Web Crush Wednesdays: The Substitutes

Welcome back to the blog, all! I hope you had a fun two weeks while we were on our summer vacation; I spent the days doing Pokémon raids and surfing random webcomics online, trying to find a replacement for my dearly departed Always Human. There’s a lot of stuff out there, much of it diverse and much of it superbly creative. The one I found myself most interested in is called The Substitutes, a reality-bending fantasy by games artist Myisha Haynes.

Oh, My Pop Culture Religion: Monergistic vs. Synergistic Election in Geek Media—Chosen One or Choosing One?

Hello there, good readers! I am back to the blog after a whole year hiatus; much has happened in my life, but in summary the two most important forces to have influenced my new life are Prozac and Protestantism (I’ve always had a thing for alliteration, I guess). I’m jumping right back in with a good ol’ OMPCR. One of the most hotly debated topics in Protestant Christianity (indeed, all Christianity) is the idea of predestination—in particular in relation to “chosen-ness”. The two biggest names in the Protestant Reformation in fact came to their own interpretations of predestination via studying the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo, revered by Catholics as one of the greatest teachers of the faith: however, as usual, Luther and Calvin could not reach a common consensus (Luther went for single predestination, whereas Calvin advocated for double predestination). As Western Christianity celebrates Palm Sunday, or Passion Sunday, today, I thought it a great time to look at the idea of a Chosen One embracing their destiny—today the Western churches proclaim Jesus entering into Jerusalem to begin the culmination of his destiny as Messiah through the trials of Holy Week leading to the resurrection of Easter. Let’s look at some other Chosen Folk and see how they are both chosen and choosing.

SO chosen. (via softpedia)

Nightfall: Syng and Mikely Review The Sandman: Overture #5

At long last, after a five-month wait (they’re certainly taking their time with this series), The Sandman: Overture #5 has arrived! Despite this being the penultimate issue in this six-part prequel, this issue again brings up more questions than it answers (Author Neil Gaiman really needs to stop doing that. He’s running out of time!). We—Syng and Mikely—are reviewing it jointly again. Join us for spoilers, summary, and analysis after the break, as we delve into darkness with Dream!

Magical Mondays: Destiny and How Not to Write Magic

I’ve done it. I’ve finally done it. After a couple of weeks, I’ve finally beaten the campaign mode of Destiny. I could have completed it quicker—true enough, the campaign isn’t exactly what one would call “expansive”—but I couldn’t find a reason to. After landing on Mars (the final planet in the storyline thus far) I left the story behind and did other things for about a week and a half.

I understand you must be scratching your heads right now, wondering what this has to do with magic. This problem with Destiny’s lack of exposition is the same problem it has with its magic; in fact, it’s even worse when taking its magic system into consideration. That is to say: no matter how cool your magic system is, or no matter how much it doesn’t actually factor into the universe, it needs to have some weight to it. Your magic must actually be a part of your universe.

Rin Plays: Destiny

After what seems like a thousand years, Destiny, one of the games I was incredibly excited over when it was announced at E3 in 2013, has been released to the public. As someone who didn’t get into the beta (and additionally not having the specs to even play the beta), I’ve been waiting with bated breath to get my hands on it. And now that the moment has come and the initial excitement of playing a new game has passed, I think I feel safe enough giving my opinions on what I’ve played. No, I have not beaten the game yet—I am not one of those people that hit the level cap in the first couple of days. But this article isn’t really about the story anyway. Why? Because there’s not really a story worth caring about. Surprisingly, it’s not Destiny‘s fault either, but this still doesn’t stop the game from being somewhat disappointing in the larger scheme of things.

Fanfiction Fridays: Force over Distance by cleanwhiteroom

Force over Distance by cleanwhiteroom has to be one of the longest fics I have ever read. At over four hundred thousand words, I wouldn’t undertake it unless you have a lot of time on your hands—but if you’re a fan of Stargate Universe, this one is definitely for you.

For those of us who liked Stargate Universe, its premature cancellation left us all wondering what happened next. Due to some very bad decisions in its production, it did not get renewed for a third season, nor did it get a movie, even though the second season left off at a very large cliffhanger. Force over Distance is an answer to that.