majestic

There are theories that Aegon might be Illyrio's son and that his late wife was somehow related to the Blackfyres. The entire storyline is a bit weird though. If Aegon is a specially groomed Blackfyre and Varys and Illyrio want him on the Throne, why bother with that entire Dothraki shenanigans? Why help Dany and Viserys in the first place? I wish I could say time will tell but right now it doesn't look like all the time in the world is going to solve any of the mysteries here.

Yeah, I'm a 100% positive that Aegon is the mummer's dragon, which also fits with her visions in the House of the Undying. The uncertainty here is simply the question of whether he is a mummer's dragon meaning he belongs to Varys who once was travelling with a theatre troupe or that he is fake, as in not a true Targaryen. Or maybe both. If he is a Blackfyre he is only distantly related at best, unless there was some hidden heir to Maelys I. But yes, Ilyrio's comment about red and black dragons certainly suggests Aegon might be just that. Oh, and I'm not entirely convinced that the "Quaithe" that Dany can see after she leaves Qarth is a real person. There is preciously little interaction between her and anyone that isn't Dany in Qarth (Jorah I think mentions that he's creeped out by her, but that's pretty much it) and Dany keeps seeing her without anyone else ever noticing or even hearing her. Might just be as nuts as her father.

Hopefully the campaign will be successful this time.

I generally avoid Westeros.org to be honest. Elio and Linda are bona fide nutjobs with a megalomaniac bent that has only gotten worse since they were allowed to contribute to A World Of Ice And Fire. Thanks, but no thanks. It's one of the better fan theories. There are worse. Much worse. Like Varys being a Merman.

There were some hints from Ser Barristan in A Dance With Dragons that the Mad King Aerys had a fancy for Tywin's wife and took certain unspecified "liberties" during the bedding ceremony. It's not much to go on but enough to fashion a theory that either Tyrion or Jaime and Cersei are actually secret Targaryen bastards. It mostly focuses on Tyrion because Tywin said to him that he "is not his son" and while "he cannot prove that he isn't his son" he sure as hell can and will stop him from rightfully inheriting Casterly Rock, plus Tyrion has unusually bright blonde hair, even for a Lannister (noted as early as A Game of Thrones). Tyrion being the bastard child of Aerys would be a lot less out of the left field than Aegon having been baby swapped and suddenly showing up. In the books, at least. The show dropped absolutely no hints at all so far other than Tyrion really liking dragons.

So it apparently is pretty simple to buy a fake Syrian passport. While it is a bit of a stretch to assume that getting a fake Turkish ID is going to be as easy it is just the logical next step, and once they're out of Turkey that's it. Sure thing, a fake Turk that isn't speaking any Turkish might not be that difficult to spot but they are getting free travel across the EU, so why would you check and double check? Not to mention that it still leaves a host of actual poor, unskilled and uneducated Turks free to travel to the EU for any length of time. People tend to forget that Turkey doesn't end at Istanbul. Yeah well, and what with Erdogan saying that assimilation is a crime against humanity and extorting the EU for more money half a week after signing the deal I do reserve the right to be cynical about it. This deal is a bad idea, and dealing with Erdogan in a manner as if he actually were an ally of the EU is a bad idea. He isn't, and he never will be.

Yes Bruce, we get it. Turkey is a NATO member so the Muslim-Putin can do as he pleases while we sort of have to oppose the real Putin because it is tradition. Not to mention that we wouldn't need to let ourselves be blackmailed by Turkey if Germany hadn't messed up Greece so much that they just can't control their borders at all, and not for a lack of wanting. So anyway once the deal with Turkey is fully underway we'll just have a massive influx of legal Turkish unskilled immigrants instead of a massive influx of unskilled refugees from Syria and Afghanistan (and those at least could be legally deported once they are denied asylum). Sounds about right. Surely that is much better than the current situation.

Yes he is, and yes, he is a he. Although I'd rather not see too much of him this season, the "romance" with Missandei was close to being as bad as the Dornish storyline.

We should welcome all types of personalities, we need the eccentric and the idiosyncratic..yes a menagerie of various perspectives is exactly what makes a forum strong..and yes I need oby Fixed that for you, loverboy. Now get to it. Hurry lest Meshugger steals oby from right underneath you.

I'm guessing they hit the reset button on the Dorne storyline because of the mess they made last season. Now they're probably going to use Vivienne as stand-in for the war brought by Aegon & the Golden Company (which totally doesn't sound kinky at all, no sir ).

Grabbed the currently available X bundle and Bloodlines. Yay.

In case anyone ever tells you it is only a rumor that Hasslehoff is popular in certain parts of central Europe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4k_e4q_B_k Now you know they are lying.

I'd say that is proof that oby really is Qistina. A Russian who doesn't like vodka is probably muslim. Qis is too. Therefore Qis = oby. Seems legit.

I see what you did their!

Sitll wondering what purpose the Watchdogs will serve. One episode spent on introducing a vigilante group led by Blake and some personal issues for MAck and since then, well, nothing. I'm guessing we'll be getting a Blake heel-face turn during the finale so he can die while killing Hive. Oh, and yeah, the Shield member who will die as per Skye's vision. I hope they pick one of her team. Or maybe all of them.

I wish I wouldn't associate the instrument with In Extremo, but that sort of was my first exposure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyaDuLHzj7o And while that isn't so bad at all one needs to keep in mind that they also made this absoultely horrible Sisters of Mercy cover with an absolute terror of a music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNUrJBvKf_I Yeah. I know the end is missing, silly Vevo. But... just be glad it is over.

I'd buy that instantly if they managed to make the entire game like Barcelona.

I get my kicks above the wasteline, sunshine. Sorry, couldn't resist.

I can't believe it. I have a hard time believing this entire year so far, lots of artists and celebrities dying - not only famous musicians (Bowie, now Prince) but writers (Eco, Lee) and actors (Rickman), among others, as well.

Speaking of covers, clearly the best ABBA cover ever made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNNdarr_RpA

Once upon a time I bought the first decent Star Trek DVD sets coming out for 130€ a season only to have complete box sets released for 99€ some time later. I laugh at the difference between 420$ and 159$. ...and sometimes, in weak moments, I look at the 24 boxes on my shelf and I cean hear them mocking me. But it is okay, the sets came with vouchers for super special bonus material or standees for the sets. Which totally weren't cheap cardboard cutouts barely able to hold the combined weight of an entire series. All is well. *breathe* *pant*

If it weren't for the trees on the screenshot I'd have to look twice to realize it isn't UO. Damn. Now I want to play UO again. She's evvviiillll... just no. She's a single class cleric, so... no, just no.

When was Blizard not all about comic graphics? Their graphical style always had a comic-ish bent even back when they made 2D games - especially the Warcraft franchise. It was Blizzard North who made the Diablo games after all, and even there Diablo II moved leaps and bounds away from the dark, brooding gothic style of the first game. Hrm. Well I missed Blizzard when it was more Aliens and Apocalypse Now than it was Pixar: Don't get me wrong, so do I. SC is an good example. Yes, the cutscenes were rather brooding and the storyline and storytelling completely serious, but the graphics where just about as comicy as they could get. Kind of hilarious when you see the techincolor battlefield set against a background of betrayal, genocide and a bleak, desperate fight for survival. It's what I miss most about the old Blizzard. The ability to not only create amazing gameplay but also flesh it out with decent storytelling. These days they're all just about the gameplay and the occasional cutscene. And thus Fenix went from a respectable, if a bit stereotypical, warrior poet to a silly replica robot spewing extremely silly one-liners. Let's march foward into battle! Yay! Oh boy. I'm not sure. I keep forgetting I even backed it and then Ill get an email update and be like "oh yeah". I don't really give a fecal pellet about seeing the game right now, I had hoped to get mah flight jackit at a time when I could still wear it. Alas, that doesn't appear to be happening.

I played a bit of Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem. I backed it on KS where it was called Umbra and received an early access key a while ago. It's odd, really. The writing is terrible in every way including spelling errors and elementary school level grammar mistakes. Half the UI isn't finished and it has hilarious bugs like clicking through buttons (nothing beats walking into a group of enemies when clicking on the level up button). The animations are so bad it is almost hilarious. Quests literally add nothing to the game but that at least prettily: It tells you in a very nice box that you received zero gold and experience for your efforts, the merchant sells items for free but buys it back for money, which is also worth nothing because he's the only merchant around. Last but most damning at the moment the gameplay is choppy. It says it is running at 80 FPS but it sure feels like 20... ...and yet, I find the game strangely entertaining. The fact that the first spell you find for your character is called Unlimited Power and lets you blast enemies with chained lightning bolts sure helped. Devs sure have a long road ahead of them if they want this to eventually combat Diablo 3, Grim Dawn or Path of Exile, but the potential is there and some of the ideas they have are quite nice, if a bit ambitious.

Interesting, Fig now displays the proportion between investments and crowdfunding pledges on their campaign funding progress bar. Psychonauts 2 was the only game with an almost equal share between the two, every other campaign (whether successful or not) was much more popular with investors than with crowdfunders. Results might also be a bit skewed because Double Fine's Psychonauts 2 campaign was top notch with all the backer games, constant updates and social media attention while the others really were kind of... lame. Looks like Fig's information about not having any shortage of investors is true after all. Oh, and of course, the Consortium campaign is now up. I apparently have three pledge discounts to give away for anyone who is interested in the 50$ or higher tiers. PM me if you want one.