Liam Armitage

I write science fiction, weird fiction, fantasy, RPG Lit and whatever pops in my head. If you run into a Leto Armitage go to the other side of the street. He writes spicy stuff and that's just shameful, shame, shame, shame.

[liamarmitage]

Who am I?

A writer, a geek, a gamer, a thinker.

Let us get one thing out of the way - if you don’t want to associate with a hetero cis male you can go ahead and block me. I support games as safe spaces for all kinds of people. I think there are many in my own demographic (white middle aged cis males) who could use some more empathy in thier souls but I also think we should all learn to laugh a bit more too.

I’m also very liberal, like we should be living in a post scarcity society already kind of socialist liberal.

Rascists, homophobes, trans-phobes and so on can just fuck off. There are no Nazis in Valhalla.

Books I recommend:

Liam Armitage

Gil Scott-Heron wrote, “The revolution will be televised.” Matt Dinniman wrote, “The apocalypse will be televised.” Damien Hanson and Joseph

[conspiracyofcrazy]

[liamarmitage]

It was pointed out to me today that I missed posting the Gourdmand the Oracle from the Major Arcana. The oracle is one of the cards that represents forms of attaining knowledge, something very important to the culture of Reuel. The Gourdmand is not about hunger but the intellectualization of sensation, pleasure derived from intellectual pursuits and the application of that knoweldge.

[liamarmitage]

Gil Scott-Heron wrote, “The revolution will be televised.” Matt Dinniman wrote, “The apocalypse will be televised.” Damien Hanson and Joseph Phelps did not write, but should have, that the apocalypse will be marketed. 

Currently the Shopaclypse Saga, or BuyMort books as they are often known, sit at a series of six and is complete. I listened to the first five books on Audible and then read the last one on Kindle Unlimited as the audio is not out yet. 

Since I have one complaint about the audio I also want to list the positives and let's get all of that out of the way to focus on the story itself. The voice work was done by Wayne Mitchell who I thought was excellent. A central theme of the protagonist is their endurance and working through physical trauma. Not original I know. And a mechanism of the story, a literal mechanism within the story, allows them to survive incredible physical damage. The text to emphasize the experience is repetitive during scenes which in prose you can visually skim but Hanson diligently grunts and strangled screams making it difficult to listen to at times. 

There are six books in total:

BuyMort: Grand Opening: How I Became the Accidental Warlord of Arizona (Shopocalypse Saga)

BuyMort: Smart Shopper: How I Became the Accidental Warlord of Arizona (Shopocalypse Saga)

BuyMort: Rise of the Windowpuncher: How I Became the Accidental Warlord of Arizona (Shopocalypse Saga)

BuyMort: 30,000 Leagues: How I Merged to Become Nu-Earth Affiliated (Shopocalypse Saga)

BuyMort: Bull Market Mayhem: How I Cornered The Multiversal Monopoly (Shopocalypse Saga)

BuyMort: Closing Time: How I Crashed the Multiversal Market (Shopocalypse Saga)

The plot can be summed up as a multi-dimensional Amazon comes to Earth and as absolute capitalism takes over the human race all but dies off. I'm going to be honest, the first book is a rough read. I know quite a few people who did not make it all the way through. I felt it picked up in the second half and the protagonist we had absolutely no reason to follow in the first half started to become interesting. The sheer passivity in the first half made for the worst kind of character - boring.

Yet, the diligence pays off and I found myself sucked in. Make no mistake - this story is more LitRPG than Scalzi despite the premise, a fact they even make fun of indirectly. The main character has to level up and collect gear. The races of the universe have some twists but little distinguishes them from their fantasy counterparts such as beholders, gnolls, hobgoblins and dark elves. There are definitely nihilistic elements and if that isn't our cup of tea, walk clear of it. 

If I had any single complaint, the series is almost too simplistic. The bad guys are lazy and stupid and lack any nuance. They are cartoon baddies.  However, the challenges are often not so simple and whatever faults the series has did keep me wanting to know what happens next as Tyson Dawes, one time slacker and steward of a run down campground in Arizona becomes a warlord determined to challenge a nebulous entity that runs the multiverse itself. 

There is also a lot of what some people might call white dude rage but anger against capitalism, environmental damage, media influence are well founded. Be warned there is a strain of libertarianism that runs through I didn't agree with. 

All in all, I've been debating between 3.5 and 4 stars. The series has enough flaws, that I can't get into without spoilers, that I'm not sure 4 stars is warranted but 3 stars indicates average and that didn't seem fair to it, as it does rise above mediocrity. And I hate fractional numbers, it feels like a cop out but I am going to give this a 3.75 and admit that feels like the most accurate value.

[liamarmitage]

I have been designing a collection of altered Tarot cards for my fantasy world of Reuel, where many stories will take place. As I create the cards and unveil their lore I will share them here. —------------------------------------------

In the decades after the Godsfall the survivors began building new civilizations and with those came artifacts from the before times that people adapted for the new world. One of those was the Tarot deck, essentially the well known Rider Waite Tarot deck. In time it became known as a Fate or Moira deck and the original cards transformed as people looked at the world in new ways. Each entry in this series describes one or more cards.

—------------------------------------------

If every beast on two legs has swords forged it is because they all hunger, they want to take but at some point they develop more - shields, personal ones to protect shoulders, walls to protect cities and home to protect people. The shield is more than physical - it is any structure that protects people, especially laws, creating something as immutable and foundational as the earth itself.

[liamarmitage]

Basics

I have been designing a collection of altered Tarot cards for my fantasy world of Reuel, where many stories will take place. As I create the cards and unveil their lore I will share them here.

—------------------------------------------

In the decades after the Godsfall the survivors began building new civilizations and with those came artifacts from the before times that people adapted for the new world. One of those was the Tarot deck, essentially the well known Rider Waite Tarot deck. In time it became known as a Fate or Moira deck and the original cards transformed as people looked at the world in new ways. Each entry in this series describes one or more cards. 

—------------------------------------------

The weapon. The first weapons created by races after they learn metalsmithing were probably spear and arrowheads, things usable for hunting and could be turned to battle. Eventually though it is not tribes that war but societies, cities, nations and the tool made for killing brother rather than beast is born - the sword, the specialized tool of society. It could as easily be the gears of a clock tower but it says something that nearly every Moria deck still uses the sword.

[liamarmitage]

I have been designing a collection of altered Tarot cards for my fantasy world of Reuel, where many stories will take place. As I create the cards and unveil their lore I will share them here.

—------------------------------------------

In the decades after the Godsfall the survivors began building new civilizations and with those came artifacts from the before times that people adapted for the new world. One of those was the Tarot deck, essentially the well known Rider Waite Tarot deck. In time it became known as a Fate or Moira deck and the original cards transformed as people looked at the world in new ways. Each entry in this series describes one or more cards. 

—------------------------------------------

Eventually man draws from the earth and shapes it. They create plows to dig in the earth and improve their fields. This is no longer the beginnings of civilization, this is the creation of society, when people specialize represented by the blacksmith. This is the modern man, the master of the natural who shapes their universe.

[junk-disorderly]

Telephone Sheep by Jean Luc Cornec

[femmeharlequin-deactivated20240]

Oh these are the electric sheep the androids dream about

[kshaar]

ohhh “cable knit” i get it now

[liamarmitage]

I have been designing a collection of altered Tarot cards for my fantasy world of Reuel, where many stories will take place. As I create the cards and unveil their lore I will share them here.

—------------------------------------------

In the decades after the Godsfall the survivors began building new civilizations and with those came artifacts from the before times that people adapted for the new world. One of those was the Tarot deck, essentially the well known Rider Waite Tarot deck. In time it became known as a Fate or Moira deck and the original cards transformed as people looked at the world in new ways. Each entry in this series describes one or more cards. 

—------------------------------------------

When races first dig in the earth they do so to shallowly bury their dead. They next use rocks to dig for tubers and then tie rocks to stick to create the first crude shovels and hoes. The card represents the earth as not just a thing to walk upon but the earth as a companion, a thing that should be nurtured and gives back. It also represents the earliest stages of civilization, specialization and people working together for greater goals.

[liamarmitage]

I have been designing a collection of altered Tarot cards for my fantasy world of Reuel, where many stories will take place. As I create the cards and unveil their lore I will share them here.

—------------------------------------------

In the decades after the Godsfall the survivors began building new civilizations and with those came artifacts from the before times that people adapted for the new world. One of those was the Tarot deck, essentially the well known Rider Waite Tarot deck. In time it became known as a Fate or Moira deck and the original cards transformed as people looked at the world in new ways. Each entry in this series describes one or more cards. 

—------------------------------------------

When man thinks of his interaction with the earth we go to the most fundamental experience shared by all races. While most will see the mountains and touch the earth in their life the same will return others and be returned to the earth themselves. This is not a card about the journey of life, that is represented in the major arcana, this is about the more primal experience of being part of the pattern of life and how lives are defined by us as both individuals and members of society and part of nature returning to the earth to feed new life. If reversed the card represents birth, the taking of the earth to feed new life.

[mikedawwwson]

"Read Banned Books" a new full page cartoon essay published in The New York Times Arts & Leisure section today.

[niki-smith]

A good day to reblog this, I just found out The Deep & Dark Blue is on another new ban list, this time in Colorado. Hooray.

[liamarmitage]

I have been designing a collection of altered Tarot cards for my fantasy world of Reuel, where many stories will take place. As I create the cards and unveil their lore I will share them here.

—------------------------------------------

In the decades after the Godsfall the survivors began building new civilizations and with those came artifacts from the before times that people adapted for the new world. One of those was the Tarot deck, essentially the well known Rider Waite Tarot deck. In time it became known as a Fate or Moira deck and the original cards transformed as people looked at the world in new ways. Each entry in this series describes one or more cards.

----------------------------------------------

Mountains are the first of the Earth cycle cards. While the firmament underlies all of Reuel the Mountains pull up, inspiring awe. They are barriers both for nature and man. Later cards explore man’s interaction with the earth but the first of the cycle represents the most elemental form without the interaction of the sentient races. The mountains represent purity, austerity, beauty and endurance, a fortitude that can be eroded but not broken.

[liamarmitage]

The Moria Deck Returns

Life got a bit crazy there for a while but I'm back and so is the Moria deck. Posts begin again this Sunday with the terrestial cycle cards, the Moira's equivalent to the minor arcana of the tarot.

----------

The Arcana of the Moria deck has clear analogies to our Rider Waite tarot and is used in many places as a complete deck of 27 cards for divination.  The Arcana of the Moria deck is very similar conceptually to the tarot deck’s major arcana.  Additionally, the Rider Waite tarot has what are essentially four suits of cards that roughly parallel the western playing cards and are referred to as the minor arcana. The Moria deck does not. The Moira deck’s other half is a twenty-seven card deck made of what are called the three terrestrial cycles and are often referred to collectively as the mortal deck or terrestrial cards. 

Each of the three cycles represent how mortal interact with the world, both in observance of the world as it is and how they make use of it. It makes use of what to hose in the Heartlands consider the three elements - Earth, Water and Fire. Unlike Earth alchemy, air is not considered an element but rather a combination of energy (fire) with elements found in water and earth. Space and time are also aspects that suffuse all the cards but only meaningful in human interaction. 

[liamarmitage]

Akane

For February we are going to take a short break on Sundays from posting the Moria deck to post a little about the Pup and Cup, a tea shop in the urban city of Ceres off the coast of the Heartlands. Akane is far from home, a continent to the east of the Heartlands. She rents a room in the Pup and Cup where she does exotic ceremonies and Moria readings for guests as well as sometimes play music to entertain guests. In exchange she gets free room and board from Sebastian. Kerri teases him that he might have a crush on the foreign woman which he deflects. Frequently she inquires of sailors about traders they know and she is searching for a man named Kiragawa. Her story will be explored more in a story called A Fox’s Tale.

[liamarmitage]

Sebastian and Kerri

For February we are going to take a short break on Sundays from posting the Moria deck to post a little about the Pup and Cup, a tea shop in the urban city of Ceres off the coast of the Heartlands. Sebastian and Kerri are a father and daughter from another continent. They don’t talk much about how they came to Ceres but don’t seem eager to talk about their past. They established the Pup and Cup where Sebastian serves tea and medical aid while Kerri has become a well known baker. Their stories will be explored more in future stories entitled A Candle’s Flame and A Murder of Means.

[liamarmitage]

The Pup and Cup

For February we are going to take a short break on Sundays from posting the Moria deck to post a little about the Pup and Cup, a tea shop in the urban city of Ceres off the coast of the Heartlands. The pup in question is an actual puppy named Thane, a part Ossor wolf is now two years old and still a small puppy and popular resident of the tea shop who often sleeps everywhere he likes, including on the tables where people are drinking. Its not uncommon for guests to order an extra sausage for the pup.

[autumnoiir]