Another Dardevil trailer has been released today, this one a full-length theatrical trailer rather than the previous long teaser.
The previous teaser didn’t especially grab me, but this one is piquing my interest. I’m liking the personal angle, the feeling of two strong characters going head-to-head because of different visions for their homes. View full article »
Last week, when talking about how Agents of SHIELD seems to have been written like it was MCU fanfic rather than a true member of the franchise, I mentioned that fanfic isn’t a bad thing and can, in fact, be quite beneficial. It occurs to me that this probably deserves extra attention.
Yes, fan fiction can be beneficial. It’s a great way to encourage creativity, practice writing skills, and generally provide a sandbox for fans to play in.
It’s also a type of fiction that is notoriously riddled with bad writing. We’re not just talking about grammar and spelling. We’re talking about fiction that, quite often, shows little understanding of plot structure, character development, setup and payoff, or even why the source material it draws on is told the way it is.
It’s that time of year again. It’s time to wake up an hour early, only to look at the clock and be confused because it’s an hour later than it feels like it should be. It’s time to grumble and moan and ask yourself and anyone in earshot why do we do this ridiculous thing!?
That’s right. It’s Daylight Saving Time.
It’s a peculiar practice that supposedly saves energy, except it winds up causing far more headaches than benefits, makes scheduling things weird, and is generally a pointless exercise that may or may not save a few bucks.
This time, though, it made me think of a different topic. Strange peculiarities that may or may not make sense but always seem weird from a different perspective are what make a real-life culture seem, well, real. What kind of things can we learn from that for worldbuilding? View full article »
I was glancing at Hulu last night and noticed that Agents of SHIELD was back. I hadn’t been paying attention. Agents, which had started out with a huge ad blitz and big promises, hasn’t been delivering. The supposed “shocking mid-season finale” was so ho-hum I kept hitting pause to do other stuff, my mind wandering too much to pay attention.
Agents was promised as part of the MCU, but its interaction with the movies has amounted to very tentative fan-fiction. Our most clear connections, other than Coulson himself, has been one episode to deal with Asgardians and a couple of cameos from Nick Fury. Even the focus on SHIELD and Hydra has been lackluster, and I haven’t really been feeling like they were entirely the same as what we saw in the movies. I’d had some hope last year when they finally got out of the twiddling-thumbs episodes for the Captain America 2 tie-in, but the self-contained story has been so completely timid — as if the writers are unwilling, or not allowed, to do anything that can make changes with the MCU — that the show is still only reacting to the movies and not being a full-fledged member of the franchise.
Agent Carter was different in this regard. While it ought to have had the harder role, since it’s set in the past with no way to truly break new ground, it proved to be far more creative and bold with its events. What happened in that first season has to have an impact on the MCU as a whole; Carter can’t simply be ignored. Agents of SHIELD, on the other hand, is eminently ignoreable. They’re the clean-up crew — literally, in the case of the Thor 2 tie-in-that-wasn’t last year.
It’s been such a disappointment, that I really don’t have any effort left to give. I really only watched the episode in the hopes that I might find something interesting to blog about. I fully expected more of the same-old, same old. What I found, instead, was a departure from the typical fanfic style. If I my hopes hadn’t been dashed so many times so far, I’d actually be excited about the style change. As it is, I’m “cautiously not-quite-as-pessimistic.”
For once, Agents of SHIELD has something new to offer. For once, the show has become proactive. Whether this will in turn affect the rest of the MCU, I don’t know, but if not then it will be due to gross negligence, because suddenly we have a new story to tell.
Spoilers after the break. View full article »
The cover and dust jacket text for Jim Butcher’s The Aeronaut’s Windlass have been released. io9 has an exclusive look at the second chapter, so just hop over there to take a look. Meanwhile, here’s the cover:
What, no hats?
This isn’t just an announcement, however. I’m going to take a closer look at what this book seems to have in store for us. View full article »
This weekend, I got caught up with Agent Carter. Aside from — actually, in spite of — the occasionally overbearing exploration of sexism, this is truly an excellent series, and a great example of how to use mild alternate history, superhero, and spy thriller tropes.
Spoilers after the break. View full article »
Today, we say goodbye to an icon of not just geek culture, but that of America and the whole world.
Godspeed, Mr. Spock. Second star to the right, and straight on ’til morning.
Edit: I now have the chance to sit down and write more.
The Internet is filling up with tributes, and they’re nice to see. They’re filled with joy for what Nimoy had given us, rather than sorrow for what we’ve lost. And I rather like that. I’ve always preferred the Irish wake to the Roman funeral. View full article »
Longtime readers may remember that I had some input on the Fate Core RPG system. (Yes, that is my name on the cover of Worlds on Fire. They didn’t tell me that was happening.) Evil Hat Productions and I haven’t had business together since, but Fate remains my favorite RPG system, and I actually have a review for one of their latest offerings in the pipeline.
Today, however, I just want to share the news that the long-awaited supplement for The Dresden Files RPG is finally scheduled for publication. The Paranet Papers will be released on June 1st.
“Big deal,” you might say. You’re not interested in anything other than the next Dresden Files novel. Why would you want an RPG supplement? I’m glad you asked, Mr. Strawman! View full article »
I already laid out why I think the Academy Awards aren’t culturally-relevant. Lots of others have as well. What I noticed was missing, though, was how that could change.
Similarly, there’s a long-standing charge that the Hugo Awards (the equivalent of the Academy Awards for science fiction and fantasy, at least in terms of aspiration, and almost as old) are not representative of the genres the awards claim to cover. There’s a curious parallel, where we see that both sets of awards are chosen by a small minority compared to the total population of those who consume the relevant media. View full article »
In Her Royal Spyness, by Rhys Bowen, we meet one Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie Rannoch, daughter of the Duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch, cousin to George V, King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India. Lady Georgiana has a few problems beyond a name and lineage too large for ordinary use. For example, she has . . .
That’s right. Lady Georgiana (you can call her Georgie) is flat broke. She might be 34th in line for the throne, but that and a shilling will get you a cup of tea. And sadly, even if she weren’t in the middle of the Great Depression, getting a job is simply out of the question. A royal working as a shop clerk? Imagine the scandal when the society papers found out! View full article »
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