Good morning, Readers!

Hey.... so... you remember how last year Skylark was published?  Yeah, it was awesome.  Anyway, if you were wondering if there would be a party for it, like, ever, like I was, I'm thrilled to announce that there absolutely will be!

October 5th, in fact, there will be a party to celebrate Renaissance Press' newest releases... and Skylark.  Not a new release, but hey, I also wanted to celebrate, okay?  So, Skylark gets to party with the rest of these really awesome books, and I'm super excited.

Come join me for some drinks, a meal, perhaps, and some kick-arse readings.

Save the date!

Right, I have a lot of work that needs doing, not least of all a new post for Black Gate Magazine... I forgot I had to write that.  Hell.  I don't even have a topic in mind.  Welp, wish me luck!

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Okay, okay, I know I'm blogging about this game more than the other games I've played, with perhaps the exception of Skyrim, but an inordinate number of pets require names, and I need help to name them all.  Well, this time I have new names for some pets and also have new pets that requiring names.

First, the names I've decided on belong to my two jaguars.  That's right.  I have two of them now.  The most recent, the rare black jaguar was acquired during last night's stream.  At the end of the stream, their names struck me.  Ladles and jellyspoons, I'd like to introduce you to Aztec and Maya:

As usual, I still require names for my white wolf.  My friend Jerry suggested the name Tao during the stream (though I'm not sure which animal he intended it for), and I quite like that name for my white wolf.  I may go with it, unless a better name is offered.  For now, I'm listing him with my new wolf pet (who is just a regular wolf), who is also in need of a name.

I also acquired a brown bear, who is in need of a name.  A few were offered, but were terribly stereotypical names for bears, and didn't feel right, really.

Okay, onto a new theory I have about one of the tribes in the game, the Izila.  Right, these folks are new-comers to Oros, apparently, but that is not the most interesting thing about them that I've found.  The first thing I noticed is that they painted themselves with woad (blue).  Their skin also appears to be paler.  During last night's live stream, I encountered a number of standing stones that were also painted blue, and were carved with designs that were very similar to the carvings you get in, for example, Newgrange.  Also, they built a giant passage tomb that was extremely reminiscent of the afore-mentioned passage tomb in Ireland.  It was the Tushwarha Outpost that I conquered last night.  It even almost had a corbelled roof, and alcoves for bodies (though far too many entrances to be a true passage tomb).  Also present where there are many Izlia are a number of stone henges (not technically henges), with the same structures that can be seen in the famous example of such a site on Salisbury Plains (the Stonehenge (not technically a henge)).

All of this leads me to believe that the Izila are, in fact, the developers' imagining of the proto-Celtic culture that came to Europe in the late Palaeolithic.  At least, I will contend that they did, as I am a subscriber to the Upper Palaeolithic Continuity Theory (now pretentiously labelled the Upper Palaeolithic Continuity Paradigm).

You have no idea how much I was geeking out about all of this last night.  I mean, viewers of the stream would, because they were there, but my anthropologist heart was in a flurry, and my anthropologist brain was exploding.

Anyway, headcanon accepted.  Takkar's tribe, the Wenja, must be anatomically modern humans/early modern humans, with the Udam being Homo Neanderthalensis, and the Izila being the more modern Homo Sapien Sapien.  They all existed together at one stage in history, why not here?

Now, I have it on good authority that there is an unofficial Ubi-verse, and that the Assassin's Creed universe and the Far Cry universe are the same.  With Takkar being the beast-master, all the pieces lead me to think he's the ancestor of the assassins (who form strong psychic bonds with eagles... hawks?  One of those birds of prey... and can control and see via those animals the way Takkar can with his horned grey owl).  Perhaps, due to a lot of mixing with the Udam and Izila, the beast master abilities were diluted until it was just the eagles?

If that's the case, I greatly wonder then if the Izila are not the ancestors of The Templar, or at least their ideology?  I don't know.  I haven't had much interaction with the Izila in game yet, beyond several clashes and I'm not certain what their motives are (other than the typical inter-tribal conflict).  With the Udam, at least, it has been established that these poor people are dying off and they don't know why; they're scared and confused, and fighting against their own extinction.  I feel quite badly for them, to be honest.

Alright, alright.  I'm geeking out too much, I know.  I do have things to do, too.  But it's all so damned fascinating.  I should let you go then.

Don't forget to help me name my new pets.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Last night, friend, or at least, friendly acquaintance who puts up with my giggly nonsense, Marie Bilodeau, posted last night about her terrible experiences with Canadian science fiction and fantasy publisher, EDGE.  Go read it.

I want to first say how much I admire Marie for speaking out.  It's not an easy thing to do.  I admire her so much for so doing, and I'm also incredibly grateful.

EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy was a publisher I was seriously considering submitting to.  I really liked the idea that they were Canadian, and none of my research had pulled up any major red flags.  That's all changed now.  Even if my experience with them would have proven wildly different, I would not work with a company that treats my fellow writers like they treated Marie.

There's something else that Marie struck on in her blog post that caught my attention, and that is this: community, and her responsibility to it.  She spoke out because she felt it was her responsibility to share the information as a warning to her fellow writers, so that we don't fall prey to the same issues ourselves.  She did this, despite knowing there would be repercussions (and there were. She's taking a social media break currently).

She did the right thing, in my opinion.  She was looking out for others.  I wish more people thought this way, and were brave enough to follow through on these principles.  Not just in the writing and publishing world, either, but in all aspects.  How many people keep quiet about awful things and people for fear of personal discomfort?  How many broken stairs remain unfixed because people in the know are unwilling to speak up?

Anyway, Marie is a wonderful, brave person, and I feel so lucky to have her in my life and in my community.  May more of us aspire to be like Marie.

Good morning, Readers.

Last week, I discovered that one of my favourite composers, known for his work with the Elder Scrolls franchise, had been accused of rape.  Before any of you gamergate/sad puppy/incel types come here trying to pretend-logic away this, I'll tell you exactly where I stand.

I believe victims.

This is not up for debate. Try it, and I'll simply block and ban you.  I'm not in the mood for dealing with your bullshit over this, and I won't.

Anyway, the news dropped with mention of several other accusations from the gaming sphere.  The news did not shock or surprise me.  I'm well past that by now.  I exist in the world as a woman.  I know exactly what it's like out there.

The news still hit hard, though, and I was far more shaken up over this than other, equally unsurprising revelations.  This is for one reason alone:

I loved his music.

Music has a special place in my heart.  It has been, for as long as I can remember, a place of solace, of release, and joy.  It's the one thing that could calm my raging moods without effort on my part.  All that had to happen was the music had to play.  I have wept, held by beautiful melodies, and comforted by melancholic refrains.  It has accompanied me everywhere.  Music is where I turn when I don't have the strength for reading or gaming, and I need solace.

Part of what drew me so fully into the world of Skyrim, the game that got me into gaming at long last, was the music.  It was not just perfect for the atmosphere of the game, but also for helping me sleep, pumping me up, and helping my imagination run.  I would regularly listen to the soundtrack, just because the music was so wonderful.

Last week's news took that from me.  I cannot listen to that music now without the few details of the rape that I could read without wanting to scream returning.  Now the music is stained, and it has hit me particularly hard.  I had a personal connection to that music.

The irony is when I'm feeling as sad as I am about a loss like this, I'd turn to music, this music specifically.  Now I can't.

I spent a lot of last week vacillating between wracking sobs and intense ire.  It perhaps seems silly to be grieving this much over something like this, but I am.  Never mind how triggering it is to have read about, as a survivor.  I have lost something so I was deeply attached to, and it hurts.

There are two schools of thought, really, when it comes to situations like this.  The first is that the artist and the art are separate things, and we must separate the two.  The other is that the artist and the art cannot be separated, and we shouldn't.  We should turn away from the art so as not to reward the artist for their monstrous behaviours.  I am struggling with this a lot.  I do not want this man to benefit from my continued patronage.  I don't want to support his art, especially if it is, as he claims, for its sake that he raped a woman.  And still I struggle, because of how fully I love, and depended upon, the art.

Part of me rages against having something I love taken from me because the person who made it is terrible.  My contrarian nature wants to defy it, to hold on tighter to the thing I am losing.  The greater part of me rages against the composer, because I know I cannot support him now without my stomach churning.  He ruined this for me, and I hate him.

The whole affair almost lost me my favourite game, Skyrim, which I have played so much; the world a place I disappear into whether I feel happy or sad.  There was a deep internal struggle, which ultimately ended in a victory for Skyrim.  This game was not just his.  Many, many people worked on it.  I can't punish them for what their composer did.  I will continue to play and enjoy the world that they've built.

As for the music, though?  Maybe I'll get to a place where I can enjoy it again.  After all, the damage has been done.  I purchased the soundtrack already.  He's already benefited from my support, even if he never will again.  For now, though, though it truly upsets me, I will have to file away the music and find another source of comfort.

​Damn it.  Damn him.

Good morning, Readers!

After some pretty devastating to me news yesterday, I'm really glad that last night was streaming night.  I always feel better when I stream, thanks largely to awesome friends who join in and have fun with me (read here: watch me die).

Last week, I posted about needing help with names.  Well, I have some good news and bad news.  The good news is that I came up with a couple of good names during the stream last night, and then more as I was lying in bed, falling asleep.  The bad news is that I've acquired more pets.

Ahem.

Anyway, I'd like to introduce you to Lady:

She's so sweet, and has thus far been my longest companion.  I love her very much, and kinda want to curl up with her when I sleep.  I acquired her name when she came running to me, and I greeted her, "Hello, lady!"  It stuck.  Lady seems like such a perfect name for her.

The second name I came up with on the fly belongs to my newest pet, a sabre tooth cat.  Say hello to Buddy, everyone:

Buddy got his name the same way Lady did.  He came running, and I said, "Hey, Buddy!" and then lightning struck twice.  Buddy was the perfect name.

The other animals did not get names during the stream.  I did ask for names during the stream for these animals, and someone suggested 'Tramp' (Get it? Lady and the Tramp) for the other cave lion, which was tempting, but it didn't feel quite right for him.  So, as I was falling asleep, I thought of my dhole, and decided that Tramp would be the perfect name for him. At the same moment, I also hit on a name for my new rare black dhole.

This is Tramp and Dodger, everyone:

It suits, no?

As for the rare black cave lion, I also come up with his name as I was falling asleep.  Everyone, this is Ash:

So, four out of six of my pets now have names.  I still need names for a white wolf and a jaguar.  If you have any suggestions, I'm open to hearing them.

Thanks to PoeticProphetess for the name Tramp, even if it went to my dhole instead of my black cave lion.  And now I have to go do things with videos.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I'm over at Black Gate Magazine today, talking about the transformation Kratos undergoes, and how we conceptualise masculine heroes is changing.

On occasion, I review video games for the site chalgyr.com. It’s really just a small thing I do every so often, when I’ve finished playing a game.  Currently, I’m working my way through Far Cry Primal, and enjoying it immensely. Not too long ago, though, I played through the latest iteration of God of War. I enjoyed the older God of War games on a very surface level. I moved my avatar, rage-incarnate, Kratos, across the screen and used him to utterly obliterate my enemies. I felt nothing for Kratos, and despite cut scenes that were designed to make him at least a little sympathetic, I wasn’t particularly attached to his story. There is nothing compelling or appealing about the embodiment of toxic rage. I played for the mayhem and the silly fun.

Then came old man Kratos and his son, and everything changed.

Good morning, Readers!

Today is a short one, because I have a tonne of work to do today - four videos to edit and a blog post for Black Gate Magazine to write.  I'm returning to the latest iteration of God of War for that one, and it's an involved piece, so it'll take me a while, I think.

Anyway, as most of you know, I adore music.  All kinds of music.  I am particularly partial to music that includes folk elements from various cultures.  I listen to Arkona, a Russian metal group, for this reason. I don't understand a word of it, but the music is good.  I've also gotten quite into The Hu (which, the name itself is fantastic), a Mongolian metal group, for the same reason.  They've recently release a new song, The Great Chinggis Khaan​, that I am currently obsessed with.  Here it is:

A friend of mine sent me the link to another group, this one a Kazakh pop group, whose name I cannot read (sorry!), this morning.  This was one of the suggestions that popped up for him after watching the above video on YouTube.  I also don't understand a word, but the music is good.  Plus, you know, women in armour 'n stuff.

Right, I do have to go now and get to work.

Enjoy the music and feel free to share more in the comments!

​Ciao!