#perfect balance of moral story and giant monster

[bananafire11]

More godzilla minus one doodles (ft. Legendary)

[archive-of-artprompts]

Send in a character trope and I'll draw or write an OC/Character with that prompt

tropes from tvtropes

All-Loving Hero - A heroic character whose love and compassion are unlimited.

The Antagonist - Opposes The Protagonist.

Anthropomorphic Personification - Living, roughly hominoid embodiments of abstract concepts.

Anti-Hero - A morally questionable hero who lacks conventional heroic qualities.

Blind Seer - Physically blind, but "sees" with other means.

Blue-Collar Warlock - Modern, street-smart spellcasters.

Bruiser with a Soft Center - Tough characters are capable of having soft hearts.

The Champion - A character devoted to sticking up for another character.

A Chat with Satan - A character tests whether the hero would enact their darker desires if tempted.

The Chosen One - The ancient prophecy says that only a certain person can save the world.

Classic Villain - A villain who acts as an evil foil to the hero's personality and is a main block to his journey towards his destiny.

The Conscience - A character that acts as another one's moral guide.

The Corrupter - A villain who tempts people into doing evil things.

The Cynic - Someone who always has low expectations for everything.

Demiurge Archetype - Someone evil pretending to be the setting's Top God.

Dumb Muscle - Lots of brawn, short on brains.

Eccentric Mentor - A mentor who is quirky, yet still wise and skilled.

Enigmatic Empowering Entity - A mysterious character who grants great power.

Evil Overlord - An incredibly powerful, highly influential despot who is usually the Big Bad of the story.

The Fair Folk - Fairies have Blue-and-Orange Morality.

False Prophet - A savior or religious figure, or someone posing as such, lying for selfish reasons.

Father Neptune - An old, gritty, experienced sailor.

The Ferryman - A mythical figure whose boat is used as a vehicle to transport people to Other Worlds.

Fool for Love - Tough, and possibly cynical, but still a sucker for love.

Gentle Giant - An imposing and scary but kind-hearted Big Guy.

The Good King - A king who is good at his job and beloved by the people.

Granny Classic - A wise, nurturing, and reliable grandmother.

The Grotesque - A character's ugliness is so extreme that it elicits pity instead of disgust.

Herald - What sends The Hero on their journey.

The Hero's Idol - The character who inspires The Hero to follow their path.

Heroic Wannabe - Wants to be a hero, but lacks the skills and/or mindset for actual heroism.

The High Queen - A woman of wealth, power, near-impossible beauty, and a calm demeanor.

Higher Self - A character's wiser, dettached side.

Hunter of Monsters - Someone who hunts and kills monsters and supernatural creatures.

Ideal Hero - A morally perfect hero.

The Idealist - A character defined by their hopefulness in the present and the future.

Ineffectual Loner - A capable but solitary character whose efficiency is limited by their lack of friends.

Jeanne d'Archétype - A young, soldier woman who is seen as her cause's symbol.

The Kirk - The balancer/combination of logic and emotion.

The Klutz - A character whose defining trait is clumsiness.

Knight in Shining Armor - A hero who champions the weak and innocent, especially women in distress.

Loser Archetype - A character whose disgrace comes from their lack of talent/skill.

Lovable Rogue - A charming, likeable trickster.

Madonna Archetype - Humble mother figure modeled after the Virgin Mary.

The McCoy - The emotional and sentimentalistic character.

Mentor Archetype - Someone whose role is to ensure The Hero's Character Development.

Messianic Archetype - Someone who endures great sacrifices to save others.

Mock Millionaire - A millionaire wannabe.

Modern Major General - Can do anything well except their actual job.

My Girl Back Home -The loved one who The Hero leaves when going on an adventure.

Old Soldier - Military Old Master.

The Paladin - Holy knight with healing and defensive powers and light based magic.

The Paragon - An embodiment of virtue who inspires others to help society.

The Patriarch - A male elder with the highest authority in his family.

Person of Mass Destruction - A person with massively devastating abilities.

The Pollyanna - A character who remains optimistic no matter what may happen to them.

Powers That Be - Almighty, powerful, and invisible forces.

Princess Classic - An innocent, good and kind princess.

The Protagonist - The character whom the story is about.

Rebel Leader - The character who leads La Résistance.

Rebellious Spirit - A character who doesn't abide by the rules.

Reluctant Monster - An Always Chaotic Evil species is oblivious/reluctant to their deeds.

Satanic Archetype - An evil-doer modelled after Satan.

Seeker Archetype - A character whose main motivation is to learn a certain truth.

Shadow Archetype - A character embodies another character's rejected facets.

Sidekick - The ever-reliable Number Two guy to every hero.

The Spock - The logical intellectual.

Star-Crossed Lovers - Lovers doomed to be kept apart.

The Storyteller - A character who tells tales and sometimes is the narrator.

The Trickster - A cunning character who disregards the rules.

[recentanimenews]

RECS: The 5 Best Anime To Watch If You Love That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

  With That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime having wrapped up its second season, fans have some waiting to do before we get more Slime. But there’s still plenty of anime to tide you over until the recently announced movie comes out. There’s been no shortage of fantasy world shows over the past few years, after all, so even if they don’t all star a lovable slime, there’s still plenty of alternatives for fans to sink their teeth into.

  The Slime Diaries

    First up is the obvious: The Slime Diaries. In case you missed it when it aired this spring, The Slime Diaries is a spinoff of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime that asks one question: What are Rimuru and co. doing when they’re not fighting demon lords and navigating geopolitics? Their day-to-day antics and challenges are what The Slime Diaries is all about. Part of Slime's charm has always been Rimuru’s interactions with their friends and the rapport that builds between everyone in Tempest. The Slime Diaries is a chance for that to really take center stage without the characters having to jump from crisis to crisis. If you ever wanted to see Rimuru teach everyone about Christmas or try to pick out a swimsuit for a beach day, then The Slime Diaries should be right up your alley.

  So I'm a Spider, So What?

    Next up is another show about someone being reincarnated in a less than expected form: So I’m a Spider, So What? Like Slime, Spider features a protagonist who wakes up having been reincarnated as a spider monster and has to learn to navigate the world in this form. The protagonist, nicknamed Kumoko, is an even bigger otaku than Rimuru and throws out all sorts of fun references and in-jokes as she learns about her new world (while also doing her best to not get eaten by everything she encounters). Half the fun of Spider comes from Kumoko’s reactions to all the predicaments she finds herself in, from being surrounded by a mob of giant monkeys to spinning her first web and learning that frogs are delicious. Spider takes the same slightly offbeat approach to fantasy worlds as Slime, which it balances with some of the familiar beats fans of the genre have grown to expect. All in all, it’s a perfect show to follow up with after you finish Slime.

  Maoyu

  Maoyu (AKA Maoyu Maou Yuusha) is another great pick if you like political drama. From the creator of Log Horizon, Maoyu initially seems like a traditional anime fantasy where the Hero’s on a quest to defeat the Demon King. Only the Demon King turns out to be the Demon Queen and she’s more interested in working with the Hero to bring lasting peace for both humans and demons. Her plans involve spreading new ideas and changing society from within so that any peace agreement can last rather than lead to infighting. Maoyu has the same emphasis on nation-building and political intrigue as Slime's later story arcs, particularly once the Hero and the Demon Queen start running up against established rulers who favor maintaining the status quo. All in all, it’s another great follow-up to Slime, particularly if you also liked Log Horizon.

  Overlord

  If Slime's occasional one-sided battles are your thing, you can’t go wrong with Overlord. Overlord's another show where the main character, Ainz, finds himself trapped in a game-like world — only he also has all his progress and minions from when it was still a game. Being a max-level player with a fortress full of powerful minions and weapons, Ainz is basically unbeatable. Overlord can be a ton of fun if you’re looking for popcorn entertainment, one-sided battles, and main characters with a more villainous bent. Overlord is the perfect pick if you’ve been enjoying Rimuru’s morally grey decisions of late, and with three seasons, there’s plenty of episodes to watch, too.

  KONOSUBA -God's blessing on this wonderful world!

  And finally, if you’re in the mood for something that parodies fantasy world stories even more directly than Slime, there’s KONOSUBA -God's blessing on this wonderful world!. KONOSUBA is a straight-up comedy, the type where any moment that isn’t a punchline is setting up the next joke. Everything, from the premise (main character dies of shock after trying to push someone out of the way of a slow-moving tractor) to the cast of bumbling adventurers is designed to play off fantasy world tropes. It's an even more offbeat take on the genre but scratches the same itch when it comes to humor. If your favorite part of Slime was seeing Demon Lord Milim be bad at Demon Lord-ing, you should give KONOSUBA a try. Nothing’s better when you’re looking for a good laugh.

  These are just a few of the options to fill the hole while you wait for the Slime movie to come out next year. There’s never any shortage of anime to watch out there, and even when your favorite season of a show ends, you can always find something to fill the void for the time being.

  What are you watching after Slime? Let me know in the comments!

      Skyler loves writing and chatting about anime, and is always ready to gush about the latest One Piece chapter. Read more of his work at his blog apieceofanime.com and follow him on Twitter at Videogamep3.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Skyler Allen

[metalandmagi]

Summer 2020 Anime Worth Watching!

Apparently it’s time for the summer anime season, even though it feels like time is meaningless at this point. But somehow, there are still new shows coming out, so if you’re looking for something to watch when you’re stuck at home, here’s a list of the first impressions I got from this season. I don’t really know if it’s going to be worth it, considering how the spring season delayed so much, but here we are. 

As always, not all of these are available on Crunchyroll, but I’ll put a * next to the ones that are.

And if you’re looking for a bit more variety, I have lists for 2019 and the rest of this year’s seasons too...because remember when there was good anime being released instead of just everything being an ecchi or a second season?

2019 master list

My master list for every season of 2020 anime

New Shows!

*The God of High School: An over the top action anime consisting of one big tournament arc! It follows a group of teenagers competing in the epic “god of high school” martial arts tournament to determine the best fighter in the country. Following in the footsteps of Tower of God, this is the newest “crunchyroll original” that is being adapted from a South Korean webcomic. You can tell from the first episode that this will be a spectacle with crazy characters and lots of wild action and humor!

Great Pretender: When a Japanese con man pickpockets the wrong person, he ends up hopping on a plane to Los Angeles and getting wrapped up in a scheme with a sassy Frenchman named Laurent...who basically runs the mafia. There’s humor, there’s plot, there’s great characters, and it’s kinda gay. It’s an exciting original anime from studio Wit, so the animation is bursting with character, and both the music and the general vibe remind me a lot of Baccano or even Lupin III. And since it takes place in America with several foreign characters, there's hilarious English and accent shenanigans abound! The bad news is it’s still in Netflix jail, so if you want to watch it legally you’re kinda stuck for now. 

Japan Sinks 2020: A giant earthquake hits Japan, and a family must cope with the mayhem together. Because what the hell else could possibly go wrong this year? This is a new series (based on a novel) made by Masaaki Yuasa, the guy behind Ride Your Wave and Walk On Girl, if that tells you anything about the style of this anime. I’ve only watched the first two episodes so far, but I heard it goes from being a gripping realistic disaster series to a balls to the wall adventure. To be honest, disaster shows/movies freak me out, and this one is pretty devastating so far, which is a testament to how well it's made. But I appreciate that they include glimmers of hope when they’re needed. The best moments are the quiet ones that focus on the actual people and the narration that juxtaposes the time periods. There’s so much atmosphere, and the music really enhances the experience. And it’s all out on Netflix now, with a dub and a sub!

Deca-Dence: When humanity has been pushed to the edge of extinction by monsters called the Gadoll, the rest of civilization is forced to live in enormous mobile fortresses and send groups out to battle the unknown monsters. So basically like Mortal Engines but the fortresses can turn themselves into giant fists and punch the monsters. We follow a girl named Natsume who wants to be one of the soldiers who fight the Gadoll, but she is constantly rejected because of her prosthetic arm. So she ends up with five years of cleaning duty supervised by a stern but mysterious badass named Kaburagi. I honestly don’t care at all about the plot of the anime, because for me the characters are what drives everything, and these character dynamics are great. I’m not going to say it’s the most original story, but I think it’s fun so far. 

*Rent-a-Girlfriend: A typical harem/romance anime that follows the world’s most annoying protagonist named Kazuya. After Kazuya is dumped by his first girlfriend, he seeks out a rental girlfriend out of self pity….BECAUSE APPARENTLY THAT’S A REAL SERVICE THAT EXISTS IN JAPAN?! Like you can actually rent moms/dads/girlfriends/boyfriends and so on. Anyway, his fake girlfriend is the picture of anime waifu perfection...until Kazuya starts being his typical asshole self and she reveals her true nature of being an absolute sass master who don’t take no shit from no boring ass main character. Shenanigans happen and the two of them end up having to pretend they are in a real relationship. And I’m just calling it now...Kazuya’s grandma is the real best girl of the series. If you want a harem that’s actually funny and doesn’t mind roasting the protagonist, give this one a shot. Although I wish this were just a straight up romance instead of a harem because there is no way in hell that any girl, let alone more than one would want actually to date this guy. 

Next Seasons and Continuations!

*Fruits Basket 2019 (Season 2): Thank goodness Fruits Basket wasn’t delayed or cancelled last season because sometimes I feel like it was the only thing getting me through the spring. I’ve ranted about how good it is enough by now. If it can’t brighten your year, then nothing will. Just watch it if you haven’t already. 

*Re:ZERO-Starting Life in Another World (Season 2): Subaru is still trapped in another world, and he’s still as angsty as ever, but that’s not going to stop him from constantly putting himself through hell when he keeps dying horribly every time he needs to reset the timeline! There are mysterious new villains, nobody knows who Rem is (again) and I think there’s a plot somewhere under all the suffer porn. Seriously though, this show is pretty cool (even if I was two years late to the party). It’s one of the most interesting isekai anime I’ve ever seen, and it feels like it’s acting as a deconstruction of the genre, kinda like how Madoka Magica is for magical girl anime...both shows certainly have enough crying. The story is weird but interesting, the world building is cool, the villains (and sometimes the heroes) are batshit crazy to watch, and I like its moments of humor. 

No Guns Life (season 2): The story of Juzo, the hard boiled detective who plays by his own rules continues in the second season of No Guns Life. In case you missed the first season, this is a mystery/action anime that feels like an old noir film had a cyberpunk baby. There’s underground conspiracies, there’s interesting side characters, and...oh yeah the main character has a gun for a head. That’s right. we came to see a bara detective with a literal gun for a face, but we stayed for the world building and mysterious plots!

*Fire Force (Season 2): I’m going to be honest here, I really didn’t know if I should include this one or not. I have a major love hate relationship with Fire Force, but I figured there may be other people out there who would like it more than I do. So in case you missed the first season, this show follows a group of firefighters who puts out fires caused by spontaneous combustion using a mixture of guns and super powers. It was created by Atsushi Ōkubo, aka the guy who made Soul Eater. So it’s bound to be amazing right?

Not necessarily. Strap in for this one lads. 

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with this show overall. Its main characters just aren’t that interesting most of the time, it can’t decide on what kind of show it wants to be, and so much of it just dragged for a good part of the series. I don’t know if it was a problem of pacing or if the plot was just that uninteresting for a while. The first couple episodes set up a very unique plot, filled with intriguing moral dilemmas. And then it proceeded to abandon everything interesting in favor of badly timed fan-service. It just couldn’t strike the balance that Soul Eater had between its humor and its sincerity. If they wanted to make an ecchi show, they should have just made one instead of inserting the same overplayed scenarios into every episode. I don’t care if a show has fan-service as long as it fits the tone, or if it only has certain episodes dedicated to playing up the humor. But Fire Force has a habit of just inserting it wherever it wants regardless of what’s actually happening in the episode. Also, some of the humor revolves around one of the main female characters who has a really messed up self image because she’s slightly more muscular, and not a tiny delicate flower like some of the other girls. Not going to pretend that doesn’t bug me. 

But that doesn’t mean there is nothing good about it! If there wasn’t, I wouldn’t have finished the first season, and I wouldn’t be including this one. So far, the second season has actually been funny because it made the first episode more like filler, instead of cramming in too much plot all at once. And to the surprise of no one, the animation is absolutely god tier. I wish it was being used for something other than clumsy fan-service, but it’s still really something to see. The world building is super creative and 100% my aesthetic, and there were a couple side characters I really loved later in the series (Benimaru). And I did like the twists and turns the series took later in the season when it actually focused on the conspiracy behind the fire force and the cult. When it follows the mysteries it sets up, it’s more fun to watch. Who would have thought? 

TLDR: There’s good stuff and there’s bad stuff. This show is really something you have to watch for yourself to decide if it’s going to be worth it. I’m going to at least try the second season, because I want to see where this goes, but it’s on thin ice. 

Honorable Mentions

Isekai edition! Both of these came out last season, but I hadn’t mentioned them when I made my spring list. But they’re both getting dubs now so I’m still counting them.

*My Next Life as a Villainess- All Routes Lead to Doom!: A twist on the isekai genre where our main protagonist wakes up as a character in her favorite otome game...only to find that she’s actually the bitchy rival side character who ends up either dead or exiled in every route of the game. So naturally she does everything she can to prevent this by becoming a sweet and caring supporting character...who inadvertently makes every single other character in the game fall in love with her. I ignored this show for the first few episodes because I need another isekai in the world like I need a hole in the head, but after hearing everyone rave about it, I caught up with it in no time. It’s a fun take on the otome game tropes, and it manages to be funny and sweet while not committing to any particular pairing.

*Ascendance of a Bookworm (Season 2): That’s right, it’s another isekai where an adult is reincarnated into the body of a child in a fantasy world. But this time, it’s a nerdy girl whose entire purpose in life revolves around reading books (can relate). However, when our main character Mine is thrust into this fantasy world, she quickly realizes that this particular fantasy setting is a little too...medieval  for her tastes...meaning a family of commoners like hers would have no clue how to read and books are only meant for rich people or the church. So of course Mine has to figure out how to either get her hands on some books or make them herself. This is a super cute show that I waited a long time to finally watch, and since the second season is finally being dubbed I wanted to shout it out. It’s just a wholesome isekai version of Dr. Stone. There’s no real action, but it’s a relaxing watch if nothing else. 

Well, there you have it. Hopefully nothing else gets delayed or cancelled because it’s pretty slim pickings as it is. And before anyone asks, I didn’t include GIBIATE because I thought it was a massive disappointment that somehow made a time travel horror anime plot boring. There’s also My Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu, but it’s been 5 years since I watched the other seasons and don’t remember anything about it. But there’s that too in case anyone is a fan of the series and didn’t know it got another season. 

See you next season…if the world is still here by then?

[comic-panels]

Comic Review – Mister Miracle

Darkseid has often been presented as THE big bad for large DC Comics events. Much like how the Marvel Movies used Thanos (Thanos is basically a mashup of Darkseid and Metron). He is the existential threat, the final boss and because it's comic books he is an evil rock monster in space that Superman can punch. Darkseid can fill that role fine, but in comics I would say he suffers from overplay. It's hard to remain scary when you lose so many times.

More modern comics (Specifically Grant Morrison's work) have explored the Darkseid as a more internal threat. 

"Darkseid is."

Really playing on the pun of his name, he is the dark side of everyone. As with a lot of Jack Kirby’s work, Darkseid is both metaphor and supremely literal and frankly I think the magic of superhero comics lies in that duality. The part that’s metaphor allows them to be relatable and inspiring, but looking at them as pure metaphor and they break down. The X-Men don’t work as a representational metaphor because being gay doesn’t make you a living weapon who can murder people by looking at them, but it also can work because it can feel like that’s how the world treats you. Ideally there’s a balance.

Also there’s part where Darkseid is a joke.

My first experience with Darkseid was in Superman the Animated Series where he was a legitimately intimidating villain both because of the great voicework by Michael Ironside, and because the actions he took and their real impact.

But as a recurring existential threat he falls flat. Because he's pure evil, he's immutable. He's inflexible.

"Darkseid is."

Maybe that’s not fair. I think he can be a good recurring threat, but often isn’t because resolving a conflict with him takes a certain tact. As scary as he is, as powerful as he is, he’s a villain in Superhero comics. If it comes down to a fight he is going to lose. Superman will win that 1 on 1.

Darkseid as an in your face threat can fall flat because that pure good vs pure evil beat down is straightforward. Where Darkseid shines as a villain is in the shadows. The puppet master pulling the string. Because then Darkseid isn’t just a giant evil rock man in space for Superman to punch, he is also Granny Goodness, Desad, Kalibak, Lex Luthor, and every two bit crook along the way. He is every pain along the way, every compromise, every dark thought, every mistake, every failure.

“Darkseid is.”

But Darkseid is also a literal evil rock man in a skirt. And a joke. So the other way Darkseid really works is when he shows up on your couch.

“Darkseid is.”

Sometimes it’s just a comfy chair or handing you your McDonalds order but the point is he’s just there in the mundane part of the character’s life. His evil permeates everything and because he’s a literal evil rock monster from space sometimes that means an evil eight foot rock monster in a skirt is sitting in your house waiting for you when you get home. “Couchseid” he is sometimes called.

The reason I went through all that is that’s the thoughts and feelings I had about Darkseid going into this comic. The baggage of expectation and desire I had going in. And before I get into the details I just want to say that this comic completely nails this idea. In fact the entire comic embodies it, extending it out to the entire Fourth World. Contrasting the high fantasy war of good and evil Gods with the mundanity of normal life at every level.

Ok, now let’s dig into Mister Miracle.

Mister Miracle written by Tom King with art by Mitch Gerads and lettering by Clayton Cowles opens with Mister Miracle bleeding out in his bathroom having slit his wrists in a suicide attempt. That’s where we start.

“Darkseid is.”

Jack Kirby’s New Gods #1 opens with an epilogue. “There came a time when the old Gods Died!” That’s where we start.

Mister Miracle is a book about dealing with trauma and the trauma at the heart of The New Gods is the exchange; where Darkseid and Highfather exchanged sons to end a vicious war and bring peace to their worlds. This is the first comic I’ve seen question if that exchange was worth it. What does it say about Highfather that he was willing to sacrifice his infant son and condemn him to hell, even though that meant saving countless lives?

This comic can do that because this version of Mister Miracle, Scott Free, is so clearly suffering from abuse and trauma and PTSD and this version of Orion is such a jerk and unheroic.

For Scott and Big Barda the Earth is their home, they have an apartment there, they have normal domestic concerts. Being New Gods and fighting in that war is their day job. But for Orion that war is his life. He is single minded in his desire to destroy Darkseid and his own moral authority. He sees only in absolutes. He’s a cartoon, and in the real world that makes him a monster.

“Darkseid is.”

So there’s another aspect of Mister Miracle that I haven’t talked about that I love and that all starts with Funky Flashman.

Funky Flashman is Jack Kirby’s parody of Stan Lee. Well, of the public persona of Stan Lee. He’s out here shouting “ Excelsior!” and whatnot. Tom King and Mitch Gerads make the most of getting to have Stan Lee in their comic. The whole other layer to Mister Miracle beyond its plot is that it’s also a tremendous tribute to Kirby himself, including his work at Marvel. It’s extra crazy that that made it into this DC comic.

There’s Scott Free’s trial, which takes place in his apartment, that can be read as Kirby up against Steve Ditko’s objectivist beliefs. But the most blatant and amazing is a retelling of The Coming of Galactus and its place within this story. This is legitimately one of my favorite things in any comic I’ve ever read.

It just makes me so happy.

Mister Miracle is a comic I can’t get out of my head. It has so many perfect moments, whether they’re heartbreaking and tragic or uplifting and life affirming; emotional or frivolous, serious or hilarious. It knocks it out of the park on every front. It’s an unbelievable piece of craft.

Back to Darkseid.

In Kirby’s Fourth World Good is always stronger than Evil. That’s foundational. Superman is going to win. Darkseid eventually loses no matter how scary or intimidating he is. But...

“Darkseid is.”

He’s also pernicious and enduring. Ultimately, punches alone aren’t going to solve him. There is some catharsis in that. That’s how Superman: The Animated Series ended; with Superman pummeling Darkseid into submission. But it’s not quite what you want, or at least it’s not quite enough. What’s the answer to “Darkseid is?” What’s the counterpoint? “Darkseid is” is the setup, but you need a punchline.

At the end of Mister Miracle we get exactly that. It’s simple and perfect.

Mister Miracle written by Tom King with art by Mitch Gerads and lettering by Clayton Cowles is a masterpiece and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

So it goes.

Thank You For Your Time.

[lovestruck-au]

That Part About Apples And Families

A sweet, little, family reunion! Sounds fun doesn’t it?

Not for Lorencia.

1. Dawn | 2. Ross | 4. That feeling

Abusive parents in this one!

There’s that saying, that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Basically, it means that kids aren’t that different from their parents. No matter if it’s look, character, morality or simply the way someone wash their hands. In psychology it’s said that children reflect parental behaviour, which is fully reasonable. After all a child will do everything it’s parent does from an early age.

Christian Taylor knew this very well. It was a common knowledge for a psychologist, especially for one usually working with children. He studied psychology on Dawn Hat’s University of Heroes, focusing more on child psychology, wanting to help children. He was doing this for his little sister.

Chris was young, finished his studies barely one year ago. He could look inexperienced (even if he wasn’t). Yet, he still got that big occasion for money, very subtle case which couldn’t get into media. He wouldn’t get any visible experience, but he’ll be able to keep his flat for whole next year at least!

Well, at least that’s what he hoped for.

This whole thing seemed weird from the start. From the first second after Alton Ayers, head of the Silver Sword contacted him. Silver Sword was a hero organization, one of the biggests in the world at this moment, so it was obvious Chris had to be silent about it. He agreed almost immediately, because mr. Alton offered him half of his payment before meeting with the child and was taken to the Silver Sword’s special facility. He wasn’t even sure where it was.

He was able to meet Dawn Hat and Lin Hakki there but, as excited as he got upon being able to actually shake their hands, it kept getting weirder and weirder. Why would they come here if it was the Silver Sword’s inside thing? If they were here then it meant this whole case was way bigger than Chris thought.

He got kid’s documents right before entering their room with Alton and Sayuri Ayers and didn’t even have time to read all of them. He only managed something about a kidnaping and brainwashing.

And a name.

Right now Christian Taylor was standing, dumbfounded, with a clipboard in his hand, looking at Miki Ayers. The daughter of Mr. and Ms. Ayers, who was badly injured around six years ago. The girl everyone basically forget a month after the accident. The girl who should be sixteen right now, at least Chris thought so. He wasn’t really interested in that story back then.

A young woman to whom her parents called a child psychologist.

“Sweetie!” Sayuri Ayers, Miki’s mother, called to her. There was relief obvious in her voice and Chris wasn’t surprised. According to the documents he was holding in his hands Miki was gone for two years already, not even one time contacting with her parents. Yet, the mother didn’t even flinch toward her daughter.

The old saying came back to Christian right then. Miki was so similar to her mother. Black hair kept neatly in tight ponytail, thin, petty silhouette, long legs… they had even similar dresses on them, although the one wore by Miki seemed more childish. Pink, with a flower on her side and a big bow in her hair.

But that wasn’t everything. Miki’s face wasn’t as close to Sayuri as it was to her father, Alton. Her face wasn’t round, it was still soft, yes, but more pointy on edges, with strong cheekbones and a mole under her left eye.

Even her posture was more similar to her father that mother. She stood strong, straight, looking at her parents with high lifted head. From time to time she was peeking at the giant, violet teddy behind her, like if worried someone would take it away. So, that was her comfort thing then.

“You look just perfect” continued Sayuri, with an excited voice. Miki only scowled at the compliment. Somehow it didn’t change how pretty her face was.

“What do you say when someone compliment you?” Mr. Ayers sounded like it was something normal to scold the girl for him. With his wide, muscular chest, reminding how some heroes looked like, and ringing voice even Chris had to flinch. He was surprised Miki didn’t.

“Of course I look perfect” snarled Miki. “You gave me the exact same dress and hairstyle you have.”

Her words drew sighs from her parents. But, well, she had a point - thought Christian.

“At least you finally look like a girl” argued Ms. Ayers. “I don’t know what did you think, young lady like you shouldn’t dress in such an awful, old clothes.”

Miki looked like she will erupt in a second but was trying to hold back. And they were people who didn’t see each other for two years? A girl who was kidnapped and her parents who were worried about her wellbeing?

“Let’s calm down, we’re not here to argue.” Chris decided to say something, to cut off approaching argument. Mr. Ayers agreed with him.

“Yes. We’re here to help you.”

At that Ms. Ayers grabbed her chin, making weird, strangled noise. “I can’t even imagine what terrible things that monster did to you” she wailed. Her husband lend her an arm, to lean on.

“What monster?” Miki seemed confused, but a crinkle between her eyebrows and fire in her eyes indicated she knows very well what’s going on in here. Her father sighed and exchanged looks with Chris.

That was the psychiatrist’s cue to go on and start the session. He nodded, kindly asking the couple to give them some privacy.

“That’s our daughter. We can listen” decided Alton and moved with his wife, still looking like she would collapse in a second, to the couch on the other side of the room. Chris sighed.

Not cool.

He walked to Miki, smiling warmly, her files in one of his hands. He didn’t exactly like how the girl looked at him, with something animalistic in those pretty eyes, like a cat looking at the mouse. But he didn’t let himself be intimidated, reaching for a handshake.

Miki looked his hand over and crossed arms over her chest, not interested with touching him at all. Chris respected that.

“My name’s Christian Taylor. I’m a psychologist” Chris introduced himself.

“I managed to guess that” grumbled Miki and continued. “You probably have some files about me in there. Let me guess again, something about being kidnapped? Held against my will? Maybe few other terrible lies?”

Chris looked at the clipboard and smiled at Miki. “Yeah, maybe let me explain exactly why I’m here? We can sit over there and talk a little.” Chris pointed to a small table and two chairs around it.

“I’m not leaving Bob’s side.” Miki clung to the giant teddy behind her.

“Okay, okay. We can sit here, on the floor.”

The girl looked at Chris from under long lashes, her eyes flickered toward her parents for a second and finally she nodded. Without a word she slid to the floor, her back resting on the teddy’s fluffy belly.

Chris sat next to her, smiling softly. “Do you know for how long you were gone?”

“Two years. Wish it was longer.” Miki tried to readjust her sitting pose but swayed a little, quickly catching balance again. Chris could swear he saw something move under her dress but decided to focus on the discussion.

“And why is that?”

She didn’t answer, looking at him like if he was an idiot. Chris decided to change the topic.

“Do you remember anything from the night you were taken from the hospital?” Chris looked the documents over again. Wait, why exactly was she in the hospital in the first way? Wasn’t that because- He found the right note. Fracture of the spine causing whole body paralysation?!

Miki had to understand his shocked expression because she nodded. “Yeah. I was chained to the bed for four years. They left me to rot there, only sending more and more doctors to experiment on my back. Would you want to see scars I have left?” Miki chuckled a little. “Love Hat, the one she dares to call a monster” she pointed at her mother with an accusing finger “found me few days before and come talk with me, disguised. He told me he can help me leave that place on my own legs.”

“How?” Chris asked, to make her continued but also because he was genuinely curious.

Miki again glanced at her parents and out of sudden stood up, again swayin a little. She grabbed back of her dress and tugged. One, two, three times till the material ripped, drawing surprised gasp from Miki’s mother. The girl ripped half of her dress, till a long, black, cat tail showed up.

“Hide that hideous thing right now!” Ms. Ayers stood up. Miki looked at her with incredulous look in her eyes.

“That hideous thing helps me move, you know that?” Without anything more to say Miki sat down again, visibly waiting for more questions. Chris decided that’s the best he could do, not paying attention to angry words behind his back.

“Love Hat did it?”

“No, he still can’t understand how exactly does a TV works.” Miki chuckled and a soft smile like that looked on her face way better than a scowl. “Ross did it.”

“Ross?” Chris checked his files. There wasn’t much about Ross, Ross Tlina, but it sounded dangerous.

“He’s not like they say.” Miki forestalled Chris’ question. “He’s really sweet… well, he can be really sweet. Most of the time he’s pretty grumpy. But he’s just hurt.”

“Do you like him?”

Miki made a pause and looked up, on her big teddy’s face. She smiled more. “Yeah. He’s like my older brother. We annoy each other to no end but I would jump into the fire after him. And I’m sure he would as well… wait, is he in here? Is Love in here as well?” There was some kind of spark in Miki’s eyes. Chris had to bit his tongue before he could answer that question.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that.”

“Oh.” The smile on her face faltered. She shrugged.

Chris continued. “I need to ask you a difficult question next.” Miki looked at him, waiting. “Do you know what brainwashing is?”

“That’s enough!” Alton Ayers spoke up, making Chris jolt. “You were supposed to fix her, not have a small chit chat!”

“Yes, but that’s not an easy process-”

“You think I’m brainwashed?” Miki sounded surprised and a little amused. But mostly dumbfounded. She stood up, to face her father, the tail swaying behind her. “And you have the audacity to say that after what you did to me?”

“We never did anything to you!”

“You left me, a ten years old kid, in a hospital! For four years! You never came to visit, only friendly face I saw was my nanny! Which nota bene was more of a mother to me than her” she pointed at Ayuri again “since she wouldn’t even leave her room to read me a book!”

“We tried to cure you. We gave you a home, food and education. You should be grateful!”

At this point Chris was standing away from fighting father and daughter. She was barely reaching his chest, yet wasn’t even a little reluctant to yell at him and Chris was a little amazed. As well as concerned, because all that didn’t sound good.

“Grateful?!” roared Miki. “You deserve shit, not my gratefulness! I’m grateful for every person that was by my side but you two!”

Alton was preparing himself to roar back, but a sudden hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“It’s okay” Sayuri said with weirdly calm voice. “Nothing you say is true after all. We know that monster brainwashed you to believe all that.”

Miki was speechless for a moment. Chris looked between her and her parents, not knowing who he should believe. From one side all the exchange between Miki and her father seemed very real. From the other brainwashing, as rare as it happened, could mess even person’s memories.

Miki straightened, relaxed her shoulders and looked with fierce in her eyes at her parents. “I always knew how dense you are. But to pull off something like that? There are plenty of people who knows how of a shitty parents you were. And if they wouldn’t want to talk, there’s always my grandpa, he learned how you two are for real long time ago.”

“He’s a crazy, old hero. No one will believe him.” Miki’s mother was as stoic as a tree. She looked like she knew her daughter don’t have a way out now. That was when Chris decided to stay on Miki’s side.

For him that single sentence said by Sayuri had way too much warning in it.

He moved toward the girl, wanting to propose a break so he could talk with her without both of her parents listening, but a strong blow interrupted him. The room shook a little, the alarm going off. After few seconds a high pitched roar pierced everyone’s ears.

Alton immediately covered his wife with a strong arm. Chris jumped to Miki, who didn’t seem as troubled as she should, and grabbed her arm.

“I believe you” he said. She looked him over and freed her hand.

“Then you wanna hide somewhere, or better, run out of here as fast as possible.” She turned toward her teddy. “Come on Bob, it’s our cue to leave.”

“What-”

Right then the teddy - Bob - moved. It stood up on its hind legs and grabbed Miki in its paws. She crawled onto its shoulder, holding hard to the furr.

“Wait!” Both of them stopped right before jolting out of the room and turned toward Chris. The giant, teddy-like monster growled at him. “Take it. Please. If you’ll have any problems, want to talk, just, anything...” Chris reached a shaking hand toward Miki, handing her his business card. He knew it wasn’t pointless to get them after finishing the school, even if it was first time he actually used it.

Miki looked it over and hid - in her bra because of course the dress didn’t have any pockets. “Yeah, I’ll call. You seems nice anyway.”

She patted Bob and it rushed out of the room, knocking off Alton, who tried to stop it. The alarm was loud and the piercing roar happened again.

“Why didn’t you stop her?!” Mr. Ayers jumped toward Chris and grabbed the front of his shirt. The psychiatrist choked, grabbing bigger man’s arms.

“I-”

“Dear!” Ms. Ayers called, visibly scared. Alton huffed at Chris.

“You just destroyed your whole career” he said grimmly and dropped Chris. Escorting his wife, he left the room.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. That saying once again came back to Christian when he stood up shakilly. Maybe it didn’t mean that the child had to be as terrible as their parents. Maybe a child could learn that not always following the parent’s path was good for them. But the saying was still painfully true.

That fierce, animalistic look in Alton’s eyes, so similar to Miki’s angry glare, was enough for a proof.

.

Lorencia clung to Bob’s back. The teddy was running fast through the corridors, knocking off doctors and guards standing on his way, not even paying attention to few bullets shoot at him. He, almost instinctively, was searching for Love Hat. Lorencia wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. From what it sounded like she guessed the demon went mad. But still, she would rather be with him now than her parents.

In the crazy run Lorencia noticed a similar dark skin and white hair, just flashing in the corner of her eye. “Ross?!” she yelled, making Bob stop and look around.

Ross stopped as well, looked in their direction and smiled with relief, living the room he was in. He limped toward them, his prosthetic leg different than the one he usually had and his arm gone, as well as his mask. At least he got both of his eyes on place - thought Lorencia, observing the face she didn’t have a chance to see too frequently.

“I’m so glad I found you two” he sighed. Lorencia helped him get on Bob’s back. “We need to get out of here. And somehow lure Love out as well.”

“How?” asked Lorencia when Bob started moving once again.

“I have an idea, but you’ll think I’m crazy.”

Lorencia kept for herself that she thought Ross was crazy anyway. And she listened to his plan.

[thetygre]

30 Day Monster Challenge 2 - Day #16: Favorite Evil Weapon/Object

1.       Stormbringer (Elric of Melnibone)

The Black Blade. Daughter of Arioch. The Stealer of Souls. One of the single most legendary swords in all of fantasy, present in every universe in at least one form or another. A demon of chaos bound by the Lords of Law into the shape of a weapon. Whoever wields it can drain the souls from whoever they stab and sustain themselves with it, but is driven by a terrible hunger. The Black Blade has a will of its own, and it howls for blood as it is swung. In short, the definitive evil weapon.

What makes Stormbringer stand out from its later imitators, and even previous legendary evil weapons, is how it affects its primary wield, Elric of Melnibone. As an albino, Elric is sickly, and usually uses medicine and dark magic to stay alive. But abroad in the Young Kingdoms, Elric has to rely on Stormbringer to survive. Even as Elric connects with people outside his home kingdom, they are bound to die whenever he needs to stay alive, no matter how much Elric tries to fight it. Stormbringer is essentially a manifestation of Elric’s burden as the Champion of Balance, but also his greater isolation that distances him from being able to make connections. Elric makes it clear that Stormbringer isn’t some kind of ultimate weapon, it’s a crutch, a drug that ultimately consumes its user. And in the end, that’s what happens to Elric; when the entire universe is consumed by chaos, Stormbringer finally turns on Elric before disappearing into the apocalypse.

2.       Soul Edge/Soul Calibur (Soulcalibur)

So this is honestly cheating, but I just can’t pick between the two swords. Soul Edge is the clear Stormbringer descendent and looks rad as hell to boot. Even more that Stormbringer, Soul Edge looks like a living, breathing monster. It can even shapeshift into weapons that aren’t sword, and it had an entire life cycle in Soulcalibur 2. But Soul Edge never really stopped being the ‘bad’ sword. It’s counterpart, Soul Calibur, on the other hand, started off as the ‘good’ sword. But as the series went on, Soul Calibur began to change. In Soulcalibur 4 it was hinted that Soul Calibur might have a mind of its own as well, and it might not have the purest intentions. By Soulcalibur 5, the plot hook came to fruition; Soul Calibur is just as dangerous as Soul Edge and wants to trap the world in a perfect unchanging state. The swords have become the embodiments of Law and Chaos; the Michael Moorcock reference comes full circle. All we need now is a game where Soul Calibur is out of control and the only thing that can stop it is Soul Edge.

3.       The Terror Mask (Splatterhouse)

The Terror Mask has sass, the Terror Mask has a personality. Half these evil artifacts are just kind of generically malevolent; they won’t yell at you in Jim Cummings’ voice and call you a pussy when you notice one of your arms is missing. There’s a surprising amount of lore invested in the Terror Mask. An entity from the space between spaces, it fled the cosmic horror gods until they bound it in a bone mask. Now it’s out to settle the score, and whoever is wearing it just happens to be along for the ride. Granted, the wearer of the mask turns into a hulking slasher ogre that is almost impossible to kill. The Splatterhouse games are a gateway into the video game id, replete with monsters, ultra-violence, and a hero so buff he puts the ‘masculine’ in ‘toxic masculinity’. The Terror Mask, like in the game, is just a way to get to that special kind of hell.

4.       The Necronomicon Ex Mortis (Evil Dead)

The Necronomicon Ex Mortis is probably the most famous evil book in the world, probably more so than Lovecraft’s original Necronomicon. (Frankly, I could do an entire list on favorite evil books, but we’ll get there when we get there.) The Ex Mortis really doesn’t have a lot to do with Lovecraft besides the name, other than that they are both old, sanity-rending, and bodies of literature. But, being honest, the Ex Mortis is just the more fun of the two. The Ex Mortis is the party-boy of evil books to the original Necronomicon’s Ivy League scholar. It’s such an embodiment of Sam Raimi horror; gory, campy, with a bit of slapstick thrown in, and its mere presence causes weirdness to happen. The Necronomicon Ex Mortis contains knowledge of things man was not meant to know, and it knows it. It’s mischievous, and it’d almost be lovable if it wasn’t also full of immensely powerful black magic.

5.       The One Ring (Lord of the Rings)

I’ve always been interested by the concept that the One Ring can think for itself. The One Ring is, ultimately, an incredibly loyal evil artifact, and is only interested in new yielders insofar as they can deliver it back to Sauron. The Ring really is an apt counterpart for the hobbits; a little thing, defenseless, almost useless at first glance, but capable of changing the world. The Ring also has a pedigree, of course. It shares more than few traits with the Ring of Nibelung from the Wagnerian cycle of operas of the same name. The Nibelung Ring, like the One Ring, can grant the wearer power over the world, but only if they renounce love. In time, the covetousness of men and gods for the ring destroys the world and brings about Ragnarok. The One Ring is a reflection of the Ring of Nibelung, but also vastly different in many respects. It brings about the end of the gods and immortals, but only because they were staying to try and destroy it. The end of the Ring and of Sauron grants the world the ability to move into the next age, the age of mankind, which reflects not only Tolkien’s notions about divinity and its place in human existence, but I think also his faith that people can rise to their best in the changing times.

6.       Rubilax (Wakfu)

Rubilax is the only evil weapon here to have a character arc. Granted, that’s because he’s actually a demon bound to a sword, but whatever. Rubilax starts out as your typical evil sword, trying to possess the (idiot) paladin bound to guard him. Not to make it a contest, but he gets pretty far, to the point that said paladin has to release Rubilax and fight him in a bare-knuckle fist fight into submission. After that, things get kind of complicated. People die, souls are displaced, there’s a colosseum death match, and Rubilax has to make some calls about his moral character, so to speak. In the end, Rubilax decides to side with the good guys, and even gets along with the paladin’s kids. So he’s less of an evil weapon and more of just a demonic one, but he’s definitely the most nuanced character here.

7.       The Event Horizon (Event Horizon)

The Even Horizon is pushing the definition of ‘evil object’. It’s really more of an evil place, which might also be worth a look sometime, but for now a ship counts as an object. There’s plenty of sci-fi stories that try to do the cursed spaceship deal, but I feel like Event Horizon is the only one that really captures the gothic horror aspect. I think we tend to forget that architecture, aside from its practical usage, is also meant to convey ideas and thoughts as much as any other form of artistry, and was one of the more important forms of public communication before the spread of reading. The architecture of the Event Horizon is the words to a spell, the three-dimensional incantation that opens the gates of Hell. It was a morbid, dark temple to man’s ignorance even before it went into other dimensions. Once it returns, it hungers for more; a cursed ship bound to always return to its home port on the other side. Something about the Event Horizon reminds me of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner; the way the ship is warped and changed by sailing through strange waters, and how the survivors are bound to relive the curse over and over again. That’s why the Event Horizon is my favorite ghost ship in science fiction.

8.       The Marker (Dead Space)

The Marker draws directly from Event Horizon, and they both share the concept of wordlessly communicating a kind of madness to the people who view them. The Marker, though, takes it to a new extreme, in that it has a literal insanity aura that causes hallucinations, paranoia, and aggressiveness. An interesting way that the Marker is more ‘alive’ than other evil objects is that it is self-propagating; part of the madness it transmits is the formula necessary for its replications. But what I find most fascinating is how the Marker can transmit information that changes DNA, altering people on the cellular level to turn them into Necromorphs. That kind of power, to change biology through information, is nothing short of magic in most other settings.

9.       The Berserker Armor (Berserk)

You can’t fight demons if you ain’t cute. The Berserker Armor was forged by dwarves for the explicit purpose of fighting demons and monsters. It draws on the rage and negative energy inside a person to give them incredible strength and agility, but at the price of slowly draining their senses. The Skull Knight originally made it for himself, but even he was scared off by the armor’s power. Now Guts has it, and he has a lot of rage to give. I think the most fascinating thing about the armor is how it changes and molds itself to how Guts’ uses it. It didn’t start off with a giant wolf helmet; that’s just Guts’ personal totem representing his inner darkness. But when the armor drew on that, it changed shape, and when Guts holds himself back, it stays restrained. Still, the armor takes a lower spot because it itself isn’t evil, it just draws on a person’s internal negativity; it’s all up to the wearer on how much they use it.

10.   The Gonne (Discworld)

Discworld is full of anachronistic magical devices, and they’re all usually cause for some kind of concern. The Gonne was at the center of a fairly elaborate murder plot involving the Assassin’s Guild and the Night Watch, but was finally put a stop to. Like any good evil weapon, it whispers promises of power to whoever happens to be holding it at the time, and is also a little trigger-happy. But the Gonne and its metaphor for firearms gets kind of overshadowed by everything happening around it, and it even gets acknowledged as a powerful and worthy weapon in its own way by the end.

[beinglibertarian]

We Hold the News to be Self-Evident

“Fake news.” A phrase given as truth by the 45th President of the United States. Is he a racist, totalitarian monster that is trying to control the media? Or is he one of the plebeians that rose higher than the rest and has been raised seeing the fallacies of mass media coverage? Should the Commander-in-Chief be neutral when it comes to the news or does he have a right to call them out and bring people’s attention to the nature of news today?

There was a time when news consisted of hard-hitting exposes that attempted to change public opinion and lead the nation in a more moral and just direction. Although somewhere along the line, news reports lost their bite. I understand that in a world of twenty-four-hour news cycles there will be filler, but when did filler topics become headlines?

CNN came out recently claiming Donald Trump was waging a war against the press because of his negative view of their reporting. He denied their access to a few events, which translates to Trump waging a war on the freedom of the press. Or could it be a man seeing the blatant agenda of slander and attack against him?

CNN has spent much of their time since his presidential win, trying to bring Trump down. They report on his collusion with Russia, which may or may not be illegal. The only definite information that came from the leaks was that CNN helped Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders, but that is not newsworthy apparently.

What is newsworthy? An affair Trump had twelve years ago, ten years before he was elected. I am willing to bet, that was not news to even Melania, and she is the only one that should care.

A man cheating on his wife is not and should not be news. It is only important information to the spouses involved. If the majority of the population disagreed with this, then why was no one appalled by the existence of AshleyMadison.com? People cheat, it is an unfortunate truth that does not belong on the news.

In 1998, America became aware of the Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal. For those too young to remember, the President had a sexual relationship, no matter what his sound clips will tell you, in the Oval Office. Much like the Trump affair, it should have only been known to those involved. The explosion of reporting on the matter may have set a terrible precedent.

I will concede to understand that there is a part of human nature that loves to watch a train wreck, like celebrity break-ups. And presidents are important celebrities. However, those are fluff pieces, shown between sports and the weather. They do not affect policies that are important to the American people.

Fox News also reported bad things in their cycle. Unfortunately, their bad reporting garnered support for unlawful military conflicts. Shortly after 11 September 2001, Fox began to spread the idea of Saddam Hussein’s enormous and varied supply of weapons of mass destruction. Or should I say, Saddam’s alleged enormous and varied supply of weapons of mass destruction.

Nothing was ever found in Iraq, yet they have been bombed and occupied the area for decades. The resulting war on terror produced hundreds of thousands civilian deaths, thousands of American soldiers dead, and trillions of dollars spent. A price far greater than that of the tragedy of 9/11. All that to protect the idea of the infallible nation.

A nation wrought with unrest and anger directed at varying parts of the of the government. A large and vocal part of the nation feels that there are separate rules of engagement that the police follow based solely on race. In the wake of this, a movement rose up behind a mediocre quarterback in the National Football League.

Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest police violence and many of his fellow players followed suit. The nation responded with eruptions on both sides of the political spectrum. The right condemned the players for disrespecting the flag and those that served under it. The left shouted down their claims based on violations of the 1st amendment. Both were wrong.

The flag is a symbol of our nation and our nation was built with the hope of freedom for everyone. Although, at the end of the day it is a piece of fabric, and nothing worth spilling blood over, especially each other’s blood because of a few political disagreements.

Also, while protesting is a protected right, an employer can make whatever statutes it wants, and you are left with the option to work for them or not. When the NFL started seeing ratings drop, they reacted like any company would act to protect their profit margin. Even though it says “National” in the name and has a picture of a little flag on the emblem, the NFL is a private company, and should not be mandated to allow actions that are hurting them.

The bigger issue of the protest is the claimed police brutality. The right should see that the players are not standing against a nation, just a protected few that have brought violence against them. The left must understand that the movement is not being held down because of racism, but because of waning ticket sales. While that may not be a noble reason, the NFL remains a private organization and may conduct business as they see fit. There are plenty of more places that a player can protest.

Therefore, I feel there is no real emotion behind the organizers of the national anthem protest, where is the movement in the off season? Football players play one game a week for about five months. That leaves a considerable amount of time the highly-publicized players could be delivering their agendas and yet they are widely silent. And if the players are not willing to show a concentrated effort toward change, it stops being news.

A few players protesting for a minute and a half once a week should not be news. If all sports players stood together to achieve a goal, that would be news. Hell, if you could get just the NFL players to be on the same side it would be news. Of course, the NFL would still be in the right when they fired every single one of them, and that would be news too.

That is the problem with the media giants like CNN and Fox, somewhere along the line they started reporting feelings instead of events. An abundance of stories describes how a group feels about an event, rather than reporting on it and letting the viewer respond with their own feelings. We are guided toward how we should react, instead of how we may have reacted naturally.

Trump Derangement Syndrome is perfect evidence of this. The right tells people the anti-Trump groups have a disorder because they do not support everything the President does. While the left tells their group that Trump is constantly attacking everything they hold dear. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has conducted policies almost identically to every president before him.

Barack Obama made strong statements against illegal immigration and was supported in it. George HW Bush made the famous “No new taxes” claim and there has never been a time when the government was not trying to add taxes. Trump has defined himself with wall building and tariff making, the only difference is he says mean things. So, because of feelings, Trump is the worst President ever.

Trump does plenty to cause dislike. Just like Obama, he has taken a stand against illegal immigration. Just like Bush, he has sent soldiers to war. Just like under Clinton, police beat individuals for a multitude of unwarranted offenses. However, the news focuses on the wrong aspects of every major issue.

On immigration, one side says we need to keep people out and the other believes we need to let everyone in. Although simple economics will tell you that an open border with the magnet of social programs, like welfare or universal healthcare, will collapse the system supplying the programs because there will be too many mouths and not enough wallets to balance each other out. While on the other side, restricting someone from crossing an imaginary line under the threat of imprisonment or death cannot be the answer. The news focuses on your imposed feelings instead of trying to show people what the problems are.

On war, one side says we must bring peace and safety to the world and the other side says we must protect our values by eliminating the threat at the source. What no one, news source, Republican, or Democrat, will address is that none of the wars we inject ourselves into or start are necessary. We have dropped bombs on an ever-rising number of countries for decades, but then wage war in response to the blowback. Finding creative ways to support wars of aggression should not be news, it probably should be punished in a court of law.

On police brutality, one side says we must always stand with the police and the other believes any violence is too much. Even police should not side with all police all the time. Police officers are people and can make mistakes. And unfortunately, if someone uses violence against police, they should be able to defend themselves. The problem that no one addresses on the news is the non-violent crimes that continue to be the root cause of much of the violence. If a person wants to ingest a plant and there is no one around to be affected by it, why is that a crime?

Three major problems with three reasonable resolutions. Either open the border and cancel social programs or seal it shut and let tax money try and help those that contribute. Do not tell me separating families is wrong because last I heard, there were not many daycares at prisons. War is wrong because it is mass murder. You cannot bring peace and prosperity through death and destruction no matter the reason for bringing the wrath. If we stopped arresting those for non-violent crimes, their cases of police brutality would drop dramatically. Look at crime statistics during and after prohibition for some clear evidence.

I know the major news organizations will not acknowledge these ideas, because I am not the first to say them. But if we can find a way to shift our attention away from their biased, attention-grabbing tactics and focus on facts and events, maybe we can steer them toward being honest and plain. The market will provide. Trust me, there is plenty of diabolical things committed by both sides of the political spectrum, to try and convince people there is a better way, so let’s report those stories and lay off the fluff.

This article represents the views of the author exclusively, and not those of Being Libertarian LLC.

The post We Hold the News to be Self-Evident appeared first on Being Libertarian.

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[eddycurrents]

For the week of 4 February 2019

Quick Bits:

Archie #702 sees Sandy Jarrell and Matt Herms pitch in for much of this issue as Betty and Veronica try to figure out who Archie’s seeing now. It goes about as well as you’d expect. Nick Spencer is still delivering some humorous dialogue and the opening sequence from Marguerite Sauvage is as beautiful as ever.

| Published by Archie Comics

Archie 1941 #5 is pretty heavy, dealing with the the grief, remorse, and emotional devastation of loss experienced during the war. Peter Krause and Kelly Fitzpatrick’s artwork has been wonderful throughout this entire series and they nail the conclusion.

| Published by Archie Comics

Avengers #14 sparks the fuse of the vampire civil war from Jason Aaron, David Marquez, Justin Ponsor, Erick Arciniega, and Cory Petit. There’s some really nice world-building going on here with the Legion of the Unliving and a rather interesting development with Ghost Rider.

| Published by Marvel

Batman #64 begins “The Price” crossover with The Flash from Joshua Williamson, Guillem March, Tomeu Morey, and Steve Wands. Outside of the tie-ins throughout the DC titles, I haven’t been reading Heroes in Crisis, but this ties in as well, spotlighting some of the strain that Batman and the Flash have been under. Something definitely feels off about the situation.

| Published by DC Comics

BPRD: The Devil You Know #13 feels like shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic at this point, with all of the pieces moving into place, and we’re just awaiting the inevitable end of everything. Stunning artwork from Laurence Campbell and Dave Stewart.

| Published by Dark Horse

Champions #2 fills in the hole of what happened during the battle with Zzzax last issue and, boy, is it a doozy. Jim Zub, Steven Cummings, Marcio Menyz, and Clayton Cowles set up something interesting, and possibly horrifying, to come down the line.

| Published by Marvel

Conan the Barbarian #3 maintains its high bar of excellence as the one-off stories building up Conan’s past continue from Jason Aaron, Mahmud Asrar, Matthew Wilson, and Travis Lanham. The art from Asrar and Wilson is just perfect.

| Published by Marvel

The Curse of Brimstone #11 is the beginning of the end in the first of this two-part finale for the series from Justin Jordan, Denys Cowan, John Stanisci, Rain Beredo, and Wes Abbott. It’s great to see Cowan’s art here as he, Stanisci, and Beredo make the beginning of this final fight look absolutely gorgeous.

| Published by DC Comics

Daredevil #1 is a very impressive debut from Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles. It picks up from Matt’s recovery in Man Without Fear and, well, things are messy, unfocused, and he’s having a hell of a time getting his feet under him again. But, beyond that, there’s a real depth to the story here. Though there’s a ton of action, it also goes deep into character building and flashbacks of Matt’s time as a kid getting morality lessons from his priest. This is damn good, taking cues from Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s “Born Again”, but it also feels influenced by Mike Grell’s “The Longbow Hunters”. There’s also a back-up written and illustrated by Zdarsky himself with an interpretation of how Daredevil “sees” and the digital edition gives a smattering of back-up material including covers, art comparisons, and sketches. I highly recommend this.

| Published by Marvel

Deathstroke #40 concludes the “Arkham” arc with Slade killing Hugo Strange and then slaughtering a bunch of homeless men. Maybe. Depends on which truth you believe. In doing so, Priest sets up the seeds for the upcoming crossover with Teen Titans.

| Published by DC Comics

Die #3 peels back another layer of the onion of this world as Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, and Clayton Cowles give us a story of how the various regions work. All through an allegory of war between Eternal Prussia and Little England, Tolkien re-adapted to a kind of explanation on his own allegory. It’s interesting, especially when coupled with the essay Gillen pens in the back that explains the whole construct. That said, it also works great as just an extremely pretty adventure where a party of adventurers fights a dragon. I’m loving what this series is doing.

| Published by Image

Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #4 concludes the opening arc with the Hoarder from Jody Houser, Rachael Stott, Erica Eren Angiolini, Viviana Spinelli, Richard Starkings, Sarah Jacobs, and John Roshell. I still love the inventiveness and ornate quality to the Hoarder’s design.

| Published by Titan

The Empty Man #4 gives a bit more insight into the disease ravaging the planet, as more of the strange skittering monsters appear and the kids from the original mini-series return. Cullen Bunn, Jesús Hervás, Niko Guardia, and Ed Dukeshire are crafting something very dark and weird with this series, but also very, very good.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Female Furies #1 isn’t a bad start from Cecil Castellucci, Adrian Melo, Hi-Fi, and Carlos M. Mangual. I quite like Melo’s art here, as she’s adapted it somewhat to highlight influences from some Fourth World luminaries like Jack Kirby, Keith Giffen, and Walt Simonson.

| Published by DC Comics

The Freeze #3 delves deeper into the early days after the Freeze as the awakened look into the serial killings, and we get more mysteries in missing people (who may or may not be the same as those murdered) and the revelation that Ray is being manipulated. Really great work here from Dan Wickline, Phillip Sevy, and Troy Peteri. 

| Published by Image / Top Cow

GI Joe: Sierra Muerte #1 sees Michael Fiffe bring his kind of retro charm to the Joes in the beginning of this series. It’s actually played pretty straight and reminds me of the loving care that Tom Scioli also takes to these properties. Great art and a story that reminds me of the original GI Joe cartoon.

| Published by IDW

Giant Days #47 intertwines Daisy learning to drive, McGraw’s brother dropping in on him and Susan, and Esther taking care of an illicit adorable puppy. All the usual humour and character building you’d expect from John Allison, Max Sarin, Whitney Cogar, and Jim Campbell. 

| Published by Boom Entertainment / BOOM! Box

The Girl in the Bay #1 is an intriguing debut from JM DeMatteis, Corin Howell, James Devlin, and Clem Robins. It jumps headlong in to some of DeMatteis’ favourite themes and topics as spiritualism, reincarnation, and coming of age (particularly in Brooklyn) and presents a compelling world and mystery for the seemingly dead, then strangely awakened fifty years later Karen Sartori. Very nice artwork from Howell and Devlin.

| Published by DC Comics / Berger Books

The Green Lantern #4 may yet be the most beautiful issue to date, with Liam Sharp and Steve Oliff elevating the impossibly high bar of their artwork to an even greater level. The character designs, page layouts, panel transitions, and sheer storytelling in the artwork is incredible.

| Published by DC Comics

Gunhawks #1 is another of the revived title one-shots in celebration of Marvel’s 80th anniversary, this one a western from David & Maria Lapham, Luca Pizarri, Neeraj Menon, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Travis Lanham. It’s gritty, bloody, and the art from Pizarri, Menon, and Rosenberg is very impressive.

| Published by Marvel

Immortal Hulk #13 concludes the descent into Hell in an issue that is probably as epic as the Avengers beatdown from #7. Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy José, Belardino Brabo, Rafael Fonteriz, Paul Mounts, and Cory Petit continue to deliver one of the best series on the stands today.

| Published by Marvel

Justice League #17 follows on from the annual and the revelations in the “Escape from Hawkworld” arc in this single issue story of Martian Manhunter’s past from Scott Snyder, Jim Cheung, Mark Morales, Walden Wong, Tomeu Morey, and Tom Napolitano. Some fascinating developments in J’onn’s history here, with gorgeous artwork, and the funny truth that Batman’s really a concerned bat-dad.

| Published by DC Comics

Killmonger #4 wages a pitched battle with Die #3 and The Green Lantern #4 for most beautiful art in a comic this week. Juan Ferreyra’s work is stunning, giving the book depth, character, and an immense re-readability just to stare at the imagery again. There is a wonderful sequence of blood pooling up the page as the violence and body count increases and the design for the cat goddess is gorgeous. As to that latter, Egypt isn’t for want of multiple cat deities and, though Sekhmet is probably the easy answer, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the older and somewhat lesser known Mafdet. Bryan Hill, Ferreyra, and Joe Sabino continue to deliver one hell of a solid story with this series.

| Published by Marvel

Oberon #1 is off to a fantastic start with this tale from Ryan Parrott, Miloš Slavković, and Charles Pritchett. It strikes a nice balance between fantasy and the mundane as Bonnie finds out she, and the world, aren’t exactly what she thought. Gorgeous artwork from Slavković.

| Published by AfterShock

Old Man Quill #1 kicks off a Guardians tale set in the “Old Man” universe from Ethan Sacks, Robert Gill, Andres Mossa, and Joe Caramagna. I liked the recently concluded Sacks-penned Old Man Hawkeye series as well and Star-Lord appears to be taking on that same kind of beaten-down sardonicism of Clint.

| Published by Marvel

Prodigy #3 sees Crane and Agent Straks racing across the globe to find out information on the cult aiding the alternate dimension insurgents. The artwork from Rafael Albuquerque and Marcelo Maiolo continues to be the main attraction, delivering some amazing action sequences.

| Published by Image

Self/Made #3 gives us another twist as Rebecca and Amala attempt to take down Bryce for control of Amala’s code. This story continues to evolve in some very interesting ways, while including some of the toxicity inherent in some game development studios, with some beautiful artwork from Eduardo Ferigato and Marcelo Costa.

| Published by Image

Shadow Roads #6 returns with Brian Hurtt stepping in for the line art and it’s great to see him back illustrating within the Sixth Gun world. Really nice, weird designs for the Bone Plains and interesting hints as to what’s next for the new/old threats seeping back into the world.

| Published by Oni Press

Star Wars: Age of Republic - Anakin Skywalker #1 spotlights a moral quandary for Anakin from Jody Houser, Cory Smith, Wilton Santos, Walden Wong, Java Tartaglia, and Travis Lanham. It’s still interesting to see Anakin as “General Skywalker” during the Clone Wars and how different he was from what he’d become.

| Published by Marvel

These Savage Shores #3 is almost a perfect comic, actually it may well be a perfect comic. The craft and care that goes into creating this work is astounding. Ram V, Sumit Kumar, Vittorio Astone, and Aditya Bidikar are elevating the art form each issue. With the compelling intertwining of history and horror. With the epistolary narrative approach perfectly befitting the vampire sub-genre. With the attention to detail in how dialogue and narration are presented visually. With the variations on the 9-panel grid to guide pacing and keep the reader visually interested. With the consideration of the colour washes and tones to amplify the mood and atmosphere of the tale. This series is incredible.

| Published by Vault

United States vs. Murder Inc. #6 is kind of a weird conclusion to this series as the larger plot of the predicament the families currently find themselves in is left to the next series and, like last issue, we instead get more of Valentine’s family history. Great art, though, from Michael Avon Oeming and Taki Soma. The art really reminds me of some of Darwyn Cooke’s in his Parker adaptations.

| Published by DC Comics / Jinxworld

Vindication #1 is an interesting crime drama from MD Marie, Carlos Miko, Dema Jr., Thiago Goncalves, and Troy Peteri. I love the shades of grey and uncertainty in motivation and truth in this story.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Wasted Space #6 returns with all the humour, violence, and madness that Michael Moreci, Hayden Sherman, Jason Wordie, and Jim Campbell brought to the first arc. I love Sherman’s designs for the gods, they remind me a lot of Ted McKeever’s work.

| Published by Vault

The Wrong Earth #6 ends season one of the series with Dragonfly and Dragonflyman adapting somewhat each to their new Earths, showing a bit of equivocation of the characters as the environment changes them. This has been an interesting story from Tom Peyer, Jamal Igle, Juan Castro, Andy Troy, and Rob Steen and there’s ample threads to bring me back when the series resumes. 

| Published by Ahoy

Young Justice #2 continues the adventure in Gemworld in the present, while we get a focus on Wonder Girl in the past. There’s something weird going on here with time and continuity that still feels like a story beat more than Brian Michael Bendis just playing fast and loose with what he wants. Great art from Patrick Gleason, Emanuela Lupacchino, Ray McCarthy, and Alejandro Sanchez.

| Published by DC Comics / Wonder Comics

Other Highlights: Asgardians of the Galaxy #6, Atomic Robo & The Dawn of a New Era #2, Battlestar Galactica: Twilight Command #1, Black AF: Devil’s Dye #2, Cemetery Beach #6, Curse Words #20, The Dreaming #6, Feathers, Gasolina #15, GI Joe: A Real American Hero #259, LaGuardia #3, Marvel Action: Avengers #2, Noble #15, Project Superpowers #6, Red Sonja #1, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #5, Star Wars #61, Tony Stark: Iron Man #8, The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion #5, Unnatural #7, Vampirella/Reanimator #2

Recommended Collections: Betrothed - Volume 1: Love or Die, Big Trouble in Little China: Old Man Jack - Volume 3, BPRD: The Devil You Know - Volume 2: Pandemonium, Ether - Volume 2: Copper Golems, Lowlifes, Noble - Volume 3: No One Man, Optimus Prime - Volume 5, TMNT: Bebop & Rocksteady Hit the Road

d. emerson eddy sometimes feels like his old bones should light out for the wastelands.

[rochellespen]

Watching Doctor Who Season 37 (Series 11), Episode Four

Ok, I’m going to have to say it: Doctor Who has a checkered past in regards to spiders.

I mean, I understand the temptation to go with arachnid-like monsters. Spiders often creep people out, so giant, mutant spiders should have an even greater horror vibe to them. Unfortunately, it seems arachnids of all sorts never fare well when appearing in Doctor Who. 

Thus we have comically stiff spiders with goofy voices in Planet of the Spiders. We have genuinely threatening, but also drama-queen diva spiders in the meh  The Runaway Bride. And then you have  what could have been truly creepy spider-like creatures in Kill the Moon which were wasted by being featured in a dire episode like Kill the Moon.

So when I saw the title of this one, I had to resist the temptation to roll my eyes. And not just because we got another music pun/reference in an episode title (first Bowie and now the Sex Pistols...). I figured we could be in for some very first class cheese with this one.

All that said, I decided to give Arachnids in the UK a go with as open of a mind as possible.

As usual, spoilers from here onward....

Episode Thoughts

This episode went back to the season opener’s structure of having things happen that appear unrelated at first, but quickly fit together into a main plotline well before the episode ends. It’s a smart technique as it can help to cover any thinness to the plot. 

We start with Robertson, a guy who is suspiciously similar to another hotel-owning, multi-millionaire businessman with a crass, harsh personality who decided to run for president. Seriously, not since The Happiness Patrol have we been given such a painfully obvious reference to a real-life political figure on Doctor Who.

 And wait, is that Chris Noth? Why yes, yes it is. That’s something I seriously did not expect and it’s fun to see him in this. XD

Anyway, Citizen Robertson here rants about a possible threat to his political future and fires a random employee for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. This actually turns out to be not so random later on....

(Side note: They do name drop Trump later in the episode with Robertson mentioning that he can’t stand the guy. I guess that’s one way to deflect the obvious....XD)

Meanwhile, the Doctor actually manages to get her companions back to their correct time and place and soon appears to regret her efficiency. Fortunately for her, Yasmin is up for inviting everyone to tea which everyone immediately accepts.

After wonderfully awkward moments with Yasmin’s family and some poignant moments alone with Graham, we finally get to the spiders. Well sort of. We just get one spider to start out with, but there was plenty of foreshadowing before that to let us know that it won’t just be one spider.

Soon, the plot ties together when we realize that it was Yasmin’s mother who got fired and a neighbor of Yasmin’s family has a friend/co-worker/? who is a specialist in regards to spiders and who is worried that she hasn’t shown up for a few days. This eventually leads to a showdown in the lavish, recently finished hotel between humans and arachnids. 

Some more quick side notes....

The hotel they chose for the principal location is a good one. It has the right Overlook Hotel vibe to it which is perfect to accentuate the horror in this episode.

Ok, having Yasmin’s mom be the one who got fired by Robertson is a solid way to tie the plot together. Having an arachnid expert be friends with someone who lived in the same building as Yasmin’s family and having her show up just as the Doctor starts to investigate teeters dangerously toward deus ex machina territory.

But on a much funnier note, did anyone else notice someone (Ryan, I think?) making shadow puppets in the background while the Doctor and McIntyre were talking about Serious Spider Stuff in McIntyre’s lab? That’s the sort of offhand detail that I just love...

Now, back to the rest of the episode...

As can be expected with someone like Robertson, all of his employees are taken out by the spiders leaving the Doctor, her companions, Yasmin’s mom, Naija, and our new friend, Dr. McIntyre to find out that there’s is both abandoned coal mines underneath the hotel (which is niffty for the spiders to get around) and a toxic landfill that was very poorly managed.

Ok, at this point I need to stop to consider something that’s bothering me about the plot. 

I think we can all agree that Robertson is a terrible person and was horribly negligent in allowing the landfill to combine stuff willy nilly. But if we’re going to assign blame for the mutant spiders, shouldn’t some of it be placed on McIntyre and her lab? These scientist are manipulating spider DNA and apparently not being careful enough in making sure the specimens are dead before disposal. Even if Robertson didn’t have an unusually toxic landfill mutating these spiders further, those half-dead “super spiders” could have wrecked havoc on local ecosystems. Thus, I hardly think McIntyre should be acting like she’s on some sort of moral high ground compared to Robertson.

In the end, it’s decided that it’s more humane(?) to suffocate/starve all the baby spiders in Robertson’s panic room and drive the huge mother spider out of the hotel...to where, I don’t know. However, Robertson clearly wanted a chance to kill something and thus, shoots the giant spider before it can asphyxiate. 

This leads to another little issue I have. The Doctor and McIntyre were just going to watch that giant spider slowly suffocate and die. Robertson shot it once and put it out of its misery quickly. I guess I’m at a loss as to how Robertson’s solution in and of itself is crueler than a slow death. 

And the thing is, I think the writers missed an opportunity here. Having Robertson clearly show no remorse for what he did was chilling enough. But I think we could have added an even more sinister edge to his character if it was made clear that his decision to shoot the spider would be considered merciful and correct by many and that it wasn’t a black and white decision. 

That way, the horrifying aspect of his character would not have been what he did but instead the mindset and motives of why he did it. Few things are more evil that someone who hides their malevolence under the guise of good intentions. 

After that painfully abrupt ending, the Doctor prepares to leave and discovers, much to her surprise and delight, that Graham, Ryan and Yasmin aren’t ready to say goodbye to her and traveling through time and space. 

So did Arachnids in the UK avoid the usual trap of tacky spider themed episodes? Well.....

The thing is, there are several things this episode did right. The number one was a wonderful mix of humor and lowkey scares. We get moments like Ryan and Graham’s two man comedy act leading up to a terribly creepy shot of several giant spiders skittering toward them. The atmosphere of the hotel and some well placed jump scares are balanced by the hilarious sight of mutant spiders gravitating a energetic grime tune (actually listened to it again while writing this, and it really set the mood). 

The problem for me has to be the easy out the plot took. I get wanting to keep this an Earth-bound problem (and making an eco-statement). But the separating of the so-called “good guys” and “bad guys” wasn’t neatly done and the ending felt far too much like the writers couldn’t think of a good solution in the time they had left. 

Thus, this episode works far better as a showcase for humor, atmosphere and characterization than it does as a carefully plotted story.

Character Thoughts

So how about that characterization then?

Two things were well defined in this episode. 

The Doctor is going to continue to be socially awkward, high-energy goofball.

This Doctor is not one who wants to brood by themselves somewhere even for a few moments. She clearly is one of those Doctor who vastly prefers to travel with companions.

Continuing in the tradition of each Doctor often being a “reaction” to the previous one, Thirteen is certainly far less prickly and much more openly social than Twelve. She seems to thrive on the “family” environment a crowded TARDIS creates. The only Doctor I can compare that to is probably Five who also seemed very invested in traveling with a group although there is far, far more harmony on Thirteen’s TARDIS than there ever was on Five’s. 

Myself, I’m enjoying a return to the idea of the Doctor being warmer and more familial as I never thought being difficult and prickly were necessary solely to create a sense of “otherness” about the Doctor. Whittaker still manages this with Thirteen’s scattershot, quirky approach to experiencing new places, people and events.

A lot of the humor in this episode was pulled off nicely by Whittaker whether it’s the cringing moments of awkward around Yasmin’s family or her sudden thought that The Spider Mother in the Ballroom could be “the best novel Edith Wharton never wrote.” 

Meanwhile, Ryan and Graham also have some wonderful bits together as they (very reluctantly) keep having to go out on spider-related missions in the hotel. The two of them continue to be a fun team who are slowly trying to figure out this family “thing” they have been thrust into.

Funnily enough, while on the surface this could look like an episode that would focus more on Yasmin since we are spending time with her family....it really doesn’t. The most we get is some insight as to why she wants to travel with the Doctor: because she loves her family, but clearly doesn’t always get along with them that great. I think this is another opportunity the writers missed as we could have gotten a bit more insight into how her family played a role in the person she became. Instead, their presence seems to mainly service the plot (Naija) or try to add to the humor (the rest of her family). 

The Last Word

I’m afraid Doctor Who may never have a completely solid episode featuring spiders....even with this effort. This is episode is a fun ride most of the time with some great moments of humor and characterization, so it manages to not be truly cringe-y. However, it would have been nice if the writers had put more thought into how to end the main plotline and found more interesting ways to develop Yasmin’s family and by extension Yasmin herself.

[generallynerdy]

Not Bad Part 2 (Rocket Raccoon X Vixen!Reader)

Part 1

Summary: Since your rescue, Rocket has insisted you stay with the Guardians, though he seems to be the only one defending your case, other than Groot, who quickly accepts you as part of the group. In fact, he gets quite overprotective of you sometimes. As for the others, they can’t help but be suspicious of your presence on their ship.

Requested by: @goingunique2005 and @weirdnewbie

Note: Thank you so much for requesting!! This is my first request outside of ones I’ve gotten from people I know personally, so thanks a bunch! I hope I did the first part justice and met- or maybe exceeded- expectations. <33 Love you guys!

    “I am Groot.”

    “Mhm.”

    “I am Groot…”

    “Heh, I can see that.”

    “I am Groot!”

    “Are you sure? He said that?”

    “I am Groot.”

    “Pfft, well that was unexpected!” You laugh along to Groot’s story, leaning forward in your chair as he talks. The rest of the ship is silent, what with Quill- Star-Lord- listening to his music, Gamora looking at you with shifty eyes as usual, and Drax brandishing his dagger. Groot smiles at your laughter, his expression projecting his unbelievable excitement to have someone else on the ship who understands him.

    You don’t know how you understand Groot or why you can, but you just go with it. Groot seems to be the most interesting member of the Guardians anyway, excluding Rocket, of course.

    Rocket is watching from afar, currently messing with the tech in his handy dandy devices that he carries around with him. However, he isn’t paying much attention. Rather, he is listening to Groot’s story as well as your reactions, smiling silently to himself. He can’t help but feel that a void has been filled since you arrived. Instead of just him and Groot, you’re here now, too. While Quill and Gamora are still unsure of keeping you on the team permanently, Rocket just knows that it was meant to be. You on the team, he means. Not anything else.

    Okay, so maybe he finds you interesting. But not in a weird way! Like the way Quill finds…uh, music? Gamora? No, no, not Gamora! Gah, he’s not doing anything for his case. Despite there being clear sparks between the two of you, Rocket is somewhat reluctant to make a move. After all, since when has a guy like him had a chance with someone like you? You’re too perfect for that; too smart.

    Suddenly, your paw prods Rocket’s shoulder gently, jarring him from his thoughts. You tilt your head in concern, your nose twitching just slightly. “Rocket? Are you okay?”

    “Huh?” He looks up at you before shaking himself back into focus. “Yeah, yeah, I’m good.”

    You frown in concern, still unconvinced. “You sure?”

    “Yeah, just thinking.” Rocket mumbles before going back to his fancy tech.

    Without a reply, you nod and stand, biting the bottom of your muzzle nervously. Should you question him further? Probably not. He might think you’re being invasive. Then again, he looked pretty upset. Is he okay? Well, he says he is, but you doubt that, honestly. Rocket isn’t the type to be a good liar unless he really, desperately needs to get out of a situation.

    Suddenly, the ship shakes thunderously, sending everything that isn’t bolted down flying into the air. Rocket’s devices slam into the wall, followed quickly by the raccoon himself, while you’re thrown toward the front of the ship. Just as you’re about to sail into the glass of the cockpit, someone grabs your tail tightly and pulls you back down to earth as the ship settles.

    Gaining your balance, you look up at your rescuer, who just happens to be Drax. “Thanks.”

    Drax only nods, cracking a large grin. Despite his terrifying outlook, you find the giant to be quite friendly and a comedian most of the time, though metaphors are somewhat lost on him.

    “Shit.” Quill curses from the front of the ship, pressing multiple buttons and pulling levers worriedly.

    “What is it?” Gamora asks him, sashaying to his side within moments.

    “We have company, assholes! Gear up!” He answers simply, already starting to land the ship.

    I glance fearfully at Rocket, who returns it with a questioning expression. “Uh...Gear up?”

    Rocket curses under his breath, racing to the other side of the ship to grab something. He returns shortly with a large box filled to the brim with knick-knacks. He sorts through it, tossing you an old uniform of his. He explains that it may not fit perfectly, but he’ll sort out the kinks later. He makes sure that you’re equipped with both guns and throwing knives, instructing you to try and stay out of the fighting if you can.

    Quill manages to land the ship successfully and everyone files out in full battle gear. Just as you’ve all exited the ship, another one lands and, before you know it, you’re kicking ass alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy. Fun times, right?

    Well, almost.

    In the midst of the battle, you find yourself fighting side by side with Gamora against an army of henchmen while the others deal with a giant rock monster of some kind. You have no idea what the hell is going on, but you still manage to keep going. You dip in between henchmen’s legs before leaping onto them and using the various tools you have at your disposal to knock them out. You prefer to do so instead of killing them, though Gamora has no such moral barrier and slices them down almost as quickly as you can run.

    You get your latest victim to pass out and fall to the ground on all fours, breathing heavily and readying yourself for your next opponent. However, there are none to speak of. You quickly realise you’ve been split up from Gamora and look around cautiously in order to find her. You spot her within no time and look over where you saw the others last, just to be sure they’re safe. Thankfully, they are. Unfortunately, Gamora isn’t going to be.

    The giant rock monster chucks a huge boulder in her direction, catching her unawares while she disposes of the last of the henchmen. She moves between them skillfully and cuts each of them down, but not fast enough. You race forward on all fours toward her, your heart pumping as you can hear Quill scream her name, trying to warn her and perhaps wishing he could get to her in time.

    “Gamora!”

    At the last second, Gamora glances into the face of her coming doom, just a sparkle of fear in her eyes. At the same time, however, you launch yourself at Gamora and shove her out of the way, the rock slamming into your side.

    The world fades away and everything blurs as you’re flung to the ground by the sheer force of the rock. You can’t see anything, but you manage to hear something above the ringing in your ears.

    “(Y/N)!”

    Before you know it, a blurry and dark grey blob is hovering over you, shaking you frantically and begging you to get up. “C’mon, C'mon, C'mon, get up!” You ignore the command, slipping slowly into unconsciousness, at least it seems so.

    Just before you go out, you hear something that snaps your attention back to the real world.

    “Don’t leave me, (Y/N), you pain in the ass. What am I gonna do without you?”

    Hearing these words, you’re brought back to reality and immediately start coughing when the dust reaches your throat. You blink your eyes open to find yourself staring into the deep brown eyes of Rocket, who is also gripping your shoulders tightly. He sighs with relief and- instead of leaving it at that- leans forward to press his nose and muzzle against yours in a sign of strong affection; a sort of kiss, if you will.

    When he pulls back, you smile and lean into his arms before mumbling, “Not too bad, furball.”

Note: Woo!! First request complete! Now for that Sherlock part 2...

Part 3

[aion-rsa]

Doctor Who’s Best Comfort-Viewing Episodes

https://ift.tt/2UgJy48

I mean, it’s not like absolutely everything is terrible right now, but certainly a lot of things are and we could all do with a break. As a result, here’s a list of Doctor Who stories – one chosen per Doctor – that I put on for comfort. Sometimes you need something familiar and well-worn to unwind with.

This list is very much subjective, some of it is down to which Doctor Who videos I could afford when I was 10. These stories work for me and it’s unlikely they will work completely for someone else. Also worth mentioning is that this list is incomplete; these are not the only stories I watch for comfort, and indeed sometimes that’s not the reason I watch these stories.

First Doctor: ‘The Aztecs’

‘The Aztecs’ is a great example of Doctor Who that can be both familiar, endearing and brutal. In this story Barbara is mistaken for the goddess Yetaxa, and attempts to use her influence to stop the practice of human sacrifice. The Doctor rails against changing history, the High Priest plots to reveal Barbara’s ploy. To escape, Ian has to fight to the death, Susan has to avoid an arranged marriage, and the Doctor has to pretend to romance an Aztec woman who might have the key to letting them reach the TARDIS again. It’s all very morally murky yet comes away feeling generous.

A lot of the characters are flawed and interesting. You understand their motives even if you don’t agree with them. The original TARDIS crew, who have hit their stride now, are included in this. The Aztecs are shown to both practice human sacrifice and meet writer John Lucarotti’s description of ‘a highly civilised and cultured race’.

It’s also a well-made show, and if anything the improved picture quality has been cruel to Barry Newberry’s backdrops – not for lack of detail, but for picking out the folds in the material. With the script doing the same for the characters, ‘The Aztecs’ shows us that comforting does not have to equal light.

Second Doctor: ‘The Macra Terror’

There’s something counterintuitive about choosing a Troughton story with almost no existing pictures because so much of his performance is visual. However, having first experienced a lot of Troughton stories as audio there’s still a lot to admire in his expressive vocal performance.

Also something potentially counterintuitive here is that I’m picking a story outside of the Base Under Siege format that dominated Season 5, which for many people is their platonic ideal of Doctor Who. However I feel that this does a great disservice to a subgenre I’m going to call ‘Weird Troughton’, defined by being an outlier from the series format or featuring Troughton still working out the role (so ‘The Highlanders’, despite being a historical with no science-fiction elements, counts because Troughton is still trying out strange and fun things with the character). ‘The Underwater Menace’ is ridiculous and I love it anyway, David Whittaker very much ploughs his own furrow, and ‘The Mind Robber’ raises the possibility that Doctor Who is a self-aware entity. ‘The Macra Terror’, now available as an animation, is for me one of the best pieces of drama produced from this group, managing to be sinister, fun and have giant crab monsters in it.

It’s an angry take on uniformity, jingoism and control and feels very current. The Second Doctor’s response to having his clothes cleaned and hair combed in accordance with colony beauty standards is great. Ben’s brainwashing gives Michael Craze a chance to show his range, and by choosing not to play it in a zombie or fugue state it’s all the more chilling. Plus, and I can’t stress this enough, giant crabs.

Third Doctor: ‘The Sea Devils’

‘The Sea Devils’ is a sequel to ‘The Silurians’, Malcolm Hulke’s story of prehistoric lizard people who were the dominant species on Earth before humanity. That story was a more considered, intense tale, whereas this is more of a romp with depth. With aquatic lizards instead of underground ones, it also features the Navy rather than UNIT, and the Navy is credited with assisting the production.

Possibly because of this collaboration Jon Pertwee (formerly of the Naval Intelligence Division during World War Two) is clearly having a great time. Otherwise the tropes of the era (the Master, the military, meddling civil servants, Jo Grant gets to be resourceful and plucky, six episodes that could have been done in four) are all present and correct and ready to be argued at. It’s extremely comfortable, and directed with pace and energy by Michael E. Briant (he also knows when to slow down: the submarine attack, for example, where the sailors arm themselves and get into position, watching in horror and confusion as the door melts in front of them).

Hulke injects just enough detail into the characters to bring them to life, with the cast rising to the challenge. Colonel Trenchard, for example, feels like someone you could hear at a golf club complaining about immigration. The final two episodes dispense with any notion of depth and instead we get a big ol’ fight scene where the Navy gets to show off its machinery and the stunt team gets to show off its flips and falls.

This story also features an experimental synth score and a swordfight between the Doctor and the Master where one of them stops for sandwiches. The Pertwee era is pitched incredibly astutely. Sure, it’s absolute nonsense, but it’s amiable nonsense with teeth.

Fourth Doctor: ‘The Ribos Operation’

‘The Ribos Operation’ (or, as it should be known ‘The Best Fourth Doctor Story’) kicks off The Key to Time arc by systematically undermining the entire concept. The Doctor is given a mission by the White Guardian (ostensibly nicer than the Black Guardian but with a hint of unease to him), to find six pieces of The Key to Time and restore balance to the universe. The Doctor is given a new companion, a recent Time Lord academy graduate with all the book knowledge but no experience of the universe.

Robert Holmes’ script is layered, funny, and treads a perfect balance between anger and (unexpectedly) kindness. It hides its subtleties with engaging dialogue and characters, all played with the right levels of bombast. And such characters! Garron and Unstoffe, one of several Doctor analogues (he’s a big, booming and charismatic conman, with Unstoffe as his game but questioning companion who brings compassion that Garron can’t) are rightly regarded as the standouts, but it’s also worth noting the Graff Vynda K: a villain of the piece, a prissy warlord full of self-importance but never heard of before or since, a backwater despot bullying his way across a tiny corner of the universe. The Doctor’s solution to a vainglorious, self-mythologising monster? To blow him up. An interesting response on a number of levels.

There’s nothing wrong with this story. It’s superbly constructed and well-made. It’s a perfect anti-epic, and the only story I’ve rewatched on DVD as often as I did VHS.

Fifth Doctor: ‘Enlightenment’

A wondrous peak in Eighties Doctor Who, starting as a cerebral science-fiction adventure before morphing into a cerebral science-fiction adventure that’s camp as tits.

You may recall Craig Ferguson’s description of Doctor Who as ‘the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism’. ‘Enlightenment’ is a great example of this, with the romantic image of seafaring ships sailing through space corrupted by both the aloof officers and the Black Guardian’s influence. The Guardians here are ostensibly still representations of order and chaos, but mostly they’re ‘nice old man with bird on head’ and ‘ridiculous hyuk hyuking villain with bird on head’. The officer class are made up of Eternals – a race of godlike immortal beings who created this space race for entertainment – a great concept invented by writer Barbara Clegg after witnessing her rich relatives interact with her poorer ones at a family gathering.

The Doctor, through his intellect and faith in his companion, removes the corrupting forces. It’s not clear what happens to the surviving ships after the race is finished, but imagine finding one abandoned in space. It’s such a strong image in a story full of them. Clegg’s writing is full of great concepts and characterisation, including some excellent work with the regulars that makes them feel much more like real people than usual.

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Sixth Doctor: ‘The Mark of the Rani’

In which Time Lady the Rani experiments in a north-eastern mining town, causing violence to erupt.

First of all there’s the score, which is still of its time but feels distinctive due to its more tranquil ambient feel. It doesn’t sound dissimilar to The Microgram, someone who travels round the North East of England recording ambient noises and playing synths over them. There’s even one recorded at Beamish, which completes the loop here.

‘The Mark of the Rani’ is set in Killingworth, north of Newcastle, and technically so are the accents. They sound like someone went round RADA asking ‘Has anyone heard the song “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” by PJ and *checks notes* Duncan?’

This slightly askew version of reality fits Pip and Jane Baker’s version of Doctor Who. Their debut script for the show establishes their style of endearingly serious batshit nonsense (landmines that turn people into plants, leading to the immortal line ‘The tree won’t harm you’). It’s like their stories are written by Wallace with minimal input from Gromit.  

As a result ‘Mark of the Rani’ stands out amidst the aggressive stories surrounding it. It can be taken as merely enjoyably daft, but it’s also got some substance to it. Pip and Jane clearly remember Doctor Who as being the kind of show where the Doctor and his companion got on, so Peri is subjected to less arguing and is even defended (admittedly in terms of utility) by the Doctor.

The Rani is actually a character here, as opposed to her other appearances where she is simply A Villain In Doctor Who, and her presence immediately reduces Anthony Ainley’s Master to a supporting comic relief character. This suits him. When you’re standing in a field caked in shit pretending to be a scarecrow and laughing at passers-by for not noticing you clearly we can’t take you seriously anymore, so at least this story doesn’t pretend he’s a credible threat.

So on the one hand it’s daft, silly fun, but on the other it’s a mid-Eighties story featuring a chemist torturing Northern miners for her own gain. Guess what degree Margaret Thatcher graduated from Oxford with?

Speaking of Thatcher:

Seventh Doctor: ‘The Happiness Patrol’

Within Doctor Who fandom, no one has ever said ‘Oh you don’t like the McCoy era? I’m sorry, you never mentioned it’, and ‘The Happiness Patrol’ revels in all the things its detractors hate about the era. It’s intentionally camp and uses symbolism rather than demanding to be taken literally, like a more confident version of Season 24. The Kandy Man is rightly noted as (visually) a Bertie Bassett parody, played as the ludicrous creature he undoubtedly is.

Knowing that it is restricted in what it can show in terms of violence, the show had now worked out how to be ostensibly child-friendly and incredibly morbid, hence the screeching sweetie-creature, the Day-Glo ray-guns, and the guy who gets drowned in a vat of jam. When you’re three and have never seen Doctor Who before the Kandy Man is downright terrifying, this bizarre monster who twists and turns and screams. This was my first experience of Doctor Who and, appropriately enough, it scared the hell out of me.

As an adult, I find it’s a pleasing return to the ‘Weird Troughton’ stories of the Sixties, the ones where the Doctor was an unassuming but powerful anarchic figure. Here we have a variation of this, where the Doctor has been trying to explore the universe but finds it full of monsters, and starts doing something about it.

Before Season 26 attempted something approaching realism, this story suits Ace and the Seventh Doctor who both feel like Children’s TV archetypes who have grown tired of their roles. Ace’s CBBC leanings (with crap swearing and Blue Peter badges) fits into this heightened reality better than she does a less tonally certain story (like ‘Battlefield’). ‘The Happiness Patrol’ feels like a combination of the different approaches of the McCoy era, a best of album with a life of its own.

Eighth Doctor: ‘Night of the Doctor’

This is specifically because of the circumstances of broadcast, although it’s also a melancholy meta-commentary on the show’s cancellation and wilderness years in which Paul McGann gets to demand ‘Bring me knitting’.

It’s not merely the return of McGann to the onscreen role of the Eighth Doctor after 17 years, it’s that this was kept a surprise until the mini-episode was released in the build-up to the 50th anniversary special. It was such a treat, and I still remember the email I sent to the site’s TV editor when I watched it for Den of Geek. It read ‘OH MY F***ING GOD’ and was sent while the episode was paused just after the word ‘expecting’.

And so I told my friends. I know people watched this in work meetings on their phones under the table. It’s associated with a lot of feelings, not least building excitement. This one is connected very clearly to a moment of shared joy.

Ninth Doctor: ‘The End of the World’

While ‘Rose’ is rightly adulated as bringing Doctor Who back to a large prime time audience, ‘The End of the World’ had a different job to do. Viewing figures went down for this episode after over 10 million people watched the series opener, but went up again after this, suggesting positive word of mouth from this episode, consolidating the success of ‘Rose’.

The production team were aiming to use this episode to show off how Doctor Who could look in 2005, with hundreds of CGI shots and dozens of aliens gathered together. It also showed the new Doctor’s emotional distance, in that his idea of showing off to his new companion is to take her to see her planet getting destroyed.

We also get, in a late addition to the script, Russell T. Davies’ knack for making the alien familiar with the character of Raffalo (‘You’re a plumber?’) who is almost immediately killed, further demonstrating RTD’s knack for knowing which character’s death will have the most impact (and if you’ve not read his novelisation of ‘Rose’ you really should if just for Clive’s death in prose form. Honestly it’s incredible).

‘The End of the World’ is a comforting reminder of the nascent excitement surrounding the 2005 series, that feeling of turbulence that eventually settled because of the strength of these early episodes.

 Tenth Doctor: ‘The Fires of Pompeii’

The episode itself has a soothsay-off between Metella and Lucius to set up a plot point and the series arc, and the first TARDIS trip for Donna as a full-time companion. You immediately get to see the strengths that Catherine Tate is going to bring to the series, not merely her comic and dramatic ability but the way Donna is able to stop the Tenth Doctor from his worst impulses, and by bluntly dismissing the notion of fixed points in history meaning just allowing bad things to happen. This is, for me, the best episode in the first half of Series 4 by a long way.

Sure, there’s a colossal death toll here which is far from comforting, but as ever nostalgia and context plays a huge part here. This was an episode broadcast on the night of our fan club’s night out, a phase of my fandom that turned me from someone who liked Doctor Who in primary school into an adult fan. This has, overall, been worth it. So what this story reminds me of is, following on from ‘The End of the World’s establishing the series, is the initial excitement and patterns of Russell T. Davies’ series where he set up some key words or phrases early on and fandom tried to work out their significance, resulting in the heady days of someone saying Norman Lovett was going to play Davros in ‘The Parting of the Ways’ on IMDb.

Eleventh Doctor: ‘A Christmas Carol’

Quite a few contenders here, but I’ve gone with my favourite Christmas Special because these episodes are often Doctor Who at its broadest, suitable for the half-cut who dwell in food-comas. This episode is one of the last of these stories, before the Christmas Specials became steeped in the main continuity of the series. It’s also a great example of the childlike impulsiveness of Matt Smith’s Doctor before he became more of a teenager in Series 6. It’s great fun and the riffing on Dickens lands really strongly for people like me, who often respond more to a strong realisation of an idea than they do pathos.

This story is designed to be comfortable and succeeds by establishing what a Steven Moffat Christmas Special will look like: lots of time-travel, obviously, but also a big budget version of ‘The Happiness Patrol’s daring the audience to find it too ridiculous. As a result we get a remix of A Christmas Carol featuring flying sharks pacified by a mezzo-soprano, with the joy of these disparate elements coming together through that most underrated of Moffat staples – a grumpy old man learning to let go while being dragged through the sky by animals who usually lack the power of flight.

Twelfth Doctor: ‘Mummy on the Orient Express’

With Capaldi realising his initially abrasive take on the character was too much, this story relieved the tension that had been building with the Doctor’s behaviour, allowing him to explain himself and setting up the arc that culminates in ‘Hell Bent’.

Once this was broadcast I breathed a sigh of relief. Despite wanting it not to be the case I’d had to reach for the positives in the Capaldi era thus far; with the exception of ‘Listen’ the stories had felt like treading water until ‘Kill the Moon’ split the room. Even if you don’t like it (and I mostly don’t) that was the first story that felt like it was trying something different and paved the way for the increased complexity of the Twelfth Doctor’s character. Ultimately what the show needed at this point was a run of good stories, and – appreciating some people don’t get on with ‘Forest of the Night’ (and I mostly do) – this was the start of a really strong run.

‘Mummy on the Orient Express’ is a mash up of concepts that Doctor Who excels at, with an enjoyably horrific Mummy and the actual countdown to its victims’ demises contributing to making each death count. This is harder than it looks, the balance between violence and pathos taking into account the family audience, but the combination of ideas really makes them land as brutal without gore. By putting the Doctor through this writer Jamie Mathieson manages to explain his apparent heartlessness as weariness at making tough choices, but being unable to resist getting into situations that require them. The path is now clear from here to the heights of ‘Hell Bent’ and ‘The Doctor Falls’.

Thirteenth Doctor: ‘It Takes You Away’

Obviously there are fewer Jodie Whittaker fewer stories to choose from, and for me it has to be one from Series 11 because that felt like a palette cleanser for an approach to Doctor Who that never manifested. For all its ups and downs, limiting continuity references and focus on new characters or threats felt like a good move. Certainly the guest writers all provided solid stories, and while the series didn’t soar for me it felt like a good platform to improve from, which is partly why Series 12 was so disappointing (it felt like it addressed problems that weren’t there, ignoring the ones that were).

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‘It Takes You Away’ is frequently surprising, offering a simple blunt horror of loss (the childlike refrain of the title, the fear of absence) combined with endearingly outlandish performances by the actor Kevin Eldon and a sentient universe manifesting as a talking frog. It allowed Jodie Whittaker a rare success in negotiating her way out of a situation, and progressed the character arc of the series with Ryan and Graham’s changing relationship. It’s obviously imperfect (ideally, Hanne’s Dad’s manipulative behaviour would be properly addressed) but it’s also imaginative, moving, and weird, and these are three things I really want Doctor Who to be.

Share your go-to Doctor Who comfort viewing episodes below.

The post Doctor Who’s Best Comfort-Viewing Episodes appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[rantsaboutponies]

Season 7 Retrospective

Well, we’re between highly anticipated movie releases this weekend (for me, anyway), so it’s time for our annual look back over the season!

Good lord, the beginning of Season 7 seemed like so long ago. I could have sworn the Flurry Heart episode was last season. Maybe this has just been a really long year. Well...okay, yeah, I can certainly see why it would feel that way, given the year this has been.

With a rating of 4-9-13 (W-L-T), this season must have been better than the last one, even if it didn’t feel like it. Season 8 is forthcoming, so how long before Hasbro gives up and reboots the series again? Only time will tell.

So, here we are. From best to worst:

#1. “Secrets and Pies”: This episode was...good? Like, really, really good? Why? I don’t get it! I wouldn't be so confused if you guys did this more often! I swear, the next time this happens, I'm going to get whiplash!

#2. “Rock Solid Friendship”: To complement the really good Pinkie Pie episode, here’s an episode that was really good in every way except Pinkie Pie! They’re at exact opposite ends of the season, too. Maybe it’s an equivalent exchange thing.

#3. “Triple Threat”: I thought this episode did a pretty good job of avoiding the “why don’t you just tell them?” problem that virtually every episode of every sitcom runs into. We’ve already established that Thorax is a whiny little milquetoast weenie and that Ember is a heinous prick who doesn’t listen to anybody but herself. Hell, that was the entire reason for the conflict in the first place! Honestly, why would Spike try to reason with either of them?

#4. “To Change a Changeling”: If the monster hadn’t turned out to be a giant mole, the ending battle might have seemed a little more life-threatening. That, Starlight’s very, very stupid plan, and Pharynx’s abusive ass made this episode a little worse than it should have been. Apart from that, though, I liked it!

And now here’s the hardest part of the list: trying to figure out which “tie” episodes were slightly better or worse than all the others.

#5. “Once Upon a Zeppelin”: Yeah, Twilight’s parents were annoying (and idiots), but not to the point that I’m going to dread them ever showing up in any future episodes (unlikely as that is at this point). Plus, bringing back Iron Will actually seemed to have a point, and it helped that he didn’t have to “unlearn” his lesson from his first appearance just to make the current episode make sense.

#6. “Uncommon Bond”: This episode went out of its way to prove that yes, Starlight and Sunburst really do have only one thing in common. I would have expected the resolution to be the realization that the two of them liked more things than just that board game, but nope! Giant version! That’s it!

#7. “Daring Done?”: I was so distracted this episode that I forgot to mention that Pinkie Pie was actually acting like Pinkie Pie and not an annoying little shitbag! It was refreshing! But anyway, you’d think Daring-Do would have written enough books by this point to realize the obvious tropes this episode followed. The real challenge for her is going to be stretching this adventure out to novel-length.

#8. “Discordant Harmony”: I’m still not sure what made Discord think he needed to change a bunch of shit about his house to make Fluttershy happy. It looked the same way he made her house look every time he visited her. What did he think she was expecting?

#9. “A Health of Information”: This is the second episode in a row on this list where Fluttershy acted kind of like a doofus throughout the episode for no discernible reason. It also proved that unicorns are the solution to everything. Need to grab some moss from a swamp without falling in? Unicorn! Need to collect honey from the flash bees without going anywhere near them? Unicorn! Need to destroy an entire planet without breaking a sweat? Unicron!

#10 & #11. “Shadow Play (Parts 1 and 2)”: The first half fools you into thinking this isn’t just going to be a run-of-the-mill finale episode by promising you a halfway interesting quest before immediately giving you all the artifacts within a few minutes. Ha! Gotcha!

#12. “Hard to Say Anything”: I’d kind of hoped we were past the whole “two men competing for the trophy that is the personality-deprived female character” cliché, especially in a show designed for children, but I guess not. I mean, at least Big Mac and Feather do realize that’s what they’re doing by the end, but that doesn’t fix Sugar Belle’s “sexy lamp” issue.

#13. “A Royal Problem”: Has Twilight been of help to any friendship-related issues since she stopped being the main character? I think these episodes must be based on Twilight's memoirs, i.e. this isn't how things actually happened; this is how she remembers them happening. Here's what really happened during "Magical Mystery Cure":

Twilight Sparkle: So...I accidentally totally and completely fucked up my friends’ lives, but then I fixed it! That means I'm good at having friends, right?

Princess Celestia (sarcastically): Oh, yeah, you're a regular princess of friendship.

Twilight Sparkle: *gasp* Really?!

Princess Celestia: Oh, no, I didn't mean– Ah, crap, the music's already started. ♫ You've come such a long, long way... ♫

Princess Celestia (mentally): I've really got to stop using the word “princess” as an insult. This is the third one this week. I'm running out of castles! She'll just have to stay in the library until I can find another one.

#14. “All Bottled Up”: This episode is a perfect example of why the writers typically just don’t include characters in an episode if they have nothing to do in said episode. That escape room nonsense was just stupid. The six of you might be best friends, but you have never gotten along that well!

#15. “Celestial Advice”: Ugh, this one. “As a teacher, I have to send my student away. I don’t know exactly why I have to do that, but I’m sure I’ll figure the reason out later. Oh, wait, you don’t want to leave? Well, that changes everything! You can stay!” I think they were making this one up as they went along.

#16. “The Perfect Pear”: One of the emptiest “love” stories I’ve ever seen. This was an “attraction story”, if you can even call it that. This is another case where I’m positive that at least a hundred better fanfics had been written about this exact story before the episode was released. I get why people have headcanons about things now. Why wouldn’t you have a fanon when the canon is so...weak?

#17. “Honest Apple”: Once again, we have a brand-new writer for this episode. Kevin Lappin was very likely just given a slip of paper with “APPLEJACK = HONEST” written on it, which constituted the entire material he had to work with. That might explain why Applejack was such an unlikable prick for the entire episode.

Whoo... All right. Here we go.

#18. “A Flurry of Emotions”: If you don’t want to watch your kid (because, seriously, you’ve got better things to do), just show up at one of your relatives’ houses one day and dump it on them. They’ll have such a guilt trip that they’ll be glad to accept! But make sure it’s someone who’s completely unqualified for the job and has a mountain of other responsibilities first. That’s the best way!

#19. “Campfire Tales”: The fact that this episode was actually just a clunky setup for the finale might explain why all three stories sucked so hard. It’s this season’s The Mummy!

#20. “Not Asking for Trouble”: Now we’re going to get into the part of the list where I have to figure out which episodes are worse by balancing how much the episode irritated me in general with how toxic the moral is. Trust me, if your children’s show has a moral of “Do what you want to do for other people, regardless of what those people have explicitly told you not to do, because you’ll end up being right in the end. After all, people don’t know what they want!”, you’ve fucked up something awful.

#21. “Fluttershy Leans In”: I said in this review that this felt like the MLP version of The Fountainhead, but I only just recently realized that I also said the same thing about Season 5's "Canterlot Boutique". Given that the episodes were written by different people, this must be a storyline that creative types really like (even if it’s nothing more than a power fantasy).

#22. “It Isn’t the Mane Thing About You”: All right, you actually had a good idea with this one. Despite being the Element of Generosity, one of Rarity's main problems has always been her vanity. That means you pulled off the rare feat of making the moral both 1. something the character hasn't already learned in a previous episode and 2. something that a normal functioning member of society might not automatically possess. (There has been a distressing number of lessons in the past five seasons or so that don't fit one or both of these qualifications.) It's just a shame you crashed and burned so spectacularly by 1. turning the moral from “don't be vain” to “have confidence” (something Rarity has never struggled with AND which you have already had as the moral in MULTIPLE previous episodes) and 2. went about it in the most nonsensical way possible!

#23. “Parental Glideance”: This one was a little sickening. The “my parents are so embarrassing!” trope is bad enough, but you’re an adult, Rainbow Dash! Grow up! If the things your parents are doing embarrass you (or if they’re legitimately dangerous, like SHOOTING FIREWORKS OFF AT AN AIRSHOW), talk to them! You can do that without snapping and acting like a dick!

#24. “Forever Filly”: Holy crap, I have never wanted to punch a fictional cartoon character in the face as badly as I did in this episode. I don’t know what made Sweetie Belle act like such a little shit or why Rarity is so out of touch with her (seeing as Sweetie Belle would have had to have been about four to be into the stuff she was trying to do), but I hated this. Shove your black box experimental theater up your ass.

#25. “Marks and Recreation”: I got the sense from the beginning of the series that cutie marks were originally supposed to be something really deep and meaningful. I mean, they’re your passion. They represent that thing that you love so much and are so good at that you can spend the rest of your life doing it and wearing a permanent symbol of it on your body. Well, not anymore! Now it’s just some obligatory shit that you get because you have to and that doesn’t have any real meaning at all! Fuck you! Just...fuck you!

#26. “Fame and Misfortune”: Yeah, no surprise there. Holy shit, this was a painful experience. Like “Stranger Than Fan Fiction”, this was just embarrassing to watch. To quote somebody else, “...you don't get back at critics by attacking them, you do it by ignoring them and continuing to be awesome.” Hell, this episode's moral is contradicted by its own existence. “You shouldn't be affected by criticism of your work. That’s why I wrote this episode where all my critics are painted as raving lunatics and I am totally the victim!” The fact that this is the SECOND such episode is just pathetic. This one actually manages to be worse, though, because, unlike the earlier episode when it was just Quibble Pants being a dick, this one paints the ENTIRE fandom as either complaining whiners who hate everything or creepy stalkers who follow everywhere you go. Nothing says “we want you to keep watching” like insulting the few fans you have left right to their face!

Remember, next week is the review of the remaining six Equestria Girls: Summertime Shorts. Be there!

[shmosnet2]

Netflix’s The Witcher is a dark, funny, and faithful adaptation of the fantasy series

Netflix’s The Witcher is a dark, funny, and faithful adaptation of the fantasy series

Image: Netflix You learn nearly everything you need to know about The Witcher hero Geralt (Henry Cavill) a few minutes into the first episode. The titular witcher — a work-for-hire monster hunter with some helpful superpowers — is first seen in a swamp, nearly killed by a giant spider monster, beaten and almost drowned. In the next scene, Geralt heads to a local pub for information on his next quest, only to be subjected to ridicule and scorn from villagers who are scared of his supernatural nature. Ultimately, he’s saved from a barroom brawl thanks to a helpful young woman, who very quickly becomes a romantic partner. The Netflix adaptation captures the enigmatic hero perfectly. He’s struggling to survive in a world that hates him, stubbornly sticking to a moral code that forces him into dangerous situations. He’s gruff and sarcastic, always down for a fight, impossibly charming, and frequently irresistible. It’s a premise that worked well in book and video game form — and now it’s one of the best series on Netflix. This review contains light spoilers. The Witcher is based on a series of fantasy novels from Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, which reached a new level of global popularity thanks to a series of video games. 2015’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, in particular, propelled the franchise to blockbuster status. Every iteration follows Geralt, part of an ancient and dwindling line of monster hunters known as witchers. They’re mutated from a young age to be stronger and faster, and the process also gives them limited magical abilities and prolonged life spans. Geralt is a gunslinger type, moseying into a town in trouble, slaying the inevitable magical beast, collecting his pay, and moving on.

Image: Netflix In this way, The Witcher is different than most fantasy stories, including obvious contemporaries like Game of Thrones. It does have the elements of a vast epic tale — including plenty of political machinations and lots of warring kingdoms — but at its best, The Witcher is like a fantastical detective series, with Geralt investigating dangerous magical creatures and inevitably being pulled into much bigger conspiracies. The structure feels true to the spirit of the series What makes the new show work so well is the way it seamlessly blends together these two types of storytelling. There is an interesting overarching story. In addition to Geralt, the show also follows Ciri, a young princess with mysterious powers who is on the run from a rival kingdom, and Yennefer, a fiercely independent sorceress with grand ambitions. Viewers follow along as their three paths inevitably intertwine. But instead of the serialized approach favored by prestige television, for much of its runtime The Witcher has more of a “creature of the week” structure. (This changes in the final two episodes as the season rushes towards a conclusion that very clearly sets up the second season.) Each episode — many of which are based explicitly on short stories from the books — tasks Geralt with solving a different monster-related problem, whether that’s a princess turned into a beast, or a vengeful djinn who has cursed his best friend, the bard Dandelion (who primarily goes by Jaskier in the show). The structure feels true to the spirit of the series, while also making it work well for television. It also means that the show demands a bit more from viewers. Events in The Witcher don’t always unfold in chronological order, and there’s no explicit indication of whether you’re watching a scene in the past or present. Instead, you have to sort out the timing based on contextual clues: a line about an event you’ve already seen, or how close two characters have become. (Figuring out the timing isn’t helped by the fact that witchers and sorcerers barely age.) It took me a few episodes to get a solid sense of things. This also means The Witcher benefits from repeat viewings, where you can pick up on small details you may have missed the first time. The most important part of The Witcher, though, is Geralt himself. I’ll admit: I was nervous after seeing the initial photos of Henry Cavill in a Party City-esque white wig, but he absolutely nails the role. His Geralt is the exact right blend of scary, sexy, and sarcastic. Even his gravelly voice is perfect. The wig may look strange at times, but ultimately it doesn’t distract from what makes Geralt interesting. You even get to see him in multiple bath scenes.

Image: Netflix As a TV show, The Witcher is particularly refreshing in an era full of nihilistic fantasy stories inspired by Game of Thrones. Yes, the show gets brutal at times. The wonderfully choreographed fight scenes are extremely violent, as is one very particular and hard-to-watch magical transformation. It’s a show where — shock! — the bad guys are usually humans, not monsters. What makes The Witcher feel different, though, is in the details. These stories aren’t full of people being awful for the sake of it; they’re making choices based on love or survival, and then things go wrong. What makes The Witcher so compelling is how it delves into these gray areas, exploring why people do what they do. By the end, you’ll have some measure of sympathy for almost everyone, no matter how irredeemable they might seem at first. ‘The Witcher’ has a sense of humor Crucially, The Witcher has a sense of humor. It’s not all dark and dire. Jaskier (Joey Batey) frequently plays the comedy relief, following Geralt around despite not being welcome, in order to turn Geralt’s exploits into song, sometimes breaking the fourth wall in the process. “There I go again,” he says at one point, “just delivering exposition.” When he meets the witcher for the first time, the bard tells him “I love the way you just sit in a corner and brood.” Meanwhile, Geralt’s quietly sarcastic nature is on full display. He can cut through any situation, no matter how awkward or horrible, with a frustrated “fuck.” And one of the show’s most dramatic sex scenes is accompanied by a playful jig and gawking onlookers making jokes. The Witcher could’ve very easily turned out wrong. It’s not hard to misinterpret what it is that actually makes the series interesting, but the TV adaptation gets it. The Witcher is funny, intense, and uncomfortable, and it balances out those disparate emotions almost perfectly. Yes, it stars Henry Cavill in a bad white wig, but you’ll forget about all of that as soon as he starts talking.

https://ift.tt/2sKqu0y . Foreign Articles December 20, 2019 at 03:40PM

[inhumansforever]

Uncanny Inhumans #20 Review

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

It’s the grand finale, with the twentieth and final issue of Uncanny Inhumans, a post script to IvX, and Charles Soule’s last (just for the time being hopefully) Inhuman story.  With art by Ario Anindito, Kim Jacinto and Java Tartaglia and covers by Declan Shalvey and Frazer Irving.  Full review and recap following the jump.

Maximus’ madcap adventure to create synthetic Terrigen Crystals has taken him and his gang all over the globe as the various components and ingredients for the formula have been collected (along with some extraneous, unneeded ingredients gathered merely to keep the recipe a secret).  Their journey has terminated in India where they are met by the Inhuman gangster, Banyan.  Bayan has recruited his former crony,  Kludge, who has built the mechanism required to combine the ingredients into artificial Terrigen.    

Kludge, an Inhuman who is clinically insane and loves to build deadly machine and Maximus, who is also quite mad and very much appreciates deadly machines, get along famously and they start right to work on building the device that promises to produce synthetic Terrigen.  The others wait idly by, busying themselves by playing cards and watching old Bollywood films on television.  

Lineage expresses concern that Maximus will do away with them, as he had The Unspoken, once they are no longer needed.  Triton returns that he has played along with Maximus only to the extent that he can produce the Terrigen; once he succeeds it will be Triton who will do the backstabbing, ending the threat Maximus poses once and for all.  

Maximus and Kludge finally finish, only what they have created is not a Terrigen creating machine at all.  Rather it is a giant killer robot.   Max’s explanation is that simply making Terrigen is boring, something ‘Maximus the Mundane’ might do.  No, a giant robot is more is fashion and offers the others room int he cockpit as he takes the robot off to go squash this no good evil Mutants.  

Before anyone can respond to this unexpected turn of events, the plant they’re work at is besieged by a ginormous aquatic monster… a mega-prawn that carries inside it The Unspoken and his would-be queen who have sought out to extract revenge on Maximus for his betrayal.  

Maximus wastes no time.  He and Kluge board their ridiculous power ranger-style giant robot to battle this equally ridiculous  power ranger-style monster.  And like any ridiculous power ranger-style giant robot, Max’s robot is equipped with a laser sword, which it uses the cut through the mega-prawn like so much sushi.  

Unfortunately, the laser sword is actually powered by synthetic Terrigen, which The Unspoken is able to absorb and trigger his Inhuman abilities.  The Unspoken grows into a hulking version of himself, tearing Maxims’ robot in two with ease.  Max escapes the wrecked robot, crawling from its wrecked cockpit while continuing his warped self-narration, stating it is now up to him to save the day.  

Banyan has had it.  Maximus’ plan to manufacture artificial Terrigen was meant to make him rich, yet all his investments have gone to this goofy robot.  He’s had it and lunges at Max.  Triton springs into action, fending Banyan off as Maximus focuses his telepathic powers on The Unspoken.  Lineage is quite surprised by the turn of events.  Triton had the perfect opportunity to turn on Maximus; why is he now acting to defend him?

The Unspoken’s Inhuman powers are quite impressive, yet his one glaring weakness is uncreative and, in the final analysis, rather dim.  As empowered as he is, The Unspoken’s mind is no match for Maximus’ telepathic manipulation.  Max is able to take control of The Unspoken’s will, causing him to fire off the Terrigen he has stored in him in the forms of force beams that shoot harmlessly off into space.  Depleted of this Terrigen, The Unspoken reverts to his former, enfeebled self.  Triton’s twin blades, meanwhile, has rendered Banyan into a harmless stump of his former self (un-fatal, however, in that he has shown the ability to regenerate his tree-like form with time).    

Still monologuing, Maximus spins this clear defeat into a moral victory, stating that he chose not to produce artificial Terrigen because it is up to the Inhumans to finally learn to adapt and evolve on their own.  Truth be told, Maximus merely wants to keep his secret recipe for synthetic Terrigen to himself, making him invaluable to his people… offering him all the power and influence he so desires.  And it is for this that Triton chose to defend him rather than allow Banyan to kill him.  As long as Maximus possesses this secret he remains untouchable…

And it is here that this silly, unnecessary but nonetheless fun tale comes to a close.   With what will eventually happen to Maximus and his goon squad left to be addressed in the pages of next month’s Inhuman Prime.  

The issue ends with an epilogue, tying off the events of IvX.  Medusa and Black Bolt are meeting in the Quiet Room.  Whatever procedures the X-Men had used to nullify Black Bolt’s voice are gradually wearing off.  In the meantime, however, it offers the two the rare opportunity to talk with one another.   

They discuss all that has transpired, the war with The Mutants, the destruction of The Terrigen Cloud, and  Medusa’s abdication of the throne.  Medusa also looks back on all that has happened to them, the various trials and adventures they have faced, the battles they won, those they lost and the new challenges that their people now face. 

Medusa asks Black Bolt bluntly if he had any knowledge that The Terrigen Cloud would prove fatal to Mutants.  Black Bolt offers an emphatic no; he never considered that the cloud would change in this fashion and he would never have triggered the Terrigen Bomb had he known that it would have resulted in so many Mutant deaths.    

Flagman arrives and escorts the two to a banquet room where many of their colleagues have gathered to offer one last gesture of thanks and gratitude to their former queen.  Medusa counters their sentiment, tasting instead to the future and all that it may hold for them.    And it is here that the issue and the entire series comes to its conclusion.  

Well, that was… something.   This three-issue tie-in to IvX did not really have much to do with the war between the Inhumans and X-Men at all, but was rather just a silly adventure.  Although its lightness and humor offered a nice counterbalance to the grave heaviness of IvX.  It’s true saving grace is that writer, Charles Soule so excels at scripting Maximus.  He channels Max’s unhinged and manic glee just wonderfully; and  Ario Anindito’s illustration with Max’s wild eyes and contorted features pairs perfectly with he dialogue.   The story is kind of a waste in that it could have been used to shore up the significant plot holes in IvX.  Instead we got an irreverent romp with a goofy giant robot and an even goofier giant sea monster.  And yet it’s forgivable in that Max and his let’s-go-ganging gang is so much fun to read.  

Less fun is the epilogue scene.  It’s a nice recap of the series as a whole, yet Jacinto’s illustration is rushed and Medusa and Black Bolt’s discussion regarding the Terrigen Cloud proving deleterious to Mutants left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.  

There was a good deal of revisionist history in the ways in which IvX wrapped up.  The plot was tweaked in a fashion to exonerate the Inhumans’ culpability over all of the Mutants who had died due to Terrigen poisoning.  This is fine in and of itself, but it is also a bit antithetical to who The Inhumans really are.  The Inhumans, the Royal Family and those of Old Attilan, were never meant to be traditional superheroes with noble, lawfully good values.  They’re not evil, but they’re not good either; just different.  Medusa’s reframe that ‘an Inhuman’s right to go through Terrigenesis is not worth a single Mutant life’  is both contrary to her actions in the past as well antithetical to the true values of her people.  And Black Bolt’s statement that he would never have triggered the Terrigen Bomb had he known what it would do to Mutants seems… well, let’s just say I don’t believe him.  

It seems to me that editorial wanted The Inhumans to look more heroic and sympathetic in the wake of IvX and Soule played along.  Not only did the attempt not work, it feels untrue to who The Inhumans are and what makes them so interesting to read about.  

This gets at the root of the challenge Charles Soule has had to deal with throughout his tenure on Inhumans.  At this point I feel confident in positing that Matt Fraction left the book because Marvel very much wanted the Inhumans turned into ersatz X-Men and that was something he had no interest in.  Soul was brought on board last minute to fill in for Fraction and likely given the same assignment.  He did as asked, but managed to do it in a way that retained the true essence of who The Inhumans are.  

Soule made The Inhumans into more traditional superheroes, but also held onto that key alien and unsettling quality hat makes them unique… balancing more conventional superhero tropes (Inferno’s origin and Linage’s dastardly schemes) with the outré weirdness more expected of The Inhumans (Reader’s origin, the introduction of Ennilux and the squad’s battle with Kang).  

Some aspects worked quite well, with he addition of a bevy of great new characters and the rich development of Medusa’s character; while other parts didn’t work as well…  Soule’s version of Black Bolt is very much out of sync with my own impression of who the character is and Triton, Gorgon and Medusa spent too much time int he background for my tastes.   Not that I’m complaining, I grew up having to wait months, sometimes years, for appearances of my beloved Inhumans…  Getting new Inhuman books nearly every week has been all but an embarrassment of riches and I’m more than happy to take the good with the bad.  

Rather than morphing The Inhumans into replacement X-Men, feared and hated for their differences, Soule took a different route and utilized the formation of New Attilan and its displaced populace of Inhumans as a metaphor for the immigrant/refugee experience in the West.   I feel that it worked quite well; as well as underscored how easily both he Mutants and Inhumans can coexist in the marvel Universe.   Tribalism, bigotry, cultural assimilation and xenophobia are matters easily big enough and important enough to be tackled in both The X-Men as well as The Inhumans

The whole Inhumans versus X-Men cross-over event ended up forcing the narrative in Uncanny Inhumans to streamline and consolidate so to fit in with the event’s plot.  A number of longstanding threads have thus been left unaddressed.  We still don’t know what the Sky Spears are all about; what young Ahura has planned as the leader of The Ennilux Corporation will have to be told later; and the romance between Medusa and Johnny Storm came to a conclusion in a quick, less than satisfactory fashion.  I have to imagine each of these matters might have been better addressed had Soule’s narrative not been forced to roll into IvX.  

That said, Charles Soule’s tenure on The Inhumans has been wonderful and he has my great gratitude for steering these favorite characters into the uncharted waters of the big push to make them a more centralized part of the overarching Marvel Universe.    

Whatever endeavors the future brings for Mr. Soule, I wish him the best of luck.  Welcome to the Astonishing X-Men, Charles, hope you survive the experience!

Two out of Five Lockjaws for the issue;

Five out of Five Lockjaw for the entire series

[doctorwhonews]

The Early Adventures: The Outliers (Big Finish)

Latest Review: Written By: Simon Guerrier Directed By: Lisa Bowerman Cast Anneke Wills (Polly Wright/Narrator), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon/The Doctor), Elliot Chapman (Ben Jackson), Alistair Petrie (Richard Tipple), Debbie Chazen (Dr Goro), Matilda Ziegler (Chatura Sharma) Producer David Richardson Script Editor John Dorney Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs Originally Release October 2017 If previous release The Night Witches seemed custom made to highlight the limitations and contradictions of the Early Adventures format, The Outliers is a showcase for it reaching its full potential. The first thing to immediately strike you is how well Anneke Wills’ narration is integrated into the script. Although I’m still highly sceptical of the need for narration in a full cast audio, nary a line here is redundant or duplicates character dialogue. Instead, writer Simon Guerrier has smartly concentrated the Narrator’s role on providing atmosphere and tension – with lots of lingering verbal imagery of the dank caves, dark running water and unsettlingly empty houses that populate his tale. The opening sequence of a dead body floating downriver, unwitnessed and alone, until something under the water snatches it down, feels perfectly in tone with a typical Troughton story’s beginning, but only accomplishable with narration. It’s the same meticulous recreation of style that gives us huge estates of absolutely identical prefabricated houses – which would have been a perfect budget-saving measure on TV in 1967.The performances of the cast also strike much more truly this time out as well. Although still saddled with a dazzling number of voices each – Wills doing triple duty as Young Polly, Old Polly, and Narrator at different points, while Hines has to make the Doctor, Young Jamie and Old Jamie distinguishable from each other. In fact, hearing Wills perform as both the Narrator and a Polly that’s her own age gives a new respect for just how brilliant she is. Hines, though, impresses most here, aided by dialogue that takes pains to make the Doctor feel as Troughtoneseque as possible on the page and which takes the pressure off Hines to inject 'Troughtonness' into generic lines. The combination of Guerrier and Hines allow actor to disappear completely into the role and the gaping hole you’d expect Troughton’s absence to cause is only rarely, and momentarily, noticeable. In fact, the characterization is top notch all round. Jamie is very effectively used, the young highlander, full of courage and naivety in equal measure but quick to imagine his companions are having a slight joke at his expense with some of their more outlandish claims of aliens and technology. And there’s a keen sense of the story’s placement in mid-Season Four, with a slight edge of jealousy between Ben and newcomer Jamie over the affections of a Polly who just rolls her eyes at their posturing. The plot into which all this atmosphere and characterization is poured is the type of light satire which often found a home in late 1960s Doctor Who, though its targets are slightly more modern. Set in that most well worn of Troughton Era locations – a future Earth colony base coming under siege by a force that moves, insidious and largely unseen as it slowly wraps its lethal tentacles around and through the settlement until the danger is realized too late. Even for that trope The Outliers’ setting is a colony on the edge. A cave system buried deep not even into a planet, but an asteroid hurtling through space, it’s both a mine extracting a highly toxic material for use in Weapons of Mass Destruction, and a construction site for a city of exiles from an overcrowded Earth. The only indigenous life is a type of barnacle; a tiny, simple shellfish which clings as precariously to the rocks as the human settlement does to viability. But they do have one strange mystery – nobody has ever seen their young. A kind of mix between Star Trek’s The Devil in the Dark and Doctor Who’s own The Macra Terror, where the colony’s leader, or “Cohesion Interface Manager”, Tipple (Alistair Petrie), uses statistical trickery to try and disguise the scale of a problem or the ever increasingly rate of mysterious disappearances, this is the situation into which the Doctor and friends find themselves falling. Fortunately, the Doctor still has his “Earth Examiner” badge on him so swiftly takes charge of the situation. Actually, part of the fun of the play is the segment where, having successfully, and almost accidentally, overthrown the asteroid’s leadership the Doctor has to grapple with the headaches of being the one in charge, instead of tutting from the sidelines (an idea which, between Ruler of the Universe, Time in Office and this, seems riding a be a bit of a zeitgeist at Big Finish at the moment.) More humour is mined from Tipple’s over-reliance for buzzwords and management speak. Even the title “The Outliers” refers not to the name of the monsters or the purpose of the base, but to the term dismissing the ever increasingly number of victims as no cause for concern. But the humour never threatens to suffocate the elements of horror or moral questioning. In the manner more typical of newer Doctor Who episodes, the conflict is, in part, fuelled by a misunderstanding but the idea of creatures whose perception of time and reality is so different they can’t at first quite detect that the humans are sentient beings is interesting stuff. While sequences of isolated boats stalked by the giant creature beneath the surface or, worse, people overboard treading in the knowledge that they’re not alone are never less than thrilling.The story is buoyed by a great guest cast too. Petrie hits the right balance between bland corporate nothingness, and the real human being underneath, and gives probably one of the most credible ‘Base Commander Cracking Up’ performances decades of Bases Under Siege have thrown up, while Debbie Chazen and Matilda Ziegler both sidestep the ‘sitcom’ expectations some listeners may have had of them to turn in skilled, dramatic performances. An Early Adventure which manages the rare tightrope walk of being a perfect evocation of the original era without sacrificing any modern standard of characterization or storytelling, The Outliers succeeds in justifying the whole concept of re-casting. For it would be a sadder Doctor Who cosmos in which this wonderfully, spooky little tale didn’t exist.   http://reviews.doctorwhonews.net/2017/11/the_early_adventures_the_outliers_big_finish.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr