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bodybeyondstories · 2 months

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Just ignore it - 5

The gang takes a field trip to the Marshlands to study the artifact that Blake brought in. As they get closer, David loses even more control over his reality warping imagination, and things get weird. Then they get weirder.

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MaleTF // Ass Growth // Dick Growth // Growth // Macro // Suggestion // nsfw

Author note: I was reflecting on how this series was originally supposed to end with part 2, but then @alias-miniature shared some words of encouragement and here we are. I think I wrote the climax of this chapter while I was still playing around with part 3, I've just been spending months finding excuses to wax poetic about some wobbly spacetime nonsense lol.

---

“Ooo are we taking the Mystery Machine?” I asked, voice echoing off the concrete pillars of the parking garage.

“We really don’t need to call it that,” said Armand. He pushed a utility cart laden with equipment as he led our group towards a row of old vehicles that the Center for Supernatural Sciences had acquired used, offhand, or through some nefarious means over the years, the most recent of which being a blue and green SUV well suited for group field trips off the beaten path. The obvious nickname being to me–and most everyone else in my opinion–the Mystery Machine.

“But we are taking it,” Lee confirmed.

Armand opened the hatchback, revealing a spacious interior already pre-prepped for our little adventure. The entire second row had been removed, as well as all but one seat in the back. Packs of what looked like hiking supplies, snacks, and a cooler were arranged on the floor toward the front, leaving an open space just large enough for our pallet full of magical gizmos. Without thinking, I squatted down and picked it up, sliding it neatly into place.

“What?” I asked, noticing Armand’s stare. “Does it not go there?” I quickly remembered that lifting the entire pallet of whimsical yet heavy duty tools and gadgets like a sack of potatoes was not a normal thing that someone was supposed to be able to do. Even someone with my physique. I’d been having some hiccups in getting used to my new strength, evidenced by the similarly incredulous stares that morning as I was casually outpacing rush hour traffic on my bike to work.

“We’ll fill you in,” said Lee, patting Armand on the shoulder as he strolled past us to lounge in the lone third row seat, elegantly stretching his legs across the extra space.

Armand sighed in resignation, hopping into the driver's seat as I plopped down into the passenger. “We’re meeting Blake at the site in the Marshlands, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.”

—

The Mystery Machine headed east along the interstate through the dignified gray hinterlands patiently awaiting a snow fall. Handing Lee the aux cord wasn’t the best idea, but at least he was trying to match the mood of the early winter landscape in between bubble gum pop hits, a welcome respite from Armand’s request for a locally produced, surprisingly dull, occult news podcast that he kept up with for “research.” I fell into the flow of rolling hills and stands of denuded trees, unable to fully drift off due to the magnetic tug coming from the back of the car.

I hadn’t gotten solid details about the artifact that Blake had brought in, and that we were now transporting back to where it came from. Admittedly, I had still been in a haze of post-coital bliss when Lee filled me in on the situation, more interested in the sight of him maneuvering his girthy snake back into his pants than the words that had been coming out of his mouth. But I got the gist.

The artifact had come from the Marshlands, but not from the Marshlands, so to speak. According to Blake, it had been sitting in a perfectly circular clearing on a patch of higher ground, waiting there long enough to become half buried in humus and partially coated in a fuzzy moss.

“Waiting is the important word here,” said Lee. “That’s how Blake mentioned it multiple times. Like it was waiting to be found.”

“But it hadn’t been there long?” I asked, pulling a backup pair of leggings out of a desk drawer after having torn my original pair like tissue paper trying to get them to cooperate with my glutes.

“Relatively speaking, no. We can’t quite pinpoint when it appeared there, but we don’t think it was placed by human hands. The physical and metaphysical signatures point to somewhere other than the Marshlands. Somewhere else. It was causing disturbances in the cleanroom that we hadn’t seen before.”

“Like how the sigils changed color?”

“Yeah. They turned into a lightshow after you left, you should’ve seen it.”

The actual artifact appeared to be some sort of device. A copper colored sphere about the size of a soccer ball, that felt like unglazed clay to the touch and was much heavier than it had any right to be. Patterns of some inscrutable design were inlaid across its surface in flowing lines of gold, teal and lavender that seemed to glow with their own passive light.

“We took a 3D scan and sent it over to archives to see if they had any reference to decode it,” said Lee. “But Logan said every time he opens the file it looks slightly different on his monitor. His tech can only figure it out partially, but never enough to crack the code. You remember Logan, right?”

“How could I forget,” I said with obvious sarcasm, looking forward to catching up with the archivist who inadvertently started all this mess.

“He thinks the only way to figure it out is to conduct experiments with it on site. He’s supposed to be out there with Blake, preparing the area. ”

That can’t be good, I thought, but reminded myself that it wasn’t all Logan’s fault. It’s not like he was planning on becoming the conduit for some ancient horny trickster deity, or was even trained to effectively deal with that scenario. This sort of thing was part of my job and even I was slowly crumbling under the pressure of Synt’s unrelenting power. It’s a miracle Logan lasted as long as he did. Sometimes it felt like the boundaries of my corporeal form were becoming thinner and thinner, my perception of mundane reality slowly beginning to fade into Synt’s casually multidimensional experience.

—

As we approached the Marshlands, the barriers between worlds began to blur even further. My senses kept expanding in weird directions in physical space and other space, the passing landscape enlivened with echoes and resonances of nearby timelines bumping up against our own. I could feel the artifact in the back of the Mystery Machine more strongly, but the blunt magnetic tug was slowly resolving into something more nuanced. Like a complex rhythm underneath Lee’s playlist, overlapping patterns of subsonic vibes that manifested in my head as the shifting glow of the lines across the sphere. As the mental image came together in increasing sharpness, the ball opened–not mechanically, but through some sort of phase change, its solid surface shifting into–

The van shuddered to a halt, bringing me back to reality as Armand turned the engine off. We had come off the interstate onto some county road and stopped at a nondescript gas station with no other vehicles in sight. Without the flow of the rolling highway landscape to distract me, I could almost taste how fuzzy reality was out here. There were whorls and eddies of chaotic possibility that were almost as iridescent as the puddles on the ground. Maybe it was something about the geography, maybe I was spending too much time in close proximity to the artifact, maybe the outlines of my form that identified me as a discrete being in this world were being erased from the inside out. Maybe all of the above. Regardless, I tried to tamp down the flutter of worry that sprung up in my stomach, shifting into the conspicuous ‘just act normal’ affect of someone who’s just realized they’ve misjudged an edible.

Armand chatted briefly with the station attendant, who seemed unable to decide if it was less rude to gawk at the anaconda running around Armand’s left hip or the sight of Lee stretching his arms up and towering over the SUV. He relented, keeping his attention pointedly directed at the task of filling up the tank. Armand headed inside to scope out snacks, a slight wobble in his gait as he maneuvered his dick into a more comfortable position, while Lee wandered off a little to admire the scenery and stretch his legs.

Without the distraction of my companions, and unwilling to try and settle back into a nap, I twisted around to rummage through the snack cooler, tossing the dried fruit and trail mix aside to snatch up the family size bag of some obscure brand of cheese puffs. The complex notes coming from the artifact (that seemingly no one else could hear) had settled into background noise, piquing my attention as they became slightly discordant, building in what felt like anticipation. As I angled myself back up, I paused, catching the gaze of the station attendant through the open rear window. He looked awestruck, and with one leg splayed across the driver's seat and my amazonian ass perched in the air, I could figure out why.

“I, uh, sorry,” he said, looking distraught as he forced himself to tear his eyes away from the sight of my supernaturally round butt cheeks. He was adorable as he blushed, still biting into his lower lip.

“It’s cool,” I chuckled. “Cheese puffs?” I opened the bag of bright orange corn products, offering them in his direction.

“I’m good,” he said. “I’m trying to stop eating those. Pretty sure they’re going straight to my hips.”

He had this look on his face like he was surprised he even said that, which just added to how cute his visible embarrassment was. But as the words left his lips, the notes from the artifact began to crescendo ever so slightly, harmonizing with that all too familiar feeling of Synt’s power emerging into this realm, the anticipation building.

Oh, I thought. I see. It almost felt as if this scenario had been written for us, and with the wobbliness of my current perception of linear time, it was a little more clear that it kind of had. The notes had been laid out and all we had to do was hit them. So I already knew what to expect as I said my next line, “Then you must eat these all the time.”

And there it was. His stance shifted slightly as we settled into a timeline in which he had already had a bubble butt juicy enough to see from the front.

“Yeah, it’s kind of a problem,” he said with a nervous laugh, one hand resting on the shelf of his ass while the other moved the gas pump back into place. “Honestly, I was about to ask you for advice. Hard to find pants that fit my…shape, out here in the boonies.”

And it was obvious why. His khakis looked painted on, straining against the melons that ballooned from his lower back. I could practically hear the stitches screaming in terror from the dreaded cheese puffs that had been the downfall of so many of their predecessors, as if sheer proximity to the artificially flavored snack dust in the air risked pushing his bubble butt to a level of catastrophic stress, until–

I caught a glimpse of his cakes seeming to expand, not through the usual flipbook of timelines, but physically in ‘real’ time, growing bigger and rounder before my very eyes. He took notice too, turning his torso just in time to see the seat of his pants completely give way, falling apart as his ass cheeks expanded into open air, clad in only a pair of pink and white striped bikini briefs that barely covered the top of his shelf.

“Ah shit!” he exclaimed, trying and failing to pull the fabric back together over an ass that actually was bigger than it had been thirty seconds ago. “I think I’ve got some backups in my locker. Have a good one!”

“Oh, no problem,” I offered, watching the globes of his butt cheeks swish back and forth as he power walked back inside, mildly apologetic in the knowledge that whatever replacement pants he already had would bear the exact same fate.

That time, it had felt so familiar, yet slightly different. The nuances of Synt’s power were so much clearer out here, like I could taste the full complexity of the flavor profile, but with that, the barriers between their world and this one were much more porous. Or maybe I was just better at reading the cracks, tunnels, and pathways. Out here, it was more apparent that the mental, physical, and metaphysical coordination of vocal speech was just a way to channel short bursts of magic from one side of the divide to the other. And without the usual solidity of the barriers between worlds, maybe the unchecked power of imagination could slip through just as easily.

“That you?” asked Lee, who had apparently strolled back to the van just in time to see the attendant’s comically large ass split his pants wide open, letting his hand grab a handful of cheese puffs as he also indulged in the sight of the attendant’s purposeful stride back to the convenience store.

“Yup,” I muttered. “Be careful with those, I heard they go straight to your hips.” I had been joking, but was also genuinely concerned that I may have inadvertently cast a spell on this exact brand of junk food that was now creating bubble butted men across its distribution range. I made a mental note to look into that right after all the other magical calamities spawning off around me.

—

The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful, encouraged by the fact that Armand had somehow gained control of the aux cord and was dragging us through an audiobook about spectral informatics that he was already half way into. I was still crammed up front, dutifully pretending to be asleep but actually fighting every urge not to phase accidentally out of the car. I shuddered with metaphysical tension, the weight of my cosmic companion eroding away any solid grasp on reality.

Lee, with his boundless patience and grace, humored his lab partner, asking lazy yet helpful questions while he lounged in the back, dinner plate size hands still dwarfed by the firehose bulge that he stroked absentmindedly. He looked like he could stretch to fill the entire length of the Mystery Machine if we wanted to, like he could indulgently take up more space as easily as yawning. The harmonics of the artifact sitting resolutely next to him seemed to resonate with his lithe form, and in my partial consciousness I couldn’t help but imagine his body slipping into semi-liquidity with the notes, stretching slightly with the rhythm but each time not quite returning all the way to where it began. He could really become the embodiment of grace if he wanted. If I wanted. As county roads turned to back roads and we passed the vine covered “Marshlands State Park” sign, the trees in the landscape seemed to stretch up with similar ease, yawning in the breeze. I imagined Lee strolling through the forest, towering over us as he stretched with them.

I could no longer keep up a convincing facade of unconsciousness as the van turned off the small forest road onto a poorly maintained gravel path that led to a patch of dirt currently occupied by a shiny new park ranger truck. Armand pulled up next to it as Lee and I scanned the area for our collaborators, seeing only a path through the trees that led down to an expanse of shallow water.

As I stepped out of the van, the satisfying crack of my back and shoulders preceded an indulgent yawn, breath sparkling in the crisp air as I took in our surroundings. My moment of idyll was interrupted by a surprised grunt as Lee whacked his head against the top of the passenger door, stumbling with a brief moment of uncharacteristic clumsiness. I quickly realized why as he rose to his full height, which was itself a full foot taller than it had been just a few hours before. He looked down at himself in mild confusion, which transitioned to a painful wince as, with a staccato of popping sounds, the threads of his shoes failed and his feet burst through, toes and heels spilling out from both ends.

“C’mon man,” Lee said, realization dawning in my direction. “Those were size nineteen.” His look of annoyance melted into one of mild worry. “You sure you’re holding it together?” he asked, coming in to pat my shoulder but jerking back at a sharp bolt of static shock.

“Just barely,” I said.

“Looks like someone had a growth spurt!” exclaimed Blake, who seemed to emerge out of nowhere as he walked up toward us.

“Speak for yourself,” Lee muttered, gazing down at him suspiciously.

Blake, once again, looked noticeably bigger than we had last seen him. His ranger uniform was pushed to the limit, inflated biceps and quads straining his sleeves and shorts. I got the sense that having his shirt unbuttoned down to his nipples wasn’t just an aesthetic choice, but the result of a struggle lost against his massive pecs. His muscle butt ballooned behind him, cheeks bouncing back and forth as he unloaded gear from the truck bed.

“He is getting bigger,” came a voice way too suddenly in our vicinity.

Lee reared back with an overdramatic flourish before finally noticing Logan standing several feet away, practically swimming in a pair of oversized waders.

“How?” I asked. “Because it’s definitely not me,” and shot a defensive glance at Lee.

“I, well–” said Logan.

“Maybe he met super dick,” quipped Armand, looking overly busy organizing equipment, as if to emphasize the fact that the rest of us were just standing around.

“No, I don’t think so, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about–”

“Do you think they’re each other’s type?” Lee asked with a look of genuine interest.

“There have been some developments with–”

“Let’s not get lost in the imaginary meet cute,” I said. “We’re here on magical nonsense business. We’re in the field. We’re setting up equipment. We’re wearing field gear. Logan’s wearing…waders for some reason.”

“...with the…well they’re–”

“The only thing that fits?” offered Armand with uncharacteristic sincerity. I guess as the two local monster dick twinks, they’ve exchanged fashion tips here and there. They looked extremely roomy, yet somehow still distended from the pressure of his prodigious wang, which looked like it had gone through some aftershocks of growth after his fateful visit to my office.

“Well it’s just that we’re taking the–”

“Airboat!” I exclaimed, suddenly noticing the watercraft parked off a short pier just down the hill. “We’re taking an airboat? You drive an airboat?” I asked, with no hint of even trying to cover my surprise.

“I pilot an airboat,” Blake corrected with an upbeat smile, his tree trunk quads swelling with muscle as he walked up toward us. “The wet season keeps lasting longer and longer, so unless you wanna wade over there…”

“That why Logan’s dressed to catch a catfish by hand?” asked Lee.

“Well these are the only gear that fit,” said Logan, as if suddenly remembering he was there.

Ah ha, I thought. “So you’re driving us to that…island.”

“I’m piloting you to the island,” said Blake, not so much to me as to the stand of cypress trees in the distance, his gaze lingering for a few seconds as the rest of us relented and shifted to the task of hauling the gear down to the airboat.

As I unloaded the apparatus from the van, prepared to repeat my feat of strength from that morning, I noticed it was significantly lighter. Still heavy, I imagined, by normal human standards, but easy enough to lug down to the boat with minimal strain, earning me an appreciative whoop and generous slap on the butt from Blake. Did I somehow get stronger or was the artifact behaving in some new, strange way?

The airboat looked like one of the big tourist-carrying models that had apparently been repurposed for the parks service. The residue of the old logo of some defunct swamp tour company still visible around the parks logo and info placed on top. The name, Swamp Hag, remained the same, still legible amid the wear and rust. Most of the rows of seating along the flat bottom hull had been removed in favor of storage space, now filled with all of our stuff, leaving us cozied up in the two rows at the back.

The whine of the engine was quickly outmatched by the roar of the propeller, overbearing even through earplugs, as Blake started us up and began ferrying us to the island in the distance. We cruised over golden brown fields of late season wetland grasses, passing clumps of cattails bursting with fluffy seed heads. I glanced up to see Blake behind and above us in the pilot seat, eyes locked intently ahead towards our destination, left hand nimbly controlling the rudder stick.

Seated in the middle, I was directly below him and positioned between his meaty quads. He always seemed to be on the verge of bursting out of his pants these days, which wasn’t helped by the massive pipe creeping slowly down his right leg, leaving dark spots of precum and even pulsing with an occasional lurch further and increase in girth. I couldn’t tell if that was just my imagination, but I wasn’t in any position to let my imagination wander, exemplified by the fact that the moon, visible in the daytime sky, seemed to keep switching between stationary object and figure-eight analemma. But with the neverending drone of the propeller, I needed a distraction, and couldn’t help but let Synt’s power slip out just a little, envisioning what might happen if that prodigious bulge–

A piercing, subsonic feedback ran through my skull as I had the distinct feeling of two of the same magnetic poles brought too close together. As the pain subsided, I glanced up again to see Blake smile down, give me a conspiratorial wink, and return to the task at hand.

I decided to deal with that later as we pulled up to the island and began carrying things through the wall of cypress trees towards the interior. Vegetation was dense, but a winding footpath had been carved in previous visits, aided by the fact that much of the underbrush had died back. The trees seemed to whisper among themselves in some conversation that we weren’t a part of but were fine to listen in on, the low lying sounds of the forest becoming more complex until we stepped into the relative silence of a moss-covered clearing in the middle.

“This is where you found it?” asked Armand, eyes scanning the ground for any clues or disturbances. “It looks…untouched.”

“It’s where it found us,” Blake joked in a tone that wasn’t especially humorous. “And yeah, it just sort of appeared. Right there in the middle.”

Armand and Lee set to work setting up a makeshift cleanroom, moving around the perimeter of the circular clearing to lay down plexiglass panels featuring the familiar protective sigils from the lab. I opened the apparatus to remove the artifact, which practically sang in recognition, complex linework of lavender and gold forming and reforming across its surface. It felt as light as styrofoam as I lifted it and carried it across the space. As we reached the center, it simply stopped moving. In fact, as I let my hands slip away, it simply remained stationary. Just hovered in the air, rotating slowly.

“Now that’s cool,” said Blake, walking up to the artifact. “It wasn’t doing that before.” He lifted a finger and brought it up to the surface, hovering a few centimeters away. The curls, diagrams, and fractals covering the sphere seemed to converge around Blake’s fingertip in a multicolored spiral before sending a visible jolt of electricity across the short distance.

“Are you okay?” asked Logan, walking up behind him, responding to Blake’s quiet yelp.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said. “It felt…great, actually.” His eyes seemed lost in the patterns of the artifact as it seemed to dematerialize into a loose amalgamation of strings, a facsimile of a solid sphere, singing in complex harmonies, rising in a slow crescendo.

“Are y’all picking this up?” I asked Lee and Armand, who were just getting the monitoring equipment online.

“Picking what up?” asked Lee.

Before we could answer, a pulse of iridescent energy shot out from the artifact, passing through us and stopping a few feet before the perimeter, forming a dome that resembled a giant soap bubble.

“Oh wow, it worked,” whispered Blake.

“What worked?” I asked, squinting my eyes at him. “What’s happening?”

“It’s a force field, they made a force field,” called Lee, motioning to the layer of shimmering air directly in front of him.

“I did not think that would work,” said Blake.

“Didn’t think what would work?” I asked with increasing suspicion.

“You gotta trust me,” said Blake, hands splayed apologetically yet his eyes showing a touch of overexcitement. “We’ve been talking about your situation and–”

“Situation? Who? You and Logan?”

“And…our cosmic deity mutual friend.”

“You’ve been talking to Synt,” I snapped. How? I thought. “Through Logan?”

“Well, they’re still connected in certain ways. I guess they were always connected or whatever?”

“Of course. Of course,” I drummed against the nook between my eyebrows.

“Synt didn’t tell you?” Blake asked.

“Didn’t tell me what?”

“About completing the ritual. We need to complete the ritual,” he said with growing intensity.

“What ritual?” My tone annoyed and mildly incredulous.

“The one we started with the artifact in your office,” offered Logan, as if explaining an email I ignored. “We opened the portal but we need to let it close behind them.”

“Oh is their presence weakening the fabric of spacetime in a localized area?” asked Armand, tapping nonchalantly on the force field like a thick pane of glass. “I guess that makes sense.”

“A little more concern would be nice. Blake’s getting pretty antsy in here,” I said.

“We’re getting you out, bud! We’re on it,” said Lee, turning to dig around in one of the totes full of equipment while Armand continued to inspect the perimeter.

“I don’t know what sweet nothings Synt has been whispering in your ears,” I said to Blake, “but I promise you they’re just fucking with all of us.”

“No, no, I think it’s about resonance,” said Blake. “We’ve only heard one chord in a cosmic symphony! We just have to let them finish.”

“Finish what–”

I was cut off as everything seemed to shift into some sort of non-space, Blake, Lee, Armand, and Logan no longer visible but the forcefield now hyperreal as a solid structure of what looked like glowing golden wires in hexagonal patterns. There was no longer the soft solidity of the mossy clearing, and the forcefield was revealed as not a dome but a sphere, surrounding me on all sides. I hovered stationary in space, rotating slowly around the smaller sphere of the artifact, which pulsed with harmonics and rhythms within and without the color spectrum, seeming to flow in tandem with the structure surrounding us.

It absorbed my attention and I had the sinking sensation of falling perpetually towards it, plummeting through strata of timelines, tangling and untangling through interwoven threads of possibilities and fractal perception, catching small glimpses here and there of moments in space time, some that I could recall from memory and some that were wildly unfamiliar. I saw Synt talking with me at the bar and simultaneously with Logan in my class weeks before. I realized that for them, there was no linear time, and the best approximation for someone in my three-dimensional existence was cosmic terror and confusion as I fell through the complex dimensional framework of strings that they were delicately pulling. They had been building to something, I realized. Were always building to something. Are currently building to something that in this thread of spacetime is finally coming together.

I had the sensation of breathing in and zooming out, seeing a birds eye view in unnatural clarity of the wetland clearing, the artifact in the exact center spinning wildly and sending multicolored pulses of light, the surrounding trees murmuring amongst themselves, and beyond that the unseasonal expanse of placid water in a symmetrical ovoid shape that came to a point at both ends. It looked unmistakably like an eye.

With a resounding thud in my mind, I came back to this place in this timeline–or more accurately I had never left and was never there–and noticed Blake standing there wide eyed. I could taste the lust and excitement pouring off of him like a snake flicking the air. He had only gotten tastes here and there of what he could become and he was starving, unapologetically dreaming about ridiculous, indulgent size. Who was I to deny the full extent of what he could be? Why would I have ever held back this power?

I fell to my knees as another wave of Synt’s untapped chaos magic took over my being, reverberating through the space. I was dimly aware of rings of multicolored, iridescent mushrooms rising and falling in concentric waves around us. For a second I lost my physical senses, overwhelmed by Synt’s ability to see seamlessly across planes of existence and temporal strata. As my body struggled to make sense of this metaphysical tsunami, I could see the perspective of every cell ringing out simultaneously. I could see every possibility in every timeline. It was beautiful and terrible, threads waving, trailing, breaking, weaving into each other with chaos and grace. In this other sense, I felt the cleansing surge of a deluge following a dam break as my guard finally went down and Synt stepped fully into my being in this world. I had been holding them back for so long, letting go was a welcome relief.

I heard the strangely familiar sound of a string being plucked.

Blake, ever the gentleman, snapped out of his enraptured fascination to try and help me up, jumping back as a visible bolt of electricity shot into his hand from my left bicep. I was an energetic livewire, and Blake’s eyes widened further in glee as he watched the muscles throughout his arm flex with a sickening pump, settling down as a wave of subtle growth spread throughout the rest of his body. Maybe this was due to my supercharged supernatural senses, but I noticed that his musculature was incredibly, unnaturally dense. He must’ve been somehow stronger than even the veritable wall of shredded muscle implied.

Still feeling his juicier pecs, he mused to the others, “that was just one touch. Imagine what you could do,” he added, turning to me.

“Yes,” I grunted through gritted teeth. “Imagine.” I grabbed his arm with lightning fast quickness. In fact, I don’t even remember moving my body at all. My hand was simply wrapped around his bicep because I willed it with a thought.

His head lolled back in euphoria as I poured into him. He was a willing participant, an enthusiastic receptacle of possibility powered by a vivid imagination of what his body could be and do. A deep, hungry wish that I happily granted. And then some. As he came back to his senses, his eyes took in a seemingly smaller space, his head inching farther from the ground as his massive feet took up more and more surface area. A look of worry replaced one of triumph as he realized how much he dwarfed even Lee’s eight and a half feet on the other side of the dome, with no signs of stopping.

“Wait,” he groaned through waves of orgasmic pleasure. “Slow down. It’s…too much.” My hands had drifted to the slabs of his pecs, trailing onto his cobblestone abs as he continued to stretch and grow in all directions. He grabbed my hands with his massive paws, but the additional contact only sent a pulse of growth through his already gargantuan body, several feet of cock tearing through whatever fabric his quads and glutes hadn’t already shredded and thwacking onto the ground.

“What’s…happening…won’t…stop,” he eked out, falling to all fours and breathing heavily as his mega dick spurted globs of precum that puddled below him. He was a larger than life behemoth of glistening, shredded muscle, except of course for the huge globes of his impossibly fat ass, which seemed to keep widening and ballooning as the rest of his growth slowed down.

I couldn’t keep my eyes off the overinflated glutes in front of me, caressing each, my otherwise huge hands dwarfed by the sheer size of them, falling into the heft of each pillowy cheek. Blake’s pride and joy, the unmissable bubble booty that could stop traffic and pull anyone at the bar, had blown up beyond comical proportions, each cheek large enough to crush the truck he drove here in. I felt my hands growing to monstrous proportions just to handle the boulders of blubber whose expansion was finally slowing to a stop as he panted in exhaustion, arching his back in insatiable need.

It all felt oddly reminiscent of the dream I had had of being eaten out by Synt while growing impossibly huge in the archives. Having just gotten a glimpse of Synt’s perception out of the bounds of linear time, I realized Of course. It was--for lack of a better concept, and from my meager three dimensional perspective--prophetic.

And we were hungry.

#male tf #ass growth #dick growth

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the-conversation-pod · 1 year

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Brought to you by @bengiyo and @shortpplfedup, The Conversation is an occasional podcast all about Asian BL/GL/QL (and sometimes other queer media), coming at you from a film crit perspective. We're here to talk artistry and industry nerdery, and also crack and simping, because we contain multitudes. About once a season, we swan in for a few episodes and shoot the shit on faves, flops and trends we're seeing in the space. Feel free to hop in our inbox to ask questions and leave comments.

You can find us and listen on Zencastr, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Credits:

NiNi (@shortpplfedup) is our editor and producer. Ben (@bengiyo) is our creative director and content manager. Ginny (@ginnymoonbeam) and Shan (@lurkingshan) are our transcription team. Our theme music is Dedication by Ron Gelinas Chillout Lounge (Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com)

#the conversation #ben and nini's conversations #podcast #on art

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mercerislandbooks · 16 days

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Sarah: A New Bookseller Appears!!

I’ve been a reader for as long as I can remember. I have wonderful memories of visiting the old downtown Bellevue Library on Main Street, signing up for the annual summer reading program at the Eastgate KCLS branch, and running my fingers along the spines of books at the University Bookstore whenever my family ate out at the nearby Azteca restaurant. My mom almost always bought me the latest Baby Sitter’s Club or Sweet Valley Twins book. I was such a devoted reader that I used to force my friends to lounge under our family’s ping-pong table and listen to me read aloud some of my favorite novels, including Fantastic Mr. Fox, James and the Giant Peach, and Wendy and the Bullies. It was a surprise to no one when I became a 6th grade reading teacher and then an elementary librarian!

In late 2020, deciding I needed a break from education, I applied to the Master’s in Children’s Literature program at Simmons University, not knowing where it would lead me, but excited by the prospect of a grand adventure. In July of 2021 my husband, daughter, dog and I moved across the country to Newton, MA so I could study children’s literature and, while I am so grateful for everything I learned and all the fabulous people we met, I can’t wait to be back in the Pacific Northwest, especially because I’ll be working at Island Books! I have always wanted to work at an independent bookstore, so having an opportunity to grow the children’s department, connect readers with books, and meet even more people who are passionate about kidlit is beyond exciting.

I love all kinds of kids' books, from picture books to young adult novels, but I gravitate toward middle grade stories. I even produce the Happy Reading podcast, which spotlights middle grade books by topic. Some of my all-time favorite books include The Westing Game, the Vanderbeekers series, Boy Meets Boy, and Should I Share My Ice Cream? (an Elephant & Piggie book). Some more recent five-star reads include The Mona Lisa Vanishes, The First State of Being, The Color of Sound, and Dear Mr. G (I’m a sucker for picture books that make me cry).

When I’m not reading or browsing the shelves at my local library or bookstore, I also enjoy crocheting (I taught myself a few weeks ago and love it), baking, building with LEGO, planning our next Disney vacation, walking our adorable dog Jefferson, and watching movies with my family while snuggled up on the couch.

I can’t wait to start the next chapter of my life at Island Books!

Find me on Instagram as @kidlit_lover and via my podcast website: https://happyrdng.blogspot.com/

— Sarah Threlkeld

#Sarah Threlkeld #island books #fantastic mr fox #vanderbeekers #the mona lisa vanishes #the westing game #should i share my ice cream?#boy meets boy #the first state of being #the sound of color #dear mr g #wendy and the bullies

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bad-surprise · 1 year

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so i updated my haladriel textfic erase me today (part three is on twitter) and i’d love to talk about that.

This is the wikipedia page I made for Celeborn. I really wanted him to be a mashup of Jack Antonoff and FINNEAS, which is interesting bc I am a known Celeborn hater who likes both of these producers.

Some canon references are more obvious than others. His middle name comes from his canonical Quenya name. Galadhrim Music is a reference to the elves living in Lothlorien. I wanted to make this world bigger bc touring is a huge part of the story, so Beleriand still exists here. I decided to make the Doriath family a family of politicians and civil servants bc i wanted the sort of government/leadership/public service feel but without the ickiness of actually making him nobility (though I did decide that his ancestors should still be royal). His band, Hidden Kingdom, is of course a reference to Doriath itself, and their album, The Fall, is a reference to the sacking of Menegroth.

Almost everything about Hidden Kingdom was taken from Jack Antonoff. He had a punk rock band in high school that toured using a DIY booking guide and played in anarchist bookstores. The approach to writing is heavily influenced by FINNEAS’ comments about how he writes songs for his sister, Billie Eilish, and how his acting experience helps with that.

A little easter egg here that you might catch later on in this part of the fic is that Amroth Lorien is the frontman of the supergroup Tevildo that Halbrand and Galadriel are both members of. You can expect to see a lot more about Tevildo in Part Four, but if it isn’t obvious, they are essentially intended to be the Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene.

More easter eggs with Erase Me:

- Both Hal and Gal are openly bisexual characters here. They also are not strictly monogamous sexually, which is not a big deal here but referenced occasionally— particularly in the phone call in Part Three between H + G where it’s implied that they have history with the Loriens.

- The Soundtrack podcast was inspired by a podcast episode I heard that was a conversation between Stevie Nicks and Matty Healy. I also wanted the vibe to be very Actors on Actors. We’ll see if Galadriel makes an appearance on it in the future.

- Gal has ADHD, but I’ve never directly referenced this.

- Whispers From The Void = Crazy Days and Nights. The individual posting goes by K, any guesses as to who that is?

- Elrond is not just a music video director but a successful feature film director as well.

- Nothing is happening between Nori and Isildur, I just love fuckboy Isildur vibes.

- G’s solo music is a cross between Eloise’s album Drunk On A Flight (which is referenced frequently throughout the fic) and Phoebe Bridgers. I really imagine the stuff she’s working on now as very similar to the song Drunk On A Flight by Eloise and Moon Song by Phoebe Bridgers.

- The Dagorath Tour is partially inspired by Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

- The controversy re: G’s drumming is a reference to Meg White of The White Stripes.

- G does actually DJ as well, but more so just for fun. I imagine her as the sort of person who seems to be able to name any song three seconds into the intro.

- H is the more “serious” musician in terms of what he’ll listen to, but his formal education is lacking compared to G’s.

- “Light” is intended to be a sort of cross between Perth by Bon Iver, Something by The Beatles, and Guiding Light by Foy Vance, in terms of vibes, not necessarily sound.

- Lindalë’s sound is inspired by Silversun Pickups, Metric, The Strokes, Oh Wonder, Better Oblivion Community Center, and Arcade Fire, but with a lot of diverse influences (prog, punk, hip-hop, jazz, lounge) and they’re a little nerdy musically. They are getting into heated arguments over time signature shifts and they will defend their overuse of seventh chords to the death.

- I imagine a favorite album of G’s being Escalator Over The Hill by Carla Bley & The Jazz Composer’s Orchestra, but she also would love Ctrl by SZA, Led Zeppelin IV, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (though she wouldn’t listen to that anymore bc of him being awful).

- H’s music in my head I imagine as a cross between Jeff Buckley, Damien Rice, Ray LaMontagne, Iron & Wine, and Conor Oberst, with a splash of Big Thief in there. His favorite album would probably be something like Grace by Jeff Buckley or Norman Fucking Rockwell by Lana Del Rey, but he also probably loves OK Computer and In Rainbows by Radiohead and Actor by St. Vincent.

- There’s a bit where they talk on Moria Music about playing with Tevildo and that is almost entirely inspired by a video of Broken Social Scene performing Anthems for a 17 Year Old Girl where Emily Haines says “I missed my friends” at the end. I also reference that line in an instagram caption of Celeborn’s.

- They are big into psychedelics and also regularly take MDMA together.

- Galadriel has threatened divorce many times but this is the first time she’s ever actually gone ahead with it.

- Nori is constantly looking for a new job but never actually takes anything bc she feels very loyal to H + G, even though she’s overworked and underpaid lol. She is not their first assistant, but most quit pretty fast.

- Hal has a Google alert set up for G.

- The divorce announcement was inspired by a number of celebrity divorce announcements, but none quite so much as the infamous Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin conscious uncoupling. Others include Ben Affleck & Jennifer Garner and David Arquette & Courteney Cox — I just swapped out the band for references to their kids lol.

- The song “Palantír” is somewhat inspired by Cannibal by Marcus Mumford

That was a lot but I hope it was somewhat enjoyable?

#erasemefic #haladriel #haladriel textfic #my fics

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thereasonsimbroke · 11 months

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TMNT Shredder's Revenge DLC Unveiled

In Ep. 567, Macio and I discuss the Fortnite crossover survey, Usagi Yojimbo joining TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, James Wan on the challenges of Aquaman 2, and more!

Full Topics:

Fortnite survey hints at potential crossovers with Pokemon, GTA, and Metal Gear

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge DLC "Dimension Shellshock" introduces Usagi Yojimbo and inter-dimensional battles

Pixar cuts around 75 jobs as part of Disney layoffs, affecting director Angus MacLane and producer Galyn Susman

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Pt 1 breaks box office records with $120.5 million opening

Chris Hemsworth reflects on Thor: Love and Thunder, admits it became "too silly" Sir Anthony Hopkins calls working on Thor films "pointless acting" due to heavy use of green screens

Live-Action Miles Morales and animated Spider-Woman in development, expanding Sony Marvel universe

James Wan discusses challenges of working on Aquaman 2 during changes at Warner Bros. Discovery and DC

Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck's involvement in final cut of Aquaman 2 uncertain under James Gunn's direction

FOLLOW/SUPPORT MACIO: @macdamurderer (Macio's Twitter) As always, we appreciate your constructive Feedback, Suggestions, and Questions. You can also leave us an audio question on SpeakPipe. Thank you for the continued love and support! Enjoy the show. Daniel Podcast Awards 2019 || Games & Hobbies (Winner) Podcast Awards 2017 - 2018, 2020 - 2022 || Games & Hobbies (Nominated) Official Site FOLLOW US: - Twitter | @ReasonsImBroke and @TRIBPod - Instagram - Pinterest - Tumblr - Discord Lounge - YouTube Channel SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts / Stitcher / iHeartRadio / TuneIn / Overcast SUPPORT THE POD: Getting $1's worth of entertainment and information each month? Support us on Patreon or visit our TeePublic storefront! SPREAD THE WORD: If you're enjoying the show, please head over to iTunes and leave us a rating and a review! Each one helps new Brokettes discover the podcast. Contribute to the Hero Initiative to offer assistance to comic creators facing difficulties. Show your support for the AFSP's efforts by donating to the Autumn Snyder Tribute Fund. CREDITS: Opening/Closing Jingles - Alex Scott Show Logo By - Opanaldiova

The latest episode of The Reasons I'm Broke Podcast!

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thesuttonhq · 2 days

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As promised, we have a compiled a list of popular occupations we’d love to see at The Sutton. You can find our masterlist of underused occupations here. This list is not as in-depth regarding job description & median salary. As you know, a majority of the jobs listed below have a broad range concerning those two topics.

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐎𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

A&R Representative

Athletes (Any Sport)

Beat Producer

Bookstore Owner

Bottle Service Girl

Brand Ambassador

Celebrity Make-Up Artist

Celebrity/Private Chef

Concert/Club Promoter

Content Creator

Cooking Show Host

Cosmetic Chemist

Dispensary Owner

EGOT Holder

Energy Drink Creator

Esthetician

Exotic Dancer

Fashion Blogger/Columnist

Fashion Designer

Figure Skater

Fitness Trainer

Florist

Former Child Star

Freelance Stylist

Ghost Writer

Influencer

Interior Designer

Lifestyle Blogger

Lingerie Designer

Magazine Editor

Marketing Manager

Mobile App Developer

NASCAR Driver

Nightlife Entrepreneur (Bar/Club/Lounge Owner)

Novel Author

Olympic Gold Medalist

Onlyfans Creator

Photographer

Plastic Surgeon

Playboy Bunny

Podcaster

Product Reviewer

Professional Boxer

Professional Shopper

Professional Stylist

Public Relations Manager

Publicist

Podcaster

Rapper

Recording Engineer

Reality TV Star

Singer

Small Bakery Owner

Sports Manager

Sports Therapist

Socialite

Social Media Intern for “Popular Brand”

Software Designer

Street Racer

Swimsuit Designer

Tour Manager

Travel Agent

Trust Fund Baby

Twitch Streamer

Wedding Planner

Yoga Instructor/Studio Owner

YouTuber

Videographer

Video Vixen

#❐ 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐇𝐐.⌇ ˚ 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎.

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ciaranswritingportfolio · 2 months

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Is Logic Pro Good for Voice Over? [Blog Article]

The last decade has seen an explosive rise in the demand for online content involving voice overs, such as, YouTube videos, podcasts, and even e-books. The accessibility to professional standard software means that it has never been easier to produce your own high quality content from home or in the studio, with Logic Pro being a top choice for both amateurs, and full-time professionals alike.

So is Logic Pro good for voice over? In short… YES! Logic Pro is a fantastic piece of software for recording and producing voice overs. Its combination of stock plug-ins, editing tools, and easy to use layout make it an ideal choice of DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for anyone wanting to create a professional sounding product. In this article, I will describe 7 reasons why Logic Pro is good for voice overs, and how it stands out in the crowd of free, and more expensive DAWs.

Reason 1: Clean Layout = Easy Navigation!

One of the most prominent reasons that raise Logic Pro above the rest has to be its accessibility options, and ease of use. Apple’s signature ‘clutter-free’ design continues into their music software, meaning that it is gloriously clean, especially when comparing it to other options like Audacity, or Pro Tools. It doesn’t overwhelm the user with a barrage of technical terms, neither does it crowd up the digital workspace with unnecessary options, allowing productivity to be a priority.

Reason 2: Professional Standard Stock Plug-ins

The second fundamental reason is that Logic Pro’s stock plug-ins (production effects that come free within the software) are of a highly professional standard. It would be unnecessary to purchase digital equipment to produce your voice overs when Logic Pro’s stock plug-ins are available to you. The Compressor, EQ, and Noise Gate plug-ins would be especially useful. The combination of the 7 different circuit options in the compressor, and frequency analysis in the stock EQ give a powerful toolset to shape the sound of the voice that you’re producing. Going deeper than this, Logic’s reverb plug-in ‘Space Designer’ serves as the perfect tool for setting your voice in different realistic sounding spaces, giving you freedom to create dramatic effects, or simulate the sound of a different recording environment, with presets such as cave, swimming pool, or jazz lounge reverb.

Reason 3: Editing Tools: Marquee

Logic Pro is packed with intuitive editing tools which will end up becoming essential to your workflow while producing voice over content. In particular, the marquee tool can separate specific sections of your voice over with one simple move. This will allow you to single out any part of your recording and edit from there, be it a mispronunciation, background noise or long sections of silence.

There are numerous ways in which the marquee tool can be utilised in order to speed up your workflow. One such method is by going to Logic Pro Preferences, and then activating the marquee tool click zones, giving you access to the tool just by hovering over the bottom half of the track. This lets you use the clicker and marquee tools simultaneously, resulting in lightning fast edits, and cuts!

Reason 4: Intuitive Key Commands

Logic Pro’s interface can be navigated through a huge number of simple key commands. Just hitting the ’T’ key will give you a dropdown menu of all the mouse tools and their associated keys to select them with. These are also customisable for the more advanced user, but is ultimately unnecessary as the standard commands are very intuitive, such as activating the record function with the ‘R’ key.

Reason 5: Backups, Backups, Backups!!

Logic Pro’s automatic backup system is a very welcome feature, and one that has saved many users a number of times! It saves backups of your project in the background, allowing you to revert to a previous automatically saved state, saving any recent edits made in the result of a system crash. Although this adds an extra safety feature.. please still remember to manually save your projects!

On top of this, Logic provides non-destructive editing, in that it has a storage solution for the original audio files, allowing you to pull from these in the event that you made some edits that you decided against later on. Reason 6: Take Folders The recording workflow in Logic allows you to record multiple takes within the same track. The audio files are then neatly stacked into what Logic calls a ‘Take Folder’, allowing you to be able to quickly listen to, and audition any of the takes you made. You can even re-record lines over the existing audio if you find a mistake, or if you find any unwanted background noise later on, which can save a lot of time in the editing process if you make a mistake during the first full recording.

Reason 7: Video Import and Sync Functions

You can import videos that you might be recording, or producing a voice over for, and Logic will allow you to watch the video as you record, and allow you to easily keep the audio in sync with the video through a lock feature.

Alternatives:

Garageband - A free option for Mac users, but lacks many of the features that Logic Pro has.

Audacity - Audacity is free and available on both Windows and Mac, but lacks real time effects processing, and the plug-in effects aren’t great.

OBS - A good free option if you are wanting to record voice over at the same time as your desktop screen, or a webcam capture, but lacks any audio editing features.

Ableton Live - Allows you to work on both Windows and Mac, but has a less appealing design, and is more than double the price of Logic Pro.

Adobe Audition - Has a great creative community behind it, and works on both Mac and Windows, but also has a steep learning curve, and an undesirable subscription fee.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which software is best for voice over? Logic Pro is best for recording and producing voice overs, but Adobe Audition would also be a safe and cheaper bet for those without access to a Mac but you’ll have to decide whether the subscription style pricing is for you.

Does Logic Pro have vocal samples? Yes, Apple Loops are accessible from within Logic Pro, and come with a wide variety of vocal samples.

Where can I get free vocal samples? SampleFocus.com allows you to create a free account and download content from their site.

Do you need a plugin for voice overs in Logic Pro? You do not need to buy any extra plug-ins if you’re producing voice overs in Logic Pro, as the compressor, Space Designer (reverb), EQ, and Noise Gate are more than enough.

Final Thoughts

If you are needing to record, edit, and finalise your voice overs, then Logic Pro would be a fantastic choice for your DAW, however, if you want to record desktop or webcam video while recording a voice over at the same time then OBS will also be a good all-in-one solution. That said, Logic Pro would still be a great editing option for that audio recorded in OBS!

BIO

Ciarán Jai Cosway is a music composer and producer with a particular interest in the field of games. He enjoys creating orchestral, and acoustic music, but is also known for writing in retro and electronic styles. Graduating with a First Class Bachelor’s degree in music, he wishes to share his knowledge of composition, and music technology in order to help those going in a similar direction. To hear his music, or to get in touch, then visit his website at: https://www.ciarancosway.com/ Content Link: https://homestudioexpert.com/is-logic-pro-good-for-voice-over-yes-7-reasons-why/

#music production #logic pro #voice over #content writing

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afrohouseking · 2 months

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How much does it cost to book Oscar Mbo? An example fee to book Oscar Mbo is in the starting range of $15,000-$24,999. However, any recent popularity change would cause a price fluctuation well beyond this example. Also, their speaking fee might be different than the fee shown for the cost to perform or to just appear.

How do I contact Oscar Mbo? africa: [email protected]. global: [email protected].

Oscar Mbo was born in Pretoria & raised in a small mining town in Mpumalanga called Kriel, west of Witbank. He’s a Occupational Health & Safety Graduate through the University of South Africa & follows his passion as a DJ & Podcaster of his own show titled ‘The Ashmed Hour’, under Podomatic. He collects & plays House Music & within its sub-genres; Deep/ Soulful House, Nu-Jazz, Chill-Out, Lounge & Break-Beats. He’s also a member of the trio group titled ‘Golden Boys Ent.’ which he formed in 2010 & primarily hosts social events in Mpumalanga, eMalahleni region & has hosted a vast number of national DJ’s on different platforms & themes such as ‘The Golden Boys Easter Hangout’, ‘GB & Friends Picnic’, ‘GB Dress Up Sundays’ & ‘Annual GB Birthday Celebration’. Oscar Mbo has been featured on DJ Strategy’s TV show; Hit Refresh on Vuzu.Tv Channel 116 on Dstv - Hit Refresh in 2015, 2016 & 2017. He’s also been featured on UKhozi FM, Metro FM, TransAfrica Radio, Motsweding FM, Massiv Metro, E-Malahleni FM, iKwekwezi FM, VOC Radio Station & Rise FM as a Guest DJ for interviews & live mixing. Oscar Mbo has been booked on various occasions to headline & perform in & out of South Africa on festivals, Club events as well as socials & picnics. He’s played alongside Kuniyuki Takahashi, Lars Beherenroth, Rocco, Jullian Gomes, DJ Christos, Black Coffee, Vinny Da Vinci & Fistaz Mixwell to mention a few. On the 12th of April 2019 he did his 1st international tour at DJOON Club in Paris for DJ Shimza’s ONE MAN SHOW & also Lisbon, Portugal few days later. A live stream of the show has been making waves on YouTube & is definitely one of Oscar Mbo’s highlights for 2019 as he now focuses on finishing up his debut album that he plans to drop inthe winter. Oscar Mbo has been appointed by Diesel Menlyn Mall to be part of the monthly in-store promotion titled ‘Denim Friday’ where he plays throughout the day alongside guests as he aligns the brand & invites his followers to check out new season stock as well as frequent sales & specials. The shop has been breaking national records of sales during the promotion day ever since he’s been involved & plans on nationalizing the movement. In March 2019 he was appointed to be a DIESEL SOUTH AFRICA influencer alongside a number of prominent artists & personalities. In 2011 he formed the Podcast & it has hosted a number of Local & International Guests & has been the most downloaded Podcast under the Deep House charts for the 4 years consecutively followed by the famous Jimpster’s show – Freerange Radio Show & local ones. The show entails 5 mixes per month, 1 by himself, 2 by the other Golden Boys members [DJ Luu & Ezra] as well as 2 chosen Guests on submission. All of the mixes are recorded on the 1st Thursday of the month at a venue in Middelburg, Mpumalanga [Junxion Lifestyle] –which is always packed upon recordings. The show is freely available for download on iTunes under the Podcast section as well as directly on www.goldenboys.podomatic.com. He currently resides in Johannesburg as he moved in Gauteng to pursue studies & regularly attends events to learn & observe how other people do things when he isn’t honouring his bookings so that he can better his event hosting skills. He’s a passionate DJ / Producer who’s always willing to learn & grab any available opportunity to grow his brand. On the 2nd of September 2019, he released his debut EP titled Life & Love. A 3 track EP, a build up to his debut album which is set to drop summer 2019. The EP is on all digital stores & on high rotation, track list below: 1.Oscar Mbo feat. Yuri September - ZAR 2. Oscar Mbo - Life & Love 3. Oscar Mbo - For The Brave On the 15th of November 2019, he dropped his debut album titled “Golden Power” which is available for purchase & streaming on digital platforms & CD available in stores nationwide. oscar mbo mix, oscar mbo dancing, oscar mbo songs, oscar mbo ulele, oscar mbo yes god,

#housemusic #afro house #afrohouse #deephouse #soulful house #djmix #music #house music #edm #soundcloud

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ear-worthy · 4 months

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WhiskyCast: A Podcast That Goes Down Smooth

"You don't know what you don't know." That phrase has gained in popularity after uttered by then U.S. Secretary Of Defense Donald Rumsfeld during the W. Bush Administration.

It also pertains to me due to a recent situation. I was on a cruise and my package included a free tasting of the best bourbon whiskeys at the lounge. Now, I know nothing about whiskey at all. Any light beer or a Pinot Noir red wine is my entire regiment of drinking alcohol.

The invitation said 7:00 PM. My partner Linda advised that we go right at seven, since "hardly anyone would show up to such an event."

Because of my fastidiousness about being early or on time, I talked her into arriving at 6:50. The lounge was packed. Clearly, we had underestimated the interest with bourbon whiskey. When the bartender, a Serbian man named Goran, talked about the history of whiskey and bourbon specifically, I, along with everyone else, was fascinated.

When I returned from the cruise, I wondered if there was a podcast about whiskey, which is a dumb question, because there is a podcast for almost every activity or interest.

That's when I discovered the WhiskyCast podcast.

To my delight and surprise, WhiskeyCast is one of the oldest podcasts in the industry. It's a podcast that began in 2005 and is still delighting its listeners today. WhiskeyCast has released over 1,000 episodes!

The podcast's subtitle is Cask Strength Conversation since 2005. Now, I don't even know what that means, but after listening to several episodes of WhiskyCast, I want to know more.

Let's define what whiskey is.

Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whiskey is typically aged in wooden casks, which are typically made of charred white oak.

People are passionate about whiskey. They're like wine drinkers, only less obnoxious.

Here's what retired psychologist and whiskey drinker Gary Beaufait says:"I'm into bourbon because it's a type of whiskey that's an American invention with certain criteria needed to be met to be an official, legitimate Bourbon."

Beaufait continues: "The process produces a smooth, palatable, and drinkable liquor of varying proofs - ranging from 80 upwards to 120+, but typically 90s. For me, the proofs in the high 80s and 90s are just right if the product is blended nicely. The different types and brands can be rather nuanced, so people have preferences. The most sought after are very hard to find, and a secondary market exists w rather high dollar amount-hundreds to thousands for a prized bottle."

Listening to WhiskyCast is like hearing a well-oiled machine hum along with seamless efficiency. Each week, veteran journalist Mark Gillespie brings listeners the latest whiskey news, in-depth interviews, tasting notes, and much more. Each podcast features brand-new content, and unless there’s a special occasion, and they do “best of” shows.

Gillespie is a terrific host. His voice is as smooth as some of the whiskeys they taste, and his delivery is effortless and pure. Gillespie is the winner of the International Wine & Spirits Competition’s 2023 Spirits Communicator Trophy, which seems to be quite an honor in the field. From the episodes I've listened to, the host deserves such an accolade. In his 18th year as host, Gillespie sounds as if he has the verve of his first episode. The podcast has a standard and successful formula. Each episode begins with whiskey news, and I underestimated how much such news there is. For example, the news covered the dominance of Jameson in the global and U.S. markets. Reportedly, Jameson accounts for 70 percent of U.S. whiskey sales and 40 percent of whiskey sales around the world.

In another episode, the news included a story about Jack Daniel’s being ordered to stop work on one of its new barrel houses after a neighbor sued over whiskey fungus problems, while Kentucky distillers are hoping a bill pending in the state legislature could mean the end of the “barrel tax.”

After the news, there is a main story like the one called "Choosing passion" on the March 5th episode. The episode details how Melissa Rift’s career path is anything but traditional for a whiskey maker. She started out as a family therapist before discovering her passion for Bourbon, and it’s led her to become the new master taster for Old Forester.

On the December 4th episode, during the What You're Tasting segment of the show, host Mark Gillespie reviewed a Waterford, a peated Irish single malt, which is apparently a relative rarity, that had notes of peat smoke, heather, honey and a nice maltiness.

In the news segment of the show, Gillespie reported that American whiskey is still subject to tariffs into EU nations because of tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration.

The main segment of the show dealt with luxury single-malt whiskeys as an alternative investment. In the interview with Duncan McFadzean, listeners learn that whiskey sales have increased by 11 percent in the last year, yet the investment value of luxury whiskey has dropped by seven percent, largely due to what McFadzean calls "flipping," which is the practice of buying whiskey and selling it for a profit on the secondary markets.

Other segments include a report on upcoming whiskey events. In the December 4th episode, listeners hear about whiskey tasting in Vermont and in London.

On the February 27th episode, the main story was about whiskey clubs. Unbeknownst to the whiskey obtuse such as myself, there are literally hundreds of whiskey clubs around the world, with more being formed all the time. On the episode, listeners hear from some club founders on how they started their clubs, along with advice for those thinking about forming a whiskey club.

In that same episode, WhiskyCast announced the launch of the new WhiskyCast Community mobile app, which is a smart monetization, brand loyalty, and brand extension move.

If you are a whiskey drinker and haven't heard of this podcast, I highly suggest listening to at least one episode. There, you'll find like-minded people who enjoy the social aspects of whiskey, its unique color and taste, and the artistic skill needed to make whiskey.

Check out WhiskyCast. I'll end by toasting you, dear listeners, with a glass of Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

Raise your glass and listen to this podcast.

(NOTE: Photo by Terrick Noahs)

#podcast #podcasting #whiskey

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freelancershahin · 5 months

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Your Passion is Your Purpose with Producer Michael T Downing

•✅ Your Passion is Your Purpose with Producer Michael T Downing 🙏 Watch The Video & Don’t Forget to Like, Comment, Subscribe, & Share 💠 Music Producer at Urban Smooth Ent., and creator of “The Kic-Back Lounge,” Michael T. Downing has navigated the music industry and shares his expertise on how to balance passion, life, and a career. Growing up in the church, and continuing on as a church musician, Downing has a grasp on his calling, and attributes his direction to faith, and a firm foundation. 💠 With the progressions of the music industry, avenues to success, and the reconfiguration of record labels, Michael T. shares the path that led him to creating his own space and making his own, authentic lane. “Artists should focus on creating their own atmosphere outside of the music industry.” 🌟 ON THIS EPISODE • Navigating a “shady” or “deceitful” music industry. • The benefits of knowing the BUSINESS side of your passion. • The importance of who is in your circle • Finding the motivation to keep going. . GET SOCIAL WITH MICHAEL T. DOWNING 👉 Website: https://www.kic-backmusic.com/ 👉 Bandcamp: https://thekic-backlounge.bandcamp.com/album/a-chill-in-the-air-chill-lo-fi-originals ____________________________ 💠 The PHILLIP Show is a platform that celebrates YOU!!! From personal stories, shared ideas & inspiration, the goal of the show is to inspire by celebrating the uniqueness of individuals, brands, and businesses. Remember: You’re the best YOU in the world! #BeYou #ThePHILLIPShow LET'S STAY CONNECTED ............................ 🔶 https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillip-o-rourke-38b19267/ 🔶 https://www.instagram.com/philliporourke/ 🔶 https://web.facebook.com/philliporourke 🔶 https://www.tiktok.com/@philliporourke 🔶 https://twitter.com/philliporourke 🔶 https://philliporourke.com/ 🔶 SHOP: https://www.shopphilliporourke.online ............................................................................ #thephillipshow #motivation #inspire #yellow_springs #beyou #entrepreneur #podcast #business #businessowner #founder #phillip #ceo #beyourself #philliporourke #passion #BeYou #ThePHILLIPShow #motivational #motivationalvideo #motivationalspeaker #ohio #successtips #successmotivation #motivational_and_inspirational_video #Authenticity #creativity #interview #inspirationalvideo #changeyourlife #changetheworld #authenticity #phillip

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ricardotomasz · 1 year

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Such is life! Behold, a new Post published on Greater And Grander about Toxic People Aren’t Funny, with Danny McDermott; S2 E25

See into my soul, as a new Post has been published on https://greaterandgrander.com/toxic-people-arent-funny-with-danny-mcdermott-s2-e25

Toxic People Aren’t Funny, with Danny McDermott; S2 E25

After graduating with a BS in Engineering, Danny moved to NYC in the 90's and acted in and produced plays, sketch comedy, and stand up comedy. He became one of the biggest producers of stand up comedy in NYC outside the comedy clubs for 8 years. He had 5 different venues, producing 8 shows a week, and giving away 30 spots a week to comedians. Danny had celebrities such as Jim Gaffigan, Ed Helms, Sarah Silverman, Marc Maron, Bill Burr, and many others come in on a regular basis to headline. He also co-founded the Comedy Soapbox with Steve Hofstetter. Danny was cast in a great deal of theater, appearing in numerous plays and was the lead in six productions off and off off Broadway. He's had a few options on scripts, and moved to LA in 2013 and produced a comedy series that we premiered at the Hollywood Improv called "Who Killed the Bible Salesman", while doing comedy at the clubs and small venues. One of his scripts, a vigilante/horror/comedy, Danny successfully produced a reading with Christopher Titus, Judd Nelson, and Casper Van Dien. There were 18 actors and about 30 audience members.

Check out his new Website & Podcast The DL Show - http://www.thedl.show Follow him on Facebook @dannymcdermottla and @downlowshow

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Credits Include...

Who Killed the Bible Salesman? starring Fred Stoller

The Danny McDermott Show starring Rick Overton

Cross: Rise of the Villains starring James Hong, Eric Roberts, and Danny Trejo

Whiskey God starring Cody Renee Cameron

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Music is Sweet Georgia Brown by Latché Swing.

Episode still image is by Ricardo Tomasz on Greater & Grander.

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isalms · 7 months

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Puzzles and podcasts

An 18 000 piece puzzle takes a long time to complete. As much as I enjoy working on it in silence, sitting down and putting pieces together is prime time for listening to podcasts!

When I opened my Christmas gift from my brother in 2022 I got very excited. Inside I found an 18 000 piece puzzle for myself and my mom to work on. It is slightly bigger than the puzzles we usually do (around 1000-2000 pieces), but we were so excited to start working on it!

In my family, we have been puzzle fanatics for many years, and almost always have a puzzle in the works on our lounge table. For myself, working on a puzzle is almost therapeutic - it's an opportunity for me to shut off my brain and just focus on putting pieces together.

The silence of working on a puzzle does get tiring after a while, which is when I started listening to podcasts while puzzling. I enjoy true crime, and tend to go for this genre when choosing a podcast to listen to. In this post I will be bringing you along my journey of putting together the 18 000 piece puzzle while listening to interesting new podcasts!

30.9 Who Killed Daphne?

I have always enjoyed investigative podcasts, because they feel more in depth and therefore more interesting to me. I found the podcast Who Killed Daphne? on a list for the best investigative true crime podcasts, which instantly peaked my interest. The podcast is about the death of an investigative journalist, which sounded very interesting to me. I was also intrigued to listen to a podcast from Wondery, who seem to have many podcasts in this genre.

And so I started listening to the Who Killed Daphne? podcast, an investigative podcast about the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. She was an anti-corruption activist and reported on political events and corruption in Malta, which ultimately led to her being assassinated in 2017.

Daphne's death led to a collection of journalists from different countries to publish "The Daphne Project", a collaboration to complete the investigative work she was never able to do herself. One of the journalists involved, Stephen Grey, is the host for the podcast.

Over six episodes, the story of Daphne and her reporting, and the work of multiple journalists involved in the Daphne project is told through interviews and stories. The structure of the podcast was easy to follow, and it made me keep listening. I enjoy listening to podcasts, as long as they keep me hooked and aren't too chatty.

One thing I dislike with this podcast in particular is how produced it feels. It uses suspenseful sound effects in an attempt to make certain interviews or stories feel more dramatic, which I personally am not a fan of. I like the story to speak for itself, without extra drama added to the mix. The dramatizing, although bearable in this podcast, makes me hesitant to listen to other podcasts by Wondery.

One thing I found interesting in Who Killed Daphne? was the Maltese accent, which I don't think I have heard much of before. The accent almost reminds me of the Swedish accent, but not the Finn-Swedish one. The podcast also contained other accents when journalists from the UK or France were speaking, but I personally did not find any of the accents or voices difficult to understand.

I did enjoy this podcast, and it helped me finish many parts of the 18 000 piece puzzle. 4/5!

7.11 Sweet Bobby

When I first started looking for investigative podcasts to listen to, the podcast Sweet Bobby caught my eye. The short description of the podcast explained its main plot: A woman got catfished by a man called Bobby for eight years. This was enough to reel me in.

The podcast tells the story of Kirat Assi, a marketer and radio host who lives in London. She was contacted by a man by the name of Bobby in 2009, and the two kept in contact for many years. Eventually Bobby would divorce his wife and confess his feelings for Kirat, and the two began dating online.

Eight year later, however, Kirat found out Bobby was not who he said he was. Bobby was actually played by Kirat's cousin, Simran Bhogal. Well, Bobby is in fact a real person, which Kirat found out in 2018. But that wasn't until she stood outside of his door, faced with the reality that whoever the Bobby she had been talking to for eight years was not the same Bobby that was standing in front of her.

Simran, the cousin, had been using Bobby's name and social media posts to deceive Kirat. What makes this story so interesting is the depth of Simran's catfishing operation. She had created up to 60 characters to play a role in Kirat and Bobby's circle, all used to convince Kirat that Bobby was real. Simran herself was a character in the plot, used as a real life confirmation for Bobby's existence.

Kirat's story is very heartfelt, and listening to her on the podcast made me feel truly sorry for her. I have had my fair share of friendships online, with people I thought I knew before their true identities were revealed. But nothing close to this has ever happened to me.

What drew me in to listening to this podcast was the fact that it was British. The podcast talks to Kirat and her close circle, who are part of the Sikh community, as well as many experts. Everyone who has their voice heard in the podcast has a different accent, which I didn't find difficult to understand.

The podcast itself is hosted by Alexi Mostrous, and it tells Kirat's story in six episodes. I must say, as much as the story is interesting, the podcast felt more like an audiobook. Alexi's role in the story isn't very relevant, as Kirat found out about Bobby three years before the podcast was released. Alexi's role comes through in the last couple of episodes, where he tries to understand Simran's motive, but he doesn't end up getting any more answers than Kirat already had.

The podcast was interesting enough for me to listen through, but it left me wanting more. It was excellent background noise for some puzzling, though, and therefore it was worth it. 2.5/5.

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returntosaturn271995 · 7 months

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Thursday, September 21st, 2023: Blood, Sweat, and Kellogg's

What gets harder to catch the faster you run?

Your breath.

This is what I read on my morning run as I passed the yellow pun house. It's funny because I quite easily ran 25 minutes straight today on top of yesterday's 36 minutes of intervals. I'm on track to hit 50 K this month, which makes me feel like I can actually do this 5 K that's swimming up to me so quickly.

10 things that happened today:

Made a summer vegetable shrimp pasta with pancetta and garlic-herb breadcrumbs while listening to a podcast about Laurie Vallow. Is my love of true crime problematic? Maybe. But I also didn't murder my family for cult money so let's have some perspective here.

Exchanged flirty selfies with Nate (Southwest Flight) and accidentally sent one to Makenna. CRINGE. He sent me one where his abs were glistening but his face was in straight-up pain.

Exchanged texts about Roman Stoics with Nate (Hiatt, Ex boyfriend I'm friendly with)

Emailed my lil booty off for work. Including a very funny wrap up report that acknowledges that today is Earth, Wind, and Fire day. "Do you remember...."

Had a much better mood holy hell. Night/Day. Life is cyclical always.

Lounged around in my red Stanford shirt while watching the new episode of Sex Education

Starting the book, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch for book club

President Biden and the first lady greeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday afternoon for his third visit to the White House.

I'm going to attempt Gau Shang: a traditional Chinese medicine practice in which a tool is used to scrape people's skin in order to produce light "petechiae". We'll see if it ends up just being a traditional Chinese-inspired tool that I spent too much money on because of TikTok.

I continue to be quite good at crosswords. Russell and I continue to duel it out to see who is faster.

ALSO, ROSIE TURNED ONE OH MY GOD I LOVE THAT BABY CHILD. She's so damn chubby with huge eyes, ugh I can't so cute.

Text out of context:

Erin Burks: Forget where I heard this but it’s something along the lines of: It’s a red flag whenever somebody forms their identity around one thing. Nationality, sports team, hobby, religion etc. Dostoyevsky is fucking prolific, but it does take a MINUTE to get through his stuff

Nate Ex: Yeah…it’s definitely a multiple Months read to get through his stuff… Yeah it’s really nice when they are asking the questions because they are seeking the answers rather than trying to drive you to an answer

Erin Burks: And the pursuit of answers is the point

Nate Ex: 💯 agree on the single identity thing…like bro come on Yes..the pursuit of answers is the only reason to ask the questions in the first place. We already know 42 is the answer

Erin Burks: And the answer is always 42

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simul16 · 9 months

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My 2023 Gen Con

If you want to have the most successful GenCon ever, I’m going to reveal the single most valuable thing you can do before you even start packing for your trip. After you found a successful podcast and get booted off by your co-creator over creative differences, whereafter he steals the show, erases you from its history, and runs it into the ground; spitefully start your own gaming blog and Twitter feed. Over the course of several years, build both up and become very successful. Network within the community, befriending other creators, doing guest appearances on podcasts and writing occasional pieces for other blogs. Maybe even do a little freelance work. Once you’re done with that, go to GenCon. It will be awesome. - Scott "The Angry GM" Rehm, "How to Even GenCon: The Complete Noob Guide"

After ripping off the Angry GM's guide to Gen Con and updating it for 2023, I figured I should share my own Gen Con experience, which is very different from the above description. (Note as well that since I discovered that the official spelling of Gen Con is as two words, not one, I will continue to use that spelling throughout this essay.)

Wednesday, August 2

Typically, the Wednesday of Gen Con is a travel day, and 2023 was no different. The biggest difference was that in past years, when I'd go with my friend Senior, we had a deal where he'd arrange the airfare and I'd arrange the hotel accommodations, and whoever got the more expensive option would collect the difference from the other. After a couple of health-related scares, one of which put him into hospital and left him in a coma for two weeks, he's been a lot more conscious of large gatherings, so he hasn't been back to Gen Con since COVID.

That meant that this year, my wife and I were traveling as a party of two, and given how expensive airfare looked to us back in January/February when we were looking into booking the travel, we decided to change up our plan and drive from the Twin Cities of Minnesota to Indianapolis. The most memorable stop we made on the way down was an emergency restroom stop at a gas station in Normal while we were driving through town to avoid freeway construction, but we ended up arriving and getting settled into the hotel in the early evening, leaving us time to pick up our badges and then visit the food court/beer garden to try the official Sun King beer of Gen Con. (We both liked it.)

This would be the appropriate time to reveal that I did not stand in the giant registration pick-up line that ran from nearly one end of the convention center to the other, but have been a VIG for over ten years, and thus was able to collect my badge and tickets in a far smaller line in the VIG Lounge. To me, the benefit of VIG is to remove as many irritations from my Gen Con as possible, and it's still worth the somewhat heavy price tag in order to do that.

Thursday, August 3

The official first day of Gen Con had me itching to visit the Consignment Store, where folks go to get rid of older games and game supplies. The store had moved from its spot across from the Dealer Hall to a designated area within the Indy Downtown Marriott ballrooms, which improved space to the point where they could let 60 people at a time into the room, but I hadn't considered the line to get in would be quite as long as it was -- the store opened at 10am, but with an event scheduled for 11am, I spent as long as I could in line (eventually getting to about 15th or so) before leaving tor the next event.

The next event was trying out the Funko-produced Avatar: the Last Airbender Crossroads of Destiny game. It proved more interesting than I'd anticipated, being a campaign-style game that modeled all of the different encounters in the entire animated series, and though we only played one scenario, we found the gameplay and the idea of stringing together multiple rounds of play into a longer story to be compelling enough to be worth the price tag.

After a lunch break, we headed to the second floor of the ICC for a session of Tales of Xadia: the Dragon Prince RPG. Using the Cortex Prime system, the game was compelling enough when I'd tried it out in 2021 to have picked up the rulebook, but hadn't yet managed to run a session for my wife, so we sat down to play together and had an entertaining time. I found myself pondering adventure structure, and decided that an ideal convention RPG scenario should contain a number of different scenes/encounters that can be connected narratively in whatever way the players prefer -- this lets you as the GM focus on the scene/encounter mechanics, which is where most new players are going to need the most help, while allowing the players to guide/shape the narrative experience to something they're going to enjoy. This is also useful when handing your adventure to multiple GMs in a convention setting, as it allows them to focus their prep-time on mechanics rather than plot -- a significant benefit in a world where some portion of GMs will volunteer to run your games not because they know and understand your game, but because you're the vendor who still has badges and/or hotel rooms to offer in exchange for the help.

We then checked out an area that is definitely not a high-traffic event at Gen Con: the Retro Video Game Arcade. You can buy an hour pass or a day pass and play at a number of refurbished stand-up video game consoles from the coin-op era, or sit down at one of a number of consoles (I believe they were all emulators, but couldn't confirm) complete with a screen with literally dozens of games for each console. We ended up playing Super Mario World on the SNES and our hour flew by. The console games were, of course, hit-and-miss, since the group is a charity that specializes in training students in technical skills by showing them how to refurbish donated consoles (if you want to learn more, check out their website: Video Game Palooza). So they're not going to have every classic stand-up console ever made. Still, it's a worthwhile way to spend an hour or two if you've got the time in your schedule and need something interesting to do but something you can still walk away from to get to the next event.

Originally, I thought I had scheduled our annual True Dungeon run for late morning, but to my chagrin, my wife pointed out that our schedule had our True Dungeon session starting at 11:14pm, not 11:14am. Though it worked out (we slotted in the Crossroads of Destiny event instead), we still needed something to do to kill time before True Dungeon, and we found a nearly ideal event: a session of Disney Villainous also being held in the Lucas Oil Stadium. We had fun, and then moved on to our True Dungeon event.

If you've heard of True Dungeon, nothing I can say will make you more curious about the event. However, given the experiences we've had with True Dungeon in the past, I can say we deliberately targeted the 'intro' event, Barb Beard's Treasure, for a few reasons. Mainly, because it's a bit shorter, and the longer, more involved sessions can get a bit stressful and/or overwhelming, especially if you're in a 'pick up' group with people you don't know. The other main benefit was that we didn't need to bring our own tokens -- in fact, the only tokens allowed in the intro event were the single bag of tokens you receive as part of your entrance fee. This made for a much more entertaining setup phase where even uncommon items can seem very cool if they fit someone's character or build idea. (Oddly, we did have a few more veteran players who were apparently hoping to either acquire or trade for more powerful tokens, but it didn't completely derail our experience.) We made it to the end, collected the treasure, and departed True Dungeon as victorious adventurers before heading back to the hotel to turn in for the night.

Friday, August 4

One thing I was looking forward to at this year's Gen Con were a couple of products being released by Modiphius for their Star Trek Adventures RPG line: specifically the Lower Decks campaign setting and the Captains Log solo play/GM-less play rulebook. Along with those purchases, which we made on Thursday, we ended up signing up for a Star Trek RPG adventure called 'The Fall of the Way', where six different allied ships at the end of the Dominion War seek to root out and apprehend the leaders of The Way, an organization trying to restore the Cardassian military government to power. This might be the one area where my advice above that the ideal convention adventure is a series of mechanical encounters or scenes linked together narratively in whatever way the players like, because in this case, since it's Star Trek, I was expecting to have a few scenes where we could talk about the folly of seeking glory in an imagined fascist past, but they never came. It was still an entertaining scenario, on the whole, not least because I got to command the bulgiest ship in the scenario, a Federation Sovereign-class command cruiser. My main regret is that the only person who might have been more excited to be there than I was (she was even cosplaying as an Orion) ended up getting 'stuck' with the role of Chief Medical Officer, and though I tried to give her some spotlight time by making her the lead officer on the away team in scene 2 of the scenario (and staying back with the ship to ensure I couldn't step on her authority while on the planet's surface), it didn't end up leading to any combat so her character's medical skills were barely called upon in any scene (since scenes 1 and 3 were ship encounters which left the poor medical chief with extremely little to do). In this case, though the 'six tables playing the same scenario' is usually a winning formula, I think this scenario would have been improved by being more crafted for each individual ship and provided crew, even if this didn't let the ships cooperate or coordinate in resolving the mission being played.

Next up, an experiment. I didn't get to experience True Dungeon when it was just starting out, but at this Gen Con, a new event was offered that suggested it would combine something of a True Dungeon adventuring experience with miniature golf. 'Critical Putt' proved to be a bit too ambitious to be really good -- though there were a few interesting encounters/rooms, on the whole there weren't enough support characters to help the players figure out what they were supposed to do in each room, and most frustratingly, there were some rooms where the mini-golf was key to the mechanical 'solution' to the room's encounter and others where the mini-golf was just a distraction or an afterthought. Probably the most jarring inclusion was an occasional 'room' which was just the party facing a computer screen which narrated an encounter -- it wasn't until the last such encounter that we realized that, instead of responding as our characters would and crafting a narrative experience, these were puzzles that were intended to be 'solved' with each character making a specific choice; as such, we didn't really do well in any of them. This is something I'll keep an eye on to see how the event changes, assuming it gets offered again, but I won't feel the need to jump in and grab tickets unless things do change for the better. New events are hard, though, so full props for the attempt -- Gen Con wouldn't be the same without groups like this taking chances and trying new things.

We'd hooked up with a couple of my wife's friends to play Critical Putt, and hung out with them afterward until our next events. Mine was going to be a Hackmaster session -- I'd played though my first ever Hackmaster experience at Gen Con 2021 and was interested enough to want to try more -- but by the time I'd gotten back to my room to wait for the event I realized I was exhausted from the 12-hour drive and two days of events and ended up just heading to bed early that night.

Saturday, August 5

Saturday was our D&D day. Though I've been involved in D&D Adventurer's League in various capacities since the beginning, changes over the past few years have convinced me to step away from the organization, and now Gen Con is just about the only time I (and my wife) get to play 'organized' D&D. Since Baldman Games (the group who runs the D&D Adventurer's League content at Gen Con) has been doing this for a while, we generally feel pretty confident that we'll have a good experience -- we played though the first two sessions of a pre-existing arc, the 'Dreams of the Red Wizards' arc. Our first session was fairly disappointing, though -- we had tickets and were seated with a GM, but my wife and I and our 5th level characters were the only ones at the table. One of the admins fished up another player from another table for us, but he ended up being an optimized 10th level character who used the opportunity to basically steamroll the adventure, robbing it of most of its interest. Our second session, though, continued a curious trend where I've been seated at a table with an Adventurer's League Admin: in 2022, our last session on Saturday night was with Greg Marks, one of the Content Managers for the program, while this year we were seated at a table with Claire Hoffman, veteran designer and admin who has been involved with Organized Play since back in the days of the RPGA with over 25 years of experience. Though we couldn't find tickets for the third session, we were confident we would be able to get in with generic tickets. Sadly, that proved to not be the case, since Baldman simply did not have enough GMs to accommodate us and we ended up spending our generic tickets on another hour in the Retro Video Game Arcade and then having calzones delivered to our hotel. Still a relaxing and rewarding evening.

Sunday, August 6

Our main Sunday event was the Epic related to the Dreams of the Red Wizards adventures we had played (and tried to play) the previous day -- the epic-style adventure setting is still fun, but I've played enough of them at this point to feel as though this particular implementation, with Baldman still short of personnel and the underlying story being less inspiring than in previous years, was merely adequate rather than a true capstone on our Gen Con experience.

We made one final pass though the Dealer Hall, spent way more money than we'd anticipated, including $120 on a copy of D&D Onslaught, a game I'd heard would be a spiritual successor to the old D&D Miniatures Skirmish game that connected me to my current gaming group. We then made one final pass through the food court before packing into the car and heading back home. One advantage of driving rather than flying home: we were able to break up the road trip and make a few more stops on the way back, including at a cheese shop in the Wisconsin Dells that allowed us to set up our dinner for our next Saturday night gaming session very nicely.

So that was Gen Con 2023 -- on the whole a ton of fun and something my wife and I are looking forward to doing again next year!

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