Podcasts about syphon

Previously on Saga of the Jewels…The life of seventeen-year-old RYN, bookish son of a wealthy landowner, changes forever when his hometown is destroyed by the EMPIRE and everyone he has ever known is killed. Ryn discovers that the Empire are seeking TWELVE PRIMEVAL JEWELS which grant the power to manipulate different elements, and that his father had been hiding the FIRE RUBY. Ryn sets out to take revenge on the Imperial General who killed his family and retrieve the Fire Ruby, and along the way meets NUTHEA the lightning-slinging princess, SAGAR the swaggering skypirate, ELRANN the tomboy engineer, CID the wizened old healer, and VISH the poppy-seed-addicted assassin. Together the companions decide to find all of the Jewels in order to stop the evil EMPEROR from finding them first and taking over the world. They have thus far succeeded in retrieving the Fire Ruby, borne by Ryn, and the Lightning Crystal, borne by Nuthea. They have now come to the land of FARR where, guided by the Farrian monk HULD, they have entered the ancient abandoned Earth Temple in order to attempt to retrieve the EARTH EMERALD…EPISODE TWENTY-EIGHT: EARTH ELEMENTAL“I guess we needed that boulder after all,” the purple-haired engineer-girl was saying. “It pressed down the switch at the bottom of the pit, which opened those doors.”“Hmph,” spoke the ponytailed skypirate. “I could have done that. I would have found it eventually.”The engineer girl rolled her eyes at him.Huld was just grateful that they seemed to have made it through the trap-gauntlet, for now at least. He was astonished at the variety and ingenuity of the traps and designs that had been built into this shrine to Eto. Had they been part of the original architect's intention, he wondered, or had the ‘Earth Emerald' formed those, too, around itself, as the old man had talked about?“Come on everyone,” said the fireboy, who seemed to be the leader of the group when it wasn't goldengirl or ponytail. “Let's see what's through these doors.”Huld walked forwards with the others through the steel doors.Now the pool of moving light from the collection of glow-worms in the floor, which they had been chasing for so long, moved with them, staying under their feet and following them through the doors.Beyond the doors it lit up another large, high-ceilinged chamber much like the one they had been in two floors ago.Only this chamber was somewhat smaller, in terms of its length and width, if not its height.And while it had the same brown-coloured earthen floor as the rest of the Shrine, this chamber's walls and ceiling were made of stone, grey in the light from the worm-pool. There was no exit off of it that Huld could see.“I think we've reached the top level of the Temple that we saw outside!” said goldengirl.“About time, too,” said ponytail.“But what do we do now we're here?” said fireboy. “Shouldn't the Emerald be in this room somewhere?”“Hopefully…” said the old man. “But there might be one final puzzle, one last challenge…”“Well that's just great…” grumbled ponytail.“Hey, what's that over there?” said goldengirl.She was pointing at a small object on the floor in the centre of the room.Huld walked over to it with the others in the light from the glow-worms and inspected it.Growing right in the centre of the chamber was what to all appearances seemed to be a tiny plant.The plant jutted a few inches out of the earthen floor, its stalk and presumably roots extending down into it, green in the glow-worm light. It had a few little leaves which grew off the main stalk. It was more of a shoot than a plant, really. The whole thing did not look bigger than Huld's hand.As they got closer to it, the edge of the light-pool touched the plant, and its leaves twitched.“Did you see that?!” said engineer-girl.All of a sudden the pool of light dissolved as the glow-worms all shot apart in different directions, trailing streaks of brightness across the floor as they moved away from the central point where they had been gathered. They moved faster than the party had yet seen, and made straight for the stone walls of the chamber.Which they began to eat through.The worms moved up through the walls, creating vertical lines of light in them, flaring white in the process just as they had done when they had eaten through the stone doors that had given them access to the previous chamber.None of the foreigners said anything, apparently too surprised and awestruck to do so, as Huld was. Instead they held up their hands to shield their eyes against the incredibly bright light.From behind Huld's own upraised hand, the light moved up higher, till it was coming from above. Huld had to lift his hand higher above his head to block it out and stop it from blinding him. The worms must have eaten a path up to and through the ceiling of the chamber.Then the light started to move downwards again. The worms were methodically eating through the walls of the chamber from the top, down.A deep rumble sounded, punctuated by the occasional louder rise in pitch and volume, and the floor started to vibrate. It sounded like the walls were starting to crumble and fall away as the worms ate through them.And a new light had joined the glow-worm-light now, a warmer, yellower light, all-encompassing, impossible to block out with his hand.The sun.Warm air enveloped Huld's face.He dropped his hand.As the last of the stone walls crumbled away, Huld looked round at the blue Farrian sky, the white clouds drifting aimlessly through it, the canopy-sea of green treetops that they were raised a little higher than on this earthen platform, the pinnacle of Eto's magnificent ziggurat, which had now been entirely stripped of its top floor's stone walls.The foreigners had dropped their hands too, and were looking round and staring open-mouthed at the scene like idiots.“Well, that was pretty cool,” said engineer-girl.“Indeed,” said the old man.“We're definitely at the top of the Shrine then…” said fireboy pointlessly.“Yeah, but where's the Jewel?” said ponytail.“Stay patient, Captain Sagar,” said goldengirl. “I'm sure it's around here somewhere.”The Shadowfinger, Vish, stayed silent, and barely ever said anything, Huld noted again. His one redeeming trait.“Er, guys…” said engineer-girl. “You'd better take a look at this…”Huld turned to see what she was talking about.Behind them, the plant in the floor, which they had been distracted from while the walls had been being eaten away, was growing.It had grown so fast that it was already as tall as engineer-girl, a much larger stalk slithering upwards into the air, more shoots and leaves sprouting off it and unfurling before their eyes, its base widening, thickening, pushing at the earth in which it was encased, roots starting to pop out of it like clenched fingers.“What in the hells?” said ponytail.The ground began to rumble again, then it split and cracked under their feet, a hundred jagged cracks zigzagging out from the plant's base.They stumbled backwards to where the ground remained firm, gazes still locked on the rapidly growing plant.Now it was twice Huld's height, and still growing, climbing, widening, not showing any signs of slowing.Then it roared.Can plants roar? Huld thought.They fell onto their backsides as in front of them even more of the floor split and crumbled away, and up out of it rose an enormous green plant monster.That was the only word Huld had for it. A tangled mass of knotted green and brown shoots and vines covered all over in leaves, even with bits of wood and branches discernible in the huge, seething mass of it, the plant monster was humanoid in shape, and at the top of its torso the shoots and vines were twisted into something that resembled a head, with an open space for a mouth which emitted an unnatural roar somewhere between that of a lion and a dragon.The little shoot sticking up from the floor, it turned out, had only been the tip of one of its fingers, which were each now a shoot of their own, at the ends of long arms of twisted vines. The plant monster had come up onto the platform hand-first, and used its arm to pull the rest of itself out of the ground.It stood before them now in the sunlight and open air atop the earthen platform at the summit of the earth shine, terrifying in its inhumanity, and roared at them again. The earth floor had re-formed itself underneath the monster to make the platform flat and complete once more.“What do we do?!” fireboy was yelling desperately. “What do we do?!“We fight it, you stupid pup!” ponytail shouted back. “Use your damn fire, quick!”“It's an Earth Elemental!” called the old man. “It must be the guardian of the Emerald!”“Watch out!” cried goldengirl.The plant monster slammed a huge leafy hand down at the fireboy, but he managed to leap out of the way of it in time and it only smacked against empty floor.“Fire!” shouted fireboy, appropriately enough, and thrust out his hands in a gesture not entirely dissimilar from the Strike That Moves Mountains. Maybe he was copying it. Huld wouldn't put it past a filthy foreigner to do something like that.Flames leapt from fireboy's hands and engulfed the monster's torso, setting it alight. It stepped back from fireboy and roared again, and Huld wondered if he didn't detect pain in the roar this time.“It works!” yelled goldengirl. “More of that, Ryn! Can you help us out?”“Help you out with what?”“By setting our weapons on fire again!”“Why don't I just attack it myself?!”“Don't be greedy, pup!” yelled ponytail. “Don't hog all the glory! There's enough to go around!”“Alright...come here, everyone!”The other foreigners all rushed over to the boy while the plant monster roared and staggered around on fire at the other end of the platform. They drew their weapons, made mainly of steel.“Put them all together!” commanded fireboy.The foreigners all held their blades to each other so they touched, except in engineer-girl's case, who instead contributed a metal whip. The goldengirl and the old man carried simple, straight swords. Ponytail put in two curved foreign blades. Vish had a black Imperial weapon.“Fir-AHHH!” the fireboy yelled, his magic-word cracking and turning into a shout of exertion. Again fire leapt from his outstretched hands, this time engulfing the upheld weapons in a localised inferno. Then the fire ceased streaming from his hands, but it remained burning on the blades, the whip.The monster roared again, more loudly, and this time the roar was full of fury.They all turned to look at it again, then watched in horror as with one leafy hand it tore a flaming chunk of vegetative mass out of its own torso and flung it, still burning, in their direction.The party scattered, except for fireboy, whom the chunk of flaming plant-mass hit head-on. But instead of hurting him, it broke apart on him, falling apart to either side, burning up even more quickly and smoking away into charred ashes, leaving him there, holding out his hands in the same pose he had used to set his friends' weapons alight.The plant monster roared yet again. There were still a few flames burning on its body here and there, including on the hand with which it had ripped a section out of its own chest, but it had largely succeeded in removing the part of it that had been on fire from itself. In the cavity that had been left in its chest, new shoots and vines now grew quickly to fill the gap, regenerating its body.“Poodoo!” ponytail yelled vulgarly. “It can heal itself!”“Yes, but the fire still hurts it!” the old man yelled back. “We might be able to burn it up faster than it can heal! Attack! Attack! Use your flame-assisted weapons!”“Death and glory!” ponytail shouted, and ran at the monster with his twin flaming blades held out.“For Imfis!” shouted engineer-girl as she followed him with her fiery whip.“Manolia!” cried goldengirl.The old man and the Shadowfinger ran with them too, though without feeling the need to shout battlecries, leaving only fireboy remaining standing where he was, holding his hands out.Huld watched all of this happening like a curious observer. He was a good distance from the plant in this corner of the platform he had ended up in, and he was strangely fascinated by the foreigners and their unorthodox improvised fighting techniques. He saw no reason to join in yet, if at all. This monster, fearsome as it was, was apparently a guardian of the Primeval Jewel that belonged to his people. Nothing that had happened on their journey through the Shrine had convinced him that it was a good idea to be taking the Emerald from its safe hiding place here, wherever it was. He hadn't even located it yet. It may have been his orders to help with this mission, which he was bound to obey, but he didn't have to rush to obey them, did he?What was more, he didn't have a weapon that could hold fire like the others' could. So he had no weapon that would be effective against the earth elemental.Or do I?“Huld!” fireboy called out to him, “Do...do you want some fire too?” His eyes were creased up with strain and his arms trembled where he held up his hands palm-out in a gesture which seemed to allow him to be able to keep the fire burning on his friends' weapons.“No thank you,” Huld said to him politely. “I am not quite so...keen on fire as you are.”“But don't you...don't you need a way to fight it too?” the boy gasped. It seemed to be a great effort for him to speak while he was sustaining so much fire at once.“Your friends seem to be dealing with it well enough on their own.”“Aaaarrrggghhhh!”Ponytail suddenly landed on the floor between them having been knocked backwards through the air by one of the plant monster's hands. He picked himself up and brushed himself down, wiping a bloody cut to his cheek with the back of his hand. He had lost one of his swords, but the one that he still held continued to burn with magical fire.“Why did it have to be earth first?” he grumbled. “I hate earth…”He ran back into the fray.The fireboy's friends were all slashing wildly at the plant monster, leaving trails of orange in the air where they drew their weapons across it. They were managing to hack off sections of the creature's body, big green collections of vines and leaves falling to the floor together, and set it on fire again in different places. But the vines and leaves seemed still to be growing back, in spite of the flames, and in between swiping at them with its gigantic leafy fists and roaring, the monster continued in its strategy of tearing off the flaming parts of itself and chucking them at the foreigners, or off the top of the shrine entirely, only for them to regrow.Huld sighed.“I suppose that you could try to lend me some of your fire,” he said to fireboy, “if you really want to.”He held out his wooden staff and tilted the tip of it down to the boy.“Fire,” spoke the boy, more weakly than before, and some more fire appeared and jumped from one of his hands to Huld's staff, setting the top of it alight. It burned orange and hot.Huld recoiled from it immediately, but managed to keep hold of it at arm's length. I hate fire, he thought.“Thank you,” he said, remembering his etiquette, and dipped his head slightly to fireboy.“No...no problem…” breathed fireboy, evidently struggling. “You better get in there…”Huld nodded, and ran towards the battle, holding the staff a good distance away from his body.When he ran past ponytail, the skypirate said “Baldy! So good of you to join us!”Filthy foreigner.Huld thought he should imitate the others, and he wanted to reassert where his allegiance lay and remind himself of his motivation for doing all this, so as he bent his knees and jumped high through the air, he shouted “For Farr!”It came off the tongue a bit awkwardly, but it made for a good enough battlecry, he supposed.He flew through the air and aimed an almighty thwack of his staff right at the creature's ‘head'. The staff connected pleasingly, and Huld held it in place a little longer, using its momentum and the creature's own body to keep it in contact for a moment after the initial impact.The monster's head caught fire.Huld kicked off the creature with both his feet and backflipped, landing on the ground and twirling his staff around himself in an orange-trailed flourish before letting it come to rest at his side again.“Nice-one, monk-man!” the engineer-girl called out to him. “That was fabulous!”Huld allowed himself a smile and a nod to her. He supposed that he was partial to praise, even from foreigners... Even from foreigner engineer-girls who looked and dressed a bit like boys…The plant monster roared. It was on fire again, but it tore at its own head and ripped it off, then threw it at Huld, who leapt again, over the top of it, somersaulted in the air, and came down upright.The head regrew quickly, reforming out of the plant mass of the creature's body, and the monster roared again with renewed vigour.That was unfortunate.But the foreigners seemed to have the advantage now. Whether because they were inspired by Huld's daring attack, or because they didn't want him to get all the ‘glory' as ponytail called it, they charged in again, hacking, slashing, swiping, whipping at the plant, chopping more of it off and setting more parts of it alight.Huld joined them, rushing in and swiping rapidly at its hands with his staff, deflecting them from bashing into him or the foreigners, trying to hold the monster up long enough to stop it from tearing off the flaming parts of itself before the fire could consume it completely and burn it up.If they could all attack quickly enough together, and coordinate their attacks, then maybe they could cut enough of it off and set enough of it on fire to prevent it from regrowing and destroy it completely.“It's working!” yelled ponytail. “Keep going! Keep fighting!”Almost all of the plant was on fire now and it didn't seem to be able to regenerate itself fast enough anymore. It appeared to be shrinking, even as it roared a noise of frustration and tore more flaming parts off itself to chuck at the foreigners, who scrambled to get out of the way and came back in to attack.They were doing it. They were subduing the Earth Elemental, the guardian of the Shrine to Eto and the Earth Emerald. Huld wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that, but at least they were winning.And then the fire on their weapons ran out.The flames leaping from the foreigner's swords and whip just fizzled out, leaving cold metal once again. Only Huld's staff continued to burn with fire, presumably because it was made of wood and the boy had set it on fire in the more traditional fashion.The monster reached down and grabbed his staff. Huld was too stunned with surprise to react in time. The monster snatched the staff away from him with a twitch of its arm, then snapped it in two, throwing the discarded halves of it over its shoulder, off the top of the Shrine.“Oh dear,” Huld said.“I'm...I'm sorry!” fireboy called back weakly from somewhere behind them. “I don't think I have any mana left! I used it all up! I'm exhausted!”“Well, poodoo,” said ponytail. “And just when we were starting to win as well…”The monster roared at them, having torn another massive chunk of flaming plant-mass off of itself and thrown it away, then regrown it. There were far less flames burning on it already. And it had begun to increase in size again.Its leafy fist flew through the air, aimed at Huld.He raised a defence to block.But this time, instead of punching him, the monster opened its green hand before it made impact with the monk, and instead reached out to grab him in a band of vines, which constricted around him immediately.Huld cried out in alarm and pushed against the vines, but with no fire to blight them they held fast, and constricted all the more tightly.He called out with pain as the tendrils forced themselves tighter around his chest. All of a sudden there was a rush of air as the monster swung him somewhere with its hand, and then he was completely surrounded by green and brown vines and shoots.Huld wriggled and writhed, tried to kick, punch, amidst the seething mass of plant. His vision was entirely obscured by leaves and vines and branches. Every which way he turned were only more leaves and vines and branches.What had happened? Had the plant monster taken him into itself? Into its own body?He tried to call out again but found he had no breath. Vines still encircled him, still clamped down on his chest, and they were beginning to squeeeeeze the air out of him, squeeze the very life out of him.He wriggled and writhed all the more frantically, all the more desperately, but to no avail. The effort only made the vines tighten around him even more. He was trapped.His energy began to wane. The corners of his vision started to blur. And then he lost the ability to move entirely, his vision staring to turn black and fade away.He was passing out, he realised. He was suffocating. He was going to die.Well, I wouldn't mind winning this battle if it meant staying alive, he thought dimly.The world went dark.Just before the darkness overtook the entirety of his vision, something green and bright flared in it.Huld opened his eyes again, which had been drooping shut, looking out with one last surge of desperate hope.A little way in front of him, also embedded in the mess of leaves and vines, was a green jewel, shining blighty with an ethereal glow.The emerald wants to be found, the old man's words echoed in Huld's mind. This is all a test, he realised.Could he get to it?With the last of his strength, Huld stretched his neck out amidst the tangle of vines and touched his mouth to the green-glowing emerald, giving everything he had, and kissed it.Fertile power surged through Huld, beginning in his lips and spreading to every part of him. At the same time became aware of the plant monster in a new way. All at once he could somehow feel all of its different vines and branches and leaves and tendrils. And not only that, but now he could feel the presence of the earth from which the Shrine was composed below him, underneath the plant's ‘feet'. He could feel the whole construct of the Shrine, all its different earthen floors and walls and corridors, its stone doors, and even, below all that, the soil of the earth of Farr itself. He did not know how to put it into words even in his own thoughts—but all of a sudden he could just feel them in the same way that he could feel his own body.And if he could feel them like his own body, he could move them like his own body, too.He concentrated, and willed for the plant to release him.Somewhere above him the plant monster roared again, a strained, peculiar noise. Huld hadn't known before how a plant could roar, but now with his new earth-sense he perceived that one of the many different kinds of plants of which the tangled elemental was composed was able to trap and release air, and that a group of them were releasing a rush of pressurised air in coordination from a collection of vines in its ‘throat' in order to make the roaring noise.The plant was resisting him, but Huld was exerting some effect on it.The monk shut his eyes, drawing on a lifetime of meditation and attention-training, and used his new earth-sense to ‘feel' for the vines and shoots that composed the monster's arms. He felt their presence ineffably, but he also saw the two arms in his mind's eye.He concentrated, and, as if it was his own, made one of the monster's arms rise to reach inside its own torso.Huld felt familiar tendrils encircling himself, but this time they constricted around him only to pluck him out of the seething mass in which he had become embedded. Air rushed over him again briefly as he willed the monster to pull him out of its body, and then opened his eyes with a jolt as he willed it to let him go and landed on his back on the ground with a smack.Stars burst behind his eyes and the Farrian sunshine blinded him for a moment, breaking his concentration, but then he was springing onto his feet again, reaching out with his earth-sense towards the plant, willing it to submit to him.Around him, some of the foreigners were still pestering it like irritating mosquitoes, and now Huld realised that it had taken others of them into itself.“Son of a submariner!” came a muffled cry from within the body of the plant, from a body concealed by foliage. “Heeeeeelp!” Engineer-girl.“Get us out of here!” came another. Fireboy.This was why the other foreigners weren't attacking it all-out anymore, but merely defending themselves from it and taking cheap shots—they didn't want to hurt their companions.“Master Huld,” goldengirl called to him from nearby. “You made it release you, somehow!” She saw much. Huld did not like that. “Can you make it release Ryn and lady Elrann, too?”Huld set his jaw. “I will try,” he said in earnest.Intuitively, he reached out his hands, much as he had seen fireboy and ponytail do to call their fire and wind, and felt with his new earth-sense to take control of the plant's arms again.He got them, but the plant resisted him, pushing back against his control. It was like the monster had a consciousness, a will of its own. Or maybe it was the will of the Jewel itself? Was that possible?Huld grunted. Exhaustion sapped his limbs already—he was new to this power, and after the first initial flush of awakening to it, it was hard work to use it.He gritted his teeth, a long hiss of effort issuing from between them, and forced the monster's two arms up and into itself, searching for the engineer-girl and fireboy, found them, and pulled them from within it. They came out with gasps of relief as Huld made the monster plonk them down on the floor. It must have been strangling them to death too.Huld dropped his arms after the two foreigners landed, releasing his mental hold on the monster. His triceps and forearms had filled with bright, flaring pain from the effort he had just expended.“How did you do that, baldy?” ponytail said next to him, his forehead scrunched up with incredulity.“Inside the creature…” Huld conceded, panting. “I touched… the Emerald…”The plant monster took a step towards them.“Well do you think you could use your new abilities to take that thing out?!” ponytail shouted.A plant-fist flew through the air towards Huld.He put his hands up again and willed for it to stop…...only to be smacked in the chest and sent tumbling back heels-over-head along the floor.He almost went over the edge of the platform, but put his hand out and grabbed the lip of it just in time, thudding into the earth wall below with the side of his body as he dangled.“Ouch,” said Huld. His arm strained almost beyond belief.He took a deep breath, got his other hand up onto the platform too, then grimaced as he wrenched himself back up onto it, in spite of himself a gasp of pain spilling from his lips.The battle had resumed. The foreigners danced forwards and backwards, throwing hopeless strikes and avoiding the plant monster's hands like their lives depended on it. Which, in fact, they did.Ponytail turned and saw Huld standing at the edge of the platform.“Baldy!” he called. “Look, if you've got earth-powers now, can you sort this thing out for us or not?!”“I am sorry,” Huld called back. He was apologising more than he would like to today, and to filthy foreigners of all people. “I am not strong enough. I think I may have ‘run out of mana', as the boy put it?”“That's right,” called goldengirl, jumping out of the way to avoid a grab from the monster, then running back to join him at the edge of the platform. “You only just got your powers,” she said when she reached him, her face flushed. “You would have had the surge when you first touched the jewel, but they are new to you, so your mana reserves won't be very large yet. You can only increase them through training and practice. Have you got anything left?”“No,” Huld said, keenly aware of the pain in his arms. Though maybe there was a small something left in there. “Or at least, not much,” he added.“Grandfather,” goldengirl said to the old man, “can you give him some of your mana?”“An excellent idea!” said the old man, his face lighting up. “I almost forgot! Though I must be careful not to entirely deplete my own reserves.”While the others kept the plant monster busy, the old man ran over to Huld and laid a hand on his shoulder. Normally Huld would have protested at this gross invasion of his personal space and breaking of etiquette, especially by a foreigner, but he was growing to accept some of their stranger ways.“Syphon,” said the old man, then “Cure.” Huld felt a lightness spread from his shoulder through the rest of his body, and the pain in his arms subsided.“Thank you,” he said to the old man, bowing.“Don't mention it.” The old man grinned through his white beard. “Though I'm out of mana myself now.”Huld wasted no time. He put his two hands forward, making gripping shapes with each, and concentrated on the plant monster.In the middle of pulling back for a strike at engineer-girl, the plant monster stopped in place, trembling against the force of Huld's earth-manipulation. He felt it resisting him, like a magnetic force physically pushing against his outstretched hands, but he held it in place. For now.“Now!” Huld yelled desperately. “Attack it now while I am still able to hold it!”“Come on, everyone!” the Manolian cried. “Now's our chance!”The foreigners rushed the monster again, though this time without any flame projection from fireboy. Being the nearest, engineer-girl got to it first, lashing at it with her whip, which shot out like a silver snake lunging towards its pray and lashed through some leaves. Then ponytail, Vish, fireboy, the Manolian, the old man, all arrived with their swords, jumping and cutting wildly at it, tearing sections of growth from it as Huld held it in place.The pain returned to Huld's arms, sharp as needles. He could feel the plant monster resisting his grip, pushing against him, intensifying the pain. He clamped his jaw tight.“We're doing it!” ponytail yelled as he slashed off another chunk of vegetation. “Just a bit longer! We've got it this time!”And then Huld lost control of the monster again.The pain in his arms had reached its highest pitch, and even though he still had his hands out and was concentrating hard on holding the monster still, it broke his grip all of a sudden and immediately flung out a massive arm, sending the surprised foreigners flying in all directions like it was swatting away a collection of irritating flies.As it stepped towards Huld, he found he didn't have the strength or quickness to move out of the way.Bright pain shone on his face as he spun through the air from the monster's blow.Huld found himself on his back on the platform again, blinking from the sting of the pain, looking up above him at the bright, hot, Farrian sun.The bright, hot Farrian sun, brilliant in the clear blue sky, visible because the glow-worms had eaten away the stone walls at the top of this Shrine.The bright, hot Farrian sun, brilliant in the clear blue sky, visible because the glow-worms had eaten away the stone walls at the top of this Shrine, which had fed the plant monster with light so that it grew from a tiny shoot in the ground to this roaring, tangled mass of regenerative vines and leaves that they were now struggling to defeat.Huld had an idea.He reached out with his earth-sense, feeling the soil and clay of which the shrine was made below him, under his back, on all sides of him, in the floor of this platform, right at its edges where the stone walls had been…“Earth! I summon you!” he found himself yelling, forcing his mind to focus on the material of the platform and intensifying his concentration on the words he spoke.At the same time he thrust both his hands upwards towards the sky, then rolled over onto his side, arms still outstretched, pushing himself up with his legs onto his knees, then, with a great force of his will, straining, standing, lifted his hands high above his head as they trembled and shook.As he did so, the earth around the perimeter of the platform rose up into the air, pushing up from lower down in the Shrine, becoming a wall around the top of it which rose as high as Huld, then higher than him, replacing the original stone walls of the chamber.Acting on instinct, with what felt like the very last of his earth-projection energy, or ‘mana', or whatever stupid term the foreigners used for it, Huld brought his two hands above his head slowly together.The earth he had called up to form walls around them bent inwards towards the middle of the platform, then continued extending to form a dome, making a large, shrinking hole in the air above them.As the hole closed up, the light coming from the sky diminished, progressively blocked out by the newly risen walls, eventually to form only a small circle through which a single beam of sunlight fell, spotlighted on the plant monster, until with the last clap of Huld's hands as he clasped them fully together the hole closed up completely and the light disappeared.Darkness had returned.In the dark, the plant monster roared, and now Huld heard fear in the roar.“Again!” Huld shouted as he sank to his knees from exhaustion. “It gets its energy from the sun! Attack again!”In the darkness, he only heard the frenzied footsteps of the others charging forward to attack, and their battlecries.“Death and glory!”“Manolia!”“For Cleasor!”“For the One!”“For Imfis!”The dull thwacking sound of blades hacking at vines and foliage.The sound of a plant monster roaring even more loudly again in...pain?Grunts of exertion, a shout of shock, a rush of air, the thump of a body and metal on earth as someone fell to the ground with their weapon.A hand pressed on his shoulder again. “Here you go, Huld,” said the old man. “This strategy had better work, as this is the very last of my mana.”Lightness filled Huld once more.“I thought that you said that you were out of ‘mana'?” Huld challenged the old man“A version of the truth,” said the old man. “I kept just the littlest bit in reserve for any emergency healing, or to use at the right moment. Such as now. Half the trick of fighting is knowing when to strike. I've just given a very little to Ryn too, now that that monster can't seem to regrow itself anymore.”A flare of light from fireboy's upheld hand confirmed his words, and lit a vision of the six foreigners crowded around the monster, hacking and whipping at it as it writhed and lashed out at them, apparently stripped of its regeneration power now the sun had been blocked out.Huld almost felt sorry for it.But not really. It had tried to eat him after all. And his orders were to destroy it and to take the Jewel.“Hold it, Huld, hold it!” fireboy shouted, no doubt having seen that the old man had replenished the monk's energy reserves and he was back on his feet.The plant monster was on fire again, the crackling light from its burning body now illuminating the re-walled chamber. Stripped of its regeneration ability, it could do nothing about this but flail around madly at the foreigners, who merely ducked and dived out of the way of its limbs, then jumped in again when it turned away from them to hack at it some more.Huld stretched out a hand, and for the third time that day held the monster in place.“For Farr!” he yelled.Weakened, the monster held fast, stuck in a pose with an arm pulled back to strike at fireboy.They had it.Safe from the strike, fireboy unleashed a final elemental attack at the monster, orange flaming from his hand and setting anything that wasn't already on fire alight. The rest of them pressed in, hacking whole chunks of flaming vine and shoot from it, some of them getting so near to the flames they were almost burned.Fixed in place, falling apart under the spell and swords of the foreigners, the monster let out one final, deafening roar that went deep and long, then began to peter out, growing quieter and quieter until it ended in a failing hiss, then ceased altogether.They had defeated the plant monster. All that was left of it now was a formless pile of burning mulch into which its body had disintegrated.Something shone bright and leaf-green at the centre of the mulch. Something small and oval, so bright that it gave the walls and the foreigners a green glow.The Earth Emerald.Without another thought, and before any of the foreigners could do so, Huld ran forward and reached into the mulch, not caring that some of it was still on fire, to grab the Jewel and pull it out.As soon as his hand wrapped around it, he felt power surge through him again, just as it had done when he had touched it with his lips inside the plant monster, only more so. Energy throbbed along his arms and legs, reinvigorating him. He felt solid, stable, secure. And all the more disliking of fire than ever.He hopped back a safe distance from the burning remnants of the plant monster.The Jewel was cool to the touch, despite the fact that it had recently been embedded in a pile of flaming plant mass, and shone bright green.He looked around at the foreigners, who stood panting, staring at him with wide eyes and faces lathered in sweat, and breathed a long sigh of relief.He had completed his mission.Now to return the Jewel to the Governor, who would keep it safe from these filthy prying foreigners. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sagaofthejewels.substack.com

Nidau: Der Aufbau auf dem Expo Gelände für den Zirkus Knie hat gestartet; Biel: Die Blaualgen im See sind bis jetzt nicht gefährlich

A ton more new finds, including a new one sent in by Fuzzed Atrocities (Japan) label (@farcompany_ on Instagram). New Razored Raw (NZ) and some oi! from BGP's neck of the woods: Sonoma's Flat Earth Bootboys. Hit us up at brothersgrimpunk@gmail.com and download our music on our Bandcamp page.468 Playlist:The (punk) Word is the byrd...Fill In The Blanks 1:17 Active Minds Split EP w/ Sanctus Iuda UK BLAME 1:19 NARKOTYK NARKOTYK DEMO USA Clock In, Clock Out 1:37 MASSDEAD Compostable Billionaire Bones Pissing It Down The Drain 1:45 The Wankys American WankDetroit TECHNOPHOBiC DiSASTER 3:05 PLATiNUM CRACK! HELL RiDE EP Razored Raw NZ Famine As A Weapon Of War 1:57 Barren Hellscape Anti-Genocide (Demo) Belgium Fuck That Weak Shit 1:06 Röt Stewart 3 Tattoos & A Road Tax Bill Philly MF Recs FUCKSHIT 1:32 GEN GAP Hanging out with GEN GAP Upset Conditions IN RAT RACE 1:29 MISSILE STRATEGY MISSILE STRATEGY UK Violent Mercy    2:08 State Sanctioned Violence State Sanctioned Violence Sweden Drone 1:01 Trench Rot Self-Entitled Sweden Don't get stabbed tonight 2:11 Boredom Boys Total Boredom Austin TX ROCK N ROLL HIGH SCHOOL 1:50 D.A.R.Y.L. ROCK N ROLL HIGH SCHOOL The DiMarcos (bkgrd) from PoDunk Radio Punk Rock Comp Vol. 2 Mexico City Side A song 5:55 Flores Nucleares ST Fuzzed Atrocities MX Basura 1:52 Disakuerdo Sin olvido sin perdón Peru Undead 1:52 VORÁGINE LOBOTOMIA NC Three Day Weekend 1:33 On The Block Gritted Teeth Tampa Lost Cause 1:04 Yield To None Both Demos Calgary Human Regress 1:30 Syphon Demo '24  KC Smoker's Cough 0:59 Failure Drill Visions of War KC I Have a Gun 1:38 CHEESE MAN  Demo Sampler LinkSonoma It's Fuckin Flat! 1:12 Flat Earth Bootboys Bandcamp Singles F*ck What You Heard (bkgrd) 3:15 Fight Music Poster Boys For Birth Control Bring Back Arnie 1:56 Mad Ax 40 Years, 40 Beers, 10 Bad Songs I don't need your help 0:50  Shut the Fuck Up - The Curse of Thinking You're Smart Oakland Legal Terrorists 1:50 Prosthetic Theory of Pain Pitts Atrocious Humanity 0:29 NASTY NANCY Hardcore Hotel WA DC Simulation 0:47 Hologram Build Yourself up so Many Times Only to be Brought Down Again and Again 7” WA DC Brain On Fire 1:34 Kombat In Death We Are All The Same 7" Copy Bands 2:01 Fatal Rage S/T LP 1983 Gee Doc, Thanks 1:33 Scroungers Satan! Satan! Satan! Oi! Oi! Oi! Simi Valley Wanna Be a Slug 1:27 Witch Piss Slugs  Lunchadores and Fight Plan (bkgrd) from PoDunk Radio Punk Rock Comp. Vol. 3 TN Travinski's Got a Pencil Bat 1:13 Vista Blue Help Me, Ron Other ways to hear BGP:Archive.org#468 on ArchiveApple PodcastsYouTube PodcastsPunk Rock Demonstration - Wednesdays 7 p.m. PSTRipper Radio - Fridays & Saturdays 7 p.m. PSTContact BGP:brothersgrimpunk@gmail.com@Punkbot138 on Instagram@BrosGrimPunk on XMore Music:Bandcamp - Follow us and download our albums: Brothers Grim Punk, Fight Music, and more!YouTube - tons of our punk playlists, from Anarchy to Zombies!

-The Locus Award shortlist is out. The fantasies are:* To Shape a Dragon's Breath, Moniquill Blackgoose (Del Rey)* The Keeper's Six, Kate Elliott (Tordotcom)* Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Heather Fawcett (Del Rey; Orbit UK)* Dead Country, Max Gladstone (Tordotcom)* The Water Outlaws, S.L. Huang (Tordotcom; Solaris UK)* Paladin's Faith, T. Kingfisher (Argyll)* He Who Drowned the World, Shelley Parker-Chan (Tor; Mantle)* My Brother's Keeper, Tim Powers (Baen; Ad Astra)* City of Last Chances, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Ad Astra)* Witch King, Martha Wells (Tordotcom)The YA fantasies are:* The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, Garth Nix (Tegen; Gollancz)* Divine Rivals, Rebecca Ross (Wednesday; Magpie UK)* The Siren, the Song, and the Spy, Maggie Tokuda-Hall (Candlewick)-The Bookseller has announced the winners of the 2024 British Book Awards, also known as The Nibbies. Here once again we see the trending dominance of Romantasy and in particular Rebecca Yarros. The fantasies that came up were:* Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros (Piaktus)* Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros (Piatkus) [winner in Page Turner category]* Impossible Creatures, Katherine Rundell (Bloomsbury Children's) [winner in Children's fiction category]* Powerless, Lauren Roberts (Simon & Schusters Children's)* Skandar and the Phantom Rider, A.F. Steadman (Simon & Schusters Children's)For the complete list of winners, see the official website.-Not strictly book news, but you've probably heard that they're making a new Lord of the Rings film about Gollum. I'm not very hopeful after the messes that were the Hobbit films. On the other hand Andy Serkis is a genius. We'll see…Your free and discounted fantasy ebook and audiobook sales for this month:And a little Romantasy one I snuck in to see if any Romantasy readers are interested in jumping on to the story of Ryn and Nuthea… / / /What I've been reading:I like to read something similar in form to whatever I'm working on, and I started out this month editing and submitting some short stories so I thought I would read some too. One of the stories I had was comedy-fantasy (see below), so I decided to read Terry Pratchett's short stories. I've not read any Pratchett for a while, but I spent most of my teens working through the Discworld novels. I realise now just how much Pratchett affected my writing style—which I think is good and bad! Lots of these were not that memorable. On the other hand, one or two were absolute gems, but they did depend somewhat on prior knowledge of Discworld characters. Pratchett was the king of comedy-fantasy, but seemed (by his own admission) to do best with novels…What I've been listening to:To be honest I'm still listening my way through THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA since it's so massive, however in the meantime here's a hot audio tip: If you haven't discovered the free fantasy short stories podcast PODCASTLE yet (from genre stories podcast group ESCAPE POD), you should check it out! In particular I recommend their full-cast recording of IN THE STACKS, a hilarious short story about some students returning a book to a vast magical library, also written by Scott Lynch.What Jo's been reading:What I've been working on:I edited and submitted three fantasy short stories to different venues this month for something different before editing SAGA OF THE JEWELS VOL. 1 in response to the professional editorial feedback I paid for. I've got one request for a full story from a partial sub so far, so that's something! I've only aimed relatively low because it's been a while since I sold any short stories, but we'll see if anything comes of them. Then I got to editing something I wrote at Christmas—a short story about a teacher in a magic school, rather than a student, for once. I'd already written a second follow-up scene, and I had a few more ideas, so I just kept going—and now I have 16,000 words of draft of a novel. Whoops. It may be total garbage, but I just wonder if this might be the mansucript that I work and work and work on until I get it house-published… I think it has potential, but I need to know if there are any other fantasy novels out there about teachers in magical schools. I've done some research and so far found two, both indies: A DREAM OF FIRE by J. R. Rasmussen and TEACHING MAGIC by Amy Cocke. I've not read these yet, though now I'm going to have to: Does anyone know of any other fantasy novels about magic school teachers?If you do, please let me know in the comments or by email reply!In other newsThis newsletter is being scheduled from The Past because at the time it goes out we will be traveling back from Bavaria! (Knowing my luck lots of important fantasy books news will have dropped in the interim…) We were given some money by the parents of a friend to go on a holiday after Jo's cancer treatment, but she hadn't been well enough to go before now. She had carte blanche to pick anywhere she wanted to go, and this is where she chose: a retreat centre in the Bavarian Alps! If you've read or listened to Saga of the Jewels Season One, this is a bit how I imagine the Zerlanese town of Nevva in the episode ‘Rest Stop'. It's meant to be family friendly, but I'm a little wary of how it's going to be with a 6yo and 1yo… Nonetheless, we are super grateful and excited. See you on the other side!Previously on Saga of the Jewels…The life of seventeen-year-old RYN, bookish son of a wealthy landowner, changes forever when his hometown is destroyed by the EMPIRE and everyone he has ever known is killed. Ryn discovers that the Empire are seeking TWELVE PRIMEVAL JEWELS which grant the power to manipulate different elements, and that his father had been hiding the Fire Ruby. He sets out to take revenge on the Imperial General who killed his family and retrieve the Ruby, and along the way meets NUTHEA the lightning-slinging princess, SAGAR the swaggering skypirate, ELRANN the tomboy engineer, CID the wizened old healer, and VISH the poppy-seed-addicted assassin. Together the adventurers decide to find all of the Jewels in order to stop the evil EMPEROR from finding them first and taking over the world. They have thus far succeeded in retrieving the Fire Ruby, borne by Ryn, and the Lightning Crystal, borne by Nuthea. They have now come to the land of FARR where they are on their way to the ‘Earth Temple' in order to attempt to find the EARTH EMERALD under the guidance of Farrian monk HULD…Saga of the Jewels Episode 25. Huld, The MonkHuld made his way through the undergrowth of the Farrian jungle, leaning on his staff, pushing a particularly big, leafy branch out of the way and taking care not to snap it.He held it back for the foreigners to allow them to get past and continue further along the trail, which also gave him an opportunity to count them off in his head as they walked by.He was having trouble remembering their names. There was the red-brown-haired fireboy, who didn't say much. Huld liked that, though he was highly cautious of the boy's flame-projection powers. One.There was the long-golden-haired girl who talked too much. It was her fault that this whole mission was happening, really. He wasn't sure what he thought about her, though he guessed her intentions were probably noble and she was probably harmless. She hadn't shown if she really had any ‘powers' yet. Two.Then there was the boy with the silly coat and the ponytail. He talked far too much, and didn't know when to hold his tongue. Huld was sure that this one's intentions were not noble. This was definitely one to keep an eye on. He smiled at the boy as he walked past.“Stop grinning at me like that,” the ponytail-boy said as he went by. “You're giving me the creeps.”“My apologies,” said Huld, without meaning it.Three.Next there was the engineer boy with the short purple hair. No, wait, this was a girl, he had now established. Actually, he still wasn't entirely sure, to be honest. She was nice enough and had been quite friendly to him so far. She seemed as though she was simply going along with the rest of the group in order to help them out, without being especially invested in their goal. Huld could understand that. Four.Then there was the old man with the beard. The only one with any sense in the whole group, as far as Huld could tell. He spoke carefully, thoughtfully, and did not rush into things. Very sensible. Five.And lastly, bringing up the rear, was the supposedly ex-Imperial masked Shadowfinger, dressed all in black. Huld was deeply suspicious of this one. He could sense a fearsome strength sealed up in this man's body, in his tense poise and the way he carried himself so deliberately as he walked which showed that he knew how to use it. This was the one to really watch. Six.And I make seven. All present and accounted for. Huld let go of the big branch, allowing it to snap back to its original place, and followed after the group.Really, this whole mission was a bad idea. It was a bad idea for anyone to be trying to interfere with the Earth Emerald, let alone a band of filthy foreigners. It had caused enough trouble the last time it had been in possession of the Republic. The previous Governor, Lord Restra, had been very sensible to have it sealed away in the Shrine to Eto. Where it should stay.But Huld lived to serve, and his life was service. If he wasn't loyal to the Republic of Farr and to his Lord Governor, then what was he?Nothing at all.So he had received his orders cheerfully with a smile on his face, as usual, and set out obeying them cheerfully with a smile on his face, as usual.The Governor's instructions had been very clear:“Make use of the foreigners' skills in order to retrieve the Earth Emerald from the Shrine, and then take it and bring it back to me”“How much further to this place anyway, baldy?” called ponytail from up ahead in the line of walkers, derailing Huld's train of thought.“Not much further,” the monk called back. The boy was rude, but Huld didn't mind the insulting term of address, really. His head had been shaved to show his devotion to Eto and the Republic. Better a ‘baldy' than having that stupid long hair tied back like a woman's. “Just keep to the trail,” he said pleasantly, “it will not be long from here.”They hadn't been able to land any closer to the Shrine in the party's airship due to the dense jungle they were now making their way through. Still, Huld was glad to be off the airship sooner rather than later. He hated the things. They were unnatural contraptions.He much preferred being here, on solid earth. He much preferred being here, hiking through the undergrowth, feeling the grassy ground through his bare feet and with the base of his straight wooden staff, surrounded by a panoply of green life, listening to the noises of buzzing insects and croaking frogs and chirping birds, breathing in the thick, warm air, smelling the refreshing fragrance of recent rain, keeping his attention on one step at a time, because that was all you could do. This was his home. This was where he belonged.Huld bumped into the Shadowfinger in front of him.The man spun round in an instant, lifting his hand to the hilt of his blade which was sheathed on his back. When he saw that it was only Huld, he relaxed again.“Look where you are going,” said the Shadowfinger cooly.“My apologies, Master Vish,” said Huld, bowing his head slightly. He had remembered this one's name. It was the only one he had. “A careless accident.”It turned out the Shadowfinger had stopped because the rest of the group had too; Huld hadn't been paying proper attention to their progress.The obscure flattened grass trail that they had been walking through the trees had come to an abrupt end, and all of a sudden the tall, densely packed trees opened up into a massive clearing.And there, looming up in the middle of the clearing, was the Shrine to Eto.The Earth Temple.“Well, that's something, I suppose,” said ponytail.Ignorant foreigner, thought Huld. It's more than ‘something'. It's one of the great wonders of Mid.The shrine was enormous, built of bricks of baked, brown earth arranged in layers one on top of another that got narrower with each layer, much like the way that Shun Pei had been built. Except unlike Shun-Pei, the layers here were square, not round, and there were no peaks or points—instead each layer was flat, creating the effect of a series of steps on four sides that climbed to reach a single cubic grey-stone summit with a flat top. Though ‘steps' was probably not the right word. You would have to be a giant to ascend these steps.It wasn't so much that the Shrine reached up to the sky, but that it reached down from the sky into the earth, widening out and fusing with it, and yet also made of it and already part of it, a vast, monolithic monument to Earth herself. Huld approved.“Where's the entrance?” asked the fire boy.“We have approached from the east,” Huld said. “I believe that the entrance is on the western side.” He had never actually visited the Shrine before, only heard stories about the ancient abandoned Shrine to Eto. The stories were surpassed by the real thing, however. Excitement fluttered in his chest at the prospect of actually going inside, though he just wished that he wasn't visiting it for the first time under these circumstances.They walked round to the western side of the Shrine, which took them a good ten minutes, such was its size.“Here we are,” said the golden girl.In the middle of the wall of the base layer of the Shrine on this side were two gigantic doors, each twice the height of Huld, which was saying something. They were made out of the same baked brown earth the colour of fertile soil as the rest of the Shrine, but you could tell that they were doors because they were cut slightly differently from the rest of the wall, three vertical lines presumably hiding hinges and the space where the doors met, and had two huge circular bronze handles hanging from halfway up each of them. The handles had to be just for show though, because they were so big, and impossible to reach.“How are we gonna open those?” said the engineer girl.The foreigners all looked at Huld with stupid expectant stares.“I am not sure…” he said after a moment. He hadn't been briefed by the Governor about this. He genuinely didn't know what to do.He walked up to a door and placed a hand on its surface. The earth it was made from was strangely warm to the touch, like it was being fed by some inner energy.Huld pushed, but the door did not budge one inch.The old man appeared at his side. “Perhaps there is some sort of password?”“Perhaps,” grunted Huld. “Though I have never heard of such a thing.” They had never had anything like that at any of the shrines or temples where he had trained. Normally doors just...opened. Like they were supposed to.“Are there any particular words or phrases that you would associate with this place?” said the old man. “Or with the worship of Eto?”Huld thought about it. “I suppose that there are.”“Perhaps you could try saying some of them out loud?”“Alright then…” Huld felt foolish, but he tried saying some of the phrases out loud anyway in his most confident, clear voice.“Hail Eto, our Mother the Earth!”Nothing.“Strength in numbers! Freedom in service! Glory in sacrifice!”Nothing.“When we strike as one we will move mountains!”Nothing.The massive door just stood there still, unmoving as the earth.“Open Sesame!” someone shouted behind him.Huld looked round and raised an eyebrow at the purple-haired engineer girl.She shrugged. “What? I heard it in a story somewhere. It was worth a shot.”Huld sighed.“Well this is going well,” said ponytail.“There must be some way in,” said goldengirl.  “Perhaps a physical technique, instead?” the old man suggested.“Hmmm,” rumbled Huld. “Yes.” This was more his language.He laid his staff on the grass and searched in his mind for a technique.Of course. Why did I not think of it before?He dropped into chocobo stance, spreading his legs just over shoulder-width apart, bending his knees, keeping his back straight, and also bending his arms but turning his palms upwards like he was holding two eggs in line with his hips.“What are you doing?” said fireboy.“Hush, if you please,” said Huld. “A fighting technique. It is called ‘Moving the Earth,' appropriately enough.”He focused on his breathing.In.Out.In.Out.He gathered the energy inside himself on his next breath in, willed it to transfer from his chest, down his arms, and into his hands, then drew his elbows back, and as he breathed out—“HA!”Huld thrust his hands forward, twisting them round as he did so, slamming his open palms into the earthen door, putting all the energy and strength of his being behind them.His palms stung at once from the impact as they met the door's resistance. They made a dull slapping noise as they connected. Huld fancied he felt the door tremor, ever so slightly.He took a step back and looked up, rubbing his tingling hands, then frowned.Nothing had moved.Someone screamed behind him.Huld span round and back into his chocobo stance.On the grass in front of the entrance to the Shrine, figures were sprouting from the ground, composed of it, literally climbing out of it. Brown figures of soil and stone with bits of grass and tree bark and foliage on them.Figures of earth.*Nuthea screamed shrill and high on reflex.A creature made of earth and soil had just risen up out of the ground next to her. It was humanoid in shape, with no facial features, but it had crude hands bunched into fists.It took a swing at her and Nuthea jumped back out of the way, screaming again.“Bolt!” she yelled, instinctively reaching for her lightning projection, and thrust her hand out.But no bolt came. She didn't even feel the play of energy along her arm.No! Not again!The creature ran towards her, pulling back its earthen fist for another strike. She wasn't going to have time to get out of the way.Earth clanged against metal as Sagar interposed one his blades between Nuthea and the attack.The skypirate pushed the golem (now Nuthea remembered the proper name for these magical creatures) away with his sword and it stumbled back a couple of paces.“Wind!” Sagar yelled, thrusting his other hand forwards.Air rushed from Sagar's open palm at the golem, but it just dug its feet into the ground, fusing with it. The wind rippled over the golem, riffling the leaves that were stuck to some of its body, but it remained completely unmoved, unharmed.“Uh-oh…” said Sagar when his wind attack was spent.Sense returned to Nuthea and she drew her own sword from its sheath at her side--a straight Manolian blade with a golden hilt and a wicked point. If lightning and wind weren't going to work on these creatures, they would have to resort to steel.The golem ran at Sagar, its feet easily detaching from the earth when it needed them to, and this time it was Nuthea's turn to step in and block its punch with her sword.Her blade bounced off the golem's fist, each knocked away by the other, sending a shudder of vibrating pain down Nuthea's arms. Whatever combination of earth and stone it was made of was tough, tough enough even to turn away Manolian steel.The others were yelling and shouting behind her. In her peripheral vision she could see more golems moving around, but for now she had to focus on the one in front of her and Sagar.“Thanks for the save, princess,” Sagar said. Did he have to make it sound so sarcastic? The pirate lunged forward, pressing the attack against the golem, trying a thrust with his swordpoint.The golem didn't respond quickly enough and this time Sagar's sword went into its chest area, puncturing it and sticking out the other side…...and not slowing it down at all.The golem punched Sagar in the face with a clay fist and he fell backwards with a shout, losing his grip on his sword and landing in a heap on the floor. He did not get up.“Sagar!” Nuthea called in concern.There wasn't time to tend to him now. The golem kept its momentum and strode towards Nuthea, throwing more punches at her, Sagar's sword still embedded in its torso.Nuthea blocked the blows, but it was so strong, and now that she saw no way of fighting back her heart began to thump rapidly in her chest as she began to panic.“Someone! Help!” she cried.The golem forced her backwards. She lifted her sword to block a particularly vicious strike, and the golem hit it so hard that it knocked it spinning out of her hands.Nuthea stumbled from the impact and fell backwards.The golem stood over her and raised its two big earthen fists above its head, about to crush her.Nuthea raised her hands to cover her face on reflex and winced, crying out in terror.“Fire!” yelled Ryn from somewhere nearby.A blast of orange flame engulfed the upper part of the golem. It immediately started batting at itself to try to extinguish the flame, but its hands only caught fire too. It collapsed to the ground, black smoke pouring off it, burning rapidly and writhing about. In a matter of moments it was a pile of smoking ash—entirely consumed by the fire.Nuthea sighed with deep relief, then retrieved her sword and stood up.“That worked well!” she said, turning to where she thought Ryn was.But Ryn wasn't there anymore. He was ten paces away, manically throwing fire at more golems, shouting focus-words one after another but sometimes not even having the time to do that. There were so many of them, closing in in a circle around the party and, apparently seeing Ryn as a threat, now the majority of them were advancing on him. He was struggling to keep up with the onrush of earthen warriors, blasting them with fire one by one, some of them getting dangerously close to him before he sent a barrage of flickering red and orange into them. Nuthea was sure he would not be able to keep this up forever.She looked for the others. Elrann was unloading her pistols at the golems one by one, blowing chunks of earth out of their bodies, but the holes she left only reformed and the golems came on. Huld was fighting a pair of golems with his hands. Cid had his sword drawn and was desperately trying to fight his way to the fallen Sagar, whom the golems now ignored. And Vish was currently occupied with fighting four golems at the same time, slashing and cutting but unable to do any lasting damage to any of them.Ryn was the only one who seemed capable of halting the golems with his fire projection. But he couldn't fight them all on his own, and he would surely run out of mana soon.Nuthea had an idea.“Ryn!” she yelled.The young man turned his head to look at her as he continued to throw fire at the onrushing creatures.“Can you localise some flame projection around my blade?”“What?” Ryn called back.“Can you hit my sword with a fire spell so that it lights on fire?”“What?!”“Just do it!” Nuthea called impatiently. “I know you can do it!” She held out her sword to him with one hand, blade pointing up.Ryn's brow furrowed, but all the same he pointed two fingers of one hand at her. “Fire!”Flame leapt from Ryn's outstretched fingers—two pointed fingers, in this case, rather than a whole thrust-out hand, perhaps because he was holding back, or perhaps because this is how his body instinctively shaped and controlled the fire to aim it more precisely.The flames hit Nuthea's raised swordblade…...and settled on it. Her whole blade became enveloped in flame and glowed red hot. The fire stopped leaping from Ryn's fingers, but it continued to burn on her blade, red and orange, covering it in a blazing, incandescent aura.“You did it!” she called. “I knew you could!”A golem was coming for her.Nuthea sprinted towards the golem, meeting it head on, and brought her flaming blade down and then up in a deadly arc from right to left across its torso, orange trailing in its wake.The blade tore through the golem's body with barely any resistance at all and passed out the other side of it, severing it in two. At the same time, the golem caught fire.It collapsed to the ground in two halves, and both halves thrashed around uselessly while they burned.“It worked!” Nuthea cried in elation. She turned. Ryn was still desperately throwing fire at the golems, sometimes missing, sometimes hitting, while the others were struggling to fend them off. “Ryn!” she shouted. “It worked! Do the same thing for the others!”“They're a bit busy right now!” Ryn called back.Nuthea looked for them. They were losing ground to the golems, getting forced backwards and closer together. Huld was now dealing with three at once, catching their fists with his palms or blocking them with his forearms, throwing back punches and kicks of his own but with little effect. Elrann stood behind and to the side of him, still desperately trying to slow their advance with her pistols, apparently not knowing what else to do and unwilling to try her whip on them. Cid was now fighting off two together with his sword, only barely managing to defend himself, but not to retaliate. And Vish had about six on him now, dancing and weaving around them as he held them at bay.Him first.“Shadowfinger Vish!” Nuthea cried. “To me!”The Shadowfinger looked up from his combat, saw her, then bent his knees and kicked off from the ground, executing one of his astonishing leaps, soaring upwards, twisting round in midair, and landing smartly next to her.“What?” the Shadowfinger said irritably, as though he had been interrupted in the middle of doing something he enjoyed, though it may have also been from frustration at the golems.“Hold up your blade! Let Ryn season it with fire!”“What?!”Why don't people just listen to me? Nuthea thought. I'm clearly the most intelligent and knowledgeable member of this adventuring party. And I'm royalty.“It won't hurt you,” she explained hurriedly. “It's a cooperative elemental projection technique. I've seen it done with lightning back home in Manolia, though I've not learned how to do it yet. But it works with fire too. Look.” She held up her own flaming sword by way of explanation.Vish slitted his eyes at her, but then held up his black sword in front of him without saying another word.“Ryn!” Nuthea called. “Over here! Do Vish's sword too!”Ryn looked over mid-spell, then hurriedly threw a hand out to perform the same technique on Vish's sword that he had done for Nuthea's.Fire jumped from his pointed fingers to set Vish's blade alight, too.The Shadowfinger's eyes went wide as he held it up to inspect it, the fire now continually burning on his blade reflecting in his grey irises.“Try again now!” said Nuthea.“Argh!” Ryn cried out.He dropped to his knees and doubled over, putting both hands out on the ground. He must be out of mana, or almost out of it. His eyes were shut in pain or concentration.The flames coming from Nuthea's and Vish's swords died down momentarily, but then Ryn grunted with exertion and they returned to their former intensity.Of course. He needs to concentrate to keep the flames burning on our swords.“Hold on, Ryn!” Nuthea called. “We're coming!”She ran towards the golems about to plough into Ryn, even as Vish leapt into the air.The Shadowfinger came down before she reached them, setting upon them as a vicious streak of black and orange, slicing earthen arms and legs from bodies, severing their heads, cleaving them in half.Nuthea joined him, and together the two of them tore through the golems, their swords leaving trails of fiery colour in the air.In no time at all they had fought their way back to Ryn and the others, and Nuthea pierced the back of the golem that was nearest to Cid, then ripped her sword out of it by kicking it to the floor. Vish made quick work of the golems besetting Elrann and Huld.A matter of moments, and all the remaining golems lay in pieces on the ground, burning up into nothing but dust and dirt.Nuthea and Vish had defeated them easily with their flame-assisted weapons.Cid ran over to the fallen form of Sagar at once and knelt down next to him, placing both his hands on the skypirate's head. “Cure,” he said.“Urrrrrrrggghh,” said Sagar as he came back to consciousness. “What the hells happened?”“One of them got you,” Nuthea called over from where she stood. “I don't think wind attacks are going to be very effective against earth elementals.”“Rrrrr,” Sagar growled quietly.“That's a cool trick, princess-girl,” said Elrann nearby, pointing at Nuthea's sword with one of her pistols.Nuthea looked at the still flaming blade. “Wait...Ryn!”Her eyes found the flame-wielding farmboy a little way away, still kneeling on the ground with both hands on it, hunched over, his eyes scrunched shut, concentrating hard.She sprinted over to him.“Ryn, it's alright!” she said between pants. “We defeated the golems! That cooperative technique did it! You can quench the flames on my and Shadowfinger Vish's swords now!”Ryn whimpered, and the flames around Nuthea's swordblade died down. His arms trembled, then gave way completely, and he fell face down onto the earth, lying flat on his front.“Grandfather!” Nuthea called out at once. “Ryn needs your help too!”Cid was already running over. He knelt next to Ryn and put a hand on his head.“He's spent all his mana…” Cid said. “Cure.”Ryn sighed a note of relief. He opened his eyes, and shakily pushed himself up, then rearranged himself so he was sitting on the ground.“That's better,” he said, rubbing his hands. “Why did that hurt so much?”“If you keep projecting when all your mana is spent, it causes you physical damage and pain,” said Cid. “The element-magic draws its energy directly from the body's physical resources, rather from your spent mana pool. I will need to give you some of my mana too. He placed a hand on Ryn's shoulder. “Syphon.”Ryn shut his eyes again for a moment and his head rocked back. “Woah. I can feel my projection powers are back. Thanks, Cid.”“That's alright, lad. It seems that we are going to be relying on your abilities quite a lot to retrieve this particular Jewel… I have a larger mana pool than you do, as I'm more experienced and have been at this game for longer, but I still only have a finite supply.”“It feels like I have...more than before,” said Ryn. “Is that because of you?”“No,” said Cid, “that's because you just pushed your mana beyond its limit, so your capacity has grown now that you've been healed. It's a very dangerous but nonetheless, aha, very sure-fire way to increase your mana capacity. It's a bit like forcing a sustained limit break. I just topped up your newly increased reserves, but I can't increase your capacity for you.”“What's a limit break?”“...I'll explain another time.”“What are you lot waffling on about?” asked Sagar as he walked over.“Oh, nothing,” said Cid, “just some of the ins-and-outs of elemental projection.”The others came over to join them too.“That was good thinking there, princess-girl,” said Elrann. “Your little trick probably saved our lives.”“It was nothing,” Nuthea said with complete sincerity. “I've seen a similar thing done with lightning in Manolia, so I just had the idea to repeat it with fire.”“Yeah,” said Sagar, “well done and everything, I'm sure we're all glad that's over, but it doesn't actually help us get into the Shrine, does it?”“Er,” said Ryn, “actually it does.”He pointed.At some time while they had been talking, the doors to the Earth Temple had opened inwards, revealing an earthen corridor beyond which receded into darkness.“Well that's creepy,” said Elrann.“Most peculiar…” said Huld.“They must have opened when we defeated the earth elementals…” said Cid.A heartbeat.“Looks like we're going in then,” said Sagar.“Wait!” said Nuthea, not wanting them to get ahead of themselves. “We need to talk about our strategy. It would appear that wind and lightning attacks were ineffective against these golems.” No need to tell them that I didn't even get a chance to test my lightning on them. What's happening to me? I'll have to ask Grandfather Cid about it later.“Where did those things come from, anyway?” said Ryn. “Huld?”“I… I'm not sure,” said the monk slowly. “I have never encountered such creatures anywhere in Farr before…” He seemed somewhat shaken.“Cid?” said Ryn.Grandfather stroked his beard. “My best guess is that they were created by the Earth Emerald itself. The Jewels have a...habit of making themselves difficult to be found. It doesn't mean that they are impossible to obtain, as we know, but they can be very difficult to get hold of. My guess is that the Emerald quite enjoys being shut up here, surrounded by all this earth, and so raised those guardians with its magic to try us before granting us entry to the Temple. This sort of thing does happen from time to time. But we appear to have passed the test, because they have stopped appearing.”“Great,” said Sagar. “Well, thanks for the warning, old timer.”“I did not know if such things would happen here or not…” Cid said, a touch defensively. “I have only ever encountered them happening on a few other occasions before…”“Never mind,” said Ryn, “like you said, we've beaten them now. Let's go inside and get this Jewel.”“That's easy for you to say, farmboy,” said Elrann. “Your fire worked well on them. The rest of us are a bit more defenceless.”“That's a good point,” Nuthea said. “Ryn, it seems we will need to rely on you if we encounter any more...earth enemies. You should conserve your mana as much as possible.”“That's right,” said Grandfather. “I topped you up, and I have a bigger mana pool than you do due to my experience, but I don't have infinite reserves and I can feel that I'm starting to run low. Make sure you don't burn through yours too quickly, or we might really get into trouble.”“That cooperative technique you had him perform was useful,” said Vish unexpectedly. The Shadowfinger almost never spoke up in group conversations. Everyone else looked just as surprised as Nuthea felt. “Make sure you save enough ‘mana' to do that again if we need you to, boy.”“I'll do my best,” said Ryn with unforced earnestness. Nuthea decided she liked that trait of his. It was growing on her, anyway. “Come on. It's time to enter this ‘Earth Temple'.”And in they went. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sagaofthejewels.substack.com

In this episode, not only do I interview the one and only Sir Marvelous, a Dom and Kink Professional, but I also interview his submissive and partner, Syphon the Unicorn. We discuss the dynamics of a Male Dom and what that looks like getting booked by women and also what makes a dungeon a safe space. Full video footage can be found on Youtube! www.youtube.com/@OfficialMistressMarley Instagram: dommeinthecity

Jace welcomes writer Mohsen Ashraf back to the show. They talk about the second volume of Syphon and how it builds on the story of Sylas and his empathic abilities. The duality themes remain, ideas of pleasure and pain are introduced and the scope and history of the powers are greatly expanded on. Plus a lot more of Sylas's romantic partner Liv and a couple of intriguing new characters. Listen in and tell your retailer you want to order a copy of the TPB for Volume 2.

In June 2022, Rob fundraised for the American Cancer Society with a charity Twitch Tales special! This oneshot followed the adventures of Syphon, a water genasi warlock who is investigating some mysterious behaviour on board. SUPPORT MY WORK: If you want to support me financially, so I can make more of this sort of content, you can do so on Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/RobertHartleyGM If you want to wear or drink from my logo or designs on some merch, check out my store. https://merch.streamelements.com/roberthartleygm Another way to support me is to browse some lovely Level Up Dice using my affiliate links. Simply clicking the links will help me, but buying some dice helps me, Level Up Dice AND you!: US: http://bit.ly/LUDGMRobertHartleyUS AUS: http://bit.ly/LUDGMRobertHartleyAU SOCIALS: Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/roberthartleygm Discord: https://discord.gg/Tam2QpufaK Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roberthartleygm Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/roberthartleygm Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6AEITpjYEbeOM4hUmvv08N

Episode 401... Coming down from the milestone 400 show. It's National 7 Eleven Day! So, we naturally have a 7 Eleven themed batch to get those nostalgic Slurpee and Big Gulp memories flowing. Plus a set of new Bandcamp grabs and another brand new one from our upcoming Brothers Grim Punk release on Bandcamp to start the show! Mad Ax has remastered several of our old bands and put them up on the Bros Grim Punk Bandcamp page. This week, an old high school gem of a band that DD was in, Vertigo. Some post dead Kurdt vibes, if we do say. Enjoy!Download and stream here:BROS GRIM 401!!! Bros Grim Archive here:BROS GRIM ARCHIVEAiring Wednesdays 7pm PST on PUNK ROCK DEMONSTRATION & Fridays/Saturdays 7pm PST on RIPPER RADIO.Send us stuff to brothersgrimpunk@gmail.com.Punkerdown...Don't Need You 0:53  Brothers Grim Punk One Small Step For A Punk NO EXCUSE 1:15 CAVEMAN S/T AU All Went Too Well 1:03 Arsenico Reign Of Fear UK Toilet Terrorist 1:58 Chaotic Dischord Our Mental Health Is Fucking Mental  With A Whimper & A Bang (bkgrd) 5:26 VERTIGO UPPERDOWN 7-11    1:15 Screeching Weasel Screeching Weasel 711 1:13 Couch Sex I Can't Swim 7-11 0:12 Sick Of Stupidity One Shot, One Kill Seven Eleven 0:27 The Dwarves Greedy Boot 1 Stairway To 711 1:29 Rubix Skate & Destroy 7-Eleven Nachos 1:48 Froggy 7-Eleven Nachos Fuck 7-11! 1:22 ONiON We Are What You Eat 7-11 (bkgrd)    3:34    Ramones    Pleasant Dreams Mr. Quench (bkgrd) 3:51 Longboard Ranch Longboard Ranch Rides Again!  Ill Commute 2:46 Fight Music Robo Dick UK Dogwhistle 1:18 Perp Walk The Chain of Infection L.A. I Am Your Phantom 2:14 War Ghoul I Am Your Phantom/We Suffer But Why? Double Single AL Conquest 1:48 B.O.R.N. Belligerent Onslaught Relentless Noise GA VICIOUS CYCLE 1:22 FUNERAL MESS S/T Portland Right To Live 2:10 Malakili Demo 2023 L.A. $3.00 On Pump 6 0:53 C57BL/6 LP 1 Liquid Chaos (bkgrd) 4:15 The Detonators Liquid Chaos Syphon & Destroy 1:41 Common Enemy Living the Dream? LA after midnight 1:21 Dead City banned from LA Dalton 0:53 Neverland Ranch Hands Plastic Fact Eaters Volume 1 Stand Up 0:54 Minor Threat Complete Discography Waste No Time 0:36 The Fartz Because This Fuckin' World Stinks... Saturday Truck Fever 2:16 Guttermouth The Whole Enchilada Anarchy in the U . K. (bkgrd) 3:46 The Jimmy Psycho Experience Mosh Pits & Mai Tais: The Ultimate Punk Rock Lounge Party 8 More Times 2:24 VERTIGO UPPERDOWN

Je ne regrette rien, wie die Französin singt, ist heute das große Thema im Podcast von Deutschlands frankophilsten Podcastpärchen. Maria und Nilz kämpfen sich durch die Frage, ob man überhaupt irgendetwas bereuen sollte und wann es sich lohnen kann. Eine harte Nuss. Dann folgt ein Thema, bei dem Nilz vermutete, dass es viel schneller vorbei sei, als es dann wirklich war und ihr werdet staunen, um welchen Themenkomplex es dabei geht. Wie immer alles wunderbar seziert und versucht verstanden zu werden, von Maria und Nilz, dem besten Ehepaar. Ha, habt gedacht, da kommt noch ein „seit es“-Gleichnis, aber ne, brauchts gar nicht. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Den Handfilter und die French Press kennt fast jeder, aber was ist ein Perkolator? In diesem Teil der neuen Barista-Podcastfolge mit Thomas Schatz geht es um bekannte und ungewöhnliche Zubereitungsmethoden von Filterkaffee. Mit dabei sind unter anderem der Syphon und die Ibrik.

Ist der Syphon dicht, dann hilft nur ein Klempner oder Gabriel Gabe Logan. Der bringt dann gleich noch seinen spezial Filter mit und dann bleibt der Abfluss frei von bösen deutschen Terroristen, die versuchen mit Viren die Weltherrschaft an sich zu reißen. Noch zwei oder drei Plot-Twists weiter, ein bißchen Verrat hier und ein bißchen Überraschung da und die Vorlage eines so ziemlich jeden 90er Jahre Action Movies ist fertig. Am Ende weiß keiner so genau wer was will und wer hier überhaupt warum mitspielt aber Hauptsache es wird geballert! Inspiriert von diesem Erfolgsrezept haben sich EIDETIC 1999 daran gemacht ihre Schmach von Erstlingswerk für die PSX vergessen zu machen und somit eine ziemlich erfolgreiche Spieleserie erschaffen. Ob der erste Ableger aus der Syphon Filter Reihe noch heute überzeugen kann? Nur so viel Vorweg: Murat und Steffen haben diesmal den Ellis gemacht und sind frühzeitig ausgestiegen. Danny hat die Modchip Fahne hoch gehalten und den Syphon knallhart durchgespült.

The Vault Hunters have killed Syphon, but are immediately met by something maybe even more unsettling. --- Friend & Foe Adventure Co social links: linktr.ee/FFAdventureCo --- The Bunkers & Badasses TTRPG is made by Nerdvana Games and Leder Games. You can snag yourself a copy and start your own adventures at NerdvanaGames.com --- Ian Moss started a B&B actual play called Bad Assets: https://anchor.fm/bad-assets Roleplapy Rejects is doing a B&B run too and will crossover with us soon! https://roleplayrejects.com/

Hey Friends! It's funny because I've shared space with this dynamic duo many times so I knew it was a matter of time before I would sit down with them and really peel back some layers. We chatted about the Sir Marvelous Experience, their relationship (BDSM and otherwise), BBLs, anal play, post play party munchies and so much more. This really was GREAT conversation! You can find them at @sirmarvelous @sirmarvelouskinks @syphon_theunicorn https://www.liinks.co/marvelousthings Watch this episode! Have you subscribed to the Funsexual PLAYlist on Spotify and Apple Music? And of course you can follow me @theFunsexual on IG and Twitter for announcements and updates. Don't forget to subscribe and rate! Like! Share!

This week we talked to fantasic Portland band, Spooky Boys! What did we even talk about you ask? Oh, so much. The worst liquors, rollercoaster disasters, the triple-gig-simulator, and Aerosmith.  like more Aerosmith than you'd think. Oh, and it's Swimsuit Summer once again, and Andy's got some ideas. Music this week.Spooky Boys- Haze (17:23)No.2- You Might Be Right (32:27)Spooky Boys- Red Suzuki (45:27)Gospel- Bravo (1:08:19)Big Sima- Back Up ft. Bkidd(1:23:12)

We apologize for missing last weeks episode. Unfortunately, Angela tested positive for COVID. Thankfully, she is okay.BDSM couple/Dominatrix, Sir Marvelous and his sub, Syphon the Unicorn, join the ladies for this week for an informative, yet WILD episode. Sir Marvelous and Syphon the Unicorn explain how they first got into this world of sexual pleasure, as well as the all the different things Marvelous will do to Syphon and his other clients. Marvelous and Syphon discuss their love for cuckolding, anal play, and much, much more. At the end of the episode, Sir Marvelous performs on Syphon the Unicorn...to the point where she squirts all over the place. The audio you will hear is graphic. You've been warned. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We apologize for missing last weeks episode. Unfortunately, Angela tested positive for COVID. Thankfully, she is okay. BDSM couple/Dominatrix, Sir Marvelous and his sub, Syphon the Unicorn, join the ladies for this week for an informative, yet WILD episode. Sir Marvelous and Syphon the Unicorn explain how they first got into this world of sexual pleasure, as well as the all the different things Marvelous will do to Syphon and his other clients. Marvelous and Syphon discuss their love for cuckolding, anal play, and much, much more. At the end of the episode, Sir Marvelous performs on Syphon the Unicorn...to the point where she squirts all over the place. The audio you will hear is graphic. You've been warned. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cops have warned to keep a look out for thieves with cordless drills, drilling into gas tanks and draining the gas into catch pans. But in Houston, gas thieves have a new approach.  Driving a mini-van over the top of a gas station tank, opening a trap door, dropping a hose in and pumping the fuel out.

Join Mike and Bill as they discuss Wizard World Chicago, Evil, Santos Sisters, Starburn, Back Issue #25, Comics Scene Spectacular #4, Shuriken TPB, Over the Edge #6, Magic #1, Cyclopedia Exotica #1, The House of Lost Horizons #1, Syphon #1, The Recount #1, Eat the Rich #1, Maw #1, Gun Honey #1, King Spawn #2, […]

Join Mike and Bill as they discuss Wizard World Chicago, Evil, Santos Sisters, Starburn, Back Issue #25, Comics Scene Spectacular #4, Shuriken TPB, Over the Edge #6, Magic #1, Cyclopedia Exotica #1, The House of Lost Horizons #1, Syphon #1, The Recount #1, Eat the Rich #1, Maw #1, Gun Honey #1, King Spawn #2, […]

Jace and Rocky from Comic Boom! discuss the Syphon series from Top Cow. From ideas of empathy and altruism to guilt and acceptance, this series has tons of relevant themes with some amazing art.

Es läuft immer alles rund als Immobilieninvestor? Nein, auch Profis haben schon Fehlentscheidungen getroffen, die viel Zeit, Geld und Nerven kosten. Und um genau diese Geschichten geht es in der Serie ImmoFails. Basti hat ein Haus gekauft, was auf dem Papier super aussah. Neben eines Mietausfalls aus einer Gewerbeeinheit kam plötzlich noch ein weiteres Problem auf Basti zu. Ein kleines Syphon, große Auswirkungen. Wie Basti mit einem Wasserschaden inklusive Schimmel umging, welche Learnings er daraus zog und was er anderen Immobilieninvestoren raten würde, das alles erfahrt ihr in der heutigen Folge. Basti ist Immobilieninvestor und Coach bei immocation. immocation. Lerne Immobilien

Like the mix? Click the [↻ Repost] button! Hailing from Newcastle upon Tyne UK, Robert Patterson aka Syphon is a Drum & Bass DJ / Producer primarily focused on the deep and rolling sides of the genre. His mixes are characterised by a balance of creative harmonic blends giving each track room to breathe in the mix. Syphon has performed live sets for Intrigue Music & Method Twenty Four, & his mixes have received support from the likes of Ben Soundscape, Tokyo Prose & GLXY. Having recently released his debut track on Erculean Recordings with Russian producer AL_X, Syphon continues to hone his production skills whilst regularly serving up quality selections of deep liquid DnB on his Mixcloud page. --- Originaire de Newcastle-upon-Tyne au Royaume-Uni, Robert Patterson alias Syphon est un DJ / Producteur Drum & Bass principalement axé sur les côtés deep et rolling du genre. Ses mixes sont caractérisés par un équilibre de mélanges harmoniques créatifs donnant à chaque track la possibilité de respirer dans le mix. Syphon a joué des sets live pour Intrigue Music & Method Twenty Four, et ses mixes ont reçu le soutien de Ben Soundscape, Tokyo Prose & GLXY. Ayant récemment sorti son premier morceau sur Erculean Recordings avec le producteur russe AL_X, Syphon continue de perfectionner ses compétences de production tout en offrant régulièrement des sélections DnB deep liquid de qualité sur sa page Mixcloud. --- *Tracklist: Auris - Victorian Boulevard Satl - Beautiful Struggle ft. DRS Adam F - Circles (dRamatic & dbAudio Remix) Kublai - Smokey Fox - Lion Ting ft. Lenzman Styke - Lunar Technimatic - The Golden Section Banditt, Disrupta - Sunshine Riddim Anile - Back On Days Bungle - Circles Kublai, Note - Resting Place Mr Joseph - Just Another Day ft. Kate White Auris, Styke - Apollo Future Ghost - Pillow Talk Gerra & Stone - L.I.E.S SpectraSoul - Tender Doubt Mr Joseph - Flyest Material Satl - Takeshi LSB - Rise & Fall ft. DRS (Tokyo Prose Remix) Bert H, High N Sick - Flat Story Changing Faces, Malaky - Hardest Thing Joakuim - Eclipse GLXY - Breathless ft. [ K S R ] Satl - Never Far LSB - The Hurting --- • Syphon: @syphon1 https://www.mixcloud.com/SyphonDnB/ https://linktr.ee/SyphonDnB • Liquidz Spirit: https://www.facebook.com/LiquidzSpirit https://www.twitter.com/Liquidz_Spirit https://www.instagram.com/liquidz.spirit https://www.mixcloud.com/Liquidz_Spirit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHyEjq-Zmp5l0RJJiaixFaw Photo: https://unsplash.com/@f1ramon_

0m – INTRODUCTION • Joys of Diamond and this week's delivery • Reading two volumes of Injustice in one sitting • Keith getting caught up on pulls finally! • Y The Last Man kicks off this week on Disney+; Watching Peaky Blinders again • October Previews Books dropped this week 11th AUGUST RELEASES 14m - Quick Picks (Spoiler Free) • Future State: Gotham #4 • Fantastic Four: Life Story #3 • Rorschach #11 • Batman: Urban Legends #6 • Silver Coin #5 • Miles Morales: Spider-Man #29 • Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow #5 • The Defenders #1 29m 06s - Pick of the Week (Light Spoilers) • Alan - Justice League: Last Ride #4 (AT/KM) • Keith - Campisi: The Dragon Incident #1 18TH AUGUST RELEASES 40m - Quick Picks (Spoiler Free) • Lazarus Risen #6 • Marjorie Finnegan: Temporal Criminal #4 • Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #3 • Superman: Red & Blue #6 • Moon Knight #2 • Ascender #18 • Sinister War #3 • Iron Man #11 • Kang The Conqueror #1 1hr 01m - Pick of the Week (Light Spoilers) • Alan - Eat the Rich #1 • Keith - Nightwing #83 (KM/AT) 25TH AUGUST 1hr 14m 20s - Quick Picks (Spoiler Free) • Department of Truth #12 • Once & Future #19 • Amazing Spider-Man #72 • Batman: Reptilian #3 • Superman: Son of Kal-El #2 • Chu #7 • Conan The Barbarian #24 • Spider-Man: Life Story Annual #1 • Darkhawk #1 • Something is Killing the Children #19 • The Last Annihilation: Cable Reloaded • Echolands #2 • Syphon #2 1hr 44m 20s - Pick of the Week (Light Spoilers): • Alan - Robin #5 • Keith - That Texas Blood #9 www.coffeeandheroes.com

0m – INTRODUCTION • Joys of Diamond and this week's delivery • Reading two volumes of Injustice in one sitting • Keith getting caught up on pulls finally! • Y The Last Man kicks off this week on Disney+; Watching Peaky Blinders again • October Previews Books dropped this week 11th AUGUST RELEASES 14m - Quick Picks (Spoiler Free) • Future State: Gotham #4 • Fantastic Four: Life Story #3 • Rorschach #11 • Batman: Urban Legends #6 • Silver Coin #5 • Miles Morales: Spider-Man #29 • Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow #5 • The Defenders #1 29m 06s - Pick of the Week (Light Spoilers) • Alan - Justice League: Last Ride #4 (AT/KM) • Keith - Campisi: The Dragon Incident #1 18TH AUGUST RELEASES 40m - Quick Picks (Spoiler Free) • Lazarus Risen #6 • Marjorie Finnegan: Temporal Criminal #4 • Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #3 • Superman: Red & Blue #6 • Moon Knight #2 • Ascender #18 • Sinister War #3 • Iron Man #11 • Kang The Conqueror #1 1hr 01m - Pick of the Week (Light Spoilers) • Alan - Eat the Rich #1 • Keith - Nightwing #83 (KM/AT) 25TH AUGUST 1hr 14m 20s - Quick Picks (Spoiler Free) • Department of Truth #12 • Once & Future #19 • Amazing Spider-Man #72 • Batman: Reptilian #3 • Superman: Son of Kal-El #2 • Chu #7 • Conan The Barbarian #24 • Spider-Man: Life Story Annual #1 • Darkhawk #1 • Something is Killing the Children #19 • The Last Annihilation: Cable Reloaded • Echolands #2 • Syphon #2 1hr 44m 20s - Pick of the Week (Light Spoilers): • Alan - Robin #5 • Keith - That Texas Blood #9 www.coffeeandheroes.com

0m - General Intro and catch up 4m - Shang Chi Review (Includes Spoilers), 12m - TV & Movies News - Hawkeye trailer, Black Widow on BluRay, What If….?, Dune - October 22nd release date, Bond at the end of this month, Matrix Resurrections trailer, Locke & Key Season 2 set for October, The Batman early reviews and HBO Max Shows including Penguin and GCPD. 27m30s - COMICS: DC Fandome - October 16th, Joe Bennett dropped by Marvel, Conor McCreery Interview, Conor's ‘Zoop' for Trickster 21ST JULY RELEASES 34m 40s - Quick Picks (Spoiler Free): • Sinister War #1 • Blue & Gold #1 • Moon Knight #1 • Canto III #1 • Supergirl: Girl of Tomorrow #2 • Radiant Black #6 • Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton #2 • Dark Blood #1 • Syphon #1 46m 30s - Pick of the Week (Spoiler Filled): • Deadly Class #47 • Superman: Red & Blue #5 28TH JULY RELEASES 54m 35s - Quick Picks (Spoiler Free): • Beta Ray Bill #5 • Batman: Reptilian #2 • Chariot #5 • Strange Adventures #11 • Something is Killing The Children #18 • Amazing Fantasy #1 • That Texas Blood #8 • Daredevil #32 • The Old Guard: Tales Through Time #4 1hr 10m 05s - Pick of the Week (Spoiler Filled): • Robin #4 • Superman: Son of Kal-El #1 4TH AUGUST RELEASES 1hr 18m 20s -Quick Picks (Spoiler Free): • Swamp Thing #6 • Seven Secrets #11 • X-Men #2 • Suicide Squad: Get Joker! #1 • Stillwater #9 • Wynd #9 • Immortal Hulk #49 1hr 31s 10s - Pick of the Week (Spoiler Filled): • The Me You Love In The Dark #1 • The Nice House on the Lake #3

0m - General Intro and catch up 4m - Shang Chi Review (Includes Spoilers), 12m - TV & Movies News - Hawkeye trailer, Black Widow on BluRay, What If….?, Dune - October 22nd release date, Bond at the end of this month, Matrix Resurrections trailer, Locke & Key Season 2 set for October, The Batman early reviews and HBO Max Shows including Penguin and GCPD. 27m30s - COMICS: DC Fandome - October 16th, Joe Bennett dropped by Marvel, Conor McCreery Interview, Conor's ‘Zoop' for Trickster 21ST JULY RELEASES 34m 40s - Quick Picks (Spoiler Free): • Sinister War #1 • Blue & Gold #1 • Moon Knight #1 • Canto III #1 • Supergirl: Girl of Tomorrow #2 • Radiant Black #6 • Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton #2 • Dark Blood #1 • Syphon #1 46m 30s - Pick of the Week (Spoiler Filled): • Deadly Class #47 • Superman: Red & Blue #5 28TH JULY RELEASES 54m 35s - Quick Picks (Spoiler Free): • Beta Ray Bill #5 • Batman: Reptilian #2 • Chariot #5 • Strange Adventures #11 • Something is Killing The Children #18 • Amazing Fantasy #1 • That Texas Blood #8 • Daredevil #32 • The Old Guard: Tales Through Time #4 1hr 10m 05s - Pick of the Week (Spoiler Filled): • Robin #4 • Superman: Son of Kal-El #1 4TH AUGUST RELEASES 1hr 18m 20s -Quick Picks (Spoiler Free): • Swamp Thing #6 • Seven Secrets #11 • X-Men #2 • Suicide Squad: Get Joker! #1 • Stillwater #9 • Wynd #9 • Immortal Hulk #49 1hr 31s 10s - Pick of the Week (Spoiler Filled): • The Me You Love In The Dark #1 • The Nice House on the Lake #3

Welcome back to Realspace Raiders, the Drukhari podcast! We are an alliance of Archons all hailing from the UK and cover everything from matched play and the competitive meta, painting and hobby discussions, background and lore and much, much more!The latest episode of Realspace Raiders is here and its a phenomenal one! Liam AKA Corrode from Goonhammer drops by on his skyboard as a special guest host as we break down the meta, the top armies, the big lists, the awesome combos but most importantly how you should deal with them as a Drukhari player!Creature Feature sees Dom compere a discussion on the merits of Talos and Cronos and why Parasite Engines are so prevalent in the top Drukhari lists at the moment.We also take some time to go through an Archon Series interview with Liam, a quick Q&A session with our listeners, a short tournament report from Paulie and the Archons indulge you in what they've been up to as they continue to gear up for LGT!Please share any feedback with us on our Facebook and Instagram pages and give us a like or a follow!Realspace RaidersrealspaceraidersArchonsPaulie - skyserpent40kDom - darktechnodomGeorge - gmccouloughDISCORD: https://discord.gg/3ECrKndYMERCH STORE: https://redbubble.com/shop/ap/76936647ArtworkJon 'Scrivo' Scrivensjonscrivens on Instagram & Twitterko-fi.com/JonScrivensJonScrivens.comMusicLightcycle by Gabe Milleryoutube.com/gabemillermusicAcid Network by Erimotionarray.comSTARFOUNDERstarfounder.bandcamp.com

Jace chats with the creative team behind Top Cow's latest hit, Syphon. They talk about the origins of the series and how Mohsen brought Patrick aboard with Jeffrey joining a bit later. Also the themes and BIG ideas of the book are talked about, including the idea that helping others isn't always as altruistic or noble as it first may seem. There is tons of talk about the setting & the grittiness of New York City as the setting. Also the team reveals that they would love to do more arcs of Syphon, especially focusing on others who have wielded the power throughout history. There is a lot to take in here as the guys talk about all that and so much more. Be sure you pick up Syphon #1 our now & grab issue #2 when it drops next Wednesday August 25th.   Syphon Story - Mohsen Ashraf, Writers - Patrick Meaney & Mohsen Ashraf, Artist - Jeffrey Edwards, Color Artist - John Kalisz

In this Episode Drew is Joined by Christian and Russ and they discuss, amongst over things, Masters of the Universe Revelations, The Ghostbusters Afterlife trailer video games. In the comic review section they get into Bermuda from Boom! Studios, Mother of Madness and Syphon from from Image, Beyond the Breach from Aftershock and Shazam from […] The post Talking Smack Ep78 – Tweet Mat Smith appeared first on Gobsmack Comics & Collectibles.

Comics  Radiant Black #6 from Image Comics (W) Kyle Higgins, Cherish Chen (A) David Lafuente, Dee Cunniffe $3.99 Hard Case Crime Minky Woodcock Girl Who Electrified Tesla #4 from Titan Comics | Writer(s): Cynthia von Buhler | Artist(s): Cynthia von Buhler | $3.99  Home #4 from Image | Writer(s): Julio Anta | Artist(s): Anna Wieszczyk | $3.99  Bermuda #1 from IDW Publishing | Writer(s): John Layman | Artist(s): Nick Bradshaw | $4.99   Mom Mother of Madness #1 from Image Comics (W) Emilia Clarke, Marguerite Bennett (A) Leila Leiz $5.99 Dark Blood #1 from BOOM! Studios (W) LaToya Morgan (A) Walt Barna $3.99    Shadecraft #5 from Image | Writer(s): Joe Henderson | Artist(s): Lee Garbett | Colors: Antonio Fabela | Letters: Simon Bowland | $3.99 Many Deaths Of Laila Starr #4 from BOOM! Studios | Writer(s): Ram V. | Artist(s): Filipe Andrade | Color Assist: Ines Amaro | Letters: Andworld Design | $3.99 Proctor Valley Road #5 from BOOM! Studios | Writer(s): Alex Child Grant Morrison | Artist(s): Naomi Franquiz | $3.99 Second Coming Only Begotten Son #3 from Ahoy Comics | Writer(s): Mark Russell | Artist(s): Richard Pace Leonard Kirk | Finisher of the Sunstar pages: Leonard Kirk | Colorist: Andy Troy for the Sunstar pages | $3.99 Tales From Harrow County Fair Folk #1 from Dark Horse | Writer(s): Cullen Bunn | Artist(s): Emily Schnall | Letters: Tyler Crook | $3.99 Maria Llovets Eros Psyche #5 from Ablaze Media | Writer(s): Maria Llovet | Artist(s): Maria Llovet | Letters: Saida Temofonte |  $3.99 Chu #6 from Image | Writer(s): John Layman | Artist(s): Dan Boultwood | $3.99 Marjorie Finnegan Temporal Criminal #3 from | Artists | Writers & Artisans | Writer(s): Garth Ennis | Artist(s): Goran Sudzuka | $3.99 Silver City #3 from AfterShock Comics | Writer(s): Olivia Cuartero-Briggs | Artist(s): Luca Merli | $3.99 Wasted Space #22 from Vault Comics | Writer(s): Michael Moreci | Artist(s): Hayden Sherman | $3.99   Syphon #1 from Image Comics (W) Patrick Meaney, Mohsen Ashraf (A) Jeff Edwards, John Kalisz $3.99  Time Before Time #3 from Image Comics (W) Declan Shalvey, Rory McConville (A) Joe Palmer, Chris O'Halloran $3.99    Upcoming Comics Parasomnia #2 from Dark Horse | Writer(s): Cullen Bunn | Artist(s): Andrea Mutti | $3.99 Department Of Truth #1 from Image | Writer(s): James Tynion IV | Artist(s): Martin Simmonds | $3.99 Made In Korea #3 from Image | Writer(s): Jeremy Holt | Artist(s): George Schall | $3.99 Mirka Andolfos Sweet Paprika #1 from Image | Writer(s): Mirka Andolfo | Artist(s): Mirka Andolfo | $3.99 Scumbag #9 from Image | Writer(s): Rick Remender | Artist(s): Jonathan Wayshak Moreno DiNisio | $3.99 Vinyl #2 from Image | Writer(s): Doug Wagner | Artist(s): Daniel Hillyard Dave Stewart | $3.99 Barbaric #2 from Vault Comics | Writer(s): Michael Moreci | Artist(s): Nathan Gooden | $3.99 Blue Flame #3 from Vault Comics | Writer(s): Christopher Cantwell | Artist(s): Adam Gorham | $3.99 BRZRKR (Berzerker) #4 from BOOM! Studios | Writer(s): Keanu Reeves Matt Kindt | Artist(s): Ron Garney | $3.99 Cult Of Dracula #5 from Source Point Press  | Writer(s): Rich Davis | Artist(s): Henry Martinez | $3.99 Girls Of Dimension 13 #4 from AfterShock Comics | Writer(s): Graham Nolan | Artist(s): Bret Blevins | $3.99 Last Book You'll Ever Read #1 from Vault Comics | Writer(s): Cullen Bunn | Artist(s): Leila Leiz | $3.99 Modern Frankenstein #4 from Heavy Metal | Writer(s): Paul Cornell | Artist(s): Emma Vieceli | $3.99 Phantom On The Scan #4 from AfterShock Comics | Writer(s): Cullen Bunn | Artist(s): Mark Torres | $3.99 Shadowman Vol 6 #4 from Valiant Entertainment | Writer(s): Cullen Bunn | Artist(s): Jon Davis-Hunt | $3.99 Something Is Killing The Children #18 from BOOM! Studios | Writer(s): James Tynion IV | Artist(s): Werther Dell Edera | $3.99 Swamp God #1 from Heavy Metal | Writer(s): Ron Marz | Artist(s): Armitano | $2.99 Witchblood #5 from Vault Comics | Writer(s): Matthew Erman | Artist(s): Lisa Sterle  |$3.99   Groo Meets Tarzan #1 from Dark Horse Comics (W) Mark Evanier, Sergio Aragones (A) Sergio Aragones, Tom Yeates $3.99    

Another great chat with Nick from Comic Culture! This time we take a look at most of the many first issues that came out last week. Books discussed include: Syphon #1 - Image Comics Dark Blood #1 - BOOM! Studios Moon Knight #1 - Marvel Comics Bermuda #1 - IDW Superman And The Authority #1 - DC Comics M.O.M. Mother of Madness #1 - Image Comics Beyond the Breach #1 - Aftershock Comics Check out Comic Culture on Youtube and Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/user/iannello413 https://www.instagram.com/nick_comic_culture/ Follow The Cerebros on social media below: https://www.instagram.com/cerebrosthe/ https://twitter.com/TCerebros email: thecerebroscast@gmail.com

¡Los Ganadores del Eisner!, ¡Nuevas series en DC, Marvel y cómics de autor, llenas de motivos lunares en azul, oro y hasta rojo sangre! Acompáñennos a repasar los cómics de la penúltima semana de Julio 2021. GANADORES EISNER - (11:01) DC COMICS - (19:08) Blue & Gold #1. Shazam! #1. Superman and the Authority #1. Superman: Red and Blue #5. The Flash #772. Justice League #65. Nightwing #82. MARVEL - (74:42) X-Men: Legends #5. Moon Knight #1. Marauders #22. Gamma Flight #2. Captain Marvel #30. Reptil #3. INDIES - (129:53) Bermuda #1 (IDW). M.O.M: Mother of Madness #1 (Image Comics). Dark Blood #1 (BOOM! Studios). Syphon #1 (Top Cow). Black Hammer: Reborn #2 (Dark Horse Comics). The Many Deaths of Laila Starr #4 (BOOM! Studios). Usagi Yojimbo #21 (IDW) FICHA COVACHA Mesa: Bernardo Arteaga y Valentín García Síguenos en Twitter, Facebook, YouTube y ¡ahora en Twitch! Fecha: Viernes 23 de Julio, 2021 Música Midnight City by c152 feat. chirrrex Chase by Alexander Nakarada Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5766-chase License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Lofi Chill Hip-Hop by WinnieTheMoog Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/6347-lofi-chill-hip-hop License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Vlog Lofi by RamolPro Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/7071-vlog-lofi License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Carefree by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3476-carefree License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Time Before Time #3 - In this issue the time-travel aspect of the story starts to take a bit of a backseat to the crime noir feel of the story with the politics of the rivalry between the Union and the Syndicate showing up big time. Tons of action & characterization makes this feel like a big chunk of story that helps to flesh out the events from previous issues. Also the art from Joe Palmer is pitch perfect in combining all the elements of sc-fi, crime noir & action. Writers - Declan Shalvey & Rory McConville, Artist - Joe Palmer, Color Artist - Chris O'Halloran, Letterer - Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou   Undiscovered Country #14 - As we get to the second book of the third arc of this vast story from two veteran writers, it occurs to us that the end game for this series has yet to be defined. Will it be the expedition successfully finding a cure for the global plague? Will it be the re-opening of the United States to the rest of the world? Is it more meta than that and just enough that Snyder & Soule are starting a conversation about what it means to be American and even more than that, what it means to be a human being on earth. So much to think about always with this thought-provoking series. This issue itself is an exploration of American culture & one of it's most identifiable creations, the comic book super-hero. All this is illustrated & colored beautifully which the linework and colors jumping off the page. Writers - Scott Snyder & Charles Soule, Artist - Giuseppe Camuncoli & Leonardo Marcello Grassi, Color Artist - Matt Wilson, Letterer - Crank!   Alien #5 - Phillip Kennedy Johnson continues at what he does best, world-building. Taking the foundation of what we know about this world form the films, he gives us some great ideas in this issue that really provide tons of potential for more story. Also it gives such great context to the characters that Johnson has introduced us to in the series so far. You add in the action packed Salvador Larocca art that feels kinetic from cover to cover and you have an immensely enjoyable and compelling read. Writer - Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Artist - Salvador Larocca, Color Artist - Guru-eFx, Letterer -  Clayton Cowles   Gamma Flight #2 - Building on the appearances of Gamma Flight from the pages of The Immortal Hulk this series continues to enrich the world Al Ewing has built with the Immortal Hulk. There likely wasn't room in the main series with only two issues left to give these characters their due and we love that they are getting their own series to finishing telling their story. Skaar showing up at the end of last issue leads to epic action in this second issue just as you would expect. What you might not expect is how relatable and fun Ewing & co-writer Crystal Frasier make the husband and wife of Titania and Absorbing Man. Also while this feels like a team book and that team only feels like they are getting closer and understanding each other better, the action is fun but it is the character dynamics that make this books good. When you add in the fantastic line work of Lan Medina and the bright Antonio Fabela colors it raising the series up to great. Writers - Al Ewing & Crystal Frasier, Artist - Lan Medina, Color Artist - Antonio Fabela, Letterer - Joe Sabino   Captain Marvel #30 - Carol Danvers has reached the end of her magic journey and it doesn't end quite the way you expect. In fact, Carol may be worse off and have more enemies than ever including the magic wielders of the Marvel Universe. It's an intriguing and foreboding conclusion to the story from writer Kelly Thompson and expertly illustrated and colored by Jacopo Camagni and Espen Grundetjern. The fallout form the main story leads directly into a bonus back-up story from writer/artist Jamie McKelvie with some wonderful moments between Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel. One of Marvel best books month in and month out, it's no surprise that Kelly Thompson has kept the Captain Marvel title going longer than any previous run of the series. Writers - Kelly Thompson & Jamie McKelvie, Artists - Jacopo Camgni & Jamie McKelvie, Color Artists - Espen Grundetjern & Jamie McKelvie, Letterer - Clayton Cowles   Home #4 - The latest issue of this series that started out feeling like a slice of life drama about family & immigration continues it's transformation into an action-packed story about a family with super powers. Also the series is an excellent representation of just how important family is in Latin cultures. When you add in the relevant politics you have the makings of a wonderful titles. Also the art is light-hearted and fun which helps the book from feeling heavy handed and balances out the series of the real-life issues being explored. Writer - Julio Anta, Artist - Anna Wiesczcyk, Color Artist - Bryan Valenza, Letterer - Hassan Otsman-Elhaou   Moon Knight #1 - This first issue of the new Moon Knight series feels like it is trying to build off the slick style and mysterious take on the hero from the Warren Ellis series a few years ago. Unfortunately the bigger story and scope of what it feels like writer Jed MacKay is building requires more dialogue and exposition and doesn't lend itself to the quieter tone of the series from Ellis. Also the fine linework from artist Alessandro Cappuccio lacks impact and doesn't help the emotional beats to land with strength they should. There are some interesting ideas here, so we will have to see if the second issue can build on them. Writer - Jed MacKay, Artist - Alessandro Cappuccio, Color Artist - Rachelle Rosenberg, Letterer - Cory Petit   Miles Morales: Spider-Man #28 - We've come to expect great things from the current creative team on Spider-Man, but this issue felt a little off the mark. The classic Clone Saga, while much maligned at the time, still felt important and consequential. This three issue modern equivalent for Miles Morales lacks both of those elements which leaves us feeling, for the first time in the Saladin Ahmed run, like we may have read some stories that don't really matter. The Carmen Carnero art is still top notch and she conveys the cover to cover action very well. We will have to wait and see if any of the events from this arc have long lasting consequences that may have us re-evaluation this story in the future. Writer - Saladin Ahmed, Artist - Carmen Carnero, Color Artist - David Curiel, Letterer - Cory Petit   Radiant Black #6 - Once again the creative team for Radiant Black has knocked it out of the park with the latest issue of the series. Throughout the entire series the team has managed to subvert expectations at every turn. In this issue we get the very tragic and emotional origin of Radiant Red which may have many readers who previously disliked her, doing a complete 180 degree turn. When you couple the narrative with the clean yet soft artwork of Dark LaFuente you are left with another perfect issue of this series. Writers - Kyle Higgins & Cherish Chen, Artist - Darko LaFuente, Color Artist - Miguel Muerto, Letterer - Becca Carey, Editor & Designer - Michael Busuttil   Project Patron #4 - We have almost reached the climax of this incredible AfterShock series. Building on the motivations and interactions between a clandestine team of people who give up their very lives to protect this planet, Steve Orlando has introduced a malevolent villain that has enhanced the stakes immensely. This series truly shows Orlando's love of the medium as it feel like a modern take on so many classic superhero ideas. Also the art is feels so visceral that it adds to the incredible stakes that have been building throughout the narrative. Writer - Steve Orlando, Artist - Patrick Piazzalunga, Color Artist - Carlos Lopez, Letterer - Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou   Shadecraft #5 -  The end of the first arc feels both like a satisfying ending for the story so far and a set up for so much more to come. Unfortunately the creative team is so busy it may be a little bit before we get more of this story. We can't wait to have more though, because what started out as such an intimate feeling story really grew into something so much more while still retaining the feeling of how important family and relationships are. The potential for so much more of this world to be explored is here, so we certainly hope the series returns soon. The balance of the wonderful ending while giving us such a great foundation for more story is what made Jay choose this as his Book of the Week. Writer - Joe Henderson, Artist - Lee Garbett, Color Artist - Antonio Fabela, Letterer - Simon Bowland   Silver City #3 - Here we have another title that has grown so much in scope since the first issue. Starting with the premise that the afterlife in many ways may be just as mundane as life on earth, the story has continued to build in layers. From the mysterious working of the afterlife, it's queen and the silver knights to the powers Ru may or not possess, we can't wait to keep reading and discover the answers. Meanwhile the Luca Merli art has been fantastic through out providing both incredible mood with his colors and fantastic design and emotion with his line work. Writer - Olivia Cuartero-Briggs, Artist - Luca Merli, Letterer - Dave Sharpe   Syphon #1 - This new Top Cow series is off to a very strong start as we meet our protagonist who has just gained the ability to take the pain away from others who are suffering, He himself suffers from tremendous guilt he feels over a mistake from his past and thus may be particularly suited to wield these powers, but where do they come from? Also who is the mysterious benefactor who claims to want to educate and help him? Extremely compelling and well-paced with gorgeous art, we are very much looking forward to the next issue. So much so that Jace made this his co-Book of the Week. Writers - Patrick Meaney & Mohsen Ashraf, Artist - Jeff Edwards, Color Artist - John Kalisz   M.O.M. - Mother of Madness - We get a huge and immersive chunk of story in this debut issue from an all-female creative team and what a start it is. Original ideas when it comes to powers, fantastic characterization that suits the cynical setting for the story that takes pace in a future society. That society feels like a natural extension of our own and where we are headed in terms of gender issues and social movements. When you add in the story elements where the protagonist breaks the fourth wall or flashes back to events from her past, it only adds to the experience. The artwork is also jam-packed with detail with great linework that often breaks the panels and leaps off the page. This is definitely a must-read and Jace's co-Book of the Week. Writers - Emilia Clarke & Marguerite Bennett, Artist - Leila Leiz, Color Artist - Triona Farrell, Letterer - Haley Rose-Lyon

Comics    6 Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton #2 from Image Comics (W) Kyle Starks (A)  Chris Schweizer $3.99 Moths #2 of 6 from AWA/Upshot (W)  J. Michael Straczynski (A) Mike Choi $3.99    HAHA #6 from Image | Writer(s): W. Maxwell Prince | Artist(s): Martin Morazzo Chris Ohalloran | $3.99 Silver Coin #4 from Image | Writer(s): Jeff Lemire | Artist(s): Michael Walsh | $3.99 Man-Eaters The Cursed #1 from Image | Writer(s): Chelsea Cain | Artist(s): Kate Niemczyk | Supplemental Art: Lia Miternique | Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg | Letters: Joe Caramagna | $3.99   Beyond The Breach #1 from AfterShock Comics | Writer(s): Ed Brisson | Artist(s): Damian Couceiro | $4.99   Bunny Mask #2 from AfterShock Comics | Writer(s): Paul Tobin | Artist(s): Andrea Mutti | $4.99 A Man Among Ye #5 from Image/Top Cow | Writer(s): Stephanie Phillips | Artist(s): Josh George | Colors: John Kalisz | Letters: Troy Peteri | $3.99 House Of Lost Horizons A Sarah Jewell Mystery #3 from Dark Horse | Writer(s): Mike Mignola Chris Roberson | Artist(s): Leila Del Duca | $3.99 Eve #3 from BOOM! Studios | Writer(s): Victor Lavalle | Artist(s): Jo Migyeong | $3.99 Upcoming Comics Tales From Harrow County Fair Folk #1 from Dark Horse | Writer(s): Cullen Bunn | Artist(s): Emily Schnall | $3.99 Bermuda #1 from IDW Publishing | Writer(s): John Layman | Artist(s): Nick Bradshaw | $4.99 Chu #6 from Image | Writer(s): John Layman | Artist(s): Dan Boultwood | $3.99 Home #4 from Image | Writer(s): Julio Anta | Artist(s): Anna Wieszczyk | $3.99 Shadecraft #5 from Image | Writer(s): Joe Henderson | Artist(s): Lee Garbett Antonio Fabela | $3.99 Hard Case Crime Minky Woodcock Girl Who Electrified Tesla #4 from Titan Comics | Writer(s): Cynthia von Buhler | Artist(s): Cynthia von Buhler | $3.99 Many Deaths Of Laila Starr #4 from BOOM! Studios | Writer(s): Ram V. | Artist(s): Filipe Andrade | $3.99 Maria Llovets Eros Psyche #5 from Ablaze Media | Writer(s): Maria Llovet | Artist(s): Maria Llovet | $3.99 Marjorie Finnegan Temporal Criminal #3 from | Artists | Writers & Artisans | Writer(s): Garth Ennis | Artist(s): Goran Sudzuka | $3.99 Proctor Valley Road #5 from BOOM! Studios | Writer(s): Alex Child Grant Morrison | Artist(s): Naomi Franquiz | $3.99 Second Coming Only Begotten Son #3 from Ahoy Comics | Writer(s): Mark Russell | Artist(s): Richard Pace Leonard Kirk | $3.99 Silver City #3 from AfterShock Comics | Writer(s): Olivia Cuartero-Briggs | Artist(s): Luca Merli | $3.99 Wasted Space #22 from Vault Comics | Writer(s): Michael Moreci | Artist(s): Hayden Sherman | $3.99   Mom Mother of Madness #1 from Image Comics (W) Emilia Clarke, Marguerite Bennett (A) Leila Leiz $5.99   Radiant Black #6 from Image Comics (W) Kyle Higgins, Cherish Chen (A) David Lafuente, Dee Cunniffe $3.99   Syphon #1 from Image Comics (W) Patrick Meaney, Mohsen Ashraf (A) Jeff Edwards, John Kalisz $3.99  Time Before Time #3 from Image Comics (W) Declan Shalvey, Rory McConville (A) Joe Palmer, Chris O'Halloran $3.99  Dark Blood #1 from BOOM! Studios (W) LaToya Morgan (A) Walt Barna $3.99     

Aujourd'hui je suis de nouveau à la https://www.linkedin.com/company/72150953/admin/# (Bluefactory de Fribourg,) cette fois avec Loïc Simon, architecte et co-fondateur de l'entreprise https://enoki.ch/ (Enoki). C'est en 2018 quand avec l'architecte Axelle Marchon et l'ingénieur Baptiste Gex, ils se sont lancé dans l'aventure de l'entrepreneuriat. Loic nous parle de leur actuel projet sur le site de la Bluefactory; un bâtiment en bois qui s'assemble comme de briques de Lego. Il nous explique qui est Enoki, quelles sont les valeurs qui les motivent et comment ils créent leurs propres traces dans un milieu immobilier suisse plutôt conservateur. Leur objectif? Faire de nos villes des écosystèmes circulaires afin de produire, de travailler, de se rencontrer et de consommer de manière #durable et #locale. Bonne écoute et belle journée! Voici quelques liens: La maison bleu: https://neighborhub.ch/ (https://neighborhub.ch/) Le bâtiment Wood-ID: https://www.bluefactory.ch/news/bluefactory-lance-wood-id (https://www.bluefactory.ch/news/bluefactory-lance-wood-id) La Bluefactory: https://www.bluefactory.ch/ (https://www.bluefactory.ch/) Le compte Linkedin de https://www.linkedin.com/company/enoki-conception-durable/ (Enoki ) La competition https://www.solardecathlon.gov/2017/competition-team-switzerland.html (Solar Decathlon) Le https://www.smartlivinglab.ch/fr/ (smartlivingLab) https://www.syphon.ch/fr/ (Syphon )à Bienne Soutenir Rethink & React : instagram.com/rethinkandreact https://www.linkedin.com/company/72150953 (linkedin.com/rethinkandreact) Si cet épisode vous a plu, n'hésitez pas à laisser plein d'étoiles et un commentaire sur la plateforme https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/rethink-react/id1535868565 (Apple Podcasts) ou https://open.spotify.com/show/2c1ONdQKQAoJAOITCk2IT5 (Spotify )et à vous abonner sur votre plateforme de podcasts préférée ! Cela m'aide à faire découvrir Rethink & React à d'autres personnes. *** Nous pouvons faire mieux et, nous pouvons le faire maintenant. Rethink & React

What a fun show this week in Arkham Comics and Games!  John and DJ get right to SPOILER FREE talk about Loki Episode 2 and plenty of spoilers and Loki speculation at the end in Kryptonite Key Club.  In between there's plenty of comic news and this week is LOADED with a lot of great looking covers in FOC so be sure to check those out. So much this week you should just hurry up and get into the store...And don't forgot to check them out on YouTube and Subscribe   

The station's docking bay doors soundlessly swung open on Dak's viewscreen, like the gaping maw of a hungry rust-covered space creature. Dak hated mining colonies–they stirred up too many unwanted memories. Under normal circumstances Dak wouldn't have so much as farted in the colony's direction as he blinked past, but for some reason they had gone out of their way to hail him. It wasn't normal. Mining colonies in the Orubus Belt were xenophobic to the point of madness. The one Dak had grown up in would have preferred mass suicide to dealing with outsiders. That this colony was hailing passing strangers meant they must be in trouble. Real trouble. The kind of trouble that paid well. “Initiating automatic docking procedure.” The ship's voice reminded Dak of his sister, to the extent that he had started calling it by her name. He didn't believe in reincarnation, but the fantasy that Aylix somehow lived on in the ship's computer brought him comfort. “What do your scans show, Aylix?” Dak asked out loud. “There are three thousand seven hundred and three humanoid lifeforms on board,” replied Aylix. “Two are present in the docking bay. Neither armed with conventional weapons.” Dak nodded. The station grew larger on the viewscreen at a steady pace. “I recommend caution,” Aylix added. “It could be a trap.” Dak changed into his carbon fiber bodysuit while Aylix finished docking. He pulled the hood up and slid its visor down over his eyes, and clipped his weapon harness across his chest. Two men in grime-covered overalls were waiting for him in the docking bay. “Best watch yourself here, stranger,” said one of the men. “We appreciate you answering the hail and all, but know that we got our eye on you.” “Appreciate the warm welcome,” said Dak. “Your message mentioned a reward.” The miner who had spoken–a toothpick compared to his silent companion–nodded, then looked Dak up and down. Unimpressed, he turned his attention to Aylix. “Never seen a ship like yours before,” said the miner. “She got any firepower to her?” “When she needs to,” said Dak. “Will she need to?” “I reckon she will,” said the miner. “Come. The Foreman will give you the details. Give my friend here your weapons while on board.” The taller, heavier, less talkative miner stepped forward and held out a hand that was larger than Dak's head. Dak glared at him. “No weapons, no job,” said the smaller miner. “No job, no reward. Your choice.” Dak sighed. The interior of the station was hewn from rusty metal pipes. The walls, ceiling, and even the floor beneath the grated walkways were one big snaking maze. Dripping stalactites glistened in the station's dim lighting. The air smelled of smoke and dampness. The two miners led Dak up a set of rattling stairs to a catwalk overlooking the refinery–a cavernous reservoir of smoking machinery and crisscrossing walkways and conveyor belts. The indistinct silhouettes of miners lining the walkways were visible through the haze. There was a door at the end of the catwalk; the two miners ushered Dak through. In the room, sitting behind a desk, was the most obese man Dak had ever seen. Presumably the Foreman. Dak recognized the symbol tattooed across his face at once–the mark of a Takkah agent. An unexpected sight; either Dak was further from the outer rim than he thought, or the Takkah Empire had expanded its control over mining operations in the Orubus Belt considerably. The miners waited outside the office. They didn't bother introducing Dak. “I take it you're interested in the reward,” the Foreman said. “What should I call you?” “Syphon,” said Dak. “Dak Syphon.” The Foreman leaned forward in his chair. “We can't offer currency, Mr. Syphon. But you'll get a full tank of fuel and a crate of this if you can help us.” The Foreman slid a half-empty bottle across his desk toward Dak. Dak picked it up and sniffed at it. Mining colony moonshine was the stuff of legends–near impossible for outsiders to get a hold of. Dak put the bottle back down on the desk. “What's the job?” “There's a large debris field on the other side of our planetoid, orbiting in opposition to the station,” said the Foreman. “Hidden in the debris is an old but functioning freighter ship.” “You want me to retrieve it?” asked Dak. “Hardly,” said the Foreman. “I want you to destroy it, and ideally the damn necromancer who lives there too.” Dak blinked. “The… necromancer?” “Yeah. The necromancer. A magister of the dark arts,” continued the Foreman. “He's been a thorn in my side and a blight on this station for a hundred kilocycles, ever since we banished him from the colony. But now he's taken it too far.” Dak crossed his arms. Was the Foreman pulling his leg, or just stupid? Necromancers were the things of old spacefarer's tales. “He's been sabotaging the station, making us look like fools when Takkah comes to collect the ore,” said the Foreman. “And now he's started kidnapping our younglings!” “Kidnapping?” asked Dak. “Aye,” said the Foreman. “Two younglings went missing from their beds not a hundred cycles ago. Plus their matron and another boy, nearly younglings themselves.” “The necromancer took them?” Dak asked incredulously. “Look,” sighed the Foreman. “I don't need you to believe me. Just destroy the ship and you'll get paid.” “And the kids?” asked Dak. “The ship is the job,” said the Foreman. Then he shrugged. “If you happen to return the kids, alive and still of use to the colony, I'll throw in a second crate of moonshine.” It seemed like a simple enough task, despite all the nonsense about necromancers. Dak nodded and stood up. “We have a deal.” Dak shook hands, then returned to the catwalk where the two miners waited to escort him back to Aylix. “Dak, can you hear me?” Aylix's voice sounded in Dak's head. She spoke through his endermic lattice–a net-like subspace communications relay embedded in the back of his neck. It allowed Aylix to speak to him privately. Dak sighed loudly. “Never mind, don't answer,” said Aylix. “I know how much you hate it when people think you're talking to them when you're actually talking to me. I heard the whole conversation through your lattice. I don't trust the Foreman. Why is he so unconcerned about getting the children back?” If this colony was like the one he grew up in, then Dak knew the answer. “How young do you start your kids in the mines?” Dak asked, speaking loud over the ruckus of the refinery. “If they can walk, they can work,” the skinny miner shouted. “Younglings are better at getting in them tight nooks in the mine.” Dak gritted his teeth. “Those poor kids,” Aylix said through his lattice. “Yeah,” whispered Dak, hoping that the clattering and hissing machinery would drown him out. “Those four missing are probably the lucky ones.” “Did you say something?” the skinny miner shouted. “God damn it,” said Dak. Calling the debris field “large” had been an understatement. The discarded machinery, wrecked ships, and other refuse took up ten times the volume of the planetoid it orbited. The colony must have been dumping its waste there for generations. Dak guessed less than a megacycle before the accretion disc reached around the planetoid and engulfed the mining station. “Any sign of the freighter, Aylix?” asked Dak. “Scanning,” said Aylix. “It may take a while, there's a lot of trash out there.” Dak leaned back in his seat and put his feet up on the cockpit dash. “Better than the trash back on that station,” he said, then spat on the floor. “Was that anything like the colony you grew up in?” Aylix asked through his lattice. “Mmm hmm,” said Dak. “Not as bad though. They didn't send us to the mines until we turned fourteen.” “Did you work in the mines?” asked Aylix. A distant memory forced itself into Dak's consciousness. His Foreman glowering down at him through a haze of smoke, tinted red by flashing lights; a ringing in his ears. “I… left before I turned fourteen,” said Dak. “What happened?” asked Aylix. “An accident,” said Dak. “My sister, she…” “You mean Aylix,” interrupted Aylix. “My namesake.” “She… died. I didn't want any part of the colony after that.” “And they let you leave?” asked Aylix. “No, it wasn't that easy. I had to…” “Are you telling me the truth, Dak?” interrupted Aylix. Dak remained silent. “What did you do, Dak?” asked Aylix. Dak shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. “What did you do to me?” Dak's sister's voice pleaded over his lattice. “Shut up!” cried Dak. “We're done talking about this.” “A probe has located the freighter,” said Aylix, no longer using the lattice. Her voice had returned to normal. Dak leaned toward the viewscreen. “Show me.” The viewscreen flickered, then centered on a large shadow, slowly drifting against the thick backdrop of glittering debris. “Looks like a derelict,” said Dak. “The probe detects five humanoid lifeforms aboard,” said Aylix. The math added up. One kidnapper plus four kids. Dak grimaced. Firing off a couple guided missiles to take out the freighter felt like the safest course of action, but that would mean killing the kids and–more importantly–missing out on the second crate of moonshine. “Move in,” said Dak. “Let's see if necromancers answer their doorbells.” They had stolen the smallest mining skiff they could find, figuring it would be a while before anyone noticed it missing. Jotu sat in the cramped cockpit next to Sh'ren, staring at the advancing stars on the viewscreen. The two younglings slept in the cargo bay behind them. Sh'ren was leaning forward in the co-pilot's seat, rocking back and forth and wringing her fingers. “Relax, Sh'ren,” said Jotu. “If anyone was following us, they would have shown themselves by now.” “Did we do the right thing, Jotu?” asked Sh'ren. “Of course,” said Jotu. He reached over and stilled her fidgeting hands. “We had no choice.” Jotu placed his hand on Sh'ren's belly. “You've started showing Sh'ren. You know as well as I what the Foreman would have done if he found out.” “But we have nothing, Jotu!” said Sh'ren. “Where will we go? How will we survive? We are as good as dead. And we have doomed not only ourselves, but the younglings as well! I think we should turn ba…” The door to the cargo bay flew open, and Taila and Koru burst into the cockpit. “No!” Taila cried as she climbed onto Sh'ren's lap. “We don't want to go back!” “Yeah!” said Koru, puffing his chest out. “I hate the colony! I want to go have adventures!” “What have I told you two about eavesdropping?” Sh'ren scolded the two younglings. “Return to bed at once!” “Yes, Sh'ren,” the two children said together. Taila slunk to the floor, and Koru's heroic pose deflated. They shuffled back to the cargo bay, taking one last longing look before closing the door behind them. “Such brats,” said Sh'ren, though her warm smile revealed how she truly felt about the younglings. “Oh Jotu, I love them so much.” “I do too,” said Jotu. “That is why we can't go back. What life is there for them in the colony? Koru is not strong like the other boys his age, you know what they do with boys like him. And Taila? The way some of the Overseers leer at her I think they want to take her as a breeder already…” “Stop it!” said Sh'ren. She started weeping. “Just stop!” Jotu squeezed Sh'ren's hands. “When you became their matron you agreed to see to their needs,” he said. “That is what we are doing.” “But where will we go?” Sh'ren asked, staring hard at Jotu through the tears in her eyes. Jotu let go of Sh'ren's hands and looked away. It was time to tell her. “Jotu? What is it?” Jotu closed his eyes. “Before we left, I was in contact with… With someone who can help us. He gave me coordinates to the nearest trade route. He gave me this.” Jotu retrieved a small object from a pouch on his belt and held it out–a black diamond-shaped device, glowing red along its edges. Sh'ren took it from him, holding it up to study it. “It's a communication device,” said Jotu. “I can use it to signal a ship on the trade route, then exchange it for passage to… To somewhere safe. Where we can start a new life with the younglingss. Where you can…” “Who gave this to you, Jotu? Who in the colony would dare keep such a device secret from the Overseers and the Foreman?” “He is not of the colony,” said Jotu. “Not anymore.” Sh'ren's eyes opened wide, and the color drained from her face. “Jotu, no!” She shoved the device back into Jotu's hand and shrank back from him. Jotu returned the object to its pouch. “He is not what they say he is,” said Jotu. “He is my… He wished to end the injustices…” “He is a necromancer!” shouted Sh'ren. “That is not true,” said Jotu, trying hard to remain calm. “The real reason Kareth was banished…” “Do not speak his name!” Sh'ren cried in horror. She put her head in her hands and moaned. “No, Jotu. What have you done?” Sh'ren's quiet weeping pierced Jotu's heart. His confession had gone worse than he feared, and he hadn't even fully explained the device. She will come around and accept the truth about Kareth, thought Jotu. She will have to. After a cycle of careful navigation through scattered wreckage and detritus, Aylix had approached close enough to illuminate the freighter with her external spotlights. It dwarfed her in size, and had the same rusty eroded look to it as the mining station. The lifeform scan was up on Dak's console–all five blips were clustered together. One was much brighter than the others. Dak opened his mouth to ask why, but was interrupted. “We've been spotted,” said Aylix. “The freighter's hailing us.” “Bring it up on screen.” A man's head appeared on the viewscreen. A hood obscured the top half of his face in shadow; the lower half sported a long white beard that extended down off screen. “Go away,” said the man. “I'll be happy to,” said Dak. “Once the children are safely returned to the colony.” “The children are none of your concern,” the man barked back. “Leave, or I'll destroy your ship.” Aylix spoke through Dak's lattice. “He's bluffing. The freighter has some energy weapons, but they're depleted.” “I'm not leaving without the children,” said Dak. He meant it. He had no intention of leaving without that second crate of moonshine. The man on the viewscreen fidgeted with his beard, then his expression hardened. “The children are dead,” he said. “Didn't they tell you? I'm a necromancer–just destroy me and be done with it.” “I know they're not dead,” said Dak slowly. “I scan all four of them with you.” The man's steely expression gave way to panic. “What? No, those aren't the children, damn it. The children are dead.” The man gave a frustrated grunt. “They sent you to kill me, right? Allow me to make your job easier.” The viewscreen blinked off. “He's powering up the freighter's engines,” said Aylix. “He's running?” asked Dak. “Unlikely. The freighter's propulsion systems are too structurally unsound.” Dak stroked his chin. “What kind of engines?” “Primitive combustion tech,” replied Aylix. “If the propulsion systems are shot, where does the energy go?” asked Dak. “Nowhere,” said Aylix. “It stays in the engines.” Dak's eyes opened wide. “Does that mean what I think it means?” “Yes,” said Aylix. “Judging from the energy accumulation rate, I estimate nine hundred millicycles before they explode.” Dak nodded. “Hypothetically speaking, how much time would we need to get to a safe distance?” “Hypothetically,” said Aylix, “a hundred millicycles should be sufficient to escape the blast radius.” “So, another hundred fifty to cut through the freighter's hull. We could do it here, near the lifeform readings,” said Dak, pointing at his console and thinking aloud. “Plus fifty or so at the end to detach… That would give me six hundred millicycles to get those kids off the freighter.” “More like five hundred and eighty, now,” said Aylix. “Do it,” said Dak. “What happened to hypothetical?” asked Aylix. “Shit's about to get real,” said Dak. After she calmed down, Sh'ren left to tell stories to the younglings in the cargo bay. Jotu listened to her from the cockpit and smiled. When he was a youngling, Jotu's matron never told him bedtime stories. She never spoke to him at all, except to scold him. Sh'ren was different from anyone he had ever known–she had somehow avoided the insidious languor that infected every person in the colony old enough to work. Jotu had nearly succumbed himself, but meeting Sh'ren brought light to his life. She had saved him. Now it was his turn to save her. An incoming message beeped on his console. Jotu reached back and closed the door to the cargo bay, then answered the hail. Kareth appeared on the viewscreen. His hood was up, obscuring his eyes in shadow. “Father,” said Jotu. “We've reached the coordinates. Are you on your way?” Kareth shook his head and frowned. Jotu shifted uneasily in his seat. “What's wrong, Father?” “I can't join you as planned, Jotu. You must use the stone as I showed you…” “Why!?” interrupted Jotu. “You said you'd join us! We can't do this alone! We'll wait here, however long you need to…” “Jotu!” Kareth commanded. Jotu fell silent. “It is no longer safe to wait,” continued Kareth. “Signal a ship with the stone, but do not trade it. I have its sister stone–it will allow me to find you across any distance. I will join you when I can.” “I don't want to leave you, Father,” said Jotu. He fought the tears welling in his eyes. “I'm scared.” “Fear is a transient thing,” said Kareth. “You mustn't let it govern you. You were afraid when you found the stone and I spoke to you through it for the first time. But you overcame. You were scared when I told you I was the necromancer.” Jotu sniffled. “Yes, but you're not…” “But you overcame,” interrupted Kareth. “You were scared when you gathered Sh'ren and the younglings and stole the mining skiff.” “Yes, but…” “But nothing,” said Kareth. “Fear must drive action, not inaction. If you wallow in it your fear will consume you, and then you will be truly lost. That is not who you are. You are Jotu. You are my son and you will do what you must to protect those you love.” Jotu thought back to the night he first found the stone and heard Kareth's voice. It took time, but Jotu came to trust and care for that voice. In the colony, fathers and sons did not have relationships–child rearing was strictly for the matrons. But Jotu found a comfort in his bond with Kareth that rivaled even his feelings for Sh'ren and the baby in her belly. The thought of continuing on without his father filled Jotu with a profound sadness. “Very well, Father,” said Jotu. “I will do as you say.” Kareth nodded. “Jotu, my son. Before you go, know that I…” A sound from behind Kareth interrupted him. He turned, facing away from the viewscreen. “Father? What happened?” Jotu said, leaning forward. “Why are you here?” cried Kareth, stepping away from the viewscreen toward the center of the room. “I already told you, I killed them! And now I'll kill you!” Jotu's heart raced. He slammed his fists on the console. He watched Kareth fling his cloak back and reach for the blaster at his thigh. There was a flash. Kareth toppled backwards and his arms flailed. For a brief, sickening moment, Jotu thought he could see light through a fist-sized hole on Kareth's back. Then Kareth collapsed out of sight, leaving a thin wisp of white smoke trailing up from the bottom of the viewscreen. “Father!” Jotu screamed. His breath came to him in short gasps. He felt the veins in his neck and forehead throbbing. He slammed his fists again in frustration. The smoke cleared, and a figure moved forward into focus–a man in a black jumpsuit with a visor over his eyes, holding a pistol. The man looked up from where Kareth's lifeless body would be. Jotu gritted his teeth and seared the man's appearance into his memory. The jumpsuit, the visor, a scar running below his left eye across the bridge of his nose, the hint of a miner's tattoo peeking above the suit's neckline. Jotu's eyes narrowed. Once Sh'ren and the children are safe, he thought, I will find this man again. And I will kill him. Dak didn't like the look the kid was giving him. He knew that look. He'd used it himself on occasion. Dak thought about telling the kid he was sorry–that the old man had given him no choice. But he knew it wouldn't change anything. Instead he leveled his pistol at the console beneath the viewscreen and squeezed the trigger. The viewscreen went dark. The ship rumbled. A twang sounded above Dak's head, and he ducked to avoid an electric cable swinging down from the ceiling. The freighter was shaking itself apart. If Dak were to believe the spacefarer's tales, he would have expected to find it filled with the scattered remains of sacrificial victims, blood runes scribbled on the floors and walls, and stale air that smelled of death. But it was just a regular old ship. And the man he had killed was just a regular old man. Dak took a closer look at the body on the ground. The so-called necromancer clutched something in his white-knuckled fist, refusing to let go even in death. Dak pried the fingers open. A small black diamond-shaped object clattered to the floor. Dak picked it up and studied it curiously. It glowed red along its edges. “Time's almost up, Dak,” Aylix said through the lattice. “Grab the kids and get out of there.” The ship rumbled again. The ceiling in the corner of the room collapsed with a deafening roar. Dak pocketed the object and looked around. “I don't see any kids,” said Dak. “You're right on top of them,” said Aylix. “The engines are beyond critical. Forget the kids and get out of there.” The fog of dust from the collapsed ceiling thinned as it settled. Dak spotted four pods leaning against the far wall. They looked big enough to hold a person each. “I may have spotted them,” he said. “The engines have melted through their housings,” warned Aylix as Dak approached the pods. “Structural integrity is falling fast. Even if the engines don't blow for a few hundred millicycles, the ship won't last that long.” Through a small rectangular window on the nearest pod, dark-skinned with her eyes closed like she was sleeping, Dak saw not a child, but a woman. Curls of dark brown hair framed her tranquil face. Dak pressed his hand against the window. He had never seen anyone with skin so smooth. “They're in some kind of pods,” said Dak. “Too heavy to move.” “Come back,” said Aylix. “If the engines don't blow first, and assuming you make it here alive, I'll see what I can do about the pods.” Dak ran his hands up and down the sides of the woman's pod, failing to find a release mechanism. Beads of sweat ran down the back of his arms. The temperature on the ship was rising at an alarming rate. “Dak, you don't want to die like this. Not like I did.” Aylix was speaking with his sister's voice again. Dak pounded his fist against the coffin-like pod in frustration. He took one last look at the woman behind the glass, then sprinted out of the room. Running as fast as his legs could take him, lungs burning as he gasped the hot air, Dak lurched through the buckling hallway until he reached the hole Aylix had punched through the hull. As soon as he collapsed through, the airlock slammed shut. The ship shuddered as Aylix detached herself from the freighter. “Plotting a course for anywhere-but-here, top speed…” Aylix's voice came over the intercom. “No!” cried Dak. “Not yet!” “Those engines are going to explode any nanocycle now, and take us with…” “Wait!” Dak struggled to his feet. He felt faint, and his skin was on fire, but he managed to stumble to the cockpit. The freighter–or what remained of it–was visible on the viewscreen. The blinding white glow of the overloaded engines burst through the freighter's ruptured shell in a hundred places. “Use the pulse cannon, cut away the hull of the room I was in,” said Dak, breathing heavily. “Dak, this is crazy,” said Aylix. “You're putting yourself in extreme danger. For what? Another woman?” “Do it!” yelled Dak. The viewscreen lit up with the pulse cannon's blast. A section of the freighter's hull shattered. The glow from the freighter's engines intensified. “Zoom in,” said Dak. The viewscreen magnified the blasted section of the freighter's hull. “Dak! You don't want her! She's not worth…” “There!” Among the floating shards of hull, Dak spotted two of the pods spinning away from the freighter–one intact, one charred black. Dak's heart raced as he stared at the intact pod. Was it her? “Emergency protocols activated,” came Aylix's voice. A slight vibration rattled through the ship. The viewscreen became a blur. “Wait! What the fuck are you doing?” cried Dak. “The pod…!” The viewscreen flashed, bathing the cockpit in brilliant white light. The vibrations rattling Aylix intensified to violent spasms as the shockwave from the explosion overtook her. The last image that flashed through Dak's mind before he lost consciousness was the woman's perfect, glowing face. Two miners stood guard next to Aylix's open cargo bay doors. The same miners who had greeted Dak on his first visit to the colony, only this time they had rifles slung over their shoulders. “Where's my payment?” asked Dak. “The Foreman's on his way,” said the smaller miner. Dak wondered if the bigger guy ever spoke. Why was the Foreman getting involved? Dak's business with the colony had concluded–they should have paid him and told him to fuck off as soon as he returned. Every inch of Dak's skin burned and itched. Daggers pierced his muscles, and his head pounded. Aylix had suffered moderate damage from the explosion–half her sensor arrays were shot, most of her armor plating had disintegrated, and her computers reported failures in systems that Dak hadn't known existed. But none of that mattered. All that mattered was that at the last second, Aylix had managed to save the pod. To save the woman. “I don't like this,” Aylix said through Dak's lattice. Dak didn't like it either, but he needed the fuel and moonshine more than ever. Repairing Aylix would be expensive. “Mister Syphon,” the Foreman's voice rang across the docking bay. Dak watched the fat man waddle toward him and the two miners. “The necromancer is dead,” said Dak. “Pay and I'll be on my way.” “Ah, about that,” said the Foreman. “It's my understanding that the necromancer destroyed the freighter himself. Overloaded the engines, as I heard it.” Dak shook his head. “I shot him.” “You have proof of this?” asked the Foreman. “How do I know you didn't watch the old man commit suicide from the comfort of your ship and then fly straight back here.” “You think this happened to me in the comfort of my ship?” Dak cried, pulling the collar of his armor down to expose more scorched flesh. The foreman scratched his chin, a smug expression on his face. His eyes darted behind Dak toward Aylix. He frowned. “Seems I'm mistaken,” said the Foreman. “You were on the freighter. You found something that belongs to me.” Dak followed the Foreman's gaze to the rear of Aylix's cargo bay. The pod Aylix had rescued leaned against the back wall. “I have nothing that belongs to you,” Dak sneered. “Well, perhaps not to me,” said the Foreman. “A Takkah barge came through to collect ore a kilocycle ago. It towed the wreckage of a ship bearing the same markings as that pod. I suspect the necromancer pilfered it. I'll make sure the Takkah Empire knows it was you who returned their missing property.” The foreman nodded at the two miners. The smaller one aimed his rifle at Dak; the larger one started moving toward the cargo bay. “Dak…” Aylix said through his lattice. “Dak think hard before you do anything hasty. There's one of you and three of them.” “Exactly,” Dak said out loud. “Three…” The Foreman looked at Dak and cocked his head. “What did you…” The smaller miner was the first to fall. A hole ripped through his brain faster than it could signal his finger to pull the trigger. “Two…” Before the first miner's corpse hit the ground, Dak hit the second with another head shot. “One…” The Foreman looked wide eyed at the two bodies, then fell to his knees. Dak took a couple steps and aimed his gun at the Foreman's head. “Wait!” cried the Foreman. “Don't you realize what Takkah will do to you if you kill me?” Dak studied the dark tattoo splayed across the fat man's face. He was a marked agent. Property of the Takkah Empire. “I don't know,” said Dak. “Maybe something like this?” He pulled the trigger. The Foreman's body slumped forward with a satisfying thud at Dak's feet. “Zero.” Dak put his hands on his hips and turned to face Aylix. “Well,” he said, “that didn't go as planned.” “No shit,” said Aylix. “They're probably not going to pay me now,” said Dak. “No shit,” said Aylix. “We better get outta here,” said Dak. “No shit,” said Aylix.

NEWSMarvel announces ‘X-Men’ #1 team lineup for July relaunchAnd the X-Men Vote winner is… BansheeImage Comics announces 3-issue fantasy noir ‘Syphon’ out July 2021Battle Chasers: Joe Madureira revives the hit series after 20 yearsWalking Dead's Rick Grimes Wields Michonne's Lightsaber in New Kirkman/Ottley ComicThe HUGO AWARDS 2021 finalists have been announced!'United States of Captain America' #2 to intro new hero Nichelle Wright‘X-Men Legends’ #5 kicks off ‘X-Factor’ story by Peter David and Todd Nauck‘Amazing Fantasy’ returns with new #1 from Kaare AndrewsDC reveals Future State: Gotham artOur Top Books of the WeekDave:Home Sick Pilots #5 (W: Dan Watters, A: Caspar Wijngaard)Locke & Key/Sandman: Hell & Gone #1 (W: Joe Hill, A: Gabriel Rodriguez)Nathan:Batman: The Detective #1 (W: Tom Taylor, A: Andy Kubert)Phantom on the Scan #1 (W: Cullen Bunn, A: Mark Torres)TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEKDave: Way of X #1 (W: Simon Spurrier, A: Bob Quinn)Nathan: Way of X #1 (W: Simon Spurrier, A: Bob Quinn)JUDGING BY THE COVER JR.Dave: Haha #4 (Michael Shea)Nathan: Way of X #1 (Jay Anacleto variant)Segment: Jed MacKay - Magic (the Gathering), Black Cat (Michael Dowling), Avengers Mech Strike, Taskmaster (just wrapped up), and upcoming Moon Knight in July (art by Alessandro Cappuccio). Jed, congratulations on launching Magic at BOOM! Studios last week. When approached to write this one, how did you begin to hone your story when you’re working off a universe that’s huge?There’s clearly a love for this universe on display here. Were you a fan of Magic the Gathering going into the project? Of course, there are cards you can purchase to understand the lore of Magic the Gathering, but are there any books you used as a resource when creating this world?Was there anything in Magic #1 that Ig Guara positively crushed and surprised you with?Black Cat #5 is out this week and kicked off a new story arc called The Gilded City. Given what is stolen in this issue...will you ever run out of things to heist and do you have a running list of items for Black Cat to steal?Infinite Destinies is slated to start in June, but it was delayed due to COVID! Was the series of annuals completed and shelved, or was it pencils down until a new release date was set?What a busy summer for you, with Moon Knight launching in July. Congrats! Your interview with comicbook.com goes into Khonshu being imprisoned in Asgard which means Moon Knight (and Mr. Knight) is going it alone. It also suggests he’ll be a protector of those traveling at night, might we expect an episodic approach to the series, with a different thing or person needing protecting each issue?You’ve also said there will be no thought bubbles or captions to help convey his alienation, are there any stylistic choices you’ve made for any of your other works?Some of the most iconic Moon Knight covers have his costume positively shredded, can you comment on why that is and if he has a great tailor?Considering your current Marvel slate, which show do you think would make the best-animated series: Mech Strike, Black Cat, or Moon Knight?Are there any other projects you’d like to discuss or plug today? Segment - Superfight! Black Cat vs. Moon Knight - Black Cat!!Off-Topic Top Shelf - Jed MacKay - Painting Warhammer

Chase is determined to help save Lissette at any cost.

par Marie M.

On débriefe de l'épisode 4 de la saison 12 de Top Chef, Aucun soufflé ne s'est dégonflé lors de cette épisode Retrouvez-nous aussi sur le podcast What's Next qui s'intéresse à la série "The West Wing" : https://feeds.podcastics.com/podcastics/podcasts/rss/2066_28089aed30e49c56255ac67fea4825bc.rss

Sofie and Ines walk us through how the new spaCy library helps build end to end SOTA natural language processing workflows. Ines Montani is the co-founder of Explosion AI, a digital studio specializing in tools for AI technology. She's a core developer of spaCy, one of the leading open-source libraries for Natural Language Processing in Python and Prodigy, a new data annotation tool powered by active learning. Before founding Explosion AI, she was a freelance front-end developer and strategist. https://twitter.com/_inesmontani Sofie Van Landeghem is a Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning engineer at Explosion.ai. She is a Software Engineer at heart, with an absurd love for quality assurance and testing, introducing proper levels of abstraction, and ensuring code robustness and modularity. She has more than 12 years of experience in Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning, including in the pharmaceutical industry and the food industry. https://twitter.com/oxykodit https://spacy.io/ https://prodi.gy/ https://thinc.ai/ https://explosion.ai/ Topics covered: 0:00 Sneak peek 0:35 intro 2:29 How spaCy was started 6:11 Business model, open source 9:55 What was spaCy designed to solve? 12:23 advances in NLP and modern practices in industry 17:19 what differentiates spaCy from a more research focused NLP library? 19:28 Multi-lingual/domain specific support 23:52 spaCy V3 configuration 28:16 Thoughts on Python, Syphon, other programming languages for ML 33:45 Making things clear and reproducible 37:30 prodigy and getting good training data 44:09 most underrated aspect of ML 51:00 hardest part of putting models into production Visit our podcasts homepage for transcripts and more episodes! www.wandb.com/podcast Get our podcast on Apple, Spotify, and Google! Apple Podcasts: bit.ly/2WdrUvI Spotify: bit.ly/2SqtadF Google:tiny.cc/GD_Google We started Weights and Biases to build tools for Machine Learning practitioners because we care a lot about the impact that Machine Learning can have in the world and we love working in the trenches with the people building these models. One of the most fun things about these building tools has been the conversations with these ML practitioners and learning about the interesting things they’re working on. This process has been so fun that we wanted to open it up to the world in the form of our new podcast called Gradient Dissent. We hope you have as much fun listening to it as we had making it! Join our bi-weekly virtual salon and listen to industry leaders and researchers in machine learning share their research: tiny.cc/wb-salon Join our community of ML practitioners where we host AMA's, share interesting projects and meet other people working in Deep Learning: bit.ly/wb-slack Our gallery features curated machine learning reports by researchers exploring deep learning techniques, Kagglers showcasing winning models, and industry leaders sharing best practices. app.wandb.ai/gallery

This episode was a long time coming, our guest is J Syphon Gonzalez, an LA based Record Producer and Audio Engineer who has his hand in a lot of up and coming artists projects. A long time friend of Joe and Philly's the three of them have worked on a lot of music projects together. Although it was Cianan's first time meeting Syphon they were also destined to worked together in getting a neon sign built. Syphon joins the boys in talking about ex, Love, Confidence and the War. For a man of few words, this guest actually opens up and even asks some interesting questions.

Hosts: Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Guest: Emilio Rivera Produced by Lineage Entertainment Group and The Wrecking Spot Sound Engineer - Max Rahn Sound | Post Production - LueWaddup and J "Syphon" Gonzalez Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD

"Is there something more than what is in front of us right now? That’s the question that drives me. The Person Behind the Eye. Who is the one behind your eye? That’s who I’m tapping into for myself and who I’m coming to know. Who is the one that stopped you from dying? Who is the one that pushes you? Who is the one that brings tears? Who is the one that makes you dream? The Unseen Force. That’s what I want. That is the only truth." - Richard Cabral Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Produced by Lineage Entertainment Group and The Wrecking Spot Sound Engineer - Max Rahn Sound | Post Production - LueWaddup and J "Syphon" Gonzalez Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD

Bio: John Raatz is the Founder and Principal of the pioneering “transformational” marketing & PR firm, The Visioneering Group, whose mission is Linking Spirit, Vision & Progressive Values with Compassionate Communication to Promote a Positive and Sustainable Future (Trademark. Source: gatecommunity.org). John is also a member of the Homeboy Industries Board of Directors. We are honored to have John join our conversation to talk about Spirit, Synchronicity and Meditation. Guest - John Raatz Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Director - Allison Ott Producer - Tui Asau Sound Supervisor - J "Syphon" Gonzalez Sound | Post Production - LueWaddup Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group

Guests - Our Lakota Brothers & Sisters from Wanblee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Director - Allison Ott Producer - Tui Asau Sound Supervisor - J "Syphon" Gonzalez Sound | Post Production - LueWaddup Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group

A STRONG WOMAN raised by TWO STRONG WOMEN who is pioneering change at the Orange County Juvenile Hall by infusing LOVE into the system. Crystal Anthony is an Angel on Earth and blessing to all she meets. We are honored to have her as our first female guest, representing all of the BADASS WOMEN in our lives. Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Director - Allison Ott Producer - Tui Asau Sound Supervisor - J "Syphon" Gonzalez Sound | Post Production - LueWaddup Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group

Richard and Jose's First Time Party Planning/Hosting a Fundraiser | The Epic Story of Jose's First Time In A Hammock | Jose's First Acting Role and He's Caught the Acting Bug | Two Young Homies Share Pieces of Their Stories To the World For the First Time | Jose Finally Opens Up (For The First Time) About Relapsing on Meat.... How does this all fit into one episode?? Find out now! Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Director - Allison Ott Producer - Tui Asau Sound Supervisor - J "Syphon" Gonzalez Sound | Post Production - LueWaddup Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group

Richard and Jose relive their crazy trip to TJ and game you up on "How Not to Die in TJ...". They also go deep about being a part of the work and standing with those in the margins. Closing out with true advice on a question they get a lot... Hosts - Richard Cabral and Jose Arellano Director | Producer - Tui Asau Sound Supervisor - J "Syphon" Gonzalez | The Wrecking Spot Post Sound Mixing - LueWaddup Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group

Stories with Snowflake | "Waiting No Longer" Without Your Permission - Episode Nine Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Stories with Snowflake | "Waiting No Longer" Mixed, Mastered & Recorded at The Wrecking Spot By Jose Arellano Director - Allison Ott Camera | Lighting - Tui Asau & Lopati Ho Chee Sound Supervisor | Mixing - J "Syphon" Gonzalez Sound | Video Editor - Arath Gonzalez Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group (www.lineageentgroup.com) Post Sound Production - The Wrecking Spot (www.thewreckingspot.com)

Episode 8 - Take 2 Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Director - Allison Ott Camera | Lighting - Tui Asau & Lopati Ho Chee Sound Supervisor | Mixing - J "Syphon" Gonzalez Sound | Video Editor - Arath Gonzalez Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group Post Sound Production - The Wrecking Spot

Guest: Paulie Navarro Without Your Permission - Episode Seven Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Director - Allison Ott Camera | Lighting - Tui Asau & Lopati Ho Chee Sound Supervisor | Mixing - J "Syphon" Gonzalez Sound | Video Editor - Arath Gonzalez Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group Post Sound Production - The Wrecking Spot

Guest: J "Syphon" Gonzalez Without Your Permission - Episode Six Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Director - Allison Ott Camera | Lighting - Tui Asau & Lopati Ho Chee Sound Supervisor | Mixing - J "Syphon" Gonzalez Sound | Video Editor - Arath Gonzalez Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group Post Sound Production - The Wrecking Spot

Guest: Part 1: Anthony Gilardi | Part 2: James Mooney What do Two Ex LA Gang Members, an Italian from Boston and an Irishman have in common? Without Your Permission - Episode Five Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Director - Allison Ott Camera | Lighting - Tui Asau & Lopati Ho Chee Sound Supervisor | Mixing - J "Syphon" Gonzalez Sound | Video Editor - Arath Gonzalez Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group Post Sound Production - The Wrecking Spot

Without Your Permission - Episode Four Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Director - Allison Ott Camera | Lighting - Tui Asau & Lopati Ho Chee Sound Supervisor | Mixing - J "Syphon" Gonzalez Sound | Video Editor - Arath Gonzalez Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group Post Sound Production - The Wrecking Spot

Guest: Father Greg Boyle Richard and Jose sit down with Father Greg Boyle, Founder of Homeboy Industries and the man that changed their lives. They discuss the origins of Homeboy Industries, Father Greg's philosophy on God and Jose's famous Tio Tuti. Without Your Permission - Episode Three Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Director - Allison Ott Camera | Lighting - Tui Asau & Lopati Ho Chee Sound Supervisor | Mixing - J "Syphon" Gonzalez Sound | Video Editor - Arath Gonzalez Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group Post Sound Production - The Wrecking Spot

Guest: Hector Verdugo Without Your Permission - Episode One Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Director - Allison Ott Camera | Lighting - Tui Asau & Lopati Ho Chee Sound Supervisor | Mixing - J "Syphon" Gonzalez Sound | Video Editor - Arath Gonzalez Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group Post Sound Production - The Wrecking Spot

Without Your Permission - Episode One Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX2qAVHdnjw Richard Cabral and Jose Arellano host their First Episode of WYP discussing their childhood in Los Angeles, their introduction to gang life, prison and their evolution as MEN and FATHERS as they write the next chapters of their lives. Hosts - Richard Cabral & Jose Arellano Director - Allison Ott Camera | Lighting - Tui Asau & Lopati Ho Chee Sound Supervisor | Mixing - J "Syphon" Gonzalez Sound | Video Editor - Arath Gonzalez Original Music - "WYP" Produced by K - LUD Produced - Lineage Entertainment Group Post Sound Production - The Wrecking Spot

In this episode, we speak with Kyle Rawson, the founder of SyphonSound. Syphon Sound is an audio company that came to fruition in 2011 and specializes in motocross and snowboarding sound technology. Kyle grew up snowboarding throughout junior high and high school. After 3 business competitions, he finally decided to pursue his idea intermingling these passions while being able to listen to his favorite music with comfort and ease. Some good luck with investors and years of research and development later, Syphon Sound is thriving. Some Questions I Ask Kyle: What were some elements you came across in the evolution of your business idea? [3:14] After participating in business competitions, what kind of feedback were you receiving? What convinced the judges to look more into your idea? [4:51] What did you discuss in the initial conversation with your first investor? [8:45] What step came after landing your first investment? [12:25] After completing research and development, how did you find a supplier for your first product? [15:13] What advice would you give to an entrepreneur looking to have a product manufactured in another country? [17:12] What was the issue in quality of audio after you put your first product out, and how did you resolve that issue? [19:05] How did you resolve your first product’s issue when it came to customers? [22:32] Was there an “aha!” moment that spurred you to expand into motocross, in addition to snowboarding? [27:19] Were there products similar to yours when you were developing it? [30:42] Do you think there’s any underlying benefit to selling out? [37:11] Is Syphon Sound’s website hosted on a specific platform? [41:09] When it comes to e-commerce, is your platform providing the tools you think you need? [42:44] Have you wanted to expand your product line? [46:07] How have you been able to take advantage of outsourcing the fulfillment of product orders? [49:35] What have you noticed as a huge marketing strength for yourself, and what are your thoughts on marketing within your company? [51:24] What was a time where you felt Facebook advertising really hit home for your business? [55:18] Where did the idea of using correlation tables for Facebook advertising come from, and how did you use that as a way to dial in your audience? [1:04:06] What resources would you suggest to a novel start-up wanting to sell online and narrow down their market? [1:08:00] What are some sources you frequently use in order to pick up information on your target market audience? [1:10:00] Are there any tools you use for retargeting? [1:13:53] How is the Facebook Pixel incorporated into your marketing? [1:15:04] What other tools today do you feel are benefitting your marketing team? [1:19:01] What can you tell us about the social media marketing company you’ve started? [1:24:20] What are some things you enjoy when doing professional video development? [1:28:36] Do you have a favorite quote? [1:30:12] What do you feel is the number one reason entrepreneurs fail? [1:31:18] Some Things You’ll Learn In This Episode: How Kyle transitioned from snowboarding into motorsports within his company Who the first investors in Syphon Sound were How Kyle’s experience with his startup’s first stages was different than most How long research and development for Syphon Sound’s first product took Where Kyle’s product idea really came from Why Syphon Sound has been successful from the get-go What mode of business Kyle is most comfortable with What Kyle has realized about his business aspirations as the company continues to grow What platform Syphon Sound uses and why they’ve stayed on it for so long The percentage of sales Syphon Sound has outside the U.S. Where Kyle’s interest in video development began Check out the Syphon Sound Soundwrap here! If you're looking to get in touch with Kyle you can find him on Instagram @KyleRaw

On this episode of Coffee Lovers Radio, Jesse and Joseph decide to live stream on facebook the tasting of coffees from talented California coffee roasters. Featuring: Temple - https://templecoffee.com/ Bar Nine - http://barnine.us/ Klatch - https://www.klatchroasting.com/ Rocchio - https://rocchiocoffee.com/ Because of the facebook live stream, we did end up a little bit rambly on this show. Also mentioned was new Coffee Lovers merch - get your own Coffee Lovers Beanie, mug, and shirt here - https://www.coffeeloversmag.com/apparel Hosts: Joseph Robertson - Coffee Lovers Magazine - http://www.coffeeloversmag.com Jesse Nelson - Conduit Coffee - http://www.conduitcoffee.com

IOSurfaces - ist das nicht kompliziert? Praxisorientierte Einführung in das Framework Syphon an einem konkreten Beispiel. Eine App, die in einem Prozess rendert, in einem anderen darstellt. Eine Tour von CoreAnimation über OpenGL bis hin zu etwas Cocoa Distributed Objects. Session 3, Sonntag, Terrassensaal, Macoun 2014

Where to start? I spent a lot of quality time with a Sony Playstation during my undergraduate days. The James Bond-esque spy shooter Syphon Filter was a brilliant game, but I always wondered about where they came up with the name for the Syphon Filter virus around which the game was built. I suspected it was something a Japanese game designer came up with having seen the words syphon and filter together in the context of coffee making techniques. I have had my horizons expanded in recent weeks, thanks to the arrival as a birthday gift of a Hario coffee syphon (complete with cloth filter). This episode was mixed as the soundtrack to its arrival, during a Friday night adventure the night before my 40th birthday party. Three hours long, it is a laid-back nod to new friends, new tunes, and a new way to make my very favourite beverage.

Where to start? I spent a lot of quality time with a Sony Playstation during my undergraduate days. The James Bond-esque spy shooter Syphon Filter was a brilliant game, but I always wondered about where they came up with the name for the Syphon Filter virus around which the game was built. I suspected it […]

A video guide on how to get the best out of your Syphon / Vac Pot. For more information go to http://www.hasbean.co.uk/blogs/brew-guides.

Special Guest Adam Macy from the F-List Bad Movie Podcast! We talkin' about Metal Gear vs. Splinter Cell vs. Syphon Filter, Kingdom Hearts on handhelds, Survival horror co-op, Minecraft song, Gaming on the cheap, Mass Effect 3 DLC: Leviathan, Red Rooster Gaymer, and freakin' Chunky and his adventure at Wendy's We take some calls and get a couple of little dittys on Adam's yukalaylei... ukalay... little guitar. And Cmdr. Shepard's shocking anouncent! Dun Dun Dun.

File MP3: 90 MB