Marvel & PJ take 2 - Jan 25

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so let us talk about the FH game and its’ new character instead.

First, however, here is an honorary mention of MCU’s previous Disney+ TV shows – the ‘She-Hulk’, in which the titular character became a ‘legal eagle’ version of a Mary-Sue. This is not particularly good or healthy for any character, even a Disney/MCU backed one, and so ‘She-Hulk’ is as good as cancelled, the word on the street is. Will ‘Miss Marvel’ be the next to good? This show’s titular character, Kamala Khan (KK) was redesigned in ‘The Marvels’ film, so the jury is still out. What next?

Right, the 1^st season of the PJO TV series is ending, (next week). It was ok, though it can be pointed out that unlike in the original novel, (‘The Lightning Thief’, cough), PJ and Annabeth are an interracial couple now, (with Grover being the obligatory non-human sidekick). This is not too new, admittedly – first there were Ron and Hermione in J-Ro’s ‘Cursed Child’ piece, and while it may have been something of a reason as to why that piece failed, it was not the most important one.

Second, there are Tom Holland’s PP and Zendaya’s MJ in MCU (/not in MCU?). Between this MJ, and the Black Cat from Tom Holland’s first Spider-Man film, so Disney/MCU was making inroads into this sort of scenario before the adaptation of ‘The Lightning Thief’.

(Keep in mind that Disney/MCU also was trying to making it in AoS, but it failed, and it might be part of the reason why AoS characters have vanished from MCU for good).

Otherwise, the 1^st season of PJO is a dutiful and solid faire, and it has went down with minimum fuss and commotion, with no one caring about the interracial couple at the heart of it, (myself included). What I want, (in a manner of speaking), to point out, is that the Greek satyrs weren’t really good-like; instead, they had horse-like ears and tails, while being otherwise human; the ‘great god Pan’ and his children were the half-human half-goat hybrids instead; in the Roman mythology, they were Faunus and the fauns, but we’re getting sidetracked from the FH.

Today on FH (Jan 25, 2024), we were introduced to a new Viking character – the Varangian. They are swinging a mean bardiche battle-axe, so is there anything to say?

Yes, the Varangians were the elite guards of the Byzantine Empire, (aka the second Roman Empire, though this statement is debatable). They were mercenaries, and they were good old Vikings, just under a different moniker. In the FH game, the Varangian… is an independent agent, on a collision course with their treacherous uncle, if you care about this sort of thing. Put otherwise, once again, FH pulled a ‘cool-sounding’ name out of a hat and tried to make it work. It did work, too, in a manner of speaking. Bully for them, I daresay. At least this time the moniker is appropriate for the character.

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

'Echo' - Jan 11

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so let us talk about MCU’s ‘Echo’ series instead. Normally, we would talk about one episode after another, but since Disney/MCU have done something different this time, and released all of the episodes in one swoop, let us do the same thing and talk about the entire miniseries at once too.

For a start, ‘Echo’ was good. It was a miniseries about the journey of the titular heroine, first as a villain, and second as an (anti)-hero. We saw Echo build herself up, then tear herself down, (the ‘Hawkeye’ miniseries), and finally rebuild herself from the ground level once more. The acting was done perfectly, and the plot (as well as the character) development went down smoothly. So, what is there to criticize?

Nothing, but it can be pointed out that Disney/MCU is trying to do something similar to Echo’s (the character’s) journey in the miniseries; they’re trying to rebuild themselves, and they’re trying to incorporate Native Americans, among other minorities, to do that. First, there is Kahhori from the 2^nd season of ‘What if?’, so let us talk about that.

In the ‘What if?’ episode 2x06 we have something different from MCU’s regular fare: we get an alternate history universe, where the Spaniards clash with the Mohawks. Now, contrary to popular cliché, the Spaniards did not just colonize Latin America, (including Mexico), but they did come into what would become U.S. territory: they did so in the southwest, (and it was a part of Mexico rather than the U.S. for a while), as well as in the southeast, (i.e. Florida, which was also Spanish for a while), but the Mohawks weren’t a part of it. Historically, the Mohawk people lived in New England, (the New York State, to be precise), as well as in the Canadian province of Ontario. The Spaniards never came there, but the English and the French did. Pause.

Now, having the Native Americans fighting, well, Anglo-Americans, (or Franco-Americans), would be not just politically incorrect, but outright unacceptable by the modern American/Western mass media. Seriously, can you imagine Native Americans, powered by alien/magical/other artefacts, or not, taking down London, Paris, or Washington D.C. for that matter? Especially in the modern Western media where cultural integration and goodwill among people are the concepts of the day? No, you can’t, and not even U.S.’ political enemies cannot. (Though North Korea is somewhat dicey, admittedly). Hence, we had the Spaniards instead, and the Native Americans overwhelming its’ capital of Madrid. Hey, Alternate History rocks, baby, you want some good AH – read the late, great Eric Flint’s ‘1630s’ book series, otherwise you’re stuck with Disney and MCU!..

Now, Kahhori does appear in ‘What if?’ S2 finale, but the fact that she is Native American does not play a big role in that, so let us switch onto ‘Echo’, where her voice actress plays the role of Bonnie, who is a friend of Echo/Maya. Disney/MCU went out to make it clear that the two roles/characters are separate, and so Kahhori will not appear in MCU, at least not in the short term, so there is that. Without Kahhori and her superpowers, what is the Native Americans’ role in MCU?

Why, the same as it is for the other racial/social/other minorities – their ‘uniqueness’ is just ‘window dressing’. I.e., a character’s, well, characteristics have to play a role, preferably an important role, in the show/movie/novel, etc., because otherwise, they will be forgotten by the audience instead. Ms. Cox’s, and by extension, Maya Lopez’s prosthetic leg plays a notable part in ‘Echo’, and so it has become one of the defining traits of the titular heroine. However, it has nothing to do with her Native American origins – Maya got it in a car accident, the same one that would cost her her mom. Since Echo is an ‘artificial’ character, who was invented for a while now, she rose with the occasion, rather than fell with it. Wilson Fisk helped.

Now, Wilson Fisk first appeared in MCU’s Netflix series, especially ones connected to Daredevil and the Punisher. They were not unofficial apocrypha, unlike AoS, but they were ignored by MCU and vice versa. There were several shows about ‘the Defenders of New York’, but they were eventually all subsumed back into Disney/MCU, without a trace. ‘Echo’ attempts to fill in the niche, with the help of ‘Hawkeye’, (the show). ‘Hawkeye’ itself was a different show from ‘Echo’, but it did reintroduce Wilson Fisk/Kingpin to the MCU. However!

In the Netflix series’, Wilson Fisk was depicted… actually very much like the cartoon version from the 1990s ‘Spider-Man’ cartoon series: a baseline human, who, however, was Spider-Man’s biggest opponent through both brains and brawn. In one story arc, Wilson Fisk and his son, (yes, he had a wife and a son, it is canon), actually framed both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, cough, so Spider-Man had to team-up with Matt Murdoch and Daredevil to fix this. (Fisk’s son went to jail as a bottom line). In MCU, Fisk did not clash with Spider-Man, though Daredevil did do a cameo in the ‘No Way Home’ movie, but since Spider-Man’s own status in MCU is somewhat vague, we might as well skip and go straight to the ‘She-Hulk’.

Only not, as ‘She-Hulk’ was more of a failure than a success, and right now, it is being ignored by MCU, as is the ‘Ms. Marvel’ miniseries. Even if it was not a failure, it is still very different from ‘Echo’, and so the two shows probably will not connect anytime soon, especially since Daredevil’s role in ‘Echo’ is mostly of a cameo – for now. Since Wilson Fisk survived his latest encounter with his stepdaughter/protégé, this can change. Will Fisk change, however? MCU, in fact, is not big on redemption for villains, let alone corruption for heroes, so it is unlikely. Stranger things have happened, however, and right now Disney/MCU itself is trying to change into something different from what it was, so we will have to wait and see instead.

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

Marvel & PJ - Jan 7

 

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, and our 2023-4 holidays celebration got carried away, in a weird way. The sudden shift in weather did not help either. Where were we?

Ah yes, the 2^nd season of ‘What if?’. This was a heterogeneous mix, and a change from the 1^st season. How? If the 1^st season was really a series of variations of the ‘Avengers’ theme, the 2^nd season was not. Rather, it was an authentic anthology of stories, most of which done in various genres, and then we come to Captain Carter (and her new friend, Ms. K), facing off the Strange Supreme. The good people won, the bad doctor lost, and it felt… like a reset of the ‘What if?’ S1, and in an unnecessary way: the S1 finale gave him a purpose and a path to redemption after all. Now, however, it all appears to have been in vain, and instead we get, or rather, are going to get in S3, ‘the Watcher’s and Captain Carter’s travel through the multiverse’. This is not a bad thing; when the show went Meta, it really succeeded, but still, the S2 finale left a strange taste in my mouth, (pun unintended).

The other show of the late 2023, PJ & the Olympians… listen: Mr. Riordan has done his characters practically to the metaphorical death… though the fact that the show (the show’s 1^st season?) is following the plot of the initial novel tightly, is a good thing, overall. Mind you, the initial novel of the franchise might be one of its’ weaker points instead; at that point in his literary career Mr. Riordan tried to imitate J-Ro; Percy, Grover and Annabeth were supposed to be the new Harry, Ron, and Hermy, but things quickly began to go in a different direction by the time of the ‘Sea of Monsters’ already; it’ll be interesting to see as to how he and team Disney will handle it. The original two films were flat-out failures after all.

Now, on some level, I want to discuss all of ‘What if?’ S2 episodes one by one, but, alas, real life intrudes. It sucks, after all, and we are getting Marvel’s™ next show – ‘Echo’ – later next week. Maybe we will discuss the ‘What If?’ episodes in that context instead.

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

DnD Skeletal monsters - Dec 18

 Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, and Pathfinder lately does not fare much better…

First, however, a couple of asides. First, the ‘Quiz Lady’ movie. It is vapid. I am not the biggest fan of Awkwafina or of Sandra Oh, but this movie just wastes them and everyone else involved in it: the movie does not go anywhere, there are no real stakes in it, no anything, and it is pointedly aromantic. There is nothing wrong with aromantic films in theory, but in practice, they tend to be forgotten quite quickly, such as another Netflix film, ‘Over the Moon’, which also starred Sandra Oh… as a voice actress because it was an animated film, but again – it was child-friendly in an aromantic way, and so it became quickly forgotten.

On other hand, there is the upcoming ‘Snow White’ Disney remake, which just might be forgotten for the better: Ms. Z’s statements have done more harm than good, and the remake itself seems to be problematic. Of course, there is also a question as to why does Disney needed to remake ‘Snow White’, but the answer is obvious: its’ new movies, such as ‘Wish’ or ‘Strange World’, are just as aromantic, vapid and forgettable as ‘Quiz Lady’ or ‘Over the Moon’ are, so Disney is in the same boat as Netflix is.

This, oddly, brings us over to ‘Pathfinder’. This RPG franchise is handling its’ transference to the second edition… not very well: their paladin class got remade completely, as was their cleric, and now they are going on with their layout – no ‘bestiaries’ (monster manuals) and etc. This is their call, of course, but our crew are keeping away from this franchise now, it just is not comfortable for us any longer.

Meanwhile, their wiki has introduced the ‘article of the week’ concept… several weeks ago. It is not a bad idea, in fact, and this week’s article is the skeleton’s monster entry. Now, again, we are largely done with Pathfinder, but you can find the skeleton monster entry in the original D&D Monster Manual 3.5 edition, and this is exactly what we will be doing in this entry: giving you several skeleton variants of opponents.

First up, is a straightforward ‘monster’ with the skeleton template – the leopard, (selected by a random generator):

Advanced skeleton leopard: CR 2; Medium undead; HD 5d12; hp 72; Init +4; Spd 30 ft., climb 10 ft.; AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 11; Base Atk +4; Grp +7; Atk +7 melee (1d6+4, bite) and +1 melee (1d4+2, 2 claws); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA Improved grab, pounce, rake 1d3+1; SQ Damage reduction 5/bludgeoning, immunity (cold), low-light vision, scent; AL NE; SV Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +2; Str 20, Dex 17, Con 0, Int 0, Wis 10, Cha 1.

Skills and Feats: Improved Initiative.

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a leopard must hit with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can rake.

Pounce (Ex): If a leopard charges a foe, it can make a full attack, including two rake attacks.

Rake (Ex): Attack bonus +6 melee, damage 1d3+1.

Skills: Leopards have a +8 racial bonus on Jump checks and a +4 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. Leopards have a +8 racial bonus on Balance and Climb checks. A leopard can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened. In areas of tall grass or heavy undergrowth, the Hide bonus improves to +8.

Right. Next up, is a medium-level ranger NPC, who has a bone creature (from the ‘Book of Vile Darknes’) template:

 

Maia Josia, female human ranger 10: Medium undead; HD 10d12; hp 69; Init +7; Spd 20 ft.; AC 19, touch 22, flat-footed 11; Base Atk +10; Grp +15; Atk +13 melee (1d6+6/19-20/x2, +1 short sword) and +8 melee (1d6+3/x3, shortspear) or +13 melee (1d4+6, 2 claws); Space/Reach 5 f./5 ft.; SA Combat style/improved combat style (two-weapon fighting), favored enemy +6 (animals), favored enemy +4 (humanoids), favored enemy +2 (magical beasts), spells; SQ Animal companion (none), damage reduction 5/magic, darkvision 60 ft., evasion, immunity (cold), swift tracker, undead traits, wild empathy +3, woodland stride; AL LE; SV Fort +8, Ref +11, Will +4; Str 17, Dex 21 (25), Con 0, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 8.

Skills and Feats: Concentration +12, Craft (pottery) +9, Craft (weaponsmithing) +14, Craft (woodworking) +9, Handle Animal +12, Hide +12, Knowledge (nature) +14, Listen +1, Move Silently +20, Search +12, Spot +1, Survival +16; Combat Reflexes, Deceitful, Dodge, Endurance (B), Improved Initiative, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (B), Self Sufficient, Track (B), Two-Weapon Fighting (B), Weapon Finesse (short sword) (B).

Spells Known (2/1; save DC 12 + spell level): 1st - alarm, calm animals; 2nd - barkskin.

Possessions: +1 studded leather, +1 short sword, masterwork shortspear, notebook, spare clothing, obsidian chunks in a bag, spell components, flint and tinder, bedroll, food and water supplies, bull's-eye lantern, other equipment, gloves of Dexterity +2, domain icon, 6200 gp.

And finally, here’s a mature adult black dragon with a skeletal dragon template, (from the 3.5 edition of ‘Draconomicon’):

Female mature adult black dragon; CR 7; Huge undead (water); HD 22d12+22, hp 150; Init +0; Spd 60 ft.; AC 25, touch 4, flat-footed 25; Base Atk +28; Grp +38; Atk +28 melee (2d8+8, bite), +23 melee (2d6+4, 2 claws), +23 melee (1d8+4, 2 wings), +23 melee (2d6+12, tail slap); Space/Reach 15 ft./10 ft. (15 ft. with bite); SA Crush, frightful presence; SQ Blindsense 60 ft., damage reduction 10/magic and 5/bludgeoning, darkvision 120 ft., immunities (acid, cold, sleep, and paralysis), low-light vision, spell resistance 23, undead traits; AL CE; SV Fort +18, Ref +13, Will +15; Str 27, Dex 10, Con 0, Int 0, Wis 10, Cha 14.

Skills and Feats: Improved Initiative.

Crush (Ex): Area 15 ft. by 15 ft.; Small or smaller opponents take 2d8+12 points of bludgeoning damage, and must succeed on a DC 26 Reflex save or be pinned.

Frightful Presence (Ex): 210-ft. radius, HD 21 or fewer, Will DC 23 negates.

 

Well, this is all for now, we are all out of appropriate skeletal monsters. We do hope that you will enjoy using them in your campaigns, however. For now, though, this is it. See you all soon, instead!

 

Dragonfly vs. wasp - Dec 11

A question was asked – who would win in a fight, a dragonfly or a wasp? Here is the short answer – it is a trick question!

As a starting point, the two insects are built quite differently. Both, of course, have the same insect body plan: an abdomen, a thorax with 4 wings and 6 legs, and a head with eyes, jaws, antennae, and whatever else insects have there. Beyond this generalization, however, a dragonfly and a wasp are built differently.

A dragonfly is built for speed. It is the cheetah of the insect world. Unlike the tall cat, however, a dragonfly has endurance as well as speed, as it spends all of its adult life flying around, looking for food and mates. Dragonflies are not territorial… unlike their damselfly cousins, which are: males of those insects have a perch/an established territory, and they keep each other out of it, but damselflies are not as good fliers as dragonflies are. Moreover, we are talking primarily about dragonflies here.

Wasps are more territorial, meanwhile. There are two main wasp types: the solitary and the social, and here we are talking about the social species, such as the paper wasp and the hornet. They are as carnivorous as any dragonfly is, but are also social, while dragonflies are not.

What is more important, though, is that while dragonflies are built for speed, as the cheetahs are, the wasps and hornets are built for strength instead, (as the lions and tigers are). Moreover, not unlike the lions, wasps are known to cooperate with each other, though along different lines than those of the vertebrate lions. To wit: while wasp nests are more numerous than the lion prides, the bonds between the lions are stronger, because, well, the lions live longer – for years, while in temperate climates wasps die at the end of fall/beginning of winter – only the wasp queens survive. (I.e. the wasp analogues of the bee queens).

…The dragonflies, it can be argued, do not fair much different: they also die in winter, and only their eggs, or larvae, survive the winter. Unlike the wasps, however, they do not have a pupa stage: when they are ready to transition from water to air, they crawl out of the water onto a tall cattail or reed, and burst from their back – literally: the skin on their backs bursts, and the adult dragonfly crawls out of its’ last larval skin. Alien xenomorphs, top that.

Getting back to our face-off, the dragonfly can fly, well, rings around a bulkier wasp, but unless it is really bigger than the wasp is, it will not tackle the wasp, and we are talking literal tackling here.

A wasp hunts with its’ sting, (in a manner of speaking): when a wasp finds its’ prey, (a spider, a caterpillar, a honeybee – it is different with different wasp species), it jumps onto its’ prey and paralyses’ it with the stinger. Then the wasp takes its’ prey to its’ nest, where it either feeds the prey to the larva, (as the social wasps do), or puts it into a storage, and lays its egg, so that the larva would eat the spider/caterpillar/etc. later, (as the solitary wasps do).

Meanwhile, dragonflies have no stingers – they just rush at their prey, seize it with their legs and eat it. The legs of dragonflies are hairy and spiky, useless for working, just fine for perching, and when the dragonflies fold them, their legs form a fine net/basket for catching insects such as mosquitoes and butterflies, but against powerful wasps – not so much. Venomous stingers aside, wasps and bees are just too heavy and strong for dragonflies, and the dragonflies do not mess with them.

Robber flies sometimes do. Despite being, well, flies, and as such, related to houseflies and mosquitoes, the robber flies live more like the dragonflies, being active hunters, especially as adults. A scientist once put a robber fly against a bumblebee. For a while, the former seemed to be gaining the upper hand, until the bumblebee unleashed its stinger and went on the counterattack. The robber fly quickly played possum and the bumblebee got away. Considering that the robber flies have a venomous bite of their own, and the dragonflies do not have it, the fight between a dragonfly and a bumblebee – or a wasp, for that matter – would have been over even quicker.

Therefore, getting back to the initial question: who would win, the dragonfly, or the wasp, the answer is the wasp. However, since a dragonfly would never tackle it, this answer is theoretical overall.

Giraffe and its' relatives - Nov 28

 Let us talk about giraffes and their relatives, just because.

The modern giraffe…consists of no one has a definite idea of how many species of the modern giraffes there are: an 8, a 4, and a 3-species family trees are proposed, and so far, not a single one out of them has won, all three theories are equally valid. That said, all of the giraffes are the world’s tallest mammal; they all are browsers, and eat leaves and other parts of trees and shrubs rather than grasses and other herbaceous plants. This is important, as grasses tend to regrow after they had been cropped by such mammals as the zebra, whereas tree leaves… also regrow, eventually, but at a much slower pace than how the grasses do. Therefore, many African savanna trees have evolved… some, as the acacias, have spines and symbiotic relationship with ants, (rather than termites), while the baobabs are flat-out huge and can handle the giraffes through their sheer size and bulk… eventually. Still, we digress.

Regardless of how many species of the modern giraffe there is, the modern okapis are represented by a single species, the, well, modern okapi. It is also called ‘the forest giraffe’, ‘the zebra giraffe’ and the like, but scientifically, it is named Okapia johnstoni. It is smaller, or rather – shorter than the ‘true’ giraffe of the African savanna, which means that it is less specialized than its’ cousin (cousins?) is.

Why? Because – proportionally – the okapi has a more varied diet than the giraffe from the start. It, too, eats foliage rather than grasses, as does the giraffe… but it does so because there is far fewer ‘true’ grasses in the jungle where it lives. The grasses are plants of open spaces, because in enclosed spaces bigger plants – shrubs and trees – block out the sun, and the herbaceous plants that live in forests – whether temperate or tropical – are more shadow loving than their grassland counterparts are. …Yes, this is generalization, but you get the point. Back to the okapi.

Again, it eats foliage and other parts of trees and shrubs, (the non-woody ones), and has many similarities to the giraffe, but because it lives in a proportionally more abundant and varied ecosystem, it is smaller and less derived than the giraffe is. In addition, there are fewer big herbivores in the jungle, as opposed to the savanna, and they tend to be smaller in size – the okapi, the African forest elephant, the forest antelopes, the pygmy hippo, even the non-white rhinos of the world – they all are smaller than their savanna-dwelling relatives are. In part because they’re living in tighter conditions, in part – because there’s less competition between the species, and fewer big predators as well – out of Africa’s ‘big five’, only the leopard enters the jungle, and it doesn’t appear to be attacking okapis regularly, for example, or giraffes for that matter. As such, the okapis do not need to get as big as the giraffe, as the giraffe’s size – or height – protects it from the leopards, lions, etc. (Moreover, the baobab’s size protects it from the giraffes, elephants, etc.). What next?

From the close relatives, to the more distant ones – the American pronghorns, the last members of the giraffes’ sister group. However, it is known as ‘the American antelope’ and ‘the pronghorn antelope’ among other monikers, this mammal – Antilocapra americana – is much less derived than the ‘true’ antelopes of the Old World is, and proportionally, it is much more closely related to the giraffe and the okapi. That said, physically, ‘on the outside’, the pronghorn is reminiscent… of the gazelles of Africa and Asia.

Eh, ok, gazelles are antelopes, in a matter of speaking. However, they are also antelopes that evolved for speed; they are light-bodied, long-legged and gracile, as opposed to something like the eland, which is built more like a cow, quite robust, or even the gnu, which is more of an endurance marathon runner instead. The American pronghorn, however, is also a marathon runner, having evolved in a time period when North America had its’ own cheetah species, (more closely related to the puma than to the modern Old World cheetah), and cheetahs are the ultimate sprinters – but we digress. These days, North America has no cheetahs, but what it does have is an Old World civilization that restricts’ the pronghorns’ (and the bison’s’, the peccaries’, etc.) prairie habitat, causing their populations to plummet regardless, much more efficiently than any cheetah would be able to… However, for us, what is important here and now that while the ‘true’ giraffe is a savanna foliage specialist, and the okapi is a jungle foliage generalist, the pronghorn is a prairie grass generalist instead. Is there anything left?

Actually, yes – the chevrotains or the mouse deer. Contrary to their names, the ‘rest’ of the deer are not close relatives of these mammals; the ‘true’ deer, and the musk deer, are much more evolved than the chevrotains are.

Let us try again. Among the modern ruminants, two groups stand above the rest. One group are the bovids – antelopes and gazelles, wild cattle, sheep and goats. Moreover, the second group are the deer. There are the ‘true’ deer, which consist of two subfamilies – the American deer, (with some exceptions, such as the moose, the caribou and the roe deer), and the Old World deer, (with some exceptions, such as the wapiti). The second family are the musk deer, (6 or 7 species), which are the sister group to the ‘true’ deer. Moreover, the mouse deer/chevrotains?

…They are much less derived than the ‘other’ deer – in fact, the rest of the ruminant artiodactyl mammals – are, and proportionally, they are much more closely related to the giraffe, the okapi and the pronghorn.

What do chevrotains look like? Tiny, vaguely deer-like animals with hooves, but without antlers. Some have also proportionally big canine teeth, superficially like the much bigger musk deer. (Actually, the musk deer are quite smaller than the ‘real’ deer, but they are still quite bigger than the mouse deer). They live in jungles – one in Africa, the rest – in Asia. That is because in Africa, their niche is taken over by the antelopes, i.e. the duikers and the Neotragus species, but that is another story.

Anything else? Right, the water chevrotain – the outsider that lives in Africa, rather than in Asia – is omnivorous, the others are less so, and all are found close to water. Put otherwise, not unlike the giraffe, the mouse deer are specialized – they have a very specific econiche in which they live, and this enables them to survive, avoiding competition with more derived herbivores. Only not, for in Africa that same econiche is taken over by those more derived herbivores – small jungle antelopes, such as duiker, and so only the water chevrotain Hyemoschus aquaticus is able to survive there, by being the most aquatic and most omnivorous out of them all. As Po the giant panda told the snow leopard villain of the first ‘Kung Fu Panda’ movie, “there’s no ultimate secret”, there is no ultimate solution to anything.

Let us conclude. On our narrative about the giraffe, we met four very different types of even-toed mammals. As we look at them, we see the giraffe, browsing from the treetops of the African savanna, the pronghorn, grazing on the grasses of the American prairie, the okapi, who is eating the leaves in the African jungle, and the mouse deer, which are scurrying through the undergrowth of Asian, but also African jungles, eating various general plant matter. They all look different from each other, but all are also more closely related to each other – proportionally – than to any other plant-eating mammal. This, then, is the wonder of evolution.

Wish - Nov 22

Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, so let us talk about the ‘Wish’ movie instead.

Where to begin here? Good question, for the ‘Wish’ feels all over the place. One spot is the ‘star-stuff’ angle: it looks as if Disney took it from Pamela Travers’ ‘Mary Poppins’ novels. See, in one of the storylines, the children that Mary Poppins nurses/raises/takes care off, learn that everyone and everything – birds, beasts, people, flowers, stars themselves, and et cetera – are made from ‘the same stuff’, i.e. everyone is connected. In another storyline – or maybe the same one, I am not the biggest expert on MP – the children and Mary Poppins meet two sisters and their elderly mother, who run a store during the day, and stick the stars to the sky at night. Pause.

No, the ‘Wish’ has quite different takes on both of those concepts, but the idea might have been lifted from Pamela Travers’ books. What next?

Um, the female lead looks like a variant of Isabel Madrigal from ‘Encanto’? Perhaps, but the overall feel of the films is quite different. See, ‘Encanto’ runs most of its’ time in isolation, but at the end of the movie that isolation ends, the titular place is ready to be re-connected with the rest of the world… something that also raises a premise of a sequel, (and how it will go, at least at the start). ‘Frozen’ has already done something similar: Arendelle is not isolated, not exactly, and both movies have done some world building, albeit to varied extent and so on. ‘Wish’, on the other hand, does not do that: it begins on an isolated setting and ends in the same manner, but, hey, the villain is defeated, that is good, right?

Hard to say. On one hand, the people of the island learn that by mastering their power, they can defeat any single individual, no matter how powerful the latter is, individually. That is very democratic… but the endgame in the ‘Wish’ is that while the king got captured in a magical mirror and looked in the dungeon, his wife, (or ex-wife), continues to rein as the island’s queen, making this development less of a revolution and more of a palace coup. European society and history knew plenty of both, so they should not have problems differentiating between the two. The U.S. society and history, conversely, do not have too much experience… but still. After the Donald’s mess during 2020, you would think that they began to learn the differences and all. Anything else?

The ‘girl power’ angle. Regretfully, this was done in the ‘Wish’ so clumsily, that all the ‘witty’ critics, who make puns such as ‘M-She-U’ regarding MCU, will have a field day here, since this is the late 2023, and making all the movie’s villains male doesn’t really fly anymore; it is less progressive and more retrograde these days.

In addition, speaking of MCU… my apologies in telling that CD the captain Marvel perished at the end of ‘The Marvels’. She has not. She has merely retired, it seems, leaving MR stranded in a parallel universe on one hand, and KK jump-starting the next Avengers on the next. Again, the entire ‘Miss Marvel’ mini-series got ignored, and it’s anyone’s guess where ‘The Marvels’ will take MCU next, but still, it is a more inspiring and upbeat movie than the ‘Wish’ is, which feels rather flat and uninspired instead. The ‘Wish’ just does not look right, it does not feel right, and its’ message does not really come out right either. Overall, it feels inferior to both ‘Encanto’ and ‘Frozen’. C’est la vie.

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