Crossroads (Happy Halloween!)

This is a story that was kicking around my head for months and I actually finished it quite a while ago.  I figured I would wait until Halloween to post it, it seemed only appropriate.  This concludes my month of strictly horror stories and starting next month I'll be doing different stories and comics with my roommate Toonsem.  Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

I was lucky enough to have my day land right on my favorite holiday! Perhaps I planned that. Maybe not. Either way, I'm excited to bring you a Halloween themed post! Featuring our ghost pal from last week, Blair, but this time she's a Haunter and she' got some work to do! It the most important day of the year for her, of course! Time to scare some people and Pokemon alike! (Comic after the cut!)

Tabletop Spotlight: DC Deckbuilding Game

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's.... another board game review!

Our spotlight shines tonight on a game more recently put out by Cryptozoic Entertainment, the DC Comics Deck-building Game. (Yes, that's the title. No, it isn't very creative) This is a well-polished deck building card game for 2-5 players using the Cerberus engine- we'll get to that, don't worry- set in the DC comics universe. Have I piqued your interest yet?

I have to admit, I was a little taken aback by the New 52 art style, but they've really pulled it off in few ways that even the DC comics themselves haven't been able to do. The same DC heroes and villains we've all come to love over the years are in action, and let me tell you, this game is beautiful. The art on the box and the cards is gorgeous, and overall, it's very sleek. But aesthetics aren't everything; Dominion is the best deck builder out there and the art for that game looks like crap. How's it play?

The Regulars

 “So, where the hell is this place man?” Charles asked sticking his head into the front seat.
“It's just up ahead, now sit the fuck down.” Mike said sternly from behind the steering wheel. Charles complied.

“Uhm, what was this place called again?” Ken asked trying to compete with the loud rock and roll music that boomed in the car.

“It's called the Happy Happy Tavern.” Samuel said from the passenger seat.

“Happy Happy Tavern?” Mike asked. “What the fuck kind of name is that?” He asked raising his voice.

“Mike...” Samuel started.
“I'm serious man.” Mike said. “I've been to a lot of bars, and none of them have had such a stupid name as Happy Happy Tavern. Why the fuck are we going out into the middle of nowhere for this place?” He shouted.

“Mike! Calm the fuck down and keep your eyes on the road!” Samuel protested. “Now Charles, how did you hear about this place?” Samuel asked.

“Friend of a friend. Apparently if you're first time customers you get free beer for the night. They really want you to be regulars.” Charles said.

“Sounds like a poor business model.” Ken said.

“I'll say, hey is that it up there?” Samuel asked.

The car pulled off of the dark highway they'd been driving on for the last half-hour. The four college students piled out of the car into chilly fall night. Samuel was a math major and the leader of the group, after hearing about this bar from Charles, it seemed like a good idea to come out. Mike was majoring in biology and had anger management issues. The only reason he came along was because he loved beer and would get pissed off if he wasn't invited. Charles loved to party and was an art major, it was his half-baked idea to come out to this bar in the middle of nowhere. Makes sense since Charles was always smoking marijuana. Ken was a business major and he usually liked to keep to himself, he was only here to avoid being alone on another Friday night.

The Conquest of a God

"Isn't this world enough for you?  Will your thirst ever end, and settle in contentment?"
"We could live in perfect harmony if we just accepted the beauty of what IS."
"Isn't love enough?"

He felt the fight in his body loosen.
His journey had taken him across worlds, across realms.
He had been ejected an open airlock in a spacecraft once, and survived by the tips his fingertips.

Now he was mortal, and his belly vulnerable, and his voice plain.
He crumbled inside, at the simple wisdom of her words.

He walked to her with confidence.  His sword fell in two steps, the helmet of his armor by the fifth.
And when he reached her, he lay his lips against her own, and with his tounge, explored the teeth and tongue and softness of her mouth.
She fell passion, her being and his love completing her.

"At last."

The castle walls began to crumble around them.
She conjured a blue sphere to protect them from the destruction.

"At last!"

The reader put the book down.

It was such a great story, and who could doubt the moral?

A slight delay

  Hello all, Moonlit here and just wanted to inform you all of a slight delay regarding this week's story.  It's been a busy week in my world and it's taken me a full week to grapple with the concept of this week's story.  This lead me to only produce an outline today (a convoluted outline that makes no sense to anybody but me, but an outline nonetheless).  This means that the story will be out by the end of the day tomorrow (about 6 PM or before).  Stay frosty everyone.
Moonlit

SoulSilver Dream Team (comic at end!)

I've been drawing Pokemon for as long as I've been into doodling. I didn't have any reoccurring characters until Pokemon SoulSilver (and HeartGold) came out, though. For the first time, my Pokemon each had their own distinct personalities and it became part of my Pokemon playing experience. I started drawing comic strips of my adventures and they're back stories and incorporating they're personalities. I loved it. I even created a tumblr for my male Flaafy (he's obviously an Ampharos, now).
Who are they, you ask?

WesleyWednsday 02: Other Stuff Too

Well I'm back. How's that for an introduction?

Tabletop Spotlight: 7 Wonders

Today's spotlight features a game near and dear to my heart: 7 Wonders. I've always had somewhat of a soft spot for historical games, and this one caught my eye immediately when it came out in 2010. At the time, I was pretty new to deckbuilder type games; I had tried playing through Dominion and Ascension, and was starting to see the similarities between the TCG games I knew already and a streamlined card game. I was hooked right away and have since purchased multiple expansions, too!

7 Wonders (by Repos Productions) is a drafting style board game for up to seven players, incorporating a fast-paced game economy into a strategic deck builder with a diverse number of ways to score points. What that translates to is the fact that 7 Wonders is a difficult game to master. A deceptively simple gameplay mechanic- drafting cards (buildings) around the table and creating your own wonder of the world- cleverly hides a game with a ton of ways to score victory points and backstab your neighbors.

Isaac Says: Forsee a comic!

It's time for another episode of Isaac Says.
You know what's a weird pokemon attack animation? Foresight.
I wouldn't like it if I were peered at through a magnifying glass.
See why below.

Fever Dreams [Disturbing Content]

Chris lay in his bed with a mountain of blankets on top of him. He had pneumonia and felt like he could die. His eyes fluttered open as consciousness gradually returned to him. He felt terrible and he could barely move, on his bed-side table was an unfinished glass of orange juice. He picked it up and sipped it, the cold liquid went down his throat and he shivered violently. He set the glass down and knocked on the wall behind his headboard. 

This was how he signaled his neighbor Mrs. Johnson. She was an extremely kind old woman and Chris regularly went over to her apartment to help her out with chores. Her husband had passed away five years ago and Chris figured that he was making her happy by keeping her company. The two had a simple system where they would just knock twice on the wall if they needed something. The second part of their system was to knock rapidly if there was an emergency. Three months ago, she had a stroke and wasn't able to reach the phone, she knocked on the wall rapidly and Chris called 911 for her. He'd saved her life once and now, in a way she's saving his. The past couple of days she'd been coming over and giving him soup to try to revitalize him. She was almost like a second grandmother to Chris, he liked her very much. That moment, Mrs. Johnson came in through Chris' unlocked door and entered the small apartment.

“Oh, Chris!” She exclaimed. “You don't look like you're getting better, would you like some more soup?” She asked.

“That would be wonderful.” Chris said. “Thank you for doing this” He added.

“Oh, anytime.” She said. “Thank you, for being a kind, considerate neighbor. It'll take about an hour to make a fresh batch of soup. Why don't you get some sleep, I'll bring it over when its done.” She said.

“Okay, I'll do that.” Chris said already beginning to nod off as Mrs. Johnson left.

He immediately began to slip into a disorienting dream. In the dream Chris was getting ready to eat a carrot. That's all the dream was, he wasn't quite asleep, he wasn't quite awake either, yet it wasn't a lucid dream. Chris was very aware of the carrot and the fact that he wanted to eat it. Yet, why couldn't he eat it? He kept waking up part way through and he could think of nothing but the carrot. His brain became obsessed with the carrot. He would close his eyes and he would be holding the carrot, he'd be lifting it to his mouth and then he'd wake up. Why couldn't he eat the carrot? His brain screamed. He closed his eyes once more and saw the carrot, orange, cone shaped, and delicious, taunting him. He wouldn't eat it, he woke up again. Eat the fucking carrot! His brain screamed as Chris finally fell asleep descending into the world of unobtainable carrots.

"Professor" Oak

(click on the image to make it easier to read!!)
This comic was drawn because Michael and I now have an inside joke about Prof. Oak only having an Associates degree. Don't ask, I just had to do it.
But  really, have you ever seen a college in a Pokemon game? Pokemon University?
Sure, there's the Trainer School in Sinnoh and onward but...they talk about the basic crud that every Pokemon trainer knows.

Besides, most of Oak's research is thanks to a 10 year old running around catching Pokemon for him. I'm just messin' with ya, Oak. You know we love you <3

Oh! And as a follow up to my last entry (Don't Make Me Hitmonchan You), I drew Hitmonchan's buddies waiting for him to bring over the drinks. Enjoy!

<3 Billie

Wesley Wednesday 01: Things to Expect

My name is Wesley, I do stuff sometimes.

I'm a crappy Programmer who makes crappy games in his spare time as a feeble attempt to remove the word 'crappy' from his title. My name is Wesley, and I will post here on Wednesdays. Though you will probably read this on Thursday.

I write primarily in python, and I am learning Java.

Over the last week, I gave an attempt at writing a programming language interpreter.
I gave my language the most creative title, WesleysProgrammingLanguage or WPL.
I will share, once I eventually have a github working.

The language is very simple. You can do awesome things like display words or integers, and sometimes (if your feeling extra spontaneous), words and integers. Technology these days sure is marvelous.

I will go into depth after the break.

Tabletop Spotlight: Sentinels of the Multiverse

Today’s spotlight shines on a game that is up-and-coming amongst board gamers and is one that I must admit I am totally hooked on: Sentinels of the Multiverse. This is a deeply thematic, fully cooperative card game for 2-5 players from Greater Than Games. Debuted in 2011, this game has already warranted three full expansions (with another in the works!) and was one of the top 10 board/card games funded on Kickstarter. The most recent expansion, Infernal Relics, boasts contributions from Richard Launius of Arkham Horror fame. Needless to say, it’s getting big.

What really attracted me to this game at first was the theme. I am an enormous comic book nerd, and I have already had a lot of personal success with other cooperative board games (e.g.Pandemic, Castle Panic, and Forbidden Island… even Shadows over Camelot and Battlestar Galactica if I had to). When I saw this box, the art and theme immediately jumped out at me. The gorgeous aesthetics conceal an incredible easy game mechanic system. It’s accessible to the point of learning how to play in five minutes!

New Adventure & Gimp

Hello! Vultey here, I recently acquired Pokemon Y and have begun my new pokemon adventure! At the same time I have been practicing Gimp too.

I chose Chespin as my starter thanks to my #1 rule; always choose the grass type. So far the pokemon have been pretty unique. I don't wanna give too much away but I will say this; Rollout it probably one of my favorite attacks so far, just putting that out there. Rollout is a continuous attack that'll go on and do more damage every time it hits, making it great for gym leaders, not so great when you wanna capture a pokemon since you cant stop Rollout once you started it, so beware. I also really like all the new features added to the game in general. My favorite so far is being able to choose what you look like, now you can actually look like yourself (or not?)

As for Gimp... I'm gonna put this out there that right now, it is HARD and CONFUSING. I would recommend just playing around with it and trying out different stuff... Or you can just read the insanely long guide. I've sort of gotten a feel to Gimp after playing with it for around 2 days but I still have a lot more to learn. I would definitely NOT suggest this as your first drawing program. You would be better off playing around with something like Inkscape or (insert drawing program). The dreaded MS-paint is also there too. Anyway, Vultey signing out, see you next week!

Dragon Exoskeleton

(by Lion Kimbro)

I'm imagining a character, that I'd like to put to use.

age: 15? 17?

Super-genius kid.  (Magical universe;  Something like Little Wizards.)

Super-sexual, but no ability to form sexual relationships with girls/women.  (Difficulties for boys and men in forming sexual relationship is something that I strongly desire to make a theme of my creative works.)

He creates a dragon exoskeletal suit made of metal.  It's black, silvery, metalic, and sharp;  It's also cybernetic.  Think of knives, teeth, and sharpness.  The electrical components have a chips & rectangular LED's aesthetic.  Characterized by tons of joints, sockets, and slithering cabling.  It has technology for reading and amplifying slight muscular intentions expressed in the body.  It's a *lightweight* design -- It is definitely not a tank.  His body should be held, rather than encased, in the design.  That is, his physical body is always distinctly visible when the dragon is seen.  It's more of a Chinese style dragon than a European style dragon.  He can also enter a virtual world by way of the dragon suit, and he appears in the virtual world as a dragon when he is wearing this suit.  Physical reality, mixed reality, augmented reality, and virtual reality are all accessible.

I don't know how to make a story for him, and I don't know how his story goes, but I'd like to.  I think I need to figure out his motivation next.

Isaac says: Late night edition.

Hey folks~

Obviously it's late and I have yet to post any drawings.
This is mostly due to the fact that Pokemon X and Y came out and my priorites clearly have no influence on my behavior.

Expect some neat arts tomorrow, I have badges to earn. In the meantime, have a couple of bats wearing Soviet attire below the break.

player bio: regal

name: regal
age: 26
occupation:
   by day- teacher
   by night- table top reviewer

that's right, the latest addition to the WCR team is none other than a d20 throwing, deck-splitting, wild card table top player. a self-professed geek since 1996, regal has been recruited to write reviews and commentary on the multiverse of table top gaming. D&D, Pathfinder, board games, you name it, he's probably played it.

with a humble history as an English major in college, regal was fortunate enough to be hired at a small board game store in the Seattle area. there, his knowledge of all things acrylic and arcane came alive as he learned every game he could get his hands on. his appetite for new games is as voracious as Galactus' hunger for planets... so, a lot.

while not blessed with any skill of the pen (art was never his strong suit), regal will amaze and delight the WCR crowd with play reviews, game tests, and news about newsy news things... yeah. he also dabbles in some poetry and short story stuff, so you might see some of that, as well. oh, and maybe some stuff about comic books. like we said, he's a wild card!

The Lady in the Woods

      The man pulled into the state park off of the highway he'd been driving on for the last several hours. He drove down the narrow one-way road that lead into the park. Eventually he passed a sign confirming that he was in the right place, Lostwynd State Park. His car bumped along the road for a few miles until he came across the ranger station where visitors checked in. He fumbled around the papers and folders that occupied the passenger seat until he came across his pass. He took out the pass and showed it to the ranger, the ranger glanced it over.

     “Kenneth Bradley?” The ranger asked.

     “That's right.” Kenneth replied.
     “Your campsite is number 42.” The ranger said handing back Kenneth's pass.

     “Thanks.” Kenneth mumbled.

     He proceeded through some more winding roads until he found his campsite. He unloaded his car, set up his tent, and collapsed in a folding chair. Kenneth was in his late twenties, he wore a long sleeved flannel shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a heavy pair of hiking boots. He had short hair from a bad haircut that he liked to cover with a Yellowstone baseball cap, and he had a stubbly beard that covered most of his face. He looked around the wilderness and let out a sigh of disdain.

Don't Make Me Hitmonchan You

That was a terrible joke. I'm very sorry.
Hello folks! Hope your week has been great! Mine has been okay. I may or may not have lost my job due to my credit load at school. But that's not important now. Today I'm here to post! Yay!
Lately, I've been running into a particular issue over and over again on the interwebs and in real life. Maybe you've seen it, too.
I'm a nerd. And, brace yourself, I'm a girl.

Holy Heracross in a hand basket! No freaking way, right?

....

Buy Some Apples!

My name shall be nameless for the time being. I got into a legal... dispute with the Bureau of Making Your Life Miserable [affectionately pronounced "BOMa-YoLiM"]

But completely ignore that fact (and the black van parked outside) for a few minutes, as I tell a long winded tale about myself that may or may not be true...

I am one of the Whales' technical engineers. My tasks: program weird random shit, make computers bow down to my will (unless made by Apple - then it works the other way round), and make cases of Dr. K soda spontaneously combust and/or randomly appear on people's doorsteps.

Unlike the rest of us, I have very crappy storytelling skills, and DEFINITELY can't draw shit to save my life. I CAN wield a computer. I can also play Pokemon (TCG and VG kinda-ish), Minecraft (often abusing op-powers to spam lightning, "accidentally" make 4,000 blocks of live TNT appear, and other horrifically horrible pranks), and watch Ponies.

I had an aspiration for SFM and other rendering before finding out my Mac won't do more than 3 FPS unless running OSX. My dream laptop costs $1,700 and I have no job - yet.

Tune in next Nameless Tuesday for some hopefully less shitty shit!

Vultey says:

This post comes from the youngest Whale here, who attends middle school and is persueing a degree in Kickassology. Because her schedule is therefore constricting, she was only able to draw Steven the Pirate, a bold and noble swashbuckler who sunk many a ship, drained many a tankard, and slew many a rabblerousing lubber with a Chainsaw flavored Lollipop.
Find her bio and drawing under the break!

The Story of the People

My name is Lion Kimbro. I am 36, live in Seattle, and a friend of the Whales. I love creative adventures, and I love the whales, and so I am participating in this fun creative adventure.

The Story of the People and the Imaginaries

Once upon a time... ...the imaginaries, the humans, the animals, and the plans all lived together in perfect harmony.

However, there was one imaginary, a dark imaginary, that wanted to control all things.  But how to do it?

Isaac's adventures in Photoshop

Good Morrow, Fellows!

I've been teaching myself Photoshop lately, and I'm practicing using it on a couple charecters of mine I've waited forever to use.

Because I've only been using photoshop for a week or so, it has a bit of a Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff feel to it, so bear with me. Find it under the Break!

Toonsem

Greetings, Internet!

I am Toonsem. I never anticipated using that weird nickname for something like this, but I guess I'll stick with it. Like most contributors to this site, I waste much of my time playing video games and browsing pointless content on the Internet. I am capable of being productive, though, particularly when the creative zone of my brain is chugging along merrily and I have a pencil in hand. WCR provides the perfect canvas for me to paint my abnormal conscience. I will be posting comics, short stories and occasional articles pertaining to whatever is on my mind at the moment (I will attempt to make it at least vaguely intriguing to the average reader). Most of my posts in the near future will be in collaboration with my roommate Moonlitumbreon, which will probably be even weirder than our individual projects (see "The Horse Loiterers"). You have been warned.

If all this biography stuff is boring you, relax. I have said enough about myself. Now I will humor you with this comic (I apologize to our viewers whom I do not know personally; I promise to be less inside-jokey from this point onward):

Pokemon Crossing, bitches

I've been playing a lot of two things: Pokemon Black 2 and Animal Crossing: New Leaf. This was bound to happen at some point and I regret nothing (except that the scanner can't recognize color, arrrggh). I originally drew my Ampharos (Agnes), Emboar (Orwell), and Jellicent (Henry) in Animal Crossing form but I decided their basic versions made more sense.
In Pokemon, Agnes is a Quiet nature (but "mischevious") and Orwell is a Modest nature (but "likes to fight.) I have many OCs that I'd like to start putting into comic form but it's hard to decide. Maybe I'll play around with this idea (and ink them instead, since pencil doesn't seem to work very well).

In other news, I found my Crystal Version that I'm doing a nuzlocke challenge on. I'm doing pretty well, I think. I also found a drawing of what I'd like to call "The Days of Innocence", hidden away in my sketchbook.

All of those Pokemon are still alive but I put Meatball in the box. He'd never be a Golem so I didn't see the use in carrying him around. Also, Fennel the Butterfree has been EXTREMELY helpful. If you'd like to see more details about my nuzlocke you can find them here: http://middle-earthbender.tumblr.com/post/62080421198/finding-her-forte-beginning-of-nuzlocke-intro

I'll be trying to post updates as much as possible.

Billie, out!

Mizzy Says:

Good Morrow, Company.

I am Miztahfrawg, and have been and shall be Miztahfrawg for a very long time.
Right now you're looking at a blog which will someday be a very large and prosperous website full of merry-making and thought provoking stuff.

For now though, it exists as a shared blog belonging to a community of likeminded creators and intellectuals, Artists, Thinkers, and Makers. It doesn't look like a lot now, but like most things, I'm sure it will grow with time, effort, sunlight, and a well-balenced diet.

I suppose you could sort of call me the "Chairman" or "Head Honcho" of the project, but to do so would make me kind of uncomfortable, seeing as the project would still be a daydream if not for all the people over there, listed under "Contributors". They are some of my greatest freinds and I love them all dearly.

Seeing as this is a Bio, it seems far to talk a little about myself. My name is Miztahfrawg, (Or Mizzy, Miz, Or That jerk with the blog he keeps talking about.)
Like any self respecting man, I play competitive Pokemon, Watch My Little Pony, and draw comics. I'm a college student in Olympia, Washington, Hoping to learn how to turn Comics into a career, and eventually hoping to learn how to animate.

My eventual goal with this blog, and the eventual website that will go with it, is pretty vast and hard to explain. Expect a full explanaton on Saturday, which is the day I'll be updating and putting up drawings and thoughts and things.

I leave you all with this.

A Wild Bio Appeared!

Hey everyone! Billie, here! (Or so I shall be known to the interwebs) It's the name I've used in a lot of my Pokemon saved games (a la Billie Holiday) so why not? I'll be updating every Thursday with a comic or two and some words here and there. It's nice to finally have an outlet for my random drawings! It will mostly be Pokemon related but there may be some other fanart in between. I think once this gets going I will try and do some more text heavy posts that are opinions/reviews/nerdy updates. We'll see.
I'm still a student at the moment but soon I will be student teaching middle school orchestra. I am a musician, I am a writer, a poet, a nerd, and a sometimes-when-I-feel-like-it artist. Doodles here and there. I nerd out over many things from Pokemon, Animal Crossing, super heroes, comics, cartoons, Avatar the Last Airbender, Legend of Korra, Star Wars, etc. I'm getting into cosplay recently so maybe I'll talk a little about that every once in awhile. I'm also very adamant about women's roles in nerd culture and gender equality in general.

Can't wait to start sharing what I have to offer!

<3Billie