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Prince Charming Part 2
#FanFic WanderingWitch #SnowWhite
#Wss366 Hedge / #GreeneryDay JapanAhead, light streamed through a honeysuckle-draped arch. The air was sweet with their scent, buzzing with the song of bees.
“Hum,” I thought and then laughed at my pun. It looked as though there was a grassy clearing ahead. The sun would feel nice there. I could lie in the grass and eat the bread I’d bought at the last town. But wait, there was someone already there: a tall, handsome man standing next to a proud horse. The man’s elegant hunter’s outfit made it clear he was some kind of noble—“too bad.”
He looked up, smiling. “Have you come to see her too?”
“See who?” I asked and approached cautiously, peering through the grass to see what he was looking at.
There, in the middle of the clearing, was a crystal coffin. Inside was a woman wearing a brown peasant dress. Among the wilted remains of wildflowers that someone had placed on the lid was a bouquet of fresh roses.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” the man said. “I could stroke her hair all day.”
“Yes, it’s lovely,” I said. It was too: an amber-brown, lightened in streaks by the sun.
“And you are?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t want the Queen to hear I came here, so you can just call me Prince Charming. Many people do.”
“So you visit often, Prince Charming?” My sarcasm went unnoticed. I had met nobles like him before. Their charm chiefly resided in the threat of violence. That and the power to wave away such aggression as the victim’s fault.
I hadn’t failed to notice the short silver hunting sword at his side.
“Yes, she is so lovely. How can I resist? I’ve named her Snow White. Doesn’t she deserve it?”
“She is quite lovely, Your Highness. But I hear that if you kiss a sleep enchanted woman, she will wake. Have you tried that?”
“I’ve heard the same, but youth’s beauty fades with time. The lovely bride of today is a wrinkled hag tomorrow. I will let her sleep so she never fades. A gem forever brilliant for me to view.”
The poppies and bluebells nodded in agreement; whether to my ironic thoughts or his statement, I didn’t know.
The honeysuckle odor had suddenly cloyed, and clouds cast shadows on the grass.
I smiled and departed. I could eat my lunch elsewhere.
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The Astropolis trilogy
In the last post I discussed my recent exploration of Reddit. The one conversation I’ve started so far was a request for posthuman space opera recommendations, particularly ones without FTL, stories that envision what the future might be like if we can’t get around the speed of light limit. One hidden gem recommended was Sean Williams’ Astropolis trilogy.
Williams imagines a far future where humanity, or at least its posthuman progeny, manage to settle the galaxy within 150,000 years. Traveling the galaxy takes centuries or millenia, but this isn’t too much of an issue because just about everyone is immortal. Characters in interstellar journeys also benefit from being able to control their tempo, the rate at which they experience time, so that a trip that takes centuries in “time absolute”, only takes a few days or weeks subjectively.
Although it’s established in the second book that, when possible, most travel takes place via hardcasting, where individuals are scanned, converted into information, transmitted, then centuries or millenia later reconstituted at the destination. It isn’t exactly teleporting, since the scanning and reconstitution can take consider time, with verification checks to make sure someone was rebuilt with fidelity.
The interstellar civilization is known as the Continuum, which exists over a galactic network known as the Line. In the Continuum, the closest thing to old-time humanity are the Primes. They have open ended lifespans, although it’s implied in the books that most do eventually die, either by accident, because only one instance of them exists, or by choice. Most of these set their tempo at time-absolute, the rate of time perceived by old-time humanity. The oldest Primes, ones whose lives stretch back to C20 (the twentieth century) are known as the Old Timers.
Singletons, like the Primes, are still recognizably human, but can exist as multiple copies, copies which can be distributed far and wide. The copies can meet up and synchronize memories, allowing Singletons of the same person to have a more or less unified personality. Although differences can creep in. But from moment to moment, each Singleton is an individual. Tempo is pretty flexible among Singletons, ranging from the same rate as Primes to very slow ones.
A gestalt is a group mind, a collection of bodies without much individuality in any particular body. Their relationship to tempo seems similar to the Singletons.
Forts are another type of group mind tied together with with Q-loops, connections which allow reliable independent communication between their Frags, the individual bodies that make up the Fort. The overall Fort minds have a tempo set very low, so that their perceptions span centuries. It leaves them disconnected from the rest of humanity. In earlier history, the Forts play a crucial role running the key infrastructure of the Continuum civilization.
Someone born into one of these types can decide to become another, although the process of becoming a Fort is arduous and risky, with many failing, even under peaceful conditions.
The first book begins in the 879th millennium. Imre Bergomasc awakens in the care of the Jinc, the local component of a gestalt (group mind) known as the Noh. The Jinc are looking for God at the edge of the galaxy. They come across a debris cloud, which they collect and are able to reassemble. It turns out to be a cylinder storing a mind, Imre’s mind. They are able to recreate his mind and instantiate him in a body.
However, there are pieces missing, and they are forced to fill in with assumptions. One of those assumptions is Imre’s sex. They guess female. When he first awakens and discovers himself in a female body, he immediately recognizes that it isn’t right, and later asks them to correct it. Although his ability to remember his past life is limited. Eventually he discovers that he’s in danger and is able to escape.
Imre was once the head of a military organization known as the Corps. As he returns to civilization he begins to find members of his old team. As each team member is found, they relay their story in of the last several hundred thousand years.
It turns out that the current version of Imre comes from a mind backed up before a lot of history. During that history, something initiated a Slow Wave that propagated out from somewhere near the center of the galaxy. The Slow Wave disabled the Q-loops connecting the Frags of the Forts together, destroying the overall Fort mind and turning their Frags into mindless entities. The Forts throughout the galaxy are wiped out. The galaxy enters a time of chaos. The Continuum is now fragmented into various societies.
Some of the societies attempt to rebuild by constructing new Forts. But a clandestine organization known as the Barons always attack and destroy any incipient Fort before they can do too much. And there appears to be another clandestine organization known as the Luminous, manifesting as silver balls, which also suppress the creation of the Forts, while also seeming to be an enemy of the Barons.
As the books progress, we get further into the future. By the beginning of the third, we’re over two million years out. And that story takes us further still. It turns out that Imre’s past self played some kind of pivotal role in the history leading to the current civilization. The books are about Imre rebuilding human civilization, then investigating his own past, learning what really led to the Slow Wave, and finding out who his real enemies are.
If you enjoy posthuman space opera in the style of Linda Nagata or Robert Reed, then these books are well worth checking out. The writing is excellent, although the worldbuilding in the first book can feel overwhelming at times. And there are times where it seems the only reason some of the characters do what they do is for the plot. But overall none of it was enough to stop me from reading and enjoying the story.
Lamentably these books aren’t available as ebooks. They are available in audio, and I ended up listening to the first one. But audio is not my preferred format, so I read the other books as used paperbacks. Which felt a bit nostalgic considering that we’re in the sunset of mass market paperbacks. It feels like a crime that these were never published as ebooks.
Williams appears to be a fairly prolific author, but a lot of his output appears to be Star Wars novels. Although he has done a few other independent books. Another series recommended to me are his Geodesica books, which I plan to check out.
If you’ve read the Astropolis books, I’d love to know what you think. Or of any others in the same genre niche.
#sciFi #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SpaceOpera -
The Astropolis trilogy
In the last post I discussed my recent exploration of Reddit. The one conversation I’ve started so far was a request for posthuman space opera recommendations, particularly ones without FTL, stories that envision what the future might be like if we can’t get around the speed of light limit. One hidden gem recommended was Sean Williams’ Astropolis trilogy.
Williams imagines a far future where humanity, or at least its posthuman progeny, manage to settle the galaxy within 150,000 years. Traveling the galaxy takes centuries or millenia, but this isn’t too much of an issue because just about everyone is immortal. Characters in interstellar journeys also benefit from being able to control their tempo, the rate at which they experience time, so that a trip that takes centuries in “time absolute”, only takes a few days or weeks subjectively.
Although it’s established in the second book that, when possible, most travel takes place via hardcasting, where individuals are scanned, converted into information, transmitted, then centuries or millenia later reconstituted at the destination. It isn’t exactly teleporting, since the scanning and reconstitution can take consider time, with verification checks to make sure someone was rebuilt with fidelity.
The interstellar civilization is known as the Continuum, which exists over a galactic network known as the Line. In the Continuum, the closest thing to old-time humanity are the Primes. They have open ended lifespans, although it’s implied in the books that most do eventually die, either by accident, because only one instance of them exists, or by choice. Most of these set their tempo at time-absolute, the rate of time perceived by old-time humanity. The oldest Primes, ones whose lives stretch back to C20 (the twentieth century) are known as the Old Timers.
Singletons, like the Primes, are still recognizably human, but can exist as multiple copies, copies which can be distributed far and wide. The copies can meet up and synchronize memories, allowing Singletons of the same person to have a more or less unified personality. Although differences can creep in. But from moment to moment, each Singleton is an individual. Tempo is pretty flexible among Singletons, ranging from the same rate as Primes to very slow ones.
A gestalt is a group mind, a collection of bodies without much individuality in any particular body. Their relationship to tempo seems similar to the Singletons.
Forts are another type of group mind tied together with with Q-loops, connections which allow reliable independent communication between their Frags, the individual bodies that make up the Fort. The overall Fort minds have a tempo set very low, so that their perceptions span centuries. It leaves them disconnected from the rest of humanity. In earlier history, the Forts play a crucial role running the key infrastructure of the Continuum civilization.
Someone born into one of these types can decide to become another, although the process of becoming a Fort is arduous and risky, with many failing, even under peaceful conditions.
The first book begins in the 879th millennium. Imre Bergomasc awakens in the care of the Jinc, the local component of a gestalt (group mind) known as the Noh. The Jinc are looking for God at the edge of the galaxy. They come across a debris cloud, which they collect and are able to reassemble. It turns out to be a cylinder storing a mind, Imre’s mind. They are able to recreate his mind and instantiate him in a body.
However, there are pieces missing, and they are forced to fill in with assumptions. One of those assumptions is Imre’s sex. They guess female. When he first awakens and discovers himself in a female body, he immediately recognizes that it isn’t right, and later asks them to correct it. Although his ability to remember his past life is limited. Eventually he discovers that he’s in danger and is able to escape.
Imre was once the head of a military organization known as the Corps. As he returns to civilization he begins to find members of his old team. As each team member is found, they relay their story in of the last several hundred thousand years.
It turns out that the current version of Imre comes from a mind backed up before a lot of history. During that history, something initiated a Slow Wave that propagated out from somewhere near the center of the galaxy. The Slow Wave disabled the Q-loops connecting the Frags of the Forts together, destroying the overall Fort mind and turning their Frags into mindless entities. The Forts throughout the galaxy are wiped out. The galaxy enters a time of chaos. The Continuum is now fragmented into various societies.
Some of the societies attempt to rebuild by constructing new Forts. But a clandestine organization known as the Barons always attack and destroy any incipient Fort before they can do too much. And there appears to be another clandestine organization known as the Luminous, manifesting as silver balls, which also suppress the creation of the Forts, while also seeming to be an enemy of the Barons.
As the books progress, we get further into the future. By the beginning of the third, we’re over two million years out. And that story takes us further still. It turns out that Imre’s past self played some kind of pivotal role in the history leading to the current civilization. The books are about Imre rebuilding human civilization, then investigating his own past, learning what really led to the Slow Wave, and finding out who his real enemies are.
If you enjoy posthuman space opera in the style of Linda Nagata or Robert Reed, then these books are well worth checking out. The writing is excellent, although the worldbuilding in the first book can feel overwhelming at times. And there are times where it seems the only reason some of the characters do what they do is for the plot. But overall none of it was enough to stop me from reading and enjoying the story.
Lamentably these books aren’t available as ebooks. They are available in audio, and I ended up listening to the first one. But audio is not my preferred format, so I read the other books as used paperbacks. Which felt a bit nostalgic considering that we’re in the sunset of mass market paperbacks. It feels like a crime that these were never published as ebooks.
Williams appears to be a fairly prolific author, but a lot of his output appears to be Star Wars novels. Although he has done a few other independent books. Another series recommended to me are his Geodesica books, which I plan to check out.
If you’ve read the Astropolis books, I’d love to know what you think. Or of any others in the same genre niche.
#sciFi #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SpaceOpera -
The Astropolis trilogy
In the last post I discussed my recent exploration of Reddit. The one conversation I’ve started so far was a request for posthuman space opera recommendations, particularly ones without FTL, stories that envision what the future might be like if we can’t get around the speed of light limit. One hidden gem recommended was Sean Williams’ Astropolis trilogy.
Williams imagines a far future where humanity, or at least its posthuman progeny, manage to settle the galaxy within 150,000 years. Traveling the galaxy takes centuries or millenia, but this isn’t too much of an issue because just about everyone is immortal. Characters in interstellar journeys also benefit from being able to control their tempo, the rate at which they experience time, so that a trip that takes centuries in “time absolute”, only takes a few days or weeks subjectively.
Although it’s established in the second book that, when possible, most travel takes place via hardcasting, where individuals are scanned, converted into information, transmitted, then centuries or millenia later reconstituted at the destination. It isn’t exactly teleporting, since the scanning and reconstitution can take consider time, with verification checks to make sure someone was rebuilt with fidelity.
The interstellar civilization is known as the Continuum, which exists over a galactic network known as the Line. In the Continuum, the closest thing to old-time humanity are the Primes. They have open ended lifespans, although it’s implied in the books that most do eventually die, either by accident, because only one instance of them exists, or by choice. Most of these set their tempo at time-absolute, the rate of time perceived by old-time humanity. The oldest Primes, ones whose lives stretch back to C20 (the twentieth century) are known as the Old Timers.
Singletons, like the Primes, are still recognizably human, but can exist as multiple copies, copies which can be distributed far and wide. The copies can meet up and synchronize memories, allowing Singletons of the same person to have a more or less unified personality. Although differences can creep in. But from moment to moment, each Singleton is an individual. Tempo is pretty flexible among Singletons, ranging from the same rate as Primes to very slow ones.
A gestalt is a group mind, a collection of bodies without much individuality in any particular body. Their relationship to tempo seems similar to the Singletons.
Forts are another type of group mind tied together with with Q-loops, connections which allow reliable independent communication between their Frags, the individual bodies that make up the Fort. The overall Fort minds have a tempo set very low, so that their perceptions span centuries. It leaves them disconnected from the rest of humanity. In earlier history, the Forts play a crucial role running the key infrastructure of the Continuum civilization.
Someone born into one of these types can decide to become another, although the process of becoming a Fort is arduous and risky, with many failing, even under peaceful conditions.
The first book begins in the 879th millennium. Imre Bergomasc awakens in the care of the Jinc, the local component of a gestalt (group mind) known as the Noh. The Jinc are looking for God at the edge of the galaxy. They come across a debris cloud, which they collect and are able to reassemble. It turns out to be a cylinder storing a mind, Imre’s mind. They are able to recreate his mind and instantiate him in a body.
However, there are pieces missing, and they are forced to fill in with assumptions. One of those assumptions is Imre’s sex. They guess female. When he first awakens and discovers himself in a female body, he immediately recognizes that it isn’t right, and later asks them to correct it. Although his ability to remember his past life is limited. Eventually he discovers that he’s in danger and is able to escape.
Imre was once the head of a military organization known as the Corps. As he returns to civilization he begins to find members of his old team. As each team member is found, they relay their story in of the last several hundred thousand years.
It turns out that the current version of Imre comes from a mind backed up before a lot of history. During that history, something initiated a Slow Wave that propagated out from somewhere near the center of the galaxy. The Slow Wave disabled the Q-loops connecting the Frags of the Forts together, destroying the overall Fort mind and turning their Frags into mindless entities. The Forts throughout the galaxy are wiped out. The galaxy enters a time of chaos. The Continuum is now fragmented into various societies.
Some of the societies attempt to rebuild by constructing new Forts. But a clandestine organization known as the Barons always attack and destroy any incipient Fort before they can do too much. And there appears to be another clandestine organization known as the Luminous, manifesting as silver balls, which also suppress the creation of the Forts, while also seeming to be an enemy of the Barons.
As the books progress, we get further into the future. By the beginning of the third, we’re over two million years out. And that story takes us further still. It turns out that Imre’s past self played some kind of pivotal role in the history leading to the current civilization. The books are about Imre rebuilding human civilization, then investigating his own past, learning what really led to the Slow Wave, and finding out who his real enemies are.
If you enjoy posthuman space opera in the style of Linda Nagata or Robert Reed, then these books are well worth checking out. The writing is excellent, although the worldbuilding in the first book can feel overwhelming at times. And there are times where it seems the only reason some of the characters do what they do is for the plot. But overall none of it was enough to stop me from reading and enjoying the story.
Lamentably these books aren’t available as ebooks. They are available in audio, and I ended up listening to the first one. But audio is not my preferred format, so I read the other books as used paperbacks. Which felt a bit nostalgic considering that we’re in the sunset of mass market paperbacks. It feels like a crime that these were never published as ebooks.
Williams appears to be a fairly prolific author, but a lot of his output appears to be Star Wars novels. Although he has done a few other independent books. Another series recommended to me are his Geodesica books, which I plan to check out.
If you’ve read the Astropolis books, I’d love to know what you think. Or of any others in the same genre niche.
#sciFi #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SpaceOpera -
The Astropolis trilogy
In the last post I discussed my recent exploration of Reddit. The one conversation I’ve started so far was a request for posthuman space opera recommendations, particularly ones without FTL, stories that envision what the future might be like if we can’t get around the speed of light limit. One hidden gem recommended was Sean Williams’ Astropolis trilogy.
Williams imagines a far future where humanity, or at least its posthuman progeny, manage to settle the galaxy within 150,000 years. Traveling the galaxy takes centuries or millenia, but this isn’t too much of an issue because just about everyone is immortal. Characters in interstellar journeys also benefit from being able to control their tempo, the rate at which they experience time, so that a trip that takes centuries in “time absolute”, only takes a few days or weeks subjectively.
Although it’s established in the second book that, when possible, most travel takes place via hardcasting, where individuals are scanned, converted into information, transmitted, then centuries or millenia later reconstituted at the destination. It isn’t exactly teleporting, since the scanning and reconstitution can take consider time, with verification checks to make sure someone was rebuilt with fidelity.
The interstellar civilization is known as the Continuum, which exists over a galactic network known as the Line. In the Continuum, the closest thing to old-time humanity are the Primes. They have open ended lifespans, although it’s implied in the books that most do eventually die, either by accident, because only one instance of them exists, or by choice. Most of these set their tempo at time-absolute, the rate of time perceived by old-time humanity. The oldest Primes, ones whose lives stretch back to C20 (the twentieth century) are known as the Old Timers.
Singletons, like the Primes, are still recognizably human, but can exist as multiple copies, copies which can be distributed far and wide. The copies can meet up and synchronize memories, allowing Singletons of the same person to have a more or less unified personality. Although differences can creep in. But from moment to moment, each Singleton is an individual. Tempo is pretty flexible among Singletons, ranging from the same rate as Primes to very slow ones.
A gestalt is a group mind, a collection of bodies without much individuality in any particular body. Their relationship to tempo seems similar to the Singletons.
Forts are another type of group mind tied together with with Q-loops, connections which allow reliable independent communication between their Frags, the individual bodies that make up the Fort. The overall Fort minds have a tempo set very low, so that their perceptions span centuries. It leaves them disconnected from the rest of humanity. In earlier history, the Forts play a crucial role running the key infrastructure of the Continuum civilization.
Someone born into one of these types can decide to become another, although the process of becoming a Fort is arduous and risky, with many failing, even under peaceful conditions.
The first book begins in the 879th millennium. Imre Bergomasc awakens in the care of the Jinc, the local component of a gestalt (group mind) known as the Noh. The Jinc are looking for God at the edge of the galaxy. They come across a debris cloud, which they collect and are able to reassemble. It turns out to be a cylinder storing a mind, Imre’s mind. They are able to recreate his mind and instantiate him in a body.
However, there are pieces missing, and they are forced to fill in with assumptions. One of those assumptions is Imre’s sex. They guess female. When he first awakens and discovers himself in a female body, he immediately recognizes that it isn’t right, and later asks them to correct it. Although his ability to remember his past life is limited. Eventually he discovers that he’s in danger and is able to escape.
Imre was once the head of a military organization known as the Corps. As he returns to civilization he begins to find members of his old team. As each team member is found, they relay their story in of the last several hundred thousand years.
It turns out that the current version of Imre comes from a mind backed up before a lot of history. During that history, something initiated a Slow Wave that propagated out from somewhere near the center of the galaxy. The Slow Wave disabled the Q-loops connecting the Frags of the Forts together, destroying the overall Fort mind and turning their Frags into mindless entities. The Forts throughout the galaxy are wiped out. The galaxy enters a time of chaos. The Continuum is now fragmented into various societies.
Some of the societies attempt to rebuild by constructing new Forts. But a clandestine organization known as the Barons always attack and destroy any incipient Fort before they can do too much. And there appears to be another clandestine organization known as the Luminous, manifesting as silver balls, which also suppress the creation of the Forts, while also seeming to be an enemy of the Barons.
As the books progress, we get further into the future. By the beginning of the third, we’re over two million years out. And that story takes us further still. It turns out that Imre’s past self played some kind of pivotal role in the history leading to the current civilization. The books are about Imre rebuilding human civilization, then investigating his own past, learning what really led to the Slow Wave, and finding out who his real enemies are.
If you enjoy posthuman space opera in the style of Linda Nagata or Robert Reed, then these books are well worth checking out. The writing is excellent, although the worldbuilding in the first book can feel overwhelming at times. And there are times where it seems the only reason some of the characters do what they do is for the plot. But overall none of it was enough to stop me from reading and enjoying the story.
Lamentably these books aren’t available as ebooks. They are available in audio, and I ended up listening to the first one. But audio is not my preferred format, so I read the other books as used paperbacks. Which felt a bit nostalgic considering that we’re in the sunset of mass market paperbacks. It feels like a crime that these were never published as ebooks.
Williams appears to be a fairly prolific author, but a lot of his output appears to be Star Wars novels. Although he has done a few other independent books. Another series recommended to me are his Geodesica books, which I plan to check out.
If you’ve read the Astropolis books, I’d love to know what you think. Or of any others in the same genre niche.
#sciFi #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SpaceOpera -
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https://www.laviezine.com/1566158/%eb%82%a8%ed%94%84%eb%9e%91%ec%8a%a4-%ea%bc%ad-%ea%b0%80%eb%b4%90%ec%95%bc-%ed%95%a0-%ea%b3%b3-hidden-gem-of-the-riviera/ 남프랑스 꼭 가봐야 할 곳 (Hidden Gem of the Riviera) ##bucketlist ##TravelShorts #CoastalTown #Europetravel #francetravel #frenchriviera #Mediterranean #nicefrance #PlacesToTravel #SouthOfFranceDestinations #SouthOfFranceTour #SouthOfFranceTravel #SouthOfFranceTrip #SouthOfFranceVacation #southoffrance #travelreels #VillefrancheSurMerFranceTour #Villefranchesurmer #남프랑스 #니스근교 #빌프랑슈쉬르메르 #여행숏츠 #유럽여행 #프랑스남부 #프랑스여행
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Tyme’s and Killjoy’s Top Ten(ish) of 2025 By Steel DruhmTyme
I’ve spent much of my 2025 thinking about privilege. Not in the sense that the media has conditioned me, or us, to think about it, but in a way that I’ve employed to shift some of the mundane aspects of life onto their respective heads. For instance, it’s a privilege to look in my closet and have to decide what to wear each day. It’s a privilege to look in my kitchen pantry to figure out what I’ll eat for breakfast or, better yet, which coffee cup I’ll drink from. I could go on, but there’s a word limit to these intros. Suffice to say, I really tried to dwell on my blessings rather than my challenges this year.
And despite the blessings of my professional life, which bestowed upon me the incredible privilege of being really fucking busy for the last “whatever” number of months, I’ve been equally, yet much less facetiously, blessed in my personal endeavors as well. For, in addition to having a bountiful roof over my head, a vehicle to get me back and forth to my extremely privileged job, a dog I can honestly say I will have NO idea how to say goodbye to if I don’t go first, and a wife that, despite the ups and downs of a normal, healthy marriage, continues to love me, I have the distinct privilege of contributing my trve opinions on all things musically heavy, or adjacently heavy, here on the best heavy metal blog in the world! And now comes the part where I give thanks.
Thank you, first and foremost, to everyone who reads this blog every day. Without you, none of this would be worth doing. At least for me, who read, lurked, and commented for years before working up the courage to actually apply for this subservient existence. Thank you to this newest crop of freshly demoted n00bs and to my list mate Killjoy and the rest of the Freezer Freaks Crew—Alekhines Gun, Owlswald, and Clarkkent1—who, through perseverance and a buttload of patience, managed to survive nearly two years on ice to land in the crosshairs of the commentariat’s adverse, and always wrong, opinions.2,3 Thanks as well, to ALL the senior staff who are way nicer than they’d have you believe,4 except Grier, who’s even nicer than everyone else. And finally, the editors, the man himself, Dr. AMG, for seeing enough in me to bring me over, and Steel, who runs the tightest, most compassionate ship I’ve ever had the privilege of sailing on. Thanks, boss!
Now! To the LIST!!!
#ish. Antinoë // The Fold – When I snagged this late-year gem back in November, I had no idea it would have me shuffling my list. With a little more time, I’m sure it would have moved up the ladder, but as it stands, Antinoë grabbed my (ish) spot easily. With little to no instrumentation beyond her piano, Teresa Marraco crafted something so beautiful in its basic-ness that I was entranced. Her delicate melodies evoke vibes that are as much Darkher or Tori Amos5 as they are Emperor or Dimmu Borgir, and I am definitely here for it.
#10. King Witch // III – In a year when Messa released a new album as well, the fact that King Witch is sitting on my year-end proper list and not Sara Bianchin and company speaks volumes about the job Laura Donnelly, Jamie Gilchrist, and Rory Lee did on III. Whether crooning over wispy acoustics or belting out doomily powerful tones over rock-heavy riffs, Donnelly is the star of the show, and her performance had me swooning. From the minute I first heard “Suffer in Life” with its swing-heavy riffs and killer vocals, I was happy to take King Witch’s III for a spin over and over, and it’s been part of my regular rotation since summer.
#9. Imperishable // Revelation in Purity – As the year wore on, I became increasingly sure that I may have underrated Imperishable’s Revelation in Purity. In fact, I found myself returning to it several times, forgoing subsequent spins of albums I’d rated higher. With their Nile and Olkoth pedigree, Imperishable’s expert blend of blackened death metal hit an overtly swirling sweet spot for me. The songwriting on Revelation in Purity, while not groundbreaking, is expertly executed, rendering its quality undeniable. And when you toss in those very Alice in Chains-like grunge passages, akin to a cherry on top, it was easy for me to put Revelation in Purity on my year-end list.
#8. Mutagenic Host // The Diseased Machine – Mutagenic Host’s The Diseased Machine was the first album I successfully coveted and secured from the sump pit alllll the way back in January of this year. As a freshly demoted staff member at the time, I was overly excited at the opportunity to take it on, and the album surely didn’t disappoint. Mutagenic Host does death metal the way I like it: low-brow, Neanderthalic, and brutally chuggy. It’s a tenuous thing to run across something you deem so good so early in the year, but The Diseased Machine has definitely stood the test of Tyme and proved worth every point of the quarter-pounder I placed on it.
#7. Igorrr // Amen – My fancy with Igorrr has always been somewhat of a passing one. I was nowhere near the listener who would’ve been part of the band’s early target audience (Mousissure, Nostril). Still, I found more common ground with 2017’s Savage Sinusoid and even more with 2020’s Spirituality and Distortion. But when those first electronic beats of Amen’s opening track, “Daemoni,” poured out of my speakers for the first time, I was completely plugged in to Igorrr’s chaotically beautiful brand of metal madness. Amen’s surprisingly accessible break-cored, trip-hopped blackened death ‘baroque’ it’s big boot off in my ass, and I’ve been relishing and wallowing in its avant-garde pain ever since.
#6. Cave Sermon // Fragile Wings – Cave Sermon’s Divine Laughter was something I’d definitely missed out on in 2024. When Thus Spoke covered Cave Sermon’s rapid follow-up, Fragile Wings, in April, however, I vowed I wouldn’t sleep on Charlie Park’s solo black metal project this time around. And I’m certainly glad I didn’t. Words like ‘wistful,’ ‘exuberant,’ and ‘playful’ were tossed about in Thus’s excellent write-up and really homed in on what made listening to Fragile Wings such a connective experience for me. Imbued as Fragile Wings is with upbeat sadness, Cave Sermon proved that I can get on board with post metal, and to be honest, any metal that sounds this good is worth the time spent. And seriously, what is that cover?!6
#5. Crippling Alcoholism // Camgirl – Inspired by a subreddit I’m glad I never stumbled across, Crippling Alcoholism’s provocative moniker steels those who’d approach the band’s output with a certain sense of visceral anticipation before hearing even one note. My love for the disturbingly creepy With Love from a Padded Room led me to the pink, candy-wrapped murderpop of Camgirl with nary a moment’s hesitation. I gladly signed on to plumb the depths of weirdness I knew would exist, but could not have anticipated the absolute fathomless darkness lurking within Camgirl’s saccharine sweetness, especially as revealed with subsequent spins. A disturbing diatribe on hopelessness, disappointment, loneliness, and sex in the digital age, Camgirl wraps its message in a deceivingly poppy form of electronica that, when all is said and done, will have you wondering what the fuck just happened. I love it.
#4. Dax Riggs // 7 Songs for Spiders – Dax Riggs may be one of the more underrated artists of the last thirty years, and while I know I’m not the only one who rejoiced in the recent resurgence and subsequent touring schedule of one of the ’90s best sludge acts, Acid Bath, I also realized a new album will probably never materialize, at least not under that moniker. Instead, the universe graced us with 7 Songs for Spiders, Dax’s first solo effort in nearly 15 years. Filled with simplistically haunting melodies sung in Riggs’s inimitable style, 7 Songs for Spiders strummed every one of my fuzzed-out, laid-back heart strings and has remained consistently satisfying since its January release.
#3. Maud the Moth // The Distaff – I stumbled across Maud the Moth in 2023 while exploring the ever-expanding milieu of performers associated with my favorite artist Darkher. Searching Amaya López-Carromoero’s back catalog, I dove into 2015’s The Inner Wastelands and 2020’s Orphnē, emerging a fan of Maud the Moth’s quirky neo-classical piano-led operatics. When The Distaff popped up in the sump, I was glad to see Dolphin Whisperer snag it, knowing his words would do the album eloquent justice. Soaring in scope and execution, Maud the Moth proffers her most complex yet beautiful release to date. Filled with classically executed vocal acrobatics and massive amounts of intricate instrumentation, The Distaff is less a thing just to be listened to, as it is a thing to be wholly experienced. As immersive a piece of music as I’ve heard all year.
#2. Structure // Heritage – M-A-S-S-I-V-E is the word that best describes Structure’s Heritage, which is to say it’s big, sad, and “heavy as fook!”7 Every time I threw this beast on, and the album opener began crawling forth, it conjured the same cinematic image in my mind’s eye. A lone, bloodied warrior, fists clenched, head bowed, wind-swept and rain-soaked hair hanging down, muscles taut and twitching in furious sadness, standing in a field full of his fallen brethren as a lightning-laced deluge washed the blood of dead soldiers into the hungry ground. Then, slowly, he casts his gaze skyward, anguished tears streaming, contemplating his sole survivor existence, and screaming at the thunder-filled heavens “Will I deserve to live on?” Every time, that’s what I see when I listen to “Will I Deserve It,” and every time I break out in goose bumps with a lumpy throat and welling eyes. Heritage came as close to being my number one as to make the two offerings at the top of my 2025 list nearly interchangeable.
#1. Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail – I know I underrated Dormant Ordeal’s fourth album, Tooth and Nail, for, despite giving it the 4.0 treatment, the sheer excellence of this record has only improved over time. April was THE month for me this year, yielding my two favorite metal releases and leaving Poland’s metal map deeply staked with a big, black-and-gold Dormant Ordeal flag. In true, warrior-like fashion, Maciej Nieścioruk and Maciej Proficz soldiered on without sole founding member Radek Kowal, which opened the door for Chase Westmoreland to waltz in and give my favorite drum performance of the year. From the brutally effective “Halo of Bones” to the excellent, Dylan Thomas-inspired “Against the Dying of the Light,” there wasn’t an album I returned to more this year than Tooth and Nail, its visceral riffs and razor-sharp edges leaving long-lasting scars. But in a good way, you know? It’s with profound pleasure that I dutifully crown Dormant Ordeal’s Tooth and Nail my album of the year.
Honorable Mentions
- Cryptopsy // An Insatiable Violence – This thing is an ass kicker. Full of satisfying death metal brutality and, like it or not, my favorite since the classic None So Vile.
- Pissgrave // Malignant Worthlessness – Thirty-one minutes of absolutely insane death metal that will melt your ears into maggot-infested pus. Soooooo good.
- Messa // The Spin – It’s Messa, fool! ‘Nuff said. There was no way I was getting out of 2025’s Listurnalia without mentioning the new album from one of my favorite doom bands.
- Depravity // Bestial Possession – This thing blew my socks off and, had I gotten more time to spend with it, might have threatened to rattle the cage of my list order for sure. Death metal done right.
- Diabolizer // Murderous Revelations – I had been in a death metal drought when I picked up Murderous Revelations; its traditional, no-frills approach hitting me hard. This one came so close to listing for me, I could smell its charred, crispy, burnt ends.
- Lipoma // No Cure for the Sick – Gurgly gore vocals over a circus parade of melodic death metal riffs. What’s not to like? I had tons of fun with this thing.
- Puteraeon // Mountains of Madness – Puteraeon was a band that had never been on my radar. Mountains of Madness’s mature aesthetic, great storyline, and engagingly crafted melodicism took me entirely by surprise.
Song o’ the Year:
‘Twas a mother-fookin’ toss up between my top 2 albums. I flipped a coin, so close was the race. (Heads) Structure // (Tails) Dormant Ordeal.
WINNER(?):
Structure – “Will I Deserve It” – Satisfyingly goose-bumpy!8
Killjoy
The fact that I’m writing this list feels nothing short of surreal. When I became a regular reader of this blog in 2019, I had a strong interest in metal but a knowledge of only a handful of its subgenres. I did not expect to make it this far when I auditioned, but somehow I became a member of the Freezer Crew. Although we were initially forced to huddle together for warmth to survive the n00b trials, as time went on, I developed a deep respect for all of my Crewmates. Their camaraderie and encouragement were great motivation for me to keep writing this year, even when it was tough. We were even allowed to organize a special edition Rodeö! I’m so proud to associate with them.
On a more somber note, I was sad to see many of the longtime writers who helped me fall in love with this site slip into the abyss we sometimes call “non-suspicious sabbatical.” While I will miss reading their eloquent words, their legacy and contributions will always influence and inspire me.
And now for some thank yous. I’m grateful to AMG Himself for creating the site and allowing me to run rampant with my questionable opinions. A gorilla-sized thanks to Steel Druhm for keeping day-to-day operations running and being the kindest, cruelest taskmaster I could hope for. Thank you to my list mate, Tyme, for making my musical tastes seem better by association. Finally, I’d like to publicly thank my wife for being so supportive of my new hobby.
I’m excited for what awaits in 2026 (which hopefully includes more power metal than I managed to review in 2025)!
#ish. Kauan // Wayhome – Kauan has demonstrated time and again that their ability to compose evocative soundscapes is unmatched in the post-rock sphere. Wayhome draws a little bit from different eras in Kauan’s fruitful career to form a richer, warmer experience. Each individual instrument—acoustic and electric guitars, strings, voice—is a crucial brush stroke in a breathtaking panorama. This is some of the most enchanting music I’ve ever heard.
#10. Anfauglir // Akallabêth – When I first grabbed Akallabêth for review, I was blissfully unaware of the 72-minute runtime (but probably should have had an inkling). After spending some time with it, I became blissfully aware of how awesome it is. Based on the chapter of Tolkien’s The Silmarillion chronicling the 3,000-year rise and fall of the island of Númenor, Akallabêth is as epic in sound as it is in scope. Mrs. Killjoy was more interested in the concept than the music, but it still made for some fun conversations. While the long runtime makes it a bit harder to revisit than the other entries on this list, this is my idea of a great symphonic black metal album.
#9. In Mourning // The Immortal – Progressive death metal comes in all shapes and sizes, and I tend to be drawn to the more emotive flavors. When Disillusion released Ayam a few years ago, it took me a while to understand the hype. In a similar manner, it took longer than it probably should have for me to appreciate The Immortal. I don’t know why this was, but in both cases I’m glad I stuck with them. In Mourning’s signature combination of earnest melodies and energetic riffs is now embedded in my mind and heart.
#8. Asira // As Ink in Water – Due to journalistic circumstances that I won’t discuss with fans, I was fortunate enough to obtain this promo earlier than I normally would have. Good thing, too, because As Ink in Water turned out to be a grower for me. The vocals proved much less popular in the comments than I anticipated, but they are the biggest reason why this record resonates with me. The buttery-smooth guitar and bass lines are another big factor. The fact that As Ink in Water was released during the tail end of 2025 might mean it appears on fewer top ten lists, but it should not be missed.
#7. Judicator // Concord – I don’t have a long history with Judicator. I am part of the seemingly small minority that prefers the post-Cordisco era, although I admit that I need to spend more time with their earlier work. Concord sees Judicator returning to their heavy/power metal roots after an experimental foray into progressive territory (which I also loved!). Other than brief saxophone and fiddle segments, there aren’t any fancy frills this time, only lots of guitar hooks and infectious choruses. And, in this case, that’s more than enough to make me happy.
#6. Valhalore // Beyond the Stars – I don’t normally see the point in quibbling about scores, however, I feel that Beyond the Stars was soundly underrated. It’s a distillation of everything I love about peak Eluveitie and Æther Realm. The folk instrumentation blends perfectly with the fast-paced melodic death metal elements. The interludes cleverly foreshadow and ease the listener into the subsequent songs. I also love the tender vocal performance by Anna Murphy towards the end. Beyond the Stars is a fun and emotional journey from start to finish.
#5. Gloombound // Dreaming Delusion – I’m always down to sample funeral doom, but it takes a very special kind to keep me coming back. Gloombound expertly walks the difficult balance between atmospheric and stimulating music. The overall sound is that of a soul trying to escape imprisonment, whether physical, emotional, or mental. Dreaming Delusion makes me feel different emotions every time I listen, but chief among them is a crushing awe.
#4. Phantom Spell // Heather & Hearth – I love uplifting, feel-good metal (this should not come as a surprise by now). So, it was almost inevitable that I would love the nostalgic keyboards and guitar solos of Heather & Hearth. But, for some reason, it took AMG’s landmark blog post about the evils of Spotify for me to really pay attention to Phantom Spell. I’m grateful I did, because I might have missed out on one of the most addictive pieces of progressive rock I’ve ever heard.
#3. Halocraft // The Sky Will Remember – Halocraft quickly became one of my favorite bands since I discovered them early this year. Their purposeful yet dreamy brand of post-rock is practically custom-made for me. This year, they expanded their creative limits by writing two very different records. I’m partial to The Sky Will Remember, but don’t miss out on its companion, To Leave a Single Wolf Alive, for a gloomier vibe. Their prior albums are really good too, and I listen to them just as often.
#2. An Abstract Illusion // The Sleeping City – “If not 4.5, then why 4.5 shaped?”, one of you rabble-rousers quipped about my review of The Sleeping City. The truth is, the more time I spend with it, the more I wonder if maybe I did underrate it. I’ve somehow grown to love The Sleeping City even more in the months since I awarded it a 4.0. Sure, the production leaves much to be desired, but there aren’t any other notable qualities that I would consider faults. It won’t appeal to the exact same audience as the legendary Woe, but I have plenty of room in my heart for both (and likely whatever An Abstract Illusion devises next). It was such an honor to write about this wondrous record.
#1. Black Narcissus // There Lingers One Who’s Long Forgotten – When I plucked There Lingers One Who’s Long Forgotten from the promo pit, I was a little skeptical about music made with only bass and drums. It turns out, though, that this minimalist approach—along with excellent songwriting, of course—was the key to unlocking a new realm of possibility within the post-rock genre. The bass blooms unfettered in this distraction-free biome, and the drum tone is crisp and refreshing. The two instruments intertwine to engender a spirit of companionship and exploration. There Lingers One Who’s Long Forgotten will always have a special place in my heart, and I am grateful to Black Narcissus for sharing this gift.
Honorable Mentions:
- Crimson Shadows // Whispers of War – As a parent of two children under age five, I am not often in the mood to be overstimulated by the media I consume. However, Whispers of War is so fun that I have to make an exception. The addition of melodic death metal feels like such a natural progression to the signature DragonForce style that conquered my naive teenage heart circa Guitar Hero III.
- Wyatt E. // Zamāru Ultu Qereb Ziqquratu Part 1 – My very first score safety violation! After spending more time with it, I can understand how some might see this as incomplete or underdeveloped, though I’m willing to give Wyatt E. the benefit of the doubt while I wait for Part 2.
- Bergfried // Romantik III – I’m a sucker for a good rock opera. Romantik III is undeniably rough around the edges, but not in a way that rubs off any of its charm. To the contrary, in my opinion.
- Moron Police // Pachinko – Talk about a late-year list disruptor! Pachinko is a wild and addictive whirlwind of prog/pop rock that I know for a fact I’ll still be spinning next year.
- Braia // Vertentes de lá e cá – Vibrant folk rock with a huge array of instruments and musical influences. This didn’t get nearly as much attention as it deserves.
- Aganoor // Doomerism – Okay, maaaaybe I overrated this by half a point. But it’s still really solid psychedelic stoner doom with catchy riffs and lush instrumental breaks.
- Ancient Bards // Artifex – Am I only including this one for sentimental reasons? Probably. But it does contain some of my favorite songs of the year (“My Prima Nox,” “Soulbound Symphony,” “My Blood and Blade”) that I still revisit regularly.
Song o’ the Year:
Judicator – “Concord”
#2025 #Aganoor #AnAbstractIllusion #AncientBards #Anfauglir #Antino #Antinoë #Asira #Bergfried #BlackNarcissus #BlogPosts #Braia #CaveSermon #CrimsonShadows #CripplingAlcoholism #Cryptopsy #DaxRiggs #Depravity #Diabolizer #DormantOrdeal #Gloombound #Halocraft #Igorrr #Imperishable #InMourning #Judicator #Kauan #KingWitch #Lipoma #Lists #Listurnalia #MaudTheMoth #Messa #MoronPolice #MutagenicHost #PhantomSpell #Pissgrave #Puteraeon #Structure #TymeSAndKilljoySTop10IshOf2025 #Valhalore #WyattE -
Where to eat: 5 new hidden gem San Antonio restaurants
A longtime symbol of San Antonio’s bygone cul…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Italianrestaurants #breakfast #brunch #floresville #fooddelivery #Hiddengemrestaurants #Italia #Italian #ItalianFood #Italianfooddelivery #ItalianRestaurants #italiano #italy #kolaches #newrestaurants #northwestside #Pizza #Restaurants #southtown #Thaicuisine #wheretoeat
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2634319/where-to-eat-5-new-hidden-gem-san-antonio-restaurants/ -
Where to eat: 5 new hidden gem San Antonio restaurants https://www.diningandcooking.com/2634319/where-to-eat-5-new-hidden-gem-san-antonio-restaurants/ #breakfast #brunch #floresville #FoodDelivery #HiddenGemRestaurants #Italia #Italian #ItalianFood #ItalianFoodDelivery #ItalianRestaurants #italiano #italy #kolaches #NewRestaurants #NorthwestSide #Pizza #Restaurants #southtown #ThaiCuisine #WhereToEat
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#retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #search #searchengine #frogfind #atari #highwire #toss
Catch of the Day: Greetings from the TOS Universe! 🕹️
Hey Retro Fans!
The eternal system wars of the 80s and 90s are long gone. Today, we are united by our love for vintage hardware. And even if some of us spend our weekends cleaning the motherboards of an Amiga 2000 and recapping its power supply, you simply have to tip your hat to today's incredible catch:
HighWire 0.3.3 on an Atari ST / TOS!
A genuine Atari ST (or perhaps a TT/Falcon) was browsing FrogFind today! For those who might not know: HighWire is an absolutely fantastic open-source web browser, written in pure C, specifically designed for the GEM graphical environment of Atari computers. It even supports basic CSS and images—a true masterpiece of programming for this hardware architecture.
The fact that in 2026 someone is connecting their Atari to the modern web using a network cartridge (or via serial SLIP/PPP) to use our little search engine is simply brilliant. A wonderful piece of tech history lives on.
Cheers to the 16-bit era!
Your FrogFind Team 🐸 -
Tonight on #PF2E! The heroes get some downtime in Sokotu Sands, where they realize that Borbo, their soul-trapped-goblin-inhabiting-a-puppet-body is starting to lose what little mental cohesion he had; they decide (with his permission) to pull his soul gem out of the puppet to put him back into soul sleep, to help maintain his sanity until they can get his body raised in Meropolis. 1/?
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@scottwilson heh. #ty, but I will always defer accolades to @huntress b/c of epic knowledge, skills, sharing, & community support like they did during the Kaseya debacle https://www.reddit.com/r/msp/comments/ocggbv/crticial_ransomware_incident_in_progress/ (I remind my CISO classes abt that every cohort).
They're also one of a tiny handful of MDRs that do not treat their customers like production honeypot bait (like one I know very very well) and, who deliver what they promise.
A very rare gem.
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Movie TV Tech Geeks #MovieNews #Beowulf #AlanRitchson #Fantasy 19 Years Later, Alan Ritchson’s Forgotten Fantasy Gem Is Officially Dominating on U.S. Streaming http://dlvr.it/TRg7pG
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Meeting today over in Fatima. Passed this gem. #CommunityGarden #GeodesicDome #ReubenStreet #Fatima #Dublin #Mastodaoine
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Episódio 170 – RetroRetrospectiva 2025 – Parte B
https://retropolis.com.br/2025/12/17/episodio-170-parte-b/
#Podcast #6502 #AlAlamiah #Altair8800 #Amiga1000 #AmstradCpc6128 #Apple #AppleIII #arm #AtariSt #Brasil #BSDDay #Byte #C #Commodore128 #CorelDRAW #Criptografia #Delphi #DNS #E3 #efemrides #Embratel #fujitsu #GameWatch #GEM #Intel80386 #IntelignciaArtificial #Java #LeiDeMoore #MicrosoftBob #MSX #MSX2 #MSXJa #MSXRio #MSXSP #MySQL #MysteryHouse #namco #Netscape #Nintendo #NORC #Novell #
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Path of Exile Spark Archmage boss killer guide (3.28) is live: https://haplogamingchef.blogspot.com/2026/05/path-of-exile-spark-archmage-boss-killer-3-28-build-and-crafting-tips.html Learn mana stacking, Widowhail swap, gem links, and crafting to crush bosses.
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at 35+ hours in and still going strong, my personal GOTY 2025 has to be Hades 2. I've enjoyed Supergiant's games since Bastion, and they're only getting better. the clever use of music in their games has been a major factor in my going back again and again
unique cast of characters, improved gameplay and unlock loops and variety compared to the first game, incredible soundtrack because Supergiant.. it's the whole package. if you like roguelike action games, this one's a gem
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Lack of censorship makes #nostr special like a rare gem
The people who use #nostr make it special like #SPED
RT: https://mostr.pub/objects/2b7c74309b1b5978f013e53cfd4086887f55805de2537cf1ac0d73a06ed38b59 -
Lack of censorship makes #nostr special like a rare gem
The people who use #nostr make it special like #SPED
RT: https://mostr.pub/objects/2b7c74309b1b5978f013e53cfd4086887f55805de2537cf1ac0d73a06ed38b59 -
Lack of censorship makes #nostr special like a rare gem
The people who use #nostr make it special like #SPED
RT: https://mostr.pub/objects/2b7c74309b1b5978f013e53cfd4086887f55805de2537cf1ac0d73a06ed38b59 -
#2girls #:d #absurdres #albino #alternate_costume #ayanami_rei #bell #bird #blue_eyes #blue_hair #boots #bow #bowtie #breasts #buckle #candy #candy_cane #capelet #character_doll #chimney #christmas #cleavage #cleavage_cutout #clothing_cutout #coat #coat_dress #doll #dress #food #from_side #full_body #fur_trim #gem #german_text #gift #hair_between_eyes #hair_ribbon #hand_on_own_thigh #hat #heart_cutout #highres #holding #holding_wand #hood #hood_down #ikari_shinji #jingle_bell #kaji_ryouji #knee_boots #long_hair #looking_at_viewer #mittens #multiple_girls #name_tag #neon_genesis_evangelion #official_art #open_clothes #open_coat #open_mouth #orange_hair #outstretched_arm #page_number #pale_skin #pantyhose #penguin #penpen #platform_boots #polka_dot #pom_pom_(clothes) #red_boots #red_eyes #ribbon #rooftop #sack #sadamoto_yoshiyuki #santa_costume #santa_hat #scan #shadow #short_dress #short_hair #signature #simple_background #sitting #slim_legs #small_breasts #smile #snow #souryuu_asuka_langley #standing #star_(symbol) #two_side_up #wand #white_background #white_mittens #white_pantyhose #wings #winter_clothes https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/418454
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A Look Back at Resident Evil: The Official Comic Book Magazine #3 (1998)
Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from reading the comic book and doing personal research. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.
Welcome back, 1990s arts and culture enthusiasts, video game enthusiasts and comic book collectors! Today we go back to the late-1990s to examine another issue of the magazine-sized comic book series titled Resident Evil: The Official Comic Book Magazine.
By the time WildStorm Productions released the 3rd issue in 1998, many millions of gamers around the world played Resident Evil 2 on PlayStation. The Resident Evil fanbase expanded dramatically and many of them completed the game’s multiple scenarios. At the same time, Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield became popular characters in gaming.
The 2nd issue I reviewed had a very bad adaptation of Resident Evil 2’s story. What prevented the comic book from ending up as a complete disaster were the two other short stories which were surprisingly entertaining to read. Still, I wonder if Shinji Mikami and the game developers ever saw the abysmal Resident Evil 2 adaptation in the 2nd issue.
With those details laid down, here is a look back at Resident Evil: The Official Comic Book Magazine #3, published by WildStorm/Image Comics in 1998 with short stories written by Ted Adams and Kris Oprisko, and drawn by Ryan Odagawa, Carlos D’Anda and Lee Bermejo.
The cover with art by Jim Lee.Early stories
Wolf Hunt – At Raccoon City College, a few students talk about someone who got killed at school and her body was all torn up. They aware that the authorities are keeping the story out of the papers to avoid causing a panic. In the evening, of the students got harmed by a ferocious monster. The next day at S.T.A.R.S. headquarters, Albert Wesker, Jill Valentine and Barry Burton discuss the killings that happened at the city college. They were asked by the local police to investigate what happened. Jill takes the assignment of going undercover as a student.
Danger Island – A man and a woman arrive at Isla Bonale in Caribbean for a vacation. The island is so exclusive, they only let ten couples on it at a time. After having a romantic night of dinner and dancing, they decide to go snorkeling and rent a boat. Just as they start snorkeling, a plane crashes on the island.
Dead Air – Following the events of Resident Evil (1996) and Resident Evil 2, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Barry Burton start traveling to Europe with the goal of ending Umbrella’s current progress on a new variation of the T-virus even though they have to go undercover. They have the support of a top-secret international agency which already has someone in place to help them. Meanwhile, Umbrella has a spy watching on the three.
Quality
Imagine being surrounded by the deadly Lickers of Umbrella on an island wearing only swimwear and having no useful pieces of equipment to protect yourself with.Similar to issue #2, this comic book has three short stories and some extras.
The short story Wolf Hunt, which took place before the events of the original Resident Evil game of 1996, has the odd concept of having werewolves existing within the RE universe. Werewolves are often super natural and such monsters don’t align with the sci-fi and biological aspects of the Resident Evil games. In fairness, the creative team had this interesting concept of having Jill Valentine going undercover as a student in the city college to find answers and solve the problem. I should state that the artwork by Ryan Odagawa is good overall although his take on Jill Valentine is cartoonish. This story is pretty short and lacked a solid conclusion. It’s really a glorified piece of fan fiction that should interest fans of the 1996 game.
Danger Island, the 2nd short story, is easily the gem of this comic book. This is a completely original tale that has brand-new lead characters – the couple Stan and Leslie – and an island as the setting. Without spoiling the plot, this is a suspense story with a moderate pace, some dynamic visuals and a good implementation of elements from the lore of Resident Evil. The creative team behind this tale emphasized that as long as Umbrella and is biological experiments exist, danger and death will creep up on people regardless of location. A notable monster species from Resident Evil 2 is included here and the effects the G-virus has on creatures on the island are cleverly presented complete with nice artwork by Lee Bermejo.
Through the couple, readers will feel the danger, desperation and anxiety as the story went on. How the story ended is a must-see and I am confident it will encourage you to revisit Resident Evil 2.
The final tale Dead Air is a daring attempt by WildStorm’s creators to make a sequel to the first two games. As mentioned above, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Barry Burton are together on a high-risk mission to find and stop Umbrella in Europe. The main setting is inside a commercial flight where a zombie outbreak happens. Without their weapons, Chris, Jill and Barry are compelled to use alternative items and ways to overcome the zombies.
While this tale is packed with action and the violence is uncompromised, something is off with the way Jill Valentine is portrayed. She is more violent with action and even expressed sarcasm. This tale is pretty short as the comic book made it clear that the continuation will happen in the next issue. Considering what was told in Resident Evil: Code Veronica (released in 2000 with Chris and Claire Redfield included), Dead Air is clearly a non-canon Resident Evil tale and it is at best a polished piece of fan fiction by WildStorm.
When it comes to the extras, you will find the Readers Art gallery and The Resident Evil Files (featuring Chris Redfield and his sister Claire). The most notable extra stuff here, however, is another interview with Resident Evil creator/producer Shinji Mikami and you will even see a few pictures of not just him but also Hideki Kamiya (the game director of Resident Evil 2 who went on to produce lots of highly entertaining games through the decades) and members of the team behind the RE games of the time. Enjoy the pages of the interview below.
The members of the development team of Resident Evil games of the time. Very notable details shared by Shinji Mikami. Shinji Mikami with Hideki Kamiya. Mikami directed the original Resident Evil game of 1996 while Kamiya directed Resident Evil 2. The two are still prolific makers of video games today. Shinji Mikami played Space Invaders when he was young.Conclusion
Remember Jill Valentine’s extra costume in the original game of 1996?Considering the qualities of the three short stories and the extra stuff, Resident Evil: The Official Comic Book Magazine #3 (1998) is easily a huge improvement over issue #2. The quality and creativity of the short stories are better, the interview with Shinji Mikami was worth reading and the comic book itself is more entertaining. That said, I am convinced to move on to the next Resident Evil comic book.
Overall, Resident Evil: The Official Comic Book Magazine #3 (1998) is recommended.
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#Comic #1990s #AdaWong #AlbertWesker #America #amusement #animation #BarryBurton #Blog #blogger #blogging #Capcom #CarloCarrasco #CarlosDAnda #ChatGPT #ChrisRedfield #ClaireRedfield #comicBook #comicBookAdaptation #ComicBookReview #comicBooks #comicReview #comics #comicsBlog #comicsReview #entertainment #entertainmentBlog #fun #gamers #games #geek #Google #GoogleSearch #HidekiKamiya #illustratedLiterature #ImageComics #JillValentine #JimLee #KrisOprisko #LeeBermejo #LeonKennedy #LeonSKennedy #literature #MarvelComics #nostalgia #PlayStation #RaccoonCity #RE2 #RebeccaChambers #ResidentEvil #ResidentEvil2 #ResidentEvilReview #ResidentEvilCodeVeronica #ResidentEvilTheOfficialComicBookMagazine #RetroGaming #retroReview #Retrospective #review #Reviews #RyanOdagawa #ShinjiMikami #Sony #TedAdams #The1990s #Tumblr #Twitter #videoGames #WildStorm #WordPress #WordPressCom -
2026 Viral Amazon & TikTok Finds You'll Actually Use
Sick of spending money on trendy products that disappoint? Here’s a handpicked list of TikTok and Amazon favorites that actually earn their hype. From smart home hacks to beauty must-haves, I’ve tested or verified every single one no flops here, just viral gems that are truly worth it.
https://benable.com/perryhamilton/2026-viral-amazon-tiktok-finds-you-ll-actually-use
#amazon #viral #tiktok #gem #instagram #influencer #bestbuy #shop #handpicked
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With A Soundtrack Like This, Could There Be A Better Racing Game Out There? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNhpGweu66k #hd #hq #ps2 #gem #ship #speed #pcsx2 #games #quake #fusion #redout #racing #gaming #series #racers #feisar #future #rocket #shield #wipeout #leagues #console #redline #gravity #british #speeder #weapons #longplay #upscaled #exciting #reflexes #strategy #upgrades #fullgame #letsplay #nostalgic #nostalgia #dystopian #liverpool #podracing #soundtrack #mariokart #futuristic
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Wipeout Fusion Is The Best Racing Game I Ever Played. What's Yours? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhCr-2QO94s #hd #hq #ps2 #gem #ship #speed #pcsx2 #games #quake #fusion #redout #racing #gaming #series #racers #feisar #future #rocket #shield #wipeout #leagues #console #redline #gravity #british #speeder #weapons #longplay #upscaled #exciting #reflexes #strategy #upgrades #fullgame #letsplay #nostalgic #nostalgia #dystopian #liverpool #podracing #soundtrack #mariokart #futuristic #challenges
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Jasmine Hancock – State to Upstate
Jasmine Hancock prances throughout Upstate NY as a dainty and bouncy upcoming artist. She intends to bounce her way toward the top of the charts with catchy songs, appealing visuals and networking.
We discovered Jas Han at the first Show the World showcase which took place last November. We were drawn to her bubbly presence on stage, confident poise and unapologetic nature. The “Gutter Baby” has been mobilizing herself around the Empire State. She continues to add notches onto the belt with showcase performances in the Capital Region and NYC.
Much like us, Jasmine migrated from the Midwest to the East Coast. Hailing from Beckley, WV, this gem of an artist migrated East to attend college at St. Rose. She graduated with a degree in Communications/Media Studies and did so just in time for the school to shut down. Since the school shut down, we decided to film music video scenes at St. Rose en memoriam of the campus.
We even discovered that Jasmine’s Aunt is a West Virginia artist, too! Hailing from West Virginia led Jasmine to catch many, “West V rays” now she is “bound to make plays” as she takes her brand from state to state. Check the Fresh!
View this post on Instagram
#518 #ASTRO #Boomin #CONCERT #FESTIVAL #Hancock #Jasmine #music #performance #UPSTATE #WESTVIRGINIA -
💎Quick sketch of my gem oc from #housekinokuni
she is a pink topaz
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#anime #fancharacter #oc #landofthelustrous #gemsona #humanoid #OC #characterdesign
#sketch #halfbody #commissionsopen #digitalart #ilustration #drawing #originalcharacter #csp #lechuzaz #cartoon #illustration #fictionalcharacter -
Found this little gem on a recent maintenance ride in Nelson County. It sits right off of Wilson Rd (VA 653), but I couldn't find any information on it online.
Anyone know what this church is/was and when it was last receiving parishioners?
#visitnelsoncounty #bikelife #bikeva #historyinthewoods #backroadadventure #fattirenomad #fattirevagabond #ruralexploration #aventonbikes #ruralexploration #ruralamerica #ruralphotography #abandonedplaces #abandonedworld #EBike #ebikeadventures
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Discover Dugi Otok's stunning white-sand beaches 🏖️, towering lighthouse ⛡️, and explore Telašćica Nature Park 🌳, a true Adriatic gem!
#Europe #Travel #DugiOtok #Zadar #Croatia #BeachLife #IslandHopping #NatureEscape