No lie, that Alistair art going around my dash today where he looks like a 70s porn star, with the super furry chest? It looks just like my abusive ex-stepfather. Made worse by the knowledge that he used to model before he and my mom married. It makes it very disturbing to scroll past, that’s for sure. This TMI post brought to you by a very stressful day, and a sinus headache. *nods*

Jerry Goldsmith Legend OST - 05 The Faeries (by LaMissFa1ry)

DID YOU KNOW? That the American movie and the UK version of the movie have different scores?  I bet you didn’t!  The Jerry Goldsmith version is actually really hard to find here in the states.  Now, I happen to love both, but favor the Tangerine Dream one for it’s crazy 80s synthesizer (and because I love Tangerine Dream even outside of their version of the score/soundtrack).

─ Cherith: Meta: Dragon Age -... ─

ilikelookingatnakedmen:

Cherith: Meta: Dragon Age - Diamondback

cherith:

Because this is relevant to a thing I might do, I decided to look up what we know about the game of Diamondback. According to the DA Wiki trivia on Oghren’s page, there is this bit of information:

The card…

There is something on Tumblr about Wicked Grace, with rules, but it’s based on another game and doesn’t really say if they used those rules for a reason.  *shrugs*  And to be fair, the games seem pretty similar, just with different suits and a different number of cards.

Meta: Dragon Age - Diamondback

Because this is relevant to a thing I might do, I decided to look up what we know about the game of Diamondback.  According to the DA Wiki trivia on Oghren’s page, there is this bit of information:

The card game Diamondback mentioned in Oghren’s conversation with Alistair is a reference to a game of the same name in Dave Sim’s Cerebus the Aardvark.

That link goes to Wikipedia, which wasn’t super useful, but I’ll leave it in for the sake of how I got to where I did.  With the magic of Google, I found a page of links and information on the comic mentioned.  (I don’t know that it’s relevant, but it’s interesting to note the name Cerebus.)  Anyway, so I found this page.  Which links to two different sites that have Diamondback information.

The first one goes here, which is only useful if you want to see Diamondback played via a random script.  But, it does show the cards and give points.  What it doesn’t have is an active rules page.  

Thanks to the wonders of the Wayback Machine, I was able to find this page, which show the cards, the points and a basic description of what cards make up a deck and how it’s played.

For posterity (since this is an old Geocities page), I’m copy/pasting the pertinent information:

THE DECK:

[For a two player game] Consists of 1 Magician, 2 Priestesses, 3 Queens, 4 Kings and 5 Priests.

For three players the deck consists of 1 Magician, 4 Priestesses, 6 Queens, 8 Kings, and 10 Priests (two decks minus 1 Magician). For four players its three decks minus two Magicians.

THE HANDS:

Magician-Priestess____________70 points
Priestess-Priestess___________65 pts
Magician-Queen_______________60 pts
Magician-King________________55 pts
Priestess-King_______________50 pts
Priestess-Queen______________45 pts
Priestess-Priest______________40 pts
Queen-King__________________ 35 pts
Magician-Priest_______________30 pts
Queen-Queen_________________ 25 pts
King-King____________________20 pts
Queen-Priest_________________15 pts
King-Priest___________________10 pts
Priest-Priest_________________5 pts

THE GAME:

Begins with a draw for a high card. The draw’s winner deals the first hand, two cards face down to each player. Each player examines his cards and the dealer makes a wager that must be matched by each of the other players. There is no ante in this version of Diamondback, if you like to ante, then go read the rules for Dealers Diamondback. Therefore, a player who folds on each hand can play all night without losing a coin. Having matched the dealers wager, each player left in the game exposes one of his cards. The dealer then exposes one of his cards and initiates a new round of betting, each player choosing whether to match the dealer’s wage or fold. It is up to the dealer to decide whether the betting ceases and the other card is exposed to determine the winning hand. The best hand wins. In the case of two players having identical hands as “best hand”, the pot is carried over into the next hand (this is if only two people are playing). If there are three or four players in the game and two players have identical “best hands”, the pot is divided between them. If all three or four players have identical “best hands”, the pot is carried over into the next game.

Variations:

MATCH DIAMONDBACK - the game continues until both players or a majority of players agree to end it. Any player leaving the game before winning all of the coins, or a concensus is reached forfiets his winnings into th pot for the next game.

DEALER’S DIAMONDBACK - the only variation with an ante, established by the dealer, prior to dealing. Each player must match the ante, the cards are dealt and the dealer makes an initial wager. His opponents are then required to double that wager to remain in the game, or can choose to fold. One card is turned over by each player and the dealer makes another wager which his opponents are then required to double to remain in the game. The dealer desides when the wagering is finished and the other card is exposed. The winner becomes the new dealer.

hobovampire:

cherith:

So, a thing I learned today: Coyotes sound scary as fuck outside your window at 3am.  That’s cool.

we get those, peacocks and turkey vultures.

i know

I didn’t think they’d really be that much creepier than the eagles and owls and packs of wild dogs we get… but somehow, they managed to be.  Maybe it’s just because it’s late and they were very loud, and very close to our back fence.

So, a thing I learned today: Coyotes sound scary as fuck outside your window at 3am.  That’s cool.