#alex may be a monster but we respect his craft

[archaickobold]

I'd apologize for all of the rusty quill gaming stuff I've been reblogging but honestly I'm still reeling from yesterday's episode and this is me showing self control so-

[notcrowfacts]

I Rate The TTRPG Shows I’ve Watched

Critical Role (53/114 cr1 & 97/99 cr2)

8/10

The og show. I love cr so very much. The pcs are always so wonderful and the crew plays them so convincingly. I wish I could DM like Matt Mercer my god. Genuinely such an entertaining show with a lovely cast. Also Laura Bailey exists so

-2 points for 4 hour episodes. -1 point for being PURE dnd with less overarching narrative. +1 point for a podcast option

Dimension 20 (all caught up on every season)

9.5/10

I’m gonna fight Brennan Lee Mulligan in a Denny’s parking lot. FUCK. This show is so good, it’s had me go from bawling my eyes out one second to hysterically laughing the next. The role-playing is excellent, the episodes are a more manageable length (1-2hours), and Brennan is also such an excellent DM. The cast is great, Ally, Lou, and Zac are so fucking funny, Emily is chaos in human form, Siobhan could murder me and I’d thank her, Murph SAYS he’s a good lawful boy but I see him play he can’t fool me.

-1 point for emotional damages. -.5 points for not being able to talk abt it with my friends bc you have to pay for dropout. +1 point for free trials and the amount of free content on YouTube.

NADDPod (100/100 main campaign 7/16 Trinyvale)

12/10

Genuinely I think this is my favorite dnd podcast. It’s truly so good. Murph is an excellent DM, his NPCs are amazing, his narrative is beautiful, it’s impossible not to fall in love with this campaign. It’s so funny while still having an ongoing theme of love, forgiveness, and mercy and it just makes you feel better after listening. The cast is also wonderful. Emily Axford exists and my heart goes 🥰🥰🥰. Jake is so funny and his portrayal of Hardwon was so GOOD. Caldwell is amazing and it’s real nice to see him get more comfortable dming trinyvale and see him live out his anime boy dreams through Beverly.

-3 points for dragon pussy. +5 points for moonshine cybin existing

The Adventure Zone (12/16 graduation caught up on everything else)

7.5/10

This and critical role seems to be everyone’s baby’s first dnd podcast. Balance was what got my into ttrpg shows in the first place so TAZ will always have a special place in my heart. That being said, I’ve sort of lost interest in graduation, Travis is a wonderful dm don’t get me wrong but I’m just not ~into~ it anymore. Still, Balance and Amnesty are wonderful, I adore those campaigns and I hope Graduation will grow on me too. I’m not giving up on this podcast yet!!

-5 points for Garfield related crimes. +1 point for the PCs. +1 point for Clint

Rusty Quill Gaming (all caught up)

9/10

Fuck me guys. This podcast has really done me a new one recently. The story is really wonderful, the PCs have my whole heart, and the cast is just really really great. There have been such wonderful portrayals of mental health struggles, the loss of a loved one, and just being real people who are complicated and trying their best. And STILL the podcast is really really funny!! They also do a bunch of specials using other systems (they do a bunch by Grant Howitt with Grant Howitt!). It’s just a good time all around. Rusty Quill is also the company that makes TMA so if you’re into horror you’d probably like it? Idk I don’t do spooks.

-3 points for Ben Meredith and his Grizzop related crimes -1 point for Pathfinder and it’s stupid rules -2 points for all the TMA crossovers +2 points because Alex is a monster (but we respect his craft) +3 points for Sasha, Azu, and Cel

Dungeons and Daddies (14/35)

8/10

I’m only partway through but I’m loving this show so far!! The cast is so funny and the premise in general is fucking genius. I can’t wait to see how these characters grow and become actually good fathers (god Ron and Henry are s o c l o s e). I’m in love with their kids and wives (blows a kiss to Samantha and Mercedes). I’m just super pumped to keep listening.

-3 points for child murder. -1 point for poor parenting. +2 points for Beth May

[kimabutch]

Rusty Quill Gaming FAQ

I get a lot of asks about Rusty Quill Gaming, and I thought I’d put all the answers in one spot!

What is Rusty Quill Gaming?

RQG is an actual-play Pathfinder podcast where comedians, improvisers, gamers, and writers play a long-running campaign in an original setting. The Dungeon Master is Alexander J Newall, and the players are Ben Meredith, Lydia Nicholas, Bryn Monroe, James Ross, and (a later addition) Helen Gould. As of April 2020, there are 150 episodes. Episodes drop at 4pm GMT every Wednesday.

The story follows a mercenary group in a steampunk-fantasy version of 19th century Europe ruled by dragons, which abounds with real-life historical figures such as Oscar Wilde, Amelia Earhart, and Albert Einstein. The eclectic mercenaries travel Europe and beyond to unravel the origins of the Simulacrum, a magical automaton that can replicate itself — and on their journey discover world-shattering conspiracies. The story touches on themes of scientific ethics, free will and difficult choices, coping with loss and failure, and the boundaries between life and death. The campaign is very roleplay-heavy, with an intricate plot and complex, interesting characters. It’s got hilarious comedic improv, but also doesn’t shy away from heavy, complicated topics. 

Although there’s only one main campaign that has been ongoing since 2015, there are also a number of specials in which the cast (and other special guests) play one-shots using other game systems, which don’t relate to the main campaign in any way. 

Where can I listen?

It’s available on all major podcatchers, or you can access episodes on rustyquill.com. 

Where do I start?

I recommend starting with episode 1 (RQG 1 - Hello!), as it’s the beginning of the campaign. If you want to learn more about the mechanics of Pathfinder and the game setting, you could start with the first episode on the feed (RQG 0 - Metacast! Character Creation), but it’s not necessary to understand the story. 

Be warned that the prologue (RQG 1-17), while good, spends a fair bit of time introducing the audience to Pathfinder and the concept of TTRPGs more generally. Battles, in particular, are a little more drawn out than you might be used to. I promise that over time, and particularly after the prologue, they stop explaining mechanics so much and get much more into roleplay. If you’re really struggling with the early episodes, you could try listening to the Season One Recap (found right before RQG 54 on the feed), listen to the recap of the prologue, and jump in at RQG 18.

What are all the different types of episodes on the feed? Which ones do I need to in order to follow the main campaign?

There are 200+ episodes on the feed that can be broken up into several different types:

Main campaign: Any episode that is titled “RQG # - Title” is an episode of the main story, and should be listened to in order, ideally from the beginning (RQG 1 - Hello!)

Sidequests: There are three sidequests, “Bertie’s Sidequest” (between RQG 39 & 40), the “Ancient Rome Sidequest” (between RQG 126 & 127), and “Roman Rogues” (between RQG 157 & 158.) Although set in the main campaign’s world and involving at least one character from the main campaign each, they’re called sidequests because they don’t actually move the main plot forward, and don’t have all the central player characters in them. However, they contain events or characters that are referenced or relevant to the main plot, and they’re all extremely good, so you’ll want to give them a listen!

Metacasts, Mailbag/Q&As, and Season Recaps: These involve the cast talking about the series out-of-character, answering questions, or giving advice to people seeking to get into TTRPGs, or who want to improve their games. Many of them are very good, funny, and interesting, but they’re not required listening by any means. 

Specials: Besides the odd announcement on the feed, pretty much everything else is a special. These don’t relate to the main campaign at all, though they’re very good!

What’s the LGBTQ+ representation like?

Good! A number of the player characters are LGBTQ+, as is at least one member of the cast. I would say that sexuality, whether queer or otherwise, isn’t a big part of the story — there’s very little romance, or even established romantic couples — and there aren’t many discussions of gender, either. However, the representation is good, and the cast is very sensitive to matters concerning LGBTQ+ people. 

When does it get sad? How much of it is sad?

If you’ve heard fans talking about RQG, you’ve probably heard that it can get very, very sad — it’s often-repeated, by the players and the fans alike, that the DM Alex is a monster “but we respect his craft.” The story does go to some extremely heavy places, particularly starting around (mild spoilers) episode 40. 

The cast handles difficult themes with sensitivity and a lot of mutual trust. There are content warnings for many episodes, although there may be triggering things not covered by the content warnings — many fans, including me, will be happy to warn you about specific topics if you ask!

Additionally, while there are sections of the story that are particularly sad, rest assured that there’s always laughter and lighter moments, too! Every single episode has made me laugh out loud, and there’s a lot of love and many soft moments between the characters. You will run the full gamut of human emotions while listening. 

Do I recognize [X voice] from The Magnus Archives?

Rusty Quill Gaming is from the same production company as The Magnus Archives, and every cast member of Rusty Quill Gaming has been on TMA in some capacity. Alex (the DM) is Martin, Ben (Zolf) is Elias, Lydia (Sasha) is Melanie, Bryn (Hamid) and James (Bertie) are statement-givers in MAG 100, and Helen appears briefly in MAG 136. 

Where can I discuss RQG with people?

While there’s a fairly active community on tumblr right now, a lot of fans (and some of the cast and crew) hang out in the official Rusty Quill discord, which you can access via the website! You can join even if you’re not caught up — if you put your episode number in your nickname, people will avoid spoiling you! I also run a fairly small server where we theorize about the plot and discuss the worldbuilding; feel free to DM me for an invite if you’re caught up on the series. 

Lastly, there’s an RQG wiki that you can find on fandom.com! While it’s very much a work in progress, it’s a great source for episode summaries, character info, setting descriptions, and much more. It’s got tons of spoilers on it, so I wouldn’t recommend visiting until you’re caught up. Please give it a look and, if you want, contribute to it! 

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 11 November 2019

Quick Bits:

Batman & The Outsiders #7 throws some further ramifications of Ra’s al Ghul and his minions meddling with Duke and Sofia. Some particularly disturbing transformations going on with Duke that should be interesting. The level of intrigue that Bryan Hill is keeping in the story is gripping.

| Published by DC Comics

The Batman’s Grave #2 is another excellent issue. A little more packed with action than the first one, allowing Bryan Hitch to cut loose with some of the sequences. Also, I’m loving the humour that Warren Ellis is giving us between Alfred and Bruce. That acerbic wit is something we’ve seen from Alfred a lot and Ellis just nails the voice.

| Published by DC Comics

Battlepug #3 is more fun from Mike Norton, Allen Passalaqua, and Crank! Some really nice stuff here as Bryony cuts loose on Nobody’s Ponies. I absolutely love the mix of traditional sword and sorcery storytelling with rather over-the-top humour that basically lampoons it at the same time.

| Published by Image

Black Cat Annual #1 is a fun tale of a heist on the Maggia by Black Cat and Spider-Man from Jed MacKay, Joey Vazquez, Natacha Bustos, Juan Gedeon, Brian Reber, and Ferran Delgado. It features the usual humour and action that we see in the series and I quite like how the artists are broken up each following one particular aspect of the story. Though it’s all one narrative, it gives a nice differing feel to each part.

| Published by Marvel

Black Hammer / Justice League: Hammer of Justice #5 concludes what has been an excellent series from Jeff Lemire, Michael Walsh, and Nate Piekos. Ultimately, this has reminded me of the old JLA/JSA crossovers of old, and just feels great as an overall story. Plus the possibility of seeing a sequel.

| Published by Dark Horse & DC Comics

Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda #3 begins “God Loves, Moon Kills”, another two-parter for this series, from Jim Zub, Lan Medina, Craig Yeung, Marcio Menyz, Federico Blee, and Joe Sabino. I love this story format, giving us essentially quick-hit missions dealing with a problem and then moving on. It’s yielded some pretty tight storytelling and some fascinating situations.

| Published by Marvel

Black Stars Above #1 is another incredible debut for Vault, with Lonnie Nadler, Jenna Cha, Brad Simpson, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou delivering an incredibly deep and unique horror story. It centres around a young woman in a family of fur traders, as the trade itself begins to die in Canada, and it’s impressive as to how real the characters and their struggle feels. The artwork from Cha and Simpson is exquisite.

| Published by Vault

Buffy + Angel: Hellmouth #2 continues Buffy and Angel’s descent through hell. It’s much more cerebral than you’d expect, with the demons trying to get into Buffy and Angel’s respective heads in order to manipulate and destroy them. Plus, a rather interesting surprise. Jordie Bellaire, Jeremy Lambert, Eleonora Carlini, Cris Peter, and Ed Dukeshire are doing some great work with the core of this event.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Collapser #5 somehow gets even stranger in this penultimate issue as Liam creates a “perfect” world to run away from the problems he’s having in the real world. The real world bleeding through and a revelation of his girlfriend’s true intentions just ratchet up the strangeness further. Mikey Way, Shaun Simon, Ilias Kyriazis, Cris Peter, and Simon Bowland are just doing amazing work here.

| Published by DC Comics / Young Animal

Detective Comics #1015 takes an interesting turn as Nora decides that she likes being a villain. Through this, Peter J. Tomasi is definitely showing an interesting side to Mr. Freeze, emphasizing again that he’s a rather conflicted villain, only doing the various heinous actions to save his wife. Who now doesn’t need him.

| Published by DC Comics

Doctor Mirage #4 features more incredibly beautiful, inventive artwork from Nick Robles and Jordie Bellaire. The visual storytelling as Shan faces the Embalmer is just incredible. Magdalene Visaggio, Robles, Bellaire, and Dave Sharpe continue to deliver magic with this penultimate issue.

| Published by Valiant

Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror: Season Two #2 is another entertaining issue. The lead tale from Tom Peyer, Greg Scott, Lee Loughridge, and Rob Steen has traditional EC Comics horror vibes, as a scientist tries to communicate with our worm overlords. In one of the comics back-ups Mark Russell, Peter Snejbjerg, and Steen revisit the world of the breakfast cereal monsters. And there’s the usual prose pieces, poetry, and Hunt Emerson’s Black Cat. 

| Published by Ahoy

Event Leviathan #6 concludes this series from Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, and Josh Reed. How much you enjoy it will hinge on how much you enjoy Maleev’s art and the realization that most of this tale is about moving one person off the board and the reveal of Leviathan to set up further stories. Also, Bendis paints a Batman who is ridiculously terrible at hiding his secret identity.

| Published by DC Comics

Fallen Angels #1 is the final new first issue of this first wave of “Dawn of X” titles and in many ways it’s more personal than the other X-titles, even Excalibur, delving into Psylocke (the former Kwannon, not Betsy Braddock) and her past. Bryan Hill, Szymon Kudranski, Frank D’Armata, and Joe Sabino deliver an interesting story with hooks on the darker side of the X-world, including some ominous bits from Magneto and Sinister, but I question the inclusion of X-23 and Cable. They don’t exactly seem to fit the roles they’ve been put into here.

| Published by Marvel

Family Tree #1 is a phenomenal debut from Jeff Lemire, Phil Hester, Eric Gapstur, Ryan Cody, and Steve Wands. This first issue perfectly captures that insidious nature of family drama mixed with creeping terror and body horror as a bizarre plague begins spreading across America.

| Published by Image

Far Sector #1 is one of the most impressive debuts I’ve read in a long time. NK Jemisin, Jamal Campbell, and Deron Bennett create a rich new world in the City Enduring and a compelling character in the new Green Lantern, Sojourner Mullein. The murder mystery that ties everything together is just the icing on the cake. Incredible world-building here and drop dead gorgeous artwork. Do not miss this.

| Published by DC Comics / Young Animal

The Flash #82 is part one of “Rogues’ Reign” from Joshua Williamson, Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Arif Prianto, and Steve Wands. It features a Central City taken over by the Rogues, transformed into their own personal playgrounds, as the Flash is nowhere to be found. It’s not bad, but the amount you’re going to like it may be relative to how much you’re also enjoying “City of Bane” and the recently concluded similar arc involving the Trickster.

| Published by DC Comics

Folklords #1 is off to a fantastic start from Matt Kindt, Matt Smith, Chris O’Halloran, and Jim Campbell. It starts off with a precocious kid in a fantasy world who’s been having visions of what essentially amounts to our world, whose quest sets out a rather draconian lockdown on their society when the Librarians rein in everyone from illicit action, like finding the Folklords. Highly recommended.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Forgotten Home #2 reveals more about Jannada, its history and society, and how an unjust queen was brought to rule through racial warfare. Love the artwork from Marika Cresta and Matt Emmons.

| Published by Vices Press

Gideon Falls #18 unleashes the Laughing Man on reality in part two of “The Pentoculus”. Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, Dave Stewart, and Steve Wands are beautifully unfolding this twisted and horrific flower of a story.

| Published by Image

Gotham City Monsters #3 adds another element of DC lore to the series as Melmoth claims a particular prize. I really quite like how Steve Orlando, Amancay Nahuelpan, Trish Mulvihill, and Tom Napolitano are pulling together disparate bits of Gotham and beyond to craft this story.

| Published by DC Comics

Guardians of the Galaxy #11 is the penultimate issue of this series from Donny Cate, Cory Smith, Victor Olazaba, David Curiel, and Cory Petit. It’s basically a big fight between the remaining Guardians and everyone else. It doesn’t go so well.

| Published by Marvel

Hawkman #18 takes a somewhat different approach to Hawkman’s infection than what we’ve seen of the others so far. Rather than being a dark reflection of Hawkman’s own desires, he’s taken over by an Earth-3 incarnation in Sky Tyrant. Robert Venditti, Pat Olliffe, Tom Palmer, Jeremiah Skipper, and Richard Starkings & Comicraft instead use that to play the spirit of our Hawkman against.

| Published by DC Comics

Hit-Girl: Season Two #10 is part two of “India”. The artwork from Alison Sampson and Tríona Farrell is impressive, given an amazing level of detail to bringing Mumbai to life. Brutal and rich in colour.

| Published by Image

House of Whispers #15 takes a new twist as the Corinthian finds the House of Watchers, takes over, and everything changes. Nalo Hopkinson, Dan Watters, Dominike “Dono” Stanton, Zac Atkinson, and AndWorld Design kick off some new terrors as even Erzulie’s status quo is upended, and we get another guest appearance of John Constantine’s homecoming.

| Published by DC Comics - Black Label / The Sandman Universe

Invaders #11 pushes deeper into Steve and Namor’s history and relationship, as Steve refuses to give up on his old friend. There’s some very heavy, very good character work here as we head into the final issue. Chip Zdarsky, Carlos Magno, Butch Guice, Alex Guimarães, and Travis Lanham continue to astonish at the incredibly high bar they’ve set for this story.

| Published by Marvel

Justice League Odyssey #15 is a fun tale from Dan Abnett, Will Conrad, Rain Beredo, Pete Pantazis, and AndWorld Design. Jessica Cruz leading a rag tag band of villains (and Orion) against Darkseid and the previous JLO turned evil is unfolding as a very entertaining story with some interesting twists. Also, Dex-Starr is awesome.

| Published by DC Comics

Morbius #1 isn’t a bad start from Vita Ayala, Marcelo Ferreira, Roberto Poggi, Dono Sánchez-Almara, and Clayton Cowles. This first issue is largely just action as Morbius sets out on his quest to cure himself, again, but it’s not bad. The art from Ferreira, Poggi, and Sánchez-Almara is very nice.

| Published by Marvel

Oblivion Song #21 continues the slowburn investigation and reconnaissance of the Faceless Men’s base, as Marco tries to map it out and discover where they’re holding all of the people who decided to stay in Oblivion. Gorgeous artwork from Lorenzo De Felici and Annalisa Leoni as we see more of the Faceless Men’s technology.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Psi-Lords #6 does a bit more world-building as we find out more about the Psi-Lords and the Starwatchers, even as the four Earthers are beset by the other Marked in a bizarre farce of a trial. Fred Van Lente, Renato Guedes, and Dave Sharpe are telling a pretty great sci-fi adventure tale here. It largely stands alone in the greater Valiant universe framework and deserves more attention than its getting.

| Published by Valiant

Punisher: Soviet #1 is another welcome return to the Punisher by Garth Ennis, stepping back into Frank’s adventures like he never left. Ennis, Jacen Burrows, Guillermo Ortego, Nolan Woodard, and Rob Steen deliver a brutal and bloody beginning as Frank chases down someone who everyone seems to think is him.

| Published by Marvel / MAX

Reaver #5 is a fairly impressive spotlight for Breaker as he does what he really didn’t want to do again in order to help his “friends”. Justin Jordan, Rebekah Isaacs, Alex Guimarães, and Clayton Cowles present a number of twists and surprises in one of the most brutal issues yet.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Ronin Island #8 sees the remaining islanders largely stand together as they try to both stand up to and flee from the Shogun’s soldiers and madness. With a terrible occurrence that looks like it’s going to cause even more problems for the survivors. Giannis Milonogiannis and Irma Kniivila’s art continues to be everything.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Sea of Stars #5 very nicely puts the pieces together as a disconsolate Gil has been captured and basically given up thinking Kadyn dead is brought to the world where his son is about to be gutted. Jason Aaron, Dennis Hallum, Stephen Green, Rico Renzi, and Jared K. Fletcher are telling an incredible story here and this issue throws even more twists at the reader.

| Published by Image

Seven Days #2 unfolds some of the fallout of people learning that they only have seven days left, as the superhero community is enlisted to try to stop whatever the shiny harbinger things are. Gail Simone, José Luís, Jonas Trinidade, Michelle Madsen, and Saida Temofonte are continuing to build an intriguing story here as we get more and more of the breadth of the Catalyst Prime universe.

| Published by Lion Forge / Catalyst Prime

Superman #17 is kind of a housekeeping issue from Brian Michael Bendis, Kevin Maguire, Paul Mounts, and Dave Sharpe, acting as a prologue to “The Truth”. A bit of reflection on the Unity Saga, Event Leviathan, and Year of the Villain.

| Published by DC Comics

Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Blackest Night #1 might well be the best of these one-shots yet. Tim Seeley, Kyle Hotz, Dexter Vines, Walden Wong, Danny Miki, David Baron, Allen Passalaqua, and Tom Napolitano give us a bleak look at a world where Sinestro chose not to share the power of the White Lantern light and essentially everything fell to Nekron and the Black Lanterns. It’s a very unique take on the zombie apocalypse on its own, made more interesting as a fallen Sinestro, Lobo, and Dove try to save this universe. The art from Hotz, Vines, Wong, Miki, Baron, and Passalaqua is perfect.

| Published by DC Comics

Trees: Three Fates #3 continues to build up the weird atmosphere from last issue, then turns around and focuses on more of the gritty aspects of Oleg, Mik, and Nina. Gorgeous artwork all throughout from Jason Howard and Dee Cunniffe.

| Published by Image

Triage #3 shifts to Commander Marco’s reality as the group flee from the Hunter. I really like what Phillip Sevy and Frank Cvetkovic have been doing with this story. Great high concept, but the interpersonal relationships are where it’s really at.

| Published by Dark Horse

Usagi Yojimbo #6 is a beautiful updating and embellishment of the very first story of Usagi from Albedo by Stan Sakai and Tom Luth. This single issue story really captures the spirit and magic of all of Sakai’s stories, wonderfully portraying his mix of action and folklore.

| Published by IDW

Vampirella/Red Sonja #3 explores more of what the Russians were doing in regards to Drakulon and more. More very nice humour from Jordie Bellaire in the interactions between Vampirella and Sonja.

| Published by Dynamite

Wonder Woman #82 begins “The Wild Hunt” from the new creative team of Steve Orlando, Kieran McKeown, Scott Hanna, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Pat Brosseau. It very much continues on from the plot threads and elements of the previous run, continuing to build on the current conflict between Wonder Woman and Cheetah.

| Published by DC Comics

X-Men #2 is pretty damn great, going back to the big and wild ideas bringing new elements into the X-universe, all while Cyclops gives some of the strangest parenting. Jonathan Hickman, Leinil Francis Yu, Garry Alanguilan, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles give us a new mystery with the arrival of Arakko and the first of -|A|-’s missing original horsemen.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: Age of Conan: Valeria #4, Agents of Atlas #4, Catwoman #17, Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Holiday Special #1, The Dollhouse Family #1, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark #10, Firefly: The Sting, Future Foundation #4, Ghosted in LA #5, GI Joe: A Real American Hero #268, Girl on Film, Go Go Power Rangers #25, Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy #3, History of the Marvel Universe #5, Marvel Action: Spider-Man #11, Midnight Vista #3, Moonshine #13, Runaways #27, RWBY (print) #2, RWBY (digital) #6, Savage Sword of Conan #11, Star Wars #74, Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order: Dark Temple #4, Star Wars: Target Vader #5, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #50

Recommended Collections: Babyteeth - Volume 3, Dark Red - Volume 1, Fallen World, GLOW - Volume 1: Versus the Star Primas, Justice League - Volume 4: The Sixth Dimension, Savage Avengers - Volume 1: City of Sickles, Star Wars: Age of Resistance - Heroes, Star Wars Adventures - Volume 7: Pomp and Circumstance, Wonder Twins - Volume 1: Activate

d. emerson eddy can hear the scratching at the walls of reality.

[shy-magpie]

RQG 88

Warning: You know how I usually take a cue from the show and avoid swearing in these? Fuck that and fuck Saleh Al Tahan Sr and Jr (but we respect Alex's craft) Bryn starts by teasing us Lydia introduces her character as Sasha "does not have the tools for this" Racket Was that mercy from Alex? Philosophy talk with Grizzop and Azu. Sasha is a bit more  worldly. I am not counting this for the Hamid hug of the episode Ow, Alex was that backstory necessary? Bryn wants me to cry. I don't think I like it when Alex and Bryn work together. (edited to add: but I may love it and the juicy backstory.) Grizzop don't justify just change the subject Ow, "if you don't have anything better to do your sister's funeral is tomorrow" So Saleh Jr. is officially drinking his way through this I will count this for Hamid's hug of the episode OK the siblings are actively comforting, Alex isn't a complete monster (even if Saleh Jr is probably a high functioning alcoholic) Grizzop please don't alienate the staff, they aren't in a position to have a frank discussion Azu and Grizzop talk goblin Vs orc longevity Ow, fuckity ow. Grizzop is 10 expected to live to 30, his entire clutch died and he was adopted by the (human) church of Artemis. Alex officially declares himself as shipping Azu with literally everyone Don't apologize Ben we know you aren't the least bit sorry. You and Bryn live on fan tears The siblings are jumping straight to "what was the deal with you turning into a lizard?" Is Grizzop just that blunt or is he actively lashing out at Azu? Sasha wins the conversation by pointing out that she has a month to live; has a bigger problem with her new teammates being anti-undead than with the idea of herself going necromancer and/or a really dark sense of humor. Players plead to put their characters in mortal danger rather than face all this emotion Hamid tries to explain he is a sorcerer Saleh Jr: I thought you dropped out. Wow Saira manages her family Oh Jr is getting worse recently not just since they lost Aziza. In trouble with a cousin gang of Barret's? Poor Saira having to manage the family in her time of need Saira knows enough to hate Gideon "don't come back until you've made something of yourself" Fuck Saleh Sr Saira tells him not to bother trying to impress their father, seals her win as best adjusted in a large family. (although I think there are twins around somewhere possibly young enough to have nannies and Saira shield them from being too messed up by this family) Oh Hamid baby There is an actual roll to read the room Wow actually mercy from Alex, as he recommends Azu distract rather than open more emotional conversations Azu summons Orcish moonshine since Halfling wine has no kick Saira gives a run down on the family Hamid offers comfort back "until this I was doing really well Hamid" Hamid offers to help Saira handle the burden I am actively worried about how merciful Alex is being Everyone except one servant is "steaming" Steaming is English for wasted? Drunk knife tricks as Hamid walks in. Knives are buried to the hilt in mural Saleh Jr aside,  I think we can call it a wake and have Hamid join in Azu is a sweet drunk Grizzop don't bad mouth Azu's boss Ow self wound as I realize Hamid has experience handling drunk family Ben has some mercy and asks about humorous logistics of housing Azu Hamid tries to tell Barret he is not giving the ring to Jr and offers to cover his debt They are legitimately sweet as they jokingly warn Helen about Lydia's math problems. I thought Bryn was keeping an eye on it because she wasn't familiar with the system and those sheets are busy. See that's how you run an inclusive table: Bryn runs a bit high energy and is familiar with the system; so having him politely help Lydia with her rolls gives him something to do with the extra energy other than baiting the GM and making me worry.

[advocatewrites-blog]

Into the Unknown Part 4 Chapter 2

Into the Unknown

Fandom: Undertale, Coraline (book), Over the Garden Wall, Paranorman, Gravity Falls (season 2)

Characters: Frisk, Norman B., Dipper P., Mabel P., Coraline J., Wirt, Greg, the Cat, the Frog; Sans, Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Asgore,; the Other Mother, the Beast, Agatha P., Bill Cipher, Asriel D., Chara D.,

Pairings: Not the focus. Alphys/Undyne, with mentions of Papyrus/Mettaton, sans/Toriel/Asgore, and Wirt/Sara. Due to the nature of Undertale and the dating segments, there is also interpretable Papyrus/Wirt, Undyne/Mabel, Alphys/Dipper, Napstablook/Norman, Mettaton/Norman, Mettaton/Mabel, Sans/Dipper, Sans/Norman, and Sans/Greg.

Rated a high +K for violence, mild language, horrific elements that may be disturbing to younger readers,  mentions of child abuse and bullying, character death that is sometimes permanent, and mentions of suicide that may be triggering. These elements remain relatively unchanged from their source material, which most all are for children, but discretion is advised nonetheless.

Disclaimer: Undertale was created and owned by Toby Fox. Coraline was created by Neil Gaiman and owned by Bloomsbury and Laika. Over the Garden Wall was created by Patrick McHale and owned by Cartoon Network. Paranorman was created by Sam Fell and Chris Butler and owned by Laika. Gravity Falls was created by Alex Hirsch and owned by Disney. Any other work mentioned or homage are property of their respective owners. This is a fan-made, nonprofit work that only seeks to entertain. Please support the original franchises.

The hallway outside of the Ruins was a lot longer than either of them had expected. It was too dimly lit for either of them to see quite clearly, and the damp chill of caverns only grew as they walked. There was only one clear beacon of light as another chasm opened above them.

In the beacon of light, there sat a flower.

“I bet you think you’re real clever, don’t cha?” said Flowey. “Saving your goat mom like that?”

Both of them were still rattled from the fight, so the most Dipper could really do was stomp on Flowey. It burrowed back underground before his foot hit the ground.

“Tell me,” said Flowey as he popped up behind them.  “What do you think you would have done if you hadn’t saved her? What will happen if you meet someone you can’t spare?”

“We’re not here to fight anyone!” said Dipper.

“Oh? So why are you here, then?”

Mabel sent Dipper a concerned looked. The two fell silent. That was all that Flowey wanted to hear.

“You don’t know,” said Flowey in realization. “Don’t worry, my little monarchs. You’re not the ones I’m looking for. And maybe once you stop that goody two-shoes act, we can agree on something.”

Flowey burrowed back underground, leaving them alone.

“What was that about?” Mabel asked.

“I’m not sure…” said Dipper. “Mabel, what were we doing when we came down here?”

Mabel hummed as she thought.

“The last thing I remember was being at the Shack,” she said.

“Same with me,” said Dipper. “Do you think maybe something paranormal brought us here?”

“I mean, we are in a world of magic and monsters,” said Mabel. “Nothing’s out of the question.”

“Then we better get to work,” said Dipper.

Chapter 2

They didn’t talk much after they were reunited. It was too late to make any real plans, too dark to look at the map Frisk had gotten, and they were too tired to think clearly.

It was early when they started to talk again. The sun had barely risen above the mountains that surrounded them, but it was light enough that Frisk could read the map.

None of the mountains surrounding them were Mt. Ebott.

“These are not normal woodlands,” said the Cat. “Perhaps you can try finding another monster here?”

Frisk nodded.

“Then I suggest we try to avoid gnomes.”

He jumped out of his skin when he saw the white bone. A skull sat in the hoodie. Attached to the rest of it was a skeleton. Two pinpricks of light hovered in the eye sockets, as close to pupils as it could get.

“alright. go ahead and take your choice. don’t got enough g on me to keep restocking.”

The skeleton monster gave a vague gesture to a set of lamps sitting by the checkpoint station, and what fear Dipper had faded into confusion.

“Why do you just have human shaped lamps?” Dipper asked.

“ya better make it quick,” the skeleton said. “my bro’s gonna be here in a few minutes and he’s a human hunting fanatic.”

Dipper’s eyes widened as he put together what he meant, and dove behind one of the lamps that had a shade of a long cone. Mabel fell right behind him, and hid behind her own lamp.

“SANS!”

“sup bro?”

Mabel poked her head out from the lampshade. “Oh, he’s cute!”

Dipper looked up just long enough to see the other addresser.

“He’s a skeleton,” said Dipper.

“You say that like it’ll stop me,” said Mabel.

“SANS? ARE THOSE HUMANS?”

The twins froze. Slowly, they both poked their heads out from the lampshade.

“sure, bro,” said the shorter skeleton. His skeletal smile was as thick as ever (and Dipper noted in the back of his mind that it didn’t move when he spoke), but there was a hint of frustration in his tone that Dipper could not quite place why.

“GOOD JOB!! I GUESS THERE IS MERIT TO STARING AT THESE LAMPS ALL DAY!!!” The taller skeleton turned to the twins. “ATTENTION HUMANS! !!YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! !! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL CAPTURE YOU!!! PROCEED…ONLY IF YOU DARE!!!”

He ran off, his laugh growing more and more distant.

“sorry bout that,” said the shorter skeleton. “name’s sans, by the way.”

He offered Dipper a hand up. Dipper noted the pink whoopee cushion hidden under his phalanges and decided to pull himself back up.

“Human hunting?” Dipper asked. “So you’re trying to hunt us down?”

“nah. he won’t hurt a fly,” said sans. “he’ll just fight you and give you awful puzzles to solve. i’ll keep an eyesocket out for you kids.”

sans walked off into the other direction as his brother. Dipper waited until he could not see him anymore to talk.

“Who just has a dozen people-shaped lamps waiting out in the middle of the forest?” He asked.

“The same kind of person who keeps hot dogs under his stand,” said Mabel as she rose. “And the kind of person I wanna be friends with. Want one?”

Dipper took one without thinking. His mind was racing.

Sans was not all that surprised to see the two humans in the world of monsters. He had gone through the trouble of special ordering several human-shaped lamps and dragging them out into the snow and forest. He had been expecting them.

“sans definitely knows something,” said Dipper as he took a bite of his hot dog. “Let’s try and figure out what.”

“Sounds like a plan, plan man!”

It was then that Dipper realized whatever he put into his mouth was not hot dog meat.

They find the boyband first. Frisk vaguely recalled seeing them on TV at one point, so it’s a bit of a surprise to find them in a magical forest. They thought about asking them whether or not they knew anything about the Kingdom of Monsters, but decide against it after they have to talk one of them out of eating a pinecone.

The boyband was not the only humans they found in the forest. They stumbled upon a campsite, where the only difference between its two occupants is the numbers on their hats. They did not know where Mt. Ebott was, but they were kind enough to show them where the other magical places in the forest are and offered their campsite if they couldn’t find a place for the night.

They find the gnomes again. They weren’t helpful.

It was late in the afternoon when something interesting happened. They only ventured in to town for a few moments, for Frisk to buy some food with what money they had left. It was only a packet of jerky from a vending machine, but it was enough until they can figure something else out. They wandered off to one of the prettier spots in the woods, settled down on a log, opened the packet…

The forest rumbled. Birds flew and gnomes ran away. Soundwaves shook the trees and cause ripples in the stream. The earth shook as something raced closer.

The Manutaur approaches.

Frisk ACTS without thinking, and held the jerky packed out in front of them. The fight stopped instantly.

“Not going to fight back, tiny human?” The manutaur asked as he poured jerky down his throat.

Frisk shook their head and shrugged.

“I believe they would like to talk to you instead,” said the Cat. “They are looking for a way into a kingdom of monsters. It should be hidden in the mountains.”

The manutaur hummed in thought. “Climb onto my backhairs. I’ll take you to meet with High Council.”

“I think I’ll pass,” said the Cat.

Frisk climbed aboard, and let the cat jumped onto their shoulders. The Manutaur sped off.

“HE’S…WELL…HE’S A BIG FUZZY PUSHOVER!” said Papyrus. “EVERYBODY LOVES THAT GUY! I AM CERTAIN IF YOU JUST SAY…’EXCUSE ME, MR. DREEMURR, CAN I PLEASE GO HOME?’ HE’LL GUIDE YOU RIGHT TO THE BARRIER HIMSELF! ANYWAY!!! THAT’S ENOUGH TALKING!!! I’LL BE AT HOME BEING A COOL FRIEND!!! LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU WANT TO GO ON THAT DATE!!!”

Papyrus ran through them back to his house, a movement that was at best a mix of running, skipping, and floating. His laughter faded off in the distance.

Dipper hardly noticed. His mind was abuzz with the new information, trying to put together what Papyrus had said to the theories he had already crafted into his head.

He hardly even noticed the last thing Papyrus had said, until he looked over at Mabel and saw the look in her eyes.

“You want to go on a date with him right away?” Dipper asked.

“Why not?” said Mabel. “He said we can visit whenever we want for that date!”

“Your date,” Dipper said.

“And what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know! I think there was a restaurant in town…”

“I bet if you go with me you’d be able to talk to sans about whatever nerdy stuff you wanna talk about,” said Mabel.

Dipper opened his mouth to argue, but close it just as quickly. That was actually a good point.

“Just promise me you won’t call my thing a date,” said Dipper.

“Can’t! Let’s go!”

It was a long and hard-fought training montage that lasted the whole day. But eventually, Frisk was accepted by the Mautaurs. They gave them bits of leather armor that did not really fit them, a spear made of bone and stone that reminded them of Papyrus and Undyne, and some neat temporary tattoos. They were sent on their way to conquer the Multibear.

“And we shall go with you to make sure you don’t botch this like Destructor did,” said Pituitor.

But Frisk knew they weren’t going to Fight the Multibear, much less conquer it. Hopefully the other Manutaurs would be cool with that too.

The Multibear lived on the other side of the mountain range. Frisk scaled it the way the Mautaurs had taught them. They entered the cave. The Manutaurs were right behind them.

The sounds of roars alerted Frisk to the location of the Multibear before their eyes could fully adjust to the darkness. The Multibear emerged from the shadows.

“Bear heads! Quiet!” The biggest head of the Multibear snapped. “So, the Manutaurs have seen fit to send to me another human.”

“Yeah, because you SUCK!” Gronk shouted from outside.

The bear head growled again, but stopped as it was slapped.

Frisk nodded enthusiastically. They put their spear down to sign.

“I am afraid I do not speak the language of Hands,” said the Multibear.

“Then allow me to translate,” said the Cat as he emerged from a stalagmite. “They want to ask you for directions.”

There was a loud groan from the Manutaurs outside. The Cat ignored it.

“They wish to find the Kingdom of Monsters,” said the Cat.

“You would provoke the ire of the Manutaurs just to find it?” asked the Multibear.

Frisk nodded.

“Then you must be very lost,” said the Multibear. “Very well. I will tell you what I know.”

Papyrus’ house was a unique mixture of old, clashing furniture, and surfaces so clean it was hard to believe that they had ever held dust. In a lot of ways, it reminded Dipper of the Mystery Shack. He took a seat on the couch and started to flip through a book on quantum physics.

“Wow! How’d you get your sink so high?”

Shoved in between the pages was a joke book, just a little smaller than the textbook.  Curious, Dipper took that out.

“DO YOU LIKE IT?! I MADE IT TALLER SO I CAN STORE MORE BONES UNDERNEATH. TAKE A LOOK!!!”

The joke book had been hollowed out to hold another book on quantum physics. Dipper took it out and opened it up.

“WHAT?!?! CATCH THAT MEDDLING CANINE!”

Dipper looked up long enough from the books to watch the small Pomeranian from before rush through the kitchen and out the door.

“CURSES!”

The sound of a sad trombone filled the house.

“SANS!! STOP PLAUGING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC AND COME HELP ME ENTERTAIN THESE HUMANS!”

“oh, what?” sans’ voice echoed from the top of the stairs.

“YES! THE TALLER HUMAN AND I WERE PLANNING ON GOING TO MY ROOM AND DOING…WHATEVER IT IS PEOPLE DO WHEN THEY GO ON DATES! COULD YOU PERHAPS ENTERTAIN THE SHORTER ONE???”

“I’m shorter than Mabel by, like, an inch!” said Dipper.

There was a lingering pause upstairs, as sans thought about what had been asked.

“sure thing bro,”

There was the sound of a closing door upstairs, and the front door swung open.

“sorry bro,” said sans. “just wanted to make sure i got my date clothes on.”

The only thing Dipper noticed that was different were his socks, now matching.

“GREAT!! COME ALONG THEN, HUMAN!!! HAVE FUN ON YOUR DATE, SANS!!!”

Mabel wriggled her eyebrows at Dipper as she rushed upstairs with Papyrus. Dipper tried his best to ignore her.

*DATING START!

“So, uh…” Dipper started. He made a vague gesture to the books on his lap.

“oh yeah,” said sans. “paps got that one for me. i made a few of my own modifications, of course, but i don’t think he’s gotten the joke yet.”

Silence fell between the two as Dipper tried to think of what to say next.

“DON’T THINK YOU’VE BESTED ME YET!!!” Papyrus’ voice rang from upstairs. “I’VE NEVER BEEN BEATING AT DATING AND I NEVER WILL!!”

“Hey, sans,” said Dipper. “Do you know anything about a talking flower?”

The atmosphere grew heavy. sans’ grin tightened, and for a second Dipper felt a shiver up his spine.

“the echo flowers in waterfall, right?” sans asked. “didn’t think you had made it that far.”

“We haven’t,” said Dipper. “I mean a small golden flower that talks back at you, not just an echo.”

“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THE HIDDEN POWER OF THIS OUTFIT!”

sans was silent for a moment. He shifted in his seat so he could look Dipper in the eyes. His smile had grown bigger, but Dipper was not entirely sure that was a good thing.

“I have a question for you kid…how did you end up in the Underground?”

“I don’t know. Mabel and I just kind of ended up here,” said Dipper. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. And I think that flower might have something to do with it.”

“RIGHT! BUT OH SO WRONG! THIS AIN’T ANY PLAIN OL’ PASTA!! THIS IS AN ARTISAN’S WORK!!! SILKEN SPAGHETTI FINLEY AGED IN AN OAKEN CAST, THEN COOKED BY ME, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS!!!”

“And I think you might know something about it,” Dipper finished.

The lights in sans’s eyesockets went out. Dipper fought the urge to jump back and run. Phalanges tapped on the sofa, forming a melodic pattern.

“What makes you think that, bucko?”

Dipper swallowed in a vain attempt to stop his voice from cracking before he spoke.

“Who orders a set of human-shaped lamps and leaves them out in the forest?”

“AUGH!!! URGH!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

“Should we do something about that?” Dipper asked.

“nah, they’re probably fine.” said sans. “but you know…you may be on to something kiddo. tell you what; you tell me more about that flower, i’ll tell you more about the other humans. deal?”

“Fine.” said Dipper.

“great. i’ll keep an eyesocket out for you, kid.”

sans stood from the couch and walked out the front door again. Dipper did not have a chance to question it before Mabel came downstairs.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

“I dunno,” said Mabel as she plopped onto the couch. “I mean he dumped me, but that was the best date I’ve ever been on.”

Dipper decided it was not worth it to point out that all of her other dates were with a group of gnomes, a merman, a psychic brat currently in jail, and the guy on the $10 bill.

“How’d talking to sans go?” Mabel asked.

“I might be onto something,” Dipper said. “There’s a lot more going on in the Underground that we don’t know about.”

Author’s Note: Compared to Coraline, Wirt, Greg, and even Norman to an extent, the Pines twins know what they’re doing. They’re ready to solve some mysteries and rewrite history.

[whatdidijustwrite]

Long Way to Go: Damien 2

Synopsis: MC reaches out across the web to find someone to talk to about Alex and how much he misses her while he struggles to raise his eldest daughter. He finds it in a single dad living in his old hometown of Maple Bay…

GothDad123,

I met my wife in college. We’d been paired up for a lab and I counted myself lucky- she was easily the smartest of the entire class and hey, easy marks. I was completely wrong- she did not let me do what I want like I thought and instead made me work hard for our marks, even when I got my roommate (who had been very hot) to try and charm her.

I respected her after that, and we got talking a bit. We didn’t start dating until she came out as trans to me, not wanting our relationship to begin without me knowing. I was fully accepting and we ended up dating throughout college. We got married (or as close to it) after college and almost right away debated kids. We both loved the idea so we got a close friend of ours to agree to carry the baby, mixing our sperm and having our daughter.

My wife was brilliant. She played piano, could debate any political question, had a thousand ideas under the sun. She’d gone to school for business, opened a hardware store with her brother. I took over the paperwork side, and we were… we were very happy together. We were thrilled when we legally got married. Our daughter was our flower girl.

My wife never liked staying still and was constantly trying new things, hence her many, many, many DIY projects.  She was the one to turn the hardware store into a chain, opening up other locations in surrounding cities. She was so happy with it all.

It was a car accident that killed her. Just a random accident. She was driving home from work when someone ran the red light. Instant death they told me, she didn’t suffer.

But we’re suffering now. My daughter’s getting better but… it feels like everything is crashing down on me. I tried therapy but quit when the woman made remarks about my wife I nearly punched her for.

I’m not sure where my head is anymore. I’m just taking it one day at a time, but… it feels like that might not help me in the long run.

-PandaFather

Damien read over the message once more, feeling his heart ache for the man.

Loving your spouse for years only to lose them so suddenly, and then to deal with bigots who don’t understand a damn thing.

Lucien was busy with yet another project he’d found- something similar to the patio furniture. A desk, made out of crates and plywood, painted black once he was done. But they did have dinner together before, and Lucien had asked after the man, curious as to why he hadn’t responded back yet.

Damien had figured the man was trying to think of what to write. After all, it was a subject most would shy away from. But he had still reached out to him. To him. Damien, the goth IT worker.

Damien bit his lip, rubbing at his chin in thought.

How best to reply… how best to convey…

-0-

PandaFather,

Your wife sounds like she was the most amazing woman in the world. You were blessed to have her in your life.

I cannot offer much to comfort you. I have been told I speak of death far too much for people to be comfortable, that my fascination with it concerns people.

But I do know that someone who shares your love would never want you to break down completely. The therapist was an awful person, but perhaps seeking out another one might help? If you do not think so, do not do so- forcing it would only make things worse for you in the end. Therapy is in the end, a selfish choice. It is for you to get better, not for anyone else.

Taking it one day at a time is the best choice now, but as you said, make sure it continues to be.

-GothDad123

Edited: Here is a link to sheet music for your daughter. I believe she may find the song perfect for melancholy moods.

The sounds of haunting piano keys filled the small house as Amanda let loose on the sheet music her dad had gotten from the guy who was messaging him.

M.C. listened to her play, eyes closed softly. It was almost as if Alex was back, playing her music on the keyboard she’d gotten before it died a nasty death a week before the accident in the form of Alex accidentally flipping it over while… otherwise engaged with M.C..

Opening his eyes, M.C. rubbed at them, thinking of GD (Amanda’s name for him) and his reply.

It was things he’d heard before- other than the therapy bit. He’d never heard it put like that, but god it made so much sense put like that. Therapy was for himself, to get better. It was so he could be selfish, not selfless.

He wanted to get better. He wanted to talk about his feelings, he’d admit. He knew he needed help. Alex had been a rock for him, struggling with his various issues, and losing her… it had hurt. It had hurt so much.

Sighing, M.C. looked over the list of LGBT friendly therapists he’d gotten from the internet. Some were in his area, some did skype sessions.

Maybe it would work out.

-0-

GothDad123,

Panda (my daughter) will not stop playing that song. Over and over and over again. She adores it, so thank you but I might go crazy from it soon enough.

I’ve been looking into therapists again. I found one who looks pretty promising, so I’m making arrangements. She’s an LGBT friendly therapist who helps with transitions, but she also helps with those experiencing loss, so let’s hope.

How is your son doing? Is he enjoying the new furniture he built? I know when my wife built ours we ate outside like all the time until it got to cold to do so.

Here’s another link for him if he’s getting bored.

-PandaFather

“Another message from PF dad?” asked Lucien, upon spotting the grin on his dad’s face.

“Quite… and PF?” Lucien shrugged, shoving in some macaroni into his mouth. Damien chuckled, putting his phone down. “He sent another link if you’re interested.”

“YES!” Lucien said, grinning. “What is it?” Damien eyed the half-eaten pile of vegetables and Lucien groaned but obeyed the wordless command. Damien smirked and waited until they finished their supper- eating outside of course given Lucien had to enjoy the furniture he built, much like PandaFather’s wife had- before he opened the link.

It was full of spice rack ideas, one of which involved taking old fashion casserole dishes and turning them on the side.

“Cool!” Lucien said, grinning at the pictures. Damien chuckled. His son was looking much happier then he had been before, getting all of his anger out through crafts apparently. It was a nice sight, to see his son so happy again.

“We’ll see what we can dig up in the thrift store, shall we?” Damien asked his son who nodded eagerly.

“Can we also like send some stuff to his kid? More music?” Lucien asked. “As a thank you, right?” Damien blinked in surprise before he nodded, grinning.

“Why, I think we shall.”

-0-

PandaFather,

I am glad you have decided to seek out more therapy. I hope it will do you well. I am also pleased your daughter enjoys the music I sent her, though I understand the frustration of the same song being played over and over again. My son particularly enjoys doing that.

My son expresses his thanks for the new project idea you have sent him as well. He’s very eager to start it up. I feel you have created a monster, though I believe it’s better then him picking fights every few days with kids in his school.

Here is a few links to some more music sheets for your daughter, as a thank you from my son.

-GothDad123

“You and this guy are talking a lot, huh dad,” Amanda said, watching her father read whatever it was that was on his phone.

“More or less kiddo.” M.C. agreed. “He’s helping- and he’s sent more music for you so…” Amanda pumped her fist in glee.

“Sweet. But dad, what do you know about him? I mean, you’re kinda friends right?” Amanda asked. M.C. blinked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… like I get you need help and stuff, but like you told me friendship was a two-way street and that all parties need to communicate so…” Amanda trailed off as M.C. frowned.

Well… she wasn’t wrong.

“I… huh. I think you might be right kiddo. I’ll ask him a few questions about himself, how bout?”

“Sounds good to me pops.”

-0-

GothDad123,

Panda has been playing her new songs over and over again but there’s more then one so yay. It’s nice to hear. I still haven’t gone to meet my therapist yet but she is willing to skype our sessions so I don’t need to drive two hours out one a week.

I realize now I’ve been kind of a bad corresponder. I haven’t asked you anything about yourself, though I do know you do have a fascination with death. So… what are your favorite things? Do you have a favorite band? Have you ever been married?

My daughter wishes to ask if you or your son enjoy strawberry ice cream.

Here is a few more links for your son.

-PandaFather

Damien looked over the projects sent over, deciding to keep two to himself until Lucien was a bit older. The other two- a bookshelf made out of a ladder, plywood and crates and a table made out of similar material- were easy enough for a ten-year-old to do.

He was more surprised by the questions about himself. He hadn’t expected that. Most of the time, people tended to focus on themselves more then they focused on others. And with PandaFather so recently having experienced a great loss… he felt it odd that the man would reach out more, but well, people deal with loss in different ways.

Humming, Damien considered the questions. He didn’t want to lie to PandaFather but he was also uncertain of what he should tell him. He didn’t want to push that far… but he didn’t want to hide who he was.

What should he write?

-0-

PandaFather,

I’m glad your daughter enjoys her new music, and that you are able to meet your therapist in a way that is more convenient for yourself.

As for your questions, well, I enjoy gardening, animals and the Victorian Era is very much a pleasured area of study as you must have observed from my penname. I very much embrace the goth lifestyle and deeply enjoy the various attributes of it. I listen to a range of goth music, though my favorite music tends to be classical violin music or piano music. It’s a lovely set.

I have never been married no. My son was the result of a one night stand, though he has never been a mistake. I have had a variety of relationships but none that have stuck around long enough for marriage to be in the cards.

My son and I do in fact enjoy strawberry ice cream. The both of us are vegetarian though not vegan and ice cream is very much a pleasured treat.

Thank you again for the projects, here is a few more songs she may enjoy.

-GothDad123

M.C. tapped his fingers as he waited for his therapist to appear on screen, feeling nervous and worried. Unbidden his father’s words of men needing therapy being sissies and weaklings came to mind though he shoved them right out of said mind.

He was not going to go down that road, thank you.

When the screen flicked on, he made a mental note to reply to GD as soon as he could. Maybe it would help.

So… ages.

Amanda is thirteen. Lucien is ten. I’m putting MC and Damien at like 36 for MC and maybe 34 for Damien?

Also- when I was eight I was helping my dad put up fences and build stuff. As long as it’s proper supervision, it’s fine. Damien might let Lucien do like painting and stuff by himself but the heavy stuff no.

 Hope you all enjoyed this!

[imreadingafuckingbook]

          A  List  Of  Halloween  Book  Recommendations

1.  Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

1990. The teen detectives once known as the Blyton Summer Detective Club (of Blyton Hills, a small mining town in the Zoinx River Valley in Oregon) are all grown up and haven't seen each other since their fateful, final case in 1977. Andy, the tomboy, is twenty-five and on the run, wanted in at least two states. Kerri, one-time kid genius and budding biologist, is bartending in New York, working on a serious drinking problem. At least she's got Tim, an excitable Weimaraner descended from the original canine member of the team. Nate, the horror nerd, has spent the last thirteen years in and out of mental health institutions, and currently resides in an asylum in Arhkam, Massachusetts. The only friend he still sees is Peter, the handsome jock turned movie star. The problem is, Peter's been dead for years. The time has come to uncover the source of their nightmares and return to where it all began in 1977. This time, it better not be a man in a mask. The real monsters are waiting. With raucous humor and brilliantly orchestrated mayhem, Edgar Cantero's Meddling Kids taps into our shared nostalgia for the books and cartoons we grew up with, and delivers an exuberant, eclectic, and highly entertaining celebration of horror, life, friendship, and many-tentacled, interdimensional demon spawn.

2.  The Bone Key: The Necromantic Mysteries of Kyle Murchison Booth by Sarah Monette

The dead and the monstrous will not leave Kyle Murchison Booth alone, for an unwilling foray into necromancy has made him sensitive to--and attractive to--the creatures who roam the darkness of his once-safe world. Ghosts, ghouls, incubi: all have one thing in common. They know Booth for one of their own . . .

3. The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo

Love speaks in flowers. Truth requires thorns. Travel to a world of dark bargains struck by moonlight, of haunted towns and hungry woods, of talking beasts and gingerbread golems, where a young mermaid's voice can summon deadly storms and where a river might do a lovestruck boy's bidding but only for a terrible price. Inspired by myth, fairy tale, and folklore, #1 New York Times–bestselling author Leigh Bardugo has crafted a deliciously atmospheric collection of short stories filled with betrayals, revenge, sacrifice, and love. Perfect for new readers and dedicated fans, these tales will transport you to lands both familiar and strange—to a fully realized world of dangerous magic that millions have visited through the novels of the Grishaverse. This collection of six stories includes three brand-new tales, all of them lavishly illustrated with art that changes with each turn of the page, culminating in six stunning full-spread illustrations as rich in detail as the stories themselves.

4. The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

"I would say it's a pleasure to meet thee, Prosperity Oceanus Redding, but truly, I only anticipate the delights of destroying thy happiness." Prosper is the only unexceptional Redding in his old and storied family history — that is, until he discovers the demon living inside him. Turns out Prosper's great-great-great-great-great-something grandfather made — and then broke — a contract with a malefactor, a demon who exchanges fortune for eternal servitude. And, weirdly enough, four-thousand-year-old Alastor isn't exactly the forgiving type. The fiend has reawakened with one purpose — to destroy the family whose success he ensured and who then betrayed him. With only days to break the curse and banish Alastor back to the demon realm, Prosper is playing unwilling host to the fiend, who delights in tormenting him with nasty insults and constant attempts trick him into a contract. Yeah, Prosper will take his future without a side of eternal servitude, thanks. Little does Prosper know, the malefactor's control over his body grows stronger with each passing night, and there's a lot Alastor isn't telling his dim-witted (but admittedly strong-willed) human host. From #1 New York Times best-selling author Alexandra Bracken comes a tale of betrayal and revenge, of old hurts passed down from generation to generation. Can you ever fully right a wrong, ever truly escape your history? Or will Prosper and Alastor be doomed to repeat it?

5. The Dire King (Jackaby #4) by Wiliam Ritter

The fate of the world is in the hands of detective of the supernatural R. F. Jackaby and his intrepid assistant, Abigail Rook. An evil king is turning ancient tensions into modern strife, using a blend of magic and technology to push Earth and the Otherworld into a mortal competition. Jackaby and Abigail are caught in the middle as they continue to solve the daily mysteries of New Fiddleham, New England — like who’s created the rend between the worlds, how to close it, and why zombies are appearing around. At the same time, the romance between Abigail and the shape-shifting police detective Charlie Cane deepens, and Jackaby’s resistance to his feelings for 926 Augur Lane’s ghostly lady, Jenny, begins to give way. Before the four can think about their own futures, they will have to defeat an evil that wants to destroy the future altogether.

6. Spectred Isle by KJ Charles

Archaeologist Saul Lazenby has been all but unemployable since his disgrace during the War. Now he scrapes a living working for a rich eccentric who believes in magic. Saul knows it’s a lot of nonsense...except that he begins to find himself in increasingly strange and frightening situations. And at every turn he runs into the sardonic, mysterious Randolph Glyde. Randolph is the last of an ancient line of arcanists, commanding deep secrets and extraordinary powers as he struggles to fulfil his family duties in a war-torn world. He knows there's something odd going on with the haunted-looking man who keeps turning up in all the wrong places. The only question for Randolph is whether Saul is victim or villain. Saul hasn’t trusted anyone in a long time. But as the supernatural threat grows, along with the desire between them, he’ll need to believe in evasive, enraging, devastatingly attractive Randolph. Because he may be the only man who can save Saul’s life—or his soul.

7. The Restorer by Amanda Stevens

My name is Amelia Gray. I'm a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I've always held fast to the rules passed down from my father. But now a haunted police detective has entered my world and everything is changing, including the rules that have always kept me safe. It started with the discovery of a young woman's brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard I've been hired to restore. The clues to the killer, and to his other victims, lie in the headstone symbolism that only I can interpret. Devlin needs my help, but his ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I've vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead me closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.

8. Of the Abyss (Mancer #1) by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

After decades of strife, peace has finally been achieved in Kavet—but at a dark cost.  Sorcery is outlawed, and anyone convicted of consorting with the beings of the other realms—the Abyssi and the Numini—is put to death. The only people who can even discuss such topics legally are the scholars of the Order of the Napthol, who give counsel when questions regarding the supernatural planes arise.

Hansa Viridian, a captain in the elite guard unit tasked with protecting Kavet from sorcery, has always led a respectable life. But when he is implicated in a sorcerer’s crimes, the only way to avoid execution is to turn to the Abyss for help—specifically, to a half-Abyssi man he’s sworn he hates, but whose physical attraction he cannot deny.                            

Hansa is only the first victim in a plot that eventually drags him, a sorcerer named Xaz, and a Sister of the Napthol named Cadmia into the depths of the Abyss, where their only hope of escape is to complete an infernal task that might cost them their lives.

9. The Rook (The Checquy Files #1) by Daniel O’Malley

"The body you are wearing used to be mine." So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her. She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own. In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.  

10. The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg

Returning to her hometown of Fjallbacka after the funeral of her parents, writer Erica Falck finds a community on the brink of tragedy. The death of her childhood friend, Alex, is just the beginning. Her wrists slashed, her body frozen in an ice-cold bath, it seems that she has taken her own life. Erica conceives a book about the beautiful but remote Alex, one that will answer questions about their own shared past. While her interest grows into an obsession, local detective Patrik Hedstrom is following his own suspicions about the case. But it is only when they start working together that the truth begins to emerge about a small town with a deeply disturbing past.

[ramajmedia]

25 Best Movies on Hulu Right Now (September 2019) | ScreenRant

Hulu has a lot of great movies - here are the 25 best films on the streaming service. In an age of options, less feels like more. While Netflix has an ever-expanding library, Hulu offers a more focused collection of great movies. Because volume isn’t the objective, Hulu succeeds in curating a batch of excellent films.

There are the iconic classics like The Matrix and Seven, the arthouse darlings like Sorry to Bother You and Let the Right One In, and the pure entertainment gems like The Fifth Element and Shrek. Hulu keeps it simple, and offers something for everybody. Here are the 25 best movies that you can watch on Hulu right now.

Related: The 25 Best Films on Netflix Right Now

Before we start, first a disclaimer. modern streaming libraries are like carousels, always moving and always changing. The films in this list are available on Hulu at the time of writing. We’ll be updating this top 25 list frequently, so keep an eye out for Hulu’s latest and greatest offerings. Also, the list isn't ranked from worst to best, so a lower number is not meant to denote higher quality. It's just a list of 25 great movies.

Last updated: September 5, 2019

25 Detroit

While it slipped through awards season without much hype, Detroit remains one of 2017’s best films. Rotten Tomatoes awarded it an 84% for its “gut-wrenching dramatization of a tragic chapter” in American history. Director Kathryn Bigelow tackles the 1967 incident in Motor City with aplomb, deftly guiding a sprawling cast (led by John Boyega and Will Poulter) through a maze of tension, bigotry, and survival. Detroit streams exclusively on Hulu.

24 The Fifth Element

One of the most unique sci-fi films of its decade, director Luc Besson's 1997 hit The Fifth Element served to launch the career of future Resident Evil franchise lead Milla Jovovich into the stratosphere, and is now on Hulu. Bruce Willis stars as Korben Dallas, a 23rd century cab driver who ends up unwillingly thrust into a quest to save the Earth when Leeloo (Jovovich) jumps off into a building into his flying vehicle. The two are opposed by Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman), a brash villain working on behalf of a great cosmic evil.

23 Seven

One of the most respected crime thrillers of the 1990s, Seven has style to spare, and was one of the films to first establish David Fincher as a director be reckoned with. Seven stars Brad Pitt as brash young detective David Mills, who partners up with soon to retire detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) in order to try and catch a serial killer who bases his murders on the seven deadly sins. Hauling in over $300 million at the box office on a $33 million budget, Seven was both a critical and commercial smash, and deserves to be revisited on Hulu.

Read More: 15 Awesome Facts You Didn't Know About Seven

22 The Matrix

One of the biggest pop culture phenomenons of its time, 1999's The Matrix put sibling directors The Wachowskis on the map. The Matrix's quite brilliant premise is that the world and everyone in it is in fact a computer simulation powered by the very humans that dwell there, after a catastrophic war between mankind and machines. One day, Thomas Anderson aka Neo (Keanu Reeves), a mild-mannered computer programmer by day and hacker by night, is woken up to the sad reality of his situation by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), leaders of a human resistance effort seeking to expose The Matrix to the public. Sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions are also available on Hulu.

21 Basic Instinct

While 1992's Basic Instinct is most remembered for a particularly scandalous scene involving Sharon Stone, the movie as a whole is quite the enthralling neo-noir suspense thriller. Directed by Paul Verhoeven, Basic Instinct stars Michael Douglas as detective Nick Curran, who makes the mistake of becoming romantically involved with murder suspect Catherine Tramell (Stone). Well, depending on one's definition of romance. One of the biggest hits of the 1990s, Basic Instinct made over $350 million, and is a Hulu pick definitely aimed at adults.

20 Lethal Weapon

Directed by 1980s mainstay Richard Donner, 1987's Lethal Weapon still stands as one of the quintessential examples of how to do a "buddy cop" action movie right. Mel Gibson stars as Martin Riggs, a suicidal sergeant with a short fuse and nothing to lose. Riggs gets partnered up with by the book lawman Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), leading to a slowly blossoming friendship, and one of film's most beloved duos. Lethal Weapon would spawn three successful sequels, and a TV reboot that aired on FOX. All are currently available on Hulu too.

Read More: Where Are They Now? The Cast Of Lethal Weapon

19 An American Werewolf in London

There are many iconic movies about vampires, ghosts, witches, and demons, but unfortunately, the werewolf tends to come up short in that department, starring in more stinkers than hits. Arguably the best werewolf movie of all time is 1981's An American Werewolf in London, directed by John Landis, and now on Hulu. Boasting amazing practical creature effects that hold up today, the film tells the story of David Kessler (David Naughton), an American backpacking in Europe that ends up surviving a werewolf attack that kills his best friend. Unfortunately, it's not too long before David realizes he's now cursed to kill during the full moon.

18 Ocean's Eleven

While director Steven Soderbergh might be better known for his award-worthy dramas, sometimes he stops being quite so serious, and creates the laid back chill of 2001's Ocean's Eleven. A critical and commercial ($450 million worldwide) hit, Ocean's Eleven manages to be both a thrilling heist caper and an amusing bit of ensemble fun, perfect for Hulu subscribers. Said ensemble boasts some huge names, including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and Bernie Mac.

17 Hellraiser

Any dedicated horror fan has surely had their soul torn apart multiple times by Hellraiser's Pinhead (Doug Bradley) by this point. Director Clive Barker (adapting his own novella) crafted one of the most enduring tales of terror to come out of the 1980s, spawning one of the longest-running horror franchises out there as well. Hellraiser may only have a 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it's a certified classic of the genre, and needs to be watched by anyone who enjoys a good fright flick. Direct sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II is also part of Hulu's roster.

Read More: The Real Life Inspirations Behind 11 Horror Movie Icons

16 Frank

To some, Michael Fassbender is a young Magneto. To others, he’s a two-time Academy Award nominee. To a select few, he’s the gonzo pop musician and eponymous hero in Frank, the offbeat artist who became more famous for his oversized paper-mâché mask than his music. Directed by Lenny Abrahamson (Room), Frank earned a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score and remains a cult classic to adventurous Hulu viewers looking for a changeup in their visual diet.

15 Annihilation

One of Screen Rant's favorite movies of 2018, Annihilation is a visionary sci-fi film written and directed by Alex Garland, who previously made his directing debut with the equally arresting Ex Machina. Natalie Portman stars as Lena, one of the only survivors of an expedition into a realm called "The Shimmer," which serves as home to places and creatures beyond anything known to the natural world. Sporting an 89% RT score, Annihilation just arrived on Hulu, and also stars Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac.

14 Training Day

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, Training Day features Denzel Washington in arguably his greatest role, alongside an equally game performance by Ethan Hawke. Washingston stars as Alonzo Harris, a highly decorated but also highly corrupt narcotics officer, tasked with showing new recruit Jake Hoyt (Hawke) the ropes. Alonzo is a villain through and through, but damn is he fun to watch at work. Surprisingly, Training Day only holds a 72% on RT, despite earning Washington an Oscar and Hawke an Oscar nomination. Regardless of the lower rating, Training Day is still one of the best films on Hulu.

Read More: Ethan Hawke is (Sort Of) Right About Superhero Movies

13 Spaceballs

Made back in the days when director Mel Brooks could seemingly do no wrong, Spaceballs is a hilarious parody of the original Star Wars trilogy. While it wasn't quite a critical hit, Spaceballs has earned itself a gigantic cult following in the decades since its release, and features terrific comedic performances from greats like Bill Pullman, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Joan Rivers, and even Brooks himself as the wise sage called Yogurt. Stream it on Hulu and get ready to laugh.

12 A Quiet Place

While John Krasinski might always be best known for playing Jim on iconic sitcom The Office, 2018's acclaimed sci-fi/horror film A Quiet Place demonstrated that he has just as much talent behind the camera. Directed, co-written by, and starring Krasinski, A Quiet Place centers on a family living in the aftermath of an apocalyptic alien invasion. The invading creatures are deadly, and hunt by sound, meaning that the Abbott clan has to spend most of their life in silence. Unfortunately, things eventually go wrong, and the monsters come calling. Krasinkski's real-life wife Emily Blunt co-stars in this prime Hulu pick.

11 Unbreakable

While 2019's theatrical arrival of director M. Night Shyamalan's latest film Glass didn't exactly set the world on fire, that doesn't diminish the greatness of its predecessors, the first being 2000's Unbreakable, recently added to Hulu. After surviving a deadly train crash without a scratch, mild-mannered security guard and family man David Dunn (Bruce Willis) comes to discover that he possesses powers beyond normal men, and that he's destined for greatness as a superhero. Guiding him down this path is Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), a mysterious man with secrets of his own.

Read More: M. Night Shyamalan's Films Ranked From Absolute Worst To Best (Including Glass)

10 Punch-Drunk Love

The fourth feature to be directed by perennial critical darling Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002's Punch-Drunk Love offered a showcase for comedy icon Adam Sandler's then-unknown dramatic chops as Barry Egan, a desperately lonely man with severe rage issues. Sadly, said chops have only been glimpsed a few times since, with Sandler mostly content to stick to his usual wheelhouse of slapstick comedies like Grown Ups. Still fans of Sandler the actor will always have this critically acclaimed film to remember him by, and stream on Hulu.

9 Airplane

Continually considered one of the funniest films in history, 1980 spoof comedy Airplane throws joke after joke at the audience with reckless abandon, and while all of them don't necessarily hit for everyone, most of them likely will. Granted, Airplane does contain some material likely to be viewed as a bit problematic by current standards, but when seen through the lens of when it was made, it's clear these jokes weren't intended to be malicious. Airplane might be best known for taking Leslie Nielsen, then primarily a dramatic actor, and turning him into a comedic force to be reckoned with. Anyone who hasn't experienced Airplane needs to take this flight while it's on Hulu.

8 Shutter Island

Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring his modern muse Leonardo DiCaprio, 2010's Shutter Island centers on U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels, who's sent to investigate a mysterious disappearance at a mental hospital on the titular island. Unfortunately for Teddy, nothing is what it seems, and the mystery threatens to swallow him whole. The star-studded cast also includes Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, and Michelle Williams. Those looking for a thriller designed to keep them guessing should definitely stream Shutter Island on Hulu.

Read More: 10 Amazing Martin Scorsese Movies Everyone Forgets About

7 Shrek

The film that put Dreamworks Animation on the map, 2001's Shrek stars Mike Myers as the titular ogre, a creature gruff on the outside but caring on the inside. Despite not wanting to do anything but hang out in his swamp, Shrek is compelled to go on a quest to rescue Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) by the villainous Lord Farquad (John Lithgow). By his side is Donkey (Eddie Murphy), a fast-talking animal who can't help annoying Shrek with his constant chatter. Shrek spawned a franchise of three sequels and multiple specials, and is worth checking out on Hulu.

6 Rosemary's Baby

Although director Roman Polanski is quite rightfully disgraced nowadays for being a convicted rapist, but that doesn't mean his classic films are suddenly any less great. One of the best is 1968's Rosemary's Baby, a deservedly revered entry into the horror canon. Mia Farrow stars as the titular character, a young woman who sees her life get more and more unraveled after she and her husband move into a mysterious New York City apartment building. Before long, she begins to suspect that every single person in her orbit might be involved in a demonic conspiracy. Those who haven't seen it owe it to themselves to meet Rosemary's Baby on Hulu.

5 Vice

A biopic about former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney was always going to be a controversial, divisive prospect, especially one directed by Adam McKay with a sharp satirical edge. In the end, 2018's Vice ended up earning mostly praise from critics, and multiple Oscar nominations, including one for Christian Bale's eerily accurate performance as Cheney. Bale famously put on lots of weight for the role, and is almost unrecognizable at a glance. Vice's all-star cast also includes Amy Adams, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, and more. Vice is worth a stream on Hulu, especially during these current politically-charged times.

Read More: Christian Bale’s 10 Greatest Roles, Ranked

4 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

The Star Trek multimedia franchise has so far produced 13 feature films, but arguably the most iconic of those came early on, with 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, now on Hulu. For better or worse, The Wrath of Khan changed gears from the metaphysical, exploratory adventure that was Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and did its best to turn Star Trek into more of a space action vehicle. Thankfully, it succeeded with most, and William Shatner's Captain Kirk yelling KHAN! at Ricardo Montalban's titular villain has become the stuff of legend.

3 Sorry to Bother You

One of the most uniquely creative movies of 2018, director Boots Riley's debut is a thought-provoking look at American race relations, framed through a dystopian comedic lens. Sorry to Bother You stars Lakeith Stanfield as Cassius "Cash" Green, who gets a job as a telemarketer, only to discover that putting on his "white voice" is what gets the money rolling in. Sorry to Bother You is a film not really suited to being summed up in a paragraph, but its 93% Rotten Tomatoes score kind of speaks for itself. Check it out on Hulu.

2 Heathers

A darker than dark comedy, Heathers was written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, and sports a huge cult following, which is sure to only get bigger via Hulu. Winona Ryder stars as Veronica Sawyer, a high school student who runs afoul of former friends the Heathers, a trio of rich, popular girls that rule teen society with an iron fist. After being wronged by them, Veronica makes the mistake of teaming up with outcast bad boy J.D. (Christian Slater) in order to get revenge. Sadly, J.D.'s idea of revenge is straight up murdering his enemies.

1 Let the Right One In

Released in a decade where vampire cinema was dominated by the sparkly Twilight, director Tomas Alfredson's Swedish hit Let the Right One In was exactly what the classic creature needed to remind audiences that despite their affliction, vampire movies don't have to suck. Lina Leandersson stars as Eli, an ageless vampire with the appearance of a child, and Kare Hedebrant plays Oskar, the bullied young boy she enters into an unexpectedly sweet relationship with. The film was later adapted stateside by Matt Reeves, with Chloe Grace Moretz in the Eli role. That version is sadly not available via Hulu.

Next: 10 Best Shows You Didn’t Know Were On Hulu

source https://screenrant.com/hulu-best-movies/

[braindamageforbeginners]

Intermezzo: Free Solo Review

Pre-Cycle 11

So, first of all, for anyone wondering, I did get the go ahead from the warlocks on Tuesday to continue with treatment through Cycle 12 (assuming my blood tests come back okay), which is great news. And I’d normally write about that and how awesome it is (Hooray! More chemo!), but it’s been such a long, weird, event-filled week even by my standards (my car got hit by lightning)(that’s a dramatic exaggeration, but, like everything else in my life, far less of one than I’d like), that instead, I thought I’d review the fantastic (and - for me - utterly terrifying) film “Free Solo.” Also, that’ll enable me to put off trying to figure out my upcoming chemo schedule, which is somewhat less-predictable than others (I’d have to come in on Christmas Eve or Christmas according to my current estimate, which seems a little ghoulish even for me).

A bit of background. Even though I like rock climbers and have many friends and family in that group, and even though I have nothing but love for them, their utterly terrifying sport isn’t for me (and thanks to them for putting up with me long enough for me to figure that one out). Full confession; I’m not only psychologically unfit for it, I’m physically not a good candidate. Even putting my neurological issues aside (unreliable left leg, vertigo)(those are the lasting impacts of neurosurgery #3 and #2, respectively), I’m terrified of heights. And with good reason - I’m about 182 cm tall and 100 kg; if I fall, it’s a much bigger problem than if someone smaller/closer to the ground and lighter does. And I’m about 85% torso, by height. So, why would I see a film about a sport that frightens me? Simply put, Alex Honnold, who is possibly the world’s premier greatest living rock climber.

Many, many, many years ago, someone pointed out to me that everyone’s heard of LeBron James, or Colin Kaepernick; fewer people have heard of Royal Robbins (or Kelly Slater, for that matter), largely because the latter two exist in a weird sub-culture of extreme sports that’s not as profitable or plugged in to pop culture as main-stream sports (I’ve only heard of Honnold because I’m a big fan of the Banff Film Festival). So, one of the world’s most niche-sports-figure getting a film - even if it’s not in wide release - is really cool. Again, it means society, as a whole, is opening up to non-traditional people, and sports, and stories. Which, as a now non-traditional person (again, traditionally, people like me die within two years of diagnosis, and that annoying new gimp/cripple physical aspect makes life a lot less accessible than I’d prefer), is cool, and, more importantly, as a storyteller, it means more, different, and better stories.

The story of “Free Solo” is pretty straight-forward. A man works his whole life to perfect his craft, and then, at the height of his talent, decides to gamble it on a potentially lethal career high-point. Wait, what? Most rock climbers - and certainly my sub-par, failed attempts - use various safety equipment and climb with buddies and do other things to minimize risk. The downside is both minimized risk, and, from my limited understanding, some of these safety devices permanently “hurt” (or pierce, anyway) the rock. “Free solo” climbing eschews such devices, or, indeed, a sense of self-preservation. Says the guy who’s letting science use him as a lab rat for a poisonous substance. Again, when you’re desperate, you make odd choices. However, like me, A. Honnold points out that most free-solo rock climbs are calculated risks (to paraphrase him, “The odds of me actually falling are low, but if that happens, the odds of something really, really bad happening are high.”). Which brings us to El Capitain, the Everest of the climbing world. As I may have mentioned previously, this is the Holy Grail of climbing. If you ever go to Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park (and I recommend you do this before you die), you will not be able to miss El Cap. If you’re like me, you might even have to go lie down for a few minutes just looking at up at it (it’s terrifying even from ground level). Even though it’s been climbed by blind, deaf, and physically disabled people (it’s a long story; there’s an old Yosemite joke that El Cap is handicap-accessible), it has never been climbed (clumb? someone help me with these conjugations) without safety devices. Enter Mr. Honnold, stage right, and the codependent National Geographic film crew. To make a long story short, he climbs the mountain and survives, with the support of both the film-makers and his long-suffering girlfriend. Hooray.

The reason this film is worth seeing - and why I’m reviewing it - is that, for all that, it’s a very weird film (it’s a really good film, but it’s weird). First of all, the camera and framing devices need a little description. In every scene or shot of El Cap, it not only dominates everything around it, but they use some cool VFX devices at various points to show Yosemite valley shifting and swinging around El Cap. Which made me grip my seat rests, but also gave an interesting insight into how Yosemite is absolutely dominated by these staggeringly massive walls on all sides. Secondly, this is - as far as I know - the only character study of A. Honnold on file in video form. Even though he’s been prominently featured in the Banff Film Festival and other places, they don’t give a real sense of who he is - he’s just a sort of stand-in rock climber fantasy figure; a James Bond of the rock climbing world - in all the other films I’ve seen, he goes somewhere and climbs something impressive; there’s not a whole lot revealed except he likes to climb. And he’s pretty much fearless - according to a little background research (yes, I do read about my subjects before tackling them), Honnold isn’t known for being the most technically-proficient or skilled climber, but he is known for taking on risks and challenges that no one else in the climbing world does.  Qui audet adipiscitur and all that. This film delves a little more into that, actually following him into an fMRI (one of those specialized MRIs that shows which parts of the brain “light up” during various tasks and images. The science-person in me would point out that this test is so overly sensitive, it should be taken with a grain of salt (my favorite research poster of all time was one that used fMRI analysis to show which images a dead salmon prefers)(you read that correctly). However, in this case, it showed that Honnold’s fear threshold/tolerance was much, much higher than usual. The film also looks at what that looks like in a relationship, as they also follow Honnold’s girlfriend, Sanni McCandless, for some of it. In retrospect, she’s probably the real hero of the film, because she fully supports him in his near-suicidal ambitions. There’s also the weird aspect about how the world’s most recklessly brave climber gets... stage fright. The film actually documents this very well, about how Honnold doesn’t seem up to the task when everyone’s around, watching him; and it takes a series of hidden cameras and a tactical retreat by McCandless to force him up the wall. As someone who has, ah, “performance issues” when it comes to urine samples (I’d imagine that after a year of those, it wouldn���t be a big issue, like the IVs and neuralgia bother me less, but we all have our idiosyncrasies - I intend to ask the chemo ward to quietly move to a different floor next time), I weirdly get it. And I also sort of weirdly get how, in an extreme situation, sometimes the riskier, more outrageous path is also the safer one. Having said that, I still have to give the man props for a following through on a near-psychotic ambition and seeing it through.

ANYWAY… WEIGHT: 96 kilos CONCENTRATION: Not bad, but I’m also exhausted from a week of travel and holidays. Which reminds me, if I make it out of this alive, I intend to start hibernating from Nov.15-Dec, 25, which should make this sort of holiday seasonal travel a little easier. APPETITE: Good. I’m even starting to appreciate “fun” things, like non-vegetable or protein-based foodstuffs. I imagine that’ll definitely decrease as I get back into the grind and find my willpower renewed with... well, the same willpower that allows me to swallow pills that come in “biohazard” bags. ACTIVITY LEVEL: Good, but I’m still exhausted. SLEEP QUALITY: Okay. COORDINATION/DEXTERITY: Excellent; I even went to the gym yesterday without braces. MEMORY: Not bad, I still have trouble forgetting to complete long or multi-step tasks, but that’s hardly new.. PHYSICAL: Overall, not too bad. At the moment, I’m mostly tired, sore, a little cold, and hungry, which - if you haven’t had peripheral nerve damage or chemo-induced panic-attacks, might seem bad, but to have normal, every day physical complaints instead of my usual, hyper-bizarre ones... well, it’s deeply comforting, in an odd, slightly-masochistic way. EMOTIONAL: Good. I realize I just got a clean scan on Monday - I had to wait until Tuesday to review the findings, though - and after 24 hours of that sort of frenzied anxiety, the volume on standard emotional issues gets muted. SIDE EFFECTS: Tired. So tired. Which reminds me, based on my records, I’m pretty sure my limp’s tied into exhaustion/fatigue issues. Which gives me hope that, after the next two cycles (and possibly a six-month nap to catch up on my sleep) I might get something like consistent progress fixing that complaint.  CURRENTLY READING (For Donna): “A Monster Calls.” 

[duaneodavila]

Kopf: My Short Response To The Response

On July 19, 2018, seven young female lawyers, with impressive educational credentials but little practical experience, founded an organization called Law Clerks for Workplace Accountability (LCWA). All (but perhaps one) appear to have served a year or two as law clerks to federal judges and all apparently had wonderful experiences.

The foregoing is a screen capture from the LCWA web site.

On July 20, 2018, they submitted a response (hereinafter Response)[i] to the Report of the Federal Judiciary Workplace Conduct Working Group to the Judicial Conference[ii] of the United States (June 1, 2018) (hereinafter Report) (available here together with the executive summary).[iii]

After the issuance of the Response, the group posted a “clarification” on Twitter which reads:

One clarification regarding the recommendations in our memo: we are not trying to make these changes/reforms by ourselves. While our members do bring a wealth of relevant experience to the table, we recognize fully that we may lack some institutional knowledge.[iv]

(Italics added by Kopf.)

After learning of the LCWA from How Appealing on July 20, 2018, I wrote a tweet regarding the LCWA’s Response that quoted Howard Bashman, the author of How Appealing, and added: “New Spanish Inquisition by SJWs? Thank goodness for Article III.” It also contained a pen and ink image of a man on the rack. My tweet generated near universal condemnation.[v]

At about the same time as I was largely being condemned, I offered, via twitter, to provide a respectful substantive critique of the Response if the LCWA would publish it in full on their web site. I wanted one place where the reader might compare the two papers side by side. I envisioned writing more than a blog post. After all the Response was 15 single-spaced pages long and it raised too many issues for discussion in a short form. To date, the offer has not been accepted. So, I have moved on.

In turn, our host wrote a post entitled “Another Fine Mess, Judge Kopf.” SHG reprinted the tweet in full. He captured many of my concerns but questioned whether this was a fight worth fighting and questioned whether Twitter was the place to do so.

In this post, I will elaborate upon my tweet.[vi] But given the constraints of space imposed by the short-form nature of a blog post, I must be brief. So, I concentrate on Part III of the Response, beginning at page 9, and particularly the two recommendations that I find the most troubling.

Special Pleading

According to their website, “Representatives of Law Clerks for Workplace Accountability attended, on an ad hoc basis, three meetings of this Working Group. We also submitted written proposals and suggestions to the group.” This was not good enough.

The LCWA complained about a lack of special access: “We repeatedly asked to see the report before it was published, but were denied that opportunity.” (Italics added by Kopf.) Then, in their Response, “We ask for a permanent seat” on the Working Group. Response at pp. 10-12.

Why are these bright, young, but inexperienced,[vii] female lawyers special? More generally, why would law clerks be entitled to formally participate in the decisional process of important judiciary-wide policy formation when other “stakeholders” are not?[viii]

What about the courtroom deputy (CRD) who was assaulted by Judge Kent? Shouldn’t CRDs have a seat at the table? What about probation officers who carry guns and literally risk their lives every day? What about administrative or clerical staff from the circuit executive’s offices or the various clerks’ offices or at the Administrative Office? What about pro se and death penalty staff attorneys? What about judicial assistants? We should not forget court reporters. How about the IT staffs at the district, circuit, and national levels who are tasked with maintaining the computers and other digital equipment that make the U.S. Courts a leader in court-related technology? And the list goes on.

I suspect that the LCWA wants a very special “seat at the table” because its seven members have an agenda about which I vigorously disagree. I turn to that agenda next.

The Agenda

The LCWA is not satisfied with Judge Kozinski’s forced resignation that halted an investigation by a special committee of judges and allowed him to keep his pension but resulted in the utter devastation of his reputation and an extraordinary public shaming.

The LCWA is not shy about wanting more:

The scandal surrounding Judge Kozinski provides a unique opportunity for the Judiciary to examine these issues. How did Judge Kozinski manage to engage in sustained harassment for such a long period of time? How many people, including judges, were aware of his harassment? Why didn’t his victims report him sooner? The Working Group does not appear to have interviewed any of the individuals involved, including victims and other employees at the Ninth Circuit, such as judges. By failing to address the fallout of the numerous allegations against Judge Kozinski directly—or further investigate allegations as to any reported harasser—the Working Group lost an opportunity to learn from its past mistakes and to craft future policies to avoid these mistakes. The Judiciary also missed the opportunity to publicly acknowledge its own failings that allowed this behavior to continue for decades, to demonstrate a genuine understanding of what should have been done in the past, and to commit to specific, meaningful changes that employees and members of the public can trust. Acceptance of responsibility is difficult, as judges know better than most, given their unique role in the sentencing context. But it is critical to ensure that victims feel heard and future victims feel comfortable coming forward.

Response at pp. 13-14 (Italics by Kopf).

First, let me be clear. If Kozinski did what many allege (not the least of which is the seemingly credible allegation of a claims court judge[ix]), then his behavior was intolerable and inexcusable. But that is all the Gertruding you will get from me.

Second, I see no purpose in attempting to further excavate the lurid details given that many, perhaps all, of those details are already in the public domain or are otherwise known to the Chief Justice’s working group members.[x] It is old, very sad news.

But even more importantly, the Report provides a long list of things that the Judicial Conference is likely to adopt to make sure this sordid story is less likely to repeat itself. For example, the Report proposes to create an internal Office of Judicial Integrity to provide counsel and assistance regarding workplace conduct for all employees of the federal judiciary. Id. at p. 37 & n.66.

Third, how in the hell can the LCWA’s call for further investigation be accomplished without harm being done to innocent bystanders who are likely to have been ignorant or unwilling to act upon law clerk gossip? Imagine for a moment questioning Justice Kennedy, with whom Kozinski served on the Ninth Circuit.

If I were asking the questions, here are three I would most likely ask:

Remembering you are under oath, Justice Kennedy, what did you know about Kozinski’s mistreatment of his law clerks, and when did you know it?

If you claim to have no knowledge on the subject, are you calling people liars who say it was common knowledge?

Fess up, Justice Kennedy, you knew about Judge Kozinski’s misbehavior and did nothing about it, isn’t that true?

After we get done with Justice Kennedy, then we should proceed to interrogate every judge or Justice who ever sat on the Ninth Circuit during the time Kozinski was also serving as a judge.

After we get done with judges, let’s proceed to the law clerks. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Let’s put Judge Kavanaugh, who clerked for Kozinski, under oath and grill him. After all, Elie wants to know:

What, if anything, did Kavanaugh know about Kozinski’s behavior? What, if anything, did Kavanaugh do to help the women being harassed by the judge?

This isn’t some guilt by association thing. Reports indicate that even after his time as a clerk, Kavanaugh and Kozinski remained close. He was there while harassment was allegedly occurring.

Elie Mystal, Did Brett Kavanaugh Know About Alex Kozinski, Above the Law (July 10, 2018) (Italics in original).[xi]

And, while we are at it, we should closely question Eugene Volokh, who clerked for Kozinski and who was very close to the putative monster. “The Judge officiated at my wedding. I talk to him often. I consider him a close friend, he’s taught me a huge amount, and he’s helped me tremendously in my career, and not just by giving me a valuable credential.” Eugene Volokh, June 13, 2008 at 1:36pm. Surely, he deserves the third degree.

After we are done with the law clerks, we should cut a wide swath through the Ninth Circuit Executive’s office. Those folks had to know about Kozinski’s misbehavior. After that, let’s goose-step down to every district court where Kozinski served as a trial judge. While we are at it, let’s question under oath law professors Leah Litman and Rick Hasen as to why they stayed silent until the dam was broken by others.

Fourth, why would anyone except publicly proclaimed accusers of Kozinski cooperate? The LCWA explicitly wants to find judges and Ninth Circuit employees who might have suspected something yet decided to keep their own counsel, perhaps for very good reasons such as a lack of personal knowledge. Why would a sane person cooperate with this “investigation” knowing the LCWA wants to out those who appear to the LCWA to have been complicit? And, yet, if Judge X, knowing nothing about Kozinski’s alleged wrongdoing, told the LCWA headhunters to pound sand, what would be the result of such intransigence? Shall we name and shame the uncooperative judge?

Fifth, and very importantly, if one truly needs details of the federal judges who have allegedly misbehaved more recently and what happened to them so one can make good policy, read Appendix 4 to the Report (letter from James C. Duff, Director of the Administrative Office, to Chairman Charles E. Grassley and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, at pp. 9-17 (Feb. 16, 2018)). There you will find the details about the alleged misbehavior of Judge Walter Smith (alleged sexual harassment of clerk’s office employee); Judge Edward Nottingham (complaint involving allegations that he spent thousands of dollars at strip clubs and was involved in a prostitution ring); Judge Richard Cebull (accused of making racist jokes and disparaging statements about women); Judge Samuel Kent (indicted and convicted on three counts of abusive sexual contact); Judge Richard Roberts (accused of raping a 16-year-old witness while he was a prosecutor); and Judge Alex Kozinski (accused of sexual harassment and misconduct by several women).[xii]

In short, I resist with every fiber of my being the unnecessary spilling of more blood. L’affaire Kozinski has done enough harm to the federal judiciary. We don’t need to autopsy the corpse to understand the evident disease.

Richard G. Kopf Senior United States District Judge

[i]  Should we do a retrospective investigation of all these judges to determine who knew what when? Maybe we ought also to investigate former Judge Mark Fuller. After all, he was allegedly a wife beater. You can find my thoughts on Fuller here, here, here, here, and  here.

[ii] He will surely also face such questioning when he appears before the Senate. Would that suffice?

[iii] “A former U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge said Kozinski grabbed and squeezed each of her breasts as the two drove back from an event in Baltimore in the mid-1980s, after she had told him she did not want to stop at a motel and have sex.” Matt Zapotosky, Nine more women say judge subjected them to inappropriate behavior, including four who say he touched or kissed them, The Washington Post (Dec. 15, 2017).

[iv] Judge M. Margaret McKeown, from the Ninth Circuit, is a member. Judge McKeown chaired the Judicial Conference Codes of Conduct Committee, is chair of the newly formed Ninth Circuit Workplace Environment Committee, and served on various committees, working groups, and panels related to workplace and gender discrimination while on the bench and in private practice. She served as President of the Federal Judges Association. Judge McKeown, who I have been privileged to know personally, is one of the nicest, toughest, best and most highly regarded appellate judges in the country. See here, for example.

[v] None of these very bright women served in the judiciary for more than two years. None of them have publicly claimed to have experienced harassment at the hands of a judge or anyone else in the judiciary. Moreover, who appointed LCWA to represent anyone?

[vi] If law clerks are to be added as permanent members of the working group, then I suggest that career law clerks would be a much better fit due to their experience, as opposed to term clerks who spend much of their first year figuratively trying to find the courthouse.

[vii] See also Max Mitchell, Judge Who Stirred Controversy With Tweet Unlikely to Face Discipline, Experts Say, Law.Com (July 23, 2018), Joe Patrice, Outspoken Federal Judge Launches Amazingly Dumb Twitter Tirade, Above the Law (July 24, 2018).

[viii] I have been told by people I admire and trust that my tweet and related responses on Twitter “lacked nuance,” “were inartful,” or appeared to “punch down.” I accept those criticisms and apologize for my errors.

[ix] The Response is in PDF form and must be accessed through LCWA’s website.

[x] Presided over by the Chief Justice, the Judicial Conference of the United States comprised of judges is the national policy-making body for the federal courts. For more, see here.

[xi] I do not have the space to describe the extensive Report. But from my perspective—as a former federal appellate law clerk, as a former United States Magistrate Judge, as a former Chief Judge, as a former member of the Codes of Conduct Committee, and as a judge with over 30 years of judicial service—the Report is remarkably candid, thorough, and practical. The authors are distinguished and experienced. I applaud the Report, even though in spots I am frankly concerned that it goes too far. That said, there are prudential reasons why the Report should be adopted in whole by the Judicial Conference and without significant change. The Report is worth a close and careful review, including the appendices.

[xii] This belated “clarification” is an understatement of epic proportion.

Kopf: My Short Response To The Response republished via Simple Justice

[irregular-artbeats-blog]

It is two and a half minutes to midnight, and the lines between fact and fiction are growing increasingly irrelevant. As the “real news” reports the latest in “alternative facts” our country is overwhelmed with an odd sense of déjà vu, like we’ve been here before but forgot to take notes. All those years preaching those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it and look where it has gotten us:

Following the virally infamous Kellyanne Conway interview on January 22nd, our country appears condemned to repeat High School English while we’re at it. Sales of George Orwell’s iconic novel “1984” skyrocketed to the top of the charts, with hopes that “It Can’t Happen Here” putting Sinclair Lewis’ satirical tale closely in the running, and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” coming up fast.

https://twitter.com/rememberedtales/status/822469791260807168

Margaret Atwood’s dystopian moral “better never means better for everyone… it always means worse, for some” makes her novel “A Handmaid’s Tale” a favorite of recent protests, particularly the January 21st Women’s March, as the near future of 1985 approaches once more.

Save us Supergirl!

As citizens across the country discover the lessons of classic literature that they were too wrapped up in teenage angst to appreciate before it was too late, others…

tick-tock. tick. tock. tick…

Written by Alan Moore Illustrated by Dave Gibbons colored by John Higgins

You won’t be seeing “Watchmen” on any school reading or viewing lists, but as three stuffy old men from the Bulletin of the Atomic Sciences advance a very real doomsday clock, this motif draws chilling parallels.

“Watchmen” is a graphic novel in twelve parts, one for each hour on the clock, ticking one minute closer to midnight with each issue, counting down to global catastrophe in the final chapter.

“Who Watches the Watchmen?” Not Alan Moore. To him, I do apologize, for I must talk about the film. The graphic novel writer’s name was stricken from the movie credits, and at his own request, his share of the profits went to illustrator Dave Gibbons, who worked closely with the production of the adaptation.

As the character Dr. Manhattan crafts his clockwork-world on the sands of Mars pondering the nature of reality and the importance of this clock motif… the world of “Watchmen” was made by Alan Moore. A purist with a deep respect for the medium, he scripted his stories to showcase the full range of what comics could do–

if we only see comics in relation to movies then the best that they will ever be is films that do not move

“Watchmen” is told as a collection of character accounts deconstructing the super hero, and similarly, deconstructing the super hero comic. While remarkably true to the source for material considered for many years to be unfilmable… “Watchmen” is a comic about comics as much if not more than it is a comic about super heroes, and a film about comics just doesn’t capture the same effect on that front.

The graphic novels open with full page prose excerpts from Hollis Mason’s autobiography “Under the Hood” detailing his masked adventures as Night Owl, and the events surrounding the formation of the Minutemen. Under the Hood was adapted as a special feature for the Ultimate Cut of the film, directed by Eric Matthies with a screenplay by Hans Rodionoff

“Tales of the Black Freighter” is a comic within the Watchmen comic universe named in homage to the song “Seeräuber Jenny” from Brecht’s “Threepenny Opera” which tells of a ship by that name. Read by a teenage boy at a news-stand, the pirates tale Marooned parallels elements of the “Watchmen” story, serving as foil to the main plot, and to the structural commentary.

Directed by Daniel Delpurgatorio and Mike Smith, with a screenplay by Alex Tse and Zack Snyder, Tales of the Black Freighter was adapted as animated segues to preserve the meta-context. These shorts did not make the theatrical cut of the film, but edited in to the Ultimate Cut, their presence ties together a collection of stories, transitioning between the elements with a smooth sailing grace that now feels oddly disjointed in their absence.

One element of frame narrative did remain prominently featured in all versions of the adaptation– Rorschach’s entries to his journal served as voice-over narrations throughout the plot of the film, culminating in the public release of this information when this journal is sent to the press, establishing the journal as a sort of self-insert for the screenplay.

Added material completes the “Ultimate Watchmen” package with a run-time of 215 minutes. Clocking in at 7 minutes longer than Peter Jackson’s Extended Cut for “The Fellowship of the Ring” many viewers argue that vaguely metaphorical cartoon tangents interjected between key plot points pulls them out of a monotony already droning on for far too long…

Yes, of course, the whole idea is utterly inane, but to let its predictable inanities blind you to its truly fabulous and breathtaking aspects is to do both oneself and the genre a disservice.

– Alan Moore on suspension of disbelief within comic context

Others counter that these seemingly extraneous details serve as easter-eggs for dedicated fans to decipher and discuss, offering a profound respect for the source material, which is essential in maintaining a pre-existing fandom. Use of motion comic animation went one step further in preserving the source medium, but even still, this is child’s play compared to Alan Moore’s mastery of comic form.

Chapter V: Fearful Symmetry

The reasons for these eccentricities are obscure, complex, and probably not terribly interesting to anyone not utterly infatuated with comics as a medium

– from the Introduction to the Saga of the Swamp Thing by Alan Moore

Your average super hero, the run of the mill picture of perfection fighting for truth, justice and the American way, often comes packaged in a stylish and remarkably durable spandex super jumpsuit. The Klark Kents and Peter Parkers of the comic world may pass as any other mundane photojournalist, but their super-powered alter egos are instantly recognizable by their bright, primary color schemes. DC comic’s iconic Superman sports a blue suit with red cape and gold accents. Marvel comic’s rendition of the demi-god Thor is similarly decked in blue tinted armor, a billowy red cape, and gold blingage.

Villains, on the other hand, are generally associated with secondary colors, green being the most common as we are familiar with classic horror tropes like witches and Frankenstein’s monster. For characters like Spiderman’s notorious villain Green Goblin, this color runs skin deep, and the purple accessories simply make for a complimentary aesthetic. Others, like Batman’s nemesis The Joker, choose their colors for themselves in snazzy purple suit jackets and OG neon green hair gel.

An exception to the standard, super scientist Bruce Banner is heralded as an iconic Marvel hero, but turns a smashing shade of radioactive green when his alter ego the Incredible Hulk takes control. The Hulk’s rapidly expanding size shreds his human-sized clothing with every fit of rage, but his conveniently purple pants never fail, leaving this color association as a manifestation of the Hulk’s destructive nature.

Featuring bold yellow and black titling on its cover, “Watchmen” blends right in with this pattern. In typical Hollywood fashion, the yellow smiley face accented with a splash of blood red, often spotted throughout the comics subtly discarded amidst carefully scripted details… became a merchandising goldmine, featured on movie posters, DVD jackets, and Hot Topic fitted t-shirts. Yellow and black, accented in red, became the primary color scheme of the film.

John Higgins colorized “Watchmen” mainly in secondary colors green, purple, orange, reserving primary colors to highlight key elements.

John leaned very heavily toward, as you say, the secondary palette… it was the same range of colors you’d always been able to use in American comics, but it was colors that hadn’t been widely used before. I think it added a lot to the atmosphere of the comic book…it reads less obviously as superheroes

– Dave Gibbons

These off the beaten scheme colors created a sense of ambiguity in the twisted morality of this dark and gritty take on real world super heroes. Dr. Manhatten floating naked and blue is a poignant contrast to the barren pink surface of Mars, and to the secondary palette back on his Earth, where this dissonance serves to inspire fear in the inferior human race.

In an effort to bring a sense of realism to comic adaptations, Hollywood has a tendency toward muting the colors when adapting iconic costumed heroes for screen. An all powerful naked blue man is believable enough, but apparently, the colorfully costumed Crimebusters was taking it too far.

Ozymandias, named for the King of Kings from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s famous poem, decks himself out in gold plate draped in purple robes with matching cape and boots. Often associated with regality, Adrian Veidt’s purple and gold wardrobe is befitting for the stature of his namesake, his wealth, and his power. Fated by the poem, and parallels to a plethora of purple-clad comic villains, Ozymandias serves as example of the inevitable futility of empire. Modeled as a parody of the 1997 Batsuit, the film’s rubbery black body armor, is super generic, and offers little insight to the character behind the mask, though it does sculpt some godly ab and thigh muscles.

Night Owl trades in a red hood, matching undies, and gold utility belt, for a form-fitted brown leather body suit. Rorschach sports the same black and white mask with a brown trench coat, but his purple scarf and pants are muted beyond recognition. While toning down their color, the film amped up the violence, adding back alley showdowns with gratuitous thugs, and gory bloodbath hatchet jobs. Its dark and gritty, we get it, but when the countdown to catastrophe finally strikes midnight, we’re almost entirely desensitized to the horrors of the disaster that ensues, while the comics remain remarkably void of violence to accentuate its prevalence in the final chapter.

The Comedian keeps his blue starred red and white striped shoulder pads, but most prominently of all, Silk Spectre stands out in skimpy black and yellow, and Dr Manhattan shines a nearly blinding blue. These primary colors shine bright and bold in the feature film, but the secondary colors remain only as a muted memory of super heroes past. When flashbacks of the Minutemen weren’t seen in black and white or sepia tone, they did provide a glimpse at some of the classic costumes, colors and all.

There is nothing wrong with your television set—

This scene towards the end of the film references a reference to the in-universe source of the villainous scheme and twist ending, but while the comics openly pay homage to the 1963 episode “The Architects of Fear” with direct mention of the title, The Outer Limits opening sequence would suffice for the film, similarly overheard playing on Ms. Jupiter’s television.

https://dailymotion.com/video/x4dpm4i

Around issue 10, I came across a guide to cult television. There was an Outer Limits episode called ”The Architects of Fear.” I thought: ”Wow. That’s a bit close to our story.’ In the last issue, we have a TV promoting that Outer Limits episode — a belated nod.

—Alan Moore (Entertainment Weekly, 2009)

I kept telling him, ‘Be more original, Alan, you’ve got the capability, do something different, not something that’s already been done!’ And he didn’t seem to care enough to do that.

—Len Wein (Wizard, 2004)

Published in 1959, Tales of Suspense #2 leads with an uncredited story “Invasion From Outer Space” that ends with a similarly familiar reveal. Generally attributed to Jack Kirby, as evidenced by his signature usage of ellipses… its hard to say exactly where Alan Moore first conceptualized the idea, but this dispute would be the straw that breaks the editors back for Len Wein, who left the project due to irreconcilable creative differences.

Doomsday Clock It is two and a half minutes to midnight, and the lines between fact and fiction are growing increasingly irrelevant.

[irregular-artbeats-blog]

It is two and a half minutes to midnight, and the lines between fact and fiction are growing increasingly irrelevant–

As the “real news” reports the latest in “alternative facts” our country is overwhelmed with an odd sense of déjà vu, like we’ve been here before but forgot to take notes. All those years preaching “those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it” and look where it has gotten us:

Following the virally infamous Kellyanne Conway interview on January 22nd, our country appears condemned to repeat High School English while we’re at it. Sales of George Orwell’s iconic novel 1984 skyrocketed to the top of the charts, with hopes that It Can’t Happen Here putting Sinclair Lewis’s satirical tale closely in the running, and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World coming up fast.

Today and for the next four years: don’t let the bastards grind you down. #handmaidstale pic.twitter.com/97A8a1waKd

— Erica R Hopper (@rememberedtales) January 20, 2017

 Margaret Atwood’s dystopian moral “better never means better for everyone… It always means worse, for some” makes her novel A Handmaid’s Tale a favorite of recent protests, particularly the January 21st Women’s March, as the near future of 1985 approaches once more.

Save us Supergirl!

As citizens across the country discover the lessons of classic literature that they were too wrapped up in teenage angst to appreciate before it was too late, others…

tick-tock. tick. tock. tick…

Written by Alan Moore Illustrated by Dave Gibbons colored by John Higgins— You won’t be seeing Watchmen on any school reading lists, but as three stuffy old men from the Bulletin of the Atomic Sciences advance a very real doomsday clock, this motif draws chilling parallels.

Watchmen is a graphic novel in twelve parts, one for each hour on the clock, ticking one minute closer to midnight with each issue, counting down to global catastrophe in the final chapter.

Who Watches the Watchmen? Not Alan Moore. To him, I do apologize, for I must talk about the film, this is Movie Night after all. The graphic novel writer’s name was stricken from the movie credits, and at his own request, his share of the profits went to illustrator Dave Gibbons, who worked closely with the production of the adaptation.

As the character Dr. Manhattan crafts his clockwork-world on the sands of Mars pondering the nature of reality and the importance of this clock motif… the world of Watchmen, was made by Alan Moore. A purist with a deep respect for the medium, he scripted his stories to showcase the full range of what comics could do–

if we only see comics in relation to movies then the best that they will ever be is films that do not move

Watchmen is told as a collection of character accounts deconstructing the super hero, and similarly, deconstructing the super hero comic. While remarkably true to the source for material considered for many years to be unfilmable… Watchmen is a comic about comics as much if not more than it is a comic about super heroes, and a film about comics just doesn’t capture the same effect on that front.

The graphic novels open with full page prose excerpts from Hollis Mason’s autobiography “Under the Hood” detailing his masked adventures as Night Owl, and the events surrounding the formation of the Minutemen. Under the Hood was adapted as a special feature for the Ultimate Cut of the film, directed by Eric Matthies with a screenplay by Hans Rodionoff

Tales of the Black Freighter, named in homage to the song “Seeräuber Jenny” from Brecht’s Threepenny Opera, is a comic within the Watchmen comic universe. Read by a teenage boy at a news-stand, the pirates tale Marooned parallels elements of the Watchmen story, serving as foil to the main plot, and to the structural commentary.

Directed by Daniel Delpurgatorio and Mike Smith, with a screenplay by Alex Tse and Zack Snyder, Tales of the Black Freighter was adapted as animated segues to preserve the meta-context. These shorts did not make the theatrical cut of the film, but edited in to the Ultimate Cut, their presence ties together a collection of stories, transitioning between the elements with a smooth sailing grace that now feels oddly disjointed in their absence.

One element of frame narrative did remain prominently featured in all versions of the adaptation– Rorschach’s entries to his journal served as voice-over narrations throughout the plot of the film, culminating in the public release of this information when this journal is sent to the press, establishing the journal as a sort of self-insert for the screenplay.

Added material completes the Ultimate Watchmen package with a run-time of 215 minutes. Clocking in at 7 minutes longer than Peter Jackson’s Extended Cut for The Fellowship of the Ring, many viewers argue that vaguely metaphorical cartoon tangents interjected between key plot points pulls them out of a monotony already droning on for far too long…

Yes, of course, the whole idea is utterly inane, but to let its predictable inanities blind you to its truly fabulous and breathtaking aspects is to do both oneself and the genre a disservice.

– Alan Moore on suspension of disbelief within comic context

Others counter that these seemingly extraneous details serve as easter eggs for a dedicated fan to decipher and discuss, offering a profound respect for the source material, which is essential in maintaining a pre-existing fandom. Use of motion comic animation went one step further in preserving the source medium, but even still, this is child’s play compared to Alan Moore’s mastery of comic form.

Chapter V: Fearful Symmetry

The reasons for these eccentricities are obscure, complex, and probably not terribly interesting to anyone not utterly infatuated with comics as a medium

– from the Introduction to the Saga of the Swamp Thing by Alan Moore

Your average super hero, the run of the mill picture of perfection fighting for truth, justice, and the American way, often comes packaged in a stylish and remarkably durable spandex super jumpsuit. The Klark Kents and Peter Parkers of the comic world may pass as any other mundane photojournalist, but their super-powered alter egos are instantly recognizable by their bright, primary color schemes. DC comic’s iconic Superman sports a blue suit with red cape and gold accents. Marvel comic’s rendition of the demi-god Thor is similarly decked in blue tinted armor, a billowy red cape, and gold blingage.

Villains, on the other hand, are generally associated with secondary colors, green being the most common as we are familiar with classic horror tropes like witches and Frankenstein’s monster. For characters like Spiderman’s notorious villain Green Goblin, this color runs skin deep, and the purple accessories simply make for a complimentary aesthetic. Others, like Batman’s nemesis The Joker, choose their colors for themselves in snazzy purple suit jackets and OG neon green hair gel.

An exception to the standard, super scientist Bruce Banner is heralded as an iconic Marvel hero, but turns a smashing shade of radioactive green when his alter ego the Incredible Hulk takes control. The Hulk’s rapidly expanding size shreds his human-sized clothing with every fit of rage, but his conveniently purple pants never fail, leaving this color association as a manifestation of the Hulk’s destructive nature.

Featuring bold yellow and black titling on its cover, Watchmen blends right in with this pattern. In typical Hollywood fashion, the yellow smiley face accented with a splash of blood red, often spotted throughout the comics subtly discarded amidst carefully scripted details… became a merchandising goldmine, featured on movie posters, DVD jackets, and Hot Topic fitted t-shirts. Yellow and black, accented in red, became the primary color scheme of the film.

John Higgins colorized Watchmen mainly in secondary colors green, purple, orange, reserving primary colors to highlight key elements.

John leaned very heavily toward, as you say, the secondary palette… it was the same range of colors you’d always been able to use in American comics, but it was colors that hadn’t been widely used before. I think it added a lot to the atmosphere of the comic book…it reads less obviously as superheroes

– Dave Gibbons

These off the beaten scheme colors created a sense of ambiguity in the twisted morality of Watchmen’s dark and gritty take on real world super heroes. Dr. Manhatten floating naked and blue is a poignant contrast to the barren pink surface of Mars, and to the secondary palette back on his earth, where this dissonance serves to inspire fear in the inferior human race.

In an effort to bring a sense of realism to comic adaptations, Hollywood has a tendency toward muting the colors when adapting iconic costumed heroes for screen. An all powerful naked blue man is believable enough, but apparently, the colorfully costumed “Crimebusters” was taking it too far.

Ozymandias, named for the King of Kings from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s famous poem, decks himself out in gold plate draped in purple robes with matching cape and boots. Often associated with regality, Adrian Veidt’s purple and gold wardrobe is befitting for the stature of his namesake, his wealth, and his power. Fated by the poem, and parallels to a plethora of purple-clad comic villains, Ozymandias serves as example of the inevitable futility of empire. Modeled as a parody of the 1997 Batsuit, the film’s rubbery black body armor, is super generic, and offers little insight to the character behind the mask, though it does sculpt some godly ab and thigh muscles.

Night Owl trades in a red hood, matching undies, and gold utility belt, for a form-fitted brown leather body suit. Rorschach sports the same black and white mask with a brown trench coat, but his purple scarf and pants are muted beyond recognition. While toning down their color, the film amped up the violence, adding back alley showdowns with gratuitous thugs, and gory bloodbath hatchet jobs. Its dark and gritty, we get it, but when the countdown to catastrophe finally strikes midnight, we’re almost entirely desensitized to the horrors of the disaster that ensues, while the comics remain remarkably void of violence to accentuate its prevalence in the final chapter.

The Comedian keeps his blue starred red and white striped shoulder pads, but most prominently of all, Silk Spectre stands out in skimpy black and yellow, and Dr Manhattan shines a nearly blinding blue. These primary colors shine bright and bold in the feature film, but the secondary colors remain only as a muted memory of super heroes past. When flashbacks of the Minutemen weren’t seen in black and white or sepia tone, they did provide a glimpse at some of the classic costumes, colors and all.

There is nothing wrong with your television set—

This scene towards the end of the film references a reference to the in-universe source of the villainous scheme and twist ending, but while the comics openly pay homage to the 1963 episode “The Architects of Fear” with direct mention of the title, The Outer Limits opening sequence would suffice for the film, similarly overheard playing on Ms. Jupiter’s television.

https://dailymotion.com/video/x4dpm4i

Around issue 10, I came across a guide to cult television. There was an Outer Limits episode called ”The Architects of Fear.” I thought: ”Wow. That’s a bit close to our story.’ In the last issue, we have a TV promoting that Outer Limits episode — a belated nod.

—Alan Moore (Entertainment Weekly, 2009)

I kept telling him, ‘Be more original, Alan, you’ve got the capability, do something different, not something that’s already been done!’ And he didn’t seem to care enough to do that.

—Len Wein (Wizard, 2004)

Published in 1959, Tales of Suspense #2 leads with an uncredited story “Invasion From Outer Space” that ends with a similarly familiar reveal. Generally attributed to Jack Kirby, as evidenced by his signature usage of ellipses… its hard to say exactly where Alan Moore first conceptualized the idea, but this dispute would be the straw that breaks the editors back for Len Wein, who left the project due to irreconcilable creative differences.

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Movie Night! – 1/31/2017 It is two and a half minutes to midnight, and the lines between fact and fiction are growing increasingly irrelevant--