Runaways: Refraction - Dec 28

‘Runaways’ continue to gather steam, as they are going slowly but relentlessly towards their S1 finale. (Are seasons even a thing for Web TV shows?) They are continuing to be separate and apart, different from the traditional comics, but that is no problem – so does ‘Riverdale’, when it comes to the rest of its’ franchise: there’re ‘Riverdale’ comics, and there’re ‘Archies’ comic, they are together but separate. Ditto for the ‘Runaways’.

In other news, the ‘Librarians’ TV show also continues to go…through its’ 4^th season, as a matter of fact. It already has embraced the old age progression gag as the (upcoming) episode 4x05. Again, as it was written regarding their S3, the ‘Librarians’ are unconventional heroes…that are going down the conventional path since S3. They are still going strong, but they are still going nowhere, even if they have their own comic book series, (at least for a while). Yay them, that is so impressive.

Yes, not really – often TV shows and their literary adaptions, (comics, books, etc.) do not often mesh, not even if they are part of ‘Star Trek’ or ‘Dr. Who’ franchise, which brings us back to the following: all of these TV shows, (and Web TV shows) are commodities to be sold to, and bought by, consumers, audience. They need to sell, because otherwise? They don’t go anywhere, as AoS has done by S5; even though ‘Rewind’ gave them something of a boost, AoS’ S5 is still in the lower ranges of AoS numbers, still lower than S3, for example, and ‘Life Earned’ was probably the lowest AoS episode yet. Why? For a number of reasons, including the argument over whether Hydra is Nazi or just fascist, and the issue of the characters’ treatment – the latter continues even now, with the FitzSimmons doing, well, the whole gender role stereotype: in the first four S5 episodes Jemma was made really, well, feminine, while in ‘Rewind’ Fitz turned into some sort of a commando, causing Lance Hunter, (or Nick Blood?) to exclaim: “But that’s my thing!”

That is certainly a thing – yes, the return of Lance Hunter did boost the numbers for ‘Rewind’ – and then AoS promptly hit everyone with a ‘fall finale’ hiatus, causing everyone to lose attention and interest in AoS again, at least for a while, and with new shows (i.e. ‘Grown-ish’) coming and old shows (i.e. ‘X-Files’) returning to the TV in 2018, AoS got its’ job cut out for it – again. Yes, the Hydra controversy has mostly gone back into the background, as MCU got rid of Hydra for good…although AoS seems to be showing signs that it might be coming back or something; ‘Rewind’, with its’ U.S. military conspiracies and co. was much more interesting than the previous episodes of S5 combined, but again – the fall finale, and it seems that all of the goodwill gathered by ‘Rewind’ will be wasted. At least ‘Librarians’ have better sense than to do anything like that, now do they?

This gets us back to creativity, and here is the thing. AoS’ S5 has it. So do ‘Runaways’. Only ‘Runaways’ are using it more sensibly than AoS ever did, but yes, it’s tricky to work it out; ‘Librarians’ seem to be going all out, and so far they aren’t having much better luck than AoS does, plus AoS has racial variety going for them, while ‘Librarians’ have only one person of color in their cast – Ezekiel. With a name like this, you have to wonder as to just how and why John Harlan Kim got this particular job: was he lucky, or is he some sort of a token actor here?

This question obviously does not apply to ‘Runaways’ because of the obvious reasons, and they still had plenty of creativity, (though Old Lace did not appear in this episode – and he is a part of the regular cast back in the ‘Runaways’ comics, damn it!). They are still going strong, (though yes, they do not have much distance left to cover), and they are still different and varied. Hydra may (or may not) be gone from MCU for good, but AoS seems to be on the way out of MCU all the same – already it is gone from the MCU mainstream, and we’re talking about Disney here – they know where the money goes, and if it is out, so’re you.

Hopefully, Hulu will be able to keep ‘Runaways’ – and the upcoming ‘Cloak & Dagger’ series – out of its’ clutches. See you all next time!

Pathfinder: OC VI

Romy is one of the best sailors in the frontier - just listen to him, he says so, and he got a harpoon to back it up.

Romy comes from a brave line of lizardfolk chiefs; he has earned his harpoon in battle against a coven of hags who tried to take over the neighborhood via some powerful storm magics - but Romy's tribe suffered as well, and the cost has been high: Romy remained the next in line to lead the tribe, something that wasn't appreciated either by the tribe or Romy himself - the lizardfolk male sought adventure, not power, so he left his tribe behind, (and no one held him back).

Since then, Romy has had plenty of adventures, including working with a number of munavri, strange creatures, which is rare even in the lands of the frontier. From them he learned the sailors' craft and became very good with it, much better than most of his race.

By now, Romy's sailor services are in demand, and he is becoming a person of prominence in the frontier. People are listening to him, and other lizardfolk often flock to his banner whenever he takes service on one ship or another. Romy has the potential to become a leader of the lizardfolk still, but it is unknown if this is what he wants at all.

Romy

Male lizardfolk ranger (darklands sailor) 8

CN Medium humanoid (reptilian)

Init +6; Senses Perception +14

DEFENCE

AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 18 (+1 deflection, +3 Dex, +2 natural)

hp 62 (8d10+24)

Fort +8, Ref +13, Will +4

Resist fire 10

OFFENCE

Speed 30 ft.; swim 30 ft.

Melee mwk harpoon +15/+10 (1d8+4/x3) or

Bite +15 (1d3+4) and

2 claws +10 (1d4+0)

Ranged mwk net +15/+10 (entangle)

Special Attacks favored enemy (animals +2, drow +4)

Ranged Spells Prepared (CL 5^th; concentration +6)

2^nd—aquatic cavalry, scamper

1^st—hidden spring, tamer’s lash

STATISTICS

Str 14, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 11

Base Atk +8; CMB +9; CMD 26

Feats Aquatic Spell, Combat Reflexes, Deadly Aim, Endurance, Point-Blank Shot, Power Attack, Precise Shot

Skills Acrobatics +3, Climb +10, Heal +8, Knowledge (dungeoneering, geography) +6, Knowledge (nature) +8, Perception +14, Ride +2, Stealth +6, Survival +8, Swim +16; Racial Modifiers +8 racial bonus on Swim checks

Languages: Aquan, Common, Undercommon

SQ hunter’s bond (companions), keen ear, quick swim, skilled pilot, subsonic warning, weapon familiarity, wild empathy +7

Combat Gear potion of cure moderate wounds; Other Gear mwk net, mwk harpoon, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1, 194 gp

PS: This is the last of my PCs so far. What do you think?

Pathfinder: OC V

Rene is lizardfolk shamaness. She is a native of the frontier lands, and has remembered vividly how her people, the lizardfolk, got driven away by humans, elves, and their allies. She remembers, and she doesn't care.

Rene is a survivalist. She knows that while the lizardfolk are ancient and powerful in their own right, they are still no match for the new imperial conquerors, and that the only way to survive is to adapt. Rene is a crystal tender, her primary spirit is that of stone, but she is aware that being like stone is being motionless, but not eternal; even rocks vanish into dust, and people mustn't imitate the rocks to avoid that fate.

Rene is an opportunist. She isn't against leading - or helping to lead - a reformation movement of the lizardfolk culture, but until this happens, or begins to happen, she is quite happy to make money from her services, serving as information source, or even a go-between for the PCs, providing that they pay her, for Rene, unlike most other lizardfolk, knows the value of money. As such, she's more likely to be an ally of the PCs, rather than a true friend, (though she usually has a pleasant demeanor when dealing with any clients).

Hema

Female lizardfolk shaman (crystal tender) 8

N; Medium humanoid (reptilian)

Init +1; Senses Perception +5

DEFENCE

AC 20, touch 11, flat-footed 18 (+5 armor, +1 Dex, +4 natural)

hp 40 (8d8)

Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +12

OFFENCE

Speed 30 ft.; swim 30 ft.; fly 60 ft. (good)

Melee bite +5 melee (1d3+6) and

2 claws +0 melee (1d4+4)

Special Attacks hexes (crystal sight, lodestone, metal curse, stone stability), touch of acid (1d6+4, 7/day), wandering hex (brain drain)

Shaman Spells Prepared (CL 8^th; concentration +13)

4^th—forest’s sense, vigilant rest

3^rd—earth tremor, fly, signs of the land, soothing mud, locate object or meld into stone

2^nd—alpha instincts, callback, greensight, winter grasp, stone call or tongues

1^st—discern next of kin, heightened awareness, hidden spring, sense spirit magic, shield of faith, thorn javelin, magic stone or identify

Spirit stone; Wandering Spirit lore

STATISTICS

Str 16, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 14

Base Atk +6; CMB +5; CMD 16

Feats Augment Summoning, Eagle-Eyed, Extra Hex, Flexible Hex, Spell Focus (conjuration)

Skills Diplomacy +11, Fly +13, Handle Animal +13, Knowledge (nature) +15, Perception +5, Spellcraft +15, Survival +13

Languages Common

SQ body of earth, invoke latent facets, reciprocal resonance (DR 2/adamantine), scion of stone

Combat Gear potion of invisibility, wand of cure light wounds (26 charges); Other Gear +1 mithral chain shirt, cloak of resistance +1, headband of inspired wisdom +2, 4 gp

PS: So, what do you think?

Pathfinder: OC IV

Finn is a bastard, genealogically speaking - half human and half elf. He is an avid adventurer, a risk-taker and can be charming, at least half of the time. He is also in league with the nihilistic daemons of Abaddon, and doesn't care about anyone but himself, (and his unholy masters, of course).

Finn used to be a straightforward adventurer, until he was contacted by the daemons and offered a deal; daemons do not do this often, but when they do, the results are often fatal. Finn, in particular, hates the idea of dying and growing old, (regardless of the order), and so he made a deal with the daemons: he will serve them, and in return, the daemons will drive him to immortality.

...Daemons, of course, are very unreliable, yet in Finn's case they did give him something: a knowledge of various fungal blights that he uses to alter his bombs to a great efficiency. Being naturally agile and angry, Finn often wins against opponents, superior to him in size and strength, but what he really seeks are the right natural components that will give him the proper ingredients to give him the immortality he seeks. This is why he has come to the frontier, and this is where he intends to stay, where he succeeds.

When encountered by the PCs, Finn can either be sneakily charming, if they have want they want, (or he thinks that they do), or he can be dismissive, abrupt, and disturbingly familiar with necromancy, (plan b, if immortality goes south). Either way, he can be a very formidable opponent to the PCs, if used right.

Finn

Half-elf alchemist (blightseeker) 8

NE; Medium humanoid (elf, human)

Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +2

DEFENCE

AC 19, touch 15, flat-footed 18 (+4 Dex, +1 dodge, +3 natural)

hp 55 (8d8+16)

Fort +7, Ref +10, Will +3; +2 vs. enchantments, +6 vs. owners

Immune sleep; Resist fire 20

OFFENCE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee +1 dagger +11/+6 (1d4+1/19-20)

Ranged spore bomb +11/+6 (4d4+4d4 blight)

Special Attacks bomb 12/day (4d4+4d4 blight, DC 19)

Alchemist Extracts Prepared (CL 8^th)

3^rd—fey form I, gaseous form, haste

2^nd—barkskin, cure moderate wounds (2), perceive cues, vine strike

1^st—cure light wounds (2), keen senses, stone fist (2)

STATISTICS

Str 11, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 13

Base Atk +6; CMB +6; CMD 21

Feats Brew Potion, Dodge, Mobility, Skill Focus (Craft [alchemy]), Throw Anything, Toughness, Weapon Finesse

Skills Bluff +7, Craft (Alchemy) +15, Disable Device +4, Knowledge (arcana) +18, Knowledge (engineering, history, planes) +11, Knowledge (local) +15, Knowledge (nature) +14, Perception +2, Sleight of Hand +4, Spellcraft +12, Use Magic Device +10; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception

Languages Abyssal, Common, Dwarven, Elven, Sylvan, Undercommon

SQ alchemy (alchemy crafting +8, identify poisons), blights (fatiguing, fear-inducing, impairing, minor sickening, sickening), mutagen (+4/-2, +2 natural, 80 minutes), elf blood, poison use, swift alchemy, swift poisoning

Other Gear +1 chain shirt, +1 dagger, headband of vast intelligence +2, Large scorpion venom (2)

PS: So, what do you think?

Pathfinder: OC III

Theofelt was a noble scion...until he discovered that his family had untoward dealings with the drow of Sekamina...and remained a worthy heir of that house. Well, not the heir, but the spare, yet his discretion was appreciated, as he was sent to the frontier not as an exile, but as the representative of the house in question.

Theofelt is a cavalier of the order of the whip, a rather brutal and cruel organization. While he isn't as comfortable with slavery as his parents and eldest brother is, he has no problems with it either; especially with using slaves as free labour to civilize the new frontier...primarily with a lance and a whip, but in other ways possible too.

Theofelt is evil, but he is evil in service of his family, his king and queen, his country, (not necessarily in that order). He does what needs to be done, and while he is normally is relentless in his duty, he can be flexible...to get what needs to be done, otherwise - tough break.

Theofelt runs the local charter house for his order (order of the whip), and as such he is beginning to rise in the ranks of his order as well. So far, his success hinges on him, well, being successful - he's a self-made man, even by noble standards, and he has no intent of losing that. If the PCs find themselves at a crossroads with Theofelt, they should better watch out: the man is neither afraid of getting his hands dirty nor does he lack minions to do that for him.

Tahitos

Human cavalier (vermin tamer) 8

LE; Medium humanoid (human)

Init -1; Senses Perception +0

DEFENCE

AC 18, touch 9, flat-footed 18 (+9 armor, -1 Dex)

hp 86 (8d10+32)

Fort +8, Ref +2, Will +3

OFFENCE

Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)

Melee mwk lance +13 (1d8+2/x3) or

Mwk whip +13 (1d3+2, nonlethal)

Special Attacks banner +2, cavalier’s charge, challenge (+8, +5, 3/day), inspiring pain

STATISTICS

Str 12 (14), Dex 12, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 13

Base Atk +8/+3; CMB +12 (+14 dirty trick); CMD 21 (23 vs. dirty trick)

Feats Beastmaster Salvation, Beastmaster Style, Combat Expertise, Improved Dirty Trick, Obscuring Beacon, Power Attack, Shake It Off, Toughness, Whip Mastery

Skills Bluff +16, Diplomacy +16, Handle Animal +16 (+18 for mount), Intimidate +16, Ride +8 (+15 on mount), Sense Motive +5

SQ darklands mount (giant beetle), order of the whip, stuck in the saddle +8, tactician (2/day, 7 rounds, standard action)

Combat Gear potion of enlarge person; Other Gear +1 half-plate, mwk lance, mwk whip, belt of giant strength +2, cloak of resistance +1,  39 gp.

PS: Any comments? Criticisms?

S.H.I.E.L.D. 'Rewind' - Dec 23

AoS has reached the ‘fall finale’. Where does it stand?

…It has achieved the break from the past seasons that it needed to have back in S4 – as Lance has shown Fitz, S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone for good in the MCU universe. Yay?

Firstly, yes – Nick Blood has starred as Lance Hunter once more on AoS, in a manner similar to Dalton (Ward) and Britt (Tripp) back in S4, save that the titular team is out of the framework now, hopefully. (It is still a possibility that Radcliffe betrayed them in S4, and the septet are still in the framework, somehow, just in a different part of it. AoS has been known to remake its plot line with large twists in the past, you know?) That said, Blood’s heart wasn’t in the acting, you could tell – he was still Lance Hunter, but in a much-diminished role, so there’s that… but again, unlike Dalton and Britt, Blood (and Palicki, who played Bobbi Morse on AoS, remember?) ended his RL relationship with MCU in a bad way – his and Palicki’s own Marvel show, ‘Most Wanted’, fell through…and frankly the way their characters, and especially Palicki’s Morse got handled on the show? Not the best way, either. (Cough S2 finale cough).

Speaking of characters, apparently Fitz is going to learn to deal with the darkness within him that got released in the framework. It would be easy to root for him…but AoS has already put Daisy through something similar back in S4, (after she got freed from Hive’s mental control and all), plus there was Robbie Reyes and his own issues as the Ghost Rider, remember?

…Yes, so far there was no mention of the Ghost Rider anywhere in S5, but maybe that’s because back in RL Gabriel Luna is currently working in a film named Hama; so far it is still in the filming stage, so we’ll have to wait and see what it is about in the future – but still, back before S4, MCU and AoS made a big whoop about the Ghost Rider coming to AoS…and he did. Just for nine episodes. That is slightly less than half of an AoS season. Ouch! A change of strategy was required, so this time around, before S5, AoS cast gave only some slight hints about what S5 was going to be around, and…

And it did not work very well – the numbers for AoS S5 are lowest yet, even though the AoS’ cast and crew did do their best this season to win their audience back. However, between DCEU’s ‘Arrowverse’, the ‘Gifted’ TV show about MCU’s mutants, and even another MCU show – about the InHumans, (remember?), AoS has its’ work cut-out for it, and it shows. In the numbers. In addition, the reworking of the main characters does not help either – the FitzSimmons are already going through it, so who is next?..

Mind you, this phenomenon is not restricted to AoS – ‘Blindspot’, having returned for its’ own S3, is going through the same thing as well. Its’ problem is that the first 2 seasons were very, very good, so it decided to go for an S3 – but it has no new ideas of where to go from there, so now ‘Blindspot’ is promptly recycling its’ old ideas – something that AoS has also done, largely in S3 and 4, and it didn’t do anything good for the ‘Agents’. The only new development is the introduction of Rich Dotcom as a main character…and some sort of a comic relief, and…what for? In S1 and 2 ‘Blindspot’ didn’t really have a comic relief…so why now?

Another possibility is that Rich is going to be token gay character, (he is in a same-sex relationship on ‘Blindspot’ already). However, so far we see no evidence of that either, so why is Rich a main/regular character on the show, again? Between this reworking of at least one old character, and the recycling of old ideas, ‘Blindspot’ is beginning to suffer, and that is not good.

Finally… it seems that ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ is going to feature Allosaurus amongst other dinosaurs. Again, Allosaurus was a carnosaur – it was an earlier, (Jurassic), smaller, (about 9 m in length on average), version of Giganotosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Mapusaurus and co. of the Cretaceous – and that includes the I-Rex; whatever it was supposed to be, in RL mechanics, the I-Rex was a carnosaur, but it was discussed already… so that’s that.

Put otherwise, this is it for today – see you next time!

Runaways: Metamorphosis - Dec 21

Marvel’s ‘Runaways’ continue to live up to being ‘a hulu original’. Period. They also continue to be a soap opera, which is only loosely remains tied to the original comic plotline. That is no problem either, as Marvel comics have made ‘Runaways’ their new darling in place of the previous favorites – ‘the Defenders’ and ‘the InHumans’, and ‘the Defenders’, at least, are a mess.

Spoiler alert – read on at your own risk.

True, they know in which general direction they are going – to an eventual confrontation with Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, who became the mayor of NYC in the past comics, but the details? They are a mess. Blade, Deadpool, the Hood – they come and go without contributing much to the general plot; ‘the Defenders’ seem to be largely about, well, the Defenders as they try to prevent Diamondback from becoming the new Kingpin of crime, (since they don’t know that he’s being actually backed by Fisk here, it seems)…and getting nowhere fast. They seem to be defeating Diamondback on a regular basis, but the man just comes back – and he already beat the stuffing out of the Punisher, (who seems to have his own agenda and be a bigger jerk than he normally is), and shot the Black Cat, (and in a different universe the Black Cat is teaming up with Silk to take down the Goblin King and co., so there’s that). ‘The Defenders’ just don’t know how far they want to go and how they will get there and how fast…

On the other hand, ‘Runaways’ don’t seem to have this problem – but then, this incarnation of the series is a TV/Web TV series, and have figured the problem of pacing beforehand. Of course, so has AoS for S5, (hopefully), but so far they aren’t doing so good – they got some of the lowest numbers ever so far, and the fact that after this week they are taking a mini-hiatus isn’t going to help them either – ‘Lost Girl’ (LG) had a stronger standard and history than AoS had, in proportion, but it still ended on a whimper, rather than a bang. True, LG played hard and fast – unnecessarily so – with its’ backstory, but AoS…has done the same thing, though not to the same extent, as it was discussed earlier. And the ‘Runaways’?

And the ‘Runaways’ have it easier – they have a baseline from the comics and they continue to do their own thing. Like the dinosaurs from the JP-franchise, they are a hybrid, and not unlike the I-Rex from the first JW movie, they appear to be quite successful – and there is no metaphorical Rexy to challenge them, no TV (or Web TV) canon. There are ‘Runaways’ comics, but while Marvel isn’t as bad as the Archies franchise is, their canon is often fragmented and revised itself…but it is different for comics than it is for TV (+Web TV) or the movies.

Yes, this is a reference to the latest SW movie. SW7 was designed as a rework of SW4. This is more of a rework of SW6, and now the plot of the future SW9 movie is hanging in the air. On one hand, this is good – SW7 was one of the weakest movies of the SW franchise; on the other – the fans, (and to the lesser extent, the critics) are divided about whether or not SW8 was a good movie or a bad one, and while the SW franchise still has enough momentum from its’ past achievements to weather this, this really isn’t where it wants to go, (and the news suggest that it has problems of its’ own) – but that is a story for another time.

And as for the ‘Runaways’ they keep on going and they remain strong. Good luck to them. See you all soon! 

Pathfinder: OC II

...When the motherland opened new frontiers and new opportunities opened for everyone, rich and poor, Arcontes' wanted to sit it out: his family considered him to be an eccentric, if not an outright snob, someone to be embarrassed by in a family of respectable alchemists. They shunned him and sent him away, to the frontier - and there Arcontes has changed.

The man was always a snob, and he loved flowers - and there, in the new, savage country, he discovered that to collect flowers you had to brave deadly dangers - animals, magical beasts, dragons, unfriendly natives, hazardous terrain...but it was often worth it, as the new plants of the new frontiers provided rare poisons and powerful medicines back home, worth much more than their weight in gold - and so Arcontes began to collect them, becoming harder and leaner than he ever been back home.

Arcontes was born in an intelligent, literate family, and so he is an intelligent, literate person with plenty of clients and allies back home, who consider him to be one of their chief suppliers. As such, he is fast becoming a person of prestige with plenty of money in his bank account, and before long he could retire for good - but he doesn't.

Arcontes has many wilderness skills - he has a skill at making maps, (which he does, and then sells for a good  price), and he has a knowledge of nature, especially plants, which he collects and sells back to his clients in the homelands, back south. What he lacks is much of human empathy...or any other kind of empathy - he cares only about plants and the thrill of discovery, and when anyone gets in his way, they will quickly regret it.

As such, Arcontes can be a dangerous foe to the PCs - or a reluctant ally, provided that someone in the adventuring party shares his passion for new plants.

Arcontes

Human investigator (natural philosopher) 8

Init +7; Senses Perception +15

DEFENCE

AC 15, touch 16, flat-footed 15 (+3 armor, +4 Dex)

hp 63 (8d8+24)

Fort +2; Ref +6; Will +6;

Defensive Abilities poison resistance +6

OFFENCE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee unarmed strike +7/+2 (1d3/x2) or

Handaxe +7 (1d8/x3)

Ranged shortbow +11 (1d6/x3)

Special Attacks studied combat, studied strike +3d6

Alchemical Extracts Prepared (CL 5^th; concentration +3)

3^rd—disable construct, fey form I

2^nd—air step, blood armor, pouncing fury, vine strike

1^st—heightened awareness, invisibility alarm, long arm, monkey fish

STATISTICS

Str 12, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 12

Feats Dodge, Eagle-Eyed, Expert Cartographer, Improved Initiative

Skills Acrobatics +14, Climb +12, Craft (alchemy) +10, Craft (maps) +20, Craft (weaponsmithing) +14, Diplomacy +11, Escape Artist +14, Knowledge (geography) +12, Knowledge (nature) +11, Perception +15, Stealth +12, Survival +13 (+17 follow tracks)

Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Sylvan, Undercommon

SQ alchemy, herbalism, investigator talents (amazing inspiration, effortless aid), keen recollection, natural philosopher’s inspiration, poison lore, swift alchemy

Combat Gear potion of cure minor wounds, scroll of calm animal, wand of ray of frost; Other Gear mwk padded cotton armor, mwk corkwood helmet, mwk handaxe, mwk shortbow with 20 arrows, elixir of truth, bull’s-eye lantern, investigator’s kit, diary, a book of maps, 577 gp

PS: So, what do you think?

Pathfinder: OC I

Sally Settler has lived a hard life. She and her (late) husband moved to frontier after being driven to that hard choice by their poor success on their old farm. On their new property things didn't go any better, as Sally's husband died from a plague, leaving her to fend for herself.

For a while, things stayed in the nadir, as Sally almost joined her husband in the afterlife, when the natives took her under their wing and taught her the life of a hunter. She took naturally to this new lifestyle, (though she kept the farm as a home and a home base) and things began to improve. Sally learned to overcome any hardships that came her way and remains determinedly happy, (though this happiness is superficial, and deep inside she is still a very sad person).

Sally also became a very stoic person and a character of some renown among other colonists; she is often called upon them to protect their interests against the big business companies from the heartland. Moreover, Sally herself is an atypical hunter - she still lives on the farm, and tries her best to make a living from it, and uses her hunter skills mainly in self-defense, whenever enemies of the other colonists, (or her own) try to muscle in onto her turf.

Sally sometimes comes across as simply whimsical at first meetings, and her old family would consider her something of a savage, but her knowledge of local nature and geography is great, and she is a person of renown with the natives. In your campaign, Sally can be a formidable friend or a foe, depending on what kind of a PC party your players have.

Settler

Human hunter 8

NG; Medium humanoid (human)

Init +6; Senses Perception +1

DEFENCE

AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 12 (+1 armor, +1 deflection, +3 Dex, +2 natural)

hp 62 (8d8+24)

Fort +6; Ref +6; Will +6

OFFENCE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee unarmed strike +8 (1d3+1/x2) or

Quarterstaff +8 (1d6+1/x2) and

Quarterstaff +2 (1d6-1/x2)

Ranged light crossbow +8 (1d8+1/19-20)

Hunter Spells Prepared (CL 5^th; concentration +3)

2^nd—alpha instinct, greensight, iron stake, replay tracks

1^st—echo, faerie fire, hidden spring, snowball, tamer’s lash

0—create water, detect magic, detect poison, read magic, resistance, stabilize

STATISTICS

Str 13, Dex 21, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 12

Base Atk +6; CMB +7; CMD 24

Feats Combat Reflexes, Coordinated Shot, Deadly Aim, Distracting Charge, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Reload

Skills Craft (trapmaking) +6, Diplomacy +1, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (dungeoneering, geography) +6, Knowledge (nature) +8, Perception +1, Profession (hunter) +8, Spellcraft +4, Survival +4 (+8 follow tracks), Swim +1

Languages Common, Elven, Sylvan

SQ animal companion (dog), animal focus, bonus trick, hunter tactics, improved emphatic link, nature training, precise companion, second animal focus, swift tracker, track, wild empathy +11, woodland stride

Combat Gear potion of cure moderate wounds; Other Gear chain shirt, +1 light crossbow with 15 bolts, masterwork quarterstaff, hunter’s kit, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1, 194 sp.

So, how she comes across?

S.H.I.E.L.D. "Life Earned' - Dec 16

Heading back to AoS, things don’t look so good for our heroes: the episode before this one, ‘Life Spent’, has the lowest numbers ever of an AoS episode – and the show is doing all it can do everything right.

The villains are completely unsympathetic; Kasius is a pretentious brute that probably not other Kree can stomach, while his ‘girl Friday’, Synera, is a heartless bitch. (Well, she is). In this week’s episode – ‘Life Earned’ – she has defeated May, (who had a handicap: arriving in the future hurt her leg…in a manner reminiscent of how Grant had shot Bobbi in the leg at the end of S2, remember?). Unlike Ward and Kara Palamas, no one is sympathetic to the Kree, and-

And no one cares for them anymore; there is no fan party for the sake of Kree, no controversy, no anything. On one hand, this is good; AoS does not really need more of the above after the entire Grant (& Kara) mess, on top of the Hydra definition mess, on top of Cap vs. Tony mess. On the other, there is no excitement, no conflict of interest; right now, AoS is very heavy on the dystopia drama, to a point where Coulson, (well, Gregg) breaks the fourth wall, (sort of), by claiming that all the dystopian clichés are complete: by now humans aren’t even able to reproduce by themselves anymore, and have to have cloned babies, (produced by the Kree) to propagate their species.

This is very horrible…and does not quite mesh with the human-Kree interaction in the GotG movies, (which really are the only MCU movies that featured Kree, seriously). There were some Kree in the previous seasons of AoS, but they were only episodal characters, though generally unpleasant. In particular, in S2, one of them was able to overpower lady Sif of Asgard and give her temporary amnesia, but S.H.I.E.L.D.’s plucky and determined heroes put everything right – and lady Sif, or rather Jamie Alexander, left MCU to be the female lead in ‘Blindspot’, which is a better, more realistic take on S.H.I.E.L.D. and especially on Grant and Skye’s relationship; the fact that Luke Mitchell, (Lincoln Campbell of AoS) is playing the main villain on ‘Blindspot’ now only adds to that realization; right now, ‘Blindspot’ is in its’ third season…

Here is the punchline: MCU in general is going through a reboot fuelled by real life: Disney, (which already owns the main Marvel franchise), just bought 21^st Century Fox, getting itself the rights to the X-Men and co. corner of MCU (‘Gifted’, ‘Legion’, etc.), and it has, conversely, severed ties with Netflix, so it’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen to the ‘Defenders’-related shows; the only holdout left, (so far), is Hulu – (‘Runaways’, 2018 – ‘Cloak and Dagger’). So?

So on the other hand we got ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ movie. It is a reboot of ‘Thor’ franchise of MCU, as most of the characters starring in the previous ‘Thor’ movies are gone. Sif is gone, (see above), Jane Foster, Darcy and Dr. Selvig are gone, Odin is gone, the Warriors Three – ditto… These characters – and the actors who played them – are not coming back to MCU in a hurry, one bets. Things are getting shuffled and reshuffled at Marvel’s corner of Disney…and where does it leave AoS?

Nowhere good, apparently, as ‘Life Earned’ has even lower numbers than ‘Life Spent’ had. AoS has learned how to do things ‘right’, but it might be coming too late for the show, and with its’ ‘fall finale’ coming up next week, things won’t improve soon, most likely.

…That is it for now, see you soon!

Runaways: Kingdom - Dec 14

The adventures of Marvel’s ‘Runaways’ continue. We learn more of Wilders’ past, (before Alex was born, presumably), and we see the ramifications this has had on the present. Alex, in particular, met Darius and his posse and saw how the ‘other half’ lives – it is certain that there was some socio-racial commentary in it as well. …Yes, ‘Runaways’ are trying to be modern and edgy and introduce viable social (and etc.) commentary of the day, which is fine, and it also doesn’t ruin the plot of the series.

…The children have come together as a team, however problematically, and they were able to rescue Alex from Darius. Spoiler alert though – Alex might still be evil as he was in the comics, but the viewers will have to see the future episodes to learn whether this is real or not.

…The show introduced Jonah, who might be Karoline’s true father – or her mother has slept with two men, which isn’t a ‘nice’ thing, even in modern times, so hopefully ‘Runaways’ will keep sexual deviations here to a minimum. Jonah himself might be the counterpart to the giant aliens from the comic series, (the Gibborim), and if not, he is still a stereotypical white man villain – ‘Runaways’ isn’t against using racial stereotypes either, it seems.

Of course, Old Lace was there too, however briefly, and it certainly counteracted whatever flaws ‘Kingdom’ might have had as a TV episode. By fictional dinosaur standards, Old Lace is just as realistic as anything that we have seen in the ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ for example. The Baryonyx was just disappointing, as dino-fans admit unanimously; the Carnotaurus was taken straight out of Disney’s ‘Dinosaur’, (a fictional movie with talking dinosaurs who have to find the promised land to escape extinction – the ‘Land Before Time’ franchise should’ve sued), and then there was some pale theropod dinosaur, which might’ve been a Metriocanthosaurus, or an Allosaurus, or even an Indoraptor, which still hasn’t made a proper appearance.

…Again, this can be considered a reference to the initial ‘Jurassic Park’ novel by Michael Crichton. Yes, it is still fiction, but Crichton went the rhetorical extra mile to flesh it all out in RL facts; he even named Rexy, well, Rexy…who wasn’t helpful at all in the novel, but behaved rather as the JP3 Spinosaurus did, and was the second worst dinosaur in the entire park. (The raptors were the first, dilophosaurs and compys tied for the third) – but the novel itself was very different from the movie, as it is known by now. Also, the point is that the franchise continues to plunder the novels, (especially the first one), even now, years after it got published – so from this sort of a viewpoint, Old Lace, and the rest of TV-/Web-series ‘Runaways’ franchise are actually very good. They are both original and fairly true to the canon comic plot line, (though the family life of Karoline and her family? Yeesh!)

Anything else? Chase and Victor’s plotline has revealed that Victor has cancer and he has an impromptu time machine that works as often as it does not. Also, last week, on ‘Fifteen’, we learned that so far the titular ‘Runaways’ are not so much the heroic half dozen of children, but the victims of their parents’, (and Jonah’s?) plot – ‘project Runaways’: sacrificed children/young adults/teenagers that will never be missed. Again, some RL social commentary here, but it still works…

…And this is it for the moment; see you next time! 

The Gifted: eXploited - Dec 12

The fall finale of ‘Gifted’ got aired. And?

And it seems that the show is continuing in the direction, indicated by the mention of the Hellfire Club in ‘outfoX’ – the telepath that got introduced in the episode ‘eXtinction’ is not only a part of triplet team, (identical triplets here, seriously), but she/they are clearly pursuing an agenda that isn’t a part of the Sentinels, or Trask’s, or the Mutant Underground, (Marcus, Lorna and co.). The telepath had manipulated the Strucker parents, as well as Lorna and co. into going to rescue the Strucker twins as well as Blink and Dreamer…who, to make things even worse, was killed in the episode too.

Again, ‘Gifted’ is a straightforward TV series – it is all about conflict between the mutants and the Sentinels; (the latter are aided by Trask’s, but so far Jace still seems to be the most formidable opponent of the mutants, though again, he and his wife are beginning to have doubts about what they are involved in). Now, however, with ‘eviler’ mutants making an appearance, (the triplets have no problem in killing non-mutant humans, and are doing this much better than Marcus, Lorna and others have done so far, too). Now Lorna, Marcos and others are going to have morality problems down the road: already the telepath has played an ‘us vs. them’ card putting the leaders of the Mutant Underground against the Strucker parents. It worked, but only to a point; the Mutant Underground still functioned as a coherent unit…but the evil triplets are even better at this than Marcos and the others are.

That said, this is still straightforward – the ‘good guys’ of ‘Gifted’ will make to have a choice and surpass the temptation of using their powers for evil, and while ‘Gifted’ makes a lot of noise about ‘grey morality’, the right choices and the hard ones, everything tends to be quite clear-cut in the end, even Jace’s angst about which side is right for him. However, as long as the show works, there is no problem either.

What else? Trask’s might have backwards-engineered the ‘cure’ that Mr. Strucker’s father has given his son, (the father of the current twins) to turn him human, so more bad news for the mutants. Again, this isn’t anything that wasn’t there before, just stakes are continuously being raised – but ‘Gifted’ has teased the eventual confrontation between the mutants and the military from the first episode, (the teaser trailers at the end of each), so that is actually no surprise. As it is, though, ‘Gifted’ is done with 2017, and will be back in January 2018.

…That is it for now, see you soon!

S.H.I.E.L.D. 'Life Spent' - Dec 9

…The 5^th season of AoS continues… and it the show continues to recycle old ideas. Case in point – Gryll, one of the new villains, (a mini-bad), is reminiscent of Robert Gonzales, a semi-rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, (actually the leader of the ‘real S.H.I.E.L.D.’) from S2, complete with a walking cane. What gives?

Or take the xenomorphs of MCU. True, they aren’t xenomorphs from the AVP franchise, but rather some sort of original ‘roach’ creatures, (whose names start with a ‘v’ and are a proper mouthful, so let’s just call them ‘xenomorphs’ instead. Potato, po-ta-to…). They, apparently, exist on the surface of the now-devastated Earth, and-

However, Earth is not really Earth anymore! Rather, it is an asteroid belt of some sort plus a burnt-out husk, rather reminiscent of Alderaan from SW4 movie. Maybe not as demolished as Alderaan became, (see the SW4 movie, duh) but close enough. The damaged husk of the once-blue planet simply cannot sustain a breathable atmosphere, or even much of life, alien or not, (especially multicellular – single-cell organisms is another thing), period. Instead, we have an outmaneuvered ex-henchman getting run down by the roaches or whatever – and realize that this is the set of Maveth without even any customization! It is bad enough that the AoS’ team does not respect its’ characters – they do not respect their viewers either!

…Sorry about the ugly, albeit abbreviated rant, but it’s the truth. In ‘Orientation’, we talked, however briefly, about how the lack of fresh new ideas keeps AoS sinking deeper and deeper, period. Yes, continuity has to be observed, but this is not about continuity, it is more and more about the initial ideas unable to work, well, initially, and about the writers, who keep returning and returning to them regardless.

And the character-not-quite-assassinations, (for now). In the past, the fans of Grant Ward complained that the scriptwriters have mangled and reshaped the character on TV (and in the canon) however they saw fit. Now it is Jemma Simmons’ turn, instead. I.e., in S4, her character was obtuse – almost stupidly so; Jemma’s repeated statements – i.e. that the framework wasn’t real – would’ve gotten even Captain Obvious annoyed; Jemma’s emotional range in the second and third story arcs of AoS S4 became kind of stunted – so now, in S5, Jemma became a queen of compassion, leaving her previous agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. training behind – she has no self-control, she has, seemingly, forgotten all of her self-restraint and experiences gained during her spying at Whitehall’s branch of Hydra, (the first half of S2, remember?), and now… she’s a better character than who she became in S4; she’s just not the ‘original’ Jemma Simmons anymore. That is not good either, especially since the numbers of AoS’ S5 still are not very high, especially in comparison with the previous seasons of the show.

Another noteworthy fact is that AoS’ S5 does not appear to have any specialized mini-arcs that S4 and to a lesser extent – S3, has gone for. It is not too surprising, the AoS/MCU team went for them back in S3 as a promotional gimmick to boost the numbers, and it did not work – the numbers continue to go down, overall. Sad, really, but now AoS may be going for the S1 format – largely one single story line for the next 22 episodes with all the old characters; the only noteworthy exception is Deke, who comes across like an unholy cross of Grant Ward and Lance Hunter rather than an original character – again.

…One can argue that Deke is also equipped a-la Peter Quill the Star Lord from the GotG movies – but it seems that by travelling into the future, (in-universe terms), AoS has severed itself from the MCU movies, seeing how it was tied into the movies tightly in the S1, but now – it seems to have gone free of the upcoming ‘Avengers vs. Thanos’ movie and is doing its’ own thing. That is not bad, in DCEU the TV ‘Arrowverse’ has existed separately from the movies since the beginning, but even in AoS S3 the TV series and the movies existed in a shared universe  instead, so this break…it’s just weird. There are some references to the GotG movies, including the Kree, but they are just surface-deep, as AoS seems to be giving as InHumans as gladiators of the Kree; the most enjoyable part of that was lady Basha belittling and humiliating Kasius the Kree military governor whenever she had a chance.

Yes, the current big bad of AoS has his name starting with the letter ‘K’; AoS seems to have issues with that letter: in S2 there was Kara Palamas/Agent 33, whose story got mangled horribly and caused a lot of damage to AoS; in S3 there was Kebo, a sidekick of Grant of some sort that got killed by Bobbi Morse so that she would get her mojo back…but she still left the show, (okay, Palicki did, alongside Blood) – in other words, Kebo’s role in the show was just pointless; and now, there’s Kasius. What gives? AoS gone back from WWII RL allusions to the ancient Romans? While it makes sense, it is still somewhat strange…

Therefore, ‘Life Spent’ got to be a strange, confusing, conflicted episode. Does anyone have any different opinions? One way or another, see you soon!

Runaways: Fifteen - Dec 7

The fourth episode of Marvel’s ‘Runaways’, ‘Fifteen’, got aired, and what of it?

One of the more important notes was that Old Lace got his proper revealing: the bioengineered dinosaur certainly got character, and-

And here is where the rant about ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ dinosaurs has inserted itself. Let us be fair: both ‘Fallen Kingdom’ and ‘Runaways’ are equal, when it comes to paleontology, neither the movie franchise nor the TV series/comics are concerned with science or education; they just want to entertain, and here the ‘Runaways’ of TV/Hulu have done a very important turn of the plot: they are introducing new, original content into the old, initial plot, as depicted in the comics. They are creating something new that wasn’t there before, just as the JP3 movie did with the initial franchise – as it was written in the past, back then the JP franchise broke the formula that got established by then by introducing Spinosaurus as a newer, bigger, better monster than a T-Rex, and by giving the pterosaurs – Pteranodons – a moment to shine. ‘Fallen Kingdom’ did not introduce anything new, it just recycled the JP3 elements – both the pterosaurs, which now are playing a more active role in the franchise and Spinosaurus’ replacement – that is either Baryonyx or Suchomimus.

The latter is a relative of Baryonyx; even though it lived during the early Cretaceous in Africa, just as Spinosaurus did, right now – 2017 – scientists have established that the two dinosaurs in question, Baryonyx & Suchomimus were more closely related to each other, than to Spinosaurus. That said, Suchomimus was physically very similar to Spinosaurus, only smaller – about 11 m in length on average – and without the trademark sail on its back. Thus, if Rexy were to fight it, this would be the T-Rex vs. Spinosaurus fight from JP3, recycled, revisited, and reset – and that is not good. Lack of original content can be very problematic, for both movies and TV series – just look at AoS: the 5^th season’s premiere has started with some very low numbers, the lowest of any of season premieres ever; as a movie, ‘Fallen Kingdom’ is a very different beast from AoS, but if it continues to recycle old ideas instead of generating new ones, then it will also develop problems, (given the appearance of their Baryonyx, already available to the public, maybe those problems have already begun).

Back to ‘Runaways’? There isn't really anything to criticize - they are actually doing better than ‘Fallen Kingdom’, they have no problems with the original content (and featherless dinosaurs), and they are going strong, (good for them!). Hopefully too, they will continue in this vein and continue to satisfy their viewers…

See you later! 

The Gifted: outfoX - Nov 5

Last night, the mutants went against the Sentinel Services and their allies over at Trask’s – and lost. While this is bad, it is also to be expected, and-

And here’s the thing: ‘Gifted’ doesn’t offer too many twists and turns, unlike AoS, or ‘Runaways’, for example – it is a straightforward show about the mutants struggling for their rights against the robot-using Sentinel Services. What next?

On one hand this direct approach is a good thing – ‘Gifted’ doesn’t need to be a complex show; given the political climate in RL U.S.A. at the present, (2017), the WWII-like allusions of ‘Gifted’ give the show enough edge to keep on going, (and the first season of the show is almost done, anyhow), without much concern for any new revelations…except that ‘Gifted’ has those as well; in ‘outfoX’ – this week’s episode – we learn that the original Von Strucker twins were associated with the Hellfire Club.

This is important because in the Marvel comics the Hellfire Club was an organization of evil mutants and some of the X-Men most dangerous nemeses, period; they even served to introduce Jean Grey as the Phoenix in both the comics and the cartoons, (especially the 1990s ones). If the Hellfire Club appears in ‘Gifted’ too, things can become intense – but they already are intense, because the Strucker twins, Blink and Dreamer got captured by Jace and Sentinel Services instead.

Undoubtedly, this is bad, especially within the ‘Gifted’ universe proper, but outside of it, it is just par for the course – in the Marvel comics, (and even the Marvel movies), mutants get captured by the Sentinels (and the other villains) on a regular basis, so the mutants’ defeat in ‘outfoX’ is expected and temporary, (of course), there is nothing unexpected. (Insert your own x-pun here). By refusing to use their powers in tandem, the Strucker twins proved themselves to be different, (at least on a potential level), from their original counterparts, and to be heroes rather than villains, (at least on a default level). This is also worth noting because ‘Gifted’ tries to go for the grey morality area, especially in case of Jace, who was shown in the past episodes to show not exactly remorse or regrets, but clear doubts about working with the Trask’s, the company that brainwashes mutants to do their bidding – and Jace has views about this, so judging by the next week’s promo, things in his life are going to come to – something.

On the topic of family, one of the more bizarre turns of events is the transformation of Lorna’s character and maybe her role in ‘Gifted’. In ‘outfoX’, she was shown to have second thoughts and be outright afraid of Trask’s and the Sentinels. This is understandable – she is pregnant, after all, and loves Marcos/Eclipse, (the father of her baby), and is scared about their future as a family, but…wasn’t it obvious from the beginning of the show, when the mutants were just beginning to fight the Sentinels? The way the show is handling Lorna’s character now…it is not the best, but just inconsistent – and yet...

And yet ‘Gifted’ is quite consistent, following its’ direct and straightforward script, well, forwards. It does not really deviate from the traditional ‘X-Men’ stories, but presents plenty of original new characters to keep the story exciting – and the actors’ performance, of course, is still great. (Plus, the spider robots are back). Thus, while the show’s heroes are currently in the jaws…not just of dilemma, but of their enemies, (Sentinels and Trask’s), the viewers continue to view with excitement as to what will happen to them regardless of whatever shortcomings ‘Gifted’ has developed meanwhile.

That is that for now; see you later!

Baryonyx vs. Tyrannosaurus

Now, it became known last week that the next JW movie is going to have a Baryonyx in it, and naturally, there are already discussions about it, is it going to fight the T-Rex, (Rexy) or what. There are also suggestions that it is something of a remastered rematch of a T-Rex vs. Spinosaurus fight back from the JP3 movie. Does this have any connotations?

Firstly, what is a Baryonyx, (or was). For a while, the popular opinion was that it is a cousin of Spinosaurus, and while that is true, the modern (2017) scientific P.O.V. states that Baryonyx was only a distant relative of Spinosaurus, not a close one, so its’ popular depiction – a smaller version of the Spinosaurus without the sail, but with extra-large claws on its’ ‘thumbs’, something similar to what the raptors had, but on its front legs, rather than the hind ones. It was also quite a bit smaller than the Spinosaurus was, (or the T-Rex) – whereas T-Rex was about 12 m long, and Spinosaurus – approximately 17, Baryonyx was about 7.5-10 m in length, and while people admit that it probably did get bigger than that, it wasn’t that much bigger, making it still smaller than the T-Rex was.

Okay, that is for measurements, how about the X-Factor? (Or whatever it was called on DW). Size issues aside, T-Rex was the better fighter than Spinosaurus was, when it came to intra-species fighting, and if we substitute Baryonyx for Spinosaurus, it is the same thing, except that Baryonyx was smaller and weaker than either T-Rex or Spinosaurus were, and would be overwhelmed by T-Rex and its’ bone-crushing bite all the quicker.

That is not to say that Baryonyx could not win. It could. While Tyrannosaurus’ jaws and teeth were designed to crush and tear, Baryonyx’s were designed to latch on and not let go, just as Spinosaurus’ teeth and jaws were. (Cousins!) Thus, if Baryonyx was able to grab and bite Tyrannosaurus, then regardless of how robust and strong the latter was, it would not be able to escape Baryonyx’s jaws without losing its pound of flesh – and meanwhile, Baryonyx would continue to hit its’ opponent with its’ powerful front legs that had those trademark claws – and if it scored a lucky critical hit on a Tyrannosaurus’ eye or a blood vein, then the ‘tyrant lizard king’ would be in serious trouble.

All that, but keep in mind that Baryonyx did not have Spinosaurus’ superior physical strength and bulk; with just one lucky bite Tyrannosaurus could break Baryonyx’s spine or even tear the smaller carnivore in two, even if Baryonyx would hurt it in the fight, however badly. It would be a clear winner, even if it probably would not want to tackle another Baryonyx anytime soon.

And here the reality raises itself once again. Baryonyx and Tyrannosaurus have never met: Tyrannosaurus lived at the very end of the ‘Age of Reptiles’, the Mesozoic, in the late Cretaceous, while Baryonyx live during the late Jurassic, much earlier than Tyrannosaurus did. In real life, the two reptiles never met – and this brings us to the upcoming ‘Fallen Kingdom’ movie. Technically.

Again, nothing in the JP-franchise was ever educational, even as timorous as it was in AFO or DW, (for example). It was pure fiction, even if the original Michael Crichton novel was actually based on scientific facts, (of its time). Ergo, it must be treated as such, and where does it leave us?

With the realization that until ‘Fallen Kingdom’ comes out anyhow, JP3 was more progressive – as far as fictional movies about dinosaurs go – than the initial JW movie. It introduced a brand new dinosaur ‘villain’ – Spinosaurus – and gave the pterosaurs (Pteranodons) the recognition denied to them in the first two movies. (In the original novel Dr. Grant and the children encountered the ‘dactyls’ – Cearodactyls – big, fish-eating pterosaurs, but let us talk about them another time). The first JW movie also features pterosaurs, Pteranodons and their smaller distant cousins as ‘hazards’ of some sort, while the main monster role passed from Spinosaurus to the imaginary I-Rex, but it came later than the JP3 movie did, meaning that the JP3 movie is the more progressive than the JW one, relatively speaking.

Now we come to the issue – is Baryonyx a substitute Spinosaurus? Odds are very good that it will be, yes. Somehow, the fight between T-Rex and Spinosaurus in JP3 became quite popular, and turned into ‘two dinosaurs fighting each other’ cliché. Movie dinosaurs, movie fictional dinosaurs are kaiju, basically, and the JP3’s Spinosaurus was a textbook example of it; ditto for the JW’s I-Rex. In ‘Fallen Kingdom’, either Baryonyx or the Indoraptors will take that role, but we will talk about the Indoraptors at another time – the point is that ‘Fallen Kingdom’ is a fictional movie with nary much logic, (especially by RL’s standards) and should be treated accordingly.

That is that for this time; see you all soon!

S.H.I.E.L.D. 'Orientation' - Dec 3

The fifth season of AoS has premiered on December 1, 2017. What can be said about it?

It continues the theme of a totalitarian dystopia that began in the last third of S4 with the framework. Back then the main enemy was Hydra, (never mind that it was supposed gone for good at the end of S3 – it began to come back by the mid-S4, but so far it seems to be gone again, so there’s that), and now – the Kree. Yes, there are some allusions to some RL WWII atrocities done by the Nazis in the Kree actions, but there are just as many allusions to both the SW franchise and ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ book and TV series, (you know, the Alice Munro one). Thus, AoS is trying to be either diverse or just different from the ‘Arrowverse’s’ take on the ‘evil Nazi trope’, and-?

And it worked, yeah. AoS appears to have made a clean break from the first 3 seasons at last and is going for something completely new and exciting. Yes, the first 17-20 minutes of the first 2 S5 episodes are confusing and vague – maybe too much – but they are deliberately so, in order for more revelations and twists in the future episodes, (hopefully); for all we know, the leader of the MIB-wannabes is MCU’s version of the Watcher – or someone like that, and he had a reason for keeping Fitz behind, aside from the RL issues, one of which, apparently is the still-tight budget of AoS: with all the special effects in play, the show may be incapable of maintaining a roster of 7 full-time actors on screen, and now that Yo-Yo (NCB) is a main character in her own right, tough nuggies for Fitz (Iain).

Let us pause and focus some more on Yo-Yo and Mack (Simmons), since they are probably going to be the main focus of romance in the next few AoS episodes at least – Simmons and Fitz are separated again, Daisy is single again, and Phil and Melinda have reset their relationship for now – they are back at S2-S3 level of interacting, which means no romance. Do Gregg and Wen have some personal issues between each (or with each other)? Go figure.

…And the emphasis on ‘again’? It is just a point – in S2 (and maybe S3) Daisy’s tumultuous love life and the FitzSimmons issues as a couple were new and exciting, but now – they are not. Maybe it is time for Daisy to get back to Robbie, (Gabriel Luna), since the new guy, Deke, may have a semi-girlfriend in the new girl Tess already, and in general, in RL, Chloe Bennett, (the actress), doesn’t seem to like any romantic entanglement for her character, (Daisy); even back in S1 there were signs of this, but we got distracted.

Back to ‘Orientation’ proper, we have also learned that Daisy has as much power of destruction as SW’s Death Star did, (back in the ‘New Hope’ and ‘Rogue 1’ movies) and that the framework was one of the few things that has survived from Earth’s destruction. Maybe another one will be Hydra as some sort of a political movement, but that would be too cruel, and the Kree are quite capable of that, especially their local leader, Cassius, whose take on asshole is that of Edward Cullen, (rather than Cedric Diggory, who in the HPCC proved to be a Death Eater himself). At last, AoS managed to create a brand-new, unsympathetic villain, so kudos to them, again!

So. In S5, AoS had finally managed to break free of the morass of the first 3 seasons and finally get its’ priorities straight. This is good, but also something that AoS tried to do in S4 already, this time via the Ghost Rider/Robbie Reyes – and it did not work. By the second third of S4 Hydra was back, then AoS brought back Ward, and Tripp, and Bakshi, and many other people, (but not Hunter and Morse – what’s up with that?), and S4 ended with the lowest numbers ever in AoS’ history, and who’s to say that history won’t repeat itself, especially if AoS still hasn’t resolved all of its’ RL issues, whatever they may be?

And on that note, we must pause for the moment – the heroes of S.H.I.E.L.D. are just getting started with whatever SW-inspired Kree dystopia their authors have come up with now. Yes, again, the heroes are separated, (just when Daisy gave that pro-teamwork speech at the end of S4), but this doesn’t mean anything – none of the actors are leaving the show, so all of them are going to survive, at least for the first third, or even half of S5. Go them! AoS has also finally managed to create an unsympathetic villain, so this is good also – AoS is on a winning streak, let us now see if they can keep it. Therefore – see you soon!

Runaways: Destiny - Nov 30

The third episode of ‘Runaways’ got aired (on TV and otherwise), and what can be said about it?

Deviations from the comics abound, and if this is how things will keep going, then we can safely speak about a separate universe from the ‘Runaways’ comic-verse. The TV/web-TV series continues to loosely follow the main comic plotline, but are continuing to create something that is more original than otherwise.

Again, is that bad? As it was already commented in the review of the first two episodes, by now MCU has developed and implemented several strategies when it comes to canon vs. original content in its’ TV shows. AoS is original, period: it does introduce canon characters, (as do the MCU movies proper) but in new, original ways; the show’s plotline in the end is its own. This is a good thing, but AoS does not have too good a grip on it, and so its’ numbers have fallen – the viewers, the ratings, etc. This is AoS’ fault; AC had something similar during its run, but it managed to do so more coherently than AoS did…but it was the one show that got cancelled. Go figure.

Conversely, ‘Gifted’, (as well as ‘Legion’, probably) has some canonical characters (at least), but it is set in a completely original, different setting…basically, the same thing that AoS, (and AC – even more so) did, just in ways that still keep the audience enthralled; fast pace of the series, and the intense conflict that is the main plot-driving device helps. ‘Runaways’ doesn’t have it, period.

No, ‘Runaways’ aren’t a ‘teenage soap opera’ according to some reviews, at least. That will probably be more of ‘Cloak & Dagger’ thing – that show comes to Hulu in 2018, next year. It will feature two teenage superheroes, the titular Cloak and Dagger – an Afro-American young man who has a cloak of shadows and an Anglo-American woman who generates daggers of light. Together, they fight crime…and even in canon, there was some soap opera/drama elements to their tale; what will Hulu do to their story remains to be seen. But ‘Runaways’? They are a soap operate, just not a teenage one – a family one: the parents have as much drama as their children do, if not more.

Now this probably reminds one of ‘Riverdale’ the TV series, only ‘Riverdale’ is based on ‘Archies’ comic series, and unlike Marvel™ or DC™ ‘Archies’ never had any specific canon; their comics were, or are, mostly one-shots that weren’t really connected to each other, plot-wise. These days, this situation has changed, to some extent, but still, ‘Archies’ don’t keep all of their eggs in one basket; i.e., ‘Riverdale’ is only a part of their franchise, and a distinct one – but we got sidelined.

Unlike the other shows mentioned so far, ‘Runaways’ it trying to be both – remain true to the original plotline of the comics, and be original. The result is unusual – a mixture of sorts, but is it ‘the best of both worlds’?

…It is always possible to sit on both chairs for a while, but only for a while. Then we enter the FH territory, with its’ Shaman, who is armed not so much with a hatchet and a dagger, but rather with a hatchet, (or a hand-axe), and a kukri. The latter is something intermediate between a proper dagger and a short sword, a weapon that can not just stab, but also slice – it was featured in the penultimate DW episode, as a Gurkha weapon, when the latter went against the French Foreign Legion (FFL). WWII settings aside, that was a good DW episode, but the point is that the kukri is decisively not a Viking weapon, so how does it fit into the FH universe?

…And the same can be said about the Centurion and the Gladiator of the FH’s Knights’ faction, as it was discussed earlier: FH has clearly strained into the outer margins of its initial idea – knights vs. Vikings vs. samurai. They now have to go back to what they had, or abandon the old entirely, and go for the new. Since so far their main updates are various suits and armor designs, (for example, the Vikings now have an owl motif named the ‘night raptor’ or something similar), they will probably do neither, but end up worse, (respectively) than AoS has had by the end of S4 – and ‘Runaways’ are going down the same route as FH has had: sooner or later they will have to turn back to the old plot, or go somewhere entirely new, (but then they won’t be ‘Runaways’ anymore, technically speaking), or continue to straddle the line, eventually failing on both sides – but many seasons can pass before this actually happens, and in the meanwhile? We will be watching.

Well, that is it for today; see you next time!

Runaways: Ep I & II - Nov 23

Marvel’s ‘Runaways’ made their premiere in Canada, and what can be said about them?

The show started slow, with the titular heroes – the children of the Pride – are hurting over the death of Amy, Nico’s sister, who was not shown yet – in a flashback, on a photo, etc. This is important, because – spoilers, or rather – the comics.

Just as the rest of MCU, ‘Runaways’ have existed as a comic book series a long time before now, (when the TV series/web TV series got released) and people have gotten familiar with them by now, with their parents, friends, enemies, etc. They know the plot, they know where it is all going, and so they are not too surprised with how it all is developing, TV-wise.

…So now ‘Runaways’ are throwing plenty of original content, and while they are still seem to be following the initial plotline and conflict (parents vs. children, etc.) they are throwing plenty of their own, new twists into the plot, possibly inspired by the initial comics, but something new all the same. This makes ‘Runaways’ different from such Marvel shows as AoS and ‘The Gifted’, which are simply original from the start, but also introduce various Marvel characters from all over the MCU as part of their narrative, (AoS) or are outright redesigning comic book characters into someone new (‘Gifted’). This is very impressive, but is it good?

So far, most reviews claim that ‘Runaways’ are a soap opera, but so were the ‘InHumans’, actually, and no one made a big deal out of that. Of course, this raises the next question: was the first season of ‘InHumans’ good of its own, and honestly? While it had some flaws, it certainly was not any worse than, say, AoS, (especially in the later seasons), so it is doubtful that it had earned all that hate… However, the truth is that people did not hate ‘InHumans’, they just did not care about the show, and so it collapsed. A show can pull out all of its stops, but sometimes, it is just not good enough. Are the ‘Runaways’ good enough?

Judging by the first two episodes, they can be – certainly by the second episode the action begins to go up, the plot begins to have layers, and the new developments, away from the original comics, certainly help. So for now let us remain cautiously optimistic and hope that the ‘Runaways’ continue to deliver, period – MCU needs it.

The Gifted, eXtinction - Nov 21

This week’s episode has news that are both good and bad, depending on whether you’re in ‘The Gifted’ universe or outside of it – the Sentinels are back, bringing forth more brainwashed mutants. Sadly for the Sentinels, so far they are not doing very well with their a-game either: the Strucker grandfather has killed Augustus, (the mutant whose powers are to turn off the powers of the other mutants) and Johnny and Marcos have caught another brainwashed mutant as well – and a telepath has gleaned that the Sentinels are brainwashing mutants for real, so now the mutants are beginning to deliver their own a-game too.

Let us elaborate. Last time around Lorna was angry with Marcos because he went to Carmen, (his ex-girlfriend, who is a normal human – so far – and a head of a drug cartel) and not told her anything at all. So she became angry and huffy and then they all met a brainwashed mutant who had lost her baby on top of everything else, so naturally now Lorna is a lot more wonderful and has forgiven Marcos completely because she has realized that she herself isn’t invincible and that the stakes in the mutant-Sentinel battle are even higher than what she has thought, so now she and Marcos are back together…

Yes, when it is put like this, cut and dry, it does sound clichéd, but on screen, thanks to the actors’ acting, it really works. In addition, the return of the Sentinels here also helps, because so far, ‘The Gifted’ was all about the mutants’ conflicts with the Sentinels, and by extent – with the American government, though as last week’s episode has shown – remember – this may not be the case forever…

However, this episode’s main plotline is Reed Strucker’s visit to his father, who revealed that he was a mutant, Reed’s father and aunt were mutants, and that Reed himself was a mutant until his father gave him some sort of a ‘cure’ for mutations that turned Reed into an ordinary human – but because sci-fi, his children, of course, are mutants once more, and very powerful ones too, hence why the Sentinels want them… What, mainly, is interesting here, (aside from the drama, generated by the script and the acting), is that in the world of ‘The Gifted’ the mutants have existed for a long time; yes, in Marvel universe proper one of the greatest mutants ever – Apocalypse/En Sabah Nur – was born in the time of ancient Egypt, but here, in ‘The Gifted’, this is the first indication that mutants aren’t a recent phenomenon after all, this is a true alternate universe from RL, and should be treated as such – keep it in mind. Otherwise…

Otherwise, ‘eXtinction’ – this week’s episode – was not exactly a filler episode, just a Strucker-focused one. So far, it is unknown as to what relationship these Struckers have to baron von Strucker, a Hydra villain from the MCU ‘Age of Ultron’ movie and his son Werner, who appeared in the first half of AoS’ S3…and vanished into nothingness by the second half – but AoS was doing this even back in S2, so let us not judge it too harshly…at least until its’ fifth season airs in December 2017.

What can be said about that? Before S4 was aired, AoS and MCU did an advertising campaign, clearly telling that this season will feature the Ghost Rider, (Robbie Reyes). This time, they kept their cards closer to their chest and there is no hint of just who will be the heavy hitter of this season – there is footage of the Kree, but most of the videos so far featured some sort of an alien predator, with ‘alien’ being the key word here: it looks like a variant xenomorph from the AVP franchise, and this just isn’t encouraging: AoS S4 finished on its’ lowest note yet, AoS still has plenty of fans, but will they be as excited to watch S5 in the long run? Who knows…

Getting back to ‘The Gifted’… there isn’t much to speculate – just that maybe the mutants’ new telepath is herself a more advanced brainwashed minion of the Sentinels, (here the brainwashing seems to be less clockwork orange and more drug addiction than it was in AoS), so some twists in the narrative are still possible, because otherwise? The mutants are coming for the Sentinels and their brainwashed mutants, period. This will be in two weeks – the next week is a timeout for ‘The Gifted’, but there are new Marvel series on Netflix and Hulu to fill-in the gap.

Until next time, people!

The Gifted, eXtreme - Nov 14

Not unlike the previous, ‘got your siX’ episode, this one – ‘eXtreme measures’ – is something of a filler episode, with one important difference: in this episode, mutants and Sentinel Services are taking a break from each other, and are worrying about something else. The result? A very different episode from ‘siX’.

‘siX’ was a filler episode, but it still fit with the rest of ‘The Gifted’ (at that point), as the mutants battled the Sentinels. ‘eXtreme’ does not do that – instead the Sentinels are beginning to bring-in their a-game – brainwashed mutants of their own – to the battle, while the mutants…deal with their internal problems. The Struckers are dealing with the fact that their daughter’s new boyfriend had used his powers to rob jewelry stores, (he can create various illusions), while Lorna isn’t handling the fact that Marcos is working for Carmen once more, and Johnny went on a discovery spiritual journey with Clarice/Blink to re-discovery her past. Or, to put it in an alternative manner, the Struckers are dealing with a typical middle-class problem in a refugee setting, while the main mutant fighters are involved in a typical X-men social drama. Now what?

Well, the Sentinels managed to get their secret weapon through by breaking some of the U.S. laws and using the secret weapon in question on a U.S. official to show-off their villainy. Their former number one villain, agent Jace, is already having second thoughts about this – his white side is coming to the core; or rather, since he’s a man who sees most things, if not everything, in black and white, what would his wife and (deceased) daughter would think, he is beginning to realize that he is no longer a hero of his/their own story anymore – and he doesn’t know where to go next.

…Will he be redeemed? It is anyone’s guess. Apparently, ‘The Gifted’ is 13 episodes long, not 10, so sorry about that. Also, this means that ‘The Gifted’ S1 is only at its’ halfway point, so things are just getting started.

Back to the redemption. AoS tried to do that Grant Ward and failed badly; they tried to fix it finally by the final third of S4, and it was so-so. Now, in the upcoming S5 they will be trying something new, apparently, but will be enough? Who knows. Hopefully, ‘The Gifted’ will do a better job with a redemption story arc than AoS did…or maybe they will not do it at all…who knows?

…Anyhow, while Jace is beginning to realize that he just may not be on the side of the angels at all, Marcos is returning to his roots by working for Carmen and her organized crime family. This is one aspect that could have been expanded here: the introduction fragment of how Marcos left Carmen the first time around and joined Johnny and Lorna was sadly short here – and now Marcos is coming back to Carmen, and Lorna is angry with him, so tough break!

Lauren Strucker, meanwhile, had her own problems, as it was discussed earlier – her new boyfriend, Wes, was a criminal, and-

And here would be a good time to discuss what in RL differentiates a revolutionary from some sort of a double-agent/spy type of character. The latter is a blackguard and a villain, because s/he is working for their own personal interest, including betraying their comrades and homeland for personal benefits at heart. A revolutionary, on the other hand, is working for a greater good, for their country (usually), their cause. Yes, a revolutionary will be willing to make a deal with a literal devil for that sort of thing, let alone a common criminal; if the mutant underground of ‘The Gifted’ was some sort of a revolutionary organization there wouldn’t be any problem with Wes’ criminal past, provided that he stayed true to their cause, (and Reed Strucker’s behavior is in line with that – in the past episodes he had troubles fitting in himself, as he remembered in the second of this episode), but right now, Lorna and Marcos and the rest aren’t revolutionaries – they are more like refugees: so far their plan is to escape, with their people, to Mexico, if anything.

No, seriously, so far the mutants are still on the defensive from the Sentinel Services and the government, (so yes, this episode has also shown that there are cracks appearing, but the mutants don’t know this yet), and they aren’t doing anything to make the world of ‘The Gifted’ a different place. The past episodes have shown that this wasn’t always the case in their flashbacks, but now? This is how it goes – the mutants are still on the defensive, the Sentinels – on the offensive. For now.

Getting back to Lauren and Wes, one cannot shake the feeling that the scene where Wes confronts the Struckers at their meal was fudged: given how it was staged, it is possible that Wes has lied to Lauren, Reed and co. and just left for newer pastures, cutting his losses with the Struckers’ daughter. It is one of those moments that can go either way; in this particular instance, it will matter only if Wes returns to Lauren’s life, and if he does not – then no.

And the final strand of the plot is, of course, Johnny and Clarice’s bonding journey, and the gradually widening rift between Johnny and Dreamer. Again, this is basic X-men plot, where there is always some sort of a romantic ‘polyhedron’ and angst. Most viewers so far are rooting for Johnny and Blink, so this is good news – for them. For those who like Dreamer better it is the opposite, and for those who do not care either way, it does not matter – so there.

Yes, there we have it: a filler episode that shows that so far a part of ‘The Gifted’s’ success comes from the main conflict – the mutants vs. the Sentinel Services, and without it in place the pace slows down, some. That said, the Sentinel Services are bringing their a-game – the brainwashed mutants – so next week the pace could speed back up. See you then!

PS: Real life has stabilized, some, but I'm still remaining cautiously pessimistic, here.

InHumans, Black Bolt - Nov 11

‘InHumans’ S1 has reached its conclusion. What can be said about this?

This was a show where the actors and the rest of the crew know and respect their characters, and know where to take them - usually. I.e., Maximus may be sympathetic, but he is still a villain because he is selfish and does not care about anyone but himself at the end, unlike the rest of the Royal Family, who do care about each other, period. The thing is, so could Maximus, but…he does not. He fails his empathy checks – or whatever they are called – every time, despite anything and everything. He really wants to go through the Terragenesis once more and become a proper InHuman. (Of course, the obstinacy that he is facing isn’t very convincing and seems more obtuse and/or childish more than anything else – but that is a problem for ‘InHumans’ S1 entirely, as it was said in earlier discussions of the show). He does not want anything else and he does not care about anyone else, although he could. But he does not. That is his tragedy.

And on the other hand, we have Triton, who was reintroduced in ‘Havoc’ – the previous episode – for no good reason. Surely, Karnac could defeat the royal guards and capture Maximus just as well? Triton’s role is superfluous; possibly the only reason why he returned was that MCU and co. wanted to get their money worth from this character, and so they did – sort of. Neither Triton nor Gorgon have much to say in the last two episodes and their roles are minimal, but there you have it. Even Crystal played a larger role, even if it was just as an assistant or an accessory to the amazing Lockjaw, who has been a treat to watch on the show.

And as for women,…Auran’s role got rearranged some in these last two episodes. In particular, in last episode, she and Maximus ended their friendship and she left, befriending Karnak, helped him to resurrect Gorgon (with mixed results), and then just left Attilan – supposedly. And in ‘Black Bolt’ – this episode, the season’s finale – she was shown at Maximus’ side once more, as if nothing happened. But something did happen – pieces of the season’s script got shifted around; AoS had it especially bad in the later seasons; now it is coming back in December 2017 – completely rebooted, it seems. Not surprising: the last season, the fourth, was focused on basically resolving the leftover issues from the first three seasons with mixed results…where were we?

…If Auran’s role and character development got rearranged, then Declan’s just got terminated: the resurrected version of Gorgon killed him, period. His death carried no meaning, no reason, just – to frustrate Maximus again. Considering that Declan was even less of a villain than Auran was, this is just unfair and pointless; at least Mordis came across as some sort of a villain, more or less, but Declan? He was genuinely helpful to all of the InHumans, and he got no epitaph, he was just forgotten by everyone, including the Royal Family – the heroes of this series.

Here is the thing. Maximus makes an unconventional villain, but still a villain. His opponents, as far as heroes go…not so much. Medusa, in particular, allowed Auran to kill a bus driver before fighting her in the first episode of the season, and now we got more of the same. Yes, Maximus is no hero or a victim, he has set the bar low, but his brother and the rest of his relatives do not exactly do a sterling job of surpassing it, on a regular basis. They are unconventional heroes? Perhaps, but also not very good ones, and the script’s occasional twist doesn’t help matters either – whether it is revealed that Maximus and Medusa were friends once, before she married Black Bolt, or when Karnak channels his inner Jedi and declares that as strife has created Attilan, so it has destroyed it: what exactly he is talking about? Has the show intended to have another episode or two that featured the past lives of the Royal Family and the history of Attilan in general? Such episode(s) would have actually been helpful, they could have answered some of question, like – when and how Karnak had built a containment unit for Black Bolt…and why did he think that it would work? Just an example…

So, the actors and acting was good, the script – not so much, (and some humor, in particular, was somewhat juvenile), and the conclusion? Nothing surprising here: the InHumans have returned to Earth and are going to live there, at least for the foreseeable future. Considering that the show is met with low numbers and unfavourable reviews, it doesn’t have much ties-in with the rest of MCU (deliberately, it seems), the odds aren’t looking good that the show will be another AoS – but we’ll have to wait and see what will happen next in real life.

That is it for now, see you soon!

PS: And did I mention lately that real life sucks lately? Because it does, though this time it is probably my fault. I hate my life.