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mistergrass · 3 years

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a dump of podcast thoughts/recs

I have been listening to a whole lot of podcasts in the last month, and so I thought I’d just lay out what I’ve listened to so far and my general thoughts (but I’m not gonna tag any of them because I might get too honest - which means REALLY no one is gonna care about this lmao)

I would also love some recs for both fiction and non-fiction if anyone’s got any!

Fiction:

The Magnus Archives - This is, unsurprisingly, my top top recommendation for podcasts. The story being told is so intricate and well thought-out. I love pieces of media where I can turn my brain off and trust that the creators know exactly what they’re doing. And I love anything that knows its intent from episode 1. I think I could go on for ages praising this podcast, but tldr;

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

The Penumbra Podcast (Junoverse) - I am not a fan of high fantasy, which is the main reason I haven’t listened to Second Citadel (other than the one-off eps in s1), so I’ll just focus on the Juno Steel stories. But I listened to this after catching up with TMA because so many people seemed to recommend it. Because of that, I think I might have gone into it with slightly higher-than-necessary expectations....

Here are things I like about it: the environment is well sound-scaped (especially in later eps), the universe is really cool and fun to learn about, and the romantic subplot between Juno and Peter really is a great time.

That being said, I can get a little frustrated with the writing at times. Story beats are sometimes paced oddly, and at other times the narration can over-explain what’s going on -- especially wrt character emotions. S2 I think is the biggest culprit of this “tell don’t show” method, and it can expand to hurt the individual mysteries and the set-up of the metaplot, too. Overall, S2 was a real dredge to get through. (But credit where credit is due, Juno Steel and The Monster’s Reflection were incredibly crafted episodes of that season).

But it was worth it to me for S3, which is a fun vibe and shifts from focusing on individual mysteries to character explorations in a found-family dynamic. The real strength of this podcast are the unique and engaging characters and their dynamics (which is why when Juno isolates himself in S2, it gets kind of dull). It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely been a very entertaining season.

Uhhhh, kind of recommend? Maybe only if you’re really into the noir/sci-fi/detective genre.

Death by Dying - The worst thing about this podcast is that there’s only five episodes. Oh my GOD what a gem of a show. The deadpan, absurdist humor in this show is so insanely up my alley and so well-written. But one thing I love about this podcast is that even in five episodes with a format that is mostly obituary-of-the-week, the emotional arcs of the characters are really well-maintained. Charolette, in particular, is a tragic character to follow through the MC’s eyes, but in a way that makes total sense considering the situation. This show is so clever, so fun, and finds ways to be really poignant at times, too.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Two Princes - I know I said I don’t like high fantasy, but I’m also gay and sometimes that just beats out. Who doesn’t like a light, fluffy story about two princes falling in love in some perilous magic forest? It’s a gas. Also, it’s just really well-produced and an easy listen. You very much get what’s on the tin, and that tin is some high-quality and very tasty cheese.

RECOMMEND

Limetown - God, I’m so upset about this one.

The first season is a masterpiece. WONDERFULLY produced, beautifully sound-scaped, insanely intriguing and engaging, along with a wonderful MC who is far from perfect in her endeavor for forbidden knowledge. I don’t think I can recommend it enough.

The second season... is fine! You still want to know what’s going on, so it’s easy to keep listening. But, tbh, it takes a bit of an odd turn. I don’t want to spoil it too much, but I would’ve been okay with the shift in direction if it was leading somewhere satisfying. But the S2 finale is... well. Choices were made, I guess. I’ll just say that I was really cheated out of an emotional pay-off.

If there was a promise of a 3rd season that would explain these things in more depth, I might let it off. But it looks like the production team is shifting its focus to the TV series being made out of this. I might watch it -- but I am worried now that they won’t know how to land the plane no matter how smooth the take-off is.

Despite everything, RECOMMEND

Archive 81 - (I have only finished through S2)

My feelings on this show is that I do not have the auditory processing skills required to keep up, lmao. But I don’t think I can really hold that against this podcast. This show doesn’t hold the audience’s hands, which is something I actually really like (even if I do get lost sometimes in what’s happening, lmao). This is obviously another case of the creators knowing EXACTLY where they’re going in the story, too. I also don’t think I’ve heard any other podcast with sound-scaping at this level. The biggest themes of this show are sound and ritual, and itreally follows through on that wrt how the sound is edited. The vibe of it is so mysterious and unique, it does such a good job of making you feel like you’re in a totally different world.

RECOMMEND

Wooden Overcoats - (I have only finished through S1)

This show definitely has a Fawlty Towers feel to it, and the humor is very fast-paced and British in that very specific UK-sitcom way. Because of that the humor is very dry, but definitely fun to listen to. And the characters are a real hysterical bunch.

My biggest critique, however, is that sometimes the episodes end in a way that feels like a big bummer. British sitcoms of this nature usually hinge upon an incompetent/anti-hero MC who tends to deserve the different comical misfortunes that fall upon them. Usually they get up afterwards, having learned nothing, and the cycle continues in a harmless way. But sometimes that vibe doesn’t really hit, and a few episodes will end with these big tonal shifts where the schadenfreude ends up drying out. You sort of just end up feeling bad for everyone involved instead lol. It’s what has me hesitating going into the next season, but I’ll definitely start it up eventually. It’s well produced, and honestly the characters are just too fun to keep away from (Antigone in particular is my favorite).

If you like British sitcoms, I’d recommend. Or if you’re looking for a cynical laugh.

Other podcasts I’ve started are EOS 10, and Dreamboy. I really didn’t like the first episode of Dreamboy, but I’m gonna give it another try since it’s so short. EOS 10 seems well-produced, but not really up my personal alley.

Non-Fiction

I’m not gonna give these ones as long of blurbs, just know I recommend them all highly.

You Must Remember This - Old Hollywood history that is wonderfully researched, and focuses a lot on women of the time. The recounting of these histories feels very honest and she really doesn’t pull any punches when giving detailed and accurate accounts. A truly wonderful show.

Welcome to Your Fantasy - A deep dive on the history of Chippendales that is WILDLY entertaining. I sort of can’t believe I got as sucked in as I did. The host has a wonderful humor about her, but is still great at getting to the heart of some of the heavier issues at hand.

Last Podcast on the Left - My favorite true crime/conspiracy podcast by a long mile. It’s equally hilarious and well-researched. I know a lot of people are kind of anti-true crime lately which is very understandable, but I do appreciate each of the host’s personal philosophies on the matter, which I think comes through in a lot of their episodes.

#I really hope this doesn't end up in any of the tags somehow lmao #I just wanted to vomit my thoughts out a little #and despite anything I say I love all of these creators and am very appreciative for the effort they put into their shows

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brachylagus-fandom · 4 years

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So You Wanna Know Where Exaggerations of Necessary and Virtuous Functions is Going

I know I haven’t updated in almost a year (not for lack of effort, words have just... been hard), but I do actually have a decent idea where this is going. Notes, quotes, and spoilers under the cut!

Next chapter: speedrun to Halloween. Harry tries to break into the forbidden corridor, backs off when he sees Fluffy, and ends up saving Ron and Hermione. (This is about half-written, but I don’t want to post is until at least one more is also done, so... ideally September 1?)

Rest of the year, Harry: Harry falls off his broom (because snape’s gone); goes home for christmas, where the cloak is given a much more mischievous purpose; sees Otto & co as well as bio fam in Erised; figures out someone is out to get the stone but tells no one; saves stone, etc.

Rest of the year, Otto: mild hijinks + discovering magic with the gang; Overlord Protocol is pretty similar to canon (robots are vulnerable to magic? contessa’s part veela?)

Second year: Otto and Harry know he’s a parselmouth but don’t know what that means; they all discover that Mitchell is Laura’s mom

Third year: HOPE’s quest against GLOVE is tied to the hunt for Sirius Black; their knowledge of magic is... debatable.

Debating having Regulus Black on the Megalodon. (Which, given that the gang’s contact with magical Britain is a muggleborn who fought in the first wizarding war... that should be fun.)

Fourth year: tournament and Rogue/Zero Hour! Excellent angst!

It was an unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon when there was a knock on the Brands' door. Frowning, Andrew rose to get it, only to be faced by a pair of men in dark, inconspicuous suits.

"We are here to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Brand," the taller man, whose hair was cut brutally short, said in what was a passable attempt at a Received Pronunciation accent… if said person attempting it weren't British.

"Mary kept her maiden name," Andrew said, "but that's us. Mare-bear, we have company!" he called.

"We do? I thought Andromeda wasn't going to visit for another - oh, hello sirs." Mary, who had quickly stashed her wand in one of her apron's pockets and was hastily shoving something that looked like tentacula roots (they really needed to get a new, separate grater for potions ingredients; anything that went through that was going to taste weirdly spicy for at least a couple days) into the silverware drawer, wiped her hands on a dishrag. "I was just baking some scones," and, indeed, the smell of fresh baked goods was now permeating the air. "Would you like to join us for some tea?"

"That will be unnecessary, Mrs. Brand," the shorter man, who had a nasty scar through his left eyebrow said as his partner said, "yes, please, ma'am." The shorter man glared at him before briefly flashing an official-looking badge and continuing. "I'm afraid this isn't a social call; we need to speak with you urgently."

"What is this about, officers?" Mary asked.

"We're assigned to the Sirius Black case," one of the visitors said; Andrew froze. They weren't connected to Black unless the officers knew about magic, and if they did, he and Mary wouldn't be at the top of their interview list. "You knew him, correct?"

"Not well," Mary said. "I was good friends with his cousin Andromeda - she was sort of a mentor to me - but I met him… twice, I think? At a few weddings. I hadn't thought of him in years until, well, you know." Abruptly, a timer in the kitchen went off; the visitors naturally glanced towards it, and Mary quickly whipped out her wand and stunned them while they were distracted.

"Andrew, I think we still have a vial of Veritaserum in the medicine cabinet," she said. "Next to the cough syrup."

"I'll fetch it." Andrew quickly rose and grabbed the bottle while his wife checked the curtains were closed and secured the visitors. "The shorter one?"

"Yeah. He seemed in charge." Carefully, Andrew poured a drop into the shorter man's mouth - it took much less to work on (or to poison) Muggles than wizards - and, after a moment for the potion to take effect, Mary enervated him.

"Wha-"

"Why did you come here?" Mary asked.

"To assess and potentially arrest the couple." The man's attempt and an English, accent was gone, replaced by something vaguely American.

"Why are the couple?"

"Mary and Andrew Brand."

"Why assess them?"

"Known contact with Maximilian Nero," the man said, "and suspected association with Sirius Black."

"Under what charges would they have been arrested?"

"Conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism and aiding and abetting a wanted felon."

"What would have happened then?"

"They would have disappeared into H.O.P.E's system."

"Is H.O.P.E. who you work for?"

"Yes." Andrew glanced and Mary, who nodded.

"Obliviate," Mary whispered, then, in a much more normal tone of voice. "You realized that your identification of Maximilian Nero as having had contact with the couple was incorrect and left. You believe Mary and Andrew Brand pose little threat to your organization." The man nodded, and Mary repeated the procedure on his partner before enervating him and saying in a sugary sweet tone, "is that all sirs?" Still decidedly dazed, the men stood up and left the house. As their vehicle (an SUV with darkly tinted windows, incredibly stereotypical for a secret agent getup) drove away, Andrew let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.

"That was close."

"Yeah."

"Think it has something to do with Laura?"

"Probably."

"Think she's safe?"

"Safe enough. Want me to owl Andi for the next time they show up?"

"Definitely."

Laura’s parents get kidnapped during the fourth year summer; we discover this because Douglas apparates/is sent to her.

The gang had claimed one of the tables next to Block Six's waterfall and were planning out strategies for the Hunt/in the midst of a study session when there was a loud crack and Otto's head exploded in pain. As other students looked around for the source of what sounded like a gunshot, saw the group, and deliberately looked elsewhere, Laura put her arms around the (thankfully not crying) toddler that had appeared in her lap. Otto dug around in his bag for asprin.

"Who's the kid?"

"My little brother, I think, but - apparition with accidental magic is extremely rare, and never more than a few meters." Laura, features unusually pale, started trembling. "I think we need to talk to Dr. Nero."

after that... lots of chaos, I think.

The Glasshouse has Death Eater/Grindelwald connections.

Nero’s probably still in denial about magic.

#exaggerations of necessary and virtuous functions #envf update #harry potter #h.i.v.e.#fic talk

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skippyv20 · 5 years

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Amazing! Thank you😁❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Paintings with intriguing & secret symbols & messages

In times past, when people were forbidden to express their opinion or beliefs publicly, or it was considered rude to let your true feelings be known, a painting or a sculpture was a suitable medium in which an artist could hide a message.

Many of these messages were often political, moral, or based on religious allegories. However, some of them had a purely amusing character – the artist’s way of having some fun and leaving his personal mark on the canvas. All throughout history, especially in the middle ages and the Renaissance, famous artists have placed hidden meanings within their works of art. Here is a selection of some of the most intriguing hidden messages in a collection of paintings from the rich history of art.

Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper

Leonardo da Vinci – The Last Supper (1498)‍

Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper is one of his most discussed works of art amongst conspiracy theorists who regularly find hidden codes in his work. It turns out that the “Last Supper” is full of secret codes and meanings. We’re not talking here about the cryptograms that, according to Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code, hold the secrets of Jesus’s later life, or about the allegations that a hidden mathematical and astrological code within the painting reveals the day when the end of the world will begin (which, by the way, is March 21, 4006).

Along with all of the codes, Leonardo seems to have left us some music too – something like a graphic representation of the sounds of his age. At first glance, the way the bread rolls are scattered across the table don’t appear to reveal anything mysterious, and you’d have to spend a lot of time and imaginative energy on them to come up with anything approaching a hidden message.

However, several years ago, an Italian computer technician called Giovanni Maria Pala did exactly this and found something fascinating – a music sheet left by Da Vinci himself. If the five lines of a musical staff are drawn on the table of the Last Supper, then each bread roll in combination with the hands of the Apostles corresponds with a certain musical note.

When the notes are read from right to left (the way Da Vinci wrote), the combination of notes transforms into a 40-second long composition that sounds like a requiem. Of course, there is always a chance that this is pure coincidence, but the fact is the compositions sound very harmonious when played. Researchers also know that besides being a painter, Da Vinci was also an excellent musician and inventor.

Michelangelo, Separation of Light from Darkness, the Sistine, Chapel Ceiling

This next secret message appears in the work of another Renaissance artist, a famous contemporary of Da Vinci called Michelangelo. Among his most notable pieces of art is his massive painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This huge masterpiece is divided into nine segments, and each of them tells a different story from the Book of Genesis.

Michelangelo was obviously a genius and a true renaissance man: a painter, a sculptor, an architect, and, among other things, an expert in human anatomy. We know this because of his sculptures and because he managed to hide a few anatomical elements in his paintings. As a young man, Michelangelo used to dissect corpses from the graveyard, and during this rather gruesome period in his life, he learned a lot about the human body.

The “Separation of Light from Darkness” segment on the Sistine Chapel ceiling

Besides the notes he made, he hid parts of his knowledge in some of the segments on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. For example, if we take a careful look at the segment called “Separation of Light from Darkness” we see that the neck and chin of God resembles the image of a human brain.

So why did Michelangelo hide anatomical sketches inside his art? More and more theorists believe that this was Michelangelo’s protest against the church’s refusal to accept scientific fact.

Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, the Sistine, Chapel Ceiling

It seems like Michelangelo was fascinated by the human brain. In another popular segment of his masterpiece on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he inserted another image of the brain. We’ve all seen the painting known as “The Creation of Adam” at one point or another. After all, it’s one of the most replicated religious paintings of all time.

God, carried by twelve figures, stretches his hand and nearly touches the hand of Adam, transmitting to him the spark of life. At first, we think that the whole composition is merely an allegory of the relationship between man and God, but some experts analyzed the painting and noticed that God and the twelve figures are pictured against a swirling cloak which closely resembles the structure of the human brain.

The “Creation of Adam” segment on the Sistine Chapel ceiling

This cannot be a simple coincidence because Michelangelo even managed to depict some of the more complex brain parts, such as the cerebellum, optic chiasm, and pituitary gland. For example, the figure beneath God, wearing a green scarf, is an almost perfect representation of the vertebral artery.

Vincent Van Gogh, Cafe terrace at night

When we look at “Cafe Terrace at Night,” considered as one of Van Gogh’s most valuable paintings, his mesmerizing brush movements, and choice of beautiful, vibrant colors are the first things that catches the eye. The scene is fairly simple – it’s night, and a bunch of people are having a drink at the half-empty cafe. But it turns out that there is more to the painting than this pleasant street scene. Many art researchers believe that Van Gogh actually created his own portrayal of the Last Supper with this painting.

Those who support this theory explain that the possibility of this painting being a depiction of the Last Supper is strong. After all, Van Gogh was the son of a Protestant minister and was very religious himself. So where is the evidence for this theory? We all know that Jesus had his Last Supper together with his twelve disciples. Exactly twelve people are sitting at the cafe in Van Gogh’s painting, all of them centered around a long-haired figure that is either their waiter or Jesus himself. To make the theory more believable, there are several hidden crosses scattered around the composition, one of which is above the Christ-like figure.

Café Terrace at Night (1888)

Van Gogh never spoke about this painting having any religious symbolism, although, in one letter to his brother Theo, he writes the following: “That doesn’t stop me having a terrible need for – dare I say the word – for religion. So I go outside at night to paint the stars, and I always dream a painting like that with a group of living figures of the pals.”

Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa

Steeped in mystery, this enigmatic masterpiece has been baffling researchers and art historians for centuries. Now Italian scholars have added another layer of intrigue by announcing that Da Vinci left a series of very small letters and numbers. Viewed under a microscope, it’s possible to make out the letters LV in Mona Lisa’s right eye.

There are some more symbols in her left eye, but not as visible as the others. They resemble the letters CE, or the letter B.

The arch of the bridge in the background of the painting has an inscription that is either the number 72 or the letter L and the number 2. Behind the painting, there is the number 149 and a fourth number in the sequence that is erased.

Mona Lisa

Researchers speculate that this was probably the year when the painting was made (when Da Vinci was in Milan during the 1490s). What these numbers and letters really stand for is something that only Da Vinci knew.

Sandro Botticelli, Primavera

This Botticelli masterpiece has a lot to offer the curious eyes of those who indulge in the searching of hidden symbols and meaning in artworks.

The origin of the painting is a little bit unclear. It was either commissioned by Lorenzo de’ Medici, or it may have been commissioned somewhat later by his cousin, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici. Either way and perhaps more importantly, it was created in the court of one of the most progressive families of the time.

The painting, which is full of characters from Roman mythology, is according to scholars (Cunningham and Reich) an “elaborate mythological allegory of the burgeoning fertility of the world.” Besides this obvious mythical explanation and representation of Springtime, there are many interpretations of the scene depicted in the painting. Some people think that it provides clues to a plot against the Medici family and some who think that it is connected with the Pagan Renaissance Revival and Neoplatonic philosophy.

Marsilio Ficino, who spoke about this idea, was Florence’s foremost philosopher. He believed that man possessed a spark of divinity, which contrasted with the medieval view of man’s guilt and culpability.

This is probably why the painting looks like a 1960s hippie gathering. Besides all the controversy, there is something else that makes it very special – the painting is a botanical heaven. In the imaginary meadow depicted in Primavera (Spring), Botticelli painted an astonishing number of plants with an amazing degree of detail.

Botticelli’s Primavera

According to botanists that did research on the painting, there are at least 500 individual plants that can be classified as over 200 different species. One theory suggests that they are all the plants that grew around Florence during springtime in the 15th century.

Giorgione, The tempest

In Giorgione’s “The Tempest,” we see two figures, one male, and the other female. They are both outside the walls of an unknown city, and it looks like a storm is coming.

The painting looks very simple and straightforward, but throughout the years, many scholars have analyzed it and tried to find the best interpretation. The young man standing on the right has been described as a soldier, shepherd, gypsy, or young aristocrat. The woman, sitting opposite him, is either a gypsy, a prostitute, Eve, or Mary, mother of Jesus, on the Flight into Egypt. There is also a stork on one of the rooftops, which according to some is a symbol of the love of the parents for their children.

The Tempest (c. 1508)

Everything around seems to be silent, in expectation of the upcoming storm. According to an Italian scholar called Salvatore Settis, the city in the background is a representation of Paradise, while the two characters are Adam and Eve with their son Cain. In ancient Greek and Hebrew mythology, the lightning in the sky is a representation of God.

Settis thinks that the painting shows the moment when God chased Adam and Eve from Eden. This is just one of the explanations of “The Tempest,” a painting that many scholars consider as one of the most enigmatic works of art. Some go so far as to believe that it is haunted by the spirit of its author who resides inside of it.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Netherlandish proverbs

There is nothing mysterious within this painting made by Pieter Bruegel, the Elder, but still, it is no less interesting than the others mentioned above. “Netherlandish Proverbs” can be described as a massive literal interpretation of proverbs found in the Dutch language. Bruegel managed to paint a huge number of proverbs that were popular in his time.

In the whole scene, researchers managed to identify around 112 Proverbs, but there are very likely more than that which are either unexplainable from our perspective or really well hidden.

A picture is worth a thousand words…

If you take a moment and look at the painting, you will notice that there are a few proverbs that are still in use today, proverbs such as: “swimming against the tide,” “the big fish eats the little fish,” “banging one’s head against a brick wall,” and “armed to the teeth.”

Hieronymus Bosch, The garden of earthly delights

A detail from Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights” third segment that shows the music sheet printed on a sinner’s butt

The work of Hieronymus Bosch is famous for its fantastic imagery, detailed landscapes, and illustrations of religious concepts and narratives. Bosch was a master in depicting the grotesque. Every single Bosch painting looks like a massive hidden object game made to test your ability to notice small details.

Among all the amusing objects and situations that one can see in one of Bosch’s paintings, three years ago, a blogger called Amelia posted on her Tumblr account saying that she had found some hidden musical notes in one of his paintings. While she and her friend were looking at Hieronymus Bosch’s triptych called The Garden of Earthly Delights, they noticed something very amusing in the last segment which is a representation of hell. There was some sheet music printed or “tattooed” on the butt of one of the characters condemned to be tortured in Hell. Very soon, played versions of the “Sinner’s Hymn” appeared across the internet.

Caravaggio, Bacchus

Caravaggio’s Bacchus is one of his most acclaimed paintings. Today it can be seen hanging in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery. The painting, made in 1595, shows the Roman god Bacchus (Dionysus) while he enjoys himself, drinking a glass of wine and inviting the viewer to join him.

The whole setting looks pretty ordinary, with nothing more to tell than the obvious: come and join me for a drink; but eight years ago, a group of experts using a modern technology called reflectography, managed to see something peculiar inside the carafe of wine sitting in the bottom left corner. Caravaggio made a portrait of himself inside the bottle!

Caravaggio’s Bacchus

The portrait, which appears in the reflection of light on the surface of the wine, shows him at the age of 25, with dark curly hair, holding a paint brush and working at an easel.

The tiny portrait was first spotted in 1922 when a restorer cleaned the canvas. It was revealed under the centuries of grime that was covering this old painting. Because of the poor restoration process, the image became gradually darker and darker until it disappeared. Thanks to modern technology we are now able to see Caravaggio’s amusing depiction of himself again.

Rembrandt’s mirrors

Rembrandt is famous for his use of light, and while many other artists of the time used light in a similar manner, none of them could capture the beauty that Rembrandt put on the canvas. Over the years, Rembrandt’s techniques have been uncovered based on details in his paintings.

To create almost photographic accuracy, Rembrandt manipulated his surroundings using mirrors and lighting, much like many photographers use today. For his self-portraits, Rembrandt used a complex series of flat and concave mirrors along with projectors like the camera obscura to get the closest possible likeness. During his lifetime, Rembrandt never revealed his technique, and it wasn’t until art historians tried out the mirror system did they discover the secret to his greatness.

Michelangelo’s Arthritis

Michelangelo lived to the extraordinary age of 89 and died in 1564, and signs showed that despite his continued efforts, he struggled with an illness common in older people today: osteoarthritis.

In the years before his death, Michelangelo stopped signing his own name to paintings, depending on others to do so. He also stopped painting in any form, turning rather to the hammer and chisel to create art.

In letters to his nephew, Michelangelo complained of “gout” and stiffness in his hands. At the time, gout was a term for discomfort in virtually any joints in the body, but Michelangelo specifically mentions his hands as being in pain. Portraits of Michelangelo in old age show hands that are quite similar to those of modern-day arthritis sufferers.

Bacchus’s Jaundice

In 1592, the famous painter Caravaggio arrived in Rome and began living there, but he became extremely ill and was forced to stay at the Santa Maria della Consolazione for six months. There, he began his famous painting Self Portrait as Sick Bacchus or Bacchino Malato. The skin of Bacchus is yellow, a symptom of jaundice, for which Caravaggio was being hospitalized at the time.

Bacchus, according to Roman mythology, was the god of wine. Seeing that symptoms of chronic alcoholics included jaundice, Caravaggio considered himself the most accurate model for the alcoholic god. Caravaggio’s use of his own suffering to portray Bacchus dying from his drinking shows the devotion and connection the artist felt for his work.

Picasso’s Man in the blue room

Picasso painted The Blue Room in 1901 during his distinctive Blue Period. At the time, Picasso was incredibly poor and depressed. Using blue pigments, he expressed his melancholic state, but The Blue Room has always fascinated historians because of the strange brushstrokes used.

When examined by infrared technology, a mysterious man was found. Beneath the painting, there is an image of man wearing a bow tie. We have no idea who he was and why Picasso painted him. It is possible that the man could have been Ambroise Vollard, a Parisian art dealer who gave Picasso his first exhibition. All we know is that Picasso couldn’t afford canvasses, so he was most likely working on the picture of the bow-tie man when he received the inspiration to paint the The Blue Room and decided to paint over the unfinished portrait.

Starry Night‘s turbulence

One of Van Gogh’s most distinct artworks is Starry Night, which he painted in 1889 while committed to a mental asylum. This was during one of Van Gogh’s worst psychotic episodes, but from this, he created an artwork that, not known until now, contained a scientific fact not discovered until the 1940s long after his death.

Turbulence and the turbulent flow has been said to be harder to describe than quantum mechanics, but in Starry Night, he actually depicted perfect turbulence. Other paintings during his time at the asylum also depict perfect turbulence, which has led researchers to believe that during his times of mental instability, he somehow had the ability to see and paint turbulence decades before it was first described.

Monet’s cataracts

One of the hallmarks of Impressionism is hazy and blurry paintings quite different from the realism in centuries past. One of the main artists of the Impressionist movement was Claude Monet, but Monet’s paintings became progressively fuzzier as years past and the colors began to dull. This deterioration in his art can be explained by cataracts that increasingly afflicted him as he grew older.

From the late 1880s to 1923, his cataracts both obscured his eyesight and blurred colors. This is most evident in two paintings from 1922: The Japanese Bridges, where Monet used unusually striking colors. This was during the worst of Monet’s cataract woes, and he may have painted from memory, overcompensating certain colors and shades in his attempt to paint accurately.

In 1923, Monet finally agreed to surgery and burned many of his old paintings because he realized how awful his eyesight was. These, however, survive as a testament to his decades of suffering.

Goya and Joseph Bonaparte

In 1823, The Spanish artist Goya painted the portrait of Don Ramon Satue, a Spanish Supreme Court judge. Beneath the portrait, however, possibly lies a figure far more important and even infamous in Spanish history: Joseph Bonaparte, the brother of the French emperor Napoleon. Joseph Bonaparte was briefly appointed king of Spain by his brother and ruled from 1809 to 1813.

X-rays used on the panting revealed the figure and found the medals and the uniform he wore. He was obviously an important man because he wore medals linked to an order created by Bonaparte. The portrait was painted sometime during Bonaparte’s reign as king, and Goya took great pains to conceal it.

Goya survived many of the political upheavals in Spain throughout the early 1800s and after Napoleonic forces withdrew from the country, and by 1820, it would have been dangerous from Goya to have anything associated with the regime. Thus, he covered up the portrait with that of Don Ramon Satue, and his secret was hidden for the next 200 years.

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sleepingsun-m · 6 years

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VLD & MUSE songs | for Klance, Sheith, Lotor, Shiro and (almost) every ship or character!

There are a lot of VLD-related Muse songs, take this list and thank me later

Muse is my favorite band, I really love their music and their topics, atmospheres and issues, that are mostly focused on: Universe & exploration, Aliens, Conspiracy theories, Brainwashing & mind-control, War, Apocalypse, Revolt against every kind of oppression; but also introspective themes like Inner issues, Hidden love, Pining, Unrequited love, Sexual tension... You can see for yourself that all are very relatable to many of the VLD canon and fanon themes!

I’m a huge Klance shipper, so most of the songs made me think of them, but obviously you can read any songs in any way you like! I’ve to say I had fun and felt a multi-shipper thrill at playing with other pairings, HAHA.

Here’s my list, the songs are grouped by Character, Group of characters or Ship; I tried to describe each song with some key words to express the single vibe they gave to me. There’s a YT link to song+lyrics for each of them. I hope this can inspire you, your headcanons, your art or your fics.

Enjoy! ♥

KLANCE

Bliss - [Keith to Lance, Eagerness] (x)

Unintended - [Mutual, maybe more Keith, Slow burn, Bittersweetness] (x)

Undisclosed Desires - [Lance to Keith/Mutual, Pining, Eagerness, Sexual tension] (x)

Madness - [Keith to Lance mostly, Slow burn, Fluff] (x)

Cave - [Keith to Lance, Pining, Teenage storm, Sexual tension] (x)

Time is running out - [Lance to Keith, maybe mutual, Pining, Sexual tension] (x)

Ashamed - [Lance to Keith, Sexual tension] (x)

Hysteria - [Lance to Keith, Sexual tension, Teenage storm, Smut] (x)

Supermassive black hole - [Keith to Lance, Pining, Sexual tension] (x)

Sing for absolution - [Lance to Keith, Pining Lance, Post-kiss, Angst, Guilt] (x)

Endlessly - [Mutual, Pining, Angst, Bittersweetness] (x)

Falling away with you - [Mutual, Hidden relation, Post-war, Bittersweetness] (x)

Soaked - [Mutual, Bittersweetness] (x)

Aftermath - [Keith to Lance, Post-war, Inner peace] (x)

SHEITH

Starlight - [Mutual, Parting, Bittersweetness, Solid relationship] (x)

Guiding Light - [Keith to Shiro, Angst] (x)

Follow me - [Broganes, Shiro to Keith, Protection] (x)

Dead Inside - [Keith to Kuron, Angst, Smut] (x)

HIDGE

Explorers - [Curiosity, Land, Growth, Technology] (x)

ALLURANCE

I belong to you / Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix - [Lance to Allura, Flirting, Fluff, Unrequited love] (x)

LOTURA

Resistance - [Mutual, Forbidden love, War] (x)

Save me - [Lotor to Allura] (x)

SHIRO

The Handler - [Shiro/Kuron to Haggar, Kidnap, Trauma, Inner Crisis, Awakening] (x)

Mercy - [Shiro and Haggar, Brainwashing, Kidnap, Trauma] (x)

Psycho - [Haggar to Shiro, Kuron, Brainwashing, Kidnap] (x)

Micro Cuts - [Shiro, Haggar, Mind control, Pain] (x)

ALLURA

Glorious - [Higher knowledge, Divine] (x)

LANCE

Survival - [Self-improvement] (x)

LOTOR

Showbiz - [Lotor to Zarkon, Father issues, Anger] (x)

Hate this and I'll love you - [Lotor to Zarkon, Father issues] (x)

The Globalist - [a little Lotura, Inner Crisis, Epic, Post-war, Post-apocalyptic, Lack of love] (x)

ALFOR & ZARKON

Falling down - [Zarkon to Alfor, War, Taking different paths, Angst] (x)

Big Freeze - [Alfor to Zarkon, Angst] (x)

HONERVA-HAGGAR & ZARKON

Animals - [Honerva/Haggar centered, Greed] (x)

Take a Bow - [Zarkon-centered] (x)

KEITH & KROLIA

Overdue - [Keith to Krolia, Abandonement issue, Angst] (x)

PALADINS, COALITION, REBEL FORCES

Apocalypse Please - [War, Fightin, Struggle] (x)

Butterflies & Hurricanes - [War, Fightin, Struggle] (x)

Defector - [Zarkon’s Empire, Revolt, Winning] (x)

Invincible - [Multiple pairings, Bond, Union] (x)

That’s all, feel free to add your own! c:

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agrestenoir · 7 years

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Miraculous Ladybug and Voltron Roles (and everything after)

So the Miraculous crew get flung into space riding on a Blue Lion, crossing the universe to a mysterious Castle, and into a war that spans millennia—a war they never knew about. Here’s what happened next.

· Tikki (Princess Allura) and Plagg (Coran) have the most powerful weapon in the universe at their fingers, but it’s not their destiny to wield it. Luckily, five teenage pilots unintentionally stumble through their front door, awaken them from a 10,000 year nap, and proceed to shake the very foundations of space and time. Tikki, connected to the Lions and has a strong bond with quintessence itself, knows exactly where each pilot will thrive, eventually growing into the Paladins the universe needs.

· Marinette is the Black Lion, the head of Voltron. She’s a tricky one—impulsive and trusts her instincts—nearly a good fit for the Red Lion, but she’s exactly the strategic, decisive head that Voltron needs. She’s meant to be leader—and it’ll be a journey to reach her full potential—but that’s part of the fun anyway. (She’s exactly where Keith would be at the end of Season 2 of Voltron in Shiro’s absence, which makes it all the more fun).

· Chloe is the Red Lion, a supernova that burns bright. Temperamental at the worst of times, passionate at best—she’s a spitfire intent on raging into the world like a shooting star. Only she can tame the Red Lion, and once she has her hands on the controls, there’s nothing stopping her in the heat of battle. But she has a lot to grow before she comes into her role as Paladin, from spoiled Princess of the Garrison to a Paladin of Volron—but only time can tell what the future has in store for her.

· Alya is the Green Lion, as the tech-savy journalist of the group. Whether she’s chasing a story or a conspiracy, she’s got the highly inquisitive mind and the daring nature that the Green Lion embodies. Always hunting for answers, going out of her way for the truth, a thirst for knowledge that burns deep—it’s why her and Green have one of the tightest bonds of the bunch. She’s a natural born Paladin, and that’s just what the universe needs.

· Adrien is the Yellow Lion, with his sunshine smile and sparkling eyes. He’s always been quick to raise his friends up, supporting them and defending them when the need calls. The Yellow Lion holds the armor and defense to protect its team, and Adrien wouldn’t think twice before throwing himself in front of a shot to protect anyone he cares about. With the strongest and most resilient Lion, Adrien always answers the call of duty and does whatever it takes to protect the team.

· Nino is the Blue Lion without question. The Blue Lion is the most open of the Voltron lions—friendliest and most accepting, just like Nino. The boy who took a chance to see the real Adrien behind the “famous model” mask, and welcomed him into a friendship with open arms, it’s no wonder the Blue Lion did the same for Nino. He flows like water—easy going and adaptable, with the confidence to muster nearly any situation—and is truly the heart of Voltron. Open and honest, Nino fits the key ingredients to pilot the Blue Lion.

· The Paladins accept their duties after a stunning and deadly battle that nearly destroyed the Arusian homeworld, knowing that to step away might sentence Earth to the same devastation the Galra spread to numerous other planets, the same that cost Tikki and Plagg their people, their planet, and everyone they loved. It’s hard though, as Earth was their home and their families remain behind, with questions unanswered and no bodies to bury.

· Marinette misses home the most deeply—she aches for it like a missing limb. With only her mother and father, their little family was a close-knit one, and the fact that she can’t go back—may never go back, though no one will ever say it out loud—hurts her more than any of Tikki’s wild training exercises. She’ll stand in the control room, watching the star map twist planets and stars around one another in a celestial dance, a soft blue glow painted over her face, with a small frown as the only sign that something deeply troubles her. She’ll never tell the team, except for maybe Alya. She already struggles with being their leader, and one more chink in her armor might give Chloe the chance to make a crater.

· Adrien’s job is to be a rock. It’s what his Lion stands for, and it’s a duty he takes pride in. Whether he’s protecting his teammates or acting as their crutch, he’s always by their side as an ever-present guard. Outside of battle, it’s even more clear—especially with Marinette. He supports her in her journey to become the leader that Voltron needs. In moments of hesitance and fear, he places a hand on her to offer her stability in the tremulous world they’ve been through in. Outside of Alya, he’s her closest friend. From Adrien, a few words of kindness are all his friends need to curb their worries, fears and insecurities, and any general sadness that might tinge their smiles. He’s the perfect picture of steady and sturdy, but even the rock can have its cracks.

· Adrien’s story was written in tragedy. It happened a year before, when Adrien was a blossoming young pilot under the Garrison’s eyes, son of the man who would fly the Earth to the farthest reaches of its solar system. Gabriel Agreste and a team of scientists led by Adrien’s mother were assigned the Kerberos mission, the most famous man-driven missions of the Galaxy Garrison, until an incident occurred, and the crew went missing. The Garrison passed the disappearance off as a pilot error, but Adrien, who had learned to pilot under his father’s watchful eye, knew that his father wouldn’t have made a rookie mistake and crashed a ship into a moon. Alya swears the Garrison was covering up the truth behind his parents’ death, but right now, Adrien believes more than anything that his parents would find a way to survive. So, while he’s flying in space with magical robot lion, he’s on the search for answers amidst the stars.

· Alya’s got her eyes on the prize—looking for answers to the truths the Garrison tried to hide. This villain they’re facing, the Emperor Hawkmoth of the Galran race, wants Voltron for a reason, and she knows she’s seen him mentioned once or twice in the Garrison’s database. Tikki and Plagg have never heard of Earth before, but the Blue Lion was on Earth in the first place. There’s something going on here, and she’s determined to discover the secrets the universe has tried to hide—especially the truth about her mother’s demise and whether the Kerberos crew she was on really did die on a backwater moon of Pluto.

· Alya spends most of her time immersing in Altean culture in the Castle of Lion’s library. There’s so much to learn about, whether it’s the history of the Voltron lions or how exactly the Blue Lion ended up on Earth and who King Fu (King Alfor) was. Tikki and Plagg are mum when it comes to history, and Alya’s always had a curious streak that might kill her (and Nino who she always manages to drag along). And if her and Nino lose track of time in the dark corner of the library, where a musty smell of age-old books tickles their noses, the rest of the team doesn’t really question it. If anything, at least the two Paladins are growing closer.

· Nino’s just along for the ride. Spotting Chloe sneaking Adrien out of the Garrison, who was he to let his best buddy be smuggled away in the middle of the night? Course, Alya and Marinette had to be dragged along if Adrien and Nino were involved, if only to protect them all from Chloe’s unique brand of sufferance. In the heat of the moment, only Marinette could knock Chloe down a few pegs, which Chloe could fire right back. Nino, on the other hand, melted into the group like water, filling their spaces and cracks like an ebbing tide that can be tugged in any direction based on whichever moon in his system pulls the strongest. Accepting and open to nearly anyone, he trusts the most and holds the others in the highest regard—he is truly the heart of the team. He’s the only one who sees Adrien’s cracks, who can keep up with Alya’s ideas, who can bridge the divide between Chloe and Marinette, and who can keep Voltron together on the worst of days. Without him, things might just fall apart.

· Chloe only meant to show Adrien the weird carvings of lions she’d stumbled upon one day while exploring a group of caves her father, as Director of the Garrison, had declared as forbidden territory. It’s dangerous, he’d told her, but since when had her father’s words ever stopped her? Normally she could wrap the man around her little finger, but when it came to her safety, her father wouldn’t move an inch. Naturally, Chloe pushed him off the edge entirely and molded her own path. There was something calling to her when she was out there, something that needed to be found, and Adrien was into the whole conspiracy shit in the first place, so of course she’d show him her discovery. What she hadn’t expected was for the Nerd Herd to come along—that never ended well. And she was right. She meant to show her closest friend some weird cave drawings, and the next thing she knew, they were hurtling across the stars in a magical robot lion. What’s a girl to do?

· (Getting the Red Lion was a surprise to everyone—including Chloe. She’s not the type to rely on instincts, skill, etc—she was only in the pilot class because she knew her way around a stick and her father was easy to please. But the more time she spends in Red’s cockpit, with the controls in her sweaty palms, chest heaving as she pulls up from a dive… The more she realizes, she was born to fly. She was born to be here—to sit with an old soul who’s just as passionate and fiery as herself. There’s something to be said, Chloe believes, that she feels more alive in space where she has literally nothing, versus back on Earth where she had everything.)

· They’re a mismatched batch of kids, pilots pulled from Earth in a jaw-dropping, heart-throbbing whirlwind through a wormhole, but… It’s funny, how well they mesh together. It surprises Tikki and Plagg sometimes, who watch with wide eyes as they execute training drills and mission-ready exercises. By all accounts, they should be divided—they’re children pulled into a war they didn’t know about—children who haven’t embraced their roles as Paladins, their bonds with their Lions, or their relations with each other.

· Marinette and Chloe have butt heads from the beginning. Marinette will NEVER be Chloe’s leader, her superior, or commander, and Marinette will never become friends with Chloe Bourgeois, but these two simple facts prevent them from forming Voltron. Reluctant acceptance would probably best define their relationship—or a necessary evil. But as they form Voltron and take on the Galran forces, it becomes something else entirely. Lke fire and ice, they contrast each other so drastically that Tikki expects one of them to spontaneous combust one of these days, but somehow Marinette and Chloe have found a way to make it work. With Marinette’s strategic thinking and Chloe’s cutthroat tactics, they make the perfect team in combat and on missions. (Though, if Marinette shows even an ounce of weakness, Chloe will strike, and Marinette is always quick to rise to bait). A toxic potion indeed, one might assume, but one that cancels out the poison to become an antidote entirely.

· Slowly but surely, they’re coming together. They still have a long way to go—a lot to grow into—but Tikki and Plagg are certain that they can save the universe. Whether it’s the mystery of the Agreste family, the truth behind Hawkmoth, the childish bickering or saving the universe in general—Voltron can overcome anything.

· It’s just gonna take some time—and a wild ride to survive.

#voltron #miraculous ladybug #voltron au #my posts #miraculous #my fic

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doedipus · 7 years

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LP D&D: It’s Getting Boring by the Sea

It’s finally time for the party to attend the dinner party at Lord Heir’s estate, where they’ve heard rumors that there may be an attempt on John Merrow, the Visible Lord of Waterdeep’s life. Failure to protect him would mean that the city-state would fall completely into the hands of the Anonymous Lords, many of whom had already been swayed by the Sisters of the Night. The gang must work quickly to unravel the conspiracy before it’s too late!

Content under the break.

Trouble at the Mister Mister //A brothel by the harbor in Waterdeep

While Graham was visiting the brothel, his father wanders in out of nowhere

Mr. Broyer is perplexed

“Esmeralda is my friend,” explained the Graham

“Sh-she works here... as a dancer, I think”

Sir Huey, who was supposed to be engaged to (deadname), is also there, and is generally confused.

They want Graham to come back to the estate they’ve been staying at

Grandchildren

Marry Huey

Go back with mother

Condescension and misgendering abound

Jake wants to pause

But there is no pause in d&d

Mr. Broyer finds out that Graham is using his late brother’s name, and is infuriated

He attempts to flip the table and bolt for the door

The family is blocking the door

Graham bungles the table flip

Mr. Broyer attempts to restrain Graham, but he shoulder checks his father, knocking the old man over

He escapes the building, and runs through the streets of Waterdeep

House Broyer chases Graham through the city

Graham is surprisingly nimble, and navigates the goods in the street easily

Some cargo is strewn about the road, and Graham misty steps over it

He tries to hide in Lupe’s hangar //In the gang’s desperate struggle to derive utility from the semi-tame wyvern, they set her up in a warehouse with a receding roof.

Successfully

House Broyer runs past the warehouse, losing Graham

Lupe is nonplussed by his intrusion

She needs her beauty sleep, yo

Lupe happens to have tongues on her from last session //Phrasing!

A “moment” occurs between Graham and Lupe

Graham fills Lupe in on what’s just happened

His explanation rambles a bit

It’s basically his whole life story

...but Lupe went back to sleep

Graham falls asleep on top of Lupe

He dreams of his father’s words, his mother turning into a snake, and the skyline of Calimport

The next morning

Lucas teleports onto the ship

Greg says he was worried

Lucas is a wreck after the incident in Proskur

They go to their room below decks

Lucas tells Greg everything

Gandalf turned out to be a necromancer

He was “experimenting” on the locals

He had to die

Lucas and a friend were able to kill the wizard, but the friend died

When she died, Lucas absorbed her soul

Multiclassing, folks!

Lucas says the “L” word //“Lesbian?” “No, Scott.” “...Lesbians?”

Greg and Lucas make out

Lucas says they’ll get married after they take back Beydale //An inland duchy Greg is the heir to.

Greg seems pleased with this development

The two can rule Beydale

Greg wants to use the party as a platform to raise support for the reconquista of Beydale

Lucas gives Greg the raven statuette //I forget what the significance of this is

The planeswalkers return from Sigil

Without tote bags! What even was the point??

Coy realizes that world geometry makes sense again, kisses the ground

Escrima wants to give “baby girl Coy” a piggyback ride

But Coy wants to get down

Coy wanders off

They remember that they’re missing some party members, and head towards the ship

They pass by Lupe’s hangar, waking up Graham

Graham sees the party, and Coy’s tits

He kisses Coy’s hand

Coy is flustered

Max is also flustered

Coy tries to explain that she’s Coy, but Graham isn’t having it

But eventually, he recognizes her

Graham is confused

“I’m a paladin”

“Esmeralda is my friend”

Escrima sort of explains what happened with Narcovi

Escrima shows Graham his new tramp stamp

It was an ode to mother

Sometimes, Escrima doesn’t feel like he has a body.

Something possesses Graham to try and hug Escrima

...Who is entirely uncomfortable

Graham realizes that Coy transitioned, suddenly

“Coy, you cut your hair!”

“Where did you get... those..?”

Coy explains that she was transformed in a “flesh carving” shop in Sigil

Graham is curious about how to get there

The gang reminds him about the portal in Neverwinter

Everyone’s exhausted, and they head back to the Tavern Estate

Graham is trying reeeeally hard not to stare at Coy’s breasts

Shopping ensues

Coy needs to fix her order with the armorer, and the gang heads to the market district

The Planeswalkers run into Lucas and Greg, who were out buying clothes for the party

Lucas doesn’t recognize Coy

Coy introduces herself, but Lucas doesn’t believe that it’s her

She has big boobs. Coy does not have big boobs

Lucas tries to ask her a question that only she would know the answer to

Coy answers correctly, convincing Lucas of her identity

Lucas realizes that Coy was on the receiving end of a high level spell

He looks around in the book on 9th level spells for an idea of what it was

He takes some brain damage from reading forbidden knowledge

The spell is in there somewhere, but he can’t understand the words

Coy explains everything again

“YOU WENT TO SIGIL WITHOUT ME AGAIN??? MY ADVENTURE SUCKED!”

The gears in Lucas’ head start turning at the mention of that kind of power

He would never turn Coy into a kaiju for fun and profit.

Coy playfully punches Lucas’s shoulder, specifically the one that just got blown to bits

Lucas gets a good enough suit from a good enough shop

Coy goes looking for a dress, but she can’t find exactly what she wants

She gets something anyway, I think (?)

Coy goes to the armorer to be remeasured

It’s gonna take a couple hours and a few more gold.

They arrive back at the estate //Rocky generously allowed the party to stay at a pretty nice mansion in town while we were in the city

Coy wants to know about Akim

The butler is a little confused, but Coy explains herself again

Akim is in Coy’s room

Coy worries about what Akim will think

She goes to visit Akim

But falls asleep instantly

Lucas accidentally calls Jeeves a bartender, and he is indignant

Rolen gives Jeeves some of the wyvern venom, and asks him to sell it

Escrima goes to sleep by the pond

Everyone else goes to sleep in their bed, like normal people

During his trance, Rolen notices that something is trying to get out of his stomach

It has 8 legs

He concentrates real hard, and it goes away

Rolen gets up before everyone else, because elf

He does something clandestine

Graham grows personally to catch up with everyone else

Rolen reveals that he went out in the night to get a cake and some things for Escrima

The whole lobby of the mansion is decorated

There’s 3 gifts by the cake

Bald head shine oil

Deck of cards from calimport

The bestiary

Rolen and everyone sings “Happy Birthday”

Escrima is confused

Rolen explains that it’s for mothers’ day

He figured that since Escrima was interested in Lupe, he should have some animal handling supplies

Rolen becomes inspired!

The cake gives the gang advantage against fear

Escrima is confused, but pleased

Akim stumbles in

“Oh, there’s cake!”

He’s not used to nice beds... or beds at all, really

He wants to know where Coy is

Coy hides behind Graham

Lucas attempts to explain things

Akim doesn’t care as long as Coy still loves him

Tbh the meme of “what’ll the kids think?” is the dumbest thing. It’s the adults that are the problem.

Coy is nervous about being a teen parent

The party is in 2 hours

Coy picks up her armor

Graham picks up Esmeralda

Esmeralda is working a customer when he gets there

Graham awkwardly asks if she can go to the party

She’s reluctant after the fit that was pitched last night

He gives her some cash, and she agrees to go

Lucas & Greg “prepare” for the party

Lucas applies mage armor to the both of them

The gang picks up their stuff from the tailor

The stuff there gives a +1 to CHA

Neverwinter styles rock, apparently

The merchant wants some of the fabric that Connie’s dress is made of

She says that all attendees need to make a donation to the sisters to enter

Escrima goes to Lupe’s Hangar

Escrima uses beast speech to talk to Lupe

Lupe confers that it will protect the party

...but Escrima forgot to unchain her

Connie disguises herself as a noble-looking human //Specifically, a different one than the last time she ran into the Sisters

They reach the entrance

Inventories are reduced

Coy is wearing some kinda armor, because she’s too good for the dress Connie got her in Sigil

The guards don’t care anyway

Plebs!

The gang flashes their invitations

It’s 100 gp per person to enter

The highest donation gets to chill with Elsa and Lord Heir

Greg talk about Beydale with some nobles

The town of MossStone was destroyed recently, which worries Lucas

His brother lived there

Greg mentions his quest

But the nobles aren’t having it

The sisters have told the nobles that they’ll take care of the hordes in the south

Greg blows his stack

The nobles tell them to cool it

Lucas yanks Greg away, and tells him that the nobles might not be worth it.

He tries to console him. The gang can handle anything the sisters can throw at them

...But it’s still not an army

One of the nobles has a sisters of the night logo

Sister Melina

The gang wanders around

Coy runs into that guy he stole the pendant from

But the guy doesn’t notice the pendant around her neck

Coy enters one of the buildings

A handful of sisters are milling about

Lord Heir is there, talking about how great the sisters are //The Sisters were calling themselves the “Sisters of Dawn,” and trying to act like humanitarians or something. The city apparently believed them, and allowed them to park airships above the city for some reason.

Coy has an idea. Oh no!

The players tell Max to not get them all arrested

She checks to see if Hier is married

There’s no ring there...

She tries to awkwardly hit on Hier

Hier introduces some of his bros

He talks about how he met the sisters of the night

Connie and Rolen try to save Merrow

Connie uses sending to tell him that his life might be in danger

Merrow tells her to meet him in a shed on the edge of the estate

The pair start heading over

Graham bumps into Merrow on the way over

Merrow says that he’d seen the rest of House Broyer at the party

Graham tries to brag about Esmeralda

But Merrow’s having none of it

Esmeralda remarks that she knows a lot of people at the party

She’s had a “professional” relationship with Merrow in the past

Somehow Graham is oblivious to all the innuendo being thrown around

Some bard intercepts Graham and Esmeralda

He says some absurd limerick

Graham is amused by his jokes

Merrow, Connie, and Rolen meet in the shed

They try to be stealthy, but the door is real squeaky

He deduces the pair works for Rocky

Rolen explains the theory about the assassination attempt

Merrow tells the pair that he isn’t in more danger than usual

He wants to gather information at the party

Merrow wants to raise a levy to reconquer the south

Rolen gives Merrow a death ward, and leaves

At this point, Kim had to leave to yell at kids for 3 hours, and the session ended prematurely.

Escrima is nervous about all the socializing, and does some people watching

A waiter offers him a drink

Escrima wants to know if there are any ponds

There aren’t, but there’s a fountain

It has frogs in it

Escrima heads for the pond

Escrima gets to the pond

There’s a jester/bard there, hyucking it up

Escrima asks if he “can see the ripples in the sky make it boom boom”

Jester hands him a frog, and turns it into a rabbit

Escrima is nonplussed

Escrima really wants the boom boom

Jester appeases him with some fireworks

“You need to pacify the people,” he asks the jester

Escrima wants the jester to gtfo of the fountain so he can drink

He has to make a CON saving throw

It doesn’t sit well, and he pukes his guts out

The noblery leave in disgust

Jester is pissed, that was a lot of tip money

Rolen and Connie discuss plans

They decide they want to try and get into the VIP table

Escrima can use suggestion, maybe

Failing that, they’re pretty loaded

Rolen goes to find Escrima, and Connie tails Merrow

Rolen goes looking for Escrima

He’s not by the gates anymore, but the guards know who he’s looking for

Rolen goes to the pond

The jester is mad

Rolen eggs him on a bit

Jester wants to do something really amazing

He turns Escrima into a dragon briefly

Jester gets a lot of tips

Rolen points out that they’re probably even at this point

Rolen tries to explain that Connie wants to talk to him

“Carry me!”

Mother hasn’t been contacting Escrima recently, and he’s distraught

“Oh nevermind, where’s Constanza?”

A noblewoman tries to distract Connie, but she isn't having it

Merrow is talking with a knight and a sister

Connie tells Merrow to watch his ass

Merrow invites her over

Knight is a sheriff of Waterdeep

Sister is Sister Sasha

Greg is dejected about the nobles sandbagging his reconquista

Lucas is worried for his safety

Greg wants to talk to Merrow

He doesn’t want to stay away from the sisters, because-

FUCK YOU LUCAS YOU’RE NOT MY REAL MOM

Rich reminds JP that Greg was the one who was worried about the sisters

Greg starts to agree with Lucas

It’s possible that he’s connected to Amarak somehow //Amarak was an ancient kingdom that occupied most of the Sword Coast. She previously repelled an earlier uprising by the Sisters.

Sister Melina approaches Lucas

She reminds him that Elsa doesn’t like him very much, and not to cause any trouble

Lucas gets his edge on

It’s best if nobody causes trouble

Lucas talks to greg about how his brother might be dead

A bard approaches Graham and Esmeralda

He tells the most lewd poem he could think of, at Esmeralda’s expense

Graham and the bard bicker about whether Esmeralda is a lady or a whore

Esmeralda is angry Graham didn’t just glass him

Graham reminds her that it would ruin the entire party

OH SHIT COY’S STILL IN THE BALLROOM

Hier talks about how Merrow has been blocking the sisters from

“Do I have to make a CON save to not fall asleep?”

WAITWAITWAIT NO

But JP moves forward with it

She falls asleep for a bit

Hier asks her name

Coy can’t think of a new name on the spot

Hier assumes she’s just smashed

Hier invites her to the most prestigious of places to bang: the utility closet

In his own damned house

5 minutes later, the two head to the closet

Coy wants to hold hands, but Hier tells her to not make things conspicuous

Coy and Hier move to his study

Hier locks the doors behind them

Coy notices that Hier looks a bit like her dad

“A fat, bald Danny DeVito”

Hier’s getting all handsy

Coy asks if he owns the airship

Proposes they bang on the ship

Hier says that there’s no time

“Watchu doin’, Coy?”

AAAAAAAUGH

“HE’S MOVING FOR HIS PANTS, COY”

Coy uses the potion of invisibility, confusing Hier

She jumps to the ceiling to try and hang onto the rafters

Hier wonders if he’s hallucinated the whole scenario

Coy says that the sisters are not to be trusted

Hier still can’t find her. He leaves the room, and locks several door behind him on the way out

Coy attempts to investigate, but the dice aren’t having it

There’s a letter from Elsa about murdering Merrow and putting Hier in control

The sisters want his army, and for him to sign a non-aggression pact

Make Waterdeep great again!

There’s some heavy armor in there too, and it looks enchanted

“I’m gonna take it.”

Rich suggests a “bra of holding”

Merrow introduces Vigo and Sasha to the other party members

Lucas is obviously not enjoying the party

Greg introduces himself to Merrow

Lucas glares at Sasha

Sasha appears to be salivating a bit

Lucas calls her out, and she leaves

Merrow seems interested in helping

But his hands are a bit tied

If Beydale becomes a vassal of Waterdeep, he’ll help

Greg doesn’t know what to say

Merrow mentions that Waterdeep thinks of Beydale as being fairly insignificant

Lucas mentions the possible assassination attempt again

He lends Merrow his bird //Lucas has a raven as a familiar. It’s named “Siegfried”

It’s totes fashionable

Lucas asks Vigo about his brother //A Military officer

Drow sacked Mossstone

Vigo says that he’ll try and look his name up tomorrow

Merrow confirms that house Broyer is at the table

Merrow is friendly with Esmeralda of course

“Esmeralda is my friend”

“She’s friends with a lot of people”

“Well, you can never have too many friends.”

After much bickering, the party decides that-

Escrima accidentally says something about the blueblood virgins or something out loud //Part of the lore the party picked up in the Candlekeep basement archives. It implies that Greg and Beydale are lore-important

Lucas & Greg, Connie & Graham shell out to go to the table

Graham leaves Esmeralda with Rolen and Escrima while he goes to the table

He wants her to make sure they’re “happy and satisfied”

Greg and Lucas make out, attracting a passing fujoshi

Lucas glares at her

OH YOU MUST BE THE SEME THEN LOL XD XD XD XD

Esmeralda manages to get a few more GP out of Graham

Esmeralda encounters Escrima

Escrima doesn’t like to be touched

He’s not into lovemaking

...though who knows where he heard that language from

A waiter tells the gang that the VIP dinner is starting

Lucas tells Connie that he’s not feeling very social, and she may need to smooth things over for him

He briefly considers using minor illusion to obscure his face, but everyone knows him already

“We’ll wing it, it’ll be great” -Rich

Rolen attempts some infiltration

He tries to explore the kitchen, but a guard says no

Coy is still stuck in Hier’s study

Hier left the window open

Coy climbs out the window, and closes the window behind her

Graham notices that Osric and Viper are already in the main room //His parents. Viper is not actually his mother’s name, she’s just an asshole.

Coy sneaks into the main room

A butler asks who he should announce as the gang as they enter

The players are confused

They settle on “Sir Graham Broyer and Lady of Athkatla Constanza de Catarina”

...and guest

That damned vampire is here //One of the nobles was revealed to be a vampire during that abandoned plotline

Coy slips the letter into Merrow’s pocket

Coy and Merrow’s pocket OTP

Graham and Connie enter the dining hall

House Broyer is pissed

Viper begins drinking. It’s not known if she will ever stop //She doesn’t.

Coy uncloaks in the middle of the room, and insists that she follow Lucas

Elsa brings up that she was a captive on the gang’s ship wayyyy back in session 1 or something

Graham corrects her. They saved her ass, tbh

Viper drinks more

“Ladies shouldn’t talk politics.”

Graham gets in a weird argument withe Viper

She drops the G-bomb //Graham’s deadname starts with “G”

Viper complains about Graham’s company

Lucas is not in the mood for little digs

Graham wants to know about Elsa’s mission

She spins the same yarn we’ve been hearing all night

But that’s not good enough

Coy mage hands Merrow in the pocket with the letter

Elsa has trouble providing detail

Merrow reads the letter.

Rolen & co. continue their exterior collisions matrix of the house

Escrima gets a guard to vacate his post with suggestion

They enter the pleb’s dining hall

Escrima asks Greg if he wants to go looking for treasure

Rolen attempts to freeze-break the lock on Hier’s room

It is pulverized

They investigate, but the dice are pissed tonight, and they find nothing

Hier asks Merrow to help the sisters

Vampire brown noses for no reason

Graham drops the name “sisters of the night”

Lucas notices that the waiters have been super quiet

He asks one of they speak common

Hier says they shouldn’t talk to the lower class

The servant attempts to leave quietly

Connie calls Viper a Viper

Osric and Viper attempt to leave, but Hier stops them

There’s some kind of magic in the servants

Merrow brings up the letter

Coy reveals that she found the note in Hier office

And also that he tried to rape her

The servants were Gnolls all along!

They sneak attack everyone

Battle against Elsa, Melina and their Gnoll henchmen

The gang is caught off guard

Connie casts evard’s black tentacles, restraining several of the gnolls

Lucas begins bladesinging

Lucas uses hypnotic pattern on the other gnolls, incapacitating several of them

Coy stabs the gnoll behind her

And by “stab,” I mean “instantly beheads”

At this point, Rolen, Escrima, and the others realize there’s a problem

There’s some gnolls wrestling with the tentacles in the other end of the hall

They head towards the dining hall

Elsa attempts to send to someone, but Lucas stops her

Elsa swears like a sailor

Vampire turns into a bat, and flies to the giant chandelier

A guard runs over and tries to attack one of the gnolls

But misses twice

A gnoll stabs Viper for not much damage

Connie spends inspiration to not lose concentration on her spell

Connie gets a solid shot off on Elsa

The tentacles gib one of the gnolls

Lucas misty steps to Elsa, and tries to stab her, but misses

Lucas spends inspiration to land a second stab, dealing heavy damage

Coy bounds across the table, landing next to Elsa

She misses her slash with the odachi

Rolen continues running towards the dining hall

Escrima runs into a sister on the way over

Blight turns her into mush

Mother compliments his handiwork

Elsa tries to run through the window

Coy gets an attack, but she misses

Lucas’ booming blade deals some damage

She takes fall damage

She tries to turn a guard on the party, but fails miserably

The tentacles finish off the other 3 gnolls on their side of the room

Graham jumps out the window after Elsa, landing two deadly blows

“I spared you once, and it was a huge mistake.”

He runs her through. The holy damage causes her to explode into bright lights and viscera

Sister Elsa of the Night is killed.

The guard next to Elsa and Graham attempts to attack the gnoll next to her, but misses twice

The guard in the dining room attacks a gnoll with a crit

Greg congratulates Escrima on his last turn

The sister by Connie tries to send a message, and Lucas stops her

She runs away, giving Connie an attack of opportunity

Connie grabs a kitchen knife off the table and stabs her in the neck, killing her

Viper continues to drink heavily

A few sisters attack Rolen in the hall

Lucas reminds Viper that the party is saving her ass

Viper continues to drink heavily

He gibs a gnoll, and reminds her again

Coy polymorphs into a bat, and chases vampire man

Rolen fights off the sisters in the hall

The sending appears to have alerted the airship

The ship blasts the roof off the dining hall

Lord Osric Broyer of Sorabia is killed in the impact

Viper is understandably distraught

The folks at the Mister Mister will probably send flowers

Escrima casts eldritch blast on the sisters in the hall

The bolts fly out the door behind them

Escrima panics a bit

A gnoll stabs Connie

The gnolls on the other side of the wall escape the tentacles, finally

Graham beats one of the gnolls that was trapped in the tentacles half to death

Merrow shivs a gnoll from across the table

Greg runs away, using his action to disengage

All magic seems to get sucked out of the building

We had to roll damage anyway. Spooky!

Rolen puts the hurt on the hallway sisters with spirit guardian

Lucas identifies the magic sucking device as being a spellskite

It’s a monster that eats spells. Eating enough makes it explode or something

Escrima wants to lick the sack

Coy continues to chase vampire man and evade more cannon fire

She picks some locks upstairs

Rolen regroups with Escrima

Vigo flees the manor like a huge yellow coward

The npcs in the room jump out the window

Lots of nobles have been gibbed

The airship fires another volley, and the shot lands in the great hall

Escrima bolts for the door, and spots the gnoll woman

The gnoll woman dumps a cloud kill on most of the party

Viper breaks the news of Osric’s death to Graham

Graham severely wounds one of the gnolls next to him

Connie screams for help and bolts for the window.

Lucas runs away from the fart gas, and to the window Connie jumped out of

Coy attempts to climb a ladder to the airship, but falls to the ground in front of the mansion

Rolen nearly dies in the fart gas

He heals himself and tries to flee with Greg

The airship fires another volley, and the shot lands in the great hall again

Escrima ducks into a coat closet and gives himself an HP buff

The gnoll woman goes looking for him

He closed the door behind him, but gnolls have a strong sense of smell

She KNOWS where he is

She casts blight!

Escrima fails his throw, barely hanging on //“JUST END ME” -Rap

Mother won’t let him die just yet

The gnolls in the alley attack Graham

They beat him half to death

Viper chides him for being in a bad spot

Graham kills the two gnolls easily

Greg hides in Hier’s rape study

A sister runs into the alley looking for Elsa, but realizes she’s dead as a doornail

Coy repositions herself in the courtyard, and spots the spellskite

She decides to try and climb the rope to the airship

...but then JP reminds her that she has the teleportation hat

She teleports to the other end of the rope, and climbs aboard

There’s a few dozen soldiers on board. How fun! //”‘A few dozen’ = 300″ -Rich “Okay, several dozen!” -Kim

Another volley from the ship gibs a bunch of civilians

Escrima attempts to smash through a wall, but he fails

He runs away, and uses his pact weapon to bar a door behind him

The priestess uses acid splash on the door, and it dissolves the door

“The Graham train is gonna do something!”

The Graham train wants to smash a wall to get to Escrima, but can’t tell which part of the wall escrima is behind

He gets lucky and smashes the right wall

Graham makes a kool-aid man noise as he smashes the wall

Connie ushers Viper and Hier through an open window

Mind the tentacles!

Connie takes a swig of Viper’s wine

They move through the building towards the front hall

The remaining sister leaves the alleyway, and calls to the gnoll woman to bail

Lucas jumps out the window into the alley, taking a crit from one of the gnolls on the way out

Merrow follows him

Coy tries to intimidate the soldiers on the ship

Predictably, it doesn’t work very well

JP didn’t expect Coy to try and board the airship

She teleports to the balloon and starts cutting the ropes attaching it to the ship

The ship is off balance, and lurches around unevenly

Rolen runs to the front door, and is confused about the plan

The gnoll woman conjures a pair of hyenas next to her and misty steps away

The gnolls in the dining hall burst out the window and chase lucas down the alley

The Graham train attacks the hyenas, wounding one of them

Graham and Lucas decide they should just leave

The gnoll woman and the remaining sister teleport away

The hyenas attack Graham

Lucas reactivates bladesinging, and heals Graham a bit

He remembers that if he says “explosion,” people will run faster

Coy does a really cool ninja move, and cuts through one of the ropes and part of the balloon

The ship is hanging by one rope, but is vertical. The soldiers fall onto the mansion from about 300 feet up

An orc splats in front of Lucas

Luckily, none of the party members gets hit by the falling soldiers

Coy becomes inspired!

Escrima manages to scare one of the hyenas away

Graham kills a hyena, but his sword is really wedged in its corpse

Connie catches up to Rolen, and asks for first aid

The remaining hyena disappears

Coy attempts to grab the remaining rope, but fails

She teleports next to Connie

...But lands next to Lucas, about 15 feet off the mark

Lucas wants to know if the airship was Coy’s fault

Of course it was. Why wouldn’t it be?

The spellskite ceases to exist, since the gnoll woman fell off the airship.

Apparently, she summoned it

The ship crashes through the northeastern quadrant of the mansion, obliterating the structure

The force of the blast pushes everyone out of the front door

Combat ends

WHAT A GREAT PARTY GUYS

The gang curses out Hier

Merrow agrees to help reconquer Beydale

Lucas realizes Greg is still alive, and gives him a big hug. Aww.

Coy points out that they just barely saved Waterdeep from total destruction

The second airship sails away

The braindead guards finally open the damn gates

#personal growth

#Let's play #dungeons and dragons #d&d #d&d 5e

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Top New Fantasy Books July 2020

The Book of Dragons: An Anthology by Jonathan Strahan

Type: Anthology Publisher: Harper Voyager Release date: July 7

Den of Geek says: I’m always looking for a good book about dragons, and this incredible list of authors promises adventurous and unique stories. Anne Leckie, Zen Cho, Seanan Maguire, J.Y. Yang, Patricia A McKillip, Brooke Bolander … it’s an astounding, literary-flavored list of people qualified to write cool creatures.

Publisher’s summary: Here there be dragons . . .

From China to Europe, Africa to North America, dragons have long captured our imagination in myth and legend. Whether they are rampaging beasts awaiting a brave hero to slay or benevolent sages who have much to teach humanity, dragons are intrinsically connected to stories of creation, adventure, and struggle beloved for generations.

Bringing together nearly thirty stories and poems from some of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers working today— Garth Nix, Scott Lynch, R.F. Kuang, Ann Leckie & Rachel Swirsky, Daniel Abraham, Peter S. Beagle, Beth Cato, Zen Cho, C. S. E Cooney, Aliette de Bodard, Amal El-Mohtar, Kate Elliott, Theodora Goss, Ellen Klages, Ken Liu, Seanan Maguire, Patricia A McKillip, K. J. Parker, Kelly Robson, Michael Swanwick, Jo Walton, Elle Katharine White, Jane Yolen, Kelly Barnhill, Brooke Bolander, Sarah Gailey, and J. Y. Yang—and illustrated by award-nominated artist Rovina Cai with black-and-white line drawings specific to each entry throughout, this extraordinary collection vividly breathes fire and life into one of our most captivating and feared magical creatures as never before and is sure to become a treasured keepsake for fans of fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales.

Buy The Book of Dragons by Jonathan Strahan on Amazon.

Or What You Will by Joe Walton

Type: Novel Publisher: Tor Books Release date: July 7

Den of Geek says: Jo Walton is a writer’s writer, highly praised but still generally skating under the radar. I found her 2014 My Real Children to not nearly live up to its very high concept, but she’s one of those authors with technical prowess who is at least worth checking out for context for women’s science fiction. The metafiction plot sounds fun.

Publisher’s summary: He has been too many things to count. He has been a dragon with a boy on his back. He has been a scholar, a warrior, a lover, and a thief. He has been dream and dreamer. He has been a god.

But “he” is in fact nothing more than a spark of idea, a character in the mind of Sylvia Harrison, 73, award-winning author of thirty novels over forty years. He has played a part in most of those novels, and in the recesses of her mind, Sylvia has conversed with him for years.

But Sylvia won’t live forever, any more than any human does. And he’s trapped inside her cave of bone, her hollow of skull. When she dies, so will he.

Now Sylvia is starting a new novel, a fantasy for adult readers, set in Thalia, the Florence-resembling imaginary city that was the setting for a successful YA trilogy she published decades before. Of course he’s got a part in it. But he also has a notion. He thinks he knows how he and Sylvia can step off the wheel of mortality altogether. All he has to do is convince her.

Buy Or What You Will by Jo Walton on Amazon.

The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal

Type: Graphic Novel Publisher: First Second Release date: July 14

Den of Geek says: The Adventure Zone is a wildly popular humorous fantasy podcast. It’s part of the big 2010s wave of Dungeons & Dragons coming back into the geek space. Especially for someone who might not want to listen to hundreds of episodes of a podcast, the illustrated version does a good job of smoothing out the story into a graphic novel format without removing the goofy chaos of the original podcast.

Publisher’s summary: START YOUR ENGINES, friends, Clint McElroy and sons Griffin, Justin, and Travis hit the road again with Taako, Magnus and Merle, the beloved agents of chaos from the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novels illustrated by Carey Pietsch, The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins and The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited.

Our boys have gone full-time at the Bureau of Balance, and their next assignment is a real thorny one: apprehending The Raven, a master thief who’s tapped into the power of a Grand Relic to ransack the city of Goldcliff. Local life-saver Lieutenant Hurley pulls them out of the woods, only to throw them headlong into the world of battle wagon racing, Goldcliff’s favorite high-stakes low-legality sport and The Raven’s chosen battlefield. Will the boys and Hurley be able to reclaim the Relic and pull The Raven back from the brink, or will they get lost in the weeds?

Based on the beloved blockbuster podcast where three brothers and their dad play a tabletop RPG in real time, The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal has it all: blossoming new friendships, pining for outlaw lovers, and a rollicking race you can root for!

Buy The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal on Amazon.

The post Top New Fantasy Books in September 2020 appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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swipestream · 6 years

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New Release Roundup, 7 July 2018: Science Fiction

A time traveler defies Fate to keep his family safe, a battered fleet leads invaders on a wild goose chase through unexplored space, and a delivery man unearths a conspiracy from before the rise of man in this week’s roundup of the newest releases in science fiction.

Alliance Insurgent (Alliance Trilogy #3) – Michael Wallace

Captain Jess Tolvern of HMS Blackbeard led a Royal Navy expedition across long-dormant space lanes toward Old Earth when an alien fleet ambushed her battle cruiser. The aliens are Adjudicators, an ancient race whose ethos is to judge other species and reduce their survivors to a stone age existence.

Tolvern sent a desperate message back to headquarters. By the time she returned home, the aliens already invaded Alliance territory with a powerful fleet of star fortresses and accompanying dragoon ships, trapping and laying siege to the allied fleet. A desperate defense wins a short respite, but victory turns to chaos when the Adjudicators awaken an ancient star leviathan and send it against the allied fleet. Falling back to friendly territory ahead of this terrifying weapon, Jess Tolvern and the allied command muster the combined forces of the Alliance planets to finally defeat the Adjudicators and push across the inner frontier to reestablish contact with the remaining civilizations of Old Earth.

Black Dawn (Blood on the Stars #8) – Jay Allan

War is coming, darker and more terrible than any that have come before.

The Hegemony is coming to impose its brutal system of genetic supremacy on the Confederation and the other nations on the Rim, to make its elite Masters the unchallenged rulers of all human habitation in the galaxy.

The White Fleet had been an expression of optimism, a grand expedition to explore the vast reaches of the long-dead empire. Tasked to uncover the secrets of the devastating Cataclysm and to seek and recover the advanced ancient technology that humanity had once possessed, it found something else instead.

A new enemy. A vast domain, one with advanced technology, massive fleets, and a genetically-ordered society and hierarchy it intends to impose on all humanity everywhere. The Hegemony is like nothing Tyler Barron and his comrades have ever encountered…but the veteran admiral must find a way to fight the far superior enemy, to rally the Confederation’s forces, and those of the other Rim nations, for what may well be the final war.

Cryptic Commands – Steve Rzasa

Watch your back…

Vincent Chen makes sure his comms ferry satellites don’t harbor malfunctions. He’d prefer they didn’t hide people inside, too.

The woman left comatose aboard one he recovers is on a vital mission. She must stop criminals from stealing classified secrets and selling them to the highest bidder. But those criminals know she’s on the run, and Vincent is caught up in the chase.

Determined they stay silent, she’s left him only one choice: to seek help from his fellow comms jockeys, in hopes they can fend off a raid and keep the data safe. When their plans fall apart, Vincent must rely on others when he’d rather be on his own…

And trusting anyone is dangerous.

Discovery (First Colony #5) – Ken Lozito

Exploring New Earth should be a thrilling undertaking. Instead, the more the colonists learn about the planet, the more alarmed they become. Alien ruins hint at a species who fought great wars among themselves and disappeared centuries ago.

When Connor Gates discovers a hidden bunker, he finds something he never expected. Everything the colonists have learned about New Earth’s previous inhabitants is wrong. Connor must race to unravel the mystery. The colonists must face the possibility that they are not alone and that New Earth was never theirs for the taking.

Earth Unrelenting (Forgotten Earth #2) – M. R. Forbes

A fugitive captured. A hero forsaken.

A secret revealed.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Three days. That’s what they promised. But on Earth the danger is unrelenting, and promises are hard to keep.

Now Sheriff Duke is the one on the run, chased by an unexpected enemy eager to finish what they started. An enemy with an agenda that begins with killing him but ends with something worse.

Much, much worse.

Once the secret is out, the universe will never be the same…

Mech Wars (Mech Wars omnibus) – Scott Bartlett

Humanity is tired of losing. Enter the mech.

Jake Price has always dreamed of joining the Darkstream military, like his father before him. When he’s told his gaming scores are good enough to qualify him for a brand new training program, designed to find recruits talented enough to pilot humanity’s first mechs, he can hardly believe it.

He��s right to be doubtful. There are hundreds of other recruits competing for the same eight jobs, and they’re all as skilled as he is. Worse, the training instructor is an unhinged chief with a particular dislike for Jake.

But Jake refuses to give up, refuses to wash out. Because humanity is facing its greatest threat yet. If someone doesn’t step up, it could all be over for the human species.

Quantum Synapse – Russell Blake

A plan to enslave humanity begins with a conspiracy from the dawn of time.

Only one man can stop the unthinkable from happening.

Veritas Grey is a down-on-his-luck delivery worker in a dystopian future, until an accident turns his world upside down.

Hunted by a powerful cabal, Veritas and a young woman with a murky past must beat impossible odds if humanity is to continue to exist. Can they untangle a centuries-old secret in time to survive? Will Veritas embrace a forgotten past that could destroy him and those he loves? Can a conspiracy that dates to Mesopotamia be thwarted before the world’s enslaved?

In order to do so, Veritas must navigate a treacherous maze of secret societies, forbidden knowledge, quantum theory, and ancient technologies, and decipher a mystery at the root of mankind’s existence.

The Song of Earth (Children of Earthrise #5) – Daniel Arenson

Earth burns.

After generations in exile, we returned to our long-lost planet. Scarred. Haunted. Survivors. We–the last humans–are finally home.

But our enemies still crave our blood.

Seven alien species unite. Seven fleets bombard our planet. Seven armies invade our beautiful world. They have one goal: To kill us all.

We refuse to lose Earth again. We will resist. We will fight for every hill, every valley, every stone and blade of grass. We will defend our planet. At any cost.

Together, we will raise our voices. We will sing the song of Earth. We will tell the enemy: Earth is ours!

The Warp Clock (In Times Like These #4) – Nathan Van Coops

To Save Her Future, He Can’t Have One.

Ben Travers is facing an impossible choice. When a girl arrives from his future claiming to be family, she brings nothing but bad news. Ben has two possible fates, and no matter which he chooses, he has to die.

In a desperate bid to alter his future, Ben must seek a mysterious device that the Quickly family would rather keep hidden. He’ll confront a rogue faction of temporal fugitives—his only ally a girl he never knew existed.

Adventure. Family. Time Travel. For Ben Travers, it’s all going to collide.

Weaver (Four Horsemen Tales #2) – Kacey Ezell and Mark Wandrey

A Tortantula and a Flatar. The most enigmatic teaming in the mercenary guild, it’s also a perfect pairing, where one’s strengths cover the other’s weakness. Raised together from birth, their lives are a brutal series of tests. From the moment they’re thrust together, they are forced to kill their own kind just to survive. No excuses, no mercy, no room for failure. Succeed…or die.

Azah isn’t like most other female Tortantula; she’s much smaller and made fun of constantly. No one expects her to survive, much less succeed, but she’s still given a chance and assigned a Flatar: Sadek. The two quickly bond and find they complement each other. Against all odds, they survive the breeding dome and join the ranks of their races’ mercenaries.

But Azah begins to exhibit some extremely odd abilities, and everything changes. When Sadek uncovers a plan to manipulate the Tortantula breeding program, he’s unable to determine what their goals are…only that they have plans for Azah. Powerless to stop their shadowy machinations, the two know one thing: they want to stay together ‘Zha Oort’—until the ending.

But Fate is calling, and Fate doesn’t care what anyone wants.

Winter Overrun (Lost Time #4) – Damien Boyes

Finsbury Gage is terrified of what’s inside him.

He’s been dead more than once, and haunted now by the memories of lives he never lived. All he wants to do is hide—from a world he doesn’t belong to and the person he doesn’t recognize—until he’s forced from his self-imposed exile by a threat the police can’t handle and a request he can’t refuse.

A girl has gone missing. Arrived in the big city from the Preserves and immediately disappeared. Her brother’s come looking for her, and while a lifetime on a farm hasn’t prepared him to navigate the dangerous Reszo underworld, he’s not about to let that or anything else stop him from finding his sister.

Finsbury will be drawn into a hunt for a killer no one believes in. Someone who doesn’t just kill—he steals the thoughts of his victims and makes them part of himself.

Finsbury Gage is about to meet Winter, and neither of them will ever be the same.

The World Armada (Superluminary #3) – John C. Wright

Although the Lords of Creation survived the awesome onslaught of the world-killing space vampires, there is nowhere in the lifeless galaxy that they can hope to hide their planets and people forever. How can they hope to destroy what is already dead?

The vampiric necroforms are a massive empire of anti-life, terrible beyond all imagining, ruling a vast network of dead stars and planets they have drained of all life. Aeneas, the Emperor of Man, realizes that if the human race is going to survive, he is going to have to find a way to re-seed the entire galaxy with life while burning down the interstellar undead empire with the precious light it cannot bear. And not only does Aeneas have to do the impossible, he is going to have to do it while keeping a wary eye out for the ruthless betrayer at his back.

SUPERLUMINARY is the latest and most brilliant creation of science fiction grandmaster John C. Wright, the Dragon-award winning author of THE UNWITHERING REALM, THE GOLDEN AGE, MOTH & COBWEB, and AWAKE IN THE NIGHT LAND. THE WORLD ARMADA is the third and final book in the trilogy.

New Release Roundup, 7 July 2018: Science Fiction published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames

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cloudfather · 7 years

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Marijuana Conspiracy

SHOULD anyone still believe that the use of marijuana is spreading because of the Mafia conspiracy or a Communist plot to sap the will of our youth, let me tell of a 40‐year‐old who tried it for the first time this summer. He is a major figure in the advertising world; but despite that fact, he seldom drinks liquor and never smokes cigarettes.

What led him to pot? His 14‐year‐old daughter gave him three miserably rolled joints for a Father’s Day present. He smoked only one of them in my presence and had to be taught by the others in his room how to inhale. The thing burned like a small bonfire (no one had told him to lick the cigarette before lighting it), making little explosions (un cleaned marijuana contains seeds that sometimes go “pop” when fire hits them) as the gentleman struggled to “swallow” the smoke. He nearly choked. I doubt that he’ll ever go near it again.

But he has now become part of the most rapidly growing estimated statistic officially issued by the United States Government. Last October, a Na tional Institute of Mental Health pamphlet made the “conservative estimate” that about 5 million juveniles and adults had used marijuana at least once. Five months later, in March, another N.I.M.H. pamphlet said that “more than 8 million people have used the drug.” Then, a month later, the N.I.M.H. reported to Congress that the number “conservatively was between 8 million and 12 mil lion.” In June, Dr. Stanley F. Yolles, then director of N.LM.H., used the figure 20 million. A standard projection curve suggests that by now one could easily find someone at N.I.M.H. willing to go for 25 or even 30.

OBVIOUSLY, the N.I.M.H. figures rely on some wild guesswork, but no one at all awake through out the last decade can doubt the direction in which they point. We Americans are using a lot more marijuana than we used to, and we will be using a lot more than that. It is now the very rare college student who has never tried the drug.

In New York and the outlying areas where day time New Yorkers go to sleep, high‐school students complain that they must either smoke or learn to enjoy solitude. A ninth‐grader in Scarsdale High School estimates that 50 per cent of her friends have tried marijuana and says that not infre quently it is smoked in the school (“like during fire drill, when we’re jammed into the vestibule between the cafeteria and the outside door”). She knows of seventh‐graders in Scarsdale who are smoking; children in New York private schools are aware of its use in sixth grade. Juvenile‐delin quency cases involving possession of marijuana get into the papers under datelines from Los Angeles to Hyannis Port.

This progression of marijuana down the age scale is extremely disturbing, and properly so, to adults. Marijuana, psychiatrists inform us, is a euphoriant and can be used as a rigid defense against the problems of growing up. It is unques tionable that a certain number of children have seriously damaged their personal development by habitually turning off their problems through drugs and never learning to solve them. Thirteen‐year‐olds who turn on at recess probably do them selves no more harm than 13‐year‐olds who get drunk at recess, but psychiatrists tend to find the prospects for both quite dismal.

In conjunction with that worrisome use of mari juana by younger and younger children, however, is its use by older and older adults. Marijuana long ago bridged the generation gap and has since been streaming across like the First Army at Remagen.

Undoubtedly, the most important reason for the sudden outbreak of marijuana use in the adult working world is that young people have grown older. The pot‐smoking art student of 1965 is the pot‐smoking art director of 1970. The pot‐smoking coed of last year is today’s pot‐smoking “assistant buyer of better dresses.” And Seventh Avenue is adjusting to her.

As she explains, “You go into a showroom, and there’s a straight set of salesmen for the old ladies, and they offer the old ladies a drink, but there are also hip salesmen, guys with real long hair and groovy clothes; and they just take you in the back and turn you on. In some of the houses the design ers, the models, everybody is spaced out of his mind. And sometimes they lay dope on you. They’re very cool about it. They come over while you’ve got your book out and you’re writing orders, and they say, ‘What do you do for kicks? Do you get high? I’ve got some very interesting stuff here,’ and they give you an ounce.”

A lot more marijuana‐smoking among adults can be explained as experimental in nature. As the father of three teen‐age girls recently told me, “I’ve now tried pot twice, just to see what the girls are up to. I wanted reassurance that it wouldn’t kill them.”

ONE would have to be a man of very little curiosity not to wonder what the mari juana experience is like. Enough authorities have now indicated that the drug does no apparent harm that the risk in trying it seems to many to be solely a legal one, and people do seem willing to risk the law’s wrath on this issue. A Nobel laureate re cently asked psychiatrist Lester Grinspoon, an advo cate of legalized marijuana sales, whether he could pro vide him with a few joints. Needless to say, Dr. Grin spoon couldn’t and didn’t; but the intellectual level of his petitioner was no surprise to him. He lists among the more enthusiastic older smokers in the Boston area “social scien tists and academic people, astronomers and physicists.”

But no single explanation such as “curiosity” covers the thousands of adults who five or six years ago feared and shunned marijuana but use it today. I’ve recently met en gineers, Wall Street brokers (one of whom, three years ago, threw his best friends out of his home for offering his wife a marijuana cigarette —the break between the two families has never been re paired) and film editors, all of whom were in their 30’s before trying the drug, but who now would rate them selves as regular users. One film editor uses it in place of all other possible drugs. It is his first cigarette of the morning, his coffee break, his martini, his sleeping pill. He nevertheless manages to function.

Statistics don’t exist on this matter, but it is this observ er’s impression that in New York marijuana is being used most widely by adults in the arts and the commercial arts, in the teaching profes sion (where it is argued that one could not conceivably understand the students if one did not grasp their highs), and in the “helping” profes sions. Four members of the New York Psychoanalytic So ciety recently agreed on the estimate that 95 per cent of their colleagues in their own age group (between 35 and 45) had experimented with marijuana and that many continued to use it from time to time. Moreover, to the best of their knowledge, all the psychiatrists under the age of 35 whom they personally knew, and certainly all of their own psychiatric resi dents, smoked pot regular ly, many of them daily Knowl edgeable Bostonians suggest that their psychoanalytic com munity is equally turned on.

The smoking of marijuana, in other words, can no longer be interpreted as a sign of alienation. Great numbers of pot smokers are very nicely adjusted to our society. They make love; they make money; and for that matter, reports from Vietnam indicate, they make war. (A study in Febru ary showed that one out of five front‐line soldiers smoked marijuana every day.)

THIS wide use of marijuana is plainly a new phenomenon, at least in the middle‐class East Coast culture. (On this sort of fad—if that is what it is—we generally tend to be two or three years behind California, two or three years ahead of Kansas.) It is caus ing people to ask themselves rather serious questions about their own morality and values. It is changing the nature of many social gatherings and, more important, it is affecting many social relationships, in cluding those of parent and child, husband and wife.

I have recently been talking with middle‐class adults about their own attitudes toward marijuana. I wanted to know why they were using it or not using it, and what it was do ing to their lives.

Marijuana is not new to all members of the middle class. Its use by some of them in the past, however, had something to do with slum ming. Throughout most of its long history, marijuana has been a cheap pleasure of the most downtrodden poor of the poorer nations. (“In Moroc co,” said a man raised there 50 years ago, “we’d see the servants smoking hashish [a stronger form of marijuana]—they were forbidden to smoke in The house—but no one who had servants would smoke.”)

When marijuana began to enter this country from Mex ico in the nineteen‐twenties, however, young people in the Southwest found it not only cheap and abundant, but good for laughs at parties. It is not at all hard to find people with pleasant memories of using “the weed” 45 years ago in Albuquerque. It is even easier to find others reminiscing happily about smoking “tea” in Greenwich Village in the thirties outside of Bohemia, marijuana tended to be found mostly in the black slums, where a number of white middle‐class boys ran into it because of their love for jazz.

For almost everyone who smoked, decades past, it was simply a means to a good time. “We didn’t make a mys tique or a religion of it,” said a woman editor who smoked in the nineteen‐thirties. “We were left‐wing artists and writers not at all mystically oriented.”

“It was a form of naughti ness,” explains a female phy sician of her high‐school days in the Village in the early nineteen‐fifties. “I went out with a black guitar player who brought it down from Harlem. He thought it made him Segovia; I just thought it was fun to do something il legal. But you know, I was too young to drink, too, and it was just as big a thrill to go into a bar and get served Scotch.”

“Also, adults then didn’t seem to get as clutched by the idea of their kids smoking pot as they do now. When I told my father, all he said was, ‘Just stay out of auto mobiles. The driver’s timing might be off.’ That was the extent of it.”

Many marijuana smokers of 20 or more years ago gave up the drug when they “no long er had friends in the jazz world,” or “went off to col lege,” or found that they had to put any effort at all into getting it. Many marijuana smokers appear to take pride in the fact that they have never bought it. Now that marijuana has become so easily available, many smok ers of years ago have returned to it.

It certainly can’t yet be said that marijuana has been accepted by the New York middle‐aged middle class. As was the case some years ago with the young, it is general ly thought to be the more politically progressive and possibly more intellectual of their elders who are currently smoking. Recently this writer met with a group of 30 Long Island parents (by ac cident almost all liberals) to discuss the pot situation on the North Shore and found them in agreement that in their part of the world there are absolutely no right‐of center adults who use it.

Psychoanalytic evidence might back up this concept. The four analysts with whom I’ve discussed the matter de scribe those among their pa tients who are most against marijuana as “rigid‐moralis tic,” “struggling to control their own impulses,” “meno pausal churchgoing,” “the peo ple who oppose sex education in the schools,” “the same people who never talk about sex.” But being in analysis at all suggests a certain adven turousness; and one analyst said, “Almost all those I’ve seen in their 20’s and 30's—even the conservative, rigid ones—have tried both sex and pot, though they might feel a bit guilty about both. It seems to me that my adult patients use pot very much the way I do: occasion ally at a party or just for the fun of it. They don’t use it the way the kids take it, which is every day or to solve prob lems or to deal with tension.”

IT does not really make sense, however, to view the marijuana issue as simply age related, or political, or a sign of good or poor mental health. Many people who oppose mar ijuana are frightened of it for intelligent reasons. Marijuana does have powerful effects on human beings. No one knows precisely how marijuana cre ates its effects and there is no certainty that its action is harmless. There have been sci entific reports from Arab coun tries describing a form of psy chosis traced directly to the use of hashish.

Most American researchers at the moment doubt the ex istence of a syndrome specific to the use of cannabis, and it is hard to find a New York psychiatrist who believes in it. This can be frustrating to any one who is convinced he is suffering from it. A young writer, who is awaiting the publication of his first novel, recently described his symp toms to me as “feeling as if I’ve been stoned for a long time, and now I’m almost down but not quite, and I’m tired, and I have a kind of trippy feeling and a slight dizziness; and nausea keeps coming and going. This has been going on for six weeks.” He blames it on three years of daily pot‐smoking, claims to have friends who have simi larly suffered from long‐time heavy marijuana use (and they have all given up the drug as a consequence) but who have not yet been able to come up with a physician who would blame their symptoms on anything more than “an xiety.” Said the writer, “The last fellow I saw told me that once my book was out and well‐reviewed I’d be my old self again.”

ALTHOUGH doctors, for the moment might tend to feel the cannabis psychosis is mythical, they do seem to agree that the use of mari juana could very well trigger a psychotic reaction in a person whose ego is already shaky. It might, however, be the case that this problem, too, is self‐limiting. A study that Dr. Grinspoon made of 41 acute schizophrenic college age patients admitted to his research ward bore out an im pression that he’d had before “that schizophrenic and pre schizophrenic people tend to stay away from the drug. Only six of them,” says Dr. Grinspoon, “had ever used marijuana, which is remark ably few for that age group. In four of them, it was clear that the onset of the psycho sis was so removed in time from the use of the drug that (the two) wouldn’t have been related; in the last two I was unable to say one way or the other. I couldn’t implicate or exonerate the drug. It stands to reason that a drug like this might precipitate psychosis. But putting it into perspective with other things, if you get someone who is psychosis prone or is prepsychotic, any number of things might do it, such as, let’s say, an alcoholic debauch, a severe automobile accident, the loss of an im portant loved one….”

Dr. Grinspoon himself might be part of one of the more im portant influences leading adults to try marijuana for

It turns some people off. It turns some marriages off the first time. A highly au thoritative article of his in last December’s Scientific Ameri can, which surveyed world scientific literature on the sub ject of marijuana and essen tially found it less harmful than either liquor or tobacco, has been mentioned to me by at least two people as a fac tor that encouraged them to dare try the drug.

Marijuana, in other words, has been getting a much‐im proved press these last few years. Although, many people ask quite sensibly, “Why, with all the problems we have with alcohol, do we need another socially acceptable method for turning off our problems, act ing inanely, and killing our selves in automobiles?”, vir tually everyone, smoker or nonsmoker, under the age of 40 and reasonably educated with whom I’ve talked, is aware that marijuana is not a narcotic, is not addictive, does not produce hangovers and is furthermore considered, in some circles, chic.

IT became evident in talking with middle‐class adults that the main problem they see in the use of marijuana is that it is illegal. About half of the group of 30 I talked with in Long Island had tried mari juana. Some of them had chil dren too young to be interest ed, but none of them had told their children that they had used the drug.

Some felt that they would make that confession when a proper occasion arose. Many of these parents had very carefully worked‐out speeches to explain why “as adults we can smoke but you as a child cannot.” In general, they go: “There are things that physi cally and emotionally are harmful to children. When you’re mature enough, you can drink, you can drive an automobile, you can make love and you can use mari juana, but all of that can cause trouble for a 13‐year‐old.” Most people rehearsing such speeches feel that the legalization of marijuana with prohibition of its sale to minors would make their case more convincing.

Most smokers found the very concept of letting their children know that they had broken this law disturbing. In New York City, I did meet marijuana ‐smoking parents who have told their children they smoke, in hopes, one ex plained, “of making it seem less exotic,” but at the same time, I’ve met very few par ents who have actually smoked in front of young children. A comment I’ve now heard many times is, “We wouldn’t make love in front of them.” The connection between the two concepts remains elusive to me. But clearly this is a worri some question in many homes.

Although few adult smokers choose to smoke in front of their teen‐aged children, teen agers have a tendency to find out about such parental hab its anyway; and the use of marijuana by the older gener ation is not totally loved by the younger ones. A Westport commuter told me of a pro gressively reared 16‐year‐old who became infuriated on walking into her house and finding her parents and three other couples turning on. She accused them of being hypo crites, a favorite accusation by the young, and had to be reminded that her parents had never complained so loudly when she came in that way. Nevertheless the next day she announced that she was off marijuana for good. She explained, “If you and the rest of those sellouts are do ing it, there must be some thing wrong with it.” She did indeed quit; her thing is now macrobiotics.

But like it or not, the young will simply have to get used to the fact that there is no youthful monopoly on hedon ism. Like high‐school students who fear being left out, par ents, too, enjoy good parties, and in New York, these days, they frequently involve mari juana. Recently, for example, a New York editor found that he was excluded from a grass smoking dinner party because he had let slip that he’d never learned to inhale. To make up for the slight, his hostess‐to be invited him to a second dinner party with a bunch of drinkers, but he still felt that he’d missed the real fun.

He was, probably, just as well off, for as anyone who has ever attended one knows there is nothing more dismal than a pot party when you’re straight. There is no one type of pot party. Marijuana is easily titrated. As a study re ported to New York’s Mayor La Guardia in 1944, most ex perienced smokers know just how high they like to get, and when they reach that point they stop. For most adult smokers, that point is well within their own ability to snap out of the high, behave rationally and carry on a fair ly normal conversation. One can find people smoking at cocktail parties behaving like everyone else in the room.

But one characteristic of marijuana is that it turns peo ple thoughtful and frequently when it is smoked in small groups, people tend to grow quiet, listen to the music (a common adult reaction is, “I never understood rock music until I turned on”) and inves tigate their own fantasies. Such quiet gatherings can drive the nonsmoker to new extremes of boredom.

On the other hand, mari juana can make such state ments as “Please pass the mustard” seem fraught with hidden meanings of oracular import, and the struggle to decode them can break up everyone in the room. Abso lute uncontrolled hilarity is one of the great and mysteri ous pleasures of group mari juana use. At times it is al most clear what is knocking everyone out. (An event that apparently brought down the house at one party was a young lady’s forgetting that she had already eaten dinner and announcing that she was starved; at another party it was a young man’s holding up a roast chicken and remark ing that it looked like Bran cusi’s Bird in Space—every one agreed with him, then cracked up.)

In general, what it is that amuses everyone is a total mystery. No one knows what anyone else is laughing about and the attempt to explain only makes it seem funnier—if you happen to be high. The fellow who is not finds the entire situation at the emo tional level of a nursery school, and stomach‐turning. He often starts smoking out of self‐defense.

But gatherings solely for the purpose of smoking seem not to be part of the adult, regular smoker’s world. He is far more likely to use mari juana precisely the way he previously used alcohol, and there are now middle‐aged circles in which the drinking of liquor has almost disap peared. As a 40‐year‐old fin ancier told me over a glass of sparkling Perrier water, “I once had a great fondness for icy martinis. They had many good qualities. Of most im portance, they were lubrica tors of social interaction and the alimentary canal.

“Well, I can hardly remem ber the last time I saw a drink at a dinner party. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I had a drink.

“You know, the homes to which I get invited aren’t that remarkable. I’d say they’re upper ‐middle ‐class, typical East Side Manhattan, South Shore folks who fear drug abuse, would shun cocaine and run from LSD, but it is a rarity in their homes that I’m not offered pot in beautifully rolled joints. I ’d say that there’s a cut‐off date in this: I don’t see pot in the home or anyone older than his early 40’s unless he’s a photogra pher or an extraordinarily wealthy unreconstructed Bo hemian.

“But it seems to me that there will be an ever‐greater tendency for hostesses of all ages to provide pot as an al ternative to cocktails as the word spreads that if people turn on before dinner, there are no bad meals.

“Last weekend my wife prepared leg of lamb, casse role of rice and mushrooms, salad and cheese. We had two other couples to dinner. The leg of lamb was huge. We ex pected it to last us through Sunday. Every bit of it went. Everything went. The brie was snapped up as if there were imminent danger of war with France. When dieting, I can not smoke before I dine.

“I think,” the marijuana smoking venture capitalist went on, “that it’s ridiculous to fear that pot leads to other things, at least not for grown ups. Most pot‐smokers, I find, are serious‐minded family peo ple, politically oriented, and they smoke pot because it is a deliciously communal thing to do and it tends to sharpen everything from movies to sex; but the idea that if this is terrific, wouldn’t cocaine be better, never occurred to them.‘’

SINCE marijuana smoking is so new to the middle class, there is still a certain amount of confusion as to how one should serve it, use it, and be have under its influence. But certain rules seem to be evolv ing.

In general, in relaxed cir cumstances, it’s traditional to pass around a single mari juana cigarette The stuff is still somewhat scarce. By pass ing it around, more smoke goes into people and less into the air. But there is something about passing around a single joint at a dinner party that resembles passing around a single glass of Scotch. Host esses are now spending after noons with their rolling ma chines making enough joints to turn on three times the number of guests expected, if they smoked economically.

The question of marijuana high conversations is an in teresting one. On first turning on, almost everyone is in need of guidance. The experience is subtle, and the novice smoker needs someone to ex plain to him what it is that he is feeling and how to ride with it rather than fight it. Paranoid reactions are com mon on first smoking. Be cause of that, old‐time smok ers tend to talk new ones through the experience. That, however, is a training process; it is not done in public, for to most adult smokers it is a bore.

In fact, in adult smoking circles it is now considered bad form to discuss (as is common among new smokers) the quality of the pot, the town in Mexico from which it came, or precisely what it is doing to one’s head. One does not ask others if they are feeling it. One does not say, “Oh, wow,” or “Dynamite!” If it leads one to a feeling of unity with the universe, one keeps it between oneself and God.

The people who today seem most excited about marijuana are those who have gone for years detesting alcohol yet envying people who seemed to enjoy it. “I’d go to parties, and hold one drink all night,” a housewife in her mid‐30’s told me. “I hated the taste of alcohol. And it made me diz zy, and it left me with a hangover. Marijuana was a godsend. It’s much milder than liquor and much pleas anter, so I carry my own. When everyone else drinks, I open my cigarette case, pull out a joint; and everyone is very impressed: ‘Barbara the swinger!’ But I just smoke enough to get a slight high. I don’t really like the super‐boo that takes the top of your head off. I just want to feel more relaxed, more in the mood for a party. I love it.”

This use of marijuana, as if it were Scotch, to get through parties, however, does not ap peal to everyone. For ex ample, says one typical long time, weekend marijuana smoker, “I can’t stand using it except with my husband and sometimes close friends. I think it’s an intimate experi ence. You see, alcohol takes you out of yourself. It makes you cloddish and indiscrimi nate. Everybody’s your bud dy. But grass gets you into yourself. It heightens what ever it is you really feel, and if you’re with someone you don’t like, or with someone who is acting phony, the grass makes you really hate them.

“Grass sharpens things. The ugly gets uglier—you can’t stand to listen to bad music or a raucous voice—but the beautiful develops subtleties. I personally never see colors at all; I couldn’t tell you the color of your eyes; but on grass all colors are amazingly vivid for me.

“And I really have touch ing, personal, mysterious ex periences on it. An example?

“Well, I was walking around the block very high with a close friend one night, and suddenly he knelt down and put his arm around a fireplug. Well, you see, I found that touching, terribly significant. I still do, but I can’t say why.”

There are people who find that marijuana causes prob lems in their marriages. As one psychologist says, “Mari juana leads you to pick up a lot of non‐verbal signals that you normally don’t notice and that’s not always good for a marriage. One of my patients has been getting along for years with a very minimal sexual life. She began to smoke pot, found that it turned her on sexually, and did nothing at all to her hus band. It became completely clear to her that he didn’t want her, she didn’t want him.”

Many pot smokers insist that the drug clearly affects their sex lives. A study made of 200 marijuana users by sociologist Eric Goode showed that 68 per cent found that marijuana increased their sex ual enjoyment and 44 per cent claimed that it increased their sexual desire. A good number of pot smokers with whom I talked insisted that it im proved their marital relations, but others claimed that it cut out sex entirely by putting them to sleep.

MARIJUANA, it may be said, is now firmly rooted in our society. It helps to produce good times for influential peo ple. Unless it should be proved that it seriously harmed ev eryone who smoked it, it is unlikely that the growth of its popularity could be halted. Even then, it is not certain that the American public would not accept it as it has accepted tobacco and alco hol.

Past attempts to stop the flow of marijuana into this country either came to very little or have proved actually harmful. Last year’s “Opera tion Intercept,” along with causing the most massive traf fic jam Mexico has ever ex perienced, did create a na tionwide marijuana “famine,” but it also led gentlemen farm ers throughout the nation to lay in crops of their own. Most American marijuana is of poor quality, but says one can nabis horticulturist, “We’ve only begun to research the matter. Consider how long it took to produce a drinkable New York State champagne.” Last summer’s marijuana fam ine had more serious conse quences as well: with the rela tively mild marijuana denied them, many young people pushed on to much stronger and more dangerous stuff.

Ours is indeed a drug culture, and marijuana is generally the second or third drug (after cigarettes and alcohol) tried in a progression that can lead to disastrous addictions and ruined lives. The middle class is for the first time becoming aware of the drug menace that has so long plagued the black ghettos, now that heroin is beginning to appear in its own colleges and high schools. Pressure must surely soon build up to redraw lines between what is acceptable and what is for bidden in our drug‐taking society. But this time, let us have the sense not to misrepresent what we are doing. As Dr. Grinspoon points out. “Kids who feel lied to about marijuana’s dangers tend to assume that they are also being lied to about LSD, and cocaine, and heroin.

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