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Tempietto, detail

Sacro Bosco (Sacred Woods), Bomarzo

Photography and editing by me

#bomarzo #sacro bosco #sacred wood #italy #temple #photography #art #gothic #architecture

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I rarely reblog stuff but I will always reblog (the) Nosferatu

Nosferatu • Alone

#goth rock #gothic rock #goth #vampire

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Pierced Heart

An Over the Edge Novel by Robin D. Laws

I’m no literary expert but it felt like a Philip K. Dick story set in the 90s. Worth tracking for fans of the Over The Edge TTRPG, but also enjoyable for people that haven’t even heard of it.

#robin d. laws #Pierced Heart #Novel #books and novels #Over the Edge #TTRPG #90s #literature

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Highgate Cemetery West, London

Photography and editing by me

#photography #highgate cemetery #london #cemetery #gothic

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Just making sure that everyone has seen this. It's the First Look trailer for the Netflix Sandman. Best with the sound on...

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This has come to my attention, and it’s good!

#alternative #indie #post punk #Athens #music #alternative rock #alt rock

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Listen/purchase: String Vibrations by Matthew Dakoutros

#classical music #athens #string quartet #music

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@daves-miniature-adventures​ @pantmonger​ I do not usually engage in conversations online, and I will probably not have the time or energy to reply afterwards, but I would like to present a counter argument (but not exactly) in good faith and as food for thought.

before that, a disclaimer: If people want to make female space marines let them, and praise them if the hobby work is good. It is a hobby after all. Be good to each other.

My main counter argument is to the need for official in-lore representation (female or other).

The *Imperium of Man* (not the Imperium of Humanity) is a totalitarian theocratic patriarchal corrupt and tyrannic state presumably led by a God-Man emperor. It is “defended” by orders of eugenics-produced super soldiers. Internally it is religiously policed by fundamentalist INQUISITORS and brain washed warrior-nuns who execute first and ask questions later. They even have Storm-troopers (sorry Tempestus scions).

In other words, these are BAD GUYS. Asking for various groups of people to be adequately represented in a setting like that is like asking for vegan representation in a pack of wolves.

A cynic would say “representation in the Imperium of Man exists, it is found as unmarked mass graves of heretics”.

The 40k setting always required critical thinking and a mature audience (although this is not always present). The fact that it has entered mainstream popularity and is also marketed not only to males (and also extensively at kids) is a tricky juggle on GW’s part. But, taking care of in-lore problematic material in 40k’s Imperium would probably lead to one of the following 2: The Imperium is retconned into a utopia, or it presents a fictional tyrannical state as a good thing. The correct thing to do would be for this setting to be marketed to “mature audiences” but that reduces income. GW understands that it is a hot potato, so it just leaves it lying there hoping no-one will notice.

TL;DR: People should play space marines (or any other 40k faction) but not identify with them. Accept the setting as a cautionary tale of a problematic world where representation may not always be present. The miniatures are yours, and you can do whatever you want with them. If a person tells you what you can and can’t do with your hobby, ignore them.

Women Space Marines, one generic white guys FAQ

or the same 3 BS questions I get asked every time. Why do you want them? Short answer: Because representation is important. Much Longer Answer:

Wargames have long had a problem with lack of diverse membership. Even more then most other nerd things, it has been a bastion of white males. This has created a circular problem. The more things were made with white guys as the target audience, the more it drove others away. Rinse and repeat ad-infinitum. In recent years there has been a push in nerd franchises towards inclusion. This push meant more diverse voices were able to be heard and as a result problematic elements have started to be removed. This has led to a level of diversity I have not seen in gaming spaces in my lifetime and it’s fantastic. Despite the “get woke, go broke” rhetoric, nerd franchises of this type are enjoying a golden age. Leading wargames like the Warhammer franchise started actively becoming more progressive in their lore and model releases. This breathed new life into their games and diversified their audience. But left the elephant in the room. Space Marines. The poster faction of the largest selling table top wargame franchise, 40k, can only be male due to old ‘lore’. In new releases this lore is rarely mentioned. It clearly still exists and there are no releases to the contrary. But it’s a shameful truth they are not willing to change,  hoping no one mentions it too much, for or against. This last holdout emboldens the bigoted elements in the hobby in a way no inclusivity statement will erase. Bigots love a smoke screen. They love having something that obfuscates their bigotry, so average Joes might mistake it as an issue of taste.

So much easier to say “It’s the lore, I’m just a fan of the lore, stop trying to change it” then “I don’t want women in the poster faction.” It also means women joining the hobby will always have to deal with the reality that the hobby is unwilling to have women in the poster faction, relegating them to less popular, less supported factions.

And this is why I want women space marines. They are needed to remove the smoke screen from bigots, and to affirm that women are as important in the hobby as white men. But Sisters of Battle are women, use those / Well can I have male Sisters of battle then?

They do not have the range of thematic options (chapters) of their marine counterparts. There are men already within sister of battle product line.

It’s a false equivalence out of game, not being the poster faction and in game due to stats being weaker then marines.

I’m a lore purist, why do you want to change the lore? I seriously doubt that’s your reason, but I’ll play along.

The lore changes all the time, it is not an untouchable constant. The first space marine novel written is considered absolutely not lore now and has been retconned out of existence. And finally, like the newly added Primaris marines, they could be added without a retcon. Thus the lore would not change.

Its impossible to have women marines as the process only works on men! Broken fictional biology aside, this is known as a thermian argument. It ignores that problematic elements within a fiction were deliberately written into it by a real world author, and thus is not a defence of those elements. Bigotry in a fictional setting, that is not challenged within that setting, is effectively the same as real world bigotry.

Thanks for reading.

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Cover I designed for The Coral Tower of Naaman al-Raman D&D5e adventure by Louis Counter. Check it out here!

#illustration #Pen and Ink #dungeons and dragons #d&d 5e #art #cover #arabian nights

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Highly recommended (sci-fi horror for those who care about labels).

It has an aroma of Dead Zone/Dead Ringers era Cronenberg, with a dash of Jacob’s Ladder and an aftertaste with hints of Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness.

Moody, atmospheric and haunting.

#come true #film #cinema #movies #Anthony Scott Burns #Julia Sarah Stone #Landon Liboiron #sci-fi #horror #dreams

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My friends from Art of Simplicity have contributed to this compilation. And for a good cause

#music #bandcamp #compilation #art of simplicity

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Villeneuve’s Box for the Bene Gesserit Gom Jabbar test vs Lynch’s one, or why a good concept artist is important.

The first one looks like it barely fits a hand in there. The second one has ample space for more.

The box must be terrifying. Even if in the end it is just a mind trick, the idea that there might be something else in the box, living, mechanical, chemical, whatever, adds to the terror of the person submitted to the trial. It completes the illusion.

That’s why it is important to hire real CONCEPT artists, not random illustrators, and brief them properly if they are not familiar with the work. A good concept artist understands how something works, and based on that decides how it looks.

Even if this is just a detail, it is a detail of an important plot moment. And in the end, what is the total instead of a sum of details working together?

#Dune #david lynch #dennis villeneuve #frank herbert #gom jabbar #bene gesserit #paul atreides #cinema #concept art

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The Croydon Water Tower, January 7, 2021

Photography and editing by me

#Tower #Water tower #croydon #eerie #photography

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Clive Barker’s Lord of Illusions

Ad promoting the film, taken from a comic book.

#Clive Barker #Lord of Illusions #Horror

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HACKERS

Ad promoting the film, taken from a comic book. I now need a t-shirt with that skull.

HACK THE PLANET!

#Hackers #hack the planet #Angelina Jolie #cyberpunk

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOnvrYo3ebU

A friend of mine did a masterful cover of “At the Gates of Silent Memory” by Fields of the Nephilim. It was only appropriate that he accompanied it with an appropriate sigil. Thus, I prepared one, treating it as a graphical equivalent of  a song cover, reflecting the style of the classic Nephilim logo.

Musically, the cover is respectful to the original, while also adding Matthew’s personal touches. One could probably note hints of classic Anathema and the compositions of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, lurking in the soundscape.

#Matthew Dakoutros #music #graphic design #sigil #Fields of the Nephilim #At the Gates of Silent Memory #gothic rock #occult