As Promised Here The Additions For The First Part Of Sandra Branderson's Way Of Kings (Part 1 ... Yes,

et tu, boopte?

"The best thing we can do with power is give it away" - On the leftist critique of superhero narratives as authoritarian power fantasies:

The ongoing "Jason Todd is a cop" debate has reminded me of a brilliant brief image essay by Joey deVilla. So here it is, images first and the full essay text below:

"A common leftist critique of superhero comics is that they are inherently anti-collectivist, being about small groups of individuals who hold all the power, and the wisdom to wield that power. I don’t disagree with this reading. I don’t think it’s inaccurate. Superheroes are their own ruling class, the concept of the übermensch writ large. But it’s a sterile reading. It examines superhero comics as a cold text, and ignores something that I believe in fundamental, especially to superhero storytelling: the way people engage with text. Not what it says, but how it is read. The average comic reader doesn’t fantasize about being a civilian in a world of superheroes, they fantasize about being a superhero. One could charitably chalk this up to a lust for power, except for one fact… The fantasy is almost always the act of helping people. Helping the vulnerable, with no reward promised in return. Being a century into the genre, we’ve seen countless subversions and deconstructions of the story. But at its core, the superhero myth is about using the gifts you’ve been given to enrich the people around you, never asking for payment, never advancing an ulterior motive. We should (and do) spend time nitpicking these fantasies, examining their unintended consequences, their hypocrisies. But it’s worth acknowledging that the most eduring childhood fantasy of the last hundred years hasn’t been to become rich. Superheroes come from every class (don’t let the MCU fool you). The most enduring fantasy is to become powerful enough to take the weak under your own wing. To give, without needing to take. So yes, the superhero myth, as a text, isn’t collectivist. But that’s not why we keep coming back to it. That’s not why children read it. We keep coming back to it to learn one simple lesson… The best thing we can do with power IS GIVE IT AWAY." - Joey deVilla, 2021 https://www.joeydevilla.com/2021/07/04/happy-independence-day-superhero-style/

Insurance on low-probability-large-payout events can be very odd, but often makes sense purely at scale. Not surprised there are specialists, dabblers would be taking massive risks - ironically, insurance companies aren't supposed to take risks. You really want to roll so many dice you can guarantee a certain number of natural-1s. Otherwise you can't plan, you can't hedge, you're just letting someone else gamble with all of your client's fees.

As far as I can tell there's never been a wacky caper movie about committing hole in one insurance fraud, and that honestly surprises me a little.

look, it's easy, okay? High Fantasy has An Hero whose Destiny is Sword, and Low Fantasy has Some Schmoe whose Job is Sword.

One of the players in the Break!! game is playing a living, person-sized, porcelain doll - think the form of the third image and the patterning of the first.

I’ve posted two of these before, but here are all 3 warforged commissions for @hinkledinkle together in one post! <3 

The top two are heavily inspired and referenced from designs by Alan Blackwell by request.

twitch / commissions / art tag

Prev has the right of it - the Exorcist is such a beautiful kit. But, don't worry, if you don't want to use it for your turbo-catholic graven-image-armoured fanatics, other flavours of villain are available! I went with the classic "mad scientist playing his organ for the boss fight" variant.

Red gloved hands for no symbolism, robotic tendrils for playing unholy chords. I added some skulls and candles, but mostly the Exorcist is already This Extra. Reliquaries line the flanks. Filigree twirls in any unattended corners. Rocket launch vents sit below ancient oak-panelling. The organist's pit is ringed by a rail many of us will recognise from church altars.

I also added a little dude wired into in the back to tend the flowers and pump the bellows.

The centerpiece of the Choir of St Barbara's, christened "Gallatea."

I reckon the name's accurate: if you haven't fallen in love with this beast by halfway in, you're wasting your life. And oh, she is beautiful. The Exorcist was the highlight of the old range and this new one is a work of art.

There's so much going on here: the pipe organ, the rockets, so many icons, the keyboard, and even fresh-cut flowers on the altar. That tread with the rose and crossed swords? Only one on the whole vehicle.

I know the Brits get real touchy about Warhammer being THEIRS AND THEIRS ALONE, but the Battle Hymn of the Republic makes such a great anthem. It's an abolitionist creation, but you'll be hard pressed to find a holy war hymn that sounds better on the pipe organ. If we're driving a mobile pipe organ into battle(typically they are a part of the architecture), we're not taking half measures.

The box art is ridiculous. Why bury all those details in flat black?

I left off the cherubs and Holy Vuvuzela. I needed parts for my original Exorcist rebuild and brother, they were made to snap off in transit.

Look at this cockpit:

That keyboard! The hands in position to hit a chord! Who knows what those hatches in the deck are for?

I just want to point out another detail here: those roses below the icons. When 'Eavy Metal was putting this together for the box art, they painted over them to make them part of the bas relief. They are cowards and have undersold some details that serve the High Church/brutal war machine dichotomy that defines the Sisters.

Box art on the left, model in progress on the right.

I am dying on this hill and you can bury me with my loupes.

No, I am not 'hoarding craft supplies.' I am sourcing materials for a very big project that will be revealed to me at a later date- perhaps in a dream.

call me ignorant but i genuinely don’t understand why sports have to be split up by gender.

stop normalizing things we are running out of Weird Shit

honestly it could go either way

(might be posting that fic soon btw 👀)