#tom would be the goat at horror games

[fartp00py]

bullies streamer au

[kmalexander]

The 2020 Cosmic Horror Holiday Gift Guide

The phrase “Black Friday” has a more menacing tone in 2020—especially here in the United States. Hopefully, you’re following the advice of the experts, staying home, laying low, wearing masks, and washing your hands. But a pandemic shouldn’t stop gift giving! So, once again, I took some time and assembled my List of Lists for 2020. In it, you’ll find a plethora of paraphernalia for the weird-fiction fanatic, cosmic-horror connoisseur, or mythos maniac in your life. As with previous years, I’ve worked to assemble a list of exceptional items for all ages and budgets.

There’s a few changes this year. First, I’m now linking to IndieBound for all books. Please do what you can to support your local bookshops and small businesses. Odds are they can get you anything Amazon can, and it’ll help out your community. Secondly, where possible, I’m also linking to the author’s personal webpages. Check them out. Follow them. It’s a nice way to stay current with what’s happening in the world of weird fiction. Please remember, while I’ve ordered these by price, the prices and availability are subject to change. I don’t have any control over that. Happy shopping!

 QUICK LINKS 

• Books • Music • Apparel • Games • • Housewares • Miskatonic •

Books

Mother Hydra’s Mythos Rhymes by Jarred W. Wallace $9.95 + Shipping (Paperback)

This mock children’s book features twenty-one sinister nursery rhymes twisted with a Cthulhu Mythos bent and illustrated by the incredible Heather Hudson. Also included is a complete Edward Gorey-style alphabet. Every budding cultist should learn their ABCs after all.

The Worm And His Kings by Hailey Piper $13.00 + Shipping (Paperback) $6.99 (eBook)

This arrived only a few weeks ago, and I can’t wait to dive in. Set in New York City in 1990, the story follows Monique as she hunts for her missing girlfriend. But the trail goes much deeper than she realizes, sending Monique into a subterranean world of enigmatic cultists and shadowy creatures.

The Stars Were Right by K. M. Alexander $14.00 + Shipping (Paperback) $2.99 (eBook)

I’m nearly finished with Book Four’s edits. So, if you haven’t, now is the perfect time to start reading my Bell Forging Cycle. Follow Waldo Bell as he is sent careening through the multi-level megalopolis of Lovat, fighting to clear his name as a bloodthirsty killer stalks him. It’s mystery and monsters, chases and cults, and an ancient evil in a world that is similar but not quite like our own.

RADIO by J. Rushing $15.99 + Shipping (Paperback) $3.99 (eBook)

A jazz-infused, opium-soaked, historical fantasy with a transgressive edge that explodes from the opening chapter and never relents until its final pages—a welcome addition to modern fantasy literature and weird enough that it earned a place on this list.

Murder Ballads And Other Horrific Tales by John Hornor Jacobs $16.95 + Shipping (Paperback) $7.95 (eBook)

Seems like it’s becoming a tradition to see a new book from John Hornor Jacobs on this list every year, and it’s no surprise. He’s arguably one of the best mythos writers working today. This collection of recent horror and crime short stories takes you through tales involving old gods to malevolent artificial intelligences, plus it includes the sequel to his 2011 novel, Southern Gods.

The Cipher by Kathe Koja $17.95 + Shipping (Paperback) $3.99 (eBook)

Part haunted house story, part body horror, part descent-into-madness tale all told in the style of Transgressive Literature. The Cipher is one of those stories I was shocked I hadn’t read until this year. Koja writes stunningly physical characters and knotted complex relationships that feel eerily familiar to anyone who’s spent time in artist circles. Enjoy the Fun Hole. (One of my 2020 Three Great Horror Reads for Halloween.)

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones $26.99 + Shipping (Hardcover) $9.99 (eBook)

At its heart, this is a horror novel about growing up poor and native in western Montana. But The Only Good Indians also a novel about revenge, mistakes, and their extended consequences. I blew through it. I grew up not too far from where this novel is set, and I have yet to find a recent author that captures the behavior and actions of the people in that area quite as well as Jones. You’ll never look at elk the same way again. (One of my 2020 Three Great Horror Reads for Halloween.)

The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin $28.00 + Shipping (Hardcover) $14.99 (eBook)

The first of the Great Cities series focuses on a roiling, ancient evil that stirs beneath the streets of New York City and threatens to destroy the city. New York must go on, and it will take five protectors scattered across the boroughs coming together to stop it. An allegorical response to Lovecraft’s work and a love letter to the city.

The Dark Brotherhood and Other Pieces by H.P. Lovecraft $650.00 + Shipping (One Copy Available—Sold via AbeBooks)

This rare late-60s first edition copy from Arkham House is in fine condition with a fine dustwrapper. It also comes with an inscription by the publisher and editor of this work: “for Herb Arnold from the compiler – August Derleth.” An extremely unique find and a unique piece of weird fiction history.

No book catches your interest? Check out the books featured in one of the previous guides. • 2014 Books • 2015 Books • 2016 Books • 2017 Books • 2018 Books • 2019 Books •

Music & Audio

Tribute To H.P. Lovecraft by Epsilon Eridani Free (Digital Download)

This atmospheric and somber dark ambient album is the third project from Mexican electronic artist Juan Pablo Valle. Blending instrumental tracks, spoken words performances, and recitations of parts of Lovecraft’s stories, this tribute serves as an excellent horror soundtrack.

The Yellow Sign $6.99 (Digital Download)

While Lovecraftian music often skews towards dark ambient or metal performances, The Yellow Sign goes takes a more orchestral approach. Composer Graham Plowman has created a fantastic classical soundtrack putting this album on par with any feature film—brooding, menacing, and wonderfully enjoyable.

Beyond Madness by Aklo $9.00 (Digital Download)

Erich Zann would be jealous. Aklo, like its madness-inducing namesake, is hard to pin down. But this album captures “the beyond” in ways not often heard in modern music. Part noise, part experimental, Beyond Madness is an excellent addition to any Lovecraft fan’s collection.

Live from Stockholm by Ogham Waite $12.00 (Digital Download)

Ogham Waite, one of Innsmouth’s Deep One inhabitants, and the Amphibian Jazz Band are the mythos’ answer to the lounge stylings of early Tom Waits. Bluesy and moody, this seductively smokey album drips with saltwater. Waite’s performance and delivery are melodious as they are melodic, a great addition to mythos music.

Ambrose Bierce’s The Boarded Window $20.00 + Shipping (Vinyl)

This limited vinyl pressing of Bierce’s unsettling perspective-shifting tale is read by Anthony D. P. Mann and scored by Chris Bozzone. Cadabra Records always goes the extra mile with their products, and it’s clear from the hand-poured red and white splattered vinyl to the incredible art by Jeremy Hush.

Deities by Tortuga €22.50 ($26.68) + Shipping (Vinyl) €5.00 ($5.93) (Digital Download)

This one showed up randomly on a playlist, and I found myself intrigued. Once I listened to it, I became a fan. Tortuga is a Polish doom metal band whose work is loaded down with intricate and heavy driving riffs inspired by Lovecraft’s writings. It’s good stuff.

Not finding any music or audio that interests you? Check out one of the previous guides. • 2014 Music • 2015 Music • 2016 Music • 2017 Music • 2018 Music • 2019 Music •

Apparel

Tiki Cthulhu Embroidered Patch $9.00 + Shipping

I see many patches as I search for new cosmic horror gear throughout the year, and occasionally I find one that rises to the top. This sew-on tiki-styled Ctuhulu is 3″ x 2.5″ and was created for the 2018 H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival. If you want a mythos inspired adornment for your bag or jacket that’s a bit outside the norm, look no further.

Cthulhu Socks $18.00 + Shipping

It’s winter in the northern hemisphere, that means you need to keep your appendages warm. Also, socks-for-Christmas is a right of passage. Why not consider getting these Cthulhu Socks from PutYourSocksOn featuring tentacles up the side and an illustration of the dead and dreaming Cthulhu on the ankle.

Sourpuss Tropicthulhu Rosie Dress $29.00 + Shipping

When you are associated with the ocean, you generally get associated with the tropics regardless of where your sunken city dwells. This 40’s style Rosie Dress allows you to show your appreciation of R’lyeh’s favorite son in a subtle but delightful manner.

Amulet of Azathoth £23.95 ($34.42) + Shipping

It’s the grandpappy of the mythos deities in amulet form! Well, kinda. A representation of the nuclear chaos beyond angled space himself. This antique amulet is a little over an inch and a half long and is cold cast in a mixture of resin and brass—a stunning little pendant.

Mother & Father Statuary Set $85.00 + Free Shipping

These handmade and hand-painted resin figures of Dagon and Hydra would work perfectly as bookends or garden statues. Aged in a way to evoke feelings of lost treasure salvaged from the seafloor or perhaps a dank and forgotten chamber somewhere beneath Innsmouth. Kinda cute to boot.

Cara Mater Silvae Shub-Niggurath Woodcut Print $187.50 + Free Shipping (Limited Edition)

Liv Rainey-Smith’s fantastic woodcut work has long been a fixture in the weird lit community. This limited-edition print is done in the style of a sacred icon and features a great rendition of Shub-Niggurath, The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young, or as my readers will know her, “Cybill.”

Keeper of the Nightmare Mask $331.53 + Free Shipping (Made to Order)

Plague doctors always cut a fearsome figure in humanity’s historical memory, but what lies beneath that leather mask and shielded eyes? This custom made-to-order mask twists tentacles to form that familiar (and terrifying) plague-doctor shape adding an extra level of menace to an already menacing form.

Not finding apparel you like? Check out the apparel on one of the previous guides. • 2014 Apparel • 2015 Apparel • 2016 Apparel • 2017 Apparel • 2018 Apparel • 2019 Apparel •

Games

No Players Online Name Your Own Price (Windows/Linux)

What starts as a simple old demo of a capture-the-flag 3D shooter found on a discarded tape eventually twists and turns becoming something else entirely. I’m a sucker for the 80s glitch aesthetic, and it’s used here in masterfully unsettling ways��multiple endings, interesting game world, very much worth your time.

Kadath $5.99 (Digital Download, Early Access)

This first chapter of a first-person cosmic-horror adventure has you following the case of a World War II Nazi train that vanished only to reappear in a cave in the Himalayas 75 years later. Dripping with atmosphere and filled with brilliant puzzles, this first chapter left me excited for Kadath and wanting more.

Fate of Cthulhu $20.00 (Downloadable PDF) $35.00 + Shipping (Book + PDF)

In this tabletop roleplaying game from Fred Hicks and Evil Hat Productions, you and your friends will find yourself sent into the past on a mission to prevent the future. It’s a race against time as you try to stop the stars from being right and prevent Cthulhu’s foretold return, all before you and yours are transformed into something monstrous.

Elder Sign Dice – Blue Aether $24.99 + Shipping

Infinite Black has been making some wonderful cosmic-horror-themed gaming products for a few years. They’ve finally gotten easy enough to nab for holiday gifts. These Blue Aether Elder Sign Dice stood out to me, but they have a robust catalog making it easy to find the right gift for the dicing Lovecraft fan in your life. (Or yourself.)

Fate of the Elder Gods $63.99 + Shipping

Cults battle cults in this race to summon your ancient order’s elder god of choice! But it’s not just the other conniving worshippers and cult leaders you need to worry about, crafty investigators are on the prowl, and they’re working to subvert everyone’s goals as well. Hasten the earth’s doom in this competitive area-control game for two to four players.

Hastur $274.99 + Shipping (Two Shipments)

I’m a big fan of the Mysterious Package Company, the quality of their products always impresses. This latest journey into the realm of Hastur is no exception. Taking place over several mailings, Hastur invites the recipient into the world of the King in Yellow, the play with the same name, and the utter madness that dwells within those words.

Not finding a game you’d enjoy? Check out the games on one of the previous guides. • 2014 Games • 2015 Games • 2016 Games • 2017 Games • 2018 Games • 2019 Games •

Housewares & Collectables

Cedric’s Eatery 11oz. Mug $16.00 + Shipping

It’s cold out, and you need a new mug. Why not pick one up from Lovat’s own Cedric’s Eatery located in the entresol between Levels Three and Four. An in-between place for in-between folks. Waldo Bell’s latest hangout. Fill your mug with 11 oz. of bad coffee, your favorite tea, or something stronger. [From the pages of the Bell Forging Cycle.]

Cthulhu Clay Idol & Letter $29.80 + Free Shipping

Alternative takes on the Cthulhu idol are rare. More often than not, we see the same shape repeated over and over. Because of that, this rawer, more original piece stood out to me. It feels more realistic in many ways, reminding me of the sort of thing one would find on an archeological dig. Plus, with the attached letter, you get a little mini-experience here.

Sea Monster Shower Curtain $32.00 + Shipping

There be dragons. And there. And there. And… well, all over the place! If you love weird old sea monsters and old maps, then this curtain will be perfect for you. Decorate your shower with this fantastic curtain featuring beasts that look lifted from early Renaissance maps. 70″ x 72″. Liner recommended.

Cthulhu Lovecraft Blanket $59.99 + Shipping

As cooler air moves into the northern hemisphere, we can all celebrate the arrival of the cozy season. To stay warm, why not cuddle up beneath this cotton and acrylic Jacquard Knit blanket featuring the squatting visage of The Great Dreamer himself? He might be cold but you don’t have to be.

Anxious Blob Original Sculpture $325.00 + Shipping (Supplies are limited.)

This weird little one-off sculpture of a nervous little entity is made with polymer clay and hand-painted. The eye sits beneath a glass dome giving this piece a unique character. Who among us hasn’t wanted an anxious blob with hundreds of teeth and a single staring eye decorating our walls?

Not finding a houseware item you like? Check out the housewares from one of the previous guides. • 2016 Housewares • 2017 Housewares • 2018 Housewares • 2019 Housewares •

Miskatonic University

Miskatonic University Pennant $15.99 + Shipping

I love seeing all the different takes for Miskatonic University collegiate gear. Here you can show your support for “Ole Misk” with a felt pennant from H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society and cheer on the “mighty Miskatonic Myrmidons” to another victory. Wave that banner proudly!

Miskatonic University Real Leather Notebook $41.40 + Shipping

Journaler? Artist? Writer? Mathematician? Norwegian sea captain? Random idea generator? If you’re one of these, odds are you need a notebook. This 8″x6″ Miskatonic-themed journal features 100 sheets of thick handmade Khadda paper and is durable enough for the dig site while still being elegant enough for the classroom.

Miskatonic University Wax Seal $48.07 + Shipping

Secure your correspondence with old friends from bygones eras who seek answers using this classic and exquisite seal. It might not stop prying eyes, but at least your old colleagues will know if someone’s been tampering with their mail. (Wax sold separately.)

Miskatonic University Hockey Sweater $109.00 + Shipping (Supplies are limited.)

Every sports fan needs a jersey. Miskatonic students are no different. It’s why when I came across this Hockey Sweater from Geeky Jerseys I knew it’d be perfect for the cosmic horror student in your life. (While this one is great, I’m hoping the superior Miskatonic 2.0 sweater becomes available once again.)

Not finding any Miskatonic University gear you like? Check out the Miskatonic University items from one of the previous guides. • 2014 Miskatonic • 2015 Miskatonic • 2016 Miskatonic • 2017 Miskatonic • • 2018 Miskatonic • 2019 Miskatonic •

  Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

So that wraps up the seventh annual List of Lists. Let’s all keep wearing our masks, socially distancing, and washing our hands so we can all do this again next year. Big thank you to everyone who has suggested items in the past to help me pad out this list. Y’all rule. If I didn’t get to your submission, fret not. There are many more holidays ahead. I appreciate the help.

Do you have a book, game, album, or other weird fiction-related items I should feature in 2021’s Cosmic Horror Holiday Gift Guide? Leave a comment below with links to your favorite goodies for others to see, or send me an email as a potential submission for next year!

Want to stay in touch with me? Sign up for Dead Drop, my rare and elusive newsletter. Subscribers get news, previews, and notices on my books before anyone else delivered directly to their inbox. I work hard to make sure it’s not spammy and full of interesting and relevant information. Sign Up Today→

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[cuntyalmaviva]

10 songs 10 people tag game

Tagged by @notyouraveragejulie

Thank you! 😊

Rules: post 10 songs I’ve been listening to recently and then tag another 10 people.

1. Zu Hilfe” from Die Zauberflöte - W. A. Mozart

2. "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free" - Nina Simone

3. "No Children” - The Mountain Goats

4. "Dust And Ashes" from Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 - Dave Malloy

5. "Helena (So Long And Goodnight)" - My Chemical Romance

6. "First Love/Late Spring" - Mitski

7. "Blagoslovi Dushe Moya" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

8. "If You Wanna Love Somebody" - Tom Odell

9. "Skid Row" from Little Shop of Horrors - Alan Menken

10. "Viens! Suis un époux qui t’adore" from Orphée et Eurydice - Glück

@ethereumwinds @thektanator @primriddle @operafish @barricadebroomstick @miss-stealyourgirl-lister @penandverse @blinkyblob4 and anyone else who wants to do it!

[crazyfreckledginger]

85 Questions Tag Game

Tagging by the beautiful @rafaelina-casillas I’ve been wanting to do this so many times but I kept forgetting lol!

last

drink: Water and Coke before that

phone call: my fav indian restaurant! 😂😂

text message: my dad

song you listened to: Welcome To The Party by Diplo

time you cried: today

ever

dated someone twice: lol

kissed someone and regretted it: lol

been cheated on: no

lost someone special: physically no, mentally, yes

been depressed: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

gotten drunk and thrown up: no

fave colours: black, white, crimson red, navy blue

in the last year have you…

made new friends: yes

fallen out of love: no

laughed until you cried: yes

found out someone was talking about you: no

met someone who changed you: Yes, my mutuals and followers

found out who your friends are: Kinda yes

kissed someone on your facebook friends list: no

general

how many of your facebook friends do you know irl: I don’t want nor have facebook

do you have any pets: A sheep and a goat

do you want to change your name: I’ve never really thought about it but I like my name!

what did you do for your last birthday: Trampoline park

what time did you wake up today: 9:30

what were you doing at midnight last night: sleeping or writing the plot for one of my series

what is something you can’t wait for: VENOM and Shazam

what are you listening to right now: Netflix

have you ever talked to a person named tom: yes, what an asshole!

something that gets on your nerves: life lol, jk jk, I have to many things that annoy me! 

most visited website: Tumblr, Wattpad and Youtube

hair color: dark brown

long or short hair: long on me, short on guys

do you have a crush on someone: only fictional

what do you like about yourself: This is a very tough question that my brain doesn’t want to answer right now.

want any piercings?: no

blood type: No idea

nicknames: Clasy

relationship status: lololol like anyone would be remotely interested in me!

zodiac: Libra

pronouns: she

fave tv shows: SOA, Friends, Jane The Virgin, TVD

tattoos: on me? none

right or left handed: right

ever had surgery: yes, for my wisdom teeth

piercings: no

sport: Nah fool, I don’t have any spare time

vacation: Everywhere

trainers: what? xD

more general

eating: nothing now, but I was eating pasta and then chocolate

drinking: water

i’m about to watch: Dashie playing a horror game

waiting for: love lol

want: my life to get better cuz omg! 

get married: I don’t know

career: Engineering in Product Design for Dyson or Samsung

which is better

hugs or kisses: both

lips or eyes: eyes

shorter or taller: taller

older or younger: older not too much tho

nice arms or stomach: both!

hookup or relationship: relationship

troublemaker or hesitant: troublemaker

have you ever

kissed a stranger: no

drunk hard liquor: yes

lost glasses: no

turned someone down: yes

sex on first date: ew

broken someone’s heart: i guess?

had your heart broken: too many times

been arrested: nearly

cried when someone died: yes, but only because my cousin made me cry because she was crying

fallen for a friend: no

do you believe in

yourself: ummmmm, nooo

miracles: nope

love at first sight: no, I don’t believe in true love altogether

santa claus: I never have actually!

kiss on a first date: depends on the situation

angels: no

others

best friend’s name: i think I have two? one in school and one out of school, but I don’t know if they feel the same way about it.

eye color: dark brown

fave movie: Tomb Raider, Logan, The Spy Who Dumped Me, The Dark Knight (the ones with Bane and the Joker, I never remember the names lmao), those animated movies with Damian Wayne, like Son Of Batman, I’m drawing a blank. And The Transformers Saga. There are a lot more but I can’t be bothered to list all of them lol.

fave actors: Boyd Holbrook! 💝😚 Tom Hardy, Michael Pena, Tom Holland, Anthony Mackie, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth together.

Tagging: @pythiaaa @asanotheronebitesthedust @jaybeartodd @an-all-write-life and anyone else that wants to do it!

[standuphippy]

October Favorites

Here’s what I enjoyed in October.
 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4roeMa8zI9s3jzAJfBklmu?si=Rr92JXNyTXOdauVu8hDu6w

NEW MUSIC:

Angie McMahon “Piano Salt” An EP made up of piano versions of tracks from her debut album “Salt” plus a few covers.

Annie “Dark Hearts” Annie hasn’t put out a full length record in about ten years. It’s a dark thriller of an album that sounds equally inspired by Twin Peaks and the Drive soundtrack. 
Bruce Springsteen “Letter to You” New Springsteen.

Cut Worms “Nobody Lives Here Anymore”
 A sprawling double album.

Future Islands “As Long as You Are” New Future Islands.

Helena Deland “Someone New” Singer songwriter from Montreal.

Jeff Tweedy “Love is King” I love Uncle Tupelo and the first few Wilco records. I still check in with everything Tweedy does. 
Kaki King “Modern Yesterdays” 
I finally got to see King perform at the beginning of last year and it was incredible. “Can’t Touch This Or That of You Or My Face” is the song title of the year.

Laura Veirs “My Echo” Her bittersweet divorce album.

LÉON She went for years measuring out singles and remixes, to get two full length records in as many years is overwhelming. A great pop record. 
Loma “Don’t Shy Away”
 Loma is a project that combines Cross Record with Shearwater. I never expected them to make a follow-up much less a record that’s as captivating as their debut. 
Mary Lattimore “Silver Ladders” New record from the Los Angeles based harpist.

METZ “Atlas Vending” Years ago I was thrilled to find something that scratched the AmRep itch. I don’t think METZ have made a bad record. 
The Mountain Goats “Getting Into Knives” New wordy delights. 
Roísín Murphy “Roísín Machine” Electropop. 
Shamir “Shamir” 
Shamir is one of the most consistently interesting pop artists right now.

Squirrel Flower “Chicago” A reworking of a track from her 2018 record. 
Tom Petty “Wildflowers & All the Rest” 
Wildflowers was originally conceived as a double album. Petty was always great but Wildflowers/ She’s the One Soundtrack era is pretty amazing. 
Touché Amoré “Lament” Post-hardcore. 
Yumi Zouma “Alternate Versions” As advertised, the band provides an alternate version of every song on their “Truth and Consequences” record from earlier this year.

OLD MUSIC

Beauty Pill “The Unsustainable Lifestyle” I discovered this record and band by following writer/critic Jessica Hopper on twitter. Unpredictable from one track to the next.

NEW MOVIES 

Kajillionaire (2020 
Miranda July’s latest film is about a family of small time grifters whose way of life is disrupted when the daughter begins to suspect she’s being shortchanged on affection. Probably my favorite new film this year.


Relic (2020) There’s a genre that I refer to as the NPR Horror film, where the film’s monster serves as a metaphor for a particular real-life condition and this is a worthy addition. Sleek and effective.

OLD MOVIES

Black Christmas (1974) I saw Bob Clark’s original Christmas classic for the first time and enjoyed it. Sometimes I assume that older genre movies will be simpler than the films they inspire but Black Christmas had some surprises.


The Girl with All the Gifts (2016) It’s The Last of Us/cordyceps fan fiction but it’s a good one.

La Grande Bouffe (1972) A bizarre film about four successful middle-aged men who gather at an estate to eat themselves to death.

Noah (2014) Many years ago I was eating dinner with friend who was a fan of the Transformers toy line and he was bemoaning the fact that Michael Bay was going to direct the Transformers film. I told him Bay was a big-spectacle guy and that it might turn out better than he was anticipating (I was wrong) and to make my point I said, “You don’t want to see ‘Darren Aronofsky’s Transformers’.” After watching this batshit version of the Noah’s Ark tale I rescind that comment because it turns out that would be a film I’d love to see.

Race for Your Life Charlie Brown! (1977) I loved this film when I was little and I think it was because the villains in the film are other campers  instead of Charlie Brown’s ennui.

Road Games (1981) Another film, like Black Christmas, that I wanted to second guess as it went along but it still had some surprises. Oh the dread of the Australian Outback.    

7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) We watched this as a family and enjoyed it. My seven year old never questions the effects in old movies, she just goes with the story.  

[nd43taags]

1, 14, 21, 24?

1: favorite fic you wrote this year

It’s probably a split between Cartography and I Had Forgotten I Would Always Love You tbh.  I reread them both pretty regularly.  Cartography is like… it means a lot to me and I worked really hard on it and folks tell me they think it feels like canon and that’s just WOW.  I adore that fic.  And IHFIWALY is just my ultimate self-indulgent fluff fic.  I love everything about it.  It’s like curling up in a warm safe blanket. 

14: a fic you didn’t expect to write

Did you know I wrote a 15k word wrestling au fic inspired by a mountain goats album?  It’s called The Sunset Flip and it was my first long fic.  It has issues but I actually really like how it turned out�� but if you had told me a year ago that I’d write a multi-chapter fic about wrestling I would have told you that you were crazy.  But it’s got this wonderful chapter where Magnus and Istus talk that kinda makes me tear up every time.  It’s weird and I love it.

21: most memorable comment/review

I get so many lovely and memorable comments, it’s hard to pick just one?!?  I have a really good memory for things that are written down so I remember comments pretty easily.  On days I feel really shitty tho I read this ask I got.  It cheers me up every time.

24: favorite fic you read this year

OH IT’S SO HARD TO CHOOSE?   I even tried to go back through my bookmarks and chose JUST A COUPLE but I ended up with like 20.  So… Anything I’ve reblogged with the tag fic rec is probably a for sure.  And then here are a couple other non-taagnus random ones that stuck out to me:

The Game Is Already Lost : a touch-starved taako fic.  “Five times Taako manages to get a hug from one of his friends without having to actually admit that he wants a hug, and one time he flat out cops to it.“

Matched Set : A lovely Julia story about her sewing up her dumb boyfriend’s face after he gets a bottle smashed into it.  I loved this so much I based a chapter of Cartography off it.

But I Didn’t Ask You to: another 5/1 fic, this one about Magnus taking care of others before himself.

In with the Tide (Out with the Tide): a fucking BEAUTIFUL magnus/julia mermaid au that I had open on my computer for a solid week just so I could read it whenever I wanted.

◯◯◻△◻◯: ACTUALLY A TAZ;(K)NIGHTS TOM COLLINS FIC BUT I LOVE IT SO MUCH?!?  An exploration about why this nice sweet boy came to serve an elder horror.

The Chalice: It’s still WIP but this is an exploration of that “what if Magnus had taken the chalice” forbidden content we were denied, and I love it.

[maddenmobile18coinhack-blog]

Madden NFL 15 Wiki Guide

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Part 11 Alignment May Vary: Undying

Today’s post is part 11 of an ongoing series detailing the converted 3.5 campaign of Tomb of Haggemoth into a 5th edition romp. In this post, the three players go on an adventure of my own creation, giving them the opportunity to level and to add some length to the main campaign.

First of all, a shout out this session to Rock, Paper, Wizard, a welcome oddity among D&D licensed board games. We played it before our session and it is a blast. Quick, active, and hilarious—the point of the game is to have your token be at the front of a small linear board by the end of the round (because you get more gold that way). To acomplish this, spells from D&D are dealt below the board (Burning Hands, Fireball, Charm Person, and the like). Each spell does some combination of advancing yourself, pushing another player, or stealing gold from another player. Each one also has an accompanying unique hand shape, like making horns with your pinkie and forefinger, or a circle with your thumb and forefinger, or a fist. Every player reviews the spells, secretly decides which one to use and on which player, and then you call out “ROCK PAPER WIZARDS!” On Wizards, everyone makes the hand gesture of their spell at the player of their choice, and then going around the table in turn order the spells are resolved.

The resolution of spells often leads to hilarity, as some of them do fun things like reverse your target’s spell back on themselves (this is how I fireballed myself in the face second round). Others might pivot the spell clockwise, or affect the people on either side of you. Also fun is that if two people use the same spell on each other, the power of their magic explodes and turns into Wild Magic—mechanically, giving them both random spells from the deck.

A game takes about 20 minutes to learn and play, plays up to six players, is simple enough that anyone can pick it up, and is a great pre-session warm up to get everyone in the mood for hanging out.

House of Horrors

Last we left our adventurers, they had followed a distressed woman to a mansion on an otherwise deserted island, only to witness the death of her husband as he expires with a final cryptic message: “You cannot leave!” The man is holding a teddy bear that draws some suspicion because it seems so out of place, but when Abenthy uses his Aasimir powers to detect demons, undead, or aberations he picks up on nothing abnormal about it.

This is the beginning of a one-shot adventure I came up with for this session, and which I’m planning to put onto DriveThru RPG, once I write it up and PDF it. I was inspired by a monster called the “Treacle” in Kobold Press’ Tome of Beasts—which is an amazing product well worth the $30 for any D&D DM—though I redesigned the monster extensively for my adventure.

This is a good example of how a single monster can be a great inspiration for an entire adventure. Read the monster manuals you have and pick a monster that piques your interest. Really delve into it—one of the benefits of modern gaming is the internet as a research tool. Many D&D monsters have been aroud for multiple generations of the game and you can learn a lot about them online. Just a single interesting detail might become the basis for an entire adventure, like how the Treacle is supposed to split in two after it eats enough, and how its most frightening targets are when it becomes a toy and drains the life from children...

The background is that fifteen years ago, a brilliant inventor, Franke LaCroix, took his wife, Maria, their two twin boys, Marcus and Tom, and baby girl Olivia, and moved them away from what he called the “taint” of Waterdeep out to a deserted island, where he built a manor to be self sufficient. He raised goats, hunted in the forest, and cultivated crops. He kept inventing—most of his inventions practical to make the running of the manor easier (such as special fertilizer to keep his crops healthy and needing little care) but some of them more playful (such as a recording device much like a video camera and accompanying projector). Overal, He and his family settled into a life free of the concerns and dangers of modern society.

He also studied spores and molds and fungi, of which there were several interesting varieties on the island. He became obsessed with one in particular, which seemed to be semi-intelligent, or at least responsive, and able to shift into several simple shapes. He kept this sample, which he labeled the “Dopple-Ooze”, in his workshop in the mansion he had built for his family.

And that was his first mistake.

The Dopple-Ooze proved to be a more malevont hunter than Franke had expected. It made its way from the workshop to the nearest bedroom, which was Olivia’s, and took the form of a teddy bear, which she snuggled into bed with. Having made contact with her skin, it sapped her strength and blood until she was an empty husk.

When Franke found out what had happened, a piece of his mind broke. He captured the Dopple-Ooze and locked it in Olivia’s room, using a combination of magic and technology to keep it there, semi-dormant. Under normal circumstances, the Dopple-Ooze would split into two after feeding. This was its normal “breeding” pattern. But Franke kept it from doing this, convinced that somewhere inside its limited intelligence was kept the memory and soul of his daughter.

Weeks went by, and again the ooze found a way to escape, calling out in Olivia’s voice to her mother, Maria, and then laying with the grieving mother while she slept her last sleep. With his wife and daughter now both consumed by the creature, Franke’s mind snapped and his plan changed. He gathered up the twins and fed them into the creature. Then, desperate to rejoin his family, he offered himself to the Dopple-Ooze.

It rejected him.

Perhaps some memory of his family did linger in the ooze, or perhaps it recognized its captor and was getting back at him. Regardless, the next several weeks Franke found himself the target of vicious taunts from the creature, as it took more and more the form of his family, calling out to him, but never devouring him. Never accepting so much as a drop of his blood. Franke kept the door to Olivia’s room locked, but it didn’t seem to matter. The Ooze seemed able to manifest through the walls of the home. Eventually Franke confined himself to his workshop and lost all motivation to live. He fell into malnutrition and sickness, and eventually passed, alone.

The Ooze remained, in a semi-dormant state, until a hunter came to the island to poach the pelts of the Displacer Beasts that lived in its forests. He went looking for pelts, but instead found Maria, who lured him back to the mansion under guise of being a lonely widow, and then trapped him in the house and (along with her twins, all representations of the Ooze) bled him dry. The man did not last long, and soon the Ooze was hungry again.

The second “guest” to arrive was an explorer and his crew. This time, the Ooze was slower, trapping the men in the walls of the house (which the Ooze was able to infect) and bleeding them almost to death, before releasing them, nourishing them back to health with the bounty still being produced by Franke’s inventions, and then doing the process again until finally they all expired from the strain. Their bones still line the walls of the twins’ room.

This baiting has gone on for over five years, and the house has become one entity controlled by the Ooze to the point where it can block doors and windows and control the forms of Maria and the Twins enough to tend the land and the animals to feed its “guests.” Most recently, it attracted a shipwrecked sailor and fed on him for six weeks, finally letting him die the night my players arrive at the house. They believe they are witnessing the death of Maria’s husband, Franke LaCroix, when really they are witnessing the death of the house’s latest victim.

Whispers of Fear

Abenthy knelt by the bed and began to pray. Twyin walked over to Maria and offered her a gentle embrace. “My lady, I am so sorry for your loss. Words cannot express the sorrow that fills my heart for you. If there is something I can do to ease your pain, but name it and it is done.”

“May Tyr watch over his soul on his journey,” Abenthy murmured, from his place at the foot of the bed, head bent in supplication.

“What am I to do?” Maria sobbed. “The children... what is to become of them? Of us? The fields and the goats, the hunting—this was all Franke’s work. I do not know how to operate his machines or tend to his gardens. We have enough set aside for a time, but...” she trailed off.

“... and may he find his way into your light, oh lord of justice...”

“You will come with us,” Twyin said. “We will set you at any port.”

“And then what?” Maria asked. “What do you propose we do next to care for ourselves?”

“I... I do not know, but we will figure out something.”

“... think well on his deeds, and judge him not only for all the good he did, but for all the good left undone.” Abenthy rose, as Maria moved away from Twyin.

“Supper,” she said suddenly. “The twins must eat. And so must you all. Yes, I’ll prepare our supper. Just like normal.” In a daze, she wandered off downstairs.

“Well that was awkward,” Karrina mumbled.

Though trusting of Maria and the twins, my players realize several things are wrong with the house while supper is being prepared. Twyin finds a locked door to the West Wing, underneaht the main foyer. When he tries to open it, it bangs and rattles in the door frame, and he hears a heavy moaning come from somewhere behind it. 

Abenthy, meanwhile, helps Maria prepare supper, and discovers some of the history of her husband’s illness and a lot of the backstory that I described earlier (of course, stopping before any mention of the ooze is made). Olivia is conspiciously absent from this story, conspicious because while Abenthy is hearing this, Karrina finds the mansion’s study, where a large painting of the LaCroix family hangs. In the picture is Maria and the Twins, and Maria is holding a baby. Also, Karrina notices that the man in the picture looks very little like the man they saw die upstairs.

Supper is a quick affair, and afterwards Maria shows them to their assigned rooms (it is too dark to make their way down the spire tonight and besides there are displacer beasts out there). Karrina and Abenthy are shown to one room, and Twyin to another—though, after Maria leaves them, Abenthy forces Twyin to “do the gentlemanly thing” and sleep in his room, giving Karrina her own. Karrina is only halfway grateful, as the house has her seriously spooked, and this room is full of old toys Franke made for his children. The party agrees to sleep for a few hours, to stave off their exhaustion, and then to sneak into the sick room and get a closer look at the dead “husband.”

In the middle of the night, Maria comes looking for Twyin under the guise of desperately needing companionship. She wears naught but an open robe, come prepared to seduce him and be taken into his bed. Of course, what she really wants is to be taken into his bed so she can make direct skin contact and start bleeding him (1d8 necrotic damage to hit point maximum every hour), but Twyin traded beds with Karrina... so she crawls into bed with her instead.

Both Karrina and Maria are startled by each other, but Maria plays to Karrina’s sympathy and the Tiefling agrees to let this human girl (or so she thinks) sleep in the same bed with her—minus the seduction and aftermath. Maria doesn’t care: she doesn’t need sex, she just needs touch.

Meanwhile, Twyin wakes up suddenly, feeling something moving at the foot of his bed. He sees a dark shape there and leaps from the bed, turning on the lamp. He sees nothing out of the ordinairy... until he notices the teddy bear at the foot of the bed.

Wholely freaked out now, Twyin wakes Abenthy (”What? Is it time?”) and tells him: “That teddy bear was moving.” Cue long pause. “Are you feeling okay?” Abenthy asks.

Long story short, the two eventually decide that, whatever is going on, they aren’t going to be able to get much more sleep right now. So Abenthy gets his armor on, while Twyin goes to wake Karrina. He opens the door to see the mostly naked Maria wrapped around Karrina, spooning her. He takes a good eyefull before coughing politely and waking the two women up.

“Goddamit,” Karrina says, when she realizes who it is and what he has seen. Maria blushes and quickly covers herself. Twyin’s smirk died on his lips though, when he saw something glistening on Karrina’s chest.

“Is that... blood?” he asked.

Karrina, startled, rubbed a finger across her chest. No wound, but yes, that was blood. Fear took her as she remembered the man in the other room had died from some kind of sickness. Was it contagious? Why had they decided to stay in a plague-ridden mansion?

Before she could contemplate or regret further, they all heard a scream coming from down the hall.

“That’s Marcus!” Maria said, and turned deathly pale.

The point of this set up, as a game designer, was to give the setting some weight. We didn’t spend a lot of time on supper or exploring the house, maybe twenty minutes between the two, and a lot of this action was driven by the players, like deciding what to do before supper. It let them settle into the environment and become uncomfortable with the situation. The trick with a slower set up, esepcially a horror set up, is to give the players a mixture of “things to steer the action on” and “things to react to.” The first (examples: what rooms to explore, letting them steer conversations, giving them time away from the NPCs to discuss plans and change things, like what rooms to sleep in) is important because it keeps the setting from feeling like a tour of a bunch of pre-planned encounters and jump scares. The second (example: Maria coming into Karrina’s room, the banging door, the scream from the twins room) makes them feel like they are in the middle of something bigger than them and keeps the action moving forward.

Speaking of which...

Twin Trouble

Twyin did not waste time grabbing his armor. He ran from Karrina’s room down the hall, grabbing Abenthy on his way as the lithe Paladin entered the hall. The two burst into the twin’s room, Maria and Karrina not far behind them.

“Oh gods,” Maria said in a shocked whisper.

Twyin had to agree with her sentiment. The room ahead of them was lined with bones. They were in the walls, the remains of bodies in twisted positions. The lamps in here flickered on and off, casting disturbing shadows that made the bones look like they were moving, reaching for the interlopers at the door.

“Help me!” Marcus’ thin voice cried out.

The child was halfway in the wall between his and his brother’s bed, his arms flailing madly as he fought to pull himself free. Behind him, the wall was a mass of angry scars and pustules, and his screams spoke to something horrible happening to his lower half, already embedded in the wall.

Abenthy ran forward and grabbed the child’s arms. “Help me pull him free!” he called. Twyin was quick to respond, leaping onto one of the beds and getting a grip on the child’s arm.

In response, Marcus grinned at Twyin, wrapped his child arms around him, and buried his teeth in Twyin’s throat. Twyin yelled in surprise and fear. Karrina moved forward to help but then felt cold hands wrapping around her throat as Maria grabbed her from behind.

A small giggle came from another wall as Tom emerged into the room, pulling free of a stack of bones in the wall. He ran at Abenthy, and leaped onto the warrior’s back, seeking a place he could bury his fangs.

These three are the main baddies in the house. Maria is the easiest of the three, basically a weaker doppleganger. Her main point is to (a) trick the person whose bed she sneaks into, lowering their max hit points. In another scenario, the party might have slept a lot longer, but as our group decided to set a wake up call at around 3:00am to explore the house more, she only drained about 10 hit points from Karrina. After that, she simply exists to make the twins more difficult.

The twins are no joke. They have two main attacks. One is to try and latch onto a person with bite. If successful, it turns into an automatic grapple while they suck the life and strength out of the victim. But worse, they then try to drag that victim into the wall, where the escape DC becomes much higher, and their AC becomes higher. Also, the damage done each round while an opponent is grappled is automatic max hit point drain. It is a low die roll, a 1d4, but it adds up quickly. Twyin drops his hit point maximum by nearly half by the time combat is over!

Their other attack is a multi-attack swipe, which doesn’t do life drain like the bite, but which is heavy enough damage to keep party members distracted fighting them instead of helping their friend getting pulled into the wall.

The party plays against them perfectly. Abenthy lets himself take the brunt of Tom’s attacks, because his 19 AC is tough to break through. Karrina turtles up, too, using her arcane skills to cast Blade Ward and keep Maria occupied (and ineffective). Twyin takes the brunt of the hurt in this fight, as his arm is stuck in the wall and slowly being stripped of its flesh by Marcus, while he struggles to break free. But once he is free, he unleashes his dual weilding forces upon the wall where Marcus is hidden, until both twins flee.

Maria isn’t so lucky. One of the joys of this fight is that Abenthy refuses to attack the children with anything other than non-lethal damage, which does nothing to an these oozes. He simply can’t bring himself to harm children. But when Twyin chops Maria’s head off and it continues to scream at them despite hanging upside down from her neck, he finally presses the attack and chops her in half, sending her sprawling into the hallway in a bloody heap.

I wanted this house to feel less like a dungeon and more like an environment, so I moved away from the idea of filling certain rooms with certain encounters and opted instead to build a “creature” that could roam the environment, being fought in multiple locations. Thus, the twins ability to move through the walls. Doing something like this occasionally in your own game can keep dungeons from feeling too simliar to one another, and it works especially well in horror settings, where the focus might be better placed on a singular monster or two, rather than on a dungeon crawl.

The twins continue to haunt the players as they move through the mansion, throwing Karrina off the foyer to the entrance hall 20 feet below, and trying to pull Abenthy into a door frame. Finally, they have a last confrontation in the dining room, where Tom rushes Abenthy with butcher knives, and Marcus tries to absorb Karinna into a wall (he fails, as she does a barrel roll... no really, she barrel rolls over the dining room table to get away). This is where the twins are finally cut down.

Abenthy looked at the ruin of the child that had once been Tom. Your blades did this, he thought to himself. You brought this one’s life to an end. Even though he knew that this creature was no longer Tom, nor a child, and had likely not been for many a moon, he still could not get the image of cleaving a child in half out of his head. Was there nothing he could have done to save him? Was there nothing he could do now? A thought began to form in his head, and Abenthy knelt close to the body...

So Abenthy, who has roleplayed his character’s justice flaw so well, gained a minor madness here as he cut down what looked like a young child. I rolled on the random madness chart in the DMG and got “you feel compelled right now to eat something.” Abenthy and I looked at each other. “You start eating the child,” I said. “You believe you can take his soul into your own body this way and deliver him unto Tyr.”

And so things get gross for a moment.

The West Wing

With the Twins defeat, the door to the West Wing flies off its hinges and opens up the way to the rest of the “dungeon.” I’ve talked in previous blogs how I think a good adventure should have a mixture of four different kinds of obstacles:

Social obstacles, in which players have to interact and roleplay with NPCs, usually trying to get something from them, whether help, directions, or an item.

Skill obstacles, in which players have to use their skills and ability scores to bypass barriers or make something easier (jumping over a chasm, climbing up a tower, finding the secret door behind a bureau, beating the pirate king in a game of chance in exchange for his help).

Combat obstacles, in which players use their stats, spells, and abilites to overcome monsters and other enemies in combative situations.

Puzzle obstacles, in which players have to use their own minds to figure out how to beat an obstacle (solve a riddle, figure out a way past a trap, figure out where a hidden key might be).

So far, the adventure has started out with a nice dose of social obstacles, and then led into a long section of combat. Now I bring the focus to puzzles. Past the locked door are two rooms: Franke’s workshop (where his dessicated body still lies, untouched by the ooze) and Olivia’s room. The latter is locked (and is the location of the final encounter). The former hides the key to her room. The recording device I mentioned earlier is here, and by searching the room the players find the gems that activate the device and hold the recordings. From this, they learn the true history of Franke and his family tragedy as described before. They also find a ring which makes them look like Olivia. Disturbingly, Franke had used this ring to make himself look like his daughter, then record himself talking to himself as her. Later, when he would play back these recordings, he could pretend Olivia was alive and speaking to him, a mental mindscrew that speaks to just how far gone he was. His video says as much:

My mind is going... I’ve been putting things in the wrong place... I can’t remember one day to the next. I wish to rejoin my family...

Franke’s message here is a clue. Above the worktable is a shelf holding four jars. One holds a key—but it is a red herring. It unlocks nothing. The real key is hidden “in the wrong place,” inside a jar containing brown mold. In previous messages, they have seen him put the key away on this shelf, and say it is important, which does trigger Karrina to wonder if there is something to the other jars—but it isn’t enough.

My players figure it out eventually, and also find a way to destroy the brown mold and get to the key, but it takes some prodding and first they try pretty much everything else—searching the whole hosue for the  key, attempting to pick the lock and break down the door... and this is after they’ve already gotten all of the clues to the puzzle. This leads me to believe that the riddle might be a bit obtuse—I think in the final version of this adventure I will change this and add in a skill based option to bypass it. Maybe a loose panel somewhere that leads into Olivia’s room through the woodwork—that could be freaky and also explain how the Ooze escaped from the room in the first place.

In any case, inside the room is the final boss, a creature that resembles a giant teddy bear dripping with ooze and pus (if you’ve seen Akira, you know my inspiration). It has Ogre stats, making it an easy to hit heavy hitter. In addition, it can try to grapple on a hit, and if successful forces a single character inside itself, pressing them into its gut where the ooze traps them, removing them from combat until they can break free. It also reduces damage against him by half, dealing half of it to the trapped character.

The idea in designing this fight was to create a monster that wasn’t too hard on its own, but would get harder depending on how much life the players had lost in the previous sections of the house. The beast can hit pretty solidly, possibly killing a character whose life has been drained to leave him with only a dozen or so hit points.

My players actually don’t have much problem with this fight, and I think I will ultimately toughen it up a bit in the final version, maybe adding a “Maria” or two to the room as well, to force players to split their attentions, or giving him a multi-attack to let him at least target multiple characters and try his grapple more than once. Twyin, in particular, makes this combat a breeze, trapping the teddy in a corner and going to town on it with his multiple attacks and special abilities. As a battlemaster he has acces to parry, which reduces damage by 1d8. He uses this to immense effect, saving himself from death dealing blows twice.

I’ll talk a little more next session about designing fights and monsters in D&D 5th Edition.

After this, there is not much else to tell. The players escape the house as it collapses, the ooze having infiltrated most of its structure and dying when its central brain was destroyed in the final shape it took. They eventually make their way back to the boat, where Krisp tells them they missed a rockin’ beach party last night, and that the repairs are done and they will reach the oracle’s island within a couple of days.

Everyone is now level 4. Karrina resolves her flaw, too! It used to be that she was racist against humans, but her time spent amongst them in the last month—not to mention having her past companions sacrifice themselves so that she might live—has changed her perspective. She realized this fully when she was willing to comfort Maria when the woman came to her in the middle of the night, claiming she felt so alone in the room she used to share with her late husband.

Karinna’s new flaw is a tendency to perform acrobatics in the heat of combat. Her natural arrogance has increased as she has survived more deadly encounters and now she is like a kid who has learned to ride a bicycle well enough that they start to wonder: “Can I ride with no hands?”

Next time, depending on how things go on the oracle’s island, we may get a chance to find out...