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pensistent-player · 2 months

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SS #1

I see a knot. The thread of the knot looks nice - peach colour, cotton, soft texture. But, from my view, it is a huge mess. Oh my God! These knots of all these beautiful threads - chrome yellow, dark pink, royal blue, olive green, blood red, all a knotty mess together.

But no time to sort these out. The creative cabinet, it is. Lots of arts and crafts there for the travellers to get out of their cognitve blocks. After all, in space, especially so far away from home, a clear mind is your best friend.

I am at the resident quarters of the PC-243GN. The entire residing space has been fixed and has become my temporary home - a home far from home. Things and activities like these help me stay fresh, despite the amount of workload I have in my hands.

The entire station is like a pitstop, for daring missions or travels into the black hole. Most of them never return. The some who do, return only to go back and never come again. Nor do they speak anything regarding it despite the numerous efforts, especially scientific efforts. It is as if, the expression of that space has been forbidden outside of it.

My name is Nakul. In my mid-40s, this is the perfect assignment as an outer space repairman. I am an ST-N, Space Technician of the Novice rank. A high paying job, but isolated work environment, as is clearly felt. But, a repairman is a much more grounded term to call me.

Due to being so close to the Event Horizon, in a recent accident, a lot of the station suffered heavy damage, and the debris got sucked into the black hole. When I came, whatever I had on my space pod, was the only support. Now, after repairing the living quarters, I can take rests and use the space properly. As I repair a section, I send out a message back home for supplies to be restocked so that operations can resume faster.

Here I am, 3 months into the assignment. Today, I am to work on the most critical component of the station, the Tethering mechanism. While it is still working, due to damage, its integration with the station has been compromised.

My work seems complicated, but it is really just a lot of button tapping, re-calibration, through my computer, identify problems, which exactly what I am doing right now. In my flow of work, I had failed to notice, as it can happen, that the station was moving. I see a star far away moving towards my left, and me moving towards the black hole on the right.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. The alert goes.

I look in to what is wrong. 'What is happening... This is not good. The station still has a lot of use', I thought as I go through the mechanics, only to see that the solar panels are destroyed.

How? That's the first thing you fix! An asteroid crashed? Seems like that from the shape of the damage. I have to get out of here.

I send an SOS to the HQ. And I ran. However we run, in space, floating from one side to the other. I get to my pod, no problem. It is time to leave. The pods is not starting. Why? Its power has been drained out, used to power the station.

How could I let this happen? My brain was knotted up, to notice it seems...

The view from the window was mesmerising. I get the pod ready for landing, impact, I do not know. I detach the pod from the station.

The pull has grown stronger, much more than what is was before. Every minute, it is getting stronger.

I am into the pull of the black hole. Will I survive? I did not know what to expect. They say, once you enter the black hole, metaphorically, that becomes your death, you are never the same again. I see my parents, smiling, telling me not to be scared, as they did when I was scared of lightning as a kid. The station is nowhere to be seen.

I close my eyes to brace for whatever is to come

#creative writing #writeblr #writing #scifi #short story #writerscommunity #writing community #writers on tumblr

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kitsuneheartreviews · 3 months

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Scifi/Horror: "Womb City" by Tlotlo Tsamaase

Death has been conquered. Capitalism...has not.

Nelah's current body has come with many downsides. A birth family who is all-but estranged. Infertility which has resisted all treatments, forcing Nelah and her husband to hire a financially ruinous artificial womb. And a criminal history, and the government mandate of constant surveillance, in case her body urges her to break more laws.

And then she does break a law. Vehicular manslaughter, while under the influence.

What follows in deepening danger and gore, as Nelah tries to avoid being found out and sent to an eternal digital hell.

I deeply loved this book, just as much as it disturbed me. But man, what a head trip! You might need to keep a notebook to track everyone, because it does get pretty complex. Since consciousnesses are saved and put into new bodies, making minds effectively immortal, prepare yourself for a knotty set of connections going back literal lifetimes.

Tsamaase took some DELIGHT in the gore. Xe lovingly crafted this whole book, but I'd bet xe spent twice the usual editing time on sections where people were in intense pain. Great job, but brrrrr!

I will say, if you're looking for a pure scifi horror story, this book isn't a good fit. It goes well into fantasy about halfway in. Still enjoyable, and it does ratchet up the horror to have this new, unpredictable element added. It doesn't come out of left field or anything, but most of the reviews and promos I saw for this book didn't really address the fantasy bits.

Christel Mutombo's narration was full of masterful emotion! Nelah's fear, love, betrayal, and horror was always spot-on, and kept me engrossed in the feel of each scene. I'd definitely go for more scifi or fantasy read by them!

Advanced audio copy provided by the publisher.

#book #book review #review #scifi #horror #fantasy #botswana #womb city #arc #netgalley

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dustedmagazine · 3 months

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Signal Quest — Hypermyth (Orange Milk

Hypermyth is audio-only virtual reality. It’s an immersive, open-ended journey through a strange and fascinating world, an environment that beckons exploration. The Signal Quest trio have hewn this uncanny landscape using analog and digital implements, crafting a craggy geology replete with crystalline, multi-hued flora. Their music reflects a fascination with 1990s computer games, specifically the unique mythology of Myst. Unlike the nascent open-world gaming experience of decades past, Signal Quest’s music flows free of technological limitation. There’s no waiting between scenes for the CD-ROM to spin up. Cole Pulice, Lynn Avery and Mitch Stahlmann create a seamless stream of sound, with breathtaking high-resolution imagery limited only by the imagination of your mind’s eye.

Pulice, Avery and Stahlmann are long-time friends and collaborators, coming from Minneapolis but now calling Oakland, California home. They’ve added their unique talents to each others’ records, such as on Avery’s Carpet Cocoon, released under the name Iceblink. That record’s warm new age vibe took on a multitude of dimensions when augmented by the alien ECM stylings of Pulice’s saxophone and Stahlmann’s flute. Equally lush but veering into more abstract territory was Avery and Pulice’s collaborative work To Live & Die in Space & Time. Its moody vibe unfurled delicately but bristled with layers of electronics. Years before those two records arrived, the trio was finding their footing, experimenting under the name LCM and creating hallucinatory sound worlds that set the stage for even bolder adventures to come.

Hypermyth is indeed Pulice, Avery, and Stahlmann’s most intrepid venture thus far. The textures are deeper, with larger cracks and crevices within which to get lost. Tones often twist and bend in many directions, like light refracting through glass. Musique concrète techniques adhere to the trio’s new age and ambient signifiers, conjuring fractalized patterns that glitch and writhe beneath Pulice and Stahlmann’s breath-modulated melodies. At times these more arcane sonorities lie beneath the surface of the trio’s soundscapes, such as on album opener “Sparkling Node Network.” In other moments, like on the ultra-short piece “moonVR” or the more drawn out “mailer-daemon.exe,” the abstract shapes infect and subsume the more delicate passages, withering and distorting the harmonies.

The musicians often find a delicate balance between pure beauty and sheer experimentation, and gentleness. Pulice, Avery, and Stahlmann have immersed themselves in a unique, unexplored sonic world, but haven’t lost themselves completely in its knotty, rough-textured depths.

Bryon Hayes

#signal quest #hypermyth #orange milk #bryon hayes #albumreview #dusted magazine #Cole Pulice #Lynn Avery #Mitch Stahlmann #electronics #musique concrete #myst

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knotty-et-al · 5 months

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Isometric dot grid stencil tool DIY

Do know when you are getting sad because you want to draw nice shapes on a blank piece of paper - but there is no helpful grid - and you have difficulties drawing straight lines - the isometric dot grid stencil tool is there to help!

Today I created an isometric dot grid stencil tool with scrap metal. And I want to write a bit about how easy it is to make. (Beware: You still need a lot of patience to punch all these damn holes into a thin slice of metal.)

[The distance between the dots is 0.5cm btw. [yes, I'm a metric system supporter. ])

Tools I used to create that tool:

- needles (one thinner and sharp needle, and one thicker needle (to dilate the holes afterwards wlth a rotating motion)

- hammer (for making the thinner needle go thru the scrap metal like a knife thru butter (but with more force... ))

- wooden/bamboo/whatever tray with a not too large hole [~ 1-2cm will suffice] (so the needle does not go into the wood, which is annoying and makes the needle unsharp very fast) - For the wooden tray I used a simple cutting board normally used for food preparation - it has a very helpful handle (just a hole with 1.5cm diameter)

- a printed piece of isometric dot paper and sticky tape (to form a tube with the sticky tape, so you can use it as double-sided tape. Add the printed paper to the sticky tube-thingy. Then attach it on the scrap metal. [It will be removed afterwards. (Removing the sticky tape afterwards is still very annoying. Thats why I left a rest on my tool. I put a looot of thought (slight exaggeration) into considering to remove it, but in the end I was too lazy to remove that part of aesthetical annoyance - It has no effect on the practical aspect. I might remove it anytime in the future when it annoys me too much and when I have more nerve to do so. )]

- a lot of patience to make whatever number of holes you want to have in that stencil. [I find this routine work calming actually.]

For the one depicted above I made approximately ~200 holes [I am too lazy to calculate and/or count the holes rn. This approximation might suffice.]

- garden scissors (to cut the scrap metal)

- pliers (to rounden the sharp edges of the cut scrap metal) [last step]

- - -- --- -----

What could you do with the stencil tool, you migt ask:

One can use it to draw an isometric dot grid on paper (for furtherly drawing shapes in the dot grid.)

One can also draw circles with it.

And one can also attach a piece of paper or other material and make holes into it with a needle or safety pin.

In the photo depicted above I made a cube pattern (with a mistake). I could continue to sew these holes together, so the cube illustration becomes more visible - and if I use a large enough thread so one could feel the lines - it could also be a card/art a blind person could "see" - alias feel.

Also: It is calming to punch holes in paper with that stencil tool.

Maybe I might also consider doing the stitching activity afterwards... Hmmm.

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bcbdrums · 2 years

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New Heights (Drakgo fic #150!!!)

A/N: This...is my 150th Drakgo fic, AND...today, publication day, is my birthday. (My 150th Kim Possible fic overall is A Knotty Situation for anyone curious, and it's hilarious; this new one is KP fic 153 overall.)

I honestly never expected to write for this fandom at all, let alone write so much. Thank you to those who have supported me from the beginning, both those still in the fandom and those who are enjoying other things now. I cherish you all.

An extremely special thanks to everyone who has ever drawn fan art for me. That's a special honor that I treasure deeply.

And now, on to the story... Evil date nights for Drakken and Shego are...unique. Hope you enjoy.

Read on: FFn AO3

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New Heights

Despite the tight seal on the dome of the hover-car, Shego could feel the ominous chill of the air up higher in the atmosphere than she could recall having ever flown before in such a small craft. She couldn't help herself but to look down into the dark, the Earth below too distant to be seen, and layers of clouds so far they appeared as puddle-like lakes hovering somewhere above the planet's surface.

"Doc... Are you sure this is worth it?"

She hoped he couldn't hear the anxiety in her words, but, for how often Murphy's Law seemed to follow them around, she couldn't help but voice her caution. Especially when looking back up was just as frightening as looking down. It was a sea of inky blue emptiness in all directions, distant stars revealing themselves as pinpricks of light twinkling through the vast curtain. Perhaps, if the more familiar glow of civilization was visible below she would have felt more at ease. But Drakken had insisted on flying far out over some rural state, to a place with minimal light pollution.

"You won't be sorry, Shego. These cold plasma phenomena are like nothing you've ever seen. And if we're lucky, we'll see multiple types of transient luminous events."

Shego blinked across the seat at Drakken, the starlight reflecting in his eyes and his giddy grin.

"Come again?"

"There could be various sorts of transient luminous events. Of course, the stratosphere isn't necessarily the best place to view all varieties, but for these specific ones the conditions are perfect. Oh, I hope the dash cam is working... Did you charge the battery before we left?"

Shego blinked and shook her head, both in confusion and marveling at Drakken's perfect rattling off of the complicated words.

"Yeah... Yeah," she answered, still a bit stupefied as he continued to ramble about short-lived electrical-breakdown phenomena in combinations of words she didn't realize he was capable of and didn't fully understand herself. Meanwhile he was using a remote control to adjust the angle of their camera, aiming it upwards in the sky. Below them in the lake-like clouds, a brief flash of lightning illuminating the irregular shapes proved that the world still in fact existed below them.

"...And of course, there is always the possibility of elves and ghosts, but they are less common."

Shego tuned back in as his science talk switched suddenly to the fanciful.

"What? You mean like...like...?"

"We might be able to see a troll as well. There really isn't a chance for pixies and gnomes, but from here we could definitely see—"

"Doc, you've totally lost me."

The excitement in Drakken's eyes didn't wane, and he merely lifted a finger in a gesture for patience as another distant flash below heralded a building storm. She wanted to question again the safety of flying above what would be a turbulent event, since that was apparently needed for whatever it was Drakken was insistent upon showing her in the upper atmosphere. But for all he was going on about, whether it be science or whimsy, none of it was making sense.

She was internally debating insisting they just leave, concerns about the dome failing, asphyxiation, and even lightning strikes (if it could reach that high), rattling her nerves. But before she could open her mouth to voice any of her objections, Drakken set his arm around her shoulders and her thoughts were arrested. Suddenly all she could see was the deep of his eyes staring down warmly into hers.

"The sprites are the most beautiful."

"Sprites?"

"I think it's a ridiculous name personally, along with the rest. But one must stay on theme, I suppose. It leaves out jets of course, they don't fit. But they are the most obvious of the TLE's after all."

Shego shook her head and moved nearer to him, her brow twisting in confusion and worry. She couldn't see below anymore, the vast blue emptiness that faded to black above overtaking her vision. It was unnerving, seeming to be suspended in nothingness, the hover-car a mere speck that somehow was still operational some 50,000 feet above the planet's surface.

Her stomach turned, and she desperately wished for what wasn't feeling at all like an evil date to be over, despite the smoldering of feelings Drakken's look had ignited in her chest. She needed further distraction.

"Tell me more about these...what are they? TLE's?"

"Which ones?"

"The uh... Whatever we're up here to see?"

Drakken held her shoulder more tightly, smiling happily.

"It's really quite simple, Shego. A large polarity change in the electric field after a lightning strike sends an abrupt negative charge into the stratosphere..."

He was going too fast, and she still couldn't keep up with his scientific chatter. Part of her wondered if he was making it all up, but the precision and rapidity with which he rattled off the complex and detailed explanation suggested otherwise.

"The imbalance from the top of the storm and the charge in the ionosphere are the ideal conditions for these TLE's," he said, as if in conclusion, but then he took another breath and continued.

Shego rested her head on his shoulder. Listening to him speak with such excitement and confidence was, she realized, gradually calming her nerves. And she couldn't help herself but to be pleased seeing him so happy. Amid their seemingly endless defeats and failures, it was rare to see him so thrilled and with absolutely nothing standing in the way of his joy. This wasn't a world domination plan that hinged upon tiny, variable details. It was just a date, which she had agreed to without hesitation, and he had promised her the show of a lifetime.

She tuned out the actual words, giving up trying to understand the science he was explaining while equally impressed that he knew so much. She fully believed of course that he was a genius; he couldn't invent and build all of the devices he did otherwise. His sudden frequent shifts into nonsense words and talk of ridiculous things like gnomes and pixies would always confuse her, but...as he talked animatedly about whatever it was he had determined was worth risking their lives for an evil date, she found herself smiling.

In truth, she loved hearing him talk. Not that she would ever let him know.

"...And the higher in altitude, the nitrogen will excite red. But it would show up blue and even perhaps purple if excited lower. Should we see any green, that of course is oxygen. And—"

"Are you sure this is safe?" she interrupted after a faint rumbling of thunder reached her ears from below.

"...It'll be worth it," Drakken said, his smile not faltering.

Shego turned her head and looked at him.

"Drakken."

Before another word could be spoken, a flash of lightning revealed Drakken's reason for bringing her up into the sky.

It was over in an instant, but it was impressed upon her mind like a photograph. A massive wash of translucent glowing red that overtook the sky like a dome but without borders—a three-dimensional presence that seemed real and non-existent all at once. Bright beads and tendrils fractured down and away from the dome like lightning, only far more delicate like the roots of a flower. At their tops they seemed attached to the dome by a cone, and at the very lowest tips of the wire-like structures that sizzled in the icy air was a faint purple glow.

Shego rose up and bumped her head on the hover-car's dome as she peered down in attempt to see the full extent of the thing, but it had vanished like a vapor, the star-studded indigo skies filling her vision once more. She had scarcely taken a breath when another of the red wonders flashed in the sky, further away but no less magnificent. And then another, and another. Each the same, and yet each unique as they came to life and then danced away before she could even fathom what they might be.

She sat down again, Drakken's arm ready to receive her, and laughter bubbled delightedly from his lips as he stared wide-eyed with boyish excitement at what had clearly been his reason for flying her up there.

"What are they?" she said, the words sounding alien as they seemed to come from some other source than her mouth.

"Sprites," Drakken said, holding her closer, the continuing flashes of red making his skin look purple when she glanced at him.

A lingering green mist appeared above the next otherworldly flash before vanishing in a seeming swirl, and Drakken let out a gasp of excitement.

"That one is a ghost! You know, they were only recently officially discovered—"

"Ghosts? Sprites? Who names these things?" Shego asked with a mild scoff, still watching in fascination as the show continued, the phenomena appearing and vanishing across the vastness of the ocean of the sky, seeming almost like animals bobbing up out of the seas to reveal a secret before hiding themselves away again.

"Hn... Scientists, I suppose," Drakken replied.

"They look more like jellyfish," Shego declared as another appeared and then blinked away, another tiny trail of purple and even blue faintly showing at the bottom of the tendrils of light with a boundless dome-like mist at the top.

"You know, Shego, you're right," Drakken said with a smile.

"Seriously, who thought sprites was a good name? They look exactly like...creepy jellyfish out of some nightmare. Jellyfish lightning."

"Ah, but it isn't lightning, Shego. It's more of a cool plasma phenomenon."

"Whatever," she said, moving nearer to him as a rumble of thunder followed a particularly bright red flash, topped again by a green ghost. She couldn't think of a better name for those, so kept her mouth closed on the matter.

They watched the display in silence for several minutes, the dancing of the strange red lights making it seem to Shego they had left the Earth for some place far more wonderful. And with Drakken's arm warming her against the invasive chill of the upper atmosphere, she found she didn't mind anymore having been brought up into the heavens. It was dangerous, risky, and beautiful—everything an evil date should be.

Drakken peered down over the side of their tiny craft through its protective dome as a rumbling of thunder lasted especially long that time, and then he smirked and hummed to himself in amusement.

"What?" Shego asked.

When he turned back toward her, his expression showed that his next words would cause her to either laugh or hit him, and she wasn't sure she wanted to hear whatever thought had entered his mind.

"You know, since we're renaming things..." he began, barely containing his mirth, "clouds are really just...fluffy water."

She stared at him as he held back his laughter, waiting for her response. Red flashed above them again and he glanced away to the skies.

"Shego, you're missing them! Shego...?"

She threw her arms around him and kissed him, as suddenly the only danger and beauty she was interested in was further opening her heart to the mad scientist who both calmed and fueled her flames.

He kissed her back, but after a moment broke away to look desperately into her eyes.

"But, Shego! The sprites!"

"Guess we'll just have to come back during the next storm," she said with a grin.

Drakken's smile returned as revelation reached his eyes, and it was but a moment before they melted into each other's arms and she gave herself up to the passion she too often held back as his lips caressed hers while around them, the lights still danced.

'Transient luminous...whatever,' her mind tried to fill in from Drakken's earlier intellectual talk, but all of it had fled in favor of memorizing the feel of his mouth upon hers and his fingers kneading her flesh. And as she glimpsed the red flashes turning his skin purple once again she couldn't help herself but to chuckle into the kiss.

That night, all she would remember was fluffy water, jellyfish lightning, and the love in his touch.

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slaanxsh · 1 year

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The Marcher Fortress

The Marcher Fortress is a domain of Slaanesh, and sits as a testament to his vile, hedonistic whims. The fortress is an unlovely thing, towering high into the sky and wounding the clouds and smoke with its piercing spires. Its walls are crafted from blackened stone, veined with pulsing, oozing colors, and mortared with the crushed bones and blood of spent revelers and those that fell in battle against Slaanesh’s minions. The Fortress stands in defiant triumph and arrogant pride, mocking Khorne’s bloody-handed worshippers. It has repulsed untold assaults upon its darkened walls.

The marches surrounding the fortress are covered with a dark forest of unfathomable depravity made of blasphemous trees. Skulls and moldering bones dangle from dead branches, and knotty roots pierce the remains of bodies. Immediately surrounding the Fortress lay the remains of a battlefield from long ago. Corpses, rusted armour, and broken weapons litter the gore-soaked plain, intermingled with tattered banners of both the armies of Slaanesh and Khorne. Some bodies still move and moan from their killing wounds, and their rotted faces smile at the irony of their demise. The only sounds to be heard are the shades and wraiths wandering the forgotten battlefield, ceaselessly shrieking, laughing, and crying at their plight.

Sitting in the shadow of the towering Fortress, a lone, massive windmill performs its macabre task. The sails of the windmill constantly turn, despite the fact that no wind caresses the marches. A small army of Slaaneshi Daemons work the mill in a constant frenzy of activity. Corpses, both of mortals slain in battle and Daemons that fell into disfavor in the eyes of the Master are ground into a bloody mortar beneath the titanic grindstone of the windmill. This mortar is used to strengthen the walls of the Fortress above, empowering it with the strength of mortality and the authority of despair. A constant stream of Daemonettes cart this mortar up the winding road, whipped and degraded by the powerful Keepers of Secrets.

Slaanesh’s chosen sycophants cavort and revel in unspeakable acts within the confines of the Fortress. For anyone unlucky enough to find themselves within its walls, the dynamics of the Fortress are a mockery of the genteel and courtly rules found in mortal noble houses. Bread is broken and cups are raised in dripping praise to the Lord of Pleasure, and the charade of courtly behavior reigns in feasts of blood. The Fortress is filled with the constant din of screams—both in pain and pleasure—the cries of lovers and the dying, and the echoing cackling of daemons and debased mortals. The interior is exquisitely appointed in the finest of art, silken cushions, and decorated tables filled with all manner of treats and drink.

However, this splendor is twisted in its presentation. On closer look, the artwork is blasphemous and debased, and seems to move on its own accord. The food has the unhealthy sheen of corruption and putrescence. The furniture appears luxurious and comfortable, but is torturous to sit in. The bodies of those that have reached their limits in pain and pleasure litter the floors and dangle from manacles—some still serve as fodder for the survivors, or the Daemons, that prowl the Fortress. The residents of the Marcher Fortress tempt interlopers with all manner of delights—food, drink, song, dance, and favours that defy the imagination. Anyone who succumbs finds himself spiralling into a pit of decadence and corruption.

Bone Mortar

Created by the Daemons of the Marcher Fortress, this mortar is incredibly strong. If even a small portion is used in the construction of a building, it becomes practically immune to the ravages of time, weather, and physical assaults, and can stand for untold centuries. However, the building takes on an unpleasant and unholy appearance—stone turns black and drips with disgusting ichors, lights never seem to provide enough illumination, and strange whisperings can be heard within its walls. Most sane people soon flee such places; although, Mutants, Chaos worshippers, and other vile creatures find them much to their liking. In addition, a building crafted with this mortar becomes conducive to Dark Magic. All spells from Dark Lores that are cast within the confines of a building crafted using Bone Mortar are treated as if the caster successfully made a Channelling Skill Test. If the caster makes a Channelling Test in conjunction with this bonus, the effect is doubled on a success. However, the caster rolls an additional 1d10 when making his Caster Roll—this die does not add to the effect but is counted for the purposes of determining doubles or triples for automatic failures and Tzeentch’s Curse.

The Sickening Lust

Spending too much time within the Marcher Fortress blasts away inhibitions and heightens physical lusts to insatiable levels. Interlopers become slaves to their basest desires, craving carnal encounters, food, and debauchery at levels that are impossible to appease. Although gorging on a feast, or engaging in an orgy of flesh, reduces this desire for a short time, the craving returns soon enough. The temptations provided by Slaanesh prove too tempting to resist.

If a character eats or drinks anything within the Marcher Fortress, or worse, falls prey to the physical predations to one, or more, of its many servants, he must make a Will Power Test or gain 3 Insanity Points and be overcome by a disease of the mind known as the Sickening Lust. The victim is overcome with insatiable physical cravings—food, drink, and carnal sins. Whenever a character has the opportunity to eat or drink, he must make a Will Power Test to resist the temptation to gorge himself on everything available. If he fails, he can take no actions other than to eat and drink, and will even beg, or threaten, others for their portions. If presented with a truly large feast (roughly twice the usual portions), he makes this check at a –30% penalty.

In addition, the victim gains a twisted carnal desire that dominates his thoughts. The victim suffers a permanent –20% penalty to Fellowship when dealing with anyone due to his persistently lewd and debased behavior. Victims of this insanity commonly end up arrested for their transgressions or are hunted down by enraged spouses and other family members.

Those that are institutionalized are almost always put in isolation, where their perversions have no outlet.

The Copse of Temptation

Certain portions of the Great Forest have mystical ties to the Marcher Forest. A blackened copse of ancient trees near the tiny thorp of Sydow serves as a portal of sorts into the vile forest surrounding the Marcher Fortress. Hunters wandering the woods have stumbled into this copse and found themselves twisted by the sights they saw. Upon their return, the hunters, now insane and lost, succumbed to the Sickening Lust, prey upon the inhabitants of the town. If the trees are cut down, will the link be severed to the Marcher Fortress?

#warhammer fantasy #slaanesh #Tome of Excess (Official Lore);#*plops this here*

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johannestevans · 2 years

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Update 21/06/2022

Good evening!

I have been radio silent for a few weeks following illness and am now staying with friends in England for a few months. I'm still a little under the weather as I always get more mental illness symptoms in the summer months, unfortunately, but I'm feeling full of ideas and am excited to work on several things while I'm here, plus some stuff once I'm home in Galway in August!

First, let me rec some new favourite media of late:

Shadow of the Vampire (2000, dir. E. Elias Merhige) - This is a fantastical twist on the filming of Nosferatu, playing with the idea of a real vampire being involved in the production - it does such a lot of fun layering of tropes and convention analysis, looking at Dracula and also broader vampire conventions through the (literal) lens of film and performance, and it really captivated me, I enjoyed it a lot.

The Deep House (2021, dir. Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury) - This film has middling reviews because it's stupid as shit and is all vibes, no substance, but that's honestly what I really enjoyed about it - two extremely annoying people (a cishet couple) go to vlog in a haunted house... that's submerged in a lake. That's it. There's no deeper meaning here, no complexity at all, it's just spooky scary vibes while scuba diving and influencing, and so long as you expect nothing more interesting, it's good.

Apartment Zero (1988, dir. Maritn Donovan) - Hey, did you know that Colin Firth starred in a homoerotic psychosexual political thriller set in 80s Buenos Aires? That it's extremely gay and somewhat murder husbands-y, and really very autistic and trauma-focused, whilst also digging a bit into the political backdrop? Because I didn't, and this movie is fucking A.

Joel Kim Booster's Psychosexual (2022, dir. Doron Max Hagay) - Joel Kim Booster's new comedy special which released on Netflix today! It's really good, I really enjoyed it, I've loved JKB's stand-up for a while now so I was super excited to see him get a special of his own, and this one has really fucking delivered, it's such good banter.

Emergency (2022, dir. Carey Williams) - This is an extremely well-crafted comedy/drama, it's so fucking well-written and so stupendously human and complex, and it really digs into the constant fucking fraught dangers of being forced to potentiall rely on emergency services in crisis situations when the cops are literally dangerous to you. I would die for Sean, who's one of the MCs, he's so incredibly sweet and so loving to his friends I just wanted to fucking sob over him by the end.

Ordinary Lies (2015-2016) - I'll be honest, I started watching this because I wanted to thirst over Con O'Neill and Joel Fry, who are in S2, and are both indeed extremely hot and lovable, especially Con. I assumed based off the trailer for S1 that it would be typical cisheterosexual drama rife with bullshit, but to my surprise, it's actually really good, although S1 is significantly better written and balanced than S2. Tragically, most of the characters are indeed bullshit-laden cishets, but because they're almost all demonstrably mental and living absolutely ridiculous lives telling the most outlandish lies to one another for no reason and often for very little conceivable gain, it ends up being genuinely entertaining for all that!

I've also been playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons on my new Switch, and I know that everyone who wants it has already heard of it, but nonetheless, I'm enjoying it and having a good time with it.

New Works Published

Romance Short: Temple Service

A servant at the temple to Hephaestus lusts after an olive-tender.

Rated M, 2.2k, cis M/M, some ancient Greeks! A temple servant and a grove-worker, lots of teasing and banter and flirting. Adapted from a Tweetfic.

Read on Patreon / / Read on Medium

Erotic Short: Festival Prize

A young man is knotted by two wolfmen at a night-time festival.

1.2k, rated E, trans man getting double-knotted by two huge-dicked cis wolfmen! Public sex, double-knotting vaginally and anally, come inflation, overstimulation.

Read on Patreon / / Read on Medium

TweetFic: The Captain's Clerk

Short and horny! A sailor is fascinated by the captain's clerk, and doesn't understand his full purpose aboard.

Exhibitionism, group sex.

Read on Twitter

Our Flag Means Death Fanfic: Repentance & Forgiveness

Rated E, Frenchie/Izzy, Frenchie-centric and exclusively Frenchie POV. 33k+, plot-heavy, WIP. Set post-season 1 - Act I is nearly completed, and is centred on Frenchie on the Queen Anne before Stede Bonnet's triumphant return. Act II will be Stede and Ed's reunion - or clash - and how that affects Frenchie and the others.

On the Queen Anne, Frenchie can't sleep.

Desperate to just get whatever he can away from Blackbeard's crew, he knocks on Izzy's door and invites himself in.

Read on Ao3

Erotic Short: Degrees of Separation

A violinist has a quick tryst with his father’s boyfriend in a coat closet.

1.3k, rated E, cis M/M. Anal sex with protection, big size difference and significant size kink, infidelity, pseudo incest with dirty talk from the dad’s boyfriend about the dad’s preferences in bed, to the son. Use of the word daddy throughout.

Read on Patreon / / Read on Medium

Erotic Short: Lunch Break

Two coworkers run to their car for a quickie.

600w, rated E, cis M/M. Two coworkers run for a quickie on their lunch break — car sex, safe sex, silly teasing sex.

Read on Patreon / / Read on Medium

#weekly update

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watching-pictures-move · 1 year

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Movie Review | Easy Living (Leisen, 1937) & Holiday (Cukor, 1938)

I've started working my way through the Criterion Channel's Screwball Comedy Classics series, in large part because they just popped up on there and I like shiny new things (even if the shiny new things in this case are actually really old). But also because these movies represent a certain cinematic comfort food, executed with style so good as to be invisible. I gained an appreciation for the craft of American studio films of decades' past, and the ones from this era arguably represent a certain high point for that kind of commercial filmmaking. Of course, "high point" is questionable with a film like Rhubarb, where Ray "Dial M For Murder" Milland has to cater to the whims of the feline heir to an eccentric millionaire and the superstitious baseball team he's stuck managing as well, but this kind of movie would undoubtedly be worse were it made now. But that claim is easier to see with a movie like The Awful Truth, whose pleasures boil down to seeing genuine movie stars like Cary Grant and Jean Arthur scheme and spar (verbally, of course, although physical comedy figures into the proceedings).

The claim is also easy enough to justify with Easy Living and Holiday, which again present characters verbally jousting their way through ludicrous, knotty situations with the strength of their quick wits and genuine star power. On that level, both movies are extremely enjoyable, although I'd give the edge to the former, in that it has a more balanced cast all around, including a surprisingly affable turn by Ray "Dial M For Murder" Milland, who for once comes off like a likable doofus instead of someone looking to murder his wife. Holiday "suffers" in that respect because Doris Nolan, who plays Cary Grant's fiancee, doesn't stand a chance against Katharine Hepburn. Nolan is deliberately flag and lacking in magnetism, which is in line with her character, but makes it hard to grasp what Grant's character sees in her, especially as Hepburn is right there. (I've heard my share of Hepburn hate, and obviously whether one finds her sexy ultimately falls down to the viewer, but I must profess that if Hepburn talked quickly at me, I would likely die of a heart attack.) There's a match between Grant and Hepburn in their levels of magnetism and sex appeal, and the ability of their presences to break through the confines of their genres and periods and reach out to the audience in a way that almost feels transgressive. When Hepburn makes a comment about Grant's "queer"-ness, she might as well be leaning out of the screen and nudging us in the ribs.

These two movies are also interesting to compare for their economically-minded stories. Easy Living has a character being thrust unwillingly into the high life when she receives an expensive fur coat by a rich fatcat and is mistaken for his mistress, ending up with a free stay at a luxurious but struggling hotel. The movie is in part wish fulfillment and escapism, but it's also astute about the ways one is penalized for being poor in America, such as an early scene where the millionaire explains to the heroine the usurious rate of interest she's actually paying on her meager loans. Holiday has a self-made man marrying into a family he realizes is maddeningly rich. This is arguably a less pointed movie on the subject, but allows itself to feel ambivalence and malaise about the high life, and suggests that untold riches can present their own set of problems. (Unsurprisingly, this tanked during the Depression.) Both movies suggest the extent of luxury through their settings, Easy Living panning across a hotel suite where each room is more extravagant than the last, and Holiday by showing us floor after expansive floor of a mansion. And both movies wrap up in ways truer to their tones, Easy Living with a twist of fate that highlights the nonsensical behaviour of financial markets, and Holiday with characters rejecting the confines of class expectations in favour of emotional truths.

#film #movie review #holiday #george cukor #easy living #mitchell leisen

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