thinking about what vastra said about the 11 to 12 regeneration being 'stripping away the veil'... i really do think 12 is very fundimentally The Doctor Unfiltered like he's a grumpy old man who is very tired and has a bit of a superiority complex and does morally questionable things but has a lot of love (possibly too much) for the right people. which is kind of how 10 is under his 'i'm just a quirky little dude' persona and how 11 is under his childish silly persona and how 13 is under her endearing erratic rambly persona (9 i think is kind of different bc imo his cover up is being purposely abrasive and difficult but my point still stands bc i don't think 12 is doing that either)?? and i think his arc mirroring 1's is kinda linked too with the whole softening over time thing he has going on? like he's stripping away the veil by becoming like the first version of himself

The Old Guard (Image, 2017) vs Youth (comiXology, 2020): A Completely Biased Comparison

I don’t really know what this is, kind of a crack review, because I had more to say about these two recent reads than I could fit in my Goodreads reviews. So it will be a long read if you opt to proceed. Be warned: ADULT LANGUAGE BEYOND THE CUT, I make no promises that my words will be coherent throughout & sarcasm will abound as I discuss two mini/limited issue comic series’ that I’ve recently bought into.

They are: 

1)The Old Guard, 2017 Image Comics 5 issue miniseries release, written by Greg Rucka, illustrated by Leandro Fernandez

Main cast, above, left to right: Sebastien le Livre aka Booker; Nile Freeman (no alias, currently); Andromache the Scythian aka Andy; Nicolo di Genova aka Nicky; Yusuf al-Kaysani aka Joe. Noriko is also a related, but not pictured, character.

2) Youth, 2020 comiXology Original 4 issue miniseries, written by Curt Pires, art by Alex Diotto

Main cast, above, from left to right: River, Jan, Kurt, Frank. Trixy is also a main character, but not featured on this group cover. (That wasn’t deliberate on my part.  Since it’s a new series, I wanted a cover shot to help you if you want to shop for the series & this was the only one with most of the group clearly visible.)

So now let’s get to some plot.

The Old Guard is a group of warriors that are much harder to keep dead that your average person.  Their ages range from Andy, estimated over 6,000 years old, to Nile, 27 per issue #4. The hows & whys of their ability to recover from injuries up to & including death, are completely unknown, but the ability can end with the same lack of understanding as it began. Andy has found 6 others like her in her time on Earth. 1 has died.

Youth is the teenaged couple Frank & River running away from their home town, meeting up with the older teenaged, possibly early 20s,trio that comprises rest of their group. While fleeing cops, drunk & high after a party, the group’s van is struck by what appears to be a meteor. It does, but doesn’t kill them. They each get a special power from it & all can suddenly fly.

Their enemy/obstacle/villain:

For The Old Guard, it’s big pharma bro Steve Merrick; his security chief, former CIA agent & the one who led Merrick to Andy’s team, James Copley; and the ‘mad’ scientist Dr. Ivan.

For Youth, this is it.  Bootleg Nick Fury and the government resources at his disposal.  (Take note, this is the one clear win that Youth has over ToG.  I love & want more Don.)

Relationships:

Joe & Nicky

Andy & Noriko

Frank & River

Frank & Trixy (just hooking up to help ruin the actual relationship above)

While both comics have their group dynamics, they also have a clear gay couple at the center of their storylines.  For The Old Guard, it’s Joe & Nicky.  For Youth, it’s Frank & River.  But Frank seems to be questioning, as he’s drawn to his new female acquaintance, Trixy. Kurt & Jan also seem attracted to Trixy, but the relationships between those three are not explored in these issues.  River is most definitely immune to Trixy. So, Frank & River fall into the dysfunctional relationship category while Joe & Nicky, together over 900 years, are #RelationshipGoals.

So what’s the 411?:

For The Old Guard, Andy, Booker, Joe & Nicky sign on for a job from Copley to rescue some kidnapped schoolkids. Izza traaaaaaaaaaap! While the team decides to go on the offensive & track Copley down after he’s learnt their secret, Nile is killed in action only to find that she’s one of the ones that don’t stay dead easily. Andy goes to retrieve the new ‘recruit,’ the first since Booker in 1812, while the guys go to a safehouse to search for Copley.  When Andy & Nile finally arrive at that location, they find Booker recovering from severe injuries while Joe & Nicky have been taken. It becomes a rescue mission for their captured brothers in addition to the seek & destroy goals for Copley.  Along the way, Booker & Nile bond.  Andy’s a tougher nut to crack. While Booker tries to locate their targets, Joe & Nicky are being tortured by the mad Doctor “for science” in hopes of discovering a profitable immortality drug for Merrick’s biz. Booker conveniently finds the whole Merrick operation taking place in Dubai, so off they go for their rescue mission & revenge.  But...well, IZ ZA TRAP! Booker’s done with this undying thing & has sold the team out to see if Dr. Ivan can cure him of life while using the others to defeat death.  Andy & Nile, though, aren’t helpless lil ladies.  Neither are Joe & Nicky.  With rescue under way, Joe & Nicky convince the doctor to let them go, then kill him, then find the others, meet Nile for the first time, kill Merrick as one happy new family, take off for Malta(yeah, in the comics, they’re THERE again), vote Booker off their island for 100 years & then leave him alone to be found by one very salty Noriko - she’s well-brined after 500 years in the ocean & batshit insane, to boot. That’s the first of three arcs planned for this group.  About 160 pages over the 5 issues & not a panel wasted, in my opinion.

For Youth, River’s got a lousy step-dad, Frank has a lousy job; together they hate their town & lives, but maybe kind of love each other.  So River says let’s steal my stepdad’s cherished old Mustang & run off for California.  The car gets a flat, but there’s no spare to replace it & they ran away with no money because they’re teenagers.  While broken down in a Walmart parking lot, the car draws the attention of Kurt, who grew up learning some mechanical stuff, appreciating the classics & is willing to offer help. Upon hearing that it’s a flat tire & the couple has no means to replace it, the decision is made to torch the car (it’s a Mustang, HOW DARE YOU?!) & get into the van with Kurt & his two female travelling companions. The five barely exchange names before they’re off to a party where alcohol & drugs mix to make Frank & Trixy horny for one another. River sees them making out & starts to leave when the cops show up to raid the party with all it’s underage & illegal happenings.  River, such a sweetheart, is ready to leave Frank & Trixy to be arrested, but Kurt makes sure they all get away together in the van.  A high (emphasis on high cause Kurt did some cocaine at the party) speed chase ensues with just a little awkwardness among the group as they realize that Frank & River were together & Trixy only kind of cares that she was pulled into their mess. Before there can be arguments, hairpulling slapfights or other drama over the man, the speeding vehicle is demolished by a meteor slamming to Earth.  Except it may have been aliens? In issue #2 we see this:

After this faceoff, these celestial beings go at it, destroy what appears to be their home planet & create the space debris that hits the van & gives the youths powers.  It totally killed Jan for a little bit, but that’s ok because Jan has the best powers.  She came back from death & can track other powered people without Prof X’s massive Cerebro setup, which is handy when you’ve got Bootleg Nick Fury tracking you down because of the ‘anomaly’ that hit you. Trixy?  She’s got a temper.  When Don Thunder descends upon them with a small army of soldiers, Trixy turns them into twisted piles of gore and metal.  I’m not sure what she did, but it was messy.  I imagine in a movie the squish, crack, snap, pop, burst & splat sound effects would reign in that moment.  With that dealt with, the group makes plans for what they should do next.  Which is apparently, rob an armored truck (can anyone guess whose idea it was?) because they have no money for food or lodging.  The heist does not go to plan because the guard driving the armored truck is distracted so he doesn’t see River standing in the road trying to stop the vehicle until the newly powered kid STOPS the vehicle.  I’m pretty sure the guards, especially the driver whom they made sure we knew had a pregnant wife, are dead.  Frank’s upset about this, blames River, who honestly could have flown off as soon as he realized that the truck wasn’t stopping as planned & the now very strong River smacks Frank into a wall.  This pairing is not destined for 900 years together, I imagine Yusuf would continuously chop off his hand rather than strike Nicolo in a non-fun & consensual way.  But the Youth gang still grabs some money bags and flies off.  While multiple people capture it on their cell phones.  Modern technology is an enemy to both the Youth & Old Guard. The kids take their money & go party.  Alcohol & drugs again.  Frank & Trixy making out again.  This time when River sees his man with the girl, he declares the relationship over & storms out of the club.  Killing a few people & knocking a sizable hole in the building to fly off while Frank freaks out & Trixy realizes this guy might be too much drama for her edgy self. We’re at the end of issue #3 which closes with this gem:

The more you know, right? Issue #4 has Don recovering from his injuries after Trixy’s finishing move failed to eliminate him (Dictionary: fore*shad*ow, verb: be a warning or indication of (a future event)).  He sees video of the armored truck robbery on the news (O! these pesky kids with their cell phone cameras & viral videos) & he’s back on the hunt for the gang.  River’s gone back home to the place he always went to to be alone when his stepdad was too much to deal with at home.  Frank finds him there, because he had been shown that spot.  It was their spot. It’s a sweet reunion where Frank still loves River despite the carnage so long as River still loves Frank with the cheating.  A win-win lost-lost. And our Bootleg Nick Fury has his remaining eye on the lovebirds & is ready to attack!  Jan, Kurt & Trixy see breaking news of the fight Frank & River put up against the government goons & Trixy is outvoted by the other two that they’ll go help their acquaintances of like 48 hours.  The time they take deciding & getting there, though, puts them unfashionably late.  Frank is seriously injured causing River to go Dark Phoenix so that the others can get Frank to safety.  It fades to black, skips forward 3 months & implies that Frank’s going it alone in California where he was meant to be with River, but River is gone. (So obviously not dead, but captured by Thunder who clearly has his own powers because River’s Phoenix fire definitely didn’t kill this Superspy.)  But Trixy’s all consoling and explains how Jan is locating other kids with powers - posthumans, they’re called -  all around the world & they’ve decided to start searching for them to create a bigger group.  Frank says it’s like the X-Men, but Jan isn’t quite Xavier level leader, so I say more New Mutants. Frank declines to be part of it. Trixy leaves him on a nice, sunny beach & goes to find Jan who portals them here, the most obviously “Not X like” structure in the world for their not a Bootleg X-Men/New Mutants series to take place in in the future: 

(JFC, the colors alone are classic Wolverine! Originality. Did you maybe want to try that with this series?)

For the end of “Season 1″ of Youth, which implies there will be more.  The single issues of the 4 part mini account for 125 pages & I consider several of those pages wasted. 

Final Verdict:

With powerhouse publishers like DC & Marvel having decades worth of this content, Youth was entering a very crowded arena.  The only thing it focused on as a lure to draw attention from the big leagues was the relationship between Frank & River, but representation has come a long way & Youth needed more. More story development, more group dynamics, more SOMETHING. Because I read the series in a world where I now know that The Old Guard exists & what Greg Rucka did with that series in simple & overt representation is a master class that Curt Pires needs to attend before any 2nd season talk for Youth. The world, my world, is ready for immortal gays. We’ve seen it, we need more.  If River’s still alive, as I suspect, then there’s potential, but it shouldn’t magically erase all the issues that Frank & River had as a couple.  They are not anywhere near the level of Joe & Nicky.  And if/when Youth returns it needs to focus on the characters that we’re supposed to engage with & keep the focus on ALL OF THEM.  Comics take art, with or without words, to tell some incredibly entertaining & complex stories. Don’t waste the space on blackness & block quotes, no matter what Marlon Brando is doing with mailboxes. Create the visuals & worlds in your head & tell the story with your heart so it comes to life for all of us.  That’s what Rucka did with The Old Guard & I want to see more writers, artists & publishers striving to attain that level for us.  I’m spoiled to it now & you can expect this kind of insanity from me if you fail to reach for this bar.

If you cannot tell by the end of all this, I am completely biased in favor of The Old Guard & if you can afford it, but haven’t done so yet, BUY THE BOOKS! Youth gets points for effort & dragged for everything else.

Summer 2019′s Movies - My Top Ten Favourite Films (Part 2)

The Top Ten:

IMPORTANT NOTE:  You WILL NOT find It Chapter 2 here, but that does not mean it isn’t awesome.  I saw it AFTER I had sompleted this but while it was still editing.,  Technically it’s part of the Autumn/Winter period anyway, opening as it did in September.  Undoubtedly look out for it at the end of the year when I post my Top 30 for the year.

10.  CAPTIVE STATE – WAY back in 2011, Rupert Wyatt followed up his impressive directorial debut The Escapist with an even more astounding show helming sci-fi franchise reboot Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and I knew here was a talent it was definitely gonna be worth my while to watch in future.  Then the years ticked by and he spectacularly failed to follow it up, and I began to think he might become one of those frustrating auteur talents that explode onto the scene, wow us with their wares and then just STOP, like Donnie Darko’s Ryan Kelly or Blade’s Stephen Norrington.  I was just about to give up hope when Wyatt returned with this dark and troubling skewed take on the alien invasion trope, but now, perversely, this film’s failing fortunes make me think his career might just take a swan dive after all, and as far as I’m concerned, on the evidence of the final film, that would be a crying shame.  Instead of telling the story of how the Earth falls to the conquering might of invading alien forces, Captive State concentrates on what happens after, focusing on a humanity stagnating under the thumb of an all-powerful occupying force, the collaborating police force that maintains discipline on the populace through tagging and intrusive surveillance, and the deep cover resistance movement that’s built up in the eight years since “The Legislators” took over.  The main narrative focus of the story is Gabriel Drummond (Moonlight’s Ashton Sanders), a downtrodden Chicago youth working a menial job but dreaming of getting out with his pregnant girlfriend, who discovers a tentative connection to the underground resistance when his brother Rafe (White Boy Rick’s Jonathan Majors), whom he previously thought was dead, re-enters his life with a desperate request.  Unfortunately Gabriel has also come to the attention of local cop Will Mulligan (John Goodman), who’s looking to use this connection to finally penetrate the “dangerous terrorist element” his office has been working for years to eradicate.  This is about as far from the classical invasion action territory of films like Independence Day, Skyline or even Signs as you can get, playing out much more like a World War 2 occupation thriller, and this is, in my opinion, one of its great strengths – there’s a palpable, knife-edged tension throughout, Wyatt cranking up the suspense as each new plot development ups the stakes for all involved, and when that tension does eventually break it does so in suitably explosive style, leading to some taut and harrowing set-pieces, while the director and his co-writer Erica Beeney pull off some impressive twists and skilful rug-pulls that consistently surprise.  Indeed, this is one of the most skilfully written pieces of science fiction I’ve come across for a good while, brimming with big ideas and asking some suitably challenging questions throughout, before finally paying off our patience with a suitably powerful climax.  It’s also extremely well-performed by a uniformly impressive ensemble cast – Goodman offers a performance of cool subtlety that proves the equal to much of his showier work on hits like 10 Cloverfield Lane and The Big Lebowski, while Sanders and Majors are both exceptional in what should have been major breakthrough roles that really built on their already impressive debuts, and there’s quality support from the likes of Machine Gun Kelly, Vera Farmiga, Alan Ruck, Kevin Dunn and Madeline Brewer.  This is DEFINITELY one of the most robust and challenging pieces of scif-fi cinema I’ve seen this decade, and it certainly does deserve a lot more attention and appreciation than it’s received – it essentially bombed on its long-delayed release and suffered from painfully mixed, sometimes quite negative reviews, and I genuinely don’t understand either.  This is an EXCELLENT film, and it’s a strong indicator of just what a great talent Rupert Wyatt is – I just have to hope this hasn’t ruined his chances for the future, because I couldn’t bear seeing him pull an undeserved vanishing act like so many others …

9.  GODZILLA: KING OF MONSTERS – back in 2014, rising star director Gareth Edwards (already one-to-watch thanks to the sleeper hit success of his debut Monsters) proved he wasn’t going to be a one-hit-wonder when he aced his first major studio gig, reinventing Japanese superstar property Godzilla for western audiences and EFFORTLESSLY wiping out the appalling stigma of Roland Emmerich’s underwhelming previous attempt (needless to say he was then a no-brainer to helm the first Star Wars spinoff movie, Rogue One, but that’s another, even more awesome story). Suffice to say, the Big G’s name was good in western cinema again, and Legendary Pictures swiftly put their planned Monsterverse franchise into action, building on this solid foundation with a similarly stylish “prequel” in 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, with a showdown between the two screen icons intended further down the line.  The next major hurdle, however, was this super-important follow-up, intended to get all the gears turning – if THIS ONE flunked, the Monsterverse would take a massive nosedive.  Did it pull it off?  Not quite … turns out this one’s not looking likely to scrape even on its massive investment, never mind make a profit, but that sure ain’t for lack of trying. Sure, the plot’s a bit of a far-fetched muddle and, as with its predecessor, the human characters are drawn in broad strokes and somewhat lacking in real spark, but the spectacle’s still there in spades and besides, the REAL selling point of these movies has always been their more gigantic characters.  Godzilla’s just as much of a colossal badass as he was in the first film, still a skyscraper-high bruiser with a moody mean streak and some suitably apocalyptic bad breath, but ultimately just the kind of monumental reptile you want on your side in a cataclysmic scrap, and he’s sure got his work cut out for him with one serious collection of similarly massive monsters crawling out of the woodwork (or, in this case, compromised secure black sites controlled by covert Titan management organisation Monarch) – they’re a colourful bunch, from returning nasty Muto to newcomers Rodan and, particularly memorable, the beautiful but deadly Mothra, and most of them are heeding the call of the film’s TRUE scene stealer, triple-headed rival alpha Titan King Ghidorah, who is in every way a genuinely viable nemesis for the Big G himself.  Needless to say, the BIG stars are presented without compromise throughout, as gargantuan and terrifying as their reputations make them out to be, and whenever they’re on screen it just lights up, the visual effects budget working overtime and all the money’s up there on the screen, while the property damage quota shoots through the roof in suitably pulse-racing style … and yet again, the human story does kind of get buried in the fallout.  Not that they’re a completely unmemorable lot – it’s great to see Ken Watanabe return as elegantly noble Monarch honcho Dr Ishiro Serazawa, along with his assistant Dr Vivienne Graham (another winning turn from Sally Hawkins), and the rest of Monarch gets much stronger representation this time round as we’re introduced to a crew that includes Bradley Whitford, Ice Cube’s son O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton) and Aisha Hinds, while there’s a typically classy bad guy turn from Charles Dance as Alan Jonah, the amoral ex-soldier leading an eco-terrorist group who (for baffling reasons) want to awaken all the Titans at once so they can fight for supremacy.  The main narrative focus, however, is on the fractured family unit of former Monarch specialist Dr Mark Russell (Super 8’s Kyle Chandler) and his fellow scientist wife Emma and daughter Madison (Vera Farmiga and Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown), who have both been kidnapped by Jonah, a story that’s contrived and clumsily written, shot through with plot-holes when the twists aren’t painfully telegraphed ahead of time, and Brown barely gets ANYTHING to do other than be scared or stubborn, but they still give it their all and, since they’re all great actors, they largely win out against the writing.  This certainly isn’t the best movie released this year, definitely leaning more towards the guilty pleasure category, but there’s more than enough good here to outweigh the bad, so this is definitely one of those wonderful movies where you get PLENTY out of it if you just sit back and GO WITH IT.  It’s certainly got a strong director and co-writer in Michael Dougherty, who cut his teeth working for Bryan Singer on X2 and Superman Returns (which was similarly flawed, but still enjoyable in its own right) before making his big break behind the camera on Krampus, and for all its clunkiness it wins you over with its big-wow factor, can-do attitude and industrial-sized bucket-loads of heart and emotional heft, as well as a particularly cracking score from Bear McCreary, one of the most deservedly well respected composers working on both the big and small screens today, so in spite of the flaws this still deserves to be counted as a pretty rousing success.  Thankfully Godzilla Vs. King Kong is still greenlit and scheduled to arrive next spring, so there’s still life in the old lizards yet – long live the King indeed.

8.  DARK PHOENIX – wow, this really has been a summer for mistreated sequels, hasn’t it? There’s a seriously stinky cloud of controversy surrounding what is now, in light of recent developments between Disney and Twentieth Century Fox, all but QUARANTEED to be the last true Singer-era X-Men movie, a film which saw two mooted release dates (first November 2018 then this February, before finally limping onto screens with very little fanfare in June, almost as if Fox wanted to bury it.  Certainly rumours of its compromise were rife, particularly regarding supposed rushed reshoots because of clashing similarities with Marvel’s major tent-pole release Captain Marvel (and given the all-conquering nature of the MCU there was no way they were having that, was there?), so like many I was expecting a clunky mess, maybe even a true stinker to rival X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  In truth, while it’s not perfect, the end result is nothing like the turd we all feared – the final film is, in fact, largely a success, worthy of favourable comparison with its stronger predecessors.  It certainly makes much needed amends for the disappointing mismanagement of the source comics’ legendary Dark Phoenix saga in 2006’s decidedly compromised original X-Men trilogy capper The Last Stand, treating the story with the due reverence and respect it deserves as well as serving as a suitably powerful send-off for more than one beloved key character.  Following the “rebooted” path of the post-Days of Future Past timeline, it’s now 1992, and after the world-changing events of Apocalypse the X-Men have now become a respected superhero team with legions of fans and their own personal line to the White House, while mutants at large have now mostly become accepted by the regular humans around them.  Then a hastily planned mission into space takes a turn for the worst and Jean Grey (Game of Thrones’ Sophie Turner) winds up absorbing an immensely powerful, thoroughly inexplicable cosmic force that makes her go powers haywire while also knocking loose repressed childhood traumas Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) would rather had stayed buried, sending her on a dangerous spiral out of control which leads to a destructive confrontation and the inadvertent death of a teammate. Needless to the situation soon becomes desperate as Jean goes on the run and the world starts to turn against them all once again … all in all, then, it’s business as usual for the cast and crew of one of Fox’s flagship franchises, and it SHOULD have gone off without a hitch. When Bryan Singer opted not to return this time around (instead setting his sights on Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody), key series writer Simon Kinberg stepped into the breach for his directorial debut, and it turns out he’s got a real talent for it, giving us just the kind of robust, pacy, thrilling action-packed epic his compatriot would have delivered, filled with the same thumping great set-pieces (the final act’s stirring, protracted train battle is the unequivocal highlight here), well-observed character beats and emotional resonance we’ve come to expect from the series as a whole (then again, he does know these movies back to frond having at least co-written his fair share). The cast, similarly, are all on top form – McAvoy and Michael Fassbender (as fan favourite Erik Lehnsherr, aka Magneto) know their roles so well now they can do this stuff in their sleep, but we still get to see them explore interesting new facets of their characters (particularly McAvoy, who gets to reveal an intriguing dark side to the Professor we’ve only ever seen hinted at before now), while Turner finally gets to really breathe in a role which felt a little stiff and underexplored in her series debut in Apocalypse (she EASILY forges the requisite connective tissue to Famke Janssen’s more mature and assured take in the earlier films); conversely Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Alexandra Shipp (Storm), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler) and Evan Peters (Quicksilver) get somewhat short shrift but nonetheless do A LOT with what little they have, and at least Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult still get to do plenty of dramatic heavy lifting as the last of Xavier’s original class, Raven (Mystique) and Hank McCoy (Beast); the only real weak link in the cast is the villain, Vuk, a shape-shifting alien whose quest to seize the power Jean’s appropriated is murkily defined at best, but at least Jessica Chastain manages to invest her with enough icy menace to keep things from getting boring.  All in all, then, this is very much a case of business as usual, Kinberg and co keeping the action thundering along at a suitably cracking pace throughout (powered by a typically epic score from Hans Zimmer), and the film only really comes off the rails in its final moments, when that aforementioned train finally comes off its tracks and the reported reshoots must surely kick in – as a result this is, to me, most reminiscent of previous X-flick The Wolverine, which was a rousing success for the majority of its runtime, only coming apart in its finale thanks to that bloody ridiculous robot samurai. The climax is, therefore, a disappointment, too clunky and sudden and overly neat in its denouement (and we really could have done with a proper examination of the larger social impact of these events), but it’s little enough that it doesn’t spoil what came before … which just makes the film’s mismanagement and resulting failure, as well as its subsequent treatment from critics and fans alike, all the more frustrating. This film deserved much better, but ultimately looks set to be disowned and glossed over by most of the fanbase as the property as a whole goes through the inevitable overhaul now that Disney/Marvel owns Fox and plans to bring the X-Men and their fellow mutants into the MCU fold.  I feel genuinely sorry for the one remaining X-film, The New Mutants, which is surely destined for spectacular failure after its similarly shoddy round of reschedules finally comes to an end next summer …

7.  FAST COLOR – intriguingly, the most INTERESTING superhero movie I’ve encountered so far this year is NOT a major franchise property, or even a comic book adapted to the screen at all, but a wholly original indie which snuck in very much under the radar on its release but is surely destined for cult greatness in the future, not least due to some much-deserved critical acclaim.  Set in an unspecified future where it hasn’t rained for years, a homeless vagabond named Ruth (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is making her aimless way across a desolate American Midwest, tormented by violent seizures which cause strange localised earthquakes, and hunted by Bill (Argo’s Christopher Denham), a rogue scientist who wants to capture her so he can study her abilities.  Ultimately she’s left with no other recourse than to run home, sheltering with her mother Bo (Middle of Nowhere and Orange is the New Black’s Lorraine Toussaint), and her young daughter Lila (The Passage’s Saniyya Sidney), both of whom also have weird and wondrous powers of their own.  As the estranged family reconnect, Ruth finally learns to control her powers as she’s forced to confront her own troubled past, but as Bill closes in it looks like their idyll might be short-lived … this might only be the second feature of writer-director Julie Hart (who cut her teeth penning well-regarded indie western The Keeping Room before making her own debut helming South By Southwest Film Festival hit Miss Stevens), but it’s a blinding statement of intent for the future, a deceptively understated thing of beauty that eschews classic superhero cinema conventions of big spectacle and rousing action in favour of a quiet, introspective character-driven story where the unveiling and exploration of Ruth and her kin’s abilities are secondary to the examination of how their familial dynamics work (or often DON’T), while Hart and cinematographer Michael Fimognari (probably best known for his frequent work for Mike Flanagan, including forthcoming Stephen King horror Doctor Sleep) bring a ruined but bleakly beautiful future to life through inventively understated production design and sweeping, dramatic vistas largely devoid of visual effects.  Subtlety is the watchword, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t fireworks here, it’s just that they’re generally performance-based – awards-darling Mbatha-Raw (Belle) gives a raw, heartfelt performance, painting Rith in vivid shades of grey, while Toussaint is restrained but powerfully memorable and Sidney builds on her already memorable work to deliver what might be her best turn to date, and there are strong supporting turns from Denham (who makes his nominal villain surprisingly sympathetic) and Hollywood great David Strathairn as gentle small town sheriff Ellis.  Leisurely paced and understated it may be, but this is still an incendiary piece of work, sure to become a breakout sleeper hit for a filmmaking talent from whom I expect GREAT THINGS in the future, and since the story’s been picked up for expansion into a TV series with Hart at in charge that looks like a no-brainer.  And it most assuredly IS a bona fide superhero movie, despite appearances to the contrary …

6.  ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD – since his explosion onto the scene twenty-seven years ago with his runaway smash debut Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino has become one of the most important filmmakers of his generation, a true master of the cinematic art form who consistently delivers moving picture masterpieces that thrill, entertain, challenge and amuse audiences worldwide … at least those who can stomach his love of unswerving violence, naughty talk and morally bankrupt antiheroes and despicably brutal villains who are often little more than a shade different from one another.  Time has moved on, though, and while he’s undoubtedly been one of the biggest influences on the way cinema has changed over the past quarter century, there are times now that it’s starting to feel like the scene is moving on in favour of younger, fresher blood with their own ideas.   I think Tarantino can sense this himself, because he recently made a powerful statement – after he’s made his tenth film, he plans to retire.  Given that OUATIH is his NINTH film, that deadline is already looming, and we unashamed FANS of his films are understandably aghast over this turn of events.  Thankfully he remains as uncompromisingly awesome a writer-director as ever, delivering another gold standard five-star flick which is also most definitely his most PERSONAL work to date, quite simply down to the fact that it’s a film ABOUT film. Sure, it has a plot (of sorts, anyway), revolving around the slow decline of the career of former TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo Dicaprio), who languishes in increasing anonymity in Hollywood circa 1969 as his former western hero image is being slowly eroded by an increasingly hacky workload guest-starring on various syndicated shows as a succession of punching-bag heavies for the hero to wale on, while his only real friend is his one-time stunt double, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), a former WW2 hero with a decidedly tarnished reputation of his own; meanwhile new neighbours have moved in next door to further distract him – hot-as-shit young director Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha), riding high on the success of Rosemary’s Baby, and his new wife Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie). Certainly this all drives the film, along with real-life events that involving one of the darkest crimes in modern American history, but a lot of the time the plot is largely coincidental – Quentin uses it as a springboard to wax lyrical about his very favourite subject and pay loving (if sometimes irreverently satirical) tribute to the very business he’s been indulging in with such great success since 1992.  Sure, it’s also about “Helter Skelter” and the long shadow cast by Charles Manson and his band of murderous misfits, but these are largely incidental, as we’re treated to long, entertaining interludes as we follow Rick on a shoot as the bad guy in the pilot for the Lancer TV series, visit the notorious Spahn Ranch with Cliff as he’s unwittingly drawn into the lion’s den of the deadly Manson Family, join Robbie’s Tate as she watches “herself” in The Wrecking Crew, and enjoy a brilliant montage in which we follow Rick’s adventures in Spaghetti westerns (and Eurospy cinema) after he’s offered a chance to change his flagging fortunes, before the film finally builds to a seemingly inevitable, fateful conclusion that Tarantino then, in sneakily OTT Inglourious Basterds style, mischievously turns on its head with a devilish game of “What If”.  The results are a thoroughly engrossing and endlessly entertaining romp through the seedier side of Hollywood and a brilliant warts-and-all examination of the craft’s inner workings that, interestingly, reveals as much about the Business today as it does about how it was way back into Golden Age the film portrays, all while delivering bucket-loads of QT’s trademark cool, swagger, idiosyncratic genius and to-die-for dialogue and character-work, and, of course, a typically exceptional all-star cast firing on all cylinders.  Dicaprio and Pitt are both spectacular (Brad is endearingly taciturn, playing it wonderfully close to the vest throughout, while Leo is simply ON FIRE, delivering a mercurial performance EASILY on a par with his work on Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street – could this be good enough to snag him a second Oscar?), while Robbie consistently endears us to Tate as she EFFORTLESSLY brings the fallen star back to life, and there’s an incredible string of amazing supporting turns from established talent and up-and-comers alike, from Kurt Russell, Al Pacino and a very spiky Bruce Dern to Mike Moh (in a FLAWLESS take on Bruce Lee), Margaret Qualley, Austin Butler and in particular Julia Butters as precocious child star Trudi Fraser.  Packed with winning references, homages, pastiches and ingenious little in-jokes, handled with UTMOST respect for the true life subjects at all times and shot all the way through with his characteristic flair and quirky, deliciously dark sense of humour, this is cinema very much of the Old School, and EVERY INCH a Tarantino flick.  With only one more film to go the implied end of his career seems much too close, but if he delivers one more like this he’ll leave behind a legacy that ANY filmmaker would be proud of.

5.  CRAWL – summer 2019’s runner-up horror offering marks a rousing return to form for a genre talent who’s FINALLY delivered on the impressive promise of his early work – Alexandre Aja made a startling debut with Switchblade Romance, which led to his big break helming the cracking remake of slasher stalwart The Hills Have Eyes, but then he went SPECTACULARLY off the rails when he made the truly abysmal Piranha 3D, which I wholeheartedly regard as one of THE VERY WORST FILMS EVER MADE IN ALL OF HISTORY.  He took a big step back in the right direction with the admittedly flawed but ultimately enjoyable and evocative Horns (based on the novel by Stephen King’s son Joe Hill), but it’s with this stripped back, super-tight man-against-nature survival horror that the Aja of old has TRULY returned to us.  IN SPADES.  Seriously, I personally think this is his best film to date – there’s no fat on it at all, going from a simple set-up STRAIGHT into a precision-crafted exercise in sustained tension that relentlessly grips right up to the end credits. The film is largely just a two-hander – Maze Runner star Kaya Scodelario plays Haley Keller, a Florida college student and star swimmer who ventures into the heart of a Category 5 hurricane to make sure her estranged father, Dave (Saving Private Ryan’s Barry Pepper), is okay after he drops off the grid.  Finding their old family home in a state of disrepair and slowly flooding, she does a last minute check of the crawl-space underneath, only to discover her father badly wounded and a couple of hungry alligators stalking the dark, cramped, claustrophobic confines.  With the flood waters rising and communications cut off, Haley and Dave must use every reserve of strength, ingenuity and survival instinct to keep each other alive in the face of increasingly daunting odds … even with a premise this simple, there was plenty of potential for this to become an overblown, clunky mess in the wrong hands (a la Snakes On a Plane), so it’s a genuinely great thing that Aja really is back at the height of his powers, milking every fraught and suspenseful set-piece to its last drop of exquisite piano-wire tension and putting his actors through hell without a reprieve in sight.  Thankfully it’s not JUST about scares and atmosphere, though – there’s a genuinely strong family drama at the heart of the story that helps us invest in these two, Scodelario delivering a phenomenally complex performance as she peels back Haley’s layers, from stubborn pedant, through vulnerable child of divorce, to ironclad born survivor, while reconnecting with her emotionally raw, repentantly open father, played with genuine naked intensity in a career best turn from Pepper.  Their chemistry is INCREDIBLY strong, making every scene a joy even as it works your nerves and tugs on your heartstrings, and as a result you DESPERATELY want to see them make it out in one piece.  Not that Aja makes it easy for them – the gators are an impressively palpable threat, proper scary beasties even if they are largely (admittedly impressively executed) digital effects, while the storm is almost a third character in itself, becoming as much of an elemental nemesis as its scaly co-stars.  Blessedly brief (just 87 minutes!) and with every second wrung out for maximum impact, this is survival horror at its most brutally, simplistically effective, a deliciously vicious, primal chill-ride that thoroughly rewards from start to finish.  Welcome back, Mr Aja.  We’ve missed you.

4.  BRIGHTBURN – torpedoing Crawl right out of the water is this refreshing, revisionist superhero movie that takes one of the most classic mythologies in the genre and turns it on its head with TERRIFYING results. The basic premise is an absolute blinder – what if, when he crashed in small-town America as a baby, Superman had turned out to be a bad seed?  Unsurprising, then, that it came from James Gunn, who here produces a screenplay by his brother and cousin Brian and Mark (best known for penning the likes of Journey 2: the Mysterious Island, but nobody’s perfect) and the directorial big break of his old mate David Yarovesky (whose only previous feature is obscure sci-fi horror The Hive) – Gunn is, of course, an old pro at taking classic comic book tropes and creating something completely new with them, having previously done so with HUGE success on cult indie black comedy Super and, in particular, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and his fingerprints are ALL OVER this one too.  The Hunger Games’ Elizabeth Banks (who starred in Gunn’s own directorial debut Slither) and David Denman (The Office) are Tori and Kyle Breyer, a farming couple living in Brightburn, Kansas, who are trying for a baby when a mysterious pod falls from the sky onto their land, containing an infant boy.  As you’d expect, they adopt him, determined to keep his origin a secret, and for the first twelve of his life all seems perfectly fine – Brandon’s growing up into an intelligent, artistic child who loves his family.  Then his powers manifest and he starts to change – not just physically (he’s impervious to harm, incredibly strong, has laser eyes and the ability to disrupt electronic devices … oh, and he can fly, too), but also in personality, as he becomes cold, distant, even cruel as he begins to demonstrate some seriously sociopathic tendencies.  As his parents begin to fear what he’s becoming, things begin to spiral out of control and people start to disappear or turn up brutally murdered, and it becomes clear that Brandon might actually be something out of a nightmare … needless to say this is superhero cinema as full-on horror, Brandon’s proclivities leading to some proper nasty moments once he really starts to cut loose, and there’s no mistaking this future super for one of the good guys – he pulverises bones, shatters faces and melts skulls with nary a twitch, just the tiniest hint of a smile.  It’s an astonishing performance from newcomer Jackson A. Dunn, who perfectly captures the nuanced subtleties as Brandon goes from happy child to lethal psychopath, clearly demonstrating that he’s gonna be an incredible talent in future; the two grown leads, meanwhile, are both excellent, Denman growing increasingly haunted and exasperated as he tries to prove his own son is a wrong ‘un, while Banks has rarely been better, perfectly embodying a mother desperately clinging to the idea that her son is innocent no matter how compelling the evidence becomes, and there’s quality support from Breaking Bad’s Matt Jones and Search Party’s Meredith Hagner as Brandon’s aunt and uncle, Noah and Meredith, and Becky Wahlstrom the mother of one of his school-friends, who seems to see him for what he is right from the start.  Dark, suspenseful and genuinely nasty, this is definitely not your typical superhero movie, often playing like Kick-Ass’ even more twisted cousin, and there are times when it displays some of the same edgy, black-hearted sense of humour, too.  In other words, it’s all very James Gunn.  It’s one sweet piece of work, everyone involved showing real skill and devotion, and Yarovesky in particular proves he’ll definitely be one-to-watch in the future.  There are already plans for a potential sequel, and given where this particular little superhero universe seems to be heading I think it could be something pretty special, so fair to say I can’t wait.

3.  FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS HOBBS & SHAW – it’s official, this summer’s most OTT movie is THE MOST FUN I’ve had at the cinema so far this year, a genuinely batshit crazy, pure bonkers rollercoaster ride of a film I just couldn’t get enough of, truly the perfect sum of all its baffling parts.  The Fast & Furious franchise has always revelled in its extremes, as subtle as a brick and very much playing to the blockbuster, popcorn movie crowd right from the start, but it wasn’t until Fate of the Furious (yup, ridiculous title, says it all) that it really started to play to the inherent ridiculousness of its overall setup, paving the way for this first crack at a new spin-off series for the post Vin Diesel years.  Needless to say this one has fully embraced the sheer ludicrousness, and director David Leitch is the perfect choice to shepherd it into the future, having previously mastered OTT action through John Wick and Atomic Blonde before helming manic screwball comedy Deadpool 2, which certainly is the strongest comparison point here – Hobbs & Shaw is every bit as loud, violent, chaotic and thoroughly irreverent, definitely playing up the inherent comic potential at the core of the material as he cranks up the humour. Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham take centre stage now as, respectively, DSS agent Luke Hobbs and former SAS black operative Deckard Shaw, the ultimate action movie odd couple once again forced to work together to foil the bad guy and save the world from a potentially cataclysmic disaster.  Specifically Brixton Lore (Idris Elba), a self-proclaimed “black superman” enhanced with cybernetic implants and genetic manipulation to turn him into the ultimate warrior, who plans to use a lethal designer supervirus to eradicate half of humanity (as supervillains tend to do), but there’s one small flaw in his plan – the virus has been stolen by Hattie Shaw (Mission: Impossible – Fallout’s Vanessa Kirby), a rogue MI6 agent who also happens to be Deckard’s sister.  Got all that?  Yup, the movie really is as mad as it sounds, but that’s very much part of the charm – there’s an enormous amount of fun to be had in just giving in and going along with the madness of it all, as Hobbs and the two Shaws bounce from one over-the-top, ludicrously destructive set-piece to the next, kicking plenty of arse along the way when they’re not jumping out of tall buildings or driving fast cars at ludicrous speeds in heavy traffic, and when they’re not doing that they’re bickering with enthusiasm, each exchange crackling with exquisite hate-hate chemistry and liberally laced with hilarious dialogue delivered with gleeful, fervent venom (turns out there’s few things so enjoyable a watching Johnson and Statham verbally rip each other a new one), and the two action cinema heavyweights have never been better than they are here, each bringing the very best performances of their respective careers out of each other as they vacillate, while Kirby holds her own with consummate skill that goes to show she’s got a bright future of her own.  As for Idris Elba, the one-time potential future Bond deserves to be remembered as one of the all-time great screen villains ever, investing Brixton with the perfect combination of arrogant swagger and lethal menace to steal every scene he’s in while simultaneously proving he can be just as big a badass in the action stakes; Leitch also scatters a selection of familiar faces from his previous movies throughout a solid supporting cast which also includes the likes of Fear the Walking Dead’s Cliff Curtis, From Dusk Till Dawn’s Eiza Gonzalez and Helen Mirren (who returns as Deckard and Hattie’s mum Queenie Shaw), while there’s more than one genuinely brilliant surprise cameo to enjoy.  As we’ve come to expect, the action sequences are MASSIVE, powered by nitrous oxide and high octane as property is demolished and vehicles are driven with reckless abandon when our protagonists aren’t engaged bruising, bone-crunching fights choreographed with all the flawless skill you’d expect from a director who used to be a professional stuntman, but this time round the biggest fun comes from the downtime, as the aforementioned banter becomes king.  It’s an interesting makeover for the franchise, going from heavyweight action stalwart to comedy gold, and it’s direction I hope they’ll maintain for the inevitable follow-up – barring Fast Five, this is the best Fast & Furious to date, and a strong indicator of how it should go to keep conquering multiplexes in future.  Sign me up for more, please.

2.  SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME – this summer’s been something of a decompression period for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with many of us recovering from the sheer emotional DEVASTATION of the grand finale of Phase 3, Avengers: Endgame, so the main Blockbuster Season’s entry really needed to be light and breezy, a blessed relief after all that angst and loss, much like Ant-Man & the Wasp was last year as it followed Infinity War.  And it is, by and large – this is as light-hearted and irreverent as its predecessor, following much the same goofy teen comedy template as Homecoming, but there’s no denying that there’s a definite emotional through-line from Endgame that looms large here, a sense of loss the film fearlessly addresses right from the start, sometimes with a bittersweet sense of humour, sometimes straight.  But whichever path the narrative chooses, the film stays true to this underlying truth – there have been great and painful changes in this world, and we can’t go back to how it was before, no matter how hard we try, but then perhaps we shouldn’t.  This is certainly central to our young hero’s central arc – Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is in mourning, and not even the prospect of a trip around Europe with his newly returned classmates, together with the chance to finally get close to M.J. (Zendaya), maybe even start a relationship, can entirely distract him from the gaping hole in his life.  Still, he’s gonna give it his best shot, but it looks like fate has other plans for our erstwhile Spider-Man as superspy extraordinaire Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) comes calling, basically hijacking his vacation with an Avengers-level threat to deal with, aided by enigmatic inter-dimensional superhero Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has a personal stake in the mission, but as he’s drawn deeper into the fray Peter discovers that things may not be quite as they seem.  Of course, giving anything more away would of course dumps HEINOUS spoilers on the precious few who haven’t yet seen the film – suffice to say that the narrative drops a MAJOR sea-change twist at the midpoint that’s EVERY BIT as fiendish as the one Shane Black gave us in Iron Man 3 (although the more knowledgeable fans of the comics will likely see it coming), and also provides Peter with JUST the push he needs to get his priorities straight and just GET OVER IT once and for all.  Tom Holland again proves his character is the most endearing teenage geek in cinematic history, his spectacular super-powered abilities and winning underdog perseverance in the face of impossible odds still paradoxically tempered by the fact he’s as loveably hopeless as ever outside his suit; Mysterio himself, meanwhile, frequently steals the film out from under him, the strong bromance they develop certainly mirroring what Peter had with Tony Stark, and it’s a major credit to Gyllenhaal that he so perfectly captures the essential dualities of the character, investing Beck with a roguish but subtly self-deprecating charm that makes him EXTREMELY easy to like, but ultimately belying something much more complex hidden beneath it; it’s also nice to see so many beloved familiar faces returning, particularly the fantastically snarky and self-assured Zendaya, Jacob Batalon (once again pure comic gold as Peter’s adorably nerdy best friend Ned), Tony Revolori (as his self-important class rival Flash Thompson) and, of course, Marisa Tomei as beloved Aunt May, as well as Jackson and Cobie Smoulders as dynamite SHIELD duo Fury and his faithful lieutenant Maria Hill, and best of all Jon Favreau gets a MUCH bigger role this time round as Happy Hogan.  Altogether this is very much business as usual for the MCU, the well-oiled machine unsurprisingly turning out another near-perfect gem of a superhero flick that ticks all the required boxes, but a big part of the film’s success should be attributed to returning director Jon Watts, effectively building on the granite-strong foundations of Homecoming with the help of fellow alumni Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers on screenplay duty, for a picture that feels both comfortingly familiar and rewardingly fresh, delivering on all the required counts with thrilling action and eye candy spectacle, endearingly quirky character-based charm and a typically winning sense of humour, and plenty of understandably powerful emotional heft.  And, like always, there are plenty of fan-pleasing winks and nods and revelations, and the pre-requisite mid- and post-credit teasers too, both proving to be some proper game-changing corkers.  The future of the property may be in doubt, but this is still another winner from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but then was there really ever any doubt?

1.  JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3 – needless to say, those who know me should be in no doubt why THIS is at the top of my list for summer 2019 – this has EVERYTHING I love in movies and more. Keanu Reeves is back in the very best role he’s ever played, unstoppable, unbeatable, un-killable hitman John Wick, who, when we rejoin him mere moments after the end of 2017’s phenomenal Chapter 2, is in some SERIOUSLY deep shit, having been declared Incommunicado by the High Table (the all-powerful ruling elite who run this dark and deadly shadowy underworld) after circumstances forced him to gun down an enemy on the grounds of the New York Continental Hotel (the inviolable sanctuary safe-house for all denizens of the underworld), as his last remaining moments of peace tick away and he desperately tries to find somewhere safe to weather the initial storm.  Needless to say the opening act of the film is ONE LONG ACTION SEQUENCE as John careers through the rain-slick backstreets of New York, fighting off attackers left and right with his signature brutal efficiency and unerring skill, perfectly setting up what’s to come – namely a head-spinning, exhausting parade of spectacular set pieces that each put EVERY OTHER offering in any other film this year to shame.  Returning director Chad Stahelski again proves that he’s one of the very best helmsmen around for this kind of stuff, delivering FAR beyond the call on every count as he creates a third entry to a series that continues to go from strength to strength, while Keanu once again demonstrates what a phenomenal screen action GOD he is, gliding through each scenario with poise, precision and just the right balance of brooding charm and so-very-done-with-this-shit intensity and a thoroughly enviable athletic physicality that really does put him on the same genre footing as Tom Cruise.  As with the first two chapters, what plot there is is largely an afterthought, a facility to fuel the endless wave of stylish, wince-inducing, thoroughly exhilarating violent bloodshed, as John cuts another bloody swathe through the underworld searching for a way to remove the lethal bounty from his head while an Adjudicator from the High Table (Orange Is the New Black’s Asia Kate Dillon) arrives in New York to settle affairs with Winston (Ian McShane), the manager of the New York Continental, and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) for helping John create this mess in the first place.  McShane and Fishburne are both HUGE entertainment in their fantastically nuanced large-than-life roles, effortlessly stealing each of their scenes, while the ever-brilliant Lance Reddick also makes a welcome return as Winston’s faithful right-hand Charon, the concierge of the Continental, who finally gets to show off his own hardcore action chops when trouble arrives at their doorstep, and there are plenty of franchise newcomers who make strong impressions here – Dillon is the epitome of icy imperiousness, perfectly capturing the haughty superiority you’d expect from a direct representative of the High Table, Halle Berry gets a frustratingly rare opportunity to show just how seriously badass she can be as former assassin Sofia, the manager of the Casablanca branch of the Continental and one of John’s only remaining allies, Game of Thrones’ Jerome Flynn is smarmy and entitled as her boss Berrada, and Anjelica Houston is typically classy as the Director, the ruthless head of New York’s Ruska Roma (John’s former “alma mater”, basically). The one that REALLY sticks in the memory, though, is Mark Dacascos, finally returning to the big time after frustrating years languishing in lurid straight-to-video action dreck and lowbrow TV hosting duties thanks to a BLISTERING turn as Zero, a truly brilliant semi-comic creation who routinely runs away with the film – he’s the Japanese master ninja the Adjudicator tasks with dispensing her will, a thoroughly lethal killer who may well be as skilled as our hero, but his deadliness is amusingly tempered by the fact that he’s also a total nerd who HERO WORSHIPS John Wick, adorably geeking out whenever their paths cross.  Their long-gestating showdown provides a suitably magnificent climax to the action, but there’s plenty to enjoy in the meantime, as former stuntman Stahelski and co keep things interestingly fluid as they constantly change up the dynamics and add new elements, from John using kicking horses in a stable and knives torn out of display cases in a weaponry museum to dispatch foes on the fly, through Sofia’s use of attack dogs to make the Moroccan portion particularly nasty and a SPECTACULAR high octane sequence in which John fights katana-wielding assailants on speeding motorcycles, to the film’s UNDISPUTABLE highlight, an astounding fight in which John takes on Zero’s disciples (including two of the most impressive guys from The Raid movies, Cecep Arif Rahman and Yayan Ruhian) in (and through) an expansive chamber made up entirely of glass walls and floors.  Altogether then, this is business as usual for a franchise that’s consistently set the bar for the genre as a whole, an intensely bruising, blissfully blood-drenched epic that cranks its action up to eleven, shot with delicious neon-drenched flair and glossy graphic novel visual excess, a consistently inspired exercise in fascinating world-building that genuinely makes you want to live among its deadly denizens (even though you probably wouldn’t live very long).  The denouement sets things up for an inevitable sequel, and I’m not at all surprised – right from the first film I knew the concept had some serious legs, and it’s just too good to quit yet. Which is just how I like it …

alright, you know what

about two weeks ago maybe by now, i made a post about how i’ve recently hit 200 followers and i’d like to do a q&a again, and even with a reblog from someone more ~*popular*~ than me, and multiple reblogs once a day for a few days by myself, i didn’t get a single fucking question. not one. earlier today i posted two pictures of myself where i felt pretty (i’ve since deleted them) and nobody i actually know of liked it and i got asked by a stranger who doesn’t even follow me if i had any nsfw pictures. i don’t get asks anymore, i don’t get shit. and that tells me that, you may be following me, but you aren’t connecting with me. and i feel that. i get on tumblr and i don’t feel like i’m friends with fucking anybody. and i did that. i know i did that. 9/10 times i let my fear of rejection and embarrassing myself overcome my desire to talk to people, so i don’t do it, or i let it fizzle out and we go our own ways and we don’t become friends. 1/10 times i actually function as a human being and make a connection or at least something that sticks a little.

so here, below the cut, is a comprehensive (loosely) list of things that i like, in no particular order at all, besides tickling, because apparently both sides of this need a little help connecting on any front.

scooby-doo

beetlejuice

the addams family

the sims

the mcu

classic disney animations; my favorites are dumbo, the great mouse detective, the rescuers, sleeping beauty, and oliver and company (it’s old enough that i consider it in the classic category)

~modern disney animations too; my favorites are treasure fucking planet, coco, and... i’m a sap, beauty and the beast. rise of the guardians too even though it isn’t disney.

musicals; i can’t pick a favorite just fucking ask me, but i don’t know a lot of newer ones honestly

empire records

the greatest showman still

cats (i mean the animals but i also like the show even though it is Weird As Hell)

my cat in particular

alice in wonderland

stranger things

space jam

tsum tsums

elvira, mistress of the dark

dice

kiki’s delivery service and specifically jiji things

winnie the pooh i don’t even fucking care i LOVE HIM AND ALL OF HIS FRIENDS

silly hats

playdoh

interesting earrings

exploring libraries or big bookstores

true crime mysteries; my favorite youtuber for this is georgia marie, bless her. i also watch bella fiori and kendall rae

fictional mysteries too

i have a kind of fascination with jack the ripper and with the lizzie borden case

shipwrecks! i don’t know why but shipwrecks fascinate me! why did they go down? all the stories that went with them!

i once read a novel that was told as a series of letters, or journal entries, by people on the titanic, including the iceberg and it was THE absolute saddest book i have ever read in my life. like, obviously i knew what was coming, but i got attached to the characters, the letters made them alive and it was just like... NO. NO I DON’T WANT THEM TO DIE. I KNOW THEY’RE GOING TO BUT THEY CAN’T. and it was awful. i had to put it down and cry.

cryptozoology

the bermuda triangle theories (i’m not saying i believe sOmEtHiNg’S gOiNg On but i think some of the theories are interesting)

ghosts

the nancy drew computer games

monopoly

i still play a lot of my snes games; my go-to time killer and head-clearer honestly is kirby’s avalanche. i also play a lot of super mario rpg legend of the seven stars, super mario world, kirby’s dreamland 3, and donkey kong 2 and 3

final fantasy x in which i’m guaranteed to call almost (i can’t stress that enough) every character at some point “my child”

hyrule warriors, i know it’s not a tRuE zelda game but it’s fucking fun

same with fire emblem warriors

red dead redemption

kingdom hearts

the uncharted series

splatoon but i don’t have it wahhhhh

mind you i am not very Good at videogames, i just like to play them anyway

game grumps

ninja sex party

jacksepticeye

markiplier

monty python

crocheting

tea

harry potter

classic rock. pretty big on queen lately. i like tom petty and the heartbreakers. i like joan jett and the blackhearts.

i just... like rock. across the board. i like the offspring. i like some rage against the machine songs. acdc on the radio makes me happy. def leppard on the radio makes me happy. beartooth, starset, powerman 5000, as long as it’s got a good beat and good stuff going on behind the vocals then i’m gonna be happy. i’m way more into the guitars and the bass and everything going on instrumentally than i am vocally, honestly. the whole big guitar solo to van halen’s “you really got me” and then that bassline that comes in, that bassline is sexy. it’s so simple but i LIKE it.

anyway music as a whole gets me right in the heart and can lift me up when i am at my literal worst point

it’s hard for me to name a favorite or specific bands that i like because there’s so many and i’m not really picky about it. 

pop vinyls

good ol’ vines

buffalo wings

mac and cheese

grilled cheese

dr. pepper

i drink a l o t of dr. pepper

pretending i know how to do makeup well

history; i watch a lot of expedition unknown and mysteries at the museum, and sometimes i’ll watch a free documentary on youtube if it catches my attention. last weekend i explained the donner party to my boyfriend. just.. on a whim. because i’d just watched a thing on it and he said he didn’t really know what it was. i’m that person.

OH I SHOULD HAVE MENTIONED THIS BACK AROUND TRUE CRIME BUT I READ A BOOK ABOUT H.H. HOLMES AND HIS MURDER CASTLE AND THE CHICAGO WORLD’S FAIR. it was by erik larson, i believe. larsen? i could google this. devil in the white city. there’s been talks to make it a movie. it’s a good read though i will admit i skipped a lot of the fair parts because i was there for the murder.

i also read a book about the lusitania by the same author and i was like ohhh my goooood what. it got a little boring sometimes, i had to push myself to keep going, but i would read dead wake again.

csi: miami reruns are the greatest thing don’t @ me

dark purple and black aesthetics

just like... witchy aesthetics. those colors and black cats

if you haven’t noticed by any selfies i’ve posted, i do have my lip pierced and i love finding new lip jewelry. i have a new opal stud in and i love its look

leather jackets

combat boots; i have a galaxy print pair and a pair with classic marvel comics stuff printed on the inside and you can fold down the sides to show it. they’re my faves.

owls

drunk history

the first 5 seasons of supernatural and i still have a soft spot for the winchesters and castiel

i’m slowly making my way through watching the librarians

i’m also making my way slowly through watching the magicians

(american) football

nature walks

going to the zoo

going to the aquarium

like really take me to either of the above and i will lose my shit

road trips

savannah, georgia

the smokey mountains

last august i drove by myself from ohio to boone, north carolina for a friend’s wedding and that wedding was smack on a mountain top and it was the coolest thing i think i’ve ever done

roller coasters BUT NOT EXTREME ONES baby steps ok

log rides tho, i don’t know why, i always love the water rides

ren faires!

cosplay, even though i’m not exactly active in it myself (but i want to be; one of my offline friends is an actually-getting-kind-of-internet-famous mei from overwatch cosplayer)

cards against humanity

foosball

pool but i suck at it

speaking of pools i love swimming ... but i suck at it, i just like boppin’ along in a pool

cookouts

summer

there is nothing like being out in the middle of nowhere in summer when the evening starts to fall and the sky is dark, dark blue and there’s a sea of shimmering lightning bugs out over a field. it’s beautiful. it’s peaceful.

there’s nothing like sitting outside on a calm spring night and listening to the spring peepers (they’re frogs) either.

if you couldn’t tell, i live in the middle of nowhere. i have to find enjoyment in the little things.

campfires

dancing around said campfire, you cannot have a campfire without good music. this is when a lot of my classic rock education came to pass.

elephants

my favorite books are the abhorsen trilogy by garth nix, tied with the serpent’s shadow by mercedes lackey

i am trying to get into comic books by way of the youtube channel comicstorian. they break comic books down for you and read them aloud with the images, altered slightly to avoid copyright strikes (and that’s all made very clear, it’s not done sketchily), and it’s been really easy for someone like me who doesn’t just have a comics store close (and i would otherwise continue on as i have been, forgetting to ever look for them on the internet). i listened to injustice 1 and 2, and they covered the game. i’m actively following scooby apocalypse, and there was some teen titans stuff i went all the way through up until now. i don’t think it’s finished yet from what i remember.

i love museums

candles

i actually kind of collect tea sets

i also have a collection of sand art bottles AND IF I’M EVER AT A FESTIVAL OR A FAIR WHERE THERE IS A SAND ART STAND YOU CAN BET I AM GOING TO MAKE ONE

yugioh duels; i’m definitely just a novice and it’s just a fun pastime my friends got me into when they found their giant binders of cards again

i’m not actually that big on pokemon, i don’t know a lot of them but it’s still fun and i know some. but i did love pokemon go when my friends still played it (don’t really have time anymore, and it kept crashing way too badly on one of their phones anymore anytime they tried to join a raid and it just wasn’t fun as a group then)

i don’t have any but i like the ~look of crystals and would like to have some, not for my own aesthetic but i just... like having pretty things!

listening to the rain

how the air smells (at least where i live) after a long rain and everything is just cleansed

depression has stopped me from writing for a long time but, in my heart, writing has always been something that has touched me ever since i knew how to do it and could put my stories down on paper instead of having to just talk about them... so i’m going to include that here

root beer floats

hotdogs

hard dip ice cream (if you don’t know what hard dip means... as my boyfriend didn’t... it means ice cream that you have to use a scoop with, not soft serve)

soft serve’s good too tho don’t get me wrong

strawberry milkshakes

this isn’t even stuff that anyone would need to know on this site to befriend me at this point, nobody’s gonna message me like HEY I READ YOU LIKE STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKES ME FUCKING TOO

you’re cool if you do that lmao

so bad they’re good creature features from the 50s and 60s

the old godzilla movies

i like the moon more than the stars, but i like them too

flower crowns

bouncy balls

original skittles

this has gone on way too long, nobody is reading this, your mom’s a hoe, goodnight

no she’s not, i’m sorry, if you got this far then i hope your mom is a nice person

Officially, “Respect” is a relationship song. That’s how Otis Redding wrote it. But love wasn’t what Aretha Franklin was interested in. The opening line is “What you want, baby, I got it.” But her “what” is a punch in the face. So Ms. Franklin’s rearrangement was about power. She had the right to be respected — by some dude, perhaps by her country. Just a little bit.What did love have to do with that?

Depending on the house you grew up in and how old you are, “Respect” is probably a song you learned early. The spelling lesson toward the end helps. So do the turret blasts of “sock it to me” that show up here and there. But, really, the reason you learn “Respect” is the way “Respect” is sung. Redding made it a burning plea. Ms. Franklin turned the plea into the most empowering popular recording ever made.

Ms. Franklin died on Thursday, at 76, which means “Respect” is going to be an even more prominent part of your life than usual. The next time you hear it, notice what you do with your hands. They’re going to point — at a person, a car or a carrot. They’ll rest on your hips. Your neck might roll. Your waist will do a thing. You’ll snarl. Odds are high that you’ll feel better than great. You’re guaranteed to feel indestructible.

Ms. Franklin’s respect lasts for two minutes and 28 seconds. That’s all — basically a round of boxing. Nothing that’s over so soon should give you that much strength. But that was Aretha Franklin: a quick trip to the emotional gym. Obviously, she was far more than that. We’re never going to have an artist with a career as long, absurdly bountiful, nourishing and constantly surprising as hers. We’re unlikely to see another superstar as abundantly steeped in real self-confidence — at so many different stages of life, in as many musical genres.

That self-confidence wasn’t evident only in the purses and perms and headdresses and floor-length furs; the buckets and buckets of great recordings; the famous demand that she always be paid before a show, in cash; or the Queen of Soul business — the stuff that keeps her monotonously synonymous with “diva.” It was there in whatever kept her from stopping and continuing to knock us dead. To paraphrase one of Ms. Franklin’s many (many) musical progeny: She slayed. “Respect” became an anthem for us, because it seemed like an anthem for her.

The song owned the summer of 1967. It arrived amid what must have seemed like never-ending turmoil — race riots, political assassinations, the Vietnam draft. Muhammad Ali had been stripped of his championship title for refusing to serve in the war. So amid all this upheaval comes a singer from Detroit who’d been around most of the decade doing solid gospel R&B work. But there was something about this black woman’s asserting herself that seemed like a call to national arms. It wasn’t a polite song. It was hard. It was deliberate. It was sure. And that all came from Ms. Franklin — her rumbling, twanging, compartmentalized arrangement. It came, of course, from her singing.

Because lots of major pop stars now have great, big voices, maybe it’s easy to forget that most Americans had never heard anything quite as dependably great and shockingly big as Ms. Franklin’s. The reason we have watched “Showtime at the Apollo” or “American Idol” or “The Voice” is out of some desperate hope that somebody walks out there and sounds like Aretha. She established a standard for artistic vocal excellence, and it will outlast us all.

She, along with Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Tina Turner and Patti LaBelle, changed where the stress fell in popular singing. Now you could glean a story from lyrics but also hear it in the tone of the singer’s voice — agony, ecstasy and everything beyond and in between. Roots, soil, pavement on one hand, the stratosphere on the other.

I know. That does just sound like the art of singing. But when gospel left the church and entered the body — the black body — we called that soul. And a good soul artist could make singing for sex sound like she was singing for God. They call that secular music. But it just repositioned whatelse could be holy. Almost nobody — and even then, maybe just Ray Charles — did as much toggling between and conflating of the religious and the randy with as much sincere athletic imagination and humor andswagger as Ms. Franklin.

“Dr. Feelgood (Love Is a Serious Business),” the hit from 1967 that she co-wrote, never fails to chill, arouse and amuse. Ms. Franklin performs it with a mix of exasperation and smoldering anticipation. That song’s never sounded better or more theatrical than it does on “Aretha Live at Fillmore West,” from 1971. Its structural brilliance is that there’s no robust chorus or melody, just Ms. Franklin, her piano, a blues groove and her mood. She wants a friend to get going so she can have sex with her man. But who’s been shown the door with this much flair?

The song starts, “I don’t want nobody always sitting around me and my man.” You could bake a pie in the pause between “nobody” and “always.” And when she gets to “sitting,” she takes a deep, five-second drag on the “s” so that it sounds less like a consonant and more like a lit fuse. The remaining six and a half minutes put you in exhilarated suspense over when her top’s gonna blow.

There are so many things to love about this performance: its sexiness, its playfulness, its resolve, all the space in the arrangement for Ms. Franklin’s singing to stay low until it takes off high, the way that once she finally connects with Dr. Feelgood himself, the crowd audibly connects with the song or, really, just more deeply connects, since people had been shouting stuff like, “Sing it, Aretha!” between her pauses. You can feel in that moment the hold Ms. Franklin had over anybody who ever saw — or heard — her sing. She worked with bottomless reserves of swagger.

We tend not to think of Ms. Franklin that way — as an artist of bravado and nerve and daring, as a woman with swagger. We tend not to think of her this way even though nearly every song she sang brimmed over with it. (She sang about taking care of business — the old “tcb” — and, consequently, having her business taken care of, as much as she sang about respect.) Swagger we left to the Elvis Presleys and James Browns and Mick Jaggers. But “swagger” is the only word for, say, her approach to the music of other artists.

It didn’t matter whether it was a Negro spiritual or something by the Beatles. It was all wet clay to her. The Supremes, Frank Sinatra, Leonard Cohen, Adele, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, ? and the Mysterians, C & C Music Factory: She oversaw more gut renovations than a general contractor. In 1979, she took the occasion of B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone” to allow her backing singer to exclaim that she (and they) were “free at last.” Toward the end of her funked-up, very fun version of Sam & Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” from the 1981 album “Love All the Hurt Away,” she tossed in some “beep-beeps” and a couple of lines from “Little Jack Horner” because she knew she could make it work.

If good soul music is like good barbecue — slow cooked, falls off the bone — by the 1980s, she’d become a pit master, yelping and barking and wailing, but also talking in songs, sermonizing. You know the char and gristle, the bits of sugar and salt and fat on, say, a perfectly done slab of ribs? Most of this woman’s songs were blackened that way. Yet if Ms. Franklin told you she was going to take a classic R&B song and throw in a little nursery rhyme, you’d be nervous. Did 1986 really need a cover of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash?” Probably not. But she did it anyway — and robustly — and threw in a “hallelujah” while she was at it.

But, by that point, Ms. Franklin seemed well on her way to becoming somebody who might have relished the culture’s doubt. She loved music too much to be vestigial or nostalgic or relegated. She wanted — you know, what she wanted. And eventually respect was tricky to come by. I, at least, remember sitting on my bed watching the 1998 Grammys and hearing that she’d be filling in for Luciano Pavarotti and rolling my eyes. Ms. Franklin knew. She went out there, sang some Puccini, and left the nation in shock.The Queen of Opera, too?

Is it possible that despite the milestones and piles of Grammys (the now-defunct female R&B vocal performance category seemed invented just for her; she won the first eight), despite famously having been crowned the greatest singer of all time in a vast Rolling Stone survey, despite being Aretha Franklin, the Greatest was also rather underrated — as a piano player, as an arranger (who had a greater imagination when it came to coloring a song with backing singers), as an album artist? Despite the world’s bereavement over her death, despite her having been less a household name and more a spiritual resident of our actual home, despite giving us soundtracks for loneliness, for lovemaking, for joy, for church, cookouts and bars, despite the induction ceremonies, medals and honorary degrees, despite her having been the only Aretha most of us have ever heard of, is it possible that we’ve taken her for granted, that in failing to make her president, a saint or her own country, we still might not have paid her enough respect? Just a little bit.

Phroyd

Thanks for your Spectre HC you just posted, I love reading people's thoughts on him! Do you have any other thoughts about his character?

I have a lot of thoughts, actually. here are my other Spectre metas that you might be interested in (earth ignis!Spectre) and (water ignis!Spectre)

And I’ve also got a lot of unpublished fics involving him. Some of these are unpublished because its not the right time (stupid rare pair week being in December and not now) and others are unpublished because they’re unfinished (more earth ignis!Spectre and some naughty stuff)

my main philosophy with characterising Spectre, and I admittedly have a lot to perfect, comes from reading Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro and that is, Spectre is the inverse of the titular character. He is Neuro, if Neuro was a masochist. 

also, i’m a huge revspec shipper so revspec is implied below frequently, I am also intrigued by polyamorous shipping with him and all the lost kids because i feel like its inevitable (like in a5 with the yu-boys and b-girls, its a similar sort of thing. lost kids squad need to bond ok). 

but i do dislike some ships involving him (him and pl.aymaker as well as him and sou.lburner but the former is slightly bettered by a threesome solution involving revolver) and then I loathe some ships involving him (him and bl.ue an.gel)

So here is like the comprehensive list of things I think about him either in general or in tandem with other characters

fluffy/general

The best art tropes are when he’s portrayed with long hair (like waist length) or with earrings (specifically Ryoken’s)

he is a huge green thumb; his room is just overflowing with plants. that being said, it is rather messy because he absolutely can’t prune to the level that is needed

he likes classical musical and instrumental covers of heavy metal music best

of the lost children, i think he was the eldest. looking at how yusaku and takeru are portrayed as children, spectre looks closer to how ryoken was portrayed. so i think he was 8 at the time of the incident; not to mention, when he first appeared, I thought he was 20+

loves androgynous fashion and is open to dressing femininely but chooses not to because he’s worried it looks unprofessional

he makes the best teas and cakes. he also cooks a lot and is very good at it. he’s very, very domestic in general.

i love… precocious kid Spectre and dumb childhood friends to lovers tropes like “I’m going to be the one who marries you when we grow up” and pinkie promises type thing (though, if spectre broke a pinkie promise, i’m certain he’d break his pinkie finger too)

he’s also quite affectionate due to being touch starved which is really at odds with the fact that he hates people and he wants to maintain a level of professionalism with the one person he does (or had a history of) want to be affectionate with

spectre has a photographic memory and remembers every single detail of every single day, however, he is (more or less) lying about remembering those things from infancy; those’re coping daydreams. they did happen/similar things happened but he’s dreamt up most the details

angsty

He needs a therapist really, really badly and I’m of the hopeful belief that he will eventually get the opportunity to work through his issues in a professional environment

he often wonders how different his life may have been had he been born either a) a girl or b) a more ‘attractive’ child.

Dr Kogami would not approve of Spectre having romantic feelings for his son

Spectre had so many mixed feelings about the death of Dr Kogami 

the Kogami family situation is so fucked from this perspective because Ryoken is so loyal and his father is Like That

I think there was at least one couple who attempted to get to know Spectre; maybe he was the most physically similar child to them or they were intrigued by how intelligent he was and he probably scarred them for life.

other

Spectre doesn’t wear a mask. All the other members of Hanoi wear masks but Spectre doesn’t. I still don’t quite know what to make of this but it does, I think, speak to how low he might perceive himself since he is so subservient to The Cause

I really hope he gets a re-design. I think, other than Ryoken, he is probably the most pressing character who needs a redemption arc. after all, he is a Lost Child. but also because he has a kinda boring design?? like, it isn’t as eye catching as the others, you know?

related to the one above, I think that if any character gets a more permanent death, especially of the lost kids, it’s Spectre with his head closest to the chopping block unless he gets redeemed - unless death is redeeming but fingers crossed he’s still alive by the final episode otherwise I might go into some hardcore denial

also ya girl is a dumbass because she incorrectly thought that Spectre and Go’s orphanage was the same one but no, they’re different places altogether lol

his English VA is spot the fuck on. I really, really enjoy his dubbed voice

I am certain that Spectre will recruit his Ignis and he won’t kill it. I think his Ignis is Earth but I kind of really want it to be Aqua too purely because mixed gender Ignis/Origin pairs intrigue me and the fact that the silhouette of the girl from the lost incident is shown having twin tails ending up with Earth is hilarious

I hope we get more Spectre backstory because its one of my favourites in all of yugioh tbh because it’s just so balls to the walls with W H A T 

i’d love to write more gen fic of him but he just pushes the right effing buttons for me so nsfw under the cut jsyk

smutty

bondage, collars & leashes, tentacles, dendrophilia, body worship (if he’s doing it to someone else), sadism/masochism play: all things he absolutely enjoys. 

he’s probably down to try anything so long as it’s like hygienic or whatever

has accidentally (or not so accidentally) called his s/o mummy during sex

he is a VERSE. stop erasing his identity people. this man is a switch and proud

he’s one of those people who doesn’t talk about sex but you can absolutely tell from a mile or a million away what he is high key into and that is rather far from ‘vanilla’

his biggest kink is being loved and appreciated and making his s/o feel the same though, lbr

revspec smut fics i wanna write

bonus category because i wanna talk about the kinky things i wanna write involving him

dungeons and dragons inspired au where he’s a dryad and instead of having conventional genitalia, he has a flower Ryoken can penetrate but there are also tentacles and a lot of nectar which kinda acts like nice tasting cum and aphrodisiacs are a Thing too 

post-canon or mundane au fic where he and rev more or less get married, Spectre brings the wedding bouquet into the bedroom and either a) puts on a ‘show’ for Ryoken involving it or b) Spectre takes it up the ass from Ryoken whilst masturbating/humping it 

another dnd/fantasy world au with dragon!Revolver and human sacrifice!Spectre. you can probably tell where that’s going. Spectre gets devoured in ways he hadn’t expected :eyes:

ok this fic won’t ever happen but it still came to me in a dark, dark time: post canon fic where he and rev have outdoor sex in the presence of Spectre’s tree mother;

either a fic where ryoken threesomes with irl!spectre and vrains!spectre or spectre foursomes with irl!ryoken, s1!revolver, and s2!revolver because I’m a slut for surreal sex like that

i feel like i’m forgetting something bUT YEAH

Figured that now would be a good time to take a look at how things are going with your favorite gaming company.

No, not them, I mean Onyx Path. Sheesh.

After all, we’re near the end of the year – at least the part before everything gets holiday crazy – and next week we start our They Came From Beneath the Sea! Kickstarter.

So let’s take advantage of the time period and have a little snapshot of where we are. We’ll do more of a “Year That Was” thing in a later blog, I think. (This one is long enough as it is – yeesh!)

2018 was a challenging year, but one where we were able to catch up – finally! – on a lot of projects and start delivering some delayed ones…as well as delivering a bunch of Kickstarter projects earlier than estimated!

If you recall from MMN blogs in the past, I started Onyx Path with a three-part plan for the sorts of projects we would take on, so let me divide my comments based on that.

1- Our Wholly Owned Games:

This category is perhaps our timeliest right now, with both books for Scion 2nd Edition and the Trinity Continuum Core and Aeon all having delivered their KS backer PDFs and in various stages of prepping for their traditional print-runs.

This is very satisfying to be able to say, because as our KS backers know, a large part of the delay in getting these two lines to this point was needing to create a system for them that wouldn’t fall apart at higher power play, and which, frankly, was designed with an eye towards the last couple of decades worth of how games are played.

And while still being a recognizable dice pool system for our fantastic fans of the first editions who kept these games alive all these years!

Just today, our old friend and long-time writer and developer Bruce Baugh posted a long and informative “review” of Storypath on his Facebook page and RPG.net, and I’m taking the liberty of posting some of his thoughts here:

I mean to say, if, on the other hand, you tell players that all active approaches are good – that every one solves some problems well and makes for entertaining drama in trying to solve ones it’s not so great for – the choice moves from “should I risk it?” to “_how_ should I risk it?”, because of course they’re taking the kind of risk and get to decide how. Presuming here that players want to have an adventurous good time, the game’s stepping up to point out the scenic attractions and give them a hand where the footing’s tricky. I love it.

Or take a situation where the character’s pursuing someone, using the Athletics skill. The Forceful character uses Might, running fast, bursting through barriers, maybe throwing things to bring down the pursued, and so on. The Finesse character uses Dexterity, perhaps engaging in impromptu (or prepared!) parkour and acrobatics. The Resilience character uses Stamina, and might look for shortcuts that involve kind of long falls, knowing they’ll be able to take the blow, shake it off, and keep going. Every option is good, every option invites the player and Storyguide to look for opportunities to engage with the setting.

Meanwhile, as those two lines move to printing, we have Scarred Lands, which seems to be living up to its name. After a decent start, we had to go back to square one and reconsider how to publish this classic White Wolf-created D20 game after the death of Stewart Wieck, who was originally my partner in publishing it.

I’m glad to say that we indeed have a plan for how to “reactivate” Scarred Lands and you can look for a Kickstarter for the 5e version of the famous Creature Collection early next year. We’re teaming up with a brand new design studio to bring you a gorgeous and exciting new version of SL‘s classic monster manual as the start of more Scarred Lands greatness.

If you’re looking for a Scarred Lands actual play, Travis Legge runs one on Twitch: They play Mondays from 2-4 PM CST at twitch.tv/plasticageplays and archive episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzVwM7FjhlU&list=PLmiXCaSrrCIjmCJQQ7oLwLNahmDbdn_2J and release it in podcast form via anchor at https://anchor.fm/mythsandmatchmakers

They Came From Beneath the Sea! art by Larry Blamire

And for the fourth of our Onyx-owned projects, the aforementioned They Came From Beneath the Sea! Kickstarter emerges from the waves next week on December 18th. Here’s a link to the teaser trailer, created by film legend Larry Blamire (Thanks, Larry!) and we’ll  be revealing an Actual Play vid later this week across our social media:

Matthew and I will go into some more detail on what led up to this most unusual tabletop RPG next week!

We have some possible new game ideas percolating away right now, but I’m not in too much of a hurry to launch a new one right away, there are still great expansions and ideas to explore for the ones we already have!

#2- Creator-owned partner games:

Headed up by Cavaliers of Mars and Realms of Pugmire (which includes Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, FetchQuest, and the upcoming Pirates of Pugmire).

These are different than a straight-up license, in that the creators are generally deeply involved with the project. Often they do a large percentage of the writing, or bring in teams they run for it. Depending on how we conceptualize the deal, they may have a lot of input on the art or just work on the concepts and let our art and layout folks do the voodoo that they do so well.

Scarred Lands was originally structured far more like this.

So, basically, I look for creative partners that have a very strong vision for the game world, and who I like and want to work with. From there, if the game line exists in the main book and some Stretch Goals, that’s cool. We made the thing and with the magic of the eternal shelf on DTRPG, that’s all it needs to be a success in my thinking.

If the line keeps gathering interest, we’ll try out more projects if the creator is cool with that. That’s the key, we don’t do anything if they aren’t OK with it.

For Cavaliers of Mars, we have just got the books selling into stores, and we’re going to see how things go. If you haven’t heard Rose talk about Cavs on the Onyx Pathcast interview that went live last Friday, it’s a great listen, and she gives advice on how to get started with Cavs as a bonus!

Here is the link to that: https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/e/episode-29-rose-on-mars/

Roll of Good Dogs and Cats art by Shen Fei

Realms of Pugmire is the umbrella brand for Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau projects, and we still have a wide range of projects that came out of both Kickstarters. Here’s Eddy interviewed at PAX Unplugged by Gamerati: https://twitter.com/gamerati/status/1070095836233646081

I currently have two creators talking to me about teaming up for their projects, and again, I’m pretty good with our current slate here, but if the opportunity suggests itself I am open to adding more.

#3- Licensed games:

Which of course start with our WW-owned World of Darkness, Chronicles of Darkness, and Exalted gamelines, but which also include Dystopia Rising: Evolution, and Legendlore.

No doubt about it, this has been a challenging year with our White Wolf licenses. To give you an idea of the complexity, Matthew’s oversight is primarily “just” the WoD projects, and Dixie covers CofD and Exalted. Eddy covers all the rest, with Matt overseeing a bunch of our fiction projects.

The transition to Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition, and getting Mage, Wraith, and Changeling 20th projects to final stages at the same time was a huge effort, but seeing the success of the V5 Chicago By Night Kickstarter has justified it. We felt it to be important for Onyx Path to be able to show what we could do with V5 books, as we had a few pundits insist we could only do “old” Vampire.

Chicago By Night put the stake in that!

We’re moving along really well on Exalted 3rd projects as well, with Dragon-Blooded looking to release its Backer PDF several months before estimate, and Lunars looking good for having its complete text ready for an early 2019 Kickstarter. Meanwhile, there have been monthly PDF releases all year, and smaller EX3 books working their way through the production progress list.

I can’t say enough good things about the entire EX3 creative team, and I’ve just been impressed as hell with co-developers Robert Vance and Eric Minton. They work with their writing teams and with Dixie to maintain their vision for the line while incorporating the creativity of the team.

The Chronicles of Darkness game lines continue to come on line in terms getting their projects finished up in reasonable time frames, and Dixie is still working with the creative teams to emphasize their strengths, and bolster the areas that give them trouble. We’ve had some real movement VtR2, and the Night Horrors books, and then Mage2 is getting back on track as well.

As you can see in the project progress list below, we have some fantastic WW game line projects already rolling into next year, and a bunch of pitches at WW we are waiting to hear back on.

We ran the Dystopia Rising: Evolution Kickstarter this last year, and it was enough to seed several added projects as Stretch Goals to the line. I don’t think we actually reached as many of DR‘s fans as we could have, judging by the comments we’ve received after the KS was done, so it will be interesting to see how sales go once it is in stores.

We picked up this license for a few reasons. First, DR‘s top folk, Michael and Ashley, are extremely smart and creative folks who have innovated a lot in the LARP area, and we like people who can teach us stuff. Second, a new kind of zombie mythos that we, the horror “experts” hadn’t had a chance to play with.

Third: zombies meet Mad Max. Love that woohoo concept. Finally, and really most importantly, it gave us a chance to try the Storypath System in a world that was both grittier and more horrific than baseline Scion or Trinity Continuum. This was really important, and from I’ve heard it works really well for this sort of genre.

For Legendlore, well, apply what I’ve been saying about finding licenses that we can apply our aesthetics to, not visual aesthetics as we’re flexible about those, but design and thematic ones. For now, I’ll leave it at that, as the book has just appeared in the project process queue, and we’ll say a lot more about it next year.

Will we be adding more licenses this year? Well, discussions continue on several properties, so we’ll see. Basically, a license has to be either one that we feel we can create compelling worlds from, even if it is an already existing game, and that works well with our publishing model, or that pays us oodles of cash for very little work (riiiight, and if you find one of those, let me know!).

Trinity Continuum Core art by Pat McEvoy

We’re thrilled to be able to publish so many immersive worlds where players can find deep meaning in their game play. That’s a testament to the amazing writing and visuals that take us to all these places, and to an in-house team that has filled-in, rejuvenated, cajoled, encouraged, and relentlessly supported our out-of-house creative teams.

Mighty Matt and Mirthful Mike, and our trio of Dixie, Matthew, and Eddy, have pushed, prodded, pleaded, and practically puked to get our vast array of projects finished with love and care this whole year, and their efforts are paying off big time as noted above!

In fact, you can listen to the Terrific Trio every Friday on the Onyx Pathcast and often get some clues as to where the projects they are responsible for are headed, and the sorts of challenges they surmount every week.

This Friday, they flash back to the conventions we attended a couple of weeks ago and tell each other about their favorite characters!

Truly, this post has been all about our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

Next up, we’re working on the Kickstarter for They Came From Beneath the Sea! (TCFBtS!), which has some very different additions to the Storypath mechanics we’ll be explaining during the KS.  They take an excellent 50’s action and investigation genre game and turn it to 11!

Check out the teaser above!

Looking to start on Dec 18th at 1pm EST but run it extra long into January!

ELECTRONIC GAMING:

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is both rolling and rocking!

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue you bought it from. Reviews really, really help us with getting folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there!

https://ift.tt/2w0aaEW

And we’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://theonyxpath.com/press-release-onyx-path-limited-editions-now-available-through-indie-press-revolution/

And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

This week, in celebration of both Monarchies of Mau and Cavaliers of Mars being live for retailers in Studio2, we have new themed merchandise on our RedBubble store: postcards and mugs and all sorts of stuff!

CONVENTIONS

Start getting ready for our appearance at MidWinter this January in Milwaukee! So many demos, playtests, secret playtests, and Onyx Path Q&As you could plotz!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM FAST EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Scion Jumpstart (Scion 2nd Edition)

Geist2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Redlines

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Second Draft

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Ready Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Development

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Manuscript Approval:

Wr20 Book of Oblivion (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Editing:

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Aeon Aexpansion (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Adventures for Curious Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

In Media Res (Trinity Continuum: Core)

Tales of Excellent Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon (Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition)

Post-Editing Development:

C20 Players’ Guide (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Indexing:

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Dystopia Rising: Evolution – Finals coming in.

Geist 2e

The Realm 

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Chicago By Night – Contracting next bits.

C20 Player’s Guide – Still sketches and more sketches.

Aeon Aexpansion

They Came From Beneath the Sea! – KS prep.

EX3 Lunars – Sketches coming in, some finals already.

Signs of Sorcery

In Media Res

Marketing Stuff

In Layout

Ex3 Dragon Blooded – 2nd proof.

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) 

Proofing

Scion Hero – Page XXs and then Indexing.

Scion Origin – Page XXs and then Indexing.

CtL2 Jumpstart – At WW for approval.

M20: Gods and Monsters – With Phil.

Pugmire Roll of Good Dogs and Cats

Trinity Core – Waiting for errata from Backer PDF.

Trinity Aeon – Waiting for errata from Backer PDF.

At Press

Wraith 20th – Waiting for new cover proof. Everything else good to go though.

Wraith 20 Screen – Printing.

Scion Dice – At Studio2.

Lost 2e Screen – Printing.

Scion Screen – Printing.

Changeling: The Lost 2e – Soon shipping from printer to shipper. PoD proof ordered.

Fetch Quest – Proof sent back to manufacturer, printing starting.

Exalted 3rd Novel – Prepping for release.

PtC Tormented – PoD proof ordered.

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: 

It’s 7th Sea creator John Wick’s birthday today. I’m sure he doesn’t feel a day older than YARRR!

2018 Megaman Valentine’s Day Contest Rules and Info! *CLOSED*

How do I follow up a 10th Anniversary contest blowout that had tons of prizes? I really can’t, can I? Especially in terms of the sheer amount of winners. So, things will be a little less flashy with this year’s contest, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a few surprises in store, either!

Here is the rundown for this year’s contest:

PRIZES:

It’s the usual get-what-you want option for the top 3 artists in each category. If you prefer a cash prize through Paypal, that’s always the easiest and quickest option to get your reward.

As always though, I will be flexible and work with the winners to purchase Megaman-related prizes, if there’s something you’ve really had your eye on and would like ordered. Be it a 4-inch Nel, Nendoroid, Megamix manga, or some other trinket, if I can find it within your prize price range and order it to be shipped straight to you, I will do all I can to make it happen!

The winners for both the Talent and Humor categories will receive the following:

1st Place: $100 USD or an item(s) up to that value.

2nd Place: $50 USD or an item(s) up to that value.

3rd Place: $25 USD or an item(s) up to that value.

RULES:

Two categories, in which you are allowed to submit one entry for each category, if you would like. If you place in one category, you will be automatically disqualified from the other, for reasons of fairness, and to give other people a chance to win a prize.

CATEGORY 1:  If You Like It, You Should Put a Ring Boomerang On It (Talent)

Content Requirements:

* A romantically simple, or extravagantly over-the-top proposal scene between the Megaman characters of your choice

When thinking of a more romantic, but creative Valentine’s concept I haven’t really done yet, about the only thing off the top of my head was that of a proposal. While there aren’t a ton of actual married couples or even canon romantic relationships in the Megaman Universe, I think it still is a concept that will produce a lot of variety and unique ideas!

As always, you have creative freedom as to how you want to approach this theme. Perhaps you want to draw a nervous character picking out some bling at Ms. Millions’ jewelry shop. Maybe the proposal involves a fusion of Jewel Man and Ring Man surprising the fiancée-to-be. Want to draw a proposal fail? Make it on the jumbotron of Strike Man’s stage, and she’ll probably be too embarrassed to say, ‘Yes!’ Wedding proposal not your thing? You’re fine to make it something like a prom proposal even, if you’d like. 

As the talent category, judging for this theme will focus on the technical skills of your piece. Just as guys throughout history have had to brainstorm the most creative and surefire way to get her to say, ‘Yes!,’ your goal for this category is to create a unique and outstandingly well-drawn proposal scene to get me to say, “You win!”

CATEGORY 2: Beauty and the Beastman.EXE (Humor)

Content Requirements:

* Awwwwww…Beast Out! At least one Megaman character turned into a monsterous, beastly form. But looks are deceiving, and there’s a curse that needs to be broken.

* A beautiful character who hopefully has learned to love this other character shunned by society…or maybe not.

* Other various Megaman characters cursed into the form of household items or a handsome, vain, muscular suitor who can’t read books are purely optional.

Tale as old as Time~Man, claws like Greiga Rock~man, Beauty and the Beast…man.

Yeah, song with great rhyme, that is not. XD  

In the EXE series, we had a gimmick in EXE 6 known as ‘Beast Out,’ where Rockman took on a more animalistic form, either that of the Cybeast Greiga or Falzer. In the anime, this concept was utilized on other characters, giving us beastly “Zoanoroid” versions of classic Navis. So there has been some precedent of turning Megaman characters into beastly monsters.

So, let’s combine that idea with a popular fairy tale/Disney classic! Your goal for this category is to create a hilarious scene with a mismatched couple of a beautiful Megaman character and the less-attractive, beast form of another character of your choice. You are welcome to draw something alluding to your favorite part of the original tale or any of the numerous versions based off of it. You certainly can just use Beastman.EXE as the title alludes to, but you don’t have to. You can get creative and make a beastly form of whatever character you’d like.

For this category, show me how beauty is only skin-deep, in the funniest way possible!

PARTICIPATION PRIZE RAFFLE:

Back once again, with much less sadly, I am going to give away 3 rare participation prizes. There is not a separate wildcard category this year. In order to be eligible for the participation prizes, all you need to do is enter a pic for either the Talent or Humor category!

Like last year, if there is a prize here you are NOT interested in, please note that when you send in your submission(s) to me. Otherwise, you will be automatically entered in the raffle for a chance at each of these 3 items.

If you draw a pic for both the humor and the talent categories, you can double your chances to win! (Odds of course, depending on how many others enter and also draw two pics.) You will be able to add your name into the drawing a second time for just 1 of these prizes.

So, what are these raffle prizes? I’m sticking with the art theme, so you could come away with any of these special, historic pieces of Megaman art!

Raffle Prize #1 – Rockman 8 Anime Mid-Game Cutscene Cel (with Genga)

Yes, you are seeing that right. Just for drawing, you could come away with this cel from the mid-game cutscene, where, Rock runs out of Dr. Light’s lab after being told that if he ‘fwinds dat meatey-oar, we’wll fwind Doctah Whywee.” Yes, you can have a piece of that scene!! As you can see in these samples, the cel is not stuck, so you can proudly display each piece separately if you prefer!

It’s this scene, only not covered by the lab wall. Probably the first time we’ve seen this art fully unobstructed!

Raffle Prize #2 – Archie Comics Worlds Unite Inked page (Sonic Universe #77, Page 8)

Inked and signed by Gary Martin, this page showcases that rare brotherly interaction between X and Rock, with the sneering, evil trio of Wily, Robotnik and Xander Payne all behind bars immediately after they portal-escaped from Sigma’s grasp. Although their sentence only lasted like a page, before X let them out…

Raffle Prize #3 – Captain N Robot Master Height Chart

Ugly and poorly constructed? Yes! But that’s what’s so great about Captain N production art. From season 2, here are 3 of the 7 MM2 Robot Masters used in Episode 5, The Big Game: Wood Man, Heat Man and Quick Man. Why are they taped on like that? Apparently, when making these height chart references, the animators just reused other height charts as a base. So underneath these 3, you’ll find the original height chart for the people of Kongoland, a Smurfy-blue-bodied-Thundercat hybrid tribe of Donkey Kong worshippers. Yep, that’s a real sentence I just typed.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

When you submit, I would prefer you to include the following information in this format, along with your entry:

(Your name/preferred alias) – As much as I usually know who you are, there’s always someone new or somebody who has a different preference from what their email name says.

(Category this entry is for) – You can either say 1 or 2, or Talent/Humor· 

(Participation Prize Eligibility) – Just write “All” if you are interested in the chance to win anything. Write: “Exclude from #__” if you do not have interest in winning a particular participation prize.

In the event you are submitting your second entry, please specify which prize # you would like your bonus chance in the raffle to be put towards.

Only submit your own work, as usual. Any character, major or minor, from any series is allowed. Pairing characters from different series is totally allowed. Same-gender pairings are completely fine.

As always, participants are allowed to submit from all over the world. It’s easier for me to get prizes to US entrants, because international shipping is complicated and pricey, but I’ll do what I can for you guys who aren’t in the States.

Paypal is still the preferred method for cash prize payouts. Please have a valid account to receive your winnings.

Youngin's, get your parents permission before entering.

Entries do not need to be colored, but it is preferred. The more effort put into things as always, the better chance you have!

Entries can either be e-mailed to me at rock2125[at]hotmail[dot]com, or you can just PM/note me a link to your pic.

DO NOT post your pics in this journal, your dA galleries, tumblr blogs, other sites, etc. until the contest is over. This is the fairest way for competitive reasons. I prefer to keep them all secret until the deadline has passed.

I'll edit a confirmed entry list in this thread when I receive them. So you won't be in the dark about whether or not I've received your entry.

DEADLINE:

The deadline for this contest will be Monday, February 12th, 2018 by 11:59PM CST. This gives you a little more than 5 weeks to finish your entry!

MISCELLANEOUS INFO:

As usual, If you don't plan to enter, but would like to help me judge, please let me know through DM or mention so here. Never hurts to have extra opinions on all the entries.

Bug me with questions if you have any. Please join in, and good luck to everyone who enters! 

Heed the Heel Navi’s message...

Confirmed Entries:  

Category 1 (Talent): @borockman, @pandapanic0, @drewblossom, @wintesm, @hyperbole1729, @jb-artist, @digitallyfanged, @tianura, @lightlabs, @peach35, @iris-sempi, superbasket5, @shikai-the-storyteller, @yugiohlesbian

Category 2 (Humor): @frankenchio, @erekisaiko, @drewblossom, @prar-draws, @amiable-apparition, dark-dullahan, 

Our Daily Bread (ODB) + Insight, 8 September 2020 - Zax Nature

Zax Nature

By Tim Gustafson for ODB Let your gentleness be evident to all. 

Philippians 4:5 Read: Philippians 4:1–7 Bible in a Year: Isaiah 30–31; Philippians 4 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); In one of Dr. Seuss’ whimsical stories, he tells of a “North-Going Zax and a South-Going Zax” crossing the Prairie of Prax. Upon meeting nose to nose, neither Zax will step aside. The first Zax angrily vows to stay put—even if it makes “the whole world stand still.” (Unfazed, the world moves on and builds a highway around them.) The tale offers an uncomfortably accurate picture of human nature. We possess a reflexive “need” to be right, and we’re prone to stubbornly cling to that instinct in rather destructive ways! Happily for us, God lovingly chooses to soften stubborn human hearts. The apostle Paul knew this, so when two members of the Philippian church were squabbling, he loved them enough to call them out (Philippians 4:2). Then, having earlier instructed the believers to have “the same mindset” of self-giving love as Christ (2:5–8), Paul asked them to “help these women,” valued coworkers with him in sharing the gospel (4:3). It seems peacemaking and wise compromise call for team effort. Of course there are times to take a firm stand, but a Christlike approach will look a lot different than an unyielding Zax! So many things in life aren’t worth fighting over. We can bicker with each other over every trivial concern until we destroy ourselves (Galatians 5:15). Or we can swallow our pride, graciously receive wise counsel, and seek unity with our brothers and sisters. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); What are the things you’re fighting over right now? How could wise friends help you resolve your situation?  Soften my hardened, stubborn heart, loving God, so I can truly live in unity. And help me to be open to wise counsel.

Insight

As Paul winds down his letter to the church at Philippi, the first church he’d planted on European soil, his affection for the people is clearly seen. In Philippians 4:1–3, the apostle uses terminology that speaks deeply of his affection, care, and concern for his Philippian friends. He calls them “brothers and sisters” whom he loves and longs for. These terms fall into the category of relationship. This is important because kinship and family ties were held in tremendously high regard in the ancient world. As such, to speak of someone as family was to elevate them in worth and status. He also uses terms that may refer to them in regard to his ministry: his “joy and crown,” “dear friends,” and “co-workers” in the gospel (vv. 1, 3). Strong relational ties indeed! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Please help spread the gospel. Share our posts on social media using the share buttons. He who wins a soul is wise. God bless you abundantly! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Follow us on social media: Facebook: @hottestnaijadotcom Twitter: @wherehot Instagram: @hottest9jablog (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Click here to take a look at our posts on gospel music download

or click this link to see all posts that include gospel music lyrics

You may also like our gospel worship songs page which contains, the best, coolest and hottest Nigerian Gospel Songs, and Foreign Gospel Songs. Whatsoever is the mood, we've got you covered. Do you feel like dancing, rejoicing, shouting, screaming, or you're filled with jubilation because of the Mighty things the Lord has done? Then look no further, cos our gospel praise songs page, containing the hottest Nigerian and foreign praise songs collection, was prepared specifically for you. Peradventure you need the lyrics of the songs you are downloading now, just downloaded, or have downloaded before, our lyrics page is the best place to look. What more could be more helpful and entertaining than seeing the lyrics of your most favourite  song before you, as the music unfolds unto the climax. Hey we've been there before, and still encounter it from time to time when the vocals get lost in the cloud of heavy orchestration.

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Are You a Classical Music lover, our classical music page, contains the best of classical songs, composed and written by composers like G. F Handel, Bach, Joseph Haydn, etc. As you listen to your best gospel song, you may also want to get some more insight and knowledge about the word of God, from eBooks written by God's servants, or you may want to learn something new or build yourself up in some way. Then our eBook Page is the right place to look. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); You may be in need of entertainment, and probably want to watch a video too. We understand that as well. You can get entertaining video downloads from our video downloads page.

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The Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers, According to the Sleep Doctor

The Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers, According to the Sleep Doctor Find more on: https://www.ellymackay.com/

Looking for the best mattress for side sleepers? You’ve come to the right place. It can be common for adults to sleep on their side, especially as we get older. Sleeping on your side has its fair share of health benefits — It can help with digestion and reduce acid reflux as well as snoring, which means partners of snorers can get a little more peace and quiet through the night as well. 

And as the Sleep Doctor, Michael Breus, Ph.D says, 

“I think at last count about 75% of people sleep on their sides. The side sleeping position allows for the disks between your spinal bones (called vertebrae) to re-hydrate or “fatten up again” due to the position allowing the body to curve allowing the bones to slightly separate from each other. It is through this positional separation that your spinal disks rehydrate easier which helps reduce morning stiffness and pain.” 

If you’re in the side-sleeping majority, you’re in luck; a great deal of mattresses on the market today have been designed to provide the kind of support and comfort a side sleeper needs to achieve a good night’s rest. Side sleepers need a mattress that contours to their pressure points, like their shoulders and hips, so it’s important that a mattress provides adequate support in both areas as well as good pressure relief. In addition, motion transfer is also important since side sleepers tend to shift positions throughout the night.  And with so many good options for a side sleeper to choose from, now it’s just a matter of finding out if the mattress you’re thinking about buying — or, even, already sleeping on — is the right one for you.

However, with the plethora of mattresses available today, your search for a new bed may feel rather daunting. That’s why The Sleep Doctor has partnered with the expert review team at Mattress Advisor to put together a list of the 12 best mattresses for side sleepers. With their combined knowledge, we’ve summarized a handful of our favorites by creating an easy-to-follow guide that covers side sleeper’s specific needs and buying considerations. We’ll start with a roundup of 12 top-reviewed mattresses for side sleepers.

Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.

Best Overall:

Best Memory Foam Mattress: Puffy Lux

Best for Back Pain: Casper Original

Best Value Mattress: Nectar

Best Innerspring: Saatva Classic

Best for Back and Side Sleepers: Helix Midnight

Honorable Mentions:

Best Firm Mattress: Cocoon by Sealy 

Best Flippable Mattress: Layla Hybrid

Best for Plus-Sized People: Bear Hybrid

Best for Pressure Relief: Brooklyn Signature

Best Latex: Zenhaven

Best Organic: Brooklyn Bloom

The team at Mattress Advisor performed hours of mattress testing at their lab in Raleigh, North Carolina to see which mattress performed best across many different categories, including firmness, pressure relief, and spinal alignment. All mattresses tested by Mattress Advisor are rated on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the perfect score, based on 14 different pieces of criteria related to the mattress materials, performance, and brand overall.

Ready to narrow down this list even further? Here are some of the most important factors you should think about when shopping for the mattress of your side-sleeping dreams.

What to Consider When Shopping for the Best Mattress for Side Sleepers

As mentioned earlier, sleeping on your side can create pressure points around your shoulders and hips. These are the widest parts of your body, and your weight tends to concentrate in those two areas the most when you’re on your side. If you’re sleeping on the wrong mattress, you may find yourself waking up with discomfort in your lower back, pain in your hips and shoulders, and stiffness in your neck. Let any of these issues persist for too long, and you can develop chronic pain

What Side Sleepers Need

The ideal mattress that meets the needs of most side sleepers is one that promotes pressure relief and provides adequate support across your entire body as side sleeping can put more pressure on key areas of your body.. This includes keeping weight off of your shoulders and hips by cushioning pressure points. You’ll not only toss and turn less, but you’ll be less likely to wake up with morning aches and pains. 

Spine alignment is crucial as well, as the Sleep Doctor notes its importance no matter the position you sleep in. But luckily, when you sleep on your side, you’re actually benefiting your back, too. In his article on sleep position, Dr. Breus notes that side sleeping gives less of a chance of experiencing back pain, because your spine doesn’t have acute pressure on it. 

Also motion transfer is important, because even with the perfect mattress, your body should change positions multiple times throughout the night. Low motion transfer helps your partner stay asleep as well. 

Mattress Type

Not all side sleepers are created equal; they come in all shapes and sizes – just like mattresses. While you can read up on what mattress may be best for side sleepers in general, what works for you may not work for another fellow side sleeper. Mattresses on the market today are also made with all kinds of material, and each of them come with their own list of pros and cons. So, when considering the same factors used by the Sleep Doctor when making his list, make sure you also take into account the factors that are unique to you. For example, a side sleeper carrying a bit more weight may need a slightly firmer mattress to avoid sinking and misaligning their spine. As you narrow down your list of mattress candidates, this list will help point you in the right direction but be sure to keep your specific needs top of mind.

Memory Foam Mattresses

A memory foam mattress is a solid go-to choice for side sleepers. Foam naturally contours to your body, providing cushion for your shoulders and hips, and reducing the likelihood of concentrated pressure points. The quality of foam used in a mattress plays a big role as well; higher grade foam aligns to your body and promotes neutral spine alignment. It’s soft while also ensuring support in the right areas.

Hybrid Mattresses

A hybrid mattress usually runs a bit higher up the price scale than a mattress constructed entirely from memory foam. But since all-foam mattresses tend to trap heat, a hybrid mattress will most definitely run a heck of a lot cooler in most cases. The best hybrid mattresses incorporate both foam and coils into their design, giving you the support and longevity of an innerspring mattress with the comfort of foam.

Innerspring Mattresses

Innerspring mattresses are built with metal coils that give great support that other mattress types may lack. However, an innerspring mattress can provide too much of a good thing; while the metal coils found inside give you great support, they can also make the mattress too rigid and firm, meaning it may not conform to your body like it should. This means in general, innerspring beds may not provide the level of pressure relief side sleepers require, though there are some exceptions, like the plush version of the Saatva Classic. If innerspring is your “thing” try to find a bed with individually pocketed coils, and you should feel both well supported and comfortable. 

Latex Mattresses

A mattress made from latex can cushion your body while keeping your neck and spine in alignment. As a material, latex has an innate ability to reduce pressure points while allowing you the freedom to move with minimal motion transfer. Latex is also inherently cool. And if you’re an active sleeper, you’ll appreciate the ability of a latex mattress to quickly respond to your body as you move from side to side.

Mattress Firmness

You might have noticed during your preliminary window shopping that each mattress has a firmness rating on a scale of 1 to 10. The higher the rating, the firmer the mattress. So, how firm should a mattress be for side sleepers? It’s a bit of fine balancing act. Get a mattress that’s too soft, and your body will sink out of alignment, resulting in pressure points in your hips and shoulders. If a mattress is too hard, it won’t be able to smoothly contour to your hips and shoulders, and you’ll place more strain around your neck. That’s why medium firmness is usually the ideal level not just for side sleepers, but for anyone looking to relieve pain or pressure. It’s still soft enough to cradle pressure points, but firm enough to provide proper support and durability.

Your body weight should also factor into just how firm your mattress should be; the heavier you are, the firmer your ideal mattress. 

Learn more about the best firm mattresses for your sleep needs.

The Top Picks for the Best Mattress for Side Sleepers

Before you feel overwhelmed by the information you just read, know that the Sleep Doctor essentially just gave you a crash course in the best mattress for side sleeping. You’re now equipped with the knowledge needed to make an informed mattress-buying decision. And that means you’re ready to dive in and review the Sleep Doctor’s list of the best mattresses for side sleepers. Regardless of differences in body type or budget, you’ll be sure to find a mattress that works for your sleep needs and your wallet.

1. Best Memory Foam Mattress: Puffy Lux

This is one of the best memory foam mattresses hands-down for side sleepers to hit the market – and it makes a strong case for being the greatest, period. The Puffy Lux provides unmatched pressure relief. When tested by the Mattress Advisor experts, they found zero evidence of pressure on the hips and shoulders, which is reflected in Puffy’s near-perfect pressure relief score.

A key element of the Puffy Lux’s design is its body adapting foam and core support layer. The mattress overall strikes a nice balance between soft and supportive with its medium firmness, so side sleepers get more than sufficient body cradling and contouring. 

If you’re a side sleeper in need of some pain relief, this mattress is worth a look. With its innovative design of dense foams and premium materials, you can almost feel the stress, strain, and heat dissolving from your body. And if you worry that the Puffy Lux sounds too good to be true, just take a look at its perfect customer rating – a resounding 5 out of 5.

Mattress Type: Memory Foam

Customer Rating: 5 out of 5

Firmness: Medium- Firm

Warranty: Lifetime

Buy It, Puffy Lux, $1,795 for a Queen, puffy.com

2. Best Mattress for Back Pain: Casper

If you’re a side sleeper suffering from back pain, the Casper Original is an excellent choice. In fact, it earned the title “best total score” in our guide to the best mattresses for back pain. 

The team at Mattress Advisor gave the Casper a 9.1 out of 10, thanks to its premium foam design that offers pressure point relief and a responsive surface that cradles the curves of your hips and shoulders. This medium-firm mattress also earned a 9 out of 10 in spine alignment, which is an important point for back pain sufferers. Spine alignment assists in relieving back pain by keeping your spine in a neutral position and promoting a healthy posture. 

Because the Casper Original is a memory foam mattress, some customers report it sleepers hot, so consider adding some cooling accessories to keep your mind calm and your nights restful. Despite that potential con, though, the Casper truly does deliver when it comes to back pain for side sleepers. Plus, people who favor other sleep positions such as back, stomach, and combination sleepers also report really enjoying this mattress.

Mattress Type: Memory Foam

Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Firmness: Medium-firm

Warranty: 10-Year Limited

Buy It, Casper Original Mattress, $1,095 for a Queen, casper.com

3. Best Value Mattress: Nectar

If you’re on the hunt for pressure relieving properties without the hefty price tag, look no further than the Nectar mattress. Besides being one of the best bangs for your buck, it scored an 8.5 in pressure relief, make it a great choice for side sleepers. And while it only scored a 7.5 in spine alignment, it comes in at less than $1,000 for a Queen, making it a great value option if you’re looking for above-average scores at a reasonable price point.   

With its five adaptive memory foam layers, it relieves the common pressure points beneath your shoulders, hips, and legs. Plus, one of its foam layers is injected with gel, which some sleepers report keeps the mattress feeling cool. The Nectar also features a hi-core foam layer, which is designed to help isolate motion, so people who sleep with a restless partner won’t be disturbed by their movements. Finally, Nectar also backs this budget-friendly mattress with an amazing 365-day trial period and a lifetime warranty. 

Mattress Type: Memory Foam

Customer Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Firmness: Medium-Firm

Warranty: Lifetime Warranty

Buy It, Nectar Mattress, $949 for a Queen, nectarsleep.com

4. Best Innerspring Mattress: Saatva Classic

While innerspring mattresses don’t usually provide the pressure relief side sleepers need, many customers give the plush soft version of the Saatva Classic positive reviews. While Saatva offers different levels of firmness, the plush soft allows you to sink into Saatva’s soft euro pillow top, and the memory foam layer cradles your pressure points. 

Despite only earning a 6.5 in pressure relief, the Saatva Classic still earns a top place on this list thanks to strong customer reviews and what Saatva calls Lumbar Zone technology. This prevents your hips from sinking, which in turn helps you maintain great neutral spinal alignment. Also, thanks to its impressive dual-coil systems, the Saatva is able to support a lot of body weight, making it suitable for heavier sleepers.

Complementing the lumbar support of the Saatva Classic is its incredible edge support. Edge support helps you stay in the middle of the mattress, helping side sleepers stretch out sans fear of being lured to the edge. According to our Saatva mattress review, the outstanding lumbar and edge support together make the Saatva Classic one of the best mattresses on the market for side sleepers, bar none.  

Regardless of whichever firmness level you choose, don’t feel stuck if you find yourself with a mattress that’s too soft or hard; the Saatva Classic comes with a 180-day trial period that gives you plenty of time to try out the mattress.

Mattress Type: Luxury Hybrid

Customer Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Firmness: Plush, Luxury Firm, and Firm

Warranty: 15-Year Limited

Buy It, Saatva Classic Mattress, $1,399 for a Queen, saatva.com

5. Best for Back and Side Sleepers: Helix Midnight Luxe

The Helix Midnight Luxe features a pocket coil core layer, which gives side sleepers zoned lumbar support, consistent spinal alignment, and even weight distribution. There’s also a gel-infused memory foam layer, which offers plenty of reinforced support and contouring in your shoulders and hips. Basically, side sleepers will never have to worry about their lower back sinking too far into the mattress or waking up from the aches you’d typically experience from a night with a misaligned spine. 

It’s these benefits that make this medium-firm mattress a good choice for side sleepers who sometimes favor their back as well. The Helix Midnight Luxe is soft enough to provide pressure relief, but firm enough to prevent sagging and offer support, helping sleepers feel supported even if they change positions at night.

Mattress Type: Hybrid

Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Firmness: Medium

Warranty: 15-Year Limited Warranty

Buy It, Helix Midnight Luxe, $1,599 for a Queen, helixsleep.com

6. Best Extra Firm Mattress: Cocoon by Sealy

Selecting a firm mattress for side sleepers in general can be a bit of a tough ask; a softer mattress is more often than not the best option for side sleepers. However, the extra firm Cocoon mattress by Sealy is a good compromise if you simply must have something a little firmer. There are three premium foam layers in the mattress, each one engineered from heavy, robust foam for increased durability and resiliency. Despite being pretty high on the firmness scale, the Cocoon still does a great job of adapting to your body size and shape while staying responsive.

The Sleep Doctor awarded the Cocoon the top spot for best firm mattress for side sleepers because of its ability to keep the body evenly supported and the spine aligned. For such a firm mattress, it has a surprising amount of pressure point relief. It also offers great edge support you wouldn’t expect to find in a foam mattress.

And if it’s the Cocoon’s design and not its firmness that catches your eye, Sealy also offers the mattress in medium soft, another superb choice for side sleepers. 

Mattress Type: Memory Foam

Customer Rating: 4.6 out of 5

Firmness: Medium Soft and Extra Firm

Warranty: 10-Year Limited Warranty

Buy It, Cocoon by Sealy, $599 for a Queen, cocoonbysealy.com

7. Best Flippable Mattress: Layla Hybrid

If you suffer from indecisiveness, you’ll find the Layla Hybrid mattress quite a relief. The Layla Hybrid is one of the few flippable mattresses on the market with a medium firm side and a firm side. Along the top of each side of the mattress is a layer of memory foam that gives you a nice plush feel and cushions your pressure points. The memory foam topper is thicker on the softer side but thinner on the firmer side, so you can take your pick. The Sleep Doctor would recommend the medium firm side for average side sleepers, but the firm side for heavier side sleepers in need of more support.

This versatile mattress also features a zone support layer that hugs the body and relieves excess body pressure in your hips and shoulders. And with a high-density foam that surrounds its innerspring core, the Layla Hybrid provides extra support in your middle, which tends to be where most of our weight concentrates when we lie down on our sides. You get contouring comfort without too much sinkage, and your spine stays in neutral alignment. This helps side sleepers with hip pain wake up feeling a lot less achy. Additionally, Layla’s innerspring coils, memory foam, and zoned support offer great support for sleepers who carry some extra weight.

Mattress Type: Hybrid

Customer Rating: 5 out of 5

Firmness: Soft and Firm

Warranty: 10-Year Limited Warranty

Buy It, Layla Hybrid, $1649 for a Queen, laylasleep.com

8. Best for Plus-Sized People: Bear Hybrid

The Bear Hybrid mattress tips the firmness scale just a bit too high for most side sleepers to get the soft cushioning they need. But there is, however, a caveat; if you’re a plus-sized sleeper, the Bear Hybrid does a great job of supporting your hips and shoulders without too much sinkage. Heavyweight side sleepers typically need a firmer mattress, so the mattress doesn’t sag and cause spine curvatures or increased pressure. A hybrid foam mattress with encased coil springs, the Bear Hybrid also incorporates a proprietary foam designed to relieve pressure by contouring to your body. 

The Sleep Doctor singled out the Bear Hybrid’s ability to keep the spine straight throughout the night. It preserves spinal alignment and promotes a healthy posture. And since heavy people do tend to run hotter while they sleep, the Bear Hybrid is also a clear standout for its cooling gel foam and quilted cover infused with FDA-approved Celliant fiber technology, both of which work together to move body heat away from you as you sleep. 

Mattress Type: Hybrid Foam + Coils

Customer Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Firmness: Medium-Firm

Warranty: 20-Year Limited Warranty

Buy It, Bear Hybrid, $1390 for a Queen, bearmattress.com

9. Best for Pressure Relief: Brooklyn Signature

If you’re looking for a mattress that will help relieve pressure on areas that take the brunt of the weight in the side sleeping position, look no further than Brooklyn Signature. This hybrid mattress scored an impressive 9 out of 10 on the Mattress Advisor pressure relief test and features three different firmness levels: soft, medium and firm. If you’re a side sleeper with shoulder pain, the Sleep Doctor found the soft and medium firmness options to be both great choices.

This mattress was designed from the ground up for incredible support. That’s because the mattress contains many layers of support, all working in tandem to provide relief from aches that are usually caused from the pressure points around your hips and shoulders. Because of this, the Brooklyn Signature came impressively close to landing a perfect score for pressure relief.

The Brooklyn Signature provides incredible lumbar support with its pocketed coils. And its foam layers contour to your body, working in with the coils to promote a healthy posture. A quilted layer on top of the mattress resists permanent body impressions, and a 2” layer of specialty blended foam underneath that holds the contouring properties of memory foam and the responsiveness of latex. Yet another 2” layer of  foam offers deeper compression and support, which itself sits on a base of nearly 1,000 individually encased coils.

This level of support across so many layers is tough to beat, but the Brooklyn Signature also excels in cooling, edge support, and responsiveness. For side sleepers looking for a customized feel, the Brooklyn Signature is a stellar choice.

Mattress Type: Hybrid

Customer Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Firmness: Plus, Medium, Firm

Warranty: 10-Year Limited Warranty

Buy It, Brooklyn Signature, $999 for a Queen, brooklynbedding.com

10. Best Latex Mattress: Zenhaven

The pressure-relieving properties of the Zenhaven mattress alone make it worth every penny. Every other great feature about this mattress is just a bonus. For starters, the Zenhaven is wrapped in an organic cotton cover to promote breathability and comfort. Additionally, the mattress is a dual-sided bed composed of three all-natural latex layers. Side sleepers will want to use the luxury plush side for deeper contouring and pressure relief. The other side – being a gentle-firm option – is more ideal for back sleepers.

The luxury plus side shares a 5-zone design with the gentle-firm side, but it has a softer feel and offers excellent support and body conforming for pressure points in your hips and shoulders. In the center of the mattress is a latex support core, which consists of 6 inches of 100% Talalay latex, offering side sleepers much-needed durable support.

And unless you’re a tried and true budget shopper, don’t let the sticker price scare you away from giving this mattress a shot. The Zenhaven is a high-quality mattress that will undoubtedly last you for years after its 120-night sleep trial.

Mattress Type: All-Natural Latex

Customer Rating: 4.9 out of 5

Firmness: Dual-Sided: Plush and Firm

Warranty: 20-Year Limited Warranty

Buy It, Zenhaven, $2,399 for a Queen, saatva.com

11. Best Organic Mattress: Brooklyn Bloom

For side sleepers looking for a mattress that balances their own needs with the environment’s, the Brooklyn Bloom hybrid mattress is one that lives up to the hype. Though the mattress is available in three levels of firmness – soft, medium, and firm – the Sleep Doctor recommends the soft firmness for side sleepers, especially for ones who like the feeling of being hugged by their mattress. The soft firmness also gives you greater pressure point relief and gentler support for your body’s natural contours.

The Brooklyn Bloom features sustainably sourced Joma Wool

and organic cotton combined in a plush top cover, so it provides exceptional – and natural – breathability and moisture wicking. What side sleepers will probably find most appealing is the Brooklyn Bloom’s 3” top layer of Talalay latex, which delivers a unique buoyant quality that relaxes muscles and relieves tension. Beneath that, an 8” base of up to 1,032 individually encased coils delivers pressure point relief while decreasing motion transfer between partners.

And for side sleepers who want their mattress to be constructed from sustainably sourced materials, the Bloom Hybrid is the way to go. In fact, the Talalay latex used in the Bloom Hybrid is Oeko-Tex class 1 certified, which means it’s free of harmful chemicals and grown according to strict guidelines. Additionally, all the foams in the Brooklyn Bloom mattress are CertiPUR-US® certified, so they meet some of the most rigorous standards for emissions, content, performance, and durability.

Mattress Type: All-Natural Hybrid

Customer Rating: 5 out of 5

Firmness: Soft, Medium, and Firm

Warranty: 10-Year Limited Warranty

Buy It, Brooklyn Bloom, $1,799 for a Queen, brooklynbedding.com

Some Parting Words for Side Sleepers

Don’t sacrifice a good night’s sleep by sleeping on the wrong mattress. As a side sleeper, remember that you’re in the majority, so there are plenty of mattresses on the market designed to cater to your needs. But that doesn’t mean every mattress marketed toward side sleepers will do the trick. Use the Sleep Doctor’s list to find the right mattress for you.

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from Your Guide to Better Sleep https://thesleepdoctor.com/2020/08/25/best-mattress-for-side-sleepers/

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Be Cautious Where You Take Your Classic Car or Muscle Car

Vintage car owners, including those with muscle cars, street rods, hot rods, antiques and vintage trucks, are generally facing uncertain times as car thefts are on the rise, and actions from thieves are becoming more striking and brazen. I recently came across a story written by a man who owned a Daytona Blue 1963 Corvette Coupe with all matching numbers. The all-original classic sport car had an immaculate dark blue rooms where only the carpet had ever been replaced. The 327 engine was said to produce a rhythmic loping that not only brought a smile to your face, but got you day dreaming of having this loveliness parked in your own garage. Then disaster strikes and you're snapped out of your dream and into his headache! The owner of this beautiful piece of American history took his prized car to what he called a small "backwoods" show that a friend and he decided to go to in the spur of the moment. As owner Jacob Morgan, of Bakersfield, CA described, "The event was an annual but rather unofficial gathering of classic truck buffs and I was thrilled to bring my car down. Unfortunately, the part of Florida that the occurrence was being held was extremely dry due to drought. About three or four hours after arriving, a man which owned a red GTO (I could not tell you the year because frankly I did not care afterward) thought to start up his ride for the spectators. It was just one backfire but it was enough to start the dry yard ablaze--and guess where my Corvette was parked? Nearly thirty classic cars were consumed by the blaze started by that backfiring GTO and my Corvette was one of them. Of course I had the car properly covered but they just aren't making 1963 Corvettes any longer and the only one I could find that was similar cost $10, 000 more than my policy's payoff. I guess if there is a moral to my sad tale, it is and avoid backwoods car shows at all costs because they are unregulated, disorganized, and very dangerous to classic cars like my much loved 1963 Corvette Coupe. " This may not be your traditional way of losing your prized classic car, muscle family car, street rod, antique car, vintage truck or other collectible old vehicle, but it does drive property the point that we need to exercise care in even the most innocent surroundings like a car show! Freak injuries like Mr. Morgan experienced can and do account for many losses to enthusiasts - not just fraud or vandalism. Sadly though, theft isn't a rare thing and the methods are becoming more bizarre. Guy Algar and I have had pieces stolen off one of our own vehicles that we were towing back to our buy while we stopped for a quick bite to eat! We've had a good number of hubcaps taken over the years. Together with, we actually had the brake lights ripped off of our car hauler while we were in a sections store one day picking up parts for a customer! We've had one customer tell us the story where he previously taken his wife out to dinner and had carefully parked his 1969 Corvette at a nearby restaurant, under a big bright light, and in what appeared to be a "safe" area, only to come out 1 out of 3 minutes to an hour later to find all his emblems and trim taken right off the car! Thieves are generally known to take the entire car hauler (with the classic sitting on top) right off the tow vehicle's hitch ball and transfer the hauler to their own tow vehicle when people are on the road, at a motor vehicle show, or some other type of event. These are bold moves by people who do not fear the consequences. Other thefts that have been reported around the country have included: Dr . Phil just had his '57 Chevy Belair convertible stolen from the Burbank repair shop he had brought it to for repairs. A 1937 Buick, valued with over $100, 000 was taken from a gated community parking garage in Fort Worth, Texas. He of New Mexico reported the theft of two of his collector cars to Hemming. Ben owns about half a dozen collector cars altogether, and to store them all, he rented out a storage product. Unfortunately, when he went to check on them recently, for the first time in about six months, he found that will two were missing - a 1957 two-door Chevrolet Belair and a 1967 Mercury Cougar GT. There would be also a report of a man from Jefferson City, Missouri, who actually recovered his own stolen car, some sort of 1969 Chevrolet Camaro that had been stolen 16 years before, after seeing it in a Google search! Within a Los Angeles suburb, a woman came home to a garage empty of her prized 1957 Chevy Bel-Air which often had been valued at more than $150, 000. The beautiful convertible had been featured in several magazines and Tv programs and won dozens of awards at car shows around the country. A neighbor's surveillance camera caught what of the thieves and revealed that the Bel-Air was pushed down the street by a pickup truck which had pulled inside her driveway just minutes after she had left. The thieves likely loaded it onto an waiting for trailer. It's thought that the thieves spotting the car at one of the car shows, followed it home next, then waited for the opportunity to steal it. A Seattle collector was the victim of a targeted "smash-and grab" from the warehouse where he kept his cars. The thieves apparently ransacked the building and additionally drove off with a 396/425 four-speed 1965 Corvette Stingray; and a 20, 000-mile 396/four-speed 1970 Chevelle SS. A 1959 Chevrolet Impala was stolen during a Cruise Night. The owner got good news-bad news in the event the police tracked down because while they did recover the classic car, he had put in a maintain for the theft with his insurance policy after the theft many months before, so the car went to the insurance company rather then being returned to him. Apparently detectives recovered the Impala from a chop shop nearly eight a long time after it was stolen, repainted and modified. Hemmings News also reported of a reader whose 1970 Frd Maverick was stolen from his home in Missouri. The car was found and returned, but the examination apparently revealed that the thief had been watching the owner for 2 years, with the intention of stealing it in addition to using it to race with. Chilling thing to find out. A 1979 Buick Electra 225 Limited Edition has been stolen out of a grocery store parking lot in suburban Detroit with the thief escaping with an urn contained in the trunk that contained the remains of the owner's stepfather! After saving for over 40 years, someone from Virginia bought the car of his dreams, a 1962 Dodge Lancer. Buying his dream automobile, he began his restoration project, which was about 60 percent complete when he relocated to Florida. Without a garage to keep it in after his move, he stored it in a 24-foot enclosed movie trailer along with a 1971 Dodge Colt he planned to turn into a race car, and kept the trailer left at a storage lot. At the end of July, the trailer and everything in it disappeared. The last story really has a happy ending because it was recovered due to alert shop owners being suspicious of person looking to unload a Lancer for only $1, 500 including the many boxes of parts. After some explore, the owner was reunited with his car. Guy and I have been approached on numerous occasions by people eager to sell their vehicles. Some have hardship stories and the callers are willing to unload the car for a real great deal. We've always walked from these offers, primarily because we're not in the business of buying and selling vehicles (we're not dealers or re-sellers), but also because we're cautious of a "too-good-to-be-true" price. One call in certain did make us very suspicious, as the woman caller insisted that the sale had to be completed by Saturday (she called our shop over the weekend) and the price was extremely low for a rather rare product Mustang. Alert shop owners can be instrumental in aiding in the recovery of stolen classic cars. And not all stories have a happy ending like this. Classic cars, muscle cars and antiques can make their method to chop shops, end up damaged and abandoned, and even being re-sold on Internet sites such as eBay and Craigslist! Just yesterday, I reported on a 1954 Chevy Pickup truck which was stolen from a woman's driveway in Okla City. (Ironically this article was already written and scheduled for release today when the news hit. I've increased her case because, unfortunately, it emphasizes how common thefts have become. ) She wisely reached available to the Hemmings community of enthusiasts for help. Hemmings. com has a huge following, referred to as "Hemmings Nation", and appealing for help to a community of enthusiasts like this can be instrumental in helping to give vital information to help police and authorities who can help track and recover a stolen classic car. We applaud the effort that Hemmings does. And, the methods that thieves are using, as you can see, are as varied as the categories of vehicles! Even seemingly innocent little car shows and gatherings are places you need to exercise a little warning and care. As I reported in a July article, carjackings involving classic cars are even becoming even more commonplace. Surprisingly, in some cases, the Internet has been helpful in aiding in the recovery of classic cars and muscle mass cars. There have been numerous stories, much like the Camaro owner above, and a man who found his 1949 Honda through a listing on Craigslist (the two men responsible were arrested and charged with disassembling a car or truck after the owner positively identified it as his) where owners have been able to locate their cars with Internet searches. For those not so fortunate, insurance is the only consolation. We highly recommend classic car or "collector" car insurance. There are a number of companies that provide this specialized insurance, and it is generally well worth the cost. Classic Car Info provided an article, Purchasing Classic Car Insurance, containing a list of companies along with links to contact them. I also propose Hagerty Insurance's publication, Deterring Collector Car Theft, which has tips on theft prevention. In addition to the quick-strip thefts, robbers usually always alter, remove or forge VIN numbers, which make identification of the car or truck more difficult. Vehicle Id Numbers (VINs) are serial numbers for vehicles that are used to differentiate similar makes and models. Very like social security numbers, every vehicle has a different VIN. VIN plates are usually located on the dashboard on current cars, but are often found in the door jams of older models. VIN plates can be switched with an additional vehicle for a fast coverup. The point here is to be aware of your surroundings, including where you park your car. Tend not to take it for granted that just because you're at an event with fellow enthusiasts that something bad aren't able to happen. Take preventive action by securing your old car or truck. Guy Algar suggests, "Don't forget to look at precautions even at home. You may feel safe parking your ride in 'the safety' of your two van garage, but remember, even if you don't have windows where people can peer in and spot your sought after car, thieves can also follow you home from work, a cruise, or even the grocery store and approach a theft after surveilling your home and learning your schedule. If you have a ride that catches folks' attention, remember that it can also catch the wrong attention! "

At the end of Anti-Sell, there’s a ‘Further Reading’ section, recommending a bunch of books that the reader can check out beyond mine. And even though it might seem like a really lazy rather ingenious copy/paste job from the book (), I thought it made a lot of sense to share it on here, too. Throughout the book I’ve mentioned numerous books and resources that can help you on your Anti-Selling journey. Here’s a list, with a bit more info about each of them, plus a few more for good measure. A quick note: None of these authors paid me a fee to be included, nor do I get a commission if you buy any of them. I recommend these books 100% wholeheartedly – because I actually really like them.* ReWork by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson ReWork is probably my favourite business self-help book of all time, and a big influence on Anti-Sell. Why? Because ReWork is also quite rebellious in nature: it goes against the grain of traditional business advice but makes excellent recommendations in spite of that. It was recommended to me by a client (thank you Scott of TestLodge!) and on the first listen (I bought the audiobook), I fell in love with it. While listening to it in the car, I used to scream “YES!!!” after sentences I agreed with – which happened a lot. And probably sounded weird if I had my car window open. But there we go. Some of its takeaways include: Other people’s failures are other people’s failures, not yours. So when people talk about the survival rate of freelancers, small businesses and startups, just remember: if other people fail, that doesn’t mean you will too. Plans should be called “guesses.” I remember freaking out when I had to put together a business ‘plan’ for some funding that I was seeking in the early days of freelancing (if I remember correctly, it was funding to cover my first year’s membership at my coworking space). How do I know how my business is going to do next year or the year after that? And that’s precisely the point. Call them guesses. To quote the book: “Start referring to your business plans as business guesses, your financial plans as financial guesses, and your strategic plans as strategic guesses. Now you can stop worrying about them as much.” Everything you do is marketing. This ties in very closely to the message of the book you are currently reading. Marketing isn’t defined by adverts and promotional materials – it’s literally everything you do. Every. Single. Thing. You. Do. Every email you send is marketing. Every invoice you send is marketing. Just because you’ve won a client, it doesn’t mean that the marketing stops there for them. Every action you take can leave an impression on someone – good or bad. I could go on and on, but I’ll stop there (not-in-the-book note: I actually wrote about my biggest takeaways from ReWork – including the above points plus more – on this very blog a few years ago: here’s the link). If Anti-Sell has resonated with you, and you haven’t yet read ReWork, pick up a copy. I’m sure it will resonate with you as well. While writing this book, Fried and DHH released a new book: It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work, which – as you can probably guess from its title – addresses the sensitive subject of work-life balance. It’s worth checking out as well. > Buy ReWork on Amazon The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz The Pumpkin Plan is a special book to me. Whether you’re just starting out, or you’ve been running a small business for a while and you’ve hit a rut, there are some great tips in it. As mentioned in earlier chapters of the book, it has advice on: How to go niche when it comes to targeting clients. Creating your own Assessment Chart, which can be used to score clients on certain criteria, in order to help you to detect which clients are the best-fit for you (not-in-the-book note: I’ve blogged about the Assessment Chart over on State of Digital). Tactics for cutting bad-fit clients in a way that won’t cause any animosity, fallout or professional embarrassment. Mike also has another good book called Profit First, where he recommends paying yourself first before paying bills, whereas typically we do the opposite (we pay our bills and then keep what’s left over as profit, however big or small that amount may be), so it’s worth checking out what he has to say on that as well. > Buy The Pumpkin Plan on Amazon To Sell Is Human by Daniel H. Pink “We’re all in sales now.” In Chapter 2 of the book, I touched upon the phenomenon of the ‘‘typical’ salesperson, citing the movie Glengarry Glen Ross as a classic example. To Sell Is Human further investigates this somewhat old-fashioned stereotype, suggesting that salespeople of this nature are near-enough a thing of the past. If anything, we’re all in sales – especially these days. While we still have ‘obvious’ types of sales, such as the process of asking a client to give you money in order to provide a service in return, we might also conduct certain tasks or habits that may not seem like sales but totally fall under that category. In a broader sense, sales is the process of asking someone to part with their time, money or resource somehow, in order to get something back that benefits you. So in other words, sales is essentially the process of moving or persuading someone to take action. When Daniel conducted a survey asking people if they work in sales, he found that while one in nine people considered themselves a salesperson in the traditional sense, when it came to ‘non-sales selling’ or moving/persuading others, the ratio was much higher. If Chapters 2 and 3 piqued your interest especially, and you’re interested in learning more about how sales has ‘shifted’ in its meaning and behaviour in the last few decades, then To Sell Is Human is worth taking a look at. A lot of what Daniel covers is backed up by psychological studies, and the book even includes selling tactics such as mimicry, the best style of positive self-talk, and in which order you should appear if you’re part of a series of agency pitches and you want the best chance to succeed. It’s an interesting read. > Buy To Sell Is Human on Amazon Start With Why by Simon Sinek “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Simon Sinek’s TED talk covering this topic is the third most popular TED talk of all time, having been viewed more than 40 million times on the TED website. In Start With Why he explains that most people in business talk about what they do, before saying how they do it, then lastly say why they do what they do. He then goes on to argue that the most inspirational people and businesses – think Apple, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Wright Brothers – start with why they do what they do, and then talk about the how and the what, i.e. the reverse of the usual order. Effectively communicating the “why” part of your core marketing message can make a huge difference on how you are perceived by others. > Buy Start With Why on Amazon Youtility by Jay Baer “Smart marketing is about help, not hype” – this is the core message of Youtility. The book starts off with Jay using a real-life example of a swimming pool installation business coming close to going under as a result of the 2008 economic downturn. In an attempt to drum-up more business, the owner started writing blog posts that answered frequently asked questions and also covered issues and problems that his customers often had to deal with. He literally sat down and wrote blog content covering every single possible question someone might ask him. Over time, his website became a go-to source for all help on swimming pool purchasing decisions, with some arguing that its popularity has made it the world’s favourite go-to source on the subject. His efforts led to more customers for the business, and he also found that it led to better educated, easier-to-sell-to and therefore easier-to-convert customers. The rest of the book explains how you can utilise Youtility – in the same way as the swimming pool business – and why it’s the best way to market yourself now and in the future. > Buy Youtility on Amazon The Highly Sensitive Person by Dr Elaine Aron and Making Work Work for the Highly Sensitive Person by Dr Barrie Jaeger I only necessarily recommend these books to people who resonated with the relevant subsection of Chapter 6 of the book. When I first discovered that I was an HSP (a Highly Sensitive Person), it was life-changing – not only because I felt like a freak growing up and thought that I was the only person who felt this way (these books revealed that this is far from the reality), but because Dr Jaeger’s book has a chapter in it that recommends self-employment as a viable career option for HSPs. And now I can confirm that he was right. > Buy The Highly Sensitive Person on Amazon > Buy Making Work Work for the Highly Sensitive Person on Amazon When compiling this list, I realised something really sucky: it’s a very white male list, with only one woman author included. So if you can recommend any sales or freelancing books written by women and/or minorities then please do let me know, as I would love to read them. You can contact me at SEOno.co.uk/contact, tweet me at @steviephil, or leave a comment below. * Ok, so while nobody paid/pays me to be included in this list, and they’ve all been included because I genuinely recommend them, each of the Amazon links in this post is an affiliate link, so I make a teeny-tiny commission if you do end up buying through them. That’s fair enough, right? I thought I’d best be honest and upfront about it just in case it were to cause confusion. Cheers!

Hélène Joy Q&A with fans - Part2

There is a second part of the Q&A ;) 

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.what is the most surprising thing your character has done? .if you have to imagine the very last scene of MUrdoch Mysteries what could happen in? .How do you imagine your character would be 10 years after ? . Around how long do you have a script before filming the first scene of it? . If you have to play a good or a villain from a book or a movie, who would you choose ? > These are good questions. Some I still have to think about but let me say that it's not common in Canada for a show to be on for 10...11 seasons so I'm just living in reality and thankful for the experiences I've had. 

.How does your accent not come across as Julia? I hear it in some phrases but it rare:) >Hopefully you don't hear it. I'm an actor. It's what we do ☺️

.What's your dream role ? >A role like Orphan Black would be an incredible opportunity.

.Do you know when series 10 will be shown in the UK. I love Julia, she is a forward thinking woman, very strong willed. If you could have the choice which character would you play? X >Hopefully you already have this answer from Alibi, I have no idea when and where the show plays outside of Canada.

.Is there any place in the world that you wish you could visit right now? >Morocco!

.What has been your most rewarding role to play? .What types of scenes do you enjoy the most? >They're all incredible roles. I enjoy voice work a lot too, I haven't done much of it in a while.

.You have mentioned you would like to work in Australia again. In film, TV or stage and with who?

>Not sure. Haven't lived there in more than a decade.

.Hi Helen In the first seasons of Murdoch you used to listen to music in the morgue ,what kind of music you like to listen to when you are relaxing ? >House music.

.Re todays beach picture .... Have you had any dialogue flash backs to past Murdoch eps and you hear yourself saying words that are not in the current script? >I don't think I understand the question fully but I try to forget scripts immediately after shooting to "make room" for the next batch. I need a reminder by the time they reach the air.

.Do you have a favourite location where you've filmed Murdoch Mysteries? (been watching the show since I was 9, you're my absolute favourite actress and my sister's hero, she's becoming a pathologist because of having been inspired by Julia's work on the show) >Amazing! Keep up the great work!

.Would you ever consider having a girl's night out event with your female fans ? >My definition of a girls night out is having friends over and staying inside 😅

.What do you do to relax and unwind? >Hiking

.You've mentioned that you'd be interested in directing a short film (maybe the project you're scooting location at the moment) but are you interested by writing as well, if yes what kind of story would you like to write? Also even though I truly admire your performances in drama I would love to see you doing comedy, will we see you in that genre soon? Thank you for doing this Q&A and interacting with fans, it is very much appreciated. Have a great day. >Yup! I wrote my short film. I've also done a lot of comedy including an old CBC show called "An American in Canada"

.In that last fight seen in season 9 Murdoch Mysteries--what was the most physically challenging thing to do? >Stage combat in general can be challenging but I would say swimming in heavy dresses in Murdoch Ahoy was a bit difficult given that, like most people, I can't breathe underwater.

.What character traits do you share with Julia ? And which ones are you total opposites? Thanks so much for doing this, you are brilliant 🙂 >I hate to say this I'm not like the character Julia. It's fun to portray someone so different than myself. IRL I am way more active and clumsy.

.What was your favourite episode in Murdoch >See above! ^^^^

.First a compliment: I absolute poise and grace in you. What an inspiration to all women! Now my question: Who has been your inspiration(s) to do what you do and be who you are? >Thank you! There is a tremendous amount women in my life who inspire me. My high school drama teacher was the first person to introduce me to acting so you have her to blame 😋

.My question might be silly but I keep wondering why there are accents on your name since you are Australo-Canadian. >I was named after someone who is French.

.Hi! What would you say is Julia's best quality/characteristic and which qualities would you say you relate with her character most? :D xxx >Even in her graceful poise, Julia is strong.

.What do you do that keeps your hair so healthy and beautiful, it's gorgeous! >That's nice of you to say!

.This is not a question about the Murdoch Mysteries (even though I have seen all of them) but one about the house you had purchased and had Scott McGillivray start the work on it. Just wondering if it is now completed and did you make the portion that Scott and you completed your own? >Thank you for the question! Maybe you should pick up the summer cover of Toronto Home Magazine...whenever they publish it.

.Hello Helene - love your work. When you see a new script, do you ever think the writers are going in the wrong direction with William & Julia? On some other programs, the marriage of the stars often leads to the show fizzling out. The W/J story line has been very long & drawn out. Do you think the fans will adapt to the focus being more on the couple than the mysteries? Thank you for the opportunity to ask. Really enjoy your inclusion in this superlative program. >I think that might be a question for the fans?

.If you could meet your 12 year old self and give one piece of advice to her what would it be and why? >"Put some sunscreen on!"

.Hi Helene! Where is your favourite place in all of Canada? >Home.

.Has the new series of MM started 😘🍷🍷 >Yes.

.How long will the show go on? Why is it never (almost) winter in the show? After all this is Toronto... >It's generally unpleasant to spent 8 to 12 to 15 hours on set filming in the snow.

.Greetings! Does Julia ever get the opportunity to go to London to visit Dr. Emily Grace? Also, does she get to do more adventurous things with William? >Not sure what the writers have in store!

.Love the show, you do great work. I'm so far behind in seeing it because here in America the only channel it was on was dropped by my satellite company. Do you know if it will ever be carried on another channel other than Ovation here? Very frustrated!! >Thanks!

.Helene, With All the Shooting You Do here in Canada, would You Consider Keeping a Summer Home in this Beautiful Province of Ontario🍁🌹🍁🌹 >ummm I am Canadian.

.You are so strong and independent, yet so classically feminine. How do you do it all? >As if women can't be both?

.Hi Helene, I'm just curious as to "what category or type of music do you like" . >Dance music.

.You play the beautiful Julia who's modern in her thinking will fight the system every now and again the sassy sexy Julia comes out do you enjoy playing that role and when you put a man down with a comment you really seem to enjoy it so is that you in real life? Lol x >If anyone steps out of line I have no reservations informing them.

.Have ever come to San Francisco or California? Or any event in the USA? >All the time.

________________________________________

More when Hélène answered them ;) Don’t forget to check her Official page ! 

> https://www.facebook.com/HeleneJoyOfficial/?fref=ts < 

I hear you love science fiction. Well, me, too. Have you read Apex? I know, right? The covers are absolutely stunning. Agreed. The stories are always top notch. Have you heard about the promotion? It’s super cheap to subscribe and there’s some great stuff to be had now and in the future . . . so check out their Revive the Drive campaign.

I had an opportunity to speak with Managing Editor Lesley Conner about some interesting stories from the past, what they’re up to in the present and some exciting news about the near future.

  What is the most memorable submission you’ve received, good or bad?

I don’t actually remember the story, but one time an author was incredibly insulting in their cover letter. The gist of it was that if we didn’t accept their story it was because we were discriminating against them and were too stupid to understand the genius of the story. According to them they had experienced everything in the story and had written it based off those experiences so clearly it was the best story ever. Somehow I feel this logic is flawed. We did not accept the story—1. Because it in fact was NOT the best story ever, and 2. Insulting the editors before they even have the chance to read your story doesn’t exactly make them clamor to work with you.

I’ve received lots of insulting letters after rejecting stories (even had someone threaten to sue me once), but this was the first time it happened prior to rejection.

What kinds of stories are you looking for that you don’t see enough of?

I’d love to see more dark SF. We get a lot of fantasy, magical realism, and straight up horror submissions, but the slush pile can be a little light on dark science fiction.

Do you think reader taste changes? Or are there certain stories they never seem to tire of?

I think it goes in cycles. For a while one type or style of story will be really, really popular and then at some point you hit a market saturation—readers can’t absorb one more zombie story or fairy tale retelling or whatever—so those types of stories fall away and something else moves up to take its place. Eventually those stories will come back around and readers will be ready for them again.

What was the day like when you first knew APEX was going to be your full time gig?

There wasn’t one day in particular where suddenly Apex was my full time gig. It was a gradual thing. I started by volunteering 5-10 hours a week, working on marketing and social media. As I learned more about editing and publishing, and as Jason Sizemore and I built a working relationship, I began taking on more and more responsibilities. Then in October of 2014 the opportunity came up for me to step into the managing editor role. Jason Sizemore had moved back into the editor-in-chief position and we already knew that we worked really well together, so it seemed like the next natural step. Best decision I’ve ever made.

What’s upcoming with APEX that you can’t wait to share with readers? Any teasers?

The slush pile has been especially amazing lately and we’ve snatched up some gems for futures issues. Stories by E. Catherine Tobler, Lavie Tidhar, and Rich Larson to name a few.

In addition to the fiction Jason Sizemore and I are lining up, Dr. Amy H. Sturgis is guest editing the August issue, focusing on Native American and First Nation authors. I’m really excited to see what she brings to Apex Magazine.

With the Revive the Drive campaign we are running right now, we’ve lined up amazing things for the January 2018 issue—original fiction by Tade Thompson, Delilah S. Dawson, Cherie Priest, and Jacqueline Carey, more nonfiction,  and poetry! Pretty exciting stuff! Hopefully we reach all of our goals and unlock everything. If we do, the January 2018 issue will be epic!

Apex Magazine is a monthly science fiction, fantasy, and horror magazine featuring original, mind-bending short fiction from many of the top pros of the field. New issues are released the first Tuesday of every month.

http://www.apex-magazine.com

Details about the Apex magazine Revive the Drive campaign

http://www.apex-magazine.com/revive-the-drive-2017/

Apex Magazine is an online prose and poetry magazine of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mash-ups of all three. Works full of marrow and passion, stories that are twisted, strange, and beautiful. Creations where secret places and dreams are put on display.

Each month we bring you a mix of originals and reprints, interspersed with interviews and nonfiction. We have published many of the top short form writers working today: Mary Robinette Kowal, Saladin Ahmed, Genevieve Valentine, Amal El-Mohtar, Forrest Aguirre, Nick Mamatas, Theodora Goss, Nalo Hopkinson, Lucy A. Snyder, Cat Rambo, Jeff VanderMeer, Seanan McGuire, and Jennifer Pelland. And we’ve also presented the first professional work of amazing new writers such as Indrapramit Das, T.J. Weyler, Alex Livingston, Ursula Vernon, Kathryn Weaver, Kelly Barnhill, Douglas F. Warrick, and Jeremy R. Butler.

Apex Magazine received a Best Semiprozine Hugo nomination in 2012,2013, and 2014. We placed two stories in the 2010 Nebula Award category of Best Short Story, and our stories won the category in 2014 (“If You Were a Dinosaur My Love” by Rachel Swirsky) and again in 2015 (“Jackalope Wives” by Ursula Vernon).

Each new issue is posted piecemeal throughout the month and placed on sale the first Tuesday of every month. Content can be read for free via the website. Alternatively, annual subscriptions are available and all our issues can be purchased in single issue formats (ePub/mobi/PDF or from the Kindle and Nook stores–these versions contain exclusive content such as classic reprints and novel excerpts).

We are reviving the subscription drive that was cut short in November. The new revived drive will run from March 27 to April 17th with a goal to raise $10,000!

Tier levels we will have to unlock during the drive will be:

$500 – Polls will open for readers to vote for the cutest/best Apex animal mascot: Pumpkin versus Oz! (Expect loads of adorable pics on social media as our editors try to sway you to vote for their pet!) Also, Jason and Lesley will make personal donations to the Humane Society

$1,000 – Apex will donate two short story critiques (one each from Jason and Lesley) to the ConOrBust auction, as well a membership to Imaginarium this October

$1,500 – Jason and Lesley’s It Follows debate goes live! Join our editors as they watch It Follows and live tweet the entire experience. If you’ve been following their conversations about the movie on Twitter, then you do not want to miss this!

$2,000 – an original short story by Tade Thompson in the January 2018 issue

$2,500 – add a poem to the January 2018 issue

$3,000 – add a reprint to the January 2018 issue

$3,500 – Andrea Johnson will conduct a video interview with Jason Sizemore, asking him questions submitted by our readers

$4,000 – add a a nonfiction essay to the January 2018 issue

$4,500 – add a second poem to the January 2018 issue

$5,000 – an original short story by Delilah S. Dawson in the January 2018 issue

$5,500 – podcast a second original story in the January 2018 issue

$6,000 – Apex donates a membership to ConFusion to ConOrBust

$6,500 – raise cover artist rates to $75

$7,000 – original artwork for all original fiction unlocked during the drive for the January 2018 issue

$7,500 – an original short story by Cherie Priest in the January 2018 issue

$8,000 – behind the scenes video with Jason

$8,500 – original artwork for all six stories in the January 2018 issue

$9,000 – a new print issue of Apex Magazine: SFFH #1

$9,500 – raise author rates to 7 cents per word

$10,000 – an original short story by Jacqueline Carey in the January 2018 issue

STRETCH GOAL!!! $15,000 – raise author rates to 8 cents per word and artist rates to $100!

Amazing, right!?! If we unlock everything for the double issue in January 2018, it is going to be phenomenal!!!

We are also collecting donated items from awesome people that you’ll be able to purchase during the drive to help us reach our goal.

Some of these donated items include:

story critiques from Jason Sizemore and Lesley Conner

flash fiction critiques from Anna Yeatts, editor at Flash Fiction Online

a query letter critique by literary agents Laura Zats and Eric Hane of Print Run podcast

signed prints of cover art from issues 80, 83, and 86

signed books by John Scalzi

signed books by Brian Keene

signed copy of The Crow God’s Girl by Patrice Sarath

signed copy of The Buried Life by Carrie Patel

signed copy of Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge by Paul Krueger

a handwritten poem by Brandy Schwan

cool collectors pieces by Justin Stewart

hats crocheted by Janet Harriett

coffee from Nate’s Coffee

Gamut/Apex Magazine subscription bundles

Shimmer/Apex Magazine subscription bundles

Flash Fiction Online/Apex Magazine subscription bundles

Personalized postcards from Lesley Conner for everyone who donates at least $5

APEX magazine Revive the Drive! I hear you love science fiction. Well, me, too. Have you read Apex? I know, right? The covers are absolutely stunning.

A Mini-Disseration on Fanfiction

So I’ve been reflecting a lot recently about why people write fanfiction and make fanworks, and I think I’ve kinda sorted it in to a couple of categories. I’m positive I am not the first, but I still wanted to put my thoughts down somewhere.

My subcategories:

Canon was cut off abruptly

Canon is lacking something

Canon is one genre, but the core ideas would be interesting to explore in another

I know this doesn’t seem like many categories, but the more I tried to add, the more I realized they all fit somewhere under these three. I’ll start with the first one

#1. Canon was cut off abruptly.

This is a fanfiction classic. Your show was cancelled, the author of the book gave up on the series or died, there was a cliffhanger for something that was never finished, networks screwed up, so on and so forth. Often times, these works try to stay as true to canon as possible, because the core material cuts off and therefore the works are trying to fill in the missing, vitally important finale/info. (There is also an interesting subcategory of fics written following other unfinished fics. Very cool phenomenon.)

Notable fandom examples:

Unfinished book/book series (Game of Thrones, Dune, anything with a suuuper long hiatus)

Cancelled tv shows (The Society, Sanditon, I Am Not Okay With This, The Get Down, Sense8, Agent Carter, Firefly, Hannibal, Pushing Daisies, Angel)

#2. Canon is lacking something.

This category covers a variety of sins. It’s important to note that this isn’t the same as #1 because the source material has been concluded, and the body of work is finished. There can be some blurred lines, especially with shows like Sense8, where they were cancelled and then had a special to round off what was supposed to be another few seasons, or original source material where the story technically didn’t end on a cliffhanger, it just ended when there was supposed to be more originally, but primarily this is for shows/material that had the amount of run time they wanted and were purposefully ended, or at least not against the will of the creators. So, this category includes a number of the most popular branches of fanworks including the following headcanons or au’s: more LGBTQ+ characters, more characters of color, more neurodivergent or mentally ill characters, scenes that could’ve been really cool if they had been included and/or not skipped over, scenes that never happened but fans think they should have, characters meeting that never did, crossovers, alternate universes where one thing changes (ie. canon divergences), different endings/retcons (happy ending or not), explicit content, and so the list goes on. A lot of my favorite types of fanworks are included in here.

Notable fandom examples:

Any and all non-canon LGBTQ+ relationships (John/Sherlock, Dean/Cas, Rizzoli/Isles, Remus/Sirius, Harry/Draco, Stiles/Derek, Xena/Gabrielle, Poe/Finn, Steve/Bucky or Steve/Tony or literally any combination of those characters)

Most Homestuck fanfiction

Any popular canon relationship that ended (HIMYM, most of Grey’s Anatomy, all of Glee)

Any show with a horrible ending/unpopular recent episodes (Sherlock, Game of Thrones, DW, Star Wars)

Any work with a popular character that died (Torchwood, Grey’s Anatomy again, Game of Thrones again, Buffy, OITNB, The 100, The Hunger Games, the entirety of Harry Potter, TFIOS)

And, finally

#3. Canon is one genre, but the core ideas would be interesting to explore in another.

Now, once again, I feel the need to specify why this category is separate from the last. So, I think the biggest difference between categories 2 and 3, is that while #2 expresses a lack of satisfaction with the original work, #3 is all about a deep adoration and love for the content that inspires a re-make or an au with canon events most intact, if not twisted to fit the new genre. Again, I can see the lines blurring somewhat. After all, there is content that I deeply adore, yet also feel like changing certain aspects of it. And to be clear, I think you can have fics that fall into multiple categories, if not all. But this sub-characterization relates specifically to honoring and reshaping the core content and ideas of the original work without major changes to the characters or messaging. And by this I absolutely do not mean headcanons about character ethnicity, race, culture, sexuality, or gender. I am specifically referring to someone taking a character like, say Frodo in LOTR, and rewriting the story with him as a wizard. A surface level change at first, however it changes the entire foundation of his character, which is that he goes on a journey from a humble, small, overlooked character to become a hero, proving the value of the everyman, and the quiet strength of peaceful people. Now, if someone wrote a fic where Frodo was thrown into a superhero au, where one day he gets superpowers by chance, that would fall under category #3. The first example would fuel an idea of what the story would be like if Frodo was immensely powerful, while the second maintains the character’s foundation, simply placing them into a new genre or setting in which those characteristics and themes can play out. This includes au’s that maintain canon events/character backstories even in slightly modified au’s.

Notable fandom examples:

Hogwarts au’s (not HP crossovers)

Coffeshop au’s

Historical au’s

Tattoo/Bookstore/Florist au’s

*provided all these examples purposefully maintain key elements of canon*

So, what’s the point?

There isn’t really a single point, I’m an academic weirdo who likes categorizing media and understanding the impulse that drives me and so many other people to consume and create fancontent, specifically fanfic. But, what I will say is that all three categories of work fulfill some need of a fan/consumer, and they can all be incredibly cathartic and/or a continuation of a deeply beloved original work. #1 appeals to those mourning the incomplete and premature ending of a show/book that they thought had a lot of potential. #2 appeals to people mourning the incompleteness of a finished work that could’ve had a lot more potential with some minor (or major) tweaks. #3 appeals to people who are mourning the ending of something they feel has the potential to be explored more, even if it was already explored well in the first place. This is how you get people writing novel length and longer fics, because they’re driven by dissatisfaction, even if they loved whatever the work is based on. I completely understand angrily rewriting an ending or a character, incorporating personal details or making a character more similar to oneself through the inclusion of various non-canonical identities. And, by no means am I implying one category contains better works than any other, but the creators who exist within the third category truly blow my mind at times, because this is often where you get people re-writing an entire series or movie from a different characters perspective, or people who write 300,000+ word coffee shop au’s or hogwarts au’s or spy au’s. This level of dedication honestly inspires me, because to go through the effort of re-intepreting and altering slightly an original work purely out of love and with little intent to directly contradict canon requires a level of devotion I can only aspire to. 

TL;DR 

And, finally, I want to say that I see all fancontent in any of these three categories as truly beautiful, because they are expressions of the human inclination to see the best in everything, and moreover, to try and leave things better than we found them. So yeah. That’s my word vomit for the moment. Happy writing.

1994 was a big year for video games. Titles released that year on the SNES and Sega Genesis would be all time classics that are beloved to this very day. Sega had the Sega CD add on which had some hits and misses. Sega would release the short lived 32x in November of 1994 to try and keep the Genesis going just a little while long. But before I get into any of that, it is worth noting that the NES was still alive and kicking in 1994, although just barely. Most of my friends and myself has moved on to Super Nintendo by this point. My NES and the games got packed up, put in a closet, and forgotten about for a long time. Some friends of mine went so far as to throw their NES’s away, thinking it to be as antiquated as Atari and something they would never want to play again. That year, according to Wikipedia, there were 12 official releases in North America for the NES. I don’t have much to say about Mickey’s Adventures in Numberland or Mario’s Time Machine. They are both educational games for small children, focusing on math and history lessons. There is not much more to say than that. By this point, developers have figured out just what the limitations of the system were and learned how to make games for it. While not all the games I am covering today are gems, they aren’t the epicly shitty games you found earlier in the life of the NES. Many of these games could be a blind spot for some who, like myself, had moved on to other game systems and were unaware of these titles. Some of them are worth exploring if you are feeling in a retro gaming mood.

Wario’s Woods

I guess I will start at the end. Wario’s Woods was the last game released on the NES in North America. It is an addictive puzzle game with game play elements from Super Mario Bros. 2. In this game you play Toad. The story goes that Wario has taken over a portion of woods in the Mushroom Kingdom called the Peaceful Woods. Wario has cast a spell over the creatures of the woods and are making them do his bidding. It is up to Toad ,with help from a fairy named Wanda and Birdo from Super Mario 2, to defeat Wario and reclaim the Peaceful Woods. Why Toad and not Mario or Luigi or Princess Peach? I guess they were busy that day.

What happens is that Wanda makes bombs and drops them into the game area. As Toad, you lift the various creatures, matching the color of the creature to the bomb. Blow up all the creatures and move on to the next level. Birdo is in the corning doing….something. I think the official explanation is offering encouragement. You are up against a timer. If the timer runs out, Birdo runs off and Wario shows up. Wanda is also replaced by a pigeon which drops monsters into the game area. DON’T LET THE PIGEON DROP MONSTERS INTO THE GAME AREA. Wario also drops the ceiling lower on you to make matters more difficult. Eventually, Wario gets bored and goes away. Birdo comes back and now you can resume blowing up critters with bombs. Unlike many puzzle games of the time, this one has a proper ending. Get to the last level, defeat all of Wario’s critters, and win the game.

The NES was good for addictive little puzzle games, Tetris and Dr Mario being the most fondly remembered. Wario’s Woods fits right into that category. However, I feel like this game gets overlooked . Most likely because it came out so late in the life span of the system. Wario’s Woods has been released a few times and is currently on the Switch NES Online Library. If you have that service, I would encourage you to give this game a try. It’s easy to learn and hard to master. The gameplay is a lot of fun. Getting to the end was a rewarding experience for me. Wario’s Woods is a concept I think would work out quite well if they retooled it and put out a new version of the game in mobile devices. That is the home of puzzle games these days and I could see this catching on if they did it right.

Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers 2

Here is a game I didn’t know existed until I started this project. Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers 2 is a sequel to the 1990 game and is based on the Disney Afternoon cartoon. Developed by Capcom, it has all the elements one would expect from a Capcom side-scrolling platformer. You have a catchy 8-bit soundtrack, smooth gameplay and controls, , good looking graphics, and fun elements added to each stage. Capcom really mastered making this type of game and even with this being a late entry into the NES library, they still lived up to their reputation.

Fat Cat has escaped from prison. While that was happening, Chip, Dale, and their friends are all called away on a time bomb situation as a distraction. With Fat Cat safely on the loose, he steals the Urn of the Pharoh and plans to set the evil spirits loose. Chip, Dale, Monterrey, Gadget, and Zipper all track down Fat Cat to an amusement park to bring him to justice.

If I have any criticism of this game its that their isn’t a lot of challenge to it. It’s a lot of fun. They put some time and thought into the platforming and level design. I breezed through this game without much of an issue. You can find this game on PS4 and XBOX One in the Disney Afternoon Collection along with other fantastic games like Duck Tales, Tale Spin, and Darkwing Duck. Disney and Capcom were on a great run in the early 90’s. Watching these shows after school was a favorite part of my day back then. It is a concept that has been lost over time and that is just the way it is. After school programming was so much fun back then. Get home, catch the last part of GWF on ESPN, then it was Duck Tales, Rescue Rangers, then change the channel to PBS for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, wrap it up with Tale Spin, finally it was time to go outside and play for a while before dinner and homework. Playing these games certainly is a part of those nostalgic feelings. I am curious how the younger people would feel about these games. To me, they hold up as some of the best from the NES library.

Mega Man 6

Speaking of Capcom, Mega Man would see it’s last entry on the NES in 1994, released in March of that year. Like the aforementioned Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers 2 , the game features a catchy soundtrack, fun platforming elements, smooth controls, and colorful graphics. If you liked the other Mega Man games, then you should like this one because they stayed fairly close to the formula. There are eight robot masters each with their own themed stages. Beat the robot master,gain a special ability move on to the next. Once all the robot masters are defeated, storm the castle. Complete each level of the castle, fight the last boss and win the game.

With the world at relative peace since Mega Man 5, the people decide to have an robot fighting tournament hosted by the mysterious Mr. X. During this episode of Robot Jox, Mr. X takes control of the top eight robots and attempts to take over the world. Mr. X explains he was behind Dr. Wily’s plots all along. Dr Light sends Mega Man into action to take down the rogue robot masters. The eight robot masters are Centaur Man, Blizzard Man, Flame Man, Knight Man, Plant Man, Tomahawk Man, Wind Man, and Yamato Man. Once they are defeated, Mega Man goes after Mr. X directly. You will never guess who Mr. X really is.

The focus of this game seems to lean heavily on the level design. Each of the robot masters levels have some unique challenges consistent with each of their powers. Wind Man’s level has you riding over pit traps and spikes with strategically placed fans. Flame Man’s level has rivers of oil that you don’t want to be in when they get set on fire. This time Rush combines with Mega Man to give him a Jet Pack and Power Punch. The robot masters aren’t terribly difficult this time around. In fact, they are painfully easy to beat. For as difficult as Mega Man 1 was, it’s kind of ridiculous how Mega Man 6 is so easy. The thing I will remember about this game is the contest in Nintendo Power where people could enter their ideas of Robot Master. I submitted an entry and got a pleasant form level in return. I was just happy to have had chance to enter my ideas.

It is fitting that the NES would go out with a Mega Man game in it’s last year. This style of game was defining for the system. The first six Mega Man games were so popular that the 8 bit style would be brought back years later for Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10. Mega Man 6 has been rereleased in several compilations, such as the Mega Man Anniversary Collection on the original X Box and PS2 as well as the Mega Man Legacy Collection Vol. 1 on the Nintendo Switch, 3DS, PlayStation 4, and X Box One. Mega Man would have a rough transition going forward. The SNES I will always associate with the Mega Man X series. It was the home of Mega Man 7 but somehow it just didn’t feel right. The less said about Mega Man 8 on the PS1, the better. Mega Man 6 will probably be remembered as one of the best late entries into the NES library and a bit of a curiosity as most people had moved on to the 16 bit systems by the time it was released.

The Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak.

If you happened to buy this game in a bargain bin at Blockbuster back in the day and kept it in your closet all these years, I have great news for you. The Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak is one of the rarest games in the NES library. As of press time, a copy of this game sells for anywhere from $800 to $2000. There are apparently less than 10,000 copies of this game floating around. It is believed that Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak was an exclusive to Blockbuster in 1994 although there is some dispute to that. Chances are, the only way one played this game back then was to get it from a rental location.

The game is somewhat of a sequel to The Flintstones: The Rescue of Dino and Hoppy also developed by Taito. In Surprise at Dinosaur Peak, you switch back and forth between Fred and Barney. They each have different abilities that help one navigate through each stage. The idea is that Pebbles and Bam Bam are stuck on a lava flow from an erupting volcano. The only way to save them is to walk all the way around the volcano to the other side. In an odd scene at the beginning, The Great Gazoo appears to Fred to tell him that he can’t help because teleportation is behind his abilities. (?) No matter. You side-scroll and platform through the various levels and there are bonus stages with cave man hockey and basketball.

Overall, its a good looking game that plays pretty well. They put some thought into each level as well as the cut scenes. Given how few of these carts were made, it really is impressive just how much care and detail they put into the game. It’s not terribly difficult. You can breeze through it without too much of a hassle. I have to think this game would have done better if it had been released earlier in the life of the NES. Movie and TV show license games were notoriously bad. I had the misfortune of owning Back to the Future. A good friend in my neighborhood ended up with Fester’s Quest. The Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak is a drastic improvement from those games. The graphics and game play are far superior to much of the early NES library. Fans of The Flintstones will appreciate the references that the game adds in. It is a genuine Flintstones experience. However, if you want to play this game as a curiosity, I can’t recommend paying up to $800 and beyond for a copy. This a fine game but not worth that much money unless you plan on becoming a serious collector of NES games.

Bonk’s Adventure

There is some similarity between Bonk’s Adventure and the game just discussed The Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak. They are both fairly expensive games that were released late in the lifespan of the NES and have a prehistoric theme. Bonk is best remembered as the mascot for the short lived Turbo Grafx 16 consoul. While the NES version doesn’t look as good as the Turbo Grafx one, it is a really good looking game for an 8-bit system. The game play is very similar to other side-scrolling platformers. The goal is to go from level to level through this prehistoric world trying to save Princess Za from King Drool. A lot of video game plots back then were inspired by Super Mario Bros. Bonk walks through the world with nothing but a headbutt attack. You have a volcano level, water level, ice level,your typical affair for this type of game. Aside from the rarity, what makes this game remarkable is how faithfully they were able to port a 16-bit game onto an 8-bit console. Much like the last game we discussed, it would have been more fondly remembered if it had been released earlier in the NES’s life. Bonk’s Adventure is better than much of what we were stuck playing when the NES was at it’s peak. Bonk’s Adventure was rereleased on the WII and WIIU Virtual Console if you would like to play it without having to pay the obscene price for the actual cart. It is a must have for serious collectors though.

Alfred Chicken

Alfred is a chicken who flaps and pecks his way through five levels popping balloons along the way. I don’t know that there is a story to the game beyond that. Alfred Chicken is a platformer with puzzle elements added in for fun. In each level you have to find green balloons. Pop the balloons and float to the next level. The bulk of the game is climbing up platforms and reasoning out where balloons may be. Unlike many of the games previously discussed, the graphics aren’t all that good looking. It looks like a colorized version of a Gameboy game. The music is also quite annoying and very repetitive. What it lacks in visuals and sound, Alfred Chicken makes up for in gameplay. The levels are a lot of fun to work your way through if your a fan of platforming. The best I can describe it would be like a combination between Krusty’s Fun House and Kid Icarus. There are a few boss fights at the end of each level which resemble a shooter like Life Force or UN Squadrons. That kind of variety is appreciated. Alfred Chicken got a remake for the PS1 in 2002. That game looks a lot better and has more levels to it. I would probably recommend finding that game rather than this once, give how much some of these later years NES game cost. Alfred Chicken is a fun game to pick up and play but they could have done more with the concept and flushed it out better. My hope is that they did that with the remake and made a better gaming experience. The NES version feels like the playable Beta test for a much better game.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters

At this point, I am understanding some of the complaints that the younger generation has about the NES. I have discussed a lot of platformers and puzzle games. If you cut your teeth on these games, then they are great but there isn’t a lot of variety on the system. The NES was a bit too late to cash in on the popularity of fighting games in the mid 90’s, lead by Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II. Neither of those games would be ported to the NES, although oddly they did make their way to the Sega Master System. If you have played those games or own them, then I tip my hat to you. There weren’t many games on the NES that could fit into the fighting game genre. So imagine my surprise when I found Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters. If you have this one sitting in the back of your closet, I have great news for you. It is worth quite a bit of money.

The idea of the game is that you pick from one of six characters. Included are the four Turtles, Casey Jones, and Hothead, apparently a character from the comics. You fight each of the Ninja Turtles then go on to face Casey Jones, Hothead, and a final battle with Shredder to beat the game. Shredder is absurdly difficult so there is a great sense of accomplishment when you manage to beat this one. Sadly, in this version of the game, the Ninja Turtles aren’t given their weapons. There is a little bit of move variety from Turtle to Turtle, mostly inspired by Street Fighter II. Leo does a Tornado Kick similar to Ryu and Raph does a Torpedo Launch similar to E.Honda, you get the idea. In the context of the game, there seems to be no reason the Turtles are fighting each other. The pregame cut scene only tells us that Shredder has challenged the Turtles to a fight in the streets of Manhattan. It doesn’t explain why you have to fight all your friends before facing Shredder. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Tournament Fighter is your run of the mill fighting game. Win the best two out of three and move on to the next fight. The game can get a bit glitchy. Graphically, they are really pushing the limits of what the NES could do. The NES controller really wasn’t made for this type of game. The controls don’t feel smooth at all. If you force yourself to get used to it, the game is playable but it feels awkward. By 1994, The Ninja Turtles and the NES were waning in popularity. There are such better examples of fighting games on the SNES and Genesis, including superior versions of this game. It’s no surprise that this was overlooked. Still, Konomi put a lot of work into a game that few people played. The music is excellent and it looks pretty good. The NES just wasn’t made for this type of game.

Zoda’s Revenge: Star Tropics II.

Star Tropics II can be best summed up as more of Star Tropics. This time though your main character Mike Jones (Who?) and his uncle, Dr. J, are flung through history to collect blocks called Tetrads. You play through nine chapters, each one a different point in time of human history. You meet characters like Cleopatra and Sherlock Holmes, who help you along the way. Like the first one, they combine RPG elements with dungeon crawling, puzzle solving, and adventure aspects. Play through the dungeon, collect the Tetrad, go back and talk to the villagers, proceed to the next chapter. I am making it sound simple but this is an incredibly fun and satisfying game. They improved the controls from the first one, now letting you jump and move in a few different directions and not just hopscotching along. Other than that, they didn’t change much from the first. The game still has a quirky sense of humor. The graphics, enemy design, level design, and gameplay all mirror the first one. I don’t mean to be disparaging when I say it’s more of the same because it’s more of a really great game. This has been rereleased a few different times over the years. Although it is not yet on the Switches NES Library, I expect it to appear before too long. Of all the NES games to come out in 1994, this is the one I recommend most.

So that is the NES in 1994. I hope that I have given you some ideas for different games to play that you may have missed when they were first released. Many of these games are worth checking out. Nostalgia for the NES is alive and well today. For many of us, this was our first game console. When you are out and about, you see t-shirts with the classic characters on them in all their 8-bit glory. I have a pair of socks with NES controllers on them. Merchandising the warm feelings for this system to Gen Xer’s and Millinials is going strong and can be found at just about any retail outlet. Something about the NES will always be special to us.The warm, fuzzy, 8-bit memories never really go away although by 1994, we had mostly moved on to bigger and better things. As will I as I continue to celebrate all that was 1994 as we approach the New Year.