Matt the Bruins

What frustrates me most is that this Democrat administration and legislature have for the most part been following sound fiscal and diplomatic policies, and despite Republican obstructionism have some genuine positive accomplishments to their credit; but they seem almost pathologically unwilling to take credit or advertise those pluses to the American people. Their messaging has been pathetic, far behind the Republicans in effectiveness and pervasiveness. It would be tragic if America slipped into fascism because of poor salesmanship. (Also ironic, in that Americans as a culture are probably the greatest salesmen the world has ever seen.)

Given the number of worlds and peoples Istvatha V;han rules, it is virtually certain that some of those worlds generated Umaginal Reals. I haven't read Book of the Empress, so I can't say if anything like this is described there. Regardless, this field seems wide open for GMs to invent their own. My little e-book, Spells of the Devachan: Thaumaturgy from the Sorcerer's Galaxy (available from the HERO Store) includes brief descriptions of some alien Imaginal Worlds you could easily drop into the CU.
 
IIRC, though, Istvatha V'han has conquered several alternate Earths. This brings up a question I never considered in The Mystic World:  Do those alternate Earths also have alternate Parterres? (I didn't consider it because it's just a whole big can of worms, for a book that was already running long.) My first thought, though, is that the alternate Earths each have their own alternate Parterres... including some Earths where one Parterre or another became so dominant it merged with that Earth. But the Multiverse imposes very strong barriers between alternate Imaginal Realms -- even stronger than between material worlds -- so there's not much possibility of, say, multiple Netherworlds teaming up for a cross-dimensional attempt at conquest.
 
I'd be interested to know if Book of the Empress says anything about how Istvatha V'han deals with the Parterres of the Earths she's conquered. If she leaves them alone, the various godly entities might not object to her conquest. After all, she doesn't generally try to impose or suppress native religions. They also might be reluctant to intervene because it's a setting rule that Earth's spirits are very weak against creatures from the Outer Planes. (A rule created so humanity must rely on its own heroes to stop dimensional conquerors, rather than relying on gods.) So it seems quite possible that on some alternate Earths, V'hanian forces conquered the Parterres as well. Heh, imagine a world where the Mythic Resistance Front is led by Tezcatlipoca, Marduk, Mephistopheles and the Archangel Michael. Yeah, these guys are not going to have an easy time working together.
 
Dean Shomshak

Here's a Naked Advantage I gave to the field leader of a military-sponsored super team, to give her leadership some oomph with mechanical effects. It's 6th edition, but I think could be translated to 5th without too much difficulty.
 
26    Seasoned Field Commander: Usable Simultaneously for +4 Combat Skill Levels (up to four recipients at once, one at a time, Grantor can take power back, Limited Range, Recipients must remain within LOS; +3/4), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2); Incantations (-1/4), Recipients Must Hear And Understand Orders (-1/2)

Ruh-roh, Raggy!

Basically. As someone who has a lot of trouble carrying a plate/bowl and a drink, I think this is a great idea. 

It's not Trump, or at least not alone.  Trump had nothing to do with refusing to even listen to an Obama Supreme Court nominee, and he alone could never have replaced Ginsburg without the active, eager cooperation of the Senate Republicans.  They started the process LONG before Trump hit the stage.  What Trump did was to legitimize it through the office and authority of the Presidency.  Which is bad enough.  

The SCOTUS was predicated on the conviction that the law must supersede politics. This court has reversed that principle.
 
The most profound and lasting damage Donald Trump has done to America is to poison the credibility of and undermine the people's faith in their most fundamental institutions.

The Supreme Court Is Dooming America to Repeat History
 
From the article's conclusion:
 

Did nobody watch the 60s episode where the guy who is half black half white, split down the middle is at war with the other guy who is half black half white split down the middle but with the colors on opposite sides?  And they each think the other is racially inferior?
Or the one from TNG where a local sees Dr Crusher heal a crewmember & immediately starts a new religion worshiping Picard and decides to sacrifice Troi so that his new god will magically keep the storms away?
Or the DS9 where Sisko has a vision of himself as a pulp sci-fi author in the 1930s who experiences viscous, violent, racism and has his best work pulped because he dared to write about a future where Black Men can be captains of space stations?
 
Trek was never subtle with it's wokeness.
 
I'm loving Strange New Worlds.  Its the first Trek that actually feels like Trek to me since the 90s.
 
 
Asking the important questions.
 
Edit: Upon further reflection... I think it's the fact that he keeps going into new situations with that hair and demanding respect shows a level of confidence that most people can't help but find sexy.

Here's one for 6th edition fans. 

Ridd1e, aka Riki LeCotey, is one of my favorite cosplayers and I've posted pictures of her before. For several years now she has been working for the Marvel Movies in Costuming/Wardrobe. She is also working on the Ms. Marvel show. Because of her background they asked if she'd like to wear some of her stuff as an extra for AvengerCon in episode One.
 

Or the Red Ghost. 

I'm grateful to be old enough that there was no Internet when I was young(er) and stupid(er) where I could thoughtlessly post every insensitive and stupid comment I made, so they could go on forever, and be thrown in my face decades later, presented as the sum total of my character.

So at what point should we start comparing the violence in our society to be comparable to the acts in the Middle East?  ie- the bombings, shootings, and so on?  That is, 'failed state' level violence?

I mean, it bothers me because literally everyone is fooling themselves at thinking they are making "the correct financial decision for their retirement" by supporting these policies.  Retiring is hard when your grocery bill is higher than rent.........

...and I just checked the voter registry here in OH to see if I was listed.  We just had an election back in May, voted with no issue...
 
...I've been removed.

I still like it more than some MCU films. 

It's been disappointing to see right wing media successfully direct the narrative to the irrelevant grabbing-the-wheel story.  The man knowingly directed armed insurrectionists to attack the capitol and clearly intended to lead them himself.  That almost certainly counts as levying war against the United States.  It absolutely counts as seditious conspiracy, and you can tack on any number of obstruction charges for the witness intimidation attempts that happened on Monday.  It's not a smoking gun, it's a smoking arsenal.

Are you watching the same Phase Four I am?  Loki?  WandaVision?  Hawkeye?  Shang Chi?  Moon Knight?  If you want a letdown, go watch the Star Wars stuff.

Many companies have learned that taking care of their employees makes them more loyal and more productive, and positive public relations translates to more customers.
 
Doing the right thing for the wrong reasons is still doing the right thing.