Pathfinder: Shadow creature II

Also, here's a seru from Monster Codex with the shadow creature template from Bestiary 4:

SHADOW SERU CR 4

XP 800

NE Small outsider (augmented)

Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +10

DEFENSE

AC 15, touch 14, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 natural, +1 size)

hp 22 (3d10+6)

Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +2

Defensive Abilities shadow blend; Resist cold 5, electricity 5; SR 9

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft., fly 40 ft. (average)

Melee bite +6 (1d4–2 plus poison)

Ranged spit venom +6 ranged touch (poison)

Special Attacks poison, spit venom

STATISTICS

Str 6, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 11, Wis 13, Cha 10

Base Atk +3; CMB +0; CMD 13

Feats Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse

Skills Bluff +7, Fly +4, Perception +10, Stealth +10 (+14 in rocky areas); Racial Modifiers +4 Bluff, +4 Perception

Languages Aklo, Common (can't speak any language); telepathy 60 ft.

ECOLOGY

Environment any land (jungles, swamps, or underground)

Organization solitary, pair, or nest (3–8)

Treasure none

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Poison (Ex) Bite or spit venom—injury; save Fort DC 15; frequency 1/minute for 6 minutes; effect 1 Con damage plus blindness for 1 minute; cure 1 save.

Spit Venom (Ex) As a standard action, a seru can spit venom up to 30 feet. This is a ranged touch attack with no range increment. Any opponent hit by this attack is exposed to the seru's poison.

AFO: Anaconda vs. jaguar - August 20

Let us temporarily get back to AFO. For a change, we will talk about the ‘Anaconda vs. jaguar’ episode.

Firstly, spoilers: the anaconda won. Second: what about it?

Now, there was some outrage about the reptile winning, in part because in real life it is usually the other way around, jaguars kill and eat anacondas instead, and-

Okay, again – the show was called ‘Animal Face-Off’, where the better fighter won, rather than the best killer. Fine. Let us assume that that was the anaconda, rather than the jaguar, and move on. What was next?

Nothing, actually. Yes, the jaguar’s defeat was discussed, yes, the anaconda’s victory was condemned, but that was it. People tend to get quite passionate over the fights of tigers and lions, for example, but over fights of jaguars and anacondas? Not so much. AFO intended to entertain, not just to educate, but in the end, it failed to do so. JFC, (to say nothing of ‘Monster Bug Wars’), had its’ own flaws, but it also had some variety, making it into a relatively exciting TV series to follow and to watch.

AFO, on the other hand, was also an exciting TV show to watch, but it followed a single scenario – a one-on-one face-off between two various animals. This sort of thing can work, (especially if CGI is good enough, and in the recent past, when AFO was aired, people were not as fussy when it came to computer graphics on screen), and it did work – for 12 episodes of AFO, after which the show ended.

…The same thing can be said of JFC – it also lasted for 12 episodes/1 season despite its’ greater variety and the more exciting subject – dinosaurs! JFC, however, lacked the professionalism of AFO, and it was not as educational as the older show, as I probably have mentioned before. Since the History Channel were JFC was aired tends not to show such entertainment in the first place, and because Mr. Blasing, who got the JFC to run, had his own issues, (but not all of the right credentials), JFC was cancelled, and by now – buried.

AFO didn’t appear to have a credential problem, but by the time that the ‘Anaconda vs. Jaguar’ episode was aired, it probably had trouble holding/recapturing the attention of its’ fans. This particular episode was different from, say, the ‘Lion vs. Crocodile’ episode, but only in details, so while some viewers were angry that the anaconda won (and/or the jaguar lost) the others were just uninterested (rather than unimpressed) and bored!

This is not restricted to documentary TV programs; just look at such pieces of fiction as AoS or ‘Killjoys’! However, I have talked about AoS a lot, including its’ latest attempts to be ‘mysterious’ while being ‘cute’ about it, (ever since the last episodes of S3), whereas ‘Killjoys’…

‘Killjoys’ aren’t bad, though compared to Michelle Lovretta’s previous TV show – ‘Lost Girl’ – they are much more tame and straightforward. On the plus side, they seem to have fewer problems with their backstory…probably because it is straightforward, again – the Killjoys are trying to stop the Company (yes, it is really called thus) from domineering Westerly with an all-around wall, (complete with a roof), while trying to figure out where Dutch’s ex-mentor Kline is planning to do regarding alien centipedes and their plasma that makes humans almost immortal. Overall, it may be a somewhat simple plot, (the Company of no name is bordering on a bad joke), but with just 10 episodes per season there is no time to be complex, and there is plenty of character development too, alongside plot development.

‘Lost Girl’ was a more complex, more tangled, and (currently) more rounded TV show out of the two, but it suffered from a major background instability. AoS had to change itself when it decided to integrate Hunter and Morse – and then it (possibly) went off tangent, and outright failed – to launch ‘Marvel’s Most Wanted’ TV series, to keep Mitchell as part of the cast, with that stupid shoehorn S3 premiere episode – the list goes on, but most importantly? AoS sort jammed S2 and S3 together and there were unnecessary character deaths’ all around, especially at the end of S2.

And ‘Lost Girl’? It did something similar – it constantly changed its’ back-story around, from Celtic to Norse to Greek without going anywhere in particular, especially after S1. The Garuda in S2 was a decent villain, but after this? It all went downhill; the quasi-Greek gods in S5 just do not deserve a mention and the fact that Bo’s father was Hades, (not that Aoife was anything like Persephone) is just sad.

In the long run, ‘Lost Girl’ didn’t know where it was going, and how it was going to get there, and the fact that it lumped any folklore character as a ‘Fae’ – it all contributed to the show going downhill and ending with a whimper, however it would rather pretend to be a bang. Michelle Lovretta just wasn’t very discreet or discerning when it came to her sources, and it case of ‘Killjoys’ the sources are largely MCU – the aforementioned AoS, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ as well…

Back to AoS? There are rumors of an Avenger coming to AoS – AoS is taking its’ cues from the rest of Marvel Cinematic Universe; MCU is dipping into the occult via ‘Dr. Strange’ movie? AoS is doing the same with the Ghost Rider; only there were Ghost Rider films in the past, (but not part of MCU, apparently), so now it’s a different Ghost Rider than the traditional Johnny Blaze…

That said, the variety that I have been talking about? AoS is trying to develop it, somewhat, now that Hydra is gone…supposedly, but right now it is gone…and AoS in particular has no major villain to fight against. (This lack of a major villain caused problems for ‘Lost Girl’ too, BTW, and as for ‘Primeval’…) There are rumors of Cal/Mr. Hyde/Daisy’s father returning to the show in S4, but we will have to wait to see if that is true, and besides, in S2, Cal was more of a morally ambiguous, even sympathetic character than an evil one…

Moreover, AFO? AoS is trying to have some variety – it has to, now that Hydra is gone (supposedly, but for the moment? It is gone). AFO did not, as it was written before. Hence, why it is gone, while in the long run, it had been a good show. The special ‘sperm whale vs. giant squid’ episode came too late and could not fix anything.

AoS S4 initial thoughts - August 11

Now, S.H.I.E.L.D – the site – has given out a brief update of how things will go at the beginning of S4. Daisy has split from S.H.I.E.L.D. for now and is ‘not’ robbing banks as Quake (or Tremors?). Coulson has been demoted – the president of the U.S. has appointed a new director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Given that the department did not really flourish under his guidance in S2 and 3, the president’s logic cannot be blamed – what can be blamed is the fact that the new director’s name still was not revealed. The Hell? It probably isn’t Norman Osborn, (the man hasn’t made much of appearance in the MCU just yet), and so what is the harm in the lack of info? Are they trying to keep the excitement going?

…Yes, probably. AoS as a TV series has some strange sentiments towards excitement: in the second half of S3, especially, they worked so hard at keeping the excitement of the guessing game (which agent was going to die) that they overshot it, and by the last two episodes of S3 at least some of the fans just wanted it to be over already, and it didn’t work either – the S3 two-part finale had some of the lowest ratings of the series’ episodes, period.

…With movies, it is one situation: 2016’s ‘Tarzan’ did its best to depict the turn of the 20^th century political situation in the first half of the 21^st century – and may not have succeeded, according to some critics. The audiences loved it. ‘Ghostbusters’ 2016 remake (featuring a gender swap) raised a lot of controversy on the web, but the critics loved it (somewhat). The fans were less excited in the long run, (but not because of the Internet trolls, BTW), so now – no sequel (well, for the current being). ‘Suicide Squad’ – the critics did not really like it, but the audiences love it. For the films, too, audiences are key, but not because of ratings – because the admission fee, the price of tickets, etc. With sites like Netflix, it’s similar – it’s pay per view, and few people can master watching ‘Daredevil’, ‘Jessica Jones’, ‘Luke Cage’ (upcoming) in one go, so it all comes down to money, again.

AoS, however, is no more pay-per-view than ‘Chopped’ from the Food Network is, so it all comes down to popularity and ratings, and right now it seems that AoS is trying to bulk itself up via intrigue. It may work for fictional spy organizations and co., but in real life, for TV viewers? It does not.

Back to the fictional spy organization in question. Coulson got demoted and is working with Mack, May is training new recruits (?), Daisy is on the outs with S.H.I.E.L.D., the FitzSimmons have split-

Wait, what?

Apparently, somehow the new director is splitting the FitzSimmons up, with Fitz being on the periphery, and Simmons – a part of his inner circle; didn’t we do just that in S2?

Yes, we have. When Gonzales took over S.H.I.E.L.D. – sort of – Simmons joined him, and Fitz struck out with Coulson and Lance. Considering that for a while, Coulson had to share power with Gonzales (and May); this new S4 information appears to be yet another rehash of S2. One of S3’s problems was the lack of a clean break with S2; now we seem to get more of that same thing with S4 – and it has not even began. Not very encouraging, is it?

However, wait, there is one last thing – Dr. Radcliffe, the new member of S.H.I.E.L.D. (probably), and a friend of the FitzSimmons, is building some sort of a cyborg or homunculus in his lab. Isn’t this very exciting, to sound as Simmons would?

Yes, it does – but this is not the point. The point is that this sort of solution/resolution/plot twist/etc. has come fairly late in the series, as has the Ghost Rider. By now, a large part of the audience has stopped watching AoS, and no tricks are really going to catch their attention…well, maybe they will, but the trend in S3 was the decreasing number of viewers, no matter what the writers, the cast, and the rest of the team have thrown at them. Sometimes even a good show gets a bad turn, and AoS – after the successful S1 – was not that good at all.

In addition, is Radcliffe going to become another villain and be killed in the new season? Only time will tell; so far, his actor is not a member of the main cast, which is not a good sign, but it does not amount to anything: Luke, who played Lincoln, did become a member of the main cast, and still left.

So, for now we are left wondering at what will exactly happen in AoS S4, and will the show prosper or continue to flounder? We will just have to wait and see. 

'Harry Potter' and co. - Aug 5

Time went on. The OI-2016 is upon us – I just watched the opening, very dramatic and colorful. Watching it, one can forget that in reality, the Olympic Games are on the downswing – they are growing more dramatic and colorful, and less relevant for the rest of the world…in the positive meaning of the word ‘relevant’.

In the negative meaning… ever since the winter Olympics of the late 1990s, the Russians have been at odds with the Americans and Canadians, and that alone had almost ruined every Olympics ever since. It is a good thing that they did come to Rio in August 2016 – otherwise, the diplomatic damage between RF and ‘the West’ would have become even worse. As it is, just look/search online for former Olympic towns/stadiums/etc. It is not an optimistic picture.

(Mind you, what is currently going on in the U.S. politics in general is already bad enough, but I have no interest to discuss it. Period.)

In other news, the ‘Harry Potter’ play has come into the light. What can be said about it? It is a play, a theatrical performance, and it is its’ actors that give it meaning and life. So far, they are all preforming wonderfully, so ‘HPACC’ is a hit. Curiously, however, there is little discussion about it so far, especially among the fans – possibly, because they are pissed at Rowling and co. about their latest stance with Hermione?

No, it is not just about the racial matter – at least not how a member of a Trump rally would go at it. The catch is that Noma Dumezweni just does not look like a Hermione, no more than Paul Thornley looks like a Ron: if they’d been cast as some ‘apocryphal’ wizarding couple, who got caught in a Potter-Malfoy-Weasley-Granger mess, they would’ve accomplished that, no problem; as it was, the promotional photos had to explain that they were Ron and Hermy, and not someone else.

Moreover, as for the racial matters? Cherrelle Skeete was a much better Hermione than Noma, and I am not just talking about age, but about attitude and general Hermione-ss. If she had been playing Hermy in the movies instead of Emma Stone, (hypothetically), then the fans would not have had so many issues accepting Noma as Hermione and Cherrelle as Rose, for example.

Yes, the issue of political correctness was present there, back when Noma and Cherrelle were cast in the first place. Yes, J.R. showed that she was willing to screw her canon to get on top – there is a good reason why her Mary-Sue/self-insert is Rita Skeeter, one of the less pleasant characters of HP world. However, you know what? Rita is not in ‘HPACC’, so let us just move forth.

‘HPACC’ gives some closure to the Malfoys and the Golden Trio (Scorpius is a Malfoy, sophisticated and clever; Albus-Severus is a Potter, brave and straightforward; and Rose is both a Granger and a Weasley, she’s Hermione with Ron’s values), but again, they all are just characters; if the scriptwriters had wanted, they could’ve shipped Scorpius with Polly Chapman, for example, by the end of the play, and no one would’ve been the wiser – of course this is what fanfic is for, but for the moment ‘HPACC’ isn’t given any personal fanfics, not yet.

Finally, Delphi. Apparently, she is the daughter of You-Know-Who and Bellatrix. Can she be any more cliché? Fans were discussing the possibility of the abovementioned pair having a child (or several) for a while, and they had been shipping Bellatrix and Voldemort even longer. Delphi is the ‘easy’ way out, a fanservice for the HP fans, which was accepted, or rejected, depending on the fan.

And yes, Rowling’s heyday is past – at least until the first ‘Magical Beasts…’ film gets aired. Yes, because she alone did not write ‘HPACC’, it is a fan-fiction as much as anything, albeit officially sanctioned/allowed by Rowling herself. Yes, there is a fan-level closure for Scorpius and Rose, for Harry and his youngest son – so what? The reviews are good, the ratings are good and the HP fans are generally enjoying it – good for them. Of course, the fans are also enjoying DC’s ‘Suicide Squad’ – good for them! It is the first DC movie that is not ripping off the plot of a Marvel movie. Maybe there is hope for DC yet, though judging by the trailers of ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Justice League’, the bad guys might need to save the day more literally than anyone would intend them to do so.

(And yeah, apparently Diana Prince/Wonder Woman is fighting in WWI rather than in WWII, as Cap has done. Good for her!)

Moreover, speaking of Marvel, AoS (the show) got a new director: Coulson got demoted! Jason O’Mara will be playing the new director. Judging by his filmography, (and speaking of DC), the last few films were animated, straight-to-video films of Batman (Bruce Wayne) as he interacted with Damian (his son by Talia al-Ghul). For Jason to be playing live a new character just might be a big break for him, so let us wish him good luck!

In addition, as for the in-show dynamics between the characters? Judging by the first half of S3, (especially by the first episode of the season), Lincoln and Daisy were supposed to be made and to defeat their enemies (including Hive?) together. However, Luke (who played Lincoln on AoS) decided that he would rather work with the cast of ‘Blindspot’ so Lincoln got killed and Coulson (Clarke Gregg) had to be saved, because Joey, (well, the actor who plays him), just doesn’t have the same oomph.

I feel sorry for that actor. It is even more possible that it was his character (Joey) who was supposed to die and save the rest of the team, including Lincoln. However, because Luke left, saving Lincoln suddenly became unnecessary, so the scriptwriters tied up a loose end – and probably messed up S4 for the audiences, the cast, etc. S3 was a mess-up of S2, especially in the second part; there were some references to the greater MCU, that did nothing; and the opening episode just does not work with the rest of S3 anymore…

So. The ‘Harry Potter’ fandom is slowing down, but not very much; the DC movie fandom is coming together at last; and the general Marvel fandom is still dealing with the mess that is AoS. They should have kept ‘Agent Carter’ as their representative TV series instead.  

Couple more points that I acquired from this year’s Comic-Con.

Firstly, Lincoln is gone from AoS, because Luke Mitchell (aka the bloke who plays him) will be starring on ‘Blindspot’ instead. I like ‘Blindspot’. It is influenced by AoS, but it has found its’ own niche soon enough, and one of the crucial differences between the two shows in question is that ‘Blindspot’ treats its characters with respect. It also has a consistent script that goes exactly where the staff of ‘Blindspot’ wants it to go, and does not meander over the last two seasons, as it did in AoS. ‘Blindspot’ already has Jaimie Alexander as its female lead – and she was lady Sif in MCU, meaning that she was much more prominent than Luke and his character were, but-

But regardless, one feels that there is some bad blood between Luke and the cast of AoS – judging by the official AoS material that found its way online – YouTube, the official AoS sites – the cast didn’t mention Luke/Lincoln at all; rather, they pretended that Chloe/Daisy was dating Brett/Grant all this time – sort of. What gives?

…Luke’s choice not to stay with AoS did cause extra problems for a show with already problematic and re-arranged plot; in particular, the finale of S3 would’ve made more sense if Daisy’s not-interaction ‘6 months later’ was with Mack and Lincoln than with Mack and Coulson, for example; much of S3 plot was to build-up Lincoln and Daisy as a couple – and then Luke shot it all in the foot by going over to ‘Blindspot’, so now Chloe’s character is single, again. Yes, it is just a show, yes it probably was just the matter of money or something similarly pragmatic, but apparently Luke’s decision not to stay with AoS hurt some feelings altogether.

So now, they will probably just sweep Lincoln under the metaphorical rug and almost do not mention him in AoS S4 and beyond. The show already did it with Kara Palamas and her plot line after the S2 finale; ditto for Raina, (Ruth Negga, who played her, is one of the female leads in ‘Preacher’ now); and Jaimie Alexander’s character, Sif, so far isn’t appearing on ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ movie either. Fair enough, and besides, MCU is having larger problems, apparently – the InHumans own movie was postponed, (and frankly, in S3 they were largely a plot device than anything else), and ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is now going to be a single movie, rather than two. Between that, ‘Agent Carter’ and ‘Most Wanted’ TV series cancelled leaves one wonder if MCU is not experiencing some problems – with budget, with viewers, etc.

Of course, things are not rosy over at DCEU either. If MCU has problems with its’ TV series, (frankly, it might’ve been better to keep ‘Agent Carter’, rather than AoS – but Hayley Atwell, who was the titular heroine, decided to star in ‘Conviction’, not unlike what Jaimie Alexander or Luke Mitchell have done), then DCEU just cannot make it big on the movie screen. Their ‘Arrowverse’ is developing nicely: there are ‘Arrow’ and ‘Flash’, there’s ‘Legends of Tomorrow’, and now ‘Supergirl’ is joining them on CW, and now that TV show is going to star Superman proper…perhaps as a special guest superhero?..

This is all very good and outright impressive – but DC movies are not connected to this at all. This might actually be for the best, since when it comes to films DC seems to be largely trying to rip-off Marvel: ‘Batman vs. Superman’ was very reminiscent of the latest ‘Captain America’ movie, ‘Wonder Woman’, (both the film and the titular heroine) is ‘Captain America’, gender-flipped, complete with WWII scenario, while the ‘Avengers’…pardon me, the ‘Justice League’ (the film) is showing similarities with the ‘Avengers’ even in the trailer – Diana is Cap, Bruce is Stark, (complete with an iron suit), this version of Barry is the latest incarnation of Spider-Man, etc. Seriously, how does copyright infringement here works?

However, while DC suffers from being too similar to Marvel, Riverdale (the upcoming 2016 TV series) suffers from the opposite problem – it has too few connections to the original material, the Archies’ comic.

Let us be fair. Archies’ main feature is that it is a comic about teenagers, and it is generic. It can be transformed into anything – there was a crossover with Marvel’s Punisher, (way before he appeared on Daredevil’s S2), with ‘Alien’ the movie franchise (you know, the one that fights the ‘Predator’), currently they are doing something both with zombies and with the Lovecraftian mythos, etc. The fact that CW (yes, the same CW that has DC ‘Arrowverse’) took the characters and made them into another teen drama is no big deal.

And yet… from what we have seen on Comic-Con? K.J. Apa is not a redhead, which is strange, because Archie is THE redhead, that is his trademark shtick. Lili Reinhart may be playing Betty, but she came across like a blonde Veronica, while Camila Mendes, who will be playing Veronica, looks like a Latin American Betty instead. Cole Sprouse, who was one of the twin stars in Disney’s ‘Suite Life’ series does not look like Jughead, and so far, his character is something of an anti-Jughead, since he is a ladies’ man, and the canonical Jughead is anything but.

So… we got AoS, who got problems with its cast; we got Marvel in general, who has greater problems; we got DC, who has creativity problems; and we got Riverdale, which is basically a teen detective drama with characters who share names, and some personality traits, with the characters of the Archies’ comics. Whether this will hinder or help Riverdale the show, we will have to wait and see when Riverdale comes out; until then, there is always ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ to keep our spirits up…

S.H.I.E.L.D. is coming back - July 23

AoS came to the Comic-Con with the rest of the Marvel™ and threw its’ weight around. Marvel™, that is, not just AoS, but it still worked. Yay.

The big stuff. The Ghost Rider – (Robbie from Earth 616 for those who care about this sort of thig), is coming to AoS. Basically, he is the Ghost Rider take II, the heir of the original GR, Johnny Blaze. The latter has a couple of his own movies, but they are not exactly a part of MCU, so it is unlikely that we’ll have the original GR giving Robbie the one-two; ‘with great powers comes great responsibility’, etc. After all, the original Robbie did not want to be a vigilante, but rather a street racer, until Mr. Hyde and his people came across him.

Now, Mr. Hyde has already appeared in AoS S2 – he is Daisy’s father and a former ally to Raina. ‘Former’ because Raina died at the end of AoS S2, (and got promptly reincarnated as ‘Tulip’ on ‘Preacher’ these days). ‘Preacher’ is a wonderful show; though it differs from the original comic that has spawned it a lot. Then again, if we are to talk about differences in shows and comics in regards to AoS proper…just no. The point is that at the end of AoS S2 Mr. Hyde, or Cal Zabo, got redeemed, sort of, via T.A.H.I.T.I., and did not appear at all throughout S3, so now, apparently, he will return – and back as a villain.

Now, throughout S2, Cal was a more sympathetic, ‘redeemable’ character, rather than outright evildoer (that was Hydra’s job: Whitehall, Bakshi, in S2 – Malick), so if he is to appear as an S4 villain, then he will have to go through some major character reworking…AoS should have plenty of practice after Grant Ward in the first half of S3 especially, so no problem there.

The problem is the ‘recycling’: starting in S3, especially in the second half, AoS began to recycle ideas, primarily from S2, (though S1 was there too), complete with such characters as Carl ‘the Absorbing Man’ Creel. The result was that the viewers’ ratings dropped, and for now, the second half of AoS S3 had some of the lowest ratings in the entire series. Period.

Now, AoS is a good show still; when it works, it really works; however, it does not work all the time and sometimes, it outright does not. The entire agent 33 plotline in S2, for example, really did not work, to the point where Kara was largely ignored by the entire S3, except when it was unavoidable, the elephant in the room, you might say. Now, on the Comic-Con, the cast of AoS largely ignored Lincoln Campbell, (played by Luke Mitchell), as well as the entire Static Quake relationship; instead, they focused on Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), and his non-relationship with Skye. Yes, it did make some people happy, but because Dalton is gone from the show for good, (just look at the new poster), alongside Blood, Palicki and Mitchell himself, it was way too late and pointless (SkyeWard fans are not interested in this sort of bones anymore; they will continue to watch AoS or stop altogether regardless of audition videos and the such), and it pissed the Static Quake fans too. It is unknown why Mitchell hadn’t worked out on AoS, (there were hints, for a while, that Lincoln would be the one working alongside Mack in S.H.I.E.L.D. and tracking down Daisy in the conclusion), but he didn’t, so now Bennet (Daisy) got either to work out with Henry Simmons (Mack), or maybe she’ll just stay solo for a while. Or, of course, one of her ex-boyfriends could always come back from the dead. Cough.

However, regardless of any behind-the-scenes-problems, AoS will still be going strong, at least for a while. ‘Carter’, who became a much more compact and collected show by S2, is finished. ‘Most Wanted’, a spinoff of AoS, never came to be. AoS still keeps on going. Good luck to them. Mind you, given how the TV-land works, S4 just might be the season to break them, but in general? They are suffering because MCU has its own problems – the InHumans movie got scrapped, Dr. Strange film is coming out in 2017, etc. AoS is here to stay. Live with it.

PS: And as for J.T. James, aka Hellfire? Since we do not have Blaze as GR, it is anyone’s guess how he is going to fit into the entire dynamic, which, apparently, is now supernatural/occult than extraterrestrial. How will the FitzSimmons deal with it? Or is it why they will be going to Seychelles? Who knows!

Pathfinder: shadow creatures

For a change, here are two shadow creatures - a giant squid and a great white whale with the shadow template from Bestiary 4:

SHADOW GIANT SQUID CR 10

XP 6,400

N Huge outsider (aquatic, augmented)

Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +22

DEFENSE

AC 20, touch 11, flat-footed 17 (+3 Dex, +9 natural, –2 size)

hp 102 (12d8+48)

Fort +14, Ref +13, Will +5

Defensive Abilities ink cloud (20-ft. radius), shadow blend; DR 10/magic; Resist cold 15, electricity 15; SR 16

OFFENSE

Speed swim 60 ft., jet 260 ft.

Melee bite +14 (2d6+7), 2 arms +14 (1d6+7), tentacles +12 (4d6+3/19–20 plus grab)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (30 ft. with arms and tentacles)

Special Attacks constrict (4d6+10)

STATISTICS

Str 25, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 2

Base Atk +9; CMB +18 (+22 grapple); CMD 31

Feats Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (tentacle), Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack^B, Skill Focus (Perception)

Skills Perception +22, Swim +15

ECOLOGY

Environment any ocean

Organization solitary

Treasure none

SHADOW GREAT WHITE WHALE CR 15

XP 38,400

N Colossal outsider (augmented)

Init –2; Senses blindsight 120 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +13

DEFENSE

AC 28, touch 0, flat-footed 28 (–2 Dex, +28 natural, –8 size)

hp 225 (18d8+144)

Fort +21, Ref +9, Will +8

Defensive Ability shadow blend; DR 10/magic; Resist cold 15, electricity 15; SR 21

OFFENSE

Speed swim 40 ft.

Melee bite +25 (6d6+20/19–20), tail slap +20 (3d6+10)

Space 30 ft.; Reach 30 ft.

Special Attacks capsize, smashing breach

STATISTICS

Str 50, Dex 6, Con 27, Int 2, Wis 11, Cha 5

Base Atk +13; CMB +41; CMD 49 (can't be tripped)

Feats Critical Focus, Diehard, Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (bite), Iron Will, Power Attack, Staggering Critical

Skills Perception +13, Swim +39

SQ hold breath

ECOLOGY

Environment any oceans

Organization solitary, pair, or pod (3–16)

Treasure none

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Smashing Breach (Ex) As a full-round action, a great white whale can make a special charge attack against creatures on the surface of the water. At the end of its charge, the whale breaches, then slams down onto the target with incredible force. Any Huge or smaller creatures in the whale's space must make a DC 27 Reflex save or take 4d8+30 points of bludgeoning damage and be forced into the nearest square that is adjacent to the whale. This breach automatically attempts to capsize any boats caught wholly or partially in this area. The save DC is Constitution-based.