Humans never noticed the weird laughing puppet on their TV screens because they were too distracted by the alien who told them to murder them every time the moon landing aired

OK. OMEGA LABS ESSENTIAL LORE

HERES A GOOGLE DOC IF YOU WISH TO VIEW IT ON THAT

so some basics. omega labs. scp foundation/lobotomy corporation type deal setting. contain and research weird creatures and phenomena. im still figuring out some things abt the specifics of the company itself but thats the main important part of it, and also that the founder that "died" in i think 1940? is still living as a brain in a jar that is telepathically linked to the current ceo (and every ceo before him). and everything is remarkably fucked up there like just so fucked up. as for the varying types of entities,

the main actual official classes are epsilon, gamma, iota and zeta, with epsilon being the safest, gamma being less safe and having more potential to cause danger, iota being more dangerous than that, and zeta being the most dangerous. theres also two extra ones, omega which is a threat to the company and world (but theres no actual entities with this class..........yet) and alpha which is for entites that are actually different timelines and realities BUT. the main ones are epsilon, gamma, iota and zeta. they've all got item numbers but i'm revising the system i write em by so these might CHANGE!! and also not all of the numbers have lore significance (tho some do) but none are random some are just little jokes i think are funny. MOAR BELOW

under epsilon, theres:

bill dillard (EP-87), midwestern grandfather who "dies" every other friday and springs back to life at the end of the day with no awareness of Anything, with his death having some abnormal effect on the facility (he isn't actually contained, the door to his "containment" is a portal to his front lawn lol)

hell's kitchen (EP-16), deep ass hole in the ground with a tray, pad of paper+pen and menu that appeared next to it one day. menu is that of a pretty typical pizzeria, if you write your order on the pad of paper and send it+payment down that hole it'll send up your order in 20 minutes or less. if there's no money, all of the food is laced with cyanide

the extended universe (EP-30), uhm. i originally thought of this one when OL was for dnd, this one was originally mostly just an inside joke for my friends LOL. but aside from that its SOMETHING on a printed piece of paper that gives you Sustained Psychic Damage the logner you read it. im not certain what i wanna change the paper's contents to yet. some other weird shit that gives you psychic damage the longer you read it

smolder (EP-90), spark's missing father whose body is also made out of fire and is kinda just a dude (also spark is Lower down here. lol)

tutorial entity (EP-01), d20 that has an abnormally high chance of rolling a 1 or 2. used for training

under gamma:

dynamite and flashbang (GA-79)- my beloved ocs dynamo and jenny :) but worse! tv head and camera head husband and wife 70s tv personality duo. but worse! they get jealous if other entities in the same department as them get worked on more than they do and go into a fugue state and start blowin shit up

plague doctor (pending name) (GA-17)- ayup thats a plague doctor :) has a bag of various liquids that can heal injuries. will attack if asked to heal people too much in a day

paperdoll- (GA-85) two girls formed out of a huge sheet of paper that can forge documents at the cost of your Temporary Mental Stability

i need to add another couple of these im realizing i dont have many and i have some spaces i need to fill lol but

iota has:

42.35479, -101.48729 (but you can just call it nebraska bc thats what i do) (IO-37): Portal to NORTH LOUP RIVER, NEBRASKA, specifically one section of it in one field where time moves quicker and theres 100ft tall shadow monsters

Another's Arms (might change the name? maybe???) (IO-15) armless statue that speaks to you in your head to convince you to cut off your arms and give them to her

I_LOVE_YOU.exe/Love Bug (IO-32): chatbot from 2008 that developed sentience from absorbing the vast landscape of its programmer's browser history (might change that. but either way it's sentient). makes you fall in love with it so it can USE YOU for NEFARIOUS DEEDS such as ESCAPING CONTAINMENT!!! i love this one tbh

omega mask (IO-70): mask worn by former omega labs CEO Dean B. Crewe during his time as ceo in 1945-1970. allegedly has some kind of mind altering affects when worn, but hasn't been tested since mid 1970. in reality it doesn't have any anomalous properties aaaand im gonna make up some lore for it

legacy (IO-33): robot soldier thing that's a manifestation of another character's fear of letting down his family. haven't figured out much for this one yet truth be told

spark : 16 year old girl made out of FIRE. holds immense hatred for omega labs, inc and likes to Stab Employees. honest to god shouldn't be contained (same with her dad) and thats for Extended Lore Reasons

star and eclipse: 'nother portal to a place that technically isn't contained, this time to a child (star)'s bedroom! where if you wake him while he sleeps (which due to time zones, always falls during work hours in the facility this portal is in), Large Bipedal Creature (eclipse) will rip you to shreds

water lilly: HUGE ASS SEA MONSTER DISGUISED AS AN AQUATIC FLOWER. ANGLERFISH STYLE!!!

and finally zeta:

listening thing (ZE-92): bone and flesh shapeshifting lizard. contained in a room with a steel wall separating two parts so it is never able to see any humans. absolute silence is required when working with it. shapeshifts into humans and creates approximations of their clothes out of flesh and (initially imperfectly) imitates people, but the more people it sees and hears, the more it develops its sense of language and what a human is Supposed to look like so it eventually becomes its own person and fully integrates itself into a local community. and then it fucking EATS PEOPLE and RIPS PEOPLE TO SHREDS to give itself ORGANS and can SLAUGHTER A WHOLE ROOM OF PEOPLE IN ONE MINUTE (allegedly. supposedly. ok MAYBE its only when it feels threatened. but like still we gotta keep it behind 2 metal walls that are a foot thick. just in case)

Chronoraiel (ZE-07): literal time god. gets jealous and needy easily and rings a number of bells throughout the facility based on its current needs, until said needs aren't met and it escapes and wreaks absolute fucking havoc. can eat people and taste sins. ate the omega labs ceo in 1939 (arvin fenwick) (he killed union organizers. btw) and says it was "the best meal it's ever had"

WORLD19999 (ZE-999): self-made shambled together mess of wires and metal and rust with a keyboard and broken monitor; used to be a security protocol at old omega labs corporate headquarters. dont tell anyone this but it still has control over some aspects of security at its current facility and can let out Everything at once. but it wont. thats what it says at least.

Holy Vapor (ZE-30): airborne particles that, when inhaled, fester and grow inside a person's lungs over a few hours until they form big ass shards that sprout from their chest and create more spore clouds to Spread Itself. needs to be contained behind 3 doors under uv light and can only be handled with a hazmat suit behind all 3 doors. i realized after writing this that it can be described as "turbo asbestos fungi"

DAWN EYRE and STEREO MIKE (ZE-96): counterpart to dynamite and flashbang (tho theyre not in the same facility) who, when threatened, send an emergency broadcast sent out to everything that can receive emergency alerts in the facility and outside in a local, small radius about a fake impending world ending disaster coming at any minute; anyone who acknowledges the broadcast will either go "every man for himself" and try and Kill Everyone, take someone who hasn't seen the broadcast and flee from society, or spread the warning online, further broadening its reach. was upgraded from iota to zeta in 1992 because of the vastly increased availability of technologies that could spread the broadcast

null (ZE- ): NOT no man's sky null i made this null like several months before i started playing nms. name DOES jumpscare me tho. large mass of Matter that absorbs shit, anything absorbed by it will be wiped from history and all memory. this includes people!

THATS all the entities i have made thus far 👍i still need to add more but thats what ive got so far. and hey guess what i also have HUMAN CHARACTERS!!!!!!!

Nico (17), deadpan teen with Issues and 'Tism. applied to omega labs as a summer job thinking they would just be doing intern shit for a bit and then leave. They are not given just intern shit to do. They are given The Horrors to do

Dr. Edward Crow Boccaccio (33), my BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL creation of 6 years. head of research department at this specific facility (0505). 6'1 bundle of nerves who has been working here a while, despite his every doctor and also his husband saying he should quit for the sake of his health. oh well!! :P

Cyrus Reid (28), head of safety following in a long long long long line of his family also working at omega labs and would love to leave but like where would he go after that right. like he started working here straight out of high school right. but like he's chill about it. cause he's so chill about everything. so its ok guys

Monica Tempest (29), head of control and also security who applied years ago along with her 2 girlfriends, thinking they would all get to work together. she was unfortunately the only one accepted making all of this far, far less enjoyable than it could be. takes her role as Head Guard Captain Woman seriously while she's here, but recently she's been trying to get the paperwork through to resign. and by recently i of course mean for the last 7 years. bureaucracy!

Zinnia Perthyra (42) manager of facility 0505 and proud mother of 2 daughters who will never ever ever ever ever ever ever work at omega labs as long as she's alive. has spent much of her career trying to improve the shit working conditions and safety precautions inherent to the facility, only to forever be ignored by anyone with the power to change such things.

CEO Ezekiel "R" Riorin (55 i think), current OMEGA Labs, Inc. CEO, and by "all" accounts is doing an alright job of things (especially after the last CEO, what a havoc he always seemed to cause!). his face looks off.. he's always smiling waayyyy wider than anyone should, it never falters either.. why is it that he looks so off? nobody knows!*

*(it's because he stuffed his soul inside a computer in 2008 and his body is now just, like, a vessel without an actual soul)

Former CEO Wendell Lestat (no idea how old he is. I'm gonna say 70s), former CEO from 1970-1999 who tortured a celebrity couple until one of them died on live tv, killed the other one, hid the evidence and then RAN for PRESIDENT against REAGAN. and of course LOST the REPUBLICAN CANDIDACY. and then NEVER TALKED ABOUT IT AGAIN and is now living in luxury during his retirement, dodging questions about his involvement in the death of Tom "Iron Dynamo" Caldwell Delaney and his wife Jenny "Cam Flash" Dunn Millard in 1979

Former CEO Dean B. Crewe (DEAD AF), former ceo from 1945-1970 who. uh. he started a cult! he definitely started a cult based around the founder of omega labs and it got pretty big in the US. and then he committed suicide. and some people followed suit. neither the US nor omega labs inc has recovered from that time the ceo started a cult and was a cult leader for 2 decades

Former CEO Arvin Fenwick (ALSO DEAD AF), former ceo from 1939-1945. infamous union buster and loved nothing more than to murder union organizers and not get caught. this was abruptly put to an end when above mentioned entity Chronoraiel came down from the heavens and literally ate him. ripped out his chest and ate him and remarked that he had the most concentrated taste of greed it'd ever tasted and it was DELICIOUS

Former CEO and founder Danman Omega (120 yrs old. yeah), founder and ceo from 1922-1939. as mentioned above he "died" in '39 but is still alive. somehow. somewhere. (in a glass jar behind a curtain in a very special room just off of the ceo's office at hq in new york)

ok. just short of a full timeline summary i thiiink thats msot things

Blog for my dw fan characters I want to eventually develop. And rp with. Ran by @koscheicore , more info under cut! (made this real fast I'll add more as I go). Pfp is the sushicore! picrew.

A ✨ emoji next to a character's name means I'm currently roleplaying them, the rest either aren't active or fleshed out enough for me to feel comfortable with doing so yet.

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In this AU, the Doctor and the Master are the result of a bigeneration, which they don't discover until waaaaaay late into whatever the fuck their relationship is anymore, and yeah it's a mess. This AU came to be by being silly about Doctor Who and inventing plots in recess. Some epic stuff came out of it. Other stuff is pure comedic bullshit. Anyways they've been silly in many weird AUs so djdkdl whatever. Here's them:

✨ The Master - (he/they) Or the Lux Master bcs idk what else to call them yet. Quite the drama queen this incarnation. Loves theatre, salads and torturing the Doctor, of course, because he could never know what it's like to be them, they could never be the same! Oh and they did have an affair with Shostakovich. Also almost died by a supernova. Pretended to be the Corsair once. Too many thoughts and none are orderly! (I will eventually fetch all of their lore I promise)

The Conductor - Renegade Time Lord that's an orchestra conductor and composer. Yeah I have a theme. They've got 3 incarnations so far. Conductor II is... unwell. Let's say.

Tissiri - Usually referred to as Tiss, an artist who used to travel with the Doctor, but ended up travelling with the Master. In another timeline she had to practically become the Doctor.

✨ Starry - (Any pronouns) Fuck around and find out! • Basically a self-insert, but I'm having plans, you see. The ambassador to this blog 🤷

????????? - Careful when you go to sleep.

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Other characters (not currently rping them):

The Doctor - My friend's fan incarnation! The 26th I think. Who knows. Silly idiot with a red coat and golden hair. Sounds familiar. He's nostalgic for past stuff or whatever.

Dak - A "good dalek". Not so, according to the Master. He's got the personality of a curious child, since he holds the DNA of one of the Doctor's companions when he was younger. He kept him of course. Yeah I have no idea how that happened I have LOTS of questions to ask, also my friend's OC. - Yaay friend gave me permission to rp as this one!

The other Doctor (?) - I do have a vague idea of my own version, idk if I'd fit them into this AU or not but their thing is slinkies and raw carrots. Yeah. Just a self-insert as how I'd play them I guess. I'll think abt them later >:3 also their colour would be orange but Tiss took that one it seems so w/e

Ok so people actually expressed interest so I guess I'll take a good excuse to show off my Neopets customs! I'm definitely not on the level of some really serious users who stake out the really rare items but it's still fun to make my weird cats stylish and give them their own little lore.

Thanks to the anniversary event gifting some free NC, I bought another pet slot and currently have 7!

Dhanue (Donahue/Donnie) is my active main, and even though I know ghost isn't a super rare color I'm absolutely never painting him. Somewhere along the line I just really liked the idea of a steampunk ghost gentleman. He's a gentleman thief with a flair for the dramatic who pretends to be suave but is really a massive troll underneath it.

The only design change I'd like to do with him is finding a better background bc the magma puddle clips into this one. I found one I sorta liked but it's expensive so that's a future goal

0grese was a lucky pound find a few years back! I really love how the robot pets look so weird and angular and gritty without the sleek casing on, it lends well to a slightly spookier aesthetic, I just had to make a her a mad scientist! Though she isn't a bad person, just very timid and odd-looking. She's actually a doctor that studies biohazards and diseases since she doesn't have to worry about getting sick or spreading it to other pets. She also has an unsubtle crush on my Draik but is too shy to say anything

Batatiinha_ (Batat) is another not-really-rare color that I'm not in a hurry to paint. I think it adds to her vibe! I wish I could find a library background that was a bit more ominous, though. And if I can find anymore good gold accessories I might use those, too. I wanted to go for a Midas-esque vibe, with an obsession for riches leading to her obsessively studying dark magic and becoming more ensnared in it until it started altering her body

She and Dhanue go way back, with him often trying to rope her into heists. She finds him insufferable, but it's one of the few reasons she leaves her empty estate anymore and prevents her from becoming a complete shut-in

I love Kaceae way too much, something about baby Aishas actives a rabid part of my brain. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing with her background yet, that's still a to-do, but I'm very happy with her little outfit.

She's, well...she's a baby! She doesn't do much aside from chew on her plushies and nap. When she grows up, she'll become a famous scientist, but for now, she's just baby.

Professor_Giri is the pet I moved to my account with the new pet slot I bought. I traded a Krawk for her current paintbrush and I really love the dark blue, even if Stealthy tends to be more about the ninja accessories. So far I'm happy with her custom! Might change later, but for now I like the vibe.

Giri is an adventure archaeologist who studies tombs, and she absolutely does not know when to shut her mouth. She means well, though. She also knows full well 0grese has a crush on her, but is waiting for the doc to work up the nerve to say something.

Weaclen was obtained from a very lucky fountain faerie quest I got during the festival a few years back. Getting an alien aisha was always one of my dreamies! I love their weirdness. In contrast to the space-age tech and design, I wanted to make his customization a little grungy, with garbage and Slorgs. I'm trying to trade for a few more Slorg accessories, either the raincoat or the little faerie companion released during the last festival, that's another WIP

Speaking of Slorgs, Weaclen can't get enough of the things! He collects as many Slorgs and Slorg memorabilia he can get his paws on, and my account's gallery is devoted to his menagerie. He's actually from the future, but an incident with a wormhole sent him back a few hundred years. He's a descendent of the famed doctor and roboticist Kaceae, and upon finding her as a baby, he takes it upon himself to care for her and raise her until she fulfills her grand destiny in a few decades. He considers it a massive honor.

And finally Zekotah (Zeko) is a pretty simple custom that I'm nonetheless really happy with. Faerie just lends itself nicely to pastel and flowers. If I find any garden-related pieces I like better I might change them, but I like this general vibe a lot

Compared to the others, Zeko lives a pretty quiet, uninteresting life as a gardener, but she's fine with that. She's mostly nonverbal and hates commotion and being crowded, so she's perfectly happy to spend most of her time in the flowerbeds in quiet solitude. Making friends is difficult, so if you're nice to her and don't make a lot of ruckus, she would probably die for you

What are your favorite aliens from the Whoniverse? I honestly think the best ones from modern doctor who came from the 9-10th doctor era. After that, I can’t really think of any other iconic ones other than the Silence. I appreciate the modern versions of the Zygons and Sea Devils too. Super excited for Beep the Meep.

Ooh, hmm...if we including Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood too...Slitheen definitely near the top of my favorites, as sure, they do devolve a lil from their appearence in Doctor Who when they move over to reguarly appearing in Sarah Jane Adventures, since kids show, but just, they are a pretty good mixture of sillyiness (the farting thing does take a bit to get used to I will admit) but also threatening, especially when you see they literally skin native's on the planets they trying to get shit from, and that includes literally children in Sarah Jane Adventures. And sticking with Sarah Jane Adventures (sorry, I am mentally unwell about this show lol), the Bane were a pretty good species idea. Like yeah, they do kinda have the whole hunting thing like most alien species in the whoiverse, but at the same time, they are pretty terrifying in their first appearence, and Mrs. Wormwood is a pretty good villain character, hers and Sarah's bitch fights being pretty funny to rewatch. And another favorite from SJA is the Xylok, because the idea of an alien species who only have one purpose and once you take it away, they not sure what to do and shit? Perfection, and Mr. Smith was a terrifying villain in Lost Boy. And just one more cause uh, I've been focusing on SJA too much lol- but the Pied Piper was a pretty terrifying alien, talking as someone who hates clowns.

And this is kinda SJA snd doctor who now, but the Trickster is a definite favorite of mine, as who doesn't love the concept of an alien who seeks to cause chaos via seeking people as they about to die and stopping their death via a deal so that the trickster can use them for his plans? He don't even appear in doctor who and yet, I am forever curious still about his brigade we got hinted at in Turn Left when his ally makes an alternate reality via Donna. In terms of Torchwood, off the top of my head as uh, I don't think Torchwood was always heavy on aliens lol: the Fairies cause holy shit, batman, to how they put a twist on fairies, and the 456 are a terrifying alien species, and not fully a favorite but I do find it funny a lil (I am a lil immature, ngl lol): the sex gas alien. Just...what even is that episode lmao?

And in terms of Doctor Who itself, besides the Slitheen I already mentioned, prior to Doctor Who fucking turning them into your villain of the work, Daleks were terrifying and they were really good in their appearences, especially Stolen Earth/Journey's End. Weeping Angels terrified me as a child, so I'd have to add them to my list, and also Steven Moffat, pay for my therapy please with that ending of Blink. The Altons are pretty good as well, again, Doctor Who turning anything you see into aliens, so good luck seeing them outside of Doctor Who. And I do appreciate the Cybermen, but I also have a soft spot for the Cybermats. Terrifying creatures that I also kinda wanna adopt lol. And I do agree about the Silence, but also like, shout out to uh, shout out to the Abzorbalof from Love And Monsters. A mixture of ridiuclous and terrifying in a pretty decent episode (except for the endng...that's just gonna make me weirded out forever). And as someone whose still terrified of the dark at twenty one, the Vastra Nerada are pretty good terrifying aliens. And last one, the Krillitane just for being in one of my favorite episodes of Tenth era...and also being terrifying, cause kid me could not watch these episodes but nowadays I can, though we need to question why so many aliens go after kids in this universe, cause you don't escape aliens no matter the age I guess.

And I have not watched much of Classic Who or read much of its extended lore, so I don't have much so far from Classic Who, but Candyman is funny as shit and I love him and I want him to come back, ridiuclous costume and all. And I fucking have a fear of spiders, but the spiders from third doctor era are just, they good villains and they look ridiculous, so onto the list they go, but its probably a good thing SJA didn't go through with bringing them back, given do not want to see them evolve from their puppet form.

Favourite and least favourite things about each version of The Addams Family

 Currently just doing the ones I’m already most familiar with, will add to this another time.

THE ORIGINAL COMICS

Favourite

1) Invented the characters! Can’t not love them for that.

2) Lots of clever and dark humour including some iconic moments that later appeared in the films.

3) Gomez is drawn as actually dark-skinned...something most cartoons “based on the comics designs” seem to forget.

Least favourite

1) The fact they are a healthy family despite the creepiness hadn’t quite been established yet and Morticia seems uncharacteristically uncaring towards the children on occasion as a result.

2) While technically these aren’t Addams Family comics, Charles Addams also drew some quite racist caricatures and they tend to end up in the same collections.

3) The fact they’re one-panel comics without much dialogue does limit the amount of characterisation and plot compared to what later versions can do with the characters.

THE 60s SHOW

Favourite

1) Introduced lots of my favourite character quirks. Gomez pulling lit cigars out of his pockets and having two watches set to different times. Morticia being able to literally “smoke”. etc. The trains!

2) So many scenes of the characters just doing random stuff! Swordfighting, knifethrowing...Gomez standing on his head or hanging from the chandelier...Morticia painting or knitting...it really helps establish the characters and I just love seeing characters’ (very unusual) day-to-day lives like this.

3) This is the show that established just how much Gomez and Morticia love each other--not just the kissing/French scenes but the way they’re almost always arm-in-arm just walking about, the way he thinks her rather...unusual abstract paintings are the most amazing artworks in the world, just...everything.

Least Favourite

1) Being a sitcom, it unfortunately does put comedy over consistency at times. e.g. while Gomez’s swordfighting is never as impressive as in the films, in many episodes he still is portrayed as knowing how (and he’s near-superhuman at knifethrowing), but there’s at least two episodes where he’s completely useless for the sake of a joke. The same goes for various characters’ levels of knowledge of all kinds of things and some other character traits as well.

2) John Astin is a great actor but it doesn’t change that Gomez is being portrayed by someone not remotely Hispanic.

3) While it was progressive for its time, some stuff really hasn’t aged well. Voodoo/witch doctor tropes (straight out of Charles Addams’s racist caricatures in some cases), general portrayal of foreign cultures as “weird”, a few references to the Civil War that don’t seem to realise that the Confederacy was TOO horrifically evil and bigoted to ever be the right kind of “funny evil” for the Addamses.

THE 90s FILMS

Favourite

1) The entire summer camp plotline making fun of rich WASPs/Republicans/bigots so perfectly.

2) The increased budget just made these films really aesthetically amazing in general. The house finally looks like a proper creepy mansion, the outfits are more detailed and varied, you get to see the whole extended family together, THAT DANCE between Gomez and Morticia in the second one... but most of all, the absolutely amazing swordfighting scenes.

3) The best cast of any version...Raúl Juliá’s performance will always be my favourite Gomez portrayal, Anjelica Huston is amazingly sinister...but the biggest improvement compared to the show is Christina Ricci, obviously Wednesday is older in the films and it’s easier to find a good 11-year-old actress than a 6-year-old so this is not meant as an insult to Lisa Loring, but having a much more capable actress in the role allows for so much more to be done with the character.

Least Favourite

1) Pugsley becoming a sidekick who isn’t as much of a genius.

2) Both films focus heavily on Fester, who I don’’t hate, but he is my least favourite character, and Gomez and Morticia were very much the main characters of the show.

3) In general the mad-science aspects of the Addamses are downplayed here in favour of the supernatural and aesthetically old-fashioned aspects...and I love those aspects but I find it more entertaining to have the contrast of them also building robots, computers, rockets better than NASA’s,  etc...

THE MUSICAL

Favourite

1) All the political humour! I’m still bitter because a Munsters fan claimed that the Addamses would be Republicans because they were rich (as a “our fandom’s superior” thing), OK? This more than any other version disproves that with a lot of mocking of the right-wing. Mal calls them “creeped-out, left-wing Spanish weirdos” as an insult but I honestly think they’d take it as a compliment.

2) I don’t normally even like musical-style songs, but The Addams Family is a nonsensical enough series already for it to work and some of the songs are truly amazing.

3) Lots of very funny dialogue. Gomez seems to get most of the best lines here...Alfonso the Enormous, for instance...or discussing his ancestor who was burned at the stake as dinner-table conversation.

Least Favourite

1) The touring version in particular, but both to some extent, makes Morticia unusually harsh--not just in terms of the misunderstanding that forms part of the plot (I can accept that the characters won’t always get on perfectly all the time! In fact, I wouldn’t want them to!) but just randomly sometimes? Like, treating her as if she’s always disliked Grandmama and held her in disdain? Where did that come from? That wasn’t in any previous version that I know of.

2) The Broadway version has the song “Where Did We Go Wrong?” which feels like it has character inconsistencies with most previous versions. Lines like “we did all that we could to keep her sad”...OK, so Morticia seems to enjoy being “unhappy” sometimes and they talk about a “gloomy”-looking room as a good thing, but...none of them, including Wednesday, were ever previously depicted as sad all the time, wanting to be sad all the time, going out of their way to make the others sad, or seeing happiness as a bad thing. Morticia even talks about what a “happy colour” black is in the show, Gomez in the films has lines like “to mirth, to merriment, to manslaughter”, and if someone is actually sad about something the rest of the family generally worry about them and try to help (which is even the case later in the musical with Gomez worrying he’s made Morticia upset)...it feels like the writers went “they like dark things!” without actually checking how they feel about specific things in previous versions.

3) OK so... That giant squid plotline in the Broadway version. [NONCON TW].

Now, anyone who’s spoken to me about Wesker might know, I have nothing against tentacle sex. Far from it. But it has to be consensual! Mal gets dragged off with no idea what’s going to happen to him, even though he’d expressed some kind of interest in the squid he doesn’t actually say he wants sex with her, and while we don’t know exactly what happened between then and his next appearance, without seeing him give consent and seeing him get dragged off like that...it comes across more noncon than was maybe intended. And then we’re told “oh actually he enjoyed it and it made him less uptight”...I do not like the way this is handled and I’m glad the touring version of the script changed this plotline.

The Shared Dalek Universe of the 1960s: A Case Study

In 2011 (a little over ten years ago!), El Sandifer cited my dearly-beloved 1960s Who Annuals as examples of stories which ended up influencing the TV series many years down the line despite making an unrepentant hash of continuity. 

Her first example is that the Doctor is called Dr. Who, and that he alternates between being from Earth on one page, and not being from Earth three pages later. I would point out that TV was doing much the same thing in those days, and went on flip-flopping basically until Jon Pertwee, so it’s not a terribly good argument to begin with.

However, she spends more time pondering the Daleks of the comics. These Daleks, she notes, are very different from those on television at the time. There are hordes of them, they travel in fleets of saucers, and they’re ruled by the Emperor. This contradiction, she argues, later fed back into the TV series in the RTD era, when huge fleets of Daleks became the norm and, earlier but still well after the first burst of Annuals, in the form of Patrick Troughton facing a very different Dalek Emperor in The Evil of the Daleks.

In no way do I wish to undermine Sandifer’s ultimate conclusion that “canon” in the sense of diegetic consistency is a red herring of little importance, and what matters for any sane definition of ‘canon’ is whether a story is referenced at all, not whether it’s contradicted. 

However.

Having gone back to 1966′s The Dalek Outer Space Book, I have made a very startling discovery, in the story entitled The Secret of the Emperor. The rest is after the cut; I will leave you with a delightful panel from this story, showing the “bewildered” Dalek Emperor being bullied by knights at the Battle of Agincourt. (This is one of my favourite Doctor Who images ever, and if it doesn’t put a smile on your face I am not sure I want to take you seriously.)

So, famously, when he debuted in the comics, the Dalek Emperor was not the giant, static Dalek later shown on television in The Evil of the Daleks and The Bad Wolf of the Ways; instead, he was golden, squat, and had a bulbous head; to house all the ego, one expects. 

Thus, most people will point at the fact that when the Doctor met “the Emperor” in The Evil of the Daleks, he resided in a huge tower-like casing in the Dalek City, as evidence that although ideas received a first treatment in the comics which later made it to screens, no direct continuity was intended; the comics’ Emperor was an alternate, a first draft, to be discarded once a more definitive TV portrayal emerged. 

And yet, of course, it is somehow appealing to think of the two as the same Dalek, isn’t it? John Peel (Dalek writer voted most likely to be a 19th century Victorian man who stumbled into a time eddy; it’s mostly the remarkable sideburns) spent a lot of time in his Dalek novels establishing the life story of the Dalek Prime, the First Dalek Ever, who transitioned from the globe-headed casing to the towery Evil one and then deeply regretted it, what with the “getting killed by his own infighting troops with no way to escape”.

But this is usually viewed as a retcon. A cute retcon, an admirable retcon even, but a retcon. My good friend and esteemed fellow canon-welder, @rassilon-imprimatur​, espoused such a view four years ago:

Well, all of this is, if you’ll pardon my French, bollocks. John Peel didn’t make anything up, except for the snappy name of “the Dalek Prime” as a designation for the individual. The Dalek Emperor in Evil of the Daleks was always the Emperor of the 1960s comics, and there is a very good reason for his seemingly-contradictory change of appearance. What’s more, I am not talking about murky authorial intent: these are things that the discerning Dalek fan in 1967 was meant to have known.

Let me wind back the clock to 1966. A Dalek master-plan is unfurling, a multi-media agenda spanning several years, more ambitious perhaps than even Time Lord Victorious in its scope; for the ultimate aim of a small cabal of men including David Whitaker, Terry Nation and Brad Ashton is nothing less than spinning the Daleks out of Doctor Who and into their own non-BBC TV show — to be made in America, and in colour, if you please! 

For over a year now, a Dalek story arc has been running in the pages of TV Century 21, tracking the early rise of the Dalek Empire and its early interactions with 2060s humanity. Though the Daleks encroach over other parts of the book, including the headline stories, the bulk of this story arc comes in the form of weekly one-page comics making up one long serialised history of the Daleks, under the minimalist title of The Daleks.

Also under the solo brand of “The Daleks”: Annuals, an exclusive audio story, and, of course, toys. Time for Phase Two. It is time to end the Daleks’ endless confrontations with Dr Who on television, and set the stage for a new status quo able to support the TV series Nation dreams about. 

Important background: Terry Nation, famously, does not like the Dalek Emperor. Whitaker made him up without consulting Nation, who maintains that the highest rank in the Dalek hierarchy should be the Dalek Supreme. The Emperor was hard to do away with in the comics, since he was basically the protagonist of the TV21 strip, but one imagines Nation was keen to jettison him from the world of the planned TV series. 

I am speculating, of course, but I picture Nation sitting in his office, pondering the two great thorns in the side of the Independant Daleks Masterplan. 

Thorn one: the Daleks are entangled with the Doctor both diegetically and symbolically; unless something can be done, the Daleks will remain “the Doctor’s enemies”, and a show where they commit evil and the Doctor fails to show up would ring false with the kids watching. The Daleks must be removed from Doctor Who in a sensational and definitive manner, or the whole enterprise is a nonstarter.

Thorn two: I, Terry Nation, have foolishly allowed David Whitaker to shape the lore of the Daleks, and he has made this Dalek Emperor guy very central to early Dalek history, leading up to the 22nd century Dalek Invasion of Earth that most of the Doctor’s subsequent conflicts with the Daleks have stemmed from. But I do not like the Dalek Emperor. I wish I could get rid of him in my new status quo. 

…………Aha.

A triumphant Terry Nation adds a post-it note to the ever-widening corkboard representing the multimedia Dalek Masterplan setting up the TV series, which must already include things like “convince Jean Marsh to come back as Sara Kingdom”. Notes distilled from this corkboard will form the backbone of The Dalek Outer Space Book, this year’s Dalek annual, which exists principally to set up the prospective main characters of the new TV series: Sara Kingdom and Agent Mark Seven, of the Space Security Service. 

The new post-it note reads:

Construe the Daleks’ enmity with the Doctor as a personal enmity between the Doctor and the Emperor, a la Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty. Have the Doctor triumph over the Emperor on TV in a big ‘event’ story. 

Result: the Doctor-vs-Daleks storyline is over; the Emperor is dead; I get everything I ever wanted. 

(Except maybe a pony.)

Then he phones David Whitaker, smirking all the while like an evil genie preparing to grant a badly-worded wish. 

“Good news, old chap, I’ve decided you can write a new Dalek story for the BBC, all by yourself. I promise I won’t interfere.”

*confused and delighted David Whitaker noises*

“ And you can even bring in that Dalek Emperor of yours. Yes, you heard me!”

*Whitaker enthusiasm intensifies*

“Ahhh, but there’s a catch. The Dalek Emperor must DIE.”

Of course, like all good Faustian bargains, this is irresistible even though it is ruinous and the victim knows it to be ruinous. Whitaker agrees to the scheme. He and Nation begin planning out the events of the great finale of the Dalek-Doctor confrontation, which will hit the screens in 1967 as the mildly racist, but otherwise quite well-loved, ‘The Evil of the Daleks’. 

Quickly enough, it is decided that Patrick Troughton crouching to berate the short and bubble-headed Golden Emperor would look silly. If the Emperor appears on TV, alongside human performers, then it should tower over them. Besides, this is to be the archvillainous Dalek Emperor’s last stand, and certain traditions must be followed.

Hence another task is added to the bucketlist of the Dalek Outer Space Book: tell the story of how the Emperor transformed from the globe-headed dwarf to some huge and terrible towering form under the Dalek City, for the Doctor to stumble onto later. This rebuilt Emperor may be teased, but must not be truly seen or truly defeated in the book; that would defeat the whole idea. 

Hence, The Secret of the Emperor, a story which sees the Emperor becoming self-conscious about his own efficiency and letting the Scientist Daleks rebuild his casing from scratch. The final page is a splash panel, a delightfully nonsensical diagram of the mechanical components of the new casing. 

The almost surreal array of colours and shapes is so arresting as to obscure an important detai. Many have seen this page over and over, and yet still missed it. The recent(ish) ‘Anatomy of the New Dalek Emperor’ artwork from Time Lord Victorious clearly looked at this page for reference, in spite of the fact that the TLV Emperor is much more inspired by the old Emperor than the rebuilt one.

Let me spell it out for you: look at the Scientist Daleks in the top right and centre-left. Look at them.

The new Emperor is huge.

And what else? 

That Scientist on the left is plugging huge wires snaking from the wall into the tower-casing. 

He now resides in the Great Hall of the Dalek City.

The background wall is a weird checkered pattern.

In addition, the following facts are seeded throughout the earlier pages of The Secret of the Emperor.

The point of moving to the new casing was to grant the Emperor increased brain capacity (suitable for concocting masterplans).

He acquired said increased brain capacity to help the Daleks attempt to overcome humanity once and for all. 

The Emperor has recently had a trautmatic but eye-opening experience with time travel. 

Ignore the fact that the Emperor was here depicted with what appears to be a still fairly bulbous, and golden, head, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this is very, very direct setup for how the Doctor finds the Dalek Emperor in The Evil of the Daleks — tower-like, in an imperial throneroom in the Dalek City, with a checkered wall pattern, planning out a complicated scheme to harness time travel as a means of defeating humanity once and for all!

Yes, the designs don’t quite match — but how could the artist behind the visuals of Secret of the Emperor have known precisely what Shawcraft would build, a year later, based on the same basic description by Nation & Whitaker? The parallels far outweigh the minor differences in execution. (It’s worth noting that elsewhere in the Outer Space Book a different artist drew what was clearly intended to be the Golden Emperor as a large, golden, but normally-proportioned Dalek, so it’s not like the visual descriptions of these scripts were exceedingly precise…)

The rebuilt Emperor is never seen in the Outer Space Book outside of this ‘dissection’: he is heard throughout The Brain Tappers but kept carefully off-panel, and his new and dangerous new casing is pointedly not destroyed in the story’s conclusion. Well, of course not. That’s what Dr Who is for.

tl;dr: it is not a post hoc retcon, or even a secret, that the round-headed Emperor of the comics became the Dalek Emperor of Evil of the Daleks. A holistic view of the state of Dalek media in 1966-1967 shows that, in fact, it was the whole point that this be the Emperor of the comics; and that the comics had begun setting this up long before Patrick Troughton encountered Edward Waterfield on TV.

And thus, to circle back to Sandifer’s 2011 post, it is not enough to simply say that the “seemingly non-canon” comics inspired the show down the line. In fact in this instance, what appeared on Doctor Who existed for the benefit of the Daleks spin-off — not vice-versa!

First Ritual Experience: taint tickling in Mantova.

Two days ago I finally got the chance to see Ghost live for the first time. I had such a great night, it was really an outstanding concert, which I had been waiting for for months, so I was super excited about it. My boyfriend offered to come with me to Mantova (Italy) to see them, and it was really nice of him, since 1) he had never heard of Ghost before, and 2) Mantova is about a 3 hour drive from where we live. I was a little afraid that he would have gotten bored, since he didn’t know any of the songs or anything about Ghost in general, so I tried to give him something to listen to, to see if he liked it. Though he fell in love with Prequelle, going to a Ritual was still a pretty daunting experience for him, but I really appreciate that he came with me anyways. 

We both ended up having a great time! He was really curious about all the lore around the Cardinal, the Papas and the Ghouls and I did my best to explain to him without sounding like too much of a dork or a weird ass cult member. But besides of this, I was excited to see what reaction could a full Ghost concert cause on someone like him. Therefore, I collected all the best moments from the Ritual, as a kind of a social experiment (?), but also because I don’t want to forget any of them. 

Here we go:

- before going to the show, he saw me putting on makeup and asked me to help him apply some eyeliner, saying “I already have enough dark circles to look like the cardinal, I might as well copy his look properly”.

- when the lights turned on at the beginning of the concert, he didn’t notice the presence of the Ghouls at first, because they were standing still on the stage and got scared when they started moving around because he had no idea they were there.

- when Copia came out on the stage with the red suit on, the first thing he noticed was literally his thiccness, saying that “it’s just not fair”.

- “Is... is he trying to finger the microphone stand?”

- he felt sorry for Aether when Dew started bullying him and called Dew “a mean grasshopper”.

- he kept asking me where the female choir voices were coming from, and when I pointed out the presence of the Ghoulettes (they were kind of far from us, and you couldn’t really see that their masks were different), he was absolutely astonished to find out that there were also girls in the group.

- we were not close to the stage enough to see Copia kneeling down to Cirice someone, so I decided to be a romantic dork and Ciriced my boyfriend. I’m sure I’m not half as charming as Copia or Papa III, but I swear I have never seen anyone looking both so flustered and confused at the same time. It was absolutely adorable.

- he screamed “YES GRANDPA!” during Nihil’s saxophone solo. He had no idea who Nihil was before this.

- when Copia came on the stage wearing the white suit, he claimes he looked “unsettling yet charming”. I’m pretty sure the Cardinal would have appreciated.

- he saw the Plague Doctors roaming on the stage before Dance Macabre started and with the most serious voice, he said “Amazing. I guess we’re going to die”.

- he took a shit ton of pictures during Dance Macabre’s performance, because of the rainbow-colored lights, which he said fitted with everything that I had ever told him about Ghost.

- since he had never heard Year Zero before, he was totally not expecting the crowd to explode screaming “HAIL SATAN!” , and after trying to get over the shock, he stated “My grandma would be so proud”.

- he got scared by the pyrotechnic stage effects and said “I could feel my eybrows catch fire, how are they not dead yet”.

- “I have never met this Sister Imperator that you keep talking about, but she sounds terrifying”.

- he had the most confused look during Copia’s speech about taint tickling, ass wobbling and nipples in general, but he kept laughing as well, so I guess it’s not a bad thing.

- (Referring to Copia)  “I love that he’s so obsessed with nipples. I want to have a conversation with him”

- during Kiss The Go-Goat, he asked me what Dewdrop and Aether could be bickering about, and when I told him about the meaning of the song, he said he would definitely go for Aether, since “that other one looks like the spawn of Satan”.

- he hugged me super thight during He Is. I don’t really have a reason to add this moment to the list, but I want to share it anyways, because it felt so special to me.

- when I introduced him to every band member, I told him to keep an eye on Swiss, since he is so fun to look at when he’s performing. After a while, he stated that he’s “a little slutty, but like, in a really intimidatory way” and I guess he’s right.

- he was super hyped up for the Ghoulettes, and screamed “YOU GO BEYONCE!” during Mummy Dust’s keytar solo. I honestly don’t know what he was trying to say, but I appreciate the enthusiasm.

- he was really sad that I wasn’t able to catch the guitar pick that Aether threw at us (it hit my arm and fell on the floor, but the guy that was next to me picked it up before I could find it), so after the concert was over, he went around the pit, trying to find something else. He ended up finding two Ghost dollars, which made me really happy.

- after we had come back from the concert venue to our hotel, he kept looking at his own butt in the mirror and asked me if I will ever love him as much as I love Copia, even if he’s not as thicc as he is.

- when I told him about how, according to the lore, Sistor punched Nihil and gave him and his sons a white eye, he nodded and said “If she’s badass around to fuck up your genetics, you know it’s going to be a damn strong marriage”

I guess that’s it! I’m sure there are a lot of things that I forgot to add, but this is everything that I can list off for now! I’m so glad that my boyfriend enjoyed the show as much as I did, it was nice to see the ritual from a different perspective. I am also super grateful to him for choosing to come with me, and I’m so happy to hear that he had fun too. We had an amazing night in Mantova, and I can’t wait to see another Ghost concert as soon as possible!

Upcoming Marvel Movie Releases: Complete MCU Phase 4 Schedule

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We’ve got everything you need to know about the upcoming Marvel movie(and TV!) schedule all in one place! The Marvel Cinematic Universe plan now stretches all the way to 2023 (and beyond). The amazing thing is, it’s even more ambitious than we anticipated, with new movies getting announced all the time. It looks like even something on the massive scale of Avengers: Endgame was only the beginning. How can anything ever be bigger than that crazy Avengers: Endgame finale?

Well, it looks like we’re going to find out…eventually.

We’ve compiled as much information as we can find on every Marvel movie coming out in the next few years in a handy release calendar for you. This is where you can check out all the details on Marvel Phase 4 and beyond. You probably want to know a little more about the future of the MCU and all the other Marvel movies in development. Well, we’ve got you covered! However, be advised, almost every single MCU Phase 4 date has recently shifted because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which is wreaking havoc with every industry in the world, so update your calendars accordingly!

These dates have already shifted several times recently, and the most recent changes affect Black Widow, Eternals, and Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Don’t be surprised if they continue to move as things develop with the pandemic, but hopefully by the time Black Widow is ready to come out, we’ll have reached the end of this nonsense.

WandaVision

release date: Jan. 15, 2021

Yes, technically this isn’t a movie release, but with all of the release date changes, and the fact that it has been over a year since the last actual MCU release, we’ll take the good stuff where we can get it. And make no mistake, WandaVision very much appears to be the good stuff.

Ever wonder what happened to Wanda after she went all Scarlet Witch on Thanos in Avengers: Endgame? Well, you’re gonna find out in WandaVision, which appears to depict a grief-riddled Wanda dealing with the death of Vision in less than healthy ways.

Elizabeth Olsen is, of course, back as Wanda, and so is Paul Bettany as the Vision. This show is going to have serious ties to the MCU, with elements that will be important for Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and Captain Marvel 2 having prominent roles. The trailer is packed with MCU strangeness, which we wrote about here.

WandaVision is the first of a number of MCU focused shows coming to Disney+ over the next year. 2021 will then (hopefully) bring us Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki. Since these will also be vital to the future of the MCU, we’ll add them to this calendar as they get release windows and/or trailers get released.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

release date: March 19, 2021

“The legacy of that shield is complicated.”

Yes, it is. And we’re going to find out just how complicated when Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes reckon with the legacy of Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+. Here’s the official synopsis for the series…

“Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) team up in a global adventure that tests their abilities—and their patience—in Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”

Yes, like WandaVision, this isn’t a theatrical release, but also like that show, this is far too important to the future of the MCU to ignore.

Morbius

Release Date: March 19, 2021

Spider-Man spinoff Morbius is Sony’s next big Marvel release, and it’ll officially be the first spinoff to properly connect to the MCU.

Safe House‘s Daniel Espinosa directs from a script by Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway, as former Joker Jared Leto plays the anti-hero biochemist who finds a cure for his rare blood disease by using vampire bat blood. As you can imagine, there are consequences: he turns into a living vampire, for one. 

Um…don’t be surprised if this one ends up moving off this date at some point at the rate we’re going.

Read more about the character of Michael Morbius here, and find everything you need to know about his upcoming movie, right here.

Black Widow 

Release Date: May 7, 2021

The Black Widow movie was heading for a May 1, 2020 release before the coronavirus outbreak, but Disney and Marvel have decided to delay it until the industry’s infrastructure is back to some semblance of normal. First they bumped it to November, but now we have to wait almost a full year from that originally scheduled date before we see Natasha and friends. Disney and Marvel Studios seem absolutely committed to keeping Natasha on a theatrical release rather than sending her to Disney+.

Cate Shortland directed the film, and Scarlett Johansson stars, with Florence Pugh and David Harbour alongside her. One of the movie’s villains is Taskmaster, and we wrote a little bit more about him right here.

Natasha Romanoff will get a prequel movie of sorts here, as we catch up with Widow around the events of Captain America: Civil War. Will the plot affect her character’s ultimate fate in Endgame? Do not count on it.

We have more information on the Black Widow movie right here.

Loki

release date: May 2021

Tom Hiddleston will reprise his most famous role, as Loki finds himself on a heist through time and space after the events of Avengers: Endgame! Oh, and based on this trailer, there’s all kinds of weirdness awaiting, including the return of Heimdall, some other Asgardian hijinks, and…Loki running for President!

Look, he couldn’t possibly do a worse job than the guy who’s been there for the last four years so…Vote Loki!

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Release Date: June 25, 2021

Andy Serkis (Mowgli) steps behind the camera for Venom 2, which now boasts the catchy title of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, replacing Ruben Fleischer as director this time around. The first film, buoyed by a terrific showing at the Chinese box office, made an absolute ton of money, despite being released to mostly scathing reviews.

Venom 2 will follow up Sony’s 2018 Spider-Man-less spinoff film, but will likely be more connected to the MCU this time around, thanks to a renewed deal between the company and its Marvel Studios partners. Tom Hardy will return as Eddie Brock, of course, and as you can probably guess from that title, he’ll be facing off against Woody Harrelson’s villain, Cletus Kasady aka Carnage!

This one was originally tentatively scheduled for October, 2020, but has been shuffled away for the moment as studios continue to move release dates around because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Read everything else you need to know about Venom 2.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Release date: July 9, 2021

Simu Liu has been cast as the titular Shang-Chi and Tony Leung as The Mandarin (hey, that name sounds familiar! But this time, we’re getting the real Mandarin on screen). Destin Daniel Cretton is directing from a script by Dave Callaham. Given its “Ten Rings” title, Shang-Chi should be steeped in Marvel lore!

This has been delayed twice. Let’s hope that’s the end of it. At least it has resumed production!

We have more info on the Shang-Chi movie right here.

The Eternals 

Release Date: Nov. 5, 2021

The Eternals has completed principal photography and is on post-production. Chloe Zhao is directing from a script by Matthew and Ryan Firpo. 

The cast features Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Gemma Chan as Sersi, and Kit Harrington as Dane Whitman, the Black Knight.

This one was another victim of the release date shuffle, having moved from February of 2021 to November of that year. We’ll get to see Jack Kirby‘s wildest creations eventually!

You can read more about The Eternals movie right here.

Spider-Man 3

Release Date: Dec. 17, 2021

While the next Spider-Man movie doesn’t have a title yet, it’s happening, and the best news of all is that it’s happening in the MCU! Marvel and Sony solved their differences, good sense prevailed, and Tom Holland’s Peter Parker will remain a vital part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

This one, well…this might be a live action Spider-Verse movie from the sound of it. Jamie Foxx will reprise his role as Electro from the maligned Amazing Spider-Man films and Alfred Molina will return from the Raimi era as Doctor Octopus. Wait. Are they trying to make this a multiversal Sinister Six movie? Because…we could be down for that.

Thor: Love and Thunder

Release Date: Feb. 11, 2022

Taika Waititi, who gave us the delightful Thor: Ragnarok, will return to write and direct. Chris Hemsworth will be back, but will it be as Thor? Natalie Portman is your new Thor (yes, you read that right, Jane Foster will wield the hammer…just as she did in the comics!). Christian Bale has also joined the cast as the terrifying Gorr the God Butcher.

We have more info on Thor: Love and Thunder right here.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Release Date: March 25, 2022

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness looks like it will open up the storytelling possibilities in the MCU like never before. And that’s just based on the name alone. Scott Derrickson was scheduled to direct, but has bowed out because of “creative differences” with Marvel. But the good news is that Marvel found a suitable replacement in none other than Sam Raimi, who of course has plenty of superhero experience thanks to his Spider-Man trilogy in the early 2000s!

This one has loads of connections to the wider MCU. Elizabeth Olsen will be here as Scarlet Witch, and the film will also connect to the untitled Spider-Man 3 and its own multiversal ambitions. There are also a few rumors doing the rounds that Jericho Drumm aka Brother Voodoo could be introduced in this sequel. We’ll keep an eye on that and update this if there’s any substance to them.

We have more information on Doctor Strange 2 right here.

Black Panther 2 

Release Date: July 8, 2022

Black Panther 2 is still on Disney’s release schedule, despite the tragic, untimely death of star Chadwick Boseman. Marvel has made it official that they have no intention of recasting the role of T’Challa, which is absolutely the right move.

Ryan Coogler will return as director, but there are no other details currently available. We have more information on Black Panther 2 right here.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Sequel

Release Date: October 7, 2022

Is it technically an MCU movie? Nope. But with all the legal weirdness going on between Marvel and Sony, and this franchise’s very multiversal concept, who’s really to say that it ISN’T an MCU movie either, right? In any case, the sequel to the best Spider-Man movie of all time is coming in 2022 with Avatar: The Last Airbender mastermind Joaquim Dos Santos directing and David Callaham writing.

There’s also an “untitled Marvel movie” still technically scheduled for this date but…that is almost certainly not gonna happen now. Expect whatever that project was to move to one of these below dates or to some other currently unspecified date on the calendar.

Captain Marvel 2

Release date: November 11, 2022

WandaVision writer Megan McDonnell has been tapped to write the screenplay for Captain Marvel 2. You know what else is really cool? Candyman‘s Nia DaCosta will direct!

We have no idea where we’ll find Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) in the sequel to her hugely successful first standalone MCU entry. Will she be fighting to loosen her former Kree pals’ iron grip on a pre-Avengers galaxy? Or will the follow up film see her fighting for justice in the present?

Read more about Captain Marvel 2 here.

And then there are still some dates that Marvel has announced that they have yet to match projects to. Those dates are…

Feb. 17, 2023

May 5, 2023

July 28, 2023

Nov. 3, 2023

Some of those dates could very well be good fits for the following films…

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Peyton Reed will return to direct the third installment of the Ant-Man saga, perhaps the most unlikely trilogy in Marvel’s entire arsenal. Paul Rudd will return as Scott Lang, and you can almost certainly expect Evangeline Lilly to return as The Wasp and Michael Douglas as Hank Pym.

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The villain of the film? That will be Kang the Conqueror, who will be played by Lovecraft Country‘s Jonathan Majors. The inclusion of Kang opens up all kinds of interesting possibilities for the MCU, and may even tease the arrival of the Fantastic Four down the line! We wrote more about those possibilities right here.

We’re also going to need fast confirmation on Michael Pena’s return as Luis, though. Luis is key…

This will probably slide in to one of those 2023 release dates above.

Blade

Well this one was a surprise. In 2019, Marvel announced that they will be rebooting the Blade franchise with Mahershala Ali playing the titular daywalker. Ali’s True Detective co-star – and former Blade villain – Stephen Dorff is excited to see what he can do with the character, and so are we.

We have more info on Blade here.

Deadpool 3

Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Loeglin will be the writing team tasked with bringing the Merc with a Mouth to the MCU. What a Deadpool 3 could look like in the interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe is, of course, anybody’s guess, but if anyone can crack wise about the follies of this kind of corporate synergy, it’s Ryan Reynolds.

Fantastic Four

The MCU Fantastic Four movie is finally happening! Marvel’s first family will join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a film directed by Jon Watts, who did such a wonderful job with the first two MCU Spider-Man movies. That’s all the information that’s out there at the moment, but as soon as we have more, we’ll update this.

We have our own theories on why Marvel went with the Fantastic Four before the X-Men, but that’s another story.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 

Avengers: Endgame left the team in an interesting place. We broke down some of the story possibilities right here.

After a tumultuous period which saw James Gunn fired and then rehired as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director, he will become the first Marvel director to ever complete a trilogy for the studio. However, Gunn can’t even begin filming Guardians 3 until he finishes production on The Suicide Squad for DC, as well as an HBO Max Peacemaker prequel. Once those projects are finished, he’s free to return to the MCU.

We have everything else you need to know about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 right here.

And as for those others? Well, we’re still waiting on word on where Deadpool 3 will fit since that is (finally) official, as well as movies to bring the X-Men into the MCU. Could any of those 2023 dates do the trick? It’s very possible! And this doesn’t even account for all of the other MCU Disney+ TV shows that don’t have release dates yet like She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Ironheart, Secret Invasion, Armor Wars, and more!

We’ll keep updating this with new information as it becomes available.

The post Upcoming Marvel Movie Releases: Complete MCU Phase 4 Schedule appeared first on Den of Geek.

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Yugioh S2 Ep 36 Part 2: Pegasus Lives Every Artist’s Worst Reocurring Nightmare

Normally I don’t do more than two posts on a weekend but considering the last post was just overflow on color theory and sort of a mini post (which I was pleasantly surprised so many people liked, thanks for the kind comments on that random color theory aside), and also considering that I try not to do work on the weekend and I’m just kinda bored, here’s the second part of Ep 36.

Lets do a series recap shall we?

-Yugi Muto is three people (this is including a chunk of Bakura which just...lives there but doesn’t do anything)

-Odion is pretending to be Marik

-Marik is pretending to be Namu

-Tea is possessed by Bakura’s ghost

-Ryou Bakura is no longer possessed, but got hella shanked and passed out on Kaiba’s blimp, so we don’t know yet if he was actually British or if that was just a ghost thing.

-Serenity is Joey’s Sister and she Actually Truly Exists although I have kept close track and no one has yet to tell Kaiba who’s sister she is.

-Duke Devlin is just permanently here now, taking the place of Tea Gardner for “Character the writers have no freakin idea what to do with”

-Grandpa passed out a few episodes ago but I think the show forgot.

-Ishizu is here and is hiding from Marik for her dear life despite the fact she still thinks he’s a good boy.

-Shadi showed up to save Tristan and Duke although Shadi has never spoken a word to either of them and has no idea who they are at all.

There we go. A cliff notes-version all in one place. It’s a lot to remember.

Now we’re ready for another round of exciting duel prep.

That’s right, Shadi’s here, and he’s ready to dump a lot of plot on us. Which is why I felt like it would be nice to get a summary up to now because now we’re going to get even more nonsense we have to remember in this kid’s show that I had no idea would be this complicated when I started capping it.

(read more under the cut)

Can we talk about the knot Shadi is using here on that Ankh?

What is that?

OK, I just wanted everyone to look at that and then just...wonder with me, 

Anyway, if you were looking for some explanation this episode, this is not that episode, because Shadi is here, and he just...never feels like fully explaining anything. He only ever feels like adding more and more to our bucket of Lore like it’s the 5th book of Harry Potter.

That’s right, this episode is a return to Pegasus, who I do miss. I mean Marik is fine, all in all, but I do miss how Pegasus knew what he was actually doing. I kinda miss my villain who was also a functioning adult.

Anyway, while Pegasus was searching the dunes of Egypt for Egyptian art to make OC’s of and add to his collection, Shadi and he had a very awkward reunion. Bear in mind these two haven’t spoken since Shadi fused Pegasus’ face with a haunted table weight.

And like, here’s the thing about Pegasus--he has the most reason of anyone on this show to not trust Shadi. Yet, now he’s going to follow Shadi into a hole. Literally follow Shadi into a dark and scary hole where no one would find his body.

Thing I wasn’t expecting from this show: Marik’s family is mole people????

OK…

I mean...I guess we’ll just gloss over that.

I mean...I guess I’ve never really thought about it but like...yeah they have to take care of a tomb and the tomb is underground so they just...hang out down here most of the time. Guess that explains how Marik ended up kind of albino-blonde.

Anyway, it’s here that we see a familiar relief sculpture—Apparently Ishizu just excavated her own sacred tomb and was like “lets ship this to Japan to screw with Seto Kaiba.” Not like I blame her, Seto is very easy to screw with.

But here she is being like “I’m this incredible Egyptologist give me your money!” when all she did was loot herself. Well...loot the Pharaoh, I guess, but he’s dead so wtv.

And so, after running around an ancient tomb collecting curses like fleas, he boards a business class, awkwardly shares an armrest with his photographer who equally refuses to give up the armrest (like what the hell is this armrest situation?) and has to endure our colorist’s favorite shade of chartreuse.

Purple/chartreuse is a pretty solid color combo, not gonna lie, but it is the last thing I ever want to see in a plane.

Also, Croquet is back. I guess this was before Pegasus bought an island, and it’s this episode we start to see why he might have wanted to flee the States.

Sometimes I forget this show is based on a horror anime, and this was an episode that brought us back to basics. Like, this is something I would absolutely expect to happen in Season Zero.

I cannot believe that this children’s show had a darkroom murder scene. The audacity. And not just a darkroom murder we also get this type of murder shortly after,

How do you go from the darkroom to this!?

The older I get, the more I would gladly welcome a Huge Sky Dragon over the actual drama I have to deal with on the reg. Please, please let me put Huge Sky Dragon on the ballot. We will let him have Salesforce Tower, he clearly comes with electricity and rain clouds and California desperately needs both those things. 

Downside to Huge Sky Dragon unfortunately, is that he kills you.

So, in the classic horror protagonist archetype, Pegasus puts on his favorite shades of beige, he goes into an isolated room where no one can save him, and he reaches for that good ol hubris. Since, in his mind, he has a millennium eye, he’s the all powerful Pegasus, what could hurt him?

You gotta love that he’s such a purist that he paints an itty bitty card on a 6000% bigger canvas. Love that classic illustration nod right there. (and not gonna lie, I would kill for Pegasus’ studio. Damn. Look at it.)

Also look at this in the next cap! He can paint something that’s not a monster or his dead wife--is that a completely normal still life of some random purple flowers back there behind him? What’s he doing painting those??? He’s off killing 1 or 2 people a day in his human sacrifice chamber why’s he painting lilies in pots like everyone’s Mom during Wine ‘n Paint night?

Dude, does Pegasus go to Wine ‘n Paint night? I mean he would, right? Like he would be the first there with a huge ass bottle of wine/juice and be like “I am ready to sip, paint, and gossip about everybody’s husband.” Yo, he’d be killer at Wine ‘n Paint night. Like, I would never be Pegasus’ friend but I would absolutely paint some dumbass flowers in the same room as him as he gets tipsy on margaritas and starts going off about the Great British Bake Off.

And, much like I do when I finish most of my art at 2 AM, he passes out directly after and has anxiety laden dreams about what he just painted for the rest of the evening.

So lets get this straight, if you reproduce this image in any way, let it be traditional, digital, camera, or whatever—you will arouse the God Card ghosts and be straight up The Ring murdered. Unless, you tattoo it to a person’s back, then apparently you’re cool. Also, what the hell was Ishizu doing bringing this thing to a museum? Like yeah it’s in a restricted section but they had like no security on those doors so it’s like, girl—anyone who takes a selfie here will be dead. What else are museums for except avenues for selfies? Way to curate a museum, Ishizu. You had one job.

Also does that mean that if Marik photobombs people without his shirt on that they super die? That kinda sucks a lot, no wonder he wants to get rid of Pharaoh. Marik just wants to go to the beach without having to wear a hoodie and getting a weird tan.

Oi, hashtag relatable, amiright?

Anyway, Pegasus realizes he can’t post this art on main, so he decides to give it to Ishizu to bury it for him. Essentially, he put on his brother’s tumblr because he’s trying to be a professional here but like, who are we joking, the guy draws kids art for dollars. His friends, much like my friends, are full aware of what our sketchbook looks like.

After hearing this weird story, Pharaoh decides to take over and give some closing remarks.

Yugi got TWO huge bottles of mystery purple moisturizer??? Maybe one is just full of hair gel.

Man, Seto had him double covered, he knew--he knew Yugi was nuts for products.

I wonder if it’s full of LA Looks.

I appreciated that Pharaoh might have a physical body but he still enjoys spooking people like a ghost should.

Well, I mean.

So many questions here, but I assume we’re going to learn more about it later? Like why the hell Marik is...in a tomb? As a baby? With a...flower wreath?

What even is this show. Don’t put babies in tombs!

I don’t even know why Shadi even bothered showing up here. Like Ishizu already knows “it’s happening,” she has a future necklace.

Did Shadi show up to every single person on in this ship, Roland and Kaiba included, before actually going to the one place he needed to go?

Man. Phallic necklace. Did they not know about goatse in the early 00’s? Please don’t look that up if you don’t know what it is. I just.

Phallic necklace, please. You’re killing me.

Anyway, Shadi sees a chance to make a change and fix some things with the one person on this ship who desperately needs fixing, and while he’ll save Tristan and Duke and tell Yugi all about his history and etc—actually confronting Bakura? No thanks. Shadi will stay in his safe keyblade power place where no one can see or hear him, not even Bakura.

Not sure why any of the doctors haven’t picked up on Tea being weird as hell yet, but like...compared to the Kaibas and everyone else, I guess possessed Tea is the most normal person on this flying boat.

But that’s all for now, next week we see if they actually start dueling or if instead, even more people from S1 show up on this boat.

If you just got here, we’re like over halfway through S2, so here’s a link to read everything in chrono order from S1 Ep1, have fun.

Music Monday #197: KEY - BAD LOVE release: September 2021 genre: K-pop cw: flashing lights note: official translation in CC

So this one's been sitting on the docket for ... awhile now, whoops. There's a lot on the docket, the releases just keep coming, it's all kinds of out of hand, shame I'm not getting paid for these or I'd just write up a song a day until I was actually caught up (so, like, July. Maybe). I don't know what y'all are gonna do if I end up posting something like Codomo Dragon next week. XD But until then, prepare your leg warmers and leotards and join me in the Wayback Machine~!

Yes, I said wayback machine for a release that's not quite six months old yet. Because from the second the music starts, I'm thrown right back to 1982 with that heavy synth electro sound that was the new wave. Key's high tenor/contralto range fits in perfectly with that retro 80s pop vibe that was so common as disco faded out to be replaced by nu wave artists like Boy George. And yeah, sure, it's not entirely the same - the bass profile in dance music has changed in the forty years since then, for one thing - but it's enough that just the music would be (and often is) enough to bowl me over in nostalgia. So of course it doesn't stop there. Every set in the video fully embodies that weird span from ~1978 to 1984, with the vintage stylings and the disco balls and the flashing lights and the futurism that strongly reminds me of old school Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who. Considering Key was strongly involved in developing the video concept and is also a good 10-15 years too young to remember the period directly.... But as he explained in the behind the scenes document, he's always had a bit of a soft spot for the 80s. Add in the whole ongoing SMCU thing and it all makes sense again. Of course, it's not an SM release if we aren't factoring in the lore angle, so buckle up for some theorycrafting~ So as I noted in my entry on Taeyeon's INVU, despite the boss's claim, neither SHINee as a group nor Key as a soloist had any sort of lore going into 2021 - lorecrafting was the sole provenance of EXO until NCT got roped into it, too, and even just that would have been enough, but no, someone had to get ambitious in 2019 and it's been a game of waiting for the next crumbs and trying to force the pieces into a shape that may or may not work past the next crumb. ... which is a whole lot of words to say that actually nothing's really been said explicitly yet, so I'm just making it up as I go along. And what I'm seeing is Key shifting between multiple realities without being able to control it - several times he walks through a door or something happens and he's flashed to a new location/universe - one or two "normal person" 'verses, an actor 'verse, and a "show" 'verse. Something unseen is chasing him across the multiverse and either the chase or the unprotected jumps between universes (or both!) seems to take a serious toll on him by the end of the story, which leads me to think he might be just a regular person caught up in something he doesn't yet understand. Given that this and "Hate that..." (which apparently I haven't gotten to yet either, sigh) are the only Key-shaped pieces we have, it's not a lot to work with, but I suppose I'll just have to get into that more another time. Want to see Music Monday deep dives more often? Sponsor a song selection! For the low, low price of one (1) KoFi, I'll write up the song of your choice. ANY song of your choice. Yes, even that one that's been played to death. Yes, your obscure faves too. With sponsors, I can stop skipping weeks and falling further and further behind in the releases! Sponsor a current CB for the next open Music Monday slot (if I get enough, I'll open Song Sundays so waits aren't more than 4 weeks). Or sponsor a flashback for a Friday feature! But seriously, if you've been enjoying my selections and analyses, we (me and the foster kittens) would love a KoFi in thanks. DW | Twitter | Ko-fi | Patreon | Discord | Twitch

Huntress- Part Sixteen: Wayward Daughters

Sam x Daughter!Reader, takes place in S12 E16 so warning: SPOILERS

Part one Part two Part three Part four Part five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten Part Eleven Part Twelve Part Thirteen Part Fourteen Part Fifteen

Perched on the table, your legs swinging underneath you shared a bored look with Uncle Dean as he paced the room. Your Dad had his arms folded, but hadn’t given up yet. You knew Mick would come, he’d never turn his nose up at a meeting with the Winchesters- you could only dream.

“That’s it I’m waiting in the car-” Uncle Dean declared, readying himself to leave. Only, Dad stopped him. “Wait, come on-”

“No. Okay I didn’t sign up for this reporting for duty crap!”

“Just wait.” You sighed, not bothering to deal with any conflict. “Sorry I’m late.” Mick’s voice made Uncle Dean turn round, shooting him a frown. “My report ran over. Everything’s been a bit hectic till uh...well,” he glanced down at the blood stain “Well. Best not to dwell.” “Must be so hard for you.” You rolled your eyes.

“Okay, enough. What’s the deal?” Dad silenced the argument before i escalated any further.

“Case in Wisconsin. Looked like an animal attack. The girl’s in the hospital, but her brother lost his heart. We recon it’s a werewolf.” “That left a survivor?” You raised an eyebrow. “Maybe it got scared before it could finish the job?” Uncle Dean suggested. Mick shook his head doubtfully “Perhaps but it usually takes more than just a fright to put a werewolf off it’s meal.” “The hell do you know that?” Uncle Dean scoffed. “I studied them at Kendrick’s.” “Kendrick’s?” Dad echoed.

“It’s where British Hunters train. Kinda like Hogwarts.” You explained. “Cool.”  “Not cool.” You countered.

“The case sounds easy enough.” Uncle Dean shrugged, ignoring any more points to be made. “Then you won’t mind if I tag a long?” Mick tilted his head, aware he’d get some serious reactions out of that statement. You snorted, “Nice one, mate.”

“Mick, hunting isn’t really what you’re suited for...” Dad was trying to be a little more nicer about it than you had been. “There was a reason Mum never taught you.” You smirked- no doubt offending him in the process.

“I’m a fast learner.” He remarked “Our team were thinkers. We need to be ready for whatever happens next.

“One moment.” Uncle Dean threw his head back, gesturing for you and Dad to have a “talk” about it. When you were outside he rolled his eyes “No way this is happening.” “Dean, these people have some serious knowledge.” “I have that same knowledge, though!” You protested. “Y/N’s right. Besides, you can’t learn this crap in a book. You put on a flannel, you pick up a gun and you go out there and you get good fast or you get dead faster.” “He might come in handy.” “What if he get’s himself killed?” “I heard that.” Mick appeared at his side, making Uncle Dean back away a little from him: “Good.”

Unfortunately, Mick was in the back of the Impala next to you so you sat on one side, staring at your phone screen. To add to the excitement, Mick had one of his stupid podcasts playing. Sure, you liked interesting facts, but this was just torture. “Had to listen to one of his podcasts?” Uncle Dean frowned at his brother. Mick paused it, not wanting to miss anything. “It’s educational. Besides, I’ve been wanting to listen to this one.” Dad sighed. “And there I was beginning to think you weren’t so bad.” You rolled your eyes, getting a smile from your Uncle.

After they continued to argue over hunting, you took a headphone out and decided to see if it was worth getting into. “I’d take a handful of silver bullets any day over that crap!” “That crap, meant that the last werewolf seen in England was in the 20s.” Mick sassed. You mimicked Mr K’s posh accent “The last serious werewolf case in the United Kingdom was in 1923. I can’t believe you listen to him.” “Thank you for that, Ketch.” Mick rolled his eyes. "Any time, Davis.” You sassed.

“Were they all evil?” Dad asked, going back to the werewolves. “I’m sorry?”  “Well not all werewolves are. We had a friend who was bitten, but he learnt to control it. Alongside lots of others.” “Werewolf’s are natural born killers. Monster’s don’t just stop becoming monsters.” “Mick-” You wanted to stop him, but he kept going. “They live to kill!” “Not everything’s in black and white you know.” You sighed.

Mick might have ignored you. Or perhaps he didn’t care: “Turn here.”

After flicking through endless lore books on all sorts of mythology, Dad, Uncle Dean and Mick arrived back from the hospital. They’d gone for more information, but it felt like they’d gone for a holiday at the speed they were taking things. They got in and began to explain what had happened. “She wasn’t bitten?” You were surprised to hear that “You sure?” “Positive.” Mick didn’t look at you when he spoke. “So now what?” “Well. You remember Jody?” Dad turned in his seat a little to face you. “The Sheriff Hunter?” “That’s her. She has two uh...adopted daughters. One of them, Claire Novak, is here working on the case. She’s gotta be about your age actually.” “Novak?” You repeated it, you could have sworn you’d heard that name somewhere before. “Isn’t that...Cas’ vessel’s name?” “Yeah...” Uncle Dean nodded “How did you know that?” “He told me.” You shrugged.

Not that you’d admit it, you were excited to meet another Hunter your age. You just hoped she wasn’t a jerk...but, if Jody brought her up how bad could she be?

You sat down next to Dad on the sofa, Dean sitting the other side of you. Opposite was who must have been Claire. She had long blonde hair and the sort of eyes that changed from blue to green. She wore a jacket like yours, only it was green. She had the Hunter look for sure. Her head tilted and eyes furrowed in your direction “Who are you?” She asked. 

“Y/N.” You answered, not sure what else to say. “Claire, this is my daughter.” Dad explained. Her eyes widened and she smiled a little “Daughter?” “Sup.” You nodded. “Your accent...British, right?” “Which one?” You rolled your eyes. “There’s more than one?”  “Yeah-lots.”  “Oh...sorry.” You smiled “That’s cool.”

“You hunt?” She asked, obviously curious. “Duh.” You smirked, making her smile.

“Beers all round.” Mick appeared, placing beers down on the table. “Who are you?” Claire was now even more confused. “Mick Davis. British Men Of Letters.” Mick took her hand, shaking hers and his at the same time. “Long story.” Dean sighed. “Long story.” You agreed.

You and Claire both reached for a beer when Dad and Uncle Dean stopped you. “No.” They both said, dragging the bottles away from your grasp. You both shared a look before sitting back.

“Either way. That alibi...massive lie.” Claire continued. “Hayden’s Mom said the same thing.” Dad nodded. “Where was she?” “Local dive bar. Eating trash...anyway she was on a date. But the guy was a total douche-bag. Motorcycle, weird-ass hair, snarky...grabby.” “Grabby?” Uncle Dean echoed, he did not like the sound of that. “I’m a big girl,” Claire assured him “I handled it.”

“Better call it a night.” Mick rose, having barely been seated for a minute. “It’s 5:30.” You frowned. “My reports due in at six sharp. Nice meeting you.”

You watched him go, becoming more and more suspicious but it was too ealy to say anything. “So...” Claire spoke up “Your foreign exchange student it totally lame.” “Which one?” Uncle Dean joked. You hit his side, making him almost drop his beer. “Ow!”

“Anyway,” Dad cleared his throat “Why aren’t you with Jody?” “She’s busy with Sheriff stuff. Said to call if anything came up.” ‘Sheriff stuff’ sounded incredibly vague to you.

You watched in fascination as Claire dressed herself up to look twice her age. “Why do you keep staring at me?” “How?” You asked in amazement. “It’s so I pass as FBI. Why what do you usually do?” “Wait in the car...” You admitted, realising how pathetic that sounded. “That sucks.” She chuckled “Come here, I’ll show you.”

The Hospital was pretty big with endless corridors and hallways, but you found your way to the right room. Last night Hayden, who was in the hospital before, had died.” “Any idea what happened to her?” “The autopsy isn’t till tomorrow...it’s hard to tell. Perhaps a heart attack.” “At her age?” You asked, well aware she was probably similar age to you. “Well...yeah that’s what’s weird. Also, when we first found her she had gashes all along her arms. Now...” The Doctor pulled back the sheets to reveal her bare arms. There was no sign of any sort of wounds.

“Excuse me.” The Doctor left the room, leaving you all to ponder over the case. “What the hell?” Claire started off with the same words that had been running through your mind since you’d arrived. “What if she...turned?” Dad suggested. “I guess that would explain how she healed...but then how did she die? And you said she wasn’t bitten.” You pointed at Mick who stuttered for words. “Not that I saw.”

“None of this is making any sense.” Uncle Dean shook his head.

“But if she did turn then that means the werewolf wanted her turned.” Mick suggested. “So it’d have to be friends...family...” “Someone from the bar.” Claire finished.

“Okay, Sam, you and Claire go talk to the girl she was supposed to be crashing with. Me and Mick’ll hit the bar. Y/N, pick a side.” You rolled your eyes and followed on after your Dad.

Claire grabbed her headphones from the back of the car before putting her hand on the door handle. “Okay, so you wait here.” She ordered your Dad, making you chuckle. “What?” “You really think she’s gonna want to talk to some old skeezer...or us.”  “She’s got a point, Dad.”You patted his shoulder before spelling aloud “B r b.”

After getting the information you needed from her friend you headed back out, only you paused in the doorway. “You coming?” Claire raised an eyebrow, turning round. “I will be. Just need to uh...make a phone call.” You said, heading round the back. “Okay.” 

You hovered over the caller ID before pressing “call”. It rang for quite some time, reaching the point where you almost didn’t think they were going to pick up. “Y/N? What’re you doing?” He answered. “You called me yesterday,” You began “Why do you keep calling me?” “I can’t say it to your face..your Dad might overhear me and then that’ll just spark even more questions.” “So what if he does hear you? All you do is say dumb stuff.” You sighed. “I’m sorry. I should never have intruded on your family.” He sighed. “You keep saying that. In every damn voice mail you’ve left.” You snapped. “I’m fed up. Just say it to me. It’s ridiculous! We see each other every other bloody day and you ignore me. But the moment you’re not near me you call up to say sorry for everything!”  “You’re right...I’m not as brave as you.”  “I swear to God the next time you call me I’m going find you and throw your phone off a cliff. Stop it. Stop leaving voicemails I never listen to and stop apologising. I don’t care anymore.” “Y/N...” “Mick. Grow up.”

You hung up. Fed up of Mick calling you. So what if he had things to say? If they were that important he’d say them to your face. He’d left those messages a few months back...he kept apologising and you’d had enough. When you turned the corner you were greeted with the sight of Claire walking off in a huff from your Dad. Oh boy. “What did you say?” You asked, looking impressed he’d managed to piss her off that quickly. “Jody thinks she’s looking at colleges.” Dad sighed. “And?” You shrugged, earning a shocked look. “And?!” “Yeah. If she wants to hunt she wants to hunt. She’s not stupid.” “I know. It’s just not as simple as that.” “It should be.” You sighed.

You were about to add to your point when you noticed he wasn’t fully convinced, but froze when a cry of pain erupted from the nearby woodlands. After worriedly glancing at your Dad, the pair of you leapt into action. 

You raced down towards the noise, fiddling with the inside of your jacket t grab your knife from the pocket. Only, when you reached the incident there was no obvious threat. “Claire!” Dad shouted, kneeling down beside her and clutching her close to him. She was still just coming out from an unconscious state, her eyes blinking into reality. You knelt down in front of her and examined her for wounds. Your eyes landed on her shoulder. The army-green jacket had a rip where the rims of the tear where dyed crimson. Blood was pouring from the scratch...no...bite

“Dad...” You managed, trying not to make it anymore painful for her. Dad glanced down to where you were looking and his face fell. “Oh God...”

“How long do I have?” Claire’s shaken voice filled the tense air. “Sometimes it takes a full moon and sometimes it just takes time.” Dad answered. “Can I help?” Mick asked. “Stay out!” Uncle Dean snapped. “I understand you’re angry-” Dad didn’t let him finish “Listen. You killed a kid. We’re not angry we’re done!” Mick turned his helpless eyes to you and you glared back “Don’t look at me I’m not helping you.” You spat, drawing your attention back to Claire. You sat down next to her and peeled the bandage back a little, examining her wound like you could help.

It had worsened considerably more since you’d last seen it. Now a deep red with swelling purples surrounding the teeth marks. You stuck it back over, patting her back gently.  “Listen to me,” Uncle Dean knelt down in front of her and clasped hold of her hand. “I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but you can live with this.” He assured her. Claire shook her head, “No...not me.” “All you have to do is lock yourself up a couple nights a month. Other than that you’ll be just you.” He carried on, ignoring her protests. “Dean listen to me!” She cried, making him stop “I can barely keep it together on a good day. I don’t want to hurt Jody...or Alex...I’d rather die.” 

You watched her eyes glisten with tears as she spoke, her hands shaking a little. You understood her completely, if you ever reached that a point in your life you know which route you’d take.

“Mick...there’s an experiment...it says here one out of nine subjects were cured.” Dad read over your shoulder. “That experiment was on mice. It doesn’t work.” Mick sighed, but when he saw Uncle Dean’s stern glare he explained “We experimented with the blood of some werewolves.” “You can reverse the early stages in rodents.” You piped up “Not humans.” “How do you know?” Uncle Dean snapped, angry you were so against the idea. “Because we tested on a human once.” Mick answered for you. “And?” Dad pushed, his eyebrows raising expectantly. “She died in agony.” You whispered, not looking anyone on the eye.

Claire hadn’t given up, it seemed: “Second time lucky?” “No.” Uncle Dean stated “You don’t get a vote in this.” “It’s my life.” Claire protested “I get all the votes.” “Sam...Y/N...wanna back me up here?” “It’s her life.” Dad agreed. “Don’t, Claire.” You sided with Uncle Dean, not wanting Claire to die the same way the last one did. She glared at you “Why should you get a say and not me?” “Because I’ve seen what happens.” You argued, trying not to shout at her. “That was one time.” She scoffed. “Please.” You were out of reasons “You can’t.”

“Watch me.”

“Okay....what do we need?” Uncle Dean changed his tune, having decided. You stared at him in shock, feeling very much in a corner. Mick hesitated “Uh...blood from the werewolf that bit her.” “Okay, me and Sam’ll go. Y/N, you stay here and make sure he doesn’t kill again.” Uncle Dean pointed at Mick. You nodded reluctantly, you couldn’t believe they were actually going along with this. When the door closed you slumped back in the chair, lost for words and to tired to say anything if you knew what to say.

After a few minutes of silence Claire spoke up- “Why are you so against this idea?” “Like I said, I’ve seen it happen. It didn’t end well. Not for anyone.” You sighed, sharing a worried glance with Mick. Then, you got angry. “Why did you tell them. If you’d have kept your stupid mouth shut none of this would have happened!” You shouted at him. “I-I didn’t mean...” “Shut up! I’m fed up with you and your-” Your rant was broken by Claire hissing of pain, she stumbled over some furniture as she tried to turn in the mirror to see her bite-mark. You held your tongue, forcing yourself into silence so she didn’t feel anymore stressed. “This is your fault.” You murmured before helping Claire.

“It burns!” She managed through her deep breaths. The three of you watched as her wounds began to heal- she was beginning to turn. “Claire, we need to tie you up so you don’t hurt anyone and so we don’t have to hurt you, okay?” You said calmly.

She ignored you and reached for the gun, Mick grabbed it in the nick of time and held it out in front of himself. “Please, you don’t understand.” Claire hissed through the pain “It’s happening. Give it to me!” “No.”  You froze. You didn’t know what to do anymore. Death by a bullet would be less painful than what was to come...but what if she was right? What if it did work? “Then you do it!” She begged. Her desperate eyes then fell on your gun in your pocket “Or you! If you want me dead so bad!” “That’s not what I want...Mick put the gun down.” You ordered him. “I know a man that would shoot you right now without second thought. Every instinct I have tells me to do the same...but my instincts haven’t been so grand of lately...” You listened curiously as Mick explained “So sit down. I’m not gonna shoot you.” You offered your hand as she stumbled towards the sofa, helping her sit down. She didn’t let go.

“With any luck, when you wake up this will all be over.” Mick trid to reassure her as he put everything together ready to restrain her. “If I wake up.” Claire corrected.

A loud crash tore your attention away from her as a man with a skull mask opened up the doors. “Stay back!” Mick shouted. He attempted to shoot the man with his pistol, but the man was much quicker. He dodged and slammed his fist into Mick’s head, making him unconscious. You and Claire shared a worried look, she smashed a vase onto his head, but it didn’t seem to phase him. You reached for your gun yet realised halfway that this must be a werewolf. Bullets meant nothing and you were out of silver. That hesitation was your mistake, a heavy object smashed into the side of your head and you were out cold.

“Claire!” A familiar shout dragged you into reality. “…Y/N!” You felt two strong arms haul you up off the floor, forcing you to look into their eyes. “Dad..” You groaned, feeling the dried blood on the side of your head. “What happened?” He asked, running a thumb over your wound. You winced but didn’t complain as he made sure you were okay “The wolf…I think he took her.” “Three versus one and you couldn’t stop him!” Uncle Dean shouted. He wasn’t just angry at Mick but you as well. “Dean, come on. That’s not fair.” You ignored your Uncle. “We need to find her.” You tried to ignore the pain on the side of your head as you dragged yourself up, not accepting the help from your Dad.

“I put a tracker in her pocket.” Mick said. “You planted a bug on her?!” Dad shouted in disbelief, making you flinch a little. “You can kill me after we find Claire.”

Ready for a fight, you charged into the building. Dad went straight for the werewolf, tackling him to the floor. You followed Uncle Dean to where Claire was tied up, only as he reached for the rope you grabbed onto his jacket and tugged him back. “She’s turned!” You warned over the timpani of clatters. She growled, her sharp teeth and bright eyes revealing how there was no more Claire. Despite her reins she broke free and lunged at the pair of you. Immediately, Uncle Dean stepped out in front of you and threw her against the cabinets behind. “Sorry, kid.” He apologised.

A blur appeared in your peripheral vision and you ducked just in time, parrying to the left before kicking the wolf away from you. You then leapt over to where a gun, fully loaded with silver bullets, was lying. You reached for it in a panic, cocking it and aiming. Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

The shot rang out, followed by the wolf collapsing in front of you. You watched as it fell to the floor, the needle still sticking out of it’s neck. You handed Mick his gun back without bothering to look at him. He took it before kneeling down next to the werewolf, taking out the needle to extract the blood.

“Move.” You warned him, watching as Claire began to waken. He side-stepped away, joining your Dad and Uncle. “Is that thing ready?” Uncle Dean barked. “Ready.” Mick handed it to him, stepping away once more. Just as she fully regained consciousness she lunged at Dad, who blocked, allowing Uncle Dean to inject the blood. She hunched over in agony before staring upwards, her eyes somehow even more yellow than before. Somewhere between a scream and a growl erupted from her throat before she collapsed.

You couldn’t bare this any longer. Minutes, that felt more like years, of watching as Claire shook and cried out and shifted and screamed. You tore your eyes away. This couldn’t be happening. Not again.

“I need some air.” Uncle Dean mumbled then left the room.

You held your head in your hands, not wanting to watch any longer.

Her cries grew louder as she adjusted her position in a constant cycle. She growled and hissed and cried. She whined and groaned and jolted. She twisted and shouted and…

She fell still.

You glanced up, Dad managed a quiet “Claire?” before raising his voice “Dean.”

Uncle Dean walked back in, he noticed your pale face, your Dad’s blank stare and the silence. His eyes fell on Claire’s still body and his heart sank.

A small murmur made you properly look up. You watched in amazement as her sharp claws retracted and her body stirred. Claire’s eyes, her eyes, opened slowly. “You guys look like crap.”

The drive back to the Bunker was silent on your part. You half listened as the brothers upfront bickered about nonsense and lightly argued over small-talk. You didn’t wear headphones. Your eyes followed the scenery outside back and forth along the roadside, but your mind was elsewhere.

You barely noticed that you’d made it home until the slam of Uncle Dean’s door dragged you back to reality. “You coming, kid?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. ‘no’ you wanted to say, thinking about curling up into a ball and falling asleep there and then just to prove a point: “...Yeah.”

 Part 17: Power

Masterlist I do not own these gifs

(Tag list after cut)

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On Gency

Okay, because some people have issues with Gency, I thought I’d compile a lil list of arguments that I find against Gency and why I think they’re bullshit. Disclaimer; The ship isn’t canon yet, this is refering to fan complaints, and everything below is my own interpretation of the current lore and character dynamics between the two. This is not a case FOR Gency, rather just debunking some of the toxic shit I’ve seen thrown at it. (long post incoming) TL;DR: if you have another opinion, you’re free to have it. Just try to stay on topic and don’t drag anything into it that doesn’t belong (’homophobia in OW’, current real world issues, that kinda shit) Oh, also I’m going to overlook the “It’s a het ship, so it’s boring” argument, because while I’ve seen it enough to tear y’all a new one over it, I’mma let it slide because that would be too easy to destroy (but I’ll get to that later) 1. Gency is abusive  Nowhere cited or stated. The largest asspull I’ve seen. Don’t have much to say about it since the people I’ve noticed who use this excuse can’t provide any other reason than this simple phrase. 2. Genji didn’t consent to what Mercy did to him This is like getting in a car wreck, going to a doctor, them saving your life, and then turning around and yelling at them for doing their job. Genji was injured, Overwatch picked him up, Mercy as chief medic of OW saved him, as per her job description. Genji probably didn’t want to die there either. He was a playboy at the time, so I imagine that that moment was one of clarity for him, realizing that he never truly lived for anything worthwhile and if being brought back as a part-cyborg would enable him to do so, then he’d do it. 3. OW used Genji to attack his family Again, nowhere stated or implied. It’s stated that Genji used his abilities to dismantle his family’s criminal empire, but never that Genji went on a vendetta against his family. Genji’s no idiot and was probably well aware of the things his family was doing to ensure that he lived the playboy lifestyle he enjoyed for most of his life, but never really cared until they turned against him. After being saved from death, logic would dictate that he’d have some resentment against his family for the criminal shit they were pulling and would’ve gone after them anyway even if working for OW wasn’t a part of the deal. 4. Genji hated his body, and therefore hated Mercy Another asspull and something people try to use to demonize Mercy. Genji’s hatred of himself stems from that: HIMSELF. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen anyone who’s disabled to the point of losing a part of themselves, but it really takes a toll on one’s mental state, self-worth, self-image and esteem. The stress of losing his ENTIRE body coupled with the betrayal of his family more than likely left him disillusioned with the world and his place in it. And as common for men, he found peace in something greater than himself. It’s why he’s so willing to write Mercy and keep touch with her through writing. After he has found peace with himself, he realizes how grateful he is to Mercy for saving him and giving him a chance to live for something greater than himself. Even without canon romantics, it’s genuinely touching to see one character grateful for what they once took for granted and were repulsed at. 5. Mercy had no say in saving Genji Mercy’s designation is the chief medical doctor of Overwatch. Last time I checked, a doctor’s JOB is to SAVE LIVES. Angela strikes me as the kind of person who does what she does, not out of obligation, but because she wants to save lives and make the world a better place. Even if you want to go with the excuse that OW MADE her save him, odds are she would’ve done it anyway because that’s who she is. 6. Mercy turned Genji into a killing machine Genji was ALREADY a trained ninja, so also bullshit. While he did indulge in a frivolous lifestyle, he was still able to contend with Hanzo and fight him off to the point where it wasn’t a one-sided slaughter. The fact that Genji lived AT ALL after their fight is proof of his abilities and skill. The cybernetic makeover they gave him had the primary purpose of saving his life, but because they are naturally more efficient than human limbs, they inadvertently BOOSTED his already stupidly skilled body even beyond what he could do before. TL;DR, the cybernetics didn’t suddenly make him a ‘killing machine’, Genji did. also he’s not a ‘machine’, as he still retains morality and free will. 7. Mercy is evil and a white savior The evil part has already been debunked by the creators, but the ‘White Savior’ bit is really confusing to me. She’s a doctor, so her job is to literally SAVE LIVES. LIKE I HATE TO BREAK FLOW HERE, READER, BUT WHERE THE HELL DID THIS EVEN COME FROM? THE BLONDE HAIR AND BLUE EYES?? SHE’S SWEDISH! LIKE ????? Worst asspull and people just resorting to spitting insults at a character. 8. Genji is a self-insert OC so the writer can live out his dreams of fucking Mercy Yeah, because as if implying that an Asian writer wants to plow his character ISN’T racist. ok. Every character that has ever existed is an OC. And honestly, this is one of the most disgusting pulls I have seen to come out of some people’s mouths. Think before you speak, like damn... 9. The writer is homophobic and favors a straight ship over LGBT representation He’s also the guy responsible for making the comic that revealed OW’s flagship character as gay. I’m not surprised that you missed it though because, while everyone else was celebrating this fact, y’all were complaining about Genji and Mercy writing one another. While he might enjoy the ship, he has also gone on record saying that people should enjoy what they love, regardless of canon. 10. Mercy has a savior complex Side note, but I find it funny how people will say stuff like this and then turn around and ship Mercy with anyone else. Like that makes it better... Again, DOCTOR, SAVES LIVES, HELPS PEOPLE. She doesn’t do what she does out of obligation, otherwise she wouldn’t even be active after OW disbanded, but because she genuinely cares about the good of others, even to the point of disagreeing with OW from time to time and helping those afflicted by war.

11. The patient/doctor relationship is weird and gross Newsflash! EVERYONE who has actively served in OW has at some point been Mercy’s patient. So if you go by that logic, you can no longer ship her with ANYONE in the game who has ties to OW.

12. It’s a poorly-written ship Of course it’s going to be poorly written when it isn’t even CANON yet. Look, bottom line is all we have right now for them that’s concrete is canon story connections, sweet fluff in game and out of game, and voicelines that tie into those story ties. No canon comic dedicated to them, no animated short. At the end of the day, that’s what people are sending death threats over: canon fluff and connections. 13. It’s a boring ship This one bugs me and it’s probably where I’m going to close with. I’ve seen this the most, even without the ‘het’ label (because bi, pans, demi people TOTALLY don’t exist yeah?) but that it’s ‘boring’. This, at the end of the day, is an opinion, but a very unfair one.  ANY PAIRING CAN BE BORING. ANY RELATIONSHIP CAN BE BORING, EVEN GAY ONES. WHAT MAKES A PAIRING INTERESTING, A RELATIONSHIP DYNAMIC, AND CHARACTERS INTERESTING ARE THE WAYS IN WHICH A PAIRING IS HANDLED, A RELATIONSHIP FLESHED OUT, AND CHARACTERS DEFINED, ALL OF WHICH OW’S CAST OF CHARACTERS ARE DESPITE NOT HAVING DEDICATED COMICS AND SHORTS TO EVERYONE. They have likes, dislikes, dynamics and themes, stories and agendas, motivations and convictions, and small bits and pieces in between. All of which makes them engaging and interesting characters that we as the audience WANT to learn more about. We WANT to see Lucio get a short because he’s a great and lovable character with a cause that he’s fighting for. We WANT a McCree short because of his past, his convictions in his time with Blackwatch, and want to see what he’s going to do next. And we LOVED the Reflections comic because, for the first time that I can remember, we saw Tracer get revealed as gay and it DIDN’T remove from her being a bad-ass, wise cracking adventurer who believes that the world could always use more heroes. What I’m getting at is if you think ship X is boring, then it tells me two things about you. Either 1.) You haven’t looked hard enough or 2.) You haven’t seen what someone who’s GOOD can do Because I have loved ships simply because of the heart and soul fans put into them. I love Symetrat because someone wrote a hella good fic that fleshed out their characters, explored the dynamics between their differences, and presented them, for lack of a better word, flawlessly. I’ve loved the sheer amount of sweetness in the art I’ve seen in the Pharmercy tag and loved the dynamic of McHanzo, two roamers looking for peace in their own way. I even loved Widowtracer, two opposing forces and ideologies, melding, clashing, and learning. And I love Gency because it’s different from the ‘guy saves girl trope’, it EMPOWERS Mercy, gives Genji a turning point in his life, and creates a dynamic friendship between the two characters that, even if it never reaches romantic canon, will always be one of my favorite character dynamics in gaming. I’ve seen it in and out of Overwatch and to several fandoms beyond. We as fans can do some pretty amazing shit when we’re not engaging in ship wars and tearing out the throats of our creators, things that can genuinely touch and impact other people’s lives in new and profound ways, add relateability  to already relatable characters, and flesh out stories and dynamics and relationships even after the official story is over, all while offering a new perspective on characters we already know and love. What I’m getting at, and will close on, is that the ship isn’t boring. You are

Upcoming June Releases

Alright everyone! It’s officially summer time for all of you who have recently escaped the confines of a school schedule, so let’s start talking about all the games you’ll soon have available to keep you busy as you pull 3 months’ worth of all-nighters and totally ruin your sleep scheduled. Normally, I post these on the first of the month, so you’ll notice the first couple of games are actually coming out TODAY.

The Elder Scrolls Online – Summerset (June 5th)

This first entry isn’t a full game, but it’s a wonderful place to get things started! For those of you who are fans of The Elder Scrolls Online, there is an enormous new world for you to explore! The Isle of Summerset has now opened its borders thanks to a decree by Queen Ayrenn. Exploring the homeland of the high elves opens new and exciting adventure opportunities, but it also brings in a lot of new features to the game in general. The Psijic Order plays an influential role in this new environment, so there are quite a few new powers and upgrades available to your character if you choose to join them. Also, you’ll be running around with your old pal, Raz, to complete missions throughout the gorgeous environment that is Summerset. The environment really is the best part about this expansion from what I’ve seen so far. The land of the high elves has a very diverse ecosystem ranging from seaside and beach areas to the high white towers of the city and down to dangerous underground caverns. Although I’ve not personally played this expansion yet, I’m very excited to get into some missions and explore this new land.

Vampyr (June 5th)

Also available today, we have Vampyr. This game takes an interesting look Vampiric lore as you, Jonathan Reid, wander through 1918 London. You start the game unsure of who you are and how you have become a vampire, but you struggle with choosing between the Hippocratic oath of your old life as a doctor and your new life as a bloodthirsty vampire. This game has a semi-open world concept and the potential to be a thrilling story. From what I’ve learned so far, it also seems to give you the freedom to play how you want with much of the fighting/killing being avoidable throughout the game. There are also four boroughs within the city of London that can be saved or destroyed based on how you play.  I’ve seen gameplay footage of the first hour or so and the game seems to have a lot of cool mechanics to it as well as a story that immediately pulls at your heart strings in the opening moments of the game. I don’t know a lot about this game yet, but I’m excited to sink my teeth into it and give it a try!

Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn (June 5th)

This is an interesting entry as this game’s development was crowd funded and spearheaded by Shaq. The real, actual, living, breathing, Shaq of legend is involved in this game. Sometimes reality is crazy, guys. Now, this is not the first game Shaq has been involved in (the previous Shaq Fu game is considered the worst game of all time in some circles), so I’m a bit hesitant about this title. It’s a 3D side scrolling beat ‘em up game and it actually looks like it could be a lot of fun! Weirdly enough, Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn seems to have absolutely nothing to do with basketball, which makes it all that much more weird and wonderful that Shaq is involved. In the game, you play as Shaq as he travels around defeating ninjas with his Shaq Fu skills. The landscapes are beautiful and colorful which really adds to the whole experience of the game. Overall, I think this is going to be worth a shot and it could turn out to be a really fun game to spend some time on!

Jurassic World: Evolution (June 12th)

Now for a huge change of pace, we have Jurassic World: Evolution. This game has a very different feel to it than anything we’ve talked about so far. This game combines absolutely beautiful renderings of dinosaurs that we’ve seen in Jurassic Park and Jurassic World with a Roller Coaster Tycoon style park-building system. Your goal is to build a theme park full of exciting (and scary) dinosaurs to bring in all that cold hard cash from paying guests. Throughout the game, you have many different “influencer” characters who will give you different types of goals which you can choose to fulfill or ignore. For example, you may have a goal to release some dinosaurs into the crowd… you know… for science? You’ll have to weigh the pros and cons of this action and decide if that’s what’s best for your park. I think it has the potential to be a real hit for those of you who enjoy these types of games!

Lego The Incredibles (June 15th)

The Lego games have a reputation for being family friendly megastars in the videogame world. The upcoming release based on the Pixar movie The Incredibles looks like it will be another amazing addition to Lego’s gaming roster. I’ve seen some gameplay footage and it certainly has that signature Lego style and humor. Being a family of super heroes, there are lots of fun abilities and special moves for each character. For example, Elasti-Girl can stretch herself to interact with lots of cogs and wheels to solve puzzles or she can stretch between buildings to become a bridge for other characters. I always enjoy the games that Lego puts out and I’m going to be one of the first people in line for The Incredibles. I’m so excited to see what fun and funky mechanics they’ve been able to build into this new game!

The Lost Child (June 19th)

Generally, I’m not one to keep a lot of track of the RPG world, but this release has grabbed my attention recently. The Lost Child is a JRPG that takes place on modern day Tokyo, but not all is as it seems. There’s dark magic at work and it’s up to you to stop it! You’ll be battling through many different types of dungeons called “Layers” on your valiant quest. The “upgrade” system in this game, along with its turn based combat system, look absolutely amazing and make this game a must-have for any RPG fan. Although this normally isn’t the genre I tend to gravitate towards, this game has me considering sinking an obscene number of hours into it. It’s available on Switch, PS4, and PSVita, so I definitely recommend you keep an eye out for the release of this game!

Crash Remaster for Switch, PC, Xbox One (June 26th)

These last two entries are sort of honorable mentions. For those of you who don’t live the PlayStation life, the remaster of Crash Bandicoot is coming to Xbox, PC, and Switch! Whether you played the original games as a kid or not, this trilogy is a classic that would belong on ANY gamer’s favorites list, but especially if you have any interest in platformers. Obviously, it still has all the fun of the original game, but the graphics have been given a major revamp and Crash, Coco, and Cortex look better than ever! Unexpectedly, at least in my experience, this is also a fair challenging set of games. As a kid, I somehow remember being great at this game and now I’m pretty sure an actual child could surpass my so-called “skill”. Whether you’re looking for something fun and pretty or something nostalgic and challenging, this game is the answer! Check it out if you haven’t already played it on PlayStation last year.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus on Switch (June 29th)

The port of Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus to switch should definitely be on your radar, especially if you’re one of those people who are upset with the new Black Ops 4 not including a single player campaign. This game has all the gritty battle, beautiful graphics, challenging levels, and fantastic story telling that you could ever dream of! Now that it’s on switch, you can even take all of that joy on the go. I’m interested to see how well the graphics of the original game will port over. We’ve all seen the horrifying disaster that was WWE 2K18 on switch… so hopefully Bethesda gets this right like they have with their other recent ports! No matter what console you’re on, if you haven’t yet taken the time to play this game, this is a perfect kick in the butt… er, reminder… to get you started!

There we have it! Those are some highlights of the games being released in June. Did I miss any that you are really looking forward to? If so, I want to hear about them in the comments below or on any of my other social media pages. You can find me on facebook, twitter, and instagram as Sizzites Gaming and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more videogame nonsense all the time!

Upcoming Marvel Movie Releases: Complete MCU Phase 4 Schedule

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We’ve got everything you need to know about the upcoming Marvel movie schedule all in one place! The Marvel superhero movie plan now stretches all the way to 2023 (and beyond). The amazing thing is, it’s even more ambitious than we anticipated, with new movies getting announced all the time. It looks like even something on the massive scale of Avengers: Endgame was only the beginning. How can anything ever be bigger than that crazy Avengers: Endgame finale?

Well, it looks like we’re going to find out…eventually.

We’ve compiled as much information as we can find on every Marvel movie coming out in the next few years in a handy release calendar for you. This is where you can check out all the details on Marvel Phase 4 and beyond. You probably want to know a little more about the future of the MCU and all the other Marvel movies in development. Well, we’ve got you covered! However, be advised, almost every single MCU Phase 4 date has recently shifted because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which is wreaking havoc with every industry in the world, so update your calendars accordingly!

These dates have already shifted several times recently, and the most recent changes affect Black Widow, Eternals, and Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Don’t be surprised if they continue to move as things develop with the pandemic, but hopefully by the time Black Widow is ready to come out, we’ll have reached the end of this nonsense.

WandaVision

release date: December 2021

Yes, technically this isn’t a movie release, but with all of the release date changes, and the fact that it has been over a year since the last actual MCU release, we’ll take the good stuff where we can get it. And make no mistake, WandaVision very much appears to be the good stuff.

Ever wonder what happened to Wanda after she went all Scarlet Witch on Thanos in Avengers: Endgame? Well, you’re gonna find out in WandaVision, which appears to depict a grief-riddled Wanda dealing with the death of Vision in less than healthy ways.

Elizabeth Olsen is, of course, back as Wanda, and so is Paul Bettany as the Vision. This show is going to have serious ties to the MCU, with elements that will be important for Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and Captain Marvel 2 having prominent roles. The trailer is packed with MCU strangeness, which we wrote about here.

WandaVision is the first of a number of MCU focused shows coming to Disney+ over the next year. 2021 will also bring us Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki. Since these will also be vital to the future of the MCU, we’ll add them to this calendar as they get release windows and/or trailers get released.

Black Widow 

Release Date: May 7, 2021

The Black Widow movie was heading for a May 1, 2020 release before the coronavirus outbreak, but Disney and Marvel have decided to delay it until the industry’s infrastructure is back to some semblance of normal. First they bumped it to November, but now we have to wait almost a full year from that originally scheduled date before we see Natasha and friends.

Cate Shortland directed the film, and Scarlett Johansson stars, with Florence Pugh and David Harbour alongside her. One of the movie’s villains is Taskmaster, and we wrote a little bit more about him right here.

Natasha Romanoff will get a prequel movie of sorts here, as we catch up with Widow around the events of Captain America: Civil War. Will the plot affect her character’s ultimate fate in Endgame? Do not count on it.

We have more information on the Black Widow movie right here.

Morbius

Release Date: March 19, 2021

Spider-Man spinoff Morbius is Sony’s next big Marvel release, and it’ll officially be the first spinoff to properly connect to the MCU.

Safe House‘s Daniel Espinosa directs from a script by Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway, as former Joker Jared Leto plays the anti-hero biochemist who finds a cure for his rare blood disease by using vampire bat blood. As you can imagine, there are consequences: he turns into a living vampire, for one. 

Um…don’t be surprised if this one ends up moving off this date at some point at the rate we’re going.

Read more about the character of Michael Morbius here, and find everything you need to know about his upcoming movie, right here.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Release Date: June 25, 2021

Andy Serkis (Mowgli) steps behind the camera for Venom 2, which now boasts the catchy title of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, replacing Ruben Fleischer as director this time around. The first film, buoyed by a terrific showing at the Chinese box office, made an absolute ton of money, despite being released to mostly scathing reviews.

Venom 2 will follow up Sony’s 2018 Spider-Man-less spinoff film, but will likely be more connected to the MCU this time around, thanks to a renewed deal between the company and its Marvel Studios partners. Tom Hardy will return as Eddie Brock, of course, and as you can probably guess from that title, he’ll be facing off against Woody Harrelson’s villain, Cletus Kasady aka Carnage!

This one was originally tentatively scheduled for October, 2020, but has been shuffled away for the moment as studios continue to move release dates around because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Read everything else you need to know about Venom 2.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Release date: July 9, 2021

Simu Liu has been cast as the titular Shang-Chi and Tony Leung as The Mandarin (hey, that name sounds familiar! But this time, we’re getting the real Mandarin on screen). Destin Daniel Cretton is directing from a script by Dave Callaham. Given its “Ten Rings” title, Shang-Chi should be steeped in Marvel lore!

This has been delayed twice. Let’s hope that’s the end of it. At least it has resumed production!

We have more info on the Shang-Chi movie right here.

Spider-Man 3

Release Date: Nov. 5, 2021

While the next Spider-Man movie doesn’t have a title yet, it’s happening, and the best news of all is that it’s happening in the MCU! Marvel and Sony solved their differences, good sense prevailed, and Tom Holland’s Peter Parker will remain a vital part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. No other details, not even a title, are available at this time, but we’ll update this with more information as it becomes available!

Say it with us now: this date is probably going to move, especially because November also sees the release of…

The Eternals 

Release Date: Nov. 21, 2021

The Eternals has completed principal photography and is on post-production. Chloe Zhao is directing from a script by Matthew and Ryan Firpo. 

The cast features Richard Madden as Ikaris, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, Angelina Jolie as Thena, Gemma Chan as Sersi, and Kit Harrington as Dane Whitman, the Black Knight.

This one was another victim of the release date shuffle, having moved from February of 2021 to November of that year. We’ll get to see Jack Kirby‘s wildest creations eventually!

You can read more about The Eternals movie right here.

Thor: Love and Thunder

Release Date: Feb. 11, 2022

Taika Waititi, who gave us the delightful Thor: Ragnarok, will return to write and direct. Chris Hemsworth will be back, but will it be as Thor? Natalie Portman is your new Thor (yes, you read that right, Jane Foster will wield the hammer…just as she did in the comics!). Christian Bale has also joined the cast. We have some guesses about who he might be playing, but we’re not totally sure yet.

We have more info on Thor: Love and Thunder right here.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Release Date: March 25, 2022

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness looks like it will open up the storytelling possibilities in the MCU like never before. And that’s just based on the name alone. Scott Derrickson was scheduled to direct, but has bowed out because of “creative differences” with Marvel. But the good news is that Marvel found a suitable replacement in none other than Sam Raimi, who of course has plenty of superhero experience thanks to his Spider-Man trilogy in the early 2000s! There are also a few rumors doing the rounds that Jericho Drumm aka Brother Voodoo could be introduced in this sequel. We’ll keep an eye on that and update this if there’s any substance to them.

We have more information on Doctor Strange 2 right here.

Black Panther 2 

Release Date: May 6, 2022

Black Panther 2 is still on Disney’s release schedule, despite the tragic, untimely death of star Chadwick Boseman. It’s unclear if Marvel plans to recast the role, but that seems like a difficult, even unwise proposition at this time.

Ryan Coogler will return as director, but there are no other details currently available. We have more information on Black Panther 2 right here.

Captain Marvel 2

Release date: July 8, 2022

WandaVision writer Megan McDonnell has been tapped to write the screenplay for Captain Marvel 2. You know what else is really cool? Candyman‘s Nia DaCosta will direct!

We have no idea where we’ll find Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) in the sequel to her hugely successful first standalone MCU entry. Will she be fighting to loosen her former Kree pals’ iron grip on a pre-Avengers galaxy? Or will the follow up film see her fighting for justice in the present?

Read more about Captain Marvel 2 here.

And then there are still some dates that Marvel has announced that they have yet to match projects to. Those dates are…

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Sequel

Release Date: October 7, 2022

Is it technically an MCU movie? Nope. But with all the legal weirdness going on between Marvel and Sony, and this franchise’s very multiversal concept, who’s really to say that it ISN’T an MCU movie either, right? In any case, the sequel to the best Spider-Man movie of all time is coming in 2022 with Avatar: The Last Airbender mastermind Joaquim Dos Santos directing and David Callaham writing.

There’s also an “untitled Marvel movie” still technically scheduled for this date but…that is almost certainly not gonna happen now. Expect whatever that project was to move to one of these below dates or to some other currently unspecified date on the calendar.

Feb. 17, 2023

May 5, 2023

July 28, 2023

Nov. 3, 2023

Some of those dates could very well be good fits for the following films…

Ant-Man 3

Peyton Reed will return to direct the third installment of the Ant-Man saga, perhaps the most unlikely trilogy in Marvel’s entire arsenal. Paul Rudd will return as Scott Lang, and you can almost certainly expect Evangeline Lilly to return as The Wasp and Michael Douglas as Hank Pym.

The villain of the film? That will be Kang the Conqueror, who will be played by Lovecraft Country’s Jonathan Majors. The inclusion of Kang opens up all kinds of interesting possibilities for the MCU, and may even tease the arrival of the Fantastic Four down the line! We wrote more about those possibilities right here.

We’re also going to need fast confirmation on Michael Pena’s return as Luis, though. Luis is key…

This will probably slide in to one of those 2023 release dates above.

Blade

Well this one was a surprise. In 2019, Marvel announced that they will be rebooting the Blade franchise with Mahershala Ali playing the titular daywalker. Ali’s True Detective co-star – and former Blade villain – Stephen Dorff is excited to see what he can do with the character, and so are we.

We have more info on Blade here.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 

Avengers: Endgame left the team in an interesting place. We broke down some of the story possibilities right here.

After a tumultuous period which saw James Gunn fired and then rehired as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director, he will become the first Marvel director to ever complete a trilogy for the studio. However, Gunn can’t even begin filming Guardians 3 until he finishes production on The Suicide Squad for DC, as well as an HBO Max Peacemaker prequel. Once those projects are finished, he’s free to return to the MCU.

We have everything else you need to know about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 right here.

And as for those others? Well, we’re still waiting on word on Deadpool 3, as well as movies to bring the Fantastic Four and the X-Men into the MCU. Could any of those 2023 dates do the trick? It’s very possible! We’ll keep updating this with new information as it becomes available.

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