Do Your PCs Love Getting Loot? Do You Like Sowing Chaos In Your Campaign? Well Then, Dungeon Masters,

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

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

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

About to see The Talking Heads, 57 feet high and 72 feet high!

Shylok’s Arbitrary Curio Shop

“Everything is available here.  And everything has it’s price.”

Somewhere in a populous city, as you walk down an unassuming street wondering where in the world you can find whatever it is you’re looking for, you suddenly notice an unassuming shop you’ve never seen before.  There’s no sign designating a name.  Just an “open” sign on the door.  The windows are dark and you can’t see inside.  Yet you can’t help yourself; your curiosity gets the better of you.  You open the door and walk in.

Welcome to Shylok’s Arbitrary Curio Shop.

The shop is loaded from wall to wall and ceiling to floor with all kinds of things.  There are rows and rows of shelves and bins filled with all sorts of items from nick-knacks to tools to books to... whatever!  Pretty much anything that you’re looking for is available here , both magical and non-magical.  There are no weapons though (“The mind is the only weapon a true warrior needs”, is a well known Shylok quote).  Patrons aren’t sure, but they feel the shop must be bigger than it appears to be from the outside to hold as much stuff as it does.

Previous patrons all say that Shylok himself waits before revealing himself; giving patrons time to look around.  When someone has found something that interests them, Shylok is suddenly there, ready to talk about whatever it is that has piqued their mind’s interest, and to make a deal.

Shylok himself is a mystery.  He is a man, but other than that you really can’t tell anything about him.  He is bald with pale skin.  The most aware among his customers notice that he actually has no hair anywhere on his body, including eyebrows.  He’s taller than a dwarf, but not as tall as an elf.  He has an even, baritone voice that has no discernible accent.  He wears a plain grey tunic that goes to the floor, with wide sleeves that he keeps his hands in, crossed in front of his body, until it’s time to make the deal.  There are records of encounters with his shop dating back to longer than any being could naturally live.  Yet Shylok seems to never age. When asked direct questions about himself, he gives very indirect answers.  Asked how old he is he says, “Old enough to have acquired all these items.”  If asked where he is from he simply replies, “Not from here.”  He does not have a significant other and tells people who inquire, “The shop, and the needs of it’s patrons, are my one true love.”

The shop is not actually named Shylok’s Arbitrary Curio Shop.  Truth be told, no one really knows the name of the shop.  Someone at some time just started calling it that and the name stuck.  If asked, Shylok simply replies, “I am Shylok, and this is my shop.”

Most of the time, Shylok is happy to buy or sell his items for money or things.  But there have been reports from some who say that sometimes... when it’s a particularly special, unique or personal item... Shylok will trade in the abstract; Some claim to have traded dreams; some claim to have traded memories; some have traded passions.  People also claim to have received these same things as payment for items sold to the shop.  One man, burdened with night terrors, sold a locket to the shop in exchange for a week’s worth of peaceful sleep.  “I’ve never slept that well again”, he said forlornly.

Most patrons have never been able to set foot into the shop again.  They leave and then return the next day only to find a brick wall; or the shop that actually resides in that spot.  Owners of those shops always claimed to have been open they day Shylok’s shop was in their location, and always have customers who will back that claim. Those lucky enough to find the shop again always find it somewhere else.  On another street, or maybe even in a different city altogether.  But it always looks the same, or so they say.

Does Shylok’s really exist?  Maybe it’s just a tale that has taken on a life of it’s own; A fable told to kids that has grown to something more.

Or maybe... One day... You’ll be out tying to find that one particular item... And you’ll turn a corner...

In the first-ever union of the Word of God and the Synthesizer, the Catholic Church’s College of Cardinals voted unanimously Monday to incorporate the lyrics of Yes into the New Testament. The resulting new Bible, the Revised Standard YesScriptures, will replace the Jerusalem Bible of 1966 as the standard accepted record and vehicle of divine revelation.

“Let us rejoice in this momentous occasion,” said Pope John Paul II in a special service at St. Peter’s. “And let no man be unmoved, remembering the words of Jesus: ’In and around the lake, mountains come out of the sky, and they stand there.’ Amen.”

Full Story

One for sorrow Two for joy Three for a girl Four for a boy Five for silver Six for gold Seven for a secret never to be told

Eight for a wish Nine for a kiss Ten for a chance you must not miss Eleven for a wasp Twelve for a bee Thirteen for a coffee Fourteen for tea

Fifteen for a pencil Sixteen for a pen Seventeen to hear these options once again

Eighteen for pepper Nineteen for salt Twenty for an accident in which you were not at fault

Twenty one for Jerry Twenty two for Tom Twenty three - where are all these magpies coming from?

Twenty five no seriously Thirty this is weird Forty eight from where have all these magpies suddenly appeared?

Sixty two stop counting Seventy just run Ninety nine the revolution of the magpies has begun

Two hundred no more sorrow Five hundred no more fears One thousand for how long the empire of the magpies will last in years

(John Finnemore)

Me.

a new day

This is ALL that matters…..

This is so wholesome

The next time they tell you Americans are “happy” with their employer provided health insurance remember that that “happiness” is fueled by willful ignorance of what the alternatives are really like and fear of losing what little crappy health care they currently have.

i know its the mets, but this is the coolest shit i’ve ever seen a human being do