ESL – Shove It!!!

By

On 20th April 2021

In Blog

I am gonna be frank, it can go take a long walk off a short pier.

It’s just a terrible idea by the rich clubs designed to keep them earning the big bucks and take the lions share of the TV money.

I think it shows that football has strayed too far from the fans and what they want.

Let’s face it, the way things are now, more than ever it feels like a massive stitch up with the big six wanting to ride roughshod over everyone else in the Premier League and their desire to get more money because they are the big stars of the league.

I think it’s time that football and the organisations called their bluff.

Explain the consequences, but enter into no further talks, I strongly suspect that this plan is tactic to get more money from the Champions League. And if they continue on this route, the day after the season ends, expel them from the leagues, and dock them 30 points.

And if they want back in, they start at the very bottom.

I am out sick of the big clubs throwing their weight around and demanding the lions share of the money, trying to dictate the direction of the game, and only seeking to dement their dominant position.

As fans we need to say no to this and stop enabling them.

They want their own league with blackjack and hookers, fine, they can piss off and have it, but they don’t get to play in our league.

I have lots to say on the subject, but, boy am I mad about it and I don’t think Lindsay and Megan would appreciate all the swearing.

Megan’s PC

I managed to pull together the last parts for Megan’s PC this week.

And on Friday I built it, using some bits cast off from mine and some select budget pieces.

The build she has is:-

  • CPU:- Ryzen 5 3400G
  • Motherboard:- ASUS ROG Strix B450-F
  • Memory:- Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600mhz DDR4
  • SSD:- Crucial P1 1TB
  • PSU:- Scavenged 10 year old EVGA 750w (this will be replaced first)

Not a particularly amazing build, but she wants to run The Sims 4 with it and it should show ok at that.

Future plans for it, will be to add a GPU and a Capture Card.

What I Am Modelling

I started off the week by painting the terrain from Pariah Nexus, which involved a lot, and I mean a lot of drybrushing.

Before finishing off the terrain from Kill Team Arena.

I then started on the Heavy Intercessors and the Captain with Master-Crafted Heavy Bolt Rifle for my Blood Ravens.

But whilst various stages of those were done, I painted the last of the 3D printed terrain that Nikki printed for me.

And I painted the Battlezone Objective Set for 40K, which is going to live in the Vigulus based table I am soon to paint.

On Sunday I got the Heavy Intercessors and Captain finished.

That means everything from Pariah Nexus is painted.

I then painted some bits for Zone Mortalis, a bunch of supply crates, fuel barrels and pipes, but I will show you pictures of those next week.

So what’s coming up for my next week?

  1. Zone Mortalis Terrain
  2. Mechanicum Termite
  3. Flesh-Eater Courts Crypt Ghouls x 20
  4. Legio Custodes Aquilion Terminators x 6
  5. Hexwraiths x 10
  6. T’au Tidewall Rampart
  7. Skorpekh Destroyers x 3 & Skorpekh Lord
  8. Secutarii Peltast x 10
  9. Custodes Venatari x 3
  10. Word Bearers Esoterist

What I Am Reading

I started on Elsa Bloodstone: Bequest by Cath Lauria.

Enjoying it so far and hope to finish it in the next few days.

What I Am Playing

Not actually played anything this week 🙁

What I am Backing

The second half is my Paranoia pledge for Project Infinite Hole arrived, the R&D Fun Pack.

Still backing the Wowstick drill project.

What I Am Cooking

Not a sausage this week 🙁

Poison River

By

On 13th April 2021

In Book Reviews

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Legend of the Five Rings book Posion River by Josh Reynolds, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am also friend with Josh on Facebook, however I am sure for him that’s more about connecting with fans rather than being one of my best buds, that said he is actually a really nice guy.

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

So let’s crack on with a review then!

What is Legend of the Five Rings

L5R as it’s often known is a fantasy setting for a series of card games and RPGs originally published by AEG, but now taken care of by Fantasy Flight.

It’s set in the empire of Rokugan which is heavily feudal Japan influenced, with a bit of other East Asian influences, like China and Korea thrown in as well.

It’s a fantasy setting with the usual fantasy tropes of goblins and rat men, but also oni and kitsune too.

The Story

Daidoji Shin is a an aristocrat of the Crane clan banished to the City of the Rich Frog, to serve as his clans trade envoy.

He has a reputation as a wastrel and is considered a disappointment to his family, so has essentially been banished to somewhere he can’t do much harm, along with his faithful, but very put upon bodyguard Kasami.

In this story he is called upon by the cities governor to conduct an investigation into the poisoning of some rice, something which could threaten to destroy the fragile peace between the clans who call the city home.

He is only asked to do this because his clan is relatively neutral, but as it turns out, he actually has a talent for investigation, his habits of wide reading and study all manor of mundane things has made him ideal for the job.

And so he throws himself into the mystery, despite the politics and dangers posed by the clans rivalries, shinobi and the criminal underworld he finds himself embroiled in.

Conclusion

Ok so this book is very typical of Josh’s writing, in that it’s engaging and full of world building.

The novel isn’t just about Daidoji Shin but for me the main character was actually the city itself, rich and literally dripping with detail, you get a real sense of a bustling city, that is essentially a tinderbox waiting to catch fire.

The supporting cast get just as much character development as the main protagonists and it really feels like Josh has had a lot of fun developing a city that he can spend years playing with and developing.

I am hoping that’s Fantasy Flight are going to develop the city as a sourcebook for the RPG as I really want to actually play around with it and enjoy some adventures with pirates and smugglers on the docks!

Daidoji Shin is himself a fascinating character, on the surface, spoiled, rich and cares for nowt but his own pleasure, but in actual fact is an intelligent man, very much in the mould of Sherlock Holmes.

The books is utterly wonderful and I am already looking forward to the sequel, which Aconyte have already sent me.

If you want a mystery novel, with snappy dialogue, a rich setting and a cast that you are just desperate to spend more time with, then grab this book.

5 out of 5 Stars

You can buy the paperback and eBook now.

Hoping Lockdown Ends On Schedule

By

On 12th April 2021

In Blog

Not much to say other than that, I am really down right now and could do with spending time with friends and family.

I just hope it all goes according to plan.

What I Am Modelling

I spent Tuesday finishing off Horticulous Slimux, a particularly disgusting character, and one that I am rather proud of.

I then moved on to the Heer Infantry Squad for Bolt Action, alongside a Lieutenant and accompanying Riflemen. That’s all the infantry for that army finished now.

After this I moved onto an Onagar Dunecrawler that’s been sitting in a box primed for way way too long.

I then started on some more Necrons, the four Crypteks, two Cryptothralls, five Flayed Ones and a Canoptek Renanimator.

The Cryptothralls were finished first.

Then I knocked out the Flayed Ones.

Followed by a Canoptek Reanimator.

And finally today I finished off the four Crypteks.

I am now working on the Pariah Nexus Terrain.

So what’s on the list going into the week.

  1. Zone Mortalis Terrain
  2. Kill Team Arena & Pariah Nexus Terrain
  3. Blood Ravens Heavy Intercessors & Captain with Master-Crafted Heavy Bolt Rifle
  4. Mechanicum Termite
  5. Battlezone Objectives
  6. Flesh-Eater Crypt Ghouls x 20
  7. Legio Custodes Aquilion Terminators x 6
  8. Hexwraiths x 10
  9. T’au Tidewall Rampart
  10. Necron Skorpekh Destroyers & Skorpekh Lord

What I Am Reading

My review of the The Qubit Zirconium was published yesterday and you can read it here.

I read Blood of the Emperor and finished that, a review will be forthcoming.

And last night I finally finished Poison River and a review of this will also be published very soon.

I have now started on Elsa Bloodstone: Bequest.

What I Am Playing

On Saturday we played Alhambra Roll and Write, and I won, which is a surprise!

On Sunday I played a couple of hours of Star Wars: Squadrons with the lads.

What I Am Backing

Gloomier has successfully funded!

Still backing the Wowstick drill, that’s got another two weeks to run.

And the first shipment Project Infinite Hole arrived, and I am most happy with it, just awaiting the R&D pack now.

What I Am Cooking

On Friday I made a slow cooker Chinese Chicken Curry for tea with chips, it looked awful but tasted amazing!

Sunday morning saw my turn for Together Breakfast, and I made Fried Chicken with Waffles and Maple Syrup.

The Qubit Zirconium

By

On 11th April 2021

In Book Reviews

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Keyforge book The Qubit Zirconium by M. Darusha Wehm, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

What is Keyforge

The Crucible is a giant word larger than the sun, an artificial planet that is constantly under construction by the the Architects.

They gather their materials by transporting them from other planets and worlds, often bringing that worlds inhabitants along for the ride.

The world contains every environment imaginable, from bustling urban sprawls, to deserts, to jungles, to meadows and everything in between.

The Architects communicate through the ethereal Archons who themselves are completely in the dark about the purpose behind the Crucible.

And so they gather bands of followers, to gather Æmber, a psychic substance that can be forged into keys that unlock the vaults if they architects.

Keyforge itself is a unique deck card game, developed by Richard Garfield, the developer best know for Magic: The Gathering and King of Tokyo.

It’s a really good game, you should go check it out, but I am not reviewing the game here, but I will soon.

The Story

The story sees alien detectives, Wibble and Pplimz, a team consisting of a floating fish and a snappy dressed cyborg, look to clear the name of a former client who has been accused of theft.

The case quickly gets complicated, and the pair find themselves embroiled in a race to find a missing gem that potentially has the capability of utilising the power of the architects and endanger everyone on the Crucible.

The story starts off slow as the detectives, who very much have an odd couple vibe going on, with Wibble being a thrill seeking extrovert and Pplimz being a lot more formal and cautious, travel to a crashed Star Alliance ship to do some basic PI work, and they are doing it more out of boredom than anything else, knowing the client is unlikely to be able to pay them.

The story gradually begins to pick up steam as the pair find a lot of dead ends, which have the advantage of introducing us to more aspects of the Keyforge setting, and soon they find out the item their client is accused of stealing could potentially have the power to destroy the Crucible.

The book picks up pace as they travel to other parts of the Crucible desperate to find the Qubit Zirconium, and whilst it lacks any real action, or overt danger, there is a bit of tension as they conduct the investigation.

Conclusion

The book is ponderous, and that’s not necessarily a bad, thing. I think its set out to give a good introducing to the setting, to really explore the world, and to show us the craziness of life on the Crucible.

I really enjoyed the characters, there were some obvious tropes being introduced, the Star Alliance are a thinly veiled Federation after all, and the Martians are the very picture of the little green men we joke about, but again, the card game is very much about taking obvious tropes and twisting them ever so slightly.

I very much enjoyed the story, but the conclusion did fall a bit flat, it just kinda played out and it didn’t really feel that interesting, it just happened, and the urgency of the situation sort of just fizzed out.

A big thing I like was the normalisation of characters introducing their pronouns, something you rarely see, but I can imagine would be vital somewhere like the Crucible, and there was also an acknowledgment that non-binary people exist, and indeed Pplimz is non-binary themselves.

I do want to see more work around this pair, but I would hope the end is a bit more interesting, as I said, it works, but there is little to make you feel any sense of urgency in those closing chapters.

I am gonna give this book 3 out of 5 stars, I would have given it a 4, but then ending just didn’t excite me anywhere near the way the rest of the book did.

The eBook is released on the 13th April and the paperback hits the shelves on 24th June.

Quiet Easter

By

On 6th April 2021

In Blog

It’s been a quiet week, I have a few things waiting to come to fruition so I am gonna keep this short and sweet.

I hope you guys had a good Easter.

I published a couple of videos this week, one which was an unboxing and review of the Daylight Conpany Lumi Tasklamp, and a review of Instar Soap+

What I Am Modelling

It’s been a slow and hard week.

I started out by painting the first of my Flesh-Eater Courts, an Abhorant Arch-Regent.

I then picked up the Herlads of Nurgle, but stuff going on in my head really kept me from any painting.

I did build stuff to ensure my next twenty of so projects are ready to paint, and apart from a squad of Peltasts for my Mechanicum, they are all built and primed.

I decided I needed an easy win to get back my mojo, so I painted this Knight of Shrouds for my Nighthaunt.

And then I managed to finish off the Sloppity Bilepiper, Poxbringer and Spoipox Scrrivener for my Nurgle Daemons.

So what’s coming up next for me?

  1. Zone Mortalis Terrain
  2. Adeptus Mechanicum Onagar Dunecrawler
  3. Horticulous Slimux
  4. German Heer Infantry Squad x 10,Lieutenant & Riflemen x 2
  5. Necron Crypteks x 4, Cryptothralls x 2, Flayed Ones x 5 & Canoptek Reanimator
  6. Kill Team Arena & Pariah Nexus Terrain
  7. Blood Ravens Heavy Intercessors x 5 & Captain with Master-Crafted Heavy Bolt Rifle
  8. Mechanicum Termite
  9. Battlezone Objectives
  10. Flesh-Eater Courts Crypt Ghouls x 20

What I Am Reading

I finished The Qubit Zirconium by M. Darusha Wehm and a review of that should be up tomorrow.

I have now started Blood of the Emperor and am a decent way though that now.

What I Am Playing

Played a bit of Star Wars Squadrons which was a lot of fun.

On Easter Monday, me and the girls played a couple of board games, we started with Pandemic: Hot Zone North America which was a lot of fun and we managed to beat the game nice and convincingly.

Then we played Ticket To London and Megan absolutely whooped mine and Lindsay’s arse!

What I Am Backing

I am still backing Gloomier, the profits I made from crypto mining is paying for that.

And I have also backed the Wowstick drill, I love the screwdriver so the drill should be good for hobby work.

  • Mood:- Hot
  • Caffeinated Beverages Consumed:- 4
  • In My Ears:-
  • Tabletop Game Last Played:- Ticket to Ride London
  • Video Game Last Played:- Star Wars: Squadrons
  • Book Last Read:- Blood of the Emperor – Various Authors
  • Movie/TV Show Last Viewed:- Deep Space Nine
  • Current State of Projects:- Horticulous Slimux 60% done, mostly Mulch left to do

Unboxing and Review of the Lumi Tasklamp from the Daylight Company

By

On 1st April 2021

In Blog, Videos

Resolutions Update – March 2021

By

On 31st March 2021

In Blog

I had a slow start to the month but I have managed to get 324 models painted to date this year.

My T’au got a big boost with two Ghostkeels, three Riptides and a Stormsurge joining their ranks this month.

An in general I am happy with how everything else is going.

Paint 2000 points of Necrons for Warhammer 40,000 – 29% Complete

For the Necrons this month I added a squad of Warriors, some Scarabs, two Royal Wardens and two Overlords to the done pile.

I decided to share the list I am aiming to build this year and it’s as follows:-

+ No Force Org Slot [3 PL, 55pts] +

Bound Creation [2 PL, 40pts]
. Cryptothralls [2 PL, 40pts]
. . 2x Cryptothrall: 2x Scouring Eye, 2x Scythed Limbs

Viral Construct [1 PL, 15pts]: Canoptek Plasmacyte [1 PL, 15pts]

+ HQ [17 PL, 310pts] +

Chronomancer [4 PL, 80pts]: Aeonstave

Overlord [6 PL, 100pts]: Warlord, Warlord Trait (Sautekh): Hyperlogical Strategist
. Tachyon Arrow and Hyperphase Glaive [5pts]: Tachyon Arrow [5pts]

Skorpekh Lord [7 PL, 130pts]

+ Troops [34 PL, 750pts] +

Immortals [8 PL, 190pts]: 10x Immortal [170pts], Tesla Carbine [20pts]

Immortals [8 PL, 170pts]: Gauss Blaster, 10x Immortal [170pts]

Necron Warriors [6 PL, 130pts]
. 10x Necron Warrior (Gauss Flayer) [130pts]: 10x Gauss Flayer

Necron Warriors [6 PL, 130pts]
. 10x Necron Warrior (Gauss Flayer) [130pts]: 10x Gauss Flayer

Necron Warriors [6 PL, 130pts]
. 10x Necron Warrior (Gauss Reaper) [130pts]: 10x Gauss Reaper

+ Elites [19 PL, 390pts] +

Canoptek Reanimator [4 PL, 80pts]

Flayed Ones [3 PL, 65pts]
. 5x Flayed One [65pts]: 5x Flayer Claws

Lychguard [7 PL, 140pts]: 5x Lychguard [140pts], Warscythe

Skorpekh Destroyers [5 PL, 105pts]: Skorpekh Destroyer (Reap-Blade) [35pts]
. 2x Skorpekh Destroyer (Thresher) [70pts]: 2x Hyperphase Threshers

+ Fast Attack [15 PL, 335pts] +

Canoptek Scarab Swarms [4 PL, 90pts]
. 6x Canoptek Scarab Swarm [90pts]: 6x Feeder Mandibles

Canoptek Wraiths [5 PL, 120pts]
. 3x Canoptek Wraith (Claws/Particle Caster) [120pts]: 3x Particle Caster [15pts], 3x Vicious Claws

Triarch Praetorians [6 PL, 125pts]: Rod of Covenant, 5x Triarch Praetorian [125pts]

+ Flyer [8 PL, 145pts] +

Night Scythe [8 PL, 145pts]

All I need to buy for this list is a Night Scythe.

Paint 1000 points of Early War Germans for Bolt Action – 40.6% Complete

I painted the Mortar Team and Infantry Support gun this month, along with a second Heer Infantry Squad and a Sniper team.

Paint The Scourge for Dropfleet Commander – Complete

In a surprise move, I crushed this resolution this month.

It’s been made easy using the airbrush and the colourshift paint, and I am super happy to have completed this resolution.

Paint 2000 Points of Flesh Eater Courts for Warhammer Age of Sigmar – 12% Complete

At the very end of the month I managed to start on this by painting the Abhorant Archregent!

Other Resolutions

  • Paint Blackstone Fortress and it’s Expansions
  • Bring my Mechanicum to 3000 points for Horus Heresy, including the Warhound Titan

Completed Resolutions

  • Paint The Scourge For Dropfleet Commander

So what’s on the list going into next month?

  1. Zone Mortalis Terrain
  2. Adeptus Mechanicus Onagar Dunecrawler
  3. Heralds of Nurgle x 3 & Horticulous Slimux
  4. German Heer Infantry Squad x 10, Lieutenant & Riflemen x 2
  5. Necron Cryptexs x 4, Cryptothralls & Flayed Ones x 5
  6. Kill Team Arena & Pariah Nexus Terrain
  7. Blood Ravens Heavy Intercessors x 5 & Captain with Master-Crafted Heavy Bolt Rifle
  8. Mechanicum Termite
  9. Battlezone Objectives x 6
  10. Flesh-Eater Courts Crypt Ghouls x 20

Stop Paying Scalper Prices!!!

By

On 30th March 2021

In Blog

I am currently in the process of building a PC for Megan, she wants to play The Sims again and misses having a desktop. Most of what’s going in her PC is essentially my cast offs.

She is getting my old case, a bunch of my old fans, a salvaged PSU, and my old 3400G as her CPU. I have bought for her a monitor, motherboard and SSD, but still need to get her some RAM, a mouse and a keyboard, once they are in, she will have a working PC.

The one missing thing is a GPU, I have intended for her to have my 1660 Ti, when I replace it with a 3060 Ti or a 3070, but alas the GPU market is absolutely crazy right now.

Thanks to a combination of an actual shortage of silicon, social distancing reducing production capacity, a logistics nightmare (now made worse thanks to a silly boat), a drought in Tiwan, demand through the roof thanks to lockdown, a cryptoboom, bots/scalpers, and the biggest generational leap in GPU performance in many generations, we are seeing prices of GPUs being sky high and availability at practically zero.

But what annoys me is that people are paying the prices being demanded by scalpers, for example I am seeing RTX 3070s being sold for over £1000, that’s a card that should be selling at £500 for the Founders Edition.

Because people are paying those prices, its keeping the price for everyone else artificially high, and I really think the only way to combat this is to basically tell people no, we will not pay those prices.

I have basically accepted I won’t be getting a new GPU this year, and I have a suspicion that my PC will probably miss the 3000 series GPUs and end up getting a 4000 series one, if this keeps going on the way it is.

So what I am imploring you guys, stop giving scalpers the money, refuse to buy cards above RRP, the supply situation isn’t going to resolve itself, but the more we keep making it easy for scalpers to make money, the longer the high prices will last!

We can only beat this if we all work together!

What I Am Modelling

I started the week by working on a squad of Sagittarium Guard for my Custodes.

A bit useless in game but they look really nice.

I also painted the 81mm Medium Mortar Team and 7.5cm LeiG Light Artillery for my Bolt Action Germans alongside these.

These will make up some nice support for my infantry.

And then I moved onto the Royal Wardens and Overlords for my Necrons, these were painted to be a lot more, all together there, and in better condition than the warriors.

For #MarchForMacragge I decided to face down the Primarch himself, Roboute Gulliman.

This model has say intimidating me for the longest time, and now I am not sure exactly what it is that I had to fear, he was a joy to paint.

That then lead me onto a German Heer Infantry and a Sniper Team for Bolt Action.

And avoiding the Dunecrawler, I started work on a set of leaders for my Custodes, two generic Shield Captains, one armed with a Sentinel Blade and Shield, another with the Castellan Axe, plus the characters Ixion Hale, Trajann Valoris, Valarian and Aleya.

I have now started on the Flesh-Eater Courts Abhorant Archregent.

What’s coming up next week on the painting queue?

  1. Zone Mortalis Terrain
  2. Adeptus Mechanicus Onagar Dunecrawler
  3. Flesh-Eater Courts Abhorrent Archregent
  4. Heralds of Nurgle x 3 & Horticulous Slimux
  5. German Heer Infantry Squad x 10, Lieutenant & Riflemen x 2
  6. Necron Crypteks x 4, Cryptothralls x 2 & Flayed Ones x 5
  7. Kill Team Arena & Pariah Nexus Terrain
  8. Blood Ravens Heavy Intercessors & Captain with Master-Crafted Heavy Bolt Rifle
  9. Mechanicum Termite
  10. Battlezone Objectives

What I Am Reading

I published my review for The Deacon of Wounds, which you can see here.

And I started on the next KeyForge book, The Qubit Zirconium, which I agreed to review for Aconyte, so far its really good and I hope to have a review up for you later this week.

What I Am Playing

No video games played this week 🙁

But I did play a game of Aeronautica Imperialis with Megan, and I am planning on doing a battle report for this later in the week.

What I Am Backing

Currently just backing Gloomier, but I need to talk to the girls about how we are funding it, Lindsays birthday has left me broke!

What I Am Cooking

Nowt cooked this week 🙁

Why Do You Defend Trans People?

By

On 24th March 2021

In Blog

So I am gonna write a serious post here, not a long one but serious.

I was relentlessly bombarded a few months back by a friend of a friend who as it so happens, is a major TERF.

She was unhappy that I pointed out that JK Rowling is not a very nice person in regards to her attitude towards transgender women.

The tile of this post is a cleaned up version of the questions she initially put to me, trust me it was a very nasty way of saying it.

And one of her final tirades before I blocked her, was that the only reason I wasn’t transgender was because I would make a fuck ugly woman.

And let’s be clear here, I would absolutely be a fuck ugly woman, but still, that comment got right under my skin.

I spent a good couple of months questioning what it meant to be a man, if I even was a man. I hate that a TERF and a troll actually got under my skin like that.

Anyway, basically I came to the conclusion that I am a man, and to me being a man isn’t about how hairy my chest is, or how strong I am, how many birds I pull, how much I can bench etc.

But rather it was up to me to define how what being a man means to me. To me, being a man means sticking up for the under trodden, it means standing up to bullies, it means setting an example of how to be a good person for my nephews and nieces, and it means just enjoying my life and helping others to live their truth.

So why am I telling you this, well at the end of the day the whole argument came down to me, defending my trans friends, and I have, a rather large number of them.

I don’t care that they are trans, they tell me they were born in the wrong body, then fine, I will absolutely accept their true identify, refuse to deadname them and make sure I work my arse off the get their pronouns correct.

Trans people aren’t out to get special privileges, they aren’t trying to get into spaces reserved for the opposite gender, they just want to live their lives in peace and happiness.

Of all the trans people I know, most of them given the chance would have chosen not to be trans, to face the discrimination, abuse and bigotry is not something I think anyone would willingly choose.

No, they were born that way, and as a cisgendered person, it’s my responsibility to be welcoming to accept them and to be ready to stand up and defend them when others won’t.

I am not writing this expecting any brownie points, I know I have my blind spots, especially with my non-binary friends. The concept of non-binary is something I have trouble understanding, but just because I do my get it, doesn’t make it any less real. And I will make sure I do my best to get the right pronouns and address them by their preferred forms of address.

This song by Sunday Comes Afterwards helps to summarise how I work to figure it out.

In the long run, I was very wrong about my ideas of gender as a young man, I thought the way to be a man was very different to how I feel now, I was so caught up in the idea that I had to be hyper masculine like my dad, that I forgot to access what I could bring to the table of manliness.

What I bring is less masculinity and more compassion and what would probably be described as girly feminine traits, and there is nowt wrong with that, because us men could use those things I think.

Takes all sorts of people to make this crazy world we live in, and when it comes to gender, I realise from my own questioning, that it’s not exactly a binary thing, and sometimes, you aren’t put in the right end of the spectrum.

So guys, when someone asks me again, why do you white knight for trans folk, I do so because it’s the right thing to do, and I would do the same for any of my friends.

And really, don’t we just want people to be happy in themselves, and trust me, even with all the negatives (mostly caused by bigoted cis folk), trans people are happier when they are allowed to be who they are supposed to be.

And let’s face it, if the ayatollahs of Iran can recognise the validity of transgender people, then I think the rest of us can as well.

The Deacon of Wounds

By

On 23rd March 2021

In Book Reviews

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Warhammer Horror book The Deacon of Wounds by David Annadale published by Black Library, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first, I am also friends with David on Facebook, but I suspect that’s more about him connecting with fans rather than being a big fan of mine!

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

What is Warhammer Horror

Warhameer Horror is a new imprint from the publishers of Warhammer fiction, Black Library, which allows authors to publish the more horrific stories set in the Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 settings. And lets face it these universes are pretty grimdark and teeming with horror and all sorts of nasty and gribbly things.

The Story

This story is set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and is about the world of Theotokos, which is a dying planet, ravaged by drought and now faces a terrible plague, called the Grey Tears.

The only man who seems capable of saving this planet is the Arch-Deacon Ambrose, a charasmatic priest of the Adeptus Ministorium who genuinely cares for his world and wants to make the lives of its people better, unlike the worlds ruling Cardinal Lopez who only cares for personal enrichment.

But when Lopez suddenly dies, Ambrose is thrust into the role of leading the planet, but the choices he makes leads him down a dark path.

Lets start out by saying that this story requires you to have a good gag reflex, as there is a lot of nasty and disgusting body horror, it is after all about a plague. And coming out now in the middle of a global pandemic, you do recognise the panic and fear in the cities inhabitants.

And we get a good look at the Ecclesiarchy, which we really haven’t had like this in quite some time, as a big fan of the Sisters of Battle, I feel like I now have a better idea of how the priest that accompany them work.

Conclusion

This book really tells the story of the rise of Ambrose to the highest office on the planet, and his, and subsequently planets fall from grace. Despite being a relatively short story, is one that is very well handled and works well with Davids writing style.

Ambrose journey from a caring and approachable person to someone so very different, happens in a relatively short period, but it happens in such an incremental way that it feels so very natural.

But I am gonna be honest here, the book has an issue that another reviewer on Goodreads, Jenn, summed up very nicely, we have little grasp of the characters other than Ambrose. We seem to have some amazing supporting characters, but none of them are developed well at all. I think if you added another couple of chapters, it would have elevated the book up quite a bit.

A bit of development of the romantic subplot would have gone a long way, the lass he loves simply can’t be that oblivious to his amorous feelings. and as Jenn said, given is importance to the motivations of Ambrose it felt poorly executed.

The horror is disgusting and very revolting, and at points made me physically gag when reading the book, and the conclusion whilst slightly obvious was handled very well, and still was shocking in the way it happened.

Rating this book is difficult for me, I want to give it a 4, but I am varying between 3.5 and 4.5 because I am just unsure how to rate it given the shortcomings.

Its not a bad book at all though and was very enjoyable, its skin-crawlingly good and I think its biggest weakness is just its slightly too short and compromises were made.

So with that in mind, I recommend this book, its deep on lore and an insight to the workings and politics of the Ecclesiarchy as well as a creepy and horrific tale of a planets doom.

The Deacon of Wounds is out now as a hardback, eBook, MP3 audiobook.

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