It’s a Brady Corbet double feature starting with a young girl who makes a deal with the Devil after a school shooting. She becomes a pop star whose life never seems to settle. Then, a Holocaust survivor comes to America where his architectural skills clash with the local tastes.
Continue reading “PopCult Podcast – Vox Lux/The Brutalist”
It’s another Weekly Links with things related to media, but also just important things to share. One of those is that all of us need to be getting off the Google teet if at all possible. That’s hard for me because I’ve been on Gmail since 2005. Here is an article sharing some AI-free, encrypted alternatives to Google Docs which I will be trying out to see if they work for me.
Continue reading “Weekly Links – 21 Feb 2025”
(I realized I had forgotten about the overarching Spark of Qazid Icebreath’s journey across the sea. So, I went back and made Spark checks for each failure in the previous session. I closed the Spark, meaning Qazid emerges from the waters and decimates Cypress’s hometown of Slumbering Bay.)
The waters beyond Slumbering Bay churned, turning from sapphire to an ice-rimed gray. Then, with a sound like glaciers colliding, Qazid Icebreath rose from the depths. The beast’s massive form, a mountain of jagged frost and barnacle-crusted scales, shed seawater in torrents as it emerged. Its icy mist breath rolled over the docks, freezing fishing boats in place and coating the wooden piers in ice sheets.
Continue reading “Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Everspark Part Six”
The plight of refugees at the Polish/Belarusian border is spotlighted. Then we spend time with a British woman stuck in her anxiety.
Continue reading “PopCult Podcast – Green Border/Hard Truths”
Happy Valentine’s Day and welcome to my Weekly Links. This is a new type of post I’m trying out to share links to articles I come across that are related to pop culture & examine it from interesting perspectives. Hoping you find a good read here.
Continue reading “Weekly Links – 14 Feb 2025”
Read the previous chapter here
I think this is a good point in the story where my Spark of Qazid Icebreath’s Journey kicks in, which I have written up below.
N – Qazid Icebreath’s Journey
A – Make a Fate Check, advancing on unfavorable results or with failed Skill Checks.
C – Only from the second ray forward.
H – Jump to a scene of Qazid wreaking havoc on Slumbering Bay on his way to the Whispering Mountains
O – Qazid is intercepted by the Imperial Navy and appears to sink to the bottom of the sea
S – None
Qazid Icebreath’s Journey – 0/5
Fate Check roll: Has Qazid been spotted recently? The higher, the closer he is. Rolled 19.
Yes, and he has obliterated a trio of naval ships in the area.
Qazid Icebreath’s Journey – 1/5
In January we lost my favorite filmmaker, David Lynch. Today we pay tribute by talking about two of his best films. A young man wrestles with the horrors of adulthood. Another young man learns about the dark side of his small town.
Continue reading “PopCult Podcast – Eraserhead/Blue Velvet”
Read the previous session here.
This session will look at a Spark for Cypress’s overall quest inside Murkspire. They are here for The Nightveil Stone, so I’ve written up the NACHOS for it below.
N – The Nightveil Stone
A – After each successful action or favorable event
C – Starting after the third advance
H – Cypress escapes with the Nightveil Stone
O – Skragz’s Fangguard locks up Cypress and his allies
S – None
Because Cypress made it into Murkspire, he can add one step to this Spark. I will not check until I mark the third advance.
The Nightveil Stone – 1/5
Continue reading “Solo Tabletop RPG Review & Actual Play – Everspark Part Four”
Film Series
[Some Shakespeare on Film – 3 Feb thru 27 Feb]
Julius Caesar, Throne of Blood, The Taming of the Shrew, Prospero’s Books, Henry V, Richard III, Romeo + Juliet, Hamlet (Branagh), Titus
Wow. This is the first time I’ve ever done one of these X Days of Y things and I actually completed the damn thing. I mostly see drawing related challenges and I can’t draw to save my life. I really enjoyed getting to look at several systems I’d never even cracked open before and see the mechanics and how characters work. It’s led to me choosing several systems I want to play sometime in the future like Outgunned, Star Trek Adventures, and Dragonbane. Here’s our final character.
Continue reading “31 Days of Character Creation #31 – Dungeon Crawl Classics”
PopCult Reviews 