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!

Perseus and Medusa - Feb 28

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks. So, let us talk about Medusa for a change.

Why? She is a fad. Let us begin.

Medusa’s origins are vaguer than you might think. In the modern version, she was a human transformed into a monster by Athena. Originally, she was never human, but some sort of a supernatural entity who was slain by Perseus in exchange for his mother’s freedom. Expanding further, we learn that Perseus was a son of Zeus. His mortal grandfather, Acrisius, put both him and his mother into a chest and set them adrift, for the oracle foretold that his grandson – i.e. Perseus – would end him. Acrisius tried to defy fate, but failed ultimately; this part of Perseus’ story is often left out, so let us put it aside for later. What next?

…Danae and Perseus ended on the island of Seriphos, whose king, Polydectes, wanted to marry Danae, but she refused. Since this myth is really a Bronze Age fairy tale, Danae managed to defy the king until Perseus became of age. Therefore, king Polydectes declared that he is marrying someone else and that everyone should bring them a present. Danae and Perseus were poor, so Perseus could not afford one, so the king sent him after Medusa’s head. The rest is known well, except for the death of Acrisius: he was the king of Argos, so when he heard that his demigod grandson was coming to visit, he fled, and lived in hiding for many years, until there were some proto-Olympian games. Acrisius attended them in disguise. Perseus was participating in discus throwing, and threw his discus so hard that it hit the audience stands, killing Acrisius. Therefore, Perseus had to purify himself, and leave Argos for several years – but that is another story. Back to Medusa?

Her role in the story is quite passive, in fact. Whatever her backstory is, when Perseus arrives, she is just there, confident that her deadly gaze will protect her. Since Perseus arrives fully equipped, (in the original, antique versions anyhow), she is slain instead, and – wait.

In the modern versions, Perseus uses Medusa’s head as an ultimate weapon, but originally – he did not. When it came to Andromeda, Perseus killed both the sea monster and her original suitor the old-fashioned way – wait. No, he didn’t… but what original groom?

After slaying the sea monster, (without using the head), Perseus and Andromeda have their wedding, and on the feast in walks Andromeda’s former suitor with a small army. He tries to force Perseus to back down, but Perseus stands is ground, and proceeds to slaughter a lot of enemy warriors, before he does have enough and uses Medusa’s head to petrify all those who remain, including the original suitor. (His name was Phineas, supposedly). Pause. You do not usually see this part of the myth in the modern interpretations either. However, what about Medusa?

In fact, she is a fad. Originally, she was the embodiment of death, a death goddess, the female counterpart to Thanatos, perhaps. Unlike modern depictions of her as a snake-woman, originally she had both arms and legs as well as a pair of wings, so she was quite mobile and could even fly. It goes for Thanatos too, but Medusa did conflict with the Olympian pantheon, especially Athena, and was destroyed; her head is carried either by Athena or by Zeus himself, perhaps signifying that the Olympians are immortal and are greater than death itself. Of Medusa there is just the Perseus’ myth, of Thanatos – slightly more, but not much. Pause.

…If one treats Medusa as a fallen deity that became a mortal monster, then her story does become more interesting rather than just a mortal woman physically mutated into a monster; as a story of victim abuse, Medusa’s modern story is tragic, of course, but also limited; there’s nothing new, no divergence…

Natalie Haynes’ novel ‘Stone Blind’ is just another retelling of the same old story, with some new details, but the focus is mostly on Medusa and her backstory, (here she’s the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto, at least); plus, in this novel the female characters are mostly positive, while the male are mostly negative – must be politically progressive, of course.

Bernard Evslin’s ‘Medusa’ book was written in the late 20^th century, quite earlier than ‘Stone Blind’ was, and this book, while quite slimmer than ‘Stone Blind’ is, manages to make Medusa a tragic character, while keeping Perseus the protagonist, and giving the entire Medusa-Danae-Perseus-Andromeda story an original twist – but Mr. Evslin wasn’t concerned with socio-politics unlike Ms. Haynes is, but we talked about her several times before, and let’s not start again.

So, in conclusion, Medusa’s story became quite limited, as is Perseus’; they are depicted in CGI online, but it is the same story, and as such, it risks to become unfashionable and forgotten; guess that the Olympians are having the last laugh over the gorgons’ after all. However, this is real life. It sucks.

…This is it for now. See you all soon.

'Knight' S1 finale - Feb 23

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks. Life is turning out rather for the worse; I really do not want to make it until late spring of 2026, but the odds of me achieving that are quite high. I am so happy – no, really. Real life sucks; I swear an oath upon it. Next?

Well, ‘Knight’ had its’ S1 finale last night, so we are going to talk about it, but in a roundabout way, I suppose. First stop – the A.I. It is not going to take away jobs from humans because humans make it, and does only what humans programmed/designed it to do – make pictures, or stories, or etc. There is a story about how people had A.I. make Brad Pitt fight Tom Cruise, and now Hollywood is huffy – but because the people in question are Chinese… yeah, Hollywood will deflate even more rapidly than how it inflated.

As I wrote before, A.I. has its’ flaws – you often need to be precise with your instructions to it to get exactly what you want, (and sometimes, not even then). Otherwise, you are liable to get something else entirely – it might be bad, it might be good, but it will not be what you wanted, and that is the point. You need to know what you want to get what you want, for otherwise? You do not need to start the process, what you will get will be something else entirely. Of course, you might have no problems in working with the new result, (it’s called a compromise when you’re dealing with other people rather than A.I.), but it doesn’t apply to everything, and, again, when it comes to A.I., it’s either your job, you get paid, and so you don’t really need to get emotionally invested in your A.I. works, or it’s not, and you are emotionally invested, and-

Where were we? Ah yes, RPG. An RPG – especially the 3.5 D&D generation and the like – is not unlike an A.I. – you need to design the characters, the obstacles, the setting, the lair, the traps, etc. You need to be precise and accurate in your designs too, or else you will fail and your ‘tenure’ as a DM is over.

Again, an RPG is a luxury good – it needs to be demanded and desired, or else it is over, done, as Pathfinder (2^nd edition) shows – this franchise is dying, however, slowly – people just aren’t buying enough of its’ products to sustain it, so it cuts down on the released product, but there’s even less of it for people to buy and to spend their money on; Pathfinder’s income diminishes further… you get the gist. Where does it leave the ‘Knight’?

As it was written before, ‘Knight’ is positioned between the other HBO Westeros TV shows… and an RPG. When he was writing the ASOIAF book cycle, Mr. Martin had one agenda… no, wait. In ASOIAF, the end game is the return of the rightful dynasty, the Targaryeans, in the characters of Jon and Dany. GoT did not do that, so it ended badly – though that was only one of the reasons. However, GoT and ASOIAF are two different aspects of the same franchise, and since then both HBO and Mr. Martin himself moved onto the Targaryeans proper – ‘the House of the Dragon’.

…HoD is returning to the screens only in the summer of 2026, so all is still I the air, but the point is that for Mr. Martin, the Targaryeans are just ‘fire and blood’, and HBO does it’ best to do so with its’ TV shows. If that is a good thing is debatable, but the point is that when ‘Knight’ didn’t have any of the Targaryeans, (and Egg was undercover, cough), it was just an RPG – Dunk went here, Dunk went there, Dunk succeeded on Diplomacy checks, Dunk failed on Bluff checks, etc. It is not bad, but it is generic – and then Egg’s adult relatives arrived, and the plot accelerated like a spurred-on horse; suddenly there is death, and drama, and the Blackfyre rebellion – fun. Well, fun for the fans of Mr. Martin, HBO, and Westeros at least – and ‘Knight’ does not ask for more. Ser Dunk, who is still a hedge knight, or rather – a landless knight; legally, he is a noble, sort of, but in reality? He is right there with the proletariat; his status is not higher than that of Bronn (the one and only), who is a man-at-arms instead, (technically). Still, Egg is now his official squire, (I think), the other Targaryeans appear to like him, and Aerion (who right now is not as bad as GoT’s Aeris was), is sent to Essos instead. Overall, it is not a bad place where he is right now.

…Ok, right now he is between yet another Targaryen HBO drama on one hand, and a generic fantasy RPG/TV show on the other. However, hey, ‘Knight’ is not pretending to be more than that either. Its’ first season made it an OK show at least – better than real life, which just sucks.

This is it for now. See you all soon.