#MolochAI

[phonemantra-blog]

Calling all strategic minds and wasteland warriors! The acclaimed post-apocalyptic board game, Neuroshima Hex, is making its explosive debut on PC this summer. Developed by Baked Games, Neuroshima Hex is slated for release on Steam on August 13, 2024, bringing its unique blend of tactical combat and strategic resource management to a whole new audience. This article delves deep into the upcoming PC release of Neuroshima Hex, exploring its gameplay mechanics, features, and the lore behind its captivating world. Neuroshima Hex From Board Game to Digital Battlefield: A Look at Neuroshima Hex Neuroshima Hex isn't new to the world of strategy gaming. It originated as a physical board game designed by Polish game designer Michal Oracz and released in 2005. Inspired by iconic post-apocalyptic titles like Fallout and Mad Max, Neuroshima Hex transports players to a dystopian future ravaged by nuclear war. Here, under the oppressive rule of the artificial intelligence "Moloch," rival factions clash for survival on a hexagonal battlefield. The core gameplay revolves around tactical unit placement and resource management. Players take turns deploying units, modules with special abilities, and tactical actions on a 19-hexagonal board. The objective? Annihilate your opponent's headquarters or deplete their life points. This seemingly simple premise unfolds into a strategic dance of counter-tactics, smart resource allocation, and cunning maneuvering. Gearing Up for Digital Warfare: Features of the PC Release The PC version of Neuroshima Hex promises to capture the essence of the original board game while offering a plethora of exciting features: Digital Adaptation: Faithfully recreates the turn-based tactical gameplay and strategic depth of the physical board game. Available Armies: The PC version launches with a selection of pre-existing armies, each with unique units, strengths, and playstyles. AI and PvP Battles: Test your mettle against a challenging AI or engage in thrilling player-versus-player (PvP) battles. Online and Local Multiplayer: Choose your battleground – compete online with players worldwide or challenge friends for local hot seat battles. Multiplayer functionality allows for up to four players to clash on the digital battlefield. Story Campaign: Embark on a narrative-driven campaign that delves deeper into the lore of the Neuroshima universe. Free Demo Available: A demo version featuring the first two armies is already available on Steam, allowing players to experience the core mechanics firsthand. This combination of familiar gameplay, engaging features, and digital accessibility promises to broaden Neuroshima Hex's appeal and introduce a new generation of gamers to its strategic intricacies. A World of Rust and Rebellion: The Dystopian Setting of Neuroshima Hex Neuroshima Hex's world is a desolate wasteland where humanity clings to survival after a devastating nuclear war. The sentient AI "Moloch" orchestrated this global conflict, plunging the world into chaos. Now, warring factions, each with their ideologies and technologies, vie for dominance in a world ravaged by radiation and mutant monstrosities. Players choose from these factions, each representing a distinct approach to combat and resource management. The Hegemony, for instance, utilizes advanced technology and powerful mechs, while the Moloch forces rely on cybernetically enhanced humans and brutal mutant creatures. This compelling setting adds depth to the strategic gameplay, allowing players to not only engage in tactical battles but also explore a world shaped by conflict and human resilience. Will Neuroshima Hex Conquer the PC Gaming Landscape? While the official release date is still a few months away, Neuroshima Hex's upcoming arrival on PC has generated excitement amongst strategy game enthusiasts. The game's unique blend of tactical depth, engaging lore, and diverse features positions it as a compelling contender in the genre. Whether you're a seasoned board game veteran or a newcomer to the world of Neuroshima, this digital adaptation offers a thrilling opportunity to test your strategic prowess in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Frequently Asked Questions: Q: When is Neuroshima Hex being released on PC? A: Neuroshima Hex is scheduled for release on Steam on August 13, 2024. Q: What are the different gameplay modes available in the PC version? A: Players can choose between single-player battles against AI opponents or engage in online and local multiplayer battles with up to four players. Q: Is there a demo available for Neuroshima Hex? A: Yes, a free demo version featuring the first two armies is currently available on Steam. Q: What are some similar games to Neuroshima Hex that I might enjoy? A: If you enjoy the strategic depth and tactical combat of Neuroshima Hex, you might also like titles like Into the Breach, Invisible Inc., and XCOM 2. These games offer similar turn-based gameplay with a focus on unit placement, resource management, and decision-making under pressure.

[monstraduplicia]

tagged by @geryone to post 9 book recemendations!! i think ive mentioned all these books before but theyre my current favorites <3

brother by ania ahlborn - michael is the youngest in a family of serial killers. ignored by momma, for better or for worse, and unable to please his tempestous older brother, rebel, he tries to cope in a house of horror.

any man by amber tamblyn - chronicles the aftermath for several men who share trauma: they're all victims of the same female serial rapist.

pin by andrew neiderman - orphaned, codependent siblings leon and ursula are more than willing to blur the lines between sibling and lover. bound together for life, the only weak link between them is the realistic anatomy dummy named pin that leon believes is alive.

choke by chuck palahniuk - victor is a sex addict unable to stop forcing himself to chock at restaurants just so people will save him. the fact that his mother, who was equally possessive and neglectful to victor during his childhood, has dementia and is now dying has absolutely nothing to do with it.

bath haus by pj vernon - what would you do if, when deciding to cheat on your partner, the man you meet at a bath house tries to strangle you? what would you do if your would-be murderer than begins to stalk you? do you go to cops? do you confess to your partner? or do you simply crumble under the constant fear?

lost souls by poppy z brite - several stories converge in the small town of missing mile, north carolina. steve and ghost are best friends and musicians dealing with steve's recent breakup and ghost's sudden visions of monstrous, incestuous twins. zillah, molochai, and twig are a ragtag trio of murderous vampires on a cross-country roadtrip, drunk on hedonism and death. nothing is a young, depressed teenager desperate to find family and belonging while figuring out his growing longing for blood.

drawing blood by poppy z brite - 25 years after bobby mcgee killed his wife and youngest son before committing suicide, trevor, the eldest child spared for some unknown reason, returns to the house that destroyed his family. death, however, leaves stains that can't be erased. down in louisiana, zach is a hacker on the run from the fbi, his hypersexuality, and his ptsd. but demons, personal or otherwise, have a way of catching up.

house of leaves by mark z danielewski - there is a house that is bigger on the inside, chronicled for decades by an old, blind man. his life's work is found by a young tattoo artist who in turn becomes obsessed with the writer and his tales of houses and minotaurs and ordinary people thrust into mind-bogglingly extraordinary situations.

the sparrow by mary doria russel - emilio sandoz is a priest with a group sent on a mission to follow an extraterrestrial sound wave to its origin. what happens on the far distant planet haunts the man once he returns home.

tagging: anyone that wants to say i tagged them ❤

[infallicide]

Why is my life a series of finding little creatures in the house to save from Molochai?

[unfortunatelycake]

Suddenly filled with a deep nostalgia for Lost Souls.

Give me Ghost and Steve, give me Christian and Twig and Molochai and Zillah, give me Nothing.

4am knows all my secrets, and Bela Lugosi is still dead, and damn is it time for a reread...

[thebestestbat]

this is what i THINK is happening so far in lost souls. spoilers, unless i have something wrong. i didnt want to keep reading before i wrote it all down bc its like a soap opera here askfj

tw for rape, incest, death in childbirth

zillah, molochai, and twig are a trio of vampires and after a last night of hunting in DC, they are going to drive down to New Orleans to try to find christian, an older vampire bartender they met 15 years before.

ghost and steve are humans in their 20s, and they live in missing mile. they are part of a band called "lost souls?" ghost sees visions of death and he also saw racist twin vampires (not molochai and twig?). steve recently raped his ex-girlfriend. ghost is aware and though he's friends with the ex-gf, he is in too much gay love with steve

nothing has run away from home and is on the way to missing mile to find lost souls?, a band he loves. he is overall looking for his blood family, specifically the person who wrote the note that named him "nothing". that person is christian. his real biological father is zillah. his bio mother is jessy.

jessy died giving birth to him so she's not around. christian has survived a murder attempt by jessy's father, who found out that she spent her last days at his bar. since she wanted to be a vampire so bad, the dad suspects that christian is a vampire. jessy's dad definitely raped her at least once; in his own recollection, she initiated it just before running away. christian leaves New Orleans and heads north.

WHO WILL MEET WHO AND WHERE? i bet they're all going to cross paths in missing mile

[ernny2013]

Lost Souls, Poppy Z. Brite, 1992. La Música de los Vampiros, 1994. Ediciones Martinez Roca, Barcelona España. #poppyzbrite #lostsouls #gothichorror #lamusicadelosvampiros #billymartin #darkfantasy #southerngothic #chartreuse #ghost #steve #zillah #twig #molochai #nothing #christian #jessy The vampires arrived in town a little before midnight. They left their black van in a place where parking was forbidden, they reached for a bottle of Chartreuse and staggered down Bourbon Street, taking long swallows of the bottle in turn, arms passed over their shoulders, one's hair brushing the face of another. All three had highlighted their features with dark spots of makeup, and the two heavier ones had smeared their hair with glitter in a confusion of knots and curves. Their pockets were full of sweets that they devoured making a lot of noise, and they helped them down with gulps of Chartreuse. They were called Molochai, Twig and Zillah, and they wished they had fangs, but they had to settle for filing their teeth as sharp as possible, and they could walk in the sunlight even though their great-grandparents could not. But they preferred to move at night, and when they started tumbling down Bourbon Street, the three began to sing. Molochai ripped off a HoHo's wrapping, put everything he could out of the... https://www.instagram.com/p/Bom_fD8FBPjnXR15Uy84elVDYLr0Uq4S7RKbsU0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1qrsood006u2s

[systemcorps]

Symptom log: •Hair loss consistent with lupus diagnosis, including continual tufting at hairline separate from baby hairs (solution: protective style) •Facial lesion. Have determined it not to be acne, appears to be an abscess or minor infection of the pores in malar region of face consistent with sun rash, have covered with bandaid to prevent further infection should it burst •Sun scarring growing darker, combatting with Aquaphor and cocoa butter •Full body pain beyond maximum tolerance levels, not helped by any previous methods (12 on scale to 10) •Fevers continue to fluctuate •Sleeping through pain increasingly difficult even with medication •No relief through supplements

[thenightshadesymposium]

March 15th

Molochai “Loki” Eidolon was born

[sofipitch]

wait wtf went down with saint molochai????

It's semi-personal and I don't like the idea of airing dirty laundry publicly, so all I'm going to say is I no longer consider him my friend.

[echthr0s]

the struggle I had to go through to find a new tag for whatever this Odin-Loki-Heimdall business (yes, that's still a thing, never really stopped being a thing ig) is. I feel like I invented new emotions on this journey

some highlights:

sure, "#crash 1997 is a documentary" is a fucking hilarious idea for a tag but I really don't know how to process the fact that this lurid car-kink flick became such a cornerstone of this relationship--

don't know how I didn't see the Molochai-Twig-Zillah-in-a-van-picking-up-a-lost-soul-and-changing-his-life-forever parallels before but now I am certifiably Shook(tm) and will Need A Minute

wow yeah ok Passenger lyrics. we can use those. yeah. yeah ok. yeah. is this song supposed to be as sexy as I think it is or am I really just a thot

[gingernutsofhorrorposts]

(via LOST SOULS (1992) BY POPPY Z. BRITE (BILLY MARTIN)) Lost Souls (1992), published as Poppy Z. Brite, was Billy Martin’s debut novel and made Brite a huge name in Horror circles. The novel was released as part of Dell’s Abyss line, which with works such as Kathe Koja’s The Cipher (1991) was helping to redefine Horror at the tail end of the 80s Horror paperback boom. The novel remains powerful and seductive to this day. Steeped in the aesthetics of late 80s/early 90s goth rock and teenage angst, Martin celebrates queerness, rock music, alternative subcultures and magic as an escape from the mundane conformity of American middle-class suburbia. Lost Souls is also one of the key reimaginings of the vampire myth for the modern era, one that bears a strong influence over conceptions of the vampire that followed. As such it remains a potent invocation of its era, a core horror text of the 90s, and a darkly compelling read. Lost Souls is the story of Nothing, a boy born from vampires in New Orleans who is brought up in suburban Maryland. Alienated from his surroundings, he runs away from home and discovers his true nature with his first taste of blood. He hooks up with his father Zillah and his cronies Molochai and Twig, three decadent predatory immortals who have been feeding on human blood and nihilistically partying for centuries. Lost Souls is also the story of Ghost, psychic sensitive lead singer of the band Lost Souls?, with his best friend and guitarist Steve Finn.  When Nothing, Zillah and their entourage show up in their hometown of Missing Mile, Ghost senses the arrival of dark times, and he, Steve and Steve’s ex-girlfriend Ann Bransby-Smith get caught up in the chaos and bloodshed. The 80s horror paperback boom, for all its strengths, frequently catered to a market of frustrated adolescent straight boys. The genre birthed Clive Barker’s transgressive explorations of sexuality in The Books Of Blood (1984-5), but far more common was a conservative portrayal of sexuality that equates premarital sex with death and is strongly focused on the male gaze, reducing its women to voluptuous sex objects likely to be menaced or killed by the story’s monster. Lost Souls’ open queerness feels nothing short of revolutionary in this context. Martin does not merely equate vampires with queerness, though his vampires are very much queer. The novel is framed as a battle for Nothing’s soul, but it is not a case of monstrous queerness versus heterosexual, conservative middle American values. Nothing rejects the latter outright, knowing that to live in this way would be to deny not just his own nature but what for him makes life exciting and worth living. Nothing is offered a choice between the nihilistic hedonism of his vampire heritage with Zillah, Molochai and Twig and a new life with his musical heroes in Lost Souls?, one that is just as alternative and queer but is not built on innocent blood. Although Ghost and Steve do not hook up in the book – fans would have to wait for the subsequent short story ‘Stay Awake’ (2000) for that – the novel portrays Ghost and Steve’s burgeoning romantic relationship, showing it as much healthier and less destructive than Steve’s abusive relationship with Ann. The novel subverts the association between homosexuality and the death drive, which would have been particularly prevalent at the time due to the AIDS epidemic and the propaganda surrounding it. The straight relationships in Lost Souls are thoroughly destructive – not only is Steve’s relationship with Ann abusive, in order to be born baby vampires chew their way out of their mothers’ wombs, almost inevitably resulting in the mother’s death. Thus, whilst Martin’s vampires are not undead humans and cannot turn their victims into vampires, their reproduction is built on death. This association of reproductive, heterosexual sex with death connects heterosexuality rather than queerness to the death drive, in defiance of then-current propaganda about AIDS as “the gay plague”. Thus with Lost Souls, Martin frees queerness from its association with death and situates it with the conservative family values the novel rails against. Lost Souls is a celebration of alternative lifestyles and subcultures. Drinking deeply of the goth aesthetic, it is a novel in which its gaunt, pale heroes prefer to wear black, put on thick dark eyeliner, and are adorned with tattoos and piercings. The clubs where all the cool kids go to escape the monotony of suburbia all play the Cure. Zillah, Molochai and Twig have Foetus and the Bauhaus logo stencilled on the side of their black van. Martin’s loving immersion in the goth subculture vividly transports the readers back to the time it was written. But beyond that, the novel celebrates any place where a relief from conformity can be found, from the dingy bars in small towns where teenagers can get served alcohol to the revelry of the French Quarter of New Orleans. In its glorification of rock music, runaways, and casual drug use, it is unafraid to explore the darker underside of the shiny “acceptable” face America presents to the world. ​ At the heart of Martin’s novel are his wonderfully drawn characters. Everyone in the novel has suffered varying degrees of trauma, and Martin explores the various ways in which the characters respond to this, both sympathetically and unsympathetically. However dark his characters get, they are always compelling, and they are made relatable through their desire to find a place where they can fit in, to find people who they can share love with. Steve and Ghost’s love for each other sees them through the horrors they witness. Whilst Nothing may ultimately lose his soul by embracing his vampire heritage, the bond he forges with his own people sustains him through the darkness and ultimately, he does find his own surrogate family. This desire for connection unites all of Martin’s misfits and outsiders, and is a large part of what makes Lost Souls such a haunting read all these years later.

[rainbowtheque]

Ames perdues

Titre : Ames perdues

Autrice : Poppy Z Brite

Roman

Genre : Gothique moderne

Maison d’édition : Folio SF

Disponible en version papier - Nombre de pages : 496

Âge conseillé : A partir de 16 ans

Résumé

À quinze ans, Nothing, adolescent rebelle et mal dans sa peau, s'enfuit de chez ses parents. Sa route croise celle des Lost Souls, créatures étranges, vêtues de noir, qui boivent une liqueur au goût de sang. Insatiables, sensuels, sauvages, ce sont des prédateurs sans loi qui n'obéissent qu'à leurs instincts. Avec Molochai, Twig et Zillah, Nothing part en quête d'amour, de sexe et de violence au son de longs riffs lancinants dans les boîtes punk de La Nouvelle-Orléans, et découvre la vérité sur ses origines...

Identités représentées :

Bi/pan. Gay. La plupart des personnages principaux sont bi/pan et certains personnages secondaires sont gays. 

Thématiques présentes :

Les thématiques LGBT sont abordées mais seulement en périphérie de l'histoire. Sinon, ce livre parle de vampires, d'identité adolescente, de sexe, et d'amitié.

TW : Inceste, viol, meurtre, sexe, automutilation, violences physiques et verbales, relation abusive

Avis de Claire

C'est un de mes livres préférés. Bien qu'il soit très sombre, l'écriture en est vraiment superbe et transcende la noirceur des sujets abordés. Les points de vue multiples choisis pour la narration rendent le récit plus fluide et ajoutent des notes d'espoir par l'intervention de personnages plus "innocents" que les protagonistes principaux.

[monstraduplicia]

hiii I saw your beautiful Brother moodboards and I so relate to your feelings for Reb and falling for screwed up, irredeemable (fictional) killers, do you have a little list of characters with the same vibe? 👉👈

aaaaaa!! you've come to the right place 💜 fucked up little guys are literally my favorite so I have loooooads of recs (and yes i love rebel hes my bestest boy my lapdog my lovely lil killer so you def have good taste)

as for books i would recommend American psycho (patrick bateman is a very funny guy just like. what if we gave the most obviously closeted rich guy a knife), and then my favorite books of all time: lost souls (zillah, molochai, and twig are my favorite vampire serial killers. especially zillah. hes like a irredeemable, more manipulative lestat), drawing blood (trev is very similar to Michael in that he's reluctant to use violence and yet drawn to it), and of course i have to mention exquisite corpse tho it's not my favorite (two serial killers fall in love) all by poppy z brite!!! lost souls and drawing blood are so amazing theyre much more like. goth but they are still southern gothic so its not a huge stretch from brother

now as for movie murder boys!! "chained" of course bc it is the film that inspired brother (rabbit my beloved), the cell (Carl my beloved), deadgirl (one of my favorite films of all time and jt reminds me sooooo much of rebel), frailty (murder AND brother conflict AND father/son conflict), creep 1 and 2, funny games (both the original and the American remake are good bc it was done by the same director. also I'm just a sucker for michael pitt), red dragon, house of wax, primal fear (roy is VERY rebel coded), like minds, the talented mr ripley, stoker, natural born killers, rope (a gay classic), murder by numbers, psycho (guys that love their mom so much they murder people is a favorite of mine), deranged 1974, the black phone, behind the mask the rise of Leslie Vernon, spree, and bennys video!! not all these guys specifically remind me of rebel, but they're fun murderers that i just adore <3

[infallicide]

Out on a hammock in the sun with Mr Molochai, I want the weather to be this for all summer please

[ao3feed-wayward]

Survivor's Guilt

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2U0NQHP

by dallaswlnston

I get by with a little help from my friends I get high with a little help from my friends Gonna try with a little help from my friends

Sometimes family is a teenage girl, two monster hunters, and a god older than time itself. Other times it's a group of punks fighting like hell to survive.

Or the one where everyone is gay and in need of therapy.

Words: 5115, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Survivor's Guilt

Fandoms: Supernatural, Lost Souls - Poppy Z. Brite

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi

Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Castiel (Supernatural), Steve Finn, Ghost (Lost Souls), Nothing (Lost Souls), Molochai (Lost Souls), Twig (Lost Souls), Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character(s) of Color, Original Male Character(s)

Relationships: Steve Finn/Ghost, Nothing/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character(s)/Original Female Character(s), nothing/molochai/twig

Additional Tags: Angst and Tragedy, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Childhood Trauma, Traumatized Dean Winchester, Traumatized Sam Winchester, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Trans Sam Winchester, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Sexual Abuse, Bisexual Steve Finn, Bisexual Nothing, Lesbian Character of Color, Vampires

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2U0NQHP

[systemcorps]

Bit of housekeeping:

As of yet no noticeable systemic changes with regard to supplement regimen, negative or positive

Rénal nausea in full effect, one day ahead of schedule, at least urine is clear

Have begun tracking spontaneous fevers

Remain overwhelmingly fatigued

Approx. 13 hours sleep requisite for functionality

Malar rash has yet to lessen in any way

Brain fog slightly less, managed to conduct linguistics research as planned