I probably won't blog much over the weekend (got a party tomorrow and a game to run on Sunday), but I wanted to talk about Changeling: The Dreaming a bit more, since there's this Kickstarter on.
Changeling got a reputation early on as being kind of light and fluffy. Some of that is inappropriate; I actually think that in a lot of ways it's the most tragic of the classic World of Darkness games, but that's a discussion for another day. I think the "light" attitude comes mostly from the artwork (the infamous "bears with balloons" picture springs to mind), but let's not forget that the Black Dog Game Studio meta-equivalent of Changeling was initially Human: The Protagonist and it was created by Günter Haagen•Daas (Autumn People, p. 41). Changeling had an inconsistent tone. Sometimes it was silly, sometimes it was adventurous, and sometimes it was truly tragic. Hell, it would switch between those tones in the same book. One of my favorite fiction pieces from the line is "Butterfly," by Brian Campbell, and it's in the same book as Günter up there, but it's heart-rending and captures the inherent tragedy of Changeling perfectly.
Which I said I wasn't going to talk about. Ahem. Moving on.
In first edition, Changeling used cantrip cards. When you cast a cantrip, you drew a bunk at random. Second edition changed that to a much more reasonable "you can make up your own bunk" system, but there's something to be said for a stuffy sidhe noble needing to ensorcell someone and having to do a silly dance to manage it.
One of my favorite bunks from first edition, just because it was easy but so ridiculous, was "Moo." Much like it sounds; you had to let out a loud "MOOOOOO" to activate the bunk.
I mentioned in my last post that the first Changeling game I ran was set at an abandoned summer camp. That place was real; it was a summer camp I attended as a boy, and man, I've really milked that goat in my games over the years (I should actually do a post about that place; maybe next week). Anyway, the characters arrived there to find a natural freehold, tucked away from Banal eyes. I'm pretty sure there was a purple cow chimera. But there was also a dragon chimera lurking nearby, and so the characters went a-questing to...kill it? Beat it in riddles? Something traditional.
Anyway, my brother (who is working on 20th Anniversary Edition, revising the magic system alongside Holden Shearer) was playing a ferret pooka, and at one point was hiding in the hair of one of the other characters (a troll childling). He went to cast a cantrip, drew that bunk card, and the result was a ferret leaping out of a troll's hair going "MOOOOOOOOO!"
You know, call it silly if you want, but that was a moment that made Changeling sing for me. Yeah, it's weird, it's surreal, it doesn't always link up. Dreams are like that. You can make it make more sense if you want, but you lose some of the purity in the process.
I've always felt that Changeling was a big enough game to accommodate both the bear with balloons, and the Undone changeling sitting on her bed, weeping over the remains of her butterfly wings. You can be silly and then serious. You can moo like a cow to activate a cantrip, but you can also slice your hand and swear on your life's blood. Childlings can - should - have snowball fights, and use Legerdemain to throw flurries of snowballs at once.
One of the advantages to roleplaying is that it gives us, as adults, a way to experience, or at least glimpse, the kind of free play that we knew as children. We could talk about the loss of innocence that comes with growing up in the World of Darkness, or how Banality increases as characters age even as their activities become more sophisticated, but none of that decreases the value of play.
So, some folks have asked if the new edition of Changeling is going to include the sort of "bear with balloons" style of play. And to that, I can only reply: MOOOOOOOO.
Friday, December 11, 2015
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Changeling: Slowly Turning Grey
Guess what! The Kickstarter for Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition went live today. It funded in 67 minutes, so expect stretch goals to start making the rounds pretty soon. I'm developing the book for Onyx Path, which means I get to reap all of the rewards of a Kickstarter (watching fan excitement, watching the numbers go up) without freaking out every time someone cancels a pledge. My wife is thrilled about that.
Expect some Changeling-related content on this blog this month, then. I loved Changeling, and like the rest of CWoD, I kinda put it out of sight, out of mind when NWoD came around; I wanted to keep them separate in my brain and I'd run the hell out of most of the CWoD games. But now with the benefit of years, I can see Changeling with fresh eyes again. And I gotta say, I'm excited.
Today, I want to talk about the last Changeling chronicle I ran. It was called Slowly Turning Grey; the title is a reference to this poem by Robyn Hitchcock :
Expect some Changeling-related content on this blog this month, then. I loved Changeling, and like the rest of CWoD, I kinda put it out of sight, out of mind when NWoD came around; I wanted to keep them separate in my brain and I'd run the hell out of most of the CWoD games. But now with the benefit of years, I can see Changeling with fresh eyes again. And I gotta say, I'm excited.
Today, I want to talk about the last Changeling chronicle I ran. It was called Slowly Turning Grey; the title is a reference to this poem by Robyn Hitchcock :
It's a Raymond Chandler evening
At the end of someone's day
And I'm standing in my pocket
And I'm slowly turning grey
I remember what I told you
But I can't remember why
And the yellow leaves are falling
In a spiral from the sky
There's a body on the railings
That I can't identify
And I'd like to reassure you
But I'm not that kind of guy
It's a Raymond Chandler evening
And the pavements are all wet
And I'm lurking in the shadows
Because it hasn't happened...
...yet.
I first saw the poem in The Crow (the graphic novel), and it resonated. It's noir as fuck, but the "yellow leaves" was just this weird splash of color in an otherwise grey world.
When I started to put together a Changeling game (one of many), I fell back on the poem for inspiration. I set the game in Detroit, gave the characters an extra five freebies and an extra dot of Banality, and split the group: Seelie would play on one day, Unseelie on a different day, same world, occupying the same time, and one group's actions affected the others. The plan was to keep them separate until the finale, only knowing each other through reputation. I know the Unseelie group had a childling pooka (raven, maybe?), a sidhe, and a goblin; the Seelie had a grump satyr, a childling troll, and (I think) a sluagh. I'm sorry I'm fuzzy on the details. This was close to 20 years ago.
The game never reached a conclusion. A lot of really awesome stuff happened, but then drama happened in the Seelie group and the game fell apart. That happens sometimes, and it sucks, but it was particularly painful for this game because we'd invested a lot of time and energy into it.
The chronicle was building toward a new Grand Trod opening, but what would come through? More Seelie fae, or Unseelie? It depended on which group opened the trod points, and when the game ended, Unseelie (more ruthless) had opened two, while Seelie (kept getting distracted by doing good deeds) had opened one, but were on the verge of opening a second.
The game was about dreaming in the face of crushing Banality. I think, if I were to run this game today, I could do better with it. I've traveled a little more, I've lived in different places, I work in an inner-city school district, I've had to pay bills and do all the banal shit that comes with being an adult. But more than that, I've come to realize that Banality isn't really something you do or choose. It's the grinding, inexorable march of time. It's the ache in the shoulders. It's the realization that I can't quite make it to 11PM on a school night anymore. It's staying home not just because it's comfy, but because going out is cold and requires effort.
Don't go thinking it's about age, either. One of the worst moments of my life as a father was watching my eldest realize that homework was never going to stop. It was like watching that dot of Banality get bubbled in, seeing him figure out that it was only going to get harder in school.
Slowly turning grey, indeed.
But I like how the poem ends. It ends with hope, or at least anticipation. It ends with the understanding that something's waiting, and that something might scary and dangerous. but at least it's new, at least it's different, at least it's a surprise.
Banality is waves on the beach, slowly and endlessly wearing the land away. OK, fine. Then Glamour is the gulls overheard, the crabs on the sand, the fish in the sea, and the little girl building an awesome sandcastle. Banality is inevitable, but Glamour is life.
More tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Movie #336: Last Man Standing
Last Man Standing is a noir/action film starring Bruce Willis, David Patrick Kelly, Bruce Dern, William Sanderson, Ned Eisenberg, Michael Imperioli, Christopher Walken, Karina Lombard, and Alexandra Powers. It's a remake of Yojimbo, and heavily inspired by A Fistful of Dollars, neither of which I've seen.
1932, Texas, Prohibition, cool suits. A nameless drifter (Willis) calling himself "John Smith" finds himself in the tiny, nearly abandoned town of Jericho. He discovers that the town has a handful of locals (including an undertaker), a sherriff (Dern), a saloon/hotel, and two rival gangs warring over control of the liquor trade from Mexico. Smith, himself a career gun-for-hire, immediately starts playing both ends against the middle to make some cash, and that works pretty well at first. The Irish gang, led by Doyle (Kelly) has more money, but the Italian gang, led by Strozzi (Eisenberg) and Carmonte (Imperioli) make the first offer. So Smith brokers deals, shoots dudes, and otherwise makes himself useful.
Of course, what trips him up is women. Strozzi has a kept woman from Chicago named Lucy (Powers), who Smith beds and pumps (lol) for information, while Doyle "keeps" a Mexican woman (Lombard) as, effectively, a sex slave. Smith gives the money he earns to them to get them out of town, and winds up killing basically everybody along the way.
I saw this movie a long time ago, and I enjoyed it more this time, probably because I'm older and smarter and I can appreciate the influences from noir, Westerns, and chambara. Bruce Willis is perfect as Smith, speaking quietly and not being wry so much as inscrutable. We do get some comic relief from Sanderson, but mostly this movie is men yelling at and shooting each other, and everything is futile and bleak. The gangs are living as high on the hog as they can out here in the middle of nowhere, and there's always this sense that the real world is real, but it's so far away that it might as well not exist.
If anything bugs me, it's that Hickey (Walken), Doyle's scary-ass hitman, doesn't just drive away after he's the last gang member standing. I think it would have been just as effective if he'd been telling the truth when he said he didn't want to die in Texas, and not tried to outshoot Smith, but hey. All it all, it's a pretty cool movie.
My grade: B+
Rewatch value: Low
Next up: A League of Their Own
1932, Texas, Prohibition, cool suits. A nameless drifter (Willis) calling himself "John Smith" finds himself in the tiny, nearly abandoned town of Jericho. He discovers that the town has a handful of locals (including an undertaker), a sherriff (Dern), a saloon/hotel, and two rival gangs warring over control of the liquor trade from Mexico. Smith, himself a career gun-for-hire, immediately starts playing both ends against the middle to make some cash, and that works pretty well at first. The Irish gang, led by Doyle (Kelly) has more money, but the Italian gang, led by Strozzi (Eisenberg) and Carmonte (Imperioli) make the first offer. So Smith brokers deals, shoots dudes, and otherwise makes himself useful.
Of course, what trips him up is women. Strozzi has a kept woman from Chicago named Lucy (Powers), who Smith beds and pumps (lol) for information, while Doyle "keeps" a Mexican woman (Lombard) as, effectively, a sex slave. Smith gives the money he earns to them to get them out of town, and winds up killing basically everybody along the way.
I saw this movie a long time ago, and I enjoyed it more this time, probably because I'm older and smarter and I can appreciate the influences from noir, Westerns, and chambara. Bruce Willis is perfect as Smith, speaking quietly and not being wry so much as inscrutable. We do get some comic relief from Sanderson, but mostly this movie is men yelling at and shooting each other, and everything is futile and bleak. The gangs are living as high on the hog as they can out here in the middle of nowhere, and there's always this sense that the real world is real, but it's so far away that it might as well not exist.
If anything bugs me, it's that Hickey (Walken), Doyle's scary-ass hitman, doesn't just drive away after he's the last gang member standing. I think it would have been just as effective if he'd been telling the truth when he said he didn't want to die in Texas, and not tried to outshoot Smith, but hey. All it all, it's a pretty cool movie.
My grade: B+
Rewatch value: Low
Next up: A League of Their Own
Epyllion: The Eel King Attacks
Better do this Epyllion update!
As an aside, we're playing with the ashcan version. The full version (funded on Kickstarter) is going to have a lot more stuff to work with, and I don't know offhand when it's supposed to come out, but I hope we're still playing when it does because I'm looking forward to more robust rules. This is a really cool game and I want more of it!
Anyway: Last time, the clutch had escape the caves of the Eel Dragon. They decided to rest before heading back to the White Falls, so Azrael made a nest in the wild so they could heal up. They bedded down on the beach. Veris kept a lookout, but failed, and dozed off. When he woke up, there were dead fish washing up on shore, far too many...and they had black stuff coming out of their gills. Veris examined one, and realized that it was the same stuff the Eel Dragon was giving off. He was near. Looking out over the water, Veris saw what might be some driftwood...or might be the eyes and head of a massive dragon. He flew out over the water, acting despite danger, but failed (and took a Shadow Point) as the Eel Dragon lurched up and tried to eat him!
It missed, and he shrieked, waking the others. The clutch decided they'd better fly down to the beach and warn the other drakes hanging out before something terrible happened. They arrived to find young dragons flying around, playing tag, and so on, and Freja tried to convince them that a massive evil dragon was in the water. She failed, however, and got a lot of "yeah whatever" for her trouble. A young dragon splashed into the water, and Freja acted despite danger to follow and protect him. She dove in an saw the Eel Dragon approaching the shore, but swam after the other drake, since he didn't see it.
On shore, Hawley acted despite danger to follow, and saw the Eel Dragon coming straight at him! He acted despite danger to fly up and out, but failed and got bit on the tail and dragged back into the water.
Nova, flying overhead, came up with a battle plan - the Eel Dragon's chin and throat were soft and vulnerable. Veris swooped in and freed Hawley, acting despite danger, but wound up covered in that black gunk from the Eel Dragon's mouth.
Azrael, inspired, used dragon trade to make a mace out of clay from the beach and the obsidian she'd taken from the caves. Freja convinced some of the drakes to fly off and tell the elders, and Nova called on the stone moon to grant herself armor and strength. She then dive-bombed the Eel Dragon, battling the Darkness. She missed at first (heavier than she's used to, due to the magic), but Azrael helped with her new mace and Nova slammed into the Eel Dragon's throat. Nova took a Shadow Point, but Hawley shared the load and took it instead. The Eel Dragon spit up a bunch of black gunk and submerged, just as a massive blue dragon landed and called down lightning into the water.
The huge blue dragon - Vastron - chortled at the drakes for being afraid of a giant eel-fish. Freja stood up to him and tried to tell him what was really going on, but missed, and he blew them off and flew away. The younger dragons, though, had seen the creature, and landed, asking for help. The promised they would, and told them to stay out of the water for now. Freja used wild speech and asked the fish if the dragon was dead; they said they'd seen it swimming away. Damn.
Freja called upon the stone moon to protect the beach from the Eel Dragon's corruption. Veris took a small piece of obsidian and examined it. He realized it would liquefy under the right conditions, and that whatever made the throne was a master crafter - probably a member of House Kebros (like Azrael). Veris and Azrael went off into the spires near the cliffs to find the oldest dragon they could. They found an ancient dragon of House Kebros lounging in a mountain lake the way my dog does in a puddle. They brought it a bushel of star apples (which it knocked back like a shot), and they talked to the Lake Dragon about what had happened, and it told them about the history of the First War, and how House Kebros became the "lost house." It was pretty firm, though, that the Darkness had been banished and everything was good now. Azrael stood up to the Lake Dragon, but failed, and it dismissed them, going back to sleep.
Veris returned, woke it up, and flattered it, asking about the obsidian chunk. He studied the dragon, and it told him that the obsidian stuff was "active obsidian." He balanced it on his massive claw, and it liquefied, and then resolidified into a spiral. Veris stood up to the Lake Dragon, asking where he could learn more. The Lake Dragon mentioned that Black Sand Island was lost during the First War, an outpost of House Kebros, but overwhelmed by the Darkness. He asked, though, that Veris not scare the young drakes with all this.
Veris flew back to the clutch and told them what he'd learned. Freja asked her spirit guide what they should do, and Oodle recommended going out to Black Sand and investigating.
So that's next time.
As an aside, we're playing with the ashcan version. The full version (funded on Kickstarter) is going to have a lot more stuff to work with, and I don't know offhand when it's supposed to come out, but I hope we're still playing when it does because I'm looking forward to more robust rules. This is a really cool game and I want more of it!
Anyway: Last time, the clutch had escape the caves of the Eel Dragon. They decided to rest before heading back to the White Falls, so Azrael made a nest in the wild so they could heal up. They bedded down on the beach. Veris kept a lookout, but failed, and dozed off. When he woke up, there were dead fish washing up on shore, far too many...and they had black stuff coming out of their gills. Veris examined one, and realized that it was the same stuff the Eel Dragon was giving off. He was near. Looking out over the water, Veris saw what might be some driftwood...or might be the eyes and head of a massive dragon. He flew out over the water, acting despite danger, but failed (and took a Shadow Point) as the Eel Dragon lurched up and tried to eat him!
It missed, and he shrieked, waking the others. The clutch decided they'd better fly down to the beach and warn the other drakes hanging out before something terrible happened. They arrived to find young dragons flying around, playing tag, and so on, and Freja tried to convince them that a massive evil dragon was in the water. She failed, however, and got a lot of "yeah whatever" for her trouble. A young dragon splashed into the water, and Freja acted despite danger to follow and protect him. She dove in an saw the Eel Dragon approaching the shore, but swam after the other drake, since he didn't see it.
On shore, Hawley acted despite danger to follow, and saw the Eel Dragon coming straight at him! He acted despite danger to fly up and out, but failed and got bit on the tail and dragged back into the water.
Nova, flying overhead, came up with a battle plan - the Eel Dragon's chin and throat were soft and vulnerable. Veris swooped in and freed Hawley, acting despite danger, but wound up covered in that black gunk from the Eel Dragon's mouth.
Azrael, inspired, used dragon trade to make a mace out of clay from the beach and the obsidian she'd taken from the caves. Freja convinced some of the drakes to fly off and tell the elders, and Nova called on the stone moon to grant herself armor and strength. She then dive-bombed the Eel Dragon, battling the Darkness. She missed at first (heavier than she's used to, due to the magic), but Azrael helped with her new mace and Nova slammed into the Eel Dragon's throat. Nova took a Shadow Point, but Hawley shared the load and took it instead. The Eel Dragon spit up a bunch of black gunk and submerged, just as a massive blue dragon landed and called down lightning into the water.
The huge blue dragon - Vastron - chortled at the drakes for being afraid of a giant eel-fish. Freja stood up to him and tried to tell him what was really going on, but missed, and he blew them off and flew away. The younger dragons, though, had seen the creature, and landed, asking for help. The promised they would, and told them to stay out of the water for now. Freja used wild speech and asked the fish if the dragon was dead; they said they'd seen it swimming away. Damn.
Freja called upon the stone moon to protect the beach from the Eel Dragon's corruption. Veris took a small piece of obsidian and examined it. He realized it would liquefy under the right conditions, and that whatever made the throne was a master crafter - probably a member of House Kebros (like Azrael). Veris and Azrael went off into the spires near the cliffs to find the oldest dragon they could. They found an ancient dragon of House Kebros lounging in a mountain lake the way my dog does in a puddle. They brought it a bushel of star apples (which it knocked back like a shot), and they talked to the Lake Dragon about what had happened, and it told them about the history of the First War, and how House Kebros became the "lost house." It was pretty firm, though, that the Darkness had been banished and everything was good now. Azrael stood up to the Lake Dragon, but failed, and it dismissed them, going back to sleep.
Veris returned, woke it up, and flattered it, asking about the obsidian chunk. He studied the dragon, and it told him that the obsidian stuff was "active obsidian." He balanced it on his massive claw, and it liquefied, and then resolidified into a spiral. Veris stood up to the Lake Dragon, asking where he could learn more. The Lake Dragon mentioned that Black Sand Island was lost during the First War, an outpost of House Kebros, but overwhelmed by the Darkness. He asked, though, that Veris not scare the young drakes with all this.
Veris flew back to the clutch and told them what he'd learned. Freja asked her spirit guide what they should do, and Oodle recommended going out to Black Sand and investigating.
So that's next time.
Monday, December 7, 2015
Movie #335: The Last Dragon
The Last Dragon is...well, it lives somewhere between chop-socky, blaxploitation, and concentrated 80s. It stars Taimak, Vanity, Julius J. Carry III, Chris Murney, Faith Prince, and Leo O'Brien.
We open with Leroy Green (Taimak), known to the residents of Chinatown as "Bruce Leroy" finishing his martial arts training and leaving his master (Thomas Ikeda) to find "the Glow," a mystical martial arts woogie power. Here's the thing: Leroy is black, lives in Harlem, and his family doesn't understand his obsession with meditation and martial arts, nor why he talks like a mentally challenged white dude.
But never mind that. The evil Sho'Nuff (Carry III), the self-styled Shogun of Harlem, who romps around with a gang wearing weird costumes, wants to fight Leroy to establish himself as the master. And, elsewhere, slimy producer Eddie Arkadian (Murney) wants to blackmail lovely Lisa Charles (Vanity) into broadcasting his girlfriend Angela's (Prince) tacky-ass video on her dance show.
Of course this all comes down to a fight between Sho'Nuff and Leroy, and...well, look, I can't possibly explain this.
OK, straight up, this movie is terrible. It's very watchable, of course, and it's funny as hell, in a "what the actual fuck" kind of way. But it's terrible. It's got too many characters, everything is way over the top, the music is god-awful (seriously, the best song in it is "Rhythm of the Night"), and there's a sea monster in a tank that violates the Chekov's Gun rule. Sho'Nuff is the most memorable thing in the movie, and the best moment is Angela walking out on Eddie.
The martial arts aren't terrible (Taimak is actually a martial artist), fight scenes are OK, and watch for cameo roles from young William H. Macy and Chazz Palminteri.
My grade: D
Rewatch value: Medium-high, I think
Next up: Last Man Standing
We open with Leroy Green (Taimak), known to the residents of Chinatown as "Bruce Leroy" finishing his martial arts training and leaving his master (Thomas Ikeda) to find "the Glow," a mystical martial arts woogie power. Here's the thing: Leroy is black, lives in Harlem, and his family doesn't understand his obsession with meditation and martial arts, nor why he talks like a mentally challenged white dude.
But never mind that. The evil Sho'Nuff (Carry III), the self-styled Shogun of Harlem, who romps around with a gang wearing weird costumes, wants to fight Leroy to establish himself as the master. And, elsewhere, slimy producer Eddie Arkadian (Murney) wants to blackmail lovely Lisa Charles (Vanity) into broadcasting his girlfriend Angela's (Prince) tacky-ass video on her dance show.
Of course this all comes down to a fight between Sho'Nuff and Leroy, and...well, look, I can't possibly explain this.
The martial arts aren't terrible (Taimak is actually a martial artist), fight scenes are OK, and watch for cameo roles from young William H. Macy and Chazz Palminteri.
My grade: D
Rewatch value: Medium-high, I think
Next up: Last Man Standing
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Monsterhearts: The Finale
Today (moments ago, in fact) we finished up our Monsterhearts game. It's been running since August 2013, monthly, making this our 24th session (so I think we missed a couple here and there).
I've waxed poetic about this game before, so I'm not gonna do it too much now. I'll only say that this is a really fantastic game, and I really thank +Avery Mcdaldno for making it.
Anyway! Last time, the characters were kinda split up around Cassi's house. Miguel was in Cassi's mom's bedroom, and mirror-Skylar had just come through the door with a glass shard. Romy, Rook, Skylar, Austin, and Mikaela (who had a body!) were in the mirror-verse, down by the front door. Briar had been out in the pool house where she'd destroyed her mirror self. Cassi had elected to stay behind with her brothers (her player left the game after last session).
Briar was wandering back to the main house, but between the poolhouse and the main house was a long, gray slog. She held steady to keep going, and gained terrified but carried one forward to keep going. Meanwhile, Mikaela pointed out there was a shape out in the distance, and Rook and Skylar headed out to find out if it was Briar (Austin, Romy, and Mikaela stayed behind).
Briar heard a howling noise on the wind, held steady again to head toward it. She saw figures in the distance and ran toward them, and ran into Rook and Romy. They said that the house was "this way" and started heading off into the distance with her...
...but actual Rook and Skylar saw this and held steady to catch up with them. They did and claimed to be the real Rook and Skylar (which they were, but Briar didn't know that). Mirror-Rook and mirror-Romy claimed to be real, too, and they kind of went round and round (and noted that no one had silvered eyes, but this might be because they were in the mirror) until Skylar turned Briar on and gave her the morbid condition (uses his ending move). This convinced Briar, and the mirror folks got all silver-eyed. They got in the way, but Briar shut them down, taking Strings on them. Briar started heading back toward the house, and Rook and Skylar followed.
Meanwhile, up in the bedroom, mirror-Skylar was looking pretty menacing. Miguel shut her down, taking the scared condition while the mirrorskin got confused. Mirror-Skylar complained that their Briar had been shattered and they didn't have a Miguel, so if Miguel would come into the mirror-verse, she would let Cassi's mom go back to her body (though the others would have to get out on their own). Miguel agreed.
Downstairs, Briar, Rook, and Skylar joined the rest of the folks. They talked about going through the mirror and whether that would grant Mikaela a body or put her in Romy's mind again or vice versa. Rook ranted a bit - Skylar was a ghost, Rook had died and come back, they were all in a mirror, who really knew anymore? Skylar took that opportunity to use hungry ghost and strip Rook's conditions away.
Briar suggested they go back upstairs and check on Cassi's mom (lighting the way). They went up just as mirror-Skylar and Miguel came out of the room (though the others didn't notice Miguel). There were some harsh words; mirror-Skylar pointed out that they'd destroyed mirror-Briar, and actual Skylar responded flippantly, to which mirror-Skylar tried to shove actual Skylar over the banister.
Briar intervened against an act of violence and blocked mirror-Skylar, at which point she kind of deflated. She told the others where Cassi's mom was (up in the attic), and then went and got her. They led her downstairs and everyone started to file out of the mirror-verse. When Cassi's mom left, she vanished, and the mirrored eyes on actual-Cassi's mom returned to normal (and she passed out). When Mikaela left, holding hands with Romy, she vanished, and returned to Romy's head. Miguel was the last one, and mirror-Skylar reminded him that he'd said he'd stay. She also said that here, in the mirror-verse, everyone could see him and talk to him. Miguel considered it, and gazed into the abyss to see how that would pan out, but failed and instead saw the mirror-verse fading. Miguel then thought "screw that" and ran away, smashing through the mirror and landing on the floor.
The characters figured maybe now they could have a seance for Emmett, but Austin suggested maybe not here. They decided to hit Briar's house and decide what to do. Rook went to find Cassi and found her asleep in her brother's room. He woke up her to tell her they were leaving, and Cassi stayed behind with her family. She'd had a hard day, after all.
Everyone else went to Briar's house, and then to the books. Briar realized that trying to contact Emmett with the hexmutes and the quietkin still in the way might be difficult, but since she blocked the mirrorskin from violence, it faded - might there be a way to accomplish this with the others? Calling up the hexmutes was easy; Briar just lashed out physically and punched Rook in the nose. Hexmutes appeared, and Rook approached two and started making out with them, using horny reward. Problem as, all that did was call up more of them, and give them they happy condition.
Watching all this (because Rook was blissed out), Briar went to the books real quick, and realized that for the hexmutes, pain was just something they wanted - they needed it put in some kind of context to learn anything. Skylar, therefore, called them on their shit, and explained that pain without any understanding of what caused it and why was useless, just sensation. The hexmutes faded away, one by one, and the last one reached out and tenderly wiped the blood from Rook's lip.
Briar went to the books again to learn about the quietkin, and the characters realized that the quietkin weren't just after physical warmth, but also belonging. They figured they could help the quietkin with that, but many of the characters were dealing with unpleasant conditions.
Rook had a solution for that: he turned everyone on. Everyone retreated to a bedroom together, and I'd like to think that we got some loving, lingering shots of Rook and Austin making out (since Austin has, I think, gone this whole series without making out with a guy). Anyway, of course Rook used horny reward, so Skylar ditched his conditions and everyone else took a String on Rook. And then the Sex Moves, oh lordy. (I think this is the song that plays, by the way.)
(In retrospect, while I'm sorry that Cassi's player wasn't present, it's probably just as well Cassi wasn't present for this bit, because it would have triggered everyone's Darkest Self. But anyway.)
So: Briar lost all her conditions and felt better. She felt a little uncomfortable getting with Romy (Briar thinks of herself as straight and she's never been with a cis woman, though she did get with Skylar at one point), so Romy got a String on her. Romy's Sex Move meant everyone got shadowed, and Skylar, who already was, got drained. Miguel's meant everyone can see him and gained three Strings on him.
And then Skylar's freaking Sex Move means everyone gets asked questions. Rook asked what gender Skylar considers herself (Skylar is genderfluid, hence the alternating pronouns). Briar asked Skylar who she loves (Skylar says that she's not in love with anyone, but loves herself). Austin asked why Skylar is still here (Skylar simply says that she wants to be). Miguel asked if he wants to have dinner on Saturday (yes). Romy asked if being with two people in one body wigs Skylar out (Skylar answers with an immediate and emphatic no).
Skylar asked Rook what it feels like to have so much physical love all the time (Rook answers that helps him fill the need for the emotional love that isn't there). Skylar asked Briar what she'll do
when high school is over (she says she'll go to college). Skylar asked Austin if he's always wanted to bang Rook (Austin says he was surprised to find he was sad he'd missed his window back when he split with Cassi and got with Briar). Skylar asked Mikaela if she's happy (she says she's happy enough). Skylar asked Romy what would make her happy (she says she doesn't know, maybe find a way to give Mikaela a bit more freedom). Finally, Skylar asked Miguel if he'd want everyone to see him again (he says he doesn't think so).
Whew. Cut to commercial.
Back, with Austin tying his shoe with a sheepish glance at Rook, and Briar coming in with bags of burgers from In n' Out (product placement!). They decided to build a bonfire out at the old house where Emmett died, and call the quietkin there.
They headed out there and built the fire as the sun was rising. The quietkin appeared, staring into the fire, and the characters walked around, lifted their hoods, and greeted them. Skylar made them feel beautiful, and they sat, silently, warming themselves by the fire. The characters sat around as well, and Miguel gazed into the abyss to call Emmett (which marked the first time ever that Miguel has managed to do that).
Emmett appeared, and they talked, and Briar shared her pain. They all talked, and they discussed their lives and what it was like kinda being them. Briar said that hunting monsters was lonely work, but that with her friends she'd found a way to make it work. Skylar, likewise, talked about the pain she'd felt in being so depressed she'd tried to commit suicide, and then coping with changing her mind and dying anyway. Emmett said that his last thought as the smoke overtook him as wishing he had someone to miss, since he really didn't. He asked about Cassi, since she wasn't there, but Rook said she was hurt and tired and needed to rest. They were all together, even if they weren't literally together.
Emmett asked them what they would do next. Rook said they would probably go get pizza. Emmett said he meant, like, next, after graduation, but they weren't sure. College, maybe, but Skylar mentioned going to Europe, and the other folks thought that sounded fun. They talked about that, about the possibility of going to a hostel and having sex on the Eiffel Tower and whether they could afford to chip in and get a vacation home, and the fire slowly died out. Emmett put his head down on Miguel's shoulder, and faded away, surrounded by friends.
They sat there a while longer, and then got up and headed for Pi. There was a new breakfast pizza, which Rook regarded as an abomination, but Austin pointed out that pizza for breakfast is a long and glorious tradition. So they walked off in to the sunrise, another day in Perdido.
Closing credits:
I've waxed poetic about this game before, so I'm not gonna do it too much now. I'll only say that this is a really fantastic game, and I really thank +Avery Mcdaldno for making it.
Anyway! Last time, the characters were kinda split up around Cassi's house. Miguel was in Cassi's mom's bedroom, and mirror-Skylar had just come through the door with a glass shard. Romy, Rook, Skylar, Austin, and Mikaela (who had a body!) were in the mirror-verse, down by the front door. Briar had been out in the pool house where she'd destroyed her mirror self. Cassi had elected to stay behind with her brothers (her player left the game after last session).
Briar was wandering back to the main house, but between the poolhouse and the main house was a long, gray slog. She held steady to keep going, and gained terrified but carried one forward to keep going. Meanwhile, Mikaela pointed out there was a shape out in the distance, and Rook and Skylar headed out to find out if it was Briar (Austin, Romy, and Mikaela stayed behind).
Briar heard a howling noise on the wind, held steady again to head toward it. She saw figures in the distance and ran toward them, and ran into Rook and Romy. They said that the house was "this way" and started heading off into the distance with her...
...but actual Rook and Skylar saw this and held steady to catch up with them. They did and claimed to be the real Rook and Skylar (which they were, but Briar didn't know that). Mirror-Rook and mirror-Romy claimed to be real, too, and they kind of went round and round (and noted that no one had silvered eyes, but this might be because they were in the mirror) until Skylar turned Briar on and gave her the morbid condition (uses his ending move). This convinced Briar, and the mirror folks got all silver-eyed. They got in the way, but Briar shut them down, taking Strings on them. Briar started heading back toward the house, and Rook and Skylar followed.
Meanwhile, up in the bedroom, mirror-Skylar was looking pretty menacing. Miguel shut her down, taking the scared condition while the mirrorskin got confused. Mirror-Skylar complained that their Briar had been shattered and they didn't have a Miguel, so if Miguel would come into the mirror-verse, she would let Cassi's mom go back to her body (though the others would have to get out on their own). Miguel agreed.
Downstairs, Briar, Rook, and Skylar joined the rest of the folks. They talked about going through the mirror and whether that would grant Mikaela a body or put her in Romy's mind again or vice versa. Rook ranted a bit - Skylar was a ghost, Rook had died and come back, they were all in a mirror, who really knew anymore? Skylar took that opportunity to use hungry ghost and strip Rook's conditions away.
Briar suggested they go back upstairs and check on Cassi's mom (lighting the way). They went up just as mirror-Skylar and Miguel came out of the room (though the others didn't notice Miguel). There were some harsh words; mirror-Skylar pointed out that they'd destroyed mirror-Briar, and actual Skylar responded flippantly, to which mirror-Skylar tried to shove actual Skylar over the banister.
Briar intervened against an act of violence and blocked mirror-Skylar, at which point she kind of deflated. She told the others where Cassi's mom was (up in the attic), and then went and got her. They led her downstairs and everyone started to file out of the mirror-verse. When Cassi's mom left, she vanished, and the mirrored eyes on actual-Cassi's mom returned to normal (and she passed out). When Mikaela left, holding hands with Romy, she vanished, and returned to Romy's head. Miguel was the last one, and mirror-Skylar reminded him that he'd said he'd stay. She also said that here, in the mirror-verse, everyone could see him and talk to him. Miguel considered it, and gazed into the abyss to see how that would pan out, but failed and instead saw the mirror-verse fading. Miguel then thought "screw that" and ran away, smashing through the mirror and landing on the floor.
The characters figured maybe now they could have a seance for Emmett, but Austin suggested maybe not here. They decided to hit Briar's house and decide what to do. Rook went to find Cassi and found her asleep in her brother's room. He woke up her to tell her they were leaving, and Cassi stayed behind with her family. She'd had a hard day, after all.
Everyone else went to Briar's house, and then to the books. Briar realized that trying to contact Emmett with the hexmutes and the quietkin still in the way might be difficult, but since she blocked the mirrorskin from violence, it faded - might there be a way to accomplish this with the others? Calling up the hexmutes was easy; Briar just lashed out physically and punched Rook in the nose. Hexmutes appeared, and Rook approached two and started making out with them, using horny reward. Problem as, all that did was call up more of them, and give them they happy condition.
Watching all this (because Rook was blissed out), Briar went to the books real quick, and realized that for the hexmutes, pain was just something they wanted - they needed it put in some kind of context to learn anything. Skylar, therefore, called them on their shit, and explained that pain without any understanding of what caused it and why was useless, just sensation. The hexmutes faded away, one by one, and the last one reached out and tenderly wiped the blood from Rook's lip.
Briar went to the books again to learn about the quietkin, and the characters realized that the quietkin weren't just after physical warmth, but also belonging. They figured they could help the quietkin with that, but many of the characters were dealing with unpleasant conditions.
Rook had a solution for that: he turned everyone on. Everyone retreated to a bedroom together, and I'd like to think that we got some loving, lingering shots of Rook and Austin making out (since Austin has, I think, gone this whole series without making out with a guy). Anyway, of course Rook used horny reward, so Skylar ditched his conditions and everyone else took a String on Rook. And then the Sex Moves, oh lordy. (I think this is the song that plays, by the way.)
(In retrospect, while I'm sorry that Cassi's player wasn't present, it's probably just as well Cassi wasn't present for this bit, because it would have triggered everyone's Darkest Self. But anyway.)
So: Briar lost all her conditions and felt better. She felt a little uncomfortable getting with Romy (Briar thinks of herself as straight and she's never been with a cis woman, though she did get with Skylar at one point), so Romy got a String on her. Romy's Sex Move meant everyone got shadowed, and Skylar, who already was, got drained. Miguel's meant everyone can see him and gained three Strings on him.
And then Skylar's freaking Sex Move means everyone gets asked questions. Rook asked what gender Skylar considers herself (Skylar is genderfluid, hence the alternating pronouns). Briar asked Skylar who she loves (Skylar says that she's not in love with anyone, but loves herself). Austin asked why Skylar is still here (Skylar simply says that she wants to be). Miguel asked if he wants to have dinner on Saturday (yes). Romy asked if being with two people in one body wigs Skylar out (Skylar answers with an immediate and emphatic no).
Skylar asked Rook what it feels like to have so much physical love all the time (Rook answers that helps him fill the need for the emotional love that isn't there). Skylar asked Briar what she'll do
when high school is over (she says she'll go to college). Skylar asked Austin if he's always wanted to bang Rook (Austin says he was surprised to find he was sad he'd missed his window back when he split with Cassi and got with Briar). Skylar asked Mikaela if she's happy (she says she's happy enough). Skylar asked Romy what would make her happy (she says she doesn't know, maybe find a way to give Mikaela a bit more freedom). Finally, Skylar asked Miguel if he'd want everyone to see him again (he says he doesn't think so).
Whew. Cut to commercial.
Back, with Austin tying his shoe with a sheepish glance at Rook, and Briar coming in with bags of burgers from In n' Out (product placement!). They decided to build a bonfire out at the old house where Emmett died, and call the quietkin there.
They headed out there and built the fire as the sun was rising. The quietkin appeared, staring into the fire, and the characters walked around, lifted their hoods, and greeted them. Skylar made them feel beautiful, and they sat, silently, warming themselves by the fire. The characters sat around as well, and Miguel gazed into the abyss to call Emmett (which marked the first time ever that Miguel has managed to do that).
Emmett appeared, and they talked, and Briar shared her pain. They all talked, and they discussed their lives and what it was like kinda being them. Briar said that hunting monsters was lonely work, but that with her friends she'd found a way to make it work. Skylar, likewise, talked about the pain she'd felt in being so depressed she'd tried to commit suicide, and then coping with changing her mind and dying anyway. Emmett said that his last thought as the smoke overtook him as wishing he had someone to miss, since he really didn't. He asked about Cassi, since she wasn't there, but Rook said she was hurt and tired and needed to rest. They were all together, even if they weren't literally together.
Emmett asked them what they would do next. Rook said they would probably go get pizza. Emmett said he meant, like, next, after graduation, but they weren't sure. College, maybe, but Skylar mentioned going to Europe, and the other folks thought that sounded fun. They talked about that, about the possibility of going to a hostel and having sex on the Eiffel Tower and whether they could afford to chip in and get a vacation home, and the fire slowly died out. Emmett put his head down on Miguel's shoulder, and faded away, surrounded by friends.
They sat there a while longer, and then got up and headed for Pi. There was a new breakfast pizza, which Rook regarded as an abomination, but Austin pointed out that pizza for breakfast is a long and glorious tradition. So they walked off in to the sunrise, another day in Perdido.
Closing credits:
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Movie #334: Land of the Dead
Land of the Dead is the fourth "of the dead" movie from George Romero, and stars Simon Baker, Robert Joy, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, and Eugene Clark.
Set an unspecified amount of time after the rise depicted in Night of the Living Dead, survivors are living in a walled, fence city (Pittsburgh, obviously). A rich white dude named Kauffman (Hopper) has established an oligarchy of rich folks, and a working underclass, all protected by an engineer named Riley (Baker), his sharpshooting but slow-witted friend Charlie (Joy), and his ambitious enforcer/body dumper Cholo (Leguizamo). Getting into Fiddler's Green (the high-class place) is a matter not only of money, but space and, apparently, being the right sort (white), so Cholo gets frozen out. Riley, too, just wants to get gone and head north where there aren't so many people (he's something of a misanthrope).
But then Cholo steals Dead Reckoning, a heavily armored vehicle capable of reducing Fiddler's Green to rubble, and demands money from Kauffman. Riley heads out to find him, and into all this we have a zombie who's got Bub-level intelligence (Clark) leading the other "stenches" in an attack on Fiddler's Green.
And from there it's your basic zombie movie; zombies slowly shamble after people, knock them down, and eat them. Special effects have improved, so we do things like show a zombie with its whole hand in a dude's mouth pulling out...bits...but mostly it's what we saw in Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. Plot-wise, we introduce this kind of interesting feudal thing, but the problem I have with it is a) people are using paper money, and it's crisp, meaning these are either new bills (from where?) or someone's ironing them. And when Cholo demands money...where the fuck is he going to spend it? I mean, sure, I can buy that Kauffman instituted a policy of trading currency for goods/services; he's got the population to support that. But Cholo mentions an outpost in Cleveland that hasn't been heard from for a while (probably they just didn't want to talk to Pittsburgh), and...would they take his money? Or would they say, "Hey, dude, you know society collapsed, right? Have a pierogi."
Anyway. It's kind of a fun zombie movie, it moves faster than Dawn, and there's some cool deaths, but overall, it's nothing we haven't seen already.
My grade: C
Rewatch value: Low
Next up: Last Dragon
Set an unspecified amount of time after the rise depicted in Night of the Living Dead, survivors are living in a walled, fence city (Pittsburgh, obviously). A rich white dude named Kauffman (Hopper) has established an oligarchy of rich folks, and a working underclass, all protected by an engineer named Riley (Baker), his sharpshooting but slow-witted friend Charlie (Joy), and his ambitious enforcer/body dumper Cholo (Leguizamo). Getting into Fiddler's Green (the high-class place) is a matter not only of money, but space and, apparently, being the right sort (white), so Cholo gets frozen out. Riley, too, just wants to get gone and head north where there aren't so many people (he's something of a misanthrope).
But then Cholo steals Dead Reckoning, a heavily armored vehicle capable of reducing Fiddler's Green to rubble, and demands money from Kauffman. Riley heads out to find him, and into all this we have a zombie who's got Bub-level intelligence (Clark) leading the other "stenches" in an attack on Fiddler's Green.
And from there it's your basic zombie movie; zombies slowly shamble after people, knock them down, and eat them. Special effects have improved, so we do things like show a zombie with its whole hand in a dude's mouth pulling out...bits...but mostly it's what we saw in Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. Plot-wise, we introduce this kind of interesting feudal thing, but the problem I have with it is a) people are using paper money, and it's crisp, meaning these are either new bills (from where?) or someone's ironing them. And when Cholo demands money...where the fuck is he going to spend it? I mean, sure, I can buy that Kauffman instituted a policy of trading currency for goods/services; he's got the population to support that. But Cholo mentions an outpost in Cleveland that hasn't been heard from for a while (probably they just didn't want to talk to Pittsburgh), and...would they take his money? Or would they say, "Hey, dude, you know society collapsed, right? Have a pierogi."
Anyway. It's kind of a fun zombie movie, it moves faster than Dawn, and there's some cool deaths, but overall, it's nothing we haven't seen already.
My grade: C
Rewatch value: Low
Next up: Last Dragon
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