#The two most recent threads I read that started this way were saying 1) Trinity is the worst frame- no survivability or synergy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nightwingism · 7 years

Photo

New Comic Book Day!

October 11, 2017

Trying something new here, and i’m gonna start reviewing comics that I pick up at my local comic store, which may or not be Nightwing related. I figured this is something different, gives me something to do, and I just think it’d be fun. But enough about the why, let’s get into the comics!

Spoiler Alert

1. Action Comics #989

Part three of the Oz Effect! I figure this is gonna be weird starting a review right in the middle of so many comics, but recapping is a real thing. Anyways, this comic kept the action flowing, not so much of a one-on-one dialogue anymore, and we get to see Jor-El in action! The ending was a giant cliff-hanger and I can’t tell if they are supposed to be the LoSH or not. But this interaction between Jor-El and Jon, heck even with Lois are remarkable, and is something I never knew I wanted to see in a comic until now. Though, thus far this story-arc has been very dialogue heavy, and not very action packed. This biggest reveal isn't even the fact that Oz was Jor-El, but the fact that Oz wasn’t Ozymandias, which in retrospect was a little far-fetched and too on the nose. Anyways, I’m excited for the next issue, and excited for the ramifications of this story.

2. Wonder Woman #32

Part two of the Children of the Gods! The previous issue was mainly from Hercules point of view, serving as the primary narrator of the story, and of his death. This time around, Wonder Woman was front and center. I wasn’t expecting too much from his comic to be honest, ever since Rucka left my excitement has dwindled. But Robinson isn’t a bad writer, and I trust the guy to do these comics well. Jason was revealed at the end of the issue, which i was actually very surprised of, and I thought he was gonna be saved till later. But he’s here, very cut like David’s Michelangelo’s. I’m curious to see how his story unfolds, and what kind of role he’ll play in the future of Wonder Woman comics, if he survives this story that is.

3. Mister Miracle #3

This was probably my most excited new comic that came out this week. If you do not know, I love Tom King’s writing. It’s a slow burn type of writing that excels in large overarching stories, like a novel. The way this story is unfolding is getting me excited. Because you KNOW there is something more going on in the story than what is stated. The way it started, how quickly things went downhill, the way the characters talk to each other. Conspiracy theory is that whatever pills he took is actually making him hallucinate this whole thing. But I feel like that is too simple of an answer, and I feel like King will play into the Jesus = Mister Miracle symbolism, with Highfather = God and Darkseid = the Devil. The way Kirby intended it. I’ve also really enjoy the flow of the comic, with the action sequences and the more down-time. In this kind of comic, it’s strange, which plays perfectly with the outlandish nature of the Fourth World. I’m really excited for the next issue, and the rest of the series.

4. Detective Comics #966

Part two of A Lonely Place of Living! I honestly did not see this comic unraveling the way it did, and I’m actually really excited for it. It’s a mix of the Geoff Johns “Titans of Tomorrow” storyline with a Back to the Future kind of vibe. The reveal of “Who the hell is Conner” was so heartbreaking. I’ve wrote a dream pitch for how I’d bring Conner, and the rest of the Young Justice team, back into the mainstay DC Universe, and thus far, it can still go through. Future Tim plays into Present Tim’s thoughts, and addresses them how Tim would probably address himself. I love when time paradoxes play out in the “I know what you’re thinking, because I thought the same things when I was you listening to me.” way. It gives the audience the idea that time is a fixed predetermined path that can’t be wavered from. But we all know that not to be true. We know Present Tim will somehow find a way to beat himself, even though Past-Future Tim couldn’t beat Future Tim. That didn’t make sense. Oh well. I’ve enjoyed this story, and series really so far, and I’m glad Tynion is on this series, being the 90s fan he is, bringing in all those fascinating characters back into the fold, arguably the best time to be a Batman Fan.

5. Red Hood and the Outlaws #15

Part two of Bizarro Reborn! So I haven’t actually read the first part of this comic, with the last RHatO comic I read, besides the annual, was issue 11. So I’m behind. But I can extrapolate the idea that Bizarro came back due to Lex Luther, granting him super intelligence, much to the dismay of his teammates. But it seems to be a temporary thing. I don’t know why the Belfry team thought it was some kind of an attack, or why they are fighting Red Hood at all, but they are. I would have thought Bruce would have told everyone that Jason was on their side. But I just remembered that Jason has to work outside the family on a normal basis, to “infiltrate the bad guys” for Bruce. I think Jason is the last member of Batman Inc, which is very ironic. Artemis is in the story, still great chemistry with the team, and I still really like the idea of this Dark Trinity, it’s execution has been so awesome since day one, and I can’t believe I’m actually excited for the next issue.

6. Batgirls and the Birds of Prey #15

Part one of Manslaughter! Finally a comic that is just beginning it’s story arc. Whew. The Benson sisters have been doing a great job in this comic thus far, giving us great characterization for the main three, and most of their guest stars. This story serves as a “gathering of the troops” setup. We address the problem, identify it, and then gather some people to counter it. The problem is that there is some disease that can potentially kill all the men, which is something, as a man myself, find hilarious and fitting for this comic. Every character has their own reason for trying to fight the disease, with Dinah having Ollie, Babs having her Dad, Helena with Dick, Selina with Bruce, Harley with the Joker (so she can kill him herself), and Poison Ivy just because she wanted to (basically), the rest of the Gotham squad, which includes Batwoman, Spoiler, Orphan and Gotham Girl (whom I’m glad is getting screen time), and last but not least Wonder Woman herself. I think this story is going to be a fun girl-power story, and I’m curious to see who is behind this dastardly attack, and what their motive is.

7. Dark Knights: Metal #3

If Mister Miracle was my most excited story, this is my second. Metal and all of it’s tie ins have been such a treat. It’s a Batman centric story, without shoving in a Bat-God into our face. The threats are on the planetary level, and it’s gonna take everyone to save the world, even bringing in people who haven't been seen in comics in ages. Dick, Clark and Damian have a moment together, that is very in character for everyone, something I respect Snyder for doing so far. The subtly in this comic is mind boggling , how many hints were left behind in Snyder’s past comics, and just in the series alone. I don’t really care too much about the other Batmen though, and am only really curious about what the heck The Batman Who Laughs deal is. Snyder and Capullo are literal Rock-stars in this series, and I’m cheering for an encore -- which may come when this is all over.

8. The Amazing Spider-Man #789

The Fall of Parker! Spinning out from Marvel Legacy and Secret Empire is a more status quo Spider-Man, but with a twist. People love Spider-Man, as much as New Yorkers can, but hate Peter Parker. It’s an interesting twist on such a simple and main staple in the Spider-Man mythos. I’ve always been a fan of the “Down on his luck, penny to his name” Parker, who was street level but with the drive and passion for the big league. With the previous run, I felt like it was just Ironman with a Spider-Man costume on, but now this is some good old fashion comics. I like his relationship with Bobbi, and I think the two are cute together, but I hope Harry and MJ make their return to the supporting cast. The art is also phenomenal, but what can you expect when Stuart Immonen is providing. Even though there wasn’t much of a villain, or a story being told. It kind of seemed like a one-shot to me, with dangling threads that can be picked up later.

9. Daredevil #27

Part two of the Land of the Blind! Not get caught up with Marvel Legacy, Charles Soule continues his fantastic run of Daredevil. Last we saw, Matt was tracking down his once partner, once blinded and once friend, Blindspot. It was all a trap! This story serves as a “secret origins” of Blindspot, as we see his transition from the farm lifestyle in China, to moving to the city, to the United States. This story takes place over days, weeks, and we can see the passage of time from the look on Matt’s face, and his ever growing beard. I really like this twist, and that it was Charles himself to do the twist, and I’m very curious to know if this was his plan all along, or if it was just something he came up with in recent times. Whatever it is, the main thing I can say about this comic is that I love that the red costume is back, and the fact that Ron Garney is providing art. His style compliments the story of daredevil so well, I’d love to see him do a Nightwing book. I’m hoping that Charles continues this fantastic run when he makes the transition to the Legacy side of Marvel.

10. Runaways #2

When they announced that they were making a show about the runaways, I was very curious on many things. One of the things though, was not who the hell are the runaways. I actually read the original series, and I was up to the moon when they announced that this series was coming back. The story, thus far, has been very dialogue heavy, with action sequences being either in flashbacks or just not present. I don’t mind it too much, since they really have to explain a lot to all the new readers who are jumping on due to the announcement of the show, I just hope it picks up soon with the action, and it seems it will with the glowy cat eyes following Molly. And I was a little curious on why we didn’t get a shot of Molly’s grandma, maybe there is something up with that too. Whatever the case is, I’m enjoying this series so far, and hope the next issue fills the action void that I crave.

11. Defenders #6

Part One of Kingpins of New York! Technically this is part of Marvel Legacy, but it’s weird since Matt is still wearing his black suit, when he has already switched to the red one in his main series, which takes place before Daredevil legacy does. But this issue itself is really just the end of the previous arc, so it doesn’t really seem like the beginning of a new arc. I enjoyed the court scene, and the banter between Daredevil and Luke Cage, especially Luke’s comment that “he knows a thing or two about the law” to DD. I hope he reveals his identity to the team again soon, as I think it gives the team a much more grounded approach. Less flashy superheroes, and more of just street vigilantes. Men and women. I don’t really know why Black Cat is so heavily featured, when I feel like she doesn’t serve too much to the story, but she’s there. I just think BMB likes writing her ever since his Superior Spider-Man run. But that can be brushed aside with his characterization of the main team, something I look at with these team books. I like the idea of the Kingpin being a “Defenders” bad guy, with the addition to Spider-Man of course. Maybe in season 2 of the Defenders? Anyone? Anyone?

#Nightwingism reviews comics #nightwingism irl #Action Comics #Wonder Woman #Detective Comics #Mister Miracle #red hood and the outlaws #batgirl and the birds of prey #dark knight: metal #runaways #defenders #daredevil #the amazing spider-man

2 notes · View notes

theonyxpath · 4 years

Link

First, it’s They Came From Beyond the Grave! and the Kickstarter that would not die. Or died and came back, if that’s more appropriate to the genre.

We’ve a little more than two weeks to go and it is shambling along having passed another Stretch Goal last week! You can gather more details in the Kickstarter section below!

Then there’s They Came from Beneath the Sea! whose PDF and PoD versions go on sale this Wednesday on DTRPG. Now this isn’t the traditionally printed version that was the main reward for its Kickstarter – that’s getting shipped over to the KS fulfillment gang at Studio2.

We need the other parts of that KS, like the Screen, to get there before Studio2 can start fulfilling the KS, but everything is being worked on at this point, so not too long now!

Finally, just wanted to throw out a little thought exercise to everyone. We’ve chatted in panels and such online about what could be next for They Came From…!, and I think we even have a thread about that topic on our Onyx Path forums, with such titles as They Came from Boot Hill! or They Came From Over Yonder! (Western genre), They Came From Under the Bed! (kid’s scary shows), and They Came From Past the Moon! (spaceship sci-fi).

But what would you be interested in? They Came From Monster Island!, maybe? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below!

From The Monday Meeting-

We reviewed our panel at Gen Con Online today in the Monday Meeting, and here are some interesting thoughts about that and more from Eddy Webb:

Our attendance at the What’s Up panel definitely seemed better than usual for Gen Con, but (understandably) lower than when we did it at Onyx Path Con a couple months back. The chat seemed well behaved, too. I think it’s worth doing again.

Related, one of the panels I did was in Second Life on Saturday. I admit I was skeptical, but the people running it were some old friends of mine, so I gave it a try, and honestly it really scratched an itch that Twitch streams don’t. They built out a large chunk of the Indianapolis convention center, down to the Grand Ballroom and the food trucks, as well as more fantastical settings like a fantasy forest and a post-apocalypse landscape. Many of the people I talked to were very new to tabletop RPGs and just excited to hear about things like Pugmire. And, to be honest, not having a camera on my face all the time made me feel a lot more comfortable, and the chats I was having before and after the event felt more like coming and going to an in-person panel. Yes, it also suffered from some disjointed messaging and the like, but we had a talk about dealing with things like the learning curve, and they have some good ideas for other conventions going forward. The group is called VRazethebar, and it’s something I’m definitely keeping an eye on.

Which is actually pretty cool. A VR space to gather in rather than the stacked head-shots sounds really interesting and immersive. The future of LARPing?

The Dog Days of Summer Sale on our Deluxe X20 books and Screens and even dice is going gangbusters over at IPR. I’m told we are completely out of the very last Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Editions!

We added Changeling: The Dreaming 20th to the sale as well, so that includes the Deluxe book, the Screen, and C20 Dice!

Finally, we realized today that a bunch of us were going to be out all next week, and rather than having folks hang around as a skeleton crew, I just declared next week as a holiday for the whole company!

Frankly, we are beat every way somebody could be. Mentally, psychologically, physically, psychically, emotionally, creatively: BEAT. Our crew needs and deserves a break!

So, no MMN Blog next week, although we’ll probably put up a KS reminder or something like that late Monday.

No Onyx Pathcast next week, although I understand that this Friday the Trio will suggest their favorite ones to listen to while they’re gone.

We will have a project for sale that Weds, the 12th, as we can set that up ahead of time. More details below, but I’m thrilled to say it’s Mysteries of the World: The Scion Companion. I know a lot of folks have been waiting for more official Scion material – so here it is!

After a break to recharge, we’re hoping to come bouncing back all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (and fanged and caped) and get right back into taking you to our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

Blurbs!

Kickstarter!

The They Came From Beyond the Grave! Kickstarter continues to claw its way free, and in the process it reveals treasures hidden in the grave dirt: the Screen and the first section of Monsters from the Crypt: a book containing More Monsters, and also an exclusive KS t-shirt coupon! Next up in Stretch Goals are even More Monsters and electronic Wallpaper!

Thanks to all of you who have pledged to enable this fantastic project and its Stretch Goals!

Here’s a specially-made special trailer by the brilliant Larry Blamire:

And keep your eyes open for:

Onyx Path Media!

This week: They Came From Beyond the Grave! actual play!

As always, this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

First, let’s start with some amazing news: our amazing creators, players, and audiences worked together last week to produce some fantastic content for our Twitch channel, and not only that, they raise a grand total of $2,734.69 for charity! This is a wonderful accomplishment, and our hats go off to Travis Legge and the rest of the team who contributed to the running of this campaign.

If you missed the special streams we ran, do not despair: they are still available over on twitch.tv/theonyxpath. Give us a follow, and you can find a huge number of videos of all kinds of games, PLUS, our What’s Up with Onyx Path? livestream conducted for Gen Con weekend! This week on Twitch, expect to see these games and streams running:

Scarred Lands

Mage 20: Technocracy Reloaded

Scion – Behind the Screen

They Came from Beyond the Grave!

Mage: The Awakening – Occultists Anonymous

Scarred Lands – Purge of the Serpentholds

Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition

Even more Technocracy Reloaded!

Get watching for some fantastic insight into how to run these wonderful games and subscribe to us on Twitch, over at twitch.tv/theonyxpath

Over on YouTube, our friends at Red Moon Roleplaying have concluded their They Came from Beyond the Grave! story, with their usual excellent editing, quality, and in this case, a lovely cast of players led by Director, Matthew Dawkins! Come join in and listen to the Cult of Abaddon at play: https://youtu.be/RDYzNbk7VkQ

Come take a look at our YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/theonyxpath, where you can find a whole load of videos of actual plays, dissections of our games, and more, including:

Storytellers with Coffee – The Games of Onyx Path – https://youtu.be/QxRRq-WQytg

Changeling: The Lost – Littlebrook Reunion Episode 24 – https://youtu.be/huEkMrUcR2Q

Blood City: Chicago by Night Episode 22 – https://youtu.be/eYkgKmDY9-o

(Matthew’s favourite) Scarred Lands – Purge of the Serpentholds Episode 9 – https://youtu.be/3_mdkDrSezY

Deviant: The Renegades – A Cautionary Tale – Episode One – https://youtu.be/b394NFi0gnU

Realms of Pugmire: Paws & Claws – S2E9 – https://youtu.be/UAGU27vkJ54

Subscribe to our channel and click the bell icon if you want to be notified whenever new news videos and uploads come online!

Systematic Understanding of Everything is a new Exalted Explainer Podcast by Exalted Dev Monica Speca and Exalted Writer Chazz Kellner that is breaking down Creation in 45 minute chunks in preparation for Exalted Essence.

Their most recent episode in on Creation and its history – https://anchor.fm/exaltcast/episodes…reation-eg2g9d

Get past episodes at http://www.exaltcast.com/

The Story Told Podcast have just started a new chapter in their Fall of Jiara Exalted chronicle, and we’d love it if you gave them some support. Here’s episode one!

https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/fall-of-jiara-act-1-summary-recounting-of-the-past

And here’s their character introductions:

https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/fall-of-jiara-character-intros

Please check these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games! We’d love to feature you!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

We’re told that the App Dev is currently creating an updated version for the latest devices, so keep an eye open for those!

Virtual TableTop!

Introducing a Virtual Tabletop encounter pack for the Trinity Continuum Core: Hunt for the Red Widow on DTRPG!

Hunt for the Red Widow is a short encounter designed starting Talents in the Trinity Continuum Core setting. When a renowned but mysterious thief known as The Red Widow steals an ancient artifact from the Æon Society’s vaults, it is up to the party to track her down and recover the device. She is heading to an old ruin said to unlock the artifact’s true power. Can the heroes reach her in time?

Inside you’ll find:

A short encounter for use with the Trinity Continuum Corebook

Two new antagonists: The Red Widow, and her minions, known simply as “Ghosts.” Virtual tabletop tokens are included to represent the antagonists

Two maps, ready to be uploaded into your virtual tabletop platform of choice

New Anomaly Powers.

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost Second Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And now Scion Origin and Scion Hero and Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order

It’s the return of the DOG DAYS OF SUMMER SALE!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, the PDF and PoD versions of They Came From Beneath the Sea! arise from the depths and go on sale on DTRPG!

They Came from Beneath the Sea! is a dramatic and farcical tabletop roleplaying game encompassing the wonder, horror, thrills, and humor of 1950s and 1960s science fiction. This game allows you to play with all the great content from the B-movies of decades ago, and promises a dynamic, fun time for all involved!

In They Came from Beneath the Sea! you play humans in a world under attack. The attackers? Aliens from beneath the sea (obviously). Adventures range from the one-shot defense of a small coastal town, to the lengthier liberation of a cruise ship infested with gill-folk, all the way to the story in which characters seize an alien submarine and ride it all the way down to the sea bed to take the fight to the invaders. In this game, your protagonists are strong-jawed war veterans, cunning and resourceful explorers, utterly insane scientists, and blue-collar heroes, just looking to defend their patches of land.

They Came from Beneath the Sea! contains a mix of serious threat and unbridled farce. While the book plays it straight with no winking at the camera, your game will include ludicrous statements and events taken with all the gravitas of your boat being set on fire. While this game provides rules for funny quips and amusing cinematics for incorporation in a scenario, we leave it to the players and Director to discover the correct level of humor for your game.

They Came from Beneath the Sea! uses the Storypath System, provided in full in the pages of this book!

They Came from Beneath the Sea! includes:

• Five playable Archetypes — the Everyman, the G-Man, the Mouth, the Scientist, and the Survivor!

• Rules for character creation and play, using the Storypath System fully detailed in this book!

• Cinematic powers such as the ability to insert deleted scenes in your game, cut to black when everything is looking a bit too grim, and redirect shots to kill the extras!

• Quips to throw in at appropriate (and sometimes inappropriate) moments, giving your characters the chance at an award-winning scene!

• The history and setting of the 1950s world presented in this book!

• Scores of aliens promising the fall of the human race, presenting a broad array of dangers and objectives for repeat play!

• Two ready-to-play scenarios, straight out of the book!

And on Wednesday the 12th, we are delving into the Mysteries of the World: The Scion Companion, in PDF and PoD versions on DTRPG!

Though knowledge, wisdom, and the ability to see the unseen are many Scions’ birthrights, the World holds infinite secrets. Gaze deep into Tezcatlipoca’s mirror or the eyes of an avian bringer of omens, and no matter how sagacious you imagine yourself to be, you’ll learn something new — or something older than time.

Scion: Mysteries of the World presents optional rules and new pantheons, expands upon setting elements and systems, and gives Storyguides and players both a leg up in not only understanding Scion’s particular brand of the Storypath system, but fine-tuning it to meet their table’s needs. You don’t need this book to play a game of Scion, but if you want to explore the World and its many mysteries in more depth, it’s got you covered.

This book includes:

A system and advice for dialing elements of the game setting up and down to uniquely suit your game;

An expansion of cults, crafting, and relics;

Three new pantheons — the Loa of Haiti, the Nemetondevos of Gaul, and the Yazata of Persia — as well as the optional Atlantean pantheon, as an example that comes with advice and rules for how to create your own custom Purviews and pantheons;

A guide for converting Scion First Edition characters and stories to Second Edition.

Conventions!

Though dates for physical conventions are subject to change due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, here’s what’s left of our current list of upcoming conventions (and really, we’re just waiting for this last one to be cancelled even though it’s Nov/Dec). Instead, keep an eye out here for more virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with:

PAX Unplugged: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/

And now, the new project status updates!

Development Status from Eddy Webb! (Projects in bold have changed status since last week.):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep.)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

M20 Technocracy Operative’s Dossier (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

Prometheus Unbound (was Psi Orders) (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

No Gods, No Masters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Redlines

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)

CtL 2e Novella Collection: Hollow Courts (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Squeaks In The Deep (Realms of Pugmire)

Trinity Continuum: Anima

Second Draft

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Dead Man’s Rust (Scarred Lands)

The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

M20 Rich Bastard’s Guide To Magick (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution Fiction Anthology (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Development

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

V5 Forbidden Religions (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

V5 Children of the Blood (was The Faithful Undead) (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Manuscript Approval

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

V5 Trails of Ash and Bone (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Post-Approval Development

Editing

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

LARP Rules (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Book of Lasting Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Dearly Bleak – Novella (Deviant: The Renegades)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Under Alien Skies (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Post-Editing Development

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum)

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (They Came From!)

Indexing

Lunars: Fangs At The Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Art Direction from Mike Chaney!

In Art Direction

Tales of Aquatic Terror

WoD Ghost Hunters (KS)

Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Mummy 2

Deviant – Sam doing fulls for this next. Contracting out all the rest.

Legendlore

Technocracy Reloaded

Cults of the Blood God – Rolling along.

Scion: Dragon (KS) – Splats contracted.

Masks of the Mythos (KS) – KS art contracted, a couple of finals already in.

Scion: Demigod (KS) – Fulls are almost done… other stuff progressing.

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (KS) – KS running.

TC: Adventure! (KS) – Cover is in.

Geist: One Foot In the Grave

In Layout

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad

Vigil Watch

V5 Let the Streets Run Red – Almost wrapped up, still working on Loresheets.

Pugmire Adventure

Scion Titanomachy

Trinity Core Jumpstart

Proofing

Trinity Aeon Jumpstart – PoD files updated.

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate – Indexing.

Cavaliers of Mars: City of the Towered Tombs

Magic Item Decks (Scarred Lands)

Yugman’s Guide Support Decks (Scarred Lands)

TC Aeon Terra Firma

At Press

TCFBTS Heroic Land Dwellers – PoD proof on the way.

TCFBTS Screen and Booklet – Files at press.

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Shipping from printer to KS fulfiller, PDF and PoD versions on sale this Weds.

Pirates of Pugmire – Shipping from printer to KS fulfiller.

Pirates of Pugmire Screen – Files at press.

Dark Eras 2 – Files printing.

Dark Eras 2 Screen and booklet – Files at press.

Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition Dark Eras Compilation – PoD proof on the way.

Contagion Chronicle – Press prep.

Contagion Chronicle Screen and Booklet – Files at press.

Lunars Wall Scroll Map – Files at press.

Lunars Screen and Booklet – Files at press.

Scarred Lands Creature Collection – Printing.

Scion Companion – One PoD proof in, other expected this week. PDF and PoD versions on sales next Weds, not this Weds!

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

One happy and one sad today. Today is the 49th birthday of our Kickstarter Concierge James Bell! James has been a ray of blinding golden light or a veritable Grond of Kickstarter-running for us and we’re sure glad to have him! Have a great day, eh!

Mike Chaney let us know today of the passing of his mother last night. None of us ever met her, but she managed to raise one of the nicest people, and talented art direction and layout maestro, that Mike is, so we feel like we have in a way. Thank you so much for that, ma’am. RIP.

#Onyx Path Publishing

0 notes

scrapsofsky · 5 years

Text

I am on my way home from Dublin OR have already arrived. Like science fiction, my future is fundamentally about the present. Naturally, that means Worldcon has ended along with my sadly short vacation in Dublin, Ireland, a quaint little city… Oh, who the hell am I kidding? Dublin is really cool, y’all. And since “recaps of adventures” are a thing in the science fiction community, I’m here to, well, recap my adventures. This one will be a long one, y’all. So here…we…go!

The Dublin Worldcon was a bit like a dream. I pre-supported (or whatever it’s called) fairly early in the game AND bought an upgrade for my badge at the Worldcon in Finland (2017). I really wanted to go to a Worldcon in Dublin. More importantly, I wanted to support strong bids for non-U.S. Worldcons because, well, I actually take the “world” part of the name literally, and I don’t think you can have a “Worldcon” that doesn’t make an attempt to occur in various parts of the world.[1. I also recognize that logistically, it is quite difficult to run a Worldcon in every place on Earth. First, you need an established community that could reasonably handle a con the size of a Worldcon. Second, you need a space that can reasonably provide for potential attendees. Also: with the dystopian turn around the world, I have particular concerns about safety for convention attendees, especially if they come from marginalized groups. There are no easy solutions to this problem. After all, the West has decided to flush its progressive movement down the toilet. Most of us are fairly privileged in the West, and I am reminded of my nearly tearful smile in the EPIC Museum in Dublin when the fancy screen reminded us that Dublin was the first (or one of the first) countries to legalize gay marriage by popular vote. Respecting other cultures is one thing, but we also have to consider the safety of attendees in places where rights-based progress has not occurred. And, yes, I recognize that my home country, the United States of America, has SEVERE issues when it comes to safety right now. I would be hesitant to support a Worldcon in the U.S., which is likely to attract people from Mexico and other heavily Hispanic or Latinx nations; no U.S. Worldcon can guarantee that they won’t get randomly picked up by ICE and deported even though they are legally in the country. Worse, no U.S. Worldcon can guarantee that anyone picked by ICE for deportation won’t have their lives put at risk when they are detained in some ICE facility without the provisions necessary for comfort. I’ll remind people that simply being in the U.S. is not a crime, and being in the U.S. illegally is so minor of a crime that any argument suggesting they be treated like hardened criminals is, frankly, some fascist bullshit. Yes, fascist. OK. I’ll stop now…]

Originally, I had not planned to attend the event. I recently moved to Minnesota for a new job, and that meant a lot of moving expenses ended up on credit cards (ahem, I have a ko-fi). So I made the choice that I would save my money to pay down debt (ahem, I have a Paypal, ahem). Then y’all nominated my podcast, The Skiffy and Fanty Show, for Best Fancast. And when you’re nominated for a Hugo to be announced in Ireland, you have to scrap your previous adult plans for nerd shenanigans.

Also: I will apologize in advance for forgetting anyone I might have hung out with, encountered, conversed with, etc. Dublin was a bit of a whirlwind, and I am notoriously forgetful. I also do want to apologize to folks we meant to interview for the podcast. Stuff sorta fell through, partly because of me and partly because of things I couldn’t control. However, I expect to record new stuffs with you folks in the near future!

So with that in mind, here’s a day-by-day accounting of the events in Dublin:

Day One (8/13/19 – 8/14/19): Dubliners

Thanks (seriously, thanks) to all the lovely folks who donated to my fundraiser (to cover the flight and hotel expenses), I was able to stay a little longer in Dublin than I might have if I could only rely on work reimbursement.[2. Work will basically cover all the stuff that isn’t flight or hotel related. Without your support, I probably would have been there for two days and then come back, which is kind of a waste of a trip. This way, I could cover some bills and experience a bit of Dublin.] One of my co-hosts and co-producers, Jen Zink, had procured accommodations at Trinity College for Friday through Tuesday, so I decided I’d take a few days off from work to enjoy a bit more of Dublin.

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that my departure did not go smoothly. I left Bemidji for Minneapolis with more than enough time for a 2+ hour early arrival. But Minnesota decided the 13th would be the day to dump Florida-level rain on the whole damn state. By the time I hit Minneapolis, I had lost at least 30 minutes of lead time. In Minneapolis, things were even worse. The roads were swamped with slowed sections and accidents. I even took the wrong turnoff, which put me in even worse traffic and sent me through back roads trying to make my way. Normally, losing a 2-hour lead on a flight wouldn’t worry me. When I fly domestic, I usually don’t have any issues at the Minneapolis Airport and end up with over 90 minutes of free time. International flights aren’t always as smooth, so I was certain I’d miss the flight. So certain I think I had my first case of real road rage in a long time. I even called Jen to rant as a way to calm the nerves.

Needless to say, I made it with time to spare because Minneapolis is weird.

And if only that were the last disaster! Ha! Upon arrival in Dublin (about an hour late), I received the delightful news that the airline (KLM-Delta) had lost my luggage. And by “lost” I mean “somehow they got it off the plane and misplaced it on the way to the baggage carousel.” This happened to everyone’s luggage for the flight. The airline tried to claim that the luggage had come on a different flight due to weight concerns, but I call bullshit. [3. Pro-tip, folks. Bring a change of underwear in your carry-on luggage. T-shirt and sporty shorts are also a plus.]

At the time, this really stressed me out. In retrospect, it’s honestly not that big a deal. I was just damn tired and didn’t want to go shopping for supplies while in an unfamiliar city after a red-eye flight.

The good news? I ended that day by chilling with Gareth Kavanaugh and ickle_tayto (it’s a reference!). We had dinner at an Irish pub place, where I devoured a Guinness and an Irish stew. So the evening ended quite well indeed!

Day 2 (8/15): Let the Great Pre-Con Spin

The second day turned out a bit better. As you do when you’re in Ireland, I started off with a full Irish breakfast at a local pub. Nomnom. Aside from lingering pain from my leg (hey, leg pain!), I had a pretty good time socializing and wandering the convention center.

One thing I did get to do was catch up with Anne Lyle, who has been one of my go-to “hey, we randomly happen to be in the same place” friends. She seems to pop up at the same conventions, and we never coordinate anything. We just run into each other, and it’s a happy friends time. On top of that, I joined up with Julia Rios and her husband, Moss (who is a delight), and all four of us had a lovely dinner at a local sushi place.

I’m also pretty sure this is the day I met Matt (a.k.a. runalongwomble). We had a beer (thank god for European conventions), chatted about a lot of stuffs, and enjoyed general merriment. Matt is awesome!

That pretty much sums up that day. I weirdly didn’t go to any panels, which I’ll blame on jet lag and the fiasco of the previous day. Honestly, if not for catching up with old friends, I imagine it would feel wasted, but as it stands: totally a good day.

P.S.: This is one of those days where my memory is quite fuzzy. If we talked on this day, please remind me, because the brain has deleted my browsing history…

Day 3 (8/16): The Picture of Loopdilou

By Friday, the Skiffy and Fanty crew had begun to accumulate like some kind of troupe of Might Morphin’ Power Rangers (yeah, I went there). Julia and Alex were already in town. Trish was probably hiding somewhere. And Jen was on her way from Colorado. I’m told the weather in Colorado was pleasant in her absence, which meteorologists attributed to the absence of her Storm-like aura of radiation (X-Men rule!).

I mostly spent the day enjoying good food (another full Irish breakfast, y’all — Spar’s got it goin’ on), chatting with folks, drinking beer at Martin’s (the “pub” offered by Worldcon because European Worldcons are like that), and so on. Mostly, I spent half of the day waiting for Jen, who decided to be late to the party. I also recorded an interview with Ariela Housman and Terri Ash of Geek Calligraphy (forthcoming).

Once Jen arrived, we got checked into our room at Trinity College, proceeded to hunt down Julia and Alex and Trish, attended Julia’s and Alex’s readings, and then poofed off to a local Irish pub for eats with Anne Lyle in tow. Oh, fun fact: Jen totally fell like a cartoon character after “running into” a foot traffic barricade. It was hilarious.

After those shenanigans, we went to Julia’s hotel room, acquired some lovely alcohol, and recorded an episode of Torture Cinema with Skiffy and Fanty super fan, Linnea. You can listen to the episode here! Jen spent most of the evening snoring.

Day 4 (8/17): A Portrait of the Panelist as an Old Fart

The next day was an eventful one. It was the first day I got to really enjoy panels at Worldcon. Here’s a quick rundown of the panels I attended (some will link to Twitter threads and what not):

One of the big panels I attended was “What is African Science Fiction?” starring Nick Wood and Geoff Ryman. This panel was meant to have others in attendance, but alas there were some issues that prevented that. You can read some of my notes on the panel via this Twitter thread:

https://twitter.com/shaunduke/status/1162667073962741761

And even more can be found via Vanessa Rose Phin’s thread:

https://twitter.com/wordfey/status/1162660343895797760

I do just want to add that the problem of tourist visas is one that we’re going to need to deal with in the future. I’m not sure how much conventions can do to mitigate the damage this causes, but we all need to be more proactive in making sure people from other parts of the world can attend conventions and be part of our conversations. Otherwise, we’re just not the global community we should be. There’s more to be said on this, but this post is already ridiculously long!

From there, I decided to hit up “Building the SFF Community Online,” which I hoped would give me some insight into managing online communities. I semi-run two semi-communities: The Skiffy and Fanty Show and StarWarsFanJoy, both of which I’ve semi-neglected because I am overwhelmed by life. The panel starred Christopher Davis, Kat Tanaka Okopnik, fromankyra, Elio Garcia Jr., and Heather Rose Jones (M).

I also attended a “Muslim SFF” panel starring S.A. Chakraborty, Yasser Bahjatt, Harun Šiljak, and Peter Adrian Behravesh (who looks like an English professor who took a class in Awesome). I really wish I had kept notes on the panel because they mentioned a lot of old school and relatively recent work, some of which was from Arabia and some of which was from elsewhere in the world (Bosnia!). I mostly go to these panels to find new stuff to check out, and in this case, I just missed a lot because I am still fairly new to the way names from Arabia (and, well, Bosnia) are spelled. In other words, I just missed a lot of names. But there’s good news for this one: it was streamed live on YouTube! See here:

youtube

So go get you some Muslim SF/F!

The last panel I attended that wasn’t one of my own was “Audio Dramas and Radio Plays,” starring Phil Foglio, Roger Gregg, Fiona Moore, and Jeanne Beckwith (M). I mostly went because my co-hosts, Jen Zink and Trish Matson, were interested. I think we both expected to get something different out of it: Jen probably wanted more tips on audio narration and dramatic presentation for her work as a podcast producer on non-Skiffy and Fanty things; I mostly wanted a better understanding of audio drama to see where there might be crossover for an actual play RPG podcast I’d like to do.

And, well, we didn’t really get much out of it. Except chuckles. The panel briefly talked about podcasts, but it was pretty clear that nobody on the panel actually knew anything about podcasts. That might not bother me except they were meant to be there as experts of a kind on audio dramas and radio plays, both things that have been part of the podcasting community for longer than I’ve been a part of it (I joined in 2010 and started listening in 2008 or so). Then one of the panelists basically said you shouldn’t start a podcast just to have fun, and all three us did one of those comedic “oh really” turns, and then Jen muttered “we really fucked this up.” We probably would have disrupted the panel with laughter if we hadn’t contained ourselves just a wee bit.

Beyond that, I had one panel and one event of my own to attend. It was a busy day! My first panel for Worldcon was “The Use of SF in Higher Education” starring Mary Anne Mohanraj (M), Nora E. Derrington, David DeGraff, and Corry L. Lee, Ph.D. We largely talked about how to navigate using SF in classrooms with emphasis on getting students to think about the world around them. There’s good reason for that: most of the panelists teach physical sciences (physics and the like). I did get to go on a mini-ramble about the importance of using literature to think about digital technology, social media, and the like. This was one of those moments when I wished that panels could be longer or that we had more time between panels to have conversations with audience members. But Dublin tried to keep things moving, so…

The last thing on the list was a Literary Beer with, well, myself. These are basically kaffeeklatsches with beer instead of coffee. Free beer, I might add. Mmm. Free beer.

Anyway. I was pretty concerned about this because I do not consider myself much of a celebrity despite being a Hugo Award finalist two times in the same decade. However, my table ended up being full. In attendance: Valerie Valdes, who I had met at some point earlier in the convention (along with her lovely husband, Eric, who chatted my ear off about cinema sound production[3. Eric, you are totally evil for getting me back into Pokemon Go. You monster!]), S.C. Flynn, old friends Evergreen and Gary, Eyal Kless, and a whole lot of other folks! Honestly, I went in feeling very much like an impostor, but left feeling pretty good. For the most part, the conversation wandered into everything from Star Wars to toxic fandom to podcasting to separating the author from their work, etc. I have no idea if that’s how these things are meant to go, but I certainly enjoyed myself.

I ended up grabbing dinner on a boat with Evergreen and Gary, which was lovely, then nabbing beers, socializing, and then towing Jen back to Trinity College. It was a pretty good day.

Day 5 (8/18): The Book of Panels

Ah, Sunday. The big day. The awards day. The day we lost another Hugo Award. Ha!

For the most part, I didn’t get to attend any panels other than my own. There was a lot of sleeping in, eating full Irish breakfasts, socializing, and otherwise keeping our minds focused on being emotional wrecks. For the most part, we succeeded.

The first panel of the day was “Academics and Acolytes: Learning in SFF Worlds,” starring Karen Simpson Nikakis, Kenneth Schneyer, and Ali Baker. We mostly discussed how learning systems function in SF/F narratives, what they get right and wrong, etc. It was pretty fantasy heavy, but I think that’s largely because most narratives with memorable education systems happen to be fantasy narratives. We did have some fun at the end when an audience member asked which school from an SF/F story we’d like to attend. My answer was pretty reasonable: Starfleet if for no other reason than that my chances of death on campus are remarkably low. Let’s be real: most schools in fantasy worlds put their students in a lot of danger. I have no idea how any fantasy school manages to have insurance for the premises.

The other panel was simply called “Fan Podcasts,” starring Alexandra Rowland, Jonathan Strahan, Heather Rose Jones (M), and Jen Zink. Unlike a lot of podcast panels I’ve been on, we didn’t focus on all the technical details. Instead, Heather kindly directed us to talk about the trials that go into producing a show, our intentions and desires, and related components. It led to a lot of back-and-forth between the different podcast hosts, each of whom had different perspectives. All in all, it was a solid ending to my panel allotment!

And then the real scary stuff happened! The Skiffy and Fanty Crew got to attend another Hugo Awards ceremony together, beginning with a mini-party-whatsit (which we attended with Eden Royce and her husband, Mark Taylor). Brandon O’Brien, Trish Matson, Julia Rios, and Alex Acks were also in attendance. As far as Hugo Award ceremonies go, this one had quite a few hiccups. The biggest was the closed caption failures that brought about a lot of laughter during Ada Palmer’s award introduction. At first, I did find the inaccurate translations of Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones as “Bored of the Rings” and “Cream of Thrones,” but the more I think about it, the more of a colossal screw-up it turned out to be. Obviously, they put that there for folks who are hard of hearing, but it’s clear that they needed a better system or some other method entirely, especially since the laughter completely disrupted the show. Beyond that, though, I think the awards were perfectly fine. There’s no online stream as far as I can tell, but you can learn about the winners here.

Naturally, we didn’t win. Surprise! But we did get to watch some really phenomenal folks get trophies and light the world on fire with some of their speeches.

After that, we headed to the now-infamous Hugo Losers Party. Infamous for unintended reasons… Much has been said about the issues surrounding the HLP. My voice is among the many, though I am by far the least significant voice. Instead of retreading here, I’ll simply point you to this string of Twitter threads and posts (mine will come last). A couple quick points to note:

The Dublin Worldcon folks are not responsible for the party, though they did put the invitations in finalist packets. Some of the threads tag Dublin 2019 in the mix, but they were minimally involved in the event. This suggests that there is a LOT of confusion about who runs the Hugo Losers Party, who manages things like transportation, etc.

New Zealand’s Worldcon crew are also mentioned in some of these threads. They were involved in the party, though I’m not sure to what degree. I do know that they were at the front doors and contributed, intentionally or otherwise, to the confusion outside. Hopefully, they took a LOT of notes.

There are also likely some inaccuracies in some of these threads, especially those written in the moment or the immediate wake. Again, this speaks to the degree of confusion about the event, who manages it, who said what and when, etc. It also shows just how much confusion there was at the doors. My friends and I honestly had no idea what was going on beyond “it’s full and you can’t get in,” and when we asked questions, we often got conflicting information, no information, or got told something that, in our eyes, seemed wrong (like dumping our +1s at the door like discarded luggage).

While there is a lot of anger in all of this, I don’t think anyone blames those who did attend the event for attending. It wasn’t their party, and they were simply doing what they thought they were allowed to do. More importantly, some of those folks, including convention staff, left when they found out that finalists were being refused entry. They shouldn’t have had to do that, but I appreciate that they chose to do so on our behalf. This is likely the reason Jen Zink and I managed to gain entry (see my thread below for more on that).

GRRM does partly finance and run this shindig, for which I think most people are grateful. Indeed, it’s a nice thing to do. Most of the issues that came up concern how people felt in trying to attend the event and the apparent dismissal of those feelings after the fact. You’ll see that in most of the threads.

Here are some initial reactions (understandably annoyed reactions):

https://twitter.com/katsudonburi/status/1163219408032018432

https://twitter.com/NussbaumAbigail/status/1163369795238223872

GRRM has now responded to some of these thoughts. I recommend you start with Alex Acks’ blog response to that post, which pretty well covers a lot of the major issues surrounding the party and the explanations that followed. Then look at these Twitter threads:

https://twitter.com/LoopdiLou/status/1168215279286898688

https://twitter.com/AlasdairStuart/status/1168519904179490817

https://twitter.com/_vajra/status/1168225748676726791

https://twitter.com/AlexandraErin/status/1168174552087769088

https://twitter.com/D_Libris/status/1168179746787790849

You can read my initial reactions to the party here:

https://twitter.com/shaunduke/status/1163256621985927168

And my post-GRRM explanation reactions here:

https://twitter.com/shaunduke/status/1168168091819421699

https://twitter.com/shaunduke/status/1168276842815639553

These are by no means the only reactions. I am certainly missing quite a few, so if you have suggestions for things to include, please let me know in the comments!

Other than that, the day was a good one. It might have ended awkwardly, but that’s just the way life works sometimes!

Day 6 (8/19): Worldcon’s Ashes

Monday began with a quick meetup with Tanya DePass. Jen and I interviewed her about I Need Diverse Games and related gaming issues (forthcoming) before joining her for her reading from Game Devs & Others: Tales from the Margins. It was good stuff!

Beyond that, Monday is a bit of a blur. It was the last full day of Jen shenanigans, but she wasn’t feeling well enough to do much more than hang at the convention center. I’m sure I did a lot of socializing there, but I’m just drawing blanks while writing this (sorry).

I do know that we attended the closing ceremony party thing. We procured some bean bags with Gareth Kavanaugh. Ian Sales showed up, and we had a lovely chat about his recent move, making lists of movies where we accuse the other of being totally wrong about their choices, and other fun things. Then we retired…

Day 7 (8/20): Duke’s Travels

With the convention officially over, it was time to say goodbye to some people and get some last-minute Dublin adventures marked off the “to do” list. Jen and I joined Alasdair Stuart and Marguerite Kenner for breakfast as a farewell. They were all leaving relatively early in the day. We had a lovely conversation over burgers and fries, talked genre shenanigans, commiserated over the previous Sunday’s fiasco, babbled about audio production and Netflix shows, etc. It was pretty awesome.

Then we parted ways. I said goodbye to one of my best friends (and two new ones). To be fair, Jen and I are not allowed to be in the same region for more than 6 days due to some pesky international treaties signed between Thailand, the United States, and Poland. So don’t expect us to hang out again soon.

After that, I had the pleasure of joining Juan Sanmiguel (from Orlando’s SF/F fan community). We decided to check out Dublin Castle, which is pretty darn cool (see the pictures), the EPIC museum (also incredible), and Chapters, a massive new and used bookstore in Dublin.[4. I discovered the Antonio Benitez-Rojo wrote novels. Ask me about it some time.] I certainly didn’t get to see as much of the city as I would have liked, but you can’t have it all, right? We ended the evening at J.W. Sweetman, a brewery and pub in the center of Dublin. Yes, I tried all of their beers (in very small glasses).

As I write this, Juan is doing more Dublin things without me.[5. Actually, he’s home now, but I can’t be bothered to keep times accurate.]

Afterwards, I bought some souvenirs and turned in.

Day 8 (8/21): Thy Journey Might Cease

And so it all ended. Here I am writing up a longwinded report on my Worldcon activities from the relative discomfort of an airplane flying at 33,881 feet in -45 C temperatures at nearly 720 KMH. We just crossed the Atlantic and will land in Atlanta or something in a few hours. Be amazed that this is even a thing![7. Remember when I said I wouldn’t keep times accurate? I’m obviously not on a plane anymore, but just imagine that I am because that would mean I’ve been stuck on a plane for over a week!]

All in all, Worldcon was pretty fantastic. Yeah, there were some snafus and the like (and my leg was in extreme pain for most of it), but I met a bunch of folks, caught up with folks I already knew, and got to hang with my bestestest friend, Jen. And I got to see Dublin. It’s hard to complain too much now, right?

With that in mind, I’ll leave it to the Internets. If you attended Worldcon, what did you think? Did you have a good time? What were some of your favorite panel experiences? What did you see in the city that amazed you? Let me know in the comments!

Oh, and for those that like pictures, here you go:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

And I'm back on the blog talking about stuff. Today's post takes a look at my experiences at Worldcon 77 in Dublin! Enjoy the rambles! I am on my way home from Dublin OR have already arrived. Like science fiction, my future is fundamentally about the present.

#Conventions #Dublin #Tourism #Travels #Worldcon #Worldcon 77

0 notes