TDWP-2 and Mr. Serkis's AF - May 5

 

  On May 1, 2026, two very different films hit the movie screens in West and elsewhere: ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’, on the one hand, and a new adaptation of George Orwell's ‘Animal Farm’, on the other. Pause.

   What do they have in common, it would seem? Nothing, at a first glance. One film was shot live, with live actors, while the other was animated; one is almost entirely original and independent, while the other is not; one is celebrated and actively promoted, while the other is being quickly and quietly forgotten; one is about the modern Western elite, while the other...

   Let us start with this. It has been forgotten for a while now, but the first "Prada" (2006) was based on a book of the same name, just as the ‘Animal Farm’ movies are. This, as I wrote earlier, is already the third adaptation to date – the first came out in the 1950s, the second in the 90s, and this one (set in 2026) is the third, and the least successful (for now). Why?

   Because ‘Animal Farm’ was entirely political— Orwell, I swear, was a Trotskyist, he had a decidedly negative attitude toward Stalin and Stalinism, as well as toward English capitalism, and so ‘Animal Farm’ ends with a fraternization between Stalinists and capitalists. History showed that Orwell was not entirely right, but he was not entirely wrong either—but the important thing for us is that Mr. Serkis, who brought ‘Animal Farm’ to the screen this time, does not have that plot line at all. His version of ‘Animal Farm’ is completely apolitical, and as a result, it failed. ‘Animal Farm’ without politics—especially international politics—is of no particular use to anyone.

   Let us turn to ‘Prada’. Where is the politics there? That is right – nowhere.

   What were the book and the first film about? Contrary to popular belief, the "devil" in the title is not Miranda; her last name, Priestley, suggests she's "only" a priestess of the devil. The devil there is the entire fashion world: rich, glittering, energetic, dynamic... empty. Miranda, Emily, and Nigel spend their entire lives "running" to stay current, afloat; there's no time left for family, personal relationships, or simple human happiness, and that's why Andy/Andrea departs from Miranda quite rudely (by the standards of the English language and manners anyhow) at the end of the book and leaves the fashion world. Already in the first film, all of this was toned down and reduced to the relationship between Miranda and Andy (Emily and Nigel are a bit different), and now it is completely gone.

   What is there instead?

   Let us look. On the one hand, we have Andy, an accomplished journalist who... was cut (like her entire department), and needs to reinvent herself. On the other hand, we have Miranda, who has finally realized she has to be accountable for her words and who is in trouble, from which Andy and... Emily will help her out, only it turns out the latter has only a Very Cunning Plan, according to which the ‘Runway’ magazine will end up in her hands, and Miranda will be screwed. However, with Andy's help, Miranda turns the tables and remains the head of ‘the Runway’; only the owner changes...

   On the one hand, it all reminds me of the Westeros from Martin's books—there, all those lords, knights, and other aristocrats actually fighting, warring, and scheming with each other, while the "third estate"—mostly peasants—is just somewhere in the background, of no use to anyone...

 Except that the aristocrats become less and less necessary as time goes on—in the books, everything was heading toward Jon and Dany taking the throne—but the ending of IT turned out pretty badly, it messed everything up, and now the books of this aspect of the franchise have gone quiet as well. Pause.

   Nevertheless, in "Prada 2," too, everything that happens is a game played by the elite, the patricians; the world of "Prada 2" is rather limited—it is all about fashion, from America to Italy, and so on. None of the "outsiders" care about these games played by Miranda, Andy, and Emily; Andy, having dealt with Miranda and "the Runway," is ready to be friends with Emily—and why not? Who knows what the future holds, and Andy no longer has her old friends (from the first film)...

   In addition, there is no politics either, just as there is not in ‘Animal Farm-2026’—it is just that ‘Prada 2’ is made several orders of magnitude better than Mr. Serkis's ‘Animal Farm’, and that is why people like it—many people want to see beautiful actresses and actors dressed in expensive clothes... and preoccupied only with themselves. Pause.

   So, I don't really want to talk about politics, especially old politics—more than a hundred years have passed since the 1917 revolution described in SD—but! Vladimir Ilyich having enlightened the Russian-Soviet proletariat, turned it Red, and with their help, his team defeated the Whites, who were patrician elitists from a political point of view; and for quite a long time, the USSR had something like a "dictatorship from below," when everything (at least in words) was for the workers, peasants, and so on. Then everything became "ruined." Read that same Orwell—he blamed everything on Joseph Stalin; how right he is, I do not know...

   Leo Trotsky, on the other hand, was for permanent revolution, meaning an ongoing global (without quotation marks) war, similar to what is already happening around the world: in Europe – Putin’s Special Military Operation, in the Middle East – Iran vs. the USA, further east – India and Pakistan, and so on. Perhaps a shadow world government does exist... and it has composed of Trotskyists? That would be an interesting scenario for a film... and it will not happen, because by now the concepts of "politics" and "culture," especially for the masses, have become somewhat divided.

   ... The last Sovereign Emperors of the Romanov dynasty, and their European relatives—aka their uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.—also tried to keep the "cook's children," etc., out of politics. The outcome is well known. Read Orwell... and do not be like Mr. Serkis, who released a useless monster onto the silver screen. ‘Animal Farm-2026’ and ‘Prada-2’ are not twins, not twins at all, but they are siblings in their apoliticality, and that is sad.

   No matter how much you remove the people from politics, a new leader will still appear who will enlighten them, and then you will be hit on the head with the "Runway".

   After all, the Trotskyists run the world behind the scenes, it seems.

   End

 

The Devil Wears Prada-2 - May 1

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so let us talk about the TDWP-2 movie. The opening question: whom is this movie for? For the elite, made by the elite. Pause.

Let us begin anew. Where was the devil in the original novel? No, it is not Miranda per se – it was what she stood for. In the original novel, Miranda stood… not so much for the devil as we visualise him now, but rather for devil as the Mammon, greed. Hers was a high-paced, high-stakes, very exciting and splendid-looking life – but it was also tiring, and there was no place (or pace), for a family, for relationships, even for integrity, all that Andrea stood for in the novel. By rejecting Miranda, (and quite vehemently), Andrea re-confirmed her values and returned to her humble roots – money did not run her life, no ma’am!

…The movie adaptation – the first TDWP film now – already softened and diminished this effect, plus the acting of Ms. Streep and Ms. Hathaway, and so on – not to mention the visuals…and the plot was good, much better and balanced-out than the recent movies are. A flop the first TDWP film was not.

Neither is the second, but, back to Andrea. In the novel, and to a lesser extent – in the first movie, there was something of a contrast between her and Miranda: Andrea was a naïve greenhorn who was trying to make it in the world of glamour and power, and Miranda was a power broker and an established force in the world instead. By becoming Miranda’s apprentice, Andrea could have, and would have, become the ‘next’ Miranda, but that does not happen, (read the novel, see the first film as to why) – but now…

Now there’s no contrast like this – Andrea is a journalist now, and is a part of the world already; she and Miranda just need to learn to get along and to save the Runway from Emily, but this isn’t the point. The point is that in the first movie, and the original novel, there were at least two Americas – the America of Miranda with its glamour and glitz, the America of the elite, and the America of Andrea, the America of the commoners, but now, in the second, there is no America of the commoners anymore.

One can argue, of course, that in TDWP-2 there are 2 Americas still – the new digital America, and the old written-world America – but from another point of view, they are two sides of the same, patrician America, as symbolized by Ms. Streep and her co-stars on the TDWP-2 movie poster. The first movie was about Andrea, ‘Andy’, as she struggled to find her identity in face of the challenge, set by Miranda – and she succeeded, by rejecting Miranda and her values entirely, at the end of the first TDWP her life will not be defined by money, aka fiscal success, but by honesty and integrity. We see none of this in TDWP-2 – not really. Andrea returns to ‘The Runway’ in this film because she and her co-workers got axed, and she needs, well, a job. Rather than to return to her humble roots, (evident in the first film), she returns to Miranda, who grudgingly allows Andrea to return because she has her own problems… Pause. The point here is that the contrast between the two women, already changed in the first film, is further gone, diminished, as the pair, (and Nigel, played by Mr. Tucci); work together on an equal footing than how they did in the first film. Pause.

What is the point of all of this? In the first film – no. The original TDWP novel did its best to show the shallowness, if not the ugliness, of the inner side of the American fashion world – the titular devil, (not Miranda per se). The first TDWP movie diluted the contrast, and the potential conflict, between the patrician/elite and the plebeian/proletariat USAs, but it was still there. In the second movie, however, the contrast is gone, and instead we just have the American, (and the global), elite, trying to define itself – either via electronics, through the printed word, both, or through something else. The ‘little guy’, embodied by the ‘original’ Andrea and her friends, is absent now – this is just the elite, playing power games, in a more civilized manner than how they do in Mr. Martin’s Westeros novels, but little else. The world of TDWP-2 is a much more self-contained universe, and it is raking in money already. Ok, so what?

Therefore, it is a sign of the greater issue – the RL America itself is becoming a largely self-contained universe, as its’ social strata further drift away from each other. People are dissatisfied with the Donald’s regime? Probably yes, but now the American society is individualistic enough that everyone will assume someone else will do something about it, probably someone they elected by voting, but that isn’t enough. Sometimes you have to force the issue, and that is something the American society is bad at – especially these days. Much easier to let the Donald’s presidency expire naturally…

By now, in his second term, the Donald ruined the US-EU relationship, and made a big, literally bloody, problem in Middle East – and he still has some time left. President Putin of the RF is working daily and nightly to destroy democracy – he never hid it even in the 2000s, when the American power was at the zenith – and what does the US government do? Help the overseas giant to accomplish this destruction as best as they can, apparently. The Democrats had four entire years to do something about the Donald, and they did squat. The gangster Al Capone went to ‘the big house’ for tax evasion or some similar stuff, why couldn’t the Republican Donald? Oh, it would mean taking action, something that the Democrats are especially bad at.

The difference between the 47^th US president, the Republican Donald, and his predecessor, the Democratic Joseph, is that while the former runs around like a child on a sugar high in a candy store, the latter just sat there and did not really do anything. Pause.

Oh, the health? Did not prevent him from becoming the 46^th US president regardless, eh? Whatever the 45^th US president did, (cough), the 46^th US president did not undo, now the 47^th US president is back, babes, and there is nothing America can do about it.

Well, except to pay hand over fist for the TDWP-2 film, which is quite apolitical. Apparently, many of the Americans are feeling apolitical right now. How nice. Team Putin might defeat Team Zelensky through sheer endurance – but the devil does not bother, as the Americans allow them to wear Prada and to enjoy themselves instead. Real life really sucks some times.

Well, this is it for now. See you all soon!

New story - April 16

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, my phone is especially acting up, and DD is being his regular awesome self, so here's something different - a new story, eh?

Kaleen did not just walk; he marched. Every step was a heavy thud against the sun-baked dirt of the hilly country, a rhythmic stomping that sent dust motes dancing around his boots. He ignored the rolling beauty of the boulders and the hardy shrubs that clung to the slopes. His mind was a storm of irritation, focused entirely on the path ahead—or rather, the lack of one.

 

He was passing a jagged fissure in the hillside, a dark mouth of a cave that smelled of cool earth and old stone. He did not glance at it. He did not care what lived in the shadows.

 

A sharp, melodic whistle pierced the air.

 

Kaleen stopped. He turned slowly, his brow furrowed in a deep scowl. Standing at the cave’s entrance was a woman. She was striking, leaning against the stone with a beckoning finger and a knowing smirk.

 

Kaleen did not move toward her. He did a double take, blinking as if trying to clear his vision, and then barked, "Did you see anyone else passing by here? Another woman? Looking rather like me? As Tall as I am? Trailing a scent of betrayal and bad decisions, perhaps?"

 

The woman’s smirk faltered. She blinked, her head tilting in genuine confusion. This was not the usual reaction to her lure. She gave a slow, bewildered shake of her head.

 

"Great," Kaleen grumbled. "Helpful."

 

He turned on his heel and began to stomp away again.

 

Whiz—CRACK.

 

A rock the size of a fist shattered against a boulder inches from his head. Kaleen spun around, his hand instinctively dropping to the heavy belt at his waist.

 

The woman stood there, her arm still extended from the throw. She looked remarkably sheepish, her expression a mix of "I can’t believe I just did that" and "don't you dare leave." She gestured vaguely, almost desperately, toward the darkness of the cave.

 

Kaleen sighed, a sound like a leaking bellows. "Do you need help or something?"

 

She did not speak, but her eyes held a frantic sort of pull. Grumbling under his breath about his own misplaced sense of duty, Kaleen trudged toward the cave and stepped inside.

 

The interior was vast, an amphitheater of shadows that stretched far beyond what the exterior suggested. Kaleen turned to ask what the problem was, but the woman was already gone.

 

In her place, a nightmare uncoiled.

 

From the waist down, she was a thick, muscular coil of emerald and obsidian scales. She hissed, her jaw unhinging to reveal long, curved fangs dripping with venom. She lunged, her movements a blur of predatory grace.

 

Kaleen did not scream. He did not even draw a weapon. He simply reached out and caught her by the shoulders.

 

The hybrid thrashed, her tail whipping against the cave floor, but Kaleen stood like a mountain. His arms were locked, keeping her snapping jaws exactly three feet from his face. He looked profoundly bored.

 

"Are you done?" he asked.

 

She hissed again, snapping her fangs at the air. Kaleen rolled his eyes and gave her a firm, two-handed shove. He stepped back, centered his weight, and took a deep, shuddering breath.

 

The air in the cave suddenly felt heavy. A low, grinding sound—the sound of shifting chitin—echoed through the chamber.

 

The snake-woman froze. Her slit-pupiled eyes widened as the man before her vanished, replaced in a heartbeat by a hulking shadow. A giant scorpion, easily twice her size, stood over her. Its carapace was the color of dried blood, and its massive stinger hummed with a lethal, iridescent glow.

 

The hybrid did not fight. She turned and scrambled for the nearest wall, her fingers digging into the cracks as she tried to scale the vertical stone.

 

She felt a weight beneath her. Kaleen—human once more—was grunting as he shoved her upward by her scaled backside, helping her reach a high ledge.

 

"Get up there then, if you're so scared," he muttered.

 

She perched on the ledge, looking down at him with a mix of fury and intense embarrassment.

 

"I'll ask one more time," Kaleen said, dusting off his hands. "Did you see anyone else?"

 

"No!" she snapped her voice high and sharp.

 

Kaleen nodded, satisfied in a grim sort of way. He turned to leave.

 

"Wait!" she hissed, her hand darting out to grab his tunic. "Did you... did you understand me? When I called to you?"

 

"Yes," Kaleen said, looking over his shoulder. "Why shouldn't I?"

 

"Because I whistle," she whispered, her eyes searching his. "People can understand. They just... come."

 

Kaleen groaned. "Is this some sort of woman-logic thing?"

 

"No," she said, her voice dropping an octave. "It’s part of my curse."

 

Kaleen went still. "Gods? Or some other magic?"

 

"...Gods," she admitted.

 

"Right. Figures. For my former companion and me it was 'some other magic.' A botched ritual, a temple collapsing... the usual mess. Well, anyhow—"

 

"Can you help me?" she interrupted. The aggression was gone, replaced by a small, fragile voice. "Can you break it?"

 

Kaleen looked at the exit, then back at her. "You tried to kill me."

 

"It’s my nature," she pleaded, her tail twitching nervously. "Besides... we are similar. Both monsters."

 

Kaleen’s expression darkened. "My former companion said something similar. Right before she abandoned me to deal with the fallout."

 

"Please?"

 

Kaleen closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Fine. Let's go, before the giant tortoise arrives."

 

The snake-woman paused, her head tilting. "Say what?"

 

He led her out of the cave and up to the crest of the highest hill. From there, the world opened up. He pointed to a jagged silhouette of ruins on the horizon—the place where his life had gone sideways. Then, he pointed down into the valley.

 

Moving with a slow, terrifying inevitability was a tortoise. It was the size of a small manor house, its shell covered in jagged moss-covered ridges. Its eyes were fixed on the hillside, and it looked—even from this distance—utterly, cosmically pissed off.

 

"It’s tracking us," Kaleen explained. "Don't ask why. It's just very, very angry."

 

The woman looked at the beast, then at the distant horizon where her own salvation supposedly lay. She explained the location of the shrine she needed to reach, but her shoulders slumped. "I can't get there in time. I am too slow. On the open ground... I'm slower than that turtle."

 

Kaleen looked at the giant tortoise, then at the snake-woman. He let out a long, weary sigh.

 

"Get moving," he said, gesturing toward the path. "I'll help you. But we have to move before that overgrown pebble catches our scent."

 

Therefore, the scorpion and the serpent began their trek across the dirt, two cursed souls walking away from one monster and toward another.

So, what are your opinions? Please share!

Big cats and Daredevil - April 1

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks – I just lot quite a bit of important data; it is important to me, anyhow, so its’ loss is being felt. By me, but still.

What is next? ‘Daredevil’ S2 is proceeding apiece; yesterday, two episodes aired. Fancy that! Looks like MCU might be in a hurry to get through their latest show; I wonder why.

The ‘Supergirl-2026’ movie is a strong contender; so far, it shows itself to be a thorough adaptation of a Supergirl comic book arc, one that was a one-time rather than a part of a greater continuum. In this one, Supergirl is not as wholesome as she usually is, but perhaps her newfound heroics, newfound friend, and the need to save Krypto before the latter dies, will change her outlook. Given how DCEU/whatever already tried to introduce a Supergirl in the Ezra Miller ‘Flash’ film, I am thinking that the odds of it are quite good.

The trailer itself… it is what it is, apparently. The other characters are one-shot themselves, the odds of them dying by the end of the movie (antagonists), or just vanishing afterwards (protagonists) are quite high too; the creative team here brought Lobo along for the ride; the main man of the DC comics appeared in various DC-based media since Superman/Batman Animated Series of the 1990s, so by now he’s tested and relied upon, at least in a certain sense of word. He just might liven up the movie and make it into something more than a by the numbers antihero journey, where Kara becomes a hero, or at least begins to become one. Pause.

In S2 of ‘My Adventures with Superman’, Superman, Lois and Jimmy had to deal with a Kara/Supergirl who was manipulated by Brainiac into becoming an oblivious villain, and who remained one for a long time – and that was only a part of Brainiac’s greater plan. Put otherwise, Supergirl is known to be going dark in the DC multiverse by now, eh? This version of Supergirl is relatively mild still. What next?

Well, I wanted to speak about the upcoming (Christmas-2026) HP TV series, how people are wound up about it, and perhaps – even the racial issue.

…And then I looked at the Nat Geo Animals YouTube channel, and what did I beheld? An ‘episode’ where Mr. Boone Smith held a ‘sport competition’ between African lions, tigers, and cheetahs. Pause.

First, the monikers. Modern DNA analysis showed that the Asian lion is a part of the same lion subspecies that still lives in Western and Central Africa too. (The lions of Eastern and Southern Africa are the other subspecies). Tigers, on the other hand, are divided into two subspecies, with both the Bengal and the Siberian tigers being a part of the same – the mainland - subspecies, and the cheetahs are tentatively partitioned into several subspecies, one of which lives, or lived, in Middle Ease, or Asia, rather than in Africa. So, if the lion is the African lion, then so’s the cheetah, while the tiger is something of the odd one out.

From the genetic/biological/evolutionary p.o.v., however, the cheetah is the odd one out. From the human p.o.v., the big cats – the ‘roaring cats’ – are the oldest modern cats, (as opposed to Smilodon and other alternate models that are not around anymore), while the ‘newest’ models are the domestic cat and its’ immediate kin; the cheetahs are not close relatives of lions and tigers, but proportionally are closer to them than they’re to the housecats. However, lions do kill cheetahs when they can, while the tigers… they and the cheetahs live, or lived in different parts of Asia… where are we?

When Mr. Smith compared lions, tigers, and cheetahs, he compared two close relatives, and an outright outsider. Lions and tigers are not as closely related as they look, (the same under the skin), there branches are separate – one is lions, leopards, and jaguars, the same is tigers and snow leopards, and the third is clouded leopards. The cheetah is related to the puma and the jaguarondi instead; the latter looks like an anti-cheetah, but that is not the point – the point is that the comparison was flawed: the cheetah’s too different, the lion and the tiger – too similar to each other, so the show just was not too satisfying to watch. (The tigers won, BTW). What else?

For the moment – nothing. DD is still a technical masterpiece, but so are Ms. Haynes’ books, as I wrote before. They are enjoyable to read, but nothing more, and DD S2 is enjoyable to watch, but nothing more. The data that I lost… might be recovered, in part, but nothing more. Real life sucks, eh?

Well, this is it for now. See you all soon.

Medea and Daredevil S2 - March 25

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks. Several of my documents were lost and I cannot recover them, I almost missed the Daredevil S2 premiere, and people are bothering me about the latest Ms. Haynes novel – ‘No friend to this house’ – that I should read it. Let me start with that one.

Am I going to read ‘No friend’? Well, eventually, maybe. Again, the reason why I’m not the biggest fan of Ms. Haynes is because she’s not the radical firebrand she’s assumed to be, it’s quite the reverse, (usually).

What does Ms. Haynes do? She re-tells the Greek myths, both as fiction and not. As not-fiction, her works are one thing, but her fiction – it is what it is. The Greek myths had been public property for a long time now, and people in general know how they go – Perseus will defeat Medusa and marry Andromeda, Atalanta will kill the boar and lose the race because of the apples, Odysseus is going to get to Ithaca and save his house, etc. Those stories are read, known, remembered, de-facto etched in stone. They can be re-worked, of course… and then they become something else entirely.

Let us get back to A.I. When I experimented with it to write fiction, I quickly uncovered that the fiction it writes follows certain guidelines – couples are heterosexual (unless made otherwise), social strata fall into the strata of priests, aristocrats and peasants, (no workers or entrepreneurs unless made otherwise), characters choose to remain themselves than to change to please others (unless made otherwise)… Pause.

Here is the thing. If you are using A.I., you are free to use it or not. No one forces you to rely on A.I. alone, even if you are commissioned to write something, it is you who is commissioned, not the A.I. You are free to write your own things, not follow the A.I.’s guidelines if you do not want to. Fiction?

By now, there is plenty of fictional novels that feature Greek mythical characters, including the Argonauts. They do not claim to be ‘a mixture of dark tragedy and witty satire’ as Ms. Haynes’ take on them is, supposedly, is, but they were often quite derived from the original Greek myths, much more so than Ms. Haynes’ novels are; she just tries to add the feminist angle to the myths; as a rule, her female characters are positive (unless otherwise), while her male characters are negative, (unless otherwise). Nothing exactly radical here. Yet she is praised for her derivative works so much that I wonder if her political progressiveness is a neophyte’s zeal… or a masterful plan of playing the political progressivity system for personal gain… just as the system is beginning to break for real thanks to the Donald’s meddling… where were we?

In her non-fiction book of essays on the mortal women of Greek Myths, (‘Pandora’s Jar’, PJ), Ms. Haynes talks about Medea and Jason, comparing them to a modern divorcing couple, save for the murdering of the children. Therefore, I am betting that this is how she is depicting them in ‘No Friend’ – as a modern couple, (where the wife is smarter than the husband is, just not that much smarter), save for the murdering of the children. Therefore, I am willing to wait a few months until the excitement dies down, (such as it is), and then read about a modern divorce dressed in ancient Greek trappings, such as the murdering of the children. Ms. Haynes does not really try to justify Medea’s actions, she just re-tells them in her own language, maybe dumbed down for her audience, maybe not, and moves on. (To Penelope of Ithaca, but that is unimportant). What else?

The Daredevil S2 premiere. From the technical P.O.V., it is stunning, but the content… MCU itself had Matt Murdoch point out that the Sokovia protocols are dead in the ‘She-Hulk’ the series, so why is Fisk running NYC as if it is? The AVTF (or whatever they are abbreviated to), may be his personal army, but how is he getting away with it? During the Donald’s first 4 years, Marvel comics tried to reflect reality, but the Joe Biden became the 46^th U.S. president, Marvel comics and MCU had to redirect themselves or whatever, and now, unlike Thanos of MCU, the Donald is back and is causing the U.S. and the cause of democracy a lot of damage, and MCU is going for Fisk in NYC instead. Bravo! Innovative stuff here indeed! Real life sucks!

No, wait, that’s probably Tom Holland’s fourth Spider-Man movie, as it has the Punisher in it too. That deserves its’ own discussion, and we will have it some other time.

For now, though, this is it. See you all soon!

New story - March 11

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so here's an original story from  me for a change. Don't judge it too harshly.

Darla woke with a prickling sensation, like the last hint of static after a storm. Not a bad feeling, just...alerting. She slid out of bed, the cool floor a grounding contrast to the unease that vanished quickly, too. Dressing was a simple act for Darla; her body, a well-oiled machine built for activity, moved with grace and efficiency.

The corridor hummed with the quiet industry of early morning. There, near the window, was Stacy, scrubbing diligently, her brow furrowed in concentration. Even with her pronounced limp and clubfoot, Stacy held herself with a regal air.

"Morning, Stacy!" Darla chirped, injecting warmth into her voice. Stacy beamed back, a flash of brilliant white teeth. "Morning, Darla! Almost done here!"

Darla gently laid a hand on Stacy's shoulder. "You know, your sister and Mum are still a bit wobbly this morning. Maybe we can help them get ready?"

Stacy's face softened. "I get so caught up in being able... I forget they need me."

Together, they navigated the hallway to Lisa's room. Lisa, her long, delicate neck drooping, lay patiently on  her bed. "Good morning!" Lisa's voice, though soft, was full of enthusiasm.

"Morning, sunshine," Darla said, grabbing Lisa's new custom brace. "Ready for adventures?" With practiced ease, Darla and Stacy carefully placed the brace, securing it with gentle clicks. 

The moment it was on, Lisa's posture straightened, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Adventure awaits!" she proclaimed, bouncing slightly.

Finally, they arrived at Simone's room. The older woman struggled to pull a dress over her head, her arched back contorting in pain. Darla gasped, snatching the embroidered corset from the bedpost.

"Mum, you know you shouldn't be doing this alone!" Darla chided playfully, her fingers flying as she expertly laced the corset.

Simone sighed in relief as the supportive garment eased the strain and she stood straight and not bent almost double. "Thank you, darling girl. I sometimes forget how much I need... well, you." She grasped Darla's hand, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "It means the world to me that you see us, truly see us. Most of our family wrote us off as... broken."

Darla squeezed Simone's hand. "Don't be silly. You're not broken, you're brilliant. And you're my family. I just know that." Darla paused then said: "And besides you're a mum to me as well."

Simone smiled, a genuine, radiating smile that lit up her face. "Then let's get this family fed. Pancakes, anyone?"

As the four of them made their way to the kitchen, the morning's disquiet faded for Darla. The static had cleared, replaced by a clear, bright chord of belonging. This was where she was meant to be.

Dinosaurs and PJO - March 09

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, but sometimes it is just weird. A while earlier this year, I found several Montoy™ Toy Dinosaurs down at the recycling room; they were in good condition, so I took them. (Childish, I know, but they are still good, my life sucks, and so I took them). There were five of them – a T-Rex, a Dilophosaurus, a Triceratops, a Velociraptor, and a Pteranodon – I was really lucky, for once.

This is when things got odd. Most of the dinosaurs, (yes, I know that the Pteranodon was not a dinosaur at all, but their cousin, but those are toys, so this doesn’t matter), are realistic enough, and looked just how they were depicted on the box… except for the T-Rex, which is built much… less robust than the Dilophosaurus and the Velociraptor; his head and torso are horizontal, parallel to the ground, and it doesn’t look much like a T-Rex… or how it is depicted on the box.

How do I know how it is depicted on the box? I went looking for the Montoy™ toy block dinosaurs at the local dollar stores… and I found them. I found the Dilophosaurus, the Velociraptor, and the Pteranodon easily enough, but the Triceratops and in particular the T-Rex – with much more effort. Why?

Because those dinosaurs are depicted much less realistically, I guess. They both are smaller than the Dilophosaurus and the Velociraptor… but they are toys. ‘Assemble yourself’ toys for preteen children. Realism does not have anything to do with them, so why Montoy™ is apparently ashamed of them, and is calling them back, I do not know. Real life sucks… but it is also weird.

Another manifestation of this weirdness involves the cobra snake. The YouTube search engine is not very different from an A.I. – it runs on human algorithms… so when you put down just ‘cobra’ you get many videos of… people who give themselves that name as their moniker or something similar. Fair enough, so you put in ‘cobra snake’ as your search and what you get are videos… of king cobras, either by themselves, or as parts of videos that talk about venomous snakes in general, including king cobras – king cobras are still representatives of the elaphid clan of the snakes, it just that now the videos talk about other snake clans as well.

Humans made the term ‘cobra’, and it applies to several snake groups that are related to each other, but are still distinct. The king cobra, in particular, is separate from the ‘other’ cobras… and there might be several snake species in that genus, and not just the default one. That is interesting, but does not explain as to why the king cobra is the ‘default’ cobra on YouTube – to find any other, you need to be even more specific, it is not a bother exactly, but it is still strange.

(Not as strange as the plaster Dilophosaurus I found – it is not as much a toy as a painting model, it had the feet of a raptor and the front claws of a T-Rex – clearly Dr. Wu and his hybrid dinosaurs are more important than how it comes across). Anything else?

Just a point about PJO S2, two points, even. First, in the novel, young Clarisse commanded a crew of the resurrected… Confederate soldiers – and in the TV series, her crew are anyone but the US. Confederate soldiers – Disney might be progressive, but it has a limit, apparently.

And second, in the original novel, Tantalus is banished to Tartarus and Chiron is rehabilitated – and he’s brought back in a much later novel, ‘The Court of the Dead’, where he’s one of the main antagonists. In the TV series, the Lestrygonians kill him instead. Why – I have no idea again, but, clearly, Disney is taking PJO somewhere, we just do not know where… real life sucks, true, but it is also weird.

Well, for now, this is it. See you all soon!