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ravenquote · 4 years

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OoC: Favorite Characters

I decided to focus on villains or anti-heroes, it’s hard picking just favorites in a general sense.

1. Harleen Quinzel A.K.A Harley Quin - DC Comic Universe I have been in love with this woman since September 1992 when she first aired in the Batman Animated series, Joker’s favor. Due to her brilliant creators of Paul Dini and Bruce Tim, led with the voice talents of Arleen Sorkin. She was born from her own raw desire to help people in her own best way possible, using her talents of understanding, reading and in many sense controlling people. Sadly, like Alice in wonderland, she fell into a realm of madness and uncertainty. She has been one of the most complex characters in animated history with large backstory and many turns and takes. Extremely popular on various forms and has made many appearances over the years even scoring some of her own comics and shows and now movies. When she was first created, she was merely a fill in and not meant to take and yet here she stands, a triumphant beauty whose overcome Abuse, trauma and degradation.

2. Azula - Avatar the last air bender animated television show + comics What can i say about Azula? In many retrospects she’s fierce, powerful, driven and just intelligent! I think a lot of people forget something pretty important about her: SHE WAS FOURTEEN! This young teenage, overthrew governments, taking whole cities and was the closest to killing the Avatar compared to anyone else. Not to mention her pure intelligence! People compare to playing a game of chess when it comes to moving people or controlling their actions. No, to this woman it was checkers. I truly believe if she didn’t become as over-confident as she did, the war would have ended with her taking the world. With the right nurturing, she would have become the most feared overlord the world would ever see.

3. Loghain Mac Tir - Dragon age book (The Stolen Throne by: David Gaider) and Dragon age Origins the Video game. Yeah, there’s a theme so far i am guessing you are seeing. I can’t help but appreciate sheer intelligence. Loghain is sort of obvious in the video games, it’s clear his intents. At the same time, there is far far more than what is merely on the surface with this man. An obvious villain, almost to the point of it being boring. Yet, why in the games are so many people hesitant and trusting of him? This man had proved himself, over and over, that he had his country in his heart and would do anything to protect it and keep it from the true monsters of the world. People. He was never shy about the routes he’d take, the lengths he’d go, he was brass, courageous, and deceptive. He called things out, forced people to seeing the bigger picture, he didn’t need to control or lie to people about things. He got what he wanted in the most unique ways possible, not his title, not his money, not his charisma but by being true in what had to be done.

4. Sylvanas Windrunner - Blizzard Entertainment Video games I don’t see her as a Villain, an Anti-hero, yes. Look, we all know Blizz can’t seem to understand women or know how to write them on a large scale. I seriously feel bad for both, Piera Coppola and Patty Mattson as they have to watch this poor woman get brutally torn to pieces. I will always, always have a soft spot for her and remember the days where in many respects was like Illidain, and (above) Loghain. A woman who saw the bigger picture and would sacrifice anything to save everything she cared for. I wont drag on for her, simply because i know the most people who are doing this and following are from the Blizzard franchise and i know we have all heard many many layers to this continued argument about this particular character. If ya wanna PM about it or rant at me, bring it. I’m an Alliance player at heart, but i only got into w.o.w because of this woman. Both sides are shit. *drops mic*

5. Aaravos - Dragon Prince, Netflix television animated show. Okay, seriously, if you haven’t seen the show yet: DO IT! Just as with this theme, INTELLIGENCE, INTELLIGENCE, INTELLIGENCE! Tactful, charming, knowledgeable, i mean...look at that face! He is hands down perfect. Sadly, we still know very little of him but goshdamnit! Love! Love! Love! I can not wait to know more of him and see more of him.

6. Maleficent - Fairy Tale story / Disney The jist of her, from stories and movies, is general: She was snubbed or insulted by the royal court and took her revenge on the child they were all celebrating. I’m sorry, but this has always been fantastic to me. What is more painful and hard to deal with then your own child being cursed? Claim petty if you want, but no, oh no my dear friend, this is a brilliant revenge. A normal person would blame the man in charge and curse him, but meh, whatever. Kings wont remember how they snubbed others, this is proven time and time again in many stories. Will this act ever be forgotten? Will the generations always remember not to snub a powerful faerie? You better believe it! She made a ever lasting mark, an impression that has lasted since the 13th century! Throughout the years no one has changed these facts: Maleficent was powerful, she was disrespected and she took her revenge onto a child. Normal stories like these over the years have changed both villains and heroes, or even circumstances. This classic has even seen the beautiful creation, directed by Robert Stromberg from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton, and still they honour the root of what was and with a focus on the villain and her origins. How many villains get this?

7. Narberal Gamma - Overlord Anime/ Manga series Who doesn’t love a maid? Not to mention a Battle maid. Narberal is...mm, i don’t even know how to express her. She’s just generally cool, powerful, intelligent, loyal and honest with everything around her, just a demeanor of a refined perfection. She’s enjoyable to watch. Another thing i enjoy, she’s not the main villain. The show itself has many “villains”, i say in such way because it’s never really clear or obvious what you can count as villain or hero in a lot of ways. Yes, some are obvious but even then in many cases showed within it’s all about circumstances, who you are following, why you are following them. I enjoy the not so cut and dry of “good and evil”. This character also helps continue that ploy, helping and yet also killing people.

8. Carmilla - Castlevania Netflix series I’m a huge vampire fan, been so since middle school. I’m not as quick whipped as i use to be about the lore, history and so on when it comes to many Vampires and their origins. With such said, damn she made me bring out the books again, especially because she was one of my favorites to read about. I mean, Lesbian vampire. Do i need to say more? For now, i’ll only focus on the more recent adaption of her. So, yeah theme? We get it, intelligence. The world truly is a chess board for her, however she does not expect people to just flip the board on her. God, Jaime Murray, thank you so much for that wtf moment cause you expressed her sheer just horror at watching everything fall around her with perfection. Throughout the points we see Carmilla we see her truly be the tact master, stirring the pot and also showing her prowess in form. There is also a lot of restraint i don’t think people will give her credit for. We see how she expresses her emotions in violence, but i also think we are seeing it in a very, very pulled back way. I look forward to seeing how she changes her circumstances and sets things back into her own order in the coming season.

9. Akasha - Book series: The Queen of the Damned by Anne rice and movie: The Queen of the damned. Ah yes, the books that helped start the joys of vampires and how could i not fall in love with someone toying into the very beginning and trying to draw into the beginnings of a creature known throughout the world and time. Why do i choose Akasha considering i already touched base on vampires? Simple, she will always deserve a spot on any favorite list of anything. She gave so little cares about anything and only wanted the world to die and feel her wrath. Not to mention Aaliyah played this part so beautifully well it deserves every recognition it can get. I know she doesn’t seem to quite fit with the rest, but this is partly why she is so low on the list.

10. Callisto - Xena television series Last but certainly not least, we can’t forgot about this one. Good? Bad? Surely just pure chaos! She does what she wants and cares little about the consequences. It’s been ages since i’ve last seen the show i will admit, so my bases on her is a bit rusty. However, i will always remember her out of the many other villainous people we meet in the Xena universe. Fun, witty, combatant, you never knew what she was really going to do. As soon as she popped into a episode, i would recall fondly sitting at the edge of my seat just wondering how or why she did the things she did. There is my list of favorites, i’m sure you can see the themes between them all as many of them have common traits, inspirations and personalities. Hope you all enjoyed! Tagged by: @olivia-lovecraft tagging: *boops* you!

#ooc #top favorite #top ten #villains #t.v. series #books #fairy tales #video games #history #vampires #comics

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iamcinema · 4 years

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IAC Reviews #010: Blood Lake (1987) [Retrospective #2]

"...I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him...“

Over the years, I’ve been scowering the Internet trying to find the worst of the worst when it comes to horror movies. I guess you can call me a glutton for punishment in that regard since some movies need to be seen to be believed, rather than looked into as an example of what bad filmmaking looks like. Whether it’s a problem with the acting, the writing, the technical specs, or all of the above, you know you’re in for a good [or horrible] time if it checks one or more of those boxes. When it comes to bad horror movie lists, not just shot on video ones, one film in particular seems to rule them all as it’s hailed as one of the worst movies of all time, if not the worst horror film ever made. This time around, I’m making an ill-fated return to the Oklahoma to talk about Tim Boggs’ lone directorial credit, Blood Lake.

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Blood Lake tells the story about a group of friends who are being stalked by a mad man while on a weekend getaway trip at the lake. It’s not the most original concept out there, but hey, what else is new? It’s interesting that this is Boggs’ only attempt at being a filmmaker and the rest of his credits are attributed to being part of the sound department for notable films and shows like Lost Highway, Tales From the Crypt, Xena: Warrior Princess, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and Legion. That’s a hell of a resume, but that’s not what we’re here to really discuss.

I heard about the notority of this for years, and I decided to take the plunge with it nearly five years ago where I live reviewed it for Under the Morgue. Needless to say, I didn’t have fun with it and I don’t think I ever ripped into a film that hard up until that point. With the anniversary date of that review coming up, I thought it would be fair to do a retrospect on this to see if it really lives up to how genuinely atrocious I thought it was all those years ago.

Blood Lake in One Gif:

I think I need to lay down for this one. Do you know that feeling of nostalgia you get when you see, hear, or smell something that really takes you back to a better time? Well, whatever the antithisis to that is would describe the seething rage and horror I felt re-watching this.

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While it’s true that some movies need to be witnessed to truly understand how bad they are, it’s also fair to say that some things shouldn’t be known by mere mortals - and this absolutely applies to films like Ax’Em and Blood Lake. They’re as cut-and-dry and boring as they are in premise, and a train wreck of a travesty in execution at that.

The quality from a technical standpoint is pretty damn atrocious, particularly during some of the nighttime shots since it can be hard to tell what’s going on and it feels like you’re squinting the whole time trying to tell what you’re looking at. The sound is just as bad, though sometimes it fairs better than the visuals, even if a good chunk of the time you can’t tell what the hell anyone is saying because they’re either too far from the mic to be picked up or it’s a dialogue problem with everyone mumbling, talking over each other, or fumbling over their lines. IMDB says the sound was shot with a single shotgun microphone, and yeah...it kind of shows.

C’mon. Look at this and tell me you can figure out what the fuck all is going on.

The writing feels almost non-existent as Boggs encouraged the actors to paraphrase the dialogue in their own words to I guess make it feel more natural. However, with how clumsy things are, it’s hard to really tell how much was ad-libbed or done by the actors themselves. The total direction and set-up with the pacing is absolute garbage and some of the worst I’ve ever seen, as it’s padded out with gratuitously long shots of them doing things like “extreme” sports on the water or a scene of them drinking at a table that goes on for close to ten minutes. It feels like the director left the camera on a tripod and accidentally filmed their lunch break. People have said this feels like a glorified home movie, and I get why. I’ve ripped on Las Vegas Bloodbath for how bad the filler was during its third act; as well as the opening dance sequences and the yo mama jokes in the opening of Ax’Em for needlessly dragging things out, or even the flashback sequences in Nick Millard’s films - even if they don’t exist within the canon of the story. Hell, Sledgehammer does this too by slowing down scenes in order to pad it out to a 60 minute runtime after being told it was too short.

When it comes to the characters, they aren’t anything special and are mostly forgettable. With this camp, I designated them to one of two sides of the field; boring and awful. All of them I’ve mostly shoved over on the boring side, as they never really do anything noteworthy or special, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you their names off the top of my head for the most part. However, some of the guys do teeter on being awful and annoying as hell, but one character in particular stayed on the shit teir side of the spectrum from start to finish - which would be Tony.

Oh, god. Tony....

This guy right here. This motherfucker made watching this the first time around feel like a total chore. But the second time around, and willingly so, it was like pulling teeth to get me to finish.

I don’t mind weird, perverted, sleazy dickheads who show up now and again, but Tony is a special case because his entire shtick is being a weird creep to the point of giving off rapey vibes with the other guys over how his goal at the end of the weekend is to conquer some girl he goes to school with. Bro, you’re like twelve, shut the fuck up. It’s beyond cringe. It’s insufferable, and prior to this, I said over on Under the Morgue that Alan from Return to Sleepaway Camp was the most unsympathetic “protagonist” I had ever seen. But now, compared to him and the majority of the characters from Await Further Instructions, I don’t know who is the most grating to sit through - and I spent most of my time on that review talking about how the zero level of characterization makes it so hard to watch. In that review, I said I can appreciate a scummy character if they have any sort of secondary personality trait that makes you love to hate them, or at least makes them tolerable. With Tony, he’s just an annoying, pervy brat who I guess is about as comedic and charming as a trench foot infection.

It’s pretty damn rare that I see a movie where I root for the villain(s) from start to finish because I can’t stand the majority, if not all of the characters. So, having to recall how many times I wished Tony would have drowned within the first fifteen minutes or had a joint stubbed out in his damn eye has proved to be more enjoyable than the entirety of this shit show, since the only tail he should have been chasing was the tailpipe of the damn car he arrived in. I was honestly surprised we didn’t get any Summer Camp Nightmare moments given how much of a creep the twerp is, and I still am now.

The fact that this is called a slasher film feels like a cruel joke, since after the opening kill, the next murder doesn’t happen until close to the fifty minute mark in an 82 minute movie (78 minutes if you get rid of the credits). Plus, because of the abysmal quality, you can’t even see them clear enough to tell what’s happening. It’s so frustrating to feel like you’d get more out of the death scenes by closing your eyes the whole time. It’s up there with Ax’Em in terms of quality and how much it feels like they cheat you, which makes me wonder why bother at all if it’s possible you can’t even see what’s going on when you were editing the damn thing?

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So, here we are at the dreaded moment where I close this off with how I’d rate this. Is it as bad as I remember it being? Yes, if not more so. I had to pause and walk away from it for a bit to cool off and do something else because it was so tedious sit through.

It just goes on, and on, and on, which was only made worse by obnoxious characters that were a total hassle to put up with who could have been reduced to Douchebag #1, Generic Girl #2, and Rattail Motherfucker #1 based on how little they actually did to make me want to remember their names - and the ones who did were the most insufferable of the lot that I couldn’t forget them even if I wanted to. There’s little to no actual blood and gore, and with the very little there was, it was completely wasted in scenes that you can’t see clearly which is a damn shame because one of the kills could have had a decent reveal if it was shot better.

If I had to say just one good thing about the film to be generous, not counting that it had some kind of a reachable end, it was the mediocre soundtrack supplied by the band Voyager. It’s not good at all, but hey, if you like cheesy 80s horror soundtracks, there’s that going for it...I guess. With all that being said, I never want to see this disaster ever again. I’m trying to wrap my head around how people genuinely like this, even in a so bad it’s good type of way, and I just don’t get it. This, for me, is arguably one of the worst horror movies I’ve ever seen, and probably ever will.

RATING: 0.5/10

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#blood lake #sov #sov horror #shot on video #shot on video horror #80's horror #80s horror #horror movie #horror movies #horror film #slasher #film #horror #movie review #film review #iac reviews

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faveficarchive · 5 years

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I, Conqueror: Part 7

By SwordnQuil

Pairing: Xena/Gabrielle

Rating: Mature

Synopsis: The best Conqueror tale I’ve ever read, this story follows a similar line to Remember Nothing (No violence alt-universe Xena). Gabrielle wakes up to find herself in a universe where Xena has conquered Greece, Callisto is her right-hand, and the world trembles at her feet. Can she set to rights this world turned upside-down?

Reality resolved itself in slow motion and Xena blinked into the bright sunshine, tightening her hold on Gabrielle, whose knees buckled beneath her. "Where are we?"

Swallowing several times to clear the nausea in her belly, the bard looked around at the vast, empty field they were currently standing in the middle of. "I don’t know," she replied finally, grateful for the support of Xena’s warm, strong body behind her.

Xena tightened her grip again, causing Gabrielle to gasp in pain. "What do you mean, ‘you don’t know’? You sent us here."

"Well, technically, I sent us to a ‘when’. Not exactly a ‘where’. I think." I hope.

Spinning the smaller woman in her arms, the Conqueror grabbed Gabrielle’s shoulders and shook her. "Explain yourself, Amazon. Now."

"I will, I promise—Xena, hurting me isn’t going to do anything but make me pass out right now, so if you could just loosen up a little..." She sighed in relief as the harsh grip on her shoulders lessened just slightly. A cool wind blew across the field, bending back the golden grasses and causing her to break out into gooseflesh. She spied a small copse of trees to the west and gestured with her head. "Could we just go over there for now?"

Looking in the indicated direction, the Conqueror’s eyes narrowed. Trees were where the Amazons felt most at home. "Why."

"Because it’s cold and I’m naked. I’d like to go somewhere where I’m not quite so exposed."

Staring into the trees, Xena extended her senses, tasting, listening and smelling for danger. Though she was acutely wary, all seemed quiet. Releasing Gabrielle’s shoulders, she spun the woman again, and, taking her upper arm in a firm grip, her free hand on her chakram, she marched her captive toward the copse, eyes ever vigilant for danger.

Gabrielle questioned her choice as soon as they stepped within the leafy shelter of the small wood. The grove was seeded with bramble bushes which tore at her unprotected flesh. "Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea," she mumbled, pulling a thorn the size of her thumb out of her bare thigh.

After a final, and thorough, examination of the area, Xena released her healer and, sighing, pulled her cape from the epaulets on her shoulder-guards. "Lift your arms."

As Gabrielle did so, the Conqueror twirled the cape in the freshening breeze, then wrapped it around the bard’s body like a sheath, pinning it closed over her right breast with the bejeweled throat closure.

Because of their vast differences in height, the cape fell to below Gabrielle’s knees, but at least she was protected from the ire of the woods, and just a bit warmer in the bargain. She smiled her thanks, smoothing the silk against her body.

"Now talk, Amazon. No diversions. No games. The truth. Now."

"Alright..."

"Now, Amazon. Where are we? Where is Alcmene?"

Gabrielle scratched at the back of her neck. "Well, you see, Alcmene isn’t exactly a ‘where’. It’s a ‘who’. A very pregnant ‘who’. At least I hope she is."

"Enough of this foolishness!"

"Xena, please. I’m not being foolish. It’s just...hard to explain. If you would just relax a moment and give me time to think..." She looked deep into icy, glaring eyes. "Or not."

Gabrielle took in a deep breath. "The stone transported us into the past. I think it’s about thirty years ago, maybe thirty five. I can’t be too sure. We’re - well I’m here to try and prevent Callisto from killing Alcmene."

The Conqueror’s eyes narrowed again. "Callisto? That’s not possible."

"Yes, Xena, it is possible. Remember, Callisto gave the Cronus Stone to you. That was after she had finished using it to murder Alcmene and change the tapestry of time."

"Explain." The command was sharp and brooked no argument.

Gabrielle breathed deeply again. "Callisto is - was - from another reality. A reality in which you, like she said, killed her family."

"How? How did I kill her family?"

"She’s from Cirra."

Xena’s eyes clouded as she sifted through her memories. The village name sounded familiar. Then she remembered. Once, on a raid, her men had accidentally set the town ablaze. She couldn’t recall any survivors and told Gabrielle as much.

"Maybe not in this reality, but where Callisto’s from, she survived. She blamed you for the death of her family and dedicated her life to hunting you down and killing you to make you pay for what you’d done."

"A very interesting tale, Amazon."

"It’s a true tale, Xena." Turning slightly, Gabrielle saw a fallen log and walked over to sit down. Her wound was throbbing and she felt weak and light-headed. She ran a hand over her brow, relieved to find it cool and dry. Then she looked back up at her impatient listener. "For whatever reason, instead of attacking you outright this time, she obtained the Cronus Stone, went back in time to where we are now, and killed Alcmene."

"And what purpose did this killing serve?"

"It changed the course of history."

Xena smiled slightly. "And how did it do that."

Gabrielle crossed her arms, hugging her body to try and ward off the coolness of the breeze. "Alcmene is a very beautiful woman. The bards say that Zeus was so enamored with her that he took the form of her husband and impregnated her. She bore a son who she named Hercules."

The Conqueror nodded. "Hercules. The same mythical demigod you used to regale my men in the healing tent." Her tone conveyed her disbelief.

"He’s not a myth. Or maybe he is, here. But I’m telling you, he did exist, before Callisto changed history by killing his mother."

"I’ll ask you again, Amazon. How did the death of one man, mythical beast slayer or not, supposedly change history?"

"There could be any number of ways, I suppose. But I only know of one for sure."

Xena raised an eyebrow. "And that was?"

A sudden rustling was heard in the treetops, and Xena looked up, her chakram already in her hand. A flock of birds set down to roost, and the Conqueror relaxed marginally, her weapon still at the ready. She stared down at the seated woman. "Your compatriots certainly seem in no great hurry to collect you, Amazon."

The young woman sighed, rubbing her arms to ward off the chill. "For the last time, Xena, I have no compatriots. It’s just me here, hoping against hope that I’ve done the right thing." She looked down, digging fitfully at a partially exposed root with her bare toe. "Anyway, getting back to your question. About four years or so ago, Hercules came upon a warlord who attempted to gain even more power by pitting him against his best friend and making off with the spoils." She looked up at the Conqueror, who, despite her demeanor, was listening intently. "It didn’t work. The warlord left, defeated."

Xena snorted. "Of course he did. With his tail between his legs while the enterprising duo was left to fight another day. That’s always the way these foolish tales end. With good yet again winning out over evil." Her eyes became diamond chips. "That doesn’t happen in reality, Amazon. Any reality."

Gabrielle decided that ignoring Xena’s snide remarks was the best strategy, for if she rose to the bait being dangled, Callisto would carve Alcmene in little pieces while she and the Conqueror will still arguing in the woods. "Some time passed and Hercules met the warlord again, though this time under much different circumstances. He found the warlord alone, after she," the bard took in a deep breath, "after she had been forced to run the gauntlet of her own army for saving a baby." White teeth were displayed as the bard pensively chewed at her lower lip. "The warlord was known as Xena: the Warrior Princess."

The world rushed crazily by as Gabrielle felt herself hauled to her feet by the front of her impromptu garment. Her face was so close to the Conqueror’s that she could smell the warm scent of Xena’s breath. "How do you know these things, Amazon? How!"

"You’ll have your answers if you put me down and let me finish the story."

Xena spun at a sound behind her, dropping the bard and unsheathing her sword. In the near distance, running as if for her very life, the Conqueror spied a very pregnant woman. The woman’s legs tangled in the remnants of her long peasant skirt and she tripped, disappearing from sight beneath the tall, swaying grasses. "Alcmene, I presume."

Gabrielle, who had never seen the woman before, could only hope and nod.

A split second later, a familiar form materialized as if from the very air, threw back her head, laughed, and, extending one thin arm, lit the grasses sheltering Alcmene aflame with a bolt that flew from her fingertips.

The bard rubbed at her chin. "Um, there’s something I forgot to mention about Callisto."

"So it would seem."

"She’s a god now."

Feeling Callisto turn to glance her way, Xena drew behind the thick trunk of a sheltering tree, her silvered eyes narrow and thoughtful.

"Now do you believe me?" Gabrielle asked, pressing herself flat behind the Conqueror.

"It will take a great deal more than that light show to make a believer out of me, Amazon." Xena’s body was tense as she cautiously peered around the trunk, watching intently as Callisto, laughing again, aimed another bolt at the now wildly running Alcmene. The bolt missed, but not by much.

If the Conqueror knew her second, and she did, Callisto was merely toying with the woman, having her sport before committing the act which would permanently end her enjoyment of the chase.

"Believer or not, we need to rescue her," Gabrielle whispered.

"And why is that," Xena returned, not taking her eyes off the action.

"Why?" Gabrielle repeated, stunned. "Xena, in case you didn’t notice, that woman is pregnant. And helpless against Callisto, god or not! She’s going to die!"

"Death happens, Amazon."

The bard gritted her teeth and gathered the cloak around her more tightly. "Not while I’m around to stop it."

Xena wrapped an arm around her before Gabrielle could even think to move away from the trees.

"Let me go!" she hissed.

"Be quiet," the Conqueror intoned, watching as the fleeing woman changed direction, now heading directly toward them as if drawn to their position.

Giggling delightedly, Callisto flicked out her finger and scorched the very tree Xena and Gabrielle were hiding behind.

"By the gods, that was close!" Gabrielle breathed, stepping back to allow Xena to get away from the smoking bark.

Turning from the tree, sword in hand, Xena bowed her head, her lips brushing Gabrielle’s ear. "Your friend is heading this way. When she enters the wood, grab her and run. I’ll deal with Callisto."

The bard clutched at Xena’s arms. "You can’t do that! Callisto’s a god! She’ll kill you too!"

One corner of the Conqueror’s mouth lifted in a wry smile. "Didn’t seem to stop you from wanting to do the very same thing a moment ago, did it."

Gabrielle scowled. "That’s different."

"We’ll discuss that later. Just do as I say."

"That’s not different," Gabrielle grumbled half under her breath as she pulled away from Xena. "Fine. Do you have any general direction in mind?"

Alcmene stumbled into the wood. Grabbing the nearly spent woman, the Conqueror thrust her into Gabrielle’s arms. "Just go!"

The bard clamped a hand over Alcmene’s mouth before the other woman had a chance to scream. "We’re here to help. I know you’re tired, but you need to run with me as fast as you can. We’ll get you to safety, I promise."

Alcmene’s eyes were wide with panic, but after a moment, she nodded.

Removing her hand from Alcmene’s mouth, Gabrielle smiled, and grabbed the other woman’s hand. "Great. Let’s go."

Xena waited until Gabrielle had left the wood, their guest in hand, then turned and stepped deliberately around the tree trunk and out into the brilliant sunshine. "Hello, Callisto," she purred, her sword tip resting against one broad shoulder.

The blonde goddess pulled up short, her dark eyes wide with shock. "Xena! Not that it isn’t a pleasant surprise, but what are you doing here?"

The Conqueror smiled. "I could ask you the same question, Callisto."

"Oh, a little of this, a little of that." Peering around Xena’s shoulder, she looked into the darkness of the wooded glen. "Where’s your beloved little bard brat? Somewhere safe, I trust?" Callisto smiled mockingly, tilting her head to one side. "I know how tethered through the nose she has you, poor dear."

Xena filed the apparent non-sequitor away for future reference and leveled the point of her sword at the hollow of Callisto’s neck.

Reaching up with disdain, Callisto merely flicked the blade away. "Oh, please. Surely you haven’t forgotten your little ambrosial gift to me already, have you, Xena? You can’t possibly think you could hurt me with that thing. Be a dear and put it away before someone gets hurt, won’t you?"

Xena’s mind was awash with confusion, knowing full well that she had never even seen ambrosia, and if she had, Callisto would be the last person to receive such a gift from her. Determined not to let that confusion show, she flipped the sword back to the blonde’s neck. "I thought, perhaps, a little sparring? For old times’ sake?"

Grinning, Callisto stepped back and withdrew her own sword. "Oh, why not. I never could resist a challenge, Xena. Especially not one from you. You always did bring out the worst in me."

She danced forward and their blades met, a waterfall of sparks raining down to skitter across the ground. They broke apart, then engaged again, their faces almost touching as their hilts locked and brute strength came into play.

The Conqueror was a bit taken aback when Callisto’s ambrosia-imbued strength matched hers, measure for measure, but she kept her grip locked tight against her adversary, determined not to yield.

Callisto giggled. "Oh Xena," she purred, licking her lips, "if I had known this was the way to get you grunting and straining, I would have stolen some ambrosia years ago!"

Shaking her head, Xena relaxed the slightest bit, and when Callisto responded, quickly broke the lock of their blades, dancing away from the goddess’ downstroke.

"Oh, very good, my sweet."

Xena trilled out her battle cry.

Callisto responded with a scream.

Soon the sounds of metal on metal overtook even wailing of the wind, which seemed to howl its approval of the combat taking place.

Xena ran toward Callisto, and, at the last second, flipped high above her head, forcing the goddess to turn and put her back to the trees. The Conqueror landed solidly, knees flexed, her blade ready to engage the enemy.

Grinning, Callisto waggled a finger in Xena’s direction. "As much as I’ve relished this little dance, my dear, I’ve allowed you to delay me long enough. I simply must dash. Business first, and all that." She pouted. "You’d think you could at least be happy for me, Xena. After all, I’m doing this for you."

"Oh you are, are you?"

"But of course, my darling! Without Hercules meddling in your affairs, all this will be yours!" She grinned. "And you’ll have me to thank for it." Dark eyes narrowed in challenge. "And what does your precious little Gabrielle have that could even begin to compete with that, hmm? All she offers is that scrawny little body of hers. While I, dear Xena, I offer you the world!"

While Callisto’s assertions weren’t making very much sense to a puzzled Conqueror, her words did serve to, at least in part, confirm some of the unbelievable stories Gabrielle had been telling her. Xena wondered anew if perhaps she hadn’t been right in her first assumption, that the two women were somehow in collusion with one another, working in tandem to instill some form of madness into her which would cause her downfall.

Shaking her head, she fought to regain her focus as Callisto stared at her, grinning wildly.

"So. Do I get a ‘thank you’ kiss?"

"Dream on, Callisto."

"I thought as much." The goddess flicked a bored finger, smirking as a bolt of blue light shot from it. "Just a little something to remember me by, darling."

Xena just managed to bring her sword up in time to deflect the blow. With blind luck, the Conqueror’s weapon sent the bolt back to its originator, blowing Callisto off her feet and knocking her into the very tree she had scorched earlier. The goddess slumped to the ground, unconscious, her leather smoking around the charred hole that was already starting to heal near her navel.

With steps borne of caution, Xena made her way to Callisto, prodding the fallen woman with the tip of her boot. When there was no reaction, Xena raised an eyebrow. "I’m gonna to have to remember that little trick."

Toeing Callisto once more for good measure, and nodding in satisfaction, Xena sheathed her sword and set off into the woods, keen eyes already scanning the leaf-strewn ground for signs of the two fleeing women.

***

When Alcmene stumbled for the third time in as many minutes, Gabrielle pulled the winded woman to a stop, looking at her with concern. "Are you alright?"

Alcmene leaned over, hands on her knees, trying desperately to get some air back into her straining lungs. "I think so. Just give me a minute to get my breath back." A bolt of pain shot through her middle. "Ow!"

"What is it? Are you alright?"

The pain receded. Then came again, doubled in its intensity. "I’m - ow! Not sure. I think the baby’s wanting out."

Gabrielle spun Alcmene around. "Are you sure?!"

"Well, I’ve never had a baby before, but that’s sure what it feels like."

The bard ran a hand through her hair. "Ok, ok. Um...we’ll just have to find a place for you to rest."

"That sounds—by the gods this kid has a tough kick!—really great right about now."

Nodding, the bard looked around. In the desperate flight, she’d led them down from the meadow and into a more rocky area bisected by a long ravine whose rocky walls towered menacingly over their heads. A narrow entrance was just visible to her, and she pointed, directing Alcmene’s gaze that way. "I doubt it’ll be very comfortable in there, but at least we’ll be out of the wind."

Gathering up her tattered skirt, Alcmene started forward. "What are we waiting for then? Let’s go!"

Shaking her head in bemusement, the bard broke into a quick trot so as to not be left behind.

***

"There," Gabrielle said, lowering Alcmene behind a natural rock barrier which would protect her from the bright sun shining down from overhead, its heat magnified within the natural bowl-effect of the ravine. "It’s not exactly a luxury suite in Athens’ best Inn, but it’s the best we’re gonna get on short notice."

Alcmene smiled, and the bard could readily see the woman’s soon-to-be son in the open expression. "It’s a grand place, um...I’m afraid I don’t know your name."

"It’s Gabrielle," the younger woman replied, reaching down to clasp Alcmene’s hand. "Pleased to meet you."

"Not half as pleased as I am," Alcmene replied, returning the clasp. "I was sure my baby would never see life with that woman chasing after me. Do you have any idea who she was?"

"Her name is Callisto. Not a very nice person."

Alcmene laughed. "You can say that again. Those things she did...is she a god? Why does she want to hurt me? I’m sure I haven’t done anything to offend her. I’ve never seen her before today."

"It’s not you. Not really. It’s her. She’s a very angry, very bitter woman."

"Well, your friend is very brave, staying behind like that to fight her so that I could get away. I hope she can find us. I’d like to thank her."

"She’ll be here." I hope. Oh, Xena, please be careful.

"You have a lot of faith in her."

"She’s worth it."

Alcmene nodded at the conviction in her young savior’s voice, then gasped as she felt something decidedly strange. "Gabrielle?"

Turning her head from the entrance, the bard noted the unusual expression on the other woman’s face. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"I - I, um, think my water just broke."

Gabrielle squatted quickly. "Please tell me you’re kidding."

"Well, unless a spring suddenly opened up underneath me, I’m not kidding."

"Oh, boy."

Suddenly, a slight shuffle was heard from the entrance to the ravine. Gabrielle jumped to her feet. "Xena!" she cried out in relief.

The Conqueror nodded, eyeing the place the Amazon had chosen, impressed despite herself.

"Go to your friend, Gabrielle. I’ll be ok here."

The bard bent down, placing a warm hand on Alcmene’s arm. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. The pain seems to have disappeared for the moment, and I think it’s best if I just tried to relax. The worst is yet to come, right?"

Smiling in empathy, Gabrielle gently squeezed Alcmene’s arm, and when the young woman nodded, rose back to her feet and stepped around the rock shelter, walking to meet Xena halfway between the shelter and the entrance.

"Interesting choice," the Conqueror commented.

"Well, I figured it was easily defensible." Hand to the back of her neck, Gabrielle looked around. "Or it would be, if Callisto wasn’t a god." She gazed back at Xena. "Speaking of which, where is she?"

"Taken care of. For now. And the woman?"

"Safe."

"For now."

Gabrielle tensed at the warning tone in Xena’s voice. "What do you mean?"

"Callisto told me some interesting things while we were engaged."

"Interesting, huh?"

"Very interesting."

"Would you mind sharing?"

Xena’s face hardened. "That would be a job better left to you, Amazon. What, exactly, happened when your ‘Warrior Princess’ met Hercules."

"Well, you - she - Xena joined forces with Hercules and Iolaus to defeat Darfus’ attack against a nearby village. Xena killed Darfus, but Ares raised him from the dead and made him more powerful than before."

"But they managed to kill him again."

"Exactly."

Xena nodded. "And then?"

Gabrielle looked at the dirt under her feet. "Well, you - she - was always pretty quiet about what happened after, but she did say that he unchained her heart." She looked up again, her eyes blazing, intense. "Xena, Hercules made you see that you didn’t need to walk in the darkness any longer. He showed you that it was okay to be good; to help others instead of hurting them. You thanked him and left to make your own path in this world. A path of goodness. You call it ‘The Greater Good’."

"That Xena never existed, Amazon. Except in your fevered imagination."

"You’re wrong, Xena. That person does exist." She lifted her hand, placing her fingers on the warm flesh of the Conqueror’s chest. "Right here. In your heart. All you have to do is let her out."

Teeth bared, Xena grabbed Gabrielle’s wrist in a harsh grip and pulled the younger woman’s hand away. "It appears Ares was right."

Gabrielle refused to let the pain show. "About what?"

"You are my enemy. Because if what you say is true, and this Hercules is allowed to be born, I will lose my throne. I’ll lose everything I’ve spent my life fighting to gain."

"Xena, it’s not like that..."

"Who rules Greece in your reality, Amazon?"

"Well, no one, but..."

"Exactly. You’ve come to take Greece from me." Flinging Gabrielle away, Xena reached down and removed a dagger from her boot. "That’s not going to happen."

Gabrielle jumped back to her feet, watching in horror as the Conqueror moved unerringly toward Alcmene’s resting place, her knife hand swinging with every step she took.

Looking around desperately, the bard stooped down and grabbed a rock that fit comfortably in her hand. Straightening and drawing back her arm, she prayed to Artemis for true aim, and let fly the rock, watching as it sped toward its intended target.

Who turned at the last possible second, and caught the rock with her free hand, her angry strength crushing it to dust as she stared at Gabrielle with murderous intent. After a moment, however, Xena opened her hand, let the dust fall to the ground, and turned back toward her primary goal.

"Xena! Don’t!!"

Then came a bolt of blue fire which hit the target Gabrielle missed, sending the knife spinning away to shatter against one of the ravine’s rocky walls. With the bolt came an enraged scream which echoed off the walls and caused both women to stop and turn toward the source of the sound.

"Isn’t that just like you, Xe-na. Kicking a woman when she’s down, then walking away without a second glance." Callisto grinned. "You honestly didn’t think I was going to let you get away with that little slight to me, did you?"

The Conqueror stood ramrod straight and said nothing, her empty hands clenching and unclenching with the effort to contain her anger.

Callisto turned her head slightly. "Well hello, Gabrielle! I just knew you had to be around here somewhere, sniffing up Xena’s skirts. I believe you’re holding something of mine?"

"Forget it, Callisto," the bard snarled.

"Wish I could, dear. But the truth is, I can never forget the look on my mother’s face as her dress caught on fire and took the rest of her with it. Every time I close my eyes, I can hear her screaming. Begging for someone to help her." The goddess rubbed her chin with the back of her hand as her eyes gained their focus once again. "So be a dear and bring me Zeus’ little whore, would you?"

"You’ll have to go through me first, Callisto," Gabrielle warned.

The goddess beamed. "I was hoping you’d say that!"

A lick of fire shot from Callisto’s fingertip, but the bard was prepared and dropped to the ground, rolling to avoid the blow.

Missing its target, the bolt struck the rock shelter, and Alcmene screamed as the boulders exploded, littering her body with jagged pieces of debris.

Stopping her desperate roll, Gabrielle reversed direction and dove behind the shelter, covering the cowering woman’s body with her own as the air continued to rain rocks down over her.

Callisto’s laughter echoed again as she turned her head. "And here’s a little something to pay you back for being such a naughty girl, Xena."

Another bolt flew.

The Conqueror just managed to deflect it with the chakram that appeared in her hand.

Blue fire flicked again, and Xena deflected the bolt back to its owner, only to have Callisto dart out of the way. "Oh, Xena. You didn’t think I’d fall for the same trick twice, did you?"

Xena shrugged minutely. "It was worth a shot."

"True. It’s good to know some things never change, my darling. Always striving for the upper hand. Even in hopeless situations, like this one."

Both women released their weapons at the same time. Xena’s chakram impacted directly with Callisto’s energy bolt, and both combatants ducked as their own weapons ricocheted back on a direct path toward their heads.

The chakram hit the closest wall, showering sparks and loosening some small stones to roll to the floor below, before rebounding and heading back to its owner.

Callisto’s bolt hit the wall very near the entrance to the ravine, exploding the rockface and making the entire wall rumble threateningly.

Behind the much reduced rock shelter, Alcmene pushed Gabrielle off of her. "The baby’s coming!" she screamed, clawing at her hair in pain. "The baby’s coming!"

As Gabrielle scrambled over to try and help, Callisto laughed. "Did you hear that, Xena? Your destiny is being birthed before your very eyes. How many people can say that?" She grinned, raising her arms. "Last chance, Xena. You know what Hercules will do if he’s allowed to be born. Let me kill him, and the world will be yours!"

"And have to live knowing I’m beholden to you for my crown? Not a chance, Callisto."

The goddess shrugged. "Have it your way, then. I’ll just have to rule it without you."

She clenched her right hand tightly, then opened it to show a glowing, white ball which crackled, sending out fat sparks. "Goodbye, dear Xena. I wish I could say it’s been fun, but it hasn’t. Remember me fondly to Hades when you see him, won’t you?"

Thrusting out her hand, Callisto threw the energy ball.

Xena held her chakram in front of her, and when the blow hit, the power of it blew her off her feet, the chakram slipping from her hand as she flew the length of the ravine. She collided with the far wall and slumped to the ground, barely conscious.

"And now, for my prize. Come out, come out wherever you are, Alcmene. Time to face the music, my dear."

Gabrielle squatted next to the laboring woman, paralyzed with indecision. She desperately wanted to go to Xena, who lay unmoving against the ravine wall, blood streaming down her face, her eyes dazed and glassy.

Her absolute devotion to the greater good, however, stayed her steps, and as Callisto came closer, she rose to her feet and grabbed the chakram which had landed on what remained of the rock wall sheltering Alcmene. Her face was stony; her eyes, chips of jade shining with determination.

Callisto stopped, and smiled. "Well, well, well, if it isn’t brave little Gabrielle making a stand against the big, bad goddess." She cocked her head. "Put Xena’s toy away before you hurt yourself with it, hmmm?"

"You won’t win, Callisto."

"And just how do you intend on stopping me, dear?"

Behind her, Alcmene screamed in agony and Gabrielle turned, watching as the tendons in the woman’s neck stood out with the force of her pushing.

The bard turned back. "I’ll give up my life to see that Hercules has a chance to be born."

Callisto nodded. "And that’s exactly what I’ll take from you." She held out an arm, then dropped it suddenly, a slow smile blooming over her face. "No, killing you this way would be too easy." Reaching back, she pulled her sword and twirled it once. "I think I’d rather do this the old fashioned way. And this way, you and your dear dead husband can bear matching death wounds."

With a piercing shriek, Callisto attacked. Gabrielle defended herself, using the chakram to ward off the sword strikes that seemed to be coming from all directions at once.

Her arm burned in agony as the tip of Callisto’s sword traced a line across her flesh and, Alcmene’s pain filled cries pushing her on, the bard redoubled her efforts, deflecting stroke after stroke as she looked for a way to penetrate the goddess’ own defenses.

"Gabrielle! Help me! Please!" Alcmene wailed as her insides turned to flame with the strength of her contractions.

Gabrielle was weakening, and she knew it. Her heart was torn in too many directions and Callisto’s ambrosia-induced strength was becoming overwhelming. Gritting her teeth, her muscles bulging and straining with effort, she continued to deflect the blows until a lucky shot knocked the chakram from her hand.

"Game over, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle stood, chin lifted, staring Callisto straight in the eye as the goddess raised her sword for the final blow.

And then, with an almost mystic sense she’d developed over the years, she dropped flat to the ground as an airborne body flew directly over her and slammed, boots first, into Callisto’s stomach, sending the other woman flying across the ravine and to her own meeting with a rocky wall.

Xena landed, stooped, and grabbed her chakram, which she then flung at the barrier which had already been weakened by its meeting with Callisto’s bolt.

Thunder rumbled through the narrow ravine as the wall began to collapse, sending huge boulders toppling toward the ground at immense speeds.

Looking up, Callisto screamed.

Catching her weapon, Xena turned and pulled Gabrielle up from the ground. "Run!" she shouted to be heard over the din of the approaching rockslide.

"Not without Alcmene!"

"Run!" The Conqueror shouted again, giving the bard a healthy shove in the right direction.

The boulders began to close in, and Xena ran behind Gabrielle, who stopped, and turned. "You can’t just leave her there, Xena. She’s an innocent woman. Please. You have to help her."

Shoving Gabrielle once again, the Conqueror darted to her right, bent low, and scooped Alcmene up in her strong arms. The laboring woman squirmed in her arms, almost causing Xena to lose her balance and fall victim to the oncoming rocks. "Stay still, or I’ll kill you myself."

The threat was an empty one, however, as Xena regained her balance and just managed to step out of the path of destruction.

Like a flooded river, the boulders continued past, rumbling across the ravine floor until they met the far wall, where they crashed, were shattered, and lay still.

Then all was quiet, save for the dust that fell like rain, and the sounds of Alcmene’s urgent panting.

"Bring her over here!" Gabrielle pointed to a relatively level space of ground.

Xena walked her burden over to the area indicated, and laid her on the ground, before quickly turning away and scanning the area for Callisto’s presence.

Gabrielle quickly went to her knees, clasping Alcmene’s hand and wincing at the strength of the other woman’s ferocious grip.

"Oh gods...it’s coming...please...please...help me."

"Alright," the bard crooned, "it’s alright. Here, open your legs and let me see, ok?" Kneeling in between Alcmene’s cocked legs, she saw the head beginning to crown. "You’re doing great, Alcmene. I can just see the head. You’re doing fine."

"Can I push?"

"Yes. Give it all you’ve got. A great big push. Now."

As Alcmene bore down with all her might, Gabrielle slipped her hands under the head as it came forward, quickly followed by the rest of the body.

Alcmene screamed out her relief and Gabrielle laughed, holding the squirming infant in her hands. "It’s a boy!"

"Is he...is he alright?"

Confirmation was heard in the form of a loud, indignant wail.

"Oh, thank the gods."

At the sound of the infant’s cry, the Conqueror spun, staring down at the tiny, squalling body in Gabrielle’s hands. Her hand slowly went to her chakram and she took it from its hook on her leathers, her intense gaze focused on nothing but the child. The child who would take away everything that she was, everything she’d fought for, everything she’d gained. The sounds, scents and sights of many a bloody battle raced behind her eyes, her body responding to war’s seductive call.

The baby wailed again, shaking his fists, and Xena blinked, coming back into herself. He looked up at her with large, unblinking eyes as she remembered other times, other infants. The one she saved, causing her to walk the Gauntlet of her own army’s men. Her own son, Solon, placed in the strong, capable arms of the Centaurs as the son of their hero, Borias; only to be killed by the Amazons in their war with the Centaurs; a war that only ended with Velasca’s death and the decimation of the Amazons as a race.

She’d never allowed herself to mourn the loss of so tiny and so precious a life, knowing that to do so would only distract her from her ultimate focus: the conquest of Greece.

She allowed her gaze to move from infant to mother. Alcmene stared at her, her expression unsettled. Why should I allow your son to live when I let mine die without even a tear to mark his passing? Does the child of Zeus deserve more of a right to live than the child of a monster?

The Conqueror looked back at the tiny innocent held so tenderly in the arms of his deliverer. Will you be my ending? Or truly my beginning? If I lose all that I am, what is there to be gained?

She fingered the chakram absently, callused thumb playing over the razor-sharp edge, wondering why such a simple decision had become suddenly so hard.

Gabrielle eyed the Conqueror warily, unable to read the display of emotions in the chiseled face. "Xena?"

Xena slowly raised her gaze to meet deep green eyes looking calmly back at her. So many emotions in those beautiful eyes. So many. What do you see when you look at me, Amazon? Do you see the person I am? Or do you see the person you think I could become.

"Who are you?" she asked finally. And, more importantly, who am I?

"I’m Gabrielle. A woman who loves you."

"You...you love me?"

Nothing but absolute devotion shone from Gabrielle’s face. "Yes. And I always will."

"The greatest weakness."

Gabrielle shook her head. "No. The greatest strength Your greatest strength."

The Conqueror shook her head once, as if to negate the words, and, raising her weapon, stepped forward, her jaw tightly clenched, teeth gleaming white in the dusty air.

With a groan of pain, she brought the chakram down.

And severed the cord still tethering the infant to his mother.

Reaching down, she ripped a piece of fabric from Alcmene’s tattered skirt and quickly tied off the stump of the cord before stepping back once again, powerful emotions finally freed from the prison where she’d kept them locked tightly for so many dark and dangerous years.

The emotions overwhelmed her and brought the mighty Conqueror to her knees, her chakram falling from her hand to land on the dusty ground.

Gabrielle quickly handed Hercules off to his mother, then rushed to kneel before her soulmate. "Xena?" she asked again, quietly.

Xena’s head slowly lifted. In her eyes, a lost, broken soul cried out for comfort, and this Gabrielle gave without reservation, pulling Xena into a tight embrace and resting the taller woman’s head on her shoulder. "I’m here, Xena. I’ll always be here. Always."

After a moment, Xena pulled away. The smile she mustered was tiny, but it managed to reach her tear-sparkling eyes. "Thank you, Gabrielle," she whispered hoarsely.

The bard sobbed at the sound of her name, and reached up, gently guiding Xena’s lips to hers in a kiss of absolution, of devotion, of deep and utter love.

And the world went black once again.

***

When Gabrielle regained consciousness, it was to the sensation of warm, soft lips still pressing against her own. Lips whose taste was finer than the best Grecian wine, attached to a face that was more beautiful than any Olympian goddess, and a body that was just as stunning, and just as...naked?

The bard kept her eyes tightly shut, her hands continuing their unknowing trek down Xena’s smooth-muscled back. Yup. Naked.

Large hands roaming with sensual grace down her own body convinced Gabrielle that she was in a similar state of undress.

And laying on her back.

Partially covered by a thick, soft fur.

Her eyes popped open, huge with shock as her mind finally caught up to her raging hormones.

Loathe to break the passionate kiss, but helpless to do anything else, Gabrielle pushed Xena away and scrambled up from the bedroll, her entire body turning in circles as she scanned the wooded clearing she suddenly found herself in.

High above her head, birds twittered cheerfully, courting in the leafy canopy that sheltered the sun dappled grove. Off to her left, Argo threw her head and whinnied a cheerful, if grass-strewn, greeting her way. Behind her, a well-laid campfire burned its last, the fragrant smoke tickling her nostrils pleasantly.

She looked back down to see Xena, half on the bedroll, looking back up at her, an expression of tolerant amusement covering her face. "Was it something I said?" the low voice rumbled.

Gabrielle blushed a brilliant pink, and she shook her head, still unable to believe she was seeing what she thought she was seeing. "Um, no."

The warrior nodded slowly, her face creasing into a half smile. Gabrielle’s breath caught in her throat as the love shining from Xena’s so-pale eyes caused her heart to skip several beats.

Slowly lowering herself to her knees, Gabrielle reached out a shaking hand. Xena grasped the hand immediately, bringing it to her lips and brushing a gentle kiss against the bard’s palm. "Are you alright?" she murmured, using her free hand to tenderly cup Gabrielle’s cheek, trying to read the emotions flashing through the vibrant eyes.

"I’m...not sure. I think so. It’s just..." She took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "I love you, Xena."

The smile she received made her heart soar. "I love you too, Gabrielle."

"Say it again."

"I love you?"

"Well, that too. But I really meant my name. Say my name again?"

Xena’s eyebrow hid beneath her bangs, but she complied. "Gabrielle."

And suddenly found her arms full of warm, laughing, and crying bard. "By the gods, it’s good to be home!"

Xena allowed herself to be bowled over by her young lover, not understanding in the least what had just happened, but happy that, whatever it was, Gabrielle was warm, and safe, and whole in her arms.

As fervent lips melded to hers, the Warrior Princess stopped thinking of anything at all, and simply surrendered to the boundless love that enveloped her, heart and soul.

And somewhere, high above, the Fates continued their spinning, reweaving a world that had been torn asunder by hatred, and mended by the strongest force of all.

Love.

The End

#xena #xena warrior princess #xwp #femslash #xena/gabrielle #xena/gabrielle fanfiction #mature #author: swordnquil

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thedeaditeslayer · 5 years

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[Exclusive Interview] Writer Scott Duvall talks Comic Horror Mash-up Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-Tep.

There’s never been a better time to see your favorite comic book characters meet on the big screen than right now. However, if you’re a horror fan, now is also a great time to see some of your favorite big screen characters meet on the comic book page. I’m talking about Dynamite Comics’ groovy and gory mashup series, Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-Tep, a horror adventure that brings two of Bruce Campbell’s greatest characters together for a high-stakes battle against the undead.

We got the chance to talk to Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-Tep writer Scott Duvall about horror comics, cult films, and what makes both of franchises so resonant with horror fans. Check out what he had to say below, and once you do, check out the conclusion to Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-Tep, out this Wednesday, June 5th!

Grant DeArmitt for Nightmare on Film Street: How did this comic come about? Whose idea was it to bring Ash and Elvis together and when are they getting their Nobel?

Scott Duvall: I admit, I came up with the idea so to see it become a reality is truly a crazy dream come true! I had approached Dynamite about doing this as a crossover a few years ago shortly after I noticed that two Bruce Campbell characters had crossed paths before in Dynamite’s Army of Darkness/Xena crossover series. That sparked the thought that Ash should meet Elvis from Bubba Ho-Tep and from there the concept was born and I was on a mission. Once IDW got into the Bubba Ho-Tep comics business, courtesy of creator/writer Joe R. Lansdale, it made the dream a little more within reach. I took another stab at it and, luckily, they went for it!

NOFS: What connects the two stories? Has Bubba Ho-Tep been a Deadite all along?

SD: To answer the second question, no, Bubba Ho-Tep, as he was dubbed by Elvis, was a mummy when we met him in the original Lansdale story and movie adaptation, and he died a mummy, so the original story we’re telling here changes nothing of what happened in previous events. But more on Bubba later… After hearing about Elvis supposedly taking down a mummy in Texas, he can’t resist hitting the road to see for himself if there’s any truth to the rumor. So while these two deal in the supernatural, there isn’t anything mystical about their worlds crossing over, they already exist on the same plane of reality.

NOFS: Can you cue us in on the dynamic between Ash and Elvis? What do our heroes think of each other?

SD: I think what connects these two characters and their worlds is the fact that Ash and Elvis encounter some crazy, inhuman, obstacles in their individual journeys, and so they can relate to each other on that level. At first they both question the others’ sanity and so there’s some personality conflicts to iron out, but once they realize they’re both on the same team, it doesn’t take long for them to find common ground, and by issue three they feel like old friends who have always known each other.

NOFS: As for our villain, how did he survive the events of Bubba Ho-Tep?

SD: He didn’t! However, Bubba has risen again, and this time he’s powered by the Evil Force that Ash is real familiar with, making Bubba a half-mummy/half-deadite hybrid, and twice as dangerous, sucking innocent souls left and right.

NOFS: These are two franchises with loyal cult followings. What goes through your mind as you approach writing them?

SD: As a fan myself, I strive to live up to fan expectations and not squander this opportunity we’ve been given to try and tell the best story imaginable of the first meeting of these two beloved franchises. I knew both of these worlds colliding could work, and that when you’re playing with properties that have built-in audiences, you absolutely must take into account the history of the characters and what makes them tick. Particularly when it comes to the way they talk and interact with each other, that was very important to me to get right. Making sure Ash and Elvis sounded like themselves was crucial to getting fans on board because as soon as you lose their voices, you lose the reader, so it had to have that level of authenticity. Listening to them talk on a loop as I viewed the movies back-to-back-to-back during the plotting phase really helped to get their established voices in my head as I dove into the script.

NOFS: As someone who gets to experience these franchises like no one else, what do you think makes a cult classic?

SD: For me, it really comes down to the characters and their enduring personalities. I’ve seen a lot of different fandoms in the time I’ve been involved in entertainment, and the passion these followings have is a pretty powerful thing to witness, especially when you’re near the epicenter of something that’s bigger than yourself. It’s powered by people in large numbers who revolve their lives around something and now conventions and social media are making it easier for these fans to find each other. But again, it comes down to creating characters that people care what happens to them and we never tire of. Ash and Elvis certainly fit that bill.

NOFS: The art in this book is by the fabulous Vincenzo Federici. What makes his art special, and where do you think we see that in this comic?

SD: I got so incredibly lucky with my art team on this book! I really think it’s one of the most distinct looking Army of Darkness crossover comics I’ve ever seen so I’m proud that it stands out, and that’s in part thanks to Vincenzo’s incredible skills. He was really egging me on to keep raising the stakes and try to incorporate some monsters for him to draw, and so I rose to the challenge and the series is so much better for it, which you can really see his influence on the direction we take in issue 3. He not only can draw some scary looking mummies, but also injects a lot of visual humor into the work, as well as dazzle with some of the most amazing fight choreography I’ve ever seen illustrated. Not only did I luck out with Vincenzo, but the colors by Michele Monte are a stand-out too. He brings a lot of intensity to the pages with his striking color palette and the perfect moodiness to each scene. I also am fortunate to be working alongside my friend Taylor Esposito who it’s been said before, is one of the best letterers in comics working today. He brings a lot of personality to the project, catering captions to the characters and giving the reader just a little something extra to add to their enjoyment. We’re all fans so we’re trying to bring our A-game and live up to the source material.

NOFS: The last issue of Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-Tep comes out June 5th. Without spoiling the ending, can you give us a glimpse into the future of Ash & Elvis’s comic book adventures?

SD: The final showdown takes place in Graceland, except Elvis’ private jet just took a nosedive into the dining room and the mansion is now engulfed in flames. I will say for Bubba Ho-Tep fans that a familiar character will pop up during a crucial moment and it’s probably not who you’re thinking!

NOFS: And for the Scott Duvall fans that are born of this book, what other books of yours can Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-Tep readers check out?

SD: The last series I wrote was a sci-fi mini called Narcopolis: Continuum published by Heavy Metal, and I’ll actually be re-teaming with the artist Ralf Singh on another story for Heavy Metal Magazine in the near future which is one of the craziest things I’ve ever written, but Ralf said he wanted to draw a T-Rex. I have a couple other projects in the pipeline, but nothing I can talk about just yet. Stay tuned!

NOFS: Finally, not everyone who wants to get into comics is into superheroes. What horror comics can you recommend, both past and present, to bring horror fans into comics?

SD: Great question! My #1 recommendation for horror comics is Locke & Key. If you haven’t yet checked that out, do yourself a favor and get it. I used to hand my copy of volume 1 to friends and co-workers in order to get them hooked just so I would have someone to talk to about L&K. That series is so well done on every level from the compelling narrative and cast of characters to the beautiful artwork on every page. Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodríguez created a true modern masterpiece!

As we mentioned earlier, the conclusion of Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-Tep arrives in stores everywhere this Wednesday, June 5th. You won’t want to miss the conclusion of this epic horror mashup, so head to your local comic book store ASAP!

#Scott Duval #Army of Darkness #Bubba Hotep #comic #Dynamite Entertainment #Dynamite Comics

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luck-13 · 6 years

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Thank you so much for all the information.I knew about the director, but not about Christa Winsloe, who wrote the original play, or the fact that the writer was a lesbian. I will look for your blog, as I am interested in learning more about this film. I really appreciate if you recommend readings related to Winsloe's lesbianism and the fact that her play was inspired by her own life. Also, When the play was first published and whether there is any translation of it into English. I am sorry, if I am asking much, but I am really interested to read more. I watched this movie 11 years ago, and rewatched it recently. I wonder why I couldn't see how special it was before. I also wonder if it was inspired by Clemence Dane's novel, Regiment of Women (1917), or maybe vice versa, in case that the original play was published before 1917? I see much similarity between the two story-lines, and scenes, and characters, though the essence of the love relationship between the pupil and the teacher is completely different in these two works, as in Regiment it is manipulative, abusive, and non-mutual. Have you read Regiment, or any article discussing the connection between the two works? I also love the music so much. One of my all time favorites, or maybe the best. I never get tired of watching your video. :)

(Source: another comment to my video (Mutual Love at First Sight - Mädchen in Uniform https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bJVYYV3dLE) by Xena Gabrirlle.)

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Hello again :D

At first, sorry, the title of the book in German is Das Mädchen Manuela, and this is the tag on dorothea-wieck but the link in description is correct.

Warning. The answer is very long, and it's muuuuch longer than I thought. I suppose, no complains from both sides (my writing and your reading of this is/will be enjoyable.) Mädchen in Uniform is my yyyeeess, but Christa Winsloe /with or without MiU is so much yes.

Also, sorry for the long links, but I think about shitty redirecting which Tumblr uses and if it's wrong all the links are not links.

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Yes, I can recommend you something. I'm one of lucky owners of Christa Winsloe's autobiography, but it's in German. (I have almost no German, but I've read a little with 100% help of Google translate and some other sites.) You can be a lucky owner too. eBay has the best variants to chose from, so search for Auto-Biographie und andere Feuilletons. (Yes, it's also about Christa's love of cars.)

Also, I would recommend Christa's (semi?)-autobiographical book Girl Alone about her lesbianism (including a way of finding her real lesbian self *(me) waving by pride flag*), but Amazon has no copies *Whyyyyy??? T_T* If I'm not mistaken it's in English originally (!!!). Winsloe was giving English lessons in her early 20's, so I think writing in English was easy for her.

SEARCH HERE: www.amazon.com/GIRL-ALONE-Christa-Winsloe/dp/B006G3YZB0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530739149&sr=8-1&keywords=Girl+Alone+Christa+Winsloe

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NOW, ARTICLES (not too much details, or it will be endless):

1) "The fact that her play was inspired by her own life."

Hertha Thiele's (Manuela) interview with a little bit about Christa. The article starts with info about the film, about Thiele & some info from two interviewers about Thiele's opinion on MiU, etc.

It has my most favourite Christa's quote (the only one known apart from what she wrote???) This is also about me. "The experience (life at boarding school Stift) is one which I had to write from my heart."

tlweb.latrobe.edu.au/humanities/screeningthepast/reruns/thiele.html

2) It was found via Tumblr. How first of two known Christa's partners/lovers/girlfriend's, Dorothy Thompson fell in love with Christa Winsloe and about their relationship. That Fateful Christmas, 1932 (my title.) There's also a few pictures with Christa. However, her portrait with autograph (!!!) is on another site too. I've found the photo a few years ago via Google, but source was different.

http://www.eclecticatbest.com/2012/12/dorothy-thompson-and-sinclair-lewis.html

3) Yesss, the photo with autograph is part of short biography in German

http://www.fembio.org/biographie.php/frau/biographie/christa-winsloe/

4) A little bit similar to #2. This is where I found my most favourite Christa's photo which is profile picture on YouTube.

http://thisrecording.com/today/2014/7/10/in-which-dorothy-thompson-could-not-forget-vienna.html

5) I suppose I stumbled upon this article long ago, but I don't remember reading it. At least, I remember this user. https://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2112318.html

!!!!!! 6) There somewhere were 2 parts of a very rare article. . . I have to find the parts again . . .

Yesss, Google search querie Christa Winsloe Erika Mann (the last played Fräulen von Attems who taught girls how to play in 1931 movie version) gave what we need, but the second part.

Title: Maedchen in Uniform. From repressive tolerance to erotic liberation. Author: B. Ruby Rich

So, here are both parts:

https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC24-25folder/MaedchenUniform.html

https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC24-25folder/MaedchenUniform2.html

7) Oh, and don't forget to read Wikipedia (Christa and MiU):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa_Winsloe

German version is probably more detailed, but (I forgot to mention) it has Christa "Kate" Winsloe. LOL, Käte is Manuelas Mutter in the book. Therefore Christa made part of herself related to Manuela through mother. (I can talk about this and other similar "coincidences" forever, just ask for more.)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mädchen_in_Uniform

Articles found after "asking" Google. I've never read them before or completely now.

8) Mostly about Christa + MiU, and a little about a few years after.

http://www.lesbengeschichte.de/Englisch/bio_winsloe_e.html

9) The movie (and the book) is based on the play "Gestern und heute" (Yesterday and Today). Something about it (15 pages).

https://www.academia.edu/1780103/_Yesterday_and_or_Today_Time_History_and_Desire_in_Christa_Winsloe_s_Mädchen_in_Uniform_._In_German_Life_and_Letters_65_2012_457-471

There are much more (something new, not repetitions), I suppose. You can simply search Christa Winsloe on Google, but I think this long list is enough.

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"When the play was first published and whether there is any translation of it into English."

Going back to article #1, "Winsloe was a lesbian. She wasn't even sixteen when she married Baron von Hadvany (There's an) - the marriage only lasted two or three days, yet they both remained in contact for a long time. I met the Baron shortly before Christmas in 1930 on the occasion of the Leipzig theatre premier of Rittner Nerestan (which I later called Gestern und heute - Yesterday and today)."

Sorry, I don't remember where I read it, but I distinctly remember that the first version of the book (Rittner Nerestan, as we can say judging by Thiele's words) had been written during Christa Winsloe's marriage.

Somehow another articles says that Christa had been married for years. In one article was info that she left Ludwig von Hatwany and moved ??? (place was mentioned). Anyway, I suppose the info that ex-husband helped Christa by money is true. Christa is a great sculptor and artist (drawings), so I'd like to use second part of a pun found on Tumblr (about her marriage). "The details are sketchy."

Christa was born on 23.12.1888, so she turned 16 in 1904. Therefore, according Hertha Thiele this can be the year.

However, the play on the stage was in 1930 (because it was a year before the movie), and final version was probably written in 1933 as Amazon says https://www.amazon.de/Das-Mädchen-Manuela-»Mädchen-Uniform«/dp/3861995387 Despite of this, my memory gives 1932 as the year. Maybe it's just the difference between finished book and publication.

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The book yes, is translated, but I have no idea if the first play survived ever the way as it was in German.

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"I am sorry, if I am asking much." LOL, don't be sorry, another Christa's new fan. Honestly, because of my habit of trying to talk (to almost everybody who asking/commenting about MiU which has happened rarely) about Christa, I suppose there are ~5 of females who became her fans, and you are the 6th :D

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"I watched this movie 11 years ago, and rewatched it recently." Wow, 2007??? You were lucky.

I watched it on 11.24.2011 only because I wanted to watch teacher/pupil, but couldn't believe this was possible. Then I found MiU on one of the lists on Wikipedia (lesbian movies, not LGBT ones, I'm sure). Happily, it's not tragedy, so I decided to watch.

I've watched parts too many times to count, and even listened to parts as audio. German pronunciation is sooooo beautiful.

" . . . and rewatched it recently. I wonder why I couldn't see how special it was before."

Agree 100% with part since "how". The reason why MiU is special for me is it's higher rated, boarding school-included (instead of public one), more emotional (Manuela's part before she tried to end her life) version of my since 11 to 13 y.o. past.

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"I also wonder if it was inspired by Clemence Dane's novel, Regiment of Women (1917), or maybe vice versa, in case that the original play was published before 1917?"

Hmmm . . . We both have no idea now. If Hertha were right, The play was written in 1914, so . . . maybe?

Honestly, I haven't even heard about this book. BUT it's seems like a challenge forms to try to turn "manipulative, abusive, and non-mutual" relationship into completely opposite. *rubbing hands in anticipation*

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regiment_of_Women Ooooh YES, yes, yes, this book is very similar to MiU, and now I have some ideas even before reading. Thanks :DDD

● Update: YAY, I’ve found Regiment of Women by Clemence Dane on Play Books (complete and free), thanks to gutenberg.org 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁 (This is also a separate post with main tag #XenaGabrielleAsk)

Also, I've found (accidentally) own post and your mentioning the book probably solves the mystery I've been unable to solve until now. Manuela is in love with the Headmistress??? Yes, you read these words exactly. (Sorry, my English wasn't good then, and I can't correct the post :( ) http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/post/58436934031 (Whole part of an article with my comments.)

ALSO, later update: http://middleagedwomen-curves.tumblr.com/tagged/tell-me-your-story/chrono It's females' stories about their crush/love, and a lot are teachers ❤ It's sooo interesting and also some can be used as ideas.

Ooooh, thanks to Instagram there are some similar great pictures, but Google found one as text also. Imagine Fräulein von Bernburg's doing this to Manuela. "Before you kiss a girlーgrab her waist, pull her closer to your body, look into her eyes, look at her lips while you're biting yours look back at her eyes again, grab her face gently, then slowly lean in and kiss her. It'll drive her crazy, I promise.

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Since you're MiU fan, I can recommend you something better than a manipulative teacher.

1) Have you watched Cracks? LOL, I have a blog about this too (but it hasn't been updated for a number of years.) http://cracks2009.tumblr.com No spoilers, except I'm 1000% sure main girl will never abandon her dearest teacher. Also, it's based on a book by Sheila Kohler. My long search gave nothing, so I had to buy this book. Somehow, eBay had a cheap brand new one.

2) How about Loving Annabelle? The info everywhere is that it's ~ based on/similar to/remake of MiU 1958, but nothing about 1931 version *angry* But it has some wonderful f/f scenes :DDD Alternative end is the only reason for YES, instead of *why the Hell it ended this way?*

3) Bloomington is about a student and college teacher, but it has f/m in between because of almost "I hate you" (not at the same time), and split up in the end :(

4) Olivia, 1951? It starts almost like MiU when main character is a new pupil at boarding school. BUT no teacher/pupil kiss, only pupil/pupil. However, the girl loved her teacher so much, and was looking at her (when she was reading to the girls) almost like Manuela.

I watched it once in 2012? (and maybe rewatched lesbian parts later), but it's what I remember about lesbianism there.

● Update 5) I've found a post here on Tumblr and remembered Matilda by Roald Dahl Great Children's book. There's also movie, but I've not watched it completely yet. (No spoilers, if you don't know, but it's the happiest ending of sll teacher/ pupil f/f if a few I've ever read or watched.)

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"I also love the music so much. One of my all time favorites, or maybe the best."

YES?! YES? I thought of commenting that it's probably my most favourite classical piece. GREAT.

● Update: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZdiY1pTaR4 is the video the music is from.

Aaaand: https://dorothy-zbornak.tumblr.com/post/57970831013 This is version as a song in Polish :D I added original lyrics and translated it in English (I understand all (except one line) finally.)

Oh, also there were periods in the past (during a few years until a couple of years ago) when I listened to song version many times + music version too (but much less times) on repeat and am listening now too *happy*

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"I never get tired of watching your video. :)"

THANKS. I tried (but there's one grammatical error, unfortunately).

I thought I did it in another video, but this one has it more than one timeーlonger kiss.

Part from Hertha's interview, "When the film went to Romania, a letter came from the distributors there, asking `Please, twenty more metres of kissing'." I wanted this too, since the moment I'd read these words, and I found a way (not 100% realistic as it's clearly a freeze frame at least one time, but yes, it IS longer.)

You can look for more MiU-related videos on my channel. I have some fan-fictions/drabbles about Elisabeth (von Bernburg)/Manuela too.

http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/tagged/fanfiction (there are some that aren't mine, though), but I can look and give link to each if you need.

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Oooh, have you ever watched Anna and Elisabeth? The same Wieck and Thiele as lead characters. My 2nd of top 3 lesbian films (and I wrote fan-fictions too; because these two must be happy together as characters).

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● Update: The end of your first comment, "the maker/director was a woman and as some scholars suggenst probably a lesbian herself." I forgot about it/forgot to comment. Yes, you're right about Leontine Sagan (Schlesinger // Wikipedia confirmed I remember right.) I read about it somewhere. Also, she played everybody's favourite E.v.B on stage. There are 2 posts from her book Light and Shadows (bought and upload by a girl from East Russia.) http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/post/114300921565 http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/post/114397860189

She's much better looking than masculine 50 y.o. Meltzer? in the very first version in 1930 on stage in Leipzig (Hertha Thiele was chosen by Christa Winsloe for stage, and for the movie probably too, but there were many girls who tried, so Thiele wasn't sure (she would be chosen for the movie too).

I don't know if I'm the one, but Sagan as Bernburg look like combination of Dorothea Wieck and Christa Winsloe (oh, the director of the movie playing E.v.B. on stage look like E.v.B. in the movie + MiU's author). Great.

Also, once I went a little too far and . . . (AU visual story (with terrible proportions due inability to correctly combine wide-height of original and new part(s)) based on Thiele's interview) http://dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com/post/87629548774

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Hope we'll talk more soon.

You can send me an ask (but it won't allow much of a text) http://dorothy-zbornak.tumblr.com/ask, or send a submission (longer) on dorothea-wieck.tumblr.com (I made ability to submit only there), but it will be answered on dorothy-zbornak.

If you have any better ways, I'm ready to think about any.l

#XenaGabrielleAsk #ask

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oosteven-universe · 5 years

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Crone #1

Crone #1 Dark Horse Comics 2019 Written by Dennis Culver Illustrated by Justin Greenwood Coloured by Brad Simpson Lettered by Pat Brosseau One more battle for Bloody Bliss! The Sword Saviour and Champion of Men once known as BLOODY BLISS is now nothing more than a reclusive old CRONE. Does she have the strength to answer the call for one last adventure? Megan might have blacklisted me at Dark Horse but I won't stop covering their books because they have some of the more interesting stories. I wasn't sure what to expect with this one though it sounded as if it were in the vein of Red Sonja or Xena so I wanted to give it a shot. I am so glad that I did too because the story Dennis weaves here is fascinating. The opening here is spectacular and it does precisely what it's supposed to do. It really captures the readers imagination and attention and engages the readers' imagination beautifully. It makes me want to see, learn and know more. The way that this book is being told is extremely well done. The story & plot development here is great in how it releases the information to the reader as well as shows this strong writing as the sequence of events unfold. The way that the book is structured has a great sensibility to it and it makes this more enjoyable to follow. The character development is interesting and I have to say that while we're just getting to know these characters what we see is so well scripted. With the pacing here we get to see not only how the story travels but we also get to see how the twists and turns help to create this fun and interesting ebb & flow to the book. This will definitely carve out it's own niche in the genre as it should create a nice large following of it's own. I think how we see Bliss live her day to day existence is one of the more interesting and unique aspects of characterisation that I have ever seen. It is these small things that really do makes the story what it is and that we see this through the layering of the book is magnificent. I think this might actually be one of the most RPG eaque kind of books, no it's not D&D but it's close in how it feels, that manages to transcend everything you've thought you knew. Making it a beautiful but deadly addition to (Jurassic Park) your reading pile. The interiors here are interesting to say the least. I wasn't quite sure what to expect though Justin's work on Stumptown was superb so I wanted to see what he would do here. There may be a very comic book style to the work but I am always amazed by how Justin is able to bring these faces and facial expressions to us showing all that emotion and feelings. The way we see the composition inside the panels that show us this great utilisation of depth perception and scale. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a great eye for storytelling. The colour work is really nicely rendered here. There is some really nice use of base colour and then the hues and tones within it to create the shading and shadow work. There is just something so gosh darn charming about what we see here. Bliss having been a warrior in the past, living alone out in the wilderness with nothing but the past to haunt her is something that draws us to her. It makes us want to know her more. While we learn about her, her past and her present and her desire for the future things are never that straightforward or what they appear to be. I am enamoured with the writing here and how the visuals enhance the story so beautifully. This is going to be my surprise hit of the week.

#comic books #comics reviews #dark horse comics #dennis culver #justin greenwood #brad simpson

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shannrussell-blog1 · 5 years

Photo

The Bibbulmun Track is one of Australia’s best long-distance hiking tracks, and my personal favourite. If you experience the Bibbulmun for yourself, then you will understand why.

Winding its way for 1003kms through WA’s diverse land of bush and coastline, it has 9 sections with towns along the way, which gives you the chance to refuel before hitting the track again.

The trailheads are at Kalamunda (northern end) and Albany (southern end) with the majority of people starting their journey from Kalamunda in the springtime following the wildflower season down to the south.

I’ve hiked sections of this track over many years. In autumn 2017, I hiked end-to-end starting from Albany and finishing in my childhood hometown of Kalamunda. On this trip, I raised funds for the Bibbulmun Track Foundation and filmed a documentary about the track at the same time.

Here’s a rundown of my experiences on the track, and my advice to anyone who is planning this journey for themselves.

Hiking the Bibbulmun end-to-end is a long but worthwhile experience.

History of the track

The track came about to encourage more people to venture into the bush back in the early 1970s. By 1979, it was officially opened as a long-distance trail, though it was only 650kms.

As the years have moved along, so has the track with help from the Foundation and over 380 volunteers who care and maintain the track to an extremely high standard.

In 1994, the track saw a massive upgrade with the installation of shelters, rain-water tanks and drop toilets placed at campsites dotting a day’s walk from each other. This was inspired by the famous Appalachian Trail in the US.

Over the past few decades, the track has received some upgrades to make it easier for hikers to attempt.

How the Bibbulmun got its name

The Bibbulmun name comes from the local indigenous tribe of the area known to travel long distances through the bush for ceremonial gatherings.

The signs you follow is known as the Waugal (serpent) meaning soul, or spirit or breath. These bright fluorescent yellow triangles are nailed to the trees for easy spotting.

This is a fully signed track though it is recommended to carry an up-to-date map and guidebook. If you are interested in learning more about the history of the track go to the foundation site here.

These are the trail markers you should be following along the way.

Distance options

Although it’s a long-distance track there are various ways to experience it. Many hikers go on day walks, overnighters or even longer sections as there are some great access points along the way to hop on and off the track.

One hiker I met was from Melbourne, and he loved he could come over and spend a week or two on the track, and then come back another time to complete another section.

The Bibbulmun can be a day trip or a multi-day hike depending on what you want to do.

When to hike

Best time to hike the Bibbulmun track is between April and October. Summer is not recommended as Western Australia has extremely hot dry summers and is high-risk fire season. There’s a chance of no water, with many days the temperatures up in the high 30’s, and some days reaching 40°C and over.

Over the years, many a shelter has sadly become the victim to fire. Just this summer there was a fire that swept through the northern section of the track resulting in the loss of a shelter. A hiker also had to be helicoptered out literally minutes before it burnt down.

April to October is the best time of the year to experience this walk.

Duration of the track

The track is 1003km long and is predominantly out in the bushland. Though you do get 9 towns as points of contact where you will enter back into civilisation. This provides the opportunity to shower and wash your clothes, re-stock your supplies, have a cold beer and sleep in a real bed.

The average time a hiker would take on the track is around 6-8 weeks or 45-60 days. I took 54 days and would have loved more. Some people like the challenge of being the fastest, like one woman completing her journey in 15 days!

There is estimated to be over 100 hikers each year completing this track and becoming an end-to-ender. This is by either hiking it in one go or completing sections over a period.

There are lots of international hikers as well as Aussies on the track which is fantastic to see. When embarking on a journey like this, it’s extremely important to plan your journey well before heading out there to suit you.

This is a long hike that can take between 6 to 8 weeks to finish.

Preparation

The first thing to do before attempting this hike is to research and find out all you need to know about it. This is a wilderness track and one can expect to be anywhere between 10 – 15 days at a time between towns.

In some areas, there is no phone coverage, so it can be quite isolating out there. You do meet other hikers most days and share a campsite with them but there are times that doesn’t happen. This means that you need to be self-sufficient.

Self-sufficiency is essential, even though you will meet other people along the way.

Where to start your research

Where do you begin? Start at the Bibbulmun Track Foundation website here. This is set up for hikers heading out on the track. They have all the information you need including support to help get you ready for the journey ahead.

They also offer different workshops on everything Bibbulmun. Check out online groups, they are often run by hikers who frequent the track.

Training for the track

My other advice is to train! Get hiking fit! It’s so much more enjoyable and less chance of injury if you are fit and ready for your adventure.

It’s important to be ‘hiking fit’ before attempting a long walk such as this.

Shelters and campsites

There are 49 shelters and campsites in total along the way which are free to stay at. Each shelter is a 3-sided, either wooden or rammed earth structure, with sleeping platforms, a picnic table, tent sites and a drop toilet.

Most of the campsites in the northern section have fire pits but the southern section doesn’t due to restrictions.

There is a register book and a logbook for the hikers on the track. It is important to sign in so emergency services know who is on the track at any given time, also its a guide to how many people are using the track.

There are several shelters and campsites provided along the way.

Navigation

There are 8 guidebooks and maps for this track broken down into sections which you can check out here. It is extremely well marked though it’s advisable to carry the ones you need. You can purchase them online through the Bibbulmun Foundation or in various hiking stores.

Learn how to read a map and compass – don’t just put it in your pack. It’s a wilderness track and is important that you are responsible for your own safety.

Food drops and resupply

Let’s face it you can’t carry 2 months’ worth of food, so you need to organise food drops. This can be done by pre-planning your meals and supplies to coordinate with the 9 towns you pass through.

You can post them ahead of time to either the post office of the town or the accommodation you plan to stop at. Some people will do a drive down with their boxes, but Australia post works pretty well in my opinion.

Supplying yourself with food for the trip is something you need to work out in advance.

Food

I cooked and dehydrated most of my meals but there are great choices on the market for hikers like the Back-Country Cuisine range. I do love the Cinnamon Rice Pudding one!

Be sure you pack enough nutrient-rich foods as your body will be using a lot of fuel and will need to replenish.

I also added into my supplies Sports Nutrition Endurance Powder just for that little bit more. You’ll find by week 3 that you’ll be super hungry.

Dehydrating your food is a great alternative to pre-made freeze-dried meals. You can also food and other supplies into my 70L Rucksack (Osprey Xena). Here are all of the other essentials that I took on my trip:

My sleeping quarters for the trip – the Sea to Summit Specialist Duo.

Sleeping gear and shelter

Tent (Sea to Summit Specialist Duo)

Sleeping bag and silk liner (Sea to Summit Spark SP3 bag and Aeros Pillow)

Sleeping mat (Sea to Summit Comfort Light Insulator, best mat ever)

Appliances and tools

Battery charger (20000mAh), iPhone

Head torch

Pocket knife

A reliable cooking system is an essential piece of gear for the track.

Cooking gear

Stove and gas cylinder (JetBoil MiniMo)

Waterproof matches and lighter

Coffee press (for the JetBoil, it’s the best investment)

Pot and

Hydration

Hydration system – 3-litre capacity

LifeStraw

Katadyn Micropur Forte Tablets (recommended to treat all water)

Here’s a snapshot of all my gear laid out beside my pack.

Safety and navigation

Maps and compass

Suunto Traverse watch

Disposable hand warmers (for those extra cool nights)

PLB (ACR ResQlink)

Snakebite kit

It’s extremely important to bring a map – and learn how to read it!

Comfort gear

Sit-a-pon (waterproof mat to sit on)

One change of clothes and socks (put in a compression bag to save room)

Gaiters

Hiking poles

Insect repellent (Bushmans works best for the march flies)

Head buff

Mosquito Headnet

Wet weather gear

Warm windproof jacket

Crocs (sandals for camp)

Beanie and sun hat

Sarong (my multipurpose best item)

Toiletries (including Lavender oil – put a drop in some warm water at camp for bathing)

Getting to the track

For those hikers flying in, there is a regular 30-minute bus ride from the airport to Kalamunda. The buses leave twice every hour, so look for bus 296 and 299. If coming in from the city, its approximately a 1hr ride from the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre leaving every 10 – 15 mins.

The buses you can take are the 282, 283, 296, 299. If you need more up to date information, check out Perth’s transport website here.

There are a few ways you can go about getting to the Bibbulmun track.

Accommodation

In terms of accommodation, in Kalamunda, you can stay in the Kalamunda Carriages and 3 Gums Cottages which you can check out here.

They’re Bibbulmun track friendly with 10% discount if you’re a Bibbulmun Track Foundation member. If you’re interested in becoming a member and supporting the track, head here for more information.

In Kalamunda, near the Trail Head, is the Perth Hills Visitor Centre. Here is where you first sign in the log book to say you are on the track.

They are a great resource for information as well if you want to see more details you can head to their website.

Happy trails, everyone!

Aside from the Bibbulmun, what other long distance trails have you walked here in Australia?

The post Walking the Bibbulmun Track End-to-End appeared first on Snowys Blog.

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Historical War Epics of the 2000s Ranked

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“There was once a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it, anything more than a whisper and it would vanish.” These were the words spoken by Richard Harris at his most regal in Gladiator, adding some blockbuster poeticism to the democratic ideals of the Roman republic—a dream lost long before Gladiator begins. But he could just as easily be speaking about the beauty and grandeur of the historical epics which inspired Gladiator .

Decades before Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott reawakened that whisper to a mighty roar, historical war epics, from swords and sandals beefcake cinema to Napoleonic and Revolutionary melodramas, were the order of the day in Hollywood. Kirk Douglas’ Spartacus and Charlton Heston’s Ben-Hur were the superheroes of the early ‘60s, before the genre’s popularity receded to camp TV miniseries ignominy. Then came Gladiator (and to a lesser extent Braveheart five years earlier), and the bloated Hollywood historical epic was back. Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, muscular movie stars crossed swords, medieval chainmail was adorned, and Greco sandals were fitted. For a brief time in this century, bronze breastplates instead of capes were the costume of choice for Hollywood’s biggest leading men.

So with Gladiator turning 20 this summer, we felt it only fitting to rank the movies of that era from their worst to best. Note we are keeping this just to the movies released in the 2000s, but rest assured that if we included the final dregs of the early 2010s, Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood would be near the very bottom.

13. The Last Legion (2007)

The King Arthur myth remains a tantalizing conundrum for filmmakers in the 21st century. On the one hand, it is a set of legends so ancient they are all in the public domain many centuries over; on the other, no filmmaker or studio seems to know how to wrap their arms around them for a modern audience. Take for instance this dead-on-arrival action romp, The Last Legion. Three years after Disney’s more earnest attempt to remake Arthur in the blockbuster stylings of its day (more on that in a moment), Dino De Laurentiis produced this cheap, half-hearted failure that tried to find a middle way.

Centered on the dubious idea that Arthur is actually a Roman noble who’s come to save the Britons from themselves, and here is the son of the last Roman Emperor to boot, The Last Legion attempts to be a historical epic on a budget, but really plays like an expensive episode of Xena: Warrior Princess with Colin Firth standing in for Lucy Lawless. Granted this makes a certain type of sense given director Doug Lefler worked on that very show, but then that tells you everything you need to know about this less-than-magical experience.

12. King Arthur (2004)

One of the most obvious attempts to recapture Gladiator’s lightning in a bottle turned out to be among the worst in this misbegotten other “true story” telling of the King Arthur legend. Pivoting on this dubious marketing claim, Disney produced a movie which saw David Franzoni, the original screenwriter of Gladiator, take center stage without John Logan cleaning up his narrative lines and dialogue, and Clive Owen strike an unconvincing pose as a blockbuster leading man.

Loosely based on the final days of the Roman Empire’s rule in Britannia, the movie introduces Owen’s Arthur as a half-Roman officer who must reluctantly take his “Knights of the Round Table” (a dirty half-dozen) on One Last Mission™. It’s a development which bears a striking similarity to Tears of the Sun (2003), a movie Antoine Fuqua just happened to direct the year before helming this wannabe epic. Even with shots of Michael Bay-styled hazy spectacle centered around Hadrian’s Wall, and the unconvincing sight of Keira Knightley in blue war paint and leather straps as a pagan Celtic warrior—she’s Guinevere, by the by—there’s not a whole lot about this dull affair we would deem legendary.

11. Gods and Generals (2003)

This is a trickier one to include. While certainly a would-be historical war epic released in the 2000s, Gods and Generals is in earnest a prequel to producer Ted Turner and director Ronald F. Maxwell’s Gettysburg (1993). That earlier, superior film was a TNT miniseries, but it’s so enjoyable to history buffs that it eventually got a theatrical release… then came this.

If Gettysburg flirted with Southern Lost Cause revisionism, then Gods and Generals married the insidious mythology, settled down with it, and produced a cinematic ne’er-do-well as its legacy. Like the title suggests, this movie deifies Confederate generals Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall) and Stonewall Jackson (Stephen Lang) while completely sidestepping the reasons they were rebelling against the Union. It even incredulously features a scene where Jackson assures a Black man the Confederacy will one day emancipate its slaves.

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Worse than any historical revisionism though, this movie is just a tepid slog across 220 minutes, with neither the budget nor cast of extras needed to infuse its battle scenes with a sense of authentic terror or excitement. Instead “both sides” are played by dignified, middle-aged reenactors who display no fears or self-awareness about sacrificing their lives for a cause the movie is too scared to accept.

10. Apocalypto (2006)

Ah, the first Mel Gibson entry on this list is also the picture he made after achieving brief godlike status among evangelicals and Tinseltown accountants via The Passion of the Christ (2004). With that level of box office clout, Gibson could do anything he wanted. So, tired of giving the British a bad look with his epics, he decided it was the ancient Mayans’ turn.

To be clear, there are elements to admire about Apocalypto. For starters, Gibson committed to having the actors speak in the Yucatec Maya language, an audacious choice for a Hollywood film. It really does create an irresistibly immersive quality. Dean Semler’s cinematography also goes a long way in forging a sense of reality to what is essentially a chase movie wherein ancient villagers of a remote tribe in Central America are conquered and then pursued by Mayans who desire to use their blood for human sacrifice.

Yet the sparseness of the story also makes it easy to get lost in visuals that seek to not only ‘Other’ the ancient past, but to also condescend to it in a movie that lazily equates Mayans and Aztecs as interchangeable; it was the latter who celebrated large scale human sacrifice of captured enemies. More troubling though is this seems intentionally mangled for the shock twist ending where we see the ships of Hernán Cortés arriving a full 600 years early, giving this movie the queasy realization that the whole thing is a cinematic justification for the conquest and violence of the Catholic Conquistadors.

9. Alexander (2004)

Behold, here lies Oliver Stone’s Waterloo. A testament to the filmmaker’s love for antiquity, Alexander is a big beautiful mess that cannot be saved no matter how many times Stone drastically recuts it. Indeed, there are three radically different versions of this well-intentioned ruin, but despite what the director says, none of them offer redemption. Still, it’s probably better than you remember.

With painstakingly accurate costumes designed by Jenny Beaven, gorgeous production design by Jan Roelfs, and extraordinary music by the always noteworthy Vangelis, there is a lot to aesthetically admire. But it comes to naught in this overwrought and underwritten melodrama with an Irish brogue. Yes, as mercilessly mocked in the press in 2004, star Colin Farrell speaks with an Irish lilt as the Macedonian conqueror. But hey no one is speaking ancient Greek either, so who cares? I’d argue the bigger problem is whatever Angelina Jolie is going for as Olympias, Alexander’s mother by way of Count Dracula.

More unfortunate is how Stone’s screenplay and direction reduces Alexander to a whiny, petulant, slob who bursts into tears at the drop of a toga. Despite the admirable choice by Stone to depict Alexander’s undefined queerness and love for another man (Jared Leto), one cannot help but sense the filmmaker is also relying on reductive stereotypes of the LGBTQ community to write Alexander while turning the life of a man who captured one-third of the known world into a bad soap where all he really wants to do is crawl into bed with mommy. But hey, the accurate depiction of battle tactics at Gaugamela is nifty.

8. The Patriot (2000)

One of the rare films on this list not influenced by the glut of battlefield glory spawned from Gladiator, The Patriot opened the same summer as an attempt to slyly remake Mel Gibson’s Oscar winning Braveheart in American Revolution garb. Keep in mind that both Gibson vehicles are gussied up revenge thrillers, ahistorical melodramas, and arguable propaganda intended to vilify a British Empire already quite susceptible to critique. In fact, the only significant difference may be Braveheart was directed by Gibson who, for whatever his other faults, is a hell of a storyteller, and The Patriot is helmed by the guy who gave us the Matthew Broderick Godzilla.

In between disaster flicks, Roland Emmerich took this brief stab at period piece respectability while indulging every hammy and histrionic Hollywood cliché. We have the reluctant hero in one Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson); the wayward son who’s coming of age by proving he is exactly like the old man (Heath Ledger); and a generic British villain played by Jason Isaacs, whose nastiness errs closer to the Nazis in Occupied France than any specific Red Coat. Most incredulous though is that Gibson plays a South Carolina plantation owner who doesn’t own slaves. Yeah, that’s about as convincing as the rest of this laugh riot.

7. 300 (2007)

For many this is likely a movie where the memory is better than the film. Yes, 300 is loaded with ridiculously fetishized images of spears, corpses, and weird CGI deformities breaking like impotent waves across Gerard Butler’s chiseled abs. And sure, it spits out more quotable lines than Groucho Marx at a yacht club. But once you realize the best lines were taken from the actual historic record (at least according to Plutarch), and most of those shots already bopped in the much more digestible trailers, what we’re left with is a shallow, surface level video game cutscene that’s extended across two long hours.

In bite-sized clips, 300 can be an oblivious homoerotic gas, ready made for frat houses everywhere. Yet after a hundred minutes of Zack Snyder’s slow-motion ramping, and Butler screaming ferociously as he impales another inferior androgynous man with his flexing spear, it all wears a bit thin. It’s tendency to also indulge in fascist iconography of a godlike white civilization (that practices eugenics) shattering the faceless hordes of monstrous, dehumanized others hasn’t aged like fine wine either.

6. Troy (2004)

When 300 came out, many including myself found its CGI landscapes refreshing when compared to the hulking excesses of Wolfgang Petersen’s old-fashioned Troy. And 15 years later, the latter is still cheesier than Kraft blue box macaroni; Troy could even be mistaken for ‘50s kitsch if not for its own use of CG and copious amounts of gore and nudity. But now that Hollywood’s moved so far away from on-location shooting and grand scale moviemaking, all those alleged faults suddenly play like endearing virtues in this big goofy reduction of Homer’s The Iliad to an evening of WWE Monday Night Raw.

With a silly screenplay by David Benioff that does away with Homer’s gods, Troy lives or dies on its spectacle and charisma, and it’s got a thousand ships’ worth of both. Brad Pitt is at his hunkiest as Achilles, but the movie really belongs to Eric Bana as poor doomed Trojan Prince Hector. Essentially Benioff’s first attempt at writing Ned Stark before Game of Thrones, Hector is portrayed as a noble, ass-kicking lamb to the slaughter. Kudos also to Orlando Bloom for agreeing at the height of his popularity to play such an off-putting coward.

Still, it’s the superb action scenes that make Troy stand out. Unlike most contemporaries, Petersen shoots the action in steady, clean wide shots, revealing intricate and often dazzling fight choreography, as well as brutal smash ups between the Trojans and Greeks. With Peter O’Toole also on hand to give the movie just a passing sense of majesty as old King Priam, you can come for the thrilling Hector versus Achilles fight but stay for the aftermath where O’Toole kisses the hands of his son’s murderer. For a few minutes, Troy grazes its much desired greatness.

5. The Alamo (2004)

A film mercilessly mocked for not being remembered like its namesake, John Lee Hancock’s The Alamo deserves better. Easily more interesting than John Wayne’s 1960 snoozefest of the same name, The Alamo ’04 took the novel approach of dramatizing the actual historical record of the doomed effort to defend a Spanish mission-cum-fort from Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana’s army.

Hancock’s movie likewise uses a warts and all lens on its three heroes of William Travis (Patrick Wilson), James Bowie (Jason Patric), and David Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton), intentionally demythologizing all men, particularly the last one, while still giving Thornton several scenes of mythic quality. The actual siege of the Alamo is appropriately brutal and swift, if in a PG-13 sort of way, but it’s how Thornton plays Crockett serenading both the Mexican and Texan armies at dusk with a fiddle on a parapet that makes this movie poignant. Its qualities even overcome how tacked on the ending is where Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid) defeats the Mexican army at the later battle of San Jacinto.

4. The Last Samurai (2003)

Tom Cruise got in on the newest blockbuster fad of the current era, as is his wont, and did so with extreme conviction in The Last Samurai. The result was a satisfying and, at times, thrilling adventure picture that meshed Akira Kurosawa influences with the white savior storyline of Dances with Wolves. Problematic plotting aside, what makes The Last Samurai shine is the introduction of Ken Watanabe to American audiences as the true last Samurai.

Playing Katsumoto, a Samurai loosely based on the real-life Saigō Takamori, Watanabe dominates the movie all the way to an Oscar nomination as the lone warrior who will not get with the program. He rejects the rapid westernization of feudal Japan, much to the displeasure of his emperor and American and European patrons, thereby putting Katsumoto on a collision course with disillusioned U.S. Cavalry officer Nathan Algren (Cruise).

Nathan, by contrast, comes to Japan as a simple mercenary after years of bitter American Indian warfare, but he stays as a convert, adopting the Samurai’s code and fighting alongside Katsumoto in a doomed battle against the emperor’s army. It’s a familiar and ludicrous tale told with sincere grace and effective direction by Edward Zwick. Plus, the Samurai versus ninja sequence is just all kinds of badass.

3. Kingdom of Heaven (2005) – Director’s Cut

Most folks have never seen the Ridley Scott director’s cut of Kingdom of Heaven, which means most have never seen Kingdom of Heaven. Not really. There is of course a theatrical version, which in 144 minutes retains the narrative skeleton and action beats of the same story, but what’s missing is the film’s heart and much of its soul. When restored to its proper 190-minute length, Kingdom of Heaven is a visibly personal film to Scott, and an intoxicating one that gets swept away in a storm of medieval pageantry and pensive spiritual anxiety.

Loosely basing his film on the Fall of Jerusalem from Christian rule 1187—placing this between the Second and Third Crusade—Scott doesn’t care so much about historical fidelity as he does with creating a brooding snapshot of Western apprehension during the height of the War on Terror. He also makes a dense epic, captured in painterly cinematography and costumes, and stuffed with amazing performances. While Orlando Bloom is only serviceable as Balian de Ibelin, he’s surrounded by fantastic performers like David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Michael Sheen, Liam Neeson, Jeremy Irons, and Alexander Siddig. Of special note are Edward Norton as King Baldwin IV, the Leper King whom Scott and screenwriter William Monahan mythologize as a philosopher shrouded by a silver mask, and Ghassan Massoud as Saladin. Between the empathy of these two highly fictionalized crowns, a true Kingdom of God could’ve existed.

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The other standout that deserves special attention is Eva Green as Sibylla, the Christian princess who becomes queen. In the theatrical version, studio edits reduced her to a simple love interest; in the director’s cut she is touched with the tragedy of Medea and the madness of Lady Macbeth when her son (wholly excised from the theatrical cut) becomes king… only to discover he’s also contracted leprosy.

2. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

In almost any other year, Peter Weir’s meticulously crafted Master and Commander would’ve been the toast of awards season. Sadly, it was overshadowed by the splashier third chapter of Lord of the Rings. Nevertheless, you’d be hard-pressed, even 17 years later, to find a more intelligent and well-anchored epic than this naval adventure. Set during the midst of the Napoleonic Wars, and loosely based on several Patrick O’Brian novels, Master and Commander immerses viewers into the daily rigmarole of life in the British Royal Navy.

While Russell Crowe is appropriately dashing as the long-haired British captain in search of a French prize in the Pacific, it is the effect of a perfectly cast ensemble that gives Weir’s movie a lived-in authenticity. Paul Bettany stands out as the smart-to-bordering on insubordinate Irish doctor, but there’s also Max Pirkis as the young midshipman with a touch of destiny, or Lee Ingleby as the much older mid-level officer with the scent of weakness and specter of doom trailing in his wake. Hell, the entire collection of hard-weathered character actors comprising the crew buoy this movie to greatness.

With an interest in naturalism that outclasses almost any other movie of its kind, Master and Commander breathes its sea air in full, and rises and falls like the cresting waves of its ship’s victories and defeats. Bettany’s poor Dr. Maturin may never get to spend enough time researching the animals of the Galapagos Islands in the film, but his story among men-at-arms makes for its own fascinating study.

1. Gladiator (2000)

There is little that hasn’t been said about the glory and greatness of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, but here is space to revel again in how this movie’s deeds echo through eternity. When the movie came out, debuting as an unlikely leggy box office hit and an even unlikelier Best Picture Oscar winner down the road, it had its share of critics who dismissed it as an action trifle. Yet Gladiator’s legacy has outlived those naysayers. To be sure the movie paints in archetypes, but it distills them to their most visceral and operatic extremes in a passion play about three people: the unwanted son (Joaquin Phoenix), the loved surrogate child (Russell Crowe), and the much smarter daughter who must survive them all (Connie Nielsen).

With these people setting their drama on a stage no less grand than the literal Roman arena, Gladiator elevates the revenger’s story into something poetic and lyrical, thanks in large part to its highly literate screenplay. Though getting there took some time, the end result allows Scott’s visceral instincts to bask in the Roman sun and sand, and gives much meat for all of the principles to play with, making stars of Crowe and Phoenix, as well as a gnarly ensemble of acting statesman like Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, and Oliver Reed in his final, deliciously crusty performance.

Each of these elements build a sum greater than its already fine parts, leading to moments as satisfying as Crowe’s Maximus threatening Phoenix’s feckless Roman Emperor before an entire Colosseum, or as rapturous as Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard’s transcendent musical score ushering Maximus into the fields of Elysium. It pities and romanticizes them all, even Phoenix’s unloved tyrant, but it also bakes them in a cinematic confection so rich that the tigers and gladiatorial mayhem is just a blood-red icing on top. There’s a reason it spawned a decade of imitators and aspirants.

The post Historical War Epics of the 2000s Ranked appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/34bPTRE

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entergamingxp · 4 years

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20 years after its release, it’s time to play Daikatana • Eurogamer.net

John Romero and Ion Storm’s FPS Daikatana was released 20 years ago and it’s regarded as one of the biggest failures in video game history. Nowadays, we remember its infamous advertisement warning us that “John Romero’s about to make you his bitch,” its delays and its poor reviews. Maybe we also remember the controversies surrounding Ion Storm itself.

We remember its myth, but we don’t remember Daikatana. While Ion Storm expected to sell more than 2 million copies, Daikatana is a game few people actually played. For its 20th anniversary, it’s time to see what Daikatana has to offer now, beyond legends and prejudices.

In Daikatana three characters travel through time thanks to (and because of) the powers of a magic sword, and they fight to stop an evil corporation. The game features 24 levels split into four episodes set in different ages: a cyberpunk Tokyo, a mythical Ancient Greece inspired by Ray Harryhausen’s movies, a zombie-plagued Medieval Europe and San Francisco in 2030. Each era surprises players with its own environments, soundtrack, enemies and weapons, and almost every weapon (there are 25 in total) tries to do something different with an ingenuity more common at the time but usually lost nowadays. Not everything is equally brilliant, but from ricocheting energy orbs to a demon-summoning staff, from melee silver claws designed to kill Medieval werewolves to sci-fi freezing guns, there’s a lot of variety and distinctiveness that’s carried over to its multiplayer. It’s a massive experience that sometimes feels like four different games collected together.

Playing Daikatana now means rediscovering a forgotten relic from an experimental and transitional period at the end of the previous millennium. Visually, it’s reminiscent of 90s American comics books influenced by Japanese manga. Like 90s FPSs, it mixes enemies with hit-scan immediate attacks and enemies that shoot dodgeable projectiles. It’s frantic, especially in its multiplayer modes, and it’s filled with secrets that ask you to understand its levels as interconnected spaces. But it also has cutscenes, missions and objectives, and its level design is less abstract (and so less gameplay-driven) than Doom’s and Quake’s. Moreover, it tried to innovate its genre adding RPG elements and, above all, the sidekicks, two AI companions who follow the player during part of their adventure and fight by their side.

Sidekicks were one of Daikatana’s most advertised features and became the most criticised element of the game, because they often get stuck in the environment and they desperately throw themselves to their death. Since their defeat means an instant game over (and till its 1.1 patch Daikatana had limited saves), players mostly had to carefully babysit them and drag them alive to the end of each level. As Romero explained, sidekicks were designed to be a burden, and while the execution was tragically flawed and buggy, the concept was (and still is) brave: creating buddies who were not mere gameplay tools but digital people with their needs. Sidekicks need medikits, armors, weapons and ammunition and they were coded to act, run, crawl, climb and jump as a human player would do: a fake life we must live together with.

But the technology was not there yet.

Daikatana was the most tangible sign of the difference between the technology-driven id Software and the design-focused Ion Storm, and while its idealistic vision (“Design is Law” was Ion Storm’s credo) gave life to Deus Ex, it didn’t properly work with Daikatana, which looks like a child who has overgrown their clothes, the Quake 2 engine.

“Back in 2000 [Daikatana] was pushing the limits of [what] the Quake 2 engine was capable of and the knowledge of the programmers” tells us Daikatana modder Frank Sapone via email. Sapone played Daikatana at launch and he “liked it a lot,” so years later he started modding it to solve a few known bugs and crashes. “Once those things were resolved I became eager to fix as many bugs as I can to make it more enjoyable to a wider audience” he says, and so he went on working at a massive homebrew patch with other modders. The 1.3 patch makes Daikatana run on Mac and Linux, it makes sidekicks invincible on easy difficulty, increases their health, improves their AI and allows us to disable them entirely, plus it adds support for widescreen resolutions and improves online multiplayer.

Thanks to these modders, Daikatana is a totally playable game now. But, admittedly, the first impact is still awful. The opening cutscene is boring, unintentionally ludicrous and it lasts for ten minutes. It’s followed by the worst episode of the game, and I fear that many players got discouraged and never completed those early areas filled with unavoidable damage and tiny greenish enemies that you can’t distinguish in the green and brown environments. It’s hard and there’s a lot of frustrating trial and error. So, just use a cheat code and skip to the second episode: it’s probably the best part of Daikatana and it brings us to a totally imagined and unhistorical Ancient Athens with big levels, backtracking and throwing disks that bounce off walls before flying back to us Xena-style.

“The multiplayer […] is probably even more underrated” tells us u/dama__, moderator for the Daikatana subreddit. “It’s not as balanced as Quake 3 because of the many gimmicky weapons from the single player. […] It’s also harder to make a comeback compared to other arena FPSs because you gain experience points when you frag someone, leaving the other player(s) at a disadvantage. However it’s very fun. The movement is kind of like Quake 3 with more air control, and when you upgrade your speed you can really zoom around the maps.”

Daikatana was a failed experiment, but with its new patch you can actually enjoy what remains of its ambitious vision and, though it’s not an underrated gem or something like that, it has a lot to offer. You can buy it on Steam and GOG and you can find its 1.3 patch here (at the moment, I suggest you to use the more stable 32 bit version). If you want to play its multiplayer, you can either look for opponents in its dedicated Steam community or grab a couple of friends and try the campaign in coop mode.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/05/20-years-after-its-release-its-time-to-play-daikatana-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=20-years-after-its-release-its-time-to-play-daikatana-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

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shannrussell-blog1 · 5 years

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The Bibbulmun Track is one of Australia’s best long-distance hiking tracks, and my personal favourite. If you experience the Bibbulmun for yourself, then you will understand why.

Winding its way for 1003kms through WA’s diverse land of bush and coastline, it has 9 sections with towns along the way, which gives you the chance to refuel before hitting the track again.

Here’s a rundown of my experiences on the track, and my advice to anyone who is planning this journey for themselves.

Hiking the Bibbulmun end-to-end is a long but worthwhile experience.

History of the track

The track came about to encourage more people to venture into the bush back in the early 1970s. By 1979, it was officially opened as a long-distance trail, though it was only 650kms.

As the years have moved along, so has the track with help from the Foundation and over 380 volunteers who care and maintain the track to an extremely high standard.

Over the past few decades, the track has received some upgrades to make it easier for hikers to attempt.

How the Bibbulmun got its name

The Bibbulmun name comes from the local indigenous tribe of the area known to travel long distances through the bush for ceremonial gatherings.

The signs you follow is known as the Waugal (serpent) meaning soul, or spirit or breath. These bright fluorescent yellow triangles are nailed to the trees for easy spotting.

This is a fully signed track though it is recommended to carry an up-to-date map and guidebook. If you are interested in learning more about the history of the track go to the foundation site here.

These are the trail markers you should be following along the way.

Distance options

One hiker I met was from Melbourne, and he loved he could come over and spend a week or two on the track, and then come back another time to complete another section.

The Bibbulmun can be a day trip or a multi-day hike depending on what you want to do.

When to hike

April to October is the best time of the year to experience this walk.

Duration of the track

There is estimated to be over 100 hikers each year completing this track and becoming an end-to-ender. This is by either hiking it in one go or completing sections over a period.

This is a long hike that can take between 6 to 8 weeks to finish.

Preparation

Self-sufficiency is essential, even though you will meet other people along the way.

Where to start your research

They also offer different workshops on everything Bibbulmun. Check out online groups, they are often run by hikers who frequent the track.

Training for the track

My other advice is to train! Get hiking fit! It’s so much more enjoyable and less chance of injury if you are fit and ready for your adventure.

It’s important to be ‘hiking fit’ before attempting a long walk such as this.

Shelters and campsites

Most of the campsites in the northern section have fire pits but the southern section doesn’t due to restrictions.

There are several shelters and campsites provided along the way.

Navigation

Learn how to read a map and compass – don’t just put it in your pack. It’s a wilderness track and is important that you are responsible for your own safety.

Food drops and resupply

Supplying yourself with food for the trip is something you need to work out in advance.

Food

I cooked and dehydrated most of my meals but there are great choices on the market for hikers like the Back-Country Cuisine range. I do love the Cinnamon Rice Pudding one!

Be sure you pack enough nutrient-rich foods as your body will be using a lot of fuel and will need to replenish.

I also added into my supplies Sports Nutrition Endurance Powder just for that little bit more. You’ll find by week 3 that you’ll be super hungry.

My sleeping quarters for the trip – the Sea to Summit Specialist Duo.

Sleeping gear and shelter

Tent (Sea to Summit Specialist Duo)

Sleeping bag and silk liner (Sea to Summit Spark SP3 bag and Aeros Pillow)

Sleeping mat (Sea to Summit Comfort Light Insulator, best mat ever)

Appliances and tools

Battery charger (20000mAh), iPhone

Head torch

Pocket knife

A reliable cooking system is an essential piece of gear for the track.

Cooking gear

Stove and gas cylinder (JetBoil MiniMo)

Waterproof matches and lighter

Coffee press (for the JetBoil, it’s the best investment)

Pot and

Hydration

Hydration system – 3-litre capacity

LifeStraw

Katadyn Micropur Forte Tablets (recommended to treat all water)

Here’s a snapshot of all my gear laid out beside my pack.

Safety and navigation

Maps and compass

Suunto Traverse watch

Disposable hand warmers (for those extra cool nights)

PLB (ACR ResQlink)

Snakebite kit

It’s extremely important to bring a map – and learn how to read it!

Comfort gear

Sit-a-pon (waterproof mat to sit on)

One change of clothes and socks (put in a compression bag to save room)

Gaiters

Hiking poles

Insect repellent (Bushmans works best for the march flies)

Head buff

Mosquito Headnet

Wet weather gear

Warm windproof jacket

Crocs (sandals for camp)

Beanie and sun hat

Sarong (my multipurpose best item)

Toiletries (including Lavender oil – put a drop in some warm water at camp for bathing)

Getting to the track

The buses you can take are the 282, 283, 296, 299. If you need more up to date information, check out Perth’s transport website here.

There are a few ways you can go about getting to the Bibbulmun track.

Accommodation

In terms of accommodation, in Kalamunda, you can stay in the Kalamunda Carriages and 3 Gums Cottages which you can check out here.

In Kalamunda, near the Trail Head, is the Perth Hills Visitor Centre. Here is where you first sign in the log book to say you are on the track.

They are a great resource for information as well if you want to see more details you can head to their website.

Happy trails, everyone!

Aside from the Bibbulmun, what other long distance trails have you walked here in Australia?

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