#a sort of callback to the basic essence of me

[i-appear-misssing]

I can't remember if I cried 6 years ago when I got hurt the first time

[faquarlofmycenae]

Faquarl scenes through the years; rated from 1 to 10 (by yours truly, the known stan)

Amulet of Samarkand

The Kitchen Brawl: 9/10

Hey, audience, look, the introduction of a character who would become very important! There’s knives, having conversations in the midst of danger, a hint of that true tentacle-y form, very much here for all of that. We get a nice view of what the Bartquarl relationship is like, that they’ve known each other for quite some time and are thus familiar with the other. Faquarl does end up getting blasted into a wall and after the scene ends got the short end of a nasty punishment, courtesy of Simon Lovelace, but since we don’t see the end of that very unpleasant day, let’s not dwell on it too much.

Freeing Bartimaeus from the Tower of London: 100/10

Perfect from beginning to the end, and so much that Faquarl being set on fire isn’t even on my radar a lot. He basically makes Bart jump through a hoop, yells at him for falling for an illusion and causes a bunch of ravens to vomit or die by essentially flashing them and gets doused in gasoline - solid stuff. There’s also talks of revolution while squatting in a scrub. WRT that girl he wanted to kill: we don’t know whether she just had bad vibes. We just don’t know.

Brief Cameo at Heddleham Hall: 4/10

He just hangs around in the kitchen in his preferred form which, yknow what, I’ll take what I can get. Brief speaking role when he tells Nat to get lost and just reinforces the point that this spirit fucking hates children in general. 

Golem’s Eye

No actual scenes :( there’s a mention but otherwise it’s a 0 on the Faquarl-o-meter, its strong points lie in other areas. During the events of this book he’s also in an off-shore safe hoping Nathaniel dies in a fire or gets devoured by flesh-eating insects or something so it looks poorly for him. 

Ptolemy’s Gate

Meeting Verroq: 1/10

well, we don’t know that this is Faquarl and neither does Bart. He’s also a little too far away for us to hear what he says so as a known Faquarl enthusiast, this is poor stuff, boys. 

The Hopquarl reveal: infinity sign/10

Pack it up, girls and gays, this is what peak performance looks like. The reveal is done so well and truly has you realize that shit is hitting the fan. Faquarl shows up with his new material form, ass shots, titties out, beat face contoured, no pain despite being on Earth and Bartimaeus is shaking in his feathers. Kills a bunch of high-level spirits with the same ease as opening a jar of pickles, has his little monologue, throws Bartimaeus in a silver casserole filled with fish as he smugly states that he was Right All Along in his belief that revolution would be here one day and is on his merry way to overthrow humanity - what a guy. No one does it better than him. I’m in awe and have this scene eternally burned into my mind. This is also where we get a callback to the infamous scrub scene and the good ol’ “in some cultures they kiss, in other they set each other on fire”. And they say romance is dead.

Masquerading as Hopkins and going public: 8/10

Listen, this is the closest I’ll get to a proper interaction between Faquarl and Kitty so her calling him a traitor which in some way had to remind him that he technically betrayed the Other Place does a lot of things to me. He also beats up the Mercenary with his own bare fists which is defo among the Top 10 Funniest Moments In The Bartimaeus Sequence so that does a lot too. We figure out that Faquarl is the true mastermind behind the entire spirit rebellion and that as much as Nouda is leading the whole thing, our interdimensional entity is the one whose truly calling the shots and the brains of the entire operation - and has in fact been doing so even with Makepeace, Hopkins and Lovelace! Ugh, I know spirits don’t have a ‘brain’ but if he had one, it’d be so wrinkly and full of diligent neurons! 

Mass creation of hybrids - 3/10

He doesn’t really do a lot besides picking out names in a book for the magician to summon a spirit into his body. Also gets his ass kicked across the room by Jessica Whitwell (there is definitely a conversation to be had about how Faquarl is prone to getting injured or otherwise taken out).

The final confrontation: 9/10

Hoo boy, this is both a perfect scene but also because of the part where he, y’know, is reduced to his atoms, it’s sad (and still perfect and in a bizarre way a... worthy send-off? Dying on your own terms, that’s what I’m talking about.) The final conversation between them and the eventual realization that you screwed things up for yourself are a fucking gutpunch. Faquarl being speechless for the first time in ever and having an honest true-to-the-bone with Bartimaeus, no doubt the being that has known him for the longest amount of time... it’s just raining on my face. I’m lying in bed and listening to Angel by Sarah McLachlan on some Spotify playlist of Sad Songs. 

Ring of Solomon

Picking up Bartimaeus: 9/10

Well, it in itself is not on the level as the Hopquarl reveal or the Tower scene but 1. this is the first time we see him in YEARS GOD BLESS, the heavenly gates opened and a choir of angels is singing 2. we saw him again after he technically died. Also back when he and Bart didn’t loathe each other so that’s very flavorful. We also find out that Faquarl’s aesthetic is a nice contrast to Bart’s “gotta keep it sleek and sexy at all times” in the way of “purposefully ugly and very proud of it because fuck human beauty standards”.

Plotting in the quarry: 10/10

My Bartquarl-shipping self ascended during that scene. We got a break from the usual strained relationship that is frenemies-who-also-have-a-sort-of-sexual-tension-with-each-other and see them be actual allies. There’s shittalking magicians, agreeing on that your workmates are idiots and chilling together - and let’s not forget mutual recognition coming from Bartimaeus! In the words of Mo’nique, “I would like to see it”.

Saving Bartimaeus: 6.5/10

Short but sweet. Faquarl pops out of nowhere and thus saves Bart from being eaten by one extremely pissed marid. “Don’t tell anyone, I got a reputation to uphold” is Faquarl speech for “you’re more than welcome”. Bickering and the enforcement of the point that yes, Faquarl could effortlessly wipe the floor with Bartimaeus if it ever came to a full-blown fight and Bart wouldn’t swindle his way out of it. 

Fighting the Edomite magicians + meeting Asmira: 7/10

Once again, nice contrast of Bartimaeus’s aesthetic and Faquarl’s. Kills more Utukku than Bart and thus wins the #1 medal for that melée - but also again is wounded. Doesn’t miss a single beat about voicing his desire to simply do as any good spirit would and eat Asmira, which, yeah, let’s not kill our deuteragonist, but also... I get his mindset so let’s gloss over that one. Brief monologue about the Evils Of Humanity and “I hate Earth, it all deserves to burn” which shows that Faquarl has been on his shit for quite a while and I have a lot of respect for that even though by that definition we are all Evils of Humanity. 

Gaining freedom: 5/10

A little short but beggars can’t be choosers. We find out that he has been pestering Bart about not killing Asmira for hours past hours past hours and honestly? That’s so on-brand. Drag his essence. Then he gets freed properly (unlike Bartimaeus) but not before he sees all the nasty things his master has been up to in his torture/sex dungeon. “Faquarl was gone. Faquarl was free.” like an absolute legend. We also get his name before he was Faquarl of Sparta, to which the URL of this very account is referring to. It’s also the last time we see him in the book and we’re only halfway in so :/

But, as we all know, hope dies last and maybe we’ll come across his canon self once again to see and rate more scenes.

[duhragonball]

Talkin’ ‘Bout Star Wars

I just realized someone might see this title and think it’s a review of Episode IX, which I kind of forgot about.    Actually, I was gonna talk about this Count Dooku audiobook I bought, but I guess I only got back into Star Wars books because of Episode IX, so maybe I should back up.

I liked Rise of Skywalker.   I went in unsure of what to expect, because a lot of people hated Episode VIII, and I thought it was awesome, so when I saw scathing criticism of IX, I had no idea whether to take that seriously.    “Man if you thought VIII was bad, IX’s even worse.”  Stuff like that where I didn’t know how to interpret it.    

The fundamental problem with IX is that they were going to do a Leia-centric movie and Carrie Fisher died before they could get started.    I’m pretty sure this had a lot to do with why Darth Sidious is all over the movie, but maybe he would have been in it regardless.   He definitely brings a lot of star power to the movie.    He makes it feel more important than it would have been if it was just Kylo Ren horsing around as the main bad guy.    And while I enjoyed Carrie Fisher as the hardboiled-but-sensitive General Leia, she never seemed quite as comfortable on-screen in the sequel movies as Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford.   I mean, she was in VIII, but she spent most of it in a coma, and Laura Dern seemed to be her understudy.    Maybe Carrie was just waiting for the spotlight of Episode IX, and maybe she would have risen to the occasion, but if not, they would have done well to have the Emperor in the same movie, just to carry some of the load.  

I’ve seen complaints about how fast-paced Episode IX is, and how ridiculous some of the revelations are, but you know, Episode IV realllly drags for the first half-hour, so I’m happy they made a new one that caters to six-year-old me’s desire to get on with things.   As for the whole Rey Palpatine thing, I don’t know, was that any less absurd than whatever fan-theories were floating around in 2016?

I liked Rey’s character arc in this movie, where she goes from having no family to being terrified of her pedigree, to declaring herself to be “Rey Skywalker”.    Also, I dig her yellow lightsaber, even if she never got a chance to use it in the movie.   In fact, let me get a picture of that up here....

Niiiice.   Whenever I look this up, I see all these links to fan theories about what this means, or how it’s a callback to eight other characters from the comics who had yellow lightsabers, but I’m pretty sure she only ended up with this color because they wanted to give her something different and uniquely her own.    If she had a blue or green blade, fans would think she took the crystal out of one of Luke’s old lightsabers, but this indicates that she built her own from scratch.   Also, Rey even having a lightsaber is probably intended to demonstrate that she still has a mission in the galaxy, even after the First Order and Sidious are defeated.   

Anyway, the main issue I have with the movie is that it does play fast and loose sometimes.    It felt like they had a plan for Finn and a plan for Poe, but both plans sort of got lost in the shuffle, and we sort of have to take their big victory as newly minted generals to serve as a finish to their character arcs.    Leia’s big moment is basically her lying down to take a nap, and I get it, that was probably the best they could do, but still.    I read Nein Numb got killed in the movie, and that kind of pisses me off.    

Mostly, it just doesn’t hold up as well as “The Last Jedi”.   I think part of the reason “Revenge of the Sith” is the most popular prequel movie is because it pays off the thing everyone wanted to see: Anakin becoming Darth Vader.   I remember the first time I saw “Attack of the Clones”, and I was kind of surprised to see Anakin kill all the Sand People, like they were turning him evil a little too early, so that had me wondering if he might turn to the dark side in that movie, which sort of distracted me from what was actually happening on the screen. With Episode III, you knew exactly what you were getting, because they couldn’t save any big moments for “Revenge of the Sith, Part 2.”    In a similar vein, I think the big thing audiences wanted from the sequel trilogy was to find out whatever happened to Luke, and Episode VIII answered that question completely.    It sort of undercut Episode IX, and I guess that was what J.J. Abrams was complaining about.

Darth Sidious’ whole comeback is kind of a problem.   I love the character, and it makes sense that he could somehow survive and come back.    In the movie, he just quotes his line about “unnatural” abilities and that’s the only explanation we get for how he survived Endor, built his new fleet, and made Snoke.    People call it a cop out and they’re not wrong, but he’s the one character who can get away with it.    That said, his return raises far more questions than answers, and somehow he’s even stronger than he was before, which raises even further questions.    I mean, if he could just go to this secret planet and build a fleet of planet-destroying ships, why did he bother running for public office?     

I’m sure there’ll be a novel that tries to tackle some of those issues, but the bigger problem here is that Episode IX made me realize that I missed the more vulnerable Darth Sidious from the prequels.     What I love about Episode I is how you’ve got the Sith, looking very similar to the Emperor and Vader in Episode VI, except they don’t have the might of the Empire behind them.    In Episode I, Sidious can’t just force choke his subordinates when they displease him, because he needs those guys.  Darth Maul can’t send a legion of troops to capture Queen Amidala; he has to do it by himself.  They have to be sneakier and trickier than they are in the original trilogy, because they’re still trying to get the Empire set up, and that’s really fascinating to me.   Even in the original trilogy, Palpatine is supreme, but still vulnerable.    He dissolves the Senate, but only once the Death Star is available as an alternative.   He worries that Luke Skywalker “could destroy us.”       

In Episode IX, he seems to have no worries at all, I guess because he’s counting on Rey to murder him for whatever essence transfer he was planning.   I suppose this was why he finally died to his own Force Lightning, with Rey deflecting it with two lightsabers.    Critics ask why he didn’t just stop shooting lightning, but that’s kind of his deal.    He kept shooting at Mace Windu, even when it wrecked his face, and he kept shooting when Darth Vader turned on him.   I mean, if he stopped shooting lighting at Rey, what then?    His fleet would lose the battle, and Rey would refuse to kill him, and he’d just be stuck.    The Sith crave power, and power only matters when you exercise it, so it makes sense that all the Sith characters get wrecked because they bit off more than they could chew.   If you asked Sidious why he didn’t just turn off his lightning, he probably wouldn’t even understand the question.

I think it might have been cooler if Darth Sidious had been a ghost, or maybe an electronic backup of his brain, or something like that.   He looked pretty cool hooked up to that life support system, and I liked the idea that he was reduced to a shell of his former self, but even that would still be a grave threat to the heroes, especially if he got Rey or Kylo Ren to take orders from him.    Maybe he should have actually gotten to possess Rey, and then he would finally get all the gonzo powers he displayed in the movie, and Rey would have to kick him out of her body.   I dunno, maybe that’s not so different from what we actually got.   

I see fans talking about all these alternative versions of Episode IX, like that leaked script, or the concept art, etc.    They lament “Why didn’t we get this movie?” and I think that misses the point.    Maybe one version or another would be better, but in the end you really only get one movie, one shot at telling the story.   At some point, someone has to make the decision as to what makes the cut and what doesn’t.   The problem with writing a story is that the version in your head always looks better than it does in print, because in your head it’s this nebulous, ever-changing thing.    When you sit down to write it, you have to commit to one version, and decide whether to do this or that.   In this day and age, it’s a lot easier to find out about alternate versions and unused drafts.     You can watch the “This” version of a movie, and then go on the internet and see details about the “That” version they didn’t use.    And it’s easy to complain that they made the wrong call.    “Justice League” fans are convinced that there’s a secret “Snyder Cut” of the movie that would somehow be better than the version that actually made it to theaters.   That’s kind of sad, because they clearly must have enjoyed the theatrical cut to some extent, or they wouldn’t care about some other version of the same movie.   But instead of appreciating what they got, they obsess over a supposedly better version that may not even exist.   

I’m probably no better, because I sort of went into Episode IX figuring that it didn’t matter if it was good or bad, because there would be comics or novels that might expand on the stuff I wanted to see.     I think what I really want is a story of how Sidious survived Endor, and how he got set up on Exegul or however you spell it.     That, and Rey buckling some swashes with that yellow lightsaber.   Everyone’s mad about Rose Tico getting a small part in Episode IX, but to me it almost doesn’t matter, because she can be in whatever Rey comic series they make after this.   I mean, that doesn’t do Kelly Marie Tran any good, but I think she’s got a good career ahead of her, with or without Rose Tico. 

I don’t know, maybe this is why I don’t watch movies very much.   I’m mostly into franchises, where the movies themselves are just tentpoles for all the other media.   They don’t really need to be good, so long as some good lore comes out of them that someone else can use.    I was thinking the other day about how Episode II is widely considered one of the weakest Star Wars movies, but every Clone Wars story that came after it was directly inspired by that film.   And there’s a lot of good Clone Wars stuff out there.   It just makes me wonder if Episode II can really be as bad as they say it is.   Then again, it probably doesn’t make sense to say that spinoffs can retroactively fix what should be a standalone work.  

Anyway, I started this post because I wanted to talk about how YouTube keeps recommending me Star Wars meta videos, mainly about the Sith, because that’s what I’m into, and they’re usually covering stuff I already knew.   There’s at least three channels devoted to recapping stories from comics and books, or just straight up repeating information that was directly stated in the movies.    “Did you know Palpatine wanted to KILL Darth Vader?”   Yes, I’ve known since 1983.   He told Luke to kill him and he wouldn’t do it.  Then he and Vader killed each other.   It’s not complicated.   The funny thing is that I watch all these different Star Wars videos, and I can tell they’re narrated by different people, but they all sound like the Burger King Foot Lettuce guy.  

I got bored with these, so I started listening to the Dooku audiobook that came out last year.     It’s been pretty decent, but I was hoping for more Sith lore, and this book seems mostly focused on Asajj Ventress learning about Dooku’s Jedi career.   I’ve only got a half hour left in the book, and Dooku hasn’t even resigned from the order yet, so I don’t think I’ll see much of what he was up to between Episodes I and II.  

[comicteaparty]

November 25th-December 1st, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from November 25th , 2019 to December 1st , 2019.  The chat focused on Action Hat: Big Trouble in Little Everywhere HD Remix Gold Deluxe Edition by Sergio Ragno.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Action Hat: Big Trouble in Little Everywhere HD Remix Gold Deluxe Edition by Sergio Ragno~! (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/action-hat-big-trouble-in-little-everywhere-hd/list?title_no=260255)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until December 1st to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite strip in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. Of the strips with a connected story, which one did you like the best and why? Overall, do you prefer the interconnected story strips or the one-off strips more? What is your reasoning?

AntiBunny

Favorite strip so far is this one here https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/action-hat-big-trouble-in-little-everywhere-hd/the-legality-of-keeping-it-real/viewer?title_no=260255&episode_no=41 mostly because it is quite different from the rest. Since Action Hat is largely a running gag comic that's been doing "wins by doing absolutely nothing" since before Luigi made it cool, this page is a refreshing shake up of the usual gag, being entirely dialogue driven.

To answer the second question, I prefer the one offs. There's a little bit of connection between strips, in that any given of episode of the Simpsons is connected by common characters, and that every event that doesn't contradict the status quo is canon, but mostly it's meant to be taken one strip at a time. Read, get your laugh, and go about your day. Action Hat is best read that way in my opinion. Not unlike a newspaper comic in that regard. Not to be binged, but to be taken in small, regular doses.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. Which jokes connected with you the most from the comic, whether in terms of relatability or hilarity? Also, which jokes caught you the most off-guard in terms of making you laugh?

mariah (rainy day dreams)

So I didn't make it all the way through the archive but to sort of answer questions 1, 3, and 4, I thought the strip that had Detective Detective-Partner's gun was super funny. The premise of the already a farsical type of comedy, but I feel like adding a second inanimate object character just pushed it to a new level of funny for me. Especially since the gun just goes off without provocation in the last panel. I'm not sure if that's enough to call the gun my favorite character, but that joke was definitely a highlight moment while I was reading though.

SergeXIII

Hello everyone, thank you for taking the time to read my comic this week.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. What piece of advice from Action Hat do you actually think is also a good lesson for how we should carry ourselves in life? How in general do you think the comedy of the comic shows how it can be used to say things about life?

RebelVampire

1) My fave strip is definitely this one: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/action-hat-big-trouble-in-little-everywhere-hd/cool-guys-dont-look-at-explosions-action-hat/viewer?title_no=260255&episode_no=21 This was exactly where I wanted the idea to go, but it was still funny when it happened. Won't get into specifics since I don't want to spoil it for others at this juncture, but suffice it to say, I'm impressed the payoff was everything I dreamed of. 2) I liked the The Power of Love series the best. I am in love with the concept that theres a Guns and Bourbon store, and everyone acts like its the most common thing in the entire world. And I like the story about Detective Partner and Ex Wife met because it's a love story that fits too well in this world. There were just a lot of great continuing gags through. In terms of the second part of this question, I don't really have a preference. I actually like that the comic does a bit of both, since that gives wider appeal. Doesn't matter what you like, there's something for all.

3) My favorite character is Action Hat. Because Action Hat is the wisest of all characters despite not saying a single thing. And that's just badass. 4) The jokes that have connected with me the most are the ones regarding common cop tropes. Like the fact Detective Partner is a macho dude who doesn't open up to people, or that there's massive property destruction, etc. As a fan of cop dramas and cop action stories, I equally enjoy when people make fun of it cause they can be over the top and ridiculous. As for jokes that caught me off guard, it was definitely the one about the shopkeeper being Velma. Cause the entire time I saw the resemblance but thought, nah, that's impossible. But then someone said it. XD

RebelVampire

5) My favorite illustration is definitely from the same strip I answered for number 1. I love the explosions and the angles chosen. Especially the last panel where Detective Partner's face is slammed against the camera. It really gives some good depth to the image that really captures the badass atmosphere it wanted. 6) I think the advice in this strip is actually good https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/action-hat-big-trouble-in-little-everywhere-hd/enter-the-hat-9/viewer?title_no=260255&episode_no=9. Which to me the advice is that people do often lash out because of their own insecurities and fears. And while there is, of course, a line we need to draw at toxicity, sometimes we need to be patient and gentle with others to make them understand how their actions hurt us. In general, though, I feel this comic is a good reflection of how comedy is often a callback to human condition. And that in a lot of ways, it helps us deal with uncool things in life by making us laugh and remind us that sometimes, we need to take a step back from life and consider things from other angles (or even just take a break).

SergeXIII

I really appreciate all of these questions, RebelVampire, but I especially appreciate question number 6. The gag of the cop and inanimate object duo has been done before, but I always thought that what makes Action Hat stand out is that it serves as kind of a conscious for Partner (and Lynda, who is new to this version of the comic), so it is really valuable for me to get feedback on this so as to gauge the effectiveness of this.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. Given Action Hat is not a speaking character, how do you think this works in terms of the comic’s comedy? In other words, what aspects of the visuals and other characters’ dialogues help pull the comedy off?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. What is your favorite aspect of Detective Partner’s and Action Hat’s relationship? What has been your favorite moment between them so far? What about these aspects when it comes to Action Hat and Lynda?

RebelVampire

7) I enjoy seeing Detective Partner and Action Hat interact the most. I really love how the two play off of one another. Especially cause Action Hat is, you know, a hat. And I really like that despite basically just sitting there doing nothing, Action Hat is still given a personality because of how everyone else interacts with him. And I like how Detective Partner makes Action Hat super wise. 8) I think the silence works cause of two main reasons. First, what I hinted at to above. Even if Action Hat doesn't speak, there's still a lot of personality there because of the words other characters add in. And that itself is kind of funny cause it's just a ridiculous idea to have an inanimate object be in the police. So in essence you wind up these ridiculous situations that are brought on by other characters cause of what they assume an inanimate object said.

RebelVampire

9) A detail I really appreciate in the comic is actually the throwbacks to police drama tropes. Like the gruff partner, the dirty business dude trying to bribe people, the belligerent chief always complaining about the wanton destruction. It takes a lot of knowledge to really capture the cop drama spirit, and I love seeing it present while also torn apart in the most entertaining ways possible. 10) My favorite aspect of their relationship is probably their honesty. Like I love how Detective Partner basically immediately apologized to Action Hat for lashing out and became best friends. And I like how much Detective Partner idolizes Action Hat too, cause it is both funny while also revealing of Detective Partner's own wisdom. My favorite moment between them is still probably the one from my fave strip, but I've mentioned that to death. As for Lynda, I like the patience in their relationship. Not a whole lot of people have patience for anything, and I just like this is kind of a key point to their relationship. It's got that good slow burn kind of feel. For fave moment, I like when Lynda is touched Action Hat "waited" for her. And it had nothing to do with the fact it's a hat and has no legs to move.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. What sort of tropes of cops and cop dramas have you seen in the comic so far? In what ways do you think the comic successfully subverted them and/or changed how you thought about them?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. In general, what other police-drama related shenanigans are you hoping to see Action Hat tackle? How do you think those scenarios will play out?

RebelVampire

11) I think this comic's strength is just how the comedy works. There's lots of creative ways it uses both the fact Action Hat doesn't talk and is an inanimate object to its advantage. There's also just a good balance in how it treats everything since the comic somehow acknowledges the ridiculousness while at the same time taking it seriously. So in the end, it's just got a great tone for having fun with the subject matter. 12) I've talked about this one quite a bit already. But got the disgruntled chief who forces partners together, gruff partner who just like guns, massive property damage, sleezy rich dude, etc. The comic does a great job of reminding you that all this action stuff is actually silly if you were to frame it in the context of reality. Like there's only so much property damage the police will take before firing someone, etc.

13) I am looking forward to seeing other cop action drama tropes. Like serial killers etc. Theres so many more cop stuff to be explored that I'm really hoping to see. 14) In line with the above, I would like to see Action Hat and Detective Partner deal with internal investigations. Cause theres always that one scenario where the cops get framed and get in super trouble and then they have to solve their own case. I'm just waiting for the moment where Detective Partner is like "Action Hat how could you!?" THere's a silent pause, and then Detective Partner gasps and is like "YOU WERE FRAMED I'm sorry I doubted you."

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Action Hat: Big Trouble in Little Everywhere HD Remix Gold Deluxe Edition this week! Please also give a special thank you to Sergio Ragno for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Action Hat: Big Trouble in Little Everywhere HD Remix Gold Deluxe Edition, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/action-hat-big-trouble-in-little-everywhere-hd/list?title_no=260255

Sergio’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SergeXIII

Sergio’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/sergexiii

Sergio’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sergexiii

[fideliuscharms-blog]

I was shocked

I was shocked and cut the conversation short because a) I felt like I didnt need to deal with such negative bullshit and b) I needed to get ready for my next show. But her words lingered in my mind all night. The moment that somebody questions my stance on feminism I get overwhelmingly upset, as it is a cause that I put my heart and soul into. It is in everything that I do and say and it is in how I perceive the world. Feminism has come to be in every essence of my being, and having somebody question my core beliefs was incredibly jarring.Female cam models get a lot more money than male cam models (duh). Unless of course you want to do shows for gay men, which she says a lot of straight male cam models find "strange," probably because those guys assumed they'd be models for women. Uh, nope. Women already have plenty of dick pics, thanks. The basic premise of the cam girl game is a simple one: You pay a girl for her time, and in exchange, she'll take off her clothes, talk to you, play with herself (and others), or any combination thereof. When your money is up, so's your time — the two of you part ways until you've got the cash and willingness to go at it again. And when that time comes, you'll have thousands upon thousands of girls ready to swivel and smile for you in real time. It's a massive catalogue of preening women of every variety: big, skeletal, black, white, Asian, American, Greek, Czech, etc. To find them, look no further than the Big Three of cam girl delight: Streamate, LiveJasmine and MyFreeCams. These three mega-networks advertise across the mainstream porn tube sites of masturbating ubiquity — PornHub, ClipHunter, etc — but are shells and shadows themselves. So how do you get in?Their loved ones definitely know this is what they're doing for a living. She says a few of her friends know about her job and are "kind and understanding and have a sense of humour [sic] about it. She hasn't told her parents because they're not very close, but they're liberal enough that if they found out, she doesn't think they would mind.

Absolutely! Oh my good god! There are so many documentaries that really shit on webcammers, and that really angers me because I don't really think it has anything to do with the webcamming itself. I feel it has to do with the individual, the person. A lot of people end up doing it for money, not necessarily because they enjoy it, and they're made to feel bad about it. I totally feel the opposite. I feel like webcamming is fully me and something I wanted to do; the money was a bonus. "You have 10 minutes of being cute and sexy, and then you better have something to talk about because otherwise the member will not stay," says Andra Chirnogeanu, Studio 20's PR manager. MyFreeCams, one of the most popular of the cam portals, has a domain registered to a Leo Radvinsky, and a legal contact in the Netherlands."I was alone in the room, and it felt like there were hundreds of people around me. And I couldn't keep up with what they were all saying, and what they were asking of me. It was quite shocking. But then I learned to be perceptive about which member was a potential paying customer and not to waste time with all of them in the free online space.

I have considered opening up my profile again a few times since, and very well might once I get over the ‘what will people​ think?’ ​paranoia, and memorise the retort I have planned regarding the government youth unemployment in Australia: With youth unemployment currently sitting around 13%, creating your own job using the resources you already have (in this case, internet connection, webcam, studio lighting and cute knickers) becomes a much more viable option than waiting for callbacks from the 20 resumes you sent out last week. That said, the idea of my future prospects of employability could be damaged if this was discovered, and I do wonder about the percentage of money the site makes versus the percentages the models make.I had the opportunity to watch her cam, and I realized that she has a persona when she’s camming—in the same way that a lot of media people do. It’s not like she’s drastically different, but there’s a version of herself that she shares with people while shes at work in the same way that an actress would go on a talk show and be the sweeter, funnier, more engaged version of herself. She puts on a show, and gives her best, sexiest performance, reading what the client wants, asking questions, and taking directions. All the while, she’s sort of straddling the line between sexual partner, therapist, and moral supporter. It’s a ton of emotional labor—like any type of sex work. I think we often forget that being a sex worker is essentially working in the service industry.An anonymous webcam model did a Reddit AMA where users asked her every question you've ever wished you could ask a webcam girl (and others you probably wouldn't think to ask ever). Here are the most surprising answers. So as I sat there, in front of my laptop, I thought to myself, Why didnt I just respond the way that I normally do when somebody proclaims something which I dont agree with? Why didnt I just say, firmly but reasonably, you are wrong and these are the reasons why… Perhaps it was because it was so personal, that I felt like for once, I wasnt defending femininity as a whole, but just myself. Which on the surface would seem like a less daunting task, but for me it left me stumped. I knew that I was a feminist and it wasnt often that I had to justify myself to anybody. I was used to breaking down all the reasons that men used to justify their behavior. CONTINUED BELOW...

[alexskarsgardnet]

New Interview! Alex Discusses the 10th Anniversary of Generation Kill with HBO!

10 Years After Generation Kill Alexander Skarsgård Is Still 'Frosty' BY ASHLEY MORTON

The actor known for True Blood and Big Little Lies reflects on the miniseries that started it all for him.

HBO: When was the last time you watched Generation Kill?

Alexander Skarsgård: I watched the whole show about two years ago, and I hadn’t seen it since it aired. It was quite emotional and nostalgic to watch the whole thing again.

HBO: It’s been 10 years since the show aired. What are your impressions of it now?

Alexander Skarsgård: The reason I loved it so much, was that it felt so grounded and real. It was so brave of Ed Burns and David Simon to create a show that didn’t revolve around one famous incident; it’s not one huge battle or heroic action. There’s no score, they don’t heighten anything or sensationalize it. To me, it’s the most honest depiction of war I’ve seen in many years. I served in the military in Sweden, and I’ve never been to war, but I can relate to the camaraderie, the hierarchical structure, the lack of information; all of that was so beautifully told in this show.

HBO: What sort of impact did the show have on you?

Alexander Skarsgård: It was such a profound experience. I am where I am in my career today thanks to Gen Kill. It was kind of where it all began for me. Before that, I had done a very small part in Zoolander, but that was it in the States.

When I heard about the show I was already a fan of The Wire, so I knew the people behind it were incredibly talented. And I read the book, and thought it was extraordinary. I was so blown away by Brad “Iceman” Colbert. I knew it was a long shot for them to hire an unknown Swede, but I was very motivated. It was a long and tough exhausting audition process.

HBO: Could you elaborate on what the casting process was like for you

Alexander Skarsgård: It was horrible, personally, because I wanted it so badly! When I auditioned in New York, I didn’t know Alexa [Fogel, casting director], and today she’s one of my closest friends. I auditioned for her in New York, flew to London to audition for the director, Susanna White, then went to Baltimore for Ed and David. I returned to New York, and waited around.

I was on pins and needles every time I got a phone call. I was unemployed, I had no money, and was either going to go home to Sweden for unemployment because my visa for the States was about to expire, or go on incredible adventure seven months in Africa, working on the greatest mini-series. The stakes were very high. My heart would stop every time the phone rang.

And then one day it did ring, and I went back for a fourth callback. Alexa was in my corner and was trying to convince the skeptics. I was up in her office one day, and she basically said, “You owe me a nice lunch if you get this.”

And at the very end, I was at her office, and she basically said, “You owe me a nice lunch, Alex. You’re going to Namibia tomorrow.” It was the craziest moment of my life. I was so happy and terrified and overwhelmed. And within 24 hours, I was on a plane with seven scripts about to go to boot camp and shoot this massive series. It was scary but exhilarating.

HBO: Was it challenging to play a part based on a real person?

Alexander Skarsgård: I felt such a responsibility to get it right. I fell in love with the character; I thought he was the most incredible human, but it was important to make him real and flawed. I didn’t meet Brad Colbert before the show, but I got a pretty good idea of who he was from speaking with [military advisor] Eric Kocher, Rudy Reyes [who plays himself], and [writer] Evan Wright. All of these stories you hear him talk about are real. It’s very personal. Brad is a private guy; he’s not someone who asked for the world to share his stories.

HBO: How did you prep for the part?

Alexander Skarsgård: I remember the moment where I really tapped into Brad and realized exactly how I wanted to play him. Evan was in a Humvee with these guys for five weeks, all the way from Kuwait to Baghdad, and he would record a lot of the conversations. And I discovered the essence of why Brad was called “Iceman” when he played one for me. They’re driving, and taking fire — you can hear bullets ricocheting off the Humvee — and they open up and start firing back. And as Brad’s shooting out the window, he’s talking to Ray [Person] about doing a three-point-turn and avoiding a burn. And the other guys are all screaming, and Brad is so calm — it’s almost like his heart rate slowed down. He is so precise in giving directions to Ray. You can tell he’s stressed, but he’s like, “OK, back up, back up, you’re good,” as he’s being shot. And to me that was Brad.

HBO: Do you remember the first scene you shot?

Alexander Skarsgård: I do, and I was nervous about it. I berate Ray [played by James Ransone] because he f**ked around with a stove and it exploded in the tent. It was a difficult scene because I wanted to find the right tone. Brad had such an ease; he’s not a guy who had to exaggerate the fact that he was in command. It’s an important moment, and it set tone for the dynamic, and that was Day 1.

HBO: Do any other scenes stand out in your memory?

Alexander Skarsgård: When Brad talks about his ex-girlfriend, who is now with his best friend. He does it in a way that’s not melodramatic, it’s just a fact. The emotions register on the other guys in the Humvee, not on him. It’s so beautifully written.

Again, it was important to get the tone right and it was stressful because we were shooting as the sun was setting. By the time we got to the coverage, we only had time for two takes, and I was frustrated because I wasn’t sure if we got it or not. I remember walking away from set being upset, I cared so deeply about that scene. But in hindsight, I think that tension added to the moment.

HBO: What was the atmosphere on set like?

Alexander Skarsgård: The dynamic was as close to as when I was in the military as I’ve ever experienced on a set. There is a lot of hurry up and wait in both the military and on set. And usually, if you’re not active in a scene, you don’t have to be on set, but for Gen Kill, we were all the extras. If there’s a scene between the guys in the third Humvee, you’ll see me walking in the background. So all 40 of us were on set every single day.

It meant that we spent so much time bored together, which is very bonding in a way. When you sit around and bulls**t you really get to know each other. It helped create that chemistry between the characters. If we had we shot in L.A., and people had gone home to their families every night, it would have been different. We lived together in the desert for seven months, and you can feel that when you watch the show. It was the most extraordinary experience of my career to date. I still hang out with all of the guys whenever we’re in the same city.

HBO: What’s your favorite phrase from the show to still say?

Alexander Skarsgård: “Stay frosty.” It’s something Brad would say, which summed up his character a lot. I still use that quite a bit.

Sources/Thanks: Interview:  ASHLEY MORTON for HBO.COM (x), Generation Kill Promotional Photos:  HBO.com (x, x, x),  HBO.Adria (x) & HBO.co.uk (x)  + Behind-the-scenes pic:  SueMichael.com (x)

[doomonfilm]

Review : Doctor Sleep (2019)

When you think about authors that have made an impact on the film industry, it’s hard to think of a name more prolific that Stephen King.  Countless books of his have been adapted into films, with scores more waiting in the wings.  Several of his books went from being single entries to series, and recently, one of his most famous books, The Shining, received a follow-up entry.  2019 saw this follow-up hit the big screen in the form of Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep. 

In the wake of the Overlook Hotel tragedy, Wendy Torrance (Alex Essoe) and her young son Danny (Roger Dale Floyd) have moved to Florida to try and bring normalcy back to their lives.  Danny, who is in a state of shock due to narrowly escaping the Overlook with his life, has not spoken since the incident, but with the help of Dick Hallorann (Carl Lumbly), Danny learns how to trap the ghosts from the Overlook in his head.  Meanwhile, a group known as the True Knot, led by the mysterious Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), seeks those with the Shining in hopes of capturing their essence, which they refer to as Steam.  In 2011, Dan (Ewan McGregor) finds himself in a worse alcoholic state than his father, wandering from city to city in hopes of escaping rock bottom and himself.  As he settles into a small New Hampshire town, he meets Billy (Cliff Curtis), who helps Dan secure work and join an AA group in hopes of cleaning up his life.  At this time, Rose the Hat and her group discover Snakebite Andi (Emily Alyn Lind), a young and talented drifter who uses her Shining talents to teach men who prey on young girls a dangerous lesson, and after a little convincing, Rose convinces Andi to join the True Knot fold.  Eight years pass by, and while Dan is thriving in his attempt at a new life, the True Knot finds themselves starving due to a lack of discovering sources of Steam.  In a drastic measure, the group kidnaps a young boy named Bradley (Jacob Tremblay) and tortures and murders him for Steam, which awakens a young and powerful Shining user named Abra (Kyliegh Curran), causing a ripple effect that connects Abra to Dan.  As Abra urges Dan to assist her in discovering the whereabouts of Bradley and the True Knot, she also makes attempts at getting into Rose’s head, causing a collision course between Dan, Abra, the True Knot, and eventually, the Overlook Hotel.

The way that this film manages to play fan service to both Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick fans is a truly fascinating feat.  Instantly, we are immersed into the familiar world of the Overlook hotel, and the choice to cast actors who resemble the original cast of The Shining immediately washes the viewer in a sense of familiarity.  Much of the expositional backstory need is eliminated because we under the circumstances that led up to where the story begins, and with a basic understanding of what practitioners of the Shining are capable of, the table is set for a wide range of new characters with a wide range of Shining-based powers to explore.  The sense of familiarity to a horror of the past permeates throughout the story, with references from Danny’s past finding their way back into his life, as well as echoes of the past occurring constantly, with Dan replacing Jack Torrance in plenty of iconic situations.

The film pays tons of respect to both King and Kubrick in terms of lore expansion and callback moments.  Giving the Shining an almost Force-like need for balance creates a mystical tug of war between Dan and Abra and the True Knot, with tons of psychic psychological warfare taking place between Shining users in the form of trickery, deception and dangerous traps with real world consequences.  Several interesting ideas are presented during the course of the narrative, many of which I am still dwelling on at the moment.  For example, the idea that technology and medication can dull the gift of the Shining, while not an original idea in terms of ‘mysticism’ and evolution, is presented without the need for heavy-handed examples to be shown.  One line of dialogue that stuck with me involved Dan mentioning to Abra about Tony being his imaginary friend, to which Abra responds that she thought Dan was her imaginary friend... does this mean that Tony is a real person that Dan never got the opportunity to cross paths with, simply because he didn’t understand his power at the time?  The idea that the Overlook cycles its victims through the numerous roles it casts its ghost in is also a fascinating one, as Jack replaces Lloyd, and Dan ultimately replaces Jack.

Normally, I wouldn’t go for what could be boiled down to big-budget fan-fiction, but execution of Doctor Sleep checks every box I imagine I would have.  The use of a nearly identical score keeps the ominous energy of The Shining present, but the bigger world expands the sense of danger.  Watching characters in the film return to the Overlook is crazy, as the callbacks to locations throughout are stunning and startling in terms of the way the original look and energy is re-created... sort of like a nostalgia aesthetic was the idea.  For fans of Kubrick’s interpretation of The Shining, and those who noticed its obvious influence on King’s dive into Doctor Sleep as a novel, this film is an answer to their prayers.

Ewan McGregor and his attempts at controlling his fear of what he’s capable of are portrayed well, especially with the red herring of alcoholism being the possible issue in his life (at least to strangers).  Kyliegh Curran does a great job of exuding confidence and curiosity in her powers that she does not fully understand, which in turn gets her in over her head before she realizes.  Rebecca Ferguson is captivating as Rose the Hat, using a magnetic personality to draw people into her fold.  Cliff Curtis is a solid representation for the support system that McGregor seeks, as well as serving as an audience avatar in a world full of mystic characters.  Emily Alyn Lind and Zahn McClarmon are standout members of the True Knot, paralleling off of one another as a showboat and someone who plays their cards close to the chest.  Carl Lumbly, Alex Essoe, Henry Thomas and Roger Dale Floyd manage to ring the bells of familiarity in their roles as the iconic characters from The Shining, and do so without upsetting our train of thought or enjoyment of the film.  Appearances by Bruce Greenwood, Jocelin Donahue, Zackary Momoh, Jacob Tremblay, the numerous members of the True Knot, and a cameo by Danny Lloyd round things out.

This film surprised me, despite there not being much definitive out in terms of critical or crowd reaction.  I went into it expecting to enjoy the experience, but I was surprised that Doctor Sleep left the impression on me that it did.  Look for this one to more than likely end up in my top ten of the year.

[comicteaparty]

December 9th-December 15th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from December 9th, 2019 to December 15th, 2019.  The chat focused on Thirteenth Child by Sergio Ragno.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Thirteenth Child by Sergio Ragno~! (http://thirteenthchild.net/ThirteenthChild/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until December 15th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What moment related to theme of vengeance and revenge did you like the most and why? Overall, what do you think we can learn from the characters and story about the role of vengeance and revenge in our lives?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. How much of what’s going on behind the scenes do you think Alicia Graves actually knows? Is she just someone’s pawn as others have suggested? Also, what will she do now with many of her enemy’s exposed?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. What do you think Queen’s goals actually are, and how is she intending to achieve them? What do you think Queen will do now that the plague sample is out of her grasp? In other words, what’s her future role in the story?

RebelVampire

1) My favorite scene in the comic so far is probably when everything was going haywire at the gala event and everyone gets to the room to steal the sample but surprise, it's already gone. I just liked the delivery of the reveal of that in a lot of ways, since it was both fitting for Lisa while also just leading to a nice dramatic computer screen punch. Plus, given how much had gone wrong to that point, I was glad to see something go right for on Lisa's end. 2) The moment I liked the most in regards to the theme of vengeance was actually that moment where Lisa got recruited by Queen and she was just kind of sitting there like a grump. While not the most poignant moment regarding the theme persay, I did find it fitting in the retrospect. I feel this story and characters kind of promotes the idea that vengeance and revenge won't fill whatever empty void is inside you. So seeing Lisa in that initial kind of dead woman walking state I think really captured the essence of that, in that her path was not one that was ever going to make her happy.

3) My favorite character at the moment is definitely Darius. I love the sunglasses design for him. And I like that he has this strange mix of moral compass fixed on justice while at the same time being kind of smarmy. He's like the sort of "good guy" who you aren't actually sure you want to root for, until push comes to shove and you see he actually is kind of a stand-up guy. And I like that his character keeps you on edge like that. 4) Honestly, I don't think Alicia Graves knows jack of what's really going on. I'm not sure if I'd say she was a pawn, persay, as I don't think the people who do know everything actually have that strict of a control on her. However, she's definitely being used. So while I'm sure she has some idea about the Plague situation etc., I think she's not fully capable of understanding the origins or ramifications of what's going on around her through other people. Now that her enemies are clearer, though, I feel she will take steps to release herself from that used status. But that being said,, I kind of feel like she might go deeper on the villain side for a while, where she becomes really self-focused on getting what she wants, and then ya know, gets into trouble with everyone.

5) There's a lot of nice ones, but I'm a big fan of the middle panel on this page http://thirteenthchild.net/ThirteenthChild/index.php/comic/thirteenth-child-the-simulation/ I really love the machine design of the opponent. But what really sells the image for me is the bright blue moon(?) in the background. It adds a really nice pop of color that draws your eye in, and I think it creates a great contrast to create a sort of action-y mood at is were. 6) I think Queen's goal is kind of as she has said: she wants to destroy the current government. If I had to take a guess of what she's going to do, it's probably build an army strong enough to grab essential resources that will cripple the government until their demands are met. And then she'll probably eradicate the current system and potentially go for a more socialism route. As for what Queen will do now, she's definitely gonna hunt Ghost. I do not think Queen will take the events sitting down, and Queen seems like some super, super obsessed with revenge and like she's the type who will hold an eternal grudge. So Ghost is definitely gonna find herself hunted.

Alex_makes_comics

1) I am not super far into this comic yet, but so far I really enjoyed the shift from the action sequence at the beginning to the cool first day at work scene. It was nice to transition into stillness from motion. Likewise, I then like the introduction of all the new sassy friends. Basically, I think this comic does transitions really well, and I like the continual shifts in tone at the beginning.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. What exactly is Mary/the Crimson Star? How did Mary come to be, especially given the information we have via the flashback? Will Mary return, and if so, what will the others do?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. What do you think the Order of the Plague will do now given the events of the most recent chapter? Can Lisa still trust them given Darius is intercepted by the CIA?

RebelVampire

7) I probably like seeing Plague/XIII and Lisa interact the most. They have a really interesting past history together despite not meeting in person until later. And I'm interested in how their similar but different views create conflict. Mostly, though, I think they make a very good duo who play off of each other really well. 8) I feel like the Crimson Star is some sort of AI machine that was created by Mary and was given her memories in a lot of ways. However, I think the process was flawed so it's basically a separate entity that just has Mary's motivational drives that compel it onward. Since I imagine this was maybe a failsafe measure given the sorts of experiments going on. We definitely have not seen the last of Mary, cause Mary seems to be a master class boss here. Granted, I imagine it'll take a while for Mary to get a new body.

9) I really like the story's attention to past details and how it brings them up later on. For example, the arcade cabinet that Lisa notices in one chapter actually hiding the secret entrance to a base. I really love callbacks like this since it works in comedy in ways that are actually relevant to the story. 10) I think the Order of the Plague is going to be kind of split in goals. I think half of them are going to try to find Plague and Lisa, since i don't feel either of them will be cooperating or making their intentions known. The other half I feel will be delving into the bigger boss villains territory with the CIA. Also no, Lisa should not trust them. The CIA is never good news. They are bad news bears, and at the end even if the Order doesn't mean it, the CIA is likely to stab everyone in the back.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. What do you think Lisa and Plague/XIII’s next move will be, and what exactly will be their end game goals? How do you think the two will continued to be effected by the diseases and powers they possess?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. Why do you think Lisa’s mother let Lisa think she’s been dead all these years, and what does this have to do with her role in the CIA? Also, what is the CIA’s interest in the current events of the story?

RebelVampire

11) I think this comic's strengths are what I mentioned for details. It's super good at weaving past history into present history and managing multiple plot threads. I never feel like I need to worry about anything getting dropped, and that gives me a sense of security while reading the story that things would eventually get answers. 12) I feel like Lisa and XIII are going to end up going to some gov facilities to do some research more into what's even inside of them, if they can. And also to make sure to remove a lot of people from positions of power that they're abusing. I think in terms of end game goals, I think it's just to stop a lot of corruption and then probably go into hiding (at least for Lisa). Although I think at the end they will have hard lives in general. Even if they succeed 100% in all their other goals, their powers will always make them targets, so they're kind of doomed for a life on the run unless they kind find a "cure."

13) I am most looking forward to finding out wtf Lisa's mom has been up to and what the CIA wants. Cause those are player's I didn't expect to roll up into the story at all. 14) Speaking of the above, I assume Lisa's mom was summoned for some super duper undercover mission that only she could do for some reason, and she was like "It's fine Lisa can take care of herself." And so she went to do that and since Lisa was kind of loosely fine she just continued to work with the CIA and became the big boss. And it's the CIA. Of course they're interested in what are basically super weapons. I mean their entire job is about protecting national interests, and the last thing you want is for the wrong people to get their hands on super peeps.

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Thirteenth Child this week! Please also give a special thank you to Sergio Ragno for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Thirteenth Child, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://thirteenthchild.net/ThirteenthChild/

Sergio’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SergeXIII

Sergio’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/sergexiii

Sergio’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sergexiii