#starts a countdown on a doomsday machine?

[vladdyissues]

Some silly sketches tonight

DANIEL NO DON'T TOUCH THAT BUTTO—

#danny phantom #vlad masters #danny fenton #hjbenderart #sketches #dp fanart #practicing some poses #idk what the button does #starts a countdown on a doomsday machine? #releases an army of trained badgers? #lifts the curtain on vlad's intimate toy collection?

[lucascecil]

Seventh Doctor - Project: Blue Box

TV Stories

◆ Time and the Rani

◆ Paradise Towers

◆ Delta and the Bannerman

◆  Dragonfire

◆ Remembrance of the Daleks

◆ The Hapiness Patrol

◆ Silver Nemesis

◆ The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

◆ Battlefield

◆ Ghost Light

◆ The Curse of Fenric

◆ Survival

Audio Adventures

- 7th Doctor Adventures

◆ Last of the Titans

◆ Return of the Daleks

◆ Dominion

◆ The Trial of a Time Machine

◆ Vanguard

◆ The Jabari Countdown

◆ The Dread of Night

◆ Bad Day in Tinseltown

◆ The Ribos Inheritance

◆ London Orbital

◆ Scream of the Daleks

◆ Operation Dusk

◆ Naomi’s Ark

- Main Range

◆ Unregenerate!

◆ Bang-Bang-a-Boom

◆ Flip-Flop

◆ The Fires of Vulcan

◆ Red

◆ We Are the Daleks

◆ The Warehouse

◆ Terror of the Sontarans

◆ 1963: The Assassination Games

◆ The Defectors

◆ The Sirens of Time

◆ The Genocide Machine

◆ The Grey Man of the Mountain - ★★★☆☆

◆ The Fearmonger - ★★★★☆

The Fearmonger is a story with a lot of say about the social politic scenario it was made and that uses of its themes to work perfectly with the regulars and their relationship - that brings them closer by putting the trust Ace and Seven have in each on check. A good start for their ternure in audio.

Complete review: here.

◆ Dust Breeding

◆ Colditz - ★★★☆☆

◆ The Rapture

◆ The Shadow of the Scourge

◆ The Dark Flame

◆ The Harvest

◆ Dreamtime

◆ LIVE 34

◆ Night Thoughts

◆ No Man’s Land

◆ Nocturne

◆ The Dark Husband

◆ Forty-Five

◆ Shadow Planet/World Apart

◆ Muse of Fire

◆ The Flying Dutchman/Displaced

◆ The Magic Mousetrap

◆ Enemy of the World

◆ The Angel of Scutari

◆ Project: Destiny

◆ A Death in the Family

◆ Lurkers at Sunlight’s Edge

◆ Protect and Survive

◆ Robophobia

◆ The Doomsday Quatrain

◆ House of Blue Fire

◆ Black and White

◆ Gods and Monsters

◆ Afterlife

◆ Revenge of the Swarm

◆ Mask of Tragedy

◆ Signs and Wonders

◆ You Are the Doctor and Other Stories

◆ A Life of Crime

◆ Fiesta of the Damned

◆ Maker of Demons

◆ The High Price of Parking

◆ The Blood Furnace

◆ The Silurian Candidate

◆ Red Planets

◆ The Dispossessed

◆ The Quantum Possibility Engine

◆ Project: Lazarus

◆ Master

◆ Valhalla

◆ Frozen Time

◆ The Death Collectors/Spider’s Shadow

◆ Kingdom of Silver/Keepsake

◆ A Thousand Tiny Wings

◆ Klein’s Story/Survival of the Fittest

◆ The Architects of History

◆ The Shadow Heart

◆ The Psychic Circus

◆ The Monsters of Gokroth

◆ The Moons of Vulpana

◆ An Alien Werewolf in London

◆ Persuasion

◆ Starlight Robbery

◆ Daleks Among Us

◆ The Two Masters

◆ Warlock’s Cross

◆ Subterfuge

◆ The End of the Beginning

◆ Dark Universe

- The Companion Chronicles

◆ Bernice Summerfield and the Criminal Code

◆ The Prisoner’s Dilemma

◆ Project: Nirvana

- The Lost Stories

◆ Thin Ice

◆ Crime of the Century

◆ Animal

◆ Earth Aid

- Classic Doctor, New Mosnters

◆ Harvest of the Sycorax

- Short Trips

◆ The Devil’s Footprints

◆ Dark Convoy

◆ Doctors and Dragons

◆ The Riparian Ripper

◆ Inside Story

◆ The Shadow Trader

◆ Crystal Ball

◆ The Shrine of Sorrows

◆ Dead Woman Walking

◆ Critical Mass

◆ Washington Burns

◆ Forever Fallen

◆ Police and Shreeves

◆ The Hesitation Deviation

◆ Twilight’s End

◆ The Night Before Christmas

Books

◆ Timewyrm: Genesis

◆ Timewyrm: Exodus

◆ Timewyrm: Apocalypse

◆ Timewyrm: Revelation

◆ Cat’s Cradle: Time’s Crucible

◆ Cat’s Cradle: Warhead

◆ Cat’s Cradle: Witch Mark

◆ Nightshade

◆ Love and War

◆ Transit

◆ The Highest Science

◆ The Pit

◆ Deceit

◆ Lucifer Rising

◆ White Darkness

◆ Shadowmind

◆ Birthright

◆ Iceberg

◆ Blood Heat

◆ The Dimension Riders

◆ The Left-Handed Hummingbird

◆ Conundrum

◆ No Future

◆ Tragedy Day

◆ Legacy

◆ Theatre of War

◆ All-Consuming Fire

◆ Blood Harvest

◆ Strange England

◆ First Frontier

◆ St Anthony’s Fire

◆ Falls the Shadow

◆ Parasite

◆ Warlock

◆ Set Piece

◆ Infinite Requiem

◆ Sanctuary

◆ Human Nature

◆ Original Sin

◆ Sky Pirates!

◆ Zamper

◆ Toy Soldiers

◆ Head Games

◆ The Also People

◆ Shakedown

◆ Just War

◆ Warchild

◆ SLEEPY

◆ Death and Diplomacy

◆ Happy Endings

◆ GodEngine

◆ Christmas on a Rational Planet

◆ Return of the Living Dad

◆ The Death of Art

◆ Damaged Goods

◆ So Vile a Sin

◆ Bad Therapy

◆ Eternity Weeps

◆ The Room With no Doors

◆ Lungbarrow

◆ The Dying Days

◆ Illegal Alien

◆ The Hollow Men

◆ Matrix

◆ Storm Harvest

◆ Prime Time

◆ Independence Day

◆ Bullet Time

◆ Relative Time

◆ Heritage

◆ Loving the Alien

◆ The Algebra of Ice

◆ Atom Bomb Blues

#Seventh Doctor #Doc Thoughts

[audiofictionuk]

New Fiction Podcasts - 19th July

Machine Takeover New Audio Drama! The AI apocalypse has already started. Machine Takeover, the AI comedy podcast telling the story of AI’s impact on society. John Doe charts the future of humanity as its last survivor. https://Immergencymedia.podbean.com RSS:https://feed.podbean.com/Immergencymedia/feed.xml

The Naked Word Cafe New Audio Book! If you enjoy hearing novels, this is the place for you. Starting with a Novella, the Executioner's Mandate, you can tune in and hear books in a serialized format. The goal is to produce two new chapters each week. The next novel, Countdown to Doomsday, is in production, and I hope to have it ready for a mid-September launch. https://thenakedwordcafe.buzzsprout.com/ RSS:https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/573895.rss

Toska Apresenta: O Dragão do Norte New Audio Drama! Imagine uma realidade onde o sobrenatural é parte do cotidiano. Um mundo onde monstros e seres mitológicos vivem em constante conflito com a raça humana. Pensa como seria a vida abaixo da linha do Equador neste universo. Ficou curioso? Então seja bem-vindo a Vera Crux, um Brasil onde a fantasia medieval e steampunk se misturam para criar um mundo fantástico. É neste cenário que você acompanhará Lumi, uma jovem artesã que irá, a pedido do pai, ajudar o irmão, um cavaleiro real, numa jornada rumo a uma missão suicida: destruir a ameaça de um gigantesco dragão, capaz de incendiar todo o reino. Mas antes de cumprirem o objetivo, ambos nem imaginam em quantas aventuras irão se meter, já que nada é exatamente o que parece. Mentiras, traições e mortes os acompanharão, em meio a criaturas que despertam a nossa fantasia. Aproveitando para, através da fantasia, falar sobre minorias, machismo, relações sociais e empoderamento, Rodrigo Espirito Santo nos traz um texto direto e divertido, com uma protagonista fácil de se apaixonar. https://toskaapresentaodragaodonorte.buzzsprout.com RSS:https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2219627.rss

’The Greatest Adventure’ presented by Legends on Paper New Audio RPG! The Greatest Adventure - a Dungeons and Dragons 5e podcast based in the time of Atlantis and the world-setting developed by fantasy author, Ravek Hunter, as portrayed in his novels included in The Broken Pithos Saga. The cast of Legends on Paper are an eclectic group of Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts with just enough courage to broadcast how ridiculous they can be every week via streams and podcasts. https://legendsonpaper.podbean.com RSS:https://feed.podbean.com/legendsonpaper/feed.xml

Returned Destruction New Audio Drama! Afrofuturism is a cultural aesthetic that combines science-fiction, history and fantasy to explore the African experience. Returned Destruction takes place 5000 years in the future https://www.buzzsprout.com/2220037 RSS:https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2220037.rss

#audio fiction

[modmidnight]

I haven't shared any of the 'Forging New Paths' characters that there currently are in quite awhile. Haven't made any new drawings of them or anything since I did the first Shadow. Well, the reason for the outfit change is because the person playing Shadow dropped out of the rp but got picked up by my friend RyuForce. They wanted a different outfit for Shadow and commissioned me to help draw it. Anyway, I'll share his story below again, in addition to anything that has happened since the last drawing was made:

This would eventually lead him to Chun-Nan in search of another chaos emerald for the cannon aboard the ARK, where he met some of the continent's best protectors. He fought them, first a pair called Dulcy (a dragon, whom Shadow killed) and Jian (a tiger, whom Shadow injured badly but left alive) followed by a fight in a temple against a mobian tortoise called Bunker who was surprisingly agile for her seemingly advanced age while a pheasant called Cinder stayed on defense. It ended in somewhat of a stalemate where Shadow started to charge up what would have been a devastating chaos blast, only to be given the emerald from the temple by Bunker without anymore resistance. After that he left with a regretful 'I'm sorry' before beginning the search for more of the chaos emeralds hidden throughout the world.''His backstory is mainly the same, creation of Dr. Gerald Robotnik on the ARK 50 years prior to the start of the events of the rp, an artificial creature from Black Doom's DNA, along with some genetic make up from Chaos and Gaia with a mobian hedgehog as a base. GUN attacked the ARK and Gerald was killed. Maria lived this time, through was gravely injured. Shadow and Maria escaped the ARK and he managed to get her into a stasis chamber powered by a chaos emerald in order to sustain her life while her injuries healed, though it stalled her aging, corrupted her DNA (there's a story behind it for another time) and caused her memories to disappear. Shadow was captured and subsequently imprisoned in a cryo chamber deep beneath Prison Island only to be found 50 years later when Ivo Robotnik, current emperor of Metropolis, noticed a black zone disturbance caused by chaos energy (in this AU, chaos energy is parasitic to electrical energy, meaning it wreaks havoc on machines and shuts anything down powered by electricity until the source of the chaos energy is removed or contained, wherein power will soon return). It was there Shadow first en ountered Lara and Sonic who at the time were split up from Tails and Sonic's younger sister Sonia due to a prior incident with a creature composed mostly of water and machine like parts, an avian 'chaos spawn'. Shadow fought and won against both of them, breaking Lara Su's arm in the process and taking her green chaos emerald for himself. About a week or so later he went on an expedition with Robotnik, a machine called METAL (not Metal Sonic), an agent called Rooke Lorain, and a spider monkey going by the name of Scarf. They went there to retrieve some vital data, pairing up to take on the ARK's defenses where Shadow also tried to locate Maria but couldn't find her on Mobius. Assuming her dead, he planned to help Robotnik with stopping Doom's Approach and take revenge on the people responsible for Maria's supposed death. UPDATES TO SHADOW'S STORY:

Following the retrieval of the chaos emerald in Chun-nan, Shadow returned to the ARK and inserted the emerald into the Chaos Core Drive. Dr. Robonik brought personal and robots aboard the previously abandoned space colony to begin repairs. During this time, a message was broadcasted to the world following the firing of the Eclipse Cannon to partially shatter the moon as a warning. A doomsday clock of one month began its countdown before DOOM arrived upon Mobius.

Shadow meanwhile remained on the ARK, his blood sampled by a recently kidnapped Dr. Alabast (Vanilla) as she is forced to work under Robotnik. The ARK's repairs continued, fixes that would take days or even weeks taking just mere hours due to the ARK's 'Dialation Phase', a special function of the station that allows time to be sped up around it while anything beyond stays its normal course.

#shadow the hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog #hedgehog #au #alternate universe #clothing #forging new paths

[doomedandstoned]

Candlemass: 35 Years A Band

  ~A Doomed & Stoned Double Feature~  

Dare To Knock On   The Door To Doom

By Magnus Tannergren  

I don't know how well known it is that CANDLEMASS hails from the same hoods in the Upplands Väsby right outside Stockholm as both Yngwie Malmsteen and Europe. And it is a fact that Candlemass debut album Epicus Doomicus Metallicus was released just two weeks after Europe's smash hit album The Final Countdown. We all know that that album earned Europe worldwide fame. Candlemass, on the other hand, remained an underground affair for decades.

Yet the legacy of Candlemass cannot be underestimated in anyway when it comes to heavy music. Their slow, heavy Sabbath worship paved the way for a whole genre inspired by the heavy rock and proto-metal of the ‘70s that we call, up until this present day, doom metal. Ironically, Europe now days have returned to their roots and sound more like Deep Purple or Rainbow than anything else. The circle is complete.

Anyway, this is a review of the new Candlemass album 'The Door To Doom' (2019 - Napalm Records) and not a study of when two parallel universes collide. This album also completes a full circle for Candlemass in many ways, too. It sees the return of the mystery man who did the vocals on that legendary debut album that arrived more than three decades ago. It was shocking news when Johan Längquist was announced as the vocalist on the new album -- an album that was already done with vocals by longtime singer Mats Levén (Therion, Krux). Oh the drama...

But maybe this is exactly what Candlemass needed to get back on track. The band has not been able to really deliver the goods these past ten years or so, in my opinion. Maybe it's because of the lead singer issues that have been tormenting Candlemass for ages. The reunion with Messiah Marcolin back in 2004 went south, Rob Lowe had a great voice but didn't work out as a touring member, and so on. Add main songwriter Leif Edling’s struggles with chronic fatigue syndrome and it is easy to understand that this doomsday machine has not been firing on all its cylinders for a while.

Yet here we are now. The new album is out and it is a grand return to epic doom metal as we know it should be done by Candlemass. I am the first to admit that I was skeptical, as I always am, to these kinds of albums that try to summon the glory of the past by reuniting with old members. But I am also the first one to admit when I am wrong. This is a fantastic Candlemass album.

The Door To Doom by CANDLEMASS

The voice of Längquist has matured as a good wine. It depth and grandeur coupled with attitude and experience. The vocals add that extra drama to tracks like "Splendor Demon Majesty" and "Astorolus – the Great Octopus" (yes, there is a solo by Tony Iommi on this, so another completed circle), but there is also beauty to be had, such as in the epic ballad "Bridge of the Blind" with its echoes of the great old ones, like Dio. I'm glad Johan Längquist is back. His silence has been a waste.

Musically, Candlemass delivers an album that stands proud besides the classic first four albums Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, Nightfall, Ancient Dreams, and Tales of Creation. It measures up to the challenge to invoke the gods of doom in a way that sometimes sends shivers down my spine, as I recall the greatness of this band's early years. It bares the mark of true doom and the spirits of the old classics possess this album. The guitar works by Mappe Björkman and Lasse Johansson are stellar and the thunder of Edling’s bass and Jan Lindh’s drumming is spectacular.

The music bares all the marks that makes up the legend of Candlemass. It is, in the words of the band itself, “the sound of 666.” I already mentioned some of the highlights on the album, but I must also say The Door To Doom doesn't really have any weak spots. All the songs are very strong and the riffing is epic. Despite my skepticism, I got bewitched again.

A great doom metal record, indeed, executed with precision and power. I fully believe this material has focus to make Candlemass relevant as a scene-anchoring act in metal once again and I hope they succeed, because the world needs this band. On the other hand, if this turns out to be the last album by this legendary Swedish doomers, The Door To Doom will also serve as a fitting final chapter in the Book of Candlemass. I honestly hope it’s not.

Magnus is the founder and host of Into The Void Podcast. He is also a senior staff writer at Slavestate.se, one of Sweden's oldest and most important online zines about heavy and extreme music.

☠

An Interview with

Candlemass Co-Founder

  Leif Edling

By Willem Verhappen  

I must say I was very surprised when the new record was announced, since at the time of its release, you said 'Psalms for the Dead' would be the final Candlemass full-length record. What made you change your mind? >

The "House of Doom" single. It was great fun to write it! Also working with producer Marcus Jidell was fantastic. We're quite a team, I must say. There I got the inspiration back for an entire album. We had a couple of band meetings about it and it was very clear that the band shared the enthusiasm for a new record. They had been playing live without me for a couple of years, with good response, but without an album it is easy for you to become a retro band pretty quick. Don't want that to happen to Candlemass.

I see what you mean. It's quite a challenge to stay relevant as an "older" band, especially in this day and age, when everything retro seems to be cool. On one hand you have bands like Priest and Saxon, who are still releasing decent records, and on the other hand there's bands who've been past their expiration date for decades. Do you prefer to see a band over their top or just remember them as they were?

That one’s easy. Remember them as they were. But having said that, it is a joy to see bands like Angel Witch, Manilla Road, Pries, and Saxon today, because they can still deliver. When you can’t deliver the goods anymore, maybe stay at home instead. Hope somebody will tap me on the shoulder one day and say “Leif...It’s time.” (laughs)

"Too many discussions & arguments over the years. Maybe some heart was missing in it all."

Just before the Christmas of 2013, you had a bout with burnout and stepped away from live performances for a while. What made you realize you needed to take a break? How did you get the “fire” back again?

A bit better, but not 100%. I'm still struggling with it. I hope I can do the rest of 2019's shows without too many problems. Have to look after myself, rest as much as I can, eat regularly, not party too much. Well, this is very "rock 'n' roll" to say, but it is great to be back. You have to listen to your body. If it says "rest," you have to step back. If it says, “Go, you can do it,” I hope I can!

I hope so. too. As a diabetic. I know it's sometimes difficult to listen to your body and not get drawn into the excitement of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. Is it difficult for you? What do you do in these moments?

On the Candlemass tour with Ghost, there was lots of partying on the bus after the shows. I was there, but took it quite easy. Went to bed early, but still I felt tired in the morning. So if we go on another tour, I might have to stop drinking totally, to pull it off. Playing live almost every night takes its toll. I’m 50-plus, struggling with fatigue syndrome, on a tour bus to hell -- talk about the wrong man in the wrong place! (laughs) Said "yes" to it instantly, of course.

In 2015, you released Avatarium’s second album, 'The Girl With The Raven Mask.' Was it difficult for you to pick up writing again?

Yes, it was. Well, not super hard. The burnout gave me the time to rest and get new inspirado for songs. In a way, I’m glad that it happened. Think many people just go on and on without taking a break. They just keep on going and get themselves an aneurysm or something. I quit before that happened. Got lots of time to think about future and what to do with it. Songwriting is one part. That Avatarium album is pretty good, I think.

I agree. It's my favorite Avatarium record. But you're saying this like you're not as happy with the other two records. Is that the case?

No. I love all three of them, but the second is the best.

We spoke briefly at Roadburn 2017 and I don’t know who was more nervous, me for meeting you or you for getting back on stage, playing the first ever live show with The Doomsday Kingdom. I remember that you were afraid no one would show up. Luckily, the place was pretty crowded and you guys gave an amazing show. I still get goosebumps when I think of your emotional performance of "The God Particle." How do you remember your return to the big stage?

The stage wasn’t that big (laughs), but it felt rather good. I could have played better, plus it's true I was quite nervous. It was the first small step to a full return, I would say.

In September of 2017, I spoke to Markus Jidell at an Avatarium show and he told me you were working on something very special. This was shortly before the 'House of Doom' EP was announced, so I assumed he was talking about that. Was he or were you already working on 'The Door To Doom'?

We worked on the House of Doom for about six months before we started on the full-length album. If I remember correctly, we started the demoing of the new songs on November 1st. The full album took exactly one year to make. Too long! Next time, I hope I’m better, then I hope we can deliver an album in three to six months. Shouldn’t take more time than that.

Does that mean there will be more Candlemass music coming our way?

Well, eventually. Hopefully!

The only surprise bigger than a new record was the return of Johan Längquist. How did that come about?

During the recording, we felt something was missing. We had too many discussions and arguments over the years -- all of us. Maybe some heart was missing in it all. I'd worked my ass off for this record, but was struggling with my health. Too much work, too much business, too many arguments, too much bull! In the end, we took a band decision to bring in Johan again -- go back to the "ground zero" of Doom, so to speak. Mats had done a great job, but we needed to do something in C-mass to find the spark again and Johan was the answer. Now we focus on having fun, not letting any business take over. I have no clue if it will last a year or two. At least we will enjoy the time left.

Lyrically, as well as musically, I think ‘The Door To Doom’ feels like a very dark record. What were your inspirations while writing this album?

It’s a good thing that people see the albums music and lyrics in different ways. I don’t think it is that dark. We have done darker things in C-mass, definitely. The songs are about the state of the world, how I feel myself during the burnout process, sea monsters, and reflections upon life in general. This time around, I’m pretty satisfied with the lyrics.

"I have no clue if it will last a year or two. At least we will enjoy the time left."

It's no secret that you’re a massive Black Sabbath fan, owning over half a meter worth of vinyl of their debut alone. I can only imagine how special it must have been for Tony Iommi to play on your record. How did that come about and what was it like working with Tony?

We just asked him. Seriously. We asked and got a "yes!" Our manager emailed his personal manager. Couldn’t believe it when we had the positive answer back. I was over the moon. Tony Iommi will play on my song! Hardest thing was to keep my mouth shut for three months. (laughs) But, you know, if you aim for the stars, you might succeed. He sent us the solo after a while and it was absolutely great! A dream came true.

Amazing how easily these things can happen.

Yes, Dio said once in an interview that he would have loved to guest sing on records but he never had the question put to him.

You’re currently on tour, opening for Ghost. When I went to see your show in Amsterdam, I noticed their audience is turning more mainstream. For instance, before your show, I heard someone say: “I looked up Candlemass online. They sound kind of like AC/DC.” Do you recognise this and how have the reactions been so far?

I have heard that we sound like Iron Maiden and Motörhead, to mention a couple. AC/DC? That’s a first. But the crowd reaction for our short set during the Ghost tour has been really good, actually. Better than we expected, so we must have done something right. The reactions for the album have been fantastic. Super great criticism from all over the world. And the Cardinal said to us, “You are special guest on this tour. You’re not the support act.”

With a band like Ghost, I can imagine the touring life is quite the experience. Did you have a chance to interact with those guys much beyond the stage?

Not really, they play a nearly three-hour long set and they take it seriously, as you should. We did have a couple of record hunting trips with the Cardinal that were very pleasant. He is a real vinyl buff, so we raided some shops here and there.

I can only imagine how these raids go about. What's your best find this tour?

The first Steamhammer record. First press on Brain €50. I gave it to the Cardinal after the last show, since we really wanted it, too. He got it as a gift from me, saying thanks for a great tour.

Since you’re a record collector and a fan of old school metal, are there any new bands you’re into that you think everyone should check out?

I haven’t bought a record with a new band for several years. I have no clue what’s going on in the metal world anymore. I just buy old albums. Seems like they knew how to write songs back then. Lost art, unfortunately. Is Blood Ceremony considered to be a “new” band? They are pretty good, I think.

Do you have future plans for the band or will you be shifting focus to side projects like Doomsday Kingdom, Krux, or others?

We just released a new Candlemass album and the schedule for this year is already full, so I won’t have any time, this year anyway, to do anything other than C-mass.

True, your calendar is swelling with the Ghost tour and some festival appearances in the summer. Are there any shows you’re especially looking forward to?

Yes: Sweden Rock, Hellfest, Wacken and, well, all of them! (laughs)

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#D&S Interviews #Candlemass #Stockholm #Sweden #Doom #Epic Doom #Metal #Leif Edling #D&S Reviews #Magnus Tannergren #Napalm Records

[taiblogcomics]

Night’s Out

Hey there, mass cancellation. We're getting close to the end of this event! Will it continue strong to the finish, or wil it New 52 us in the last act? I genuinely don't know, I haven't read this since it was new until now~

Here's the cover:

Okay, now this one might be the most distinctive of the covers in this event. The rest have all been a variety of team shots, and this feels like the only one actually illustrating the story and such. Anyway, Nightwing has been caught by humanity's natural predator, rebar. Definitely one of the darker covers of anything I reviewed, and I don't just mean the shading and background~

So we open with Batman and Lex Luthor standing in the rain. They're essentially as close as they can get without setting off the downed satellite's sensors, by Batman's calculations. And they're Batman's calculations, so you know they're correct. Lex reveals he buys into the whole "if there were no superheroes, there would be no supervillains" idea. Which is especially funny, considering he is himself a supervillain. And he admits to himself that he probably shouldn't antagonise Batman, but it's just so much fun. I think that's what supervillainy ultimately boils down to~

Meanwhile, the Crime Syndicate ponders over the big crack in the sky. I remember that season of Doctor Who too. Ultraman asks what they're going to do about it, and Deathstorm seems confident he can close it, if he can gather enough life energy and as long as this is the only one. They return to their base to check on Nightwing, and Grid reveals that he decided Nightwing should be more secure. So he moved him into a piece of Apokaliptian tech called the Murder Machine. If I had any familiarity with Fourth World stuff, this would probably be significant!

This reveal happens simultaneously with Lex's gang sneaking into the downed satellite and discovering this themselves. Batman, Catwoman, Lex, and Bizarro go in to free Nightwing, and the rest split up to hunt some of the Crime Syndicate. The Syndicate's version of Alfred (the Outsider) reminds Grid that if Nightwing dies, then also the other prisoner dies. As he enters to go check on said prisoner, Black Manta comes out of the shadows and stabs Alfred to death. Captain Cold's like "Yeah, yeah, cool. Kill them all. But is that one of them?" And he indicates the mysterious other prisoner.

As Batman checks on Nightwing in his restraints, suddenly the door behind them slams closed and a countdown begins ticking down. Well, that's rarely ever a good sign. And while they're dealing with this, the rest of the Injustice Gang is attacked by the rest of the Crime Syndicate. In the middle of the fight, Owlman peels off from the group. Batman and crew struggle to find a way out of the room, but it was built to withstand Doomsday. And then Nightwing reveals that the Murder Machine has been wired directly to his heart. The bomb only deactivates if his heart shuts down.

Batman continues his work on disarming the bomb, but it's not working. You can see he's getting a bit desperate, and Nightwing assures him that he won't feel abandoned if Batman opts to save himself instead. Batman, of course, won't even consider it. When the timer gets down to 3 minutes, Lex blasts Batman from behind and takes charge. He figures four lives (including his) are worth one. And if they can't disarm it, then Nightwing is worth the sacrifice. At least he has the heart to apologise as he starts to suffocate Nightwing.

Black Manta removes the kidnappee bag from the prisoner's head, but I don't think we're supposed to recognise him. Before the tape can come off his mouth, Atomica and Johnny Quick show up to fight them. Black Manta's suit is so tightly sealed by waterproofing that there aren't even any seams for her to slip between. Meanwhile, Johnny pins Captain Cold to the wall and begins taunting his "freeze ray". Cold explains it's a cold gun. It doesn't shoot ice, it actually slows thermal motion. Johnny points out that it's still useless if he can't pull the trigger. Cold agrees, and that's why it has a voice activation too~

Cold speaks his pass-phrase ("Jingle Bells, Batman smells", which is amazing that exists in-universe), causing the gun to fire while Johnny is holding it. Bad luck for Johnny, it fires right through his knee, freezing it. Cold shatters it with one kick, severing his leg. A bad time for anyone, but especially a speedster. This gets Atomica off Black Manta's back (literally), and they take the tape off the prisoner's mouth, who proceeds to add insult to Johnny's injury. Atomica is horrified, begging them to put the tape back on and shut him up. But the tape was over his beard, so it's probably not going to stick again.

Batman manages to get up and deck Bizarro with the Kryptonite ring. He pulls Lex away from Nightwing, but the machines he's hooked up to indicate he's already flatlining. Batman breaks down and just begins pounding Lex's face, promising to kill him if Nightwing's really dead. And while that's going on, the prisoner speaks a single word: MAZAHS. The lightning transforms him, and he kills Johnny Quick with a snap of the neck. And he's not done. He promises to kill all the Crime Syndicate, because he's the greatest hero on his planet. This looks like a job for... Alexander Luthor.

Well, this sure is a climax, huh? Everybody’s fighting everyone else. I particularly love Captain Cold’s ingenuity, that’s a great scene. But is Alex Luthor friend or foe? Why is he Reverse-Shazam? Is Nightwing really dead? (Spoilers: nope.) Guess we’ll have to find out in the finale next week~

#comics #reviews #Forever Evil #Taiblog

[esonetwork]

Timestamp #212: Victory of the Daleks

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/timestamp-212-victory-of-the-daleks/

Timestamp #212: Victory of the Daleks

Doctor Who: Victory of the Daleks (1 episode, s05e03, 2010)

Subversively, this story is literally what it says on the tin.

The time is World War II. Winston Churchill enters the Cabinet War Rooms and asks about the status of incoming enemy planes. When advised that they are out of conventional range, he decides to roll out his secret weapon. He pushes a miniature Dalek forward on the map board.

The TARDIS materializes soon afterward and is immediately surrounded by soldiers. The Doctor and Amy are greeted by Churchill, responding to his summons. The TARDIS is a month late, but that’s okay even though the time capsule is a bit inaccurate.

Churchill is amazed that the Doctor has changed faces again (even though we’ve never met him before). Amy is amazed at being in the nerve center of London’s war effort. They go to the roof and gaze upon the city, stunned by the sight of history and appalled at the revelation that Churchill is using Daleks to fight the Germans. The Doctor is brought face-to-face with an Army-green, Union Jack-sporting, obedient Dalek, known her as an Ironside.

The Doctor tries to convince Churchill to back down from employing the weapons, but Churchill is convinced that the machines will win the war. Churchill believes that they were invented by Professor Edwin Bracewell, and when the Doctor asks Amy to recall the events of the 2009 Dalek invasion, she tells the Doctor that she has no idea what he’s talking about.

Churchill is not swayed – “If Hitler invaded Hell, I would give a favorable reference to the Devil. These machines are our salvation.” – so, when the all-clear alarm sounds, the Doctor decides to visit Bracewell. He asks Bracewell how he developed them, and the professor explains that the ideas just come to him. A Dalek serves tea, spurring the Doctor into anger. He tries to provoke the Dalek into attacking him, channeling his anger and fury into the effort but is unsuccessful at first. When he reveals himself as the Doctor, the Daleks finally drop the charade.

They transmit the Doctor’s identity to a saucer on the far side of the Moon. Two soldiers attempt to stop the Daleks but are promptly exterminated. Bracewell tries to reason with them but has his hand shot off, revealing that the professor is an android that they created. The Daleks declare victory and transmat to their ship. The Doctor’s testimony is now powering some kind of progenitor.

The Doctor leaves Amy with Churchill and takes the TARDIS to the Dalek ship, claiming to have a self-destruct sequence on a dead man’s switch. It’s really a Jammy Dodger, but it fools the Daleks for the time being. The Daleks reveal that one ship survived their last encounter with the Doctor and that ship located a progenitor device containing pure Dalek DNA. The three Daleks on the ship were created from Davros’ cells, so the progenitor would not recognize them since they are not pure Daleks. As a backup, however, if it detected the Doctor nearby, it would activate.

Forcing a stalemate, the Daleks remotely switch on the lights in London, turning it into a giant target for the German air forces. They all watch as a new Dalek paradigm is born with multi-color Daleks born from pure DNA. Soon after birth, the new Daleks use maximum extermination against the inferior Daleks. When they turn on the Doctor, he brandishes his Jammy Dodger again.

Amy and Churchill realize that they have a way to help. They visit Bracewell, who is threatening suicide since he believes that his entire life is a lie. Amy talks him out of it and convinces him to help save London. Bracewell theorizes that he could send a weapon into space with his gravity bubble technology. Churchill scrambles three Spitfires – Jubilee, Flintlock, and Danny Boy – to assist just as the Daleks figure out the Jammy Dodger ruse.

The Daleks take out Jubilee and Flintlock. The Doctor is forced back into the TARDIS, which proves advantageous as he is able to disrupt the Dalek ship’s shields long enough for the Spitfire to destroy the transmission dish. With London safe, the Doctor dispatches Danny Boy to destroy the ship, but the Daleks reveal that Bracewell is a bomb ready to destroy the planet if the Doctor does not let them survive.

The Doctor reluctantly lets them leave, but they activate the bomb’s timer on their way out. The Doctor returns to Earth and reveals the bomb. The Doctor realizes that the professor’s human memories, particularly the emotions behind them, have the power to stop the countdown. Unfortunately, it fails.

Amy tries another tactic: She asks if he’s ever fancied someone that he shouldn’t. She asks him to remember the pain of a woman named Dorabella and how beautiful she was. The emotion disables the oblivion continuum bomb, but the Doctor is too late to stop the Daleks from leaving.

The Doctor is distraught even in victory. Meanwhile, Bracewell has lost his access to new futuristic ideas and the Doctor has stripped it out of the headquarters. The Doctor hugs Churchill and Amy bids him farewell, but demands the TARDIS key back before they go. Churchill, it seems, has sticky fingers.

Before they leave, the Doctor and Amy visit Bracewell. The professor is certain that they’ve come to deactivate him, but they have no intention of doing so. They recommend that he go find Dorabella or some of the places in his memories, and as they leave, Bracewell starts packing.

Off to the TARDIS go the Doctor and Pond, but the Doctor is still perplexed at how Amy cannot recall the Battle of Canary Wharf or the War in the Medusa Cascade. Regardless, they board the TARDIS and depart, leaving behind the menacing crack in the wall.

I really appreciate the double meaning of this story’s title. On the one hand, it plays well off the allied propaganda from World War II, but on the other hand, the title is quite literal: In a rare move for the franchise, the Daleks actually win by achieving a major goal.

These new Daleks, which will become known as the Paradigm Daleks, are vastly different than the Skaro Daleks (1963-1975), the Renegade-Imperial Civil War Daleks (1975-2005), and the Time War Daleks (2005-2010). They also (at this point) also retcon (establish a retroactive continuity) about the Daleks, effectively erasing the Daleks from the Time War forward except for the Doctor’s memories. What’s not entirely clear is where the Ironsides Daleks come from. Are they part of the army from the human-Dalek hybrids (which tie back to the Imperial Daleks, and therefore, Davros), or are they survivors of the New Dalek Empire? It is implied that they were part of the War in the Medusa Cascade, but it’s not definitive.

The effect is quite literal as Steven Moffat destroys the Dalek legacy created by Russell T Davies. I know that many fans despise the redesign, but I don’t mind them that much. They are definitely more chunky than every other previous Dalek design, but the most garish design factor is the rainbow coloring. In the classic era, Daleks stuck to the standards of grays, blacks, whites, golds, and light blues. In the first five years of the modern era, they went to grays, blacks, and bronzes.

The Skittles variety is a major culture shock.

It’s also worth noting here that this is not the first time that the Doctor has considered exchanging the Earth for the complete destruction of his worst enemy (The Parting of the Ways), which also links to the Doctor’s fury at the first time the Ninth Doctor encountered one of them (Dalek).

Lastly, the Daleks didn’t seem to recognize the Doctor with his eleventh face. In The Power of the Daleks, the Doctor mentioned that they always manage to recognize him. The recognition files seem to not work in certain cases, like the Renegade Daleks being dumbfounded over the Sixth Doctor (Revelation of the Daleks) and the Cult of Skaro not recognizing the Tenth Doctor (Doomsday). So, this matches with previous events, but the connection is not entirely clear.

Moving to the more humorous, the absurdity of Royal Air Force Spitfires engaged in space combat made me laugh. I also loved how dedicated the Ironside Daleks were to the ruse, from serving tea to waiting so very long for the Doctor to arrive. Quite frankly, they deserve their victory despite the ramifications for the universe going forward.

One thing is certainly clear: The Daleks just got less scrappy and a whole lot more menacing again.

(Thanks to The Doctor Who Site for their visual reference guide to the different Dalek types.)

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Time of Angels and Doctor Who: Flesh and Stone

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

#Doctor Who #Eleventh Doctor #Timestamps Project

[jesbakescookies]

Too Hot To Handle: Chapter Nineteen

So I kinda wrote a different kind of fanfiction. It’s nothing as in depth as my other fics so I am going to post it here. ENJOY!!

***Actor, Real Person Fanfiction, Walking Dead RPF***

Featuring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan X Original Female Character, Norman Reedus and others.. (FYI this is total fiction, as in I know nothing about JDMs life or that of his real SO and son etc. Because of this, for this work of fiction, they don’t exist. Jeffrey’s been a typical actor playboy dating fellow stars etc. This is written for sick daydreaming pleasure.)

Aria St. James is a busy woman with a thriving restaurant. She thought she had everything she needed until a few famous faces visit her dining room. A tall, dark and handsome actor decides Aria’s just what he’s been looking for.

Rating: Mature : NSFW **dirty dirty**

Aria stood with Javier and Deandra, her two most trusted assistants, as they began to record the cooking competition. The crew was setting up and fixing the lighting, as they got ready to film the first introductions. The only thing keeping Aria in place was the thought of disappointing Jeffrey. She knew he would be fine if she backed out but he wanted to support the charities and the kids who wanted to meet the cast. She couldn't let him down by being a big baby about it. 

"I'm going to die." Javier murmured, "right here on the floor, by the stove." Aria bite back her smirk and listened as he continued whispering behind her. "They're all up there and I'm down here and I'm going to die on national  television. And everyone's going to laugh at me." "Shut up Javie." Dee hissed, "I'm nervous enough without you doomsdaying it over there." “Fuck you Dee. I’m losing my shit.” Javie hissed back.   Turning her face slightly she threatened, "You both better pull your big girl panties on and buck the fuck up or you're dead to me. Got it?" "Yes, Chef." They muttered unanimously. "We're going to cook our fucking amazing food. Same as any other day. Win or lose, we will finish. Got me?" "Yes, Chef." Turning back she glanced around the large studio, the seating for the crowd above them to allow the audience better views of the action. Aria felt as though she were in some kind of gladiator ring fighting for her life by cooking a five course meal. Finding Jeffrey watching, from above, his long arms braced on the rail as he smirked at her. Biting her lip as he winked, Aria let out a slow breath to calm her own racing heartbeat. 'Don't puke. Don't puke, don't puke.' She repeated as they called action.

"So Jeffrey a little bird told me you know the head chef on our team really well." The host commented as they watched the two teams cooking below them. "Is that little bird's named Norman?" "Yes. It may be." "Right." Jeffrey chuckled, shaking his head and ignoring the heat he felt on his neck. "Yes, I know Chef St. James. She's a good friend of mine." "Just a friend?" Licking his lip nervously, he glanced at the petite brunette in her element. She was shouting out orders and cooking something bursting in flames as the alcohol caught fire. The crowd oohed over it, whistles of excitement for the action. The couple talked about what they should say if questioned and both agreed to play off any insinuations. Aria didn't want the show to use them as some spin off plot line when it should be about the charities. Jeffrey agreed wholeheartedly, his eyes softening as he saw yet another side of the woman he loved. She was passionate about more than cooking. She valued generosity and was honorable. He fucking loved her and couldn't see his life without her. Truthfully, he wasn't sure how he survived before she was in it. "Aria's a great girl. She jumped on the chance to do this last minute to help support our charities and give the kids from Make a Wish the opportunity to see the cast. She's a lovely person." "Okay, okay. Jeffrey's being secretive." Laughter broke out and the attention was shifted back to the action in the kitchens. Jeffrey glared at Norman across the set and gave him two middle fingers. He should be furious but knew it was Norman fucking around, making him squirm in front of the cameras. They pulled pranks on each other all the time. He hadn’t meant to push on the one sore spot in Jeffrey’s life. Knowing that didn't mean he wasn't going to smack the shit out of his surrogate brother the next opportunity he got. Shaking his head as Norman returned the gesture, the crowd cheered and whistled when dishes began to come together. Aria was plating away, her concentration on perfecting every element. Javier was buzzing around her calling off times left to cook different components. Her other sous chef moved a tray of fish, the rack sliding right off the baking dish, dumping all of the contents on the floor. "Shit." Jeffrey hissed through clenched teeth as her team scrambled. Javier was gesturing wildly and the woman who dropped the tray looked as though she were about to burst into tears. Aria whistled loud ending their freak out and rattled off instructions. She moved smoothly into creating a completely new dish now that her main ingredient was lost. "Her assistant lost her main component!" The host announced dramatically, before continuing. "Chef St. James is starting over for her fish course. She seems cool headed. Jeffrey is Chef St. James always this collected." "Aria is a machine in the kitchen. I've watched her cook before. Javie and her are a great team. If anyone can pull it off, it's them." Jeffrey watched as they began to finish up dishes, while Aria jumped on creating a completely new dish with different ingredients. She was working quickly, her eyes jumping to the clock as time clicked down. The host began asking questions to the chefs below as they worked. "Chef St. James. You lost your main component on the fish dish. What's your plan?" "Well luckily we have some snapper. It’s not my favorite for this but we are going to modify things real quick here. We all work in the restaurant industry so we are used to improvising when mishaps occur." "Very good. Very good. And you think you'll pull it off for a win. You've got Jeffrey up there rooting for you. He is saying great things about you." "I have faith in my staff here. We're close to finishing up. Hopefully we can live up to Jeff’s praise because I'll never hear the end of it!" She quipped with a chuckle, winking at the man above her. Jeffrey grinned widely at her, his eyes sparking with amusement. "Alright, back to you guys." The co-host said as the camera went to the group upstairs.

Aria could feel sweat dripping down her spine and collecting in the center of her bra. She was used to sweating through clothing while in the kitchen but never while being filmed in HD. Her gaze flicked to the time clock for what felt like the thousandth time, the giant countdown looming over her. "Sauce Javie." She ordered, holding her hand out and taking the pan smoothly without looking away from her task. "Time?" "Five for veg, chef." "Dee?"  "Uh... um." her assistant stammered, the woman still frazzled from the fish disaster. "Easy Dee." Aria spoke calmly, glancing at her. "Deep breath for me." "Yes chef." She replied, closing her eyes she took a breath and began working again. After a few more breathes she began rattling off her times, her voice stronger. Aria had begun plating as the time started to wind down. "Snapper?" Aria barked, her hands wiping plates and pouring sauce. "One minute." "Make it forty seconds, or we don't finish." She ordered, moving swiftly down the table to finish off each dish to perfection. "Yes chef!" Dee answered. "Desserts done?" "Yes chef." "Put it in the chiller." "Yes chef." The fish was handed off and the desert were scooped and placed in the freezer. The crowd above was buzzing, their shouts and whistles long ago become white noise to Aria. The cameras being shoved in their face were harder to ignore.

 Aria glanced up at the area Jeffrey was watching from and found him smiling at her. Biting back her own grin, she focused on finishing the last few dishes as the crowd began to countdown. "Now, now, now. Javie." She exclaimed, her sous chef finishing off the last plate as the buzzer went off. Aria's let out a huge sigh and hugged Javie and Dee. Julio brought of a shot of tequila, toasting to the end of the cooking portion of the show. Clicking her shot glass with him and her team, Aria threw back the shot with a hiss. "Oh that burns so good." She rasped in Spanish, clutching Julio's arm playfully. Bellowing, the Hispanic man replied, "I'll get you a bottle, it's made at my ranch in Mexico."  

The judges were eating her food and asking her questions. Aria tried her best to keep cool but her nerves were fried after such a long day. “So Chef. This is the dish you had to start over after your assistant dropped the main ingredient. Is this something you’ve made before?” One judged asked before sipping the subtle miso broth from her spoon. “No. Everything I’ve made today is an original dish. We have used similar techniques and flavor profiles but they’re all new.” “That’s impressive. You said you are used to working on the fly?” “Things happen in kitchens.” Aria chuckled, “It’s not uncommon to get bumped or knocked into while hustling. We’ve substituted more dishes than I’d like to admit to.” The judges laughed at the statement and then broke down the different components and asking questions about how things were made. Aria could feel the cameras on her and the audience watching. She knew right then that being in front of the cameras was not for her. Aria had no idea how Jeffrey could tolerate all the eyes. Her round was over and she was able to relax with Javier and Deandra as they tasted the other chef’s fares. A hand touched her lower back, making her spin around to find Jeffrey smiling softly. “You did amazing doll.” He rasped, kissing her on the cheek. “Everything looked fucking delicious.” “Thanks.” She murmured, glancing around before stepping up to kiss him. His hand sunk into her hair and cupped the back of her head, deepening the kiss. Pulling back after a few breathless moments, Jeffrey whispered, “I gotta head back but I’ll see you soon.” Watching him walk away, Javier spoke from her side. “I could watch that man walk away all day long.” Snorting, Aria bumped his hip with hers playfully and commented, “Stop objectifying my man.” Chuckling, Javier hooked his arm through hers and replied, “Well he shouldn’t dress so provocatively if he doesn’t want the attention.” “He’s wearing jeans and tshirt Javier.” “Yeah jeans that do nothing but accentuate both his luscious ass and obvious lethal weapon. Goddamn girl, how do you ever leave the house?” “Cheryl asked me the same question and I’ll tell you the same thing. I have no fucking idea.”

Find Chapter Twenty here:

http://jesbakescookies.tumblr.com/post/163234313586/too-hot-to-handle-chapter-twenty

I started posting this fic over on AO3 also. I will probably post in both places since I’m still figuring out AO3 formatting etc.

Let me know if you’d like to be tagged for updates. I’ll try my best to remember!

@magikat409 @cadeviolet @aforrester77422 @bethcarli @thamberlina @star017 @bec-brained-blarg @blackmother77 @lascitateognesperanza @adriannawiggins @jdm-negan-mcnaughty @negans-network @negansmutweek @cltex84 @audreychaz @wolfhart18 @ruggedasfuck @warriorqueen1991 @yellatthetopofyourlungs @hotfornegan @jml509 @ladyynegan @ibelongtonegan @uhh-dope @brandi-sykestw @negandarylsatisfaction @londoncapsule @jeffreynegan @morganstopbeinghotkthx @booliemaud @sicksadtired @wolfgirl1074 @sophisti-kate-ed @jdmsgal @sasquaatch68 @spideygeek @arkhamasylumpatient-blog1 @cupcake5365 @jackythemoo @soft-spokenangel @beegnc @mandilion76 @prettyepiic @beautifuldizasterfics @kitcat44 @mayuketchupytostones @ibelongtonegan @azanoni @alyisdead @mwesterfeld1985

#Jeffrey Dean Morgan #jeffrey dean morgan x oc #jdm #JDM x OC #Actor rpf #rpf #negan #negans thirst squad #negans-network #Norman Reedus #walkers #fanfiction #AU fanfiction #too hot to handle #jesbakescookies

[entergamingxp]

Let your mind wander with 40 of our best reads • Eurogamer.net

We’ve been lucky enough to publish some wonderful work on Eurogamer over the years, written by some wonderful writers, and we thought pulling some of it together at a time like this would be a nice thing to do.

If you see something you like, scroll down to the bottom of the piece and click on the author’s name to see what else they’ve written. There are some real treats I haven’t been able to include here – it’s a long enough list as it is!

Thank you everyone who contributes to Eurogamer and helps make it what it is, and thank you for reading it. Have a nice Easter weekend.

How Age of Empires 2 got some Scottish kids into RTS – Here’s a question: How do you get a bunch of disillusioned kids in the arse end of Scotland into real-time strategy games? Sam Greer remembers the 90s in Scotland and an unlikely gaming champion.

Petscop, the internet’s favourite haunted video game – Last March, a YouTube channel titled Petscop began releasing Let’s Play-style videos of what appeared to be a bargain-bin Playstation One game designed to entice undiscerning children. But things quickly took a darker turn, as Sara Elsam finds out.

An ode to video game doors – It’s easy to underestimate doors, Andreas Inderwildi writes, and yet they are also imbued with a kind of magic. If you’ve ever wanted to see a lot of lovely video game doors, now’s your chance.

After half my life, Ace Attorney’s re-release brought me full circle – Some games can have profound influences on our lives. Jay Castello grew up with the Ace Attorney series and wanted to be a lawyer – but life doesn’t always go the way it was planned.

I went Christmas carolling in Rust with a real piano, and got shot a hell of a lot – When Emma Kent heard that craftable pianos were coming to Rust (with MIDI support) and she could plug a microphone in too, there was only one thing she wanted to do. But would her fellow Rust players share in her festive spirit?

The story behind the Oblivion mod Terry Pratchett worked on – Imagine one day getting an email thanking you for the companion you made for Oblivion, signed by someone claiming to be author Terry Pratchett. Then imagine discovering, many letters later, it really was him. Cian Maher tells an unlikely story of friendship and collaboration.

The Lords of Midnight: on the legacy of a truly epic wargame – Even now, there’s little else remotely like it. Jennifer Allen remembers a cruel but magical adventure for Commodore 64. And thanks to devoted fans, there is now a way to play it.

Red Dead Redemption 2 and XCOM 2 have one crucial thing in common – companionship – From perishable squad mates to tales around a camp fire, Vivek Gohil digs into what makes companions in Red Dead Redemption 2 and XCOM 2 so special.

I was in Football Manager and I don’t know how to feel about it – Imagine our surprise when writer Chris Tapsell turns around and announces he was once in a Football Manager game, a series he loves – but as a football player. If it weren’t for a shoulder injury he may well have been a professional footballer today. But something always bothered him about his FM representation: his stats weren’t right. His height, his birthday, his eccentricity. This is the story of him getting to the bottom of it.

Roleplaying across the internet – It doesn’t have to be people sitting around a table. In its purest form, roleplaying is when a person says, “Let me tell you a story,” and the other person says, “Me too.” Giada Zavarise takes into the world of forum roleplaying.

If Ubisoft wants to cling on to Clancy, it’s time to talk politics – Tom Clancy relished a political drama so why does Ubisoft try to avoid it in his name? Is such a thing even possible? Edwin Evans-Thirlwell takes a closer look at Clancy and the legacy he left behind.

I owe everything I am to Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday – You’re in a game shop in the mid-1990s and you have £15 to spend, and that’s a lot – you’re a kid and you’re poor. Jennifer Allen had a choice on her hands. What to choose? Pele? Streets of Rage? Or how about this box with the hero and the aliens on…?

Kazunori’s War: the world of Gran Turismo’s creator – He keeps a selection of pre-packed bags by his desk so he can leave at a moment’s notice. He’s an occasional racing driver. And he spun out a car at 200km/h as a very naughty youth. He is Kazunori Yamauchi, creator of Gran Turismo, and Martin Robinson travels to Japan to meet him.

It’s not easy being green: a brief history of orcs in video games – Who invented orcs, how did they get their green colour, and when did they start being more than dumb enemies? Nic Reuben seeks answers.

Why did ancient Egypt spend 3000 years playing a game nobody else liked? – Here’s a game responsible for one of the first ever instances of trash talk, a game played by pharaohs, but even after 3000 years of play, Senet went the way of the disonaur. Christian Donlan tries to find out what happened.

The boy who stole Half-Life 2 – In May 2004, a German boy wakes to find his bed surrounded by armed police officers. Seven months earlier, the source code to the in-development-and-late Half-Life 2 leaks onto the internet. Simon Parkin tells the story of a global hacker hunt, from both sides.

The six-year story of GTA Online’s long-vacant casino – When GTA Online launched, the Vinewood Casino was there. It wasn’t open but it was “opening soon”, according to a sign on the door. One year later, still closed; two years later, still closed. Nearly six years later, still closed. Why did it take so long? Jordan Oloman digs into a troubled development.

The cult of Hideo Kojima – What is it about Hideo Kojima that has crowds turn out in their hundreds to meet him? Khee Hoon Chan waits among one such crowd in Singapore, and then all of a sudden, spotlight on, Kojima is there.

Hearts and minds – Tom Bramwell puts on his best suit for the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, and it leaves him wondering why there aren’t more heroes in games.

The US town ruled by an AI storyteller – Great storytellers talk about creative partnerships with all kinds of things, from drugs to religion to half-awake states of mind. Can artificial intelligence now be added to the list? Emily Gera shines a light on a fascinating storytelling experiment.

The God who Peter Molyneux forgot – Do you remember Curiosity and the promise of a life-changing prize for whoever tapped the last block? Brayn Henderson does – he tapped it. But did it change his life? Wesley Yin-Poole travels to Scotland to find out.

The Wind Waker inspired me to build a boat – Ever decided to build a boat because you really liked a game about sailing around? No of course not. Nor, I bet, have you ever bought an ocarina instrument because of a game, or fashioned your hair to look like Nathan Drake. Or have you? Omar Hafeez-Bore ponders the influence of games.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and the feud that keeps on running – This time he’s demanding a single coconut. Philippa Warr tells the a hilarious story of two lifelong friends falling out over a valentine.

Brando and Bowie: The amazing stories of a man you’ve never heard about – He alone witnessed Marlon Brando’s last ever performance, and David Bowie kissed him on the lips. He held high positions in the video game world and directed big games for big companies. And yet, he never quite found success as we know it. Or did he? Bertie tells a long story.

Why can’t video games get shoulders right? What an inspired question! And it turns out it’s all in the shoulder blades. Alan Wen investigates.

Viva Piñata places a brutal lens on late-stage capitalism – Don’t be fooled by its cutesy looks. Viva Piñata is, as Hazel Southwell tells us, maybe the only game where the kind of business psychopathy preached on Huel-based wellness retreats outside San Francisco will actually work.

The promise of a game world you can touch – James Holland puts his hands in front of him and as the on-screen bubbles start to pop, he feels them popping on his skin, on his bare skin – he’s not wearing gloves or equipment of any kind. Is this the tech of the future?

Inside Tomb of Horrors, the hardest D&D module ever made – Just getting inside can be an ordeal, as two of the entrances lead to certain death, and losing a character level 10 or higher – all that time invested – really hurts. Why would someone make something like that? Malindy Hetfield takes a closer look.

PS2: The Insiders’ Story – The PlayStation 2 is still the best-selling console in the world. It was a landmark machine and its success made Sony feel invincible. Ellie Gibson takes us back to a time of David Lynch adverts and wild parties.

VR has already taken people with dementia to the seaside, and now video games are exploring neurological disease itself – Watching a participant literally cry with happiness as they remove the headset is not a sight writer Luke Kemp will soon forget.

Decoding Shenzhen: The Chinese city that makes the world’s tech – Known as the mecca of manufacturing, Shenzhen is a fishing city turned megatropolis, where an idea can be made a reality and sold in a market stall in two weeks. Arshiya Khullar investigates.

The human cost of Red Dead Redemption 2 – In October 2018, Red Dead Redemption set a new benchmark for the kind of production values a video game could reach. Technically, it was a marvel. But at what cost?

The folklore roots of Sekiro’s anus-ball snatching enemies – Why does an enemy in Sekiro grab a pale fleshy thing from your behind, hold it up like a trophy, then devour it in its own behind? It’s all to do with some disturbing monsters in Japanese folklore, as Ewan Wilson finds out.

Why I play video games – Dr Omar Hafeez-Bore believes a good part of why he chose to pursue medicine was because of video games, and not for the reasons you may think.

Stories with dice: the thrill of old-school D&D – Even 40 years on, video games have a lot to learn from Dungeons & Dragons. Oli Welsh discovers the joy of pen-and-paper role-playing games.

A horse named Gizmondo: The inside story of the world’s greatest failed console – It’s like it never existed now, but for a while Gizmondo – a handheld gaming machine – was going to conquer the world. The 2005 launch party even featured Pharrell Williams and Sting. But less than a year later, the company behind Gizmondo collapsed into bankruptcy. Ellie Gibson hears the whole shady story from the people who were there.

Passing on the gift of games – Have you ever passed the gift of gaming on and watched someone come to terms with it like you once did? Oh the tantrums I used to throw playing Street Fighter! Emad Ahmed has a niece and nephew to pass the gift onto, with surprising effects.

After I stepped into Yakuza’s world, Yakuza’s world seeped into mine – Wish you were there, in Japan? Well, there are few games better than the Yakuza series for taking you there. They helped Malindy remember happy years studying there, and overcome a painful memory.

The quest for Shadow of the Colossus’ last big secret – What if everything in Fumito Ueda’s renowned game had not been found? Could there be a 17th colossi hidden somewhere, waiting to be discovered? Craig Owens takes us into a world of unsolved mysteries and secret hunters.

The secrets of Dark Souls lore explained and explored – It’s not easy to get at the story in Dark Souls because unlike in other games, it’s scattered and hidden away. Richard Stanton connects the dots for us.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/04/let-your-mind-wander-with-40-of-our-best-reads-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=let-your-mind-wander-with-40-of-our-best-reads-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

[sethbarkan]

Picks for masterchen

I have a spreadsheet with categories, duration, author, and other bibliographic info including summaries and descriptions for some titles, but I told you I was getting high tonight and that I would post the list tonight, and I am nothing if not a man of my word. So this should get you started. Each of these selections is (generally) a life-alteringly important work of staggering genius. They are in alpha by title. Cheers!

Title A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide A Very Expensive Poison: The Assassination of Alexander Litvinenko and Putin's War with the West Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years American Coup: How a Terrified Government Is Destroying the Constitution American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq Code Warriors: NSA's Codebreakers and the Secret Intelligence War Against the Soviet Union Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety Conservatives Without Conscience Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It Cyberspies: The Secret History of Surveillance, Hacking, and Digital Espionage Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Capture Your Data and Control Your World Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls: True Stories of Castaways and Other Survivors Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software Educated: A Memoir Every Day Is Extra Fascism: A Warning Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America Great Scientific Ideas That Changed the World Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution: 25th Anniversary Edition How Democracies Die Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free Insane Clown President It's Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly, and the Making of the Modern Middle East Lies, Incorporated: The World of Post-Truth Politics Lincoln's Lieutenants: The High Command of the Army of the Potomac Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia Now: The Physics of Time - and the Ephemeral Moment That Einstein Could Not Explain On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant Power Wars: Inside Obama's Post-9/11 Presidency Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia? Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal America's Democracy Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself - While the Rest of Us Die Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces Schneier on Security Snow & Steel: The Battle of the Bulge 1944-45 Spam Nation: The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime - from Global Epidemic to Your Front Door Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap The Doomsday Machine The Fifth Risk The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire The Hacked World Order: How Nations Fight, Trade, Maneuver, and Manipulate in the Digital Age The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, Volume 3: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965 The Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition The Martian The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living Since the Civil War The Rise of the American Corporate Security State: Six Reasons to Be Afraid The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - but Some Don't The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming The War on Science: Who's Waging It, Why It Matters, What We Can Do About It This Machine Kills Secrets: How Wikileakers, Cypherpunks, and Hacktivists Aim to Free the World's Information Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution We Are Anonymous Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet Who Owns the Future? Why We Lost: A General's Inside Account of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius Worm: The First Digital World War

[esonetwork]

Timestamp #182: Army of Ghosts & Doomsday

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/timestamp-182-army-of-ghosts-doomsday/

Timestamp #182: Army of Ghosts & Doomsday

Doctor Who: Army of Ghosts Doctor Who: Doomsday (2 episodes, s02e12-13, 2006)

  This is how Rose Tyler’s journey with the Doctor ended. This is how she died.

The TARDIS materializes on a playground near the Powell Estate as Rose makes a brief stop to visit her mother. Jackie has a surprise for Rose in a visit from Prentice, Jackie’s long-dead father. At ten past the hour, a non-descript ethereal form arrives in the kitchen. The Doctor and Rose rush outside to find the same figures everywhere, disappearing as rapidly as they arrived, and according to Jackie, just like clockwork.

In the Torchwood Institute, a group of scientists adjust a large lever and are congratulated by project director Yvonne Hartman. Their actions are felt around the world according to Jackie and the news. Jackie is upset that the Doctor is ruining the magic by investigating, but the Time Lord is unconvinced that the supposedly beneficial footprint is not one from a jackboot.

Deeper in the Torchwood Institute, a group of scientists led by Dr. Rajesh Singh investigate a large metal sphere that should not exist. Meanwhile, two Torchwood workers, Adeola and Gareth, step away for a clandestine romantic rendezvous. They choose an off-limits area that is under renovation, but the interlude is interrupted by a Cyberman.

Rose and the Doctor play Ghostbusters by setting up a containment field to determine the origin point by triangulation. As the scientists of Torchwood start the next shift – Adeola and Gareth have returned, each with a second rapidly blinking Bluetooth earpiece – Jackie talks to Rose about how the young woman has changed in her travels. The shift occurs, and a 3-D bespectacled Doctor traps a ghost for analysis. That effort disrupts Torchwood’s systems, forcing them to locate the TARDIS by CCTV. As the police box disappears with a hearty “Allons-y,” Torchwood prepares for the Doctor’s arrival with rifles and soldiers.

Oh, and Jackie came along. Not willingly, of course.

The Doctor emerges from the TARDIS, eliciting a round of applause from Hartman and the soldiers. Hartman demands to see his companion so the Doctor snags Jackie to pose as Rose, and the group goes on a tour of Torchwood. Hartman shows off the advanced technology that they have secured in order to enforce their borders, reminding him that they were responsible for destroying the Sycorax on Christmas Day. They also take the TARDIS for their archives, and Rose develops a plan of attack.

Adeola lures another co-worker, Matt, to his doom. Elsewhere, Hartman briefs the Doctor on the history of Torchwood and his status as their enemy. She takes him to the sphere, an object that intrigues the Time Lord as he identifies it as a Void Ship, a vessel designed to exist outside time and space in the emptiness between universes. Whatever resides inside is safe from the universe around it. Hartman shows the Doctor where they found the sphere. It is a spatial disturbance, the hole in the fabric of reality where they also can tap into the ghosts. The rift is in the sky above Canary Wharf, so Torchwood built a tower to reach it. The Doctor warns them that the rift has the power to fracture this universe like a cracked pane of glass, but when Hartman refuses to listen, the Doctor settles in to watch the fireworks.

His stubbornness scares Hartman into stopping the shift and asking for more information. Unfortunately, the newly-Cyberized workers covertly restart the countdown.

Rose leaves the TARDIS, snags a labcoat disguise, and finds the sphere room. She tries to use the psychic paper, but Singh has training and can avoid the ruse. She also spots Mickey Smith working in the room as Singh reports her to Hartman. The Doctor reveals the truth, but the countdown pulls them all away as the ghost shift begins.

The rift glows and the sphere activates, but the Doctor stops the assimilated workers by disabling their earpieces. The Doctor tracks the source of the transmission with his sonic screwdriver and uncovers the Cybermen, the advanced guard from Pete’s World. They take the Doctor, Jackie, and Hartman prisoner before turning the shift up to full power. A legion of Cybermen march through the rift into the tower, millions comprising an invasion force around the world.

Meanwhile, in the lab, the sphere opens to reveal a completely different threat. The sphere punched through the rift, the Cybermen followed the sphere, and the sphere brought the Daleks.

After forty-three years, Doctor Who finally gets a battle royale between the Doctor’s two biggest adversaries, and the Earth is the battleground.

Rose calls to the Daleks, momentarily confounding them as she reveals her knowledge of the Time War. She demands that they keep the three of them in the room alive, and the Daleks agree as they initiate something called the Genesis Ark. They demand to know which is least important, and Singh offers himself. He is sacrificed moments later.

The Cybermen address the planet as the Doctor promises Jackie that he will keep Rose safe, but the Earth refuses to surrender. They then investigate the strange technology in the sphere room. The Daleks emerge and the Doctor is beside himself in shock. As the two powerhouses exchange insults, the Doctor calls Rose’s phone and listens in. The Cybermen fire on the Daleks to no avail and the Daleks easily exterminate the drones. They plan to take on the millions of Cybermen with only four Daleks, but they step back when they learn of the Doctor’s presence.

Jackie and Hartman are taken away for upgrading along with the rest of the Torchwood staff. As Hartman is assimilated, a new group comes through the rift and destroys the Cyber Leader. Jackie’s upgrade is halted as a new Cyber Leader is christened, and the Doctor is reintroduced to Jake Simmonds from the Pete’s World resistance force. Jake takes the Doctor through to the alternate Torchwood, which the Resistance destroyed, and finds Pete Tyler. The Cybermen were able to break free of the Resistance and cross the boundary to the Doctor’s universe. Elsewhere, Mickey reveals that they can travel through use of disc-like devices, and Rose tells him about her history with the Daleks.

They also learn that the Genesis Ark is not of Dalek design. They stole it from the Time Lords.

During Pete’s discussion with the Doctor, the Time Lord learns that Pete’s World is collapsing due to the extreme amount of universe jumping. Pete asks for the Doctor’s help in defeating both invasions and saving his world, and the Doctor agrees. They all return to the normal universe, the Doctor sets Pete on a mission to save Jackie, modifies Jake’s rifle to affect polycarbide, and then surrenders to the Cybermen.

The Daleks force Rose to open the Genesis Ark, but she stalls by telling them about the Dalek Emperor’s fate. Moments later, the Doctor arrives. They verbally spar for a moment before the Doctor figures out that these four Daleks are the Cult of Skaro, Daleks with names and individualized purpose. He distracts them long enough to explosively open a door for the Resistance and the Cybermen, but during the fight, Mickey touches the Ark and activates it. Since it needs thirteen square miles of space to operate, the Daleks move it outside.

While on the run, the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey hook up with Pete and save Jackie. The initial meeting – a reunion of sorts for Jackie – is touching and funny, and despite not being from the same universe, they still feel a mutual attraction.

As the Daleks plow through the Cyber forces, the Cyber Leader orders all units to converge on Torchwood Tower. The Daleks open the storage bay’s roof and fly the Ark into the sky. When they open it, an entire legion of Daleks emerge.

The Ark is Time Lord science. It is bigger in the inside. The Earth is screwed.

As the Daleks swarm and begin exterminating everything below, the Cybermen open fire. Pete prepares to take his team (and Jackie) back through the rift, and the Doctor reveals that his 3-D glasses can see the remnants of “void stuff” contaminating everyone who traveled through it. He’ll be able to target those remnants and ship the Daleks and the Cybermen into the void, but Rose and everyone who has crossed the breach has to go through to Pete’s World.

Rose refuses to go without the Doctor, so he tricks her into going. She uses the disk to come back, and Pete strips the rest of them from his side, leaving Jackie upset at losing her daughter. Rose refuses to go back, so she and the Doctor set a pair of gravity clamps and activate the machine. The Daleks and Cybermen are pulled into the void – the lead Dalek executes an emergency temporal shift to escape – but the rushing winds pull one of the levers out of position. Rose lets go of her clamp to fix it, but the void threatens to pull her in. When she lets go, Pete arrives at the last moment and teleports her away just as the breach is sealed behind them.

Rose beats on the wall in Pete’s World, desperate to find the Doctor again. Both travelers rest their heads against their respective walls in a moment of solidarity, and then the Doctor walks away solemnly.

For all intents and purposes, Rose and Jackie Tyler are dead in our universe.

Some time later, Rose hears the Doctor calling her voice across the void. She tells her family of the dream, then follow it to Bergen, Norway, on the coastline of Dårlig Ulv Stranden. Loosely translated: Bad Wolf Bay. There, she finds the image of the Doctor, transmitting from the TARDIS by way of a supernova that the Doctor is using to power the signal. He called her here to say goodbye.

She tells him she’s working to defend the Earth through the newly rebuilt Torchwood, as well as that Jackie is pregnant. She’s sad that she’ll never see the Doctor again, and she tells him that she loves him. The Doctor nearly says the same, but time runs out before he can get the words out.

A tear runs down his face as he is once again alone.

He sets a new course for the TARDIS, but is interrupted by a bride standing in the console room. He’s confused, she demands to know where she is, and the credits roll.

  I have always loved this one for its quick pacing and snappy dialogue. Rose and the Doctor have a lot of fun together, and their chemistry is undeniable. It gets even more fun when Jackie gets involved because of how she plays with the Doctor and deeply cares about her daughter.

That said, it was high time for Rose to leave the TARDIS. I don’t have any issue with the Doctor falling in love, even with a companion, but it seemed that their relationship was being dominated by that connection. Rose never wanted to leave, and in fact, told the Doctor that she planned to stay with him forever. As such, her growth had stagnated and (as Jackie noted) she was being consumed by the journey. The only way she was ever going to leave the TARDIS was by force, and she’s now using her expertise in a different way as a consultant for Torchwood. She’s free to move on with her life.

The events are still emotional – I found myself tearing up as our heroes said their farewells – but I wholeheartedly believe that this was the best thing for the characters and the show, especially one explicitly driven by the concept of change.

    Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

  UP NEXT – Series Two Summary

  The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

#Doctor Who #Tenth Doctor #Timestamps Project