wednesday update

Jul. 9th, 2025 07:00 pm
isis: (coffee label)
[personal profile] isis
I don't have much to say about books or TV, because I am still in the middle of my current read and current show. But! For those of you who casually enjoyed the podcast The Strange Case of Starship Iris, the third (and final) season is coming out now. There are a couple of "mini-sodes" which will help you catch up to what's going on, and two regular episodes, and the third will be out soon (it's out to high-dollar Patreons but I am a low-dollar contributor). I listened to the mini-sodes when they came out, and today on my run I listened to the first two regular episodes. Again, I kind of feel like I'm using dystopian fiction about authoritarian regimes as escapism from actual authoritarian regimes...

But the real reason I wanted to post was to say that I'm a bit more than 55% through Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, and there's a 30% discount for it in the Steam sale which ends tomorrow, so - if my post last week intrigued you, I encourage you to buy it, it's inexpensive, it's captivating, it's sophisticated and spooky and atmospheric with occasional touches of humor, fourth-wall smashing, and weird supernatural stuff, and the puzzles are clever and thinky and (mostly) fun. As I mentioned, I told my brother about it and he bought it - and he finished it last night! He admits he got so into it that he put in way too many hours too quickly, but he really loved it.

If you do buy it, the hints page at https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3249636035 is really great as it is nudge-y rather than sledge-y; it points you in the right direction (or tells you what a wrong direction is) which for me is mostly all I have needed.

Also, there are in-game espresso machines.

Another GURPS Bundle - Pyramid 2

Jul. 9th, 2025 06:38 pm
ffutures: (Default)
[personal profile] ffutures
This is the second bundle of Pyramid Magazine issues I mentioned on Monday, covering the second half of Volume 3 of Pyramid (62 issues, Nov 2013 - Dec 2018)

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Pyramid2

 

There's not really much to add to what I said previously - you get a lot of material for a huge range of genres, and a lot of it is easily adapted to other RPGs. On Monday I think I underestimated how much these bundles are saving - if you buy the lot the cost is about 10% of what you pay for the issues individually. If you don't already own most of them it's probably worth a look.

wychwood: John and Rodney making identical hand gestures (have fun!) (SGA - McShep clicky fingers)
[personal profile] wychwood
I have indeed played lots of ME:A (up to 34% completion, apparently). Also done many other things but all while lacking any desire to put any effort into documenting them! However, I have visited the Stourbridge Glass Museum with Miss H last Thursday, which felt more art-gallery-ish than really museum-y to me, but did have some lovely glass things. There's a big historic gallery, which has lots of... glasses and vases and things, mostly in categories by technique and with plaques that talk about the local connections and the like, and a big 20th century and contemporary gallery with lots of cool and fun modern art glass, with some glasses and vases and the like as well. They also have a "hot shop" with actual glassmakers working, which was my favourite part. I bought a ladybird suncatcher which is hanging on my window and looking very cheerful even behind the slatted blind.

Then on the Saturday we went to Thinktank, the science museum, to see the Space Vault exhibition and also TWO shows in the planetarium because we are suckers for a planetarium. Unlike the Leicester Space Centre we did not get to vote on any trivia questions, but we did learn about summer stars and also the Artemis project. The exhibition itself was full of space-and-astronaut objects that mostly weren't actually very exciting (a piece of broken insulation! a manual! some gloves!) but they did a good job of contextualising the artefacts and adding audio and visual components (although the audio was frankly not loud enough to actually listen to, given the volume in the rest of the floor) and I enjoyed myself. Although, as with last time I went to Thinktank, it was obscenely hot and humid, so I started dragging fairly quickly; possibly I am cursed.

Otherwise I have mostly been preparing for GRADUATIONS, mostly the part where I have to be on campus every day. I made what eventually turned out to be twelve portions of pasta bake, now largely filling my freezer, to be eaten for lunches etc, and attempted to mentally adjust to the prospect. Today was the first day, and so far I have done one ceremony (the first of the season!); I'm signed up for a second already, so we'll see how it goes...

R.F. Kuang: Yellowface (Book Review)

Jul. 8th, 2025 04:08 pm
selenak: (Damages by Agsmith01)
[personal profile] selenak
Very entertaining satiric novel set in and about the publishing industry. Our first person narrator, June (white), is a writer with a debut novel which didn't make a splash and won't even, so her agent tells her, get a paperback edition, in stark contrast to her college friend Athena Liu's (American Chinese) work: Athena has three novels already published, just secured a Netflix deal and celebrates that and finishing the first draft of her newest work with June when she dies an accidental death by pancake. June doesn't just dial 911. She also makes off with Athena's manuscript, about which only she knows, edits, rewrites and publishes it. Presto, success, at last! ! But wait! There's no lack of sharp-eyed foes waiting, social media is truly a jungle, and June might be her own worst enemy....
Very vague spoilers ensue )

The novel has the right kind of length for this story - which is to say, less than 400 pages - so the various buildings up of suspense - will June get away with it being the big, but not the only one - are not drawn out too long, and there's not a gigantic cast of characters. Said characters reminded me of comedy of manners types - very stylized, often types for certain ways of behaviour - fittng the satire format. The only other thing of R. F. Kuang's I'd read before was Poppy War, a fantasy novel of a very different type, so I'm impressed by her range. Otoh, if Poppy War was so grim that I emerged emotionally exhausted and sure I would go through the experience again (while being glad I had done so in the first place), Yellowface felt like a slick writty automaton which you observe once and marvel at its cleverness but don't feel the need to do it again. But I will certainly continue to keep out an eye for this author.
ffutures: (Default)
[personal profile] ffutures
Two offers for Steve Jackson Games' GURPS RPG system - The first is a new bundle of the first sixty issues of Volume 3 of Pyramid Magazine (2008-2013), the other is a repeat bundle of GURPS 4E Essentials - the rules and the most useful supplements etc.

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Pyramid1



https://bundleofholding.com/presents/July2025GURPS



 


Pyramid magazine has always been a useful resource for GURPS, and a lot of it is readily adapted to other systems. This offer feels a little on the expensive side, but you're paying less than a dollar an issue, compared to $6 and up if you buy them individually, which is a very good deal if you don't already own a lot of them. A follow-on bundle which launches on Wednesday has a lot more issues, the remainder of Volume 3.

When the GURPS 4E bundle was last on offer I said "GURPS is probably the most popular generic RPG rules set, designed to be readily adapted to any setting. It's reasonably easy to pick up, though there are other games out there that easier to learn, and has a vast range of support material available. This Essentials offer is aimed at people who don't already own the game at all - I own most of it already in dead tree format, the exceptions are things that simply don't interest me much such as the Mass Combat supplement. If you don't already own it, and want a very adaptable rules set, it's well worth a look." I don't see any reason to change any of that
selenak: (Cat and Books by Misbegotten)
[personal profile] selenak
Aka a 2022 novel set in the Appalachians during the late 1990s and early 2000s with the euphemistically called "Opiod Crisis" very much a main theme, and simultanously a modern adaptation of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. The last Copperfield adaptation I had seen or read was the Iannucci movie starring Dev Patel in the title role which emphasized the humor and vitality of the novel and succeeded splendidly, but had to cut down the darker elements in order to do so, with the breathneck speed of a two hours mvie based on a many hundred pages novel helping with that. Demon Copperhead took the reverse approach; it's all the darkness magnified - helped by the fact this is also a many hundred pages novel - but nearly no humor. Both adaptations emphasize the social injustice of the various systems they're depicting. Both had to do some considerable flashing out when it comes to Dickens's first person narrator. No one has ever argued that David is the most interesting character in David Copperfield. As long as he's still a child, this isn't noticable because David going from coddled and much beloved kid to abused and exploited kid makes for a powerful emotional arc. (BTW, I was fascinated to learn back when I was reading Claire Tomalin's Dickens biography that Dickens was influenced by Jane Eyre in this; Charlotte Bronte's novel convinced him to go for a first person narration - which he hadn't tried before - and the two abused and outraged child narrators who describe what scares and elates them incredibly vividly do have a lot on common.) But once he's an adult, it often feels like he's telling other people's stories (very well, I hasten to add) in which he's only on the periphery, except for his love life. The movie solved this by giving David - who is autobiographically inspired anyway - some more of Dickens`s on life and qualities. Demon Copperhead solves it by a) putting most of the part of the Dickens plot when David is already an adult to when Damon/Demon is still a teenager (he only becomes a legal adult near the end), b) by making Damon as a narrator a whole lot angrier than David, and c) by letting him fall to what is nearly everyone else's problem as well, addiction.

Spoilers ensue about both novels )

In conclusion: this was a compelling novel but tough to read due to the subject and the unrelenting grimness. I'm not saying you should treat the horrible neglect and exploitation of children and the way a rotten health system allowed half the population to become addicts irreverently, but tone wise, this is more Hard Times than David Copperfield, and sometimes I wished for some breathing space in between the horrors. But I am glad to have read it.

wednesday reads and things

Jul. 2nd, 2025 06:17 pm
isis: (charlie prince)
[personal profile] isis
What I've recently finished reading:

Lamentation by C.J. Sansom, the 6th Shardlake novel. This is all about the heresy hunts in the last few years before Henry VIII's death - one faction wanted to go back towards Catholicism, one wanted a radical re-imagining of religion and social structures, and if you wanted to stay in the regime's good graces, you walked the narrow path of "the King is the divinely ordained leader of the Church, and whatever he says goes." Warning for historical burning of heretics, plus canon-typical violence; also for weird religion and contentious legal cases. Matthew Shardlake still has a crush on the queen (Katherine Parr).

What I'm reading now:

My hold on Katherine Addison's The Tomb of Dragons came in, so that. Just barely started.

What I recently finished watching:

American Primeval, which, huh, I've never before encountered media in which the Mormons are the bad guys. (This is not a spoiler. It's pretty clear from the get-go, but it gets more pointed and cartoon-villainy toward the end.) Definitely violent and gory, though also it felt very clearly written to Tug The Heart Strings (and then, often, deliberately kill the character it's just tried to make you care about) at which at least for me it failed to do. I liked Abish, Two Moons, and Captain Edwin Dellinger, and James Bridger amused the hell out of me, but - I mostly enjoyed it, but I don't feel it was superlative. I got tired of the filter to wash out colors so it looked almost old-photo sepia.

I did enjoy the historical setting of the Mormon War; as I mentioned last time, I researched it for my Yuletide story, and I think it's just an interesting time, the settlement/colonization of western North America.

What I'm about to start watching:

Murderbot! We always wait until enough episodes are out that we can watch ~every other day and not have to wait.

What I'm playing now:

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, which was recommended to me as a "spooky atmospheric puzzle game", and I'm enjoying it a lot. You play as a mysterious woman who has come to a mysterious hotel full of locked doors in what might be Germany in 1963, at the request of a mysterious man for reasons of ??? I told my brother about it because it's cheap in the summer sale at Steam, and he decided it sounded good so he is playing it now, a bit behind my progress but because of the nonlinearity he's ahead of me in some things. We're trying to give each other elliptical hints when needed.

Another Repeat Bundle - The Dark Eye

Jul. 2nd, 2025 07:09 pm
ffutures: (Default)
[personal profile] ffutures
This is a repeat of a 2023 bundle offering material for one of the oldest fantasy RPGs - The Dark Eye, a German system from from Ulisses Spiele, which has been in print since 1984 and has a ton of support material. This offer covers the 2016 English translation of the system, and is aimed at newcomers to the system. Some of it has been in previous bundles:

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/2025DarkEye

 

In 2023 (and on at least one previous occasion) I said "I'm not hugely into fantasy RPGs, I played way too many in the eighties and sort of lost the plot, but this looks pretty good, the art is excellent, and you get a huge amount for your money. And some things look like some actual thought has gone into them - for example, most of the depictions of women show them wearing sensible clothes for adventuring, with the balance of the sexes roughly even. The rules look comprehensible, though a little more complicated than I like, and (I repeat) you get a hell of a lot for your money. Recommended!

I wonder if there has ever been a German version of this offer - it might be interesting for linguists etc. or (of course) for German gamers, but since these bundles are organised by Americans I won't hold my breath waiting...


I don't see any reason to change any of this - it's not a system I particularly want to use, but it's very good value, and well worth a look if you're into fantasy RPGs. My main caveat considering that it has been in bundles several times is that it may be worth checking how much of it you already own, and whether it would be cheaper just to buy the bits you don't have and will actually use. Incidentally, the current offer explicitly states that no German versions are included.

Another Fantasy Bundle - Broken Tales

Jun. 30th, 2025 07:24 pm
ffutures: (Default)
[personal profile] ffutures
This is the  Broken Tales Bundle featuring the "FRPG of grim upside-down fairy tales where villains seek redemption" and unfortunately the good guys aren't necessarily good...

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/BrokenTales

  

I'll be honest, I think that this is one of those ideas that only works well as a one-off scenario or an occasional break from a more normal style of play. Expecting every evil stepmother to be misunderstood and every downtrodden orphan to be a psychopathic killer gets old fast. But it's cheap and should give a few hours of fun if you want to give it a try.


unfitforsociety: pearls (string of pearls)
[personal profile] unfitforsociety
Batfamily

Blood of the Covenant by [archiveofourown.org profile] Chemical_Processes
Working as a street fighter in the Iceberg lounge, Jason manages to attract all the wrong sort of attention. Tense, believable AU where Jason never becomes Robin but eventually gets tangled up in Bat business anyway.

Can't Raise Hell as a Saint by [archiveofourown.org profile] historical_allusions
When an adult Jason Todd is thrown into the past, he must balance raising his childhood self with reinventing his vigilante personae, all without revealing his knowledge of the future...

A task made infinitely more difficult when he starts changing things in the past and attracts the attention of a young Batman and Robin.
Compelling time travel adventure for Jason.

Damian's Secret Friend by [archiveofourown.org profile] LakeAwen
5 times Damian's family panicked over him sneaking out, and 1 time they found out who he was meeting. Oh heart.

the picture frames have changed and so has your name by [archiveofourown.org profile] Zahri
There's something wrong with Dick.

Tim thought everything was getting back to normal. Bruce was alive and back in their timeline, the Birds of Prey were once again operating out of Gotham, Dick had the city well under control as Batman and even Damian had been less obnoxious than usual.

And then during a firefight at a warehouse by the docks, Tim was almost hit by a flying boomerang. And Dick never noticed.

When something is wrong with your big brother, who else do you turn to but your big sisters?
Interesting casefic with real emotional stakes, plus the Birds of Prey!

Purr-ple Power by [archiveofourown.org profile] Cephalogod
In which Batman thoroughly rejects young Stephanie Brown's attempts to join the vigilante lifestyle, but Catwoman is much more willing to take on a protege.

Especially a protege with a demonstrated talent for getting under Batman's skin.

The Bats aren't going to know what hit them.
This series is super cute!

The Right Substitution is Key by [archiveofourown.org profile] AddictedApple
When Batman and Nightwing disappear, Tim recruits up and coming crime lord Red Hood to fill in as Batman. Hijinks ensue. This is a lot of fun.

The Road to Recovery. by [archiveofourown.org profile] orpheusaki
I enjoyed these two (unconnected?) stories of Bruce and Jason reconciling and getting to know each other again.

Rotten Work by [archiveofourown.org profile] ManURonaldo
Dick is supposed to be on a boring stakeout assignment. Jason complicates that. <333

Shortcut to Maturity by [archiveofourown.org profile] Isonian
Jason is just trying to survive on the streets of Gotham--made slightly more difficult by the fact that some gang has apparently decided to make him their most wanted person. Until he befriends a kid-who-definitely-isn't-Robin, who promises to help him reunite with his dad. And, well, Jason's not in the habit of accepting favors. But maybe it would be worth it, just this once.

Featuring ghosts or zombies or hallucinations, misunderstandings (both unintentional and entirely intentional), lots of identity shenanigans, and some discussion of dads.
I really enjoyed this team-up between feral street kid Jason and hiding-he's-Robin Tim!

A Tale of Two Memoirs by [archiveofourown.org profile] goldenraeofsun
Batman's tell-all memoir is about to publish. Normally, Bruce wouldn't care about the 100th Batman parody to hit the shelves. But when he gets his hands on an early sample, he finds this memoir contains a troubling amount of truth about him and his family.

Bruce can't let this stand. As he knows better than most, the only way to squash a scandal is to create an even bigger scandal. Dominate the news circuit. Take up all the publisher's publicity resources. Sure, he has never written a book before, but how hard can it really be?

Well, as Clark tells him, those are some famous last words, Bruce.
Oh my heart...

Third Robin Tales by [archiveofourown.org profile] weekend_conspiracy_theorist
Currently a series of semi-connected scenes within a world where Bruce encountered Stephanie as Spoiler before Tim decided that if no one else was going to be Robin, then he had to. Tim and Steph found each other anyway. This AU is a lot of fun, with excellent Steph & Tim interaction.

told the world i had a plan by [archiveofourown.org profile] a_alene
Three glimpses into an AU where Jason survives Ethiopia and comes home. I enjoyed them!

two can keep a secret by [archiveofourown.org profile] carolinaa
Steph doesn't tell anybody that her mom died. Everyone's always bitching and moaning about cleaning up her messes, so Steph handles this one all on her own.

No problem.
Ouch. Oh Steph...

unfitforsociety: (coins)
[personal profile] unfitforsociety
Crossovers

Percy Jackson/Avengers

Can I Write 'Tried to Rob Tony Stark' On My Resume? by [archiveofourown.org profile] hyperInactive
Percy was at least happy that this wasn't a prophecy. Stealing back some demigod weapons from a mortal? Sure, Iron Man was a superhero and a genius, but after dealing with Gaea, that was nothing. They just had to steer clear of anyone who might recognize them, and they were positive that they could pull it off easier than most of their quests. And potentially land Leo a job, while they're at it.

But Percy should have known better. Nothing is ever that simple for a demigod.
This is a lot of fun!



Percy Jackson/Batfamily

The Acolyte by [archiveofourown.org profile] Anonymous
The war ends. Kronos falls.

Percy is tired. He's tired of being the leader, the hero, the general, the prophesied. He's tired of fate. He's tired of the Gods.

Good thing the Gods can't reach Gotham.
Long, interesting crossover where Percy flees to Gotham and ends up involved with the Bats.

A sweaty sausage

Jun. 29th, 2025 09:32 pm
dhampyresa: (Default)
[personal profile] dhampyresa
So I have tendinitis in my wrist, which means I now need to wear a brace. This is really annoying because it gets in the way of doing anything. I can't draw with it on :( Even typing is a fucking hassle. Wearing it in the heat makes me feel like a sausage. A sweaty, sweaty sausage.

Ironheart (TV Series) Episodes 1 - 3

Jun. 29th, 2025 06:04 pm
selenak: (Naomie Harris by Lady Turner)
[personal profile] selenak
Aka the series which was delayed for years, with the result that there is much preemptive sceptism. Having watched the first three episodes which got dropped a few days ago, I very much like what I'm seeing so far. The way the series provides a distinct feeling of a place and people reminds me of what the show Ms Marvel did with the Pakistani community in New Jersey - in this case, Riri Williams comes from the Chicago South Side, as does the director, google tells me, and that's where she returns to in the series' pilot.

Spoilers could make an Iron Suit in a cave, but would need the cash to be brought to the cave first )

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