Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 1d

"When the Spartoi catch a living person they skin them & stitch their preserved flesh into a garment that the Spore puts on like a suit of clothes. The Spartoi wearing the freshest skins are the chieftains."

#5e #rpg #DragonWarriors #Vulcanverse
fabledlands.blogspot.com/2025/09/dans...

Danse Macabre (a rattling good adventure with Dragon Warriors and D&D 5e rules)

The Vulcanverse series consists of five open-world gamebooks designed for solo roleplaying, but they provide such a sweeping story arc that...

fabledlands.blogspot.com

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Reposted by Dave Morris

Brian Klaas @brianklaas.bsky.social · 2d

I wrote about all the lived experiences and strange structures of modern society — many of which we take for granted — that were literally impossible for all previous generations of Homo sapiens. www.forkingpaths.co/p/we-are-dif...

We are different from all other humans in history

Countless experiences that have become routine for us are unprecedented in the history of our species. Here's why that matters.

www.forkingpaths.co

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 1d

Once a player spots the loophole that breaks the game, that's it. No going back.
flatearthsgaming.blogspot.com/2025/10/dark...

Dark emperors

Dark Emperor was an Avalon Hill boardgame of the mid-1980s that had a decent stab at rules evoking the story arc of a fantasy epic. One pla...

flatearthsgaming.blogspot.com

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Reposted by Dave Morris

Simon Spanton @simonguy.bsky.social · 5d

"The child shook his head free of the goddess's hand, and fixed her with his savage eyes.
'The fearful tale. Give me another nightmare to ride.'"

A photo of copies of The Golden Shadow and The God Beneath the Sea by Leon Garfield and Edward Blishen. The cover art and interior illustrations for both books are by Charles Keeping.

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 5d

Brubaker's Criminal series is the perfect modern noir. Now I'm wondering, as Chandler was inspired by Mallory, whether Lancelot is hardboiled and Gawain is noir...

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 5d

It's Mary Shelley's rhino. I just shot it for her.

#Frankenstein #gamebook
fabledlands.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-ve...

"A very clever bag of tricks"

Thirteen years ago I published my interactive version of Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein . Reviews were mixed, largely because many criti...

fabledlands.blogspot.com

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 7d

"Well, what have we got: a republic or a monarchy?"

Or the third option...

christinapagel.substack.com/p/29-septemb...

29 September 2025 - nine Trump authoritarian actions

A very quick overview of nine authoritarian Trump and his administration did on Monday 29 September

christinapagel.substack.com

Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 7d

"Hardboiled stories are about fighting the darkness. Noir stories are about being swallowed by it."

substack.com/home/post/p-...

Hardboiled and Noir Are Not the Same

Become the classic crime fiction snob you've always aspired to be!

substack.com

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 7d

REH's "The God in the Bowl" as a #DragonWarriors #ttrpg scenario for the game's 40th anniversary.

As to setting, take your pick between Nemedia or Legend.

fabledlands.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-...

Illustration from the 1952 magazine publication of "The God in the Bowl" by Robert E Howard.

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 7d

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Reposted by Dave Morris

Prof Gavin Yamey @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 7d

💉I worry that Kulldorff & RFK Jr are coming after the HPV vaccine

Kulldorff received >$30,000 as a paid expert in a legal case against the vaccine (his side lost); & Reuters notes he’s “listed as an expert witness in a similar case pending against Merck in Los Angeles state court, records show.”

Prof Gavin Yamey @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 7d

Our 9 year old son is getting the HPV vaccine this month…..

BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 8d

A landmark new study in JAMA Pediatrics shows the HPV vaccine is doing exactly what it promised & more. 17yrs after rollout, adolescent vaccination has slashed HPV infxns not only among those vaccinated but also those unvaccinated, showing powerful herd protection.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 7d

This is more what Highsmith should have been trying for. And it's almost half as long.

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Dave Morris's review of The Blue Room

4/5: One of the defining features of the romans durs is that they allow Simenon room to experiment, and he certainly does so here. I wasn't as gripped as by some of his others, but as usual he is a ma...

www.goodreads.com

Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 7d

Turns out Highsmith herself didn't think much of the book, so I feel better about having given it a kicking. (Spoilers btw.)

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Dave Morris's review of The Cry of the Owl

2/5: Highsmith deploys her trick of tedium-with-unease, which I've seen her use before with passive main characters. They get up, they drink some coffee, we hear about the drive to work, we're told ab...

www.goodreads.com

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 7d

I've met him.

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 7d

"It would be painful to hear in 2028 from some editor at Simon & Schuster that maybe if they had run with my gamebook then voting wouldn't have been suspended by Donald the First."

(In 2022 this still looked like satire.)

fabledlands.blogspot.com/2022/11/can-...

Can it happen?

In 1935, Nobel-prize-winning author Sinclair Lewis dashed out his novel It Can't Happen Here in six weeks to warn Americans about the threat...

fabledlands.blogspot.com

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Reposted by Dave Morris

Science X / Phys.org @sciencex.bsky.social · 8d

Engineers have developed artificial neurons with electrical properties similar to biological neurons, enabling direct communication with living cells and paving the way for highly efficient bio-inspired computing. doi.org/g95gtt

Engineers create first artificial neurons that could directly communicate with living cells

A team of engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has announced the creation of an artificial neuron with electrical functions that closely mirror those of biological ones.

techxplore.com

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 8d

Might as well just give them skull cap badges at this point.

www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...

ICE officer shoves journalist to the floor at 26 Federal Plaza, NYC comptroller says

The FDNY said it was called to the location at around 10:30 a.m. for a report of an injury, and that one person was transported to the hospital.

www.cbsnews.com

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 8d

The large format edition of LORDS OF THE RISING SUN ( #FabledLands #gamebook 6) is on sale for £2 -- but who knows for how long?

www.amazon.co.uk/Lords-Rising...

Lords of the Rising Sun: Large format edition: Volume 6 (Fabled Lands)

Buy Lords of the Rising Sun: Large format edition: Volume 6 (Fabled Lands) 3rd by Morris, Dave, Thomson, Jamie, Nicholson, Russ (ISBN: 9781909905368) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 8d

Yep. The woman who came into the shop looking for the driver said, "It's a BMW."

Me: "Of course it is."

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 8d

Why on earth do so many people imagine Bryan Ferry would sing about showing a record contract to a Confederate general? I mean, just listen to the actual lyrics.
#RoxyMusic #VirginiaPlain #RobertLee
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BonW...

Roxy Music - Virginia Plain - Top Of The Pops - 24th August 1972

YouTube video by Bryan Ferry

www.youtube.com

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 8d

Last week outside the charity shop, a guy drove his car the wrong way through the parking bay area and then left it blocking the car park entrance while he went to get a cup of coffee.

What make of car do you think he was driving? You won't need three guesses for this.

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Reposted by Dave Morris

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 8d

On the morning of Keir Starmer's conference speech here's a new post on an odd psychopathology in British politics - our main parties don't like the people who vote for them - the dreaded Professional Managerial Class. And so they are acting out like a divorced dad seeking cooler voters. 1/n

British Politics' Midlife Crisis

Why British Parties Can't Make Peace with Their Actual Voters

benansell.substack.com

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Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 8d

On the Jewelspider blog, a 14th century urban myth turns into a discussion of the cost of medieval locks. Which is just how we like it.

www.patreon.com/posts/host-m...

The Host Maltreated | Dave Morris

Get more from Dave Morris on Patreon

www.patreon.com

Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 8d

"A scroll written in Angate, very old and fragile in a battered leather case, which grants the bearer safe passage ‘free of tolls or impediments’ on the Via Alba, thought to be the old Selentine road today called Farthing Street that runs through Jewelspider Wood."
www.patreon.com/posts/there-...

There and back again | Dave Morris

Get more from Dave Morris on Patreon

www.patreon.com

Dave Morris @davemorris.bsky.social · 12d

"The City of Bones" -- #Vulcanverse meets #DragonWarriors and #5e by way of Jason and the Argonauts... But be sure to double-check my stat blocks if you're using the Dungeons & Dragons version.
#ttrpg
fabledlands.blogspot.com/2025/09/dans...

Danse Macabre (a rattling good adventure with Dragon Warriors and D&D 5e rules)

The Vulcanverse series consists of five open-world gamebooks designed for solo roleplaying, but they provide such a sweeping story arc that...

fabledlands.blogspot.com

1 4