Posts Tagged ‘nemesis’

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Cast of Wonders 707: The Discipline of Small Evil

Image by Henning from Pixabay

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:46 — 81.9MB)

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The Discipline of Small Evil

by Arthur H. Manners

Big evil is cheap, lazy, unimaginative. Release a deadly plague. Steal a continent. Shoot the moon with a giant laser. Everyone pays attention, everyone screams, and the supers come and there’s a showdown and a monologue and sharks.

Blah blah blah.

Where’s the art in that?

Supervillains always fail. They invite heroes to rise, invoke Newton’s Third Law: action, reaction. The trick is to slip unseen through society, widening cracks in the psyche.

Big evil is just a cry for help. Look at me, validate me, for the love of God someone save me.

Real evil is small. It’s turning all the pictures in someone’s home just a little askew. It’s using show bathrooms at hardware stores. It’s pineapple on pizza. Leaving the seat up. Puns.

Real evil is talking in the cinema. (Continue Reading…)

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Cast of Wonders 391: Why I Spared the One Brave Soul Between Me and My Undead Army (Staff Picks 2019)

Previously appeared in Cast of Wonders, Artemis Rising 5, March 31, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:50 — 27.8MB)

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Why I Spared the One Brave Soul Between Me and My Undead Army

by Setsu Uzume

I am loathe to admit that the ambush was masterful. Not only had the bounty hunters slain my contacts, but they had done so in the right order — dispatching the Ritualist before she had any corpses to animate. Had I come on horseback, they would have had me, too.

In addition to my dead allies and their hobbled wagon, I counted four hunters lumbering through the dark. Big lads, experienced and well-equipped, but given the style of their breastplates they had come from the west — tracking the cultists and not me. It made them slow and ill-prepared to face me in my glory. I whirled, my shadow splitting off to pierce kidneys and slice the backs of their knees while I led them a merry dance through dead leaves and bracken. One of them even turned, his blade slashing a wide arc, but shadows have no heads to remove. Him, I killed the quickest.

(Continue Reading…)

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Cast of Wonders 355: Why I Spared the One Brave Soul Between Me and My Undead Army (Artemis Rising 5)

Cast of Wonders 355: Why I Spared the One Brave Soul Between Me and My Undead Army (Artemis Rising 5) is a Cast of Wonders original.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:38 — 30.4MB)

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Why I Spared the One Brave Soul Between Me and My Undead Army

by Setsu Uzume

I am loathe to admit that the ambush was masterful. Not only had the bounty hunters slain my contacts, but they had done so in the right order — dispatching the Ritualist before she had any corpses to animate. Had I come on horseback, they would have had me, too.

In addition to my dead allies and their hobbled wagon, I counted four hunters lumbering through the dark. Big lads, experienced and well-equipped, but given the style of their breastplates they had come from the west — tracking the cultists and not me. It made them slow and ill-prepared to face me in my glory. I whirled, my shadow splitting off to pierce kidneys and slice the backs of their knees while I led them a merry dance through dead leaves and bracken. One of them even turned, his blade slashing a wide arc, but shadows have no heads to remove. Him, I killed the quickest.

(Continue Reading…)

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Cast of Wonders 307: Sidekicks Wanted

Originally published in the anthology Heroes by Bushmead Publishing (October 2015)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:48 — 22.1MB)

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Sidekicks Wanted

by Laura Johnson

**SIDEKICKS WANTED** HERO HUNTERS INC.
JOB POSTING: SIDEKICK

Job ID: 09012015
Location: Various
Base Pay: To be discussed
Industry: Heroism/Villainy
Reports to: Hero

DUTIES:

  • Fighting evil
  • Protecting the innocent
  • Rescuing damsels in distress
  • Saving the city/world/universe from danger (as required)
  • Listening to the Hero explain his origins
  • Engaging in witty banter with the Hero

QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Possession of a Sidekicking degree from an accredited university*
  • Prior Sidekicking experience preferred
  • Superpowers are an asset
  • Knowledge of weapons and technology
  • Sense of humour
  • Must be comfortable wearing spandex
  • Must be willing to endure rumours of romantic involvement with the Hero
  • Must be willing to be kidnapped so the Hero can stage a dramatic rescue

*May be substituted with appropriate experience

Underlings need not apply.

Interested applicants can send resumes to: Xenethera@herohunter.net
(Continue Reading…)