The JimFear138 Podcast Ep.96 - Kavanaugh, Twitter, Furry Comics, & Pozzed Paizo

Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of the podcast! This time I talk about the Kavanaugh and Twitter Congressional hearings, some furshit degenerate webcomics, and Paizo's new playtest of Pathfinder 2.0! Only the boldest may enter here, so be forewarned, ye of lax constitution!

...

I need another drink

MP3 download link for this episode: 
https://ia800408.us.archive.org/25/items/jimfear_audio_productions/Ep96.mp3

Relevant Links

Combat Frame X-Seed: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/combat-frame-xseed-novel#/

Cirsova Submission Guidelines: 
https://cirsova.wordpress.com/cirsova-magazine/submission-guidelines/

Red Sun Magazine: https://noselloutproductions.com/guidelines/

A Gundam For Us Podcast: http://jimfear138.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-jimfear138-podcast-ep94-gundam-for.html

Styxhexenhammer666 - The War On Honesty: Twitter Bans Alex Jones & Infowars For Conducting Actual Journalism: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apNVeihHf6Q

Yahoo News/Associated Press - Senate Concludes Kavanaugh Hearing; Confirmation Likely: https://www.yahoo.com/news/kavanaugh-avoids-major-missteps-closing-2-days-testimony-053912445--politics.html

Alex Jones And Marco Rubio Clash On Capitol Hill: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekMrEujNa4w

Nolte on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NolteNC

COLLUSION? Mainstream Media Informed Of Twitter's Infowars Ban Before Alex Jones Was Notified: 
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/09/collusion-mainstream-media-was-informed-of-twitters-infowars-ban-before-alex-jones-was/

Tim Pool - CNN Credits Media For The Banning of Alex Jones / Infowars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbM1kTKmaGA

Jack by Driprat: https://pholph.com/index.php

Bar1 on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bar1scorpio

Bar1 on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/bar1scorpio

The RPGPundit - Pathfinder Going Extra Woke But Already Doomed To Brokeness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UDEQCJEWKo&t=933s

Inappropriate Characters: 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwLoj3sQDSyaxi9tMERtO4A

Paizo Pic 1: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DlEkW_2W0AE6NvE.jpg

Paizo Pic 2: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DlEkXiYXcAAT1dh.jpg

Cirsova #8 Available!

Guess what's on sale!

And guess who's name is on the cover!

Gotta say, it feels weird to see my name on a magazine cover, even weirder that it's my favorite SFF magazine. But I'm not complaining! It's very exciting, and I'm looking forward to reading everyone else's stories. 

To whet your appetite, mine is one of the novellas. I didn't think the story was that long but whatever, I'm not putting the magazine together. It's an "Old Venus" style story, with a jungle planet, lizard aliens, giant dinosaurs, swords and rayguns, and maybe a little hint of romance in there for flavor. I can't wait to see it in print, and I hope you guys'll pick up a copy too.

Tell your friends, tell your family, tell people you don't even like!

Here's the link to where you can order the next issue of the best SFF magazine on the market for only 3 measly dollarydoos! Rocky Balboa couldn't beat this deal!

And if you wanna tell me what you thought of the story when you read it, drop me a line on twitter, tumblr, gab, or minds and let me know! I'd love to hear from people and get some feedback. Especially if you want more of it. And if you do like the story, you can find similar work on my steemit, where I'm publishing short 6k words-or-so stories pretty much whenever I get them written and don't have plans to try submitting them someplace.

Thanks for the time, and I hope you guys enjoy the stories!

The JimFear138 Podcast Ep. 77 ft. Daddy Warpig

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the podcast! This time Daddy Warpig joins us to talk about Quantum Mortis, Vox Day and Ethan Van Sciver, my recent contact with a supposedly famous author, and the ability to take criticism in stride. Hope you guys enjoy, and thanks to DW for coming on the show again!

MP3 Download of this episode: https://ia800408.us.archive.org/25/items/jimfear_audio_productions/Ep77.mp3

EVS vs Vox Day from ComicArtistPros Secrets (EVS' YT channel): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXiYtzTP_qU

Daddy Warpig on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Daddy_Warpig

Daddy Warpig's website: https://jasynjones.com

Daddy Warpig on Gab: https://gab.ai/DaddyWarpig

Geek Gab on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXWRzKz0Jtfi1Frrh8qPAew

Steemit & The PulpRev with Ben Cheah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MURClVyPWMk



Social Media Dump:

Hatreon: https://hatreon.us/JimFear138/

Steemit: https://steemit.com/@jimfear138

Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jimfear138/id1107844659?mt=2

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JimFear138

Tumblr: http://jimfear138.tumblr.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/JimFear138

Blogspot: http://jimfear138.blogspot.com/

Wordpress: https://jimfear138.wordpress.com/

Bandcamp: https://jimfear138.bandcamp.com/

Gab: https://gab.ai/JimFear138

Minds: https://www.minds.com/JimFear138

Dailymotion: http://www.dailymotion.com/jimfear138

Opening Music:
Honey Bee by Kevin Macleod: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100755
Honey Bee Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

You Seem Upset...

[UPDATE: I have been corrected on a small bit of lore by a friend of mine, Todd Everhart (@Rolecasters). It turns out that Vlana and Ivrian, the lovers of Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser, were not in fact burned alive by the Thieves' Guild. They were hung by sorcerous magic and eaten alive by giant rats. The Mouser overturned a pot of coals and set his treasure horde on fire because he couldn't bear to look at what happened to them. Thanks for the correction, Todd!]

So apparently I unlocked an achievement earlier: Trigger a Supposed Major Author You've Never Heard of Before.

Before I get into whatever this turns out to be, I want to make it very clear I have no particular animosity towards Mr. Barron. Like I said, I'd never heard of the guy before a friend of mine showed me this screencap. I don't even have a Facebook, so the best I can do is a quick check of his wikipedia page, and from what I got there he has a lot of anthologies he's contributed to and stories out there.

Good for him.

I mean that seriously, good for him. It still doesn't change the fact that I have never heard of him before today in my entire life, but if he's getting it in this industry then good for him. 

I can't for the life of me figure out why he's so upset when a nobody like me criticizes an anthology that he didn't even contribute to. But there are some things in his little Facebook post I'd like to correct, and now seems as good a time as any.

This wasn't "a rant disguised as a review."

This was a rant. 

I like to think I was up front about that at the start, when I mentioned that I hadn't read the book, but trust the opinions of the reviewers of Castalia House to know whether a book will be worth my money and time. That is, after all, what reviewers are for. Maybe I should be clearer in the future with that kind of thing, so there's no more confusion. If I knew dick all about graphic design I'd make some kind of "RANT NOT REVIEW" image to put on these sorts of posts so that everything's nice and clear. We'll see what I come up with.

Now on to Mr. Barron's next point. Yes, all the characters listed have their bloodthirsty moments. But if all you're familiar with is, say, Conan pastiches, or the movies, or the media featuring the Cimmerian which was not written by Robert E. Howard, I can see how you'd think that's his overall character trait. I haven't been in the business of debunking individual statements of ignorance in a while, but I think I remember how to play this game.

In the very first published Conan story, the world's first introduction to the mighty barbarian, "Phoenix on the Sword," Conan is a king. He is a wise and noble ruler, willing to ride into the jaws of enemy armies woefully outnumbered (as is shown in the story "The Scarlet Citadel"), and is even a patron of the arts! In "Phoenix", there is a poet who is essentially spreading seditious material against Conan and lionizing the king he deposed and killed. Conan is reluctant to even say a harsh word against him, because, and I quote, "A great poet is greater than any king. His songs are mightier than my scepter; for he has near ripped the heart from my breast when he chose to sing for me. I shall die and be forgotten, but Rinaldo's songs will live forever."

Quite the thing for a "bloodthirsty prick" to say, wouldn't you think?

Quite the thing for the writer of said "bloodthirsty prick" to put into print, as well. 

As for Beowulf, if I recall that story properly he came upon a group of people in the grip of a terrible monster that invaded their homes at night and literally ate people alive. Beowulf killed that monster with his bare hands, and then went on to find that monster's mother and kill her, all to ensure that these very put-upon people he'd come across could sleep soundly at night. Sometimes being a "bloodthirsty prick" can do good for people in need. 

Fafhrd & The Mouser are perpetually broke thieves who nonetheless find ways to do good for people, despite their "bloodthirsty prickishness". In "Bazaar of the Bizarre", Fafhrd risks his own skin to save not only his companion but all of Nehwon itself. The entire reason they were so admittedly bloodthirsty near the end of "Ill Met in Lankhmar" is because the women they loved had been burned alive by the Thieves' Guild. Seems justifiable bloodthirst to me. And in "The Price of Pain-Ease" The Two make their way quite literally to Death's Door simply to say goodbye to those two women. But no, we can reduce the entirety of their adventures down to them being simply "bloodthirsty pricks." Right.

Now I have not read Tarzan, or watched any John Wayne movies, or read The Iliad, or the 12 Labours of Hercules, and as such I will not speak to them. When I do finally read or watch these, I'll let you know whether or not I find the heroes to be simply "bloodthirsty pricks."

What I can speak to is Mr. Barron's near-total ignorance of that which he speaks. Well, I can't say that, as I'm not a mind reader, now am I? I don't know if he's read a single word of Howard, or Leiber, or the Beowulf legend, or if he's just working off of what he's heard from other people or movies he's watched. If he's simply ignorant, that's forgivable, as he just doesn't know and can't be faulted for not knowing. Speaking while not knowing is another matter entirely. The other option, however, is that he has read these stories, and is simply lying.

Maybe he's upset that I attacked someone he likes. Fair enough, but if you're going to come riding to rescue your beloved sempai at least pretend like you know what you're talking about when you do. If your ignorant, misrepresenting, nuance-lacking assessment of these gods whose feet you dare to even approach, much less spit on is any indication of where science fiction, fantasy, and horror is as a whole, then thank you for proving my point. 

Howard, Leiber, and Vance are three of the most influential authors in the history of literature. Howard's characters are still read, written about, given new stories, and influencing everything from new writers like myself to massively popular tabletop RPG's, almost 100 years after his death. The "Fighter" class in the wildly popular Dungeons & Dragons franchise is directly influenced by Howard, and their magic systems still have more than a small smack of the Vancian. Mr. Barron, nor I for that matter, could not even have the faintest shimmering of a hope to ever be as influential or well-loved as these gentlemen. 

If you think that going back to the people who literally dug the well Dozois and Martin are attempting to poison is a bad idea, then there might be no hope for you. I'd suggest you actually go back and read some of these people whose work you're pretending to know anything about before you attempt to shit on their legacy by calling their most popular, enduring, and well-loved creations "bloodthirsty pricks" as if that's a bad thing 100% of the time. 

"Bloodthirsty pricks" are the absolute lifeblood of Sword & Sorcery literature. Without them, it is merely short experiments in bad writing pretending to be high fantasy. Allow me to quote myself, here: 

(the readers) came here to watch good guys bash bad guys (or at least reasonably okay guys bash bad guys), airship pirates conducting daring raids, wizards of vast and deadly power hurl spells, monstrous creatures eating people, underwater kingdoms threatened by ancient evil, unthinkably valuable artifacts stolen by intrepid thieves, and on and on the list goes of things you could be doing rather than putting people to sleep with your boring message fiction that seems to be trying to take up the majority of fantasy literature these days.

This is what Sword & Sorcery literature is about. If your Sword & Sorcery literature doesn't involve "bloodthirsty pricks" with swords either fighting against or wielding deadly sorcery, you're doing it wrong. It's quite literally in the name. 

I'll end on this. Mr. Barron, if you'd like to see my metaphorical ass, all you'd have to do is listen to my podcast where I put it on display about once a week. If you'd like to see what I and people like me are doing with the influence from people like Vance, Leiber, Howard, Tolkien, and all the rest, I gave you some very nicely curated links in the original post. There's even some free literature on Steemit you can peruse at your leisure, and the tags are linked there as well. I'll also remind you that I've sold an Old Venus-style story to Cirsova Magazine, and you can get a digital copy of the issue my story is going to be appearing in for $0.50, or one half-dollar. For the other half you also get their spring issue. Drop a dollar, read it when it comes out. 


Have fun.

But I would like to sincerely thank you for the 4-500+ views that post has gotten since you shared it. You've exposed a whole lot of people to an attitude, philosophy, and approach to writing that many people agree with but are too afraid to speak themselves. The time for attitudes like yours that do nothing but denigrate the masters we should be looking up to who created the genres we all write in (well, some of us actually write in them, others just pretend to) is nearing its end. Enjoy it while it lasts, because it won't last forever. 

It's Here! It's Here!

In case you've been living under a rock, you might not know about the best damn fantasy and science fiction magazine on the market right now, Cirsova Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction. I'm an avid fan of this magazine, as well as (full disclosure) a friend of the editor. He didn't ask me to promote this, I just checked my email and got some great news, and wanted to share it with all of you. I also donated to the kickstarter to fund this issue, and Alexander has contracted me to do the audio edition of Issue #5, just so everything's out on the table.

Issue #6 is live and up for sale!  The cover art, as you can see, is done by the same artist that did the art for DimensionBucket Media's edition of Phoenix on the Sword, the incomparable Kukuruyo! But beyond the art, the stories within are guaranteed to be the best science fiction and fantasy short stories published this year. Apart from the other issue of Cirsova that dropped this year, of course. If you think I'm joking when I say, "I don't need a "year's best" anthology, I already bought Cirsova," I'm not. The issues of this magazine contain some of the best and most entertaining stories I've read outside of writers like Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Alexander has excellent taste in stories, and only the finest make the cut into Cirsova Magazine. 

Although he did buy one from me, which might call that claim into question...

But anyway, my questionable writing credentials aside, if you're bored with the crap being served up in so many anthologies and magazines that have the audacity to call themselves "fantasy" or "science fiction" or "horror" when they're just glorified message fiction peddlers (I could name names, but we all know who I'm talking about, and if they're reading this, yes, this sentence is about you), and you want a return to action, adventure, heroism, and most importantly FUN, then do yourself a favor and pick up Issue #6 of Cirsova Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine. You won't be sorry. And then go and buy the rest of them as well.  

So without further ado, here's where you can buy the kindle and softcover editions of Issue #6!
 
Kindle Edition

Softcover Edition

These are not affiliate links, by the way. And here is where you can get the hardcover edition, as well as a sick t-shirt:

Hardcover Edition From Lulu.com

Cirsova T-Shirts 

A word on the t-shirts, should you choose to buy them. I have one, and while I like it a lot, the design has faded in the wash. My advice would be to wash it on a lower setting, and turn it inside out. This is more of a problem with how Teepublic imprints the designs onto the fabric than anything. I have a shirt from an Aerosmith concert that's about 12 years old and VERY worn in, but the design is still there. This shirt from the Cirsova Teepublic is only a few months old, and already the design is fading to almost nothing. Caveat Emptor, and take care with it, but the shirts are still very nice. 

The hardcovers are also AWESOME, and I love the dust jackets. They look great on a shelf as display items, and if you can afford the $40, I'd recommend picking up one of those. But, if you can't, the softcover is only $8.50 (and I received another email from Alexander about how you should be careful to ONLY pay $8.50+S&H for Issue #6, apparently there's some tomfoolery going around), and the kindle version is 3 bucks. So you might want to wait on the softcover until the shenanigans cool down, but the magazine is still the magazine, and it's great in whatever format you're able to get it.

So go forth and support the best Science Fiction and Fantasy magazine since Weird Tales itself!