#and I’ve only been a fan since 2021 AND I took a gap for the 2023 season till the end.

[tyremarbles]

Post-Race McLaren Strategy Analysis

Foreword: Y’all know me, I try to make sure I know everything I can before I actually say anything, and this analysis took me nearly 5 hours last night. I didn’t go to bed until like 3am because I was so busy double-checking all my facts lmao. Special thanks to @imthebadguyyy & my dad for being my test readers :)))

During the Dutch Grand Prix Race Session this past Sunday, September 5th, 2021, McLaren made some strategy calls that presented as the team favoring Lando over Daniel. The opinion that came to light was that McLaren were making Daniel into the secondary driver, which is something he had come to the team in hopes of avoiding. This opinion, while it is a valid one to express, isn’t one that holds much water when you zoom out from the context of that set of radio transmissions.

McLaren is a midfield team. They aren’t focused on winning the championship; just on getting the highest place they can in order to get the most money. Their best chance of doing that is by ensuring they get the most points out of each race.

Despite the fact that Lando has been with McLaren for five years now, he isn’t their number one driver; McLaren doesn’t have one. They can’t if they want to maximize their opportunity for points. What they can do, though, is prioritize whoever is consistently delivering the better results on a week-by-week basis. Thus far, that driver just happens to be Lando. Which makes sense, considering that Daniel is just starting to really feel comfortable in the MCL35M.

Lando has felt more comfortable in the car over the course of the 2021 season. An obvious explanation for this is that Lando has been with the team since 2017, where he signed as a Junior Driver, and has had much longer to adapt his driving style to the car. This is Daniel’s first year with McLaren. His previous seasons have been spent, for the most part, in a RedBull-designed car. Even when he was at Renault, it was expressed that the cars handled very similarly to a RedBull. The MCL35M, as he has expressed, handles very differently than what he had grown accustomed to, and doesn’t particularly seem to fit his driving style. As the 2021 season has progressed, however, Daniel has shown he has made progress in adapting to the car.

Comparing qualifying results to race results, Daniel has consistently started further back on the grid. This puts him at a disadvantage from a points strategy perspective. The further back you are, the harder you have to work to gain places over the course of a race. I’m not saying he’s incapable of gaining those places back; he’s shown quite the opposite actually, most notably in Portugal and Austria this season with a 7-place jump from 16th to 9th and a 6-place jump from 13th to 7th, respectively. What I am saying is that if you’re not comfortable in the car, or you’re at a track where overtaking is nigh-impossible, or you’re already close enough to the points to get there on your own, team strategy may not fall in your favor.

But despite his difficulties adjusting to the car, Daniel is in no danger of dropping off and playing second fiddle to Lando like you all suggest. Daniel is a talented driver. If he wasn’t, would he really still be in the sport after a decade? Would McLaren have followed him for years, determined to add him to the team? His move to McLaren, while still in its adjustment period, is one that’s beneficial and positive for all parties involved. Lando may have talent and skill, as clearly shown by his F3 Championship title and frankly outstanding performance the past couple seasons (4 podiums, a front row start, most consecutive points finishes), but he’s still very young. This is only his third year in Formula 1, and he’s only older than me by three years. Compare that to Daniel, who’s been competing in Formula 1 for ten years now, was a driver for one of the two top teams for over half of his career (7 years, counting Toro Rosso), and placed 3rd in the WDC for said team twice in 2014 & 2016. Do you seriously think that McLaren gives him a multimillion dollar paycheck because they want him to play racetrack bodyguard for Lando?

Bringing in someone like Daniel, who has years of training, skill, and knowledge, and an invaluable perspective on not only racing, but on one of the title contenders, is a major asset to all aspects of the team. Sure, he may be new to McLaren, but he is a long way off being new to racing.

Was the strategy this weekend arguably a hot mess? Oh, absolutely. But it wasn’t a one-team phenomenon. Strategy overall this weekend has been all over the place, and I kinda see why. We haven’t raced at Zandvoort since 1985, when the track itself and the cars were much, much different. You can’t really go off of race strategy from the mid-80’s when the track did not include the bankings it currently has and when the car and tyre specifications have changed drastically. Everyone was basically flying in blind.

What the teams could rely on, was all the data they were getting from practice sessions (even if every single one was red-flagged at some point). And the data that McLaren was receiving likely suggested that Lando would be a stronger contender for points, based on comparative lap pace alone.

Over the course of 18 laps in FP1, Lando’s lap time was quicker than Daniel’s by 0.402s, or an average of 4/10ths.

Over the course of FP2, where Lando ran two more laps than Daniel, Lando’s lap time was quicker than Daniel’s by 0.669s, or nearly 7/10ths.

Over the course of 19 laps in FP3, Lando’s lap time was quicker than Daniel’s by 0.232s, or an average of 2/10ths.

During Qualifying, Daniel actually had the faster lap time, pulling an even 0.24s on Lando, and only just squeezed his way into Q3.

The gap between Lando (P13) and George (P11) was 0.074s. That is a tiny gap to cover, and had there not been a red flag to close out Q2, I feel like Lando could have easily cinched a Top 10 start.

During the race, did the strategy of McLaren look as if it was all being done in the favor of Lando? Yes, it kinda did. But when you look at things like race pace, tyre degradation, and what other teams are doing, it’s not necessarily difficult to see why. Over the course of the weekend, Lando consistently put out faster lap times and gained three places on his own during Lap 29, when the three cars in front of him all decided to pit at once. And yes, Daniel did pit first out of the two McLarens, but he was going to have to do so anyway. He started the race on the set of Softs he ran during Qualifying, and Lando started on Mediums. Mediums last longer than Softs. Later in the race, it looked as though Lando had the pace to push past the Alpine cars ahead of him & Daniel, so a call was made to basically switch the two of them around. From what I saw, this call is what made people the most upset. I, as a big fan of both drivers, was also upset at the time, as it felt strange to not just have Daniel try to gain places he was already closer to. But the longer I put thought and research into this analysis, the more I think I see what they were trying to do.

Had this moment of strategy been implemented a few laps earlier, and had it gone according to plan, Daniel could have held off Checo until Lando passed them both (making it a P9/P10), then followed Lando until he got around Esteban and then try and take his shot as Esteban as well (which could’ve given them a P8/P10 or P8/P9). At no point does this potential line of strategy truly favor either driver. Now, obviously I do not work for McLaren and have no true insight into their plans, but this is simply what made the most sense. Have the driver who’s already there hold off the car in between until the other driver can overtake/pass, and then have the first driver follow behind until there’s an opening to make the same move on the next car. Easy points, easy money!

But, mistakes were made. That call came much too late for it to truly work, and that’s just the risk they had to take. At the end of the day, it was not a call made to screw Daniel over, or to play favoritism to Lando. It was simply what could’ve been a good call made too late for good execution.

[I made some graphics to aid my own thought process and I’ve stuck them under the Read More for y’all to look at if you want!]

#please ignore the weird lines in the graphics my ipad likes to try and be ‘helpful’ and it thinks those are phone numbers mlejdfkh #also shoutout to my dad who look at me and said ‘i’ve created a monster’ when i asked him to read over this lmao #OH and please tell me if everything works on mobile i’ve never made a read more post before and idk if this’ll format correctly #hedge trimmings #daniel ricciardo #dr3 #lando norris #ln4 #mclaren #mclaren f1 #dutch gp 2021 #zandvoort #formula 1 #f1 #f1blr

[holidaywishes]

and now we’re here

  Requested: 👍

  Summary/Request: This one is a collab with @kayleafs221​! We flash back with (Y/N) after Freddie left her and to her finding out she was pregnant

  Author’s Note: We have a part three! I wasn’t going to do more than two but @kayleafs221 wants ✨drama✨ so we’re gonna see what we can conjure up together. We teamed up to see how much drama we could fit in so hopefully it fits the bill. @kayleafs221 also mentioned that she wanted to structure this sort of how New Moon was written so we went with it! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I’ve got one last chapter in me to make it all fluffy and bring these two back together! Stay Golden, loves! <3

  masterlist

  the other masterlist

xx

  It had already been a month. You kept telling yourself you shouldn’t be so devastated but he hadn’t called or even texted. You were alone. He had left you completely alone and he wasn’t coming back. You found yourself curled up in his large hoodie on the bathroom floor for the umpteenth time while your chest tightened with every sob and gasp you took as if he took your lungs with him; falling asleep clinging to the last piece you had of him.

Month 2

  You had no choice. You had to throw yourself into work, it was all you could do. Even when you were home, your laptop was out. You let yourself be distracted in any way you could but even that was no use. You had been sick all week and your boss had made you stay home. You didn’t know what to do as you sat on your couch refusing to watch movies because they were all the same. Always a happy ending and the thought of love and sex made you sick, sick to your stomach. You were determined to do something productive, maybe going for a walk would make you feel better. A walk by the beach. It was just as you remembered it. Beautiful. Peaceful. Suddenly your mind was flooded.

  “I’ve been traded to Toronto. I leave at 4am.” What bullshit was that? How could he leave so suddenly and not even be phased? Not have any remorse for any of it?

  “Stay in touch Freddie.” You were so stupid to think that he would care enough to keep whatever this was going long distance. You had to face reality, that you didn’t mean anything to him. It came again, the dizziness, the shortness of breath. It couldn’t be stopped this time. There was only black. You woke up to the incessant sound of beeping, beeping, what was all that beeping? Your eyes were met with an uncomfortable brightness. This isn’t the beach, you thought to yourself, before rubbing your head, “What?” you started to say, confused as to how you ended up in a hospital bed

  “Ah, Miss (Y/L/N) I see you are awake,” the nurse checking your vitals said, “I’ll get the doctor for you, I’m sure you have many questions.” Sitting yourself up, you watched her leave the room before finding the clock and realizing that it had been two hours since you went to the beach. You couldn’t believe you were unconscious for that long, this was crazy, “she’s still groggy” the nurse said, directing the doctor to your bedside

  “That’s normal,” the doctor explained with a smile, “well, we’ve run some tests and you’re severely dehydrated”

  “Dehydrated?” you asked, “I don’t un– I mean I haven’t been out of bed for a couple weeks but I’ve just been dealing with some things”

  “Seven” he smiled, checking the paperwork in front of him casually

  “Excuse me?” you replied, furrowing your brow

  “Seven weeks,” he added, “my guess is that you haven’t been drinking a lot of water”

  “I haven’t really been up for it” you cowered

  “Well, please do,” the doctor said, “for your baby’s sake”

  “I’m sorry what?” you exclaimed, “Baby?” you said, shaking your head

  “Yes,” the doctor repeated, “you’re about seven weeks along. Give or take a couple days. All women handle their pregnancies differently, which might account for your drowsiness and any mood swings you may have been experiencing”

  “I’m not pregnant” you scoffed, readjusting yourself in your bed

  “You are” the doctor returned your scoff, seemingly annoyed at your behaviour

  “I can’t be…”

  “The results say otherwise”

  “But I haven’t had sex, I haven’t left my bed in.. like two months”

  “Which is about seven weeks”

  “But I… I can’t be pregnant”

  “Is there anyone we can call for you?”

  “No… there’s no one” you lowered your eyes as the realization came over you.

Month 3

  After you were released from the hospital, you tried to make the pregnancy easier on yourself by reading a million books and telling your parents what you needed or letting your mom tell you what she thought you needed

  “You know what I think will really help?” she said, “telling the father…”

  “Mom…” you whined

  “He deserves to know, too.” She was right, of course, as all mom’s usually are so you agreed to reach out but you deleted his number when you convinced yourself it was better to forget about him, forcing you to search him out online; a huge mistake really. There were stories about girls who he’d slept with and left ‘in his wake,’ none of which you could be sure of their validity, but then you’d find pictures of him hanging out with Auston Matthews or William Nylander or any of the younger teammates in clubs and bars and you could only imagine that their behaviours spilled into his, so you let it go.

Month 9

  “But what happens when that kid is born with red hair and freckles? Or when he’s a natural athlete?” your sister asked

  “What do you mean?” you scoffed

  “You can’t hide that,” she tried, tilting her head as she continued, hoping you’d get her point. “He’s gonna know. If there’s a picture, he’s gonna know. He’s not dense…”

  “The kid probably won’t be a red head. So he’d never know..” you said knowing very well it could be a possibility. She huffed when she realized she wouldn’t get through your stubbornness. As time went on, you realized that there was no use denying it, Jackson was already excelling at every sport he tried. Knowing this, you kept him as far away from ice as possible. You knew it was wrong but you just couldn’t risk it, especially after so many of the Ducks already knew you. Whenever you thought about reaching out and telling him the truth, something was being said about him. He seemed to be a magnet for negativity.

  “Possible Frederik Andersen injury a very troubling turn for Maple Leafs”

  “Maple Leafs placing all their faith in Frederik Andersen”

  “Andersen Said What Every Maple Leaf Fan Is Thinking”

  “Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen fined $2K for embellishment”

  “Toronto Maple Leafs: Andersen has been a Disaster”

  Every headline seemed to be worse than the last and you knew that if you were feeling stressed just reading them, then he was probably shutting himself away to hide from everyone after living with them. This was a normal thing for goalies to go through in the NHL but there was something about the way Toronto was treating Freddie that made you want to be there for him. But you couldn’t make a decision like that so easily anymore. It wasn’t just about you and your feelings anymore, you had your baby boy to think about and the older he got, the more you could see his personality grow and the more his personality grew, the happier he was; you couldn’t imagine taking that away from him. You couldn’t take that life away from him. But watching Freddie’s career hit highs and lows, noticing he was alone through most of it, your heart broke for him. You hoped that, somehow, your love would reach him. You hoped for his happiness even before your own. Even so, you would protect your son through everything, knowing that meant it might cost you the truest of love.

Toronto 2021

  “Why did you lie to me?” Freddie said under his breath. You could tell he was angry and there was no getting away from this.

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t lie. I told you I had a one night stand with some guy– why are we even talking about this again?” You tried your best to keep the story straight, hoping to appease him

  “You lied about Jackson not being mine!” he started to shout

  “I didn’t…” you stammered. There’s no way. He couldn’t know. You had made sure of it

  “I did the math… I saw your post and I went back because something didn’t… add up…” he admitted, “and the math didn’t fit with some one night stand. That kid in there, who looked an awful lot like me as a kid, he’s mine. And you lied about it. You kept it from me, kept HIM from me!”

  “HE’S MY SON!” you cried. Everything was falling apart and you weren’t sure what to do anymore. There was no getting around this, you had to let out what you’d been holding in from that night, “and you left me! YOU LEFT US!”

  “BUT HE’S MY SON TOO!” he countered and you furrowed your brow, shaking your head as you tried to think of what to say next.

  “I made a choice, Freddie. I looked at how quickly our life together changed and I… made a choice. I couldn’t put a child through all of that. Moving at the drop of a hat, having to say goodbye to friends and homes and cities whenever your job called for it… You never looked back, you never reached out. After two months of waiting, I woke up alone in a hospital and you didn’t even care to call. So I did this. I HAD TO” you confessed, sorrow filling your eyes as you watched his face soften. “So yeah, I lied. But I didn’t lie to hurt you. I lied to protect him. No matter what. I make no apologies for that.”

  “How was I supposed to know that you were in the hospital?”

  “It doesn’t matter, Freddie,” you sighed, “the point is, you left and I was alone and I couldn’t wait for you.”

  “So what now?”

  “I don’t know,” you started. “If this had happened before you got traded, our life would’ve been so different. I pictured it, you know,” you smiled, “our life. With Jackson. We looked so happy in my daydreams”

  “We could be happy like that,” he whispered, moving close to you, “in real life”

  ��I can’t change his life for you”

  “I don’t want you to change his life,” he smiled, closing the gap between the two of you and you felt your heartbeat in your head, making it hard to think straight, “I just want to be part of it...”

  “He doesn’t know who you are” you said through bated breath

  “Let’s tell him then” he exclaimed

  “No,” you insisted, putting your hands on his forearms, “if we’re going to do this, we have to take it slow”

  “Slow?” he asked, leaning down to your ear, “how slow?”

  “I just don’t want him to feel overwhelmed,” you replied, your hands drifting up his arms, “just... start by introducing yourself to him... We’ll have lunch”

  “I can do that” he smirked, pushing your hair back before laying a kiss to the exposed skin of your collarbone

  “You have to be patient”

  “I can do that” he repeated as a moan left your mouth

  “I don’t know if you can” you chuckled, finally pushing him away from you

  “I can”

  “I’m serious”

  “So am I!” he laughed, placing his hands on your hips to stop you from turning around, “he’s my son and I will do anything to get to know him”

  “He can’t know you’re his dad yet,” you said again, “I know it seems weird but, please, just don’t fight me on this”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it”

  “Good” you joked, cocking your eyebrow before he smiled at you. That smile always broke you, always made your heart louder than your head, and, right now, you were more than happy to listen to it. He met you in the middle, pressing a kiss to your lips before his hands pushed your body into his and suddenly, it all felt so perfect. Like no time had passed. He was yours again and you were determined to keep it that way.

#Frederik Andersen #Frederik Andersen fic #Frederik Andersen imagine #freddie andersen #Freddie Andersen fic #Freddie Andersen imagine #Frederik Andersen request #Freddie Andersen request #Frederik Andersen angst #Freddie Andersen angst #masterlist #the other masterlist #nhl #hockey #tml

[popculturebuffet]

One Year Anniversary: Top 12 Ducktales Episodes!

Happy anniversary all you happy people! Yes it was one year ago today I started reviewing animation and it’s been a ride to be sure. I’d always WANTED to be a reviewer: I love going on and on about stuff I love, really digging into it and picking it apart... but I could never get started. I tried youtube but I didn’t have the money for the equipment nor a proper shooting space to record, so my efforts.. were not great. And while I TRIED text reviews, my own looming pile of self hatred meant every attempt I made was shot down when it got hard as me not being good enough. 

But one year ago I finally got past that. I’d already been reviewing a bit, doing invididual issues of comics... but got way in over my head trying to do the current line of X-Men comics as it came out, and wisely bowed out of that. But that left a gap: I had nothing to cover week to week and with a demanding new job, I drifted into just doing in charcter chats, little fan fictions script styles. Not bad work, I should do some more at some point and I even got a comissoin once in a while, but nothing I could really live on and not what I wanted to do with my life. 

Enter Ducktales. I’d always WANTED to review the show.. and when the double premire happened, I decided fuck it, and put up my thoughts. And then decided.. hey maybe I can do this every week.. and slowly.. my work evolved, getting better and better, getting more and more likes. I picked up Amphibia when that came by week to week.

And eventually.. this went from a hobby, if one I was passionate about to a career. Not a largely paying one, as only one person was really intrested in paying me for it, friend of the blog and our fincial backer @weirdkev27, but .. it’s money and i’m now making about 30 dollars a month due to a comination of comissions and patreon. Other contributers are always welcome mind you, my patreon is here if your curious and comissions are 5 dollars an episode, but i’ts just nice to have money coming in. To have gone from simply WANTING to review things and make a living off it.. to simply doing it. 

And it’s been one hell of a year.. and not just because 2020 felt like hell or 2021 began with a full on insurrection. I feel like i’ve acomplished a lot in the year i’ve been doing this: I finished what I started with Ducktales season 3, getting better and better as I went. And I didn’t stop there with ducks: I started covering what brought me to Ducks in the first place, the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, and while that retrospective has slid a bit on the schedule, I intend to get it back on track this month. I reviewed a bunch of Darkwing Duck episodes leading up to the Just Us Justice Ducks.. chronologically anyway. The actual airing order reads like someone took 50 issues of a comic, made it rain with them, then just started reading whatever ones they picked up randomly. I also covered some of Duck Master Carl Barks work with the classics Night on Bear Mountain, A Christmas for Shacktown and Back to the Klondike, with more to come. 

And the Duck didn’t stop at just reviews I did on my own: Kev comissioned two MASSIVE retrospectives from me: My first for him was Ride of the Three Caballleros where in just a few short months I covered the boys entire televisied careers together from the movie, to house of mouse, to mickey and the roadster racers, to ducktales (again) and finishing with the wonderful Legend of the Three Caballeros. It has probably the worst Daisy imaginable, but otherwise is really excellent and i’m glad I finally watched it. I also covered Don Rosa’s two stories with the boys as part of it. It was a fun ride and I enjoyed every minute of it... okay most of them again Three Cabs Daisy is the worst. And once that finished Kev started up another idea: Shadow Into Light: a look at Lena’s character arc from start to finish that has gone on to be my most popular series on this blog, and that finishes next week. And there’s more to come as after that there’s a short breather with a look at Lilo and Stitch’s crossover episodes.. folllowed by me looking at all three of season 2′s ducktales arcs. And I fully intend to have covered every episode of the series by this time next year, so stay tuned. 

Outside of ducks though I didn’t slow down. I restarted my Tom Lucitor retrospective, covering what i feel to be one of Star Vs’ two best characters, tied with eclipsa, and my personal faviorite as he redeemeed himself, found love and I bitched a lot about the horrible directions the series took and probabably will more as that’s still not done yet. I did what I always wanted to do and started looks at some of my faviorite comics ever, starting with Life and Times and adding in New X-Men and Scott PIlgrim. I also threw in the awesome comic Blacksad. I did pride month for the first time and not only came out publicly, but also did two whole arcs i’m proud of with The Saluna episodes of Loud house and the rednid episodes of OK KO, and generally just had myself a good old fashioned time as an out bi man reviewing childrens cartoons. 

I started Season 2 of amphibia with it’s lows of an endlesss road trip and highs of adding Marcy to the cast and giving us more of the silky voiced keith david. And finally Patreon wise Kev’s taken me on a hell o fa journey: In addition to the restrospectives i’ve covered some additional darkwing duck, and a simpsons homage to the duck comics... but also got a bit weird and obscure with detours like the lost animnaics sucessor Histeria, the apocalyptic comedy where Santa dosen’t know how doors work Whoops! and the adventures of Santa’s bratty teen daughter jingle belle. In short.. it’s been a long year but damn has it been fun and there’s more to come. I’d like to thank all of you for reading, thank my Patreons Kev and Emma for supporting me, and thank my family for doing the same.  So with that out of the way, I figured the best way to celebrate was to do something i’ve been wanting to do for a long time, something honoring the show that gave me this calling in the first place. And with Season 3 sadly being the last, and enough weeks having passed for me to digest it between the finale and today, I could think of nothing better than my top 12 episodes of Ducktales.

Ducktales is one of the best cartoons of the 2010′s. Brilliantly taking EVERYTHING that had come before, the comics, the original cartoon and every bit of duck media period to craft a masterful, unique and wonderful reboot. It was funny, it was insane, and it had damn good character arcs. By the end every member of the main cast along with major supporting cast members like Fenton, Drake and especially Lena, had changed and signifigantly at that. The show was everything I could’ve dreamed of and more and I miss it terribly, hoping DIsney will do a revivial movie at some point. For now though, Frank and Matt’s run on ducktales, as they called it and I do too since i’m a massive comic book nerd, it’s time to look back on my favorite tales of ducks. So grab your sharks, your number one dimes and your friendship cakes with clear gay undertones and join me under the cut as I celebrate one of my faviorite shows and my anniversary in the best way possible. 

12. House of the Lucky Gander! 

 So as i’ve gone on about before and no doubt will again, Donald kinda got the short end of the stick in season 1. While Frank and Matt had good story intentions, keeping Donald away from adventure since he had no interest in it, in practice it meant a beloved Disney Icon who they and disney HEAVILY promoted as part of the series and whose being here this go round was a big draw for fans of the comics.... was only in a quarter of the season and only got TWO plots centered around him in 23 episodes, with only one being the main plot of the episode. The PIlot and Finale both centered around the family more as a whole if your curious how I counted those so while he got plenty of focus in both, it’s still not a day in the limelight sort of thing. 

But unusually for Donald, he lucked out as his one big starring role for Season 1 was both one of my faviorites and one of Season 1′s most inventive outings.  A lot of the episodes enegy comes from a one two punch of a great guest star and one of the series best settings. The guest star is of course everyone’s faviorite overly lucky himbo Gladstone Gander. The show adapted the prick perfectly: The original Gladstone from the comics.. was the worst asshole imaginable, utterly insufferable. And for a villian, and Donald’s rival, that’s all well and good.. but his super luck meant he RARELY , if ever, suffered any consequences for being just...

The 87 series simply made him nicer, while Going Quackers simply removed his luck. No adaptation really got how to make this fucker work.. until this one. Here Frank split the diffrence: Gladstone is still smug.. but he’s no longer actively malicious. While he is an insensitive prick to Donald in this one, unlike the comics he’s not constantly bragging about his luck or how great he is or actively BAITING Donald to fight with him or trying to ruin his relationship or a million other reasons he sucks and I hate him.

This version by contrast... is generous. He’s not the most empathetic, because he doesn’t get how life works, but he does share the riches of the casnio with everyone and in a cameo appearance in “Treasure of the Found Lamp” gladly offers his nephews some diamonds. He’s got a nice surface level charm to him that makes you understand why people like him.. but it’s also clear ther’es nothing UNDER that of value, making you equally understand why Scrooge and Donald hate him. Gladstone in this reboot is a perfect example of why we need reboots or new adaptations in the first place: Because sometimes the original got something wrong or something can be done much better by the new writers. 

He’s perfectly paired with the setting: The House of Lucky Fortune, a mystical casino with an East Asian astatic based in the country of Macaw and provides two great plots. Donald’s really highlights his character: His understandable jealousy at gladstone earning the boys love through nothing while he struggles to make a living for them, and how he feels like a looser and like Gladstone is simply showing that off instead of just not knowing what empathy is. Having Louie be the one to bond with Gladstone was also just pitch pefefct, as is showing some depth for the boy by having himr ealize his hero is an asshole and be the one to help donald in the end. 

The other plot is just pure joy though and is where the setting REALLY shines: Scrooge and the rest of the kids try to leave.. but can’t find the exit. This is where the creative part comes in: The Casino simply morphs to keep people trapped, and caters to them, giving them whatever they want to keep them trapped. In the cases of the kids it’s all hilarious and adorably in character: Huey becomes entranced by a fancy water show, in one of his best bits of the season, Dewey gets a pet tiger who sadly did not come home with him and Webby gets to live the dream we’ve all had of stuffing her face directly in a choclate fountain. Scrooge’s escape is likewise clever: He simply prepares to get a room.. then books it as the check in desk is ALWAYS near the front. 

We then find out Gladston’es trapped get the whole mystical contest with absolutely gorgeous animation, i’ll talk about it in full some time but this episode is just a treat to watch, has a great arc for donald and had some memorable gags. I can’t help but smile when I watch it. 

11. The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!  As I mentioned before i’m a superhero nerd so naturally Fenton was one of my faviorite parts of the show. Frank and Matt were just damn good at crafting superhero stories, and like gladstone improved fenton turning him from an awkward donald stand in to an awkward peter parker-esque science nerd who just wants to be a good person and the best hero he can be. He got into science not just because he thinks it’s neat, but because he honestly wants to help people and you can’t help but foot for him whenever he pops up. Lin Manuel Miranda is a large reason for that, bringing his incomparable a-game to the character. While we sadly didn’t get a ton of gizmoduck focused episodes, the fatct we got AS MANY as we did and that Lin didn’t drop out for a minute even with his busy schedule was a miracle and I’m acknowledging that. 

As for why this one, I feel it builds brilliantly on the previous Fentoncentric episode Who Is Gizmoduck?! which just BARELY didn’t make this list and uses the fact we haven’t seen fenton in a while as both a plot point and to move some things forward without having to spend screentime they clearly didn’t have. By having Fenton be just burnt out on superheroics it finds a way to both explain where he’s been, he’s been busy with his new job, and give us an interesting angle to the old “superhero is tired of the life” thing. He never once complains about saving people or stuff... it’s just like any job it gets tiring after a while. As someone who has his dream job but has struggled with it from time to time, I vastly relate. 

Though while I love my boy and Lin is game as always, the episodes real MVP is my other boy Huey. The episode has moved Huey up from being simply Fenton’s fanboy to being his best friend, and adorable as hell relationship. The two clearly respect and appricate each other and Huey is looking out for his buddy the whole episode. His love of love is also just really cute. Added in the mix is Webby, who in one of my faviorite gags of the series, finds out Fenton is  Gizmoduck because Huey is incredibly and insanely blatant with his unecessary coverup. But she of course is game to help while Fenton is trying to play it casual. We also just get a waterfall of great gags as everyone overdoes it wingmanning for fenton: Huey sets up an itallian bistro and tries to purposfully create a lady and the tramp situation, and sings opera (With Manny on acordian), the wonderfully 80′s suit from Fenton’s dad his mom gives him to wear, and Launchpad, who gives us a tremendous list of his exes, and plays my favorite song of the series: It’s a Date, a micheal mcdonnel riff. 

This episode also wisely ups Mark’s Beaks game as Fenton’s arch enemy, still keeping him hilaroius, with the guy acting like a bored teenager and guzzling so much nanite jucie he turns into a hulk, as well as said hulk mode leading to a ton of great gags from kidnapping the children (”I got your kids.. are they your kids? I don’t know how this family works), to “take that coach dad” to eating a pie with tins and all and wondering about said tins. But he’s an actual threat now, taking on fenton in one hell of a fight, and having an utterly transcendent scene where he hacks his way past gyro’s security while dancing.. and dabbing because of course he does. It’s a fun, well done character piece that’s mostly here for i’ts laugh but Fenton’s struggle with Gizmo overtaking his life, and finding out someone he truly hit it off iwth only wanted him for that.. it’s really good stuff and Lin’s delivery after Fenton finds out, the pure pain and betryal in his voice, is just excellent. Also that opera scene is poetry. 

10. Quack Pack!

One of the episodes that started my career naturally landed here. Not for that reason though: Quack Pack is a fun riff on sitcoms, specifically the tgif ones of the 90′s that Disney Afternoon Kids no doubt also watched, the kinds Disney Channel still makes today, and most importanly the kind the Disney Afternoon itself made like Goof Troop and well... Quack Pack. 

Riffs on sitcoms are nothing new and the last year has been FULL of them. 2020 gave us this episode, Beef House and the wonderful “The Perfect House” episode of Close Enough, and this year gave us WandaVision, my second favorite MCU project so far, right behind Black Panther, which used the sitcom deconstruction to create one hell of a character study. 

So you’d think with a year having passed and this concept happening as an entire mini series would dull this one.. but no. it’s still damn funny, having fun at the cliches while, again like WandaVision, having one of the main cast be responsible by accident but go along with it. The episode pivots from glorious affectionate parody of cheesy sitcoms, to that plus horrifying “Humans”, and a character piece for Donald. This brings Donald’s hatred and fed up ness with adventure to a head revealing his fondest wish is just to have a normal life and not loose anyone again. 

It takes one of his best friends to snap him out of it. Look Goofy is my second faviorite of the sensational seven, an episode with him was already an easy sell for me.. but the episode uses him really well. First for laughs as he’s gentically dispositioned to be a perfect sitcom neighbor.. but also for heart. With his family preoccupied and a bit hurt, i’ts Goofy who cuts to the heart of the issue, pointing out NO ONE is normal and even his normal domestic life raising Max, who we see go to prom with roxanne eeeeee, has all sorts of chaos. Normal is what you make of it and pining for some ideal that will never happen was just tearing donald apart piece by piece and by letting go of that.. he finally begins to grow as a person throughout the season. It’s also a great thematic tie in to the season’s overall plot with Bradford and what Makes donald, despite also disliking the chaos his family gets into, different. Donald accepted it and grew as a person.. Bradford clung to his hate and it ate him alive. Or turned him into a non-sapient kind of vulture. Before I close this part out Jaleel White is also excellent and I wish eh’d get back into voice acting. He’s so freaking good at it. Seriously man i’d love to see him and ben in a sonic property together as a mythology gag. Same with Jims cummings and carey. Just think about it whoever owns the sonic movies.. think about it. 

9. The Last Adventure!

Look I knew this was coming, you knew this was coming. But it had to be on here. The Last Adventure is not perfect: The lack of a build up episode like the previous two finales had really hurt this one: even at about 70 minutes, it still feels rushed in places and Huey, one of hte main characters of the season, dosen’t feel like he has a full payoff to his character like Dewey and Louie got. 

But despite those flaws.. this episode is just a damn good ending. Almost everyone gets a big moment paying off their character arc, everyone in the party that comes to rescue webby and huey, along with the two themselves, gets a moment to show off, and everything comes together to give us one last epic sendoff. There’s just moment stacked on moment stacked on moment from Launchpads heroic second wind and donning of the gizmoduck armor, to Webby’s tearful confrontation with Beakley, to Huey using the greatest adventure of all line to foil bradford in one of the most deligfhully nuts moments of the series, I could go on for days with just how triumphant this finale felt. While it left a lot of doors open.. that feels like part of the design. It’s the end of the fight with FOWL.. but our heroes will never stop adventuring, never stop going and never stop being in our hearts and the curtain call at the end is now my faviorite bit of end credits ever, perfectly giving the main cast and friends one last chance to take a bow in their own unique ways. I will always miss this show but I will never be disapointed by the note it went out on. 

8. The 87 Cent Solution!

Look some episodes are show stoppers, some are heartfelt tearjerkers, some are all this and more.. and some episodes are just clever and hilarious. The 87 Solution is the second funniest episode of Ducktales with me and my go to episode when watching the show. It’s just pure fun and with a clever premise: Scrooge notices 87 cents have gone missing, and already coming down with a cold, goes mad with paranoia as the kids slowly don face masks, something that has become even eeerier given everything, one by one realizing he needs to stop. 

While David Tennant is an EXCELLENT dramatic actor, his comedy timing is really something that shoudln’t be ignored and i’ts on full display here as his performance gets more and more deranged, to thep oint he thinks an 8th dimensional imp is repsonsible. He nicely balances the disturbing side of Scrooge’s paranoia, his distancing from his family, with plenty of great gags about it too, the standout being when he offers 2 million dollars to whoever took the money like he’s publicly appeasing kidnappers. It’s fucking brilliant. 

But while David is awesome as ever what really, truly makes the episode is my boy, one of my faviorite characters on the show if not my single faviriote FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD. Keith Ferguson is ALWAYS a dream as the character but this is his best performance by far. Part of this is the addition of Zan Owlson, Kev who I mentioned earlier’s faviorite Ducktales character. She’s not only throughly likeable in her own right, but provides the one thing Flinty was missing; a straight man.. or woman in this case. Scrooge wasn’t TERRIBLE in the roll, but can easily step away from his shit or foil it. Owlson has to put up with Glomgold’s nonsense while desperatly trying to stop him from undoing all her hard work with sheer force of jackass. The two jut play off each other brilliantly, Glomgold not getting sh’es not his employee but his equal and Owlson constnatly snarking at him. 

And of course both things hit their peak in the climax with the family staging a fake funeral (Though no one told donald it was fake), and we get the funniest scene in the entire fucking show as Glomgold burts in in a white suit, money shades and full dance number to “All I Do Is Win’, which when first watching this I was convinced the song was somehow accidnetly on in the background but nope. They got it after using it in the test phase and the scene is better for it. Glomgold twerking on Scrooge’s casket, trying to get on it to dance, and having to be placated like ac hild is the icing on this very rich cake

And the reveal scene is also gold as Glomgold gets into a YEARLONG staring contest with a baby, fails to steal more than the 87 cents and, in my faviorite touch, put on an imp costume just to make scrooge seem crazier... then keeps the damn thing on the rest of the time for no explicable reason. The episode is the show at it’s comedic peak while giving Glomgold a chance to be a genuine threat and that’s Glomgood. 

7. Let’s Get Dangerous!

Frank’s Rebooted Version of Darkwing Duck is probably his greatest achivment with the show. While this show is a team effort, something I slowly realized as I reviewed the show, it’s very clear from the way he talks, how well he knows the show and how much effort was put into porting Darkwing into the reboot that this was his baby. While redefining ducktales for the 2010′s was clearly a huge dream of his... doing the same for the master of suprise was an even bigger goal. And as a huge fan of superheroes i’ve seen my fair share of half assed takes on laired and complex characters. The XCU alone is one giant grab bag of missed opportunities for me. 

So i’ts no exageration when I tell you Frank.. nailed it. In one of the most brilliant moves i’ve seen for a superhero work Frank worked his love of the show into the reboot.. by having Darkwing have been a show, one Launchpad loved.. and so did Drake, who was inspried by the show to become an inspriation himself and while his attempt to do that through a zack snydery reboot failed, Launchpad encouraged him to do it for real. Drake was still himself, but the meta aspect and the toning down of some of darkwing’s more obnoxious traits that didn’t work in a universe that, while patently rediciulous still took it’s characters seriously, he made a BETTER version of the character.

This is where all that comes to it’s peak, and hoppefully convinced Disney to let Frank , and possibly matt, run the reboot. And no, even if Point Grey is producing that dosen’t stop that: Thanks to Invincible i’ve now realized that Seth and his friend Evan producing the show dosen’t mean it’ll be RAN by them, nor unrelated to this. It just means their helping make it and if anything given how lush and gorgeous invincible’s animation is, it’s a VERY good sign their helping out with it if it’s true. 

But wether this versoin continues or not, Frank gave it his best shot. Part of his diffrent angle is having Drake as a rookie here and as such here we see him truly struggle: he’s had his origin, he ahs the cape, he has the gadgets (in a brilliant turn thanks to fenton, who he actually likes... but is so far the ONLY person to not get he’s Gizmoduck), and the city.. but no crime to fight and no real idea how to go about his lifelong dream. The events of the episode slowly shape him: WHile he already had the spirit for darkwing, never giving up, looking good in a cape etc, this episode gives him the heart the same way it gave his original it: With Gosalyn. Dimantopolis and Beatriz just play off each other perfectly, as the two go from neimies to slowly bonding as Drake realizes this kid needs him and that he needs to fight for more than just filing the ohle inside, and goes to hell and back to help her get her grandpa back, with one of the best moments of the episode to me being when Launchpad helps her realize how hard he’s been working at it, an exausted drake refusing to acccept that he can’t get her grandpa back because he promised. He grows from simply trying to live the dream.. to surpassing the original. We also see more from Launchpad, who grows into his new family and helps push his boyfriend and newa dopted daughter in the right directions. The episode really evolves these characters from the simple disney afternoon versions, who while awesome were made into fully fleshed out characters. Gosalyn still has her edge but now has a hard lesson to learn about doing the right thing, forced to give up someone she loves for the greater good but finding a new family in the process. 

Part of what makes the episode work though as while it is funcitonally one big darkwing duck reboot pilot that’s awesome, heartrending and a joy to watch... it’s still a ducktales episode in parts without either part hurting each other. Huey plays a vital role, figuring the ramrod is too good to be true.. and discovering just how it is, then when captured, slowly unravling why Bradford’s there and being at least in part responsible for outing him as a FOWL agent. While this is largely Drakes story the rest of the cast is still vital to it: Scrooge trusting in huey, Louie serving as his logical counter and Dewey meanwhile bonding with team darkwing and helping Gosalyn, knowing exactly where she’s been and providing a nice foil. The episode is just one long and impressive love letter to the original show while creating it’s own thing and that’s really this reboot in a nutshell. It also has some of the best fights of the series, with the first fight between darkwing and bulba, where our hero, unlike his original counterpart, easily troucnes bulba using his speed and skill, is the standout. 

6. Woo-Ooo!

I covered this one recently so I won’t go on for too long.. but I will say I hold this one up as the gold standard for first episodes. In one hour, hell even in jus the first half we get a sense of the whole cast, the tone of the show, and the world we’ve been thrust into. It gets all the table setting out of the way by weaving it into a compelling story of Scrooge getting back in the game, finding a reason to get back to what he does best in those he loves most and setting up the season long arc effortlessly in the process. The worst I can say about the episode is it sets the bar a bit high for Season 1 and a lot of the first half really struggled to reach these heights. This episode is a masterwork and the perfect showcase for what the series would be at it’s height. 

5. Moonvasion!

Speaking of Golden Standards, Moonvasion is one of the best season finale’s i’ve seen. it’s not THE best.. but that’s a really high bar to clear and that spots currently taken in my heart by “The Crossroads of Destiny” from Avatar the Last Airbender. But while not the best of it’s kind, it’s sitll the best the series put out and is an utterly satisfying epic that ties up season 2. 

While I love the Last Adventure, it had a LOT to tie up and was really hampered by having to do all of that with no direct lead in. Moonvasion by contrast hits the ground running with the Moonlanders arriving on earth and all hell breaking loose, and the episode itself breaking into two stellar plots. Scrooge leading an army of every ally he has against the invaders, and Della seemingly going for reinforcements.. but really just trying to keep the kids safe from it, to their anger once they find out. 

Both sides end up going badly: Scrooge looses most of his army as Lunaris was one step ahead of him and is left iwth Beakly and Launchpad, while Della ends up marooned.. and finds Donald. The reunion between the two is the highlight of the special, as the two argue as you’d expect (And Dewey cutting in seemingly to stop it.. only to rant at Donald for costing him “ten years of turbo” is the best gag of the episode), before embracing. 

Our heroes naturally find ways to bounce back though. Louie, capping off his growth for the season, convinces his mom they can’t just hide.. and in the second best scene of the episode sings the lullabye she wrote.. one Donald sung them every night

And no sooner than Della gets her step back and realizes that dangerous or not she and her newly reunited family have to get back in there, do the cousins show up on Fethry’s giant shrimp/girlfriend Mitzi, and our heroes head back. 

Scrooge’s plot hits i’ts peak though as he’s forced to accept the help of an unlikely and unwelcome ally: Glomgold, who turns out to be exactly what they need: While his plan is as stupid, short sighted and insane as you’d expect, complete with forcing Scrooge to dress up as santa just to piss him off and dressing his sharks in parkas (”I call them sharkas”), the sheer lonacy throws Lunaris off as he dosen’t know how to deal with this and Glomgold not only gets the better of him but gets his company back as part of his scheme.  “You were prepared for our best but not our dumbest!” “And i’m the dumbest theirs ever been! Muahahahaha! Wait...”

And of course our other heroes arrive just in time to save things.. and the episode still manages to pull off what many works struggle to, something tha’ts very hard to: a SECOND climax. Lunaris decides to just say fuck it and blow up the earth and i’ts up to our core family to kick his ass in space. Epic space battles, Della’s girlfriend meeting the family and more insues and an emotoinal, action packed and fully satisfying finale is had by all... and it’s all topped with one of the best sequel hooks i’ve ever seen as FOWL makes themselves known to us.. and prepares to strike. 

4. How Santa Stole Christmas! This one will also be short as i’ve talked about this one.. a lottttt. The initial review, my best christmas specials list and my best of 2020 list. I stand by all of that: this is a unique and wonderful christmas special, i’ll be watching it every year, and i’ts full of charm, humor and gay subtext. In short it’s this series but on christmas footing. 

3. Last Crash of the Sunchaser! 

Another one I covered very recently, this episode is a master piece of suspense, slowly building tension as our heroes get closer and closer to the truth about Della.. and to death, the simple but deadly stakes making this an absolute nailbiter from start to finish. This is some of the series best pacing bar none... but what seals it is the ending: the masterful flashback finally explaning whatever happened to Della duck, our heroes lashing out at each other.. all cumilating in the best Scene of the show. I said it might be in the review but no I can confirm: Scrooge bitterly ruminating over things while we find out just how much he’s lost... ending with him tearfully and angrily sitting once again alone in one hell of a powerful shot echoing Scrooge’s first apperance. Damn fine stuff. 

2. Escape from The Impossbin Only one episode not only matches Last Crash in mounting tension and atmosphere but suprasses it. With FOWL and Bradford’s true nature now out in the wind, this episode uses that to create tension and rattles it’s two most unshakable characters: SCrooge’s normal boundless confidence is shot, not sure he can win this time against an opponent who knows him as well as he knows himself while Beakly slowly unravels, pitting Webby against the boys.. and pitting herself against Webby when Webby sees her terroizing them is only dividing them. Both plots start out funny enough but slowly escalate in tension and stakes until by the end your on the edge of your seat. The Beakly plot is the standout of the two, giving Bentina the starring role she badly needed, having gotten even better in light of the finale. Everyone is at the top of their game and everything builds up to one hell of a twist ending and one hell of a badass boast from our heroes: Their down.. but their far from out and this is far from over. 

1. Nightmare On Kimotor Hill!

I”ll be reviewing this episode in full later this week as part of my Lena retrospective, but I stand by putting it up top. This episode is ducktales in it’s purest form and focuses on it’s best original character as Lena grapples with her self hatred and her past. That core helps anchor an amazing concept: going into the Kid’s dreams and finding out their greatest desires. The results.. are all gloriously rediclous and are easily the best gags of hte series as a whole: Dewey’s high school musical santa claus is going ot high school nonsense from getting a’s in Dewology to running away from the abstract concept of a love intrest, to not getting the sybolism of himself crying a moon made of his own tears. Louie quite literally becoming garfield, and my faviorite scene of the show: Huey, wanting to be the tall older brother..g iving himself horrifcly long leg. While everyone else is just understandably baffled, what makes the scene is the banter between Dewey and Huey, with Schwartz and Pudi at their best as Dewey first freaks out and then asks what the hell man, while Huey defends his weird decision (”I”m not good at imagination stuff okay!”), and then tries to get a jar of pickles. Each dream is just so oddly and wonderfully specific to each kid and each one of the triplests dreams, as well as violets being color coded down tot he backgrounds is a very nice touch. The visuals here are just peak ducktales, using the setting for all it’s worth and the climax is utterly emotoinal and heartbreaking... and Lena’s break from her abuser, finally realizing she has the power now is not only a wonderful metaphor... but also just so damn cathartic. And that’s why this one’s the best to me personally: it just packs so much into 20 minutes: some of the series best and most creative jokes, a gripping emtoinal arc, and so much more. It’s just that damn good and tha’ts why it’s the best... that and starting Huelet for me. Seriously that LIbrary scene is so fucking cute. 

Thank you all for reading. If you liked this artcle, join my patreon and help me get to my stretch goal for monthly darkwing duck reviews, a review of super ducktales and more after! Until the next rainbow... it’s been a pleasure. 

#ducktales #huey duck #dewey duck #louie duck #webby vanderquack #scrooge mcduck #bentina beakly #lena sabrewing #santa claus #della duck #donald duck #gladstone gander #gizmoduck #fenton crackshell cabrera #gandra dee #mark beaks #flintheart glomgold #zan owlson #goofy goof #launchpad mcquack #darkwing duck

[snowwhitelass]

New Outlander Game Coming – Talking with the Game Designers

By:  Erin Conrad, June 15, 2021

Gamers Corner, TV News

Outlander game, Sony, Starz Outlander, Variable Outcomes

Who wouldn’t want to dash around the Highlands with Jamie, trying to be his favorite, and rescuing him from trouble on the way? That definitely sounds like a fun time, even if all you can do is dream about it. Or IS that all you can do?

NO! Sometime this fall, a brand new board game will debut – Outlander The Series! Designed by the husband and wife team of Matthew and Ashley Killeen, the game will let you play with a bunch of your friends, meeting familiar faces along the way, and getting in and out of all kinds of scrapes. The game will be available for holiday shopping, so you can start to set up your Outlander game nights now. I had the opportunity to talk with Matthew and Ashley about the development of this new game, and learned some details.

From the game’s marketing information: “His fate is in your hands! Step through the stones of Craigh Na Dun and run through the Scottish Highlands with the handsome Jamie. The year is 1743, and the outlaw James Fraser is at your side as you navigate the thrills and dangers of the Highlands. Use your wit, reach the right locations, make the right friends, and gather the items you need, all while keeping Jamie out of the hands of the many who would do him wrong. The gallows await fair Jamie (or worse!) should you fail. Fulfill your destiny, and win his heart. Only then will victory be yours!”

Outlander is the Killeen’s first big franchise game. “From a business point of view, it’s something I always wanted to do,” Matthew said. “I enjoy games with an IP license attached, TV show or movie, and I have designed prototypes that might be good for Ghostbusters or Star Trek. I really wanted to get into that.” Ashley knew Matthew was interested in trying a licensed game, and said “I’ve been watching Outlander, you should make a game based on that.” Matthew hadn’t yet seen the show, so he said “you do it” – and she did.

Ashley didn’t get into the show until season three. “The first version (of the game) was based on the book, because I thought that might be the avenue to go. But it ended up being more layers to secure the book rights than TV. We heard back from Starz/Sony quickly, and the show and book were similar enough that I didn’t have to change too much from initial design. I swapped out characters and items that didn’t translate from one to another. Jamie still has same event encounters, the same enemies. It’s nice to look at both sides, to really put in all those little hidden tidbits from show. I’m hoping that fans of the show will enjoy all those subtle things that I’ve put in. But the other thing we wanted to make sure was that it was not dependent upon being familiar with the show, because the last thing you want is a game with Outlander masked on top of it that doesn’t play as anything on its own. And having a lot of friends who knew nothing about Outlander, how could I get them to the table?”

Matthew said, “One of philosophies for the board game stuff was that I’ve seen games that were maybe like a movie spin on top. Is this fun or exciting because of the game, or just because of the movie or tv show tie in? And one reason, the biggest reason why I got excited was when I first played it, I had never seen the show. I knew nothing about it. I had never seen the characters, and yet, I still enjoyed it. It was a good game.” Ashley added, “He has since seen the show.” Matthew continued, “That’s another thing that’s always bothered me. I feel like if a certain publisher or game designer makes something but doesn’t know the back story, that’s lazy. As soon as I found out we were going to do this, I watched the show. I know all my lore now. I was obviously able to play the game again once I knew the show and the lore, and it made the game play better.” “You understood my decisions,” said Ashley. “Exactly,” said Matthew. “Whether you know the show or not, it’s a good game.”

Ashley discussed their process: “I started December 2019. This past December, we were finally able to go forward. We got the contract from Sony in November. It was a long process! We got approvals for the design of the game, and access to the virtual library. We could figure out images that would go with the components we had.” Once they had that, Matthew figured out the graphic design for the game.

Was Sony/Starz helpful? Enthusiastic? Ashley said, “They were enthusiastic. They didn’t really have a board game. They had Destiny Dice, but that wasn’t the same thing.” (For my review of Destiny Dice, a game that came out a couple of years ago, click here.) I’ve had reservations about this previous game, so I asked how they overcame the failings of that one to make this new game. My concern with a platform like this is that the show is so big and layered – a group of women will come together over a glass of wine or three, and are they going to be able to figure it out easily enough to have a good time in an evening? Ashley feels that the new game will let us do that. “The idea behind this was that we wanted to bring everybody to the table – people whose board games lives consisted of Scrabble for their whole lives, and those who have played campaigning, like Mage Knights, epically, every week. We want to bring both those sets to the table. It should be intuitive enough once you’ve figured out the first turn order. It’s the repetition of that, it’s just your personal strategy that changes on what you choose to do, but the game play isn’t going to change on you as you go.”

She added, “But there’s enough in there that if you are an experienced board game player, you’re not sitting there bored waiting for the next thing to happen. That was our goal, as many people at the same table as possible enjoying it at the level they’re at. You can have the game player who knows nothing about Outlander, and you can have the Outlander fan who doesn’t play board games, and they will have a good evening. We also tried to be strategic about the length, because you don’t want to have just a tease of a game, because then you can’t be really invested and immersed in that world, but we also know, especially being parents now, you don’t have time to spend four hours on a game. That’s not going to happen any more. What’s a good length? If you can watch an episode of Outlander, you can play a round. So we wanted to find something that made sense. A lot of these pieces, once you apply a little logic to it, they fell together really nicely.”

This is the first “franchise” game the Killeens have designed. The fascination with board games started in 2004, and in 2011, Matthew began to design games as hobby. “I enjoyed playing, but in between then I was going to school and forgot about it. As school was winding down, I really got into it. I created an educational game called Witchful Thinking. We’re both teachers, and when doing practicum, the teacher (that he was working with) had kids doing games for math. but they were really boring, and the kids didn’t like it at all. I remembered I had a game that worked for this! I started looking at my business from a professional point of view, filling in gaps in the market. I wanted to bring people to a table they hadn’t been to yet. Witchful Thinking is a card game – witches brewing potions, teaching math – subtraction, addition, pre-algebra, and more advanced math. It was a great educational tool.” The company has more ideas – they have an upcoming Kickstarter for a game called Tennessee James, an Indiana Jones parody (learn more here). Matthew says that the company expects to bring out many more titles – “Between the two of us, we have a backlog of designs.”

When do they expect to have this out? Matthew said definitely for the Christmas season. “I am working with manufacturers right now, trying to iron out some of those details, but we’re going to be moving into manufacturing right now. It depends on how long it takes to do the mass production plus shipping, but I would estimate this would maybe in stores (or online retailers) by October. That’s probably a good estimate.”

Did they do a lot of testing? “We needed especially non-Outlander fans to play this game. The Outlander fans, it didn’t take a lot of convincing to get them to play,” said Matthew. “Even before there were pictures on the cards, they knew the board, they knew the characters. So even if you had a blank piece of paper that just said Murtagh on it, they know what it means. I wasn’t worried about the Outlander fans, and the game play is pretty intuitive, once you go through the steps. So once you’ve done a round, you can keep going around, no problem. So we were just like, ok, you don’t know what these names mean and where these places are, but you’ve got a bit of the information, are you on board? And so far the reaction has been, yes, I feel like I’m playing a game, even if they don’t know who Jamie is or anything like that.”

He continued, “The tall and short of it is that this that this has been play tested thoroughly. It’s not broken, and the most important part is that it’s fun.” Ashley added, “It’s a nice balance of cooperative, nobody wants Jamie to come to any harm, but you still want to be his favorite. So you can get a little catty, and that’s what makes the fun. You’ll be adding something a little stronger to your tea nights once you start playing that way.”

Matthew said, “One of my strategies for play testing is that I like to try different strategies each time and see what works and what doesn’t .Ashley laughed, “You played mean one time.” “Yeah, it’s my wife, I’ve got to play nice, right? But one time, I didn’t play nice, and I took a competitive edge, and it was awesome,” he said. So players, remember that!

“When I was working on Witchful Thinking, I was looking to put it into Walmart and Target. But they don’t want to talk to the independent company, they want to make sure they’re getting multiple products from the same distributors. So we want to make sure that the distributors that we get are also trying to get the game out there. I do have distribution in the US for Witchful Thinking, and they’re excited to take on this one.”

What was your favorite part of the game, as you play it, I asked? Ashley said, “I like the QuickSave. This is a component we have because Jamie is always going to move in a predictable pattern, and the three villains he’s trying to avoid – Black Jack Randall, the Redcoats and the Watch – those are all the Meeples that are going to be moving around. As you are collecting friends along the way, if you happen to be en route to an Encounter, you can use the special abilities from your friends. So maybe it’s Dougal who is going to be discarded, and that will be a Quicksave to put Jamie back in hiding, so the game’s not over, you haven’t captured him yet. I like that idea, the Quicksave. So you’re strategizing, not just for what’s going to give you a lot of Favor from Jamie to try to win his heart in the game, but where are these people going to help me if Jamie is in a pickle. Because he’s going to get himself in a lot of pickles.”

As he does on the show, I said! Ashley continued, “And as a designer, that’s a fun way for me to tie in the personality of the characters. There’s a reason why they have the values that they do. There was a little argument between us in the design phase, because I made Willie – Willie Mackenzie from the first season – he has this hidden kind of superpower that most of the time, he’s a bit weaker, but when the danger level’s up, he’s strong. Matt was criticizing that, ‘he’s a minor character, why is he so strong?’ But you haven’t been paying attention. Because when Jamie’s in Wentworth, it’s Willie who’s willing to go. So that’s his power, when things are toughest, he’s the one that can save the most. I was having fun finding those little nuggets, the lore, that fans love, and if you’re paying attention to how I’ve designed it, you’ll start seeing like why you get more Favor in some places, or more Wit, or why you have the saving abilities.”

The women playing will like seeing that, I agreed. “I think that we’ve got it so that your favorite characters, from S1 at least, this is just in the Highlands, you’re going to see them, I think they’ll do you proud,” Ashley says. “We’re still excited about it, even though it’s been a year and a half doing it, so I think that says something about it, that we can still be passionate about it, little choices like that, I think the game has life.” Ashley told me that she has ideas for additional Outlander games to follow each season, so this may go on for quite a while!

As their cute kids came into the room, I asked if game design was full time, or is this an extra job? Ashley said, “I’m a full time teacher, so I’m squeezing this in between the report card writing and the classroom stuff. With a bunch of changes with Covid, it’s made more sense for Matthew to stay home, so we decided to go all in, make this run for itself.” Matthew said, “I can speak from the graphic design standpoint – I didn’t design the gameplay, Ashley did that, but I offered suggestions here and there, it was her decision on things, and she made some great decisions. And between that, I did the playtesting and the graphic design in January and early February, I’ve put in hundreds of hours, not just with the graphic design, but also the business stuff too, figuring out social media posts, getting things approved by Sony, talking with the distributors. So this has been not just like a full time job, but overtime, I’ve put in some serious hours for this.”

Since this is the company’s first big license, I asked if is this something they want to continue. “Absolutely,” Matthew said. “And I knew that when I turned this into a hobby back in 2011. I enjoy making board games. I enjoying making movies, watching movies, reading books, all that stuff. I needed some sort of creative outlet. And this was it. I enjoy tabletop games, so I found a business that I’m passionate about. But I found over the years, since I am a small business, I had to learn everything. I can do the game design, I can do the graphic design, the IP stuff, social media, the PR, distribution. I have all those experiences, so if I can continue this, I’ll be very happy.”

Price point for the game should be $48.99 CA (US equivalent is about $40). And it will be available in the US, and more – Matthew says, “The territories we have with Sony are Canada, USA, UK, Australia and France. We’re a small family run company, but at the same time, this is a big license. So we want to do the fans proud, we want to do this IP proud, so we want to give the biggest reach that we can.” Ashley said, “We’re limited because we’re not the distributors, so once we put it in those hands, it’s really up to those stores that want to put it on their shelves. So until we know where they’re placing it, I can’t tell you ‘oh, pick it up here.’ ” Matthew agreed. “I have experience with all of that, so when I made Witchful Thinking and released that, I had a hard time getting distribution. So I went store to store, city to city, and I made those contacts myself. For me as a business owner, I’m not just one of those owners who throws money out and does it. I have experience in all these aspects. So when this game comes out, let’s say that distribution doesn’t have as far of a reach as possible, I’ll make it happen. With Covid especially, the online market is important.”

“From a business standpoint, we’re a new company,” Matthew said. “It seems that we’re very new to this but that’s not really the case. This game has been been in development for a long time, and between the two of us we have 20+ games in prototypes. So we definitely know how to make games, and make games fun. And the fact that we’re both teachers, I think makes it even better. Because as teachers, we have to know how to sell to an audience.” ” And explain the games,” Ashley added.

PRE-ORDER THE GAME RIGHT HERE! Three if by Space has the game available for pre-orders in our Collectibles shop!! Click here to go to the pre-order page!

#outlander board game #three if by space #sony #outlander starz #starz outlander #outlander game #scottish highlands #craigh na dun

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who Hiatusbreaker Update 2

Although the premiere of Doctor Who Series 13 is still a while off, let alone the announcement of a premiere date, there are a few things I’d like to talk about before that time comes. Let’s get right into it.

Filler series plans to talk about Series 1-10

Some time ago, I had plans to make a ten-part series talking about Series 1-10 in detail, but because I had a lot of stuff going on, those plans were reduced to something I call Doctor Who 10 for 10 - 10 Things for 10 Series, which was to state ten things about each series with at least 4 to 6 of these things being my opinions on each series. This was intended to be a filler series to bide the time before Series 13 comes out, but that may have to come at another time. I’m also continuing with Kisekae Insights if anyone wants to check it out.

The post-Series 13 forecast

Since Series 13 would be Jodie Whittaker’s third series as the Doctor, signs are pointing to this being her final series. There are also rumours stating that there will be two specials in 2022 that would serve as her final episodes. If this is the case, then it means that Jodie Whittaker would have been the Doctor for five years; a five-year-long ordeal of pain because series seem to be released pretty much every other year as a result of the almost-year-long gaps between them, not to mention the fact that less episodes are being produced as time goes on. Whether Chris Chibnall will be remaining on is still unknown at this time. Frankly, I’ll be glad when this is all over because I (and many other fans) have been kept hanging for so long. I just hope the Timeless Child payoff will be worth it.

At this point, the only reason why I’m still watching the series is mainly because I want to know how the Timeless Child arc plays out. The initial shocks have come and gone, but now this is where we wait and see if the aftershocks are as worse.

When I started my Thirteenth Doctor Reviews, I made a pact that I would cut off all ties with the series going forward if the Fourteenth Doctor was another female. Given the Timeless Child arc and the rumours that Olly Alexander would replace Jodie Whittaker (which would make him the first gay actor to play the Doctor) that came and went because his agent stated that he was focusing on music for the time being, I’ve honestly stopped giving a shit at this point. I’ll probably continue being a casual fan of Doctor Who, watching episodes as they come out, but regardless, all that this series will be to me is like what the Koei Warriors series has degraded itself to over the past decade. I’ll still be grateful for all the inspiration and opportunities it has provided me with over the years, but I’ll probably accept that the series has gone on a downward spiral with seemingly no way of coming back up. But hey, all will be revealed in due time, so the forecast isn’t that bleak for now.

The first look into Series 13 (added 26 July 2021)

So just today, two days after I originally published this post, the teaser trailer for Doctor Who Series 13 was released following the 2021 San Diego Comic Con@Home. Aside from the Doctor, Yaz and Dan, the only other character we see is Vinder, a recurring character throughout the series who will be played by Jacob Anderson. Recurring character, you say, and that’s because Series 13 will apparently be a single serialised story. This brings callbacks to The Trial of a Time Lord or more loosely, the multiple two-parters of Series 9. We still don’t get an exact premiere date, only that it will premiere “later this year”, but given that Series 11 and 12 took about 10 months to film, we can predict that filming of Series 13 will likely be wrapping up in the next month. Whether there will be a shorter run of five or six episodes (thereby reserving two of those episodes for the 2022 specials, assuming they won’t be filmed separately to Series 13) is unknown, but regardless, I’m looking forward to watching and reviewing the series for myself.

Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall leave Doctor Who (added 30 July 2021) 

In news that will surprise no one, Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall have announced that they will be leaving the series in 2022. Technically, the news isn’t much of a surprise in terms of Whittaker than it is for Chibnall, as Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat have been showrunner for two Doctors each. But hey, with this, it means that my Thirteenth Doctor Reviews will also be a review of Chibnall’s run as showrunner.

My initial thoughts on this, which may or may not change coming up to Whittaker’s final episode - it was an okay run while it lasted, but honestly, good riddance. How’s that five year plan of yours going, Chibnall? If your plan was to divide the fanbase and leave them hanging with gaps between series, then you’ve really done it.

On top of this, Series 13 will be six episodes long, with the remaining two episodes to be broadcast as specials in 2022. The first of them will be a New Year’s Special (surprise surprise) and the second will follow in Spring 2022 (Northern Hemisphere). The Thirteenth Doctor’s final episode will premiere in Autumn 2022 (Northern Hemisphere) as part of the BBC’s Centenary celebrations. Some tentative dates I’m predicting are 18 October 2022, the 100th anniversary of the BBC, 23 November 2022, the 59th anniversary of Doctor Who, or 1 January 2023, which would make it another New Year’s Special (I’m not discounting 25 December 2022, I just think it’s less likely given how this era has been).

With this, the Fourteenth Doctor is expected to debut in 2023, the 60th anniversary year of Doctor Who. I just hope the new production team doesn’t disappoint the fans with that.

In terms of statistics, Jodie Whittaker has played the Doctor for 31 episodes, making her run the second shortest behind Christopher Eccleston. Peter Capaldi played the Doctor for 40 episodes, Matt Smith for 44 episodes and David Tennant for 47.

My hopes for Whittaker and Chibnall’s final episodes haven’t changed; I want to see what happens with the Timeless Child arc (and also Ruth). Whether the Fourteenth Doctor will be male or female (or played by a non-binary or trans actor), I have a few basic preliminary hopes for the next run; make each series 13 episodes again with a Christmas Special each year and put the series back on Saturday nights, like it was before Whittaker and Chibnall. Also, can we go back to filming in the 16:9 ratio? I can never get over how weird it looks on my screen (at full screen, it doesn’t look so weird when I have it playing on half screen, which is what I usually do when I write my reviews).

Jay Exci - The Fall of Doctor Who

Yes, it has been a while and I know I could have told everyone about this earlier, but better late than never I suppose. A couple of months ago, Jay Exci did a 5-hour long critique of the Chibnall era in his video, The Fall of Doctor Who. For some reason, there are those who see it as controversial because they’re NPCs who don’t want to hear criticism of the Chibnall era or they’re spergs who aren’t mature enough to sit through a 5-hour video they can watch in chunks, but hey, it’s pretty good. This is more in-depth than the reviews that people like Bowlestrek or Nerdrotic make, which essentially put Jay on their level in the eyes of the NPCs despite denying that they are on their level and being a sperg about how they’re better than them. Welcome to the party, Jay, you can check out anytime but you can never leave. 

Anyway, you can check out the video below. Even if you don’t feel like watching the whole video, I highly suggest that you watch section 4.2 onwards (timestamped link here) as it does resonate with my feelings on the Timeless Child arc. I swear, this is just like Dynasty Warriors 9 all over again. I know the feeling.

Cancel culture comes for Noel Clarke and John Barrowman

The thing about cancel culture is that people can be petty about things other people have done or said years ago and they can justify it with the excuse that they’re doing it to hold those people accountable. Depending on the context, it can expose the fact that that person is a major piece of shit or it can be an overreaction to something, which in the minds of today’s society is normally the latter.

Around the time that Noel Clarke was nominated for a Bafta at the end of March, allegations emerged of abuse and sexual misconduct against him. 20 women came forward with their stories and as a result, the final episode of Viewpoint was pulled from broadcast (but still released on Blu-ray and DVD) and Bulletproof was cancelled before filming on the fourth series would begin.

In May, video emerged of Clarke at Chicago TARDIS in 2014 talking about how John Barrowman would expose his genitals and slap it on people and things. This led to allegations about Barrowman surfacing, resulting in him apologising for his actions even though he had already been reprimanded for them over a decade ago and apologised in November 2008. Despite this, his contribution to the immersive theatrical event Doctor Who: Time Fracture was pulled and Big Finish have decided to shelf the release of Torchwood: Absent Friends, which would have featured David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.

Now, I don’t care about Noel Clarke by any means, but this situation is honestly sad for John Barrowman because it shows that cancel culture spares no victims and leaves no fossil undiscovered. These PR stunts have clearly shown that the spineless people involved with those productions are so concerned with saving face that they are unable to just overlook these transgressions for the sake of fans who actually wanted to see him reprise his role as Captain Jack Harkness. But hey, what do I know? I don’t really care for anything other than the TV series, but it really shows how shameless corporations can be.

Once again, we don’t exactly know when Doctor Who Series 13 will premiere, but if you ask me, I predict that it will premiere in October or November. I’ll see you all again around that time.

#doctor who #thirteenth doctor #thirteenth doctor review

[toomuchtimenerd]

Review for ‘A Curse So Dark and Lonely’ by Brigid Kemmerer

Aaaand here’s yet another popular retelling of ‘Beauty and the Beast’. So something to know about me - I LOVE fairy tale retellings. I grew up on a lot of fairy tales, lots of Disney princess movies (most of which are based off fairy tales or in the case of Mulan, a ballad/folk legend). I’m pretty sure growing up I had this giant anthology of a bunch of old European fairy tales that had been adapted for children’s reading. I’m pretty sure my love for magic, fantasy, and all kinds of other-worldly things stems from how much I read and re-read everything in that kid’s anthology as an eight year old or something. Nowadays, I am on the lookout for anthologies with adaptations of folk lore from other cultures. Hopefully I will soon find some that seem promising.

So A Curse So Dark and Lonely is, interestingly, not a stand-alone and its sequel came out earlier this month. I opted to stop after the first book and not pick up the sequel, for reasons that I will divulge in later. A Curse, like The Cruel Prince, has incredibly favorable reviews on Goodreads, and for good reason really. It’s just unfortunate that neither of these two books quite hit the spot for me. Perhaps in the future I will pick up the sequel for A Curse, but with the third book planned for a late 2021 release I probably will not be reading A Curse So Fierce and Broken anytime soon. Something already tells me that I may have to put recreational reading on the back burner for an extended period of time once again when I go back to school. Sadface

A Curse So Dark and Lonely loosely follows the widely known story line for ‘Beauty and the Beast’, with notable changes in that the main character (Harper) has cerebral palsy and is transported from our non-magical contemporary world to the magical kingdom of Emberfall. Our Prince Rhen does not adopt the appearance of a beast 24/7, but rather transforms into one at the end of the repeating autumn season. In his transformed state, he has a penchant for violence and generally does not retain any sense of mind or humanity. When he yet again fails to win a woman’s love, the season will restart to the day of his 18th birthday and he will have to try again with a new woman. Rhen is accompanied only by the sole survivor of his first transformation, a royal guard named Grey. Grey was given the power to go to Harper’s world and take a woman to bring back to Emberfall for Rhen to court. This entire curse was brought down by an enchantress named Lilith, who apparently exists only to torture everyone’s existence. Harper wasn’t originally chosen by Grey, but Harper witnessed Grey “abducting” an unconscious woman and chose to interfere, which leads to her transportation into Emberfall. 

So let’s talk about the obvious; the representation of disabled peoples in this book via our protagonist Harper. She has cerebral palsy, and this is made very clear within the first chapter of the book. Props to the author for not OVER-emphasizing Harper’s disability, though. I love representation, and I believe in the power of representation, but I’m not a fan of when representation goes too far and it becomes the sole definition of a character’s existence. It comes off as lazy writing when a character brings no substance or value aside from the fact that they represent some kind of minority group. However, this isn’t the case here and I think Kemmerer did a wonderful job of blending Harper’s cerebral palsy into the background, yet not enough for the reader to completely forget that she is living with a disability. There are times when Harper is in a lot of pain and isn’t able to do certain things as easily as other people can, but her perseverance/grit/determination shows us that she is still just like any other human being trying to get by. She doesn’t view herself as a victim of her disability either, it’s just something she was born with and has learned to live with. It is a part of her, and even if she doesn’t like it she has learned to accept it as a part of her. I think Kemmerer sends a beautiful message in portraying Harper’s attitude with her cerebral palsy: there is no need to feel victimized by one’s disability, and there is no need to hate oneself for it either.

Outside of Harper’s disability, she is a very standard YA fantasy heroine - hardworking, passionate, cautious, determined, guarded. Is it bad that I’m getting a little bit tired of this character trope? I kind of want to see a heroine who isn’t so perfect, and I kind of want to see someone who is a little whiny or bratty at first but then grows from their hardships and experiences. Harper, like many YA fantasy heroines, just seems to start out incredibly likable (or maybe too likable) with the perfect package of personality traits. Now I’m not necessarily complaining about this, but I definitely would’ve liked to see a little more substance from Harper outside of just “I need to find a way to get home and I’m going to keep rebelling until I do”. Obviously this wasn’t her as a character the ENTIRE book, but it definitely was more or less the only thing passing through her mind for maybe the first 40% of the book. Another issue I took with her (or maybe not even her as a character, maybe it’s an issue I have with the book itself) is her wishywashy-ness in regards to her feelings. For pretty much the entire book up until Grey takes her home, Harper at best only deeply cares about and respects Rhen. But in the last 20% of the book when Grey takes her back to Emberfall to face the transformed Rhen, Harper suddenly proclaims her love for him and is willing to pretty much give herself up to Lilith to spare Rhen and Grey. That’s a huge change in emotions, and according to the book timeline this change of feelings happens over the course of like... 36 hours or something. And then the book ends on a MASSIVE ambiguity over whether the curse was broken because Harper truly loved Rhen, or if it was because Grey had succeeded in killing Lilith. So, we went from “I deeply care for you and I find comfort in your company” to “I would DIE for you” to “did the curse break because I love you? Idk” over the course of like... 3-4 chapters? Uhhhhh. Yeah I’ve got questions.

Now I know this review is coming off as pretty negative, and not gonna lie I don’t think I was a big fan of this retelling but I certainly don’t think it was bad either. Rhen’s character development was so captivating and surprising because most YA authors generally don’t pay much attention into developing the male lead as much as the heroine. In all honesty, Harper began pretty perfect with very little room for growth so she her character progression just seemed to stagnate to me. But Rhen starts off as a meh character who didn’t seem to learn all that much from his countless failures of wooing women during his cursed time and progresses into a very selfless leader (re: true KING). He goes from isolating himself in his castle while trying to break the curse to nearly ignoring the curse so he could focus on protecting and caring for his people. I guess it’s pretty obvious that I really liked Rhen as a character, and I personally think he deserves a lot better than that ending we got. It wasn’t a bad ending, and I think Kemmerer wanted to be original in creating a somewhat ambiguous ending. But as a hardcore romance junkie I think I may have a narrow scope of what my heart can tolerate for any retelling of ‘Beauty and the Beast’. 

And finally, let’s talk about Grey. He’s not a POV character in this first book, but he’s in almost every single chapter and he plays a pretty big role. At the beginning I thought I was going to get a load of a love triangle, but thank GOD that wasn’t the case. I’m all for originality, but my mind will never be okay with a love triangle in ‘Beauty and the Beast’. It’s beauty and the fucking beast!! Not beauty and the beast featuring Ludacris!! Is it obvious that I don’t like love triangles to begin with? Yeah. Anyway, Grey is an interesting character. I kind of saw the epilogue coming, because for a side character Grey was too fleshed out and well developed (considering side characters rarely are, except for my one true love Despina from Wrath and the Dawn). But nevertheless, I quite enjoyed Grey! In the beginning of the story I felt like he served almost as a foil to Rhen. They were quite the opposites in terms of personality, but they ultimately are working towards the same goal. Watching Grey’s relationship with Harper unfold on paper was also quite nice. Unlike Rhen, Grey starts off kinda antagonizing Harper (with good reason, considering their first encounter consisted of her attacking him). Rhen is kind and very elaborate in his words and manners with Harper, but Grey very much the opposite. He speaks simply, he’s a man of actions, and is mostly very detached from his emotions. I actually felt his character complimented Harper’s character quite well (considering her own emotional detachment), and I think this is what Kemmerer was going for anyway since Harper does actually warm up to Grey much quicker than she warms up to Rhen. 

Some last thoughts to wrap it up - while I understand that Kemmerer wanted to bridge the gap between this book and its sequel, I felt that she pulled WAY too much of the spotlight from Rhen/Harper and onto Grey. The ending between Rhen/Harper felt incredibly rushed, and again I just don’t think I like the ambiguity over what actually broke the curse. I was thinking about giving A Curse So Dark and Lonely a 4-star rating for most of the book up until the end, and now I’m thinking it’s more like a 3.5 star from me. The last couple of chapters were heavily action-packed, and Kemmerer’s way of tying up the lose strings (pushing the foreign army out of Emberfall) was very creative. But the ending following all of that action was just so... bland and unexciting. It was like dumping a large tub of water on a small campfire that was just starting to grow warm. I like Grey as character, but not enough to want to read the sequel where he stars as a POV just yet. 

#a curse so dark and lonely #cursebreakers #ya fiction #ya fantasy #brigid kemmerer #book review #beauty and the beast #retelling

[junker-town]

4 winners and 3 losers from NFL Super Wild Card Weekend

Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Every dawg has its day.

We’ve all been looking for catharsis. A year of pent up frustration, waiting to be released so we can finally feel like things are getting normal again. While sports are just part of our lives, the collective anguish Cleveland Browns fans have been feeling for decades upon decades exploded in Pittsburgh in the best possible way.

This isn’t about hating on the Steelers, really its not. This is about the objective, exquisite joy of seeing the NFL’s most downtrodden team, finally prevailing against their yearly foe, and not only winning a game, but making a statement. Cleveland has never handed Pittsburgh a loss like this, in fact, the Steelers have never suffered anything like they did on Sunday night, at least not in the modern era. You need to go back to 1968 to find the last time Pittsburgh gave up 35 points in a half, and even then it’s rarely happened in franchise history.

It’s beyond beautiful to see the Browns do it, especially after the week they’ve endured. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think Cleveland could do it. Not because they lacked the talent, but because it felt like circumstance had unfairly pointed its finger at the team and said “no.” Four of the team’s best players were lost to Covid protocols, four more coaches joined them — including head coach Kevin Stefanski. He was forced to watch alone, from his basement, while his team made history.

It just all felt like too much for the Browns to overcome. The lack of players, support, practice ahead of the biggest game of their lives. Another chapter in the grand tragedy which is the Browns franchise. And yet, they did the impossible. Sure, they were helped along by a Steelers team who have been lost for the better part of six weeks, but still they earned this. Cleveland earned this. It wasn’t given to them, in fact it was more or less taken away.

The guts and determination this team showed not to fold with so many cards stacked against them is completely different to the futility we’re used to seeing in the past from a team that often seemed completely comfortable losing. On this frigid night in Pittsburgh it was time to not use adversity as an excuse, but as fuel — and dammit, the Browns did it.

Obviously things look rough from here. Cleveland will travel to Kansas City to face the Chiefs, which is the toughest game in the NFL. But at this point I have to feel like Browns fans are happy. Beating the Steelers gave them their catharsis, and this is something to build off. This just feels right.

Winner; Josh Allen

There was more to just playing well that makes Allen a winner this week. At this point he’s already a massive hero in Buffalo, and bringing the Bills back to the playoffs solidified that — but it was also a chance to show a massive, national audience just how good he is.

To a lot of people Josh Allen is still the “reach” from the 2018 NFL Draft who experts said was destined to be a bust at the next level. However, since his up-and-down first season he’s been on fire. Yes, this was a mistake in player evaluation, but to be fair, Allen looks nothing like he did at Montana.

The maturation has been so pronounced that it hasn’t taken long for Allen to not just become a winner who can lead one of the best teams in the NFL, he’s making a case as one of the best quarterbacks in the league period. It’s got to feel good that more people were around to notice it.

Loser: Russell Wilson.

It’s not so much that Wilson played poorly, it’s how completely overwhelmed he was against the Rams on Saturday afternoon that tells the story here. The biggest tragedy in the NFL isn’t losing, players are used to it, it’s the gnawing feeling that you never got a chance to play your best — and make no mistake, Wilson was not able to be his best.

The Seahawks’ offensive line never stood a chance against the Rams from the first snap, the Los Angeles secondary completely mitigated the threats of Tyler Lockett and DK Matcalf. The result was an unfortunately familiar song and dace. t’s another disappointing end to a Seattle season that held so much promise.

It’s going to be a long offseason for Wilson and Co, while the team tries to fill its remaining gaps and find a way to get better. At some point though this cycle of disappointment is going to need to end.

Winner: Taylor Heinicke.

The burgeoning mythos behind Taylor Heinicke might be one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while in the NFL. Firstly, yes, he looked way better than any depth quarterback should in the playoffs against the Buccaneers, but I’d swear, if you were watching social media on Saturday night you’d think he was the second coming.

In reality, it was a totally fine, passable game. Nothing more. 26/44, 306 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT.

I think Washington fans have become so numb to terrible quarterbacking the even a mediocre game is cause for surprise. It’s passer Stockholm Syndrome. But yes, Heinicke is still a huge winner after this weekend.

Here’s a guy who would have been fighting for a roster spot, probably not even having a team, then he plays decently on national TV and now there’s huge buzz. I think it’s a mistake to assume he’ll ever be a starting quarterback, but we’re witnessing the beginning of an incredible backup career that will last him a decade. Heinicke could easily become the next Ryan Fitzpatrick off this game, and make a life for himself because of it.

Loser: Derrick Henry.

Another case of this not being his fault, like Russell Wilson you could tell King Henry was incredibly frustrated that he couldn’t get much done against the Ravens.

Baltimore made its entire focus stopping the run, and it resulted in holding Henry to 40 yards on 18 carries. They took the biggest weapon Tennessee had, and made him a total non-issue in front of Titans fans at home.

It was a great, obvious strategy — but still a shock the normally excellent offensive line for Tennessee couldn’t get any push at all. It left the game on the table, and considering this came down to just one score, it’s entirely likely a big game from Henry would have been the difference.

Winner: Nickelodeon.

The network’s first attempt at broadcasting the NFL Playoffs was a success beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. Sure, it was an event that wasn’t intended for everyone, and its simplistic approach to football was targeted to kids — but it was fun, and that’s what football is all about.

From a less serious tone in the booth, to virtual slime cannons in the end zone, the entire presentation was spot-on, and made for a really unique way to watch football. It was a nice change of pace from how serious things had been in the past, and made Bears vs. Saints the perfect palette cleanser of the weekend.

Loser: Mike Tomlin.

The Steelers’ disaster wasn’t really Tomlin’s fault, but he sure didn’t help. Down by 12 points, facing a 4th-and-1, Tomlin decided to punt from the Steelers 46 yard line, instead of going for it. On some level it made sense, considering the Browns were struggling on offense — but keeping the pressure up was critical to getting Pittsburgh back in the game, and he seemed allergic to making a tough decision.

---> CLE (35) @ PIT (23) <--- PIT has 4th & 1 at the PIT 46 Recommendation (VERY STRONG): Go for it (+7.1 WP) Actual play: (Punt formation) PENALTY on PIT, Delay of Game, 5 yards, enforced at PIT 46 - No pic.twitter.com/nSoFurKutk

— 4th down decision bot (@ben_bot_baldwin) January 11, 2021

It was an objectively terrible decision. On the next possession the Browns scored, putting the game out of reach.

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who Series 12 Review: Epilogue

It’s time to wrap up another series of reviews. Thanks to the Series 12 finale, I’ve got quite a bit to talk about. I’m also going to cover a few topics related to the production of the series.

Final series rating and verdict

Episode 1: 8/10

Episode 2: 8/10

Episode 3: 5/10

Episode 4: 9/10

Episode 5: 8/10

Episode 6: 8/10

Episode 7: 8/10

Episode 8: 7/10

Episode 9: 9/10

Episode 10: 7/10

First half mid-series total: 38/50 (76%)

Second half mid-series total: 39/50 (78%)

Final series total: 77/100 (77%)

Compared to Series 11′s total of 73%, I can agree that Series 12 is better than Series 11 - but not by much. I can’t help but feel I’m giving this series too much credit given how it’s being handled under Chris Chibnall. I found less SJW red flags in this series, but they were major ones that reflected current affairs or absolutely broke the lore of the series.

In turn, there were more episodes where I was unable to find tokusatsu references - there was one such episode in Series 11, but in Series 12, there were three such episodes. It’s easier for me to count how many episodes don’t have tokusatsu references than those that do.

The elephant in the room that will never get solved

Unfortunately, before the premiere of the series finale, Sacha Dhawan and Steven Moffat have stated that the origin of O as the Master should be left to the fans and that it is unlikely that it will be answered in the series anytime soon. I mean, we almost saw that happen with John Simm as Harold Saxon, but then he came back for the Series 10 finale.

It's so amazing how this series started off with me denying that O was the Master to me begrudgingly accepting that O is the Master with contrived theories and opinions. Again, I wouldn't have had much of a problem with this if Missy wasn't (seemingly) killed off. If it weren’t for O admitting that he has no better nature, I could have locked in my theory, but I guess we’ll just leave it up in the air, shall we?

On one hand, if O's incarnation of the Master definitely came after Missy, then Saxon didn't give her the full blast because as I said in my review of the second episode, there is no reason why the Master would rob himself of opportunities to spite the Doctor, knowing that he would continue to live on. On the other hand, having O be set between Saxon and Missy, while it would fit him not having the character development of the latter, would be unnecessary because it would jumble the Master's timeline in relation to the Doctor's. I still think the Rani should have been brought back, though.

The Timeless Child and the Cartmel Masterplan

In case you haven’t seen the review of the Series 12 finale (which you should), I don’t have a very high opinion of the Timeless Child arc because it overcomplicates the Doctor’s past (and diversifies it in the form of pre-Hartnell incarnations) and puts the Doctor on a higher pedestal above the Time Lords, like a godly figure (as if the Time Lords weren’t “godly” enough). It also raises a lot of plot holes and issues that I can’t be bothered getting into because I’m so distraught about this episode; other people can probably sum them up better than I can (UPDATE - 13 March 2020: Screen Rant listed a few of them in this article).

In researching for this topic, I was reminded of this line in the Series 9 premiere, The Magician’s Apprentice, in which Missy states that she has cared about the Doctor “since always, since the Cloister Wars, since the night he stole the moon and the President’s wife and since he was a little girl” before saying that one of those was a lie. In Hell Bent, it was revealed that the third statement was a lie perpetuated by the Shobogans; the Doctor lost the moon and he actually stole the President’s daughter.

I would have been happy to leave this as a throwaway line and one of Missy’s lies (ala the honest and dishonest guards) if it weren’t for this episode. If that last statement is actually true, then there are only two possibilities: either the Timeless Child’s “friend” that she was seen playing with is actually a young Master or O’s incarnation is between the Saxon and Missy incarnations.

While doing the same research, I was also reminded of the Cartmel Masterplan. During the Seventh Doctor era, a group of writers led by Andrew Cartmel defined a vision that would reintroduce mystery into the Doctor’s character. It would reveal that the Doctor was a reincarnation of the Other, one of the Founding Fathers of Gallifrey. Due to producer John Nathan-Turner’s meddling with the scripts, only references to the Masterplan were kept in Seasons 25 and 26. The Masterplan would be explored in the Virgin New Adventures novels (of which Lungbarrow would be the final entry to feature the Seventh Doctor).

I wouldn’t have had such a problem with it if it was done before Series 7 (or the Moffat era) because Clara’s storyline basically locked in the definition of the Doctor and his lives as we knew him. And yet this was the storyline that Chris Chibnall wanted to write since he was young, essentially bringing a modified form of the Cartmel Masterplan to Doctor Who, which connects to my next bit.

Chris Chibnall, 1986

One of the well-known things about Chris Chibnall from before the revival was that in 1986, he (age 16) appeared on a BBC daytime show, Open Air, representing the Doctor Who Appreciation Society in Liverpool. Writers Pip and Jane Baker were also present. In that program, he criticised one of their stories, namely Terror of the Vervoids, stating that it was very clichéd and boring. Years later, in 2018, Chibnall would dismiss those words as nonsense, but in my opinion, to reflect those words on his time as showrunner so far would be an understatement. Maybe it’s why he couldn’t bring back the Rani in this series...

(in case you didn’t know, Pip and Jane Baker wrote The Mark of the Rani and Time and the Rani)

Expecting a full run every year

I covered this in the prelude of this series’ reviews, but I’ve learned a bit more about it since then.

Given how the first five series of the revived Doctor Who had a "full run", which I define to be exactly 13 episodes broadcast consistently at the same time each year without any splits, it's easy for people to assume at this point that the BBC aren't keeping to that standard. However, given the split seasons, the changing schedules and reducing episode numbers, the underlying causes are not as simple as we think.

I took a look at an overview of the Doctor Who series on Wikipedia and I found that the classic series has had more and less episodes per season when compared to the revived series. I know it may seem like that because the episodes are generally equivalent to half the length of a revived series episode, but things will be put to perspective when you halve those episode counts (with the exception of Season 22, which had 45-minute long episodes), so the numbers I quote will be taken with that in mind.

During the First and Second Doctor's eras, an equivalent average of 21 episodes were broadcast each season. In the Third, Fourth and Fifth Doctor's eras, that was reduced to 12.4 episodes. Finally, with the exception of Season 22, the Sixth and Seventh Doctor's eras had an average of 7 episodes per season. In a Radio Times interview, Chris Chibnall has stated that every episode is essentially a "big movie" with new guest casts, new sets and new monsters. In the same article, it stated that Russell T Davies was put under a lot of pressure during his time on Doctor Who, particularly given the fact that he was also overseeing Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures at the same time. Each Chibnall era series took 10 months to film, so that will presumably be the case when Series 13 starts pre-production in June 2020 with filming to start in September 2020.

As for Steven Moffat, the split of Series 6 was his idea, however the split of Series 7 wasn't necessarily his, but the BBC's idea to reduce the gap between the end of Series 7 and The Day of the Doctor. He also stated that he wanted to make Doctor Who an "event piece" by being open to "shaking up the transmission pattern", claiming that "the more Doctor Who becomes a perennial, the faster it starts to die". In short, if each new series of Doctor Who premiered at different times each year, then fans would be anticipating it for longer.

Following Series 11, there was only about a month to wait until the New Year’s special. Following that, there was a year until the start of Series 12. Now with Series 12 over, we have nine more months to wait until the festive special (whether it’ll be broadcast on Christmas or New Year’s Day is not confirmed yet) and then after that, we will potentially have another 9-10 months of waiting until Series 13 starts again in autumn 2021. This is one of the factors that are contributing to my decision to eventually move on from Doctor Who once I’m done with it.

About licence fees

I was going to do a bit about the ratings of the show, but the patterns are too erratic to infer anything specific. There are some general observations I can see; there was a downward trend in the average ratings during Steven Moffat’s time as showrunner while Series 11 had the biggest rate of viewer change by season (see the charts linked in this Reddit comment).

In the middle of February, it was suggested that Prime Minister Boris Johnson could order a reform of the BBC, scrapping the licence fee and changing it to a subscription model. This, combined with some of the fan reaction to Series 12, seems to be leading to a rise in calls for the licence fee to be scrapped.

In Britain, the TV licence increases with inflation each year. From April 2020, the cost of the TV licence will rise by £3 to £157.50 for colour licences, while the monochrome licence will stay at £52 (as if anyone still has monochrome TVs in the current year). Until the end of May 2020, TV licences are funded by the government and as such, are free for people over 75, but from June onwards, licences will be funded by the BBC and will only be free to anyone aged 75 or over who receives Pension Credit (which is apparently different from the State Pension, or so I’ve read), meaning that others will now have to pay the full licence fee (way to exploit old people, huh).

My other favourite country, Japan, also has a TV licence fee, which is used to fund the NHK. There are three types of licence, namely a satellite licence which also covers terrestrial broadcasts, a terrestrial licence which only covers said broadcasts and a special licence which covers satellite broadcasts for people who are having difficulty receiving terrestrial broadcasts due to trains or the terrain. As at October 2019, the annual (direct debit) cost of the three licences (which are cheaper than paying monthly or bi-monthly) are at 24,770 yen, 13,990 yen and 10,940 yen respectively. There are discounts if you live in Okinawa, near an airport or an air base, or if you are paying for multiple licences, through your cable company or as a family (with more than one licence).

Basically, you will need a TV licence if you watch any channel on free or pay TV (or any TV program on an online service if you’re in the UK) and the licence merely funds the national broadcaster. There have been calls for governments to stop funding public broadcasters with taxpayer money for various reasons. Some people also believe that the funding of those broadcasters are being jeopardised by their governments as well.

I consider myself to be lucky here in Australia as the licence fee was scrapped in 1974 and the ABC was funded by government grants ever since. Back in 1964, a TV licence would have cost £6 (A$12), which equates to A$171.08 in 2019 dollars.

The enforcement of the licence fee has made paying it in the first place a hassle for some people. If you do some searching on Google, then you might find stories from people, particularly in the UK and Japan, who have been harassed by these so-called licence fee collectors.

In my ideal world, I would prefer that public TV stations are funded like they do in the United States - partially from the government and partially through voluntary donations from the general public (and foundations and corporations as well). I can see how this would make them look like any ordinary charity, but it’s better than nothing and it makes everyone happy.

The fall of Western entertainment and everything I ever loved

Over the past two series of doing these reviews, I’ve been trying to convince myself that Doctor Who won’t take a big dive into the SJW agenda. Now having seen the Series 12 finale, I’m finally ready to take the red pill and fully accept that the show is no longer how I remembered it to be.

I hear a lot of people saying about how some series and franchises used to be good, but then got worse and worse as time went on due to the SJW agenda takeover. I don’t follow those other franchises, so maybe that’s why I’ve been sceptical for so long.

In terms of my personal life, I’ve lost interest in many things I used to like over the past decade due to various factors. New animes became too sexist for me (in terms of marketing and gender ratios). Video games are more focused on money than entertainment. Koei Tecmo barely dubbed their Warriors games fully and recently, they recast the entire English cast for Dynasty Warriors 9. While I was too busy to keep following My Little Pony, the main highlight I got from reading comments about the Friendship is Magic finale was that among other things, some things in the epilogue were not left to audience interpretation. And of course, Doctor Who retconned its past in ways no other person would have even dared to think.

With the exception of the English dub thing, it would be easy to blame SJWs for ruining the things I used to love and appreciate. It would be too optimistic, however, to consider that there were other factors besides SJWs, considering the way the world seems to be thinking at the moment.

Over the past few years, I’ve been unable to find any new significant things to love and appreciate. It almost feels like I’m Stan Marsh in those two South Park episodes where he turns 10 and starts seeing the world as shit. Maybe it might be time for me to grow up and accept the truth. Oh well, for the time being, at least I still have Japanese tokusatsu - my last bastion of sanity in this turbulent world.

UPDATE - 13 March 2020: Speaking of which, Power Rangers Super Megaforce disrespected 21 years of continuity and barely anyone was complaining about or defending it because of SJW reasons, yet when Doctor Who disrespected over 56 years of extended continuity, everyone was complaining about or defending it because of SJW reasons. I honestly hate to see where these observations go from here.

Regarding the festive special

As I stated, the next episode, Revolution of the Daleks, will be broadcast at the end of 2020. Interestingly, the episode (or at least parts of it) were filmed together with Series 12 as there were reports that Daleks were involved in filming at the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol around the end of October last year. This means that the footage would be held for at least a year before it would premiere on our screens, leaving a bigger risk for leaks than normal.

There is a rumour that John Barrowman will reprise his role as Jack Harkness again in this special. If so, then I hope it complements his appearance in Episode 5.

Recently, it was reported that Tosin Cole and Bradley Walsh would be leaving the series as they were casted in US courtroom drama 61st Street and a remake of UK comedy drama The Darling Buds of May respectively. Funnily enough, it was also stated that they could continue to make occasional appearances, so we’ll have to see it to believe it.

Obviously, this means that out of Graham, Ryan and Yaz, Yaz will be staying with the Doctor after the festive special. Talk about Yaz favouritism, eh? Speaking of which, I don’t think I saw as much Yaz favouritism in Series 12 than I did in Series 11. At the same time, Ryan’s dyspraxia was touched on as frequently in Series 12 than it was in Series 11.

Hopefully, this change means that we’ll be seeing more Yaz character development, though with the mystery of the Timeless Child still looming, I somehow doubt it.

Negotiating DWexit

So now, having watched the Series 12 finale, I’ve decided to take the red pill on this series falling to the SJW agenda. If it weren’t for my obligation to write these reviews, I would have decided to stop following the series, but seeing that Series 13 would be Jodie Whittaker’s third and possibly final series (based on how many series previous Doctors have done), I’m going to take one final chance and review Series 13 when it premieres late-2021. Remember that the series finale would set up some new plot threads that would be answered in the next series, so I’m looking forward to seeing how the Timeless Child arc concludes.

I was hoping to maintain a casual interest in the show after this entire review series is done, but there may come a time when I have to put my foot down and move on. Even if we find out later that the Master was in fact lying about the Timeless Child being the Doctor or that the Doctor’s pre-Hartnell incarnations weren’t canon, it doesn’t excuse the fact that Chibnall tried to diversify the Doctor’s past or contradict established canon. If casting the Thirteenth Doctor as a woman was strike one (which I’m teetering on), then this would be strike two. What it would take for a strike three would be another female for the Fourteenth Doctor or something even worse than the Series 12 finale.

In the meantime

Regardless of whether I will be reviewing Series 13, the fact is that there is still a lot of time to kill, so I’m going to share some of what I am planning to post on Tumblr for the rest of 2020. Aside from the sporadic random and content introduction posts, I have a couple of posts sitting in my drafts (hoping to make another one or two as well) about some obscure memes I’ve been appreciating.

I low-key mentioned this in the review for Episode 6 and on the Sea Princesses Wiki, but I’m planning to buy Fabio Yabu’s Princesas do Mar books and translate them so I can do reviews on them and put info from them on the wiki as my final project for it. I aim to start this by the end of this year when I earn enough money from work to buy the books, but if there are any Brazillian fans out there who wouldn’t mind sharing scans, snapshots or transcripts of the books, then please feel free to contact me and maybe we can work something out.

I’ve never thought about pointing this out for the past few years, but the truth is that my Facebook and Tumblr pages (along with my anime pages on Facebook) haven’t grown much over the past few years (whereas the Yui Hirasawa Waifu Network is seeing new followers almost every few days). As for this Tumblr blog in particular (my main page), I suspect that I may have been shadowbanned since at least 2015 while I was writing the Koei Warriors Rant Series, which is why I barely see any new followers or activity on here. Only one user liked one of my reviews during Series 12 and only one user liked a couple of my reviews during Series 11.

So if you happen to see this, feel free to follow me and look forward to my future content. And if you happen to see my past posts and you have a problem with them, then maybe you should have thought twice about following me or making a scene about it.

Otherwise, thank you for reading this series of reviews again. I’ll be back at the end of the year to review the festive special, Revolution of the Daleks.

#doctor who #doctor who series 12 #thirteenth doctor #doctor who series 12 review #thirteenth doctor review