Nerdlife 14: Your D12 Is Feeling Neglected

An interesting mix this time. Mostly tabletop gaming related as there has been quite a bit of action in those parts. Other topics of note include comics, a bit of history and couple of science related things that caught my attention. Strangely no World War II stuff. I’ll have to make up for that next time.

by the way most of the art here comes from the twitter accounts @70sscifiart or @humanoidhistory

The Alt-Right DM asks his readers a simple question.

https://gamingwhileconservative.wordpress.com/2018/06/20/are-you-a-bad-dm/

and I’m going to break my usual rule and post this second article.

This one is almost a manifesto about driving out the SJWs and corporate hacks who have invaded all geek hobbies. Inspiring and pulling no punches he makes the case that tide is beginning to turn.

https://gamingwhileconservative.wordpress.com/2018/06/30/now-for-wrath-now-for-ruin-ere-the-pink-tide-ebbeth/

“Soylo isn’t just a box office bomb. It’s a nuclear warhead going off in the popular zeitgeist. It’s the low-T canary in the cultural coalmines. It’s the sign that the winds of change have shifted. You might not have noticed it…cue up Stoklasa…but your brain did.”

 

The Nope Chemical That is Chlorine Trifluorine [7 mins]

So basically this stuff can set fire on fire. Would also burn in a vacuum. Sadly this chemical cannot be used as a weapon as any reasonable spacefaring civilization would specifically ban it in an arms limitation treaty. We are after all trying to conquer the galaxy no set it on poisonfire.

 

 

Bradford C. Walker talks about space opera and the importance of planets as wondrous settings.

https://bradfordcwalker.blogspot.com/2018/07/my-life-in-fandom-wondrous-worlds-of.html

By the way Mr. Walker currently has an ongoing indiegogo campaign where he is pitching a novel which is basically Legends of the Galactic Heroes meets Macross, with a touch of DEUS VULT in SPACE mixed in for seasoning. You sure won’t get anything like from Tor publishing.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/star-knight-saga-book-one-reavers-of-the-void-adventure#/

 

 

The Injustice Gamer gives a few thoughts on the decline in the comic industry.

http://injusticegamer.blogspot.com/2018/07/on-comics-collapse.html

“Marvel is being overshipped, and the stores have to pay for the books. DC had a few exciting and high selling things early in the year, but their more recent moves are really bad from a sales standpoint, and the stores would be more inclined to take those chances after the big early sales.”

 

PPC vs Large Laser [10 mins]

A tabletop Battletech discussion about the merits of the big energy weapons. Useful even for those of us plebs who only play the videogames. One key point stands in video. The PPC is feared by other players while the large laser is not. The psychological aspect of wargaming is too often completely ignored. Wars, even fictional wars involving tiny plastic toys your cat keeps trying to eat are ultimately fought by human beings. A small advantage? Yes but sometimes that can be the difference.

 

 

David Vining makes the case for the superiority of hand drawn animation in contrast to of current age of digital creations.

https://bleedingfool.com/art/praise-hand-drawn-animation-cgi/

 

 

Frags and Beer covers a new indy comic that has a giant mecha fighting demons.

http://fragsandbeer.com/subversive-comics-teams-with-paul-nicholson-for-all-new-mayhem/

Kickstarter for Mayhem #2 Which just short of being fully funded at this time.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2071877215/mayhem-1-2?ref=bw22mg

 

A Roman Soldier Makes Dinner [15 mins]

 

A short video that covers the logistics of supplying and feeding the Roman legions. Interesting to think that food was prepared at the eight man squad level. Or to think that soldiers would on occasion make their own cheese.

 

 

Astronaut food. A quick article summing up the evolution of food eaten in space.

http://astroblog.cosmobc.com/2018/07/19/menu-astronauts/

Little offhand worldbuilding note: The Breyland Navy does have a Zero-G ration (or Zed ration) which comes in tubes and is designed to eaten under emergency condition when the ship’s artificial gravity isn’t functioning. However these rations are unpopular, ships rarely carry more than few days worth and Z-Rations tend to get pawned off the Ground Forces (who find them a novelty.)

 

Wice — Starfighter (Retrowave Music)

Big thank you to Bradford Walker for spotting this channel and bringing it to my attention.

 

Comic Legend Chuck Dixon remembers the old Hotrod related cartoons and comics.

https://www.chuckdixon.net/2018/07/drag-cartoons.html

An interesting window into a forgotten sub-culture of the 70’s and a genre that seems alien to modern readers. The idea of a motorgeek really does seem strange and counterintuitive to younger generations.

I do actually have an old CARtoons magazine i picked up a garage sale years ago, since it looked like a Cracked or a Mad (Remember Cracked used to be a an edgier and funnier version of Mad. There was also a shortlived Canadian version called Nuts which was even funnier.) I’ll have to see if I can dig that out of storage and give it a second look.

 

J. D Cowan discusses some the flaws in the Japanese Light Novel Industry.

https://wastelandandsky.blogspot.com/2018/06/light-dark-novels.html

His theory that the Japanese have the exact opposite or the problem the writing industry has in the West is definitely something that might need to be explored more.

 

 

Aerogel is pretty neat stuff.

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/aerogels.html

 

Vietnam-era River Patrol Boats “Swift Boats” [22 mins]

A 1971 training video that covers an aspect of the war that tends to get overlooked. Just like in WWII coastal small boat fleets are always hastily built during a war and then rushed into action under emergency conditions. Then as soon as the war is over the small boats are scrapped and any hard won brown water experience completely forgotten.

Also flamethrower boat at 3:45

 

 

So why did they have those silly reaction rules in old school gaming? What happens when you turn the murder hobo switch and actually play with them?

https://thelastredoubt.com/2018/07/for-every-action.html

“Today as a GM I got a valuable lesson in the craziness of reaction rolls and how it can cause some utterly unique moments in gaming. This is the kind of thing that happens when you run a “decision loop” as Bradford Walker has laid out, and the world is a simulation with the GM being the arbiter instead of the narrator of a “story” game.”

Jon Mollison reviews a D&D lifestyle product badly disguised as an adventure module. He is not impressed.

http://jonmollison.com/2018/07/27/this-is-not-a-game/

 

Not Jon Daker/The Mixed GM rallies against the idea that D&D is a ‘lifestyle.’

https://themixedgm.wordpress.com/2018/07/30/dd-is-not-a-lifestyle/

This ‘lifestyle brand’ trend that we’re seeing from Wizards of the Coast, Disney/Marvel and other places really is a cancerous soy-tumor on the ass of geek culture. Although I do look forward to the Arkhaven as a Lifestyle Brand Videos where a masked man in neon spandex and a cape teaches your kids how to properly clean and maintain their 3d printed AR-15 ‘ghost gun.’

and on that happy thought I bid ye farewell

 

—Wolfman Out—

Remember Alt-Culture begins with you.

 

 

 

 

 

Nerdlife 13: Never Tell Me the Odds

Sorry about the delay on this one but I got sucked into a wormhole and spent most of the last couple evening messing around with MegaMek and trying (er… failing) to get the hang of it. That campaign editor is just taunting me at this point. Sadly I’m not that familiar with the Battletech Tabletop rules.

Anyway let’s begin.

How to make Warhammer Adventures NOT suck [11 mins]

Arch Warhammer outlines his modest proposal for how to go about writing a children’s story in the Warhammer 40k universe while still staying faithful to established lore.

 

Cody Fernandez on the Punisher, antiheroes and how the character effected him as teenager.

https://www.thecomiccorner.co.uk/blog/the-punisher-and-dehumanization

An excellent take on vigilantes and the contrast between heroes who wear white hat and those who feel they must wear the grey hat.

 

 

Edible six pack holders? This is actually a good idea.

https://www.wptv.com/news/region-s-palm-beach-county/delray-beach/delray-beachs-saltwater-brewery-creates-edible-six-pack-holder-that-wont-hurt-marine-animals

 

How the Crusades begin in Spain [22 mins]

The video is a little dry but this might be interesting to anyone who plays Crusader Kings or is interested in medieval history. Of note is how Pope Urban II seemed to consider the Reconquista of Spain to be equal in importance to retaking the Holy Land. Also a castle actually named “Deus Vult.”

 

Tim Simon on how Byzantium and Gondor from LotR are connected.

https://bondwine.com/2010/03/13/gondor-byzantium-and-feudalism/

and yes this was Tolkien’s intention.

 

Strangely this would make for some pretty exciting comics. The character interaction between Knighty Knight and Detective Horse would no doubt be memorable.

 

J. D. Cohen Declares the Short Story dead and begins a murder investigation.

https://wastelandandsky.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-assisted-suicide-of-short-stories.html

One thing I’m going to add it that it has proven to quite difficult to start writing short stories when you’ve grown up not reading them.

 

Mecha Warriors [song]

I just love the little stories this guy comes up with for his songs.

 

A quick note on worldbuilding.

https://gscotthuggins.com/2018/05/31/a-few-thoughts-on-worldbuilding/

Food, art and music. Food is the easiest but only becomes a concern when the characters don’t have a steady reliable supply of it. Or if they are moving between multiple cultures. Art and music are best left for the slower parts of the story and again would only be noticed if the character is operating outside his usual culture.

 

A typical day on any internet gaming forum.

 

Anthony M. On the nature of parody and what makes a good one.

http://www.superversivesf.com/2018/05/31/what-makes-a-great-parody/

The old maxim is that the best parodies are done out of a love for the source material. Which is why so much of the modern subversive comedy of recent years falls flat.

 

Where’s my tactical buzzbombs?

 

The Rocket Robin Hood opening and theme song.

 

This was a horrible cartoon but damn if that theme song didn’t inspire young boys. Also you do have to respect the sheer pulpiness of the premise.

 

Well okay when you look at it this way…

 

Amanda S, Green critiques the internal economics of Star Trek.

https://accordingtohoyt.com/2018/05/31/trekonomics-3-wheres-the-money-by-amanda-s-green/

 

Military History Visualized on German Flak Towers in WWII [8 mins]

So basically a form of Nazi castle. These flak towers might also work transferred over to a sci-fi setting as spaceport cities would need to be defended against pirates and Marine raiders.

 

I case you we’re wondering just how ridiculous Disney Star Wars is.

 

Cameron Mount goes over the history of The Green Hornet and what made the character popular.

https://broadswordsandblasters.com/2018/05/28/pulp-appeal-the-green-hornet/

Quick note if you dig around on Youtube it is possible to find the old movie serials. Sometimes even edited together into a single movie.

 

1933 US Army Cavalry Training Film [10 mins]

A very interesting look at how interwar cavalry units operated. The horse handling procedures are also a great deal more involved than I would have envisioned. Each platoon also has two light machine guns organized into a weapons squad that breaks apart into fireteams to support the rifle platoons. This is logically the only way to do things but actually seeing how it was done is strangely satisfying.

 

An article covering the flaws in more contemporary vampire stories, while giving a few suggestions.

https://urban-fantasy.com/2018/05/30/vampires-suck/

“The most common complaint I hear about Twilight (other than Kristen Stewart’s acting) is the vampire as a romantic figure. I wholeheartedly agree; casting a vampire character as a romantic figure is akin to putting a mosquito on the cover of People magazine.“

 

 

Jim Fear on how Realism destroys Sci-fi, Fantasy and Horror Stories.

https://jimfear138.blogspot.com/2018/06/against-realism.html

These genres are fundamentally based on wonder and fantastic elements. Even Low Fantasy which uses supernatural elements very sparingly needs to sell those elements when they are encountered. Besides if I wanted reality I’d look out the window.

 

 

Battletech Lore: Origin of the Battlemech [14 mins]

Strangely topically at the moment. As there does seem to be a BattleTech revival of sorts in the works.

 

A neat piece of history.

 

 

 

 

 

J. D. Cohen Declares the Short Story dead and begins a murder investigation.

https://wastelandandsky.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-assisted-suicide-of-short-stories.html

One thing I’m going to add it that it has proven to quite difficult to start writing short stories when you’ve grown up not reading them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jon Mollison on how the new wave of Independent Crowd-funded comics are rekindling his love for the medium.

http://jonmollison.com/2018/06/03/when-did-i-become-a-comic-book-fan/

“Seriously – those of us following a policy of, “Don’t Give Money To People Who Hate You” are being boxed into ever tighter corners. Can’t watch TV. Can’t go to the movies. Can’t even enjoy vast swathes of tabletop gaming.”

— Wolfman out—

The womp rats died for nothing,

Nerdlife Twelve: Ride The Chaos

Sort of rushing this one but I’m in the mood and there’s enough happening in geek circles to keep the energy levels up. Since this should be going out on Memorial day I’ll start with Vietnam War clip.

‘Tunnel rats’ Vietnam War (1967) army report [3 mins]

Balls; huge brass ones. The only thing more dangerous than urban warfare is fighting underground. Yet there are always those who will rise to the occasion.

 

 

An interview on the topic of females warriors on the main Baen website.

http://www.baen.com/femalewarrior

I know that this is a very sore topic; especially with the nonsense going on with Battlefield V right now. Still a decent read. Women in a combat role is a sign of a broken society or of absolute military desperation. Truth is both scenarios make for pretty dramatic and interesting storytelling.

 

Zaklog reads The One Black Stain by Robert E Howard [5 mins]

Solomon Kane is always a win.

 

I wonder how the Vinland story would work redone in science fiction setting?

 

Catholic Horror Vampire Detective author Declan Finn rips into West Coast Avengers and highlights the many points of failure.

http://www.declanfinn.com/2018/05/marvel-full-of-fail.html

 

Geeky Bugle talks about the 2011 Thundercats reboot. [13 mins]

He makes the pitch that the 2011 series was clearly written by someone who had played DnD and in effect the show is an old school tabletop campaign. This is an excellent review especially in the wake of the incoming ‘Tumblrcats Meow’ knockoff being sent out to soy down your children and crush their dreams and spirits.

 

Quick! Explain ComicsGate in one picture!

 

And speaking of soy? Well at least we have a treatment for that.

Thundercats meets metal.

His Ghostbusters theme cover is also excellent

 

An older article from Trever Bierschbach from Frags and Beer discussing one of the great flaws in SJW writing. If special snowflakes characters can never have anything bad happen to them there is no way for an audience to get invested or for any real tension to be built up.

http://fragsandbeer.com/creating-untouchable-characters-will-kill-diversity/

 

Yes look it’s more Leo. I don’t really need a reason.

Micheal Jackson songs really do translate very well into metals covers.

 

And yes somebody is trying to send me a hint.

 

“Mysterious Wandering Monk” and sci-fi author Brian Niemeier righteously gloats about the failure of Solo.

http://www.brianniemeier.com/2018/05/a-day-long-remembered.html

Yes he called it.

 

 

A random name generator that covers a very wide selection of things, places, settings and most importantly real world cultures. This helps a lot when you’re trying to come up with names for Space Boer mercenaries. Very useful website.

https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/

 

Spike Valentine of Bleeding Fool gives an in depth review of Solo

http://www.bleedingfool.com/sjw/spike-reviews-solo-a-star-wars-story-spoilers/

“Seriously, if you edit out the Han Solo character from this flick, it would be a pretty solid movie! You know how painful that is to say about one of your favorite characters of all time, certainly your favorite Star Wars character, regarding his own fricking film!?”

He also covers some of the rumours going around how Solo might have orignaially been an anti-SJW movie under the original directors (who were fired suddenly with a lot a drama.)

This would also explain why Disney Shills (including actual studio personnel) reacted so strongly to Ethan Van Sciver’s Soylo: A Soy Wars Soyry campaign.

 

Possible happenings in the OSR circles… or probably just the usual bugmen spazzing out over imaginary Trump-Hitler death robots.

https://therpgpundit.blogspot.com/2018/05/is-there-alt-right-influence-on-osr-or.html

 

—Wolfman Out—

Still rocking in the memory of the Free World.

Nerdlife 11: Fine Call It A Comeback

Yes I’m doing these things again. Sanity is overrated anyway.

Okay let’s start with the obvious news. The first issue of Alt*Hero has been released on Amazon Kindle and physical dead tree copies are promised for two weeks from now. Distribution will be through Ingram and any store with an Ingram account should be able to order it.

Calarts ruins everything.

 

I still think the real fun starts when Chuck Dixon’s Avalon hits the stands (which is a good reason for your local comic store to set up an Ingram account) as that series is going to have stronger normie appeal than the AltHero series itself but the important thing is that the readers are happy and the SJWs are continuing to REEEEE and call everyone Nazis.

I’ll try to get Issue #1 read by this weekend.

 

Toy gun commercials for the 50’s and 60’s. [6 Mins]

A fun vision of a lost era. Those tommy guns looked awesome. Of course this was an age there would have been a lot of WWII veterans around to teach the boys about the real deal.

You WILL get the Johnny Eagle theme song stuck in your head. (A small price to pay.)

 

And all of a sudden I want some nachos.

 

SF author Michael Z. Willamson gives a long detailed loving rant against the argument that mere rifles are of no use against a tyrannical government.

http://www.michaelzwilliamson.com/blog/index.php?itemid=450

 

Hell yes!

 

A decent read about mining and gathering natural resources form space.

http://www.explainingthefuture.com/resources_from_space.html

 

 

Classroom Physics Experiments [3:30 mins]

The sand patterns are neat but stick around for the artificial ice trick at the end.

 

 

Quick article on playing centaurs and Minotaur in DnD (5^th edition?)

http://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/05/14/dungeons-and-dragons-unearthed-arcana-centaur-minotaur/

and yes I can already hear the OSR guys laughing.

 

This is why it’s important to learn click discipline.

 

Metal Cover of The Muppet Show Theme [3:12]

Nothing to say here as you’ve probably already clicked on the video.

 

 

We’ve all been there. Be careful which mushrooms you eat on a camping trip, kids.

 

A Technical Analysis of the Gunstar from The Last Starfighter [5 mins]

A great fan piece breaking down what we know about this space fighter.

Also the 1984 movie is well worth hunting down if you haven’t seen it,

 

 

Jeffro breaks down just what the Cultural Marxists have done to modern SFF

https://jeffro.wordpress.com/2018/03/30/why-contemporary-science-fiction-and-fantasy-is-godawful/

Benjamin Cheah ponders the meaning of heroism and goes over some of the more flawed concepts.

http://www.pulprev.com/2018/04/what-makes-hero.html

The section on flawed heroes is definitely worth highlighting. While a protagonist without vices or weaknesses can often be boring in the end we value heroes for their virtues and heroism.

 

The Start of H.P.’s series on Tolkien.

https://everydayshouldbetuesday.wordpress.com/2018/05/03/tolkien-101/

 

 

A Sober and Sane Explanation of this whole Calarts Thing.

https://cirsova.wordpress.com/2018/05/21/the-calarts-thing/

 

—Wolfman Out—

Wolfperson Media reserves the right to ‘awoo’ at any time.

Three Quick Videos

Just a quick Youtube selection since I needed to step back a little from current events. Also I’m sure some of you are getting a little sick of the tinfoily stuff.

 

Skallagrim shows off a very nasty piece of #PulpRev worthy kit. [8 mins]

Kind of gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside doesn’t it?

Note that this isn’t really a battlefield weapon as it is a little too heavy and overbuilt. This is a gladiator weapon, most likely a crowd favorite. Or perhaps the weapon of a wandering barbarian champion? Does the hero carry a weapon like this? Or is this the tool of a black hooded adversary?

 

Weaponized Nerdrage on how China did not like the newest Star Wars. [12 min]

He makes a lot of good points here. Also you’re gonna want to stick around for the anti-Michael Bay rant around the ten minute mark.

 

I honestly didn’t know Brian Blessed was Boss Nass [7 mins]

“I always made sure that my noises never interfered with my dialogue because I had a lot of plot…”

The video ends with Brian Blessed reading lines from Braveheart in his Boss Nass voice.

NerdLife 10: Most Interesting Times

Not much to say this month so let’s just get straight down to business.

A quick Geekdom is under attack manifesto from what appears to be a fairly new site.

Remember fam, it’s all one big nerdwar. Focus on the battleground that you know best but remember that Alt-Culture is a combined arms operation. Do your duty and together we can push back the poz.

http://www.geekybugle.com/2017/10/11/united-we-stand-geekgate/

 

And in that note Space Ranger Jon Mollison gives a little pep talk to all us eager young space cadets.

http://jonmollison.com/2017/10/12/energizing-inspiration/

So grab your gyrojet carbines and get to your scout ships, boys because those space princesses aren’t going to just escape from those alien doom dungeons without somebody lending a hand, tentacle or other biomechanical grasping device.

 

Epic Viking squirrel music.

This almost seems to be two separate songs blended together. Definitely high energy and very squirrelly.

 

J D Cowan Discusses what actually made the X-Men good.

https://wastelandandsky.blogspot.ca/2017/09/the-truth-about-x-men.html

“If you asked anyone in the 1990s why they liked the X-Men you would have few answers beyond the obvious. They had awesome powers. They were cool. They were distinct individuals with their own talents that backed each other up and meshed well in a group. They always take on the bad guys and put aside their own personal grudges to do so. The stories are explosive and fun.

Whatever politics the X-Men were created with were secondary to what kids enjoyed out of them.”

 

 

Justin Knight reflects on what drove him to write his latest novel, Praxis.

http://grandmasfloor.blogspot.ca/2017/10/the-journey-to-praxis.html

“I loved the original Alien movie, because it was basically truckers in space. With Praxis, I wanted to do a warehouse in space.”

 

Diversity and Comics reviews Shirtless Bear Fighter [22 mins]

And he’s not really a fan. This comic seems to have wasted a perfectly good concept, in favor of cramming in lame jokes and completely ham-handed sarcasm.

Edit: Oh Look Somebody decided to DMCA the video in question. How stunning and brave!

 

Interplanetary Baseball Commissioner Jon Del Arroz discusses the rise of alternative culture [13mins]

 

Brian Niemeier weighs on Comicsgate

http://www.brianniemeier.com/2017/10/comicsgate-diversity-is-conformity.html

 

Yakov Merkin‘s second article on writing non-human characters. He gets into the nuts and blots a bit here.

https://yakovmerkin.com/2017/10/02/writing-non-human-characters-part-2-pitfalls-to-avoid/

“The first pitfall is obvious. Most readers won’t question a non-human character, but, if by the middle of the book they’re wondering what exactly is alien about this character, you have a problem.”

Looks about right

 

Paul Lucas reflects upon a Robert. E Howard poem and does an in-depth breakdown.

https://paullucaswriter.wordpress.com/2017/10/05/entropy-and-the-barbarian/

“The climax of the poem is striking – the Dark Barbarian literally towers over all. He is a massive god looming over the remnants of a crushed civilisation, not just in our minds but literally.“

 

Forging a French Nail (Early WWI Trench Knife) [6 Mins]

Weapons don’t need to be fancy in order to be deadly. It’s also very sobering to contemplate that a great deal of World War I fighting was done with knives, sharpened entrenching tools or even clubs.

 

NotJohnDaker muses over how to work Vikings into the ACKS system.

https://themixedgm.wordpress.com/2017/10/09/vikings-for-acks/

As per this blog’s standard policy MOAR Vikings is better than less Vikings and I must applaud all efforts towards that noble goal.

 

Outward Bound: Colonizing Titan [31mins]

“This is Titan the frozen flammable gold mine of the solar system.”

Exactly what it says on the tin. Amazing series. Certainly much better Sci-fi than Star Trek Discovery, especially when you consider that its budget could probably be calculated in ramen noodles.

 

Rawle Nyanzi gives us a post briefly discussing various highly romantic weapons that are in fact quite impractical but always seem to capture the imagination of the audience.

http://rawlenyanzi.com/romantic-weapons/

Swords, Spacefighters and Giant Robots sounds like a pretty awesome time.

Anyway that’s all I got for now. People do seem a little interesting in further “Ice Moon Corrigan” writing so I’m trying to plan a little of that out. Corrigan was supposed to get a passing mention in Decisive Action but it’s such an interesting idea for a society that it would be a shame not to play with the ideas just a bit more. We just don’t get enough Christian fanatic super-preppers turning entire moons into heavily fortified monasteries in modern Science Fiction.

But that’s another thought for another day until then For Breyland and for glory!

—Wolfman Out–

Nerdlife Nine: Alt-Culture Begins With You.

Well it’s been another month or so, which makes it time for another episode of your favourite Bargain Basement Sensor Sweep. Hey it’s easy content and people seem to like these.

 

Let’s open as usual with a song. As some of you aren’t getting enough metal in your diet.

Defenders of Valhalla by Brothers of Metal.

I’m normally not a fan of female vocals in metal but I really do have to give these guys a pass. Very catchy and excellent drinking music.

 

John C. Wright opens up on ComicsGate. The Modern Grand Master of the English Language unleashes ALL the dogs here. Highly readable and highly quotable.

http://www.scifiwright.com/2017/09/diversity-and-comics/

“The fact of the matter is that SJWs cannot tell stories. We saw this same thing in the science fiction field among the Hugo nominees: the more SJW was in a story, the less drama. The reasons for this are complicated, but the basic problem is that SJWs have a worldview that is false to facts about nearly every aspect of human nature and human morality, and instead have a fake, flat, one-dimensional view which contains neither heroism nor personal responsibility.

You cannot have drama in a situation where no one is responsible for his own actions, and no one can change any outcomes.

If society or skin color is to blame for everything, and explains everything, individual action, that thing which makes drama dramatic, means nothing.

A victim who can never win, and merely whining, is not drama. An oppressor with no redeeming characteristics, who can never repent, likewise has no drama. And yet the SJW worldview allows for no other type of people: everyone is either an utterly helpless victim or an utterly irredeemable oppressor.”

 

Back when men were men and beers ads sold beer.

 

Fishy business or business of fishy?

http://aquaculturenorthamerica.com/News/biotech-firm-addresses-taurine-deficiency-in-farmed-fish/

Any advance in aquaculture technology has to be a good thing for all of humanity. Taurine? I just hope that they aren’t feeding the fish Red Bull or anything,

 

Swineapple: Because some people take BBQ way too far.

 

Thinking through the possibilities and proving that art can inspire.

http://astroblog.cosmobc.com/2010/10/01/vision-of-a-future-colony-on-the-moon/

 

Tommy guns [11 Mins]

A US army training film on the mechanics of the Thompson submachine gun.

 

I thought so but I had to check.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/what-if/what-if-shot-gun-in-space.htm

 

Indie Author and Pulp Speedster Jon Mollison discusses the rootless nature of modern fiction.

http://jonmollison.com/2017/09/11/modern-sci-fi-a-house-build-on-sand/

He quotes and links this excellent article. Well worth reading in its own right.

http://www.claremont.org/crb/article/the-politics-of-star-trek/

Bradford C. Walker discusses one of the major differences between Old School RPGs and Modern Tabletop and how the two completely different approaches result in completely different games for two separate audiences. This leads to an insight that seems almost painfully obvious in hindsight but I’ve never seen anyone put into words.

https://bradfordcwalker.blogspot.ca/2017/09/how-to-rpg-on-mech-pilot-audience.html

In short Old School Tabletop are Strategic Games set at the platoon or company level where much of the actual work is done by NPC followers or hirelings.

While Modern Tabletop games are Tactical Games set at the squad or fireteam level where the heroes are directly involved in a much narrower focus campaign, using step by step tactics.

While in theory a very skilled Game Master could switch back and forth as circumstances dictate in reality you are going to have to pick one approach or the other for your gaming group.

 

The Alt-Right DM tells a terrifying tale of cringe and despair.

https://gamingwhileconservative.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/dungeon-level-h8/

“I’ve never wanted to kill a character so bad in my life.”

 

Y’all know how much of David Weber fan I am so…

http://www.superversivesf.com/2017/09/19/science-blast-tree-cats-lived/

 

A quick War Is Boring article on Political Officers in the Soviet Navy.

https://warisboring.com/so-you-want-to-be-a-soviet-naval-political-officer/

 

A sixteen minute comic nerd rant that needs more love. A month old but holds up pretty well.

The real anger begins around the ten minute mark.

 

Niche Gamer on a very interesting easter egg.

http://nichegamer.com/2017/09/19/nintendo-put-nes-golf-in-every-switch-console-as-tribute-to-satoru-iwata/

Damn right in the feelz

Until next time.

—Wolfman Out—

 

 

Nerdlife Eight: Bonus Rant Included

Nerd Life Eight: Sperg War Now!

Opening thoughts: The possible rise of Overedgy SF

Most if not all social, cultural or political movements tend to take the form of a youthful rebellion to what the previous generation held as their standard; an over-correction to the errors that generation made or a panicked attempt to avoid a repeat of a recent tragedy. French Humanism for example came about as a direct result of the French Wars of Religion and the horror that resulted from christian fighting christian over small matters of heresy.

So what will be the reaction to the curse that is Pink Slime Science Fiction? The obvious answer would be some form of self-consciously anti-SJW science fiction. The Pulp Revolution does contain some elements of this as “Write whatever the fuck you want, hombre. Just don’t make it boring.” is in fact quite opposite an mantra from anything Tor books would choose to associate with. The problem here is that new movements tend to overreact when the pendulum swings. So what I expect to see is something I for the lack of a better term am, dubbing Overedgy SF; where offending and mocking the progressive gatekeepers of the previous era is front and center.

Now we are already seeing quite a bit of this but its mostly limited to what are clearly parody stories but if an Overedgy SF movement actually begins in earnest we can expect to see some fairly serious works purposely offend and directly attack the progressive sacred cows at every beat. Instead of virtue signalling these authors will be vice signalling. Sadly this too will be a form of message fiction and detrimental to storytelling but we should as least see some better dialogue than your typical John Scalzi novel.

Even if authors don’t want to be shitlords there is going to be a temptation to work in offensive or questionable content that the author wasn’t originally going to go anywhere near simply to kick the SJW gatekeepers while they are down. Every action in nerd culture produces an equal and opposite (if slightly more autistic) reaction and the CHORFs have had their cold clammy hands on the vitals of Speculative fiction for far too long for fiction lovers to simply let them walk away unscathed.

So expect we’ll see a five to ten year literary wave of Overedgy SF before it gets boring and played out. While it should an absolute blast to read after the creative drought of the last few decades it is important to note that Overedgy books are not likely to age well.

And what will I do? Not sure? While there is no way I can keep politics out of my writing I decided a long time ago that is would be best to let the reader make the judgement call and not simply preach right and wrong to them… that said I never expected to write a chapter about throwing Communists out of a helicopter and yet here we are.

Interestingly the rest of the book will probably be quite apolitical but this does fit into the bipolar madness that is the Beautiful Terror.

A Proven Solution

 

Anyway on to our main program.

New comics news site run by Nate Winchester.

http://www.comicsdispatch.com/2017/08/14/how-did-we-get-here/  

Right now he’s mostly doing daily video links and summaries but that’s a start. He also did a review of Defenders S1 a few days back. Again it’s a start.

 

And here’s an article by the same Nate Winchester making a plea to storytellers to keep politics out of their stories.

http://www.superversivesf.com/2017/08/23/keep-political-messages-out/

 

Full Metal Hope [5mins]

Take two of the best moves of all time and blend together. Simply too awesome for words.

 

And speaking of Star Wars…

http://astroblog.cosmobc.com.convey.pro/l/VXQWr6Z

So it appears that circumbinary planets do exist. Must make for some weird orbital mechanics.

 

Wargaming tactics: Skimishers 101 [8 min]

Decided to throw this one in as I didn’t have anything for the tabletop constituent. Also a good apolitical channel for anyone who’s into Battletech or Warhammer 40K.

 

Five reasons why Zeon lost the One Year War. [7 min]

All makes sense. Mind you I’ve only watched the original series once.

 

The final part of The Mixed GM’s six part retrospective on Solomon Kane

https://themixedgm.wordpress.com/2017/08/07/solomon-kane-retrospective-final-post/

 

 

The most awesome-est thing ever. (Old Jeffro post)

https://jeffro.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/the-skeletons-of-scale-scorch/

A strange treasure unearthed from the deepest darkest monster filled catacombs.

 

Bradford Walker on the fighting-man; the most basic hero archetype there is.

http://www.pulprev.com/2017/08/writing-your-protagonist-fighting-man.html

 

Nordic Folk Music — Heimdall

Perfect for mead and chill.

 

Imperia by Antti Martikainen

Okay you had me at EPIC SPACE WAR MUSIC. Add this to your writing playlist. Trust on this one fam.

 

Rawle Nyanzi explains the appeal of ‘action girls’ in fiction.

http://rawlenyanzi.com/fighting-females/

-Men like hot chicks.

-Men like violent entertainment.

-Why not combine the two?

Also there is the videogame aspect in that if a gamer has to stare at a character’s butt for hours at a time it helps if that butt belongs to a hot chick rather than a fat hairy dude in a fedora. (Author inserts are never good.)

 

Jimfear138 preaches the gospel truth about what makes a good Sci-fi movie

http://jimfear138.blogspot.ca/2017/08/the-best-science-fiction-movie-of-all.html

 

Insensitivity readers might just be a growth industry; especially if I’m right about the rise of Overedgy science fiction. You just can’t think of ways to offend everybody without an ever bigger Shitlord watching your back and pointing out missed opportunities to drive the knife in just a little deeper.

http://delarroz.com/?page_id=1387

 

 

Jews Vs Nazis beer pong?

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/students-suspended-expelled-for-playing-jews-vs-nazis-beer-pong-off-campus/597074550

Where can we find the rules for this game? Cuz it sounds awesome; especially the beer part.

Wait? This happened OFF CAMPUS? And how much are your parents paying for this…?

 

https://www.technologyreview.com/the-download/608712/a-thorium-salt-reactor-has-fired-up-for-the-first-time-in-four-decades/

This sounds like very good news. A much more promising future than putting windmills in soyfields to power our iSlavecollars.

You will see mentions of thorium reactors in the Breyland stories as it’s one of the few neearhorizon technologies that I’m actually excited about. Big game changer and a lot closer than practical fusion.

and will that I fear I’ve rambled enough for one night.

NerdLife Seven: Get To The Wookie

Well my social media holiday turned out to be a complete disaster but it’s nothing any of you would care about so let’s just get straight down to business.

Brian Niemeier discusses the difference between the Superversive and the Pulp Revolution literary movements.

http://www.brianniemeier.com/2017/07/superversive-pulprev.html

I do think it is important to remember that these two movements overlap and are not in direct conflict; even if certain people do seem to get strangely butthurt about it.

I initially supported the Superversive SF movement and I stand by the goal of countering the nihilism and hopelessness that is all pervasive in modern literature and “entertainment.” As for the Pulprev? I have the much better reason that all my cool friends are doing it and putting entertainment back into things that are supposed to be entertaining just seems like a good idea.

Huge folding knife; which turns out to be a surprisingly good weapon.

 

Jon Del Arroz on writing character. Lot of good tips here.

http://delarroz.com/?p=1210

“The final thing I’ll note is the protagonist especially needs something for someone to root for.”

Remember if the audience begins to cheer for the bad guys, you either haven’t fleshed out your heroes properly or you may be writing some kind of horrible message fic.

 

An in-depth article about viking shields; from both a historical and a gamer (GURPS) point of view.

https://gamingballistic.com/2017/07/12/vikings-shields-and-game-rules/

“Interesting thing about this – a properly made shield, when struck at with a sharp sword, will catch and trap the blade of that sword. Nearly every time. The thinner, the easier this happens, but even with the thicker wood with no rawhide edging, a good shield bind was obtained.”

 

Sabaton and Girls und Panzer

Sabaton makes everything better.

 

Injustice Gamer brings up a niche product that might just fill your gaming needs.

http://injusticegamer.blogspot.ca/2017/07/adventure-boardgames-to-fill-gap.html

“Mice and Mystics is the most family friendly entry here. You’re playing as the king’s heroes after they’ve been turned into mice by an evil wizard. Try to avoid the cats and bats, get the cheese, and save the king.”

Your kids will live on Mars. Mixed feeling about this piece. On one hand it’s important to be optimistic on the other hand the name Elon Musk triggered a red flag. Still worth a quick read.

http://astroblog.cosmobc.com/2017/07/03/kids-live-mars/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

The only map that matters.

 

Fully Explaining Lunar Calendars. [10min]

Here’s a video for the truly obsessive fantasy writer.

 

Why Female Action Heroes suck.

Steven Crowder makes the case that female action heroes aren’t really that believable and do so in a fairly hilarious manner.

Nerd Life: Aim Away From Face

Nerdlife Six: Random thoughts and prayers to RNGsus.

Okay I got a bunch of links and a nice quiet peaceful day to collect my thoughts.

Mostly writer, old school tabletop or pulprev links this time. As that is the crowd I’m hanging out with recently (even if I’m not actually getting any writing done.)

So if even for a brief moment let us set aside the tunes of war and play instead the tunes of chill.

 

An older piece about how we tend to take for granted the modern ease of travel. Something to keep in mind when writing or gaming in a medieval fantasy setting.

http://harbingergames.blogspot.ca/2014/06/modern-minds-and-medieval-distances.html

Your inner six year old just screamed ‘fuck yeah’

 

The Injustice Gamer delivers on his promise to examine the role of Kickstarter and how it has effected the boardgaming market.

http://injusticegamer.blogspot.ca/2017/06/boardgaming-trends-kickstarter-good-and.html

The soul of a gamer.

 

Skyrim Theme by Leah

Awesome song + vidya +hot chick = winning.

 

 

Anti-tank rifles are for legitimate sporting purposes only.

A very interesting piece of kit.

 

Do you even scorpion bro? Is this what CNN editorial staff are doing behind the scenes.

(Put your drink down before you click this link)

https://www.dawn.com/news/1252264

Great, great now I need to add scorpion smoking fanatics into Brothers in the Dust. Well I guess that would raise the stakes a little.

 

Yes please!

 

An article by Jesse Abraham Lucas highlighting a very bad habit some writers (particularly movie writers) have of misleading the audience and wasting the tension built up in a previous scene.

http://www.pulprev.com/2017/06/bad-habits-bait-and-switch.html

 

 

Diversity and Comics reviews the Batman/Elmer Fudd Crossover.

DC seems to be absolutely winning with these looney tunes crossovers. The lesson here is that if you start with a stupid gimmick you need to fully commit to it and then follow through with everything you got.

 

The Alt Right DM makes one of the best pitches possible for Old skool gaming.

https://gamingwhileconservative.wordpress.com/2017/07/02/3179/

This brings up the possible and very awesome scenario of all the heroes getting wiped out and their low level henchmen having to finish the quest while being completely over their heads.

 

In science news, practical water harvesters are getting closer and closer.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/harvesting-clean-water-from-air/

What I want to know is what happens when they ditch this boring ecologically responsible stuff and hook up one of these babies to a thorium fuelled reactor or two?

Just an awesome piece of comic book history.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/secret-history-j-jonah-jameson-comics-greatest-supporting-character/

Huh? What’s that? movies are supposed to be fun?

 

The MixedGM makes an impassioned plea and a strong case in favor of the Pulp Revolution.

https://themixedgm.wordpress.com/2017/07/06/why-we-need-the-pulprev/

“When we sit down to crack open a book, we need an escape, even a short one. We do not need more darkness thrown in our face. We need hope. Light. Joy. That is why we need the Pulp Revolution.”

I think that’s a good positive note to end on.