(Part 2) Top products from r/TwoBestFriendsPlay

I've been splitting my time between Modern Warfare (the skinner box is real) and experimenting with builds in Grim Dawn using the arena-like Crucible mode + Cheat Engine. I just cannot seem to settle on something that feels "good" in the same way a build in PoE or D3 does. I keep having this problem whenever I jump back to this game and I can't understand why. The man-suit wearing Lovecraftian monstrosities are pretty awesome, though.

LOCAL 58 released a new video at the beginning of the month adding a bit more to the lore. DO NOT LOOK AT THE MOON.

Also been on a binge of videos of Oney and Co. doing stupid voices and M83's 3-video trilogy about psychic kids stranded between Earth and space. Also Outro, because "Melancholia" fits that song shockingly well.

Edit: OH SHIT. Forgot to mention that I started watching Blade of the Immortal. On one hand, the dedication to scene-for-scene remakes of actual pages from the manga is awesome and spectacular, and I love the surprisingly decent adherence to Samura's art style while still also including their own "between the lines" additions that actually add "more" to some scenes.

On the other hand, the combat is often extremely fast. Like disorientingly and distractingly so, and not exactly in a good way. I get that the majority of these fights are between godlike swordsmen and people of extreme talents, but man it's hard to take sometimes. I do like their attempts at adherence to Samura's mandala-like kill scenes despite them happening insanely fast, and I'm glad they put them in the show, but they really can't compare. Still, I'd rather have them try than they not be there at all.

Definitely better than the last attempt at an anime of this series, so far. Makie is still best waifu.

Edit to the Edit: Y'all into skateboarding at all? Check out Thrasher's Halloween 2019 vid. Some pretty great shit this year, including Skateboard Limbo.

FUN FACTS FROM MYTH


As always remember that apparently myth can reveal spoilers so take care. Now Pat mentioned root words today once so what better episode to talk about how


NORSE AND GREEK MYTHOLOGY ARE ACTUALLY THE SAME THING: That’s right. From a certain point of view, Kratos is just fighting the same gods all over again. See, practically all European languages share a common root, with Indian languages. This can be seen by comparing languages, finding similarities, and looking at likely/common sound changes. Modern linguistics can do this so well that there are even theoretical reconstructions of this language. As such, people also have noticed similarities between the names of gods in these regions, the fact that they tend to be polytheistic and share the same roles… and people realise that of course these too share a common root in a primal religion we have no actual preserved texts from. It’s actually where my username comes from!

This religion’s chief deity was Dyēus Phter, the Sky Father. In Greek mythology, this is obviously Zeus, and in Norse mythology, this became Tyr, via the Germanic Tiwaz. This leads to theories that Tyr actually used to be the head of the Norse pantheon, before worship of the more popular Odin and Thor pushed him out to a more minor role.

Another important figure was Perkwunos, the Striker. This was most likely a god of thunder and the oak, and incarnates in Norse mythology, of course, as Thor. In Greek mythology, it’s likely that this god was absorbed into Zeus, as the word κεραυνός, related to Zeus as one of his titles IIRC, also descends etymologically from the same root.

Other common threads include the idea of a Chaoskampf that symbolically represented day to day life, and “dragons” who are fought by great heroes (Thor vs Jormungandr, Hercules vs Hydra, etc.)

There is a notable exception amongst the major gods to this rule however. Odin has no apparent attestation in other Proto-Indo-European religions, at least not linguistically as a god. He seems to stand alone. However, he does have an etymological history. Odin’s name comes from the PIE word of inspiration as far as we can see, and as such is possibly the deification of inspiration, prophecy and magic itself. This is very unique amongst Proto-Indo-European pantheon heads.

NORNIR: Speaking of comparative mythology, these are the Norse equivalent of the Greek Fates, likely also from a common source in PIE religion. They are goddesses that control the destiny of not only men, but the gods themselves, and three Jotunn (Urdr, Verdandy and Skuld) are the most important of them, and live in a well beneath the roots of Yggdrasil. In Norse mythology, fate plays an impossibly important role. No man, Jotunnor god can avoid their fate, and all roads lead inevitably to Ragnarok. There are lesser Norns, however, ruling over less important things.

GROA: I know a Jotunn from the Eddas by the name of Groa. She is legitimately a volva, a seeress, and a practitionar of Seidr, and thus it would make sense for her to see visions of the future. However... I don't remember anything in the story about Odin killing her for a book of prophecy. Unless someone can correct me on this, this seems to be something the game made up for its own story.

Groa is known for trying to work a healing spell on Thor after his fight with Hrungnir, yet as she worked Thor told her tales of his deeds. He told her a story of how he saved her husband's life, turning his frostbitten toe into the morning star. This caused Groa to get flustered, and she screwed up her spell a little bit, leaving stones in Thor's head forever.

There aren't any real free resources where you can learn about PIE that are reliable, as it's obscure outside of academia unfortunately. But if you're willing to shell out 60 bucks, this book is a pretty good introduction. As always, if you're interested in Norse myth I recommend checking out Jackson Crawford's YouTube channel.

I have a bunch of the World of Nintendo Mario toys that I bought to make my younger self happy. I wanted Mario toys so much when I was a kid, but they didn't really exist. Now I find a new one almost ever time I go to Walmart.

I also have the original release of the Link to the Past comic by Shotaro Ishinomori that I really loved. It was so cool to find that back in the day.

Oh, and the Kirby Nendoroid is a lot of fun. I still need to get the Robobot mech to go with him.

I really liked Batman:Hush. It has a "who done it" mystery feel, and it showcases a ton of Batman characters.

Matt Fraction's Hawkeye. This one is kind of hate it or love it, but I recommend giving it a shot. It's not exactly "a complete story" like you asked, each volume is a collection of shorter stories though . It's a very different take on a hero with no powers, on a world of supermen

Green Lantern Corps : Recharge I liked this one because the famous Green Lanterns aren't the main focus, but the Corps in general through the eyes of new recruits.

If you don't mind non-superhero comics, I also recomend looking into:

I Kill Giants. Can't say too much for this without spoilers, it's a very artistic heartwarming story

Seconds. A more fairy tale style story about a girl who gets the ability to magically correct mistakes she made in the past

Solanin. A coming of age story about a girl who decides to quit her job because she's not happy with her life

Instantly subbed, these guys are cool.

Also, if anyone wants a little after story of Sun Wukong getting out from under the mountain, you should read American Born Chinese, it's a great comic about Sun Wukong mellowing out.

Here you go my dude. Normally I would hit you up with that Audiobookbay link because screw paying for things but I couldn't find it on there so I had to start an audible trial to listen to it. Really good book though.

I have the DVD and Schwarzenegger's commentary track is amazing. It's worth buying the DVD for that alone. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0783241895

You'll appreciate it more in the licensed novel

It’s called Marvel Adventures: Triple Threat

Allow me to point out that Jim Davis not only loved the idea, but allowed a collection of strips to be published, and even contributed a few of his own.

If you don't mind a separate purchase, Prima just announced another Persona 5 artbook. This one is also a lot beefier than the one that comes with the TYH edition (432 pages vs 64 pages)

He probably prefers this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Legend-Drizzt-25th-Anniversary-Book/dp/0786965371/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Dark+Elf+Trilogy&qid=1564054183&s=gateway&sr=8-3

This the right one? I suppose Ebook is out of contention?

Mike Allred's run of X-Force. Starts with this:

https://www.amazon.com/X-Force-New-Beginnings-Marvel-Comics/dp/078510819X

It's a really phenomenal book, and not necessarily for the reasons one would think after this excerpt.

Sound effects by Fred Newman

https://www.amazon.com/Manga-Bible-Genesis-Revelation/dp/0385524315

Also I want to recomend the Book, Them by Jon Ronson

It's about a Journalist who, in the late 90s, was paling around with Extremists and Conspiracy theorist in order to learn what makes them tick. And yes Alex Jones is involved.

I just finished reading [The Prodigal Tongue] (https://www.amazon.com/Prodigal-Tongue-Love-Hate-Relationship-American/dp/0143131109), which is an examination of the diffrences between British and American English and how they came to be. It also really drives home the point that anyone who criticize the way you talk is probably wrong and definitely an asshole.

So, this was a thought frequently at the back of my mind, but I never did bother to investigate why the fuck O'Reilly uses pencil sketches of ugly animals as their book covers.

So I went to their website, and a few things stuck out to me.

• The Horrid Little Monkey is actually the primary logo for their website
  
• The Horrid Little Monkey is their mascot for their book to learn how to use vim which coincidentally is my favorite text editor
  
• They have a page dedicated to explaining why they use ugly animals as mascots, and the explanation boils down to the cover designer is basically just Plague
  
  >And, as I investigated the attributes of the real animals, I quickly discovered that there were intriguing correspondences between specific technologies and specific animals. That resonance grew and expanded as I learned more about both the technologies and the animals.
  
  >I was so energized and inspired that I spent an entire weekend working on the covers without much sleep.
  
  >At the end of the weekend, I gave several sketches to my neighbor to take into the office.

Okay, this one is going to need some context. There's this trilogy of fantasy novels, sold in an omnibus edition under the title Wolfhound Empire, by a Brit named Peter Higgins. It's mostly set in the city of Mirgorod, capital of the Vlast, a country modeled on both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. In fact, the entire trilogy is a meditation on the history of the Soviet Union told with recontextualized history and fantasy elements. Anyway, in the first book Wolfhound Century, the Vlast was described as being in the process of losing a war against a coalition of nations to the west known as the Archipelago. By the second book, Truth and Fear, the strategic situation has completely collapsed, the Archipelago have landed in the Vlast itself and are besieging Mirgorod itself with artillery and bomber raids. In the midst of the chaos the terrorist Josef Kantor, one of the trilogy's main antagonists, acquires a general's uniform and false papers, reinvents himself as "Osip Rizhin", and personally takes command of the defense of Mirgorod. In due course the Archipelago sends General Carnelian, one of the commanders leading the offensive on Mirgorod, to parley with Rizhin. She explains that the Vlast's government has abandoned the city, the defenders have no hope of repulsing the invasion, and the Archipelago has the means and ability to both demolish the city and slaughter its entire remaining population. However, if the defenders surrender, the Archipelago will not only spare the city, they will also rebuild it and make it a junior member of their alliance of nations, and Rizhin himself will be able to retire in comfort in a villa somewhere overseas. Given how the Archipelago do not seem to share any characteristics with the Nazis, the deal seems for all intents and purposes to be genuine.

Rizhin listens intently, then tells Carnelian that she's full of shit. He goes on:

> "You and I, what we are fighting for here is a city. A capital city. If Mirgorod is not the capital of the Vlast it is nothing, it is meaningless, it no longer exists. You won't burn it. What use to you is a million stinking corpses? What use to you is five hundred square miles of ash and rubble in a marsh on the edge of a northern ocean? This threat of burning is nothing. It's shit. I could burn it myself more easily than you could. Fuck, I would burn it myself to stop you having it. But to destroy it is to lose it. You burn Mirgorod and you obliterate the idea of it, and it's the idea of Mirgorod we're fighting over here, not some piss-and-vinegar diplomatic compromise.

> So, you want my city, you come and get it. You fight for every inch, or you can fuck off somewhere else and let the Archipelago find themselves a general who can."

When Carnelian reiterates that Rizhin cannot save the people of Mirgorod, Rizhin replies:

> "You haven't been listening. You should try paying attention. I don't want to save the people of Mirgorod, they are of no interest to me. What I want is a victory. And I'm going to have one. You're going to give me one."

On the one hand, Rizhin understands with perfectly clarity the meaning of the conflict, the stakes for which he is fighting, and he has the unshakable certainty and the strength of will to drive the men and women under his command to triumph. On the other hand, he's operating under an apocalyptic worldview in which both sides fight without let or hindrance for survival, and where the human cost is not a consideration.

I want to end this with another quote from Rizhin at the end of the book, after he has liberated Mirgorod with a fitting (yet familiar) apocalyptic weapon and discovered that another of the book's antagonists has gone silent:

> "I am free of it. Free of it and alone. I am the voice of history. I am the mile-high man."

(Oh and yes, Kantor/Rizhin is pretty much fantasy Stalin with the brakes off.)