Reading's been slow, so: All hallow's eve suggestions

So I'm still not adjusted to how much my new job has slowed down my reading and my energy levels. That said, it's good to be working.

So, in the interest of perhaps keeping a few people interested in what I have, I'm going to make a few entertainment suggestions to occupy any who dare follow them for awhile. I should have posted these much earlier in the month, as they'd be more reasonable, but they're still entertaining, so here goes.

Ray Bradbury Theatre: Because this is my original October binge. Here's the first episode:

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Because murder, intrigue, and violence belong in the home. Great teleplays, and here's a sample:

The Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's masterpiece. Don't even bother with the newer version; it's dead without him. And here's one of the best:

Kolchak, The Night Stalker: This is a wonderful series with Darrin McGavin. Cheesy effects(they all were), but put that aside and fall into the story.

There are of course, other entertainments you might try this with. Boris Karloff's Thriller or Beyond the Veil; The Outer Limits; One Step Beyond; and more. But these are some I recommend binging on first.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Throwback Comics: Lords of the Ultra-Realm

So about a week ago, I found a complete run of a miniseries, with the subsequent special, called Lords of the Ultra-Realm. This book was published in 1986, and has largely amazing art and writing. Here's one of the covers:

Pretty awesome cover, right? Well, the interior artwork is much the same. Lots of lines, details, and of course, 80's styling.

Honestly, when I started reading this, I was blown away. There's layers of story; characters that are complex, even if they are stereotypes of the age; and a plot that isn't lazy. I felt like I was experiencing something akin to what Jeffro did with his Appendix N research: an overlooked, undervalued and unjustly dismissed story that should be held as an example of good storytelling.

Now, the story does drift into left New Age directions here and there, but even then, it doesn't come across as preachy. Even in being derivative, it's more original than most comic books today, even the science fiction and fantasy being done today. It was an age for miniseries, great creativity, and what killed it? Watchmen, apparently. It succeeded too well, and comics followed those examples instead of pursuing the type of work that made it happen in the first place.

Now, I think I want to track down some more from this era. I'm going hunting for Sonic Disrupters next.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Music blog: I never drink...wine

A few years back, Philip Glass wrote a new score for the Bela Lugosi starred Dracula. This is an excellent and creepy soundtrack. Listen as much as you like, or go find the movie backed by this.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Injustice Quick Reviews 5

Cower not, fierce reader! I bring today a fine assortment of Acts of Injustice for the fine collector. Please, take your time, and cherish the darkness within.

Sad Puppies Bite Back by Declan Finn- You knew I'd review it if you read this blog. This comedy tome was originally a series of blogposts, but the material within has been brushed off and tightened up a bit, plus there's some new material here. If you want to see the lighter side of the Puppy campaigns, the Hugos, and SWATing, take the time to breathe between the incidents contained herein. Major crime: It's funny, and the puppies are the heroes. Do I need more? 7 of 10 fell deeds

Alien Game by Rod Walker- I'm going to do a bit of a spoiler here, but  I don't think that will diminish anyone's enjoyment. Take the story The Most Dangerous Game, ditch the anti-gun/hunting bit, toss it on an alien world, and have it written by someone that might be said to be channeling Heinlein when he was fun. That'll get you close to how this book is. Major crimes: Dislike of government, an appreciation for competence, and a penchant for shooting and explosions. 7 of 10 fell deeds

Feast of the Elfs by John C. Wright- I'm going to be in the minority in that I liked Swan Knight's Son better, but this book was still excellent. Mr. Wright continues to demonstrate that Tor has bet a lot of money on the wrong horse. Crimes: Catholicism, Medievalism, adventure, and an ending that makes you cry for the next book.  9 of 10 fell deeds

Snakehand by Chuck Dixon and John Neal- This is more of an action book set in the West than a Western, and by that I mean there's more fighting in this than just about anything. There's a gunfighter seeking a path to redemption, a town run on corruption, rowdy cowhand, ladies of questionable virtue, and the temperance movement. Major crimes: It's a WESTERN, there's a respect for faith among those without it, and lots of bullets. 7 of 10 fell deeds

Catskinner's Book by Misha Burnett- Mr. Burnett kindly supplied me with a copy of his book.This will trigger a lot of folks. There's action, so it's not even up the lefties' aisle to begin with. There are serious conspiracy theories going on, and the Weird elements of this should help it appeal to the Appendix N fans. It's got a bit of a twist, as it's the protagonist is one of the Weird creatures. Hard to put down, though there's one element that threw me for awhile, but it was explained well later on. Major crime- We've got a nice take on Weird fiction a bit in the Robert E. Howard vein. 8 of 10 fell deeds

The Product by Marina Fontaine- I'm a subscriber to SciPhi Journal, and in addition to all the cool stories they put out, they just gave this to subscribers. So this is a nice dystopian tale, with a just enough action to move the story.  The setting is very totalitarian, and Marina knows a bit about totalitarian regimes, and writes them well.  It took me too long to figure out what the Product was, and I will someday write a post on that myself, or rather on my philosophy relating to it. Well done, Masha. 9 of 10 fell deeds


When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

And now for my Gallagher impersonation

I took a look yesterday at the gomakemeasandwich blog. This place is apparently the stupid that keeps on giving. Currently, there are two posts about the "problematic" nature of the D&D 5E module The Curse of Strahd.

Now, I really don't want to spend the time to fisk two long posts, but I will go through the larger strokes, and try to consolidate things to one post.

First "problem": The Vistani

They are renamed gypsies. Roma, Romani, whatever. The first problem is apparently the stereotypical dress of them.We

Ok. So? They apparently also adhere to gypsy stereotypes of being drunks and thieves. Well, the stereotypes exist for reasons. Also, that they are liars, gamblers, kidnappers, lay curses, and tell fortunes. Again, so? It's not entirely untrue, and makes for good STORY. And if you can't differentiate between reality and fiction, well, you have issues. That should grant institutionalization.

Now,  the author that I'm going against decides to play the Godwin card. Yep, literally Hitler killed 250k of them, neo-nazis in Canada marched against them(as blogged against by a Roma that shoved the TV stereotypes onto Irish Travelers), and the fact of a child was removed from legal custody from a Roma couple because she wasn't Roma.

The first is a laughable virtue card. The second is both a proper immigration issue, with projection and racism on the part of the author. The third is a tragic reality. Perhaps we should find some decent number of pertinent examples first.

Second "problem": miscegnation

We have the issue of mongrelfolk, and how race mixing laws were struck down as unconstitutional. That's the real world, this is fiction. Get over it. By the way, there's decent medical reasons against it. Bone marrow matches are harder to find if you're mixed race. I know that means organ transplants are likely similar.

Then our dear blogger goes into the portrayal of mongrelfolk in the game. First, it's a game, and a fictional story. Second, when you mix ogres, elves, dwarves, humans, orcs, kobolds, and who knows what else, you will get deformities, likely speech problems, and who knows what else, it's FANTASY.

The mongrelfolk are an "inferior subspecies". Well yeah. The reflection in the real world  is mostly a false comparison. But, we already established a medical inferiority in reality. Then, our dear blogger goes on to address pre Civil War stereotypes used to justify slavery, and makes mention of the fact that James Watson stated in 2007 that Africans are less intelligent than Westerners. So, let's take a look at the map.  Sure looks like there MIGHT be a link. And Mr. Watson was subsequently disemployed by the forces of SocJus.

Then our blogger mentions the One Drop Rule. Which is still the law regarding EEOC applications, as far as I can tell. So, do Quarter, Eighth, and Sixteenth Black lives matter or not? I'm confused by her lack of stating what she wants. Oh, wait. That's how to continually maintain outrage.

Third "problem": Strahd the entitled

So Strahd fell in love with a woman that loved his brother. Strahd made a deal with the Dark Powers of the region, killed his brother on the wedding day, drank his blood, and she killed herself. Ok, pretty standard villain origin, when dealing with Dark Powers. Now the girl's soul has been reborn, and Strahd supposedly thinks she belongs to him.

I haven't read the module, but that sounds like a decent story. He's the BAD GUY. He's not supposed to be kind, proper, generous, or humane. He's supposed to be a monster. Get over it.

Fourth "problem": Strahd as vampire and his "brides" as spawn

In which our dear blogger goes into how problematic it is that Strahd keeps his brides in the crypts beneath his castle. And bemoans their lack of agency. THEY'RE MONSTERS, and not even the full version, as they don't have the pact with the Dark Powers. And of course, there are two male spawn, one free, and the other imprisoned by his father. Her point being that they have more freedom.

Most people have more freedom than they can handle. They focus on their feelings instead of facts, feigned injury over real dangers and threats.

Fifth and sixth problem: Number of murdered children to be dark and edgy

You know what? I'm going to partly agree with our dear blogger here. Lots of murdered kids and raped and murdered women is lazy writing. That said, it has nothing to do with the Patriarchy, it has to do with bad writing. The women weren't murdered by male entitlement, they were murdered by a corrupted version of male power. Bad writing, check.

Seventh problem: Insanity

In two parts, our dear blogger goes after madness here. First, the mongrelfolk are all shown as mad, and kept in an asylum in horrifying conditions. It's objected to that the module states the mongrelfolk are irredeemably mad. I don't get why that's a problem, honestly. It's keeping things simple for the thousands of GMs running this in organized play. Did you want to team up with the demons in DOOM, dear blogger?

Second part, our dear blogger starts railing against the "gendered" madness issue. Of course, ignoring the fact that some women do go mad from one person being mean to them. Ignoring the fact that people in power are generally catered to, unless and until they present a danger to their realm. I'm not even going to go into brain chemistry.

Why not? It's a bit of a historical presentation of asylums. Partly inhumane, stereotyped as irredeemable, and written off in favor of people in power? Sounds pretty accurate.

Problematic final thoughts

Our dear blogger then laments the Gypsy stereotyping again, wants to see the mongrelfolk freed, and the victim count moved to parity. And then hypothesizes the Roma being absent.

Why not just remove Strahd while you're at it? He's just as "problematic".

Here's a radical idea: instead of focusing on modules, why not play the game for real. Write your own campaigns. Work for your characters and story, quit playing generic drivel. Make your own worlds, create, explore, make things different.


When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Arrow, the new heroes

I thought I might give a bit of a background on some of the new characters in the TV DCU. I'm going to stick with the characters from Arrow for this post, because I want to cover things well, and for the research time; I'm no comic  historian.

Wild Dog- This is the first one we encounter. He shows up in the first fight, goes to defuse the bomb, which is already being defused by Felicity. Oliver then does the proper recruitment technique of shooting him in the leg.

In the comics, Wild Dog was created by Max Allan Collins, Ted Beatty, and Dick Giordano, for a four issue miniseries, and then went into a story in the weekly incarnation of Action Comics between 1987-1989. The original was an ex-marine by the name of Jack Wheeler, who operated in the Quad Cities, appropriate for a Max Allan Collins hero.(Yes, I'm not entirely happy the made the TV character "diverse"). Another point against his diversification is the hockey theme of the character: he wears a hockey mask and jersey, and hockey is a VERY white sport. That said, the guy appears to be a decent actor, and I'll give him a chance.

Which brings us to Evelyn Sharpe. She has no comic book history that I can find, so the episode where she stole the Black Canary tech/uniform is really all we've got.

Onto Curtis Holt. There's no Curtis Holt in the comics, but there is a Michael Holt. Michael Holt is one of the smartest people in the DCU, as well as a gold medalist at decatholon. He invented the T-Spheres, which we've seen a version of, and possesses 14 PH.D.s. The T-mask should be coming, the Fair Play jacket already exists. Mr. Holt is the second Mr. Terrific; the first is part of the original JSA, named Terry Sloane.

Now to Ragman. The character's name is the same as the comics, though the origin different. Rory Regan in the comics has been originally Irish, and then retconned to Jewish(don't know why).  In the comics, Rory is saved by a costume bought for him by his father to wear for Halloween, when his father's shop is held up and his father and friends killed. Currently, the costume is made of rags containing the souls of villains killed by the suit, and powered by them as well. I believe the show mad mention of ancient Egypt, so it's going to be a different version of the suit.

Now, where will this lead us, as far as teams? Well, this might get us closer to a Justice League, but I don't know. Personally, I want to see a version of the Question.  Give us an Earth 2 show, with John Wesley Shipp as the Flash. Oh, wait. I mean again. With more characters, like Citizen Cold, perhaps the Jester. Just some thoughts. And please, stop playing Social Justice. Because:

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Music blog: Jethro Tull

Because I can.