of her teammates. Many routines have been saved by the quick thinking and action of a team member. Spectators are enthralled and amazed by the beauty, excitement and risk of a group routine.

  Basic Skills:

Fundamental requirements include leaps over the rope and skipping. Other elements include swings, throws, circles, rotations and figures of eight. The rope must be held lightly so that all movements and characteristics of this apparatus may be performed. These may be performed with the rope open, or folded, in one or two hands, or in several directions. Women compete on four events: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise, while men compete on six events: floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and high bar. Basic skills required for the gymnast are flexibility, core strength, balance, upper and lower-body strength, power, mental focus, discipline, and dedication.

 Technical and Tactical Skills:

 Fundamental elements of throwing, bouncing and rolling, where a gymnast is required to utilize the full floor and both their hands, showing a continuous flowing movement. These skills involve the following; Floor, Rolling Skills, Cartwheel, Round off and Handstand; Parallel bars, Swings through upper arm hang, Swings through support, Back roll, Shoulder stand.

Rules of the game:

Penalties and Deductions

1.     For each additional or missing second on the time of the exercise // 0.05

2.     For music not conforming to regulations // 0.50

3.     For each additional music with words // 1.00

4.     For each crossing of the boundary of the floor area by the apparatus or one or two feet or by any part of the body touching the ground outside the specified area or any apparatus leaving the floor area and returning by itself // 0.30

5.     For any use of non-conforming apparatus (Individual and Group exercises) 0.50

6.     For using any apparatus not previously placed // 0.50

7.     For excessive delays in routine preparation which delay the competition // 0.50

8.     For unauthorized retrieval of the apparatus // 0.50

9.     For an unauthorized use of replacement apparatus (original apparatus still in the floor area) // 0.50

10. Dress of the Individual and Group gymnast not confirming to the regulations (one time per exercise) // 0.30

11. For emblem or publicity not conforming to official norms // 0.30

12. Bandages or support pieces not confirming to the regulations // 0.30

13. For early or late presentation by the gymnast(s) // 0.50

14. For gymnast(s) warming up in the competition hall // 0.50

15. For Group gymnasts communicating verbally with each other during the exercise // 0.50

16. Entry of the group to the floor area is not confirming to the rules // 0.50

17. For coach communication with the gymnast(s), musician, or judges during the exercise // 0.50

18. Wrong apparatus chosen according to start order; penalty deducted one time from the final score of the exercise performed in the wrong order // 0.50

19. For Group gymnast leaving the Group during the exercise // 0.30

20. For “use of a new gymnast” if a gymnast leaves a group for valid reason // 0.50

21. Only female athletes compete in Levels 1–4. Levels A, B, C, and Group are mixed gender.

22. Athletes must compete on the same level in all chosen individual events. (Either A, B, C, 1, 2, 3 or 4.)

23. Athletes may specialize by competing in one or more events at their chosen level.

24. Gymnasts who do all four events at a level are considered All-Around. (i.e., Specialist: Level I Hoop and Ball; All-Around: Level I Rope, Hoop, Ball, and Ribbon)

25.  A gymnast may perform in one or two group routines in addition to individual routines, or perform just in group routines (no individual).

26.  The video of the compulsory routines is the official version. If a difference exists between the video and the written text, the video must be followed. For group routines, the video is the only version of the choreography

27. Compulsory routines may be reversed in their entirety (mirror image).

28.  Olympic order for rhythmic gymnastics is rope, hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon.

29. All rules and regulations apply equally to athletes and partners.

30. Unified competition is allowed in both Pairs and Group events.

31. In Unified Pairs events, the athlete and unified partner can either perform together as a duet or separately. One panel of judges will evaluate the athlete’s routine and one panel will evaluate the unified partner’s routine. The scores are added together for a unified team score.

32. In the Group events, there must be an equal number of athletes and partners in each group.

33. Visually Impaired Athletes – Coaches must notify the meet director and judges of the athlete’s visual impairment before the competition and prior to each routine. In order to aid the athletes, the following types of assistance are permissible for all levels of competition without deduction: Audible cues, such as clapping, may be used in all routines.

34. Music may be played at any close point outside of the mat, or the coach may carry the music source around the perimeter of the mat.

35. Hearing Impaired Athletes – Coaches must notify the meet director and judges of the athlete’s hearing impairment before the competition and prior to each routine.

How to officiate Rhythmic Gymnastics:

Judge Panels: responsible in maintaining a record of all competitions, courses and workshops in which s/he participates. The total number of panel judges will be 16, consisting of two panels which follow FIG for D1 and D2, for D3 and D4, and for E1 and E2.

Judge Administrator: primary responsibilities of the Judge Administrator are to act as the GCG representative at EC and CC, to ensure that all Judge Rules and Technical Rules are followed, and to ensure that all score ranges are within FIG requirements. The JA acts as the coordinator judge and ensures the penalty deductions are applied as per FIG.

D1 and D2 judges: D1 and D2 judges evaluate the entire exercise independently and then jointly determine the partial D–score content (One Single common score). The D1 and D2- judges enter the partial D- score into the computer.

D3 and D4 judges: records the content of the exercise in symbol notation:

·       For Individual: evaluates the number and technical value of Dynamic elements with Rotation (R) and the number and technical value of the Apparatus Difficulty (AD)

·       For Group: evaluates the number and technical value of Dynamic elements with Rotation (R) and the number and technical value Collaborations (C)

E-Panel Judges: E- Panel judges must evaluate the faults and apply the corresponding deductions correctly.

a) The first (E) subgroup - 2 judges (E1, E2) evaluatesthe Artistic component independently and then jointly determines the Artistic penalties (one single common score). Discussion in subgroup is allowed if needed; in case of disagreement between E1 and E2, the counsel of the Technical Delegate/Supervisor must be solicited.

b) The second (E) subgroup - 4 judges (E3, E4, E5, E6) evaluates the Technical faults by deduction, determining the total deduction independently and without consulting the other judges (Average of the 2 middle scores)

c) Artistic and Technical deductions are entered separately for the final Execution score. The E-score deductions will be the sum of the two partial E- score deductions.

d) The Final E- Score: Sum of the Artistic and Technical deductions are subtracted from 10.00 points.          

Time Judge: Responsible for elapsing time and as well as enforcing penalties. Control time violations and record the exact amount of time over the time limit or less if there is no computer input

Line Judge: Determine crossing of the boundary of the floor area by the apparatus or one or two feet or by any part of the body or any apparatus leaving the floor area.

Secretaries: The Secretaries need to have knowledge of the Code of Points and a computer; they are usually appointed by the Organizing Committee. Under the supervision of the President of Superior Jury they are responsible for the accuracy of all entries into the computers, adherence to the correct order of the teams and gymnasts, operating the green and red lights, correct flashing of the Final Score.

Citations: 

https://www.gymnastics.sport/publicdir/rules/files/en_RG%20CoP%202017-2020%20with%20Errata%20Dec.%2017.pdf

http://gymcan.org/uploads/files_files/GCG_Judges%20Rules%20Regulations%20January%202017.pdf

https://media.specialolympics.org/resources/sports-essentials/sport-rules/Sports-Essentials-Rhythmic-Gymnastics-Rules-2016-2023.pdf

https://www.romsport.com/tips-and-tricks

https://usagym.org/pages/gymnastics101/rhythmic/events.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythmic_gymnastics

https://www.olympic.org/rhythmic-gymnastics-equipment-and-history

https://www.dlgsc.wa.gov.au/sport-and-recreation/sports-dimensions-guide/gymnastics#:~:text=The%20standard%20performance%20area%20for,part%20of%20the%20performance%20area.

Video Credits: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaxT2vguGXQ

[kerbaldevteam]

Kerbal Space Program 1.10: “Shared Horizons” is now available!

Hello everyone!

The European Space Agency (ESA) and Kerbal Space Program have come together to bring you brand new content, including the ESA space-suit texture, new parts and variants, and two of their most iconic and groundbreaking missions into the game. Gear up, fuel up and prepare to share horizons with ESA and KSP!

Kerbal Space Program 1.10: Shared Horizons is the game’s latest major update aimed to continue with our efforts to enrich the KSP experience. Build a kerbalized version of the renowned and powerful Ariane 5 heavy launch vehicle, visit comets and push the limits of space exploration with a host of new additions to the game that not only will give you more things to do, but also make the game look and perform better with a bunch of bug fixes and quality of life improvements.

Let’s go through some of the update’s highlights below:

ESA Missions

Thanks to our collaboration with ESA, put yourself to the test and carry out KSP versions of the historic BepiColombo and Rosetta missions! Drop a lander module on the surface of a comet and visit the innermost planet of the solar system to study its magnetosphere and surface characteristics, all in the name of science. Best of all, the Making History and Breaking Ground expansions are not required to play these missions!

Comets

In order to make the Rosetta mission possible, comets now roam the Kerbal Solar System. With beautiful tails and larger dimensions than regular asteroids, comets appear in all game modes and you can take on new career mode contracts to detect and visit them. Be vigilant, because you might even see one that is passing through from interstellar space! 

New Parts and Variants

Kerbal Space Program 1.10: Shared Horizons includes several new parts and variants to match ESA’s style! Decorate your vehicles with a variety of flag parts that can be attached to your liking, take the brand new Magnetometer Boom along with the MTO and MPO to carry out scientific experiments on Moho or beyond, or capture asteroids and comets with the Advanced Grabbing Unit Jr., a smaller and versatile version of the “Klaw”. Additionally, there are also new variants of some tanks, SRBs, the “Poodle” Liquid Fuel Engine, and decouplers; plus, fairings have not only new variants, but some updated functionality as well.

Jool and Laythe Visual Improvements

The legendary green gas giant and it’s innermost satellite have new high-quality texture maps & graphic shaders, and now look sharper and more realistic than ever! Find a nice beach on Laythe and enjoy the view of Jool’s newly animated clouds. Beautiful!

To learn more you can read the full Changelog here:

======================= v1.10===========================

1.10.0 Changelog - BaseGame ONLY (see below for Making History and Breaking Ground changelog)

+++ Improvements

* Added the ability to fine tune fairings or use the existing, snap mode. This behavior reacts to the editor's angle snap. * Added ESA missions tutorial. * Adjusted the Remove Row button in KAL to only delete the row when clicking on the red cross, not the whole segment. * Fuel cells can be set started in the VAB or SPH for launch. * Drag cube debug information now available in VAB/SPH when show aero data in PAW debug option is on. * Improve drag cube system to handle Part Variants and Shrouds on the same part. * Add additional drag cube information to Debug Aero info in PAWs. * Persist Aero GUI UI debug window setting and Debug Aero info in PAWs setting between game sessions. * Performance improvements for engine module. * Performance and memory improvements for launching a vessel from the space centre. * Performance and memory improvements for part action windows by caching them. * Performance and memory improvements for reading and writing config nodes, so better performance for loading and saving. * Performance and memory improvements for undo and redo in VAB/SPH by caching stage manager icons. * Intended duplicated group-actions have a marker to distinguish the part side. * Converter actions now indicate resource type to differentiate them. * Performance and memory improvements for loading vessels. * Preview and select suits for Kerbals via the suit selector icon (coat hanger). * Performance and Memory improvements for game, craft and mission load dialogues. * Performance and Memory improvements for vessel loading. * Performance and Memory improvements for ModuleJettison in VAB/SPH. * The KSC's grass now changes according to the currently set terrain shader quality. * Revamped Jool, giving it a new animated shader and high resolution textures. * Laythe planet textures revamp. Low, medium and high quality terrain shaders. * ESA Collaboration missions implemented for base game. * Added EVA button to the crew transfer dialog. Functions the same as the crew hatch dialog EVA button. * Added the ability to have open-ended/uncapped fairings. * Sliders now display units in the Part Action Window where appropriate. * Optimized fairing mesh construction and exploded view heuristic by caching mouse position. * Reduced GC and unnecessary calculations performed for variants on fairings. * Reduced number of meshes and colliders for fairings to improve draw calls and standarize at 24-32 sides. * Added Marquee scrolling to a few PAW items for when the text is super long. Text is ellipsis in this case and on mouse over will move left then right. * Performance improvements in flight mode by caching variables in ThermalIntegrationPass and PartBuoyancy. * Hide UI elements that aren't being used and avoid unnecessary updates in flight mode. * Performance and memory improvements for DeltaV simulations. * Speed up craft loading and use less memory in VAB/SPH. * The PAW starts towards the outside of the screen instead of over the center of the rocket/screen. * The camera will not position itself at an appropriate distance when switching vessels to prevent the camera starting inside vessels. * KSP now has Comets! * Added two new contracts for comets. * Added surface sample science experiment for comets. * Comets can explode into smaller fragments while entering a CB's atmosphere. * Fairings can now be set to not auto-expand in SPH/VAB via a new PAW option. * Improve performance of splash FX in water by using combination aof close splashes and limiting how many occur in close proximity * Adjusted the "dark" them color to be more visible in the variant selector.

+++ Localization

* Changed Japanese translation of "Polar Crater" based on community feedback. * Stock vessel name and description translations. * Fix science done at Dessert not showing localized name. * Fix Service Module parts displaying unlocalized text for Shroud. * Fix Command parts displaying unlocalized text for Cutaway. * Fixed a localization issue on the Strategies occurring on FR, IT and PT * Fix unlocalized label for facility level during missions. * Fix grammar issue in From the Moon tutorial. * Updated SC-9001 Science Jr. perform science button so it now matches the new part name. * Fixes translation error in FTE-1 part in Japanese. * Fix missing character in KSP Merchandise link in main menu in simplified Chinese. * Improved phrasing for landing label in Russian. * Fix localized string when debugging aero details. * Fix localization issues with tab headings in Tracking Station. * Fix KSPedia - Numbers on Resources/Conversion Management page alignment in Russian and Chinese. * Fix KSPedia 'app launcher' text box on the Manual/Flight Interface page alignment in Portuguese. * Fix KSPedia text on Rocketry/Basics/Centered page spacing in Japanese. * Fix KSPedia text on Manual/Management page spacing in Portuguese. * Fix KSPedia unlocalized text for measurements is displayed in the 'Effective Range Table'. * Fix KSPedia Japanese Incorrect break line in Control. * Fix numerous part description texts. * Fix a couple of messages in tutorials. * Fix action sets override explanation tooltip text. * Fix Localization of Vessel Naming Group and vessel name in PAWs. * Removed line breaks in the Orbit's Ejection field tooltip in English.

+++ Parts

* Add fuel line ESA variant. * Add Thoroughbred ESA variant. * Added Rockomax X200-32 ESA variant. * Revamped R-11 'Baguette' External Tank and added silver variant. * Revamped R-4 'Dumpling' External Tank and added silver variant. * Revamped R-12 'Doughnut' External Tank and added silver variant. * Added new variants to the fairings size 1, 2 and 3. Now we have them in white, black and white, orange, silver and gold. * Revamped Struts and added white variant. * New Moho Planetary Observer (MPO) Probe. * New Moho Transfer Module (MTM). * Fix Mainsail's Center Of Thrust. * Fix LV-N engine FX particle offset. * Added the ESA variant to the Rockomax X200-16 Fuel Tank. * New Flag parts, these new parts can be placed on fairings by holding the Mod key or by setting the Fairing Expansion = Off setting in the fairings PAW. * Parts with Flag Decals on them can now have their decal set to mirrored. * New Magnetometer Boom science experiment.* Advanced Grabbing Unit textures revamped and added a Dark variant. * New Advanced Grabbing Unit Jr. With 2 variants * Fix for LV-N engine not stacking correctly at the bottom. * Added a white and yellow variant to all TD decouplers and TS separators.

+++ Bugfixes

* Fix Action Groups app position. * Fix mesh scale on short compoundparts causing reentry FX issues. * Fixed Interstage fairings holding onto the payload in certain use cases. * Fix dV calcs for stages drawing resources across decouplers with crossfeed enabled. * Fix unable to timewarp after using Set Position and then Set Orbit cheat. * Fix autostrut being incorrectly reset on parts attached to dynamic nodes if the part is the parent. * Fix drag cubes on J-90 Goliath, 48-7S Spark, LV-909 Terrier, RE-M3 Mainsail, RE-L10 Poodle  RE-I5 Skipper, and numerous other parts. * Fix craft browser selecting wrong tab when player switches between VAB/SPH. * Fix the highlight and navigation colors not being set on game start when the settings file did not exist. * Fixed a bug that stopped the player from progressing in the Basic Science Tutorial. * Fix Action Groups app header in flight. * Fix Lights toggle image not showing all rays properly in Altimiter UI. * Fix comm link not displaying correct strength when focusing on a relay satellite. * Fix node icons being rendered on top of other Flight scene UI elements. * Fix broken off solar panels, fairings and shroud parts left on the surface causing vessels to remain in landed state after they take off. * Fix Dont Show Again not working for Delete all Messages functionality. * Fix LV-T45 config by removing duplicate definition of testmodule. * Fixed veteran kerbals dissappearing when being dismissed. * Fix Navball render issue when Maneuver mode is enabled. * Fix resources not being displayed in tracking station in Prospecting Eeloo Scenario. * Fix asteroids having incorrect mass when docking. * Fix bug causing kerbals to not respawn in Space Center. * Fix bug causing difficulty settings to revert when reverting flight. * Fix maneuver node label not showing when switching selected node. * Fix an issue where Maneuver Mode's Maneuver Editor's Gizmos can enlarge or shrink when clicked extremely fast. * Fix 3.75m decoupler and separator drag cubes creating too much drag. * Fix issue where some vessels were not being reset to the terrain when loading them in a save game where the game terrain detail settings had been changed since it was last saved. * Fix a different tone of white in the white fairing variant. * Fix Launch platform selector getting stuck when opening dialogs while it is already open. * Fix Portrait Gallery when EVAing and all gallery pictures have been hidden. * Fix lighting on specular shaded part icons. * Fix 3D object masking in Editor and RnD scenes for Windows platform and openGL forced. * Pinned PAW stays open in the editor on click events and on part selection. * Add some clarity in the strategies that have no-duration (Bail-out and Sell-out) so players dont expect them to remain active over time. * Fix Z-100 battery light showing white in toolbar and tooltip icons sometimes. * Fix fuel overlay becoming offset when dragging the root part by hiding the overlay during that drag. * Remove Jettison event for Jettison parts that are fairings as they cannot be jettisoned manually. * Fix hitching in the main menu. * Fix visual artefacts of atmosphere planets in map view at high timewarp rates. * Interior lights of ship cockpits and passenger modules are linked to the toggle lights action group. * Fixed bug causing empty stages not to be deleted. * Fix label overlap that was happening in some languages. * Part Action Windows will always close when its part is destroyed. * Fixed bug where drain valve values were being defaulted to true. * Fixed bug which caused some building lights to remain on during the day. * Fix camera out of frustum error when reloading flight scene in some scenarios. * Fix inertial tensor errors when reloading flight scene in some scenarios. * Fix log messages when running missions with test experiment node and node is set to any experiment. * Maneuver mode UI negative handles don't flip functionality anymore after adjusting the tool sensitivity. * Docking Port Actions now fire docking ports on same vessel. * The technology path lines don't disappear anymore. * Fix tutorial 'orbit 101' getting stuck when trying to get to the inclination value of 10 degrees. * Correctly handle engines burning across stages for dV calcs. * Fix decoupler handling when no parts attached to decoupler for dV calcs. * Fix stage UI dV display fluctuating up and down whilst burning engines. * Fixed NRE when changing the variant of a surface-attached LV-1 'Ant'. * Fix not copying resource amounts when copying parts in VAB/SPH. * Fix contract part naming to use real part names and not 'research lab' or 'materials bay'. * Fix for some keybindings activating when typing in toolbox part search in VAB/SPH. * Fix camera shake issues in the SPH when using shift and hovering over UI elements. * Fixed disappearing mode toggle button in KerbNet dialog. * Fix for Shadow Projection Settings resetting. * Fix PAW group headers being cut off in some languages. * Fixed an issue where the UT field in Precision Maneuver Editor wasn't able to display Universal Time in the 'y * Fix 'Cannot deploy while stowed.' bug for service bays. * Fix manuever node handles changing value incorrectly when dragging 'anti' handles. * Fix randomization error in Sentinel causing short lifetimes of discovered asteroids. * Fix Exception storm when inflatable heat shield destroyed by overheat in some situations. * Fix incorrect Line Break - Tracking Station - The string 'Last seen * PAW title now matches the new name of an asteroid after being renamed. * Maneuver node no longer moves along the planned trajectory instead of the current one when moving it ahead in time using the Maneuver Mode UI input field. * Fix crew assignment being blocked after loading second ship. * Fix the vesselSituation on unloaded space objects being Flying instead of Orbiting. * Fix flickering Celestial body self-shadow issues with DX11 platform. * Fix icons in map view not rescaling properly when UI scale changes. * Fix the EVA 'Board' button prompt not disappearing when the target vessel is destroyed. * Fix unlocalized label for mk1-3 pod lights. * Fixed the Island runway textures. * Fix camera behavior when camera mode is activated multiple times in flight mode. * Fix loading of Modders KSPedia slides. * Fix beginner tutorials being locked out after pressing Save or Load game buttons. * Fix NRE flood when creating or selecting a maneuver node with the Maneuver Mode UI Intercept tab open. * Fix Set Orbit cheat to allow rendezvous with vessels in an escaping sphere of influence situation. * Fairing panels now display the proper texture you see in the editor instead of pure white. * Fix incorrect drag cube and class size on Asteroids after they have been grappled and subsequently ungrappled or reloaded via scene change or save game load.

+++ Mods

* Add IPartMassModifier to ModuleJettison. Allows mods to implement mass change on jettison. * Fix application of mass to resource ratios in ModuleResourceConverter recipes. * Renamed a duplicated shader "KSP/Particles/Alpha Blended" to now have one named that and another named "KSP/Particles/Alpha Blended Scenery".

===================== Making History 1.10.0====================

+++ Improvements

* Tracking of vessels now works for creator defined vessels that undock and get created during a mission from another vessel. Mission creators can now assign parts that have had vessel rename and priority set to test against in mission nodes. * Moved localization files to base game. * Add checkbox to FlyThrough Test Node to allow the map marker to be hidden * Added a new icon for Test Grapple node in Mission Builder. * Add setting (MISSION_NAVIGATION_GHOSTING) to show nav marker ghosting when the target is behind you. Defaulted to on for all mission games (including ESA). * Added a new Grapple test node to verify if a grabbing unit took hold of a space object. * Space Objects can now be selected in the Distance to node. * Test vessel velocity can now be compared relative to vessels, kerbals, and space objects instead of just the orbited CB. * Nodes in Making History support comets the same as asteroids.

+++ Localization

* Fixed wrong localization for asteroid nodes in mission builder. * Fix descriptions for Shrimp and SWM-94 parts.

+++ Parts

* Kickback booster revamp and ESA variant. * Added new variants to the fairings size 1.5 and 3. Now we have them in white, black and white, orange, silver and gold. * Added a white and yellow variant to the size 1.5 and size 4 TD decouplers and size 1.5 and size 4 TS separators.

+++ Bugfixes

* Fix scenario loading in Mission Builder scene causing Mission Issues. * Fix Vessel/Part tracking on Nodes for Dock/Undock/Decouple/Couple events during a mission. * Added Create Comet node to be used on the Mission Editor. Under the Spawnables section. * Fixed minor typo in Intermediate Tutorial for Missions * Fixed label size to better suit other languages in SpawnAsteroid, mission builder. * Fix label displaying incorrect experiment for collected science data when prompted to overwrite. * Fix incorrect orbit around The Sun for asteroids spawning in missions. * Fix lighting brightness on displayed Kerbals and Vessels in the GAP. * Fix bug that impeded time warping after finishing a mission. * Fix Dawn of Space Age mission failing inmediately after lift off in some cases. * Fix drag cubes for the 3.75m Structural Tubes. * Fixed mirror symmetry placement for structural panels. * Fix GAP vessel filter ribbon disappearing when selecting alternate vessel/part selector in the SAP. * Fix #autoLOC_8005448 showing in Mission builder test distance validation report. * Fix bug causing unlocked servos to be locked when launching * Fix missing line break in node description. * Fix log messages when running missions with test experiment node and node is set to any experiment. * Fix log messages about Gene Kerman's animations being legacy when using him in message nodes in a mission. * Fix misnamed FL-TX440 Tank variants so they are consistent. * Fix a number of typos in the 'Dawn of the Space Age' mission. * Fix wrong size category for FL-R5 RCS Fuel Tank and the Heat Shield (1.875m) parts. * Fix stutter and error in planet viewer transition. * Fix button text issues on Play mission dialog for non-English text.

+++ Bugfix

* Fixed erratic positioning of Dessert Airfield windmills.

==================== Breaking Ground 1.5.0=====================

+++ Improvements

* Solar Panel and RTG now displays the power units produced based on Experience trait settings in the Part extended tooltip. * Added action groups for the fan blades for toggling the Roll, Yaw and Pitch controls independently and also Turn them all ON or OFF.

+++ Localization

* Localized Blades Control Rotations.

+++ Parts

* Fan Shrouds now have a node stack on top.

+++ Bugfixes

* Fix an issue where the Track Editor would remain open after switching vessels. * Fix for localization overlapping bug for all languages in graphics settings. * Fix spelling errors in robot scanner arm parts. * Fix tooltip not appearing for max limit axis. * Fixed bug when a KAL controlling another KAL's parameters play position stopped. * Fix issue with motors engaging on launch when they have been set to disengaged in editor. * Fixed mirror symmetry placement for  propellers, blades, alligator hinges and rotational servos. * Fix Autostrut on Robotic Parts being cancelled (set to off) in some use cases. * Fix Autostrut debug visualization on Robotic Parts when locked/unlocked. * Fix the FTE-1 Drain Valve releasing particles when switching between VAB and SPH. * Fix non-cargo parts being able to be stored in a cargo container. * Fix Hinges and Pistons sometimes returning to build angle when locked. *Fix lock/unlock of robotic parts not working when fired from an action group.

Kerbal Space Program 1.10: Shared Horizons is now available on Steam and will soon be available on GOG and other third-party resellers. You will also be able to download it from the KSP Store if you already own the game.

Happy Launchings!

[elgaberino-mcoc]

KITTY PRYDE the SHADOWCAT

The idea: a playable Marvel Contest of Champions character in the Mutant class based on any iteration of Kitty Pryde’s long and storied history in comic books. This blog entry is intended to explore whether Kitty Pryde is a strong candidate for Marvel Contest of Champions.

Why Summoners Care

She has a rich history with many team-ups (read: synergies, and not just mutants). Even though she is a classic character, her exploits are fresh, current, recent, and always relevant to big plot lines. 

By most measures, she is a bigger deal than many Mutant-classed and mutant-related who are all already in MCOC, including Bishop, Cable, Domino, Havok, Mister Sinister, Omega Red, Warlock, and Sunspot.

In January 2020, Frontline: MCOC’s editor Dan was interviewed by the MCOC Content Creator Program’s Kabam Thel. (These interviews always ask the content creator what one champ they would add to the game.) Dan chose Kitty Pryde. Elaborating on Twitter in September 2020, Dan said that “For me, Kitty is on that Jean Grey/Emma Frost/Storm tier of Top X-Ladies of all-time.” He noted that “If we're going by comics, Kitty is 2x Jubilee on appearances, and just had a lot more impact in her stories. She's also the best character Chris Claremont ever created, and is the character he writes the best. So in a way, she is the definitive X-Man from the guy that made the X-Men the X-Men.”

Kitty Pryde and Summoners

She’s a widely requested champ. On the MCOC Wishlist Poll on Ranker, Kitty has been in the top 10 since 2019. She is one of only 4-5 characters to have ever been the #1 ranked champ on the poll. She is also among only a handful, as of December 2020, to have received more than 1,000 Summoner upvotes. At end of year 2020 she has 1,125 upvotes and sits comfortably at #6 most-wanted champ behind Beta Ray Bill and ahead of Morbius and Kraven.

Kitty is also content creator StarfighterMCOC's #1 most-wanted champ, and Frontline: MCOC’s #1 most-wanted champ (see above), and she lands in Katy Candy's top five most wanted.

Raw Potential for Synergies

Besides her romance with Colossus, her membership on the X-Men and Excalibur (including her affiliation with the Soul Sword), and leading the new House of X “Marauders” and “Hellfire Trading Company,” as the Red Queen, Kitty is one of the mutants who has many connections outside of mutant-oriented stories. Kitty joined and even briefly led the Guardians of the Galaxy and has shared some adventures with Spider-Man. She was also trained to be a ninja under Ogun, who figures prominently in Wolverine’s adventures connected to Japan, and who currently possesses Shogun.

The following are Other MCOC Gabe’s synergy ideas, originally listed on Kitty’s item description on the MCOC Wishlist Poll.

“X-Women” with (any four of) Phoenix, Storm, Boom-Boom, Jubilee, Psylocke, and Rogue; “Guardiennes” with (any four of) Gamora, Phyla-Vell, Mantis, Moondragon, Nebula, and Angela; “Soul Sword” with Magik, Magik II, Margali, and Colossus (Future); “Possessed” with Dracula and Ogun or "Star Lords" with Star Lord or “Romance” with any and all versions of Colossus. 

She’s in Other Games

Mobile

Some mobile games in which Kitty Pryde has already appeared include Marvel Future Fight, Marvel Puzzle Quest, and on cards in Marvel War of Heroes and X-Men: Battle of the Atom. 

Update December 3, 2020: she has also been teased for Marvel Strike Force.

General Character Pool

Unlike most mutants, Kitty has appeared Some Marvel games that feature the entire pool of Marvel characters have featured a playable Kitty Pryde include Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, Marvel: Avengers Alliance, and Marvel Heroes.

X-Men Video Games

Kitty has appeared as a playable character in X-Men II: the Fall of the Mutants (1990) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) (pictured above with Lockheed). 

She reportedly had a role in X-Men: The Official Game (2006), which was designed to reflect Ellen Page’s portrayal in the FOX motion picture of the same name. She is also reportedly mentioned in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

She’s in the Battlerealm

Wolverine mentioned her by name in the February 2019 event quest dialogue. 

“I told Kat not to try it,” says Wolverine, “But she insisted nothing was wrong. Hell of a time gettin’ her outta that wall.”

Write-Ups by Summoners

Original Description Migrated from the MCOC Wishlist Poll, which preexisted this blog 

“She walks through ...her opponents? She can reach right past Armor Up and your Force Field. Paired with any Soulsword synergy champ, her special 2 can power lock and her special 3 does more damage per stacked buff. Add her little buddy Lockheed and you've got some fire-breathing attacks.”

Further thoughts by Other MCOC Gabe

Plausibly she should have phasing, telepathic resistance, and capabilities that can distrupt Tech champs, possibly EMP, Accuracy Reduction, and Shock.

Kitty also has the ability to disrupt any technology through which she phases, short circuiting or de-powering it. This concept forms the basis for a Theory Thursday entry suggesting that champs of all classes that employ technology could have a #circuitry hashtag that would allow Kitty to affect them.

Editor’s note. This entry remains under construction, as I have yet to do a full review of community archives searching for Summoner work-ups.

NEWS

December 3, 2020 ► Today the Marvel Strike Force Twitter account teased Kitty Pryde and Lockheed for their game. With her addition to MSF, Kitty Pryde is now in all the major Marvel mobile games except MCOC.

Septemper 25, 2020 ► Kitty has fallen to #4 most wanted champ.

September 14, 2020 ► According to the MCOC Wishlist Poll, Kitty Pryde is the #1 most-wanted champ among the MCOC Summoner community.

August 28, 2020 ► No dice. With the reveal of the September champs (Apocalypse and Professor X) it appears the pirate theme was not a reference to Kitty Pryde’s imminently joining any rosters.

August 26, 2020 ► In-game messages reveal that the September event quest, which some have theorized will bring the arrival of Kitty Pryde, will have a pirates theme and will be associated with Krakoa and House of X. Krakoa is the island on which Mutants congregate to live and coexist peacefully. Kitty famously failed to enter Krakoa, due to some interaction of her powers with the gateway that sorts out non-mutants. She instead became the leader of the new Marauders, ...dressed as a pirate captain.

July 1, 2020 ► (a) An in-app cutscene at the end of the monthly Event Quest features heavy House of X (“HOX”) flavor. Kitty features prominently in the HOX plot lines. (b) The “Champions of the Contest” roadmap Champion Tease suggests a coming other-half to a duo to which Magneto belongs. Many theorize this will be Professor X. In recent House of X story lines, Magneto has teamed with Professor X in leading a new Mutant civilization. 

So could Kitty be the Mutant who can pose a threat to both of them? Most think a more likely fit would be Apocalypse. But Kitty does lead the pirate “Marauders” and “Hellfire Trading Company” as the captain Red Queen. The Hellfire Club has been a threat to Professor X and Magneto before. Could Kabam consider her a threat by extension?

February 6, 2019 ► In in-app Event Quest dialogue, a “Kat” is mentioned in passing during a conversation about things happening to mutants in the Battlerealm. The character gets stuck in a wall, which would seem to refer to Kitty Pryde’s phasing ability.

[breezeinmonochromenight]

Eh, fuck it. I’m goin’ in (by request). 

In head actual canon, Vergil is written as a quintessential anti-villain, but later on also displays quite a few of the traits of a Byronic hero.

Anti-Villains usually have mostly good, well-meaning, or reasonable end goals (e.g. seeking power to protect themselves). However, their means of getting to those goals are pretty dark — usually anging from undesirable to evil. Alternatively, their goals may even be selfish or have long-term consequences for others that they don't care about, but they usually do have some good in them and would typically team up with the hero if their goals/means to achieve those goals didn't conflict with those of the hero or the hero’s ideals. (e.g. totally kill Arkham for being a traitor and a clown - not necessarily in the correct order - but still want to use your fancy new rotating Monopoly property to gain unspeakable power).

Byronic Heroes have strong passions regarding their ideals, but are nonetheless still deeply flawed individuals who may act in ways which are socially reprehensible because it is contrary to mainstream society’s beliefs. Byronic heroes are on their own side and have their own set of beliefs that they will not bow for. They will not change those beliefs for anyone. A Byronic hero is a character whose internal conflicts are heavily romanticized and one who ponders and wrestles with their beliefs and the struggle that comes with those beliefs. Vergil does exactly this by being a jade-colored glasses type cynic that has a dark and troubled past that he was shaped by. He even has the romantic element of this trope in the form of the mysterious tryst that produced his son.

Both of these are well-used tropes that can be used to add a lot of dimension to a character. And in this case, it is, and this is why people are interested in Vergil. The writers of DMC have pretty much stuck to this characterization to different degrees to reflect Vergil’s experiences — with him going from a straight-faced, no-nonsense, arrogant teenager with a ton of repressed emotional baggage in DMC3 to a slightly softer, more sarcastic version of himself in DMC5 that’s willing to win the age-old rivalry by default... a thing Vergil would never have done in DMC3. Ever. If one was to actually shut up and pay attention, they might pick up on just how big a deal these tiny little changes in behavior actually are as emotionally repressed as Vergil.

In the canon script, Vergil is actually a bit of a fucking brat in DMC3, and does not really give a shit about anything except his pursuit of power, and he pays dearly for the decisions he makes he makes as a jilted teenager at the end of the game. He cares about only himself at the beginning of DMC5 because he is finally fucking free of his Nelo Angelo prison, but he is dying and he is desperate and desperate people do desperate things. 

Whenever I see a very daft woman-child with clearly lot of hang-ups attacking people in fandoms and screeching nonsense, I often wonder ‘what went wrong?’. A weak sense of belonging is correlated to depression, and groups with shared interests, more often than not, do wonders for mental health. I also notice that women-children like this tend to make fun of other women and men (and they are men if they are in a certain age range - 18+ generally - manhood is not defined by who they are attracted to) and non-binary folks for ‘fawning’ over a character, I wonder just how fucking deeply sexually repressed you have to be in order to be this angry over other people expressing affection/shared interests in a fictional person.

I’m reminded of the time they mentioned those 3 background characters ‘fangirling’ over Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, because he was traditionally handsome guy and they, like the first time viewer, didn’t know just how awful he actually was. This doesn’t really have anything to do with the original topic, at all, so I also find myself wondering this person is projecting their anger issues onto random fictional characters again, and why they seem to have such a grudge against women or anyone they feel is completion/threat.

I’m also reminded that they clearly don’t understand Fight Club, either, or they wouldn’t be emulating Tyler Durden and using snowflake to describe both real people and fictional characters. They would get that the movie is a warning against hyper-masculinity and that, in calling things ‘snowflake’ in true Tyler Durden fashion, they create a very special type of irony where they externalize an idea about not being unique in order to create their own unique identity in opposition. 

I also wonder why they mention the whole Punisher thing at all, and just assume they’re raging because because their Twitter got suspended for death threats to politicians/harassing game devs/getting destroyed in political debates by actual fucking racists and Neo-Nazis that should have been fucking cake to clown on, because all this person can do is spew the same 5-7 insults and threats despite these people being legitimately horrible people. Then I move on, because this is all fucking ridiculous as is, and I realize that my thoughts are already gonna be long enough.

Lastly, I wonder what clown fuckers and monster fuckers have to do with Vergil in this context? Like at all? Regardless of my own personal preferences, I only see someone who is angry over other people’s sexual preferences and attraction because they don’t understand their own and going off on weird, unrelated tangents because of it. It makes me wonder if they would be angry if I expressed interest in space Nazis who are not attractive by conventional means and go about being complicit to mass genocide on a planetary scale while also actually committing patricide?  

Christ on a Bike.

*Sigh* I have to do all the heavy lifting, don’t I?

Might really is everything (to Vergil, because he sees it as a means to an end and the only to avoid being hurt again). And he takes this way, way too far and pays for it dearly.

Some people are too arrogant and too stupid to look past their own nose* and try to understand that people can make cataclysmically stupid decisions when they get pushed too far into a corner and see no other way out.

The way I see it, Vergil and Dante were already abnormal children that had a severely fucked up childhood — one that was defined by a horrific event they experienced from two separate, very different perspectives. Children are incredibly impressionable and their brains are like sponges — I could not imagine being scared and alone with something after me and having no one come look for me. It would scar me no matter what the explanation was. It’s reasonable believe that a 7-8 year old child who experiences something like that would grow up looking for a way to ensure it can never happen to them again, all while festering feelings of jealously toward a sibling who was shown (inadvertent) partiality on top of anger/betrayal because they didn’t understand why mom didn’t love them enough to come help. Kids can’t process trauma like adults, and this kind of shit mentally fucks children up in the real world for a lifetime. Traumatized minds don’t just ‘bounce back’ from something like that when given new evidence on a traumatic event — brains function like computer processors, but they aren’t just fixable like them. I’m sure if one was to actually look, they might actually see a fairly poignant message in all this.

People who are too arrogant often turn out not to be as smart as they think they are. If you’re excessively confident in yourself, you’re not going to listen to other people. (Note: Good job! this is ironic as fuck but the one line I didn’t have to edit!)

The only time Vergil smiles (& it’s a small, but genuine one — a grimace is literally the opposite of a smile and involves a frown, clenched teeth, etc.) is when he’s fighting Dante. This is because it is something he finally knows again — something that’s not part of a ~20 year long personal-made hell inside a suit of Angelo armor. There’s no real heat or tension in their DMC5 fights, and it’s comforting thing for both of them. Judging them for working out their shit this way is moronic because a.) they’re half-devil and don’t follow human social norms and b.) it’s a work of fiction anyway, you fucking numpty.

We don’t know if Vergil has remorse for the events he’s involved in because Vergil would not outwardly show remorse for raising the Temen-ni-gru or Temen-ni-gru 2: Horticulture Edition — that would be out-of-character for him. Any fan of the series should know this. However, if V is anything to go by (and he should be, because, y’know.. 👀), then yes, Vergil likely is remorseful.

The Abusive Parents trope is played with between Vergil and Nero, both with the loss of Nero’s arm and Vergil’s involuntary 20+ year absence because of his ownstubbornness and destructive decisions. Vergil did not know he even has a son and is emotionally constipated anyway, and Nero’s a hair-trigger hothead that wears his heart on his sleeve more than he is (probably even) aware of. Nero’s probably gonna be way too similar to teenaged Dante for Vergil’s tastes, and they’re gonna clash a lot, which creates drama intended to be entertaining for the audience.

Nothing says “I have fully missed the point” and “holy shit what went wrong in my life?” quite like someone arguing the same poorly researched 5-7 takes they have been arguing for like 6 months now on multiple social media sites. 

I saw this one Youtube commenter a little while back and I almost spit out my drink... I knew some people that didn’t like DMC5 were obsessively angry to the point of being totally fucking mental about people liking the game, but arguing in YouTube comments? Holy fucking shit that is another level of feral (and not the fun kind). I’d describe this person as a “cuck” or “bootlicker” but then I realize I’m not like 12 and don’t say the n-word on Xbox live, and that those insults don’t make sense anyway.

And this confusing shit, making me wonder what fucking game this person was playing?: 

If one is going to use a quote to end something, like, say, a legitimate character critique that is not steeped in the bias of their opinion, it makes the most sense to use a quote from something/someone like an objectively important literary work or author. Since Vergil is a Literary Boi™ and there may be “sci-fi / horror fangirls” reading this, I’ll throw a bone out to ‘em (since we’re at the end of this dog walk) and use a quote from Guy de Maupassant’s Le Hora et autres novelles fantastiques:    

“A sick thought can devour the body's flesh more than fever or consumption.”

For the unfamiliar: Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) is often considered the father of the modern short story, and used pessimistic and disillusioned terms to depict the lives and destinies and interactions of the people and society as a whole in his stories. His short stories Le Hora and Diary of a Madman inspired the 1963 Vincent Price horror movie of the same name as the latter. Maupassant’s later life was heavily characterized by self-isolation and paranoia, and he penned his own epitaph before he attempted to slit his own throat with a letter opener and died in an asylum at age 42:

“J’ai tout convoité, et je n’ai joui de rien.”

I will let whoever reads this translate, and think, on that. 

—

(And no, no sources cited section because I’ve never been a particularly religious bitch.)

*It’s an idiom, don’t even try to spin that shit as anti-Semitic you absolute fucking loon.

[thenightling]

My top thirteen favorite individual Sandman issues (Opinion)

Keep reading below...

Warning: Contains some spoilers.

13.  The Sandman Special 1: Song of Orpheus.

The Song of Orpheus is a backstory revealing Morpheus’ falling out with his son Orpheus and the slight revisions Neil Gaiman made to the classic Greek myth of Orpheus visiting The Underworld to try to retrieve his wife.  

In The Sandman, Morpheus is Orpheus’ estranged father.  I love the character of Morpheus but I’ll put it bluntly right here and now.  He used to be an asshole.  He may have even been easy to brand as a villain during his backstory.   

Much of The Sandman is Morpheus’s redemption, setting right the terrible wrongs of his past.   And in Brief lives he is forced to face the sins of his past in regard to how he treated his son.  But here is where we get that tragic backstory and a raw, cold taste of what a jerk Morpheus used to be as a contrast to how much he grows later.     

12.   Sound of her Wings  (The Sandman issue 8)

The Sound of Her wings is the issue of The Sandman that introduces us to Death of The Endless, Dream’s older sister (though she looks younger).  Today she is the official living embodiment of Death for all of DC comics.    Though I have to confess the main reason I like this one is how adorkable Morpheus is when he’s feeding birds.   And that happy expression on his face at the end of the issue. You don’t see that too often with him.   

11.  Calliope (The Sandman Issue 17)  

Just as Song of Orpheus shows us the assholary of Morpheus’ past, Calliope shows us just how much he has changed.   The story is brutal and difficult to read but you also get to see Morpheus as an avenging angel figure, saving his ex-wife from an abusive master who sees her as something less than human.

Poor Calliope was captured and enslaved by mortals who have abused her in the most sadistic and insidious ways.  It’s not just a man abusing a woman (that’s bad enough) but you also see a dehumanization.  The writer currently exploiting and abusing poor Calliope has thought processes along the lines of “It would be wrong if she was a real woman.” 

The fact that she is a muse- a supernatural entity- causes him to treat her as something less than a human being. This is actually a recurrence in The Sandman as we also saw how inhumanely Morpheus’ own captors treated him. 

What happens to Calliope is a chilling display of the inhumanity that could also be an allegory for casual misogyny and to a certain extent, even racism.   The cruelty is such that it’s hard to feel sympathy when Morpheus unleashes his anger on Calliope’s abuser.         

This is also the first time we almost see Morpheus apologize to someone for his previous behavior but he doesn’t actually start doing that until The Season of Mists.

10.   Soft Places   (The Sandman Issue 39)   

Soft Places is a story that can be read at nearly any point in The Sandman.  What I like most about this issue is if you pay careful attention you realize that when Morpheus makes his appearance in this story he is actually between issues 1 and 2 of The Sandman.  He was on his way back to the castle, weakened from his long captivity.  And Marco Polo (lost in time and space) shows him pity and compassion and offers him his water.  For this reason Morpheus helps him to get back home.  

Morpheus sacrifices the last of his own strength to do this, leaving himself at the indefinite mercy of The Soft Place.   Thankfully Gregory (the rather dog-like Gargoyle) finds him and takes him home to his master, Cain at The House of Mystery.

Not only did this give a satisfying story between the first two issues but also teased an what was yet to come and what was happening “Off camera” after the events of A Game of you.   

9.   The Wake: Epilogue: Sunday Morning (The Sandman issue 73) 

I always liked Hob Gadling (Morpheus’ immortal / formerly human) friend.   Here we get a brief story about Robert  “Hob” Gadling.  He also tells about a dream he had and he is given the chance to die but (as always) chooses against it.

Hob’s indefinite life may have actually secured Morpheus’ own posthumous existence as a Dream Entity.   The dream Hob had in this story was of Morpheus (after his death) and Destruction of The Endless.   Here’s the thing though.  At the time Hob had this dream Destruction really was visiting The Dreaming.  And Hob had no idea what connection Destruction had with his deceased friend.  He only knew Destruction as a street artist he had seen once. 

The implication I get here is that Daniel brought Morpheus back as a dream entity.  And with someone like Hob there to potentially dream of him eternally that secures Morpheus’ post-humous existance and freedom from having to be Dream of The Endless for all eternity.   This is how I choose to interpret it.   Call me a dreamer. ;-) 

The artwork is also gorgeous in all of The Wake.  

8.    Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Sandman issue 19)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream happens to be my favorite Shakespearean play so this was a real treat.   We got a fun story and a dark yet also delightfully wicked version of Robin Goodfellow (Puck).  And we got a loving nod to Shakespearean history.  

Morpheus has Shakspeare perform the A Midsummer Night’s Dream play for the real faery court.  And all sort of things happen as well.

If you pay attention you notice Titania tempts Shakespeare’s little son. She also lures him to eat faery fruit.  And anyone who knows faery lore knows what that mean.  She has laid claim to the boy.   He will become a faery and belong to her. And that is a nice, bitter-sweet way of addressing the loss of Shakespeare’s little boy.

The story also has one of the most unforgettable Sandman quotes.   “Tales and dreams are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ash, and forgot.” 

7.   Overture Part 6 (The Sandman Overture Part 6)

I love The Sandman: Overture with all my heart.   And it was difficult to pick a specific issue of it to be a favorite.   I chose part 6 because this is the moment where Dream, Desire, and Hope save the universe.   The metaphor is brilliantly obvious.  

The artwork is gorgeous.  And we get to see both Dream and Desire be heroes (”just for one day.”)

You also get to see exactly what happened to Morpheus right before his capture in The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes.  

6.   The Doll’s House Part 4: Men of Good Fortune. (The Sandman issue 13)

I mentioned before that I love Hob Gadling.  This is the story that introduced us to him. Not only do we get the backstory of Morpheus’ immortal friend but we also get to see our proud antagonist finally swallow his pride and admit that yes, he has a friend.   It’s one of the sweetest issues of The Sandman while also showing how people (in general) don’t really change.  Individuals might but human beings are still human beings and the complaints of the thirteenth century are eerily similar to the complaints of the late twentieth century. This story is also the first time (I think) we see Morpheus say his indignant “You dare?”   

5.  The Parliament of Rooks (The Sandman Issue 40)

This is a fun issue.  Baby Daniel lucid dreams his way to The House of Secrets where  Eve, Cain, and Abel tell stories to him.  Eve tells her own “three-in-one” tale and Abel introduces us to the concept of “Lil Endless.”    

4.   Season of Mists Part 2. (The Sandman issue 23)

This was a great issue.  After all the build up of Morpheus planning to return to Hell to rescue Nada (whom he wrongfully left there ten-thousand-years before) and the fear and dread involved with going back there we find out that Lucifer has quit.   

Lucifer explains to Morpheus why he’s shutting down Hell (Dialogue adapted by the Lucifer TV series for a conversation between Lucifer and Linda). He the asks Morpheus to help him cut off his own wings and finally Lucifer leave Morpheus with the key to Hell.  

Now poor Morpheus must figure out what to do with the abandoned dimension and deal with the various Gods, goddesses and creatures of mythology and folklore who have come to try to lay claim to it.  

3.   Sleep of The Just (The Sandman issue 1)

This is the very first issue of The Sandman and it was very different from the first issue of any other comic book I had ever read before.   A LOT happened here.  Where most comic book writers would have taken this story told in this issue and stretched it out for twelve issues, this was concise and brilliantly written.

The Order of Ancient Mysteries, lead by Roderick Burgess, summon and trap Morpheus AKA Dream of The Endless.   They were trying to summon his sister, Death, but got him by mistake.   He is held prisoner for seventy-two-years before finally escaping and seeking revenge on his captor.  

What I like most about this issue is that the story really ropes you in and the internal artwork reminds me of a classic horror comic, something I really appreciated.

2.  A hope in Hell (The Sandman Issue 4)

This is The Sandman issue where I truly realized I was reading something utterly different.  When I first started reading The Sandman it was mostly to learn Lucifer’s comic book back story but I fast got hooked on THIS story and forgot all about Luci. 

I must confess that though I am a life-long comic book reader I have a habit of skimming or out right skipping most combat scenes.  I find them boring and often over the top.   (I was a teenager in the 90s and early 2000s and got burnt out on over-the-top action scenes a long time ago).  So I fully anticipated having to skim over certain parts of The Sandman.

However...

It was when I got to “the battle” in A Hope in Hell that I finally let my guard down and realized this was something completely different.  This was never going to be like any other comic I had ever read.  There would be no giant factory explosions or characters punching each other on busy center-fold pages full of sound effects and fire.   

When I got the line “I am hope.” I finally let my guard down and understood the real magick in what I was reading.  That was the moment I fell in love with The Sandman. 

 Also I love David Bowie.

1.  Imperfect Hosts (The Sandman issue 2).   

As you may have guessed A hope in Hell PROBABLY should be at number 1 on this list but I have a soft spot for Imperfect Hosts for what a delightful surprise it was for me.

I love Gothic Horror.  I grew up loving anthology horror like Tales from the crypt.   Imagine my surprise to discover The Sandman’s minion “Nightmares” entailed old school horror hosts.  Even Destiny of The Endless, the mad mod witch (The Fashion Thing) ,The Hecatae, and Lucien The Librarian were all old horror hosts. 

To see someone like the Crypt Keeper-esque Cain taking care of the weakened Dream Lord was a treat for me.   I also noticed the loving homages to horror comics artist Bernie Wrightson. 

Bernie Wrightson holds a special place in my heart because many years ago my mother gave me a large coloring book signed by Bernie Wrightson.  I didn’t recongize the name but she recongized his style as something I like.  And she was right.   It turned out I already had several books that had been drawn by him but had never checked the name.   I have long since lost that coloring book... and my mother...   But Bernie was a reminder of how well she sometimes knew me.  And this issue reminded me of Bernie Wrightson and so reminded me of her.  So Imperfect Hosts had to take the number 1 spot.   

It also introduced us to the adorable baby Goldie.