it’s occurring to me that we may get Crosshair being relieved and grateful for the Batch’s inevitable rescue attempt but we could also get him being absolutely furious when things undoubtedly go south for the Batch bc they literally always do bc the one thing he told them to do the one thing he risked his LIFE to tell them was HIDE and they couldn’t even do THAT like at this point if he survives he’s just going to find ANOTHER terrible cause to throw his heart into out of pure SPITE

SSO Oc intros!!! cause there are new people and I cannot shut up about my babies

Dorian wolf • 24 years old • he/him

Dorian is the first sso oc I ever created, he’s been with me since the start and is, as such, the favorite child. He was born in Valedale, to parents who were part of a cult that worshipped Aideen and, in their misguided faith, believed femininity should be prioritized over all else. (Hm? Trans allegory? Nah.) Because of that, he’s spent most of his life doing traditionally feminine things, doing ballet and ice skating, cooking, learning home care and living in the shadow of his younger twin sisters because he’s, obviously, not as feminine as them. He was also very socially outcast in the community because he was one of the only witches in Valedale.

Growing tired of that life, Dorian ran away from home at 18, and after a brief spat with homelessness in moorland, he joined Ydris’ circus as a trapeze artist and acrobat, as well as working outside carrying equipment and taking care of the animals. Due to his upbringing, Dorian is incredibly naive and it is impossible for him to imagine that someone would do something out of cruelty or selfishness. In his mind, there’s always a right and just reason for the way people act, which can get him into trouble.

One night, in a tired haze, Dorian tried to summon a glass of warm milk before bed, but he accidentally messed up the summoning circle and instead called upon Warthilk the void demon to join his side, or as Warthilk likes to be called…

Rebeca Forest • ??? • they/them

A void demon comes from the space your character goes when the world around you is pitch black and all you can see are random assets to give you some insight into your whereabouts. Warthilk, Rebeca, had almost been forgotten in that void until Dorian accidentally summoned them. Realizing that he had bound a demon to his side, Dorian immediately cancelled the contract because he didn’t like the idea of keeping a servant, but he also messed up and didn’t send Rebeca back to the void, so they’re perfectly free to walk the lands of Jorvik and cause chaos.

They don’t, however, because despite having both the powers and desires to ruin everyone’s day, Rebeca is incredibly thankful to Dorian for setting them free, and has chosen to stick by his side and use their powers to protect him. They get along well with Ydris, and both them and Dorian have a very close friend in Moorland named Sienna.

Sienna Opaldew • 23 • she/her

Sienna moved to jorvik a year before the current events of sso, originally being from England where she lived with her father. All she knew about her mother was that she lived on Jorvik, and her father hated her. Sienna would, under normal circumstances, probably be the annoying, rude, rich horsegirl who always gets her way when she calls for daddy, but since moving to jorvik she’s gotten better at being a normal human being.

She spends most of her days taking care of her son, 3 year old Nicholas, but she also does a lot of research to try and find out who her mother is. Her biggest hope is to find someone who is kind, and who doesn’t care about money, which would explain why Sienna never felt comfortable in the upper class. She’s dead wrong though, as her mother is actually famed GED boss Ms Drake. (She doesn’t know that yet tho let her dream)

Persephone Nightmore • 19 • she/they

I couldn’t find a cool way to segue into their story and also I don’t really know what she is yet. She’s cool, she’s a streamer, they do some destruction of property as a treat, they help CHILL. She’s close friends with Rebeca and Dorian, Sienna doesn’t really approve of their friendship but there’s not really much she can do about it.

They prefer being called Sephia over Persephone and on days when they feel more masc than fem, wants to be called Percy.

Rose Bittering • 26 • he/they

There’s very little to say about Rose. They like machinery, took over Big Bonny’s job at DC after she quit, and he makes the robots DC uses in soul rider missions which means if you’ve ever destroyed one of them, he’d like a nice private chat. just you, him, and his screwdriver.

They have no relation to the rest of my OC’s and was created mainly cause I wanted something else, I have a lot of good or morally ambiguous creatures that would directly oppose DC and GED so I wanted someone that. Wouldn’t. All they care about is his robots and getting to take care of their robots.

I love all my ocs equally (I don’t)

FIGHT CLUB | 1999

I was introduced to the movie Fight Club around 3 years ago. It wasn’t until recently I’ve become interested in it. So here’s my Fight Club breakdown :) WARNING FOR SPOILERS!!

For those who don’t know, Fight Club is a cult favorite novel that was later adapted into a film released in 1999, directed by David Fincher. Starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter.

The story of Fight Club revolves around three main characters. It’s told from a first-person perspective by a nameless character that’s commonly called ‘the narrator’, who has a dead-end white-collar job at a major car company and has fallen prey to what he calls the ‘Ikea-nesting instinct’. Dictated by social norms he walks perfectly in line like a docile sheep, which translates into an inauthentic, repetitive and empty life.

He suffers from a bad case of insomnia, which causes him to be neither fully awake, nor fully asleep. Sometimes, he entertains self-destructive thoughts: as he flies around from state to state for his job, he prays for a crash or mid-air collision every time the plane bankes too sharply on takeoff or landing.

During a flight, he meets an eccentric and hypermasculine character named Tyler Durden.

Tyler seems to be the direct opposite of the narrator. He’s a wolf rather than a sheep, disentangled from society, and impervious to social norms. He takes what he wants, without asking, and whenever he pleases. He’s self-sufficient, has no superiors, and doesn’t care about material possessions.

The movie later reveals that Tyler and the narrator are the same person, as Tyler is a product of the narrator’s imagination, that’s probably induced by severe insomnia combined with dissatisfaction with a dull, meaningless existence and a lifetime of repressed urges.

The narrator is addicted to going to support groups for specific illnesses because these give him the opportunity to cry, which seems to be a remedy for his insomnia. The downside of his behavior is that he isn’t genuine; he has no testicular cancer, or blood parasites, yet acts as if he does, so he can reap the benefits of these sessions.

But these benefits come to an end when another non-genuine visitor starts to join the sessions as well. This is a woman named Marla Singer, and her motive for joining these sessions is, and I quote: “It’s cheaper than a movie and there’s free coffee.”

Marla is a self-destructive, chain-smoking fatalist, who’s expecting to die at any moment, but finds it tragic that it never happens. She steals food and clothes for a living and attempts suicide by overdosing Xanax.

Even though the narrator, Tyler, and Marla are totally different personalities, they all live their lives accompanied by a nihilistic undercurrent.

Tyler seems to have figured out what causes this emptiness, and during the course of the story, his solution unfolds. Unfortunately, his character slides from a sage-like father figure to an anarchist terrorist, who’s out to destroy modern civilization. Nevertheless, he exposes a series of harsh realities about modern life that are worth contemplating.

Anti-consumerism

The anti-consumerist stance of Tyler Durden becomes obvious when he verbalizes his concern about the modern way of life. Shortly after the narrator meets Tyler, he discovers that his apartment went up in flames. After this unfortunate event, realizing that he has no friends to call, he calls Tyler. The two meet, and the narrator complains about losing his furniture, and his respectable and almost complete wardrobe. Tyler responds rather indifferently and slightly sarcastically before he begins to express his views on the matter. Quote:

“We’re consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don’t concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy’s name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra…”

It becomes clear that Tyler has quite an unconventional view of what’s good and bad. Murder, crime, and poverty are generally considered bad things, while consumer goods like televisions, clothing from a certain brand, products that help to hide aging, enhance bedroom performance, and help us with weight loss, are considered preferable.

Tyler has a contempt for the artificial, as opposed to elements that have been a natural part of the human condition, probably as long we exist. This way of thinking touches upon an ancient Cynic philosopher named Diogenes of Sinope, who believed that modern, civilized life hinders our natural state.

At the end of the movie, it appears that the narrator has destroyed his apartment himself when he was taken over by his alter ego, Tyler Durden. This deed was the first step onto the road of detachment from his property, into a more authentic way of life and to (how Tyler puts it): “reject the basic assumptions of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions.”

The narrator moves in with Tyler, who lives in a dilapidated house with ongoing leaks, power failures, and no Ikea furniture. Slowly but surely, the narrator indeed detaches from his previously destroyed property. “Things you own end up owning you,” Tyler tells him. And this simple piece of wisdom probably hits home, when the narrator realizes that he doesn’t need all these worldly goods, and is actually much happier without them.

Non-conformity

Tyler Durden is a non-conformist, and shows, again, similarities with Diogenes, who not only purposefully lived in poverty, but also rejected social norms. For him, social constructs are nothing more than a superficial layer of culture that represses our true nature.

Diogenes lived in a barrel, Tyler lives in an abandoned building. Diogenes urinated in public, Tyler urinates in the soup of a restaurant.

The narrator, on the other hand, seems to be the embodiment of conformity, as he adapts his lifestyle completely to societal expectations. The problem with this behavior is that we dedicate our existence walking the paths that people other than ourselves have laid out for us. This need to conform, the fear of falling by the wayside, this sickly preoccupation by what others think of us, this necessity to keep up with the Joneses: what an exhausting way of life, just to feel ‘accepted’.

So, what if we stop caring? What if we reject the generally accepted norms, and choose our own values, elect our own leaders, determine our own goals, regardless of the social expectations? This is a fundamental difference between the narrator and Tyler Durden, who puts it like this: “I am free in all the ways that you are not.”

Ironically, later on in the story, Project Mayhem, a terrorist organization led by Tyler that grows out of Fight Club, is a textbook example of conformity, as it’s members wear the same clothes, are absolutely equal, abolish their names, and are referred to as space monkeys that sacrifice their lives for a greater cause. We could say that by rejecting one doctrine in order to be ‘non-conformist’, we often imprison ourselves in another one.

Fighting and masculinity

Fighting and the experience of pain play a significant role in Fight Club. At the beginning of the story, Tyler asks the narrator to hit him as hard as he can. He explains his strange wish by saying: “How can you know yourself if you’ve never been in a fight? I don’t want to die without any scars.”

So, the narrator hits him. Tyler hits him back, and the two engage in a fistfight. Both seem to feel surprisingly pleasant afterward and decide to do it again. Their nightly activities on a parking lot attract the attention of other men, that are also interested in joining these non-hostile fistfights. And thus, Fight Club is born.

It’s widely known that voluntary exposure to certain forms of pain makes us stronger in the face of adversity, which could be a legit reason to partake in these fights. As the narrator states: “After fighting everything else in your life got the volume turned down.”

However, Fight Club is more than just a metaphor for dealing with hardship through exposure: a physical fight, and the violence and aggression that goes with it, resonates with the primal part of our being.

Not only the men in the story are attracted to the violence of fighting; Fight Club as a movie and novel was so impactful on its audience, that real-life Fight Clubs started to emerge.

The story shows an experiment in which the members of Fight Club pick fights with random strangers (and are supposed to lose), which isn’t as easy as it sounds; most people do everything to avoid physical conflict.

But Fight Club makes us wonder if it’s a good thing that we’ve lost touch with these primal tendencies. Should we repress this part of human nature? Or, perhaps, integrate it in healthy and constructive ways?

Self-destruction

When the story progresses, Tyler and the narrator begin to see the world through a different lens. Tyler criticizes the modern self-improvement hype by saying: “Self-improvement is masturbation. Now self-destruction… ”

This statement is slightly confusing, as the increasingly destructive nature of Fight Club, in which faces are permanently mutilated and teeth are knocked out of people’s heads, doesn’t seem to be a sustainable way to live.

But Tyler might be onto something when we look at self-destruction as the destruction of a false self.

‘Self-improvement’ often points to the accumulation of external goods: a better house, a better job, a better body, more money. But why should we endlessly want to improve ourselves? Why can’t we just be happy with how things are, and take life as it comes? Or as Tyler states:

“I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let’s evolve, let the chips fall where they may.”

We create an identity through material wealth, and social status. And as far as Tyler is concerned, this false sense of self must be destroyed, before we are free to do anything we want. Therefore, the ‘space monkeys’ of Project Mayhem live by a mantra which goes like this:

“You are not your job, you’re not how much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You are not your fucking khakis. You are all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.” - Tyler Durden, Fight Club

Tyler makes a so-called human sacrifice, namely a man called Raymond who works a dead-end job in a convenience store. Raymond wanted to be a veterinarian, but didn’t make it because it was “too much studying.” Tyler threatens Raymond, saying that if he doesn’t start studying within six weeks, he’ll kill him.

In this scene, Tyler points to another aspect of self-destruction: the act of letting go of fears, negative self-talk, and all distractions, so we can fully focus on our purpose. It’s the destruction of everything within ourselves that holds us back from living life on our own terms.

A near-life experience

Many people go great lengths when it comes to pain avoidance. The problem is that running from pain means running from an inevitable part of life.

The prospect of incurring pain makes us anxious, and often leads to self-indulgent decisions. That is: choosing the less painful path, even if a more painful path guarantees more success and pleasure in the future.

Tyler Durden deals with this by inflicting a chemical wound on the narrator’s hand using lye.

As expected, the narrator does everything to escape the pain: he uses visualization techniques he learned at a seminar, and retreating in his cave to find his ‘power animal’. But Tyler slaps him in the face, forcing him to stay with the pain, saying: “This is the greatest moment of your life, man. And you’re off somewhere missing it.”

For the narrator, Tyler has one central goal: he must reach bottom. After putting him through suffering, and destroying his false identity, there’s yet another aspect that must be crushed: hope. Losing all hope is freedom. And, therefore, he must reject what has rejected him: his father, and God. I quote:

“Consider the possibility that God does not like you. In all probability, he hates you.” - Tyler Durden, Fight Club

Tyler states that we don’t need God. That we shouldn’t care about redemption and damnation. And if we’re God’s unwanted children, so be it. Thereby, we lose all hope, but are also liberated from religious doctrine and fatherly authority.

Now we’re truly free. Now we can create our own meaning, and live how we want to live.

Tyler emphasizes the importance of knowing what we want in life. To achieve this, we must be willing to get out of our comfort zone and jump into the unknown without safety brackets.

The narrator, however, has difficulties letting go of security. He begs Tyler to not mess around when he lets go of the steering wheel in a driving car while hitting the gas. Tyler calls the narrator ‘pathetic’, and yells: “hitting bottom isn’t a weekend retreat. It’s not a goddamn seminar. Stop trying to control everything and just let go!”

After an inevitable car crash, Tyler states that they just had a ‘near-life experience’.

Wrap up

Fight Club is a story about rebellion against the status quo and a plea for the simple life. It criticizes the ways in which we are so hung up on security, and material possessions, and how people let social norms dictate their lives.

‘Stuff’ has become our religion. The idols we worship are Ikea and Starbucks. And the more we immerse ourselves in such an empty and unfulfilling existence, the more we start to resemble the things that we produce: manufactured products rather than authentic human beings.

Tyler shows us a way out. And even though his insights are profound, the execution is questionable. Fight Club, and its terrorist branch Project Mayhem, show us how easy it is to oppose one ideology, in order to fall into another, and how a cult-like echo chamber built on rigid beliefs could become very destructive.

Nevertheless, Tyler challenges us to be self-sufficient and disobedient to the authorities that let us down, to live authentically and in the moment, to confront our fears, to boldly step out of our comfort zones, and let the things that don’t matter truly slide.

RP Meme from " Nagah" & "Nuwisha" & "Ratkin" & "Rokea" in "Chapter Two: The Changing Breeds" from the World of Darkness "Changing Breeds" book (20th Anniversary edition)

A few maintain ties to their old human lives, but even then they need a tight network of allies to maintain an illusion of normalcy.

To preserve secrecy, the cult reveals only a few hints about their existence before the outsider formally agrees to join.

Preserve the Sacred Secret at All Costs

Punish Those Who Betray Their Duties

Never Hunt Alone

Remain Humble

Abhor Imbalance

Strike Against the Corruptor if the Opportunity is True

Without information networks and clean-up crews, the assassins would be much less effective as a whole.

Cover your eyes

Try a bite of this apple

May I see your gun?

He may also be able to notice patterns when there should be randomness, order where there should be chaos, and times and places where these forces are out of balance.

The human will be oblivious to the serpent being there, even using rationalization to deny its presence.

Such simple tricks are generally all a truly skilled assassin needs.

Every other word out of her mouth is a falsehood, no matter how innocuous or simple the truth.

If these are mixed with the drink before it is converted it can make a poison that only affects the target.

Yes, we killed them. Another casualty of our past.

I wonder what the world would be like had we not been so stupid.

You are entirely repugnant, awful, scurrilous creatures.

We watch when you enjoy your work, in case you do so too much.

Dancers and mystics? What use were they?

You forget that others swim, down deeper than even you go.

We know what you do to one another when you think nobody else can see.

Weak and useless.

How would a dancer help me survive?

Let a Fool Die a Fool’s Death.

Teach Those Who Need Teaching a Proper Lesson

Be Subtle

Think, Then act

Sure, the victim won’t feel the benefit of the lesson for long, but his friends might learn as they wonder how they can avoid the same grisly fate.

Thankfully, this is quickly followed by the realization that their fun with comes a responsibility to teach and to make their pranks meaningful.

Even the noblest individuals can be brought low by public embarrassment.

Sometimes the best tricks need the target to sleep through anything.

After all, close friends and lovers know just where to stick a dagger to make sure it really hurts.

Over the next 24 hours one of them will suspect betrayal by the other.

With the cackling of laughter she can swap good fortune for bad, twisting the strings of probability and fate between her fingers — though she has no control over the outcome.

True love comes in many forms.

You came over here all high and mighty and now you’re sorry?

Say you’re sorry by doing something useful, maybe?

I cannot help but have a modicum of respect for someone who laughs in the face of certain death, even though I would be the agent of that death.

Let them test every rule, as long as they do not test my patience.

Yes, you got fucked. Yes, it was worse than nearly anyone else. But it’s time to wake up, now.

You laugh at everything. Marry me.

They sabotage infrastructure projects, booby-trap new municipal developments, and generally cause large-scale urban destruction.

They cannot stand toe-to-toe with their foes and expect to survive the encounter.

Survive so that you may breed.

Respect strength and exploit weakness.

Conflict breeds strength.

Build, steal, and suborn to strengthen your breeding grounds.

Trust your own kind before you trust outsiders.

When someone is responsible for injustice, make sure someone pays.

Some follow various twisted versions of apocalyptic human religions, others fervently believe conspiracy theories involving the end of the world, mystical coincidences, or simply the obvious truth that global warming, rampant pollution, and humans’ desire for fossil fuels could spell the end of the world.

They find space in various odd corners of cities, taking over cheap apartments or squatting in abandoned buildings.

Anything’s better than being alone.

I will defend our breeding grounds against all threats, physical and spiritual.

I shall seek revenge against those who prey upon my kind.

I will survive so that I may breed.

I must respect strength and exploit weakness.

I shall grow stronger through conflict.

I will learn from the mysteries of the spirit world.

I will revel in the visions the spirits grant me.

I will build, steal, and suborn to strengthen my breeding ground.

I shall nurture, instruct, and aid the young.

I will trust my own kind before I trust outsiders.

When someone is responsible for injustice, I will make sure someone pays.

Some are inclined to violence, others lose themselves in strange dreams and bouts of insanity.

These creatures are deformed, sterile, and a source of shame to their parents.

They know many secret methods of traveling from city to city.

They excel at stealth and subterfuge, knowing how to kill unseen, and also how to lead a pack against larger and stronger enemies.

They excel at hunting and fighting underground.

You are certain you will triumph in grandiose ways and want everyone to hear about your coming glory.

This is likely to involve a mixture of electricity, packs of store-bought batteries, energy drinks, illegal drugs — or a fusion of all of the above.

Stop holding yourselves back.

You know what it’s like, you feel it every day.

You aren’t slaves, stand and fight!

Rise up and seize what is yours!

Sometimes, they go too far, but even when they do I wish we had their strength of purpose.

You’re kindred spirits as far as I can see.

You want to fight, I can smell it. We’ll fight with you.

Small, smelly, and spoiling for a fight.

They throw themselves into battle too quickly, but we need their energy.

You want to know a secret? Come closer.

Knife? What knife?

We have seen too much sickness to spend our time with bringers of plague.

I spoke with one and learned much, but it is a feat I do not wish to repeat.

Some organized raiding parties that sank human ships.

These efforts were short-sighted, disorganized, and, ultimately, doomed to fail.

Their attacks did provoke a reaction, although it was not the intended one.

This organized killing was new to them, and driven by a largely unfamiliar emotion; fear.

This organized killing was new to them, and driven by a largely unfamiliar emotion; fear.

Your twisted plans waste time.

Talking is not doing.

They have secrets, but it is not worth the effort.

Do not fear them, for you will never see them.

You remember us.

You think you know us.

We do not remember how we were. We change. We survive.

Announcing Burn Bryte

We’re excited to announce BURN BRYTE, the first-ever TTRPG built from the ground-up for Roll20. Available for preorder now, Burn Bryte will hit the virtual tabletop on July 7.

We asked lead designer James Introcaso to write a brief introduction to the science-fantasy world of Burn Bryte. Read on to find out more!

Stare oblivion in the face and dare to hope.

On July 7, more than three years of incredibly hard work by many, many people will come to fruition. You will be able to purchase Burn Bryte, the first original tabletop roleplaying game created exclusively for Roll20.

The Olaxis Galaxy

In Burn Bryte, the players build heroic characters who live together on a spaceship in the Olaxis Galaxy, a place of tenacious creatures and magic-powered tech. Its ancient celestial bodies are dotted with bygone mysterious ruins and highly advanced modern settlements.

Olaxis is the last galaxy in the universe. A bright orange existence-consuming phenomenon, dubbed the Burn, surrounds and slowly closes in on Olaxis, wiping out entire solar systems as it makes its slow, inevitable advance.

With the Burn’s unrelenting destruction comes all manner of hardship. Resources grow scarce. Refugees struggle to find welcoming spaceports. Wars are fought over the planets at Olaxis’s center, the last to be taken by the Burn, while the ever-diminishing edge of the galaxy is rife with criminals and bizarre, space-faring monsters pushed ever inward by the glowing phenomenon from parts unknown.

In the time of the Burn, or the “Burn Bryte,” as it is known in Olaxis, the galaxy panics. Exceptionally greedy industrialists and magnates exploit that terror for profit.

But the player characters are exceptional in their generosity. They put themselves at risk to help those in need, slicing corruption with laser swords and exploding wickedness with missile turrets. The end of the universe is no reason to stop having a heart. Overwhelming odds are no reason to abandon hope.

In Burn Bryte, you can play a crystalline pilot who hunts space pirates, a felinoid hacker who exposes overguild double-dealings, a living mecha who rescues those trapped on doomed planets, or a swarm of insects who share a hivemind and smuggle food and medicine to desperate families. If your crew of adventurers is daring enough, you just might find a way to stop⁠—or even turn back⁠—the Burn.

Burn Bryte and Roll20

Burn Bryte was tailor-made for Roll20 from the very first meeting. Every mechanic was designed to get the most out of what the platform has to offer, and to maximize the big moments similar to those in science fantasy epics like Star Wars, Voltron, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Burn Bryte uses the power of Roll20 to let players roll fistfuls of dice with instant resolution, build super customizable characters with unique backstories in a matter of seconds, apply automated conditions to creatures with the click of a button, track shared resources, run white-knuckle spaceship battles with every player participating in a meaningful way, customize a spaceship together, roll on random tables instantly without flipping through pages, and do so much more.

We’re also taking digital safety tools to the next level with a beautiful deck of cards that allows players to let each other know when the game needs a slow down or stop with 100% anonymity.

This blog post isn’t the place to do a deep dive on game mechanics, but if you want to know more, World Builder Blog has a preview of the game’s core mechanics and character advancement rules.

Roll20 first unveiled Burn Bryte to Plus and Pro subscribers almost two years ago for a playtest. Needless to say, the feedback from our awesome playtesters helped us reforge the game to be in a new way that makes it faster, easier to pick up and play, far more dynamic, and even more optimized for Roll20. To our playtesters: Thank you so much. We could not have made this game without you.

On July 7, you can experience Burn Bryte through one or more of the following options on the Roll20 marketplace:

Burn Bryte Character Sheet and Charactermancer - FREE to all Roll20 users

Burn Bryte Core Rulebook - $29.99

Burn Bryte: Burning Daylight Starter Adventure with pregenerated characters - $9.99

4 Burn Bryte Map Tile Art Packs - $4.99 each

A bundle of the above PLUS an exclusive Burn Bryte Character Art Pack - $49.99 (which saves you about $10)

After launch, more Burn Bryte products wait just over the horizon, including a lengthy adventure, and a creature and ship expansion.

I cannot wait to join you in Olaxis. Let’s dare to hope.

Burn Bryte the Show

We’re also excited to announce an upcoming Actual Play of Burn Bryte on our Twitch channel! A ragtag crew of adventurers will travel the stars of Olaxis and try to outrun the end of existence. Our heroes will play through Burning Daylight story and take on a mysterious cult that worships the Burn. Keep watching this blog for more upcoming information on the new show!

As a reminder, we’re matching donations to Code2040, “a nonprofit activating, connecting and mobilizing the largest racial equity community in tech to dismantle the structural barriers that prevent the full participation and leadership of Black and Latinx technologists in the innovation economy.” Learn more and donate through our Tiltify campaign here: http://roll20.io/Tiltify-Code2040

Twitch Interview

Bl3 confirmed to take place 7 years after bl2 by Varnell! I know people were saying 5-7, so that is a good update.

Lilith!! Focus on her for a bit. Her becoming Commander of the Crimson Raiders, in BL3 we gotta go recover the Vault Key (confirmed the one from BL2 in commander lily).

Lilith is now recruiting new VHs. Gonna focus on Moze for e3, then fl4k later on in later events. (Also interestingly Zane Flynt is the only being referred to with his full name)

3 action skills. Moze: calls in Iron Bear and uses "hardpoints" as her action skills. Wanted to have 2 people playing the same character having totally different load outs

Talked a bit about skill augments. Players can control different aspects of their action skills (specifically hardpoints for Moze). They really like other players mounting IB as a turret.

Talked a bit about coop level syncing and instanced loot. Want to encourage multiplayer. Vending machines can shown your friend's sold loot. You can mail your loot to your friends!

Friends list in game!! You can preview your friend's load out/level/mission. If you go to a different map, u can see all ur friends on that map in a menu (so you can decide to join them). Total Speculation, but I think this means we will at least be able to do SteamxEpic play. Possibly console crossplay because of this!

Talk about weapon manufacturers. Hyperion is owned by someone new so shields being on the weapons is key to that. 🤔🤔🤔 Shields? Athena? Idek lmao

Twitch extensions! For Bl3, same one from the prerelease event. Can see streamers' loadouts and they might have a chance to get a piece of loot from any chest the streamer opens. "Loot parade". Game appears in your mail from twitch extensions. And mail from manufacturers. And apparently "us" as in gearbox themselves??

Brother sister twins. They both "have tattoos on their arms, which means something". (If they were being intentionally vague here or not, I can’t tell, but...)  They've united the bandits- millions of followers in the cult "Children of the Vault". They "don't have good intentions". The players are gonna learn how "to defeat the evils of normal society" lol.

Boss weapons! There is no change between boss weapons and the weapons you receive from them when they drop the weapon they're using, but it's not always guaranteed you'll get their weapon, might be something random. some bosses are described as pinatas, in that you don’t know what you’ll get.

Eden-6 is Space Louisiana lmao.

Crew Challenges: wanted to boost exploration. Expanded on hidden Vault Symbols with crew challenges. Talked about Claptrap's with finding spare parts. I do know there’s one with Moxxi taking over the CoV radio stations as well.

Alternate fire modes. Maliwan has 2 elements and you can toggle. Tediore has guns with legs.

New interactions: destructible cover. Water can be electrocuted etc.

Second wind/FFYL - they didn't want to change this. Now you can move faster in FFYL as a QoL update.

Favorite change - Guardian ranks. When you end the story, wanted to keep progression. Replaced BAR. Infinite growth and works off experience points. New skills and skins, to let you show off lol. Can't talk more about it in fear of spoilers (oooo)

Vault Insider Program. (TwitchVIP is the code for this stream). Can get skins, guns, other loot, and "personalized mail from randy about how lonely life is".

What Parents Need To Know About the Dark World-wide-web

The dim world wide web is a portion on the on the internet entire world that just isn't conventionally accessible. It usually takes distinct sorts of program and computer system know-how to entry the content present in this house. As a dad or mum, absolutely nothing can be far more crucial than to observe your child's net access and observe his functions. However, it is effortless for young ones in the modern day electronic age to search for and find out how to use unique sorts of software to access disturbing on the internet content material, obtain and provide illegal goods, etc. The progression in technologies has authorized youngsters to discover and mature in several factors of everyday living. The numerous alternatives that platforms these types of as YouTube and Instagram supply are a person of the beneficial results of the world-wide-web. Lookup engines these as Google have been a video game-changer when it comes to on-line education and learning and information looking for. There are a good deal of mothers and fathers whose expertise about the world-wide-web does not exceed past utilizing social media networks this kind of as Facebook and YouTube or just browsing for random things on Google. Nonetheless, to the dismay of numerous, there is a complete distinctive environment on the World Extensive World wide web, which is referred to as the dim web. The world wide web generically has a few subdivisions. The internees, that are a aspect of our every day use, the deep internet that is beneficial for the govt and the dim internet. This region of the world-wide-web is only obtainable for men and women who are either invited to use its interface or use exclusive software package to enter these domains. You may discover some pretty disturbing and creepy information and facts regarding the dim world wide web on the internet. It has been in existence one Google was a standard HTML structure. The deep world-wide-web and the dim world wide web vary in quite a few features predominantly they are not conveniently accessible by persons who are unaware of its existence. In limited, you will not just stumble on it, on the other hand, as dad and mom, you simply cannot be pleased by this, in today's earth data and particularly a mysterious phenomenon this sort of as this just one is a curiosity to most children. Your boy or girl may possibly not be exclusively on the lookout for its information, alternatively just searching for the sake of curiosity. This is as poor as seeking for it on purpose. As a mum or dad, below is what you need to know about this disturbing development: 1. Accessibility As described right before you simply cannot just accessibility the dim website like you can other internet sites on the world-wide-web. But it is not rocket science possibly you can easily locate the course of action and obtain the software package essential to obtain this space by merely searching for it on standard research engines. If your boy or girl has access to a bank account or can pay out online, they might just be in a position to join the sites and communities on that facet of the world wide web. 2. The BitCoin This is a electronic currency, a payment technique that has no repository and can not be linked to a one administrator. All its transactions are peer-to-peer and this is the currency that is made use of on the darkish web. If your kid can spend on-line they can conveniently acquire this cryptocurrency and access the dark world wide web to make unconventional purchases or procure memberships. 3. How Undesirable Is It? The Dim Internet is the portion of the net the place all illegal activities, drug trafficking, and other unimaginable steps take spot. You get free access to forums that encourage written content these kinds of as child trafficking, hitmen, medications, and even cannibalism. This is not what everyone would like their children to be a component of. If you beloved this article and you also would like to be given more info pertaining to dark web sites i implore you to visit the web site. There are horrifying activities and stories about the darkish net that will shake you to the main. People today who have accessed these web-sites declare that even however it boasts anonymity, there is no security of identity when you enter you may locate yourself on webpages that have written content that need to not even exist by ethical and human expectations. There are no warnings or limitations to the browsing just a click on and you might conclusion up on a web site that provides you membership to cults or an chance to sign up for extremist groups. Bottom Line You can only obtain this nefarious section of the world wide web when making use of the Tor browser it is a browser substantially like Chrome, Firefox or the Web Explorer. If you come across this on your child's computer or mobile phone, it is time to choose the vital measures to make sure your boy or girl is not uncovered to the potentially destructive written content. Nonetheless, some authors and web fans argue that the full concept is a fantasy and there can be valuable info and information and facts offered on the dim world-wide-web. However, a curious immature thoughts does not know wherever to attract a line.

one: stream of consciousness, aka there is no coherent flow of thoughts in this

i’m chilling on my balcony on like day 405 of ‘self isolation’. (i think it’s only the second week or something idk).

as someone who thrives off social interaction and physical touch, this period hasn’t been too hot for me. i’m really struggling actually and thought i’d use this as a form of outlet becos that’s what i used to do when i was like 15 and it definitely helped...sometimes.

it’s weird writing stuff on here again. tumblr used to be such a toxic place for my young, impressionable mind. i remember i had a ‘weight loss’ tumblr which was basically a place for me to find the best tips from anorexic girls. i used to reblog pictures of effy from skins doing self destructive things and look at it with heart eyes. the one thing i wanted was that oversized, damaged, coloured hair and stretchers in my ears. now i thank my mum for never allowing this but at the time it really warped my sense of identity. i didn’t feel as though i fit into any group, as i was a little chubby with shit clothes becos we had no money. i rly used to hate myself a lot more than i do now, so at least i love myself a little more. i think i’m definitely at a place where this might actually be helpful, and i’m definitely more likely to use the computer to note down my thoughts for the day rather than a notebook. i am so fucking lazy. 

at the moment, i’ve been thinking a lot, as that’s all there is to do. sometimes this is bad, as my brain tends to go from ‘i wonder how many twigs are on the grass downstairs right now’ to ‘this pandemic is going to ruin my life’. if you know me well, i am a piece of shit that annoys everyone every second, as i am far too excitable and loud all the time. i’m always surprised that i have one tiny spec of aries in my chart. also surprised my boyfriend puts up with it. my house is really small, and there’s almost no room for me to get all this energy out, so i have felt really frustrated and claustrophobic that last few days. it’s a weird feeling, because there is quite literally nothing i can do. this situation is really beyond the understanding of my small brain, and honestly i’ve just been trying to avoid thinking about it too much. i’ve been exercising, and i got a new bra so there’s some positives. my little sister has been exercising too, which is really great because i am constantly worried about her health. she doesn’t do much due to her anxiety and agoraphobia, and she likes routines as we believe she is quite far on the spectrum, so she is very unfit. her pure existence is a very prevalent source of anxiety in my life. that sounds really horrible, but it’s the truth and i don’t want to sugar coat things for myself. i love her very much, but it’s tough. being stuck inside with someone like her is really challenging, even more so when we both don’t have our own space. 

i’ve worked out how to make a nice coffee for myself though. i found the right brand, right milk and right ratio of coffee to sugar. i’ve been drinking at least 3 a day, trying to work out whats’ perfect. the worst part is, it’s still a pretty shitty coffee. i also had to buy alpro oat milk as the corner shop didn’t have koko coconut milk and i just made one with that and i hate the milk. so there’s that.

thriller movies have also become somewhat part of my routine. i don’t know why, because they give me wild nightmares, but i really enjoy them. last night i watched ‘the invitation’ and it was rollercoaster ride. 

*spoiler alert* 

 it was about some dude whose kid died, and his wife (now ex wife since the kid died) joins some cult and ends up trying to kill him and all his friends. this lead to me having the craziest nightmare, where i was on a school trip and all these random people from my distant past kept showing up trying to kill me. i’m not gonna stop watching thriller movies though.

one of my favourite songs at the moment is ‘if you want to’ by beadadobee. its such a nice summer song. i’m pretty bummed we are in lockdown in the beginning of spring/summer. this is my favourite weather. i just want a fruity cider/nice glass of wine with my boyfriend and friends and i want to chat shit all night. virtual meet ups don’t really fulfil that incessant need for social communication. 

one of the main ways i cope with bad/disaster scenarios is to imagine the story i’ll have to tell. in my small 23 years of life, i have been THROUGH it. and unfortunately, 2020 hasn’t been any easier. but i will have so many lessons to teach, so many stories to tell and so many life experiences. things may be bad, but i know i will always come out the other side stronger with a new experience. however, it isn’t always easy to remember this. 

keep ur head up. this isn’t forever. 

(it feels like fucking forever, though.)

new arrivals and happy easter!

El Michels Affair: Return To The 37th Chamber CD $19.99 LP $27.99"The wait is over, Return To The 37th Chamber is El Michels Affair's highly anticipated follow up to 2009's underground cult classic Enter the 37th Chamber. Churning out classic records since then for the likes of Lee Fields, The Arcs, The Shacks, and tons more, it is clear that EMA's signature sound is stronger & sharper than ever. This time, in addition to re-interpreting the Wu compositions for a live band, EMA pays homage to the production and sonic fog that makes a RZA beat so recognizable. Producer and bandleader Leon Michels recorded the album completely analog, sometimes hitting 6 generations of tape before it was ready for mixing, giving the Return to The 37th Chamber its own hazy sound. Adding to the unique fidelity, the record is laced with psychedelic flourishes, 'John Carpenter' synths, heavy metal guitars, triumphant horns, and traditional Chinese instruments that make up for the lack of the Wu's superlative vocals. From start to finish it's a dark trip that walks the line between RZA's timeless hip-hop aesthetic and the cinematic soul EMA has become known for. El Michels Affair tackles some classics like '4th Chamber' and 'Wu Tang Aint Nuthin to Fuck Wit', as well as some deeper cuts like Ol Dirty Bastard's 'Snakes', Raekwon's 'Verbal Intercourse', and 'Shaolin Brew', Wu-Tang's contribution to the St. Ide's Hip Hop endorsement campaign from 1994. This time El Michels brings some of the Big Crown family along for the ride. Lee Fields handles vocal duties on 'Snakes' and is joined by Shannon Wise of The Shacks for their version of 'Tearz', which pays as much homage to the Wendy Rene sample as it does to the Wu-Tang Clan. Lady Wray makes an appearance on the cover of Method Man's hit, 'All I Need', lending her vocal prowess to what gave the Wu one of their biggest hits of all time. Interspersed throughout the record are some original interludes that are like the 'rug that ties the room together,' giving Return To The 37th Chamber a cinematic narrative that makes it a proper El Michels Affair record and not just a collection of covers. From the music to the presentation, this album is a perfect example of what can only be achieved through diversity. The end result is as much a kaleidoscope of influences and multiculturalism as the city it was recorded in. El Michels Affair is once again, 'sounding out the city' that raised them, pulling elements of art and culture from across the country and around the globe to create an album truly unique in its own right." CALE & TERRY RILEY, JOHNChurch Of AnthraxLP  $24.992017 repress. Terry Riley (piano, organ, soprano saxophone) & John Cale (bass, harpsichord, piano, guitar, viola, organ) collaborated on this one-off album, released in 1970. At this time, rock music was a serious movement, removed from the joke it once was, quite unaware of the joke it would eventually become, and things like this sometimes happened. Cale, classically trained on the viola, must have been pretty pleased to get a shot to record with the '60s king of minimalist pulse, Terry Riley. The album features 4 collaborative tracks between the two; while maybe not earth-shattering, they are quite fine for horizontal home listening pleasure at just about any hour of the day. Instrumental jams, mixing the styles of the two players pretty evenly (if you're vaguely awake, you can imagine this easily). The fifth track is a psychedelic pop masterpiece by Cale, "The Soul of Patrick Lee." Exactly why this track is included here has never been adequately explained, but it is about as beautiful as music in song form can get. 180 gram exact repro reissue. STEREOLABTransient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements2LP  $32.99 "Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements is Stereolab's breakthrough album, their major label debut, and one of the most innovative releases of the 1990s, a musical decade signified by breaking down artistic barriers. Originally released in August 1993, Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements builds on the promise of the band's early releases Switched On and Peng! by expanding the scope of their highly distinctive mix of one-chord Krautrock grooves, distorted vintage keyboard noise and Euro-pop. Adding touches of '50s and '60s easy listening, exotica and space-age sounds as well as samba and French pop, Stereolab did more than any group in the modern rock era to expand the language of art music by incorporating styles left for dead by the serious rock community." MF DOOMOperation: Doomsday (Metal Face Cover) (Black Vinyl)2LP  $32.99Back again on vinyl where it belongs, MF DOOM's 1999 classic Operation: Doomsday is now presented on a premium grade LP, with audio re-mastered from the original Fondle'Em Records release, and a poster of the album cover art! Underneath his mysterious metal mask, MF DOOM hides the cachet underground legends are made of. After KMD (his first group)'s 1994 sophomore album Bl_ck B_st_rds was shelved by Elektra in 1994 and his blood brother Subroc (one half of the sibling rap duo) passed away, surviving front-man Zev Love X mutated into the MC Avenger known as MF DOOM and the rap world is better for it. This 19-cut deep album is ridiculously dope, in a bizarro Ol' Dirty Bastard kind of way. Doom sounds either high or drunk on most of the tracks, his self-produced beats are gritty, and his rhyme styles are almost indecipherable. On arguably the best track, 'Rhymes Like Dimes,' Doom weaves some pointed lyrics through his abstract wordplay, spitting 'only in America could you find a way to earn a healthy buck / And still keep your attitude on self-destruct.' 'Who You Think I Am?' features DOOM's crew M.onster I.sland C.zars, while on '?' he trades hot verses with former Columbia artist Kurious Jorge. Doom's avant-garde ghetto-rhyme philosophies take even more intentionally weird twists on 'Tick, Tick...' where he and guest MC MF Grimm's flows warble over a rhythm track whose tempo speeds up and slows down continually. The comic-book themed skits, will help take you deep into the mind of an MC who is as otherworldly as they come. And in today's bland commercial rap universe, Operation: Doomsday's left-of-center beats and rhymes are the perfect remedy." VA: Music from Saharan Cellphones  LP $19.992017 repress, originally released in 2012. "A compilation of the most popular music circulating the Sahara desert on the unofficial network of cellphones -- where mp3s are stored, played, and traded in very literal peer to peer bluetooth transfers. The contemporary West African sound from the new school of DIY production with little or no commercial release outside of their locales, from spaced out Tuareg autotune, Ivorian club jams, Mauritanian synth, and Malian hip hop electro. Collected from memory cards by and released on cassette, the vinyl comes after over a year of tracking down the composers." Includes cardstock insert with liner notes. VA: Music From Saharan Cellphones V2 LP $18.992017 repress. "Contemporary pop music from the Sahara desert, where songs are stored on cellphones. Collected in Northern Mali in 2010 (since taken over by extremists who've banned music on cellphones) the second volume expands into new sonic territory - from dreamy Niger guitar ballads, Bamako club juke, and hi energy Moroccan child Raï - with a focus on the Autotuned DIY creations circulating the desert." Includes insert with liner notes. PALESTINE, CHARLEMAGNEStrumming MusicLP $29.99The classic minimal music album, available again on vinyl for the first time since the '70s. Primed with a glass of cognac, Charlemagne Palestine sits at the keyboard of a Bösendorfer Imperial grand piano. One foot firmly holds down the sustain pedal while both hands perform an insistent strum-like alternation on the keys. Soon Palestine and his Bösendorfer are enveloped in sound and bathed in a shimmering haze of multi-colored overtones. For 45 minutes, this rich pulsating music swells and intensifies, filling the air. When Strumming Music first appeared on the adventurous French label Shandar during the mid-1970s, it seemed a straightforward matter to place Charlemagne Palestine in the so-called minimalist company of La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass, whose work also featured in the Shandar catalog. Palestine too used a deliberately restricted range of materials and a repetitive technique, but as he has often pointed out in more recent times, the opulent fullness of his music would more accurately be described as maximalist. Strumming Music, recorded in Palestine's own loft in Manhattan, has no written score. In an age of recorded sound he still feels no need for traditional notation. The surging energy of this particular recording stands comparison with the improvising of jazz visionaries who impressed and inspired him while living in New York as a young man. But, as Palestine himself has made clear, primarily he brings to music-making the sensibility of an artist rather than a musician. Although the technique of the piece has roots in Palestine's daily practice, when a teenager, of playing the carillon at a church, hammering sonorous chimes from a rack of tuned bells, it also draws on his later work as a body artist, staging vigorously muscular, physically demanding and often reckless performances. In addition, Strumming Music can be heard as a sculptural tour de force, while its textures connect with the color moods, plastic rhythms, and tactile space of Mark Rothko's abstract expressionist canvases. Strumming Music remains the essential index of Palestine's singular creative vision. Fundamentally this fascinating piece is a collaboration between an artist and an instrument. Palestine had first encountered the Bösendorfer Imperial back in 1969. "The Bösendorfer at its best is a very noisy, thick molasses piano," he has remarked. Charlemagne Palestine embraced its clinging sonorousness, its clangorous resonance and out of that embrace came the voluptuous sonic fabric of Strumming Music. CHERRY, DONMusic, Wisdom, Love 1969LP $28.99Reaching a near-mythical status amongst fans of free jazz's most worldly intrepid explorer, these seldom heard Paris soundtrack sessions known as Music, Wisdom, Love have evaded collectors' grasps and confused historians for exactly 50 years. Instigated in Paris in 1967 and filmed during Don Cherry's downtime on a visit to the Chat qui Pêche nightclub in March 1967, where he played with Karl Berger, Henri Texier, and Jacques Thollot, the bulk of this cinematic portrait was filmed on the streets of Paris under the direction of creative all-rounders Jean-Noël Delamarre and Nathalie Perrey, who, as their careers bloomed, would become pivotal figures in underground French cinema - straddling La Nouvelle Vague, adult entertainment, and cinema fantastique in what can only be described as speedball cinema. As the supportive creative family that primarily played home to French vampire/horrortica director Jean Rollin, both Nathalie and Jean-Noël, his brother Jean-Philippe Delamarre and a small team of other fans of oblique media would be responsible for a vibrant micro-culture that awkwardly flourished on the outskirts on the Parisian new wave - combining comic book culture, Lettrism, sexual liberation, psychedelic rock, graphic design, and, with this record as prime example, free jazz and avant-garde music. What previously might have been regarded as an unlikely coupling, with the benefit of half a century of archival hindsight, this release documents the essential cosmic collision of two fantastic planets. Available here for the first time ever and licensed from producer and director Jean-Noël Delamarre himself. I-LP-O In Dub: Capital Dub LP  $23.99I-LP-O In Dub is the solo project of Pan Sonic member Ilpo Väisänen. Capital Dub Chapter 1 follows the 2015 debut Communist Dub (EMEGO 203LP) - a year marked by further descent into economic crisis and instability. The usual business cycles of production/distribution/consumption, running alongside macro cycles of boom and bust, have been replaced by ossification, austerity, the machine seizing up. Ilpo's "circular riddims" complement the ebb-and-flow of the circulation of money + commodities and are mirrored by his field recordings of Barcelona rain -- the final phase of the cyclical movement of water. But of course the smooth running of "Paradise Capital" is unsustainable. Destroyed techno and open spaces contend with sinister swarming atmospheres. A cash machine flickers. Zeros and ones displace another factory. Dub as decay -- the ghostly remains of tracks eroded by time and technology. The "Invisible Hand" of the market spasms with tremors. Ferocious textural feedback as music for stock exchange crashes. The soundtrack to heaps of money hoarded by the hidden class. Capital is value in motion, but there is nowhere to go. After the collapse, picturesque ruins. Capital Dub Chapter 1 simply asks the question: what next? Influenced by the first part of Karl Marx's Capital (1867). Recorded anytime in there, rain & 808 at Pallars152, Poblenou, Barceloba; Mixed at Juniper & Stone, Kartula, Finland; Mastered at Dubplates & Mastering. ANJOU Epithymia CD  $15.99LP  $27.99"The culmination of four years writing and editing, Anjou marks the first collaboration between Labradford's Robert Donne and Mark Nelson since the release of that group's fixed:context LP. Combining modular synthesis, Max/MSP programming and live instrumentation, Anjou deftly weaves noise with gentle ambience and melody with texture. Guitar, bass and Steven Hess' (Locrian, Fennesz, Pan American) live percussion give the eight pieces an immediacy and create a framework for the more abstract sounds of digital and analog synth programming. The product of twenty plus years of friendship, Anjou is refined and challenging. An extension of the Labradford sound-world but no mere victory lap, Anjou represents Donne and Nelson stepping out and forward, their eyes firmly focusing on the future." BOSS HOG Brood X LP $19.99Boss Hog returns from the wild with their most subversive record — this is the seductive soundtrack for the second coming of militant rock’n’roll, and the groove has never been stronger. Brood X — emerging from the dirty streets of New York City after seventeen years of gestation — is a futuristic brew of 21st Century blues, toxic punk rock beat music, and hyper-focused, outer-space psycho assaults. Thermonuclear chanteuse Cristina Martinez blisters the hypocrites, the haters, the heartless, and the clueless hangers-on with a full-tilt microphone attack. A sex-bomb salvo for troubled times, Martinez gives voice to America’s pain while pulling no punches. This band does not negotiate. This is scorched earth rock’n’roll for the resistance, barbed-wire blues battling for the future of the planet. Recorded and mixed at the fabled Key Club, using Sly Stone’s legendary There’s A Riot Goin’ On console, the album channels the subversive mojo of the underground and brings next-level sonics to save your very soul. BREEDERS Pod LP $26.99180 gram vinyl. "Though ostensibly a side project of The Pixies' Kim Deal and Throwing Muses' Tanya Donelly, The Breeders' 1990 debut, Pod, has held up as a classic of late '80s/early '90s off-kilter alternative pop, surpassing the contemporaneous work of their main bands. Though Deal would really hit the big time 3 years later with the Breeders' follow-up, Last Splash, and Donelly would do the same with her next band, Belly, Pod is the band's finest, most coherent, album and perhaps the high point in both their careers. Engineered by the legendary Steve Albini." CRAMPS Smell Of Female $19.992016 repress. "Released in 1983 after a lengthy court battle with IRS Records, Smell Of Female originally contained just the first six songs. These, plus out-of-control ad-lib freakouts 'Beautiful Gardens' and 'She Said' (previously omitted due to legal restrictions) were recorded live at New Yorkʼs famous Peppermint Lounge. There is nothing like the sound of The Cramps, and this set distills that cross of swamp water, moonshine and nitro down to a dangerous and unstable musical substance, captured live like a crazed animal. They rocked like few others could. Additional bonus track 'Surfinʼ Dead' was recorded at A&M Studios in Hollywood and originally appeared on the 1984 soundtrack for Return Of The Living Dead -- when asked to write a 'pop song' for the movie, The Cramps (by then a three-piece) threw into their cauldron a mix of Link Wray, Jan & Dean, Davie Allen, The Righteous Brothers, bongos, Phil Spector and eye of newt." DALTON, KAREN In My Own Time LP $27.99"180-gram vinyl; Audio remastered from the original tapes; old school tip-on jacket. Remastered from the original master tapes. Liner notes by Lenny Kaye (Nuggets, Patti Smith), Devendra Banhart, and Nick Cave. The late Karen Dalton has been the muse for countless folk rock geniuses, from Bob Dylan to Devendra Banhart, from Lucinda Williams to Joanna Newsom. Recorded over a six month period in 1970/71 at Bearsville, In My Own Time was Dalton's only fully planned and realized studio album. The material was carefully selected and crafted for her by producer/musician Harvey Brooks, the Renaissance man of rock-jazz who played bass on Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited and Miles' Bitches Brew. It features ten songs that reflected Dalton's incredible ability to break just about anybody's heart -- from her spectral evocation of Joe Tate's 'One Night of Love,' to the dark tragedy of the traditional 'Katie Cruel.'" DOCKSTADER, TOD Eight Electronic Pieces $26.99"Originally self-released in 1961 and later issued by Folkways, Tod Dockstader's Eight Electronic Pieces is a foundational document of American electronic music and a stunning first work from this revolutionary composer. Refused access to the resources and funding of the academy and without any interest from the record industry, Dockstader assembled his debut album through three years of his own private labor -- recording after-hours at the New York radio station where he worked. Dockstader's approach was informed by the laboratory experiments of his European contemporaries Edgar Varèse and Pierre Schaefer as well as by the aleatory compositional techniques and neo-dadaist aesthetics of John Cage. While Dockstader famously described his music as 'organized sound,' Eight Electronic Pieces is not pure musique concrète. Oscillators pulse and clash with fragments of incidental tape music, leaving collages of sound as tuneful and memorable as they are otherworldly. A visionary debut that presages the abstract ambience of modern IDM and an essential addition to any collection of early electronic music. Limited edition of 500 numbered copies on clear vinyl." FLYING SAUCER ATTACK Distance $22.99First ever US vinyl of the second album by Bristol’s Flying Saucer Attack. This edition of the LP is produced in full collaboration with FSA / Dave Pearce. Originally released on VHF as a compact disc at the end of 1994, this was the second FSA album, compiling five tracks from impossible-to-get seven-inches with twenty minutes of previously unreleased (and good) material. Similar in blend to the band’s first LP (also newly issued in the USA on deluxe vinyl), the songs hang together as a collection that improves on the individual singles. The two proper singles that make up half of Distance — “Soaring High” / ”Standing Stone” and “Crystal Shade” / ”Distance” were instant collectables upon their release, so this album was compiled to make the songs permanently available. “Soaring High” and “Crystal Shade” are jagged bits of fuzzed-out pop genius; tracks like the mutant concrete “techno” of “Distance” and the two lengthy glissando workouts on “Oceans” and “Oceans II” offset the more conventional tunes, upping the overall impact as a whole album. FLYING SAUCER ATTACK S/t $22.99"First-ever US vinyl of the debut album by Bristol's Flying Saucer Attack, and first vinyl edition of any kind since 1993! This edition of the album is produced in full collaboration with FSA/Dave Pearce. Aka Rural Psychedelia, Flying Saucer Attack's first album was released in 1993 after a couple of instantly sold-out singles. Released at the height of the shoegaze boom, the album is a blend of memorable fuzzed out songs and far-out instrumental doodles, sidestepping the rock bombast of many contemporaries in favor of a home-made aesthetic. FSA's blend of razor-edged static, softly sung melody, and echoing atmospherics builds a dour beauty that sustains itself over the course of the entire program. 'My Dreaming Hill,' 'Wish,' and 'The Season Is Ours' are couched in fuzz and whispery reverb, but are beautiful and accessible tunes, able to stand on their own in any context. 'Popol Vuh 1' and 'Popol Vuh 2' are straight up tributes to the now much better known German masters, steeped in the hushed atmosphere of the best Vuh records (if not exactly the sound)." KONAMI KUKEIHA CLUB Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse DOUBLE LP $39.99Mondo is proud to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Castlevania franchise with the premiere vinyl release of the original soundtrack to the 1989 Famicom / Nintendo Entertainment System Three-quel / Prequel: Dracula's Curse. Dracula's Curse is a dark horse for most beloved of the original NES / FAMICOM trilogy, as it was a happy marriage of the linear elements of the first Castlevania and the more exploratory elements of Simon's Quest—a union that led to the introduction of multiple playable characters, multiple paths and multiple endings - that remain franchise staples even today. The story follows Trevor Belmont, Simon's ancestor and his battles with the prince of darkness, along side three other warriors: Grant Danasty the Pirate, Sypha Belnades the Mystic, and Alucard, Dracula's Son, who makes series debut here, and will play a more pivotal role in the games to come. The soundtrack to Dracula's Curse is important as well. Not only for fan favorite track 'Beginning,' a track you'd be nary to find excluded from any future Castlevania game, but for the dynamic audio introduced on the Japanese version of the game. The VRC6 Audio chip contained in the Japanese version allowed for a wider array of sound channels, producing a brighter, fuller soundtrack than on the cartridge released in the US. The Nintendo Entertainment System could not process this level of audio, so the version released in the US needed to have the audio scaled back. Despite this audio handicap the US version is still terrific, and the superiority of the which version best is still a matter of debate to this day. No need to choose though, since Mondo's vinyl re-issue contains both, spread across two 12" LPs, housed in a gatefold jacket featuring amazing new artwork by Sachin Teng. O'NEIL, TARA JANE S/t LP $22.99At the invitation and by the design of Mark Greenberg (The Coctails), half of this record was recorded mostly live at Wilco’s Loft Studio in Chicago with a band that included James Elkington, Gerald Dowd, Nick Macri, and Greenberg himself. Another half was made in TJO’s home studio in California with Devin Hoff, Wilder Zoby, Walt McClements and string supervisor Jim James. This album also features the voices of Chris Cohen, Carolyn Pennypacker-Riggs and Joan Shelley. Tara Jane ONeil plays guitar, bass, keyboards and percussion. SADIER, LAETITIA SOURCE Find Me Finding You CD $15.99LP $22.99Another New Year, and new shapes are forming—if only we are fortunate enough to notice them! As we spin through this world, we are witness to all manner of combinations unfolding before us—familiar arcs and breaking waves alike, upon all of which it is our choice, our chance and our challenge, to possibly ride. Find Me Finding You, the new album from the new organization called the LAETITIA SADIER SOURCE ENSEMBLE, manages to strike new chords while touching familiar keys in the song of life. From its percolating opening beat, Find Me Finding You locates new systems within the sound-universe of Laetitia Sadier. This in itself isn’t a surprise—Laetitia has relentlessly followed her music through different dynamics and into a variety of dimensions over the course of four solo albums since 2010 (not to forget her three albums with MONADE and the long era of STEREOLAB)—but the nature of the construction here stands distinctly apart from her recent albums. Laetitia was inspired by a mind’s-eye envisaging of geometric forms and their possible permutations. As she sought to replicate the shapes in music, this guided the process of assembly for the album. Features longtime collaborators EMMANUEL MARIO and XAVI MUNOZ, keyboard and flutes from DAVID THAYER (LITTLE TORNADOS), keys, synths and electronics from PHIL M FU, and guitar from MASON LE LONG. Includes a guest appearance from HOT CHIP's ALEXIS TAYLOR, as well as cornet work from ROB MAZUREK. V/A Bloodstains Across Virginia LP  $19.99A collection of rare and classic Virginia punk circa 1978-1983. Features tracks from ZITS, PREVARICATORS, LAMOUR, NOYS, BARRIERS, BEEX, INSINUATIONS, NAROS, CHUMPS, CITIZEN 23, RATICLES, NEXT OF KIN, and RICKY AND THE WHITE BOYS. Fifteen cuts in all. V/A Highlights Of Vortex LP $26.99The brainchild of visual artist Jordan Belson and electronics polymath Henry Jacobs, the Vortex Experiments ran from 1957 to 1960, first at San Francisco’s Morrison Planetarium and later at the SF Museum of Art. The very name of these events announced their aim: a swirling totality of sensory experience. Around Belson’s richly-colored visuals – making use of the planetarium’s entire dome and featuring luminous, sharply geometric imagery projected through an array of devices – Jacobs ringed a system of roughly 40 multidirectional loudspeakers, each of which could be precisely controlled to produce, in the words of one reviewer, “a living theater of sound and light.” A landmark recording in the history of electronic tape music and an engrossing artifact of proto-psychedelia, Highlights Of Vortex gathers recordings designed for the Vortex system by Jacobs and collaborators David Talcott, William Loughborough, and Gordon Longfellow. Source material including free improvisation, field recording,classical Indian instrumentation, West African polyrhythms and musique concrète is transmogrified through tape manipulation, atomizing swathes of reverb and delay, and other live and recorded effects, making dramatic use of the monumental Vortex soundsystem. An unprecedented marriage of image and sound, Vortex Experiments exercised immeasurable impact on the imagination and practice of countless experimental visual and sonic artists so this album is a must for fans of such visionaries as Stan Brakhage, Tony Conrad, and Jack Smith. Limited edition of 500 numbered copies on clear vinyl. WALTER, JUSTIN Unseen Forces CD  $15.99 LP  $22.99Michigan trumpeter Justin Walter’s solo work centers on evocative, intuitive explorations of the EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument), a rare wind-controlled analog synthesizer from the 1970s. Its unique, smeared tonality allows for an expressive range of glassy, jazz-like textures, which Walter loops and layers with hushed electronics and twilit trumpet, painting opaque landscapes of resonant beauty. Walter’s 2013 debut, Lullabies & Nightmares, included a handful of collaborations with percussionist Quin Kirchner, but Unseen Forces finds him fully solo, refining the project to its essence: shape-shifting watercolors of pastel haze, lit by the soft synthetic glow of electric breath. It’s a sound both modern and timeless, fusing emotion and technology, gauze and melody, force and fragility.