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godess-ofthe-underworld · 3 years

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Love Finds A Way (sequel to “See You Again) {A Harry Hook x Reader story}

Part 2

Hadley and Evie walked through the courtyard on a Thursday afternoon during their free period, looking for a particular blonde haired girl who was late for her dress fittings. As they rounded the corner in front of the castle known as Auradon Prep, she heard commotion by the large beast statue in the center walkway. Looking over she saw Mal surrounded by people, pressing microphones and tape recorders in her face. Hadley rushed over dodging people and bushes as quickly as her heels would let her. She made it over just as Ben stepped in. Hadley lit up like a campfire and stepped in front of Mal. The reporters jumped back, some running in fear at the giant walking ball of blue flames standing in front of them.

“ I suggest you get those this get those microphones out of here before they end up up your noses!” Hadley snapped stepping forward a step. The reporters gasped and ran away. Hadley quickly doused the fire and stepped away so the couple could have a little time to themselves.

Evie had other plans as she walked up and grabbed Mal's arm.

“If we don't do a fitting for your gown right this minute you'll be dancing in your bathrobe okay?” She glanced at Ben and smiled. “ Hi. Let's go. Let's go!”

Mal waved to Ben as Hadley and Evie pulled her back to their room.

Evie and Mal propped up on a pedestal as she fixed measurements to Mal's Cotillion dress. The big poofy yellow tulle and silk gown nearly swallowed Mal. Hand sewn intricate royal blue details laced the end of the silk and all along the bodice.

“Ok Evie I cannot breathe.” Mal grunted as Evie zipped up the back of the dress.

Hadley snickered from her seat at the desk where she was working on Mal's shoes.

“You can breathe after cotillion.” Hadley placed the matching blue and yellow heel down on the desk and walked over to stand in front of Mal just as Evie walked around her.

“ Yeah I seriously doubt that.” Mal sighed, pushing a stray strand of hair from her face.

“ I have at least 20 more directly behind it. And I can't even remember what a single one of them is.”

Once Evie fluffed the tulle skirt she stepped back and linked arms with Hadley.

“Impeccable”

“It's perfect!”

They high fives as Mal looked off.

“Evie? Hadley?” Mal called.

“Hmmm?”

“ Do you ever think about what we'd be doing if we were back on the Isle right now?” Mal questioned.

“ Ha that's funny.” Evie chuckled.

Before Mal could say anything else the TV placed on their mantle began playing music.

“Ah! Look who's on TV!” Hadley sang as she helped Mal off the pedestal.

Mal sat down on Evie's bed in a mess of yellow tulle.

The TV went on about Mal and Ben's tour of the kingdom.

Hadley and Evie were busy sketching more designs for gowns and didn't hear Mal gasp.

When they turned around Mal was on the other side of the bed with her spell book and a text book, obviously having spelled herself to speed read.

Evie placed her hands on her hips as she spoke up.

“ I know Mal's secrets of fitting in and Ben wouldn't like it one bit.”

Mal just glanced at her.

“ Haven't you already had enough secrets between the two of you?” Hadley asked sitting down beside her.

“ You two remember what I was like before I started using my spell book, I was a complete disaster.”

“Well, personally as your best friends, we strongly believe that this spell book..” Hadley said as she grabbed it from Mal's lap and passed it to Evie.

Mal reached for it but Evie pulled it away.

“ It belongs in the museum along with my mirror.”

Mal looked at Evie.

“Don't give me the face.” Mal pouted.

“ Put the pout away. Mhm! You know I'm right.” Evie pursed her lips as she put the book back on the bed.

“ You don't ever miss running wild and just breaking the rules?” Mal inquired.

“ Like stealing, lying and fighting?” Hadley replied

“Yeah”

“No!”

“ M come here”

Mal scoffed as Evie pulled her off the bed and stood her in front of the TV which still played.

“ Look at where we are! We're in Auradon! And we're Auradon girls now.” She squeaked as Mal and Ben appeared on the screen. “ See, this is the land of opportunity. We can be whatever we want to be here. So please, let's just leave the past to the past, okay?” She whispered the last part.

“ Yeah, I mean look at these shoes!” Evei said as she picked one up and held it eye level. “ Look at them!”

“ They are nice.”

“Thank you I try my best!” Hadley boosted as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

The three giggled as they helped Mal out of her dress.

When free period was over the three met up with the boys at the lockers and proceeded to their next classes together.

Every time they passed a group of girls, they giggled and waved at Jay who flirted back.

Carlos was beginning to grow extremely jealous of the fact that Jay was getting all the attention.

“Why do you tourtre them?” Carlos asked “ just pick someone to take to cotillion with already!”

“ I'm going solo. That way I can dance with all of them.” Jay chuckled and elbowed him in the side.

Carlos laughed and Hadley rolled her eyes. She knew Jay had a crush on Lonnie, Mulan's daughter, she was the only one who could see it.

The five stopped and Evie looked at her schedule for dress fittings. They all looked up when Jane came bouncing over calling for Mal, with Lonnie and Ruby in toe.

Carlos's eyes went wide and he started sputtering words out. He finally came up with a full sentences, but it ended up being about carrot cake.

Hadley and Evie giggled silently as Jay put an arm around Carlos's shoulder whispering a ‘smooth’ as he led him down the stairs.

“We have an opening for a dress fitting at 3, who wants it?” Evie stepped forward with Hadley's arm linked with hers.

Lonnie and Jane jumped for it but Lonnie was first.

“Hadley, we have that project we have to work on today at three.” Ruby stepped in.

“ Oh right! I completely forgot! E, will you be ok to do Lonnie without me?” Hadley pleaded with her.

Evie sighed. “Sure”

“ Thanks E! I promise I'll help you with Chad's fitting later.”

Lonnie, Evie, Ruby and Hadley stood behind Jane as she finished talking to Mal.

“ I can hardly wait to see what your wedding will look like.” Lonnie piped up.

“Yeah ! me too.. wait what?!” Mal shouted.

“The royal cotillion is like getting engaged to be engaged to be engaged.” Jane explained.

“Oh. I knew it!” Evie gahsped

“ Everyone knows it” Ruby laughed

“ I didn't know it!” Mal was losing her cool by the second. “ How come nobody told me that? Is my entire life planned out in front of me?”

As Mal ranted Ben walked up behind her

“Hi Ben!” The girls sang.

Jane pulled him to side as Lonnie and Evie linked arms, and Hadley and Ruby linked arms and strolled away to their next classes giggling.

Hey guys! Here is part 2 hope you enjoyed it! I know these first two parts have been a bit anti-climactic but it does get better. If you would like to be tagged for the next part please message me. Also if you want to read the illustrated version over on my Wattpad (@phelpsphan)! Please like and comment for Part 3!!

Summary: You would think that six months in Auradon would do any villain kid good. Well, not Hadley. After the events of the Coronation, Hadley's mood took a downward spiral; and for one reason, guilt. She'd broken a promise and left her best friend on the Isle of the Lost. How will she handle seeing him again when certain circumstances bring her back to the Isle? Will she finally tell him what she really feels?

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in Descendants. Hadley and the plot between her and Harry are mine.

#harry hook x reader #harry hook #mal jay carlos evie #disney descendants #daughter of hades

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lena--beana · 6 years

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Now that Simon’s in Smash, I’m personally invested in Castlevania. But should I watch the anime? Should I play the game/games that it’s based off of first? Thanks for your time!

Thanks for asking! First off it’s important you know that if you want to play the Castlevania games, they’re all pretty hard your first time playing each of them. It’s not like some impossible challenge that only the strongest could ever finish but they will all will beat you up a little. Also I fucking love the series so I’m going to just say a bunch of shit all at once and I really hope I don’t overwhelm you :’D

For real tho, I’ve played every game 100% (or 200% or 1000%, they count completion differently in each game) and I’ve almost never had a bad time. The 2017 anime on Netflix is superb and you absolutely can go in knowing nothing about the series and still have a good two hours, but that experience is enriched so so much if you’ve first played the games it’s based on. Also the anime actually follows Simon’s great-great-great-grandfather Trevor Belmont and his companions, but you will love them just as much as any other main character in the series. The anime is heavily based on Castlevania III for the NES, with little nods to Symphony of the Night for PS1 and it looks like Curse of Darkness for PS2 from what I’ve seen in the season 2 trailer.

The anime also has most story out of the whole series honestly. Like there is a really good story running through every game in the series, but don’t play the games for just the story. It’s a good story, don’t get me wrong, there’s just not much of it! Like there’s about a 30:1 gameplay-to-cutscene ratio constant across all the games. That being said each game is relatively short, taking between 3-20 hours on your first playthrough depending on whether it was released before or after Symphony of the Night.

As far as actually playing them though!! Castlevania 1 is the best starting place I’d say. It’s pretty short, but hard enough that you’ll give it lots of time. This can be purchased physically on the NES, GBA, or the NES Classic if you can find one of those in your local game store still, or digitally on the WiiU and 3DS e-shop. There is also a very faithful PS1 remake (also on the PS3 digital store) called Castlevania Chronicles, which in addition to the regular game also features a sort of Zelda Master Quest mode that changes a little things around in the level layouts like enemy and item spawns, as well as Simon’s hair color. Castlevania IV also sounds like it’s a sequel, but it’s really just a super huge remake of the first game with added levels and bosses and like? really really tight controls? fucking stellar. That’s on SNES and the SNES Classic, and digitally on the WiiU and 3DS e-shop.

From there Castlevania II is a direct sequel that immediately follows the story, but it is the opposite of user-friendly. You will need a strategy guide sitting in your lap for about 70% of the game just to know where to go. It is a good game and definitely worth playing for about ten minutes at least just for the music, but definitely not great for one of your early titles. Instead I’d say Castlevania III is the next best game to try. It improves on the formula of the first game, it’s incredibly difficult, but it is very enjoyable for sure. This can also be picked up on the NES, but for some reason was not included in the NES Classic’s library. It can be downloaded on the WiiU / 3DS e-shop as well, but for this game I would actually recommend emulating the Famicom version with an English language patch if for no other reason than the dramatic increase in the sound quality.

From there, the two best titles you can get are Dracula X: Rondo of Blood and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. These are the best the series has to offer in every way and I cannot stress my love for these two enough. Rondo of Blood is unfortunately only available in Japanese for the TurboGrafx-16, and officially sold in America digitally through the Wii Virtual Console, which is sadly no longer in service. I’m not sure how easy it is to emulate, but I would highly recommend doing so if it’s not a hassle for you. If that’s not an option, the game was also remade for the PSP in Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, which does contain both the original TG16 release and Symphony of the Night as an unlockable, though I don’t know how easy that is to do.

Symphony of the Night is a direct sequel to Rondo, and also probably the best game in the series. I and everyone else will probably tell you the same thing but holy shit this one is so good??? Just like? Just play it, you’ll see what I mean. You can pick it up physically on PS1 or in the Dracula X Chronicles previously mentioned, as well as digitally on the PS3 store and Xbox Live Arcade.

After that you’re pretty much prepped to play any other game in the series you want? My personal recommendations would be Aria of Sorrow/Dawn of Sorrow for GBA and DS (the former also on the WiiU virtual console), Portrait of Ruin for DS, Order of Ecclesia for DS, Belmont’s Revenge for the Gameboy, Bloodlines for the SEGA Genesis, Lament of Innocence for PS2 and the PS3 digital store, and although it isn’t technically a Castlevania game the newly released Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon on Switch, Xbox One, PS4, and Steam is a fucking superb homage to the NES games, and a prologue (?) to the coming soon kickstarter-backed Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which also looks hella rad.

Also steer clear of Castlevania Lords of Shadow, because holy heck those are Castlevania games in name alone. They play like a slippery God of War 1 and they take place in an alternate timeline from the rest of the series so like what’s even the point? And Harmony of Despair for the PS3 and Xbox 360 do play like a classic Castlevania but they were made with multiplayer in mind so unless you have three friends who are also big fans then maybe wait on this.

Anyway thanks for actually reading through all of this if you did? This is kind of a personal topic for me because of just how much time I’ve invested in the series but holy shit it’s such a good series to get into. I hope this was sort of helpful and not too overwhelming!!

~-~-~

tl;dr

play these first

Castlevania I (NES) / Castlevania Chronicles (PS1)

Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse (NES)

Rondo of Blood (TurboGrafx-16)

Symphony of the Night (PS1)

Now you should watch the anime!

these are also worth your time

Aria of Sorrow (GBA)

Dawn of Sorrow [direct sequel to Aria] (DS)

Portrait of Ruin (DS)

Order of Ecclesia (DS)

Belmont’s Revenge (Gameboy)

Bloodlines (Genesis)

Lament of Innocence (PS2)

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Switch, Xbox One, PS4, PC)

don’t play

Lords of Shadow

Lords of Shadow: Mirror of Fate

Lords of Shadow 2

Harmony of Despair (unless you have up to three friends who are dying to play the co-op)

#thanks for asking!#asks #grackleking #long post

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crowdvscritic · 4 years

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round up // JUNE 20

The quarantine continues, and so does my insane level of film consumption. As you’ve probably discovered in your many a Zoom call, if you ask, “What’s new?” you usually get a, “Nothing much since we last talked.” Of course, these days no news means good news, so I’ll happily confirm the same is true here at Crowd vs. Critic. In this time of no movie theatres and few new releases, I’m catching up on a lot of classics and squeezing in a yoga sesh and reading in between. Perhaps these pop culture pieces that brought me joy in June will bring you some in July!

June Crowd-Pleasers

Yoga with Adriene

Adriene is all about finding what feels good, and her yoga videos have been helping me feel good during quarantine. I’m a big fan of browsing her YouTube playlist of 20-30 minute practices and picking whatever focus sounds like it would, well, feel good on my lunch break or when I wrap up my work day. If you’re looking for a way to stay active, destressed, or stretched out, Adriene’s (and her dog Benji’s) friendly videos have become my go-to.

The World According to Jeff Goldblum (2019- )

You know those people who can make anything interesting? Jeff Goldblum is the quintessence of that kind of person. Every episode of this Disney+ docuseries covers a broad topic that happens to intrigue him, including ice cream, tattoos, denim, RVs, and jewelry. While I don’t have many questions about ice cream, per se, I’m happy to just ride along on his trips all over the US to learn more about it. He finds niche communities, game changers, and new technology I suspect most won’t be familiar with, and he finds ways to get involved, a lá giving someone a Jurassic Park tattoo or getting custom grills made for his teeth. Truthfully, I don’t care much about what Goldblum chooses to explore as long as he’s stammering and sing-song-ing his way through as only he can.

Double Feature – Historical Action Flicks: The Quick and the Dead (1995) + Troy (2004)

I told you last month I’m working on the Western genre, and The Quick and the Dead (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10) is a ‘90s entry from Sam Raimi featuring a rare female lead (Sharon Stone), the babiest of Leo DiCaprios, an evil Gene Hackman, and an epic tournament of duels. If you’d prefer your adventure several thousand years back, Troy (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10) is a star-studded interpretation of The Iliad featuring a plethora of togas, romance, and epic battle scenes.

Double Feature – Corporate Espionage Thrillers: The Firm (1993) + Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

Two unassuming guys start jobs bright-eyed and leave jaded, one a fresh-out-of-law-school attorney and the other a quit-school-to-save-the-world CIA analyst. The Firm (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9/10) is the critical winner of the pair, but Jack Ryan (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10) is a more satisfying action movie than its Rotten Tomatoes score would suggest. (Another example of why we should take those numbers with a grain of salt.) Bonus: Another evil Gene Hackman in The Firm!

Double Feature – New Crime Comedies: The Lovebirds + My Spy (2020)

For a family movie night in, I recommend My Spy on Amazon Prime (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10), which holds the honor of the last movie I watched in theatres before everything shut down. For date night in, I recommend The Lovebirds (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7/10), which made me ready for Kumail Nanjiani to become a superstar. You can read my full thoughts on this fun pair of laughs on ZekeFilm:

The Lovebirds

My Spy

Double Feature – Heist Thrillers: Now You See Me (2013) + Finding Steve McQueen (2019)

Close up magic hasn’t been as cool as Now You See Me(Crowd: 10/10 // Critic: 8/10) since Houdini was escaping handcuffs. This, of course, has less to do with the magic shows and more to do with the Ocean’s Eleven/The Sting-style plot. I love a movie that pulls the wool over my eyes—Hollywood, this is your call to trick me more often! And who says “cool” like Steve McQueen? While I wouldn’t have minded another pass at the dialogue in Finding Steve McQueen (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 6.5/10), this based-on-a-true-story heist targeting President Nixon looks as cool as it is funny.

Double Feature – ‘80s Comedies: ¡Three Amigos! (1986) + Coming to America (1988)

The stars of early SNL & Friends make movies! Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Chevy Chase bring an alternative version of The Magnificent Seven with more jokes and fewer successful heroics, and I’m surprised at how most of it (save a few moments) has aged well. (Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10) And who knows when we’ll get the sequel Coming 2 America that Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall were going to star in this year, but the original sweet and silly romantic comedy about a Prince looking for love is worth revisiting so we’re ready whenever it drops. (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8/10)

Cinematic Cities: New York by Christian Blauvelt (2019)

I started this Turner Classic Movies book to prep for my first visit to New York City in March...well, we all know what happened there. Kudos to this writer and the book designers who helped me wrap my head around how the neighborhoods are connected in this city and where to find famous movie locales, plus a few off the beaten path. Now I have more places I want to see and taste and experience when I finally go, but until then, I’ve got a list of movies to watch so my vacation doesn’t feel so far away.

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Summer Stock (1950)

The plot is hackneyed and the songs are hokey, but, gee, if I didn't spend the whole time wishing we had more movie stars like these clowns, Gene Kelly and Judy Garland. Twice I tried to wipe the smile off my face as Gene danced, and I just couldn't do it. The corners of my mouth twitched back up because a newspaper and squeaky floor were competing with Judy for his best dance partner! 70 years later this movie still won't let someone wipe a stupid grin off her face—three cheers for camera-magnetic movie stars! Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 6/10

Air Force One (1997)

Sure, it’s Die Hard on a plane, but when you nail the formula this well, I think you get more than a pass. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 6.5/10

June Critic Picks

The Sting (1973)

I jumped out of chronological order in my Best Picture watch because I liked Butch and Sundance so much. It’s an unusual winner, but it holds up well. Scroll down a bit for two reviews, or catch ‘em here:

Crowd

Critic

Double Feature - World War II Action Dramas: Saving Private Ryan (1998) + Enemy at the Gates (2001)

Watching this pair back-to-back makes for a poignant compare and contrast of how the United States and Russia managed their campaigns during World War II (at least as they’re depicted here). In Saving Private Ryan (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 10/10), Tom Hanks and Co. are trying to save one soldier just after D-Day; in Enemy at the Gates (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Jude Law is a legendary sniper trying to give hope to his comrades. Compare how both armies fight against all odds, and contrast how one life matters to each country.

Anna Karenina (2012)

Joe Wright reunites with much of his Pride and Prejudice cast, and it’s as magical and beautiful as you’d hope. Keira Knightley stars as the tragic heroine alongside a stacked cast including Domnhall Gleeson, Jude Law, Matthew Macfayden, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Alicia Vikander. Fun fact: I just learned my grandfather calls Knightley “his girlfriend” because he thinks she’s so cute in Pride and Prejudice—no word yet on what he thought of the gorgeous gowns she wore in this movie, but my podcast co-host Kyla and I loved them in our most recent episode. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 10/10

Double Feature – Humphrey Bogart: The Maltese Falcon (1941) + Key Largo (1948)

Plenty has been written about how The Maltese Falcon (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10) is the epitome of Film Noir. Now that I’ve met Sam Spade and his femme fatale (Mary Astor) and watched their hunt for a McGuffin, I’ll just join in the chorus. And now that I’ve watched all of Bogie and Bacall’s features, I’m picking Dark Passage as my favorite and Key Largo (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10) my second. In their last film together, she’s a war widow and he was a soldier who knew her husband. When he comes to visit her at her hotel in Key Largo, they end up stuck inside during a hurricane with gangsters—tension ensues.

Da 5 Bloods (2020)

While Spike Lee’s latest was a little long, it’s hard to know what to cut when its updated take on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is so engrossing. Between the performances, the action, and the treasure hunt plot, it’s the rare Netflix original in which you won’t be tempted to look at your phone. I’m hoping Delroy Lindo is in the Oscars conversation come next April. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

youtube

Long Gone Summer (2020)

The summer of ’98 was big for me: My sister was born, my family moved to a new house, and I turned six with a Mulan-themed party. (Yes, I was the height of cool.) It was also the summer Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa faced off in a home run battle to beat Roger Maris’s regular season record, which even then I knew was a big deal. This ESPN 30 for 30 episode interviews McGwire, Sosa, and everybody in their orbit, but the real heart is the tribute it pays to St. Louis, Chicago, and baseball as a whole. I knew baseball films make me cry, and it turns out good baseball documentaries do, too.

Women In Music Pt. III by HAIM (2020)

The sisters are back with an album made for late-night driving with the windows down, and “I Know Alone” feels like a COVID anthem.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

If you loved La La Land like I did and haven’t seen this musical, just get around to watching it already! From the colorful aesthetic to the melancholy plot structure, you can literally see Damien Chazelle’s inspiration for his modern musical. And if you can find an answer as to why the Academy found this film worthy of consideration at not one but two Oscars ceremonies, let me know—I’ve yet to solve that mystery. Crowd: 7/10 // Critic: 9/10

Double Feature – Gregory La Cava Class Comedies: My Man Godfrey (1936) + 5th Avenue Girl (1939)

I don’t think I’ve watched a film from the 1930s that isn’t about money on some level, and these two from director Gregory La Cava are no exception. In Godfrey (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Carole Lombard is a socialite who brings a homeless man in as their family’s new butler (William Powell), but there’s more to him than they know. in 5th Avenue (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8/10), Ginger Rogers befriends a lonely businessman (Walter Connolly), and though their relationship is platonic, that doesn’t mean he won’t hire her to make his philandering wife jealous. The moral of both films? Rich people be crazy, which is a great set up for comedy.

Also in June…

In addition to Anna Karenina, Kyla and teased our self-made millionaire hair and introduced our butler Max to discuss the ‘80s rom-com procedural Hart to Hart. If you enjoy detective shows, it’s a fun spin on the genre you may enjoy.

I watched and reviewed Best Picture winners The Sting (above) and the worst one I’ve watched yet, 1933’s Cavalcade. Read the Crowd and Critic reviews to know why it’s not worth your time.

I updated my Letterboxd with a list of all the movies in Cinematic Cities: New York, and my quarantine watch list is almost to 250.

Photo credits: Yoga With Adriene, HAIM. Cinematic Cities my own. All others IMDb.com.

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yahooben · 6 years

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The 20 most anticipated games of 2018

‘Spider-Man’ is one of the biggest releases hitting consoles this year.

How do you possibly top a video game year as flat-out awesome as 2017? You probably don’t — the past year was an all-timer, right up there with 2007 and 1998.

But no one loves a challenge like a game maker, and the men and women who toil to build amazing gaming experiences have their eyes set on 2018. While we’re sure to get countless surprises between now and next December, the year to come is already shaping up to be another one for the record books. A new “Red Dead,” the return of Kratos, another “Last of Us,” that crazy looking “Far Cry” — a ton of heavy-hitters are slated for release in 2018. Here are 20 worth watching (and playing, eventually).

Note: Only games with currently confirmed 2018 release dates are included. All release dates subject to change/delay.

“Red Dead Redemption 2” (Spring 2018 | PS4, Xbox One)

‘Red Dead Redemption II’ is easily the most hotly anticipated game of 2018.

Few companies can raise their stock price 6% simply by tweeting little more than their logo against a red background. But Rockstar Games, which is owned by Take-Two Interactive (TTWO), isn’t just any company. Best known as the mad geniuses behind “Grand Theft Auto,” Rockstar also happened to make the best Old West video game of all time in 2010’s legendary “Red Dead Redemption.” First hinted at by a simple tweet back in October of 2016, the prequel follows nefarious new protagonist Arthur Morgan and his gang of outlaws as they rob, cheat and steal their way across the American Frontier.

“The Last of Us: Part II” (TBD 2018 | PS4)

‘The Last of Us II’ has a lot to live up to, but there’s high hopes for Naughty Dog.

Emotions ran high in the post-apocalyptic hellscape of the PS3 giant, “The Last Us.” So did the game’s score, coming in at a staggering 95 on Metacritic. The sequel, naturally, has a lot to live up to, but with ace developer Naughty Dog on the job, we’re expecting another masterpiece. Taking place a few years after the original, it lets players guide a 19-year-old Ellie through a world somehow more violent and dangerous than before. We simply can’t wait.

“Anthem” (Q4 2018 | PS4, Xbox One, PC)

We’re not entirely sure what to expect from ‘Anthem’ yet, but based on developer Bioware’s pedigree, we’ve got high hopes.

Look out, “Destiny” – EA (EA)and Bioware are prepping an online shooter of their own. We think. It’s actually hard to say for sure at this point. Outside of an outstanding trailer shown at EA’s pre-E3 press conference in June, precious little is known about Bioware’s take on online multiplayer action. Players don customizable exosuits to fly, shoot, and chat through gorgeous sci-fi worlds. So yeah, sounds like “Destiny.”

“God of War” (Q1 2018 | PS4)

God of War transports Kratos from ancient Greece to the frozen wastes of Norse mythology.

Deity-defying madman Kratos returns to action in 2018, but he’s changed quite a bit over the years. Now a dad, the god killer is tasked with teaching his son how to survive a harsh new land while keeping his epic anger in check. With a new camera, deeper RPG elements, and a brand-new signature weapon (goodbye chains, hello axe), “God of War” will offer a fresh perspective on an old anti-hero.

“Far Cry 5” (March 27 | PS4, Xbox One, PC)

‘Far Cry 5’ looks to reinvent the franchise, forcing you to confront religious zealots on U.S. soil.

Ubisoft (UBI.PA) takes its chaotic open-world shooter to a fictional town in Montana run by a brutal doomsday cult. Your job? What else — unite the town’s residents, deal with the crazy cult leaders, and try not to get eaten by a bear. Touching on hot-button ideological issues like religious fanaticism and domestic terrorism, it’s a controversial move that should help “Far Cry 5” inject new life into the popular series.

“Kingdom Hearts III” (TBD 2018 | PS4, Xbox One)

After years of anticipation ‘Kingdom Hearts III’ will land on consoles in 2018. As long as it’s not delayed … again.

Fans have been wishing upon this particular star for roughly a decade now, but they’ll finally get their heart’s desire in 2018. This long-awaited RPG returns players to the bizarre, mashed-up universe of Square and Disney, dropping them into the boots of series star Sora as he attempts to stop a second Keyblade War. With appearances by countless Disney (DIS) characters and a new “Attraction Flow” move that lets players summon attacks based on Disney rides, it’s sure to thrill die-hards. Let’s just hope it doesn’t get delayed again.

“Monster Hunter World” (January 26 | PS4, Xbox One)

‘Monster Hunter World’ is the most ambitious entry in the series yet.

Capcom’s hugely popular beast-tracking action game embraces the open-world craze, and the result is shaping up to be one of the biggest early releases of 2018. You’ll still spend hours chasing down massive creatures, but with no load screens to break up the fun. It’s also fully online and boasts far and away the most impressive “Monster Hunter” graphics yet. If you’ve never given it a chance, this might be the time to start.

“Sea of Thieves” (March 20 | Xbox One, PC)

‘Sea of Thieves’ drew plenty of attention when it debuted at E3 2017. We’ll find out if it’s worth the hype in 2018.

If you wish every day was Talk like a Pirate Day, batten down the hatches and sweep up the poop deck: Microsoft’s (MSFT) got some sweet, sweet booty headed your way. This swashbuckling co-op game lets you and a few friends plunder, pillage, and probably sink your way across a huge open world. Early looks have been positive — getting three people to properly hoist sails and steer a frigate is riotous fun — but we won’t know if we’re looking at treasure or fool’s gold until “Sea of Thieves” docks this March.

“Psychonauts 2” (TBD 2018 | Xbox One, PS4, PC, Mac)

After 13 years ‘Psychonauts” is back. And we’ll find out if it was worth the wait in 2018.

It’s been 13 years since gamers spent an extremely weird season at the Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, where making friendship bracelets took a backseat to exploring the brains of fellow campers. The sequel sees Raz and friends back at it, using their Psi Powers to save the Psychonauts from being undermined by a nefarious villain. If that means another platform level even half as cool as the legendary Milkman Conspiracy, it can’t get here soon enough.

“Detroit: Become Human” (Q2 2018 | PS4)

‘Detroit: Become Human’ will explore what it means to be alive in a game where your decisions drive the story.

Man meets machine in this neo-noir adventure from the mind of game visionary David Cage. Playing as a trio of androids, gamers grapple with artificial consciousness in a futuristic Detroit. With a branching story shaped by player choice and remarkable graphics, this cinematic thriller is one of Sony’s (SNE) biggest PS4 bets in 2018.

“Shenmue III” (Q3/Q4 2018 | PS4, PC)

It’s taken quite some time, 17 years to be exact, but Shenmue III is finally coming in 2018. We hope.

Ryo Hazuki’s tale of revenge began, amazingly enough, on the Sega Dreamcast in 1999. Thanks to a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, it will finally continue in 2018. With series creator Yu Suzuki at the helm, the third “Shenmue” picks up where 2001’s “Shenmue II” left off. That will likely mean tons of plot, a helping of kung-fu, and maybe, just maybe, a forklift.

“Mega Man 11” (Q4 2018 | PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)

The Blue Bomber is trading in his pixels for some lines and slick moves in ‘Mega Man 11.’

We don’t know much at all about the Blue Bomber’s eleventh game. According to its internet-breaking announcement trailer, it’s coming out in 2018 (at the moment), it stars our favorite weapon-gathering robot boy, and it trades old-school pixels for fresher polygonal graphics. It also looks super hard, which sounds about right. It’s Mega Man!

“Metro Exodus” (Q4 2018 | PS4, Xbox One, PC)

‘Metro Exodus’ returns to Russia’s post-apocalyptic wastes in 2018.

The third game in the tragically underappreciated “Metro” series takes gamers back to the frigid post-apocalyptic Russian wastelands, where they’ll scavenge gear, shoot mutated beasts, and try their damnedest to survive. Based on the other two “Metro” games, that’ll be plenty scary – and hopefully, plenty fun, too.

“Days Gone” (TBD 2018 | PS4)

‘Days Gone’ will have you fleeing seemingly endless hordes of zombies.

Another year, another batch of post-apocalyptic zombie games. When it comes to sheer undead numbers, however, “Days Gone” might take the rotting cake. Waves of walking corpses descend upon our hero in this impressive-looking open-world game, which looks like a creepy blend of World War Z and Sony’s own “The Last of Us.” Here’s hoping the final game is closer in quality to the latter.

“Dragon Ball FighterZ” (January 26 | PS4, Xbox One, PC)

‘Dragon Ball FighterZ’ looks so good, it’s as if you’re actually playing the long-running anime series about people yelling for 20 minutes.

Goku and his spiky-haired pals are back, and unsurprisingly, they look pretty amazing in this new fighting game based on the long-running anime franchise. Featuring a large cast of Dragon Ball characters and a slick, team-based fighting system, it will surely make the fighting game community go super Saiyan when it arrives early in the year.

“Soulcalibur VI” (TBD 2018 | PS4, Xbox One, PC)

‘Soulcalibur Vi’ is bringing the series’ weapons-based combat back for another round in 2018.

The legend will never die, after all. Released back in 2012, the last version of this weapons-based fighting game didn’t exactly set the world on fire. But the franchise’s roots run deep – Dreamcast fans still swear by the first “Soulcalibur” – and with “Tekken 7” producer Motohiro Okubo in charge, there’s reason to believe the sixth installment will recapture some of the series’ glory.

Spider-Man (Q2 2018 | PS4)

‘Spider-Man’ is swinging onto the PS4 in 2018.

Having enjoyed a spectacular big screen rebirth, the webslinger swings over to the PS4 in 2018. Developed by Insomniac, the new Spider-Man sees Peter Parker scurry around Manhattan saving citizens from the likes of the Kingpin and Mr. Negative. Its acrobatic combat and open-world exploration helped it win countless Best of Show awards at E3 2017, and with loads of smart, authentic fan touches (playable MJ! Miles Morales!), it’s shaping up to be the coolest Spidey game since 2004’s seminal Spider-Man 2.

“Crackdown 3” (Spring 2018 | Xbox One, PC)

‘Crackdown 3’ will let you destroy everything you can see, which is absolutely worth it.

Initially planned for 2016, this open-world action romp has run into a few speed bumps on its way to your Xbox One. But when you’re building a game in which every single thing can be destroyed, bumps are bound to happen. Expect ridiculous super powers, intense action, and more busted up buildings than a Transformers movie.

“The Last Night” (TBD 2018 | Xbox One, PC, Mac)

‘The Last Night’ is a stylish platformer that we’re hoping will have equally stunning gameplay.

Of all the indie games shown during Microsoft’s E3 2017 press conference, this is the one that had people talking. Blending a 16-bit visual aesthetic with contemporary animation techniques, this cyberpunk side-scrolling game is a stunner. We’re still not entirely sure how it plays – its developers call it a “cinematic platformer” – but we’re anxious to find out.

“Darksiders 3” (TBD 2018 | PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Want to fight the Seven Deadly Sins while cracking a sweet whip? ‘Darksiders 3’ should be game.

The fate of the third “Darksiders” game was up in the air for a few years there, but now it’s actually happening. That’s a good thing indeed. The first two “Darksiders” were critical hits, big, bold action adventure games each starring one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. This time out, we’ll play as Fury, a whip-wielding mage out to destroy the Seven Deadly Sins.

More games news:

The best video games of 2017

‘Resident Evil Revelations Collection’ review: Fear the past

Microsoft Xbox One X review: A beast of a console at a steep price

‘Wolfenstein II’ review: Great fun if you’re into punching Nazis

‘Super Mario Odyssey’ review: Nintendo tips its cap to the past

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theonyxpath · 7 years

Link

Hi, everyone! Rich and Lisa are on vacation this week. Eddy sometimes picks up the slack when they’re gone, but he’s also on vacation, so I leaped at the opportunity to make a fool of myself here in my inaugural MMN post. So fair warning: if you have any questions about the minutiae of our different projects, my answer is probably going to be some variant of “gosh, I don’t know, but I’ll talk to Rich when he gets back.” Consequently, this post will probably be shorter than Rich’s posts tend to be.

Gen Con 50 looms ever closer, a mere ten days away (thus eight or nine days until we leave for Indianapolis), and we’re totally not panicking. At least, some of us aren’t. The Gen Con Twitter account announced earlier that almost all passes are completely sold out: they expect to sell out of their remaining Friday passes this week. So clearly, this year’s Gen Con is going to be huge. I have no idea how many passes are available in total, but there were just shy of 61,000 attendees last year. It’s crazy to think that there won’t actually be a booth from which to buy passes at the show, because all of them are already gone. We hope to see you there!

Those of you who have gone in recent years may remember the limited promotional buttons we’ve had on hand, such as the Pugmire breeds and callings or Scion 2nd Edition’s pantheons. This year’s buttons may be of interest to fans of the Trinity Continuum‘s Æon setting. If you’re not, fear not: other designs will still be available, as long as our limited supplies last.

Speaking of which, last year’s Storypath System Preview makes a return, although where last year’s was focused on Scion, this year’s is focused on the Trinity Continuum. The contents are similar, just with a different flavour. The cover illustration is absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to share it with everyone.

What I will share is this illustration from that upcoming preview. She occupies the same conceptual space as the Lara Crofts and Nathan Drakes of the world, in search of ancient artifacts and tomes of knowledge, armed with nothing but her wits (and maybe a sidearm or two). I haven’t named her yet, but she doubtless works with the Global Cartography Initiative. Or perhaps even Les Fantômes.

She’s the very first illustration made for the modern-day Trinity Continuum setting. She’s illustrated by the returning Leif Jones, who was one of the key artists who helped establish the look of both Trinity and Aberrant when they were originally released 20 years ago.

Gen Con prep aside, Saturday we wrapped up our Kickstarter for Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras 2, the sequel to our previous Dark Eras, and we closed with $60,593 of our original $40,000 goal! Thanks to everyone who contributed. We achieved a few extra eras out of stretch goals, and some of our backers will either expand on those eras or resurrect others from the polls we ran. We’re looking forward to seeing how the book comes together! As always, watch this space for more details as development continues.

The Dark Eras 2 Kickstarter was the first place we revealed the Deviant skull, which Rich posted last week, but I thought was cool enough that I’ll post it again. Also, I don’t have access to Rich’s vast store of yet-unpublished art so I’m trying to jazz this up as best as I can. Here’s that delicious Deviant teaser text again:

You woke up…different. Someone changed you; on a slab, an operating table, an altar. By luck or by fate, you escaped. Hunted by the ones who made you, they hold all the cards. Except one thing, what they don’t know is that a fire burns within you because what they did wasn’t right. What they don’t know is that YOU’RE hunting THEM.

Deviant presents a game where the victims of experiments band together to bring down the monolithic organizations that twisted and warped them.

Finally, I think I heard Mike say that the last couple of standalone chapters from Dark Eras will be ready for sale this Wednesday, but don’t quote me on that. I’m not sure if we’re going to have anything up for sale next Wednesday, because we’ll all be busy setting up our booth in Indianapolis, but we’ll at least be posting our 2017-2018 brochure sometime over the weekend, and I know you’re all looking forward to that.

I have no idea how Rich organizes the Blurbs section or how long he decides to keep something posted, so rather than risk his great and terrible wrath, I’ll just leave it as-is. Production status below has been kept with the same format, although the information’s been updated accordingly.

And, to channel the late Walter Cronkite, that’s the way it is. See you all next week!

BLURBS!

ON SALE!

ON AMAZON:

We’re delighted to announce the opening of our ebook store on Amazon! You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle. Our initial selection includes these fiction anthologies: Vampire: the Masquerade‘s Endless Ages, Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition‘s Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage 2, Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition‘s Truth Beyond Paradox, Chronicles of Darkness‘ God Machine Chronicle, Mummy: The Curse‘s Curse of the Blue Nile, and Beast: The Primordial‘s The Primordial Feast!

And now you can get these books in the Barnes and Noble Nook store too!

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II

Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox

Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology

Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile

Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology

And here are six more fiction books:

Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds

Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology

Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology

Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology

Andand six more more:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Beast Within Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: W20 Cookbook (Kindle, Nook)

Exalted: Tales from the Age of Sorrows (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Tales of the Dark Eras (Kindle, Nook)

Promethean: The Created: The Firestorm Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Demon: The Descent: Demon: Interface (Kindle, Nook)

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://ift.tt/1ZlTT6z

You can now order wave 2 of our Deluxe and Prestige print overrun books, including Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary, and Deluxe V20 Dark Ages! And Screens…so many Screens!

ON DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

This Wednesday we will be adding new Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras shirts to our RedBubble store! Now you can support your favorite game lines in their historical versions!

Satyr Phil Brucato beckons you once more into the Annex of Mage: The Ascension with this 300 page follow-up to M20. The M20 Book of Secrets is NOW on sale in PDF and PoD versions at DTRPG.com! http://ift.tt/2tKyJtb

More Than Magick

For mages who think they have everything, this trove of treasures expands upon the wealth of material presented throughout Mage: The Ascension’s 20th Anniversary Edition. New Traits, new rules, essays, answers, information… the Secrets are revealed within.

Enter the Annex

Building upon the M20 core rulebook, this Book of Secrets features updated rules and setting material, such as…

An M20 FAQ Genres & Resources

Matters of Focus Justice & Influence

New Abilities, Archetypes, Merits & Flaws

Expanded Rules for Combat, Resonance, Wonders, Computer Systems, and More

This Ascension Continues…

Chomping it’s way to you comes the Dagger of Spiragos adventure PDF for Scarred Lands! This second in the Spiragos trilogy for levels 4-6 is now in both 5e and Pathfinder PDF versions on DriveThruRPG.com!

PF: http://ift.tt/2uvy38a

5e: http://ift.tt/2uS6FDT

The Titans’ Relics Must Be Destroyed!

Artifacts from the fallen titan Spiragos have been recovered, and forces are at work that would see them used for ill. The Dagger of Spiragos and the Ring of Spiragos are now in the player characters’ hands — and they must do what they can to rid Scarn of the foul relics of the titans, whatever the cost!

What Came Before

Dagger of Spiragos is a sequel to the 2014 Gen Con Scarred Lands Special Preview adventure, Gauntlet of Spiragos (available as a free download on DriveThruRPG. com and RPGnow.com). It is also the second adventure in the Spiragos Saga, with Ring of Spiragos, the dramatic finale, as the third and culminating title.

In Gauntlet of Spiragos, the PCs traveled to the legendary Chasm of Flies, where they discovered a tribe of spider-eye goblins who possessed relics of their fallen master, Spiragos. Now, with those items in hand, the PCs travel to the city of Fangsfall, where they must seek aid in destroying the foul objects.

But others wish to possess these items, too,

Sailing out of the dark, the V20 Dark Ages Companion PDF and physical book PoD versions are going on sale Wednesday on DriveThruRPG.com! http://ift.tt/2pX42dq

Travel the long roads and deep seas in search of power and experience danger, or tackle the wilderness to hunt monsters and face death. Settlements large and small dot the black expanse with the promise of sanctuary, life, and community. These bastions of civilization present cold comfort, when playing host to vampire warlords and sadistic Cainite faiths. Whether led by a Prince, a coordinated belief, or hounded by monsters from without and within — no domain is truly the same as another.

Dark Ages Companion includes:

• Domains scattered across the world, from small fiefdoms to massive cities. Bath, Bjarkarey, Constantinople, Rome, Mogadishu, and Mangaluru each receive coverage.

• Apocrypha including plot hooks, new Paths, and mysteries to explore in your games.

• A how-to guide on building a domain within your chronicle, including events and servants necessary to make a domain as functional or dysfunctional as you wish.

• A study on warfare in the Dark Ages period, so combat in your chronicles can gain authenticity and lethality.

From the Primordial to your Chronicles, Beast‘s Building a Legend has risen in PDF and PoD formats on DTRPG.com!

http://ift.tt/2u1BBkU

CREATING A CHRONICLE IS REWARDING…

…so why should the Storyteller have all the fun?

The whole troupe should get in on the action, making for a chronicle that reflects the preferences and predilections of all the players.

Building a Legend is a guide for doing exactly that — making a cohesive chronicle, starting with character creation, for Beast: The Primordial. It includes advice on creating Storyteller characters, folding in real world history, and populating the Primordial Dream.

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Requiem for Regina (Vampire: The Requiem Elizabethan London 1593). We have shared the world with monsters for millennia. In Elizabeth’s London, vampires built their own empire brick by bloody brick while Elizabeth I cemented her grip on newly Protestant England. Carefully balancing demands from those with Catholic and Lutheran sympathies, she forged a police state. Yet London emerged as a thriving cultural center, and from the crucible emerged a Kindred society forever changed.

http://ift.tt/2sl0Zh4

On sale in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG!

What dark secrets do the eldest vampires hold? Find out in Thousand Years of Night for Vampire: The Requiem! Advance PDF version available now on DriveThruRPG.com. http://ift.tt/2sV8lZR

You may think that with a multitude of people coming, going, dying and running away, we’d be tired, done, or ready to give up. Instead, I find myself restless, looking for the next thing. There’s always a next thing, and I for one am not yet ready to die.

– Elder Kincaid, Daeva Crone

This book includes:

• Detailed instructions on creating elder vampires, including how to base chronicles around them

• A look into the lives of elders, how they spend their nights, who they work with, and why including their roles in both their clans and covenants

• New Devotions, Merits, and Rituals for elder vampires

• The kinds of creatures that pose a threat to elder vampires, including Inamorata, Lamia, Sons of Phobos, a new elder conspiracy, and more

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: To The Strongest (Mage Death of Alexander 330-320 BCE). In the rise and fall of Alexander the Great’s Empire, armies marched and cultures clashed. In the birth pangs of Hellenistic civilization, Awakened sorcerers all over the ancient world met, fought, and joined together. In the chaos of Alexander’s assassination and the wars that followed, Cults became Orders amid conflicts still burning in the present day.

http://ift.tt/2tmTVl6

On sale in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG!

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: Three Kingdoms of Darkness (Changeling and Geist China 220-280). Famine weakens the empire, and war splits it apart. It is an age of ambition and strife, where the hungry dead walk the earth in great numbers, and the Lost must rely on their own kingdoms. Warlords and commoners, ghost-speakers and orphans — who truly serves the Mandate of Heaven?

On sale in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2rp8hPL

From the massive Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras main book, we have pulled this single chapter, Dark Eras: The Wolf and the Raven (Werewolf and Geist Vikings 700-1100). The Viking expansion across Europe comes at a pivotal time in history, as new faiths rose to challenge the old and new ways threatened to sweep ancient tradition aside. The Forsaken sail with raiders and explorers, seeking new lands to claim and new spirits to conquer, while Sin-Eaters walk the battlefields bringing the honored dead to their final rewards. The world grows larger and more dangerous by the day, but there are great rewards for those brave enough to fight for them.

On sale in PDF and physical copy PoD versions on DTRPG! http://ift.tt/2rUjKtX

Curated by Matthew McFarland, developer of Changeling: the Dreaming Twentieth Anniversary Edition and featuring authors such as Myranda Kalis, Wren Handman, and Peter Woodworth, this C20 Anthology of Dreams is on sale in electronic/PDF and physical copy PoD formats on DTRPG.com! http://ift.tt/2snBT0X

We dream, and we tell stories. We dream of love and the sort of person who might complete us. We dream of horror and wake breathless. We dream of magic, of flying through the air, or breathing underwater. We dream of fantastic vistas and amazing monsters.

We dream, and then we wake, and we tell stories. Our dreams create the Kithain, the changelings. Our stories are sustenance.

CONVENTIONS!

Gen Con 50 IS IN TEN DAYS. August 17th – 20th, Indianapolis. Our booth will actually be 20′ x 30′ this year that we’ll be sharing with Nocturnal Media and White Wolf. We’re looking at new displays this year, like a back drop and magazine racks for the brochure(s). FYI, the con is almost entirely sold out for the first time ever! Here’s the map again of where we’ll be:

In November, we’ll be at Game Hole Con in Madison, WI. More news as we have it, and here’s their website: http://ift.tt/RIm6qP

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (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)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Monarchies of Mau (Monarchies of Mau)

Night Horrors: The Tormented (Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Redlines

Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

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

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Second Draft

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

DtD Night Horrors: Enemy Action (Demon: the Descent)

Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Development

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

SL Ring of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Ring of Spiragos (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Pugmire Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers (Pugmire)

Scion: Origin (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

WW Manuscript Approval:

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

C20 Ready Made Characters (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Editing:

Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

M20 Cookbook

Post-Editing Development:

W20 Changing Ways (Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition)

Indexing:

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

W20 Pentex Employee Indoctrination Handbook – Ellis is working on painting everything up.

Cavaliers of Mars

Wraith 20

W20 Changing Ways – AD’d and Contracted.

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

VDA Jumpstart

Scion Origins

Ring of Spiragos

Ex 3 Arms of the Chosen – Finals coming in.

Beast PG – Finals rolling in for most of the stuff.

VtR Half Damned – AD’d and Contracted.

Book of Freeholds

Marketing Stuff

In Layout

Prince’s Gambit – New Cards out for playtesting.

Beckett’s Jyhad Diary – Working up a test chapter this week.

Proofing

M20 Art Book – In progress…

At Press

Beckett Screen – Shipped to shipper.

Scarred Land PGs & Wise and the Wicked PF & 5e

Mau Wallpaper

Monarchies of Mau Early Access

Dark Eras: Lily Sabre and Thorn

Dark Eras: A Grimm Dark Era

VTR: Thousand Years of Night

Gen Con 2017 Brochure

Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition) – PoD uploaded and processing…

C20 Jumpstart PDF

CtL Huntsmen Chronicle Anthology PDF

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: 1976: Viking 2 enters orbit around Mars. The Viking orbiters and landers revolutionized our ideas about the geology of Mars and the historical presence of water.

#Onyx Path Publishing

5 notes · View notes

sorrelchestnut · 7 years

Note

Cry Havoc, 9 and 13 from the ask meme

For the fanfic author askmeme, still taking questions if anyone wants to play!

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

Oh, always, man. Anything that I spend enough time on to make it to the internet always has at least one or two versions that get cast aside. Though I’ll admit, for this fic less than most. Some scenes or chapter branches get discarded halfway through, but for the most part I had a surprisingly clear vision of my main characters and how I wanted their relationship to develop.

Most of my versioning for this ‘verse came from stuff happening after the end of the main story. I tend to get distracted easily and was working on sequels before I actually finished the original, and I couldn’t quite mentally pin down how I wanted it to go. And on some level that’s just pure distraction, but on another it’s important: where the characters go from the end matters in where and how I want to make the end, so it’s nice to have it squared away in my head. I’ve written a couple different half-done versions of her confrontation with Kellogg, for example. Sole and Kellogg have more in common than they don’t, in a lot of ways, but how much of that do they see in each other? How does that unfold? Ultimately I think I came down on the side of a kind of detached annoyance: Sole doesn’t feel enough towards him to hate him, because he’s just an obstacle, a bump in the road on the way to her real goal. That being said, I always wanted a version of the memory quest where Sole basically argues with his running narration through the entire thing until they have a more real conversation at the end, but that one never even made it out of my head and onto paper.

Branching off the same theme, I also had this half-hearted AU where she somehow made it out of the cryopod during Kellogg’s first attack, takes her kid and GTFO, and it’s her and Kellogg through the decades, sometimes on the same side and sometimes not, because MacCready might be her complementary match but Kellogg is the most like her. I just thought it’d be interesting to see a ruthless, amoral human terminator of a mercenary squaring up against... well, Kellogg. I always thought it was a shame Kellogg had to go so earlier into the narrative, because he was definitely the best antagonist of the piece.

(However I end up writing or not writing that questline, one thing’s for sure: she carries that pistol of his strapped to her hip for the rest of her life, and if you asked her she probably couldn’t even tell you why.)

Oh! I was also for a while exploring a Deacon-centric poly sequel, but I could never quite make it gel. At some point I’ll post the Deacon-POV bit that I ended up writing instead, because I never really got to get into his ruthlessness in writing everybody wants to be a cat, and I wanted a chance to explore the end-justify-the-means side of spying for a good cause. I think right around the time the earlier version stopped working for me was when I started taking X6-88 with me a bunch on my current playthrough, and that’s not a coincidence. The reflexively dishonest long-term pining from the Deacon-centric sequel didn’t really quite fit with Sole and Mac’s easy and bloody partnership, but X6 and his sneaky sarcasm and vaguely disdainful ruthless competence and uncomplicated loyalty snapped into place like a missing cog.

I’m actually prepping some stuff this month to post a sort of “WIP Amnesty” month this August, so hopefully I’ll get some of this stuff out then. I could probably post some of the discarded versions here on tumblr if there’s any interest.

13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn't listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

Oh hell yes, anything that gets longer than a few thousand words almost always has its own soundtrack, one way or another. (Except Kin and Country, for some reason. Never quite developed its own musical identity.) It’s usually in flux, and I don’t have a proper playlist put together on spotify or anything yet, but if anyone’s interested the track listing for Cry Havoc is:

01. “Blood on My Name” - The Brothers Bright02. “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo” - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club03. “Fire” - Barns Courtney04. “The Wave” - Miike Snow05. "God’s Away On Business” - Tom Waits06. “Radioactive” - Imagine Dragons07. “Glitter and Gold” - Barns Courtney08. “Arsonist’s Lullaby” - Hozier09. “Devil Town” - The Builders and the Butchers10. “Don’t Sit Down Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” - Arctic Monkeys11. “Devil's Teeth” - Muddy Magnolias12. “Down to the River” - Brown Bird13. “Deja Vu” - Something for Kate14. “Red Right Hand” - Arctic Monkeys15. “I Followed Fires” - Matthew & the Atlas16. “You Could Be My Baby” - SHEL17. “Pyromaniac” - Oh Land18. “Pretty Baby” - Brandan Benson19. “Raise Hell” - Dorothy20. “Feelin’ Good” - Nina Simone

All of my soundtracks are always 20 songs long, no more, no less. No idea why I picked that particular arbitrary number to be the cutoff, but there you go.

#askmeme #cry havoc #Anonymous

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dailycwsupergirl · 7 years

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Inside the super-sized Glee reunion on The Flash-Supergirl musical crossover

Darren Criss is singing his heart out. Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist are tap dancing. “It’s literally a Glee episode,” Gustin jokes. No, the Fox series hasn’t been revived. The trio are actually reuniting for the first time since their days on the Emmy-nominated hit series for a different kind of musical — and Criss may finally get his revenge.

His Glee character, Blaine Anderson, received a slushy facial from Gustin’s Sebastian Smythe back in 2012, but now the tables have turned, with Criss assuming the mantle of the dastardly DC Comics villain Music Meister in the highly anticipated Flash/Supergirl musical crossover. “It is funny that the last time I worked with Grant, he was the bad guy and he was singing at me, and now I’m the bad guy singing at him,” Criss says. Though it’s a different set, with the quick turnaround and prep, Criss concurs that this all feels familiar. “It’s just Glee,” he says.

In the March 21 episode of The Flash, Barry (Gustin) and Kara (Benoist) find themselves trapped in a movie musical of the Meister’s creation — an hour that has been years in the making. “We’ve always talked about doing it, from the very beginning, more in a joking way,” says executive producer Andrew Kreisberg. Gustin, however, was initially curious. “I didn’t ever think it would be a real thing, so when they told me it was real, I was like, ‘How?!‘”

Here’s how: As the Scarlet Speedster and Girl of Steel experience turmoil in their interpersonal relationships, they’re whammied by the Music Meister, a less mustache-twirling, more manipulative villain who causes victims to break into song. The character was famously voiced by Neil Patrick Harris in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold animated series. “I have made a pretty decent career of only taking over roles as made famous by child stars,” jokes Criss, who also played the titular wizard in the Harry Potter musical.

“I could not be happier that he’s here,” gushes Benoist, whose Glee character Marley Rose was mentored by Blaine. “He’s killing this role. He’s bringing such a fun energy, the way he did on Glee as well.”

Being fans of movie musicals as kids, the power-stripped heroes end up trapped in a golden-age send-up involving rival gangs and their kids falling in love — though expect many of the couples to come with a twist. The only way out? Follow the Meister’s script till the end. It may be a prison to them, but it’s heaven to Benoist. Noting she was born in the wrong era, the actress takes delight in the vintage ambience while sitting on a ’40s-era nightclub set. “Not that I don’t love the [Supergirl] suit, but it just feels good playing the same character in a completely different setting,” she says. “I’m eating this up.”

The Glee alums aren’t the only big names attached to the special episode. In a nod to Kara’s favorite film Wizard of Oz, everyone else in the vocally impressive cast is playing a character within this movie, from Jesse L. Martin, Victor Garber, and John Barrowman as rival mob bosses to Jeremy Jordan’s club pianist and Carlos Valdes’ aspiring artist busboy. Cherry-picking the movie musical genre — West Side Story, Singing in the Rain, and Guys and Dolls among the show’s inspirations — the hour also features some original songs, including “Runnin’ Home to You” from Oscar-winning La La Land duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, as well as the bubbly and playful Rachel Bloom co-penned tap duet “Super Friend.” “It’s a goofy song and it’s very consistent with that style of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” Gustin says.

“We were approached by Rachel Bloom, who reached out to us and she really wanted to write a song for us,” Kreisberg explains. “And Greg [Berlanti] had a relationship with Pasek and Paul, so we sat down with them — we hadn’t even seen La La Land with them, but Greg had been such huge fans of theirs.”

The episode also includes several covers, among them the Benoist solo “Moon River,” and an ensemble performance of Jackie DeShannon’s “Put a Little Love in Your Heart” that brings the denizens of the ’40s nightclub to their feet as the Meister conducts Jordan, Valdes, and John Barrowman in an epic, upbeat dance number choreographed by Glee’s Zachary Woodlee. “Some things are just star-crossed,” Valdes says of his two worlds — superheroes and musicals — colliding. “Some things are just destined and written in the stars. This felt like one of those instances where it was just something that was going to happen.”

Jordan concurs: “Ever since they announced the cast of our show — plus the casts of Flash and other shows having so many musical theater people in them — it was only a matter of time before they harnessed those talents and made something into it.”

All involved have unquestionable talents when it comes to singing, but Barrowman says the DeShannon piece doesn’t play to his strengths: “I’m exceptionally confident vocally, but they show me the dance steps and I’m not a hip-hopper, no way,” says Barrowman, who practices his moves on set between takes. “I panicked.” Still, Barrowman was determined to be involved once he learned of the crossover. “I hadn’t heard anything and I just basically then said, ‘I think you would be daft or stupid not to have me in this, really,'” he says. “But they planned on it all along.”

On the flip side, Gustin says he was excited about slipping back into his dance shoes. “More than anything else, my true foundation was tap dance,” the actor says. “It’s been cool to get back to it.” Adds Benoist: “It’s funny how things stay in your muscle memory. It was fun to pick it back up again and see your body and be like, ‘Oh, we remember how to do this.'”

With everyone in one room, Barrowman admits, “I’m a bit fan-boying out to be honest,” explaining that he watched his castmates’ former projects Glee and Smash. “What a nerd,” Jordan responds upon hearing the news. “He plays it super cool backstage, so you wouldn’t know he was geeking out.”

Beyond Glee, the hour marks an even bigger reunion as Gustin and Supergirl‘s Chris Wood — who, along with co-star David Harewood, will guest in the crossover, but not sing — went to school together, while Criss counts Valdes, Pasek, and Paul as classmates. “It’s been a very sentimental crossover on so many levels,” Criss says. “Every day, every scene my mind is being blown. I can’t believe I’m here with Melissa Benoist and Carlos Valdes. ‘How do you guys even know each other? Oh, that’s right, you’re both superheroes!'”

Fun fact: Another classmate of theirs, Andy Mientus, also previously played a villain on The Flash, with Criss joking it’s about damn time he appeared in the Berlanti-verse. “I was wondering why everybody else I knew had been on the show but me,” Criss says with a laugh. In truth, Kreisberg says Criss was destined to play this role. “Darren so brings him to life,” the EP says. “I’m not sure who we would have gotten to do it if Darren had said no, but it turned out to be one of those things where we wanted Darren and Darren actually wanted the part. It was very kismet.”

Should the crossover prove successful, Kreisberg even has hopes for a sequel, and Criss would be elated to return to the wild, wild world of singing superheroes. “I would have liked to have written some songs,” quips the actor and musician, who landed the role too late in the process to do so. “I want to come back, I’m not done — then I’ll have my true payback!” Watch out, Flash!

The musical crossover will kick off at the end of Supergirl‘s March 20 hour, with the majority of the action taking place during The Flash‘s March 21 episode, both airing at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

#supergirl #the flash #crossover #news #season 2 #long post

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grantgustinnews · 7 years

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The musical crossover will kick off at the end of Supergirl‘s March 20 hour, with the majority of the action taking place during The Flash‘s March 21 episode, both airing at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

#grant gustin #carlos valdes #melissa benoist #darren criss #jeremy jordan #john barrowman #andrew kreisberg #the flash 3.17 #press #spoilers #news

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marysocontrary1 · 7 years

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Inside the super-sized Glee reunion on The Flash-Supergirl musical crossover

The musical crossover will kick off at the end of Supergirl‘s March 20 hour, with the majority of the action taking place during The Flash‘s March 21 episode, both airing at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

http://ew.com/tv/2017/03/09/flash-supergirl-musical-crossover-spoilers/

#Supergirl #The Flash #spoilers #Supergirl spoilers #The Flash spoilers #Melissa Benoist #Grant Gustin #Darren Criss #Jeremy Jordan #John Barrowman

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nerdarchy-blog · 6 years

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Hello gamer, it is time to dive into another RPG Crate unboxing and see what treasures or loot we get to walk away with. If you are interested in signing up for this subscription box service and getting awesome fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons related material you can sign up at RPGcrate.com. Just make sure you use the promo code NERDARCHYRPGCRATE for 10 percent off your first month’s RPG Crate. Without further ado, lets dive into the crate unboxing and see what’s there.

The theme for July 2018’s RPG Crate is “Legendary” and it’s a crate for the legends.

June 2018 RPG Crate unboxing

Big surprise, the first thing as always is the index card letting us know the theme and whats inside: July 2018 is Legendary.

From the RPG Crate June 2018 insert:

“We continue the dangerous journey through time and hopefully a gorgon’s demise, to the final chapter of the stories in Season Two of RPG Crate. We’ve added several extra items this month in celebration of the end of a Season. Next month begins Season Three, but for now, enjoy the treasure we’ve procured for you.”

T-shirt

First up is always, a knock-it-out-of-the-park exclusive T-shirt. I have said it before and I will say it again, some of the shirts I’ve gotten in an RPG Crate are my favorite shirts. I am not sure how he gets great deals, but glad he is able to do it each month.

“These creatures were made to rule the darkness; ever vigilant they watch.”

This is an awesome gargoyle shirt. It is a gray design on a black shirt with green accents which really make the shirt pop.

Miniatures

Next up from Effin Cool minis is a premier metal miniature.

“Her beauty is only matched by her lust for power – evil is that one I say!”

Medusa the brood mother for use in your Dungeons & Dragons game or really any tabletop roleplaying game where you might encounter a medusa. Sadly this is one on two legs as opposed to the mythical naga-like design but it is a cool sculpt with a sweet staff. You could take this mini in several directions.

Atmar’s Cardography

I reach into the box and pull out the next item and it feels like a deck of cards. This is the first time I had a little foreknowledge this was going to be in the box. Atmar’s Cardography by Creature Curation & Norse Foundry is a 52 card set, and this is set No. 1: Enter the Fiery Pits.

“What adventure will the dungeon deal?”

Heads up, set No. 2: Break Through the Icy Divide, is going to be in next month’s crate. These cards allow you to randomly lay out cards and design a dungeon. Optionally you can also look through as a Game Master during your prep time and design the dungeon you want and that fits your need. You can then just pull those cards aside and be ready to use the dungeon your self.

But it does not stop there. There is a full-fledged adventure hidden in the instruction manual that you can go to the website and download. It is an 88-page PDF if you go with the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons but there is also an option for the Fate system as well. The PDF has NPCs, monsters and magic Items as well as a full adventure. Major score if you ask me. And as previously stated we should see the sequel to it next month with a similar set up. I spoke with the creator of these decks and a Kickstarter should be coming in September for three more decks. And if that was not enough, Brian Colin of Creature Curation gave me a pair of decks to give away on the channel. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: I was honored to be part of the Atmar’s Cardography team with these two adventures and hopefully the three additional upcoming ones too!]

Recipe for Adventure

All that adventuring and awesome product has got me hungry. Maybe I need a Recipe for Adventure. This month, “Your face will freeze like that.”

We get Gorgon Bread Bites. These cool cards give you a real recipe modified with a flair for fantasy but written with a way to make the recipe for real. Why not whip up some for your gaming group and have it prepared for when you run the encounter on the other side?

Frog God Games adventure

Now that you are full of some literally cheesy food you’re ready to go up “Against Tsathogga” with a fully prepared adventure by Frog God Games.

“Deep in the heart of of a lost marshland gather followers of the Tsathogga.”

This is a fifth edition adventure for four-six 16th-level or higher adventurers.

Let me quote a paragraph from inside the introduction: “This adventure is ‘suitable’ for 4-6 characters of level 16+. Don’t kid yourself; the characters have NO chance against Tsathogga if he is summoned.” It goes on to say you can adjust things here or there, but if you have a gargantuan frog mini and want to stomp your characters with it, feel free. The book does have stats for this behemoth and it is actually the highest challenge monster I have seen for fifth edition D&D — a massive 35! Now I am thinking to myself how would my party, who just made it to 19th level, fair against such a creature.

Well, that is one way to stick it to you characters — just kill ’em. If you want to be a bit nicer you can stick them with a couple of awesome pins. Two d20s done up in the RPG Crate colors and made Creature Curation for you to “Show off your love of the game.”

Adventures on the Open Road

Last and certainly not least is the ever-popular (with me at least) RPG Crate Adventures on the Open Road material prepared for D&D. This is an adventure for 13th-level characters and my guess based on the material of the rest of the crate has a medusa and gargoyles in it. We have Stone Garden, Cliff Ruins, and Brood Mother. We get three maps and looks like 10 monsters. RPG Crate sponsors a gameplay video of this material on our channel and it is usually the fourth Friday of every month hosted by yours truly. I try to reduce the content to make it streamlined to fit in a watching time frame. But if you run it all it is really cool and is about 6-8 hours of material prepared for you and ready to go.

There you have it. Another unboxing where we learned what was in the box. Speaking of boxes, I am a nut, but I save the boxes from past crates. I find them great for storing pawns whether they are from Pathfinder or Kobold Press or even Arcknight. You can use them to store magazines or campaign notes. A simple label as to what is inside and you are ready to stack them up and keep your nerd pride showing while everything is nicely organized.

Again if you want to get in on past crates or subscribe and get the crates each month head over to the RPG Crate website and use promo code NERDARCHYRPGCRATE for 10 percent off your first month.

Thanks for reading and remember, until next time, stay nerdy!

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[amazon_link asins=’1622834992,B00JKVI42Q,B014DXUQVM’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’nerdarchy-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’81b98bb9-9e46-11e8-a915-cd51eff8b9ee’]

Make your games Legendary with @RPGCrate including perhaps the most powerful #DnD creature ever! Hello gamer, it is time to dive into another RPG Crate unboxing and see what treasures or loot we get to walk away with.

#RPG Crate

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thecoroutfitters · 7 years

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Written by Guest Contributor on The Prepper Journal.

Editors Note: Another guest contribution from valknut79 to The Prepper Journal. The opinions expressed herein are his and should generate a lot of comments as we all have our favorites on this subject.

When the world as we know it comes crashing down, I think we all know the value of a farmer or an architect, and the value of a sharpshooter or outdoorsman. Once things start to settle down again, I think that the value of a storyteller suddenly grows in importance, and a certain level of entertainment once again becomes an expected and valued part of society. In ancient times, oral histories were a way of passing down stories certainly, but they also had great value in terms of teaching important lessons, changing perspectives, building communities, and bringing people together.

As a high school English teacher by trade, I firmly believe in the power and the value of having a good library at home. A book can provide knowledge or wisdom, companionship and life lessons, and can help you develop a lot of self-knowledge as well. Here are my suggestions for books that would be potentially very valuable for preppers to own and read before, during and after an SHTF situation.

Pulp Fiction Collections

Pulp fiction is a specialized genre of literature that was particularly popular in the early part of the 20th century, referring to short stories that were published in literary magazines of the time. My personal favorites are the Conan stories of Robert E Howard, the action-adventure stories of Tarzan and John Carter by Edgar Rice Burroughs, anything by HP Lovecraft, or while technically too early for their period but filling a similar role, the Sherlock Holmes mysteries of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Isaac Asimov is also considered part of this genre, and does good work with science fiction.

These stories, which are all freely available online or available in collections at Barnes and Noble for a fair price, are not perfectly written. Some reflect their times a little too accurately and are borderline racist or misogynist (especially Howard), and may not necessarily speak to everyone in a modern audience. That said, these are the perfect campfire stories, and the plot, pacing, and occasional bits of character development are masterful. I equate these stories to a TV episode or sitcom – most are independent adventures that tell a complete story within 20 or 30 pages – and have a certain panache and style that I believe would suit the kind of stories you’d tell your buddies after an SHTF situation. A take-no-nonsense hero who solves his problems with his great bran, superior intelligence, or tremendous cunning makes a simple and uplifting story that I think would inspire in a difficult situation.

The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

High Fantasy is a take-it-or-leave-it genre for most readers. While I tend to lean on the leave-it side, I cannot underestimate the importance and the power of the Wheel of Time series. This 15-book series (including the prequel) is easily the longest series I’d ever consider recommending, especially considering that each of the novels in the series is two to three times as long as your average best-seller. As a series of great length, this is not the kind of series you can undertake lightly, but the payoff is very worthwhile.

The length and depth of the series, however, is not what makes it a recommended read for preppers. At its core, the Wheel of Time series is about accepting that the world as we know it today is not going to last. The end is near for these characters, and they know it. The individual reactions of each are predictable (these are the heroes after all), but may be illuminating and inspiring for those in your group who are not prepared for the worst.

Ultimately, the plot line follows the main character of the series as he struggles to identify with his destiny as someone who simultaneous destroys the world and saves it, and through the books he does come to realize that whether in living or dying, it’s important to keep fighting, to leave the world a better place than he found it, and to help build a legacy of which he can be proud. The wide variety of characters add color and supply a steady stream of small pearls of wisdom and inspiration throughout, and many of them have become closer friends than some of the real people I interact with every day. Those are lessons that every prepper should understand and appreciate, even if the format of these books may be too much for many to handle.

Shortly after I finished reading this series, one of my students was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. She was understandably devastated. I chose the first book in this series to give her, telling her at the time that, whether you like it or not, sometimes you just have to buckle down, accept what life gives you, and try to do your best anyways. She lived her life according to those principles, and I like to think that perhaps this had some part in her emotional recovery.

And if you don’t like, it, you’ll have a year’s supply of toilet paper in the bindings.

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau’s classic, Walden, also finds a spot close to the top of my list. While his seminal essay on living life alone near a pond is sometimes very difficult to read and often highly opinionated towards minimalist ideals that may have preppers shaking their fists, Walden is, first and foremost, a story about learning to live a simpler life, being self-sufficient, and largely doing things your own way. Preparedness is a lifestyle that so often leans towards an old-fashioned lifestyle, “useless” life skills like learning to make a fire or build a shelter, and Walden remains one of the most important stories of a life led largely apart from society, convention and modern convenience. There is an illustrated hardcover version produced by Fall Creek Press which is often on sale for less than $10.

Life as We Knew It (series) by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Anyone who interacts with or parents teenagers knows of their penchant for being completely addicted to technology and instantaneous communication, knowledge and results, and their general disdain for the lifestyle of preparedness. I find that the best way to start in interest in, or even a conversation about prepping might be to start with introducing your teens (and perhaps even your significant other) to the Life as We Knew It series. This story, written from the perspective of a teenage girl’s diary, chronicles an SHTF situation which involves a disruption of tidal patterns. This is perhaps not the most realistic novel, but in terms of story, pacing and plot, it does a very good job of not only entertaining, but also informing and getting the mental gears turning. I think that this book more than any other SHTF novel I’ve experienced yet, will get teens talking about what they’d do in a crisis situation, how they’d adapt, and what they may be willing to look into now in order to help out later.

This book is part of a series, but I found the first novel to be far and away the best, while the later entries suffered. If you try it and like it a great deal, consider getting the sequels.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

If there is one person who represents what it truly means to be American, I think that it might have to be Benjamin Franklin. He remains perhaps the most approachable of all historical figures from that time period, and it’s not hard to imagine sitting down with him at the pub with a glass of his favorite Madeira wine and showing him the marvels of the internet age. His Autobiography, while widely characterized as a too-heavily edited version of his life, does make for a entertaining read, but also one that has the potential to teach a variety of life lessons.

From his famous treatises on moral perfection, which systematizes Franklin’s own attempts to better himself, to his carefully worded passages on industry, in which he makes a very distinct point to say that appearing to be industrious is just as important as actually being that way, this book characterizes a simple, learned way of life that focuses on community and service to others. Whether you see him as a fatherly scientist entrusting his lessons to a younger generation, or one of America’s greatest libertines and con men, the Autobiography is a book about building a new society from nothing, improving it far beyond what it was in former times, and at least ostensibly, doing so while preserving a hard-working character and social graces. It’s not hard to see this man as a potential prepper or as someone you’d want by your side in an SHTF situation.

Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton

“Now” is actually a book about business leadership more than anything, but it has strong applicable life lessons that preppers could benefit from.

The ultimate thesis about this book is very simple – do what you’re good at, because you can’t be truly well-rounded – and goes through the identification of your individual strengths, a description of the science behind Strengths-Based psychology, and has a section on how you can work around your weaknesses (or areas of “non-talent”). This is one the books that I think has most influenced my personal development, and is a valuable reminder to those who are the do-all types that want to pursue 75 different hobbies without specializing that this is a course of action that is designed to fail. This may not be the most entertaining book in the list, but is one of the foundational reads that I recommend to anyone attempting to learn or better themselves.

This is the one book I’d recommend purchasing new rather than used – it comes with a one-time-use online code to take the “StrengthsFinder” test from Gallup, which is the method you’ll use to identify your Top 5 Talent areas.

Narrowing down a list of books for a preparedness library is impossible without imposing certain qualifications. I did not include cookbooks, survival skills books, or any strictly informational books on subjects like gardening, camping, farming, and raising chickens. Those are, in my opinion, quite obvious choices for preppers and so abundant that you can just pick up a huge quantity at a local library book sale without being overly picky about gathering specific volumes. These are stories, whether strictly for entertainment or for improvement through gaining wisdom.

These are not all personal favorites, and do not necessarily represent a wide variety of literary styles, but do have what I would consider to be valuable life lessons that reflect a “prepared” lifestyle. I did attempt to focus on books that are uplifting – while I do love a good murder mystery or horror title now and again, I think that an SHTF situation requires a little tact – and these stories also have a certain element of timelessness or classicists to them. One hundred years from now, I think there will still be those who love Conan and friends as much as I do now.

That said, my library is constantly growing, and I’m always open to learning about new books to add to my collection. What books do you consider indispensable?

The post Best Books for Your Preparedness Library appeared first on The Prepper Journal.

from The Prepper Journal Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

#SHTF #TEOTWAWKI #MARTIALLAW #BUGOUT #PREPPERBAG #USAF #USSOCOM #ARMY #NAVY #SurvivalFirestarter #Sur

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